Chapter 4

[Sidenote:--13--] Though in truth he was praised by some for this (and not without reason), still he incurred (on the part of the sensible) a censure that quite counterbalanced it. The adverse sentiment in question was due to the fact that he enrolled certain persons in the ranks of ex-consuls and immediately assigned them to governorships of provinces. Yet he refused the following year to have the reputation of being consul twice because he had the honors of ex-consul: this was a practice begun during the reign of Severus and followed also by the latter's son. This procedure, however, both in his own case and in that of Adventus was lawful enough, but he showed great folly in sending Marcius Agrippa first into Pannonia and later into Dacia to govern. The previous officials of the districts mentioned,--Sabinus and Castinus,--he summoned at once to his side, pretending that he wanted their company, but really because he feared their surpassing spirit and their friendship for Caracalla. It was in this way that he came to despatch Agrippa to Dacia and Deccius Triccianus [Footnote: _Ælius Deccius Triccianus_.] to Pannonia. The former had been a slave acting as master of wardrobe for some woman and for this cause [Footnote: It is hard to see why, unless in the age of Severus slaves were forbidden to have charge of women's attire.] had been tried by Severus, although at the time he was attached to the fiscus; he had then been driven out to an island for betraying some interest, was subsequently restored, together with the rest, by Tarautas, had taken charge of his decisions and letters, and finally had been degraded to the position of senator, with ex-consular rank, because he had admitted overgrown lads into the army. Triccianus served in the rank and file of the Pannonian contingent, had once been porter to the governor of that country, and was at this time commanding the Alban legion.

[Sidenote:--14--] These were some of the grounds that led many persons to find fault with him. Another was his elevation of Adventus. Adventus had drawn pay as one of the spies and detectives, had left his position there and served among the letter-carriers, had later been appointed cubicularius, and still later was advanced to a position as procurator. Now although old age prevented him from seeing, lack of education from reading, and want of experience from being able to accomplish anything, the emperor made him senator, fellow-consul, and prefect of the city. This upstart had dared to say to the soldiers after the death of Caracalla: "The sovereignty properly belongs to me, since I am elder than Macrinus: but inasmuch as I am extremely old, I make way for him." His behavior was regarded as nonsensical, as was also that of Macrinus, in granting the greatest dignity of the senate to such a man, who could not when consul carry on a plain conversation with anybody in the senate, and consequently on the day of elections pretended to be sick. Hence, before long Macrinus assigned the direction of the city to Marius Maximus in his stead. It looked as if he had made him præfectus urbi with the sole purpose of polluting the senate-house. And this pollution took place not only in virtue of the fact that he had served in the mercenary force and had performed the duties belonging to executioners, scouts, and centurions, but in that he had secured control of the city prior to fulfilling the demands of the consulship. In other words, he became city prefect before senator. Macrinus connived at his promotion with the definite intention of blinding the public in regard to his own record, which would have shown that he had seized the imperial office while yet a knight.

[Sidenote:--15--] Besides these not unmerited censures that some passed upon him, he also attracted adverse criticism for designating as prefects Ulpius Julianus and Julianus Nestor, who possessed no particular excellence and had not been tested in many undertakings, but had become quite notorious for rascality in Caracalla's reign; for, being at the head of the late prince's messengers [Footnote: Mommsen thinks that by this expression Dio probably means the position of _princeps peregrinorum_.] they had been of great assistance to him in his unholy meddling. However, only a few citizens took account of these details, which did not tend wholly to encourage them. The majority of individuals, in view of their having recently got rid of Tarautas, which was more than they could have hoped, and comparing the new ruler in the few indications afforded with the old, and in view of all the other considerations and expectations, did not deem it fitting to condemn him so soon. And for this reason they mourned him exceedingly when he was killed, though they would certainly have felt hatred for him had he lived longer.]

For he began to live rather more luxuriously and he took official notice of those who reproved him. His putting Maternianus and Datus out of the way was not reasonable,--for what wrong had they done in being attentive to their emperor?--but it was not unlike human nature, since he had been involved in great danger. But he made a mistake in venting his wrath upon the rest, who were suspected of disliking his low birth and his unexpected attempt upon the sovereign power. He ought to have done precisely the opposite; realizing what he had been at the outset and what his position then was, he should not have been supercilious, but should have behaved moderately, cultivated the genius of his household, and encouraged men by good deeds and a display of excellence unchanged by circumstances.

[Sidenote:--16--] These things [lacuna] in regard to him [lacuna] have been said by me [lacuna] in detail [lacuna] of any [lacuna] just as [lacuna] nominally throughout his entire reign [lacuna] of all [lacuna] of it [lacuna] that he said in conversation with the soldiers [lacuna] it was proved [lacuna] and he dared to utter not a few laudations of himself and to send still more of them in letters, saying among other things: "I have been quite sure that you also would agree with the legions, since I enjoy the consciousness of having conferred many benefits upon the commonwealth." He subscribed himself in the letter as Cæsar and emperor and Severus, adding to the name of Macrinus the titles of Pious, and Fortunate, and Augustus, and Proconsul, of course without awaiting any vote on our part. He sent the letter without being ignorant that he was, on his own responsibility, assuming so many and great designations nor [lacuna] name [lacuna] of Pretorians as formerly some [lacuna] not but what [lacuna] so wrote [lacuna] in the beginning [lacuna] war chiefly [lacuna] of barbarians [lacuna] near [lacuna] in the letter he used simply the same terms as the emperors before Caracalla, and this he did the whole year through [lacuna] memoranda found among the soldiers. Thus [lacuna] of things accustomed to be said with a view to flattery and not inspired by truthfulness they became so suspicious as to ask that they be made public, and he sent them to us, and the quæstor read them aloud, as he did other similar documents in their turn. And a certain prætor, as the senate was then in session and none of the quæstors was present, also read an epistle once composed by Macrinus himself.

[Sidenote:--17--] The first letter having been read, appropriate measures were passed with reference to both Macrinus and his son. He was designated Patrician, and Princeps Iuventutis, and Cæsar. He accepted everything save the horse-race voted in honor of the beginning of his reign; from this he begged to be excused, saying that the event had been sufficiently honored by the spectacle on the birthday of Severus. Of Tarautas he made no mention at this time, in the way of either honor or dishonor, save only that he called him Emperor. He ventured to term him neither Hero nor Foe, and, as I conjecture, it was because the deeds of his predecessor and the hatred of much of mankind made him shrink from the former epithet, and the thought of the soldiers restrained him from the latter. Some suspected that it was because he wanted the disgracing to be the act of the senate and the people rather than his own, especially since he was in the midst of the legions. He did say that Tarautas by his wrongdoing had been chiefly responsible for the war and had terribly burdened the public treasury by increasing the money given to the barbarians, inasmuch as it was of equal amount with the pay of the soldiers under arms. No one dared, however, to give utterance publicly to any such statement against him and vote that he was an enemy, for fear of immediate annihilation at the hands of the soldiers in the City. Still, they abused him in their own fashion and heaped insults upon him as much as they could, going over the list of his bloody deeds, with the name of each victim, and ranging him alongside all the evil tyrants that had ever held sway over them.

[Sidenote:--18--] At the same time the public demanded that the horse-race given on his birthday be abolished, that absolutely all the statues, both gold and silver, erected [Footnote: Supplying, with Reiske, [Greek: hidruthentas].] in his honor be melted down, and that those who had served with him in any capacity as informers be made known and punished with the utmost speed. For great numbers, not only slaves and freedmen and soldiers and Cæsarians, but likewise knights and senators and numerous very distinguished women, were believed to have given secret hints during his reign and to have blackmailed various persons. And although they did not attach to Antoninus the name of Enemy, they did keep vociferating that Martialius (on account of the similarity of his name to that of Mars, as they pretended,) ought to be honored with enconiums and with statues for worship. They also showed for the moment no indication of annoyance at Macrinus], the reason being that they were so overwhelmed by joy on account of the death of Tarautas as not to have leisure to think anything about his humble origin, and they were glad to accept him as emperor. They were less concerned about whose slaves they should be next than about whose yoke they had shaken off, and were impressed with the idea that any chance comer who might present himself would be preferable to their former master. [All the unusual expenditures were rehearsed that had been made, not only by the Roman Treasury but privately for any persons and on the part of any foreign nations as a result of the former sovereign's direction: and thus the overthrow of those charged with carrying out the enactments made by him and the hope that in the future nothing similar would be done inclined people to be satisfied with the existing arrangement.

[Sidenote:--19--] However, they soon learned that Aurelianus was dead and that Diadumenianus, son of Macrinus, had been appointed Cæsar. This last was nominally the act of the soldiers, through whose ranks he passed when summoned from Antioch to meet his father, but really it was accomplished by Macrinus. People further learned that their ruler had assumed the name of Antoninus. (He had done this to win the favor of the soldiers, partly to avoid seeming to dishonor his predecessor's memory entirely, especially in view of the fact that he had secretly thrown down some of the statues offered to him in Rome by Alexander and set on pedestals by Antoninus himself: and again he wanted to get an excuse for promising them seven hundred and fifty denarii more.) So persons began to think differently and reflected that previously they had held him in no esteem. Taking account, furthermore, of all the additional ignoble manifestations on his part that they suspected and thought likely, they began to be ashamed and did not [lacuna] Caracalla any more than [lacuna] things pertaining to him differently [lacuna] by deprecating the [lacuna] of Severus [lacuna] of Antoninus [lacuna] they displayed [lacuna] and hero and what befitted his reign, not to be sure [lacuna] and wholly the judgments of all men in Rome [lacuna] underwent a change [lacuna] senate [lacuna] to him [lacuna] me [lacuna] however, when all were questioned man by man regarding his honors, both others answered ambiguously and [lacuna] Saturninus [lacuna] in a way attributing [lacuna] prætors [lacuna] that it was not permissible for him to put any vote about anything, in order that they might avoid the consul's jealousy. This procedure was contrary to precedent, for it was not lawful that there should take place in the senate-chamber an inquiry into any matter, except at the command of the emperor.

[Sidenote:--20--] The crowd, because they could obscure their identity at the contest and by their numbers, gained the greater boldness, raised a loud cry at the horse-race on the birthday of Diadumenianus, which fell on the fourteenth of September: they uttered many lamentations, asserting that they alone of all mankind were destitute of a leader, destitute of a king; and they invoked the name of Jupiter, declaring that he alone should be their leader and uttering aloud these words: "As a master thou wert angry, as a father take pity on us." Nor would they pay any heed at first to either the equestrian or the senatorial order [lacuna] and commending the emperor and the Cæsar to the extent of [lacuna] in Greek saying: "Ah, what a glorious day is to-day! What noble kings!" and desiring that the others also should share their opinion. But they stretched out their arms toward the sky and exclaimed: "[lacuna]. this is the Roman Augustus: having him we have all!" So true it is that among mankind respect is a distinct characteristic of the better element and contempt a characteristic of the worse. For these two now regarded Macrinus and Diadumenianus as henceforth absolutely non-existent and trampled upon their claims as though they were already dead. This was one great reason why his soldiers despised him, and paid no heed to what was done to win their favor. Another still more important cause lay in the frequent and extraordinary insolence shown toward him by the Pergamenians, who were deprived of what they had formerly received from Tarautas; and for this conduct he imposed upon them public sentence of loss of citizenship. [Sidenote:--21--] The attitude of the soldiers is straightway to be described. At this time Macrinus neither sent to the senate, as they were demanding, nor published otherwise any document of the informers, saying either truly or falsely (to avoid a great disturbance) that none such had been found in the royal residence. For Tarautas had either destroyed the majority of those containing any accusation or had returned them to the senders themselves, as I have stated, [Footnote: The passage to which Dio refers is lost.] to the end that no proof of his baseness should be left. But he did reveal the names of three senators whom, from what he had himself discovered, he deemed to be especially deserving of hatred. These were Manilius and Julius, and moreover Sulpicius Arrhenianus, who had blackmailed, among others, Bassus, the son of Pomponius, whose lieutenant he had been when Bassus was governor of Moesia. These men were banished to islands, as the emperor expressly forbade their being put to death. "We would avoid,"--he wrote--these were his very words,--"ourselves appearing to do the things for which we censure them."--And Lucius Priscillianus [whose name was presented by the senate itself,] was as much renowned for his insulting behavior as he was for his killing of wild beasts. [He fought them at Tusculum every now and then, and contended with so many each time that he bore the scars of their bites.] Once he, unassisted, joined battle with a bear and panther, a lioness and lion at once, but far more numerous were the men, both knights and senators, whom he destroyed as a result of his slanders. [For both of these achievements] he was greatly honored by Caracalla [was enrolled among the ex-prætors and became (contrary to precedent) governor of Achæa. He incurred the violent hatred of the senate, was summoned for trial] and was confined upon an island. These men, then, came to their end as described.

[Sidenote:--22--] And Flaccus was entrusted also with the dispensation of food stuffs,--an office which Manilius had formerly held,--for he had secured [Footnote: Reading [Greek: eilaephos] (Reimar).] it (with the added ratification of Macrinus) as a reward of his information against him; and he was subsequently made superintendent of the distribution of dole which took place at the games given by the major prætors, save those celebrated in honor of Flora [lacuna] moreover the iuridici possessing authority in Italy had to stop rendering decisions outside the traditional limits set by Marcus. [Footnote: The text of the early part of this chapter may be characterized as "jagged." The sentences lack clearness and the relation of the individual words is not always certain. The reader may be interested to see a translation of Hirschfeld's interpretation of the section, taken from his book entitled _Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiete der Roemischen Verwaltungsgeschichte_ (pp. 117-120).

a [Flaccus]--It is here a question of a high senatorial office, which can only be the _præfectura alimentorum_.

b [The iuridici]--Perhaps the person entrusted with the execution of this ruling was C. Octavius Sabinus, who had the title of _electus ad corrigendum statum Italiæ_.

c [The orphans]--Probably during the latter portion of Caracalla's reign, as also under Commodus, the funds for food had been available either not at all or at irregular intervals, and therefore the restitution of district prefects was determined upon.

From these Food Prefects for a particular district those officials must be distinguished who bear the general title of _præfectus alimentorum_ without any local limitation, and show a marked difference from the rest in that they are invariably of consular rank, whereas the position of district prefect, like that of curator of roads, was usually held by a candidate that had only passed the prætorship. The inscriptions of these _consular_ prefects begin not earlier than the end of the reign of Marcus Aurelius, perhaps not till Commodus, and extend to the time of Macrinus, while during this whole time (a period, that is, of about forty years) all trace of the district prefects vanishes. Under these circumstances the conclusion seems to me inevitable that towards the end of the second century (probably from the first years of Marcus Aurelius on) the district prefecture was abolished and the administration was centralized in Rome under a consular _præfectus alimentorum_, whose authority extended over the whole of Italy.

Now very probably it was the introduction under Marcus Aurelius of the _iuridici_ which occasioned this change, even if not immediately, and that these duties of distribution, as well as other administrative functions, were placed in their hands; one thing that would seem to recommend this view particularly is that their position in general tended to make them official examiners of the affairs of the _municipia_. When, in addition, we have evidence that Macrinus in the year 217 reduced the authority of the _iundici_ to the limits originally imposed by Marcus Aurelius and that further the same emperor instituted certain rulings for the amelioration of food distribution; when, moreover, we consider in connection with this the coincidence of the disappearance of the _consular food prefects_ for Italy on the one hand and the reappearance of the _pretorial district prefects_ on the other, it will not appear overbold to suppose that Macrinus, in the course of the reform affecting the _iuridici_, also detached from them the right to supervise foods, restored it to the curators of roads (as in the original arrangement) and abolished the central bureau in Rome.]--A certain Domitius Florus had formerly had charge of the senate records and ought to have been next appointed ædile, but before entering upon office had been deprived of all hope on account of Plautianus; he now had recourse to sedulous office-seeking, recovered his lost standing and was appointed tribune. Anicius Faustus was sent into Asia to govern in place of Asper. The latter had at first obtained very great honor from Macrinus, who thought he could settle affairs in Asia: afterwards, when he was already _en route_ and was approaching the province (Macrinus had not accorded a favorable reception to the petition forwarded to Caracalla and delivered to him, in which the inhabitants begged that Asper be not sent them as proconsul), the emperor offered him a terrible affront in rejecting him. It was reported to the prince that Asper had made some improper remarks, and moreover he affected to think that old age and disease constituted a second reason for relieving him of his duties, and therefore he delivered Asia into the keeping of Faustus, a man who had been overlooked in the order of allotment by Severus. As the time for him to govern turned out to be short, Macrinus bade him hold the office for the following year in place of Aufidius Fronto. To the latter he would entrust neither Africa (which he had drawn by lot), because the Africans begged that he be not allowed to come, nor yet Asia, though he had first transferred him thither. As a fitting recognition, however, Macrinus proposed that twenty-five myriads be given him to stay at home. Fronto, however, would not accept that, saying that he wanted not money but a position of authority, and accordingly later he received the province from Sardanapalus.

Besides these events aid was extended to the orphans, whose hopes of support were small, from the [lacuna] age of childhood to military years. [Footnote: See note 2c, page 58.]

[Sidenote:--23--] Now Julia, the mother of Tarautas, chanced to be in Antioch, and at the first information of her son's death she was so affected that she struck herself violently and undertook to starve herself to death. The presence of this very same man, whom she hated alive, became the object of her longings now that he had ceased to exist; yet not because she desired him to live, but because she was furious at having to return to private life; and this led her to abuse Macrinus also long and bitterly. Subsequently, as no change was made in her royal suite or in the guard of Pretorians attending her, and the new emperor sent her a kind message (not having yet heard what she had said), she took courage, laid aside her longing for death, and, without writing him any response, held some negotiations with the soldiers she had about her, especially [lacuna] and as they were angry with Macrinus [lacuna] as they had a pleasanter remembrance of her son, how she might attain the imperial position, rendering herself the peer of Semiramis and Nitocris, since she came in a way from the same regions as they; [Footnote: Boissevain's conjecture for the succeeding sentences (valuable, of course, only as the guess of an expert) is the following: