Res Gestae

Amid this variety of disasters Ursicinus, to whose attendance the imperial command had attached me, was summoned from Nisibis, of which he was in charge, and was compelled, in spite of his reluctance and his opposition to the clamorous troops of flatterers, to investigate the accusations in the deadly strife. He was in fact a warrior, having always been a soldier and a leader of soldiers, but far removed from the wranglings of the forum;

But by too great caution he had fallen into worse snares, as we shall show later, since his rivals patched up dangerous plots with Constantius, who was in other respects a moderate emperor, but cruel and implacable if anyone, however obscure, had whispered in his ear anything of that kind, and in cases of that nature unlike himself.

Accordingly, on the day set for the fatal examinations the master of the horse took his seat, ostensibly as a judge, attended by others who had been told in advance what was to be done; and here and there shorthand writers were stationed who reported every question and every answer posthaste to Caesar; and by his cruel orders, instigated by the queen, who from time to time poked her face through a curtain, many were done to death without being allowed to clear themselves of the charges or to make any defence.

First of all, then, Epigonus and Eusebius were brought before them and ruined by the affinity of their names; for Montius, as I have said,[*](See 7, 18, with note.) at the very end of his life had accused certain tribunes of forges called by those names of having promised support to some imminent enterprise.

And Epigonus, for his part, was a philosopher only in his attire, as became evident; for when he had tried entreaties to no purpose, when his sides had been

And when, being acquainted with the law, he persistently called for his accuser and the usual formalities, Caesar, being informed of his demand and regarding his freedom of speech as arrogance, ordered that he be tortured as a reckless traducer. And when he had been so disembowelled that he had no parts left to torture, calling on Heaven for justice and smiling sardonically, he remained unshaken, with stout heart, neither deigning to accuse himself nor anyone else; and at last, without having admitted his guilt or been convicted, he was condemned to death along with his abject associate. And he was led off to execution unafraid, railing at the wickedness of the times and imitating the ancient stoic Zeno, who, after being tortured for a long time, to induce him to give false witness, tore his tongue from its roots and hurled it with its blood and spittle into the eyes of the king of Cyprus, who was putting him to the question.

After this, the matter of the royal robe was investigated, and when those who were employed in dyeing purple were tortured and had confessed to making a short sleeveless tunic to cover the chest, a man named Maras was brought in, a deacon, as

So when many men of various conditions had been put to the question, some things were found to be doubtful and others were obviously unimportant. And after many had been put to death, the two Apollinares, father and son, were exiled; but when they had come to a place called Craterae, namely, a villa of theirs distant twenty-four miles from Antioch, their legs were broken, according to orders, and they were killed.

After their death Gallus, no whit less ferocious than before, like a lion that had tasted blood, tried many cases of the kind; but of all of these it is not worth while to give an account, for fear that I may exceed the limits which I have set myself, a thing which I certainly ought to avoid.

While the East was enduring this long tyranny, as soon as the warm season began, Constantius, being in his seventh consulship with Gallus in his second,[*](It was Gallus’ third Consulship; Valesius proposed to read tertium or ter.) set out from Arelate for Valentia, to make war upon the brothers Gundomadus and Valomarius, kings of the Alamanni, whose frequent raids were devastating that part of Gaul which adjoined their frontiers.

And while he delayed there for a long time,

The soldiers, however, who in the meantime had been assembled at Châlon,[*](Châlon sar Saéne.) began to rage with impatience at the delay, being the more incensed because they lacked even the necessities of life, since the usual supplies had not yet been brought.

Therefore Rufinus, who was at that time praetorian prefect,[*](That is, praetorian prefect in Gaul.) was exposed to extreme danger; for he was forced to go in person before the troops, who were aroused both by the scarcity and by their natural savage temper, and besides were naturally inclined to be harsh and bitter towards men in civil positions,[*](Praefectus praetorio at this time was a civil, not a military, official.) in order to pacify them and explain why the convoy of provisions was interrupted.

This was a shrewd plan, cunningly devised with set purpose, in order that by a plot of that kind the uncle of Gallus[*](In charge of the imperial household. At this time a very important official; see Introd. pp. xxxv f.) might perish, for fear that so very powerful a man might whet the boldness of his nephew and encourage his dangerous designs. But great precautions were taken, and when the design was postponed, Eusebius, the grand chamberlain,[*](Rufinus was his mother’s brother.)

And so, after surmounting many difficulties, over paths many of which were heaped high with snow, they came near to Rauracum[*](Augusta Rauricorum, modern Augst.) on the banks of the river Rhine. There a great force of the Alamanni opposed them, and hurling weapons from all sides like hail, by their superior numbers prevented the Romans from making a bridge by joining boats together. And when that was obviously impossible, the emperor was consumed with anxious thought and in doubt what course to take.