No More Learning

" and then
at last the name of Claudius was subjoined. To me, the more I revolve
the events of late or of old, the more of mockery and slipperiness
appears in all human wisdom and the transactions of men: for, in popular
fame, in the hopes, wishes and veneration of the public, all men were
rather destined to the Empire, than he for whom fortune then reserved
the sovereignty in the dark.

A few days after, Vitellius, Veranius and Servaeus, were by the Senate
preferred to the honours of the Priesthood, at the motion of Tiberius.
To Fulcinius he promised his interest and suffrage towards preferment,
but advised him "not to embarrass his eloquence by impetuosity. " This
was the end of revenging the death of Germanicus; an affair ambiguously
related, not by those only who then lived and interested themselves in
it, but likewise the following times: so dark and intricate are all
the highest transactions; while some hold for certain facts, the most
precarious hearsays; others turn facts into falsehood; and both are
swallowed and improved by the credulity of posterity. Drusus went now
without the city, there to renew the ceremony of the auspices, and
presently re-entered in the triumph of _ovation_. A few days after died
Vipsania his mother; of all the children of Agrippa, the only one who
made a pacific end: the rest manifestly perished, or are believed to
have perished, by the sword, poison, or famine.

The qualifying of the Law Papia Poppaea was afterwards proposed; a law
which, to enforce those of Julius Caesar, Augustus had made when he was
old, for punishing celibacy and enriching the Exchequer. Nor even by
this means had marriages and children multiplied, while a passion to
live single and childless prevailed: but, in the meantime, the numbers
threatened and in danger by it increased daily, while by the glosses and
chicane of the impleaders every family was undone. So that, as before
the city laboured under the weight of crimes, so now under the pest of
laws. From this thought I am led backwards to the first rise of laws,
and to open the steps and causes by which we are arrived to the present
number and excess; a number infinite and perplexed.

The first race of men, free as yet from every depraved passion, lived
without guile and crimes, and therefore without chastisements or
restraints; nor was there occasion for rewards, when of their own accord
they pursued righteousness: and as they courted nothing contrary to
justice, they were debarred from nothing by terrors. But, after they
had abandoned their original equality, and from modesty and shame to do
evil, proceeded to ambition and violence; lordly dominion was introduced
and arbitrary rule, and in many nations grew perpetual. Some, either
from the beginning, or after they were surfeited with kings, preferred
the sovereignty of laws; which, agreeable to the artless minds of men,
were at first short and simple. The laws in most renown were those
framed for the Cretans by Minos; for the Spartans by Lycurgus; and
afterwards such as Solon delivered to the Athenians, now greater
in number and more exquisitely composed. To the Romans justice was
administered by Romulus according to his pleasure: after him,
Numa managed the people by religious devices and laws divine. Some
institutions were made by Tullus Hostilius, some by Ancus Martius; but
above all our laws were those founded by Servius Tullius; they were such
as even our kings were bound to obey.

Upon the expulsion of Tarquin; the people, for the security of their
freedom against the encroachment and factions of the Senate, and for
binding the public concord, prepared many ordinances: hence were created
the Decemviri, and by them were composed the twelve tables, out of a
collection of the most excellent institutions found abroad. The period
this of all upright and impartial laws. What laws followed, though
sometimes made against crimes and offenders, were yet chiefly made by
violence, through the animosity of the two Estates, and for seizing
unjustly withholden offices or continuing unjustly in them, or for
banishing illustrious patriots, and to other wicked ends. Hence the
Gracchi and Saturnini, inflamers of the people; and hence Drusus vying,
on behalf of the Senate, in popular concessions with these inflamers;
and hence the corrupt promises made to our Italian allies, promises
deceitfully made, or, by the interposition of some Tribune, defeated.
Neither during the war of Italy, nor during the civil war, was the
making of regulations discontinued; many and contradictory were even
then made. At last Sylla the Dictator, changing or abolishing the past,
added many of his own, and procured some respite in this matter, but
not long; for presently followed the turbulent pursuits and proposals of
Lepidus, and soon after were the Tribunes restored to their licentious
authority of throwing the people into combustions at pleasure. And
now laws were not made for the public only, but for particular men
particular laws; and corruption abounding in the Commonwealth, the
Commonwealth abounded in laws.

Pompey was, now in his third Consulship, chosen to correct the public
enormities; and his remedies proved to the State more grievous than its
distempers. He made laws such as suited his ambition, and broke them
when they thwarted his will; and lost by arms the regulations which by
arms he had procured. Henceforward for twenty years discord raged, and
there was neither law nor settlement; the most wicked found impunity
in the excess of their wickedness; and many virtuous men, in their
uprightness met destruction. At length, Augustus Caesar in his sixth
Consulship, then confirmed in power without a rival, abolished the
orders which during the Triumvirate he had established, and gave us laws
proper for peace and a single ruler. These laws had sanctions severer
than any heretofore known: as their guardians, informers were appointed,
who by the Law Papia Poppaea were encouraged with rewards, to watch
such as neglected the privileges annexed to marriage and fatherhood, and
consequently could claim no legacy or inheritance, the same, as vacant,
belonging to the Roman People, who were the public parent. But these
informers struck much deeper: by them the whole city, all Italy, and
the Roman citizens in every part of the Empire, were infested and
persecuted: numbers were stripped of their entire fortunes, and terror
had seized all; when Tiberius, for a check to this evil, chose twenty
noblemen, five who were formerly Consuls, five who were formerly
Praetors, with ten other Senators, to review that law. By them many of
its intricacies were explained, its strictness qualified; and hence some
present alleviation was yielded.

Tiberius about this time, to the Senate recommended Nero, one of the
sons of Germanicus, now seventeen years of age, and desired "that
he might be exempted from executing the office of the Vigintivirate,
[Footnote: Officers for distributing the public lands; for regulating
the mint, the roads, and the execution of criminals. ] and have leave to
sue for the Quaestorship five years sooner than the laws directed. "
A piece of mockery, this request to all who heard it: but, Tiberius
pretended "that the same concessions had been decreed to himself and his
brother Drusus, at the request of Augustus. " Nor do I doubt, but there
were then such who secretly ridiculed that sort of petitions from
Augustus: such policy was however natural to that Prince, while he was
but yet laying the foundations of the Imperial power, and while the
Republic and its late laws were still fresh in the minds of men:
besides, the relation was lighter between Augustus and his wife's
sons, than between a grandfather and his grandsons. To the grant of the
Quaestorship was added a seat in the College of Pontiffs; and the first
day he entered the Forum in his manly robe, a donative of corn and
money was distributed to the populace, who exulted to behold a son of
Germanicus now of age. Their joy was soon heightened by his marriage
with Julia, the daughter of Drusus. But as these transactions were
attended with public applauses; so the intended marriage of the
daughter of Sejanus with the son of Claudius was received with popular
indignation. By this alliance the nobility of the Claudian house seemed
stained; and by it Sejanus, already suspected of aspiring views, was
lifted still higher.

At the end of this year died Lucius Volusius and Sallustius Crispus;
great and eminent men. The family of Volusius was ancient, but, in the
exercise of public offices, rose never higher than the Praetorship; it
was he, who honoured it with the Consulship: he was likewise created
Censor for modelling the classes of the equestrian order; and first
accumulated the wealth which gave that family such immense grandeur.
Crispus was born of an equestrian house, great nephew by a sister to
Caius Sallustius, the renowned Roman historian, and by him adopted: the
way to the great offices was open to him; but, in imitation of Maecenas,
he lived without the dignity of Senator, yet outwent in power many who
were distinguished with Consulships and triumphs: his manner of living,
his dress and daintiness were different from the ways of antiquity; and,
in expense and affluence, he bordered rather upon luxury. He possessed
however a vigour of spirit equal to great affairs, and exerted the
greater promptness for that he hid it in a show of indolence and
sloth: he was therefore, in the time of Maecenas, the next in favour,
afterwards chief confidant in all the secret counsels of Augustus and
Tiberius, and privy and consenting to the order for slaying Agrippa
Posthumus. In his old age he preserved with the Prince rather the
outside than the vitals of authority: the same had happened to Maecenas.
It is the fate of power, which is rarely perpetual; perhaps from satiety
on both sides, when Princes have no more to grant, and Ministers no more
to crave.

Next followed the Consulship of Tiberius and Drusus; to Tiberius the
fourth, to Drusus the second: a Consulship remarkable, for that in it
the father and son were colleagues. There was indeed the same fellowship
between Tiberius and Germanicus, two years before; but besides the
distastes of jealousy in the uncle, the ties of blood were not so near.
In the beginning of the year, Tiberius, on pretence of his health,
retired to Campania; either already meditating a long and perpetual
retirement; or to leave to Drusus, in his father's absence, the honour
of executing the Consulship alone: and there happened a thing which,
small in itself, yet as it produced mighty contestation, furnished
the young Consul with matter of popular affection. Domitius Corbulo,
formerly Praetor, complained to the Senate of Lucius Sylla, a noble
youth, "that in the show of gladiators, Sylla would not yield him
place. " Age, domestic custom, and the ancient men were for Corbulo: on
the other side, Mamercus Scaurus, Lucius Arruntius, and others laboured
for their kinsman Sylla: warm speeches were made, and the examples
of our ancestors were urged, "who by severe decrees had censured
and restrained the irreverence of the youth. " Drusus interposed with
arguments proper for calming animosities, and Corbulo had satisfaction
made him by Scaurus, who was to Sylla both father-in-law and uncle,
and the most copious orator of that age. The same Corbulo, exclaiming
against "the condition of most of the roads through Italy, that through
the fraud of the undertakers and negligence of the overseers, they were
broken and unpassable;" undertook of his own accord the cure of that
abuse; an undertaking which he executed not so much to the advantage
of the public as to the ruin of many private men in their fortunes and
reputation, by his violent mulcts and unjust judgments and forfeitures.

Upon this occasion Caecina Severus proposed, "that no magistrate should
go into any province accompanied by his wife. " He introduced this motion
with a long preface, "that he lived with his own in perfect concord,
by her he had six children; and what he offered to the public he had
practised himself, having during forty years' service left her still
behind him, confined to Italy. It was not indeed, without cause,
established of old, that women should neither be carried by their
husbands into confederate nations nor foreign. A train of women
introduced luxury in peace, by their fears retarded war, and made a
Roman army resemble, in their march, a mixed host of barbarians. The
sex was not tender only and unfit for travel, but, if suffered, cruel,
aspiring, and greedy of authority: they even marched amongst the
soldiers, and were obeyed by the officers. A woman had lately presided
at the exercises of the troops, and at the decursions of the legions.
The Senate themselves might remember, that as often as any of the
magistrates were charged with plundering the provinces, their wives were
always engaged in the guilt. To the ladies, the most profligate in
the province applied; by them all affairs were undertaken, by them
transacted: at home two distinct courts were kept, and abroad the wife
had her distinct train and attendance. The ladies, too, issued distinct
orders, but more imperious and better obeyed. Such feminine excesses
were formerly restrained by the Oppian, and other laws; but now these
restraints were violated, women ruled all things, their families, the
Forum, and even the armies. "

This speech was heard by few with approbation, and many proclaimed
their dissent; "for, that neither was that the point in debate, nor was
Caecina considerable enough to censure so weighty an affair. " He was
presently answered by Valerius Messalinus, who was the son of Messala,
and inherited a sparkling of his father's eloquence: "that many rigorous
institutions of the ancients were softened and changed for the better:
for, neither was Rome now, as of old, beset with wars, nor Italy with
hostile provinces; and a few concessions were made to the conveniences
of women, who were so far from burdening the provinces, that to their
own husbands there they were no burden. As to honours, attendance and
expense, they enjoyed them in common with their husbands, who could
receive no embarrassment from their company in time of peace. To war
indeed we must go equipped and unencumbered; but after the fatigues of
war, what was more allowable than the consolations of a wife? But it
seemed the wives of some magistrates had given a loose to ambition and
avarice. And were the magistrates themselves free from these excesses?
were not most of them governed by many exorbitant appetites? did we
therefore send none into the provinces? It was added, that the husbands
were corrupted by their corrupt wives: and were therefore all single
men uncorrupt? The Oppian Laws were once thought necessary, because the
exigencies of the State required their severity: they were afterwards
relaxed and mollified, because that too was expedient for the State.
In vain we covered our own sloth with borrowed names: if the wife broke
bounds, the husband ought to bear the blame. It was moreover unjustly
judged, for the weak and uxorious spirit of one or a few, to bereave all
others of the fellowship of their wives, the natural partners of their
prosperity and distress. Besides, the sex, weak by nature, would be left
defenceless, exposed to the luxurious bent of their native passions,
and a prey to the allurements of adulterers: scarce under the eye and
restraint of the husband was the marriage bed preserved inviolate: what
must be the consequence, when by an absence of many years, the ties
of marriage would be forgot, forgot as it were in a divorce? It became
them, therefore, so to cure the evils abroad as not to forget the
enormities at Rome. " To this Drusus added somewhat concerning his own
wedlock. "Princes," he said, "were frequently obliged to visit the
remote parts of the Empire: how often did the deified Augustus travel
to the East, how often to the West, still accompanied with Livia?
He himself too had taken a progress to Illyricum, and, if it were
expedient, was ready to visit other nations; but not always with an easy
spirit, if he were to be torn from his dear wife, her by whom he had so
many children. " Thus was Caecina's motion eluded.

When the Senate met next, they had a letter from Tiberius. In it he
affected to chide the fathers, "that upon him they cast all public
cares;" and named them M. Lepidus and Junius Blesus, to choose
either for Proconsul of Africa. They were then both heard as to this
nomination: Lepidus excused himself with earnestness; he pleaded "his
bodily frailty, the tender age of his children, and a daughter fit for
marriage. " There was another reason too, of which he said nothing; but
it was easily understood: Blesus was uncle to Sejanus, and therefore
had the prevailing interest. Blesus too made a show of refusing, but
not with the like positiveness, and was heard with partiality by the
flatterers of power.

The same year the cities of Gaul, stimulated by their excessive debts,
began a rebellion. The most vehement incendiaries were Julius Florus and
Julius Sacrovir; the first amongst those of Treves, the second amongst
the Aeduans. They were both distinguished by their nobility, and by the
good services of their ancestors, who thence had acquired of old the
right of Roman citizens; a privilege rare in those days, and then only
the prize of virtue. When by secret meetings, they had gained those
who were most prompt to rebel; with such as were desperate through
indigence, or, from guilt of past crimes, forced to commit more; they
agreed that Florus should begin the insurrection in Belgia; Sacrovir
amongst the neighbouring Gauls. In order to this, they had many
consultations and cabals, where they uttered seditious harangues; they
urged "their tribute without end, their devouring usury, the pride and
cruelty of their Governors: that they had now a glorious opportunity
to recover their liberty; for that since the report of the murder
of Germanicus, discord had seized the Roman soldiery: they need only
consider their own strength and numbers; while Italy was poor and
exhausted; the Roman populace weak and unwarlike, the Roman armies
destitute of all vigour but that derived from foreigners. "

Scarce one city remained untainted with the seeds of this rebellion; but
it first broke at Angiers and Tours. The former were reduced by Acilius
Aviola, a legate, with the assistance of a cohort drawn from the
garrison at Lyons. Those of Tours were suppressed by the same Aviola,
assisted with a detachment sent from the legions, by Visellius Varro,
lieutenant-governor of lower Germany. Some of the chiefs of the Gauls
had likewise joined him with succours, the better to disguise their
defection, and to push it with more effect hereafter. Even Sacrovir
was beheld engaged in fight for the Romans, with his head bare, a
_demonstration_, he pretended, _of his bravery_; but the prisoners
averred, that "he did it to be known to his countrymen, and to escape
their darts. "

An account of all this was laid before Tiberius, who slighted it, and
by hesitation fostered the war. Florus the while pushed his designs, and
tried to debauch a regiment of horse, levied at Treves, and kept under
our pay and discipline: he would have engaged them to begin the war, by
putting to the sword the Roman merchants; and some few were corrupted,
but the body remained in their allegiance. A rabble however, of his own
followers and desperate debtors, took arms and were making to the forest
of Arden, when the legions sent from both armies by Visellius and Caius
Silius, through different routes to intercept them, marred their march:
and Julius Indus, one of the same country with Florus, at enmity with
him, and therefore more eager to engage him, was despatched forward with
a chosen band, and broke the ill-appointed multitude. Florus by lurking
from place to place, frustrated the search of the conquerors: but at
last, when he saw all the passes beset with soldiers, he fell by his own
hands. This was the issue of the insurrection at Treves.

Amongst the Aeduans the revolt was stronger, as much stronger as the
state was more opulent; and the forces to suppress it were to be brought
from afar. Augustodunum, [Footnote: Autun. ] the capital of the nation,
was seized by Sacrovir, and in it all the noble youth of Gaul, who were
there instructed in the liberal arts. By securing these pledges he aimed
to bind in his interest their parents and relations; and at the same
time distributed to the young men the arms, which he had caused to be
secretly made. He had forty thousand men, the fifth part armed like
our legions, the rest with poles, hangers, and other weapons used
by hunters. To the number were added such of the slaves as had been
appointed to be gladiators; these were covered, after the fashion of the
country, with a continued armour of iron; and styled _Crupellarii_;
a sort of militia unwieldy at exercising their own weapons, and
impenetrable by those of others. These forces were still increased by
volunteers from the neighbouring cities, where, though the public
body did not hitherto avow the revolt, yet the zeal of particulars was
manifest: they had likewise leisure to increase from the contention of
the two Roman generals; a contention for some time undecided, while
each demanded the command in that war. At length Varro, old and infirm,
yielded to the superior vigour of Silius.

Now at Rome, "not only the insurrection of Treves and of the Aeduans,
but likewise, that threescore and four cities of Gaul had revolted; that
the Germans had joined in the revolt, and that Spain fluctuated;" were
reports all believed with the usual aggravations of fame. The best men
grieved in sympathy for their country: many from hatred of the present
government and thirst of change, rejoiced in their own perils: they
inveighed against Tiberius, "that in such a mighty uproar of rebellion,
he was only employed in perusing the informations of the State
accusers. " They asked, "did he mean to surrender Julius Sacrovir to the
Senate, to try him for treason? " They exulted, "that there were at last
found men, who would with arms restrain his bloody orders for private
murders. " And declared "that even war was a happy change for a most
wretched peace. " So much the more for this, Tiberius affected to appear
wrapped up in security and unconcern; he neither changed place nor
countenance, but behaved himself at that time as at other times; whether
from elevation of mind, or whether he had learned that the state of
things was not alarming, and only heightened by vulgar representation.

Silius the while sending forward a band of auxiliaries, marched with two
legions, and in his march ravaged the villages of the Sequanians,
next neighbours to the Aeduans, and their associates in arms. He then
advanced towards Augustodunum; a hasty march, the standard-bearers
mutually vying in expedition, and the common men breathing ardour and
eagerness: they desired, "that no time might be wasted in the usual
refreshments, none of their nights in sleep; let them only see and
confront the foe: they wanted no more, to be victorious. " Twelve miles
from Augustodunum, Sacrovir appeared with his forces upon the plains:
in the front he had placed the iron troop; his cohorts in the wings; the
half-armed in the rear: he himself, upon a fine horse, attended by the
other chiefs, addressed himself to them from rank to rank; he reminded
them "of the glorious achievements of the ancient Gauls; of the
victorious mischiefs they had brought upon the Romans; of the liberty
and renown attending victory; of their redoubled and intolerable
servitude, if once more vanquished. "

A short speech; and an unattentive, and disheartened audience! For, the
embattled legions approached; and the crowd of townsmen, ill appointed
and novices in war, stood astonished, bereft of the present use of eyes
and hearing. On the other side, Silius, though he presumed the victory,
and thence might have spared exhortations, yet called to his men, "that
they might be with reason ashamed that they, the conquerors of Germany,
should be thus led against a rabble of Gauls as against an equal enemy:
one cohort had newly defeated the rebels of Tours; one regiment of
horse, those of Treves; a handful of this very army had routed the
Sequanians: the present Aeduans, as they are more abounding in wealth,
as they wallow more in voluptuousness, are by so much more soft and
unwarlike: this is what you are now to prove, and your task to prevent
their escape. " His words were returned with a mighty cry. Instantly the
horse surrounded the foe; the foot attacked their front, and the wings
were presently routed: the iron band gave some short obstruction, as
the bars of their coats withstood the strokes of sword and pike: but the
soldiers had recourse to their hatchets and pick-axes; and, as if they
had battered a wall, hewed their bodies and armour: others with clubs,
and some with forks, beat down the helpless lumps, who as they lay
stretched along, without one struggle to rise, were left for dead.
Sacrovir fled first to Augustodunum; and thence, fearful of being
surrendered, to a neighbouring town, accompanied by his most faithful
adherents. There he slew himself; and the rest, one another: having
first set the town on fire, by which they were all consumed.

Now at last Tiberius wrote to the Senate about this war, and at once
acquainted them with its rise and conclusion, neither aggravating facts
nor lessening them; but added "that it was conducted by the fidelity
and bravery of his lieutenants, guided by his counsels. " He likewise
assigned the reasons why neither he, nor Drusus, went to that war;
"that the Empire was an immense body; and it became not the dignity of
a Prince, upon the revolt of one or two towns, to desert the capital,
whence motion was derived to the whole: but since the alarm was over, he
would visit those nations and settle them. " The Senate decreed vows
and supplications for his return, with other customary honours.
Only Cornelius Dolabella, while he strove to outdo others, fell into
ridiculous sycophancy, and moved "that from Campania he should enter
Rome in the triumph of ovation. " This occasioned a letter from Tiberius:
in it he declared, "he was not so destitute of glory, that after having
in his youth subdued the fiercest nations, and enjoyed or slighted so
many triumphs, he should now in his old age seek empty honours from a
short progress about the suburbs of Rome. "

Caius Sulpitius and Decimus Haterius were the following Consuls. Their
year was exempt from disturbances abroad; but at home some severe blow
was apprehended against luxury, which prevailed monstrously in all
things that create a profusion of money. But as the more pernicious
articles of expense were covered by concealing their prices; therefore
from the excesses of the table, which were become the common subject of
daily animadversion, apprehensions were raised of some rigid correction
from a Prince, who observed himself the ancient parsimony. For, Caius
Bibulus having begun the complaint, the other Aediles took it up, and
argued "that the sumptuary laws were despised; the pomp and expense of
plate and entertainments, in spite of restraints, increased daily,
and by moderate penalties were not to be stopped. " This grievance thus
represented to the Senate, was by them referred entire to the Emperor.
Tiberius having long weighed with himself whether such an abandoned
propensity to prodigality could be stemmed; whether the stemming it
would not bring heavier evils upon the public; how dishonourable it
would be to attempt what could not be effected, or at least effected by
the disgrace of the nobility, and by the subjecting illustrious men to
infamous punishments; wrote at last to the Senate in this manner:

"In other matters, Conscript Fathers, perhaps it might be more expedient
for you to consult me in the Senate; and for me to declare there, what I
judge for the public weal: but in the debate of this affair, it was best
that my eyes were withdrawn; lest, while you marked the countenances and
terror of particulars charged with scandalous luxury, I too should have
observed them, and, as it were, caught them in it. Had the vigilant
Aediles first asked counsel of me, I know not whether I should not have
advised them rather to have passed by potent and inveterate corruptions,
than only make it manifest, what enormities are an overmatch for us:
but they in truth have done their duty, as I would have all other
magistrates fulfil theirs. But for myself, it is neither commendable
to be silent; nor does it belong to my station to speak out; since I
neither bear the character of an Aedile, nor of a Praetor, nor of a
Consul: something still greater and higher is required of a Prince.
Every one is ready to assume to himself the credit of whatever is well
done, while upon the Prince alone are thrown the miscarriages of all.
But what is it, that I am first to prohibit, what excess retrench to the
ancient standard? Am I to begin with that of our country seats, spacious
without bounds; and with the number of domestics, a number distributed
into nations in private families? or with the quantity of plate, silver,
and gold? or with the pictures, and works, and statues of brass, the
wonders of art? or with the gorgeous vestments, promiscuously worn by
men and women? or with what is peculiar to the women, those precious
stones, for the purchase of which our corn is carried into foreign and
hostile nations.

"I am not ignorant that at entertainments and in conversation, these
excesses are censured, and a regulation is required: and yet if an equal
law were made, if equal penalties were prescribed, these very censurers
would loudly complain, _that the State was utterly overturned, that
snares and destruction were prepared for every illustrious house, that
no men could be guiltless, and all men would be the prey of informers_.
And yet bodily diseases grown inveterate and strengthened by time,
cannot be checked but by medicines rigid and violent: it is the same
with the soul: the sick and raging soul, itself corrupted and scattering
its corruption, is not to be qualified but by remedies equally strong
with its own flaming lusts. So many laws made by our ancestors, so many
added by the deified Augustus; the former being lost in oblivion, and
(which is more heinous) the latter in contempt, have only served to
render luxury more secure. When we covet a thing yet unforbid, we are
apt to fear that it may be forbid; but when once we can with impunity
and defiance overleap prohibited bounds, there remains afterwards nor
fear nor shame. How therefore did parsimony prevail of old? It was
because, every one was a law to himself; it was because we were then
only masters of one city: nor afterwards, while our dominion was
confined only to Italy, had we found the same instigations to
voluptuousness. By foreign conquests, we learned to waste the property
of others; and in the Civil Wars, to consume our own. What a mighty
matter is it that the Aediles remonstrate! how little to be weighed in
the balance with others? It is wonderful that nobody represents, that
Italy is in constant want of foreign supplies; that the lives of the
Roman People are daily at the mercy of uncertain seas and of tempests:
were it not for our supports from the provinces; supports, by which the
masters, and their slaves, and their estates, are maintained; would
our own groves and villas maintain us? This care therefore, Conscript
Fathers, is the business of the Prince; and by the neglect of this
care, the foundations of the State would be dissolved. The cure of other
defects depends upon our own private spirits: some of us, shame will
reclaim; necessity will mend the poor; satiety the rich. Or if any of
the Magistrates, from a confidence of his own firmness and perseverance,
will undertake to stem the progress of so great an evil; he has both
my praises, and my acknowledgment, that he discharges me of part of my
fatigues: but if such will only impeach corruptions, and when they have
gained the glory, would leave upon me the indignation (indignation of
their own raising); believe me, Conscript Fathers, I am not fond of
bearing resentments: I already suffer many for the Commonwealth; many
that are grievous and almost all unjust; and therefore with reason I
intreat that I may not be loaded with such as are wantonly and vainly
raised, and promise no advantage to you nor to me. "

The Senate, upon reading the Emperor's letter, released the Aediles
from this pursuit: and the luxury of the table which, from the battle
of Actium till the revolution made by Galba, flowed, for the space of an
hundred years, in all profusion; at last gradually declined. The causes
of this change are worth knowing. Formerly the great families, great in
nobility or abounding in riches, were carried away with a passion for
magnificence: for even then it was allowed to court the good graces of
the Roman People, with the favour of kings, and confederate nations; and
to be courted by them: so that each was distinguished by the lustre
of popularity and dependances, in proportion to his affluence, the
splendour of his house, and the figure he made. But after Imperial fury
had long raged in the slaughter of the Grandees, and the greatness of
reputation was become the sure mark of destruction; the rest grew wiser:
besides, new men frequently chosen Senators from the municipal towns,
from the colonies, and even from the provinces, brought into the Senate
their own domestic parsimony; and though, by fortune or industry, many
of them grew wealthy as they grew old, yet their former frugal spirit
continued. But above all, Vespasian proved the promoter of thrifty
living, being himself the pattern of ancient economy in his person
and table: hence the compliance of the public with the manners of the
Prince, and an emulation to practise them; an incitement more prevalent
than the terrors of laws and all their penalties. Or perhaps all human
things go a certain round; and, as in the revolutions of time, there are
also vicissitudes in manners: nor indeed have our ancestors excelled
us in all things; our own age has produced many excellences worthy of
praise and the imitation of posterity. Let us still preserve this strife
in virtue with our forefathers.

Tiberius having gained the fame of moderation; because, by rejecting the
project for reforming luxury, he had disarmed the growing hopes of the
accusers; wrote to the Senate, to desire the _Tribunitial Power_ for
Drusus. Augustus had devised this title, as best suiting the unbounded
height of his views; while avoiding the odious name of _King_ or
_Dictator_, he was yet obliged to use some particular appellation,
under it to control all other powers in the State. He afterwards assumed
Marcus Agrippa into a fellowship in it; and, upon his death, Tiberius;
that none might doubt, who was to be his successor. By this means, he
conceived, he should defeat the aspiring views of others: besides, he
confided in the moderation of Tiberius, and in the mightiness of his own
authority. By his example, Tiberius now advanced Drusus to the supreme
Magistracy; whereas, while Germanicus yet lived, he acted without
distinction towards both. In the beginning of his letter he besought the
Gods "that by his counsels the Republic might prosper," and then added
a modest testimony concerning the qualities and behaviour of the young
Prince, without aggravation or false embellishments; "that he had a wife
and three children, and was of the same age with himself, when called
by the deified Augustus to that office: that Drusus was not now by him
adopted a partner in the toils of government, precipitately; but after
eight years' experience made of his qualifications; after seditions
suppressed, wars concluded, the honour of triumph, and two Consulships. "

The Senators had foreseen this address; hence they received it with the
more elaborate adulation. However, they could devise nothing to decree,
but "statues to the two Princes, altars to the Gods, arches," and other
usual honours: only that Marcus Silanus strove to honour the Princes by
the disgrace of the Consulship: he proposed "that all records public and
private should, for their date, be inscribed no more with the names
of the Consuls, but of those who exercised the Tribunitial power. " But
Haterius Agrippa, by moving to have "the decrees of that day engraved
in letters of gold, and hung up in the Senate," became an object of
derision; for that, as he was an ancient man, he could reap from his
most abominable flattery no other fruit but that of infamy.

Tiberius, while he fortified the vitals of his own domination, afforded
the Senate a shadow of their ancient jurisdiction; by referring to their
examination petitions and claims from the provinces. For there had now
prevailed amongst the Greek cities a latitude of instituting sanctuaries
at pleasure. Hence the temples were filled with the most profligate
fugitive slaves: here debtors found protection against their creditors;
and hither were admitted such as were pursued for capital crimes. Nor
was any force of Magistracy or laws sufficient to bridle the mad zeal
of the people, who confounding the sacred villainies of men with
the worship peculiar to the Gods, seditiously defended these profane
sanctuaries. It was therefore ordered that these cities should send
deputies to represent their claims. Some of the cities voluntarily
relinquished the nominal privileges, which they had arbitrarily assumed:
many confided in their rights; a confidence grounded on the antiquity of
their superstitions, or on the merits of their kind offices to the Roman
People. Glorious to the Senate was the appearance of that day, when
the grants from our ancestors, the engagements of our confederates, the
ordinances of kings, such kings who had reigned as yet independent of
the Roman power; and when even the sacred worship of the Gods were now
all subjected to their inspection, and their judgment free, as of old,
to ratify or abolish with absolute power.

First of all the Ephesians applied. They alleged, that "Diana and Apollo
were not, according to the credulity of the vulgar, born at Delos: in
their territory flowed the river Cenchris; where also stood the Ortygian
Grove: there the big-bellied Latona, leaning upon an olive tree, which
even then remained, was delivered of these deities; and thence by their
appointment the Grove became sacred. Thither Apollo himself, after his
slaughter of the Cyclops, retired for a sanctuary from the wrath of
Jupiter: soon after, the victorious Bacchus pardoned the suppliant
Amazons, who sought refuge at the altar of Diana: by the concession of
Hercules, when he reigned in Lydia, her temple was dignified with an
augmentation of immunities; nor during the Persian monarchy were they
abridged: they were next maintained by the Macedonians, and then by us. "

The Magnesians next asserted their claim, founded on an establishment
of Lucius Scipio, confirmed by another of Sylla: the former after the
defeat of Antiochus; the latter after that of Mithridates, having, as
a testimony of the faith and bravery of the Magnesians, dignified their
temple of the Leucophrynaean Diana with the privileges of an inviolable
sanctuary. After them, the Aphrodisians and Stratoniceans produced a
grant from Caesar the Dictator, for their early services to his party;
and another lately from Augustus, with a commendation inserted,
"that with zeal unshaken towards the Roman People, they had borne the
irruption of the Parthians. " But these two people adored different
deities: Aphrodisium was a city devoted to Venus; that of Stratonicea
maintained the worship of Jupiter and of Diana Trivia. Those of
Hierocaesarea exhibited claims of higher antiquity, "that they possessed
the Persian Diana, and her temple consecrated by King Cyrus. " They
likewise pleaded the authorities of Perpenna, Isauricus, and of many
more Roman captains, who had allowed the same sacred immunity not to
the temple only, but to a precinct two miles round it. Those of Cyprus
pleaded right of sanctuary to three of their temples: the most ancient
founded by Aerias to the Paphian Venus; another by his son Amathus to
the Amathusian Venus; the third to the Salaminian Jupiter by Teucer, the
son of Telamon, when he fled from the fury of his father.

The deputies too of other cities were heard. But the Senate tired with
so many, and because there was a contention begun amongst particular
parties for particular cities; gave power to the Consuls "to search into
the validity of their several pretensions, and whether in them no fraud
was interwoven;" with orders "to lay the whole matter once more before
the Senate. " The Consuls reported that, besides the cities already
mentioned, "they had found the temple of AEsculapius at Pergamus to be a
genuine sanctuary: the rest claimed upon originals, from the darkness of
antiquity, altogether obscure. Smyrna particularly pleaded an oracle
of Apollo, in obedience to which they had dedicated a temple to Venus
Stratonices; as did the Isle of Tenos an oracular order from the same
God, to erect to Neptune a statue and temple. Sardis urged a later
authority, namely, a grant from the Great Alexander; and Miletus
insisted on one from King Darius: as to the deities of these two cities;
one worshipped Diana; the other, Apollo. And Crete too demanded the
privilege of sanctuary, to a statue of the deified Augustus. " Hence
diverse orders of Senate were made, by which, though great reverence
was expressed towards the deities, yet the extent of the sanctuaries was
limited; and the several people were enjoined "to hang up in each
temple the present decree engraven in brass, as a sacred memorial, and a
restraint against their lapsing, under the colour of religion, into the
abuses and claims of superstition. "

At the same time, a vehement distemper having seized Livia, obliged the
Emperor to hasten his return to Rome; seeing hitherto the mother and son
lived in apparent unanimity; or perhaps mutually disguised their hate:
for, not long before, Livia, having dedicated a statue to the deified
Augustus, near the theatre of Marcellus, had the name of Tiberius
inscribed after her own. This he was believed to have resented
heinously, as a degrading the dignity of the Prince; but to have buried
his resentment under dark dissimulation. Upon this occasion, therefore,
the Senate decreed "supplications to the Gods; with the celebration of
the greater Roman games, under the direction of the Pontifs, the Augurs,
the College of Fifteen, assisted by the College of Seven, and the
Fraternity of Augustal Priests.
" Lucius Apronius had moved, that "with
the rest might preside the company of heralds. " Tiberius opposed it; he
distinguished between the jurisdiction of the priests and theirs; "for
that at no time had the heralds arrived to so much pre-eminence: but
for the Augustal Fraternity, they were therefore added, because they
exercised a priesthood peculiar to that family for which the present
vows and solemnities were made," It is no part of my purpose to
trace all the votes of particular men, unless they are memorable for
integrity, or for notorious infamy: this I conceive to be the principal
duty of an historian, that he suppress no instance of virtue; and that
by the dread of future infamy and the censures of posterity, men may be
deterred from detestable actions and prostitute speeches. In short,
such was the abomination of those times, so prevailing the contagion
of flattery, that not only the first nobles, whose obnoxious splendour
found protection only in obsequiousness; but all who had been Consuls,
a great part of such as had been Praetors, and even many of the
unregistered Senators, strove for priority in the vileness and excess
of their votes. There is a tradition, that Tiberius, as often as he went
out of the Senate, was wont to cry out in Greek, _Oh men prepared for
bondage! _ Yes, even Tiberius, he who could not bear public liberty,
nauseated this prostitute tameness of slaves.




BOOK IV

A. D. 23-28.


When Caius Asinius and Caius Antistius were Consuls, Tiberius was in
his ninth year; the State composed, and his family flourishing (for the
death of Germanicus he reckoned amongst the incidents of his prosperity)
when suddenly fortune began to grow boisterous, and he himself to
tyrannise, or to furnish others with the weapons of tyranny. The
beginning and cause of this turn arose from Aelius Sejanus, captain of
the Praetorian cohorts. Of his power I have above made mention; I shall
now explain his original, his manners, and by what black deeds he strove
to snatch the sovereignty. He was born at Vulsinii, son to Sejus Strabo,
a Roman knight; in his early youth, he was a follower of Caius Caesar
(grandson of Augustus) and lay then under the contumely of having
for hire exposed himself to the constupration of Apicius; a debauchee
wealthy and profuse: next by various artifices he so enchanted Tiberius,
that he who to all others was dark and unsearchable, became to Sejanus
alone destitute of all restraint and caution: nor did he so much
accomplish this by any superior efforts of policy (for at his own
stratagems he was vanquished by others) as by the rage of the Gods
against the Roman State, to which he proved alike destructive when he
flourished and when he fell. His person was hardy and equal to fatigues;
his spirit daring but covered; sedulous to disguise his own counsels,
dexterous to blacken others; alike fawning and imperious; to appearance
exactly modest; but in his heart fostering the lust of domination; and,
with this view, engaged at one time in profusion, largesses, and luxury;
and again, often laid out in application and vigilance; qualities
no less pernicious, when personated by ambition for the acquiring of
Empire.

The authority of his command over the guards, which was but moderate
before his time, he extended, by gathering into one camp all the
Praetorian cohorts then dispersed over the city; that thus united, they
might all at once receive his orders, and by continually beholding their
own numbers and strength, conceive confidence in themselves and prove
a terror to all other men. He pretended, "that the soldiers, while they
lived scattered, lived loose and debauched; that when gathered into a
body, there could, in any hasty emergency, be more reliance upon their
succour; and that when encamped, remote from the allurements of the
town, they would in their discipline be more exact and severe. " When the
encampment was finished, he began gradually to allure the affections of
the soldiers, by all the ways of affability, court, and familiarity: it
was he too who chose the Centurions, he who chose the Tribunes.
Neither in his pursuits of ambition did the Senate escape him; but
by distinguishing his followers in it with offices and provinces,
he cultivated power and a party there: for, to all this Tiberius
was entirely resigned; and even so passionate for him, that not in
conversation only, but in public, in his speeches to the Senate and
people, he treated and extolled him, as _the sharer of his burdens_;
nay, allowed his effigies to be publicly adored, in the several
theatres, in all places of popular convention, and even amongst the
Eagles of the legions.

But to his designs were many retardments: the Imperial house was full
of Caesars; the Emperor's son a grown man, and his grandsons of age: and
because the cutting them off all at once, was dangerous; the treason he
meditated, required a gradation of murders. He however chose the darkest
method, and to begin with Drusus; against whom he was transported with
a fresh motive of rage. For, Drusus impatient of a rival, and in his
temper inflammable, had upon some occasional contest, shaken his fist at
Sejanus, and, as he prepared to resist, given him a blow on the face.
As he therefore cast about for every expedient of revenge, the readiest
seemed to apply to Livia his wife: she was the sister of Germanicus, and
from an uncomely person in her childhood, grew afterwards to excel in
loveliness. As his passion for this lady was vehement, he tempted her to
adultery, and having fulfilled the first iniquity (nor will a woman, who
has sacrificed her chastity, stick at any other) he carried her greater
lengths, to the views of marriage, a partnership in the Empire, and
even the murder of her husband. Thus she, the niece of Augustus, the
daughter-in-law of Tiberius, the mother of children by Drusus, defiled
herself, her ancestors, and her posterity, with a municipal adulterer;
and all to exchange an honourable condition possessed, for pursuits
flagitious and uncertain. Into a fellowship in the guilt was assumed
Eudemus, physician to Livia; and, under colour of his profession,
frequently with her in private. Sejanus too, to avoid the jealousy of
the adulteress, discharged from his bed Apicata his wife, her by whom he
had three children. But still the mightiness of the iniquity terrified
them, and thence created caution, delays, and frequently opposite
counsels.

During this, in the beginning of the year, Drusus one of the sons of
Germanicus, put on the manly robe; and upon him the Senate conferred the
same honours decreed before to his brother Nero. A speech was added by
Tiberius with a large encomium upon his son, "that with the tenderness
of a father he used the children of his brother. " For, Drusus, however
rare it be for power and unanimity to subsist together, was esteemed
benevolent, certainly not ill-disposed, towards these youths. Now again
was revived by Tiberius the proposal of a progress into the Provinces;
a stale proposal, always hollow, but often feigned. He pretended "the
multitude of veterans discharged, and thence the necessity of recruiting
the armies; that volunteers were wanting, or if already such there were,
they were chiefly the necessitous and vagabonds, and destitute of the
like modesty and courage. " He likewise cursorily recounted the number of
the legions, and what countries they defended: a detail which I think
it behoves me also to repeat; that thence may appear what was then the
complement of the Roman forces, what kings their confederates, and how
much more narrow the limits of the Empire.

Italy was on each side guarded by two fleets; one at Misenum, one at
Ravenna; and the coast joining to Gaul, by the galleys taken by Augustus
at the battle of Actium, and sent powerfully manned to Forojulium.
[Footnote: Fréjus. ] But the chief strength lay upon the Rhine; they
were eight legions, a common guard upon the Germans and the Gauls.
The reduction of Spain, lately completed, was maintained by three.
Mauritania was possessed by King Juba; a realm which he held as a gift
from the Roman People: the rest of Africa by two legions; and Egypt by
the like number. Four legions kept in subjection all the mighty range
of country, extending from the next limits of Syria, as far as the
Euphrates, and bordering upon the Iberians, Albanians, and other
Principalities, who by our might are protected against Foreign Powers.
Thrace was held by Rhoemetalces, and the sons of Cotys; and both banks
of the Danube by four legions; two in Pannonia, two in Moesia. In
Dalmatia likewise were placed two; who, by the situation of the country,
were at hand to support the former, and had not far to march into
Italy, were any sudden succours required there: though Rome too had her
peculiar soldiery; three city cohorts, and nine Praetorian, enlisted
chiefly out of Etruria and Umbria, or from the ancient Latium and the
old Roman colonies. In the several Provinces, besides, were disposed,
according to their situation and necessity, the fleets of the several
confederates, with their squadrons and battalions; a number of forces
not much different from all the rest: but the particular detail would be
uncertain; since, according to the exigency of times, they often shifted
stations, with numbers sometimes enlarged, sometimes reduced.

It will, I believe, fall in properly here to review also the other parts
of the Administration, and by what measures it was hitherto conducted,
till with the beginning of this year the Government of Tiberius began to
wax worse. First then, all public, and every private business of moment,
was determined by the Senate: to the great men he allowed liberty of
debate: those who in their debates lapsed into flattery, he checked:
in conferring preferments, he was guided by merit, by ancient nobility,
renown in war abroad, by civil accomplishments at home; insomuch that it
was manifest, his choice could not have been better. There remained to
the Consuls, there remained to the Praetors the useful marks of their
dignities; to inferior magistrates the independent exercise of their
charges; and the laws, where the power of the Prince was not concerned,
were in proper force. The tributes, duties, and all public receipts,
were directed by companies of Roman knights: the management of his own
revenue he committed only to those of the most noted qualifications;
mostly known by himself, and to some known by reputation alone: and when
once taken, they were continued, without all restriction of term;
since most grew old in the same employments. The populace were indeed
aggrieved by the dearth of provisions; but without any fault of the
Prince: nay, he spared no possible expense nor pains to remedy the
effects of barrenness in the earth, and of wrecks at sea. He provided
that the Provinces should not be oppressed with new impositions; and
that no extortion, or violence should be committed by the magistrates
in raising the old: there were no infamous corporal punishments, no
confiscations of goods.

The Emperor's possessions through Italy, were thin; the behaviour of
his slaves modest; the freedmen who managed his house, few; and in his
disputes with particulars, the courts were open and the law equal. All
which restraints he observed, not, in truth, in the ways of complaisance
and popularity; but always stern, and for the most part terrible; yet
still he retained them, till by the death of Drusus they were abandoned:
for, while he lived they continued; because Sejanus, while he was but
laying the foundations of his power, studied to recommend himself
by good counsels. He then had besides, an avenger to dread, one who
disguised not his enmity, but was frequent in his complaints; "that
when the son was in his prime, another was called, as coadjutor, to the
Government; nay, how little was wanting to his being declared colleague
in the Empire? That the first advances to sovereignty are steep and
perilous; but, once you are entered, parties and instruments are
ready to espouse you. Already a camp for the guards was formed, by the
pleasure and authority of the captain: into whose hands the soldiers
were delivered: in the theatre of Pompey his statue was beheld: in
his grandchildren would be mixed the blood of the Drusi with that of
Sejanus. After all this what remained but to supplicate his modesty to
rest contented. " Nor was it rarely that he uttered these disgusts,
nor to a few; besides, his wife being debauched, all his secrets were
betrayed.

Sejanus therefore judging it time to despatch, chose such a poison as by
operating gradually, might preserve the appearances of a casual disease.
This was administered to Drusus by Lygdus the eunuch, as, eight years
after, was learnt. Now during all the days of his illness, Tiberius
disclosed no symptoms of anguish (perhaps from ostentation of a firmness
of spirit) nay, when he had expired, and while he was yet unburied, he
entered the Senate; and finding the Consuls placed upon a common seat,
as a testimony of their grief; he admonished them of their dignity and
station: and as the Senators burst into tears, he smothered his rising
sighs, and, by a speech uttered without hesitation, animated them. "He,
in truth, was not ignorant," he said, "that he might be censured,
for having thus in the first throbs of sorrow, beheld the face of the
Senate; when most of those who feel the fresh pangs of mourning, can
scarce endure the soothings of their kindred, scarce behold the day:
neither were such to be condemned of weakness: but for himself, he
had more powerful consolations; such as arose from embracing the
Commonwealth, and pursuing her welfare. " He then lamented "the extreme
age of his mother, the tender years of his grandsons, his own days in
declension;" and desired that, "as the only alleviation of the present
evils, the children of Germanicus might be introduced. " The Consuls
therefore went for them, and having with kind words fortified their
young minds, presented them to the Emperor. He took them by the hand
and said, "Conscript Fathers, these infants, bereft of their father, I
committed to their uncle; and besought him that, though he had issue
of his own, he would rear and nourish them no otherwise than as the
immediate offspring of his blood; that he would appropriate them as
stays to himself and posterity. Drusus being snatched from us, to you I
address the same prayers; and in the presence of the Gods, in the face
of your country, I adjure you, receive into your protection, take under
your tuition the great-grandchildren of Augustus; children, descended
from ancestors the most glorious in the State: towards them fulfil your
own, fulfil my duty. To you, Nero; to you, Drusus, these Senators are in
the stead of a father; and such is the situation of your birth, that on
the Commonwealth must light all the good and evil which befalls you. "

All this was heard with much weeping, and followed with propitious
prayers and vows: and had he only gone thus far, and in his speech
observed a medium, he had left the souls of his hearers full of sympathy
and applause. But, by renewing an old project, always chimerical and so
often ridiculed, about "restoring the Republic, reinstating it again
in the Consuls, or whoever else would undertake the administration;"
he forfeited his faith even in assertions which were commendable and
sincere. To the memory of Drusus were decreed the same solemnities as
to that of Germanicus; with many super-added; agreeably to the genius
of flattery, which delights in variety and improvements. Most signal was
the lustre of the funeral in a conspicuous procession of images; when at
it appeared in a pompous train, Aeneas, father of the Julian race;
all the kings of Alba, and Romulus founder of Rome; next the Sabine
nobility, Attus Clausus, and his descendants of the Claudian family.

In relating the death of Drusus, I have followed the greatest part of
our historians, and the most faithful: I would not however omit a rumour
which in those times was so prevailing that it is not extinguished in
ours; "that Sejanus having by adultery gained Livia to the murder, had
likewise engaged by constupration the affections and concurrence of
Lygdus the eunuch; because Lygdus was, for his youth and loveliness,
dear to his master, and one of his chief attendants: that when the time
and place of poisoning, were by the conspirators concerted; the eunuch
carried his boldness so high, as to charge upon Drusus a design of
poisoning Tiberius; and secretly warning the Emperor of this, advised
him to shun the first draught offered him in the next entertainment
at his son's: that the old man possessed with this fictitious treason,
after he had sate down to table, having received the cup delivered it to
Drusus, who ignorantly and gaily drank it off: that this heightened the
jealousy and apprehensions of Tiberius, as if through fear and shame
his son had swallowed the same death, which for his father he had
contrived. "

These bruitings of the populace, besides that they are supported by no
certain author, may be easily refuted. For, who of common prudence (much
less Tiberius so long practised in great affairs) would to his own son,
without hearing him, present the mortal bane; with his own hands too,
and cutting off for ever all possibility of retraction? Why would he not
rather have tortured the minister of the poison? Why not inquired into
the author of the poison? Why not observed towards his only son, a son
hitherto convicted of no iniquity, that slowness and hesitation, which,
even in his proceedings against strangers, was inherent in him? But as
Sejanus was reckoned the framer of every wickedness, therefore, from the
excessive fondness of Tiberius towards him, and from the hatred of all
others towards both, things the most fabulous and direful were believed
of them; besides that common fame is ever most fraught with tales of
horror upon the departure of Princes: in truth, the plan and process of
the murder were first discovered by Apicata, wife of Sejanus, and laid
open upon the rack by Eudemus and Lygdus. Nor has any writer appeared
so outrageous to charge it upon Tiberius; though in other instances
they have sedulously collected and inflamed every action of his. My own
purpose in recounting and censuring this rumour, was to blast, by so
glaring an example, the credit of groundless tales; and to request of
those into whose hands our present undertaking shall come, that they
would not prefer hearsays, void of credibility and rashly swallowed, to
the narrations of truth not adulterated with romance.

To proceed; whilst Tiberius was pronouncing in public the panegyric of
his son, the Senate and People assumed the port and accent of mourners,
rather in appearance than cordially; and in their hearts exulted to see
the house of Germanicus begin to revive. But this dawn of fortune,
and the conduct of Agrippina, ill disguising her hopes, quickened the
overthrow of that house. For Sejanus, when he saw the death of Drusus
pass unrevenged upon his murderers, and no public lamentation following
it; undaunted as he was in villainy since his first efforts had
succeeded; cast about in himself, how he might destroy the sons of
Germanicus, whose succession to the Empire was now unquestionable. They
were three; and, from the distinguished fidelity of their governors, and
incorruptible chastity of Agrippina, could not be all circumvented by
poison. He therefore chose to attack her another way; to raise alarms
from the haughtiness and contumacy of her spirit; to rouse the old
hatred of Livia the elder, and the guilty mind of his late accomplice,
Livia the younger; that to the Emperor they might represent her
"as elated with the credit and renown of her fruitfulness; and that
confiding in it, and in the zeal of the populace, she grasped with open
arms at the Empire. " The young Livia acted in this engagement by crafty
calumniators; amongst whom she had particularly chosen Julius Posthumus,
a man every way qualified for her purposes; as he was the adulterer of
Mutilia Prisca, and thence a confidant of her grandmother's; (for over
the mind of the Empress, Prisca had powerful influence) and by their
means the old woman, in her own nature tender and anxious of power, was
rendered utterly irreconcilable to the widow of her grandson. Such too
as were nearest the person of Agrippina, were promoted to be continually
enraging her tempestuous heart by perverse representations.

This year also brought deputations from the Grecian cities; one from the
people of Samos; one from those of Coös; the former to request that the
ancient right of Sanctuary in the Temple of Juno might be confirmed;
the latter to solicit the same confirmation for that of Aesculapius. The
Samians claimed upon a decree of the Council of Amphictyons, the supreme
Judicature of Greece, at the time when the Greeks by their cities
founded in Asia, possessed the maritime coasts. Nor had they of Coös a
weaker title to antiquity; to which likewise accrued the pretensions of
the place to the friendship of Rome: for they had lodged in the Temple
of Aesculapius all the Roman citizens there, when by the order of King
Mithridates, such were universally butchered throughout all the cities
of Asia and the Isles. And now after many complaints from the Praetors,
for the most part ineffectual, the Emperor at last made a representation
to the Senate, concerning the licentiousness of the players; "that in
many instances they raised seditious tumults, and violated the public
peace; and, in many, promoted debauchery in private families: that the
_Oscan Farce_, formerly only the contemptible delight of the vulgar,
was risen to such a prevailing pitch of credit and enormity, that it
required the authority of the Senate to check it. " The players therefore
were driven out of Italy.

The same year carried off one of the twins of Drusus, and thence
afflicted the Emperor with fresh woe; nor with less for the death of a
particular friend. It was Lucillius Longus, the inseparable companion
of all the traverses of his fortune smiling or sad; and, of all the
Senators, the only one who accompanied him in his retirement at Rhodes.
For this reason, though but a new man, the Senate decreed him a public
funeral; and a statue to be placed, at the expense of the Treasury, in
the square of Augustus. For by the Senate, even yet, all affairs were
transacted; insomuch that Lucillius Capito, the Emperor's Comptroller in
Asia, was, at the accusation of the Province, brought upon his defence
before them: the Emperor too upon this occasion protested with great
earnestness, "that from him Lucillius had no authority but over his
slaves, and in collecting his domestic rents: that if he had usurped
the jurisdiction of Praetor, and employed military force, he had so far
violated his orders; they should therefore hear the allegations of the
Province. " Thus the accused was upon trial condemned. For this just
vengeance, and that inflicted the year before on Caius Silanus, the
cities of Asia decreed a temple to Tiberius, and his mother, and the
Senate; and obtained leave to build it. For this concession Nero made
a speech of thanks to the Senators and his grandfather; a speech which
charmed the affections of his hearers, who, as they were full of the
memory of Germanicus, fancied it was him they heard, and him they
saw. There was also in the youth himself an engaging modesty, and a
gracefulness becoming a princely person: ornaments which, by the known
hatred that threatened him from Sejanus, became still more dear and
adored.

I am aware that most of the transactions which I have already related,
or shall hereafter relate, may perhaps appear minute, and too trivial to
be remembered. But, none must compare these my annals with the writings
of those who compiled the story of the ancient Roman People. They had
for their subjects mighty wars, potent cities sacked, great kings routed
and taken captive: or if they sometimes reviewed the domestic affairs of
Rome, they there found the mutual strife and animosities of the Consuls
and Tribunes; the agrarian and frumentary laws, pushed and opposed; and
the lasting struggles between the nobles and populace. Large and noble
topics these, at home and abroad, and recounted by the old historians
with full room and free scope. To me remains a straitened task, and void
of glory; steady peace, or short intervals of war; the proceedings at
Rome sad and affecting; and a Prince careless of extending the Empire:
nor yet will it be without its profit to look minutely into such
transactions, as however small at first view, give rise and motion to
great events.

For, all nations and cities are governed either by the populace, by the
nobility, or by single rulers. As to the frame of a state chosen
and compacted out of all these three, it is easier applauded than
accomplished; or if accomplished, cannot be of long duration. So that,
as during the Republic, either when the power of the people prevailed,
or when the Senate bore the chief sway; it was necessary to know the
genius of the commonalty, and by what measures they were to be humoured
and restrained; and such too who were thoroughly acquainted with the
spirit of the Senate and leading men, came to be esteemed skilful in the
times, and men of prowess: so now when that establishment is changed,
and the present situation such as if one ruled all; it is of advantage
to collect and record these later incidents, as matters of public
example and instruction; since few can by their own wisdom distinguish
between things crooked and upright; few between counsels pernicious and
profitable; and since most men are taught by the fate of others. But the
present detail, however instructive, yet brings scanty delight. It is by
the descriptions and accounts of nations; by the variety of battles; by
the brave fall of illustrious captains, that the soul of the reader
is engaged and refreshed. For myself, I can only give a sad display
of cruel orders, incessant accusations, faithless friendships, the
destruction of innocents, and endless trials, all attended with the
same issue, death and condemnation: an obvious round of repetition and
satiety! Besides that the old historians are rarely censured; nor is any
man now concerned whether they chiefly magnify the Roman or Carthaginian
armies. But, of many who under Tiberius suffered punishment, or were
marked with infamy, the posterity are still subsisting; or if the
families themselves are extinct, there are others found, who from
a similitude of manners, think that, in reciting the evil doings of
others, they themselves are charged: nay, even virtue and a glorious
name create foes, as they expose in a light too obvious the opposite
characters. But I return to my undertaking.

Whilst Cornelius Cossus and Asinius Agrippa were Consuls, Cremutius
Cordus was arraigned for that, "having published annals and in them
praised Brutus, he had styled Cassius the last of the Romans:" a new
crime, then first created. Satrius Secundus and Pinarius Natta were
his accusers; creatures of Sejanus: a mortal omen this to the accused;
besides that Tiberius received his defence with a countenance settled
into cruelty. He began it on this wise, casting away all hopes of life:

"As to facts, I am so guiltless, Conscript Fathers, that my words only
are accused: but neither are any words of mine pointed against the
Emperor, or his mother; who are the only persons comprehended in the law
concerning violated majesty. It is alleged that I have praised Brutus
and Cassius; men whose lives and actions have been compiled by a cloud
of writers, and their memory treated by none but with honour. Titus
Livius, an historian eminently famous for eloquence and veracity,
signalised Pompey with such abundant encomiums, that he was thence
by Augustus named Pompeianus; nor did this prejudice their common
friendship. Neither Scipio, nor Afranius, nor even this same Cassius,
nor this same Brutus, are anywhere mentioned by him as _traitors_ and
_parricides_, the common nicknames now bestowed on them; but often, as
great and memorable men. The writings of Asinius Pollio have conveyed
down the memory of the same men, under honourable characters. Corvinus
Messala gloried to have had Cassius for his general: and yet both
Pollio and Corvinus became signally powerful in wealth and honours under
Augustus. That book of Cicero's, in which he exalted Cato to the skies;
what other animadversion did it draw from Caesar the Dictator, than a
written reply, in the same style and equality as if before his judges
he had made it? The letters of Marc Anthony; the speeches of Brutus, are
full of reproaches, and recriminations against Augustus; false in truth,
but urged with signal asperity: the poems of Bibaculus and those of
Catullus, stuffed with virulent satires against the Caesars, are still
read. But even the deified Julius, even the deified Augustus, bore all
these invectives and disdained them; whether with greater moderation or
wisdom, I cannot easily say. For, if they are despised, they fade away;
if you wax wroth, you seem to avow them to be just.

"Instances from the Greeks I bring none: with them not the freedom
only, but even the licentiousness of speech, is unpunished: or if any
correction is returned, it is only by revenging words with words. It has
been ever allowed, without restriction or rebuke, to pass our judgment
upon those whom death has withdrawn from the influence of affection and
hate. Are Cassius and Brutus now in arms? do they at present fill with
armed troops the fields of Philippi? or do I fire the Roman People,
by inflammatory harangues, with the spirit of civil rage? Brutus
and Cassius, now above seventy years slain, are still known in their
statues, which even the conqueror did not abolish: and as these exhibit
their persons, why not the historian their characters? Impartial
posterity to every man repays his proper praise: nor will there be
wanting such as, if my death is determined, will not only revive the
story of Cassius and Brutus, but even my story. " Having thus said he
withdrew from the Senate, and ended his life by abstinence. The
Fathers condemned the books to be by the Aediles burned; but they
still continued concealed and dispersed: hence we may justly mock
the stupidity of those, who imagine that they can, by present power,
extinguish the lights and memory of succeeding times: for, quite
otherwise, the punishment of writers exalts the credit of the writings:
nor did ever foreign kings, or any else, reap other fruit from it, than
infamy to themselves, and glory to the sufferers.

To proceed; for this whole year there was such an incessant torrent of
accusations, that even during the solemnity of the Latin festival,
when Drusus for his inauguration, as Governor of Rome, had ascended the
Tribunal, he was accosted by Calpurnius Salvianus with a charge against
Sextus Marius: a proceeding openly resented by the Emperor, and thence
Salvianus was banished. The city of Cyzicus was next accused, "of
not observing the established worship of the deified Augustus;" with
additional crimes, "of violences committed upon some Roman citizens. "
Thus that city lost her liberties; which by her behaviour during the
Mithridatic war, she had purchased; having in it sustained a siege;
and as much by her own bravery, as by the aid of Lucullus, repulsed
the king, But Fonteius Capito, who had as Proconsul governed Asia, was
acquitted, upon proof that the crimes brought against him by Vibius
Serenus were forged: and yet the forgery drew no penalty upon Serenus:
nay, the public hate rendered him the more secure: for, every accuser,
the more eager and incessant he was, the more sacred and inviolable he
became: the sorry and impotent were surrendered to chastisement.

About the same time, the furthermost Spain besought the Senate by their
ambassadors, "that after the example of Asia, they might erect a temple
to Tiberius and his mother. " Upon this occasion, the Emperor, always
resolute in contemning honours, and now judging it proper to confute
those, who exposed him to the popular censure, of having deviated into
ambition; spoke in this manner: "I know, Conscript Fathers, that it is
generally blamed, and ascribed to a defect of firmness in me, that when
the cities of Asia petitioned for this very thing, I withstood them not.
I shall therefore now unfold at once the motives of my silence then,
and the rules which for the future I am determined to observe. Since the
deified Augustus had not opposed the founding at Pergamus a temple to
himself and the city of Rome; I, with whom all his actions and sayings
have the force of laws, followed an example already approved; and
followed it the more cheerfully, because to the worship bestowed upon
me, that of the Senate was annexed. But as the indulging of this, in
one instance, will find pardon; so a general latitude of being adored
through every province, under the sacred representations of the Deities,
would denote a vain spirit; a heart swelled with ambition. The glory too
of Augustus will vanish, if by the promiscuous courtship of flattery it
comes to be vulgarly prostituted.

"For myself, Conscript Fathers, I am a mortal man; I am confined to
the functions of human nature; and if I well supply the principal
place amongst you, it suffices me. This I acknowledge to you; and
this acknowledgment, I would have posterity to remember. They will do
abundant right to my memory, if they believe me to have been worthy of
my ancestors; watchful of the Roman state; unmoved in perils, and in
maintaining the public interest, fearless of private enmities. These
are the temples which in your breasts I would raise; these the fairest
portraitures, and such as will endure. As to temples and statues of
stone, if the idol adored in them comes to be hated by posterity, they
are despised as his sepulchres. Hence it is I here invoke the Gods,
that to the end of my life they would grant me a spirit undisturbed, and
discerning in duties human and divine: and hence too I here implore our
citizens and allies, that whenever my dissolution comes, they would
with approbation and benevolent testimonies of remembrance, celebrate
my actions and retain the odour of my name. " And thenceforward he
persevered in slighting upon all occasions, and even in private
conversation, this divine worship of himself. A conduct which was by
some ascribed to modesty; by many to a conscious diffidence; by others
to degeneracy of spirit. "Since the most sublime amongst men naturally
covet the most exalted honours: thus Hercules and Bacchus amongst the
Greeks, and with us Romulus, were added to the society of the Gods:
Augustus too had chosen the nobler part, and hoped for deification: all
the other gratifications of Princes were instantly procured: one only
was to be pursued insatiably; the praise and perpetuity of their name.
For by contemning fame, the virtues that procure it, are contemned. "

Now Sejanus, intoxicated with excess of fortune, and moreover stimulated
by the importunity of Livia, who, with the restless passion of a woman,
craved the promised marriage, composed a memorial to the Emperor.
For, it was then the custom to apply to him in writing, though he were
present. This of Sejanus was thus conceived: "That such had been towards
him the benevolence of Augustus; such and so numerous, since, the
instances of affection from Tiberius, that he was thence accustomed,
without applying to the Gods, to carry his hopes and prayers directly
to the Emperors: yet of them he had never sought a blaze of honours:
watching and toils like those of common soldiers, for the safeguard
of the Prince, had been his choice and ambition. However what was most
glorious for him he had attained; to be thought worthy of alliance with
the Emperor: hence the source of his present hopes: and, since he had
heard that Augustus, in the disposal of his daughter, had not been
without thoughts even of some of the Roman knights; he begged that if a
husband were sought for Livia, Tiberius would remember his friend; one
whose ambition aimed no higher than the pure and disinterested glory of
the affinity: for that he would never abandon the burden of his present
trust; but hold it sufficient to be, by that means, enabled to support
his house against the injurious wrath of Agrippina; and in this he only
consulted the security of his children. For himself; his own life would
be abundantly long, whenever finally spent in the ministry of such a
Prince. "

For a present answer, Tiberius praised the loyalty of Sejanus;
recapitulated cursorily the instances of his own favours towards him,
and required time, as it were for a thorough deliberation. At last he
made this reply: "That all other men were, in their pursuits, guided by
the notions of convenience: far different was the lot and situation of
Princes, who were in their action to consider chiefly the applause and
good liking of the public: he therefore did not delude Sejanus with
an obvious and plausible answer; that Livia could herself determine
whether, after Drusus, she ought again to marry, or still persist his
widow, and that she had a mother and grandmother, nearer relations and
more interested to advise. He would deal more candidly with him: and
first as to the enmity of Agrippina; it would flame out with fresh fury,
if by the marriage of Livia, the family of the Caesars were rent as
it were into two contending parties: that even as things stood, the
emulation of these ladies broke into frequent sallies, and, by their
animosities, his grandsons were instigated different ways. What would be
the consequence, if, by such a marriage, the strife were inflamed? For
you are deceived, Sejanus, if you think to continue then in the same
rank as now; or that Livia, she who was first the wife of the young
Caius Caesar, and afterwards the wife of Drusus, will be of a temper
to grow old with a husband no higher than a Roman knight: nay, allowing
that I suffered you afterwards to remain what you are; do you believe
that they who saw her father, they who saw her brother, and the
ancestors of our house, covered with the supreme dignities, will ever
suffer it? You in truth propose, yourself, to stand still in the same
station: but the great magistrates and grandees of the state, those very
magistrates and grandees who, in spite of yourself, break in upon
you, and in all affairs court you as their oracle, make no secret
of maintaining that you have long since exceeded the bounds of the
Equestrian Order, and far outgone in power all the confidants of my
father; and from their hatred to you, they also censure me. But still,
Augustus deliberated about giving his daughter to a Roman knight. Where
is the wonder, if perplexed with a crowd of distracting cares, and
apprised to what an unbounded height above others he raised whomsoever
he dignified with such a match, he talked of Proculeius, and some like
him; remarkable for the retiredness of their life, and nowise engaged
in the affairs of state? But if we are influenced by the hesitation of
Augustus, how much more powerful is the decision; since he bestowed his
daughter on Agrippa, and then on me? These are considerations which in
friendship I have not withheld: however, neither your own inclinations,
nor those of Livia, shall be ever thwarted by me. The secret and
constant purposes of my own heart towards you, and with what further
ties of affinity, I am contriving to bind you still faster to me; I at
present forbear to recount. Thus much only I will declare, that there is
nothing so high but those abilities, and your singular zeal and fidelity
towards me, may justly claim: as when opportunity presents, either in
Senate, or in a popular assembly, I shall not fail to testify. "

In answer to this, Sejanus no longer soliciting the marriage, but filled
with higher apprehensions, besought him "to resist the dark suggestions
of suspicion; to despise the pratings of the vulgar, nor to admit the
hostile breath of envy. " And as he was puzzled about the crowds which
incessantly haunted his house; lest by keeping them off he might
impair his power; or by encouraging them, furnish a handle for criminal
imputations; he came to this result, that he would urge the Emperor out
of Rome, to spend his life remote from thence in delightful retirements.
From this counsel he foresaw many advantages: upon himself would depend
all access to the Emperor; all letters and expresses would, as the
soldiers were the carriers, be in great measure under his direction; in
a little time, the Prince, now in declining age, and then softened by
recess, would more easily transfer upon him the whole charge of the
Empire: he should be removed from the multitude of such as to make their
court, attended him at Rome; and thence one source of envy would be
stopped. So that by discharging the empty phantoms of power, he should
augment the essentials. He therefore began by little and little to rail
at the hurry of business at Rome, the throng of people, the flock of
suitors: he applauded "retirement and quiet; where, while they were
separate from irksome fatigues, nor exposed to the discontents and
resentments of particulars, all affairs of moment were best despatched. "

Next were heard ambassadors from the Lacedaemonians and Messenians,
about the right that each people claimed to the Temple of Diana
Limenetis; which the Lacedaemonians asserted to be theirs, "founded
in their territory, and dedicated by their ancestors," and offered as
proofs the ancient authority of their annals, and the hymns of the old
poets. "It had been in truth taken from them by the superior force of
Philip of Macedon, when at war with him; but restored afterwards by the
judicial decision of Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony. " The Messenians,
on the contrary, pleaded, "the ancient partition of Peloponnesus amongst
the descendants of Hercules; whence the territory where the temple
stood, had fallen to their king; and the monuments of that allotment
still remained, engraven in stone and old tables of brass; but, if the
testimony of histories and poets were appealed to; they themselves had
the most and the fullest. Nor had Philip, in his decision, acted by
power, but from equity: the same afterwards was the adjudgment of King
Antigonus; the same that of the Roman commander Mummius. Thus too the
Milesians had awarded, they who were by both sides chosen arbitrators:
and thus lastly it had been determined by Atidius Geminus, Praetor of
Achaia. " The Messenians therefore gained the suit. The citizens also of
Segestum applied on behalf of "the Temple of Venus on Mount Eryx; which
fallen through age, they desired might be restored. " They represented
the story of its origin and antiquity; a well-pleasing flattery to
Tiberius; who frankly took upon himself the charge, as kinsman to
the Goddess. Then was discussed the petition from the citizens of
Marseilles; and what they claimed, according to the precedent of Publius
Rutilius, was approved: for Rutilius, though by a law expelled from
Rome, had been by those of Smyrna adopted a citizen: and as Volcatius
Moschus, another exile, had found at Marseilles the same privilege and
reception, he had to their Republic, as to his country, left his estate.

During the same Consuls, a bloody assassination was perpetrated in the
nethermost Spain, by a boor in the territory of Termes. By him, Lucius
Piso, Governor of the Province, as he travelled careless and unattended,
relying on the established peace, was surprised, and despatched at one
deadly blow. The assassin however escaped to a forest, by the fleetness
of his horse; and there dismissed him: from thence travelling over rocks
and pathless places, he baffled his pursuers: but their ignorance of his
person was soon removed; for his horse being taken and shown through the
neighbouring villages, it was thence learned who was the owner; so that
he too was found; but when put to the rack to declare his accomplices,
he proclaimed with a mighty and assured voice, in the language of his
country, "that in vain they questioned him; his associates might stand
safely by and witness his constancy: and that no force of torture could
be so exquisite as from him to extort a discovery. " Next day as he
was dragged back to the rack, he burst with a vehement effort from
his guard, and dashed his head so desperately against a stone, that he
instantly expired. Piso is believed to have been assassinated by a plot
of the Termestinians; as in exacting the repayment of some money, seized
from the public, he acted with more asperity, than a rough people could
bear.

In the Consulship of Lentulus Getulicus and Caius Calvisius, the
triumphal ensigns were decreed to Poppeus Sabinus for having routed
some clans of Thracians, who living wildly on the high mountains, acted
thence with the more outrage and contumacy. The ground of their late
commotion, not to mention the savage genius of the people, was their
scorn and impatience, to have recruits raised amongst them, and all
their stoutest men enlisted in our armies; accustomed as they were not
even to obey their native kings further than their own humour, nor to
aid them with forces but under captains of their own choosing, nor to
fight against any enemy but their own borderers. Their discontents too
were inflamed by a rumour which then ran current amongst them; that they
were to be dispersed into different regions; and exterminated from their
own, to be mixed with other nations. But before they took arms and began
hostilities, they sent ambassadors to Sabinus, to represent "their past
friendship and submission, and that the same should continue, if they
were provoked by no fresh impositions: but, if like a people subdued by
war, they were doomed to bondage; they had able men and steel, and souls
determined upon liberty or death. " The ambassadors at the same time
pointed to their strongholds founded upon precipices; and boasted that
they had thither conveyed their wives and parents; and threatened a war
intricate, hazardous and bloody.

Sabinus amused them with gentle answers till he could draw together his
army; while Pomponius Labeo was advancing with a legion from Moesia, and
King Rhoemetalces with a body of Thracians who had not renounced their
allegiance. With these, and what forces he had of his own, he marched
towards the foe, now settled in the passes of the forest: some more bold
presented themselves upon the hills: against the last, the Roman general
first bent his forces in battle, and without difficulty drove them
thence, but with small slaughter of the Barbarians, because of their
immediate refuge. Here he straight raised an encampment, and with a
stout band took possession of a hill, which extended with an even narrow
ridge to the next fortress, which was garrisoned by a great host of
armed men and rabble: and as the most resolute were, in the way of
the nation, rioting without the fortification in dances and songs, he
forthwith despatched against them his select archers. These, while they
only poured in volleys of arrows at a distance did thick and extensive
execution; but, approaching too near, were by a sudden sally put in
disorder. They were however supported by a cohort of the Sigambrians,
purposely posted by Sabinus in readiness against an exigency; a people
these, equally terrible in the boisterous and mixed uproar of their
voices and arms.

He afterwards pitched his camp nearer to the enemy; having in his former
entrenchments left the Thracians, whom I have mentioned to have joined
us. To them too was permitted "to lay waste, burn, and plunder; on
condition that their ravages were confined to the day; and that, at
nights, they kept within the camp, secure under guard. " This restriction
was at first observed; but, anon lapsing into luxury, and grown opulent
in plunder, they neglected their guards, and resigned themselves to
gaiety and banquetting, to the intoxication and sloth of wine and sleep.
The enemy therefore apprised of their negligence, formed themselves
into two bands; one to set upon the plunderers; the other to assault
the Roman camp, with no hopes of taking it; but only that the soldiers
alarmed with shouts and darts, and all intent upon their own defence,
might not hear the din of the other battle: moreover to heighten the
terror, it was to be done by night. Those who assailed the lines of
the legions were easily repulsed: but, the auxiliary Thracians were
terrified with the sudden encounter, as they were utterly unprepared.