8
It turned out that this was the greatest slaughter to
take place during the war in question. Two myriads
of Niger's followers perished utterly. The fact was
indicated also by the priest's vision. While Severus
was in Pannonia, the priest of Jupiter saw in a vision
a black man force his way into the emperor's camps
and meet his death by superior numbers. And by
turning the name of Niger into Greek people recognized
that he was the one meant by the "black" person
mentioned. Directly Antioch had been captured
(not long after) Niger fled from it, making the Euphrates
his objective point, for he intended to seek
refuge among the barbarians. His pursuers, however,
overtook him; he was taken and had his head struck
off. This head Severus sent to Byzantium and caused
to be reared on a cross, that the sight of it might
incline the Byzantines to his cause. The next move of
Severus was to mete out justice to those who had
belonged to Niger's party.
[Of the cities and individuals
he chastised some and rewarded others. He
executed no Roman senator, but deprived most of them
of their property and confined them on islands. He
was merciless in his search for money. Among other
measures he exacted four times the amount that any
individuals or peoples had given to Niger, whether
they had done so voluntarily or under compulsion.
He himself doubtless perceived the injustice of it,]
[
]
but
as he required great sums, he paid no attention to the
common talk.
9
Cassius Clemens, a senator, while on trial before
Severus himself, did not hide the truth but spoke with
such frankness as the following report will show:
"I," he said, "was acquainted with neither you
nor Niger, but as I found myself in his part of the
world, I accepted the situation heartily, not with the
idea of being hostile to you but with the purpose of
deposing Julianus. I have, then, committed no wrong
in this, since I labored originally for the same ends as
you, nor should I be censured for failing to desert the
master whom I had once secured by the will of Heaven
and for not transferring my allegiance to you. You
would not yourself have liked to have your intimate
circle and fellow judges here betray your cause and
go over to him. Examine therefore not our bodies nor
our names but the events themselves. For in every
point in which you condemn us you will be passing sentence
upon yourself and your associates. However
secure you may be from conviction in any suit or by
any court finding, still, in the report of men, of which
an eternal memory shall survive, you will be represented
as making against yourself the same charges as
have led to punishment
[
]
in the case of others."--Severus
admired this man for his frankness and allowed
him to keep half his property.
[Many who had never even seen Niger and had not
cooperated with him were victims of abuse on the
charge that they had been members of his party.]
A.D. 195 (a.u. 948)
10
The Byzantines performed many remarkable deeds
both during the life and after the death of Niger.
This city is favorably located with reference both to
the continents and to the sea that lies between them,
and is strongly intrenched by the nature of its position
as well as by that of the Bosporus. The town sits on
high ground extending into the sea. The latter, rushing
down from the Pontus with the speed of a mountain
torrent assails the headland and in part is diverted
to the right, forming there the bay and harbors.
But the greater part of the water passes on with great
energy past the city itself toward the Propontis.
Moreover, the place had walls that were very strong.
Their face was constructed of thick squared stones,
fastened together by bronze plates, and the inner side
of it had been strengthened with mounds and buildings
so that the whole seemed to be one thick wall and the
top of it formed a circuit betraying no flaws and easy
to guard. Many large towers occupied an exposed
position outside it, with windows set close together on
every side so that those assaulting the fortification in
a circle would be cut off between them. Being built at
a short distance from the wall and not in a regular
line, but one here and another there over a rather
crooked route, they were sure to command both sides
of any attacking party. Of the entire circuit the part
on the land side reached a great height so as to repel
any who came that way: the portion next to the sea
was lower. There, the rocks on which it had been
reared and the dangerous character of the Bosporus
were effective allies. The harbors within the wall had
both been closed with chains and their breakwaters
carried towers projecting far out on each side, making
approach impossible for the enemy. And, in fine, the
Bosporus was of the greatest aid to the citizens. It
was quite inevitable that once any person became entangled
in its current he should willy-nilly be cast up
on the land. This was a feature quite satisfactory to
friends, but impossible for foes to deal with.
11
It was thus that Byzantium had been fortified. The
engines, besides, the whole length of the wall, were of
the most varied description. In one place they threw
rocks and wooden beams upon parties approaching
and in another they discharged stones and missiles
and spears against such as stood at a distance. Hence
over a considerable extent of territory no one could
draw near them without danger. Still others had
hooks, which they would let down suddenly and shortly
after draw up boats and machines. Priscus, a fellow-citizen
of mine, had designed most of them, and this
fact both caused him to incur the death penalty and
saved his life. For Severus, on learning his proficiency,
prevented his being executed. Subsequently
he employed him on various missions, among others at
the siege of Hatra, and his contrivances were the only
ones not burned by the barbarians. He also furnished
the Byzantines with five hundred boats, mostly of one
bank, but some of two banks, and equipped with beaks.
A few of them were provided with rudders at both
ends, stern and prow, and had a double quota of pilots
and sailors in order that they might both attack and
retire without turning around and damage their opponents
while sailing back as well as while sailing
forward.
12
Many, therefore, were the exploits and sufferings of
the Byzantines, since for the entire space of three
years they were besieged by the armaments of practically
the whole world. A few of their experiences will
be mentioned that seem almost marvelous. They captured,
by making an opportune attack, some boats that
sailed by and captured also some of the triremes that
were in their opponents' roadstead. This they did by
having divers cut their anchors under water, after
which they drove nails into the ship's bottom and with
cords attached thereto and running from friendly territory
they would draw the vessel towards them.
Hence one might see the ships approaching shore by
themselves, with no oarsman nor wind to urge them
forward. There were cases in which merchants purposely
allowed themselves to be captured by the
Byzantines, though pretending unwillingness, and
after selling their wares for a huge price made their
escape by sea.
A.D. 196 (a.u. 949)
When all the supplies in the town had been exhausted
and the people had been set fairly in a strait with regard
to both their situation and the expectations that
might be founded upon it, at first, although beset by
great difficulties (because they were cut off from all
outside resources), they nevertheless continued to resist;
and to make ships they used lumber taken from
the houses and braided ropes of the hair of their
women. Whenever any troops assaulted the wall, they
would hurl upon them stones from the theatres, bronze
horses, and whole statues of bronze. When even their
normal food supply began to fail them, they proceeded
to soak and eat hides. Then these, too, were used up,
and the majority, having waited for rough water and a
squall so that no one might man a ship to oppose them,
sailed out with the determination either to perish or to
secure provender. They assailed the countryside without
warning and plundered every quarter indiscriminately.
Those left behind committed a monstrous
deed; for when they grew very faint, they turned
against and devoured one another.
13
This was the condition of the men in the city. The
rest, when they had laden their boats with more than
the latter could bear, set sail after waiting this time
also for a great storm. They did not succeed, however,
in making any use of it. The Romans, noticing
A.D. 196 (a.u. 949)
that their vessels were overheavy and depressed almost
to the water's edge, put out against them. They
assailed the company, which was scattered about as
wind and flood chose to dispose them, and really engaged
in nothing like a naval contest but crushed the
enemy's boats mercilessly, striking many with their
boat-hooks, ripping up many with their beaks, and
actually capsizing some by their mere onset. The
victims were unable to do anything, however much they
might have wished it: and when they attempted to flee
in any direction either they would be sunk by force of
the wind, which encountered them with the utmost violence,
or else they would be overtaken by the enemy
and destroyed. The inhabitants of Byzantium, as they
watched this, for a time called unceasingly upon the
gods and kept uttering now one shout and now another
at the various events, according as each one was affected
by the spectacle or the disaster enacted before
his eyes. But when they saw their friends perishing
all together, the united throng sent up a chorus of
groans and wailings, and thereafter they mourned for
the rest of the day and the whole night. The entire
number of wrecks proved so great that some drifted
upon the islands and the Asiatic coast, and the defeat
became known by these relics before it was reported.
The next day the Byzantines had the horror increased
even above what it had been. For, when the surf had
subsided, the whole sea in the vicinity of Byzantium
was covered with corpses and wrecks with blood, and
many of the remains were cast up on shore, with the
result that the catastrophe, now seen in its details, appeared
even worse than when in process of consummation.
14
The Byzantines straightway, though against their
will, surrendered their city. The Romans executed all
the soldiers and magistrates except the pugilist who
had greatly aided the Byzantines and injured the
Romans. He perished also, for in order to make the
soldiers angry enough to destroy him he immediately
hit one with his fist and with a leap gave another a
violent kick.
Severus was so pleased at the capture of Byzantium
that to his soldiers in Mesopotamia (where he was at
this time) he said unreservedly: "We have taken
Byzantium, too!" He deprived the city of its independence
and of its civil rank, and made it tributary,
confiscating the property of the citizens. He granted
the town and its territory to the Perinthians, and the
latter, treating it after the manner of a village, committed
innumerable outrages. So far he seemed in a
way to be justified in what he did. His demolition of
the walls of the city grieved the inhabitants no more
than did the loss of that reputation which the appearance
of the walls had caused them to enjoy; and incidentally
he had abolished a strong Roman outpost and
base of operations against the barbarians from the
Pontus and Asia. I was one that viewed the walls
after they had fallen, and a person would have judged
that they had been taken by some other people than
the Romans. I had also seen them standing and had
heard them "speak." There were seven towers extending
from the Thracian gates to the sea. If a man
approached any of these but the first, it was silent; but
if he shouted a few words at that one or threw a stone
at it, it not only echoed and spoke itself but caused
the second to do the same thing. In this way the sound
passed through them all alike, and they did not interrupt
one another, but all in their proper turn, one receiving
the impulse from the one before it, took up the
echo and the voice and sent it on.
DURATION OF TIME
Scapula Tertullus, Tineius Clemens,
(A.D. 195 = a.u. 948 = Third of Severus, from the Calends of June).
C. Domitius Dexter (II), L. Valerius Messala Priscus.
(A.D. 196 = a.u. 949 = Fourth of Severus).
Ap. Claudius Lateranus, Rufinus.
(A.D. 197 = a.u. 950 = Fifth of Severus).
Ti. Saturninus, C. Gallus.
(A.D. 198 = a.u. 951 = Sixth of Severus).
P. Cornelius Anullinus, M. Aufidius Fronto.
(A.D. 199 = a.u. 952 = Seventh of Severus).
Ti. Claudius Severus, C. Aufidius Victorinus.
(A.D. 200 = a.u. 953 = Eighth of Severus).
L. Annius Fabianus, M. Nonius Mucianus.
(A.D. 201 = a.u. 954 = Ninth of Severus).
L. Septimius Severus Aug. (III), M. Aurel. Antoninus Aug.
(A.D. 202 = a.u. 955 = Tenth of Severus).
(A.D. 195 = a.u. 948 = Third of Severus, from the Calends of June).
C. Domitius Dexter (II), L. Valerius Messala Priscus.
(A.D. 196 = a.u. 949 = Fourth of Severus).
Ap. Claudius Lateranus, Rufinus.
(A.D. 197 = a.u. 950 = Fifth of Severus).
Ti. Saturninus, C. Gallus.
(A.D. 198 = a.u. 951 = Sixth of Severus).
P. Cornelius Anullinus, M. Aufidius Fronto.
(A.D. 199 = a.u. 952 = Seventh of Severus).
Ti. Claudius Severus, C. Aufidius Victorinus.
(A.D. 200 = a.u. 953 = Eighth of Severus).
L. Annius Fabianus, M. Nonius Mucianus.
(A.D. 201 = a.u. 954 = Ninth of Severus).
L. Septimius Severus Aug. (III), M. Aurel. Antoninus Aug.
(A.D. 202 = a.u. 955 = Tenth of Severus).
A.D. 195 (a.u. 948)
1
Of such a nature were the walls of Byzantium. During
the progress of this siege Severus out of a desire
for fame had made a campaign against the barbarians,--the
Osrhoeni, the Adiabeni, and the Arabians.
[The Osrhoeni and Adiabeni having revolted were besieging
Nisibis: defeated by Severus they sent an
embassy to him after the death of Niger, not to beg
his clemency as wrongdoers but to demand reciprocal
favors, pretending to have brought about the outcome
for his benefit. It was for his sake, they said, that
they had destroyed the soldiers who belonged to
Niger's party. Indeed, they sent a few gifts to him
and promised to restore the captives and whatever
spoils were left. However, they were not willing
either to abandon the walled towns they had captured
or to accept the imposition of tributes, but they desired
those in existence to be lifted from the country.
It was this that led to the war just mentioned.]
2
When he had crossed the Euphrates and invaded
hostile territory, where the country was destitute of
water and at this summer season had become especially
parched, he came dangerously near losing great
numbers of soldiers. Wearied as they were by their
tramping and the hot sun, clouds of dust that they
encountered harrassed them greatly, so that they could
no longer walk nor yet speak, but only utter the word
"Water, water!" When
[moisture]
appeared, on
account of
[its]
strangeness it attracted no more attention
than if it had not been found, till Severus called
for a cup, and having filled it with water drank it
down in full view of all. Upon this some others likewise
drank and were invigorated. Soon after Severus
entered Nisibis and himself waited there, but
despatched Lateranus and Candidus and Laetus severally
among the aforementioned barbarians. These
upon attaining their goals proceeded to lay waste the
land of the barbarians and to capture their cities.
While Severus was greatly priding himself upon this
achievement and feeling that he surpassed all mankind
in both understanding and bravery, a most unexpected
event took place. One Claudius, a robber, who
overran Judaea and Syria and was sought for in consequence
with great hue and cry, came to him one day
with horsemen, like some military tribune, and saluted
and kissed him. The visitor was not discovered at the
time nor was he later arrested.
[And the Arabians,
because none of their neighbors was willing to aid
them, sent an embassy a second time to Severus making
quite reasonable propositions. Still, they did not
obtain what they wanted, inasmuch as they had not
come in person.]
A.D. 196 (a.u. 949)
3
The Scythians, too, were in fighting humor, when at
this juncture during a deliberation of theirs thunder
and lightning-flashes with rain suddenly broke over
them, and thunderbolts began to fall, killing their
three foremost men. This caused them to hesitate.
Severus again made three divisions of his army, and
giving one to Laetus, one to Anullinus, and one to
Probus, sent them out against ARCHE
[Lacuna]
;
[
]
and they, invading it in three divisions, subdued it
not without trouble. Severus bestowed some dignity
upon Nisibis and entrusted the city to the care of a
knight. He declared he had won a mighty territory
and had rendered it a bulwark of Syria. It is shown,
on the contrary, by the facts themselves that the place
is responsible for our constant wars as well as for
great expenditures. It yields very little and uses up
vast sums. And having extended our borders to include
men who are neighbors of the Medes and Parthians
rather than of ourselves, we are always, one
might say, fighting over those peoples.
4
Before Severus had had time to recover breath
from his conflicts with the barbarians he found a civil
war on his hands with Albinus, his Caesar. Severus
after getting Niger out of the way was still not giving
him the rank of Caesar and had ordered other details
in that quarter as he pleased; and Albinus aspired to
the preeminence of emperor.
[
]
While the whole world
was moved by this state of affairs we senators kept
quiet, at least so many of us as inclining openly
neither to one man nor the other yet shared their dangers
and hopes. But the populace could not restrain
itself and showed its grief in the most violent fashion.
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 because the consul was a
friend of mine and I heard distinctly everything that
was said,--a fact which renders me able to write a
little about it.
It came about in this way. There had gathered (as
I said) more people than could be computed and they
had watched the chariots contesting in six divisions
(which had been the way also in Oleander's time),
applauding no one in any manner, as was the custom.
When these races had ceased and the charioteers were
about to begin another event, then they suddenly enjoined
silence upon one another and all clapped their
hands simultaneously, shouting, besides, and entreating
good fortune for the public welfare. They first
said this, and afterward, applying the terms "Queen"
and "Immortal" to Rome, they roared: "How long
are we to suffer such experiences?" and "Until when
must we be at war?" And after making a few other
remarks of this kind they finally cried out: "That's
all there is to it!" and turned their attention to the
equestrian contest. In all of this they were surely
inspired by some divine afflation. For not otherwise
could so many myriads of men have started to utter
the same shouts at the same time like some carefully
trained chorus or have spoken the words without mistake
just as if they had practiced them.
This manifestation caused us still greater disturbance
as did also the fact that so great a fire was of a
sudden seen by night in the air toward the north that
some thought that the whole city and others that the
sky itself was burning. But the most remarkable fact
I have to chronicle is that in clear weather a fine silvery
rain descended upon the forum of Augustus, I
did not see it in the air, but noticed it after it had fallen,
and with it I silverplated some small bronze coins.
These retained the same appearance for three days:
on the fourth all the substance rubbed upon them had
disappeared.
5
A certain Numerianus, who taught children their
letters, started from Rome for Galatia with I know
not what object, and by pretending to be a Roman
senator sent by Severus to gather an army he collected
at first just a small force by means of which he
destroyed a few of Albinus's cavalry, whereupon he
unblushingly made some further promises in behalf
of Severus. Severus heard of this and thinking that
he was really one of the senators sent him a message
of praise and bade him acquire still greater power.
The man did acquire greater power and gave many
remarkable exhibitions of ability besides obtaining
seventeen hundred and fifty myriads of denarii, which
he forwarded to Severus. After the latter's victory
Numerianus came to him, making no concealment, and
did not ask to become in very truth a senator. Indeed,
though he might have been exalted by great honors
and wealth, he did not choose to accept them, but
passed the remainder of his life in some country place,
receiving from the emperor some small allowance for
his daily subsistence.
A.D. 197 (a.u. 950)
6
The struggle between Severus and Albinus near
Lugdunum is now to be described. At the outset there
were a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers on each
side. Both leaders took part in the war, since it was
a race for life and death, though Severus had previously
not been present at any important battle.
Albinus excelled in rank and in education, but his adversary
was superior in warfare and was a skillful
commander. It happened that in a former battle Albinus
had conquered Lupus, one of the generals of
Severus, and had destroyed many of the soldiers attending
him. The present conflict took many shapes
and turns. The left wing of Albinus was beaten and
sought refuge behind the rampart, whereupon Severus
's soldiers in their pursuit burst into the enclosure
with them, slaughtered their opponents and plundered
their tents. Meantime the soldiers of Albinus arrayed
on the right wing, who had trenches hidden in front
of them and pits in the earth covered over only on the
surface, approached as far as these snares and hurled
javelins from a distance. They did not go very far
but turned back as if frightened, with the purpose of
drawing their foes into pursuit. This actually took
place. Severus's men, nettled by their brief charge
and despising them for their retreat after so short an
advance, rushed upon them without a thought that the
whole intervening space could not be easily traversed.
When they reached the trenches they were involved in
a fearful catastrophe. The men in the front ranks as
soon as the surface covering broke through fell into
the excavations and those immediately behind stumbled
over them, slipped, and likewise fell. The rest
crowded back in terror, their retreat being so sudden
that they themselves lost their footing, upset those in
the rear, and pushed them into a deep ravine. Of
course there was a terrible slaughter of these soldiers
as well as of those who had fallen into the trenches,
horses and men perishing in one wild mass. In the
midst of this tumult the warriors between the ravine
and the trenches were annihilated by showers of stones
and arrows.
Severus seeing this came to their assistance with
the Pretorians, but this step proved of so little benefit
that he came near causing the ruin of the Pretorians
and himself ran some risk through the loss of a 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 did stop when they saw him in such an
attitude, and turned back. Brought in this way face
to face with the men close behind them they cut down
not a few of them, thinking them to be followers of
Albinus, and routed all their pursuers. At this moment
the cavalry under Laetus came up from the side
and decided the rest of the issue for them. Laetus, so
long as the struggle was close, remained inactive, hoping
that both parties would be destroyed and that
whatever soldiers were left on both sides would give
him supreme authority. When, however, he saw Severus's
party getting the upper hand, he contributed to
the result. So it was that Severus conquered.
7
Roman power had suffered a severe blow, since the
numbers that fell on each side were beyond reckoning.
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 exhausted
by many wounds, others thoroughly mangled, and still
others unwounded but buried under heaps. Weapons
had been tossed about and blood flowed in streams,
even swelling the rivers. Albinus took refuge in a
house located near the Rhone, but when he saw all its
environs guarded, he slew himself. I am not telling
what Severus wrote about it, but what actually took
place. The emperor after inspecting his body and
feasting his eyes upon it to the full while he let his
tongue indulge in appropriate utterances, ordered it,--all
but the head,--to be cast out, and that he sent
to Rome to be exposed on a cross. As he showed
clearly by this action that he was very far from being
an excellent ruler, he alarmed even more than before
the populace and us by the commands which he issued.
Now that he had vanquished all forces under arms he
poured out upon the unarmed all the wrath he had
nourished against them during the previous period.
He terrified us most of all by declaring himself the
son of Marcus and brother of Commodus; and to Commodus,
whom but recently he was wont to abuse, he
gave heroic honors.
8
While reading before the senate
a speech in which he praised the severity and cruelty
of Sulla and Marius and Augustus as rather the safer
course, and deprecated the clemency of Pompey and
Caesar because it had proved their ruin, he introduced
a defence of Commodus, and inveighed against the senate
for dishonoring him unjustly though the majority
of their own body lived even worse lives. "For if",
said he, "this is abominable, that he with his own
hands should have killed beasts, yet at Ostia yesterday
or the day before one of your number, an old man
that had been consul, indulged publicly in play with a
prostitute who imitated a leopard. 'He fought as a
gladiator,' do you say? By Jupiter, does none of you
fight as gladiator? If not, how is it and for what purpose
that some persons have bought his shields and
the famous golden helmets?" At the conclusion of
this reading he released thirty-five prisoners charged
with having taken Albinus's side and behaved toward
them as if they had incurred no charge at all. They
were among the foremost members of the senate. He
condemned to death twenty-nine men, as one of whom
was reckoned Sulpicianus, the father-in-law of Pertinax.
All pretended to sympathize with Severus but were confuted as
often as a sudden piece of news arrived, not being able to conceal
the sentiments hidden in their hearts. When off their guard they
started at reports which happened to assail their ears without warning.
In such ways, as well as through facial expression and habits of behavior,
the feelings of every one of them became manifest. Some also by an
excess of affectation only betrayed their attitude the more.
LXXIV, 9, 5
Severus endeavored in the case of those who were
receiving vengeance at his hands
[Lacuna]
[
]
to employ Erucius Clarus
[
]
as informer against them,
that he might both put the man in an unpleasant position
and be thought to have more fully justified conviction
in view of his witness's family and reputation.
He promised Clarus to grant him safety and immunity.
But when the latter chose rather to die than to make
any such revelations, he turned to Julianus and persuaded
him to play the part. For this willingness he
released him in so far as not to kill nor disenfranchise
him; but he carefully verified all his statements by
tortures and regarded as of no value his existing
reputation.
LXXV, 5
[In Britain at this period, because the Caledonians
did not abide by their promises but made preparations
to aid the Maeatians, and because Severus at the time
was attending to the war abroad, Lupus was compelled
to purchase peace for the Maeatians at a high figure,
and recovered some few captives.]
A.D. 198 (a.u. 951)
9
The next thing Severus did was to make a campaign
against the Parthians. While he was busied with civil
wars, they had been free from molestation and had
thus been able by an expedition in full force to capture
Mesopotamia. They also came very near reducing
Nisbis, and would have done so, had not Laetus, who
was besieged there, preserved the place. Though previously
noted for other political and private and public
excellences, in peace as well as in wars, he derived
even greater glory from this exploit. Severus on
reaching the aforesaid Nisibis encountered an enormous
boar. With its charge it killed a horseman who,
trusting to his own strength, attempted to run it down,
and it was with difficulty stopped and killed by many
soldiers,--thirty being the number required to stop
it; the beast was then conveyed to Severus.
The Parthians did not wait for him but retired
homeward. (Their leader was Vologaesus, whose
brother was accompanying Severus). Hence Severus
equipped boats on the Euphrates and reached him
partly by marching, partly by sailing. The newly constructed
vessels were exceedingly manageable and well
appointed, for the forest along the Euphrates and
those regions in general afforded the emperor an abundant
supply of timber. Thus he soon had seized
Seleucia and Babylon, both of which had been abandoned.
Subsequently he captured Ctesiphon and permitted
his soldiers to plunder the whole town, causing
a great slaughter of men and taking nearly ten myriads
alive. However, he did not pursue Vologaesus nor yet
occupy Ctesiphon, but as if the sole purpose of his
campaign had been to plunder it, he thereupon departed.
This action was due partly to lack of acquaintance
with the country and partly to dearth of
provisions. His return was made by a different route,
because the wood and fodder found on the previous
route had been exhausted. Some of his soldiers made
their retreat by land along the Tigris, following the
stream toward its source, and some on boats.
A.D. 199(?)
10
Next, Severus crossed Mesopotamia and made an
attempt on Hatra, which was not far off, but accomplished
nothing. In fact, even the engines were
burned, many soldiers perished, and vast numbers
were wounded. Therefore Severus retired from the
place and shifted his quarters. While he was at war,
he also put to death two distinguished men. The first
was Julius Crispus, a tribune of the Pretorians. The
cause of his execution was that indignant at the damage
done by the war he had casually uttered a verse
of the poet Maro, in which one of the soldiers fighting
on the side of Turnus against Aeneas bewails his lot
and says: "To enable Turnus to marry Lavinia we
are meanwhile perishing, without heed being paid to
us."
[
]
Severus made Valerius, the soldier who had
accused him, tribune in his place. The other whom he
killed was Laetus, and the reason was that Laetus was
proud and was beloved by the soldiers. They often
said they would not march, unless Laetus would lead
them. The responsibility for this murder, for which
he had no clear reason save jealousy, he fastened upon
the soldiers, making it appear that they had ventured
upon the act contrary to his will.
A.D. 200(?)
11
After laying in a large store of food and preparing
many engines he in person again led an attack upon
Hatra. He deemed it a disgrace, now that other
points had been subdued, that this one alone, occupying
a central position, should continue to resist. And
he lost a large amount of money and all his engines
except those of Priscus, as I stated earlier,
[
]
besides
many soldiers. Numbers were annihilated in foraging
expeditions, as the barbarian cavalry (I mean that of
the Arabians) kept everywhere assailing them with
precision and violence. The archery of the Atreni,
too, was effective over a very long range. Some missiles
they hurled from engines, striking many of Severus's
men-at-arms, for they discharged two missiles
in one and the same shot and there were also many
hands and many arrows to inflict injury. They did
their assailants the utmost damage, however, when
the latter approached the wall, and in an even greater
degree after they had broken down a little of it. Then
they threw at them among other things the bituminous
naphtha of which I wrote above
[
]
and set fire to the
engines and all the soldiers that were struck with it.
Severus observed proceedings from a lofty tribunal.
12
A portion of the outer circuit had fallen in one place
and all the soldiers were eager to force their way inside
the remainder, when Severus checked them from
doing so by giving orders that the signal for retreat
be sounded clearly on all sides. The fame of the place
was great, since it contained enormous offerings to
the Sun God and vast stores of valuables; and he expected
that the Arabians would voluntarily come to
terms in order to avoid being forcibly captured and
enslaved. When, after letting one day elapse, no one
made any formal proposition to him, he commanded
the soldiers again to assault the wall, though it had
been built up in the night. The Europeans who had
the power to accomplish something were so angry that
not one of them would any longer obey him, and some
others, Syrians, compelled to go to the assault in their
stead, were miserably destroyed. Thus Heaven, that
rescued the city, caused Severus to recall the soldiers
that could have entered it, and in turn when he later
wished to take it caused the soldiers to prevent him
from doing so. The situation placed Severus in such
a dilemma that when some one of his followers promised
him that, if he would give him only five hundred
and fifty of the Europeans, he would get possession of
the city without any risk to the rest, the emperor said
within hearing of all: "And where can I get so many
soldiers?" (referring to the disobedience of the soldiers).
A.D. 200 (a.u. 953)
13
Having prosecuted the siege for twenty days he
next came to Palestine and sacrificed to the spirit of
Pompey: and into
[upper]
Egypt
[he sailed along the
Nile and viewed the whole country, with some small
exceptions. For instance, he was unable to pass the
frontier of Ethiopia on account of pestilence.]
And
he made a search of everything, including what was
very carefully hidden, for he was the sort of man to
leave nothing, human or divine, uninvestigated. Following
this tendency he drew from practically all their
hiding places all the books that he could find containing
anything secret, and he closed the monument of
Alexander, to the end that no one should either behold
his body any more or read what was written in these
books.
This was what he did. For myself, there is no need
that I should write in general about Egypt, but what
I know about the Nile through verifying statements
from many sources I am bound to mention. It
clearly rises in Mount Atlas. This lies in Macennitis,
close to the Western ocean itself, and towers far
above all mountains, wherefore the poets have called
it "Pillar of the Sky." No one ever ascended its
summits nor saw its topmost peaks. Hence it is always
covered with snow, which in summer time sends
down great quantities of water. The whole country
about its base is in general marshy, but at this season
becomes even more so, with the result that it swells
the size of the Nile at harvest time. This is the river's
source, as is evidenced by the crocodiles and other
beasts that are born alike on both sides of it. Let no
one be surprised that we have made pronouncements
unknown to the ancient Greeks. The Macennitae live
near lower Mauretania and many of the people who
go on campaigns there also visit Atlas. It is thus that
the matter stands.