Res Gestae

It was the knowledge of this that led Remigius, marshal of the court, when he perceived that the emperor was boiling with anger at something which had occurred, to hint among other things that some outbreaks of the barbarians threatened; and when Valentinian heard this, immediately he was so overcome with fear that he became as calm and mild as Antoninus the Good[*](I.e., Antoninus Pius; cf. xvi. 1, 4.) himself.

He never intentionally chose cruel judges, but if he had learned that Those whomhehad once advanced[*](To that rank.) were acting cruelly,

Those in trouble, whom a reverse of fortune had befallen, found no refuge in the kindness of their prince, which has always been a longed-for haven, as it were, for those tossed on a stormy sea. For the purpose of a just rule (as the philosophers teach) is supposed to be the advantage and safety of its subjects.

It is fitting after this to pass to those acts of his which were praiseworthy and to be imitated by right-thinking men; and if he had regulated the rest of his conduct in accordance with these, his career would have been that of a Trajan or a Marcus.[*](Marcus Aurelius.) He was very indulgent towards the provincials and everywhere lightened the burden of their tributes; he was always timely in founding towns and establishing frontier defences. He was an excellent critic of military discipline, failing only in this, that while he punished even slight offences of the common soldiers, he suffered the serious offences of his higher commanders to go to excess, often turning a deaf ear to the complaints made against them.[*](Cf. 5, 3, and Zos. iv. 16.) The result of this was turmoil in Britain, disaster in Africa, and the devastation of Illyricum.

In every observance of chastity he was pure at home and abroad; he was stained by the foul touch of no obscene feelings or lewdness; and for

He was most cautious in bestowing high official positions: under his rule no money-changer[*](Nummularius is used in a broad sense, including bankers; for a dishonest money-changer, see Suet., Galba, 9. ) governed a province, no office was ever sold, except at the beginning of his reign, a time when it is usual for some crimes to be committed with impunity through reliance on the distractions of a new ruler.[*](Text and exact meaning are uncertain; the sense apparently is that some persons commit crimes, hoping that amid the press of business by which the new emperor is overwhelmed he will be forced to overlook them.)

In war, whether offensive or defensive, he was most skilful and careful, a veteran in the heat and dust of the battlefield. In council he was a foresighted persuader of what was right and a dissuader of wrong, most strict in examining all ranks of the military service. He wrote a neat hand, was an elegant painter and modeller, and an inventor of new kinds of arms.[*](Cf. Pseud.-Aurel. Vict., Epit. 45, 6: pingere venustissime . . . fingere cero seu limo simulacra, nova arma meditari.) His memory was lively; so was his speech (although he spoke seldom), and he was vigorous therein, almost to the point of eloquence. He loved neatness, and enjoyed banquets that were choice but not extravagant.

Finally, his reign was distinguished by toleration, in that he remained neutral in religious differences neither troubling anyone on that ground nor ordering him to reverence this or that. He did

His strong and muscular body, the gleam of his hair, his brilliant complexion, his grey eyes, with a gaze that was always sidelong and stern, his fine stature, and his regular features[*](Cf. membrorum recta compage, xiv. 11, 28.) completed a figure of regal charm and majesty.

After the last invocation of the emperor[*](The conclamatio, or last call to the dead, to see wheather any life remained. Or it may mean, after the public lamentations for his death, the completion of his funerals rites.) his[*](375 A.D.) body was prepared for burial, in order to be sent to Constantinople and interred among the remains of the deified rulers. Meanwhile the campaign that was approaching was suspended, and an uncertain outcome of the situation was feared, because of the cohorts serving in Gaul, which were not always of devoted loyalty to legitimate emperors, and regarded themselves as arbiters of the imperial power;[*](Cf. Vopiscus, Saturninus, 7, 1: Gallus, ex gents hominum inquietissima et avida semper vel faciendi principis vel imperil.) and it was suspected that they might take the opportunity to venture on some new step; and this fact added some hopes of attempting a revolution—that Gratianus was still at Trier (where his father, when he was on the point of beginning his march, had arranged for him to stay) and even then knew nothing of what had happened.

When affairs were in this critical state, and all