The lives of the Roman emperors from Domitian, where Suetonius ends, to Constantine the Great containing those of Nerva and Trajan from Dion Cassius : a translation of the six writers of the Augustéan history and those of Dioclesian and his associates from Eusebius and others by John Bernard ...

THE LIFE OF AVIDIƲS CASSIƲS,

BY VULCATIUS GALLICANUS: Addressed to the EMPEROR DIOLESIAN.

AVidius Cassius, was, as some think, de∣scended* 1.1 from the Antient Family of the Cassii; but yet this was only by the side of his Mother: for his Father was Avidius Severus, who from a private Extra∣ction, and the Degree of a Centurion, raised himself unto the highest Honours; of whom

Quadratus makes mention in his History; and indeed so much to his Advantage, that he calls him a great and necessary Man in the State, and who had a great Interest with the Emperor Marcus Antoninus, in whose Reign he died. This Cassius, of the Family, I say, of those Cassii, who had conspired against Julius Caesar, was one that secretly hated a Monarchy, and could scarce endure the very Name of an Emperor: He said, That no State was so in∣tolerable, as an Empire, which cannot be put down without another Emperor. In his younger Years, he had attempted to depose Antoninus Pius. It is true, his Father being a great and worthy Person, covered him against the Charge of that Ambition, but yet he was al∣ways looked upon as a suspicious Person.

A LETTER of Verus Antoninus concerning him; written to the Emperor Marcus Antoninus, says thus.

AVidius Cassius hath a greedy Eye upon the Empire, at least as I think, and as some time ago it was known he had, under the Reign of Antonius Pius our Father. I desire you to take good Notice of him: Every thing we do displeases him. He grows extraordinary Rich, laughs at us both; calls you a Doating Philosopher, and

me a Luxurious Fool. Consider, what is to be done: I hate not the Man, but do you see whe∣ther it is not ill for you and your Children to keep such a one in your Army; and one besides that the Soldiers love, and hearken to with pleasure.

The ANSWER of Marcus An∣toninus, concerning Avidius Cassius, was this.

I Have read your Letter, in which you are too apprehensive, than I would have an Emperor to be, or than suits well with our Reigns: For if the Empire is allotted to Avidius Cassius by Heaven, we should not be able to cut him off, if we would: You know the saying of your Grand∣father Hadrian, That no Man kills his Succes∣sour. But if it is not so allotted him, he will fall of himself into the fatal Snare, without our Cruelty. Neither can we make a Man a Crimi∣nal, who is accused by none, and who as you say is beloved by the Army. In Actions of Treason also, so it is, that even tho' they are proved up∣on Men, the World is apt to think the Sufferer in∣jured; which made your Grandfather Hadrian say, O the hard Fate of Emperors, who can∣not be believed, that they are Usurpt upon, until they are killed! I chose to name Hadrian for it, rather than Domitian, who was the first

indeed that said so; because when a thing is well said, yet if it is the saying of a Tyrant, it hath not the Authority with it, as it deserves. Therefore let Avidius Cassius have his own ways, being a good Officer, Strict and Stout, and of great Use in the State. For as to what you urge about the taking Care of my Children, if Avidius Cassius shall deserve to be better beloved than they, and it is expedient for the Publick, rather that he live, than the Children of Marcus An∣toninus, let them perish.

This is what Verus and what Marcus Anto∣ninus, severally wrote concerning Cassius. Now we shall explain in short the Temper and the Manners of this Person; which is all that can well be known of such, whose Lives, no one presumes to write to their Advantage, out of Respect to those by whom they were destroy∣ed; only we shall add something of his as∣sumption of the Empire, and of his Death. Having in this Design that we are upon, pro∣posed to ourselves to take in the Histories of all that in any wise have born the Title of Em∣perors, whether justly or unjustly, to the end that your Majesty, O Dioclesian, should have a perfect Account before you, to your own Person, of the Events of the Empire of Rome. He was a Man of that Variety in his Man∣ners, that now he was cruel and ill humored, then mild and obliging; now he was very Religious, then Profane; sometimes he drank hard, then he was as abstemious; sometimes he eat very much, another time he fasted as

much; sometimes he was all for Women, then he was all for Chastity; so that People were not wanting to call him a Catiline; and he said, they might call him what they pleased, so he but gained his Point of the Dialogist; by which Name he meant Marcus Antoninus, who was so eminently skill'd in Philosophy, that going to the War against the Marcomanni; and every body being in fear for him, lest any thing ill should happen to him, they de∣sired him before he went, that he would dis∣cover to them his Precepts of Philosophy; which at their Entreaty he did, in Discourses to them, which he continued three Days toge∣ther. Besides this, Avidius Cassius was a strict Man for Military Discipline; insomuch, that he was willing to have himself be called a Marius.

Now having begun to make mention of his* 3.1 Strictness, there are many Instances not to be omitted, in which he shew'd himself not so pro∣perly to say strict, as he was cruel. For first, if the Soldiers had taken but the least thing by vio∣lence from the People of the Provinces, he crucified them immediately upon the place, where they committed the Fact. He had a∣nother way of executing them, which was purely of his own Invention, which was this. A great Stake of Timber was set up, which was Eighty, or a Hundred Foot high; the con∣demned were tied to this Stake in Ranks, from the top to the bottom; at the bottom was a Fire, which burnt some to Death, whilst o∣thers were suffocated with the Smoak, and

others were sometimes frightned to Death. He hath ordered Ten in a Body to be chain'd, and thrown into a River, or into the Sea to∣gether. To Deserters, he many times cut off their Hands, or their Legs and Thighs; say∣ing, The Example of a Criminal living in that manner in misery, is of a greater Force, than if he was kill'd at a blow. A Party of the Auxi∣liaries, once in the Army under his Command, had without his knowledge surprised the Sar∣matae, as they were lying carelesly upon the Banks of the Danube, of whom they killed Three Thousand, and returned to their Corps again, with a great Booty. And as it was their Centurions that had put them upon this Action, the Centurions expected to be re∣warded for it; because with a handful of Men they had killed such a Number of the Ene∣my, whilst the Tribunes and the other Offi∣cers had neglected the Opportunity that was offered. But for their Reward, he ordered them to be all taken, and, which is a thing without Example, crucified like Slaves. He said, It might have happened, that the Enemy had had a Trick in it, and an Ambuscade, which would have much reflected upon the Honour of the Roman Name. So a great Mutiny upon this arising in the Army, he came immediately to them, and said, Kill me, if you think fit, and add that Fact more to this Corruption of Disci∣pline At which they were all appeased. He shew'd he did not fear them; and this made him to be feared by them: Which added such Strength to the Discipline of the Romans, and

struck such a Regard on the other side into the Enemy, that they came and begged of the Emperor Antoninus an Hundred Years Peace, having had the Satisfaction to see those very Persons who had gotten a Victory over them, condemned to Death, by the Judgment of the Roman General himself; because without his permission, they had without Orders gained that Victory.

Many more of his Severities upon the Sol∣diers are to be seen in Aemilius Parthenianus; he caused them to be beaten with Rods in the Markets, and in the midst of the Camp; he cut off their Heads, or many times their Hands. He forbad them to carry any thing with them in an Expedition, beside Bacon, Bisket, and Vinegar; which if he found they transgressed, he not a little punished their Luxury.

A LETTER from the Emperor Marcus Antoninus to the Lieute∣nant of Syria, says thus of him.

I Have given the Legions of Syria, which Cae∣sonius Vectilianus says, that he found all in Hot Baths, dissolved in Luxury, and living in all sorts of Pleasures, to the Command of Avidius Cassius, and I think, I have not done amiss. You know him a Man of the Severity and Disci∣pline of the antient Cassii; and to speak truly

without the Antient Discipline, the Soldiers can∣not be well governed. You remember that good Verse of the Poet,

Moribus antiquis res stat Romana virilis.

That is, the Customs of our Fore-fathers, and such Persons as were in those days, are the best Sup∣ports of the Empire of Rome. Do you take care that there be sufficient Provisions laid up for the said Legions, and if I am not mistaken in Avi∣dius Cassius, he is one that will not let them be lost.

The ANSWER of the Lieutenant to Marcus Antoninus was this.

IT is well dove, Sir, that your Majesty hath pre∣ferred Cassius to the Command of the Legions of Syria. For there is nothing so convenient, a•• a severe sort of a Man for those Grecianised Sol∣diers. He will strip them of all their hot Baths, and shake all their fine Flowers off of their Heads, their Necks, and their Bosoms. All the necessary Provisions for the Legions are ready, and nothing will be wanting, so long as they have so good a Commander over them.

Nor were they mistaken in their Judgments which they had of Avidius Cassius. He im∣mediately commanded the Soldiers to their respective Colours, and published an Order, that if any one of them was but seen at Daphne, he should be cashiered. Every Seventh Day he examined their Arms, and Cloaths, and E∣quipages. He banished all sorts of Pleasures from the Camp, and unless they corrected their Manners, he assured them, they should pass the Winter there in their Tents; which cer∣tainly had been done, if they had not lived more soberly. He exercised the whole Body of them every Seventh Day at their Arrows and their Arms. It was a miserable thing, he said, that Wrestlers, Huntsmen, and Gladiators should be continually exercised, and not Soldiers; to whom their Labours are always the less, after they are once accustomed to them. Thus corre∣cting the Discipline of the Army, and order∣ing all things well in Armenia, Arabia, and Egypt, he made himself to be beloved by all the Eastern People, especially by those of Antioch; insomuch, that that City consented to his As∣sumption of the Empire, as Marius Maximus says in the Life of Marcus Antoninus, who in his Second Book of the same Life says also, that when the Robbers of the Parts called Bu∣colia in Egypt, had committed many Disorders there, which were heavy upon that Kingdom, they were reduced again under subjection by Cassius.

Now this Cassius set himself up in the East* 5.1 to be Emperor, some say by an Intrigue of

Faustina, who despairing of the long Life of her Husband Mareus Antoninus, was in a fear, that she alone should not be able to protect her Infant-Children, and that somebody should come upon the Throne, who would destroy them. But however this is, to take the Sol∣diers and the People off of their Love to Marcus Antoninus, in order to bring them to consent to himself, Cassius served himself of an Artifice, which was, to give out, that Marcus was dead, and to qualify the Regret of his Loss, he mentioned him with the Re∣spect of one made a God. Then as Empe∣ror, he chose himself a Captain of the Guards, and made one of his Sons Governour of the City of Alexandria, which Two were after∣wards both kill'd by the Army, but it was done against the Will, and without the Know∣ledge of Marcus Antoninus; who neither fell into any Passion to hear of the News of the Rebellion, nor sought his Revenge upon the Children or Friends of Cassius. The Senate declared him an Enemy, and confiscated his Estate, which Marcus Antoninus forbidding to be returned into his proper Coffers, it was paid by the Order of the Senate into the pub∣lick Treasury. Some pretended, which struck a Terror into the City, that in the absence of Antoninus, Avidius Cassius, as he was entirely beloved by all, excepting the looser sort of People, would come to Rome, and expose it to Free-Plunder; upon the Account of the Senatours especially, who had declared him an Enemy, and confiscated his Estate. On

the other hand, the Love of Antoninus him∣self to Cassius, appeared very much in this, that when he was killed, and every body, unless the Citizens of Antioch were contented at it, he was not killed by the Command of him; for there is no doubt, but he would have spared him, if it had been in his Power so to do.

And when his Head was brought to him,* 5.2 he did not rejoyce, nor was he elevated at it at all, but on the contrary, he was very sorry that he was deprived of an occasion to shew his Mercy; and said, He would rather have had him taken alive, to have convinced him of his Ingratitude, and then saved him. One said, That Antoninus was to blame for being so fa∣vourable to his Enemy, and to his Enemy's Friends and Children, and all his adherents: Adding, That if Cassius had got the better, what then? Antoninus answered, We have not so served the Gods, nor so lived, as that it should be his luck to Conquer us. Upon which he reckoned up all the Princes that had been killed, and said, That there were Reasons for which they had de∣served it; for scarce ever any good Prince had been either killed or conquered by an Usurper; for Nero deserved it; Caligula deserved it; Otho and Vitellius were not fit to reign. He thought as much of Galba for his Covetousness, and said, That Avarice in an Emperor is a most bitter Fault. In fine, not Augustus Caesar, nor Tra∣jan, nor Hadrian, nor Antoninus Pius his Fa∣ther, could ever be surmounted by the Rebols, tho' they had many of them; but it was the Re∣bels

Fate to be destroyed, sometime even without the Knowledge, and contrary to the Will of those Princes. So he desired the Senate not to ani∣madvert too severely upon the Accomplices of the defection of Cassius, wishing that no Se∣natour might be put to Death in his Reign; which gained him an extraordinary deal of Love. Some few Centurions were punished, and then as for others who were banished, he ordered them to be re-called and pardoned them.

He pardoned the Antiochians, who had so firmly adhered to the Usurpation of Cassius, together with other Cities that had assisted him. For tho' at the first he was very angry at the for∣mer, so as to take away their publick Games, and many other Ornaments of their City, yet he afterward restored them to them again. He bestowed a Moiety of the Estate of Cassius up∣on his Sons, and gave his Daughters the Gold, Silver; and Jewels. Alexandra, who was one of them, and Druentianus her Husband, had free Power from him to go whither they would, and lived in the greatest Security, not like the Pledges of an Usurper, but the Chil∣dren of a Senatour. He forbad the Fortune of their House, so much as to be cast in their Teeth; and some who were rude to them up∣on that Account, were by his Order prosecu∣ted and punished for it.

Here follows a Letter from the Em∣peror Marcus Antoninus to Faustina his Wife.

VErus formerly wrote the Truth to me con∣cerning Avidius Cassius, when he said, That he had a greedy Eye upon the Empire. For I suppose you have heard, what the Expresses bring of him. So come thou to Albano, that we may consider together of Matters by the Will of the Gods, and fear nothing.

This obviates what Marius Maximus says of Faustina, who desiring to defame her, makes her accessary to the Usurpation of Cassius. Her Answer in which she presses him to be very severe was this.

I Will come strait to Albano, to morrow, as you command. However, I now advise, that if you love your Children, you would prosecute this Rebellion most severely: And you may assure your. self, that unless you oppress them, they will you.

Another Letter of Faustina to Marcus Antoninus upon the same Subject.

MY Mother Faustina, in the time of the Defection of Celsus, advised your Father her Husband Antoninus Pius, that he should first shew his kindness to his own Family, and next

to Others. Because he cannot be a good Prince, who does not take care of his Wife and Children. You see what Age our Son Commodus is of Pompeianus your Son-in-Law is already Old, and a Stranger. Mind what you do about Avi∣dius Cassius and his Associates. Do not spare Men, who have not spared you, and who if they had conquered, would neither have spared me, nor our Children. I shall follow you in your Journey quickly. I could not come to Formiae, because our Fadilla is Sick. But though I find you not at Formiae, I shall overtake you at Capua, which City may do good both to me and our Children in our Healths. I desire you to dispatch Soteridas the Physician to Formiae. I cannot trust to Pisi∣theus; he knows not what Physick to give to a young Girl. I receiv'd your Letter, which you s••nt by Calphurnius, and I shall answer it, if I stay, by Caecilius the old Eunuch, a trusty Man whom you know, and by whom I will send you an ac∣count by Word of Mouth, what the Wife of Avi∣dius Cassius, and Son, and Son-in Law, are re∣ported to say of you.

By these Letters, one may see that Faustina was not at all Privy to the Enterprise of Cassius, upon whom she is so severe. What Antoninus writ to her again, the following Letter shews us

You, it is true, my Faustina, Advise very well in your love to your Husband and Children. I have Read your Letter, in which you desire me to prosecute the Accomplices of Cassius. But yet I shall spare his Children, Son in-Law, and Wife, and write to the Senate to be Favourable

to all the Party. For there is not any thing that more recommends a Roman Emperour to all the World, than Clemency. This made Caesar a God. This Consecrated Augustus. This particularly adorned your Father with the Title of Pious. In a word, if they had gone according to the judg∣ment of my Advice upon the War, not so much as Cassius should have been killed. So be then satisfied. The Gods protect me: my Piety is pleasing to the Gods. I have declared our Pom∣peianus, Consul for the next year. This is what Antoninus writ to his Wife.

Now let us see what an Oration, upon this occasion, he sent to the Senate. A part of it is thus.

Fathers of the Senate; you have now my Son∣in Law to be your Consul: I say, Pompeianus; whose Age had long ago been rewarded with that Office, but that other extraordinary Men have intervened, to whom it was just to pay the Honour, that the State hath owed them. Now as for what concerns the Defection of Cassius, I beg and con∣jure you Fathers of the Senate, that you would continue to me, nay to your selves, the Character of Piety and Clemency, and let the Senate put none to death. Let not one member of the Senate be put to death, nor the blood be spilt of any one that is Noble. Let the banished return, and the Pro∣scribed receive their Estates. I wish I could raise even the dead to life again. For Revenge is never good in an Emperor, it appears ill in his own Caus〈…〉〈…〉 let it be never so just. You will give a Pardon therefore to the Children of Avidius Cassius, his Son-in-Law, and his Wife. But why do I say

Pardon, when they have committed nothing? Let them live in safety, knowing that they live under the Reign of Marcus Antoninus. Let them en∣joy the Patrimony of their Parents, which hath in part been already granted to them. Let them have the Gold, the Silver, and the Wardrobe. Let them be rich. Let them be safe. Let them have their full Liberty, and in the sight of all People. Let them be as so many instances of mine, and in∣stances of your Clemency. Nor is this such a great Grace, Fathers of the Senate, to grant a Pardon to the Wives and Children of persons Proscribed. I do further desire of you, that such of the Se∣natorian, and Equestrian Orders, as have been Accomplices in this Defection, be Protected also by your Authority from Murder, from Proscription, from Fear, from Infamy, from Envy, and from all kind of Injury; and that you allow this Honour to my Reign, that none upon these accounts are killed in it, but who only in the very Tumults are killed.

This great Clemency of his was followed by the Senate, with these Acclamations. The Gods preserve Antoninus the Pious, the Gods save Antoninus the Merciful. O Antoninus the Merciful! the Gods save you. Your Maje∣sty hath refused to do what you very well might have done: we have done but what became us. Make Commodus, your Son, Emperor with you Strengthen your Race. See that your Children are safe. No Force can touch a good Reign. We beg the Tribunitian Power for Commodus An∣toninus. We beg the Presence of your Majesty with us. We Congratulate you for your Philoso∣phy,

your Patience, your Learning, your Nobility, your Innocence. You conquen your Foes. You sur∣mount your Enemies. The Gods save you.

So the Posterity of Avidius Cassius lived in Safety, and were admitted unto Honours, till Commodus Antoninus succeeded after the Death of his Father, and then commanded them all to be burnt alive, as much as if he had surpri∣sed them in the very Act of some Treason.

This then is what we have found concer∣ning Avidius Cassius, who in his Temper was always various, but more especially propense to Correction and Cruelty: But yet if he had carried the Empire, he would have been flatter∣ed with the Name of not only of a Gracious, but an Useful, and an Excellent Prince.

A Letter to his Son-in-Law, which he writ in the time, that he acted the Emperor, is in part as follows.

UNhappy State! How miserably does it suffer under the Power of the Rich, and Men thirst∣ing to be so? Marcus is an excellent Person truly; who to get himself the Title of Merciful, suffers those to live, whose Lives he condemns at the same time! Where is now that Lucius Cassius, whose Name I bear, tho' I am unworthy of it? Where is that Marcus Cato, the Censor? Where is all the Discipline of our Fore fathers, which decayed long ago, but now is not so much as asked for? Marcus Antoninus Philosophises, and Disputes about Cle∣mency

and the Soul, to Justice and Honesty; and ne∣ver thinks of the State. You see there is ••eed of a se∣vere Hand, to reduce things to the Condition they were in in antient Times. For my part, I wish to those Presidents of the provinces, all the Chastise∣ment that they deserve. What can I think them Proconsuls, or think them Presidents, who live, as if the Provinces were given them by the Senate, and by Marcus the Emperor, only to be Luxurions in, and to get to be Rich? You have heard of the Captain of the Guards to our Philosopher. He who three Days before was a Beggar, and a poor Rat, is now become a rich Man on a sudden. From whence, I pray, but out of the Bowels of the State, and the Fortunes of the People of the Pro∣vinces? Well, let them be Rich, let them be Weal∣thy, they will so much the more enrich the pub∣lick Coffers. The Gods favour only an honest Cause, and the Friends of Cassius shall restore the Empire.

This Letter very well shows, what a strict sort of an Emperor Cassius would have made, if he had reigned.

Notes

• * 1.1

  His Ex∣traction.
• * 3.1

  His strict Discipline
• * 5.1

  Cassius u∣surps the Empire.
• * 5.2

  Clemency of Antoni∣nus.