magistrate who suffered from old age and sickness; and again [lacuna]
him, when [lacuna] he died, one Eutychianus, that had given satisfaction
in games and exercises, and for that reason [lacuna] who [lacuna]
[Sidenote:--31--] [lacuna] upon [lacuna] becoming aware of the strong
dislike of the soldiers for Macrinus [lacuna] wall [lacuna] and partly
persuaded by the Sun, whom they name Elagabalus and worship devotedly,
and by some other prophecies, he undertook to overthrow Macrinus and put
up Avitus, the grandson of Mæsa and a mere child, as emperor in his
stead. And he accomplished both projects, although he had himself as yet
not fully reached manhood and had as helpers only a few freedmen and
soldiers [lacuna] and Emesenian senators [lacuna] pretending that he was
a natural son of Tarautas and arraying him in clothing which the latter
had worn when a child, Cæsar by the [lacunæ] introduced into the camp at
night, without the knowledge of his mother or his grandmother, and at
dawn on the sixteenth of May he persuaded the soldiers, who were eager
to get some starting-point for an uprising, to revolt. Julianus, the
prefect, learning this (for he happened to be not far distant), caused
both a daughter and a son-in-law of Marcianus, together with some
others, to be assassinated. Then, after collecting as many of the
soldiers remaining as he could in the short time at his disposal, he
made an attack upon what was, to all intents and purposes, a most
hostile fortress. [Sidenote:--32--] He might have taken it that very
day, for the Moors sent to Tarautas according to the terms of alliance
fought most valiantly for Macrinus, who was a countryman of theirs, and
even broke through some of the gates. But he refused the opportunity,
either because he was afraid to rush in or because he expected that he
could win the men inside to surrender voluntarily. As no propositions
were made to him, and they furthermore built up all the gates during the
night, so that they were now in a securer position, he again assaulted
the place but effected nothing. For they carried Avitus (whom they were