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therefore concerning the Nile to Dio, even if the things about it have not been related to others in this way. But Plautianus, who held power alongside Severus and had prefectural authority and was extremely influential, put to death many of the notable men and those of equal rank to himself. Being insatiable, he demanded from all, 3.104 and he left neither nation nor city unplundered, and everyone gave more to him than to Severus. And he castrated one hundred Roman and noble men, not only boys nor indeed youths, but also men who had wives, so that the same men were seen as both eunuchs and men and fathers, testicle-less and castrated and bearded. Before this, a monstrous sea-creature washed ashore into the harbor called Augustus' and was caught, and a model of it having been made and brought into the hunting-theatre is said to have held fifty bears inside. When Severus joined Plautianus' daughter, Plautilla, in marriage to his son Antoninus, Plautianus gave so much to his daughter as would have sufficed for many queens. This man, having become exceedingly great and most powerful, even more so than Severus himself, was plotted against by his son-in-law Antoninus, was slain, and was thrown from above into a certain road. And the sons of Severus, Antoninus and Geta, having shaken off Plautianus as if some tutor, pursued everything that was worst. At that time also Bullas Felix, an Italian man, having organized a band of six hundred men, plundered Italy for two years. Though many strove eagerly to capture him, he was not caught, skillfully outwitting his pursuers in many ways; of which we shall relate one as an example of the others. When a centurion was ordered by Severus to lie in ambush for him, he himself approached that man on his own accord as if he were someone else, and assured him that, if he would follow, he would hand over the bandit to him. When the man was persuaded, he led him away into a woody place and easily arrested him. Then, having seated himself on a tribunal, as if he were the leader of the band of robbers, 3.105 having summoned the centurion, he shaved the hair of his head and let him go, saying, report to your master that "you should feed your slaves, so that they do not become bandits." For he had many of Caesar's household who had joined him. Later, however, he was caught and given to the beasts. And Severus campaigned in Britain, so that neither his sons might live wantonly nor the troops be weakened by idleness. There are two very great tribes of the Britons, the Caledonians and the Maeatae; and each of them inhabits wild mountains and desolate and marshy plains, having neither cities nor tilling the land, but providing for themselves for life from pasturage and hunting and fruit trees; for although fish happen to be very numerous near the island, they do not eat them. They are tent-dwellers, and they live naked and unshod, using their women in common, and raising all the offspring. They live under a democracy and are given to robbery; and they fight from chariots, having small and swift horses, and foot-soldiers; and they run very fast. They use as weapons a shield and a short spear and a dagger. They endure hardship from hunger and cold and other afflictions, and plunging into the marshes they hold out for several days having only their head out of the water, and in the woods they feed on roots and bark. And they also prepare a certain food from which, after eating an amount the size of a bean, they neither hunger nor thirst. Britain, then, is an island of such a sort, and the part not then subject to the Romans was inhabited by such people. For the Romans held a portion of it not 3.106 much less than half. And the length of the whole island is said to extend to seven thousand one hundred and thirty-two stades, and the breadth for the most part to about two thousand and three hundred, but in some places it is less. Severus, therefore, intending to gain control of the whole island, invaded Caledonia, and he had troubles, neither fighting a battle nor seeing an enemy in battle-array, but cutting down woods and leveling the high places. And his soldiers, being scattered, were destroyed by being plotted against, and many thousands perished. for a time, however, to an agreement the

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ουν περὶ τοῦ Νείλου τῷ ∆ίωνι, εἰ καὶ αλλοις οὐχ ουτω τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ δεδιήγηται. Πλαυτιανὸς δὲ παραδυναστεύων τῷ Σευήρῳ καὶ τὴν ἐπαρχικὴν εχων ἐξουσίαν καὶ μέγιστα δυνηθεὶς πολλοὺς τῶν ἐλλογίμων ἀνδρῶν καὶ ὁμοτίμων αὐτῷ ἐθανάτωσεν. απληστος δὲ ων παρὰ πάντων ῃτει, 3.104 καὶ ουτε εθνος ουτε πόλιν ἀφῆκεν ἀσύλητον, καὶ πλείονα αὐτῷ πάντες η τῷ Σευήρῳ ἐδίδουν. ἐξέτεμε δὲ καὶ ἀνθρώπους ̔Ρωμαίους καὶ εὐγενεῖς ἑκατόν, οὐ παῖδας μόνον οὐδὲ μέντοι μειράκια, ἀλλὰ καὶ ανδρας γυναῖκας εχοντας, ωσθ' ὁρᾶσθαι τοὺς αὐτοὺς καὶ εὐνούχους καὶ ανδρας καὶ πατέρας ἀόρχεις καὶ ἐκτομίας καὶ πωγωνίας. πρὸ δὲ τούτου κῆτος ὑπέρογκον εἰς τὸν Αὐγούστου κεκλημένον λιμένα ἐξώκειλε καὶ ἑάλω, καὶ μίμημα αὐτοῦ γεγονὸς καὶ εἰς τὸ κυνηγέσιον εἰσαχθὲν πεντήκοντα αρκτους εισω λέγεται δέξασθαι. τὴν δὲ τοῦ Πλαυτιανοῦ θυγατέρα Πλαυτίλλαν τοῦ Σευήρου τῷ υἱῷ ̓Αντωνίνῳ συζεύξαντος, τοσαῦτα τῇ θυγατρὶ ὁ Πλαυτιανὸς εδωκεν οσα πολλαῖς βασιλίσσαις ηρκεσεν αν. ουτος ὑπέρμεγας γεγονὼς καὶ πλεῖστον δυνηθείς, η καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸν Σευῆρον αὐτόν, ὑπὸ τοῦ γαμβροῦ ̓Αντωνίνου ἐπιβουλευθεὶς ἐσφάγη καὶ ανωθεν εἰς ὁδόν τινα ἐρρίφη. οἱ δὲ τοῦ Σευήρου παῖδες ̓Αντωνῖνος καὶ Γέτας ωσπερ τινὰ παιδαγωγὸν τὸν Πλαυτιανὸν ἀποσεισάμενοι απαν μετῄεσαν χείριστον. Τότε καὶ Βούλλας Φῆλιξ ̓Ιταλὸς ἀνὴρ λῃστήριον συστησάμενος ἑξακοσίων ἀνδρῶν ἐληίζετο τὴν ̓Ιταλίαν ἐπ' ετη δύο. πολλῶν δὲ φιλοτιμουμένων κατασχεῖν αὐτὸν ὁ δὲ οὐχ ἡλίσκετο, εὐμεθόδως διὰ τρόπων πολλῶν τοὺς αὐτὸν διώκοντας κατασοφιζόμενος· ων ενα εἰς ενδειγμα τῶν αλλων ἐροῦμεν. ἑκατοντάρχου παρὰ Σευήρου κελευσθέντος λοχῆσαι αὐτόν, αὐτὸς ἐκείνῳ προσῆλθε δι' ἑαυτοῦ ὡς αλλος τις, καὶ διεβεβαιώσατο, εἰ εψοιτο, παραδοῦναι αὐτῷ τὸν λῃστήν. τοῦ δὲ πεισθέντος εἰς λοχμώδη τόπον ἀπαγαγὼν αὐτὸν ῥᾳδίως συνέλαβεν. ειτα ἐπὶ βήματος καθίσας, ὡς δῆθεν αρχων τοῦ λῃστηρίου, 3.105 μεταστειλάμενος τὸν ἑκατόνταρχον, τὰς τρίχας τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ ἀπεξύρησε καὶ ἀφῆκεν, εἰπών, αγγελλε τῷ δεσπότῃ σου οτι "τοὺς δούλους ὑμῶν τρέφετε, ινα μὴ λῃστεύωσι." πολλοὺς γὰρ τῶν Καισαρείων ειχεν αὐτῷ προσχωρήσαντας. υστερον μέντοι ἐλήφθη καὶ θηρίοις ἐδόθη. Σευῆρος δὲ εἰς τὴν Βρεττανίαν ἐστράτευσεν, ινα μήθ' οἱ παῖδες ἐκδιαιτῶνται αὐτοῦ μήτε τὰ στρατεύματα ὑπ' ἀργίας ἐκλύωνται. δύο δὲ γένη τῶν Βρεττανῶν εἰσι μέγιστα, Καληδόνιοι καὶ Μαιᾶται· καὶ νέμονται ἑκάτεροι αγρια ορη καὶ πεδία ερημα καὶ ἑλώδη, μήτε πόλεις εχοντες μήτε γεωργοῦντες τὴν γῆν, ἀλλ' ἐκ νομῆς καὶ θήρας καὶ ἀκροδρύων τὰ πρὸς τὸ ζῆν ποριζόμενοι· ἰχθῦς γὰρ καίτοι παμπληθεῖς παρὰ τῇ νήσῳ τυγχάνοντας οὐ σιτοῦνται. σκηνῖται δ' εἰσί, γυμνοί τε ζῶσι καὶ ἀνυπόδετοι, κοιναῖς κεχρημένοι ταῖς γυναιξί, καὶ τὰ γεννώμενα πάντα ἐκτρέφοντες. δημοκρατοῦνταί τε καὶ λῃστεύουσι· καὶ στρατεύονται ἐπὶ ἁρμάτων, ιππους εχοντες μικροὺς καὶ ταχεῖς, καὶ πεζοί· τρέχουσί τε ὀξύτατα. οπλοις δὲ κέχρηνται ἀσπίδι καὶ βραχεῖ τινι δόρατι καὶ ἐγχειριδίῳ. λιμῷ δὲ καὶ ψύχει ταλαιπωρούμενοι καὶ αλλαις κακώσεσι φέρουσι, καὶ εἰς τὰ ελη καταδυόμενοι καρτεροῦσιν ἐπὶ πλείους ἡμέρας μόνην τὴν κεφαλὴν εξω τοῦ υδατος εχοντες, καὶ ἐν ταῖς υλαις τρέφονται ταῖς ῥίζαις καὶ τῷ φλοιῷ. σκευάζουσι δὲ καί τι βρῶμα ἐξ ου οσον κυάμου μέγεθος ἐμφαγόντες ουτε πεινῶσιν ουτε διψῶσιν. ̔Η μὲν ουν Βρεττανία τοιαύτη τίς ἐστι νῆσος, καὶ ὑπὸ τοιούτων ἡ μὴ ̔Ρωμαίοις τότε ὑποκειμένη ᾠκεῖτο. ειχον γὰρ ταύτης μοῖραν ̔Ρωμαῖοι οὐκ 3.106 ἐλαττουμένην πολλῷ τοῦ ἡμίσεος. καὶ τὸ μὲν μῆκος τῆς ολης νήσου ἐς στάδια ἑπτακισχίλια ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα δύο ἐκτείνεσθαι λέγεται, τὸ δὲ πλάτος ὡς ἐπίπαν ἐς δισχίλιά που καὶ τριακόσια, εστι δ' ου καὶ ἐλάττονα. ὁ δ' ουν Σευῆρος πάσης κρατῆσαι τῆς νήσου διανοούμενος εἰς τὴν Καληδονίαν εἰσέβαλε, καὶ πράγματα εσχε μήτε μαχεσάμενος μήτ' ἐν παρατάξει πολέμιον θεασάμενος, ἀλλ' ὑλοτομῶν καὶ τὰ μετέωρα κατασκάπτων. οἱ δὲ αὐτοῦ στρατιῶται σκιδνάμενοι ἐκτιννύοντο ἐπιβουλευόμενοι, καὶ πολλαὶ χιλιάδες ἀπώλοντο. τέως μέντοι ἐς ὁμολογίαν τοὺς