The Reign of Tiberius, Out of the First Six Annals of Tacitus Part 6

The Magnesians next a.s.serted 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 G.o.d, 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 bra.s.s, as a sacred memorial, and a restraint against their lapsing, under the colour of religion, into the abuses and claims of superst.i.tion."

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 G.o.ds; with the celebration of the greater Roman games, under the direction of the Pontifs, the Augurs, the College of Fifteen, a.s.sisted by the College of Seven, and the Fraternity of Augustal Priests." Lucius Ap.r.o.nius 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 princ.i.p.al 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 prost.i.tute speeches. In short, such was the abomination of those times, so prevailing the contagion of flattery, that not only the first n.o.bles, 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 prost.i.tute 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 Seja.n.u.s, 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 s.n.a.t.c.h 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 Seja.n.u.s alone dest.i.tute 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 G.o.ds 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 l.u.s.t 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 pa.s.sionate 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 r.e.t.a.r.dments: 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 Seja.n.u.s, 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 pa.s.sion for this lady was vehement, he tempted her to adultery, and having fulfilled the first iniquity (nor will a woman, who has sacrificed her chast.i.ty, 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 munic.i.p.al adulterer; and all to exchange an honourable condition possessed, for pursuits flagitious and uncertain. Into a fellowship in the guilt was a.s.sumed Eudemus, physician to Livia; and, under colour of his profession, frequently with her in private. Seja.n.u.s 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 mult.i.tude 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 dest.i.tute 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: Frejus.] 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 Princ.i.p.alities, 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. .h.i.therto 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 n.o.bility, 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 Seja.n.u.s, 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 Seja.n.u.s. 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.

Seja.n.u.s 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 s.n.a.t.c.hed from us, to you I address the same prayers; and in the presence of the G.o.ds, 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 a.s.sertions 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 l.u.s.tre 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 n.o.bility, 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 Seja.n.u.s 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 fict.i.tious 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 Seja.n.u.s 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 Seja.n.u.s, 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 p.r.o.nouncing in public the panegyric of his son, the Senate and People a.s.sumed 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 Seja.n.u.s, when he saw the death of Drusus pa.s.s 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 chast.i.ty of Agrippina, could not be all circ.u.mvented 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 Coos; 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 Coos a weaker t.i.tle 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 Sila.n.u.s, 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 Seja.n.u.s, 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 n.o.bles and populace. Large and n.o.ble 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 n.o.bility, 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 ill.u.s.trious 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 repet.i.tion 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 Ca.s.sius the last of the Romans:" a new crime, then first created. Satrius Secundus and Pinarius Natta were his accusers; creatures of Seja.n.u.s: 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 Ca.s.sius; men whose lives and actions have been compiled by a cloud of writers, and their memory treated by none but with honour. t.i.tus Livius, an historian eminently famous for eloquence and veracity, signalised Pompey with such abundant encomiums, that he was thence by Augustus named Pompeia.n.u.s; nor did this prejudice their common friendship. Neither Scipio, nor Afranius, nor even this same Ca.s.sius, 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 Ca.s.sius 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 pa.s.s our judgment upon those whom death has withdrawn from the influence of affection and hate. Are Ca.s.sius 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 Ca.s.sius, 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 Ca.s.sius 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 Salvia.n.u.s with a charge against s.e.xtus Marius: a proceeding openly resented by the Emperor, and thence Salvia.n.u.s 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 chastis.e.m.e.nt.

About the same time, the furthermost Spain besought the Senate by their amba.s.sadors, "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 pet.i.tioned 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 bad 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 lat.i.tude 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 prost.i.tuted.

"For myself, Conscript Fathers, I am a mortal man; I am confined to the functions of human nature; and if I well supply the princ.i.p.al 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 b.r.e.a.s.t.s 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 G.o.ds, 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 G.o.ds: Augustus too had chosen the n.o.bler 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 Seja.n.u.s, intoxicated with excess of fortune, and moreover stimulated by the importunity of Livia, who, with the restless pa.s.sion 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 Seja.n.u.s 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 G.o.ds, 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 Seja.n.u.s; 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 Seja.n.u.s 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, Seja.n.u.s, 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 a.s.sembly, I shall not fail to testify."

In answer to this, Seja.n.u.s 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 mult.i.tude 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 amba.s.sadors from the Lacedaemonians and Messenians, about the right that each people claimed to the Temple of Diana Limenetis; which the Lacedaemonians a.s.serted 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 part.i.tion 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 bra.s.s; 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 G.o.ddess. Then was discussed the pet.i.tion from the citizens of Ma.r.s.eilles; 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 Ma.r.s.eilles the same privilege and reception, he had to their Republic, as to his country, left his estate.

During the same Consuls, a b.l.o.o.d.y a.s.sa.s.sination 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 a.s.sa.s.sin 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 a.s.sured voice, in the language of his country, "that in vain they questioned him; his a.s.sociates 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 a.s.sa.s.sinated 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 amba.s.sadors 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 amba.s.sadors 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 b.l.o.o.d.y.

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 pa.s.ses 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 a.s.sault 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 a.s.sailed the lines of the legions were easily repulsed: but, the auxiliary Thracians were terrified with the sudden encounter, as they were utterly unprepared. Part of them lay along the entrenchments; many were roaming abroad; and both were slain with the keener vengeance, as they were upbraided "for fugitives and traitors, who bore arms to establish servitude over their country and themselves."

Next day Sabinus drew up his army in view of the enemy, on ground equal to both; to try, if elated with their success by night, they would venture a battle: and, when they still kept within the fortress, or on the cl.u.s.ter of hills, he began to begird them with a siege; and strengthening his old lines and adding new, enclosed a circuit of four miles. Then to deprive them of water and forage, he straitened his entrenchment by degrees, and hemmed them in still closer. A bulwark was also raised, whence the enemy now within throw, were annoyed with discharges of stones, darts, and fire.

But nothing aggrieved them so vehemently as thirst, whilst only a single fountain remained amongst a huge mult.i.tude of armed men and families: their horses too and cattle, penned up with the people, after the barbarous manner of the country, perished for want of provender: amongst the carca.s.ses of beasts lay those of men; some dead of thirst, some of their wounds; a noisome mixture of misery and death; all was foul and tainted with putrefaction, stench, and filthy contamination. To these distresses also accrued another, and of all calamities the most consummate, the calamity of discord: some were disposed to surrender; others proposed present death, and to fall upon one another. There were some too who advised a sally, and to die avenging their deaths. Nor were these last mean men, though dissenting from the rest.

But there was one of their leaders, his name Dinis, a man stricken in years, who, by long experience, acquainted with the power and clemency of the Romans, argued, "that they must lay down their arms, the same being the sole cure for their pressing calamities;" and was the first who submitted, with his wife and children to the conqueror. There followed him all that were weak through s.e.x or age, and such as had a greater pa.s.sion for life than glory. The young men were parted between Tarsa and Turesis; both determined to fall with liberty: but Tarsa declared earnestly "for instant death; and that by it all hopes and fears were at once to be extinguished;" and setting an example, buried his sword in his breast. Nor were there wanting some who despatched themselves the same way. Turesis and his band stayed for night: of which our General was aware. The guards were therefore strengthened with extraordinary reinforcements: and now with the night, darkness prevailed, its horror heightened by outrageous rain; and the enemy with tumultuous shouts, and by turns with vast silence, alarmed and puzzled the besiegers. Sabinus therefore going round the camp, warned the soldiers, "that they should not be misguided by the deceitful voice of uproar, nor trust to a feigned calm, and thence open an advantage to the enemy, who by these wiles sought it; but keep immovably to their several posts; nor throw their darts at random."

Just then came the Barbarians, pouring in distinct droves: here, with stones, with wooden javelins hardened in the fire, and with the broken limbs of trees, they battered the palisade: there with hurdles, f.a.ggots and dead bodies, they filled the trench: by others, bridges and ladders, both before framed, were planted against the battlements; these they violently grappled and tore, and struggled hand to hand with those who opposed them. The Romans, on the other side, beat them back with their bucklers, drove them down with darts, and hurled upon them great mural stakes and heaps of stones. On both sides were powerful stimulations: on ours the hopes of victory almost gained, if we persisted; and thence the more glaring infamy, if we recoiled: on theirs, the last struggle for their life; most of them, too, inspired with the affecting presence of their mothers and wives, and made desperate by their dolorous wailings.

The night was an advantage to the cowardly and the brave; by it, the former became more resolute; by it, the latter hid their fear: blows were dealt, the striker knew not upon whom; and wounds received, the wounded knew not whence: such was the utter indistinction of friend and foe. To heighten the general jumble and blind confusion, the echo from the cavities of the mountain represented to the Romans the shouts of the enemy as behind them: hence in some places they deserted their lines, as believing them already broken and entered: and yet such of the enemy, as broke through, were very few. All the rest, their most resolute champions being wounded or slain, were at the returning light driven back to their fort; where they were at length forced to surrender; as did the places circ.u.mjacent of their own accord. The remainder could then be neither forced nor famished; as they were protected by a furious winter, always sudden about Mount Haemus.

At Rome, discord shook the Prince's family: and, to begin the series of destruction, which was to end in Agrippina, Claudia Pulchra her cousin was accused; Domitius Afer the accuser. This man, just out of the Praetorship, in estimation small, but hasty to signalise himself by some notable exploit however heinous, alleged against her the "crimes of prost.i.tution, of adultery with Furnius, of magical execrations and poison prepared against the life of the Emperor." Agrippina ever vehement, and then in a flame for the peril of her kinswoman, flew to Tiberius, and by chance found him sacrificing to the Emperor his father. Having got this handle for upbraiding him, she told him "that it ill became the same man to slay victims to the deified Augustus and to persecute his children: his divine spirit was not transfused into dumb statues: the genuine images of Augustus were the living descendants from his celestial blood: she herself was one; one sensible of impending danger, and now in the mournful state of a supplicant. In vain were foreign crimes pretended against Pulchra; when the only cause of her concerted overthrow was her affection for Agrippina, foolishly carried even to adoration; forgetful as she was of the fate of Sosia, a condemned sufferer for the same fault." All these bitter words drew small answer from the dark breast of Tiberius: he rebuked her by quoting a Greek verse; "That she was therefore aggrieved, because she did not reign:" Pulchra and Furnius were condemned. Afer, having thus displayed his genius, and gained a declaration from Tiberius, p.r.o.nouncing him _eloquent in his own independent right_, was ranked with the most celebrated orators: afterwards in prosecuting accusations, or in protecting the accused, he flourished more in the fame of eloquence than in that of uprightness: however, old age eminently sunk the credit and vigour of his eloquence; while, with parts decayed, he still retained a pa.s.sion for haranguing. [Footnote: Dum fessa mente, retinet silentii inpatientiam.]

Agrippina still fostering her wrath, and seized too with a bodily disorder, received the Emperor, come purposely to see her, with many tears and long silence. At last she accosted him with invidious expostulations and prayers; "that he would relieve her solitude, and give her a husband.

She was still endowed with proper youth; to virtuous women there was no consolation but that of marriage; and Rome afforded ill.u.s.trious men who would readily a.s.sent to entertain the wife of Germanicus, and his children." Tiberius was not ignorant to what mighty power in the state, that demand tended; but, that he might betray no tokens of resentment or fear, he left her, though instant with him, without an answer. This pa.s.sage, not related by the authors of our annals, I found in the commentaries of her daughter Agrippina; her, who was the mother of the Emperor Nero, and has published her own life with the fortunes of her family.

As to Agrippina; still grieving and void of foresight, she was yet more sensibly dismayed by an artifice of Seja.n.u.s, who employed such, as under colour of friendship warned her, "that poison was prepared for her, and that she must shun eating at her father-in-law's table." She was a stranger to all dissimulation: so that as she sat near him at table, she continued stately and unmoved; not a word, not a look escaped her, and she touched no part of the meat. Tiberius observed her, whether accidentally, or that he was before apprised; and, to be convinced by a more powerful experiment, praising the apples that stood before him, presented some with his own hand to his daughter-in-law. This only increased the suspicion of Agrippina; and, without ever putting them to her mouth, she delivered them to the servants. For all this, the reserved Tiberius let not a word drop from him openly; but, turning to his mother; "There was no wonder," he said, "if he had really taken harsh measures with her, who thus charged him as a poisoner." Hence a rumour spread, "that her doom was contrived; and that the Emperor not daring to pursue it publicly, chose to have her despatched in secret."