The Book of Emperors: A Translation of the Middle High German Kaiserchronik

XXII. Helvius (Helius) Pertinax

194 battle by death or any other earthly cause. They also did not want to leave their lords there. They sought vainly to bring their wounded lords away with honor. Only death and destruction remained. The day began to sink, and the Romans began to show desperation. They were badly beaten. Volkwin, the flagbearer, became aware of this, and he began to point his flag in the direction of King Severus. Those hardened Bavarians pressed towards the king with their sharp swords, singing their battle song. The Italians serving Severus were unable to flee or to fight any longer. Severus realized that nothing was of any use now that all his men were either wounded or dead, and that they could no longer hold out in the battle. He threw his sword from his hand and said, “Rome, Bavaria has wrought a terrible shame upon you. I do not care about living any longer.” Volkwin slew him then truly; he held the Empire for seven years and a half. XXII Helvius (Helius) Pertinax Publius Helvius Pertinax (r. 193) was of humble family background . His father was a freed slave who had become a charcoal burner. After teaching grammar, Pertinax rose through political and military ranks, twice becoming a consul. Soldiers who assassinated Commodus pressured Pertinax into agreeing to be proclaimed emperor , but three months later other soldiers came to resent his alleged stinginess with public funds and in a mutiny assassinated him. It seems most unlikely that Pertinax ever engaged in wrestling matches. The spectacle of an emperor in a sport with a life-ordeath outcome may have been suggested by the lasting image of Commodus as gladiator. Julian (Marcus Didius Julianus) did not kill Pertinax, but, soon after his death, he bid highest in an auction Helvius Pertinax 195 for the emperorship held by the Praetorian Guard and became emperor himself. He was also assassinated after serving a few months in 193. the Book tells us that Helvius Pertinax1 then took over the Empire. Something very remarkable happened in his time: in Rome there was scarcely any man of the nobility who did not want to leave a legacy by doing something that would make people talk about him forever—that had become a custom among them. And so it came about that King Helius had a stadium constructed with an arena. It was built as well as it could be built with good blocks of marble and gold finely inlaid for decoration, just as I am now telling you. Roman nobles soon became accustomed to going there every Saturday. Women came as well as men, and there they went naked with no clothes at all—just as people are born into this world. In this way they gathered inside the stadium—only members of the nobility—and rubbed themselves with oil, so that when they grabbed each other their hands would slip off. Their skin would be so slippery that it would be impossible for them to get a firm grip on one another. That would make everyone laugh who was there. Whoever was strong enough to throw another man down would be honored by the women, who would sing him a song of praise. It happened one day that King Helius also wrestled in that arena. He displayed good skills, and he was so bold and strong that he threw down all of the Romans he wrestled with, showing that no one could resist him successfully—although his display was to become the cause of his undoing. Now, we hear the Book tell us, a prince by the name of Julian had maintained the title of best wrestler ever since he was quite young. It had been said of him that there was no man in Rome who could stand up against him. Hai! How he hated to see how well the king was doing. He took off his clothes and jumped into the arena, where he began to wrestle. Everyone there thought he would quickly defeat the king, but soon the 1. While our author calls him Helius Pertinax, common English usage is Helvius Pertinax. 196 king caught him around the chest and squeezed him so hard that blood spurted out from his eyes. He raised him high in the air and, with a mighty swing, sent him crashing to the ground, where he lay dead, which made the king laugh. Julian had a...