Res Gestae

At this point, as I turn my pen to Gaul, the order and series of events is a turmoil, since we find Maximus, who is now prefect, in the midst of many cruel deeds; for being in possession of extensive power, he was added as an ill-omened incentive to the emperor,[*](Valentinian.) who united with the majesty of his position unendurable tyranny. Therefore, whoever ponders what I have told, should also carefully weigh the rest which are passed over in silence; and, like a reasonable person, he will pardon me for not

For Valentinian, who was naturally savage, as bitterness (which is a foe to righteous conduct) increased in him after the coming of the aforesaid Maximinus, having no one to give better advice or to restrain him, was carried as if by surging waves and tempests from one cruel act to another; to such a degree that, when he was in a passion, often his voice and expression, his gait and his colour, were changed. For his cruelty we have the testimony of various sure pieces of evidence, of which it will suffice to set down a few.

A well-grown youth of the class called pages[*](Belonging to the paedagogium; see xxvi. 6, 15, note.) was posted, holding in leash a Spartan hound, to watch for game at a hunt; but he let the dog loose before the designated time, because the animal in an effort to escape leaped at him in a rush and bit him; for that he was beaten to death with cudgels and buried the same day.

A man in charge of a smithy brought to the emperor a breastplate artistically embellished, and expected a reward for it; but Valentinian ordered him to be put to death with equal cruelty because the piece[*](For species, cf. xiv. 9, 7.) of iron armour had a little less weight than he had stipulated. An elder of the Christian faith from Epirus, who was a favourite of Octavianus,[*](Cf. xxiii. 1, 4.) the former proconsul, . . . and the author of the charges was sent back, although somewhat tardily, to his home.[*](The sentence is corrupt. The earlier editors inserted words from the Chronicle of Hieronymus of 372, meaning was executed because he had concealed Octavianus . . . who had taken refuge at his house. )

Constantianus, an

Africanus, a busy pleader of cases at law in the city, after governing a province, aspired to the rule of another; but when Theodosius, general of the cavalry, supported him in his request, the kind emperor gave this somewhat boorish reply: Go, general, and change his head for him, since he wants a change in his province. And by this pronouncement[*](I.e., use magic arts.) an eloquent man lost his life merely for hastening, like many, for advancement.

Claudius and Sallustius, of the Jovian legion, who had advanced as far as the rank of tribune, were accused by a fellow whose low origin in itself made him an object of contempt, on the ground that when Procopius had aspired to the imperial power they had spoken some good words for him; but although constant inquisitions revealed nothing, the emperor ordered the generals of the cavalry, who were hearing the case, to drive Claudius into exile and condemn Sallustius to death, promising to pardon the latter on his way to execution. But when this had

Accordingly, although inquisitions followed thick and fast, and some died in consequence of excessive torture, not even a trace of the alleged crimes was found. In this business even the bodyguards who had been sent to arrest persons . . .[*](Since de fustibus caesi seems to be an impossible construction, there was probably a lacuna between de and fustibus; see crit. note 2.) were beaten to death with cudgels, contrary to all precedent.

My mind shrinks from enumerating all the cases, and at the same time I dread seeming to give the impression of purposely having sought out merely the defects of a prince who was a very proper man in other ways. Yet one thing it is just neither to pass over nor to leave unmentioned, namely this, that having two savage, man-eating she-bears, one called Goldflake and the other Innocence, he looked after them with such extreme care that he placed their cages near his own bedroom, and appointed trustworthy keepers, who were to take particular care that the beasts’ lamentable savageness should not by any chance be destroyed. Finally, after he had seen the burial of many corpses of those whom Innocence had torn to pieces, he allowed her to return to the forest unhurt, as a good and faithful servant, in the hope that she would have cubs like herself . . .