Eutropius

“ I fell now acquainted with one Lucilius, a creature of the prime minister Eutropius, who had by his favour been raised to the post of a tribune; a man of low morals, and eminent only in that meanest of qualities, cunning. This gentleman, imagining me a fit tool for the minister’s purpose, having often sounded my principles of honour and honesty, both which he declared to me were words without meaning, and finding my ready concurrence in his sentiments, recommended me to Eutropius as very proper to execute some wicked purposes he had contrived against my friend Timasius. ”

“ Eutropius was the first of his artificial sex, who dared to assume the character of a Roman magistrate and general. Sometimes, in the presence of the blushing senate, he ascended the tribunal to pronounce judgment, or to repeat elaborate harangues; and, sometimes, appeared on horseback, at the head of his troops, in the dress and armor of a hero. The disregard of custom and decency always betrays a weak and ill-regulated mind; nor does Eutropius seem to have compensated for the folly of the design by any superior merit or ability in the execution. ”

“ Eutropius answered that it would be too dangerous a task: ‘Indeed,’ says he, ‘his crimes are of so black a dye, and so well known to the emperor, that his death must be a very acceptable service, and could not fail meeting a proper reward: but I question whether you are capable of executing it.’ ‘If he is not,’ cried I, ‘I am; and surely no man can have greater motives to destroy him than myself: for, besides his disloyalty to my prince, for whom I have so perfect a duty, I have private disobligations to him. ”

“ Theodosius sent the eunuch Eutropius into Egypt to invite the hermit John to come to him and declare to him the will of God. The saint refused to leave his cell, but sent word to the emperor by Eutropius that he would gain a victory, which would however be very bloody,486 and that he would only survive it a short while. Both predictions were accomplished. A battle was fought in the plains of Aquileia, on Sept. 6th, 394, in which Eugenius was defeated; Theodosius lived till January 17th of the following year, and died leaving the empire divided between his two sons Arcadius and Honorius. ”

“ After the establishment of these facts, the prisoners were removed; and Eutropius, who at that time was governing Asia with the rank of proconsul, having been involved in the accusation as having been a partisan of theirs, was nevertheless acquitted; being exculpated by Pasiphilus the philosopher, who, though cruelly tortured to make him implicate Eutropius by a wicked lie, could not be moved from his vigorous resolution and fortitude.
37. To that was added the philosopher Simonides, a young man, but the most rigidly virtuous of all men in our time. ”

“ On the other hand, Eutropius had many enemies, and enemies in two different quarters. Romans of the stamp of Timasius and Aurelian were naturally opposed to the supremacy of an emasculated chamberlain; while, as we shall see subsequently, the German element in the empire, represented by Gainas, was also inimical. It seems certain that a serious confederacy was formed in the year 397, aiming at the overthrow of Eutropius. ”

“ Diocletian, whose political insight and ingenuity were remarkable, tried to avoid the dangers of a dynasty by his artificial system, but artifice could not contend with success against nature.
The greatest blot on the ministry of Eutropius—for, as he was the most trusted adviser of the Emperor, we may use the word ministry—was the sale of offices, of which Claudian gives a vivid and exaggerated account. This was a blot, however, that stained other men of those days as well as Eutropius, and we must view it rather as a feature of the times than as a personal enormity. ”

“ At the end of the lesson, during the explanation of a text, Julian once mentioned the earth's antipodes, about which he had heard Mardonius speaking. He had done this with the secret intention of annoying the monk, but Eutropius became jocular. 24
"Who's been talking to you about 'antipodes,' my angel? Little sinner, how you do make me laugh! That old fool of a Plato did, I know, write something about it. But are you actually wise enough to believe that men walk about on their heads?"
Eutropius would launch forth into accusations of heresy against the philosophers. ”

“ The Breviarium was enlarged and continued down to the time of Justinian by Paulus Diaconus (q.v.) ; the work of the latter was in turn enlarged by Landolfus Sagax (c. 1000) , and taken down to the time of the emperor Leo the Armenian (813–820) in the Historia Miscella.
Of the Greek translations by Capito Lycius and Paeanius, the version of the latter is extant in an almost complete state. The best edition of Eutropius is by H. Droysen (1879) , containing the Greek version and the enlarged editions of Paulus Diaconus and Landolfus ”

“ He is careful and exact in his behaviour towards his virtuous friends; always studying to oblige them; but gets away from and avoids those that are of another temper. Now Eutropius should recollect, that this is acting like a physician that would take care of the healthy, and disregard those that are sick. He should remember, that his irreligious friends and relations are the very persons that are fallen to his care; and that he is as directly called to take care of their salvation, as the husband to take care of the unbelieving wife. ”

“ The crimes which Eutropius had committed against the people might have justified his death, but he was found guilty of harnessing to his chariot the sacred animals which, from their breed or colour, were reserved for the use of the emperor alone.
While this domestic revolution was transacted, Gainas openly revolted from his allegiance; united his forces, at Thyatira in Lydia, with those of Tribigild; and still maintained his superior ascendant over the rebellious leader of the Ostrogoths. The confederate armies advanced, without resistance, to the straits of the Hellespont and the Bosporus ”

“ His demand was backed by the Empress Eudoxia, who had experienced much insolence from the minister. Eutropius was deprived of his official dignity, his property was declared confiscated, and he was commanded to quit the palace instantly under pain of death. Whither could the poor wretch fly who was thus in a moment hurled from the pinnacle of power into the lowest depths of degradation and destitution. There was but one place to which he could naturally turn in his distress—the sanctuary of the Church ”

“ Eutropius, a reader, was required to name the persons [Pg 166] who had set fire to the church; but, although he was scourged severely, although his sides and cheeks were torn with iron nails, and although lighted torches were applied to the most sensitive parts of his body, no confession could be extorted from him, notwithstanding his youth and delicacy of constitution. After having been subjected to these tortures, he was cast into a dungeon, where he soon afterwards expired. ”

“ Eutropius dared not trust Gaïnas to act against his own countryman and kinsman. He retained him therefore at Constantinople in command of the city troops, and committed the management of the legions to one of his favourites, Leo, described by Claudian as a man “abounding in flesh, but scant of brains;”467 once a wool-carder, but, under the administration of the eunuch, a military commander. His obesity made him an object of derision to the army, and, joined to his natural incapacity and ignorance, rendered him the most unfit man to conduct an expedition against the subtle and active barbarian. ”

“ Some have doubted the genuineness of this dedication to Valens, because the Greek translator has not included it in his version; but the authority of manuscripts, and the resemblance of its style to that of Eutropius, have induced Cellarius, Verheyk, Tzschucke, and most other commentators, to believe it genuine. ”

“ His place in the favour and confidence of Arcadius was soon occupied by the eunuch Eutropius. The career of this person was a strange one. Born a slave, in the region of Mesopotamia, he had passed in boyhood and youth through the hands of many owners, performing the most menial offices incident to his position. ”

“ There is no doubt that Eutropius meant that he would take a middle point between those who give the highest and those who give the lowest date; but the words to be supplied for the construction seem not to have been yet discovered. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Petrōniō Secundō, Partheniō: Nerva could not prevent the Praetorian soldiers from putting them to death.
Page 74.
3. aetātis ... annō: Eutropius is mistaken. He was sixty-five years old when he died.
[154]
4. inter Dīvōs relātus est: cf. Dīvus appellātus, Bk. VII, 10.
Ch. 2.
5. Trāiānus: Marcus Ulpius Traian was born at Italica near Seville in Spain, September 18, 52 A.D. He was trained to arms, and rose through the various offices to the rank of praetor. ”

“ His early years were spent in military service in Britain and Germany. He won great credit as a general and a soldier. When he returned to Rome after the fall of Jerusalem, he conducted himself in such a manner as to cause a fear that his rule would resemble that of Nero. But after he became emperor he changed his manner of living, and his whole reign was marked by a sincere desire for the happiness of his people. ”

“ In 215 B.C. he was elected consul again, and again employed the same tactics. In 210 B.C., when he was consul for the fifth time, he recaptured Tarentum by stratagem (Ch. 16) . He opposed the sending of Scipio to Africa, saying that Italy ought to be rid of Hannibal first.
eum ... frēgit = ab impetū eum prohibuit; ‘prevented him from attacking in force.’
differendō pūgnam: ‘by postponing battle’: i.e. by avoiding a decisive engagement.
Ch. 10.
8. quadrāgēsimō: Eutropius is mistaken in the date; it was 216 B.C.
9. L. Aemilius Paulus: father of the L. Aemilius Paulus mentioned in Bk. IV, 6, 7. ”

“ Page 39.
1. mox missus contrā eum: Eutropius does not mention the two campaigns under Aulus Hostilius and Quintius Marcius Philippus, in both of which the Romans were unsuccessful.
2. L. Aemilius Paulus: he was the son of the consul who fell at Cannae, Bk. III, 10. He was one of the best specimens of the sturdy Roman character. He was noted for his discipline in the army, and maintained throughout life a pure and unspotted character.
6. ante ... quam: cf. note on ante ... quam, Bk. ”

“ XX MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS BASSIANUS, then, who . was also called CARACALLA, was a man very much of his father's disposition, but somewhat more rough and vindictive. He erected a bath of excellent construction at Rome, which is called the bath of Antoninus, [19] but did nothing else worthy of record. He wanted ability to control his passions; for he married his own step-mother Julia. He died in Osdroene, [20] near Edessa, while he was planning an expedition against the Parthians, in the sixth year and second month of his reign, having scarcely passed the forty-second year of his age. ”

“ After his death, which took place in the eleventh year of his reign, he was enrolled among the gods.
XI After him MARCUS ANTONINUS held the government alone, a man whom any one may more easily admire than sufficiently commend. He was, from his earliest years, of a most tranquil disposition; so that even in his infancy he changed countenance neither for joy nor for sorrow. He was devoted to the Stoic philosophy, and was himself a philosopher, not only in his way of life, but in learning. He was the object of so much admiration, while yet a youth, that Hadrian intended to make him his successor ”

“ VII The consul Aemilius Paulus came to a battle with Perseus on the 3rd of September, and defeated him, killing twenty thousand of his infantry; the cavalry which remained with the king was unbroken; on the side of the Romans only a hundred men were missing. All the cities of Macedonia, that Perseus had under his sway, submitted to the Romans. The king himself, deserted by his friends, fell into the hands of Paulus ”

“ He next marched into Bithynia and Paphlagonia, driving out the kings, Pylaemenes and Nicomedes, who were also in alliance with the Romans. He then hastened to Ephesus, and sent letters into all parts of Asia, with directions that wherever any Roman citizens should be found, they should all be put to death the same day. ”

“ Pyrrhus then departed for Sicily. Fabricius, after defeating the Samnites and Lucanians, obtained a triumph.
The consuls Manius Curius Dentatus and Cornelius Lentulus were next sent against Pyrrhus; and Curius came to an engagement with him, cut off his army, drove him back to Tarentum. and took his camp. On that day were slain twenty-three thousand of the enemy. Curius Dentatus triumphed in his consulate. He was the first that brought elephants to Rome, in number, four. Pyrrhus also soon after quitted Tarentum, and was killed at Argos, a city of Greece. ”

“ Mithradates V was king of Pontus, a state of Asia Minor. He is one of the most striking characters of Roman history. Possessed of a large and powerful frame, he was endowed also with a mind of great strength and alertness, indomitable courage, and consuming ambition. ”