Some ask for envied power; which public hate
Pursues, and hurries headlong to their fate;
Down go the titles; and the statue crowned,
Is by base hands in the next river drowned.--_Juvenal_.
1. Seja'nus began his administration by using all his address to
persuade Tiberius to retire to some agreeable retreat, remote from
Rome; from this he expected many advantages, since there could be no
access to the emperor but through him. 2. The emperor, either
prevailed upon by his persuasions, or pursuing the natural turn of his
temper, left Rome and went into Campa'nia, under pretence of
dedicating temples to Ju'piter and Augustus. Growing weary, however,
of places where mankind might follow him with their complaints and
distresses, he withdrew himself into the delightful island of Ca'preæ;
and buried in this retreat, gave himself up to abandoned pleasures,
regardless of the miseries of his subjects. 3. From this time he
became more cruel, and Seja'nus increased his distrusts. Secret spies
and informers were placed in all parts of the city, who converted the
most harmless actions into subjects of offence. 4. In consequence of
this, Ne'ro and Dru'sus, the children of German'icus, were declared
enemies to the state, and afterwards starved to death in prison;
while Agrippi'na, their mother, was sent into banishment. Sabi'nus,
Asin'ius, Gal'lus, and Syria'eus, were, upon slight pretences,
condemned and executed. 5. In this manner Seja'nus proceeded, removing
all who stood between him and the empire; and every day increasing his
confidence with Tibe'rius, and his power with the senate. The number
of his statues exceeded even those of the emperor; people swore by his
fortune, in the same manner as they would have done had he been upon
the throne; and he was more dreaded than even the tyrant who actually
enjoyed the empire. 6. But the rapidity of his rise seemed only
preparatory to the greatness of his downfall. All we know of his first
disgrace with the emperor is, that Sati'rus Secun'dus was the man who
had the boldness to accuse him of treason; and Anto'nia, the mother of
German'icus, seconded the accusation. 7. The senate, who had long been
jealous of his power, and dreaded his cruelty, immediately took this
opportunity of going beyond the orders of Tibe'rius; instead of
sentencing him to imprisonment, they directed his execution.[11] 8.
Whilst he was conducting to his fate, the people loaded him with
insult and execration; pursued him with sarcastic reproaches; and
threw down his statues. He himself was strangled by the executioner.
9. His death only lighted up the emperor's rage for farther
executions. Planci'na, the wife of Pi'so, and others, were put to
death for being attached to Seja'nus. He began to grow weary of single
executions, and gave orders that all the accused should be put to
death together, without further examination. The whole city was, in
consequence, filled with slaughter and mourning. 10. When one
Carnu'lius killed himself, to avoid the torture, "Ah!" cried
Tibe'rius, "how has that man been able to escape me!" When a prisoner
had earnestly entreated that he would not defer his death: "Know,"
said the tyrant, "I am not sufficiently your friend to shorten your
torments."
11. In this manner he lived, odious to the world, and troublesome to
himself; an enemy to the lives of others, a tormentor of his own.[12]
At length, in the 22d year of his reign, he began to feel the
approaches of dissolution, and his appetite totally forsook him. 12.
He now, therefore, found it was time to think of a successor, and
fixed upon Calig'ula:[13] willing, perhaps, by the enormity of
Calig'ula's conduct, with which he was well acquainted, to lessen the
obloquy of his own.
13. Still, however, he seemed desirous to avoid his end; and strove,
by change of place, to cut off the inquietude of his own reflections.
He left his favourite island, and went upon the continent; and at
last, fixed at the promontory of Mise'num.[14] There he fell into
faintings, which all believed to be fatal. 14. Calig'ula supposing him
actually dead, caused himself to be acknowledged by the Prætorian
soldiers,[15] and went forth from the emperor's apartment amidst the
applauses of the multitude; when, all of a sudden, he was informed
that the emperor was likely to recover. 15. This unexpected account
filled the whole court with terror and alarm; every one who had before
been earnestly testifying his joy, now reassumed his pretended sorrow,
and forsook the new emperor, through a feigned solicitude for the fate
of the old. 16, Calig'ula seemed thunderstruck; he preserved a gloomy
silence, expecting nothing but death, instead of the empire at which
he aspired. 17. Marco, however, who was hardened in crimes, ordered
that the dying emperor should be despatched, by smothering him with
pillows; or, as some will have it, by poison. Thus died Tibe'rius in
the seventy-eighth year of his age, after reigning twenty-two
years.
[Sidenote: U.C. 780 A.D. 37.]
18. It was in the eighteenth year of this emperor's reign that Christ,
(after having spent two years in the public ministry, instructing the
multitude in the way of salvation,) was crucified; as if the universal
depravity of mankind wanted no less a sacrifice than this to reclaim
them. Pi'late sent to Tibe'rius an account of Christ's passion,
resurrection, and miracles, and the emperor made a report of the whole
to the senate, desiring that Christ might be accounted a god by the
Romans. 19. But the senate, displeased that the proposal had not come
first from themselves, refused to allow of his apotheosis; alleging an
ancient law, which gave them the superintendence in all matters of
religion. They even went so far as to command, by an edict, that all
Christians should leave the city; but Tibe'rius, by another edict,
threatened death to such as should accuse them; by which means they
continued unmolested during the rest of his reign.
20. The vices of Calig'ula were concealed under the appearance of
virtue in the beginning of his reign. In less than eight months,
however, every trace of moderation and clemency vanished; while
furious passions, unexampled avarice, and capricious cruelty, reigned
uncontrolled; and pride, impiety, lust, and avarice, appeared in all
their native deformity.
21. Calig'ula's pride first appeared in his assuming to himself the
title of ruler; which was usually granted only to kings. He would also
have taken the crown and diadem, had he not been advised, that he was
already superior to all the monarchs of the world. 22. Not long after
he assumed divine honours, and gave himself the names of such
divinities as he thought most agreeable to his nature. For this
purpose he caused the heads of the statues of Jupiter, and some other
gods, to be struck off, and his own to be put in their places. He
frequently seated himself between Castor and Pollux, and ordered that
all who came to this temple to worship should pay their adorations
only to himself. 23. However, such was the extravagant inconsistency
of this unaccountable idiot, that he changed his divinity as often as
he changed his clothes; being at one time a male deity, at another a
female; sometimes Jupiter or Mars; and not unfrequently Venus or
Diana. 24. He even built and dedicated a temple to his own divinity,
in which his statue of gold was every day dressed in robes similar to
those which he himself wore, and worshipped by crowds of adorers.
His priests were numerous; the sacrifices made to him were of the most
exquisite delicacies that could be procured; and the dignity of the
priesthood was sought by the most opulent men of the city. However, he
admitted his wife and his horse to that honour; and to give a
finishing stroke to his absurdities, became a priest to himself. 25.
His method of assuming the manners of a deity was not less ridiculous;
he often went out at full moon, and courted it in the style of a
lover. He employed many inventions to imitate thunder, and would
frequently defy Jupiter, crying out with a speech of Homer, "Do you
conquer me, or I will conquer you." He frequently pretended to
converse in whispers with the statue of Jupiter, and usually seemed
angry at its replies, threatening to send it back into Greece, whence
it came. Sometimes, however, he would assume a better temper, and seem
contented that Jupiter and he should dwell together in amity.
26. Of all his vices, prodigality was the most remarkable, and that
which in some measure gave rise to the rest. The luxuries of former
emperors were simplicity itself when compared to those which he
practised. He contrived new ways of bathing, when the richest oils and
most precious perfumes were lavished with the utmost profusion. His
luxuries of the table were of immense value, and even jewels, as we
are told, were dissolved in his sauces. He sometimes had services of
pure gold presented before his guests, instead of meat, observing that
a man should be an economist or an emperor.
27. The manner in which he maintained his horse will give some idea of
his domestic extravagance. He built a stable of marble, and a manger
of ivory; and whenever the animal, which he called Incita'tus, was to
run in the race, he placed sentinels near its stable, the night
preceding, to prevent its slumbers from being broken.[16]
_Questions for Examination._
1. What was the first measure of Sejanus?
2. Did the emperor yield to his persuasions?
3. What consequences ensued from this measure?
4. Who were the first sufferers?
5. Did Sejanus increase his influence?
6. Was this elevation permanent?
7. To what punishment was he condemned?
8. What occurred at his execution?
9. Was this the only victim to the cruelty of Tiberius?
10. How did Tiberius aggravate his cruelties?
11. Did these cruelties long continue?
12. How did he act on this?
13. Was he resigned to his fate?
14. What followed on this?
15. How was this news received?
16. Did Caligula boldly meet the consequences?
17. How was this averted?
18. What highly remarkable event happened in this reign?
19. Was his desire gratified?
20. What was the conduct of Caligula on this occasion?
21. By what acts did he display his pride?
22. Did his arrogance carry him farther than this?
23. Under what name did he assume divine honours?
24. Of what farther absurdities was he guilty?
25. Relate other follies of his?
26. What was his principal vice?
27. Give an instance of his domestic extravagance?