Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Marcus Antoninus Philosophus

Aiunt quidam, quod et veri simile videtur, Commodum Antoninum, successorem illius ac filium, non esse de eo natum sed de adulterio, ac talem fabellam vulgari sermone contexunt: Faustinam quondam, Pii filiam, Marci uxorem, cum gladiatores transire vidisset, unius ex his amore succensam, eum longa aegritudine laboraret, viro de amore confessam. quod cum ad Chaldaeos Marcus rettulisset, illorum fuisse consilium, ut occiso gladiatore sanguine illius sese Faustina sublavaret atque ita cum viro concumberet. quod cum esset factum, solutum quidem amorem, natum vero Commodum gladiatorem esse, non principem, qui mille prope pugnas publice populo inspectante gladiatores imperator exhibuit, ut in vita eius docebitur. quod quidem veri simile ex eo habetur quod tam sancti principis filius iis moribus fuit quibus nullus lanista, nullus scaenicus, nullus arenarius, nullus postremo ex omnium dedecorum ac scelerum conluvione concretus. multi autem ferunt Commodum omnino ex adulterio natum, si quidem Faustinam satis constet apud Caietam condiciones sibi et nauticas et gladiatorias elegisse. de qua cum diceretur Antonino Marco, ut eam repudiaret, si non occideret, dixisse fertur si uxorem dimittimus, reddamus et dotem. dos autem quid habebatur? imperium, quod ille ab socero volente Hadriano adoptatus acceperat. Tantum sane valet boni principis vita sanctitas tranquillitas pietas ut eius famam nullius proximi decoloret invidia, denique Antonino, cum suos mores semper teneret neque alicuius insusurratione mutaretur, non obfuit gladiator filius, uxor infamis; deusque etiam nunc habetur, ut vobis ipsis, sacratissime imperator Diocletiane, et semper visum est et videtur, qui eum inter numina vestra non ut ceteros sed specialiter veneramini ac saepe dicitis, vos vita et clementia tales esse cupere qualis fuit Marcus, etiamsi philosophia nec Plato esse possit, si revertatur in vitam. et quidem haec breviter et congeste.

Some say, and it seems likely, that Commodus Antoninus, his successor and son, was not born of him but of adultery, and they weave a tale of this kind in common talk: that Faustina, daughter of Pius and wife of Marcus, having once seen gladiators pass by, was inflamed with love for one of them, and, suffering from a long illness, confessed the love to her husband. When Marcus referred this to the Chaldeans, their advice was that the gladiator should be killed and Faustina should bathe herself from below in his blood and then lie with her husband. When this was done, the love was indeed dissolved, but Commodus was born a gladiator, not an emperor; for as emperor he put on nearly a thousand gladiatorial fights in public, with the people looking on, as will be shown in his life. This is held to be likely from the fact that the son of so holy an emperor had such a character as no trainer of gladiators, no stage performer, no arena fighter had, no one, in short, compounded from the sewage of every disgrace and crime. But many report that Commodus was in any case born of adultery, since it is well established that Faustina, at Caieta, chose lovers for herself from among both sailors and gladiators. When Marcus Antoninus was told about her that he should divorce her, if he would not kill her, he is said to have said: 'If we send away the wife, let us return the dowry too.' And what was counted as the dowry? The empire, which he had received from his father-in-law, having been adopted at Hadrian's wish. So much, indeed, do the life, holiness, calm and piety of a good emperor prevail that no discredit attaching to anyone close to him tarnishes his fame. In short, to Antoninus, since he always kept to his own character and was not changed by anyone's whispering, a gladiator son and a disreputable wife did no harm; and he is held to be a god even now, as has always seemed and still seems right to you yourselves, most sacred Emperor Diocletian, who venerate him among your deities, not as you do the others but in a special way, and often say that you desire to be such in life and clemency as Marcus was, even though in philosophy not even Plato could be [his equal], were he to return to life. And these things [have been said] briefly and in a heap.