XIII.
§ 1. After Domitianus had perished by a cruel death, Musonianus his successor governed the East with the rank of prætorian prefect; a man celebrated for his eloquence and thorough knowledge of both the Greek and Latin languages; from which he reaped a loftier glory than he expected.
2. For when Constantine was desirous of obtaining a more accurate knowledge of the different sects in the empire, the Manicheans and other similar bodies, and no one could be found able sufficiently to explain them, Musonianus was chosen for the task, having been recommended as competent; and when he had discharged this duty with skill, the emperor gave him the name of Musonianus, for he had been previously called Strategius. After that he ran through many degrees of rank and honour, and soon reached the dignity of prefect; being in other matters also a man of wisdom, popular in the provinces, and of a mild and courteous disposition. But at the same time, whenever he could find an opportunity, especially in any controversies or lawsuits (which is most shameful and wicked), he was greatly devoted to sordid gain. Not to mention many other instances, this was especially exemplified in the investigations which were made into the death of Theophilus, the governor of Syria, a man of consular rank, who gave information against the Cæsar Gallus, and who was torn to pieces in a tumult of the people; for which several poor men were condemned, who, it was clearly proved, were at a distance at the time of the transaction, while certain rich men who were the real authors of the crime were spared from all punishment, except the confiscation of their property.
3. In this he was equalled by Prosper, at that time master of the horse in Gaul; a man of abject spirit and great inactivity; and, as the comic poet has it, despising the acts of secret robbing he plundered openly.[58]
4. And, while these two officers were conniving together, and reciprocally helping each other to many means of acquiring riches, the chiefs of the Persian nation who lived nearest to the river, profiting by the fact that the king was occupied in the most distant parts of his dominions, and that these commanders were occupied in plundering the people placed under their authority, began to harass our territories with predatory bands, making audacious inroads, sometimes into Armenia, often also into Mesopotamia.
[32] Tlepolemus and Hiero, whom Cicero, Verres iii. 11, calls Cibyratici canes.
[33] Herodotus, iv. 184, records that in Africa, in the country about Mount Atlas, dreams are unknown.
[34] Lintz.
[35] The district around Bellinzona.
[36] The Bodensee, more generally known as the Lake of Constance: at its south-eastern end is the town of Bregenz, the ancient Brigantia.
[37] The Arethusa is in Sicily, near Syracuse.
[38] The Comites were a picked body of troops, divided into several regiments distinguished by separate names, such as Seniores, Juniores, Sagittarii, &c.
[39] The Promoti were also picked men, something like the Comites; the French translator calls them the Veterans.
[40] From +koptô+ to cut, and +mattya+ any delicate food; meant as equivalent to our cheeseparer, or skinflint.
[41] This was a very important post; it seems to have united the functions of a modern chamberlain, chancellor, and secretary of state. The master presented citizens to the emperor, received foreign ambassadors, recommended men for civil employments, decided civil
## actions of several kinds, and superintended many of the affairs of the
post.
[42] Cologne.
[43] The dragons were the effigies on some of the standards.
[44] There is no such passage in any extant work of Cicero, but a sentence in his speech ad Pontifices resembles it: "For although it be more desirable to end one's life without pain, and without injury, still it tends more to an immortality of glory to be regretted by one's countrymen, than to have been always free from injury." And a still closer likeness to the sentiment is found in his speech ad Quirites post reditum: "Although there is nothing more to be wished for by man than prosperous, equal, continual good-fortune in life, flowing on in a prosperous course, without any misadventure; still, if all my life had been tranquil and peaceful, I should have been deprived of the incredible and almost heavenly delight and happiness which I now enjoy through your kindness."--Orations, v. 2; Bohn, p. 491-2.
[45] In one of the lost books of this history.
[46] The Nymphæum was a temple sacred to the Nymphs, deriving its name of Septemzodium, or Septizonium (which it shared with more than one other building at Rome), from the seven rows of pillars, one above the other, and each row lessening both in circuit and in height, with which the exterior was embellished. Another temple of this kind was built by Septimius Severus.
[47] Cologne.
[48] This story of the Phocæenses is told by Herodotus, i. 166, and alluded to by Horace, Epod. xv. 10.
[49] The Eubages, or +Ouateis+, as Strabo calls them, appear to have been a tribe of priests.
[50] The Cottian Alps are Mont Genevre. It is unnecessary to point out how Ammianus mistakes the true bearing of these frontiers of Gaul.
[51] Briançon.
[52] The Graiæ Alps are the Little St. Bernard; and it was over them that Hannibal really passed, as has been conclusively proved by Dr. J.A. Cramer.
[53] From the god Pen, or Peninus, Liv. xxi. 38. The Alpes Peninæ are the Great St. Bernard.
[54] Compare Livy's account of Hannibal's march, from which, wholly erroneous as it is, this description seems to have been taken; not that even Livy has made such a gross mistake about the Druentia, or Durance, which falls into the Rhone.
[55] Cæsar's account of his expedition begins with the statement that "Gaul is divided into three provinces."
[56] Châlons sur Marne.
[57] Châlons sur Saône.
[58] Ammianus refers to Plautus, Epidicus, Act. I., sc. i., line 10:--
_Thesprio._ I am less of a pilferer now than formerly.
_Ep._ How so?
_Thes._ I rob openly.
## BOOK XVI.
ARGUMENT.
I. A panegyric of Julian the Cæsar.--II. Julian attacks and defeats the Allemanni.--III. He recovers Cologne, which had been taken by the Franks, and concludes a peace with the king of the Franks.--IV. He is besieged in the city of Sens by the Allemanni.--V. His virtues--VI. The prosecution and acquittal of Arbetio.--VII. The Cæsar Julian is defended before the emperor by his chamberlain Eutherius against the accusations of Marcellus.--VIII. Calumnies are rife in the camp of the Emperor Constantius, and the courtiers are rapacious.--IX. The question of peace with the Persians.--X.--The triumphal entry of Constantius into Rome.--XI. Julian attacks the Allemanni in the islands of the Rhine in which they had taken refuge, and repairs the fort of Saverne.--XII. He attacks the kings of the Allemanni on the borders of Gaul, and defeats them at Strasburg.