A Roman History Dossier
This archival dossier gathers public-domain English passages from Cassius Dio's Roman History where the northern and Pontic frontier comes into view: Bastarnae, Getae, Dacians, Sarmatians, Iazyges, Alani, Bosporus, the Ister, and the imperial wars along the Danube.
For the Scythian shelf, Dio is useful because he links older Greek ethnographic language to Roman frontier administration and war. The dossier should be read beside Strabo, Appian, Pliny, Florus, Orosius, Zosimus, Jordanes, and the inscriptional material, not as a single ethnic map.
The English text is Earnest Cary's public-domain Loeb Classical Library translation, prepared with Herbert Baldwin Foster and published before 1931. The passages were selected from an online University of Chicago transcription and cleaned only for web artifacts and reader layout.
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Book 51. Bastarnae, Getae, and the Lower Danube
After accomplishing this task Crassus turned his attention to the Moesians; and partly by persuasion in some cases, partly by terrifying them, partly also by applying force, he subdued all except a very few, though only after great hardships and dangers. And for the time being, since it was winter, he retired into friendly territory, after suffering greatly from the cold and much more still at the hands of the Thracians, through whose country he was returning in the belief that it was friendly. Hence he decided to be content with what he had already accomplished. For sacrifices and a triumph had been voted, not only to Caesar, but to him also; nevertheless, he did not receive the title of imperator, as some report, but Caesar alone assumed it. The Bastarnae, now, angered at their disasters and learning that he would make no further campaigns against them, turned again upon the Dentheleti and Sitas, whom they regarded as having been the chief cause of their evils. Thus it came about that Crassus reluctantly took the field; and falling upon them unexpectedly after advancing by forced marches, he conquered them and imposed such terms of peace as he pleased. And now that he had once taken up arms again, he conceived a desire to punish the Thracians who had harassed him during his return from Moesia; for it was reported at this time that they were fortifying positions and were eager for war. He succeeded in subduing some of them, namely the Maedi and the Serdi, though not without difficulty, by conquering them in battle and cutting off the hands of the captives; and he overran the rest of the country except the territory of the Odrysae. These he spared because they are attached to the service of Dionysus, and had come to meet him on this occasion without their arms; and he also granted them the land in which they magnify the god, taking it away from the Bessi who were occupying it.
While he was thus engaged, Roles, who had become embroiled with Dapyx, himself also king of a tribe of the Getae, sent for him. Crassus went to his aid, and by hurling the horse of his opponents back upon their infantry he so thoroughly terrified the latter also that what followed was no longer a battle but a great slaughter of fleeing men of both arms. Next he cut off Dapyx, who had taken refuge in a fort, and besieged him. In the course of the siege someone hailed him from the walls in Greek, obtained a conference with him, and arranged to betray the place. The barbarians, thus captured, turned upon one another, and Dapyx was killed along with many others. His brother, however, Crassus took alive, and not only did him no harm but actually released him.
After finishing this campaign Crassus led his troops against the cave called Ciris. For the natives in great numbers had occupied this cave, which is extremely large and so capable of defence that the tradition obtains that the Titans took refuge there after their defeat suffered at the hands of the gods; and here they had brought together all their herds and their other most cherished belongings. Crassus first sought out all the entrances to the cave, which are tortuous and difficult to discover, walled them up, and in this way subdued the men by famine. After this success he did not leave in piece the rest of the Getae, either, even though they had no connexion with Dapyx, but he marched upon Genucla, the most strongly defended fortress of the kingdom of Zyraxes, because he heard that the standards which the Bastarnae had taken from Gaius Antonius near the city of the Istrians were there. His assault was made both by land and from the Ister (the city is built upon the river), and in a short time, though with much toil, despite the absence of Zyraxes, he took the place. The king, it seems, as soon as he heard of the Romans' approach, had set off with money to the Scythians to seek an alliance, and had not returned in time.
These were his achievements among the Getae. And when some of the Moesians who had been subdued rose in revolt, he won them back by the aid of lieutenants, while he himself made a campaign against the Artacii and a few other tribes who had never been captured and would not acknowledge his authority, priding themselves greatly upon this point and at the same time inspiring in the others both anger and a disposition to rebel. He brought them to terms, partly by force, after they had made no little trouble, and partly by fear for their countrymen who were being captured.
All these operations took a long time; but the facts I record, as well as the names, are in accordance with the tradition which has been handed down. In ancient times, it is true, Moesians and Getae occupied all the land between Haemus and the Ister; but as time went on some of them changed their names, and since then there have been included under the name of Moesia all the tribes living above Dalmatia, Macedonia, and Thrace, and separated from Pannonia by the Savus, a tributary of the Ister. Two of the many tribes found among them are those formerly called the Triballi, and the Dardani, who still retain their old name.
Book 54. Sarmatians, Bosporus, and Augustan Frontier War
There were many other disturbances, too, during that period. The Camunni and Vennii, Alpine tribes, took up arms against the Romans, but were conquered and subdued by Publius Silius. The Pannonians in company with the Norici overran Istria; but the former, upon being discomfited by Silius and his lieutenants, both came to terms again themselves and caused the Norici to be subjected to the same slavery. The uprisings in Dalmatia and in Spain were quelled in a short time. Macedonia was ravaged by the Dentheleti and the Scordisci. In Thrace somewhat earlier Marcus Lollius, while aiding Rhoemetalces, the uncle and guardian of the sons of Cotys, had subjugated the Bessi. Later Lucius Gallus conquered the Sarmatians for the same reason and drove them back across the Ister. The greatest, however, of the wars which at that time fell to the lot of the Romans, and the one presumably which drew Augustus away from the city, was that against the Germans. It seems that the Sugambri, Usipetes, and Tencteri had first seized in their own territory some of the Romans and had crucified them, after which they had crossed the Rhine and plundered Germania and Gaul. When the Roman cavalry approached, they surprised them from ambush; then, pursuing them as they fled, they fell in unexpectedly with Lollius, the governor of the province, and conquered him also. On learning of all this, Augustus hastened against them, but found no warfare to carry on; for the barbarians, learning that Lollius was making preparations and that the emperor was also taking the field, retired into their own territory and made peace, giving hostages.
The next year Marcus Crassus and Gnaeus Cornelius were consuls; and the curule aediles, after resigning their office because they had been elected under unfavourable auspices, received it again, contrary to precedent, at another meeting of the assembly. The Basilica of Paulus was burned and the flames spread from it to the temple of Vesta, so that the sacred objects there were carried up to the Palatine by the Vestal Virgins, — except the eldest, who had become blind, — and were placed in the house of the priest of Jupiter. The basilica was afterwards rebuilt, nominally by Aemilius, who was the descendant of the family of the man who had formerly erected it, but really by Augustus and the friends of Paulus. At this time the Pannonians revolted again and were subdued, and the Maritime Alps, inhabited by the Ligurians who were called Comati, and were still free even then, were reduced to slavery. And the revolt among the tribes of the Cimmerian Bosporus was quelled. It seems that one Scribonius, who claimed to be a grandson of Mithridates and to have received the kingdom from Augustus after the death of Asander, married Asander's wife, named Dynamis, who was really the daughter of Pharnaces and the granddaughter of Mithridates and had been entrusted with the regency by her husband, and thus he was holding Bosporus under his control. Agrippa, upon learning of this, sent against him Polemon, the king of that part of Pontus bordering on Cappadocia. Polemon found Scribonius no longer alive, for the people of Bosporus, learning of his advance against them, had already put him to death; but when they resisted Polemon through fear that he might be allowed to reign over them, he engaged them in battle. But although he conquered them, he was unable to reduce them to submission until Agrippa came to Sinope with the purpose of conducting a campaign against them. Then they laid down their arms and were delivered up to Polemon; and the woman Dynamis became his wife, naturally not without the sanction of Augustus. For these successes sacrifices were offered in the name of Agrippa, but the triumph which was voted him was not celebrated. Indeed, he did not so much as notify the senate of what had been accomplished, and in consequence subsequent conquerors, treating his course as a precedent, also gave up the practice of sending reports to the public; and he would not accept the celebration of the triumph. For this reason, — at least, such is my opinion, — no one else of his peers was permitted to do so any longer, either, but they enjoyed merely the distinction of triumphal honours.
It was voted that the temple of Janus Geminus, which had been opened, should be closed, on the ground that the wars had ceased. It was not closed, however, for the Dacians, crossing the Ister on the ice, carried off booty from Pannonia, and the Dalmatians rebelled against the exactions of tribute. Against these people Tiberius was sent from Gaul, whither he had gone in company with Augustus; and he reduced them again to submission. The Germans, particularly the Chatti, were either harassed or subjugated by Drusus. The Chatti, it seems, had gone to join the Sugambri, having abandoned their own country, which the Romans had given them to dwell in. Afterwards Tiberius and Drusus returned to Rome with Augustus, who had been tarrying in Lugdunensis much of the time, keeping watch on the Germans from near at hand; and they carried out whatever decrees had been passed in honour of their victories or did whatever else devolved upon them.
Book 58. Parthia and Scythian Allies
At about this same time Artabanus, the Parthian, upon the death of Artaxes, bestowed Armenia upon his son Arsaces; and when no vengeance came upon him from Tiberius for this, he made an attempt upon Cappadocia and treated even the Parthians somewhat haughtily. Consequently some revolted from him and sent an embassy to Tiberius, asking a king for themselves from amongst those who were being kept at Rome as hostages. He first sent them Phraates, the son of Phraates, and then, after his death, which occurred on the way thither, Tiridates, who was also of the royal race. To ensure his securing the throne as easily as possible, the emperor wrote to Mithridates the Iberian to invade Armenia, so that Artabanus should leave his own land in order to assist his son. And this is exactly what happened; nevertheless, Tiridates reigned only a short time, for Artabanus enlisted the aid of the Scythians and easily expelled him. While Parthian affairs were taking this course, Armenia fell into the hands of Mithridates, the son, as it would appear, of Mithridates the Iberian and the brother of Pharasmanes, who became king of the Iberians after him.
Book 67. Domitian, Decebalus, and the Iazyges
At this time the Romans became involved in a very serious war with the Dacians, whose king was then Decebalus. This man was shrewd in his understanding of warfare and shrewd also in the waging of war; he judged well when to attack and chose the right moment to retreat; he was an expert in ambuscades and a master in pitched battles; and he knew not only how to follow up a victory well, but also how to manage well a defeat. Hence he showed himself a worthy antagonist of the Romans for a long time. I call the people Dacians, the names used by the natives themselves as well as by the Romans, though I am not ignorant that some Greek writers refer to them as Getae, whether that is the right form or not; for the Getae of whom I myself know are those that live beyond the Haemus range, along the Ister. Domitian, then, made an expedition against this people, but did not take an active part in the conflict. Instead, he remained in one of the cities of Moesia, indulging in riotous living, as was his wont. For he was not only indolent of body and timorous of spirit, but also most profligate and lewd towards women and boys alike. He therefore sent others to conduct the war and for the most part got the worst of it.
Decebalus, the king of the Dacians, was making overtures to Domitian, promising him peace; but Domitian sent Fuscus against him with a large force. On learning of this Decebalus sent to him an embassy anew with the insulting proposal to make peace with the emperor, on condition that every Roman should elect to pay two obols to Decebalus each year; otherwise, he declared, he would make war and inflict great ills upon the Romans.
Domitian, wishing to requite the Quadi and the Marcomani because they had not assisted him against the Dacians, entered Pannonia with the intention of making war upon them; and he put to death the second group of envoys which had been sent by the enemy to propose terms of peace.
Domitian, having been defeated by the Marcomani, took to flight, and hastily sending messages to Decebalus, king of the Dacians, induced him to make a truce, though he himself had hitherto refused to grant one in response to the frequent requests of Decebalus. And so Decebalus accepted his overtures, for he had suffered grievous hardships; yet he did not wish to hold a conference with Domitian personally, but instead sent Diegis with the men, to give him the arms and a few captives, who, he pretended, were the only ones that he had. When this had been done, Domitian placed a diadem on the head of Diegis, just as if he had truly conquered and could give the Dacians anyone he pleased to be their king. To the soldiers he granted honours and money. And, just as if he had won a victory, he sent to Rome, among other things, envoys from Decebalus and also a letter from the king, as he claimed, though rumour declared that he had forged it. He graced the festival that followed with many exhibits appropriate to a triumph, though they came from no booty that he had captured; on the contrary, the truce had cost him something besides his losses, for he had given large sums of money to Decebalus on the spot as well as artisans of every trade pertaining to both peace and war, and had promised to keep on giving large sums in the future. The exhibits which he displayed really came from the store of imperial furniture, which he at all times treated as captured spoils, inasmuch as he had enslaved even the empire itself.
Thus was the triumphal celebration, or, as the crowd put it, such was the funeral banquet that Domitian held for those who had died in Dacia and in Rome. Even at this time, too, he slew some of the foremost men. And in the case of a certain man who buried the body of one of the victims, he deprived him of his property because it was on his estate that the victim had died.
Other events worth recording that took place in the Dacian War are as follows. Julianus, who was appointed by the emperor to conduct the war, made many excellent regulations, one being his order that the soldiers should inscribe their own names as well as those of their centurions upon their shields, in order that those of their number who should perform any particularly good or base deed might be more readily recognized. He encountered the enemy at Tapae, and slew great numbers of them. One of them, Vezinas, who ranked next to Decebalus, finding that he could not get away alive, fell down purposely, as if dead; in this manner he escaped notice and fled during the night. Decebalus, fearing that the Romans, now that they had conquered, would proceed against his royal residence, cut down the trees that were on the site and put armour on the trunks, in order that the Romans might take them for soldiers and so be frightened and withdraw; and this actually happened.
Book 68. Trajan and the Dacian Wars
After spending some time in Rome he made a campaign against the Dacians; for he took into account their past deeds and was grieved at the amount of money they were receiving annually, and he also observed that their power and their pride were increasing. Decebalus, learning of his advance, became frightened, since he well knew that on the former occasion it was not the Romans that he had conquered, but Domitian, whereas now he would be fighting against both Romans and Trajan, the emperor.
For these reasons, then, Decebalus had good cause to fear him. When Trajan in his campaign against the Dacians had drawn near Tapae, where the barbarians were encamped, a large mushroom was brought to him on which was written in Latin characters a message to the effect that the Buri and other allies advised Trajan to turn back and keep the peace. Nevertheless he engaged the foe, and saw many wounded on his own side and killed many of the enemy. And when the bandages gave out, he is said not to have spared even his own clothing, but to have cut it up into strips. In honour of the soldiers who had died in the battle he ordered an altar to be erected and funeral rites to be performed annually.
Decebalus had sent envoys even before his defeat, not the long-haired men this time, as before, but the noblest among the cap-wearers. These threw down their arms, and casting themselves upon the ground, begged Trajan that, if possible, Decebalus himself should be permitted to meet and confer with him, promising that he would do everything that was commanded; or, if not, that someone at least should be sent to agree upon terms with him. Those sent were Sura and Claudius Livianus, the prefect; but nothing was accomplished, since Decebalus did not dare to meet them either, but sent envoys also on this occasion. Trajan seized some fortified mountains and on them found the arms and the capture engines, as well as the standard which had been taken in the time of Fuscus. Decebalus, because of this, coupled with the fact that Maximus had at this same time captured his sister and also a strong position, was ready to agree without exception to every demand that had been made — not that he intended to abide by his agreement, but in order that he might secure a respite from his temporary reverses. So he reluctantly engaged to surrender his arms, engines and engine-makers, to give back the deserters, to demolish the forts, to withdraw from captured territory, and furthermore to consider the same persons enemies and friends as the Romans did, and neither to give shelter to any of the deserters nor to employ any soldier from their empire; for he had been acquiring the largest and best part of his force by persuading men to come to him from Roman territory. This was after he had come to Trajan, fallen upon the ground and done obeisance and thrown away his arms. He also sent envoys in the matter to the senate, in order that he might secure the ratification of the peace by that body. After concluding this compact the emperor left the camp at Zermizegethusa, and having stationed garrisons here and there throughout the remainder of the territory, returned to Italy.
The envoys from Decebalus, upon being brought into the senate, laid down their arms, clasped their hands in the attitude of captives, and spoke some words of supplication; thus they obtained peace and received back their arms. Trajan celebrated a triumph and was given the title of Dacicus; in the theatre he held contests of gladiators, in whom he delighted, and he brought the dancers of pantomimes back into the theatre, being enamoured of Pylades, one of their number. He did not, however, as might have been expected of a warlike man, pay any less attention to the civil administration nor did he dispense justice any the less; on the contrary, he conducted trials, now in the Forum of Augustus, now in the Portico of Livia, as it was called, and often elsewhere on a tribunal.
Inasmuch as Decebalus was reported to him to be acting contrary to the treaty in many ways, was collecting arms, receiving those who deserted, repairing the forts, sending envoys to his neighbours and injuring those who had previously differed with him, even going so far as to annex a portion of the territory of the Iazyges (which Trajan later would not give back to them when they asked for it), therefore the senate again declared him an enemy, and Trajan once more conducted the war against him in person instead of entrusting it of the others.
Though Decebalus was faring badly in open conflict, nevertheless by craft and deceit he almost compassed Trajan's death. He sent into Moesia some deserters to see if they could make away with him, inasmuch as the emperor was generally accessible and now, on account of the exigencies of warfare, admitted to a conference absolutely everyone who desired it. But they were not able to carry out this plan, since one of them was arrested on suspicion and under torture revealed the entire plot. Decebalus then sent an invitation to Longinus, a leader of the Roman army who had made himself a terror to the king in the wars, and persuaded him to meet him, on the pretext that he would do whatever should be demanded. He then arrested him and questioned him publicly about Trajan's plans, and when Longinus refused to admit anything, he took him about with him under guard, though not in bonds. And sending an envoy to Trajan, he asked that he might receive back his territory as far as the Ister and be indemnified for all the money he had spent on the war, in return for restoring Longinus to him. An ambiguous answer was returned, of such a nature as not to cause Decebalus to believe that Trajan regarded Longinus as either of great importance or yet of slight importance, the object being to prevent his being destroyed, on the one hand, or being preserved to them on excessive terms, on the other. So Decebalus delayed, still considering what he should do. In the meantime Longinus, having secured poison with the aid of the freedman, promised Decebalus to win Trajan over, hoping the king would thus have no suspicion of what he was going to do and so would not keep a very strict watch over him; also, in order to enable the freedman to gain safety, he wrote a letter containing a petition in his behalf and gave it to him to carry to Trajan. Then, when the other had gone, he drank the poison at night and died. Thereupon Decebalus demanded the freedman from Trajan, promising to give him in return the body of Longinus and ten captives. He at once sent the centurion who had been captured with Longinus, in order that he might arrange the matter; and it was from the centurion that the whole story of Longinus was learned. However, Trajan neither sent him back nor surrendered the freedman, deeming his safety more important for the dignity of the empire than the burial of Longinus.
Trajan constructed over the Ister a stone bridge for which I cannot sufficiently admire him. Brilliant, indeed, as are his other achievements, yet this surpasses them. For it has twenty piers of squared stone one hundred and fifty feet in height above the foundations and sixty in width, and these, standing at a distance of one hundred and seventy feet from one another, are connected by arches. How, then, could one fail to be astonished at the expenditure made upon them, or at the way in which each of them was placed in a river so deep, in water so full of eddies, and on a bottom so muddy? For it was impossible, of course, to divert the stream anywhere. I have spoken of the width of the river; but the stream is not uniformly so narrow, since it covers in some places twice, and in others thrice as much ground, but the narrowest point and the one in that region best suited to building a bridge has the width named. Yet the very fact that river in its descent is here contracted from a great flood to such a narrow channel, after which it again expands into a greater flood, makes it all the more violent and deep, and this feature must be considered in estimating the difficulty of constructing the bridge. This, too, then, is one of the achievements that show the magnitude of Trajan's designs, though the bridge is of no use to us; for merely the piers are standing, affording no means of crossing, as if they had been erected for the sole purpose of demonstrating that there is nothing which human ingenuity cannot accomplish. Trajan built the bridge because he feared that some time when the Ister was frozen over war might be made upon the Romans on the further side, and he wished to facilitate access to them by this means. Hadrian, on the contrary, was afraid that it might also make it easy for the barbarians, once they had overpowered the guard at the bridge, to cross into Moesia, and so he removed the superstructure.
Lucius Quietus was a Moor and likewise ranked as a leader of the Moors and as commander of a troop in the cavalry; but, having been condemned for base conduct, he had been dismissed from the service at the time and disgraced. Later, however, when the Dacian war came on and Trajan needed the assistance of the Moors, he came to him of his own accord and displayed great deeds of prowess. Being honoured for this, he performed far greater and more numerous exploits in the second war, and finally advanced so far in bravery and good fortune during this present war that he was enrolled among the ex-praetors, became consul, and then governor of Palestine. To this chiefly were due the jealousy and hatred felt for him and his destruction.
Book 69. Hadrian, the Alani, and the Iazyges
Hadrian travelled through one province after another, visiting the various regions and cities and inspecting all the garrisons and forts. Some of these he removed to more desirable places, some he abolished, and he also established some new ones. He personally viewed and investigated absolutely everything, not merely the usual appurtenances of camps, such as weapons, engines, trenches, ramparts and palisades, but also the private affairs of every one, but of the men serving in the ranks and of the officers themselves, — their lives, their quarters and their habits, — and he reformed and corrected in many cases practices and arrangements for living that had become too luxurious. He drilled the men for every kind of battle, honouring some and reproving others, and he taught them all what should be done. And in order that they should be benefited by observing him, he everywhere led a rigorous life and either walked or rode on horseback on all occasions, never once at this period setting foot in either a chariot or a four-wheeled vehicle. He covered his head neither in hot weather nor in cold, but alike amid German snows and under scorching Egyptian suns he went about with his head bare. In fine, both by his example and by his precepts he so trained and disciplined the whole military force throughout the entire empire that even to‑day the methods then introduced by him are the soldiers' law of campaigning. This best explains why he lived for the most part at peace with foreign nations; for as they saw his state of preparation and were themselves not only free from aggression but received money besides, they made no uprising. So excellently, indeed, had his soldiery been trained that the cavalry of the Batavians, as they were called, swam the Ister with their arms. Seeing all this, the barbarians stood in terror of the Romans, they employed Hadrian as an arbitrator of their differences.
This, then, was the end of the war with the Jews. A second war was begun by the Alani (they are Massagetae) at the instigation of Pharasmanes. It caused dire injury to the Albanian territory and Media, and then involved Armenia and Cappadocia; after which, as the Alani were not only persuaded by gifts from Vologaesus but also stood in dread of Flavius Arrianus, the governor of Cappadocia, it came to a stop.
Envoys were sent from Vologaesus and from the Iazyges; the former made some charges against Pharasmanes and the latter wished to confirm the peace. He introduced them to the senate and was empowered by that body to return appropriate answers; and these he accordingly prepared and read to them.
Book 71. Marcus Aurelius, the Iazyges, and the Frozen Ister
Cassius, however, was ordered by Marcus to have charge of all Asia. The emperor himself fought for a long time, almost his entire life, one might say, with the barbarians in the region of the Ister, with both the Iazyges and the Marcomani, one after the other, using Pannonia as his base.
Marcus Antoninus remained in Pannonia in order to give audience to the embassies of the barbarians; for many came to him at this time also. Some of them, under the leadership of Battarius, a boy twelve years old, promised an alliance; these received a gift of money and succeeded in restraining Tarbus, a neighbouring chieftain, who had come into Dacia and was demanding money and threatening to make war if he should fail to get it. Others, like the Quadi, asked for peace, which was granted them, both in the hope that they might be detached from the Marcomani, and also because they gave him many horses and cattle and promised to surrender all the deserters and the captives, besides, — thirteen thousand at first, and later all the others as well. The right to attend the markets, however, was not granted to them, for fear that the Iazyges and the Marcomani, whom they had sworn not to receive nor to allow to pass through their country, should mingle with them, and passing themselves off for Quadi, should reconnoitre the Roman positions and purchase provisions. Besides these that came to Marcus, many others sent envoys, some by tribes and some by nations, and offered to surrender. Some of them were sent on campaigns elsewhere, as were also the captives and deserters who were fit for service; others received land in Dacia, Pannonia, Moesia, the province of Germany, and in Italy itself. Some of them, now, who settled at Ravenna, made an uprising and even went so far as to seize possession of the city: and for this reason Marcus did not again bring any of the barbarians into Italy, but even banished those who had previously come there.
The Astingi, led by their chieftains Raüs and Raptus, came into Dacia with their entire households, hoping to secure both money and land in return for their alliance. But failing of their purpose, they left their wives and children under the protection of Clemens, until they should acquire the land of the Costoboci by their arms; but upon conquering that people, they proceeded to injure Dacia no less than before. The Lacringi, fearing that Clemens in his dread of them might lead these newcomers into the land which they themselves were inhabiting, attacked them while off their guard and won a decisive victory. As a result, the Astingi committed no further acts of hostility against the Romans, but in response to urgent supplications addressed to Marcus they received from him both money and the privilege of asking for land in case they should inflict some injury upon those who were then fighting against him. Now this tribe really did fulfill some of its promises; whereas the Cotini, though they made similar offers, nevertheless, upon receiving Tarrutenius Paternus, the secretary in charge of the emperor's Latin correspondence, on the pretext that they wished to make a campaign with him against the Marcomani, not only failed to do so, but even treated Paternus himself shamefully, thereby bringing about their own destruction later.
When the Marcomani were successful in a certain battle and slew Marcus Vindex, the prefect, the emperor erected three statues in his honour; and after conquering the foe he himself received the title of Germanicus (for we give the name of Germans to those who dwell in the northern regions).
It was during Marcus' war against the Germans that the following incidents occurred (I hope these anecdotes may be thought worthy of record). A captive lad, on being asked a question by him, replied: "I cannot answer you because of the cold. So, if you want to find out anything, command that a coat be given me, if you have one." And a soldier who was doing guard duty one night on the Ister, upon hearing a shout from his fellow soldiers in captivity on the other side, at once swam across just as he was, released them, and then returned.
The Iazyges were conquered by the Romans on land at this time and later on the river. By this I do not mean that any naval battle took place, but that the Romans pursued them as they fled over the frozen Ister and fought there as on dry land. The Iazyges, perceiving that they were being pursued, awaited their opponents' onset, expecting to overcome them easily, as the others were not accustomed to the ice. Accordingly, some of the barbarians dashed straight at them, while others rode round to attack their flanks, as their horses had been trained to run safely even over a surface of this kind. The Romans upon observing this were not alarmed, but formed in a compact body, facing all their foes at once, and most of them laid down their shields and rested one foot upon them, so that they might not slip so much; and thus they received the enemy's charge. Some seized the bridles, others the shields and spearshafts of their assailants, and drew the men toward them; and thus, becoming involved in close conflict, they knocked down both men and horses, since the barbarians by reason of their momentum could no longer keep from slipping. The Romans, to be sure, also slipped; but in case one of them fell on his back, he would drag his adversary down on top of him and then with his feet would hurl him backwards, as in a wrestling match, and so would get on top of him; and if one fell on his face, he would actually seize with his teeth his antagonist, who had fallen first. For the barbarians, being unused to a contest of this sort, and having lighter equipment, were unable to resist, so that but few escaped out of a large force.
Envoys were sent to Marcus by the Iazyges to request peace, but they did not obtain anything. For Marcus, both because he knew their race to be untrustworthy and also because he had been deceived by the Quadi, wished to annihilate them utterly. For the Quadi had not only fought on the side of the Iazyges at this time, but on an earlier occasion, too, had received in their own and any Marcomanian fugitives who were hard pressed while that tribe was still at war with the Romans. Moreover, they were not carrying out any of their agreements; in particular, they had not restored all the captives, but only a few, and these such as they could neither sell nor employ at any labour. Or, if they ever did give up any of those who were in good physical condition, they would keep their relatives back in order that the men given up might desert again to rejoin these. They also expelled their king Furtius, and on their own responsibility made Ariogaesus their king instead. In consequence, the emperor neither recognized Ariogaesus as their legally constituted king nor renewed the treaty of peace, though they promised to give up fifty thousand captives if he would do so.
So Marcus subdued the Marcomani and the Iazyges after many hard struggles and dangers. A great war against the people called the Quadi also fell to his lot and it was his good fortune to win an unexpected victory, or rather it was vouchsafed him by Heaven. For when the Romans were in peril in the course of the battle, the divine power saved them in a most unexpected manner. The Quadi had surrounded them at a spot favourable for their purpose and the Romans were fighting valiantly with their shields locked together; then the barbarians ceased fighting, expecting to capture them easily as the result of the heat and their thirst. So they posted guards all about and hemmed them in to prevent their getting water anywhere; for the barbarians were far superior in numbers. The Romans, accordingly, were in a terrible plight from fatigue, wounds, the heat of the sun, and thirst, and so could neither fight nor retreat, but were standing and the line and at their several posts, scorched by the heat, when suddenly many clouds gathered and a mighty rain, not without divine interposition, burst upon them. Indeed, there is a story to the effect that Arnuphis, an Egyptian magician, who was a companion of Marcus, had invoked by means of enchantments various deities and in particular Mercury, the god of the air, and by this means attracted the rain.
When the Marcomani sent envoys to him, Marcus, in view of the fact that they had fulfilled all the conditions imposed of them, albeit grudgingly and reluctantly, restored to them one-half of the neutral zone along their frontier, so that they might now settle to within a distance of five miles from the Ister; and he established the places and the days for their trading together (for these had not been previously fixed) and exchanged hostages with them.
The Iazyges were defeated and came to terms, Zanticus himself appearing as a suppliant before Antoninus. Previously they had imprisoned Banadaspus, their second king, for making overtures to him; but now all the chief men came with Zanticus and made the same compact as that to which the Quadi and the Marcomani had agreed, except that they were required to dwell twice as far away from the Ister as those tribes. Indeed, the emperor had wished to exterminate them utterly. For that they were still strong at this time and had done the Romans great harm was evident from the fact that they returned a hundred thousand captives that were still in their hands even after the many who had been sold, had died, or had escaped, and that they promptly furnished as their contribution to the alliance eight thousand cavalry, fifty-five hundred of whom he sent to Britain.
The revolt of Cassius and Syria forced Marcus Antoninus to make terms with the Iazyges very much against his will; indeed, he was so alarmed by the news that he did not even communicate to the senate the conditions of the peace made with them, as he was wont to do in other cases.
When the Scythian situation once more demanded his attention, it caused him to give his son a wife, Crispina, sooner than he wished. For the Quintilii had been unable to end the war, although there were two of them and they possessed great shrewdness, courage and experience; and consequently the rulers themselves were forced to take the field. Marcus also asked the senate for money from the public treasury, not because such funds were not already at the emperor's disposal, but because he was wont to declare that all the funds, both these and others, belonged to the senate and to the people. "As for us," he said, in addressing the senate, "we are so far from possessing anything of our own that even the house in which we live is yours." Then, after making this speech and after hurling the bloody spear, that was kept in the temple of Bellona, into what was supposed to be the enemy's territory (as I have heard men who were present relate), he set out; and he gave a large force to Paternus and sent him to the scene of the fighting. The barbarians held out for the entire day, but were all cut down by the Romans; and Marcus was saluted imperator for the tenth time.
The Iazyges sent an embassy and asked to be released from certain of the agreements they had made; and some concessions were granted them, to prevent their becoming entirely alienated. Yet neither they nor the Buri were willing to join the Romans as allies until they had received pledges from Marcus that he would without fail prosecute the war to the uttermost; for they were afraid he might make a treaty with the Quadi, as before, and leave enemies dwelling at their doors.
Marcus gave audience to those whom came as envoys from outside nations, but did not receive them all on the same footing; for this varied according as the several states were worthy to receive citizenship, or freedom from taxes, or perpetual or temporary exemption from the tribute, or even to enjoy permanent support. And when the Iazyges proved most useful to them, he released them from many of the restrictions that had been imposed upon them, — in fact, from all save those affecting their assembling and trading together and the requirements that they should not used boats of their own and should keep away from the islands in the Ister. And he permitted them to pass through Dacia in order to have dealings with the Rhoxolani, as often as the governor of Dacia should give them permission.
With regard to the Quadi and the Marcomani, who sent envoys:— the twenty thousand soldiers that were stationed in forts among each of these tribes would not allow them to pasture their flocks or till the soil or do anything else in security, but kept receiving many deserters from the enemy's ranks and captives of their own; yet the soldiers themselves were enduring no great hardships, inasmuch as they had baths and all the necessaries of life in abundance. The Quadi, accordingly, being unwilling to endure the forts built to keep watch over them, attempted to migrate in a body to the land of the Semnones. But Antoninus learned beforehand of their intention and by barring the roads prevented their departure. This showed that he desired, not to acquire their territory, but to punish the men themselves.
Book 72. Commodus and the Northern Frontier
The Marcomani by reason of the multitude of their people that were perishing and the constant ravishing of their lands no longer had an abundance of either food or men. At any rate they sent only two of their chief men and two others of inferior rank as envoys to sue for peace. And, although Commodus might easily have destroyed them, yet he made terms with them; for he hated all exertion and was eager for the comforts of the city. In addition to the conditions that his father had imposed upon them he also demanded that they restore to him the deserters and the captives that they had taken in the meantime, and that they furnish annually a stipulated amount of grain — a demand from which he subsequently released them. Moreover, he obtained some arms from them and soldiers as well, thirteen thousand from the Quadi and a smaller number from the Marcomani; and in return for these he relieved them of the requirement of an annual levy. However, he further commanded that they should not assemble often nor in many parts of the country, but only once each month and in one place, and in the presence of a Roman centurion; and, furthermore, that they should not make war upon the Iazyges, the Buri, or the Vandili. On these terms, then, he made peace and abandoned all the outposts in their country beyond the strip along the frontier that had been neutralized...
Commodus granted peace to the Buri when they sent envoys. Previously he had declined to do so, in spite of their frequent requests, because they were strong, and because it was not peace that they wanted, but the securing of a respite to enable them to make further preparations; but now that they were exhausted he made peace with them, receiving hostages and getting back many captives from the Buri themselves as well as fifteen thousand from the others, and he compelled the others to take an oath that they would never dwell in nor use for pasturage a five-mile strip of their territory next to Dacia. The same Sabinianus also, when twelve thousand of the neighbouring Dacians had been driven out of their own country and were on the point of aiding the others, dissuaded them from their purpose, promising them that some land in our Dacia should be given them.
He also had some wars with the barbarians beyond Dacia, in which Albinus and Niger, who later fought against the emperor Severus, won fame; but the greatest struggle was the one with the Britons. When the tribes in that island, crossing the wall that separated them from the Roman legions, proceeded to do much mischief and cut down a general together with his troops, Commodus became alarmed but sent Ulpius Marcellus against them. This man, who was temperate and frugal and always lived like a soldier in the matter of his food as well as in everything else when he was at war, was becoming haughty and arrogant; he was most conspicuously incorruptible, and yet was not of a pleasant or kindly nature. He showed himself more wakeful than any other general, and as he wished the others who were associated with him to be alert also, he used to write orders on twelve tablets, such as are made out of linden wood, almost every evening, and bid an aide to deliver them to such-and‑such persons at various hours, so that these officers, believing the general the always awake, might not themselves take their fill of sleep. For nature in the first place had made him able to resist sleep, and he had developed this faculty by the discipline of fasting. For in general he would never eat to satiety, and in order that he might not take his fill even of bread, he used to send to Rome for it. This was not because he could not eat the bread of the country, but in order that his bread might be so stale that he should be unable to eat even a small portion more than was absolutely necessary; for his gums were tender and, if the bread was very dry, would soon begin to bleed. However, he purposely exaggerated his natural tendency by simulating, in order that he might have the greatest possible reputation for wakefulness. Such a man was Marcellus; and he ruthlessly put down the barbarians of Britain, and later, when, thanks to his peculiar excellence, he was all but on the point of being put to death by Commodus, he was nevertheless pardoned.
Book 74. Byzantium and the Scythian War Mood
The Byzantines performed many remarkable deeds both while Niger was still living and after his death. Their city is most favourably situated in relation both to the two continents and to the sea that lies between them, and possesses strong defences both in the lie of the land and in the nature of the Bosporus. For the city is built on high ground and juts out into the sea; and the latter, rushing down from the Euxine like a mountain torrent and hurling itself against the headland, is diverted in part to the right, forming there the bay and the harbours, but the greater part of the water flows on with great speed past the city itself toward the Propontis. Moreover, their walls were very strong. The breastwork of the walls was constructed of massive squared stones fastened together by bronze plates, and on the inside they were strengthened with mounds and buildings, so that the whole seemed to be one thick wall on top of which there was a covered passageway easy of defence. There were many large towers constructed on the outside of the wall and provided with windows set close together on every side, so that anyone assailing the wall would be intercepted between them; for as they were built at short intervals and not in a straight line, but some here and some there along a rather crooked circuit, they were bound to command any attacking party from every side. The sections of the wall on the land side were raised to a great height, so as to repel even any chance assailants from that quarter, but the portions along the sea were lower; for there the rocks on which the walls were built and the dangerous character of the Bosporus proved wonderfully effective allies for the Byzantines. The harbours within the wall had both been closed with chains and their breakwaters carried towers that jutted far out on either side, making approach impossible for the enemy. In a word, the Bosporus is of the greatest advantage to the inhabitants; for it is absolutely inevitable that, once anyone gets into its current, he will be cast up on the land in spite of himself. This is a condition most satisfactory to friends, but most embarrassing to enemies.
The Scythians were in a mood for fighting at this time; but while they were consulting together, thundering and lightnings, accompanied by rain, suddenly broke over them, and thunderbolt fell, killing their three chief men, and this restrained them.
Colophon
This archival dossier presents selected passages from Cassius Dio, Roman History, in the public-domain English translation by Earnest Cary, prepared with Herbert Baldwin Foster for the Loeb Classical Library and published before 1931. The source route is an online University of Chicago transcription of that public-domain translation; local HTML captures and a plain-text extract were preserved under the Scythian source tools for verification.
The selection gathers Roman-era witnesses to the lower Danube, Bosporus, Dacia, Sarmatian Iazyges, Alani, and related northern frontier peoples. It is a selected source dossier, not the complete Roman History and not a Good Works Translation from Greek.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Works Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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