would no longer endure any hard work if they could help it, but were
thoroughly out of training in every respect and wanted to have no
emperor that ruled with a firm hand but demanded that they get
everything without stint, and chose to perform no task that was fitting
for them. They were further angered by the cutting off of their pay and
the deprivation of prizes and exemptions (these last among the
privileges of the military), which they had gained from Tarautas, even
though they personally were not destined to be affected by these
measures. Their resolution was definitely strengthened by the delay
which they had undergone in practically one and the same spot while
wintering in Syria on account of the war. It should be stated that
Macrinus seemed to have shown good generalship and to have acted
sensibly in debarring the men in arms from no privilege, but preserving
to them intact all the rights allowed by his predecessor, whereas he
gave notice to such as intended to enlist anew that they would be
enrolled only upon the old schedule published by Severus. He hoped that
these recruits, entering the army a few at a time, would hold aloof from
rebellion, at first through peaceful inclinations and fear and later
through the influence of time and custom, and that by having no
corrupting effect upon the rest they would quiet them.

[Sidenote:--29--] If this had been done after the members of the army
had retired to their individual fortresses and were consequently
scattered, it would have been a correct move. Perhaps some of them would
not have shown indignation, believing that they would really be put at
no disadvantage because temporarily they suffered no loss: and even if
they had been vexed, yet, each body being few in number and subservient
to the commanders sent by the senate, they could have accomplished no
great harm. But, united in Syria, they suspected that they should be
liable to innovations if they separated;--for the time being they could