we must cut out of the way the daredevil and busybody, the man of
evil nature and evil devices, who gives himself up to an unyielding,
persistent baseness, just as we treat parts of the body that are quite
incurable. But of the rest, who err through youth or ignorance or
a misunderstanding or some other chance, some purposely and others
unwillingly, it is proper to admonish some with words, to bring others to
their senses by threats, and to handle still others with moderation in
some different way, precisely as in other [matters] ... all men impose
upon some greater and upon others lesser punishments. So far as these
persons are concerned you may employ moderation without danger,
inflicting upon some the penalty of banishment, upon others that of loss
of political rights, upon still others a money fine. You may also place
some of them in country districts or in certain cities.
"In the past a few have been brought to their senses by missing what they
hoped for, by failing to secure what they aimed at. A degradation in
seats[13] and factional disputes involving disgrace, as well as being
injured or terrified before they could make a move, has improved not a
few. Yet one well born and courageous would prefer to die rather than to
have any such experience. As a result, vengeance would become not easier
for the plotters but more difficult, and we should be able to live in
safety, since not a word could be said against us. At present we are
thought to kill many through anger,[14] many because of a desire for
their money, others through fear of their bravery, and a great many
others on account of jealousy of their excellence. No one will readily
believe that a person possessing so great an authority and power can
seriously be the object of the plots of any unarmed individual. Some talk
as above and others say that we hear a great many lies and foolishly pay
heed to many of them, believing them true. They assert that those who spy
into and overhear doubtful matters concoct many falsehoods, some being
influenced by enmity, others by wrath, some because they can get money
from their foes, others because they can get no money from the same
persons, and further, that they report not only the fact of certain
persons having committed suspicious actions or intending to commit them,
but also how A said so-and-so, and B hearing it was silent, how one man
laughed and somebody else wept.
[-19-] "I could cite innumerable other details of like nature which,
no matter how true they were, are no business for free men to concern
themselves about or report to you. If they went unnoticed, they would do
you no harm, but when heard they might irritate you even against your
will: and that ought by no means to happen, especially in a ruler of the
people. Now many believe that from this cause large numbers unjustly
perish, some without a trial and others by some unwarranted condemnation
of a court. They will not admit that the evidence given or statements
made under torture or any similar proof against them is genuine. This is
the sort of talk, though some of it may not be just, which is reported in
the case of practically all so put to death. And you ought, Augustus,
to be free not only from injustice but from the appearance of it. It is
sufficient for a private individual to avoid irregular conduct, but it
behooves a ruler to incur not even the suspicion of it. You are the
leader of human beings, not of beasts, and the only way you can make
them really friendly to you is by persuading them by every means
and constantly, without a break, that you will wrong no one either
voluntarily or involuntarily. A man can be forced to fear another but he
has to be persuaded to love him: and he is to be persuaded by the good
treatment he himself receives and the benefits he sees conferred on
others. The person, however, who suspects that somebody has perished
unjustly both fears that he may some day meet the same fate and is
compelled to hate the one responsible for the deed. And to be hated by
one's subjects is (besides containing no element of good) exceedingly
unprofitable. The general mass of people feel that ordinary individuals
must defend themselves against all who wrong them in any way or else be
despised and consequently oppressed: but rulers, they think, ought to
prosecute those who wrong the State but endure those who are thought
to commit offences against them privately; rulers can not be harmed by
disdain or assault, because they have many guardians to protect them.
[-20-] "When I hear this and turn my attention to this I feel inclined to
tell you outright to put no one to death for any such reason. Places of
supremacy are established for the preservation of subjects, to prevent
them from being injured either by one another or by foreign tribes:
such places are not, by Jupiter, for the purpose of allowing the rulers
themselves to hard their subjects. It is most glorious to be able not to
destroy most of the citizens but to save them all, if possible. It is
right to educate them by laws and, favours and admonitions, that they may
be right-minded and further to watch and guard them, so that even if they
wish to do wrong they may not be able. And if there is anything ailing,
we must cure and correct it in some way, in order that there may be no
entire loss. To endure the offences of the multitude is a task requiring
great prudence and force: if any one should simply punish all of them as
they deserve, before he knew it he would have destroyed the majority of
mankind. For these reasons, then, I give you my opinion to the effect
that you should not inflict the death penalty for any such error, but
bring the men to their senses in some other way, so that they will not
again do anything dangerous. What crime could a man commit shut up on
an island, or in the country, or in some city, not only destitute of a
throng of servants and money, but under guard, if it be necessary? If the
enemy were anywhere near here or some alien force had dominion over this
sea so that one of the prisoners might escape to them and do us some
harm, or if, again, there were strong cities in Italy with fortifications
and weapons, so that if a man seized them he might become a menace to us,
that would be a different story. But all towns in this neighborhood are
unarmed and lacking any walls that would serve in war, and the enemy is
removed from them by vast distances; a long stretch of sea, and a journey
by land including mountains and rivers hard to cross lie between them and
us.
Why, then, should one fear this man or that man, defenceless, private
citizens, here in the middle of your empire and enclosed by your armed
forces? I can not see how any one could conceive such a notion or how the
maddest madman could accomplish anything.
[-21-] "With these premises, therefore, let us give the idea a trial. The
discontented will soon themselves change their ways and bring about an
improvement in others. You notice that Cornelius is both of good birth
and renowned. This matter has to be reasoned out in a human fashion. The
sword can not effect everything for you; it would be a great blessing if
it could bring some men to their senses and persuade them or even compel
them to love any one with genuine affection: but, instead, it will
destroy the body of one man and alienate the minds of the rest. People
do not become more attached to any one because of the vengeance they see
meted out to others, but they become more hostile through the influence
of their own fears. That is one side of the picture. On the other hand,
those who obtain pardon for any crime and repent are ashamed to wrong
their benefactors again, but render them much service in return, hoping
to receive much more again for it. When a man is saved by some one who
has been wronged, he thinks that his rescuer, if fairly treated, will
go to any lengths to aid him. Heed me, therefore, dearest, and make a
change. Then all your other acts that have caused displeasure will
appear to have been due to necessity. In conducting so great a city from
democracy into monarchy it is impossible to make the transfer without
bloodshed. But if you follow your old policy, you will be thought to have
done these unpleasant things intentionally."
[-22-] Augustus heeded these suggestions of Livia and released all those
against whom charges were pending, admonishing some of them orally;
Cornelius he even appointed consul. Later he so conciliated both him and
the other men that no one else again really plotted against him or had
the reputation of so doing. Livia had had most to do with saving the life
of Cornelius, yet she was destined to be held responsible for the death
of Augustus.
[A.D. 5 (a. u. 758)]
At this time, in the consulship of Cornelius and Valerius Messala,
earthquakes of ill omen occurred and the Tiber tore away the bridge so
that the City was under water for seven days. There was an eclipse of the
sun, and famine set in. This same year Agrippa was enrolled among the
iuvenes, but obtained none of the same privileges as his brother. The
senators attended the horse-races separately and the knights also
separately from the remainder of the populace, as is done nowadays. And
since the noblest families did not show themselves inclined to give their
daughters for the service of Vesta, a law was passed that the daughters
of freedmen might likewise be consecrated. Many contended for the honor,
and so they drew lots in the senate in the presence of their fathers; no
priestess, however, was appointed from this class.
[-23-] The soldiers were displeased at the small size of the prizes for
the wars that had taken place at this period and no one was willing to
carry arms for longer than the specified term of his service. It was
therefore voted that five thousand denarii be given to members of the
pretorian guard when they had ended sixteen, and three thousand to
the other soldiers when they had completed twenty years' service.
Twenty-three legions were being supported at that time, or, as others
say, twenty-five, of citizen soldiers. Only nineteen of them now remain.
The Second (Augusta) is the one that winters in Upper Britain. Of the
Third there are three divisions,--the Gallic, in Phoenicia; the Cyrenaic,
in Arabia; the Augustan, in Numidia. The Fourth. (Scythian) is in Syria,
the Fifth (Macedonian), in Dacia. The Sixth is divided into two parts, of
which the one (Victrix) is in Lower Britain, and the other (Ferrata) is
in Judæa. The soldiers of the Seventh, generally called Claudians, are in
Upper Moesia. Those of the Eighth, Augustans, are in Upper Germany. Those
of the Tenth are both in Upper Pannonia (Legio Gemina) and in Judaea.
The Eleventh, in Lower Moesia, is the Claudian. This name two legions
received from Claudius because they had not fought against him in the
insurrection of Camillus. The Twelfth (Fulminata) is in Cappadocia: the
Thirteenth (Gemina) in Dacia: the Fourteenth (Gemina) in Upper Pannonia:
the Fifteenth (Apollinaris) in Cappadocia. The Twentieth, called both
Valeria and Victrix, is also in Upper Britain. These, I believe, together
with those that have the title of the Twenty second[15] and winter in
Upper Germany Augustus took in charge and kept; and this I say in spite
of the fact that they are by no means called Valerians by all and do
not themselves use the title any longer. These are preserved from the
Augustan legions. Of the rest some have been scattered altogether and
others were mixed in with different legions by Augustus himself and by
the other emperors, from which circumstance they are thought to have been
called Gemina.
[-24-] Now that I have once been brought into a discussion of the
legions, I shall speak of the forces as they are at present according
to the disposition made by subsequent emperors: in this way any one who
desires to learn anything about them may do so easily, finding all his
information written in one place. Nero organized the First legion, called
the Italian, and now wintering in Lower Moesia; Galba, the First legion,
called Adiutrix, in Lower Pannonia, and the Seventh (Gemina), which is in
Spain; Vespasian, the Second, Adiutrix, in Lower Pannonia, and the Fourth
(the Flavian) in Syria; Domitian, the First (Minervia), in Lower Germany;
Trajan, the Second (the Egyptian), and the Thirtieth (Germanic), which he
also named after himself. Marcus Antoninus organized the Second, which
is in Noricum, and the Third, in Rhætia; these are also called Italian:
Severus the Parthian legions, i. e., the First and the Third in
Mesopotamia and between them the Second, the one in Italy.
This is at present the number of legions which are enrolled in the
service, exclusive of the cohortes urbanæ and the pretorian guard.
At that time, in the days of Augustus, those I mentioned were being
supported, whether twenty-three or twenty-five altogether; and then there
was some allied force, whatever the size, of infantry and cavalry and
sailors. I can not state the exact figures. The body-guards, ten thousand
in all, were divided into ten portions, and the six thousand warders of
the city into four portions, and there were picked foreign horsemen
to whom the name Batavians is applied (from the island Batavia in the
Rhine), because the Batavians are noted for superiority in horsemanship.
I can not, however, state their exact number any more than that of the
evocati. He began to reckon in the latter from the time that he called
the warriors who had previously supported his father to arms again
against Antony; and he retained control of them. They constitute even now
a special corps and carry rods, like the centurions.
For the distribution mentioned he needed money and therefore introduced
a motion into the senate to the effect that a definite permanent fund be
created, in order that without troubling any private citizen they might
obtain abundant support and rewards from the proposed appropriation.
The means for such a fund was accordingly sought.--As no one showed a
willingness to become ædile, some from the ranks of ex-quæstors and
ex-tribunes were compelled by lot to take the office. This happened
frequently at other times.
[A.D. 6 (_a. u._ 759)]
[-25-] After this, in the consulship of Æmilius Lepidus and Lucius
Arruntius, when no source for the fund was found that suited anybody, but
quite everybody felt dejected because such an attempt was being made,
Augustus in the name of himself and of Tiberius put money into
the treasury, which he called the ærarium militare. Some of the
ex-prætors--such as drew the lots--he instructed to administer it for
three years, employing two lictors apiece and such further assistance as
was fitting. This was done by successive officials for a number of years.
At present they are chosen by whoever is emperor and they go about
without lictors. Augustus himself made some further contributions and
promised to do this annually, and he accepted offers from kings and
certain peoples. From private individuals, though a number were ready
and glad to give (as they said), he would take nothing. But as all this
proved very slight in comparison with the large amount spent, and there
was need of some inexhaustible supply, he ordered each one of the
senators to devise means by himself, to write his plan in a book, and
give it to him to look over. This was not because he had no plan of his
own, but because he was most anxious to persuade them to choose the
one that he wished. Various men proposed various courses, but he would
approve none of them: instead, he arranged for five per cent. of the
inheritances and bequests which should be left by deceased persons
(except in the case of very near relations or poor families); he
pretended that he had found this tax suggestion in Cæsar's memoirs. It
was a method that had been introduced once before, but had been later
abolished and was now introduced anew. In this way he increased the
revenues. The expenditures made by three men of consular rank, whom
the lot designated, he partly made smaller and partly did away with
altogether.
[-26-] This was not the only source of trouble to the Romans: there was
also a severe famine. As a consequence, the gladiators and the slaves
offered for sale were removed to a distance of over seven hundred and
fifty stadia, Augustus and others dismissed the greater part of their
retinue, there was a cessation of lawsuits, and senators were permitted
to leave the city and go where they pleased. In order to prevent any
hindrance to decrees from this last measure it was ordered that all those
framed by as many as happened to attend meetings should be binding.
Moreover, ex-consuls were appointed to take charge of grain and bread
supplies, so as to have a stated quantity sold to each person. Those who
were recipients of public bounty had as much added to their supply gratis
by Augustus as they might obtain at any time. When even that did not
suffice, he forbade the citizens to hold any public festivals on his
birthday.
Since also at this time many parts of the City fell a prey to fire, he
formed a company of freedmen in seven divisions to render assistance on
such occasions, and appointed a knight as their leader, thinking soon
to disband them. He did not do this, however. Having ascertained by
experience that the aid they gave was most valuable and necessary, he
kept them. The night-watchmen exist to the present day, subject to
special regulations, and those in the service are selected not from the
freedmen only any longer but from on the rest of the classes as well.
They have barracks in the city and draw pay from the public treasury.
[-27-] The multitude, under the burden of the famine and the tax and the
losses sustained by fire, were ill at ease. They discussed openly many
schemes of insurrection and by night scattered pamphlets more still: this
move was said to be traceable to a certain Publius Rufus, but others were
suspected of it. Rufus could not have originated or have taken an
active part in it; therefore it was thought that others who aimed at a
revolution were making an illicit use of his name. An investigation
of the affair was resolved upon and rewards for information offered.
Information accordingly came in and the city as a result was stirred up.
This lasted till the scarcity of grain subsided, when gladiatorial games
in honor of Drusus were given by Germanicus Cæsar and Tiberius Claudius
Nero, his sons. [In the course of them an elephant vanquished a
rhinoceros and a knight distinguished for his wealth fought as a
gladiator.] The people were encouraged by this honor shown to the memory
of Drusus and by Tiberius's dedication of the temple of the Dioscuri,
upon which he inscribed not only his name but also that of Drusus.
Himself he called Claudianus instead of Claudius, because of his adoption
into the family of Augustus. He continued to direct operations against
the enemy and visited the City constantly whenever opportunity offered;
this was partly on account of various kinds of business but chiefly owing
to fear that Augustus might promote somebody else during his absence.
These were the events in the City that year.
In Achæa the governor died in the middle of his term and directions were
given to his quæstor and to his assessor (whom, as I have said,[16] we
call legatus) that the latter should administer the government as far as
the isthmus, and the former the rest of it. Herod [17] of Palestine, who
was accused by his brothers of some wrongdoing, was banished beyond the
Alps and his portion of the Palestinian domain reverted to the State.
[Augustus suffered from old age and infirmity, so that he could not
transact business for all that needed his aid: some cases he reviewed and
tried with his counselors, sitting upon the tribunal on the Palatine;
the embassies which came from the various nations and princes he put in
charge of three ex-consuls, under the arrangement that any one of them
individually might listen to such an embassy and return an answer, except
in cases where it was necessary for himself and the senate to render a
decision besides.]
[-28-] During this same period also many wars took place. Pirates overran
many quarters, so that Sardinia had no senatorial governor for some
years, but was in charge of soldiers with knights for commanders. Not a
few cities rebelled, with the result that for two years the same persons
held office in the same provinces of the People, and were personally
appointed instead of being chosen by lot. The provinces of Cæsar were
in general so arranged that men should govern in the same places for
a considerable time. However, I shall not go into all these matters
minutely. Many things not worthy of record happened in individual
instances, and no one would be benefited by the exact details. I shall
mention simply the events worth remembering, and very briefly, save those
of greatest importance.
The Isaurians began marauding expeditions and kept on till they faced
grim war, but were finally subdued. The Gætuli, discontented with their
king, Juba, and at the same time feeling themselves slighted because not
governed by the Romans, rose against him: they ravaged the neighboring
territory and killed even many of the Romans who made a campaign against
them. In fine, they gained so great an ascendancy that Cornelius Cossus,
who reduced them, received triumphal honors and title for it. While
these troubles were in progress expeditions against the Celtæ were being
conducted by various leaders, and notably by Tiberius. He advanced first
to the river Visurgis and subsequently as far as the Albis, but nothing
of any moment was accomplished then, although not only Augustus but also
Tiberius was dubbed imperator for it, and Gaius Sentius, governor
of Germany, received triumphal honors. The Celtæ were so afraid of their
foes that they made a truce with him not merely once but twice. And the
reason that peace was again granted them, in spite of their having broken
it so soon, was that the affairs of the Dalmatians and Pannonians, who
had begun a rebellion on a large scale, needed vigilant attention.
[-29-] The Dalmatians, smarting under the levies of tribute, had for some
time previous kept quiet even against their will. But, at the same time
that Tiberius made his second campaign against the Celtæ, Valerius
Messalinus, the governor of Dalmatia and Pannonia, was himself despatched
to the front with Tiberius, taking most of his army; they, too, were
ordered to send a contingent and on coming together for this purpose had
a chance to see the flower of their fighting force. After that there was
no more delay, but urged on particularly by one Bato, a Dæsidiatian, at
first a few revolted and worsted the Romans that came against them, and
this success then led others to rebel. Next, the Breuci, a Pannonian
tribe, put another leader named Bato at their head and marched against
Sirmium and the Romans in the town. This they did not capture: Cæcina
Severus, the governor of Moesia close by, he heard of their uprising
marched rapidly upon them, and joining battle with them near the river
Dravus vanquished their army. Hoping to renew the struggle soon, since
many of the Romans also had fallen, they turned to summon their allies,
and collected as many as they could. Meanwhile the Dalmatian Bato had
made a descent upon Salonæ, and being himself grievously wounded with a
stone accomplished nothing, but sent some others, who wrought havoc along
the whole sea-coast as far as Apollonia. There, in spite of his
defeat, his representatives won a slight battle against the Romans who
encountered them.
[-30-] Tiberius ascertaining this feared they might invade Italy and so
returned from Celtica: he sent Messalinus ahead and himself followed with
the rest of the army. Bato learned of their approach and though not yet
well went to meet Messalinus. He proved the latter's superior in open
conflict but was afterward conquered by an ambuscade. Thereupon he went
to Bato the Breucan, and making common cause with him in the war occupied
a mountain named Alma. Here they were defeated in a slight skirmish by
Rhoemetalces the Thracian, despatched in advance against them by Severus,
but resisted Severus himself vigorously. Later Severus withdrew to
Moesia because the Dacians and the Sauromatæ were ravaging it, and while
Tiberius and Messalinus were tarrying in Siscia the Dalmatians overran
their allied territory and likewise caused many to revolt. Although
Tiberius approached them, they would engage in no open battle with him
but kept moving from one place to another, devastating a great deal of
ground. Owing to their knowledge of the country and the lightness of
their equipment they could easily go wherever they pleased. When winter
set in, they did much greater damage by invading Macedonia again.
Rhoemetalces and his brother Rhascuporis got the better of this force in
battle.
[A.D. 7 (_a. u._ 760)]