Book X
Reading edition
Page 94.
Ch. 1.
11. adeō … modicī: ‘of so modest a mode of living.’
13. argentō: ‘silver plate.’
trīclīnia: properly a couch for three persons reclining at meals. Here it means the table, which was square, and surrounded on three sides by one-armed couches, while the fourth side remained open for convenience in serving. Each couch accommodated three persons, who reclined upon the left arm.
14. Gallīs: he had reserved Gaul for his peculiar province.
17. Eborācī: he was on an expedition against the Picts.
Page 95.
Ch. 2.
1. Cōnstantīnus: known in history as Constantine the Great. The most important change he introduced was the adoption of Christianity as the state religion. The story is told that while marching from Gaul at the head of his legions, he saw in the heavens a luminous cross with this inscription, ‘By this conquer.’ In 313 A.D. he issued the famous Milan decree that gave imperial sanction to the religion of the Christians. Although he openly acknowledged Christianity, his religion was a strange mixture of Christianity and Paganism. Creighton, p. 112.
6. in vīllā pūblicā: a building in the Campus Martius, intended for a lodging house or hotel for foreign ambassadors.
11. quās … habuit: ‘which he utterly disregarded.’
Ch. 3.
18. nūdāre: ‘to deprive of his power.’
Page 96.
Ch. 4.
1. Licinius: his full name was Publius Flavius Galerius Valerius Licinianus Licinius. By birth he was a Dacian peasant, and an early friend and companion of the Emperor Galerius. He was invested with the command of the Illyrian province in 307 A.D. After the death of Galerius he concluded an arrangement with Maximinus, by which the Hellespont and the Bosporus were to form the boundary of the two empires. After his marriage with the sister of Constantine, he and Constantine strove with each other for the undivided sovereignty of the Roman world.
Ch. 5.
20. apud Cibalās: this was in the great battle of Adrianople, July, 323 A.D., and was followed by the reduction of Byzantium.
Ch. 6.
25. apud Nicomediam: this victory, September, 323 A.D., made Constantine the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Licinius was made a prisoner, and although his life was spared for a time, Constantine had him put to death in 324 A.D.
27. tribus Caesaribus: they were the sons of Constantine the Great, Constantine, Constans, and Constantius.
Page 97.
Ch. 8.
20. urbem nōminis: Constantinople, a city which he built on the site of ancient Byzantium. This he aimed to make his capital city. Here he had a second senate, a praefect of the city, regiones, and even largesses; all of which showed that the supremacy of Rome was at an end.
24. in vīllā pūblicā: a building similar in character to the one at Rome, Ch. 2.
Page 98.
Ch. 10.
15. Cōnstantī: he ruled from 337 to 361 A.D. He was the third son of Constantine the Great. Under him the whole empire again became subject to one ruler. But in 355 A.D. he was compelled to make Julian Caesar and to send him into Gaul to oppose the barbarians.
Page 99.
Ch. 14.
24. Iūliānum: called the Apostate, because, although he had been brought up a Christian, later he rejected Christianity and returned to Paganism. He was a brave soldier and a good general. Forced by his soldiers to assume the purple, he hesitated to begin a civil war, but was relieved of the necessity by the opportune death of Constantius in 361 A.D. “Julian was an extraordinary character. As a monarch, he was indefatigable in his attention to business, upright in his administration, and comprehensive in his views; as a man, he was virtuous in the midst of a profligate age, and did not yield to the luxurious temptations to which he was exposed.” Many of his literary works are extant. Creighton, p. 116.
Page 100.
Ch. 16.
21. cuī … interfuī: what part Eutropius took in this expedition is not known.
24. remeāns victor: in the last battle fought on the 26th of June, Julian was mortally wounded by an arrow and died the same day.
Page 101.
Ch. 17.
15. Ioviānus: his full name was Flavius Claudius Jovian. His short reign is remarkable only for the disgraceful peace he made with the Persians. Although he was a Christian, he protected the pagans.
20. fīnibus: he agreed that the Romans would surrender their conquests beyond the Tigris and would give up several fortresses in Mesopotamia.
24. Pontium Telesīnum: it is generally stated that Gavius Pontius was the leader of the Samnites in the battle of Caudine Forks. Perhaps Eutropius confuses him with Pontius Telesinus, the leader of the Samnites in the Social war.
Page 102.
Ch. 18.
8. nimiā crūditāte: ‘violent indigestion.’
21. quam … reservāmus: whether he ever fulfilled his intention and wrote another book is unknown.