--He gave money to many cities, one of them being Smyrna, that had suffered terribly by an earthquake; he also assigned the duty of building up this place to an ex-praetor of senatorial rank. Therefore I am surprised at the censures even now passed upon him to the effect that he was not a man of large calibre. For, whereas in ordinary matters he was really quite frugal, he never demurred at a single necessary expenditure (though, as I have said,
] he hurt no one by levies), and he necessarily laid out very large sums beyond the ordinary requirements.
33
The Scythian imbroglio, which needed his attention, caused him to give his son a wife, Crispina, sooner than he actually wished. The Quintilii could not end the war, although there were two of them and they possessed prudence, courage, and considerable experience. Consequently the rulers themselves were forced to take the field.
A.D. 178 (a.u. 931)
Marcus also asked the senate for money from the public treasury, not because it had not been placed in the sovereign's authority, but because Marcus was wont to declare that this and everything else belonged to the senate and the people. "We," said he (speaking to the senate), "are so far from having anything of our own that we even live in a house of yours." He set out, therefore, after these remarks, and after hurling the bloody spear, that lay in the temple of Bellona, into hostile territory. (I heard this from men who accompanied him).
A.D. 179
Paternus was given a large detachment and sent to the scene of fighting. The barbarians held out the entire day, but were all cut down by the Romans. And Marcus was for the tenth time saluted as imperator.