9. Many examples of similar moderation abound in the Roman generals; and without stopping to enumerate them, since such acts are not indications of perfect virtue (for indeed it is no great glory to abstain from carrying off other persons' property), I will just mention one single instance of the forbearance of people in general in this respect in ancient times:—When Marius and Cinna had given the Roman populace leave to plunder the wealthy houses of certain persons whom they had proscribed, the minds of the mob, who, however uncivilized they might be, were accustomed to respect the rights of men, refused to touch the produce of other men's labours; so that in fact no one could be found so needy or so base as to be willing to profit by the miseries of the state.
10. Besides these things the aforesaid emperor was a prey in his inmost heart to a devouring envy; and as he knew that most vices put on a semblance of virtue, he used to be fond of repeating, that severity is the inseparable companion of lawful power. And as magistrates of the highest rank are in the habit of thinking everything permitted to them, and are always inclined to depress those who oppose them, and to humiliate those who are above them, so he hated all who were well dressed, or learned, or opulent, or high born; and he was always disparaging the brave, that he might appear to be the only person eminent for virtue. And this is a vice which, as we read, was very flagrant in the Emperor Hadrian.
11. This same emperor used to be continually abusing the timid, calling them sordid and base, and people who deserved to be depressed below the very lowest of the low; and yet he himself often grew pale, in the most abject manner, with groundless fears, and often from the bottom of his soul was terrified at things which had no existence at all.
12. Remigius, the master of the ceremonies, knowing this, and also that Valentinian was used to get into furious passions at every trifling incident, spread a report, among other things, that some of the barbarians were in motion; and the emperor, when he heard this, became at once so broken-spirited through fear that he became as gentle and merciful as Antoninus Pius.
13. He never intentionally appointed unjust judges but if he learned that those whom he had once promoted were acting cruelly, he boasted that he had discovered new Lycurguses and Cassiuses, those ancient pillars of justice; and he used to be continually exhorting them by his letters severely to chastise even the slightest errors.
14. Nor had those who were under accusations, if any misfortune fell upon them, any refuge in the kindness of the prince; which ought to be, as it were, a desirable haven to those tossed about in a stormy sea. For, as wise men teach us, "The advantage and safety of the subject is the true end of just government."
IX.
§ 1. It is natural for us, after discussing these topics, if we would act fairly, now to come to his virtuous and laudable actions; since if he had tempered his vices fairly with them he would have been a second Trajan or Marcus Aurelius. Towards the people of the provinces he was very considerate, lightening the burden of their tributes throughout the empire. He also exerted himself in a very beneficial manner in building towns and strengthening the frontiers. He was a strict observer of military discipline, erring only in this respect, that while he punished even slight misconduct on the part of the common soldiers, he allowed the crimes of the officers of rank and of the generals to proceed to greater and greater lengths, and shut his ears against every complaint that was uttered against them. And this partiality of his was the cause of the murmurs in Britain, and the disasters in Africa, and the devastation of Illyricum.
2. He was, both at home and abroad, a strict observer of modesty and chastity, keeping his conscience wholly free from all taint of impurity or obscenity, and in consequence he bridled the wantonness of the imperial court as with a strong rein; and he was the more easily able to do this because he had never shown any indulgence to his own relations, whom he either kept in obscurity, or (if he promoted them at all) raised to a very moderate rank, with the exception of his brother, whom, in deference to the necessities of the times, he made his partner in the imperial dignity.
3. He was very scrupulous in giving high rank to any one; nor, as long as he was emperor, did any one of the moneyed interest become ruler of a province, nor was any government sold, unless it was at the beginning of his reign, when wicked actions were sometimes committed in the hope that the new prince would be too much occupied to punish them.