In the year 1165 from the founding of the City, the emperor Honorius, seeing that nothing could be done against the barbarians while so many tyrants stood against him, ordered the tyrants themselves to be destroyed first. The supreme command of this war was entrusted to Count Constantius.
1 Anno ab urbe condita MCLXV Honorius imperator, uidens tot oppositis tyrannis nihil aduersus barbaros agi posse, ipsos prius tyrannos deleri iubet. Constantio comiti huius belli summa commissa est.
Then at last the commonwealth felt both what advantage it had at length gained in a Roman general and what ruin it had endured up to then, subjected for so long to barbarian counts.
2 sensit tunc demum respublica et quam utilitatem in Romano tandem duce receperit et quam eatenus perniciem per longa tempora barbaris comitibus subiecta tolerarit.
So Count Constantius set out for Gaul with an army, and at the city of Arles shut in, captured and killed the emperor Constantine.1
3 igitur Constantius comes in Galliam cum exercitu profectus, Constantinum imperatorem apud Arelatem ciuitatem clausit cepit occidit.
1Constantine III surrendered at Arles in 411 and was put to death on his way to Ravenna.
From here on — to speak of the catalogue of tyrants as briefly as I can — Constans, the son of Constantine, was killed at Vienne by his count Gerontius, a man more worthless than upright, who put a certain Maximus in his place. Gerontius himself, however, was killed by his own soldiers.
4 Iam hinc, ut de catalogo tyrannorum quam breuissime loquar, Constantem Constantini filium Gerontius comes suus, uir nequam magis quam probus, apud Viennam interfecit atque in eius locum Maximum quendam substituit. ipse uero Gerontius a suis militibus occisus est.
Maximus, stripped of the purple and forsaken by the Gallic soldiers, who were taken across to Africa and then recalled to Italy, now lives in want, an exile among the barbarians in Spain.
5 Maximus exutus purpura destitutusque a militibus Gallicanis, qui in Africam traiecti, deinde in Italiam reuocati sunt, nunc inter barbaros in Hispania egens exulat.
Afterwards Jovinus, a man of the highest nobility in the Gallic provinces, fell as soon as he rose up to tyranny. His brother Sebastianus chose only this: to die a tyrant; for he was killed as soon as he was made.
6 Iouinus postea uir Galliarum nobilissimus in tyrannidem mox ut adsurrexit et cecidit. Sebastianus frater eiusdem hoc solum, ut tyrannus moreretur, elegit: nam continuo ut creatus occisus est.
What shall I say of the most unhappy Attalus, for whom it was an honour to be killed among tyrants and a gain to die? In him Alaric — making an emperor, unmaking him, remaking him and discarding him again, all of it done almost faster than it can be told — laughed at a farce and watched a stage-play of empire;
7 quid de infelicissimo Attalo loquar, cui occidi inter tyrannos honor et mori lucrum fuit? in hoc Alaricus imperatore facto infecto refecto ac defecto, citius his omnibus actis paene quam dictis, mimum risit et ludum spectauit imperii;
nor is it any wonder that the wretched man was rightly made sport of in this pageant, since that shadowy consul of his, Tertullus, dared to say in the senate house: “I shall speak to you, conscript fathers, as consul and pontiff — the one I hold, the other I hope for”; hoping from one who himself had no hope, and cursed indeed, because he had put his hope in man.2
8 nec mirum si iure hac pompa miser lusus est, cuius ille umbratilis consul Tertullus ausus est in curia dicere: loquar uobis, patres conscripti, consul et pontifex, quorum alterum teneo, alterum spero, sperans ab eo qui spem non habebat et maledictus utique, quia spem suam posuerat in homine.
2Jeremiah 17:5: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man.”
Attalus, then, like an empty phantom of empire, was carried along with the Goths as far as the Spanish provinces; departing from there by ship with uncertain designs, he was captured at sea and brought to Count Constantius, then presented to the emperor Honorius, and, with his hand cut off, was left alive.
9 Attalus itaque tamquam inane imperii simulacrum cum Gothis usque ad Hispanias portatus est, unde discedens naui incerta moliens in mari captus et ad Constantium comitem deductus, deinde imperatori Honorio exhibitus truncata manu uitae relictus est.
Heraclianus, meanwhile, sent as count of Africa, while that same Attalus bore the shadow of empire, vigorously defended Africa against the governors sent by him, and obtained the consulship;
10 Heraclianus interea Africae comes missus, cum idem Attalus umbram gestaret imperii, Africam strenue aduersum iudices ab eo missos tutatus, consulatum adsecutus est;
puffed up with pride by this, he chose as his son-in-law Sabinus, his household officer, a man of shrewd talent and skilful industry, who might have been called wise had he applied the powers of his mind to peaceful pursuits;
11 quo elatus supercilio Sabinum domesticum suum, uirum ingenio callidum industriaque sollertem et sapientem nominandum si animi uires tranquillis studiis adcommodauisset, generum allegit;
together with him, while lying under suspicion of certain dangerous designs, he made those suspicions true; and, having held back the African grain supply for some time contrary to custom, he at last set out for Rome himself with an immense fleet of ships, one truly incredible enough for our times.
12 cum quo quorundam periculorum suspiciones dum patitur fecit atque, aliquamdiu Africana annona extra ordinem detenta, ipse tandem cum inmensa, certe temporibus nostris satis incredibili classe nauium Romam contendit.
For he is said to have had at that time 3,700 ships — a number which the histories report that not even Xerxes, that famous king of the Persians, nor Alexander the Great, nor any other king ever had.
13 nam habuisse tunc tria milia septingentas naues dicitur, quem numerum ne apud Xerxen quidem praeclarum illum Persarum regem et Alexandrum Magnum uel quemquam alium regum fuisse historiae ferunt.
As soon as he had landed on the shore, making for the City with a column of soldiers, he was terrified by the encounter with Count Marinus and turned to flight; seizing a ship, he returned alone to Carthage, and there was at once killed by a band of soldiers. His son-in-law Sabinus fled to Constantinople, from where, after some time, he was brought back and condemned to exile.
14 is simul ut cum agmine militum ad urbem pergens litore egressus est, occursu comitis Marini territus et in fugam uersus, arrepta naui solus Carthaginem rediit atque ibi continuo militari manu interfectus est. Sabinus gener eius Constantinopolim fugit, unde post aliquantum temporis retractus exilioque damnatus est.
This whole catalogue, as I said, of open tyrants or disobedient generals the emperor Honorius won by his excellent religion and good fortune, and Count Constantius carried through with great energy and speed —
15 Hunc omnem catalogum, ut dixi, uel manifestorum tyrannorum uel inoboedientium ducum optima Honorius imperator religione et felicitate meruit, magna Constantius comes industria et celeritate confecit:
deservedly indeed, because in these days, at the command of Honorius and with the help of Constantius, peace and unity were restored to the catholic Church throughout all Africa, and the body of Christ, which we are, was healed, its rent made whole again; the carrying out of the sacred decree having been laid upon the tribune Marcellinus, a man exceedingly prudent and industrious, and most eager for every good study.3
16 merito sane, quia in his diebus praecipiente Honorio et adiuuante Constantio pax et unitas per uniuersam Africam Ecclesiae catholicae reddita est et corpus Christi, quod nos sumus, redintegrata discissione sanatum est, imposita exsecutione sacri praecepti Marcellino tribuno, uiro inprimis prudenti et industrio omniumque bonorum studiorum appetentissimo.
3The Conference of Carthage (411), at which Marcellinus presided, ruled against the Donatists, whom Orosius does not name.
Him Count Marinus killed at Carthage — whether goaded by zeal or corrupted by gold is uncertain; and Marinus was at once recalled from Africa, made a private man, and dismissed either to punishment or to the repentance of his own conscience.
17 quem Marinus comes apud Carthaginem - incertum zelo stimulatus an auro corruptus - occidit: qui continuo reuocatus ex Africa factusque priuatus uel ad poenam uel ad paenitentiam conscientiae suae dimissus est.