death of caracalla II
cassius dio, in his 78th book of roman history, writes about these events: "antoninus, for his part, also began preparing for war, but he never had the chance to fight, for he was struck down while among the very soldiers he had honoured most and in whom he had placed his firmest trust…"
“…i recalled that once in nicomedia, he held a feast for us on the occasion of the saturnalia and spoke at length about various trifles, as is customary at a banquet. then, as we were about to leave, he called me over and said: ‘dio, is it true that the following verse belongs to euripides?
"the will of heaven unfolds in many ways; men cannot see what lies before their eyes. we long for something, but it comes to nothing; the god reveals the path we never guessed… so this is how the drama ends?"’
at the time, i took his words for nothing more than idle chatter. but after he died soon after, and these lines turned out to be the last he ever spoke to me, i understood that in a way, he had foretold his own fate…"
"such was the life and death of tarautus. those who had conspired against him perished as well — some immediately, others a little later. moreover, his closest friends and freedmen also lost their lives. such was the evil fate that pursued both his friends and his enemies."
