ave had is evident, of
course, in his work. After the trip to Cilicia already referred to Dio
came to Rome, probably not for the first time, arriving there early in
the reign of Commodus (Book 72, 4). This monster was overthrown in 192
A.D.; before his death Dio was a senator (Book 72, 16): in other
words, he was by that time above the minimum age, twenty-five years,
required for admission to full senatorial standing; and thus we gain
some scanty light respecting the date of his birth. Under Commodus he
had held no higher offices than those of quaestor and aedile: Pertinax
now, in the year 193, made him praetor (Book 73, 12). Directly came the
death of Pertinax, as likewise of his successor Julianus, and the
accession of him whom Dio proudly hailed as the "Second
Augustus,"--Septimius Severus. The new emperor exerted a great
influence upon Dio's political views. He pretended that the gods had
brought him forward, as they had Augustus, especially for his work.
The proofs of Heaven's graciousness to this latest sovereign were
probably by him delivered to Dio, who undertook to compile them into a
little book and appears to have believed them all; Severus, indeed,
had been remarkably successful at the outset. Before long Dio had
begun his great work, which he doubtless intended to bring to a
triumphant conclusion amid the golden years of the new prince of
peace.

Unfortunately the _entente cordiale_ between ruler and historian did
not long endure. Severus grew disappointing to Dio through his
severity, visited first upon Niger and later upon Caesar Clodius
Albinus: and Dio came to be _persona non grata_ to Severus for this
reason among others, that the emperor changed his mind completely
about Commodus, and since he had begun to revere, if not to imitate
him, what Dio had written concerning his predecessor could be no
longer palatable. The estrangement seems to be marked by the fact that
until Severus's death Dio went abroad on no important military or
diplomatic mission, but remained constantly in Italy. He was sometimes
in Rome, but more commonly resided at his country-seat in Capua (Book
76, 2). In a very vague Passage in Book 76, 16 Dio speaks of finding
"when I was consul" three thousand indictments for adultery inscribed
on the records. This leads most scholars to assume that he was consul
_before_ the death of Severus. Reimar thought differently, and
produces arguments to support his view. I do not deem many of the