[1: Pons Aureoli, thirteen miles from Bergamo, and
thirty-two from Milan. See Cluver. Italia, Antiq. tom. i. p.
245. Near this place, in the year 1703, the obstinate battle of
Cassano was fought between the French and Austrians. The
excellent relation of the Chevalier de Folard, who was present,
gives a very distinct idea of the ground. See Polybe de Folard,
tom. iii. p. 233-248.]
[2: On the death of Gallienus, see Trebellius Pollio in
Hist. August. p. 181. Zosimus, l. i. p. 37. Zonaras, l. xii. p.
634. Eutrop. ix. ll. Aurelius Victor in Epitom. Victor in
Caesar. I have compared and blended them all, but have chiefly
followed Aurelius Victor, who seems to have had the best
memoirs.]
[3: Some supposed him, oddly enough, to be a bastard of
the younger Gordian. Others took advantage of the province of
Dardania, to deduce his origin from Dardanus, and the ancient
kings of Troy.]
[4: Notoria, a periodical and official despatch which
the emperor received from the frumentarii, or agents dispersed
through the provinces. Of these we may speak hereafter.]
[5: Hist. August. p. 208. Gallienus describes the
plate, vestments, etc., like a man who loved and understood those
splendid trifles.]
[6: Julian (Orat. i. p. 6) affirms that Claudius
acquired the empire in a just and even holy manner. But we may
distrust the partiality of a kinsman.]
[7: Hist. August. p. 203. There are some trifling
differences concerning the circumstances of the last defeat and
death of Aureolus]
[8: Aurelius Victor in Gallien. The people loudly
prayed for the damnation of Gallienus. The senate decreed that
his relations and servants should be thrown down headlong from
the Gemonian stairs. An obnoxious officer of the revenue had his
eyes torn out whilst under examination.
Note: The expression is curious, "terram matrem deosque
inferos impias uti Gallieno darent." - M.]
[9: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 137.]
[10: Zonaras on this occasion mentions Posthumus but the
registers of the senate (Hist. August. p. 203) prove that
Tetricus was already emperor of the western provinces.]
[11: The Augustan History mentions the smaller, Zonaras
the larger number; the lively fancy of Montesquieu induced him to
prefer the latter.]
[12: Trebell. Pollio in Hist. August. p. 204.]
[13: Hist. August. in Claud. Aurelian. et Prob.
Zosimus, l. i. p. 38-42. Zonaras, l. xii. p. 638. Aurel. Victor
in Epitom. Victor Junior in Caesar. Eutrop. ix ll. Euseb. in
Chron.]
[14: According to Zonaras, (l. xii. p. 638,) Claudius,
before his death, invested him with the purple; but this singular
fact is rather contradicted than confirmed by other writers.]
[15: See the Life of Claudius by Pollio, and the
Orations of Mamertinus, Eumenius, and Julian. See likewise the
Caesars of Julian p. 318. In Julian it was not adulation, but
superstition and vanity.]
[A: Such is the narrative of the greater part of the
older historians; but the number and the variety of his medals
seem to require more time, and give probability to the report of
Zosimus, who makes him reign some months. - G.]
[16: Zosimus, l. i. p. 42. Pollio (Hist. August. p.
107) allows him virtues, and says, that, like Pertinax, he was
killed by the licentious soldiers. According to Dexippus, he
died of a disease.]
[17: Theoclius (as quoted in the Augustan History, p.
211) affirms that in one day he killed with his own hand
forty-eight Sarmatians, and in several subsequent engagements
nine hundred and fifty. This heroic valor was admired by the
soldiers, and celebrated in their rude songs, the burden of which
was, mille, mile, mille, occidit.]
[18: Acholius (ap. Hist. August. p. 213) describes the
ceremony of the adoption, as it was performed at Byzantium, in
the presence of the emperor and his great officers.]
[19: Hist. August, p. 211 This laconic epistle is truly
the work of a soldier; it abounds with military phrases and
words, some of which cannot be understood without difficulty.
Ferramenta samiata is well explained by Salmasius. The former of
the words means all weapons of offence, and is contrasted with
Arma, defensive armor The latter signifies keen and well
sharpened.]
[20: Zosimus, l. i. p. 45.]
[B: The five hundred stragglers were all slain. - M.]
[21: Dexipphus (ap. Excerpta Legat. p. 12) relates the
whole transaction under the name of Vandals. Aurelian married
one of the Gothic ladies to his general Bonosus, who was able to
drink with the Goths and discover their secrets. Hist. August.
p. 247.]
[22: Hist. August. p. 222. Eutrop. ix. 15. Sextus
Rufus, c. 9. de Mortibus Persecutorum, c. 9.]
[23: The Walachians still preserve many traces of the
Latin language and have boasted, in every age, of their Roman
descent. They are surrounded by, but not mixed with, the
barbarians. See a Memoir of M. d'Anville on ancient Dacia, in
the Academy of Inscriptions, tom. xxx.]
[C: The connection between the Getae and the Goths is
still in my opinion incorrectly maintained by some learned
writers - M.]
[24: See the first chapter of Jornandes. The Vandals,
however, (c. 22,) maintained a short independence between the
Rivers Marisia and Crissia, (Maros and Keres,) which fell into
the Teiss.]
[25: Dexippus, p. 7 - 12. Zosimus, l. i. p. 43.
Vopiscus in Aurelian in Hist. August. However these historians
differ in names,) Alemanni Juthungi, and Marcomanni,) it is
evident that they mean the same people, and the same war; but it
requires some care to conciliate and explain them.]
[26: Cantoclarus, with his usual accuracy, chooses to
translate three hundred thousand: his version is equally
repugnant to sense and to grammar.]
[27: We may remark, as an instance of bad taste, that
Dexippus applies to the light infantry of the Alemanni the
technical terms proper only to the Grecian phalanx.]
[28: In Dexippus, we at present read Rhodanus: M. de
Valois very judiciously alters the word to Eridanus.]
[29: The emperor Claudius was certainly of the number;
but we are ignorant how far this mark of respect was extended; if
to Caesar and Augustus, it must have produced a very awful
spectacle; a long line of the masters of the world.]
[30: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 210.]
[31: Dexippus gives them a subtle and prolix oration,
worthy of a Grecian sophist.]
[32: Hist. August. p. 215.]
[33: Dexippus, p. 12.]
[34: Victor Junior in Aurelian.]
[35: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 216.]
[36: The little river, or rather torrent, of, Metaurus,
near Fano, has been immortalized, by finding such an historian as
Livy, and such a poet as Horace.]
[37: It is recorded by an inscription found at Pesaro.
See Gruter cclxxvi. 3.]
[38: One should imagine, he said, that you were
assembled in a Christian church, not in the temple of all the
gods.]
[39: Vopiscus, in Hist. August. p. 215, 216, gives a
long account of these ceremonies from the Registers of the
senate.]
[40: Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 5. To confirm our idea, we
may observe, that for a long time Mount Caelius was a grove of
oaks, and Mount Viminal was overrun with osiers; that, in the
fourth century, the Aventine was a vacant and solitary
retirement; that, till the time of Augustus, the Esquiline was an
unwholesome burying-ground; and that the numerous inequalities,
remarked by the ancients in the Quirinal, sufficiently prove that
it was not covered with buildings. Of the seven hills, the
Capitoline and Palatine only, with the adjacent valleys, were the
primitive habitations of the Roman people. But this subject
would require a dissertation.]
[41: Exspatiantia tecta multas addidere urbes, is the
expression of Pliny.]
[42: Hist. August. p. 222. Both Lipsius and Isaac
Vossius have eagerly embraced this measure.]
[43: See Nardini, Roman Antica, l. i. c. 8.
Note: But compare Gibbon, ch. xli. note 77. - M.]
[44: Tacit. Hist. iv. 23.]
[45: For Aurelian's walls, see Vopiscus in Hist. August.
p. 216, 222. Zosimus, l. i. p. 43. Eutropius, ix. 15. Aurel.
Victor in Aurelian Victor Junior in Aurelian. Euseb. Hieronym.
et Idatius in Chronic]
[46: His competitor was Lollianus, or Aelianus, if,
indeed, these names mean the same person. See Tillemont, tom.
iii. p. 1177.
Note: The medals which bear the name of Lollianus are
considered forgeries except one in the museum of the Prince of
Waldeck there are many extent bearing the name of Laelianus,
which appears to have been that of the competitor of Posthumus.
Eckhel. Doct. Num. t. vi. 149 - G.]
[47: The character of this prince by Julius Aterianus
(ap. Hist. August. p. 187) is worth transcribing, as it seems
fair and impartial Victorino qui Post Junium Posthumium Gallias
rexit neminem existemo praeferendum; non in virtute Trajanum; non
Antoninum in clementia; non in gravitate Nervam; non in
gubernando aerario Vespasianum; non in Censura totius vitae ac
severitate militari Pertinacem vel Severum. Sed omnia haec
libido et cupiditas voluptatis mulierriae sic perdidit, ut nemo
audeat virtutes ejus in literas mittere quem constat omnium
judicio meruisse puniri.]
[48: He ravished the wife of Attitianus, an actuary, or
army agent, Hist. August. p. 186. Aurel. Victor in Aurelian.]
[49: Pollio assigns her an article among the thirty
tyrants. Hist. August. p. 200.]
[50: Pollio in Hist. August. p. 196. Vopiscus in Hist.
August. p. 220. The two Victors, in the lives of Gallienus and
Aurelian. Eutrop. ix. 13. Euseb. in Chron. Of all these
writers, only the two last (but with strong probability) place
the fall of Tetricus before that of Zenobia. M. de Boze (in the
Academy of Inscriptions, tom. xxx.) does not wish, and Tillemont
(tom. iii. p. 1189) does not dare to follow them. I have been
fairer than the one, and bolder than the other.]
[51: Victor Junior in Aurelian. Eumenius mentions
Batavicoe; some critics, without any reason, would fain alter the
word to Bagandicoe.]
[52: Eumen. in Vet. Panegyr. iv. 8.]
[53: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 246. Autun was not
restored till the reign of Diocletian. See Eumenius de
restaurandis scholis.]
[54: Almost everything that is said of the manners of
Odenathus and Zenobia is taken from their lives in the Augustan
History, by Trebeljus Pollio; see p. 192, 198.]
[D: According to some Christian writers, Zenobia was a
Jewess. (Jost Geschichte der Israel. iv. 16. Hist. of Jews, iii.
175.) - M.]
[55: She never admitted her husband's embraces but for
the sake of posterity. If her hopes were baffled, in the ensuing
month she reiterated the experiment.]
[E: According to Zosimus, Odenathus was of a noble
family in Palmyra and according to Procopius, he was prince of
the Saracens, who inhabit the ranks of the Euphrates. Echhel.
Doct. Num. vii. 489. - G.]
[56: Hist. August. p. 192, 193. Zosimus, l. i. p. 36.
Zonaras, l. xii p. 633. The last is clear and probable, the
others confused and inconsistent. The text of Syncellus, if not
corrupt, is absolute nonsense.]
[57: Odenathus and Zenobia often sent him, from the
spoils of the enemy, presents of gems and toys, which he received
with infinite delight.]
[58: Some very unjust suspicions have been cast on
Zenobia, as if she was accessory to her husband's death.]
[59: Hist. August. p. 180, 181.]
[60: See, in Hist. August. p. 198, Aurelian's testimony
to her merit; and for the conquest of Egypt, Zosimus, l. i. p.
39, 40.]
[F: This seems very doubtful. Claudius, during all his
reign, is represented as emperor on the medals of Alexandria,
which are very numerous. If Zenobia possessed any power in Egypt,
it could only have been at the beginning of the reign of
Aurelian. The same circumstance throws great improbability on
her conquests in Galatia. Perhaps Zenobia administered Egypt in
the name of Claudius, and emboldened by the death of that prince,
subjected it to her own power. - G.]
[61: Timolaus, Herennianus, and Vaballathus. It is
supposed that the two former were already dead before the war.
On the last, Aurelian bestowed a small province of Armenia, with
the title of King; several of his medals are still extant. See
Tillemont, tom. 3, p. 1190.]
[62: Zosimus, l. i. p. 44.]
[63: Vopiscus (in Hist. August. p. 217) gives us an
authentic letter and a doubtful vision, of Aurelian. Apollonius
of Tyana was born about the same time as Jesus Christ. His life
(that of the former) is related in so fabulous a manner by his
disciples, that we are at a loss to discover whether he was a
sage, an impostor, or a fanatic.]
[64: Zosimus, l. i. p. 46.]
[65: At a place called Immae. Eutropius, Sextus Rufus,
and Jerome, mention only this first battle.]
[66: Vopiscus (in Hist. August. p. 217) mentions only
the second.]
[67: Zosimus, l. i. p. 44 - 48. His account of the two
battles is clear and circumstantial.]
[68: It was five hundred and thirty-seven miles from
Seleucia, and two hundred and three from the nearest coast of
Syria, according to the reckoning of Pliny, who, in a few words,
(Hist. Natur. v. 21,) gives an excellent description of Palmyra.
Note: Talmor, or Palmyra, was probably at a very early
period the connecting link between the commerce of Tyre and
Babylon. Heeren, Ideen, v. i. p. ii. p. 125. Tadmor was
probably built by Solomon as a commercial station. Hist. of
Jews, v. p. 271 - M.]
[69: Some English travellers from Aleppo discovered the
ruins of Palmyra about the end of the last century. Our
curiosity has since been gratified in a more splendid manner by
Messieurs Wood and Dawkins. For the history of Palmyra, we may
consult the masterly dissertation of Dr. Halley in the
Philosophical Transactions: Lowthorp's Abridgment, vol. iii. p.
518.]
[70: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 218.]
[71: From a very doubtful chronology I have endeavored
to extract the most probable date.]
[72: Hist. August. p. 218. Zosimus, l. i. p. 50.
Though the camel is a heavy beast of burden, the dromedary, which
is either of the same or of a kindred species, is used by the
natives of Asia and Africa on all occasions which require
celerity. The Arabs affirm, that he will run over as much ground
in one day as their fleetest horses can perform in eight or ten.
See Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. xi. p. 222, and Shaw's Travels
p. 167]
[73: Pollio in Hist. August. p. 199.]
[74: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 219. Zosimus, l. i.
p. 51.]
[75: Hist. August. p. 219.]
[76: See Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 220, 242. As an
instance of luxury, it is observed, that he had glass windows.
He was remarkable for his strength and appetite, his courage and
dexterity. From the letter of Aurelian, we may justly infer,
that Firmus was the last of the rebels, and consequently that
Tetricus was already suppressed.]
[77: See the triumph of Aurelian, described by Vopiscus.
He relates the particulars with his usual minuteness; and, on
this occasion, they happen to be interesting. Hist. August. p.
220.]
[78: Among barbarous nations, women have often combated
by the side of their husbands. But it is almost impossible that
a society of Amazons should ever have existed either in the old
or new world.
Note: Klaproth's theory on the origin of such traditions is
at least recommended by its ingenuity. The males of a tribe
having gone out on a marauding expedition, and having been cut
off to a man, the females may have endeavored, for a time, to
maintain their independence in their camp village, till their
children grew up. Travels, ch. xxx. Eng. Trans - M.]
[79: The use of braccoe, breeches, or trousers, was
still considered in Italy as a Gallic and barbarian fashion. The
Romans, however, had made great advances towards it. To encircle
the legs and thighs with fascioe, or bands, was understood, in
the time of Pompey and Horace, to be a proof of ill health or
effeminacy. In the age of Trajan, the custom was confined to the
rich and luxurious. It gradually was adopted by the meanest of
the people. See a very curious note of Casaubon, ad Sueton. in
August. c. 82.]
[80: Most probably the former; the latter seen on the
medals of Aurelian, only denote (according to the learned
Cardinal Norris) an oriental victory.]
[81: The expression of Calphurnius, (Eclog. i. 50)
Nullos decet captiva triumphos, as applied to Rome, contains a
very manifest allusion and censure.]
[82: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 199. Hieronym. in
Chron. Prosper in Chron. Baronius supposes that Zenobius,
bishop of Florence in the time of St. Ambrose, was of her
family.]
[83: Vopisc. in Hist. August. p. 222. Eutropius, ix.
13. Victor Junior. But Pollio, in Hist. August. p. 196, says,
that Tetricus was made corrector of all Italy.]
[84: Hist. August. p. 197.]
[85: Vopiscus in Hist. August. 222. Zosimus, l. i. p.
56. He placed in it the images of Belus and of the Sun, which he
had brought from Palmyra. It was dedicated in the fourth year of
his reign, (Euseb in Chron.,) but was most assuredly begun
immediately on his accession.]
[86: See, in the Augustan History, p. 210, the omens of
his fortune. His devotion to the Sun appears in his letters, on
his medals, and is mentioned in the Caesars of Julian.
Commentaire de Spanheim, p. 109.]
[87: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 221.]
[88: Hist. August. p. 222. Aurelian calls these
soldiers Hiberi Riporiences Castriani, and Dacisci.]
[89: Zosimus, l. i. p. 56. Eutropius, ix. 14. Aurel
Victor.]
[90: Hist. August. p. 222. Aurel Victor.]
[91: It already raged before Aurelian's return from
Egypt. See Vipiscus, who quotes an original letter. Hist.
August. p. 244.]
[92: Vopiscus in Hist. August p. 222. The two Victors.
Eutropius ix. 14. Zosimus (l. i. p. 43) mentions only three
senators, and placed their death before the eastern war.]
[93: Nulla catenati feralis pompa senatus
Carnificum lassabit opus; nec carcere pleno
Infelix raros numerabit curia Patres.
Calphurn. Eclog. i. 60.]
[94: According to the younger Victor, he sometimes wore
the diadem, Deus and Dominus appear on his medals.]
[95: It was the observation of Dioclatian. See Vopiscus
in Hist. August. p. 224.]
[96: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 221. Zosimus, l. i.
p. 57. Eutrop ix. 15. The two Victors.]