Res Gestae

Of its arrival in Italy, along with other matters relating to the subject, I have given a brief account by way of digression in telling of the acts of the emperor Commodus.[*](In one of the lost books.) But why the town was called by that

for some have maintained that since the image of the goddess fell from heaven, the city was named from πεσεῖν, which is the Greek word meaning to fall. Others say that Ilus, son of Tros, king of Dardania,[*](Herodian, i. 11, 1.) gave the place that name. But Theopompus[*](Of Chios, a pupil of Isocrates, and a rhetorician and historian. His works are lost.) asserts that it was not Ilus who did it, but Midas,[*](According to Diod. Sic. (iii. 59, 8), he was the first to build a splendid temple to Cybele at Pessinus.) the once mighty king of Phrygia.

Then, after Julian had worshipped the deity and propitiated her with victims and vows, he returned to Ancyra.[*](Modern Angora.) And as he continued his journey from there, the multitude annoyed him, some demanding the return of what had been wrested from them by violence, others complaining that they had unjustly been forced onto the boards of senators,[*](The position of curialis, or local senator, was an honorary office, without pay, and imposing many obligations. Therefore many sought to avoid such positions, and it was necessary to force men to take them. Julian was not always indulgent in such cases; see 9, 12, below, and cf. xxv. 4, 21.) while some, without regard to their own danger, exerted themselves to the point of madness to involve their opponents in charges of high treason.

But he, a judge more severe than a Cassius,[*](Cassius, city praetor in 111 B.C., was feared as a judge; Cic., Brut. 25, 97; Val. Max. iii. 7, 9; cf. xxvi. 10, 10; xxx. 8, 13.) or a Lycurgus,[*](Not the celebrated Spartan lawgiver, but the statesman and orator of Athens, a contemporary of Demosthenes. He is often cited as a severe judge, e.g. Plutarch, Vitae X Orat. 541 F.; Plautus, Bacch. 111; Diod. Sicul. xvi. 88, 1.) weighed the evidence in the cases with impartial justice and gave every man his due, never deviating from the truth, and showing particular severity towards calumniators, whom he hated because he had experienced the impudent madness of

Of his patience in such matters it will suffice to give this single example, although there are many others. A certain man with great vehemence charged an enemy of his, with whom he was at bitter odds, of being guilty of high treason; and when the emperor ignored it, he repeated the same charge day after day. At last, on being asked who it was that he accused, he replied that it was a wealthy citizen. On hearing this, the emperor said with a smile: On what evidence have you come to this conclusion?

And the man answered: He is making himself a purple robe out of a silk cloak;[*](Under Constantius the wearing of such a garment was a serious offence; see xiv. 9, 7; xvi. 8, 8.) and when after this he was bidden to depart in silence, but unpunished, as a low fellow making a serious charge against another of the same sort, he was none the less insistent. Whereupon Julian, wearied and disgusted with the man’s conduct, seeing his treasurer nearby, said to him: Have a pair of purple shoes given to this dangerous chatterbox, to take to his enemy (who he says, so far as I can understand, has had a cloak of that colour sewn for him), in order that he may be able to learn what insignificant rags amount to without great power.

But, although such conduct was laudable and worthy of imitation by good rulers, it was on the contrary hard and censurable that under his rule anyone who was sought by the curiales,[*](That is: whom they wished to make a member of their curia, or local senate; see note 5 on 9, 8, above (p. 246).) even though protected by special privileges, by length of service in the army, or by proof that he was wholly ineligible by birth for such a position, could with difficulty obtain full justice; so that many of them

Thus proceeding on his way and arriving at the Gates,[*](That is, the Cilician Gates.) a place which separates the Cappadocians from the Cilicians, he received with a kiss the governor of the province, Celsus by name,[*](He was a Cilician, a pupil of Libanius.) whom he had known since his student days in Athens, gave him a seat in his carriage, and took him with him into Tarsus.

But hastening from there to visit Antioch, fair crown of the Orient, he reached it by the usual roads; and as he neared the city, he was received with public prayers, as if he were some deity, and he wondered at the cries of the great throng, who shouted that a lucky star had risen over the East.

Now, it chanced that at that same time the annual cycle was completed and they were celebrating, in the ancient fashion, the festival of Adonis (beloved by Venus, as the poet’s tales say), who was slain by the death-dealing tusk of a boar-a festival which is symbolic of the reaping of the ripe fruits of the field.[*](Cf. xix. 1, 11, and Cumont, Syria, pp. 45-49.) And it seemed a gloomy omen, as the emperor now for the first time entered the great city, the residence of princes, that on all sides melancholy wailing was heard and cries of grief.

It was here that he gave a proof of his patience and mildness, slight, it is true, but surprising. He hated a certain Thalassius,[*](Not the same as the one mentioned in xiv. 1, 10.) a former assistant master of petitions, who had plotted against his brother Gallus. When this man had been prohibited from greeting the emperor and attending at court among the other dignitaries,[*](Cf. xxi. 6, 2.) some enemies of his, with whom he had a suit in the forum, gathered together next day a huge throng of his remaining

But, although Julian believed that this was an opportunity to ruin the man, he replied: I know that the person to whom you refer has given me just cause for offence, but it is proper for you to keep silence until he gives satisfaction to me, his opponent of higher rank. And he ordered the prefect who was sitting in judgement not to listen to their charge until he himself was reconciled with Thalassius, which shortly happened.