Marcus, in great
alarm, summoned his son Commodus from Rome, since he was now able to enter
the ranks of the iuvenes. Now Cassius, who was a Syrian from Cyrrhus, had
shown himself an excellent man and the sort of person one would desire to
have as emperor: only he was a son of one Heliodorus, [Footnote: _C.
Avidius Heliodorus_ (cp. Book Sixty-nine, chapter 3).] who had been
delighted to secure the governorship of Egypt as a result of his
oratorical skill. But in this uprising he made a terrible mistake, and it
was all due to his having been deceived by Faustina. The latter, who was a
daughter of Antoninus Pius, seeing that her husband had fallen ill, and
expecting that he might die at any moment, was afraid that the imperial
office might revert to some outsider and she be left in private life; for
Commodus was both young and rather callow, besides. So she secretly
induced Cassius to make preparations to the end that if anything should
happen to Antoninus he might take both her and the sovereignty.
[Sidenote:--23--] Now while he was in this frame of mind, a message came
that Marcus was dead (in such circumstances reports always make matters
worse than they really are) and immediately, without waiting to confirm
the rumor, he laid claim to the empire on the ground that it had been
bestowed upon him by the soldiers at this time quartered in Pannonia. And
in spite of the fact that before long he learned the truth, nevertheless,
since he had once made a move, he would not change his attitude but
speedily won over the whole district bounded by the Taurus, and was making
preparations to maintain his ascendancy by war. Marcus, on being informed
of his uprising by Verus, the governor of Cappadocia, for a time concealed
it; but, as the soldiers were being mightily disturbed by the reports and
were doing a deal of talking, he called them together and read an address
of the following nature:

[Sidenote:--24--] "Fellow-soldiers, I have not come before you to express
indignation, nor yet in a spirit of lamentation. Why rage against Fate,
that is all-powerful? But perchance it is needful to bewail the lot of
those who are undeservedly unfortunate, a lot which is now mine. Is it not
afflicting for us to meet war after war? Is it not absurd to be involved
in civil conflict? Are not both these conditions surpassed in affliction
and in absurdity by the proof before us that there is naught to be trusted
among mankind, since I have been plo