The Planudean Excerpts are a collection of six fragments preserved from the Roman History of Cassius Dio, a comprehensive eighty-book history of Rome written in Greek during the early third century CE. The original work, composed by the Roman senator and historian, narrated events from the city's legendary foundation through to 229 CE. These specific passages were compiled over a millennium later by the Byzantine scholar and monk Maximus Planudes, who included them in an anthology of classical texts. They do not form a continuous narrative but are isolated selections, such as anecdotes about the emperor Gaius Caligula's incestuous relationship with his sister or the renowned generosity of the emperor Titus. The excerpts are a product of the Byzantine tradition of excerpting and anthologizing, which served as a crucial mechanism for preserving portions of classical works that might otherwise have been lost.
Cassius Dio wrote from the privileged position of a senator and consul under the Severan emperors, and his history is valued as a sophisticated political analysis of the Roman state. His narrative emphasizes constitutional evolution, the dynamics of power between the emperor and the Senate, and the role of individual character and fortune in shaping events. The transmission of Dio’s monumental history is fragmentary; while a significant portion covering the late Republic and early Empire survives nearly intact, much of the remainder is known only through epitomes and excerpts like those of Planudes. These Planudean fragments, though brief, contribute to the patchwork of evidence that allows modern historians to reconstruct Dio’s original work. They remain an important part of the corpus of one of the most significant historical sources for the study of the late Roman Republic and the Principate.
| ADDENDVM: EXCERPTA PLANUDEA. | |
| 1 | Ὅτι Γάιος ἀδελφῇ γνησίᾳ συνῆν, ἐξ οὗ καὶ μάλιστα αὐτῷ φύεσθαι παρὰ τοῖς πολίταις ἤρξατο τὸ μῖσος· ἔργον δὲ μέγα ἢ βασίλειον οὐδὲν αὐτῷ πεπραγμένον. αἴτιον δὲ ἦν ἡ περὶ τὰ ἀχρεῖα σπουδή. ῥήτωρ δὲ ἦν ἄριστος καὶ γλώσσῃ τῇ Ἑλλάδι καὶ τῇ Ῥωμαί οις πατρίῳ σφόδρα ἠσκημένος. |
| 2 | Ὅτι κοινὸν ἔρωτα τὸν Τίτον ὠνόμασαν. Ὅτι καὶ τραγῳδίαν ὁ Τίτος Ἑλλάδι φωνῇ ἐξέθηκεν. Ὅτι τὸ φιλόδωρον αὐτοῦ τοσοῦτον ἦν ὥστε αὐτῷ τινας εὐκολίαν ἐγκαλεῖν, τὸν δὲ ἀπολυόμενον τὴν κατηγορίαν εἰπεῖν μηδένα χρῆναι στυγνοτέραν ἔχειν ἀπὸ βασιλέως τὴν ἀναχώρησιν. Ὅτι δειπνῶν ποτε καὶ λογισάμενος ὡς οὐδὲν οὐδεὶς ἐκείνην εὖ πάθοι τὴν ἡμέραν, σχετλιάσας καθάπερ αὐτῷ τῆς ἡμέρας ἀπολωλυίας εἶπεν “οὐκ ἐβασίλευσα τὴν σήμερον ἡμέραν· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἐξ ἐμοῦ εὖ πέπονθε σήμερον.” Ὅτι μόνος ὁ Τίτος θανὼν ἐκ πάντων πλείους ἐδέξατο θεραπείας ἐκ λόγων ἢ ζῶντες ἕτεροι. |
| 3 | Ὅτι πρῶτος Μαξιμιανὸς ἰμπεράτωρ ἐκλήθη, ὃ νῦν μὲν τῶν βασιλέων ὄνομά ἐστι, τότε δὲ ἥρμοττε τοῖς ἄριστα στρατηγοῦσιν. |
| 4 | Ὅτι Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ Χλωρὸς ἔλεγεν ὡς ἄμεινον παρὰ τοῖς ἰδιώταις τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως εὐπορίαν εἶναι ἢ μικρῷ περικεκλεῖσθαι χωρίῳ. |
| 5 | Ὅτι γυναικὸς προσελθούσης τῷ Γρατιανῷ καὶ κατειπούσης πρὸς αὐτὸν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ὡς πληγὰς αὐτῇ συχνὰς ἐντείνοι “οὐδέν” εἶπεν, “ὦ γύναι, πρὸς ἐμὲ τοῦτο·” τῆς δὲ αὖθις ἐπειπούσης “ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ σοῦ βουλεύεται”, “οὐδὲν” εἶπε “τοῦτο πρὸς σέ.” |