No More Learning

Furthermore, as we related above,83 the heart and upper portion of the liver could not be found in the victims. And on the day before he died, stars of great brilliancy were seen near the sun in the day-time. 4 He was responsible himself, it is said, for an omen about his successor, Julianus. For when Didius Julianus presented a nephew of his, to whom he was betrothing his daughter, the Emperor exhorted the young man to show deference to his uncle, and added: "Honour my colleague and successor. "84 5 For Julianus had previously been his colleague in the consulship and had succeeded him in his proconsular command. 85

6 The soldiers and court-retainers regarded him with hatred,86 but the people felt great indignation at his death, since it had seemed that all the ancient customs might be restored through his efforts. 7 His head, fixed on a pole, was carried through the city to the camp by the soldiers who killed him. 8 His remains, including his head, which was recovered, were laid in the tomb of his wife's grandfather. 9 And Julianus, his successor, buried his body with all honour, after he had found it in the Palace. 10 At no time, however, did he make any public mention of Pertinax either before the people or in the presence of the senate, but when he, too, was deserted by the soldiers Pertinax was raised to the rank of the gods by the senate and the people. 87 [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 15 1 In the reign of Severus, moreover, after Pertinax had received the full official approval p347 of the senate, an honorary funeral, of the kind that would be accorded to a censor, was held for him,88 and Severus himself honoured him with a funeral eulogy. 2 Severus, furthermore, out of respect for so good a ruler, accepted from the senate the name Pertinax. 89 3 Pertinax' son was made his father's priest, 4 and the Marcian brotherhood,90 who performed sacrifices to the Deified Marcus, were called Helviani in honour of Helvius Pertinax. 5 There were added, also, circus-games and a celebration to commemorate the anniversary of his accession, but these were afterwards abolished by Severus. The birthday-games decreed for him, however, are still observed. 91

6 He was born on the Kalends of August in the consulship of Verus and Ambibulus, and was killed on the fifth day before the Kalends of April in the consulship of Falco and Clarus. He lived sixty years,92 seven months and twenty-six days, 7 and reigned for two months and twenty-five days. He gave the people a largess of one hundred denarii apiece,93 and promised twelve thousand sesterces to each soldier of the guard, though he gave only six thousand. 94 The sum promised to the armies he did not give for the reason that death forestalled him. 8 A letter which Marius Maximus included in his life of Pertinax shows that he shrank from taking the imperial power,95 but this letter, on account of its great length, I have not thought best to insert.

The Life of Didius Julianus

1 1 [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] Didius Julianus, who gained possession of the empire after Pertinax, was the great-grandson of Salvius Julianus,1 a man who was twice consul, prefect of the city, and an authority in jurisprudence — which, more than anything else, had made him famous. 2 His mother was Aemilia Clara, his father Petronius Didius Severus, his brothers Didius Proculus and Nummius Albinus; another Salvius Julianus was his uncle. His father's father was an Insubrian from Milan, his mother's came from the colony of Hadrumetum.

3 He himself was reared at the home of Domitia Lucilla,2 the mother of the Emperor Marcus, 4 and through the support of this lady he was elected to the Board of Twenty. 3 He was appointed quaestor a year before he reached the legal age,4 5 and through the support of Marcus he attained to the office of aedile. Again with the support of Marcus he became praetor. 5 6 After his praetorship he commanded the Twenty-second Legion,6 the Primigenia, in Germany, 7 and following that he ruled Belgium7 long and well. Here, with auxiliaries hastily levied from the provinces, he held out against the Chauci (a people of Germany who dwelt on the river Elbe) as they attempted to burst through the border; 8 and for these services, on the recommendation of the emperor, he was deemed worthy of the consulship. He also gained a crushing victory over the Chatti. 9 Next he took charge of Dalmatia and cleared it of the hostile tribes on its borders. [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 2 1 Then he governed Lower Germany; and after that he was deemed worthy of superintending the distribution of grants of money to the poor in Italy. 8 In this position he was accused by one Severus Clarissimus, a soldier, of being an associate of Salvius9 in his conspiracy against Commodus. But Commodus had already put many senators and many distinguished and powerful men to death on the charge of treason, and so he was afraid of acting too harshly and therefore pardoned Didius and executed his accuser. 2 Thus acquitted, Didius was sent again to govern a province. Then he governed Bithynia, but not as creditably as the other provinces.

3 His consulship he served with Pertinax; in the proconsulship of Africa,10 moreover, he succeeded him. Pertinax always spoke of him as his colleague and successor; on that day, in particular, when Julianus, after betrothing his daughter to a kinsman of his own, came to Pertinax and informed him of the fact, Pertinax said: ". . . and due respect, for he is my colleague and successor". 11 The death of Pertinax ensued immediately afterwards. 4 After his death, p353 when Sulpicianus12 was making plans to be hailed emperor in the camp, Julianus, together with his son-in‑law, came to the senate, which, he heard, had been summoned, but found the doors closed. 5 At the same time he discovered there two tribunes, Publius Florianus and Vectius Aper, who immediately began urging him to seize the throne; and though he pointed out to them that another man was already proclaimed emperor, they held him fast and conducted him to the praetor camp. 13 6 When they arrived at the camp, however, Sulpicianus, the prefect of the city and the father-in‑law of Pertinax, was holding an assembly and claiming the empire himself, and no one would let Julianus inside, despite the huge promises he made from outside the wall. Julianus then first warned the soldiers not to proclaim anyone emperor who would avenge Pertinax, and next wrote on placards that he would restore the good name14 of Commodus; 7 so he was admitted and proclaimed emperor, the soldiers at the same time requesting that he would not in any way injure Sulpicianus for aiming at the throne.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 3 1 Immediately thereafter, on the recommendation of the praetorians themselves, Julianus appointed Flavius Genialis and Tullius Crispinus prefects of the guard, and through the efforts of Maurentius, who had previously declared for Sulpicianus, he was attended by the imperial body-guard. 2 Although he had promised five and twenty thousand sesterces to p355 each soldier, he gave thirty. 15 3 Then, after holding an assembly of the soldiers, he came in the evening to the senate,16 and entrusted himself to it without conditions; thereupon, by decree of the senate he was acclaimed emperor and, after being raised to a place among the patrician families,17 he received the tribunician power and the rights of a proconsul. 18 4 His wife Manlia Scantilla, moreover, and his daughter, Didia Clara, were given the name Augusta;19 5 and thereupon he betook himself to the Palace and thither summoned his wife and daughter, who came, though with considerable trepidation and reluctance as if they already foresaw impending doom. 20 6 Cornelius Repentinus, his son-in‑law, he made prefect of the city in place of Sulpicianus.

7 The people, meanwhile, detested Julianus because it had been their belief that the abuses of Commodus' regime were to be reformed by the influence of Pertinax, and he was considered to have been killed with Julianus' connivance. 8 And now, those who had begun to hate Julianus were the first to spread it abroad that on the very first day of his reign, to show his contempt for Pertinax' board, he had served an extravagant banquet embellished with such dainties as oysters and fatted birds and fish. This story, it is generally agreed, was false. 21 9 For according to report, Julianus was so frugal as to make p357 a suckling pig or hare last for three days, if anyone by chance presented him with one; and often, moreover, even when there was no religious reason therefor, he was contest to dine on cabbages and beans without meat. 22 10 Furthermore, he gave no banquet until after Pertinax was buried, and, because of his death, took what food he did in a very depressed state of mind, and passed the first night in continual wakefulness, disquieted by such a fate.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 4 1 But when the day dawned, he admitted the senators and knights who came to the Palace, and greeted each very cordially, either as brother, or son, or father, according to his age. 2 The populace, however, at the Rostra and in front of the senate-house,23 assailed him with violent revilings, hoping that he might resign the sovereignty which the soldiers had given him; and they even launched a shower of stones. 3 As he came down to the senate-house with the soldiers and senate, they heaped curses upon him, and when he performed the sacrifices, wished that he might not obtain favourable omens; 4 they even hurled stones at him, though Julianus, with uplifted hand, continually sought to calm them. 5 When he entered the senate-house, he spoke calmly and discreetly, and returned thanks because he had been chosen, and because he, his wife, and his daughter, had been given the titles of Augustus and Augusta. He accepted also the name of Father of his Country, but refused a silver statue. 6 Then, as he proceeded from the senate-house to the Capitol, the populace placed themselves in his way, but by the sword, by wounds, and by promises of gold-pieces, the number of which p359 he himself, in order to inspire trust, kept showing to them on his fingers, they were dispersed and beaten back. 7 Thereupon, all went to the games at the Circus; but here, after everyone had seized seats indiscriminately,24 the populace redoubled their insults against Julianus and called for Pescennius Niger (who was said to have already declared himself emperor) to protect the city. 25 8 All this Julianus took with perfect equanimity; indeed all through the time he was on the throne he was exceedingly tolerant. The populace, however, kept inveighing with the utmost violence against the soldiers, who had slain Pertinax, so they said, for money. And so, in order to win favour with the people, Julianus restored many measures which Commodus had enacted and Pertinax had repealed. 9 Concerning Pertinax himself he took no steps either good or evil,26 a fact which to very many seemed a serious matter. 10 It is generally agreed, however, that it was his fear of the soldiers that caused him to keep silent about the honours due Pertinax.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 5 1 As a matter of fact, however, Julianus had no fear of either the British27 or the Illyrian army; but being chiefly afraid of the Syrian army, he despatched a centurion of the first rank with orders to murder Niger. 28 2 Consequently Pescennius Niger in Syria29 and Septimius Severus in Illyricum,30 together with the armies which they commanded, revolted from Julianus. 3 But when he received the news of the revolt of Severus, whom he had not suspected, then he was greatly troubled and came to the senate and prevailed upon them to declare Severus a public enemy. 4 As for the soldiers who had followed Severus, p361 a day was appointed for them after which they would be considered as public enemies if they hand still with Severus. 5 Besides this, legates of consular rank were sent by the senate to the soldiers to persuade them that they should reject Severus and let him be emperor whom the senate had chosen. 6 Among others of the legates was Vespronius Candidus,31 an old man of consular rank, now for a long time repugnant to the soldiers because of his harsh and penurious rule. 7 Valerius Catullinus was sent as Severus' successor,32 as if, in sooth, it were possible to appoint a successor to a man who already had an army devoted to himself. 8 And in addition to these others, the centurion Aquilius, notorious as the assassin of senators, was sent for the purpose of murdering Severus. 33 9 But as for Julianus himself, he gave orders that the praetorians should be led outside the city, and that the fortifications should be manned;34 but it was a slothful force that he led out, and one demoralized by the fleshpots of the city and intensely averse to active service, so much so, indeed, that they actually hired substitutes for the duties severally enjoined upon them.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 6 1 All the while, Severus was approaching the city with a hostile army; but in spite of that, Didius Julianus accomplished nothing with his praetorian troops, and the populace hated and laughed at him more and more every day. 2 And although he had escaped from Commodus' clutches by the aid of Laetus, nevertheless, unmindful of this great favour, Julianus ordered Laetus to be put to death in the expectation that he would side with Severus. 35 He gave orders likewise that Marcia should be put to death at the same time.

p363 3 While Julianus was engaged in these activities, however, Severus seized the fleet stationed at Ravenna;36 whereupon the envoys of the senate who had promised their services to Julianus passed over to Severus. 37 4 Tullius Crispiness, the prefect of the guard, who had been sent to oppose Severus and lead out the fleet, failed in his attempt38 and therefore returned to Rome. 5 When Julianus learned of these events, he came to the senate with a proposal that the Vestal Virgins and the priests, along with the senate itself, should go out to meet Severus' troops and entreat them with fillets held in outstretched hands39 — a futile step, surely, to take against soldiers of barbarian blood. 6 In this proposal, however, Plautius Quintilius, an augur and man of consular rank,40 opposed him, declaring that he who could not withstand an opponent by force of arms had no right to rule; 7 in this objection many senators agreed with him. Infuriated at this, Didius Julianus called for soldiers from the camp in order either to force the senators to obedience or to slaughter them. 8 But this plan found no favour. For it was scarcely fitting that the senate, after declaring Severus a public enemy for Julianus' sake, should find an enemy in this same Julianus. 9 And so Julianus came to the senate with a better plan, and asked it pass a decree effecting a division of empire. 41 And this was forthwith done.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 7 1 At that time an omen, for which Julianus himself had been responsible when he accepted the imperial power, came to everyone's mind. 2 For when the consul-elect, in voting on Julianus, delivered p365 himself of the following: "I vote that Didius Julianus be declared emperor," Julianus prompted "Say also Severus," the name of his grandfather and great-grandfather, which he had added to his own. 42 3 However, there are some who say that Julianus never planned to slaughter the senate, because it had passed so many decrees in his favour.

4 After the senate had passed this decree, Didius Julianus forthwith despatched43 one of the prefects, Tullius Crispinus, 5 and he also created a third prefect44 in the person of Veturius Macrinus, whom Severus had already notified by letter that he was to be prefect. 6 Nevertheless, the people avowed and Severus suspected that this peace was merely a stratagem and that Tullius Crispinus, the prefect of the guard, was commissioned to murder Severus. 7 Finally, in accordance with the general wish of his soldiers, Severus declared that he would rather be Julianus' enemy than colleague; 8 he at once, moreover, wrote to a great number of men at Rome, and secretly sent proclamations, which were posted up. 9 Julianus, furthermore, was mad enough to perform a number of rites with the aid of magicians, such as were calculated either to lessen the hate of the people or to restrain the arms of the soldiers. 10 For the magicians sacrificed certain victims that are foreign to the Roman ritual45 and chanted unholy songs, so we are told, before a mirror, into which boys are said to gaze, after bandages have been bound over their eyes and charms muttered over their heads. 11 And in this performance one lad, it is said, saw the arrival of Severus and the retirement of Julianus.

p367 8 1 [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] And as for Crispinus,46 he met with Severus' advance-guard and was put to death by Severus on the advice of Julius Laetus. 2 The decrees of the senate, moreover, were torn down, and when Julianus called a meeting of the senate and asked their opinions as to what should be done, he could get nothing definite out of them. 3 Presently, however, on his own responsibility he ordered Lollianus Titianus to arm the gladiators at Capua, and called Claudius Pompeianus from his estate at Tarracina47 to share the empire with him, because he had been an emperor's son-in‑law and had long been in command of troops. Claudius, however, refused on the ground that he was now old and his eye-sight was weak. 4 The soldiers in Umbria had meanwhile deserted to Severus,48 5 and Severus had sent on letters in advance in which he ordered the murderers of Pertinax to be kept under guard. 49

6 In a short time Julianus was deserted by all and left alone in the Palace with one of his prefects, Genialis, and with Repentinus, his son-in‑law. 50 7 Finally, it was proposed that the imperial power be taken away from Julianus by order of the senate. 51 This was done, and Severus was forthwith acclaimed emperor, while it was given out that Julianus had taken poison. 8 Nevertheless, the senate despatched a delegation and through their efforts Julianus was slain in the Palace by a common soldier, while beseeching the protection of Caesar, that is to say, Severus. 9 He had emancipated52 his daughter when he got control of the empire and had presented her with her patrimony, but this, together with the name p369 Augusta, was at once taken away from her. 10 His body was, by order of Severus, delivered for burial to his wife, Manlia Scantilla, and to his daughter, and it was laid in the tomb of his great-grandfather by the fifth mile-stone on the Labican Way. 53

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 9 1 These charges were brought against Julianus: that he had been a glutton and a gambler; that he had exercised with gladiatorial arms; and that he had done all these things, moreover, when advanced in years, and after escaping the stain of these vices in his youth. The charge of pride was also brought against him, although he had really been very unassuming as emperor. 54 2 He was, moreover, very affable at banquets, very courteous in the matter of petitions, and very reasonable in the matter of granting liberty.

3 He lived fifty-six years55 and four months. He ruled two months and five days. 56 This particularly was held to his discredit: that men whom he ought to have kept under his own governance he appointed as his officials for governing the state.

The Life of Septimius Severus

1 1 [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] On the murder of Didius Julianus, Severus, a native of Africa, took possession of the empire. 2 His native city was Leptis, his father was Geta;1 his ancestors were Roman knights before citizenship was made universal. 2 Fulvia Pia was his mother, Aper and Severus, both of consular rank,3 his great-uncles. His father's father was Macer, his mother's father Fulvius Pius. 3 He himself was born six days before the Ides of April,4 in the first consulship of Severus and the second of Erucius Clarus. 4 While still a child, even before he had been drilled in the Latin and Greek literatures (with which he was very well acquainted), he would engage in no game with the other children except playing judge, and on such occasions he would have the rods and axes borne before him, and, surrounded by the throng of children, he would take his seat and thus give judgments. 5 In his eighteenth year he delivered an oration in public. Soon after, in order to continue his studies, he came to Rome; and with the support of his kinsman p373 Septimius Severus, who had already been consul twice, he sought and secured from the Deified Marcus the broad stripe. 5

6 Soon after he had come to Rome he fell in with a stranger who at that very moment was reading the life of the Emperor Hadrian, and he snatched at this incident as an omen of future prosperity. 7 He had still another omen of empire: for once, when he was invited to an imperial banquet and came wearing a cloak, when he should have worn his toga,6 he was lent an official toga of the emperor's own. 8 And that same night he dreamed that he tugged at the udders of a wolf, like Remus and Romulus. 9 He sat down, furthermore, in the emperor's chair, which a servant had carelessly left accessible, being quite unaware that this was not allowed. 10 And once, while he was sleeping in a tavern, a snake coiled about his head, and when his friends awoke from their sleep and shouted at it, it departed without doing him any harm.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 2 1 His early manhood was filled with follies and not free from crime. 2 He was charged with adultery, but pleaded his own case and was acquitted by the proconsul Julianus,7 the man who was his immediate predecessor in the proconsulship, his colleague in the consulship, and likewise his predecessor on the throne. 3 Omitting the office of tribune of the soldiers, he became quaestor and performed his duties with diligence. At the expiration of his quaestorship he was allotted the province of Baetica,8 and from there he crossed over to Africa in order to settle his p375 domestic affairs, for his father had meanwhile died. 4 But while he was in Africa, Sardinia was assigned him in place of Baetica, because the latter was being ravaged by the Moors. 9 5 He therefore served his quaestorship in Sardinia, and afterwards was appointed aide to the proconsul of Africa. 6 While he was in this office, a certain fellow-townsman of his, a plebeian, embraced him as an old comrade, though the fasces were being carried before him; whereupon he had the fellow beaten with clubs and then ordered a proclamation to be made by the herald to this effect: "Let no plebeian embrace without due cause a legate of the Roman people". 7 On account of this incident, legates, who had previously gone on foot, thereafter rode in carriages. 8 About this time, also, being worried about the future, he had recourse to an astrologer in a certain city of Africa. The astrologer, when he had cast the horoscope, saw high destinies in store for him, but added: "Tell me your own nativity and not that of another man". 9 And when Severus swore an oath that it was really his, the astrologer revealed to him all the things that did later come to pass.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 3 1 He was promoted to be tribune of the plebs by order of the Emperor Marcus, and he performed his duties with austerity and vigour. 2 It was then that he married Marcia,10 but of her he made no mention in the history of his life as a private man. 11 Afterwards, however, while emperor, he erected statues in her honour. 3 In the thirty-second year of his life Marcus appointed him praetor, although he was not p377 one of the Emperor's candidates but only one of the ordinary crowd of competitors. 12 4 He was thereupon sent to Spain, and here he had a dream, first that he was told to repair the temple of Augustus at Tarraco,13 which at that time was falling into ruin, 5 and then that from the top of a very high mountain he beheld Rome and all the world, while the provinces sang together to the accompaniment of the lyre and flute. Though absent from the city, he gave games. 14 6 Presently he was put in command of the Fourth Legion, the Scythica, stationed near Massilia,15 7 and after that he proceeded to Athens — partly in order to continue his studies and perform certain sacred rites, and partly on account of the public buildings and ancient monuments there. Here he suffered certain wrongs at the hands of the Athenians; and on that account he became their foes, and afterwards, as emperor, took vengeance on them by curtailing their rights. 8 After this he was appointed to the province of Lugdunensis as legate. 9 He had meanwhile lost his wife, and now, wishing to take another, he made inquiries about the horoscopes of marriageable women, being himself no mean astrologer; and when he learned that there was a woman in Syria whose horoscope predicted that she would wed a king (I mean Julia,16 of course), he sought her for his wife, and through the mediation of his friends secured her. By her, presently, he became a father. 17 [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 4 1 And because he was strict, honourable and self-restrained, he was beloved by the Gauls as was no one else.

p379 2 ºNext he ruled the Pannonias18 with proconsular powers, and after this he drew in the allotment the proconsular province of Sicily. At Rome, meanwhile, he was presented with a second son. 19 3 While he was in Sicily he was indicted for consulting about the imperial dignity with seers and astrologers, but, because Commodus was now beginning to be detested,20 he was acquitted by the prefects of the guard to whom he had been handed over for trial, while his accuser was crucified. 4 He now served his first consulship, having Apuleius Rufinus21 for his colleague — an office to which Commodus appointed him from among a large number of aspirants. After the consulship he spent about a year free from public duties; then, on the recommendation of Laetus, he was put in charge of the army in Germany. 22 5 Just as he was setting out for Germany, he acquired elaborate gardens, although he had previously kept only an unpretentious dwelling in the city and a single farm in Venetia. 6 And now, when he was reclining on the ground in these gardens, partaking of a frugal supper with his children, his elder son, who was then five years old, divided the fruit, when it was served, with rather a bounteous hand among his young playmates. And when his father reproved him, saying: "Be more sparing; for you have not the riches of a king," the five-year‑old child replied: "No, but I shall have". 7 On coming to Germany, Severus conducted himself in this office in such a manner as to increase a reputation which was already illustrious.

p381 5 1 [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] So far did he pursue his military career as a subject. Now, when it was learned that Commodus had been slain and that Julianus was holding the throne amid general hatred,23 at the behest of many, but against his own will, he was hailed emperor by the German legions; this took place at Carnuntum on the Ides of August. 24 2 A thousand sesterces — a sum which no prince had ever given before — were presented to each soldier. 25 3 And then, after garrisoning the provinces which he was leaving in his rear, he hastened his march on Rome. Wherever his path lay, all yielded to him, and the legions in Illyricum and Gaul26 had already, under compulsion from their generals, espoused his cause, 4 for he was universally regarded as the avenger of Pertinax. 5 Meanwhile, at Julianus' instigation, the senate declared him a public enemy,27 and legates were sent to his army with a message from the senate ordering his soldiers in the name of the senate to desert him. 28 6 And in truth, when Severus heard that legates had been sent by unanimous order of the senate, he was at first terrified; afterwards, however, he managed to bribe the legates to address the army in his favour and then to desert to his side themselves. 29 7 When Julianus learned of this, he caused the senate to pass a decree that Severus and he should share the throne. 30 8 Whether this was done in good faith or treacherously is not clear; for already, ere this, Julianus had sent certain fellows, notorious assassins of generals, to murder Severus,31 and indeed he had sent men p383 to murder Pescennius Niger as well,32 who, at the instigation of the armies in Syria,33 had also declared himself emperor in opposition to Julianus. 9 However, Severus escaped the clutches of the men whom Julianus had sent to kill him and despatched a letter to the guard instructing them either to desert Julianus or to kill him; and his order was immediately obeyed. 34 10 For not only was Julianus slain in the Palace, but Severus was invited to Rome. 11 And so, by the mere nod of his head, Severus became the victor — a thing that had befallen no man ever before — and still under arms hastened towards Rome.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 6 1 After the murder of Julianus Severus still remained encamped and in his tents as though he were advancing through a hostile territory; the senate, therefore, sent a delegation of a hundred senators to bear him congratulations and sue for pardon. 2 And when these met him at Interamna,a they were searched for concealed weapons and only then suffered to greet him as he stood armed and in the midst of armed men. 3 But on the following day, after all the palace attendants had arrived, he presented each member of the delegation 4 with seven hundred and twenty pieces of gold,35 and sent them on ahead, granting to such as desired, however, the privilege of remaining and returning to Rome with himself. 5 Without further delay, he appointed as prefect of the guard that Flavius Juvenalis whom Julianus had chosen for his third prefect. 36

p385 6 Meanwhile at Rome a mighty panic seized both soldiers and civilians, for they realized that Severus was advancing under arms and against those who had declared him a public enemy. 7 The excitement was further increased when Severus learned that Pescennius Niger had been hailed emperor by the legions in Syria. 8 However, the proclamations and letters that Pescennius sent to the people and senate were, with the connivance of the messengers who had been sent with them, intercepted by Severus, for he wished to prevent their being published among the people or read in the senate-house. 9 At the same time, too, he considered abdicating in favour of Clodius Albinus, to whom, it appeared, the power of a Caesar37 had already been decreed at the instance of Commodus. 10 But instead, he sent Heraclitus to secure Britain38 and Plautianus to seize Niger's children,39 in fear of these men and having formed a correct opinion about them. 11 And when he arrived at Rome, he ordered the guard to meet him clad only in their undergarments and without arms; then, with armed men posted all about him, he summoned them, thus apparelled, to the tribunal. 40

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 7 1 Severus, armed himself and attended by armed men, entered the city and went up to the Capitol;41 thence he proceeded, still fully armed, to the Palace, having the standards, which he had taken from the praetorians, borne before him not raised erect but trailing on the ground. 2 And then throughout the whole p387 city, in temples, in porticoes, and in the dwellings on the Palatine, the soldiers took up their quarters as though in barracks; 3 and Severus' entry inspired both hate and fear, for the soldiers seized goods they did not pay for and threatened to lay the city waste. 4 On the next day, accompanied not only by armed soldiers but also by a body of armed friends, Severus appeared before the senate, and there, in the senate-house, gave his reasons for assuming the imperial power, alleging in defence thereof that men notorious for assassinating generals had been sent by Julianus to murder him. 42 5 He secured also the passage of a senatorial decree to the effect that the emperor should not be permitted to put any senator to death without first consulting the senate. 43 6 But while he was still in the senate-house, his soldiers, with threats of mutiny, demanded of the senate ten thousand sesterces each, citing the precedent of those who had conducted Augustus Octavian to Rome and received a similar sum. 44 7 And although Severus himself desired to repress them, he found himself unable; eventually, however, by giving them a bounty he managed to appease them and then sent them away. 45 8 Thereupon he held for an effigy of Pertinax46 a funeral such as is given a censor,47 elevated him to a place among the deified emperors and gave him, besides, a flamen and a Helvian Brotherhood, composed of the priests who had previously constituted the Marcian Brotherhood. 48 9 Moreover, he himself was, at his own command, given the name Pertinax;49 although later he p389 wished it withdrawn, for fear that it would prove an omen.

8 1 [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] Next he freed his friends from debt. He then settled dowries on his daughters and gave them in marriage to Probus and Aetius. As for his son-in‑law Probus, when he offered to make him prefect of the city, Probus declined, averring that it meant less to him to be prefect of the city than son-in‑law to the emperor. 2 However, he immediately appointed each of them consul and made each rich. 3 Soon thereafter he appeared before the senate, and bringing in accusations against the friends of Julianus, caused them to be outlawed and put to death. 4 He heard a vast number of lawsuits, and magistrates who had been accused by the provincials he punished severely whenever the accusations against them were proved; 5 and finding the grain-supply at a very low ebb, he managed it so well that on departing this life he left the Roman people a surplus to the amount of seven years' tribute.

6 And now he set out to remedy the situation in the East, still making no public mention of Niger. 7 None the less, however, he sent troops to Africa, for fear that Niger might advance through Libya and Egypt and seize this province, and thereby distress the Roman people with a scarcity of grain. 50 8 Then, leaving Domitius Dexter as prefect of the city in place of Bassus, within thirty days of his coming to Rome he set out again;51 9 and he had proceeded from the city no farther than Saxa Rubra52 when he had to face a great mutiny in his army, which arose on account of the place selected for pitching camp. 10 Then his brother Geta53 came at once to meet him, but merely received orders to rule the province already p391 in his charge, though Geta had other hopes. 11 Niger's children, who were brought to him, he treated with the same care that he showed his own.
54 12 Previous to this, he had sent a legion to occupy Greece and Thrace, and thereby prevent Niger from seizing them. 13 But Niger already held Byzantium, and now wishing to seize Perinthus too, he slew a great number of this force and accordingly, together with Aemilianus,55 was declared an enemy to the state. 56 14 He next proposed joint rule with Severus; this was rejected with scorn. 15 As a matter of fact, Severus did promise him an unmolested exile if he wished it,57 but refused to pardon Aemilianus. 16 Soon thereafter Aemilianus was defeated by Severus' generals at the Hellespont58 and fled first to Cyzicus and from there to another city, and here he was put to death by order of Severus' generals. 17 Niger's own forces, moreover, were routed by the same generals. 59 [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 9 1 On receipt of this news Severus despatched letters to the senate as if the whole affair were finished. And not long afterwards he met with Niger near Cyzicus,60 slew him, and paraded his head on a pike. 2 Niger's children, whom he had maintained in the same state as his own,61 he sent into exile after this event, together with their mother.

3 He sent a letter to the senate announcing the victory,62 but he inflicted no punishment upon any of p393 the senators who had sided with Niger,63 with the exception of one man. 4 Towards the citizens of Antioch he was more resentful, because they had laughed at him in his administration of the East and also had aided Niger with supplies. 5 Eventually he deprived them of many privileges. The citizens of Neapolis in Palestine, because they had long been in arms on Niger's side,64 he deprived of all their civic rights, 6 and to many individuals, other than members of the senatorial order, who had followed Niger he meted out cruel punishments. 7 Many communities,65 too, which had been on Niger's side, were punished with fines and degradation; 8 and such senators as had seen active service on Niger's side with the title of general or tribune were put to death.

9 Next, he engaged in further operations in the region about Arabia66 and brought the Parthians back to allegiance and also the Adiabeni — all of whom had sided with Pescennius. 10 For this exploit, after he returned home, he was given a triumph and the names Arabicus, Adiabenicus, and Parthicus. 67 11 He refused the triumph, however, lest he seem to triumph for a victory over Romans; and he declined the name Parthicus lest he hurt the Parthians' feelings.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 10 1 And then, just as he was returning to Rome after the civil war caused by Niger, he received news p395 of another civil war, caused by Clodius Albinus,68 who had revolted in Gaul. 69 It was because of this revolt that Niger's children and their mother were later put to death. 70 2 As for Albinus, Severus at once declared him a public foe, and likewise those who, in their letters to him or replies to his letters, had expressed themselves as favourably inclined to him. 3 As he was advancing against Albinus, moreover, and had reached Viminacium71 on his march, he gave his elder son Bassianus the name Aurelius Antoninus72 and the title of Caesar,73 in order to destroy whatever hopes of succeeding to the throne his brother Geta had conceived. 4 His reason for giving his son the name Antoninus was that he had dreamed that an Antoninus would succeed him. 5 It was because of this dream, some believe, that Geta74 also was called Antoninus,75 in order that he too might succeed to the throne. 6 Others, however, think that Bassianus was given the name Antoninus because Severus himself wished to pass over into the family of Marcus. 76

7 At first, Severus' generals77 were worsted by those of Albinus;78 but when, in his anxiety, he consulted augurs in Pannonia, he learned that he would be p397 the victor, and that his opponent would neither fall into his hands nor yet escape, but would die close by the water. 8 Many of Albinus' friends soon deserted and came over to Severus; and many of his generals were captured, all of whom Severus punished. 11 Meanwhile, after many operations had been carried on in Gaul with varying success, Severus had his first successful encounter with Albinus at Tinurtium. 79 2 Through the fall of his horse, however, he was at one time in the utmost peril; and it was even believed that he had been slain by a blow with a ball of lead, and the army almost elected another emperor. 80 3 It was at this time that Severus, on reading the resolutions passed by the senate in praise of Clodius Celsinus, who was a native of Hadrumetum and Albinus' kinsman,81 became highly incensed at the senate, as though it had recognized Albinus by this act, and issued a decree that Commodus should be placed among the deified,82 as though he could take vengeance on the senate by this sort of thing. 83 4 He proclaimed the deification of Commodus to the soldiers first, and then announced it to the senate in a letter, to which he added a discourse on his own victory. 5 Next, he gave orders that the bodies of the senators who had been slain in the battle should be mutilated. 6 And then, when Albinus' body was brought before him, he had him beheaded while still half alive,84 gave orders that his head should be taken to Rome, and followed up the order with a letter. 7 Albinus was defeated on the eleventh day before the Kalends of March.

p399 The rest of Albinus' body was, by Severus' order, laid out in front of his own home, and kept there for a long time exposed to view. 8 Furthermore, Severus himself rode on horseback over the body, and when the horse shied, he spoke to it and loosed the reins, that it might trample boldly. 9 Some add that he ordered Albinus' body to be cast into the Rhone, and also the bodies of his wife and children.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 12 1 Countless persons who had sided with Albinus were put to death,85 among them numerous leading men and many distinguished women, and all their goods were confiscated and went to swell the public treasury. Many nobles of the Gauls and Spains were also put to death at this time. 2 Finally, he gave his soldiers sums of money such as no emperor had ever given before. 3 Yet as a result of these confiscations, he left his sons a fortune greater than any other emperor had left to his heirs, for he had made a large part of the gold in the Gauls, Spains, and Italy imperial property. 4 At this time the office of steward for private affairs86 was first established. 5 After Albinus' death many who remained loyal to him were defeated by Severus in battle. 6 At this same time, however, he received word that the legion in Arabia had gone over to Albinus. 87

7 And so, after having taken harsh vengeance for Albinus' revolt by putting many men to death and exterminating Albinus' family, he came to Rome filled with wrath at the people and senate. 8 He delivered a eulogy of Commodus before the senate and before an assembly of the people and declared him a god; he averred, moreover, that Commodus had been unpopular p401 only among the degraded. 88 9 Indeed, it was evident that Severus was openly furious. After this he spoke about the mercy he had shown, whereas he was really exceedingly blood-thirsty and executed the senators enumerated below. 89 [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 13 1 He put to death without even a fair trial the following noblemen: Mummius Secundinus, Asellius Claudianus, 2 Claudius Rufus, Vitalius Victor, Papius Faustus, Aelius Celsus, Julius Rufus, Lollius Professus, Aurunculeius Cornelianus, Antonius Balbus, Postumius Severus, Sergius Lustralis, 3 Fabius Paulinus, Nonius Gracchus, Masticius Fabianus, Casperius Agrippinus, Ceionius Albinus, 4 Claudius Sulpicianus, Memmius Rufinus, Casperius Aemilianus, Cocceius Verus, Erucius Clarus, 5 Aelius Stilo, Clodius Rufinus, Egnatuleius Honoratus, 6 Petronius Junior, the six Pescennii, Festus, Veratianus, Aurelianus, Materianus, Julianus, and Albinus; the three Cerellii, Macrinus, Faustinianus, and Julianus; 7 Herennius Nepos, Sulpicius Canus, Valerius Catullinus, Novius Rufus, Claudius Arabianus, and Marcius Asellio. 8 And yet he who murdered all these distinguished men, many of whom had been consuls and many praetors, while all were of high estate, is regarded by the Africans as a god. 9 He falsely accused Cincius Severus of attempting his life by poison, and thereupon put him to death; next, he cast to the lions Narcissus, the man who had strangled Commodus. 90 [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 14 1 And besides, he put to death many men from p403 the more humble walks of life, not to speak of those whom the fury of battle had consumed.

2 After this, wishing to ingratiate himself with the people, he took the postal service91 out of private hands and transferred its cost to the privy-purse. 3 Then he caused the senate to give Bassianus Antoninus the title of Caesar and grant him the imperial insignia. 92 4 Next, when called away by the rumour of a Parthian war,93 he set up at his own expense statues in honour of his father, mother, grandfather and first wife. 94 5 He had been very friendly with Plautianus;95 but, on learning his true character, he conceived such an aversion to him as even to declare him a public enemy, overthrow his statues,96 and make him famous throughout the entire world for the severity of his punishment, the chief reason for his anger being that Plautianus had set up his own statue among the statues of Severus' kinsmen and connections. 6 He revoked the punishment which had been imposed upon the people of Palestine97 on Niger's account. 7 Later, he again entered into friendly relations with Plautianus, and after entering the city in his company like one who celebrates an ovation,98 he went up to the Capitol, although in the course of time he killed him. 8 He bestowed the toga virilis on his younger son, p405 Geta, and he united his elder son in marriage with Plautianus' daughter. 99 9 Those who had declared Plautianus a public enemy were now driven into exile. Thus, as if by a law of nature, do all things ever shift and change. 10 Soon thereafter he appointed his sons to the consulship; also he greatly honoured his brother Geta. 100 11 Then, after giving a gladiatorial show and bestowing largess upon the people, he set out for the Parthian war. 12 Many men meanwhile were put to death, some on true and some on trumped-up charges. 13 Several were condemned because they had spoken in jest, others because they had not spoken at all, others again because they had cried out many things with double meaning, such as "Behold an emperor worthy of his name — Pertinacious in very truth, in very truth Severe".

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 15 1 It was commonly rumoured, to be sure, that in planning a war on the Parthians, Septimius Severus was influenced rather by a desire for glory than by any real necessity. 101 2 Finally, he transported his army from Brundisium, reached Syria without breaking his voyage, and forced the Parthians to retreat. 102 3 After that, however, he returned to Syria in order to make preparations to carry on an offensive war against the Parthians. 4 In the meantime, on the advice of Plautianus, he hunted down the last survivors of Pescennius' revolt, and he even went so far as to bring charges against several of his own friends on the ground that they were plotting to kill him. 5 He put numerous others to death on the charge of having asked Chaldeans or soothsayers how long he was p407 destined to live; and he was especially suspicious of anyone who seemed qualified for the imperial power, for his sons were still very young, and he believed or had heard that this fact was being observed by those who were seeking omens regarding their own prospects of the throne. 6 Eventually, however, when several had been put to death, Severus disclaimed all responsibility, and after their death denied that he had given orders to do what had been done. Marius Maximus says that this was particularly true in the case of Laetus. 103 7 His sister from Leptis once came to see him, and, since she could scarcely speak Latin, made the emperor blush for her hotly. And so, after giving the broad stripe104 to her son and many presents to the woman herself, he sent her home again, and also her son, who died a short time afterwards.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 16 1 When the summer was well-nigh over, Severus invaded Parthia, defeated the king, and came to Ctesiphon; and about the beginning of the winter season he took the city. For indeed in those regions it is better to wage war during the winter, although the soldiers live on the roots of the plants and so contract various ills and diseases. 2 For this reason then, although he could make no further progress, since the Parthian army was blocking the way and his men were suffering from diarrhoea because of the unfamiliar food, he nevertheless held his ground, took the city, put the king to flight, slew a great multitude, and gained the name Parthicus. 105 3 For this feat, likewise, the soldiers declared his son, p409 Bassianus Antoninus, co-emperor;106 he had already been named Caesar107 and was now in his thirteenth year. 4 And to Geta, his younger son, they gave the name Caesar,108 and called him in addition Antoninus,109 as several men relate in their writings. 5 To celebrate the bestowal of these names Severus gave the soldiers an enormous donative, none other, in truth, than liberty to plunder the Parthian capital,110 a privilege for which they had been clamouring. 6 He then returned victorious to Syria. 111 But when the senators offered him a triumph for the Parthian campaign, he declined it because he was so afflicted with gout that he was unable to stand upright in his chariot. 7 Notwithstanding this, he gave permission that his son should celebrate a triumph; for the senate had decreed to him a triumph over Judaea because of the successes achieved by Severus in Syria. 112

8 Next, when he had reached Antioch, he bestowed the toga virilis upon his elder son and appointed him consul as colleague to himself; 9 and without further delay, while still in Syria, the two entered upon their consulship. [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 17 1 After this, having first raised his soldiers' pay, he turned his steps toward Alexandria, and while on his way thither he conferred numerous rights upon the communities of Palestine. 113 He forbade conversion to Judaism under heavy penalties and enacted a similar law in regard to the Christians. 2 He then gave the Alexandrians the privilege of a local senate, for they were still without any public council, just as they had been under their own kings,114 and were obliged to be content with p411 the single governor appointed by Caesar. 115 3 Besides this, he changed many of their laws. 4 In after years Severus himself continually avowed that he had found this journey very enjoyable, because he had taken part in the worship of the god Serapis, had learned something of antiquity, and had seen unfamiliar animals and strange places. For he visited Memphis, Memnon,116 the Pyramids, and the Labyrinth,117 and examined them all with great care.

5 But since it is tedious to mention in detail the less important matters, only the most noteworthy of his deeds are here related. 118 He discharged the cohorts of the guard119 after Julianus was defeated and slain; he deified Pertinax against the wishes of the army;120 and he gave orders that the decisions of Salvius Julianus should be annulled,121 though this he did not succeed in accomplishing. 6 Lastly, he was given the surname Pertinax, not so much by his own wish,122 it seems, as because of his frugal ways. 123 7 In fact, he was considered somewhat cruel, both on account of his innumerable executions124 and because, when one his enemies came before him on a certain occasion to crave forgiveness and said "What would you have done? ",125 8 Severus was not softened by so p413 sensible a speech, but ordered him to be put to death. He was determined to crush out conspiracies. He seldom departed from a battle except as victor. 126 [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 18 1 He defeated Abgarus, the king of the Persians. 127 He extended his sway over the Arabs. He forced the Adiabeni to give tribute. 128 2 He built a wall129 across the island of Britain from sea to sea, and thus made the province secure — the crowning glory of his reign; in recognition thereof he was given the name Britannicus. 130 3 He freed Tripolis, the region of his birth, from fear of attack by crushing sundry warlike tribes. And he bestowed upon the Roman people, without cost, a most generous daily allowance of oil in perpetuity. 131

4 He was implacable toward the guilty; at the same time he showed singular judgment in advancing the efficient. 5 He took a fair interest in philosophy and oratory, and showed a great eagerness for learning in general. 6 He was relentless everywhere toward brigands. 132 He wrote a trustworthy account of his own life, both before and after he became emperor,133 in which the only charge that he tried to explain away was that of cruelty. 7 In regard to this charge, the senate declared that Severus either should never have p415 been born at all or never should have died, because on the one hand, he had proved too cruel, and on the other, too useful to the state. 8 For all that, he was less careful in his home-life, for he retained his wife Julia even though she was notorious for her adulteries and also guilty of plotting against him. 134 9 On one occasion,135 when he so suffered from gout as to delay a campaign, his soldiers in their dismay conferred on his son Bassianus, who was with him at the time, the title of Augustus. Severus, however, had himself lifted up and carried to the tribunal, summoned 10 all the tribunes, centurions, generals, and cohorts responsible for this occurrence, and after commanding his son, who had received the name Augustus, to stand up, gave orders that all the authors of this deed, save only his son, should be punished. When they threw themselves before the tribunal and begged for pardon, Severus touched his head with his hand and said, "Now at last you know that the head does the ruling, and not the feet". 11 And even after fortune had led him step by step through the pursuits of study and of warfare even to the throne, he used to say: "Everything have I been, and nothing have I gained".

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 19 1 In the eighteenth year of his reign, now an old man and overcome by a most grievous disease, he died at Eboracum in Britain, after subduing various tribes that seemed a possible menace to the p417 province. 136 2 He left two sons, Antoninus Bassianus and Geta, also named by him Antoninus137 in honour of Marcus. 3 Severus was laid in the tomb of Marcus Antoninus,138 whom of all the emperors he revered so greatly that he even deified Commodus139 and held that all emperors should thenceforth assume the name Antoninus as they did that of Augustus. 4 At the demand of his sons, who gave him a most splendid funeral, he was added by the senateº to the deified. 140

5 The principal public works of his now in existence are the Septizonium141 and the Baths of Severus. 142 He also built the Septimian Baths in the district across the Tiber near the gate named after him,143 but the aqueduct fell down immediately after its completion and the people were unable to make any use of them.

6 After his death the opinion that all men held of him was high indeed; for, in the long period that followed, no good came to the state from his sons, and after them, when many invaders came pouring in upon the state, the Roman Empire became a thing for free-booters to plunder.

p419 7 His clothing was of the plainest; indeed, even his tunic had scarcely any purple on it, while he covered his shoulders with a shaggy cloak. 8 He was very sparing in his diet,144 was fond of his native beans, liked wine at times, and often went without meat. 9 In person he was large and handsome. His beard was long; his hair was grey and curly, his face was such as to inspire respect. His voice was clear, but retained an African accent even to his old age. 10 After his death he was much beloved, for then all envy of his power or fear of his cruelty had vanished.

[image ALT: A marble bust of an old man with curly hair and a curly shaggy beard. It is a portrait of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus. ]

[image ALT: A marble head of an old man with curly hair and a curly shaggy beard. It is a close-up of a portrait-bust of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus. ]

Contemporary portrait-bust in the Stanza degli Imperatori in the Capitoline Museums in Rome,
identified as that of the emperor Severus.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 20 1 I can remember reading in Aelius Maurus, the freedman of that Phlegon145 who was Hadrian's freedman, that Septimius Severus rejoiced exceedingly at the time of his death, because he was leaving two Antonini to rule the state with equal powers,146 herein following the example of Pius, who left to the state Verus and Marcus Antoninus, his two sons by adoption; 2 and that he rejoiced all the more, because, while Pius had left only adopted sons, he was leaving sons of his own blood to rule the Roman state, namely Antoninus Bassianus, whom he had begotten from his first marriage,147 and Geta, whom Julia had borne him. 3 In these high hopes, however, he was grievously deceived; for the state was denied the one by murder,148 the other149 by his own character. And in scarcely any case did that revered name150 long or creditably survive. 4 Indeed, when I reflect on the matter, Diocletian Augustus, it is quite clear to me p421 that practically no great man has left the world a son of real excellence or value. 5 In short, most of them either died without issue of their own, or had such children that it would have been better for humanity had they departed without offspring. [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 21 1 As for Romulus, to begin with him, he left no children who might have proved useful to the state, nor did Numa Pompilius. What of Camillus? Did he have children like himself? What of Scipio? 151 What of the Catos, who were so distinguished? 2 Indeed, for that matter, what shall I say of Homer, Demosthenes, Vergil, Crispus,152 Terence, Plautus, and such as they? What of Caesar? What of Tully? — for whom, particularly, it had been better had he had no son. 153 3 What of Augustus, who could not get a worthy son even by adoption, though he had the whole world to choose from? Even Trajan was deceived when he chose for his heir his fellow-townsman and nephew. 154 4 But let us except sons by adoption, lest our thoughts turn to those two guardian spirits of the state, Pius and Marcus Antoninus, and let us proceed to sons by birth. 5 What could have been more fortunate for Marcus than not to have left Commodus as his heir? 6 What more fortunate for Septimius Severus than not to have even begotten Bassianus? — a man who speedily charged his brother with contriving plots against him — a murderous falsehood — and put him to death; 7 who took his own stepmother to wife155 — stepmother did I say? — nay rather the mother on whose bosom he had slain Geta, her son;156 8 who slew, because p423 he refused to absolve him of his brother's murder,157 Papinian, a sanctuary of law and treasure-house of jurisprudence, who had been raised to the office of prefect that a man who had become illustrious through his own efforts and his learning might not lack official rank. 9 In short, not to mention other things, I believe that it was because of this man's character that Severus, a gloomier man in every way, nay even a crueller one, was considered righteous and worthy of the worship of a god. 10 Once indeed, it is said, Severus, when laid low by sickness, sent to his elder son that divine speech in Sallust in which Micipsa urges his sons to the ways of peace. 158 In vain, however. . . . 11 For a long time, finally, the people hated Antoninus, and that venerable name was long less beloved, even though he gave the people clothing (whence he got his name Caracallus)159 and built the most splendid baths. 160 12 There is a colonnade of Severus at Rome,161 I might mention, depicting his exploits, which was built by his son, or so most men say.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 22 1 The death of Severus was foreshadowed by the following events: he himself dreamed that he was snatched up to the heavens in a jewelled car drawn by four eagles, whilst some vast shape, I know not what, but resembling a man, flew on before. And while he was being snatched up, he counted out the numbers eighty and nine,162 and beyond this number of years he did not live so much as one, for he was an old man when he came to the throne. 2 And then, after he p425 had been placed in a huge circle in the air, for a long time he stood alone and desolate, until finally, when he began to fear that he might fall headlong, he saw himself summoned by Jupiter and placed among the Antonines. 3 Again, on the day of the circus-games, when three plaster figures of Victory were set up in the customary way, with palms in their hands, the one in the middle, which held a sphere inscribed with his name, struck by a gust of wind, fell down from the balcony163 in an upright position and remained on the ground in this posture; while the one on which Geta's name was inscribed was dashed down and completely shattered, and the one which bore Bassianus' name lost its palm and barely managed to keep its place, such was the whirling of the wind. 4 On another occasion, when he was returning to his nearest quarters from an inspection of the wall at Luguvallum164 in Britain, at a time when he had not only proved victorious but had concluded a perpetual peace, just as he was wondering what omen would present itself, an Ethiopian soldier, who was famous among buffoons and always a notable jester, met him with a garland of cypress-boughs. 5 And when Severus in a rage ordered that the man be removed from his sight, troubled as he was by the man's ominous colour and the ominous nature of the garland, the Ethiopian by way of jest cried, it is said, "You have been all things,165 you have conquered all things, now, O conqueror, be a god. " 6 And when on reaching the town he wished to perform a sacrifice, in the first place, through a misunderstanding on the part of the rustic soothsayer, he was taken to the Temple of Bellona, and, in the second place, the victims provided him were black. 7 And then, when p427 he abandoned the sacrifice in disgust and betook himself to the Palace,166 through some carelessness on the part of the attendants the black victims followed him up to its very doors.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 23 1 In many communities there are public buildings erected by him which are famous, but particularly noteworthy among the achievements of his life was the restoration of all the public sanctuaries in Rome, which were then falling to ruin through the passage of time. And seldom did he inscribe his own name on these restorations or fail to preserve the names of those who built them. 2 At his death he left a surplus of grain to the amount of seven years' tribute,167 or enough to distribute seventy-five thousand pecks a day, and so much oil,168 indeed, that for five years there was plenty for the uses, not only of the city, but also for as much as of Italy as was in need of it.

3 His last words, it is said, were these: "The state, when I received it, was harassed on every side; I leave it at peace, even in Britain; old now and with crippled feet, I bequeath to my two Antonini an empire which is strong, if they prove good, feeble, if they prove bad. " 4 After this, he issued orders to give the tribune the watchword "Let us toil," because Pertinax, when he assumed the imperial power, had given the word "Let us be soldiers". 169 5 He then ordered a duplicate made of the royal statue of Fortune which was customarily carried about with the emperors and placed in their bedrooms,170 in order that he might leave this most holy statue to each of his sons; 6 but later, when he realized that the hour of death was upon him, he gave instructions, they say, that the original should be placed in the bed-chambers p429 of each of his sons, the co-emperors, on alternate days. 7 As for this direction, Bassianus ignored it and then murdered his brother.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 24 1 His body was borne from Britain to Rome, and was everywhere received by the provincials with profound reverence. 2 Some men say, however, that only a golden urn171 containing Severus' ashes was so conveyed, and that this was laid in the tomb of the Antonines,172 while Septimius himself was cremated where he died.

3 When he built the Septizonium173 he had no other thought than that his building should strike the eyes of those who came to Rome from Africa. 4 It is said that he wished to make an entrance on this side of the Palatine mansion — the royal dwelling, that is — and he would have done so had not the prefect of the city planted his statue in the centre of it while he was away. 5 Afterwards Alexander174 wished to carry out this plan, but he, it is said, was prevented by the soothsayers, for on making inquiry he obtained unfavourable omens.

The Life of Pescennius Niger

1 1 [Legamen ad paginam Latinam] It is an unusual task and a difficult one to set down fairly in writing the lives of men who, through other men's victories, remained mere pretenders, and for this reason not all the facts concerning such men are preserved in our records and histories in full. 2 For, in the first place, notable events that redound to their honour are distorted by historians; other events, in the second place, are suppressed; and, in the third place, no great care is bestowed upon inquiries into their ancestry and life, since it seems sufficient to recount their presumption, the battle in which they were overcome, and the punishment they suffered.

3 Pescennius Niger, then, was born of humble parentage, according to some, of noble, according to others. His father was Annius Fuscus, his mother Lampridia. His grandfather was the supervisor of Aquinum,1 the town to which the family sought to trace its origin, though the fact is even now considered doubtful. 4 As for Pescennius himself, he was passably well versed in literature, thrifty in his habits, and unbridled in indulgence in every manner of p433 passion. 2 5 For a long time he commanded in the ranks,3 and finally, after holding many generalships,4 he reached the point where Commodus named him to command the armies in Syria, chiefly on the recommendation of the athlete who afterward strangled Commodus;5 for so, at that time, were all appointments made.

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 2 1 And now, after he learned that Commodus had been murdered, that Julianus had been declared emperor, and then, by order of Severus and the senate, put to death, and that Albinus, furthermore, had assumed in Gaul the name and power of emperor,6 Pescennius was hailed imperator by the armies he commanded in Syria;— though more out of aversion to Julianus, some say, than in rivalry of Severus. 2 Even before this, during the first days of Julianus' reign, because of the dislike felt for the Emperor, Pescennius was so favoured at Rome, that even the senators, who hated Severus also, prayed for his success, while with showers of stones and general execrations7 the commons shouted "May the gods preserve him as Emperor, and him as Augustus". 3 For the mob hated Julianus because the soldiers had slain Pertinax and declared Julianus emperor contrary to their wishes; and there was violent rioting on this account. 4 Julianus, for his part, had sent a senior centurion to assassinate Niger8 — a piece of folly, since the attempt was made against one who led an army and could protect himself, and as though, forsooth, any sort of emperor could be slain by a retired centurion! 5 With equal madness he sent out a p435 successor for Severus when Severus had already become emperor; 6 and lastly he sent the centurion Aquilius,9 notorious as an assassin of generals, as if such an emperor could be slain by a centurion! 7 It was similarly an act of insanity that he, according to report, dealt with Severus by issuing a proclamation forbidding him to seize the imperial power, so that he might seem to have established a prior claim to the empire by process of law!

[Legamen ad paginam Latinam] 3 1 What the people thought of Pescennius Niger is evident from the following: when Julianus gave circus-games at Rome, the people filled the seats of the Circus Maximus without distinction of rank, assailed him with much abuse, and then with one accord called for Pescennius Niger to protect the city10 — partly out of hatred for Julianus, as we have said,11 and partly out of love for the slain Pertinax. 2 On this occasion Julianus is reported to have said that neither he himself nor Pescennius was destined to rule for long, but rather Severus, though he it was who was more worthy of hatred from the senators, the soldiers, the provincials and the city-mob. And this proved to be the case.

3 Now Pescennius was on very friendly terms with Severus at the time that the latter was governor of the province of Lugdunensis. 12 4 For he was sent to apprehend a body of deserters who were then ravaging Gaul in great numbers,13 5 and because he conducted himself in this task with credit, he gained the esteem of Severus, so much so, in fact, that the latter wrote to Commodus about him, and averred that he was a man indispensable to the state. 6 And he was, indeed, a strict man in all things military. No soldier under his command ever forced a provincial p437 to give him fuel, oil, or service. 7 He himself never accepted any presents from a soldier, and when he served as tribune he would not allow any to be accepted. 8 Even as emperor, when two tribunes were proved to have made deductions from the soldiers' rations,14 he ordered the auxiliaries to stone them.