1r8

Asrrhtur

iu ltor{el

BooL,

their cyes towarda heaven rn rn attempt to pro_prtlrte

the Detty, They got

f.,'.* a shower of ereei r"_;"fi;;J'il;;f,# the cotct,

l:l,ill_*_._,,iP
bu-r even so they did not tahe shelter with
the o..ptin
tir" who toor.
refuge in the crurches,. pos*ating th.mreru.s
"r
u.i"i.-.rr*"'
7 Latge
numbers of women and_not just tle members
of thorowei;;., bur even

roamed ,bout * listJir*fy *rii,

_nf:'1'-:f-Ped1nc
tfie men; the ordered structure of society with its d".
obi.*unce of deand respect for privirege and the proper distinctionr-of
,rnr, *u,
-dir*o
thrown into wild confusion antrampred.*a.4".r. -s
i," the grip
and distinction

of the present and more compeiling far, showed

and, disobeying their instnrciions,Irngr;gat.d i" "orrr".pr]oith"i".urt.r,
trr" p1.,
nr.,

in authority and men oT no con1equ"l..-** pru.. on "i*.rrrrip.

* equal footing
gwing to the common danger and ihe generar p-rp* ,] i.ii"r,
annihiIation. I
that night many hJrr", were destroyed, particularly
- lur-ing
in
the distric.t-of Rhegium, which is t" port rr c"iroi.irJpi.:
ffi;,
amazing
and incredible events occurred too in ihe course
of thrt-ffi il;n. rocality
the roofs of buildings, and this ws true of stone
and wooden srrucflrres
allke, came apart, disclosing.
$r9uSh yawning gaps a clear visra o{ ,Ly ,nJ

stars, and then suddenry f:rl backigiin into"piu..

upper floor were carapulted by the frce
th .onuJ.i;;li,
"f
the ar o.ver the tops of the
hor:ses,

Ei;h;;;";ir", on ,n
irt thro,rgh

qaverling u torg *uf-i-.ror. trr.y

learbr
eventuallv came crashing down
and smashed i,, p;r''lrJu., ,rr.y
landed on. rn other plaes there were oer stil
,rrou. lrorrirying
things

happening, and, thougtr these follow.a ," oir_i"p;*d;;i'*rria

*ru
recur time and again.as.rong a.s this impedr
*"aJ"f"*r^r"uinr, y"t
their impact was on rhat occasion .nor. ,ho.Lirrg b;";;h.y

i o.*rr.d

simultaneously.

ro Large numbers.of ordin_ary peopre perished in the disaster.

of the
persons of rank and of those who
or ,rr.-r"n^lrJonty on.
to lose his life was Anatolius, a man who had u".n ruir"J-r.
,rr.ii*rri,,
consul and was in dlarge of the superintendence and
"r
frnanctaladministration

*....b"rr

of the rmperiat househord and Ltates. Th. R;;;;-;;ii;il;

"curatores".5 rr Anatorius was sreeping at the tir. i, tJ

beddramber. The,aparrmenr 'was dorne .,ii1h

u
atta&tedto the wall, of the kind that arcravishry
*a

officiars

J'r*i ptuqo",
"*r"i,
.rttrtio"rrairprrr.a
fond of ,".h:"d;;;-;;
Jn;.".rrr*
"-,rrrorrrury

by those who are inordinately

bric--brac. one of these praques, which wo,
frrten.d to the rail nexr ro
the bed, was shaken loose }rom rts fittings ,ra
,oi.i.a;tr^ i rrrot.r".
of the tremors. rr came a"*" *itr, Jiiir *.rgr,, ;; ,
h;;ii *d" r-urh.d
his skull. He had bur. enough dme ro urter"a
deep and ;#J groan of
pain and then sanlc back on rris bed. Death
'
had
"rrr.." rrr-1""5 l- e. h. w* a "curator domus
<livinae

l19

4, Vhen day had dswned people movcd forward to moet one enother
lulng joyfully into the faces of their neatest and dearest, hissing and
:mbracing and weeping with dellght and ourprise. : But when the dead
body of Anatolius was camied away for burial some of the people in the
cmwd began to sptead the rumour that his death had been a just punishment
thce he had been an evil and unscrupulous man and had robbed many people
of their possessions. This, they said, was the end to whidr his notoiious
activities, the placards and the purple'coloured cloths that he had fastened
ln sudr profusion to the houses of the wealthy,6 had brought him. Under
the false pretext of loyal service to the Emperor he appropriated everything
by means of his relentless exactions, violating the dying wishes of parents
and showing utter disregard for the larvs, whidr require that drildren should
inherit their parents' property. 3 These at any t^te were the sort of whispered rumours being circulated among the common people and they seemed
to ptovide a simple o<planation for what had happened. Personally I should
be extremely hesitant to advance any sort of o<planation for sudr occurrences.
Undoubtedly the earthquake would have been a very real boon if it had
been able to distinguish the wicked from the good, caus,ing the former to
perish miserably and graciously sparing the latter. But even granted that
Anatolius really was a wid<ed man there were countless others in the city
no better or even worse than he was. Yet he was suddenly strud< down
whilst the others have remained unscathed. 4 It is, therefore, no plain or
easy matter, I think, to ascef,tain why of all men Anatolius was the only
one to lose his life. If we are to accept the Platonic vievr 7 according to whidr
more wretclred and unhappy fate awaits those who have lived evil lives
and w^[ro, instead of paying the penalty for their crimes in this world either
by dying a violent death or by receiving some other form of punishment,

depart from this life having contrived to escape purification and bearing
like runaway slaves the scars of their wrongdoing, s then it would seem
aket all that the man who suffers for his misdeeds is the more fortunate
among his fellows than the man who gets ofi scot-free. 5 However, there
is mudr to be said for not interfering with and indeed for encouraging the
notion populady entertained with regard to these matters, since the feot o{
dyng a horrible death may have a deterrent or moderating effect on some
wrongdoers. 6 Nevertheless it is quite obvious that a long life of untroubled success is no more proof of virtue than a violent death, however
horrible; is evidence of exceptional wicl<edness. But /e shall best be able to
establish the nature of our conduct in this wotld and the degtee of punishment dr reward due when we pass into the next. At ay rate people are
6 Indicating that they had been confiscated by order of the Emperor.
7 d.Piato Gorgias 476a-479e and 524e.
8 Runawa], slaves were branded.

' /