Eutropius

“ II There were then three emperors at the same time, PUPIENUS, BALBINUS, and GORDIAN, the two former of very obscure origin, the last of noble birth; for the elder Gordian, his father, had been chosen prince by the consent of the soldiery in the reign of Maximin, when he held the proconsulship of Africa. When Balbinus and Pupienus came to Rome, they were killed in the palace; and the empire was given to Gordian alone. ”

“ But when Diocletian, as age bore heavily upon him, felt himself unable to sustain the government of the empire, he suggested to Herculius that they should both retire into private life, and commit the duty of upholding the state to more vigorous and youthful hands. ”

“ In his youth he performed many gallant acts in Gaul and Illyricum, killing Ingenuus, who had assumed the purple, at Mursa, [5] and Regalianus. He was then for a long time quiet and gentle; afterwards, abandoning himself to all manner of licentiousness, he relaxed the reins of government with disgraceful inactivity and carelesness. The Alemanni, having laid waste Gaul, penetrated into Italy. Dacia, which had been added to the empire beyond the Danube, was lost. Greece, Macedonia, Pontus, Asia, were devastated by the Goths. Pannonia was depopulated by the Sarmatians and Quadi. ”

“ Incurring the hatred of all men. by such proceedings, he not long after met with deserved punishment.
The victorious army, on returning from Persia, as they had lost their emperor Carus by lightning, and the Caesar Numerianus by a plot, conferred the imperial dignity on DIOCLETIAN, a native of Dalmatia, of such extremely obscure birth, that he is said by most writers to have been the son of a clerk, but by some to have been a freedman of a senator named Anulinus. ”

“ Gordian becomes sole emperor, and goes to war with Persia, II.----The two Philips, father and son; the thousandth year of Rome, III.----Decius suppresses an insurrection in Gaul, IV.----Gallus Hostilianus and his son Volusianus, V.----Short reign of Aemilianus, VI.----Disadvantageous reign of Valerian and Gallienus; several aspirants assume the purple, VII.-X.----Claudius defeats the Goths; his honours, XI.----Quintillus, XII.----Aurelian defeats the Goths, Tetricus, Zenobia; suppresses a rebellion at Rome ”

“ After putting Narseus to flight, he captured his wives, sisters, and children, with a vast number of the Persian nobility besides, and a great quantity of treasure; the king himself he forced to take refuge in the remotest deserts in his dominions. ”

“ Epit. c. 36.↑ A town in Upper Moesia, between the Danube and the Margus or Morava.↑ A name of uncertain signification, but supposed, says Tzschucke, to mean rebels or robbers.↑ Cellarius thinks that they may be the same as the Pentapolitani, that is, the Cyrenaeans, Cyrenaica comprising five cities, Berenice, Arsinoe, Ptolemais, Apollonia, and Cyrene.↑ King of Persia; more frequently written Narses.↑ The emperor mentioned in c. 11. ”