Before Severus had recovered from his conflicts with the barbarians he
was involved in civil war with Albinus, his Caesar. For Severus would
no longer give him even the rank of Caesar, now that he had got Niger
out of the way and had settled other matters in that part of the world
to his satisfaction; whereas Albinus aspired even to the pre-eminence
of emperor. While, then, the entire world was disturbed by this
situation, we senators remained quiet, at least as many of us as did
not, by openly inclining to the one or the other, share their dangers
and their hopes. The populace, however, could not restrain itself, but
indulged in the most open lamentations. It was at the last horse-race
before the Saturnalia, and a countless throng of people flocked to it.
I, too, was present at the spectacle, since the consul was a friend of
mine, and I heard distinctly everything that was said, so that I was in
a position to write something about it. It came about on this wise.
There had assembled, as I said, an untold multitude and they had
watched the chariots racing, six at a time (which had been also the
practice also in Cleander's day), without applauding, as was their
custom, any of the contestants at all. But when these races were over
and the charioteers were about to begin another event, they first
enjoined silence upon one another and then suddenly all clapped their
hands at the same moment and also joined in a shout, praying for good
fortune for the public welfare. This was what they first cried out;
then, applying the terms "Queen" and "Immortal" to Rome, they shouted:
"How long are we to suffer such things?" and "How long are we to be
waging war?" And after making some other remarks of this kind, they
finally shouted, "So much for that," and turned their attention to the
horse-race. In all this they were surely moved by some divine
inspiration; for in no other way could so many myriads of men have
begun to utter the same shouts at the same time, like a carefully
trained chorus, or have spoken the words without a mistake, just as if
they had practised them. This demonstration was one thing that
increased our apprehensions still more; another was the sudden
appearance of such a great fire in the northern sky at night that some
supposed the whole city was burning, and others that the very sky was
afire. But what I marvelled at most was this: a fine rain resembling
silver descended from a clear sky up the Forum of Augustus. I did not,
it is true, see it as it was falling, but noticed it after it had
fallen, and by means of it I plated some bronze coins with silver; they
retained the same appearance for three days, but by the fourth day all
the substance rubbed on them had disappeared.
Numerianus, a schoolmaster who taught children their letters, set out
from Rome to Gaul for some reason or other, and by pretending to be a
Roman senator sent by Severus to raise an army, he collected a small
force at first and killed a few of Albinus' cavalry, and also performed
some other daring exploits in Severus' interest. Severus heard of it,
and believing that he was really one of the senators, sent him a
message commending him and bidding him increase his force. The man did
so, and among other remarkable exhibitions of his prowess, he captured
and sent to Severus seventy million sesterces. After the latter's
victory Numerianus came to him, concealing naught nor yet asking to be
made a senator in very truth; on the contrary, though he might have
been exalted to great honours and wealth, he did not choose to accept
them, but spent the remainder of his life in some country place,
receiving a small allowance from the emperor for his daily needs.
The struggle between Severus and Albinus near Lugdunum must now be
described. There were a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers on each
side, and both leaders were present in the conflict, since it was a
life-and-death struggle between them, though Severus had not previously
been present at any other battle. Albinus excelled in family and
education, but his adversary was superior in warfare and was a skilful
commander. It chanced, however, that in an earlier battle Albinus had
defeated Lupus, one of Severus' generals, and had slain many of his
soldiers. The present conflict showed many phases and shifts of
fortune. Thus, Albinus' left wing was defeated and fled back to the
camp, and Severus' men, pursuing them, burst in with them and proceeded
to slay them and to plunder their tents. In the meantime Albinus'
troops on the right wing, having concealed trenches in front of them
and pits covered over with earth on the surface, advanced as far as
these pitfalls and hurled their javelins at long range; then, instead
of continuing to go forward, they turned back, as if frightened, with
the purpose of drawing their foes in pursuit. And this is exactly what
happened. For Severus' men, nettled by their brief charge and despising
them for their flight after so short an advance, rushed against them in
the belief that the whole intervening distance was passable; but on
reaching the trenches, they met with a terrible disaster. For the men
in the front rank, as soon as the surface-covering was broken through,
fell into the excavations, and those immediately behind them stumbled
over them, slipped, and likewise fell in; the rest drew back in terror,
but their retreat was so sudden that they not only lost their footing
themselves, but also upset those in the rear and drove them into a deep
ravine. Great, indeed, was the loss of life among both these and those
who had fallen into the trenches, as horses and men perished in wild
confusion. And in the midst of this disorder the men between the ravine
and the trenches were being annihilated by showers of missiles and
arrows. Severus, seeing this, came to their aid with the Pretorians,
but, far from helping them, he came very near destroying the
Pretorians, too, and found his own life imperilled when he lost his
horse. When he saw all his men in flight, he tore off his riding cloak,
and drawing his sword, rushed among the fugitives, hoping either that
they would be ashamed and turn back or that he might himself perish
with them. Some, indeed, did stop when they saw him in this attitude,
and turned back; and brought in this way face to face with the men
following them, they cut down not a few of them, supposing them to be
Albinus' men, and they routed all their pursuers. At this juncture the
cavalry under Laetus came up from one side and completed their victory.
Laetus, it appears, so long as the struggle was close, had merely
looked on, hoping that both leaders would perish and that the soldiers
who survived on either side would give the supreme power to him; but
when he saw that Severus' side was prevailing, he also took a hand in
the business.
Thus Severus conquered; but the Roman power suffered a severe blow,
inasmuch as countless numbers had fallen on both sides. Many even of
the victors deplored the disaster, for the entire plain was seen to be
covered with the bodies of men and horses; some of them lay there
mutilated by many wounds, as if hacked in pieces, and others, though
unwounded, were piled up in heaps, weapons were scattered about, and
blood flowed in streams, even pouring into the rivers. Albinus took
refuge in a house that stood beside the Rhone, but when he saw the
whole place surrounded, he slew himself. I am not stating, how, what
Severus wrote about it, but what actually took place. The emperor,
after viewing the body of Albinus and feasting his eyes upon it to the
full, while giving free rein to his tongue as well, ordered all but the
head to be cast away, but sent the head to Rome to be exposed on a
pole. As this action showed clearly that he possessed none of the
qualities of a good ruler, he alarmed both us and the populace more
than ever by the commands that he sent; for now that he had overcome
all armed opposition, he was venting upon the unarmed all the wrath
that he had stored up against them in the past. He caused us especial
dismay by constantly styling himself the son of Marcus and the brother
of Commodus and by bestowing divine honours upon the latter, whom but
recently he had been abusing. While reading to the senate a speech, in
which he praised the severity and cruelty of Sulla, Marius and Augustus
as the safer course and deprecated the mildness of Pompey and Caesar as
having proved the ruin of those very men, he introduced a sort of
defence of Commodus and inveighed against the senate for dishonouring
that emperor unjustly, in view of the fact that the majority of its
members lived worse lives. "For if it was disgraceful," he said, "for
him with his own hands to slay wild beasts, yet at Ostia only the other
day one of your number, an old man who had been consul, was publicly
sporting with a prostitute who imitated a leopard. But, you will say,
Commodus actually fought as a gladiator. And does none of you fight as
a gladiator? If not, how and why is it that some of you have bought his
shields and those famous golden helmets?" After reading this address,
he released thirty-five prisoners who were charged with having sided
with Albinus, and behaved toward them as if they had not incurred any
charge at all (they were among the foremost members of the senate), but
condemned to death twenty-nine other men, among whom naturally was
Sulpicianus, the father-in-law of Pertinax.
All pretended to be on the side of Severus, but they were confuted as
often as any sudden tidings arrived, being unable to conceal the
feelings hidden in their hearts. For when off their guard they started
at reports that came without warning, and in such ways, as well as by
their countenances and behaviour, the feelings of every one of them
became manifest. Some also by pretending overmuch were recognized all
the more readily.
Severus attempted in the case of those who were being punished by him .
. . to employ Erucius Clarus as informer against them, with the double
purpose of compromising this man and of seeming to justify more
completely the conviction of the accused in view of the witness's
family and reputation; and he promised Clarus both his life and pardon.
But when Clarus chose rather to die than to make any such revelations,
he turned to Julianus and persuaded him to take the part; and for this
service he let him off, to the extent of not putting him to death or
disfranchising him, but he rigorously verified all his statements by
evidence given under torture, disregarding the rank Julianus then had.
Inasmuch as the Caledonians did not abide by their promises and had
made ready to aid the Meaetae, and in view of the fact that Severus at
the time was devoting himself to the neighbouring war, Lupus was
compelled to purchase peace from the Maeatae for a large sum; and he
received a few captives.
After this Severus made a campaign against the Parthians. For while he
had been occupied with the civil wars they had taken advantage of their
immunity and had captured Mesopotamia, whither they had made an
expedition in full force. They had also come very near seizing Nisibis,
and would have succeeded, had not Laetus, who was besieged there, saved
the place. In consequence Laetus acquired still greater renown, though
he had already shown himself a most excellent man in all his relations,
both private and public, whether in war or in peace. Severus, on
reaching the aforesaid Nisibis, found there an enormous boar. It had
charged and killed a horseman, who, trusting to his own strength, had
attempted to bring it down, and it had been with difficulty caught and
despatched by a large crowd of soldiers (the number taking part in the
capture was thirty); then it had been brought to Severus. As the
Parthians did not await his arrival but retired homeward (their leader
was Vologaesus, whose brother was accompanying Severus), he constructed
boats on the Euphrates and proceeded forward partly by sailing and
partly by marching along the river. The boats thus built were
exceedingly swift and speedy and well constructed, for the forest along
the Euphrates and that region in general afforded him an abundant
supply of timber. Thus he soon had seized Seleucia and Babylon, both of
which had been abandoned. Later, upon capturing Ctesiphon, he permitted
the soldiers to plunder the entire city, and he slew a vast number of
people, besides taking as many as a hundred thousand captives. He did
not, however, pursue Vologaesus, nor even occupy Ctesiphone, but, just
as if the sole purpose of his campaign had been to plunder this place,
he was off again, owing partly to lack of acquaintance with the country
and partly to the dearth of provisions. He returned by a different
route, because the wood and fodder found on the outward march had been
exhausted. Some of the soldiers made the return journey by land up the
Tigris, and some in boats.
Severus now crossed Mesopotamia and made an attempt on Hatra, which was
not far off, but accomplished nothing; on the contrary, his siege
engines were burned, many soldiers perished, and vast numbers were
wounded. He accordingly retired from there and shifted his quarters.
While he was engaged in this war he put to death two distinguished men.
One was Julius Crispus, a tribune of the Pretorians; and the reason was
that Crispus, vexed at the war's havoc, had casually quoted some verses
of the poet Maro, in which one of the soldiers fighting on the side of
Turnus against Aeneas bewails his lot and says: "In order that Turnus
may marry Lavinia, we are meanwhile perishing all unheeded." And
Severus made Valerius, the soldier who accused him, tribune in his
place. The other man that he put to death was Laetus, for the reason
that Laetus was proud and was beloved by the soldiers, who used to
declare they would not go on a campaign unless Laetus led them. He
tried to fasten the responsibility for this murder, for which he had no
evident reason save jealousy, upon the soldiers, making it appear that
they had been rash enough to commit the deed contrary to his will.
He himself made another expedition against Hatra, having first got
ready a large store of food and prepared many siege engines; for he
felt it was disgraceful, now that the other places had been subdued,
that this one alone, lying there in their midst, should continue to
resist. But he lost a vast amount of money, all his engines, except
those built by Priscus, as I have stated above, and many soldiers
besides. A good many were lost on foraging expeditions, as the
barbarian cavalry (I mean that of the Arabians) kept assailing them
everywhere in swift and violent attacks. The archery, too, of the
Atreni was effective at very long range, since they hurled some of
their missile by means of engines, so that they actually struck many
even of Severus' guards; for they discharged two missiles at one and
the same shot and there were many hands and many bows hurling the
missiles all at the same time. But they inflicted the greatest damage
on their assailants when these approached the wall, and much more still
after they had broken down a small portion of it; for they hurled down
upon them, among things, the bituminous naphtha, of which I wrote
above, and consumed the engines and all the soldiers on whom it fell.
Severus observed all this from a lofty tribunal. When a portion of the
outer circuit had fallen in one place and all the soldiers were eager
to force their way inside the remainder, Severus checked them from
doing so by ordering the signal for retreat to be clearly sounded on
every side. For the place enjoyed great fame, containing as it did a
vast number of offering to the Sun-god as well as vast sums of money;
and he expected the Arabians to come to terms voluntarily, in order to
avoid being forcibly captured and enslaved. At any rate, he allowed one
day to pass; then, when no one came to him with any overtures for
peace, he commanded the soldiers to assault the wall once more, though
it had been built up during the night. But the Europeans, who alone of
his army had the ability to do anything, were so angry that not one of
them would any longer obey him, and the others, Syrians, who were
compelled to make the assault in their place, were miserably destroyed.
Thus Heaven, that saved the city, first caused Severus to recall the
soldiers when they could have entered the placed, and in turn caused
the soldiers to hinder him from capturing it when he later wished to do
so. Severus, in fact, found himself so embarrassed by the situation
that, when one of his associates promised, if he would give him only
five hundred and fifty of the European soldiers, to destroy the city
within the hearing of all: "And where am I to get so many soldiers?" —
referring to the soldiers' disobedience.
After conducting the siege for twenty days, he then went to Palestine,
where he sacrificed to the spirit of Pompey. Thence he sailed to Upper
Egypt, passing up the Nile, and viewed the whole country with some few
exceptions; for instance, he was unable to pass the frontier of
Ethiopia because of a pestilence. He inquired into everything,
including things that were very carefully hidden; for he was the kind
of person to leave nothing, either human or divine, uninvestigated.
Accordingly, he took away from practically all the sanctuaries all the
books that he could find containing any secret lore, and he locked up
the tomb of Alexander; this was in order that no one in future should
either view Alexander's body or read what was written in the
above-mentioned books. So much, then, for what Severus was doing.
I have no wish, now, to write about Egypt in general, but I do feel
fully justified in mentioning what I have learned about the Nile by
accurate investigation in many quarters. It clearly has its source on
Mount Atlas. This is situated in Macennitis, toward the west, close to
the ocean itself, and it towers far above all other mountains, for
which reason the poets have called it the pillar of the sky; no one,
indeed, has ever ascended its summit or seen its peaks. Hence it is
always covered with snow, which in summer time sends down a great
volume of water. The whole region about its base is marshy at all
times, but at this season becomes even more so, with the result that it
swells the Nile at harvest time; for this is the river's source, as is
proved by the crocodiles and other animals that are born here as well
as in the Nile. Let no one be surprised, now, that we have made
discoveries unknown to the ancient Greeks; for the Macennitae live near
Lower Mauretania and many of the soldiers who are stationed there go as
far as Atlas. This is the truth of the matter.
Plautianus, who not only shared Severus' power but also had the
authority of prefect, and possessed the widest and greatest influence
of all men, put to death many prominent men among his peers . . . .
Plautianus, after killing Aemilius Saturninus, took away all the most
important powers of those who had been their fellow-officers in command
of the Pretorians, in order that no one might become so presumptuous as
the result of his authority over them as to lie in wait for the
captaincy of the bodyguards; for already it was his ambition to be, not
simply the only prefect, but permanent prefect as well. He wanted
everything, asked everything from everybody, and would take everything.
He left no province and no city unplundered, but snatched and gathered
in everything from all sides; and everybody sent a great deal more to
him than to Severus. Finally, he sent centurions and stole horses with
tiger-like stripes, sacred to the Sun, from the islands in the Red Sea.
This one statement will suffice, I think, to make clear all his
officiousness and greed; but I will add one thing more. At home he
castrated a hundred Roman citizens of noble birth — though none of us
knew of it until after he was dead. From this anyone may comprehend the
full extent both of his lawlessness and of his power. Nor was it boys
or youths alone that he castrated, but grown men as well, some of whom
had wives. His purpose was that Plautilla, his daughter, whom Antoninus
afterwards married, should have only eunuchs as her attendants in
general, and especially as her teachers in music and other branches of
art. So we saw the same persons both eunuchs and men, fathers and
impotent, emasculated and bearded. In view of this, one might not
improperly claim that Plautianus had power beyond all men, equalling
even that of the emperors themselves. Among other things, his statues
and images were not only far more numerous but also larger than theirs,
and this not alone in outside cities but in Rome itself, and they were
erected not merely by individuals or communities but by the very
senate. All the soldiers and the senators took oaths by his Fortune,
and all publicly offered prayers for his preservation.
The one chiefly responsible for this situation was Severus himself, who
yielded to Plautianus in all matters to such a degree that the latter
occupied the position of emperor and he himself that of prefect. In
short, the man knew absolutely everything that Severus either said or
did, whereas no one was acquainted with any of Plautianus' secrets. The
emperor sought Plautianus' daughter on behalf of his own son, passing
by many other maidens of high rank. He appointed him consul, and as
good as prayed to have him as his successor in the imperial office; in
fact, he once wrote in a letter: "I love the man so much that I pray to
die before he does."
... so that . . . someone actually dared to write to him as to a fourth Caesar.
Though many decrees were passed in his honour by the senate, he
accepted only a few of them, saying to the senators: "Show your
affection for me in your hearts, not in your decrees."
The emperor submitted to seeing him lodge in better lodging-places and
enjoy better and more abundant food than he himself had. Hence in
Nicaea, my native city, when Severus once wanted a mullet, large
specimens of which are found in the lake there, he sent to Plautianus
to secure it. Hence, even if he ever did do anything calculated to
diminish the other's power, it was completely deprived of its force by
acts of a contrary nature which were more important and conspicuous.
Thus, on one occasion, when Severus went to visit him, when he had
fallen ill at Tyana, the soldiers about Plautianus would not permit the
emperor's escort to enter with him. And again, when the man who arrived
the cases that were to be pleaded before Severus was once ordered to
bring forward some case or other, he refused, saying: I cannot do so,
unless Plautianus bids me." So greatly did Plautianus have the mastery
in every way over the emperor, that he often treated even Julia Augusta
in an outrageous manner; for he cordially detested her and was always
abusing her violently to Severus. He used to conduct investigations
into her conduct as well as gather evidence against her by torturing
women of the nobility. For this reason she began to study philosophy
and passed her days in company with sophists. As for Plautianus, he
became the most sensual of men; for he would gorge himself at banquets
and vomit as he ate, as the mass of food and wine that he swallowed
made it impossible for him to digest anything; and though he made use
of lads and girls in notorious fashion, yet he would not permit his own
wife to see anybody or to be seen by any person whomsoever, not even by
Severus or Julia, to say nothing of any others.
There took place also during those days a gymnastic contest, at which
so great a multitude of athletes assembled, under compulsion, that we
wondered how the course could contain them all. And in this contest
women took part, vying with one another most fiercely, with the result
that jokes were made about other very distinguished women as well.
Therefore it was henceforth forbidden for any woman, no matter what her
origin, to fight in single combat.
On one occasion, when a great many images of Plautianus had been made
(this incident is well worth relating) Severus was displeased at their
number and caused some of them to be melted down, and in consequence a
rumour spread to the cities that the prefect had been overthrown and
had perished. So some of them demolished his images, an act for which
they were later punished. Among these was the governor of Sardiani,
Racius Constans, a very famous man. My especial reason, however, for
mentioning the matter is this. The orator who accused Constans declared
among other things that the heavens would fall before Plautianus would
ever suffer any harm at the hands of Severus, and that with greater
reason one might believe even that report, were any story of the sort
to be circulated. Now though he made this declaration, and though,
moreover, Severus himself boldly confirmed it to us who were assisting
him in the trial of the case, declaring, "It is impossible for
Plautianus to come to any harm at my hands," nevertheless this very
Plautianus did not live the year out, but was slain and all his images
destroyed. But before that happened, a vast sea-monster came ashore in
the harbour named for Augustus and was captured; a model of him, taken
into the hunting-theatre, admitted fifty bears into its interior.
Moreover, a comet was seen in Rome for many days and was said to
portend nothing favourable.
End of Etext Cassius Dio Roman History Epitome of Book LXXVI
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