226 The Imperial Government
(138–61),notmarkedbymajorwars,wereachthedecisiveturningpointafter
which all major wars were conducted by the,oran, emperor; first Marcus
Aurelius’co-emperorLuciusVerus,againsttheParthiansin162–66,andthen
Marcus himself, almost continuouslyon the Danube frontier between the
late160sandhisdeaththerein180.Thecharacteristicshapeofforeignre-
lations,astheyweretoremaintotheendofthefourthcentury,isalready
visibleinDio’sdescriptionofMarcus,inhisfirstyearsinPannonia,dealing
in person with delegations of barbarians from beyond the Danube (71, 11,
1–4):
MarcusAntoninusremainedinPannoniainordertogiveaudienceto
theembassiesofthebarbarians;formanycametohimatthistimealso.
Some of them, under the leadership of Battarius, a boy twelveyears
old,promisedanalliance;thesereceivedagiftofmoneyandsucceeded
in restraining Tarbus, a neighbouring chieftain, who had come into
Daciaandwasdemandingmoneyandthreateningtomakewarif he
should fail to get it. Others, like the Quadi, asked for peace, which
wasgrantedthem,bothinthehopethattheymightbedetachedfrom
theMarcomani,andalsobecausetheygavehimmanyhorsesandcattle
andpromisedtosurrenderallthedesertersandthecaptives,besides—
thirteenthousandatfirst,andlateralltheothersaswell.Therightto
attendthemarkets,however,wasnotgrantedtothem,forfearthatthe
IazygesandtheMarcomani,whomtheyhadswornnottoreceivenor
toallowtopassthroughtheircountry,shouldminglewiththem,and
passingthemselvesoffforQuadi,shouldreconnoitretheRomanposi-
tionsandpurchaseprovisions.BesidesthesethatcametoMarcus,many
otherssentenvoys,somebytribesandsomebynations,andofferedto
surrender.Someofthemweresentoncampaignselsewhere,aswere
alsothecaptivesanddeserterswhowerefitforservice;othersreceived
landinDacia,Pannonia,Moesia,theprovinceofGermany,andinItaly
itself.VerysimilardescriptionsaregivenbyDioofCommodus’dealingswiththe
barbarianpeoplesbeyondtheDanube,whenAurelius’deathlefthimasthe
emperorin180.AmongthemaretheBuri,whoserepresentationsmaylater
haveappearedbeforetheSenate(textton.30above).Diowritesasfollows
(73,2–3):
TheMarcomanibyreasonofthemultitudeoftheirpeoplethatwere
perishing and the constant ravaging of their lands no longer had an