The Society for Ancient Languages
Week Ten
SCRIPTORES HISTORIAE AUGUSTAE |
THE WRITINGS OF AUGUSTAN HISTORY |
DE COMMODO ANTONINO |
COMMODUS ANTONINUS |
XIX. Aiunt quidam, quod et veri simile videtur, Commodum Antoninum, successorem illius ac filium, non esse de eo natum sed de adulterio, ac talem fabellam vulgari sermone contexunt: Faustinam quondam, Pii filiam, Marci uxorem, cum gladiatores transire vidisset, unius ex his amore succensam, cum longa aegritudine laboraret, viro de amore confessam. Quod cum ad Chaldaeos Marcus rettulisset, illorum fuisse consilium, ut occiso gladiatore sanguine illius sese Faustina sublavaret atque ita cum viro concumberet. Quod cum esset factum, solutum quidem amorem, natum vero Commodum gladiatorem esse, non principem, qui mille prope pugnas publice populo inspectante gladiatorias imperator exhibuit, ut in vita eius docebitur. Quod quidem veri simile ex eo habetur quod tam sancti principis filius iis moribus fuit quibus nullus lanista, nullus scaenicus, nullus arenarius, nullus postremo ex omnium dedecorum ac scelerum conluvione concretus. Multi autem ferunt Commodum omnino ex adulterio natum, si quidem Faustinam satis constet apud Caietam condiciones sibi et nauticas et gladiatorias elegisse. De qua cum diceretur Antonino Marco, ut eam repudiaret, si non occideret, dixisse fertur "Si uxorem dimittimus, reddamus et dotem." Dos autem quid habebatur? Imperium, quod ille ab socero volente Hadriano adoptatus acceperat. |
19. Some say, and it seems plausible, that Commodus Antoninus, his son and successor, was not begotten by him, but in adultery; they embroider this assertion, moreover, with a story current among the people. On a certain occasion, it was said, Faustina, the daughter of Pius and wife of Marcus, saw some gladiators pass by, and was inflamed with love for one of them; and afterwards, when suffering from a long illness, she confessed the passion to her husband. And when Marcus reported this to the Chaldeans, it was their advice that the gladiator should be killed and that Faustina should bathe in his blood and thus couch with her husband. When this was done, the passion was indeed allayed, but their son Commodus was born a gladiator, not really a prince; for afterwards as emperor he fought almost a thousand gladiatorial bouts before the eyes of the people, as shall be related in his life. This story is considered plausible, as a matter of fact, for the reason that the son of so virtuous a prince had habits worse than any trainer of gladiators, any play-actor, any fighter in the arena, or, in fine, anything brought into existence from the offscourings of all dishonor and crime. Many writers, however, state that Commodus was really begotten in adultery, since it is generally known that Faustina, while at Caieta, used to choose out lovers from the sailors and gladiators. When Marcus Antoninus was told about this, that he might divorce, if not kill her, he is reported to have said, "If we send our wife away, we must also return her dowry." And what was her dowry? The Empire, which, after he had been adopted at the wish of Hadrian, he had inherited from his father-in-law Pius. |
| Adhibitos custodes vitae suae honestiores ferre non potuit, pessimos quosque detinuit et summotos usque ad aegritudinem desideravit. Quibus per patris mollitiem restitutis popinas et ganeas in Palatinis semper aedibus fecit neque umquam pepercit vel pudori vel sumptui. In domo aleam exercuit. Mulierculas formae scitioris ut prostibula mancipia per speciem lupanarium et ludibrium pudicitiae contraxit. Imitatus est propolas circumforanos. Equos currules sibi comparavit. Aurigae habitu currus rexit, gladiatoribus convixit, atque se gessit ut lenonum minister, ut probris natum magis quam ei loco eum crederes, ad quem fortuna provexit. | The more honorable of those appointed to supervise his life he could not endure, but the most evil he retained, and, if any were dismissed, he yearned for them even to the point of falling sick. And when they were reinstated through his father's indulgence, he always maintained eating-houses and low resorts for them in the imperial palace. He never showed regard for either decency or expense. He diced in his own home. He hered together women of unusual beauty, keeping them like purchased prostitutes in a sort of brothel for the violation of their chastity. He imitated the hucksters that strolled about from market to market. He procured chariot-horses for his own use. He drove chariots in the garb of a professional charioteer, lived with gladiators, and conducted himself like a procurer's servant. Indeed, one would have believed him born rather to a life of infamy than to the high place to which Fortune advanced him. |