.1. -.. 1. R I - - 11 M...... I I -.-f Raw Q 0 A. VON - A;, _.e 0I i (Z "I 1%.2 v e( Alo-L BOHN'S CLASSICAL LIBRARY TACITUS. GEORGE BELL & SONS LONDON: YORK ST., COVENT GARDEN NEW YORK: 66 FIFTH AVENUE, AND BOMBAY: 53 ESPLANADE ROAD CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON BELL & CO. TrHE WORKS OF TACITUS. is O~xforb rarslatrn, cbisLcb. WITH N01 ES. VOL. I. TH E ANNALS. LO D O N GEORGE BELL AND 1896 SONS 5 7 9 7 T / s _ v,, Reprinted from Stereotype plates. CONTENTS OF VOL. 1. BOOK I. iummary of Roman History-The Family of Augustus-Character of Tiberius —Accession of Tiberius-Criticisms on Augustus-Dissimu lation of Tiberius-Discussion in the Senate-Sedition in Pannonia -Progress of the Sedition-Effects of an Eclipse-Disturbances in Germany-Loyalty of Germanicus-Mutinous Conduct of the Legions -First Mention of Caligula-Address of Germanicus-Alarm of the City-The Troops return to their Duty-Death of Julia-The Cattians attacked-Arminius raises War-Scene of Defeat of VarusDisasters in Germany-The Germans repulsed-Danger of the Legions-Rise of Informers-Theatrical Riots-Policy of Tiberius 1-56 BOOK II. Commotions in Parthia-Preparations of Germanicus-The Brother of Arminius-Address to the Troops-Defeat of the Germans-Trophy raised by Germanicus-Storm at Sea —Story of Libo-Death of Libo -Independence of Piso —Hortalus prays for Relief-Attempt of Agrippa's Slave-Death of Archelaus -Dissensions amongst the Germans-Earthquake in Asia-War in Africa-Progress of Germanicus-Insolence of Piso-Germanicus visits Egypt-Cotys and Rhescuporis-Death of Vonones-End of Germanicus-Piso advises with his Friends-Piso defeated by Sentius-Honours decreed to Germanicus —Death of Arminius......... 5i6- 17 BOOK lI. Agrippina returns to Rome-Mourning for Germanicus-Trial of Piso -Piso's Defence-Fate of Piso, and Trial of Plancina-Tacfarinas renews the War in Africa -Accusation of Lepida-Origin and Changes of Laws-Nero, Son of Germanicus-Fresh Commotions;n Africa-Debate on the Motion of Ccecina-Commotions in Thrace278450 Tn CONTENTS. Insurrection in Gaul-Revolt in Gaul suppressed —preach of the Law of Majesty-Tiberius on the Luxury of the Times-Causes of Decline in Luxury investigated-Claims of the Priest of Jupiter disallowed -Rights of Sanctuaries examined-Impeachment of C. SilanusC. Silanus banished-Demands of Tacfarinas-Death of illustrious Persons.............. 108-153 BOOK IV. Corrupt Practices of Sejanus-Roman Fleets and Legions-Drusus poisoned —Rumours concerning the Death of Drusus-Claims to Right of Sanctuary-The Office of Priest of Jupiter-Accusation and Death of Silius-End of the African War-Tacfarinas slainSerenus banished-The different Forms of Government-Defence of Cremutius Cordus —Tiberius rejects Divine Honours-Petition of Sejanus-Trial of Montanus —L. Piso assassinated in Spain-Insurrection in Thrace-Prosecution of Claudia Pulchra-Agrippina and Sejanns-Tiberius retires to Campania-Increased Power of Sejanus -Fall of an Amphitheatre at Fidenae-Tiberius withdraws to Caprese -Sabinus accused by the Emperor-Revolt of the Frisians-Agrippina married to Domitius...... 4-205 ~~~~/ ~ BOOK V. Agrippina and her Son accused-Tiberius accuses his GrandchildrenA Counterfeit Drusus in Greece......... 206-212 BOOK VI. Junius Gallio rebuked-Remarkable Letter of Tiberius-Defence of M. Terentius-Office of Prefect of Rome-Two Daughters of Germanicus married-Trials for Treason-Thrasullus the AstrologerDeath of Agrippina-The Phcenix —Some Informers punished-Intrigues amongst the Parthians-War between the Parthians and Armenians-Death of Trio; his Will-Revolt of the Clitseans-Fire at Rome-Question of the Succession-Death of Tiberius 212-247 BOOK XI. Asiaticus and Poppsea accused-Venality of the Informers-Conmmo tions among the Parthians-Bardanes assassinated-Acts of Claudius as Censor-Italicus, King of the Cheruscans-Strict Discipline ot A Corbulo-The Office of Quvestor-Additions to the Senate-Marriage of Messalina and Silius-Messalina denounced to the Emperor — Claudius returns from Ostia-Execution of Messalina 247- 272 CONTENTS.,Vo VII / I30BOK XII. iJgrippina chosen Empress-Discussion on the Emperor's MarriageOctavia betrothed to l)omitius-Commotions in Parthia-Successes in Parthia-Mithridates brought to Rome-Boundaries of the City -The Cattians subdued-The War in Britain-Victory over Caractacus -Caractacus at Rome -Nero and Britannicus- Earthquakes and Famine-War in Armenia-Story of Zenobia-On Marriage with Slaves-A mock Sea-fight-Power of the Procurators-Relief granted the Byzantines-Claudius poisoned..... 272-313 BOOK XIII. Nero succeeds to the Empire-Nero's Speech in the Senate-Affairs in the East-Influence of Acte-Menaces of Agrippina-Britannicus poisoned-Agrippina accused-Treatment of her Accusers-Conduct of the Freedmen-Various Offices regulated-Pomponia GraecinaStrict Discipline of Corbulo-Negotiations with Tiridates-Success of Corbulo-P. Suilius condemned-Pontia stabbed by a TribuneCornelius Sylla banished-Extortion of the Tax-gatherers-German Chiefs at Rome-Events in Germany....... 313-352 J BOOK XIV. Influence of Poppas-Attempt to drown Agrippina-Other Measures decided on-Nero's Remorse-Nero's return to Rome-Nero appears on the Stage-Quinquennial Games instituted-Appearance of a.Comet-Successes of Corbulo-Puteoli made a Colony-Insurnection in Britain-The Britons under Boadicea-Defeat of Boadicea-Forgery of a Will-Murder of a Master by his Slave-Antistius condemned-Seneca calumniated-Seneca's Interview with Nero-Power of Tigellinus-Sylla and Plautus assassinated-Artifice of Pbppaea -Octavia put to Death............ 353-395 BOOK XV. Armenia invaded by Vologeses-Pastus sent to Armenia-Incapacity of Peetus —The Roman Legions besieged- Paetus retreats from Armenia-Decree concerning Adoptions-Nero's Daughter, Augusta -Corbulo enters Armenia-Treaty with the Parthians-Nero appears on the Public Stage-Prodigality of the Times-Great Fire at Rome Tiii CONTENTS. -The City rebuilt-The Christians accused by Nero-A Conspiracy formed-Progress of the Conspiracy-The Plot discovered-The Conspirators impeached-Death of Piso-Last Moments of SenecaFenius Rufus impeached-Vestinus put to death-Nero assembles the Senate........... 396-443 BOOK XVI. seport of hidden Treasure —Nero performs on the Stage-Fate of Cassius and Silanus-L. Vetus, Sextia, and Pollutia-Anteius and Ostorius-Character of C. Petronius -Thrasea accused-Thrasea requests a Hearing —The Senate intimidated-Soranus and his Daughter accused-Tbrasea prepares to tie.. 448-464 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. BOOK I. 1 KINGs held dominion in the city of Rome from its foundation: Lucius Brutus instituted liberty and the consulate.' Dictatorships were resorted to in temporary emergencies: I In this introduction, Tacitus gives us a compendious view of the Roman government, in all its various forms, and every deviation from its first principles, from the foundation of the city to the establishment of the Casars. The several forms were as follows:I. The regal government, which lasted, under seven successive kings, above two hundred and forty years, and ended at last by the expulsion of Tarquin. II. The consulship, and the republican government established by Brutus, A.U.C. 245; before the Christian sera 509. III. The supreme authority of the dictator, created in pressing exigencies, and for a limited time. This office was first instituted, according to Livy, A.U.c. 253. IV. The decemvirs appointed to frame a body of laws. They were the only magistrates. The government, which was transferred from kings to consuls, was now vested in the decemvirs. Their code of laws was finished within two years. It was called the Twelve Tables. The well-known tyranny of Appius brought upon them the name of the "Ten Tarquins." Their magistracy ended A.u.c. 305. V. The military tribunes, in a violent contention between the patricians and commonalty, invested with the authority of the consuls, and exercising all the functions of those two magistrates, A.U.c. 310. In the following year the consular government was once more restored. VI. The usurpation of Cinna, A.u.c. 667. VII. The domination of Sylla; who assumed the power of dictator A.U.C. 672, and continued in that station till the year 675, when he made a voluntary abdication, and retired to lead the life of a private citizen. VIII. The triumvirate of Pompey, Crassus, and Julius Caesar, A.r.C. 699. This was a faction, not a legal institution IX. Caesar perpetual dictator, A.u.c. 706. X. The triumvirate of Antony, Lepidus, aun Augustus, A.u.c. 711. XI. The supreme power vested in Augustus, A..c. 724. Such TAC.-VOL. I. B 2 THE ANNAL. [B. 1. neither the power of the decemvirs continued in force beyond two y ars, nor the consular authority of the military tribunes for any length of time. The domination of Cinna did not continue long, nor that of Sylla: the influence of Pompey and Crassus quickly merged in CaGsar: the arms of Lepidus and Antony in Augustus, who, with the title of prince,' took under his command the commonwealth, exhausted with civil dissensions. But the affairs of the ancient Roman people, whether prosperous or adverse, have been recorded by writers of renown. Nor were there wanting authors of distinguished genius to have composed the history of the times of Augustus, till by the spirit of flattery, which became prevalent, they were deterred. As to Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero,j whilst they yet reigned the histories of their times werefalsified through fear; and after they had fallen, they were written under the influence of recent detestation. Thence my own design of recounting a few incidents respecting Augustus, and those towards the latter part of his life; and, after that, of giving a history of the reign of Tiberius and the rest; uninfluenced by resentment and partiality, as I stand aloof from the causes of them. 2. When, after the fall of Brutus and Cassius, there remained none to fight for the commonwealth; when Sextus Pompeius was utterly defeated at Sicily; and Lepidus being deprived of his command, and Mark Antony slain, there remained no leader even to the Julian party but Octavius; having put off the name of triumvir, styling himself consul, and pretending that all he aimed at was the jurisdiction attached to the tribuneship for the protection of the -oiaIlons; when he had cajoled the soldiery by donations, the people by distribution of corn, and men in general by the charms of peace, he (Octavius) began by gradations to exalt were the various changes of government which Tacitus has enumerated with his usual comprehensive brevity. Each of them forms an impor tant Eera, and all, well developed, would furnish a complete political history of Rome. 1 That is, Prince of the Senate; a title well known in the time of the old republic, and always given to the senator whose name stood irst on the censor's roll. When the consul called upon the fathers for their opinions, he began with the Princeps Senatus. Under that constitutional name, Augustus seemed rather to accept than to arrogate to aimself the management of the state. Missing0 IPageR Missing0 IPageR CUARACTER, OF TIBERIU9. 5 naturally stern and savage, and exasperated by contumely. and neither in age nor iexp.erience equal to a task of such magnitude. Tiberius, indeed had arrived at fulness of years, and was a distinguishedca v _bu..posessed the inveterate and inherent pride of the Claudian family; and many indications of cruel natturetesaped hirtun spite of all his arts to disguise it; that even from his early infancy he had beeil trained up in an imperial house; that consulships and triumphs had been accumulated upon him while but a youth. Not even during the years of his abode at Rhodes, where under the plausible name of retirement, he was in fact an exile, did he employ himself otherwise than in meditating future vengeance, studying the arts of simulation, and practising secret and abominable sensualities. That to these considerations was added that of his mother, a woman with the ungovernable spirit peculiar to her sex; that the Romans must be under bondage to a woman, and moreover to two youths,' who would meanwhile oppress the state, and, at one time or other, rend it piecemeal." 5. While the public mind was agitated by these and similar discussions, the illness of Augustus grew daily more serious, and some suspected nefarious practices on the part of his wife. For some months before, a rumour had gone abroad that Augustus, having singled out a few to whom he communicated his purpose, had taken Fabius Maximus for his only companion, had sailed over to the island of Planasia, to visit Agrippa; that many tears were shed on both sides, many tokens of mutual tenderness shown, and hopes from thence conceived that the youth would be restored to the household gods of his grandfather. That Maximus had disclosed this to Martia, his wife,-she to Livia; and that the emperor was informed of it: and that Maximus, not long after, dying, (it is doubtful whether naturally, or by means sought for the purpose,) Martia was observed, in her lamentations at his funeral, to upbraid herself as the cause of her husband's destruction. Howsoever that matter might have been, Tiberius was scarce entered Illyrium when he was summoned by a letter from his mother, forwarded with speed nor is it fully known whether, at hlis return to Nola, he foull 1 Drusus (the son of Tiberius) and Germanicus, who, at that tinme ommwnanded thilegions on the Rhine. THE ANNALS. LB. I. Augustus yet breathing, or already lifeless. For Livia had -arefully beset the palace, and all the avenues to it, with vigilant guards; and favourable bulletins were from time to time given out, until, the provisions which the conjuncture required being completed, in one and the same moment were ublished the departure of Augustus, and the accession of Tiberius. 6. The first atrocity of this new reign was the murder of Posthumus Agrippa: the assassin, a bold and determined centurion, found him destitute of arms, and little apprehending such a destiny, yet was scarce able to dispatch him. Of this transaction Tiberius avoided any mention in the senate; he pretended that orders had been given by his father, in which he enjoined the tribune, appointed to the custody of his person, "not to delay to slay Agrippa whensoever he himself had completed his last day." It is very true, that Augustus, having made many and vehement complaints of the young man's demeanour, had obtained that his exile should be sanctioned by a decree of the senate; but he never hardened himself'to the extent-of inflicting death upon any of his kindred; neither is it credible that he murdered his grandson for the security and establishment of his stepson. More probable it is, that Tiberius and Livia, the former from motives of fear, the latter impelled by a stepmother's aversion, expedited the destruction of this young man, the object of their jealousy and hatred. When the centurion, according to the custom of the army, acquainted Tiberius " that his commands were executed," he answered, " he had commanded no such execution, and that he must appear before the senate, and be answerable to them for it." When this came to the knowledge of Sallustius Crispus, who shared in his secret counsels, and had sent the centurion the warrant, he dreaded that he should be arraigned on a false charge of the assassination; and perceiving it to be equally perilous to confess the truth or invent a falsehood, he warned ia "that the secrets of the palace, the counsels of friends, ahd the ministerial acts of soldiers, should not be divulged; that Tiberius should not enfeeble the force of princely authority by referring all things to the senate; that such were the conditions of sovereign authority, that an account should not stand good otherwise than if it were rendered to one alone." ACCESSION OF 13ERIUS. 7 7. Now at Rome, consuls, senators, and knights were rapidly degenerating into a state of abject servitude; and the higher the quality of any, so much the more false and forward; all carefully fiaming their countenances so as not to appear overjoyed at the departure of the prince, nor over sorrowful in the commencement of a new reign, they intermingled tears with gladness, and wailings with adulation. Sextus Pompeius and Sextus Apuleius, at that time consuls, took first an oath of fidelity to Tiberius; then administered it to Seius Strabo and Caius Turranius; the former, captain of the pratorian guards,' the other, intendant of the public stores; next, to the senate, to the people, and to the soldiery: for Tiberius began all things by the consuls, as if the ancient republic still subsisted, and he were yet unresolved about assuming the sovereign rule; even his edict for summoning the senate, he issued not but under the title of the tribunitian power, received by him under Augustus. The words of the edict, too, were few, and extremely modest. It imported that " he should consult them on the funeral honours proper to be paid his father: for himself, he would not depart from the corpse; and that this alone of the public functions he took upon himself." Yet when Augustus was dead, he bad given the word to the praetorian cohorts,' as imperator; sentinels were stationed about the palace; had soldiers under arms, and all the other appendages of a court; went guarded into the forum, guarded to the senate; wrote letters to the armies in the style of one who had obtained princedom; nor did he ever hesitate, but when he spoke to the senate. The chief cause proceeded from fear lest Germanicus, who was master of so many legions, numberless auxiliaries, of the allies, who was In every Roman camp the general's tent, or pavilion, was called the Prsetorium, because the ancient Latins styled all their commanders, Prators. Scipio Africanus formed a praetorian cohort, or a body of select men, who were stationed near his pavilion, holding themselves in readiness to attend their general in all sudden emergencies. In the time of Augustus, the emperor's tent was called Prsetorium Augustale. The name was continued by his successors; and the soldiers, who formed the emperor's body-guard, were called the praetorian cohorts, under the command of an officer, instituted with a special commission. in which he was styled Prsefectus Pretorii. The soldiers were for some time quartered at Rome, till Sejanus, in order to forward his own dark designs, persuaded Tiberius to form a pratorian camp at a small distance from tli city. See Annals, book iv. s. 2. THE ANNALS. [B. 1. wonderfully in favour with the people, might wish rather to possess the empire than to wait for it: he likewise sacrificed somewhat to fame, that he might seem chosen and called to the empire by the voice of the people, rather than to have crept darkly into it by the intrigues of a wife, and by adoption from a superannuated prince. It was afterwards found, that this irresolution was counterfeited, that he might also penetrate into the designs and inclinations of the great men: for, warping their words and their looks into crimes, he stored them up in his heart. 8. On the first day the senate met, he would suffer no other business to be transacted but that about the funeral of Augustus, whose last will, brought in by the vestal virgins, appointed Tiberius and Livia his heirs. Livia was adopted into the Julian family, and dignified with the name of Augusta: in the second degree of succession he appointed his grandchildren and their children; and in the third degree he had named the great men of Rome, most of them hated by him: but out of vainglory, and for future renown. His legacies were not beyond the measure of a Roman citizen; except that he left to the Roman people 435,000 great sesterces, part to them as a body, and part to be distributed individually: to every soldier of the praetorian guards a thousand small sesterces; to every soldier of the Roman legions, and to every man in the cohorts of Roman citizens, three hundred. The funeral honours were next considered. Of these, the most signal appeared the following: Asinius Gallus moved, that "'-the funeral should pass through the triumphal gate:" Lucius "Arruntius, "that the titles of the laws which he had made, and the names of all the nations which he had conquered, should be carried before the corpse;" Valerius Messala added that " the oath of allegiance to Tiberius should be renewed every year;" and being asked by Tiberius, " whether at his instigation he had made that motion?" Messala said " he spoke. of his own accord; nor would he ever be determined by any but his own counsel, in things which concerned the commonweal; even though with the hazard of giving offence." This was the only form of flattery which was left to the age. The nsonators then concurred in a loud cry, " that upon their own shoulders they must bear the body to the pile" Tiberils granted the request with modest insolence, and cautioned the c; 9 ] CRITICISMS ON AUGUSTUS $ people by an edict, " that they would not insist that the " corpse of Augustus should be burnt rather in the forum, than in the field of Mars, which was the place appointed, and act as they did on a former occasion, when from an excess of zeal they had disturbed the funeral solemnities of the sainted Julius." 'On the funeral day the soldiers were stationed as for a guard,- - a circumstance which excited deep derision in those who had either seen, or had received from their fathers, a description of that day of slavery yet crude and immature, and of liberty unsuccessfully reclaimed, when the assassination of the dictator Ceesar was regarded by some as a deed of unexampled atrocity, by others an achievement of superlative glory; " that now an aged prince, who had been long in possession of power, after having provided resources for his heirs, to be employed against the commonwealth,-that such an one, forsooth, must be protected by a guard of soldiers in order that his interment might be undisturbed!" 9. Much discourse concerning Augustus himself followed: the multitude expressing their wonderment at things of no importance; " that the last day of his life, and the first of his reign, was the same; that he died at Nola, in the same house, and in the same chamber, where his father Octavius died. Even the number of his consulships, equal to those of Valerius Corvinus and of Cuius Marius together, was much talked of: that he had exercised the power of the tribuneshir seven-and-thirty continued years: that he was one-and-twenty times proclaimed imperator; with other honours repeated to him, or created for him." On the other hand, by men of deeper discernment, his life was variously lauded or censured. His admirers said, "that by his filial piety to his father Ceesar, and the necessities of the republic, where the laws no longer governed, he had been driven into civil war; which can never be begun or carried on by just and gentle means. Indeed, provided he might be revenged on the murderers of his father, he had made many sacrifices to Antony; many to Lepidus: but when Lepidus became torpid with sloth, and Antony was lost in sensuality, there was then no other remedy for his distracted country than the sovereignty/6f one: that the republic, however, had not been settled by him in the form of a kingdom or a dictatorship, but placed under the government of one with the title of prince; that by him the IT THE ANNALIS. empire was fenced in by the ocean and rivers far remote;' the legions, the provinces, the ravy, and all things were systematically connected; justice was dispensed to the citizens, moderation observed towards the allies, and Rome herself was adorned with magnificent structures: in a very few instances had force been employed, and in those only to secure the peace of the whole." 10. In answer to this it was urged, that " his filial piety, and the exigencies of the republic, were laid hold of as a pretence; but that from an ardent lust of reigning, the veteran soldiers were worked upon by means of his largesses: and though a private youth, he had levied an army; had corrupted the legions of the consul; that his interest with the party of Pompey was simulated: that soon after1 i-wen, in virtue of a decree of the senatee-T7hipossessed himself of the fisces and the authority of the prsetorship, when Hirtius and Pansa, the two consuls, were slain, he had seized both their armies: (whether it was that the consuls fell by the enemy, or whether Pansa was killed by pouring poison into his wounds; and Hirtius cut off by his own soldiers, and Caesar the contriver of this treason:) that by terror he had extorted the consulship in spite of the senate; and turned against the commonwealth the very arms with which the commonwealth had entrusted him for her defence against Antony. To these were added his proscription of citizens; the divisions of lands; which were not commended even by the very persons who carried out the measure. But admitting that the deaths of Cassius and the B3ruti were sacrifices offered to his father's hate of them, (though eternal justice demanded that he should have made personal animosities yield to public good,) yet he betrayed Pompey - by the phantom of a peace, Lepidas by a specious show of friendship. And afterwards, that Antony, having been ensnared by treaties, those of Tarentum and Brundusium, and by the marriage of his sister, paid with his life the penalty of that insidious alliance. After these things no doubt there was peace, but it was a bloody peace. There were, too, the disasters of Lollius, and of Varus; and at Rome, the Varrones, the Egnatii, the Juli, put to death." Nor was his domestic life spared upon this occasion. "c The abduction of 1 The distant rivers were, the Rhine the Danube, and the Euphrates, C. 11.] DISSIMULATION OF TIBERIUS. ' 11 Nero's wife-the pontiffs consulted in mockery as to whether she might marry him consistently with religion, having conceived but not yet brought forth-the excesses of Quintus Tedius and Vedius Pollio; lastly, his wife Livia had proved a cruel mother to the commonwealth, and to the Julian house a more cruel stepmother: nothing was left by him for the honours of the gods, since it was his pleasure to have temples dedicated to himself, to be represented under the similitude of the powers above, and be ministered unto by flamens and priests: nor had he adopted Tiberius for his successor, either out of affection for him, or from concern for the public welfare; but having discovered in him a spirit proud and cruel, he sought glory for himself by the contrast of a character consummately base." For, Augustus, when, a few years before, he solicited the senate to grant to Tiberius another term of the authority of the tribuneship, though in a laudatory speech, had thrown out some observations upon his personal peculiarities, his tastes and course of life, in order that under colour of apologising for them he might brand him with infamy. 11. However, as soon as the funeral of Augustus was over a temple and divine worship were decreed him. The prayers of the senate were then turned to Tiberius; but he replied evasively, descanting on the magnitude of the task of governing, and his own unaspiring disposition; he said that "the genius of the sainted Augustus was alone capable of the mighty charge: that for himself, having been called by him to a participation of his cares, he had learnt by experience how difficult to bear was the burthen of government, anj how subject to the caprices of fortune: that a number ou persons would more easily discharge the functions of the public administration by sharing its toils amongst them: he therefore implored them that in a state supported by so many illustrious patriots, they would not cast the whole administration upon one." Such was his speech; but there 'was more dignity of sentiment in it than sincerity; and the words of Tiberius, which, even upon subjects on which he sought not disguises, were dark and cautious, whether from nature, or from habit, at this juncture, indeed, as he laboured wholly to hide his heart, were more than ever involved in ambiguity and uncertainty: but the senators, ) whose sole fear was to seem to understand him, burst into THE ANNALS. LB. 1. tears, plain.s, and vows: with extended arms they supplicated the gods, invoked the image of Augustus, and embraced the knees of Tiberius. He then commanded the imperial register to be produced and recited It contained a summary of the resources of the state, the number of Romans and auxiliaries in the armies, the amount of the navy, kingdoms, provinces, tributes, customs, the public expenditure, and largesses. This register was all written by the hand of Augustus; and he had added a recommendation to keep the empire within fixed limits; but whether from apprehension for its safety, or jealousy of future rivals, is uncertain. 12. Meanwhile, the senate stooping to the most humi-, liating importunity, Tiberius happened to say, that, "as he was unequal to the weight of the whole government; so if they entrusted him with any particular part, whatever it were, he would undertake it." Hereupon Asinius Gallus says —" I beg to know, Caesar, what part of the government you desire to be committed to you?" He was confounded at the unlooked-for question. For a short space he continued mute; but recovering himself, answered, that "it ill became his modesty to choose or reject any particular branch of the administration, when he desired rather to be excused from the whole." Gallus rejoined, (for he concluded from his countenance that he had given offence,) "by this question lie did not mean that he should divide things which were in separable; but that he might be convinced out of his own mouth, that the commonwealth is but one body, and can be governed only by the mind of one." He added an enco- mium upon Augustus, and reminded Tiberius himself of his many victories, of the many civil employments which he had long and admirably sustained: nor even thus could he mollify his wrath, who had long hated him, from a suspicion that having married Vipsania, daughter of Marcus Agrippa, and formerly wife of Tiberius, he meant to soar above the rank of a subject, and inherited the haughty spirit of Asinius Pollio, his father. 13. Lucius Arruntius incurred his displeasure next, by a speech not much unlike that of Gallus; though towards him Tiberius bore no inveterate rancour; but he regarded with jealousy Arruntius, as being rich, energetic accomplished, and, accordingly, in repute with the people. Indeed Augustus C. 14.J DISCUSSION IN THE SENATE. 13 shortly before his decease, mentioning those who would be capable of obtaining the supreme power, but would not accept it; or unequal to it, yet wished for it; or who had both ambition and sufficiency, had said that "Marcus Lepidus was qualified, but would reject it; Asinius would be aspiring, but had inferior talents; and that Lucius Arruntius was not unworthy of it, and upon a proper occasion would attempt it." That he spoke thus of Lepidus and Asinius, is agreed; but, instead of Arruntius, some writers have transmitted the name of Cneius Piso: and every one ol these great men, except Lepidus, were afterwards cut off, under imputations of various crimes, all concocted by Tiberius Quintus Haterius also, and Mamercus Scaurus excited his jealous spirit; the first by asking him, "How long, Caesar, wilt thou suffer the commonwealth to remain destitute of a head " Scaurus, because he had said, "There was room to hope that the prayers of the senate would not prove abortive, since he had not put his veto on the motion of the consuls, as he might have done, according to the privilege of the tribunitian authority." He inveighed against Haterius on the instant. Scaurus, towards whom his resentment was more implacable, he passed over in profound silence. Wearied at last with the general importunity, and the expostulations of individuals, he relaxed by little and little; not so far as to declare openly that he would undertake the empire, but only to avoid the uneasiness of rejecting solicitation. It is well known that Haterius, when he went next day to the palace to implore pardon, and embraced the knees of Tiberius who was walking, narrowly escaped being slain by the soldiers, because Tiberius had fallen down, whether by chance or entangled in the arms of Haterins; his anger, however, was not appeased by the danger which threatened so great a man, until Haterius supplicated Augusta, whose most earnest entreaties obtained protection for him. 14. Towards Livia, too, extravagant was the adulation of the senate. Some were for decreeing her the appellation of Parent, others of Mother of her Country; and almost all were of opinion, that to the name of Tiberius should be added, The son of Julia.1 Tiberius urged impatiently that "public honours to women ought to be cautiously adjudged; and i Livia took the name of Julia, in consequence of her adaption into bth Juhan familr. 14 THE ANNAL& lB. 4. that with the same moderation he would receive such as were presented to himself." But, torn with jealousy, and regarding the elevation of a woman as the depression of himself, he suffered not so much as a lictor to be decreed ier, and even forbad the raising an altar upon her late adoption, and other similar honours. But for Germanicus he asked the proconsular power; and deputies were sent to present it to him, and at the same time to condole with him on the death of Augustus. The same honour was not solicited for Drusus, because he was present,' and already consul-elect. He then named twelve candidates for the prsetorship, the number settled by Augustus; and though the senate requested him to increase it, he bound himself by an oath never to exceed it.2 15. The assemblies for electing magistrates were now first transferred from the Campus Martins to the senate; for though the emperor had conducted all affairs of moment at his pleasure; yet, till that day, some were still transacted according to the inclination of the tribes. Neither did the regret of the people for the seizure of these their ancient rights, rise higher than some impotent grumbling: the senate, too, released from the charge of buying votes, and fiom the shame of begging them, willingly acquiesced in the regulation, by which Tiberius contented himself with the recommendation of four candidates only, to be accepted without opposition or canvassing. At the same time, the tribunes of the people asked leave to celebrate, at their own expense, certain games in honour of Augustus, which were called after his name, and which were now inserted in the calendar. But it was decreed that the charge should be defrayed out of the exchequer, and that the tribunes should in the circus wear the triumphal robe; but to be carried in chariots was denied them. The annual celebration of these plays was, for the future, transferred to the praetors, to whom should fall the jurisdiction of deciding suits between citizens and strangers.3 1 As the proconsular authority was only available without the city (extra pomceriumn), Drusus, being within the city (prosens), could not bh.avested with it. 2 He broke his promise afterwards, and, according to Dio Cassiuas appointed no less thal fifteen or sixteen candidates. There were eight proators, but two only had jurisdiction; one in all causes between citizen and citizen; the other, between citizens and strangers, or strangers alone. SEDITION IN PANNONTA. 1s 16. Thus stood affairs at Rome, when a sedition made its appearance in the legions in Pannonia, without any fresh grounds, save that the accession of a new prince promised impunity to tumult, and held out the hope of advantages to be derived from a civil war. Three legions occupied a summer camp together, commanded by Junius Blesus, who, upon notice of the death of Augustus and accession of Tiberius, had granted the soldiers a recess from their wonted duties for some days, as a time either of public mourning or festivity. From this beginning they waxed wanton and quarrelsome, lent their ears to the discourses of every profligate, and at last they longed for a life of dissipation and idleness, and spurned all military discipline and labour. In the camp was one Percennius, formerly a busy leader of theatrical factions, after that a comrion soldier, of a petulant tongue, and from his experience in theatrical party zeal, well qualified to stir up the bad passions of a crowd. Upon minds uninformed, and agitated with doubts as to what might be the condition of military service now that Augustus was dead, he wrought gradually by confabulations by night, or when day verged towards its close; and when all the better-disposed had retired to their respective quarters, he would congregate all the most depraved about him. 17. Lastly, when now also other ministers of sedition were at hand to second his designs, in imitation of a general solemnly haranguing his men, he asked them-" Why did they obey, like slaves, a few centurions and fewer tribunes When would they be bold enough to demand redress, unless they approached the prince, yet a novice, and tottering on his throne, either with entreaties or arms Enough had they erred in remaining passive through so many years, since decrepit with age and maimed with wounds, after a course of service of thirty or forty years, they were still doomed to carry arms; nor even to those N\ho were discharged was there any end of service, but they were still kept to the colours, and under another name endured the same hardships. And If any of them survived so many dangers, still were they dragged into countries far remote, where, under the name of lands, they are presented witl swampy fens, or mountain wastes. But surely, burthensome and ungainful of itself was the occupation of war;-ten asses a-day the poor price ol 16 THE ANNALS. lB. L their persons and lives; out of this they must buy clothes, and tents, and arms,-out of this the cruelty of centurions must be redeemed, and occasional exemptions from duty; but, by Hercules, stripes, wounds, hard winters and laborious summers, bloody wars and barren peace, were miseries eternally to be endured; nor remained there other remedy than to enter the service upon certain conditions, as that their pay should be a denarius a-day, sixteen years be the utmost term of serving; beyond that period to be no longer obliged to follow the colours, but have their reward in money, paid them in the camp where they earned it. Did the praetorian guards, who had double pay,-they who after sixteen years' service were sent home, undergo more dangers I This was not said in disparagement of the city guards; their own lot, however, was, serving among uncivilized nations, to have the enemy in view from their tents." 18. The general body received this harangue with shouts of applause, but stimulated by various motives, —some showing, in all the bitterness of reproach, the marks of stripes, others their hoary heads, many their tattered vestments and naked bodies. At length, to such an excess of fury did they proceed, that they proposed to incorporate the three legions into one. Frustrated in this by jealousy, for every man claimed that honour for his own legion, they took another method, and placed the three eagles and the standards of the cohorts together; at the same time, they heap up pieces of turf and rear a tribunal, to form a more conspicuous seat. While engaged in this hurried work, Bleesus came up to them, rebuked them, held them back individually, passionately exclaiming-"Nay; dip your hands rather in my blood: to murder your general will be a crime less heinous than to levolt from your prince. Either I will live to preserve the legions in their faith and obedience, or by my death I will accelerate your remorse." 19. For all this the turf continued to be accumulated, and the work had already risen breast high, when, at last, overtome by his perseverance, they desisted from their undertaking. Blesus, with the tact of a consummate speaker, told them-"That sedition and mutiny were not the methods of conveying to the emperor the demands of his soldiers; that neither the soldiers of old had ever made' to the ancient SEDITION IN PANNONIA. 17 generals, nor they themselves to the deified Augustus, requests so novel; that it was most inopportune to add to the load of cares which pressed upon a prince in the commencement of his reign. If however they meant to try to gain in peace those concessions, which, even after a civil war, the conquerors never claimed, why did they meditate violence, trampling upon the laws of respect and obedience, violating the solemn obligations of military discipline? They might appoint deputies; and in his presence entrust them with their preten. sions." Approving his suggestion, they cried out, " That the son of Blesus, one of their tribunes, should execute that deputation; and demand in their name, that after sixteen years' service they should be discharged; they would commit to him the other points, after the successful issue of the first." After the departure of the young officer, all was quiet for a time; the soldiers, however, exulted to have carried such a point; the sending the son of their general as the advocate of the public cause, was a satisfactory indication that they had extorted by force what by gentle meansthey would never have gained. 20. In the mean time those companies, which, before the sedition began, were sent to Nauportum, to repair roads and bridges, and see to other requisites, no sooner heard of the uproar in the camp, than they tore up their ensigns and plundered the neighbouring villages, even Nauportum itsolf, which resembled a municipal town. The centurions, who sought to restrain them, they first assailed with mockery and contumelies, at last with blows. Their vengeance was chiefly directed against the praefect of the camp, Aufidienus Rufus, whom they drag from his chariot, load with baggage, and drive in the van of the moving body, repeatedly asking him in scorn, " Whether he liked carrying such enormous burthens such immense distances?" This they did because Rufus, who had been long a common soldier, then a centurion, and afterwards prefect of the camp, had restored the primitive strictness of discipline; was inured to service and toil; and therefore a more rigid exactor of them because he had en dured them himself. 21. By their arrival the sedition was renewed; the seditious roaming about ravaged the country on every side. Blasus, for an example of terror to the rest, ordered those who were most laden with plunder, to be scourged and incarcerated; for TAc.-VOL. 1. c 18 THE ANNAIS. the general was still obeyed by the centurions, and by all the best disposed soldiers; but the others struggled with those who were carrying them off; clasped the knees of the bystanders; now called upon individuals by name; then cried out to the century, the cohort, the legion, to which each belonged, that the same ignominy awaited upon them all: with the same breath they heaped invectives on their general, and called heaven and the gods to witness; nor left they aught unattempted to excite hatred, commiseration, fear, resentment. The whole body rushed to their relief, burst open the prison, and loosed their bonds; and now even united with deserters, and men convicted of capital crimes. 22. After this the flame of discord burst forth with increased fury, and the sedition found more leaders. One Vibulenus, a common soldier, exalted on the shoulders of his comrades, before the tribunal of Bliesus, even thus declaimed in the ears of a multitude already outrageous, and eager to hear what he had to say: " To these unoffending men, these abject suf. ferers, you have indeed restored ijght and breath; but, who will restore life to my brother; my brother to me? Sent hither by the German army, with propositions for our common good, he was last night butchered by the gladiators of Blsesus, men whom he entertains and arms for the destruction of his soldiers. Answer me, Bleesus, where hast thou thrown away his corpse? Even the enemy do not grudge burial to the slain: when I have satiated my sorrow with kisses and tears, command me also to be murdered, provided that these may bury us; the heinous crime for which we were slain being none other than that of studying the common interest of the legions." 23. He added to the effect of these expostulations by tears, and by beating his breast and face. Then disengaging himself from those on whose shoulders he was borne, and throwing himself headlong at the feet of individuals, he raised such a spirit of fienzy and vengeance, that one party of them bound the gladiators that formed a portion of the slaves of Blessus; another, the rest of his slave-band; while othern hurried away to search for the corpse; and, had it not been quiakly manifest that there was no corpse to be found, that The slaves had upon the rack denied the murder, and that Vibulenus never had any brother, they had gone nigh to sacrifice the general; as it was, they thrust out the prefect PROGRESS OF THE SEDITION. 19 of the camp and the tribunes, and as they fled, plundered their baggage: they likewise put to death Lucilius the centurion, on whom, with the drollery characteristic of soldiers, they had fixed the appellation of " Cedo alteram," (" Give me another,") because when upon the back of a soldier he had broken one wand, he was wont to call aloud for another, and then another. The other centurions sought safety in concealment; one only, Julius Clemens, being retained, who for his prompt capacity was deemed a fit person to be entrusted with the conveyance of the soldiers' demands; nay, even two of the legions, the eighth and fifteenth, were preparing to turn their swords upon each other; the eighth demanding that a centurion nicknamed 3irpicus should be. put to death, and the fifteenth protecting him; and blood would have flowed had not the soldiers of the ninth interposed with entreaties, and with threats to those who would not listen to prayers. 24. Intelligence of these things compelled Tiberius, though close, and ever labouring to smother all events of a disastrous nature, to despatch his son Drusus thither, with the principal men of the state and two praetorian cohorts; without any precise instructions, but to adapt his measures to the exigencies of the case: the cohorts were strengthened with an extraordinary force of chosen men. To these were added great part of the prsetorian horse, and the flower of the German troops, then serving as the emperor's guards. Elius Sejanus,l lately joined with his father Strabo in the command of the praetorian bands, was also appointed, not only as governor to the young prince, but, as his credit with the emperor was known to be great, as a fit instrument to inspire the fear of punishment and the hope of reward. When Drusus approached, the legions, for show of respect, marched out to meet him; not, as usual, with joy, and glittering with gay trappings, but in a state of such hideous uncouthness, and with such looks as indicated contumacy rather than the sadness they affected. 25. As soon as he was within the entrenchment, they secured the entrances with guards, and ordered parties of armed men to wait in certain quarters of the camp: the rest iurrounded the tribunal of Drusus in an immense mass Drusus stood beckoning with his hand for silence: as often aa 1 For the character of JElius Sejanus, see Annals, book iv.. 1. c2 20 THE ANNALP. [B. i. they looked back upon their own numbers, they spoke loud, and in terms of furious insolence: again, when they beheld Caesar, awe and trembling seized them: a hollow and inarticulate murmur was heard; next, a furious clamour; then, suddenly, a dead silence: according to the different passions which agitated their minds, they were either timorous or terrible. At length, during a quiet interval, he read his father's letter, in which it was recorded, " that he would take an especial care of the invincible legions, with whom he had shared the hardships of so many wars; and, as soon as his mind had recovered the effects of grief, negotiate with the senate about their demands; in the meantime he had sent them his son, to make them the concessions without delay which could immediately be granted: the btest must be reserved for the senate, who could not reasonably be supposed destitute of mercy any more than of justice." 26. The assembly answered, that to Julius Clemens they had entrusted what to speak in their name. He began with their demands, " to be discharged after sixteen years' service, the rewards to be given them at the conclusion of their service, their daily pay to be a denarius, the veterans to be no longer detained under their ensigns." When Drusus alleged in reply that it belonged to the senate and his father to determine these matters, he was interrupted by clamours: " To what purpose came he; since he could neither augment their pay, nor alleviate their grievances; and, without permission, to render them a single service? But, by Hercules, the power of inflicting blows and death was granted to all. Tiberius used to frustrate every request of the soldiers, by referring all to Augustus; now Drusus was come, with the same artifices: were they never to have a higher visit than from the children of the royal household? It was, indeed, unaccountable, that to the senate the emperor should leave no part in the direction of the army but the rewarding of the soldiery: the same senate ought to be consulted as often as a battle was to be fought, or a private man to be punished; or, were their recompences to be adjudged by many masters, but their punishments to remain without any arbitrator?" 27. At last they abandoned the tribunal, menacing all they met, either of the praetoriad guards or friends of Drusus; to create occasion for a quarrel. and a pretext for bloodshed. EFFECTS OF AN ECLIPSE. 21 Chiefly were they enraged against Cneius Lentulus, because, as he surpassed others in years and military renown, he was suspected to have encouraged the prince, and been himself the Foremost to slight these flagrant hardships of the soldiery: noz was it long after, that, as he was leaving Drusus, and from the foresight of danger returning to the winter-quarters, they surrounded him and demanded "' whither he went? to the emperor or senate? there also to exercise his enmity to the legions, and oppose their interests?" and instantly assaulted him with stones. He was already covered with blood from a wound by a stone, and awaiting certain assassination, when the troops attending Drusus flew to his assistance and saved him. 28. The following night had a threatening aspect, and seemed likely to give birth to some impious deed: it was made to pass off tranquilly by a mere accident. The moon, in the midst of a clear sky, became suddenly eclipsed;' the soldiers, who were ignorant of the cause, took this for an omen referring to their present adventures: to their own labours they compared the eclipse of the planet, and prophesied, " that, if to the distressed goddess should be restored her wonted brightness and splendour, equally successful would be the issue of these their struggles:" hence they made a loud noise, by ringing upon brazen metal, and by blowing trumpets and cornets: as she appeared brighter or darker, they exulted or lamented: but when gathering clouds had obstructed their sight, and it was believed that she was now buried in darkness, iten (for minds once dismayed are prone to superstition) they bewailed " their own eternal sufferings thus portended, and that the gods viewed their daring deeds with aversion." Drusus, who thought it behoved him to improve this turn in their minds, and to convert to the ends of wisdom what chance had presented, ordered certain persons to go round from tent to tent. For this purpose, he summoned the centurion Clemens, and whoever else were by honest methods acceptable to the multitude. These insinuated themselves everywhere, and mixed with those who kept the night watch, the piquets, and sentinels at the gates, cheering their hopes or 1 This eclipse, according to the calculation of eminent mathematicians, happened on the 27th of September, A.u.c. 767, of the Christian sera 14. Augustus died on the 19th of the preceding month of August. 22 THE ANNALS. lB. I. alarming their fears: " How long," said they, " shall we besiege the son of the emperor? Where will our contentions end Shall we swear allegiance to Percennius and Vibulenus Will Vibulenus and Percennius support us with pay during our service, and reward us with lands when dismissed? In short, shall they, supplanting the Neros and Drusi, assurme the empire of the Roman people? Why should we not rather, as we were the last to revolt, be the first to relent? Such demands as comprise terms for all, are ever slowly accorded: but on your own individual account you may merit favour instantly, and instantly receive it." These reasonings alarmed them, and filled them wihn mutual jealousies; they separated the younger soldiers from the veterans, and one legion from another: then, by degrees, returned the love o duty and obedience. They relinquished the guard of the gates: and the standards, which in the beginning of the tumult they had thrown together, they now restored each to its distinct station. 29. Drusus, as soon as it was day, summoned an assembly, and though unskilled in speaking, yet from the impulse of a noble heart, he rebuked their past, but commended their present behaviour: " With threats and terrors," he said, " it was impossible to subdue him; but if he saw them reclaimed to submission, if from them he heard the language of supplicants, he would write to his father to accept with a reconciled spirit the petitions of the legions." At their entreaty, for their deputy to Tiberius, the same Bleesus was again despached, and with him Lucius Apronius, a Roman knight of the cohort of Drusus, and Justus Catonius, a centurion of the first rank. Conflicting opinions were entertained as to the course now to be pursued; some advised "' to suspend all proceeding till the return of the deputies, and by a courteous treatment in the meanwhile, to soothe the soldiers;" others maintained, " that remedies more potent must be applied: in a multitude was to be found nothing which was not in extremes; always imperious where they are not awed, when subdued by fear they might be safely despised: now that they were bowed down by superstition, the general should add to their fears by cutting off the authors of the sedition." The genius of Drusus inclined to measures of severity: Vibulenus and Percennius were by his command produced and executed: most writers state that they were dispatched and hastily c. 31.J DISTURBAN~CES IN GlERMANY. 23 buried within his tent; others, that their bodies were thrown over the entrenchments, for a public spectacle of terror. 30. Then the other culpiits were hunted up according as each had a principal hand in the disturbance. Some, too, who were wandering up and down without the camF, were slain by the centurions or prsetorian soldiers: others were by their own companies delivered up, as a proof of their fidelity. The consternation of the soldiers was heightened by the premature setting in of winter, with incessant rains, and so violent, that they were unable to stir from their tents, or maintain common intercourse; nay, scarce to keep their standards fixed, assailed continually, as they were, by tempestuous winds and raging floods. Dread of the displeasure of heaven, also, still haunted them. "Not without cause," said they, "the stars grew dim, and tempests burst on impious heads; neither against these their calamities was there other relief than to relinquish an illstarred and polluted camp, and, after expiation of their guilt, return to their several winter-quarters." The eighth legion departed first; and then the fifteenth: the ninth clamoured for waiting the arrival of a letter from Tiberius; but when deserted by the other two, anticipated the necessity which shortly awaited them, by a voluntary act. Drusus also, as the commotion in that quarter had now pretty well subsided, without staying for the return of the deputies, went back to the city. 31. Almost at the same time, and from the same causes, a disturbance arose in the legions in Germany, but the more alarming as their numbers were greater. Earnest were their hopes that Germanicus would never brook the rule of another, but put himself in the hands of the legions, who had force sufficient to carry everything their own way. Upon the Rhine' were two armies; that called the higher, commanded by Caius Silius, lieutenant-general; the lower, by Aalus Cocina: the command in chief rested in Germanicus, then occupied in making a census of the Gauls: the forces, however, under Silius, would not make up their minds till they had 1 The whole tract of Gaul, on the borders of the Rhine, was reduced to subjection, and divided by Augustus into Upper and Lower Germany. Whenever they are mentioned, it will be proper to bear in mind, that both lay on this side of the Rhine, and were no part of Germany, properly su called. 24 THE ANYALS. [B. 1. seen the success of the revolt which others began: the soldiers of the lower army had broken out into open outrage, which took its rise from the fifth legion, and the one and twentieth, drawing after them the first and twentieth. These were all upon the frontiers of the Ubians, in the same summer camp, living in utter idleness or light duty. On hearing, therefore, that Augustus was dead, the herd of slaves lately enlisted in the city, familiar with licentiousness, and impatient of military hardship, began to incite the simple minds of the rest with saying, "that now was the time for veterans to obtain their well-earned dismission; the fresh soldiers, larger pay; and all, some mitigation of their miseries; and get redress for the cruelty of the centurions." These were not the harangues of a single incendiary, like Percennius amongst the Pannonian legions; nor uttered, as there, in the ears of men, who while they saw before their eyes armies more powerful than their own, heard them with awe and trembling: many were the mouths that uttered seditious language; frequent were the ooasts, that in their hands lay the destinies of Rome; by their victories the empire was enlarged; and that the commanders of armies had adopted a surname derived from them." 32. Neither did Cecina strive to restrain them; for the madness of so many had broken his spirit. On a sudden, transported with rage, they rushed with drawn swords upon the centurions, for they had ever given occasion to discontent among the soldiers, and were always the first victims of their vengeance. They knocked them down, and beat them dreadfully, sixty falling upon each, to match the number of centurions in a legion. Then, torn and mangled, and some of them lifeless, they threw them out before the rampart, or into the Rhine. Septimius, who had fled for refuge to the tribunal of Ceecina, and lay clasping his feet, was demanded with incessant importunity, till he was surrendered to destruction. Cassius Cheerea, (afterwards famous among posterity for killing Caligula,) then a young man, and of undaunted spirit, opened himself a passage with his sword through the armed men that opposed him. After this, neither tribune nor prasfect of the camp retained authority. The soldiers themselves divided among them the watches and the guards, and whatever other services the exigency of the moment imposed. Hence, those who dived deepest into the spirit of c. 34.] LOYALTY OF GERMANICUS. 25 the soldiery, gathered a special indication of an important and obstinate insurrection; for not in separate bodies, nor it the instigation of a few, but all indiscriminately, either kindled into rage or reposed in silence: and that with so much uniformity and regularity, that you would conclude them to be under the command of one., 33. To Germanicus, meanwhile) then receiving, as I have said, the tribute in Gaul, news arrived of the decease of Augustus, whose grand-daughter Agrippina he had to wife, and by her many children: he was himself the son of Drusus, who was brother of Tiberius. and he was the grandson of Livia, but he was harassed by the secret hale which his uncle and grandmother bore him: hate, the occasions of which were the more stimulating because they were unjust; for the memory of his father, Drusus, was revered amongst the Roman people, and there was a strong persuasion that, had he succeeded to the empire, he would have restored liberty; hence their partiality to Germanicus, and the same hope of him: for this young man possessed an unassuming disposition, and a remarkable sweetness of manners, utterly remote from the language and looks of Tiberius, which were haughty and mysterious. In addition, there were such animosities as arise between females, while towards Agrippina, Livia was actuated by the rancour natural to stepmothers; and Agrippina was somewhat too vindictive, only that from her chastity and love for her husband, she always gave a good direction to her spirit, though unyielding. 34. But Germanicus, the nearer he stood in succession to supreme rule, the more vigorously he exerted himself on behalf of Tiberius: to him he induced the Sequanians, a neighbouring people, as also the Belgic states, to swear allegiance. Immediately after, having heard of the mutiny of the legions, he proceeded to the spot with all despatch, when he found them advanced without the camp to receive him, with eyes cast down, in feigned token of remorse. After he entered the lines, a dissonant cry of woe began to be heard; nay, some, catching hold of his hand as if to kiss it, thrust his fingers into their mouths to feel their toothless gums; others showed their limbs, bowed with old age. As he saw the assembly which stood before him was a confused mass, he commanded them " to range themselves into companies, that 26 THE ANNALS. lB. Ix. they might thus more distinctly hear his answers; as also tc place before them their several standards; that thus, at least, the cohorts might be distinguished." They obeyed him doggedly; then beginning with the " high character of Augustus," he passed on to the "victories and triumphs of Tiberius,"' and with especial praises celebrated "his brilliant achievements, with those very legions, in the Germanies;" he next commended the harmony that prevailed in Italy, the fidelity of the Gauls: there was," he said, "no trace of commotion or dissension in any quarter." 35. Thus far they listened with silence, or with a subdued murmur. When he touched on their mutiny, inquiring" Where was the discretion of the soldier 1 where the glory of ancient discipline? whither had they driven their tribunes, whither their centurions." to a man they stript themselves to the skin, exhibiting reproachfully the seams that once were wounds, and the marks of stripes. Then, with mingled voices, they urge "the exactions for exemptions, their scanty pay, their rigorous labours;" and in particular they complain of "ramparts, entrenchments, laying in forage, materials, wood," with every other labour required by the exigencies of war, or against idleness in the camp. Most distressing was the cry of the veterans, who, enumerating thirty years' service or more, "' besought him to give relief to men worn out with toils, and not leave them to die in them, but grant them a discharge from a service so oppressive, and a comfortable retreat." Nay, some there were who demanded payment of 'he money bequeathed them by the deified Augustus, with expressions of happy omen to Germanicus; and proffered their cordial support if he wished the empire. Heres as if' contaminated with their treason, he leaped headlong from the tribunal; but with swords drawn they opposed his departure, and threatened his life if he refused to return: but he, with passionate protestations, that "he would rather die than throw off his allegiance," snatched his sword from his side, and having raised it, was in the act of bringing it down upon his breast, but those who were next him seized his hand and held it firmly. A cluster of soldiers in the extremity of the 1 Tiberius conquered in Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Illyricum. He commanded in Germany, and obtained several victories. Suet. in Tib, a. 18 and 20. Valleius Paterc. lib. ii. s. 104. MUTINOUS CONDUCT OF THE LEGIONS. 27 assembly exhorted him, nay, what is incredible to hear, some separate individuals, deliberately advancing nearer, exhorted hiri, "to strike:" a soldier, named Calusidius, even offered him his naked sword, adding-" It is a sharper one;" an act which to the rest, furious though they were, seemed inhuman, and of too atrocious a character: and a pause ensued, during which Cesar was hurried away into his tent by his friends. 36. There a consultation was held on the means of allaying the disorder: for it was advised, "that deputies were preparing to be despatched to bring over the upper army to the same cause; that the capital of the Ubians was devoted to destruction; and that their hands, once engaged in plunder, would forthwith be employed in ravaging the Gauls." This dread was augmented by the fact that the enemy knew of the mutiny in the Roman army, and were ready to invade the empire, if the bank of the river were left unguarded. Now, to arm the allies and the auxiliaries against the legions in revolt, was to engage in a civil war: severity was dangerous; to bribe, flagitious; and the state would be equally endangered whether nothing were conceded to the soldiers or everything, After a careful comparison of the arguments, it seemed good that a letter should be written as from Tiberius,-" That those who had served twenty years should be altogether dismissed; such as had served sixteen, should receive a qualified discharge, being still retained in the service, but released from every duty except that of repelling the enemy; and that thlegacy which they demanded should be paid and doubled." 37. The soldiers perceived that these offers were fabricated to meet the exigencies of the moment, and demanded to have them forthwith executed; but though the discharges were promptly executed by the tribunes, the payment was adjourned to their several winter-quarters: but the fifth legion and the twenty-first did not stir, till in the same summer camp they received the money, collected from the stock of Germanicus himself and his friends. Cecina, lieutenantgeneral, led the first legion and twentieth back to the capital of the Ubians; their march exhibiting a disgraceful spectacle, for the money-bags extorted from their general were carried amidst the ensigns and eagles. Germanicus, having gone to the upper army, brought the second, thirteenth, and sixteenth legions to swear allegiance without hesitation: to the four. 28 THE ANNALS. [B. 1. teenth, wto demurred a little, he offered their money and a discharge, though they did not demand them. 38. But a party of veterans of the disorderly legions, and who were then in garrison among the Chaucians,1 showed symptoms of mutiny, but were somewhat awed by the instant execution of two soldiers at the command of Mennius, praefect of the camp; an act beneficial in its effect, but irregular. Afterwards, the commotion beginning to wear a stormier aspect, he fled, but was discovered; and finding no security in his retreat, he drew upon daring for protection, and told them-" That not to the praefect, but to Germanicus their general, to Tiberius their emperor, was this violence done." At the same time, all that would have stopped him being dismayed, he snatched the colours and faced about towards the bank of the river, and exclaiming that he would treat as Deserters every man who quitted the marching body, led them back to their winter-quarters, discontented, but afraid to mutiny. 39. Meantime, the deputies from the senate met Germanicns at the Ubian altar,2 whither he had returned. Two legions wintered there, the first and twentieth, with the veterans lately discharged, but retained under the standard. Timorous and distracted with conscious guilt, they conceived a fear that they were come by command of the senate to cancel concessions which they had by sedition extorted; and, as it is the custom of the crowd to charge some one with crimes however imaginary, they accuse Minutius Plancus, who had bee consul, and was chief of the deputation, of being the proposer of this decree of the senate. In the dead of night they began to clamour for the standard in the quarters of Germanicus, and rushing tumultuously to his gate, burst the doors, dragged the prince out of his bed, and with menaces of death compelled him to deliver the standard. Then, as they roamed about the streets, they met the deputick', who, having heard of the tumult, were hastening to Germanicus, loaded them with insults, and were about to massacre them, I The territory of the Chaucians lay between the rivers Amisia (the Ems) and Albis (the Elbe). Hence it appears, that after the slaughter of Varus the Romans were still in possession of some strongholds in Germany. 2 The Ubian altar, now Bonn. C. 40.] FIRST MENTION OF CALIGULA. 29 particularly Plancus, whom a sense of dignity had restrained from flight; nor in this danger had he other refuge than the quarters of the first legion, where, embracing the eagle and standards, he protected himself by the sanctity in which they were held.1 And had not Calpurnius the eagle-bearer warded,ff the fatal blow, an ambassador of the Roman people, in a itoman camp, would have deluged with the pollution of his alood the altars of the gods; a deed seldom paralleled among our enemies. At length, day returning, when the general, and the soldiers, and their actions could be distinguished, Germanicus entered the camp, and commanding Plancus tc be brought, seated him by himself upon the tribunal; then imputing the furious outbreak to a fatality, and,affirming that it had been rekindled by the resentment, not of the soldiers, but of the gods, he explained the objects of the embassy, and lamented eloquently " the violated laws of legation, and the serious and unprovoked attack upon Plancus himself, together with the deep disgrace incurred by the legion." And as the assembly seemed awed rather than pacified, he dismissed the deputies under a guard of auxiliary horse. 40. Germanicus was generally censured-" That in this alarming crisis he retired not to the higher army, where he would have received obedience, and succour against the revolters. Enough Iuid more had he erred by discharges, rewards, and lenient counsels; or, if he disregarded his own safety, why expose his infant son,2 why his pregnant wife, amongst soldiers infuriated, and the violators of everything held sacred by man? It became him at least to restore his wife and son to her grandfather and to the state." He was long unresolved; and his wife, who was averse to leave him, urged that "she was the grand-daughter of the deified Augustus, and was not so degenerate as to shrink from danger." At last embracing her and their son, with many tears, he prevailed with her to depart. A band of females in mournful plight moved slowly on; the wife of a great 1 The ensigns and the eagles were the gods of a Roman army. Tacitis calls them propria leqionulr numina. Tertullian says, 1?eligio Romanorum tota castrensis; signa veneratur, signa jurat, et omnibus diio prceponit. 2 This was Caligula, afterwards emperor. 30 THE ANNALS. [B. i. commander compelled to be a fugitive, and bearing her infant son in her bosom. Around her were the wives of her friends, dragged along with her, and uttering lamentations; nor were those that remained less affected. 41. The appearance of Cesar, unlike that of a victorious general, and in his own camp, but as if he were in a vanquished city, and the groans and plaints of the multitude, engaged the ears and eyes even of the soldiers. They advanced from their tents, and asked, "Whence that doleful sound? what so lamentable! that so many ladies of illustrious quality, (not a centurion to guard them, not a soldier, their general's wife utterly unrtistinguished, destitute of her.rdinary train,) should be proceeding to the Treveri to the protection of aliens!" Hence shame and commiseration seized them; and the remembrance of Agrippa, her father; Augustus, her grandfather; Drusus, her father-in-law; herself celebrated for a fruitful bed, and of signal chastity: then they thought of her infant son, born in the camp,' nursed in the tents of the legions, and by them named Caligula, because he generally wore that kind of boot to win the affections of the common soldiers. But nothing so subdued them as jealousy of the Treveri; they beseech her to return and remain with them: thus some hasted to stop Agrippina; but the main body returned to Germanicus, who, as he was, yet in the transports of grief and anger, thus addressed the surrounding crowd. 42. " To me, nor wife, nor son, are dearer than my father' and the commonwealth. But as for my father, he will be protected by his own majesty; and the Roman empire by her other armies. As for my wife and children, whom for your glory I could freely sacrifice, I now remove them from your rage, that whatever dire purpose you may have conceived towards them, my blood alone may flow to satiate your fury; and that the murder of the great-grandson of Augustus, the murder of the daughtef-in-law of Tiberius, may not augment your guilt. For, during these last days, Callgala was born in Germany: In castris natus, patriis nutritus in armis, Jam designati principis omen erat. 2 Not his real father, Drusus. who was long since dead. He means Tiberius, who had adopted him by order of Augustus. ADDRESS OF GERMANICUS. 31 what has been unattempted by you? What unviolated? To this audience what name shall I give? Can I call you ' Soldiers i' you who have beset with arms the son of your emperor, confinedl him in your trenches? 'Citizens' can. I call you? you who have treated with such scorn the authority of the senate? The obligations observed by enemies,the sacred persons and privileges of ambassadors,-the laws of nations,-you have violated. The deified Julius quelled a sedition in his army by a single word-by calling those who renounced their allegiance ' Quirites.' The deified Augustus terrified the legion that fought at Actium into submission by his countenance and look. If the armies in Syria and Spaiv contemn the authority of us, who, though not yet equal to them, are descended from them, we should think their behaviour strange and base. Do you, the first and the twentieth legions, the former enrolled by Tiberius himself, the other his constant companions in so many battles, and by him enriched with so many bounties, make this goodly return to your general? And shall I be the bearer of such tidings to him,-while he receives none but joyful intelligence froln the other provinces,-that his own recruits, his own veterans, have not been satiated with exemption from service nor money? Must I tell him that here alone centurions are butchered,-tribunes expelled,-ambassadors imprisoned,the camp and the rivers polluted with blood,-and that I drag out a precarious existence among men implaably set against me 43. "Wherefore, on the first day that I addressed you, did you wrest from me that sword which I was on the point of plunging into my breast? Unwise in your friendship preferably and with greater kindness did he act who proffered me a sword; at all events I should have fallen ere I was privy to so many enormities committed by my army: you would have chosen a gper'al who would leave my death unatoned for, but would avenge that of Varus and the three legions: and oh! may the gods never permit that the Belgians, although offering their services, shall reap the credit ind renown of retrieving the Roman name, and of humbling the German nations. May thy spirit, O sainted Augustus! which is received into heaven,-thy image, my fither Drusus! and thy memory, with those same soldiers who even S3 THE ANNAI.. now are touched with a sense of duty and a desire of fame,walsh out this stain, and turn the rage of citizens among themselves to the destruction of their enemies! And as for you, in whom 1 behold other countenances and altered minds, if you mean to render to the senate its ambassadors, to your emperor the allegiance due to him, to me, my wife andso to fly from the touch of guilt; set the disaffected by themselves, this will confirm your resolution to repent, and pledge you to fidelity." 44. Softened into supplicants by these words, and confessing that his reproaches were true, they besought him to punish the guilty, to pardon the misled, and lead them against the enemy,-to recal his wife, to bring back the aurseling of the legions, and not let him be given a hostage to the Gauls. Against the recalling of Agrippina, he alleged the advance of winter, and her approaching delivery; but said that his son should return, and that to themselves he left to execute what remained. No longer the same men, they run in all directions and drag all the ringleaders of the mutiny in bonds tjCaius Cretonius, commander of the first legion, who judged and punished them severally after this manner:-The legions, with their swords drawn, surrounded the tribunal; the accused was by a tribune exposed to view upon a scaffold, and, if they proclaimed him guilty, cast headlong down and butchered. The soldiers rejoiced in the execution, because by it they thought their own guilt to be expiated. Nor did Germanicus restrain them, since on themselves remained the cruelty and reproach of the slaughter committed without any order of his. The veterans followed the example, and were soon after ordered into Rhetia, in appearance to defend that province, on account of the threatened inroads of the Suevians,-in reality, to remove them from a camp still horrible, to their sight, not less from the severity of the remedy, than from the memory of their crime. He afterwards reviewed the centurions; before him they were cited singly; each gave account of his name, his company, country, the length of his service, exploits in war, and military presents, if with any lie had been distinguished. If the tribunes, or his legion, bore testimony to his diligence and integrity, he kept his post; upon concurring complaint of his avarice or cruelty, he was degraded. c. 47.] ALARM OF THE CITY. 33 45. The disturbances at hand thus composed, others as great remained from the outrageous conduct of the fifth and twenty-first legions. They were in winter-quarters, sixty miles off, in a place called the Old Camp,' and had first begun the sedition; nor was there any wickedness so horrid that they had not perpetrated: neither terrified by the punishment, nor reclaimed by the penitence of their fellow-soldiers, they persevered in their fury. Ceesar, therefore, prepared'to send vessels, arms, and allied troops down the Rhine, determined to put the matter to the decision of the sword, if they persisted in their revolt. 46. But at Rome, the issue of the sedition in Illyricum being not yet known, and tidings of the uproar in the German legions having arrived, the city, in a state of alarm, made it a matter of charge against Tiberius, " That while with feigned delay he mocked the senate and people, who were feeble and unarmed, the soldiery were in open rebellion; not could they be kept in subjection by the immature authority of two young men. He ought to have gone himself, and awed them with the majesty of imperial power; as doubtless they would have returned to duty upon the sight of a prince of consummate experience, and also the supreme arbiter of the richest rewards and the most rigorous punishment. Could Augustus, in the decline of life, take so many journeys into Germany? and should Tiberius, in the vigour of his age, sit in the senate, wresting the expressions of senators? He had consulted sufficiently for the servitude of the city: measures should be taken to calm the restless spirits of the soldiers, that they might adapt themselves to the burthen of repose." 47. Against these remonstrances, Tiberius maintained his fixed resolve not to quit the capital, nor imperil himself and the empire. In truth, many and conflicting considerations perplexed him-" The German army was the stronger; that of Pannonia nearer: the power of both the Gauls supported the former; the latter was at the gates of Italy. To which, therefore, should he first repair? He feared, too, lest those who were not preferred might be exasperated by the affront. 1 Vetera is the same as vetera castra, the old camp; a place rendered famous by the siege conducted by Civilis, the Batavian chief. Hist book iv, a 22. It is now called Santen, in the duchy of Cleves. TA C. -VOL. I. 1) 34 THE ANNALSB. [B.1. But by sending one of his sons to each, they were treated alike, without lowering the imperial dignity, which is most reverenced at a distance. Besides, the young princes would be excused, if to their father they referred some matters; and if they disobeyed Germanicus and Drusus, he might himself appease or quell them: but if they contemned their emperor, what resource remained 1" However, as if he were on the point of marching, he chose his attendants, provided his equipage, and prepared a fleet; then, artfully alleging the winter or business, for some time he imposed upon men of sense, still longer on the multitude, and it was very long before the provinces saw through him.' 48. Gernianicus had already drawn together his army, and was prepared to take vengeance on the seditious; but, judging it proper to allow farther space for trial, whether they would follow the late example, and consult their own safety, he sent letters before him to CQecina, " that he was coming, with a powerful force; and, if they prevented him not by executing the guilty, he would put them to the sword indiscriminately." These letters Cwecina privately read to the standard-bearers, the inferior officers, and such of the private soldiers as were least disaffected,-exhorted them " to redeem themselves from death, and all from infamy; for, in peace, motives and merits were regarded, but when war assailed, the innocent and guilty fell promiscuously." The officers, having sounded those they believed fit for their purpose, and found the majority of the legions still to persevere in their duty, at the suggestion of the general, settled a time for putting to the sword all the most depraved and turbulent: then, on a signal given among themselves, they rushed into their tents, and butchered them, while in utter ignorance of the plot,none but those who were privy to it understanding wherefore the massacre began, or where it would end. 49. This had a different character from all the civil slaughters that ever happened: it was not in a battle, nor between 1 Tiberius, in the first two years after his accession, never once stirred out of Rome; nor did he afterwards venture farther than Antium, or the isle of Capreio. He pretended an intention to visit the provinces, and made preparations every year, without so much as beginning a journey. He was at last called " Callipedes," a man famous in Greece for being in a hurry, and never advancing an inch. Suet. ir Tib. s 38. c. 50.] TIE TROOPS RETURN TO TnEIR DUTY. 35 men from opposite camps, but from the same tents; men who ate at the same board by day, and slept in the same apartment by night, separated themselves into parties, and hurled darts at their comrades: wounds, outcries, and blood were open to sense, but the cause remained hid; chance governed the rest. Some, too, of the well-affected were slain; after that, the most guilty, finding who were the objects of the carnage, had themselves also snatched up arms. Neither general nor tribune was present to control the proceeding; full licence was given to the soldiers, with leave to gratify revenge, and satiate themselves with blood. Germanicus soon after entered the camp, and, lamenting with many tears, that " this was not a remedy, but a massacre," commanded the bodies to be burnt. Their minds, even then fiercely agitated, were seized with a sudden desire to attack the foe, as an expiation of their ferocity: nor otherwise, they thought, could the ghosts of their brethren be appeased, than by receiving honourable wounds in their own profane breasts. Germanicus fell in with the ardour of the soldiers, and, throwing a bridge over the river, marched over twelve thou. sand legionary soldiers, twenty-six cohorts of the allies, and eight squadrons of horse, whose sense of duty had not been vitiated by that mutiny. 50. The Germans, who were not far off, passed their time merrily whilst the Romans were held by a cessation of arms, occasioned first by the death of Augustus, afterwards by dissensions: but the Roman general, by a forced march, cut a way through the Coesian forest, and levelling the barrier begun by Tiberius, encamped there. In the front and rear they were defended by a palisade,-on each side by a pile of timber: thence, traversing a gloomy forest, they deliberated which of two routes they should adopt, the short and frequented, or the more intricate and unexplored, anA therefore unguarded against by the foe. The latter being chosen, in everything else despatch was observed; for by the scouts intelligence was brought, that there was with the Germans, that night, a festival devoted to mirth, and regularly celebrated with banqueting. Csecina was ordered to advance with the light cohorts, and to clear a passage through the forest: at a moderate distance followed the legions. The night, which was starlight, aided the design; and they arrived D2 36 THE ANNALS. lB. I. at the villages of tne Marsians,' and parties were posted around. The Germans were even then stretched here and there upon their beds, or lying by their tables, in perfect security, and without any watch stationed in advance: so complete was the disorder occasioned by their carelessnessno fear of hostile attack; nor was it, indeed, a state of repose, other than the languor and remissness of men oppressed with drunkenness. 51. The legions, who were impatient for the onset, Cesar divided into four battalions, to give a wider range to the devastation: he wasted the country by fire and sword to the extent of fifty miles; nor sex nor age found mercy; places sacred and profane, without distinction, even the temple of -Tanfana, the most celebrated amongst these nations, all were levelled with the ground: the soldiers, who had slain men half asleep, disarmed, or dispersed, escaped unwounded. This slaughter roused,the Bructerians, the Tubantes, and the Usipetes; and they beset the passes of the forest, through which the army was to return: which Cwesar discovering, he proceeded cautiously, in an order adapted at once to marching and fighting. The auxiliary cohorts and part of the horse were in the van, followed at a short interval by the first legion; the baggage was in the middle; the twenty-first legion closed the left wing, and the fifth the right; the twentieth defended the rear, and after them marched the rest of the allies. But the enemy stirred not, till the army was extended through the wood: then, skirmishing with the front and wings, with their whole force they fell upon the rear: the light cohorts were disordered by the close German bands, when COesar, riding up to the twentieth legion, cried aloud, " This is the moment to obliterate the scandal of sedition: forward! nasten to turn your guilt into glory." Their courage burst into a flame, and at one rush they broke through the enemy's line, and drove them back into the plain, slaughtering them as they went: meanwhile, the fan of the army emerged from the forest and there fortified a camp. The rest of the march was uninterrupted, and the soldiers, elated with their recent exploits, and forgetting by-gone matters, were placed in winter-quarters. 1 The Marsians dwelt in the diocese of Munster, between the rivers Amisia and Luppia. DIEATH OF JULIA. 37 52. The intelligence of these proceedings affecte Tiberius with mingled joy and anxiety. He was glad that the mutiny was suppressed, but it was torture to him that Germanicus, by anticipating the term of service, and by largesses, had gained the affections of the army, as well as that he had acquired military renown. However, he consulted the senate on his acts, and bestowed copious praises upon his valour, but in terms too pompous and studied for it to be believed that he spoke fiom the recesses of his hPart. With more brevity he commended Drusus, and his address in quelling the sedition of Illyricum, but with greater earnestness, and in the language of sincerity; all the concessions made by Germanicus he fulfilled, and extended them also to the Pannonian troops. 53. The same year died Julia,' some time since confined by her father Augustus to the isle of Pandataria, and afterwards to the city of Rhegium, upon the straits of Sicily, on account of her incontinence. Whilst Caius and Lucius, her sons by Agrippa, yet lived, she was given in marriage to Tiberius; whom she treated with contempt as one beneath her rank. Nor any motive so cogent as this had Tiberius for his retireinent to Rhodes. In disgrace and exile, and by the death of Agrippa Posthumus bereaved of all hope, after he had obtained the imperial power he caused her to pine away gradually from want, calculating that from the duration of her exile her murder would lie concealed. Similar was the ground of his cruelty to Sempronius Gracchus, a man of a noble family, of shrewd intellect and eloquent, but unprincipled. He, while Julia was yet Agrippa's wife, had debauched her: nor did his lust end here; but after she was given to Tiberius, the pertinacious adulterer inspired her with disrespect and hatred to her husband; and the letters, too, she wrote to her father, full of asperity against Tiberius, were thought to have been composed by Gracchus. He was therefore banished to Cercina, an island in the African sea, where, for fourteen years, he suffered exile. The soldiers despatched to assassinate him found him upon an eminence which jutted out into the sea, expecting no tidings of happy import. On their arrival he begged a brief respite to send his last will in 1 She was married to Agrippa, and had by him three sons, Caius, Lucius, and Agrippa Posthumus; and also two daughters, Agrippina and Julia. 38 THE ANNrALS. a letter to Alliaria his wife, and then presented his neck to the executioners: in the magnanimity of his death not unworthy of the Sempronian name, though in his life he had degene< rated. Some have related, that these soldiers were not sent from Rome, but by Lucius Asprenas, proconsul of Africa, at the instance of Tiberius, who vainly hoped that the imputation of the murder might be shifted on Asprenas. 54. There was likewise this year an admission of new rites, by the addition of a college of priests of Augustus; as formerly Titus Tatius, to preserve the rites of the Sabines, had founded the Tatian priests. One and twenty of the most considerable Eomans were drawn by lot; Tiberius, Drusus, Claudius, and Germanicus were added. The games in honour of Augustus began then first to be embroiled by dissension arising out of the performance of pantomimes. Augustus had countenanced that pastime, out of complaisance to Msecenas, who was a passionate admirer of Bathyllus;' neither was he himself averse to such pursuits; and he thought it popular to mix in the pleasures of the people. The habits of Tiberius took a different turn; but as yet he dared not attempt to engage in severer pursuits a people so long humoured. 55. In the consulship of Drusus Caesar and Caius Norbanus, a triumph was decreed to Germanicus, the war continuing. He was preparing with all diligence to prosecute it in the summer; but anticipated it by a sudden irruption early in the spring into the territories of the Cattians: for he had conceived a hope that the enemy was divided into opposite parties under Arminius and Segestes; both remarkable for perfidy or fidelity towards us: Arminius was the incendiary of Germany; but Segestes had given repeated warning of an intended revolt, at other times, and during the banquet immediately preceding the insurrection, and advised Varus, " to secure him, and Arminius, and all the other chiefs; that the multitude, bereft of their leaders, would not dare to attempt anything; and Varus would have an opportunity to separate Bathyllus, the pantomime-performer, is distinguished by Perksa tor his graceful movement:" Nee, cum sis cutera fossor, Tres tantum ad numeros satyri moveare Bathylli"-Sat. v. ]28. He is also mentioned by Juvenal:"' Chironomon Ledam molli saltante Bathyllo."-Sat. vi. 6. THE CATTIANS ATTACKED. 39 the guilty from the innocent." But fate decreed it, and he was slain by Arminius. Segestes, though drawn into the war by the universal agreement of the nation in it, yet continued to disapprove of it; his detestation being augmented by motives of a domestic nature, for Arminius had carried away the daughter of Segestes, already betrothed to another: the son-in-law hated, the fathers-in-law were at enmity; and those relations which are bonds of affection between friends, fomented the animosities of enemies. 56. Germanicus therefore handed over to Ciecina four legions, five thousand auxiliaries, and some tumultuary bands of Germans, who dwelt on this side the Rhine; he led himself as many legions, with double the number of allies, and erecting a fort in Mount Taunus,' upon the site of one raised by his father, he pushed on in light marching order against the Cattians; having left Lucius Apronius to secure the roads and the rivers: for, as the roads were dry, and the rivers within bounds, events in that climate of rare occurrence, he had found no check in his rapid march, but on his return apprehended the violent rains and floods. He fell upon the Catiaans with such surprise, that all the weak through sex or age were instantly taken or slaughtered: their youth swam over the Adrana and endeavoured to obstruct the Romans, who commenced building a bridge; then, repulsed by engines and arrows, and having in vain tried terms of peace. after some had gone over to Germanicus, the rest abandoned their cantons and villages, and dispersed themselves into the woods. Mattium, the capital of the nation, he burnt, ravaged the open country, and bent his march to the Rhine: nor durst the enemy harass his rear, which is their custom, whenever they have fled, more from craft than fear. The Cheruscans had purposed to assist the Cattians, but were deterred by Csecina, who moved about with his forces from place to place; and the Marsians, who dared to engage him, he checked by a victory. 57. Soon after arrived deputies from Segestes, praying relief against the violence of his countrymen, by whom he was besieged; Arminius having more influence with them than himself, because he advised war; for with barbarians, the more resolute in daring a man is, the more he is trusted I Mount Taunus, near Magontiacum (now Mayence), Brotier says is now called Heyrich. 40 THE NNALS. [B. L and preferred in times of commotion. To the deputies Se gestes had added Segimund his son; but the young man hesitated, from self-conviction; for the year when Germany revolted, having been created priest at the Ubian altar, he had zent the fillets and fled to the revolters: yet, induced to rely upon Roman clemency, he undertook the execution of his, father's orders, was graciously received, and conducted with a guard to the Gallic bank of the Rhine. Germanicus thought it worth while to march back, fought the besiegers, and rescued Segestes with a numerous train of his relations and followers; in which were ladies of illustrious rank, and among them the wife of Arminius, the same who was the daughter of Segestes. with a spirit more like that of her husband than her father; neither subdued to tears, nor uttering the language of supplication, but her hand folded within her bosom, and her eyes fixed upon her teeming womb. There were likewise carried off the spoils taken at the slaughter of Varus and his army, and given as booty to most of those who then surrendered. 58. At the same time appeared Segestes himself, of vast stature, and undaunted in the consciousness of his fidelity. In this manner he spoke: "- This is not the first day that I have approved my faith and constancy to the Roman people: from the moment I was by the deified Augustus presented with the freedom of the city, I have chosen my friends and enemies with reference to your interests, and that not from hatred of my country, (for odious are traitors even to the party they prefer,) but, because the interests of the Romans and Germans were the same; and because I was inclined to peace rather than war. For this reason, before Varus, the then general, I arraigned Arminius, the ravisher of my daughter, and the violator of the league with you. Put off, from the supineness of the general, and seeing there was little protection in the laws, I importuned him to throw into irons ryself, and Arminius, and his accomplices: witness that night,-to me I would rather it had been the last! More to be lamented than defended are the events which followed. However, I cast Arminius into irons, and was myself cast into irons by his faction: and now, on the first opportunity of conferring with you, I prefer old things to new, peace to turbulence; and at the same time I might be a fitting mediator for the German nation, with no view of reward, but to clear myself of Terfidy, ARMINIUS RAISES WAR. 41 if they would rather repent than be destroyed. For the youth and inexperience of my son I implore pardon; I admit my daughter has been brought into this state by constraint; it will be yours to consider which should preponderate with you; that she is the wife of Arminius, or the daughter of Segestes." The answer of Germanicus was gracious: he promised indemnity to his children and kindred, and to himself, as a retreat, a place called " Vetera," in the province; then returned with his army, and by the direction of Tiberius, received the title of Imperator. The wife of Arminius brought forth a male child, and the boy was brought up at Ravenna: the mockery ne was soon after exposed to I will relate at the proper time.' 59. The account circulated of the surrender of Segestes, and his gracious reception, affected his countrymen with hope or anguish, as they were severally prone or averse to the war. Acting upon a temper naturally violent, the captivity of his wife and the child in her womb subjected to bondage, drove Arminius to distraction: he flew about amongst the Cheruscans, calling them to arms against Segestes, against Germanicus; nor did he refrain from invectives-" An excellent father! a great general! a valiant army, whose many hands had carried off one bit of a woman! That before him three legions fell, three lieutenant-generals; for his method of carrying on war was not by treason nor against pregnant women, but openly, against armed hosts. That the Roman standards were still to be seen in the German groves, there suspended by him to his country's gods. Segestes might live upon the vanquished bank; he might get the priesthood restored to his son; but the Germans would ever regard the fllow as the guilty cause of their having seen between the Elbe and Rhine rods and axes, and the toga. That to other nations who know not the Roman domination, executions and tributes were unknown; and as they had thrown them off, and as Augustus, he who was enrolled with the gods, had retreated without accomplishing his object, and Tiberius, his chosen successor, let them not dread an inexperienced stripling and a mutinous army. If they preferred their country, their 1 The account here promised, and without doubt given either in the Annals or the History, is totally lost. Strabo says that the son, who was called Thumelicus by the Romans, walked among the captives in the triumph of Germanicus, which is mentioned. Annals, book ii. s. 41. 42 THE ANNiALS. parents, and their ancient possessions, to masters and new settlements, they should follow Arminius, who led them tc glory and liberty, rather than Segestes, who conducted them to infamous servitude." 60. By these means, not the Cheruscans only were roused, but the bordering nations; and Inguiomer, paternal uncle to Arminius, a man long in high credit with the Romans, was drawn into the confederacy; hence Germanicus became more alarmed, and to prevent the war falling upon him with unbroken force, sent Ceecina with forty Roman cohorts to the river Amisia, through the territories of the Bructerians, to effect a division in the army of the enemy. Pedo the prsefect led the cavalry along the confines of the Frisians; he himself, embarking four legions, sailed through the lakes; and at the aforesaid river the whole body met, foot, horse, and fleet. The Chaucians, upon offering their assistance, were taken into the service; but the Bructerians setting fire to their effects and dwellings, were routed by Lucius Stertinius, despatched against them by Germanicus with a band lightly armed. And amidst the carnage and plunder, he found the eagle of the nineteenth legion lost in the overthrow of Varus. The army marched next to the farthest borders of the Bructerians, and the whole country between the rivers Amisia and Luppia was laid waste. Not far hence lay the forest of Teutoburgium,2 and in it the bones of Varus and the legions, by report still unburied. 61. Germanicus, therefore, conceived a desire to pay the fast offices to the legions and their leader; while the whole of the army present were moved to deep commiseration for their kinsmen and friends; and generally for the calamities of.war and the condition of humanity. Cecina having been 1 The Lakes, which are now lost in the vast gulf, called the ZuyderZee. 2 The commentators give different accounts of the Teutoburgian forest. Guerin, the French translator of Tacitus, says it lay in the diocese of Munster, where there is, at this day, a place called Varendorp, which signifies the burgh of Varus. Brotier places it in the diocese of Paderborri, near the town of Horn, not far from Paderborn, where there is a forest called Teuteberg; and a field called Winfeldt, that. is. the field of victory. To confirm his opinion, he says, that b~es and military weapons, and also medals of Julius Caesar and Augustus, are often dug in those woods. c. 62.2 SCENE OF DEFEAT OF VARUS. sent before to explore the gloomy recesses of the forest, and to lay bridges and causeways over the watery portions of the morasses and insecure places in the plains, they enter the doleful scene, hideous in appearance and association. The first camp of Varus appeared in view. The extent of ground and the measurement of the principia, left no doubt that the whole -was the work of three legions. After that, a half decayed rampart with a shallow foss, where their remains, now sadly reduced, were understood to have sunk down. In the intervening portion of the plain, were whitening bones, either scattered or accumulated, according as they had fled or had made a stand. Near them lay fragments of javelins and limbs of horses. There were also skulls fixed upon the trunks of trees. In the adjacent groves were the savage altars, where they had immolated the tribunes and centurions of the first rank. Those who survived the slaughter, having escaped from captivity and the sword, related the sad particulars to the rest-" Here the commanders of the legions were slain; there we lost the eagles; here Varus had his first wound; there he gave himself another, and perished by his own unhappy hand. In that place, too, stood the tribunal whence Arminius harangued. How many gibbets he erected for the execution of his captives; what trenches he dug; and how, in proud scorn, he made a mock at the standards and eagles." 62. The Roman army which was on the spot, buried the bones of the three legions, six years after the slaughter: nor could any one distinguish whether he buried the remains of a stranger, or of a kinsman; but all considered the whole as friends, as relations, with heightened resentment against the foe, at once sad and revengeful. Germanicus hlid the first sod used in raising a tomb; thus rendering a most acceptable service to the dead, and showing that he shared the sorrows of the living, a proceeding not liked by Tiberius; whether it were that upon every action of Germanicus he put a malignant construction, or that he believed that the impression produced by the sight of the unburied slain would damp the ardour of the army for battle, and inspire them with fear of the enemy: he also said that-" A general invested with the office of augur, and the most ancient religious functions, ought not to have put his hand to the ceremonies of the dead." 44 THE ANNALS. fI V L" 63. Arminius, retiring into pathless places, was pursued by Germanicus, who, as soon as he reached him, commanded the iorse to advance and dislodge the enemy from the post they fiad possessed. Arminius, having directed his men to keel close together, and draw near to the woods, wheeled suddenly about, and to those whom he had hid in the forest, gave the signal to rush out. Then the Roman horse were thrown into disorder by the assault of a new army, and the cohorts sent out to support them, broken in upon by the body of troops that fled, had augmented the consternation; and they were now being pushed into the morass, a place well known to the pursuers, but dangerous to those unacquainted with it, had not Germanicus drawn out the legions in order of battle. Hence the enemy became terrified, our men reanimated, and both retired without advantage on either side. Germanicus, soon after, returning with the army to the Amisia, reconducted the legions, as he had brought them, in the fleet; part of the horse were ordered to march along the sea-shore to the Rhine. Csecina, who led his own men, was warned, that though he was to return through well-known roads, yet he should with all speed pass the causeway called The Long Bridges. It is a narrow causeway, between vast marshes, and formerly raised by Lucius Domitius. The rest of the country is of a moist nature, either tough and sticky from a heavy kind of clay, or dangerous from the streams which intersect it. Round about are woods which rise gently fron? the plain, which at that time were filled with soldiers bj Arminius, who, by short cuts and quick marching, had arrived there before our men, who were loaded with arms and baggage. Caecina, who was perplexed how at once to repair the causeway decayed by time, and to repulse the foe, resolved to encamp in the place, that whilst some were employed in 'be work, others might begin the fight. ' 64. The Barbarians, having made a vigorous effort to break through the outposts and fall upon those employed in the works, harass the troops, march round them, and throw themselves in their way. A mingled shout arose from the workmen and the combatants; all things equally combined to distress the Romans,-the place deep with ooze, sinking under those who stood, slippery to such as advanced; their bodies were encumbered with their coats of mail, nor could they C. 65.] DISASTERS IN GERniANY. 45 hurl their javelins in the midst of water. The Cheruscans, on the contrary, were inured to encounters in the bogs; their persons tall, their spears long, so as to wound at a distance. At last the legions, already giving way, were saved from defeat by the approach of night; the Germans not feeling fatigue on account of their success, without refreshing themselves with sleep, even then diverted all the courses of the Aprings which rise in the neighbouring mountains into the plains; thus the ground being flooded, and the work, as far as they had carried it, overturned, the soldiers had all to do over again. Csecina, who had served forty years, either under others or in command, was experienced in the vicissitudes of war, prosperous or disastrous, and thence undaunted. Weighing therefore all probabilities, he could devise no other expedient than that of restraining the enemy to the woods till he had sent forward all the wounded and baggage, for between the mountains and the marshes there stretched a plain large enough to admit a little army; to this purpose the legions selected were, the fifth for the right wing, and twenty-first for the left; the soldiers of the first legion to lead the van, of the twentieth to oppose the pursuers. 65. It was a restless night to both armies, but from different causes; the Barbarians with festive carousals, songs of triumph, or horrid cries, filled the vales below and echoing woods; amongst the Romans were feeble fires, low broken murmurs,-they leaned, drooping here and there, against the pales, or wandered about the tents more like men wanting sleep than quite awake. The general, too, was alarmed by direful visions during his sleep; he thought he heard and saw Quintilius Varus, rising out of the marsh, all besmeared with blood, stretching forth his hand and calling upon him, but that he rejected the call, and pushed back his hand as he held it towards him. At break of day the legions, posted on the wings, whether from perverseness or fear, deserted their post, and took sudden possession of a field beyond the bogs; neither did Arminius fall straight upon them, though they lay open to assault; but, when the baggage was set fast in the mire and ditches, the soldiers about it in disorder, the ordei of the standards confounded, and, as usual at such a time, each man acting hastily for himself, when the ears are slow to eatch the word of command, he then commanded his Germans 46 THE ANNALS. [B. 1. to chlarge, exclaimling vehemently, " Behold! Varus and his legions again subdued by the same fate!" Thus he cried, and instantly, with a select body, broke through the mass, and chiefly against tile horse directed his weapons; floundering in their own blood and the slippery soil of the marsh, they threw their riders, overturned all they met, and trampled on those that were on the ground. The greatest distress was around the eagles, which could neither be carried against a shower of darts, nor be planted in the slimy ground. Ceecina, while he sustained the fight, had his horse shot, and having fallen, would have been overpowered had not the first legion come up to succour him; our relief came from the greediness of the enemy, who ceased slaying to seize the spoil. And the legions, as the day closed in, by great exertion, got into the open and firm ground; nor was this the end of their miseries; a palisade was to be raised, an entrenchment digged; their instruments, too, for throwing up and carrying earth, and their tools for cutting turf, were almost all lost; no tents for the soldiers; no remedies for the wounded. While dividing amongst them their food, defiled with mire or blood, they lamented that mournful night, they lamented the approaching day, to so many thousand men the last. 66. It happened that a horse which had broken his fastenings, and as he strayed about, became frightened with a noise, and ran over some that were in his way; this raised such a consternation in the camp, from a persuasion that the Germans had forced an entrance, that all rushed to the gates, especially to the postern,' as the farthest from the foe, and safer for flight. Caecina having ascertained that there was no cause for alarm, but unable to stop them or hold them back, either by his authority or prayers, or even by force, prostrated himself on the threshold of the gate; and thus at length, by appealing to their humanity, (for if they proceeded it must be over the body of the general,) he blocked the passage, and the I There were four gates to a Roman camp. Livy says so in express terms: "Ad quatuor portas exercitum instruxit, ut, signo dato, ex omnibus portubus eruptionem facerent." The several gates were, the prcetorian; the gate opposite to it, at the extremity of the camp, called the decuman; and two others, called the right and left principals, because they stood on the right and left sides of the camp, fronting the street called Principia. THE GERMANS REPULSED. 47 tribunes and centurions satisfied them the while that it was a false alarm. 67. Then assembling them in the court, and desiring them to hear him with silence, he warned them of their difficulties, and their duty under them: " That their sole hope of safety wAs in their valour, but that must be guided by counsel; that they must keep close within their camp till the enemy, in hopes of taking it by storm, came up nearer to them, then make a sudden sally on every side, that by this sally they might make good their way to the Rhine; but if they fled, more forests, deeper marshes, and the fierce attack of the foe still remained to them; but that if they conquered, honour and renown awaited them." He reminded them of all tha. was dear to them at home, and the rewards to be obtained in 'the camp, but suppressed all mention of defeat. He next distributed horses, first his own, then those of the tribunes and leaders of the legions, to all the bravest warriors, without any flattery, that these first, and afterwards the infantry, might charge the enemy. 68. The Germans were in no less agitation, from hope, eagerness, and the opposite counsels of their leaders. Armlnius proposed, " To let them march out, and to beset them again in their way when they got into marshes and difficult passes." Inguiomer advised measures more resolute and acceptable to barbarians,-" To invest the camp; it would be quickly captured; there would be more captives, and the plunder uninjured." As soon therefore as it was light, they level the ditch, cast hurdles into it, attempt to scale the palisade, there being but few men on the rampart, and those who were, standing as if paralysed by fear. But when they were hampered in the fortifications, the signal was given to the cohorts; the comets and trumpets sounded at once, and instantly, shouting and charging, they poured down upon their rear, telling them tauntingly, "That here were no thickets, no marshes, but equal chances in a fair field." The enemy, expecting an easy conquest, and that the Romans were few and half armed, were overpowered with the sounds of trumpets and glitter of arms, which were then magnified mn proportion as they were unexpected; and they fell like men who, as they are void of moderation in prosperity, are also destitute of conduct in distress. Arminius fled from the 48 THE ANNALS. [. 1. fight unhurt, Inguiomer severely wounded. The men were slaughtered as long as day and rage lasted. At length at night the legions returned, and though distressed by the sanme want of provisions, and more wounds, yet in victory they found all things-health, vigour, and abundance. 69. Meanwhile, a report had spread that the army was cut off, and a body of Germans on full march to invade Gaul; so that, under the terror of this news, there were those whoso cowardice would have emboldened them to demolish the bridge upon the Rhine, had not Agrippina forbidden the infamous attempt; but this high-minded woman took upou herself all the duties of a general, and distributed to the soldiers gratuitously medicines and clothes, according as any one was in want or wounded. Caius Plinius,' the writer of the German wars, relates that she stood at the head of the bridge as the legions returned, and bestowed on them thanks and praises; a behaviour which sunk deep into the heart of Tiberius, "for these attentions he thought were not disinterested; nor was it against foreigners she sought to win the army; for nothing was now left the generals to do, when a woman paid her visits of inspections to the companies, attended the standards, and presumed to distribute largesses: as if before she had shown but small tokens of ambitious designs, in carrying her child (the son of the general) in a soldier's uniform about the camp, and desiring that he be styled Cwesar Caligula. Already Agrippina was in greater credit with the army than the lieutenant-generals, or even the generals,-a woman had suppressed a sedition which the authority of the emperor was not able to restrain. These jealousies were inflamed and ministered to by Sejanus, who was well acquainted with the temper of Tiberius, and supplied him with materials for hatred prospectively, that he might treasure them up in his heart, and draw them out augmented in bitterness. 70. Germanicus handed over the second and fourteenth of the legions, which he had brought in ships to Publius Vitellius to conduct them by land, that his fleet, thus lightened, might sail on the shoally sea, or run aground with safety when the tide ebbed. Vitellius at first marched without I The author of the Natural History. DANGER OF THE LEGIONS. 49 interruption while the ground was dry, or the tide flowed within bh mds; presently the ocean beginning to swell by the action of the north west wind upon it, and also by the influence of the equinoctial constellation, at which seascn the sea swells most, the troops were miserably harassed and driven about. The lands were completely inundated; the sea, the shore, the fields, had one uniform face: no distinction of depths' from shallows, of firm from treacherous footing; they were overturned by billows, absorbed by the eddies; beasts of burden, baggage, and dead bodies floated ameng them and came in contact with them. The several companies were mixed at random, wading now breast high, now up to their chin; sometimes the ground failing them they fell, some never more to rise; their cries and mutual encouragements availed them nothing, the noise of the water drowning them; no difference between the coward and the brave, the wise and the foolish; none between circumspection and haphazard, but all were involved in the sweeping torrent. Vitellius at length, having by great exertion gained the higher ground, withdrew the legions thither, where they passed the night without fire and without food, many of them naked or lamed, not less miserable than men enclosed by an enemy, for even such had the resource of an honourable death, while these must perish ingloriously; daylight restored the land, and they marched to the river Unsingis, whither Germanicus had gone with the fleet. The legions were then embarked, while rumour reported that they were sunk; nor was their escape believed till Germanicus and the army were seen to return. 71 StertInins, who had been sent before to receive the submission of Sigimer, the brother of Segestes, had now brought him and his son to the city of the Ubians; both were pardoned, the father promptly, the son with more hesitation, because he was said to have insulted the corpse of Varus. For the rest, Spain, Italy, and the Gauls vied in supplying the losses of the army, offering arms, horses, money, whatever each had at hand. Germanicus applauding their zeal, accepted only the horses and arms for the war; with his own money he assisted the soldiers; and, to soften by kindness also the memory of the late disaster, he visited the wounded, extolled the exploits of individuals, and, looking at their wounds, with hopes encouraged some, with a sense of glory animated others, TAC.- VOL. I. E 0o HE ANNALS. and by affability and attention confirmed them all in devotion to himself and to the service. 72. The ornaments of triumph' were this year decreed to Aulus Cecina; Lucius Apronius, and Caius Silils, for their services under Germanicus. The title of father of his country, so often forced by the people upon Tiberius, was rejected by him; nor would he permit swearing upon his acts, though the same was voted by the senate, urging " the instability of all mortal things, and that the higher he was raised the more slippery was his position;" he did not, however, thus get / credit for a popular spirit, for he had revived the law of treason-a law which, in the days of our ancestors, had'indeed the same name, but different questions were tried under it. If any one impaired the majesty of the Roman people by betraying an army, by exciting sedition among the rommions, in short, by any maladministration of the public affairs, the actions were matter of trial, but words were free. Augustus2 was the first who used to take cognizance of libels under pretence of this law, incensed by the insolence of Cassius Severus, which had prompted him to asperse distinguished persons of both sexes by coarse lampoons. Soon after, Tiberius, when Pompeius Macer, the praetor, consulted him "whether trials should be had under this law?" answered, "that the laws must be executed." He also was exasperated by the publication of satirical verses written by unknown authors, exposing his cruelty, his pride, and dissensions with his mother. 1 The triumphal insignia were, a golden crown, an ivory chair (sella cwrulis), an ivory sceptre (called scipio), and a painted robe. Livy, lib. xxx. s. 15. 2 By a law of the Twelve Tables, defamatory libels were strictly prohibited. We read in Aulus Gellius, lib. iii. cap. 3, that Nsevius, the comic poet, was thrown into prison for certain defamatory verets in one of his plays. Horace says, the poets were by the Twelve Tables restrained within due bounds:" Quin etiam lex, Pcenaque lata, malo qux nollet carmine quemquam Describi. Vertere modurn formidine fustis, Ad bene dicendum delectandumque redacti."-Epist. ad Aug. lugustus, not satisfied with the penalties of the old law, revived the -harge of violated majesty, which had been invented by Sylla. Tibe rius felt the lash of satire, and was therefore will'ng to enforce the r.le laid down by Augustua ,. 74.] RISE OF INFORMERS. 51 73. It will be worth the trouble to relate here the pretended crimes charged in the cases of Falanius and Rubrius, two Roman knights of small fortunes, that it may be known from what beginnings, and with what subtlety on the part of Tiberius, this grievous mischief crept in, how it was again restrained, how at last it blazed out and bore down all before it.' To Falanius was objected by his accuser, that " amongst the adorers of Augustus, of which there was a sort of college in every house, he had admitted one Cassius, a mimic and infamous character, and, having sold his gardens, had likewise with them transferred the statue of Augustus." Against Rubrius it was charged, "that he had sworn falsely by the divinity of Augustus." When these accusations were known to Tiberius he wrote to the consuls, " that heaven was not therefore decreed to his father, that that honour should be perverted to the destruction of citizens; that Cassius the player was wont to assist others of his profession at the interludes consecrated by his mother to the memory of Augustus; nor was it incompatible with religious adorations, that his oust, like other images of the gods, was comprehended in the sale of houses and gardens. That the oath was to be regarded in the same light as if he had sworn falsely by the name of Jupiter, but to the gods belonged the avenging of injuries done to the gods." 74. Not along after, Granius Marcellus, pretor of Bithynia, was prosecuted for high treason by his own quaestor, Cepio Crispinus; Romanus Hispo supporting the charge. This Cepio began a species of avocation, which through the miserable times and the daring wickedness of men afterwards became very common and notorious; for, at first needy and obscure but of a restless spirit, by creeping into the good graces of the prince, who was naturally cruel, by secret informations, and thus imperiling the life of all the most distinguished citizens, he acquired influence with one, but the hatred of all, and thus exhibited an example, by following which men from being poor became rich, from being contemptible became formidable, 1 To preserve the majesty of the Roman people was the scope and sFirit of the Lex Majestatis. Under the emperors, the majesty of the people was annihilated. Wrhoever was obnoxious to the prince, or his favourites, was broughtwithin the law of majesty. Everything was a state-crime. E2 zs52 BTIE ~ ANNALS. [B. IL mid, after bringing destruction upon others, at last perished by their own arts. He accused Marcellus of "holding defaimatory discourses concerning Tiberius," a charge which it was impossible to repel, when the accuser collected all the most detestable parts of the-prince's character, and framed his accusation with reference to them; for because they we e, true they were believed to have been spoken. To this Hispo added, "that the statue of Marcellus was by him placed higher than those of the Ceesars, and that having cut off the head of an Augustus, he had in the room of it set the head of a Tiberius." At this he flew into such a rage, that breaking silence he cried out, that "' he would himself, in this cause, give his vote openly, and upon oath," tha' the rest might be under the necessity of doing the same. There remained even then some faint traces of expiring liberty. Hence Cneius Piso asked him, "In what place, Caesar, will you give your opinion? If first, I shall have your example to followv; if last, I fear I may unwittingly dissent from you." Deeply affected by these words, and by how much the more indiscreetly he had let his passion boil over, by so much the more submissive now from regret that he should have committed himself, he suffered the accused to be acquitted of high treason. His trial on the charge of peculation was referred to the proper judges.' 75. Nor was Tiberius satisfied to assist in the judicial proceedings of the senate only; he likewise sat in the court of justice, in the corner of the tribunal, because he would not dispossess the prietor of his chair; and in his presence many decisions were given in opposition to the intrigues and solicitations of powerful citizens. But while the interests of justice were consulted liberty was undermined. About this time, Pius Aurelius the senator, whose house, yielding to the pressure of the public roads and aqueducts, had fallen, conmplained to the senate and prayed relief. Opposed by the prietors of the treasury, he was supported by Tiberius, who ordered him the price of his house, for he was fond of being liberal upon fair occasions, a virtue which he long retained, I For the recovery of money obtained by peculation, or other improper means, there was an established jurisdiction; and, in case of condemnation, commissioners, called Recuperatores, were appointed to we restitution nade. c. 77.] THEATRICAL RIOTS. 53 even after he had abandoned all others. Upon Propertius Celer, once preetor, but now desiring leave to resign the dignity of senator on the score of poverty, he bestowed a thousand great sesterces, upon satisfactory information that his necessities were derived from his father. Others, who attempted the same thing, he ordered to prove their allegations to the senate; from his over anxiety to be strict he was thus austere even in his good actions. Hence the rest preferred poverty and concealment to exposure and relief. 76. The same year, the Tiber, swollen with continual rains, overflowed the level parts of the city; when the flood subsided, men and houses were washed away by the torrent. Hence Asinius Gallus moved, c that the Sibylline books might be consulted." Tiberius opposed it, equally smothering all inquiry into matters human or divine. To Ateius Capito, however and Lucius Arruntius, was committed the care of restraining the river within its banks. The provinces of A chaia and Macedon, praying relief from their public burdens, were for the present discharged of their proconsular government, and transferred to Tiberius.1 In the entertainment of gladiators at Rome, Drusus presided: it was exhibited in the name of his brother Gerranicus, and his ownl; and at it he manifested too much delight in blood, though that of slaves: a feeling terrible to the populace, and for which even his father was said to have reproved him. The absence of Tiberius from these shows was variously construed: by some it was ascribed to his impatience of a crowd; by others to the austerity of his genius, and his fear of comparison with Augustus, who was wont to be a cheerful spectator. But, that he thus purposely furnished matter for exposing the cruelty of his son there, and for raising him popular hate, is what I would not believe: though this too was asserted. 77. The riots connected with the theatre, begun last year, broke out now more violently: several, not of the people only, but of the soldiers, with a centurion, lost their lives; and a tribune of a preetorian cohort was wounded whilst they were 1 Augustus divided the Roman provinces between himself and the senate. Those which he retained in his own hands, were administered by governors of his own choice, called imperial procu'rators. The Senatorian provinces were governed by proconsuls, appointed for a year only. 54 THE ANNASB. LB. L securing thle magistrates from insults, and restoring tranquillity among the rabble. This tumult was canvassed in the senate, and opinions were given that the praetors should be empowered to whip the players: Haterius Agrippa, tribune of the people, opposed it; and was sharply rebuked by a speech of Asinius Gallus. Tiberius was silent, and to the senate I allowed these mockeries of liberty. The opposition, however, 4 prevailed, because the deified Augustus had formerly given his judgment, "that players were exempt from stripes:" nor would religion permit that Tiberius should annul his decisions. Concerning the limitation of the money laid out on theatrical exhibitions,' and to restrain the licentiousness of their partisans, many decrees were made: the most remarkable were, "that no senator should enter the houses of pantomimes; that Roman knights should not attend them when they went into the street: they should exhibit nowhere but in the theatre; and the praetors should have power to punish the excesses of the spectators with exile." 78. The Spaniards were, upon their petition, permitted to build a temple to Augustus in the colony of Tarragon: and an example was held up for all the provinces to follow. In answer to the people, who prayed to be relieved from the " centesima," a tax of one in the hundred, established at the end of the civil wars, upon all vendible commodities; Tiberius by an edict declared, ' that upon this tax depended the fund for maintaining the army: nor even thus was the commonwealth equal to the expense, if before their twentieth year the veterans Were dismissed." Thus the ill-advised regulations, made during the late sedition, by which the limit of sixteen years was assigned to their service, in submission to force, were rescinded. 79. It was next proposed to the senate by Arruntius and 4teius, whether, in order to restrain the overflowing of the Tiber, a new course should be given to the rivers and lakes The money laid out on plays and players was called lacar, because it arose from the annual produce of certain woods and groves (luci) in the neighbourhood of Rome. 2 Augustus fixed the rate of the soldiers' pay throughout all the armies of the empire; and, that a fund might be always ready for that purpose, he established a military exchequer, and certain taxes, which were to be paid into that office. See Suetonius, Life of Augustus, s. 49. Tiberius afterwards changed this tax to the two hundredth penny. Annals, book ii s. 42. c.81.1 POLICY OF TIBERIUS. by which it is swelled. Upon this question the deputies oi several cities and colonies were heard. The Florentines besought, " that the bed of the Clanis might not be turned inte their river Arnub; for that the same would prove their utter ruin." A similar objection was urged by the Interamnates " since the most fruitful plains in Italy would be lost, if, according to the project, the Nar, branched out into rivulets, overflowed them." Nor did the Reatinians fail to remonstrate against stopping the outlets of the lake Velinus into the Nar; "for," they said, " it would overflow the adjacent country: that nature had made the wisest provision for the interests of tman:/that she had assigned to rivers their proper mouths and courses, and as she had fixed their sources, so had she determined their exits. Regard, too, was to be paid to the religion of our Latin allies, who, esteeming the rivers of their country sacred, had to them dedicated priests, and altars, and groves: nay, the Tiber himself, bereft of the neighbouring streams, would refuse to flow with diminished majesty." Now, whether it were that the prayers of the colonies, or the difficulty of the work, or the influence of superstition prevailed, it is certain the opinion of Piso was followed; namely, that nothing should be altered. 80. To Poppueus Sabinus was continued his province of Mcesia; and to it was added that of Achaia and Macedon. This, too, was part of the policy of Tiberius, to continue persons in offices, and for the most part to maintain them in the same military authority, or civil employments, to the end of their lives; with what view, is not agreed. Some think, "that from an impatience of recurring care, he was for making whatever he once resolved on, perpetual." Others, ' that from the malignity of his nature he could not endure that many should reap the benefit of office." There are some who believe "that as he had a crafty, penetrating spirit, so he had an unlerstanding ever irresolute and perplexed." Nor, indeed, did he seek men of preeminent virtue, while, on the other hand, ihe detested vice: from the best men he dreaded danger to himsolf, and disgrace to the public from the worst. This difficulty in- deciding grew to such a pitch at last that he assigned provinces to some persons whom he had resolved never to suffer to quit the city. 81. Of the comitia for the creation of consuls, which took 56 THE ANNALS. [L. IL place in th3 reign of Tiberius for the first time in this year, and in each successive year, I hardly dare affirm anything: s different are the accounts about it, found not only amongst historians, but even in his own speeches. Sometimes, not naming the candidates, he described them by their family, by their life and manners, and by the number of their campaigns; so as it might be apparent whom he meant. Again, avoiding even to describe them, he exhorted the candidates not to disturb the election by their intrigues, and promised, himself, to take care of their interests. His general practice was to declare, " that to him none had signified their pretensionS, but those whose names he had delivered to the consuls; others, too, might do the same, if they had confidence in their interest or merits." Sentiments, plausible in terms; in substance, hollow and insidious: and the greater the semblance of liberty with which t' 2y.were covered, the more remorseless the slavery in whici cney would issue., BOOK II. 1. DURING the consulship of Sisenna Statilius Taurus, and Lucius Libo, the kingdoms and Roman provinces of the East were in a state of commotion. It began with the Parthians, who, having sought and accepted a king from Rome afterwards, though he was of the race of the Arsacidme, contemned him as a foreigner. This was Vonones, who had been given as an hostage to Augustus by Phraates;2 for Phraates, though he had repulsed the Roman generals and armies, had accumulated every mark of reverence on Augustus, and sent him, to bind their fiiendship, part of his offspring; not so much, through fear of us, as distrusting the allegiance of his countrymen. 1 The Parthian kings were called Arsacidre, from Arsaces, the foundet of the monarchy, A.u.c. 498; before the Christian era 256. Orodes was the king in whose reign Crassus and eleven legions were massacred, A. U.c. 701. 2 Phraates IV. was the son of Orodes. He defeated Mark Antony, and sixteen 1,gions under his command, A. u.. 718. Justin, lib. xli,. 5. Plutarch, Life of Antony. c. 3.J COMMCTIONS IN PARTHIA. 57 2. After the death of Phraates and the succeeding kings, ambassadors from the chief men of Parthia arrived at Rome, to call home Vonones his eldest son, in order to end their iln testine slaughters. Tiberius thought this a high honour tr himself, and dismissed him with great pomp and presents The Barbarians, too, received him with exultation, as is usual at the commencement of a reign. But shame soon succeeded: " For the degeneracy of the Parthians, who had thus fetched from another world a king tainted by the practices of their enemies, the imperial throne of the Arsacidm," they said, " was now deemed and given as a Roman province. Where was the glory of those who slew Crassus, of those who expelled Mark Antony, if a slave of Ceesar's, who had endured bondage for so many years, should lord it over the Parthians '? He himself also inflamed their disdain, by abandoning the institutions of his ancestors, by rarely joining in the chace, by the sluggish interest he took in horses, and, whenever he made a progress through the cities, by riding in a litter, and by his haughty contempt of the national mode of banqueting. they also ridiculed his Greek attendants, and the most worth, less articles of domestic use secured under a seal; but his easiness of access, his unhesitating courtesy, virtues unknown to the Parthians, were to them new vices; and every part of his manners, the laudable and the bad, were subject to equal hatred, because foreign from their own. 3. They, therefore, sent for Artabanus, of the blood of the Arsacidae, bred amongst the Dahse. In the first engagement he was routed, but repaired his forces and gained the kingdom. The vanquished Vonones found a retreat in Armenia, where was a vacant throne, and a people wavering between the powers of Parthia and of Rome; distrusting us by reason of the villany of Mark Antony, who having by professions of friendship inveigled into his power Artavasdes, king of the Armenians, then loaded him with chains, and at last put him 1 Cf. " Sicut olim matrem nostram facere mremini, quse lagenas etiara manes obsignabat, ne decerentur inanes alique fuisse, quse furtiia assent exsiccatne."-Cicero ad Familiares, lib. xiv. epist. 26. And also- "Et signo lEeso non insanire lagene." Hor. lib. ii. epist. ii 134..The new-married man gave a seal to his bride, to show that he conm mitted the house-affairs to her management. 58 THIE ANNALA. l[B IL to death. Artaxias, his son, for his father's sake hating us, defended himself and his kingdom by the forces of the Arsacidae. Artaxias being slain through the perfidy of hi? kindred, Tigranes was by Augustus appointed king of the Armenians, and by Tiberius Nero put in possession of the kingdom. But neither was the reign of Tigranes lasting, nor that of his children, though, according to the custom of foreign nations, they took partners of the throne and marriage-bed from among themselves I Artavasdes was next set over them, by the appointment of Augustus; but at great expense of Roman blood he was deposed. 4. At that juncture Caius Cesar was chosen to settle affairs in Armenia: by him Ariobarzanes, by descent a Mede, distinguished for his graceful person and eminent endowments, was placed over the Armenians with their own consent. Ariobarzanes being killed by accident, they would not bear the rule of his children, but tried the government of a woman named Erato, and having soon deposed her, unsettled, wavering, and rather without a master than possessed of liberty, they received the fugitive Vonones for their king. But when Artabanus menaced him, and he could expect little help from the Armenians, as, if he were protected by our forces, a war with the Parthians must be undertaken, Creticus Silanus, governor of Syria, invited him thither; but when he came, set a. guard upon him, leaving him still the name and pomp of royalty. What attempts Vonones made to escape from this mockery, we will relate in its place. 5. Now Tiberius was not displeased with the occurrence of commotions in the East, since then he had a colour for separating Germanicus from the legions that were attached to him from habit; for setting him over strange provinces, and exposing him at once to casual perils, and the efforts of fraud. But he, the more ardent the affections of the soldiers, and the greater the hatred of his uncle, so much tihe more intent upon expediting a victory, weighed with himself the methods of bringing on battles, with all the disasters and successes which had befallen him in the war to this his third 1 Intermarriages between brothers and sisters were allowed by the custom of Egypt, and the eastern nations. Cleopatra married her brother Ptolemy; and accordingly Ceesar, having ended the Alexisa driun war, placed brother and sister on the throne of the country c. 6.J PREPARATIONS OF GERMANICIS. 59 year. He remembered —" That the Germans were ever routed in a regular battle, and upon ground adapted to fighting; that they were benefited by woods and bogs, short summers, and early winters; that his own men suffered not so much r-om their wounds, as from the length of their marches, and the loss of the instruments of war. The Gauls were weary of furnishing horses; long and cumbersome was his train of baggage, easily surprised, and with difficulty defended; but if the country should be entered by sea, it would be easy for them to get possession of favourable ground, while the enemy would be unaware of their movement. Besides, the war would be earlier begun; the legions and provisions conveyed together; and the horsemen and horses brought with safety, through the mouths and channels of the rivers, into the heart of Germany." 6. To this object, therefore, he directed his efforts; whilst Publius Vitellius and Publius Cantius were sent to collect the tribute of the Gauls, Silius, Anteius, and Cccina had the direction of building the fleet. A thousand vessels were thought sufficient, and quickly finished. Some were short, with narrow stern and prow, and broad in the middle, the easier to endure the shock of the waves; some had flat bottoms, that without damage they might run aground, several had helms at each end, that by suddenly turning the oars, they might work either way; many were furnished with decks, upon which the engines of war might be conveyed, and were fitted for carrying horses or provisions, convenient for sails, and swift with oars: the effective and formidable appearance of the fleet was heightened by the spirit of the troops. The Isle of Batavia, by reason of its easy landings, its convenience for receiving forces, and transporting them to the war, was appointed as the place of rendezvous. For the Rhine, flowing in one uninterrupted channel, or broken by small islands, is, at the commencement of Batavia, divided as it were into two rivers; one retaining its name and the violence of its course, where it flows by Germany, till it mixes with the ccean; the other washing the Gallic shore, with a broader and more gentle stream, is by the inhabitants called by another name-the Wahal-which it soon after changes for that of the river Meuse, by whose immense mouth it is discharged;rto the same ocean. cO ]HE ANNALS [B. IL 7. But while the ships were being brought up, Germanicus commlanded Silius his lieutenant, with a flying band, to invade the Cattians; and he himself, upon hearing that the fort upor the river Luppia was besieged, led six legions thither: but the sudden rains prevented Silius from doing more than taking some small plunder, with tie wife and daughter o: Arpus, prince of the Cattians; nor did the besiegers stay to fight Germanicus, but upon the report of his approach stole off and dispersed; they had, however, thrown down the barrow lately raised to the Varian legions, and the old altar erected to Drusus. He restored the altar; and the prince himself, with the legions, performed a solemn procession to the honour of his father; but he did not think propel to raise a fresh barrow: all thespace, too, between fort Aliso and the Rhine he secured with new barriers and ramparts. 8. And now the fleet had arrived; when, having sent the stores forward, and assigned ships to the legions and the allies, he entered the canal named after Drusus,' and prayed to his father, " to be propitious and favourable to him, and aid him in attempting the same enterprises, by the 'nspiration of his example, and the recollection of his counsels and achievements." Then he sailed prosperously through the lakes and the ocean, as far as the river Amisia. The fleet being left at Amisia, upon the left shore, (and it was a fault that it sailed no higher up,) he put the troops over by bridges, their destination being to the territories on the right; thus many days were consumed in making bridges. The horse and the legions crossed the Estuaries at the mouth of the river without confusion, as it was yet ebb; but the auxiliaries forming the rear, and among them the Batavians. while they play with the waves, and show their dexterity in swimming, were thrown into disorder, and some were drowned. Whilst Germanicus was encamping, he was told of the revolt of the Angrivarians behind him; thither he despatched a body of horse and light infantry, under Stertinius, who with fire and slaughter revenged their perfidy. 9. Between the Romans and the Cheruscans flowed the river Visurgis. On its bank stood Arminius, with the other I The canal of Drusus, Brotier says, was between Iselsort and Doeabourg, from the Rhine to the river Sala, now the IlseL c. 11.1 THE BROTHER OF ARMINIUS. 61 chiefs, inquiring whether Germanicus was come; and being. answered that he was there, he prayed leave to speak lrith his brother. This brother of his was in the army, his name Flavius, remarkable for his fidelity, and for the loss of an eye under Tiberius. Permission was then granted. Flavius advancing, was saluted by Arminius, who having removed his own attendants, requested that the archers, ranged upon our bank, might retire. When they were gone-" How came you," he asked his brother, "by that deformity in your face?" The brother having informed him where, and in what fight, -he desired to know, "what reward he had received." Flavins answered-" (Increase of pay, the chain, the crown, and other mIilitary gifts;" which Arminius treated with derision, as the vile wages of servitude. 10. After that they began in different strains: Flavius airged " the Roman greatness, the power of Caesar, the severe punishment inflicted on the vanquished; and the clemency vouchsafed to those who submitted; that neither the wife nor son of Arminius was treated as a captive." Arminius to this opposed "the claims of country, their hereditary liberty, the domestic gods of Germany; their mother, who joined in his prayer that he would not prefer the character of a deserter, and a betrayer of his kinsmen and connexions, in short, of his race, to that of their general." From this they gradually proceeded to invectives; nor would the interposition of the river have restrained them from an encounter, had not Stertinius, running to him, held back Flavius, full of rage, and calling for his arms and his horse. On the opposite side was seen Arminius, menacing furiously and proclaiming battle. For most of what he said in this dialogue was in Latin; having, as the general of his countrymen, served in the Roman camp. 11. Next day the German army stood in order of battle Jeyond the Visurgis. Germanicus, who thought it became not a general to endanger the legions in the passage without bridges and guards, made the horse ford over. They were led by Stertinius, and AEmilius one of the principal centurions, who entered the river at distant places to divide the attention of the foe. Cariovalda, captain of the Batavians, dashed through where the stream was most rapid, and was by the /herisscans, who feigned flight, drawn into a plain surrounded 62 THE ANNALS. B. II. with woods. Then starting up at once, and pouring upon him on every side, they overthrew those who resisted, and pressed after those who gave way, who at length, forming themselves into a circle, were assailed by some hand to hand, by others were annoyed with missiles. Cariovalda, having long sustained the fury of the enemy, exhorted his men to break through the assailing bands in a solid body; he himself charged into the thickest, and fell under a shower of darts, his horse also being killed, and many nobles fell around him; the rest were saved by their own bravery, or by the cavalry under Stertinius and AEmilius, which came up to their assistance. 12. Germanicus, having passed the Visurgis, learnt from a deserter that Arminius had marked out the place of battle, that more nations had also joined him at a wood sacred to Hercules, and would attempt to storm our camp by night. The deserter was believed, the enemy's fires were in view, and the scouts, having advanced towards them, reported that they heard the neighing of horses and the murmur of a mighty and tumultuous host. Being thus upon the eve of a decisive battle, Germanicus thought it behoved him to learn the sentiments of the soldiers, and deliberated with himself how to get at the truth,-" the reports of the tribunes and centurions were oftener agreeable than true, the freedmen had servile spirits, friends were apt to flatter; if an assembly were called, there, too, the counsel proposed by a few was carried by the clamorous plaudits of the rest. The minds of soldiers could then only be thoroughly known when by themselves, free from all restraint, and over their mess, they gave unreserved utterance to their hopes and fears." 13. At nightfall, taking the path leading by the place of divination,' he went out with a single attendant, a deer-skin covering his shoulders,2 and proceeding by a secret way whela there were no sentinels, entered the avenues of the camp, stationed himself near the tents, and eagerly listened to what was said of himself while one magnified the imperial birth of his general, another his graceful person, very many his firmness, condescension, and the evenness of his temper, whether I In the camp a place was set apart for taking the auspices, on the right of the general's tent. See Smith's Dict. Ant., art. Auspiciun. 2 He assumed this disguise in order to appear like a German soldier. ADDRESS TO THE TROOPS. 63 seriously occupied or in moments of relaxation; and they confessed that their sense of his merits should be shown in battle, protesting at the same time that those traitors and violators of peace should be made a sacrifice to vengeance and to fame. In the meantime, one of the enemy who understood Latin rode up to the palisades, and with a loud voice offered, in the name of Arminius, to every deserter a wife and land, and, as long as the war lasted, an hundred sesterces a day. Thi, affront kindled the wrath of the legions,-" Let day come," they cried, " battle should be given, the soldiers would themselves take the lands of the Germans, lead away wives by rigl;t of conquest; they, however, welcomed the omen, and considered the wealth and women of the enemy their destine;i prey." About the third watch' an attempt was made upon the camp, but not a dart was discharged, as they found the cohorts planted thick upon the works, and nothing neglected that was necessary for a vigorous defence. 14. Germanicus had the same night a cheering dream: he thought he sacrificed, and, in place of his own robe besmeared with the blood of the victim, received one fairer from the hands of his grandmother Augusta. Elated by the omen, and the auspices being favourable, he called an assembly, and laid before them what in his judgment seemed likely to be advantageous and suitable for the impending battle. He said, "that to the Roman soldiers not only plains, but, with due circumspection, even woods and forests were convenient: the huge targets, the enormous spears of the Barbarians, could never be wielded amongst trunks of trees and thickets of underwood, shooting up from the ground, like Roman swords and javelins, and armour fitting the body; that they should reiterate their blows, and aim at the face with their swords; the Germans had neither helmet nor coat of mail; their bucklers were not even strengthened with leather, or iron, but mere contextures of twigs, and boards of no substance flourished over with paint; their first rank was armed with pikes, in 'some sort, the rest had only stakes burnt at the end, or short darts: and now to come to their persons, as they were terrific to sight, and vigorous enough for a brief effort, so they were 1 The Romans divided the night into four watches. Each watch was on duty three hours, and then relieved by the next in turan The third watch began about the modern twelve at night 64 THE ANsALS, [IB. II. utterly impatient of wounds: unaffected with shame for mis3onduct, and destitute of respect for their generals, they would quit their posts, or run away before the enemy: cowards in adversity; in prosperity despisers of all divine, of all human laws: if, weary of marches and sea voyages, they wished an end of these things, by this battle it was presented to them: the Elbe was now nearer than the Rhine; there was nothing to subdue beyond this; they had only to place him, crowned with victory, in the same country which had witnessed the triumphs of his father and uncle, in whose footsteps he was treading." The ardour of the soldiers was kindled by this speech of the general, and the signal for the onset was given. 15. Neither did Arminius, or the other chiefs, neglect solemnly to assure their several bands, that " these were Romans; the most desperate fugitives of the Varian army, who, to avoid the hardships of war, had put on the character of rebels; who, without any hope of success, were again braving the angry gods, and exposing to their exasperated foes, some of them, backs burthened with wounds, others, limbs enfeebled with the effects of storms and tempests Their motive for having recourse to a fleet and the pathless regions of the ocean was, that no one might oppose them as they approached or pursue them when repulsed; but when they engaged hand to hand, vain would be the help of winds and oars after a defeat: the Germans needed only remember their rapine, cruelty, and pride; was any other course left them than to maintain their liberty, and if they could not do 'that, to die before they took a yoke upon them?" 16. The enemy thus inflamed, and calling for battle, were led into a plain called Idistavisus: it lies between the Visurgis and the hills, and winds irregularly along, as it is encroached upon by the projecting bases of the mountains, or enlarged by the receding banks of the river: at their rear rose a majestic forest, the branches of the trees shooting up into the air, but the ground clear between their trunks: the army of Barbarians occupied the plain, and the entrances of the forest.. the Cheruscans alone sat in ambush upon the mountain, in vrder to pour down from thence upon the Romans, when engaged in the fight. Our army marched thus; the auxiliary Gauls and Germans in front, after them the foot archers, next four legions, and then, Germauicus with two praetorian cohorts C, 1. I DEFEAT OF THE GERMANS. ti and the choice of the cavalry; then four legions more, and the light foot with the mounted archers, and the other cohorts of the allies; the men were on the alert and in readiness, so that the order of march might form the order of battle when they halted. 17. As the bands of Cheruscans who had impatiently rushed forward were now perceived, Germanicus commanded the most efficient of his horse to charge them in the flank, and Stertinius with the rest to wheel round to attack them in the rear, and promised to be ready to assist them at the proper moment. Meanwhile an omen of happiest import appeared; eight eagles, seen to fly toward the wood, and to enter it, caught the eye of the general: " Advance!"' he cried, "follow the Roman birds; follow the tutelar deities of the legions!" At once the foot charged, and the cavalry sent forward attacked their flank and rear: and strange to relate, the two divisions of their army fled opposite watys; that in the woods ran to the plain, that in the plain rushed into the woods. The Cheruscans between both, were driven from the hills; amongst them Arminius formed a conspicuous object, while with his hand, his voice, and the exhibition of his wounds, he strove to sustain the fight: he had vigorously assaulted the archers, and would have broken through them, had not the cohorts of the Rhbetians, the Vindelicians, and the Gauls, advanced to oppose him: however, by his own personal effort, and the impetus of his horse, he made good his passage; his face besmeared with hlis own blood to avoid being known. Some have related that the Chaucians, who were amongst the Roman auxiliaries, knew him, and let him go: the same bravery or stratagem procured Inguiomer his escape: the rest were slain on all hands; great numbers attempting to swim the Visurgis, perished either by the darts showered after them, or the violence of the current; or if they escaped these, they were overwhelmed by the weight of the rushing crowd, and the banks which fell upon them: some, seeking an ignominious refuge, climbed to the tops of trees, and concealing themselves amongst the branches, were shot in sport by the archers, who were brought up for the purpose; others were dashed against the ground as the trees were felled. This was a great victory, and withal achieved without loss on (uir side. TAC.-VOL. I. V 66 THE ANNALS. lB. n 18. This slaughter of the foe, from the fifth hour ' of the day till night, filled the country for ten miles with carcases and arms. Amongst the spoils, chains were found, which sure of conquering, they had brought to bind the Roman captives. The soldiers saluted Tiberius as "Imperator"2 upon the field of battle, and, raising a mount, placed upon it, after the, manner of trophies, the German arms, with the names of all the vanquished nations inscribed below. 19. This sight filled the Germans with more anguish and rage than all their wounds, afflictions, and overthrows. They, who were just now prepared to abandon their dwellings, and retire beyond the Elbe, meditate war and grasp their arms; people, nobles, youth, aged, all rush suddenly upon the Roman army in its march, and disorder it. Lastly, they chose a position shut in by a river and a forest, the inner space being a confined and humid plain; the forest, too, surrounded with a deep marsh, except that the Angrivarii had elevated one side by erecting a broad mound to part them and the Cheruscans. Here their foot were posted: their horse were concealed amongst the neighbouring groves, that they might be on the rear of the legions when they had entered the wood. 20. Nothing of all this was a secret to Germanicus. He knew their counsels, their stations; their overt movements and their concealed measures; and turned their subtlety to the destruction of themselves. To Seius Tubero, his lieutenant, he committed the horse and the plain; the infantry he so formed, that part might pass the level approaches into the wood, and the rest force their way up the rampart: whatever was arduous he reserved to himself, the rest he committed to 1 It appears, in section 23 of this book, that the battle was fought in July, or the beginning of August, adulta jam cestate. If so, the fifth haur nearly agrees with our nine in the morning. In the time of the republic, the title of Imperator was given by the soldiers in the field of battle to the commander-in-chief. The custom ceased under Augustus, who annexed the title to the imperial dignity, the prince being then generalissimo of all the armies of the empire. The name of Imperator, it is true, was afterwards given to tho general who gained a victory; but that was not done without the special permission of the prince. The same rule was observed under the following emperors; and accordingly we find that Tiberius was saluted Imperatoi; but the soldiers did not presume to do that honour to Germanicus. TROPHY RAISED BY GERMANICUS. 67 his lieutenants. Those who had the even ground to traverse, easily forced an entrance; but they who were to storm the rampart were battered from above, as if they had been,cssaulting a wall. The general perceived the inequality of this close encounter, and drawing off the legions a small distance, ordered the slingers and engineers to discharge their missiles, and dislodge the enemy: immediately darts were poured from the engines, and the defenders of the barrier, the more conspicuous they were, with the more wounds were beaten down. Germanicus, having taken the rampart, first forced his way at the head of the praetorian cohorts into the woods, and there it was fought foot to foot: behind the enemy was the morass, behind the Romans the mountains or the river; no room for either to retreat, no hope but in valour, no safety but in victory. 21. The Germans were not inferior in courage, but in the mode of fighting and the nature of their arms; as their vast numbers, hampered in narrow places, could not push forward nor recover their immense spears; nor practise their usual assaults and rapid motions, being compelled by their crowded condition to adopt a stationary mode of fight. On the contrary, our soldiers, with shields fitted to their breasts, and their hands firmly grasping their sword-hilts, could gash the brawny limbs and naked faces of the Barbarians, and open themselves a way with havoc of the enemy. Besides, the activity of Arminius now failed him; either exhausted by a succession of disasters, or disabled by his recent wound. Nay, Inguiomer, too, who flew from place to place throughout the battle, was abandoned by fortune rather than courage. Germanicus, to be the easier known, pulled off his helmet, and exhorted his men "to prosecute the slaughter; they wanted no captives," he said, "(the extermination of the people alone would put an end to the war." It was now late in the day, and he drew off a legion to pitch a camp; the rest glutted themselves till night with the blood of the foe: the horse fought with doubtful success. 22. Germanicus, having in a public harangue praised his victorious troops, raised a pile of arms, with this proud inscription: " That the army of Tiberius Caesar, having subdued the nations between the Rhine and the Elbe, had consecrated these memorials to Mars to Jupiter, and to Augustus." F2 68 MtE ANNALS. CB. II Of himself he made no mention; either fearful of provoking 1 envy, or that he felt satisfied with the consciousness of his f own merit. He next charged Stertinins with the war amongst the Angrivarians; and he would have proceeded, had they not made haste to submit; approaching as supplicants, and making a full confession of their guilt, they received pardon without reserve. 23 The summer being now far advanced, some of the legions were sent back into winter-quarters by land; the greater part Caesar put on board the fleet, and conveyed them along the Amisia to the ocean. The sea, at first serene, resounded only with the oars of a thousand ships, or their impulse when under sail; but presently a shower of hail poured down from a black mass of clouds; at the same time, storms raging on all sides in every variety, the billows rolling, now here, now there, obstructed the view, and made it impossible to manage the ships: the soldiers, too, unaccustomed to the perils of the sea, while in their alarm they embarrassed the mariners, or helped them awkwardly, rendered unavailing the services of the skilful. After this the whole expanse of air and sea was swept by a south-west wind; which, deriving strength from the mountainous regions of Germany, its deep rivers, and boundless tract of clouded atmosphere, and rendered still harsher by the rigour of the neighbouring north, tore away the ships, scattered and drove them into the open ocean, or upon islands dangerous from precipitous rocks or the hidden sand-banks which beset them. Having got a little clear of these, but with great difficulty, the tide turning and flowing in the same direction as that in which the wind blew, they were unable to ride at anchor, or bale out the water that broke in upon them; horses, beasts of burthen, baggage, even arms, were thrown overboard, to lighten the holds of the vessels, which took in water at their sides, and from the waves too running over them. 24. By how much the ocean is more stormy than other seas, and Germany exceeds other countries in the rigour of its climate, by so much this disaster surpassed in point of magnitude, and the peculiarity of its circumstances. Around them were either shores inhabited by enemies, or a sea so vast and unfathomable as to be supposed the limit of the world, and unbounded by lands. Part of the fleet were STORM AT SEA. 69 swallowed up; many were driven upon remote islands, where, without a trace of civilized humanity, the men perished through famine, or were kept alive by the carcases of horses that were dashed upon the same shore. The galley of Germa1nicus.l alone reached the coast of the Chaucians,' where. during the whole period of his stay, both day and night. amid the rocks and prominences of the shore, he reproached himself as the author of such overwhelming destruction, and was hardly restrained by his friends from destroying himself in the same sea. At last, with the returning tide, and favouring gale, the shattered ships returned, almost all destitute of oars, or with garments spread for sails; and some towed by those which were less disabled. He repaired them hastily. and despatched them to search the. islands; by this diligence the greater part were gleaned up; many were, by the Angrivarians, our new subjects, redeemed fiom their more inland neighbours and restored; and some, driven into Great Britain, were sent back by the petty kings. Each according to the remoteness of the regions he had returned fiom, recounted the wonders he had witnessed: " The impetuosity of whirlwinds; strange birds; sea-monsters of ambiguous forms between man and beast;" things either seen, or fancied from the effects of fear. 25. Intelligence of this wreck animated the Germans with hopes of renewing the war; which Germanicus perceiving, he resolved to check them. He commanded Caius Silius, with thirty thousand foot and three thousand horse, to march into the country of the Cattians; he himself with a greater force invaded the Marsians, where he learnt from Malovendus, their general, lately taken into our subjection, that the eagle of one of Varus's legions was hid underground in a neighbouring grove, and kept by a slender guard. Instantly two parties - ere despatched; one to face the enemy and draw them fiom heir post, the other to march round upon their rear and open he grouind: success attended both. Hence Germanicus odvanced towards the interior with greater alacrity, laid waste the country, and destroyed the effects of the foe, either inot daring to engage. or, wherever they engaged, instantly defeated; nor, as was learnt from the prisoners, were they ever more dismayed: "The Romans," they exclaimed, "are invinciblo; I The mouth of the Visurgis, or the Weser 70 TIlE ANNALS. [B. IT. no calamities can subdue them; they have wrecked their fleet, their arms are lost, our shores are covered with the bodies of their horses and men; and yet they have invaded us with their usual spirit, with the same firmness, and as if their numbers were increased." 26. The army was thence led back into winter-quarters, full of joy to have balanced, by this prosperous expedition, their misfortune at sea; and by the bounty of Germanicus their joy was heightened, since to each sufferer he paid as much as each declared he had lost; neither was it doubted but the enemy were tottering, and concerting measures for obtaining peace, and that the next summer would termiinate the war. But Tiberius, by frequent letters, pressed him "( to come home to the triumph decreed him; urged that he had experienced enough of events and casualties; he had indeed fought grea and successful battles; but he must likewise remember his losses and calamities, which, however owing to wind and waves, and no fault of the general, were yet great and grievous. He himself had been sent nine times into Germany by Augustus, and effected much more by policy than arms; it was thus he had brought the Sygambrians1 into subjection, thus the Suevians, thus king Maroboduus 2 had been obliged to submit to 1 The Sicambri dwelt between the river Luppia (now the Lippe) and the Cattians, who inhabited the territory of Hesse. Being conquered by Tiberius, in the reign of Augustus, they were transplanted to the Gallic side of the Rhine. We find them mentioned by Horace:"Te cuede gaudentes Sicambri Compositis venerantur armis."-Carm. lib. iv. ode 14. 2 Maroboduus, born among the Marcomanni, went early to Rome, where he was distinguished by Augustus. Endowed with great natural talents, he returned to his own country with an understanding above the level of Barbarians. The Marcomanni at that time inhabited an extensive territory in the district now called Wirtemberg, and in part of Suabia. He saw the Romans encroaching every day in the Lower Germany; and the progress of their arms he thought would, in a little time, reduce him to the condition of a sceptred slave. He removed from that dangerous neighbourhood to the Hercynian forest, and, having expelled the Boians from the country called Boiohemum, estat blished his kingdom in that region. He extended his new dominions towards the south, and, by consequence, approached to the vicinity of the Romans. Tiberius was sent by Augustus (A. U. c. 759) to check the progress of the German king, who must have been crushed by the army employed against him, if a sudden revolt in Pannonia and Dalmatia had not caused a suspension of hostilities. Whether that insurrection c. 28.] STORY OF LIBO. 71 terms. The Cheruscans, too, and the other hostile nations, now the Roman honour was vindicated. might be left to pursue their own intestine feuds." Germanicus besought one year to accomplish his conquest; but Tiberius assailed his modesty with fresh importunity, by offering him another consulship, the duties of which would require his presence; he added, " That if the war was still to be prosecuted, he should leave materials for the fame of his brother Drusus, who, as there then remained no other enemy, could acquire the title of Imperator, and earn the privilege of presenting the laurel, in Germany alone." Germanicus persisted no longer; though he knew that this was all hypocrisy, and that through envy he was torn away from a harvest of ripe glory. 27. About this time, Libo Drusus, of the Scribonian family, was charged with attempts against the state; and, because then first were devised those arts which for so many years preyed upon the commonweal, I will lay open with the more exactness, the beginning, progress, and issue of this affair. Firmius Catus, the senator, availing himself of an intimaLte friendship with Libo, induced that youth, unwary as he was, and open to impositions, to try the predictions of the Chaldseans, the mysteries of magicians, and even the interpreters of dreams; perpetually suggesting to him that " Pompey was his great-grandfather, Scribonia, once the wife of Augustus, his aunt, the Csesars' his kinsmen; and his house crowded with images:" tempting him to luxury and debt; sharing in his excesses and his obligations, in order to ensure his conviction by multiplying the evidences of his guilt. 28. When he found he had witnesses enough, and some slaves, who were also privy to Libo's conduct, he sought access to the 6mperor, having first by Flaccus Vescularius, a Romau knight, more intimate with Tiberius, represented to,him the person he accused and the charge. Tiberius slighted not his information, but denied him access, l For that communications," he said, "might be still interchanged through the was effected by the intriguing genius of Maroboduus, cannot now be known. He offered terms of accommodation, and the politic Tiberiuw concluded a treaty of peace. From that time Maroboduus courted the alliance of Rome, and, by consequence, drew on himself the hatred of the German nations. Caius and Lucius, the sons of Agrippa, adopted by Augustus into the Casarean family THE ANNALS. [B. II. medium of Flaccus." In tre meantime, he preferred Iilibo ta the prwetorship, entertained him at his table, showed no signs of aversion in his countenance, no resentment in his words (so deeply had he smothered his vengeance), and when he might have restrained all the speeches and practices of Libo, he preferred to know them; till one Junius, who was solicited to raise ghosts, gave information to Fulcinius Trio, who was distilluished for his talents as an accuser above others of that fraternity, and had an appetite for infamous notoriety. l:1 -stantly Trio seized upon the accused, went before the consuls, and demanded that the senate should take cognizance of the charge; and the fathers were summoned, with special intimation, that "they were to deliberate on an affair of magnitude and the most serious importance." 29. Libo meanwhile putting on mourning,1 went from house to house, accompanied by ladies of the highest rank, supplicated his kindred, and solicited their voices to avert the dangers which threatened him. But every one of them declined his suit, each upon a different pretence, but, in reality, all from the same fear. The day the senate sat, worn out with fear and disease, or, as some relate, feigning it, he was borne in a litter to the doors of the court, and, leaning upon his brother, with suppliant hands and words he addressed himself to Tiberius, who received him with unmoved countenance. The emperor next recited the articles against him, and named the accusers; so restraining himself as to appear neither to extenuate nor aggravate the force of the charges. 30. To Trio and Catus, two other accusers, Fonteius Agrippa and Caius Vibius joinedthemselves, and strove who should have the right to implead the accused; at last, when no one would yield to the other, and Libo was come unprovided with a pleader, Vibius undertook to state the several heads of the charge, and produced articles so extravagant, that they represented Libo as having consulted the fortune-tellers, "Whether he should ever have wealth enough to cover the Appian road with money as far as Brundusium." There were others of the same kind, foolish, chimerical, or (to apply a milder term to them) pitiful; but in one document the accuser urged that to the names of the Cuesars or senators were appended 1 The accused always appeared in a mourning habit, in order to excite compassion. c,. 32.] DEATH OF LIBO. 73 characters of deadly or mysterious import, written in the hand of Libo. Libo denied it, and hence it was resolved to examine by torture his conscious slaves but seeing it was prohibited by an ancient decree of the senate, to put servants to the question in a trial touching the life of their master, the crafty Tiberius invented a new law' to elude the old, and ordered these slaves to be severally sold to the public steward, that by this expedient, evidence against Libo might be obtained from his servants, without violating the decree. Upon this, Libo prayed an adjournment till the next day, and returning to his own house, transmitted, by his kinsman, Publius Quirinius, his prayers to the emperor, his last resort; but he replied, that "he must make his request to the senate." 31. His house was in the meantime encompassed with a band of soldiers. They made a rout even in the vestibule on purpose to be seen and heard; when Libo, thus tortured at the very banquet which he had prepared as the last gratification of his life, called for a minister of death, grasped'the hands of his slaves and put a sword into them; but they in their confusion and efforts to shun the task, overturned the lamp set on the table; and in this darkness, now to him the shades of death, he gave himself two stabs in the bowels; as he groaned and fell, his freedmen sprang in, and the soldiers seeing that he was slain, retired. The charge against him, however, was gone through with in the senate, with the same formality; and Tiberius vowed " that he would have interceded for his life, though convicted, if he had not thus hastily died by his own hands." 32. His estate was divided amongst his accusers; and those of them who bore the rank of senators were, without the I Dio Cassius says, that Augustus was the author of this subtle device; but, as he does not tell upon what occasion, it is reasonable to suppose that Tacitus was better informed. We learn from Cicero, that the old law, which repelled the slave from being a witness against his master, made the case of incest an exception to the general rule. " De servis nulla qusestio est in dominum nisi incestu, ut fuit in Clodiun I" (Cicero, pro Milone.) By the Roman law, a freeman could not be put to the torture. For that reason, the party accused, in order to suppress the truth, took care, in time, to give the slaves their freedom. To prevent that evasion of public justice in the case of tultery, Augustus provided by the Lex Julia, that the slaves of the wife accused of adultery should not be manumitted before the expiration of sixty days, during which time they were liable to be put to the torture 74 THE ANNALS. [B. II. ceremony of an election, preferred to prsetorships. Then Cotta Messalinus moved, " That the image of Libo might not accompany the funerals of his posterity;" Cneius Lentulus, "That none of the Scribonii should assume the surname of Drusus." On the motion of Pomponius Flaccus, days of thanksgiving were appointed: "That gifts should be presented to Jupiter, to Mars, and to the goddess Concord; and that the thirteenth of September, the day on which Libo slew himself, should be an established festival," were the votes of L. Publius and Asinius Gallus, of Papius Mutilus and of Lucius Apronius. I have related the suggestions and sycophancy of these men, to show that this is an inveterate evil in the state. Decrees of the senate were likewise made for expelling astrologers and magicians 1 out of Italy; and one of them, Lucius Pituanius, was precipitated from the Tarpeian rock: on Publius Marcius, the consuls, at the sound of trunpet, inflicted punishment without the Esquiline gate, according to the ancient form. 33. Next time the senate sat, much was said against the luxury of the city by Quintus Haterius, a man of consular rank, and by Octavius Fronto, formerly praetor; and a law was passed, " Against using vessels of solid gold in serving up repasts, and against men disgracing themselves with silken garments."2 Fronto went beyond this proposition, and submitted " That the quantities of silver plate, the expense of furniture, and the number of domestics might be limited." For it was yet common for senators, instead of speaking to the question, to offer whatever they judged conducive to the interest of the commonweal. Against him it was argued by Asinius Gallus, " That with the growth of the empire private riches had also increased, and that it was no new thing, but agreeable to the most primitive usage; that the measure of private wealth in the time of the Fabricii was different from that in the time of the Scipios, but both proportioned to the condition of the state. If the state was poor, the establishments of citizens were on a small scale; but when the state 1 The Chalduean magicians. and the professors of judicial astrology, willing to be deemed men of real science, called themselves mathematicians- and that name frequently occurs in Tacitus. The decree made Ln this occasion was not a new regulation. but a revival of ancient laws. 2 It is disputed whether cotton or silk is here intended: probably silk. c. 34 1 INDEPENDENCE OF PISO. 75 rose to such a height of magnificence, individuals advanced ill splendour; that neither in domestics, plate, or necessary expense, was there any standard of excess or frugality, but from the means of the owner. A distinction was made between the fortunes of senators ' and of knights, not for any natural difference between them, but that they who excelled in place, rank, and honours, might excel, too, in other things, such as conduced to the health of the body, or to the relaxation of the mind; unless it were expected that the most illustrious citizens should sustain more than their share of cares, and expose themselves to greater dangers than others, but continue destitute of every solace of fatigue and danger." His veiling a confession of vices under spurious appellations, and the kindred spirit of his hearers, gained for Gallus a ready assent. Tiberius closed the discussion with the remark, "That that was not the time for correcting these matters;2 but if there were any corruption of manners, there would not be wanting one to advise a reformation." 34. During these transactions, Lucius Piso, after inveighing against " the intrigues of the forum, the corruption of the tribunals, and the brutal proceedings of informers, who filled the city with alarm by threats of impeachment," declared " he would retire and abandon Rome, and live in some secluded and remote part of the country." With these words he left the senate. Tiberius was stung by these remarks; and, though he had soothed him with gentle words, he also urged Piso's relations, by their authority or entreaties, to prevent his departure. The same Piso gave, soon after, no less remarkable a proof of earnest independence, by prosecuting a suit against Urgulania-a lady whom the partial fiiendshlp of Livia had set above the laws. Urgulania was conveyed for shelter to the palace, and in defiance of Piso dis. obeyed the summons; but Piso persisted, although Augusta complained that she was herself insulted and degraded by this proceeding. Tiberius, who thought he might humour his 1 The qualification of a Roman knight was four hundred thousand sesterces; that of a senator, in the time of the republic, eight hundred thousand, and under the emperors, twelve hundred thousand. Suet. in Aug. s. 41. 2 The censor exercised his authority in the course of every fifth year. See what Tiberius says on the subject of luxury book iii. s. 53 and 54. THE ANNALS [B I. mother thus far, without violating the laws of civil equality, promised to attend the trial, and assist Urgulania; and thus keft the palace, ordering his guards to follow at a distance,.s the people flocked about him, he appeared perfectly composed, walking leisurely along, and prolonging the time by conversations on incidental topics; till, at length, Piso's friends failing in their efforts to restrain him, the empress ordered the payment of the money claimed by him. This was the issue of the affair; by which Piso lost no renown, and the credit of Tiberius was increased. The power, however, of Urgulania was so much too great for a state of civil equality, that she disdained to appear a witness in a certain cause which depended before the senate, and a preotor was sent to examine her at her own house; whereas it had been always usual even for the vestal virgins to attend the forum and courts of justice, as oft as their evidence was required. 35. The postponement of public affairs which happened this year, I should not mention, but that the different opinions of Cneius Piso and Asinius Gallus about it are worth knowing. Piso declared his opinion, that although Tiberius had said "that he should be absent," i" for that very reason the prosecution of public business was the rather to be continuel; and that for the senate and equestrian order to be able to discharge their functions in the absence of the prince, would redound to the honour of the commonwealth." As Piso had anticipated him in this display of liberal principles, Gailuz said, "That nothing truly great, nor suiting the dignity of the Roman people, could be transacted except under the immediate eye of the emperor; and therefore the mass of business which came to Rome from all parts of Italy, and the influx of affairs from the provinces, should be reserved for his presence." Tiberius heard and was silent, while the debate was managed on both sides with great vehemence; but the pubtponement was carried. 36, A debate, too, arose between Gallus and the emperor; for Gallus moved, "That the magistrates should be henceforth elected but once every five years; that the lieutenantgenerals of legions, who served in that capacity before they had been praetors, should be praetors-elect; and that the prince should nominate twelve candidates every year." It was not doubtea but this motion had a deeper aim; and that by o. 37.] HORTALUS PRAYS FOR RE[IEF. 77 it the secret resources of imperial power were invaded. But Tiberius, as if his power would be augmenited by it, argued, " That it would be inconsistent with his moderation to choose and to postpone so many; that disgusts could scarcely be avoided even in yearly elections, where the hope of success ot a speedily occurring occasion, formed a solace for disappointment: how great must be the resentment of those whose pretensions were put off for five years! and whence could it be foreseen that, in so long a tract of time, the same men would continue to have the same sentiments, the same connexions and fortune? Even an annual designation to power made men imperious; how much more so if they bore the honour for five years! The influence of magistrates would at once be multiplied fivefold; the laws which had prescribed a proper space for exercising the diligence of candidates, and for soliciting as well as enjoying honours, would be subverted." 37. By this speech, in appearance popular, he prevented encroachments on the imperial power. He likewise sustained by gratuities the dignity of certain senators; hence it was the more wondered, that he received somewhat superciliously the petition of Marcus Hortalus, a young man of high' family and unquestionable poverty. He was the grandson of Hortensius' the orator; and had been induced by the deified Augustus, who presented him with a thousand great sesterces, to marry and have children, to prevent the extinction of a family of the highest renown. The senate were sitting in the palace, and Hortalus, having set his four children before the door, fixed his eyes, now upon the statue of Hortensius, placed amongst the orators, then upon that of Augustus; and, instead of speaking to the question, began on this wise:Conscript fathers, I have not incurred the expense of bringing up these children, whose number and tender years you perceive, by my own choice, but in compliance with the advice of the prince. At the same time, the achievements of my ancestors demanded that their line should be perpetuated. 1 Hortensius, the great orator, and rival of Cicero, is said by the elder Pliny to have been a man of unbounded expense. He gave an enormous sum for a set of pictures of the Argonautic expedition, and placed them in a superb gallery, which he built for the purpose, at his country house. Pliny, lib. xxxv. s. 11. It is no matter of surprise, therefore, that his descendants were left in a state of indigence. THE ANNALS. IB. IIt As for myself, since by the revolution of the times I could not raise wealth, nor engage popular favour, nor cultivate the hereditary fortune of our house,-the fortune of eloquence,I deemed it sufficient if, in my slender circumstances, I lived no disgrace to myself, no burden to others. Commanded by the emperor, I took a wife: behold the offspring of so many consuls-behold the descendants of so many dictators! Nor is this recital made invidiously, but to excite commiseration. If you, Caesar, continue to flourish, they shall attain to such honours as you may bestow; meanwhile, protect from want the great-grandsons of Hortensius, the foster-children of Augustus." 38. The inclination of the senate was favourable; an in citement this to Tiberius the more eagerly to thwart IHortalus. These were in effect his words —" If all that are poor come hither and ask for provision for their children, while it will be impossible to satisfy the cravings of individuals, the public funds must fail. Our ancestors did not permit an occasional departure from the question, and the proposal of something more important to the state, instead of speaking to the suoject, that we might here transact domestic matters, and augment our private resources; thus bringing odium both on the senate and the prince, whether they grant or deny the bounties petitioned. In truth it is not a petition, but an unreasonable and monstrous importunity, thus while you are assembled upon other affairs, to rise up and seek to move the senate from their propriety by the number and infancy of his children, to transfer the violent attack to me, and as it were break open the treasury, which, if we shall exhaust by largess, we must replenish by crime. The deified Augustus gave you money, Hortalus, but without solicitation, and on no condition that it should always be given; otherwise diligence will languish, sloth will prevail, if men have nothing to hope or fear for themselves; and all will look securely for the assistance of others, useless to themselves, and a burden to us." These and similar reflections of Tiberius, though they were heard with approbation by those whose practice it is to extol whatever proceeds from princes, worthy or unworthy, were received by the majority in silence, or with low murmurs. Tiberius perceived it; and having paused a little, said —" His answer was directed particularly to Hor. a0 40.] ATTEMPT OF AGRIPPA'S SLAVE. 79 talus; but if the senate thought fit, he would give his scns two hundred great sesterces each." The others returned thanks; but Hortalus said nothing, either from perturbation, or that amidst the embarrassments of adversity he remembered the dignity of his noble ancestry: nor did Tiberius ever after show pity, though the house of Hortensius was fallen into shamef-il distress. 39. The same year, the boldness of a single slave had, but for early prevention, torn the state with discord and intestine war. A slave of Posthumus Agrippa, named Clemens, with a spirit that soared high above his condition, having learnt the death of Augustus, conceived a design of sailing to Phanasia, and seizing Agrippa, by art or force, to carry him to the armies il Germany; but the slowness of the laden vessel defeated his bold purpose, for Agrippa was already murdered. Hence he formed a purpose still more daring and perilous; he stole the funeral ashes, and sailing to Cosa, a promontory of Etruria, hid himself in secluded places till his hair and beard were grown long; for in age and person he was not unlike his master. Then a report, originated by chosen emissaries and the associates of his plot, "that Agrippa lived," began to spread; at first by secret communications, as usual in matters of a dangerous nature; but becoming soon a prevailing rumour, it filled the greedy ears of all the most credulous, or was encouraged by persons of a turbulent disposition, and therefore desirous of political convulsions. He himself, when he entered the neighbouring towns, did it at shut of day; never to be seen publicly, nor long in the same place; but as truth is strengthened by observation and time, pretences by haste and uncertainty, he either departed as soon as his arrival began to be rumoured, or arrived before it. 40. It flew through Italy in the meantime,-" That by the bounty of the gods, Agrippa was preserved." It was already believed at Rome. On his arrival at Ostia he was greeted by an immense concourse, and in the city by clan. destine meetings. Tiberius was bewildered with perplexing doubts, whether he should repress his slave by the power of the sword, or suffer the unfounded persuasion of the public to vanish by the unaided operation of time; now he thought that nothing was to be slighted; now, that not everything was to be dreaded; wavering between shame and fear: at last he 80 THE ANNALS. [B. tL committed- the affair to Sallustius Crispus. Crispus chose two of his clients (some say two soldiers) and directed them to go directly to him, to feign conviction of his identity, to present him with money, to promise to be faithful to him and hazard everything for him. They executed these orders, and afterwards discovering that at night he was without guards, they took a band of men chosen for the purpose, and carried him to the palace, gagged and bound. To Tiberius, when he asked him-" How he was become Agrippa?" he is said to have answered-" Just as you became Caesar." He could not be induced to discover his accomplices; neither dared Tiberius venture to execute him publicly, but ordered him to be despatched in a secret part of the palace, and his body to be carried away privately; and, though many of the prince's household, many knights and senators, were said to have supported him with money, and assisted him with their counsels, no inquiry followed. 41. At the end of the year, a triumphal arch was raised near the temple of Saturn. in commemoration of the recovery of the eagles lost with Varus, under the conduct of Germanicus, and under the auspices of Tiberius. A temple was dedicated to Fortune near the Tiber, in the gardens bequeathed to the Roman people by Ccesar the dicttor, A chapel was consecrated to the Julian family, and statues to the deified Augustus, at Bovillai. In the consulship of Cains Jcelius and Lucius Pompolius, on the seventh day before the calends of June, Germanicus Ceesar triumphed over the Cheruscans, the Cattians, the Angrivarians, and the other nations as far as the Elbe. In the triumph were carried all the spoils and captives, with representations of the mountains, rivers, and battles; the war, because he was restrained from finishing it,-' was held as finished. His own singularly fine person, and his chariot filled with his five children,' heightened the admiration of the beholders; but within were secret apprehensions when they reflected-" Tlat popular favour had proved calamitous to his father, Drusus; that his uncle, Marcel1 The five children of Germanicus were, Nero and Drusus, whom we shall see cruelly murdered by Tiberius; Caligula, who was afterwarda emperor; Agrippina, the mother of the emperor Nero; and Drusilla. Julia, his last child, was born afterwards in the isle of Lesbos. This book,. 1. DEATH OF ARCHELAUS. 81 ius 1 was snatched in his youth from the ardent affections of the populace; and that ever short-lived and unfortunate were the favourites of the Roman people." 42. However, Tiberius distributed to the people in the name of Germanicus, three hundred sesterces a man, and named himself his colleague in his consulship. But not even thus gaining credit for sincere affection, on pretence of investing the young prince with fresh honours, he resolved to remove him from Rome; and to accomplish it, craftily framed an occasion, or availed himself of such as chance presented. Archelaus, who had enjoyed the kingdom of Cappadocia now fifty years, had incurred the displeasure of Tiberius, because, during his residence at Rhodes, the king had not paid his respects to him; an omission this which proceeded not from disdain, but from the warnings given him by the confidants of Augustus; for Caius Ceesar, then in his bloom, being sent to compose the affairs of the East, the friendship of Tiberius was reckoned impolitic; but when on the overthrow of the family of the Caesars he had gained the empire, he enticed Archelaus to Rome, by means of letters from his mother, who, not concealing that her son was offended, held out hopes of pardon if he came and implored it; either in ignorance of the snare, or dreading violence if he appeared to perceive it, he hastened to the city. He was received by Tiberius with great sternness, and soon after accused before the senate, when, not on account of the crimes alleged against him, vwhich were mere fictions, but from distress of mind, together with the infirmities of age, and because ordinary treatment is not suited to the habits of kings, much less the deepest humiliation, he finished his mortal career, either by his own act, or in the course of nature. His kingdom was reduced into a province, and by its revenues Tiberius declaring that the tax of the hundredth penny might be abated, reduced it for the future to the two hundredth. ' At the same time Antiochus, king of Commagena, and Philopator, king of Cilicia, dying, great commotions shook these nations; whilst some desired the Roman, and others a kingly government. The provinces too of Syria and Judea, oppressed with impositions, prayed an abatement of tribute. 1 The young Marcellus, who was married to Julia, the daughter of Augustus. Alluded to in Virgil, YEn. vi 869 bqq. TAC.-YOL. I. G 82 THE ANNALS. lB, I, 43. These affairs, and such as I have above related concerning Armenia, Tiberius represented to the fathers, and " That thie commotions of the East could only be settled by the wisdom of Germanicus; for himself, he was now declining in years, while Drusus was not yet at maturity." The provinces beyond the sea' were then decreed to Germanicus, with authority wherever he went, superior to those who obtained provinces by lot, or the will of the prince. But Tiberius had removed from Syria Creticus Silanus, who was united to Germanicus by affinity, the daughter of Silanus being betrothed to Nero, the oldest of his children, and set over it Cneius Piso, a man of violent and unyielding temper, inheriting the turbulent spirit of his father Piso, who, in the civil war, assisted the reviving party against Coesar in Africa with vehement efforts, then followed Brutus and Cassius; and being permitted to come home he sought not any public offices; but afterwards, being importuned to accept a consulship offered him by Augustus, he yielded. Besides his hereditary impetuosity, the nobility and wealth of Plancina,2 his wife, ministered fuel to his ambition; yielding to Tiberius, he despised as men far beneath him the sons of Tiberius; neither did he doubt but he was set over Syria on purpose to defeat the views of Germanicus. Some believed that he had secret orders from Tiberius; certain it was that Livia, in the spirit of female rivalry, prompted Plancina to persecute Agrippina. For the whole court was rent, and their affections secretly divided between Drusus and Germanicus. Tiberius was partial to Drusus, as his own son by generation; others loved Germanicus, the more for the aversion of his uncle, and for being by his mother3 of more illustrious descent, as he could boast of Mark Antony his grandfather, and Augustus his greatuncle. On the other side, Pomponius Atticus/ the greatAsia, Egypt, and the provinces in Africa. 2 Plancina was the granddaughter of Lucius Munatius Plancus,,a man distinguished in the history of the triumvirate. In the reign of Augustus, he commanded in Gaul, and, for some petty exploits, obtained a triumph. He founded the city of Lyons. 3 Antonia, daughter of Mark Antony by Octavia the sister of Aug'stus, was the mother of Germanicus; consequently Augustus was great-uncle to Germanicus, and Mark Antony was his grandfather. 4 Atticus is well known by Cicero's Epistles. Pomponia, his grand. laughter, was the first wife of Agrippa, and mother of Vipsania Agrip o. 4,5.] DISSENSIONS AMONGST THE GERMANS. 83 grandfather of Drusus, being but a Roman knight, seemed to bring a stain upon the images of the Claudian house; besides, Agrippina, the wife of Germanicus, in fruitfulness and reputation far excelled Livia,' the wife of Drusus; but the brothers were patterns of unanimity, and could not be moved by the contentions amongst their adherents. 44. Drusus was soon after sent into Illyricum, to inure him to war, and gain the affections of the army; besides, Tiberius thought that the youth who grew wanton amid the luxuries of Rome would be reformed in the camop, and that it would be safer for himself that both his sons should be at the head of legions. But the pretence for sending him was the protection of the Suevians, who implored assistance against the Cheruscans. For on the departure of the Romans, those nations, being now free from foreign alarms by the force of national habit, and at that time also from rivalry in the career of fame, had turned their swords upon each other. The two people were equally powerful, their leaders equally brave, but the title of king had brought the aversion of his countrymen upon Maroboduus, whilst Arminius, as the champion of liberty, was the object of affection. 45. Hence, not only the Cheruscans and their allies, the ancient soldiers of Arminius, took arms, but the Semnones and Langobards, both Suevian nations, and even subjects of Maroboduus, came over to him, and by their accession he would have had the advantage, but Inguiomer with his band of followers deserted to Maroboduus, for no other cause than disdain that the veteran uncle should obey his youthful nephew. Both armies were drawn out with equal hopes, and fought, not as usual with the Germans, in scattered parties and desultory attacks, for in the long war with us they had learnt to follow their standards, to form reserves to support their line, and to obey the orders of their generals. On this occasion Arminius inspected the whole array on horseback; mid, as he approached the several bands, he brought before their view "their liberty recovered, the slaughtered legions, and the spoils and arms wrested from the Romans still in the pina, whom Tiberius married, and divorced by order of Augustus. Drusus, whom Tiberius acknowledged as his son, was the issue of that marriage. 1 She was sister to Germanicus, and was also called Livilla. G2 THE ANNAILS. LB. II. hands of many." On the other hand, calling Maroboduus a runaway, he described him as one who was inexperienced in fighting; who had sought defence fiomn the coverts of Hercynia, and then by gifts and embassies courted the alliance of Rome; a betrayer of his country; a lifeguardsman of Ceesar's, worthy to be exterminated in the indignant spirit with which they had slaughtered Quintilius Varus. "Let them only remember their many battles, the issue of which, and at length the expulsion of the Romans, were proof enough which side had the advantage in-the war." 46. Neither did Maroboduus fail to boast of himself and vituperate the foe; but, holding Inguiomer by the hand, " he protested that the whole glory of the Cheruscans centred in him, and that by his counsels had been conducted whatever had terminated successfully; Arminius, a man of a frantic spirit, and a novice in affairs, appropriated the glory of another, by treacherously surprising three legions left to themselves and their unsuspecting leader, thus involving Germany in slaughter, and himself in infamy, for his wife and son still endured captivity. For himself, when attacked formerly by Tiberius at the head of twelve legions, he had preserved unstained the glory of Germany, and on equal terms ended the war; nor did he repent of having put it in their own power to choose whether they would renew the war with unimpaired resources, or continue in peace and security." The armies, besides the incitement from these speeches, were animated by motives of their own,-the Cheruscans fought for their ancient renown, the Langobards for their recent liberty; on the other side, the contest was for an extension of dominion. Never did they engage with greater effort or with more equivocal success; the right wing of both armies being routed, a fresh encounter was expected, till Maroboduus drew off his army to the hills, a sign that he was humbled; and, reduced by successive desertions, he retired to the Marcomannians, and thence sent ambassadors to Tiberius to implore succour. They were answered, "That he had no right to invoke aid of the Roman arms against the Cheruscans, since to the Romans, while they were warring with the same foe, he had never administered any assistance." Drusus was however despatched, as I have said, to preserve the tranquillity of the empire. c. 48] EARTHQUAKE IN ASIA 47. The same year twelve populous cities of Asia fell in ruins from an earthquake which happene by night, and therefore the more sudden and destructive was the calamity; neither did the usual mode of escape in such events, by ruslhing into the open space, avail now, as those who fled were swallowed up by the yawning earth. It is related, c" That immense mountains sank down, that level places were seen to be elevated into hills, and that fires flashed forth during the catastrophe." The Sardinians suffered most severely from the destructive visitation, and therefore received the greatest share of compassion, for Tiberius promised them a hundred thousand great sesterces, and remitted all their contributions to the public treasury, and the prince's privy purse, for five years. The inhabitants of Magnesia under Mount Sipylus were held the next in sufferings, and had proportionable relief. The Temnians, Philadelphians, Egeatse, Apollonians, with those called the Mostenians and Macedonians of Hyrcania, the cities too of Hierocesarea, Myrina, Cyme, and Tmolus, were all for the same time exempted from tribute; and it was resolved to send one of the senate to view their present emergency and administer relief. Marcus Aletus was therefore chosen, one of praetorian rank, lest, as a man of consular rank then governed Asia, jealousy might arise between persons of equal rank, and the business be impeded thereby. 48. The credit of this noble bounty to the public Caesar increased by acts of private beneficence equally popular; the estate of the wealthy Emilia Musa, who died intestate, and which was claimed for the prince's purse, he surrendered to Emilius Lepidus, to whose family she seemed to belong; as also to Marcus Servilius the inheritance of Patuleius, a rich Roman knight, though part of it had been bequeathed to himself; but he found Servilius named sole heir in a former and well-authenticated will; alleging that such was "the nobility of both, that they deserved to be supported." Nor did he ever accept any man's inheritance, but where friendship gave him a title; the wills of such as were strangers to him, and of such as, from pique to others, had appointed the prince their heir, he utterly rejected. But, as he relieved the honest poverty of the virtuous, so he degraded from the senate (or suffered to quit it of their own accord) Vibidius Varro, Marius Nepos, Appius Appianus, Cornelius Sylla, and S6 TZTE ANNALS. [B. TI. Quintus Vitellius, who were spendthrifts, and brought themselves to poverty by misconduct. 49. About this time, Tiberius consecrated the temples of the gods, consumed by age or fire, the building of which had been begun by Augustus; that near the great circus, vowed by Aulus Posthumius the dictator, to Bacchus, Proserpina, and Ceres; in the same place, the temple of Flora, founded by Lucius Publicius and Marcus Publicius, while they were tediles; the temple of Janus, built in the herb-market by Caius Duillius, who first signalized the Roman power at sea, and merited a naval triumph over the Carthaginians. That of Hope was dedicated by Germanicus: this temple Atilius had vowed in the same war. 50. The law of violated majesty, in the meantime, was advancing rapidly, and an informer charged Apuleia Varilia, grand-niece to Augustus, and descended from his sister, with vilifying the deified Augustus, Tiberius, and his mother, in defamatory language; and though nearly allied to the emperor, with having committed adultery. Concerning the adultery, sufficient provision was thought to be already made by the Julian law:1 in the charge of treason, Tiberius desired that a distinction should be made: " If she had spoke irreverently of Augustus, she must be condemned; but, for invectives against himself, he would not have her called to account." The consul asked him, " What were his sentiments respecting the aspersions of his mother, which the accused was charged with uttering?" To this he made no answer; but at the next sitting of the senate, he prayed too in her name, " that no words in whatsoever manner spoken against her, might be imputed to any one as a crime;" he thus caused Apuleia to be released from the charge of treason; of her punishment too for adultery he begged a mitigation, and prevailed that, "according to the example of our ancestors, she should be removed by her kindred two hundred miles from Rome." Manlius, her adulterer, was banished Italy and Africa. 51. A contest at bhis time arose about substituting a The law against adultery was called Lex Julia, because Augustus, the author of it, had been adopted by Julius Caesar. The wife who was found guilty forfeited half her effects, and was banished to an;sland. c. 52.] WAR IN AFRICA. 87 praetor in the room of Vipsanius Gallus, removed by death; Germaniicus and Drusus (for they were yet at Rome) patronised Haterius Agrippa, a relation of Germanicus; the majority, on the contrary, insisted that the greater number of children should be a ground of preference in candidates, for such was the law.' Tiberius rejoiced to seethe senate adjudicating between his sons and the laws: the law, without doubt, was vanquished, yet not easily, and by a small majority, in the same manner as laws were vanquished when laws were in force. 52. This year a war began in Africa, under the conduct of Tacfarinas. He was a native of Numidia, and had served amongst the auxiliaries in the Roman armies; but soon deserting, he collected, at first a herd of vagabonds and men inured to robberies, for purposes of depredation and rapine; then formed them like an army, into regular companies of foot and troops of horse; at length he was no longer esteemed the leader of a disorderly gang, but as general of the Musulanians. This powerful people, bordering upon the deserts of Africa, still uncivilized and without towns, took arms, and drew into the war the neighbouring Moors;2 these too had a general named Mazippa, and between the two leaders the army was divided; so that Tacfarinas might keep the flower of the army in camp, armed after the Roman manner, and accustom them to discipline and obedience, Mazippa with a flying band might carry fire, slaughter, and terror through the surrounding nleighbourhood. They had likewise forced the Cinithians into their measures,-a nation far from contemptible; when Furius Camillus, proconsul of Africa, marched against the enemy with one legion and what troops of the allies were under his command collected together, a handful of men when compared with the multitude of Numidians and Moors! But it was his chief care that they should not be induced by fear to evade an engagement, and thus protract the war. He By the law called Papia Poppcea, the candidate who had the greatest number of children was to be deemed duly elected. In cunsequence of this law, it became the common practice of men who had no issue, but were determined, at all events, to secure their election, to adopt a competent number, and, as soon as they obtained the government of provinces, to renounce their fictitious children. The fraud was afterwards repressed. See Annals, b. xv. s. 19. 2 The Mauri, inhabitants of Mauritania, bordered on what is now called Algiers. THE ANNALS, [E IL.gave them hopes of victory, only to enable him to vanquish them. The legion was therefore placed in the centre, the light cohorts and two squadrons of horse in the wings: nor did Tacfarinas decline the combat. The Numidians were routed; and after a long series of years, military renown obtained for the name of Furius. For since Camillus,' the famous restorer of Rome, and his son, the renown of commanding victorious armies was enjoyed by other families of that stock: even the last, whose achievements I now record, was thought to possess no military talents: whence Tiberius was the more disposed to laud him in the senate. The fathers decreed him triumphal ornaments, which, on account of his unambitious character, was not attended with any danger to Camillus. 53. The consuls for the following year were Tiberius the third time, Germanicus the second; but this honour Germanicus entered upon at Nicopolis, a city of Aclaia, whither he had arrived by the coast of Illyricum, from visiting his brother Drusus, then staying in Dalmatia, and after enduring a tempestuous passage in the Adriatic, and soon after in the Ionian sea: he therefore spent a few days in refitting his fleet, and meanwhile viewed the Bay of Actium, renowned for the naval victory there, as also the spoils consecrated by A ugustus,2 and the camp of Antony, with an affecting remembrance of these his ancestors; for Antony, as I have said, was his greatuncle, Augustus his grandfather: hence this scene proved to Germanicus a prolific source of images pleasing and melancholy. Hence he came to Athens, where, in compliment to that ancient city and ally, he employed but one lictor. The Greeks received him with the most elaborate honours, and to give greater weight to their adulation, recounted the ancient exploits alld sayings of'their countrymen. 54. Hence sailing to Euboea, he crossed over to Lesbos, where Agrippina gave birth to Julia, the last of her children; then keeping the coast of Asia, he visited Perinthus and Byzantium, cities of Thrace, and entered the straits of Pro' M. Furius Camillus obtained a complete victory over the Gauls, and saved the city of Rome, A. u. c. 364. 2 Augustus, to perpetuate the glory of his victory at Actium, built the city of Nicopolis, near the Bay; established quinquennial games; and, having enlarged an old Temple of Apollo, adorned it with naval spoils, and dedicated it to Neptune and Mars. Suet. in Aug. s. 18. PROGRESS OF GERMANICUS. 89 pontis, and the mouth of the Euxine, from a desire to become acquainted with places of antiquity and renown; at the same time he relieved such of the provinces as were labouring under intestine strife, or the oppressions of their magistrates. On his return he endeavoured to go and view the sacred rites of the Samothracians, but was prevented from landing by the north winds which blew in the opposite direction. Quitting Ilium and her remains, venerable for her vicissitudes of fortune and the origin of Rome, he retraced the coast of Asia, and put in at Colophon, to consult there the oracle of the Clarian Apollo; it is not a female there, as at Delphi, but a priest, chosen from certain families, chiefly of Miletus, who merely learns the names and numbers of the applicants, and then descends into the oracular cave, where, after a draught of water from a secret spring, though ignorant for the most part of letters and poetry, lie utters responses in verse, treating of such matters as the mind of any applicant suggests; and he was said to have predicted to Germanicus his approaching fate, but, as oracles are wont, in enigmatical terms. 55. But Cneius Piso, that he might lose no time in commencing the execution of his purposes, having struck terror into the Athenians by the boisterous manner in which he entered the city, rebuked them in an angry speech, obliquely censuring Germanicus, " because lowering the dignity of the Roman name, he had paid excessive court, not to Athenians, a race extirpated by repeated slaughters, but that impure conflux, the offscouring of various nations, for these were they who had leagued with Mithridates against Sylla, and with Antony against Augustus." He even charged them with the errors and misfortunes of ancient Athens; her impotent attempts against the Macedonians; her outrages on her own citizens. He was also exasperated against the city on account of insults offered to himself personally; because they would not pardon at his request one Theophilus, condemned by the Areopagus for forgery. Thence sailing hastily through the Cyclades, and taking the shortest course, he overtook Germanicus at Rhodes; but Germanicus, who was not ignorant with what invectives he was assailed, yet acted with so much humanity, that when he might have left him to perish, when a sudden tempest drove him upon rocks, and the destruction of his enemy might be referred to accident, he despatched THE ANNALS. [Ia I galleys to rescue him from his perilous situation. The anilmo sity of Piso however was not softened; and scarce could he brook a day's delay, but left him, and arrived in Syria before. him: nor was he sooner there, and found himself amongst the c legions, than he began to court the common men by bounties ) anld caresses, to remove all the ancient centurions and every o tribune remarkable for strict discipline, and assign their places v to dependents of his own, or men recommended only by theiro crimes; he permitted sloth in the camps, licentiousness in the, towns, the soldiery to range at large over the country, and commit every kind of wanton excess; and carried the corruption so far, that in the discourses of the common men he was styled "Father of the Legions." Nor did Plancina restrain-' herself within the decencies of her sex, but mingled in the e exercises of the cavalry, and the evolutions of the cohorts; threw out reflections upon Agrippina, upon Germanicus; and some even of the well-ordered soldiers willingly obeyed these base commands, from a rumour whispered abroad, "that all this was not unacceptable to Tiberius." 56. These doings were known to Germanicus: but it was I with him an object of more urgent solicitude to go to Armenia. - An inconstant nation this from of old; from the genius of the people, as well as from the situation of their country, which borders with a large frontier on our provinces, and stretches thence quite to Media, and lying between the two great empires, was often at variance with them; with the Romans from hatred, with the Parthians from jealousy. At this time,,, and since the removal of Vonones, they had no king; but the affections of the nation leaned to Zeno, son of Polemon, king of Pontus, because by emulating from his infancy the customs and tastes of the Armenians, hunting, feasting, and other pursuits, in fashion among the Barbarians, he had equally won the nobles and people. Upon this head, therefore, at the city of Artaxata, with the approbation of the nobles, in a great assembly, Germanicus put the regal diadem; and all the people doing homage to their king, saluted him by the name "Artaxias," which they gave him from the name of their city. The Cappadocians, at this time reduced into the form of a province, received for their governor Quintus Veranius; and to raise their hopes of the gentler dominion of Rome, several of the royal taxes were lessened. Quintus c. 58s. J INSOLEN( E OF PISO. 91 Servaeus was set over the Commagenians, then first transferred to the jurisdiction of a preotor. r 57. From the affairs of the allies, thus all successfully: settled, Germanicus reaped no pleasure, through the insolence c of Piso, who was ordered to lead by himself, or his son, part o; of the legions into Armenia, but neglected both. They at last met at Cyrrhus, the winter-quarters of the tenth legion: Piso, with a countenance so set as not to indicate fear, and ' Germanicus so as to (onceal his displeasure. He was indeed, as I have observed, of a humane spirit; but his friends, expert, in inflaming animosities, aggravated real offences, added fic-. titious ones, and in various ways accused Piso, Plancina, and their sons. To this interview Germanicus admitted a few " intimates, and began his complaints in words such as resent' ment coupled with a desire to conceal its dictates suggests; - Piso replied with ironical entreaties, and they parted in open " enmity. Piso hereafter rarely sat on the tribunal by Ger-:' manicus; and when he did, he showed manifest signs of the ' most determined opposition to him. He was also heard to say, at a banquet given by the king of the Nabatheans, when X golden crowns of great weight were presented to Germanicus? and Agrippina, but to Piso and the rest such as were light" That this banquet was made for the son of a Roman prince, not of a Parthian monarch." With these words, he cast away his crown, and added many strictures upon luxury, which, though cutting, Germanicus bore with patience. 58. At this time arrived ambassadors from Artabanus, king of the Parthians; he sent them with instructions " to call attention to their mutual league and friendship, and state his desire to renew it; that in honour to Germanicus he would come to receive him as far as the banks of the Euphrates; and that he requested in the meantime, that Vonones might not be suffered to remain in Syria, nor, taking advantage of so near a neighbourhood, to correspond with the nobles of the nations, in order to draw them into dissensions." The answer given by Germanicus, as far as related to the alliance of the Romans and Parthians, was conceived in lofty terms; but, of the coming of the king, and the respect intended to himself, he spoke with grace and modesty. Vonones was removed to Pompeiopolis, a maritime city of Cilicia; a -oncession made not only in consideration of the request of 92 THE ANNA LS Artabanus, but as a rebuff to Piso, with whom Vonones was high in favour, for the many attentions and presents Dy which he had obliged Plancina. 59. In the consulship of Marcus Silanus and Lucius Norbanus, Germanicus went to Egypt, to view the antiquities of the country; bua his pretext was his concern for the state of the province: and, indeed, by opening the granaries he reduced the price of corn, and practised many things grateful to the people; walking without guards, his feet bare, and his habit the same with that of the Greeks; after the example of Publius Scipio,' who, we are told, was constant in the same practices in Sicily, even while the Punic war raged. For his manners and habit, Tiberius blamed him in a gentle style, but censured him with great asperity for violating an establishment of Augustus, and entering Alexandria without con-,sent of the prince. For Augustus, amongst other secret plans of power, had appropriated Egypt,2 and restrained the senators and dignified Roman knights from going thither without licence; as he apprehended that Italy might be distressed with famine by any who seized that province, the key to the empire by sea and land, and defensible by a small garrison of men against large armies. 60. Germanicus, not yet informed that his journey was: censured, sailed up the Nile, beginning at Canopus; which was built by the Spartans, as a monument to Canopus, a pilot buried there, at the time when Menelaus returning to Greece was driven to opposite seas and the Libyan continent. Hence he visited the neighbouring mouth of the river, sacred to Hercules; whom the natives aver to have been born amongst 1 Scipio's conformity to foreign manners was censured by Fabius Maximus, as a dangerous example, tending to corrupt the Roman discipline. " Ipsius enim tmperatris non Romanus modo, sed ne militaris quidem cultus jactabatur; cum pallio, crepidisque inambulare in Gynmasio."-Liv. lib. xxix. 2 To visit Sicily, and the provinces of Gaul and Spain, was at all times permitted to the senators and other eminent citizens. Egypt, by the Folicy of Augustus, was a sequestered and prohibited province. The senate had no authority over it: the administration was altogether in the hands of the prince. Egypt, being the great corn country from which Rome drew vast supplies, it was thought advisable to keep it in the hands of the emperor, among the secret resources of the state, inter arcana znperii. The mouths of the Nile, wad th. isit-u i3 of Suez, could be defended by a small force. c. G2.j GERMANICUS VISITS EGYPT. them; that he was the most ancient of the name, and that all the rest, who with equal virtue followed his example, were called after him. Next he visited the mighty remains of Thebes; where upon huge obelisks yet remained Egyptian characters describing its former opulence: one of the oldest priests was ordered to interpret them; he said they related "that it once contained seven hundred thousand fighting men; that with that army king Rhamses had conquered Libya, iEthiopia, the Medes and Persians, the Bactrians and Scythians; and to his empire had added the territories of the Syrians, Armenians, and their neighbours the Cappadocians; a tract of countries reaching from the sea of Bthynia to that of Lycia:" here also was read. the assessment of tribute laid on the several nations; what weight of silver and gold; what number of horses and arms; what ivory and perfumes, as gifts to the temples; what quantities of grain, and of all necessaries, were by each people paid; forming an amount no less costly than the revenues exacted by the domination of the Parthians, or by the power of the Romans. 61. Germanicus was intent upon seeing other wonders; the chief were, the stone statue of Memnon,' yielding, when struck by the solar rays, a vocal sound; the pyramids, raised like mountains amidst irregular and almost impassable heaps of sands, by the pride and opulence of their kings; the artificial lake,2 a receptacle of the overflowing Nile; and elsewhere the straits and depths so immense as not to be fathomable by any measures which the curious could employ. Thence he proceeded to Elephantina and Syene,3 formerly barriers of the Roman empire, which is now extended to the Red sea. 62. Whilst Germanicus spent this summer in several provinces, Drusus acquired no inconsiderable renown by sowing feuds amongst the Germans; and as the power of Maroboduus was now broken, by engaging them to follow him up and complete his ruin. Amongst the Gothones was a young man 1 Strabo states (book xvii.) that he saw this celebrated statue, and a little after sunrise heard the sound. Juvenal mentions it in his 15th satire, ver 5:" Dimidio magicse resonant ubi Memnone chordae." 2 The lake Maretis, which looks like a great sea to the south of Alexandria. 3 Elephantine is an island in the Nile, in the Higher Egypt, towards the border of AEthiopia, not far from the town of Syene, which lies still THE ANNAULg lB. 11. of rank, named Catualda, formerly drive,. into exile by Maroboduus, but now in his distress resolved on revenge. With a strong force he entered the borders of the Marcomannians, and having seduced their chiefs into his alliance, stormed the regal palace, and the castle adjoining it. Here were the stores of prey accumulated by the Suevians; and here also were found many victuallers and traders from our provinces, who, drawn hither from their several homes, by privilege of traffic, and induced to remain by the thirst of gain, had at last, through utter oblivion of their own country, fixed themselves in a hostile soil. 63. To Maroboduus, on every side forsaken, no other refuger remained but the mercy of Caesar; he therefore passed the Danube where it washes the province of Noricum, and wrote to Tiberius,-not in the language of a fugitive or supplicant, but in a spirit suitable to his former fortune,-" That many nations invited him to them, as a king once so glorious; but he preferred to all the friendship of Rome." The emperor answered, "That in Italy he should have a safe and honourable retreat, and when his affairs required his presence, the same security to return." But to the senate he declared, "That never had Philip of Macedon been so terrible to the Athenians; nor Pyrrhus, nor Antiochus to the Roman people." The speech is extant; in it he magnifies "the greatness of the man, the fierceness of the nations his subjects; the alarming proximity of such an enemy to Italy, and his own measures to destroy him." Maroboduus was kept at Ravenna, for a check and terror to the Suevians: as if, when at any time they grew turbulent, he were there in readiness to resume his dominion: but for eighteen years he left not Italy, but grew old in exile there; losing much of his celebrity in consequence of his immoderate love of security. Catualda experienced the same fate and sought the same refuge; he was soon after expelled by the forces of the Hermundurians, led by Vibilius, and being received under the Roman protection, was conveyed to Forum Julii, a colony in Narbon Gaul. The Barbarians, more to the south. Strabo says, the Romans had a garrison at Syene, and there Tacitus places the boundary of the Roman empire in the reign of Tiberius and the following emperors, as low down as Trajan, whose enterprising spirit forgot the maxims of Augustus, and extended his conquests as far as the Red sea. C. 6o.1 COTYS AND RHESCUPORIS. 95 their followers, lest, had they been mixed with the provinces, they might have disturbed their present quiet, were placed beyond the Danube, between the rivers Marus and Cusus, and for their king had assigned them Vannius, by nation a Quadian. 64. As soon as it was known at Rome that Artaxias was by Germanicus given to the Armenians for their king, the fathers decreed to him and Drusus that they should enter the city in ovation. Arches were likewise erected on each side of Mars the Avenger, with the statues of the two Csesars; and for Tiberius, he was more rejoiced to have established peace by policy, than if he had ended the war by battles. He therefore also assailed by craft Rhescuporis, a king of Thrace. That whole nation had been subject to Rhemetalces, but upon his death one moiety was by Augustus granted to Rhescuporis his brother, and one to Cotys' his son: in this partition, the cultivated lands, cities, and territories, bounding upon Greece, fell to Cotys; to Rhescuporis, the wilds, the barren places, and the parts exposed to a hostile neighbourhood. The two kings were likewise dissonant in their genius; the former mild and agreeable, the latter, stern, rapacious, and impatient of a partner in power. At first they lived in hollow friendship; hut soon Rhescuporis began to pass his limits, to seize for himself the portions of Cotys, and where he met resistance to exercise violence; cautiously, indeed, in the life of Augustus, for as both owed their kingdoms to him, he feared that he would avenge any contempt of his authority; but upon the change of emperors, he poured in bands of robbers, and demolished forts, to bring about a war. 65. Tiberius was solicitous above all things that matters 1 Ovid has confirmed the character given by Tacitus of this prince. His ninth elegy, De Ponto, is addressed to Cotys, praying a safe retreat In his dominions: — " Regia progenies, cui nobilitatis origo Nomen in Eumolpi pervenit usque, Coty, Fama loquax vestras si jam pervenit ad aures, Me tibi finitimi parte jacere soli; Supplicis exaudi, juvenum mitissime, vocem; Quamque potes profugo (nam potes) affer opem. Ejusdem sacri cultor uterque sumus. Ad vatem vates orantia brachia tendo, Terra sit exiliis ut tua fida meis."-De Ponto, epist. ix 96 THE AINNALS. [B. IL once settled should not be disturbed. He despatched a chosen centurion to the two kings to forbid a decision by arms, and Cotys forthwith dismissed the forces lhe had raised; Rhescuporis, with pretended moderation, requested an interview, "for by treaty," he said, "they might adjust all their differences." Upon the time, the place, and even upon the conditions they quickly agreed, while one from natural facility, the other with a guileful purpose, yielded and accepted every proposition. Rhescuporis, to give solemnity, as he said repeatedly, to the league, added a banquet; and when the pleasures of the feast had been protracted to a late hour, when the revelry was at its height, and the wine had produced its effect, Rhescuporis seized upon Cotys unawares; and though, when he perceived the treacherous purpose, he conjured him by the sanctity of kings, the common gods of their family, and the laws of the hospitable board, he loaded him with chains Rhescuporis, having now seized all Thrace, wrote to Tiberius. "that a plot had been laid for him, but he had anticipated the contriver;" and pretending a war against the Bastarnians and Scythians, fortified himself with new forces, horse and foot. 66. Tiberius answered very quietly, "That if he had prac tised no guile he might securely trust to his innocence, but neither could he himself nor the senate, without hearing the cause, distinguish between justice and injustice; that therefore, delivering up Cotys, he should come, and upon him transfer the odium of guilt." This letter Latinus Pandus, propraetor of Mcesia, transmitted to Thrace by the soldiers sent to receive Cotys. Rhescuporis, wavering between fear and rage, determined at last rather to be tried for a completed than an imperfect villany; he caused Cotys to be murdered, and gave out that he had died by his own hands. Tiberius, however, did not abandon the artful course he had once adopted, but upon the death of Pandus, whom Rhescuporis alleged to have been his enemy, selected for the government of Moosia, Pomponius Flaccus,' an old officer, in close friend1 During the administration of Pomponius Flaccus, Ovid says he lived in security on the banks of the Ister:"Prsefuit his, Griecine, locis modo Flaccus, et illo Ripa ferox Istri sub duce tuta fuit." De Ponto, lib. ix. eoist. 9. c. 69.] DEATH OF VONONE8. VI slhp with the king,. and therefore more qualified to betray him. 67. Flaccus passed into Thrace, and though he found him full of hesitation, and reflecting on the enormities he had committed, yet by large promises he prevailed upon him to enter the Roman lines. Upon this the king, on pretence of honour, was surrounded with a strong party. The tribunes and centurions by advice and persuasion induced him to proceed. The further they advanced the more evident it was that he was a prisoner, and he at length became aware of the necessity he was under; thus they conveyed him to the city. He was accused before the senate by the wife of Cotys, and condemned to exile far from his kingdom. Thrace was divided between Rhemetalces his son, who had opposed his father's measures, and the sons of Cotys; these were minors, and placed with their kingdom under the administration of Trebellienus Rufus, formerly praetor, after the example of our ancestors, who sent Marcus Lepidus into Egypt, as guardian to the children of Ptolemy. Rhescuporis was transported to Alexandria, and there slain while attempting to escape, or falsely charged with it. 68. At the same time Vonones, who had been removed as I have above related into Cilicia, corrupted his keepers, and endeavoured to escape to Armenia, thence to the Albanians and Heniochians, and then to his kinsman the king of Scythia. Under pretence of hunting he struck away from the coast, and made for the intricacies of the forest, and soon, from the speed of his horse, reached the river Pyramus. But the neighbouring inhabitants, apprised of the king's flight, had broken the bridges, and the stream could not be forded; upon the banks, therefore, of the river, he was by Vibius Fronto, a captain of horse, put in bonds; soon after, Remmius, a resumed veteran,' who was before his keeper, in affected wrath, ran him through with a sword; whence the more probable account is, that he slew Vonones because he was an accomplice in his escape, and feared he might give evidence against him. 69. Germanicus, returning from Egypt, learned that all his orders to the legions and the cities were either entirely 1 The word in the original, Evocatus, signifies one who is liable to he aalled out again to serve; and may be considered equivalent to our "half-pay officer." TAC.-VOL. 1. H 98 THE ANNALS. [B. II tbolished or perverted, hence he sought to inflict every indignity on Piso. Nor less virulent were the efforts of Piso against Germanicus. Piso afterwards determined to leave Syria, but was detained by the illness of Germanicus; again, when he heard of his recovery, and perceived that vows were paid for his restoration, the lictors, by his command, drove away the victims already at the altars, overturned the apparatus for the sacrifices, and scattered the people of Antioch employed in celebrating the festival. He then departed to Seleucia, waiting the event of the malady which had again assaulted Germanicus. His own persuasion that poison was given him by Piso heightened the relentless vehemence of the disease; indeed, upon the floors and walls were found the exhumed remains of human bodies, with charms and spells, and the name of Germanicus graven on sheets of lead; carcases half burnt besmeared with gore, and other instruments of sorceries, by which souls are thought to be doomed to the infernal gods; besides, certain persons sent by Piso were accused of coming to ascertain the unfavourable symptoms. 70. These things filled Germanicus with apprehensions great as his indignation. "If his doors," he said, "were besieged, if under the eyes of his enemies he must render up his spirit, what might be expected to befal his unhappy wife, his infant children? The progress of poison was thought too slow. Piso was impatient, and eager to command alone the legions and the province, but Germanicus was not sunk so low, nor would the price of his murder remain with the murderer." In a letter to Piso he renounced his friendship; most, add that he commanded him to depart the province. Nor did Piso tarry longer, but sailed away, regulating his course so that he should not have far to return should the death of Germanicus leave the government of Syria vacant. 71. Germanicus for a short interval conceived hopes of his recovery, but drooping again when his end approached, he spoke on this wise to his attending friends,-" If I were dying in the course of nature I should have just cause of complaint against the gods, for hurrying me from 'my parents, my children, and my country, by a premature departure in the vigour of youth; but cut short in my career, as I now am, by the nefarious arts of Piso and Plancina, my dying prayer, which 1 deposit in your breasts, is, tmat you would tell END OF GERMANICITS. 99 my father and my brother,' with what persecutions mangled, with what treachery circumvented, I end a life of consummate misery by a death the most revolting. Those who felt an interest in my prospects, or were connected with me by blood, nay, even those who envied me while I lived, will weep at the fate of him who, once renowned, and the survivor of so many wars, hath fallen by the dark devices of a woman. You will have an opportunity of complaining to the senate and invoking the laws. To show respect for the dead with idle wailings is not the principal office of friends,-it is to remember his dying wishes, to fulfil his last injunctions. Even strangers will lament Germanicus; you will avenge me, if it was myself gild not my fortune that you caressed.- Show the people of Rome my wife, the granddaughter of Augustus, tell over to them our six children. Compassion will wait on those who bring such charges; and the accused, if they pretend iniquitous mindates, will not be believed; or if believed, not pardoned." His friends, touching the hand of the dying prince, swore that they would forego their lives sooner than their revenge. 72. Then turning to his wife, he conjured her " by her remembrance of him, by their common children, to divest ierself of her unyielding spirit, and humble to fortune in the storm of her displeasure; and, on her return to the city, not to irritate those who were more than a match for her by a competition forthe mastery." So much openly and more in secret; whence he was believed to have warned her of danger from Tiberius. Soon after he expired, to the inexpressible grief of the province and the neighbouring people; remote nations and their kings mourned for him: such had been his urbanity to the allies; such his clemency to his enemies! Alike an object of veneration, whether seen or heard; for while he sustained the dignity and authority of his exalted station, be kept clear of offence, and avoided the imputation of arrogance. 73. The funeral, which was unaccompanied by the family images2 and a procession, was abundantly honoured by the praises of the deceased, and the commemoration of his virtues. There were those who from his person, his age, his manner of I Tiberius was his father by adoption; Drusus, the son of Tiberiua, was of course his brother. 2 The family images were left at Rome. a 2 7 '...::i !00 Aw THE ANNALS. [B. II. death, and even from the proximity of the places where he departed, compared him, in the circumstances of his fate, to Alexander the Great: "Each of a graceful person, each of illustrious descent; in years neither much exceeding thirty; both fell victims to the machinations of their countrymen, in the midst of foreign nations: but Germanicus was gentle towards his friends; moderate in his pleasures; the husband of one wife; his children legitimate; nor inferior as a warrior, though not so rash, and though hampered and prevented from a final reduction of Germany, which had been smitten to the earth by his repeated victories. But had he been sole arbiter of things, had he possessed the sovereignty and title of royalty, he would have attained to military renown with greater facility in proportion as he surpassed him in clemency, in moderation, and all the other virtues." His body, before its commitment to the pile, was exhibited naked in the Forum of Antioch, the place fixed upon for the sepulchral rites: whether it bore the marks of poison remained undecided; for people were divided in their conclusions according as they pitied Germanicus, and presumed the guilt of Piso, or were prejudiced in his favour. 74. It was next debated amongst the legates of the legions and the other senators, there, to whom should be committed the administration of Syria: and after the faint efforts of others, it was long disputed between Vibius Marsus and Cneius Sentius. Marsus at last yielded to Sentius, the older man and the more active candidate. By him one Martina, infamous in that province for practices in poisoning, and a close confidant of Plancina, was sent to Rome, at the suit of Vitellius,l Veranius, and others, who were collecting evidence of guilt, and preparing articles against Piso and Plancina, as actively as if the charge had been formally brought against them. 75. Agrippina, though worn out with sorrow, and her health impaired, yet, impatient of all delay to her revenge, embarked with the ashes of Germanicus and her children, amidst universal grief "' that a lady of the very highest quality, who in her late most honoured union was wont to be seen surrounded by persons offering her the tribute of their homage and congratulations, should then be carrying in her bosom funeral ashes, uncertain of vengeance, alarmed for herself; and from ' Publius Vitellius, uncle to Vitellius the emperor. See Annals book i. s '0. c. 77.] PISO ADVISES WITH HIS FRIENDS 101 her unfortunate fruitfulness exposed to the assaults of fortune at so many points." Piso the while was overtaken at the Isle of Cos by a message, "that Germanicus was deceased." He rejoiced extravagantly at the intelligence, slew victims, and repaired with thanksgiving to the temples: but immoderate as was his joy, more arrogant and insulting proved that of Plancina, who immediately threw off her mourning for a deceased sister, and assumed the habit of gaiety. 76. To him flocked the centurions with representations, " that the affections of the legions were eagerly fixed on him, and that he should proceed to resume the province injuriously taken from him, and now vacant." As he therefore consulted what he had best pursue, his son Marcus Piso advised "a speedy journey to Rome; hitherto," he said, " nothing past expiation was committed; nor were impotent suspicions to be dreaded, nor the idle blazonings of fame: his variance with Germanicus might perhaps expose him to odium, but not penal visitation; and by depriving him of the province, the malice of his enemies was glutted; but if he returned thither, as Sentius would certainly oppose him, a civil war would thus be commenced: neither would the centurions and soldiers persist in his party, as the memory of their late commander, and an inveterate love to the Ceesars, would preponderate." 77. Domitius Celer, in virtue of his intimate friendship with Piso, argued on the contrary, " that the event should be tollowed up; Piso, and not Sentius, was governor of Syria; to him were given the badges and jurisdiction of proetor, to him the legions: if assailed by hostilities, with how much better warrant could he take up arms in his defence, who was thus invested with the authority of general, and acted under special orders from the emperor. Time also should be suffered to intervene after the circulation of rumours, that they may grow stale: rarely could the innocent bear up against the prejudice created by recent charges; but were he once possessed of the army, and had augmented his forces, many events, not to be foreseen, would turn up in his favour. Are we then hastening to arrive at Rome with the ashes of Germanicus, that yotl may there fall, unheard and undefended, a victim to the wailb ings of Agrippina, and the first impressions made on the uii? reasoning multitude by rumour? Livia, it is true, is vour confederate; Tiberius is your friend; but both secretly: and 102 THE ANNALS. tB. X1. indeed none will more ostentatiously bewail the fate of Germanicus, than such as most heartily rejoice at it." 78. Piso, of himself prone to violent measures, was with no great labour persuaded into this opinion, and in a letter transmitted to Tiberius, accused Germanicus " of luxury and insolence; observing that he who had been expelled to make room for dangerous designs against the state, had now sought to resume, with his former faith and loyalty, the care of the army." In the meantime, he put Domitius on board a galley, and ordered him, avoiding the coasts and the isles, to sail through the main sea to Syria. The deserters who from all quarters were flocking to him, he formed into companies, and armed all the retainers to the camp; then sailing over to the continent, intercepted a regiment of recruits upon their march into Syria; and wrote to the petty princes of Cilicia to assist him with succours: nor was the younger Piso slow in forwarding the war, though he had given his voice against commencing it. 79. As they coasted Lycia and Pamphilia, they encountered the ships which carried Agrippina: with hostile feelings on both sides, each at first prepared for combat; but as their fears were reciprocal, they proceeded no further than reproaches. Vibius Marsus summoned Piso, as a criminal, to Rome, there to make his defence: he answered with derision, " that when the pretor, who was to sit upon cases of poisonings, had assigned a day to the accusers and the accused, he would attend." Domitius, meanwhile, landing at Laodicea, a city of Syria, would have proceeded to the winter-quarters of the sixth legion, which he believed to be the most prone to engage in novel attempts, but was anticipated by Pacuvius, the lieutenant-general. Sentius represented this by letter to Piso, and warned him, " at his peril to infect the camp by ministers of corruption; or to assail the province by war;" and drew into a body such as he knew cherished the memory of Germanicus, or were averse to his foes: upon them he inculcated with much ardour, that Piso was attacking the majesty of the prince, and invading the Roman state; and then put himself at the head of a powerful force ready for the encounter. 80. Neither did Piso, though his enterprise miscarried, fail to adopt the best measures of security under existing circumstances; but seized a castle of Cilicia strongly fortified, named o; 81.1 PISO DEFEATED B3Y SENTIUS. 103 Celendris: for, to the auxiliary Cilicians sent him by the petty kings, he had joined his body of deserters, as also the recruits lately intercepted, with all his own and Plancina's slaves, and in number and bulk formed them into a legion. In his harangue to them he protested, " that he, who was the lieutenant of Caesar, was excluded from the province which Caesar had committed to him; not by the legions (for by their invitation he came) but by Sentius, who disguised under feigned charges his own personal hate; but with confidence they may stand in battle against men who would refuse to fight when they saw Piso, a commander lately by themselves styled their ' Father,' who had the best of it, if the question were tried on principles of justice, and who was not deficient in power and resol ition, if the sword must decide it." He then arrayed his men without the fortifications, on a hill lofty and precipitous, for all the rest was begirt by the sea: against them stood the veterans regularly embattled, and with a reserve; one side had the advantage in the hardy character of the troops, the other in the rugged and inaccessible nature of their position; but the latter had no spirit, nor hope, nor even weapons, save those of rustics, snatched up to meet a sudden emergency. As soon as they came to blows, the issue was no longer doubtful than while the Roman cohorts struggled up to level ground: the Cilicians then fled, and shut themselves up in the castle. 81. Piso meanwhile attempted in vain an assault upon the fleet, which waited at a small distance; when he returned, he presented himself upon the walls, where, now prostrating hill self in an agony of grief, then calling upon particular soldiers by name, and tempting them by rewards, he laboured to excite a mutiny; and thus much had already effected, that a standard-bearer of the sixth legion revolted to him with hit eagle, when Sentius commanded the cornets and trumpets to sound, the works to be. assaulted, the ladders reared, and all the bravest men to mount, and others to pour from the engines volleys of darts and stones, and brands. The obstinacy of Piso was at last vanquished; and he desired " that upon delivering his arms he might remain in the castle while the emperor was consulted as to whom he would commit the government ot Syria;" these conditions were not accepted; nor was aught granted him save ships and a safe conduct to Rome. 104 THB AiWALB. lB. It. 82. At Rome, when the illness of Germanicus became generally known. and all its circumstances, as usually happens in reports coming from a distance, were related with aggravations; grief and indignation prevailed, which even burst forth into lamentations "There could be no doubt," they said, " that it was for this that he had been banished to the extremities of the empire; for this the province of Syria was committed to Piso; and these the fruits of Livia's mysterious conferences with Plancina: truly had their fathers spoken concerning his father Drusus; that the possessors of rule beheld with an evil eye the popular spirit of their sons; nor for aught else were they sacrificed, but that they meditated giving the Roman people a system of equal laws, and restoring liberty." These lamentations of the populace were so inflamed, upon the tidings of his death, that, without staying for an edict from the magistrates, without a decree of senate, they assumed a vacation; the courts were deserted, private houses shut up; everywhere were groans, or silent grief: nothing was devised for form or show; and, though they forbore not to exhibit the exterior marks of mourning, in their souls they mourned still deeper. Accidentally some merchants from Syria, who had left Germanicus still alive, brought more joyful news of his condition: these were instantly believed, and instantly proclaimed; each, as fast as they met, informed others, who forthwith from joy conveyed their ill-authenticated information with improvements to more, and they flew through the city, and burst open the temples' doors; the night aided their credulity, and assertion was more confident in the dark. Nor did Tiberius oppose these fictions, but left them to vanish with time, and run their course: hence with more bitterness they afterwards grieved for him, as if anew snatched from them. 83. Honours were invented and decreed to Germanicus, various according to the intensity of affection for him, and the power of genius in the particular senators who proposed them: "that his name should be sung in the Salian hymn; curule chairs placed for him amongst the priests of Augustus, and over these chairs oaken crowns hung; his statue in ivory l)recede in the Circensian games; none but one of the Julian race be, in the room of Germanicus, created flanen or augur:ll arches were added, one at Rome, one upon the banks of the C. 85.] HONOURS DECREED TO GERMANICUS. 105 Rhine, one upon Mount &manus, in-Syria, with inscriptions of his exploits, and a testimony subjoined, "that he died for the commonwealth:" a cenotaph at Antioch, where his corpse was burnt; a tribunal at Epidaphne, the place where he ended his life. The multitude of statues, the many places where divine honours were appointed to be paid him, would not be easily recounted. When they would have decreed him a golden shield,' distinguished in bulk as in material, to be placed among the founders of eloquence, Tiberius insisted " that he should dedicate one himself, such as was usual, and of a like size with others; for that eloquence was not measured by fortune; and it was sufficient glory if he were ranked with ancient writers." The battalion called the Juniors was now, by the equestrian order, entitled the battalion of Germanicus, and a rule made by them that, on every fifteenth of July, these troops should follow, as their standard, the effigies of Germanicus: of these honours many continue; some were imme. diately omitted, or have become obsolete in the lapse of time. 84. In the height of this public sorrow, Livia, sister to Germanicus, and married to Drusus, was delivered of male twins; an event even in middling families rare and acceptable, but to Tiberius matter of such joy that he could not refrain boasting to the fathers, " that to no Roman of the same eminence, before him, were ever two children born at a birth:" for to his own glory he turned all things, even mere accidents. But to the people at such a sad conjuncture, it was a source of additional grief; as they feared that the family of Drusus thus increased would press heavier upon that of Germanicus. 85. The same year the licentiousness of women was by the senate restrained with severe laws; and it was provided, "that ' Pliny the elder says, that the images of eminent men were representedon the shield which they had been used to wear; and thence the images in honour of their memory were usually called shields. Pliny, lib. xxxv. s. 3. Why the shield of Germanicus was to be placed among the orators, we learn from Suetonius, who says that Germanicus, among other works of genius, left Greek comedies written by himself. See Life of Caligula, s. 3. Ovid dedicated his "Fasti" tc Germanicus, whom he celebrates as an orator and a poet:"Que sit enim culti facundia sensimus oris, Civica pro trepidis cum tulit arma reis. Scimus et, ad nostras cum se tulit impetus artes, Ingenii currant flumina quanta tui."-Fast. lib. i. 1. o10 THE ANsNALS. [B. It. no woman should become venal, if her father, grandfather or husband, were Roman knights." For Vistilia, a lady borr of a prsetorian family, had before the wdiles published her self a prostitute; after a cuscom that prevailed among our ancestors, who thought that prostitutes were sufficiently punished by merely thus avowing their infamy. Titidius Labeo too was questioned, why in the manifest guilt of his wife, he had neglected the punishment prescribed by the law; but he alleged that the sixty days' allowed for consultation were no' elapsed; and it was deemed sufficient to proceed against Vistilia, who was banished to the Isle of Seriphos. Measures were also taken for exterminating the solemnities of the Jews2 and the Egyptians; and a decree of the senate was passed, that four thousand descendants of franchised slaves, defiled with that superstition, and of age to carry arms, should be deported to Sardinia, to check the practice of freebootry there; and if, through the malignity of the climate, they perished, it would be small loss; that the rest should depart Italy, unless by a stated day they had renounced their profane rites. 86. After this, Tiberius represented that to supply the place of Occia, who had presided seven and fifty years over the vestals with the greatest sanctity, another virgin was to be chosen; and thanked Fonteius Agrippa and Asinius Pollio, that by offering their daughters they contended in good offices towards the commonwealth. Pollio's daughter was preferred; for nothing else but that her mother had continued in the same matrimonial union; for Agrippa, by a divorce nad impaired the credit of his house. Upon her who we. passed over, Tiberius bestowed as a consolation a dowry of a thousand great sesterces. 87. As the people murmured at the oppressive price of corn, he settled the price of it to the buyer, and undertook to pay two sesterces a measure to the corn-dealers: neither however would he, on account of these acts, accept the name of " Father of his country," a title offered him before; nay, 1 By the Lex Julia de Adulteriis, sixty days from the commission of the crime were allowed to the husband to prepare for the prosecution. 2 Tacitus seems to confound the Egyptian and Jewish religion; and, indeed, it does not appear in his account of the Jewish nation (Hist. book v. s. 2 et seq.) that he ever made it his business to investigate the history of that people. For the proceedings against the Jews and Zgyptians, see Suetonius m Tib. s. 36. 0. 88.1 DEATH OF ARMINIUS. 107 he sharply rebuked such as said, " his divine occupations," and called him " Lord." Hence it was difficult and dangerous to speak under a prince, who dreaded liberty and abhorred flattery. 88. T find in the writers of those times, some of them senators, that in the senate were read letters from Adgandestrius, prince of the Chattians, undertaking to dispatch Arminius, if in order to it poison were sent to him; and an answer returned, "that the Roman people took vengeance on their foes, not by fraud and covert acts, but armed and in the face of the sun." In this, Tiberius gained equal glory with our ancient captains, who rejected and disclosed a plot to poison king Pyrrhus. Arminius, however, upon the departure of the Romans and expulsion of Maroboduus, aiming at royalty, became opposed to the liberty of his countrymen; who took up arms against him; and, during a contest carried on with fluctuating success, he fell by the treachery of his own kindred: the deliverer of Germany without doubt he was, and one who assailed the Roman state, not like other kings and leaders, in its infancy, but in the pride of imperial elevation; in single encounters sometimes victorious, some. times defeated, but not worsted in the general issue of the far: he lived thirty-seven years; twelve he was in possession of power; and, amongst barbarous nations, his memory is still celebrated in their songs; his name is unknown in the annals of the Greeks, who only admire their own achieve. ments; nor is he very much celebrated among us Romans whose habit it is to magnify men and feats of old, but to regard with indifference the examples of modern prowess.1 1 For an excellent account of the hero Arminius, or Hermann, and a concise review of the events in Germany narrated in the first two books of the Annals, see Smith's Biographical Dict., art. A4sminius. 108 THE ANNALS. IB. Ill BOOK IIL 1. AGRIPPINA, continuing her course without the least inter mission through all the perils and rigours of a sea-voyage in the winter, arrived at the island Corcyra, situated over against the shores of Calabria. Unable to moderate her grief, and impatient from inexperience of affliction, she spent a few days there to tranquillize her troubled spirit; when, on hearing of her arrival, all the intimate fi-iends of her family, and most of the officers who had served under Germanicus, with a number of strangers from the neighbouring municipal towns, some thinking it due as a mark of respect to the prince, but the greater part, carried along with the current, rushed to the city of Brundusium, the readiest port in her way, and the safest landing. As soon as the fleet appeared in the deep, instantly were filled, not the port alone and adjacent parts of the sea, but the walls and roofs, and wherever the most distant prospect could be obtained, with a sorrowing multitude, earnestly asking each other " whether they should receive her ao landing in silence, or with some expression of feeling?" Nor was it clearly determined what course would be most suitable to the occasion, when the fleet came slowly in, not as usual in sprightly trim, but all wearing the impress of sadness. When she descended from the ship, accompanied by her two infants,t and bearing in her hand the funeral urn, her eyes fixed stedfastly upon the earth, one simultaneous groan burst from the whole assemblage; nor could you distinguish relations from strangers, nor the wailings of men from those of women; nor could any difference be discerned, except that those who came to meet her, in the vehemence of recent grief, surpassed the attendants of Agrippina, who were exhausted with continued mourning. I The two children of Germanicus probably were, Caligula, who, according to Suetoni-s, accompanied his father into the east; and Julia, who was born in the isle of Lesbos. See took ii. s. 54. ,. 4.] AGRIPPINA RETURNS TO ROME. 109 2. Tiberius had despatched two praetorian cohorts, with directions that the magistrates of Calabria, with Apulians and Campanians, should pay their last offices of respect to the memory of his son; upon the shoulders, therefore, of the tribunes and centurions his ashes were borne; before them were tarried the ensigns unadorned, and the fasces reversed. As they passed through the colonies, the populace in black, the knights in their purple robes, burnt precious raiment, perfumes, and whatever else is used in funeral solemnities, according to the ability of the place; even they whose cities lay remote from the route came forth, offered victims, and erected altars to the gods of the departed, and with tears and ejaculations testified their sorrow. Drusus came as far as Terracina, with Claudius the brother of Germanicus, and those of his children who had been left at Rome.1 The consuls, Marcus Valerius and Marcus Aurelius (for they had now entered upon their office), the senate, and great part of the people, filled the road,-a scattered procession, each walking and expressing his grief as inclination led him; in sooth, flattery was an utter stranger here, for all knew how real was the joy, how hollow the grief, of Tiberius for the death of Germanicus. 3. Tiberius and Livia avoided appearing abroad,-public lamentation they thought below their dignity-or perhaps they apprehended, that if their countenances were examined by all eyes their hypocrisy would be detected. That Antonia, mother to the deceased, bore any part in the funeral, I do not find either in the historians or in the journals, though, besides Agrippina, and Drusus, and Claudius, his other relations are likewise there recorded by name; whether by sickness she was prevented, or whether her soul, vanquished by sorrow, could not bear to go through the representation of such an overpowering calamity. I would rather believe her constrained by Tiberius and Livia, who left not the palace, that they might seem to grieve alike, and that the grandmother and uncle might appear to have followed her example in staying at home. 4. The day on which his remains were deposited in the vmb of Augustus, at one time exhibited the silence of perfect 1 These were Nero and Drusus, Agrippina and Drusilla. But it is uiot probable that the two daughters went so far to meet their father's funeral. 110 THE ANNALS. [B IIt desolation; at another, the uproar of vociferous lamentaticn; the streets of the city were crowded, one general blaze of torches glared throughout the Campus Martius; there the soldiers under arms, the magistrates without the insignia of office, and the people ranged according to their tribes, passionately exclaimed, "' that the commonwealth was utterly lost, that henceforth there remained no hope," so openly and so boldly that you would have believed they had forgotten those who ruled over them. But nothing pierced Tiberius more deeply than the warm interest excited in favour of Agrippina, while they gave her such titles as "the ornament of her country, the only blood of Augustus, an unparalleled example of primitive virtue;" and, looking up to heaven and the gods, they implored " the preservation of her issue, and that they might outlive their oppressors." 5. There were those who missed the pomp of a public funeral, and compared with this the superior honours and magnificence displayed by Augustus in that of Drusus, the father of Germanicus; observing, i" that he himself had travelled, in the depth of winter, as far as Ticinus, and, continuing by the corpse, had with it entered the city; around his bier were crowded the images of the Claudii and Julii; he was mourned in the forum; his encomium pronounced on the rostra; all the honours invented by our ancestors, or added by their posterity, were heaped upon him. But to Germanicus were denied the ordinary solemnities, and such as were due to every distinguished Roman. Certainly his corpse was birnt in a foreign country because of the long journey, in such a manner as it was, but afterwards it was but just to have compensated the scantiness of the first ceremony by the increased soJemnity of the last; his brother met him but one day's journey, his uncle not even at the gate. Where were those observances of the ancients, the effigies of the dead laid in state on a bed, hymns composed in memory of departed virtue, with encomiums and tears? Where at least the ceremonial of sorrow I" 6. All this was known to Tiberius, and to suppress the reflections of the populace, he admonished them in an edict, "that many illustrious Romans had died for the commonwealth, but none so universally and vehemently regretted; and that it was to the honour of himself and all others, if bounds MOURNING FOR GERMANICUS. I11 were observed. The same things which became private families and small states, became not princes and an imperial people; that it was not unseemly to lament in the first transport of sorrow, nay, relief was afforded by weeping, but it was now time to recover and compose their minds. Thus the deified Julius, upon the loss of an only daughter;1 thus the deified Augustus, upon the premature death of his grandsons, had both concealed their sorrow. More ancient examples were unnecessary; how often had the Roman people sustained with equanimity the slaughter of their armies, the death of their generals, and entire destruction of illustrious families,princes were mortal, the commonwealth was eternal,-they should therefore resume their customary vocations." And oecause the spectacle of the Megalesian2 games was at hand, he added, "that they should even lay aside their grief for amusements." 7. The vacation ended, public affairs were resumed; Druusu departed for the army in Illyricum, the minds of all men impatiently looking for vengeance upon Piso; and amidst many complaints, that while he was roaming at large through the delightful regions of Asia and Greece, he was undermining by contemptuous and artful delay the evidences of his crimes; for it was generally known that Martina, that notorious trafficker in sorceries, and sent, as I have above related, by Cneius Sentius to Rome, had died suddenly at Brundusium; that poison lay concealed in a knot of her hair, but upon her body were found no symptoms of self-murder. 8. Piso, sending forward his son to Rome, with instructions how to soften the emperor, proceeded himself to Drusus: him he hoped to find less implacable for the death of a brother than favourable for the removal of a rival. Tiberius, to make it appear that the trial should be fair, received the young man graciously; and honoured him with the presents usually 1 Julia was the daughter of Julius Caesar by his wife Cornelia. 2 The Megalesian games were so called from Me7cdax Oea, the great goddess, or Magna Mater. They were celebrated in the month of April, and lasted seven days. Germanicus died in the preceding month of November. The grief of the people at Rome was so violent, that even the Saturnalian games, which were towards the end of December, could not put a stop to the general sorrow. See Suet. in Calig. s. 6. The mourning, we find from Tacitus, continued to the month of April following. 112 THE ANNALS* [B. IIL bestowed on young noblemen. The answer of Drusus to Piso was, c" that if the current rumours were true, he stood in the first place of grief and revenge; but he hoped they were false and chimerical, and that the death of Germanicus would be fatal to none." This he declared in public, avoiding all private communication with him; nor was it doubted but the answer was dictated by Tiberius, when one otherwise artless and unguarded from the inexperience of youth practised the cunning of age. 9. Piso having crossed the sea of Dalmatia,' and left his ships at Ancona, took first the road through Picenum, and then proceeding on the Flaminian way, met with the legion which was going from Pannonia to Rome, and thence to garrison in Africa. This too became the subject of popular censure, that he officiously mixed with the soldiers, and courted them in their march and quarters; therefore to avoid suspicion, or because when men are in dread their conduct wavers, he embarked at Narnia upon the Nar, thence sailed down the Tiber, and by landing at the tomb of the Cssars heightened the wrath of the populace; besides, he and Plancina, in open day, strutted through the assemblage of persons on the banks with an air of cheerfulness, he attended by a long band of clients, she by a train of ladies. Among the incentives to popular displeasure were also his house, proudly overlooking the forum, and gaily decorated, the feast and revel he made, and the publicity given to these proceedings from the frequented locality. 10. The next day Fulcinius Trio commenced criminal proceedings against Piso before the consuls, but was opposed by Vitellius, Veranius, and others, who had accompanied Germanicus: they said, "that in this prosecution Trio had no part; nor did they themselves act as accusers, but as informants and witnesses of the facts, they would produce the injunctions of Germanicus." Trio, dropping the accusation in that cause, got leave to call in question his former life: and the emperor was solicited to undertake the trial; which not even the accused opposed, dreading the inclinations of the people and senate: (" Tiberius, on the contrary, he knew to be resolute in despising popular rumours, and implicated in guilt tith his mother: besides, that truth and misrepresentations I Now the Gulf of Venice. c 12.] TRIAL OF PISO. 113 were easiest distinguished by a single judge, but in assemblies odium and envy prevailed." Tiberius was aware of the heavy responsibility of the trial, and the imputations circulated against him. In the presence therefore of a few friends, he heard the menacing charges of the accusers, as also the deprecatory defence of the accused; and referred the entire cause to the senate. 11. Meanwhile Drusus returned from Illyricum; and though the senate, for the captivity of Maroboduus, and his exploits the summer before, had decreed him an ovation, he postponed the honour, and entered the city without that distinction. Piso, for his advocates, desired Titus Arruntius, Fulcinius, Asinius Gallus, zEserninus Marcellus, and Sextus Pompeius; but as they excused themselves on various grounds, he had in their room, Marcus Lepidus, Lucius Piso, and Livineius Regulus. And earnest were the speculations of all, how great would prove the fidelity of the friends of Germanicus; what the assurance of the criminal, what the behaviour ot Tiberius; whether he would be able to restrain and keep down his feelings. Never were the people more intent on these matters; never did they exercise greater freedom in privately expressing reflections on the prince, or in keeping silence where silence implied suspicion. 12. On the day the senate met, Tiberius made a studied speech of artful temperament; he said, "that Piso had been his father's lieutenant and friend; and was appointed by himself, with the sanction of the senate, as coadjutor to Germanicus in administering the affairs of the east: whether he had there by contumacy and opposition exasperated the young prince, and exulted in his death, or wickedly procured it, they were then to judge with unprejudiced minds. For, said he, if Piso in his office of lieutenant exceeded the limits of his commission, failed in respect to his commanding officer, and even rejoiced at his decease and at my affliction, I will detest the man, I will banish him from my house; I will punish the private wrong, but not with the power of a prince. But if he be found guilty of a crime which would call for vengeance, whosoever the murdered man might be, see that ye give to the children of Germanicus, and to us his parents, the solace of a just retribution. Consider too at the same time, whether he sought to excite discontent and mutiny in the army; whether he TAO — VOYL. I. 114 THE ANNALS. tB. Ill endeavoured towin the affections of the soldiers by sinister arts, and to recover the province by arms: orwhether these are falsely reported as aggravations by the accusers, with whose excessive zeal I am justly offended: for, what purpose was answered by stripping the corpse and exposing it to the ocular examination of the populace,-with what view was it disseminated even among foreign nations, that his death was the effect of poison, if all this was still doubtful, and remains yet to be tried? It is true, I bewail my son, and shall ever bewail him; but neither do I hinder the accused from bringing forward everything by which his innocence may be sustained, or oppressive conduct on the part of Germanicus, if he was chargeable with any, might at the same time be proved. And you also I implore not to treat imputed crimes as proved, because of my melancholy connexion with this cause. If the ties of blood, if the faith of friends, has made any of you his patrons, aid him in his peril with your utmost eloquence and diligence. To the same pains, to the same constancy, I entreat his accusers. Thus we have granted to Germanicus, beyond the laws, that the inquest on his death is held rather in this court than in the forum, before the senate than the ordinary judges. In every other respect, let the same impartiality be observed. Let no man in this cause consider Drusus's tears; let none regard my sorrow, nor any false imputations upon my honour." 13. Two days were then appointed for maintaining the charge; six for preparing the defence, and three for making it. Fulcinius then began with charges relating to a remote period, and having no bearing upon the question, " the ambition and rapacity of Piso in his administration of Spain;" which proved, brought no guilt on the accused with reference to recent charges if acquitted; nor if repelled, could it clear him if found guilty of higher crimes. After him, Serveus, Veranius, and Vitellius, all with equal zeal, but Vitellius with great eloquence, urged "that Piso, in his hatred to Germanicus, and zeal for innovation, had by tolerating their licentiousness and oppressions of the allies, corrupted the common soldiers to that degree, that by the most profligate he was styled ' Father of the legions:' that he had, on the contrary, shown himself implacably hostile to all the best men, especialv the friends and companions of Germanicus; lastly, by c. 15. 1 PISO('S DEFENCE. 115 witchcraft and poison destroyed Germanicus himself: hence the offerings and immolations practised by him and Planeina. he had then attacked the commonwealth with open hostilities; and, that he might be prosecuted as a criminal, they were forced to defeat him in a regular battle." 14. In every article but one his defence was faltering. For, neither the charge of debauching the soldiery,nor abandoning the province to all the most profligate, nor even his insults to Germanicus, could he deny: he seemed only to clear himself of the charge of poison; a charge which in truth was not sufficiently corroborated by the accusers, since they had only to allege " that at an entertainment of Germanicus, Piso, while he sat above him, with his hands poisoned the meat." For it appeared absurd that amongst so many slaves not his own, in view of so many bystanders, and under the eye of Germanicus, he would attempt it; besides, the accused offered to have his set of slaves put to the rack, and demanded that the waiters should also: but the judges were implacable, but from different motives; Tiberius for the hostile attack on the province; the senate because it could never be convinced that the death of Germanicus was not the effect of fraud. Some moved for the letters written to Piso from Rome; a motion opposed by Tiberius no less than by Piso. From without, at the same time, were heard the cries of the people, "that if he escaped the judgment of the senate, they would not keep their hands off him." They had already dragged some of his statues to the Gemonian steps,' and were proceeding to break them up; but by the orders of Tiberius they were rescued and replaced. Piso was therefore put into a litter and escorted by a tribune of a praetorian cohort; and various were the surmises expressed, whether he attended as a guard for safety, or a minister of death. 15. Plancina was under equal odium, but had more interest; hence it was doubted how far Tiberius durst proceed against her. While her husband's hopes were undecided, she professed "she would share his fortune whatever it were, and, if fate would have it so, perish with him." But when, by the secret solicitations of Livia, she had secured her own pardon, she 1 The Gemonice Scalce were a flight of steps at the bottom of the Capitoline Hill, where the bodies of malefactors were exposed, and then dragged by a hook fixed in the throat, and thrown into the Tiber. 2 l6 THE ANNALS. began by degrees to detach herself from her husband, and to make a separate defence. After this fatal warning, he doubted whether he should make any further efforts; but, by the advice of his sons, fortifying his mind, he again entered the senate; where he had to hear the renewal of the prosecution, the angry expressions of the fathers, and on all hands indications of displeasure and failure; but nothing daunted him so much as to behold Tiberius, exhibiting no token either of commiseration or anger, but sullen and close shut up, that he might be impregnable to every attempt at moving him. When he was brought home, as if he were preparing for his further defence the next day, he wrote somewhat, which he sealed and delivered to his freedman: he then paid the usual attention to hlis person; and after that, late at night, his wife leaving the chamber, he ordered the door to be shut, and was found, at break of day, stabbed through the throat, his sword lying on the ground. 16. I remember to have heard from aged men, that in the hlands of Piso was frequently seen a bundle of writings, which he did not expose, but which, as his friends constantly averred, " contained the letters of Tiberius and his orders against Germanicus; that he was resolved to lay them before the fathers and to charge the emperor, but was deluded by the hollow promises of Sejanus; and that neither did Piso die by his own hands, but of an express executioner, sent into his house." I dare affirm neither; nor yet ought I to conceal the relations of such as still lived when I was a youth. Tiberius, framing his countenance to sadness, complained to the senate that Piso, by that sort of death, had sought to throw odium upon him; and in a rapid succession of questions, inquired particularly how he had passed his last day, how his last night? The freedman answered to most with prudence, to some confusedly. The emperor then recited the letter sent him by Piso. It was conceived almost in these words: "Oppressed by a combination of my enemies and the odium of falsely imputed crimes; since no place is left here for truth and my:nnocence; to the immortal gods I appeal, that towards you, Jaesar, I have lived with sincere faith, nor towards your mother with less reverence. For my sons I implore her protection and yours: my son Cneius had no share in the events -Aid to my charge, of whatsoever character they were, since, c. 17.1 FATE OF PISO, AND TRIAL OF PLANCINA. 117 during the whole time, he abode at Rome: and my sobr Marcus dissuaded me from returning to Syria. Oh that, old as I am, I had yielded to him, rather than he, young as he is, to me! Hence the more earnestly I pray that innocent as he is, he be not involved in the punishment of my guilt: by my devoted services for five and forty years, I entreat you; I, who firmerly during my fellowship in the consulship with the deified Augustus, your father, enjoyed his approbation and your friendship; I, who shall never ask a favour of you hereafter, implore your mercy for my unhappy son." Of Plancina he said nothing. 17. Tiberius, upon this, cleared the young man of any participation in the guilt of the civil war, alleging that he had acted under " the orders of his father, which a son could not disobey," at the same time bewailing "that noble house, and even the melancholy fate of Piso himself, howsoever deserved." For Plancina he pleaded with shame and guilt, alleging the importunity of his mother; against whom the secret complaints of all the worthiest citizens burst forth with augmented vehemence. " Was it then right for a grandmother to admit to her sight the murderess of her grandson, to hold converse with her, and rescue her from the vengeance of the senate? To Germanicus alone was denied what by the laws was granted to every citizen. By Vitellius and Veranius, the fate of that prince was mourned and his cause pleaded; by the emperor and his mother, Plancina was defended. Henceforth she might turn her infernal arts so successfully tried, and her poisons, upon Agrippmia and her children; and, with the blood of that most miserable house, satiate this exemplary grandmother and uncle." Two days were thus wasted in the semblance of a trial; Tiberius animating the sons of Piso to protect their mother. When the pleaders and witnesses had zealously pushed the charge, as no one replied in her defence, commiseration was increased rather than hatred. The consul Aurelius Cotta was first asked his opinion; (for when the emperor collected the voices,,ne magistrates likewise voted):1 his sentence was, "c that the 1 In the time of the republic, the consul, who presided in the senate, put the question to the fathers in every debate; but he neither called upon his colleague, nor the prstors, nor any of the acting magistrates. He addressed himself to the prince of the senate, the consuls elect, 118 THE ANNALS. [B. M., name of Piso should be erased from the annals, part of his estate confiscated, part granted to his son Cneius, upon changing that name; that his son Marcus be divested of his dignity, and, taking fifty thousand great sesterces for his support, be banished for ten years: and that to Plancina indemnity should be granted, in consideration of the prayer of Augusta." 18. Much of this sentence was abated by the emperor; as that of striking Piso's name out of the annals, when " that of Mark Antony, who made war upon his country; that of Julius Antonius,' who had violated the house of Augustus, continued still there." He also exempted Marcus Piso from ignominy, and left him his whole paternal inheritance; for, as I have already often observed, he was tolerably proof against the temptation of money, and, at that time, from shame at having screened Plancina, he was the more disposed to mercy. He likewise withstood the motion of Valerius Messalinus, "for erecting a golden statue in the temple of Mars the Avenger;" and that of Ctecina Severus, "for founding an altar to Revenge." " Such monuments as these," he insisted, " were only fit to be raised upon foreign victories; domestic calamities should be buried in the grief which attended them." Messalinus had added, "that to Tiberius, Livia, Antonia, Agrippina, and Drusus, public thanks should be rendered for having revenged the death of Germanicus;" but had omitted to mention Claudius. Messalinus was.asked by Lucius Asprenas, in the presence of the senate, s" whether he was aware that he had omitted him?" and then at length the name of Claudius was subjoined. The more I meditate on the events of ancient or modern times, the more I am struck with the capricious uncertainty which mocks the calculations of men in all their transactions; for there was and after them to the members of consular rank, and in regular succession to the rest of the senate. The reason of this arrangement seems to have been an idea that the magistrates, if they took the lead, would have too much influence on the rest of the assembly. After the change of government, the same practice continued, with this difference: if the emperor attended the debates in the senate, he, of course, was the supreme magistrate; and in that case it was his to collect the voices. He began with the consuls actually in office, and proceeded to the other magistrates according to their rank. 1 See Annals, book iv. s. 44. o. l1.| TACPARINAS RENEWS THE WAR IN AFRICA. 119 not a man who was not thought more likely to succeed to tte throne, whether from his fame, his promise, or public veneration, than he whom Fortune treasured up in her secret counsels as the future prince. 19. A few days after, Vitellius, Veranius, and Severus, were by the senate preferred to the honours of the priesthood, at the motion of Tiberius. To Fulcinius he promised his suffrage for preferment, but advised him "not to embarrass his eloquence by impetuosity." Here was the termination of the proceedings for avenging the death of Germanicus; an affair which had been the subject of every variety of misrepresentation, not by those only who then lived, but likewise in succeeding times: so true is it that all transactions of preeminent importance are wrapt in doubt and obscurity; while some hold for certain facts the most precarious hearsays, others turn facts into falsehold; and both are exaggerated by posterity. Drusus went out of the city to renew the auspices, and presently entered it in ovation. A few days after died Vipsania, his mother; the only one of the children of Agrippa who died a natural death: the rest manifestly perished, or are believed to have perished, by the sword, poison, or famine. 20. The same year, Tacfarinas, whom I have mentioned to have been defeated the former summer by Camillus, renewed the war in Africa; first by desultory incursions for the purnoses of devastation, so sudden that they escaped unchastised; next, by sacking towns and bearing away large boot; at last, he besets a Roman cohort, at a small distance from the river Pagida. The fort they occupied was commanded by Decrius, an active and experienced soldier, who regarded this siege as a dishonour. Encouraging his men to offer battle on the open plain, he drew them up without the walls at the first shock the cohort was repulsed; but the resolute Decrius braved the enemy's darts, opposed the runaways, and upbraided the standard-bearers, "that upon vagabonds and undisciplined robbers the Roman soldiers turned their backs." At the same time he received several wounds; and, though his eye was pierced through, he faced the foe, nor ceased fighting, till, deserted by his men, he was slain. 21. Lucius Apronius had succeeded Camillus. As soon as he learnt this defeat, grieved rather at the disgrace of his own 120 THE ANNALS. [B. III. men than the gl try of the enemy, he practised a severity, at this time rare, and founded on the example of ancient times;' beating to death with a cudgel every tenth man of that degraded cohort, drawn by lot; and such was the benefit of this rigour, that those very forces of Tacfarinas, as they assaulted the fortress of Thala, were routed by a body of not more than five hundred veterans. In this battle, Rufus Helvius, a common soldier, acquired the glory of saving a citizen, and was by Apronius presented with the spear and collar: Tiberius added the civic crown, complaining rather than offended, that Apronius had not, in his own right as proconsul, granted that also. Tacfarinas, as the Numidians were dismayed and set against sieges, adopted a desultory mode of war; retiring when attacked, and, upon a retreat, assaulting the rear. As long as the barbarian observed this method, without sustaining any loss himself, he mocked the baffled and harassed Romans; but after he drew down to the maritime places, being prevented from moving by the quantities of plunder, he pitched a camp and remained there. Hither Apronius Cesianus was by his father despatched with the cavalry and auxiliary cohorts, to which he had added the most active of the legionary foot; and, having successfully fought the Numidians, drove them back to the deserts. 22. At Rome, Emilia Lepida, who, besides the nobleness of the Emilian family, was great-granddaughter to Pompey and Sylla, was charged with feigning that she had given birth to a child by Publius Quirinus, her husband, a man rich and childless. She was further charged with "adulteries, poisonings, and treasonable dealings with the Chaldeans about the fate and continuance of the imperial house." Her brother Manius Lepidus, defended her; and guilty and infamous as she was, the persecution from her husband (continued after their divorce) drew compassion upon her. In this trial, it was no easy matter to discover the heart of Tiberius; with such subtlety he blended and disguised the symptoms of 1 Appius Claudius, consul A. u. C. 259, commanded in the war against the Volsci. The soldiers, regardless of discipline and subordination, paid no respect to their officers, and, in consequence of their contumacy, suffered a defeat. As soon as they returned to their camp, Claudius punished the ringleaders with death, and decimated the rest of his army. " Cetera multitudo, sorte decimus quisque, ad supplicium lecit."-Liv. lib. ii. s. 59. ACCUSATION OF LEPIDA. 121 indignation and clemency. At first he besought the senate "not to meddle with the articles of treason;" and presently engaged Marcus Servilius, once consul, and the other witnesses, to produce the very evidences of treason which he had desired to suppress: and yet, he took the slaves of Lepida from the guard of soldiers, and transferred them to the consuls; nor would he suffer them to be examined by torture, as to her practices against his own house: he even excused Drusus from voting first, as consul elect. This some understood as a concession to civil equality, "that the rest might not be obliged to follow the example of Drusus;" some ascribed it to cruelty, " for that he would not have surrendered his privilege except he had meant to condemn her." 23. The public games interrupted the trial, when Lepida, accompanied with other ladies of distinguished quality, entered the theatre;1 and with doleful lamentations invoking her ancestors, and Pompey himself, whose statues stood round in view, and who raised those monuments he saw, she excited such universal commiseration, that the spectators burst into tears, and gave vent to angry and direful imprecations against Quirinus, "c to whose childless old age and mean extraction, a lady once designed for the wife of Lucius Caesar, and for the daughter-in-law of the deified Augustus, was given." At last, by putting her slaves to the rack, her crimes were made manifest, and the judgment of Rubellius Blandus prevailed, for interdicting her from fire and water. To this judgment Drusus assented, though others had proposed a milder. That her estate should not be forfeited, was shortly after granted to Scaurus, who by her had had a daughter; and now, after condemnation, Tiberius divulged the fact, that from the slaves too of Quirinus he had learnt her attempts to poison him." 24. As a consolation to the illustrious families of Rome for their late calamities (for the Calpurnian house had suffered the loss of Piso, and just after, the JEmilian house that of Lepida), Decius Silanus was now restored to the Julian family. I will briefly recite his disgrace. As, against the republic, the fortune of Augustus carried all before it, so in his family it was unhappy, on account of the lewdness of his daughter and 1 The Theatre of Pompey, dedicated..u.c. 669. For a further account of this building, capable, according to Pliny (lib. xxxv. s. 15), of holding forty thousand persons, see Annals, book xiv. s. 20. 122 THE ANNALS. [B. 111. granddaughter, whom he banished the city, punishing with death or exile their adulterers. For, by giving to a fault common between men and women, the heinous name of sacrilege and treason, he departed from the lenity of our ancestors and his own laws. But I shall hereafter relate the fate do others from this his severity, as also the other transactions of that time, if, having finished my present undertaking, life remains for other studies. Silanus, who had debauched the granddaughter of Augustus, though the only punishment inflicted on him was, to be excluded from the friendship and presence of the emperor, yet understood this as a denunciation of banishment; nor durst he, till the reign of Tiberius, sulpplicate the prince and the senate for leave to return, through the influence of his brother, Marcus Silanus, who was preeminently distinguished by his illustrious rank and eloquence. Marcus having returned thanks to Tiberius, had this answer from him before the senate,-" that he himself also rejoiced that his brother was returned after a long absence; and justly was it permitted him, since neither by decree of the senate, nor by any law, had he been banished; that he himself, however, retained entire the resentment of his father towards him, nor by the return of Silanus were the resolutions of Augustus cancelled. Thenceforward he remained at Rome, but obtained no honours. 25. A mitigation of the law Papia Poppueal was next proposed,-a law which Augustus had made when in years, in support of the Julian laws, for punishing celibacy and enriching the exchequer. Nor even by this means did marriages and the bringing up of children become more in vogue, the advantage of having no children to inherit outweighing the penalty of disobedience; however, the numbers endangered by it increased, while by the glosses of informers every family was suffering. So that, as before the city laboured under the weight of crimes, so now under the pest of laws. From this circumstance I am induced to investigate the first rise of laws, 1 The law Papia Poppcea derived its name from two consuls who were the authors of it; namely, Marcus Papius Mutilus, and Qulitus Poppmeus, A.U.C. 762, the ninth of the Christian era. Dio observes that the two consuls had neither wife nor children; and for that reason a law which imposed penalties on celibacy, and rewarded the married state, was the more acceptable, because disinterested. c. 27.J ORIGIN AND CHANGES OF LAWS. 123 and show how it was that this countless multitude and variety of laws were introduced. 26. The first race of men, free as yet from every depraved passion, lived without reproach and crimes, and therefore without chastisements and restraints; nor was there occasion for rewards, when from their own natural inclination they pursued things honourable; and where they coveted nothing inordinately, they were prohibited from nothing by fear. But, after they had put off their original equality, and instead of moderation and diffidence, ambition and violence entered in, sovereignties sprang up, and in many nations continued without intermission. Some, either from the beginning, or after they were surfeited with tyrants, preferred the government of laws, which, in those early ages, when the minds of men were unsophisticated, were plain and simple. The laws in most renown were those framed for the Cretans by Minos, for the Spartans by Lycurgus, and afterwards that more elaborate and extended code which Solon composed for the Athenians. Romulus ruled over us Romans according to his own pleasure; after him, Numa managed tile people by religious devices and divine law. Some institutions were introduced by Tullus Hostilius, and Ancus Martius; but Servius Tullius stands preeminent as the founder of laws which the kings themselves were bound to obey. 27. After the expulsion of Tarquin, the people resorted to many expedients for the security of their freedom against the cabals of the senate, and to consolidate the interests of the different orders of the state; hence were created the Decemviri, and by them were composed the Twelve Tables, that consummation of equitable legislation, in which were adopted whatever excellences could be found in any other codes in existence For the laws which were made in after times, though sometimes framed to meet the crimes of offenders as they arose, yet more frequently were carried in a violent manner, and during the conflicts of the different orders, from a desire of obtaining unpermitted honours, or getting rid of illustrious men, and for other sinister objects. Hence the Gracchi and Saturnini, those exciters of the people; and hence Drusus, in the name of the senate, vying with them in largesses; hence the allies seduced to espouse his cause by the hope of obtaining the freedom of the city, cr rather mocked 124 THE ANNALS. LB. III. and deceived by the veto of the tribunes. Neither during the Italian war, nor during the civil war which followed, was the practice discontinued; but many and contradictory laws were then made; till at length Sylla, the dictator, changing or abolishing the past, added many of his own, and procured some respite in this matter, but not for long; for presently followed the turbulent propositions of Lepidus, and soon after to the tribunes' was restored their extravagant power of raising commotions among the people by whatsoever means they pleased. And now laws were not made for the public only, but for particular men; and in the most corrupt period of the commonwealth the greatest number of laws were made. 28. Cneius Pompey, in his third consulship, was chosen to correct the public enormities; but his remedies proved more unsupportable than its distempers. He was at once the maker and the violator of his own laws, and what he had acquired by arms he lost by the same means. Henceforward for twenty years discord raged, neither unwritten nor written law had any force; the most wicked found impunity in the excess of their wickedness; and many virtuous men perished in their uprightness. At length, Augustus Caesar in his sixth consulship, then confirmed in power, abolished the orders which during the triumvirate he had established, and gave us laws proper for peace and a single ruler. From that time the bonds of slavery were drawn closer: spies were appointed, who by the law Papia Poppaea were encouraged with rewards, to watch such as neglected the privileges of marriage, in order that the state, as the common parent, might obtain their vacant possessions. But these informers went beyond the intention of the law, and had got into their clutches the city, Italy, and the Roman citizens in every 1 Sylla, seeing that the tribunes made an ill use of their power, reduced those magistrates within due bounds. Pompey, in his consulship, A.u.c. 684, re-established the tribunitian power. Speaking of this act, Cicero says he was in the habit of mentioning Pompey, upon all occasions, with the highest commendation; but, with regard to the tribunitian power he chose to be silent. He was not willing to condemn that measure, and to approve was not in his power. " Pompeium nostrum caeteris rebus omnibus semper amplissimis summisque effero laudibus. De tribunitia potestate taceo; nec enim reprehendere libet, nec laudare possum."-Cicero, De Legizus, lib. iii. cap. 9. a 29.] NERO, SON OF GERMIANICUS. 125 part of 'the empire: numbers were stripped of their entire fortunes, and all had the terror of them before their eyes; when Tiberius chose by lot five of consular rank, five of prietorian, with ten other senators, to apply a remedy; by whom most of its intricacies were explained; which afforded some alleviation of the pressing mischief. 29. Tiberius about this time recommended to the favour of the senate Nero, one of the children of Germanicus, now entered on the state of manhood; and, with the ridicule of those who heard him, desired "that he might be exempted from executing the office of the vigintivirate,l and have leave to put up for the queestorship five years sooner than the laws directed." Tiberius pretended " that the same indulgences had been decreed to himself and his brother Drusus, at the request of Augustus." Nor do I doubt but there were at that time those who secretly ridiculed such petitions; although then the foundations of the lofty power of the Csesars were but being laid, the ancient custom was fresher in the recollection; and the relation between Augustus and his wife's sons was slighter than between a grandfather and his grandsons. A seat in the pontifical college was given in addition; and the first day he entered the forum a gratuity was presented to the people, who were much pleased in beholding a son of Germanicus now of age. After that their joy was heightened by his marriage with Julia, the daughter of Drusus. But as these events were received with approbation, so the intended marriage of the daughter of Sejanus with the son of Claudius excited dissatisfaction. Tiberius seemed to have polluted the nobility of the Claudian house by it; and further to have increased the influence of Sejanus, already suspected of aspiring views. 1 Dio informs us, that while Augustus, after all his victories, was still absent from Rome, the senate, by a decree, established a new magistracy, consisting of twenty, to superintend the police and good government of the city. Their duty was divided into different depart. ments: three to sit in judgment; three to direct the coinage; four to superintend the public ways; and ten to preside in such causes as were tried by the centumviri. The office was continued by Augustus, and became the previous step to the higher magistracies. The time for entering on the questorship was at the age of twenty-four; consequently, Nero, the eldest son of Germanicus, might begin his career of honours when turned of nineteen. 126 THE AWNNALS. I B. I.L 30. In the latter part of this year died Lucius Volusius aud Sallustius Crispus; distinguished characters. The family of Volusius was ancient, but rose no higher than the pretorship; it was he who honoured it with the consulship; and was likewise created censor for modelling the classes of the equestrian order; he also laid the foundation of the wealth which that family enjoyed in so boundless a degree. Crispus, who was of an equestrian house, and great-nephew by a sister to Caius Sallustius, that most renowned Roman historian, was adopted by him; and though the way to the great offices was open to him, yet, in imitation of Mecenas, without the dignity of senator, he surpassed in influence many who were distinguished by consulships and triumphs: differing from the custom of ancient times in his style of living and the elegance of his habits; and, in expense and affluence, bordering upon luxury. But beneath this gay exterior was an energy of mind equal to the greatest affairs, which exerted itself the more in proportion as he made a show of indolence and sloth: he was, therefore, in the lifetime of Maecenas, the next in favour, afterwards chief confidant in all the secret counsels of Augustus and Tiberius, and privy to the order for slaying Agrippa Posthumus; in his old age, he preserved with the prince rather the appearance than the influence of authority. The same had happened to Mvecenas. It is the fate of power rarely to be lasting; perhaps from satiety in both, when princes have no more to grant, and ministers no more to crave 31. Next followed the consulshipof Tiberius and Drusus; to Tiberius the fourth, to Drusus the second; remarkable from father and son being colleagues-for the same fellowship in the office between Tiberius and Germanicus, two years before, was neither gratifying to the uncle, nor were they so closely connected by relationship. In the beginning of the year, Tiberius, on pretence of reinstating his health, retired to Campania; whether it was that he would gradually prepare himself for a long and lasting retirement, or to leaving Drusus, in his father's absence, the execution of the consulship alone: and, as it happened, a trifling circumstance, which led to a serious contest, afforded the young consul materials for ingratiating himself with the public. Domitius Corbulo, formerly prwtor, complained to the senate of Lucius c. 32.1 FRESH COMMOTIONS IN AFRICA. 127 Sylla, a noble youth, "that in the show of gladiators he would not yield him place." His years, the national custom, and the zealous support of the old men, formed the advantages of Corbulo: on the other side, Mamercus Scaurus, Lucius Arruntius, and others, laboured for their kinsman Sylla: they argued the matter warmly, and the examples of our ancestors were urged, " who by severe decrees had censured irreverence in youth." Till at length Drusus interposed with remarks calculated to sooth their animosities, and Corbulo had satisfaction made him by Scaurus,1 who was both father-in-law and uncle to Sylla, and the most copious orator of that age. The same Corbulo, exclaiming against "the condition of most of the roads through Italy, that through the fraud of the contractors and negligence of the magistrates, they were interrupted and impassable;" willingly undertook the execution of the business; but executed it not so much to the convenience of the public as to the ruin of many on whose properties and reputation he made ruthless havoc by his convictions and confiscations. 32. Soon after, Tiberius by a letter acquainted the senate, " that by the incursions of Tacfarinas fresh commotions had arisen in Africa; and that they must select for proconsul a man of military experience, of vigorous constitution, and who would be equal to the war." Sextus Pompeius, taking this occasion to discharge his hate, reproached Marcus Lepidus as dastardly, indigent, a disgrace to his ancestors, and, therefore, to be divested even of the government of Asia, his province by lot."2 But the senate opposed him; they considered Lepidus as a man rather mild than indolent; and that, as in his narrow fortune bequeathed to him, but not impaired by him, he preserved his dignity without reproach, he merited honour rather than contumely: he was therefore sent to 1 For more of Mamercus Scaurus, a man famous for his talents at the bar, but detested for his vicious course of life, see Annals, book vi. s. 29. 2 It has been already mentioned that Augustus, having reserved some provinces for his own management, resigned the rest to the senate. Asia and Africa were in the number assigned to the fathers, and were always considered as consular governments. Two, who had discharged the office of consul, were named, and the province of each was decided by lot. That rule, however, was waved in sudden emeri gencies, and a proconsul was sent without any form of election cz ballot. 128 THE ANNALS. lB. I-T Asia. Concerning Africa, it was decreed that the appointment of a governor should be left to the emperor. 33. In the course of the debate, Cwecina Severus proposed, "that no magistrate should go into any province accompanied by his wife." He introduced this motion with a long preface, "that he lived with his own in perfect concord, by her ho had six children; and what he was establishing as a law for all, he had observed at home, having during forty years' service confined her to Italy. It was not, indeed, without cause established of old, that women should not be taken into allied nations or foreign. A train of women introduced luxury in peace, by their fears retarded war, and made a Roman army resemble in their march the stately progress of Barbarians. The sex was not only delicate and unequal to fatigue, but, if suffered, cruel, aspiring, and greedy of authority: that they walked among the troops, and had the centurions at their beck. A woman1 had lately presided at the exercises of the troops, and at the decursions of the legions. The senate themselves should consider that as often as any of the magistrates were charged with plundering the provinces, their wives were the chief offenders. To the ladies the most profligate in the province immediately attached themselves; by them all affairs were undertaken and transacted: that two persons were to be attended when they went out, and there were two courts of justice; but the orders of the ladies were the more peremptory and capricious. Such excesses were formerly restrained by the Oppian2 and other laws; but now, these barriers removed, women ruled all things, their families, the courts of justice, and, at length, even the armies." 34. This proposition was heard by few with approbation; more met it with clamorous objections, urging " that neither was it regularly laid before the senate, nor was Caecina of sufficient consideration to originate a reform in so grave 1 Plancina, the wife of Piso. 2 Caius Oppius, tribune of the people A.. c. 541, was the author of a law by which the women were laid under several restrictions in the articlea of dress and otUer expenses. The law was repealed, notwithstanding the strenuous efforts of Cato the censor, A. u.c. 559. See Livy, lib. xxxiv. s. 38. But still it was thought necessary that the female sex should be held within due bounds, and other sumptuary laws were enacted. c. 34.] DEBATE ON THE MOTION OF CLECINA. 129 a matter." He was soon after answered by Valerius Messalinus, who was the son of Messala, and the eloquence of the father was reflected in the son. He said,-" that many rigorous institutions of the ancients were softened, and changed for the better: for, neither was Rome now, as of old, beset with wars, nor the provinces in arms; and a few concessions were made to the conveniences of the gentler sex, who were so far from burdening the provinces, that they were not felt in the private expenditure of their husbands. As to honours, attendance, and expense, they enjoyed them in common with their husbands, who could receive no embarrassment from their company in time of peace. To war, indeed, we must go equipped and unencumbered; but after the fatigues of war, what relief was more honourable than that which a wife afforded? But some wives had given loose to ambition and avarice! What! were not most of the magistrates themselves chargeable with various excesses? we did not therefore send none into the provinces. Husbands were often corrupted by the vices of their wives, and were, therefore, all single men untainted by such influences? The Oppian laws were formerly passed, because the condition of the times required them; such restrictions were afterwards somewhat relaxed and mollified, because it was expedient. In vain we covered our own supineness with borrowed names: if the wife ran into excess, the husband was to blame. It was, moreover, unreasonable, for the weak and uxorious spirit of one or a few, to bereave all others of the natural partners of their prosperity and distress. Besides, the sex, weak by nature, would be left defenceless, abandoned to their natural extravagance, and the solicitations of adulterers. Scarcely under the eye and restraint of the husband, was the marriage bed preserved inviolate; what must be the consequence, when, by an absence of many years, the obligations of marriage should be enfeebled, as in a divorce? It became them so to proceed against abuses abroad, as not to forget the enormities at Rome." To this Drusus added somewhat concerning his own married state: "Princes," he said, "were frequently obliged to visit the remote parts of the empire: how often did the deified Augustus travel to the east, how often to the west, accompanied by Livia! He himself too had made a progress to Illyricum, and. if it were expedient, was ready to visit other nations; but not always contentedly if he were to be torn TAC -VOL. I. K 130 THE ANNALS, LB. I;. from his wife, who was most dear to him, and by whom ha had so many children." Thus was Ceecina's motion eluded. 35. When the senate met next, they had a letter from Tiberius, indirectly rebuking the fathers, "that they cast upon him all the public cares;" and named M' Lepidus and Junius Blesus, one of whom they should choose as proconsul of Africa. They were then both heard; when Lepidus excused himself with earnestness, pretending "his infirm constitution, the tender age of his children, and a daughter fit for marriage." There was another reason too, of which he said nothing; but it was easily understood: Bleesus was the uncle of Sejanus, and therefore had the prevailing interest. Bleasus, too, made a show of refusing, but not with the same pertinacity, and he was not assisted in his repugnance by the acquiescence of those who wished to flatter him. 36. After this a grievance was brought to light which had hitherto only been matter of suppressed dissatisfaction. It had become a practice for the most abandoned characters to assume the privilege of slandering and maligning good men, under the protection of Coesar's statue, to which they fled as a sanctuary:2 even slaves and freedmen were, out of all reason, objects of terror to their masters or patrons, even when they had:nsulted and threatened them. Against this abuse it was argued by Caius Sestius a senator, " that princes were indeed as the gods; but by the gods just petitions only were heard: nor did any one betake himself to the Capitol, or the other temples of Rome, that under their shelter he might exercise villanies. That the laws were a dead letter, and utterly subverted, if in the public forum, nay, at the threshold of the senate, Annia Rufilla, whom he had prosecuted to conviction for forgery, could abuse and threaten him: neither durst he seek relief from the law, for that she protected herself with the emperor's statue." Others urged similar complaints, and some beset Drusus with clamorous representations of more aggravated cases, and besought him to hold up a salutary example in the punishment of the offenders; when he ordered her to be summoned, and on her conviction to be committed to the public prison. I This is the rendering of the passage by all the English translators; we are, however, inclined to think, with Dr. Nipperdey, that " arrepta imagine Cmsaris" may here signify, "under the prettxt that the Emperor was concerned:" bte w~rd incage being used, not in its literal, I- t metaphorical senso. o. 38.1 COMMOTIONS IN THRACB. 131 37. Considius iEquus, too, and Ccelius Cursor, Roman knights, were, at the motion of Drusus, punished by a decree of the senate, for forging a charge of treason against the praetor Magius Csecilianus.- From both these events, Drusus reaped applause; it was said, "that by his living thus sociably at Rome, and mixing in company, the closeness and reserve of his father were compensated." Neither did the luxury in which the young prince lived give much offence. " Let him," it was said, "rather thus employ his days in shows, his nights in banqueting, than, in dismal solitude and secluded from all pleasure, wear himself out in gloomy suspicions and meditations of mischief." 38. For neither Tiberius nor the informers were weary of their efforts. Ancharius Priscus had accused Caesius Cordus, proconsul of Crete, of official plunder, with an additional charge of high treason; a charge which at that time formed the universal resource in accusations.' Antistius Vetus, a nobleman of the first rank in Macedonia, had been tried for adultery and absolved: this offended Tiberius, who reproached the judges, and recalled him to be tried for treason, as a disturber of the public peace, and confederate with the late king Rhescuporis, when having slain his brother Cotys, he meditated war against us. So that Vetus was condemned, and interdicted from fire and water: to this sentence it was added, " that he should be confined to an island not affording an easy passage either to Macedonia or Thrace." For, upon the division of that kingdom between Rhemetalces and the sons of Cotys, who on account of their youth had for their guardian Trebellienus Rufus, the Thracians, not used to our government, were in a state of discontent and hostility; nor did they less censure Rhelnetalces than Trebellienus, for leaving unpunished the wrongs of their countrymen. The Cceletaeans, Odrysaeans, and others, powerful nations, took up arms, under different captains, but equally unknown to fame. For this 1 Pliny the younger, in his panegyric on the emperor Trajan, says that neither the laws enacted in the consulship of Voconius, nor the Julian law, conduced so much to enrich the exchequer of the prince and the public treasury, as the charge of violated majesty, too often the only charge against those who were free from every crime. " Lo cupletabant et fiscum et 2erarium non tam Voconioe et Julice leges. quam majestatis singulare et unicum crimen eorum qui crimine vacarent."-Pliny, in Paneg. s. 42. K 2 132 THE ANNALS. [B. I11, reason, their armies were not united so as to give a formidable character to the war: some excited to a revolt at home, others traversed Mount Hlemus, to engage in the insurrection the distant provinces: the greatest part and best appointed, besieged Philippopolis, (a city founded by Philip of Macedon,) and in it king Rhemetalces. 39. Publius Velleius, who commanded the army in the neighbouring province, hearing of this, despatched the auxiliary horse and light foot; some against those who roamed about for plunder, or to obtain succours: he himself led the flower of the infantry to raise the siege. These several enterprises were at once successfully executed: the plundering parties were cut off; a division arose amongst the besiegers, and the king fortunately made a sortie just as the Roman forces arrived. But it deserves not to be called a regular battle, nor a battle of any sort, where mon half armed and stragglers were slaughtered, without blood on our side. 40. The same year the states of Gaul, stimulated by their excessive debts, began a rebellion. The most active incendiaries were Julius Florus among the Treveri, and Julius Sacrovir among the Ajduans. They were both distinguished by their nobility, and by the good services of their ancestors, and were therefore formerly presented with the freedom of the city; a privilege rare in those days, and then only the reward of virtue. When by secret conferences they had gained all the most daring, with such as were desperate through indigence, or from guilt of past crimes forced to commit more, they agreed that Florus should begin the insurrection in Belgium, Sacrovir amongst the neighbouring Gauls. In order to this, going about to places of public resort and meetings of the people, they uttered seditious harangues; representing " their tribute without end, their oppressive usury, the insolence and cruelty of their governors; further, that since the report of the murder of Germanicus, dissension prevailed among the Roman soldiery; that to be convinced that a rare opportunity of recovering their liberty now presented itself, they need 'only tonsider, whereas they were themselves in a flourishing state, how poor and exhausted was Italy; the Roman populace how weak and unwarlike, the Roman armies how destitute of all vigour but that derived from foreigners. 41. Scarcely one city remained untainted with the seeds of I2URRECT[O N Pi GAUL. 133 this rebellion; but it first broke out among the Aadecavi; and the Turonii. The former were reduced by Acilius Aviola, a legate, with the assistance of a cohcrt drawn from the garrison at Lyons. The latter were suppressed by the same Aviola, with some legionary troops sent by Visellius Varro, lieutenant-governor of lower Germany. Some of the chiefs of the Gauls had likewise joined him with succours, the better to disguise their defection, and to advance it with more effect at a convenient time. Even Sacrovir was seen animating the troops to fight for the Romans, with his head bare, a demonstration, he pretended, of his bravery; but the prisoners maintained, that "he did it to be known to his countrymen, and to escape their darts." An account of all this was laid before Tiberius, who repudiated it as unauthentic, and by his indecision gave increased vigour to the war. 42. Florus meanwhile followed up his designs, and tried to entice a regiment of horse levied at Treves, and kept under our pay and discipline, to begin the war by putting to the sword the Roman bankers; and a few were corrupted, but the body remained in their allegiance. In another part a rabble of his followers and debtors took arms, and were making for the forest called Ardenna, when the legions sent from both armies by Visellius and Caius Silius by opposite routes intercepted them; and Julius Indus, one of the same city with Florus, at enmity with him, and therefore more eager to perform the service, being sent forward with a chosen band, further routed the ill-appointed multitude. Florus, by shifting from one hiding-place to another, frustrated the search of the conquerors; but at last, when he saw all the passes beset with soldiers, he fell by his own hands. This was the issue of the insurrection of the Treviri. 43. Amongst the AEduans the revolt was an affair of more magnitude, in proportion as the state was more opulent, and the forces to suppress it lay at a greater distance. Augustodunum, the capital of the nation, was seized by Sacrovir, and in it all the most illustrious youth of Gaul, who were there occupied in learning the liberal arts. By securing these pledges he aimed at attaching to his interest their parents and relations; and at the same time distributed to the young men arms which he had caused to be secretly made. lie had forty thousand men, the fifth part armed like our legions, the 134 THE ANNALS. [B. III rest with poles, hangers, and other weapons used by hunters To the number were added such of the slaves as had been appointed to be gladiators; these were covered, after the fashion of the country, with a complete plate of iron, and styled Crupellarii; too much encumbered to use their own weapons, and yet impenetrable by those of others. These forces were still increased by volunteers from the neighbouring cities, where, though the public body did not hitherto avow the revolt, yet the zeal of individuals exerted itself; they had likewise leisure to increase, from the contention of the two Roman generals,1 who were disputing which should take the conduct of the war, while each demanded it. At lengthVarro, old and infirm, yielded to the superior vigour of Silius. 44. Now at Rome was reported, " not only the insurrection of the Treveri and of the AEduans, but likewise, that sixtyfour cities of Gaul had revolted; that the Germans had joined in the confederacy, and that Spain was wavering; all which was believed in this exaggerated form, as is usual in matters of rumour. All the worthiest men grieved, from concern for their country; many, from hatred of the present state of things and thirst for change, rejoiced even in their own perils; they inveighed against Tiberius, "that in a commotion so extensive, he spent his time upon the informations of the state accusers." They asked, " would Julius Sacrovir be tried for treason before the senate." They exulted "'that there were at last found men who would with arms restrain the bloody orders for private murders," and declared "that even war was a happy change for a miserable peace." So much the more studiously Tiberius assumed an air of security and unconcern; neither changing his place nor countenance, but conducting himself at that critical time as at others; whether it arose from the depth of his dissimulation, or that he had learnt that it was no great matter, and of less importance than rumour represented it. 45. Silius meanwhile sent forward a band of auxiliaries, and marching slowly with two legions ravaged the villages of the Sequanians, a people at the extreme confines of Gaul, bordering upon the dEduans, and their associates in arms. He then advanced rapidly towards Augustodunum; the 1 Visellius Varro commanded on the Lower Rhine, and Cains Sllius on the Upper. s 46.] REVOLT IN GAUL SUPPRESSED. 135 standard-bearers mutually vying in expedition, and the:ommon men indignantly desiring "that they might not.vait to take their usual repose, nor intermit their marcl oy night; let them only see and confront the foe, they wanted no more to be victorious" Twelve miles from Augustodunum Saciovir appeared with his forces upon the plains; in the front he had placed his troops in iron armour, his cohorts in the wings, the half-armed in the rear; he himself, onea superb charger, and attended by the other chiefs, rode from rank to rank, and addressing them, reminded them " of the glorious achievements of the ancient Gauls; the defeats they had given the Romans; how honourable their liberty regained by victory, and how much more intolerable than servitude if again subdued." 46. The speech was brief, and the hearers out of heart, for the embattled legions approached, while the crowd of townsmen, ill-appointed and novices in war, were scarcely collected enough to see or hear. On the other side, Silius, although the confidence with which the completion of their hopes was anticipated, rendered exhortation unnecessary, yet called to his men, "t that they might be with reason ashamed that they, the conquerors of Germany, should be thus led against a rabble of Gauls as against an equal enemy; one cohort had lately defeated the Turonian rebel; one regiment of horse the Trevirian; a handful of this very army had routed the Seqtanians; and now as to the AEduans, since as they are more exuberant in wealth, and prodigal in voluptuousness, they are so much the more unwarlike, show how far you are superior to them, but spare those who fly from the field." His words were received with a mighty cry. Instantly the horse attacked the foe on both flanks; the foot attacked their fiont; the business was soon settled in the wings; the men in iron armour stood their ground for a while, as their.iron plates resisted the strokes of sword1 and pike; but the soldiers had recourse to their hatchets and pickaxes, and, as if they had battered a wall, hewed their bodies and armour; others with clubs, or forks, beat down the unwieldy mass, and as they lay stretched along without the least power to raise themselves utp, they were left like dead men. Sacrovir fled first to Augustodunum; and thellce, fearful of being surrendered, to a neighbouring town, accompanied by his most faithful 136 THE ANNALS. [B. II. adherents; there he slew himself, and the rest smote each other, having first set fire to the town over their heads, in the flames of which they were all consumed. 47. Then at length Tiberius wrote to the senate about this war, andi at once acquainted them with its rise and conclusion, neither aggravating nor extenuating the facts, but added, Z" that it was conducted by the fidelity and bravery of his lieutenants, and that he had himself aided them by his counsels." He likewise assigned the reasons why neither he l:or Drusus went to that war; alleging in lofty terms "the great extent of the empire, and urging that it became not the dignity of a prince, upon the revolt of one or two towns, to desert the capital, which was the source of government to the whole; but now that he could not be supposed to be under any apprehension, he would go and look into the state of those nations and adjust their affairs." The senate decreed vows and supplications for his return, with other marks of honour. Only Cornelius Dolabella, while he strove to outdo others, fell into ridiculous sycophancy, and moved, "that from Campania he should enter Rome in ovation." This was followed by a letter from Tiberius, in which he declared, "he was not so destitute of glory, that after having in his youth subdued the fiercest nations, and enjoyed or slighted so many triumphs, he should now in his old age seek empty honours from a short progress about the suburbs of Rome." 48. About the same time he desired of the senate that "the decease of Sulpicius Quirinus' might be celebrated by a public funeral." Quirinus was born at Lanuvium, a municipal town, and nowise related to the ancient patrician family of the Sulpicii; but being a brave soldier, was for his active services rewarded with the consulship under Augustus, and soon aiter with a triumph, for driving the Homonades out of their strongholds in Cilicia; next, when the young Caius Caesar was sent to settle the affairs of Armenia, Quirinus was appointed his governor, and at the same time had paid court to Tiberius, then in his retirement at Rhodes. Thlls the emperor represented now to the sena'e; he extolled the kind offices of Quirinus, and branded Marcus Lolliu as the author of the perverse behaviour of Caius Caesar to himself, and of all the jarring between them. But the memory of Quirinus was 1 See above, s. 22. C. 50.1 BREACH OF THE LAW OF MAJESTY. 13'. not agreeable to the rest of the senate, by reason of the danger he brought upon Lepida, as I have before related, and his sordid meanness and overbearing conduct in the latter part of his life. 49. At the end of the year, Caius Lutorius Priscus, a Roman knight, who had composed a celebrated poem, bewailing the death of Germanicus, and received a reward from Tiberius, was laid hold of by an informer. His charge was, "I that during an illness of Drusus he had composed another, which, if the distemper proved fatal, he hoped to publish with a reward still greater." This poem Lutorius had, in the fulness of vanity, rehearsed at the house of Publius Petronius, in the presence of Vitellia, mother-in-law to Petronius, and many other ladies of quality: when the informer appeared, the other witnesses yielded to their fears and gave testimony: Vitellia alone persisted that she had heard nothing. But the evidence tending to destroy him had most credit; and it was the sentence of Haterius Agrippa, consul elect, that the accused should suffer the extreme penalty of the law. 50. This was opposed by M' Lepidus, who spoke on this wise:-" Conscript fathers, if we only regard with what abominable effusions Lutorius Priscus has defiled his own soul and the ears of men; neither dungeon, nor rope, nor even the punishments peculiar to slaves, are sufficient for him. But though immoralities and enormities exceed all measure, yet the clemency of the prince, and the precedent of our ancestors and yourselves, moderate the severity of punishments and remedial visitations; there is a difference between vanity and illany, empty words and nefarious deeds; there is room left for a middle judgment, by which neither his offence need escape unpunished, nor we repent either of our lenity or our severity. I have often heard our prince bewailing the event, when any criminal had, by a voluntary death, prevented the exercise of his mercy. The life of Lutorius is still untouched: to save it will not endanger the state; to take it away will be of no benefit as an example to others. His pursuits, as they exhibit nothing but the creation of a disordered imagination, so are they powerless and ephemeral; nor is anything important or serious to be apprehended from one who thus betrays his own follies, and seeks to work upon the minds, not of men, but silly women, let him, however, be banished from 138 THR ANNAI.S. [B. I T Rome, interdicted from fire and water, and flrfeit his goods' and this punishment I award him, in like manner as if he were convicted of high treason." 51. Among those of consular rank, only Rubellius Bland li assented to this opinion of Lepidus, the rest voted with Agrippa. Priscus was led to the dungeon and instantly put to death. Tiberius complained before the senate in his usual see-saw style; ihe magnified "their loyalty in avenging thus with severity injuries done to the prince, though slight;' ^)-lt he entreated them "; not to be so precipitate in punishing for mere words;" he praised Lepidus, and censured not Agrippa. Hence a decree was made, "that the decrees of senate should not in less than ten days be carried to the treasury, and that the life of the condemned should be spared for that interval." But to the senate was given no liberty of revising their judgments, nor was Tiberius ever softened by time. 52. Caius Sulpicius and Decimus Haterius were the next consuls. Their year was exempt from disturbances abroad; but at home some severe measures were apprehended against luxury, which was carried beyond all bounds in everything which involved a profuse expenditure. But the more pernicious instances of extravagance were covered, as the cost was generally a secret; while from the sums spent in gluttony and revelry, as they were the subject of daily animadversion, apprehensions were raised of some severe corrective from a prince who observed himself the ancient parsimony. For, Caius Bibulus having begun the complaint, the other sediles took it up, and declared "that the sumptuary laws wer' despised; the pomp and expense of plate and entertainments, in spite of restraints, increased daily, and by moderate penalties the evil could not be stopped." This grievance thus represented to the senate was by them referred entire to the emperor. Tiberius having long weighed with himself whether such propensities to prodigality could be stemmed,whether the stemming it would not bring heavier evils upon the public,-how ignominious it would be to attempt what could not be effected, or which could only be effected by the disgrace and degradation of the most illustrious citizens; wrote at last to the senate in this manner:1 1 Tiberius, who writes this letter to the senate, was so well known to be fond of his glass, that, instead of Tiberius Claudius Nero, he was c. 53.J TIsBEIUS oN THE LUXURY OF TIlE TIMES. 139 53. " In other matters, conscript fathers, perhaps it might oe more expedient for you to consult me in the senate, and for me to declare there what I judge for the public weal; but in the debate on this affair it was best that my eyes were withdrawn, lest, while you marked the countenances and trepidation of individuals charged with extravagant luxury, I, too, should have observed them, and as it were caught them in it. Had the vigilant ediles first asked counsel of me, 1 know not whether I should not have advised them rather to wink at overpowering and inveterate corruptions, than only make it manifest what enormities are too strong for us; but they in truth have done their duty, as I would have all other magistrates fulfil theirs. But for myself, it is neither commendable to be silent, nor yet to speak out, since I neither bear the character of sedile, prietor, or consul; something still greater and higher is required of a prince. Every one is ready to assume to himself the credit of whatever is well done, while upon the prince alone are thrown the miscarriages of all. But what is it that I am first to prohibit, what excess retrench to the ancient standard? Am I to begin with that of our country seats, spacious without bounds; and with the number of domestics, from various countries? or with the quantity of silver and gold? or with the pictures, and statues of brass, the wonders of art'? or with vestments, pronliscuously worn by men and women or with what is peculiar to the women-those precious stones,-for the purchase of which our coin is carried into foreign or hostile nations?' called " Biberius Caldius Mero." But though he was addicted to wine, he showed no disposition to the prevailing luxury of the times, till his excesses broke out in the isle of Caprese. 1 With this account of Roman extravagance, compare the following lines from Lucan:' Namque ut opes nimias mundo fortuna subacto Intulit, et rebus mores cessere secundis, Prsedaque et hostiles luxum suasere rapine, Non auro tectisve modus; mensasque priores Aspernata fames; cultus gestare decoros Vix nuribus, rapuere mares; fsecunda virorum Paupertas fugitur, totoque accersitur orbe Quo gens quseque perit. Longos tum jungere fines Agrorum, et duro quondam sulcata Camilli Vomere, et antiques Curiorum passa ligons Longa sub ignotis extendere rura colonis."-Pharsalia, lit I 140 THE ANNALS. [B. IIL 54. "Nor am I ignorant that at entertainments and in parties these excesses are censured, and a regulation is demlanded; and yet, if an equal law were made, if equal penalties were prescribed, these very censors would loudly complain. 'that the state was utterly overturned, that every illustrious house was menaced with ruin, and that every citizen was exposed to criminal informations.' And yet, as bodily diseases grown inveterate and strengthened by time, cannot be checked but by potent and violent remedies, so the morbid fire which rages in the mind, corrupted and corrupting, is not to be quenched but by remedies equally strong as its own flaming lusts. So many laws made by our ancestors, so many added by the deified Augustus; the former being lost in oblivion, and (which is more heinous) the latter in contempt, have only rendered luxury more secure; for when we covet a thing yet unforbidden, we are apt to fear that it may be forbidden; but when once we can with impunity overleap prohibited bounds, there remains afterwards nor fear nor shame. Why then did parsimony prevail of old? It was because every one was a law to himself-it was because we were then the citizens of one city; nor afterwards, while our dominion was confined to Italy, had we the same incentives to voluptuousness. By foreign conquests we learned to waste the property of others, and by civil wars to consume our own. How small is the evil of which the ediles warn us! how lightly does it weigh in the balance with others! It is wonderful that nobody lays before the senate that Italy stands in need of foreign supplies; that the lives of the Roman people are daily exposed to the mercy of uncertain seas and tempests; were it not for our supplies from the provinces-supplies by which the masters, and their slaves, and their estates, are maintained-will our groves, forsooth, and villas maintain us? This duty, conscript fathers, devolves upon the prince; and if it were neglected, the utter ruin of the state would follow. The remedies for the other maladies are all within our own breasts: some of us shame will reclaim,-necessity will mend the poor, satiety the rich. Or if any of the magistrates, from a confidence in his own strictness of principle and energy, will undertake to stem the progress of so great an evil, he has my praises, and my acknowledgment that he disburdens me of part of my labours; but if their will is merely to declaim against abuses, -. 55.] CAUSES OF DECLINE IN LUXURY INVESTIGATED. 141 and when they have gained applause for the same leave me to bear the odium of proposing the measures they recommend, believe me, conscript fathers, I too am not fond of giving offence; and though I am content to encounter heavy, und for the most part unmerited animosities, for the good of the commonwealth, I am justified in deprecating such as are uncalled for and superfluous, and can be of no service either to me or to yourselves." 55. The senate, upon reading the emperor's letter, declined interfering in an affair of this nature, and sent it back to the sediles: and the luxury of the table which, from the battle of Actium' to the revolution by which Galba obtained the empire, a space of a hundred years, was practised with the most costly profusion, began then gradually to decline. The causes' of this change I would investigate. Formerly, noble families who were distinguished for opulence or the splendour of their fame, frequently fell into decay from a passion for magnificence: for even then it was allowed to court the good graces of the Roman people, the allies and potentates, and to be courted by them: each was distinguished for popularity and the number of clients, in proportion to his affluence, the splendour of his house, and the figure he made. But when \ tyrants shed the blood of their subjects, and the greatness of reputation formed a motive for destruction, those who escaped grew wiser: besides, men of no family frequently chosen senators from the municipal towns, from the colonies, and even from the provinces, brought with them the frugality they observed at home; and though, by good fortune or industry, many of them grew wealthy as they grew old, yet their former habits continued. But Vespasian was the great promoter of parsimonious living, himself a pattern of primi tive strictness in his person and table: hence the compliance of the public with the manners of the prince; and the gratification of imitating him, operated more powerfully than the terror of laws and all their penalties. Or perhaps all human things go a certain round, and there are revolutions in manners analogous to the vicissitudes of the seasons: nor indeed have our ancestors excelled us in all things; our own age has produced many bright examples in moral conduct and 1 The battle of Actium was fought A. U. c. 722. Galba was murdered A. U. C. 823. 142 THE ANNAIl8. [B. IIL the arts to excite the emulation of posterity. But for these we ae indebted to our forefathers: and may these contests for preeminence in virtue continue. 56. Tiberius, having gained the fame of moderation because he had checked the presumptuous expectations of the informers, wrote to the senate to desire the tribunitian power for Drusus. Augustus had devised this designation of supreme power, that while avoiding the title of king or dictator, he might yet have some appellation by which he would overtop all the other authorities. He afterwards shared it with Marcus Agrippa; and, upon his death, chose Tiberius for his associate; that none might doubt who was to be his successor. By this means he conceived he should prevent the aspiring views of others; while he confided in the moderation of Tiberius, and the extent of his own authority. By his example, Tiberius now advanced Drusus to the supreme magistracy; whereas, while Germanicus yet lived, he had shown no preference to either. In the beginning of his letter he besought the gods "that they would prosper his counsels in behalf of the republic;" and then added a guarded testimony to the qualities of the young prince, without any false additions; " that he had a wife and three children, and was of the same age with himself when called by the deified Augustus to that office;' that Drusus was not now adopted precipitately by him as a partner in the toils of government; but after having had eight years' proof of him in seditions suppressed, wars concluded, the honour of a triumph, and 'two consulships." 57. The senators had anticipated this address; hence they received it with the more elaborate adulation. However, they could devise nothing to decree, but " statues to the two princes, altars to the gods, arches," and other usual honours: only that Marcus Silanus, in his zeal to honour the princes, would have degraded the consulate: he proposed "' that all monuments, public and private, should, as a record of their date, be inscribed not with the names of the consuls, but of those who exercised the tribunitian power." But Haterius Agrippa, by moving to have " the decrees of that day enLipsius observes that Drusus, according to this account, was six and-thirty years of age. Tiberius was born A.U.. 712, and was in veated with the tribunitiai power by Augustus A. u. c. 748. C. 59.] CLAIMS OF THE PRIEST OF JUPITER DISALLOWED. 143 graved in letters of gold, and hung up in the senate," became an object of derision; since as he was an old man he could reap from his most abominable flattery no other fruit but that of infamy. 58. In the meantime, as the province of Africa was continued to Juuius Blsesus, Servius Maluginensis, priest of Jupiter, demanded that of Asia. He insisted " that it was vainly alleged that such priests were not allowed to leave Italy: that he was under no other restriction than those of Mars and Romulus; and if the latter were admitted to the lots of provinces, why were those of Jupiter debarred? There were no decisions of the people on this subject, nor could anything be found in the books of ceremonies. That frequently, when the priests of Jupiter were prevented by sickness or public duty, their function was supplied by the pontiffs. That there was no priest appointed in his room for two-and-seventy years together, after the death of Cornelius Merula;' and yet the exercise of religion never ceased. Now if in such a series of years, religion could subsist unimpaired, without the creation of any such priest at all; how much easier might his absence be borne in the exercise of the proconsular power, for one year? That it was the effect of private piques, that formerly the priests of Jupiter were by the chief pontiffs debarred from the government of provinces. But now, by the goodness of the gods, the chief of pontiffs was also the chief of men; a pontiff with whom emulation, hatred, and other personal prepossessions, had no influence." 59. To these his reasonings various answers were made by Lentulus the augur, and others; the result was " to wait for the decision of the supreme pontiff."2 Tiberius postponing his notice of the pretensions of the priest of Jupiter, qualified 1 The death of Merula is thus described by Paterculus: " Merula autem, qui se sub adventurn Cinne consulatu abdicaverat, incisis venis superfusoque altaribus sanguine, quos pro salute reipublic Flamen Dialis precatus erat Deos, eos in execrationem Cinne partiumque ejua turm precatus, optime de republica meritum spiritum reddidit."-Lib. ii. s. 22. This was A.. C. 667. From that time no priest of Jupiter was appointed till the year of Rome 743, when Augustus revived the office. 2 The emperor was not only commander-in-chief of the armies of Rome, in his character of Imperator, and the sole director of all civil business, by his tribunitian power; but he was also, as high pontiff, at the head of the religion of his country, 1m THE ANNALS. [B. III the honours decreed to Drusus on his assuming the tribunitian power; and especially censured the " extravagance of the motion, and the golden letters, as contrary to the custom of Rome." Letters from Drusus were likewise read, and though modest in expression, they were construed to be full of haughtiness:-" Had things then come to this pass," they said, " that even a youth, just distinguished with such high honour, deigned not to visit the gods of Rome, nor appear in senate; nor take the initiatory auspices in his native city? A war, forsooth, detained him; he had a journey to make from remote countries; while he was doing nothing more than diverting himself upon the lakes and shores of Campania. Thus was the ruler of the earth trained for his task; and this the lesson he had learnt from the maxims of his father! The emperor himself, now in the decline of life, might indeed be averse to living under the eye of the public, and plead exhausted energies and the toils he had endured; but what except insolence could prevent Drusus?" 60. Tiberius, while he fortified himself in the princedom, amused the senate with a shadow of their ancien* jurisdiction, by referring to their examination petitions and claims fronm the provinces. For there had now prevailed amongst the Greek cities a latitude of instituting sanctuaries at pleasure. Hence the temples were filled with the most profligate slaves: here debtors found protection against their creditors; and hither were admitted such as were pursued for capital crimes. Nor was any authority sufficient to bridle the licentiousness of the people, who protected the crimes of men as if they were ceremonies appertaining to the gods. It was therefore ordered that these cities should send deputies and their muniments. Some of the cities voluntarily relinquished the nominal privileges which they had arbitrarily assumed: many confided in the antiquity of their superstitions, or in the merits of their kind offices to the Roman people. Glorious was the spectacle on that day, when the grants from our ancestors, the engagements of our confederates, the ordinances even of kings who had reigned before the Roman power, and even the sacred ceremonies of their gods, were now all subjected to the inspection of the senate; their judgment free, as of old, to ratify or abolish. 61. First of all the Ephesians appeared. They alleged, that J. 63.] RIGHTS OF SANCTUARIES EXAMINED. 145 " Diana and Apollo were not, according to the credulity of the vulgar, born at Delos: in their territory flowed the river Cenchri, where also stood the Ortygian grove: there the teeming Latona, leaning upon an olive-tree, which even then remained, was delivered of these deities; and thence by their appointment the grove became sacred. Thither Apollo himself, after his slaughter of the Cyclops, retired from the wrath of Jupiter: soon after, the victorious Bacchus pardoned the suppliant Amazons, who sought refuge at the altar: by the concession of Hercules, when he reigned in Lydia, the sanctity of the temple was increased; nor during the Persian monarchy were its privileges invaded: they were next maintained by the Macedonians, and then by us." 62. The Magnesians next asserted their claim, founded on the ordinances of Lucius Scipio, and Sylla: the former after the defeat of Antiochus, the latter after that of Mithridates, having, as a testimony of the faith and bravery of the Magnesians, dignified their temple of the Leucophrynean Diana with the privileges of an inviolable sanctuary. After them, the Aphrodisians and Stratoniceans produced a grant from Caesar the dictator, for their early services to his party; and another lately from Augustus, with a commendation inserted, "that with zeal unshaken towards the Roman people, they had borne the irruption of the Parthians." But these two people adored different deities: Aphrodisium was a city devoted to Venus; that of Stratonicea maintained the worship of Jupiter and of Diana Trivia. Those of Hierocaesarea exhibited claims of higher antiquity, " that they possessed the Persian Diana, and her temple consecrated by king Cyrus." They likewise pleaded the authorities of Perpenna, Isauricus, and many more Roman captains, who had allowed the same sacred immunity not to the temple only, but to a precinct two miles round it. Those of Cyprus pleaded right of sanctuary to three of their temples; the most ancient, dedicated by Aerias1 to the Paphian Venus; another by his son Amathus, to the Amathusian Venus; the third, to the Salaminian Jupiter, by Teucer the son of Telamon, when he fled from the fury of his father. 63. The deputies of other cities also were heard. But the senate, tired with so many, and because there was a contention For king Aerias, see History, book ii. s. 3. TAC. -— VOL. 1. L 146 THE ANNALS. [B. III. of parties, referred to the consuls "s to search into the validity of their several pretensions, and if in them any fraud was involved, to lay the whole matter once more before the senate " The consuls reported, that besides the cities already mentioned, " they had found the temple of JEsculapius at Pergamos to be a genuine sanctuary; the others rested upon titles obscured by the mists of antiquity. Smyrna particularly pleaded an oracle of Apollo, in obedience to which they had dedicated a temple to Venus Stratonicis; 1 as did the isle of Tenos an oracle from the same god, to erect to Neptune a statue and temple. Sardis urged a later authority, namely, a grant from the great Alexander; Miletus insisted on one from king Darius: as to the deities of these two cities, one worshipped Diana, the other Apollo. And Crete too demanded the privilege of sanctuary to a statue of the deified Augustus." Hence diverse orders of the senate were made, by which, though great reverence was expressed towards the deities, yet the extent of the sanctuaries was limited; and the several people were enjoined "to hang up in each temple the present decree engraven in brass, as a sacred memorial, and a restraint upon any attempts to exceed their due claims, under the colour of religion." 64. At the same time, the severe illness of Livia obliged the emperor to hasten his return to Rome; for hitherto the mother and son lived in real unanimity, or dissembled hate. It was indeed not long before, that Livia, having dedicated a statue to the deified Augustus, near the theatre of Marcellus, had the name of Tiberius inscribed after her own. This he was believed to have resented grievously, as degrading to the dilgity of the prince; but to have buried his resentment in dissimulation. Upon this occasion, the senate decreed " supplications to the gods; with the celebration of the greater Roman games, under the direction of the pontiffs, the augurs, the college of fifteen, assisted by the college of seven, and the fraternity of the Augustal priests." LuciusApronius had moved, that " with the rest might preside the company of heralds."3 Tiberius opposed it; he distinguished between the jurisdiction 1 The Venus Stratonicis was so called after Stratonice, grandmother of Seleucus II., who mounted the throne of Syria A. u. c. 507. 2 All questions of war and peace, the suspension of hostilities, and treaties of alliance, were referred to their decision. "A Foederum, pacis, belli, induciarum oratores feciales judicesque s nto."-Cicero, De Legibus, lib. ii. s. 9. a, 66.J IMPEACHMENT OF 0. SILANUS. 147 of the priests and theirs, and referred to precedents: "for that at no time," he said, " had the heralds arrived to so much preeminence; but as for the Augustal fraternity, they were added because they exercised a priesthood peculiar to that family for which the present vows and solemnities were made." 65. It is no part of my place to detail the votes that were given, unless they are distinguished for integrity, or notable for infamy: this I conceive to be the principal use of annals that instances of virtue may be recorded; and that by the dread of future infamy and the censures of posterity, men may be deterred from depravity in word or deed. But such was the pestilential character of those times, so contaminated with adulation, that not only the first nobles, whose obnoxious splendour found protection only in obsequiousness, but all who had been consuls, a great part of such as had been preetorsrand even many of the inferior senators, strove for priority in the fulsomeness and extravagance of their votes. There is a tradition, that Tiberius, as often as he went out of the senate, was wont to cry out in Greek, "How fitted for slavery are these men!" Yes, even Tiberius, the enemy of public liberty, nauseated the crouching tameness of his slaves. 66. Hence by degrees they proceeded from acts of abasement to those of vengeance. Caius Silanus, proconsul of Asia, accused by our allies of rapine and extortion, was further impleaded by Mamercus Scaurus, once consul, Junius Otho, praetor, and Brutidius Niger, aedile: they charged him with " violating the divinity of Augustus, and with despising the majesty of Tiberius." Mamercus boasted, that he imitated the great examples of old; " that Lucius Cotta was accused by Scipio; Servius Galba by Cato the censor; Publius Rutilius by Marcus Scaurus." As if such crimes were avenged by Scipio and Cato; or by that very Scaurus, whom this same Mamercus his great grandson, and the reproach of his pr6 -genitors, was now disgracing by the vile occupation of an informer! The original employment of Junius Otho was that of a schoolmaster: thence being by the influence of Sejanus 1 The original says, Etiam pedarii senatores: that is, the senators, who, when the sense of the assembly was taken per discessionem, i. e. when the house divided, walked over to the side of those with whom they agreed. This was, according to Sallust in Catil., " pedibus in sen. tentiam ire." Hence the saying: "Caput sine lingua, pedaria seiiten tia est." 148 THE ANNALS. [B. III. created a senator, he laboured by deeds of shameless daring to triumph over the meanness of his original. Brutidiu. abounded in worthy accomplishments; and, had he proceeded in the direct road, would have succeeded to all the highest honours; but over-eagerness hurried him out of his course, whiie he strove to outdo first his equals, afterwards his superiors, and at last his own anticipations; a conduct which has been fatal to many even virtuous men, who, scorning slow but safe advancement, have grasped at honours before they were ripe for them, and brought ruin upon themselves. 67. Gellius Poplicola, and Marcus Paconius, joined the ranks of the accusers; the former qumestor to Silanus, the other his lieutenant. Neither was it doubted but the accused was 1 guilty of cruelty and extortion. But he was beset by disadvantages, dangerous even to the innocent: besides so many senators his open foes, he had to reply alone and unaided to the most eloquent pleaders of all Asia, and therefore chosen purposely to accuse him; ignorant as he was of pleading, and under personal fear; a circumstance which disables even practised eloquence: neither did Tiberius refrain from browbeat- ( ing him, addressing him in a harsh tone, frowning upon and ' asking him incessant questions; nor was he allowed leisure to I refute or evade them; nay, he was often forced to confess, lest the emperor should have asked in vain. The slaves too of Silanus, in order to be examined by torture, ere delivered in sale to the city-steward; and that none of his relations might, engage in his defence, or aid him under such a heavy prose- cution, crimes of treason were subjoined; a sure bar to all help, and a seal upon their lips. Having, therefore, requested an interval of a few days, he abandoned his defence, and tried the emperor by a memorial, in which he blended remonstrances with prayers. 68. Tiberius, the better to palliate by precedent his pur- l poses against Silanus, caused to be recited the record of I Augustus, concerning Volesus Messala, proconsul of the same province, and the decree of the senate made against him. He then asked Lucius Piso his opinion: Piso, after a long preface about the emperor's clemency, proposed "to interdict Silanus from fire and water, and to banish hira into the island Gyarus." The rest voted the same thing; only that Cneius Lentulus moved, " that the estate descending from his mother c. 70.] 0. SILANUS BANISHED. 149 should be distinguished from his own, and restored to his son; inasmiuch as his own mother was a different person from her I from whom he inherited the property in question." Tiberius assented. But Cornelius Dolabella, pursuing his old strain of adulation, and having first inveighed against the morals of Silanus, added, "that no man of profligate manners, and branded with infamy, should be eligible to the government of provinces; and of this the prince was to judge. Transgressions," he said, "were punished by the laws; but how much more merciful would It be to prevent transgressions! more merciful to the men themselves, and advantageous to the provinces." 69. Against this Tiberius reasoned, "that in truth he was not ignorant of the prevailing rumours concerning the conduct of Silanus; but decrees must not be built upon rumours: in the administration of provinces, many had disappointed our hopes; and many our fears. Some, by the magnitude and importance of their duties, were roused into amendment; cthers sunk under them: the prince could not within his own view comprise everything; nor was it at all expedient for him to be answerable for the ambitious proceedings of others. Laws were therefore appointed against acts committed, because all things future are hid in uncertainty. Such were the insti-! tutions of our ancestors; that if crimes preceded, punishments * were to follow: nor should they change establishments wisely contrived and always approved. The prince had alreadya sufficiency of burdens, and even a sufficiency of power: the rights i of individuals decreased when that of the prince advanced; nor was sovereignty to be exercised where the laws would serve." This speech was listened to with the greater delight as manifestations of popular principles were rare with Tiberius. n He added, prudent as he was in mitigating extremes where his own personal resentments did not impel him, "that Gyarus was an inhospitable island, and devoid of human culture; that, in favour to the Junian family, and as a patrician lately of their own order, they should allow him for his place of exile the isle of Cythera: that this too was the request of Torquata, the sister of Silanus, a vestal virgin of primitive sanctity." This motion prevailed. 70. The Cyrenians were afterwards heard; and CQesiui Cordus, charged by them, and impleaded by Ancharius Priscus, 150 THE ANNiALS. [iR. TIT for plundering the province, was condemned. Lucius Ennmus, a Roman knight, was impeached of treason, "for that he had converted an effigy of the prince into the ordinary purposes to which silver is applied;" but Tiberius would not allow him to be arraigned. Against this acquittal Ateius Capito' openly declared his protest, with an air of liberty: 1" for the emperor," he said, " ought not to force from the tatners the power of determining; nor ought so great an iniquity to pass unpunished: he might indeed be passive under his own grievances, but let him not make free with the indignation of the senate and the injuries done the commonwealth." Tiberiuw considered rather the drift of these words than the expression, and persisted in his interposition. The infamy of Capito was the more noted, because, learned as he was in laws human and divine, he thus obstructed the public good, and cast a stain upon his own personal accomplishments. 71. The next was a religious debate, in what temple to place the gift vowed by the Roman knights to Fortune, styled the Equestrian, for the recovery of Livia; for, though in the city were many temples to this goddess, yet none had that title. At last it was discovered that at Antium was one thus named; and as all the religious institutions in the cities of Italy, all the temples and statues of the deities, were included in the jurisdiction and sovereignty of Rome, the gift was ordered to be presented there. While matters of religion were in agitation, the answer lately deferred concerning Servius Maluginensis, priest of Jupiter, was now produced by Tiberius, who recited a statute of the pontiffs, " that when the priest of Jupiter was taken ill, he might, with the consent of the chief pontiff, be absent two nights, except on days of public sacrifice, and never more than twice in the same year." This regulation made under Augustus, sufficiently showed that a year's absence and the administration of provinces were not allowed to the priests of Jupiter. He likewise quoted the example of, Lucius Metellus, chief pontiff, who restrained to Rome Aulus Postumius, who was in that capacity. So the lot of Asia was conferred on that consular who was next in seniority to Maluginensis. 72. At this time, Lepidus asked leave of the senate to strengthen and beautify, at his own expense, the Basilica of 1 For more of Ateius Capito, see this book, & 75 c. 73.] DEMANDS OF TACFARINAS. 151 Paulus, a peculiar monument of the Emilian family. For even then it was usual with private men to be magnificent in public works. Nor had Augustus opposed Taurus, Philippus, or Balbus,1 for applying their overflowing wealth, or the spoils of the enemy, towards the decoration of the city, and the perpetuation of their own renown. By their example Lepidus, though but moderately rich, meant now to revive the glory, of his ancestors. But Tiberius undertook to rebuild the theatre of Pompey, which was accidentally burnt, because none of the family were equal to the charge; still however to be called by the name of Pompey. At the same time, he celebrated the praises of Sejanus, and to his vigilance and efforts ascribed it, that a flame so violent was stopped at one building only. Hence the fathers decreed a statue to Sejanus to be placed in the theatre of Pompey;2 nor was it long after that the emperor, when he dignified Junius Blesus the proconsul of Africa with the ensigns of triumph, declared " that in honour to Sejanus he did it," for Blsesus was the uncle of Sejanus. 73. And yet the actions of Bleesus were entitled to such a distinction. For Tacfarinas, though often repulsed, yet still repairing his forces in the heart of Africa, had arrived at such a pitch of arrogance, that he sent ambassadors to Tiberius, with demands " for a settlement for himself and his army;" otherwise he threatened to involve him in "endless war." They say that upon no occasion was Tiberius ever so deeply affected at an insult offered to himself and the Roman name: "that a deserter and a robber should thus, like a regular enemy, offer to treat! Not even to Spartacus3 was granted permission to treat for peace, while, after the slaughter of so many consular armies, he still carried fire and desolation through Italy with impunity, though the commonwealth, 4 ' The public buildings erected by Taurus, Philippus, Balbus, and others, are mentioned by Velleius Paterculus, lib. ii. s. 89: and more particularly by Suetonius, in Aug. s. 29. 2 Hence the indignant exclamation of Seneca: " Quis non rumperetur, supra cineres Cneii Pompeii constitui Sejanum, et in monumentis maximi imperatoris consecrari perfidum militem?"-De Consolat. cap. xxii 3 Spartacus kindled up the Servile War in Italy A.u.c. 681. He gained two important victories. Being defeated in a battle with Licinius Crassus, he died bravely, sword in hand. A 152 1HE ANNAIS. [B. ItI. then engaged in two wars of surpassing magnitude with Sertorius' and Mithridates, was tottering under them. Much less was Tacfarinas, a freebooter, when the Roman people were in their most glorious elevation, to be bought off by terms of peace and the concession of lands." Hence he commissioned Blaesus ' to engage all his followers, by the hopes of indemnity, to lay down their arms; but to get into his hands the leader himself, by whatever means." 74. And on these terms of pardon many were brought over; and the war was forthwith prosecuted against him by stratagems not unlike his own. For as he, who in strength of men was unequal, but in arts of stealth and pillaging superior, made his incursions in separate bands, and thence could at once elude any attack of ours, while at the same time he planted ambushes; so on our side, three distinct routes were resolved upon, and three several bodies set in motion. Scipio, the proconsul's lieutenant, commanded on that quarter whence Tacfarinas made his depredations upon the Leptitanians, and then his retreat amongst the Garamantes: in another quarter the younger Bleesus led a band of his own, to protect the territory of the Cirtensians from ravages: between both marched the proconsul himself, with the flower of the army, erecting forts and casting up entrenchments in convenient places, thus hemming in the enemy by a complete chain of positions, so that, whatever way they turned, still some party of the Roman forces was upon them-in front, in flank, and often in the rear, and by this means were many slain or made prisoners. This triple army was again split by Blsesus into bands still smaller, and over each a centurion of tried bravery placed. Neither did he, as usual at the end of the season, draw off his forces from the field, or dispose them in winterquarters in the old province; but, as if on the threshold of the war, having raised more forts, he despatched light parties, acquainted with the deserts, who drove Tacfarinas before them, continually shifting his huts, till, having captured his brother, he retreated; too hastily however for the good of the province, as there were still left behind the means of rekindling the war. But Tiberius took it for concluded, and likewise granted to Bleesus that he should be by the legions I Sertorius, and Mithridates king of Pontus, joined in a league against the Romans, A.U.C. 680. d. 76.] DEATH OF ILLUSTRIOUS PERSONS. 153 saluted " Imperator," an ancient honour, usually rendered to the old Roman captains, who, upon their successful exploits for their country, were saluted with shouts of joy and vehement exultation from their victorious armies: and there have been at once several Imperators, without any preeminence of one over the rest. It was a title vouchsafed to some even by Augustus; and now, for the last time, by Tiberius to Blbesus. 75. This year died two illustrious men; the first, Asinius Saloninus, distinguished as the grandson of Marcus Agrippa and Asinius Pollio; half-brother of Drusus, and the intended husband of the emperor's granddaughter. The second, Ateins Capito, mentioned above; in civil acquirements, the most eminent man in Rome; for pedigree, his grandfather was only a centurion under Sylla, but his father attained the rank of proctor. Augustus had pushed him early into the consulship, that, by the honour of that office, he might set him above Antistius Labeo, who excelled in the same accomplishments; for that age produced together these two ornaments of peace: but Labeo possessed the genuine spirit of liberty, and therefore enjoyed a larger share of popularity; while Capito gained by obsequiousness greater credit with those who bore rule. The former, as he was never suffered to rise beyond the praetorship, derived favour from the injustice done him; the other, from having obtained the consulate of which he was considered unworthy, was on that account an object of aversion. 76. Junia too, now sixty-four years after the battle of Philippi, finished her course; by birth the daughter of the sister of Cato, sister of M. Brutus, and wife of C. CassiuaHer will was the subject of much talk amongst the populace, since being immensely rich, and having honourably distinguished with legacies almost all the great men of Rome, she omitted Tiberius,-an omission which drew from him no indications of offended dignity, nor did he hinder her panegyric from being pronounced from the rostra, nor her funeral from being celebrated with all the other customary solemnities. The images of twenty of the most illustrious familiesthe Manlii, the Quinctii, and other names of equal splendour, were carried before it. Those of Brutus and Cassius were not displayed, but for that very reason they shone with preeminent lustre. 'I54 THE ANNALS. BOOK IV. 1. xWHEN Caius Asinius and Caius Antistius were consuls, Tiberius was in the ninth year of his reign; during the whole of which he saw the state undisturbed by commotion, and his family flourishing (for he regarded the death of Germanicus as one of the lucky events which had befallen him); but now, on a sudden, fortune began to work confusion and trouble; Tiberius himself to tyrannise, or encourage and support others in tyrannical proceedings. The origin and cause of this change is attributable to JElius Sejanus, commander of the pretorian guards, whose prevailing influence I have already mentioned. I will now unfold the particulars of his birth, his character, and the atrocious act by which he sought to grasp the sovereign power. Hle was born at Vulsinii; his father was Sejus Strabo, a Roman knight; in early youth he attached himself to Caius Caesar, grandson of the deified Augustus; and Was reported to have prostituted himself to Apicius, a rich man and a noted spendthrift. Soon after, he gained such an ascendancy over Tiberius by various arts, that though he was close and mysterious in his intercourse with others, he threw off all restraint and reserve with him. This was not so much effected by superior sagacity (for it was in this that he was surpassed by Tiberius) as the displeasure with which the gods regarded the Roman state, to which he was equally fatal in the height of his power and in his death. His person was hardy and equal to fatigues; his spirit daring; expert in disguising his own iniqaities, prompt to spy out the failings of others; at once fawning and imperious; with an exterior of assumed modesty, his heart insatiably lusted for supreme domination; and with this view he engaged sometimes in profusion, largesses, and luxury; but more frequently gave himself to business and watching, practices no less dangerous, when counterfeited by ambition for the acquisition of empire. CORRUPT PRACTICES OF SEJANUS. 1i5 2. The authority of his commission 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 receive his orders simultaneously, and by continually beholding their own numbers and strength, and by familiar intercourse, conceive a confidence in themselves, and strike terror into others. He pretended, "that the soldiers, while they lived scattered, became debauched; that when gathered into a body, in any hasty emergency, a larger force might be brought up at once to give aid; and that when their camp was fixed 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 creep into the good graces of the soldiers, by conversing with them, and addressing them by name: he also chose the centurions and the tribunes himself. Nor did he fail to strengthen his interest in the senate by getting those who were of his party invested with honours and the command of provinces; Tiberius yielding to him in everything, and seconding his views with such zeal, that not in conversation only, but in his speeches to the senate and people, he frequently made honourable mention of him as his associate in the toils of government; nay, he allowed his effigies to be adored in the several theatres, in the forum, and at the head-quarters' of the legions. 3. But the imperial house full of Casars; the emperor's son,2 in the vigour of manhood, and his grandsons grown up, were obstacles to his ambition: and because to cutthem all off at once was dangerous, the success of his treacherous plot required that the horrid deeds should be perpetrated at intervals. He however chose the more secret method, and to begin with Drusus, against whom he was impelled by recent motives of resentment. For Drusus, impatient of a rival, and in temper irascible, had lifted his hand against Sejanus, 1 The word translated "head-quarters" is principia, which signifies the broad space left between the tents of the legions and the tribunes in a Roman camp. This space formed a wide street, running across the whole encampment, and thus dividing it into two parts. On the marking out of the pIincipia depended the laying down of all other parts, and all the lines of tents led up to it, as the main thoroughfare. 2 Drusus, and the three sons of Germanicus; Nero, Drusus, and Caligula. THE ANNALS, [r. IV. LB.. in an altercation which happened to arise between them, and, as he prepared to resist, given him a blow on the face. Carefully considering therefore every means of revenge, the most opportune seemed to be to have recourse to Livia, his wife: she was the sister of Germanicus, and though in her younger days she was not handsome, she grew up surpassingly beautiful. Pretending to be violently enamoured of her, he tempted her to adultery; and having once triumphed over her honour, (nor will a woman who has sacrificed her chastity stick at any other iniquity,) he led her on to entertain the project of a marriage with hirn, a partnership in t;ie empire, and the murder of her husband. Thus the niece of Augustus, the daughter-in-law of Tiberius, the mother of children by Drusus, disgraced herself,, her ancestors, and her posterity, by a connexion with an adulterer from a municipal town; exchanging an honourable certainty for guilty prospects which might never be realized. Eudemus, the friend and physician' of Livia, who, under colour of his profession, was frequently with her in private, was admitted into the plot. Sejanus too, to avoid the jealousy of his mistress, repudiated Apicata, his wife, by whom he had three children. But still the enormity of the crime induced fear, delay, and frequently opposite counsels. 4. In the beginning of this year, Drusus, one of the offspring of Germanicus, put on the manly gown; and upon him the senate conferred the same honours decreed to his brother Nero. A speech was added by Tiberius, with high en-l comiums on his son, "that he showed the tenderness of a father to the children of his brother." For Drusus, however difficult it be for power and unanimity to subsist between equals, was esteemed kind, certainly not ill-disposed, towards these youths. Now again was revived by Tiberius his stale and oft counterfeited purpose of a progress into the provinces. He pretended "the multitude of veterans to be discharged, and the necessity of recruiting the armies; for there was a deficiency of volunteers, or if there were a sufficient supply, 1 Pliny the elder gives a dark picture of the physicians of his times. They had their opportunities to administer poison, to make wills, and manage intrigues. " Quid enim venenorum fertilius? aut unde plurea, tetAamentorum insidie? Jam vero et adulteria in prinoipum dormibu, uti EIdemi in Livia Drusi Cnsaris."-Lib. xxix. s. 8. 0. 5.] ROMAN FLEETS AND LEGIONS. 157 l they were inferior in courage and conduct, as those who volunteered were generally desperate and loose characters.' 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 were then than now.L 5. Italy was guarded by two fleets, in the two seas; one at Misenum, one at Ravenna; and the nearest coast of Gaul by the galleys taken by Augustus at the battle of Actium and sent ably manned to Forojulium. But the chief strength lay upon the Rhine; it consisted of eight legions, a common resource against the Germans and the Gauls. Spain, lately subdued, was held in subjection by three. King Juba 2 had received Mauritania by gift from the Roman people: the rest of Africa was occupied by two legions; and Egypt by a similar number. Four legions kept in subjection all that is comprehended in the vast range of country commencing with Syria, and extending as far as the Euphrates and bordering upon the Iberians, Albanians, and other territories, whose princes are protected against foreign powers by our greatness. Thrace was held by Rhemetalces, and the sons of Cotys; and both banks of the Danube by four legions; two in Pannonia, two in Mcesia. In Dalmatia likewise were placed two; who, by the situation of the country, were at hand to support the former in the rear, 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 preetorian, levied chiefly out of Etruria and Umbria, or from the ancient Latium and the old Roman 1 In the time of Tiberius, Syene, a city strongly garrisoned,. at the farther extremity of Egypt, was the boundary of the Roman empire. Trajan enlarged the limits as far as the Red Sea. 2 Juba's father was king of Numidia. He attached himself to Pom. pey's party, and took a decided part against Julius Caesar. Even after the death of Pompey, he stood at bay with Caesar, and at length received a total overthrow in the battle of Thapsus. The son was led to Rome, to walk in Caesar's triumph. Educated at the court of Augustus, and distinguished by his talents, Augustusgave him in mar. riage the young Cleopatra, daughter of the famous Cleopatra. by Mark Antony, and sent him (Numidia being then a Roman province) to reign in Mauritania, A.U.c. 724. 158 THE ANNALS. LB. IV colonies. In convenient stations in the several provinces were the fleets of the several confederates, squadrons of the allied cavalry, and auxiliary cohorts and battalions: an extent of forces not much differing from the others: but the particular detail would be uncertain, since, according to the exigency of the times, they often shifted stations, sometimes were increased in number, and sometimes reduced. 6. I consider this a fitting occasion to review also the other parts of the administration, and by what measures it was hitherto conducted; since in this year commenced the pernicious changes introduced by Tiberius. In the first place, then, all the public, and every private business of moment, was managed by the senate: to the leading members he allowed liberty of debate: those who deviated into flattery, he himself checked: in conferring preferments, he was guided by merit, by ancient nobility, renown in war, and distinguished civil accomplishments; insomuch that it was agreed, that none had greater pretensions. The consuls and the praetors retained the usual distinctions of their offices; inferior magistrates the exercise of their authority; and the laws, except the inquisition for treason, were beneficially administered. The tithes, taxes, and all public receipts, were directed by companies of Roman knights: the management of his own estates he committed only to men of eminent probity; and to some from their reputation, though unknown to him: and when once engaged, they were continued, without any restriction of term; since most of them grew old in the same employments. The people were indeed distressed 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 storms at sea. He took care that the provinces should not be oppressed with new impositions; and that the existing burthens should not be rendered intolerable by rapacity or severity in the magistrates: corporal punishments and confiscations of goods were unknown. 7. The emperor's lands in Italy were small, and thinly scattered; the behaviour of his slaves modest; the freed-men in his house few; his disputes with private individuals were determined by the courts and the law. All these regulations he observed, though in his manner not mild and gracious, but harsh, and not unfrequently ferocious; yet still he retained C. 3.] DRUSUS POISONED.,159 them, till on the death of Drusus they were reversed: f)r, 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 had, too, an avenger to dread, who disguised not his enmity, but was frequent in his complaints: " That, with a son alive, a stranger was called in as coadjutor in the government; nay, how little was wanting to his being declared colleague! That the first advances to sovereignty are steep and perilous; but, once entered on, you find plenty of zealous friends and agents. Already a camp for the guards was formed, at the pleasure of the captain: into his 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.1 After all this, what remained but to pray that he might set bounds to his ambition, and be satisfied with what he had got." Nor was it rarely that he threw out these taunts, or to a few; besides, his wife being debauched, all his secrets were betrayed to Sejanus. 8. Sejanus therefore judging that he must use despatch, chose such a poison as, by operating gradually, might give, the appearance of a casual disease. This was administered to Drusus by Lygdus the eunuch, as, eight years after, was discovered. Now during the days of his illness, Tiberius disclosed no signs of apprehension (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 the ordinary benches in testimony of their grief, he admonished them of their dignity and proper place: the senators burst into tears, but Tiberius, suppressing even a sigh, hi a speech uttered without hesitation, thus animated them, He said " that he was perfectly aware that he might be cenBlred for having thus, in the first throbbings of sorrow, exposed himself to the view of the senate; most of those who maurn, can scarce endure the soothings of their kindred, scarce look upon the face of day: neither were they to be accused of weakness: but he had sought more manly consolations, from throwing himself into the bosom of the common1 The statue of Sejanus was placed in Pompey's theatre. See book iii.. 72. His daughter was also to be married to Dmrsus, the on of Claudius, afterwards emperor. 160 THE ANNALS. [ we&ath." He then lamented " the extreme age of his mother, the as yet tender years of his grandsons, his own time of life, now verging towards its close;" and desired that, "as the great alleviation of the present evils, the children of Germanicus might be introduced." The consuls therefore went for them, and having with kind words cheered the young princes, escorted them to the house, and placed them before the emperor. He took them by the hand and said, (" Conscript fathers, these fatherless youths 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 his own blood; and train them up so that they might be worthy of 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 conjure 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 and my duty. To you, Nero and Drusus, these senators are in the place of fathers; and such are the circumstances of your birth, that the good and evil which befalls you must extend to the commonwealth." 9. All this was heard with much weeping, and followed by benedictions: and had he observed a medium in his speech, he had left the minds of his hearers full of sympathy and veneration. But, by recurring to that hollow and oft ridiculed proposition of his about restoring the republic, and that the consuls, " or some one else, should undertake the administration," he threw suspicion upon what was commendable and sincere. To the memory of Drusus were decreed the same solemnities as to that of Germanicus, with many superadded; the natural effect of flattery, which gathers strength as it grows older. The funeral was signally splendid in the procession of images; as AEneas, the father of the Julian race; all the kings of Alba, and Romulus, founder of Rome; next the Sabine nobility, Attus Clausus, and the effigies of the rest of the Claudian family, were displayed in lengthened tram. 10. In relating the death of Drusus, I have followed the majority, and the most trustworthy historians: 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 C. 11.] RUMOURS dONCERNING THE DEATI OF DRUSUS. I 61 adultery gained Livia to the maurder, had likewise engaged by constupration the concurrence of Lygdus tht eunuch; because Lygdus was, on account of Ius youth and form, dear to his master, and one of his chief attendants: that when the time and place of p.;soning were concerted by the conspirators, _,- Ijaus carried hiL boldness so far as to change his plan, and charging upon Drusus a design of poisoning Tiberius, secretly warned the emperor to shun the first draught offered him in an entertainment at his son's: that the old man, deceived by this fictitious treason, after he had sat down to table, having received the cup delivered it to Drusus, who, unconsciously and in all the gaiety of youthful spirits, drank it off: a circumstance which heightened the suspicion of his guilt, as if through fear and shame he inflicted on himself the dcath he had contrived for his father." 11. These common rumours, besides that they are supported by no certain author, may be easily refuted. For, who of ordinary prudence (much less Tiberius, so practised in affairs of moment) would to his own son, without hearing him, present the poisoned cup; with his own hands, too, and when there was no retracing his step, so as to reverse the act upon reconsideration I He would rather have applied the torture to find out the minister of the poison and its author; and lastly, have observed towards his only son-a son hitherto convicted of no iniquity-that inherent hesitation which he showed even towards strangers. 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, even fabulous and monstrous things were believed of them; besides that. common fame is ever more fraught with tales of horror as to the departure of princes. The truth is, the plan and process of the murder were first discovered by Apicata, wife of Sejanus, and confirmed'upon the rack by Eudemus and Lygdus. Not has any writer appeared so hostile as to charge it upon Tiberius; though in other instances they have sedulously collected and inflamed every action of his. My purpose in relating and refuting this rumour was, under so glaring an example, to destroy the credit of groundless hearsays, and to request of those into whose hands my present undertaking shall come, that they would not prefer vague and improbable TAC.-VOL. I. M TIIE ANNALS. tB. IV. rumours, unscrupulously creditea, to the narrations of truth unadulterated with romance. 12. To proceed: when Tiberius was pronouncing; public the panegyric of his son,' the senate and people assumed the port and accents of mourners, in appearaauce rather than cordially; and in their hearts exulted to wpe the house of - Germanicus begin to revive. But this dawn of popular favour, and the conduct of Agrippina, ill-disguising her hopes, quickened its overthrow. For Sejanus, when he saw the death of Drusus pass unrevenged upon his murderers, and unregretted by the public, undaunted as he was in villany since his first efforts had succeeded, revolved with himself how he might extirpate the sons of Germanicus, whose succession to the empire was now unquestionable. They were three, and, from the eminent fidelity of their governors, and inviolable chastity of Agrippina, poison could not be administered to all at once. He began to inveigh against the contuniacy of Agrippina; to rouse the old hatred of Augusta the elder, and the guilty mind of his recent accomplice, Livia; that they might persuade the emperor, "that, proud of her numerous offspring, and relying on the affections of the people, Agrippina had designs upon the sovereignty." And in addition to these things, by means of crafty calumniators. [and amongst the rest she had selected 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;] she rendered the old woman, in her own nature anxious for power, utterly irreconcilable to the widow of her grandson. Such, too, as were nearest the person of Agrippina, were prompted to be continually goading on her naturally haughty spirit. 13. Tiberius meanwhile nowise relaxing in the cares of 1 Seneca represents Tiberius with an inflexible countenance delivering a speech that melted the audience to tears. He adds, by this firmness, so singular on such an occasion, Tiberius proved to Sejanus. who stood at his elbow, that he could see unmoved the desolation of his family: "Experiendum se dedit Sejano ad latus stanti, quam patienter posset sues perdere."-Consol. ad Marciam, s. 15. About four or five months after the death of Drusus, deputies arrived from Ililm to condole with Tiberius: " And I," he said, " condole with you for the oss of Hector."-Suet. in Tib, a. 54. CLAIMS TO RIGHT OF SANCTUARY. 163 government, but deriving relief from his occupations, attended to the administration of justice at Rome, and despatched the petitions from the provinces. By a decree of the senate, at his motion, the city of Cibyra in Asia, and that of AEginm in Achaia, which had both suffered from earthquake, were eased of tribute for three years. Vibius Serenus too, proconsul of Further Spain, was condemned for violence in his administration, and for the ferocity of his conduct banished to the Isle of Amorgos. Carsidius Sacerdos, charged with supplying the enemy Tacfarinas, was acquitted; as was Caius Gracchus of the same crime. This Caius was in his childhood carried by his father Sempronius into the island Cercina, a companion in his exile; he grew up there amongst fugitives and men destitute of liberal education; and afterwards sustained himself by trafficking in a small way between Africa and Sicily; nor did he escape the perils that wait on elevated fortune; and had not AElius Lamial and Lucius Apronius,2 proconsuls of Africa, protected his innocence, he would have been swept away in the tide which overwhelmed that illustrious but illstarred family, and have been involved in the calamitous fate of his father. 14. This year also brought deputations from the Grecian cities; one from the people of Samos; one from those of Cos; the former to request that the ancient right of sanctuary in the temple of Juno might be confirmed; the latter for that of XEsculapius. The Samians claimed upon a decree of the council of the 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 Cos a weaker title to antiquity; to which were added the pretensions of the place to the friendship of Rome: for they had lodged in the temple of Asculapius all the Roman citizens there, when, by the order of king Mithridates, they were being massacred throughout all the cities of Asia and the Isles. And now, after many and generally ineffectual complaints from the praetors, the emperor at last made a representation to the senate, concerning the licentiousness of the players; "that in many instances they seditiously violated the public peace; and in 1 See Annals, book i s. 53, 2 Lucius &pronius has been mentioned, book iii. s. 21. For AElius Lamia, see Annals, book vi s. 27. -1 2f 164 THE ANN'AILS. fB. IV. many promoted debauchery in pi ivate families: that the Oscan Farce, formerly only the contemptible delight of the vulgar, had risen to such a pitch of depravity, and exercised such an influence on society, that it must be checked by the authority of the senate." The players were then driven out of Italy. 15. 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 ot a particular friend. It was Lucilius Longus, the inseparable companion of all the vicissitudes of his fortune, prosperous or adverse; and, of all the senators, the only one who accompanied him in his retirement at Rhodes. For this reason, though not a man of family, the senate decreed him a censorian funeral, and a statue to be placed, at the expense of the treasury, in the forum of Augustus. For by the senate even yet all affairs were transacted; insomuch that Lucilius Capito, the emperor's comptroller' in Asia, was, at the accusation of the province, put upon his defence before them: the emperor protesting with great earnestness, "that from him Lucilius had no authority but over his slaves, and in collecting his domestic rents: that if he had usurped the jurisdiction of protor, 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 had, condemned. For this just vengeance, and that inflicted the year before on Caius Silanus,2 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; while all who heard him were thrilled with delight, for as the image of Germanicus was still fresh in their minds, they fancied it was he they both heard and saw. The young manl also possessed a modesty and gracefulness of person worthy of a prince, which derived additional charms from the danger to which he was exposed from the known antipathy of Sejanus. 16. About the same time the emperor made a discourse 1 The procuratores looked after the supplies for the emperor's privy purse in every province. The peculiarity here, therefore, is, that Tiberius allowed his own domestic officer to be brought before the senate, instead of deciding on the case himself. 2 See above, book ii. s. 66. a. 17.] THE OFFICE OF PRIEST OF JUPITER. 165 about the choice of a new priest of Jupiter, in the room of Servius Maluginensis, deceased; and the proposal of a new law in this matter: for that it was the ancient custom to nominate three patricians, born of parents who had in their nuptials observed the form of confarreation,' one of whom was elected: but now that the solemnity of confarreation was quite omitted, or by few observed, there remained not then, as formerly, the same scope for choice." He adduced "several reasons for that omission; the principal was a want of zeal both in men and women for that rite; to this were added the difficulties attending the ceremony itself, which prompted them to avoid it; besides that the paternal authority was for ever lost over any son who acquired that priesthood, and over any daughter who became subject to him by a marriage contract. A remedy therefore ought to be applied by a decree of the senate, or by a law; after the example of Augustus, who had softened some rigid usages of antiquity, and adapted them to the genius of the times." The senate therefore, discussing the subject of religious ceremonies, agreed "to make no change from the first institution." Only a law passed, "That the priestess of Jupiter should, in the administration of thingr sacred, be under the dominion of her husband; but enjoy, in other things, the ordinary privileges of women." Maluginensis, the son, was appointed to succeed his father. And that the estimation of the priesthood might increase, and the zeal of the priests themselves for the sacred solemnities might be encouraged, a present of two thousand great sesterces was decreed to the vestal virgin, Cornelia, chosen in the place of Scantia; and to Augusta a privilege granted, that as often as she went to the theatre, she should sit amongst the vestals. 17. In the consulship of Cornelius Cethegus and Visellius Varro, the pontiffs, and by their example the other priests, when they offered vows for the prosperity of the emperor, 1 Three forms of contracting marriage prevailed at Rome. 1. When a woman cohabited with one man for the space of a year. (Usus.\ 2. When the marriage was a kind of bargain and sale between the parties. (Coemptio.) 3. When the chief pontiff, distributing flour in the presence of ten witnesses, joined the bride and bridegroom (Confarreatio.) Other marriages were easily dissolved; but that by Confarreatio required the same solemnities (Difarreatio) to divorce the parties. For full particulars respecting the laws of-marriage amongs* the Romans, see Smith's Dict. ',f Ant., art. Marriage. 166 TRE ANNALA. lB. IV. commended likewise Nero and Drusus to the care of the same gods: not so much from any tenderness towards these youths as from flattery; a practice which, in corrupt times, it is equally dangerous to exceed in, and to fail in altogether. For Tiberius, never kindly disposed to the house of Germanicus, now lamented passionately that " no difference was made between their youth and his years;" and sending for the pontiffs, examined them, "whether to the entreaties, or menaces of Agrippina, they had made this concession 1" And though they denied both, he gave them a tolerable reprimand; for most of them were her kinsmen, or men of the first distinction in Rome. But in a speech to the senate he warned them for the time to come, "' that no one should encourage the giddy minds of young men to indulge in presumptuous aspirations by premature distinctions. For Sejanus goaded him on, and complained that the state was separated into opposite parties as in a civil war: that already there were those who called themselves the partisans of Agrippina; and if no stop were put to it, the faction would increase. Nor was there any other remedy for the prevailing spirit of faction, than cutting off one or two of the ringleaders. 18. With this view he commenced an attack upon Caius Silius and Titius Sabinus. The friendship of Germanicus was fatal to both; but other considerations helped to ruin Silius: he had for seven years commanded a powerful army; he had for his exploits in Germany been distinguished with the ensigns of triumph; lie bad subdued the revolting Gauls under Sacrovir; and the greater the shock of his prostration, the greater the terror it would spread among others. It was believed by many that by his own intemperate speeches he had heightened the displeasure conceived against him; while he boasted extravagantly "that his soldiers persisted in obedience, when others lapsed into sedition; nor had the empire remained to Tiberius, if in those legions too there had been a thirst for change." By these pretensions of his the emperor thought his own state was disparaged, and that it was unequal to the recompense of such important services. For benefits are only so far acceptable as they seem capable of being requited; but when they have much exceeded the power of remuneration, they are recompensed with hatred instead of gratitude. 19. Sosia Galla was the wife of Silius. and, for the love c. 20.] ACCUSATION AND DEATH OF SILITS. 167 Agrippina bore her, frowned on by Tiberius. It was agreed to arraign him and her, and to postpone for a time the trial of Sabinus. Against them was engaged as an accuser, Varro the consul, who, under colour of "revenging his father's quarrel," gratified, by his own infamy, the malice of Sejanis. The request of the accused for a short respite till Varro ceased to be consul, was opposed by the empeior; "for that it was cus tornary for magistrates to put private persons upon trial; not ought the privilege of a consul to be infringed; since upon his vigilance it depended that no damage accrued to the commonweal." It was a policy peculiar to Tiberius to shelter under venerable names the villanies of modern invention. The senate was therefore summoned with great formality, as if Silius were to be dealt with according to the laws, or as if Varro had been consul, or as if the present domination had been the ancient republic. Silius remained silent; or if he made an effort to speak in his defence, it was but to declare the truth, that struggled in his breast, that he was the victim of a tyrant's resentment. The charges brought against him were "his long connivance at the machinations of Sacrovir. arising out of his being an accomplice with him; his victory tarnished with abominable avarice; and the behaviour of 1it wife, Sosia." And certainly they could not exculpate themselves from the charge of extortion: but the whole accusation was carried on as a question of treason; and Silius prevented by a voluntary death, the condemnation that inevitably awaited him. 20. His estate, however, was eagerly seized upon; not that the money extorted fromi those who paid tribute might be refunded, for none of these claimed it; but what he had received from the bounty of Augustus was rigorously exacted; and a specific calculation made of all the effects of Silius claimed by the exchequer. This was the first instance in which Tiberius showed a covetousness of the property of others. Sosia was sentenced to banishment, at the motion of Asinius Gallus, who proposed, "that half her effects should be forfeited, half left to her children." Manius Lepidus,l on the contrary, voted " the fourth part to the accusers, as the law2 required; all the 1 See above, book iii. s. 32. 2 The Lex Julia de Majestate. It was determined by the senate whether the accusers had earned the rewards fixed by law. In many cases even more was allowed. 168 TTI, ANNALS. rest to the children." This Lepidus I find to have been, for those times, a wise and sedate man; for by him the torrent of flattery was frequently turned, and many of its cruel suggestions mitigated: nor was he at all deficient in tact and management, as he contrived to maintain at the same high and unvarying level his influence and favour with Tiberius. Hence I am driven to raise the question, whether the inclination of princes to some men, and their antipathy to others, as well as other things of the same class, are to be ranked among the uncontrollable contingencies of nature, or whether they depend upon our own counsels, and we may if we please preserve a course equally remote from rash contumacy and unseemly complaisance, exempt from ambition and the dangers which attend it. Cotta Messalinus, a man descended from ancestors no less illustrious, but of a different spirit, moved to provide by a decree of the senate, "that the magistrates of the several provinces, however innocent themselves, and even unacquainted with the mismanagement of others, should be punished for the crimes of their wives committed in the provinces, ellually as for their own." 21. The next proceeding was against Calpurnius Piso,2 a man of noble descent and undaunted spirit. For it was he who, as I have related, protested with so much vehemence in the senate, " that he would abandon Rome, to escape the conspiracies of the informers;" and, in defiance of the court influence of Augusta, dared to prosecute her favourite Urgulania, and summon her from the palace of the emperor. All which Tiberius treated at the time in a manner suitable to a citizen of a free state; but in a soul like his, that brooded over vengeance, though the transports of resentment had abated, the impression remained deep in his memory. Quintus Granius charged Piso with treasonable words uttered privately; and added, "that he kept poison in his house and came into the senate armed with a dagger:" an article too heinouni to be true, and therefore dropped. But for other crimss, which were accumulated manifold, he was to be put up.n his trial; which, on account of his destroying himself on purpose to avoid it, was not gone through with Manius Lepidus has been already mentioutd, book I s. 18; book iii. a. 50. See also Annals, book vi. a. 27 2 See above, book ii a. 34. END OF THE AFRICAN WAR. 169 Then, too, came before them the business of Cassius Severus, the exile, a man of mean origin and wicked life, bult a powerful speaker; who, in consequence of the enemies he had wantonly made, had occasioned an order of the senate, passed with the solemnity of swearing, for his 'banishment into Crete; where, by persisting in his wonted practices, he drew upon himself his former enemies, and fresh ones ill addition: so that he was now stripped of his goods, interdicted from fire and water, and doomed to wear out his existence on the rocky island of Seriphus.' 22. About the same time, Plautius Silvanus, the proator, for what cause is uncertain, killed Apronia his wife, by throwing her down headlong from a window. When he was brought by Lucius Apronius his father-in-law before the emperor, he answered, in confusion of mind, " that while he was sound asleep, and therefore unaware of what she was doing, his wife had destroyed herself." Tiberius instantly hastened to the house, and inspected the chamber; and in it the marks of his violence and her struggling were apparent. This he reported to the senate; and, judges being appointed, Urgulania, the grandmother of Plautius, sent him a dagger; which it was believed she did by,he advice of Tiberius, in regard of the friendship of Augusta for her. The criminal, having in vain essayed to use the steel, caused his veins to be opened. Soon after, Numantina, his former wife, was accused )f having by charms and potions disordered the understanding of her husband; but was adjudged innocent. 23. This year at last relieved the Romans from the long war with Tacfarinas the Numidian. For the former generals, as soon as they believed their exploits had entitled them to the honour of triumphal distinctions, always abandoned the enemy. Insomuch that there were already in Rome three statues adorned with laurel;2 but still Tacfarinas was ravaging Africa, reinforced by auxiliaries from the Moors, who had exchanged for war the oppression of the king's freedmen, and the commands of slaves, to which they were subject 1 Seriphus, a small island in the lEgean sea, mentioned by Juvenal - " — Et parva tandem carulsse Seripho."-Sat. vi. 563. And again" Ut Gyari clausus scopulis, parvaque Seripho."-Sat. x. 2 The< three statues were, for Furius Camillus, book ii. s. 52; L. Apronil.s, book iii. s. 21; Junius Blsesus, book iii. s. 72. 170 THE ANNALS. lB. IV. under the government of Ptolemy, son of Juba,' who, from his youth and inexperience, suffered things to take their own course. For the harbourer of his plunder, and partner iv depredations, he had the king of the Garamantes: not that this king marched at the head of an army, but only sent out light parties, which were magnified by report as coming from a distance. From the province itself, too, flowed in all that were bankrupt in fortune, all that were disorderly in their lives; the more readily, because the emperor, after the feats performed by Blassus, as if there had no longer remained any enemy in Africa, had ordered the ninth legion to be withdrawn: nor durst Publius Dolabella, proconsul there in that year, retain it; as he dreaded more the orders of the prince than the casualties of the war. 24. Tacfarinas, therefore, disseminated a rumour, "that several other nations also were tearing piecemeal the Roman power; that hence their forces were by degrees being drawn off from Africa; and that the remainder might be wholly destroyed, if all to whom liberty was dearer than bondage would exert themselves in the cause." By this rumour his forces were augmented, and he besieged the city of Thubuscum. But Dolabella, drawing together what soldiers were there, at his first approach raised the siege, by the terror of the Roman name, and because the Numidians cannot stand a regular encounter with our foot. He likewise established fortified posts in convenient situations; and at the same time executed the chiefs of the Musulamians, who were on the tomnt of commencing a revolt. Then, since, from many expeditions against Tacfarinas, it was manifest that an enemy so desultory in his motions could not be brought to close quarters by a heavily equipped army, and by bearing upon him with a single force, he called to his aid king Ptolemy, with a body of his subjects, and formed four bands, corn manded by lieutenant-generals and tribunes; while predatory bands were led on by chosen Moors: the proconsul himself buperintendi:ng the whole operations. 25. Not long after, tidings came, "that the Numidians ',,ad pitched theii huts near a decayed fort called Auzea, which they had formerly set fire to; trusting now to its 1 See this book, s. 5, note. This Ptolemy was put to death hy Caligul a u. c. 793. Suet. in Calig. s. 26. TACFARINAS SLAIN. 171 situatio, because it was shut in on every side by wild and extensive forests." The light infantry and allied cavalry were then hastily marched off at a rapid pace, not knowing whithei they were being led; and just at dawn of day, with trumpet& sou nding and terrific shouts, they came upon the Numidians, still half asleep, their horses tethered, or straggling loosely at grass. The Romans were come prepared for battle-their foot in close array, their cavalry marshalled: the enemy, on the contrary, utterly surprised and bewildered, without arms, or order, or plan, were, with all the passiveness of sheep, routed, slaughtered, or captured. The soldiers, exasperated by the remembrance of their toils, and encountering a foe that had so often eluded them, severally took their fill of vengeance and of blood in the engagement so often wished for. Through all the ranks the word ran, " that they must try to get hold of Tacfarinas, known to them in so many conflicts: that there would be no rest from war unless he were killed." As for Tacfarinas, his guards slain around him, his son a prisoner, and the Romans pouring upon him on all sides, he rushed upon the darts, and escaped captivity by a death not uncompensated with the blood of his foe. And thus an end was put to the war. 26. Dolabella solicited triumphal ornaments, but was refused by Tiberius, in consideration of Sejanus; that the fame of his uncle Blaesus might not lose its lustre. But the fame of Blesus shone no brighter for this; while to Dolabella increase of glory accrued from withholding the honour due to him, for he had reaped the renown of taking illustrious prisoners, slaying the general, and terminating the war with an inferior army. He was also attended by ambassadors from the Garamantes-a rare sight in Rome! That nation, struck with the death of Tacfarinas, and not unconscious of guilt, had sent them to appease the resentment of the Roman people. And now that the zeal of Ptolemy during that war was known, a custom of remote antiquity was revived in his favour, and one of the senators sent to deliver him an ivory sceptre and painted robe (the ancient presents of the senate); and to salute him as " King, Friend, and Confederate." 27. The same summer, the seeds of a Servile War spread through Italy were prevented from developing themselves by a lucky accident. The author of the commotion was Titus 172 THE A 1ALS. [B. IV Curtisius, formerly a soldier of the praetorian guards. First by clandestine meetings at Brundusium, and the neighbouring towns; afterwards by orders publicly issued, he was inviting to liberty the agrarian slaves, through the wild and remote forests, and such as were of a turbulent spirit; when, as it were by the bounty of the gods, three galleys, destined for the necessities of those who frequented that sea, landed there. Curtius Lupus too, the quaestor, was then in these parts; for to him had fallen, according to ancient custom, the province of Cales. Lupus marshalled the mariners, and dissipated the conspiracy then just breaking out. Staius the tribune despatched thither by the emperor with an efficient force, haled the leader himself, and his most resolute partisans, to Rome,-already in a state of alarm, on account of the multitude of slaves, that were augmenting immensely, while the freeborn commonalty daily dwindled away. 28. During the same consulship, there were brought before the senate a father as defendant and his son the accuser, both named Vibius Sereausl-a deplorable example of wretchedness and inhumanity: the father, dragged from exile, covered with filth and squalid from neglect, and moreover bound in chains, heard himself impleaded by his soft. The young man, dressed for the occasion with studied elegance, his countenance cheerful and elated, alleged " a plot framed against the emperor, and that some of the conspirators were sent into Gaul to instigate a rebellion there,"-at once a witness and an informer. He likewise charged " Caecilius Cornutus, formerly praetor, with having furnished money." But he, from the pain of anxiety, and because the accusation was regarded as tantamount to destruction, anticipated death by his own hand. The accused, on the other side, with a spirit undismayed, turning full upon his son, and clanking his chains, invoked " the avenging gods, that to himself they would give back his place of banishment, where he might dwell far away from such practices; and that just vengeance might one day overtake his son." He insisted, too, " that Cornutus was innocent, and only terrified with forged crimes; as might be easily learnt if other accomplices were produced; for it was ' We have seen Vibius Serenus, the father, who had been proconil in Spain, banished to the island of Amorgos; this book, s. 13. Sse also book ii. s. 30. c. 30.] SERENUS BANISHED. 173 not probable that, with one confederate only, he should have meditated the murder of the prince, and a change of the state." 29. The accuser then named Cneius Lentulus and Seiun Tubero, to the great confusion of Tiberius; when men of the first rank in Rome, his own intimate friends, Lentulus in extreme old age, Tubero worn out with infirmities, were charged with seditious movements and designs of innovation. But they indeed were instantly acquitted. Against the father his slaves were examined upon the rack; and their examination went against the accuser; who, distracted with guilt, and frightened besides with the language of the populace, who menaced him with the dungeon, the rack, and the punishment of parricides, fled the city. He was dragged back from Ravenna, and compelled to prosecute his accusation; Tiberius not concealing his old hatred to the exile Serenus: for after the condemnation of Libo,' he had by letters upbraided the emperor, that such signal zeal as he had shown in that trial remained without reward: he had likewise inserted some expressions more contumacious than safe in the ears of a prince proud and prone to take offence. These matters were eight years after revived by Tiberius, who charged him with many misdemeanours during that interval, though, through the obstinacy of his slaves, nothing, he said, could be discovered by torture. 30. The votes being then taken, and Serenus sentenced "to death according to the custom of antiquity;" Tiberius, to soften the public odium, interposed. Then Asinius Gallus moved, " to, confine him to the Isle of Gyarus or Donusa:" a motion which Tiberius also rejected; arguing, "that both these isles were destitute of water; and that to whom they granted life, the conveniences of life ought likewise to be granted." So Serenus was carried back to Amorgos. And now, as Cornutus had died by his own hands, it was moved "to abrogate the rewards of informers,2 as often as any person 1 For the iniquitous proceedings against Libo, see book ii. s. 27. 2 When the person accused was found guilty, the fourth part of his estate and effects went to the prosecutors; but if he prevented judgment by a voluntary death, his property descended to his heirs; and, in that case, the emperor paid his harpies out of the fiscus, the imperial exchequer, that is, out of his own coffers. Tiberius, no doubt, felt uneasy under the burden of so heavy an expense. 174 THE ANNALS. [B. IV. charged with treason should, before judgment passed, put an end to his own life." And this motion was being carried, but Tiberius, in behalf of the informers, openly complained, with sternness, and contrary to his custom, "that the laws would be defeated, and the commonwealth placed in imminent peril: that they should rather dissolve the laws than dismiss their guardians." Thus the informers, a description of men called into existence to prey upon the vitals of society, and never sufficiently restrained even by penalties, were now encouraged by rewards. 31. This so long continued series of sad events was interrupted by a degree of joy from the pardon extended by Tiberius to Cominius, who had been convicted of writing defamatory verses upon him, at the instance of his brother, a senator: an event which made it the more astonishing, that he who knew better things, and the fair fame that waits on clemency, should prefer severity. For neither did he err from want of discernment; nor is it difficult to distinguish when the doings of princes are applauded with sincerity, and when they are received with -simulated satisfaction. Nay, even Tiberius, upon other occasions studied and artificial in his manner, and as if struggling to give utterance to his sentiments, yet, whenever he spoke as an advocate, delivered himself with readiness and volubility. But Publius Suilius, formerly quaestor to Germanicus, now convicted of having taken money in an affair where he was to decree as a judge, and for which lie was about to be sentenced to be excluded from Italy, the emperor adjudged him to banishment into an island, with such earnestness of feeling, that with the solemnity of an oath he declared it " for the interest of the commonwealth:" a proceeding which, though at the time regarded as harsh, turned afterwards to his praise, when Suilius returned to Rome: a following age saw that exile possessed of extravagant power; abandoned to venality, and employing his friendship with Claudius, which he long enjoyed, in all cases for his own advancement, but never in the cause of virtue. Catus Firmius the senator was adjudged to the same punishment, i" for having forged charges of treason against his own sister." Catus, as I have before declared, had involved Libo1 in guilt by insidious arts, and then, by informing against him, procured his overthrow 1 See above, book ii s. 27. THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOVERNMENT. 175 Tiberius, mindful of this service, but pretending other motives, deprecated the sentence of banishment; but made no opposition to his expulsion from the senate. 32. I am aware that most of the transactions which I have related, or shall hereafter relate, may perhaps appear unimportant, and too trivial to be recorded. But none must comrare these my Annals with the writings of those who compiled the history of the ancient Roman people. They had for their subjects mighty wars, cities sacked, kings routed and taken captive: orif they turned from these to treat of domestic affairs, they had before them an unlimited field of digression in the dissensions between the consuls and the tribunes, the agrarian laws, the corn laws, and the contests between the commons and the patricians. The matter onwhich I am occupied is circum-,cribed, and unproductive of renown to the author-a state of undisturbed peace, or only interrupted in a limited degree, the sad condition of affairs in the city, and a prince indifferent about extending the bounds of the empire. Not unprofitable, however, will it be to investigate matters which, though unimportant in a superficial view, frequently give the first impulse to events of magnitude. 33. For all nations and cities are governed either by the populace, by the nobility, or by single rulers. The form of government consisting of elements selected from these and blended together, is easier applauded than realised; or if realised, 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 managed; and such too as were most thoroughly acquainted with the spirit of the senate and leading men, were esteemed skilful in the times. practical and wise statesmen: so now, under an altered condition of affairs, when the govern. ment of Rome is no other than the arbitrary rule of one man,it will be of advantage to collect and record these matters; -since few can by their own foresight distinguish between honesty and knavery, between counsels pernicious and profitt The forms of the republican government were still preserved; the magistrates retained their ancient names; " eadem magistratuum vocabula;" but the emperor presided over the whole military department, and his tribunitian power gave him the sole direction of all civil business. 176 THE ANNA MIJ [B. IY able; but most men are instructed by the examples of others. But this detail, as conferring future benefit, is far from affording present gratification. For the descriptions of countries, the alternations of success in war, the fate of illustrious generals, engage the attention of readers and prevent it from flagging. For myself, I have only to record the mandates of despotism, incessant accusations, faithless friendships, the ruin of innocence; one unvarying repetition of causes terminating in the same event, and presenting no novelty from theil similarity and tiresome reiteration. Besides that the old historians are rarely censured; nor is any man now concerned whether they laud with greater zeal the Roman or Carthaginian armies. But, of many who under Tiberius suffered punishment, or were branded with infamy, the posterity are still subsisting; and though the families themselves may be extinct, you will find those who, from a similitude of manners, think that, in reciting the evil doings of others, they themselves are censured: nay, even virtue and a glorious name create enemies, as they expose the opposite characters by too close a contrast. But I return to my undertaking. 34. 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, and then first heard of. Satrius Secundus and Pinarius Natta were his accusers; creatures of Sejanus. 'Phis circumstance, and the fact that Tiberius received his defence with a countenance of settled austerity, formed a fatal omen to the accused; who having made up his mind to die, thus expressed himself: "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 personi comprehended in the law of violated majesty. It is alleged that I have praised Brutus and Cassius; men whose lives ane. actions have been compiled by many writers, but by none without encomiums. Titus Livius, an historian eminently renowned for eloquence and veracity, signalized Pompey with such abundant praises, that he was by Augustus named PomI Plutarch informs us that this was said by Brutus of his friend Cassius. Probably, therefore, Cremutius repeated and approved this saying of Brutus; who would otherwise himsel, as the survivor of Cassius, have rather deserved this honoura'jle distinction. c. 35.] DEFENCE Ol CUREMUTIM18 COURDuu 177 peianus; nor did this interfere with their friendship. Neither Scipio. nor Afranius, nor even this same Cassius, nor this same Brutus, are any where mentioned by him as ruffians and parricides, the common appellations now bestowed on them; but often as great and distinguished men. The writings of Asinius Pollio have handed down the r.emory of the same men in honourable characters; Corvinus Messala gloried to have had Cassius for his general: and yet both Pollio and Corvinus continued in the uninterrupted enjoyment of wealth and honours under Augustus. That book of Cicero's, in which lie exalted Cato to the skies; what other animadversion did it draw firom Csesar the dictator, than a written reply, as if appealing to judges? The letters of Mark Antony, the speeches of Brutus, are full of reproaches against Augustus; unfounded indeed, but urged with signal asperity; the poems of Bibaculus, and those of Catullus, filled with virulent satires against the Caesars, still are read. But even the deified Julius, eveii the deified Augustus, bore all these invectives and passed them over; whether with greater moderation or wisdom, it were difficult to say. For, if they are despised, they fade away; if you show displeasure, they seem to be admitted as true. 35. " I refer not to the Greeks: with them not the freedom only, but even the licentiousness of speech, is unpunished: or if any correction is applied, it is only by revenging words with words. It has been ever freely allowed, without exciting the censure of any one, to pass our judgment upon those whom death had withdrawn from the influence of affection and hate. A re Cassius and Brutus now in arms? do they fill with armed troops the fields of Philippi? or do I fire the Roman people by inflammatory harangues, to stir up the spirit of civil war? Brutus atwl Cassius, who fell now more than seventy years ago, 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? Posterity renders to every man 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 mine." Having thus said, he wit hdrew from the senate, and starved himself to death.1 The fathers 1 Seneca, de Consolatione ad Marciam, cap. xxii., gives a circumtantial account of his death. He was three days starving himself ompare also the commencement of the same treatise. TAC.-VOL, I. X 178 THE ANNALS. [B. IV. condemned the books to be burned by the Pediles; but there remained copies, which were concealed and atterwards brought out: whence we may with the greater justice deride the stupidity of those who imagine that they can, by an exertion of contemporary power, extinguish the memorial of events among succeeding generations: for, on the contrary, the punishment of authors of genius exalts the credit of their writings: nor have foreign kings, or any others who have resorted to the same severity, produced any other effect than infamy to themselves and glory to the sufferers. 36. To proceed: this whole year there was such an uninterrupted series of accusations, that even during the solemnity of the Latin festival, when Drusus, for the purpose of Iis inauguration as precfect of the city, had.ascended the tribunal, lie was accosted by Calpurnius Salvianus with a charge against Sextus Marius; a proceeding openly resented by the emperor, and which led to the banishment of Salvianus. The city of Cyzicus was next accused of not observing the established worship of the deified Augustus; with additional charges of acts of violence committed upon Roman citizens. Thus that city lost her liberties, which, by her behaviour during the Mithridatic war, she had earned; having 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 pioconsul governed Asia, was acquitted upon proof that the crimes brought against him by Vibius Serenus 2 were forged nmd yet the forgery drew no penalty upon Serenus: for the public hate rendered him the more secure: for every accuser, the more eager and busy he was, the more he resembled one whose person is sacred and inviolable: those who practised on a small scale and were not in repute, were punished. 37. About the same time, the furthermost Spain 3 besought the senate by their ambassadors, " that, after the example of The Latin festival was instituted by Tarquinins Superbus, and celebrated every year in the beginning of May, on the Mount Albanus, near the ruins of the city of Alba. (Livy, lib. ii s. 16 ) The consuls and other magistrates went forth in procession; and, during their absence, a person of high rank was chosen to discharge the functions of consul, and preserve the peace of the city. See Annals, book vi. s. 11. In coin formity with this custom, we find Drusus acting on this occasion. 2 The son who accused his father: see this book, c. 28. s Lusitania and Bzetical now Portugal, ADdalusia, ana Grenada. c. 38.] TIBERIUS REJECTS DIVINE HONOURS. 179 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 represented him as chargeable with having deviated into ambition, spoke in this manner:; I know, conscript fathers, that it is ascribed to a defect in firmness in me, that when the cities of Asia lately preferred the same petition, 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 of a temple to himself and the city of Rome; I, with whom all his actions and sayings have the force of laws, have followed an example already approved, the more cheerfully, because to the worship bestowed upon me, the adoration of the senate was annexed. But as the admission of it in one instance will find pardon, so a general latitude of being hallowed through every province under the representations of the deities. would denote a vain spirit; a heart swelled with ambition. The homage paid to Augustus will also fade, if it is made common by indiscriminate and unmerited acts of adoration. 38. "For myself, conscript fathers, that I am a mortal man; that I am confined to the functions of human rLature; and that if T well supply the principal place amongst you, it suffices me, I solemnly assure you, and I would have posterity remember it. They will render enough to my memory, if they believe me to have been worthy of my ancestors; watchful of your interests; unmoved in perils, and, in defence of the public weal, fearless of private enmities. These are the temples I would raise in your breasts; these are the fairest effigies. and such as will endure. As for those of stone, if the judgment of posterity changes from favour to dislike, they are despised as no better than 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 implore our citizens and allies, that, whenever my dissolution comes, they would celebrate my actions and the odour of my name with praises and benevolent testimonies of remembrance." And thenceforward he persevered in slighting upon all occasions, and even in private N2 10S TIlE ANNALS. [B. IV. conversation, this worship of himself: a conduct which was by some ascribed to modesty; by many to distrust of his merit; by others to degeneracy of spirit. " For men of the most exalted virtue have ever coveted the highest honours: thus Hercules and Bacchus amongst the Greeks, and with us Romulus, were added to the society of the gods: Augustus had chosen the nobler part, who hoped for deification: all the other gratifications of princes are readily procured: one object only is to be pursued insatiably; the applauding voice r of posterity. For by contemning fame, the virtues that acquirt it are contemned." 39. Now Sejanus, infatuated with excess of fortune, and:moreover stimulated by the importunity of Livia,' who, witL the restless passion of a woman, craved the promised mar. riage, composed a memorial to the emperor; for it was then ithe custom to apply to him in writing,2 though he were present. The form in which it was conceived was this: " That he had been so familiarized to the kindness of Augustus, and subsequently to the numerous decisions of Tiberius in his favour, that he would not address his hopes and prayers to the gods rather than to the ears of princes; nor of them had he ever sought the glare of honours: watching and toils, like one of the common soldiers, for the safety of the prince, had been his choice. However, what was most glorious for him, he had attained,-to be thought worthy of alliance with the emperor.3 Hence the foundation 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 therefore begged that, if a husband were sought for Livia, Tiberius would remember his friend, whc would seek no other advantage than the high honour of tho alliance; for he would not solicit exemption from the duties imposed upon him, but hold it sufficient that his house was fortified against the injurious animosity of Agrippina: and in 1 The sister of Germanicus, and lately wife of Drusus. See this book, c. 3. 2 The custom was begun by Julius Caesar, and continued by Augustus. Suetonius, in Aug. s. 84, and Plut. Caes. 17. 3 The daughter of Sejanus was to have been married to Drusus, the son of Claudius. Annals, book iii. 29; this book, c. 7. c. 40.1 PETITION OF SEJANUS. 181 this he only consulted the security of his children; for himself, his own life would be abundantly long, if he might continue it during the life of such a prince." 40. In answer, Tiberius, having 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; and then added: " That all other men were, in their deliberations, guided by views of their own interest. Far different was the lot of princes, who were in their most important actions to consider fame. He therefore did not resort to that trite subterfuge in his reply,-that Livia could herself determine whether, after Drusus, she ought again to marry, or patiently continue under the same household gods,-that she had a mother and grandmother, advisers more nearly related to her. He would deal more candidly with him: and, first, as to the enmity of Agrippina, it would flame out with far more 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 out, and by their animosities, his grandsons were assailed by conflicting influences. What would be the consequence if, by such a marriage, the strife were inflamed I 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, her brother, and the ancestors of our house, enjoying the highest dignities, will ever suffer it You indeed propose, yourself, to stand still in the same station; but the great magistrates and nobles, who, in spite of you, break in upon you, and consult you in all affairs, make no secret of complaining that you have long exceeded the equestrian eminence, and far outgone in power all the confidants of my father; and from their envy of you, they also censure me. But still, you say, Augustus deliberated about giving his daughter to a Roman knight. It is a wonderful thing, to be sure, if, perplexed with a crowd of distracting cares, and foreseeing that the man would be raised to an unbounded height, whomsoever he dignified with 182 THE ANNALS. [B. IV. such a match, he talked of Proculeius,' and certain others like him, remarkable for their retired habits, and not at all mixed up with politics! But if we are inlluenced by the hesitation of Augustus, how much more powerful is his 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 thwarted by me. The secret purposes of my own heart towards you, and with what further ties of affinity I am contriving to bind you to me, I shall at present forbear to recount. Thus much only I will disclose, that there is nothing so high which those virtues of yours, and your zeal towards me, do not merit; and when opportunity presents, either in the senate or in a popular assembly, I shall not suppress my sentiments." 41. In answer to this, Sejanus, no longer solicitous about the marriage, but filled with higher apprehensions, besought him "to resist the dark suggestions of suspicion, the pratings of the vulgar, and the assaults of envy." And lest by refusing admission to the suitors, who incessantly thronged his house, he might impair his power or, by encouraging them, furnish a handle to his accusersle adopted the expedient of urging the emperor to pass his time in some agreeable situation far from Rome. From this counsel he foresaw many advantages: upon himself would depend all access to the emperor; the letters would, as the soldiers were the carriers, be for the most part under his direction; in a little time the prince, now declining in years, and enervated by retirement, would more easily transfer to him the whole charge of the empire: the envy felt towards himself would be diminished by getting rid of the crowd of visitors, and though the empty parade of power was removed, he would possess more of its essentials. He therefore began by little and little to rail at the hurry of business at Rome, the throng of people, the conflux of suitors, applauding-' retirement and quiet; which afford the greatest facilities for deliberation on the most imProculeius is mentioned by Horace:"Vivet extento Proculeius svo, Notus in fratres animi paterni." —Carm. 1I. ii. 5. He was brother of Terentia the wife of Mecenas, and the intimate friend of Augustus. c. 4:3. TRIAL OF MONTANUS. 183 portant matters, unwearied by importunities and unexposed to annoyance from the dissatisfied." A 42. There happened, too, about that time, the trial of Votienus Montanus,1 a celebrated wit, which induced the hesitating Tiberius to resolve upon shunning all assemblies of the fathers, and the true and painful reflections which were there unsparingly uttered to his face. For, as Votienus was charged with calumnies spoken against Caesar, zEmilius the witness, of the military profession, from a zeal to make good his evidence, rehearsed every tittle he had heard; and notwithstanding the clamour raised to stop his mouth, he persisted in the detail with obstinate pertinacity. Tiberius heard the reproaches by which he was secretly lacerated; and he was so struck, that he exclaimed passionately, " that he would instantly clear himself, or establish a judicial investigation:" and the prayers of his particular friends, and flatteries of all, were scarcely sufficient to calm him. Votienus, indeed, suffered the pains of treason;2 but Tiberius persisted with so much more obstinacy in the harshness imputed to him, that he punished Aquilia with exile, for adultery with Varils Ligur; though she had been sentenced by Lentulus Getulicus, consul elect, to the penalties of the Julian law.3 He also erased Apidius Merula from the roll of senators, " because lie had not sworn upon the acts of the deified Augustus." 43. Next were heard ambassadors from the Lacedsemonians and Messenians, about their claim to the temple of Diana Limnatis; which the Lacedaemonians asserted to be theirs,:founded in their territory, and dedicated by their ancestors;" and offered as proofs the ancient records of their annals, 1 Of this Montanus, a noted orator and declaimer, we have the following character in Seneca the rhetorician: " Habet hoc Montanus vitium: dum non est contentus unam rem semel bene dicere, effe;t ut ne bene dixerit. Propter hoc solebat Montanum Scaurus inter oratores Ovidium vocare."-Controvers. iv. cap. 28. 2 We learn from Eusebius, in his Chronicon, that he was banished to the Balearic Islands, where he finished his days. 3 There were two modes of expulsion from the city of Rome. One was relegatio; the other exilium. The former was a mere- order of removal to a certain distance; but the person so punished did not forfeit his property, nor the freedom of the city. Banishment took away every right. Tiberius chose, on this occasion, to inflict the heavier punishment. The deportatio in insulam was a still sevtser sentence than either of the above. 184 THEl ANNALS. [B. LIt and the hymns of the old poets; "but it had been taken from them forcibly by Philip of Macedon, having been at war with him; but restored afterwards by the sentence of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony." The Messenians, on the contrary. pleaded "the ancient partition of Peloponnesus amongst the descendants of Hercules; and that the territory of Denthelia, where the temple stood, had fallen to their king; memorials of which event still remained, engraven on 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 virtue of nis power, but from equity:-the same was the adjudication of king Antigonus:1 the same that of the general Mummius.' Thus, too, the Milesians had awarded, who were by both states chosen arbitrators: and thus, lastly, it had been determined by Atidius Geminus, praetor of Achaia."3 It was given, therefore, in favour of the Messenians The citizens also of Segesta' applied to have "the temple of Venus on Mount Eryx, which had fallen into decay through age, restored." They represented the well-known, and to Tiberius gratifying, story of its origin, who willingly took upon himself the charge, as a kinsman to the goddess.5 Then was discussed the petition from the citizens of Marseilles, and the precedent of Publius Rutilius was approved: for Rutilius, though by a law expelled from Rome, had been by the Smyrnseans adopted a citizen: and as Volcatius Moschus, another exile, had found at Marseilles the same privilege and reception, he had left his estate to their republic, as his country. 44. Those noble Romans, Cneius Lentulus and Lucius Antigonus, king of Macedonia, died in the 4th year of the 139th Olympiad, A. u. c. 533. 2 Lucius Mummius, conqueror of Corinth, A. U. c. 608. 3 When Greece was reduced to subjection, the Romans gave to the whole country the general name of Achaia. 4 A town in Sicily, now Castel a Mare, in the vale of Mazara. The temple of Venus Erycina was afterwards rebuilt by Claudius. (Suet. Life, of Claudius) 5 This temple was reported to have been founded by LEncas, son of Venus, (Virg AEn. v. 759,) and from Iulus, son of 2Eneas, the Gens Julia was descended. Tiberius, as the adopted son of Augustus, had beroile a member of this Gens c. 45.1 L. PISO ASSASSINATED IN SPAIN. 185 Domitius,' died this year Lentulus, to the consulship, and the ensigns of triumph over the Getae, had added that of poverty honourably borne; and afterwards a splendid fortune, virtuously acquired and modestly enjoyed. Upon Domitius devolved the lustre of his father, who in the civil war held the dominion of the sea, till he espoused first the interest of Mark Antony, and then that of Augustus: his grandfather had fallen for the cause of the senate in the battle of Pharsalia. He himself was chosen for the husband of the younger Antonia, daughter of Octavia: he afterwards led an army over the Elbe, and advanced further into Germany than any Roman before him, for which he obtained the insignia of triumph. Then also died Lucius Antonius, of a race highly illustrious, but unhappy: for, Julius Antonius, his father, having suffered death for adultery with Julia, Augustus removed this Lucius, then a child, and the grandson of his sister, to the city of Marseilles, where, under pretence of pursuing his studies, the name of exile might be veiled. Funeral honours were however paid him, and by a decree of the senate his bones were deposited in the tomb of the Octavii. 45. During the same consulship, an atrocious crime was perpetrated in Nether Spain, by a peasant of the Termestinian nation,2 who surprised and struck dead with a single wound, Lucius Piso,3 governor of the province, as he travelled careless and unattended, as in a state of peace. The assassin, however, escaped to a forest by the fleetness of his horse, and there turned him loose: from thence travelling over rocks and pathless places, he baffled his pursuers: but he did not long escape detection; for his horse being taken and shown through the neighbouring villages, it was discovered who was the owner. When found and put to the rack to declare his accomplices, he proclaimed with a loud voice, in the language of his country, 1 Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. His son, Cneius Domitius Ahenobarbus, married Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus, and by her was father of Nero. 2 The name of their city was Termes, now THermes. 3 He was probably son of the city prefect mentioned below (book vi 10), and the same who is addressed by Horace in his Art of Poetry, 1. 366:"0 major juvenum, quamvis et voce paterna Fioreris ad rectum et per te sapis." 18G THE ANN SALS. B. IV "that in vain they questioned him; his associates might stand by and look on: that no force of torture could extort the truth from him." Next day, as he was dragged back to the rack, he burst with so vehement an effort from his guard, anu dashed his head so violently against a stone, that he instantly expired. But Piso is believed to have been assassinated from a plot of the Termestinians; as in exacting the repayment of some public money, which had been embezzled, he acted with more asperity than a barbarian people could endure. 46. In the consulship of Lentulus Getulicus and Caius Calvisius, the insignia of triumph were decreed to Poppwals Sabinus for having routed some clans of Thracians, who, living wildly on the high mountains,' conducted themselves with the greater contumacy. The ground of their late commotion, in addition to the savage genius of the people, was their scorn at having recruits raised amongst them, and all their stoutest men enlisted in our armies; accustomed as they were not even to obey their native kings, excepting according to their caprice, nor to aid them with forces but under captains of their own choosing, nor to fight against any enemy but their own borderers. A rumour was then also current amongst them, that they were to be dispersed and mixed with other nations, and thus dragged away to distant countries. But before they took up arms, they sent ambassadors to Sabihus, to represent "their past friendship and submission, and that the same should continue, if they n'ere provoked by no fiesh impositions: bu- 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 precipitous rocks, whither they had conveyed their wives and parents, and threatened a war intricate, hazardous, and sanguinary. 47. Sabinus amused theta with gentle answers till he could draw together his army; when Pomponius Labeo arrived with a legion from Mcesia, and king Rhemetalces with an auxiliary body of his countrymen who had not renounced their allegiance. With these and what forces he had of his own, he marched towards the foe, now disposed in the passes of the forest: some, moree bold, presented them1 Mount Hmmus; see below, c 51. c. 49. INSURRECTION IN1I THRACE. 187 delves upon the hills: then the Roman general approaching, gave them battle, and without difficulty drove them thence, rut with small slaughter of the Barbarians, because they had refuge at hand. Here he soon after 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, according to the custom of the nation, gambolling without the fortification in dances and songs, he forthwith despatched against them a select body of archers. These, while they only poured in volleys of arrows at a distance, wounded many with impunity; but, approaching too near, were by a sudden sally thrown into disorder; being received by a cohort of the Siganbrians,' a people prompt in encountering danger, and no less terrible from their war-cries and the clangour of their arms, whom Sabinus had posted at a short distance. 48. He afterwards moved his camp nearer to the enemy; leaving in his former entrenchments the Thracians, who, as I have mentioned, had joined us, with permission "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 and under guard." This restriction was at first observed; but, soon lapsing into luxury, and enriched with plunder, they neglected their guards, and resigned themselves to excessive feasting, or wallowed in sleep and intoxication. 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, not with the hope of taking it, but that the soldiers, alarmed with shouts and darts, and each intent upon the danger which threatened himself, might not hear the din of the other battle: moreover, to heighten the terror, night was chosen for the operation. But those who assailed the lines of the legions were easily repulsed; the auxiliary Thracians were terrified with the sudden assault; some of them lying near the entrenchments, many roaming without them, they were slain with the more relentless vengeance, as they were charged with "being fugitives and traitors who bore arms to enslave their country and themselves." 49. Next day Sabinus drew up his army on level ground; 1 See note on book ii. 26. 188 THE ANNALS. (B. IV. to try if, elated with their success by night, they would venture a battle: and, when they still kept within the furtress, or on the chain of hills, he began a siege by means of the works he was then fortifying, and which were eonvenient for the purpose: and then forming a fosse and breastwork, he carried his lines round for a space of four miles. Then, to deprive them of water and forage, he straitened his harriers by degrees, and hemmed them in still closer A rampart was also raised, whence, upon the enemy now within reach, were discharged stones, darts, and brands. But nothing distressed them so much as thirst, as only a single fountain remained amongst a huge multitude of the unarmed and armed men: their horses, too, and cattle, penned up with them, after the manner of the country, perished for want of provender: near them lay the bodies of men; some who had died of thirst, some of their wounds; everything foul and tainted with gore, stench, and infection. To these distresses was also added that consummation of all calamities, dissension: 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. 50. But of their leaders, one named Dinis, a man stricken in years, and by long experience acquainted with the rigour and clemency of the Romans, argued, " that they must lay down their arms, which was the sole remedy for their pressing calamities:" and he first submitted, with his wife and children, to the conqueror. He was followed by all that were weak through sex or age, and such as had a greater love of life than glory. The young men were divided under Tarsa and Turesis; both determined to fall with liberty; but Tarsa declared earnestly "for instant death; and the severance of all hopes and fears at once:" 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 more numerous parties; and now came on a dark night and cloudy in the extreme; and the enemy now with tumultuous shouts, and now with 1 This last sentence appears to be interpolated W. 52.] PROSECUTI,N OF CLAUDIA PULCIIRA. 189 profound silence, alarmed and embarrassed the besiegers. Sabinus, therefore, went round the camp and warned the soldiers, " that they should not allow an opportunity to the insidious arts of the enemy, deceived by ambiguous noises, or counterfeited stillness; but keep immoveably to their several posts; nor throw their darts at random." 51. Meanwhile the Barbarians, pouring down in separatt broops, now with stones as large as they could grasp, poles hardened at the point in the fire, and with the limbs of trees lopped off, batter the palisade; now with hurdles, fagots, and dead bodies, fill the trench: by others, bridges and ladders, which they had framed beforehand, were planted against the battlements; these they grasped and tore down, 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, hurled upon them great mural javelins, and rolled down heaps of stones. These derived additional courage from the confidence inspired by the advantage already gained, and the more signal disgrace if they gave way: those, from the fact that this was their only hope of safety; and that their wives and mothers, who stood near them, urged them on by the lamentations they uttered. The night ministered to the daring of some, to the fears of others; blows were dealt at random, wounds were received they knew not whence; there was no possibility of distinguishing friend or foe. The shouts, reverberated from the cavities of the mountain, seeming to proceed from their rear, involved everything in such confusion that the Ronans abandoned some of their works, believing them to have been carried: and yet such of the enemy as broke through were very few. The rest, all their most resolute champions being wounded or slain, were at the returning light driven back to the high ground on which their fort stood, where they were at length forced to surrender; and the neighbouring villages submitted voluntarily: the remainder could not be reduced by storm or siege, as they were protected by the setting in of winter, usually premature and inclement in' the regions of Mount Hlemus. 52. At Rome the tranquillity of the prince's family was disturbed: and, to begin the series of destructions which was to end in Agrippina, Claudia Pulchra her cousin was prose 190 TItE ANNALS. LB. Iv. cuted; Domitius Afer' the accuser. This man, just out of the prEetorship, of small estimation. but eager to signalise himself by some notable exploit however heinous, alleged against her the "crimes of prostitution, adultery with Furnius, with witchcraft and spells against the emperor." Agrippina, ever vehement, and then in a flame on account of the perilous situation of her kinswoman, flew to Tiberius, and by char e 2ound him sacrificing to the emperor his father. When, fvailing Lerself of the circumstance to upbraid him, she told him "that B- was inconsistent in him to offer victims to the deified Augulus and to persecute his children: his divine spirit was not '-ansfused into dumb statutes: 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 suppliant. In vain was Pulchra set up as the object of attack; when the only cause of her overthrow was her affection for Agrippina, foolishly carried even to adoration, forgetful of Sosia, a sufferer for the same fallt."2 These words elicited an expression of his sentiments from the close-minded Tiberius, a rare occurrence with him; and laying hold of her, he admonished her in a Greek verse, "that it was no injury to her that she did not reign." Pulchra and Furnius were condemned.3 Afer, having thus spread the fame of his genius, and afterwards received an attestation from Tiberius, in which he pronounced him justly entitled to the appellation of "eloquent," was ranked with the most celebrated orators: afterwards in prosecuting accusations, or in defending the accused, he enjoyed a greater reputation for eloquence than integrity, except that in the latter part of his life he lost much of his oratorical power, still retaining his inability to hold his tongue when his energies were exhausted. 53. Agrippina, who continued inflexible in her resentment, was seized with a fit of illness. The emperor paid her a visit, Domitius Afer, an orator highly commended by Quintilian. See Dialogue concerning Oratory, s. 13. 2 Sosia, the wife of Siliu. see this book, c. 19 and 20. 3 Suetonius relates this, and says Tiberius never afterwards conversedl with Agrippina: " Tiberius quiddam questam, manu appre hendit; Grzecoque versu, Si non dominaris, inquit, filiola, injuriam te sccipere existinuas Nee ul]o post sermone dignatus est."-In Tib. s. 53. AGRIPPINA AND SEJANUS. 1!'1 x hen after a long silence, during which she shed a profusion of tears, she at length accosted him with expostulations and prayers "that he would relieve her solitude, and give her a hulsband. She was still young enough for the married state; to virtuous women there was no consolation but that of marriaoe; and Rome afforded men who would think it no dishonour to receive the wife of Germanicus and his children." 'liberius was not ignorant what power in the state was involved in that request, 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,' who was the mother of the emperor Nero, and has published her own life and the fortunes of her family. 54. Agrippina, still grieving, and not anticipating anything of the kind, was yet more deeply wounded by an artifice of Sejanus, who employed emissaries, under colour of friendship, to warn her, "that poison was prepared for her, and that she must avoid 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 speechless, not moving a muscle of her face, or touching any of the viands. At length Tiberius observed her, whether accidentally, or that he was before apprised; and to put the matter to a severer test, praising the apples that stood before him, he 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, Tiberius let not a word drop from him openly; but, turning to his mother, " There was no wonder," he said, " if he took rigorous measures with her who thus charged him as a poisoner." Hence a rumour spread, " that her doom was meditated; and that the emperor, not daring to accomplish it publicly, some secret method of perpetrating the deed was so(ught." 55. Tiberius, to divert the popular talk, assiduously attended the senate, and heard for many days ambassadors from Asia, who were contending, " in what city should be built the temple lately decreed." For this honour eleven cities I She was the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina. Pliny the Elder commends her memoirs, lib. vii s. 8 192 THE ANNAdZ. IB. IV. strove, with equal zeal, though dissimilar in importance. Nor did the pleas urged greatly vary: namely, "' the antiquity of their origin, 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,2 and those of Hyptepa, were at once passed over as unequal to 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 created some little hesitation: they asserted, " that for twelve hundred years no earthquake ha) shaken their town, and that they would fix in a solid rock the foundations of the temple." It was thought enough for the inhabitants of Pergamus that they had a temple erected there to Augustus, though on that very circumstance they grounded their claim. The Ephesians and Milesians seemed to have given sufficiept employment to their states in the ceremonies of their own deities; the former of Diana, the other 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 divided their people because of their multitude, Lydus remained 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 further, by their colonies sent under Pelops into Greece, which afterwards took its name from him." They likewise urged the letters of our generals; their mutual leagues with us during the war of Macedon;3 their fertilizing rivers, temperate climate, and the richness of the surrounding country." 56. The Smyrneans, having appealed to their ancient records to show {" whether Tantalus, the son of Jupiter, or 1 The war with Perseus, king of Macedon, was A u.c. 583. Aristonicus invaded Asia A.u. c. 623. From that time, that part of Asia was made a Roman province, and the vices of the Eist corrupted the Roman manners. " Asia Romanorum tacta, cum opibus suis vitia quoque Romam transmisit."-Justin. lib. xxxvi. s. 4. 2 The inhabitants of Magnesia on the Maeander. 3 The war with Perseus must be here intepded. TIBERIUS RETIRES TO CAMPANIA. 193 Theseus, the son also of a god, or one of the 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 they had endured in Italy.1 " It was they who first reared a temple to the city of Rome, in the consulship of Marcus Porcius;- when the power of the Roman people was already great, but not yet raised to its highest glory; for the city of Carthage still stood, and potent kings governed Asia. They referred also to Lucius Sylla as having experienced their generosity when his army was in the most imminent peril from the inclemency of the winter and scarcity of clothes; for when it was reported to the citizens of Smyrna then assembled, all that were present divested themselves of their garments, and sent them to our legions." Thus when the votes of the senators were gathered, the Smyrnseans were preferred. It was also moved by Vibius Marsus, that Manius Lepidus, to whom' had fallen the province of Asia, should be attended by an extraordinary legate to superintend the building of the temple; and as Lepidus himself modestly declined to choose one, Valerius Naso was chosen by lot from among those of praetorian rank. 57. In the meantime, according to a design long meditated, and from time to time deferred, Tiberius at last retired to Campania; under pretence of dedicating a temple to Jupiter at Capua, and one at Nola to Augustus; but in truth, deternmined to remove for ever from Rome. The cause of his departure I have before referred to the intrigues of Sejanus; but though in this I have followed most of our authors, yet since, after the execution of Sejanus, he persisted for six successive years in the same retirement, I am frequently induced to entertain strong doubts whether his absence was not more justly ascribable to his wish to indulge his cruel and libidinous disposition with greater effect, in the secresy of a retired situation. Some believed that, in his old age, he was ashamed of the style of his person; for he was exceedingly emaciated, tall, and stooping, his head bald, his face ulcerous, and thickly patched with plasters: he was wont too, duripg his recess at Rhodes, to avoid the public, and practise That is, in the Social War, which raged from B.. 90 to n. c. 87 9 Cato the Censor, who was consul A n o. 559. TAC.-VOL. I. 194 THE ANNALS. IB. iV. his debaucheries in secresy. There is also a tradition that he was driven from Rome by the restless spirit of his mother, whom he scorned to admit as a partner in the sovereignty; nor yet could entirely exclude, since as her gift he had received the sovereignty itself. For, Augustus had deliberated about placing Germanicus at the head of the Roman state, his sister's grandson, and one applauded by all men: but, subdued by the solicitations of his wife, he adopted Tiberius, and caused Tiberius to adopt Germanicus. With these services Livia upbraided him, and demanded a return for them.' 58. IHe was attended on his journey by a slender retinue; one senator, Cocceius Nerva,2 formerly consul, an accomplished lawyer; and, besides Sejanus, the only person of distinguished rank was Curtius Atticus,3 a Roman knight. The rest were men of letters, chiefly Greeks,4 whose conversation might amuse him. The astrologers declared, "that he had left Rome in such a conjunction of the planets, as for ever to exclude his return." This was a source of destruction to many, who conjectured his end to be at hand, and published their conjectures: nor indeed could they anticipate so improbable a contingency as that for eleven years he should of choice withdraw himself from his country. Subsequently it appeared how narrow is the limit which divides the deductions of the art from falsehood, and what obscurities envelop the truth. " 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 sojourned sometimes in the adjacent country, sometimes on the neighbouring coast, often under the very walls of the city; and died at last in the fulness of years. I Suetonius says, there was a current report, that Livia, incensed by the haughty carriage of her son, produced the letters of Augustus, complaining of the pride and arrogance of Tiberius. The production of those papers, at such a distance of time, was thought to be his principal reason for leaving Rome. Suet in Tib. s. 51. 2 Cocceius Nerva ended his days by abstinence, A u. c. 786, to withdraw himself from the horror of the times. (Annals, book vi. 26.) Brotier says, he was thought to be father of the emperor Nerva. 3He was afterwards ruined by Sejanus. See book vi. 10; and Ovid, de Ponto, lib. ii. eleg. iv. and vii. 4 These Greek attendants, and the cruelties inflicted on them by Tiberius, are mentioned in Suetonius, Tib. 56. There were also in his train a number of Chaldaean astrolopoe. Juv. Sat, x. 94. INCREASED POWER OF SEJANUS. 195 59. About that time, an accident, which placed the life of Tiberius in imminent danger, gave encouragement to these idle predictions; while to himself it furnished matter of increased confidence in the friendship and constancy of Sejanus. They were taking a repast in a native cave at a villa, called Spelunca,1 between the Amyclean sea and the mountains of Fundi, when the stones giving way its mouth fell suddenly in, and buried some of the attendants: all were thrown into a state of alarm, and the company fled; but Sejanus, hanging over the emperor with his knees, face, and hands, intercepted the falling substance: such was the posture he was found in by the soldiers who came to their relief. He derived increased influence from the circumstance, and whatever he advised, though it might tend to death and destruction, he obtained the credit of sincerity with the emperor, as he now seemed to have no thought about himself: 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 persecute Nero, the next in succession; a young prince modest indeed, but for the most part forgetful of what his present situation required, while his freedmen and dependents, eager to acquire power, goaded him on to show a spirit erect and confident; alleging that it was what the Roman people wished, what the army desired: nor would Sejanus dare then to oppose him, though he uow equally trampled upon the imbecility of an old man and the supineness of a young one. 60. While he listened to these suggestions, and such as these, though he exhibited no indications of meditated depravity, yet upon occasions he would let fall intemperate and unadvised expressions, which were caught up by the spies set over him, and charged against him with aggravations: neither was he allowed the privilege of clearing himself. Whereupon materials for solicitude presented themselves in a variety of forms; for some cut him, others merely returning his salute, turned instantly away: many, after commencing a conversation. abruptly terminated it; while the creatures of them. Sejanus who were near, made a dead set at them, and jeered As for Tiberius, he received him either sternly or with a counte. nance smiling treacherously; and whether the youth spoke I This was in Campania, on the sea-coast, near Terracina. The villa according to Brotier, is now called Sperlonga. C 196 THE ANNAIS. B, IV. or said nothing, crimes were founded on his words, crimes on his silence. nor was he safe even in the night; since his watchings, his dieams, his sighs, 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 Drusus, nati-.ally morose, in addition to the desire of power, and tbh usual jealousies between brothers, was inflamed with envy oecause his mother, Agippina, was fonder of Nero. However, Sejanus did not so far favour Drusus, but that against him too he meditated plans of future destruction; as he knew him to be of an ungovernable spirit, and thence the more obnoxious to insidious machinations. 61. In the end of this year, the following eminent persons died: Asinius Agrippa,2 of a family rather illustrious than ancient, and in his own character not unworthy of it; and Quintus Haterins, of a senatorian family, and himself, while he yet lived, famous for eloquence: but the specimens of his genius, since published, are not equally esteemed. In truth, he prevailed more by rapidity than accuracy: and as depth of thought and diligence confer lasting fame upon the works of others, so the melody of voice and fluency of Haterius perished with him. 62. A sudden calamity occurred in the consulship of Marcus Licinius and Lucius Calpurnius, which equalled the havoc of the most destructive wars; its beginning and end were simultaneous. One Atilius had undertaken to erect an amphitheatre at Fidenee, there to exhibit a combat of gladiators: he was of the race of freedmen, and as he engaged in the business from no exuberance of wealth, nor to acquire popularity amongst the inhabitants, but as a matter of sordid gain, he neither put it upon solid foundations, nor employed braces to ttrengthen the wooden fabric which formed the superstructure. Thither flocked from Rome persons of every sex and age, eager for such shows, as during the reign of Tiberius they were debarred from diversions at home, and in greater crowds l Julia, the daughter of Drusus, son of Tiberius, by his wife Livia, or Livilla. 2 Asinius Agrippa, grandson to the famous Asinius Pollio, the friend of Augustus, was consul a. c. 778. See this book. c. 34. C. 64.] FALL OF AN AMPHITHEATRE AT FIDENI. 197 from the nearness of the place: hence the calamity was the more disastrous; for the theatre being crowded so as to form a dense mass, and then rent asunder, some portions tumbling inwards, others bulging towards the outer parts, a countless number of human beings, either intent upon the spectacle, or standing near around the place, were either borne headlong to the ground or buried under the ruins. Those indeed who were killed by the shock of the first crash, escaped as far as was possible in such a disaster the misery of torture: much more to be pitied were those, who with portions of their bodies torn away, were not yet forsaken of life; those who by day beheld their wives and children, and by night distinguished them by their groans and cries. And now others, summoned to the spot by the sad tidings, bewailed one his brother, another his kinsman, a third his parents: even they whose friends or kindred were absent on a different account, were yet terrified; for as it was not as yet distinctly known who had fallen in the calamity, the alarm spread wider from the uncertainty. 63. When the ruins began to be removed, they crowded round the dead, embracing them and kissing them; and frequently there arose a contest about their identity, where distortion of the features, personal resemblance, or similarity of age had created a liability to error in those who claimed them. Fifty thousand' souls were crushed to death or maimed by this sad disaster: it was therefore for the future provided by a decree of the senate, "that no man under the qualification of four hundred thousand sesterces, should exhibit the spectacle of gladiators; and no amphitheatre should be founded but upon ground of proved solidity." Atilius was punished with exile. However, immediately upon this destructive ualamity, the doors of the great were thrown open; medicines cnd physicians were furnished to all; and at that juncture the;ty, though under an aspect of sorrow, presented an image of ie public spirit of the ancient Romans; who, after great.attles, relieved and sustained the wounded by their liberality and attentions. 64. The sensation created by this terrible blow had not yet subsided, when the city was visited with a fire which raged with unusual violence, and entirely consumed Mount Cselius. "It was a mournful year," they said, " and under-ill-boding E 1 Suetonius says, twenty thousand; in Tib. a. 40. 198 THE ANNALS. [B. IV. omens the prince had formed the design of his absence." Such is the way of the multitude; who are wont to ascribe fortuitous events to evil counsels. But the emperor dissipated their murmurs, by bestowing on each sufferer money to the extent of his damage: hence he had the thanks of men of rank, in the senate; and was rewarded with applause by the. populace, " for that without any views of ambition, or the importunities of friends, he had of his own free will sought out the sufferers though unknown to him, and relieved them by his bounty.". It was likewise decreed, " that Mount COelius, should be for the future styled ' Mount Augustus,' since there the statue of Tiberius, standing in the house of Junius the senator, alone escaped unhurt, while the flames devoured all around; that the same had formerly happened to Claudia Quinta; that her statue, twice spared by the rage of the fire, had been solemnly deposited by our ancestors in the temple of the mother of the gods; that the Claudian race were sacred and dear to the deities; and therefore the place where the gods had testified such distinguished honour towards the prince, ought to be dignified with religious reverence." 65. It will not be improper to mention here, that this mount was of old named Querquetulanus, from a thick and exuberant grove of oaks which grew upon it. It was afterwards commonly called Mount Cwelius, from Coeles 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 had their dwellings all along the plain below, as far as the forum. Hence the Tuscan Street,2 so called after these strangers. 66. But as the zeal of the great men, and the bounties of the prince, had solaced the sufferers under the events of for. tune, so the fury of the informers, which grew daily more fierce and relentless, continued its career without alleviation. 4 Quintilius Varua3 a wealthy man and the emperor's cousin, 1 Suetonius mentions this conflagration; in Tib. s, 48. 2 The origin of the Tuscan Street is accounted for in a different manner by Livy; lib. ii. s. 14. 3 The son of Quintilius Varus, who perished with his three legions in Germany; he was also son-in-law to Germanicus. The prosecution of Claudia Pulchra has been mentioned, this bo6k, c. 52. c. 67.] 0.67] TID3ERTUS WITHDRAWS W0 CAPREBE.9 199 was assailed by Domitius Afer, the same who had procured the condemnation of Claudia Pulchra, his mother: nor did any man wonder that he who had lived long in poverty, and had squandered the reward lately earned, should address himself to fresh iniquities: the wonder was, that Publius Dolabella appeared as his associate in the accusation; because as he was nobly descended, and related to Varus, he was going to efface the glory of his house, and shed kindred blood. The senate however stopped the process, and voted " that the emperor's return was to be waited:" the only course which afforded even a temporary escape from this overwhelming evil. 67. Tiberius, having dedicated the temples in Campania, though he had by an ediot warned the public, "that none should interrupt his retirement;" and though parties of soldiers were posted to prevent the conflux of persons from the neighbouring towns; nevertheless, hating the municipalities, and the colonies, and all continental situations, secluded himself in Caprese,' an island disjoined from the point of the Cape of Surrentum by a channel of three miles. I am strongly inclined to believe that he was taken with its perfect solitude, for the sea in its neighbourhood is void of havens, and the stations even for smaller vessels are few, while none could put m unperceived by the coast-guards.2 The temperature 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 are rendered delightful from the wide expanse of sea which the island commands: before the fiery eruptions of Mount Vesuvius3 had changed the face of the country, there was also a prospect of the lovely bay of Naples. Tradition records that the Greeks occupied the opposite region, and that Caprese was inhabited by the Teleboi. However it were, Tiberius chose for his retreat twelve villas,4 having different names, and of con. 1 The isle of Capres (now Capri) lies at a small distance from the promontory of Surrentum (now Capo della Minerva), and has the whole circuit of the bay of Naples ia view. It is about four miles in length from east to west, and about mue in breadth. See Addison's Description in his Travels in Italy. 2 For the barbarity with which Tiberius treated all that landed on the island without permission, see Suetonius, in Tib. s. 60. 3 The eruption of Vesuvius happened in the reign of Titus, A.u.c. 832, A.D. 79. Pliny gives a description of it, lib. vi. epist. xvi. and xx. 4 Suetonius mentions the Villa Jovis, in Tib. s. 65. We may hence 200 THE AIBALS. [B. IV, siderable magnitude. And the more intent he had formerly been upon public cares, so much the more he became now abandoned to secret debaucheries, and mischievous privacy; for there still remained in him his old unreflecting proneness to suspicion and credulity; qualities which even at Rome Sejanus had always fostered, and here excited with increased assiduity; his devices against Agrippina and Nero being no longer conducted in secret. Soldiers were set to watch them, by whom all messages and visits, their open acts, their private. proceedings, were minuted as in journals. Persons were even suborned to warn them to fly to the armies in Germany; or that, embracing the statue of the deified Augustus when the forum was crowded, they would there implore the aid and protection of the senate and people of Rome. And these counsels, though rejected by them, they were charged with having entertained. 68. Junius Silanus and Silius Nerva being consuls, the year began with a disgraceful transaction: Titius Sabinus,' an illustrious Roman knight, was hurried to prison on account of his friendship for Germanicus: whose wife and children he alone of all his followers never ceased to reverence, to attend them at home, and accompany them in public: a conduct applauded by the good, but offensive to the worthless. There combined against him, Latinius Latiaris, Porcius Cato, Petilius Rufus, and Marcus Opsius, who had been all praetors, and were now looking up to the consulship, to which there was no access but by Sejanus, and the favour of Sejanus was to be purchased only by iniquity. It was settled amongst them that Latiaris, who had a slight acquaintance with Sabinus, should lay the snare, the rest be witnesses, and then begin the accusation. Latiaris therefore accosted him at first with incidental remarks, and then proceeded to praise his constancy, "that he had not, like others, been only a friend to that family when in its glory, and deserted it in affliction." He at the same time spoke in commendation of Germanicus, and bewailed Agrippina. This affected Sabinus; and as the heart of man is easily wrought upon in calamity, he burst into tears, conclude that the twelve villas were named after the twelve D:i Majores. 1 Sabinus has been already mentioned as a person marked out for destruction by Sejanus; this book, c. 18 and 19. c 7o0.1 SABINUS ACCtJS1D BY tfE EMPEROR. 201 followed immediately by complaints: he now inveighed more boldly against Sejanus, his cruelty, his pride, and his designs; nor in truth did Tiberius escape his invectives. And now, as between men who had communicated to each other their secret guilt, these conversations led to a show of close friendship: so that Sabinus henceforward sought Latiaris of his own accord, frequented his house, and laid open to him all his griefs, as to a most faithful confidant. 69. The persons I have mentioned next consulted how to have these things uttered in the hearing of more: for the place in which they met must wear the appearance of privacy; and if they stood behind the door, there was danger of being seen or heard, or of suspicion arising from some accident. Into the space between the roof and the ceiling, a concealment as vile as the treachery was execrable, three senators stowed themselves, and applied their ears to the chasms and crannies. Latiaris meanwhile found Sabinus abroad, and, as if about to tell him some late discoveries, drew him home, and into the chamber: there he recounted the past and present cruelties (for of both there was store), with an accumulation too of fresh terrors. Sabinus took up his former detail with the greater prolixity in proportion as griefs once broached are with difficulty restrained. The accusation was forthwith despatched; and in a written memorial to Tiberius, these senators opened the order of the fraud, and became narrators of their own infamy. At no time was the city in a state of deeper anxiety and alarm, never was there greater need of caution against a man's nearest relatives; men were afraid to meet, afraid to discourse: silence and distrust extended alike to strangers and acquaintance, and both were equally avoided: even things dumb and inanimate, roofs and walls, were regarded with apprehension. 70. The emperor sent a letter to the senate on the calends of January, and after offering the usual prayer at the entrance of the new year, he turned to Sabinus: he charged him with "having corrupted some of his freedmen, and aimed at his own life;" and in no obscure terms required vengeance. The condemnation passed without delay, and the condemned was I Pliny (lib. viii. 61) relates a remarkable instance of the affection of Sabinus' dog, displayed at his master's execution. 202 THE ANNALS. dragged away to instant death. His head was muffled in his robe, and his throat pinched with a halter; but, as far as he could exert his voice, he cried, "' that these were the solemni. ties with which the year began! such were the victims slain to Sejanus 1" Whichever way he cast his eyes, whithersoever he directed his words, nought appeared but flight and solitude; the streets and public places deserted: there were some who having fled, returned, and again exhibited themselves; terrified at this very thing, that they had discovered dread. "What day," they cried, "will be free from executions ' when even in the midst of vows and sacrifices-a time when custom has established a forbearance even from profane words-fetters and halters are introduced. That Tiberius knew what he was about in thus incurring so much odium: that it was a studied and preconcerted artifice, that it might be considered that there was nothing to prevent the new magistrates from opening the prisons as well as the temples and the altars." There followed upon this a letter of thanks " for having punished an enemy to the commonwealth:" and he added, " that he lived a life of fear and solicitude; in constant apprehensions of the snares of his enemies;" but named none: however, it was not doubted that Agrippina and Nero were meant. 71. Were it not my purpose to refer the several incidents to their proper year, my spirit longs to anticipate, and instantly to relate the fate of Latiaris,' Opsius, and the other contrivers of this atrocity, not only after Caligula came to the empire, but even while Tiberius yet reigned,-who, though he would not suffer the ministers of his cruelties to be crushed by others, yet, as he generally became surfeited with their infamy, and as fresh ones ever presented themselves for the same services, was himself wont to strike down the old and overgrown: but I shall at the proper time relatp the punishments of these and other culprits. Now, Asinii Gallus, to whose children Agrippina was aunt,2 moved, " the I In what remains of Tacitus, we find the punishment of Latiarl only. See Annals, book vi. 4. The rest suffered under Caligula. 2 Asinius Gallus married Vipsania Agrippina, the daughter of M. Agrippa by Pomponia, the grandaughter of Atticus, after she was divorced from Tiberius. Agrippina, the wife of Germanicus, was also the daughter of Agrippa by Julia, the daughter of Augustus; and, being half-sister to the wife of Asinius Gallus, she was, of course, aur4 to hit children, MVOLT OF THsE MIxSIANS. 203 the prince should be desired to explain his fears to the senate, and allow them to be removed." Tiberius was fonder of his dissimulation than of all his other virtues; for such he conceived it: he was, therefore, the more pained to find his secret purposes laid bare; but Sejanus soothed him, not from any love to Gallus, but to wait the lingering gradations of the prince's vengeance; for he knew him to be slow in maturing his resolutions, but that when he once broke out he would link sanguinary deeds to expressions of severity. About the same time died Julia, grandaughter to Augustus; by him condemned for adultery,' and banished to the island of Trimetus, not far from the coast of Apulia. She there suffered exile twenty years, sustained by relief from Augusta, who, having by secret devices overthrown her step-children in their prosperity, made an open show of compassion towards them in their adversity. 72. The same year the Frisians, a people beyond the Rhine, rebelled, rather from our rapacity than their unwillingness to submit. The tribute laid on them by Drusus 2 was easy, and suited to their contracted means, namely, "to furnish certain hides for military purposes." No one thought to insist on the particular size or thickness, till Olennius, the first centurion of a legion, being sent to govern them, picked out the hides of some wild bulls as a standard size to be accepted-a hard task even upon other nations, and to the Germans the more intolerable, as their forests abound in beasts of mighty bulk, and their domestic cattle are small. First they parted with their herds themselves, next with their lands, and last of all they surrendered their wives and children to bondage. Hence their indignation and complaints; but as these brought no relaxation, they sought relief by war. They seized the soldiers appointed over the tribute, and hanged them on gibbets: Olennius by flight prevented their vengeance, and found sanctuary in a neighbouring castle, its name Flevum, and garrisoned by a stout band of soldiers, Romans and auxiliaries, for the defence of the sea-coast. 73. Lucius Apronius, propraetor of Lower Germany, as soon as he was apprised of the insurrection, summoned from the upper province some of the legionary veterans, with a 1 She was guilty of adultery with Silanus. See book iii. 24. 2 Drusus, the father of iermanicus, and brother of Tiberiua. 204 THE ANNALS. Lt. IV chosen band of auxiliary foot and horse; and, sailing down the Rhine with both forces, made a descent on the Frisiaus; the revolters having now abandoned the siege of the castle, and marched back to cover their own country. He therefore, by bridges and causeways laid over the neighbouring estuaries, rendered them passable for the heavier forces; and the meanwhile, having discovered certain fordable places, he commanded the cavalry of the Caninefates,' and all the German foot in our pay, to move round to the rear of the enemy; who, being already drawn up for battle, repulsed the allied troops, and even some legionary horse sent to support them. A fresh aid of three cohorts was then sent; and then two more; and, after some space, the whole squadron of cavalry: forces sufficiently strong, had they attacked them in a body; but as they advanced by intervals, they did not inspire fresh courage in those who were disordered, but were themselves carried away in the panic of the retreating troops. To Cethegus Labeo, who commanded the fifth legion, lie committed the rest of the auxiliaries; but he too, being hard pressed, and his men in danger of giving way, despatched messages to implore the entire force of the legions: those of the fifth ran before the rest to his relief, and, in a sharp encounter, repulsing the foe, protected our cohorts and cavalry, much enfeebled with wounds. The Roman general neither pursued his vengeance, nor even buried the dead, though many tribunes, many preefects, and many centurions of the first rank, were slain. It was afterwards learnt from deserters, that nine hundred Romans, having the whole night long defended themselves in the wood called Baduhenna, were every man cut off; and that another band of four hundred, having possessed themselves of the villa of Cruptorix, who formerly served in the Roman army, apprehending that they must surrender to the enemy, had fallen by the hands of each other. 74. Hence the name of the Frisians became renowned amongst the Germans; whilst Tiberius dissembled the loss, J that he might trust no man with the conduct of the war. As ) 1 There were three different establishments of cavalry in the Roman armies: namely, the troops of horse belonging to each legion; the cavalry that formed a separate corps, as Ala Petrina, Syllana, Scribo tia; and the cavalrv of the allies, as A la Blatavortma, Tree erorunm, &c. ,. 75.] AGRIPPINA MARRIED TO DOMITIUS. 203 for the senate, it was no part of their anxiety what disgraces were incurred in the extremities of the empire: domestic e terror had possessed their souls-a malady for which they sought a cure from flattery; insomuch that, though they met to deliberate upon far different matters, they decreed " an altar to Clemency, an altar to Friendship, and round them the statues of Tiberius and Sejanus;" and, with repeated supplications, importuned both "that they would deign to show themselves to the citizens." They, however, neither visited Roome nor the neighbourhood: to them it seemed sufficient to leave the island, and suffer themselves to be seen on the shore of Campania. Thither crowded the senators, the knights, And great part of the people, all solicitous for admission to Sejanus, who was harder of access than the emperor, and therefore it was sought by means of intrigue or participation in his counsels. It was abundantly apparent that his arrogance was augmented, when one looked upon that disgraceful crowd of slaves exposed to open view; for, at Rome, the continual hurrying to and fro is a familiar sight; and, from the greatness of the city, it was a matter of uncertainty what was the business they were going upon. But here they appeared Jlying along on the fields and shores, day and night, without jdistinction of rank, and bore with equal patience the favour and insolence of his porters; till at length even that was for\ bidden: and those whom he condescended not to see. others whom he deigned not to speak to, returned to the city in -alarm; but some with ill-starred joy, for a dreadful issue of. his disastrous friendship overhung them. 75. For the rest, Tiberius, having in person betrothed to Cneius Domitius the younger Agrippina, his grandaughter and daughter of Germanicus, ordered the nuptials to be celebrated at Rome. In Domitius he preferred, besides the antiquity of his family, his near kindred to the Cesars; for he had the honour of having Octavia for his grandmother, and, through her, Augustus for his great-uncle. THE AMNAI.. LB. v. BOOK V. 1. IN the consulship of Rubellius and Fusius, each surnamed Geminus, died Julia'Augasta,' in extreme old age. She belonged to a family of the highest nobility, being a member of the Claudian house; and adopted through her father into the Livian family; into the Julian by Augustus. Her first marriage was with Tiberius Nero; by whom she had children: her husband, at the time of the Perusian war, became a fugitive; but, upon peace concluded between Sextus Pompeius and the triumvirate, returned to Rome. Afterwards, Octavius Caesar, enamoured of her beauty, took her from her husband; whether against her inclination, is uncertain; but with such precipitation, that, without staying for her delivery, he brought her home while pregnant. She had no further issue; but, united in blood to Augustus by the marriage of Germanicus2 and Agrippina, her grandchildren stood in the same relation to him. In her domestic deportment she was formed after the model of primitive sanctity; but with more affability than was allowed by ladies of old: as a mother, zealous and determined; as a wife, kind and indulgent; well adapted to the fastidious and complex character of her husband, and the subtle nature of her son: her funeral was plain, and her last will was long unfulfilled: her encomium was pronounced in public by Caligula, her grandson, afterwards emperor. 2. Tiberius excused himself to the senate by letter, for not having in person paid the last offices to his mother, on the score of the pressure of business; but suffered not the event to I Augustus, by his last will, adopted her into the Julian family, ander the additional name of Augusta (Annals, book i. 8.) Tacitus,.fter that time, calls her Julia, Julia Augusta, and frequently Augusta only. Julia died, according to Pliny, lib. xiv. s. 6, at the age of eightytwo. Her father was of the Claudian family, and, being adopted into the house of Livius, took the name of Livius Drusus Claudianus. He fought on the side of liberty at the battle of Philippi; and, seeing the day lost, died by his own hand. 2 Germanicus, the son of Drusus, was grandson to Livia; and Agrip. pina, his wife. was grandaughter to Augustus. c. 3.] AGRIPPINA AND HER SON ACCUSED. 207 interfere at all with his enjoyments. He likewise abridged the ample honours decreed to her memory by the senate, and admitted only a very few of those proposed, under pretence of moderation, adding, " that no religious worship should be appointed her; for such was her own choice."' Nay, in a part of the same letter, he censured female friendships; obliquely carping at the consul Fusius, who had stood high in the favour of Augusta, and was an adept in winning the affections of women; he was also of a witty turn, and used to play upon Tiberius with cutting pleasantries; the impressions of which are long retained by those in high places. 3. From this period however his government assumed a character of furious and crushing despotism: for while Augusta lived, some refuge still remained, as the respect of Tiberius for his mother had all the force of habit; nor durst Sejanus attempt to supersede the authority of the parent: but now, as being free from restraint, they broke out with unbridled fury: letters were despatched against Agrippina and Nero; which, as they were read in the senate soon after the death of Augusta, the people believed to have been sent lung before and by her suppressed. They contained expressions of refined barbarity; not imputing acts of armed hostility, or designs of treason; but he charged- his grandson with "the love of young men, and lewdness:" against Agrippina he durst not even feign so much; but accused her "of haughty looks, and a turbulent spirit;" to the great consternation of the senate, who remained speechless, till a few, who had no hope of rising by honourable means, (for verily public calamities are converted into occasions of personal favour,) demanded, that " the question of the letters should be laid before the senate." The foremost in zeal was Cotta Messalinus,2 who expressed himself in terms of extreme 1 Tiberius, from the day of his accession, considered his mother as a woman of a politic and artificial character, proud, and overbearing: in appearance, plotting to aggrandize her son; in secret, wishing for nothing so much as to gratify her own ambition. She lived three years after Tiberius retired to the isle of Capres, and during that time never had more than one short interview. In her last illness, Tiberius did not visit her. He signified an inclination to attend the funeral ceremony, but he, delayed so long that the body was in a state of putrefaction before it was committed to the flames. Suet. in Tib. a 51. 2 Cotta Messalinus was the son of Messala Corvinus, an orator, THE ANNALS. [B. 1. severity; but the other leading men, and chiefly the magis. trates, were embarrassed, for Tiberius, though he had ilt veighed against them bitterly, left the ulterior proceedings in uncertainty. 4. In the senate was one Junius Rusticus, appointed by the emperor to keep a journal of their proceedings,' and therefore thought well acquainted with his purposes. This man, by some fated impulse (for he had never before shown any instance of magnanimity) or from shortsighted culning, while, forgetful of impending dangers, he dreaded future possibilities, joined the party that hesitated, and warned the consuls, " not to introduce the question:" he argued "that from a few transient impulses the most important affairs might take a bias; that one day the offspring of Germanius might rise again, when the old man had had time to reconsider his conduct."' At the same time, the people, carrying the images of Agrippina and Nero, gathered round the senate, and with prayers for the prosperity of the emperor, cried earnestly, that the letters were counterfeit; and that the prince was no party to the contrivance to ruin his family:' so that no dire resolution was come to on that day. There were I also circulated several fictitious speeches under the names of men of consular rank, against Sejanus; and framed with the greater petulance as most of them vented whatever their genius suggested in secret: whence he was the more enraged, and derived a pretext for complaining that the senate " had treated the affliction of the prince with contempt; that the people had renounced their allegiance; that revolutionary harangues were publicly heard and read; seditious acts of senate were passed: what more remained, but to take up highly commended by Quintilian. The son inherited a portion of hie father's eloquence, but none of his virtues. He is again mentioned by Tacitus as the promoter of oppression and cruelty. Annals, book vi 5. 1 Suetonius informs us that Julius Caesar ordered acts of the senate; as well as of the people, to be duly committed to writing, and pub lished, which had never been done before his time. (See in JuL Caes s. 20 ) Augustus, a more timid politician, ordered the proceedings of the senate to be kept secret. (Suet. in Aug. s. 36.) Tiberius followed the same rule, but, as it seems, had the caution to appoint a senator to execute the office. 2 This passage is rather doubtful, fror the difficulty in determining the correct reading. . 7.] IARIUS ACCUSES HIS GRANDCHILDREN. 09 arms, and choose as their leaders and generals those whose images they would have followed as standards i" 5. Tiberius therefore having repeated his accusations against his grandson and daughter-in-law; having rebuked the people by an edict, and complained to the senate, " that by the artifice of a single senator the imperial dignity was baffled and insulted; required that the whole affair should be left to himself, entire and untouched." Without further deliberation, they did not indeed resolve to come to a final decision, for that they were forbidden to do, but they testified I their readiness to inflict vengeance, had they not been prevented by the authority of the prince.1 * * * * 6. * * * Upon this subject four-and-forty speeches were delivered; of which a few from fear, more from the habit * * * * * * * * * ' "I judged that either it would bring infamy upon myself or odium upon Sejanus. The course of fortune is turned; and he who even chose him for his sonin-law and his colleague does not condemn himself. For the f rest; as they brought disgrace on themselves by caressing him while he lived, so now they incur a deeper guilt by reviling him when dead * * * which is the more wretched fate, I can hardly decide; that of accusing a friend, or of e being accused for showing him friendship * * * I will put no man's cruelty, no man's mercy to the proof; but, free as 1 am, and approved by my own conscience, I will anticipate I danger. J adjure you that you do not retain the memory of me in sorrow rather than with joy, adding me too to the number of those who, by a noble end, have escaped from the spectacle I of their country's miseries." 7. He then spent part of the day in conversation with the several persons that came to him; either retaining them or o iismissing them, according as the purpose of each was to attend him, or merely to speak with him: and while there Ias yet a throng of company remaining, all admiring his /! The chapters here lost comprise a period of three years (viz. A. D. 27, 30, and the greater part of 31), in which occurred some of the most ibportant events of the reign of Tiberius; such as, the imprisonment ol Agrippina and her two sons, with the death of the eldest; the con}eliracy and execution of Sejanus, the death of Livia his accomplice, and the proscription of the relatives and friends of the deceased tatvourite. ITAC.-VOL. I. 210 THE ANNALS. [B. V fearless countenance, and imagining that there was still tilm to spare before the last sad scene, he fell upon a sword, which he had concealed in a fold of his gown. Nor did Tiberius, after his death blacken him with reproaches or accusations: whereas he had loaded Blaesus with many and foul im-! putations. 8. The cases of Publius Vitelliusl and Pomponius Se, cundus were next brought before the senate. The first was charged by informers, "that he, when presiding over tl.e exchequer, had offered to open the treasury and give the military fund in aid of a revolution." To the other, Considius, lately prietor, objected "the friendslip of zElius Gallus, who, after the execution of Sejanus, had fled to the gardens of Pomponius, as to a most secure shelter:" nor had the accused any other resource against the danger that menaced them than the constancy of their brothers, who came forward s as their sureties. Soon afterwards, the trial having been ' frequently postponed, Vitellius, wearied out with fear and I hope alike, under pretence of writing, called for a penknife,:ith which he made a slight incision in his veins, and at last lied brokenhearted. Pomponius, a man of great elegance oi manners, and shining wit, bore his adverse fortune with equanimity, and outlived Tiberius. 9. Now though the rage of the populace was beginn:lng to evaporate, and most men were mollified by former execu- tions; it was determined to punish the remaining children of 'I Sejanus. They were therefore both carried to prison; the boy sensible of his impending doom; but the girl so uncon- ' scions that she frequently asked, "for what offence and Y whither did they drag her? she would do so no more; and they might take the rod and whip her." The writers of that ' time relate, " that as it was held unprecedented for a virgin $) P. Vitellius was the faithful companion of Germanicus, in Germany and Asia. He afterwards prosecuted Piso for the murder of his frienL l (Annals, iii. 10, 13.) Suetonius relates, that he was seized among the accomplices of Sejanus; and, being delivered to the custody of his brother, he opened his veins, but, by the persuasion of his fricnds, suffered the wound to be bound up. He died soon after of a broken heart. (Suet. in Vitellio, s. 2.) He was uncle to Vitellius the emperor. (See Velleius Paterculus, lib. ii.) Pomponius Secundus was of consular rank. Quintilian praises his dramatic genius. See the Dialogue co)celning Oratory, s. 13. 0.. 11.] COJNTERFEIT DRUSUS IN GREECE. 211 to suffer capital punishment,' she was violated by the executioner just before he tied the rope; and then being both strangled, their tender bodies were cast into the Gemonia\."' 10. About the same time Greece and Asia were distmaed by a rumour more rife than lasting; "that Drusus, the son of Germanicus,2 had been seen in the Cyclades, and soon afterwards upon the continent." And there was indeed a, youth nearly of the same age, to whom some of the emperor's freedmen, as if he were recognised by them, attached themselves, with the purpose of betraying him. The unwary were ailured by the splendour of the name; the Greeks being prone to catch at anything new and marvellous: so much so that they imagined, "that, escaped from custody and proceeding to the armies of his father, he would invade Syria or Egypt." He was now attended by a crowd of young men, and thronged with eager partizans, elated with his present success and airy hopes, when the story reached Poppseus Sabinus. He was at that juncture engaged in Macedonia, and likewise had charge of Greece; to obviate tile mischief, whether the account were true or false, he hastily passed the bay of Torone and that of Therme; and presently reached Euboea, an island of the IEgean sea, and Piihus, on the coast of Attica; he then passed along the coast of Corinth, and the straits of the Isthmus; and, by another sea. entered N copolis, a Roman colony: there at length he learned, that being shrewdly questioned, he lad declared himself the son of Marcus Silanus; and that many of his followers having -,fallen off, he had embarked, as if he meant to sail to Italy. J} Sabinus sent this account to Tiberius, and further than this we have found nothing of the origin or issue of that affair. 11. Towards the conclusion of the year, a dissension between the consuls, which had been long gathering strength, burst forth; for Trio,3 who was careless about making lrmself enemies, and a practised pleader, had obliquely censured "Regulus, as slow in crushing the tools of Sejanus." The I " Triumvirali supplicio" m the original; the punishment being so styled, because it was the duty of the triumvir to see execution done *.n such as were condemned to die. I This young prince was now a prisoner in the dungeon of the Palatium. Trio has been mentioned (Annals, ii. 28) as a practised inf'rrmer a m tn of dangerous talents, and an infamous character. PS2 212 THE ANNALS. [B. VL last, a moderate and inoffensive man, unless provoked, not only repulsed the charge of his colleague, but summoned him to trial, as an accomplice in the conspiracy. lThough many senators besought them to lay down their animosities, as they tended to destruction, they continued in determined hostility, menacing each other, as long as they remained in office. BOOK VI. 1. CNEIUS DOMITIUS' and Camillus Scribonianus had begun their consulship, when the emperor, having crossed the channel between Capreve and Surrentum, sailed along the shore of Campania; either unresolved whether he should enter the city, or else counterfeiting a show of coming, because he had determined otherwise. He often came down into the neighbourhood of the city, and even visited the gardens upon the Tiber, but went back again to the rocks and loneliness of the island, ashamed of his villanies and lusts; in which he rioted so inordinately, that, after the fashion of foreign tyrants, the children of ingenuous parentage became the objects of his pollution. Nor were beauty and gracefulness of person the only provocatives of his passion, but the modest deportment of some youths-the ancestral images of others. Then, likewise, were first devised the names, till then unknown, of " Sellarii" and " Spintrie," expressive of the abominable lewdness of the place, and the manifold methods of prostitution. Procurers were appointed to hunt out victims, and bring them to him. The willing they encouraged with presents, the backward they terrified with threats; and upon such parents or kindred as withheld them, they employed force, seizure, and just what they pleased, as upon so many captives. 2. At Rome, in the beginning of the year, as if the iniqui. ties of Livia2 had been but just discovered, and not long I Domitius, commonly called Domitins Ahenobarbus, is the person whom we have seen married to Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus, Annals, book iv. 75. 9 The younger Livia, who conspired with Sejanus against the life of Drumsts, her husband. JUN US GALLIO REBUKED. 213 since punished too, rigorous decrees were passed against evei her statues and memory; with another, "that the effects of Sejanus should be taken from the public treasury, and placed in that of the emperor:" as if it made any difference. And vet such was the motion of the Scipios, the Silani, and the Cassii, who urged it, each almost in the same words, or with slight alterations introduced, and with great apparent earnestness; when, suddenly, Togonius Gallus, while lie thrust his own meanness amongst illustrious names, became an object of derision; for he besought the prince "' to choose a body of senators, of whom twenty, drawn by lot and under arms, should wait upon him, and defend his person, as often as ho entered the senate." He had given to6 much credit to a letter from the emperor, requiring " one of the consuls as a guard, that he might proceed in safety from Caprese to Rome." Tiberius, however, whose custom it was to mingle irony with seriousness, thanked the senate for this instance of their regard; but asked, " who were to be chosen?-who to be omitted?-whether always the same, or a continued succession?-whether young senators, or such as had borne dignities?-whether those who were magistrates, or otherwise? And then what a sight it would be to behold them taking their swords in the porch of the senate-house! In truth, he held not his life of such importance, as to have it thus protected by arms." So much in answer to Togonius, abstaining from any harshness of expression; nor did he urge anything beyond cancelling the motion. 3. But Junius Gallio,' who had proposed "that the pratorian soldiers, having fulfilled their term of service, should the:ce acquire the privilege of sitting in the fourteen rows of the theatre allotted to the Roman knights," he rebuked vehemently, and, as if present, demanded " what business he had with the soldiers, whose duty bound them to observe only the orders of the emperor, and from the emperor alone to receive their rewards? Had he forsooth discovered what had escaped the sagacity of the sainted Augustus Or was it not rather a method invented by a satellite of Sejanus, to raise sedition and discord; an artifice by which, under pretence of conferring honour, he might stimulate the simple minds of the soldiers to break through the established regu1 Junius (GlJo was the brother of Seneca. Sew Annals, xv. 73. 214 THE ANNALS. lB. VI, lations of the service:' This reward of his studied flattery ilad (Galli; who was forthwith expelled the senate, and afterwards Italy: nay, as it was alleged that he would experience no hardship from an exile at Lesbos, a celebrated and charming island, which he had selected, he was hauled back to Rome, and kept under guard in the house of a magistrate. Tiberius in the same letter denounced Sextus Paconianus, of praetorian rank, to the great joy of the senate, as he was daring and mischievous, prying into everybody's secrets, and chosen by Sejanus as an instrument for concerting the overthrow of Caligula. When this was now laid open, the hate long since conceived against him broke out, and had he not offered to make a discovery, he had been instantly condemned to capital punishment. 4. So when he impeached Latinius Latiaris, the accuser and the accused, both equally detested, exhibited a most gratifying spectacle. Latiaris, as I have recorded, had been the chief instrument in ensnaring Titius Sabinus, and was now the first to pay the penalty. During these transactions Haterius Agrippa attacked the consuls of the preceding year: " How came they to be silent now, after threats of mutual accusation? fear, doubtless, and conscious guilt, operated as a compact of mutual forbearance. But the faithers must not suppress what they had heard." Regulus answered, " that he waited his time for revenge, and that he would prosecute his colleague before the prince." Trio said that "the emulation between colleagues, and what they had uttered in the heat of dissension, were better blotted out of remembrance." Agrippa still persisting, Sanquinius Maximus, of consular rank, besought the senate " not to increase the cares of the emperor by hunting up matter for fresh severities; that the emperor himself was equal to the task of remedying the evils of the times." Thus Regulus escaped destruction; and Trio obtained a postponement of his doom.' Haterius was the more detested, since, enervated with sleep or nocturnal debaucheries, and protected by his sloth against all peril from the prince, bloodthirsty though he was, he meditated, in the midst of revelry and lewdness, the ruin of illustrious citizens..5. Next, Cotta Messalinus, the author of every the most sanguinary counsel, and therefore inveterately hated, was 1 For the and of Fulciniuts Trio, see this book c. 38. C. 7. REMARKABLE LETTER OF TIBERIUn. 215 accused of a multitude of crimes, as soon as ever an opportunity was afforded: " that he had given Caligula the nickname of Caia, as contaminated by incest;" ' that at a banquet among the priests on the birthday of Augusta, he had styled it a " funeral supper;" and that, complaining of the influence of Mainius Lepidus and Lucius Arruntius, with whom he had a suit about money, he had added, " they indeed will be supported by the senate, but I by my dear little Tiberius." Convicted as to all these charges by men of the first rank in Rome, and they pressing their suit, he appealed to the emperor: soon after a letter came, which was a kind of defence of Cotta; in it he recounted " the beginning of their friendship," repeated "his many good services to himself," and desired "that words maliciously distorted, and the simplicity of convivial conversation, might not be wrested into crimes." 6. Most remarkable was the beginning of Caesar's letter;3 for in these words he commenced: " What to write you, conscript fathers, or in what manner to write, or what altogether not to write at this juncture, if I can determine, may all the gods and goddesses doom me to worse destruction than that by which I feel myself consuming daily." With such just retribution did his crimes and atrocities recoil upon himself. Nor was it unadvisedly that the wisest of all men was wont to affirm, that if the hearts of tyrants were bared to view, wounds and lacerations would be seen in them; for as the body is torn by stripes, so is the heart by cruelty, lusts, and evil purposes.4 For assuredly not his imperial fortune, not his inaccessible solitude, could prevent Tiberius from acknowledging the anguish of his breast, and the penalties he had brought upon himself. 7. It was then left to the discretion of the senate to decide on the case of Caecilianus the senator, "who had brought 1 The female name of Caia, given to Caius Czesar, or Caligula, carries with it the imputation of extreme effeminacy and vice. 2 This we must suppose to have occurred after Augusta's death. The conduct of Caligula would therefore imply that the empressmother had not been deified (see above, book v. 32), and that it was therefore ridiculous to celebrate her birthday. 3 Suetonius has the same letter in the very words here reported. In Tib. s. 67. 4 Tacitus here appears to refer to two passages in Plato, viz. Gorgias, 524 s, and The Republic, ix. 579 D. 216 THE ANNALS. [B. VL forward many charges against Cotta;" ard it was resolved, "to subject him to the same penalties as were inflicted upon Aruseius and Sanquinius, the accusers of Lucius Arruntius." An event more gratifying to his pride never befel Cotta; who, of noble descent indeed, but beggared by extravagance, and infamous for his enormities, was, in the estimate of the redress due to him, placed upon a level with the immaculate character of Arruntius. Afterwards were arraigned Quintus Servoeus and Minutius Thermus: Serveus, formerly proctor, and once the follower of Germanicus; Minutius, of the equestrian rank, and though distinguished yet never elated by the friendship of Sejanus: and hence the greater commiseration for both. Tiberius, on the contrary, charged them " as the principals in treason," and directed Caius Cestius the elder, " to declare to the senate what he had written to himself." Thus Cestius undertook the accusation. This was the most pestilent calamity of those times, that the first men of the senate performed the office of the meanest informers: some openly, many in secresy; nor could you observe any distinction between kinsmen and aliens, friends and strangers,whether the acts imputed were recent, or fetched from the obscurity of past times: equally for words spoken in the fbrum,-at entertainments,-upon whatsoever subject,-the speakers were accused,1 according as every one hastened to get the start and point out the culprit: some did it for their own protection, but the generality infected, as it were, with the malady and contagion of the times. Minutius and ServYeus were condemned; but, to save themselves, became eiidence: and thus were drawn into the same predicament Julius Africanus, from the Santones,. a city of Gaul; and Seius Quadratus, whose origin I have not discovered. Neither am I unaware that by most writers the trials and sufferings of many are wholly omitted; either sinking under their As an instance of the practices of the informers, we may cite the following anecdote related by Seneca. One of the guests, at a dinner, wore the image of Tiberius on his ring. His slave, seeing his master intoxicated, took the ring off his finger. The informer, some time After, insisted that the owner, to mark his contempt of Tiberius. was sitting upon the figure of the emperor. For this offence he drew up an accusation, and was getting it attested by subscribing witnesses, when the slave showed to the hole company that he had the ring in his hand all the time. c. 8.] DEFENCE OF M. TERENTUs. 217 multiplicity, or apprehensive that the recital, which to themselves proved surfeiting and melancholy, would be equally irksome to their readers. But to me many events have presented themselves, deserving to be known, however unrecorded by others. 8. For, at a juncture when all men else affected' to renounce the friendship of Sejanus, a Roman knight, named Marcus Teaentius, then upon his trial on this very account, dared to avow it before the senate in a speech on this wise. " In my present circumstances, to deny the charge were perhaps more expedient than to acknowledge it; but, whatever be the result, I will own that I was the friend of Sejanus, that I even sought to be his friend, and rejoiced when I had gained his friendship. I had seen him colleague with his father Strabo in the command of the praetorian cohortsf and soon afterwards discharging the functions of the civil and military department at the same time. His kinsmen and friends were covered with public honours; and prevalent with the prince was every man's credit in proportion to his intimacy with Sejanus. Those, on the contrary, under his displeasure, were exposed to terror and to base criminations. Instances I adduce not; but I will vindicate, at my own peril, all those who, like myself, were guiltless of his last designs. Sejanus the Vulsinian was not the man whom we courted; but Sejanus a member of the Claudian, of the Julian house, into which by alliance he was ingrafted: your son-in-law, Caesar,-your colleague in the consulship, and who administered your functions in the empire. To us it belongs not to judge whom above all others you exalt, nor for what reasons. Upon you the gods have devolved the supreme disposal of affairs, and to us is left the glory of obedience. Facts which are obvious we all behold: we perceive who it is upon whom you accumulate power and honours; who they are that have supreme influence in dispensing rewards and punishments: and that these were possessed by Sejanus, no man can deny: but to pry into the hidden thoughts of the prince, and the measures he meditates in secret, is forbidden and hazardous; nor would the attempt succeed. Do not, conscript fathers, confine your thoughts to the last day of Sejanus, but take in the whole sixteen years of his power; when we adored even such men as Satrius and Pomponiug 218 THE ANNALS. rB. vL and to be acquainted with his porters and freedmen was esteemed a high honour. What then! shall this defence be allowed indiscriminately and without exception? Far from it: let just limits bound it. Let conspiracy against the state, let murderous designs against the emperor, be punished; but as to the offices of friendship, and tokens of respect towards Sejanus, the same limitation is necessary to absolve you, Caesar, and us.'' 9. The magnanimity of the speech, added to the joy that one was at last found who gave utterance to sentiments which all entertained in their hearts, produced such an effect, that his accusers were for this and former delinquencies sentenced to banishment or death. Next followed letters from Tiberius against Sextus Vestilius, of praetorian rank; whom, as a dear friend of his brother Drusus, he had adopted into his own retinue. The cause of offence was, his either having composed an invective against the impurities of Caligula, or the credit given to a false statement that he had done so; and for this reason, being forbidden the prince's table, with an aged hand he tried the steel, and feebly pierced his veins, but bound them up again, and by a memorial sought pardon of Tiberius; but, receiving a relentless answer, opened them again. Next were charged with treason, in one batch, Annius Pollio, Appins Silanus, with Mamercus Scaurus, Calvisius Sabinus, and Vinicianus added to his fLther Pollio; all noble in descent-some distinguished with the first dignities. The fathers trembled (for how few senators were unconnected by friendship or alliance with so many illustrious men!) but one of the evidence, named Celsus, tribune of a city-cohort, exculpated Appius and Calvisius: the trial of Pollio, Vinicianus, and Scaurus, was by the emperor postponed, that he himself might take cognizance of their cases with the senate. Towards Scaurus, however, he exhibited some ominous tokens,f displeasure. 10. Nor were even women exempt from danger. With designs to usurp the government they could not be charged; their tears are therefore made treason; and Vitia, mother to Fusius Geminus, once consul, was executed in her old age for bewailing the death of her son. These were the proceedings in the senate: nor were they different before the emperor. Vescularius Flaccus and Julius Marinus were doomed to OFFICE OF PREFECT OF ROME. 219 death-two of his oldest friends, who had followed him to Rhodes, and never forsook him at Caprese. Vescularius was his go-between in the plot against Libo: by the cooperation of Marinus, Sejanus had effected the ruin of Curtius Atticus Hence it was hailed with the greater joy, that their own examples had recoiled upon the authors of them. About the same time died Lucius Piso, the pontiff; and, by a felicity rare in one so distinguished, in the course of nature: never "he spontaneous author of any servile motion, and ever wise in moderating them when necessity enforced his assent. That his father had sustained the office of censor, I have before recorded: he himself lived to fourscore years, and for his services in Thrace had obtained the honour of a triumph. But his chief renown arose from his admirable moderation in the office of prsefect of the city, lately made perpetual, and the more odious, as the people were unused to its authority. 11. For of old, in the absence of the kings, and afterwards of the magistrates, that the city might not be without a ruler, a temporary officer was appointed to administer justice, and apply a remedy in cases of emergence: and it is said, that by Romulus, Denter Romulius was deputed; Numa Marcius by Tullus Hostilius; and by Tarquiin the Proud, Spurins Lucretius.2 Subsequently, the delegation was made by the consuls; and there remains still a shadow of the old institution, when, by reason of the Latin Festival, one is authorized to discharge the consular function. Moreover, Augustus. during the civil wars, committed to Cilnius Maecenas, of the equestrian order, the government of Rome and of all Italy. Afterwards, when sole master of the empire, moved by the multitude of people, and the slowness of relief from the laws, he chose one of consular rank to control the slaves, and such citizens as from their daring spirit are apt to rum riot if they have not the fear of chastisement before their eyes. Messala Corvinus was the first invested with this authority, and in a few days dismissed, as a man incompetent He.was the father of Ancus Marcius, according to the legends, and son, in-law to Numa Pompilius. 2 He it mentioned by Livy in the character of praefect of the city::' Imperiim in urbe Lucretio, Irafecto urbis jam ante ab rege instiU tuto, reliquit."- Lib. i. 59. 220 THE ANNALS. [B. VI, to discharge it. It was then filled by Taurus Statilius, who, though very aged, sustained it with signal honour. Aftei him, Piso held it for twenty years, with equal credit; so that lie was distinguished with a public funeral, by a decree of the senate. 12. A motion was then made in the senate by Quintilianus, tribune of the people, concerning a book of the Sibyl, which Caninius Gallus, one of the college of fifteen, had prayed "might be received amongst the rest of that prophetess, and a decree made to that effect." The decree passed without opposition. but was followed by letters from Tiberius, gently chiding the tribune, "as young, and therefore unskilled in the ancient usages." He upbraided Gallus, " that when it was not known who was the author, he, who was so experienced in the science of sacred ceremonies, should, without taking the opinion of the college, without the usual reading, and deliberation on the character of the composition, by its presidents, have transacted this business in a thin house." He also advised them, " that Augustus, on account of the multitude of fictions circulated under that celebrated name, had ordained a day before which they should be carried to the city-praetor, and after which it was unlawful for any private person to hold them." The same had likewise been decreed by our ancestors, when, after the burning of the Capitol in the Social War,2 the verses of the Sibyl (whether there were but one, or more) were everywhere sought,-in Samos, Ilium, and Erythrea, through Africa too and Sicily, and all the Roman colonies,-with injunctions to the priests that, as far as human wit could enable them, they would separate the genuine. Therefore, upon this occasion also, the book was subjected to the cognizance of the quinde cimvirate. 13. Under the same consuls matters proceeded'to the verge of rebellion from the dearth of provisions. The populace for many days urged their wants and demands in the theatre, with an unusual licentiousness of language towards the emperor. Roused by this he censured the magistrates and I See Suetoniua in Aug. s. 31. 2 The words " Sociali bello" appear to have been erroneously introduced, as the Capitol was burnt in the civil war of Marias and Sylla, about five years after the end of the Social War. c. 15.] TWO DAUGHTERS OF GERMAmICUS MARRIED. 221 senate, " that they had not by the civil power restrained the people." And further stated " the supplies of grain which lel had caused to be imported, from what provinces, and in how much greater abundance than those procured by Augustus." So that for correcting the populace a decree passed framed on the model of ancient severity; nor les vigorous was the edict published by the consuls. His own silence was not, as he had hoped, ascribed to his regard for civil equality, but was imputed to scorn. 14. In the end of the year Geminius, Pompeius, and Celsus, Roman knights, fell by a charge of conspiracy. Of these, Geminius, by lavish expenditure and voluptuous living, nad gained the friendship of Sejanus, but not for any serious matters. Julius Celsus, a tribune, while in bonds, loosened his chain, and passing it over his head, by bearing in the opposite direction broke his neck. But over Rubrius Fabatus a guard was set, on the plea that, despairing of the Roman state, he meant to throw himself on the compassion of the Parthians. He was, certainly, apprehended in the Straits of Sicily, and when haled back to Rome by a centurion lhe assigned no satisfactory motives for so long an excursion. He remained, however, unhurt, through oblivion rather than mercy. 15. In the consulship of Servius Galba and Lucius Sylla, Tiberius, having long deliberated upon whom to bestow his grandaughters, as now they were marriageable, chose for their husbands, Lucius Cassius and Marcus Vinicius. Vinicius was originally from Cales, a municipal town, and of an equestrian family; but his father and grandfather had been consuls; himself of a gentle temper and polished eloquenelo Cassius was a Roman of plebeian family, but ancient and honourable; was brought up under the strict tuition of his father, and more admired for the easiness than vigour of his spirit. To him the emperor married Drusilla, and to Vinicius, Julia; both daughters of Germanicus; and upon this subject wrote to the senate with a slight commendation of the young men. Then assigning some extremely vague reasons for his absence, he proceeded to considerations more weighty, and the animosities towards him arising out of his zeal for the republic; and desired "that Macro, praefect of the praetorian guards, with some few tribunes and centurions, might alwayt 22 I C THE ANN'ALS. rB. VI. accompany him into the senate." To this purpose an ordinanle passed, comprehensive, and without limitation as to number or condition; yet so far was Tiberius from coming lear the council of the nation, that he never entered the walls 'f Rome; generally travelling on indirect roads round his country, and shunning it. 16. In the meanwhile, the whole band of accusers broke loose upon those who augmented their wealth by usury, in contravention of a law of Cesar the dictator, in which provision is made i" respecting the terms of lending money, and holding property in Italy; a law formerly neglected, because the public good is rated beneath private gain. Usury was, in truth, an inveterate evil in Rome, and the cause of everrecurring discord and seditions, and therefore restrained, even in ancient times, when the public manners were less corrupt. For, first it was ordained by the XII. Tables, "that no man should take higher interest than one per cent. per annum;' when before it was exacted at the pleasure of the rich. Afterwl;1'ds, by a regulation of the tribunes, it was reduced to one ha'lf, and at last usury was forbidden. By the people, too, repeated statutes were made for obviating frauds, which though so frequently repressed, yet by strange devices sprang up afresh. But at this time Gracchus the praetor, to whom this question was submitted, appalled by the multitude of those involved, had recourse to the senate. The fathers also were dismayed (for of this fault not one was guiltless), and slght indulgence from the prince; and a year and six months were granted to every one to adjust his domestic finances according to the directions of the law. 17. Hence a great scarcity of current money, as all debts were at once called in; and so many being condemned, and their effects sold, the current coin stagnated in the public treasury, or in that of the emperor. Moreover, the senate W;Ld provided " that two-thirds of his capital should by every,ne be invested in lands in Italy." But the creditors called in the whole; nor was it reputable for the debtors to break faith. So that at first meetings and entreaties were tried; I As the Romans reckoned interest by the month, unciariumn fcenus will be one-twelfth per cent. for the month,-semntncice, one-twenty fourth for the same period; whence it follows that these rates are oe aId respect.vely tJ our 1 per cent. and g per cent. per annum. c. 19.] TRIALS FOR TREASON. 223 then the tribunal of the prsetor was beset with ciamoroue applicants. And the project resorted to as a remedy, namely, that the debtor should sell, and the creditor buy, had a contrary operation, for the usurers hoarded up all their money for purchasing lands; and the plenty of estates to be sold lowering the price, the more men were indebted the mora difficult they found it to sell. Many from a state of affluence were plunged into utter ruin; and the destruction of private property hurled down with it both rank and character. At length the emperor brought relief, by placing a sum of a hundred thousand great sesterces at the different bankers, with liberty to borrow for three years without interest, provided the debtor gave security to the people to double the value in lands. Thus credit was restored, and by degrees private lenders too were found; neither was the order of the senate enjoining the purchase of lands observed; like most otlher projects of the kind, having been eagerly embraced at first, it was in the end treated with neglect. 18. After this Rome was revisited with her former terrors, Considius Proculus being put on his trial for treason. While he was celebrating his birthday, devoid of all apprehension, he was hurried to the senate, and was at once condemned and executed. Sancia too, his sister, was interdicted fire and water at the accusation of Quintus Pomponius, a man of turbulent temper, who pretended "that he followed these and similar practices to ingratiate himself with Tiberius, and thus to obviate the fate which threatened his brother Pomponius Secundus." Pompeia Macrina was also sentenced to exile, her husband Argolicus, and her father-in-law Laco, two of the prime nobility of Greece, had already fallen victims to the displeasure of Tiberius. Her father, too, an illustrious Roman knight, and her brother, of proetorian rank, when they saw the condemnation that awaited t aem, slew themselves. The crime imputed to them was, "tliat their grandfather, Theophanes of Mytilene, had been one of the confidants of Pompey the Great; and that to Theophanes, when dead, Grecian flattery had paid divine honoursa' 19. These were followed by Sextus Marius, the most wealthy man of Spain. He wa/s accused of incest with his daughter, and thrown headlong from the Tarpeian rock; and \ est it should be doubted that the extent of his riches proved \ 22d TfE ANNALS. [B. VI, his ruin, his mines of gold, though forfeited to the state, were by Tiberius appropriated to himself; and, exasperated b3 these executions, he then ordered all who were in prison under accusation of attachment to Sejanus to be put to death. There lay the countless mass of slain-of every sex and age — the illustrious and the mean; some dispersed, others collected in heaps; nor was it permitted to their friends or kindred to be present, or to shed a tear over them, or any longer even to go and see them; but guards were placed around, whe marked signs of sorrow in each; and attended the putrid bodies till they were dragged to the Tiber; where, floating in the stream, or driven upon the banks, none dared to burn them, none to touch them. Even the ordinary intercourse of humanity was intercepted by the violence of fear; and in proportion as cruelty prevailed commiseration was stifled. 20. About the same time, Claudia, daughter to Marcus Silanus, was given in marriage to Caligula, who had accompanied his grandfather to Caprese. Concealing a ferocious spirit under an artful guise of modesty, even upon the condemnation of his mother, and the exile of his brothers, not a word escaped him. Closely aping Tiberius, he put on the same dress as he did from day to day, and in his language differed little from him. Whence the shrewd observation of Passienus the orator, afterwards so famous, " that never was a better slave nor a worse master." Neither would I omit the presage of Tiberius concerning Servius Galba, then consull Having sent for him and sifted him on several subjects, he at last told him in Greek, " And thou, Galba, shalt hereafter taste of empire;" intimating his late and brief reign; by virtue of his skill in the astrology of the Chaldeans, which he acquired in his retirement at Rhodes under the tuition of Thrasullus, whose skill he proved in the following way:21. As often as he soutlht information on any subject of this sort, he retired to the i oof of the house, trusting with his secret one freedman only, a man of great personal strength, but illiterate, who conducted the astrologer. whose art Tiberius had resolved to test, by an unfrequented and precipitous path, —for the house was seated on the brow of a rocky eminence,-and, as he returned, if any suspicion of vain pretension or fraud arose, plunged him headlong into the A" beneath, that he might not live to betray the secret. THRASULLUS THE ASTROLOGER. 225 Thrasullus being therefore led over the same rocks, and having astonished the emperor by the replies to his interrogatories, -for he revealed to him, by the power of his art, his succession to the empire, and a series of future events,-Tiberius asked him, c whether he had calculated his own nativity, and what was to befall him that same year, nay, that very day?" Thrasullus, surveying the aspects and positions of the stars, at first hesitated, then quaked, and however much he examined them, the more and more dismayed with astonishment and dread, he at last cried out, "that over him hung a danger imminent and all but fatal." Forthwith Tiberius embraced him, congratulated him "upon his foresight of perils, and assured him that he should suffer no harm;" and, esteeming his predictions as oracular, continued him among his most intimate friends. 22. For myself, while I listen to these and similar relations, my judgment wavers, whether human affairs are regulated by fate and immutable necessity, or left to roll on at random. For upon this subject you will find the wisest of the ancients and the followers of their sects are of opposite sentiments; and that many are of opinion, "that the gods take no interest in the beginning or the end of our course, or, in short, in humanity in any aspect: and thence so eternally calamities afflict the upright, while prosperity attends the wicked." Others hold the contrary position, and believe " that events proceed in accordance with fate; but not a fate resulting from planetary influences, but referrible to the principles and concatenation of natural causes. Yet they leave us liberty of election in our course of life; but after the choice is made, they say the chain of consequences is inevitable: neither is that good or evil which passes for such in the estimation of the vulgar. Many who seem to struggle with adversity are yet happy; numbers that wallow in wealth are yet most wretched: as when the former bear with magnanimity the pressure of adverse fortune, and the latter make al unwise use of her bounties." However, very many moe remain still convinced that "the future fortunes of each are determined at the moment of their birth: or, if some events thwart the prediction, that it is owing to the errors of such at pronounce without understanding the subject; and thus the credit of an art is impaired, which, both in ages past and in TAC. —VOL. I. Q 226 THE ANNALS. [B. VI. our own, has afforded signal instances of its certainty." In fact, the prediction of the son of this same Thrasullus, that Nero would be emperor, will be recorded at the proper time; but not here, lest I should digress too much from the matter in hand. 23. During the same consulship, the death of Asinius Galllus' became generally known: that he perished through famine, was undoubted; but whether of his own accord or by constraint, was held uncertain. The emperor was consulted, " wi ether he would suffer him to be buried?" when he blushed not to grant it as a favour, and even went so far as to express dissatisfaction that a casualty should have carried off tie accused before he was convicted publicly: as if during three intermediate years between his accusation and his death, there wanted time for the trial of the aged man, of consular rank himself, and the father of so many more. Next the light of Drusus2 was quenched, after having protracted his existence to the ninth day, by means of the wretched nutriment afforded by the stuffing of his bed. Some have related, that, in case Sejanus had attempted force, Macro had instructions to take the young man from his confinement (for he was kept in the palace), and set him at the head of the people: afterwards, because a report was circulated "that the emperor was about to be reconciled to his daughter-in-law and grandson," he chose rather to be accounted cruel than to have changed his purpose. 24. Nay, even after death he pursued him with invectives, and charged him with c" having dishonoured his body,-with a spirit breathing destruction to his own family, and hostility to the republic;" and ordered to be recited " the minutes of such of his words and actions as had been daily registered." This was thought a proceeding of unparalleled atrocity, that for so many years spies should have attended him, to note down his looks, his groans, his secret murmurs; and that his grandfather could hear the tale, read it, and expose it to the public, was scarcely credible, but for the letters of Actius the centurion, and Didymus the freedman; which exhibited the names of the slaves accordingly as one struck 1 Asinius Gallus had been thrown into prison three years before. 2 Drusus, the son of Germanicus, who had been imprisoned in the lower part of the palace about three years before; see Suet. in Tib. s. 54. c. 25.] DEBAT OF AGRIPPINA. 227 him as he was coming out of his chamber, and another terrified him with menaces. The centurion too repeated, as matter of special merit, his own language to Drusus,-language full of barbarity,-with the words uttered by him while sinking under famine; in which at first, feigning madness, he pronounced, as if in a phrenzy, deadly denunciations against Tiberius, and afterwards, when all hopes of life had fled, he poured forth studied and deliberate imprecations, "that, as he had slaughtered his son's wife, the son of his brother, and' his son's sons, and filled his whole house with carnage, so might he pay to the uttermost the penalty of his crimes, in justice to his name, the generations of his forefathers, and posterity." The senators indeed interrupted him with exclamations of assumed horror at these imprecations; but their hearts were penetrated with consternation and amazement, that he who was heretofore bo wary, and threw so dense a covering over his iniquities, had arrived at such a pitch of hardihood as thus to remove, as it were, his prison walls, and exhibit his own grandson under the lash of a centurion, exposed to the violence of slaves, and imploring in vain the homeliest aliment of life. 25. Before the impressions of this grief were worn away, the death of Agrippina was announced.' I suppose she had spun out her life upon the hopes she had conceived from the execution of Sejanus; but, feeling afterwards no relaxation of cruelty, voluntarily put an end to her life,-unless it was that, by bereaving her of nourishment, a mode of death was artfully resorted to which might seem self-sought. For Tiberius indeed broke out with abominable imputations against her, charging her "with lewdness; adultery with Asinius Gallus; and that upon his death she became weary of life." But Agrippina, impatient of an equal lot, and eager to rule, had sacrificed to masculine ambition the vices of her sex. The emperor added, "that she departed the same day two years on which Sejanus had suffered as a traitor, and that the same ought to be recorded." Nay, he boasted of his clemency, in " that she had not been strangled, and her body cast into the Gemonise." For this the senate thanked him, and decreed "that, on the seventeenth of October, the day of.both their deaths, a yearly offering should be consecrated'to Jupiter for ever." For the account of Agrippina's miserable end, see Suet. in Tib. s. 53. q2 ~28 THE ANNALS. LB. L. 26. Not long after, Cocceius Nerva, the constant companion of the prince, skilled in all laws, human and divine, in unimpaired prosperity and perfect vigour of body, formed a resolution of dying. Tiberius having heard of it, sat down beside him, requested to know his motives, adding entreaties, and even confessed " that it would disturb his peace of mind,! and be a stain on his reputation, if the nearest of his friends should relinquish life, without any cause for dying." Nerva shunned conversing on the subject, and immediately began to abstain from food. It was alleged, by such as knew his thoughts, that the more he saw into the miseries of the state, the more transported with indignation and fear, he resolved to die with honour wLile unscathed and unassailed. Moreover, the fall of Agrippina, which is hardly credible, drew with it that of Plancina. She' was formerly married to Cneius Piso; and though she exulted publicly in the death of Germanicus, yet when Piso fell, she was protected by the solicitations of Augusta, nor less by the animosity of Agrippina. When favour and hate had ceased to act, justice prevailed; and, being prosecuted for notorious crimes, with her own hand she inflicted upon herself a punishment more tardy than unmerited. 27. While the city was saddened by so many subjects of mourning, one occasion of grief was that Julia,2 the daughter of Drusus, and lately the wife of Nero, was espoused to Rubellius Blandus, whose grandfather was remembered by many to have been only a Roman knight from Tibur. At the close of the year, the death of 2Elius Lamia3 was celebrated with a public funeral. He was praefect of the city having been at length discharged from the mock administration of Syria. He was a man of distinguished family, enjoyed a vigorous old age, and derived additional popularity from his province being withheld from him. Pomponius Flaccus,4 Cocceius Nerva has been mentioned, book iv. 58. 2 Julia, the daughter of Drusus and Livia, and grandaughter to Tiberius. 3 He is better known from the odes addressed to him by Horace, Carm. I. xxvi., III. xvii. Pomponius Flaccus was one of Tiberius's boon companions. Suetonius says, that after he came to the empire, he passed a whole night sad two days in a carousing party with Lucius Piso and Pomponius Flaccua. Suet. in Tib. a. 42. V. 28.] THE PHCENIX. 229 proprmetor of Syria, died some time after; when a letter from Tiberius was recited, in which he complained "that all the senators of distinction, and qualified to command armies, refused that office; in this difficulty he was driven to entreaties. in order to induce some of those of consular rank to undertake the provinces;" forgetting Arruntius, now for ten years prevented from going into Spain. The same year also died Manius Lepidus,' of whose wisdom and moderation I have in former books, as was fitting, said enough. Nor is it requisite to dwell long on the display of his nobility, since the JEmilian race is fertile in good citizens; and even those of the same family who lapsed into corruption, continued still to be distinguished by the splendours of fortune. 28. In the consulship of Paulus Fabius and Lucius Vitellius,2 after a long series of ages, the bird called the phcenix3 arrived in 'Egypt, and furnished the most learned of the natives and Greeks with occasion for much speculation concerning that marvel. 'The circumstances in which they agree with many others of a doubtful character, though not undeserving of record, I purpose reciting. That it is a creature sacred to the sun, and in the form of its head and the various tints of its plumage distinguished from other birds, all who have described its characteristics are agreed: as to the number of years it lives, accounts vary. The most generally received fixes it at five hundred years: but there are those who affirm that one thousand four hundred and sixty one years intervene between its visits; and assert that the three former phoenixes appeared, the first in the reign of Sesostris, the next of Amasis; and that one was seen in the reign of Ptolemy, the third king of Egypt of the Macedonian race, and flew to the city of Heliopolis, accompanied by a vast retinue of other birds gazing with admiration on the beauteous miracle. But the accounts of antiquity are enveloped in doubt and obscurity: between Ptolemy and Tiberius the interval was less than two hundred and fifty years: whence some have believed that the present was a spurious phoenix, l See note above, p. 168. 2 Lucius Vitellius, the new consul, was the father of Vitellius, who was afterwards emperor. See more of him, c. 32. 3 This occurrence is related as happening two years later, by Pliny (Ifist. Nat. x. ', 5) and Dio (lviii 27). 230 THE ANNALS. [B. VI, and did not proceed from the regions of Arabia, nor observed any of the instincts which ancient tradition constantly attributes to the genuine: for the latter having completed his course of years, on the approach of death builds a nest in his native land, and upon it sheds a generative power, from whence arises a young one, whose first care, when he is grown up, is to bury his father: neither does he go about this task unadvisedly, but taking up a heavy piece of myrrh, tries his strength in a long excursion; and as soon as he finds himself equal to the burthen and the passage, he takes his father's body upon his back, carries it all the way to the altar of the sun, and consumes it in the fire thereon. These accounts are not entitled to unqualified credit, and their uncertainty is increased by the admixture of matter palpably fabulous; but that this bird has been at some time seen in Egypt, is not questioned. 29. At Rome, the destruction of her citizens continued without intermission. Pomponius Labeo, who, as I have mentioned, was governor of Mmsia, opening his veins poured out his lifeblood; his wife Paxsea, in emulation of his example, did the same. The dread of falling by the executioner, made deaths of this sort a welcome resource; in addition to which, those who were condemned forfeited their estates, and were debarred the rights of burial: of such as made away with themselves, the bodies were interred, and the wills were valid, the reward of their despatch! Tiberius, however, in a letter to the senate, argued, " that it was the usage of their ancestors, when they would renounce the friendship of any one, to forbid him their house; and thus put an end to all gracious intercourse; a usage he had repeated in the case of Labeo: but he who was pressed with a charge of maladministration, and other crimes, had sought to veil his guilt by an act reflecting odium upon others; while his wife had alarmed herself unnecessarily, for though guilty, she was nevertheless in no danger." Mamercus Scaurus 1 was then I We have seen Mamercus Scaurus marked as a victim, this book,. 9. Seneca (Controv. lib. v. in Praefatione) speaks of him also as pos. aessed of oratorical talent. Dio informs us, that the tragedy for which he was accused was founded on the story of Atreus; and that Tiberius, thinking himself glanced4at, said, " Since he makes me another Atreus, I will make him an Ajax, meaning that he would force him to destroy himself. Dio, lib. viii c. 30.1 SOME INFORMERS PUNISHED. 231 arraigned afresh, a man of highly distinguished family, and an eminent pleader, but of profligate habits. In his overthrow the friendship of Sejanus had no share, but an engine no less potent to destroy, the enmity of Macro, who pursued, but more secretly, the same arts. The subject of a tragedy composed by Scaurus, in which were some lines which might be made to apply to Tiberius, formed the groundwork of his lformation. But by the accusers, Servilius and Cornelius, the crimes objected were those of "adultery with Livia,' and the mysteries of the magicians." Scaurus, as became the magnanimity of the ancient AEmilii, prevented condemnation, by the persuasion of Sextia his wife, who encouraged him to die and shared his fate. 30. And yet the informers, when opportunity occurred, were surrendered to vengeance; as were Servilius and Cornelius, who had acquired an infamous notoriety by the ruin of Scaurus, for accepting from Varius Ligur a bribe to drop a prosecution, for which they were interdicted fire and water, and banished to the islands. Abudius Rufo too, once aedile, whilst he brought a charge against Lentulus Gretulicus, under whom he had led a legion, " that he had marked out a son of Sejanus for his son-in-law;" 'was himself on the contrary condemned and banished Rome. Goetulicus was at this time commander of the legions in Upper Germany, and wonderfully beloved by them for his unbounded clemency and welltempered discipline. Neither was he unacceptable to the neighbouring army, through the interest of Lucius Apronius, his father-in-law. Hence he was firmly believed to have dared to represent to the emperor in a letter, " that by no choice of his own had he set about any affinity with Sejanus, but in compliance with the counsel of Tiberius, and was as liable as Tiberius to be deceived; nor ought one and the same error to pass unblamed in the prince only, and draw down destruction upon all others. He had never violated his allegiance; and if no plots were framed against him, it would continue unshaken. A successor he should receive as no other than the herald of death. It remained therefore that they should as it were establish a league, by which the prince should still enjoy all the rest of the empire, and he himself retain his province." This proceeding, however amazing, 1 The wife of Drusus, the son of Tiberius. 232 THE ANNALs. [B. VI. derived credit from hence, that he only of all that were allied to Sejanus, remained in safety, and even in high favour, Tiberius considering the public odium under which he laboured, his great age, and that his authority was upheld more by reputation than force. 31. In the consulship of Caius Sestius and Marcus Servilius, there came to Rome some noble Parthians, unknown to Artabanus their king. He had formerly, through dread of Germanicus, reigned with humanity towards his own people, and kept his faith with the Romans; but afterwards treated us with arrogance, and his subjects with cruelty. His confidence grew out of the successful wars which he had waged against the circumjacent nations; from his contempt of Tiberius,' as enfeebled through age and unwarlike, and from an avidity to possess Armenia; over which kingdom, upon the death of Artaxias,2 he set Arsaces, his eldest son. To this usurpation was superadded an insult, having sent to reclaim "the treasure left by Vonones3 in Syria and Cilicia;" as also "the re-establishment of the ancient boundaries between the Persians and Macedonians:" he even threw out in a menacing and vain-glorious style, " that he would invade all the countries possessed by Cyrus, and since by Alexander." Of this secret embassy from the Parthians the most energetic promoter was Sinnaces, of a noble family and corresponding wealth; and, next to him, Abdus the eunuch, a description of person not despised amongst the Barbarians, but, on the contrary, possessing influence. These two, in concert with others of the nobles, sent to Rome for Phraates,4 son of king Phraates, since of all the race of the Arsacidxe, many having been murdered by Artabanus, and the rest too young, there were none whom they could set upon the throne. The 1 Suetonius says, Tiberius was severely lashed in a letter from Artabanus, king of the Parthians, upbraiding him with parricide, murder, cowardice, and luxury; and advising him to expiate his guilt by a voluntary death. In Tib. s. 66. 2 Artaxias III., who was seated on the throne of Armenia by Germanicus. See book ii. 56 and 64. 3 Vonones was deposed by the Armenians, and obliged to take refuge at Pompeiopolis, a maritime city of Cilicia. Annals, book ii. 4 and 58. 4 He was the son of Phraates IV., and had been sent by his father as an hostage to Augustus. See above, book ii 1. Oi 33.] INTRIGUES AMONGST THE PARTHIANS. 233 deputies represented, "that the:c needed nothing more than a name and a sanction;-nothing more than that a descendant of Arsaces, with the concurrence of Caesar, should show himself on the banks of the Euphrates." 32. This was what Tiberius wished. He furnished Phraates with every requisite, and equipped him for the recovery of his father's throne; still holding to his determination to transact his foreign affairs by policy and counsels only, and avoid engaging in war. Artabanus meanwhile informed of thle combination, was at one time paralysed by apprehensions, at another fired with the desire of revenge. And yet, by Barbarians delay is reckoned a mark of a servile mind; but instant executibn is considered the attribute of royalty. Expediency however so far prevailed, that he invited Abdus to a banquet, under pretence of friendship, and tied him up by a dose of slow poison: Sinnaces he managed to hold back by dissimulation, presents, and engaging him in business at the same time. Now Phraates arriving in Syria, and laying aside the Roman dress and manners, to which for so many years he had been accustomed, to assume the customs of the Parthians, proved unequal to the hardship of adopting the habits of his country, fell sick and died. Tiberius did not abandon the enterprise: but set up Tiridates, of the same blood, as a competitor with Artabanus; and for the recovery of Armenia, chose Mithridates the Iberian, and reconciled him to his brother Pharasmanes, who inherited the sovereignty of Iberia; and over the east, for executing all his projects there, he placed Lucius Vitellius.1 I am aware that in Rome this man was in bad odour, and that many foul acts are related of him: yet in governing provinces he acted with primitive uprightness. It was after his return thence, that his dread of Caligula, and then his intimacy with Claudius, transformed him into a slave so abject, that he is reckoned as an example to posterity of the deformity of flattery: his last state swallowed up his first, and the excellences of his younger years are obliterated by a flagitious old age. 33. Of the petty kings, Mithridates was the first in motion, and incited Pharasmanes to promote his efforts against Arsaces, by force and stratagem; instruments of corruption 1 L. Vitellius was consul in the preceding year. See this boa k, c. 28a and note. Compare also Suet. in Vitell. s. 2. 234 THE ANtALS. [B. VI. were found, who, by large presents of gold, urged his servants to murder himn: at the same time the Iberians made an irruption into Armenia with numerous forces, and gained the city Artaxata. When Artabanus heard of this, he despatched his son Orodes, at the head of the Parthian army, to take vengeance on the enemy, and sent emissaries to hire auxiliaries. Pharasmanes, on the other hand, united the Albanian forces to his own, procured troops from the Sarmatee, whose princes engaged themselves on both sides; according to the manner of the nation, to embark for pay in opposite quarrels. But the Iberians were masters of the passes, and thence poured the Sarmatse by the Caspian way into Armenia: whereas those that came to join the Parthians, were easily prevented from proceeding; the enemy having shut up every approach, except one between the sea and the uttermost mountains of Albania, which was impassable in the summer, for then, by the force of the Etesian winds, the shallows are,illed with water; but in the winter, the south-west wind rolls back the flood, and leaves the shallows upon the coast dry. 34. While Orodes was thus bereft of his allies, Pharas. manes strengthened with succours, challenged him to battle, and, as he declined it, insulted him, rode up to his entrenchments, cut off his foragers, and often hemmed him in, as it were in a siege, with parties of troops; till at length the Parthians, unable to brook these indignities, beset the prince and demanded battle. Their only forces were horse; but Pharasmanes was likewise powerful in foot: for, the Iberians And Albanians, as they inhabit regions covered with forests are more inured to hardness and endurance. They say "tha, they are descended from Thessalians, at the time when Jason having carried away Medea, and had children by her, returned to Colchis, upon the death of AEetes, and took possession of the vacant throne." And many are the traditions which are current about him and the oracle of Phrixus; in reverence to which none of them will sacrifice a ram, as upon this animal they believe Phrixus to have been carried thither; whether the same were a ram, or only the figure head of a ship. However, both armies being drawn up in battle array, Orodes descanted upon "the empire of the East, the renown of the Arsacidse; and, on the other hand, the ignoble charaoter of the Iberians, with their hireling soldiery." Pharas o. 36.J WAR BETWEEN THE PARTHIANS AND ARMENIANS. 235 manes represented to his, that " they had ever kept themselves free from the Parthian yoke; that the higher their aims, the more renown to the victors: but if they fled, the greater reproach and danger." At the same time he bade them view and compare their own terrific array with the mass of Medes tricked out with gold; "Here," pointing to them, he said, " is a band of heroes; there, a heap of booty." 35. But with the Sarmate, the voice of their general is xot the only means of exhortation; they animate one another: "they must not," they said, "begin the fight by a discharge of arrows, but break in at once upon the foe, and surprise them by a close engagement." And now the battle commenced; every mode of fighting might be seen: the Parthians, accustomed with equal dexterity to pursue or fly, opened their ranks, seeking scope for their arrows: the Sarmatfe, abandoning the bow, which they can use with effect but for a short time, rushed in with their swords and pikes: sometimes, as in an encounter of horse, alternately charging and flying; at other times in condensed array, breast to breast, and arms clashing with arms, they forced back the foe, or yielded to the shock themselves: and now the Albanians and Iberians grappled with the Parthians, dragged them' from their horses, and confounded them by a twofold attack; for besides the assaults from the horse, they were still more closely galled by the foot. Meanwhile Pharasmanes and Orodes, animating the brave by their presence, or supporting the wavering, might be seen by all, and therefore soon descried each other. In a moment they gallop to the encounter, with loud shouts and lances poised; but Pharasmanes with the greater impetuosity: he drove his weapon through his opponent's helmet, but could not follow up the blow, his horse hurrying him along; and the bravest of his guards protected the wounded Orodes. A.false report that he was slain spreading through the ranks, dispirited the Parthians, and they yielded the victory. 36. Soon after, Artabanus marched with the whole strength of Parthia, to have his revenge; but the Iberians, from their superior knowledge of the country, had the advantage in the encounter. Nor even thus would he have retreated, but,hat Vitellius, drawing together his legions, and spreading a rumour that he was about to invade Meopotamia, made him 236 TIEB ANNALS. Lt. Vt. apprehend a Roman war. Armenia was therefore abandoned, and the affairs of Artabanus were ruined; Vitellius inviting the Parthians "to renounce a king cruel in peace, and baneful to them in war from the disasters he experienced." Sinnaces therefore, whom I have mentioned as already incensed, consults his father Abdageses and others, who had hitherto disguised their disaffection, and finding them now less reserved from their continued overthrows, induces them to revolt; while those who had continued in allegiance through fear, rather than affection, but now having found leaders, had assumed courage, gradually joined them. None now adhered to Artabanus except some few foreigners, the guards of his person; outlaws and fugitives from their several homes, destitute of all sense of honour, and indifferent to disgrace; hirelings by profession, and the retained instruments of villany and blood. Taking these for his attendants, he hastily fled to remote regions, bordering upon Scythia, in the hope of succours; for with the Hyrcanians and Carmanians he was connected by affinity: he hoped, too, meanwhile, that the Parthians, a people always favourable to their princes after expulsion, but fickle and restless under their dominion, might undergo a change of sentiment. 37. Artabanus having fled, and the minds of the Parthians being inclined to a new king, Vitellius exhorted Tiridates " to lay hold of the opportunity presented to him;" and, with the flower of the legions and auxiliaries, marched to the banks of the Euphrates. Whilst they sacrificed to the river, the one, after the rites of the Romans, a swine, a ram, and a bull; the other a horse; the neighbouring inhabitants informed them, " that the Euphrates, without an excess of rain, had of itself swollen immensely; that at the same time the white foam upon its surface curled into circles in the form of a diadem; an omen of a prosperous passage." Some interpreted with greater subtlety, "that the commencement of the enterprise would be attended with success, which, however, would not continue; and for this reason, that whereas reliance might be placed on portents exhibited in earth or heaven, rivers were in their nature unstable, and in the same instant that they vouchsafed their omens, withdrew them." A bridge of boats being constructed, the army crossed; and the first who arrived in the carap was Ornos c. 38.] DATH OF TRIO- HIS WILL 237 pades, with many thousand horse. He was formerly an exile, and had distinguished himself not a little by the aid he rendered Tiberius in putting the finishing stroke to the war in Dalmatia:1 a service for which he was presented with the freedom of the city. Afterwards having regained the friendship of his king, he rose to high honour; and was made governor of the plains, which being encompassed by the waters of those celebrated rivers Euphrates and Tigris, are called Mesopotamia. Soon after came Sinnaces with more forces; as also Abdageses, the pillar of the party, with the king's treasure and the regalia. Vitellius thought it enough to have countenanced them with a display of the Roman arms, and now admonished Tiridates and the chiefs; him " to remember his grandfather Phraates, and Caesar his foster-father; signal honours and equal incitements to glory:" upon them he pressed "obedience to their king, and reverence towards us; that they would each tf them preserve their reputations unsullied, and their faith inviolate." Then immediately he repassed with his legions into Syria. 38. I have related in immediate succession the transactions of two summers, to afford the mind some repose from the contemplation of domestic calamities. For, Tiberius, though now three years had elapsed since the execution of Sejanus, was not so far appeased by time, supplications, and satiety of blood, means which are wont to soften all other men, but that he still punished even stale and dubious imputations, as the most heinous and recent crimes. Under this dread, Fulcinius Trio,2 unable to bear up against a host of informers who rushed upon him, inserted in his will many imputations of the most atrocious conduct against Macro and the emperor's principal freedmen: with regard to the emperor himself, he said that he was reduced' to " a state of mental imbecility from old age; and spoke of his continued retirement as a kind of exile." These invectives, which the heirs of Trio desired to suppress, were by Tiberius ordered to be recited; whether to parade his tolerance of a free expression of sentiment, and despising reflections upon his own character; or whether from having been long ignorant of the enormities of Sejanus, he afterwards chose to have them published, 1 Tiberius ended the Dalmatic war; A.U.C. 763. 2 Concerning this noted informer, see above, book ii 28. 238 THE ANNALS. lB. VI. ill whatever language conveyed, and at least through the medium of reproaches to get the knowledge of that truth which flattery smothers. During the same consulship, Granius Martianus, the senator, charged with treason by Caius Gracchus, laid violent hands upon himself; and Tatius Gratianus, who had been preotor, under the same law was sentenced to capital punishment. 39. Similar was the fate of Trebellienus Rufus and Sextius Paconianus.1 For, Trebellienus fell by his own hand; and Paconianus, for verses made in prison against the emperor, was there strangled. When Tiberius was made acquainted with these executions, he was not now separated from Italy by the sea, nor had the messenger far to travel, but he was in the neighbourhood of Rome; so near that he received and answered the letters from the consuls the same day, or only after the interval of a night; gazing, as it were, upon the bloody torrent as it rolled on from house to house; and watching the busy hands of the ministers of death. In the end of the year expired Poppmeus Sabinus,2 of no very high lineage, but by the friendship of the emperor he had acquired the consulship and triumphal honours. He was also entrusted for four and twenty years with the government of great provinces; not for any preeminent accomplishments, but because he had talents equal to business, and aspired no higher. 40. Quintus Plautius and Sextius Papinius were the following consuls. It was remarked as a matter of horror or surprise, that Lucius Aruseius and * * * underwent this year the pains of death: so familiar were civil miseries. But it was a terrifying spectacle when Vibulenus Agrippa, a Roman 'night, after his accusers had finished their speeches, taking ut the poison he had concealed under his gown, swallowed it in the very senate-house; and as he fell forward in the agonies of death, was by the hurried hands of the lictors dragged to the dungeon, where, though already lifeless, his neck was fretted with a halter. Not even Tigranes,3 who had once Trebellienus Rufus was made guardian to the children of Cotys, the Thracian king. (Book ii. 67.) For Paconianus, see this book, c. 3, 4. 2 Poppeus Sabinus was consul in the time of Augustus, A.A.C. 762. He commanded in Mcesia, Achaia, and Macedonia, and obtained triumphal honours. Book i. 80. 3Josephus alludes to this circumstance, Ant. xviii 5. 4. He says, Tigranes was grandson to Herod, c. 42.] REVTOLT OF THE CLIM~ANS. 23S reigned in Armenia, but was now accused, could, with the title of king, escape the lot of the citizens. But Caius Galba,' of con sular rank, and the two Blesi, fell by their own hands: Galba upon receiving a dismal letter from Caesar, which forbad him to undertake a province; the Blaesi, because the priesthoods which in the prosperity of their family he had assigned them, and in its distress withheld, he now bestowed, as vacant dignities, upon others. This they understood as a signal of death, and obeyed it..rEmilia Lepida too, who, as I have related, was married to the young Drusus, who had pursued her husband with incessant accusations, and during the days of her father Lepidus remained unpunished, though detested, after his death was pounced upon by the accusers for adultery with a slave: nor was there any doubt of her guilt: renouncing, therefore, all defence, she put an end to her own life. 41. About the same time the Clitseans, a people subject to Archelaus the Cappadocian, aggrieved at being compelled after the Roman manner to make returns and pay tribute, seceded to the ridges of Mount Taurus, and by the natuire of the situation defended themselves against the unwarlike forces of the king; till Vitellius, president of Syria, despatched to their relief his lieutenant, Marcus Trebellius, with four thousand legionary soldiers and some chosen auxiliaries.' Trebellius begirt with entrenchments the two hills upon which the Barbarians were encamped; the lesser named Cadra, the. other Davara; those who attempted to sally out he put to the sword; the rest were reduced by drought. Tiridates, with the approbation of the Parthians, took possession of Nicephorium, Anthemusias, and other cities founded by the Macedonians, and thence called by Greek names; as likewise of Halus and Artemita, Parthian cities; the inhabitants vying with each other in expressing their joy for the change, as they execrated Artabanus, who was bred amongst the barbarous Scythians, for his cruelty, but in Tiridates hoped to find a humane spirit from his Roman education. 42. Excessive was the flattery displayed on this occasion by the citizens of Seleucia, a powerful city, surrounded with walls; nor had it lapsed into the barbarous usages of the Parthians, but still retained the institutions of Seleucus, its Greek founder. Three hundred citizens, chosen for their wealth or wisdom, corn1 Caius Galba was brother to Galba afterwards emperor. 240 TE ANNALS. te. vi, pose as it were a senate; the populace too have their share of power; and when all act with unanimity, they despise the Parthians; but when discord reigns, while each side invites foreign. aid against their competitors, the power called in to support a party gets the mastery of all. This had lately been exemplified in the reign of Artabanus, who delivered the cori monalty to the dominion of the nobles, with a view to his own advantage: for the sovereignty of the people verges on liberty, but the domination of a few comes nearer to absolute monarchy. Upon the approach of Tiridates they heaped upon bin all the honours paid to ancient kings, with all the additions which the ingenuity of modern time has introduced; and with the praises of the new prince poured forth invectives against Artabanus, "that only by his mother was he of the blood of the Arsacidee, in every other respect an alien from their race." Tiridates committed to the people the government of Seleucia; and soon afterwards, while deliberating about the day for solemnizing his coronation, he received letters from Phraates and Hiero, who were invested with the most influential praefectures, entreating a brief delay: it was agreed to await the arrival of men so high in power, and in the meantime the court proceeded to Ctesiphon, the seat of empire. But as from day to day they delayed coming, the Surena,' before a numerous and applauding assembly, bound the royal diadem on the head of Tiridates, according to the custom of the country. 43. And had he at once proceeded into the centre of the kingdom and the further provinces, the hesitation of the wavering would have been overcome, and all would have been unanimous in acknowledging him. But by besieging a fortress, whither Artabanus had conveyed his money and concubines, he afforded opportunity for renouncing the compact. For, Phraates and Hiero, with such others as had not joined in celebrating the day chosen for his coronation, some from fear, others from envy of Abdageses, who then ruled the new king and the court, went after their former king Artabanus. They found him in Hyrcania, all filthy and neglected, and seeking precarious support with his bow. At first he was terrified, and apprehended treachery: when they assured him of their 1 The office of Surena was in point of dignity next to the prince. The title appears tU have been hereditary in a certain family, like the Roman " Caesar c. 45.] FIRE AT ROME. 241 honour, and that they were come to restore him to sovereignty, he took courage, and asked, " whence the sudden change T" fiero, in answer, inveighed against " Tiridates as a boy, and said that the empire was no longer administered by one of the Arsacidse; but that the empty title of empire was possessed by one enervated by foreign luxury, while its powers were wielded by Abdageses and his family." 44. From long experience in reigning, he felt that, however false in friendship, their hate was unfeigned: and merely staying to get together some Scythian succours, he hastened away that he might anticipate the devices of his enemies, and the defection of his friends: neither changed he as yet his wretched apparel, that he might attract the commiseration of the populace; he left no expedient untried, nor prayers nor wiles, to engage in his interest such as wavered, to confirm such as were inclined to him. He was now approaching the neighbourhood of Seleucia, when Tiridates, hearing with dismay of the proceedings, and of the arrival of Artabanus at the same moment, was perplexed and undetermined in the plan he should pursue; whether to make head against him, or protract the war by a lingering policy. They who preferred a battle and a speedy issue, argued "that the enemy's forces were still in disarray, and their bodies exhausted with the length of their march; while not even their minds could be made up to obedience, betrayers and open enemies as they were so lately of that same prince whom now after expulsion they espoused." But Abdageses advised " a retreat into Mesopotamia, that there defended by the interposition of the river, they might have time to arm the Armenians and Elymaeans, with other nations in their rear; and being thus strengthened by confederate troops, and such as the Roman general should send, they might try the fortune of war." This advice prevailed, as the influence of Abdageses was predominant, and Tiridates irresolute in facing dangers. But their departure had all the appearance of flight: for the Arabs beginning the desertion, the rest followed, and retired to their several homes or to the' camp of Artabanus; so that at length Tiridates, with a few attendants, returning to Syria, relieved all fror, the disgrace of defection. 45. The same year the city suffered grievously from a fire. which burnt down the part of the Circus contiguous to Mount TAC. —VOL. 1. R 242 THE MANALS. [a. V. Nventine and the mount itself: a loss which turned to the glory if the prince, as he paid the value of the houses and clusters of tenements' destroyed. A hundred thousand great sesterces he expended in this bounty, which proved the more grateful to the people, as he was ever sparing in his own private building: in truth, his public works never exceeded two, the temple of Augustus and the scene of Pompey's theatre; nor, when he had finished both, did he dedicate either, whether prevented by old age, or despising popularity. For ascertaining the damage of the several sufferers, the four sons-in-law of Tiberius were appointed, Cneius Domitius, Cassius Longinus, Marcus Vinicius, and Rubellius Blandus; assisted by Publius Petronius, nominated by the consuls. To the emperor likewise were decreed honours, devised according to the genius of those who proposed them. Which of these he would accept or reject was a matter of uncertainty, as he died in a short time. For not long after, Cneius Acerronius and Caius Pontius commenced their consulship, the last under Tiberius, when the power of Macro was excessive; for, as he had at no time neglected the favour of Caligula, he courted it now more and.nore earnestly every day; and after the death of Claudia, whom I have mentioned to have been espoused to the young prince,2 he constrained Ennia his own wife to inveigle Caligula by pretending she was in love with him, and to secure him by a promise of marriage, while he declined nothing that opened his way to sovereignty; for although naturally impetuous, yet in the bosom of his grandfather he had become an adept in the hollow arts )f simulation. 46. The emperor was aware of this, and thence he was puzzled about naming a successor to the empire: and first as to which he should select of his grandsons, of whom the son of Drusus was nearer in blood, and dearer in point of I For the proper meaning of insula, see Smith's Diet. Ant., art. House. 2 See this book, c. 20. Suetonius says she died in childbed. (Life of Calig. s. 12.) The intrigue with Ennia is there related in a manner somaewhat different. 3 Hereditary succession was not admitted by the Romans, Under colour of preserving ancient forms, the senate was still supposed to be the depository of the public mind, and, in case of a demise, the prince was elective. The legions soon usurped the right of naming a successor. The Caesarean line, as long as it lasted, was respected by tle army. After the death of Nero, the last of the Caesars, wars fierce and blood were the consequence, c. 47.] QUESTION OF THE SUCCESSION. 243 affection, but as yet a child: the sonr of Germanicus had arrived at the vigour of youth, and the favour of the people attended him, a motive this with his grandfather to hate him. He had even debates with himself about Claudius, as he was a sedate character and inclined to liberal studies; but his deficiency in mental vigour formed an impediment. In case he sought a successor apart from his own family, he dreaded lest the memory of Augustus, lest the name of the Cesars shou ui be scorned and degraded. For, it was not so much that he cared to gratify the present generation, as 'that he was desirous of standing well with posterity. Still wavering, and his strength decaying, he was soon induced to leave to the decision of fortune a question for which he was unequal, though he dropped some expressions from which it might be gathered that he had an insight into futurity: for he upbraided Macro, in no obscure and indirect terms, "with forsaking the setting sun and turning to the rising:" and of Caligula, who in some incidental conversation ridiculed Sylla, he foretold, " that he would have all Sylla's vices, and none of his virtues." At the same time, embracing the younger of his grandsons,' not without many tears, while the countenance of Caligula assumed a stern and angry aspect, he said to him, " Thou wilt slay him, and another shall slay thee." But, while his illness became more and more serious, he relinquished nothing of his libidinous excesses, affecting strength of constitution by showing how he could bear illness. He was wont, too, to ridicule the physician's art, and tho.e who, after the age of thirty, needed to be informed by any one else what benefited or injured their constitutions. 47. At Rome, meanwhile, were sown the seeds that were destined to yield a harvest of blood after the decease of Tiberius. Lmlius Balbus had charged Acutia, some time the wife of Publius Vitellius,2 with high treason; and. as the senate were, after her condemnation, decreeing a reward to the accuser, Junius Otho, tribune of the people, interposed his veto: hence their mutual hate, and afterwards the exile I This was the son of Drusus, who had been cut off by Sajanus. Book iv. 8.) He was afterwards put to death by Caligula. (See Suet. in Calig s. 23.) Caligula himself died by the assassin's dagger. (Suet. in Calig. a. 58.) 9 For Publius Vitellius, see book v. 8. 2 244 TH! ANNALS. LB VI1. of Otho. Then Albdicilla, infamous fol her ma-ly amours, who had been married to Satrius Secundus,' the man who revealed the conspiracy of Sejanus, was impeached of impiety towards the prince In the charge were involved, as her ac-.omplices and her adulterers, Cneius Domitius, Vibius Marsus, and Lucius Arruntius. Of the noble descent of Domitius I have spoken before: Marsus, too, was distinguished by the ancient dignities of his house, and his own fame for learning. The minutes, however, transmitted to the senate, imported, " that in the examination of the witnesses, and torture of the slaves, Macro had presided:" and as there came not ally letter from the emperor against the accused, it was suspected, that, while he was ill, and perhaps without his privity, the accusations were in great measure forged, in consequence of the notorious enmity of Macro to Arruntius. 48. Domitius therefore by preparing for his defence, and Marsus by seeming determined to starve himself to death, protracted their lives. Arruntius, to the importunity of his friends, urging him to try delays and evasions, answered, " that the same measures were not honourable to all men alike: he had lived long enough; his only regret was, that exposed on all sides to derision and peril, he had submitted to bear thus far an old age loaded with anxieties; long obnoxious to the malice of Sejanus, now of Macro, always of some minion of power; not because he was guilty of any crime, but because he was intolerant of the grossest iniquities. Grant that the few and last days of Tiberius could be got over, yet tow could he escape all that he would have to endure under the youth who threatened to succeed him? When the mind of Tiberius, a man of consummate experience, underwent such a convulsion and transformation from the potent influence of imperial power, was it likely that Caligula, who had scarce outgrown his childhood, ignorant of everything, or nursed and principled in the worst. would follow a course more righteous under the guidance of Macro; the same Macro, who, as the more expert villain, having been selected for the task of crushing Sejanus, had brought the commonwealth to a state of wretchedness the most abject, by )is numerous atrocities? He had now before him,'' he said, Satrius Secundus had been the active agent of Sejanus. See book v. 44; and this book, c. 8. c. 50.] DEATH OF TIBERIUS. 245 "a prcspect of slavery still more embittered; and therefore it was that he withdrew at once from the horrors which had been enacted, and those that impended." While pouring forth these warnings with the intense emotion of a prophet, he opened his veins. That Arruntius was wise in resorting to suicide the following events will testify. Albucilla, after inflicting an ineffectual wound upon herself, was, by order of the senate, dragged to prison. As to the ministers of her lusts, it was decreed, "that Carsidius Sacerdos, of praetorian rank, should be banished to an island; Pontius Fregellanus expelled the senate; and that upon Lmelius Balbus the same penalty be inflicted." The senators gave the latter judgment with feelings of joy, as he was accounted a man of turbulent eloquence, and zealous in his efforts against the innocent. 49. About the same time, Sextus Papinius, of a consular family, chose a sudden and frightful end, by throwing himself down from an eminence. The cause was ascribed to his mother, who, after many repulses, had, by fondling and ex. citement, brought him into a situation from which he could escape by death only. She was therefore accused in the senate; and, though she embraced the knees of the fathers, and pleaded "the natural tenderness of a mother's grief, and the greater weakness of a woman's spirit under such a calamity," with other motives of pity in the same doleful strain, she was banished Rome for ten years, till her younger son was past the slippery period of youth. 50. As for Tiberius, his body was now wasted and his strength exhausted, but his dissimulation failed him not. He exhibited the same inflexibility of mind, the same energy in his looks and discourse; and even sometimes by affected vivacity tried to hide his decaying strength, though too manifest to be concealed. And after much shifting of places he settled at length at the promontory of Misenum, in a villa of which Lucullus was once lord.' There it was discovered that his end was approaching in the following manner:-In his train was a physician, named Charicles, noted in his profession, not indeed to prescribe for the prince in cases of 1 We are told by Plutarch, that this villa, formerly the property of Caius Marius, was purchased by Lucullus at an immense price. (Plutarch, Life of Marius.) Brotiers says, the ruins are still to be seen, near the promontory of Misenum. 246 THE ANNALS. [B. VT. indisposition, but that he might have some one to consult if he thought proper. Charicles, as if he were departing to attend his own affairs, and taking hold of his hand under pretence of taking leave, felt his pulse. But he did not escape detection, for he instantly ordered the entertainment to be renewed; whether incensed, and thence the more concealing his displeasure, is uncertain; but at table he continued beyond his wont, as if to do honour to his friend cn his departure. Charicles, however, assured Macro "' that life was ebbing fast, and could not outlast two days. Hence the whole court was in a bustle with consultations, and expresses were despatched to the generals and armies. On the seventeenth before the calends of April, lie was believed to have finished his mortal careei, having ceased to breathe: and Caligula, in the midst of a great throng of persons, paying their congratulations, was already going forth to-make a solemn entrance on the sovereignty, when suddenly a notice came, "that Tiberius had recovered his sight and voice, and had called for some persons to give him food to restore him." The consternation was universal: the concourse about Caligula dispersed in all directions, every man affecting sorrow, or feigning ignorance; he himself stood fixed in silence,-fallen from the highest hopes, he now expected the worst. Macro, undismayed, ordered the old man to be smothered with a quantity of clothes, and the doorway to be cleared. Thus expired Tiberius, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. 51. His father was Nero, and he was on both sides a branch of the Claudian house, though his mother had been ingrafted by adoptions into the Livian, and next into the Julian family. From his first infancy, his life was chequered by various vicissitudes and perils: for then as a voluntary exile he followed his proscribed father; and when taken as a stepson into the family of Augustus, he struggled with many rivals, while Marcellus and Agrippa, and after them the Ceesars Caius and Lucius, flourished. His brother Drusus, too, enjoyed a greater degree of favour with the Roman people than himself. But his greatest embarrassment arose out of his marriage with Julia, whether he should connive at the prostitution of his wife, or repudiate her. Afterwards, upon his return from * hodes, he found the prince's family bereft of heirs, and continued its sole support for twelve years. For near four-and s. 51;.3 ASIATICUS AND POPPGA ACCUSED. 247 twenty years he ruled the Roman state with absolute sway His manners also varied with the conditions of his fortune: his conduct was exemplary, and his reputation high, while in a private capacity, or holding dignities under Augustus; but while Germanicus and Drusus were alive, his manners Aere reserved and mysterious, artfully assuming the merit of virtues to which he had no claim. And while his mother lived his character exhibited a compound of good and evil. While he loved or feared Sejalus, though detested for his cruelties, he observed a secresy and caution in the gratification of his lusts; but at last, when all restraints of shame and fear were removed, and he was left to the uncontrolled bent of his genius, he broke out at once into acts of atrocious villany and revolting depravity. BOOK XI.V 1 * * * FoB Messalina, who believed that Valerius Asiaticus, who had been twice consul, was engaged in an adulterous intercourse with Poppmea, was bent upon his ruin; and as she equally coveted his fine gardens, commenced by Lucullus, but carried out on an extended scale, and adorned in a style of unexampled magnificence by himself, she suborned Suilius2 to accuse both him and her. In the plot was joined Sosibius, tutor to Britannicus, who under the mask of friendship was to warn Claudius "to beware of power and wealth in private hands, as dangerous to the interests of princes; that Asiaticts had been the principal promoter of the assassination of Caligula, nor feared to avow it in a public assembly 1 The former part of this book, comprising no less than six years, is lost, with other parts of Tacitus. Claudius succeeded to Caligula, who was put to death by Chaerea and other conspirators, on the 24th of January, A.X.c. 794. The present book begins abruptly in the year of Rome 800, when Claudius had reigned six years. The very first sentence is imperfect. The historian, beyond all doubt, had been speaking of Messalina and Poppsea Sabina; but neither of them is mentioned in the mutilated text. 2 Suilius has been already mentioned, Annals, book iv. 31. Set also book xiii. 42. 248 TE ANNALS. (B. XL of the people, nor even to claim the glory of the atrocious deed: hence he had derived popularity in Rome: hence his fame was spread through the provinces: and even now he meditated putting himself at the head of the armies in Germany; for, born at Vienne,' and supported there by numerous and powerful connexions, he might, whenever he chose, excite an insurrection of his countrymen." Claudius, without further inquiry, despatched Crispinus, captain of the prretorian guards, with a body of soldiers, as if a war had been to be crushed. He found him at Baiae, and hurried him to Rome in chains. 2 Neither was he allowed a hearing before the senate, but was privately tried in a chamber in the presence of Messalina; Suilius charging him "with corrupting the soldiery, whom by money and abominable lusts he contended that he had engaged in his interest, associating himself with them in every kind of enormity; with his adultery with Poppsea; and lastly, with unnatural defilements." On hearing this, unable to refrain from speaking, the accused broke out, and said, c Ask your own sons, Suilius, they will allow that I am a man;" and entering into his defence, he wrought powerfully upon Claudius, and forced tears even from Messalina. But the empress leaving the room to dry her eyes, warned Vitellius " not to suffer the accused to escape." She hastened herself to accomplish the doom of Poppea, by suborning persons to drive her to a voluntary end by the terrors of imprisonment: a catastrophe of which the emperor was so utterly unapprised, that a few days after, as her husband Scipio was at table with him, he asked why he sat down without his wife? when Scipio answered, that she was no more. 3. Now, as Claudius was deliberating about acquitting Asiaticus, Vitellius, weeping, reminded him of their ancient friendship, and the devotion which in common they had ever paid to Antonia, the prince's mother; and then recapitulating the services of Asiaticus to the commonwealth, and in his recent expedition against Britain, with every other argument calculated to excite compassion, proposed after all merely that he should grant him the free choice of his mode of death; a sort of clemency of which Claudius declared his approbation. Afterwards, when some urged him to resort to abstinence, and I Fcrmerly the capital of the Allobroges; now Vienne in Dauphinu VENALITY OF ''TIRE I XFORMERS. 249' die an easy death, Asiaticus replied that he would not accept the indulgence; and persisting in his wonted exercises, he bathed, and even supped cheerfully: and after declaring that it would have been less ignominious to die by the dark artifices of Tiberius, or the fury of Caligula, than thus to fall by the base devices of a woman, and the unchaste lips of Vitellius, he opened his veins: but first he viewed his funeral pile, and directed its removal into another place, lest the smoke should injure the foliage of the trees and diminish the shade. Such was his composure in his last moments. 4. The senate was then summoned, and Suilius proceeded also to accuse the illustrious Roman knights, surnamed " Petra." The cause of their destruction was, that they had accommodated Valerius and Poppeea with the use of their house as a place of assignation; but to one of them was objected a vision during the stillness of the night, in which he had beheld Claudius crowned with a chaplet of the ears of corn, their beards downwards; whence he foretold a dearth of corn: others have related, that the chaplet he beheld was of vine branches with white leaves; which he construed to portend the death of the prince at the close of autumn. It is undoubted, that for a dream of some sort or other, both he and his brother were sacrificed. To Crispinus were decreed the insignia -of the prietorship, and fifteen hundred thousand sesterces; and to Sosibius ten, on the motion of Vitellins, for services rendered to Britannicus by his instructions, and to Claudius by his counsels. Scipio, who was also asked his opinion, said, "Seeing I entertain of Pop)pea's deeds the same opinion as all others, consider that I express the same vote:" thus observing a judicious mean between the dictates of conjugal affection and the compulsion he was under as a senator, 5. Suilius continued thenceforward an unremitting and merciless accuser; and many emulated his audacity. Foi the emperor, by invading the authority of the magistrates, and assuming the arbitrary dispensation of the laws, had opened a field for rapine; nor of all commodities publicly exposed to sale was aught so venal as the mercenary faith of the pleaders: insomuch that Samius, an illustrious Roman knight, having given Suilius a fee of four hundred thousand sesterces, and finding that he was playing false, fell upon his sword in the house of his advocate. 'The consequence was, 250 THEE ANNALb. lB. XI, that a complaint of this grievance being begun by Caius Silius, consul elect, whose power and overthrow I shall record in their place, the whole senate rose up as one man and de Handed the revival of the Cincian law;' which in ancient times afforded a barrier against any man's receiving money, or a present of any kind, for pleading a cause. 6. Hereupon the parties against whom this blow was levelled, raising a clamour against the motion, Silius, who was at variance with Sullius, urged it strenuously, quoting "i the examples of the ancient orators, who esteemed the praises of posterity the fairest reward of eloquence: otherwise, he said, an accomplishment the most dignified of all others would be debased by mercenary services: nor would even faith remain inviolate where the greatness of the gains was regarded. But if suits were matter of gain to none, there would be fewer of them; whereas now, enmities, accusations, animosities, and wrongs were fomented; so that, as the prevalence of diseases brought fees to physicians, so the corruption of the bar was a source of revenue to the pleaders. They might remember Caius Asinius and Marcus Messala, and more lately Arruntius and Eserninus; that they arrived at the highest dignities by a life unblemished, and eloquence unbought." This reasoning of the consul elect met with the concurrence of the senate, and a decree was about to pass, making them liable to the penalties of the law against extortion, when Suilius, Cossutianus, and the rest, who saw that the effect of the decree wag not to put them on their trial, for their guilt was manifest, but to assign their punishment, gathered round the prince, beseeching remission for what was passed; and after he had, by a motion of his head, signified his pleasure to hear them, they thus proceeded to argue the matter. 7. " Where was the man," they said "so presumptuous as to anticipate an eternity of fame? That eloquence formed 1 Marcus Cincius, tribune of the people, was the author of the Cincian Law, so called after his name, in the consulship of Sempronius and Cethegus, A.u.c. 550. It provided against the receipt of gifts and presents, but in a course of time fell into disuse, till Augustus, A.U.c. 732, thought fit to revive it, with an additional clause, by which the advocate who pleaded for hire was condemned to pay four times the sum. Claudius (as may be seen, c. 7) softened the rigour of the law, llowing a certain fee, and ordaining that whoever took more should be obliged to make restitution. 0. 8.] COMMOTIONS AMONG THE PARTHIANS. s51' an useful resource in the ordinary transactions of life and in public affairs, to prevent any man's being trampled upon by his superiors in power from the want of advocates; neither was eloquence acquired without pains and expense; they who professed it neglected their own domestic concerns, to apply themselves to the business of others. Many supported themselves by the profession of arms, some by the cultivation of lands, but no man devoted himself to any pursuit except with a foresight of the advantages it produced. Easily might Asinius and Messala, enriched as they were by the fruits of the war between Anthony and Augustus; easily might the Esernini and Arruntii, heirs of wealthy houses, assume that lofty tone; they too were furnished with precedents in the large remunerations which Publius Clodius and Caius Curio received for their oratorical exertions. They were themselves senators of limited means, and in a state of public peace sought only the rewards of peaceful employments. The prince should consider the men of plebeian extraction, who rose to eminence by forensic occupations; if the rewards of liberal pursuits were abolished, the pursuits themselves would fall into decay." These arguments appeared to the prince not devoid of force, although deficient in dignity; he therefore fixed the maximum of remuneration to be received at ten thousand sesterces; those who took more to be held guilty of extortion. 8. About this time Mithridates,l whom I have mentioned to have reigned in Armenia, and to have been summoned before Caligula, returned by the direction of Claudius to his kingdom, confiding in the support of Pharasmanes. The latter, who was king of the Iberians, and also brother of Mithridates, sent advice, " that dissensions prevailed amongst the Parthians; and that, while the fate of their whole empire was in suspense, things of less moment were neglected." For amidst the many cruelties of Gotarzes, who had concerted the murder of his brother Artabanus, with his wife and son, whence he had become an object of terror to all others, they I Mithridates, brother to Pharasmanes, king of Iberia, was appointed by Tiberius to sway the sceptre of Armenia, A.U.c. 783. (See Annals, book vi. 32.) He was afterwards brought to Rome in chains, and thrown into prison by Caligula, A.t.c. 793. Tacitus says he had given an account of this transaction; but the history of Caligula is unfor tunately lost. 252 THE ANNALSi [B. XV. had invited Bardanes to the throne: a prince of great activity and enterprise; who in two days travelled three thousand furlongs, surprised, terrified, and drove Gotarzes from the throne. With the same expedition he seized the neighbouring provinces, all but Seleucia, which alone disowned his sway: fired with resentment against the Seleucians, as a people who had likewise revolted from his father, rather than consulting his present interest, he entangled himself in the siege of a city naturally strong, and rendered still more secure by the protection of a river,' a wall, and a facility of introducing supplies. Meanwhile Gotarzes, strengthened by forces fiom the Dahians and Hyrcanians, renewed the war; and Bardanes, obliged to raise the siege of Seleucia, retired to the plains of Bactria, and there encamped. 9. In this distracted state of the powers in the east, and while it was uncertain how it would terminate, an occasion of possessing Armenia was ministered to Mithridates, assisted by the Roman soldiers, who demolished the strongholds; and by the Iberians, who overran and wasted the country. For the Armenians made no longer resistance, after the fate of Demonax their governor, who had ventured a battle, and was defeated: Cotys,2 king of the Lesser Armenia, to whom certain of the nobles had recourse, presented a brief obstacle; but he was restrained by letters from the emperor; and the tide set in in favour of Mithridates, who fell however into measures more violent than befitted a prince newly established. As to the Parthian competitors, when preparing for a battle, 'hey suddenly struck a league, having been informed of a conspiracy of their countrymen, which Gotarzes divulged to his brother. On their interview, they were at first reserved and diffident, but at last joined hands, and then entered into an engagement upon the altar of the gods, to revenge the treason of their enemies, and settle their own disputes by mutual concessions: Bardanes was held the more worthy to retain the monarchy; but Gotarzes, in order to remove all occasion of jealousy, retired into the remotest parts of HyrThe river here intended is the Tigris. 2 This, is the same Cotys who has been already mentioned as king of part of Thrace. (See Annals, book ii. 64, and the note.) Caligula added his division of that country to the dominions of Rhemetalces, and made Cotys king of the lesser Armenia, A.U.c. 791. o 11.] BARDANES t.sASSINATED. 263 Mcnia. To Bardanes, upon his return, Seleucia was surrendered, after having continued in a state of revolt for seven years, to the dishonour of the Parthians, whose efforts a single city had so long eluded. 10. HIe next took possession of the most powerful provinces, and was proceeding to recover Armenia, but Vibius Marsus, lieutenant of Syria, restrained him, by threatening him with war. Meanwhile Gotarzes, regretting his concession tf the kingdom, and recalled by the nobility, who felt the yoke of slavery more sensibly during peace, formed an army, and was met as far as the river Charinda by Bardanes, who after an obstinate fight in disputing the passage, remained conqueror; and by a series of victories subdued all the nations lying between that river and the Gyndes, which parts the Dahians from the Arians. There his conquests received a check; for the Parthians, though victorious, refused to serve at a long distance from home. Accordingly, after erecting monuments to testify his power, and that none of the Arsacidce before him had obtained tribute from these nations, he returned, covered with glory, and therefore the more imperious and insupportable to his subjects, who, according to a preconcerted plot, slew him, while off his guard and intent upon the chase, in the flower of his youth, but equalled in renown by few aged kings, had he studied to be beloved among his couiitrymen as much as he did to be feared among his enemies. The assassination of Bardanes produced fresh commotions amongst the Parthians, divided as they were about choosing a successor to the throne: many inclined to Gotarzes; some to Meherdates, the grandson of Phraates, and by him given as a hostage to the Romans. Gotarzes eventually prevailed, but was no sooner established than, by a course of cruelties and luxury, he forced the Parthians to send a secret memorial to the Roman emperor, soliciting for Meherdates permission to ascend the throne of his ancestors. 11. Under the same consuls were celebrated the Secular games,' eight hundred years after the founding of Rome, and 1 The Secular games were exhibited by Augustus, in the consulship of Caius Furnius and C. Silanus, A.u.c. 737. The famous Cartnrin Scec~ 1a,'e of Horace has made them universally known. In their first institution, they were to be celebrated at the end of every century; but THR ANNALS [B. XT. sixty-four after they bad been exhibited by Augustus. The computations of both princes I pass over, as having been sufficiently explained by me in my History of the emperor Domitian; for he too exhibited Secular games, at which I assisted in person, and the more assiduously as I was invested with the quindecimviral priesthood, and at that time preetor; a circumstance which from no vainglory I relate, but because in ancient times the college of fifteen presided in that festival, and the magistrates chiefly discharged the offices of the solemnity. Whilst Claudius beheld the exhibition in the Circus, the young nobility representing on horseback the game of Troy,' and amongst them Britannicus, the emperor's son, with Lucius Domitius, who was afterwards adopted into the Claudian family by the name of Nero, and succeeded to the empire,-Domitius was received with especial favour by the populace, which was taken as a presage of his future greatness; and currency was given to a tradition, ' that in his infancy two dragons were posted near him, like guards;"a mere fable, and framed in imitation of the miraculous tales of foreign nations; for Nero himself, a prince who never abridged his own fame, was wont to declare that in his chamber only one snake at most was seen.2 12. But this partiality of the people arose from the memory of Germanicus, of whom he was the only remaining that regulation, as we learn from Horace, was changed to every hundred and ten years:"Certus undenos decies per annos Orbis, ut cantus referatque ludos Ter die clara, totiesque grata Nocte frequentes." 1 The Trojan Game is described by Virgil, AEneid v. 545. Suetonius says it was exhibited by Julius Caesar; when two companies, one consisting of grown up lads, and the other of boys of a lesser size, displayed their skill in horsemanship. (Suet. in Jul. Ces. s. 39.) Thia may account for the appearance of Britannicus and Domitius Nero, both at that time extremely young. 2 Suetonius explains the origin of this fable. He says there was a report that certain assassins were hired by Messalina to strangle Nero in his bed, in order to remove the rival of Britannicus. The men went to execute their purpose, but were frightened by a serpent that crept from under his pillow. This tale was occasioned by the finding of a serpent's skin near Nero's pillow, which, by his mother's order, lie wore for some time upon his right arm, enclosed in a golden bracelet. Suetonius, in Neron. a. 6. ACTS OF CLAUDIUS AS CENSOR. 255 male descendant; and the popular commiseration for his mother Agrippina was increased on account of the barbarity of Messalina, who, always her relentless enemy, and now inflamed with more than ordinary rage, was prevented from fabricating charges and suborning accusers by a new attachment, which she carried to a pitch bordering on frenzy; for she was so vehemently enamoured of Caius Silius, the handsomest of the Roman youth, that she obliged him to divorce his wife Julia Silana, a lady of high quality, and had her adulterer to herself. Nor was Silius blind to the danger and malignity of his crime; but, as it was certain destruction to decline her suit, and there were some hopes of beguiling Claudius, while great rewards were held out to him, he was content to take the chance of what might happen thereafter, and enjoy the present advantages. The empress proceeded not stealthily, but went to his house frequently, with a numerous train, accompanied him incessantly abroad, loaded him with presents and honours; and at last, as if the fortune of the empire had been transferred with the emperor's wife, at the house of her adulterer were now seen the slaves, freedmen, and equipage of the prince. 13. As for Claudius, ignorant of what his own wife was doing, and then exercising the functions of censor, he rebuked the people by severe edicts for their wanton excesses at the theatres; for they had offered gross insults to Publius Pomponius, a man of consular rank, at a dramatic representation which he had given to the stage; and also to several ladies -of high rank. He restrained by an act the barbarity of cre-ditors, prohibiting their lending money to young men, to be repaid with increase upon the death of their fathers. The waters that rise in the Simbruine Hills 2 were by him conveyed 1 Silius was consul elect, as already mentioned in this book, c. A Juvenal says" Elige quidnam Suadendum esse putes, cui nubere Csesaris uxor Destinat. Optimus hic, et formosissimus idem Gentis patricie. rapitur miser extinguend:s Messalinm oculis."-Sat. x. 331. 2 The Simbruine Hills, according to Brotier and other commentators, are the hills that overlook the town, formerly called Sublaqueum, now Subjaco, about forty miles from Rome, towards the east, and not far from the Sacred Cave, now II Monastero del Sacro Speoo. The water 256 THE ANALS. [B. XL. to Rome; and to the Roman alphabet he added letters of a new form, and made them known, having learnt that even that of Greece was not devised and completed at once. 14. The Egyptians were the first who formed characters to represent the conceptions of the mind, and that by figures of animals. Specimens of these, and they are the most ancient monuments of the history of human kind, are to be seen engraven upon stones. The Egyptians also give out that they were the inventors of letters; that the Phoenicians learnt them from them, and, as they were the masters of the sea, -introduced them into Greece, thus acquiring celebrity as the inventors of what they had received from others. For history records, " that Cadmus, arriving there in the Phoenician fleet, instructed the as yet rude and uncultivated nations of Greece hi that art." Some hold that "Cecrops the Athenian, or Linus of Thebes, and Palamedes the Argive, who lived during the Trojan times, invented the forms of sixteen letters; and that by others afterwards, especially by Simonides, the rest were added." As to Italy, the Etruscans learned them of Damaratus the Corinthian; the native Latins, of Evander the Arcadian: and the fashion of the Latin letters was the same with the most ancient of the Greeks. But we, too, had few at first; afterwards additions were made to them. Claudius, following this example, added three more, which continued in use during his own reign, and were thenceforth abolished, but are to this day seen in the tables of brass on which are published the decrees of the people, and which are fixed in the temples and great squares. 15. He next made a representation to the senate concerning the college of soothsayers, " that they would not suffer the most ancient discipline of Italy to be lost through supineness: that frequently during times of public calamity recourse was had to them; and that by their counsel the sacred ceremonies were retrieved, and cultivated thereafter with more strict observance: and that the nobility of Etruria, whether from their own suggestion, or at the instance of the Roman senate, had always preserved the science, and conissuing from two fountains, known by the names of Curtius and Cseru lens, were, by the direction of Claudius, brought to Rome in canals made with great labour and vast expense. See Pliny's description, lib. xxxvi s. 1,& C. 16.] ITALICUS. KING OF THE CHERtUSCANS. 257 veyed the same to posterity through certain families; but that it was now neglected, from a general indifference to worthy arts, and more especially from the growing prevalence of foreign superstitions. It was true, that the republic at present prospered; but it was their duty to show their gratitude to the gods for it, by keeping up in prosperous times those sacred rites which had been cultivated in seasons of perplexity." Hence the senate decreed, "that the pontiffs should inquire what parts in the mystery of soothsaying ought to be retained and confirmed." 16. The same year, the Cheruscan nation had recourse to Rome for a king, their domestic wars having swept away their nobles, and of the royal stock only one remaining who resided in the city, named Italicus. He was the son of Flavius the brother of Arminius; his mother, the daughter of Catumerus, prince of the Cattians. He was himself of a handsome person, and trained to arms and horsemanship, as well after the manner of his own country as of ours. The emperor, therefore, furnished him with money and an escort, and exhorting him " boldly to assume his hereditary honour," reminded him withal "that he was the first who, being born at Rome, nor held as a hostage there, but living as a citizen, went forth to ascend a foreign throne." His accession was, at first, hailed with joy by the Germans, the more so because, as his mind was untinctured with their civil dissensions, he showed no particular favour to any in his conduct. The people sounded his praises and paid him homage: sometimes he showed himself all affability and moderation-qualities that could provoke the displeasure of none; but frequently surrendered himself to drunkenness and libidinous excesses, in which barbarians take delight. And now his name was famous amongst the adjacent nations, and even amongst those more remote; when those who had flourished during the reign of faction, taking umbrage at his ascendancy, betook themselves to the several neighbouring nations, and represented, " that the ancient liberty of Germany was departed, and the Roman power triumphant. Was there then," said they, "no native Cheruscan worthy to fill the throne, that the offspring of Flavius the spy must be lifted over all their heads? Vain was the pretence of his relationship to Arminius; since even the son of Arminius were to be dreaded TAC. —VOL. I. S 258 THE ANNALS. in the same station, if he were bred, as he was, in a hostile soil, infected by a foreign nurture, foreign slavery, foreign manners, foreign everything: and if he inherited the spirit of his father, never had man waged war against his native country and his own household gods more rancorously than the father of Italicus." 17. By these and similar incitements they got together a numerous army; nor were the followers of Italicus fewer. They urged in vindication of him, " that he had not seized the throne by force or invasion, but held it by their own choice and invitation; and since in the splendour of his descent he surpassed all others, it became them to make trial of his virtues, and see whether he would show himself worthy of his uncle Arminius, and his grandfather Catumerus: nor need the son blush, that his father1 had never violated that faith towards the Romans which with the approbation of the Germans he had sworn to keep: false and hypocritical was the pretence of liberty, urged by those who, degenerate in their own lives, and disastrous to the state, placed their only hopes in rending their country by civil discord." The king had the hearts and acclamations of the people; and in a great battle between these Barbarians, he came off victorious; but afterwards, transported with his good fortune, he grew imperious, was expelled, and again restored by the forces of the Longobards; and he continued to bring trouble on the Cheruscan state no less in his prosperity than his adversity. 18. About the same time the Chaucians, free from civil dissensions, and encouraged by the death of Sanquinius, governor of lower Germany, made incursions into that province, under the conduct of Gannascus, while Corbulo was on his way to succeed him. Gannascus was of the country of the Caninefates, had long served the Romans as an auxiliary, but deserted; and furnishing himself with some light barks, became a desperate pirate; infesting principally the coasts of Gaul,2 a nation which he knew to be rich and unwarlike. But when Corbulo entered the province, he proceeded with the utmost circumspection, and in this his first military command, laid the I For an account of Flavius, the father, see Annals, book ii. 9, 10. 2 The countries now called Zelande, Brabant, and Flanders. In those parts there were several canals and inlets of the sea, between the Scheld, the Meuse and the Rhine. o. 19.] STRICT DISCIPLINE OF CORBULO. 259 foundation of his future glory; he pushed his galleys down the channel of the Rhine, and the other vessels along the estuaries and canals, according as each was suited to the purpose. Thus, having sunk the enemy's wherries, and driven out Gannascus, he took order first for settling effectually the affairs of the province, and then restored the ancient discipline amongst the legions, which were averse to military toils and operations, and took delight in depredations only. Under Corbulo no man dared to stir from his rank, nor, without orders, attack the foe: the piquets, the watches, all their duties by day or by night were constantly performed under arms: it is reported, that he punished a soldier with death for digging in the trenches without his sword; and another for being there armed only with his dagger." Instances these indeed of overmuch severity, and withal of dubious authority; but still whether true or false, their existence proves that the general was a strict disciplinarian; and one may conclude how vigilant in detecting, and how inexorable in punishing offences of magnitude, must have been the man who could be believed capable of visiting trifling delinquencies with so much asperity. 19. The terror inspired by this system, however, affected the army and the enemy in opposite ways: the courage of the Romans was augmented, the ferocity of the Barbarians gave way under it. Hence the Frisians, who after their rebellion, begun in the defeat of Lucius Apronius,l had continued in fierce hostility, or in a state of hollow and precarious allegiance, gave hostages, and settled themselves in the territory assigned them by Corbulo: he also placed them under the government of a senate, magistrates, and laws; and, to ensure their subjection, he erected and garrisoned a fort in their country, despatching proper persons to solicit the greater Chaucians to submission, and at the same time to circumvent Gannascus. The stratagem succeeded; nor did its employment against a deserter and a violator of his oath, reflect dishonour on the Roman character; yet, by his assassination, the minds of the Chaucians were inflamed, and Corbulo furnished them with occasion of rebellion; and though his conduct was applauded by most men, it did not escape the censure of others. " Why," they said, " should he provoke a people to arms Up'w the commonwealth must light the consequences See Annals, book iv. 73, 74. 2 260 THE ANNALS. [B. XI* of'failure; but, if success attended him, a man so signally renowned would be dangerous to the tranquil] ity of the state, and oppressive to a supine and nerveless prince." Claudius therefore was so resolved to prevent any fresh attempts upon Germany, that he ordered the Roman forces to recross the Rhine. 20. Corbulo was now encamping in the enemy's country, when a letter to that effect was delivered him. The contents surprised him, and though a variety of reflections crowded upon him at once, his dread of the emperor's displeasure, the scorn of the Barbarians, the derision of the allies; yet without uttering a word more than that "' happy were the Roman generals of old," he ordered the retreat to be sounded. However, to prevent the soldiers from relapsing into habits of idleness, he dug a canal three-and-twenty miles long, between the Meuse and the Rhine; by which occasional inundations by the sea might be carried off. The emperor however allowed him the decorations of triumph, though he had denied him the prosecution of the war. Shortly after, the same honour was conferred on Curtius Rufus, who, in the territory of the Mattiacians, had opened a mine in which veins of silver were to be found; a source of small advantage, and of no long continuance; but the legions suffered from the labour of making excavations to drain it, and from toiling under ground at works which in the open air are arduous and fatiguing. The soldiers therefore, overcome by these hardships, and perceiving that the same drudgeries were exacted from them in several provinces, wrote secretly to the emperor, in the name of the armies, beseeching him " to grant triumphal honours beforehand to those persons whom he purposed to entrust with the command of armies." 21. Of the original of Curtius Rufus, who is represented by some as the son of a gladiator, I would not give a false account; and yet I am ashamed to state the truth. As soon as he was grown up, he attended a Roman quaestor into Africa; where, at the city of Adrumetum, as he was walking by himself in a spacious portico at noon-day, the vision of a woman exceeding human proportions appeared before him, and a voice was heard to this effect: " Rufus, hereafter you shall come into this province with proconsular authority."' Inspired with high hopes by such a prediction, he returned tc This tory is related as a fact by the younger Pliny, lib. vii. ep. 27. c. 22.] TH-E OFFICE OF QUESTOR.OR 261 Rome, where, by largesses on the part of his friends and the vigour of his own genius, he gained the questorship; and standing afterwards for the office of preetor against several noble comr petitors, carried it by the suffrage of Tiberius, who had thrown a veil over his mean original by the following remark: " Curtius Rufus seems to me to be descended from himself." With regard to his subsequent history, a sorry flatterer of those above him, overbearing to his inferiors, and surly to his Equals, he lived to a great age, obtained the consular power, clec honours of triumph, and lastly the government of Africa; where he fulfilled the presage of his destiny, and died. 22. About the same time Cneius Novius, a distinguished Roman knight, was found armed with a dagger in the throng of those who were paying their court to the prince; but from what motives it did not appear at the time, nor was afterwards discovered. For when he lay stretched upon the rack, he confessed his own design, but named no accomplices; whether it was that he concealed them, or had none, is uncertain. Under the same consuls it was moved by Publius Dolabella, " that a public entertainment of gladiators should be yearly exhibited, at the charge of such as obtained the office of quoestor:" an office which in the days of our ancestors had been the reward of virtue; and every Roman citizen, if his pretensions were founded on virtuous pursuits, was free to sue for the magistracies; nor was any distinction drawn with respect to age, which could prevent them even in early manhood from becoming consuls and dictators.' As to the quastorship, it was instituted so far back as the time of our kings, as is manifest from a law Cufiata, revived by Lucius Brutus; and the power of choosing quaestors continued in the consuls till the people conferred that honour also: Valerius Potitus and iEmilius Mamercus were the first popular qumestors created, twenty-three years after the expulsion of the Tarquins, to attend to the pecuniary affairs of the armies: subsequently, upon the multiplication of business, two more were added to officiate at Rome. Some time afterwards, all Italy being now In the consulship of Fulvius Flaccus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus, A.u.C. 575, Lucius Villius, tribune of the people, preferred a bill, which passed into lw, to settle at what age the different magistracies might be obtained. (See Livy, lib. xl 43.) The qusestorship was the first office any person could bear in the commonwealth, and, by the new regulation, might be undertaken at the age of twenty-four or twenty. five years. 282 THE ANNALS. [3. XI. r..1, tributary, and the revenues from the provinces added, the number was doubled: Sylla next, in order to fill the senate, upon which he had devolved the authority of adjudging causes, treated twenty; and though the equestrian order had since recovered the decision of suits, yet the qusestorship was conferred freely, either according to the dignity of the candidates, or the facility of those who had the disposal of it, till, by this motion of Dolabella, it was exposed as it were to sale. 23. In the consulship of Aulus Vitellius and Lucius Vipsanius, when the business of supplying the vacancies in the senate was in agitation, and the nobility of that part of Gaul called Comata,l who had long since acquired the distinction of confederates and citizens of Rome, now sued for a participation of offices and honours; many and various were the reasonings of the public upon their pretensions, and eager were the efforts of the opposite parties to influence the mind of the prince: he was told, "that Italy was not fallen so low that she could not furnish a supply of senators to her own capital. Of old her natives sufficed for recruiting the people who were of the same blood with themselves: nor was there any cause for condemning the institutions of the ancient republic. Nay, even at this day, examples of virtue and renown were referred to, which the Roman genius had produced under her ancient institutions. Was it not enough that the Venetfe and Insubrians2 had invaded the senate, but that a host of foreigners, like a band of captives, must be introduced? What distinctions would remain to the old nobility? or to any poor senator from Latium? All public honours would be engrossed by these opulent G'auls; whose fathers and forefathers, at the head of hostile nations, opposed and slaughtered our armies, and at Alesia3 besieged the sainted Julius: instances these of later days; but what it the recollection should flash across the mind, of those who fell before the capitol and citadel of Rome by the hands of these same men? They might, in truth, enjoy still the title of citizens; but not profane the honours of the senatorial rank, or the splendours of the magistracy." i Gallia Comata, a general name for the whole country to the north of the Alps, with the exception of Gallia Narbonensis. 2 The rights of Roman citizens had been obtained for the people dwelling between the Po and the Alps, by Julius Caesar, 49 B.c. 3 See Caesar, De Bell. Gall. vii. 68. ca 24.1 ADDITIONS TO THE SENATE. 24. The emperor, little affected by these and similar allegations, answered them off hand; and then summoning the senate, thus addressed them:' " My ancestors, the oldest of whom, Attus Clausus,' though of Sabine origin, was at once enrolled among Roman citizens, and adopted into the patrician rank, furnish me with a lesson that I ought to pursue similar measures in directing the affairs of the commonwealth, and transfer to Rome everything that is of pre, eminent merit wheresoever found. Nor indeed am I ignorant that from Alba we had the Julii, from Camerium the Coruncanii, and the Porcii from Tusculum: and not to enter into a minute detail of remote transactions, that from Etruria, Lucania, and all Italy, persons have been incorporated into the senate. At last our city became bounded only by the Alps; so that not only separate individuals, but whole states and nations, became ingrafted into the Roman name. We had solid peace at home, and our arms prospered abroad, when the nations beyond the Po were presented with the rights of citizens; and when under pretext of leading out our legions into colonies all over the earth, and uniting with them the flower of the natives, we recruited our exhausted state. Do we regret that the Balbi migrated to us from Spain, or men equally illustrious from the Narbon Gaul? Their descendants remain yet with us, nor yield to us in their love of this our common country. What proved the bkne of the Spartans and Athenians, though potent in arms, but that they treated as aliens and refused to unite with the conquered? On the other hand, so great was the wisdom of Romulus, our founder, that he saw several people his enemies and his citizens, in one and the same day. Foreigners have even reigned over us. For magistracies to be intrusted to the children of freemen is no innovation, as many are erroneously persuaded, but a constant practice of the elder people. But, it is urged, we have had wars with the Senones: have the Volscians, have the ZEquians never engaged us in battle? It is true, our capital has been taken by the Gauls; 1 A speech of Claudius, engraved on a tablet of brass, has been found at Lyons. It is set forth at length by Brotier, and relates to the question stated by Tacitus, namely, the admission of the Gauls into the Roman senate. The historian has not given the argument in the form and words of the original speech, but has expressed the substance with his usual brevity. a See book xii. 25, note, 264 THE ANNALS. LB. XJ but by the Tuscans we have been forced to give hostages; and by the Samnites to pass under the yoke. However, upon a review of all our wars, none will be found to have been more speedily concluded than that with the Gauls; and from that time uninterrupted peace has existed: identified with us in customs, in civil and military accomplishments, and domestic alliances; let them rather introduce amongst us their gold and wealth, than enjoy them without our participation. All the institutions, conscript fathers, which are now venerated as most ancient, were once new: the plebeian magistrates were later than the patricians; the Latin later than the plebeian; those of other nations i i Italy came after the Latin: the present admission of the Gauls will also wax old; and what is this day supported by precedents, will hereafter become a precedent." 25. By a decree of the fathers, which followed this speech, the ~Eduans first obtained the privilege of admission into the Roman senate, in consideration of their ancient confederacy with Rome, and because they alone of all the Gauls, are entitled the brethren of the Roman people. About the same time, all the ancient senators, with those whose fathers had sustained offices of honour in the state, were by Claudius enrolled in the patrician order. For, of the families who by Romulus were named of the elder class, or of those added by Lucius Brutus and called the younger, there were few remaining: even such as Csesar 1 the dictator by the Cassian law, and the emperor Augustus by the Senian law, had created patricians, were now extinct. As these reformations by Claudius, in quality of censor, were acceptable to the public, he entered upon them with great alacrity. Anxiously deliberating how he might remove from the senate those who were of infamous character, he determined to apply a new and mild expedient, rather than to follow the rigorous example of antiquity; and warned them, "to consider each his own circumstances, and ask leave to retire from the order; a rqluest easily to be obtained." He said, "he would include in one list, those who were expelled and those who were excused; that the sentence of the censor and a volun1 We read in Suetonius, that Julius Caesar filled up the vacancies in the senate. and advanced several commoners to the rank of patricians, Suet, in Jul. CGes. s. 4. MARRIAGE OF MESSALINA AND SILIU8. 26b tary retirement from a sense of shame being blended indiscriminately, might mitigate the infamy of expulsion." On account of these acts, the consul Vipsanius proposed, "that Claudius should be called 'the father of the senate;' for that the name of father of his country was a common title; and his extraordinary benefits to the commonwealth ought to be distinguished with no ordinary appellations:" but the emperor thought the flattery extravagant, and checked the consul. He then closed the lustrum; on which occasion the census of the citizens was five millions nine hundred and eighty-four thousand and seventy-two. From this time he remained no longer a stranger to his domestic reproach, but was brought to hear and punish the crimes of his wife; which was followed by his burning for an incestuous union with his niece. 26. Messalina now, the facility of ordinary adulteries having produced satiety, broke forth into unheard-of excesses; when even Silius, whether impelled by some fatal infatuation, or judging that the dangers hanging over him were only to be averted by boldly confronting them, urged "that all disguises should now be renounced, for matters," he said, " were gone too far for them to wait for the death of the emperor: blameless counsels were for the innocent, but in glaring guilt safety must be sought in reckless daring. They were backed by accomplices who dreaded the same doom. As for himself, he was single, childless, ready to marry her, and to adopt Britannicus: to Messalina would still remain her present power; with the addition of security, if they anticipated Claudius; who, as he was unguarded against the approaches of stratagem. so was he headstrong and impetuous when provoked to anger. These suggestions were but coldly received by Messalina; from no love to her husband; but lest Silius, when he had gained the sovereignty, should scorn his adulteress; and the treason, which in his present perilous predicament he approved, would then be estimated according to its real desert. She, however, coveted the name of matrimony, from the greatness of the infamy attaching to it; which, with those who are prodigal of fame, forms the crowning gratification of depraved appetite. Nor stayed she longer than till Claudius went to Ostia, to assist at a sacrifice; when she celebrated her nuptials with Silius, with all the usual solemnities. THE AIVAlS. lB. XL 27. I am aware that it will appear fabulous, that any human beings should have exhibited such recklessness of consequences; and that, in a city where everything was known and talked of, any one, much more a consul elect, should have met the emperor's wife, on a stated day, in the presence of persons called in, to seal the deeds, as for the purpose of procreation, and that she should have heard the words of the augurs, entered the house of the husband, sacrificed to the gods, sat down among the guests at the nuptial banquet, exchanged kisses and embraces, and in fine passed the night in unrestrained conjugal intercourse. But I would not dress up my narrative with fictions to give it an air of marvel, rather than relate what has been stated to me or written by my seniors. 28. The consequence was, that the domestic circle of the prince was horror-struck; especially, those who had the chief sway, and who dreaded the result, if the state of things should be changed, no longer confined themselves to secret communications, but exclaimed with undisguised indignation, "that while the emperor's bedchamber was made the theatre for a stage-playerl to dance upon, a reproach was indeed incurred, but the immediate dissolution of the state was not immediately threatened: a young man of noble rank, of fascinating person, mental vigour, and just entering upon the consulship, was addressing himself to higher objects; nor was it any enigma what remained to be done after such a marriage." It is true, when they reflected on the stupidity of Claudius, his blind attachment to his wife, and the many lives sacrificed to her fury, they were unable to divest themselves of apprehensions: again, even til passive spirit of the emperor revived their confidence, that, if they could first possess him with the horrid blackness of her crimes, she might be dispatched without trial. But the danger turned upon this, that she might make a defence, and that even if she confessed her guilt, the emperor might be deaf to that evidence also. 29. But first it was deliberated by Callistus, whom, i. relatiug the assassination of Caligula, I have already mentioned;3 1 This was Mnester, the comedian. 2 As the whole history of Caligula is lost, the part which Callistus acted in the catastrophe of that emperor is not to be found in Tacitua C. 30.] MESSALINA DENOUNCED TO THE EMPEROR. 267 by Narcissus, who plotted the murder of Appius; and by Pallas, then the reigning favourite, whether, feigning ignorance of all other circumstances, they should compel Messalina to break off her amour with Silius by secret menaces; but they afterwards abandoned this project from fear, lest they should themselves be dragged to execution as culprits. Pallas was fainthearted; and Callistus, a courtier in the last reign also, had learnt by experience, that power was secured more effectually by wary measures than by daring counsels. Narcissus persisted; with this difference only, that he took care not to let fall a word by which she might know beforehand the charge against her, or her accuser; and watching all occasions, while the emperor lingered at Ostia, he prevailed with two courtesans, who were the chief mistresses of Claudius, to undertake the task of laying the matter before him, by means of presents and promises, and by representing to them in attractive colours " that by the fall of his wife, their own influence would be increased." 30. Calpurnia therefore, for that was the name of the courtesan, upon the first occasion of privacy, falling at the emperor's feet, exclaimed, "that Messalina had married Silius;" and at the same time asked Cleopatra, who purposely attended to attest it, " whether she had not found it to be true I" Claudius, upon a confirmation from Cleopatra, ordered Narcissus to be called. He, when he came, begged pardon for his past conduct in having concealed from the prince her adulteries while they were limited to the Vectii and Plautii; "nor meant he now," he said, "to charge Silius with adulteries; nor urge that he should restore the house, the slaves, and the other decorations of imperial fortune: the adulterer might still enjoy these: let him only break the nuptial tables, and restore the emperor's wife. Know you, Caesar, that you are in a state of divorce? in the face of the people, and senate, and soldiery, Messalina has espoused Silius: and unless you act with despatch, her husband is master of Rome." Cassius Chaerea was the chief conspirator. He drew into his plot a number of leading men, and among them Callistus, a freedman enriched by the favours of Caligula. To apologize, in some degree, for his perfidy and ingratitude, the enfranchised slave gave out, that he had orders from Caligula to administer poison to Claudius. By that story, whether true or false, he varnished over his treachery to his benefactor, and secured his interest with the next emperor. 268 TIE ANNALS [1. XI 31. He then sent for his most confidential friends, particularly for Turranius, superintendent of the stores; next for Lusius Geta, captain of the pretorian guards; and inquired of them: as they avouched it, the rest beset him with clamorous importunities, that he should forthwith proceed to the camp, secure the pretorian cohorts, and consult his preservation before his revenge. It is certain that Claudius was so confounded and panic-struck that he was incessantly asking "whether he were still emperor? whether Silius was still private man 2" As to Messalina, she never wallowed in greater voluptuousness; it was then the middle of autumn, and in her house she exhibited a representation of the vintage: the wine-presses were plied, the wine vats flowed, and round then. danced women begirt with skins, like Bacchanalians at their sacrifices, or under the maddening inspiration of their deity: she herself, with her hair loose and flowing, waved a thyrsus; by her side Silius, crowned with ivy, and wearing buskins, tossed his head about; while around them danced the wanton choir in obstreperous revelry. It is reported, that Vectius Valens, having in a frolic climbed to an exceeding high tree, when asked what he saw, answered, "A terrible storm from Ostia:" whether it was that a vision of that kind presented itself to his mind, or that an expression uttered fortuitously proved a presage of the truth. 32. It was now no longer vague rumour; but messengers poured in on all sides with tidings " that Claudius was apprised of all, and approached, bent upon instant vengeance." They separated; Messalina betook herself to the gardens of Lucullus, and Silius, to dissemble his fear, resumed the offices of the forum. As the rest were slipping off different ways, the centurions came up with them and bound them, some in tile street, others in lurking places, according as each was found. Messalina, however, though in her distress incapable of deliberation, formed the bold resolution of meeting her husband, and presenting herself to his view; an expedient which had often proved her protection: she likewise ordered that Britan. nicus and Octavia should go forth and embrace their father; and besought Vibidia, the oldest vestal, to intercede with the chief pontiff, and earnestly importune his clemency. She herself meanwhile traversed on foot the whole extent of the city, attended only by three persons (so suddenly had her whole c. 34.] CLAUDIUS RETURNSK FROM OSTIA. 269 tran forsaken her), and then in a cart employed to carry out dirt from the gardens, took the road to Ostia; unpitied by any one, as the deformity of her crimes overpowered every feeling of the kind. 33. Claudius was in a state of no less trepidation; for he could not implicitly rely on Geta, the captain of his guards; an equally fickle instrument of fraud or honesty. Narcissus therefore, in concert with those who entertained the same mistrust, assured the emperor, "s that there was no other expedient to preserve him than the transferring the command of his guards to one of his freedmen, for that day only;" and offered himself to undertake it. And, that Lucius Vitellius and Publius Largus Coecina might not on his way to the city prevail with Claudius to relent, he desired to have a seat in the same vehicle, and took it. 34. It was afterwards currently reported, that, while the emperor was giving expression to the opposite feelings which agitated his breast, at one time inveighing against the atrocities of his wife, and then at length recurring to the recollection of conjugal intercourse and the tender age of his children, Vitellius uttered nothing but " Oh! the villany! Oh I the treason 1" Narcissus indeed pressed him to discard all ambiguity of expression, and let them know his real sentiments; but he did not therefore prevail upon him to give any other than indecisive answers, and such as would admit of any interpretation which might be put upon them; and his example was followed by Largus Ceecina. And now Messalina was in sight, and importunately called on the emperor "to hear the mother of Octavia and Britannicus," when her accuser drowned her cries with the story of Silius, and the marriage, and delivered at the same time to Claudius a memorial reciting all her whoredoms; to divert him from beholding her. Soon after, as the emperor was entering Rome, it was attempted to present to him his children by her: but Narcissus ordered them to be taken away: he could not, however, prevent Vibidia from insisting, with earnest remonstrances, "that he would not deliver his wife to destruction without a hearing:" so that Narcissus was obliged to assure her that the prince would hear Messalina, who should have full opportunity of clearing herself; and advised the vestal to retire, and attend the solemnities of her goddess 270 THE ANNALS. [B. XI 35. The silence of Claudius, while all this was going on, was matter of astonishment: Vitellius seemed like one who was not in the secret; the freedman controlled everything; by his command, the house of the adulterer was opened, and the emperor escorted thither; where the first thing he showed him was the statue of Silius, the father, in the porch, though it had been decreed to be demolished by the senate; then that all the articles belonging to the Neros and Drusi had now become the price of dishonour. Thus incensed, and breaking forth into menaces, he led him direct to the camp, where the soldiers being already assembled, by the direction of Narcissus, he made them a short speech; for shame prevented his giving utterance to his indignation, though he had just cause for it. The soldiers then clamoured unremittingly and importunately that the culprits should be tried and punished. Silius was placed before the tribunal, he made no defence; he sought no delay, but begged only to be dispatched immediately. Illustrious Roman knights also, with similar firmness of mind, were eager for a speedy death. He therefore commanded Titius Proculus, assigned by Silius as a guard to Messalina; Vectius Valens, who confessed his guilt, and offered to discover others; Pompeius Urbicus and Saufellus Trogus, as accomplices: to be all dragged to execution: on Decius Calpurnianus too, praefect of the watch; Sulpicius Rufus, comptroller of the games; and Juncus Virgilianus, the senator, the same punishment was inflicted. 36. Muester alone caused some hesitation: he tore off his clothes and called upon the emperor " to behold upon his body the impressions of the lash; to remember his own commands, obliging him to submit to the pleasure of Messalina without reserve: others had been tempted to the iniquity by great presents or aspiring hopes; but his offence was forced upon him: nor would any man have sooner perished had Silius gained the sovereignty." These considerations affected Claudius, and strongly inclined him to mercy; but his freedmen overruled him: they urged, "that after so many illustrious sacrifices, he should by no means think of saving a player; that in a crime of such enormity, it mattered not whether he had committed it from choice or necessity." As little effect had the defence even of Traulus Montanus: a youth of signal modesty and remarkably handsome, summoned by Mcssalina EXECUTION OF MESSALINA. 271 to her bed without any solicitation on his part, and in one night cast off; such was the wantonness with which her passion was alike surfeited and inflamed. The lives of Suilius Cesoninus and Plautius Lateranus were spared; of the last, on account of the noble exploits of his uncle:' the other was protected by his vices, as one who, in the late abominable society, had prostituted himself like a woman. 37. Meanwhile Messalina was in the gardens of Lucullus, still striving to prolong her life, and composing supplications to the prince, sometimes in the language of hope, at others giving vent to rage and resentment, so indomitable was her insolence even under the immediate prospect of death. And had not Narcissus hastened her assassination, the doom which he had prepared for her would have recoiled upon himself. For Claudius, upon his return home, experienced a mitigation of his wrath, from the effects of a sumptuous repast; and as soon as he became warm with wine, he ordered them " to go and acquaint the miserable woman (for this was the appellation which he is said to have used) that to-morrow she should attend and plead her cause." These words indicated that his resentment was abating, his wonted affection returning; besides, if they delayed, the effect of the following night, and the reminiscences which the conjugal chamber might awaken in Claudius, were matter for alarm: Narcissus therefore rushed forth, and directed the tribune and centurions then attending upon duty, " to despatch the execution, for such," he said, " was the emperor's command." With them he sent Euodus of the freedmen, as a watch upon them, and to see his orders strictly fulfilled. Euodus flew before them to the gardens, and found her lying along upon the earth: her mother, Lepida, sitting by her side; who during her prosperity had not lived in harmony with her; but, in this her extreme necessity, was overcome by compassion for her, and now persuaded her " not to wait for the executioner: the course of her life was run; and her only object now should be to die becomingly." But a mind sunk and corrupted by debauchery retained no sense of honour, she was giving way to bootless tears and lamentations when from the shock of the ' Lateranus was nephew to Aulus Plautius, the famous general who commanded in Britain, A.u.c. 796, and subdued the southern part of the island. See the Life of Agricola, c. 14 and 17 - 272 THE ANNALS. [B. XIL approaching party the door flew open: the tribune stood in silence before her; but the freedman upbraided her with many and insolent reproaches, characteristic of the slave. 38. Then for the first time she became deeply sensible of her condition, and laying hold of the steel, applied it first to her throat. then to her breast, with trembling and irresolute hand, when the tribune ran her through. Her corpse was granted to her mother. Tidings were then carried to Claudius "that Messalina was no more;" without distinguishing whether by her own or another's hand; neither did he inquire; but called for a cup of wine, and proceeded in the usual ceremonies of the feast: nor did he, indeed, during the following days, manifest any symptom of disgust or joy, of resentment or sorrow, nor, in short, of any human affection not when he beheld the accusers of his wife exulting at her death; not when he looked upon her mourning children. The senate aided in effacing her from his memory, by decreeing " that from all public and private places her name should be rased, and her images removed." To Narcissus were decreed the decorations of the quaestorship; a very small reward indeed, considering his towering elevation; for he was more influential than Pallas and Callistus.' BOOK XII. 1. TJPN the death of Messalina, the imperial palace was torn with a contest among the freedmen. The question was, which of them should choose a wife for Claudius; who was impatient of a single life, and submitted to be ruled by the partners of his bed. Nor were the ladies animated by an emulation less ardent, each maintaining her superiority in rank, beauty, and wealth, and displaying her pretensions to 1 Claudius contracted an incestuous marriage with the daughter of his brother Germanicus; Agrippina destroyed the emperor's son Britannicus, and afterwards dispatched Claudius himself, to open the road to empire for her son Nero, who, it is well known, was guilty or parricide; and Narcissus, the favourite freedman, ended his days in a dungeon. Annals, book xiii. 1. a 3.1 AGRIZPPINA CHIOSENV EMPRESS. 273 the exalted connexion. But the competition lay principally between Lollia Paullina, daughter of Marcus Lollius, a man of consular rank, and Julia Agrippina, daughter of Germanicus; the latter supported by the interest of Pallas, the other by that of Callistus. But Elia Petina, of the Tuberonian family, had the countenance of Narcissus. Claudius, who was sometimes hot upon one, at other times upon another, according as he was persuaded by his several advisers, summooned his discordant counsellors to deliberate on the point, desiring them to deliver their opinions and support them by arguments.1 2. Narcissus recommended "his former wife Petina, by whom he had a daughter (for Antonia was her daughter), and argued that by resuming his old connexion, he would Introduce into his family no innovation; but a woman who would never exhibit the spirit of a stepmother towards Britannicus and Octavia, as they were closely allied to her own children." Callistus urged "that she had been long divorced, in consequence of the emperor's disapprobation of her, and if she were taken back again, that very circumstance would inflame her pride: Lollia would be a much more eligible match; who, having no issue of her own, was free from every motive of emulation, but would treat her step-childrenwith the tenderness of a parent." Pallas chiefly recommended Agrippina from the consideration, " that she would bring with her the grandson of Germanicus, who was in every view worthy of the imperial fortune: herself of noble descent, and a fit bond of union to the posterity of the Claudian family, provision ought to be made that a woman who had shown herself fruitful, and was\ still in the freshness of youth, should not transfer the splendour of the Caesars to another house." 3. The reasonings of Pallas prevailed, enforced as they 1 Suetonius gives an account of the wives of Claudius in regular succession. His first wife was Plautia Urgulanilla. Being in a short time divorced from her, he married 2Elia Petina, descended from a father of consular rank: by her he had a daughter named Antonia. Claudius was divorced from his second wife. He then married Messajna, and by her had a daughter, Octavia, and a son named Britannicus. Lollia Paulina, who aspired on the present occasion to the imperial bed, had been married to Caligula, and was soon divorced. Agrippina, the successful candidate, was the daughter of Germanicus, the brother of Claudius. For the whole transaction as here related by Taeitus, sue? Suet. in Claud. s. 26. TA. —VOL. 1. T 274 THE ANNALS. were by the fascinations of Agrippina; who under colour of relationship, was assiduous in her visits to her uncle, and won him so effectually, that she was preferred to the others, and though not yet his wife, already exercised the influence belonging to that relation. For when secure of her own marriage, she began to concert further plans of ambition, and concoct a match between Domitius,l her son by Cneius Ahenobarbus, and Octavia the emperor's daughter: a design which could not be accomplished without the grossest iniquity, as the emperor had betrothed Octavia to Lucius Silanus, whom, when a youth and otherwise celebrated, Claudius had recommended to the favour of the people by presenting him with splendid triumphal ornaments, and by a magnificent exhibition of gladiators in his name. But nothing appeared insurmountable which depended on the will of a prince, who had neither preference nor aversion, but such as were infused and directed by others. 4. Vitellius, therefore, who could veil his fraudulent servility with the name of censor, foreseeing who would carry all before them in the strife of power, sought to ingratiate himself with Agrippina, by entering into her plans, and laid the foundations of charges against Silanus, whose sister, Junia Calvina, beautiful indeed but imprudent, had been not long before the daughter-in-law of Vitellius. Hence he took occasion for the accusation, and construed into infamy a fraternal affection not incestuous, but unguarded; and the emperor listened to the charge, as his affection for his daughter rendered him the more prone to entertain suspicions against his son-in-law. As for Silanus, unapprised as he was of the plot, -and he happened to be prOetor that year,-he was suddenly degraed from the rank of a senator, by an edict of Vitellius, notwithstanding the senate had been recently reviewed and the lu-trum closed: Claudius, at the same time, annulled the connexion; Silanus was compelled to renounce his magistracy; and for the unexpired day of his praetorship, the office was conferred upon Eprius Marcellus. 5. During the consulship of Caius Pompeius and Quintus Yeranius, the marriage previously agreed upon between Claudius and Agrippina, was now ratified by the public voice and their own criminal commerce. They dared not, however, to I Domitius, the son of Agrippina, was afterwards Nero the emperor. DISCUSSION ON THE EMPEROR'S MARRIAGE. 27e5i celebrate the nuptials, as there was no precedent of an uncle's taking to wife his brother's daughter. Besides, the connexion was incestuous; and if that were disregarded, it was apprehended that it might issue in some public calamity. This hesitation continued till Vitellius undertook to accomplish the business by methods of his -own. He asked the emperor whether he would submit to the sense of the people, and the authority of the senate?" Claudius answered, " that he himself was one of the people, and could not withstand the consentient voice of them all:" Vitellius then desired him to wait the issue within the palace, and went himself to the senate; where after a solemn declaration, that he had somewhat to communicate of the highest importance to the commonwealth, he obtained leave to be heard before any other; when he commenced by saying, " that the overpowering labours of the prince, in governing the world, called for support and assistance, in order that, relieved from domestic cares, he might attend the interests of the public. Moreover, what more honourable alleviation of the cares which oppress the mind of a censor, than to take a wife who might share his good fortune and his distresses, to whom he might commit his most secret thoughts and the care of his little ones, unhabituated as he was to luxury and voluptuousness, but accustomed to yield obedience to the laws from his earliest years?" 6. After thus prefacing his object in a speech calculated to win applause, and which was followed by many expressions of servile acquiescence fiom. the fathers, beginning afresh, he said, "that seeing they all were of opinion that the prince should marry, it became necessary that a lady should be selected who was distinguished by family, the fertility of her womb, and unblemished purity of manners. Nor had they long to search before they would find that Agrippina stood preeminent for the splendour of her lineage; had given proofs of her fruitfulness; and came up to their requirements in virtuous accomplishments: it was, indeed, a singularly happy circumstance, that, through the providence of the gods, she was a widow, and might be united with a prince who had ever confined himself to his own wives. They had heard from their fathers, nay, themselves had seen, that wives were ravished from their husbands, at the lawless caprice of the T2 276 THE ANNALS. [B. XII. Caesars: a proceeding far from the moderate spirit of the present ruler; nay, rather a precedent was being established which might guide an emperor in taking a wife. But, amongst them it seemed an innovation to marry their brotheF's daughters; a usage frequent in other nations, nor by any law forbidden. The intermarriage of cousins-german was a practice long unknown, yet in time became frequent: customs were to be suited to exigencies; and this very novelty was one of those things which would soon be followed and practised." 7. There were several senators who declared with emulous zeal, "that if the emperor lingered longer, they would compel him," and rushed out of the senate. A promiscuous multitlue lIkcwise assembled, and proclaimed with shouts, "that the same was the voice and demand of the Roman people." Nor did Claudius delay any further, but proceeded to the forum, to receive in person their greetings and acclamations; and entering the senate, required " a decree to legalize for ever the marriages between uncles and their brothers' daughters." But no man, however, was found who desired this kind of alliance, except Titius Alledius Severus, a Roman Knight; and he, as many believed, urged to it by the influence of Agrippina. From this moment the city assumed a different character, and a woman had the control of everything: who, however, did not, like Messalina, mock and trample upon the interests of the state in the extravagance of her lewdness. The despotism exercised was as strict as though it were under the direction of a man; in her public conduct she was grave and rigid, frequently haughty and overbearing; no departure from chastity was observable in her domestic deportment, unless it were necessary to support her power; while an insatiable thirst for money was veiled under the pretext of its uses in maintaining the imperial authority. 8. On the day of the nuptials, Silanus slew himself: whether it was that up to that time he had entertained hopes of life, or chose that day to increase the odium the deed would excite. His sister Calvina was banished Italy; and to her sentence Claudius added an injunction to the pontiffs, " that, according to the institution of king Tullus, they should offer sacrifices and atonements at the grove of Diana;" a proceeding which was treated with universal derision, that C. 1u.] OCTAVIA BETROTHED TO DOMITIUS. 277 penalties and expiations for incest should be devised at such a juncture. As for Agrippina, that she might not be distinguished only for nefarious deeds, she obtained for Annseus Seneca a reversal of his exile, and with it the prrtorship; favours which she supposed would prove acceptable to the public, on account of his high renown for learning. She also wished that the youthful mind of her son Domitius should be trained up to manhood under such a preceptor, and that he might have the benefit of his counsels in realizing his hopes of imperial power: for Seneca, she believed, would continue faithfully attached to her from ties of gratitude; and incensed against Claudius fiom resentment of his wrongs. 9. It was now thought expedient to hesitate no longer; and Memmius Pollio, the consul elect, was gained by vast promises, to move the senate, that Claudius might be solicited " to betroth Octavia to Domitius:" a match not unsuitable in respect of both their ages, and such as would open the way to matters of greater moment: Pollio moved it much in the same words with those lately used by Vitellius: Octavia was betrothed; and Domitius, besides his former relationship, being now also the affianced son-in-law of the emperor, was raised to a parity with Britannicus, an elevation which he owed to the interest of his mother, and the devices of those who, having been the accusers of Messalina, dreaded the vengeance of her son. 10. I have before related that ambassadors from the Parthians were sent to Rome, to solicit Meherdates for their king: they were at this time introduced into the senate, where they opened their embassy to this effect; they said " they were not uninformed of the treaty subsisting between Rome and Parthia; nor came they as revolters from the family of the Arsacidae; but to declare their attachment to the son of Vonones, the grandson of Phraates, that he might rescue them from the tyranny of Gotarzes; a tyranny equally insupportable to the nobility and the commons: already his brothers, his kinsfolk, and others standing in more remote relations, had been all cut off by him: and to them were adding their pregnant wives and tender children; while he, in peace a sluggard, and a pest in war, sought to hide his dastard spirit by acts of cruelty: that with us the Parthians had 278 THE ANNALS. [B. Xxl. an ancient friendship, founded upon public treaties; and it behoved us to succour allies who rivalled us in power, but yielded the first place to us from motives of veneration. That the sons of their kings were given as hostages to the Romans, with this understanding, that when disgusted with their domestic government, they might have a refuge in the emperor and the senate, from whom they might receive a new and better king, trained up under their auspices in the manners and habits of the Romans." 11. When they had urged these and similar arguments, Claudius commenced a reply, by adverting to the proud elevation of the Roman name, and the deference paid to it by the Parthians; and placing himself upon a level with the deified Augustus, represented that from him also they had sought a king; but omitted all mention of Tiberius, though he too had sent them kings.' He further addressed some preoepts to Meherdates, who was also present, admonishing him " that he should not consider his government as a tyranny, nor his people as slaves; but regard himself in the light of a chief magistrate, and the people as his fellow-citizens; that he should cultivate justice and clemency; blessings unknown to Barbarians, and thence so much the more likely to reconcile them to the yoke." Then turning to the ambassadors, he spoke of the young prince in terms of high commendation, "as the foster-son of the city, and moreover of exemplary conduct;" still, however, he admonished them, "that they should bear with the humours of kings, and that frequent changes were injurious to their interests; that the Roman state were so thoroughly satiated with military glory, that she studied the repose of foreign nations also." It was therefore given in commission to Caius Cassius, governor of Syria, to conduct the young king to the banks of the Euphrates. 12. This Cassius surpassed all his contemporaries in the knowledge of laws: for, in a state of repose from war, military arts are intermitted; and, during peace, there is no distinction between the strenuous and the inactive. Still however, so far as it was permitted him in the absence of war, he revived the ancient discipline, kept the legions in constant exercise, exerted precisely the same diligence and precaution 1 Tiberius had given two kings to the Parthians, viz. Phraates and Tiridates Annals, book vi. 31, 32. c. 13.] COMMOTIONS IN 'ARTHIA. 279 as if an enemy were menacing him; feeling that such conduct became the renown of his ancestors and the Cassian family, which was celebrated even amongst those nations. Having encamped at Zeugma,' the most convenient place for passing the river, and having called together those by whose advice a king was sought from Rome, as soon as the Parthian chiefs, ani with them Agbarus,2 king of the Arabs, were arrived, he warned Meherdates, "that the zeal of Barbarians, impetuous in its first sallies, lost its energy by delays or changed sides; lie should, therefore, press on his enterprise:" advice which he neglected, through the treachery of Agbarus, who detained the young king many days at the city of Edessa; inexperienced as he was, and possessed with a notion that the essence of royalty consisted in luxury: and though Carrhenes solicited them, and assured them that success was certain if they advafced with speed, they neglected entering Mesopotamia, which was close at hand, but turned off to go to Armenia, at that time unfavourable to his operations, as the winter had already set in. 13. As they descended into the plains, wearied with the snows and mountains, Carrhenes joined them with his forces. Thence they passed the Tigris, and crossed the country of the Adiabenians, whose king, Izates, had ostensibly espoused the interest of Meherdates, though secretly and with more sincerity he inclined to that of Gotarzes. In the course of their progress they took the city Ninos,3 the ancient seat of the Assyrian empire, as also the castle of Arbela, so renowned in story as the scene of the last battle between Darius and Alexander, in which the power of Persia was overthrown. Gotarzes meanwhile was sacrificing upon mount Sambulos4 to the gods of the place; and amongst these Hercules, with especial solemnity, who, at stated times, warns the priests in a dream, " to prepare him horses equipped for hunting, and place them by the temple;" the horses, when furnished with quivers full of arrows, scour the forests, and return at night, with empty quivers, and panting vehemently: again, the god, I A city on the banks of the Euphrates. 2 More generally known from inscriptions on coins as Abgarus: he was king of Osroene, to the north-west of Mesopotamia. 3 Ninos, the city of Nineveh, on the Tigris, the capital of Assyria. 4 This mountain, and the river Corma, are mentioned by Tacituy only. 280 THE ANNALS. LB, XII. in another vision of the night, describes the course he took in traversing the woods; and beasts are found stretched upon the ground in all directions. 14. Gotarzes, as his troops were not yet assembled in sufficient force, took advantage of the river Corma as a protection, and though challenged to battle by insults and heralds, still procrastinated, shifted his position, and employed emissaries meanwhile to bribe the enemy to renounce their engagements. Izates, leader of the Adiabenians, and presently Agbarus, king of the Arabs, went off with their respective armies, with the fickleness of those barbarous nations, and in confirmation of previous experience, that they would rather sue for a kinz from Rome, than be governed by one. Meherdates thus bereft of these powerful allies, and apprehending treasonable designs in the rest, determined, as his only resource, to commit the issue to fortune, and risk a battle: nor did Gotarzes. inspirited by the diminution of the enemy's forces, decline the challenge. A sanguinary conflict ensued, and the event was doubtful, till Carrhenes, having overthrown those that opposed him, pursuing his victory too far, was hemmed in on the rear by a body of reserve. This blow annihilated the hopes of Meherdates; who trusting to the promises of Parrhaces, a dependent of his father's, was betrayed by him and delivered in chains to the conqueror. Gotarzes disowning him " for a kinsman, or one of the family of the Arsacidae," and reviling him as a " foreigner and a Roman," cut off his ears, and bid him live as a memorial of his own clemency, and of our degradation. After this, Gotarzes fell sick and died; and Vonones, then governor of Media, was called to the throne; a prince distinguished by nothing memorable, fortunate, or disastrous; his reign was short and inglorious, and the government of Parthia devolved upon his son Vologeses. 15. On the other hand, Mithridates3 of Bosporus, whr since the loss of his territories wandered from place to place, having learnt that Didius, the Roman commander, had retired with the flower of his army, and that Cotys, a young prince I Mithridates mentioned in this place was descended from the great Mithridates, who waged the long war with the Romans, called the Mithridatic War. Claudius, in a distribution of kingdoms, among the princes bordering on the Euxine, made the descendant of Mithridates king of Bosporus., c. 17.] sUCCEbSEB IN PARTIIA. void of experience, was left in his new kingdom with only a few cohorts under Julius Aquila, a Roman knight, looked upon both with contempt, incited the neighbouring people to arms, drew over deserters, and lastly, having thus assembled an army, drove the king of the DandaridEe from his throne, and seized his dominions. Upon these tidings, apprehending that he would instantly invade Bosporus, Aquila and Cotys, whc distrusted their own forces, as Zorsines, king of the Siracians, had resumed hostilities, had recourse themselves to foreign favour, and despatched ambassadors to Eunones, prince of the Adorsians. Nor was it difficult to engage him in their cause, when they represented the power of the Romans in competition with the rebel Mithridates. It was therefore accorded, " that Eunones should encounter the enemy with the cavalry, and the Romans undertake the siege of towns." 16. Then they advanced in a combined body, of which the Adorsians composed the front and rear; the cohorts and troops of the Bosporus, armed like Romans, formed the strength of the centre. Thus they discomfited the enemy, and arrived at Soza, a city of the Dandaride, deserted by Mithridates; in which it was judged proper to leave a garrison, on account of the doubtful affections' of the inhabitants. Thence they proceeded against the Siracians, and crossing the river Panda besieged the city Uspes, situated upon a hill, and well fortified with walls and moats, except that the walls being not formed of stone, but crates and hurdles with earth between, were unable to bear an assault; towers were raised high enough to overlook them, and thence the besieged were infested with darts and brands; and had not night interrupted the assault, the city Iad been besieged and carried within a single day. 17. Next day they sent deputies to solicit pardon for the free; ten thousand slaves they roposed to give up: conditions rejected by the conquerors, since the massacre of such as were surrendered would have been inhuman; and to secure such a host of prisoners, extremely difficult: it was therefore resolved that they should fall in the regular, course of war; and to the soldiers who had mounted the walls, the signal for I The Dandaridme, the Siraci, and Aorsi inhabited a tract of country on the Euxine shore, between Mount Caucasus and the river Tanaie Inow the Don). 282 THE ANNALS. LB. XIL shulghter was given. The overthrow of Uspes terrified its neighbours, who now believed that nothing could be secure against the Romans; since arms and bulwarks, heights and fastnesses, rivers and towns, were equally surmounted by them. Hence Zorsines, after a long deliberation whether still to adhere to the desperate fortune of Mithridates, or consult the security of his own dominions, when at length the interest of his own nation prevailed, gave hostages, and prostrated himself before the image of Claudius; to the signal glory of the Roman army, which it appeared had advanced, in a course of bloodless victory, within three days' journey of the river Tanais: but in their return, the same fortune did not attend them; for certain vessels, as they went back by sea, were driven upon the shores of the Taurians,i and the Barbarians seizing them, slew the leader of a cohort and most of the centurions. 18. Mithridates meanwhile, finding no resource in arms, deliberated to what quarter he should look for mercy; his brother Cotys he dreaded as one who had formerly betrayed him, and then became his open enemy: of the Romans, there was none at hand of such weight that his engagements could be depended upon: he therefore determined to apply to Eunones, who had no quarrel of his own with him, and was influential by virtue of his late alliance with us. With a mien and garb studiously adapted to his present fortune, he entered the palace, and throwing himself at the feet of Eunones, " I am' Mithridates," said he; "I who have been pursued by.the Romans for so many years through sea and land, stand before you, of my own choice; deal as you please with a descendant of the great Achaemenes: it is the only advantage of which my enemies have not bereaved me.' 19. Eunones was affected by the renown of the prince, his reverse of fortune, and the undegenerate tone of his prayer. He raised his suppliant from the earth, and praising him for preferring the Adorsians, and committing himself to his honour in suing for pardon, despatched ambassadors to 1 The Tauric Chersonese, or modern Crimea. 2 Achsemenes was grandfather to Cambyses, and after him the Persian kings were called Achsemenide. The kings of Poutus and Bosporus traced their descent in common with Cyrus the Persian from this line. c. 21.1 MITHRIDATES BROUGHT TO ROME, 283 Claudius with letters to this purport: " The alliances of the Roman emperors with the kings of mighty nations," h3 said, " were founded upon a similitude of fortune; himself and Claudius also were united in the participation of a common victory; that the most brilliant terminations of war were those in which matters were settled by pardoning the vanquished: in this manner was Zorsines conquered, but deprived of nothing. For Mithrldates, who had offended more grievously, neither power nor a kingdom were craved, but an exemption from capital punishment, and the ignominy of being led in triumph." 20. Claudius, though lenient to illustrious foreigners, was at a loss whether it were more advisable to receive the captive on terms of mercy, or to seek redress by arms. A painful sense of injuries, and the thirst of vengeance, strongly incited him to the latter course; but, 6n the other hand, it was argued, "that a war must be undertaken in a remote and rugged country, upon a sea destitute of havens; moreover against fierce and warlike kings, and nations unsettled and vagabond; where the soil was unproductive, where prompt measures would be dangerous, and lengthened operations disheartening and wearisome; small the glory of victory, great the infamy of repulse: the emperor ought, therefore, readily to embrace the overture, and spare the life of the exile; who, the longer he lived in a state of destitution, would suffer so.much the severer punishment." These considerations moved Claudiu, and he wrote to Eunones, " that Mithridates had, indeed, merited to be made an example of by extreme severity, nor wanted he power to inflict it; but it was a principle established by his ancestors, that suppliants should be treated with a lenity as boundless as the rigour with which an unreleuting foe was pursued. As for triumphs, they were only to be acquired by the conquest of entire kingdoms and nations." 21. Mithridates was, after this, delivered to Julius Cilo, the procurator of Pontus, and by him carried to Rome, where, in the presence of the emperor, he is said to have spoken with more haughtiness than suited his fortune: a speech of his tc the following effect was much talked of: " I am not brought back to you, Caesar; but of my own choice I have returned; or, if you do not believe me, let me go, and try to retake mne," 284 TIHE ANNALS. [B. XII. Whlen, too, he was exposed to the view of the people at the rostrum, and encompassed with guards, his countenance continued perfectly undaunted. To Cilo were decreed the consular ornaments, and to Aquila those of the prsetorship. 22. During the same consulship, Agrippina, ever implacable in her hate, and enraged at Lollia for having contended with her for the emperor's hand, framed crimes against her, and suborned an accuser, to tax her i" with dealing with the magicians and Chaldeans, and consulting the oracle of the Clarian Apollo, concerning that match." Claudius, then, without hearing the accused, after a long preface, addressed to the senate, on the splendour of her birth and circumstances, " that by her mother she was niece to Lucius Volu. sius; Cotta Messalinus her great-uncle, herself formerly married to Memmius Regulus," (for of her marriage with Caligula1 he purposely said nothing,) added, "that she had meditated schemes injurious to the commonwealth, and must be divested of the means of treason; that her estate should therefore be confiscated, and herself banished from Italy." Thus, out of her immense wealth, only five millions of sesterces were left her. Calpurnia too, another illustrious lady, was doomed to ruin, because the prince had praised her beauty, though from no passion for her, but merely in casual discourse: for which reason, the vengeance of Agrippina stopped short of death. To Lollia, a tribune was despatched, to compel her to destroy herself. Cadius Rufus was likewise convicted, under the act against public plunder, at the suit of the Bithynians. 23. To the province of Narbon Gaul it was granted, in consideration of the distinguished reverence paid by its people to the senate, that Roman senators of that province should be allowed the same privilege with those of Sicily, of visiting their estates there without leave obtained of the prince: and the countries of Iturea and Judea2 were, upon the death Suetonius has given some particulars of the marriage of Caligula with Lollia Paullina. She was in a distant province with her husband, Memtmius Regulus, in whose consulship Sejanus met his fate. Regulus, in the time of Caligula, had the command of the army in Syria. Lollia Paullina, his wife, accompanied him to his government. Caligula called her back to Rome, and married her; hut was soon divorced. Suet. in Calig. s. 25. See also Pliny, lib. ix. 35. 2 The Itureans were in the north of Palestine. Judea becamew C. 25.] BOUNDARIES UF THE CITY. 285 of their kings Sohemus and Agrippa,' annexed to the government of Syria. It was also resolved that the augury as to the will of the gods in the matter of imploring divine protection, which for five and twenty years had been disused, should be revived, and thereafter regularly observed: and the emperor extended the consecrated precincts of the city: according to ancient institution, which empowered such as had advanced the limits of the empire, to enlarge also the bounds of the city: a right which hitherto was never exercised by any of the Roman captains, though they had subdued mighty nations, before Sylla the dictator, and the deified Augustus. 24. The motives of ostentation or ambition which influenced our kings in this matter have been variously stated. But I think it not impertinent to show where the first foundations began, and what was the circuit fixed by Romulus. Now, from the Ox Market,2 where still is seen the brazen statue of a bull, because by that animal the plough is drawn, a furrow was cut to describe the boundaries of the town, sc as to include the great altar of Hercules: thence, stones were placed, at certain intervals, along the foot of mount Palatine, to the altar of Consus; soon after, to the Old Courts; then, to the small temple of the Lares; and, lastly, to the great Roman forum, which, as well as the Capitol, it is believed, was added to the city, not by Romulus, but by Tatius. With the increase of her empire, the city afterwards continued to increase: and what were the boundaries now established by Claudius is easily learnt, as they are detailed in the public records. 25. In the consulship of Caius Antistius and Marcus Suilius, the adoption of Domitius was hurried on 1,y the Roman province under Augustus, and was afterwards given by Clau, dius to the Agrippa of the text (the same mentioned in Acts xii.), with the title of king. 1 Agrippa was the descendant of Herod the Great, who was made king of Judea by a decree of the senate, A.I.c. 714, and died in the year 750, about four years before the Christian era. Agrippa, his grandson, was thrown into prison by Tiberius, and restored to his kingdom by Caligula. He died A.u.c. 797. Sohemus, mentioned in the text, was descended from Sohemus king of Iturea, who was murdered by Herod, A.U.Q. 726. See Josephus. 2 This place appears to have been at th estern extremity of the Palatine Mount. 286 THE ANNALS. [B. xIL influence of Pallas; who, as he had brought about the late marriage of Agrippina, and afterwards became leagued with her in adultery, being wholly addicted to her interest, stimulated Claudius " to provide for the exigency of the commonwealth, and support the infancy of Britannicus with a collateral stay: so with the deified Augustus, though he had grandchildren of his own to recline upon, the sons of his wife were raised to power. Thus, too, Tiberius, notwithstanding he had a son of his own, adopted Germanicus: and thus he, also, should fortify himself with the aid of a young prince, who might take upon him a share of the public cares." To these considerations Claudius yielded, and, in preference to his own son, adopted Domitius, older only by two years; declaring the adoption to the senate in a speech to the same effect as that of his freedman to him. It was observed, by men conversant with such matters, that history recorded no adoption, before this, into the patrician family of the Claudii; which, from Attus Clausus,' had maintained its descent continuous and entire. 26. The prince, however, received the thanks of the senate, accompanied with expressions of more refiled flattery towards Domitius: and a law was carried through the house, decreeing his adoption into the Claudian family, and his assumption of the name of Nero: Agrippina was also further distinguished by the title of Augusta. When these measures were effected, not a man was found so void of compassion as not to be affected with grief at the situation of Britannicus. Bereft, by little and little, even of the help of slaves, he ridiculed the officious attentions of his stepmother, well aware of her treachery, for he is said not to have wanted quickness of understanding: whether it were really so, or that, regarded with favour on account of his hard fortune, he retained the reputation of it, without affording proof that he deserved it. 27. But Agrippina, that she might display her power even 1 Attus Clausus, called afterwards Appius Claudius, has been mentioned (book xi. 24) as the founder of the Claudian family. We are told the same by Virgil:" Ecce Sabinorum prisco de sanguine magnum Agmen agens Clausus, magnique ipse agminis instar; Claudia nunc a quo diffunditur et tribus et gens Per Latium, postquam in partem data Roma Sabinia" ZEneid vii 706. THE CATTIANS SUBDUED. 287 to the nations our allies, procured a colony of veterans to be sent to the capital of the Ubians,l the totwn in which she was born. and which was called after her own name: it had also been the lot of her grandfather Agrippa, when that people came over the Rhine, to receive them under the protection of the Romans. At that same time, the higher Germany was in a state of alarm, from an irruption of the Cattians, on an expedition of plunder: hence Lucius Pomponius, the Roman general, ordered the auxiliary Vangiones and Nemetve, with the addition of the allied cavalry, to get in front of the depredators, or to pour upon them unawares, when they_ separated." The soldiers exerted themselves to give effect to the plan of the commander: having divided themselves into two bands, that which marched to the left enclosed them just as they were returned, while labouring under the effects of excessive indulgence in the fruits of their rapine, and sunk in sleep. Their joy was increased by rescuing some prisoners, who had been taken at the time of the overthrow of Varus, forty years before. 28. The body that turned to the right, and by a shorter cut, meeting the enemy, who ventured tc engage them, made a greater slaughter. So that, laden with booty and covered with glory, they returned to mount Taunus, where Pomponius waited with his legions, prepared for battle, if the Cattians, from a desire for revenge, should afford opportunity for fighting: but, as they dreaded being assaulted on every side; here, by the Romans, there, by the Cheruscans, with whom they are incessantly at enmity, they despatched deputies and hostages to Rome. To Pomponius was decreed the honour of triumph; from which, however, he derives but a slender share of his fame among posterity, with whom every other title to consideration is merged in the celebrity of his poems. 29. It was at this time, too, that Vannius,2 formerly created king of the Suevians by Drusus Cuesar, was driven from his kingdom. In the early period of his reign he enjoyed a high 1 The modern Cologne. The place was called Colonia Agrippinensls after it became a Roman colony, In the Germany (c. 28), Tacitus has erroneously stated that the place received its name fiom Agrippa. 2 Maroboduus being expelled from his dominions, and, under at appearance of protection, detained as a state prisoner at Ravenna, Vannius was made king by Drusus, the son of Tiberius, A.,.c. 772 Annals, book ii. 63. z28 THE ANNALS. LB. XI., reputation, and was in favour with his countrymen: but. in toxicated with long possession of power, grew afterwards imperious; so that he was at once hated by the neighbouring states, and entangled in a combination of his own subjects. It was conducted by his own sister's sons, Vangio and Sido, and Vibillius, king of the Hermundurians: nor would Claudius, though often entreated, engage in the quarrel of the Barbarians: he only answered the suit of Vannius, by a promise of a safe refuge, in case of expulsion; and wrote to Publiuus Attellius Hister, governor of Pannonia, "to hold in readiness, on the banks of the Danube, his legion, with a body of auxiliaries raised in the province itself; to succour the vanquished, and awe the conquerors; lest, elated by success, they might venture also to disturb the peace of the empire." For the Ligians' and other nations were arriving in swarms, allured by the fame of that wealthy kingdom, which for thirty years Vannius had been enriching by depredations and exactions. His own native troops were foot, and his horse were from the Iazygians of Sarmatia; a force unequal to the multitude of his enemies: hence he determined to confine himself to his strongholds, and protract the war. 30. But the Iazygians, impatient of a siege, and roving about the adjacent country, created a necessity of fighting, as the Ligians and Hermundurians attacked them in that situation. Vannius, therefore, issuing from the fortresses, was overthrown in battle: but not without praise, even in his defeat, as he engaged in the battle with his own hand, and exposed his breast to the weapons of the enemy: he then fled to his fleet, which lay waiting for him in the Danube, and was soon followed by his adherents, who were settled in Pannonia, and portions of land assigned them. Vangio and Side parted his kingdom between them, and were exemplary in their fidelity towards us, much beloved by their subjects, while they were yet acquiring domination, and after it was acquired, still more hated: whether this arose from the character of their own minds or that of their subjects. 31. In Britain, Publius Ostorius, the propraetor, found affairs in a troubled state; the enemy making irruptions into the territories of our allies, with so much the more insolenrv &s they supposed that a new general, with an army unknown I The Ligiana were a peoPil of Silesia. c. 32.1 THE WAR IN BRITAIN. 289 to him, and now that the winter had set in, would not dare to make head against them.' But as he was convinced that by the first events of war confidence or consternation was produced in an enemy, he instantly led forth his cohorts at a rapid pace, put to the sword all who resisted, followed up those who were dispersed, and lest they should reunite, and thus an angry and heartless peace afford no repose to the general or his troops, he determined to deprive of arms all whom he suspected, and by means of forts to confine them between the rivers Nen and Severn: a determination thwarted first by the Icenians, a powerful people, who, having of their own accord become our confederates, were weakened by no assaults of war. Under their guidance, the bordering nations selected as a position for a battle, a place fenced in by a rude rampart, and the approach narrow, so that it might not be passable by the horse. The Roman general, though, unsupported by the flower of the legions, he had with him only the allied troops, prepared to break through their works; and, having disposed his cohorts in suitable positions, he employed the horsemen in the duties of foot-soldiers. Upon the signal given, they forced the rampart and discomfited the enemy, who were hampered with their own barriers: but from the conscious guilt of rebellion, and all egress being precluded, they performed many and memorable feats of bravery. In this battle, Marcus Ostorius, the son of the general, having saved the life of a Roman citizen, acquired the civic crown. 32. For the rest, the overthrow of the Icenians determined those who were wavering between peace and war to remain quiet. The army was led thence against the Cangians,3 wasted their territories, and gathered booty on all 1 As Tacitus's account of the first six years of Claudius is lost, the invasion of Britain, under the command of Aulus Plautius, has not been related. From the descent made by Julius Cesar, A.U.c. 699, Aulus Plautius was the first Roman general that landed in Britain, A.U c. 796. Vespasian, afterwards emperor, served in that expedition. The southern parts of the island were reduced to subjection. Claudius visited his new conquest, and at his return, having enlarged the Roman empire, entered Rome in triumph. Ostorius Scapula succeeded Plautius. Compare the Life of Agricola, c. 14, and the following chapters 2 The Iceni inhabited Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and Huntingdonshire. 3 The Cangi inhabited Cheshire, and part of Lancashire, opposite to Ireland. TAC.-VOL. I. U 290 THE ANNALS. [B. XIL sides; the enemy not daring to encounter them openly, or if they attempted to gall them on their march by covert attacks, it was not with impunity. He had now approached near the sea which washes the coast of Ireland, when cornmotions, begun amongst the Brigantes,' obliged the general to return thither; as he had formed a settled determination not to prosecute any new enterprise till his former were completed and secure. The Brigantes, indeed, soon returned to their homes, a few who raised the revolt having been slain, and the rest pardoned: but neither rigour nor clemency could induce the Silures2 to abandon their resolution of prosecuting hostilities; nor could they be quelled but by encamping the legions among them. To facilitate this design, a colony, consisting of a powerful body of veterans, was conveyed to Camalodunum,3 to settle upon the conquered lands, as a resource against the rebels, and for initiating the allies in the requisitions of the Roman laws. 33. Then he marched against the Silures, a people resolute and fierce by nature, and moreover rendered confident by the valour of Caractacus,4 whom his many perplexities and many victories had raised to a preeminence over all other generals of the Britons. But, though possessing an advantage in the dangerous nature of the localities, yet, as he was inferior in the number of his troops, he cunningly transferred the seat of war to the territory of the Ordovicians,5 where, being joined by all such as feared a peace with the Romans, he resolved to put all to the hazard of a battle. For this purpose, he chose a place6 against which it was difficult to advance, and from which it was as difficult to retreat,- every way incommodious to our army, and every way favourable to his own. He then took post upon the ridges of some lofty mountains, and, 1 Brigantes; the people inhabiting Yorkshire, Durham, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. 2 Silures; the people who occupied Herefordshire, Radnor, Brecknock, Monmouth, and Glamorgan, and in general South Wales. 3 Camalodunum, now Colchester. 4 Caractacus, according to Camden, reigned in the county of Car. digan. Q5 rdovices; the people of North Wales. 6 This spot, Camden says, was in Shropshire, where the Colunus (now the Clune) runs into the Temdus (now Temd), not far from a hill called Caer Carodoc. VICTORY OVER CARACTACUS. 291 where their sides were gently inclining and approachable, he piled up stones for a rampart: his position was also skirted by a river, dangerous to be forded; and troops of soldiers manned his entrenchments. 34. Moreover, the chieftains of the several nations were busily employed in going from rank to rank, exhorting and animating their followers, by dissipating their fears, by kindling their hopes, and by the other incitements employed in war. But as for Caractacus, he flew from one quarter to another, protesting "that from that day, that battle, they would have to date the recovery of liberty, or the commencement of interminable bondage. He invoked by name " those ancestors who had repulsed the dictator Coesar, by whose valour they had lived exempted from the terrors of the Roman axes and the oppression of Roman tributes, and were enabled to keep the persons of their wives and children uncontaminated." As he thus harangued them, he was answered by the acclamations of the multitude; and each soldier bound himself by the oath held most sacred by his nation, "that they would never turn away from the weapons of the enemy, or shrink from wounds." 35. This display of courage and alacrity amazed the Roman general: besides, the river1 to be passed, the rampart they had raised, the frowning ridges of the mountains, every part exhibiting symptoms of fierce determination, and every post well manned,-all these things alarmed him. But the soldiers demanded battle: all things, they cried, were to be surmounted by courage; and the prsefects and tribunes, by expressing similar sentiments, inflamed the ardour of the army. Ostorius, seizing the auspicious moment, having carefully surveyed the situation, where inaccessible, and where to be passed, led them on thus excited, and without much difficulty cleared the river. When he approached the bulwark, while the conflict was carried on by means of missiles, there were more of our men wounded, and many began to fall; but, after they had formed themselves into the military shell, demolished the rude and shapeless structure of stones, and encountered hand to hand upon an equality, th6 Barbarians betook themselves to the ridges of the mountains; and thither also our soldiers forced their way, both the light and heavy. l This river, according to Camden, was the Temd. u2 292 THE ANNALS. lB. XII, armed,-the former assailing them with darts, the latter fighting foot to foot; while the ranks of the Britons, on the other hand, were broken, as they had no covering of breastplates or helmets; and if they resisted the auxiliaries, they were slaughtered by the swords and javelins of the heavyarmed; and by the sabres and spears of the auxiliaries, when they faced the heavy-armed. Glorious was the victory gained that day: the wife and daughter of Caractacus were taken prisoners; his brothers also surrendered at discretion. 36. Caractacus himself sought the protection of Cartismandua, queen of the Brigantes, but, as is generally the case, adversity can find no sure refuge; he was delivered up in chains to the conquerors, in the ninth year after the commencement of the war in Britain.' Whence his renown overpassing the limits of the isles, spread over the neighbouring provinces, and became celebrated even in Italy; where all longed to behold the man who, for so many years, had defied the Roman arms: not even at Rome was the name of Caractacus unassociated with fame; and the emperor, while exalting his own glory, added to that of the vanquished. For the people were summoned to see him, as a rare spectacle; and the praetorian bands stood under arms in the field before their camp. Then first the servants and followers of the British king moved in procession, and the trappings and collars, and all he had taken in wars with his neighbours, were borne along; next came his brothers, his wife and daughter; and last himself, attracting the gaze of all. All the rest descended to humiliating supplications under the impulse of fear; but Caractacus, who seemed not to solicit compassion either by dejected looks or pitiful expressions, as soon as he was placed before the imperial tribunal, thus spoke: 37. " If my moderation in prosperity had been as great as my lineage was noble and my successes brilliant, I should have entered this city as a friend, rather than as a captive; nor would you then have disdained to receive a prince de1 Aulus Plautius (as mentioned c. 31, note) invaded Britain A.u.c. 796; from that time Caractacus proved an active and warlike chieftain in every campaign against the Romans. Tacitus is never better pleased than when he has an opportunity of doing justice to the chiefs of foreign nations, who distinguished themselves by their virtue, their courage, and their love of liberty. See his character of Alminius, Anhals, ii. 88, c, 38.j CARACTACUS AT ROME. 293 scended from illustrious ancestors, and the ruler of many nations, into terms of alliance. My present lot, as it is to me ignominious and degrading, so is it a matter of glory and triumph to you. I had men and arms, horses and riches; where is the wonder if I was unwilling to part with them? If you Romans aim at extending your dominion over all mankind, it does not follow that all men should take the yoke upon them. Had I at once been delivered into your hands a prisoner at discretion, neither had my fall nor your glory been thus signal. If you inflict punishment upon me, the affair will sink into oblivion; but if you preserve my life, I shall form an imperishable record of your clemency." Claudius upon this pardoned him, with his wife and his brothers. The prisoners released from their chains, did homage to Agrippina also, who at a short distance occupied another throne, in full view of the assembly, with the same expressions of praise and gratitude as they had employed to fhe emperor. A spectacle this, strange and unauthorized by the customs of our ancestors, for a woman to preside over the Roman ensigns. She herself claimed to be a partner in the empire which her ancestors had acquired. 38. The senate after this was assembled, when many and pompous encomiums were pronounced upon the capture of Caractacus; it was represented as an event " no less illustrious than when Syphax1 was by Publius Scipio, Perseus by Lucius Paulus, or any other conquered kings were by any of oui great captains, presented in chains to the Roman people." To Ostorius the triumphal ornaments were decreed; and thus far his administration had been successful; but it was afterwards chequered with misfortunes; whether it was, that upon the captivity of Caractacus, the war was thought concluded, and therefore less attention was paid to military matters; or that the enemy, in compassion for so great a king, sought revenge with more intense ardour. They poured down upon the praefect of the camp and legionary cohorts, left to rear fortified posts amongst the Silures; and but for speedy succours from the neighbouring towns and ports, our troops had then 1 Syphax, king of Numidia, was exhibited in the Carthaginian triumph of Scipio Africanus the elder, B.C. 201,-Perseus king of Macedonia, in the triumph over that country celebrated by JEmilius Paulus, B.C. 167. 294 THE ANNALS. LB. XII. been cut in pieces: as it was, the praefect himself and eight centurions were slain, with the most resolute of the soldiers; and soon after they entirely routed our foragers, and even the troops of horse sent to relieve them. 39. Ostorius then drew out the light-armed cohorts; nor was he thus able to stay the flight; nor would it have been effected had not the legions been brought into the field. By their powerful efforts the balance was first restored, and then turned in our favour. The enemy fled, but, as day was declining, with slight loss. Henceforward there were frequent encounters, many of them resembling skirmishes with plundering parties; sometimes in the woods, sometimes in morasses, as chance or valour led them; on the impulse of the moment, or advisedly; from resentment, or for booty; by command of their officers, and often without their knowledge, The Silures were the most determined of all; as they were incensed by an expression of the Roman general currently reported amongst them, "that their name must be utterly extinguished, as was that of the Sugambrians, who had been partly slain, and the rest transplanted into Gaul." They therefore cut off two auxiliary cohorts as they were plundering the country without due circumspection, from the avarice of their officers; and by distributing the spoil and captives amongst the neighbouring nations, they were drawing them also into the revolt, when Ostorius sinking under the weight of his anxieties, expired; to the great joy of the enemy, who considered that a formidable general had sunk under the effects of the campaign, though he had not fallen in battle. 40. The emperor apprised of the death of his lieutenant, that the province might not be without a governor, replaced him by Aulus Didius. On his arrival, after a quick voyage, he found that the cause had suffered; for the legion comr manded by Manlius Valens had in the meantime sustained a defeat: the report of which was magnified by the enemy, to terrify the new general; and aggravated by Didius himself, to gain greater glory if he quelled the rebellion, or a more plausible apology if it were protracted. This loss, too, we suffered from the Silures, who were making incursions on all hands, till Didius now set upon them and repulsed them. Their most accomplished leader, since the taking of Caractacus, was Venusius, of the city of the Jugantes, as I have c. 41.] NERO AND BRITANNICUS. 295 above mentioned; long faithful to the Romans, and protected by their arms during his marriage with the queen Cartismandua; but being afterwards divorced from her, and then immediately at war with her, he conceived hostile purposes towards us also. Their arms at first were only employed against each other; but the queen having by subtle stratagems possessed herself of the brother and other kindred of Venusius, the enemy became exasperated, and scorning the infamy of falling under the dominion of a woman,' assembled all their ablest and most warlike youth, and invaded her territories: an event foreseen by us; so that we had sent some cohorts to aid her, and a fierce battle ensued, in which the first onset was doubtful, but the issue successful. A similar fortune attended a battle fought by the legion commanded by Csesius Nasica. For Didius, oppressed with the weight of years and loaded with honours, was content to act by his lieutenants, and keep the foe in check. All these transactions, though spread over several years, under two proprietors, Ostorius and Didius, I have connected; lest, if interrupted, they should be less conveniently remembered. I now return to the order of time. 41. During the consulship of Claudius for the fifth time, with Servius Cornelius Orfitus, that Nero might appear qualified for entering upon state affairs, the manly gown was given him while under age. The emperor yielded willingly to the flattering decree of the senate; "that in his twentieth year he should enter on the consulship; and that meanwhile, as consul elect, he should be invested with proconsular authority out of the city, and be styled prince of the Roman youth." Moreover, in Nero's name a largess was bestowed upon the soldiers, and another upon the people: and, at the Circensian games, which were then solemnized, to gain for him the affections of the populace, Britannicus wore the praetexta, Nero the triumphal robe, in the procession. So that the people, beholding one in a general's robe, the other in the habit of a boy, might accordingly anticipate the destiny of both. At It is not to be inferred from this passage, that it was a general principle with the Britons not to acquiesce under a female reign. Boadicea, as will be seen hereafter, was queen of the Iceni, and she, at the head of her army just going to give battle, tells the soldiers, " It as not the first time that the Britons took the field under the conduct of a woman." Book xiv. 85 296 TUE ANNALS.. X[I. the same time, such of the centurions and tribunes as mani. tested any compassion for the lot of Britannicus, were remeved; some on pretence of honour, and all upon fictitious grounds: even those of the freedmen whose constancy was impregnable, were discarded on the following opportunity. The two young princes happening to meet, Nero saluted Britannicus by that name, and Britannicus him by that of Domitius.L This was represented to Claudius by Agrippina, in a tone of earnest grief, as the first step to dissension; for by it "' the adoption of Nero, decreed by the senate and ratified by the people, was repealed within the walls of the palace; and if the knavery of those who suggested these heartburnings were not repressed, it would issue in some public mischief." Claudius, exasperated by these representations, as if the charges were true, punished all the most virtuous of his son's tutors with exile or death; and appointed others, chosen by his stepmother, to watch over him. 42. Agrippina, however, dared not yet proceed to the accomplishment of her great design, unless Lusius Geta and Rufius Crispinus were first removed from the command of the prnetorian cohorts; as she belie ed that they revered the memory of Messalina, and were devoted to her children. Accordingly, on the strong representation of his wife, " that by the competition of two commanders, the guards were rent into factions; whereas, were they under the authority of one, they would be kept in stricter discipline," Claudius transferred the charge of these bands to Burrus Afranius, an officer of high repute, but well aware to whose suggestion he owed his advancement. Agrippina also began to assert her preeminence more studiously, and even to enter the Capitol in a chariot, a distinction which being of old allowed to none but the priests and things sacred, heightened the reverence of the people for a lady who, as the daughter, mother, sister, and wife of an emperor,' had no parallel in the history of previous i Compare Suet. Ner. 7: " Britannicum fratrem quod se post adop. tionem rEnobarbum ex consuetudine salutasset, ut subditivum apud patrem arguere conatus est." 2 Agrippina was the daughter of Gennanicus, sister of Caligula, the wife of Claudius, and the mother of Nero. Racine, who has many fine insertions trom Tacitus in his tragedy of Britannicus, has imitated this passage:" Moi, fille, femme, sceu-, et mere, de vos maitres." c. 44.J EARTHQUAKE8 AN;D FAMINE. 297 times. In the midst of this, her principal champion, Vitellius, in the height of favour, and the extremity of age (so precarious is the condition of favourites), was involved in an accusation, by Junius Lupus, a senator, who charged him with treason, and aspiring to the diadem. Claudius, too would have listened to the charge, had not Agrippina prevailed upon him, by menaces rather than prayers, to interdict the accusers from fire and water. Vitellius desired no more. 43. Many prodigies happened this year: birds of evil omen settled upon the Capitol; frequent earthquakes occurred, by which many houses were thrown down; and, in the general rush occasioned by the wide-spread panic, all the infirm people were trampled upon. A failure in the crops, and a famine consequent thereupon, was regarded as a prodigy. Nor were the complaints of the populace confined to murmurs; they even gathered round the prince with tumultuous clamours while administering justice, and driving him to the extremity of the forum, pressed upon him in a violent manner; till at length, by means of a compact body of soldiers, he forced his way through the incensed multitude. It is certain, there was then in Rome provision only for fifteen days; and it was by the signal bounty of the gods and the mildness of the winter, that the public was relieved in its urgent distress. And yet in former days, distant provinces were furnished with supplies from the districts of Italy; nor at this time was the distress owing to sterility; but we now choose to ply Africa and Egypt; and the lives of the Roman people are made dependent upon ships and casualties. 44. The same year, a war which broke out between the Armenians and Iberians, occasioned the most serious disturbance between the Parthians and Romans. Over the Parthians reigned Vologeses, who, though the son of a Greek concubine, nad by the cession of his brothers obtained the diadem. The kingdom of Iberia had been long held by Pharasmanes; and his brother Mithridates was, by our aid and procurement, possessed of Armenia. Pharasmanes had a son named Rhadamistus, of fine stature, and remarkably powerful; trained up in the politic arts of his father, and in high repute with the neighbouring nations. This man gave vent to his indignation, that the small kingdom of Iberia should be so long detained from him by the protracted life of his father, with too much 298 THE ANNALS. [B XIL frequency and passion, for his ambitious views to be concealed; Pharasmanes therefore reflecting upon his own declining age, and fearing his youthful son, who, possessing at the requisites for power himself, was supported by the affections of his subjects, diverted his aspirations to another object, and held out to him the prospect of gaining Armenia; observing, that "having expelled the Parthians, he had given it to Mithridates: but," he said, "all methods of violence must be postponed, and stratagem resorted to in preference, so as to crush him unawares." Thus Rhadamistus, feigning a quarrel with his father, as if he were overpowered by the malice of his stepmother, withdrew to his uncle; and, while treated by him with much kindness, as though he had been one of his own children, he drew the nobility of Armenia into a revolutionary plot; while Mithridates was ignorant of his conduct, and moreover distinguishing him with favours. 45. Then, under show of being reconciled to his father, he returned, and informed him, "that what might be effected by fraud, was in a train of ready accomplishment; the rest must be executed by military force." Pharasmanes, in the interval, employed himself in framing colourable pretences for hosti. lities: he declared, ' that, having applied to the Romans for aid, while he was at war with the king of the Albanians, his brother opposed it; and this injury he was now about to revenge with the destruction of its author." At the same time, he committed a numerous army to the conduct of his son; who, by a sudden invasion, dismayed Mithridates, drove him from the plains, and forced him to take refuge in the fortress of Gorneas,' a place naturally strong, and defended by a garrison of our soldiers, under the command of Celius Pollio tile prefect, and Casperius a centurion. In nothing are Barbarians more uninformed than in the use of the implements and devices employed in reducing fortified places; a department of military science with which we are particularly familiar. Thus Rhadamistus, having, without effect, or with loss, attempted to carry the works, commenced a siege, and. vhen his efforts of force were despised, he bribed the avarice I Gormeas, a castle in Armenia, according to D'Anville, now called KhorieiL The story of U1hadamistus and Zpnobia, which is here related by Tacitus, furnished Crebillon the French poet, with a subject for one of his best tragedies. WAR IN ARMENIA. "WI9 of the praefect, though Casperius implored him that a " confederate king, that Armenia, the gift of the Roman people, might not be sacrificed to villany and lucre." But at last, Pollio, pleading the multitude of tie enemy, and Rhadamistus the orders of his father, the centurion, having stipulated a truce, quitted the place, with the view either of deterring Pharasmanes from pursuing the war, or of informing Numidius Quadratus, governor of Syria, of the condition of Armenia. 46. By the departure of the centurion, Pollio being, as it were, discharged from the restraint of a keeper, recommended Mithridates to consent to a treaty, alleging "the ties of the fraternal relation, the seniority of Pharasmanes, and their other bonds of affinity; that he was himself espoused to his brother's daughter, and to Rhadamistus had given his own: that the Iberians, however then superior in forces, were not averse to peace; and the perfidy of the Armenians was sufficiently known: neither had he any other refuge than a castle, destitute of stores: he, therefore, ought not to scruple to prefer bloodless conditions to the casualties of war." But Mithridates hesitating to adopt this advice, and suspecting the counsels of the governor, as he had debauched a royal concubine, and was regarded as capable of being bribed to the commission of any of the acts which depraved appetites suggest; Casperius, meanwhile, reached Pharasmanes, and pressed him "to recall his Iberians from the siege." To his face he returned him equivocal answers; and frequently such as indicated a relaxation of his purpose, but warned Rhadamistus, by secret messengers, "to push the attack by every means." Hence the price of the treason was augmented to Pollio, who also privately corrupted the soldiers, and prompted them to demand peace, and threaten that they would abandon the garrison. Mithridates, under this compulsion, agreed to the time and place of capitulation, and went out of the castle. 47. Rhadamistus at first rushed into his arms, feigned all the marks of duty and obedience, and called him fathel and uncle; he even swore that he intended him no violence, either by poison or the sword; and drew him, at the same time, into a neighbouring grove, where the appointed sacrifice, he said, was prepared, that in the presence of the gods their 30O THE ANNALS. IB. XII. league of peace might be confirmed. It is a custom with these kings, when they form treaties, to join their right hands and tie their thumbs together, compressing them by a knot; and when the blood has flowed into these extremities, they give it vent by a slight puncture, and suck each other's blood. A league thus executed is esteemed most sacred and inviolable, as being sealed with the blood of both parties. But upon this occasion, he who was applying the bandage, pretending to fall, seized Mithridates by the knees, and threw him down; at the same time, a number of persons rushing upon him, he was manacled, and, what is considered an indignity by Barbarians, haled along by a chain. The people, too, whom he had ruled with rigour, assailed him with reproached, and threatened him with blows: some, on the contrary, commiserated so great a reverse of fortune; and his wife, who followed him with his little children, filled every place with her lamentations. They were shut up in different covered carriages, till the pleasure of Pharasmanes was ascertained. With him the lust of power prevailed over his regard for a brother or daughter; his heart was prepared for every enormity. He, however, avoided the horrid spectacle of murdering them openly. Rhadamistus, too, as if in observance of his oath, employed neither sword nor poison against his sister and uncle; but caused them to be thrown upon the ground, and smothered them beneath a quantity of heavy clothes. The children also of Mithridates, for shedding tears over the murder of their parents, were butchered. 48. Quadratus, learning that Mithridates had been the victim of treason, and that they who took his life had possession of his kingdom, summoned a council, and, representing these acts, sought their advice whether he should revenge them. Few were concerned for the public honour; most of them reasoned with considerations of security; " that all the atrocities of foreign nations ought to be matter of joy to the Romans; nay, the seeds of dissension should be sown among them; as frequently the Roman emperors, under colour of bestowing it as a gift, had made that same kingdom of Armenia a means of embroiling the Barbarians: Rhadamistus might continue to hold his ill-gotten acquisitions, provided it was with public detestation and infamy; since thus it served the interests of Rome more effectually than if he had obtained c. 50.] STORY OF ZENOBIA. 301 them with honour." This counsel was adopted; but that they might not seem to assent to the atrocity, and orders should be issued by the emperor to a contrary effect, they despatched a message to Pharasmanes, "to retire from the frontiers of Armenia, and recall his son." 49. Julius Pelignus was then procurator of Cappadocia; a man destitute of mental energy, and equally contemned from the oddity of his person, but in closest intimacy with Claudius, who, while yet a private man, was wont to relieve the dulness of an inactive life with the company of buffoons. This Pelignus drew together a body of auxiliary forces from the adjacent provinces, as if to reconquer Armenia: but, as he despoiled the allies more than the enemy, he was abandoned by his own men, harassed by the incursions of the Barbarians, and, bereft of all defence, he betook himself to Rhadamistus, by whose liberalities he was so overcome, that even unasked he exhorted him to assume the royal diadem, and even assisted in person at that solemnity, as its author and supported. When this disgraceful intelligence had gone forth, that the character of the other Roman commanders might not be judged by that of Pelignus, Helvidius Priscus was despatched at the head of a legion, with orders to apply remedies to the present disturbances, according to exigencies. Having with great rapidity crossed Mount Taurus, he had already restored tranquillity, in more instances by mild measures than by force, when an order came "( for his return into Syria, that there might be no occasion of war to the Parthians." 50. For Vologeses, believing that an opportunity now offered for invading Armenia,-a kingdom possessed by his ancestors, but now, by an act of atrocity, in the hands of a foreign king,-drew together an army, and prepared to conduct his brother Tiridates to the throne; that none of his house might live without imperial power. At the approach of the Parthians the Iberians fled without a battle, and the Armenian cities of Artaxata and Tigranocerta received the yoke. But a tempestuous winter, or scanty provision of stores, and the sickness arising from both, constrained Vologeses to relinquish his enterprise: so that the throne of Armenia, being once more vacant, was again invaded by Rhadamistus, now more incensed than before, as against those wiho had abandoned his cause, and who would rebel again on the 302 THE ANNALS. [B. XTI. first opportunity. But. though inured to servitude, by a sudden effort they shook off their apathy, and beset the palace in arms. 51. Nor was Rhadamistus saved by tnything but the fleetness of his horses, which enabled him to escape with his wife. She was advanced in pregnancy, yet, from dread of the enemy, and tenderness for her husband, she bore up at first, as well as she could, under the fatigue of the flight; but when, from the unremitted rapidity of their progress, her womb became affected by the motion, and internal palpitation arose, she besought him, to save her by an honourable death from the reproach and misery of captivity." At first, he embraced her, comforted and cheered her, now admiring her heroic spirit, now faint with fear, lest, if she were left, some other might possess her; at last, from excess of love, and familiarity with deeds of horror, he bared his scimitar, and wounding her. drew her to the banks of the Araxes, when he committed her to the flood; that even her body might be borne away. He himself fled with headlong speed till he reached Iberia, the kingdom of his father. Zenobia, meanwhile, (for such was her name,) was descried by shepherds, floating on the still shallows, breathing, and with manifest signs of life; and, as they gathered from the dignity of her aspect that she was of no mean rank, they bound up her wound, and applied their rustic medicines to it. And when they had learnt her name and adventures, they conveyed her to Artaxata; whence, at the public charge, she was conducted to Tiridates, who received her courteously, and treated her with the respect due to royalty. 52. In the consulship of Faustus Sylla and Salvius Otho, Furius Scribonianus suffered exile, as having " consulted the Chaldeans on the term of the prince's life." His mother Junia was arraigned with him, "as having borne with impatience her previous lot;" for she had been banished. Camillus, the father of Scribonianus, had levied war in Dalmatia: Claudius, therefore, courted the merit of clemency in again saving the life of a member of a disaffected family; but the exile did not long survive this proceeding,-whether he died a natural death, or by poison, was differently reported, accord ing to people's convictions. For expelling the astrologers from Italy, a decree of senate was passed, severe but powerless. The c. 53.] ON MARRIAGE WITI SLAVES. * 303 emperor then delivered a speech in praise of those senators, who, from the narrowness of their fortunes, voluntarily renounced their dignity; but such as adhered to it were degraded, as adding, he said, insolence to poverty. 53. During these transactions, a motion was made in the senate, to inflict a penalty upon ladies who married slaves; and it was ordained, "that she who thus debased herself, without the privity of the master of the slave, should be adjudged a slave; but, where he consented, she should be held as a slave manumitted." To Pallas, who was by Claudius declared to be the originator of this measure, the ornaments of the prsetorship, and fifteen millions of sesterces, were adjudged by Barea Soranus, consul elect. Cornelius Scipio added, "that public thanks should be given him; for that, being a descendant from the kings of Arcadia,1 he postponed his most ancient nobility, to the service of the senate, and deigned to be numbered amongst the ministers of the prince." Claudius gravely assured them, " that Pallas was satisfied with the honour, and would still live in his former poverty." Thus a decree of senate was engraven in brass, in which a franchised slave, possessing three hundred millions of sesterces, about two millions four hundred thousand pounds, was loaded with commendations for his primitive parsimony.2 I The origin of Pallas is here most absurdly traced by C. Scipio to the Arcadians who were said to have settled on the Palatine Mount, under Evander, and to have descended from a king Pallas. 2 Suetonius says that the law, of which Pallas was the first mover, was afterwards enforced by Vespasian, who caused a decree to pass, enacting that the woman who married the slave of another person should be deemed a slave. (Suet. in Vesp. s. 11.) Pliny the consul says that he himself saw, on the Tiburtine road, near the first mile. stone, a monument erected to the memory of Pallas, with an inscription, importing that the senate voted to Pallas the praetorian ornaments, and a sum of fifteen million of sesterces, as a reward for his fidelity, and regard for his patrons.. (See book vii. epidt. 29.) In a subsequent letter, Pliny mentions the same fact again. He states the words of the inscription: " Huic senatus, ob fidem pietatemque erga patronos, ornamenta pretoria decrevit, et sestertium centies quinquagies; cujus honore contentus fuit." Pliny adds that he had the curiosity to inspect the decree, and he found the inscription modest in ccmparison with the lavish praise bestowed upon an insolent upstart by the senate. Pallas refused the money; and, to complete the farce the senate voted that the emperor should request a manumitted slave to yield to the entreaty of the fathers. Pallas still persisted to reject the money, professing to have a soul above the love of wealth It was 304 THIE ANNATS. [B. XIL 54. His brother, surnamed Felix, for some time governor of Judea, acted not with the same moderation, but, relying upon such powerful protection, supposed he might perpetrate with impunity every kind of villany. It must be admitted that the Jews had exhibited some evidence of insurrection in the disturbance which broke out, since, after they were apprised of his assassination, they scarcely returned to obedience: their fears remained lest some of the succeeding emperors might lay the same injunctions upon them. Felix too, meanwhile, by applying unseasonable remedies, inflamed the disaffection, emulated, as he was, in his abandoned courses, by Ventidius Cumanlus, who held part of the province; the division being such, that Galilee was subject to Cumanus, and Samaria to Felix; nations long at variance, and now, from contempt of their rulers, less than ever restraining their reciprocal hate. Accordingly, mutual depredations were committed, bands of robbers employed, ambuscades formed, and sometimes battles fought, and the spoils and booty obtained were given to their governors, who, at first, rejoiced over it; but when the mischief increased, they interposed their troops, and their men were slain; and, but for the aid of Quadratus, ruler of Syria, the whole province had been in a blaze of war. Nor, in the proceedings against the Jews, who had carried their violence so far as to kill our soldiers, was there any hesitation about punishing them capitally: but Cumanus and Felix created some delay; for Claudius, upon hearing the causes of the revolt, had also granted a power to try and sentence the governors: but Quadratus, taking Felix up on the tribunal, exhibited him among the judges, to awe the zeal of his accusers: so that Cumanus alone was doomed to punishment, for the crimes which two had committed. Thus the tranquillity of the province was restored. 55. And not long after this, the tribes of Cilician boors, called Clitweans, that had before raised many insurrections, encamped under the conduct of Troxobor, in the district of their rugged mountains, and rushing down from thence upon the maritime regions and the cities, had the boldness decreed, that the honours of that arrogant wretch, as well those which he refused as those which he accepted, should be inscribed on brass,,Is a public and lasting monument. See the account at large, Pliny, lib. viii. epist. 6. .. 56.1 A MOCK SEA-FIGHT. 30.5 to assault the inhabitants and husbandmen, and, in frequent instances, the merchants and owners of trading vessels. They even besieged the city of Anemurium, and routed a body of horse sent from Syria to its relief, under the command of Curtius Severus: for the ground was of a rugged and difficult nature, and favourable to the operations of foot, but unsuited to those of cavalry. But afterwards, Antiochus, to whose dominion that coast belonged, having, by courtesies to the people, and by employing stratagem against their leader, broken up the union of the Barbarian forces, put to death Troxobor and a few more of the chiefs, and restored, the rest to obedience by methods of clemency. 56. About the same time, a passage having been cut through the mountain between the lake Fucinus and the river Liris;1 that a greater number of persons might be induced to come and see the magnificence of the work, a seafight was got up on the lake itself; in the same manner as Augustus before exhibited one upon an artificial pool on this side the Tiber, but with light ships, and fewer men. Claudius equipped galleys, of three and four banks of oars, and manned them with nineteen thousand mariners; surrounding the space2 with a line of rafts, to limit the means of escape, but giving room enough, in its circuit, to ply the oars, for the pilots to exert their skill, for the ships to be brought to bear down upon each other, and for all the usual operations in a seafight. Upon the rafts, parties of the prawtorian guards, foot and horse, were stationed, with bulwarks before them, from which catapults and balistas might be worked: the rest of the lake was occupied by marine forces, stationed on decked ships. The shores, the adjacent hills, and the tops of the mountains, were crowded with a countless multitude, many from the neighbouring towns, others from Rome itself; impelled either by desire to witness the spectacle, or in compliment to the prince; and exhibited the appearance of a vast theatre. The emperor presided, in a superb coat of mail, and, not far from him, Agrippina, in a mantle of cloth of gold.3 The battle, though between malefactors, was fought 1 Suetonius (Claud. s. 20) relates this important undertaking. 2 Brotier says the circumference of the lake was twenty-six miles. 3 Compare, " Nos vidimus Agrippinam Claudii principis, edente eo navalis praelii spectaculum, assidentem ei. indutam paludamento, auto tuxtili, sine aia maatteria."-Pliny, lib. xxxiii. 19. TAC. —VO]L. 1, X 306 THE ANNALS. [B. XIL with the spirit of brave men; and, after a great effusion of blood, they were excused from pursuing the carnage to extremity. 57. When the spectacle was concluded, the channel through which the water passed off was exhibited to view, when the negligence of the workmen became manifest, as the work was not carried to the depth of the bottom or centre of the lake. The excavations were, therefore, after some time, extended to a greater depth; and, to draw the multitude once more together, a show of gladiators was exhibited upon bridges laid over it, in order to display a fight of infantry. Moreover, an erection for the purpose of a banquet, at the embouchure of the lake, occasioned great alarm to the whole assembly; for, the force of the water rushing out, carried away whatever was near it, shook and sundered what was more distant, or terrified the guests with the crash and noise. At the same time, Agrippina, converting the emperor's alarm to her purposes, charged Narcissus, the director of the work, with avarice and robbery: nor did Narcissus suppress his indignation, but charged Agrippina with "the overbearing spirit of her sex, and with extravagant ambition." 58. During the consulship of Decimus Junius and Quintus Haterius, Nero, now in the sixteeenth year of his age, espoused Octavia the daughter of Claudius; and, to give his character the lustre of a devotion to honourable pursuits, and, the fame of eloquence, he undertook the cause of the Ilians, and, having floridly represented the Romans as descendants from Troy, and IEneas as the founder of the Julian race, with other old traditions not very unlike fables, he obtained for the Ilians immunity from all public charges. By the rhetoric of the same advocate, the colony of Bononia, which had suffered grievously by fire, was relieved by a bounty of ten millions of sesterces. To the Rhodians, too, was restored their liberty, which had been often withdrawn and re-established, according as they obliged us by their assistance in foreign wars, or provoked us by their seditions at home: and to the city of Apa nea, overturned by an earthquake, a remission of tribute ior five years was granted. 59. Claudius, on the contrary, was compelled to propose all the measures of excessive cruelty, by the arts of that same Agrippina, who, as she longed for the gardens of Statilius c. 60.] POWER OF THIM PRtOCURATORS. 3(,7 Taurus, a nobleman of distinguished wealth, procured his ruin by an accusation conducted by Tarquitius Priscus, who was the lieutenant of Taurus when he was proconsul of Africa, and who, on their return, brought against him a few charges of public plunder, but eked them out with that of magical practices. Taurus unable longer to endure the malice of the false accuser and the ignominy of imputed guilt, without waiting for the decision of the senate, laid violent hands upon himself. Tarquitius was, however, expelled the senate: a point which, impelled by detestation of the informer, the fathers succeeded in carrying, as a check to the intrigues of Agrippina. 60. This year, the prince was frequently heard to declare, i" that the judicial decisions of the imperial procurators ought to be regarded as equally valid with his own; and, that he might not seem to have uttered this sentiment unadvisedly, a decree of the senate also was passed, providing for it more explicitly and fully than heretofore: for the deified Augustus had ordained, that the knights who ruled Egypt should act judicially, and that the decisions pronounced by them should be equally valid with those of the Roman magistrates: soon after, this jurisdiction of the knights was extended to other provinces; and even in Rome itself, many things formerly taken cognisance of by the praetors, were passed over to them. Claudius now conferred upon them universal jurisdiction; that same jurisdiction for which so many seditions had been raised, and so much blood shed, when, by the Sempronian law,l the equestrian order was invested with the power of judicature, and when, again, the Servilian law gave it back to the senate, and when, too, it formed the chief incitement of the wars between Marius and Sylla. But, in those days, different orders of the state were opposed to each other, and the party that prevailed determined public regulations according to their pleasure. Caius Oppius and Cornelius Balbus were the first individuals who, by the influence of Caesar, werq I Caius Sempronius Gracchus was the author of a law in favour of the Roman knights, A.u.c. 632. He added three hundred of the equestrian order to the same number of senators, and vested in that body all judicial authority. The Servilian law, introduced by Quintus Servilius Ceepio, in his consulship A.U.c. 648, repealed the Sempronian institution, and restored the jurisdiction of the senate. x2 308 IBE ANNALS. IB. XII. enabled to settle the terms of peace, and dictate in affairs f war. It would be to no purpose to recount, after these, the Matii and Vedii, and the names of other Roman knights, to which a predominant influence was attached, when Claudius put upon an equality with himself and the laws, the freedmen whom he had set over his household affairs. 61. He then proposed to grant to the inhabitants of Cos an immunity from impositions, and gave a copious account of their antiquity; "how the Argives, or Coeus, the father of Latona, first settled in that island; and that soon after, the healing art was introduced there by the arrival of.Esculapius; an art cultivated chiefly amongst his descendants:" whcse names he severally rehearsed, marking the times in which each flourished. He moreover stated, that " Xenophon, his own physician, was a branch of the same family, and to his supplications it ought to be granted, that his countrymen, the people of Cos, should be for ever discharged from all tribute, and only attend to the cultivation of an island sacred to that deity, and solely dedicated to his service." Nor is there any question, that many good offices of theirs towards the Roman people might have been alleged, and even victories gained by their aid; but Claudius, with his usual complaisance, did gnot disguise by auxiliary considerations derived from any pther source, a concession he had resolved to make to one individual.,62. The deputies from Byzantium,' when on their hearing before the senate they prayed relief from their heavy impositions, recapitulated everything from the first, beginning with the league which they had struck with us, what time we maintained a war against that king of Macedon, who from his degeneracy was surnamed Pseudophilippus:' the forces sent by them subsequently against Antiochus, Perseus, and Aristonicus,3 the assistance given to Antonius in the piratical Now Constantinople. 2 An obscure man of the name of Andriscus pretended to be the son of Perseus. He was found to be an impostor, and therefore called Pseudophilippus He was defeated and taken prisoner by Metellus, A.u.c. 606. 3 Antiochus III., king of Syria, waged war against the Romans, and was conquered by Lucius Cornelius Scipio, A.u.c. 564. Perseus, king of Macedonia, was subdued by Paulus MEmilius, A..oc. 586. Aristoaicus invaded Asia, and was overthrown by Pirpenna, A.u.C. 623. c. 64.1 RELIEF GRANTED THE BYZANTINES. war; with the aids offered to Sylla, Lucullus, and Pompey;1 then the recent services to the Ctesars, when they occupied those regions which were convenient at once for securing the transit of our generals and armies, and the conveyance of provisions. 63. For Byzantiumwas founded by the Greeks, at the extreme verge of Europe, upon the very narrow strait which separates Europe from Asia. Thither the founders were directed by an oracle of the Pythian Apollo, who, when asked by them where they should build a city, replied, " that they should seek a situation opposite to the habitations of blind men." By this riddle the Chalcedonians were intimated; who, having come before them into those parts, and seen before them the advantages of this shore, had yet chosen an inferior place. For Byzantium is situated on a fertile soil and a productive sea; for countless shoals of fish, which, pouring out of the Pontus shun the curvature of the other coast, as they are frightened by the slanting rocks beneath the waters, are brought directly to these ports.2 Whence at first the gain and wealth of the Byzantines; but, afterwards oppressed by the amount of their impositions, they now besought that they might be extinguished or reduced; the emperor supporting their petition, who represented them as having lately suffered in the war of Thrace, and in that of Bosporus, and as deserving relief. They were therefore discharged from tribute for five years. 64. In the consulship of Marcus Asinius and Marcus Acilius, the frequency of prodigies was considered as portending a change of affairs for the worse. The ensigns of the scldiers and their tents were scorched with fire from heaven: a swarm of bees settled upon the cupola of the Capitol: children were born of compound forms; and a pig was farrowed with the talons of a hawk. Amongst the prodigies also was reckoned, that the number of every order of magistrates was 1 The people of Cilicia fitted out a number of armed ships, and overran the Mediterranean. This was called the Piratic War. Marcus Antonius, son of the famous orator of that name, and father of Antony the triumvir, was sent to clear the seas of those roving freebooters, A.u.c. 684. In the year 687, the same commission was given to Pompey. See Velleius Paterculus, lib. ii. s. 31; and Cicero, Pro Lege Manilia. 2 For a fuller description of this and the neighbouring coast, see Pliny, IH. N. ix. 15. 310 THE ANNALS. [B. XII. then curtailed; a quaestor, an redile, a tribune, a pretor, and a consul being all deceased within a few months. But great above all was the fear of Agrippina: in consequence of a say ing of Claudius, uttered heedlessly in his wine, " that he was fated to bear the iniquities of his wives, and then to punish them;" whence she determined to be on the alert, and prevent him; but first to destroy Domitia Lepida, from motives peculiar to her sex. For Lepida, who was the daughter of the younger Antonia,l the great-niece of Augustus, and sister to Cneius Domitius (once husband to the present Agrippina), accounted herself of equal nobility with the other: neither did they differ much in beauty, age, or wealth: both lewd, infamous, and tyrannical; nor less rivals in vice than in such advantages as they derived from fortune. Vehement indeed was the contention between them, whether the aunt or mother should acquire the predominance with Nero: for Lepida laboured to engage his youthful mind, by caresses and liberalities; while Agrippina, on the contrary, treated him with sternness and threats; for though she could confer the sovereignty upon her son, she could not bend to his authority. 65. But to proceed: the crimes charged upon Lepida were, " that she had assailed by imprecations the emperor's marriage-bed; and by neglecting to restrain the tumultuous behaviour of her bands of slaves in Calabria, disturbed the peace of Italy." For, these imputations she was doomed to die, notwithstanding the laboured opposition of Narcissus, who was now become more and more suspicious of Agrippina; insomuch that he is said to have disclosed to his acquaintances, " that certain destruction awaited him, whether Britannicus or Nero succeeded to the empire; but such had been the favour of the emperor towards him, that for the benefit of his master he would lay down his life. Under Claudius he had procured the conviction and doom of Messalina and of Silius; and under Nero (if Nero came to reign) there would be similar grounds for accusation; if Britannicus succeeded, he had no claim to favour from him. The imperial house was now torn piecemeal by the intrigues of a stepmother; and to conAccording to Suetonius, she was descended from the elder Antnui;a, daughter of M. Anltony the triumvir, and Octavia, sister of A llugitus. ao. 67.] CLAUDIUS POISONED. 311 ceal them would involve a deeper guilt than to have suppressed the lewdness of the emperor's former wife; though neither in truth was his present wife free from prostitution, as Pallas was notoriously her adulterer; so that no man could doubt that she holds in contempt her character, her chastity, her person, everything, in comparison with dominion." While uttering these and similar sentiments with deep emotion, he embraced Britannicus, and " prayed that he might as speedily as possible attain to maturity and vigour;" his hands now uplifted to the gods, now extended towards the young prince, he exclaimed, " Oh! that he may arrive at man's estate. Oh! may he put to flight the enemies of his father! Ay, and be revenged even on the murderers of his mother!" 66. In the midst of this vast accumulation of anxieties, Claudius was attacked with illness, and for the recovery of his health had recourse to the soft air and salubrious waters of Sinuessa.' It was then that Agrippina, long since bent upon the impious deed, and eagerly seizing the present occasion, well furnished too as she was with wicked agents, deliberated upon the nature of the poison she would use. whether, " if it were sudden and instantaneous in its operation, the desperate achievement would not be brought to light: if she chose materials slow and consuming in their operation, whether Claudius, when his end approached, and perhaps having discovered the treachery, would not resume his affection for his son." Something of a subtle nature was therefore resolved upon, "such as would disoider his brain and require time to kill." An experienced artist in such preparations was chosen, her name Locusta; lately condemned for poisoning, and long reserved as one of the instruments of ambition. By this woman's skill the poison was prepared: to administer it was assigned to Halotus, one of the eunuchs, whose office it was to serve up the emperor's repasts, and prove the viands by tasting them. 67. In fact, all the particulars of this transaction were soon afterwards so thoroughly known, that the writers of those times are able to recount, " how the poison was poured into a dish of mushrooms, of which he was particularly fond; but whether it was that his senses were stupified, or from 1 Sinuessa, in Campania. The waters of this place are recommended for their salubrity by Pliny the elder, lib. xxxi. 2. 312 THE ANNALS. [B. XII. the wine he had drunk, the effect of the poison was not immediately perceived:" at the same time a relaxation of the intestines seemed to have been of service to him: Agrippina therefore became dismayed; but as her life was at stake, she thought little of the odium of her present proceedings, and called in the aid of Xenophon the physician, whom she had already implicated in her guilty purposes. It is believed that he, as if he purposed to assist Claudius in his efforts to vomit, put down his throat a feather besmeared with deadly poison; not unaware that in desperate villanies the attempt without the deed is perilous, while to ensure the reward they must be done effectually at once. 68. The senate was in the meantime assembled, and the consuls and pontiffs were offering vows for the recovery of the emperor, when, already dead, he was covered with clothes, and warm applications, to hide it till matters were arranged for securing the empire to Nero. First there was Agrippina, who feigning to be overpowered with grief, and anxiously seeking for consolation, clasped Britannicus in her arms, called him "the very model of his father," and by various artifices withheld him from leaving the chamber: she likewise detained Antonia and Octavia, his sisters; and had closely guarded all the approaches to the palace: from time to time too she gave out that the prince was on the mendl; that the soldiery might entertain hopes till the auspicious moment, predicted by the calculations of the astrologers, should arrive. 69. At last, on the thirteenth day of October, at noon, the gates of the palace were suddenly thrown open, and Nero, accompanied by Burrus, went forth to the cohort, which, according to the custom of the army, was keeping watch. There, upon a signal made by the prefect, he was received with shouts of joy, and instantly put into a litter. It was reported, that there were some who hesitated, looking back anxiously, and frequently asking, where was Britannicus? but as no one came forward to oppose it, they embraced the choice which was offered them. Thus Nero was bcrne to the camp, where, after a speech suitable to the exigency, and the promise of a largess equal to that of the late emperor his father, he was saluted emperor. The voice of the soldiers was followed by the decrees of the senate; nor was D. 69.] NERO SUCCEEDS TO THE EMPIRE. 313 there any hesitation in the several provinces. To Claudius were decreed divine honours, and his funeral obsequies were solemnized with the same pomp as those of the deified Augustus; Agrippina emulating the magnificence of her greatgrandmother Livia. His will, however, was not rehearsed, lest the preference of the son of his wife to his own son might excite the minds of the people by its injustice and baseness. BOOK XIII. 1. TEE first death under the new prince was that of Junius Silanus,' proconsul of Asia; it was brought about by the stratagems of Agrippina, without the privity of Nero: it was not that he had provoked his fate by turbulence of spirit, having lived in such a state of indolence, and even contempt, during the late reigns, that Caligula was wont to call him the golden sheep. But Agrippina feared that he might avenge the murder of his brother Lucius Silanus, at her hands: a rumour being current that as "Nero had scarcely arrived at manhood, and had acquired the empire by iniquity, a man like Silanus, of stayed and mature age, of unblemished character, of illustrious descent, and (what was then much looked to) of the lineage of the Caesars, was to be preferred to him." For Silanus was also the great-grandson of the deified Augustus. Such was the cause of his doom: the instruments were Publius Celer, a Roman knight. and Helius, a freedman; both employed to manage the emperor's domestic revenue in Asia. By them poison was administered to the proconsul at a banquet, so openly, that they could not escape detection. With no less precipitation Narcissus, the late emperor's freedman, whose vituperations of Agrippina I have related,2 was driven to put an end to his existence, by rigorous imprisonment and the extremity of destitution. This proceeding took place in opposition to ' This was Marcus Junius Silanus, the son of Junius Silanus and,Emilia Lepida, the grandaughter of Augustus. 2 See Annals, xii. 57, 65. 314 TIHE ANNALS. [B. XIU. the wishes of the prince, whose vices, as yet undeveloped, were marvellously assimilated to the avarice and prodigality which marked the character of Narcissus. 2. And they were proceeding to more deeds of blood, had not Afranius Burrus and Annaus Seneca presented an obstacle to it. They were the tutors of the emperor's youth; lived in harmony with each other; which is rarely the case with associates in power; and possessed an equal influence, arising from accomplishments of a different kind. Burrus was distinguished for his assiduous attention to military affairs, and strictness of moral discipline; Seneca for his lessons in eloquence, and the elegant propriety of his manners: each assisting the other, that they might the more easily restrain the prince, at his perilous time of life, within the limits of unforbidden pleasures, should he be disinclined to virtuous pursuits. One constant struggle they had both to maintain against the fierce spirit of Agrippina, who, burning with every lust of lawless dominion, was supported in her designs by Pallas; at whose instance Claudius, by an incestuous marriage and a disastrous adoption, had worked his own ruin. But Nero's temper was not to be controlled by slaves; and Pallas having exceeded the limits of a freedman's licence, had by his insufferable arrogance moved the disgust of Nero. Upon Agrippina, however, in public, he accumulated all kinds of honours; and to a tribune who, according to military practice, desired the watchword, gave " The best of mothers;" by the senate, also, two lictors were decreed her, with the office of priestess to Claudius. At the same time a censorial funeral was decreed to Claudius, and soon afterwards deification. 3. On the day of the funeral, the encomium of the prince was pronounced by Nero; and while he recorded the antiquity of his lineage, the consulships, the triumphs of his ancestors, he spoke with fervour, and the whole assembly listened with deep emotion; the mention also of his liberal accomplishments, and the observation that during his reign no calamity from foreigners had befallen the state, met with a ready response in the minds of the auditory. But when once he deviated into a commemoration of his wisdom and foresight, not a soul could refrain from laughter; though the speech, which was the composition of Seneca, exhibited NERO'S SPEECH IN THE SENATE. 315 many indications of a cultivated taste, for the genius of that distinguished man was graceful and agreeable, and suited to the ears of the age in which he lived. Old men, who make it their recreation to compare the present and the past, took notice, that Nero was the first Roman emperor who required the aid of another's eloquence: for Caesar the dictator rivalled the most distinguished orators; and the eloquence of Augustus was prompt and flowing, as became a prince: Tiberius also possessed the art, so far as nicely balancing his words; his meaning, too, was forcibly expressed when he did not study to be ambiguous: even the disordered mind of Caligula impaired not his power of speaking: nor in Claudius would you desiderate elegance whenever his speech was premeditated: Nero, from his early childhood, turned his vivid intellect to other pursuits, carving, painting, singing, and the manege; sometimes too, in the composition of poems, he showed that he was initiated in the elements of literature. 4. To proceed: having finished these mockeries of sorrow, he repaired to the senate, where, after referring to the autherity of the fathers, and the concurrence of the soldiery, he set forth the counsels and models by following which he hoped to administer the affairs of empire in the best manner; nis youth, he said, had not been mixed up with civil dissensions or domestic broils: he brought with him no'animosities, no sense of injuries received, no desire of revenge. He then laid down his future plan of government; pointedly repudiating those practices, the odium of which was still fresh and vehement; " for," he said, " he would not be the judge in all affairs, in order that, the accusers and the accused being shut up in one house,1 the influence of a few favourites might bear down everything. In his house there should be nothing venal; nothing pervious to the arts of ambition; that his family concerns and the affairs of the state should be kept distinct. The senate should retain its ancient functions: that Italy, and the provinces of the people, should address themselves to the tribunals of the consuls, and they should give them access to the senate. He would himself provide for the provinces and the armies committed to the prince."2 I See the trial of Valerius Asiaticus in the apartment of Claudius, Annals, xi. 2. ' This speech gave universal satisfaction. It was, probably, written 316 THE ANNALS. Li. XIl. 5. Nor did he fail in his professions; many regulations were mgade by the independent authority of the senate; such as, that no advocate should defend a cause for fee or reward; that the quaestors-elect even should be no longer obliged to exhibit gladiatorial spectacles.' All which was opposed by Agrippina, as rescinding the acts of Claudius; but was carried by the fathers, who were designedly assembled in the palace, that she might take her stand by a door which was covered on the back with tapestry, separated from them by a curtain which intercepted the sight, but did not prevent her hearing. Nay, when the ambassadors from Armenia were pleading before Nero the cause of their nation, she was proceeding to ascend the imperial tribunal, and to preside jointly with the emperor, if Seneca, while the rest fixed their eyes immoveably upon the earth through fear, had not suggested to him " to meet his mother." Thus, under the guise of filial reverence, this indignity was prevented. 6. At the close of the year, alarming reports reached the city, " that the Parthians having broke out into fresh hostilities, were seizing Armenia, having expelled Rhadamistus," who, having often made himself master of that kingdom, and as often been compelled to abandon it, had now, too, quitted the field. At Rome, therefore, where the people are so eager to gossip, they began to inquire, "how a prince scarce past his seventeenth year, could undertake so heavy a charge; how ward off the menaced danger? what dependence could the state repose in one governed by a woman? could battles, too, be fought, towns stormed, aid all the other operations of war be conducted, by means of his tutors2" Others, on the contrary, maintained " that it was better thus than if Claudius, under all the defects of old age and a naturally inactive spirit, had been summoned to the cares and fatigues of a campaign, subject as he would have been to the commands of slaves. Burrus and Seneca were known for men of consummate experience in affairs; and to the emby Seneca. While it promised a reign of moderation, it served to give the young prince a lesson on the true and popular arts of government. Dio tells us, that the senate ordered it to be engraved on a pillar of solid silver, and to be publicly read every year at the time when the consuls entered on their magistracy. Dio. lib. lxi. This corrupt practice, which was nothing less than open bribery, was established by law in the reign of Claudils. Annals, xi. 22. AFFAIRS IN THE EAST. I1 7 peror himself how little was wanting of mature age; when Pompey, in his eighteenth year, and Octavius Caesar, in his nineteenth, each sustained the weight of a civil war? that many military operations were conducted more successfully under the auspices and counsels of princes, than if they were present themselves, bearing arms, and fighting with their own hands: Nero would give a manifest proof whether he employed worthy or unworthy counsellors; if, uninfluenced by the suggestions of jealousy, he chose a general preeminent for his virtues, rather than, yielding to the arts of court intrigue, selected one recommended by his wealth and supported by interest." 7. While the public were occupied in these and similar remarks, Nero ordered the recruits, raised through the neighbouring provinces to supply the legions in the East, to be brought up, and the legions themselves to be posted near to Armenia: and those ancient kings, Agrippa and Antiochus,' to draw out their forces to invade the territories of the Parthians; and also that bridges should be thrown over the Euphrates. To Aristobulus he committed the lesser Armenia; and the region of Sophene to Sohemus, with the insignia of royalty. There arose, too, a rival to Vologeses in the person of his son Vardanes: hence the Parthians withdrew from Armenia, as if they meant to postpone the war. 8. But, in the senate, all this was spoken of in exaggerated terms by such as voted " supplications, and that on the days of the supplications the prince should wear the triumphal robe; that he should enter the city in ovation, and that a statue should be erected to him of the same dimensions with that of Mars the Avenger, and in the same temple." Besides the habit of adulation, they were impelled by joy that he had appointed Domitius Corbulo for the duty of retaining Armenia; it seemed to open a place and standing for virtue. The forces in the East were so divided, that part of the auxiliaries, with two legions, should remain in Syria, under the command of Ummidius Quadratus, governor of the province; that an equal number of Romans and allies should be with 1 Agrippa was king of Judea, son of the Agrippa mentioned above, in book xii. 23. Antiochus, of Commagene. 2 The Lesser Armenia was on this side of the Euphrates. Aristo bulus was the son of Herod, who formerly reigned in Chalcis. 318 THE ANNALS. [B. XIIL Corbulo, with an addition of the cohorts and cavalry that wintered in Cappadocia. The confederate kings were directed to act in submission to their orders, according to the exigencies of the war: but their affections were more devoted to Corbulo; who, in subservience to fame, which in all infant enterprises exercises a most potent sway, marched with great expedition; but at Egeae, a city of Cilicia, he was met by Quadratus, who advanced thither, lest Corbulo, if he lad entered Syria to receive his forces there, should draw upon him the eyes of all men; majestic as he was in person, an effective speaker, and, in addition to his wisdom and experience, deriving influence from the imposing effect of things worthless in themselves. 9. Both however warned Vologeses by messages, "to prefer peace to war, and by delivering hostages to continue to the Roman people the reverence wont to be paid by his ancestors." Vologeses, to give himself the opportunity to prepare for war, or under the name of hostages to get rid of suspected rivals, handed over the most illustrious of the Arsacidse; who were received by Insteius, the centurion, who went to the king for that purpose, having, as it happened, been sent there on some previous business by Numidius. When Corbulo knew this, he ordered Arrius Varus, preefect of a cohort, to go and take them; hence a quarrel arose between the centurion and the prefect; but, to prevent the continuance of such an exhibition to foreign nations, it was left to the arbitration of the hostages themselves and the deputies who conducted them: and they preferred Corbulo, in regard of his recent fame, and from a kind of prepossession even in enemies. This led to a dissension between the generals: Numidius complained that the acquisitions of his prudence were snatched out of his hands; Corbulo, on the contrary, maintained that the king had not been indcuced to give hostages, till he, being appointed to conduct the war, had changed his hopes into fear. Nero, to heal the difference, ordered it to be made known, "that for the successes of Quadratus and Corbulo, the laurel should be added to the imperial fasces." Though these transactions extended to the years of other consuls, I have given them in succession. 10. The same year, Nero applied to the senate for a statue to his father Domitius, and for the consular ornaments to INFLUENCE OF ACTE. 319 Asconius Labeo, who had been his tutor. Statues to himself of solid silver and gold he forbad, in opposition to those who offered them; and notwithstanding an ordinance of the senate, that the year for the future should begin in December, the month in which Nero was born, he retained the ancient solemnity of beginning the year with the calends of January. Neither would he admit a prosecution against Carinas Celer the senator, preferred by a slave; nor against Julius Densus, a knight, whose attachment to Britannicus was objected to him as a crime. 11. In the consulship of Nero and Lucius Antistius, as the magistrates were swearing upon the acts of the emperors, Nero prohibited Antistius, his colleague, from swearing upon his: a conduct highly applauded by the fathers, in order that his youthful mind, elevated by the glory resulting from even light things, might proceed in that course. Then followed an instance of his mercy towards Plautius Lateranus,1 formerly degraded from the senatorial order for adultery with Messalina, whom he now restored: pledging himself to clemency in frequent speeches, which, either to show the purity of the precepts he instilled, or in ostentation of his talents, Seneca gave to the world by the mouth of the emperor. 12. Meanwhile, the authority of his mother became gradually impaired, Nero having fallen in love with a freedwoman, named Acte,2 having also taken as his confidants Otho3 and Claudius Senecio; the first of a consular family, the other a son 6f one of Claudius's freedmen; two handsome lads, who, first unknown to his mother, and then in spite of her, by companionship in luxury and in suspicious secrets, had insinuated themselves deep into his good graces: nor did even his older friends thwart this intrigue; when with a woman of low condition, to the injury of no man, the prince satisfied his youthful inclinations and pleasures: for he abominated Octavia his wife, a woman of illustrious birth and approved virtue, whether it was some fatality, or that forbidden pursuits were more attractive for him. And I For Plautius Lateranus, see Annals, xL 36. 2 Acte was a purchased slave from Asia. Suetonius says that Nero, being at one time determined to marry her, suborned several men of consular rank to swear that she was of royal descent. Suet. in N( ron. B. 28. s Otho, afterwards emperor. 320 THEI ANNALS. LB. XIM it was feared that, if prohibited this indulgence, he might throw off all restraint and assail the virtue of illustrious females. 13. But Agrippina, with the impatience of her sex, gave vent to her indignation, "that a freedwoman was brought into competition with her, and that a handmaid was her daughter-in-law," with other similar invectives: she would not wait till her son repented, or was surfeited; but the fouler her reproaches were, the more vehemently she inflamed his passion: so that, overcome at last by its influence, he put off all reverence for his mother, and submitted himself to the direction of Seneca, whose friend Annweus Serenus' threw a veil over the prince's youthful passion for Acte, by feigning to be enamoured of her himself, and lending his name, to all appearance bestowed upon her the presents which Nero secretly furnished. Upon this Agrippina resorted to other arts, and assailed the youth with blandishments: she offered him "her own chamber, that there, and even within her own arms, he might more covertly accomplish whatever the warmth of youth and sovereign fortune prompted him to" She even acknowledged her unseasonable rigour, and placed at his disposal her own wealth; which was not far short of the imperial treasures: as she had lately been over-strict in checking her son, so now, on the other hand, running into the extreme of submissive indulgence. Nero remarked this change; his most confidential friends dreaded it, and besought him "' to beware of treachery in a woman habitually daring, and now acting under a mask." It happened about that time, that as Nero was surveying the splendid apparel in which the wives and mothers of the emperors were wont to glitter, lie selected a vesture and jewels, and sent them as a present to his mother, in a spirit of unreserved liberality; for without solicitation he presented to her the choicest things, and what others coveted: but Agrippina openly asserted "that the effect of these presents was not to furnish her own wardrobe, hut preclude her from the rest of the imperial treasures; and that her son gave her only a portion of what he owed wholly to her." Nor were there wanting those who related these expressions with aggravations. X Annaeus Serenus was high in the esteem and friendship of Senwat, as appears, Epist. lxiii a. 15.] MENACES OF AGRIPPINL.. 321 14. Nero, incensed with those who upheld the imperious spirit of Agrippina, dismissed Pallas' from the employment which he had received from Claudius, and in consequence of which he assumed to be the absolute master of the empire: and it is reported that, as he went down from the palace, with a numerous train of followers, Nero remarked not inappropriately, that " Pallas was going to swear himself insolvent.' Pallas had, certainly, stipulated " that he should be questioned for no part of his past conduct; and that his accounts with the public should be considered as balanced." After this Agrippina abandoned herself to a system of terrorism and menace, and went so far as even to protest in the emperor's hearing " that Britannicus was now grown up, a genuine issue, and worthy to succeed to that empire of his father, which a son adopted and engrafted, swayed by trampling upon his mother: she was not unwilling that all the calamities of the hapless house should be laid bare; above all, her own incestuous marriage, her own guilt in poisoning her husband: one only resource, by the providence of the gods and her own foresight, remained to her-her stepson was still alive: with him she would repair to the camp; where, on one side, would be heard the daughter of Germanicus, on the other, the impotent Burrus and the exile Seneca; one with a maimed hand, the other with the tongue of a pedagogue, pressing their claim to govern the world." At the same time, with violent gesticulations, she heaped reproaches upon him, invoked the deified Claudius, the manes of the Silani in the regions below, and recounted the many atrocities she had perpetrated to no purpose. 15. Nero was discomposed at these proceedings, and as the Pallas was the person who prevailed on Claudius to contract an incestuous marriage with his niece Agrippina. From that time his influence was beyond all bounds. Suetonius says he was the prince's treasurer: "{ Pallantem a rationibus." The decree of the senate in honour of this insolent freedman has been mentioned, Annals, xii. 53, and note. Suetonius says, that Pallas and Narcissus plundered the public with such violent rapacity, that Claudius at length complained of the impoverished state of his exchequer; when it was archly said, "his coffers would be full enough if his two freedmen would take him into partnership." (Suet. in Claud. s. 28.) The dismission of such a man from court, and all his employments, was a fatal blow to Agrippina. The speech in which she gives vent to her indignation is finely imitated by Racine, in his tragedy of Britanunous. TAC.-VOL. I. Y O22 THE ANNALS. (B. XIII, day was approaching when Britannicus completed his fourteenth year, he revolved within himself, now upon the ungo. ernable spirit of his mother, now upon the natural parts of the prince himself, as they were lately discovered and proved by an incident of slight consequence in itself, but by which he had attracted general favour. During the festival of the iaturnalia,' among other sports practised by those of the same age with him, they drew lots who should be king of the play, when the lot fell upon Nero: he therefore gave to all the rest distinct commands, yet such as exposed them to no ridicule: and when he ordered Britannicus to rise, and advancing to the zentre to begin some song, he expected that the boy would bezome an object of derision, unhabituated as he was to sober society, and much more so to drunken revels; but with perfect self-possession he pronounced some verses, which imported how "he was thrown out of his father's throne and imperial power." Hence he drew compassion from those who heard him, the more unequivocal, as the midnight hour and extravagant mirth had banished dissimulation. Nero, struck with the invidious application, conceived a still stronger aversion to him; and, urged to despatch by the menaces of Agrippina, as he had no crime to allege against his brother, and dared not command his execution openly, he set about a secret machination: he ordered poison to be prepared; and as his instrument employed Julius Pollio, tribune of a praetorian cohort, in whose custody was kept the woman named Locusta, who was under sentence for poisoning, and was notorious for her many iniquities. For care had been long since taken that those who were about the person of Britannicus should be such as had no sense of virtue or honour. The first poison he took was even administered by the hanct of his tutors, but he voided it in an alvine evacuation; whether it wanted energy, or had been qualified so as not to act with sudden violence. Nero, who was impatient at the tardy execution of the guilty deed, began to threaten the tribune, and doom the sorceress to?xecution, "for that whilst they were looking to public I The Saturnalia began on the seventeenth of December, and lasted fifteen days. Horace says to his slave, who wants to exercise the eguality a2,wed during the festival,"Age, libertate Decembri, Quando ita majores voluerunt, utet. BRITANNICUS POISONED. 323 opinion, and meditating the means of clearing themselves, they impeded his socurity." They then undertook to dispatch him as instantaneously as if he were run through with a sword; and in a chamber next to the emperor's the deadly potion was seethed, compounded of poisons whose rapid action had been proved. 16. It was a custom for the children of princes, with other young nobles, to eat their meals in a sitting posture, in the sight of their friends, at a table of their own and less costly. Britannicus thus taking his food; forasmuch as whatever he ate or drank was first tasted by a special officer; that neither this usage might be omitted, nor by the death of both the iniquity be detected, the following artifice was concerted. A cup of drink, as yet harmless, and tried by the taster, but scalding hot, was handed to Britannicus; and when he refused it on account of its being too hot, cold water was poured into it, containing a poison which so completely entered his whole system that he was at once bereft of speech and breath. Fear and trembling seized his companions; such as comprehended not the mystery made off instantly, but those of deeper discernment remained, with their eyes fixed steadfastly upon Nero; who, as he lay in a reclining posture, declared, with an air of unconsciousness, "that he was used to be so affected by reason of the falling sickness, with which Britannicus from his early childhood had been afflicted; and that by degrees his sight and senses would return." But in Agrippina such tokens of alarm and consternation discovered themselves, though by her looks she laboured to suppress them, that it was manifest she was as much a stranger to the affair as his own sister Octavla: and well they might, for she was sensible that her last refuge was torn from her, and that here was a precedent for parricide. Octavia too, though in the artlessness of youth, had learnt to hide her grief, her tenderness, and every other affection. Accordingly, after a short silence, the delights of the banquet were resumed. 17. One night coupled the murder of Britannicus and his funeral pile; for the appointments for his burial, which were on a moderate scale, had been prepared beforehand. He was however buried in the Campus Martius, during such tempestuous rains that the populace believed them to be denuncia. ti.os of the wrath of the gods aga.nst the deed; a deed whic Y! 324 THE ANNALS. [B. X1IL many men excused, considering the dissensions which have ever existed between brothers, and that sovereign power admits no partner. It is related by most of the writers of those times, that on frequent occasions before the murder, Nero had abused the person of the youthful Britannicus: so that after this, his death cannot appear premature or horrifying, though during the sacred ceremonies of the table, so that his sister had not a moment for a last embrace, and under the eye of an enemy, it was hastily inflicted on this last representative of the Clau'ian family, who had been polluted by unnatural lust before he perished by poison. Nero, by an edict, justified the hurrying of the obsequies: alleging that it was an institution of our ancestors, "to withdraw from the sight the bodies of such as died prematurely, and not lengthen the solemnity by encomiums and processions: for the rest, having in Britannicus lost the support of a brother, he now rested all his hopes in the commonwealth; and hence with the greater tenderness ought the senate and people to cherish a prince, who alone survived of a family born to sovereignty." He then bestowed additional presents on his most confidential friends. 18. Nor were there wanting such as censured men who, setting up for gravity and wisdom, parted amongst themselves, on that occasion, palaces and villas like spoils:' others believed that they were constrained to accept them, by the emperor, who was conscious of his guilt, and hoped for impunity if by largesses he engaged in his interest the most powerful men in the state. But his mother's resentment could not be assuaged by any acts of munificence; she attached herself more closely to Octavia, held frequent conferences with her confidants in secret; with more than her inherent avarice, scraped together money from every source, as if to form a reserved fund; courteously entertained the tribunes and centurions, and honoured the names and virtues of the few nobles who still remained, as if she were seeking a party to support her and a leader. Nero was apprised of this; and therefore the guards which attended at her gate as consort to the late emperor, and were continued to her as mother of the present, he ordered to withdraw, together with the band of Germans which, as an additional honour, had been joined to the former: moreover, to prevent her being followed by - IaY took the palaces, villas, and estates of Britannicus. AGRIPPINA ACCUSED. 325 such a throng of courtiers, he separated her habitation from his, and removed her to the house which had belonged to Antonia: as often as he visited her there, he was surrounded by a crowd of officers, and after a hasty salute, departed. 19. Of all human things, none is so unstable and transitory as the reputation of influence which depends not upon its cwn inherent strength: instantly the threshold of Agrippina was deserted; none consoled her, none visited her, except some few ladies, whether from affection or hate is uncertain. Amongst these was Junia Silana, who was through Messalina divorced from Caius Silius, as I have related before; she was distinguished for family, beauty, and lewdness, and long on the most affectionate terms with Agrippina; but between them afterwards secret heartburnings arose; for Sextius Africanus, a noble youth, had been deterred from marrying Silana by Agrippina, who urged "that she was lewd, and past her prime:" not that she might reserve Africanus for herself, but lest he should, as she had no children, get possession of her wealth. Silana, a prospect of vengeance presenting itself, instructed two of her own creatures, Iturius and Calvisius, to accuse her: neither did she attack her with stale charges often before alleged, such " as bewailing the fate of Britannicus, and publishing the wrongs done to Octavia; but with a design of inciting Rubellius Plautus to effect a change in the state; as, by his mother, he was in blood as near as Nero to the deified Augustus; and by espousing him, of once more seizing the commonwealth." This Iturius and Calvisius imparted to Atimetus, freedman to Domitia, Nero's aunt. Atimetus, rejoicing at the opportunity, (for betweeL Agrippina and Domitia a bitter rivalry was maintained,) instigated Paris the player, who was also Domitia's freedman, to proceed with all haste, "and represent the charge to the emperor as a horrible affair." 20. Night was far advanced, and Nero was lengthening it out in carousing, when Paris entered: under other circumnstances, he was wont at such seasons to he occupied in promoting the prince's amusements; but now, with a face framed to sadness, he laid before Nero an orderly detail of the evidence; which so terrified him, that he not only determined the death of his mother and of Plautus, but also to remove Burrus from the command of the guards, as owing his pro ?26 THE ANNALS. LB. XIII, motion to the interest of Agrippina, and now rendering her a return for it. Fabius Rusticus states, "that to Cwecina Thuscus a note was despatched, committing to him the command of the prrtorian cohorts; but that by the interest of Seneca, Burrus retained his dignity." Cluvius and Pliny say, nc suspicion was entertained of the fidelity of the praefect; but It must be owned Fabius manifests a bias in favour of Seneca. by whose friendship he flourished: as for myself, adopting that in which authors are agreed, I shall give the statements in which they differ, under their respective names. Nero, alarmed and eager to make away with his mother, could not be brought to defer his purpose, till Burrus undertook for her execution, in case she was convicted of the crime; "but," Burrus remarked, that "to every one a liberty of defence must be granted; much more to a mother; nor, indeed, did any accusers appear; the only evidence they had was the assertion of one man, who came from a house hostile to the accused: the darkness of the night turned into day in feasting, the state of recklessness and stupidity into which all were sunk at such a time, threw discredit on the charge." 21. The emperor's fears being thus assuaged, and day returned, recourse was had to Agrippina herself, to apprise her of the charges, that she might dissipate them or suffer for them. Burrus, in the presence of Seneca, executed this commission; there attended also some of the freedmen, to watch the conference. Burrus, after he had laid the charges before her, and given her the names of their authors, proceeded to high words and menaces. Agrippina, with her wonted fierceness, said, " I wonder not that Silana, who never bore a child, should be a stranger to the affections of a mother; for, in truth, children are not so easily renounced by their parents, as adulterers are changed by a profligate: nor, because Iturius and Calvisius, after having consumed their whole fortunes, as a last resource pay back to an old woman their services in undertaking my accusation, as an equivalent for their hire, does it follow that I am to be branded with the infamy, or that Caesar should conceive the guilt of parricide. As to Domitia, I would thank her for all the efforts of her enmity to me, if she strove to exceed me in kindness to my Nero. At present, by the ministration of Atirretus her minion and Paris the player, she is framing c. 23.] TRI~EATMENT' OF HER A-CCUSERS. 327 plots as it were for the stage. She was adorning the fishponds of her own Baie, when by my counsels his adoption into the Claudian name, the proconsular authority, his designation to the consulship, and all the other measures necessary for ac quiring the empire, were planning. Say if there is a man who will come forward and charge me, either with practising upon the guards at Rome, or with shaking the allegiance of the provinces, or with seducing the prince's slaves and freedmen to treason. If Britannicus had been sovereign, could I have preserved my life? On the other hand, if Plautus or any other were to gain the supreme rule, and thence a power of renouncing judgment upon me, I should, forsooth, want accusers, when, even under Nero, there are those who charge me, not with expressions sometimes unguarded from the vehemence of affection, but with crimes such as I could not be acquitted of except by my son." Those who were present being powerfully affected by her remarks, and actually trying to calm her emotion, she pressed for and obtained an interview with her son: in which she alleged nothing to prove her innocence, as if her heart misgave her, nor mentioned her services as though she taunted him; but besought vengeance upon her accusers, and rewards for her friends; in both which she succeeded. 22. To Fenius Rufus was granted the superintendence of provisions; to Arruntius Stella the direction of the public shows, which the emperor was preparing to exhibit; and to Caius Balbillus' the government of Egypt: that of Syria was assigned to Publius Anteius; but soon he became the object of all manner of deceptive artifices, and ultimately he was prevented leaving the city. As for Silana, she was exiled: Calvisius too and Iturius were banished: Atimetus was put to death; bat Paris was too important to the emperor in his debauches to suffer punishment. Plautus was for the present passed over in silence. 23. Pallas and Burrus were thereafter charged with "having conspired to raise to the sovereignty Cornelius Sylla, in regard of his splendid lineage and alliance with Claudius," whose son-in-law he was, having married Antonia. One Pretus, infamous for his dealings with the exchequer in the 1 Seneca speaks of Balbillus in the following terms: "Virorum opti, mus, in omni literarum genere rarissimus."-Quxst. Nat. iv. 2. 328 THE ANNALS. lB. XIn. redemption of confiscated goods, and on this occasion manifestly guilty of falsehood. was the prosecutor in the case; the acquittal of Pallas was not so gratifying, as his arrogance was offensive: for, upon naming his freedmen as his accomplices, he answered, " that at home he always signified his pleasure by a nod, or motion of the hand; or, if he had many directions to give, he wrote them, to avoid the familiarity of exchanging words with them." Burrus, though arraigned, voted among the judges: the accuser was punished with banishment; and the papers by which he revived the cancelled claims of the exchequer were burnt. 24. At the close of the year, the guard of a cohort, which usually attended the public spectacles, was removed, to make a greater display of liberty, as also to preserve the integrity of military discipline, by preventing the soldiers from mixing with the licentiousness of the theatre; and moreover, that the people might afford proof whether they would preserve order in the absence of the military. The emperor performed a lustration of the city, according to a response of the soothsayers, relative to the fact that the temples of Jupiter and Minerva had been struck by lightning. 25. In the consulship of Quintus Volusius and Publius Scipio, while tranquillity reigned abroad, abominable licentiousness was exhibited at Rome, in the person of Nero; who, disguised in the habit of a slave, went roaming about the streets, the stews, and public inns, with a set of companions who seized upon wares exposed to sale, and assaulted all they met; while the objects of this violence so little suspected him. that he himself received blows and bore the marks in his face. Afterwards, when it came to be understood that the emperor was the offender, increased outrages were committed on men and ladies of distinction, and the name of Nero being once used to warrant licentiousness, some, with gangs of their own, practised the same excesses with impunity; and the state of things during the night resembled that of a captured city. Julius Montanus, of senatorial rank, but hitherto exercising no magistracy, having casually encountered the prince in the dark, resolutely repulsed his assaults; and afterwards recognising him, implored his forgiveness: but the emperor felt this as a reproach to him, and had him put to death. After this, however, Nero was less daring, and fortified himself with CONDUCT OF THIE FREEDMEN. 329 a party of soldiers, and a numerous train of gladiators: who interposed not in the beginning of a fray while it kept within bounds, and was as it were only a private affair; but if such as were insulted resisted with any degree of vigour, they fell on. Theatrical disturbances also, and the contests between the partisans of players, he exasperated into a sort of battle, by impunity and rewards, and by looking on himself, sometimes concealed, but more frequently exposed to view; till the people being torn with dissensions, and more serious commotions apprehended, the only remedy that could be devised was to banish the players from Italy, and again guard the theatre with troops. 26. About this time the senate took into consideration the mal-practices of the freedmen; and it demanded importunately " that patrons should have a right of revoking the enfranchisement of delinquents." For this many were ready to vote; but the consuls, afraid to put the question without apprising the prince, acquainted him in writing with the general opinion of the senate, and consulted him whether he would become the author of this constitution, since it was opposed by few: some of the senators complaining indignantly t" that their insubordination, which had increased by enfranchisement, had proceeded to such a pitch that they put themselves upon an equality with their patrons, canvassed their votes in the senate, audaciously lifted up their hands against them to strike them, and impudently warned their patrons not to punish them. What privilege, they alleged, was given to the abused patron, except to banish his freedmen an hundred miles off, to the coast of Campania? In every other action, their rights were common and their privileges similar. It was therefore expedient to arm the patron with a power which could not be treated with contempt: nor was it a grievance that they should continue their liberty by the same respectful behaviour by which they acquired it. And as for those notoriously guilty, it was but just to remand them to servitude; that those whom benefits had failed of reclaiming, might be coerced by penal terrors." 27. On the other side it was argued, that " the transgression of a few ought to be visited on the guilty only, but the established rights of the whole order should not be diminished; for they were a budy widely dilfused: from them commonly 330 THE ANNALS. [B. XIIL. the tribes were supplied, and tile colleges of scribes filled up; from the same source we'e furnished the several officers attending the magistrates and pontiffs; thence too the city.Ahorts were enlisted: nor did a majority of the knights an? many senators originate in any other order. If the descendants of freedmen were removed, the paucity of such as were originally free would be glaring. Not without good reason our ancestors, when they distinguished the privileges of the three orders, made liberty the common right of all: moreover, two kinds of manumission' were instituted, so as to leave room for repenting of the grant already made, or of adding to it by further generosity: those whom their patron had not freed by the praetor's wand were still held as it were by a bond of servitude: every patron should examine carefully their merits, and concede with caution what once granted could never be withdrawn." This opinion prevailed; and Nero wrote to the senate, that they should investigate the cases of freedmen individually, whenever they were prosecuted by their patrons; but in nothing retrench the rights of the body. Not long after, Domitia, Nero's aunt, was deprived of Paris2 her freedman, under colour of a civil right; not without the dishonour 1 The Romans had two different modes of enfranchisement, or of granting freedom to their slaves. The first was performed by the prsetor, who, by striking the slave with a switch or cane on the head or back, informed him that he was thereby manumitted. The second way of granting freedom was by writing under the master's hand, or by his voluntary declaration in the presence of a few friends. The most solemn mode of manumission was that by the rod, called Vindicta: hence Persius the satirist says-" Vindicta postquam meus a prsetore recessi." The person so enfranchised obtained all the rights of a Roman citizen. The second form of manumission conveyed to the slave a degree of liberty, but did not rank him in the class of citizens, nor allow him to be in any case a legal witness. The consequence was, that the patron, who granted freedom by his own private act, had time to consider whether the slave whom he released was worthy of a further favour. 2 Paris the comedian was a slave belonging to Domitia, the emperor's aunt. He had paid a sum of money for the degree of liberty which her private act conferred, and still remained in her list of freedmen. Aspiring above that rank, he pretended to be ingenuous by his birth, and by consequence entitled to all the rights of a Roman citizen; and his plea, we find, was admitted. It is said that Domitia was obliged to repay to the pantomime actor the money whit h she ha] received for his freedom. C. 1 9. VARIOUS OFFICES REGULATED. 33\ of the prince, since by his command was given a judgment which pronounced him free born. 28. There however subsisted still a faint similitude of a free state: for, in the contest which arose between Vibullius the pretor and Antistius tribune of the people, about some turbulent partisans of the players, committed to prison by the prnetor, and by order of the tribune released, the senate affirmed the judgment of Vibullius, and reprimanded the arbitrary conduct of Antistius. The tribunes were moreover prohibited from forestalling the jurisdiction of the praetors and consuls, or from summoning before them out of any quarters of Italy such as might be sued at tribunals of their own: it was added by Lucius Piso, consul elect, " that they should not do any judicial act in virtue of their authority within their own house; nor the questor of the exchequer enter on the public register a mulct imposed by them within four months; that in the interval there should be liberty of c ntroverting their sentence, and that the consuls should determine." The jurisdiction too of the ediles was further limited, and it was settled how high the patrician mediles, how high the plebeian, might exact sureties, and to what amount impose penalties. In virtue of this regulation, Helvidius Priscus, to gratify personal pique, accused Obultronius Sabilus, quaestor of the exchequer, " of unmercifully extorting from the poor in the exercise of his prerogative of confiscation." After this, the management of the exchequer was by the prince transferred from the qumestors to the preefects.1 29. Various had been the regulations of this office, and its form often altered: for Augustus left to the senate the poweof choosing the prrefects: thereafter, as the suffrages were suspected to have been gained by intrigue, those who were to preside were drawn by lot from the number of the praetors. Neither did this regulation continue long; for the erring lot 1 It has been already observed, that A.rarium was the treasury of the public; Fiscus, that of the prince. Pliny the elder says, that, in the time of the republic, when the private exchequer of the emperor was a thing unknown, the money in the treasury, A.U.c. 663, amounted fo a prodigious sum. It was still greater when Julius Caesar, in the beginning of the Civil War, A.u.c. 705, made himself master of all the riches of the commonwealth. From that time the dissipation of the emperors, and the rapacity of their favourites, effectually drained the 4Brarium, and impoverished the state. 332 THE ANNALS. [B. XI:l, often fell upon the incompetent. Claudius then once more restored the quaestors; and, that fear of raising enemies might not relax the vigour of their superintendence, he promised them the honours by special dispensation: but vigour and maturity could not be found inl those who undertook this magistracy, as it was the first step in the career of office; accordingly, Nero chose such as had passed the praetorship, and were of tried ability. 30. Under the same consuls Vipsanius Lenas was condemned for rapacity, in the administration of the province of Sardinia. Cestius Proculus (his accusers withdrawing) was acquitted of extortion: Clodius Quirinalis, charged with " having by his profligate habits and cruelty oppressed Italy, as though it had been the most abject of nations, when commanding the crews stationed at Ravenna," prevented his condemnation by poison: Caius Aminius Rebius, one of the first rank for legal knowledge and greatness of wealth, took refuge from the miseries of ailing age by discharging the blood from his veins; though not supposed magnanimous enough to embrace a voluntary death, infamous as he was for lust and effeminacy. On the other hand, Lucius Volusius died, preeminently honoured; the measure of his life was ninetythree years; his wealth, which was surpassing, was acquired in the paths of virtue; and he had escaped giving offence to so many depraved emperors. 31. During the consulship of Nero (his second) and Lucius Piso, few events occurred worth recording, unless one were disposed to fill volumes in lauding the foundations and beams of the stupendous amphitheatre ' which Nero then erected in the Field of Mars: since it has been found to comport with the grandeur of the Roman people to insert in their annals events of celebrity only, and to consign such details as these to the city journals. The colonies, however, of Capua and Nuceria were strengthened by a supply of veterans; to the populace was distributed a largess of four hundred small sesterces a man; and into the exchequer was conveyed the I This amphitheatre was built entirely with wood. Suetonius says it was completed within the year; and that Nero, in the public spectacles which he exhibited, gave orders that none of the combatants should be slain, not even the criminals employed upon that occasion. Suet. in Neron. s. 12. See Pliny, lib. xvi. 40. c. 32.1 POMPONLA GRECINA. 333 sum of forty thousand great sesterces; to support the credit of the Roman people. Moreover, the duty of four in the hundred upon the sale of slaves was remitted, in appearance rather than effect; for, as the seller was obliged to pay it, it formed an additional component of the price to purchasers. The emperor, too, issued an edict, ' that no procurator, nor any other magistrate, who had obtained any province, should exhibit a spectacle of gladiators, or of wild beasts, or any other popular entertainment whatsoever:" for, heretofore, they had by such acts of munificence no less oppressed those under their jurisdiction, than by extortion, warding off the olame of their guilty excesses by the arts of popularity. 32. A decree of the senate also passed, equally tending to the vindication of justice and security; "that if any one was killed by his slaves, those, too, who by his will were made free under the same roof, should be executed amongst his other slaves." Lucius Varius, who had been consul, but formerly degraded on charges of rapine, was now restored to his rank: and Pomponia Grtecina, a lady of distinction, charged with embracing a foreign superstition,2 and married to Plautius,3 who upon his return from Britain entered the city in ovation, was consigned to the adjudication of her husband. Plautius assembled her kindred, and in observance of primitive institution, having in their presence held solemn inquisition upon the conduct and character of his wife, adjudged her innocent. She lived to a great age, and in unintermitted sorrow: for since the fate of Julia (the daughter of Drusus) procured by the perfidy of Messalina,4 she wore for the space of forty years no habit but that of mourning, nor was grief absent from her breast; a conduct which, during I A tax on all commodities exposed to sale was imposed by Augustus, in the consulship of Metellus and Nerva, A.U.C. 755. Dio says it was at first the fiftieth penny; but we find that in time the sum was doubled. 2 Lipsius and others are of opinion, that what is here called a foreign superstition, was the Christian religion. 3 This was Aulus Plautius, who, in the reign of Claudius, made the first descent on Britain. See the Life of Agricola. 4 Suetonius tells us, that Claudius put to death the two Julias, the daughters of Drusus and Germanicus, without any proof of guilt, and without so much as hearing them in their defence, A.u.c. 796. Suet. in Claud. s. 29. 33* THE ANNALS. LB. XIII. the reign of Claudius, escaped with impunity, and redounded thereafter to her honour. 33. The same year produced many arraignments; and amongst them one Publius Celer, at the suit of Asia, which the emperor, unable to absolve him, protracted till he died of old age. For Celer, as I have stated, having poisoned the proconsul, Silanus,' by the magnitude of that iniquity screened all his other enormities. Cossutianus Capito was impleaded by the Cilicians, "as impure and detestable, and claiming authority to commit in his province the same bold excesses as he had in Rome." Sorely beset, however, by the unremitting vigour of the accusation, at last he abandoned his defence, and was condemned under the law against extortion. In behalf of Eprius Marcellus, from whom the Lycians sought restitution, interest predominated so much, that some of his accusers were punished with exile, "as if they had conspired to ruin an innocent man." 34. With Nero now consul for the third time Valerius Messala entered upon the consulship: his great-grandfather, Corvinus the orator,2 was now by a few old men remembered as a colleague in that office with the deified Augustus, the third grandfather of Nero. But the honour of that illustrious family was augmented by a yearly pension of five hundred great sesterces, given to Messala, to sustain his honest poverty. To Aurelius Cotta also, and Haterius Antoninus, annual payments were assigned by the prince, though they had wasted their patrimonial wealth in dissipation. In the beginning of this year, the war between the Parthians and Romans, for the mastery of Armenia, which had been protracted by the feebleness of the efforts with which it had been hitherto commenced, was resumed with vigour: for Vologeses would not suffer his brother Tiridates to be bereft of the monarchy by himself conferred upon him, nor to hold the same as a gift from any other power: and Corbulo esteemed it becoming the grandeur of the Roman people to recover the conquests formerly made by Lucullus and Pompey. Moreover, the Armenians, a people hesitating and wavering in their attachments, invited the arms of both; though from the situation of their country and similitude of manners, they 1 See this book, c. 1. 2 Coryinus Messala was joint consul with Augustus, A.U.C. 723. STRICT DISCIPLINE OF CORBULO. 335 were more identified with the Parthians, being also intermixed in conjugal alliances; and, as they were strangers to liberty, they were the rather inclined to Parthian slavery. 35. But Corbulo had more to struggle with in the slothfulness of his soldiers than the perfidy of his enemies: for, the legions brought out of Syria, enervated by a long peace, bore with much impatience the duties of Roman soldiers. It fully appeared that in that army there were veterans who had never mounted guard, never stood sentry; men who gazed at a palisade and foss as things strange and wonderful; without helmets or breastplates, coxcombs, and only looking after gain, having served their whole time in different towns. Having, therefore, discharged such as were unfit from sickness or age, he sought to recruit his forces; and levies were made through Cappadocia and Galatia, and a legion from Germany was added, with some squadrons of allied cavalry, and a detachment of infantry from the cohorts. The whole army, too, was kept in tents; though such was the rigour of the winter, that the earth, which was covered with ice, would not, without digging, afford a place for their tents. Many had their limbs shrivelled up by the intense cold; and some, as they stood sentry, were frozen to death. One soldier was particularly remarked, whose hands, as he carried a bundle of wood, mortified so suddenly, that still clasping the burden, they dropped from his mutilated arms. The general himself, thinly clad, his head bare, when the troops assembled, or were employed in their works, was incessantly among them, commending the stout-hearted, comforting the feeble, and exhibiting an example to all. Afterwards, as many, shrinking from the hardship of the climate and the service, deserted, he had recourse to severity; nor did he, as is done in other armies, treat the first or second offence with indulgence; but whoever deserted his colours, instantly atoned for it with his life: a course which experience proved to be salutary, and pre. ferable to compassion: inasmuch as there were fewer desertions from that camp, than from those in which lenity was employed. 36. Corbulo, meanwhile keeping his legions in camp, till tne spring had advanced; and having stationed the auxiliary cohorts in convenient places, forewarned them not to venture to provoke a battle: the superintendence of these garrisons 336 TEE ANNALS. lB. XIII he committed to Pactius Orphitus, who had served in the honourable rank of first centurion. Although he had acquainted the general by letter, that the Barbarians acted negligently, and an opportunity presented itself for striking a blow, he was ordered to abide within his entrenchments, and wait for reinforcements: but he broke through his orders: for, upon the arrival of some few troops of horse from the neighbouring fortresses, who from inexperience demanded battle, he engaged the enemy and was routed; and those who ought to have supported him, terrified with his disaster, returned in alarm and precipitation to their respective fortifications: Corbulo regarded this as a serious offence, and after reproving Pactius, the captains, and common soldiers, he ordered them all to camp without the entrenchment:1 and under this degradation they were continued; nor were they relieved but on the supplication of the whole army. 37. Now Tiridates, who, besides his own vassals, was supported by the power of his brother Vologeses, no longer assailed Armenia by furtive attacks, but with open war, and committed depredations upon all such as he suspected of attachment to us; if troops were drawn out against him, he eluded the encounter, shifting rapidly from place to place, and effecting more by the terror of his name than by fighting. Corbulo therefore, having long laboured to come tc an engagement, but always frustrated, and being obliged, after the plan of the enemy, to adopt a desultory mode of operation, distributed his forces so that his lieutenants and prefects might invade several places at once: at the same time he directed king Antiochus to fall upon the Armenian provinces contiguous to his own. For Pharasmanes having slain his son Rhadamistus as a traitor, was, in order to testify his fidelity to us, giving increased effect to his enmity against the Armenians The Insechians too, a people then first engaged in our alliance, and never before united with the Romans, overran the I This mode of punishment was established by ancient usage. Livy relates that the cohorts which had lost their colours were obliged to remain on the outside of the camp, without their tents, and were found in that condition by Valerius Maximus the dictator: " Cohortes, quim signa amiserant, extra vallum sine tentoriis destitutas iuvenit dictator Valerius Maximus."-Livy, lib. x. 4. .. 38.1 lNIEGOTIATIONS WITH TIRIDATES. 337 wilds of Armenia. Thus all the measures of Tiridates reversed his anticipations; and he despatched ambassadors to demand, in his own name and that of the Parthians, upon what score it was that, after lately giving hostages, and renewing his former amity, which should open a way even to fresh benefits, he was driven from Armenia, his hereditary right l that Vologeses had not hitherto taken arms in person, because they both desired to settle matters by argument rather than force. But if war were persisted in, the Arsacidee would not be forsaken of the courage and good fortune so often proved by Roman defeats." Corbulo, aware that Vologeses was occupied with the revolt of Hyrcania, in answer to Tiridates, persuaded him to apply to the emperor as a supplicant; "he might," he said, "enjoy a permanent kingdom in peace, and without effusion of blood; if, rejecting remote and protracted hopes, he would embrace the preferable objects within his reach." 38. But, as the consummation of peace was not advanced by the interchange of messengers, it was at last resolved to fix a time and place for an interview. Tiridates said, " he would be attended by a guard of a thousand horse, but would not prescribe to Corbulo what number of troops of every kind should accompany him, provided they came without helmets and breastplates, so as to exhibit the appearance of peace." The cunning of the Barbarian must have been manifest to every man breathing, especially to an old and cautious captain; that by limiting the number of men on one side, and leaving liberty for a greater number on the other, a snare was intended: for, against horsemen practised in the use of the bow, numbers would avail nothing if their persons were exposed without the protection of armour. Corbulo, however, concealing his convictions, answered, "that matters which concerned both their states, would be more properly discussed in presence of both armies:" and chose a place composed in part of hills rising with a gentle ascent, suitable for receiving his infantry; partly of an extended plain, affording scope for ranging the troops of horse. On the day appointed, Corbulo advanced first; on the wings he posted the allied troops and the auxiliaries of the kings; in the centre, the sixth legion, with which he had mingled three thousand men of the third, brought by night from another TAc. —VOL. L Z 338 THE ANNALS. camp, all under one eagle, to preserve still the appearance of a single legion. Tiridates, late in the day, appeared at some distance, whence he could be easier seen than heard. Thus the Roman general, no conference taking place, ordered his men to retire to their several camps. 39. The king too retreated in haste, whether it were that he apprehended a design to surprise him, as the Romans filed off in different directions, or to intercept their provisions which were coming from Trapezus and the Euxine sea: but, as the provisions passed over the mountains, which were secured by parties of our men, he had no opportunity of attacking them: and Corbulo, that the war might not linger on without effecting anything, and to force the Armenians to defend their own dwellings, set himself to raze their strongholds: the attack of the strongest of all in that quarter, named Volandum, he reserved to himself; to Cornelius Flaccus, his lieutenant, and Insteius Capito, prwefect of the camp, he committed the smaller. Then having viewed the fortifications, and prepared all things requisite for storming the place, he exhorted his men "l to exterminate a vagabond foe, unprepared for war, and indisposed to peace, but by their flight confessing their perfidy and cowardice: he bade them do this, and at once enrich themselves with spoil, and cover themselves with glory." He then distributed his forces into four divisions: one he brought up in close array in form of a tortoise, in order to undermine the rampart: others were ordered to apply ladders to the walls, and a large party to throw brands and javelins from the engines: to the engineers too and slingers a position was assigned, whence they might from a distance discharge stones and bullets: so that consternation prevailing everywhere alike, no one position might relieve another. Such was the ardour and emulation of the troops in the execution of these orders, that in four hours the walls were stripped of their defenders, the barriers of the gates forced, the works scaled, and all of full age put to the sword; without the loss of one of our men, and very few wounded. The multitude not bearing arms, were set to sale by public auction: the conquerors made spoil of the rest. Equal success attended the lieutenant-general and prefect of the camp: in one day they took three castles by storm: when the rest, from dread, or the inclination of the inhabi c. 41.1 SUCCESS OF CORBULO. 339 tants, surrendered; which inspired a resolution to attempt Artaxata, the capital of Armenia. The legions were not, however, conducted thither the shortest road; for if they passed the Araxes, which washes the walls of the city, by a bridge, they would have been exposed to the weapons of the enemy. At a distant point, therefore, they forded it, where the stream was broader and shallow. 40. As for Tiridates, he struggled between shame and fear; lest if he submitted to a siege, it would appear that there was no reliance to be placed upon him; if he attempted to prevent it, he should be hampered with his cavalry on difficult and intricate ground: at last he determined to show himself in order of battle, and at break of day begin the onset, or by a feigned flight draw the Romans into a snare. Suddenly, therefore, he beset them, but without surprise to our general, who had formed his army as well for a battle as a march. On the right marched the third legion; on the left the sixth; and in the centre a chosen detachment from the tenth; the baggage was secured between the ranks, and a thousand horse guarded the rear: they were ordered "to repulse the foe, when they came on; but not to pursue them when they fled." The foot archers and remainder of the horse were placed on the wings on the left, extending further than the other, over the lower part of the mountains; that, if the enemy broke in there, he might be encountered at once by our front, and by the centre of the army. Tiridates advanced upon them from different points, yet never within the throw of a dart; but at one time with a menacing air, at another assuming the appearance of dismay, trying to induce us to open our ranks, that he might fall upon us when disordered. When he saw no unwary relaxation in our order, and only one captain of horse, who had advanced too boldly, falling under a shower of arrows, had confirmed all the rest in submission to discipline by his fate, he marched off at the approach of the evening. 41. Corbulo encamped upon the place; and, supposing that Tiridates had retired to Artaxata, was unresolved whether he should march thither the same night with his legions unencumbered by baggage, and immediately invest it: but, upon tidings brought him by his spies, that the king tad undertaken a long march, it was uncertain whether 7.2 340 THE NhIALSL. [li. XIII. towards Media or Albania,' he waited for the light, and despatched his light-armed troops to invest the city, and begin the assault at a distance. But the inhabitants voluntarily opening their gates, surrendered themselves, and all that belonged to them, to the Romans: for which their lives were spared. The city was set fire to, and levelled with the ground; for, such was the compass of its walls, that they could not be defended without a powerful garrison, nor were our forces such as to divide between the establishment of a garrison and the prosecution of the war: or, had it been left untouched and unguarded, there had been no profit nor glory in having taken it. A miracle, interposed as it seemed by the decree of heaven, is also reported to have occurred: for while the whole region without the walls, and up to the buildings, was illuminated by the sun, the space enclosed by them was suddenly so completely enveloped in a pitchy cloud, and parted with flashes of lightning, that it was concluded the city was given over to destruction; the powers of heaven being arrayed, as it were, in hostility against it. For these sucoesses Nero was solemnly saluted Imperator; and by a decree of the senate, days of public supplication were appointed, with statues, arches, and perpetual consulships to the prince: moreover, it was decreed that the day when the city was won, when the news arrived, and on which it was laid before the senate, should all be enrolled amongst the festivals; with several other particulars of the same stamp, so extravagant, that Caius Cassius, though he had agreed to the former, yet argued here, "i that were every instance of public prosperity to be attended with public thanksgiving, the whole year would not suffice for supplication: a distribution ought therefore to be made of days of devotion, and days of business, in such sort that the worship of the gods might be solemnised without interfering with the secular business of men.' 42. After this, a man who had been harassed with vicissitudes, and had earned the hatred of many, was condemned: not, however, without imputation on the honour of Seneca: it was Publius Suilius,2 who during the reign of Claudius had been an object of terror, and notoriously venal, and though I The Medi and Albani occupied the shores of the Caspian, to the mat and north-east of Armenia respectively. 2 For Suilius, see Annals, iv. 31, and xi. 1. P. SUILIUS CONDEMNED. 341 now by the change of times considerably fallen, yet not so low as his enemies wished: and who chose rather to bear the character of a criminal, than descend to that of a supplicant. For the purpose of crushing him, it was supposed that the decree of the senate was made at this time for the revival of the Cincian law, which subjected to penalties those who had pleaded for hire. Nor did Suilius, on his part, spare coin- plaints and recriminations; but besides the inherent vehemence of his temper, feeling himself at liberty to say what he liked at his advanced time of life, upbraided Seneca, " as an inveterate foe to all the friends of Claudius, during whose reign he had been justly doomed to exile; and also as one who being habituated to indolent studies, and conversant only with the inexperience of youth, was actuated by envy towards those who in defending the rights of their fellowcitizens, exercised a vigorous and genuine eloquence. For himself, he had been quoestor to Germanicus; but Seneca, the adulterer of Germanicus's daughter.1 Ought it to be considered a more heinous offence, to obtain the rewards of an honest vocation from a suitor who freely gives it, than to convert the chambers of princesses into scenes of adultery? By what precepts of wisdom, what principles of philosophy, had he, during four years of imperial favour, amassed a fortune of three hundred thousand great sesterces? At Rome, testaments and the childless were caught, as it were, in his toils; Italy and the provinces were drained by his exorbitant usury.2 But as for himself, his wealth was the fruit of industry, and within the bounds of moderation. He was determined to be exposed to charges, perilous prosecutions, and every degree of hardship and suffering, rather than debase an established reputation, the acquisition of a long life, by submitting to an upstart of fortune." 43. Nor were there wanting persons to relate to Seneca all 1 This was Julia, the daughter of Germanicus. Seneca was accused of an intrigue with her, and banished by Claudiue to the isle of Corsica, B a.u.c. 794. He was recalled by the influence of Agrippina. Annals, xii. 8. 2 The charge of usury, with which the memory of Seneca is loaded, rests chiefly on the authority of Dio. By that historian we are told that the philosopher had placed immense sums at interest in Britain, And, by his vexatious and unrelenting demands of payment, was the ca ase of insurrections among the Britons. 342 THE ANNALS. [B. XIII. these reproaches, in the very words, or in their own malignant versions of them. Accusers too were found, who arraigned him " for his excesses in Asia when he ruled as questor there; for plundering the inhabitants, and embezzling the public revenue." But as a whole year was granted them for preparing their evidence, it was determined to save time by proceeding upon his enormities at Rome, of which there were abundant witnesses at hand. By these it was urged, that by a virulent accusation he had driven Quintus Pomponius' to the necessity of raising a civil war: that by him was procured the violent death of Poppsea Sabina, and of Julia, the daughter of Drusus: by him the doom of Valerius Asiaticus, of Lusius Saturninus, and of Cornelius Lupus was contrived. In addition to these, they laid to his charge whole bands of Roman knights, condemned at his instance; with the long train of cruelties that stained the reign of Claudius. In his defence he began to allege, " that of all these prosecutions he had engaged in none of his own inclination, but in obedience to the prince." But Nero checked this plea, and testified that, from the memoirs of Claudius, he found that no accusation of any person whatsoever had been undertaken by compulsion from him. The accused then set up the pretence of the orders of Messalina, and his defence began to give way: "for why, it was said, had no other advocates but Suilius been singled out to prostitute their eloquence to the purposes of that merciless strumpet the instruments of atrocious deeds must be punished, when, having received the wages of their iniquities, they shift the iniquities themselves upon others." A part of his estate was accordingly confiscated: for to his son and grandaughter the other part was granted; besides that from the sentence were also exempted the fortunes left them by the will of their mother, and that of their grandfather; and he was banished to the Balearian Isles. But neither during the heat and peril of the prosecution, nor after his condemnation, was his spirit dismayed: he is even said to have supported the loneliness of exile by living luxuriously and voluptuously. The informers attacked his son Nerullinus with charges of public plunder, relying on the odium of his 1 Quintus Pomponius has been mentioned before, Annals, vi. 18 For the death of Sabina Poppaea, see Annals, xi. 2. c. 45] PONTIA STABBED BY A TRIBUNE. 343 father's guilt; but the prince interposed, on the ground that the demands of justice were already satisfied. 44. About the same time, Octavius Sagitta, tribune of the people, infatuated with a passion for Pontia, a married woman, gained her by vast presents, first to consent to adultery, afterwards to abandon her husband; engaging to marry her, and stipulating that she should marry him. But the woman, when she found herself single, framed perpetual excuses for delays; alleged the aversion of her father, and then, having found reason to hope for a wealthier husband, renounced her engagement. Octavius, on the other hand, one moment complained bitterly, the next menaced: he adjured her by the reputation which he had shipwrecked, by the wealth he had consumed; and in fine told her, that his life, which was all that was left him, was at her disposal. Finding her deaf to all his reasonings, he requested the solace of one night, soothed by which he might afterwards govern his passion. The night was fixed, and Pontia appointed a maid, her confidant, to watch her chamber. Sagitta brought with him one freedman, and a dagger concealed under his robe. The interview began as is usual in lovers' quarrels; there was chiding and beseeching, reproaches and reconciliations; and part of the night was devoted to embraces: immediately after which, fired with rage, he stabbed her with his dagger in a moment of perfect security; wounded and frightened away the maid, who was running to her assistance, and burst out of the chamber. The next day disclosed a manifest murder, and by what hand could not be doubted, for it was proved he had passed some time with her. But his freedman took the guilty deed upon himself, and said he did it to avenge the wrongs of his master: and some, touched with the signal magnanimity of his conduct, were disposed to believe him, till the maid, recovered from her wound, brought the facts to light; so that the tribune was arraigned before the consuls by the father of the deceased, and, at the expiration of his office, condemned by the senate to the penalties of the law on assassins.' 45. An instance of immodesty no less remarkable, proved this year the source of serious calamities to the state. In the city lived a daughter of Titus Ollius, who had taken the FTe was sent into banishment. Hist. iv. 44. 344 THE ANNALS. [B. XIII name of Poppaea Sabina, from Poppmeus Sabinus,' her mother's father; a man distinguished on the roll of fame, and eclipsing his contemporaries by the splendour of consular and triumphal honours. For Ollius, ere he had been invested with public dignities, had his prospects blighted by the friendship of Sejanus. This woman possessed every ornament but that of an unpolluted mind; for from her mother,2 who in beauty excelled all the women of her time, she derived the charms of person, and the recommendation of her family: her wealth was proportioned to the lustre of her birth; she was engaging in her conversation, and not deficient in parts; prudish in her exterior deportment, but a wanton in reality: seldom she appeared abroad, and when she did, with her face partially veiled, that she might not satiate the sight, or because it oecame her. Reckless of character, she made no distinction between husbands and adulterers; unshackled by affection in herself or others, wherever her interest appeared, thither she transferred her attachments. Hence, though she was married to Rufus Crispinus, a Roman knight, by whom she had a son,3 she was allured by the youth and gaiety of Otho; and because the rays of Nero's friendship were concentrated upon him, without any interval of delay the adulterous connexion was followed by a marriage. 46. Otho began to extol the beauty and charms of his wife to the prince; either from the indiscretion of a lover, or to inflame the passions of Nero, that the tie arising out of their enjoyment of the same woman might increase his influence. Often, as he proudly rose from the emperor's table, he was heard to say, " that he was going to her; ejaculating, that he was blessed with a wife who united noble birth and beauty, qualities which all desired, but the favourite of fortune alone enjoyed." After these and similar incitements, little time was lost; but having permitted him to visit her, Poppoea at first gradually gained an ascendency over him by soft arts and caresses; feigning herself smitten with his fine person, 1 Probably the same who was consul, A v.c. 762. 2 Her mother Poppaea has been mentioned, Annals, xi. 1, 2 3 The name of the son was Rufinus Crispinus, who, we are told by Suetonius, was thrown into the sea by order of Nero, because he was reported to act among his playfellows the part of a general or an emperor. (Suet. in Neron. s. 35.) Otho, mentioned above as the seducer of Poppsea, was afterwards emperor. CORNELIUS SYLLA BANISHED. 345 and overcome by her passion for him. But soon, when now the prince's affection was inflamed, she changed her former behaviour into haughtiness: if she were detained above a night or two, " she was a married woman, she cried, nor could she relinquish her husband, who had won her by his mode of living, which no man could equal. Otho was magnificent in his ideas, and in his style of living; under his roof she beheld everything worthy the most exalted fortune: whereas Nero, as he was attached to Acte, and inured to the embraces of a slave, had derived from anassociation with a bond woman nothing but what was mean and abject." Otho was debarred from his usual intimacy, and afterwards from all intercourse and access; and at last, to remove a rival from the city, he was preferred to the government of Lusitania; where, till the beginning of the civil wars, he conducted himself with uprightness and honour, and not in accordance with his previous disrepute-heedless and dissolute in a state of inactivity, but discreet in the exercise of power. 47. Nero hitherto sought disguises for his immoralities and crimes. He entertained the strongest suspicions of Cornelius Sylla, mistaking the dulness of his spirit for the opposite qualities of deep artifice and dissimulation. Graptus, a freedman of Caesar's, who had grown old in court intercourse, and ever since the reign of Tiberius had been made familiar with the practices of the palace, inflamed these apprehensions by the following forgery. The Milvian bridge' was then the great place of resort for nightly debaucheries, and thither Nero often went that he might play his pranks with the more freedom without the city. Graptus therefore feigned, " that persons had waylaid him as he returned thence by the Flaminian way, but by good fortune he had escaped it oy coming home by a different route through the gardens of Sallust;2 and that of this plot Sylla was the author." The only foundation of all this was, that as some of the emperor's attendants were returning, certain youths, indulging in the licentiousness then universally practised, had tried to frighten them. But not a slave of Sylla's, nor one of his dependents, 1 This bridge lay in the line of the Flaminian Road, to the north of the city. 2 Brotier says, now Villa Belionu and Villa Verospi, near the gate alled Salara. 306 THE ANNALS. [B. XII. was recognised as beil g present; and as for himself, he was of a spirit so despicable, and so unequal to all enterprise, that it was absurd to suppose him guilty of the crime. Never theless, just as if he had been convicted, he was banished, and confined within the walls of Marseilles. 48. During the same consulship were heard two different deputations from Puteoli-one from their senate, the other from the populace; the former inveighing against the violence of the multitude, the latter against the oppression and avarice of the magistrates and nobles: and as the factious had proceeded so far as to throw stones, and threaten fire, and were betaking themselves to arms and massacre, Caius Cassius was appointed to apply a remedy; but as they could not bear the severity of his proceedings, at his own request the charge was transferred to the two brothers Scribonii, assisted by a prsetorian cohort; by the terror of which, and the execution of a few, concord was restored amongst the inhabitants. 49. The decree of the senate now made, for permitting the Syracusans to exceed the number formerly limited in their shows of gladiators, is a matter so common, that I should not insert it here had not Pwtus Thrasea opposed it, and thence ministered to his revilers occasion of censuring his sentiments. " For if he believed," said they, "that the condition of the commonwealth called upon the senators to exert freedom of speech, why were his censures confined to things of such trivial moment? How came it that he did not advise or impugn measures relating to war and peace, the revenue, the laws, and whatever else concerned the stability of the Roman state To every senator, as soon as he had the privilege of voting, full freedom was allowed of propounding whatever he would, and of claiming that it might be put to the vote. Was there no other subject calling for amend. ment, that he confined himself to objecting to an enlargement of the scale on which the Syracusans should exhibit their spectacles? Were all the other matters in every department of the government just as excellently regulated as if Thrasea himself, and not Nero, held the reins? But if things of the highest importance must be winked at, how much more should they abstain from those of trivial moment?" To his friends, who asked him the meaning of his conduct, Thrasea answered, "that it was not in ignorance of C. 52.] EXTORTION OF THE TAX-GATHEr.ERS. 347 the state of things that he rectified decrees of that sort, but consulting the honour of the senate; that it might be plain that those who applied their thoughts even to the most insignificant things, would never omit the care of the most important." 50. The same year, so frequent were the importunities of the people against the oppressions of the tax-gatherers, that Nero deliberated about the suppression of all duties, and thus -bestowing the fairest gift upon the human race. But the senators, after many high encomiums upon his magnanimity, restrained his rashness by apprising him, that the dissolution of the empire must follow a reduction of the revenues which sustained it; inasmuch as, if duties were extinguished, the natural consequence was, that the abolition of tributes must be conceded to clamour. That the companies for farming the revenues were for the most part instituted by the consuls and tribunes, even at a time when popular liberty was in its vigour at Rome; and the provisions which followed were so adapted, that the calculation of income and the necessity of expenditure should correspond. But the extortions of the tax-gatherers evidently required to be restrained, that the burdens borne by the people for so many years without murmuring, might not be rendered odious by the severity of additional exactions." 51. The emperor therefore by an edict ordained, that the schedules of every impost, which had till then been kept secret, should be published. That the publicans should revive no omitted clains more than a year in arrear. That at Rome the prator, and in the provinces the proprietor or proconsul for the time being, should adjudicate summarily in suits against the tax-gatherers: but the soldiers should still be exempt, save those who trafficked; with other regulations highly equitable, which were observed for a short time, but afterwards became obsolete. The abolition however of the fortieth penny, and of the fiftieth, continues; as also that of other heads of illicit exactions invented by the publicans. Moreover, the importation of grain from the provinces beyond sea was regulated; and an ordinance made that the ships of traders should not be reckoned in the estimate of their effects, nor any duty be paid for the same. 52. Two men accused of maladministration in Africa, 348 THE ANNALS. [B. XIIL where they had been proconsuls, were acquitted by the emperor: they were Sulpicius Camerinus,I and Pomponius Silvanus. The former in opposition to a few private prosecutors, who charged him rather with acts of severity than extorting money. But Silvanus was beset by a vast array of accusers, who required time to produce their witnesses; but he demanded to be instantly put on his defence, and carried his point by being wealthy, childless, and old; though he outlived and disappointed those by whose intrigues he was acquitted. 53. Till this time affairs in Germany had continued in a state of tranquillity, from the feeling of our commanders there, who, as triumphal honours were so miserably prostituted, judged that the greater honour was to be reaped by preserving peace. Paulinus Pompeius and Lucius Vetus then commanded the army. Not however to keep the soldiers unemployed; the former now perfected the dam which had been begun by Drusus sixty-three years before, to restrain the overflowing of the Rhine;2 while Vetus was digging a canal of communication between the Arar3 and Moselle, that the armies from Italy, having sailed by sea, and then up the Rhone and Arar, might pass through this canal into the Moselle, and thence sail down the Rhine into the ocean: so that all difficulties of the passage being removed, a communication by water might be opened from west to north, be tween the two shores. But this great work was marred bj the envy of iElius Gracilis, the lieutenant of Belgic Gaul who warned Vetus against bringing his legions into another's province, and courting the affections of the Gauls; insisting 1 Sulpicius Camerinus, with his son, was afterwards put to death by Nero. 2 Drusus, the father of Germanicus, died in Germany, A U.C 745. He had finished a canal, as mentioned, Annals, ii. 8; and. to prevent the overflowings of the Rhine, which often deluged the adjacent parts of Gaul, he laid the plan of a strong bank, by which the waters would have been thrown into a different course, and discharged into the lakes, now the Zuyder-zee. This great work was at length finished by Paulinus Pompeius. 3 The Arar is now the Saone. Brotier observes, that this great undertaking, tending to unite the Mediterranean and the Ocean, often attempted, and as often abandoned, was at length accomplished, to the immortal glory of Louis XIV. That "imperial work" sa now called the Royal Canal, or the Canal of Languedoc. GERMAN CHIEFs AT ROME. 349 that such conduct would alarm the emperor: an apprehension by which worthy enterprises are frequently frustrated. 54. But from the continued inaction of both armies, a report arose that the generals were enjoined not to lead them against the enemy. The Frisians therefore occupied the forests and morasses with their youth, and conveying ovei the lakes those unfit for war from sex or age, placed them along the banks of the Rhine, and then proceeded to settle themselves upon the unoccupied lands set apart for the soldiers, under the counsel and conduct of Verritus and Malorix, who ruled this nation, so far as Germans submit to rule. They had already founded their dwellings, sown the fields, and were cultivating the lands, as if they had been their native soil, when Dubius Avitus, who succeeded Paulinus in the province, by threatening them with an attack from the Romans, unless they retired to their ancient territories, or from the emperor obtained a new settlement, forced Verritus and Malorix to betake themselves to supplication. They proceeded to Rome; where, while they waited for access to Nero, who was engaged in other affairs, amongst the several sights which are usually shown to Barbarians, they were conducted into Pompey's theatre,' that they might observe the immensity of the Roman people. Here, while they gazed round them-for indeed they took no delight in scenic representations which they understood not-asking about the mass of people seated in the pit, the distinctions of orders, " which were the Roman knights, and where sat the senate," they spied certain persons in a foreign habit, sitting upon the benches of the senators, and asked who were these? When they had learnt that this was a distinction conferred upon the ambassadors of such nations as signalised themselves by their merit and friendship towards the Romans; " There is not a nation upon earth," they exclaimed, "(which surpasses the Germans in prowess and fidelity," and down they came and took their seats among the senators: a proceeding viewed indulgently by the spectators, as a specimen of ancient simplicity, and the effect of an honest emulation. Nero bestowed upon both the privileges of Roman citizens, but ordered that the Frisians should abandon their new possessions; and as I Pliny the elder says, that Pompey's theatre was large enough to hold forty thousand men Pliny, lib. xxxvi. 15. 350 THE ANNALS. [i. XIII they refused to obey, they were forced to it by a sadden attack of the auxiliary horse, who made prisoners or slew all who obstinately resisted. ' 55. The same lands were seized by the Ampsivarians,' a more potent people, not in their own multitudes only, but also from the sympathy of the neighbouring nations: for having been exterminated by the Chaucians, and destitute of a settlement, they were seeking shelter in some foreign land. They were also led by.a man of high renown amongst these nations, as well as of approved fidelity towards the Romans, named Boiocalus; who upon this occasion alleged, that, upon the revolt of the Cheruscans,2 he had been thrown into bonds by order of Arminius, and afterwards served under Tiberius, then under Germanicus; and, to the merit of fifty years' service and adherence to the Romans, he was ready to add that of submitting his people to their dominion. What portion of the plain lay unoccupied, to receive sometime the sheep and cattle of the soldiers? They might certainly keep the lands reserved for flocks in those quarters where human beings were said to dwell: all that was desired was that they would not prefer desolation and solitude to a friendly population. These lands were formerly held by the Chamavians; next by the Tubantes; afterwards by the Usipians.3 As the heavens were appropriated to the gods, so was the earth to the children of men; and such portions of it as none possessed, were free to all." Then, turning his eyes to the sun, and invoking the starry host, he asked them, as if holding personal converse with them, " whether they looked with complacency upon a desert soil; rather would they pour the ocean over it in revenge of robbers of lands." 56. Avitus, who was affected by this appeal, replied, " that the commands of superiors must be obeyed. The gods whom they invoked had appointed, that to the Romans should appertain the sovereign disposal, what to bestow and what to The country into which the irruption was made is supposed to be the land between Wesel and Dusseldorf. The Ampsivarians, before they were expelled by the Chaucians, inhabited the territory between the river Amisia (the Ems) and the Rhine. 2 The revolt of the Cheruscans in which Varus and his three legions perished. Annals, i. 10. 3 For the Chamavians, thie Tubantes, and Usipian, see the Maliners of the Germans, 32, 33. EVENS rs I GERMANY. 351 take away; and not to allow any other judges than them selves." This was his answer to the Ampsivarians generally; but to Boiocalus himself he promised, that in acknowledgment of his attachment to the Romans, he would give him lands; an offerwhich he spurned, regarding it as the price of treachery, and added, " A land to live in we may want, but a place to die in we cannot:" and thus they parted with angry feelings on both sides. The Ampsivarians invited to a confederacy in the war the Bructerians, Tencterians,' and even other nations more remote. Avitus having written to Curtilius Mancia, who commanded the upper army, to pass the Rhine, and make a hostile demonstration upon their rear, himself led his legions into the territories of the Tencterians, threatening them with annihilation unless they abandoned the confederacy. The Tencterians accordingly withdrawing, theBructerians, impelled by similar fears, followed them; and all the other members shrinking from dangers incurred in others' quarrels, the Ampsivarians, alone and deserted by all, fell back upon the Usipians and Tubantes, who drove them out of their territories and having sought a reception first with the Cattlans, then with the Cheruscans, after protracted wanderings, as strangers, destitutes, and enemies, all their youth fell by the sword in a foreign land, and the helpless multitude were portioned out as captives. 57. A severe battle was fought between the Hermundurians and the Cattians during the same summer, each party forcibly asserting a claim to the river which divided their territories, andwhich yielded abundance of salt.2 Besides their propensity to settle everything by the sword, they were animated by a deep-rooted religious persuasion "that these places approached nearer to heaven than any other, and nowhere did the supplications of men reach the mars of the gods more speedily. Hence by the indulgence of the deities, in this river, and in these groves, salt was produced, not. as with other nations, from the inundations of the sea drying upon the shore, but by pouring water upon a flaming pile of wood, condensed by the opposite elements of fire and water."3 The issue of the 1 For the Bructerians and Tencterians, see the Manners of the Germans, 32, 33. 2 This was the river Sala, still known by the same name. It discharges itself into the Albis (now the Elbe). 3 This method of prolucing salt is explained by Pliny, Hist. Nat, lib. xxxi. 7. THE ANNALS. IB. XIIl war was prosperous to the Hermundurians, but to the Cattians the more calamitous, as the victors had devoted the adverse Itost to Mars and Mercury; by which vow men and horses, and whatever else appertains to the vanquished, are doomed to destruction: thus their threats against the enemy recoiled upon themselves. The Ubians, a state in alliance with us, were at this time afflicted by a sudden calamity; for fires issuing from the earth caught and consumed, in every direction, their farm-houses, their crops, and their towns, and were advancing to the walls of the lately-built settlement. Neither could they be extinguished even by the falling of rain, or by the throwing of water, or by any other similar application; till some boors, despairing of a remedy, and enraged at the havoc, attacked it at a distance with volleys of stones: and then, as the flames abated, they approached nearer, and by blows from their clubs and other stripes, they sought to frighten the fires away as though they had been wild beasts. At length they stripped themselves of their clothes, and threw them on, and the more soiled and worn they were, the more effectual they proved. 58. During the same year the decay of the tree Ruminalis,' in the Comitium, in consequence of its branches dying and its trunk withering,-that tree which, eight hundred and forty years ago, had sheltered the infancy of Romulus and Remus, - was regarded as an awful portent; but at length it put forth new shoots, and recovered its verdure. 1 It was supposed that under the shade of this tree Romulus and Remus were nourished by the she-wolf. Rumen was an old Latin word for mamma, or the dug of the animal: thence the tree was called RamiIatis. 0.2.1 INFLUENCb OF OPPP^AA. BOOK XIV. 1. DURING the consulship of Caius Vipstanus and Caius ronteius, Nero determined no longer to delay the parricide he had long meditated; his daring spirithaving gatheredstrength from the duration of his power, and growing more vehement from day to day in his passion for Poppwa, who, despairing of the divorce of Octavia and her own marriage while Agrippina lived, teased him with incessant accusations, and sometimes with an air of raillery upbraided him, calling him " a pupil, who being subject to the orders of another, was so far from wielding the authority of emperor, that he was curtailed of liberty himself. For why did he delay to marry her? was it forsooth that he had objections to her person and her ancestors, men distinguished with triumphal honours 1 or to the fruitfulness of her body, and the sincerity of her affection? No; the truth was, it was dreaded that when his wife, she at least would lay open the injurious treatment of the senate, the indignation of the people at the insolence and rapaciousness of his mother: but if Agrippina would bear no daughterin-law who was not virulently opposed to her son, she desired to be restored to the embraces of Otho; for she was ready to withdraw to any quarter of the earth, where she might hear of the emperor's degradation, rather than stay to behold it, mixed up with the perils that beset him." These and similar expostulations, enforced with tears and the arts of an adulteress, penetrated the soul of Nero: nor did any one check their operation, as all desired to see the influence of his mother weakened, and as no one supposed that the son would be- i come so hardened in hatred as to spill the blood of his mother. 2. Cluvius relates that the eagerness of Agrippina to retain her influence grew to such a pitch, that often at noon-day, as Nero was then heated with wine and meats, she presented herself to him, while intoxicated, gaily attired and ready for TAC. —VOL. L A A 3.54 TRE ANNM1.LS [a. XIV. incest; and when at length their wanton kisses and caresser, the harbingers of guilt, attracted the notice of their intimate friends, Seneca, for an antidote against the enticements of one woman, had recourse to another: and hence Acte,' the freedwoman, was introduced; who, equally anxious for her own safety and the character of Nero, warned him that the incest was talked of everywhere, his mother glorying in it; and that the soldiery would never bear the rule of a prince so impious. Fabius Rusticus ascribes this to the passion, not of Agrippina, but Nero; and says that it was broken off by the address of. the same Acte. But the account given by Cluvius agrees with those of the other writers; and to this side tradition inclines. Whether it were that she conceived in her heart an impurity so monstrous, or whether this scheme of unheard of lust appeared the more credible in her, who almost in her childhood had, from thirst of dominion, prostituted herself to Lepidus; with a similar object had abandoned herself to the lust of Pallas; and during her marriage with her uncle Claudius, had been trained to guilt of every kind and degree. 3. In consequence Nero began to avoid all private interviews with her, and upon her going to her gardens, or to her villa at Tusculum or Antium, he used to applaud her for thus courting retirement. At length feeling her as an oppression and terror to him wherever she resided, he resolved to kill her, and was in suspense only about the mode; by poison, the sword, or any other violent means: poison was preferred at first; but if it were administered at the prince's table, its effects could not be ascribed to accidental causes, as Britannicus had already perished in the same way. To tamper with lier domestics appeared impracticable, as from her long familiarity with crime, she was on the alert against treachery; and by taking antidotes beforehand, had fortified her body against poison: and how to dispatch her with the sword, and yet hide the deed, no one could suggest: he feared, too, lest the person selected for the perpetration of so heinous an act, should disregard his orders. Anicetus, an enfranchised slave, tutor to Nero in his infancy, but now commander of the fleet at M isenum, hated by and Ihating Agrippina, here proffered the aid of his ingenuity. Accordingly he explained, "how a vessdl might be so constructed that a portion of it might by a 1 Acte has been already mentioned, Annals, xiii 12. ATTEMPT TO DROWN AGRIPPINA. 355 contrivance fall to pieces and plunge her unawares into the water: nothing," he said, " was so prolific in accidents as the sea; and if she were thus cut off by shipwreck, who could be so injurious as to ascribe the offence of wind and waves to the malice of men? the prince should also erect a temple and altars to the deceased, and adopt every other means of parading his filial reverence." 4. Nero was pleased with the device, which was also favoured by the particular juncture, for he was then keeping the holidays of the Quinquatrus' at Baie. Thither he enticed his mother; frequently declaring, " that the hasty humour of parents should be borne with, and her spirit should be soothed;" in order to raise a rumour of his being reconciled to her; which Agrippina might believe with the credulous facility with which women acquiesce in whatever gratifies their wishes. When she approached, he met her upon the shore, for she came from Antium, gave her his hand, embraced her, and conducted her to Bauli;2 so the villa is called, which, lying between the cape of Misenum and the gulf of Baise,3 is washed by the winding sea. Here, amongst other vessels, lay one more ornamental than the rest; as if in this too he sought to honour his mother: for she had been always wont to make her excursions in a galley with three banks of oars, rowed by mariners from the fleet. She was then invited to a banquet, that the shades of night might minister in shrouding the horrid deed. It was, however, apparent that somebody had betrayed the design, and that Agrippina, upon hearing of the plot, though doubtful whether to believe it, was conveyed to Baie in a sedan: but, upon her arrival, his caresses assuaged her fear: he received her graciously, and placed her at table above him; entertained and amused her with a variety of conversation; at one time with the frankness natural to youth, at another with an air of gravity, pretending to communicate with her upon serious topics: and after he had drawn out the banquet to a late hour, he escorted her on her departure, fixing his eyes upon 1 A feast in honour of Minerva, beginning on the nineteenth of March, and continued for five days. See Ovid, Fast. lib. iii. 713, 810. 2 Bauli, formerly the seat of Hortensius, was famous for great plenty of fish; hence at this day the name of Peschiera d' Ortensio. a The same as the Lucrine Lake, mentioned below, c. 5. A A 2 356 THE ANNALS, her, and clinging to her bosom, whether it was to complete the hollow part he had assumed, or that the last sight o0 a mother on the point of perishing, had power to fix the attention of his mind, though brutalized. 5. The gods, as if to bear damning testimony against the impious deed, granted a night lit up with stars; while not a breath disturbed the unruffled deep. Agrippina was attended to by two only of all her train, of whom Crepereius Gallus stood by the steerage, and Aceronia, who, as Agrippina reposed, lay at her feet, was again setting before her, with joy, the remorse of her son, and her recovered influence with him: the vessel had not yet made much way, when suddenly upon a signal given, the roof of the cabin fell in, being loaded with a quantity of lead, and instantly crushed Crepereius to death. Agrippina and Aceronia were defended by the sides of the couch, which rose above them, and happened to be too strong to yield to the weight: neither did the vessel at once fall to pieces; for the mariners were all in confusion, and the major part of them not being privy to the plot, embarrassed even such as were. The mariners then proposed to bear the vessel down on one side, and so sink her: but neither did all the accomplices themselves fall in with a project thus startling; and others resisting it, diminished the violence with which they were thrown into the sea. Now Aceronia, little thinking of the consequence, while she cried out that she was Agrippina, and bid them succour the prince's mother, was pursued with poles and oars, and whatever other naval weapons came first to hand, and so slain. Agrippina kept silence, and being therefore the less known, escaped, with one wound however upon her shoulder. By swimming, and then meeting with some small barks, she reached the lake Lucrinus,' and was thence conducted to her own villa. 6. There; reflecting that for this very end she had been summoned by the fraudulent letters of her son, and treated with especial honour: that the vessel, close to the shore, not from the violence of winds, or from striking upon rocks, had given way in its upper works, and fallen to pieces like a frail 1 The Lucrine Lake (now Lago Lucrino). Agrippina's villa was at Bauli. There is in the neighbourhood a place now called Sepolchro 4' Agrippina. c. 7.1 OTIIER MEASURES DECIDED ON. 357 structure for land purposes; taking into her consideration also the fate of Aceronia, and looking upon her own wound, she inferred that her only resource against these treacherous machinations was to act as if she saw them not. With this view she despatched Agerinus, her freedman, to notify to her son, "that through the mercy of the gods, and the auspicious influence of his fortune, she had escaped a grievous casualty. but besought him, however terrified at the danger which had threatened his mother, to postpone the attention of visiting her; for what she needed at present was rest." And meanwhile, counterfeiting perfect security and composure, she had medicines applied to her wound, and fomentations to her body: she ordered the will of Aceronia to be brought to her, and her effects to be registered and sealed up: departing in this instance only from her plan of dissimulation. 7. As for Nero, while he was waiting for expresses to apprise him that the deed was done, tidings arrived " that she had escaped with a slight,hurt; having been so far imperilled as to leave no doubt who was the author." Overpowered with terror and dismay at this intelligence, and protesting that she would forthwith come, eager for revenge, he asked, "what resources he had to meet her, whether she armed the slaves, or kindled a fame among the soldiery, or forced her way to the senate and people, and charged him with her shipwreck, her wound, and the murder of her friends, unless Burrus and Seneca could devise some expedient i" He had instantly sumnmoned both of them, to consult them; neither is it clear' whether they were previously informed of the conspiracy: they both kept silence for a long time, either lest they should fail in dissuading him from his purpose, or else convinced that matters had gone so far that either Agrippina must be cutoff or Nero perish. At length Seneca, heretofore the more forward, fixed his eyes on Burrus, and asked, " whether orders for this execution might be given to the soldiery." he answered. that "the praetorian guards were so attached to the whole family of the Cesars, so revered the memory of Germanicus, that they would shrink from executing any severity upon a descendant of him: Anicetus should carry out his engagement." Anicetus paused not a moment, but even demanded the task of completing the murder. Nero at these words declared himself to be that day presented with the 3835 THE ANNALS. [B. XIv. empire, and that his freedman was the author of the costly present. He bid him despatch, and take with him such as would most promptly execute his orders. The freedman however, having heard that Agerinus was arrived as a messenger from Agrippina, contrived a plot to turn the treason upon her: as he was delivering his message, he dropped a dagger between his feet; and then, as if he had caught him in the treason, ordered him to be put in irons. This he did to give consistency to a fiction, that the mother of the prince had concerted his destruction, and then from shame, on the detection of the treason had put herself to death. 8. Meanwhile the circumstance of Agrippina's peril having been made known among the people, and it was represented as the effect of pure accident, each, as soon as he heard it, hastened down to the beach. Some climbed up the piers which jut out into the sea; some got into the barks that were at hand; others entered the sea, and waded as far as their height would permit; some stretched out their arms; so that the whole coast resounded with lamentations, with vows, and with the shouts of the multitude, asking various questions, or returning unsatisfactory answers. A great number crowded to the spot with torches in their hands; and, as soon as it was confirmed that Agrippina was out of danger, they were preparing to offer her their congratulations, when an armed band appearing and threatening them, they were dispersed. Anicetus beset the villa with a guard, and bursting open the gates, seized such of her slaves as he met on his way to the door of her chamber, which he found guarded by very few, the rest being scared away by the terror of the irruption. In her chamber was a small light, and only one of her maids. Agrippina wab more and more agitated with anxious thoughts that no one had yet arrived from her son, not even Agerinus: she observed the alteration in the general aspect of the shore, the solitude that reigned, startling noises, and symptoms of some dire catastrophe. Her maid then leaving her, she said, " You too are deserting me;" when looking round she saw Anicetus, accompanied by Herculeus, captain of a galley, and Oloaritus, a centurion of the navy: she told him, "if he came from the emperor to be informed of her health, to say she was revived; if for any sanguinary purpose, she would nevel believe it of her son' he had never given orders for parricide." a. 10.] NERO'S REMORSE 359 The assassins placed themselves round her bed, the captain first struck her violently upon the head with a club: for to the centurion, as he was drawing his sword to dispatch her, she presented her womb, and with a loud voice, "Strike your sword into my belly," she cried, and was instantly dispatched with a number of wounds. 9. In these particulars authors are unanimous: but as to whether Nero surveyed the breathless body of his mother, and applauded its beauty; there are those who have affirmed it, and those who deny it. Her body was committed to the funeral pile the same night on a common couch; and her obsequies performed in a mean manner: neither, during the reign of Nero, was any tomb raised, or her grave enclosed; but afterwards, from the respect of her domestics, she received a humble monument' upon the road to Misenum, near a villa of Cmssar's the dictator, which, elevated above the surrounding objects, overlooks the coast and bays below.2 Mnester, a freedman of hers, as soon as her funeral pile was lighted, ran hin.Relf through with a sword; whether from affection to his patroness, or from dread of some horrible doom to himself, is uncertain. Agrippina had been taught to expect many years before that she would end her life thus, but cared not for it: for the Chaldeans, whom she consulted on the fortune of Nero, answered, that "' he would certainly reign, and kill his mother;" when she replied, " Let him kill me, so that he reign." 10. As for Nero, now at length, after the impious deed was completed, he became sensible of its enormity: during the rest of the night, at times he would remain profoundly silent, fixing his eyes immovably upon the ground; at others starting up amazed, and trembling; and in the distraction of despair, waited the approach of day; which, he apprehended, would bring his final doom. But he was roused into hopes and assurance, first by the flattery of the tribunes and centurions, who, at the instigation of Burrus, grasped his hand and congratulated him " upon having escaped an unforeseen peril, and the treason of his mother." Next, his friends 1 It is still called, as mentioned above, Sepolchro d'Agrippina. 2 Marius, Pompey, and Caesar, had their villas in the neighbourhood of Baize, all built on the ridge of hills, and looking, as Seneca says more like military works than rural seats: "Scias non villas esse, sed castra."-Epist. 5. 360 THE ANNALS. [B. XIV. repaired to the temples, and the example once set, the adjacent municipalities of Campania testified their joy by victims and embassies. For himself, his dissimulation taking a different turn. he appeared sad and dejected in his mien; seeming tr be displeased at his own preservation, and mourning over the death of his mother. However, as the face of a country cannot change its aspect, like the countenances of men, and as the offensive prospect of that sea and of those shores lay continually before his eyes, (there were those too who believed that from the surrounding hills the sound of a trumpet was heard, and wailings from Agrippina's grave,) he withdrew to Naples, and sent letters to the senate, of which the substance was: 11. " That Agerinus, a confidential freedman of Agrippina's, sent by her to assassinate him, had been detected with a dagger in his possession; and that she had atoned for her crime on the suggestion of the same guilty consciousness that had impelled her to contrive the treason." To this he added a long catalogue of her past crimes; how " she had aimed at a co-ordinate power with himself in the empire, at drawing from the praetorian bands an oath of submission and fidelity to a woman, to the disgrace and abasement at once of the senate and people; and finding her wishes disappointed, became enraged against the soldiery, the fathers, and the populace; and hence opposed a donative to the army, and a largess to the people; and had got up capital prosecutions against the most illustrious men of Rome.-What labour it cost him to defeat her design of assuming a seat in the senate, and of replying to foreign ambassadors!"1 Obliquely censuring the proceedings of the Claudian times, he laid to his mother all the atrocities of that reign; alleging " that through the good fortune of the state, she had fallen:" for he also related the shipwreck: but, where is the man so stupid as to believe that event to be the effect of chance? or that a shipwrecked woman should send one man with a dagger to break through the fleet and guards of the emperor? Therefore it was not now upon Nero that the popular censure fell (whose barbarity could not be affected by the complaints of the whole city), but upon Seneca; for that, by using such language, he had proved himself an accomplice. See the accoun of her attempt prevented by Seneca, Annals, xiii. 5 NERO'S RETURN TO ROME. 361 12. However, with wonderful competition among the great, supplications at all the couches of the gods were decreed, "that the Quinquatrus, during which the conspiracy was detected, should be celebrated by anniversary spectacles: in the senate-house should be placed the statue of Minerva in gold, and close by it that of the emperor; and, that Agrippina's birthday should be regarded as an unlucky day." Thrasea Paetus, who was hitherto wont either to pass over these sallies of flattery in silence, or with a brief assent, now walked out of the senate, and thence laid the foundation of danger to himself, without opening a source of liberty to others. There happened moreover at the same time, frequent prodigies; but no consequences followed: a woman brought forth a serpent; another, in the embraces of her husband, was struck dead with lightning; the sun too became suddenly darkened,' and the fourteen sections of the city were struck by lightning: all which proved so entirely independent of any design in the deities, that for many years after this Nero continued his sovereignty and crimes. Now, in order to heighten the popular hate towards his mother, -and show that his own clemency was increased by her removal, he restored to their native country and inheritance Junia and Calpurnia,2 ladies of illustrious quality, with Valerius Capito and Licinius Gabolus, men of praetorian dignity; all formerly exiled by Agrippina: he likewise permitted the ashes of Lollia Paullina' to be brought home, and a sepulchre to be built for them: Iturius too, and Calvisius,4 whom lie had lately banished, he now pardoned and relea ed: for Silana5 had now finished her course at Tarentum, whither, from her remote banishment, she had returned, when the influence of Agrippina, by whose enmity she fell, was declining, or her resentment had subsided. 13. While Nero lingered in the towns of Campania, undetermined how to conduct himself upon his return to Rome, and distracted with doubt whether he should find the senate obsequious, or the people attached to him, all the profligates of the court (and no court upon earth more abounded with 1 This eclipse was the day before the kalends of May, that is, on the 30th of April, A.u.c. 812; of the Christian era 59. See Pliny, lib. ii. 70. 2 For Junia Calvina, see Annals, xii. 8; for Calpurnia, Annals, xii. 22. 3 For Lollia Paullina, see Annals, xii. 22. 4 Iturius and Calvisius, banished by Nero; Annals, xiii. 22. 5 Silana was also banished by Nero; Annals, xiii. 22. 3G2 TEE ANNALS them) combated his misgivings by declaring, "that the very name of Agrippina was detested; and that by her death, the affections of the people towards him had been kindled into 9 flame; they bade him go fearlessly, and in person receive proofs of the popular adoration. They obtained leave, at the same time, to go there before him; which they did, and found a more forward zeal than they had promised: the tribes came forth to meet him, the senate in their robes of state, with troops of women and children, ranged in separate classes according to sex and age; and on the line of his route erections for spectators with seats one above another, in the same manner as triumphs are viewed. Elated with pride upon such a reception, and conscious of his triumph over a servile public, he repaired to the Capitol, and returned thanks to the gods: and thenceforth abandoned himself to all his inordinate passions; which, though insufficiently controlled, had been somewhat checked by his reverence for his mother, such as it was. 14. It had long been a practice with him to drive a chariot drawn by four horses: nor less scandalous was his passion for singing to the harp, after the theatrical fashion, when at supper: "an employment which he alleged to have been commonly practised by the kings and heroes of old; was celebrated by the poets, and devoted to the honour of the gods; indeed song was sacred to Apollo, and with a similar habit and instrument, not only in the cities of Greece, but even in the Roman temples, that preeminent and oracular deity might be seen." Nor could he any longer be restrained, when Seneca and Burrus, lest he should carry his point in both, resolved to indulge him in one; and a piece of ground in the valley of the Vaticanl was enclosed, where he might drive without being exposed to a promiscuous crowd of spectators: but in a short time, even the Roman populace were invited to see him, who animated him with acclamations, according to the genius of the multitude, who are eager for amusements, and rejoice when the inclinations of the prince point in that direction. But this public exhibition of his shame did not produce disgust as they supposed, but encoutagement. Imagining also that his disgrace would be dimi1 This was a circus begun by Caligula, and finished by Nero. The church of St. Peter is built on this spot, and the obelisk which stood there was placed before St. Peter's, at a vast expense by Pope Sixtus V NERO APPEARS ON THE STAGE. 368 nished by involving more in the contamination, he introduced, as actors into the theatre, some of the descendants of illustrious families, whose poverty exposed them to the temptation of hire; men now no more, and whose names I repeat not, because I deem it due to their ancestors; and also because the guilt is his who has given money to induce them to commit offences, rather than to prevent them. He likewise engaged several distinguished Roman knights to undertake the acting of parts in public representations, by excessive rewards; unless it be thought that pay from one who has authority to command, carries with it the efficacy of compulsion. 15. Nevertheless, that he might not as yet be debased in the public theatre, he instituted a sort of plays called 'Juvenales;' and for these, names were given in from all quarters: neither noble descent, nor age, nor offices of honour borne, prevented any one from practising the art of a Greek or Roman stageplayer, even to their effeminate gestures and modulations: nay, even illustrious ladies practised unseemly things: and in the grove which was planted by Augustus round the lake where the naval combat was exhibited, for their entertainment taverns and booths were built; and incentives to wantonness were exposed to sale. Moreover, money was given by the emperor to the innocent as well as the voluptuous, to be wasted alike in riot; by the former from compulsion, by the latter from ostentation of vice. The consequence was, that guilt and infamy increased; nor was there anything which infused more debauchery into the public manners, which had long fallen from primitive purity, than this concentration of the dregs and offscourings of vice. Hardly can modesty be secured by virtuous training; much less can chastity, or moderation, or aught that savours of moral purity, be preserved amidst a general rivalry in vice. At length, Nero mounted the stage, tuning his lute with much care, and flourishing before he began his part. About him stood his companions; a cohort of the guards was also there, with tribunes and centurions, and Burrus, praising his master but grieving for him. At this time also was first enrolled the body of Roman knights entitled 'Augustani," men in the 1 Suetonius says, that the leaders of this new society had salaries of forty thousand sesterces allowed them. In Neron. s. 20. 364 THE ANNALS. [B. XIV prime of life, and remarkable for their bodily vigour; some naturally licentious, others from the prospect of elevation. They were occupied by day and by night in applauding the prince as loudly as they could; applying to him and to his voice, terms appropriate to the gods; and lived in honour and renown, as though they had been preferred for their virtues. 16. The emperor however, that he might be renowned not for theatrical accomplishments only, affected a passion for poetry also; having gathered about him such as had any talent in that way: all these were wont to sit down together with the prince, and connect together lines they brought, or composed there, and patch them on to the emperor's effusions, howsoever crude they might be. This is apparent from the very character of these poems, which are without fire and inspiration, as well as the uniformity that marks the production of one author. He was wont also to give some time after meals to professors of philosophy, that the squabbles of those who maintained opposite opinions might afford amusement to him: nor were there wanting some, who were not averse to exhibit their austere looks and mien amidst these royal recreations. 17. About the same time, a trivial altercation gave rise to a sanguinary conflict between the inhabitants of the colonies of Nuceria and Pompeii,' at the celebration of a combat of gladiators exhibited by Livineius Regulus, whose expulsion frcm the senate I have before recounted.2 For, as they rallied each other with the freedom usual among the inhabitants of small towns, they proceeded to abuse, then to throwing stones, and at length they had recourse to arms: but the people of Pompeii, where the spectacle was exhibited, were too strong for their opponents. In consequence, numbers of the Nucerians were conveyed to Rome, wounded and mutilated; and many bewailed the death of sons and fathers. The cognisance of this affair was by the prince left to the senate, and by them to the consuls; and on their report of the merits of the case to the fathers, the people of Pompeii were prohibited from holding 1 Both places were situated in Campania. 2 It does not appear when this man was expelled the senate. The account of that affair is lost. It is probable that this is the Livineius Regulus who is mentioned, Annals, iii 11. QUINQUENNIAL GAMES INSTITUTED. 365 any such public meeting for ten years, and the societies they had instituted contrary to the laws were dissolved. 18. Pedius Blkesus also was expelled the senate,' at the suit of the Cyrenians, who urged that he profanely robbed the treasure of 2Esculapius; and had been guilty of venal and corrupt practices in the matter of the levies. The same Cyrenians prosecuted Acilius Strabo, who had exercised preetorian authority, and had been sent as an arbitrator by Claudius respecting lands formerly held by king Apion, and by him bequeathed, together with his kingdom, to the Roman people; the same had been usurped by the bordering proprietors, who founded a claim upon continual encroachment and wrong, as though they had justice and right on their side. The consequence was, that Strabo, having adjudged the lands not theirs, incurred their displeasure. In answer to the application the senate said, " that the terms of his commission from Claudius were unknown to them, and the matter must be referred to the prince." Nero approved the arbitration of Strabo, but wrote, "that he would nevertheless support our allies, and grant them the possessions they had usurped." 19. Then followed the deaths of those eminent Romans, Domitius Afer and Marcus Servilius, who had lived in high repute, having filled the most honourable offices and distinguished themselves for their eloquence; the former was celebrated as a pleader; Servilius was also long noted at the bar, but afterwards acquired fame by his Roman History, as also for the elegance and probity of his life; which received additional lustre from that of Afer,2 who was in genius his equal, but a contrast to him in his manners. 20. During the consulship of Nero (for the fourth time) and Cornelius Cossus, quinquennial games were instituted at Rome, after the model of the Greek contest;3 and, as generally 1 He was afterwards restored to his rank. Hist. i. 17. 2 Domitius Afer was a man of ambition, willing to advance his for tune by any crime. " Quoquo facinore properus clarescere." (Annals, iv. 52.) He is praised by Quintilian as an orator of considerable eloquence. 3 Suetonius informs us that Nero was the first that instituted, in imitation of the Greeks, a trial of skill in the three several arts of music, wrestling, and horse-racing, to be performed every five years, which he called " Neronia." In Neron. s. 12. 366 THE ANNALS. [B. XIV. happens in new institutions, various were the opinions expressed upon the occasion. There were some who alleged, " that Pompey too was censured by our ancestors, for having founded a permanent theatre;' till then, the spectacles used to be exhibited on temporary stages, and were seen from seats raised on the moment: or, if times more remote were consulted, the people would be found to have stood to behold them; lest, had they been indulged with seats, they should consume whole days in the theatre from idleness. In truth, the primitive rule in popular shows would be preserved, as often as the prictors should exhibit them, if no Roman citizen were compelled to enter the lists; but now, the usages of our country, which had long been gradually disappearing, were utterly obliterated by imported extravagances, so that at Rome might be seen, from all quarters, whatever was corrupting or corrupt; and the Roman youth were degenerating from the virtue of their ancestors, by the introduction of foreign tastes, by habituating them to gymnastics, to idleness, and filthy amours; and that under the sanction of the prince and senate, who not only have granted a dispensation for vices, but now enforce them; and the chief men of Rome are exposed- to scenic pollutions under pretence of encouraging poetry and eloquence. What remained, but to strip themselves, to take up the gauntlet, and practise that mode of combat in lieu of martial exercises and the use of arms? Would they become acquainted with the system of justice administered by the augurs, or be qualified to act as knights exercising the judicature;2 to discharge the exalted function of judges, because they had listened with a critic's ear to languishing tones and mellifluous inflexions of the voice? Nights as well as days were devoted to dishonour; that not a moment might be left which Modesty might call her own; but that in a promiscuous crowd every profligate might dare, under the cover of darkness, whatever his lust may have suggested during the day." 21. To many this dissolute pastime was congenial, but they 1 This theatre has been mentioned, book xiii. 54. 2 Among the Roman knights there were four D"curive appointed to exercise jurisdiction. Suetonius says that Caligula, to relieve the judges from the fftigue of business, added a fifth class to the former four. In Calig. s. 16, APPEARANCE OF A COMET. 367 disguised it under specious names: ' even our ancestors," they alleged, " were not averse to the gratification of public shows exhibited in a manner suitable to the circumstances of thal time, and the revenue of the state: for this end, Tuscany furnished them with players;' Thurium with horse-racing: after the conquest of Greece and Asia, their sports were got up more elaborately: yet, for two hundred years, from the triumph of Lucius Mummius,2 the first who presented this kind of show in the city, no Roman of respectability had debased himself to the profession of the stage. Moreover, frugality was consulted in rearing a standing theatre, rather than by incurring an immense expense every year in putting up and pulling down one: neither had the magistrates the same occasion to exhaust their private fortune, nor the people to importune them for the exhibition of the Grecian games; since the expense was defrayed by the state. The prizes gained by poets and orai?)rs, would prove incentives to the cultivation of genius; nor was it invidious for any judge to lend his ear to the productions of honourable ambition, and blameless gratifications. That a few nights once in the five years were rather appropriated to mirth than wantonness; during which, illuminated as they were with such a blaze of lights, no impropriety could escape observation." It must be admitted that this spectacle passed off without any remarkable violation of decorum; nor did the zeal of the people break out into any excesses; for, though the pantomimes were again restored to the stage, they were restrained from the exhibitions which were held sacred. The prize of eloquence was borne away by none; but Caesar was pronounced the victor. The Grecian garb, worn at this solemnity by many, ceased to be used from that time. 22. During these transactions a comet blazed,-a phenomenon which, according to the persuasion of the vulgar, portended change to kingdoms: hence, as if Nero had been already deposed, it became the topic of inquiry, who should be chosen to succeed him: and the name of Rubellius Plautus, a man of noble lineage, being descended from the Julian 1 The pantomime-performers were brought to Rome from Tuscany, A.U.c. 390. Livy, lib. vii. 2. 2 Lucius Mummius conquered Corinth, A.U.c. 608, and obtained th title of Achaicus. Velleius Paterc. lib. i. 13 368 THE ANNALS. LB. XIV family through his mother, was in everybody's mouth. IIe was himself a strict observer of the institutions of ancient times; sober in his dress; in his private character blameless and retiring; but the more he sought concealment from the dangers of public life, the more his fame resounded. The popular voice was further stimulated by the construction put, in the same spirit of superstition, upon a flash of lightning: for, as Nero sat at meat in a villa called Sublaqueum,' upon the banks of the Simbruine lakes, the viands were struck by lightning and the table overthrown;,and, as this occurrence took place in the neighbourhood of Tibur, whence the paternal ancestors of Plautus sprang, they believed that this was the man predestinated for empire by the decree of the deities. He was likewise warmly supported by many whose eager and commonly shortsighted ambition plunges them into projects of revolution and hazard. All this alarmed Nero, who therefore signified to Plautus by letter, s" that he should consult the peace of Rome, and withdraw himself from those who malignantly aspersed him: that in Asia he had hereditary possessions, where he might pass the best of his days in security and peace." He accordingly retired thither, with Antistia his wife, and a few friends. About the same time, the inordinate propensity of Nero to voluptuousness, involved him in danger and obloquy; by entering for the purpose of swimming the fouptain-head of the Marcian water.2 which is conveyed to the city, he was considered to have polluted the sacred water, and to have profaned the sanctity of the place by washing his person there; and a dangerous fit of illness, which followed, left no doubt of the displeasure of the gods. 23. Now Corbulo, judging it proper, after the demolition of Artaxata,3 to take advantage of the consternation before it had subsided, in seizing Tigranocerta; for if he razed it he should strike fresh terror into the foe, or if he spared it acquire the reputation of clemency; marched towards it, but without any indications of exasperated feeling, lest he should I This place received its name from its proximity to the Simbruine Lakes, and was thence called Sublaqueum. Brotier says it is now La Badia di Subjaco. 2 The Marcian waters were conveyed to Rome in aqueduct. by king Ancus Marcius. See Pliny, lib. xxxi. 3. 3 See Annals, xiii. 41. SUCCESSES OF CORBULO. 369 banish all hopes of pardon; and yet preserving the strictness of discipline, knowing that they were a nation prone to changes, and as little to be depended upon iender temptation as they were cowardly in encountering danger. The Barbarians, each following the impulse of his own will, met him with supplications, or abandoned their towns and betook themselves to the wilds: some crept into caves, accompanied with whatever was dearest to them. The methods therefore taken by the Roman general were various as the occasion: to the suppliants he extended mercy; the fugitives he pursued with speed; but towards those who had hid themselves in dens showed no pity; he filled the mouths and passes of the caverns with fagots and brushwood, and burned them out. But as he marched along the confines of the Mardians, he was galled by the predatory bands of that people, who are protected against invasions by their mountain fastnesses: but Corbulo, by pouring in the Iberians upon them, laid waste their country, and revenged their insolence at the expense of foreign blood. 24 But, though neither he nor his army suffered at all in encounters with the enemy, they were exhausted with scarcity of provisions and fatigue, and compelled to avert famine by living on animal food. In addition to which, the scarcity of water, a scorching summer, long and remote marches, were relieved only by the unflinching endurance of the general, who himself underwent more hardships than any common soldier. They then arrived at cultivated regions, where they reaped the crops; and, of the two castles whither the Armenians had fled for safety, one was taken by assault; the other, having repulsed the first onset, was besieged and compelled to surrender. Corbulo, crossing over thence to the country of the Tauranitians, escaped an unlooked-for danger; for not far from his pavilion, a Barbarian of distinction, armed with a dagger, was apprehended; who, upon the rack, unfolded the order of the conspiracy, confessed that he was the author of it, and discovered his associates, who were convicted and punished, as men who, under the guise of friendship, were meditating villany. Not long after, his ambassadors sent to Tigranocerta, bring tidings that the gates were open to receive him, and that the inhabitants were ready to submit to his commands. At the same time, they handed te TAO.-VOL. LI B 370 TH E ANNALS, [B. XIV. him a golden crown, as a token of hospitality: which he accepted with every mark of honour, and in no respect detracted from their present state; that being left in the full enjoyment of it, they might continue in cordial submission. 25. But the royal citadel, which was defended by a bamd of resolute youths, was not captured without a struggle: for tiey even ventured upon a battle under the walls, but were beaten back within their fortification; which our troops carried, and at length compelled them to yield. These operations proceeded the more favourably because the Parthian forces were diverted by a war with the Hyrcanians, who had sent an embassy to the Roman emperor, to entreat his alliance; pointing to the detention of Vologeses from them as a pledge of their friendship. As these ambassadors were returning, that they might not, by crossing the Euphrates, be intercepted by the parties of the enemy, Corbulo furnished them with a convoy of soldiers, and conducted them as far as the shores of the Persian gulf,1 whence, without touching the precincts of Parthia, they went back to their country. 26. Moreover, as Tiridates2 had passed through Media, and was thence invading the extreme parts of Armenia; Corbulo, having sent forward Verulanus, his lieutenantgeneral, with the auxiliary troops, and advancing himself rapidly at the head of the legions, compelled him to move off to a distance, and abandon all hopes of pursuing the war: and having likewise carried fire and sword through all those quarters which he had learnt were zealous for that king, and therefore disaffected to us, he had already assumed the government of Armenia, when Tigranes arrived, a prince preferred by Nero to that crown. He was a Cappadocian, nobly descended, and grandson to king Archelaus;3 but having passed many years at Rome in the quality of a hostage, his spirit was humbled to a degree of abject servility: neither was he received with general unanimity, as there still remained some who favoured the family of the Arsacidme; The shortest way to Hyrcania was by the Caspian sea; but, for the reason given by Tacitus, the Persian gulf was thought more eligible. 2 Tiridates was brother to Vologeses, the Parthian king. See An. n ds, xii. 51; and xiii. 37, 41. a &rchelaus was king of Cappadocia. See Annals, ii 42. PUTEOLI MADE A COLONY. 371 but the majority detesting the insolence of the Parthians, preferred a king given them by the Romans. He also gave him a body guard, a thousand legionary soldiers, three cohorts of the allies, and two squadrons of horse; and to enable him the better to maintain his new kingdom, several portions of Armenia were subjected to the neighbouring kings, to Pharasmanes, to Polemon, Aristobulus, and Antiochus;' according to the contiguity of the same to their respective dominions. Corbulo then withdrew into Syria; a province now vacant by the death of Ummidius,2 and assigned to him. 27. The same year, Laodicea, one of the famous cities of Asia, having been prostrated by an earthquake, recovered its pristine glory from its own resources, and without any relief from us. In Italy, the ancient town of Puteoli obtained from Nero the privilege of a colony, and an appellation derived from himself. Veterans were ingrafted on the inhabitants of Tarentum and Antium, who, however, did not remedy the defect of population there: for many of them slipped off to the different provinces in which they had completed their period; and being unaccustomed to wedlock, or to rear children, they lived childless, and left none to succeed them when they died. For, colonies were not now established as of old, when entire legions were transplanted thither, with tribunes and centurions, and the soldiers of the several classes; so as to form a commonweal united by similarity of sentiment and mutual affection; but men unknown to each other, without a ruler, and without any reciprocity of feeling, were suddenly assembled from, as it were, different races of men; a multitude rather than a colony. 28. The election of praetors, which used to be managed at the discretion of the senate, having been marked by an outbreak of acrimonious competition, the prince allayed the excitement by preferring to the command of a legion each of the three defeated candidates. He also enhanced the dignity of the fathers, by ordaining, that "whoever appealed from individual judges to the senate, should hazard the forfeiture I Pharasmanes has been often mentioned as king of Iberia; Polemon, king of Pontus; Aristobulus, king of Armenia Minor; and Antiochus, of Commagene. 2 See Annals, xii. 45. BB2 372 THE ANNALS. [B. XIv, of the same sum as those who appealed to the emperor."' For, theretofore it was left open and free from penalty. At the close of the year Vibius Secundus, a Roman knight, was, upon the accusation of the Moors, condemned for public plunder, and banished Italy: he was indebted for his escape from a severer dboom to the opulence of Vibius Crispus, his brother., b) 29. In the consulship of Caesonius Paetus and Petronins Tlrpilianus, a severe defeat was sustained in Britain; where Aulus Didius,2 the governor, had done no more than maintain our former conquests, as I have stated; and his successor Veranius, after having in some slight incursions ravaged the t erritories of the Silures, was prevented by death from further prosecution of the war: this man, though in high repute during his life for strictness of manners, yet in the style o, his last will gave flagrant proof of a fawning spirit; for after much flattery bestowed on Nero, he added, "that he should completely subject that province to him, if his life were prolonged for two years." But now Suetonius Paullinus held the government of Britain; a competitor with Corbulo in the science of war, and in the estimation of the populace, who suffer no man to enjoy their favour without a rival; and he hoped, by subduing that fierce enemy, to equal the renown of recovering Armenia. He therefore prepared to attack the Isle of Mona,3 remarkable for the valour of its inhabitants, and a common receptacle for fugitives: he built, for that end, boats with flat bottoms, to meet the difficulties of a sea abounding in shallows and subject to variations: in these the foot were embarked: the horse followed, partly by fording and partly swimming by the side of their horses, where the water was deep. 30. On the shore stood the forces of the enemy, a dense array of arms and men, with women dashing through the ranks like furies; their dress funereal, their hair dishevelled, and carrying torches in their hands. The druids around the host, pouring forth dire imprecations, with their hands uplifted towards the heavens, struck terror into the soldiers by the strangeness of the sight; insomuch that, as if their 1 The sum, by way of penalty for a frivolous and vexatious appeal, was one-third of the money in dispute between the parties. 2 For the inactivity and unwarlike spirit of Aulus Didius, see Annals, xii. 49; and Life of Agricola, c. 14. 3 Mona, now Anglesey. INSURRECTION IN BRITAIN. 373 limbs were paralysed, they exposed their bodies to the weapons of the enemy, without an effort to move. Afterwards, at the earnest exhortations of the general, and from the effect of their own mutual importunities that they would not be scared by a rabble of women and fanatics, they bore down upon them, smote all that opposed them to the earth, and wrapped them in the flames themselves had kindled. A garrison was then established to overawe the vanquished, and the groves dedicated to sanguinary superstitions destroyed; for they deemed it acceptable to their deities to make their altars fume with the blood of captives, and to seek the will of the gods in the entrails of men. While Suetonius was thus employed, tidings were brought him of the sudden revolt of the province. 31. Prasutagus, king of the Icenians, a prince long renowned for opulence, had by will appointed the emperor joint heir with his own two daughters: judging that by such an instance of loyalty, he should place his kingdom and family out of the reach of harm: a design which turned out so contrary to his anticipations, that his realm was ravaged by the centurions, and his house by slaves; as if they had been the spoils of war. First of all Boadicea his wife was subjected to stripes, and his daughters ravished: and, as though the entire region had been a donation to the plunderers, all the principal Icenians were spoiled of their hereditary possessions, and the relations of the king were made slaves of. Enraged by these indignities, and dreading oppressions still more severe, for they were reduced into the form of a province, they flew to arms; having roused the Trinobantes to join in the revolt; as well as all others who, not yet broken by the yoke of servitude, had secretly covenanted to recover their liberty, from their implacable antipathy to the veterans. For those who had been recently planted in the colony of Camalodunum had thrust the people out of their houses, and driven them from their lands, calling them captives and slaves. These outrages of the veterans were encouraged by the common soldiers, from similarity of occupation and the hope of enjoying the same privilege. They had also before their eyes a temple erected to the deified Claudius, which they regarded as the citadel of endless domination: priests too were appointed, who, under pretence of religious rites, exhausted their whole substance. Neither did it appear an arduous undertaking S74 THE AN'NALS. to raze a colony secured by no fortifications: a provision neglected by our generals, who paid more attention to matters of elegance than utility. 32. Meanwhile, the statue of Victory at Camalodunum, without any apparent cause, fell down, and the face turned round, as if she yielded to the enemy: the women too, worked up to frenzy by their fears, prophesied that destruction was at hand. The circumstance of murmurs in a foreign tongue being heard in their council-chamber; that their theatre rang with howlings; and that in the mouth of the Thames was seen the appearance of the colony in ruins; that at one time the ocean assumed an aspect of blood; and when the tide ebbed, the prints of human bodies were left;-all these things the Britons interpreted in confirmation of their hopes, the veterans of their fears. But, because Suetonius was at a great distance, they sought succours from Catus Decianus, procurator of the province, who yet sent them no more than two hundred men, nor these completely armed; and in the colony itself was but a small number of soldiers. The veterans not only relied upon the shelter and strength of the temple, but being frustrated in their measures by secret accomplices in the revolt, they neither protected themselves by a ditch or palisade, nor removed their women and old men, reserving only the youth for their defence. Unguarded, unprepared, as if in the midst of peace, they were surrounded by a host of the Barbarians. Everything else in the colony was reduced to ruins in their fury, or was consumed by fire; but the temple, whither the soldiers had retired in a body, after two days' siege was taken by storm. Moreover, Petilius Lerialis, commander of the ninth legion, as he advanced to relieve his friends, was met and encountered by the victorious Britons; his legion routed, and all his infantry slain. Cerialis, with the horse, escaped to the camp, and there defended himself in his entrenchments: Catus the procurator, terrified with this defeat, and the exasperated feeling in the province, which by his avarice he had driven to hostilities, passed over into Gaul. 33. But Suetonius, with amazing perseverance, pushed on through the midst of enemies to London;' a city not indeed signalised by the title of a colony, but very much frequented London, even at that time, was the seat of trade and commerce. TiE BRITONS UNDER BOADICEA. 375 by an abundance of merchants, and ships that enter its port. There, hesitating whether he should fix upon that city as tile seat of the war, when he surveyed the scanty number of his men, and reflected on the terrible proofs he had of the punishment of Petilius's temerity, he resolved, with the loss of one town, to save the whole province. Nor could the tears and wailings of those who implored his protection, divert him from giving the signal for marching, and incorporating with the marching body those who would accompany him: whoever stayed behind, whether from the weakness of sex, or the infirmities of age, or the attractions of the place, fell beneath the rage of the enemy. The municipal town of Verulamiumn experienced the same disastrous fortune; for the Barbarians, who were charmed with plunder, but averse to other exploits of war, omitted to attack forts and garrisons, and directed their attempts to whatever afforded ample booty to the spoiler, and was difficult of preservation to those who guarded it. In the several places which I have mentioned, it appeared that seventy thousand souls had perished, of Romans and the allies. For the enemy neither made nor sold prisoners, nor transacted anything else appertaining to the commerce of war; but they hastened to butcher, hang, burn, crucify; as men who were themselves doomed to suffer capital punishtmnt, and who snatched their revenge beforehand while they might. 34. Suetonius had already an army of near ten thousand men; namely, the fourteenth legion, with the veterans of the twentieth, and auxiliaries from the neighbourhood: so tl:.t, relinquishing all further delay, he prepared for a regular encounter, and chose a place approached by a narrow ravine, and in the rear enclosed by a wood; satisfied that the enemy could come upon him only in front, and that, as the plain afforded no cover, there was no fear of ambuscade: he theiefore drew up the legionary soldiers in close order, and around them placed the light-armed troops; the cavalry, in a dense body, being posted in the wings. The British army were everywhere flying about in parties of foot and troops of horse, in greater number than on any other occasion; and with minds so confident that they brought with them their wives, t Verulamium, now Verulam, near St. Alban's, in Hertfordshire. The great Bacon has made the name immortaL 376 THE vNNA.LS. [B. XIV. to witness their victory, and stowed them in their wagonrs which they placed around upon the extreme verge of the plain. 35. Boadicea, seated in a chariot, with her two daughters before her, traversed the field, and as she came up to each nation, she called them to witness "that it was usual for Britons to war under the conduct of women: but on that occasion she entered the field not as one descended from ancestors co illustrious to recover her kingdom and her treasure; but as one of the humblest among them, to take vengeance for liberty extinguished, her own body lacerated with stripes, the chastity of her daughters defiled; that the Romans, in the fury of their inordinate passions, had proceeded to such extremes, that the persons of those within their reach were not safe; they would not leave old age unmolested, nor virginity uncontaminated; that the gods, how. ever, aided their righteous revenge; a legion, which dared an engagement, lhad already fallen; the rest skulked behind their intrenchments, or were looking about for a way to escape: they would not be able to endure the clangour and shouts of so many thousands; much less their spirit and their strength. If they reflected on the numbers of their men, and the motives that brought them into the field, they would see that in that battle they must conquer or perish. Such was the fixed resolve of a woman; the men might live if they pleased, and be the slaves of Itomans." 36. Neither was Suetonius silent at a juncture so periloi: for though he confided in the bravery of his men, yet le mingled exhortations with entreaties " to despise the noises of the Barbarians, with all their impotent menaces. In that great host were to be seen more women than efficient men; unwarlike, unarmed, they would give way the instant they felt the swords and the valour of those victorious troops by whom they had been so often routed. Even in an army composed of many legions, those who turned the fortune of the day were few, and it would add to their glory, that thoiLh a small band, they earned the fame enjoyed by the nhole host. They were only to keep their ranks, and, having first discharged their darts, with the bosses of their shields and their swords follow up the work of havoc and carnage, without bestowing a thought upon the spoil; the victory once gained DEFEAT OF BOADICEA. 377 everything would fall into their 'hands." Such was the ardour which the language of the general inspired, that the soldiers, long practised and experienced in many battles, so promptly put themselves in readiness to hurl their weapons upon the enemy, that Suetonius gave the signal for battle, in confident anticipation of'the issue. 37. And first, the legion kept their ground immovably, sheltering themselves within the defiles as with a bulwark, till the enemy, having come near them, had received all their darts, discharged at a sure distance, when they sallied out upon them in a kind of wedge: equal was the ardour of the auxiliaries: and the cavalry, advancing with their pikes extended, broke through everything they met with, and that made any resistance; all the rest turned their backs, but found it difficult to escape, the enclosure made by their own carriages obstructing their flight: the soldiers spared not even the lives of women; nay, the very beasts, pierced with darts, served to swell the heaps of the slain. The glory gained that day was signal indeed, and equal to the victories of ancient times: for, there are authors who record that of the Britons were slain almost eighty thousand; of our men, about four hundred, with not many more wounded: Boadicea ended her life by poison: Pcenius Postumus too, prLefect of the camp to the second legion,' learning the success of the fourteenth and twentieth, and reflecting that he had defrauded his own of equal honour, and, contrary to the laws of military duty, had disobeyed the orders of his general, ran himself through with his sword. 38. The whole army was then collected, and kept under tents, in order to finish the remains of the war. The forces were also augmented by Nero, who sent two thousand legionary soldiers, eight cohorts of auxiliaries, and a thousand horse from Germany. By their arrival the defect of legionary soldiers in the ninth legion was supplied; the cohorts and allied cavalry were posted in new winter-quarters; and such of the nations as were suspected, or opposed the Romans, were subjected to devastation by fire and sword. But nothing 1 According to Camden, the camp of the second legion was in Monmouthshire, at a place called by the Britons, Kaer Lheion (T4)J Legionis), the city of the legion. The place where this battle wua fought is not scertineod. 378 THE ANNALS. [B. XIT so much distressed the enemy as famine, for they had neglected to sow the ground; and their people of every age were sent away to the war, as they looked forward with certainty to appropriating our stores: besides, these nations, naturally headstrong, were more backward in their inclination to peace, from the circumstance that Julius Classicianus, who was sent to succeed Catus, and was at variance with Suetoniug, obstructed the public good to gratify private pique: he had propagated the notion, "that a new governor was by all means to be waited for, who being free from the resentment of an enemy, and the arrogance of a conqueror, would treat the foe with humanity on their submission." At the same time, lie sent advice to Rome, " that unless a successor were sent to Suetonius, there would be no end of the contest:" and, while he charged the failures of that general upon his own defects, he ascribed his successes to good fortune. 39. Accordingly, Polyclitus, one of the imperial freedmen, was despatched to inspect the condition of Britain: Nero entertaining confident hopes, that by his authority, not only would a good understanding be restored between the governor and procurator, but the discontented spirits of the Barbarians would be calmed and pacified: nor was Polyclitus backward to assume the employment; but having travelled through Italy and Gaul, oppressing them with his enormous train, and then crossing the channel, he came with such state that he struck terror even into our soldiers. But to the enemy he was an object of derision; for the flame of popular liberty even then burned with undiminished energy among them, and they were as yet strangers to the authority of freedmen: their wonder, too, was excited that a general and army who had successfully terminated a war of such magnitude, should crouch to the commands of a slave. The transactions there were, however, reported to the emperor in a favourable light; so that Suetonius was continued,n tlo government: but, after having stranded a few galleys. and lost the men who rowed them, as if the war was still unfinished, he was ordered to resign his army to Petronus Turpilianus, who had just ended his consulship: who taking care not to irritate the enemy, and receiving no provocation himself, veiled this state of spiritless inactivity under th honourable appellation of peace, e. 41.] FORGERY OF A WILL. 379 40. This same year were committed at Rome two glaiing iniquities; one by a senator, the other by the desperate hand of a slave. Domitius Balbus had sustained the dignity of praetor; and his wealth and childlessness, added to his extreme age, exposed him to the machinations of villany. A will in his name was forged by Valerius Fabianus, his kinsman, who was marked out for administering public offices; having combined with him in the plot Vincius Rufinus and Terentius Lentinus, both Roman knights: who associated in the same cause Antonius Primus' and Asinius Marcellus; Antonius a man prompt and enterprising, Marcellus illustrious for his descent from Asinius Pollio, who was his grandfather: nor was he considered despicable in point of morals, save that he believed poverty to be the chief of evils. Fabianus, therefore, in the presence of those whom I have mentioned, and others of less note, sealed the will; a fraud of which they were convicted before the senate: and Fabianus and Antonius, with Rufinus and Terentius, were all doomed to the penalties of the Cornelian law.2 With regard to Marcellus, the memory of his ancestors, with the entreaties of Nero, procured him an exemption rather from punishment than infamy. 41. The same day beheld the ruin of Pompeius AElianus; a young man once invested with the dignity of quaestor, but now charged with being privy to the atrocities of Fabianus: he was therefore interdicted Italy, and also Spain, his native country. Upon Valerius Ponticus was inflicted similar ignominy, for arraigning the delinquents at the tribunal of the praetor, that they might not be impleaded before the przefect of the city; meanwhile endeavouring to defeat the ends of justice, first under colour of the laws, and afterwards by foul play. To the decree of the senate it was added, "that whoever should hire or take a price for such employment, should be involved in the same penalty3 with one publicly condemned for calumny." I For Antonius Primus, see Hist. ii. 86. The Cornelian law was enacted by Cornelius Sylla the dictator, who made banishment to an island the sentence to be passed on. all who should suppress a true will, or forge a false one It appears, however, in the History (book ii. 86), that Antonius was only expelled the senate. 3 The punishment was either exile, relegation to an island, or de. gradation from the offender's rank " Omnes enim calumniatorus exilio. vel insule relegatione, ant ordinis amissione puniri placuit." 0o80 THE ANNALM. [B. XIV 42. Not long after, Pedanius Secundus, prsefect of the city, was murdered by his own slave; either upon refusing him his liberty, for which he had bargained at a certain price, or that he was enraged by jealousy in respect of a pathic, and could not bear his master for a rival. Now, since according to ancient custom the whole family of slaves, who upon such occasion abode under the same roof, must be subjected to tapital punishment; such was the conflux of the people, who were desirous of saving so many innocent lives, that matters proceeded even to sedition: in the senate itself were some who were favourable to the popular side, and rejected such excessive rigour; while many, on the contrary, voted against admitting any innovation: of these last was Caius Cassius, who, instead of barely giving his vote, reasoned in this manner:43. " Many times have I assisted, conscript fathers, in this august assembly, when new decrees of the senate have been demanded, contrary to the laws and institutes of our forefathers, without opposing such demands: not because I doubted that the provisions made of old upon all matters were the wiser and more equitable, and that such as were changed were altered for the worse but lest I should appear to commend the side I espoused by an immoderate attachment to ancient institutions. At the same time I considered that whatever weight might attach to my character ought not to be destroyed by reiterated defeats, in order that it might remain entire if at any time the state stood in need of my counsels: such a conjuncture this day has brought forth: when a man of consular rank, having been murdered in his own house, by the treachery of his slaves; a fraud none of them prevented, none of them disclosed, although the decree of the senate was still in full force, which denounced the pains of death to the whole household. By all means establish impunity by your decree; but then, what security will any man derive from his dignity, when even the prefecture of Rome availed not him who possessed it? who will be protected by the number of his slaves, when a band of four hundred afforded no protection to Pedanius Secundus? To which of us will such domestics administer aid, when, even with the terrors of the law before their eyes, they stir not to protect us from danger? or is it, as some blush not to feign, that the c. 45.] MURDER OF A MASTER BY HIS SLAVE. 381 murderer only took vengeance for injuries he had received? what injuries 1 had this slave any dispute about his paternal property 1 or had he inherited the bondman, now taken from him? let us not mince matters, but pronounce at once that the master was killed justifiably. 44. " But are we to hunt up arguments in an affair long since weighed and determined by our wiser ancestors? But even if the question were now for the first time to be decided, do you believe that a slave could conceive a purpose of mur. dering his master without one menacing expression escaping him? without incautiously uttering one syllable which might intimate his design? Grant that he effectually concealed his purpose-that he procured the weapon without the privity of his fellows-could he pass through the guard of slaves at the chamber door, open that door, bring in a light, perpetrate the murder, unknown to them all? Many indications of atrocious guilt precede its commission. If our slaves discover them to us, we may live, though but one among many, secure amidst those who are torn with guilty purposes, and lastly, if we must perish, we know that our death will be avenged upon the guilty persons among whom we live. By our an. cestors the dispositions of slaves were suspected, even of such as were born on their estates, or in their own houses, and had, from the moment of their birth, partaken of the benevolence of their masters. But now that in our families we have nations of slaves, having rites widely different from our own, and addicted to the religions of foreign countries, or none at all, it is impossible to curb such a promiscuous rabble without the terrors of the law. But, under this act, some who are innocent must perish with the guilty: true; but out of a routed army, when every tenth man is struck with a club, the lot falls upon the brave as well as the coward. Every great judicial warning involves somewhat of injustice to individuals, which is compensated by the general benefit." 45. Though no particular senator ventured to combat this judgment of Cassius, it was responded to by the dissonant voices of such as commiserated the number affected, the age of some, the sex of others, the undoubted innocence of very many of them: it was however carried by the party, who adjudged all to death.1 But it could not be executed, the See a decree of the senate on this subject, Annals, xiii 32. 382 THE ANNALS. [B. XIV. populace gathering tumultuously together, and threatening vehemently that they would resort to stones and firebrands. Nero, therefore, rebuked the people in an edict, and with lines of soldiers secured all the way through which the condemned were led to execution. Cingonius Varro had moved that the freedmen too, who abode under the same roof, should be deported from Italy; but this was prohibited by the prince, who urged, " that the usage of antiquity, which had not been relaxed from compassion, ought not to be made more stringent from cruelty." 46. During the same consulship, Tarquitius Priscus was, at the suit of the Bithyniaus, condemned for public rapine; to the infinite gratification of the fathers, who well remembered that Statilius Taurus,' his own proconsul in Africa, had been accused by him. A general rate was also made throughout both the Gauls, by Quintus Volusius, Sextius Afiicanus, and Trebellius Maximus; of whom, Volusius and Africanus, priding themselves upon the splendour of their descent, were inflamed with envy of each other; and while they each looked with contempt upon Trebellius, they rendered him superior to both. 47. The same year died Memmius Regulus; a man as conspicuous for authority, constancy of mind, and fame, as is compatible with the darkening shadows of the imperial elevation: insomuch that when Nero was once under the pressure of sickness, and the flatterers about him were lamenting, "that, if the illness proved fatal, there must be an end of the empire with that of his life;" he replied, "( that the republic still had a support:" then asking, "in whom, above all others?" he subjoined, "in Memmius RegulusP" Regulus, notwithstanding, preserved his life after this, shielded by his quiet habits; and further, because the renown of his family was of recent growth, and his wealth was not such as to attract envy. This year, too, Nero instituted a gymnastic school, and provided the knights and senators with oil, with Grecian laxity of morals.2 1 See book xii. 59. 2 Pliny the elder (lib. xv. 4) says, that the dreeks, the inventors of every kind of vice, were the first that made oil subservient to the corruption of manners, by distributing it at their public spectacles: " Usum olei ad luxuriam vertere Graeci, vitiorum omnium genitores, in Gymnasiis publicando." c, 48.] ANTISTIUS CONDEMNED. 383 48. In the consulship of Publius Marius and Lucius Asinius, the prastor Antistius, whose arbitrary conduct as tribune of the people I have recorded, "composed some scurrilous verses against the prince, and recited them to a numerous convivial assembly at the house of Ostorius Scapula. He was forthwith arraigned, under the law of violated majesty, by Cossutianus Capito,2 who, at the entreaties of Tigellinus his father-in-law, had acquired the dignity of senator: this was the occasion upon which this law was first revived; though it was believed that thereby the ruin of Antistius was not so much intended, as an opportunity of obtaining renown to the emperor; in order that, after the accused was condemned by the senate, Caesar might interpose his tribunitian power,3 and save him from death. And though Ostorius testified, that he had heard nothing at all, the witnesses for the prosecution were credited; and Junius Marullus, consul elect, voted that "the accused should be divested of his prmtorship, and executed, according to the custom of antiquity:"4 the rest, after this, concurring with him; Psetus Thrasea, after much honourable commendation of Nero, and severe strictures upon Antistius, argued, "that it was not incumbent upon them to determine the measure of punishment due to the guilt of the convicted criminal, living, as they were, under a prince so excellent, and unfettered as was the senate in the exercise of its functions: halters and executioners were long since abolished: there were, moreover, penal sentences already prescribed by the laws, and in conformity to them, punishment might be pronounced without bringing the judges under the imputation of cruelty, or casting a stigma upon the times. Rather let him be confined to an island, his goods being forfeited to the state; so that the longer his guilty existence is protracted, the greater may be the suffering he will undergo personally, while he will continue a signal example of the public clemency." 1 See Annals, xiii. 28 2 Capito was formerly accused by the people of Cilicia, and convicted of oppression and extortion. Annals, xiii. 33. 3 The tribunitian power was assumed by Augustus, as he said, for the purpose of protecting the people: "' Ad tuendam plebem tribunicio jure contentum se ferebat." Annals, i. 2. 4 By this judgment, Antistius was to suffer " more majorum," that is, as Suetonius explains it, to be fastened stark naked by the neck within a forked stick, and scourged to deai,. Suet, in Neron. s. 49 384 THE ANNALS.I ln. XIV. 49. The boldness of Thrasea burst the fetters of others: so that after the consul had given leave to divide, with few exceptions they sided with Thrasea: of these few was Vitellius,' a very zealot in flattery, always assailing the most upright with invectives, but silenced by reply; as usually happens with craven spirits. The consuls however, fearing to give their final sanction to the decree of the senate, wrote the emperor an account of their unanimity. He hesitated for a time, struggling between shame and resentment: at last he returned an answer, "that Antistius, altogether unprovoked by any sort of injury, had uttered many most severe aspersions upon the prince; for which vengeance had been required from the senate: and it was fitting that a punishment proportioned to the magnitude of the offence should have been decreed. However, for himself, as he would have opposed any rigorous decree, so he would not now frustrate their lenity; they might determine as to them seemed best: from him they had full leave even to pronounce a sentence of acquittal." By the recital of these expressions, and other such, it was manifest that he was offended; but neither did the consuls therefore vary the state of the question, nor Thrasea depart from his motion, nor any of the rest flinch from what they had given their assent to. Some would not seem to expose the prince to popular odium, many felt secure in their numbers: Thrasea was governed by his habitual firmness of purpose, and a determination to preserve the dignity of his character. 50. On a charge not unlike the former, Fabricius Veiento 2 was involved in an oppressive prosecution: it stated " that he had inserted a series of opprobrious invectives against senators and pontiffs, in the rolls to which he had given the title of codicils." To this charge it was added by Talius Geminus his accuser, " that he had made constant traffic of the prince's favours, and the privilege of obtaining offices of state:" this determined Nero to adjudge his cause in person. Veiento was convicted, and the emperor banished him from Italy; dooming to the flames these his writings, which were universally sought and read, while it was difficult to find them, and dangerous to keep them: afterwards, when there was full permission to have them, they fell into oblivion. The same who was afterwards emperor. 3 This man was noted as an informer in the reign of Domitian. See Juvenal, Sat. iv. 113 sqq. o. b62. SENECA CALUMNIATED. 385 51. But while the public evils grew daily more oppressive, the means and sources of redress were decreasing. It was now that Burrus departed this life; whether by poison oa disease is uncertain: that it was disease, was inferred from the fact, that his throat gradually swelling internally, and the passage being choked up, he ceased to breathe. Many asserted, that by the order of Nero, under colour of applying a remedy, his palate was anointed with a poisonous drug, and that Burrus, having discovered the treachery, when the prince came to visit him, turned his face and eyes another way, and to his repeated inquiries about his health, made no other answer than this: " I am well." At Rome the sense of his loss was deep and lasting, as well from the memory of his virtue, as from the spiritless simplicity of one of his successors, and the flaming enormities and adulteries of the other. For Nero had created two captains of the praetorian guards: namely, Fenius Rufus for his popularity, in consequence of his administration of the public stores without deriving any profit from it; and Sofonius Tigellinus,' purely from partiality to the inveterate lewdness and infamy of the man; and their influence was according to their known manner of life. Tigellinus held greater sway over the mind of Nero; and was admitted to share in his most secret debaucheries: Rufus flourished in the good opinion of the people and soldiery; which he found a denial to him with the emperor. 52. The death of Burrus made an inroad upon the influence of Seneca; as good counsels had no longer the same force now that one of the champions of virtue was removed; and Nero naturally inclined to follow the more depraved, who assailed Seneca with various imputations: " that he had already accumulated enormous wealth, far surpassing the measure of a citizen, and was still increasing it: that he was alienating from the emperor and diverting to himself the affections of the citizens: that he sought to outdo the prince in the elegance, of his gardens and the splendour of his villas." They laid to his charge also, "that he claimed a monopoly in the glory of eloquence; and that after Nero conceived a 1 Tigellinus rose from obscurity to be in high favour with Nero. He was the grand teacher of debauchery and every vice. Juvenal has mentioned him, Sat. i. 155. See an account of the prodigious banrcqet given by this man, Annals, xv. 37. TAC,-VOL. T 0 C THE ANNALS. iB. xIv. passion for versifying, he had employed himself in it with unusual assiduity: for, to the recreations of the prince he was an open enemy,-disparaged his vigour in the managing of horses, ridiculed his vocal powers whenever he sang; with what view did he endeavour to effect that in the whole republic nothing should go down which was not the product of his ingenuity I Surely Nero was past the weakness of childhood, and arrived at the prime of youth: lie ought now to discard his pedagogue, furnished as he was with instructors the most accomplished, even his own ancestors." 53. Seneca was not unapprised of the efforts of his calumniators, as they were disclosed to him by such as retained some concern for the interests of virtue; and as the emperor manifested daily more shyness towards him, he besought an opportunity of speaking to him, and having obtained it, thus began: "This is the fourteenth year, Cwesar, since I was summoned to train you for your high destiny; and the eighth since your advancement to the empire. During the intervening period, you have showered such honours and riches upon me, that nothing is wanting to complete my felicity but the capacity to use them with moderation. I shall quote great examples, such as are adapted, not to my station and fortune, but to yours. Augustus, from whom you are the fourth in descent, granted to Marcus Agrippa' leave to retreat to Mitylene, and to Caius Msecenas2 he allowed, even in Rome itself, a retirement as complete as in any foreign country: the former his companion in the wars; the other long harassed at home with manifold occupations and public cares: both received rewards ample indeed, but proportioned to their services. For myself, what other claims upon your munificence have I been able to advance, except my literary attainments, nursed, so to speak, in the shades of retirement, and which have been rendered famous, because I am believed to have assisted your early years in the acquisition of learning; a glorious reward for such a service 1 But you encompassed me 1 Agrippa, in the year of Rome 731, retired to the isle of Lesbos, now Metelin. 2 Mecenas had a house and magnificent gardens near Mount Esquitine. Pliny says, that the practice of having pleasure-grounds within the walls of a city was unknc wn till Epicurus led the way at Athens: " Primus hoc instituit Athenis Epicurus, otii magister. Usque ad eim =oris non fuerat in oppidis habitari rura."-Pliny, lib. xix. 4. SENECA'S INTERVIEW WITH NEfO. 387 with boundless favours, unnumbered riches; so that when I ruminate upon my situation, as I often do, I say to myself, Can it be that I, the son of a knight, the native of a province,' am ranked among the chief men of Rome? Has my upstart name acquired splendour among the nobles of the land, and men who glory in a long line of honoured ancestors? Where then is that philosophic spirit which professed to be satisfied with scanty supplies? is it employed in adorning such gardens2 as these? in pacing majestically through these suburban retreats? does it abound in estates so extensive as these, and in such immense sums put out at interest.3 One plea only occurs to my thoughts; that it becomes not me to oppose your bounties. 54. " But both of us have now filled up our measure: you, of all that the bounty of a prince could confer upon his friend; 1, of all that a friend could accept from the bounty of his prince. Every addition can only furnish fresh materials for envy; which, indeed, like all other earthly things, lies prostrate beneath your towering greatness but weighs heavily on me: I require assistance. Thus, in the same manner as, were I weary and faint with the toils of warfare or a journey, I should implore indulgence, so in this journey of life, old as I am, and unequal even to the lightest cares, since I am unable longer to sustain the weight of my own riches, I seek protection. Order your own stewards to undertake the direction of my fortune, and to annex it to your own: nor shall I by this plunge myself into poverty; but having surrendered those things by whose splendour I am exposed to the assaults of envy, all the time which is set apart for the care of gardens and villas, I shall apply once more to the cultivation of my mind. To you vigour remains more than enough, and the possession of imperial power established during so many years. We, your friends, who are more advanced in years, may take our turn of repose. This too will redound to your glory, that t Seneca was a native of Spain; born at Corduba, now Cordova. 2 Seneca had a number of villas and extensive gardens. Juvenal mentions" -- Magnos Senecre prmedivitis hortos."-Sat. x. 16. 3 This confirms the account given by Dio of his immoderate riches; but perhaps that historian exaggerates, when he imputes insurrections in Britain to the exactions of Seneca. C 2 388 THE AGusALE you had elevated to the highest posts those who could put up with a humble condition." 55. To this speech, Nero replied much in this manner. "That I am able thus on the moment to combat your studied reasonings, is the first benefit which I acknowledge to have derived from you, who have taught me not only to speak on subjects previously considered, but also to deliver my sentiments extemporaneously. It is true, my direct ancestor Augustus allowed Agrippa and Meecenas to pass their time in retirement after their toils, but at that period of life when his authority protected him, whatever was the extent or nature of the concession he made to them; but nevertheless he divested neither of them of the rewards he had conferred upon them. They had earned them in war and civil perils; for in these the earlier days of Augustus were occupied: nor would your sword or your hands have been wanting had I been engaged in military affairs. But what my existing circumstances required you rendered; you nursed my childhood and directed my youth by your moral lessons, your counsel, and your precepts; and the favours you have bestowed on me, will never perish while life remains: those you have received from me, your gardens, capital, and country seats, are liable to the accidents of fortune; and though they may appear of great extent, yet many men, by no means equal to you in accomplishments, have enjoyed more. I am ashamed to instance freedmen, who in point of riches cut a greater figure than you; and when I consider this, I see occasion to blush that a man who holds the highest place in my esteem, does not as yet transcend all others in the gifts of fortune. 56. "But while you have attained maturity of years, and have yet vigour enough for business and the enjoyment of the fruits of your toils, I am only performing the early stages of the imperial career; unless perhaps you deem less of yourself than Vitellias, who was thrice consul;1 and tbink that I should fall short of Claudius. But my liberality is unable to make up to you a fortune equal to that which Volusius amassed during years of parsimony.2 If in any In the Annals, book xi, we have seen Vitellius consul for the third time. 2 Volusius has been mentioned as an honest man, who acquired his wealth by honourable means, and lived to a great age. Annals, xiii. 30. o. 57.] POWER O1f tIGLLMUS. 389 respect I deviate from the right path, owing to the proneness to error natural to youth, you should rather recal my wandering steps, and guide that strength which you have adorned, by more intense efforts to assist me. It is not your moderation, if you give back your wealth, nor your retirement, iP you forsake your prince, on which the tongues of all met will be employed; but my rapaciousness, and the dread a my cruelty. But suppose your self-command should form the great theme of public applause; still it will reflect no honour upon the character of a wise man, to reap a harvest of glory to himself from a proceeding by which he brings infamy upon his friend." To these words he added kisses and embraces; framed as he was by nature, and trained by habit, to veil his rancour under the guise of hollow compliments. Seneca presented his thanks; the universal close of conferences with a sovereign: he changed, however, the methods of his former state of power, put a stop to the conflux of visitors, avoided a train of attendants, and seldom appeared in the streets of the city; pretending that his health was in an unfavourable state, or that he was detained at home by philosophical pursuits. 57. After the downfall of Seneca, a ready way was opened to undermine the credit of Fenius Rufus; when the crime charged upon him by his enemies, was that of his friendship for Agrippina. Tigellinus, too, grew daily more influential; and concluding that his mischievous devices, in which alone his power lay, would prove more agreeable if he could engage the prince by the ties of a confederacy in crime, he dived into his secret fears; and having discovered that Plautus and Sylla' were the men principally dreaded, and therefore both lately sent out of the way, the former into Asia, the other into Narbon Gaul, he reminded Nero "of their noble descent, and their proximity to great armies; Plautus to that in the East; Sylla to that in Germany. For himself, he harboured not, like Burrus, separate views, but consulted purely the security cf the prince: but though his safety at Rome might be ensured, where they were on the spot, yet, by what measures could remote insurrections be suppressed? The nation, of Gaul were excited by the dictatorial name of Sylla; nor I For Rubellius Plautus, see this book, o. 22 For Cornelius Sylla. we book xiii. 47. 390 THE ANNALS. lE. XIV. were the several people of Asia less suspected of an attachment to the other, for the illustrious memory of his grandfather Drusus:' Sylla was indigent, which was the greatest incitement to enterprise; and a counterfeiter of sloth and indolence, till he spied an opportunity for some desperate attempt. Plautus was master of vast wealth, not even pretending to a fondness for quiet; but boasting that he copied the examples of the ancient Romans: having adopted, too, the sect of the Stoics, with all their superciliousness and pride; a sect which prompts men to turbulence, and a life of action." This was enough, there was no delay. Sylla, by assassins, who in six days arrived at Marseilles, was dispatched as he sat down to meat, without previous apprehension or intimation. His head was conveyed to Nero, who, in a tone of sportive insolence, remarked, "that it was disfigured by premature hoariness." 58. That the murder of Plautus was meditated, was not so easily concealed; for his life was matter of concern to many; moreover, the length of the journey by land and sea, and the intervening time, had caused it to get wind; and amongst the people an ungrounded persuasion prevailed, that he made proposals to Corbulo, who then commanded mighty armies, and who, if men 6f high character and innocence were to be marked out for slaughter, stood in the first degree of jeopardy. It was even said, " that Asia had taken arms, from attachment to the young nobleman; and that the soldiers despatched to perpetrate the murder, neither strong in point of numbers nor resolute of purpose, when they could not execute their orders, had gone over to the insurrectionary cause." These groundless statements, such is the nature of rumour, were credited and propagated with exaggeration by those who had nothing else to do. For the rest, Plautus received advices from Lucius Antistius, his father-in-law, by a freedman of his own, who, by means of a brisk wind, had outsailed the centurion, to the effect, "that he would shun a dastardly death, retirement, or escape; and that from the compassion that would be felt for a name so great, he would find good men ready to espouse his cause; that he should associate with him the resolute and daring; and in the meantime not despise anything that might be of 1 Rubelliul Plautus was the son of Rubellius Blandus and Julia. c. 60.1 O SYLLA AND FrLATUS ASSASSINNATED. 391 service. If he could repulse the sixty men (the number that were coming to attack him); while information was carrying back to Nero, while another band was performing the journey to him, many events would occur in furtherance of his attempt, which might ripen into a formidable war: lastly, that he would either save his life by such measures as these, or suffer nothing more grievous from making the attempt than if he had exerted no effort." 59. But these considerations moved not Plautus: whether it was that, being an exile and without arms, he foresaw no certain resource; or that he was weary of a state of doubt and anxiety; or that he was influenced by tenderness for his wife and children, to whom he imagined the prince would be more lenient, if no attempts were made that might discornpose and alarm him. There are those who relate, that the advices he received from his father-in-law were of a different kind, importing that he need fear no severe infliction; and, "that two philosophers, Cceranus a Greek, and Musonius a Tuscan, had recommended firmness in awaiting death, as preferable to a life of anxiety and alarm." Certain it is, the assassins found him in the middle of the day, naked, and employed in corporeal exercise. In this situation the centurion butchered him, in the sight of Pelago the eunuch, who was by Nero set over the centurion and his band, like the minister of some tyrant over his satellites. The head of the slain was carried to Rome; at the sight of which he said-I will relate his own words:-"Why does not Nero, banishing all fear, set about expediting his marriage with Poppsea, which has been procrastinated on account of alarms such as these? why not put away his wife Octavia, although her conduct is that of a modest woman, since the name of her father and the affections of the people have made her an eyesore to him " To the senate he sent letters; but in them owned nothing of the assassination of Sylla and Plautus; but said, that both were turbulent spirits, and that it cost him much solicitude to preserve the peace of the commonwealth. Public processions and devotions were decreed to the deities on this account, and Sylla and Plautus degraded from the dignity of senators. These mockeries, however, were more insufferable than tle horrid deeds to which they related. 60. Nero therefore, having received the decree of the tHE ANI+AL,. Lt. ltV. senate, and perceiving that all his villanies passed for acts of exemplary merit, rudely repudiated Octavia, alleging, "that she was barren," and then espoused Poppaea. This woman, who had been long the concubine of Nero, and, as her adulterer and her husband, exercising absolute sway over him, suborned one of Octavia's domestics to accuse her of an amour with a slave: Eucerus, a native of Alexandria, a skilful fluteplayer, was marked out as the object of the charge: her maids were examined upon the rack; and though some of them, overcome by the intensity of the torture, made false admissions, the major part persisted in vindicating the purity of their mistress: one of them replied to Tigellinus, while urging a confession, " that the womb of Octavia was purer than his mouth." She was however put away in the first instance under the specious formality of a legal divorce, and the house of Burrus, with the estate of Plautus, ill-omened gift, were assigned to her: soon after she was banished into Campania, and a guard of soldiers placed over her: this led to frequent and undisguised complaints among the populace, who are comparatively unrestrained by prudential motives, and from the mediocrity of their circumstances are exposed to fewer dangers. They had an effect upon Nero, who in consequence recalled Octavia from banishment; but without the slightest misgiving at his atrocious villany. 61. Forthwith the people went up to the Capitol in transport, and at length poured forth unfeigned thanks to the gods. They threw down the statues of Poppaea, carried those of Octavia upon their shoulders, wreathed them with garlands, and placed them on the forum and the temples. They even went to offer the tribute of their applause to the prince; the prince was made the object of their grateful adoration. And now they were filling the palace with their crowd and clamour, when parties of soldiers were sent out, who by beating them and threatening them with the sword, terrified and dispersed them: whatever was overthrown during the tumult was restored, and the tokens of honour to Poppaea replaced. rThis woman, ever prone to atrocities from the impulse of hatred, and now stimulated by her fears also, lest either a more violent outbreak of popular violence should take place, or Nero should succumb to the inclination of the people, threw herself at his knees, and said therewith, " her circum . 62.] ARTIFICE O POPPEA. 393 stances were not in that state that she should contend about her marriage with him, though that object was dearer to her than life: but her very life was placed in imminent jeopardy by the dependents and slaves of Octavia, who calling themselves the people of Rome, had dared to commit acts in time of peace which were seldom produced by war. But those arms were taken up against the prince: they only wanted a leader, and a civil commotion once excited, they would soon find one. Octavia has only to leave Campania and come into the city; when at her nod, in her absence, such tumults were raised. But if this was not the object, what crime had she committed? whom had she offended? was it because she was about to give a genuine offspring to the family of the Caesars, that the Roman people chose that the spawn of an Egyptian flute-player' should be palmed upon the imperial eminence? To sum up all, if that step was essential to the public weal, he should call home his mistress voluntarily rather than by compulsion, or consult his safety by a righteous retribution. The first commotion had subsided under moderate applications, but if they should despair of Octavia's being the wife of Nero, they would give her another husband." 62. This artfully compounded speech, adapted to excite fear and rage, at once produced the desired effect, and terrified while it inflamed the imperial hearer: but a suspicion resting only on the evidence of a slave, and neutralized by the asseverations of the tortured maids, was not strong enough for this purpose. It was therefore resolved that some person should be found who would confess the guilty commerce, and who tnight also be plausibly charged with the crime of rebellion. Anicetus2 was judged a fitting instrument for this purpose; the same who had accomplished the murder of his mother, and, as I have related, commanded the fleet at Misenum; whom the emperor, after that horrid service, held in light esteem, but afterwards in extraordinary detestation: for the ministers of nefarious deeds seem in the eyes of their employers as living reproaches of their iniquity. Him therefore Nero summoned; and told him, " that he alone had saved the life of the prince from the dark devices of his mother: an opportunity for a service of no less magnitude now presented itself, 1 This was Eucerus, a native of Alexandria, mentioned in c. 60. 2 For Anicetus, the murderer of Agrippina, see this book, c. 7. THE ANNALS. lB. XIV, by relieving him from a wife who was his mortal enemy: nor was there need of force or arms; he had only to admit adultery with Octavia. He promised rewards, which he said must indeed be kept a secret for the present, but of great value, and also a delightful retreat; but threatened him with death, if he declined the task. Anicetus, from an inherent perversity of principle, and a facility in crime produced by the horrible transactions in which he had been already engaged, even exceeded his orders in lying, and made confession of the adultery to the friends of the prince, whom he had summoned as a council. He was then banished to Sardinia, where he lived in exile, but not in poverty, and where he died a natural death. 63. Now Nero in an edict stated, "that Octavia, in hopes of engaging the fleet in her conspiracy, had corrupted Anicetus the admiral:" and forgetting that he had just before accused her of barrenness, he added, "that in guilty consciousness of her lust, she had produced abortion; and that all these were clearly proved to him." And he confined her in the island Pandataria. Never was there any exile who touched the hearts of the beholders with deeper compassion: some there were who still remembered to have seen Agrippina banished by Tiberius: the more recent sufferings of Julia' were likewise recalled to mind, confined there by Claudius: but they had experienced some happiness, and the recollection of their former splendour proved some alleviation of their present horrors. To Octavia, in the first place, the day of her nuptials was in place of a funeral day, being brought under a roof where she encountered nothing but memorials of woe; her father cut off by poison, and soon afterwards her brother; then a handmaid more influential than her mistress; Poppsea wedded to her husband, only to bring destruction on his lawful wife: and lastly, a crime laid to her charge more intolerable than death in any shape. 64. And this young lady, in her twentieth year, thrown among centurions and common soldiers, and already bereft of life under the presage of impending woes, did not, however, as 1 Julia, the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina, was banished by the emperor Claudius, A.U.c. 794. 2 The emperor Claudius her father, and her brother Britannicus were both poisoned. See Annals, xii. 67, and xii. 16. 0. 65.] OCTAVIA PUT TO DEATH. 395 yet enjoy the repose of death. After an interval of a few days she was ordered to die, when she protested, " she was now a widow, and only the emperor's sister;"' appealed to the Germanici, the common relatives of Nero and herself; and lastly, invoked the name of Agrippina, observing, "that had she lived, her marriage-state would have been made wretched, but she would not have been doomed to destruction." She was then tied fast with bonds, and her veins opened in every joint; and because the blood, coagulated from the effect of fear, flowed too slowly, her death was accelerated by the vapour of a bath, heated to the highest point. A deed of still more atrocious brutality was added; her head was cut off and conveyed to the city for Poppsea to see it. Offerings at the temples were decreed by the fathers on account of these events: a circumstance which I have recorded in order that all those who shall read the calamities of those times, as they are delivered by me or any other authors, may conclude by anticipation, that as often as a banishment or a murder was perpetrated by the prince's orders, so often thanks were rendered to the gods; and those acts which in former times were resorted to to distinguish prosperous occurrences, were now made the tokens of public disasters. Still I will not suppress the mention of any decree of the senate which is marked by unheard-of adulation, or the extremity of abject servility. 65. The same year Nero is believed to have destroyed by poison the most influential of his freedmen, Doryphorus, for opposing his marriage with Poppsea; Pallas,2 because his protracted life kept him out of the vast riches he had accumulated. Romanus had secretly criminated Seneca, as an accomplice of Caius Piso;3 but sunk himself under the same charge brought by Seneca with greater force of evidence. Piso in consequence became alarmed; and a powerful and extensive conspiracy was formed against Nero, but it proved abortive. I Nero was adopted by Claudius her father, and consequently waa brother to Octavia. 2 Doryphorus, according to Dio, was private secretary to Nero. Pal. las, the freedman of Claudius, has been often mentioned. He was dis missed from all his employments by Nero. (See Annals, xiii. 14.] Brotier says that his monument was found near Rome, A.D. 1027. 3 For more of Piso, see Annals, xv. 48. THE ANNALS. LB. XV. BOOK XV. 1. MEANWHILE Vologeses, king of the Parthians, having heard of the acts of Corbulo, and that Tigranes, an alien, was placed upon the throne of Armenia,' while he was desirous of seeking revenge for the contempt shown for the high claims of the Arsacidse by the expulsion of his brother, was perplexed with conflicting considerations, when on the other hand he reflected on the Roman greatness, and the respect he had for the treaty which had continued without interruption between him and the Romans; for he was naturally wanting in decision, and was also hampered by the defection of the Hyrcanians, and the various wars growing out of it. Moreover, while in this state of suspense, he was further excited by intelligence of fresh indignities; for Tigranes, passing the confines of Armenia, had devastated the territories of the Adiabenians, a bordering nation, more extensively and leisurely than comported with a mere predatory excursion: while the chiefs of the nations gave vent to their indignation, 1" that they should have sunk so low, that they were overrun, not indeed by a Roman general, but an undisciplined hostage, who had for so many years been numbered among slaves." His distress was inflamed by Monobazus, sovereign of the Adiabenians, who asked angrily, "what succour he could seek, or from what quarter? Armenia was already given up, and the adjacent regions would follow it; and, unless they were defended by the Parthians, they would consider that bondage under the Romans was lighter to such as surrendered themselves than to those who stayed to be subdued." Tiridates too, a fugitive from his kingdom, affected him in no small degree by the silent appeal of his presence; still more when he complained, " that mighty empires were not to be held together by inaction; that men and arms must be 1 Tigranes. descended from the nobility of Cappadocia, was sent by Nero to ascend the throne of Armenia. Annals, xiv. 2ll. ARMENIA INVAaDED BY VOLOGESES. 397 brought into the field; that in matters of empire right and might went together; that it became those in a private station to be content with retaining their own, but it was the glory of sovereigns to battle for the possessions of others." 2. Vologeses therefore, stimulated by these considerations, assembled a council, and placing Tiridates next to himself, began thus: " This prince, the son of the same father as myself, having yielded to me the supreme dominion, in right of primogepiture, I put in possession of Armenia, which stands in the third degree of power; for Pacorus had preoccupied Media: and I fancied that I had adjusted the interests of our family discreetly, guarding against the proverbial antipathies and rivalries between brothers. The Romans however thwart my views; and those pacific relations which in no instance they have disturbed without discomfiture, they now abruptly sever to their own destruction. I will not deny that I choose to preserve the acquisitions of my ancestors by justice rather than blood, by argument rather than arms; but if I have erred on the side of caution, I will atone for it by valour. As for you, while your resources are unimpaired, your honour unsullied, you have earned in addition the praise of moderation; a virtue not to be despised by the most exalted among men, and prized also by the gods." As soon as he had thus spoken, he set the royal diadem upon the head of Tiridates; to Moneses, a noble Parthian, he delivered a gallant band of horse, which, according to custom, attended the king, with the auxiliary Adiabenians; with orders " to drive Tigranes out of Armenia." While he himself, suspending his differences with the Hyrcanians, assembled the main forces of the country, and directed the principal operations of the war, with a view to a descent upon the Roman provinces. 3. Corbulo, when he received certain intelligence of these proceedings, sent two legions to succour Tigranes, under the command of Verulanus Severus and Vettius Bolanus, with secret injunctions, "that they should act in all cases with caution rather than despatch;" for he aimed more at keeping a war on foot, than pushing it to a conclusion: and had written to Nero, "that to defend Armenia a special general was necessary; for Syria was in the more imminent danger from the menaced attack of Vologeses." Meanwhile he disposed the remaining legions along the banks of the Euphrates; raised THE ANNALS. [B. tXV a body of militia from the natives of the province; posted guards at all the passes, to obstruct the inroads of the enemy; and, because that region was ill supplied with water, he built forts to secure the springs, and concealed some of the rivers by an accumulation of sand. 4. While Corbulo was thus busied in measures for securing Syria, Moneses pushed on by forced marches, that he might outstrip the report of his approach: but notwithstanding, he found Tigranes neither uninformed nor unprepared; for he had possessed himself of Tigranocerta, a city strong in the multitude of its defenders, and the magnitude of its walls.' Moreover, the Nicephorius, a river of no contemptible breadth, washes a great portion of the walls, and where the river was not relied on, a vast trench was drawn: within it too was a garrison of soldiers, and provisions laid up in store. In bringing in these provisions some few of the soldiers, in their eagerness advancing too far, fell into the hands of a party of the enemy, which came upon them unawares; a circumstance which inflamed resentment rather than excited alarm. But the Parthians dare not prosecute a siege closely; with a few scattered arrows they do not dismay the besieged; and fail in their own objects. The Adiabenians, with ladders and engines, began to approach the walls, but were easily driven back; and soon after, our men, making a sortie, put them to the sword. 5. Corbulo however, though all his proceedings prospered, judging it wise to moderate the career of his good fortune, despatched ambassadors to Vologeses to expostulate with him upon his attack " upon a Roman province; upon his besieging a king who was a friend and confederate of Rome, and the Roman cohorts themselves;" and to warn him, " that he had better abandon the siege, or Corbulo too would encamp in the territories, of the enemy." Casperius the centurion who was selected for this embassy, presented himself before the king at the city of Nisibis, thirty-seven miles distant from Tigranocerta, and delivered his message in a tone of defiance. It had tong been the settled resolution of Vologeses to avoid an encounter with the Romans; and besides, his present mea. sures did not proceed prosperously: the siege had proved a 1 The walls were fifty cubits hign, as we are told by Appian, in his History of the Mithridatic War. P~ETUS SENT TO ARMENIA. 399 failure; Tigranes was secured by his forces and supplies; those who had undertaken to storm the place were put to flight; Roman legions were sent into Armenia; and others, stationed for the defence of Syria, were ready to assume the character of invaders, and make an irruption into his terri. tory: his cavalry were enfeebled by the scarcity of forage, for a swarm of locusts suddenly appearing had devoured all the herbage and foliage. Concealing his fears therefore, and pretending an inclination to pacific coansels, he answered, " that he would send ambassadors to the Roman emperor, to solicit the grant of Armenia, and to place the peace upon a firm footing." Moreover he ordered Moneses to abandon Tigranocerta, and retired himself. 6. These results were represented by many as attributable to the fears of the king and the menaces of Corbulo; and extolled as glorious achievements. Others construed them as if a secret compact had been entered into, that both parties abandoning hostilities, and Vologeses quitting the field, Tigranes should also evacuate Armenia. Otherwise, why was the Roman army withdrawn from Tigranocerta why give up in peace what they had defended in war? was it better to have wintered in the remote regions of Cappadocia, in huts hastily erected, than in the capital of a kingdom which their arms had so recently preserved? In every view of it, it was clear that the war had been suspended, that Vologeses might be opposed by another general rather than Corbulo; and that Corbulo might not further hazard the renown he had earned through a period of so many years. For, as I have related, he had requested a commander specially appointed for the defence of Armenia; and it was reported that Coesennius Paetus was coming; and now Caesennius was arrived; and the forces were so divided, that Psatus should command the fourth legion and the twelfth, to which was added the fifth, lately summoned out of Mcesia, as also the auxiliaries from Pontus, Galatia, and Cappadocia: while Corbulo continued to command the third, sixth, and tenth legions, and the forces formerly belonging to Syria. The rest they were to possess in common, or share as exigencies required. But as Corbulo could not bear a rival, so Paetus, to whom it was glory enough if he were accounted second to Corbulo, disparaged his achievements, incessantly remarking " that no hostile blood was spilled, no spoil taken; *oo THE ANNALS. LB. xv, and that all he had to do with the storming of cities was limited to the name of the thing only. For himself, he would impose tribute and laws; and, instead of the shadow of a king, subject the vanquished to the jurisdiction of Rome." 7. At this juncture, the ambassadors of Vologeses, whom I have mentioned to have been sent to the prince, returned unsuccessful: and the Parthians proceeded to open war; nor did Pxetus decline it; but, with two legions, the fourth and twelfth, the former then commanded by Funisulanus Vettonianus, the other by Calvisius Sabinus, he entered Armenia, under an omen of dismal import; for, in passing the Euphrates, which he crossed by a bridge, the horse which carried the consular ornaments became frightened without any apparent cause, and starting back again, got clear away: moreover, a victim, which stood by the winter camp, which they were fortifying, broke through the half-completed works, cleared the rampart, and fled. The javelins of the soldiers took fire; a prodigy which appeared the more remarkable, as the Parthians fight with missile weapons. 8. But Ptetus, deeming lightly of these omens, ere yet his winter camp was adequately secured, and without making any provision for a supply of grain, marched hastily over mount Taurus, " to recover," as he said, "' the city of Tigranocerta; and lay waste the regions which Corbulo L id left untouched." And he took certain castles; somewhat of glory too he won, and somewhat of booty, if he had either enjoyed his glory with moderation, or his booty with circumspection. But after long and tedious marches, in overrunning countries which could not be held; the provisions he had captured being spoiled, and the winter just setting in, he led back his army. And then, as though he had concluded the war, he wrote a letter to Nero in poml.us terms, but destitute of substance. 9. Meanwhile, Corbulo occupied the bank of the Euphrates, which he had never neglected, with an increased number of stations. And, that the enemy's horse, who with great ostentation were flying about the neighbouring plains, might create no obstruction to his laying a bridge over the river, he fastened together with beams some vessels of vast bulk, with towers erected upon them; and, steering them to and fro upon the river, drove off the Barbarians with catapults and balistas; for the stones and javelins thus hurled upon them; INCAPkCITY OF P^ETIJ8. 401 reaching to a greater distance than cnuld be attained by the arrows discharged in the opposite direction. The bridge was then carried over the whole breadth, and the opposite heights occupied by the allied cohorts, and afterwards by the camp of the legions, with such celerity, and so formidable a display of power, that the Parthians, desisting from their project of in. vading Syria, directed all their efforts to the accomplishment of their design upon Armenia. 10. In that quarter, Peetus, unaware of what menaced him had the fifth legion at a distance in Pontus; and had weak ened the remaining legions by indiscriminate furloughs; when at length it was stated that Vologeses was approaching with a numerous and determined force. Forthwith he summoned the twelfth legion: but this very thing, whence he had anticipated the reputation of augmented forces, betrayed their paucity: yet few as they were, they might leave maintained their camp, and, by protracting the war, have baffled all the efforts of the Parthians, if Pxiuil had shown any firmness, either in adhering to his own counsel or those of others. But when men of military experience had instructed him in the methods of securing himself against pressing dangers, he abandoned their plans for other and worse, lest he should appear to stand in need of the advice of others. And on this occasion, quitting his winter camp, he exclaimed that " a ditch and rampart were not the things he was commissioned to employ against the enemy, but men and arms;" and led the legions forth as if with the purpose of engaging in a battle; but afterwards, upon losing a centurion and a few private soldiers, whom he had sent in advance to reconnoitre the enemy's forces, he retreated in trepidation. And then again, elated with empty confidence because Vologeses had not pursued them so vigorously as he expected, he stationed three thousand chosen infantry on the nearest eminence of i'aurus to prevent the passage of the king; and placed on a part of the plain the auxiliary horse of the Pannonians, which formed the flower of his cavalry. His wife and son he put out of the way in a fort named Arsamosata,1 with a cohort to guard them; and dispersed his troops, which, if kept together, might more effectually have checked the desultory movements of the enemy. It is also said that he was with diffi1 Arsamonata, a city of Armenia, near the Euphrates, now Silnsat. TAC.-VOL. I. D D 402 THE AN'NALS. lB. XV. culty induced to admit to Corbulo that he was hard pressed by the enemy; and that Corbulo did not hurry, in order that. The dangers he was exposed to growing more imminent, the merit of relieving him might also be augmented. However, lie ordered a thousand men from each of the three legions, and eight hundred auxiliary horse, with an equal number froml the cohorts, to be got in readiness for marching. 11. As for Vologeses, though he was advised that Pretus beset the roads, here with his infantry, there with his horse yet he in no respect varied his plan; but drove the auxiliary horse from their post by force and menaces, and trampled under foot the legionary troops; one centurion alone, Tarquitius Crescens, lhaving dared to defend a tower in which he commanded a garrison. This man made frequent sallies, and slew such of the Barbarians as came up near him; till at length he was overpowered by the discharge of combustibles at all points. Such of the infantry as were not wounded, made for the remote and wild districts; the wounded betook themselves to the camp, where, under the impulse of fear, they magnified everything-the valour of the king, the ferocity and numbers of the nations; all which was believed by the unscrupulous credulity of those who were impressed with the same fears. Nor did even the general struggle against these adverse circumstances, but had abandoned all military duties, having again sent a supplicatory letter to Corbulo, "to come quickly and protect the standards and eagles, and the shadowy remnant of the unhappy army: they would in the meantime maintain their honour, while life remained." 12. Corbulo, undismayed at this intelligence, left a part of his forces in Syria, to retain possession of the fortifications he had erected to secure the Euphrates; and taking the route which was shortest and afforded a sufficiency of provisions, mlade for the country of Commagene, passing on to Cappadocia, and thence to Armenia. Besides the other customary appendages of war, a vast quantity of camels, laden with corn, accompanied the army, to repel at once both the enemy and famine. The first that he met of those who were routed, was Pactius, a centurion of the highest rank: after him came several common soldiers, who, while they strove to cover the slhame of their flight, by different excuses, were by Corbulo 1dmonished " to return to their colours, and try the mercy of THE ROMAN LEGIONS BESIEGED. 403 PXetus. for himself, he owned himself implacable to all who were not victorious." At the same time he addressed himself to his own legions, going from rank to rank, exhorting them, reminding them of their former victories, and pointing out to them fresh glory, which they might acquire: "It was not the villages and cities of the Armenians that they were now in pursuit of, as the recompense of their labours, but a Roman camp, and in it two legions. If individual soldiers, who have saved the life of a citizen, were presented by the hand of the general with a crown' excelling all others, what and how great must that honour be when the number of those who earned it was equal to the number to be saved,-of those who were the ministers of safety, and of those who received it at their hands!" Animated by these and similar incentives in the common cause,-and there were some whom the dangers which beset their brothers or their relations impelled by peculiar motives,-they hastened on, marching day and night without intermission. 13. Hence, too, the more earnestly did Vologeses press the besieged; now assaulting the intrenchment of the legions, then the castle in which were guarded those who, from the tenderness of their sex and years, were unfit for war; and pushed his assaults much more closely than was usual with the Parthians; in hopes by such temerity to draw out the enemy to a battle. But they could scarcely be dragged out of their tents: at most, they only endeavoured to maintain their works: part of them in this obeying the orders of their general, others from their own want of spirit; as men who waited for deli, verance from Corbulo, or if overpowered by the attack of the enemy, as provided with examples in the disasters of Caudium and Numantia: for, they said,' "neither did the Samnites, a single Italian state, nor the Spaniards, who were rivals of the Roman empire, possess a force equal to the Parthians; and the characters of antiquity, valorous and lauded as they were, made provision for their safety whenever fortune declared against them." By the temper of the army, thus 1 The civic crown for saving the life of a citizen, was often granted oy the emperor; but the consular commanders had the same power at the head of their armies. 2 The Roman army defeated by the Samnites, passed under the yoke at the Caudinae Furcae (now Forchie), A.J.c. 183. (See Livy, ix. 1, sqq.) A more terrible defeat happened afterwards at Numantia, A.u.c. 617. DD 2 404 THE ANNALS. [B. XV. abandoned to despair, the general was constrained to write to Vologeses: yet, the first letter he sent contained nothing supplicatory, but was conceived in a strain of complaint, " that he had thus entered upon a war to gain the kingdom of Armenia, ever subject to the Roman jurisdiction, or to a king appointed by the emperor of Rome. Peaee was alike advantageous to the Parthians and to the Romans: neither ought he to consider only what presented itself to his view, that he was come at the head of the whole power of his kingdom against two legions, while to the Romans remained all the rest of the globe to aid them in the war." 14. Vologeses, without entering at all into the merits of the case, in answer to the representation, wrote back, "that he must wait the arrival of his brothers, Pacorus and Tiridates: such was the place and time appointed for deliberating as to what course they should adopt with regard to Armenia; that the gods had added fresh matter worthy of the Arsacidse, namely, that they should also decide with respect to the Roman legions." Paetus again despatched a message, and desired a conference with the king, who directed Vasaces, his general of horse, to go. At this interview, Pcttus referred to "the Luculli and Pompeii, and the proceedings of the Coesars relative to the conquest or disposal of Armenia." Vasaces alleged, "that the Romans had, indeed, a nominal and shadowy right of holding and conferring it, but the Parthians possessed the power." After much mutual discussion, Monobazus the Adiabenian was called in to attend them the next ucty, btG a witness to their stipulations: and it was agreed, "that the legions should be relieved from the siege; all the Roman troops depart the territories of Armenia; the fortresses and stores be delivered up to the Parthians; and, after performance of these conditions, Vologeses should have liberty to send ambassadors to Nero." 15. In the meantime, Petus threw a bridge over the river Arsanias, which flowed before his camp, under pretext of preparing to march off that way; but it was, in reality, enjoined by the Parthians as a monument and confession of their victory; for to them only it was of use: our men took a different route. Rumour added, that "C the legions had passed under the yoke:"' with other circumstances arising Suetonmus says that tbe legions passed under the yoke. In Neron. 39. o. 16.1 PXETUS RETREATS FROM ARMENIA. 405 out of misfortune; an image of which was exhibited in the conduct of the Parthians; for they entered the fortifications before the Roman army had quitted them, beset the avenues, singled out the slaves and beasts of burden which formerly belonged to them, and took them away: stripped the Romans of their clothes, and seized their arms: the soldiers trembling, and giving up all they desired, to prevent any occasion of a quarrel. Vologeses, who raised a heap of all the arms and bodies of the slain, in testimony of our overthrow, abstained fromn seeing the legions as they were flying. After glutting his pride he sought the praise of moderation. He crossed the river Arsanias, mounted on an elephant: but all who were next to him in dignity forced their way through by the efforts of their horses; for a report had gone abroad that the bridge would give way under the weight, by the fraudulent contrivance of its builders But those who were bold enough to go upon it found it to be strong and trustworthy. 16. For the rest, it was notorious that the besieged army were provided with such supplies of grain, that they set fire to their storehouses. On the other hand, Corbulo gave out, " that the Parthians, destitute of provisions, and their forage reduced, were about to abandon the siege; neither was he above three days' march distant." He added, " that Pmetus covenanted, by an oath sworn under the eagles, in the presence of those whom the king had sent to witness it, that no Roman should enter Armenia, till by the arrival of letters from Nero, it were known whether he consented to the peace." But though these should be regarded as inventions to aggravate infamy, yet the remaining imputations admit of no doubt; that in one day Petus travelled the space of forty miles, abandoning his wounded everywhere as he went; and that the trepidation of the flying troops was no less unseemly than if they had turned their backs in the day of battle. Corbulo, with his forces, met them upon the banks of the Euphrates; but not with such a display of colours and arms as might put to shame their different plight. His bands were deeply affected with grief; and in their commiseration for the lot of their comrades, refrained not even from tears; scarcely could they (echange salutations for weeping. Rivalry in valour, and competition for fame, feelings which belong to prosperous men, hbld departed from their breasts; compassion aloi) 406 THE ANNALS. [B. XV, prevailed; and the humbler the condition the more intense the emotion. 17. Between the two leaders there followed a brief corforence; Corbulo lamenting passionately " his labour lost; that the Parthians might have been put to flight, and the war thus terminated." Putus replied, " that all things were in the same state as before: and urged that they should turn the eagles against the enemy, and with their united forces invade Armenia, exposed as it was by the departure of Vologeses." Corbulo alleged, " that from the emperor he had no such Vrders: that, moved by the dangerous predicament of the legions, he had passed the limits of his province, and as it was uncertain whither the next efforts of the Parthians would be directed, he would return into Syria: and even thus he had cause to invoke the most favourable fortune, that his infantry spent with tedious marches, might be able to come up with the Parthians' horse, which were fresh, and, from the evenness of the plains, would outstrip him." Paetus then withdrew to Cappadocia, and there wintered. But to Corbulo a message arrived from Vologeses, " to withdraw his garrisons beyond the Euphrates, and let the river be, as formerly, the common boundary." Corbulo, too, insisted, "that the garrisons on the other side should evacuate Armenia." At last the king complied; and the fortifications raised by Corbulo beyond the Euphrates were demolished; and the Armenians were left to their own disposal. 18. But at Rome meanwhile, they were erecting trophies over the Parthians, and raising triumphal arches in the middle of the Capitoline hill; decreed by the senate while the war was yet raging, nor even now discontinued, from regard to appearance, and in defiance of conviction. Nay, Nero, to disguise all solicitude about foreign affairs, ordered the corn, destined to supply the populace, but now spoiled by keeping, to be thrown into the Tiber, to produce an impression that there was no fear about provisions: the price of which was nothing raised, though near two hundred vessels were by a violent storm sunk in the very harbour; and a hundred more, brought up the Tiber, were consumed by an accidental fire. He next committed the care of the public imposts to three men of consular rank, Lucius Piso, Ducennius Geminus, and Pompeius Paullinus; inveighing against former princes, " who DECREE CONCERNING ADOPTIONS. 40T ty the oppressive extravagance of their expenditure had exceeded their adequate incomes, while he had given to the state annually sixty thousand great sesterces." 19. A most iniquitous custom had become extremely prevalent at that time: whenever the election of magistrates, or the allotment of provinces, was at hand, the greater part of those who had no children provided themselves with sons by fraudulent adoptions;1 and when they had obtained praetorships and provinces in competition with fathers, they instantly dismissed such as they had adopted. Hence the genuine fathers approached the senate with loud remonstrance; representing the ' rights of nature, and the toils of bringing up children, in opposition to the fraud, cunning, and facility of shortlived adoptions: to the childless, it was abundant compensation, that, exempt from anxiety and burdens, they were courted and honoured, and had everything to their wishes without solicitation or impediment. For themselves, the advantages promised by the law,2 and long looked forward to, vanished in disappointment and mockery, while any man becoming a parent without solicitude, and childless again without grief, might by the ceremony of a moment countervail the time-established claims of fathers." This produced a decree of the senate, " that in the pursuit of any public employment whatsoever, no feigned adoptions should be of service, nor avail in inheriting estates." 20. Then followed the prosecution of Claudius Timarchus of Crete, who was charged with all the other crimes usual with provincial despots, and those who presume upon their overgrown wealth to oppress their inferiors; but one expression of his had gone so far as to offer an indignity to the senate; for he had often declared, that it depended upon him whether the " proconsuls who had obtained the government of Crete, should receive the public thanks." An occasion which Peetus Thrasea converting to the public benefit, after he had delivered his vote, " that the accused should be expelled from Crete," added the following speech: —" It is a truth confirmed by 1 It was a settled rule of law, that in all elections for the magistracy, or the government of provinces, the preference should be given to the candidate who had the greatest number of children. See Annals, ii. 51. 2 By the law Papia Poppma, the estates of those who did not entitle themselves to the privileges annexed to the paternal state, were to devolve to the public, as the common parent of all. Annals, iii. 28. 408 THIE ANNALS. [s. Xv. experience, conscript fathers, that excellent laws and salutary warnings are amongst the good derived from the delinquencies of others: thus was the Cincian resolution produced by the excesses of the orators; the Julian laws by the intrigues of randidates;' and the Calpurnian ordinances by the avarice of the magistrates.2 For guilt is ever antecedent to punishment; anld after offence comes correction. In order therefore to quell this fresh insolence of provincials, let us take measures worthy of the good faith and firmness of Romans, such as may in nowise infringe upon the protection due to our allies, and may efface the impression that a man's character shall depend apon anything but the judgment of citizens. 21. Of old indeed, not praetors and consuls only, but private persons were sent into the provinces to inspect their state, and to report their opinion of the submission of every person; and the nations were in fear concerning the judgment formed by individuals. But now we court foreigners, and fatter them; and as at the beck of some one of them tlanks are decreed, so with greater facility is their accusation decreed: let it be decreed, and let provincials continue to enjoy the privilege of thus displaying their power: but let groundless applause, and commendations extorted by prayers, be restrained with the same rigour as the efforts of malice and cruelty. We often fall into heavier faults while we labour to oblige, than when we are not afraid to offend. Nay, some virtues are subject to popular hate; such as inflexible strictness, and a mind impregnable to the influences of favour and affection. Hence the administration of our magistrates is generally best at the beginning, but relaxes in the close; while after tle manner of candidates; we solicit suffrages. Now, if this custom is suppressed, the provinces will be administered with more impartiality and firmness: for, as by the terror of the law against extortion, avarice is defeated, so by abolishing the usage of giving thanks, the arts of ambition are checked." 22. This proposition from Thrasea was received with 1 The Cincian Law against venal advocates has been mentioned, Annals, xi. 5. Laws were also established by Augustus, called Leges Jidie, to prevent bribery at elections. Suet. in Aug. s. 34, 40. 2 The Calpurnian Law was introduced by Lucius Calpurnius Piso, de peczniis repetwarodis, to compel restitution from such as were con-,ieted of extortion, a.v.c. 605, in the beginning of the third Punic WaN N-MOdS DAUGHTER, AVOtSTA.4 409 earnest and very general approbation; but a decree of the senate could not be perfected, the consuls insisting that it was foreign to the question. But afterwards, on the authority of the prince, it was ordained, "that to the council of the provinces no man should propose that thanks should be given to any pratorian or proconsular governor before the senate; and that no man should execute such a deputation." During the same consuls, the Gymnasium was struck with lightning, and burnt to the ground; and the brazen statue of Nero therein melted to a shapeless mass. In Campania too, the populous city of Pompeii was il a great measure reduced to ruins by an earthquake;2 and this year died Lrelia the vestal virgin, in whose place Cornelia, of the Cossian family, was chosen. 23. In the consulship of Memmius Regulus and Verginius Ruffus, Poppsea presented Nero with a daughter; which lhe received with a joy exceeding the lot of humanity. He named her Augusta, and conferred the same title upon Poppaea. The place where she gave birth to the child wa' the colony of Antiunm, were he himself was born: the senate had before recommended the womb of Poppoea to the gods, and undertaken public vows for her delivery: now many were added, and the whole fulfilled: supplications were also made, a temple was decreed to " Fecundity, and a contest after the model of the Actian rites; also, that on the throne of Jupiter Capitolinus should be placed golden images of the Fortunes; and that at Antium, in honour to the Claudian and Domitian families,3 Circeusian games should be celebrated, as at Bovillke in honour of the Julian race." But these were not carried into effect; for within four months the infant died: whence arose a new series of flattery; as 1 It was a frequent practice of the provinces to send a deputation to the senate, with an address of thanks to the proconsuls or praetors who were returned to Rome, for the blessings enjoyed by the people under their administration; and this contrivance served to advance the fame of the men who condescended to intrigue for applause, and thereby open their road to the highest honours of the state. See the panegyric of Traj.u, by Pliny the consul, s. 70. 2 Seneca gives an account of this earthquake, but places it in th following year. See Quest. Nat., Qusest. vi. 1. 3 Nero by his father was of the Domitian family, and by adoption oe the Claudian. 410 THE ANNALS. LB. XV. they voted honour to her as to a goddess, with a " couch, a temple, and a priest." The emperor, as he had rejoiced, so he sorrowed immoderately. It was remarked, that when, upon the delivery of Poppaea, the whole senate poured forth with congratulations to Antium, Thrasea, who was prohibited, received the insult undismayed, though it was the harbingcr of impending destruction. It was reported that Nero afterwards vaunted to Seneca his reconciliation to Thrasea; and that Seneca congratulated Nero upon it. The characters of these excellent men received an accession of renown from this circumstance, but their danger increased with it. 24. During these transactions, there arrived in the beginning of spring ambassadors from the Parthians, with a message from Vologeses their king, and letters to the same prxport: that he now relinquished "his former claims, so often agitated, about the possession of Armenia, since the gods, the sovereign arbiters between states however potent, had yielded the possession of that kingdom to the Parthians, not without disgrace to the Romans. He had lately blockaded Tigranes, and next Peetus and the legions; though it was in his power to have annihilated them, he had dismissed them unhurt: he had given satisfactory proof of his power, and had put on record a specimen of his clemency: neither would his brother Tiridates refuse coming to Rome, to receive the Armenian diadem, but that the obligation of his priesthood withheld him: he would, however, go to the standards, and images of Caesar, and there, in presence of the legions, solemnly receive the kingdom." 25. After reading these letters of Vologeses, so opposite to the account transmitted by Pmetus, which assumed that things remained in the same situation as before; the centurion, who had arrived with the ambassadors, was asked, "in what condition Armenia stood '" he answered, that " all the Romans had quitted it." The mockery of the Barbarians in suing for a country which they had already seized, was then perceived, and Nero held a consultation with the principal citizens, to determine whether they preferred a perilous war, or a disreputable peace: nor was there any hesitation in resolving upon war; and Corbulo, who, by the experience of so many years, knew both the soldiery and the enemy, was appointed to conduct it, lest through the inexperience of any other, a fresh CORBULO ENTERS ARMENIA. 411 failure should be encountered, for they were dissatisfied with Petus. The ambassadors were therefore sent back without accomplishing their object, but with presents; to raise hopes that, were Tiridates in person to bring his supplications, he would not fail in his suit. To Sestius was given the administration of Syria; and to Corbulo were granted all the military forces; with the addition of the fifteenth legion, led by Marius Celsus out of Pannonia: directions were likewise written to the kings and tetrarchs in the East, to the governors and procurators, and to the propraetors who ruled the neighbouring provinces, "to obey the orders of Curbulo;" who was thus entrusted with much the same extensive authority as the Roman people had conferred upon Pompey for the conduct of the Piratical war. Though Petus, upon his return to Rome, apprehended severer treatment, Nero deemed it sufficient to punish him with a stroke of humour, in much such language as this: " I pardon you forthwith; lest one so prone to fear should grow sick if kept in further suspense." 26. Now when Corbulo had removed into Syria the fourth and twelfth legions, which from the loss of all their bravest men, and the dispirited condition of the rest, were judged of little use for war; he drew from that province the sixth legion and the third, a body of men in unimpaired vigour, and practised in frequent and successful exertions, and led them into Armenia; adding the fifth, which being quartered in Pontus had escaped the late defeat; at the same time, the soldiers of the fifteenth legion, lately arrived, and some chosen bands from Illyricum and Egypt, with all the auxiliary troops of horse and companies of foot, as also the succours from the confederate kings, were assembled at Melitele, whence he purposed crossing the Euphrates. After purifying the army by the usual solemnity of lustration,' he summoned them to an assembly; when he discoursed in lofty terms of " the auspices of the emperor, and his own exploits;' imputing the untoward events which had occurred to the incapacity of Paetus; this he did in a style of commanding authority, which in a military character stood in the place of eloquence. 27. He then took the route formerly traversed by Lucullus,2 1 This ceremony is described by Livy, lib. i. 28. 2 Lucullus commanded the legions in Armenia, A.U.C. 685. See Plutarch, Life of Lucullus. 412 THE ANNALS. LB. XV removing the impediments which time had created: neither did he discountenance ambassadors who were apprctching from Tiridates and Vologeses, with overtures of peace; but to confer with them, appointed certain centurions, with instructions of no harsh nature: "that as yet the contest had not proceeded so far that nothing could determine it but the ultimate decision of the sword: that the Roman arms had in many instances been prosperous, in some the Parthian, furnished a lesson against presumption to both. That in like manner as it concerned the interest of Tiridates to receive a kingdom untouched by devastations; so too would Vologeses better consult the advantage of the people of Parthia by an alliance with the Romans, than by mutual injuries. He well knew what terrible dissensions were rending the vitals of his kingdom; how exceeding fierce and unruly were the nations he governed. His master, the emperor, on the contrary. enjoyed a settled peace in all his dominions, and had only this single war." He at once proceeded to support his counsels by the terrors of the sword; drove from their seats the grandees of Armenia, who first revolted from us; razed their castles; and filled with equal dismay the inhabitant of the mountain and the vale, the powerful and the feeble. 28. The name of Corbulo was held in no aversion, much less in hostile hate, even amongst the Barbarians: whence they believed his counsel sincere. Vologeses therefore did not show an intractable spirit with regard to the general question, and solicited a truce for certain of his provinces. Tiridates demanded a day and place for conference; an early day was appointed: as for the place, since the Barbarians chose that in which they had lately besieged Poetus and the legions, for the sake of the remembrance of their success there, Corbulo made no objection to it; that the contrast of his fortune might enhance his glory: nor was the disgrace of Paetus studiously aggravated; which was chiefly evinced by the fact that he ordered the son of Poetus, a tribune, to take some companies and cover the remains of the unfortunate encounter. Upon the day stipulated, Tiberius Alexander,' Tiberius Alexander was by birth one of the Jewish nation, but an apostate from the religion of his country. (Josephus, Antiq. lib. xx. 5.) The emperors frequently sent their favourites to attend the general, ad to act as spies upcn his conduct. TREATY WITH THE PARtTIIANS. 4'13 an illustrious Roman knight, assigned to him as a coadjutor in the war; and with him Vivianus Annius, son-in-law of Corbulo, not yet of senatorial age, but employed as deputy commlander of the fifth legion, entered the camp of Tiridates, as a compliment to him, and that with such hostages he might fear no guile. Then each took twenty horsemen; and at the sight of Corbulo the king leaped first from his h)rse, nor was Corbulo slow to return the courtesy; but both dismounted joined right hands. 29. Then the Roman captain proceeded to laud the young prince, " for renouncing desperate projects, and adopting safe and pacific counsels." Tiridates, after a long preface "i on the splendour of his lineage," observed a tone of moderation in his subsequent remarks, insomuch that he said, "' he would proceed to Rome and present a spectacle which would give to Cresar a renown unparalleled-one of the Arsacidse a sup-,)liant before him, while no reverse of fortune had visited the affairs of Parthia." It was then agreed that he should lay down the royal diadem before the image of Cuesar, and not resume it except from the hand of Nero; and the conference ended with an embrace. Then after an interval of a few days, the two armies met with great pomp and circumstance on both sides: there stood the Parthian horse, ranged in troops, with the standards of their several nations; here were posted the battalions of the legions, their eagles glittering, their ensigns dteplayed, with the images of their gods, and forming a kind of temple. A tribunal, placed in the centre, supported a chair of state, on which the statue of Nero rested. Tiridates approached, and having immolated the victims in due form, he lifted the diadem from his head and laid it at the feet of the statue; while every heart throbbed with intense emotion; which was augmented by the image of the slaughter or siege of the Roman armies, that was still grafted upon their eyes: " but now, they reflected, the current of fortune was changed; Tiridates would go to Rome a spectacle to the nations, and in a character how little below that of a captive " 30. To the splendour of renown Corbulo added the graces of courtesy and the delights of the banquet; during which the king, as often as he observed any usage which was new to him, was frequent in his inquiries what it might mean: as, that a centurion advertised the general, when the watch was 414 THE ANNALS. LB. XV. first set, and the company at the banquet broke up at the sound of a trumpet I why the fuel upon the altar reared before the augural was kindled with a torch? All that Corbulo explaining in a strain of exaggeration, inspired him with admiration of the ancient institutions of the Romans. The next day, Tiridates besought " as much time, before he undertook so long a journey, as might suffice to visit his brothers and his mother;" and, for an hostage, delivered up his daughter, and wrote a suppliant letter to Nero. 31. He accordingly departed, and found Pacorus in Media; and Vologeses at Ecbatana, who was far from being unconcerned about his brother: for by a special embassy he had desired of Corbulo, " that Tiridates might not be subjected to any semblance of slavery; nor surrender his sword, nor be debarred from embracing the governors of provinces;' nor stand waiting at their gates for admittance; and, that in Rome, the same honour should be paid to him as to the consuls." In truth, that prince, habituated to the haughty bearing of foreign despots, was a stranger to the maxims of the Romans, with whom the realities of power are considered of importance, while its empty formalities are discarded. 32. The same year, Caesar conferred upon the nations of the maritime Alps the privileges of Latium:2 to the Roman knights he assigned places in the Circus,3 before the seats of the populace; for till that time they sat there without discrimination, since the regulations of the Roscian law were confined to the fourteen rows of the theatre. This year too t None but persons of high rank were admitted to embrace the governors of provinces. According to the ideas of that age, the honour was so high that the Parthian king thought proper to make it a preliminary article. " The " Jus Latii" was the highest privilege of the provincials; and placed them in the most favourable position for attaining the full rights of Roman citizenship. 3 The Roscian Law, so called after L. Roscius Otho, was established A.TI.C. 685. It assigned fourteen rows in the theatre to the Roman knights; but was silent as to the Circus, where the senators, the knights, and the commonalty, were mixed in a promiscuous concourse. Afterwards, in the consulship of Cinna and Messala, A.U.c. 757, the senators and knights had a place assigned at the spectacle of the Circus, where they sat apart from the plebeians, but without any distinction between their own two orders. Claudius allotted proper places for the senators. (Suet. in Claud. 21.) It remained for Nero to take care of the equestrian order. [Suet. in Neron. 11.) c. 34.1 NERO APPEARS ON THE PUBLIC STAGE. 415 was exhibited a combat of gladiators equally magnificent with the former; but many ladies of illustrious quality, and many senators, were degraded by entering the lists.1 33. In the consulship of Caius Lecanius and Marcus Licinius, Nero's passion for appearing on the public stage became every day more vehement; hitherto he had only sung in private houses or gardens, at the games called "Juvenalia," which he despised as not sufficiently public, and too confined for a voice so powerful. Wanting courage however to come out at Rome, he chose Naples for the purpose, as being a Greek city; his object was "to commence there, that crossing over thence into Achaia, and gaining the crowns that conferred such signal honour and were from of old held sacred, he might with this accession of fame win the favour of the citizens. Accordingly a herd of people collected from the small towns, and those whom the rumour of such an exhibition had attracted from the neighbouring colonies and municipalities, together with such as attended the emperor, either to do him honour or for various services, including even bands of soldiers, filled the Neapolitan theatre. 34. An accident occurred there which, in the opinion of many, was ominous of evil; but Nero regarded it as indicating the especial care and favour of the gods; for the theatre, when the audience had retired, being empty, fell into a heap of ruins without hurting any one. Nero therefore returned thanks to the gods in songs composed for the purpose, and also celebrated the story of the recent accident, while, intending to cross the Adriatic, he rested at Beneventum, where Yatinius presented a famous show of gladiators. Yatinius was one of the most hateful monsters of that court; bred irr a shoemaker's stall, deformed, and with a vein of low wit, he was at first admitted as a buffoon; but afterwards, by bringing accusations against every worthy man, he arrived at such lligh consideration, that in favour, in opulence, and in the power to injure, he attained preeminence among the base also. Suetonius says, Nero engaged four hundred senators, and six hundred Roman knights, some of them of fair fortune and character, to enter the lists as gladiators, and encounter the wild beasts. He also invited the vestal virgins to see the wrestlers, because, as he said, at Olympia, the priestesses of Ceres were allowed the privilege of seeing that diversion. Suet. in Neron. 12. See Annals, xiv. 15; and Juvenal, Sat. vi. 245; viii 194. 416 THE ANNALS. (B. XV 35. Nero, while attending the exhibition of this man, relaxed not in his career of iniquity even in the midst of his pleasures; for in those very days was Torquatus Silanus forced to die; because, in addition to the splendour of the Junian family, he represented himself as great-grandson of the deified Augustus. The accusers had orders to charge him with " prodigality in his bounties; and that he had no other resource than in revolution; nay, that already he kept men of no mean rank with the style of secretaries, accountants, treasurers: names belonging to the imperial function, and preparations for assuming it." All his confidential freedmen were then bound and hurried off; and Torquatus, seeing his impending condemnation, opened the veins of both his arms. After this event Nero, as usual, remarked, "that however guilty, and justly hopeless of clearing himself, he would however have lived had he waited for the clemency of his judge." 36. Nero, having deferred his voyage to Greece, for reasons which were not known, soon after revisited Rome, while his thoughts were occupied with fantastic notions of showing himself to the provinces in the East, especially Egypt. The next thing he did was to assure the citizens that " his absence would not be of long continuance; and the commonwealth, in all its parts, would continue in the same perfect quiet and prosperity;" and then, for the success of that journey, betook himself in devotion to the Capitol. While he was there, paying his worship to the deities, as he entered, amongst others, the temple of Vesta, he was seized with a trembling, which shook every joint: whether it were that he was overpowered with awe of the divinity, or from the recollection of his atrocities, for he knew no intermission of fear, he abandoned his design, earnestly declaring " that every other consideration with him was absorbed by his love for his country; that he had seen the sad countenances of the citizens, and heard their ill-suppressed complaints that he was about to undertake so long a journey, whose short excursions they were unable to bear, accustomed as they were to be revived under misfortunes by the sight of their prince. Therefore, as in the relations of private life the pledges of affection which were nearest in blood were the most potent, so the Roman people had the greatest weight with him, and he must yield to their wish to keep him with them." These and PRODIGALITY OF THE TIMES. 417 similar expressions were acceptable to the people from their propensity to diversions, and because they apprehended a scarcity of provisions if he should absent himself; a considoration of paramount concern with them. The senate and nobles were in doubt whether he were more to be dreaded when at a distance or present; but subsequently, as usually happens in cases of violent fear, they regarded the course which he adopted as the more pregnant with danger. 37. Nero himself, to make it believed that he enjoyed himself nowhere so much as at Rome, caused banquets to be prepared in thepublic places, and used the whole city as his house. Remarkable above all others for the display of luxury and the noise it made in the world was the feast given by Tigellinus, which I will describe by way of specimen, that I may not have to repeat the instances of similar prodigality.1 For this purpose, he built, in the lake of Agrippa,2 a raft which supported the banquet, which was moved to and fro by other vessels, drawing it after them: the vessels were striped with gold and ivory, and rowed by bands of pathics, who were ranged according to their age, and accomplishments in the science of debauchery. He had procured fowl and venison from remote regions, with sea-fish even from the ocean: upon the margin of the lake were erected brothels, filled with ladies of distinction: over against them naked harlots were exposed to view: now, were beheld obscene gestures and motions; and as soon as darkness came on, all the neighbouring groves and circumjacent dwellings resounded with music, and glared with lights. Nero wallowed in all sorts of defilements, lawful and unlawful: and seemed to leave no atrocity which could add to his pollution, till a few days afterwards, he married, as a woman, one of this contaminated herd, named Pythagoras, with all the solemnities of wedlock:3 the Roman emperor put on the nuptial veil; the augurs, the portion, the bridal bed, the nuptial torches, were all seen; in fine, I For a parallel account, see Suet. in Neron. 27. 2 The lake of Agrippa was in the gardens adjoining to his house, near the Pantheon. 3 uvenal has described this scene of impious prostitution:"Dudum sedet illa parato Flammeolo, Tyriusque palam genialis in hortis Sternitur, et ritu decies centena dabuntur Antiquo; veniet cum signatoribus auspex."- -Sat. x. 333. TAC. —VOL. I. E THE ANNALS lB. XV. tverything exposed to view which, even in a female, is covered by the night. S8. There followed a dreadful disaster; whether fortuitously, or by the wicked contrivance of the prince,' is not determined, for both are asserted by historians: but of all the calamities which ever befel this city from the rage of fire, this was the most terrible and severe. It broke out in that part of the Circus which is contiguous to mounts Palatine and Ccelius; where, by reason of shops in which were kept such goods as minister aliment to fire, the moment it commenced it acquired strength, and being accelerated by the wind, it spread at once through the whole extent of the Circus: for neither were the houses secured by enclosures, nor the temples environed with walls, nor was there any other obstacle to intercept its progress; but the flame, spreading every way impetuously, invaded first the lower regions of the city, then mounted to the higher; then again ravaging the lower, it baffled every effort to extinguish it, by the rapidity of its destructive course, and from the liability of the city to conflagration, in consequence of the narrow and intricate alleys, and the irregularity of the streets in ancient Rome.2 Add to this, the wailings of terrified women, the infirm condition of the aged, and the helplessness of childhood: such as strove to provide for themselves, and those who laboured to assist others; these dragging the feeble, those waiting for them; some hurrying, others lingering; Itogether created a scene of universal confusion and embartassment: and while they looked back upon the danger in their rear, they often found themselves beset before, and on their sides: or if they had escaped into the quarters adjoining, these too were already seized by the devouring flames; 1 Suetonius relates the fire of Rome, and has no doubt of Nero's guilt. He tells us, that somebody repeating in conversation, 'Eo Ou avYwYos yaqua sX0v'jorw 7rvp), "When I am dead, let fire devour the world," "Let it be," said Nero, s" whilst I am living," 4po& e&vros. And accordingly, pretending to dislike the old buildings, and the narrow winding of the streets, he set fire to the city in so barefaced a manner, that several men of consular rank met Nero's domestic servants with tot ches and combustibles, but did not dare to apprehend them. Suet. in Neron. 38. See Dio, lib. lxii. 2 Livy observes, that, after the city was fired by the Gauls, it was rebuilt in close, narrow. winding streets. See Livy, lib. v. 55. GREAT FIRE AT ROME. 419 even the parts which they believed remote and exempt, were found to be in the same distress. At last, not knowing what to shun, or where to seek sanctuary, they crowded the streets, and lay along in the open fields. Some, from the loss of their whole substance, even the means of their daily sustenance, others, from affection for their relations, whom they had not been able to snatch from the flames, suffered themselves to perish in them, though they had opportunity to escape. Neither dared any man offer to check the fire: so repeated were the menaces of many who forbade to extinguish it; and because others openly threw firebrands, with loud declarations "that they had one who authorized them;" whether they did it that they might plunder with the less restraint, or in consequence of orders given. 39. Nero, who was at that juncture sojourning at Antium, did not return to the city till the fire approached that quarter of his house which connected the palace with the gardens of Maecenas; nor could it, however, be prevented from devouring the house and palace, and everything around. But for the relief of the people, thus destitute, and driven from their dwellings, he opened the field of Mars and the monumental edifices erected by Agrippa, and even his own gardens.2 He likewise reared temporary houses for the reception of the forlorn multitude: and from Ostia and the neighbouring cities, were brought, up the river, household necessaries; and the price of grain was reduced to three sesterces the measure. All which proceedings, though of a popular character, were.thrown away, because a rumour had become universally current, " that at the very time when the city was in flames. Nero, going on the stage of his private theatre, sang, 'The Destruction of Troy,' assimilating the present disaster to that catastrophe of ancient times."3 40. At length, on the sixth day, the conflagration was stayed at the foot of Esquilike, by pulling down an immense quantity of buildings, so that an open space, and, as it were, void air, might check the raging element by breaking the 1 The gardens of Mecenas were near the Esquiline Mount. 2 The monuments of Agrippa were, his house, his gardens, his baths, and the Pantheon: the last remains at this day. Nero's gardens joined the Vatican. a Compare Suet. in Neron. 38. EE2 THE ANNALS. lB. XV. continuity. But ere the consternation had subsided, the fire broke out afresh, with no little violence, but in regions more spacious, and therefore with less destruction of human life: but more extensive havoc was made of the temples, and the porticoes dedicated to amusement. This conflagration, too, was the subject of more censorious remark, as it arose in the AEmilian possessions of Tigellinus: and Nero seemed to aim at the glory of building a new city, and calling it by his own name: for, of the fourteen sections into which Rome is divided, four were still standing entire, three were levelled with the ground, and in the seven others there remained only here and there a few remnants of houses, shattered and half consumed. 41. It were no very easy task to recount the number of tenements and temples which were lost: but the following, most venerable for antiquity and sanctity, were consumed: that dedicated by Servius Tullius to the Moon; the temple and great altar consecrated by Evander the Arcadian to Hercules while present; the chapel vowed by Romulus to Jupiter Stator; the palace of Numa,' with the temple of Vesta, and in it the tutelar gods of Rome. Moreover, the treasures accumulated by so many victories, the beautiful productions of Greek artists, ancient writings of authors cele. brated for genius, and till then preserved entire, were consumed: and though great was the beauty of the city, in its renovated form, the older inhabitants remembered many decorations of the ancient which could not be replaced in the modern city. There were some who remarked that the commencement of this fire showed itself on the fourteenth before the calends of July,2 the day on which the Senones set fire to the captured city. Others carried their investigation so far as to determine that an equal number of years, months, and days intervened between the two fires. 42. To proceed: Nero appropriated to his own purposes the ruins of his country,3 and founded upon them a palace; 1 The palace of Numa was on Mount Palatine, afterwards the mansion of Augustus, near the temple of Vesta. 2 The fourteenth of the calends of July, or the eighteenth of June. This is confirmed by Livy, who says (lib. vi. 1) that the battle at Allia was fought on the fifteenth of the calends; and (book v. 41) he says the victorious Gauls entered Rome on the following day. s According to Suetonius, Nero turned the public calamity to his c 43.] THE CITY REBUILT. 421 in which the old-fashioned, and, in those luxurious times, common ornaments of gold and precious stones, were not so much the objects of attraction as lands and lakes; in one part, woods like vast deserts; in another part, open spaces and expansive prospects. The projectors and superintendents of this plan were Severus and Celer, men of such ingenuity and daring enterprise as to attempt to conquer by art the obstacles of nature, and fool away the treasures of the prince: they had even undertaken to sink a navigable canal from the lake Avernus' to the mouth of the Tiber, over an arid shore, or through opposing mountains: nor indeed does there occur anything of a humid nature for supplying water, except the Pomptine marshes; the rest is either craggy rock or a parched soil: and had it even been possible to break through these obstructions, the toil had been intolerable, and disproportioned to the object. Nero, however, who longed to achieve things that exceeded credibility, exerted all his might to perforate the mountains adjoining to Avernus; and to this day there remain traces of his abortive project. 43. But the rest of the old site not occupied by his palace, was laid out, not as after the Gallic fire, without discrimination and regularity, but with the lines of streets measured out, broad spaces left for transit, the height of the buildings limited,2 open areas left, and porticoes added to protect the front of the clustered dwellings: these porticoes Nero engaged to rear at his own expense, and then to deliver to each proprietor the areas about them cleared. He moreover proposed rewards proportioned to every man's rank and own private advantage. He promised to remove the bodies that lay amidst the ruins, and to clear the ground at his own expense. By that artifice he secured all the remaining property of the unhappy sufferers for his own use. To add to his ill-gotten store, he levied contributions in the provinces, and by those means collected an immense sum. Suet. in Neron. 38. 1 The Lake Avernus was in the neighbourhood of Baike, now Lago Averno. 2 Strabo says, that by an ordinance of Augustus, no new-built house was to be more than seventy feet high. Trajan afterwards, according to Aurelius Victor, fixed the elevation at sixty feet. 3 We are told by Suetonius, that Nero introduced a new model for building in the city, and, by porticoes and piazzas before the front, contrived, in case of fire, to hinder the flames from spreading. In Yeronz 16. THE ANNALS. LB XV. private substance, and fixed a day within which, if their houses, single or clustered, were finished, they should receive them: he appointed the marshes of Ostia for a receptacle of the rubbish, and that the vessels which had conveyed grain up the Tiber should return laden with rubbish; that the buildings themselves should be raised to a certain portion of their height without beams, and arched with stone from the quarries of Gabii or Alba, that stone being proof against fire: that over the water springs, which had been improperly intercepted by private individuals, overseers should be placed, to provide for their flowing in greater abundance, and in a greater number of places, for the supply of the public: that every housekeeper should have in his yard means for extinguishing fire; neither should there be party-walls, but every house should be enclosed by its own walls.' These regulations, which were favourably received, in consideration of ' their utility, were also a source of beauty to the new city: yet some there were who believed that the ancient form was more conducive to health, as from the narrowness of the streets and the height of the building the rays of the sun were more excluded; whereas now, the spacious breadth of the streets, without any shade to protect it, was more intensely heated in warm weather.2 44. Such were the provisions made by human counsels. the gods were next addressed with expiations; and recourse had to the Sibyl's books. By admonition from them to Vulcan, Ceres, and Proserpina, supplicatory sacrifices were made, and Juno propitiated by the matrons, first in the Capitol, then upon the nearest shore, where, by water drawn from the sea, the temple and image of the goddess were besprinkled; and the ceremony of placing the goddess in her sacred chair, and her vigil, were celebrated by ladies who had husbands. But not all the relief that could come from man, not all the bounties that the prince could bestow, nor all the atonements which could be presented to the gods, availed to 1 By a law of the Twelve Tables, it was provided that a space of something more than two feet was to be left between all new-built houses. 2 It is known, says Brotier, from the experience of medical people, that at Bome there are more patients, during the summer, in the wide parts of the city, which lie open to the sun, than in the narrow places, where the inhabitants are shaded from the intense heat. . 45.] THE CHRISTIANS ACCUSED BY NERO. 423 oA relieve Nero from the infamy of being believed Xi have ~P ordered the conflagration. Hence, to suppress the rumour,. ) he falsely charged with the guilt, and punished with the most exquisite tortures, the persons commonly called Christians,' who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of that name, was put to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea, in the reign of Tiberius: but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time, broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also, whither all things horrible and disgraceful flow, from all quarters, as to a common receptacle, and where they are encouraged. Accordingly, first those were seized who confessed they were Christians: next, on their information, a vast multitude were convicted, not so much on the charge of burning the city, as of hating the human race. And in their deaths they were also made the subjects of sport, for they were covered-with the hides of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when day declined, burnt to serve for nocturnal lights.2 Nero offered his own gardens for that spectacle, and exhibited a Circensian game, indiscriminately mingling with the common people in the habit of a charioteer, or else standing in his chariot. Whence a feeling of compassion arose towards the, sufferers, though guilty and deserving to be made examples of by capital punishment, because they seemed not to be cut off for the public good, but victims to the ferocity of one man.3 45. In the meantime, in order to supply money, all Italy was pillaged, the provinces ruined: both the people in alli-, ance with us, and the states which are called free. Even the gods were not exempt from plunder on this occasion, their temples in the city being despoiled, and all the gold conveyed. 1 Brotier observes, that the Jews, in that period of time, were guilty of great enormities; and the distinction between them and the Christians not being understood, all were considered in the same light, despised and hated by the Romans. 2 Compare Juvenal, Sat. i 155; viii. 235. 3 This was the first persecution of the Christians. When the Jews were ordered by Claudius to depart from Rome, all of that nation who professed themselves followers of Christ were, without distinction, included in the number; but the edict of the emperor was not pointed against the Christians. Nero appears to be the first that attacked them as the professors of a new religion. 424 T;HE ABNALS [B. XV. away. which the Roman people, in every age, either in gratitude for triumphs, or in fulfilment of vows, had consecrated, in times of prosperity, or in seasons of dismay. Through Greece and Asia, indeed, the gifts and oblations, and even the statues of the deities were carried off; Acratus and Secundus Carinas being sent into those provinces for the purpose: the former, Nero's freedman, a prompt instrument in any iniquity; the other, acquainted with Greek learning, so far as relates to lip-knowledge, but unadorned with virtuous accomplishments. Of Seneca it was reported, " that to avert from himself the odium of this sacrilege, he prayed to retire to a seat of his, remote from Rome, and being refused, feigned indisposition, as though his nerves were affected, and confined himself to his chamber." Some authors have recorded, " that a freedman of his, named Cleonicus, had, by the command of Nero, prepared poison for his master, who escaped it, either from the discovery made by the freedman, or from the caution inspired by his own apprehensions, as he supported nature by a diet perfectly simple, satisfying the cravings of hunger by wild fruits, and the solicitations of thirst from the running brook." 46. About the same time a body of gladiators, at the city of Prseneste, having made an attempt to escape, were quelled by the guard of soldiers placed there to keep them; while the people, whose nature it is to be at once eager for political changes, and terrified at their approach, were already agitated with rumours about another Spartacus,l and the calamities of old. Nor was it long after this that a fatal disaster befell the fleet; not in a hostile encounter; for never was there a time of more profound peace: but Nero had ordered the galleys to return to the coast of Campania, on a specified day, without any allowance for the casualties of the deep: so that the pilots, though the sea raged, weighed from the port of Formise, and by a violent tempest from the south, while they struggled to double the cape of Misenum, were driven upon the shore of Cuma, where many galleys of three banks of oars, and smaller vessels on all hands, were wrecked. 47. In the close of the year, the public mind was occupied with accounts of prodigies, which seemed the harbingers of 1 Spartacus, a gladiator, kindled up the Servile War, A.U.C. 681, c. 49.] A CONSPIRACY FORMED. 425 impending calamities. At no other time did lightning flash with such frequency; there appeared also a comet; an omen ever expiated by Nero with the effusion of illustrious blood. In the streets and roads were found exposed several monstrous births with double heads, some of the human species, some of brutes; or were discovered in sacrifices at which custom required beasts that are pregnant: and in the territory of Placentia,' by the side of the public way, was brought forth a calf with its head growing upon its leg,-a prodigy which, according to the interpretation returned by the soothsayers, boded " that for human kind another head was preparing, but one which would never arrive at strength, or remain concealed; for that this had been contracted in the womb, and came into the world by the wayside " 48. Silius Nerva and Atticus Vestinus then entered upon the consulship; when a conspiracy sprang into existence, and grew into importance at the same instant; a conspiracy into which senators, knights, soldiers, and even women had entered with the ardour of competition, both from detestation of Nero, and attachment to Caius Piso, who being a descendant of the Calpurnian race, and connected with many illustrious families, through the noble house of his father, enjoyed a brilliant reputation with the people in consequence of his virtues, or qualities that wore the attractive form of virtues: for he was a master of eloquence, and employed it in the defence of his fellow-citizens; he was generous to his friends, and even towards such as were unknown to him, courteous in his language and address. He possessed also, accidental recommendations: a tall person and a handsome face. But his morals were lax; his love of pleasure unrestrained by moderation; he gave way to delicacy and display, and occasionally to luxurious excess. Many found no fault with him in these respects, for in the general rage for vicious indulgence, they were not for having a strait-laced and austere person at the head of affairs. 49. It was in no inordinate ambition of his own that the conspiracy originated; and yet I could not easily state who concerted it, or who instigated a plot which such a number espoused: that Subrius Flavius, tribune of a preetorian cohort, and Sulpicius Asper the centurion, were the foremost in its 1 Now Piacenza, 42 6 THE ABNALS. the firmness with which they encountered death evinces Lucanus Annseus, and Plautius Lateranus, consul elect, brought into it a spirit of keen animosity; the former stimulated by personal provocations, as Nero had obstructed the fame of his poems, and from a ridiculous rivalry forbade their publication: Lateranus induced to join it, not from any personal injury, but from affection for the republic. But there were two men, Flavins Sceevinus and Afranius Quintianus, both of senatorian rank, who belied their previous character in taking a leading part in so great an enterprise; for the mind of Scaevinus had been enervated with sensuality, and therefore his time was consumed in sleep and languor. Quintianus was infamous for effeminacy; and having been vilified by Nero in a virulent satire, he sought to revenge the indignity. 50. Now while these persons, as well in conferences with each other as amongst their friends, were declaiming upon C" the enormities of the prince, the approaching dissolution of the empire, and the necessity of choosing some one capable of restoring the afflicted state," they drew into the combination Tullius Senecio, Cervarius Proculus, Vulcatius Araricus, Julius Tugurinus, Munatius Gratus, Antonius Natalis, and Martius Festus; all Roman knights. One of these, Senecio, who had lived in intimacy with Nero, and preserved even then the face of friendship, was on that account the more beset with perils. To Natalis all the secret purposes of Piso were communicated without reserve: the rest sought their separate interests in a change. Of military men, besides Subrius and Sulpicius; already mentioned, Granius Silvanus and Statius Proximus, tribunes of the praetorian bands, with the centurions, Maximus Scaurus and Venetus Paullus, were admitted into the plot. But their main dependence was in Fenius Rufus,' captain of the imperial guards, a man of conduct and high estimation, but rivalled in the affections of the prince by Tigellinus, who was recommended by his cruelty and impurity, and who perpetually harassed him with false accusations, and had frequently put him in fear of his life, representing him as "having had a criminal connexion with Agrippina,2 and from grief at her untimely end inflexibly I Fenius Rufus has been mentioned above, Annals, xiv. 51. * Agripplna Nero's murdered mother. a. 51.1 MOGORE8S OF THE CONSPIRACY. 427 bent upon revenge." Accordingly, when the conspirators felt assured, by language frequently used by him, that the captain of the pretorian band had resolved to take a part, they now deliberated with more confidence on the time ana place for the assassination; and Subrius Flavius was said to have conceived a strong inclination to attack Nero while singing on the stage, or, his house being on fire, to fall on him while he was scampering from place to place in the night unattended by his guards. In the latter case, the opportunity of finding him alone; in the former, the very numbers who would witness the glorious achievement, had impelled his noble nature into action, had not an over anxiety to execute it with impunity held him back; a feeling which is ever adverse to attempts of magnitude. 51. While the conspirators were hesitating, and protracting the issue of their hopes and fears, a woman named Epicharis (and how she became acquainted with the affair is involved in mystery, nor had she ever manifested a concern for worthy objects before) began to animate the conspirators, and goad them on by reproaches; but at length disgusted with their dilatoriness, while sojourning in Campania, she tried every effort to shake the allegiance of the officers of the fleet at Misenum, and engage them in the plot. The following circumstance gave her an opening. Volusius Proculus, who was one of the parties employed in the murder of Nero's mother, and as he thought had not been promoted proportionately to the magnitude of the crime, was a chiliarch in that fleet. Being previously known to Epicharis, or having recently formed a friendship with her, he disclosed to her the services he had rendered Nero, and the little advantage he had reaped from them; adding complaints, and his settled purpose, of being revenged should an opportunity present itself. This inspired her with a hope that he might be worked upon and win over others to the scheme; and the fleet formed a powerful auxiliary, and had frequent opportunities of effecting the, object, for Nero took delight in resorting to the sea at Puteoli and Misenum. Epicharis therefore entered more at large into. matters, and went through all the atrocities of the prince, concluding with the remark, "that Nero had stripped the senate of all their powers; but," she added, "they had taken measures to punish him for overturning the constitution A 428 THE ANNALS. Proculus had only to address himself manfully to the work, and bring over to their side the most energetic of the troops, and he might depend upon receiving suitable rewards." She, however, concealed the names of the conspirators: whence it was that, though he laid before Nero her whole discourse, his evidence was of no avail. For when Epicharis was summoned, and confronted with the informer, as his charge against her was supported by no witnesses, she easily confuted him. But she was detained in prison: as Nero suspected that these matters were not therefore false, even though they had not been proved to be true. 52. The conspirators however, distressed with apprehensions of a discovery, resolved to hasten on the assassination at Baie, in a villa of Piso's, whither the emperor, charmed with the loveliness of the place, was in the habit of going, and where he entered the bath and banquet without his guards, and unencumbered by the pomp of his imperial state. But Piso declined, under pretext of ' the odium that would attach to him if the sacred rites of the table, and the gods of hospitality, were imbrued with the blood of a prince, whatever his character: it were more advisable to dispatch him at Rome, in that detested house built with the spoils of the citizens; or rather in the face of the public, to execute a deed which they had undertaken for the benefit of the public." Thus he reasoned openly amongst the conspirators; but in his heart he dreaded lest Lucius Silanus,' a man of the highest quality, and by the tuition of Caius Cassius,2 by whom he was brought up, formed to every noble aspiration, should seize upon the government; while those who stood aloof from the conspiracy, and those who compassionated Nero as a victim of treachery, would render him zealous assistance. Many believed that " Piso likewise feared the ardent spirit of the consul Vestinus, lest he might be prompted to restore liberty; or, selecting another emperor, acquire the merit of having conferred the empire upon him." For he was no party to the conspiracy, although Nero, under colour of that charge, afterward satiated his inveterate rancour towards a guiltless man. 1 Lucius Silanus, probably the son of Marcus Junius Silanus. See Annals, xiii. 1. 2 C Cus Cassius, banished to Sardinia, A.U.c. 818. See Ann ds, xii 11, 12. C. 54.] THE PLOT DISCOVERED. 429 53. At length they agreed to perpetrate their designs upon the anniversary sacred to Ceres, and solemnised with Circensian games; as the emperor, who seldom came abroad, but remained shut up in his palace or gardens, was wont to frequent the diversions of the Circus, where, amidst the gaiety of the sports, access to him was more easily obtained. Their plan of proceeding in the plot they had thus arranged: " Lateranus, a man of determined spirit and gigantic power, approaching the prince with humblest supplication, and falling at his knees under pretence of imploring assistance in supporting himself, was to throw him down by surprise and press upon him: and when thus prostrate and hampered, the tribunes and centurions, and each of the rest as his courage prompted him, were to rush in and dispatch him: Scsevinus, at his own earnest request, performing the principal part; for he had a dagger from the temple of Safety in Etruria, or, as others have related, of Fortune in the town of Ferentum, and wore it as a weapon devoted to a deed of magnitude. Piso meanwhile was to wait at the temple of Ceres, whence Fenius, the captain of the guards, and the rest should summon him, that they might take him into the camp attended by Antonia, daughter of Claudius Caesar, to conciliate the favour of the people:" as Caius Plinius relates. I was myself determined not to conceal what is stated under any circumstances: although it appeared improbable that Antonia would have lent her name and hazarded her life in a project from which she had nothing to hope for, or that Piso, remarkable for his love of his wife, should have entered into a matrimonial contract with another; unless it be that the lust of domination burns with a flame so fierce as to overpower all other affections of the human breast. 54. It is matter of astonishment that, in a conspiracy embracing persons of different families, rank, age, and sex, rich and poor, all its proceedings should have been kept secret and undivulged so long. At length, however, its discovery commenced in the house of Sceevinus, who, on the day before the intended execution of the plot, after a long conference with Antonius Natalis, returned home and sealed his will. He then drew from its scabbard the dagger of which I have spoken-before, and remarking angrily that it was blanted from the effects of time, gave orders that it should be whetted upon a ,430 THE ANSALS. LB. X~. stone, and be made to flame up into a point. This task he assigned to his freedman, Milichus. At the same time he partook of a repast more than ordinarily sumptuous: his most favourite slaves were presented with their liberty, and the others with money; and he himself seemed sad, and manifestly meditated some momentous business, although he assumed an air of cheerfulness, in his conversation running from one subject to another. At last he cautioned the same Milichus to provide bandages for wounds, and materials for stanchingblood; whether it was that he was acquainted with the conspiracy, and had continued faithful up to that time, or that he had no previous knowledge of it, and then for the first time suspicion flashed upon him, as most subsequent authors have stated. For when.the slave, with the sordid spirit that belongs to his condition, pondered on the rewards of perfidy, and the image of boundless riches and power presented itself to his vision, conscience, the safety of his patron, gratitude for the boon of liberty, all gave *way: moreover he had taken counsel of his wife also, a woman's counsel, the worst in such a matter, for, as might be expected, she alarmed him by fresh motives for fear; "many freedmen and slaves," she said, " stood by and heard the same that he had: the silence of one person would be of no avail; while the rewards would be gained by him who should be the first to make the discovery." 55. Milichus therefore, at the first dawn of day, went direct to the Servilian gardens; and being refused admittance, declared, in a tone of earnestness, that he had matters to communicate of the deepest, the most serious importance: he was conducted by the porters to Epaphroditus, a freedman of Nero's, and by him presently to Nero himself: to whom he represented "s the imminent danger that threatened him, the formidable conspiracies concerted," with all the circumstances which he had heard, and made out by conjecture, even showing the dagger destined to destroy him, and desiring to be confronted with the criminal. Scaevinus was seized and haled away by the soldiers; and proceeding to make his l defence, he answered, " that the dagger which had been produced against him, was a relic ever held sacred in their family,,always kept in his chamber, and thence surreptitiously conveyed by the villany of his freedman. Testamentary docum ments he had often sealed, without observing any distinction THE CONSPIRATORS IMP'EACHED. 431 of days: fi equently before this he had bestowed liberty and presents upon his slaves: with the greater liberality on this occasion, because his fortune being reduced, and his creditors importunate, he feared his will would not be fulfilled. No one could deny that he had always kept a liberal table; that his style of living was elegant, and such as rigid censors did not altogether approve of; the applications for wounds had been ordered by him; but because his other allegations were negatived by notorious facts, the accuser had subjoined a charge in which he might make himself at once the informer and witness." His arguments were aided by the undaunted spirit he showed; he turned round upon his accuser, and represented him as being "unworthy of credit, and covered with guilt," and that with a tone and look so confident, that the information would have broken down, had not his wife reminded Milichus that "Antonius Natalis had had many and secret conversations with Ssevinus, and that both were con. fidants of Caius Piso." 56. Natalis therefore was called, and they were asked apart "what the nature of the conversation was, and what its subject;" when, as their answers agreed not, strong suspicion arose, and they were put in chains; and when shown the instruments of torture, and threatened with them, their courage failed them. First, however, Natalis, who was the better acquainted with the whole conspiracy, and also better qualified to manage the impeachment, confessed in the first place the guilt of Piso: then he added Anneus Seneca; whether it was that he had been the medium of communication between Seneca and Piso, or to gain favour with Nero, whose hostility to Seneca led him to seek all sorts of devices to destroy him. 1gow Scsevinus, having learnt that a confession was made by Natalis, with the same weakness, or believing that already the whole confederacy was disclosed, and from his own silence no advantage was to be expected, gave up the other accomplices. Of these Lucanus, Quinc-tianus, and Senecio, persisted long in denying the charge; but at length surrendering their principles on a promise of impunity, to apologise for their backwardness, Lucan in'formed against Atilla, his own mother, Quinctianus against Glitius Gallus, and Senecio against Annius Pollio, their most 'intimate friends 432 TIBE ANALS. [B. XV. 57. Nero meanwhile recollected that, upon the information of Volusius Proculus, Epicharis was held in custody; and supposing the body of a woman unequal to the pain, ordered her to be torn to pieces by the instruments of torture. But neither stripes, nor fire, nor the rage of the tormentors, who tore her with the more vehemence lest they should be scorned by a woman, could vanquish her, so as not to deny the allegations. Thus the first day of torture was passed without producing any effect on her. The day following, as she was being brought back to suffer the same torments, riding in a chair, for, all her members being disjointed, she could not support herself; taking off the girdle that bound her breast, she tied it in a noose to the canopy of the chair, and placing her neck in it, hung upon it with the whole weight of her body, and forced out the slender remains of life: a freedwoman, by thus screening strangers, and persons almost unknown to her, though pressed to do so by such extreme torture, exhibiting an example which derived augmented lustre from the fact that free-born persons, men, Roman knights, and senators, untouched by the instruments of torture, each of them, betrayed their dearest pledges of affection. For, Lucan too, and, Senecio, and Quinctianus, omitted not to give up accomplices on all hands; while Nero grew more and more alarmed; though he had fenced himself in by increasing the number of the guard manifold. 58. Nay, he seemed to have put the city itself in ward, having manned the walls with bands of soldiers, and planted troops on the sea-coast and the bank of the river. Through the squares, from house to house, in the country also and the nearest municipal town, foot and horse were flying about, mixed with Germans, in whom the prince confided, as being foreigners. Henceforth troops of the accused in continuous succession were haled along, and lay waiting at the gates of the gardens: and when they had gone in to make their defence, "to have shown any token of kindly feeling towards the conspirators; nay, even to have spoken to them, though fortuitously; or to have met them, however unexpectedly or to have been common guests at the same table, or sat,ogether at some public show;" all this was considered as proof of guilt; since, besides the cruel scrutiny made by Nero and Tigellinus, Fenius R-ufus also pressed upon them with a DEATH OF PISO. 433 severity that spurned all bounds, not having been, as yet, named by the informers, but to create a belief that he was not privy to the conspiracy, by his harshness towards his associates. And when Subrius Flavius, who stood by, asked him by signs whether he should draw his sword and kill Nero during the very inquisition, this same man signified dissent, and checked his effort while bringing back his hand to the hilt of his sword. 59. There were those who, when the conspiracy was first betrayed, while Milichus was under examination, and while Sczevinus wavered, exhorted Piso, "to proceed directly to the camp, or mount the rostrum, and throw himself on the affections of the people and soldiery: if his accomplices cooperated in his efforts, those too who were not so would follow; and when the design was avowed, and the commotion begun, great would be the excitement; which, in all new attempts, is of infinite importance: that Nero had made no provision against such a contingency: even brave men were daunted by unforeseen alarms; much less would that comedian, guarded forsooth by Tigellinus with his host of harlots, dare to risk an armed encounter: that many difficulties, which to dastardly spirits appeared insuperable, were got over in the course of the experiment: that in such a multitude of accomplices, it was vain to expect constancy and secresy: that their minds would not be proof against temptation, nor their bodies against pain: that torture and rewards would penetrate all things: that men would soon come to bind Piso himself, and put him to an ignominious death, How much more honourably would he fall, while clinging to the commonwealth; while invoking aid in defence of liberty! It were better that the soldiers refused to join him, that the people forsook him, provi led that, if he lost his life in the attempt, he perished in a manner worthy of his ancestors and posterity." Upon Piso these reasonings had no influence: after he had appeared in public for a short time, he secluded himself at home, and was preparing his mind to encounter death, when at his house arrived a band of soldiers, chosen by Nero from among the novices and those who had served but a short time; for the old soldiers were feared, as tinctured with partiality for the conspirators. He died by severing the veins of his arms. lie left a will full of odious flattery to Nero, in tenderness to his TAC.-VOL. I. F F 034 THE ANNALS. LB. XV. wife, a depraved woman, and void of every recommendation but personal beauty, whom he had taken away from her husband, a friend of his. His name was Domitius Silius, and hers Arria Galla; and both concurred, he by his passiveness, she by her wantonness, to blazon the infamy of Piso. 60. The next death added by Nero was that of Plautius Lateranus, consul elect; and with such precipitation, that he would not allow him to embrace his children, nor the usual brief interval to choose his mode of death. He was dragged to the place allotted for the execution of slaves, and there, by the hand of Statius the tribune, slaughtered. In his death he maintained the most invincible silence, not charging his executioner with participation in the design for which he suffered. The destruction of Seneca followed, to the infinite joy of the princ; not because he had ascertained that he was a party to tbj conspiracy, but that he might assail him with the sword, since poison had failed: for Natalis only had named him; and his disclosure amounted but to this. "that he had been sent by Piso to visit Seneca, then indisposed, to complain that he was refused admittance; and to represent, that it would be better if they maintained their friendship by intercourse: that to this Seneca replied, that talking to each other and frequent interviews were to the service of neither; but upon the safety of Piso his own security rested." Granius Silvanus, tribune of a praetorian cohort, was ordered to represent this to Seneca, and to demand of him, "whether he admitted the words of Natalis, and his own answers." Seneca had that very day, either from chance or design, returned from Campania, and rested at a villa of his, four miles from Rome: thither arrived the tribune towards evening, and beset the villa with his men; and then, as he sat at table with Paullina his wife, and two friends, delivered his orders from the emperor. 61. Seneca replied, "that Natalis had in truth been sent to him, and in the name of Piso complained, that he was debarred from visiting him; and that he had excused himself on the score of illness and his love of retirement; but he had no motive to declare that he preferred the safety of a private man to his own security; nor was his disposition 1 This was his villa called Nomentanum, which he mentions, Epist. Cx., and also civ.: " In Nomentanum meum fugi." LAST MOMENTS OF SENECA. 435 prone to flattery; as no man better knew than Nero, who had experienced more frequent proofs of the freedom than the servility of Seneca." When this answer was by the tribune reported to Nero, in presence of Poppgea and Tigellinus, who composed the cabinet council, the raging tyrant asked, whether Seneca meditated a voluntary death? the tribune averred, " that he had manifested no symptoms of fear; and neither in his words or looks did he detect any indication of regret." He was therefore commanded to return, and tell him he was doomed to die. Fabius Rusticus writes, " that the tribune did not return by the road he went, but turning off went to Fenius, captain of the guards, and stating to him the emperor's orders, asked whether he should obey him; and was by him admonished to execute them;" thus displaying that want of spirit which by some fatality prevailed universally; for Silvanus too was one of the conspirators, and yet was contributing to multiply the atrocities he had conspired to avenge. He avoided, however, seeing and speaking to Seneca; but sent in a centurion to apprise him of his final doom. 62. Seneca undismayed, called for tables to make his will; and, as this was prohibited by the centurion, turning to his friends, he told them, "that since he was debarred from requiting their services, he bequeathed them that which alone was now left him, but which yet was the fairest legacy he had to leave them-the example of his life: and if they kept it in view, they would reap the fame due to honourable acquirements and inviolable friendship." At the same time he endeavoured to repress their tears and restore their fortitude, now by soothing language, and now in a more animated strain and in a tone of rebuke, asking them, "where were the precepts of philosophy? where the rules of conduct under impending evils, studied for so many years? For who was unapprised of the ferocious disposition of Nero? Nor could anything else be expected after he had murdered his mother and brother, than that he should proceed to destroy his nursing father and preceptor." 63. After these and similar reasonings addressed to the company in general, he embraced his wife; and after a brief but vigorous effort to get the better of the apprehensions that pressed upon him at that moment, he besought and implored her "to refrain from surrendering herself to endless grief; 2 436 THE ANNALS. but endeavour to mitigate her regret for her husband by means of those honourable consolations which she would experience in the contemplation of his virtuous life." Paullina, on the contrary, urged her purpose to die with him, and called for the hand of the executioner. When Seneca, unwilling to impede her glory, and also from affection, as he was anxious not to leave one who was dear to him above everything, exposed to the hard usage of the world, thus addressed her: " I had pointed out to you how to soften the ills of life; but you prefer the renown of dying: I will not envy you the honour of the example. Though both display the same unflinching fortitude in encountering death; still the glory of your exit will be superior to mine." After this, both had the veins of'their arms opened with the same stroke. As the blood flowed slowly from the aged body of Seneca, attenuated as it was too by scanty sustenance,' he had the veins of hil legs and hams also cut; and unable to bear up under the excessive torture, lest by his own sufferings he should overpower the resolution of his wife, and by witnessing her anguish be betrayed into impatience himself, he advised her to retire into another chamber. His eloquence continued to flow during the latest moments of his existence, and summoning his secretaries, he dictated many things, which, as they have been published in his own words, I forbear to exhibit in other language. 64. Nero bore no personal dislike to Paullina, and, to avoid inflaming the public abhorrence of his cruelty, he ordered her death to be prevented. At the instance of the soldiers, her slaves and freedmen bound up her arms, and stanched the blood; but whether with her own concurrence, is uncertain. For such is the proneness of the people to put the worse construction upon things, that there were some who believed, "that while she feared the wrath of Nero was implacable, she aimed at the applause of sharing her husband's fate; but when she had reason to hope that he would relent, she yielded to the attractions of life; to which she added but a few years, ever cherishing a laudable recollection of her husband, while her face and limbs exhibited such deadly paleness, that it was plain the vital energy had been much exhauted. Seneca meanwhile, his blood continuing to flow but slowly, and death 1 For his diet, see this book, c. 45. FENTUS RUFUS IMPEACHED. 437 advancing at a lingering pace, besought Statius Annoeus, long esteemed by him as a sincere friend and expert physician, to bring him a draught of the poison which he had long kept in store; the same which is used at Athens to dispatch those who by the state are adjudged to die:' when brought to him, he took it; but in vain, his limbs being now cold, and his body impervious to the power of poison. At length he had recourse to a warm water bath, whence he besprinkled the slaves nearest him, adding, that " of this liquor he made a libation to Jupiter the Deliverer." From thence, he was conveyed into a stove and suffocated with the steam. His corpse was burnt without any funeral solemnity; for thus he had directed in his will: even then when, in the plenitude of wealth and influence, he had an eye to his latter end. 65. It was rumoured that Subrius Flavius, in a secret consultation with the centurions, and even with the privity of Seneca, had determined, that, as soon as Nero -was slain by the aid of Piso, Piso too should be dispatched, and the empire transferred to Seneca, as though he had been chosen for the imperial eminence by men of blameless lives, for the renown of his virtues." Nay, even the words of Flavius were in every one's mouth, " that the disgrace would continue as before, if a minstrel were deposed only to be succeeded by a tragedian.' For, as Nero was wont to sing to the guitar, so was Piso in the dress of a tragedian. 66. But the share the soldiers took in the conspiracy no longer remained a mystery: the indignation with which the informers saw Feniun Rufus, who was an accomplice, acting the part of an inquisitor, set them on fire to impeach him. Accordingly, when pressing his interrogations upon the accused, and threatening them, Scaevinus, with a sarcastic smile, told him, "that no one knew more about the matter than himself;" and turning round upon him, exhorted him "to prove his gratitude to so good a prince." Fenius could neither speak in refutation of this, nor keep silence; but stammering out his words, and exhibiting manifest signs of extreme alarm, while all the other conspirators, and particularly Cervarius Proculus, strained every nerve to bring the charge home to him, the emperor directed Cassius, a soldier who was 1 KaveLov-the Latin cicuta, "the juice of the hemlock." Seneca himself writes: " Cicuta magnum Socratem fecit."-Epist. xiii. 438 THE ANNALS. [B. XV ordered to attend there on account of his remarkable bodily strength, to lay hands on him and bind him in chains. 6j7. Soon afterwards, Subrius Flavius, the tribune, was involved in destruction on the impeachment of the same men. At first he endeavoured to wrest to his defence the diversity of his mode of life, and urged that he who bore arms would never league himself with unarmed and effeminate persons in accomplishing so daring a deed. Then, being sorely beset, he thought the best thing he could do would be to assume the glory of avowing his guilt: and on being asked by Nero, from what motive he had gone the length of renouncing his oath of allegiance, he said, "I hated you; nor had you a soldier more true to you while you deserved to be loved: I began to hate you from the time you showed yourself the impious murderer of your mother and your wife, a coachman, a stage-player, an incendiary." I have given the very words, because they were not published, as in the case of Seneca; and it was equally fitting that the unadorned but nervous sentiments of a soldier should be known. It was well known that nothing which occurred during that conspiracy fell so painfully upon the ears of Nero; who as he was prompt in the perpetration of villany, had likewise an antipathy to hearing of his flagitious doings. The execution of Flavius was committed to the tribune Veianus Niger. He directed a pit to be dug in the adjoining field; which Flavius derided, "as too confined and shallow;" and addressing himself to the soldiers that stood around him, he said, "even this is not done according to rule;" and being admonished by the tribune to extend his neck boldly, "I wish," he said, "you may strike as boldly." And sure enough the tribune trembled excessively;,nld having hardly severed his head from his body at two blows, made a boast of his cruelty to Nero; observing, that he finished him with a blow and a half. 68. The next example of constancy was furnished by Sulpicius Asper, the centurion; who, in answer to a question of Nero, why he had conspired to kill him, said, in few words, "that was the only way of remedying his atrocities;" and immediately underwent his prescribed doom. Nor did the other centurions show a want of spirit in undergoing the punishment of death; but Fenius Rufus did not exhibit equal firmness, but crowded his lamentations into his wilt a. 69] VESTINUS PUT TO DEATH. 439 Nero was anxiously expecting that Vestinus the consul also would be involved in this charge; as he esteemed him a man of a violent spirit, and virulently disaffected. But the conspirators had not imparted their counsels to Vestinus; some from long-standing animosities, but the greater part because they believed him to be a headstrong and intractable person. But the antipathy of Nero arose out of their intimate acquaintance, during which Vestinus learned and scorned the cowardly spirit of the prince, while the prince feared the independent bearing of his friend, having been frequently made the butt of his cutting raillery; which, when founded upon truth in any considerable degree, long rankles in the memory. An additional motive for resentment arose out of a recent occurrence, for Vestinus had married Statilia Messalina,' not without knowing that Caesar also was one of her gallants. 69. When therefore there appeared no accuser, and no charge that could be brought against him, Nero, since he could not assume the guise of a judge, resorted to the violence of the tyrant, and despatched Gerelanus the tribune, at the head of five hundred men, with orders " to forestall the machinations of the consul; to take possession of his citadel, and surprise his band of chosen youths:" for tile house of Vestinus overlooked the forum, and he kept a number of beautiful slaves, of the same age. He had that day discharged all the functions of consul, and was celebrating a banquet, totally void of fear, or, perhaps, in order to hide his fears, when the soldiers entering, told him the tribune wanted him: without a moment's delay he rose from table, and every particular of the business was at once carried into instant execution: he was shut up in a chamber; a physician was at hand; his veins were opened; and, while yet full of life, he was conveyed into a bath and immersed in hot water: not a word betokening regret escaped him. Meanwhile, those who supped with him were enclosed with a guard; nor released till the night was far spent, and till Nero, having pictured to himself and passed his jokes upon the terror of men expecting when they rose from the table to be put to death, signified that "they had paid dear enougb for their consular supper." 1 Statilia Messalina had been Nero s third wife. 440 THE ANNALS. LB. XV. 70. The next execution he ordered was that of Marcus Annaeus Lucanus. His blood gushing out, when he perceived his feet and hands grow cold. and life retiring gradually from the extremities, while his heart was still warm, and he retained his senses, he called to mind some verses of his own, in which he had described a wounded soldier expiring in a similar manner, and repeated the very verses;I and they were the last words he uttered. After this, Senecio, and Quinctianus, and Scwavinus, died in a manner at variance with their former dissolute course of life; and soon afterwards, the remaining conspirators were cut off, but without saying or doing anything worthy of record. 71. But at one and the same time the city was thronged with funerals, and the Capitol with victims. One whose son, another whose brother, a third whose kinsman or friend had been put to death, returned thanks to the gods, decked the house of Nero with laurel, fell at his knees, and wearied his right hand with kisses. And the emperor believing that the joy was undissembled, rewarded Antonius Natalis and Cervarius Proculus with impunity, for their despatch in impeaching the traitors. Milichus, enriched with rewards, adopted the name of Saviour, employing a Greek term to denote it. Of the tribunes, Granius Silvanus, though absolved, fell by his own hand; Statius Proximus rendered useless the pardon he had received from the emperor. by the foolish way in which he met his death. Next, the following tribunes were bereft of their commands: Pompeius, Cornelius Martialis, Flavius 1 The commentators point out different passages in the Pharsalia Lipsius thinks the description of Lycidas, at the point of death, most probable:"Ferrea dum puppi rapidos manus inserit uncos, Affixit Lycidam: mersus foret ille profundo, Sed prohibent socii, suspensaque crura retentant. Scinditur avulsus; nee sicut vulnere, sanguis Emicuit lentus: ruptis cadit undique venis, Discursusque animme diversa in membra meantis Interceptus aquis; nullius vita perempti Est tanta dirnissa via; pars ultima trunci Tradidit in letum vacuos vitalibus artus; Aut tumidus qua pulmo jacet, qua viscera fervent, HIeserunt ibi fata diu, luctataque multum Hfac cum parte viri vix omnia membra tulerunt." Pharsal. lib. iii. 635. c. 72.1 NUERO ASSE~MBLES THE SENATE. 44] Nepos, and Statius Domitius; not on the ground that they bore any ill-will towards the emperor, but that they, nevertheless, were supposed to do so. To Nonius Priscus, by reason of the friendship of Seneca, to Clitius Gallus, and Annius Pollio, rather calumniated than convicted, banishment was adjudged. Antonia Flaccilla accompanied Priscus her husband, and Gallus was attended by his wife Egnatia MaxiWilla, who originally possessed great ahd unimpaired wealth, which was afterwards taken from her; both which circumstances increased her renown. Rufus Crispinus was also driven into banishment; for which the conspiracy furnished a pretence: but in reality from the jealousy of Nero; as he had been once the husband of Poppwa. Verginius and Musonius Rufus owed their banishment to the splendour of their reputation. For Verginius kept the Roman youth warmly attached to him by his eloquence; Musonius, by his lectures on philosophy. Cluvidienus Quietus, Julius Agrippa, Blitius Catulinus, Petronius Priscus, and Julius Altinus, in a host and batch, as it were, were allowed the range of the islands of the AXgean sea. But Cadicia, the wife of Scaevinus, and Ceesonius Maximus, were banished Italy; only knowing that they wvere accused, by the punishment inflicted. Atilla, the mother of Annoeus Lucanus, was designedly passed over, without pardon and without punishment. 72. This business being concluded, Nero addressed the assembled soldiery, distributed among them a largess of two thousand sesterces a-man; and further allowed thema to have sorn gratuitously, whereas before they paid the market price. Then, as if about to recount the transactions of a war, he summoned the senate. Upon Petronius Turpilianus,2 of consular rank, upon Cocceius Nerva,3 praetor elect, and Tigellinus, captain of the praetorian guards, he conferred the triumphal ornaments, signalising Tigellinus and Nerva in such a manner, that, besides their triumphal statues erected in the forum, he placed their images in the palace also. He granted the consular decorations to Nymphidius: of whom, since his name Verginius was a rhetorician, and the preceptor of Persius the satirist. Musonius Rufus was a teacher of philosophy. See Annals, xiv. 59. 2 Petronius Turpilianus was consul, as mentioned, book xiv. 29. 3 Cocceius Nerva, afterwards emperor. 442 THIE ANNALS lB. XV. now first occurs. I shall recite a few particulars. For he too will bear a part in the calamities of Rome. The son then of a freedwoman who had prostituted her beautiful person among the slaves and freedmen of the emperors, he boasted that he was the offspring of Caius Caesar, as, by some chance, he was tall in figure and of a stern countenance; or else it was that Caesar, who was partial to harlots as well as to others, amused himself with the mother of this man also. 73. But Nero, having assembled the fathers, addressed a speech to them; and issuing an edict to the people, subjoined the evidence against the conspirators which had been taken down in writing, and also their confessions; for he was vitu. perated unmercifully by the people, among whom it was rifely reported "that he hal wrought the destruction of blameless men from motives of jealousy or fear." But all who concerned themselves in ascertaining the truth, doubted not, at the time, that a conspiracy had been formed, matured, and suppressed, and the exiles who returned to the city after the decease of.Nero, admit it. In the senate, when each of the members humbled himself to acts of adulation, more and more abject in proportion to his grief at what had happened, Salienus Clemens made a fierce attack upon Junius Gallio,' who was terrified at the death of his brother Seneca, and who earnestly prayed that his own life might be spared. He called him "a public enemy and a parricide;" but was deterred from proceeding by the general opinion of the senate, ( that lie should not appear to pervert public grievances to the objects of private animosity, nor revive, as occasions for renewed severities, matters which had been set at rest and obliterated by the clemency of the prince." 74. And now it was decreed that "public thanksgivings and oblations should be paid to the deities, and peculiar honours to the sun; the god who, possessing an ancient ohapel in the Circus, the place intended for the perpetration of the deed, had brought to light the secrets of the conspiracy: that the Circelsian games, in honour of Ceres, should be solemnised with an additional number of chariot 1 Seneca the philosopher bad two brothers; namely, Annaeus Mela, the fither of Lucan, and Annatus Novatus, who was afterwards adopted by Glallio, and took that name. For the death of Mela, see Annals, xvi. 17. c. 74.] REPORT OF HIDDEN TREASURE. 443 races; that the month of April should bear the name of Nero;' and to the goddess Salus a temple erected in the place whence Scaevinus had brought out the dagger." The dagger Nero himself dedicated in the Capitol, and inscribed it to Jupiter Vindex, a circumstance which at that time did not attract particular notice. But, after the revolt of Julius Vindex, it was construed as an omen and presage of future vengeance. In the journals of the senate, I find that Cerialis Anicius, consul elect, instead of voting on the question, moved, "that a temple should, with all possible speed, be erected, at the charge of the state, to the deified Nero:" a motion by which he meant to intimate that he had out-topped the pinnacle of mortal greatness, and deserved the worship given to the gods; but which was interpreted as an omen of his approaching decease, for divine worship is not paid to a prince before he has ceased to sojourn among men. BOOK XVI. 1. AFTER this, Nero was made the olject of fortune's sport, through his own credulity and the representations of Cesellius Bassus, a Carthaginian by birth, and of a wild and irregular cast of mind; who perverted a vision of the still night into a foundation for the most confident hopes: making a voyage to Rome, he procured access to the prince by money, and laid before him the intelligence that "there had been discovered on his estate a cavern of immense depth, containing a vast quantity of gold, not reduced to the form of coin, but in shapeless masses, as it used to be in ancient times. In fact, ingots of surprising weight were lying in one part, and iii another were standing bars of the same metal: treasures which had lain concealed for so long a period to augment the happiness of the present times. For the rest, to show the probability of the thing, he suggested that Dido the Phoeni1 The month of April was called Neronius; May, Claudius; and June, Gernnanicus. Aunals, svi, 12. 14i THE ANSALS, IB'. XVI. cian, when she fled from Tyre,' and founded the city of Carthage, had secreted those treasures, lest the newly established people should run riot from superabundance of wealth; or the kings of the Numidians,' otherwise inimically disposed, should be incited to make war upon her by a desire to get possession of the gold." 2. In consequence of this, Nero, without sufficient evidence of the veracity of the man, or the credibility of his story, and without having sent peroons to ascertain whether the facts were as reported, even heightened the popular expectation himself and despatched persons to convey away the wealth as though it had been spoil already acquired. Three-oared galleys and chosen mariners were employed, to facilitate despatch; nor during those days did any other topic engage the credulity of the people or the discussions of the wise. It happened also that the quinquennial games3 were then celebrating, on closing the second hlstrum; and the poets and orators drew their principal materials from this source for praising the prince: for they said, that not only were the customary fruits produced, and gold mixed with other metals, but the earth gave forth her treasures with unheard-of exuberance, and the gods brought riches and laid them at his feet; with such other degrading flatteries as men of the highest eloquence and the most abject servility could invent, well assured of the credulous facility of the prince. 3. Meanwhile, his extravagance, encouraged by these chimerical anticipations, grew still more excessive; and his existing treasures were wasted under the idea that fresh ones had fallen in which would supply his lavish expenditure for many years.4 Nay, he even now made largesses from this source, and the expectation of riches was one of the causes of the impoverishment of the state: for Bassus having made excavaI For the account of Dido's flight from Tyre, with the treasures of her husband Sichaus, to avoid the fury of Pygmalion, see Virgil, 1Eneid, i. 347. 2 The kings of Numidia, and the African princes in the neighbour hood of Carthage, were enemies to the infant state founded by Dido:i Hinc Getulae urbes, genus insuperabile bello, Et Numidue infraeni cingunt."-Virgil, -En. iv. 40. The quinquennial festival was established by Nero, A.u.C. 813 Annals, xiv. 20. 4 Compare the account of Suetonius, in Neron. 31. NERO PERFORMS ON TIIE STAGE. 445 tions on his own estate, and on the surrounding lands, to a wide extent, affirming now this and then another place as the site of the promised mine, and attended not only by the soldiers but a throng of rustics engaged to do the work, at length came to his senses, and, wondering that his dreams should never have proved false before, and that this was the first time he had been mocked by one, he escaped from the anguish of shame and the dangers that threatened him, by a voluntary death. Some authors have stated that he was thrown into chains, and soon after released, his goods being taken from him in lieu of the royal treasure. 4. Meanwhile, as the quinquennial games were now ap. proaching, tle senate, to avert the disgrace of the emperor's appearing, offered to him "' the victory in song;" and added " the crown of eloquence," to veil the indecorum of his theatrical exhibition. But Nero insisting, " that he needed not the favour and protection of the senate, and declaring that he was a match for his competitors, and would obtain the honours due to his talents by the conscientious decision of the judges," first recited a poem upon the stage but afterwards, the people importuning him, "to give them the benefit of all his accomplishments," (their very words,) he mounted the orchestra, and complied with all the laws of the harp: not to sit down from fatigue; not to wipe off the perspiration with anything but the garment he wore; and that no secretions from the mouth or nostrils should be visible. Lastly, going down upon his knee, and stretching out his hand in a supplicatory form to the persons assembled there, he awaited the voices of the judges with pretended agitation; and the populace of the city, for their part, accustomed to encourage the gesticulations of the stage-players, applauded him from one end of the theatre to the other, in measured time, and according to a set form of clapping: you would have supposed that.hey were delighted, and possibly they were, from insensibility to the public disgrace. 5. But those who had come from remote municipal towns, and occupied that part of Italy where strictness of manirers and primitive simplicity were still preserved; those, too, who had come from the various distant provinces in the capacity of ambassadors, or on private business, could neither elndure this sight, nor were able to perform the degrading task; fot 446 THE ANNALS. [B. XVI. their inexperienced hands soon tired, and they embarrassed those who understood it, in consequence of which they were often struck by the soldiers, who were stationed in different parts of the benches, that not a moment of time should be misapplied in discordant applause or sluggish silence. It is certain that many knights were trampled to death in making their way through the crowded avenues and the pressing multitude;' and that others, from being on the seats for a day and a night, without intermission, were seized with dangerous disease; for, in truth, they had more serious apprehensions if they failed in attending the exhibition, there being many employed openly, and more secretly, to note the names and countenances, the alacrity or reluctance of the company. The consequence was, that punishment was at once inflicted on the meaner sort, while his resentment against persons of rank was stifled for the present, and paid off afterwards: and it was said that " Vespasian was severely rebuked by Phoebus, his freedman, for closing his eyes as if in sleep; and having been with difficulty shielded by the entreaties of men of influence, escaped the destruction that threatened him afterwards, by the fatality which reserved him for greater things." 6. The diversions of the theatre were followed by the death of Poppsea; occasioned by a fit of passion in her husband, who gave her a violent blow with his foot when she was pregnant; for I cannot believe he poisoned her; as some have stated, rather from spite than conviction; as he desired to have children, and was devoted to his wife. Her body was not consumed by fire, according to the rites of the Romans; but, after the manner of foreign monarchs, embalmed by being filled with spices,2 and laid in the tomb of the Julian family. Her obsequies, however, were publicly celebrated, and from the rostrum the emperor magnified "her beauty and her lot, in having been the mother of an infant enrolled amongst the gods,"' with many other gifts of fortune, which he treated as so many virtues. 1 See Suetonius, in Neron 23. 2 Beside the spices with which the body of Poppea was embalmed, t prodigious quantity was burnt on the occasion, insomuch that Pliny says, all Arabia did not produce in an entire year as much as was consumed at the funeral of Poppsea. Lib. xii. 18. 3 For the apotheosis of Nero's daughter by Poppma, see Annals, xv. 23. FATE OF CASSIUS AND SILANUS. 447 7. The death of Poppaea was mourned, in appearance, but rejoiced at by those who recollected her character, on account of her lewdness and cruelty; and, besides the reproach of this murder, Nero earned fresh detestation by forbidding Caius Cassius' to assist at her funeral; the first signal this of impending doom; nor was it long postponed; and Silanus was involved in the same fate; without guilt in either, except that Cassius was preeminent for hereditary opulence and sedate manners; Silanus for the splendour of his ancestry, and the modesty of his youth. Nero therefore sent a letter to the senate, and argued for "the necessity of removing both from any share in the administration of the state;" to Cassius, objecting " that amongst the images of his ancestors, he preserved with veneration that of Caius Cassius, thus inscribed, ' The leader of the party;' and that because he meditated a civil war and defection from the house of the Coesars: and as if it were not enough to employ the memory of a name implacably hostile to it for purposes of rebellion, he had attached to his cause Lucius Silanus, a young man of noble family and impetuous spirit, as a fit example to point to in drawing others into his revolutionary schemes." 8. He then assailed Silanus himself, with the same imputations as he had objected to his uncle Torquatus; " that he made arrangements for performing the various duties of empire; and appointed his freedmen treasurers, auditors, and secretaries:" imputations false in fact and principle, for Silanus was particularly on his guard in consequence of his fears; and had been frightened into precautionary measures by the destruction of his uncle. Nero next prompted persons to assume the name of informers, and falsely accuse Lepida, the wife of Cassius and aunt of Silanus, "of incest with her nephew, and of practising horrible magic rites." Vulcatius Tullinus and Marcellus Cornelius,2 senators, and Calpurnius Fabatus, a Roman knight, were implicated as accomplices, who, by appealing to Csesar, eluded immediate condemnation; and afterwards, Nero being occupied with atrocities of surpassing magnitude, they escaped, as too insignificant to engage his attention. The name of this person was Cassius Longinus, a lawyer far atvanced in years, and blind. Suet. in Neron. 37. 2 Marcellus Cornelius was afterwards put to death by Galba. Hisi i 37. THE ANNALS LB. XVI 9. The senate then pronounced sentence of banishment against Cassius and Silanus: but referred the case of Lepida to Cesar. Cassius was deported into Sardinia, where he was allowed to pass the few remaining years of his life. S;lanus was removed to Ostia, under colour of being conveyed to Naxos, and afterwards confined in Barium,' a city of Apulia: while there supporting himself from the resources of wisdom, under a lot of extreme hardship, he was laidTrold of by a centurion sent to kill him, who advised him to open hisveins: but he answered, " that his mind was made up to death, but he would not allow an assassin the glory of inflicting it" The zenturion, on the other hand, perceiving that though unarmed he was a mru of surpassing strength, and showed more of indignation than fear, directed the soldiers to overpower him: nor did Silanus fail to make vigorous resistance, and to deal blows with as much effect as he could with naked hands, till he fell, as thlough in battle, from wounds received from the centurion in the front of his body. 10. Nor with less intrepidity did Lucius Vetus, and his mother-in-law Sextia, with Pollutia his daughter, meet their death. The prince long hated these persons, who, while living, seemed to reproach him with the murder of Rubellius Plautus,2 son-in-law to Lucius Vetus; but an opportunity for giving scope to his savage purpose was administered by a freedman of Vetus, named Fortunatus, who, having embezzled his patron's property, turned accuser: having united with him in the plot Claudius Demianus, who for his crimes in Asia was put in chains by Vetus, proconsul there; but was now released by Nero, in recompense for this accusation. The accused, when informed of this, and that his freedman and himself were permitted to arraign each other on a footing of equality, retired to his seat near Formie; when a guard of soldiers secretly beset him. With him was his daughter, who, in addition to the danger that now loured, had been suffering agonies of grief ever since she beheld the assassins sent to butcher Plautus her husband; and, as she had clasped his gory neck, she preserved the garments stained by his olood,-a widow, devoted to unrelenting grief. and declining all nutriment, beyond what was necessary to keep her alive 1 Barium, the modern Bari. 2 For the death of Rubellius Plautus, see Annals, xiv. 58, 59 c. 12.] L. VETUSI SEXTIA, AND POLL-UTIA., 449 Upon this occasion, at the instance of her fathler, she travelled to Naples; and, since she was denied access to Nero, she besieged his gates, and besought him " to hear an innocent man, and not sacrifice his former colleague in the consulship to his freedman;" sometimes imploring him in the piercing tones of woman's grief,-sometimes overstepping the modesty of her sex, and assailing him in accents of bitter reproach,-till the emperor convinced her that he was alike impregnable to supplication and remonstrance. 11. Hence she informed her father, " that he must banish all hope, and meet his fate in the best way he could." Tidings at the same time arrived, " that the senate was hastening his trial, and proceeding to a sentence of extreme severity." There were some who persuaded him to bequeath to Nero the bulk of his fortune, as the best expedient " to secure to his grandchildren the remainder:" but, spurning this proposal, lest he should cast a stain upon a life spent in a manner verging upon ancient liberty, by closing it with an act of servility, he distributed amongst his domestics all his ready money, with orders, "to appropriate to themselves everything portable; and that three couches only should be reserved for the funeral rites." They then opened their veins in the same chamber, with the same knife; and, each being covered with one garment only, and that from regard to modesty, they were without delay conveyed into baths; the father's eyes fixed upon his daughter, the grandmother's upon her grandaughter, and hers upon both: each praying with rival earnestness for a quick and easy passage of the soul, and to leave the others still alive, though soon to follow. And fate observed the order of nature; for life was first extinguished in the elder, and then in her who was yet in its early stage. They were arraigned after their burial; and it was decreed that "they should be punished according to ancient precedent." Nero interposed, granting them uncontrolled option of death: such were the mockeries that were superadded after the murders were consummated. 12. Publius Gallus, a Roman knight, who had been intimate with Fenius Rufus,2 and not unacquainted with VYtu, 1 Nero and Antistius Vetus were joint coasuls, A.V.C. 808. Annals, xiii. 11. 2 For Fenius Rufus, see Annais,;v. 60, 68. TAC.-VOL. I. G 450 THE ANNALS. [B. XVI. was, therefore, prohibited fire and water. To the freedman and accuser, in recompense of the service; a place in the theatre was assigned amongst the tribunes' runners. And as the name April was changed into that of Nero,' so was May into that of Claudius, and June into that of Germanicus: Cornelius Orfitus, on whose motion these alterations were made, declared, " that he had proposed superseding the name of June, because two of the Junii Torquati,2 executed for treason, had rendered that name inauspicious." 13. This year, stained with so many acts of tyranny and blood, was by the gods also branded with storms and pestilences. By a whirlwind the country of Campania was ravaged, villages were overturned, plantations torn up, the fruits of the earth scattered. Its violence extended as far as the neighbourhood of the city of Rome, in which a terrible pestilence was sweeping away every living thing, without any discernible derangement of the atmosphere, though the houses were filled with dead and the streets with funerals. Neither sex nor age was exempt from danger: bondmen and free were snatched off indiscriminately, amidst the wailing of wives and children; who, whilst they were yet attending and lamenting them, were themselves seized, and frequently burnt on the same funeral pile. Knights and senators, though they were carried off in common with the inferior orders, were yet less lamented in their deaths, from the consideration that, by falling in a mortality which spared none, they did but prevent the cruelty of the prince. The same year levies were made through Narbon Gaul, Africa, and Asia, for recruiting the legions in Illyricum, from which all who were debilitated by years or sickness were discharged. To the inhabitants of Lyons, to solace them for their late calamity by fire,3 the emperor presented four thousand great sesterces, to repair the damages of their city,-a sum which they had formerly presented to Rome, during a time of distraction and calamity. 14. In the consulship of Caius Suetonius and Lucius 1 See Annals, xv. 74. 2 The two Torquati were, Silanus Torquatus (Annals, xv. 35) and Lucius Torquatus (this book, c. 9). 3 By this fire, in one night Lugd-'num (now the city of Lyons) was reduced to ashes. Seneca says-" Una nox fuit inter urbem maximam et nullam." See Epist. xci ANTEIUS AND OSTORIUB. 451 relesinus, Antistius Sosianus, who was punished, na I have related,' with exile, for defamatory verses composed upon Nero, becoming apprised of the honours paid to informers, and of the emperor's propensity to acts of blood, and being withal a man of a restless spirit, and prompt in laying held of opportunities, formed a friendship, based on the similitude of their lot, with Pammenes, an exile of the same place, celebrated for his skill in the arts of the Chaldeans, and on that account connected in friendship with many. Concluding that it was not for nothing that so many messengers went to him, and so many consultations were had with him, he learnt also that from Publius Anteius a yearly stipend was allowed him: nor was it unknown to Sosianus that Anteius was regarded with jealousy by Nero for the attachment of Agrippina to him: that his opulence was eminently calculated to stimulate the rapacity of the prince, and that to this cause multitudes owed their destruction. Having therefore intercepted letters from Anteius, and even stolen the papers containing the calculation of his nativity, and the future events of his life, which were secretly kept in the custody of Pammenes: and having also found out the scheme of the birth and fortune of Ostorius Scapula,2 he wrote to the emperor, "c that if he could obtain a short intermission of banishment, he would bring him intelligence of mighty import, and materially affecting his safety; for Aateius and Ostorius were meditating attempts upon the state, and diving into their own and Caesar's destiny." Immediately light galleys were despatched, and Sosianus cons veyed with expedition to Rome; where, when his disclosures were known, Anteius and Ostorius were considered rather in the light of men already condemned, than defendants in a prosecution: insomuch that no one would witness the execution of Arteius's will, till Tigellinus authorized it. Anteins was previously warned not to obstruct the validity of his will, when he took poison; but impatient at the slowness of its operation, accelerated his death by opening his veins. 15. Ostorius was then at an estate of his in a remote quarter of Italy, on the borders of Liguria; thither a centurion was sent with orders to dispatch him. The motive for 1 See Annals. xiv. 48, 49. 2 For Ostorius Scapula, see Annals, xii. 31; xiv. 48. He had corm manded in Britain with great reputation G G2 THE ANNALS. [B. XVI. such precipitation was founded on the following considerations: Ostorius was a man of high military renown; had earned a civic crown in Britain; possessed prodigious bodily strength, and extraordinary experience in war: Nero therefore, who was always timorous, and whose fears were excited to the utmost by the recently detected conspiracy, was apprehensive of an attack from him. The centurion accordingly, having beset every way of escape from the villa, acquainted Ostorius with his orders from the emperor. Ostorius turned against himself the bravery so often displayed against the foe; and seeing that from his veins, though completely severed, there flowed but little blood, availed himself of the assistance of a slave so far as to make him hold out a poniard firmly; he then pressed his right hand towards him, and at the same time bounding forward, received the weapon in his throat. 16. Even if I were describing foreign wars, and deaths encountered in defence of the commonwealth, still if they were attended with so unvarying an uniformity of circumstances, I should be surfeited with the task myself, and should expect to tire the patience of others, who would turn away from the long and melancholy catalogue of deaths, however honourably incurred by their countrymen. But in the case before us, the mind is fatigued and oppressed with sorrow at the contemplation of passive servility, and such a torrent of blood poured forth in time of peace. The only indulgence I would crave of my readers is, that they will pardon me for deigning to mention the fate of men who yielded up their lives so tamely. It was the wrath of heaven against the Roman state; the effects of which it is impossible to describe at once, and then leave the subject, as in the case of armies overthrown, or cities captured. Let it be granted as a boon to the posterity of those illustrious men, that as in respect of burial they are distinguished from the common herd by their funeral obsequies, so likewise in the narrative of their deaths they may receive and retain a distinct and separate place in the records of history. 17. For within a few days Anneus Mela, Cerialis Anicius, Rufius Crispinus, and Gaius Petronius, were put to death in one troop. Mela and Crispinus were Norman knights, raking \ ith senators: the latter had been once captain of the prae c. 18.1 CHARACTER OF C, PETRONIUS. torian guards, and presented with consular ornaments, but lately banished, as an accomplice in the conspiracy, into Sardinia;1 where, upon notice that he was doomed to die, he slew himself. Mela, who was own brother to Gallio2 and Seneca, had forborne suing for the great offices of state, from a wayward ambition, that a Roman knight might be equal in influence with men of consular dignity: he also thought that to act as procurator to the prince, in the ministration of his revenues, was a shorter way to wealth. He was also the father of Lucan; a vast accession to his fame: but after the fate of his son, while rigorously looking up his effects, he raised an accuser, in the person of Fabius Romanus, one of Lucan's intimate friends. He feigned, "that the father and son were equally cognisant of the conspiracy," counterfeiting letters to this purport in the hand of Lucan; on their perusal, Nero, who was ravenous for his wealth,5 ordered them to be carried to the accused. Mela opened his veins, a mode of death adopted at that time with the utmost alacrity, after having made a hasty will, in which he bequeathed to Tigellinus and his son-in-law, Cossutianus Capito, an immense sum of money, to secure the remainder. It is added that, complaining in his will of the injustice of his doom, he wrote "that he died guiltless of every crime deserving death; and yet Rufius Crispinus and Anicius Cerialis, bitter enemies of the prince, were suffered to live." But this was believed to be a fiction, to justify the execution of Crispinus already slain, and of Cerialis, who was marked out for death: nor indeed was it long ere he became his own executioner, but with less commiseration than the rest; because it was remembered that he had disclosed a conspiracy to Caligula. 18. Concerning Caius Petronius4 some few particulars must be recapitulated. He passed his day in sleep, the night in visits and diversions: as others by industry, so Petronius 1 See Annals, xi. 1; xv. 71. 2 For Gallio, the brother of Seneca, see Annals, xv. 72. 8 Juvenal alludes to Lucan's wealth in the words,-." Contentus fama jaceat Lucanus in hortis Marmoreis."-Sat. vii. 79. 4 This is the writer whom Pope has celebrated in the Essay on Criticism:"Fancy and art in gay Petronius please, The scholar's learning, with the courtier's ease.' 454 THE ANNALS [B XVI. was raised into notice by indolence. Nor was he considered a debauchee and prodigal, like most of those who exhaust their substance, but he was curious and refined in his luxury; and the more of laxity and a certain recklessness his words and actions exhibited, the better they were received, as wearing tie appearance of undisguised nature. However, as proconsul of Bithynia, and afterwards as consul. he showed himself possessed of vigour, and equal to the transaction of affairs: but forthwith relapsing into vices, or the affectation of vices, he was enrolled among the few intimate companions of Nero, who looked up to him as a decisive authority in matters of taste, esteeming nothing elegant or delicately luxurious which had not been commended to him on the judgment of Petronius. Hence the hate of Tigellinus, who regarded him as his rival; and in the science of pleasures his superior. He had therefore recourse to the cruelty of the prince, a passion to which all his other depraved appetites gave place, laying to the charge of Petronius an intimacy which Scaevinus;' having seduced one of his slaves to accuse his master, precluded him from all defence, and haled away to prison most of his domestics. 19. Nero happened nt t.nt time to be upon the road to Campania, and Petronius having accompanied him as far as Cuma, was there apprehended. He determined not to iinger in suspense between hope and fear; and yet did not force out life by one violent effort; but ordering his veins to be opened, had them bound again; then opened them afresh, as inclination prompted; addressing his friends, but not in serious mood, or with the view of gaining the praise of fortitude; and listened to them while they recited, not anything relating to the soul's immortality, or the opinions of philosophers, but elegant poems and smooth verses. Some of his slaves he rewarded with presents; others he whipped: he also feasted, and took a nap, so that his death, though compulsory, had all the appearance of being natural. Neither in his will did he flatter Nero or Tigellinus, or any other of those in power, as most of those did who perished in this way, but wrote a detailed account of the horrid practices of the prince, specifying his pathics and harlots, and all his monstrous debaucheries, l This was Scuovinus the cuospirator, for whom see Annals, xv. 49, 64, 56. c. 21.] THRASEA ACICUSED. and sealing it sent it to Nero; he then broke the signet, that it might not be employed thereafter to fabricate evidence affecting the safety of any one. 20. While Nero was perplexed with doubts as to the means by which the nature of his nocturnal doings was divulged, his suspicion alighted on Silia, who was not unknown, by reason of her marriage with a senator; had been made privy to all his debaucheries; and was particularly intimate with Petronius. Accordingly, as having blabbed what she had seen and undergone, she was driven into banishment: a sacrifice this to his own personal hate. To the animosity of Tigellinus he surrendered Numicius Thermus, who had been prsetor; because a freedman of Thermus had thrown out some criminal imputations upon Tigellinus, which the freedman himself expiated by the torture of the rack, and his guiltless patron by death. 21. After shedding the blood of so many men of eminence, Nero at length conceived a burning passion to extirpate virtue herself, by putting to death Thrasea Petus and Bareas Soranus; both of whom had incurred his fierce displeasure long ago: but Thrasea had furnished him with additional motives to hostility, by going out of the senate when the question relative to Agrippina was put, as I have recorded:' by not giving the aid and countenance he ought at the Juvenalian sports; and this offence produced a deeper impression because the same Thrasea had performed in the habit of a tragedian at the games of the Cestus, instituted by Antenor the Trojan, at Pataviuml, his native place: also on the day Antistius the praetor was being condemned to die for lampooning Nero, he proposed a mitigated sentence, and carried it;2 and having purposely absented himself on the occasion of de. creeing divine honours to Poppmea, he was not present at her funeral. These impressions Capito Cossutianus3 would not suffer to be effaced; for besides that he had a mind impetuously prone to flagitious acts, he was exasperated against Thrasea because he had been convicted in consequence of the powerful aid he rendered the deputies of Cilicia in their prosecution of him for peculation. 1See Annals, xir. 12. 2 See Annals, xiv. 48. 3 Foi Cossutianus Capito, a man of infamous character, see Annals liii 353 TIIE ANNALS. LB. XVL 22. In addition to these, he further laid to his charge that he had avoided the established practice of renewing the oath at the beginning of the year: that he had absented himself from the ceremony of making vows for the preservation of the prince, though he was invested with the Quindecimviral priesthood: he had never made oblations for the safety of the prince, nor for his heavenly voice; that he who had formerly been so assiduous and indefatigable, who was wont to put himself forward as a promoter or opponent of every trivial motion, had not entered the senate for three years;' and that in a very recent instance, when the fathers assembled with such eagerness to repress Silanus and Vetus, he preferred attending to the affairs of his clients. That this conduct amounted to revolt and sedition; and if there were many who dared to do the same, there would be a civil war. As formerly, in the case of Caius Caesar and Marcus Cato, so now, said he, this city, ever longing for dissension, resounds with the names of you, Nero, and Thrasea; and he has his followers, or rather body-gulards, who have not as yet attained to his forwardness of language, but ape his modes and mien, austere and sour in their deportment, in order to upbraid you for licentiousness. This is the only man who neglects to give honour to the gods in regard of your safety and your accomplishments. Grant that he is contemptuously indifferent about the prosperity of the prince: yet is not his malice satiated by his grief and distresses? It was in the same spirit that he believed not in the deification of Poppaea, and omitted to swear to observe the acts of the deified Augustus and the deified Julius. He despises the rites of religion, and sets at nought the laws. The journals of the Roman people are read throughout the provinces and armies with more intense interest, in order to learn what Thrasea has not done. Either let us adopt those principles of his, if they are preferable, or let the champion and adviser of a revolutionary party be removed. It was the same odious set that gave birth to the Tuberos2 and Favonii, n mes unpalatable even to the ancient republic. Under I Thrasea was forbidden the presence of the emperor, A.U.C. 816. (See book xv. 25.) From that time it does not appear that he entered the senate. 2 For Tubero, see Cicero, pro lMurena. He was a philosopher of the Stoic school, and a contemporary of the Gracchi. THIA5EA REQUES7iS A HEARING. 457 tie mask of liberty, they aim at the subversion of government; and should they succeed, they will then attack liberty herself. In vain have you banished Cassius, if you shall suffer the imitators of the Bruti to gather numbers and strength. Lastly, write nothing yourself to the senate about Thrasea, let the senate adjudicate upon his case, and leave the senate to our management." Nero encouraging Cossutianus in his designs, gave additional impulse to a mind already eager for action from the promptings of resentment; and appointed Marcellus Eprius, a man of keen eloquence, to assist him in the business. 23. The task of accusing Bareas Soranus was already claimed by Ostorius Sabinus, a Roman knight, after the return of Bareas from the proconsular government of Asia, in which his justice and energy aggravated the offence he had given to the prince; as well as that he had exerted himself in opening the port of Ephesus, and left unpunished the efforts of the citizens of Pergamus in preventing Acratus, a freedman of Cnesar's, from removing their statues and pictures.' But the ostensible subject of the charge was, " his friendship with Plautus,2 and sinister practices with the view of inducing the province to revolt." The juncture chosen for their condemnation was the arrival of Tiridates to receive the crown of Armenia; in order that while the people were gossiping about foreign matters, a domestic atrocity might pass unnoticed; or else it was to make a display of the greatness of the imperial power, by the execution of illustrious men, under the idea that it was a regal feat. 24. Accordingly, when the city emptied itself to receive the emperor,3 and to gaze on a foreign king, Thrasea had orders not to appear; his spirit, however, sank not, but he composed a memorial to Nero, requiring to know "the allegations against him; and averring that he would clear himself; were he apprised of the charges, and had an opportunity of refutation." Nero received the memorial with eagerness, hoping that Thrasea, under the influence of terror, had 1 Acratus has been mentioned as a person sent into Asia, to plunder the cities of their statues, Annals, xv. 45. 2 Rtubcllius Plautus, for whom see Annals, giv. 57, 59. 3 Nero was on his return from Campania. 15 8 THE "ANALS. [B. XVI. written what might magnify the glory of the prince, and tarnish his own fair fame; but finding himself disappointed, he played the coward himself, and dreading the countenance, the high bearing, and independent spirit of a guiltless man, he ordered the senate to be summoned. 25. Thrasea then consulted with his nearest friends, whether he should attempt a defence, or treat the charge with disdain. They were divided in the advice they gave: those who counselled him to enter the senate, said, "they had no apprehension of his quailing; they were sure nothing would escape him but what would increase his glory. It belonged to the timorous and spiritless to fling a veil of privacy over their last moments; the people should be allowed to look upon the spectacle of a man going forth to meet death; the senate should hear his words, transcending human energy, and seeming as though they issued from the lips of some divinity. The very miracle of the thing might work relentings even in Nero; but if he should stand firm in his cruelty, yet doubtless an honourable death would be remembered by posterity far more reverentially than the timorous conduct of those who perished in silence. 26. Those, on the contrary, who were for his waiting the issue at home, concurred in the merit ascribed to Thrasea; but observed, "that mockeries and insults awaited him; it were better not to have his ears assailed with invectives and reproaches. Not only were Cossutianus and Eprius forward in villany; there were others beside, who perhaps would assault him with their hands and weapons, to gratify the brutality of Nero; while even the good would be constrained by fear to follow their example. Rather should he spare the senate, of which he had ever been an ornament, the infamy of such an outrage; and leave unproved what would have been the decree of the fathers on seeing Thrasea before them arraigned as a criminal. Any scheme with the object of touching the heart of Nero with shame for his atrocities must prove abortive; much more ground was there for fearing lest he should vent his fury upon his wife, his family, and all his other pledges of affection. For these reasons, therefore, having never swerved from his integrity, or brought a stain upon his honour, he should be content to dio with the renown c. 28.] THE SENATE INTIMIDATED. enjoyed by those in whose footsteps he had trodden, and whose pursuits he had emulated in life." Rusticus Arulenus,l a young man of fiery spirit, was present at this consultation, and from an ardent passion for fame, offered to interpose his retc to the decree of the senate, for he was tribune of the people. Thrasea restrained his impetuosity, and cautioned him against an opposition "useless and unavailing to the accused, and fatal to its author: as for himself, he bad passed the best of his days, and must not now abandon the post which he had kept through life. Arulenus had but just entered upon the career of office, and had not committed himself as to his future proceedings. Deeply and cautiously should he weigh beforehand what path he would pursue in the discharge of public duties at a time like the present." However, he reserved it as matter for his own private consideration, whether he ought to appear in the senate. 27. But lo, on the next day two preetorian cohorts under arms environed the temple of Venus Genetrix; a number of men in plain clothes, but openly armed with swords, had beset the entrance of the senate; and throughout the great squares, and several temples, were posted bands of soldiers: and through the midst of this terrific and menacing array, the senators passed to their assembly; where an address from the prince was read by his quaestor. Without accusing any indi. vidual by name, he charged the fathers generally with " abandoning their public functions, and setting an example which had led the Roman knights into sloth and inaction. And what ground was there for wonder that there was no attendance from remote provinces, when most of them having obtained the consulate and priesthoods, preferred devoting their talents to the embellishment of their gardens I " This furnished a weapon as it were for the accusers, which they clutched with avidity. 28. Cossutianus taking the lead, Marcellus followed with increased vehemence, exclaiming, " that the very existence of the commonwealth was jeoparded; that the clemency of the sovereign was checked by the contumacy of subordinates. That hitherto the fathers had carried their forbearance to excess, in allowing such persons to escape punishment, as 1 Arulenus Rusticus was put to death by Domitian, A.D. 94. See Life of Agricola, c. 11. 460 THE ANNALS Thrasea,' who had renounced his allegiance; his son-in-law Helvidius Priscus,2 who was possessed with the same mania; together with Paconius Agrippinus,3 who inherited his father's detestation of princes; and Curtius Montanus,4 the author of verses of an odious description. That he should make it matter of charge that he missed a man of consular rank in the senate; who was also a priest, but absented himself from the ceremony of making vows; who was a citizen, but declined the annual oath: were it not that, trampling upon all the civil and sacred institutions of our ancestors, Thrasea had avowedly put on the character of a traitor and enemy. To make short of the matter, accustomed as he has been to act the part of a senator, and screen the calumniators of the prince, let him come and give his opinion as to what reforms and changes he would have: more endurable would it be to hear him vituperating particular measures, than to have him condemning the whole system by sullen silence. Was it peace throughout the round world, or victories achieved by our armies without loss, that excited his displeasure'? A man who mourned over the public prosperity; who would have the courts, the theatres, the temples deserted, and threatened to banish himself from his country, they should never allow to accomplish the objects of his unprincipled ambition. These their decrees, their magistrates, and the city of Rome itself, were to him as though they were not. He ought to sever by death his connexion with a state, all affection for which he had long renounced, and whose very sight he now loathed." 29. While these and similar remarks flashed from the lips of Marcellus, with corresponding tones of voice, expression of countenance and looks, for he was naturally stern and menacing, the senate no longer felt that sadness which they had so often experienced, and which had become familiar to Juvenal alludes to the republican principles of Thrasea and his son-in-law Helvidius, in the passage"Quale coronati Thrasea Helvidiusque bibebant Brutorum et Cassi natalibus."-Sat. v. 36. 2 For more of Helvidius Priscus, see History, book iv. 5; and the Life of Agricola, c. 2. 3 Marcus Paconius, the father of Paconius Agrippinus. was cruell3 put to death by Tiberius. See Suet. in Tib. 61. 4 For more of Curtius Moutanus, see History. iv. 40, 42. SOKANUS AND HIS DAUGHTER ACCUSED. 461 them from the frequency of perils; but a sensation of unwonted and deeper dread came over them, seeing as they did before them the hands and weapons of the soldiery; at the same time the venerable form of Thrasea presented itself to their imagination: there were some too who were touched with compassion for Helvidius, who was about to suffer through a connexion which involved no guilt. And, thought they, what charge could be brought against Agrippinus, save the unhappy fate of his father? for he, too, equally innocent as his son, had fallen a victim to the ferocity of Tiberius. But as for Montanus, who was a moral young mall, and whose poems were not of a scurrilous character, he was driven from his country simply because he had put forth a specimen of his talent." 30. But in the meantime Ostorius Sabinus, the accuser of Soranus, entered the senate, and proceeded to charge him with " his friendship for Rubellius Plautus; with having administered his proconsulate of Asia with a view to popularity, and with consulting his own private objects rather than the public benefit; encouraging disaffection in the various communities." These were old affairs; but a charge of recent date involved the daughter in the father's peril: it was, " that she had distributed sums of money among the magi." Such was the fact, it must be admitted; but it arose from the filial piety of Servilia, for that was her name, who out of affection for her parent, and with the simplicity natural to so young a creature, had merely consulted them " on the safety of the family: whether Nero would be disposed to mercy, and whether the investigation before the senate would issue in anything of a formidable nature." Accordingly she was summoned before the senate, and the two parties were stationed on opposite sides before the judgment-seat of the consuls: the father, far advanced in years; the daughter, not yet twenty, widowed, and desolate; her husband, Pollio, having been recently banished. And so oppressed was she with the thought of having added to her father's dangers, that she could not even look towards him. 31. The accuser then questioned her, "whether she had not sold her bridal ornaments, and even the chain off her neck, to raise money for the performance of magic rites?" At first she fell prostrate upon the floor, and continued for a long THE ANNALB. [B. Xv. time bathed in tears and speechless: afterwards, embracing the altar and its appendages, she said, " I have prayed to no malignant deities: I have used no spells: nor did I seek aught by my unhappy prayers than that you, Caesar, and you, fathers, would preserve this best of fathers unharmed. With this view I gave up my jewels, my raiment, and the ornaments belonging to my station; as I would have given up my blood and life had they required them. To those men, till then unknown to me, it belongs to declare whose ministers they are, and what mysteries they use: the prince's name was never uttered by me except among the gods. Yet to all this proceeding of mine, whatever it were, my most unhappy father is a stranger; and if it is a crime, I alone am the delinquent." 32. Soranus, while she was yet speaking, caught up her words, and cried with earnestness, " that his daughter went not with him to the province; such was her tender age she could not have been acquainted with Plautus. She was not implicated in the charges against her husband; he implored them, that as her only crime was too much piety, they would separate her case from his; but as for himself, he would submit to whatever fate awaited him." At the same time he sprang forward to embrace his daughter, who flew to meet him; but the consular lictors stepped between and prevented them. The witnesses were then heard; and the indignation excited by the appearance of Publius Egnatiusl as a witness, equalled the sympathy kindled by the barbarity of the accusation. Egnatius was a client of Soranus, but now bribed to crush his friend. He professed to be a follower of the Stoic sect, and in his exterior and language had learnt to exhibit the semblance of virtue, but in his, heart was perfidious and crafty, hiding beneath his superficial virtues the vices of avarice and lust. And when his latent depravity was drawn out by the power of money, he afforded a warning that, as we guard against men who are wrapped in villany and contami. nated with notorious vices, so must we guard against those 1 Egnatius, the professor of the Stoic philosophy, who appears as a witness against Bareas Soranus, is mentioned by Juvenal:" Stoicus occidit Baream, delator amicum, Discipulumque senex."-Sat. iii. 116. See History, book iv. 10. c. 34.] ThRABRAi~ PREPARES TO DIE. 463 who wear a fair but false appearance of virtuous pursuits, and are capable of betraying friendship. 33. The same day however furnished a bright example of virtue in the person of Cassius Asclepiodotus, a man conspicuous among the Bithynians for the extent of his wealth, who continued to treat Soranus in the decline with the same respect he had constantly shown him in the meridian of his fortune: the consequence was, that he was stripped of all his property, and driven into exile: thus exemplifying the indifference of the gods towards patterns of virtue and of vice. Thrasea, Soranus, and Servilia were indulged with the choice of their mode of death: Helvidius and Paconius were banished from Italy: Montanus, for the sake of his father, was pardoned, with a proviso, "that he should never be admitted to any office in the state." To Eprius and Cossutianus was decreed a reward of five thousand great sesterces, to Ostorius twelve hundred great sesterces, with the ornaments of the qusestorship. 34. The quaestor of the consul was then, on the approach of evening, despatched to Thrasea, who was in his garden. He was surrounded by numerous parties of illustrious men and women; but was chiefly attentive to Demetrius,' a professor,bf the Cynic school. With this philosopher, as far as could be conjectured by the intenseness of his looks, and by certain words, which when they happened to raise their voices were overheard, he was reasoning and inquiring about the nature of the soul, and its disjunction from the body, when he was interrupted by the arrival of Domitius Csecilianus, one of his most intimate friends, who informed him of what the senate had decreed. When upon these sad tidings the whole company melted into passionate lamentations and tears, Thrasea pressed them "to hasten away, and not involve themselves in danger because he was condemned to die." And as Arria2 his wife essayed to emulate the example of her mother, and to ' Demetrius is praised by Seneca, not merely as a philosopher, but as a man of consummate virtue. (De Beneficiis, lib. vii. 8.) In another place he calls him emphatically, not the teacher, but the witness uo truth: " Non prseceptor veri, sed testis."-Epist. xx. 2 Arria, his wife, was the daughter of the celebrated Arria, who, in the reign of Claudius, A.u.c. 795, plunged a dagger in her own breast to give her husband Csecina Pvetus an example of undaunted couraga See the Lite of Agricola, C 2. THE ANNALS. 1B. XVY share his fate with her husband, he besought her "to prCeerve her life, nor deprive their common daughter of her only retaining refuge." 35. He then went forth into a portico, and there the qune. stor found him in a frame of mind approaching to exultation, as he had learned that his son-in-law Helvidius was only banished from Italy. Then having received the decree of the senate, he took Helvidius and Demetrius into his chamber, and stretching out both his arms, when the blood began to flow he called the quaestor to him, and sprinkling it upon the floor, he said, "Let us make a libation to Jove the Deliverer. Behold, young man, and may the gods avert the omen, but you are fallen upon such times that it may be useful to fortify your mind by examples of unflinching firmness." Afterwards suffering violent torture from the slow approach of death, turning to Demetriusr * * * * 1 The remainder of this book, containing the transactions of the huwt two years of Nero, and his miserable death, is lost. MAY 6- 19N5 END OF VOL. I. LONIDoN: I RMITED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STlrWf AND CHARING CROSS. THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN DATE DUE APR 2 0 1998 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIAN 3 9015 00416 2361 I I, I i. I~ DO NOT REMOVE OR MUTILATE CARD i I i i I