§13Non immerito inter spectacula ab eo edita et Tiridatis in urbem introitum rettulerim.
Not without reason should I class among the spectacles exhibited by him the entry of Tiridates into the city.
quem Armeniae regem magnis pollicitationibus sollicitatum, cum destinato per edictum die ostensurus populo propter nubilum distulisset, produxit quo oportunissime potuit, dispositis circa fori templa armatis cohortibus, curuli residens apud rostra triumphantis habitu inter signa militaria atque uexilla.
Having enticed this king of Armenia with great promises, although he had postponed presenting him to the people on the day appointed by edict because of a cloudy sky, he brought him out on the most favorable opportunity, having stationed armed cohorts around the temples of the Forum, while he himself sat on a curule chair near the rostra in the costume of a triumphator among military standards and banners.
et primo per deuexum pulpitum subeuntem admisit ad genua adleuatumque dextra exosculatus est, dein precanti tiara deducta diadema inposuit, uerba supplicis interpretata praetorio uiro multitudini pronuntiante; perductum inde in theatrum ac rursus supplicantem iuxta se latere dextro conlocauit.
And first he admitted him, as he approached up a sloping platform, to his knees, and lifting him with his right hand, kissed him; then, as he supplicated, he took off his tiara and placed a diadem upon his head, while a man of praetorian rank interpreted the words of the suppliant and proclaimed them to the multitude; thence led into the theater, and again supplicating, he placed him by his side on his right hand.
ob quae imperator consalutatus, laurea in Capitolium lata, Ianum geminum clausit, tamquam nullo residuo bello.
On account of these things, having been saluted as Imperator, and a laurel wreath having been carried to the Capitol, he closed the double-faced Janus, as if no war remained.
§14Consulatus quattuor gessit: primum bimenstrem, secundum et nouissimum semenstres, tertium quadrimenstrem; medios duos continuauit, reliquos inter annua spatia uariauit.
He held four consulships: the first for two months, the second and last for six months each, the third for four months; the middle two he held continuously, the remaining ones he varied at annual intervals.
§15in iuris dictione postulatoribus nisi sequenti die ac per libellos non temere respondit.
In the administration of justice, he did not readily reply to petitioners except on the following day and through written petitions.
cognoscendi morem eum tenuit, ut continuis actionibus omissis singillatim quaeque per uices ageret.
In holding court, he maintained this custom, that omitting continuous pleadings, he conducted each case individually in turn.
quotiens autem ad consultandum secederet, neque in commune quicquam neque propalam deliberabat, sed et conscriptas ab uno quoque sententias tacitus ac secreto legens, quod ipsi libuisset perinde atque pluribus idem uideretur pronuntiabat.
Moreover, as often as he retired to deliberate, he did not consult either in common or openly, but reading the opinions written by each one in silence and secrecy, he pronounced what pleased himself just as if it seemed the same to the majority.
In curiam libertinorum filios diu non admisit; admissis a prioribus principibus honores denegauit.
Into the senate house he did not admit the sons of freedmen for a long time; to those admitted by former emperors, he denied public offices.
candidatos, qui supra numerum essent, in solacium dilationis ac morae legionibus praeposuit.
Candidates who were supernumerary he placed in command of legions to console them for the delay and postponement.
consulatum in senos plerumque menses dedit.
He generally granted the consulship for six months at a time.
defunctoque circa Kal. Ian. altero e consulibus neminem substituit improbans exemplum uetus Canini Rebili uno die consulis.
And when one of the consuls died about the Kalends of January, he substituted no one, disapproving of the ancient example of Caninius Rebilus, who was consul for a single day.
triumphalia ornamenta etiam quaestoriae dignitatis et nonnullis ex equestri ordine tribuit nec utique de causa militari.
He bestowed triumphal decorations even on men of quaestorian rank and on some of the equestrian order, and by no means for military reasons.
de quibusdam rebus orationes ad senatum missas praeterito quaestoris officio per consulem plerumque recitabat.
He usually had speeches sent to the senate read by a consul, bypassing the office of the quaestor.
§16formam aedificiorum urbis nouam excogitauit et ut ante insulas ac domos porticus essent, de quarum solariis incendia arcerentur; easque sumptu suo extruxit.
He devised a new form for the buildings of the city, and that there should be porticoes before the apartment blocks and houses, from the balconies of which fires might be kept off; and these he built at his own expense.
destinarat etiam Ostia tenus moenia promouere atque inde fossa mare ueteri urbi inducere.
He had also intended to extend the walls as far as Ostia, and from there to bring the sea into the old city by a canal.
Multa sub eo et animaduersa seuere et coercita nec minus instituta: adhibitus sumptibus modus; publicae cenae ad sportulas redactae; interdictum ne quid in popinis cocti praeter legumina aut holera ueniret, cum antea nullum non obsonii genus proponeretur; afflicti suppliciis Christiani, genus hominum superstitionis nouae ac maleficae; uetiti quadrigariorum lusus, quibus inueterata licentia passim uagantibus fallere ac furari per iocum ius erat; pantomimorum factiones cum ipsis simul relegatae;
Under him many things were both severely punished and repressed, and no less instituted: a limit was put upon expenses; public dinners were reduced to distribution-baskets; it was forbidden that anything cooked except leguminous plants or vegetables should be sold in taverns, whereas previously every kind of relish was offered; the Christians were afflicted with punishments, a class of men of a new and mischievous superstition; the games of the chariot-drivers were forbidden, who by long-standing license had the right to wander about everywhere, deceiving and stealing in jest; the factions of the pantomimic actors were banished together with the actors themselves.
§17aduersus falsarios tunc primum repertum, ne tabulae nisi pertusae ac ter lino per foramina traiecto obsignarentur; cautum ut testamentis primae duae cerae testatorum modo nomine inscripto uacuae signaturis ostenderentur, ac ne qui alieni testamenti scriptor legatum sibi ascriberet; item ut litigatores pro patrociniis certam iustamque mercedem, pro subsellis nullam omnino darent praebente aerario gratuita; utque rerum actu ab aerario causae ad forum ac reciperatores transferrentur et ut omnes appellationes a iudicibus ad senatum fierent.
Against counterfeiters, it was then first devised that tablets should not be sealed unless they were bored through and a linen thread passed three times through the holes; provision was made that in wills the first two wax pages should be shown vacant to the signers, with only the name of the testators written, and that no writer of another's will should write down a legacy for himself; likewise that litigants should pay a fixed and just fee for advocacy, but nothing at all for seats, since the treasury provided them free of charge; and that cases concerning the treasury should be transferred from the treasury's control to the forum and to recovery-judges, and that all appeals from judges should be made to the senate.
§18Augendi propagandique imperii neque uoluntate ulla neque spe motus umquam, etiam ex Britannia deducere exercitum cogitauit, nec nisi uerecundia, ne obtrectare parentis gloriae uideretur, destitit.
Being never moved by any desire or hope of increasing and extending the empire, he even thought of withdrawing the army from Britain, and did not desist except from shame, lest he should seem to detract from the glory of his adoptive father.
Ponti modo regnum concedente Polemone, item Alpium defuncto Cottio in prouinciae formam redegit.
He reduced the kingdom of Pontus, upon Polemon's surrendering it, and likewise that of the Alps upon the death of Cottius, into the form of a province.
§19Peregrinationes duas omnino suscepit, Alexandrinam et Achaicam; sed Alexandrina ipso profectionis die destitit turbatus religione simul ac periculo.
He undertook only two journeys, to Alexandria and to Achaia; but he desisted from the Alexandrian on the very day of his departure, disturbed at once by an omen and by danger.
nam cum circumitis templis in aede Vestae resedisset, consurgenti ei primum lacinia obhaesit, dein tanta oborta caligo est, ut dispicere non posset.
For when, having gone round the temples, he had sat down in the temple of Vesta, as he was rising, his hem first caught, and then such a great darkness arose that he could not see.
in Achaia Isthmum perfodere adgressus praetorianos pro contione ad incohandum opus cohortatus est tubaque signo dato primus rastello humum effodit et corbulae congestam umeris extulit.
In Achaia, having attempted to dig through the Isthmus, he exhorted the praetorians in an assembly to begin the work, and when the signal was given by a trumpet, he himself first dug up the earth with a mattock and carried it out on his shoulders piled in a basket.
parabat et ad Caspias portas expeditionem conscripta ex Italicis senum pedum tironibus noua legione, quam Magni Alexandri phalanga appellabat. Haec partim nulla reprehensione, partim etiam non mediocri laude digna in unum contuli, ut secernerem a probris ac sceleribus eius, de quibus dehinc dicam.
He was also preparing an expedition to the Caspian Gates, having enrolled a new legion from Italian recruits six feet tall, which he called the "Phalanx of Alexander the Great." These things, some worthy of no blame, and others of no small praise, I have brought together into one place, so that I might separate them from his outrages and crimes, of which I shall speak hereafter.