Some modern historians
probably feel like they have a calling for history, but their sense of purpose may
not be as intense as that of Cassius Dio (c. 163-235 CE), a Roman historian of
Greek descent from Bithynia, who lived through the reigns of some of the most
notorious emperors, such as Commodus and Caracalla. Although we know Dio mainly
as a historian, he was also a very successful politician—he held two
consulships and served as governor of several provinces. Yet, during the reign
of Septimus Severus (c. 193-211), Dio took on a job that would set him on the
path to cementing his name firmly in history.
In typical Roman fashion,
Emperor Septimus Severus achieved power by winning a civil war with an army
loyal only to himself. Around this time, Cassius Dio became suddenly inspired
to write a biography about Severus, focusing especially on the prophetic dreams
that the new emperor allegedly experienced, which prompted him to seize power. When
Dio’s biography was published, Emperor Septimus Severus was impressed by what
he read—he personally sent Dio a congratulatory letter, praising his work.
Thankfully for us, Cassius
Dio did not shy from writing about his own life. We can, therefore, read in Dio’s
own words about the profound impact the emperor’s letter had on the emerging
historian:
“I had written and published
a memoir about the dreams and portents which led Severus to hope for the
imperial power, and after he had read the copy I sent him he wrote me a
handsome acknowledgement. Receiving the letter in the evening, I soon went to
sleep, and as I slept the divine power commanded me to write history. Thus I
came to compose the present account [The
Roman History].”
The Roman History (73. 23. I-3, 5) by Cassius Dio, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert
(Penguin Classics, 1987).
Spurned on by whatever forces
drove him to write history, Cassius Dio literally created a work that attempted
to describe the entirety of Roman history. He started by writing an account of
the civil wars that brought Septimus Severus to power. When the document
received praise, Dio found the encouragement he needed to continue writing. And
write he did—Cassius Dio wrote an eighty-volume history, beginning with Aeneas’
arrival in Italy after the Trojan War, and ending with his own age in the Roman
Empire of the 3rd-century. Dio claimed that completing the history was a
twenty-two year endeavor, with ten years of research and twelve years of composition.
Unfortunately, much of Dio’s
history has been damaged and lost, but his account of events from around 69 BCE
to 46 CE, thankfully, remain remarkably whole. In particular, Dio’s volumes on
the reign of Emperor Augustus (c. 27 BCE- 14 AD) are still regarded as one of
the most comprehensive Augustan histories from the ancient world.
Written by C. Keith Hansley.
Top picture attribution: (Cicero Denounces Catiline (zoomed and cropped) painted
by Cesare Maccari (1840–1919), c. 1889, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).
- The Roman History by Cassius Dio, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Penguin Classics, 1987.
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Septimius-Severus
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dio-Cassius
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