Chapter V: Book XV: Argument (2)

9. He was proceeding to say more, but was prevented by the whole assembly interrupting him with friendly shouts, declaring that his decision was the judgment of the Supreme Deity, and not of any human mind; with such certainty that one might have thought them inspired with the spirit of prophecy.

10. The emperor stood without moving till they resumed silence, and then with greater confidence proceeded to explain what he had to say further.

"Because, therefore, your joyful acclamations show that you look favourably on the design I have announced, let this youth, of tranquil strength, whose temperate disposition it will be better to imitate than merely to praise, rise up now to receive the honours prepared for him. His excellent disposition, increased as it has been by all liberal accomplishments, I will say no more of than is seen in the fact that I have chosen him. Therefore, now, with the manifest consent of the Deity, I will clothe him with the imperial robe."

11. This was his speech. And then, having immediately clothed Julian with the purple robe of his ancestors, and having pronounced him Cæsar, to the great joy of the army, he thus addressed him, though Julian himself appeared by his grave countenance to be somewhat melancholy.

12. "Most beloved of all my brothers, you thus in early youth have received the splendid honour belonging to your birth, not, I confess, without some addition to my own glory; who thus show myself as just in conferring supreme power on a noble character nearly related to me, as I appear also sublime by virtue of my own power. Come thou, therefore, to be a partner in my labours and dangers, and undertake the defence of the government of the Gauls, devoting thyself with all beneficence to alleviate the calamities of those afflicted countries.

13. "And if it should be necessary to engage with the enemy in battle, do thou take thy place steadily among the standard-bearers themselves, as a prudent encourager of daring at the proper opportunity; exciting the warriors by leading them on with caution, supporting any troops which may be thrown into disorder by reserves, gently reproving those who hang back, and being present as a trustworthy witness of the actions of all, whether brave or timid.

14. "Think that a serious crisis is upon us, and so show yourself a great man, worthy to command brave men. We ourselves will stand by you in the energetic constancy of affection, or will join you in the labours of war, so that we may govern together the whole world in peace, if only God will grant us, as we pray he may, to govern with equal moderation and piety. You will everywhere represent me, and I also will never desert you in whatever task you may be engaged. To sum up: Go forth; go forth supported by the friendly prayers of men of all ranks, to defend with watchful care the station assigned to you, it may be said, by the republic itself."

15. After the emperor had thus ended his speech, no one held his peace, but all the soldiers, with a tremendous crash, rattled their shields against their knees (which is an abundant indication of applause; while on the other hand to strike the shield with the spear is a testimony of anger and indignation), and it was marvellous with what excessive joy they all, except a very few, showed their approbation of the judgment of Augustus: and they received the Cæsar with well-deserved admiration, brilliant as he was with the splendour of the imperial purple.

16. And while they gazed earnestly on his eyes, terrible in their beauty, and his countenance more attractive than ever by reason of his present excitement, they augured from his looks what kind of ruler he was likely to prove, as if they had been searching into those ancient volumes which teach how to judge of a man's moral disposition by the external signs on his person. And that he might be regarded with the greater reverence, they neither praised him above measure, nor yet below his desert. And so the voices raised in his favour were looked upon as the judgment of censors, not of soldiers.

17. After the ceremony was over, Julian was taken up into the imperial chariot and received into the palace, and was heard to whisper to himself this verse of Homer--

"Now purple death hath seized on me,
And powerful strength of destiny."

These transactions took place on the sixth of November, in the year of the consulship of Arbetio and Lollianus.

18. A few days afterwards, Helen, the maiden sister of Constantius, was also given in marriage to the Cæsar. And everything being got ready which the journey required, he started on the first of December with a small retinue, and having been escorted on his way by Augustus himself as far as the spot, marked by two pillars, which lies between Laumellum and Ticinum, he proceeded straight on to the country of the Taurini, where he received disastrous intelligence, which had recently reached the emperor's court, but still had been intentionally kept back, lest all the preparations made for his journey should be wasted.

19. And this intelligence was that Colonia Agrippina,[47] a city of great renown in lower Germany, had been carried by a vigorous siege of the barbarians, who appeared before it in great force, and had utterly destroyed it.

20. Julian being greatly distressed at this news, looking on it as a kind of omen of misfortunes to come, was often heard to murmur in querulous tones, "that he had gained nothing except the fate of dying amid greater trouble and employment than before."

21. But when he arrived at Vienne, people of every age and class went forth to meet him on his entrance to the city, with a view to do him honour by their reception of him as one who had been long wished for, and was now granted to their prayers. And when he was seen in the distance the whole population of the city and of the adjacent neighbourhood, going before his chariot, celebrated his praises, saluting him as Emperor, clement and prosperous, greeting with eager joy this royal procession in honour of a lawful prince. And they placed all their hopes of a remedy for the evils which affected the whole province on his arrival, thinking that now, when their affairs were in a most desperate condition, some friendly genius had come to shine upon them.

22. And a blind old woman, when in reply to her question "Who was entering the city?" she received for answer "Julian the Cæsar," cried out that "He would restore the temples of the gods."

IX.

§ 1. Now then, since, as the sublime poet of Mantua has sung, "A greater series of incident rises to my view; in a more arduous task I engage,"--I think it a proper opportunity to describe the situation and different countries of the Gauls, lest, among the narration of fiery preparations and the various chances of battles, I should seem, while speaking of matters not understood by every one, to resemble those negligent sailors, who, when tossed about by dangerous waves and storms, begin to repair their sails and ropes which they might have attended to in calm weather.

2. Ancient writers, pursuing their investigations into the earliest origin of the Gauls, left our knowledge of the truth very imperfect; but at a later period, Timagenes, a thorough Greek both in diligence and language, collected, from various writings facts which had been long unknown, and guided by his faithful statements, we, dispelling all obscurity, will now give a plain and intelligible relation of them.

3. Some persons affirm that the first inhabitants ever seen in these regions were called Celts, after the name of their king, who was very popular among them, and sometimes also Galatæ, after the name of his mother. For Galatæ is the Greek translation of the Roman term Galli. Others affirm that they are Dorians, who, following a more ancient Hercules, selected for their home the districts bordering on the ocean.

4. The Druids affirm that a portion of the people was really indigenous to the soil, but that other inhabitants poured in from the islands on the coast, and from the districts across the Rhine, having been driven from their former abodes by frequent wars, and sometimes by inroads of the tempestuous sea.

5. Some again maintain that after the destruction of Troy, a few Trojans fleeing from the Greeks, who were then scattered over the whole world, occupied these districts, which at that time had no inhabitants at all.

6. But the natives of these countries affirm this more positively than any other fact (and, indeed, we ourselves have read it engraved on their monuments), that Hercules, the son of Amphitryon, hastening to the destruction of those cruel tyrants, Geryon and Tauriscus, one of whom was oppressing the Gauls, and the other Spain, after he had conquered both of them, took to wife some women of noble birth in those countries, and became the father of many children; and that his sons called the districts of which they became the kings after their own names.

7. Also an Asiatic tribe coming from Phocæa in order to escape the cruelty of Harpalus, the lieutenant of Cyrus the king, sought to sail to Italy.[48] And a part of them founded Velia, in Lucania, others settled a colony at Marseilles, in the territory of Vienne; and then, in subsequent ages, these towns increasing in strength and importance, founded other cities. But we must avoid a variety of details which are commonly apt to weary.

8. Throughout these provinces, the people gradually becoming civilized, the study of liberal accomplishments flourished, having been first introduced by the Bards, the Eubages,[49] and the Druids. The Bards were accustomed to employ themselves in celebrating the brave achievements of their illustrious men, in epic verse, accompanied with sweet airs on the lyre. The Eubages investigated the system and sublime secrets of nature, and sought to explain them to their followers. Between these two came the Druids, men of loftier genius, bound in brotherhoods according to the precepts and example of Pythagoras; and their minds were elevated by investigations into secret and sublime matters, and from the contempt which they entertained for human affairs they pronounced the soul immortal.

X.

§ 1. This country then of the Gauls was by reason of its lofty mountain ranges perpetually covered with terrible snows, almost unknown to the inhabitants of the rest of the world, except where it borders on the ocean; vast fortresses raised by nature, in the place of art, surrounding it on all sides.

2. On the southern side it is washed by the Etruscan and Gallic sea: where it looks towards the north it is separated from the tribes of the barbarians by the river Rhine; where it is placed under the western star it is bounded by the ocean, and the lofty chain of the Pyrenees; where it has an eastern aspect it is bounded by the Cottian[50] Alps. In these mountains King Cottius, after the Gauls had been subdued, lying by himself in their defiles, and relying on the rugged and pathless character of the country, long maintained his independence; though afterwards he abated his pride, and was admitted to the friendship of the Emperor Octavianus. And subsequently he constructed immense works to serve as a splendid gift to the emperor, making roads over them, short, and convenient for travellers, between other ancient passes of the Alps; on which subject we will presently set forth what discoveries have been made.

3. In these Cottian Alps, which begin at the town of Susa, one vast ridge rises up, scarcely passable by any one without danger.

4. For to travellers who reach it from the side of Gaul it descends with a steepness almost precipitous, being terrible to behold, in consequence of the bulk of its overhanging rocks. In the spring, when the ice is melting, and the snow beginning to give way from the warm spring breezes, if any one seeks to descend along the mountain, men and beasts and wagons all fall together through the fissures and clefts in the rocks, which yawn in every direction, though previously hidden by the frost. And the only remedy ever found to ward off entire destruction is to have many vehicles bound together with enormous ropes, with men or oxen hanging on behind, to hold them back with great efforts; and so with a crouching step they get down with some degree of safety. And this, as I have said, is what happens in the spring.

5. But in winter, the ground being covered over with a smooth crust of ice, and therefore slippery under foot, the traveller is often plunged headlong; and the valleys, which seem to open here and there into wide plains, which are merely a covering of treacherous ice, sometimes swallow up those who try to pass over them. On account of which danger those who are acquainted with the country fix projecting wooden piles over the safest spots, in order that a series of them may conduct the traveller unhurt to his destination; though if these piles get covered with snow and hidden, or thrown down by melting torrents descending from the mountains, then it is difficult for any one to pass, even if natives of the district lead the way.

6. But on the summit of this Italian mountain there is a plain, seven miles in extent, reaching as far as the station known by the name of Mars; and after that comes another ridge, still more steep, and scarcely possible to be climbed, which stretches on to the summit of Mons Matrona, named so from an event which happened to a noble lady.

7. From this point a path, steep indeed, but easily passable, leads to the fortress of Virgantia.[51] The sepulchre of this petty prince whom we have spoken of as the maker of these roads is at Susa, close to the walls; and his remains are honoured with religious veneration for two reasons: first of all, because he governed his people with equitable moderation; and secondly, because, by becoming an ally of the Roman republic, he procured lasting tranquillity for his subjects.

8. And although this road which I have been speaking of runs through the centre of the district, and is shorter and more frequented now than any other, yet other roads also were made at much earlier periods, on different occasions.

9. The first of them, near the maritime alps, was made by the Theban Hercules, when he was proceeding in a leisurely manner to destroy Geryon and Tauriscus, as has already been mentioned; and he it was who gave to these alps the name of the Grecian Alps.[52] In the same way he consecrated the citadel and port of Monæcus to keep alive the recollection of his name for ever. And this was the reason why, many ages afterwards, those alps were called the Penine Alps.[53]

10. Publius Cornelius Scipio, the father of the elder Africanus, when about to go to the assistance of the citizens of Saguntum--celebrated for the distresses which they endured, and for their loyalty to Rome, at the time when they were besieged with great resolution by the Carthaginians--led to the Spanish coast a fleet having on board a numerous army. But after the city had been destroyed by the valour of the Carthaginians, he, being unable to overtake Hannibal, who had crossed the Rhone, and had obtained three days' start of him in the march towards Italy, crossed the sea, which at that point was not wide, making a rapid voyage; and taking his station near Genoa, a town of the Ligures, awaited his descent from the mountains, so that, if chance should afford him an opportunity, he might attack him in the plain while still fatigued with the ruggedness of the way by which he had come.

11. But still, having regard to the interests of the republic, he ordered Cnæus Scipio, his brother, to go into Spain, to prevent Hasdrubal from making a similar expedition from that country. But Hannibal, having received information of their design by some deserters, being also a man of great shrewdness and readiness of resources, obtained some guides from the Taurini who inhabited those districts, and passing through the Tricastini and through the district of the Vocontii, he thus reached the defiles of the Tricorii.[54] Then starting from this point, he made another march over a line previously impassable. And having cut through a rock of immense height, which he melted by means of mighty fires, and pouring over it a quantity of vinegar, he proceeded along the Druentia, a river full of danger from its eddies and currents, until he reached the district of Etruria. This is enough to say of the Alps; now let us return to our original subject.

XI.

§ 1. In former times, when these provinces were little known, as being barbarous, they were considered to be divided into three races:[55] namely, the Celtæ, the same who are also called Galli; the Aquitani, and the Belgæ: all differing from each other in language, manners, and laws.

2. The Galli, who, as I have said, are the same as the Celtæ, are divided from the Aquitani by the river Garonne, which rises in the mountains of the Pyrenees; and after passing through many towns, loses itself in the ocean.

3. On the other side they are separated from the Belgians by the Marne and the Seine, both rivers of considerable size, which flowing through the tribe of the Lugdunenses, after surrounding the stronghold of the Parisii named Lutetia, so as to make an island of it, proceed onwards together, and fall into the sea near the camp of Constantius.

4. Of all these people the Belgians are said by ancient writers to be the most warlike, because, being more remote from civilization, and not having been rendered effeminate by foreign luxuries, they have been engaged in continual wars with the Germans on the other side of the Rhine.

5. For the Aquitanians, to whose shores, as being nearest and also pacific, foreign merchandise is abundantly imported, were easily brought under the dominion of the Romans, because their character had become enervated.

6. But from the time when the Gauls, after long and repeated wars, submitted to the dictator Julius, all their provinces were governed by Roman officers, the country being divided into four portions; one of which was the province of Narbonne; containing the districts of Vienne and Lyons: a second province comprehended all the tribes of the Aquitanians; upper and lower Germany formed a third jurisdiction, and the Belgians a fourth at that period.

7. But now the whole extent of the country is portioned out into many provinces. The second (or lower) Germany is the first, if you begin on the western side, fortified by Cologne and Tongres, both cities of great wealth and importance.

8. Next comes the first (or high) Germany, in which, besides other municipal towns, there is Mayence, and Worms, and Spiers, and Strasburg, a city celebrated for the defeats sustained by the barbarians in its neighbourhood.

9. After these the first Belgic province stretches as far as Metz and Treves, which city is the splendid abode of the chief governor of the country.

10. Next to that comes the second Belgic province, where we find Amiens, a city of conspicuous magnificence, and Châlons,[56] and Rheims.

11. In the province of the Sequani, the finest cities are Besançon and Basle. The first Lyonnese province contains Lyons, Châlons,[57] Sens, Bourges, and Autun, the walls of which are very extensive and of great antiquity.

12. In the second Lyonnese province are Tours, and Rouen, Evreux, and Troyes. The Grecian and Penine Alps have, besides other towns of less note, Avenche, a city which indeed is now deserted, but which was formerly one of no small importance, as even now is proved by its half-ruinous edifices. These are the most important provinces, and most splendid cities of the Galli.

13. In Aquitania, which looks towards the Pyrenees, and that part of the ocean which belongs to the Spaniards, the first province is Aquitanica, very rich in large and populous cities; passing over others, I may mention as pre-eminent, Bordeaux, Clermont, Saintes, and Poictiers.

14. The province called the Nine Nations is enriched by Ausch and Bazas. In the province of Narbonne, the cities of Narbonne, Euses, and Toulouse are the principal places of importance. The Viennese exults in the magnificence of many cities, the chief of which are Vienne itself, and Arles, and Valence; to which may be added Marseilles, by the alliance with and power of which we read that Rome itself was more than once supported in moments of danger.

15. And near to these cities is also Aix, Nice, Antibes, and the islands of Hieres.

16. And since we have come in the progress of our work to this district, it would be inconsistent and absurd to omit all mention of the Rhone, a river of the greatest celebrity. The Rhone rises in the Penine Alps, from sources of great abundance, and descending with headlong impetuosity into the more champaign districts, it often overruns its banks with its own waters, and then plunges into a lake called Lake Leman, and though it passes through it, yet it never mingles with any foreign waters, but, rushing over the top of those which flow with less rapidity, in its search for an exit, it forces its own way by the violence of its stream.

17. And thus passing through that lake without any damage, it runs through Savoy and the district of Franche Comté; and, after a long course, it forms the boundary between the Viennese on its left, and the Lyonnese on its right. Then after many windings it receives the Saône, a river which rises in the first Germany, and this latter river here merges its name in the Rhone. At this point is the beginning of the Gauls. And from this spot the distances are measured not by miles but by leagues.

18. From this point also, the Rhone, being now enriched by other rivers, becomes navigable for large vessels, which are often tossed about in it by gales of wind; and at last, having finished the course which nature has marked out for it, foaming on it joins the Gallic Sea in the wide gulf which they call the Gulf of Lyons, about eighteen miles from Arles. This is enough to say of the situation of the province; I will now proceed to describe the appearance and character of the inhabitants.

XII.

§ 1. Nearly all the Gauls are of a lofty stature, fair, and of ruddy complexion; terrible from the sternness of their eyes, very quarrelsome, and of great pride and insolence. A whole troop of foreigners would not be able to withstand a single Gaul if he called his wife to his assistance, who is usually very strong, and with blue eyes; especially when, swelling her neck, gnashing her teeth, and brandishing her sallow arms of enormous size, she begins to strike blows mingled with kicks, as if they were so many missiles sent from the string of a catapult.

2. The voices of the generality are formidable and threatening, whether they are in good humour or angry: they are all exceedingly careful of cleanliness and neatness, nor in all the country, and most especially in Aquitania, could any man or woman, however poor, be seen either dirty or ragged.

3. The men of every age are equally inclined to war, and the old man and the man in the prime of life answer with equal zeal the call to arms, their bodies being hardened by their cold weather and by constant exercise so that they are all inclined to despise dangers and terrors. Nor has any one of this nation ever mutilated his thumb from fear of the toils of war, as men have done in Italy, whom in their district are called Murci.

4. The nation is fond of wine, and of several kinds of liquor which resemble wine. And many individuals of the lower orders, whose senses have become impaired by continual intoxication, which the apophthegm of Cato defined to be a kind of voluntary madness, run about in all directions at random; so that there appears to be some point in that saying which is found in Cicero's oration in defence of Fonteius, "that henceforth the Gauls will drink their wine less strong than formerly," because forsooth they thought there was poison in it.

5. These countries, and especially such parts of them as border on Italy, fell gradually under the dominion of the Romans without much trouble to their conquerors, having been first attacked by Fulvius, afterwards weakened in many trifling combats by Sextius, and at last entirely subdued by Fabius Maximus; who gained an additional surname from the complete accomplishment of this task, after he had brought into subjection the fierce tribe of the Allobroges.

6. Cæsar finally subdued all the Gauls, except where their country was absolutely inaccessible from its morasses, as we learn from Sallust, after a war of ten years, in which both nations suffered many disasters; and at last he united them to us in eternal alliance by formal treaties. I have digressed further than I had intended, but now I will return to my original subject.

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.