Carus, it is certain, met with little resistance. He insisted on having
the Roman supremacy acknowledged as a preliminary to any treaty; and,
having threatened to make Persia as bare as his own skull, he is supposed
to have kept his word with regard to Mesopotamia. The great cities of
Ctesiphon and Seleucia he took; and vast expectations were formed at Rome
of the events which stood next in succession, when, on Christmas day, 283,
a sudden and mysterious end overtook Carus and his victorious advance. The
story transmitted to Rome was, that a great storm, and a sudden darkness,
had surprised the camp of Carus; that the emperor, previously ill, and
reposing in his tent, was obscured from sight; that at length a cry had
arisen,--"The emperor is dead!" and that, at the same moment, the imperial
tent had taken fire. The fire was traced to the confusion of his
attendants; and this confusion was imputed by themselves to grief for
their master's death. In all this it is easy to read pretty
circumstantially a murder committed on the emperor by corrupted servants,
and an attempt afterwards to conceal the indications of murder by the
ravages of fire.
Pages:
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333