Res Gestae

And to pass over many things which he did with the authority of an established ruler, and the reforms that he effected either personally or through energetic generals, after admitting his son Gratianus to a share in his power, he secretly, since he could not do so openly, caused Vithicabius, king of the Alamanni,[*](Cf. xxvii. 10, 3.) son of Vadomarius, a young man in the first bloom of manhood, to be stabbed, because he

While he was accomplishing these exploits with due caution, the Saxons,[*](Cf. xxviii. 5, 1.) who had already broken out into formidable madness and were always rushing wherever they pleased without reconnaisances, had then invaded the maritime districts, and had almost returned enriched with the spoils which they took; but by a device which was treacherous but expedient he overwhelmed and stripped of their booty the robbers thus forcibly crushed.

Again, when the Britons could not resist the hordes of enemies that were overrunning their country, he restored them to freedom and quiet peace with the hope of better conditions, and allowed almost none of the plunderers to return to his home.[*](Cf. xxvii. 8, 5.)

With like effectiveness he also crushed Valentinus, the exile from Pannonia, who was trying to disturb the public peace in that province, before his design came to a head.[*](Cf. xxviii. 3, 4 ff.) Next, he saved Africa from great dangers, when that country was in the throes of an unexpected disaster; for Firmus was unable to endure the greed and arrogance of the military officials and had aroused the Moorish tribes, whose ardour can always easily be fanned to any plan of dissension.[*](Cf. xxix. 5, 3, 15, 25.) With equal courage he would have avenged the lamentable catastrophes in Illyricum, had he not

And although these successes which I have mentioned were brought about by his admirable generals, yet it is also well known that he himself, being a man of nimble mind and hardened by long experience in military life, performed very many exploits; and among these it would have been a most glorious feat[*](Cf. xxix. 4, 2, 5.) if he had been able to take King Macrianus alive, who was at that time formidable. He had made great efforts to do so after he learned with grief and sorrow that the king had escaped from the Burgundians, whom Valentinian himself had aroused against the Alamanni.

This is a brief account of the emperor’s deeds. Now, in the belief that posterity, being bound neither by fear nor by base flattery, is usually an uncorrupted judge of the past, I shall give a summary of his defects, to be followed by an account of his excellent qualities.

He sometimes assumed an appearance of mildness, although his hot temper made him more inclined to severity; for he evidently forgot that a ruler should avoid all excess, as he would a precipice.

For he was never found to be content with a mild punishment, but he continually ordered blood-thirsty investigations one after the other; and in his cruel inquisitions some were tortured even to the danger of their lives; in fact, he was so prone to cruelty that he never rescued from

And yet he could have contemplated many examples of the men of old, and might have imitated native and foreign instances of humanity and righteous mercy, which philosophers call the kind sisters of the virtues Of these it will suffice to mention the following. Artaxerxes, that mighty king of the Persians, whom the length of one of his limbs made known as Macrochir,[*](μακρόχειρ, Longhand.) with inborn mildness corrected various punishments which that cruel nation had always practised, by sometimes cutting off the turbans of the guilty, in lieu of[*](For this meaning of ad vicem, cf. xv. 10, 2; xxvii. 3, 2.) their heads; and instead of cutting off men’s ears for various offences, as was the habit of the kings, he sheared off threads hanging from their head-coverings. This moderation of character so won for him the contentment and respect of his subjects, that through their unanimous support he accomplished many noteworthy deeds, which are celebrated by the Greek writers.

A general of Praeneste in one of the Samnite wars had been ordered to hasten to his post, but had been slow to obey, and was summoned to expiate that misdeed; Papirius Cursor, who was dictator at the time, ordered the lictor to make ready his axe, and in sight of the man, who was overcome with terror and had given up hope of excusing himself, he gave orders that a bush seen near should be cut down, by a jest of this kind[*](Cf. Livy, ix. 16, 17 ff; Pliny, N.H. xvii. 81; Pseud.- Aur. Vict., De Viris Illustr., 3, 14 ff.) at the same time punishing and acquitting the man; and thereby he suffered no loss of respect, and he

Valentinian, who perhaps knew nothing of these instances, and did not consider that slowness to anger in rulers is always a solace for unhappy circumstances, increased the number of punishments by fire and sword, which a righteous spirit regards as the last resort in times of stress, as the splendid writer Isocrates says;[*](Panath. 185, θαυμάζω δ᾽, εἴ τινες τὰς μάχας καὶ τὰς ϝίκας παρὰ τὸ δίκαιον γιγνομένας μὴ νομίζουσιν αἰσχίους εἶναι καὶ πλειόνων ὀνειδῶν μεστὰς ἢ τὰς ἥττας τὰς ἄνευ κακίας συμβαινούσας. ) there is an utterance of his for all time whereby he teaches that sometimes a ruler who has been overcome by arms ought to be pardoned, more than one who did not know what is just.

I think it was under the influence of this that Cicero made the glorious statement in his defence of Oppius:[*](This speech of Cicero has not survived.) and indeed, to have great power for the salvation of another has brought honour to many; to have had too little power to destroy him has never been a reproach to anyone.