Res Gestae

At that time[*](Shortly after the death of Valens, and before the accession of Theodosius; cf. Zos. iv. 26.) the salutary and swift efficiency of Julius, commander-in-chief of the troops beyond the Taurus, was conspicuous. For on learning of the ill-fated events in Thrace, by secret letters to their leaders, who were all Romans (a rare case in these times) he gave orders that the Goths who had been admitted before and were scattered through the various cities and camps, should be enticed to come without suspicion into the suburbs in the hope of receiving the pay that had been promised them, and there, as if on the raising of a banner, should all be slain on one and the same day. This

prudent plan was carried out without confusion or delay, and thus the eastern provinces were saved from great dangers.

These events, from the principate of the emperor Nerva to the death of Valens, I, a former soldier and a Greek, have set forth to the measure of my ability, without ever (I believe) consciously venturing to debase through silence or through falsehood a work whose aim was the truth. The rest may be written by abler men, who are in the prime of life and learning. But if they chose to undertake such a task, I advise them to forge[*](For procudere, cf. xv. 2, 8 (ingenium); xxx. 4, 13 (ora); Horace, Odes, iv. 15, 19.) their tongues to the loftier style.

The second part, written about 550 in barbarous Latin by another unknown author, under the title Item ex libris Chronicorum inter cetera, covers the period from 474 to 526, and deals mainly with the history of Theodoric. The writer was an opponent of Arianism, and he seems to have based his compilation on the Chronicle of Maximianus, bishop of Ravenna in 546, who died in 556. For this part we have, besides B, cod. Vaticanus Palatinus, Lat. n. 927 (P) of the twelfth century, in which the title appears as De adventu Oduachar regis Cyrorum[*](Apparently for Scyrorum (Scirorum), Exc. § 37.) et Erulorum in Italia, et quomodo Rex Theodericus eum fuerit persecutus. The Excerpts as a whole furnish an introduction and a sequel to the narrative of Ammianus.