Res Gestae

The secretary, following the deputy, as had been arranged, came to Tripolis. As soon as Romanus learned of this, with all speed he sent his attendant thither, and with him an adviser of his, Caecilius by name, a native of that province. Through these all the townspeople were inducedwhether by bribes or deceit is uncertain-to make grave charges against Jovinus, positively declaring that they had given him no commission to report what he had reported to the emperor. In fact, their dishonesty went so far that even Jovinus himself was forced to endanger his own life by confessing that he had lied to the emperor.

When this was known through Palladius, who[*](370 A.D.) had now returned, Valentinian, being rather inclined to severity, gave orders that Jovinus, as the originator of the false statement, with Caelestinus, Concordius, and Lucius as accomplices and participants, should suffer capital punishment; further, that Ruricius, the governor, should suffer death as the author of a false report,[*](He had reported the invasion and pillage by the barbarians. Note the alliteration mendacem morte multari. ) the following also being counted against him—that there were read in his report certain expressions of his which seemed immoderate.

Ruricius was executed at Sitifis, the rest were punished at Utica through sentence of the deputy-governor Crescens. Flaccianus, however, before the death of the other envoys, was heard by the deputy and the general; and when he stoutly defended

And for this reason Flaccianus was imprisoned, until the emperor, who had been consulted about him, should make up his mind what ought to be done. But he bribed his guards—so it was permissible to believe—and made his escape to the city of Rome, where he kept in hiding until he passed away by a natural death.

In consequence of this remarkable end of the affair, Tripolis, though harassed by disasters from without and from within, remained silent, but not without defence; for the eternal eye of Justice watched over her, as well as the last curses[*](Cf. 1, 57, note 2.) of the envoys and the governor. For long afterwards the[*](376 A.D.) following event came to pass: Palladius was dismissed from service, and stript of the haughtiness with which he swelled, and retired to a life of inaction.

And when Theodosius, that famous leader of armies, had come into Africa to put an end to the dangerous attempts of Firmus,[*](Cf. xxix. 5.) and, as he had been ordered, examined the moveable property of the outlawed Romanus, there was found also among his papers the letter of one Meterius, containing the words, Meterius to Romanus his Lord and patron, and at the end, after much matter that would here be irrelevant: The disgraced Palladius salutes you, and says that he was deposed for no other reason than that in the cause of the people of Tripolis he spoke to the sacred ears what was not true.

When this letter had

When this favourable turn of fortune was fully known and the instigator of the awful troubles put to death, Erechthius and Aristomenes, who, when they learned that it had been ordered that their tongues should be cut out,[*](See 6, 20, above.) as over-lavishly used, had withdrawn to far remote and hidden places, now hastened from concealment; and when the emperor Gratian—for Valentinian had died—was given trustworthy information of the abominable deception, they were sent for trial to the proconsul Hesperius[*](In 376.) and the deputy Flavianus.[*](In 382 and 391 he was praetorian prefect; and according to Symmachus, 2, 82, 83, he received the consulship, apparently from the usurper Eugenius.) These officials, being men of impartial justice combined with most rightful authority, having put Caecilius to the torture, learned from his open confession that he himself had persuaded his citizens to make trouble for the envoys by false statements. This investigation was followed by a report, which disclosed the fullest confirmation of the acts which had been committed; to this no reply was made.

And that these dramas should leave no awful[*](370 ff. A.D.) tragic effect untried, this also was added after the

When these had come to Milan, and had shown by credible evidence that they had been brought there under false pretences to satisfy a grudge, they were discharged and returned to their homes. Nevertheless, in Valentinianus’ lifetime, in consequence of what we have stated above, Remigius also after retiring into private life strangled himself, as I shall show in the proper place.[*](xxx. 2, 10 ff.)

At the end of the winter Sapor, king of the[*](371 A.D.) Persian nations, made immoderately arrogant by the confidence inspired by his former battles, having filled up the number of his army and greatly strengthened it, had sent his mailed horsemen, archers, and mercenary soldiers to invade our territories.

To meet these forces the general Trajanus and Vadomarius, the former king of the Alamanni,

When they had come to Vagabanta,[*](In Mesopotamia.) a favourable place for the legions, they met unwillingly the swift attacks of the enemy’s cavalry fiercely rushing upon them, and purposely retreated, in order not to be first to wound anyone of their adversaries and thus be judged guilty of violating the treaty; but at last, driven by extreme necessity, they engaged in battle, and, after slaying many of the Persians, came off victorious.

But during the delay which followed, several skirmishes were tried by both sides, which ended with varying results; and an armistice having been concluded by common consent, and the summer having ended, the leaders of both sides departed in different directions, still at enmity with each other. Now the king[*](Sapor.) of the Parthians returned home, to spend the winter in Ctesiphon; but the Roman emperor entered Antioch. And while the latter was staying there, free from anxiety from foreign foes for the time, he almost fell victim to domestic treason, as an account of the series of events will show.

A certain Procopius, a turbulent man, always[*](371–2 A.D.) given over to a lust for disturbances, had charged two courtiers named Anatolias and Spudasius, about whom orders had been given that money of which they had defrauded the treasury be exacted of them, with having attempted the life of Count Fortunatianus, notorious as being a tiresome dunner. He, being hot-tempered, was immediately aroused to a mad degree of wrath, and by the authority of the office

But when they came to a vigorous investigation of the deed, or the attempt, Palladius boldly cried out that those matters about which they were inquiring were trivial and negligible; that if he were allowed to speak, he would tell of other things more important and fearful, which had already been plotted with great preparations, and unless foresight were used would upset the whole state. And on being bidden to tell freely what he knew, he uncoiled an endless cable of crimes,[*](Cf. Cic., De Div. i. 56, 127, est quasi rudentis explicatio. ) declaring that the ex-governor Fidustius, and Pergamius, with Irenaeus, by detestable arts of divination, had secretly learned the name of the man who was to succeed Valens.

Fidustius was seized on the spot—for he chanced to be near by —and was brought up secretly, and on being faced with the informer, he did not attempt to veil with any denial a matter already publicly known, but disclosed the deadly details of the whole plot; he freely admitted that he had, with Hilarius and Patricius, men skilled in divination, of whom the former had served in the household troops, sought information about the succession, and that the predictions inspired by secret arts had both foretold the naming of an excellent prince, and for the questioners themselves a sad end.

And while they were in doubt who there was at the time

Fidustius, already tortured almost to death, also added to this that Theodorus had learned all these prophecies from information which he himself had given him through Euserius, a man of remarkable learning and highly honoured; for shortly before that he had governed Asia with the rank of vice-prefect.

When Euserius also was put in prison, and the record of what had been done had been read to the emperor as usual, Valens’ monstrous savagery spread everywhere like a fiercely blazing torch, and was increased by the base flattery of many men, and in particular by that of Modestus,[*](Because of his services in these inquiries he was made consul by Valens in the following year. Greg. Naz. also charges him with servile flattery of the emperor.) who was then praetorian prefect.