§1In animo mihi est, Diocletiane Auguste, tot principum maxime, non solum eos qui principum locum in hac statione quam temperas retentarunt, ut usque ad divum Hadrianum feci, sed illos etiam qui vel Caesarum nomine appellati sunt nec principes aut Augusti fuerunt vel quolibet alio genere aut in famam aut in spem principatus venerunt, cognitioni numinis tui sternere, quorum praecipue de Helio Vero dicendum est, qui primus tantum Caesaris nomen accepit, adoptione Hadriani familiae principum adscitus, et quoniam nimis pauca dicenda sunt, nec debet prologus inormior esse quam fabula, de ipso iam loquar.
It is my intention, Diocletian Augustus, greatest of so many emperors, to lay before the knowledge of your divinity not only those who retained the place of emperor in this office which you govern, as I did up to the deified Hadrian, but also those who either were called by the name of Caesar and were not emperors or Augusti, or in some other way attained either the fame or the hope of the principate, among whom we must speak especially of Helius Verus, who was the first to receive only the name of Caesar, being adopted into the family of the emperors by the adoption of Hadrian, and since there is very little to say, and the prologue ought not to be more disproportionate than the story itself, I will now speak of him.
§2Ceionius Commodus, qui et Helius Verus appellatus est, quem sibi Hadrianus aevo ingravescente morbis tristioribus pressus peragrato iam orbe terrarum adoptavit, nihil habet in sua vita memorabile, nisi quod primus tantum Caesar est appellatus, non testamento, ut antea solebat, neque eo modo quo Traianus est adoptatus, sed eo prope genere quo nostris temporibus a vestra clementia Maximianus atque Constantius Caesares dicti sunt quasi quidam principum filii veri et designati augustae maiestatis heredes.
Ceionius Commodus, who was also called Helius Verus, whom Hadrian—as his age grew heavy, oppressed by sadder illnesses, having already traversed the world—adopted for himself, has nothing memorable in his life, except that he was the first to be called only Caesar, not by will, as was previously customary, nor in the manner in which Trajan was adopted, but in almost the same manner in which in our own times Maximianus and Constantius were declared Caesars by your clemency, as if they were true sons of emperors and designated heirs to the august majesty.
Et quoniam de Caesarum nomine in huius praecipue vita est aliquid disputandum, qui hoc solum nomen indeptus est, Caesarem vel ab elephanto, qui lingua Maurorum caesai dicitur, in proelio caeso, eum qui primus sic appellatus est doctissimi viri et eruditissimi putant dictum, vel quia mortua matre et ventre caeso sit natus, vel quod cum magnis crinibus sit utero parentis effusus, vel quod oculis caesus et ultra humanum morem viguerit.
And since something must be discussed regarding the name of the Caesars, especially in the life of this man who obtained this name alone, most learned and erudite men think that the one who was first so called was named Caesar either from an elephant, which is called caesai in the language of the Moors, slain in battle, or because he was born after his mother died and her womb was cut open, or because he was brought forth from his parent's womb with a great head of hair, or because he had blue-grey eyes and was vigorous beyond human custom.
certe quaecumque illa, felix necessitas fuit, unde tam clarum et duraturum cum aeternitate mundi nomen effloruit.
At any rate, whichever of those it was, it was a happy necessity from which bloomed a name so famous and destined to endure with the eternity of the world.
Hic ergo, de quo sermo est, primum Lucius Aurelius Verus est dictus, sed ab Hadriano adscitus in Heliorum familiam, hoc est in Hadriani, transcriptus 1ueri et Obrecht and others; uiri et P; uirtute Peter, following Bernhardy. 2 al' adeptus P corr.
This man, therefore, of whom we are speaking, was first called Lucius Aurelius Verus, but being adopted by Hadrian into the family of the Helii, that is, of Hadrian, he was transferred and called Caesar.
et appellatus est Caesar, huic pater Ceionius Commodus fuit, quem alii Verum, alii Lucium Aurelium, multi Annium prodiderunt.
His father was Ceionius Commodus, whom some recorded as Verus, others as Lucius Aurelius, and many as Annius.
maiores omnes nobilissimi, quorum origo pleraque ex Etruria fuit vel ex Faventia.
His ancestors were all of the highest nobility, most of whose origin was from Etruria or from Faventia.
et de huius quidem familia plenius in vita Lucii Aurelii Ceionii Commodi Veri Antonini, filii huiusce, quem sibi adoptare Antoninus iussus est, disseremus.
And indeed, concerning his family we shall discuss more fully in the life of Lucius Aurelius Ceionius Commodus Verus Antoninus, this man's son, whom Antoninus was ordered to adopt for himself.
is enim liber debet omnia quae ad stemma generis pertinent continere, qui habet principem de quo plura dicenda sunt.
For that book ought to contain everything that pertains to the family tree, which features the emperor of whom more must be said.