not require any more. This number remained constant for several years.
Some of them were intended to fulfill the same duties as of yore and two
of them to have charge of the administration of the finances each year.
Having settled these details he resigned the consulship and went to
Albanum. He himself ever since the constitution had been arranged had
held office for the entire year, as had most of his colleagues, and he
wished now to interrupt this custom again, in order that as many as
possible might be consuls. His resignation took place outside the city to
prevent his being hindered in his purpose.
For this act he received praise, as also because he chose to take his
place Lucius Sestius, who had always been an enthusiastic follower of
Brutus, had campaigned with the latter in all his wars, and even at this
time made mention of him, had his images, and delivered eulogies. So
far from disliking the friendly and faithful qualities of the man, the
emperor even honored him.
The senate consequently voted that Augustus be tribune for life and that
he might bring forward at each meeting of the senate any business he
liked concerning any one matter, even if he should not be consul at
the time, and allowed him to hold the office of proconsul once for all
perpetually, so that he had neither to lay it down on entering the
pomerium nor to take it up again outside. The body also granted him more
power in subject territory than the several governors possessed. As a
result both he and subsequent emperors gained a certain legal right to
the use of the tribunican authority, in addition to their other powers.
But the actual name of tribune neither Augustus nor any other emperor has
held.
[-33-] And it seems to me that he then acquired these rights as described
not from flattery but as a mark of real honor. In most ways he behaved
toward the Romans as if they were free citizens. For, when Tiridates in
person and envoys from Phraates arrived to settle their mutual disputes,
he introduced them to the senate. After this, when the decision of the
question had been entrusted to him by that body, he refused to surrender
Tiridates to Phraates, but sent back to him his son, whom Tiridates had
formerly received from the other and was keeping, on condition that the
captives and the military standards taken in the disasters of Crassus and
of Antony be returned.
In this same year one of the inferior ædiles died and Gaius Calpurnius
succeeded him, in spite of having served previously as one of the
patrician ædiles. This is not mentioned as having occurred in the case of
any other man. During the Feriæ there were two præfecti urbi each day,
and one of them, who was not yet admitted to the standing of a youth,
nevertheless held office.
Livia, however, was accused of having caused the death of Marcellus
because he had been preferred before her sons. This suspicion became
a matter of controversy both in that year and in the following, which
proved so unhealthful that great numbers perished during its progress.
And, as it usually happens that some sign occurs before such events,
so on this occasion a wolf had been caught in the city, fire and storm
damaged many buildings, and the Tiber, rising, washed away the wooden
bridge and rendered the city submerged for three days.
[Footnote 1: Following Dindorf's reading [Greek: hyper heauton].]
[Footnote 2: A reference to Cornelius Gallus (see Book Fifty-one, chapter
17).]
[Footnote 3: The expression to which Dio here refers is doubtless the
adjective _quinquefascalis_, found in inscriptional Latin. All the
editions from Xylander to Dindorf gave "six lictors", erroneously, as was
pointed out by Mommsen (_Romisches Staatsrecht_, 12, p. 369, note 4).
Boissevain is the first editor to make the correction. (See the latter
portion of chapter 17, Book Fifty-seven, which should be compared with
Tacitus, Annals, II, 47, 5.)
The Greek language had a phrase [Greek: hae hexapelekus archae],
corresponding to the Latin _sexfascalis_, but no adjective [Greek:
pentapelekus], which would be the equivalent of _quinquefascalis_, is
reported in the lexicons.]
[Footnote 4: Cp. Book Fifty-two, chapter 25.]
[Footnote 5: Translating Boissevain's conjecture, [Greek: dela chahi
pempton isa], in place of a corruption in the text.]
[Footnote 6: In view of the fact that _Sex. Pacuvius Taurus_ does not
come on the scene (as tribune of the plebs) till B.C. 9-7, it seems more
likely, as Boissevain remarks, that Apudius is the correct name of the
author of this piece of flattery.]
[Footnote 7: Boissevain thinks that the passage indicated was probably in
Book Twenty-two (one of the lost portions of the work). Compare Fragment
LXXIV (1) in Volume VI of this translation.--Boissée suggested Book
Forty-nine, Chapter 34. There, too, the correspondence is not complete.]
[Footnote 8: The modern _Aosta_.]
[Footnote 9: Possibly this prænomen is an error for _Publius_.]
[Footnote 10: Chapter 18 of this Book.]
[Footnote 11: Another writer reports his name as _Lucius Lamia_.]
[Footnote 12: The "prosperous" or fertile part of Arabia, as opposed to
_Arabia Deserta_ or _Petræa_.]
DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY
54
The following is contained in the Fifty-fourth of Dio's Rome:
How road commissioners were appointed from among the ex-prætors (chapter
8).
How grain commissioners were appointed from among the ex-prætors
(chapters 1 and 17).
How Noricum was reduced (chapter 20).
How Rhætia was reduced (chapter 22).
How the Maritime Alps began to yield obedience to the Romans (chapter
24).
How the theatre of Balbus was dedicated (chapter 25).
How the theatre of Marcellus was dedicated (chapter 26).
How Agrippa died and Augustus acquired the Chersonese (chapters 28, 29).
How the Augustalia was instituted (chapter 34).
Duration of time, 13 years, in which there were the following magistrates
here enumerated:
M. Claudius M. F. Marcellus Æserninus, L. Arruntius L.F. (B.C. 22 = a. u.
732.)
M. Lollius M. F., Q. Æmilius M. F. Lepidus. (B.C. 21 = a. u. 733.)
M. Apuleius Sex, F., P. Silius P. F. Nerva. (B.C. 20 = a. u. 734.)
C. Sentius C. F. Saturninus, Q. Lucretius Q. F. Vispillo. (B.C. 19 = a.
u. 735.)
Cn. Cornelius L. F., P. Cornelius P. F. Lentulus Marcellinus. (B.C. 18 =
a. u. 736.)
C. Furnius C. F., C. Iunius C. F. Silanus. (B.C. 17 = a. u. 737.)
L. Domitius Cn. F. Cn. N. Ahenobarbus, P. Cornelius P. F. P. N. Scipio.
(B.C. 16 = a. u. 738.)
M. Livius L. F. Drusus Libo, L. Calpurnius L. F. Piso Frugi. (B.C. 15 =
a. u. 739.)
M. Licinius M. F. Crassus, Cn. Cornelius Cn. F. Lentulus. (B.C. 14 = a.
u. 740.)
Tib. Claudius Tib. F. Nero, P. Quintilius Sex. F. Varus. (B.C. 13 = a. u.
741.)
M. Valerius M. F. Messala Barbatus, P. Sulpicius P. F. Quirinus. (B.C. 12
= a. u. 742.)
Paulus Fabius Q. F. Maximus, Q. Ælius Q. F. Tubero. (B.C. 11 = a. u.
743.)
Iullus Antonius M. F., Africanus Q. Fabius Q. F. (B.C. 10 = a. u. 744.)
_(BOOK 54, BOISSEVAIN.)_
[B.C. 22 (_a. u._ 732)]
[-1-] The following year, during which Marcus Marcellus and Lucius
Arruntius were the consuls, the river caused another flood which
submerged the City, and many objects were struck by thunderbolts, among
them the statues in the Pantheon; and the spear even fell from the hand
of Augustus. The pestilence raged throughout Italy so that no one tilled
the land, and I think that the same was the case in foreign parts. The
Romans, therefore, reduced to dire straits by disease and by famine,
thought that this had happened to them for no other reason than that they
did not have Augustus for consul this time also. They accordingly wished
to elect him as dictator, and shutting the senate up within its halls
they forced it to vote this measure by threatening to burn down the
building. Next they took the twenty-four rods and accosted Augustus,
begging him both to be named dictator and to become commissioner of
grain, as Pompey had once been. He accepted the latter duty under
compulsion and ordered two men from among those who had served as prætors
five years or more previously, in every instance, to be chosen annually
to attend to the distribution of grain. As for the dictatorship, however,
he would not hear of it and went so far as to rend his clothing when
he found himself unable to restrain them in any other way, either by
reasoning or by prayer. As he already had authority and honor even beyond
that of dictators he did right to guard against the jealousy and hatred
which the title would arouse. [-2-] His course was the same when they
wished to elect him censor for life. Without entering upon the office
himself he immediately designated others as censors, namely Paulus
Æmilius Lepidus and Lucius Munatius Plancus, the latter a brother of that
Plancus who had been proscribed and the former a person who at that time
had himself been under sentence of death. These were the last private
citizens to hold the appointment, as was at once made manifest by the
men themselves. The platform on which they were intended to perform the
ceremonies pertaining to their position fell to the ground in pieces when
they had ascended it on the first day of their office. After that there
were no other censors appointed together, as they had been. Even at this
time Augustus in spite of their having been chosen took care of many
matters which properly belonged to them. Of the Public Messes he
abolished some altogether and reformed others so that greater temperance
prevailed. He committed the charge of all the festivals to the prætors,
commanding that an appropriation be given them from the public treasury.
Moreover he forbade them to spend from their own means on these occasions
more than they received from the other source, or to have armed combat
under any other conditions than if the senate should vote for it, and
even then there were to be not more than two such contests in each year
and they should consist of not more than one hundred and twenty men. To
the curule ædiles he entrusted the extinguishment of conflagrations, for
which purpose he granted them six hundred slave assistants. And since
knights and women of note had thus early appeared in the orchestra, he
forbade not only the children of senators, to whom the prohibition had
even previously extended, but also their grandchildren, who naturally
found a place in the equestrian class, to do anything of the sort again.
[-3-] In these ordinances he let both the substance and the name of the
lawgiver and emperor be seen. In other matters he was more moderate
and even came to the aid of some of his friends when their conduct was
subjected to official scrutiny. But a certain Marcus Primus was accused
of having made war upon the Odrysae, while he was governor of Macedonia,
who said at one time that he had done it with the approval of Augustus,
and again with that of Marcellus. The emperor thereupon came of his own
accord into the court and, when interrogated by the prætors as to whether
he had instructed the man to make war, entered a denial. The advocate
of Primus, Licinius Murena, in the course of some rather disrespectful
remarks that he made to him enquired: "What are you doing here!" and "Who
summoned you!" To this Augustus only replied: "The Public Good." For this
he received praise from sensible persons and was even given the right to
convene the senate as often as he pleased. Some of the others looked down
upon him. Indeed, not a few voted for the acquittal of Primus and others
united to form a plot against Cæsar. Fannius Cæpio was at the head of it,
though others had a share. Murena also was said, whether truly or by way
of calumny, to have been one of the conspirators, since he was insatiate
and unsparing in his outspokenness to all alike. These men did not appear
for trial in court but were convicted by default on the supposition that
they intended to flee; shortly after, however, they were put to death.
Murena found neither his brother Proculeius nor Mæcenas his sister's
husband of any avail, though they were the recipients of distinguished
honors from Augustus. And as some of the jurymen actually voted to acquit
these conspirators, the emperor made a law that votes should not be cast
secretly in cases by default and that the persons on trial must receive
a unanimous conviction. That he authorized these provisions not in anger
but as really conducive to the public good he gave overwhelming evidence.
Cæpio's father liberated one of his slaves who had accompanied his son on
his flight, because he had wished to defend the younger man when he met
his death; but a second slave who had betrayed him the father led through
the middle of the Forum with an inscription making known the reason why
he should be killed, and after that crucified him: yet at all this the
emperor showed no indignation. He would have allayed all the criticism
of those not pleased with the course of events, had he not allowed
sacrifices, as for some victory, to be both voted and offered.
[-4-] It was at this period that he restored both Cyprus and Gallia
Narbonensis to the people as provinces no longer needing his
administration of martial law.
Thus proconsuls began to be sent to these places also. He also dedicated
the temple of Jupiter Tonans, concerning which event these two traditions
survive,--that at the time thunder occurred during the ritual, and that
later Augustus had a dream, which I shall proceed to describe. He thought
that the throng had come to do reverence to the deity, partly attracted
by the novelty of his name and form and partly because he had been put in
place by Augustus, but chiefest of all because they encountered him first
when they ascended the Capitol; and he dreamed that Jupiter in the great
temple was angry because he was now reduced to second place, and that he
himself thereupon said to the offended god (as he reported the story)
that he had Tonans as an advance guard. When it became day he attached a
bell to the statue by way of confirming the vision. For those who guard
apartment houses by night carry a bell, in order to be able to signal the
inhabitants whenever they wish.--These events, then, took place at Rome.
[-5-] About this same period the Cantabri and the Astures broke out into
war again. The action of the Astures was due to the haughtiness and
cruelty of Carisius. The Cantabri, on the other hand, took the field
because they learned that the other tribe was in revolt and because they
despised their governor, Gaius Furnius, since he had but lately arrived
and they conceived him to be unacquainted with conditions in their
territory. He did not, however, show himself that sort of man in action,
for both tribes were defeated and reduced to slavery by him, Carisius
even receiving help from him. Not many of the Cantabri were captured. As
they had no hope of freedom they did not choose to live, but some after
setting the forts on fire stabbed themselves, and others let themselves
be consumed with the works, while still others in the sight of all took
poison. Thus the most of them and the fiercest faction perished. As for
the Astures, as soon as they had been repulsed in a siege at some
point and had subsequently been beaten in battle, they made no further
resistance but were straightway subdued.
About this same time the Ethiopians, who dwell beyond Egypt, advanced
as far as the city called Elephantine, with Candace as their leader,
ravaging the whole region that they traversed. On learning that Gaius[1]
Petronius, the governor of Egypt, was approaching and somewhere near,
they hastily retreated hoping to make good their escape. Overtaken on the
road, however, they suffered defeat and then drew him on into their own
country. There, too, he contended nobly and took among other cities
Napata, the royal residence of that tribe. This town was razed to the
ground and a garrison left at another post. For Petronius, not being able
to advance farther on account of the sand and the heat, nor to remain
conveniently on the spot with his entire army, withdrew, taking the most
of it with him. At that the Ethiopians attacked the garrisons, but he
again proceeded against them, rescued his own men, and compelled Candace
to make terms with him.
[ B.C. 21 (_a. u._ 733)]
[-6-] While this was going on Augustus went to Sicily in order to settle
the affairs of that island and of other countries as far as Syria. While
he was still there, the Roman populace fell to disputing over an election
of the consuls. This incident showed clearly that it was impossible for
them to be safe under a democracy, for with the little power that they
had over elections and in regard to offices, even, they began rioting.
The place of one of the consuls was being kept for Augustus and in this
way at the beginning of the year Marcus Lollius alone entered upon
office. As the emperor would not accept the place, Quintus Lepidus and
Lucius Silvanus became rival candidates and threw everything into such
turmoil that Augustus was invoked by those who still retained their
senses. He would not return, however, and sent them back when they came
to him, rebuking them and bidding them cast their votes during the
absence of both claimants. This did not promote peace any the more, but
they began to quarrel and dispute again vehemently, so that it was long
before Lepidus was chosen. Augustus was displeased at this, for he could
not spend all his time at Rome alone, and he did not dare to leave the
city without a head; seeking, therefore, for some one to set over it he
judged Agrippa to be most suitable for the purpose. And as he wished to
clothe him in some greater dignity than common, in order that this might
help him to govern the people more easily, he summoned him, compelled him
to divorce his wife (although she was Cæsar's own niece), and to marry
Julia, and forthwith sent him to Rome to attend both to the wedding and
to the administration of the City. This step is said to have been due
partly to the advice of Mæcenas, who in conversation with him upon these
very matters said: "You have made him so great that he should either
become your son-in-law or be killed."--Agrippa healed the sores which he
found still festering and repelled the advance of the Egyptian rites,
which were returning once more to the City, forbidding any one to perform
them even in the suburbs within eight half-stadia. A disturbance arose
regarding the election of the præfectus urbi--the one chosen on account
of the Feriæ--and he did not attempt to quell it, but they lived through
that year without that official. This was what _he_ accomplished.
[-7-] Augustus after settling various affairs in Sicily and making
Syracuse together with certain other cities Roman colonies crossed over
into Greece. The Lacedæmonians he honored by giving them Cythera and
attending their Public Mess, because Livia, when she fled from Italy with
her husband and son, passed some time there. From the Athenians, as some
say, he took away Ægina and Eretria, the produce of which they were
enjoying, because they had espoused the cause of Antony. Moreover he
forbade them to make any one a citizen for money. It seemed to them that
what happened to the statue of Athena had tended to their misfortune.
Placed on the Acropolis facing the east it had turned about to the west
and spat blood.
[ B.C. 20 (_a. u._ 734)]
As for Augustus, after setting the Greek world in order, he sailed to
Samos, passed the winter there, and in the spring when Marcus Apuleius
and Publius Silius became consuls proceeded to Asia and gave his
attention to matters there and in Bithynia. Though these and the
foregoing provinces were regarded as belonging to the people, he did not
make light of them, but accorded them the very best of care, as if they
were his own. He instituted all reforms that seemed desirable and made a
present of money to some, while others he instructed to collect an amount
in excess of the tribute. The people of Cyzicus he reduced to slavery
because during an uprising they had flogged and put to death some Romans.
And when he reached Syria he took the same action in the case of the
people of Tyre and Sidon on account of their uprising.
[-8-] Meanwhile Phraates, fearing that he might lead an expedition
against him because as yet none of the agreements had been carried out,
sent back to him the standards and all the captives, save a few who in
shame had destroyed themselves or by eluding detection had remained
in the country. Augustus received them with the appearance of having
conquered the Parthian in some war. He took great pride in the event,
saying that what had been lost in former battles he had recovered without
a struggle. Indeed, in honor of his success he both commanded sacrifices
to be voted and performed them, besides constructing a temple of Mars
Ultor on the Capitol, in imitation of Jupiter Feretrius, for the offering
up of the standards. Moreover he rode into the City on a charger and
was with an arch carrying a trophy. That was what was done later in
commemoration of the event. At this time he was chosen commissioner of
the highways round about Rome, set up the so-called golden milestone,
and assigned road-builders from the ranks of the ex-prætors, with two
lictors, to take care of the various streets. Julia also gave birth to a
child, who received the name Gaius; and a sacrifice of kine was permitted
forever upon his birthday. Now this was done, like everything else,
in pursuance of a decree: privately the ædiles had a horse-race and
slaughter of wild beasts on the birthday of Augustus.--These were the
occurrences in the City.
[-9-] Augustus ordained that the subject territory should be managed
according to the customs of the Romans, but permitted allied countries to
be governed according to their own ancestral usage. He did not think it
desirable that there should be any additions to the former or that any
new regions should be acquired, but deemed it best for the people to
be thoroughly satisfied with what they already possessed; and he
communicated this opinion to the senate. Therefore he began no war at
this time, but gave out certain sovereignties,--to Iamblichus son of
Iamblichus his ancestral dominion over the Arabians, and to Tarcondimotus
son of Tarcondimotus the kingdom of Cilicia which his father held, except
a few coast districts. For these together with Lesser Armenia he granted
to Archelaus, because the Median king, who had previously ruled them, was
dead. To Herod he entrusted the tetrarchy of a certain Zenodorus and to
one Mithridates, though a mere lad, Commagene, since the king of it had
killed his father. And as the other Armenians had preferred charges
against Artaxes and had summoned his brother Tigranes, who was in Rome,
the emperor sent for Tiberius to cast the former out of his kingdom and
restore the latter to it once more. Nothing was accomplished, however,
worthy of the preparations he had made, for the Armenians slew Artaxes
before his arrival. Still, Tiberius assumed a lofty bearing as if he had
effected something by his own ability, and all the more when sacrifices
were voted in honor of the result. And he now began to have thoughts
about obtaining the monarchy when, as he was approaching Philippi, an
outcry was heard from the field of battle, as if coming from an army, and
fire of its own accord shot up from the altars founded by Antony upon the
ramparts. These things contributed to the exalted feelings of Tiberius.