Surviving Works

AMMIANI MARCELLINI XIV, 1. 2.

these dangers, he did not mitigate them with maturity or counsel, as high-ranking powers have sometimes softened the wrath of princes; rather, by opposing and arguing, he drove the Augustus to madness, constantly dwelling on his actions and—whether intentionally or not—making sure they were not hidden. Soon, the Caesar became more bitterly enraged, as if hoisting a banner of defiance higher; without regard for his own safety or that of others, he was carried along with an irresistible impulse, like a swift river, to overturn those beneath him.

II. 1. Nor, in truth, was this the only destruction afflicting the East with diverse calamities. For the Isauri people of Isauria, a rugged region in southern Asia Minor, whom it was customary to pacify often and who often threw everything into confusion with sudden raids, broke out into serious war following hidden and infrequent acts of banditry. Their impunity fed the audacity of the youth, and they stirred up rebellious spirits with restless movements for a long time. They were deeply provoked by the indignity—as they loudly complained—that some of their captured companions had been exposed to predatory wild beasts in the amphitheater at Iconium, a town in Pisidia, contrary to custom. 2. And, as Tullius Cicero says, just as even wild beasts, warned by hunger, usually return to the place where they once fed, so they all departed like a whirlwind from the steep and difficult mountains and sought the lands bordering the sea. Hiding themselves in secret paths and valleys through these regions, they would observe the sailors as night approached (the moon being then crescent and therefore not yet shining with full brightness). When they sensed the sailors had fallen into a deep sleep, they would crawl on all fours along the anchor-cables and, stepping softly, board the boats. Standing over the unsuspecting men, and with greed stoking their cruelty, they would spare not one of those who surrendered; they slaughtered everyone and carried off the rich cargo as if it were worthless, with no one to resist them.

3. And these things were not perpetrated for long. Once the