From these Food Prefects for a particular district those officials must be distinguished who bear the general title of præfectus alimentorum without any local limitation, and show a marked difference from the rest in that they are invariably of consular rank, whereas the position of district prefect, like that of curator of roads, was usually held by a candidate that had only passed the prætorship. The inscriptions of these consular prefects begin not earlier than the end of the reign of Marcus Aurelius, perhaps not till Commodus, and extend to the time of Macrinus, while during this whole time (a period, that is, of about forty years) all trace of the district prefects vanishes. Under these circumstances the conclusion seems to me inevitable that towards the end of the second century (probably from the first years of Marcus Aurelius on) the district prefecture was abolished and the administration was centralized in Rome under a consular præfectus alimentorum, whose authority extended over the whole of Italy.
Now very probably it was the introduction under Marcus Aurelius of the iuridici which occasioned this change, even if not immediately, and that these duties of distribution, as well as other administrative functions, were placed in their hands; one thing that would seem to recommend this view particularly is that their position in general tended to make them official examiners of the affairs of the municipia. When, in addition, we have evidence that Macrinus in the year 217 reduced the authority of the iundici to the limits originally imposed by Marcus Aurelius and that further the same emperor instituted certain rulings for the amelioration of food distribution; when, moreover, we consider in connection with this the coincidence of the disappearance of the consular food prefects for Italy on the one hand and the reappearance of the pretorial district prefects on the other, it will not appear overbold to suppose that Macrinus, in the course of the reform affecting the iuridici, also detached from them the right to supervise foods, restored it to the curators of roads (as in the original arrangement) and abolished the central bureau in Rome.]—A certain Domitius Florus had formerly had charge of the senate records and ought to have been next appointed ædile, but before entering upon office had been deprived of all hope on account of Plautianus; he now had recourse to sedulous office-seeking, recovered his lost standing and was appointed tribune. Anicius Faustus was sent into Asia to govern in place of Asper. The latter had at first obtained very great honor from Macrinus, who thought he could settle affairs in Asia: afterwards, when he was already en route and was approaching the province (Macrinus had not accorded a favorable reception to the petition forwarded to Caracalla and delivered to him, in which the inhabitants begged that Asper be not sent them as proconsul), the emperor offered him a terrible affront in rejecting him. It was reported to the prince that Asper had made some improper remarks, and moreover he affected to think that old age and disease constituted a second reason for relieving him of his duties, and therefore he delivered Asia into the keeping of Faustus, a man who had been overlooked in the order of allotment by Severus. As the time for him to govern turned out to be short, Macrinus bade him hold the office for the following year in place of Aufidius Fronto. To the latter he would entrust neither Africa (which he had drawn by lot), because the Africans begged that he be not allowed to come, nor yet Asia, though he had first transferred him thither. As a fitting recognition, however, Macrinus proposed that twenty-five myriads be given him to stay at home. Fronto, however, would not accept that, saying that he wanted not money but a position of authority, and accordingly later he received the province from Sardanapalus.
Besides these events aid was extended to the orphans, whose hopes of support were small, from the [lacuna] age of childhood to military years. [Footnote: See note 2c, page 58.]
[Sidenote:—23—] Now Julia, the mother of Tarautas, chanced to be in Antioch, and at the first information of her son's death she was so affected that she struck herself violently and undertook to starve herself to death. The presence of this very same man, whom she hated alive, became the object of her longings now that he had ceased to exist; yet not because she desired him to live, but because she was furious at having to return to private life; and this led her to abuse Macrinus also long and bitterly. Subsequently, as no change was made in her royal suite or in the guard of Pretorians attending her, and the new emperor sent her a kind message (not having yet heard what she had said), she took courage, laid aside her longing for death, and, without writing him any response, held some negotiations with the soldiers she had about her, especially [lacuna] and as they were angry with Macrinus [lacuna] as they had a pleasanter remembrance of her son, how she might attain the imperial position, rendering herself the peer of Semiramis and Nitocris, since she came in a way from the same regions as they; [Footnote: Boissevain's conjecture for the succeeding sentences (valuable, of course, only as the guess of an expert) is the following:
But when nobody would cooperate with her and letters came from Macrinus making certain announcements at which, in view of her circumstances, she felt herself depressed in spirits, she renounced her ambitions out of fear that she might be deprived of the title of Augusta and be forced to depart to her native land, and al [lacuna] drea [lacuna] wom [lacuna] ad [lacuna] eake [lacuna] and mos [lacuna] any one behol [lacuna] she decided to do just the reverse and submit lest she be forced eventually to return to Rome and be there compelled by Macrinus to remain at home for the future for appearing to be opposed to his policy. Afterwards, however, she was intending to take measures that would enable her to get away by ship, if possibility still offered, when he ordered her, etc.] as [lacuna] coöperated [lacuna] and letters [lacuna] of Macrinus [lacuna] some for which [lacuna] judgment [lacuna] fearing that she might be deprived of the title of Augusta and to [lacuna] native country be forced to return [lacuna] to fear [lacuna] go to Rome [lacuna] Macrinus [lacuna] seeming to do the opposite [lacuna] how [lacuna] might depart and he ordered her to depart from Antioch with all speed and go whithersoever she would. [And when she heard what was said in Rome about her son] she no longer cared to live. The cancer in her breast, which, for a very long time had remained stationary in its progress, had been made angry and inflamed by the blow which she struck her chest on hearing of her son's death; this helped to undermine her constitution and she made sure of her demise by voluntary starvation.
[Sidenote:—24—][And so this queen, sprung from a family of common people and raised to a high station, who had lived during her husband's reign in great unhappiness on account of Plautianus, who had beheld her younger son butchered in her own lap and had borne ill-will to her elder son while he lived, finally receiving such tidings of his assassination, withdrew from power while in the full flush of life and thereafter did herself to death. Hence a person reviewing her career could not deem infallibly happy all those who attain great authority; indeed, in no case unless some true and undefiled pleasure in life belongs to them, and unswerving, permanent good fortune.—This, then, was the fate of Julia. Her body was taken to Rome and placed in the tomb of Gaius and Lucius. Later, however, both her bones and those of Geta were transferred by her sister Mæsa to the precinct of Antoninus.
[Sidenote:—25—] Nor was Macrinus destined to survive for long,—a fact of which he doubtless had previous indications. A mule bore a mule in Rome and a sow had a little pig with four ears and two tongues and eight feet. A great earthquake occurred, blood flowed from a pipe, and bees formed honeycombs in the Forum Boarium. The hunting-theatre was smitten with thunderbolts on the very day of the Vulcanalia [Footnote: August twenty-third.] and such a blaze ensued that all its upper circumference and the whole circuit of construction and the ground-level were burned and thereupon the rest of it caught fire and fell in ruins. No human aid availed against the conflagration, though every possible stream of water was directed upon the blaze, nor could the downpour from the sky, which came in great amount and violence, accomplish anything. The force of both kinds of water was exhausted by the power of the thunderbolts, and to a certain extent, at least, the building only received additional injury; [Footnote: Reading [Greek: prosesineto](Bekker).] wherefore the gladiatorial spectacle was held in the stadium for many years.
This naturally seemed to foreshow what was to be. There were other fires besides and imperial possessions were burned especially often during his reign,—a thing which in itself has always been regarded as of ill omen; but the fact that it seemed to have overthrown the horse-race of Vulcan had a direct bearing upon the emperor. This accordingly gave rise to a feeling that something out of the ordinary was in process of consummation, and the idea was strengthened by the behavior on that same day of the Tiber, which rose until it invaded the Forum and the roads leading to it with such impetus as to sweep away even human beings. And a woman, as I have heard, grim and gigantic, was seen by some persons and declared that these disasters were insignificant as compared with what was destined to befall them.
[Sidenote:—26—] And so it proved, for the evil did not confine itself to the City alone, but took possession of the whole world under its dominion, with whose inhabitants the theatre was customarily filled. The Romans, defeated, gave up their war against the barbarians and likewise received great detriment from the greed and factional differences of the soldiers. The progress of both these evils I am now to describe.] Macrinus, seeing that Artabanus was exceedingly angry at the way he had been treated and had invaded Mesopotamia with a large force, at first of his own accord sent him the captives and used friendly language, urging him to accept peace and laying the blame for the past upon Tarautas. But the other would not entertain his proposition and furthermore bade him build up the forts and demolished cities, abandon Mesopotamia entirely and offer satisfaction in general, but particularly for the damage to the royal tombs. [For, trusting in the large force that he had gathered and despising Macrinus as an unworthy emperor, he gave reign to his wrath and expected that even without the Roman's consent he could accomplish whatever he wished.] Macrinus had no opportunity to think it over, but, meeting the enemy already on the way to Nisibis, was defeated in a battle begun by the soldiers about water, while encamped opposite each other. And he came very near losing the rampart itself, but some armor-bearers and baggage-carriers happened along and saved it. In their confidence, they had started out ahead and made a rush upon the barbarians; and the unexpectedness of their sally was of advantage to them, making them appear to be armed soldiers and not mere helpers. But the [lacuna] both was not present then and [lacuna] the night [lacuna] the camps [lacuna] and the Romans followed on. The enemy, perceiving the noise that they made in going out, suspected [lacuna] flight, but seeing them at a glance [lacuna] the Romans barbarians [lacuna] forced by their [lacuna] and the flight of Macrinus, they became dejected and were conquered. And as a result [lacuna] from Mesopotamia especially [lacuna] they overran Syria [lacuna] he abandoned.
[Sidenote: A.D. 218 (a.u. 971)] This took place at the season under consideration: but in the autumn and winter, during which Macrinus and Adventus became consuls, they no longer came to blows with each other but kept up an interchange of envoys and heralds until they had reached an agreement.