aetorians 1250 drachms, the other 5000 drachms. Valois
thinks that the numbers have been transposed, and that Caracalla added
5000 drachms to the donations made to the Praetorians, 1250 to those of
the legionaries. The Praetorians, in fact, always received more than
the others. The error of Gibbon arose from his considering that this
referred to the annual pay of the soldiers, while it relates to the
sum they received as a reward for their services on their discharge:
donatives means recompense for service. Augustus had settled that the
Praetorians, after sixteen campaigns, should receive 5000 drachms: the
legionaries received only 3000 after twenty years. Caracalla added
5000 drachms to the donative of the Praetorians, 1250 to that of the
legionaries. Gibbon appears to have been mistaken both in confounding
this donative on discharge with the annual pay, and in not paying
attention to the remark of Valois on the transposition of the numbers in
the text.--G]

It was impossible that such a character, and such conduct
as that of Caracalla, could inspire either love or esteem; but as long
as his vices were beneficial to the armies, he was secure from the
danger of rebellion. A secret conspiracy, provoked by his own jealousy,
was fatal to the tyrant. The Praetorian praefecture was divided between
two ministers. The military department was intrusted to Adventus,
an experienced rather than able soldier; and the civil affairs were
transacted by Opilius Macrinus, who, by his dexterity in business, had
raised himself, with a fair character, to that high office. But his
favor varied with the caprice of the emperor, and his life might depend
on the slightest suspicion, or the most casual circumstance. Malice or
fanaticism had suggested to an African, deeply skilled in the knowledge
of futurity, a very dangerous prediction, that Macrinus and his son were
destined to reign over the empire. The report was soon diffused through
the province; and when the man was sent in chains to Rome, he still
asserted, in the presence of the praefect of the city, the faith of
his prophecy. That magistrate, who had received the most pressing
instructions to inform himself of the successors of Caracalla,
immediately communicated the examination of the African to the Imperial
court, which at that time resided in Syria. But, notwithstanding the
diligence of the public messengers, a friend of Macrinus found means to
apprise him of the approaching danger.