When Maximin shouts at the Emperor
\nSeverus, almost in a breath, Look at me,
\nlook what I can do, he is gigantic,
\nhis body is taut but has no purpose
\nthan to flex and recover. Severus
\nis content. It is his son Geta\u2019s birthday.
\nLook at me, Maximin shouts, look
\nwhat I can do. And he never stops,
\nyou know? He will always do. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gordian the father hears
\nthe voice of Gordian the son
\nin his head: It is nothing. The slip
\nbetween valour and death
\nis nothing. It is not easy
\nfor the son to say this
\nto his father, but he says it.
\n\u2003
\n<\/p>\n
On this gold coin, we see Gallus
\nas a mature man, beard short, crowned,
\ncuirassed. He is the emperor
\nwho made peace, who gave ground
\nto Rome\u2019s enemies. On the reverse side,
\nwe see Salus, goddess of safety
\nand health, holding a snake tied
\nround her staff. It will never quite
\nreach the food offered in her left hand,
\nthough it knows it can. This the snake
\nleaves for Gallus, for all that he planned.<\/p>\n
\u2003<\/p>\n
There is nothing in the letters
\nAemilianus sent to the Senate
\nof his childhood in North Africa.
\nNothing of the goats bleating
\nor his mother\u2019s affection.
\nHe wrote that he would \u2018assert
\nthe glory of Rome, and deliver
\nthe empire from all barbarians
\nof the North and of the East\u2019;
\nhe declared himself a general,
\nwhere the Senate knew the people best.
\nHis reign was short, his ideals never tasked.
\nHe stepped out of his tent one night
\nwoken by what he thought were goats
\nand his soldiers sacrificed him.
\n\u2003
\n<\/p>\n
Tacitus is too old now. His patience,
\nhis wisdom, could not better
\nthe blood-letting of war. On his death-bed,
\nthe army camped in remote Tyana,
\nhe remembers his garden, his villa,
\nhis morning walk \u2013 life just months ago \u2013
\nand in his suffering, he curses
\nthe Senate, the godawful Senate. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The heat in Tarsus is not healing,
\ncomforting heat. The soldiers enjoy it,
\nbut some are sick and can\u2019t fight well.
\nThey are used to the mountains. Nonetheless,
\nFlorianus wakes in the morning and knows
\nhe is right to be here, emperor, brother
\nof Tacitus, supported by the legions.
\nThe serving women fetch
\nhis best attires. He is again for Cydnus. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Numerian dislikes the food in Ctesiphon.
\nThe light of the sun off the Tigris
\nburns his eyes, and he confines himself
\nto the darkness of his tent. This is not
\na solution: a solution is the return to Rome,
\nwhich the soldiers want and the Persians
\nwill wonder at. He never believed
\nhis father would die, and after he did
\nCarus still filled the world
\nwith his orders and his fears.
\nThe soldiers can live up to one,
\nbut not the other. Numerian will
\nnot really live up to either.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Why did Carinus believe
\nthat his brother\u2019s death would elevate him
\nin Rome or anywhere? He is fiddling
\nsome tribune\u2019s young wife
\nwhen it comes to him that Numerian\u2019s legions,
\nunder Diocletian, are broken and retreating.
\nLater, in victory, when he can\u2019t even think
\nof her, her husband will remind him that
\nthe Empire is not the emperor. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Maximin When Maximin shouts at the Emperor Severus, almost in a breath, Look at me, look what I can do, he is gigantic, his body is taut but has no purpose than to flex and recover. Severus is content. It is his son Geta\u2019s birthday. Look at me, Maximin shouts, look what I can do. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[346,349],"tags":[350],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n