While Marcus was making preparations for the civil war, many victories over various barbarians were reported at one and the same time with the death of Cassius.  The latter while walking had encountered Antonius, a centurion, who gave him a sudden wound in the neck, though the blow was not entirely effective.  And Antonius, borne away by the impetus of his horse, left the deed incomplete, so that his victim nearly escaped; but meantime the decurion had finished what was left to do.  They cut off his head and set out to meet the emperor.

Marcus Antoninus [was so much grieved at the destruction of Cassius that he would not even endure to see the severed head, but before the murderers drew near gave orders that it should be buried.]

Thus was this pretender slain after a dream of sovereignty lasting three months and six days, and his son was murdered somewhere else.  And Marcus upon reaching the provinces that had joined in Cassius’s uprising treated them all very kindly and put no one, either obscure or prominent, to death.

[Sidenote:—­28—­] [The same man would not slay nor imprison nor did he put under any guard any one of the senators associated with Cassius.  He did not so much as bring them before his own court, but merely sent them before the senate, nominally under some other complaint, and appointed them a fixed day on which to have their case heard.  Of the rest he brought to justice a very few, who had not only cooperated with Cassius to the extent of some overt action but were personally guilty of some crime.  A proof of this is that he did not murder nor deprive of his property Flavius Calvisius, the governor of Egypt, but merely confined him on an island.  The records made about his case Marcus caused to be burned, in order that no reproach might attach to him from them.  Furthermore he released all his relatives.]

[Sidenote:  A.D. 176 (a.u. 929)] [Sidenote:—­29—­] About this same time Faustina died, either of the gout from which she had suffered or from less natural causes and to avoid being convicted of her compact with Cassius.—­Moreover, Marcus destroyed the documents [found in the chests of Pudens], [Footnote:  Reimar suggested that perhaps Pudens was secretary of the Greek letters of Cassius, as Manlius (Book Seventy-two, chapter 7) was of his Latin letters.] not even reading them, in order that he might not learn even a name of any of the conspirators who had written something against him and that he might not [therefore] be reluctantly forced to hate any one.  Another account is that Verus, who was sent ahead into Syria, of which he had secured the governorship, found them among the effects of Cassius and put them out of the way, saying that this course would most probably be agreeable to the emperor, but even if he should be angry, it would be better that he [Verus] himself should perish than many others.  Marcus was so averse to slaughter that he saw to it that the gladiators in Rome contended without danger, like athletes; for