[Sidenote:  A.D. 217, a.u. 970] In general, abundant ill was consistently spoken of him by everybody.  They would no longer term him Antoninus, but [some called him Bassianus, [Footnote:  He was originally Septimius Bassianus, named after his maternal grandfather.] his old name, others] Caracalla, as I have mentioned, [Footnote:  In chapter 3.] [others] also Tarautas, from the appellation of a gladiator who was [in appearance] very small and very ugly and [in spirit very audacious and] very bloodthirsty.

[Sidenote:—­10—­] Now his affairs, however one may name him, were in this state.  As for me, even before he came to the throne, it was foretold me in a way by his father that I should write this account.  Just after his death methought I saw in a great plain the whole power of Rome arrayed in arms, and it seemed as if Severus were sitting [on a knoll there and] on a lofty tribunal conversing with them.  And, seeing me standing by to hear what was said, he spoke out:  “Come hither, Dio, to this spot; approach nearer, that you may both ascertain accurately and write a history of all that is said and done.”—­Such was the life and the overthrow of Tarautas. [After him there perished also those who had shared in the plot against him, some at once and others before a great while.  His intimate companions and the Caesarians likewise perished.  He had been, as it were, coupled with a spirit of murder that operated equally against enemies and against friends.]

[Sidenote:—­11—­] Macrinus, by race a Moor from Caesarea, came from most obscure parents [so that with considerable justice he was likened to the ass that was led to the Palatine by the apparition].  For one thing his left ear had been bored, according to the custom [generally] in vogue among the Moors.  His affability was even more striking.  As to duties, his comprehension of them was not so accurate as his performance of them was faithful. [Thus it was, thanks to the advocacy of a friend’s cause, that he became known to Plautianus, and at first he took the position of manager of the latter’s property; subsequently he ran a risk of perishing together with his employer, but was unexpectedly saved by the intercession of Cilo and was given charge of the vehicles of Severus that passed back and forth along the Flaminian Way.] From Antoninus [after securing some titles of a short-lived procuratorship] he obtained an appointment as prefect and administered the affairs of this responsible position excellently and with entire justice, [so far as he was free to act independently.  This, then, was his general character and these the steps of his advancement.  Even during the life of Tarautas he was led, in the way that I have described, to harbor in his mind the hope of empire;] and at his death [he did not, to be sure, either that day or the two following days occupy the office, in order to avoid the imputation of having killed him with such intentions:  but for that space of time the Roman state remained completely