Res Gestae

Therefore, urged by the great crisis, go forth, yourself a brave man, ready to lead men equally brave. We shall stand by each other in turn with firm and steadfast affection, we shall campaign at the same time, and together we shall rule over a pacified world, provided only God grants our prayers, with equal moderation and conscientiousness. You will seem to be present with me everywhere, and I shall not fail you in whatever you undertake. In fine, go, hasten, with the united prayers of all, to defend with sleepless care the post assigned you, as it were, by your country herself.

After this address was ended, no one held his peace, but all the soldiers with fearful din struck their shields against their knees (this is a sign of complete approval; for when, on the contrary, they smite their shields with their spears it is an indication of anger and resentment),[*](See critical note.) and it was wonderful with what great joy all but a few approved Augustus’ choice and with due admiration welcomed the Caesar, brilliant with the gleam of the imperial purple.

Gazing long and earnestly on his eyes, at once terrible and full of charm, and on his face attractive in its unusual animation, they divined what manner of man he would be, as if they had perused those ancient books, the reading of which discloses from bodily signs the inward qualities of the soul.[*](Cf. Gellius, i. 9, 2, (Pythagoras) iam a principio adulescentes ἐφυσιογνωμόνει. Id verbum significat, mores . . . de oris et vultus ingenio . . . sciscitari. ) And that he might be regarded with the greater respect, they neither praised him beyond measure nor less than was fitting, and therefore their words were esteemed as those of censors, not of soldiers.

Finally, he was taken up to sit with the emperor in his carriage and conducted to the palace, whispering this verse from the Homeric song:[*](Iliad, v. 83; of. § 20; a play on πορφύρεος as the colour of blood and of royalty.)

1. By purple death I’m seized and fate supreme.

Then, within a few days, Helena, the maiden sister of Constantius, was joined in the bonds of wedlock to the Caesar; and when everything had

The news stated that Cologne, a city of great renown in Lower Germany, after an obstinate siege by the savages in great force, had been stormed and destroyed.

Overwhelmed by sorrow at this, the first omen, as it were, of approaching ills, he was often heard to mutter in complaining tones that he had gained nothing, except to die with heavier work.

But when he reached Vienne and entered the city, all ages and ranks flocked together to receive him with honour, as a man both longed for and efficient; and when they saw him afar off, the whole populace with the immediate neighbourhood, saluted him as a commander gracious and fortunate, and marched ahead of him with a chorus of praise, the more eagerly beholding royal pomp in a legitimate prince. And in his coming they placed the redress of their common disasters, thinking that some helpful spirit had shone upon their desperate condition.

Then an old woman, who had lost her sight, on inquiring who had entered and learning that it was the Caesar Julian, cried out that he would repair the temples of the Gods.

Now, since—as the lofty bard of Mantua said of old—a greater work[*](Aen. vii. 44 f, maior rerum mihi nascitur ordo, Maius opus moveo.) undertake, a greater train of events ariseth before me, I think now a suitable time to describe the regions and situation of the Gauls, for fear that amid fiery encounters and shifting fortunes of battle I may treat of matters unknown to some and seem to follow the example of slovenly sailors, who are forced amid surges and storms to mend their worn sails and rigging, which might have been put in order with less danger.

The ancient writers, in doubt as to the earliest origin of the Gauls, have left an incomplete account of the matter, but later Timagenes,[*](Timagenes of Alexandria, who, according to Suidas, was brought to Rome as a prisoner of war by Pompey. He wrote a History of Alexander and a History of the Gauls. Cf. Hor., Epist. i. 19, 15; Quint., i. 10, 10; x. i. 75.) a true Greek in accuracy as well as language, collected out of various books these facts that had been long forgotten; which, following his authority, and avoiding any obscurity, I shall state clearly and plainly.

Some asserted that the people first seen in these regions were Aborigines, called Celts from the name of a beloved king, and Galatae (for so the Greek language terms the Gauls) from the name of his mother. Others stated that the Dorians, following the earlier Hercules,[*](Earlier seems to be contrasted with the son of Amphytrion in 9, 6, below and the Theban Hercules in 10, 9, whom Ammianus identifies with the son of Amphytrion. The story of a hero similar to Hercules is found in Greece, Italy, Egypt, the Orient, and among the Celts and Germans. Cicero, De Nat. Deor. iii. 16, 42, names six Herculeses, Serv., ad Aen. viii. 564, four: the Tirynthian, Argive, Theban, and Libyan. The Theban Hercules is generally regarded as the son of Amphitryon, but the one here referred to seems to have been the Italic hero, locally called Recaranus and Garanus, who was later identified with the Greek Heracles.) settled in the lands bordering on the Ocean.

The

Some assert that after the destruction of Troy a few of those who fled from the Greeks and were scattered everywhere occupied those regions, which were then deserted.

But the inhabitants of those countries affirm this beyond all else, and I have also read it inscribed upon their monuments, that Hercules, the son of Amphytrion, hastened to destroy the cruel tyrants Geryon and Tauriscus, of whom one oppressed Spain, the other, Gaul; and having overcome them both that he took to wife some high-born women and begat numerous children, who called by their own names the districts which they ruled.