On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his coming to power Severus
presented to the entire populace that received the grain dole and to
the soldiers of the pretorian guard gold pieces equal in number to the
years of his reign. He prided himself especially on this largess, and,
in fact, no emperor had ever before given so much to the whole
population at once; the total amount spent for the purpose was two
hundred million sesterces. The nuptials of Antoninus, the son of
Severus, and Plautilla, Plautianus' daughter, were also celebrated at
this time; and Plautianus gave as much for his daughter's dowry as
would have sufficed for fifty women of royal rank. We saw the gifts as
they were being carried through the Forum to the palace. And we were
all entertained together at a banquet, partly in royal and partly in
barbaric style, receiving not only all the customary cooked viands but
also uncooked meat and sundry animals still alive. At this time there
occurred, too, all sorts of spectacles in honour of Severus' return,
the completion of his first ten years of power, and his victories. At
these spectacles sixty wild boars of Plautianus fought together at a
signal, and among many other wild beasts that were slain were an
elephant and a corocotta. This last animal is an Indian species, and
was then introduced into Rome for the first time, so far as I am aware.
It has the colour of a lioness and tiger combined, and the general
appearance of those animals, as also of a dog and fox, curiously
blended. The entire receptacle in the amphitheatre had been constructed
so as to resemble a boat in shape, and was capable of receiving or
discharging four hundred beasts at once; and then, as it suddenly fell
apart, there came rushing forth bears, lionesses, panthers, lions,
ostriches, wild asses, bisons (this is a kind of cattle foreign in
species and appearance), so that seven hundred beasts in all, both wild
and domesticated, at one and the same time were seen running about and
were slaughtered. For to correspond with the duration of the festival,
which lasted seven days, the number of the animals was also seven times
one hundred.
On Mount Vesuvius a huge fire blazed up, and there were bellowings
mighty enough to be heard even in Capua, where I live whenever I am in
Italy. I have selected this place for various reasons, and particularly
for its quiet, in order that when I have leisure from the offices of
the capital I may write this history. In view, now, of what happened on
Vesuvius, it seemed probable that some change in the State was about to
occur; and, in fact, there was an immediate change in the fortunes of
Plautianus. This man had in very truth gown great and more than great,
so that even the populace in the Circus once exclaimed: "Why do you
tremble? Why are you pale? You possess more than do the three." They
pretended, to be sure, that they were not saying this of him but in
another connexion, but by "the three" they meant Severus and his two
sons, Antoninus and geta; and Plautianus was always pale and trembling
because of the kind of life he lived, the hopes he entertained, and the
fears he felt. And yet for a time most of this conduct of Plautianus
was not noticed by Severus himself, or, if he did know of it, he
pretended not to know. When, however, his brother Geta on his deathbed
revealed to him all the facts about Plautianus,— for Geta hated the
prefect and now no longer feared him, — the emperor set up a bronze
statue of his brother in the Forum and no longer held his minister in
the same honour, but stripped him of most of his power. Hence
Plautianus became very indignant; he had even before this hated
Antoninus for slighting his daughter, but now detested him more than
ever as being responsible for this slight which had been put upon him,
and he began to behave rather harshly toward him.
For these reasons Antoninus, in addition to being disgusted with his
wife, who was a most shameless creature, felt resentment against
Plautianus as well, because he kept meddling in all his undertakings
and rebuking him for everything that he did; and so he conceived the
desire to get rid of him in some way or other. Accordingly he got
Euodus, his tutor, to persuade a certain centurion, Saturninus, and two
others of the same rank with him to bring him word that Plautianus had
ordered ten specified centurions, these three being of the number, to
kill both Severus and Antoninus; and they read a certain written
communication, pretending that they had received it in connexion with
this very plot. Now this was all carried out suddenly at the festival
held in the palace in honour of dead ancestors, after the spectacle was
over and as dinner was about to be served. These circumstances in
particular betrayed the fraud; for Plautianus would never have dared to
give such instructions either to ten centurions at once, or in Rome, or
in the palace, or on that day, or at that hour, and especially not in
writing. Nevertheless Severus believed the information trustworthy,
inasmuch as he had dreamed the night before that Albinus was alive and
plotting against him.
He therefore summoned Plautianus in haste, as if upon some other
business. And Plautianus hurried so, or rather Heaven gave him such an
intimation of his approaching destruction, that the mules that brought
him dropped in the palace yard. And when he entered, the porters at the
latticed gates admitted him alone inside and would permit no one else
to go in with him, just as he himself had once done in the case of
Severus at Tyana. This caused him to suspect something, and he became
alarmed; but as he had no way of withdrawing, he went in. Severus
talked to him in a very mild manner, and asked: "Why have you seen fit
to do this? Why did you wish to kill us?" He also gave him an
opportunity to speak and acted as if intending to listen to his
defence. But Antoninus, as Plautianus was making denial and expressing
amazement at what was said, rushed up, took away his sword, and struck
him with his fist; and he even wanted to kill him with his own hands,
after the other had remarked, "You have forestalled me in killing."
But, being prevented by his father, Antoninus ordered one of the
attendants to slay Plautianus. And somebody plucked out a few hairs
from his beard, carried them to Julia and Plautilla, who were together,
before they had heard a word of the affair, and exclaimed, "Behold your
Plautianus," thus causing grief to the one and joy to the other. Thus
this man, who had possessed the greatest power of all the men of my
time, so that everyone regarded him with greater fear and trembling
than the very emperors, and who had been led on to still greater hopes,
was slain by his son-in-law and his body thrown down from the palace
into a street; for it was only afterwards that, at the command of
Severus, he was taken up and buried.
Severus later called a meeting of the senate in the senate-house,
where, however, he uttered no accusation against Plautianus, but merely
deplored the weakness of human nature, which cannot endure excessive
honours, and blamed himself in that he had so loved and honoured this
man. Then he ordered those who had informed him of Plautianus' plot to
tell us everything; but first he removed from the chamber those whose
presence was not necessary, so as to make it clear, through his refusal
to reveal anything to them, that he did not altogether trust them.
Many, accordingly, found their lives in danger on account of
Plautianus, and some were actually put to death. As for Coeranus,
however, though he admitted (a mere pretence, no doubt, such as most
men are wont to indulge in when referring to those who are favoured by
Fortune) that he had been an intimate of Plautianus and that, whenever
the other suspected senators were invited into his house in advance of
the general throng of those who came to pay Plautianus their respects,
he had accompanied them as far as the last gate, yet he denied that he
had shared in Plautianus' secrets, asserting that he always remained in
the space midway, thus giving to Plautianus the impression that he was
outside and to those outside that he was inside. Because of this he was
regarded with all the greater suspicion; and there was the further
reason that once, when Plautianus dreamed that fishes came up out of
the Tiber and fell at his feet, Coeranus had declared that he should
rule both the land and the water. But this man, after being confined on
an island for seven years, was later recalled, was the first Egyptian
to be enrolled in the senate, and became consul, like Pompey, without
having previously held any other office. Caecilius Agricola, on the
other hand, who was numbered among the foremost flatterers of
Plautianus and was second to no man on earth in knavery and
licentiousness, was sentenced to death; he accordingly went home and,
after drinking his fill of chilled wine, shattered the cup, which had
cost him two hundred thousand sesterces, and cutting his veins, fell
dead upon the fragments. As for Saturninus and Euodus, they were
honoured at the time, but were later executed by Antoninus. While we
were engaged in voting sundry eulogies to Euodus, Severus restrained
us, saying: "It would be disgraceful for anything of that sort
concerning an imperial freedman to appear in one of your decrees." Nor
was this the only instance of such an attitude on his part; he also
refused to allow any of the other imperial freedmen, either, to act
insolently or give themselves airs; and for this he was well spoken of.
The senate, in fact, while chanting his praises once went so far as to
shout out these words: "All do all things well since you rule well."
Plautilla and Plautius, the children of Plautianus, were for the time
being permitted to live, being banished to Lipara, but in the reign of
Antoninus they perished; and yet even while they lived they passed
their lives in great fear and wretchedness and with no abundance of the
necessaries of life.
The sons of Severus, Antoninus and Geta, feeling that they had got rid
of a pedagogue, as it were, in Plautianus, now went to all lengths in
their conduct. They outraged women and abused boys, they embezzled
money, and made gladiators and charioteers their boon companions,
emulating each other in the similarity of their deeds, but full of
strife in their rivalries; for if the one attached himself to a certain
faction, the other would be sure to choose the opposite side. And at
last they were pitted against each other in some kind of contest with
teams of ponies and drove with such fierce rivalry that Antoninus fell
out of his two-wheeled chariot and broke his leg. Severus, during his
son's illness that followed this accident, did not neglect any of his
duties in the least, but held court and attended all the business
pertaining to his office. And for this he was praised; but he was
censured for killing Quintillus Plautianus. He aso put to death many
other senators, some of them after they had been duly accused before
him, had made their defence, and been convicted.
Quintillus, a man of the noblest birth and long counted among the
foremost members of the senate, a man now standing at the gates of old
age, living in the country, interfering in no one's business and doing
aught amiss, nevertheless became the victim of informers and was put
out of the way. As he was about to die, he called for his shroud, which
he had made ready long before; and on perceiving that it had fallen to
pieces through lapse of time, he said: "What does this mean? We are
late." And then, as he burnt incense, he remarked: "I make the same
prayer as Servianus made for Hadrian." So he died at this time; and
gladiatorial contests were held, in which, among other novelties, ten
tigers were slain at once.
After this came the dénouement of the case of Apronianus, — an
incredible affair even in the hearing. This man was accused because his
nurse was reported to have dreamed once that he should be emperor and
because he was believed to have employed some magic to this end; and he
was condemned while absent at his post as governor of Asia. Now when
the evidence concerning him, taken under torture, was read to us, there
appeared in it the statement that one of the persons conducting the
examination had inquired who had told the dream and who had heard it,
and that the man under examination had said, among other things: "I saw
a certain bald-headed senator peeping in." On hearing this we found
ourselves in a terrible position; for although neither the man had
spoken nor Severus written anyone's name, yet such was the general
consternation that even those who had never visited the house of
Apronianus, and not alone the bald-headed but even those who were bald
on their forehead, grew afraid. And although no one was very cheerful,
except those who had unusually heavy hair, yet we all looked round at
those who were not so fortunate, and a murmur ran about: "Its
So-and-so." "No, it's So-and-so." I will not conceal what happened to
me at the time, ridiculous as it is. I was so disconcerted that I
actually felt with my hand to see whether I had any hair on my head.
And a good many others had the same experience. And we were very
careful to direct our gaze upon those who were more or less bald, as if
we should thereby divert our own danger upon them; we continued to do
this until the further statement was read that the bald-head in
question had worn a purple-bordered toga. When this detail came out, we
turned our eyes upon Baebius Marcellinus; for he had been aedile at the
time and was extremely bald. So he rose, and coming forward, said: "He
will of course recognize me, for he has seen me." After we had
commended this course, the informer was brought in while Marcellinus
stood by, and for a considerable time remained silent, looking about
for a man he could recognize, but finally, following the direction of
an almost imperceptible nod that somebody gave, he said that
Marcellinus was the man. Thus was Marcellinus convicted of a
bald-head's peeping, and he was led out of the senate-chamber bewailing
his fate. When he had passed through the Forum, he refused to proceed
farther, but just where he was took leave of his children, four in
number, and spoke these most affecting words: "There is only one thing
that causes me sorrow, my children, and that is that I leave you behind
alive." Then his head was cut off, before Severus even learned that he
had been condemned. Just vengeance, however, befell Pollenius Sebennus,
who had preferred the charge that caused Marcellinus' death. He was
delivered up by Sabinus to the Norici, whom he had treated in anything
but a decent fashion while acting as their governor, and he had to
endure a most shameful experience; we saw him lying on the ground and
pleading piteously, and had he not obtained mercy, because of Auspex,
his uncle, he would have perished miserably. This Auspex was the
cleverest man imaginable for jokes and chit-chat, for despising all
mankind, gratifying his friends, and taking vengeance on an enemy. Many
bitter and witty sayings of his are reported, addressed to various
persons, many even to Severus himself. Here is one of the latter kind.
When the emperor was enrolled in the family of Marcus, Auspex said: "I
congratulate you, Caesar, upon finding a father," implying that up to
that time he had been fatherless by reason of his obscure birth.
At this period one Bulla, an Italian, got together a robber band of
about six hundred men, and for two years continued to plunder Italy
under the very noses of the emperors and of a multitude of soldiers.
For though he was pursued by many men, and though Severus eagerly
followed his trail, he was never really seen when seen, never found
when found, never caught when caught, thanks to his great bribes and
cleverness. For he learned of everybody that was setting out from Rome
and everybody that was putting into port at Brundisium, and knew both
who and how many there were, and what and how much they had with them.
In the case of most persons he would take a part of what they had and
let them go at once, the he detained artisans for a time and made use
of their skill, then dismissed them with a present. Once, when two of
his men had been captured and were about to be given to wild beasts, he
paid a visit to the keeper of the prison, pretending that he was the
governor of his native district and needed some men of such and such a
description, and in this way he secured and saved the men. And he
approached the centurion who was trying to exterminate the band and
accused himself, pretending to be someone else, and promised, if the
centurion would accompany him, to deliver the robber to him. So on the
pretext that he was leading him to Felix (this was another name by
which he was called), he led him into a defile beset with thickets, and
easily seized him. Later, he assumed the dress of a magistrate,
ascended the tribunal, and having summoned the centurion, caused part
of his head to be shaved, and then said: "Carry this message to your
masters: 'Feed your slaves, so that they may not turn to brigandage.' "
Bulla had with him, in fact, a very large number of imperial freedmen,
some of whom had been poorly paid, while others had received absolutely
no pay at all. Severus, informed of these various occurrences, was
angry at the thought that though he was winning the wars in Britain
through others, yet he himself had proved no match for a robber in
Italy; and finally he sent a tribune from his body-guard with many
horsemen, after threatening him with dire punishment if he should fail
to bring back the robber alive. So this tribune, having learned that
the brigand was intimate with another man's wife, persuaded her through
her husband to assist them on promise of immunity. As a result, the
robber was arrested while asleep in a cave. Papinian, the prefect,
asked him, "Why did you become a robber?" And he replied: "Why are you
a prefect?" Later, after due proclamation, he was given to wild beasts,
and his band was broken up — to such an extent did the strength of the
whole six hundred lie in him.
Severus, seeing that his sons were changing their mode of life and that
the legions were becoming enervated by idleness, made a campaign
against Britain, though he knew that he should not return. He knew this
chiefly from the stars under which he had been born, for he had caused
them to be painted on the ceilings of the rooms in the palace where he
was wont to hold court, so that they were visible to all, with the
exception of that portion of the sky which, as astrologers express it,
"observed the hour" when he first saw the light; for this portion he
had not depicted in the same way in both rooms. He knew his fate also
by what he had heard from the seers; for a thunderbolt had struck a
statue of his which stood near the gates through which he was intending
to march out and looked toward the road leading to his destination, and
it had erased three letters from his name. For this reason, as the
seers made clear, he did not return, but died in the third year. He
took along with him an immense amount of money.
There are two principal races of the Britons, the Caledonians and the
Maeatae, and the names of the others have been merged in these two. The
Maeatae live next to the cross-wall which cuts the island in half, and
the Caledonians are beyond them. Both tribes inhabit wild and waterless
mountains and desolate and swampy plains, and possess neither walls,
cities, nor tilled fields, but live on their flocks, wild game, and
certain fruits; for they do not touch the fish which are there found in
immense and inexhaustible quantities. They dwell in tents, naked and
unshod, possess their women in common, and in common rear all the
offspring. Their form of rule is democratic for the most part, and they
are very fond of plundering; consequently they choose their boldest men
as rulers. They go into battle in chariots, and have small, swift
horses; there are also foot-soldiers, very swift in running and very
firm in standing their ground. For arms they have a shield and a short
spear, with a bronze apple attached to the end of the spear-shaft, so
that when it is shaken it may clash and terrify the enemy; and they
also have dagger. They can endure hunger and cold and any kind of
hardship; for they plunge into the swamps and exist there for many days
with only their heads above water, and in the forests they support
themselves upon bark and roots, and for all emergencies they prepare a
certain kind of food, the eating of a small portion of which, the size
of a bean, prevents them from feeling either hunger or thirst.
Such is the general character of the island of Britain such are the
inhabitants of at least the hostile part of it. For it is an island,
and the fact, as I have stated, was clearly proved at that time. Its
length is 951 miles, its greatest breadth 308, and its least 40. Of all
this territory we hold a little less than one half.
Severus, accordingly, desiring to subjugate the whole of it, invaded
Caledonia. But as he advanced through the country he experienced
countless hardships in cutting down the forests, levelling the heights,
filling up the swamps, and bridging the rivers; but he fought no battle
and beheld no enemy in battle array. The enemy purposely put sheep and
cattle in front of the soldiers for them to seize, in order that they
might be lured on still further until they were worn out; for in fact
the water caused great suffering to the Romans, and when they became
scattered, they would be attacked. Then, unable to walk, they would be
slain by their own men, in order to avoid capture, so that a full fifty
thousand died. But Severus did not desist until he approached the
extremity of the island. Here he observed most accurately the variation
of the sun's motion and the length of the days and the nights in summer
and winter respectively. Having thus been conveyed through practically
the whole of the hostile country (for he actually was conveyed in a
covered litter most of the way, on account of his infirmity), he
returned to the friendly portion, after he had forced the Britons to
come to terms, on the condition that they should abandon a large part
of their territory.
Antoninus was causing him alarm and endless anxiety by his intemperate
life, by his evident intention to murder his brother if the chance
should offer, and, finally, by plotting against the emperor himself.
Once he dashed suddenly out of his quarters, shouting and bawling out
that he was being wronged by Castor. This man was the best of the
freedmen in attendance upon Severus, and held the offices of both
secretary and chamberlain. Thereupon certain soldiers who had been got
ready beforehand assembled and joined in the outcry; but they were
quickly checked when Severus himself appeared among them and punished
the more unruly ones. On another occasion, when both were riding
forward to meet the Caledonians, in order to receive their arms and
discuss the details of the truce, Antoninus attempted to kill his
father outright with his own hand. They were proceeding on horseback,
Severus also being mounted, in spite of the fact that he had somewhat
strained his feet as the result of an infirmity, and the rest of the
army was following; the enemy's force were likewise spectators. At this
juncture, while all were proceeding in silence and in order, Antoninus
reined in his horse and drew his sword, as if he were going to strike
his father in the back. But the others who were riding with them, upon
seeing this, cried out, and so Antoninus, in alarm, desisted from his
attempt. Severus turned at their shout and saw the sword, yet he did
not utter a word, but ascended the tribunal, finished what he had to
do, and returned to headquarters. Then he summoned his son, together
with Papinian and Castor, ordered a sword to be placed within easy
reach, and upbraided the youth for having dared to so such a thing at
all and especially for having been on the point of committing so
monstrous a crime in the sight of all, both the allies and the enemy.
And finally he said: "Now if you really want to slay me, put me out of
the way ere; for you are strong, while I am an old man and prostrate.
For, if you do not shrink from the deed, but hesitate to murder me with
your own hands, there is Papinian, the prefect, standing beside you,
whom you can order to slay me; for surely he will do anything that you
command, since you are virtually emperor." Though he spoke in this
fashion, he nevertheless did Antoninus no harm, and that in spite of
the fact that he had often blamed Marcus for not putting Commodus
quietly out of the way and that he had himself often threatened to act
thus toward his son. Such threats, however, were always uttered under
the influence of anger, whereas on the present occasion he allowed his
love for his offspring to outweigh his love for his country; and yet in
doing so he betrayed his other son, for he well knew what would happen.
When the inhabitants of the island again revolted, he summoned the
soldiers and ordered them to invade the rebels' country, killing
everybody they met; and he quoted these words:
"Let no one escape sheer destruction,
No one our hands, not even the babe in the womb of the mother,
If it be male; let it nevertheless not escape sheer destruction."
When this had been done, and the Caledonians had joined the revolt of
the Maeatae, he began preparing to make war upon them in person. While
he was thus engaged, his sickness carried him off on the fourth of
February, not without some help, they say, from Antoninus. At all
events, before Severus died, he is reported to have spoken thus to his
sons (I give his exact words without embellishment): "Be harmonious,
enrich the soldiers, and scorn all other men." After this his body,
arrayed in military garb, was placed upon a pyre, and as a mark of
honour the soldiers and his sons ran about it; and as for the soldiers'
gifts, those who had things at hand to offer as gifts threw them upon
it, and his sons applied the fire. Afterwards his bones were put in an
urn of purple stone, carried to Rome, and deposited in the tomb of the
Antonines. It is said that Severus sent for the urn shortly before his
death, and after feeling of it, remarked: "Thou shalt hold a man that
the world could not hold."
Severus was small of stature but powerful, though he eventually grew
very weak from gout; mentally he was very keen and very vigorous. As
for education, he was eager for more than he obtained, and for this
reason was a man of few words, though of many ideas. Toward friends not
forgetful, to enemies most oppressive, he was careful of everything
that he desired to accomplish, but careless of what was said about him.
Hence he raised money from every source, except that he killed no one
to get it, and he met all necessary expenditures quite ungrudgingly. He
restored a very large number of the ancient buildings and inscribed on
them his own name, just as if he had erected them in the first place
from his own private funds. He also spent a great deal uselessly in
repairing other buildings and in constructing new ones; for instance,
he built a temple of huge size to Bacchus and Hercules. Yet, though his
expenditures were enormous, he nevertheless left behind, not some few
easily-counted tens of thousands, but very many tens of thousands.
Again, he rebuked such persons as were not chaste, even going so far as
to enact some laws in regard to adultery. In consequence, there were
ever so many indictments for that offence (for example, when consul, I
found three thousand entered on the docket); but, inasmuch as very few
persons prosecuted these cases, he, too, ceased to trouble himself
about them. In this connexion, a very witty remark is reported to have
been made by the wife of Argentocoxus, a Caledonian, to Julia Augusta.
When the empress was jesting with her, after the treaty, about the free
intercourse of her sex with men in Britain, she replied: "We fulfil the
demands of nature in a much better way than do you Roman women; for we
consort openly with the best men, whereas you let yourselves be
debauched and secret by the vilest." Such was the retort of the British
woman.
The following is the manner of life that Severus followed in time of
peace. He was sure to be doing something before dawn, and afterwards he
would take a walk, telling and hearing of the interests of the empire.
Then he would hold court, unless there were some great festival.
Moreover, he used to do this most excellently; for he allowed the
litigants plenty of time and he gave us, his advisers, full liberty to
speak. He used to hear cases until noon; then he would ride, so far as
his strength permitted, and afterward take some kind of gymnastic
exercise and a bath. He then ate a plentiful luncheon, either by
himself or with his sons. Next, he generally took a nap. Then he rose,
attended to his remaining duties, and afterwards, when walking about,
engaged in discussion in both Greek and Latin. Then, toward evening, he
would bathe again and dine with his associates; for he very rarely
invited any guest to dinner, and only on days when it was quite
unavoidable did he arrange expensive banquets. He lived sixty-five
years, nine months, and twenty-five days, for he was born on the
eleventh of April. Of this period he had ruled for seventeen years,
eight months, and three days. In fine, he showed himself so active that
even when expiring he gasped: "Come, give it here, if we have anything
to do."
End of Etext Cassius Dio Roman History Epitome of Book LXXVII
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