(1) Per hoc tempus ā Gāleriō Licinius imperātōr est factus, Dāciā oriundus, nōtus eī antīquā cōnsuētūdine et in bellō, quod adversus Narseum gesserat, strēnuus labōribus et officiīs acceptus.
(2) Mors Gālerīī cōnfestim secūta. Ita rēs pūblica tum ā novīs quattuor imperātoribus tenēbātur, Cōnstantīnō et Maxentiō fīliīs Augustōrum, Liciniō et Maximīnō novīs hominibus.
(3) Quīntō tamen Cōnstantīnus imperiī suī annō bellum adversum Maxentium cīvīle commōvit, cōpiās eius multīs proeliīs fūdit, ipsum postrēmō Rōmae adversum nōbilēs omnibus exitiīs saevientem apud pontem Mulvium vīcit Ītaliāque est potītus.
(4) Nōn multō deinceps in Oriente quoque adversum Licinium Maximīnus rēs novās mōlītus vīcīnum exitium fortuītā apud Tarsum morte praevēnit.
notes
Licinius Emperor, 307–324 CE and the deaths of Maxentius and Maximinus.
(1) Per hoc tempus: 307 CE
Licinius: his full name was Publius Flavius Galerius Valerius Licinianus Licinius. By birth he was a Dacian peasant, and an early friend and companion of the Emperor Galerius. He was invested with the command of the Illyrian province in 307 CE. After the death of Galerius he concluded an arrangement with Maximinus, by which the Hellespont and the Bosphorus were to form the boundary of the two empires. After his marriage with the sister of Constantine, he and Constantine strove with each other for the undivided sovereignty of the Roman world (Hazzard).
nōtus eī: "known to him," referring to Galerius
adversus Narseum: Narses was ruler of the Sasanian Empire
(2) secūta: supply est.
(3) Quīntō ... annō: 312 CE
cōpiās eius ... fūdit: "routed [Maxentius'] forces," a common meaning of fundō in military contexts (LS s.v. fundo I.B.2.b.β)
ipsum: Māxentium
Rōmae: locative
apud pontem Mulvium: the famous Battle of the Milvian Bridge. According to Lactantius:
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Constantine was directed in a dream to cause the heavenly sign to be delineated on the shields of his soldiers, and so to proceed to battle. He did as he had been commanded, and he marked on their shields the letter Χ [chi], with a perpendicular line drawn through it and turned round thus at the top, being the cipher of Christ. Having this sign (ΧР [chi rho]), his troops stood to arms. The enemies advanced, but without their emperor, and they crossed the bridge. The armies met, and fought with the utmost exertions of valour, and firmly maintained their ground. In the meantime a sedition arose at Rome, and Maxentius was reviled as one who had abandoned all concern for the safety of the commonweal; and suddenly, while he exhibited the Circensian games on the anniversary of his reign, the people cried with one voice, "Constantine cannot be overcome!" Dismayed at this, Maxentius burst from the assembly, and having called some senators together, ordered the Sibylline books to be searched. In them it was found that:—
"On the same day the enemy of the Romans should perish."
Led by this response to the hopes of victory, he went to the field. The bridge in his rear was broken down. At sight of that the battle grew hotter. The hand of the Lord prevailed, and the forces of Maxentius were routed. He fled towards the broken bridge; but the multitude pressing on him, he was driven headlong into the Tiber.
This destructive war being ended, Constantine was acknowledged as emperor, with great rejoicings, by the senate and people of Rome (de Mort. Pers. 44, Translated by Philip Schaff).
(4) rēs novās: "revolution, revolt" (LS novus I.A.4)
vīcīnum exitium: "his own impending doom"
fortuītā morte: "by an accidental death"
apud Tarsum: Tarsus was an important trading center in the Eastern Mediterranean.
vocabulary
Core Vocabulary | Numbers | Dates
|
Gālerius, ī, m. |
Gālerius (Valerius) Māximiānus, Roman emperor, 305–311 A.D. |
|
Licinius, ī, m. the name of a Roman gens. |
(P. Flavius) Licinius, Roman emperor 307–324 A.D. |
|
Dācia, ae, f. |
a country north of the Danube |
|
oriundus, a, um [orior], adj. |
sprung from, originating, born |
|
Narseus, ī, m. |
king of Persia, 294–303 A.D. |
|
strēnuus, a, um, adj. |
brisk, active, vigorous |
|
cōnfestim, adv. |
immediately, at once 2 |
|
Cōnstantīnus, ī, m. |
Cōnstantīnus, surnamed "the Great." Roman emperor 306–337 A.D. |
|
Māxentius, ī, m. |
(M. Aurēlius Valerius) Māxentius, Roman emperor 306–312 A.D. |
|
Augustus, ī, m. |
a title of honor given to Octavianus in 27 BC and after him to all the Roman emperors |
|
Māximīnus, ī, m. |
Gālerius (Valerius) Māximīnus, Roman emperor 305–314 A.D. |
|
cīvīlis, e [cīvis], adj. |
pertaining to a citizen; civil; polite, moderate 3 |
|
commoveō, ēre, mōvī, mōtus |
to arouse, disturb, move, influence |
|
postrēmō [posterus], adv. |
at last, finally |
|
exitium, ī [exeō], n. |
destruction, ruin |
|
saeviō, īre, īvī (iī), ītus [saevus] |
to be fierce or cruel, rage; punish cruelly |
|
pōns, pontis, m. |
a bridge |
|
Mulvius, a, um, adj. |
Mulvian; Mulvius pōns, the Mulvian bridge, about two miles north of Rome |
|
Ītalia, ae, f. |
Italy |
|
potior, īrī, ītus sum [potis, able] |
to get possession, acquire |
|
deinceps [deinde + capiō], adv. |
one after the other, successively; next, moreover 4 |
|
Oriēns, entis [orior], m. (sc. sōl) |
the rising sun, the East, the Orient |
|
mōlior, īrī, ītus sum [mōlēs, mass] |
to struggle, toil; undertake, attempt |
|
fortuītus, a, um [fors, chance], adj. |
causal, accidental |
|
Tarsus, ī, f. |
a city in Cilicia in Asia Minor |
|
praeveniō, īre, vēnī, ventus |
to come before, get start of, anticipate, outstrip |