§7Suscepto igitur ciuili bello ac ducibus copiisque in Italiam praemissis interim Alexandriam transiit, ut claustra Aegypti optineret.
Therefore, having undertaken the civil war and sent his generals and troops ahead into Italy, he meanwhile crossed over to Alexandria so that he might secure the key positions of Egypt.
hic cum de firmitate imperii capturus auspicium aedem Serapidis summotis omnibus solus intrasset ac propitiato multum deo tandem se conuertisset, uerbenas coronasque et panificia, ut illic assolet, Basilides libertus obtulisse ei uisus est; quem neque admissum a quoquam et iam pridem propter neruorum ualitudinem uix ingredi longeque abesse constabat.
Here, when he had entered the temple of Serapis alone after removing everyone, intending to obtain an omen regarding the stability of his empire, and had finally turned around after having greatly propitiated the god, his freedman Basilides seemed to have offered him sacred boughs, crowns, and bread, as is customary there; whereas it was certain that this man had neither been admitted by anyone, and had long since been scarcely able to walk because of a disease of his nerves, and was far away.
ac statim aduenere litterae fusas apud Cremonam Vitelli copias, ipsum in urbe interemptum nuntiantes.
And immediately letters arrived, announcing that the forces of Vitellius had been routed at Cremona and that he himself had been slain in the city.
Auctoritas et quasi maiestas quaedam ut scilicet inopinato et adhuc nouo principi deerat; haec quoque accessit.
Authority and a certain majesty, as was natural for an unexpected and still new emperor, were lacking to him; this also was added.
e plebe quidam luminibus orbatus, item alius debili crure sedentem pro tribunali pariter adierunt orantes opem ualitudini demonstratam a Serapide per quietem: restituturum oculos, si inspuisset; confirmaturum crus, si dignaretur calce contingere.
A certain man of the common people who was deprived of his sight, and another with a weak leg, approached him together as he sat on the tribunal, begging for a remedy for their infirmities which had been demonstrated to them by Serapis in a dream: that he would restore the eyes if he should spit upon them, and strengthen the leg if he would deign to touch it with his heel.
cum uix fides esset ullo modo rem successuram ideoque ne experiri quidem auderet, extremo hortantibus amicis palam pro contione utrumque temptauit, nec euentus defuit.
Since there was scarcely any belief that the matter would succeed in any way, and therefore he did not even dare to try, at last, at the urging of his friends, he attempted both openly before the assembly, and the success did not fail.
per idem tempus Tegeae in Arcadia instinctu uaticinantium effossa sunt sacrato loco uasa operis antiqui atque in iis assimilis Vespasiano imago.
Around the same time, at Tegea in Arcadia, by the prompting of soothsayers, vessels of ancient workmanship were dug up in a consecrated place, and in them was an image closely resembling Vespasian.
§8Talis tantaque cum fama in urbem reuersus acto de Iudaeis triumpho consulatus octo ueteri addidit; suscepit et censuram ac per totum inperii tempus nihil habuit antiquius quam prope afflictam nutantemque rem p. stabilire primo, deinde et ornare.
Having returned to the city with such great fame, and having celebrated a triumph over the Jews, he added eight consulships to his former one; he also undertook the censorship, and throughout the whole time of his rule had nothing more important than first to stabilize, and then also to adorn, the state which was nearly ruined and tottering.
Milites pars uictoriae fiducia, pars ignominiae dolore ad omnem licentiam audaciamque processerant; sed et prouinciae ciuitatesque liberae, nec non et regna quaedam tumultuosius inter se agebant.
The soldiers, partly through confidence in victory, partly through the grief of ignominy, had proceeded to every kind of license and audacity; but also the provinces and free cities, and indeed certain kingdoms, were conducting themselves rather riotously among themselves.
quare Vitellianorum quidem et exauctorauit plurimos et coercuit, participibus autem uictoriae adeo nihil extra ordinem indulsit, ut etiam legitima praemia sero persoluerit.
Therefore, he both discharged and restrained very many of the Vitellians, while to the participants in his victory he indulged nothing out of the ordinary, to such an extent that he even paid their legitimate rewards late.
ac ne quam occasionem corrigendi disciplinam praetermitteret, adulescentulum fragrantem unguento, cum sibi pro impetrata praefectura gratias ageret, nutu aspernatus, uoce etiam grauissima increpuit: 'maluissem alium oboluisses,' litterasque reuocauit.
And so that he might not miss any opportunity of correcting discipline, when a young man smelling of perfume came to thank him for a prefecture he had obtained, he rejected him with a gesture of disapproval, and rebuked him in a most severe voice: "I would have preferred that you smelled of garlic," and revoked his commission.
classiarios uero, qui ab Ostia et Puteolis Romam pedibus per uices commeant, petentes constitui aliquid sibi calciarii nomine, quasi parum esset sine responso abegisse, iussit posthac excalciatos cursitare; et ex eo ita cursitant.
Moreover, when the sailors, who travel on foot by turns from Ostia and Puteoli to Rome, petitioned that some allowance should be established for them under the name of shoe-money, as if it were not enough to have driven them away without an answer, he ordered them to run about barefoot henceforth; and from that time on they run about in this way.
Achaiam, Lyciam, Rhodum, Byzantium, Samum libertate adempta, item Trachiam Ciliciam et Commagenen dicionis regiae usque ad id tempus, in prouinciarum formam redegit.
Having deprived Achaea, Lycia, Rhodes, Byzantium, and Samos of their freedom, and likewise Thrace, Cilicia, and Commagene, which up to that time had been under royal rule, he reduced them to the form of provinces.
Cappadociae propter adsiduos barbarorum incursus legiones addidit consularemque rectorem imposuit pro eq.
To Cappadocia, on account of the constant incursions of the barbarians, he added legions and placed a consular governor over it instead of a Roman knight.
R.
Deformis urbs ueteribus incendiis ac ruinis erat; uacuas areas occupare et aedificare, si possessores cessarent, cuicumque permisit.
The city was unsightly with ancient fires and ruins; he allowed anyone to occupy and build upon vacant areas, if the owners failed to do so.
ipse restitutionem Capitolii adgressus ruderibus purgandis manus primus admouit ac suo collo quaedam extulit; aerearumque tabularum tria milia, quae simul conflagrauerant, restituenda suscepit undique inuestigatis exemplaribus: instrumentum imperii pulcherrimum ac uetustissimum, quo continebantur paene ab exordio urbis senatus consulta, plebi scita de societate et foedere ac priuilegio cuicumque concessis.
Having himself undertaken the restoration of the Capitol, he was the first to put his hands to clearing the debris and carried out some of it on his own neck; and he undertook to restore three thousand bronze tablets which had been burned at the same time, searching out copies from everywhere: a most beautiful and ancient record of the empire, which contained, almost from the origin of the city, decrees of the senate, and plebites concerning alliances, treaties, and privileges granted to anyone.
§9fecit et noua opera templum Pacis foro proximum Diuique Claudi in Caelio monte coeptum quidem ab Agrippina, sed a Nerone prope funditus destructum; item amphitheatrum urbe media, ut destinasse compererat Augustum.
He also constructed new works: the Temple of Peace near the Forum, and that of the Divine Claudius on the Caelian hill, which had been begun indeed by Agrippina, but almost completely destroyed by Nero; likewise an amphitheater in the middle of the city, as he had found out Augustus had intended.
Amplissimos ordines et exhaustos caede uaria et contaminatos ueteri neglegentia purgauit suppleuitque recenso senatu et equite, summotis indignissimis et honestissimo quoque Italicorum ac prouincialium allecto.
He purified and replenished the highest orders, which had been exhausted by various slaughters and contaminated by long neglect, by reviewing the senate and the knights, removing the most unworthy and co-opting the most honorable of the Italians and provincials.
atque uti notum esset, utrumque ordinem non tam libertate inter se quam dignitate differre, de iurgio quodam senatoris equitisque R. ita pronuntiauit, non oportere maledici senatoribus, remaledici ciuile fasque esse.
And so that it might be known that both orders differed from each other not so much in liberty as in dignity, he pronounced thus concerning a certain quarrel between a senator and a Roman knight: that senators ought not to be insulted, but that to insult in return was a citizen's right and lawful.