1

 2

 3

 4

 5

 6

 7

 8

 9

 10

 11

 12

 13

 14

 15

 16

 17

 18

 19

 20

 21

 22

 23

 24

 25

 26

 27

 28

 29

 30

 31

 32

 33

 34

 35

 36

 37

 38

 39

 40

 41

 42

 43

 44

 45

 46

 47

 48

 49

 50

 51

 52

 53

 54

 55

 56

 57

 58

 59

 60

 61

 62

 63

 64

 65

 66

 67

 68

 69

 70

 71

 72

 73

 74

 75

 76

 77

 78

 79

 80

 81

 82

 83

 84

 85

73

immediately the cruelty followed. For not long after, having offended the emperor, Eutropius became a fugitive and lay under the altar, while John Chrysostom was bishop, and having been removed from there by night, he was beheaded. Thus then Eutropius, having suffered the penalty for his sin, was also erased from the very list of the consuls, with only his co-consul Theodore being recorded. 190 Exc. De ins.: That Rufinus, the guardian of Arcadius, through a plot by Eutropius, the chamberlain of Arcadius, failed to secure the marriage alliance; but nevertheless through his greed and the harshness of his character he was arrogant to all, both frightening the emperor by his familiarity with the barbarians, and imposing a heavy compulsion to share the purple with him, and at one time also, having brought in a multitude of barbarians, which Alaric led, he was ravaging all of Greece together and the regions around Illyricum; so that he became manifest to all in his plot for tyranny. For he was secretly rejoicing, and considered the common ruin the foundation of his own rule; but the emperor remained speechless; however, Stilicho was not of the same mind in this, but he himself sailed to Greece, although it was in no way adjacent to the western territories, pitying the misfortunes of the inhabitants, and having destroyed the barbarians by a lack of necessities, he stopped their attack against the natives. And having summoned Gainas, who was then commander of the western armies, he prepared the plot against Rufinus; at which time indeed the army of Arcadius, from both the overthrow of Eugenius and the pursuit of the barbarians in Illyricum, was proceeding to the city of Constantine. For the emperor, according to the ancient laws, went forth from the city to meet the armies; and Gainas was guarding him; and it was entirely necessary for the prefect of the court also to go out with him (and that was Rufinus). And at the same time the emperor is named Augustus by the armies, and Rufinus was cut to pieces, and he met this end. And his children and wife fled to the church; and all the things which he had acquired during his period of power were plundered without hindrance. Then Gainas, the commander of the eastern armies, being a barbarian by race, and having been advanced little by little to the generalship by the Romans, was planning to rule, so that he might even get control of the empire itself. And he summoned the entire Gothic nation from its own land, and arranged for the soldiers loyal to him to be enrolled. And when Tribigild, one of his subordinate generals, commander of a thousand of the soldiers stationed in Phrygia, started a revolt with the approval of Gainas himself, and was completely overturning the peoples of Phrygia, since Arcadius, foreseeing nothing, sent Gainas, he immediately set out, in word, against Tribigild, but in deed, wishing to establish a tyranny. And he led with him not a few myriads of Goths and other barbarians; and having seized Phrygia, he was overturning everything. Therefore the affairs of the Romans were immediately in turmoil, not only because of the multitude of barbarians with Gainas, but also because the strategic parts of the East were about to be in danger. But at that time the emperor, having sent to the barbarian, was ready to appease him with words and deeds; and when he demanded to receive two of the leaders of the senate, men of consular rank, namely Saturninus and Aurelian, the emperor unwillingly handed them over due to the necessity of the moment. And they indeed, choosing to die beforehand for the common good, nobly obeyed the emperor's command, and met him far from Chalcedon in a place with a hippodrome, ready to suffer whatever the barbarian wished. But they suffered no harm, and he arrived at Chalcedon. And the emperor Arcadius also came there to meet him. And having come to the house of the martyr Euphemia, they bound one another with oaths. And the emperor kept them; but Gainas broke the treaty, and did not depart from his own purpose; but he planned to carry out arson and plundering against Constantine's

73

εὐθέως τῆς ὠμότητος ἠκολούθει. Μετ' οὐ πολὺ γὰρ προσκρούσας τῷ βασιλεῖ Εὐτρόπιος ἐν τοῖς πρόσφυξιν ἐγένετο καὶ ὑπὸ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἔκειτο, Ἰωάννου ἐπισκοποῦντος τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου, ἐκεῖθέν τε ἀφαιρεθεὶς νυκτὸς τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτέμνεται. Οὕτω μὲν οὖν Εὐτρόπιος δίκας τῆς ἁμαρτάδος ὑποστὰς καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ καταλόγου τῶν ὑπάτων ἠλείφθη, μόνου τοῦ συνυπατεύσαντος Θεοδώρου γεγραμμένου. 190 Exc. De ins.: Ὅτι Ῥουφῖνος, ὁ ἐπίτροπος Ἀρκαδίου, ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς Εὐτροπίου τοῦ προκοίτου τῆς Ἀρκαδίου διήμαρτε κηδίας· ἀλλ' ὅμως τῇ πλεονεξίᾳ καὶ τῇ χαλεπότητι τῶν τρόπων πᾶσιν ὑπέροπτος ἦν, τόν τε βασιλέα οἰκειότητι τῶν βαρβάρων καταπλήττων, καὶ βαρεῖαν ἐπιτιθεὶς ἀνάγκην πρὸς τὸ κοινωνῆσαι τῆς ἁλουργίδος αὐτῷ, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ πλῆθος βαρβάρων εἰσαγαγὼν, ὧν Ἀλάριχος ἡγεῖτο, πᾶσαν ὁμοῦ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν Ἰλλυρίδα διεπόρθει· ὡς καὶ δῆλος ἅπασι γενέσθαι τῇ τῆς τυραννίδος ἐπιβουλῇ. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ὑπέχαιρε, καὶ τὸν κοινὸν ὄλεθρον ἰδίαν κρηπῖδα τῆς βασιλείας ὑπελάμβανεν· ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἐν ἀφασίᾳ διετέλει· οὐ μὴν καὶ ὁ Στελίχων ἐνταῦθα ὅμοιος ἦν, ἀλλὰ διέπλευσε μὲν αὐτὸς ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, καίτοι μηδὲν προσήκουσαν τοῖς τῆς ἑσπερίας τέρμασι, τὰς τῶν ἐνοικούντων οἰκτείρας συμφορὰς, καὶ τοὺς βαρβάρους σπάνει τῶν ἀναγκαίων διαφθείρας, ἔπαυσε τῆς κατὰ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ὁρμῆς. Συγκαλεσάμενος δὲ Γαϊνὰν, ὃς τότε τῶν ἑσπερίων στρατοπέδων ἔξαρχος ἦν, ἀρτύει τὴν κατὰ Ῥουφίνου σκευήν· ὅτε δὴ καὶ ὁ τοῦ Ἀρκαδίου στρατὸς ἔκ τε τῆς Εὐγενίου καθαιρέσεως καὶ τῆς τῶν βαρβάρων τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰλλυρίδα διώξεως ἐπὶ τὴν Κωνσταντίνου πόλιν ἐχώρει. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ βασιλεὺς κατὰ τοὺς παλαιοὺς νόμους εἰς ὑπάντησιν τῶν στρατοπέδων ἐκ τῆς πόλεως προῆλθεν· καὶ ὁ Γαϊνὰς αὐτὸν ἐφρούρει· πᾶσα δὲ ἦν ἀνάγκη καὶ τὸν τῆς αὐλῆς ἔπαρχον συνεξιέναι (Ῥουφῖνος δὲ ἦν). Καὶ ἅμα τε ὁ βασιλεὺς ὑπὸ τῶν στρατοπέδων Αὔγουστος ὀνομάζεται, καὶ Ῥουφῖνος κατετέμνετο, ταύτης τε ἔτυχε τῆς τελευτῆς. Παῖδες δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ γαμετὴ πρὸς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν κατέφυγον· διηρπάζοντο δὲ ἀκωλύτως ἅπαντα ὅσα κατὰ τὴν δυναστείαν ἐκτήσατο. Τότε Γαϊνὰς ὁ τῶν ἑῴων στρατοπέδων ἔξαρχος, βάρβαρος ὢν τὸ γένος, καὶ ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων κατ' ὀλίγου ἐπὶ τὴν στρατηγίδα προελθὼν, ἄρχειν διενοεῖτο, ὅπως ἂν καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς βασιλείας κρατήσοι. Καὶ πᾶν μὲν τὸ Γότθων ἔθνος ἐκ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ χώρας μετεπέμψατο, τοὺς δὲ αὐτῷ ἐπιτηδείους τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀριθμὸν ἔχειν κατέστησεν· Τριβιγίλδου δὲ ἑνὸς τῶν ὑποστρατήγων αὐτῷ, χιλιαρχοῦντος τῶν ἐνιδρυμένων τῇ Φρυγίᾳ στρατιωτῶν, καὶ γνώμῃ αὐτοῦ Γαϊνᾶ νεωτερίσαντος, καὶ τὰ Φρυγῶν ἔθνη παντάπασιν ἀνατρέποντος, ἐπειδὴ Ἀρκάδιος μηδὲν προειδόμενος τὸν Γαϊνὰν ἔπεμψεν, εὐθὺς ἐπορεύετο, τῷ μὲν λόγῳ κατὰ Τριβιγίλδου, τῷ δὲ ἔργῳ τυραννῆσαι βουλόμενος. Ἦγε δὲ μετ' αὐτοῦ Γότθων τε καὶ ἑτέρων βαρβάρων οὐκ ὀλίγας μυριάδας· καὶ καταλαβὼν τὴν Φρυγίαν, πάντα ἀνέτρεπεν. Εὐθὺς οὖν ἐν ταραχῇ τὰ Ῥωμαίων, οὐ μόνον διὰ τὸ προσὸν τῷ Γαϊνᾷ πλῆθος βαρβάρων, ἀλλὰ ὅτι καὶ τὰ τῆς ἑῴας ἐπίκαιρα μέρη κινδυνεύειν ἔμελλεν. Ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν ὁ βασιλεὺς διαπεμψάμενος πρὸς τὸν βάρβαρον, λόγοις αὐτὸν καὶ ἔργοις θεραπεύειν ἕτοιμος ἐγίνετο· τοῦ δὲ ἐξαιτοῦντος δύω τῶν προεστώτων τῆς συγκλήτου λαβεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν ὑπάτων ἀνδρῶν, Σατορνῖνόν τε καὶ Αὐρηλιανὸν, ἀκοντὶ αὐτοὺς ὁ βασιλεὺς τῇ ἀνάγκῃ τοῦ καιροῦ παρεῖχε. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ὑπὲρ τοῦ κοινοῦ προαποθνήσκειν αἱρούμενοι, γενναίως τῇ τοῦ βασιλέως κελεύσει ὑπήκουον, καὶ πόρρω τῆς Χαλκηδόνος ἐν χωρίῳ ἱπποδρόμῳ ὑπήντων, ἕτοιμοι πάσχειν πᾶν ὅ τι ὁ βάρβαρος ἤθελεν. Ἀλλ' οὗτοι μὲν οὐδὲν φαῦλον ὑπέμειναν, ὁ δὲ παρῆν ἐπὶ τὴν Χαλκηδόνα. Ἀπήντα δὲ ἐκεῖσε καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀρκάδιος. Γενόμενοι δὲ πρὸς τῷ οἴκῳ τῆς μάρτυρος Εὐφημίας, ὅρκοις ἐπιστοῦντο ἀλλήλους. Καὶ ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς ἐφύλαττεν· Γαϊνὰς δὲ παρεσπόνδει, καὶ τοῦ οἰκείου σκοποῦ οὐκ ἐξέβαινεν· ἀλλ' ἐμπρησμόν τε καὶ λαφυραγωγίας ἐμελέτα ποιήσασθαι κατὰ τῆς Κωνσταντίνου