AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, BOOK 14.

The unbridled power of a woman.

...he maintained an obstinate determination to investigate these and many similar matters. He was spurred on by the Queen This refers to Constantina, the wife of Gallus and daughter of Constantine the Great. She was famously described by Ammianus as a "mortal fury.", who, having been plunged headlong into ruin by her husband's former misfortune original: "abrupta è mariti fortuna", hissed with rage, seeking the destruction of others. She should have instead used feminine gentleness to lead him back to the path of truth and humanity by offering useful advice, just as we have recorded the wife of that savage Emperor Maximinus Caecilia Paulina, the wife of Maximinus Thrax, who reportedly tried to temper her husband's cruelty during the era of the Gordian emperors (approx. 238 AD). once did.

Crimes are piled upon horrific crimes, so that at last the craftsmen perish by their own craft.

Finally, following a new and ruinous example, this same Gallus dared to commit a grave outrage, which the emperor Gallienus is said to have once attempted in Rome to his ultimate disgrace. Taking a few men hidden and armed with swords, he wandered through taverns and crossroads in the evening, asking in the Greek tongue—with which he was exceedingly well-acquainted—what each person thought of the Caesar. He did this confidently in the city Antioch was famous in the ancient world for its extensive street lighting, which was a rare luxury., where the brightness of the lights burning through the night usually mimics the glow of day. Eventually, having been recognized often, and realizing that if he went out further he would be conspicuous, he was seen going out to attend to what he considered serious business only in the open light of day. And these things were done while many groaned in their very marrow.

How wretched is the fate of princes whose chief servants and petty minds, through depraved advice, drive the savage dispositions of their masters toward butchery and slaughter!

Thalassius, however, who was at that time the Praetorian Prefect The highest administrative official under the Caesar, responsible for taxes, justice, and logistics., being himself a man of arrogant character, saw that Gallus’s excitement was increasing to the peril of many. He did not attempt to soothe him with maturity or counsel—as high-ranking powers have sometimes softened the rages of princes—but by opposing and quarreling with him in a manner that was hardly appropriate, he goaded him into a fury. He frequently reported his actions to the Augustus The senior Emperor, in this case, Constantius II., exaggerating Gallus's deeds and striving—it is uncertain with what intent—to ensure they did not remain hidden. Exasperated more sharply by these things, the Caesar, as if raising a standard of defiance higher, without regard for the safety of others or his own, was carried away with an irrevocable impulse to sweep away his subjects like a rushing river.

While princes [rage] against their subjects.

2. Indeed, this destruction was not the only one afflicting the East with various disasters. For the Isaurians A rebellious mountain people from the Taurus mountains in modern-day Turkey, known for frequent banditry and raids. also, for whom it is customary...