A.D. 23-28.
When Caius Asinius and Caius Antistius were Consuls, Tiberius was in
his ninth year; the State composed, and his family flourishing (for the
death of Germanicus he reckoned amongst the incidents of his prosperity)
when suddenly fortune began to grow boisterous, and he himself to
tyrannise, or to furnish others with the weapons of tyranny. The
beginning and cause of this turn arose from Aelius Sejanus, captain of
the Praetorian cohorts. Of his power I have above made mention; I shall
now explain his original, his manners, and by what black deeds he strove
to snatch the sovereignty. He was born at Vulsinii, son to Sejus Strabo,
a Roman knight; in his early youth, he was a follower of Caius Caesar
(grandson of Augustus) and lay then under the contumely of having
for hire exposed himself to the constupration of Apicius; a debauchee
wealthy and profuse: next by various artifices he so enchanted Tiberius,
that he who to all others was dark and unsearchable, became to Sejanus
alone destitute of all restraint and caution: nor did he so much
accomplish this by any superior efforts of policy (for at his own
stratagems he was vanquished by others) as by the rage of the Gods
against the Roman State, to which he proved alike destructive when he
flourished and when he fell. His person was hardy and equal to fatigues;
his spirit daring but covered; sedulous to disguise his own counsels,
dexterous to blacken others; alike fawning and imperious; to appearance
exactly modest; but in his heart fostering the lust of domination; and,
with this view, engaged at one time in profusion, largesses, and luxury;
and again, often laid out in application and vigilance; qualities
no less pernicious, when personated by ambition for the acquiring of
Empire.
The authority of his command over the guards, which was but moderate
before his time, he extended, by gathering into one camp all the
Praetorian cohorts then dispersed over the city; that thus united, they
might all at once receive his orders, and by continually beholding their
own numbers and strength, conceive confidence in themselves and prove
a terror to all other men. He pretended, "that the soldiers, while they
lived scattered, lived loose and debauched; that when gathered into a
body, there could, in any hasty emergency, be more reliance upon their
succour; and that when encamped, remote from the allurements of the
town, they would in their discipline be more exact and severe." When the
encampment was finished, he began gradually to allure the affections of
the soldiers, by all the ways of affability, court, and familiarity: it
was he too who chose the Centurions, he who chose the Tribunes.
Neither in his pursuits of ambition did the Senate escape him; but
by distinguishing his followers in it with offices and provinces,
he cultivated power and a party there: for, to all this Tiberius
was entirely resigned; and even so passionate for him, that not in
conversation only, but in public, in his speeches to the Senate and
people, he treated and extolled him, as _the sharer of his burdens_;
nay, allowed his effigies to be publicly adored, in the several
theatres, in all places of popular convention, and even amongst the
Eagles of the legions.
But to his designs were many retardments: the Imperial house was full
of Caesars; the Emperor's son a grown man, and his grandsons of age: and
because the cutting them off all at once, was dangerous; the treason he
meditated, required a gradation of murders. He however chose the darkest
method, and to begin with Drusus; against whom he was transported with
a fresh motive of rage. For, Drusus impatient of a rival, and in his
temper inflammable, had upon some occasional contest, shaken his fist at
Sejanus, and, as he prepared to resist, given him a blow on the face.
As he therefore cast about for every expedient of revenge, the readiest
seemed to apply to Livia his wife: she was the sister of Germanicus, and
from an uncomely person in her childhood, grew afterwards to excel in
loveliness. As his passion for this lady was vehement, he tempted her to
adultery, and having fulfilled the first iniquity (nor will a woman, who
has sacrificed her chastity, stick at any other) he carried her greater
lengths, to the views of marriage, a partnership in the Empire, and
even the murder of her husband. Thus she, the niece of Augustus, the
daughter-in-law of Tiberius, the mother of children by Drusus, defiled
herself, her ancestors, and her posterity, with a municipal adulterer;
and all to exchange an honourable condition possessed, for pursuits
flagitious and uncertain. Into a fellowship in the guilt was assumed
Eudemus, physician to Livia; and, under colour of his profession,
frequently with her in private. Sejanus too, to avoid the jealousy of
the adulteress, discharged from his bed Apicata his wife, her by whom he
had three children. But still the mightiness of the iniquity terrified
them, and thence created caution, delays, and frequently opposite
counsels.
During this, in the beginning of the year, Drusus one of the sons of
Germanicus, put on the manly robe; and upon him the Senate conferred the
same honours decreed before to his brother Nero. A speech was added by
Tiberius with a large encomium upon his son, "that with the tenderness
of a father he used the children of his brother." For, Drusus, however
rare it be for power and unanimity to subsist together, was esteemed
benevolent, certainly not ill-disposed, towards these youths. Now again
was revived by Tiberius the proposal of a progress into the Provinces;
a stale proposal, always hollow, but often feigned. He pretended "the
multitude of veterans discharged, and thence the necessity of recruiting
the armies; that volunteers were wanting, or if already such there were,
they were chiefly the necessitous and vagabonds, and destitute of the
like modesty and courage." He likewise cursorily recounted the number of
the legions, and what countries they defended: a detail which I think
it behoves me also to repeat; that thence may appear what was then the
complement of the Roman forces, what kings their confederates, and how
much more narrow the limits of the Empire.
Italy was on each side guarded by two fleets; one at Misenum, one at
Ravenna; and the coast joining to Gaul, by the galleys taken by Augustus
at the battle of Actium, and sent powerfully manned to Forojulium.
[Footnote: Fréjus.] But the chief strength lay upon the Rhine; they
were eight legions, a common guard upon the Germans and the Gauls.
The reduction of Spain, lately completed, was maintained by three.
Mauritania was possessed by King Juba; a realm which he held as a gift
from the Roman People: the rest of Africa by two legions; and Egypt by
the like number. Four legions kept in subjection all the mighty range
of country, extending from the next limits of Syria, as far as the
Euphrates, and bordering upon the Iberians, Albanians, and other
Principalities, who by our might are protected against Foreign Powers.
Thrace was held by Rhoemetalces, and the sons of Cotys; and both banks
of the Danube by four legions; two in Pannonia, two in Moesia. In
Dalmatia likewise were placed two; who, by the situation of the country,
were at hand to support the former, and had not far to march into
Italy, were any sudden succours required there: though Rome too had her
peculiar soldiery; three city cohorts, and nine Praetorian, enlisted
chiefly out of Etruria and Umbria, or from the ancient Latium and the
old Roman colonies. In the several Provinces, besides, were disposed,
according to their situation and necessity, the fleets of the several
confederates, with their squadrons and battalions; a number of forces
not much different from all the rest: but the particular detail would be
uncertain; since, according to the exigency of times, they often shifted
stations, with numbers sometimes enlarged, sometimes reduced.
It will, I believe, fall in properly here to review also the other parts
of the Administration, and by what measures it was hitherto conducted,
till with the beginning of this year the Government of Tiberius began to
wax worse. First then, all public, and every private business of moment,
was determined by the Senate: to the great men he allowed liberty of
debate: those who in their debates lapsed into flattery, he checked:
in conferring preferments, he was guided by merit, by ancient nobility,
renown in war abroad, by civil accomplishments at home; insomuch that it
was manifest, his choice could not have been better. There remained to
the Consuls, there remained to the Praetors the useful marks of their
dignities; to inferior magistrates the independent exercise of their
charges; and the laws, where the power of the Prince was not concerned,
were in proper force. The tributes, duties, and all public receipts,
were directed by companies of Roman knights: the management of his own
revenue he committed only to those of the most noted qualifications;
mostly known by himself, and to some known by reputation alone: and when
once taken, they were continued, without all restriction of term;
since most grew old in the same employments. The populace were indeed
aggrieved by the dearth of provisions; but without any fault of the
Prince: nay, he spared no possible expense nor pains to remedy the
effects of barrenness in the earth, and of wrecks at sea. He provided
that the Provinces should not be oppressed with new impositions; and
that no extortion, or violence should be committed by the magistrates
in raising the old: there were no infamous corporal punishments, no
confiscations of goods.
The Emperor's possessions through Italy, were thin; the behaviour of
his slaves modest; the freedmen who managed his house, few; and in his
disputes with particulars, the courts were open and the law equal. All
which restraints he observed, not, in truth, in the ways of complaisance
and popularity; but always stern, and for the most part terrible; yet
still he retained them, till by the death of Drusus they were abandoned:
for, while he lived they continued; because Sejanus, while he was but
laying the foundations of his power, studied to recommend himself
by good counsels. He then had besides, an avenger to dread, one who
disguised not his enmity, but was frequent in his complaints; "that
when the son was in his prime, another was called, as coadjutor, to the
Government; nay, how little was wanting to his being declared colleague
in the Empire? That the first advances to sovereignty are steep and
perilous; but, once you are entered, parties and instruments are
ready to espouse you. Already a camp for the guards was formed, by the
pleasure and authority of the captain: into whose hands the soldiers
were delivered: in the theatre of Pompey his statue was beheld: in
his grandchildren would be mixed the blood of the Drusi with that of
Sejanus. After all this what remained but to supplicate his modesty to
rest contented." Nor was it rarely that he uttered these disgusts,
nor to a few; besides, his wife being debauched, all his secrets were
betrayed.
Sejanus therefore judging it time to despatch, chose such a poison as by
operating gradually, might preserve the appearances of a casual disease.
This was administered to Drusus by Lygdus the eunuch, as, eight years
after, was learnt. Now during all the days of his illness, Tiberius
disclosed no symptoms of anguish (perhaps from ostentation of a firmness
of spirit) nay, when he had expired, and while he was yet unburied, he
entered the Senate; and finding the Consuls placed upon a common seat,
as a testimony of their grief; he admonished them of their dignity and
station: and as the Senators burst into tears, he smothered his rising
sighs, and, by a speech uttered without hesitation, animated them. "He,
in truth, was not ignorant," he said, "that he might be censured,
for having thus in the first throbs of sorrow, beheld the face of the
Senate; when most of those who feel the fresh pangs of mourning, can
scarce endure the soothings of their kindred, scarce behold the day:
neither were such to be condemned of weakness: but for himself, he
had more powerful consolations; such as arose from embracing the
Commonwealth, and pursuing her welfare." He then lamented "the extreme
age of his mother, the tender years of his grandsons, his own days in
declension;" and desired that, "as the only alleviation of the present
evils, the children of Germanicus might be introduced." The Consuls
therefore went for them, and having with kind words fortified their
young minds, presented them to the Emperor. He took them by the hand
and said, "Conscript Fathers, these infants, bereft of their father, I
committed to their uncle; and besought him that, though he had issue
of his own, he would rear and nourish them no otherwise than as the
immediate offspring of his blood; that he would appropriate them as
stays to himself and posterity. Drusus being snatched from us, to you I
address the same prayers; and in the presence of the Gods, in the face
of your country, I adjure you, receive into your protection, take under
your tuition the great-grandchildren of Augustus; children, descended
from ancestors the most glorious in the State: towards them fulfil your
own, fulfil my duty. To you, Nero; to you, Drusus, these Senators are in
the stead of a father; and such is the situation of your birth, that on
the Commonwealth must light all the good and evil which befalls you."
All this was heard with much weeping, and followed with propitious
prayers and vows: and had he only gone thus far, and in his speech
observed a medium, he had left the souls of his hearers full of sympathy
and applause. But, by renewing an old project, always chimerical and so
often ridiculed, about "restoring the Republic, reinstating it again
in the Consuls, or whoever else would undertake the administration;"
he forfeited his faith even in assertions which were commendable and
sincere. To the memory of Drusus were decreed the same solemnities as
to that of Germanicus; with many super-added; agreeably to the genius
of flattery, which delights in variety and improvements. Most signal was
the lustre of the funeral in a conspicuous procession of images; when at
it appeared in a pompous train, Aeneas, father of the Julian race;
all the kings of Alba, and Romulus founder of Rome; next the Sabine
nobility, Attus Clausus, and his descendants of the Claudian family.
In relating the death of Drusus, I have followed the greatest part of
our historians, and the most faithful: I would not however omit a rumour
which in those times was so prevailing that it is not extinguished in
ours; "that Sejanus having by adultery gained Livia to the murder, had
likewise engaged by constupration the affections and concurrence of
Lygdus the eunuch; because Lygdus was, for his youth and loveliness,
dear to his master, and one of his chief attendants: that when the time
and place of poisoning, were by the conspirators concerted; the eunuch
carried his boldness so high, as to charge upon Drusus a design of
poisoning Tiberius; and secretly warning the Emperor of this, advised
him to shun the first draught offered him in the next entertainment
at his son's: that the old man possessed with this fictitious treason,
after he had sate down to table, having received the cup delivered it to
Drusus, who ignorantly and gaily drank it off: that this heightened the
jealousy and apprehensions of Tiberius, as if through fear and shame
his son had swallowed the same death, which for his father he had
contrived."
These bruitings of the populace, besides that they are supported by no
certain author, may be easily refuted. For, who of common prudence (much
less Tiberius so long practised in great affairs) would to his own son,
without hearing him, present the mortal bane; with his own hands too,
and cutting off for ever all possibility of retraction? Why would he not
rather have tortured the minister of the poison? Why not inquired into
the author of the poison? Why not observed towards his only son, a son
hitherto convicted of no iniquity, that slowness and hesitation, which,
even in his proceedings against strangers, was inherent in him? But as
Sejanus was reckoned the framer of every wickedness, therefore, from the
excessive fondness of Tiberius towards him, and from the hatred of all
others towards both, things the most fabulous and direful were believed
of them; besides that common fame is ever most fraught with tales of
horror upon the departure of Princes: in truth, the plan and process of
the murder were first discovered by Apicata, wife of Sejanus, and laid
open upon the rack by Eudemus and Lygdus. Nor has any writer appeared
so outrageous to charge it upon Tiberius; though in other instances
they have sedulously collected and inflamed every action of his. My own
purpose in recounting and censuring this rumour, was to blast, by so
glaring an example, the credit of groundless tales; and to request of
those into whose hands our present undertaking shall come, that they
would not prefer hearsays, void of credibility and rashly swallowed, to
the narrations of truth not adulterated with romance.
To proceed; whilst Tiberius was pronouncing in public the panegyric of
his son, the Senate and People assumed the port and accent of mourners,
rather in appearance than cordially; and in their hearts exulted to see
the house of Germanicus begin to revive. But this dawn of fortune,
and the conduct of Agrippina, ill disguising her hopes, quickened the
overthrow of that house. For Sejanus, when he saw the death of Drusus
pass unrevenged upon his murderers, and no public lamentation following
it; undaunted as he was in villainy since his first efforts had
succeeded; cast about in himself, how he might destroy the sons of
Germanicus, whose succession to the Empire was now unquestionable. They
were three; and, from the distinguished fidelity of their governors, and
incorruptible chastity of Agrippina, could not be all circumvented by
poison. He therefore chose to attack her another way; to raise alarms
from the haughtiness and contumacy of her spirit; to rouse the old
hatred of Livia the elder, and the guilty mind of his late accomplice,
Livia the younger; that to the Emperor they might represent her
"as elated with the credit and renown of her fruitfulness; and that
confiding in it, and in the zeal of the populace, she grasped with open
arms at the Empire." The young Livia acted in this engagement by crafty
calumniators; amongst whom she had particularly chosen Julius Posthumus,
a man every way qualified for her purposes; as he was the adulterer of
Mutilia Prisca, and thence a confidant of her grandmother's; (for over
the mind of the Empress, Prisca had powerful influence) and by their
means the old woman, in her own nature tender and anxious of power, was
rendered utterly irreconcilable to the widow of her grandson. Such too
as were nearest the person of Agrippina, were promoted to be continually
enraging her tempestuous heart by perverse representations.
This year also brought deputations from the Grecian cities; one from the
people of Samos; one from those of Coös; the former to request that the
ancient right of Sanctuary in the Temple of Juno might be confirmed;
the latter to solicit the same confirmation for that of Aesculapius. The
Samians claimed upon a decree of the Council of Amphictyons, the supreme
Judicature of Greece, at the time when the Greeks by their cities
founded in Asia, possessed the maritime coasts. Nor had they of Coös a
weaker title to antiquity; to which likewise accrued the pretensions of
the place to the friendship of Rome: for they had lodged in the Temple
of Aesculapius all the Roman citizens there, when by the order of King
Mithridates, such were universally butchered throughout all the cities
of Asia and the Isles. And now after many complaints from the Praetors,
for the most part ineffectual, the Emperor at last made a representation
to the Senate, concerning the licentiousness of the players; "that in
many instances they raised seditious tumults, and violated the public
peace; and, in many, promoted debauchery in private families: that the
_Oscan Farce_, formerly only the contemptible delight of the vulgar,
was risen to such a prevailing pitch of credit and enormity, that it
required the authority of the Senate to check it." The players therefore
were driven out of Italy.
The same year carried off one of the twins of Drusus, and thence
afflicted the Emperor with fresh woe; nor with less for the death of a
particular friend. It was Lucillius Longus, the inseparable companion
of all the traverses of his fortune smiling or sad; and, of all the
Senators, the only one who accompanied him in his retirement at Rhodes.
For this reason, though but a new man, the Senate decreed him a public
funeral; and a statue to be placed, at the expense of the Treasury, in
the square of Augustus. For by the Senate, even yet, all affairs were
transacted; insomuch that Lucillius Capito, the Emperor's Comptroller in
Asia, was, at the accusation of the Province, brought upon his defence
before them: the Emperor too upon this occasion protested with great
earnestness, "that from him Lucillius had no authority but over his
slaves, and in collecting his domestic rents: that if he had usurped
the jurisdiction of Praetor, and employed military force, he had so far
violated his orders; they should therefore hear the allegations of the
Province." Thus the accused was upon trial condemned. For this just
vengeance, and that inflicted the year before on Caius Silanus, the
cities of Asia decreed a temple to Tiberius, and his mother, and the
Senate; and obtained leave to build it. For this concession Nero made
a speech of thanks to the Senators and his grandfather; a speech which
charmed the affections of his hearers, who, as they were full of the
memory of Germanicus, fancied it was him they heard, and him they
saw. There was also in the youth himself an engaging modesty, and a
gracefulness becoming a princely person: ornaments which, by the known
hatred that threatened him from Sejanus, became still more dear and
adored.
I am aware that most of the transactions which I have already related,
or shall hereafter relate, may perhaps appear minute, and too trivial to
be remembered. But, none must compare these my annals with the writings
of those who compiled the story of the ancient Roman People. They had
for their subjects mighty wars, potent cities sacked, great kings routed
and taken captive: or if they sometimes reviewed the domestic affairs of
Rome, they there found the mutual strife and animosities of the Consuls
and Tribunes; the agrarian and frumentary laws, pushed and opposed; and
the lasting struggles between the nobles and populace. Large and noble
topics these, at home and abroad, and recounted by the old historians
with full room and free scope. To me remains a straitened task, and void
of glory; steady peace, or short intervals of war; the proceedings at
Rome sad and affecting; and a Prince careless of extending the Empire:
nor yet will it be without its profit to look minutely into such
transactions, as however small at first view, give rise and motion to
great events.
For, all nations and cities are governed either by the populace, by the
nobility, or by single rulers. As to the frame of a state chosen
and compacted out of all these three, it is easier applauded than
accomplished; or if accomplished, cannot be of long duration. So that,
as during the Republic, either when the power of the people prevailed,
or when the Senate bore the chief sway; it was necessary to know the
genius of the commonalty, and by what measures they were to be humoured
and restrained; and such too who were thoroughly acquainted with the
spirit of the Senate and leading men, came to be esteemed skilful in the
times, and men of prowess: so now when that establishment is changed,
and the present situation such as if one ruled all; it is of advantage
to collect and record these later incidents, as matters of public
example and instruction; since few can by their own wisdom distinguish
between things crooked and upright; few between counsels pernicious and
profitable; and since most men are taught by the fate of others. But the
present detail, however instructive, yet brings scanty delight. It is by
the descriptions and accounts of nations; by the variety of battles; by
the brave fall of illustrious captains, that the soul of the reader
is engaged and refreshed. For myself, I can only give a sad display
of cruel orders, incessant accusations, faithless friendships, the
destruction of innocents, and endless trials, all attended with the
same issue, death and condemnation: an obvious round of repetition and
satiety! Besides that the old historians are rarely censured; nor is any
man now concerned whether they chiefly magnify the Roman or Carthaginian
armies. But, of many who under Tiberius suffered punishment, or were
marked with infamy, the posterity are still subsisting; or if the
families themselves are extinct, there are others found, who from
a similitude of manners, think that, in reciting the evil doings of
others, they themselves are charged: nay, even virtue and a glorious
name create foes, as they expose in a light too obvious the opposite
characters. But I return to my undertaking.
Whilst Cornelius Cossus and Asinius Agrippa were Consuls, Cremutius
Cordus was arraigned for that, "having published annals and in them
praised Brutus, he had styled Cassius the last of the Romans:" a new
crime, then first created. Satrius Secundus and Pinarius Natta were
his accusers; creatures of Sejanus: a mortal omen this to the accused;
besides that Tiberius received his defence with a countenance settled
into cruelty. He began it on this wise, casting away all hopes of life:
"As to facts, I am so guiltless, Conscript Fathers, that my words only
are accused: but neither are any words of mine pointed against the
Emperor, or his mother; who are the only persons comprehended in the law
concerning violated majesty. It is alleged that I have praised Brutus
and Cassius; men whose lives and actions have been compiled by a cloud
of writers, and their memory treated by none but with honour. Titus
Livius, an historian eminently famous for eloquence and veracity,
signalised Pompey with such abundant encomiums, that he was thence
by Augustus named Pompeianus; nor did this prejudice their common
friendship. Neither Scipio, nor Afranius, nor even this same Cassius,
nor this same Brutus, are anywhere mentioned by him as _traitors_ and
_parricides_, the common nicknames now bestowed on them; but often, as
great and memorable men. The writings of Asinius Pollio have conveyed
down the memory of the same men, under honourable characters. Corvinus
Messala gloried to have had Cassius for his general: and yet both
Pollio and Corvinus became signally powerful in wealth and honours under
Augustus. That book of Cicero's, in which he exalted Cato to the skies;
what other animadversion did it draw from Caesar the Dictator, than a
written reply, in the same style and equality as if before his judges
he had made it? The letters of Marc Anthony; the speeches of Brutus, are
full of reproaches, and recriminations against Augustus; false in truth,
but urged with signal asperity: the poems of Bibaculus and those of
Catullus, stuffed with virulent satires against the Caesars, are still
read. But even the deified Julius, even the deified Augustus, bore all
these invectives and disdained them; whether with greater moderation or
wisdom, I cannot easily say. For, if they are despised, they fade away;
if you wax wroth, you seem to avow them to be just.
"Instances from the Greeks I bring none: with them not the freedom
only, but even the licentiousness of speech, is unpunished: or if any
correction is returned, it is only by revenging words with words. It has
been ever allowed, without restriction or rebuke, to pass our judgment
upon those whom death has withdrawn from the influence of affection and
hate. Are Cassius and Brutus now in arms? do they at present fill with
armed troops the fields of Philippi? or do I fire the Roman People,
by inflammatory harangues, with the spirit of civil rage? Brutus
and Cassius, now above seventy years slain, are still known in their
statues, which even the conqueror did not abolish: and as these exhibit
their persons, why not the historian their characters? Impartial
posterity to every man repays his proper praise: nor will there be
wanting such as, if my death is determined, will not only revive the
story of Cassius and Brutus, but even my story." Having thus said he
withdrew from the Senate, and ended his life by abstinence. The
Fathers condemned the books to be by the Aediles burned; but they
still continued concealed and dispersed: hence we may justly mock
the stupidity of those, who imagine that they can, by present power,
extinguish the lights and memory of succeeding times: for, quite
otherwise, the punishment of writers exalts the credit of the writings:
nor did ever foreign kings, or any else, reap other fruit from it, than
infamy to themselves, and glory to the sufferers.
To proceed; for this whole year there was such an incessant torrent of
accusations, that even during the solemnity of the Latin festival,
when Drusus for his inauguration, as Governor of Rome, had ascended the
Tribunal, he was accosted by Calpurnius Salvianus with a charge against
Sextus Marius: a proceeding openly resented by the Emperor, and thence
Salvianus was banished. The city of Cyzicus was next accused, "of
not observing the established worship of the deified Augustus;" with
additional crimes, "of violences committed upon some Roman citizens."
Thus that city lost her liberties; which by her behaviour during the
Mithridatic war, she had purchased; having in it sustained a siege;
and as much by her own bravery, as by the aid of Lucullus, repulsed
the king, But Fonteius Capito, who had as Proconsul governed Asia, was
acquitted, upon proof that the crimes brought against him by Vibius
Serenus were forged: and yet the forgery drew no penalty upon Serenus:
nay, the public hate rendered him the more secure: for, every accuser,
the more eager and incessant he was, the more sacred and inviolable he
became: the sorry and impotent were surrendered to chastisement.
About the same time, the furthermost Spain besought the Senate by their
ambassadors, "that after the example of Asia, they might erect a temple
to Tiberius and his mother." Upon this occasion, the Emperor, always
resolute in contemning honours, and now judging it proper to confute
those, who exposed him to the popular censure, of having deviated into
ambition; spoke in this manner: "I know, Conscript Fathers, that it is
generally blamed, and ascribed to a defect of firmness in me, that when
the cities of Asia petitioned for this very thing, I withstood them not.
I shall therefore now unfold at once the motives of my silence then,
and the rules which for the future I am determined to observe. Since the
deified Augustus had not opposed the founding at Pergamus a temple to
himself and the city of Rome; I, with whom all his actions and sayings
have the force of laws, followed an example already approved; and
followed it the more cheerfully, because to the worship bestowed upon
me, that of the Senate was annexed. But as the indulging of this, in
one instance, will find pardon; so a general latitude of being adored
through every province, under the sacred representations of the Deities,
would denote a vain spirit; a heart swelled with ambition. The glory too
of Augustus will vanish, if by the promiscuous courtship of flattery it
comes to be vulgarly prostituted.
"For myself, Conscript Fathers, I am a mortal man; I am confined to
the functions of human nature; and if I well supply the principal
place amongst you, it suffices me. This I acknowledge to you; and
this acknowledgment, I would have posterity to remember. They will do
abundant right to my memory, if they believe me to have been worthy of
my ancestors; watchful of the Roman state; unmoved in perils, and in
maintaining the public interest, fearless of private enmities. These
are the temples which in your breasts I would raise; these the fairest
portraitures, and such as will endure. As to temples and statues of
stone, if the idol adored in them comes to be hated by posterity, they
are despised as his sepulchres. Hence it is I here invoke the Gods,
that to the end of my life they would grant me a spirit undisturbed, and
discerning in duties human and divine: and hence too I here implore our
citizens and allies, that whenever my dissolution comes, they would
with approbation and benevolent testimonies of remembrance, celebrate
my actions and retain the odour of my name." And thenceforward he
persevered in slighting upon all occasions, and even in private
conversation, this divine worship of himself. A conduct which was by
some ascribed to modesty; by many to a conscious diffidence; by others
to degeneracy of spirit. "Since the most sublime amongst men naturally
covet the most exalted honours: thus Hercules and Bacchus amongst the
Greeks, and with us Romulus, were added to the society of the Gods:
Augustus too had chosen the nobler part, and hoped for deification: all
the other gratifications of Princes were instantly procured: one only
was to be pursued insatiably; the praise and perpetuity of their name.
For by contemning fame, the virtues that procure it, are contemned."
Now Sejanus, intoxicated with excess of fortune, and moreover stimulated
by the importunity of Livia, who, with the restless passion of a woman,
craved the promised marriage, composed a memorial to the Emperor.
For, it was then the custom to apply to him in writing, though he were
present. This of Sejanus was thus conceived: "That such had been towards
him the benevolence of Augustus; such and so numerous, since, the
instances of affection from Tiberius, that he was thence accustomed,
without applying to the Gods, to carry his hopes and prayers directly
to the Emperors: yet of them he had never sought a blaze of honours:
watching and toils like those of common soldiers, for the safeguard
of the Prince, had been his choice and ambition. However what was most
glorious for him he had attained; to be thought worthy of alliance with
the Emperor: hence the source of his present hopes: and, since he had
heard that Augustus, in the disposal of his daughter, had not been
without thoughts even of some of the Roman knights; he begged that if a
husband were sought for Livia, Tiberius would remember his friend; one
whose ambition aimed no higher than the pure and disinterested glory of
the affinity: for that he would never abandon the burden of his present
trust; but hold it sufficient to be, by that means, enabled to support
his house against the injurious wrath of Agrippina; and in this he only
consulted the security of his children. For himself; his own life would
be abundantly long, whenever finally spent in the ministry of such a
Prince."
For a present answer, Tiberius praised the loyalty of Sejanus;
recapitulated cursorily the instances of his own favours towards him,
and required time, as it were for a thorough deliberation. At last he
made this reply: "That all other men were, in their pursuits, guided by
the notions of convenience: far different was the lot and situation of
Princes, who were in their action to consider chiefly the applause and
good liking of the public: he therefore did not delude Sejanus with
an obvious and plausible answer; that Livia could herself determine
whether, after Drusus, she ought again to marry, or still persist his
widow, and that she had a mother and grandmother, nearer relations and
more interested to advise. He would deal more candidly with him: and
first as to the enmity of Agrippina; it would flame out with fresh fury,
if by the marriage of Livia, the family of the Caesars were rent as
it were into two contending parties: that even as things stood, the
emulation of these ladies broke into frequent sallies, and, by their
animosities, his grandsons were instigated different ways. What would be
the consequence, if, by such a marriage, the strife were inflamed? For
you are deceived, Sejanus, if you think to continue then in the same
rank as now; or that Livia, she who was first the wife of the young
Caius Caesar, and afterwards the wife of Drusus, will be of a temper
to grow old with a husband no higher than a Roman knight: nay, allowing
that I suffered you afterwards to remain what you are; do you believe
that they who saw her father, they who saw her brother, and the
ancestors of our house, covered with the supreme dignities, will ever
suffer it? You in truth propose, yourself, to stand still in the same
station: but the great magistrates and grandees of the state, those very
magistrates and grandees who, in spite of yourself, break in upon
you, and in all affairs court you as their oracle, make no secret
of maintaining that you have long since exceeded the bounds of the
Equestrian Order, and far outgone in power all the confidants of my
father; and from their hatred to you, they also censure me. But still,
Augustus deliberated about giving his daughter to a Roman knight. Where
is the wonder, if perplexed with a crowd of distracting cares, and
apprised to what an unbounded height above others he raised whomsoever
he dignified with such a match, he talked of Proculeius, and some like
him; remarkable for the retiredness of their life, and nowise engaged
in the affairs of state? But if we are influenced by the hesitation of
Augustus, how much more powerful is the decision; since he bestowed his
daughter on Agrippa, and then on me? These are considerations which in
friendship I have not withheld: however, neither your own inclinations,
nor those of Livia, shall be ever thwarted by me. The secret and
constant purposes of my own heart towards you, and with what further
ties of affinity, I am contriving to bind you still faster to me; I at
present forbear to recount. Thus much only I will declare, that there is
nothing so high but those abilities, and your singular zeal and fidelity
towards me, may justly claim: as when opportunity presents, either in
Senate, or in a popular assembly, I shall not fail to testify."
In answer to this, Sejanus no longer soliciting the marriage, but filled
with higher apprehensions, besought him "to resist the dark suggestions
of suspicion; to despise the pratings of the vulgar, nor to admit the
hostile breath of envy." And as he was puzzled about the crowds which
incessantly haunted his house; lest by keeping them off he might
impair his power; or by encouraging them, furnish a handle for criminal
imputations; he came to this result, that he would urge the Emperor out
of Rome, to spend his life remote from thence in delightful retirements.
From this counsel he foresaw many advantages: upon himself would depend
all access to the Emperor; all letters and expresses would, as the
soldiers were the carriers, be in great measure under his direction; in
a little time, the Prince, now in declining age, and then softened by
recess, would more easily transfer upon him the whole charge of the
Empire: he should be removed from the multitude of such as to make their
court, attended him at Rome; and thence one source of envy would be
stopped. So that by discharging the empty phantoms of power, he should
augment the essentials. He therefore began by little and little to rail
at the hurry of business at Rome, the throng of people, the flock of
suitors: he applauded "retirement and quiet; where, while they were
separate from irksome fatigues, nor exposed to the discontents and
resentments of particulars, all affairs of moment were best despatched."
Next were heard ambassadors from the Lacedaemonians and Messenians,
about the right that each people claimed to the Temple of Diana
Limenetis; which the Lacedaemonians asserted to be theirs, "founded
in their territory, and dedicated by their ancestors," and offered as
proofs the ancient authority of their annals, and the hymns of the old
poets. "It had been in truth taken from them by the superior force of
Philip of Macedon, when at war with him; but restored afterwards by the
judicial decision of Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony." The Messenians,
on the contrary, pleaded, "the ancient partition of Peloponnesus amongst
the descendants of Hercules; whence the territory where the temple
stood, had fallen to their king; and the monuments of that allotment
still remained, engraven in stone and old tables of brass; but, if the
testimony of histories and poets were appealed to; they themselves had
the most and the fullest. Nor had Philip, in his decision, acted by
power, but from equity: the same afterwards was the adjudgment of King
Antigonus; the same that of the Roman commander Mummius. Thus too the
Milesians had awarded, they who were by both sides chosen arbitrators:
and thus lastly it had been determined by Atidius Geminus, Praetor of
Achaia." The Messenians therefore gained the suit. The citizens also of
Segestum applied on behalf of "the Temple of Venus on Mount Eryx; which
fallen through age, they desired might be restored." They represented
the story of its origin and antiquity; a well-pleasing flattery to
Tiberius; who frankly took upon himself the charge, as kinsman to
the Goddess. Then was discussed the petition from the citizens of
Marseilles; and what they claimed, according to the precedent of Publius
Rutilius, was approved: for Rutilius, though by a law expelled from
Rome, had been by those of Smyrna adopted a citizen: and as Volcatius
Moschus, another exile, had found at Marseilles the same privilege and
reception, he had to their Republic, as to his country, left his estate.
During the same Consuls, a bloody assassination was perpetrated in the
nethermost Spain, by a boor in the territory of Termes. By him, Lucius
Piso, Governor of the Province, as he travelled careless and unattended,
relying on the established peace, was surprised, and despatched at one
deadly blow. The assassin however escaped to a forest, by the fleetness
of his horse; and there dismissed him: from thence travelling over rocks
and pathless places, he baffled his pursuers: but their ignorance of his
person was soon removed; for his horse being taken and shown through the
neighbouring villages, it was thence learned who was the owner; so that
he too was found; but when put to the rack to declare his accomplices,
he proclaimed with a mighty and assured voice, in the language of his
country, "that in vain they questioned him; his associates might stand
safely by and witness his constancy: and that no force of torture could
be so exquisite as from him to extort a discovery." Next day as he
was dragged back to the rack, he burst with a vehement effort from
his guard, and dashed his head so desperately against a stone, that he
instantly expired. Piso is believed to have been assassinated by a plot
of the Termestinians; as in exacting the repayment of some money, seized
from the public, he acted with more asperity, than a rough people could
bear.
In the Consulship of Lentulus Getulicus and Caius Calvisius, the
triumphal ensigns were decreed to Poppeus Sabinus for having routed
some clans of Thracians, who living wildly on the high mountains, acted
thence with the more outrage and contumacy. The ground of their late
commotion, not to mention the savage genius of the people, was their
scorn and impatience, to have recruits raised amongst them, and all
their stoutest men enlisted in our armies; accustomed as they were not
even to obey their native kings further than their own humour, nor to
aid them with forces but under captains of their own choosing, nor to
fight against any enemy but their own borderers. Their discontents too
were inflamed by a rumour which then ran current amongst them; that they
were to be dispersed into different regions; and exterminated from their
own, to be mixed with other nations. But before they took arms and began
hostilities, they sent ambassadors to Sabinus, to represent "their past
friendship and submission, and that the same should continue, if they
were provoked by no fresh impositions: but, if like a people subdued by
war, they were doomed to bondage; they had able men and steel, and souls
determined upon liberty or death." The ambassadors at the same time
pointed to their strongholds founded upon precipices; and boasted that
they had thither conveyed their wives and parents; and threatened a war
intricate, hazardous and bloody.
Sabinus amused them with gentle answers till he could draw together his
army; while Pomponius Labeo was advancing with a legion from Moesia, and
King Rhoemetalces with a body of Thracians who had not renounced their
allegiance. With these, and what forces he had of his own, he marched
towards the foe, now settled in the passes of the forest: some more bold
presented themselves upon the hills: against the last, the Roman general
first bent his forces in battle, and without difficulty drove them
thence, but with small slaughter of the Barbarians, because of their
immediate refuge. Here he straight raised an encampment, and with a
stout band took possession of a hill, which extended with an even narrow
ridge to the next fortress, which was garrisoned by a great host of
armed men and rabble: and as the most resolute were, in the way of
the nation, rioting without the fortification in dances and songs, he
forthwith despatched against them his select archers. These, while they
only poured in volleys of arrows at a distance did thick and extensive
execution; but, approaching too near, were by a sudden sally put in
disorder. They were however supported by a cohort of the Sigambrians,
purposely posted by Sabinus in readiness against an exigency; a people
these, equally terrible in the boisterous and mixed uproar of their
voices and arms.
He afterwards pitched his camp nearer to the enemy; having in his former
entrenchments left the Thracians, whom I have mentioned to have joined
us. To them too was permitted "to lay waste, burn, and plunder; on
condition that their ravages were confined to the day; and that, at
nights, they kept within the camp, secure under guard." This restriction
was at first observed; but, anon lapsing into luxury, and grown opulent
in plunder, they neglected their guards, and resigned themselves to
gaiety and banquetting, to the intoxication and sloth of wine and sleep.
The enemy therefore apprised of their negligence, formed themselves
into two bands; one to set upon the plunderers; the other to assault
the Roman camp, with no hopes of taking it; but only that the soldiers
alarmed with shouts and darts, and all intent upon their own defence,
might not hear the din of the other battle: moreover to heighten the
terror, it was to be done by night. Those who assailed the lines of
the legions were easily repulsed: but, the auxiliary Thracians were
terrified with the sudden encounter, as they were utterly unprepared.
Part of them lay along the entrenchments; many were roaming abroad; and
both were slain with the keener vengeance, as they were upbraided "for
fugitives and traitors, who bore arms to establish servitude over their
country and themselves."
Next day Sabinus drew up his army in view of the enemy, on ground equal
to both; to try, if elated with their success by night, they would
venture a battle: and, when they still kept within the fortress, or
on the cluster of hills, he began to begird them with a siege; and
strengthening his old lines and adding new, enclosed a circuit of four
miles. Then to deprive them of water and forage, he straitened his
entrenchment by degrees, and hemmed them in still closer. A bulwark
was also raised, whence the enemy now within throw, were annoyed with
discharges of stones, darts, and fire. But nothing aggrieved them so
vehemently as thirst, whilst only a single fountain remained amongst a
huge multitude of armed men and families: their horses too and cattle,
penned up with the people, after the barbarous manner of the country,
perished for want of provender: amongst the carcasses of beasts lay
those of men; some dead of thirst, some of their wounds; a noisome
mixture of misery and death; all was foul and tainted with putrefaction,
stench, and filthy contamination. To these distresses also accrued
another, and of all calamities the most consummate, the calamity of
discord: some were disposed to surrender; others proposed present death,
and to fall upon one another. There were some too who advised a sally,
and to die avenging their deaths. Nor were these last mean men, though
dissenting from the rest.
But there was one of their leaders, his name Dinis, a man stricken in
years, who, by long experience, acquainted with the power and clemency
of the Romans, argued, "that they must lay down their arms, the same
being the sole cure for their pressing calamities;" and was the first
who submitted, with his wife and children to the conqueror. There
followed him all that were weak through sex or age, and such as had a
greater passion for life than glory. The young men were parted between
Tarsa and Turesis; both determined to fall with liberty: but Tarsa
declared earnestly "for instant death; and that by it all hopes and
fears were at once to be extinguished;" and setting an example, buried
his sword in his breast. Nor were there wanting some who despatched
themselves the same way. Turesis and his band stayed for night: of
which our General was aware. The guards were therefore strengthened
with extraordinary reinforcements: and now with the night, darkness
prevailed, its horror heightened by outrageous rain; and the enemy with
tumultuous shouts, and by turns with vast silence, alarmed and puzzled
the besiegers. Sabinus therefore going round the camp, warned the
soldiers, "that they should not be misguided by the deceitful voice of
uproar, nor trust to a feigned calm, and thence open an advantage to the
enemy, who by these wiles sought it; but keep immovably to their several
posts; nor throw their darts at random."
Just then came the Barbarians, pouring in distinct droves: here, with
stones, with wooden javelins hardened in the fire, and with the broken
limbs of trees, they battered the palisade: there with hurdles, faggots
and dead bodies, they filled the trench: by others, bridges and ladders,
both before framed, were planted against the battlements; these they
violently grappled and tore, and struggled hand to hand with those who
opposed them. The Romans, on the other side, beat them back with their
bucklers, drove them down with darts, and hurled upon them great mural
stakes and heaps of stones. On both sides were powerful stimulations: on
ours the hopes of victory almost gained, if we persisted; and thence the
more glaring infamy, if we recoiled: on theirs, the last struggle for
their life; most of them, too, inspired with the affecting presence of
their mothers and wives, and made desperate by their dolorous wailings.
The night was an advantage to the cowardly and the brave; by it, the
former became more resolute; by it, the latter hid their fear: blows
were dealt, the striker knew not upon whom; and wounds received, the
wounded knew not whence: such was the utter indistinction of friend and
foe. To heighten the general jumble and blind confusion, the echo from
the cavities of the mountain represented to the Romans the shouts of the
enemy as behind them: hence in some places they deserted their lines, as
believing them already broken and entered: and yet such of the enemy,
as broke through, were very few. All the rest, their most resolute
champions being wounded or slain, were at the returning light driven
back to their fort; where they were at length forced to surrender; as
did the places circumjacent of their own accord. The remainder could
then be neither forced nor famished; as they were protected by a furious
winter, always sudden about Mount Haemus.
At Rome, discord shook the Prince's family: and, to begin the series of
destruction, which was to end in Agrippina, Claudia Pulchra her cousin
was accused; Domitius Afer the accuser. This man, just out of the
Praetorship, in estimation small, but hasty to signalise himself by
some notable exploit however heinous, alleged against her the "crimes
of prostitution, of adultery with Furnius, of magical execrations
and poison prepared against the life of the Emperor." Agrippina ever
vehement, and then in a flame for the peril of her kinswoman, flew to
Tiberius, and by chance found him sacrificing to the Emperor his father.
Having got this handle for upbraiding him, she told him "that it ill
became the same man to slay victims to the deified Augustus and to
persecute his children: his divine spirit was not transfused into dumb
statues: the genuine images of Augustus were the living descendants
from his celestial blood: she herself was one; one sensible of impending
danger, and now in the mournful state of a supplicant. In vain were
foreign crimes pretended against Pulchra; when the only cause of her
concerted overthrow was her affection for Agrippina, foolishly carried
even to adoration; forgetful as she was of the fate of Sosia, a
condemned sufferer for the same fault." All these bitter words drew
small answer from the dark breast of Tiberius: he rebuked her by quoting
a Greek verse; "That she was therefore aggrieved, because she did not
reign:" Pulchra and Furnius were condemned. Afer, having thus displayed
his genius, and gained a declaration from Tiberius, pronouncing him
_eloquent in his own independent right_, was ranked with the most
celebrated orators: afterwards in prosecuting accusations, or in
protecting the accused, he flourished more in the fame of eloquence than
in that of uprightness: however, old age eminently sunk the credit and
vigour of his eloquence; while, with parts decayed, he still retained
a passion for haranguing. [Footnote: Dum fessa mente, retinet silentii
inpatientiam.]
Agrippina still fostering her wrath, and seized too with a bodily
disorder, received the Emperor, come purposely to see her, with
many tears and long silence. At last she accosted him with invidious
expostulations and prayers; "that he would relieve her solitude, and
give her a husband. She was still endowed with proper youth; to virtuous
women there was no consolation but that of marriage; and Rome afforded
illustrious men who would readily assent to entertain the wife of
Germanicus, and his children." Tiberius was not ignorant to what mighty
power in the state, that demand tended; but, that he might betray no
tokens of resentment or fear, he left her, though instant with him,
without an answer. This passage, not related by the authors of our
annals, I found in the commentaries of her daughter Agrippina; her, who
was the mother of the Emperor Nero, and has published her own life with
the fortunes of her family.
As to Agrippina; still grieving and void of foresight, she was yet more
sensibly dismayed by an artifice of Sejanus, who employed such, as under
colour of friendship warned her, "that poison was prepared for her,
and that she must shun eating at her father-in-law's table." She was a
stranger to all dissimulation: so that as she sat near him at table, she
continued stately and unmoved; not a word, not a look escaped her,
and she touched no part of the meat. Tiberius observed her, whether
accidentally, or that he was before apprised; and, to be convinced by
a more powerful experiment, praising the apples that stood before him,
presented some with his own hand to his daughter-in-law. This only
increased the suspicion of Agrippina; and, without ever putting them
to her mouth, she delivered them to the servants. For all this, the
reserved Tiberius let not a word drop from him openly; but, turning
to his mother; "There was no wonder," he said, "if he had really taken
harsh measures with her, who thus charged him as a poisoner." Hence a
rumour spread, "that her doom was contrived; and that the Emperor not
daring to pursue it publicly, chose to have her despatched in secret."
Tiberius, as a means to divert upon other matters the popular talk,
attended assiduously the deliberations of the Senate; and there heard
for many days the several Ambassadors from Asia, mutually contending,
"in what city should be built the temple lately decreed." For this
honour eleven cities strove, with equal ambition, though different
in power: nor did the pleas urged by all, greatly vary; namely, "the
antiquity of their original, and their distinguished zeal for the Roman
People, during their several wars with Perseus, Aristonicus, and other
kings." But the Trallians, the Laodiceans, the Magnesians and those of
the Hypaepis, were at once dismissed, as insufficient for the charge.
Nor, in truth, had they of Ilium, who represented, "that Troy was the
mother of Rome," any superior advantage, besides the glory of antiquity.
The plea of the Halicarnassians took some short consideration: they
asserted, "that for twelve hundred years, no earthquake had shaken their
town; and that they would fix in a solid rock the foundations of the
temple." The same considerations were urged by the inhabitants of
Pergamus; where already was erected a temple to Augustus; a distinction
which was judged sufficient for them. The cities too of Ephesus and
Miletus seemed fully employed in the ceremonies of their own distinct
deities; the former in those of Diana; the other, in those of Apollo.
Thus the dispute was confined to Sardis and Smyrna. The first recited
a decree of the Etrurians, which owned them for kinsmen: "for that
Tyrrhenus and Lydus, sons of King Atys, having between them divided
their people, because of their multitude, Lydus re-settled in his
native country; and it became the lot of Tyrrhenus to find out a fresh
residence; and by the names of these chiefs the parted people came
afterwards to be called, Lydians in Asia, Tyrrhenians in Italy. That the
opulence of the Lydians spread yet farther, by their colonies sent
under Pelops into Greece, which from him afterwards took its name." They
likewise urged "the letters of our Generals; their mutual leagues with
us during the war of Macedon; their plenty of rivers, temperate climate,
and the fertility of the circumjacent country."
The Smyrnaeans having likewise recounted their ancient establishment,
"whether Tantalus, the son of Jupiter; or Theseus, the son also of
a God; or one of the old Amazons, were their founder;" proceeded to
considerations in which they chiefly trusted; their friendly offices
to the Roman People, having aided them with a naval force, not in their
foreign wars only, but in those which infested Italy. "It was they who
first reared a temple to the City of Rome, in the Consulship of Marcus
Porcius; then, in truth, when the power of the Roman People was already
mighty, but however not yet raised to its highest glory; for the city of
Carthage still stood, and potent kings governed Asia. Witness too their
generosity to Sylla, when the condition of his army ready to famish in a
cruel winter and a scarcity of clothes, being related to the citizens
of Smyrna then assembled; all that were present divested themselves of
their raiments, and sent them to our legions." Thus when the votes of
the Senators were gathered, the pretensions of Smyrna were preferred. It
was also moved by Vibius Marsus, that Lentulus, to whom had fallen
the province of Asia, should be attended by a Legate extraordinary, to
supervise the building of the temple; and as Lentulus himself through
modesty declined to choose one, several who had been Praetors were drawn
by lot, and the lot fell upon Valerius Naso.
In the meantime, according to a purpose long meditated, and from time to
time deferred, Tiberius at last retired to Campania; in profession, to
dedicate a temple to Jupiter at Capua, and one at Nola to Augustus; but
in truth determined to remove, for ever, from Rome. The cause of his
departure, I have before referred to the stratagems of Sejanus; but
though in it I have followed most of our authors; yet, since after
the execution of Sejanus, he persisted for six years in the like dark
recess; I am rather influenced by a stronger probability, that the
ground of his absence is more justly to be ascribed to his own spirit,
while he strove to hide in the shades of solitude, what in deeds he
proclaimed, the rage of his cruelty and lust. There were those who
believed that, in his old age, he was ashamed of the figure of his
person; for he was very lean, long and stooping, his head bald, his face
ulcerous, and for the most besmeared with salves: he was moreover
wont, during his recess at Rhodes, to avoid the public, and cover his
debauches in secrecy. It is also related that he was driven from Rome by
the restless aspiring of his mother, whom he scorned to admit a partner
in the sovereignty; nor yet could entirely seclude, since as her gift he
had received the sovereignty itself. For, Augustus had deliberated
about setting Germanicus at the head of the Roman state; his sister's
grandson, and one adored by all men: but subdued by the solicitations of
his wife, he adopted Tiberius; and caused Tiberius to adopt Germanicus.
With this grandeur of her own procuring, Livia upbraided her son; and
even reclaimed it.
His going was narrowly accompanied; by one Senator, Cocceius Nerva,
formerly Consul, and accomplished in the knowledge of the laws; and,
besides Sejanus, by one dignified Roman knight, Curtius Atticus. The
rest were men of letters, chiefly Greeks; whose conversation pleased and
amused him. The skilled in astrology declared, "that he had left Rome in
such a conjunction of the planets, as for ever to exclude his return."
Hence a source of destruction to many, who conjectured his end to be
at hand, and published their conjectures: for, it was an event too
incredible to be foreseen, that for eleven years he should of choice
be withdrawn from his country. The sequel discovered the short bounds
between the art and the falsehood of the art, and what obscurities
perplex even the facts it happens to foretell. _That he should never
return to Rome_, proved not to be falsely said: as to everything else
about him they were perfectly in the dark; since he still lived, never
far distant, sometimes in the adjacent champain, sometimes on the
neighbouring shore, often under the very walls of the city; and died at
last in the fulness and extremity of age.
There happened to Tiberius, about that time, an accident, which, as it
threatened his life, fired the empty prognostics at Rome; but to himself
proved matter of more confidence in the friendship and faith of Sejanus.
They were eating in a cave at a villa, thence called _Spelunca_, between
the Amyclean Sea and the mountains of Fondi: it was a native cave, and
its mouth fell suddenly in, and buried under it some of the attendants:
hence dread seized all, and they who were celebrating the entertainment
fled: as to Sejanus; he covered the Emperor's body with his own, and
stooping upon his knees and hands, exposed himself to the descending
ruin; such was the posture he was found in by the soldiers, who came to
their relief. He grew mightier from thence; and being now considered by
Tiberius as one regardless of himself, all his counsels, however bloody
and destructive, were listened to with blind credulity: so that he
assumed the office of a judge against the offspring of Germanicus, and
suborned such as were to act the parts of accusers, and especially to
pursue and blacken Nero, the next in succession; a young Prince modest
indeed, but forgetful of that restraint and circumspection which his
present situation required. He was misguided by his freedmen and the
retainers to his house; who eager to be masters of power, animated him
with intemperate counsels; "that he would show a spirit resolute and
assured; it was what the Roman People wished, what the armies longed
for: nor would Sejanus dare then to resist; though he now equally
insulted the tameness of an old man and the sloth of a young one."
While he listened to these and the like suggestions, there escaped him,
no expressions, in truth, of any criminal purpose; but sometimes such as
were resentful and unguarded: these were catched up by the spies placed
upon him, and charged against him with aggravations; neither was
he allowed the privilege of clearing himself. Several threatening
appearances moreover dismayed him: some avoided to meet him; others
having just paid him the salute, turned instantly away: many, in the
midst of conversation, broke off and left him; while the creatures of
Sejanus stood still fearlessly by and sneered upon him. For Tiberius; he
always entertained him with a stern face, or a hollow smile; and whether
the youth spoke or said nothing, there were crimes in his words, crimes
in his silence: nor was he safe even at the dead of night; since his
uneasiness and watchings, nay, his very sighs and dreams were, by his
wife, divulged to her mother Livia, and by Livia to Sejanus; who had
also drawn his brother Drusus into the combination, by tempting him with
the immediate prospect of Empire, if his elder brother, already sinking,
were once set effectually aside. The genius of Druses naturally furious,
instigated besides by a passion for power, and by the usual hate and
competition between brothers, was further kindled by the partiality
of Agrippina, who was fonder of Nero. However, Sejanus did not so far
favour Drusus, but that against him too he was even then ripening the
studied measures of future destruction; as he knew him to be violent,
and thence more obnoxious to snares.
In the end of the year departed these eminent persons; Asinius Agrippa,
of ancestors more illustrious than ancient, and in his own character
not unworthy of them: and Quintus Haterius, of a Senatorian family, and
himself, while he yet lived, famous for eloquence: but the monuments
of his genius, since published, are not equally esteemed. In truth,
he prevailed more by rapidity than accuracy: insomuch that, as the
elaborate compositions of others flourish after them; so that enchanting
melody of voice in Haterius, with that fluency of words which was
personal to him, died with him.
In the Consulship of Marcus Licinius and Lucius Calpurnius, the casualty
of an instant, its beginning unforeseen, and ended as soon as begun,
equalled in calamity the slaughter and overthrow of mighty armies. One
Atilius had undertaken to erect an amphitheatre at Fidena, [Footnote:
Castel Giubileo, near Rome.] there to exhibit a combat of gladiators:
he was of the race of freedmen, and as he began it from no exuberance of
wealth, nor to court popularity amongst the inhabitants, but purely
for the meanness of gain, he neither established solid foundations, nor
raised the timber-work with sufficient compactness. Thither thronged
from Rome those of every sex and age, eager for such shows; as during
the reign of Tiberius they were debarred from diversions at home; and,
the nearer the place, the greater the crowds: hence the calamity was the
more dreadful; for, as the theatre was surcharged with the multitude,
the structure burst, and sinking violently in, while its extremities
rushed impetuously out, huge was the press of people, who intent upon
the gladiators within, or gathered round the walls, were crushed by the
deadly ruin, and even buried under it. And verily, they who in the first
fury of the havoc were smitten with final death, escaped as far as in
such a doleful disaster they could escape, the misery of torture: much
more to be lamented were those, who bereft of joints and pieces of their
body, were yet not forsaken of life; those who by day could with their
eyes behold their wives and children imprisoned in the same ruins; and
by night could distinguish them by their groans, and howlings.
Now others from abroad excited by the sad tidings, found here their
several sorrows: one bewailed his brother, one his kinsman, another his
parents: even they whose friends or kindred were absent on a different
account, were yet terrified: for, as it was not hitherto distinctly
known upon whom the destruction had lighted, the dread was widened by
uncertainty. When the ruins began to be removed, great about the dead
was the concourse of the living; frequent the kisses and embraces
of tenderness and sorrow: and even frequent the contention about the
propriety of the dead; where the features distorted by death or bruises,
or where parity of age or resemblance of person, had confounded the
slain, and led into mistakes their several claimers. Fifty thousand
souls were destroyed or maimed by this sad stroke: it was therefore
for the future provided by a decree of Senate, "that no man under the
qualification of four hundred thousand sesterces, [Footnote: £3,300.]
should exhibit the spectacle of gladiators; and no amphitheatre should
be founded but upon ground manifestly solid." Atilius was punished with
exile. To conclude; during the fresh pangs of this calamity, the doors
of the Grandees were thrown open; medicines were everywhere furnished;
they who administered medicines, were everywhere employed to attend:
and at that juncture the city though sorrowful of aspect, seemed to
have recalled the public spirit of the ancient Romans; who, after great
battles, constantly relieved the wounded, sustained them by liberality,
and restored them with care.
The public agonies from this terrible blow, were not yet deadened, when
another supervened; and the city felt the affliction and violence of
fire, which with uncommon rage utterly consumed Mount Caelius. "It was a
deadly and mournful year," they said, "and under boding omens the
Prince had formed the design of his absence." It is the way this of
the multitude; who to malignant counsels are wont to ascribe events
altogether fortuitous. But the Emperor dissipated their murmurs, by
bestowing on each sufferer money to the value of his sufferings: hence
he had the thanks of men of rank, in the Senate; and was by the populace
rewarded with applauses, "for that without the views of ambition,
without the application of friends, he had of his own accord even sought
out the unknown, and by his bounty relieved them." It was likewise moved
and decreed in Senate, "that Mount Caelius should be for the future
styled _Mount Augustus_, since there the statue of Tiberius, standing
in the house of Junius the Senator, escaped unhurt in the flames,
though devouring all round them:" it was remembered, that the same rare
exemption had formerly happened to Claudia Pulchra; that her statue
being twice spared by the fury of fire, had thence been placed and
consecrated by our ancestors in the Temple of the Mother of the Gods.
Thus sacred were the Claudian race, and dear to the deities; and
therefore the place, where the Gods had testified such mighty honour
towards the Prince, ought to be dignified with consecration.
It will not be impertinent to insert here, that this mount was of old
named _Querquetulanus_, from a grove of oak which grew thick upon it. It
was afterwards called _Mount Caelius_, from Caeles Vibenna, who having
led to Rome a body of Tuscan auxiliaries, was presented with that
settlement by Tarquinius Priscus, or some other of our kings; for in
this particular, writers differ: about other circumstances there remains
no dispute; that these forces were very numerous, and extended their
dwellings all along the plain below, as far as the Forum. Hence the
_Tuscan Street_, so called after these strangers.
Tiberius, having dedicated the temples in Campania; though he had by
an edict warned the public, "that none should interrupt his quiet;"
and though soldiers were posted to keep off all confluence from the
neighbouring towns; nevertheless, hating the towns themselves, and
the colonies, and every part in the continent, imprisoned himself in
Capreae, [Footnote: Capri.] an island disjoined from the point of the
Cape of Surrentum by a channel of three miles. I should chiefly believe
that he was taken with its solitude, as the sea above it is void of
havens, as the stations for the smallest vessels are few and difficult,
and as none could put in unperceived by the Guards. The genius of
the climate is mild in winter, from the shelter of a mountain which
intercepts the rigour of the winds: its summers are refreshed by gales
from the west; and the sea open all round it, makes a delightful view:
from thence too was beheld a most lovely landscape, before the eruptions
of Mount Vesuvius had changed the face of the prospect. It is the
tradition of fame that the Greeks occupied the opposite region, and
that Capreae was particularly inhabited by the Teleboi. However it were,
Tiberius then confined his retirement to twelve villas, their names
famous of old and their structure sumptuous. And the more intent he had
formerly been upon public cares, he became now so much the more buried
in dark debauches, and resigned over to mischievous privacy: for, there
remained still in him his old bent to suspicions, and rash faith in
informers; qualities which even at Rome Sejanus had always fostered, and
here inflamed more vigorously; his devices against Agrippina and Nero
being no longer a secret. About them guards were placed, by whom every
petty circumstance, the messages they sent or received, their visits and
company, their open behaviour, their private conversation, were all as
it were minuted into journals: there were others, too, instructed to
warn them to fly to the armies in Germany; or that embracing the statue
of the deified Augustus in the great Forum, they would there implore the
aid and protection of the Senate and People of Rome. And these counsels,
though rejected by them, were fathered and charged upon them, as just
ripe for execution.