Res Gestae

The emperor lingered for a time at Antioch, bowed down by the weight of divers cares, but pursued by an extraordinary desire for getting out of the place. Accordingly, he left there on a day in the dead of winter, sparing neither horse nor man, although many signs (as has been said) forbade, and entered Tarsus, the famous city of Cilicia, of whose origin I have already spoken.[*](Cf. xiv. 8, 3.)

Though in excessive haste to leave that place, he determined to adorn the tomb of Julian,[*](See 9, 12, above. According to Zonaras and others, Julian’s body was later taken to Constantinople.) situated just outside the walls on the road which leads to the passes of Mount Taurus. But his remains and ashes, if anyone then

After this the emperor left Tarsus, and making long marches arrived at Tyana, a town of Cappadocia, where on their return the secretary Procopius and the tribune Memoridus[*](They had been sent to Illyricum and Gaul; see 8, 8, above.) met him. They gave him an account of their missions, beginning (as order demanded) with the entry of Lucillianus with the tribunes Seniauchus and Valentinianus, whom he had taken with him, into Mediolanum; but on learning that Malarichus refused to accept the position[*](Of general of the cavalry; see 8, 11, above.) he had gone at full speed to Rheims.

Then, as if that nation were in profound peace, he ran off the track (as the saying is), and quite out of season, since everything was not yet secure, devoted his attention to examining the accounts of a former actuary. This man, being conscious of deceit and wrong-doing, fled for refuge to the army and falsely asserted that Julian was still alive and that a man of no distinction had raised a rebellion; in consequence of his falsehoods a veritable storm broke out among the soldiery, and Lucillianus and Seniauchus were killed. For Valentinianus, who was shortly afterwards emperor, in terror and not knowing where to turn, was safely gotten out of the way by Primitivus, his guest-friend.

This sad news was followed by another message, this time a happy one, namely, that soldiers sent by Jovian,

On receipt of this news Valentinian, who had returned with the others, was entrusted with the command of the second division of the targeteers, and Vitalianus, formerly a soldier in the division of the Eruli, was made a member of the household troops; long afterwards he was raised to the rank of Count, but suffered a defeat in Illyricum. Arintheus was hastily sent to Gaul, bearing letters to Jovinus, urging him to act firmly in holding his position; he was also bidden to punish the originator of the disturbance and to send the ringleaders in the rebellion in fetters to the court.

After these arrangements had been made as seemed expedient, the officers of the Gallic troops had audience with the emperor at Aspuna, a small town of Galatia; when they entered the council chamber, the news which they brought was heard with pleasure, and after receiving rewards, they were ordered to return to their posts.