plunder destruction/devastation declaration of peace/truce
Original Text :
verum adeo Aurelianus, ut erat paratus, e Rhodope revertit atque urbem, quia ita merebatur, evertit. crudelitas denique Aureliani vel, ut quidam dicunt, severitas eatenus exstitit ut epistula eius feratur confessionem inmanissimi furoris ostentans, cuius hoc exemplum est: "Aurelianus Augustus Cerronio Basso. non oportet ulterius progredi militum gladios. iam satis Palmyrenorum caesum atque concisum est. mulieribus non pepercimus, infantes occidimus, senes iugulavimus, rusticos interemimus. cui terras, cui urbem deinceps relinquemus? parcendum est iis qui remanserunt. credimus enim tam paucos tam multorum suppliciis esse correctos.
Translation :
But Aurelian, indeed, prepared as he always was, came back from Rhodope and, because it deserved it, destroyed the city. In fact, Aurelian's cruelty, or, as some say, his sternness, is so widely known that they even quote a letter of his, revealing a confession of most savage fury; of this the following is a copy: "From Aurelian Augustus to Cerronius Bassus. The swords of the soldiers should not proceed further. Already enough Palmyrenes have been killed and slaughtered. We have not spared the women, we have slain the children, we have butchered the old men, we have destroyed the peasants. To whom, at this rate, shall we leave the land or the city? Those who still remain must be spared. For it is our belief that the few have been chastened by the punishment of the many.
Edition :
Historia Augusta, Volume III: The Two Valerians. The Two Gallieni. The Thirty Pretenders. The Deified Claudius. The Deified Aurelian. Tacitus. Probus. Firmus, Saturninus, Proculus and Bonosus. Carus, Carinus and Numerian. Translated by David Magie. Loeb Classical Library 263. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1932.
Remark :
long-term consequence: Aurelian ultimately stopped the killings and the plunder, ordering the cities Temple of the Sun to be rebuilt and dedicated. (32.5-10)
