to death. After this he arrayed his whole force in armor and marched into the city; he had sent previous notice to all the people there to remain at home and had occupied all the streets and in addition all the roofs in advance. And, to pass over the details of the calamities that then befell the wretched city, he slaughtered so many individuals that he dared not even speak about the number of them, but wrote the senate that it was of no interest how many of them or who had died, for they all deserved to suffer this fate. Of the property, part was plundered and part destroyed.

[Sidenote:—23—] With the people perished also many foreigners, and not a few who had accompanied Antoninus were destroyed for want of identification. As the city was large and persons were being murdered all over it by night and by day, it was impossible to distinguish anybody, no matter how much one might wish it. They simply expired as chance directed and their bodies were straightway cast into deep trenches to keep the rest from being aware of the extent of the disaster.—That was the fate of the natives. The foreigners were all driven out except the merchants, and even they had all their wares plundered. Also some shrines were despoiled. In the midst of most of these atrocities Antoninus was present and looked on and personally took a hand, but sometimes he issued orders to others from the temple of Serapis. He lived in this god's precinct even during the nights and days that witnessed the shedding of Egyptian blood. [And he sent word to the senate that he was observing purity during the days when he was in reality sacrificing there domestic beasts and human beings at the same time to the god.] Yet why should I have spoken of this, when he actually dared to devote to the god the sword with which he had killed his brother?

Next he abolished the spectacles and the public messes of the Alexandrians and ordered Alexandria to be broken up [Footnote: The reading is [Greek: dioikisthaenai].] into villages, with a wall fully garrisoned bisecting the city, that the inhabitants might no longer visit one another with security. Such was the treatment accorded unhappy Alexandria by the Ausonian Beast, as the tag of the oracle about him called him; and he said he liked the title and was glad to be distinguished by the honorific appellation of "Beast." Never mind how many persons he murdered on the pretext that they had fulfilled the oracle.

[Sidenote:—24—] [The same man gave prizes to the soldiers for their campaign, allowing those stationed in the pretorian guard to get some six thousand two hundred and fifty [Footnote: The common reading is "twelve hundred and fifty," but since it seems incredible that the Pretorians should have obtained less, instead of more, than the ordinary soldiers, Lange with much reason proposed the change carried out above,—a change which requires the insertion (or restitution) of but one Greek numeral-letter that might easily have been overlooked by some copyist.] and the rest five thousand [lacuna]

[That model of temperance (as he was wont to put it), the rebuker of licentiousness in others, at the consummation of a most vile and at the same time most dangerous outrage, appeared, in truth, to be indignant; but by not giving that indignation sufficient free play and further by allowing the youths to do what no one had ever yet dared to propose, he greatly corrupted the latter, who had imitated the habits of women of the demi-monde and of professional male buffoons.]

[On the occasion of the Culenian [Footnote: Nobody knows what the Culenian games were; Valois guesses that they may have been an Alexandrian festival. The text of this whole chapter is in a very ragged condition, and should not be held too strictly accountable in the matter of sense or cohesion.] spectacle severe censure was passed, not only upon those who there carried on their accustomed pursuits, but also upon the spectators.]

DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY

78

Antoninus's treacherous campaign against Artabanus, the Parthian (chapters 1-3).

Antoninus's death (chapters 4-6). Foreshadowings of his death, and the abuse heaped upon him dead (chapters 7-10).

About Macrinus Augustus, and his excellencies and faults (chapters 11-15).

His letters and commands to the senate, and other official acts (chapters 16-22).

Death of Julia Augusta (chapters 23, 24).

Inauspicious signs: peace arranged with Artabanus after submitting to a defeat (chapters 25-27).

Uprising of the soldiers: Pseudantoninus is proclaimed as emperor by the soldiers (chapters 28-31).

How Macrinus, conquered in battle, took to flight and was cut down after the capture of his son (chapters 32-41).

DURATION OF TIME.

C. Attius Sabinus (II), Cornelius Annullinus (A.D. 216 = a.u. 969 =
Sixth of Antoninus.)

C. Bruttius Præsens, T. Messius Extricatus (II). (A.D. 217 = a.u. 970 = Seventh of Antoninus, from Feb. 4th to April 8th.)

M. Opellius Macrinus Aug., Q.M. Coclatinus Adventus. (A.D. 218 = a.u. 971. The first year of Macrinus ends April 11th and his second year is abruptly terminated June 8th.)

(BOOK 79, BOISSEVAIN.)

[Sidenote: A.D. 216 (a.u. 969)] [Sidenote:—1—] The next thing was a campaign against the Parthians and the pretext that was used was that Artabanus had refused to view favorably his wooing and give him his daughter in marriage. (But he knew well enough that, while pretending to want to marry her, he in fact was anxious to detach the Parthian kingdom.) So he damaged a large section of the country around Media by means of a sudden incursion, sacked many citadels, won over Arbela, dug open the royal tombs of the Parthians, and flung the bones about. The Parthians would not engage him at close quarters, and therefore I have had nothing of especial interest to record concerning the doings of that expedition except, perhaps, one anecdote. Two soldiers who had seized a skin of wine came to him, each claiming the booty as entirely his own. Being bidden by him to divide the wine equally they drew their swords and cut the wine skin in two, apparently expecting each to get a half with the wine in it. They so dreaded their emperor that they troubled him even with such details and showed such scrupulousness as to lose both wineskin and wine.

Now the barbarians took refuge in the mountains and across the Tigris in order to perfect their preparations. But Antoninus suppressed this fact and, assuming that he had utterly vanquished a foe whom he had not even seen, he displayed becoming pride; and, as he himself wrote, he was particularly gratified because a lion ran down from the mountains and fought on his side.

[Sidenote:—2—] Not only in other ways did he live unnaturally and transgress laws, but in his very campaigns [[lacuna] but truth; [Footnote: Here begins the parchment codex, Vaticanus 1288. See Volume I, page 8.] for I have run across the book written by him about it. He understood so well how he stood with all the senators that, in spite of many protests, their slaves and freedmen and intimate friends were arrested by him and were asked under torture whether "so-and-so loves me" or "so-and-so hates me." For the charts of the stars under which any of his foremost courtiers had been born gave evidence, he said, as to who was friendly to him and who was hostile. And on this basis he honored many persons and destroyed many others.

[Sidenote: A.D. 217 (a.u. 970)] [Sidenote:—3—] When the Parthians and the Medes, greatly enraged at the treatment they had