A.D. 20-22.
Agrippina, notwithstanding the roughness of winter, pursuing without
intermission her boisterous voyage, put in at the Island Corcyra,
[Footnote: Corfu.] situate over against the coasts of Calabria. Here
to settle her spirit, she spent a few days, violent in her grief, and
a stranger to patience. Her arrival being the while divulged, all the
particular friends to her family, mostly men of the sword, many who had
served under Germanicus, and even many strangers from the neighbouring
towns, some in officiousness towards the Emperor, more for company,
crowded to the city of Brundusium, the readiest port in her way and the
safest landing. As soon as the fleet appeared in the deep, instantly
were filled, not the port alone and adjacent shores, but the walls
and roofs, and as far as the eye could go; filled with the sorrowing
multitude. They were consulting one from one, how they should receive
her landing, "whether with universal silence, or with some note of
acclamation." Nor was it manifest which they would do, when the fleet
stood slowly in, not as usual with joyful sailors and cheerful oars, but
all things impressed with the face of sadness. After she descended from
the ship, accompanied with her two infants, carrying in her bosom the
melancholy urn, with her eyes cast steadily down; equal and universal
were the groans of the beholders: nor could you distinguish relations
from strangers, nor the wailings of men from those of women, unless
that the new-comers, who were recent in their sallies of grief, exceeded
Agrippina's attendants, wearied out with long lamentations.
Tiberius had despatched two Praetorian cohorts, with directions, that
the magistrates of Calabria, Apulia and Campania, should pay their last
offices to the memory of his son: upon the shoulders therefore of the
Tribunes and Centurions his ashes were borne; before went the ensigns
rough and unadorned, with the fasces reversed. As they passed through
the colonies, the populace were in black, the knights in purple; and
each place, according to its wealth, burnt precious raiment, perfumes
and whatever else is used in funeral solemnities: even they whose cities
lay remote attended: to the Gods of the dead they slew victims, they
erected altars, and with tears and united lamentations, testified
their common sorrow. Drusus came as far as Terracina, with Claudius the
brother of Germanicus, and those of his children who had been left at
Rome. The Consuls Marcus Valerius and Marcus Aurelius (just then entered
upon their office), the Senate, and great part of the people, filled the
road; a scattered procession, each walking and weeping his own way: in
this mourning, flattery had no share; for all knew how real was the joy,
how hollow the grief, of Tiberius for the death of Germanicus.
Tiberius and Livia avoided appearing abroad: public lamentation they
thought below their grandeur; or perhaps they apprehended that their
countenances, examined by all eyes, might show deceitful hearts. That
Antonia, mother to the deceased, bore any part in the funeral, I do not
find either in the historians or in the city journals: though, besides
Agrippina, and Drusus, and Claudius, his other relations are likewise
there recorded by name: whether by sickness she was prevented; or
whether her soul vanquished by sorrow, could not bear the representation
of such a mighty calamity. I would rather believe her constrained
by Tiberius and Livia, who left not the palace; and affecting equal
affliction with her, would have it seem that, by the example of the
mother, the grandmother too and uncle were detained.
The day his remains were reposited in the tomb of Augustus, various
were the symptoms of public grief; now the vastness of silence; now the
uproar of lamentation; the city in every quarter full of processions;
the field of Mars on a blaze of torches: here the soldiers under arms,
the magistrates without the insignia, the people by their tribes, all
cried in concert that "the Commonwealth was fallen, and henceforth
there was no remain of hope;" so openly and boldly that you would have
believed they had forgot, who bore sway. But nothing pierced Tiberius
more than the ardent affections of the people towards Agrippina, while
such titles they gave her as "the ornament of her country, the only
blood of Augustus, the single instance of ancient virtue;" and, while
applying to heaven, they implored "the continuance of her issue, that
they might survive the persecuting and malignant."
There were those who missed the pomp of a public funeral, and compared
with this the superior honours and magnificence bestowed by Augustus on
that of Drusus the father of Germanicus; "that he himself had travelled,
in the sharpness of winter, as far as Pavia, and thence, continuing by
the corpse, had with it entered the city; round his head were placed
the images of the Claudii and Julii; he was mourned in the Forum; his
encomium pronounced in the Rostras; all sorts of honours, such as were
the inventions of our ancestors, or the improvements of their posterity,
were heaped upon him. But to Germanicus were denied the ordinary
solemnities, and such as were due to every distinguished Roman. In a
foreign country indeed, his corpse because of the long journey, was
burnt without pomp; but afterwards, it was but just to have supplied
the scantiness of the first ceremony by the solemnity of the last: his
brother met him but one day's journey; his uncle not even at the gate.
Where were those generous observations of the ancients; the effigies of
the dead borne on a bed, hymns composed in memory of their virtue, with
the oblations of praise and tears? Where at least were the ceremonies
and even outside of sorrow?"
All this was known to Tiberius; and, to suppress the discourses of the
populace, he published an edict, "that many illustrious Romans had died
for the Commonwealth, but none so vehemently lamented: this however was
to the glory of himself and of all men, if a measure were observed. The
same things which became private families and small states, became not
Princes and an Imperial People: fresh grief indeed required vent and
ease by lamentation; but it was now time to recover and fortify their
minds. Thus the deified Julius, upon the loss of an only daughter; thus
the deified Augustus, upon the hasty death of his grandsons, had both
vanquished their sorrow. More ancient examples were unnecessary; how
often the Roman People sustained with constancy the slaughter of their
armies, the death of their generals, and entire destruction of their
noblest families: Princes were mortal; the Commonwealth was eternal:
they should therefore resume their several vocations." And because the
Megalesian games were at hand, he added, "that they should even apply to
the usual festivities."
The vacation ended, public affairs were resumed; Drusus departed for
the army in Illyricum, and the minds of all men were bent upon seeing
vengeance done upon Piso. They repeated their resentments, that while
he wandered over the delightful countries of Asia and Greece, he was
stifling, by contumacious and deceitful delays, the evidences of his
crimes; for it was bruited abroad, that Martina, she who was famous for
poisonings, and sent, as I have above related, by Cneius Sentius towards
Rome, was suddenly dead at Brundusium; that poison lay concealed in
a knot of her hair, but upon her body were found no symptoms of
self-murder.
Piso, sending forward his son to Rome, with instructions how to soften
the Emperor, proceeded himself to Drusus: him he hoped to find less
rigid for the death of a brother, than favourable for the removal of a
rival. Tiberius, to make show of a spirit perfectly unbiassed, received
the young man graciously, and honoured him with the presents usually
bestowed on young noblemen. The answer of Drusus to Piso was, "That if
the current rumours were true, he stood in the first place of grief and
revenge; but he hoped they were false and chimerical, and that the death
of Germanicus would be pernicious to none." This he declared in public,
and avoided all privacy: nor was it doubted but the answer was dictated
by Tiberius; when a youth, otherwise easy and unwary, practised thus the
wiles and cunning of age.
Piso having crossed the sea of Dalmatia, and left his ships at Ancona,
took first the road of Picenum and then the Flaminian way, following the
legion which was going from Pannonia to Rome, and thence to garrison
in Africa. This too became the subject of popular censure, that he
officiously mixed with the soldiers, and courted them in their march and
quarters: he therefore, to avoid suspicion; or, because when men are
in dread, their conduct wavers, did at Narni embark upon the Nar, and
thence sailed into the Tiber. By landing at the burying-place of the
Caesars, he heightened the wrath of the populace: besides, he and
Plancina came ashore, in open day, in the face of the city who were
crowding the banks, and proceeded with gay countenances; he attended by
a long band of clients, she by a train of ladies. There were yet other
provocations to hatred; the situation of his house, proudly overlooking
the Forum, and adorned and illuminated as for a festival; the banquet
and rejoicings held in it, and all as public as the place.
The next day Fulcinius Trio arraigned Piso before the Consuls, but
was opposed by Vitellius, Veranius, and others, who had accompanied
Germanicus: they said, "that in this prosecution Trio had no part; nor
did they themselves act as accusers, but only gathered materials, and,
as witnesses, produced the last injunctions of Germanicus." Trio dropped
that accusation; but got leave to call in question his former life: and
now the Emperor was desired to undertake the trial; a request which the
accused did not at all oppose, dreading the inclinations of the people
and Senate: he knew Tiberius, on the contrary, resolute in despising
popular rumours, and in guilt confederate with his mother: besides that
truth and misrepresentations were easiest distinguished by a single
judge, but in assemblies odium and envy often prevailed. Tiberius
was aware of the weight of the trial, and with what reproaches he was
assaulted. Admitting therefore a few confidants, he heard the charge
of the accusers, as also the apology of the accused; and left the cause
entire to the Senate.
Drusus returned the while from Illyricum; and though the Senate had for
the reduction of Maroboduus, and other his exploits the summer before,
decreed him the triumph of ovation; he postponed the honour, and
privately entered the city. Piso, for his advocates, desired Titus
Arruntius, Fulcinius, Asinius Gallus, Eserninus Marcellus, and Sextus
Pompeius: but they all framed different excuses; and he had, in their
room, Marcus Lepidus, Lucius Piso and Liveneius Regulus. Now earnest
were the expectations of all men, "how great would prove the fidelity of
the friends of Germanicus; what the assurance of the criminal, what the
behaviour of Tiberius; whether he would sufficiently smother, or betray
his sentiments." He never had a more anxious part; neither did the
people ever indulge themselves in such secret murmurs against their
Emperor, nor harbour in silence severer suspicions.
When the Senate met, Tiberius made a speech full of laboured moderation:
"That Piso had been his father's lieutenant and friend; and lately
appointed by himself, at the direction of the Senate, coadjutor to
Germanicus in administering the affairs of the East: whether he had
there by contumacy and opposition exasperated the young Prince, and
exulted over his death, or wickedly procured it, they were then to judge
with minds unprejudiced. For, if he who was the lieutenant of my
son violated the limits of his commission, cast off obedience to his
general, and even rejoiced at his decease and at my affliction; I
will detest the man, I will banish him from my house, and for domestic
injuries exert domestic revenge; not the revenge of an Emperor. But for
you; if his guilt of any man's death whatsoever is discovered, show your
just vengeance, and by it satisfy yourselves, satisfy the children of
Germanicus, and us his father and grandmother. Consider too especially,
whether he vitiated the discipline and promoted sedition in the army;
whether he sought to debauch the affections of the soldiers, and to
recover the province by arms: or whether these allegations are not
published falsely and with aggravations by the accusers, with whose
over-passionate zeal, I am justly offended: for, whither tended the
stripping the corpse and exposing it to the eyes and examination of the
populace; with what view was it proclaimed even to foreign nations, that
his death was the effect of poison; if all this was still doubtful,
and remains yet to be tried? It is true I bewail my son, and shall ever
bewail him: but neither do I hinder the accused to do what in him lies
to manifest his innocence, even at the expense of Germanicus, if aught
blamable was in him. From you I entreat the same impartiality: let not
the connection of my sorrow with this cause, mislead you to take crimes
for proved because they are imputed. For Piso; if the tenderness of
kinsmen, if the faith of friends, has furnished him with patrons, let
them aid him in his peril, show their utmost eloquence, and exert their
best diligence. To the same pains, to the same firmness I exhort the
accusers. Thus much we will grant to the memory of Germanicus, that the
inquest concerning his death, be held rather here than in the Forum, in
the Senate than the common Tribunals. In all the rest, we will descend
to the ordinary methods. Let no man in this cause consider Drusus's
tears; let none regard my sorrow, no more than the probable fictions of
calumny against us."
Two days were then appointed for maintaining the charge; six for
preparing the defence, and three for making it. Fulcinius began with
things stale and impertinent, about the ambition and rapine of Piso in
his administration of Spain: things which, though proved, brought him
under no penalty, if acquitted of the present charge; nor, though he
had been cleared of former faults, could he escape the load of greater
enormities. After him Servaeus, Veranius, and Vitellius, all with equal
zeal, but Vitellius with great eloquence urged "that Piso, in hatred to
Germanicus, and passionate for innovations, had by tolerating general
licentiousness, and the oppression of the allies, corrupted the common
soldiers to that degree, that by the most profligate he was styled
_Father of the Legions_: he had, on the contrary, been outrageous to the
best men, above all to the friends and companions of Germanicus; and, at
last, by witchcraft and poison destroyed Germanicus himself: hence the
infernal charms and immolations practised by him and Plancina: he had
then attacked the Commonwealth with open arms; and, before he could be
brought to be tried, they were forced to fight and defeat him."
In every article but one his defence was faltering. For, neither his
dangerous intrigues in debauching the soldiery, nor his abandoning the
province to the most profligate and rapacious, nor even his insults to
Germanicus, were to be denied. He seemed only to wipe off the charge of
poison; a charge which in truth was not sufficiently corroborated by the
accusers, since they had only to allege, "that at an entertainment of
Germanicus, Piso, while he sat above him, with his hands poisoned the
meat." It appeared absurd that amongst so many attending slaves besides
his own, in so great a presence, and under the eye of Germanicus, he
would attempt it: he himself required that the waiters might be
racked, and offered to the rack his own domestics: but the Judges were
implacable, implacable from different motives; Tiberius for the war
raised in the province; and the Senate could never be convinced that
the death of Germanicus was not the effect of fraud. Some moved for the
letters written to Piso from Rome; a motion opposed by Tiberius no less
than by Piso. From without, at the same time, were heard the cries of
the people, "that if he escaped the judgment of the Senate, they would
with their own hands destroy him." They had already dragged his statues
to the place from whence malefactors were precipitated, and there
had broken them; but by the orders of Tiberius they were rescued and
replaced. Piso was put into a litter and carried back by a tribune of
a Praetorian cohort; an attendance variously understood, whether as a
guard for his safety, or a minister of death.
Plancina was under equal public hatred, but had more secret favour:
hence it was doubted how far Tiberius durst proceed against her. For
herself; while her husband's hopes were yet plausible, she professed
"she would accompany his fortune, whatever it were, and, if he fell,
fall with him." But when by the secret solicitations of Livia, she had
secured her own pardon, she began by degrees to drop her husband, and to
make a separate defence. After this fatal warning, he doubted whether
he should make any further efforts; but, by the advice of his sons,
fortifying his mind, he again entered the Senate: there he found the
prosecution renewed, suffered the declared indignation of the Fathers,
and saw all things cross and terrible; but nothing so much daunted
him as to behold Tiberius, without mercy, without wrath, close, dark,
unmovable, and bent against every access of tenderness. When he was
brought home, as if he were preparing for his further defence the next
day, he wrote somewhat, which he sealed and delivered to his freedman:
he then washed and anointed, and took the usual care of his person. Late
in the night, his wife leaving the chamber, he ordered the door to be
shut; and was found, at break of day, with his throat cut, his sword
lying by him.
I remember to have heard from ancient men, that in the hands of Piso
was frequently seen a bundle of writings, which he did not expose, but
which, as his friends constantly averred, "contained the letters of
Tiberius and his cruel orders towards Germanicus: that he resolved to
lay them before the Fathers and to charge the Emperor, but was deluded
by the hollow promises of Sejanus: and that neither did Piso die by his
own hands, but by those of an express and private executioner." I dare
affirm neither; nor yet ought I to conceal the relations of such
as still lived when I was a youth. Tiberius, with an assumed air of
sadness, complained to the Senate, that Piso, by that sort of death,
had aimed to load him with obloquy; and asked many questions how he had
passed his last day, how his last night? The freedman answered to most
with prudence, to some in confusion. The Emperor then recited the letter
sent him by Piso. It was conceived almost in these words: "Oppressed by
a combination of my enemies and the imputation of false crimes; since
no place is left here to truth and my innocence; to the Immortal Gods I
appeal, that towards you, Caesar, I have lived with sincere faith,
nor towards your mother with less reverence. For my sons I implore her
protection and yours: my son Cneius had no share in my late management
whatever it were, since, all the while, he abode at Rome: and my son
Marcus dissuaded me from returning to Syria. Oh that, old as I am, I
had yielded to him, rather than he, young as he is, to me! Hence
more passionately I pray that innocent as he is, he suffer not in the
punishment of my guilt: by a series of services for five-and-forty
years, I entreat you; by our former fellowship in the consulship; by the
memory of the deified Augustus, your father; by his friendship to me; by
mine to you, I entreat you for the life and fortune of my unhappy son.
It is the last request I shall ever make you." Of Plancina he said
nothing.
Tiberius, upon this, cleared the young man of any crime as to the
civil war: he alleged "the orders of his father, which a son could not
disobey." He likewise bewailed "that noble house, and even the grievous
lot of Piso himself, however deserved," For Plancina he pleaded with
shame and guilt, alleging the importunity of his mother; against whom
more particularly the secret murmurs of the best people waxed bitter and
poignant. "Was it then the tender part of a grandmother to admit to her
sight the murderess of her grandson, to be intimate with her, and to
snatch her from the vengeance of the Senate? To Germanicus alone was
denied what by the laws was granted to every citizen. By Vitellius
and Veranius, the cause of that prince was mourned and pleaded: by the
Emperor and his mother, Plancina was defended and protected. Henceforth
she might pursue her infernal arts so successfully tried, repeat
her poisonings, and by her arts and poisons assail Agrippina and her
children; and, with the blood of that most miserable house, satiate the
worthy grandmother and uncle." In this mock trial two days were wasted;
Tiberius, all the while, animating the sons of Piso to defend their
mother: when the pleaders and witnesses had vigorously pushed the
charge, and no reply was made, commiseration prevailed over hatred. The
Consul Aurelius Cotta was first asked his opinion: for, when the Emperor
collected the voices, the magistrates likewise voted. Cotta's sentence
was, "that the name of Piso should be razed from the annals, part of
his estate forfeited, part granted to his son Cneius, upon changing that
name; his son Marcus be divested of his dignity, and content with fifty
thousand great sestertia, [Footnote: £42,000.] be banished for ten
years: and to Plancina, at the request of Livia, indemnity should be
granted."
Much of this sentence was abated by the Emperor; particularly that of
striking Piso's name out of the annals, when "that of Marc Anthony, who
made war upon his country; that of Julius Antonius, who had by adultery
violated the house of Augustus, continued still there." He also exempted
Marcus Piso from the ignominy of degradation, and left him his whole
paternal inheritance; for, as I have already often observed, he was to
the temptations of money incorruptible, and from the shame of having
acquitted Plancina, rendered then more than usually mild. He likewise
withstood the motion of Valerius Messalinus, "for erecting a golden
statue in the Temple of Mars the Avenger;" and that of Caecina Severus,
"for founding an altar to revenge." "Such monuments as these," he
argued, "were only fit to be raised upon foreign victories; domestic
evils were to be buried in sadness." Messalinus had added, "that to
Tiberius, Livia, Antonia, Agrippina and Drusus, public thanks were to be
rendered for having revenged the death of Germanicus;" but had omitted
to mention Claudius. Messalinus was asked by Lucius Asprenas, in the
presence of the Senate, "Whether by design he had omitted him?" and then
at last the name of Claudius was subjoined. To me, the more I revolve
the events of late or of old, the more of mockery and slipperiness
appears in all human wisdom and the transactions of men: for, in popular
fame, in the hopes, wishes and veneration of the public, all men were
rather destined to the Empire, than he for whom fortune then reserved
the sovereignty in the dark.
A few days after, Vitellius, Veranius and Servaeus, were by the Senate
preferred to the honours of the Priesthood, at the motion of Tiberius.
To Fulcinius he promised his interest and suffrage towards preferment,
but advised him "not to embarrass his eloquence by impetuosity." This
was the end of revenging the death of Germanicus; an affair ambiguously
related, not by those only who then lived and interested themselves in
it, but likewise the following times: so dark and intricate are all
the highest transactions; while some hold for certain facts, the most
precarious hearsays; others turn facts into falsehood; and both are
swallowed and improved by the credulity of posterity. Drusus went now
without the city, there to renew the ceremony of the auspices, and
presently re-entered in the triumph of _ovation_. A few days after died
Vipsania his mother; of all the children of Agrippa, the only one who
made a pacific end: the rest manifestly perished, or are believed to
have perished, by the sword, poison, or famine.
The qualifying of the Law Papia Poppaea was afterwards proposed; a law
which, to enforce those of Julius Caesar, Augustus had made when he was
old, for punishing celibacy and enriching the Exchequer. Nor even by
this means had marriages and children multiplied, while a passion to
live single and childless prevailed: but, in the meantime, the numbers
threatened and in danger by it increased daily, while by the glosses and
chicane of the impleaders every family was undone. So that, as before
the city laboured under the weight of crimes, so now under the pest of
laws. From this thought I am led backwards to the first rise of laws,
and to open the steps and causes by which we are arrived to the present
number and excess; a number infinite and perplexed.
The first race of men, free as yet from every depraved passion, lived
without guile and crimes, and therefore without chastisements or
restraints; nor was there occasion for rewards, when of their own accord
they pursued righteousness: and as they courted nothing contrary to
justice, they were debarred from nothing by terrors. But, after they
had abandoned their original equality, and from modesty and shame to do
evil, proceeded to ambition and violence; lordly dominion was introduced
and arbitrary rule, and in many nations grew perpetual. Some, either
from the beginning, or after they were surfeited with kings, preferred
the sovereignty of laws; which, agreeable to the artless minds of men,
were at first short and simple. The laws in most renown were those
framed for the Cretans by Minos; for the Spartans by Lycurgus; and
afterwards such as Solon delivered to the Athenians, now greater
in number and more exquisitely composed. To the Romans justice was
administered by Romulus according to his pleasure: after him,
Numa managed the people by religious devices and laws divine. Some
institutions were made by Tullus Hostilius, some by Ancus Martius; but
above all our laws were those founded by Servius Tullius; they were such
as even our kings were bound to obey.
Upon the expulsion of Tarquin; the people, for the security of their
freedom against the encroachment and factions of the Senate, and for
binding the public concord, prepared many ordinances: hence were created
the Decemviri, and by them were composed the twelve tables, out of a
collection of the most excellent institutions found abroad. The period
this of all upright and impartial laws. What laws followed, though
sometimes made against crimes and offenders, were yet chiefly made by
violence, through the animosity of the two Estates, and for seizing
unjustly withholden offices or continuing unjustly in them, or for
banishing illustrious patriots, and to other wicked ends. Hence the
Gracchi and Saturnini, inflamers of the people; and hence Drusus vying,
on behalf of the Senate, in popular concessions with these inflamers;
and hence the corrupt promises made to our Italian allies, promises
deceitfully made, or, by the interposition of some Tribune, defeated.
Neither during the war of Italy, nor during the civil war, was the
making of regulations discontinued; many and contradictory were even
then made. At last Sylla the Dictator, changing or abolishing the past,
added many of his own, and procured some respite in this matter, but
not long; for presently followed the turbulent pursuits and proposals of
Lepidus, and soon after were the Tribunes restored to their licentious
authority of throwing the people into combustions at pleasure. And
now laws were not made for the public only, but for particular men
particular laws; and corruption abounding in the Commonwealth, the
Commonwealth abounded in laws.
Pompey was, now in his third Consulship, chosen to correct the public
enormities; and his remedies proved to the State more grievous than its
distempers. He made laws such as suited his ambition, and broke them
when they thwarted his will; and lost by arms the regulations which by
arms he had procured. Henceforward for twenty years discord raged, and
there was neither law nor settlement; the most wicked found impunity
in the excess of their wickedness; and many virtuous men, in their
uprightness met destruction. At length, Augustus Caesar in his sixth
Consulship, then confirmed in power without a rival, abolished the
orders which during the Triumvirate he had established, and gave us laws
proper for peace and a single ruler. These laws had sanctions severer
than any heretofore known: as their guardians, informers were appointed,
who by the Law Papia Poppaea were encouraged with rewards, to watch
such as neglected the privileges annexed to marriage and fatherhood, and
consequently could claim no legacy or inheritance, the same, as vacant,
belonging to the Roman People, who were the public parent. But these
informers struck much deeper: by them the whole city, all Italy, and
the Roman citizens in every part of the Empire, were infested and
persecuted: numbers were stripped of their entire fortunes, and terror
had seized all; when Tiberius, for a check to this evil, chose twenty
noblemen, five who were formerly Consuls, five who were formerly
Praetors, with ten other Senators, to review that law. By them many of
its intricacies were explained, its strictness qualified; and hence some
present alleviation was yielded.
Tiberius about this time, to the Senate recommended Nero, one of the
sons of Germanicus, now seventeen years of age, and desired "that
he might be exempted from executing the office of the Vigintivirate,
[Footnote: Officers for distributing the public lands; for regulating
the mint, the roads, and the execution of criminals.] and have leave to
sue for the Quaestorship five years sooner than the laws directed."
A piece of mockery, this request to all who heard it: but, Tiberius
pretended "that the same concessions had been decreed to himself and his
brother Drusus, at the request of Augustus." Nor do I doubt, but there
were then such who secretly ridiculed that sort of petitions from
Augustus: such policy was however natural to that Prince, while he was
but yet laying the foundations of the Imperial power, and while the
Republic and its late laws were still fresh in the minds of men:
besides, the relation was lighter between Augustus and his wife's
sons, than between a grandfather and his grandsons. To the grant of the
Quaestorship was added a seat in the College of Pontiffs; and the first
day he entered the Forum in his manly robe, a donative of corn and
money was distributed to the populace, who exulted to behold a son of
Germanicus now of age. Their joy was soon heightened by his marriage
with Julia, the daughter of Drusus. But as these transactions were
attended with public applauses; so the intended marriage of the
daughter of Sejanus with the son of Claudius was received with popular
indignation. By this alliance the nobility of the Claudian house seemed
stained; and by it Sejanus, already suspected of aspiring views, was
lifted still higher.
At the end of this year died Lucius Volusius and Sallustius Crispus;
great and eminent men. The family of Volusius was ancient, but, in the
exercise of public offices, rose never higher than the Praetorship; it
was he, who honoured it with the Consulship: he was likewise created
Censor for modelling the classes of the equestrian order; and first
accumulated the wealth which gave that family such immense grandeur.
Crispus was born of an equestrian house, great nephew by a sister to
Caius Sallustius, the renowned Roman historian, and by him adopted: the
way to the great offices was open to him; but, in imitation of Maecenas,
he lived without the dignity of Senator, yet outwent in power many who
were distinguished with Consulships and triumphs: his manner of living,
his dress and daintiness were different from the ways of antiquity; and,
in expense and affluence, he bordered rather upon luxury. He possessed
however a vigour of spirit equal to great affairs, and exerted the
greater promptness for that he hid it in a show of indolence and
sloth: he was therefore, in the time of Maecenas, the next in favour,
afterwards chief confidant in all the secret counsels of Augustus and
Tiberius, and privy and consenting to the order for slaying Agrippa
Posthumus. In his old age he preserved with the Prince rather the
outside than the vitals of authority: the same had happened to Maecenas.
It is the fate of power, which is rarely perpetual; perhaps from satiety
on both sides, when Princes have no more to grant, and Ministers no more
to crave.
Next followed the Consulship of Tiberius and Drusus; to Tiberius the
fourth, to Drusus the second: a Consulship remarkable, for that in it
the father and son were colleagues. There was indeed the same fellowship
between Tiberius and Germanicus, two years before; but besides the
distastes of jealousy in the uncle, the ties of blood were not so near.
In the beginning of the year, Tiberius, on pretence of his health,
retired to Campania; either already meditating a long and perpetual
retirement; or to leave to Drusus, in his father's absence, the honour
of executing the Consulship alone: and there happened a thing which,
small in itself, yet as it produced mighty contestation, furnished
the young Consul with matter of popular affection. Domitius Corbulo,
formerly Praetor, complained to the Senate of Lucius Sylla, a noble
youth, "that in the show of gladiators, Sylla would not yield him
place." Age, domestic custom, and the ancient men were for Corbulo: on
the other side, Mamercus Scaurus, Lucius Arruntius, and others laboured
for their kinsman Sylla: warm speeches were made, and the examples
of our ancestors were urged, "who by severe decrees had censured
and restrained the irreverence of the youth." Drusus interposed with
arguments proper for calming animosities, and Corbulo had satisfaction
made him by Scaurus, who was to Sylla both father-in-law and uncle,
and the most copious orator of that age. The same Corbulo, exclaiming
against "the condition of most of the roads through Italy, that through
the fraud of the undertakers and negligence of the overseers, they were
broken and unpassable;" undertook of his own accord the cure of that
abuse; an undertaking which he executed not so much to the advantage
of the public as to the ruin of many private men in their fortunes and
reputation, by his violent mulcts and unjust judgments and forfeitures.
Upon this occasion Caecina Severus proposed, "that no magistrate should
go into any province accompanied by his wife." He introduced this motion
with a long preface, "that he lived with his own in perfect concord,
by her he had six children; and what he offered to the public he had
practised himself, having during forty years' service left her still
behind him, confined to Italy. It was not indeed, without cause,
established of old, that women should neither be carried by their
husbands into confederate nations nor foreign. A train of women
introduced luxury in peace, by their fears retarded war, and made a
Roman army resemble, in their march, a mixed host of barbarians. The
sex was not tender only and unfit for travel, but, if suffered, cruel,
aspiring, and greedy of authority: they even marched amongst the
soldiers, and were obeyed by the officers. A woman had lately presided
at the exercises of the troops, and at the decursions of the legions.
The Senate themselves might remember, that as often as any of the
magistrates were charged with plundering the provinces, their wives were
always engaged in the guilt. To the ladies, the most profligate in
the province applied; by them all affairs were undertaken, by them
transacted: at home two distinct courts were kept, and abroad the wife
had her distinct train and attendance. The ladies, too, issued distinct
orders, but more imperious and better obeyed. Such feminine excesses
were formerly restrained by the Oppian, and other laws; but now these
restraints were violated, women ruled all things, their families, the
Forum, and even the armies."
This speech was heard by few with approbation, and many proclaimed
their dissent; "for, that neither was that the point in debate, nor was
Caecina considerable enough to censure so weighty an affair." He was
presently answered by Valerius Messalinus, who was the son of Messala,
and inherited a sparkling of his father's eloquence: "that many rigorous
institutions of the ancients were softened and changed for the better:
for, neither was Rome now, as of old, beset with wars, nor Italy with
hostile provinces; and a few concessions were made to the conveniences
of women, who were so far from burdening the provinces, that to their
own husbands there they were no burden. As to honours, attendance and
expense, they enjoyed them in common with their husbands, who could
receive no embarrassment from their company in time of peace. To war
indeed we must go equipped and unencumbered; but after the fatigues of
war, what was more allowable than the consolations of a wife? But it
seemed the wives of some magistrates had given a loose to ambition and
avarice. And were the magistrates themselves free from these excesses?
were not most of them governed by many exorbitant appetites? did we
therefore send none into the provinces? It was added, that the husbands
were corrupted by their corrupt wives: and were therefore all single
men uncorrupt? The Oppian Laws were once thought necessary, because the
exigencies of the State required their severity: they were afterwards
relaxed and mollified, because that too was expedient for the State.
In vain we covered our own sloth with borrowed names: if the wife broke
bounds, the husband ought to bear the blame. It was moreover unjustly
judged, for the weak and uxorious spirit of one or a few, to bereave all
others of the fellowship of their wives, the natural partners of their
prosperity and distress. Besides, the sex, weak by nature, would be left
defenceless, exposed to the luxurious bent of their native passions,
and a prey to the allurements of adulterers: scarce under the eye and
restraint of the husband was the marriage bed preserved inviolate: what
must be the consequence, when by an absence of many years, the ties
of marriage would be forgot, forgot as it were in a divorce? It became
them, therefore, so to cure the evils abroad as not to forget the
enormities at Rome." To this Drusus added somewhat concerning his own
wedlock. "Princes," he said, "were frequently obliged to visit the
remote parts of the Empire: how often did the deified Augustus travel
to the East, how often to the West, still accompanied with Livia?
He himself too had taken a progress to Illyricum, and, if it were
expedient, was ready to visit other nations; but not always with an easy
spirit, if he were to be torn from his dear wife, her by whom he had so
many children." Thus was Caecina's motion eluded.
When the Senate met next, they had a letter from Tiberius. In it he
affected to chide the fathers, "that upon him they cast all public
cares;" and named them M. Lepidus and Junius Blesus, to choose
either for Proconsul of Africa. They were then both heard as to this
nomination: Lepidus excused himself with earnestness; he pleaded "his
bodily frailty, the tender age of his children, and a daughter fit for
marriage." There was another reason too, of which he said nothing; but
it was easily understood: Blesus was uncle to Sejanus, and therefore
had the prevailing interest. Blesus too made a show of refusing, but
not with the like positiveness, and was heard with partiality by the
flatterers of power.
The same year the cities of Gaul, stimulated by their excessive debts,
began a rebellion. The most vehement incendiaries were Julius Florus and
Julius Sacrovir; the first amongst those of Treves, the second amongst
the Aeduans. They were both distinguished by their nobility, and by the
good services of their ancestors, who thence had acquired of old the
right of Roman citizens; a privilege rare in those days, and then only
the prize of virtue. When by secret meetings, they had gained those
who were most prompt to rebel; with such as were desperate through
indigence, or, from guilt of past crimes, forced to commit more; they
agreed that Florus should begin the insurrection in Belgia; Sacrovir
amongst the neighbouring Gauls. In order to this, they had many
consultations and cabals, where they uttered seditious harangues; they
urged "their tribute without end, their devouring usury, the pride and
cruelty of their Governors: that they had now a glorious opportunity
to recover their liberty; for that since the report of the murder
of Germanicus, discord had seized the Roman soldiery: they need only
consider their own strength and numbers; while Italy was poor and
exhausted; the Roman populace weak and unwarlike, the Roman armies
destitute of all vigour but that derived from foreigners."
Scarce one city remained untainted with the seeds of this rebellion; but
it first broke at Angiers and Tours. The former were reduced by Acilius
Aviola, a legate, with the assistance of a cohort drawn from the
garrison at Lyons. Those of Tours were suppressed by the same Aviola,
assisted with a detachment sent from the legions, by Visellius Varro,
lieutenant-governor of lower Germany. Some of the chiefs of the Gauls
had likewise joined him with succours, the better to disguise their
defection, and to push it with more effect hereafter. Even Sacrovir
was beheld engaged in fight for the Romans, with his head bare, a
_demonstration_, he pretended, _of his bravery_; but the prisoners
averred, that "he did it to be known to his countrymen, and to escape
their darts."
An account of all this was laid before Tiberius, who slighted it, and
by hesitation fostered the war. Florus the while pushed his designs, and
tried to debauch a regiment of horse, levied at Treves, and kept under
our pay and discipline: he would have engaged them to begin the war, by
putting to the sword the Roman merchants; and some few were corrupted,
but the body remained in their allegiance. A rabble however, of his own
followers and desperate debtors, took arms and were making to the forest
of Arden, when the legions sent from both armies by Visellius and Caius
Silius, through different routes to intercept them, marred their march:
and Julius Indus, one of the same country with Florus, at enmity with
him, and therefore more eager to engage him, was despatched forward with
a chosen band, and broke the ill-appointed multitude. Florus by lurking
from place to place, frustrated the search of the conquerors: but at
last, when he saw all the passes beset with soldiers, he fell by his own
hands. This was the issue of the insurrection at Treves.
Amongst the Aeduans the revolt was stronger, as much stronger as the
state was more opulent; and the forces to suppress it were to be brought
from afar. Augustodunum, [Footnote: Autun.] the capital of the nation,
was seized by Sacrovir, and in it all the noble youth of Gaul, who were
there instructed in the liberal arts. By securing these pledges he aimed
to bind in his interest their parents and relations; and at the same
time distributed to the young men the arms, which he had caused to be
secretly made. He had forty thousand men, the fifth part armed like
our legions, the rest with poles, hangers, and other weapons used
by hunters. To the number were added such of the slaves as had been
appointed to be gladiators; these were covered, after the fashion of the
country, with a continued armour of iron; and styled _Crupellarii_;
a sort of militia unwieldy at exercising their own weapons, and
impenetrable by those of others. These forces were still increased by
volunteers from the neighbouring cities, where, though the public
body did not hitherto avow the revolt, yet the zeal of particulars was
manifest: they had likewise leisure to increase from the contention of
the two Roman generals; a contention for some time undecided, while
each demanded the command in that war. At length Varro, old and infirm,
yielded to the superior vigour of Silius.
Now at Rome, "not only the insurrection of Treves and of the Aeduans,
but likewise, that threescore and four cities of Gaul had revolted; that
the Germans had joined in the revolt, and that Spain fluctuated;" were
reports all believed with the usual aggravations of fame. The best men
grieved in sympathy for their country: many from hatred of the present
government and thirst of change, rejoiced in their own perils: they
inveighed against Tiberius, "that in such a mighty uproar of rebellion,
he was only employed in perusing the informations of the State
accusers." They asked, "did he mean to surrender Julius Sacrovir to the
Senate, to try him for treason?" They exulted, "that there were at last
found men, who would with arms restrain his bloody orders for private
murders." And declared "that even war was a happy change for a most
wretched peace." So much the more for this, Tiberius affected to appear
wrapped up in security and unconcern; he neither changed place nor
countenance, but behaved himself at that time as at other times; whether
from elevation of mind, or whether he had learned that the state of
things was not alarming, and only heightened by vulgar representation.
Silius the while sending forward a band of auxiliaries, marched with two
legions, and in his march ravaged the villages of the Sequanians,
next neighbours to the Aeduans, and their associates in arms. He then
advanced towards Augustodunum; a hasty march, the standard-bearers
mutually vying in expedition, and the common men breathing ardour and
eagerness: they desired, "that no time might be wasted in the usual
refreshments, none of their nights in sleep; let them only see and
confront the foe: they wanted no more, to be victorious." Twelve miles
from Augustodunum, Sacrovir appeared with his forces upon the plains:
in the front he had placed the iron troop; his cohorts in the wings; the
half-armed in the rear: he himself, upon a fine horse, attended by the
other chiefs, addressed himself to them from rank to rank; he reminded
them "of the glorious achievements of the ancient Gauls; of the
victorious mischiefs they had brought upon the Romans; of the liberty
and renown attending victory; of their redoubled and intolerable
servitude, if once more vanquished."
A short speech; and an unattentive, and disheartened audience! For, the
embattled legions approached; and the crowd of townsmen, ill appointed
and novices in war, stood astonished, bereft of the present use of eyes
and hearing. On the other side, Silius, though he presumed the victory,
and thence might have spared exhortations, yet called to his men, "that
they might be with reason ashamed that they, the conquerors of Germany,
should be thus led against a rabble of Gauls as against an equal enemy:
one cohort had newly defeated the rebels of Tours; one regiment of
horse, those of Treves; a handful of this very army had routed the
Sequanians: the present Aeduans, as they are more abounding in wealth,
as they wallow more in voluptuousness, are by so much more soft and
unwarlike: this is what you are now to prove, and your task to prevent
their escape." His words were returned with a mighty cry. Instantly the
horse surrounded the foe; the foot attacked their front, and the wings
were presently routed: the iron band gave some short obstruction, as
the bars of their coats withstood the strokes of sword and pike: but the
soldiers had recourse to their hatchets and pick-axes; and, as if they
had battered a wall, hewed their bodies and armour: others with clubs,
and some with forks, beat down the helpless lumps, who as they lay
stretched along, without one struggle to rise, were left for dead.
Sacrovir fled first to Augustodunum; and thence, fearful of being
surrendered, to a neighbouring town, accompanied by his most faithful
adherents. There he slew himself; and the rest, one another: having
first set the town on fire, by which they were all consumed.
Now at last Tiberius wrote to the Senate about this war, and at once
acquainted them with its rise and conclusion, neither aggravating facts
nor lessening them; but added "that it was conducted by the fidelity
and bravery of his lieutenants, guided by his counsels." He likewise
assigned the reasons why neither he, nor Drusus, went to that war;
"that the Empire was an immense body; and it became not the dignity of
a Prince, upon the revolt of one or two towns, to desert the capital,
whence motion was derived to the whole: but since the alarm was over, he
would visit those nations and settle them." The Senate decreed vows
and supplications for his return, with other customary honours.
Only Cornelius Dolabella, while he strove to outdo others, fell into
ridiculous sycophancy, and moved "that from Campania he should enter
Rome in the triumph of ovation." This occasioned a letter from Tiberius:
in it he declared, "he was not so destitute of glory, that after having
in his youth subdued the fiercest nations, and enjoyed or slighted so
many triumphs, he should now in his old age seek empty honours from a
short progress about the suburbs of Rome."
Caius Sulpitius and Decimus Haterius were the following Consuls. Their
year was exempt from disturbances abroad; but at home some severe blow
was apprehended against luxury, which prevailed monstrously in all
things that create a profusion of money. But as the more pernicious
articles of expense were covered by concealing their prices; therefore
from the excesses of the table, which were become the common subject of
daily animadversion, apprehensions were raised of some rigid correction
from a Prince, who observed himself the ancient parsimony. For, Caius
Bibulus having begun the complaint, the other Aediles took it up, and
argued "that the sumptuary laws were despised; the pomp and expense of
plate and entertainments, in spite of restraints, increased daily,
and by moderate penalties were not to be stopped." This grievance thus
represented to the Senate, was by them referred entire to the Emperor.
Tiberius having long weighed with himself whether such an abandoned
propensity to prodigality could be stemmed; whether the stemming it
would not bring heavier evils upon the public; how dishonourable it
would be to attempt what could not be effected, or at least effected by
the disgrace of the nobility, and by the subjecting illustrious men to
infamous punishments; wrote at last to the Senate in this manner:
"In other matters, Conscript Fathers, perhaps it might be more expedient
for you to consult me in the Senate; and for me to declare there, what I
judge for the public weal: but in the debate of this affair, it was best
that my eyes were withdrawn; lest, while you marked the countenances and
terror of particulars charged with scandalous luxury, I too should have
observed them, and, as it were, caught them in it. Had the vigilant
Aediles first asked counsel of me, I know not whether I should not have
advised them rather to have passed by potent and inveterate corruptions,
than only make it manifest, what enormities are an overmatch for us:
but they in truth have done their duty, as I would have all other
magistrates fulfil theirs. But for myself, it is neither commendable
to be silent; nor does it belong to my station to speak out; since I
neither bear the character of an Aedile, nor of a Praetor, nor of a
Consul: something still greater and higher is required of a Prince.
Every one is ready to assume to himself the credit of whatever is well
done, while upon the Prince alone are thrown the miscarriages of all.
But what is it, that I am first to prohibit, what excess retrench to the
ancient standard? Am I to begin with that of our country seats, spacious
without bounds; and with the number of domestics, a number distributed
into nations in private families? or with the quantity of plate, silver,
and gold? or with the pictures, and works, and statues of brass, the
wonders of art? or with the gorgeous vestments, promiscuously worn by
men and women? or with what is peculiar to the women, those precious
stones, for the purchase of which our corn is carried into foreign and
hostile nations.
"I am not ignorant that at entertainments and in conversation, these
excesses are censured, and a regulation is required: and yet if an equal
law were made, if equal penalties were prescribed, these very censurers
would loudly complain, _that the State was utterly overturned, that
snares and destruction were prepared for every illustrious house, that
no men could be guiltless, and all men would be the prey of informers_.
And yet bodily diseases grown inveterate and strengthened by time,
cannot be checked but by medicines rigid and violent: it is the same
with the soul: the sick and raging soul, itself corrupted and scattering
its corruption, is not to be qualified but by remedies equally strong
with its own flaming lusts. So many laws made by our ancestors, so many
added by the deified Augustus; the former being lost in oblivion, and
(which is more heinous) the latter in contempt, have only served to
render luxury more secure. When we covet a thing yet unforbid, we are
apt to fear that it may be forbid; but when once we can with impunity
and defiance overleap prohibited bounds, there remains afterwards nor
fear nor shame. How therefore did parsimony prevail of old? It was
because, every one was a law to himself; it was because we were then
only masters of one city: nor afterwards, while our dominion was
confined only to Italy, had we found the same instigations to
voluptuousness. By foreign conquests, we learned to waste the property
of others; and in the Civil Wars, to consume our own. What a mighty
matter is it that the Aediles remonstrate! how little to be weighed in
the balance with others? It is wonderful that nobody represents, that
Italy is in constant want of foreign supplies; that the lives of the
Roman People are daily at the mercy of uncertain seas and of tempests:
were it not for our supports from the provinces; supports, by which the
masters, and their slaves, and their estates, are maintained; would
our own groves and villas maintain us? This care therefore, Conscript
Fathers, is the business of the Prince; and by the neglect of this
care, the foundations of the State would be dissolved. The cure of other
defects depends upon our own private spirits: some of us, shame will
reclaim; necessity will mend the poor; satiety the rich. Or if any of
the Magistrates, from a confidence of his own firmness and perseverance,
will undertake to stem the progress of so great an evil; he has both
my praises, and my acknowledgment, that he discharges me of part of my
fatigues: but if such will only impeach corruptions, and when they have
gained the glory, would leave upon me the indignation (indignation of
their own raising); believe me, Conscript Fathers, I am not fond of
bearing resentments: I already suffer many for the Commonwealth; many
that are grievous and almost all unjust; and therefore with reason I
intreat that I may not be loaded with such as are wantonly and vainly
raised, and promise no advantage to you nor to me."
The Senate, upon reading the Emperor's letter, released the Aediles
from this pursuit: and the luxury of the table which, from the battle
of Actium till the revolution made by Galba, flowed, for the space of an
hundred years, in all profusion; at last gradually declined. The causes
of this change are worth knowing. Formerly the great families, great in
nobility or abounding in riches, were carried away with a passion for
magnificence: for even then it was allowed to court the good graces of
the Roman People, with the favour of kings, and confederate nations; and
to be courted by them: so that each was distinguished by the lustre
of popularity and dependances, in proportion to his affluence, the
splendour of his house, and the figure he made. But after Imperial fury
had long raged in the slaughter of the Grandees, and the greatness of
reputation was become the sure mark of destruction; the rest grew wiser:
besides, new men frequently chosen Senators from the municipal towns,
from the colonies, and even from the provinces, brought into the Senate
their own domestic parsimony; and though, by fortune or industry, many
of them grew wealthy as they grew old, yet their former frugal spirit
continued. But above all, Vespasian proved the promoter of thrifty
living, being himself the pattern of ancient economy in his person
and table: hence the compliance of the public with the manners of the
Prince, and an emulation to practise them; an incitement more prevalent
than the terrors of laws and all their penalties. Or perhaps all human
things go a certain round; and, as in the revolutions of time, there are
also vicissitudes in manners: nor indeed have our ancestors excelled
us in all things; our own age has produced many excellences worthy of
praise and the imitation of posterity. Let us still preserve this strife
in virtue with our forefathers.
Tiberius having gained the fame of moderation; because, by rejecting the
project for reforming luxury, he had disarmed the growing hopes of the
accusers; wrote to the Senate, to desire the _Tribunitial Power_ for
Drusus. Augustus had devised this title, as best suiting the unbounded
height of his views; while avoiding the odious name of _King_ or
_Dictator_, he was yet obliged to use some particular appellation,
under it to control all other powers in the State. He afterwards assumed
Marcus Agrippa into a fellowship in it; and, upon his death, Tiberius;
that none might doubt, who was to be his successor. By this means, he
conceived, he should defeat the aspiring views of others: besides, he
confided in the moderation of Tiberius, and in the mightiness of his own
authority. By his example, Tiberius now advanced Drusus to the supreme
Magistracy; whereas, while Germanicus yet lived, he acted without
distinction towards both. In the beginning of his letter he besought the
Gods "that by his counsels the Republic might prosper," and then added
a modest testimony concerning the qualities and behaviour of the young
Prince, without aggravation or false embellishments; "that he had a wife
and three children, and was of the same age with himself, when called
by the deified Augustus to that office: that Drusus was not now by him
adopted a partner in the toils of government, precipitately; but after
eight years' experience made of his qualifications; after seditions
suppressed, wars concluded, the honour of triumph, and two Consulships."
The Senators had foreseen this address; hence they received it with the
more elaborate adulation. However, they could devise nothing to decree,
but "statues to the two Princes, altars to the Gods, arches," and other
usual honours: only that Marcus Silanus strove to honour the Princes by
the disgrace of the Consulship: he proposed "that all records public and
private should, for their date, be inscribed no more with the names
of the Consuls, but of those who exercised the Tribunitial power." But
Haterius Agrippa, by moving to have "the decrees of that day engraved
in letters of gold, and hung up in the Senate," became an object of
derision; for that, as he was an ancient man, he could reap from his
most abominable flattery no other fruit but that of infamy.
Tiberius, while he fortified the vitals of his own domination, afforded
the Senate a shadow of their ancient jurisdiction; by referring to their
examination petitions and claims from the provinces. For there had now
prevailed amongst the Greek cities a latitude of instituting sanctuaries
at pleasure. Hence the temples were filled with the most profligate
fugitive slaves: here debtors found protection against their creditors;
and hither were admitted such as were pursued for capital crimes. Nor
was any force of Magistracy or laws sufficient to bridle the mad zeal
of the people, who confounding the sacred villainies of men with
the worship peculiar to the Gods, seditiously defended these profane
sanctuaries. It was therefore ordered that these cities should send
deputies to represent their claims. Some of the cities voluntarily
relinquished the nominal privileges, which they had arbitrarily assumed:
many confided in their rights; a confidence grounded on the antiquity of
their superstitions, or on the merits of their kind offices to the Roman
People. Glorious to the Senate was the appearance of that day, when
the grants from our ancestors, the engagements of our confederates, the
ordinances of kings, such kings who had reigned as yet independent of
the Roman power; and when even the sacred worship of the Gods were now
all subjected to their inspection, and their judgment free, as of old,
to ratify or abolish with absolute power.
First of all the Ephesians applied. They alleged, that "Diana and Apollo
were not, according to the credulity of the vulgar, born at Delos: in
their territory flowed the river Cenchris; where also stood the Ortygian
Grove: there the big-bellied Latona, leaning upon an olive tree, which
even then remained, was delivered of these deities; and thence by their
appointment the Grove became sacred. Thither Apollo himself, after his
slaughter of the Cyclops, retired for a sanctuary from the wrath of
Jupiter: soon after, the victorious Bacchus pardoned the suppliant
Amazons, who sought refuge at the altar of Diana: by the concession of
Hercules, when he reigned in Lydia, her temple was dignified with an
augmentation of immunities; nor during the Persian monarchy were they
abridged: they were next maintained by the Macedonians, and then by us."
The Magnesians next asserted their claim, founded on an establishment
of Lucius Scipio, confirmed by another of Sylla: the former after the
defeat of Antiochus; the latter after that of Mithridates, having, as
a testimony of the faith and bravery of the Magnesians, dignified their
temple of the Leucophrynaean Diana with the privileges of an inviolable
sanctuary. After them, the Aphrodisians and Stratoniceans produced a
grant from Caesar the Dictator, for their early services to his party;
and another lately from Augustus, with a commendation inserted,
"that with zeal unshaken towards the Roman People, they had borne the
irruption of the Parthians." But these two people adored different
deities: Aphrodisium was a city devoted to Venus; that of Stratonicea
maintained the worship of Jupiter and of Diana Trivia. Those of
Hierocaesarea exhibited claims of higher antiquity, "that they possessed
the Persian Diana, and her temple consecrated by King Cyrus." They
likewise pleaded the authorities of Perpenna, Isauricus, and of many
more Roman captains, who had allowed the same sacred immunity not to
the temple only, but to a precinct two miles round it. Those of Cyprus
pleaded right of sanctuary to three of their temples: the most ancient
founded by Aerias to the Paphian Venus; another by his son Amathus to
the Amathusian Venus; the third to the Salaminian Jupiter by Teucer, the
son of Telamon, when he fled from the fury of his father.
The deputies too of other cities were heard. But the Senate tired with
so many, and because there was a contention begun amongst particular
parties for particular cities; gave power to the Consuls "to search into
the validity of their several pretensions, and whether in them no fraud
was interwoven;" with orders "to lay the whole matter once more before
the Senate." The Consuls reported that, besides the cities already
mentioned, "they had found the temple of AEsculapius at Pergamus to be a
genuine sanctuary: the rest claimed upon originals, from the darkness of
antiquity, altogether obscure. Smyrna particularly pleaded an oracle
of Apollo, in obedience to which they had dedicated a temple to Venus
Stratonices; as did the Isle of Tenos an oracular order from the same
God, to erect to Neptune a statue and temple. Sardis urged a later
authority, namely, a grant from the Great Alexander; and Miletus
insisted on one from King Darius: as to the deities of these two cities;
one worshipped Diana; the other, Apollo. And Crete too demanded the
privilege of sanctuary, to a statue of the deified Augustus." Hence
diverse orders of Senate were made, by which, though great reverence
was expressed towards the deities, yet the extent of the sanctuaries was
limited; and the several people were enjoined "to hang up in each
temple the present decree engraven in brass, as a sacred memorial, and a
restraint against their lapsing, under the colour of religion, into the
abuses and claims of superstition."
At the same time, a vehement distemper having seized Livia, obliged the
Emperor to hasten his return to Rome; seeing hitherto the mother and son
lived in apparent unanimity; or perhaps mutually disguised their hate:
for, not long before, Livia, having dedicated a statue to the deified
Augustus, near the theatre of Marcellus, had the name of Tiberius
inscribed after her own. This he was believed to have resented
heinously, as a degrading the dignity of the Prince; but to have buried
his resentment under dark dissimulation. Upon this occasion, therefore,
the Senate decreed "supplications to the Gods; with the celebration of
the greater Roman games, under the direction of the Pontifs, the Augurs,
the College of Fifteen, assisted by the College of Seven, and the
Fraternity of Augustal Priests." Lucius Apronius had moved, that "with
the rest might preside the company of heralds." Tiberius opposed it; he
distinguished between the jurisdiction of the priests and theirs; "for
that at no time had the heralds arrived to so much pre-eminence: but
for the Augustal Fraternity, they were therefore added, because they
exercised a priesthood peculiar to that family for which the present
vows and solemnities were made," It is no part of my purpose to
trace all the votes of particular men, unless they are memorable for
integrity, or for notorious infamy: this I conceive to be the principal
duty of an historian, that he suppress no instance of virtue; and that
by the dread of future infamy and the censures of posterity, men may be
deterred from detestable actions and prostitute speeches. In short,
such was the abomination of those times, so prevailing the contagion
of flattery, that not only the first nobles, whose obnoxious splendour
found protection only in obsequiousness; but all who had been Consuls,
a great part of such as had been Praetors, and even many of the
unregistered Senators, strove for priority in the vileness and excess
of their votes. There is a tradition, that Tiberius, as often as he went
out of the Senate, was wont to cry out in Greek, _Oh men prepared for
bondage!_ Yes, even Tiberius, he who could not bear public liberty,
nauseated this prostitute tameness of slaves.