r\ 
 
 THE BELLES-LETTRES 
 SERIES 
 
 
 
 ENGLISH DRAMA
 
 

 
 SECTION III 
 THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 PROM ITS BEGINNING TO THE PRESENT DAY 
 
 GENERAL EDITOR 
 
 GEORGE PIERCE BAKER 
 
 PROFESSOR OF DRAMATIC LITER ATUKB 
 IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 W. D. BRIGGS, PH.D. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE 
 LELAND STANFORD JR. UNIVERSITY 
 
 BOSTON, U. S. A., AND LONDON 
 
 D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY
 
 COPYRIGHT, IplI, BY D. C. HEATH CO, 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
 
 Life 
 
 BENJAMIN JONSON, or Ben Jonson, as his own and following ages 
 with his approval have delighted to call him, was born, apparently 
 in Westminster, in 1572-3. His ancestry was Scotch ; according 
 to his own statement, " his Grandfather came from Carlisle, and, he 
 thought, from Anandale to it : he served King Henry 8, and was 
 a gentleman. His Father losed all his estate under Queen Marie, 
 having been cast in prisson and forfaitted ; at last turn'd Minister : 
 so he was a minister's son. He himself was posthumous born, a 
 moneth after his father's decease. ' ' About two years later his mother 
 married again, this time a master-bricklayer. The rudiments of his 
 education Jonson received in a private school, whence he was sent 
 to Westminster School, it is thought at the cost of Camden, the 
 great antiquary, then second master at that institution ; at any rate, > 
 Camden exercised a great and beneficial influence over his studies, 
 an influence gratefully remembered and acknowledged. An untrust- 
 worthy tradition states that he passed from Westminster to Cam- 
 bridge, where he was able to remain only a few weeks "for want of 
 further maintenance. ' ' Later in life both Cambridge and Oxford gave -' 
 him the M. A. as an honorary degree. 
 
 Jonson appears now to have become for a time his stepfather's 
 assistant. This trade proving distasteful, he became a soldier, serv- 
 ing for a short time among the English contingent in the Nether- 
 lands. He was apparently back in London and married by 15924, 
 and not long afterward his connection with the stage began. Tradi- 
 tion again states that he was at first an unsuccessful actor ; however 
 this may have been, he seems to have been a regular writer for the 
 Stage by 1597. In 1598 Every Man in hh Humour was acted by
 
 vi ilife 
 
 the Chamberlain's Company, Shalupere, according to a pleasing 
 but again untrustworthy legend, having been the one to recommend 
 the acceptance of this delightful play. 
 
 At this point in his career Jonson had the misfortune to kill in a 
 . duel, the grounds of which are unknown, a fellow-actor by the name 
 of Gabriel Spencer. As a result, he was imprisoned and convicted 
 of felony by hi* own confession ; he pleaded his clergy, forfeited his 
 goods and chattels, was branded on the left thumb, and set free. In 
 prison he had been converted by a priest to the Roman faith, to 
 which he adhered for twelve years, at the end of that time return- 
 ing to the Church of England. That his conversion and re-con- 
 version were sincere we have every reason to believe. In his later 
 years he was a " diligent student of theology." 
 
 The next episode in his life was that of the " War of the Thea- 
 tre*," conducted by Jonson on one side and Marston and Dekker on 
 the other, a* principals, with other playwrights as auxiliaries and the 
 stage as battle ground. It is well-nigh impossible to learn with whom 
 the first fault lay ; E-vtry Man out af hit Humour, 1599, Cynthia' i 
 Revets, 1600, and I'He Poetaster, 1601, represent Jonson's share 
 in the war. From this field he turned to tragedy, and in 1603 &- 
 janui was brought out. 
 
 With the accession of James begins Jonson's long series of masks, 
 the first being Tkt Satyr in 1603. Jonson was the greatest and the 
 most prolific of mask writers, and though we cannot to-day taste 
 the full flavor of these entertainments, we can appreciate the learning 
 and the poetic talent they so freely display. Moreover, from them 
 we can understand how Jonson rapidly acquired an important position 
 as regards the amusements of the Court, and was thereby brought 
 into close relations with the nobility. Thus the Earl of Pembroke 
 sent him twenty pounds a year to buy books, and with the Lord 
 d' Aubigny, to whom Stjanui is dedicated, he lived at one time five 
 yean. What became of his family in the meantime, we can only
 
 ilife vii 
 
 conjecture, for, except that he begat sons and daughters, none of 
 whom appears to have survived him, we know little of his domestic 
 life. He did indeed tell Drummond that his wife was "a shrew, 
 but honest," i. e., chaste. 
 
 Before, however, he had reached this position, namely in 1605, 
 he again became acquainted with the inside of a prison, though this 
 time voluntarily. Chapman and Marston, joint-authors with him of 
 Eastward Hoe, were imprisoned for unwisely satirizing the Scotch 
 in that play, and though Jonson had no hand in the offending por- 
 tions, he accompanied them through a feeling of honor. In a short 
 time all were released, though yet another incarceration was appar-^ 
 ently necessary in order that he should learn how circumspect must 
 be the walk of a man of letters under a government of arbitrary 
 powers. * 
 
 In the same year he was asked as a Catholic to render certain 
 political services to the state, of the exact nature of which we are 
 not informed, though they had something to do with the Gunpow- 
 der Plot, and from this time on he lived in favor with the Court, 
 at least for many years. In 1605 he produced Volfone, in 1610 
 Eplcocne and The Alchemist, in 1611 Catiline, in 1614 Bartholo- 
 mew Fair, in 1616 The De-vil is an Ass. In the last-mentioned 
 year he published the first collected edition of his plays, with regard 
 to which he said in 1619 that not half of his comedies were in print. 
 We have his own statement to the effect that all his plays gained 
 him not more than two hundred pounds. Until 1625 he wrote 
 nothing more for the stage. 
 
 By this time Jonson had become the principal man of letters of 
 his day, a reward naturally due his strong sense, wide learning, ro- 
 bust character, and recognized dramatic genius. That he had enemies 
 need not surprise us, nor that the public failed to approve all of his 
 
 I Contrast Introduction, The Alchemist, East-ward Hot, Belles-Lettres 
 Series. 
 
 i we are 
 Junpow- V
 
 viii iliff 
 
 plays, more especially those of his later years. In the eyes of dis- 
 criminating critics, indeed, these facts were held honorable testimonies 
 to his worth, and in no degree did they prevent acknowledgment 
 of his authority. 
 
 About 1613 he went to France as tutor to one of the sons of Sir 
 Walter Raleigh, and in 1618-19 ne made the famous journey on 
 foot to Scotland, visiting among others Drummond of Hawthornden, 
 whose notes of their conversations form perhaps our most important 
 source of information about the dramatist. In 1621 he obtained the 
 reversion of the office of Master of the Revels, though he did not 
 live to enjoy it. 
 
 Jonson's means of life were the small proceeds from his plays, the 
 fees derived from the composition and the production of his masks, 
 occasional presents from his patrons, and a small pension granted 
 him in 1616 by James. By the end of the reign, Jonson, who did 
 not hoard his gold, found it necessary to revert to the stage as a 
 means of livelihood. In 1625 came out The Staple of Pfeni, in 
 1629 The Nev> Inn, in 1633 Tkt Magnetic Lady and Tkt Tale of 
 a Tub, none of which could be called a success. A slight increase in 
 his pension and a temporary appointment as City Chronologer were 
 of no great assistance, and Jonson was compelled to ask aid from his 
 friends among the nobility. Disease had come upon him in the shape 
 of palsy in 1626, later complicated with a dropsy, and the last year 
 or two of his life were spent on a sick-bed. He died August 6, 1637, 
 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 Among his papers were found the fragmentary Sad Shepherd, the 
 Timber, and other less important compositions ; a fire that destroyed 
 his library in i6a2~3( > ) destroyed also many works whose loss is to 
 be deeply deplored.
 
 SlntroDuctfon 
 
 Sejanus and Catiline bear everywhere the stamp of 
 their author's solid and massive genius. The trenchant 
 vigor of their style is his alone among all writers of Eng- 
 lish tragedy. The extraordinary assimilative talent that 
 they display, only Milton perhaps has manifested in an 
 equal degree. In certain portions are exhibited at full the 
 powers of the greatest master of satirical drama the English 
 stage has seen. The characters are sharply drawn and 
 energetically maintained. The dialogue is freighted with 
 thought, the personages are ' known, famous, and true,' 
 their deeds of moment in the world's history. Yet these 
 plays, like many another great Elizabethan tragedy, have 
 disappeared from the stage and, in spite of our modern 
 revival of letters, are not often read. 
 
 I make this full and reverent acknowledgment to fore- 
 stall any accusation of mere petulant faultfinding in the 
 pages that follow. It so happens that some of the points 
 selected for special comment help to explain the phe- 
 nomenon just noted, and permit much to be said that is 
 almost absurdly unjust if applied to the whole of Jonson's 
 work. But three hundred years give a long perspective 
 in matters of taste, and the nineteenth century may very 
 properly note as defects of his tragedy features that Jon- 
 son himself considered eminent beauties. Securusjudicat 
 or bis terrarum: after all, these dramas have disappeared 
 from the stage. 1 
 
 1 J'ajouterai seulement que sans sortir de 1'humilite, on peut re- 
 marquer des fautes dans les livres des hommes illustres. On ne laisse
 
 IntroDuction 
 
 Throughout his comedies, Jonson's treatment of char- 
 acter remains fundamentally the same : a psychologic 
 theory, carried out with varying consistency, furnishes 
 the groundwork in the portrayal of the individual. The 
 proper field of comedy is the field of ' humours,' and a 
 humour is not a mere whim, but a quality so completely 
 predominant that it gives the tone to the disposition, in- 
 fluences all action, and, as it were, fixes the whole man. 
 It is at once radical and permanent. 1 
 
 Such a conception has its place among the many phe- 
 nomena of complex human nature ; yet we may not of 
 course accept it as completely formulating human nature 
 in the abstract, nor, except rarely, in the concrete ; and 
 that Jonson himself realized this fact, after he had reduced 
 his theory to absurdity in Cynthia* s Revels, we have the 
 very best of ground for believing. Yet matured reflection 
 did not lead him to abandon the principle, however he 
 may have modified the practice. Almost at the close of 
 his dramatic career we find him stating it once more and 
 emphasizing the consistency with which he had adhered 
 to it. 
 
 " Dam flay. But, why Humour -i Reconciled, 1 would fain know ? 
 Boy. I can satisfy you there too, if you will. But perhaps you 
 desire not to be satisfied ? 
 
 pas pour cela de les regarder de bas en haut a perte de vue." Bayle, 
 Pref. to the Dictionary. 
 
 1 Every Man out of hit Humour, Induction to Act I ; Notes to 
 the Matout of Hymen } see Ward, 11, 347, note I, where Pope's 
 notion of the Ruling Passion is compared ; Spingarn, Seventeenth 
 Century Critical Euayi, Introduction, p. Iviii ff, gives the develop- 
 ment in meaning of the term ' humour.'
 
 31ntroDuetion xi 
 
 Dam. No ! Why should you conceive so, boy ? 
 
 Boy. My conceit is not ripe yet ; I'll tell you that anon. The 
 author beginning his studies of this kind, with Every Man in hit 
 Humour , and after Every Man out of his Humour ; and since, con- 
 tinuing in all his plays, especially in those of the comic thread, whereof 
 the New Inn was the last, some recent humours still, or manners 
 of men, that went along with the times ; finding himself now near 
 the close, or shutting up of his circle, hath fancied to himself, in 
 idea, this Magnetic Mistress," etc. 1 
 
 Very brief consideration shows that in the tragedies 
 Sejanus and Catiline the figures are conceived with an 
 equal simplicity. Just as in Every Man out of bis Humour, 
 we can easily classify each important personage : Tiberius 
 embodies tyranny gaining its ends through a profound 
 dissimulation ; Sejanus is the restlessly ambitious courtier, 
 rising by complex intrigue ; Catiline represents the am- 
 bition that would climb by violence ; Cicero is a vain- 
 glorious, but honest patriot. Catiline himself enumerates 
 the 'humours' of his assistants Lentulus, a fatuous 
 and pliable vanity, Cethegus, a braggart violence, and 
 so on. Another mark of this simplicity lies in the strik- 
 ing absence of internal conflict, and consequently of de- 
 velopment in character. Tiberius, engaged in uprooting 
 his own royal house ; Sejanus, practising murder as a fine 
 art ; Livia, plotting with anxious care the death of her 
 husband ; Catiline, devoting ruthlessly his country to fire 
 and sword: not one is for an instant uncertain of his path. 
 Like the forces of nature, they work ceaselessly, piti- 
 lessly, untiringly, to their ends, recognizing no consider- 
 
 1 Induction to Magnetic Lady, or Humours Reconciled, 1633. 
 The words all and especially in the quotation are particularly im- 
 portant.
 
 xii jhuroDiictton 
 
 ations of sympathy or justice or right feeling. There is 
 change of side in these plays, no change of heart. ' 
 
 The radical fault in Jonson's conception lay not in 
 the lack of power to depict character dramatically, so 
 much as in the settled predominance of convention, the 
 strict adherence to a traditionally authoritative system of 
 ethical judgments. It was his nature to sit constantly in 
 sentence upon his characters; into their minds he cannot 
 be said to have penetrated; rather he peered in, curi- 
 ously, attentively, systematically, but always with a theo- 
 retically complete knowledge of what he was to find and 
 the marks by which it might be known. It is hardly true, 
 to say, with Churchill (RosciaJ, 11. 177-78), 
 
 "The book of man he read with nicest art, 
 And ransack 'd all the secrets of the heart," 
 
 for there were some secrets in which he felt no interest, 
 whose existence, indeed, he perhaps did not suspect. 
 
 It was not, we might even go so far as to say, hu- 
 man personality that constituted for him the chief dra- 
 
 1 Cf. Discoveries, ed Sc helling, p. 4 : " Natures that are hard- 
 ened to evil you shall sooner break than make straight ; they are 
 like poles that are crooked and dry, there is no attempting them." 
 And again, p. 20 : "It was impossible to reform these natures ; 
 they were dried and hardened in their ill. They may say they desired 
 to leave it, but do not trust them," etc. One may in reply point out 
 that dramatic change is not necessarily equivalent to reformation. 
 Character is always in a state of unstable equilibrium, and dramatic 
 change consists merely in the logically accomplished transition from 
 one such state to another. Nor is age a decisive element in the ques- 
 tion (the lotut flaiiitui is of course the tragedy of A/.;'). The point 
 interests ui here as illustrative of Jonson's habit of applying with too 
 rigid consistency to his representation of human nature generalization* 
 induced from his observation thereof.
 
 ^IntroUuctton xiii 
 
 matic problem, or that supplied him with his principal 
 interest in human affairs. Life had moved 
 
 " out of a red flare of dreams, 
 Into a common light of common hours," 
 
 and the changeful possibilities that lay perdue in every- 
 one he met never called upon him to discover them. He 
 was a classicist, not simply, nor even mainly because 
 classical literature gave him orientation, though that was 
 the outward and visible sign, but because at bottom his 
 temperament was scientific, and exceptions irritated his 
 instinct for uniformity. The thought that in society, 
 narrowly regarded, exception is the rule would have been 
 repugnant to so orderly a mind; and, indeed, the world, 
 as he looked upon it, was simple enough. One's duty 
 lay plain. The law, the traditional code of morals, the 
 customs of society, and, with sense and scholarship to 
 befriend, the writings of the ancients what more of 
 guidance could be desired ? What were the problems that 
 could not be solved, like a case at common law, by re- 
 course to a long line of moral precedents ? Accordingly 
 the classification of men offered few difficulties. Society 
 was made up of the good and the bad, wise men and 
 fools, dupes and knaves, upon all of whom Jonson pro- 
 nounced the social, not the individual judgment. Harsh 
 in condemnation, he invariably pointed a rigid finger of 
 scorn at his evil characters, and it is only to satisfy his 
 robust sense of dramatic effect that he draws for us so 
 elaborate a picture of their adroit activity. 
 
 Naturally I do not mean that Jonson' s plays are de- 
 void of deft touches of interpretation, that indeed he 
 does not in general display a fine discriminative sense in
 
 xiv Jintrolmctton 
 
 what he makes his characters do and say. To mean that 
 would be to misconceive the whole nature of his drama. 
 At the same time, this fine discrimination has its well- 
 marked limits, since the interplay of thought and feel- 
 ing, however clearly indicated in the dialogue, rarely 
 demands the exercise of the commentator's art. 1 Along 
 with a sure sense of fitness in the vigorous expression of 
 a certain range of intellectualized emotion, is found no 
 exacting sense of subtle gradation among the emotions 
 themselves, nor apparently any belief that outside the 
 given range there lies much of consequence to the dra- 
 matist. The result is that at times his comedy fills us 
 with an amazing sense of naturalness, of reality ; and fre- 
 quently striking traits of human nature are embodied in 
 types that do not seem likely to be forgotten. To ac- 
 complish thus much is to achieve a very great dramatic 
 feat; but it is not necessarily to fit one's self for the writ- 
 ing of tragedy. 
 
 It is consequently a marked feature of Jonson's drama, 
 both tragedy and comedy, that his figures stand less in 
 need of interpretation than do those of any other im- 
 portant Elizabethan dramatist. Not only does he make 
 it almost impossible to misunderstand their motives and 
 purposes, but the expression of those motives and pur- 
 poses in acts does not involve internal struggle; there 
 come into operation only simple motives, working di- 
 rectly and without complication. 
 
 If Jonson's theory was thus artistically defective, it 
 
 1 The statement is substantially true, even though we recognize, 
 as of course we must, that this very precision of style is what partly 
 deprives the figures of their need for explanation.
 
 2f|ntrotmctton xv 
 
 had at least one compensating dramatic advantage. Each 
 figure stands out in sharpest definition against its back- 
 ground, and by virtue of a cause that we find quite as 
 strikingly operative in the comedies as in the tragedies, 
 what may be called an intensive treatment of the hu- 
 mour ' or fundamental trait. This is given every possi- 
 ble expression; it is repeatedly brought before us, now 
 in the comment of a bystander, now in what the char- 
 acter says, now in what he does; it is set in different 
 lights; it is complained of, it is censured, it is praised, 
 vaunted, analyzed, condemned. Here Jonson's invent- 
 ive genius had free play. In Volpone, the Alchemist, 
 Epicoene, as well as in Sejaniis and Catiline, is intro- 
 duced a multiplicity of circumstances, of realistic details, 
 each affording a fresh manifestation of the central con- 
 ception. Over every speech and action Jonson main- 
 tains an incessant, anxious, even painful scrutiny, that 
 strives, through minute consistency and a constantly re- 
 peated impression, to produce the effect of full and com- 
 plete analysis, of totality. Thus the figure assumes a 
 solidity and extension in reality foreign to it, its out- 
 lines grave themselves in the mind, an appearance of 
 manifold self-expression is produced, and there results a 
 wonderfully vivid portrayal of character. In other words, 
 if Tiberius appears to possess individuality, and I must 
 freely confess that he does so, it is just because he is so 
 intensely typical. 
 
 The same fact may be differently regarded. Both 
 Hamlet and Tiberius are consistently drawn, but con- 
 sistency is attained in different ways. Hamlet is a com- 
 plex being, whose various elements are held in delicate
 
 xvi ^Introduction 
 
 equilibrium by the imaginative genius of the poet; he is 
 not an assemblage of fixed qualities, but a volitional en- 
 tity, and his emotional reaction varies with the chang- 
 ing circumstance of life. But the emotional reaction of 
 Tiberius is constant, and he is troubled by no moods 
 or scruples. Every emergency is met in the same way. 
 His motives remain the same; and his language, his 
 actions, his mental processes, are in every instance those 
 of the hypocrite. Unity here is the result of a simple 
 conception operating in a uniform manner under cir- 
 cumstances varied for the special purpose of displaying 
 the uniformity of operation. Tiberius is consistent be- 
 cause he is formulated, and because Jon son had too 
 vigilant an eye to permit the equation x + y = T to be 
 disturbed by the presence of an eccentric variable. 
 
 A glance at Jonson's sources lends the point empha- 
 sis. We cannot avoid observing that he did not see fit 
 materially to alter his characters as they were given him 
 by ancient history, nor to introduce, save in a few 
 minor points, incidents not to be found there. The 
 basis of nearly every figure is to be found in Dio or 
 Juvenal, Tacitus or Sallust, as well as practically the 
 entire action of each play. What then was the problem 
 that Jonson, as tragic dramatist, set himself to solve in 
 the portrayal of the individual ? 
 
 As already suggested, this problem was in no sense 
 of the phrase a problem of creation. In other words, 
 Jonson had not to blaze a path through a wilderness of 
 historical events, since that labor had already been per- 
 formed, both by Tacitus and by Sallust, each of whom 
 had striven to explain the events he narrated by his own
 
 31ntroDuction 
 
 interpretation of character. Whoever is willing to build 
 upon their foundation finds the creative task already 
 achieved, and there remains for him merely to give dra- 
 matic expression to other men's conceptions, to see to 
 it that none of his figures shall in a moment of inadvert- 
 ence divest himself of the assigned role. Jonson's task, 
 though accomplished in his characteristically thorough 
 fashion, was then much simpler than it would otherwise 
 have been. 
 
 Such facile acceptance of the historian's verdict, from 
 which indeed society showed in that day no disposition 
 to appeal, arose in part from a failure to distinguish 
 clearly between the functions of history and tragedy, in 
 part from the underlying conventionalism already men- 
 tioned. Unfortunately Jonson did not realize that the 
 portrayal of Tiberius offers a problem that can be dra- 
 matically solved only through the exercise of the poetic 
 rather than the historical imagination, and that must be 
 solved afresh by every writer who proposes to handle 
 the theme. Hypocrisy, the vulgar and superficial ex- 
 planation of the extraordinary in character, suffices him. 
 Yet, as poet and dramatist, it was not alone his duty, 
 he should have felt an instinctive need, to reconstruct 
 the figure of Tiberius for himself. He should have felt 
 that the Tiberius of history was perhaps not the real 
 Tiberius, that the accepted explanation of his recorded 
 acts and sayings, whatever the true explanation, did not 
 completely reconcile them. Not as matter of historical 
 knowledge, but as subject-matter of the most distinctly 
 creative of literary forms, his conception should have 
 been sufficient to account rationally for acts that must
 
 xviii jimroDumon 
 
 have had their source in a personality strangely ele- 
 mented. That it was not such shows his instinctive, if 
 not deliberate preference for the schematic treatment of 
 human nature, even in the tragic field. 1 
 
 1 Ward, n, 336-7, regards the character of Tiberius as incon- 
 sistent in one respect. " That in his old age Tiberius should have 
 sunk into a victim or ' trophy ' of degraded lust, is even less ade- 
 quately accounted for in the play than it is as a historical relation." 
 He overlooks, however, the fact, that Jonson is not depicting, and 
 indeed nowhere successfully depicts, a developing character, and that 
 above all he is simply accepting the old age of Tiberius as he finds 
 that old age represented in his authorities. He does not undertake 
 to tell how it was that Tiberius became a tyrant, or a ' victim of 
 degraded lust ' ; he accepts him as such. 
 
 It may be asked what right we have to insist that Jonson should 
 not have accepted this traditional estimate, that he should have gone 
 beyond his authorities, and represented history otherwise than as 
 professed historians represent it. A sufficient reply is that we do not 
 quarrel with his representation of history, but with his interpreta- 
 tion of character. We neither ask him to alter facts, nor do we 
 insist that his estimate of character shall necessarily differ from that 
 of the historian; yet if the two coincide, the coincidence must be 
 the result of dramatic intuition, of imaginative reconstruction on the 
 basis of his own artistic insight, not of a submission to classical au- 
 thority. 
 
 Jonson's own defense against this charge would doubtless have 
 rested on the well-known passage of the Dt Artt Poetica, 11. 
 1 19-127, wherein the poet who is putting on the stage history, or 
 even traditional history, is told either to follow authority or at least 
 not to contradict it. If you are depicting Achilles, let him be fierce, 
 wrathful, moody; and inferentially, if your authorities tell you that 
 Tiberius was a hypocrite, represent him so. The relation of Jon- 
 son's position to the doctrine of ' imitation ' would form an inter- 
 esting problem. 
 
 Boistier, Taeite, 177 ff. , tells us clearly enough why it is that 
 Tacitus gives us an incomplete portrait of Tiberius, and why it is 
 that we have difficulty in reconciling the aspects of his character
 
 31ntroDuctton xix 
 
 Such changes, intentional or other, as he did intro- 
 duce, seem to have been chiefly in the direction of 
 simplicity. For example, Tiberius appears well-nigh 
 devoid even of natural affection, and as utilizing his 
 son's death merely as an occasion for a fresh display of 
 hypocrisy. Yet his frantic efforts to ascertain at a later 
 period the facts of Drusus' murder, as related by Sue- 
 tonius, 1 show how deeply he was affected by it ; nor 
 apparently was his aversion to Agrippina and her sons 
 anything like so simple an affair as the dramatist con- 
 ceives. On the whole, the emperor in the ancient his- 
 torians is a figure less easily understood than in Jonson's 
 play, and once more Jonson fails to perceive the im- 
 plications of his problem. The tendency to simplify, 
 brought over as it is from comedy, does not harmonize 
 with the new environment. 
 
 In the same way one feels certain that Sejanus has 
 hardly had justice done him. If Sejanus really enter- 
 tained the plans ascribed to him and carried them as 
 near to completion as he is said to have done, he was 
 
 upon which Tacitus lays stress with those which find only occa- 
 sional suggestion, with the result that his whole account of Tibe- 
 rius oppresses us with a haunting sense of inadequacy. It is just this 
 sense of inadequacy, inevitable for the modern readers of Tacitus, 
 that Jonson, as poet and dramatist, should have likewise exper- 
 ienced and attempted to remove by some imaginative reconstruction 
 of the principal figure of his play. 
 
 1 To be sure, Suetonius, Tiberius, 52, accuses Tiberius of not 
 having affection for Drusus, and relates stories of his heartlessness. 
 But it is difficult to reconcile these stories with the passage, 62, 
 referred to above. We are not concerned with the correctness of 
 either account ; the problem is not solved merely by the summary 
 dismissal of one.
 
 xx Imrotmruon 
 
 a greater man than Jonson represents him or than ii 
 ordinarily thought. Consider that he had not, like any 
 ordinary conspirator, merely to raise a small band of 
 desperate men to assist him in killing Tiberius. He had 
 six or seven persons to dispose of; popular favor to 
 conciliate, for he was a new man, lacking even the 
 prestige of Oriental conquest ; he had suspicion to 
 avert ; the love of the people for Agrippina and her sons 
 to counteract ; a crafty and unscrupulous politician to 
 deceive. In executing these plans, he occupied eight or 
 ten years; attained all his ends except the final one; was 
 during that time master of the empire ; and his event- 
 ual defeat was due, not to the actual miscarriage of his 
 plot, but to vague suspicion engendered by his very 
 success.' The skill, perseverance, fortitude, knowledge 
 of human nature, talent for dissimulation, foresight, and 
 coordinating power such as he must have exercised were 
 clearly of the nature of genius, and yet we are to be- 
 lieve, according to the accounts given by Tacitus and 
 Dio,* and accepted by Jonson, that he was a petty pol- 
 itician, quite inferior to Tiberius in the arts of intrigue. 
 The two ideas seem hardly compatible : either he did 
 not conspire upon this comprehensive scale, or else the 
 
 1 Jonson tells us that Tiberius' suspicions were aroused by the 
 desire of Sejanus to many Livia ; but no hint of this kind is to be 
 found in Dio, Tacitus, or any writer of the time. Joseph u, indeed, 
 says that the conspiracy was discovered to Tiberius by Antonia, the 
 mother of Germanicus. 
 
 * It should be noted that Tacitus and Dio do not directly accuse 
 Sejanus of conspiracy ; but both suggest that he conspires, Dio very 
 clearly ; and Suetonius and Josephus make the charge in formal 
 language.
 
 IntroDuction xxi 
 
 struggle between himself and Tiberius was a struggle 
 between equals, both men of greater power and grasp 
 than Jonson gives us to infer. 
 
 A further resemblance to Jonson' s comedy may be 
 here touched upon. It has been aptly pointed out that 
 his comic figures may be divided into knaves, dupes, and 
 on-lookers. A similar classification holds good in the main 
 for the two tragedies. His comedies, moreover, are com- 
 edies of intrigue, and in these plays intrigue is the essence 
 of the plot. Especially worth notice, as has already been 
 observed by Miss Woodbridge in her Studies in Jonson' s 
 Comedy, is the parallelism of Sejanus and Volpone. We 
 have the two pairs of knaves, on the one hand Tiberius 
 and Sejanus, on the other Volpone and Mosca; in the 
 course of time the bonds of union break, and each in- 
 triguer seeks to dupe his former ally. Mosca, Sejanus in 
 a lower station, likewise attempts the task of outwitting 
 and supplanting his master. In Volpone the schemers have 
 a common fate, whereas in Sejanus it is only the minister 
 that falls. 
 
 This similarity in plot, however, is but the index to 
 one of a much more significant kind, though it may be 
 merely suggested at this point. Volpone is a comedy only 
 by courtesy. In its stern morality, its savage mockery, 
 its harshly just conclusion, the play is hardly amusing, 
 unless for the nonce one is content to turn pure cynic. 
 In Sejanus, to be sure, the issues are more momentous, 
 and several persons are ' put to silence ' ; but doubtless 
 Volpone himself would have preferred death to the 
 galleys. ' 
 
 1 See pp. xxix-xxx, below.
 
 xxii JiuroDumou 
 
 II 
 
 In the Epilogue to the Poetaster, 1 60 1 , Jonson tells 
 us that comedy has proved ominous to him, and that he 
 intends to turn to tragedy in search of a better fate. Two 
 years later Sejanus was brought out. Its reception was 
 not favorable, and it seems not to have been many times 
 acted. In 1605 it was published, and the reader of the 
 Dedication and the other preliminary matter may easily 
 learn with what spirited defiance Jonson treated the 
 public judgment of his play; for neither he nor any 
 other man of letters of his time, except perhaps Antony 
 Munday, held Madame de Scvigne's opinion that the 
 public is " ni fou ni injuste. " From the point of view 
 of the stage, no great wrong was done the poet, how- 
 ever much personal feeling may have played a part in 
 the condemnation of a drama by the author of the 
 Poetaster, the outspoken critic and satirist of his own 
 audiences. Indeed, the public was not altogether un- 
 discriminating, since in the splenetic outburst prefixed to 
 Catiline, a play based on the same principles, Jonson 
 himself indignantly admits that the first two acts, " be- 
 cause they are the worst," did not fail of approval. 1 
 
 As to the sources, Jonson has himself given us much 
 information in his notes, to which some additions have 
 been made. Not a great deal need be said here. In 
 
 1 Sejaaui met with tome favor abroad, where it wai translated 
 into German ; tee Bibliography, under Bolte. Under Charles II it 
 was given at least one performance, and Pepys viewed its companion, 
 Catiline, with qualified approbation. Langbaine says that Sejanut 
 " is generally commended by all lovers of poetry," and it was re- 
 rived and adapted for political purposes in the eighteenth century.
 
 2flntroDuctton 
 
 genera!, they are of two kinds, those which supplied 
 the facts, and those of which he made use in order to 
 fill up the background and give solidity to the characters; 
 Tacitus and Dio furnished most of the facts, while 
 Tacitus, Suetonius, and the satirists, especially Juvenal, 
 fill up the background; incidentally much of Latin lit- 
 erature, particularly the writings of Seneca, is liberally 
 drawn upon. 1 
 
 Jonson adhered with great fidelity to the sources of 
 the first class, and in few respects do we find him de- 
 parting from the story they tell. Of course, any histor- 
 ical dramatist, in fitting his material for the stage, must 
 construct scenes and conversations for which he has no 
 immediate warrant, and to that extent Jonson exhibits 
 independence of his authorities: a hint that an interview 
 has taken place is elaborated into an extended confer- 
 ence (n, i); a consultation apparently carried on by 
 letter is converted into a personal interview (n, ii); 
 many conversations are freely inserted (n, iv) ; a long 
 letter of which only the most general account has come 
 down to us is reconstructed in its entirety (v, viii); 
 
 1 It is today hardly necessary to defend Jonson upon the charge 
 of plagiarism, even when he appropriates passage after passage from 
 Lucan or Seneca. Critics and commentators seem at length willing 
 to accord what writers have always arrogated, namely, the right of 
 eminent domain. The question becomes simply: what use has been 
 made of the spoils ? In the present case, " the play's the thing," 
 and Sejanus acquits its author. For that matter, even the most ac- 
 rimonious attack cannot convict him of more than following some- 
 what literally the advice of Claudian : 
 
 Plus est servasse repertum 
 Quam quaessisse novum.
 
 jflntro&uction 
 
 dramatic effect is subserved, as when Silius is made to 
 commit suicide in the senate-house instead of at home; 
 historical time becomes dramatic time, and events that 
 occurred months or even years apart are brought to- 
 gether on the stage. So much the poet is compelled to 
 do by the conditions under which he works. But Jon- 
 son hardly went further. He added no incidents of 
 weight, nor, in any important degree, did he change the 
 course of events. I believe that every minor character 
 has some kind of historical existence, however shadowy. 
 Whenever possible, moreover, he employed the lan- 
 guage of the characters as history records it, thereby 
 falling into line, though for a different reason, with the 
 practice of contemporary playwrights. Too often they 
 did so in order to save time and labor; but of these Jon- 
 son was prodigal. 
 
 Nor does the fact that, in giving substance to back- 
 ground and character, he translated or adapted whatever 
 passages of the satirists could be brought to bear, ' at all 
 
 1 Mutatis mutandis, what Hofmiller says, Die ertten seeks Mas- 
 ken Ben Jonton't, 1901, 80, with regard to Jonson's utilization of 
 sources forms an instructive commentary upon his tragic composi- 
 tion ; " Die art, wie J die Autoren beniitzt, bestatigt das bishcrige 
 Urteil: Er ist in der Erfindung selbstandig, im Kombinieren iiber- 
 raschend, in der Ausfuhrung und Motivierung des Details lehnt er 
 sich geme an. Die Masque of Blackness ist auf einer Fu'lle von ein- 
 zelnen Quellenstellen aufgebaut, die geistreich kombiniert sind. Die 
 Masque of Beauty geht auf Philostratus zuriick. Die Hymenari sind 
 ein meisterhaftes Mosaikgemalde einer romischen Vcrrruhlungs- 
 feier. Catull hat sowohl das Epithalamium inipiriert, als das Thema 
 fur die Barrieri gegeben. Bei Hue and Cry after Cupid kann das 
 Vorbild Zeile fur Zeile, ja Halbzeile fur Halbzeile nachgewieten 
 werden ; cbenso bei der Masque of Queen i. Am selbstandigsten sind
 
 iflntroDuetton 
 
 invalidate Jonson's claim to truth of" argument.' For 
 nothing that they supply is inconsistent with the facts, 
 and in tone and point of view they accord remarkably 
 well with Tacitus himself, though of course they rarely 
 deal with the same series of events. In making use of 
 them, Jonson felt that he was faithfully reproducing the 
 atmosphere of Rome, far more faithfully than if he had 
 chosen to rely upon his own imagination. 
 
 Fidelity to his source then seems in Jonson's opinion 
 to be one of the proper characteristics of a tragic writer. 1 
 What else does he consider important ? 
 
 It is difficult to collect out of Jonson's works an ex- 
 plicit and consistent doctrine respecting tragedy, 2 as he 
 
 die Barriers zu dieser Masque, und Oberon. Am wortlichsten be- 
 niitzt J Catull, Moschos und Lucan, sowie die Autoren zu den his- 
 torischen Erlauterungen der Masque of Queens ; Horaz und Virgil 
 folgen zunachst." 
 
 1 The position at first sight seems hardly consistent with his 
 judgment on du Bartas (Conversations, iv): " That he thought not 
 Bartas a poet, but a verser, because he wrote not fiction." Else- 
 where (see Reinsch, 6) he speaks of the poets as ' feigning ' or 
 writing 'things like the truth' (Discoveries, 73). Yet (seethe 
 Dedications to Sejanus and Catiline') he regards these tragedies as 
 poems and himself in writing them as a poet. The essential element 
 of imagination he doubtless found in the amalgamation and unifying 
 of the various historical fragments and in the elaborate development 
 of the characters. He would have said that Sejanus, as a whole, in 
 the entirety of its action and dialogue, -was not the truth, but was 
 like the truth. 
 
 2 The Discoveries must be used with caution, for it is not always 
 easy to tell how much they represent his own convictions, how 
 much they are mere notes of his reading. When I quote passages 
 from them as illustrating his artistic theory, I shall try to support 
 them by passages from his plays in which we find undoubted expres- 
 sion of his views. References to the Discoveries are always to 
 Schilling's edition. 

 
 xxvi jhuroimcrion 
 
 affords us less definite information than we might ex- 
 pect from a man of his pronounced interest in the theory 
 of literature and his frequent critical utterances. Doubt- 
 less a formal statement of his matured views was contained 
 in the notes to his translation of the De Arte Pot (tea, 
 but as they were ' ravish' d hence ' by fire, we arc re- 
 duced to the collation of scattered passages, written at 
 different times and under different conditions. With the 
 study of these explicitly critical memorabilia, we must 
 combine the analysis of his tragic writings, with the 
 result of reaching conclusions not always in harmony. 
 Indeed, in the meditation and practice of forty years of 
 an actively intellectual and reflective life, it is in vain to 
 expect entire agreement, especially at a time when crit- 
 ical standards are just beginning to be the subject of 
 a freer inquiry. No one has stated more lucidly and 
 cogently the fundamental principle of aesthetics, that 
 the ideals of one age must not tyrannize over those of 
 another: " Nulla ars," he tells us, " simul et inventa est 
 et absoluta." And yet more than once his adherence 
 to traditional formulae seems almost bigoted. Differently 
 viewed, the problem admits of general statement in terms 
 of character: he experienced in a degree not often paral- 
 leled, the vocation of criticism as well as that of creative 
 literature; born critic and born dramatist, the instinct 
 for law and order characteristic of the one battled, at 
 times bitterly, with the instinct for freedom character- 
 istic of the other. It is the persistence of this critical 
 antinomy, thoroughly reconciled only in his best plays 
 of the comic thread, that must be called upon to explain 
 much that is puzzling in his attitude and opinions. Yet
 
 3f|ntroDuctton 
 
 the reader should remember that it was Jonson's very 
 intellectual power that under the conditions of the day 
 engendered this conflict: he was too strong a thinker to 
 underestimate, however he might misjudge, the worth 
 of ancient literature; he was too clear a thinker not to 
 see the weakness of mere imitation; he was too inde- 
 pendent not to feel strongly the claims of his own gen- 
 eration; yet he was too conservative to relish entirely 
 the self-sufficiency of '1'art nouveau,' or to admit that 
 the oracles of criticism were for all time dumb. 
 
 As student of aesthetic theory, comprehensive and 
 profound in his knowledge of classical and Renaissance 
 criticism, 1 Jonson's conception of the chief function of 
 poetry hardly differed materially from that entertained 
 by Aristotle, Horace, Scaliger, or Heinsius. 2 Pro Jesse 
 et delectare ran the conventional formula, of which the 
 first member indicated the immediate end and justifica- 
 tion, the second the means. All forms of poetry were 
 embraced under it, and no distinction is of course drawn 
 between comedy and tragedy. 
 
 But how may these last discharge their didactic func- 
 tion ? Jonson returns explicit answer as regards comedy. 
 ' What figure of a body was Lysippus ever able to form 
 with his graver, or Apelles to paint with his pencil, as 
 the comedy to life expresseth so many and various 
 affections of the mind ? There shall the spectator see 
 
 1 As Saint Augustine said of Varro, ' tarn multa legit, ut aliquid 
 ei scribere vacuisse miremur. ' 
 
 1 See Jonson, passim, e. g., Discoveries, 34, 49, 75, and the 
 Dedication to Volpone. Cf. Spingarn, Literary Criticism in the 
 Renaissance, pp. 60 ff. , for a discussion of Renaissance dramatic 
 theory.
 
 xxviii ^Introduction 
 
 some insulting with joy, others fretting with melancholy, 
 raging with anger, mad with love, boiling with avarice, 
 undone with riot, tortured with expectation, consumed 
 with fear: no perturbation in common life but the orator 
 finds an example of it in the scene. " * A comedy, how- 
 ever, does not necessarily move laughter, nor does it 
 necessarily end joyfully. 1 It teaches by representing the 
 passions of life in such a way as to make men ashamed 
 of their indulgence, or at least sensible of the inconven- 
 ience and odium to which they give rise. 
 
 " The parts of a comedy are the same with a tragedy, 
 and the end is partly the same, for they both delight 
 and teach. "3 Clearly, in using the phrase, 'partly 
 the same,' Jonson had in mind Aristotle's dictum that 
 tragedy accomplishes its mission of teaching by purg- 
 ing the mind through pity and terror. This dictum he 
 interprets in the fashion of the day. As subjects for 
 tragedy, he chooses Sejanus, Catiline, Mortimer, 
 Richard Crookback (i. e., Richard III) ; each plot 
 has for its centre a great criminal or a great group of 
 
 1 Discoveries, 79 ; cf. Prologues to Every Man in hit Humour, 
 The Alchemist, the Staple of News, and the Induction to Act I of 
 Every Man out of hit Humour. 
 
 * Discoveries, 81, and Dedication to Po/pone. 
 
 * Discoveries, 8l. 
 
 4 It should be added that we know him to have been concerned 
 with Dekker in a tragedy called Page of Plymouth, and with 
 Dekker, Chettle, and an unknown in an historical tragedy called 
 Robert II, King of Scott. For the plays mentioned in the text he 
 seems solely responsible ; cf., however, for Sejanut, the note on 5,50 
 below, and for Richard Crookback, Fleay's suggestion that it was an 
 alteration of an earlier play by Marlowe, a suggestion rating upon 
 his theory of the authorship of Shakespeare's Richard III.
 
 ^Introduction 
 
 criminals, and in the first three, 1 presumably the fourth 
 also (for the play is not extant), the interest of the 
 action resides in the crimes of the evil-doers and their 
 eventual punishment. Pity for the victims and terror 
 of the criminals combine to impress upon us a great 
 moral lesson. Thus Jonson takes 'katharsis,' not in 
 the sense of an emotional relief, apparently the prevail- 
 ing opinion to-day, but in that of a moral purification, 
 a conclusion reinforced when we consider how he in- 
 sists constantly upon the didactic function of poetry, 
 and the strongly moral and satirical bent of every play 
 that he wrote. 2 
 
 There are, however, other points to be noted. It 
 was generally thought that comedy imitates common 
 life. ' 3 Moreover, in the preface to Sejanus, he speaks 
 of truth of argument, dignity of persons, gravity and 
 height of elocution, fullness and frequency of sentence ' 4 
 as essential ' offices of a tragic writer. ' And of course 
 tragedies had to have unhappy endings, consisting as 
 
 1 The third is merely a fragment; see below, p. xxxvii, note I. 
 
 2 Aristotle tells the tragic writer to select as his hero a ' moder- 
 ately good man.' Jonson would of course be influenced by the 
 example of Seneca, some of whose principal figures are Atreus, 
 Clytemnaestra, Medea, Phaedra. 
 
 3 Discoveries, 79 ; cf. Prologue to Every Man in his Humour. 
 
 4 For ' dignity of persons,' see note, p. xxxii, below. By a ' sen- 
 tence ' was meant the pithy, epigrammatic expression of some moral, 
 political, or social generalization. What the Clerk of Oxford spoke 
 was 
 
 ' Short and quik, and full of hy sentence. 
 Souninge in moral vertu was his speche, 
 And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche.* 
 
 Webster's conception of tragedy was not essentially different in 
 
 theory; cf. note on 1. 6 of To the Readers.
 
 xxx 7 wroDiirtion 
 
 they did in 'falls of princes.' If we take all these points 
 together, we shall see our way clearly. Tragedy, like 
 comedy, teaches, but whereas comedy, dealing with 
 common life, instructs the ordinary man how to govern 
 his passions and rule himself by showing him that the 
 indulgence of passions and follies covers men with shame 
 and ridicule, may indeed, as in l^olpone, lead them to 
 almost any punishment short of mortal ; tragedy, deal- 
 ing with the lives of those classes to whom the guidance 
 and safe-conduct of society are entrusted, instructs in 
 a more deeply impressive fashion. The difference is the 
 difference between the public and the private criminal : 
 the vices of the one react upon himself or his immediate 
 neighbor; the crimes of the other plunge a whole state 
 into mourning. An ordinary man, like Kitely, Sordido, 
 Volpone, may fitly be dealt with by ordinary means, 
 ridicule or satire, or, on occasion, a little wholesome 
 correction; but a Catiline, a Sejanus, these men 
 brave fate, and accordingly it is fate that deals out their 
 reward. 
 
 May we not say, then, that for Jonson the essential 
 difference between the two forms of drama is external, 
 a difference of scale, not so much of nature ? ' Little of 
 the sweep, the scope, the intensity of tragic passion is 
 to be found in his tragic writing. He was blind to the 
 opportunities offered by the character of Agrippina, 
 and his meticulous analysis of the mind of Tiberius 
 
 1 That if why scene* like II, i, in Stjjnus, u in Catilint, though 
 in the be* vein of [orison's satiric comedy, are not felt by him to 
 be inconsistent with their surroundings, so that he can call Catilint 
 a legitimate poem.
 
 2f|ntroDuction 
 
 leaves no room for any quality of grandeur such as even 
 Tacitus fails not to reveal. This is not the veiled figure 
 that lives on in the memory of the race, grim, awful, 
 inscrutable. Nor is Jonson's success much greater with 
 his Catiline. Here, if anywhere, it was his purpose to 
 erect a figure larger than the common mould of men, 
 and here, if anywhere, do we feel the heaving ground- 
 swell of elemental passion. 
 
 " The cruelty I mean to act, I wish 
 
 Should be call'd mine, and tarry in my name ; 
 Whilst after-ages do toil out themselves 
 In thinking for the like, but do it less : 
 And were the power of all the fiends let loose, 
 With fate to boot, it should be still example, 
 When, what the Gaul or Moor could not effect, 
 Nor emulous Carthage, with their length of spite, 
 Shall be the work of one, and that MY night." 
 
 The long opening speech of Sylla's ghost is there to 
 draw large in our imaginations the character of Catiline, 
 and Petreius in that really fine passage, 
 
 " Whilst Catiline came on, not with the face 
 Of any man, but of a public ruin," 
 
 has adequately expressed Jonson' s conception. Yet, after 
 all is said, Catiline is but another ruined gamester, 
 setting up his rest on a last throw of the dice. Only 
 occasionally does Jonson seem to appreciate what is to 
 us so striking a feature of tragic poetry, that it lifts us 
 * out of the mist and hum of that low land ' of every- 
 day existence into a region where man, stripped as far as 
 may be of the adventitious garments of society and cus- 
 tom, bares his soul to the universal and the elemental. 1 
 1 I do not wish to venture too far into the dark and bloody
 
 xxxii IntroDttftion 
 
 Thus Jonson's tragic figures, when impressive at all, 
 are so in a certain narrowly realistic way. They pos- 
 sess emotionally limited personalities. In Tiberius and 
 Sejanus, even in Catiline, intellect smothers emotion ; 
 motive appears chiefly in the form of its result, a care- 
 fully elaborated plan of action, based on chances calcu- 
 lated with a truly commercial and speculative instinct. 
 Their errors are at bottom mathematical, and they fall 
 because their calculations are inaccurate, not because 
 somehow they have defied ' the stream of tendency 
 making for righteousness.' Rarely in either play do our 
 cars catch, as in Macbeth or Lear or even in the 
 Changeling, the steady and distant tread of ineluctable 
 doom. Tiberius maintains himself to the last, craft is 
 overcome by deeper craft, and he who comes triumph- 
 ant out of the conflict is the greatest criminal of all. 
 
 It seems to us a fundamental defect in the older 
 conception of tragedy that it should be so closely bound 
 up with "all the solemn plausibilities of the world"; 
 just as no figure was properly tragic unless it possessed 
 the accidental attribute of high social position,' so no 
 
 ground of aesthetic theory ; my aim is merely to suggest an import- 
 ant fact regarding which Renaissance critics were generally at sea. 
 The ' tragic aspect of life ' was one that they had not faced in in 
 relation to tragic art. To put it differently, they had not yet grounded 
 tragedy upon pessimism, which seems perhaps to be its real basis ; 
 see Nietzsche, Geburt dtr Tragldte ; Volkelt, Atahttik dti Tragi- 
 tchcn, etc. 
 
 1 This essential condition of a tragic situation appears to us 
 arbitrary and superficial. In reality it followed naturally from the 
 old conception of the primary function of art and from the old or- 
 ganization of society. Burke, though of course without thought of 
 anything like the present topic, illuminates the whole matter in his
 
 ^Introduction 
 
 situation was in itself tragic unless it involved a striking 
 reversal of fortune, usually the death of the chief char- 
 acter. We may be quite confident that it never occurred 
 to Jonson that his Tiberius is far more of a tragic figure 
 than his Sejanus, that the lonely despot, throned high 
 in desolation, suffered the more awful punishment. 
 Shakespeare's conception was of course far deeper. The 
 tragic element in Macbeth, to take perhaps the clearest 
 example, is quite independent of the mere fact that 
 
 characteristic manner in his Reflections on the French Re-volution : 
 " Why do I feel so differently from the Reverend Dr. Price, and 
 those of his lay flock, who will choose to adopt the sentiments 
 of his discourse ? For this plain reason because it is natural 
 I should ; because we are so made, as to be affected at such 
 spectacles with melancholy sentiments upon the unstable condition 
 of mortal prosperity, and the tremendous uncertainty of human 
 greatness ; because in those natural feelings we learn great lessons ; 
 because in events like these our passions instruct our reason; because 
 when kings are hurled from their thrones by the Supreme Director 
 of this great drama, and become the objects of insult to the base, 
 and of pity to the good, we behold such disasters in the moral, as 
 we should behold a miracle in the physical order of things. We 
 are alarmed into reflection ; our minds (as it has long since been 
 observed ) are purified by terror and pity ; our weak, unthinking 
 pride is humbled under the dispensations of a mysterious wisdom. 
 Some tears might be drawn from me, if such a spectacle were ex- 
 hibited on the stage. I should be truly ashamed of finding in myself 
 that superficial, theatric sense of painted distress, whilst I could 
 exult over it in real life." Hurd, in his Essay on the Provinces of 
 the Drama, notices the reasons for the preference of exalted per- 
 sonages in tragedy over those in a private station, and goes on: 
 " Yet our passion for the familiar, goes so far, that we have tragedies, 
 not only of private action, but of private persons ; and so have well 
 nigh annihilated the noblest of the two dramas amongst us." See 
 also Butcher, Aristotle's Theory of Poetry and Fine Art, 136-7 ; 
 Saintsbury, History of Criticism, n, 61.
 
 ^Introduction 
 
 Macbeth is himself killed at the end of the play. From 
 this point of view, the death of the body is but the 
 fitting symbol or expression of the death of the soul 
 that has gone before. One realizes dimly how terrible 
 would have been the Tiberius of Shakespeare. Jonson 
 himself, for all that his tragedy is the tragedy of Sejanus, 
 could not help making Tiberius the dominating figure, 
 though more by virtue of greater craft and greater 
 astuteness than of an inherent nobility or grandeur of 
 conception; and Tiberius, "by his own stale devil 
 spurr'd," fails to be a tragic figure because he lacks 
 the exalted fullness and freedom of emotional life that 
 tragedy demands. 
 
 If Nietzsche says rightly that every tragedy, in the 
 true sense of the term, leaves us with the metaphysical 
 solace, that life, despite all the flux and flow of phenom- 
 ena, has an indestructible basis of power and exhilar- 
 ation," ' must we not say that here also Jonson failed 
 to appreciate the task he undertook ? Surely neither 
 Sejanus nor Catilint leaves the reader with any such 
 consolation. Shakespeare does, and so do the other 
 great Elizabethan writers of tragedy, each in his own 
 measure. But even in the scenes that Jonson may have 
 added to Kyd's Spanish Tragedy, scenes in which, if 
 anywhere, he rises to almost the full stature of a tragic 
 poet, such an effect is not produced. May it not be signi- 
 ficant that he never acknowledged, so far as we know, 
 the authorship of these passages, even as a sin of his 
 younger days?* In any case, however excellent as an 
 
 1 Geburt der Tragottie, 3d ed., 1894, 55. 
 
 2 The latest discussion of the question of hii authorship U found
 
 UntroDuction 
 
 explosion of sorrow and passion, they can hardly be said 
 to show more than the possession in Jonson's youth of a 
 certain aptitude for tragedy which he later deliberately 
 stifled. 
 
 While thus adopting classical and Renaissance ideas 
 in regard to the purpose of dramatic writing, Jonson 
 does not necessarily hold that that purpose can be at- 
 tained only through narrow observance of classical rule. 
 Particularly specific is his statement concerning comedy. 
 In the Induction to Every Man out of bis Humour, he 
 says in effect that, since even in classical times the rules 
 governing the structure of a comedy were altered from 
 time to time, there is no reason why modern writers of 
 comedy should not introduce further alterations if it seems 
 advisable to do so. 
 
 Yet even in comedy as time goes on he adheres more 
 closely to the ancient doctrine; thus in the Dedication to 
 Volpone he says that he is bringing back to the stage, 
 not merely "the ancient forms, but manners of the scene, 
 the easiness, the propriety, the innocence, and last, the 
 doctrine, which is the principal end of poesie, to inform 
 men in the best reason of living." In The Alchemist 
 and Epicoene, as well as in his other comedies, there is 
 in almost every case a strenuous effort made to conform 
 to classical precept. 
 
 Apparently tragedy is not equally independent. In the 
 Induction the principal reason alleged for permitting mod- 
 ern alteration in comedy is that the laws governing that 
 
 in Castelain, Ben yonson, Appendix B. There is really no means of 
 solving the problem, save perhaps by adducing the Jesuit doctrine 
 of probable opinions.
 
 xxxvi jfntroDuction 
 
 form have not been ' ' delivered ab initio, and in their 
 present virtue and perfection," for in that case, "there 
 had been some reason of obeying their powers." But 
 as classical writers of comedy altered and improved, so 
 may we do. Moreover, Jonson has nowhere traced the 
 development of ancient tragedy as he has that of comedy 
 in this passage, and without question he did not know 
 that the choruses were often omitted in the later period.' 
 He would, too, be especially influenced by the fact that 
 whereas Terence and Plautus differ markedly in the 
 matter of structure from Aristophanes, Seneca differs com- 
 paratively little in the same respect from Sophocles and 
 Euripides. Thus he might readily assume that classical 
 criticism admitted that its laws of comedy were change- 
 able, but made no such admission with regard to the 
 other type, and that the greater stability of the rules of 
 ancient tragedy made obedience to them well-nigh imper- 
 ative.* 
 
 1 Haigh, Tragic Drama of the Gretkt, 451-1. 
 
 * The baffling nature of any attempt to arrive at a final statement 
 of Jonson'* critical views U illustrated by this passage from the Dit- 
 coveriei, 79-80: " I am not of that opinion to conclude a poet's 
 liberty within the narrow limits of laws which either the grammarians 
 or philosophers prescribe. For before they found out those laws there 
 were many excellent poets that fulfilled them, amongst whom none 
 more perfect than Sophocles, who lived a little before Aristotle. ' ' As 
 Aristotle does not deal with comedy, and as Jonson has already point- 
 ed out in the Induction that the ancient laws of comedy were not 
 fixed, we may conclude that in this passage he has tragedy especially 
 in mind, and that he is declaring the independence of the modern 
 tragic poet. Yet the declaration U by no means so complete as it 
 sounds. For while the poet may be declared independent of the 
 critic, he ii not declared independent of great example; and from the 
 second sentence we learn definitely that there are laws and that poets
 
 3]ntroDuction 
 
 Again, in the preface to Sejanus, Jonson regrets the 
 fact that the conditions under which Sejanus is presented 
 make it impossible to observe " the old state and splendor 
 of dramatic poems," the play being defective, as ex- 
 pressly stated, in respect to "the strict laws of time, ' ' and 
 the " want of a proper chorus. ' ' Such language makes it 
 clear that the ancient practice should have been followed 
 in these matters. So important apparently is the chorus 
 that he calls Catiline in the Dedication a "legitimate 
 poem " (the phrase should be contrasted with the "no 
 true poem" of the preface to Sejanus}, although the 
 presence of the chorus is the chief structural difference 
 between the two. 
 
 The fragment called the Fall of Mortimer r is of very 
 
 practiced them before the critics found them out. Aristotle is a great 
 critic because (compare Discoveries, p. 78) he systematized and 
 explained the practice of preceding writers. What Jonson means, 
 I think, is that the true poet has a soundness of instinct that leads 
 him to obey rules before they are discovered and formulated. 
 
 1 It comprises an ' Argument,' including analyses of the choruses, 
 a list of dramatis personae, and about 70 lines of i, i, made up of 
 a soliloquy by Mortimer, and a brief dialogue between him and Isa- 
 bella. There are eight male characters, including a ' nuntius,' and 
 one female, besides choruses of ladies, of courtiers, of country justices, 
 and of unnamed persons, perhaps citizens. 
 
 Mortimer's rise to power is not to be represented, nor the growth 
 of his liaison with Isabella. Act i " comprehends Mortimer's pride 
 and security" and the advice given him by the Bishop of Worces- 
 ter; n, the incredulity of Edward III as regards the reports against 
 Mortimer and Isabella; in, a relation, by way of vision, of the events 
 leading up to the given situation; iv, the change of mind on the part 
 of Edward, and his plans for the overthrow of Mortimer; v, the re- 
 lation to the Earl of Lancaster, presumably by the Nuntius, of the 
 outcome of these plans. The surprising of Mortimer in the Queen's 
 chamber and his execution are related by the chorus between iv
 
 xxxviii ImroDtiction 
 
 great interest in this connection. So far as the Argument 
 informs us, absolutely nothing was to happen on the stage, 
 and it was evidently Jonson's purpose to reduce the plot 
 to the lowest terms and make everything turn on the 
 portrayal of character and the introduction of moral and 
 political philosophy. Thus Mortimer's soliloquy ex- 
 pounds and defends the principles upon which he has 
 acted, and the few lines spoken by Isabella reveal a de- 
 sign to infuse into her character an element of passion 
 supposedly in harmony with her French birth. This 
 paucity of action forms a striking contrast to the other 
 tragedies. Although in them some incidents are narrated 
 rather than represented and others undramatically treated, 
 yet enough takes place before the spectator to show that 
 jonson had at that time no objection to action as such 
 on the tragic stage. The very multiplicity of figures, to- 
 gether with their constant coming and going, is an effect- 
 ive substitute for action even in the more rhetorical por- 
 
 and v. Everything might easily take place in one day, and there 
 teems to be no suggestion of a change of scene from the Palace, where 
 the play opens. 
 
 Of interest, further, is the fact that there were to be at least three 
 and presumably four chorus groups, each having its own place in the 
 play, and that these groups were not to be combined. Chorus 4 might 
 be said to have a part in the action, since it narrates events falling 
 between iv and v, were it not for the fact that this narration is 
 evidently repeated by the Nuntius to Lancaster, in v. 
 
 Sejaaut has no chorus. Catiline has one, but it takes no part in the 
 action, and there is no suggestion that it is a double chorus, that is, is 
 made up of different groups. (A double chorus, chorusduplex, is found 
 in two plays of Seneca; none is found in Greek tragedy, but Aristo- 
 phanes employs it.) In Stjanui and Catiline, moreover, the speaking 
 parts number at least thirty-seven and thirty-three respectively.
 
 ^Introduction 
 
 tions. ' Yet another important contrast is in the fact that 
 the whole arrangement and disposition of material as dis- 
 played in the Argument make it well-nigh certain that 
 in Mortimer Jonson was striving to preserve the unities 
 of time and place. No effort to do this is apparently 
 made in either Catiline or Sejanus, though it is true that 
 in the latter play the scene is not removed from Rome. 
 And finally, whereas Mortimer, like ancient tragedy, 
 does not present a series of incidents, but deals with the 
 last incident of a series whereof the earlier members are 
 narrated to the audience or perhaps known to them 
 beforehand, both Sejanus and Catiline are of a different 
 type. Each of them begins, so to speak, with the begin- 
 ning, and follows the series step by step. 
 
 As in the case of comedy, we observe a gradual sub- 
 mission on Jonson' s part to the dominion of the class- 
 ics. 2 Catiline has a slightly simpler action than Se- 
 janus, a greater amount of oratory, and a chorus. In 
 
 1 In the Induction to Every Man out of his Humour Jonson 
 points out certain dramatic advantages resulting from having the stage 
 full of figures. 
 
 2 I assume that the fragment belongs to the period of Jonson'i 
 life after the fire that consumed his books and papers (1623?). 
 Such is the natural assumption, and I know of no reason why it 
 should not be made. But any date later than 1611, the year of 
 Catiline, would satisfy the conditions of the discussion above. 
 Fleay's conjecture (Biographical Chronicle of the Drama, I, 56, 
 356) that the fragment is to be identified with the ' Mortimer ' of 
 Henslowe's Diary, 1602, is, I think, placed absolutely out of court 
 by Greg's remarks in his edition of the Diary, n, 1 88, 224. Such 
 evidence as we have is all in favor of the unqualified acceptance of 
 Sir Kenelm Digby's note on the fragment, " Hee dy'd, and left it 
 unfinished."
 
 xl ^Introduction 
 
 the fragment the classical principles, as then understood, 
 have triumphed, though the very fact that the play was 
 not carried beyond the mere beginning may properly 
 raise the question how far such momentary and isolated, 
 even though complete triumph, is of importance in the 
 general view of Jonson's critical beliefs. 
 
 Such a process would without doubt be furthered by 
 the irritating influence of public disapproval. Jonson 
 always stuck by his guns, and worked them the more 
 rapidly as shot and shell fell thicker about him. In St- 
 janus he tried to meet the vulgar halfway; ' yet even 
 thus he was not ' safe from the wolf's black jaw, and 
 the dull ass's hoof,' and he attained only a iutces d'es- 
 time. He was a man to regret concession and to ask 
 whether he had not turned traitor to the cause. In Cat- 
 iline appeared the chorus which in Sejanus had seemed 
 too great an offense to public taste ; this time the play 
 was damned. His next tragedy should be impeccable. 
 After all he made no fetish of popularity ; now he 
 would write as his conscience bade him. 
 
 Such being Jonson's conception of tragedy in general, 
 we may ask whether he furnishes us with specific in- 
 formation regarding historical tragedy, the kind that he 
 cultivated almost exclusively. 2 No formal discussion of 
 
 1 Obviously Professor Walter Raleigh is going too far (Style, 
 70-71) in saying that "Jonson would have boasted that he never 
 made the sacrifice ' ' (i. e. , on the altar of popularity) ; he forgot the 
 preface to Stjanui. 
 
 * Jonson's apparent preference for historical tragedy over the 
 other types is not difficult to understand. It was easily fitted to didac- 
 tic purposes. These men had lived, they had committed these 
 crimes, they had been thus punished, whether by other men or by
 
 3IntroDuction xii 
 
 this type as distinct from others occurs in his work. 
 Yet something may be gathered from incidental remarks. 
 ' Truth of argument ' is one of the ' offices of a tragic 
 writer,' and Jonson excuses the pedantic accumulation 
 of references in the notes to Sejanus on the ground that 
 thereby he shows his ' integrity in the story ' and baffles 
 ' those common torturers that bring all wit to the rack.' 
 At once he ranges himself with those who would deny 
 the right of the historical dramatist to manipulate his 
 facts to suit his understanding of character and the 
 forces determining the course of events. 1 Thus an- 
 
 fate. " But it is more agreeable with the Gravity of a Tragedy 
 that it be grounded upon a true History, where the Greatness of a 
 Known Person, urging Regard, doth work the more powerfully upon 
 the Affections. " (SirW. Alexander, Anacrhh, in Spingarn's Seven- 
 teenth Century Critical Essays, I, 186. ) Moreover, Jonson's own 
 period had a special fondness for historical drama. Gamier in France, 
 the Humanists in Italy, the Renaissance poets generally seemed on 
 the whole to think that a drama was the better if it had some his- 
 torical foundation. It is not necessary to do more than refer to the 
 fact that at least sixteen of Shakespeare's plays have an historical or 
 supposedly historical basis, and that of his serious or tragic plays, 
 only Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and perhaps Troilus and Cressida 
 are without it. And finally, classical tragedy was historical, though 
 not perhaps in our sense of the word. The myths of Greece and 
 Rome, whatever interpretation might be placed upon them by ad- 
 vanced thinkers, however the imagination of the poet might be per- 
 mitted to adapt them to his purposes, were still accepted by the 
 generality of men as records of their early history, much for ex- 
 ample as the first chapters of Genesis were so accepted in the eight- 
 eenth century. 
 
 1 The vexed question of how far in this manipulation the poet 
 should be permitted to go, at what point historical drama ceases to 
 be such and becomes merely drama, need not concern us here, 
 since it is tolerably evident that Jonson refuses to concede the right,
 
 xlii 3|ntroDuction 
 
 other restriction is placed upon the poet, who is com- 
 pelled to attack his problem primarily from the intellect- 
 ual rather than the imaginative point of view. Consider 
 Sfjaaus and Catiline devoid of historical basis, like Phil- 
 aster or Faust, and our interest in them is greatly less- 
 ened. The free flight of imagination is restrained by 
 the jesses of material fact ; yet a partial, if not an entire 
 independence is the first condition of the exercise of 
 creative power. When this independence is denied, the 
 dramatist has simply to make the best of the matter and 
 accomplish as satisfactory an adaptation of given means 
 to given ends as circumstances allow ; a high degree of 
 such adaptation, to put it frankly, is what Jonson's tra- 
 gedy displays. 
 
 A very definite notion of what an historical drama 
 should not be Jonson formed early in his career, and in 
 the Prologue to Every Man in bis Humour he gave it 
 the frankest expression. Though he is there speaking 
 of the contemporary stage in general, it is evident that 
 he has a special eye upon the chronicle history. Its fre- 
 quent bombastic language, its attempt to cover loosely 
 and disconnectedly long periods of time and large spaces 
 of ground, and the absurdities resulting from the repre- 
 sentation of battles by means of a few ragged ' supers ' 
 were without doubt legitimate grounds of objection even 
 in the eyes of less exacting critics. These faults Jonson 
 was careful to avoid in his own work. ' 
 
 further than is implied in the simple fact of dramatization. Worth 
 notice is the similar attitude that he assumes toward translation j cf. 
 Spingarn, Seventeenth Century Critical Etiayi, i, liv. 
 
 1 Remarks on other elements in his conception of historical drama 
 are to be found in the next section.
 
 ^Introduction 
 
 We have so far been considering Sejanus and Catiline 
 in connection with ancient theory. What about ancient 
 practice ? What dramatist more particularly embodied 
 his ideals of tragedy ? Naturally he knew the Greeks 
 well, but as Hofmiller has suggested, he had perhaps 
 but slight appreciation of their aesthetic value. His affin- 
 ities indeed were markedly Roman, and the same writer 
 calls attention to the characteristic fact that none of the 
 biographies of Plutarch suggested a subject to him, but 
 rather the decaying Republic and the favorite-ridden 
 Empire. 
 
 Thus Jonson's model was Seneca, a choice imposed 
 upon him no doubt by the literary and critical conditions 
 of the time, 1 yet ill-advised. For Seneca's plays lack 
 action and plotting, abound in long bombastic speeches, 
 and deal with single situations spun out to the limit of 
 rhetorical ingenuity. Whether composed or not for the 
 stage, the dramatic ideals of their author were widely 
 different from ours, as well as from those of the Greeks. 
 
 Naturally we may not reproach Jonson in these terms. 
 In common with the formal criticism of his day, howev- 
 er, he failed to perceive that these plays were essentially 
 undramatic, and regarded their characteristic qualities as 
 important elements of good tragedy. It is the gravity 
 and height of Seneca's elocution, the fullness and fre- 
 quency of his sentence, in a word, his rhetoric, that 
 Jonson approves. Of the four points that he emphasizes, 
 
 1 An excellent analysis of some of the reasons why Seneca should 
 have been the favorite tragic writer of the sixteenth century is found 
 in Bernage, t.tude sur Robert Gamier , pp. 56. Much of what he 
 says, not to be reproduced here, would apply to English dramatists 
 and perhaps especially to Jonson.
 
 xliv jlmroDiicttcm 
 
 all but one, perhaps that one also, may be called purely 
 'rhetorical' excellences. Neither dignity of persons, 
 nor gravity and height of elocution, nor fullness and fre- 
 quency of sentence constitute the essence of tragedy ; 
 each when pursued as an end in itself dulls our insight 
 into the situation before us. Jonson's soundness of taste, 
 to be sure, as well as the awful example of some of his 
 immediate predecessors and contemporaries, kept him 
 from often indulging in the bombast that forms so ugly 
 an excrescence on the style of his Latin model. For all 
 that, Sejanus produces too much the effect of a tragedy 
 of words. The plot does unquestionably embrace action 
 enough, but that action does not always tell. The word is 
 not so much the expression of the deed as the deed is 
 the mere occasion for the word. Statistics such as those 
 in the note below, 1 though not in themselves of much 
 importance, help us to realize vividly the rhetorical nature 
 of the drama. 
 
 Certain structural defects may be briefly noticed. It 
 should be remembered that two threads of interest are 
 to be kept in sight, the plot of Sejanus and Tiberius 
 against the family of Agrippina, and the plot of Sejanus 
 
 1 In Sejanus, about one fifth of the dialogue is spoken by the group 
 of Arruntius, Sabinus, Silius, Cordui, all, except perhaps Siliuj, minor 
 figures (speeches of from one to three lines are not counted). Ti- 
 berius has one speech of sixty lines, two of forty-five, two of thirty- 
 five, one of thirty, one of twenty-five ; Sejanus has six of twenty 
 lines, three of twenty-four, one of thirty-three, two of thirty-seven, 
 one of forty-two. There are a number of other speeches of more 
 thin twenty lines. Roughly speaking, about a thousand lines, prac- 
 tically a third of the play, are in speeches of from twenty to sixty 
 lines. I have not included the speeches of fifteen to twenty lines, 
 nor the long letter in v, viii.
 
 against Tiberius. The execution of the first is a step to 
 that of the second, yet Sejanus necessarily conducts both 
 at the same time. Unity of impression demands that 
 the various steps in these two intrigues be kept before 
 the reader in their proper relation, and the maintenance 
 of such a relation in turn demands that the emphasis be 
 placed consistently upon the course taken by Sejanus. 
 
 Certainly there is no doubt that Sejanus is properly 
 emphasized, so far as the first plot is concerned. But 
 from the middle of the play to the end, the emphasis 
 is placed on the counter-plot against him, and he be- 
 comes in the main a purely passive figure. To be sure, 
 the progress of his plot against Tiberius is constantly 
 hinted at, but it is not worked out. There is indeed no 
 room for its development. So much has been devoted to 
 the first plot that the second, involving as it necessarily 
 does the counter-intrigue of Tiberius and Macro, must, 
 in the slow and tortuous manner that Jonson has adopted, 
 be incompletely shown. There seems to be a real fail- 
 ure in proportion, with the result of a shift of emphasis 
 in the middle of the play. In the first part stress is laid 
 upon the line of action diligently pursued by Sejanus, 
 in the second upon that pursued by Tiberius through 
 his agent Macro. Tiberius disappears from the scene, 
 and Macro, introduced at the end of the third act, be- 
 comes the active figure and occupies almost as much 
 space in the canvas as the minister himself. 
 
 Again, too much space is devoted to preparation, too 
 little to action. After the interview with Eudemus, 
 Sejanus seduces Livia, and the plot against Drusus is 
 concocted. Of the execution of the plot, dramatically
 
 xlvi ^Introduction 
 
 more important than the planning, we are informed 
 only by hearsay. Many scenes prepare for the destruc- 
 tion of the family of Agrippina, but that catastrophe 
 comes upon the stage only in the meeting of Arruntius 
 and Lepidus with Nero and the interview of Macro 
 with Caligula. The eye of the spectator is constantly 
 stimulated, so to speak, by a perspective of action to the 
 end of which it is not allowed to penetrate. 
 
 A third point may be illustrated by the trial of Silius. 
 The removal of that nobleman is merely incidental to 
 the overthrow of Agrippina, and is important only as 
 it renders easier the accomplishment of that end. Yet, 
 so far as the dramatic impression goes, his trial is treated 
 as though it were the climax of the play, a proceeding 
 hardly justified by the fact that it does help to create 
 historical atmosphere and explain the character of Tibe- 
 rius. Furthermore, why should the trial of Cordus be 
 introduced ? And lastly, even Gifford admits that the 
 play ends badly, that is, that it is prolonged beyond the 
 proper point. 1 
 
 Ill 
 
 About 1600 the historical drama flourished with 
 greater vigor than it has since. The Elizabethans de- 
 manded action above all, and the records of the past 
 furnished an extensive store of plots and incidents. 
 Every writer was freely conceded the right of hand- 
 
 1 Castelain, Ben jfonun t p. 506, goes to far ai to insist, speaking 
 of the comedies, that Jonson had no constructive faculty, and that 
 the structural excellence of The Alchtmnt was a happy accident ; 
 a vrai dire, mcme pour un Anglais, il com poult mal. '
 
 3flntrotiuetion 
 
 ling these in the manner would best serve him with his 
 public, and the natural result was that historical matter 
 of every sort was utilized for every conceivable purpose 
 and treated in every conceivable way. 
 
 Up to the time of Marlowe, it does not appear that 
 any dramatist who dealt with historical material consid- 
 ered that material as at all different from any other that 
 he might employ. Bale and Preston used it for didactic 
 and controversial purposes ; Sackville and Norton tried 
 to fashion out of it a tragedy after Seneca ; in the Famous 
 Victories of Henry V it served to arouse laughter and 
 tickle national pride. On every hand historical material, 
 or what passed for such, as in the case of Gorboduc, 
 underwent the freest treatment, while material that the 
 writers knew was not historical was lavishly introduced. 
 Even in Marlowe's Tamburlaine, there is no trace of 
 anything that we should call the historical spirit. That 
 appears first in his series of chronicle-plays, of which the 
 last is Edward II, composed apparently about 1592.' 
 
 In Edward II Marlowe handles his material very 
 freely in the way of omissions, changes in detail, and so 
 on, and yet some motive other than that of mere altera- 
 tion for stage purposes seems to guide him. Edward II 
 was a weak prince, given over to favorites and sur- 
 rounded by a turbulent nobility. In that formula lay for 
 
 1 I assume that there is to-day general agreement as to the con- 
 clusions of Miss Jane Lee with regard to the share, apparently the 
 predominating share, of Marlowe in the First Part of the Conten- 
 tion, the True Tragedy of Richard Duke of Tort, and the three 
 parts of Henry VI. Mr. Charles Crawford, Collectanea, I, 79, 
 states that he is prepared to prove that Marlowe had no hand in 
 these plays; but I believe that he has not yet published his evidence.
 
 xlviii ImtoDuctton 
 
 Marlowe the key to the events of 1307-1327. Nei- 
 ther the soundness of his instinct nor the excellence of 
 his play comes here into question; we are interested 
 solely in the fact that he apparently desired to get be- 
 low the surface of events and elucidate their central or 
 binding principle. 
 
 Shakespeare dealt with history in a manner perhaps 
 directly learned from Marlowe. He seems indeed in his 
 Roman plays to have conceived his figures as human 
 beings under Roman rule, Jonson to have tried to con- 
 ceive his as distinctly Romans. It is true enough that 
 in Coriolanui and Julius Caesar Shakespeare has given 
 expression to the activity of deep-lying historical forces, 
 in the one case the struggle between patrician and ple- 
 beian, in the other between a devitalized republicanism 
 and overshadowing tyranny ; yet the social conflict was 
 surely subordinate to human personality in action, and 
 is present largely because Shakespeare's insight forbade 
 him to depict character except under the conditions of 
 its development. He philosophized history for dramatic 
 reasons, and he nowhere attempts to do more than give 
 the essence of the situation as a basis for human action. 
 But merely the essence of the situation as a basis for 
 action did not suffice Jonson. He wished to present not 
 only that, but a picture of the time as complete in detail 
 as the paintings of a Dutch realist. His object was the 
 production of a ' Kulturbild,' ' and every aspect of Ro- 
 
 1 It is this fact that explains the presence of scenes that are in his 
 best satirically comic vein (Sejanus, n, i ; Catiline, n ) , and that 
 seemed to Dryden (Ettay of Dramatic Poesy) ' of an ill mingle with 
 the rest.' They are essential elements of the social picture, the
 
 3)ntroDuction xlix 
 
 man daily life was grist to his mill in tragedy as in 
 comedy. Manners were as much the subject of his 
 attention in the one as in the other, and if the phrase 
 were not absurd, we might go so far as to call Sejanus 
 a 'tragedy of manners.' r At least, it strongly reminds 
 us of Coleridge's remarks on the school of Pope in the 
 Biographia Liter aria "I saw that the excellence of 
 this kind consisted in just and acute observations on men 
 and manners in an artificial state of society, as its mat- 
 ter and substance." Thus Jonson's plays are mosaics, 
 constructed of fragments taken from this writer and that 
 and fitted together with admirable literary skill; Shake- 
 speare, on the other hand, rests content perhaps with 
 a single historical authority. Thus Jonson writes his 
 plays with a distinctly satirical purpose, whereas Shake- 
 speare desires merely to depict human life. Thus Jon- 
 son is deeply influenced by Seneca, writes rhetorical 
 tragedy, and his plays are mines of classical learning; 
 Shakespeare ignores Seneca, writes tragedies that keep 
 the stage, and we wonder whether he could read his 
 Plutarch in the original. 2 
 
 completeness of which Dryden himself recognizes in another passage 
 in the same essay: " With the spoils of these writers he so repre- 
 sents old Rome to us, in its rites, ceremonies, and customs, that if 
 one of their poets had written either of his tragedies, we had seen 
 less of it than in him." He is more Roman than the Romans 
 themselves. 
 
 1 For interesting remarks, with which I cannot wholly agree, as 
 to whether Jonson, 'as dramatist, was not really a poet, but a 
 painter,' see Castelain, 541, and the passage there quoted from 
 Barrett Wendell's Temper of the Seventeenth Century in English 
 Literature. 
 
 3 " Jonson n'a pas donne une idee aussi exacte, une conception
 
 1 JmroDtimon 
 
 So historical realism first enters the English drama 
 may we not indeed say the modern drama ? with Jon- 
 son. He is the first dramatist to " take away the liberty 
 of a poet, and tetter his feet in the shackles of an his- 
 torian." How far he carries this realism it needs but a 
 glance at such scenes as in, i, and v, iv, to perceive. 
 It was a trait fostered by the whole spirit of Latin lit- 
 erature, and intimately bound up with his own satirical 
 and didactic purpose. 
 
 But does historical realism interfere with the exercise 
 of the historical spirit in the larger sense ? Does minute 
 attention to detail obstruct the clear presentation of the 
 forces at work ? How far is Jonson's picture, not merely 
 realistic but true ? 
 
 In Sejanus are mirrored the servility of most of the no- 
 bles, the discontent of a small number who sigh for the 
 'old liberty,' the absolute selfishness of the courtiers, 
 the case and impunity with which great crimes could be 
 committed, a head of the state given over to unmen- 
 tionable lusts, in short, what used to be thought of as the 
 profound decay of Roman society. With the same all- 
 embracing learning which made him 'special en tout 
 genre,' Jonson treated this one. Hardly a minor inci- 
 dent, hardly a speech is there, which, whether original 
 or not with Jonson, does not find its warrant in con- 
 temporary authority. One gets from him quite as 
 
 ausgi nettc du monde remain que Shakespeare, avec toutcs set fautes 
 et tout set anachronismcs. Le classique Jonson a reproduit le cos- 
 tume, 1'enveloppe exterieure du vrai Romain, le romantiquc Shake- 
 speare a mieux sonde Tame romaine et nous 1'a mieux fait con- 
 naitre." Charlanne, L' Influence Franfaite en Angleterre an 
 Siecle, 6 7 .
 
 JlntroDuction H 
 
 vivid a picture of the state of society as from Tacitus 
 and Juvenal. 
 
 Obviously one must not speak too strongly. Jonson 
 was a professed satirist, who drew his material in the 
 main from satirical writers, and this fact alone would 
 make us suspect exaggeration. Indeed we know to-day 
 that Roman society, even in the time of Sejanus, was 
 hardly so corrupt as our ancestors thought it, that Lucul- 
 lus, Apicius, Vitellius, the Golden House of Nero, in 
 sum, the names and incidents that have in the past 
 been regarded as typical of Rome's social decay, of 
 her prodigality and luxury, were doubtless in reality 
 somewhat exceptional, that the standard by which 
 her moralists and satirists condemned her was different 
 from ours, more rigid frequently, and in some ways based 
 upon a false conception of social and economic forces. 
 We know too that luxury has attained a greater absolute 
 and perhaps even relative height in modern times than 
 ever during antiquity, and that there have been later 
 periods than the Roman in which the corruption of 
 morals and manners has been doubtless at least as great. 
 We know that there must have been within the Roman 
 state some magazine of social strength upon which it 
 could draw for sustenance and cohesion. 1 
 
 Yet our knowledge of these facts rests on a founda- 
 tion laid since Jonson' s day. It rests on the accumulated 
 results of decade on decade of diligent historical study, 
 upon the maintenance of a point of view attained only 
 through trial after trial of misleading paths, and upon 
 
 1 Friedlaender, Sittengeschichte Roms ; Dill, Roman Society from 
 Nero to Marcus Aurclius.
 
 lii 3]ntroDuctton 
 
 a conception of human life and progress that three 
 centuries ago came barely within the circle of the most 
 extravagant speculation. By no possibility could any 
 Elizabethan have come to such conclusions. Accuracy 
 for Jonson consisted necessarily in the reproduction of 
 Tacitus and the satirists, as faithfully as conditions of dra- 
 matic presentation would permit. And even for us his 
 inaccuracy lies, not in any perversion of the truth, but 
 solely in an unavoidable deepening in tone of the whole 
 picture. 
 
 In some slight degree, perhaps, this exaggeration 
 may have had a different cause. As a professed satirist 
 and censor of morals, Jonson doubtless r.ead history 
 with an eye upon the busy London life about him. 1 
 When he read the words put by Sallust into the mouth 
 of Catiline about the ever-growing luxury of the Roman 
 nobles, it would be natural for him to remember that 
 within his own lifetime the wealth of England had in- 
 creased remarkably and with it the scale of living. Per- 
 haps in no century has English life undergone a greater 
 change than from i 5 50-1 660. It was a period of great 
 wealth and great expenditure, of rapid revolution in 
 fashion, of the introduction of new forms of enjoyment, 
 of tearing down old castles and erecting in their stead 
 great mansions, of spending fortunes in making a so- 
 cial figure, features of the time which he has abundantly 
 illustrated in his comedy. 2 Nor were there lacking 
 
 1 Doe* he not practically admit thit when he lays in the extract 
 quoted from Tkt Magnetic Lady that he continued " in alt hit plays, 
 . . . some rtctnt humours still, or manners of men, that ivtnt 
 along tvitk tkt timtt ' ' f The italics are mine. 
 
 * See Dray ton, Polyolbion, xvi, 340 ff.
 
 31ntroDuction liii 
 
 minor parallels. The conspiracy of Essex might be dis- 
 tantly compared to that of Sejanus or Catiline. The 
 needy soldiers of Sylla found their descendants in the 
 numerous army of poor soldiers that begged on the Lon- 
 don streets. If the Senate burned books, so did Parlia- 
 ment. Elizabeth and James lacked neither flatterers 
 nor favorites. Above all, society seemed to become 
 more and more corrupt with the rapid departure from 
 the older ideals of English life. That Jonson should 
 have felt it worth while to point a moral for his own 
 time, and to point it sharply, is not difficult to believe. 
 Allowances must then be made before we can call 
 Jonson's pictures of Roman society faithful to the orig- 
 inal. Making these allowances, however, we may say 
 that they are truthful and vivid studies of two epochs in 
 Roman life. 1 Far from confounding the characteristics 
 of the two, Jonson has kept them distinctly apart. The 
 vices and the crimes of the one are not the vices and 
 the crimes of the other. A conspiracy like that of Cat- 
 
 1 " Take it [Catiline] and Sejanus, as compositions of a particu- 
 lar kind, namely, as a mode of relating great historical events in 
 the liveliest and most interesting manner, and I cannot help wishing 
 that we had whole volumes of such plays. We might as rationally 
 expect the excitement of the Vicar of Wakefield from Goldsmith's 
 History of England, as that of Lear, Othello, Sec. from the Sejanus 
 or Catiline." Coleridge, Works, iv, 193. In other words, Jonson 
 fulfills here Boissier's ideal : " Une table des matieres, contenant les 
 principaux faits, relates a leur date, avec un renvoi aux dissertations 
 savantes qui les ont elucides, ne ferait pas notre affaire. Nous sou- 
 haitons qu'on nous en donne le spectacle, nous voulons les voir ; or, 
 c'est veritablement un art, le plus rare, le plus precieux peut-etre de 
 tous les arts, que de savoir leur rendre la vie ; d'ou ilsuit qu'un his- 
 torien, en meme temps qu'un savant, a besoin d'etre un artiste." 
 Tacite, 60-6 1.
 
 liv jlmroDurrion 
 
 iline would not have had the least chance of success 
 under the closely organized rule of Tiberius. Under 
 the latter, there was only an opportunity for court 
 intrigue ; the court, not society at large, is the centre of 
 interest, and the whole tone of Sejanus as compared with 
 that of Catiline, is true to the passage from a republic 
 to a tyranny. 
 
 Society too is more degenerate in the later period ; 
 "nihil prisci et integri moris" is the lament of Taci- 
 tus. However widespread indeed had been the vices 
 of the republic, there had yet existed a soundness of 
 thought and feeling that made it possible to save the 
 state. Cato was still alive. A hundred years later it is 
 a question, not of saving the state, but of changing em- 
 perors, 1 and the appeal is made, not to virtue and 
 patriotism, but to purely selfish motives. The nobles 
 have become flatterers ; the saving remnant is gradually 
 exterminated ; the delator has come into being. Self- 
 seeking, flattery, servility, cowardice, are the striking 
 features of public life. Jonson has caught the difference 
 between the two epochs of Roman history. 
 
 From the point of view then of harmonizing, so far 
 as the knowledge of his day permitted, these two things, 
 historical realism and the historical spirit, Jonson pro- 
 duced in Sejanus, and for that matter in Catiline also, 
 a masterpiece ; each is the achievement of a great his- 
 torian. Unfortunately, his dramatic method was unsuit- 
 ed to his purpose, for the old method of Seneca and the 
 Greeks obviously cannot be successfully employed with 
 
 1 Tacitus, Hittarits, II, 38 : et nunquam postea nisi de princi- 
 patu quaesitum.
 
 3flntrotmetion lv 
 
 a purely realistic design. Tiberius surrounded by a 
 chorus of Roman nobles, chanting over his intimate plans 
 in melodious verse! Jonson felt that absurdity and 
 made the best of the case by inserting the group of Ar- 
 runtius, Sabinus, Lepidus, and Silius. They fulfill some 
 of the functions of a chorus, mingling in the plot 
 and commenting on it for the spectator's benefit. True, 
 their prominence means loss of dramatic action as we 
 think of it, but dramatic action as such he did not re- 
 gard as an end in itself. What he did try to do was to 
 cast material, toward which he felt a scrupulous duty of 
 accurate representation, into a form approximating as 
 closely as conditions permitted that of older tragedy. 
 Necessarily there resulted a conflict between historical 
 realism and the traditional conception of tragic form. 
 
 This scrupulosity of artistic conscience involved him 
 in further dramatic difficulties. The part of Tacitus deal- 
 ing with the later stage of Sejanus's conspiracy is lost. 
 Dio, who forms Jonson' s principal authority for that 
 portion of the play, gives us little of the information 
 we have already pointed out as desirable. Hence Jonson 
 could not give to Sejanus a more active role without add- 
 ing more than he thought himself justified in doing. 1 
 In other words, his desire to be historically accurate 
 prevents him from giving to the figure of Sejanus in the 
 
 1 The only suggestion we have in the play as to the exact steps 
 Sejanus intended to take are in u, ii, ad Jin., where he apparently 
 intends to make Tiberius so hated as to excite an uprising, then sacri- 
 fice him to the people's rage, and ride to supreme power on a wave 
 of popular favor. The measures he takes in v, iv, are merely ex- 
 temporized measures of self-protection, and the attack of Tiberius 
 really finds him quite unprepared.
 
 Ivi IntroDttmon 
 
 latter part the needed strength and energy, and it is for 
 this reason that Sejanus becomes a passive figure, and 
 that we have the shift of emphasis earlier remarked. 
 
 Inclining to the didacticism of tragedy, Jonson also 
 stood in contrast to the generality of his competitors. 
 The writer of chronicle history, for example, wished 
 only to interest his public. If he had any lesson to teach, 
 it was of the greatness and glory of the English nation, 
 a lesson of patriotism. But even this, we may suspect, 
 was only by the way. In the main, his desire was to sup- 
 ply dramatic amusement, and he made use of history 
 because that was in public favor. To be sure, we may 
 occasionally discover a tendency in his work, as in the 
 case of the play of Sir John Oldcastle, apparently a Pur- 
 itan protest against the character of Falstaffe, to whom 
 Shakespeare had at first given the name of Oldcastle ; it 
 is true that occasionally his work was made to serve a 
 more markedly partisan aim, as in the performance of 
 the play of Richard II (whether Shakespeare's or not) 
 just before the rebellion of the Earl of Essex; it is true 
 that the chronicle history was violently anti-Spanish, 
 anti-Catholic. But these facts cannot be made to show 
 that it was didactic. That it incidentally taught the 
 people a rude kind of history is doubtless true; we have 
 no reason to believe, however, that, more than any other 
 kind of drama, it taught them morals. 
 
 So with the historical drama treating foreign themes. 
 It was occasionally a semi-controversial weapon, as in 
 Barnes' DeviTs Charter, a highly colored melodrama 
 of the lives and crimes of the Borgias. Chapman's his- 
 torical plays, too, though not didactic as regards the
 
 31nttoDuction ivii 
 
 action and characters, were markedly so in respect to 
 the profusely sententious and reflective dialogue. In gen- 
 eral, however, the Elizabethan playwright dramatized 
 history for stage purposes alone, and troubled himself little 
 about the lessons drawn from his work by the public, so 
 long at least as they were not such as to get him into the 
 law's disfavor. If his play exerted a moral influence, it 
 was only as every work of art does, by being true to 
 life. 
 
 And thus in conclusion we might return to the ear- 
 lier comparison of Jonson's tragedies and comedies, and 
 say that the dramatic faults of both are in some measure 
 due to the same cause, namely, that he wrote so often 
 with an extra-dramatic purpose. Sometimes, even in the 
 best of his comedies, he will use a stage figure as the 
 mere mouthpiece of his own strictures on society ; his 
 characters, that is, sometimes speak out of character 
 through the overmastering desire on the part of their 
 creator to rebuke vice and folly. It is hardly straining 
 a point to feel that Sabinus, Lepidus, Arruntius, in the 
 play before us sometimes give utterance to sentiments 
 that are Jonson's rather than their own, and his obvious 
 desire to embody a moral shows clearly that he did not 
 write with an eye single to the stage ; it was certainly 
 no dramatic purpose ;hat gave rise to the last one hun- 
 dred and fifty lines. Unfortunately, the drama judges 
 by conformity to dramatic requirements, and when these 
 are violated makes little allowance for encyclopedic learn- 
 ing, extraordinary industry, force and vigor of language, 
 depth of thought, minute analysis of character, profound 
 moral sense, or high artistic ideals. Such qualities will
 
 iviii Introduction 
 
 ensure a permanent place in literature, but not permanent 
 possession of the stage. ' 
 
 1 I had intended to discuss the question of the influence exerted on 
 later seventeenth-century tragedy by Ben Jonson, but space forbids. 
 In the notes are included a small number of passages, especially 
 from Wilson's Andronicut Comneniui, that seem to have found their 
 origin in Sejanut. A considerable mass of similar material, not all of 
 it so striking, remains to be studied. I hope to be able to deal with 
 some of it more at length.
 
 THE TEXT 
 
 It was originally proposed that this volume should include both 
 Catiline and Sejanus. As, however, Jonson's own notes to Sejanut 
 could not be omitted, nor a satisfactory notion of his methods of 
 writing tragedy be conveyed without frequent display of the material 
 employed, and as, moreover, some explanation of Roman usages, 
 social and other, seemed necessary, it was decided that but one play 
 could be treated within the assigned limits. 
 
 The following texts have been collated : Q (Quarto 1 605) ; F 
 (Folio 1616. Of this edition I have seen three copies: one belong- 
 ing to Mr. Otto Miller of Cleveland; one, FH, belonging to the 
 Harvard Library; one, FP, to Professor Phelps of Yale; there 
 are a number of important differences which have been carefully 
 noted, but such minor disagreements in punctuation, etc., as do not 
 affect the text are omitted) ; Fa (Folio 1640) ; F$ (Folio 1692); 
 A (1716) ; W (Whalley 1756); C (1811 reprint of Whalley); 
 G (Gifford 1816). 
 
 The aim has been to give an accurate reproduction of F except 
 typographically. The use of u's, v's, i's, j's, and long s's is 
 modernized, and the marginal matter is rearranged : a few comments 
 remain in the margin in small italics, but everything that could be 
 interpreted as stage-direction is drawn into the text. All other inten- 
 tional variations from F are noted as they occur ; they are very few, 
 as emendation has been avoided on Uncle Toby's principle that in 
 mending the sense one runs great danger of spoiling the letter. 
 
 Jonson's own notes, which are placed among those of the editor, 
 are found in Q, but not in the Folios or A. Gifford was the first to 
 reproduce them as a whole, though Whalley made occasional use 
 of them. One or two are found in the Folios as marginal notes. 
 Gifford occasionally misprints and omits, but no collation is given. 
 
 The variant readings are selective merely. Most misprints are not 
 noticed, except when occurring in F. The following classes of vari- 
 ants are omitted : differences in spelling and punctuation, except 
 where the text is directly affected ; expansions (usually originating
 
 with Giffbrd) like ' who is ' for ' who'i,' ' to erect ' for ' t'erect,' 
 ' you are ' for ' yo' are ' j insertion of e in the past participle and in 
 forms like miniaring, whispring, offering, etc. ; the regular modern- 
 ization of forms like itrookt (struct), then (than), ivhtthtr (jii- hither)-^ 
 differences like inough, enough, intreat, tntreat, imbratt, embrace, 
 which teem no more than mere difference* of spelling. The vari- 
 ant! are usually spelled as in the editions in which they first occur, 
 but there are perhaps a few violations of this rule. 
 
 GirTord was the first to divide into scenes, and his division is 
 generally followed. Frequent use is made of his stage-directions with- 
 out acknowledgment.
 
 S E I A N V S 
 
 his 
 
 FALL 
 
 Afted , in the yeere i 6 o 5. 
 By the K. MAI E STIES 
 
 SERVANTS. 
 
 The Author B. I. 
 
 MART. 
 
 . Ken hie CtatauTOSjnon Cargonas, Hirpyitfa 
 lncniei:HoHuncm ptgintaoftrt jtftt. 
 
 LONDON, 
 Printed by WILLIAM STAN SB y^ 
 
 M. DC. XVI.
 
 TO THE NO LESSE 
 
 NOBLE, BY VERTUE, 
 
 THEN BLOUD : 
 
 ESME 
 
 L. AUBIGNY. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 If ever any ruine were so great, as to survive ; I thinke 
 this be one I send you : The Fal of Sejanus. // is a poeme, 
 that (if I well remember) in your Lo. sight, suffered no 
 lesse violence from our people here, then the subject of it 5 
 did from the rage of the people of Rome ; but, with a dif- 
 ferent fate, as (I hope) merit: For this hath out-liv d their 
 malice, and begot it 3 elf e a greater favour then he lost, the 
 love of good men. Amongst whom, if I make your Lo. 
 the first it thankes, it is not without a just confession of the 10 
 bond your benefits have, and ever shall hold upon me. 
 Your Lo. most faithfull honorer, 
 
 BEN. JONSON. 
 
 To the . . . Jonson. Q, C, omit. Fz, etc., usually expand such 
 contractions as Ld. for Lord, etc. 
 z be. A, to be.
 
 [TO THE READERS. 
 
 The following, and voluntary Labours of my Friends, 
 prefix! to my Booke, have releived me in much, whereat 
 ( without them ) I should necessarilie have touchd : Now, 
 I will onely use three or foure short, and needfull Notes, 
 and so rest. 5 
 
 First, if it be objected, that what I publish is no true 
 Poeme ; in the strict Lawes of Time. I confesse it : as also 
 in the want of a proper Chorus, whose Habite, and Moodes 
 are such, and so difficult, as not any, whome I have seene 
 since the Auntients, ( no not they who have most presently 10 
 affected Lawes ) have yet come in the way off. Nor is it 
 needful, or almost possible, in these our Times, and to 
 such Auditors, as commonly Things are presented, to 
 observe the ould state, and splendour of Drammatick 
 Poemes, with preservation of any popular delight. But 15 
 of this I shall take more seasonable cause to ipeake; in my 
 Observation upon Horace his Art of Poetry, which ( with 
 the Text translated) I intend, shortly to publish. In the 
 meane time, if in truth of Argument, dignity of Persons, 
 gravity and height of Elocution, fulnesse and frequencie *> 
 of Sentence, I have discharg'd the other offices of a 
 Tragifk writer, let not the absence of these Formes be 
 imputed to me, wherein I shall give you occasion here- 
 after (and without my boast) to thinke I could better 
 prescribe, then omit the due use, for want of a convenient 5 
 knowledge. 
 
 The next is, least in some nice nostrill, the Quotations 
 might savour affected, I doe let you know, that I abhor 
 nothing more; and have onely done it to shew my integrity 
 
 7* ... Rtadtn. F, Fi, Fj, A, C omit these two page*. 
 17 Obur-vation. W, G, observations. 
 29 have. W, G, 1 have.
 
 (Do tl)f ivffl&rrs 5 
 
 in the Story, and save my selfe in those common Tortur- 30 
 ers, that bring all wit to the Rack: whose Noses are ever 
 like Swine spoyling, and rooting up the Muses Gardens, 
 and their whole Bodies, like Moles, as blindly working 
 under Earth to cast any, the least, hilles upon Venue. 
 
 Whereas, they are in Latine and the worke in English, 35 
 it was presupposd, none but the Learned would take the 
 paynes to conferre them, the Authors themselves being 
 all in the learned Tongues, save one, with whose English 
 side I have had little to doe : To which it may be required, 
 since I have quoted the Page, to name what Editions I 4 
 follow' d. Tacit. Lips, in 4. Antwerp, edit. 600. Dio. 
 Folio. Hen. Step 92. For the rest, as Sueton. Seneca. &c. 
 the Chapter doth sufficiently direct, or the Edition is not 
 varied. 
 
 Lastly, I would informe you, that this Booke, in all 45 
 nubers, is not the same with that which was acted on 
 the publike Stage, wherein a second Pen had good share: 
 in place of which I have rather chosen, to put weaker 
 (and no doubt lesse pleasing) of mine own, then to de- 
 fraud so happy a Genius of his right, by my lothed usur- 50 
 pation. 
 
 Fare you well. And if you read farder of me, and like, 
 I shall not be afraid of it though you praise me out. 
 
 Neque enim mihi cornea fibra est. 
 
 But that I should plant my felicity, in your generall say- 55 
 ing Good, or Well, Sec. were a weaknesse which the better 
 sort of you might worthily contenme, if not absolutely 
 hate me for. 
 
 BEN. JONSON. and no such. 
 
 Sluem Palma negata macrum, donata reducit ofimum.] 
 49 to. W omits.
 
 [IN SEJANUM 
 Ben. JonsonI 
 
 Et Musis, et sibi 
 in Deliciis. 
 
 So brings the wealth-contracting Jeweller 
 
 Pear les and deare Stones ', from richest shores & 
 
 streamer, 
 As thy accomplisht Travaile doth confer 
 
 From skill-inriched soules, their wealthier Gems ; 
 So doth his hand enchase in ammeld Gould, 
 
 Cut, and adornd beyond their Native Merits, 
 His solid Flames, as thine hath here inrould 
 
 In more then Goulden Verse, those betterd spirits ; 
 So he entreasures Princes Cabinets, 
 
 At thy Wealth will their wished Libraries ; 
 So, on the tbroate of the rude Sea, he sets 
 
 His ventrous foote,for his illustrous Prise; 
 And through wilde Desarts, armd with wilder 
 Beasts, 
 
 As thou adventurst on the Multitude, 
 
 Tneie commendatory potmt are in full only in Q ; Fl omiti all of 
 them ; F, Fj print tktm in part -at tat beginning of tkt -volume. 
 Parianti are given only from F, ming Q at bout. 
 
 In Sejanum. F, Upon Scjanus.
 
 <&ratulatorp 
 
 Upon the boggy, and engulfed brests *5 
 
 Of Hy re lings, sworne to finde most Right, most 
 
 rude : 
 And he, in stormes at Sea, doth not endure, 
 
 Nor in vast Desarts, amongst Woolves, more dan- 
 ger ; 
 Then we, that would with Vertue live secure, 
 
 Sustaine for her in every Vices anger. zo 
 
 Nor is this Allegoric unjustly rackt, 
 
 to this strange length ; Onely that Jewels are, 
 In estimation meerely, so exact : 
 
 And thy worke, in it selfe, is deare and Rare. 
 Wherein Minerva had beene vanquished, 25 
 
 Had she, by it, her sacred Loomes advanc't, 
 And through thy subject woven her graphicke 
 
 Thread, 
 
 Contending therein, to be more entranc't ; 
 For, though thy hand was scarce addrest to drawe 
 
 The Semi-circle 0/"Sejanus life, 30 
 
 Thy Muse yet makes it the whole Sphtsre, and 
 
 Lawe 
 
 To all State Lives : and bounds Ambitions strife. 
 And as a little Brooke creepes from his Spring, 
 With shallow tremblings, through the lowest 
 
 Fales, 
 
 As if he fear d his streame abroad to bring, 35 
 
 Least prophane Feete should wrong it, and rude 
 Gales ;
 
 8 
 
 But finding happy Channels, and supplies 
 
 Of other Fordes mixe with his modest course, 
 He growes a goodly River, and descries 
 
 The strength, that mannd him, since he left his 
 
 Source ; 40 
 
 Then takes he in delightsome Meades, and Groves, 
 
 And, with his two-edg'd waters, flourishes 
 Before great Palaces, and all Mens Loves 
 
 Build by his shores, to greete his Passages : 
 So thy chaste Muse, by vertuous selfe-mistrust, 45 
 
 Which is a true Marke of the truest Merit, 
 In Virgin feare of Mens illiterate Lust, 
 
 Shut her soft wings, and durst not showe her 
 
 spirit ; 
 Till, nobly cherish t, now thou lett'st her flie, 
 
 Singing the sable Orgies of the Muses, 50 
 
 And in the highest Pitche ^Tragedie, 
 
 Mah'st her command, al things thy Ground pro- 
 duces. 
 But, as it is a Signe of Loves first firing, 
 
 Not Pleasure by a lovely Presence taken, 
 And Bouldnesse to attempt ; but close Retiring, 55 
 
 To places desolate, and Fever-shaken ; 
 So, when the love of Knowledge first affects us, 
 
 Our Tongues doe falter, and the Flame doth rove 
 Through our thinne spirits, and of feare detects us 
 
 T'attaine her Truth, whom we so truely love. 60 
 52-91 Mat' it . . . Dcgrtti. F omits.
 
 6ratulator^ 
 
 Nor can (saith Aeschilus) a faire young Dame 
 
 Kept long without a Husband, more containe 
 Her amorous eye, from breaking forth in flame, 
 
 When she beholds a Youth that fits her vaine ; 
 Then any mans first taste of Knowledge truly 65 
 
 Can bridle the affection she inspireth ; 
 But let it flie on Men, that most unduly 
 
 Haunt her with hate, and all the Loves she 
 
 fireth. 
 If our Teeth, Head, or but our Finger ake, 
 
 IVe straight seeke the Phisitian ; If a Fever, 70 
 Or any curefull maladie we take, 
 
 The grave Phisitian is desired ever : 
 But if proud Melancholic, Lunacie, 
 
 Or direct Madnesse over-heate our braines, 
 IVe Rage, Beate out, or the Phisitian flie, 75 
 
 Loosing with vehemence, even the sense of 
 
 Paines. 
 So of Offenders, they are past recure, 
 
 That with a tyranous spleene, their stings extend 
 Gainst their Reprovers ; They that will endure 
 
 All discreete Discipline, are not said f offend. 80 
 Though others qualified, then, with Nat ur a II skill, 
 
 (More sweete mouthd, and affecting shrewder 
 
 wits) 
 Blanche Coles, call Illnesse, good, and Goodnesse ill, 
 
 Breath thou the fire, that true-spoke Knowledge 
 fits.
 
 io aratulatorv Urrsr 
 
 Thou canst not then be Great? yes. Who is he, 85 
 
 (Said the good Spartane King) greater then I, 
 That is not likewise juster ? No degree 
 
 can boast of emminence, or Emperie, 
 (As the great Stagerite held) in any One 
 
 Beyond Another, whose Soule farther sees, . 90 
 
 And in whose Life the Gods are better knowne : 
 
 Degrees of Knowledge difference all Degrees. 
 Thy Poeme, therefore, hath this due respect, 
 
 That it lets passe nothing, without observing, 
 Worthy Instruction ; or that might correct 95 
 
 Rude manners, and renowme the well deserving : 
 Performing such a lively Evidence 
 
 in thy Narrations, that thy Hearers still 
 Thou turnst to thy Spectators ; and the sense 
 
 That thy Spectators have of good or ill, 100 
 
 Thou inject* st joyntly to thy Readers soules. 
 
 So deare is held, so deckt thy numerous Taske, 
 As thou putt'st handles to the Thespian Boules, 
 
 Or stuckst rich Plumes in the Palladia*! Caske. 
 All thy worth, yet, thyselfe must Patronise, 105 
 
 By quaffing more of the Castalian Head ; 
 In expiscation of whose Mysteries, 
 
 Our Netts must still be clogd, with heavy Lead, 
 To make them sincke, and catche : For cheer efull 
 Gould, 
 
 Was never found in the Pierian Streames, no 
 
 93 Tky . . . hath. F, Baidci, thy Poeme hath.
 
 <0ratulator eree n 
 
 But Wants, and Scornes, and Shames for silver 
 sould. 
 
 What, what shall we elect in these extreames ? 
 Now by the Shafts of the great CYRRHAN Poet, 
 
 That beare all light, that is, about the world ; 
 I would have all dull Poet- Haters know it, 115 
 
 They shall be soule-bound, and in darkenesse 
 
 hurld, 
 A thousand yeares, (as Sathan was, their Syre) 
 
 Ere Any worthy, the Poetique Name, 
 (Might I, that warme but, at the Muses fire, 
 
 Presume to guard /'/) should let Deathless e Fame 120 
 Light halfe a beame of all her hundred Eyes, 
 
 At his dimme Taper, in their memories. 
 File, jlie, you are to neare ; so odorous Flowers 
 
 being held too neere the Sensor of our Sense, 
 Render not pure, nor so sincere their powers, 125 
 
 As being held a little distance thence ; 
 Because much troubled Earthy parts improve them : 
 
 Which mixed with the odors we exhall, 
 Do vitiate what we drawe in. But remoove them 
 
 A little space, the Earthy parts do fall, 13 
 
 And what is pure, and hote by his tenuity e, 
 
 is to our powers of Savor purely borne. 
 But flie, or staie : Use thou the assiduitie, 
 
 Fit for a true Contemner of their scorne. 
 
 Il8 Any worthy, the. F, any, worthy the. 
 127-158 Because . . . propagate. F omits.
 
 1 2 
 
 Our Phoebus may, with his exampling Beames, 135 
 
 Burne out the webs from their Arachnean eyes, 
 IVhose Knowledge (Day-star to all Diadems?) 
 
 Should banish knowledge-hating Policies : 
 So others, great in the Scientiall grace, 
 
 His Chancelor,_/rf/0r of all humane Skils ; 140 
 His Treasurer, taking them into his Place, 
 
 Northumber, that, with them, his Crescent 
 
 //', 
 Grave Worc'ster, in whose Nerves they guard 
 
 their fire, 
 
 Northampton, that to all his height in bloud, 
 Heightens his soule, with them, And Devon- 
 shire, 145 
 In whom their Streams, ebd to their Spring, are 
 
 Floud, 
 Oraculous Salisburie, whose inspired voice, 
 
 In State proportions, sings their misteries, 
 And (though last Namd} first, in whom They re- 
 
 joyce, 
 
 To whose true worth, They vow most obsequies, 150 
 Most Noble Suffolke, who by Nature Noble, 
 
 And judgement vertuous, cannot fall by Fortune, 
 Who when our Hearde, came not to drinke, but 
 
 trouble 
 
 The Muses waters, did a Wall importune, 
 (Midst of assaults} about their sacred River : '55 
 In whose behalfes, my poore Soule, (consecrate
 
 <S5ratulaton? erse 13 
 
 To poorest Vertue) to the longest Liver, 
 
 His Name, in spight of Death, shall propagate. 
 O could the World but feele how sweete a touch 
 A good Deed hath in one in love with Good- 
 
 nesse, i6e- 
 
 (Jf Poesie were not ravished so much, 
 
 And her composde Rage, held the simplest 
 
 Woodnesse, 
 Though of all heates, that temper humane braines, 
 
 Hers ever was most subtle, high, and holy, 
 First binding savadge Lives, in civile Chaines : 165 
 
 Solely religious, and adored solely, 
 If men felt this) they would not thinke a Love, 
 
 That gives it selfe, in her, did vanities give ; 
 Who is (in Earth, though lowe) in Worth above, 
 Most able f honour Life, though least to live. 170 
 And so good Friend, safe passage to thy 
 
 Freight, 
 To thee a long Peace, through a vertuous 
 
 ^ strife, 
 
 In which, lets both contend to Vertues height, 
 Not making Fame our Object, but good life. 
 
 160 A . . . Goodnessc F, The Knowledge hath, which is in 
 love with goodnesse.
 
 14 (Sratulatorv ttrrsr 
 
 Come forth SEJANUS, fall before this Booke, 
 
 And of thy Falles Reviver, aske forgivenesse, 
 That thy lowe Birth and Merits, durst to looke 
 A Fortune in the face, of such unevennesse ; 
 For so his fervent love to Vertue, hates, 
 
 That her pluckt plumes should wing Vice to 
 
 such calling, 
 
 That he presents thee to all marking States, 
 As if thou hadst beene all this while in fall- 
 ing. 
 His strong Arme plucking, from the Midle- 
 
 world, 
 Fames Brazen House, and layes her Towre as 
 
 low, 
 
 As HOMERS Barathrum ; that, from Heaven hurld, 
 Thou might'st fall on it : and thy Ruines 
 
 growe 
 To all Posterities, from his worke, the 
 
 Ground, 
 
 And under Heav'n, nought but his Song 
 might sound. 
 
 HAEC COMMENTATUS EST 
 
 Georgius Chapmannus. 
 
 1-14 Comi . . . iound Omitted by F. The signature u merely 
 Gtor. Ckapman, omitting Hate, etc.
 
 15 
 
 For his worthy Friend, the Author. 
 
 In that, this Booke doth deigne SEJANU'S name, 
 Him unto more, then Ctssars Love, it brings : 
 For, where he could not with Ambition's 
 
 wings, 
 One Quill doth heave him to the height of 
 
 Fame. 
 Yee great-Ones though, (whose ends may be the 
 
 same,) 5 
 
 Know, that (how ever we do flatter Kings) 
 Their Favours (like themselves) are fading 
 
 things, 
 With no lesse Envie had, then lost with 
 
 Shame. 
 
 Nor make your selves lesse honest then you are, 10 
 To make our Author wiser then he is : 
 Ne of such Crimes accuse him, which I 
 
 dare 
 By all his Muses sweare, be none of his. 
 
 The Men are not, some Faults may be these 
 
 Times : 
 
 He acts those Men, and they did act these 
 Crimes. 15 
 
 HUGH HOLLAND. 
 
 For his. F, To his, etc., and in margin, Upon Sejanus.
 
 1 6 oVatulatorv Orrsr 
 
 To the deserving Author. 
 
 When I respect thy argument, I see 
 
 An Image of those Times : but when I view 
 The wit, the workemanship, so rich, so true, 
 The Times themselves do seeme retriv'd to me. 
 And as Sejanus, in thy Tragedie, 
 
 Falleth from Conors grace ; even so the 
 
 Crew 
 Of common Play-wrights, whom Opinion 
 
 blew 
 
 Big with false greatnesse, are disgrac'd by thee. 
 Thus, in one Tragedie, thou makest twaine : 
 And, since faire workes of Justice fit the part 
 
 Of Tragic k writers, Muses doe ordai tie- 
 That all Tragedians, Maisters of their Arte, 
 Who shall hereafter follow on this tract, 
 In writing well, thy Tragedie shall acte. 
 
 crGNUS. 
 
 To the dtitrving. Thii and the remaining commendatory poem* 
 are omitted by F.
 
 5ratulaton? Wt r0e 1 7 
 
 To bis learned, and beloved Friend^ 
 
 upon his aequall worke. 
 
 SEJANUS, great, and eminent in Rome, 
 
 Rays'd above all the Senate, both in grace 
 
 Of Princes favour, authority, place, 
 
 And popular dependance ; yet, how soone, 
 
 Even with the instant of his overthrowe, 5 
 
 Is all this Pride and Greatnesse now forgot, 
 
 (Onely that in Former grace he stood not) 
 
 By them which did his State, not Treason 
 
 knowe ! 
 
 His very Flatterers, that did adorne 
 Their neckes with his rich Meddales, now in 
 
 flame 10 
 
 Consume them, and would loose even his Name, 
 Or else recite it with reproach, or scorne ! 
 This was his Romane Fate. But now thy Muse 
 To us that neither knew his Height, nor Fall, 
 Hath rays'd him up with such memoriall, 15 
 
 All future States and Times his name shall use. 
 What, not his Good, nor 111 could once extend 
 To the next Age, thy Verse, industrious, 
 And learned Friend, hath made illustrious 
 To this. Nor shall his, or thy fame have end. 20 
 
 Tb. R.
 
 1 8 #ratulatorv Urrsr 
 
 Amitis, amid nostri dignissimi, dignissimis, 
 
 Epigramma. 
 
 D. 
 
 JOHANNES MARSTONIUS. 
 
 YEE ready Friendes, spare your unneedfull 
 
 Bayes, 
 This worke dispairefull Envie must even praise : 
 
 Phoebus hath voic'd it, loud, through ecchoing 
 
 skies, 
 SEJANUS FALL shall force thy Merit rise. 
 
 For never English shall, or hath before 5 
 
 Spoake fuller grac'd. He could say much, not 
 more.
 
 5ratulator2 ewe 19 
 
 Upon SEJANUS. 
 
 How high a Poore man showes in low estate 
 Whose Base is firme, and whole Frame com- 
 petent, 
 
 That sees this Cedar, made the Shrub of Fate, 
 Th'on's little, lasting; Th'others confluence 
 
 spent. 
 
 And as the Lightning comes behind the Thunder 
 From the torne Cloud, yet first invades our 
 
 Sense, 
 
 So every violent Fortune, that to wonder 
 Hoists men aloft, is a cleere evidence 
 Of a vaunt-curring blow the Fates have given 
 To his forst state : swift Lightning blindes his 
 
 eyes, 
 
 While Thunder from comparison-hating Heaven 
 
 Dischargeth on his height, and there it lyes : 
 
 If men will shun swolne Fortunes ruinous blastes, 
 
 Let them use Temperance. Nothing violent 
 
 lastes. 
 
 William Stracbey.
 
 2o ^ratulatorp em 
 
 To him that hath so excelFd on 
 this excellent subject. 
 
 Thy Poeme (pardon me) is meere deceat. 
 
 Yet such deceate, as thou that dost beguile, 
 Are juster farre then they who use no wile : 
 And they who are deceaved by this feat, 
 More wise, then such who can eschewe thy cheat. 5 
 For thou hast given each parte so just a 
 
 stile, 
 
 That Men suppose the Action now on file ; 
 (And Men suppose, who are of best conceal.) 
 Yet some there be, that are not moov'd 
 
 hereby, 
 
 And others are so quick, that they will spy 10 
 Where later Times are in some speech en weav'd ; 
 Those wary Simples, and these simple Elfes : 
 They are so dull, they cannot be deceav'd, 
 
 These so unjust, they will deceave them- 
 selves. 
 
 <DIAOE.
 
 (Sratulaton? *9er$e 21 
 
 To the most understanding Poet. 
 
 Whe in the GLOBES faire Ring, our worlds best 
 
 Stage, 
 
 I saw SejaniiS) set with that rich foyle, 
 I look't the Author should have borne the 
 
 spoile 
 
 Of conquest, from the Writers of the Age : 
 But when I veiw'd the Peoples beastly rage, 
 Bent to confound thy grave, and learned 
 
 toile, 
 That cost thee so much sweat, and so much 
 
 oyle, 
 
 My indignation I could hardly 'asswage. 
 And many there (in passion) scarce could tell 
 Whether thy fault, or theirs deserv'd most 
 
 blame ; 
 Thine, for so shewing, theirs, to wrong the 
 
 same : 
 
 But both they left within that doubtfull Hell. 
 From whence, this Publication setts thee 
 
 free : 
 
 They, for their Ignorance, still damned bee. 
 
 Ev. B.]
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 Aelius Sejanus, tonne to Seius Strabo, a gentleman of 
 Rome, and borne at Vulsinium, after bit long service in 
 cour^firtt, under Augustus; afterward, Tiberius : grew 
 into that favour with the latter, and won him by those artes, 
 at there wanted nothing, but the name, to make him a $ 
 copartner of the Empire. Which greatnetse of hit, Drusus, 
 the Emperor t tonne not brooking, after many smother ' d 
 ditliket ( it one day breaking out ) the Prince ttrooke him 
 publikely on the face. To revenge luhicb disgrace, Li via, 
 the wife of Drusus (being before corrupted by him to her 10 
 dishonour, and the discovery of her husbands councells ) 
 Sejanus practiseth with, together with her Pbysitian, called 
 Eudemus, and one Lygdus, an Eunuch, to poyton Drusus. 
 Thit their inhumane act having tuccessefull, and unsus- 
 pected passage, it emboldeneth Sejanus to farther, & more ' 5 
 insolent projects, even the ambition of the Empire : where 
 finding the left, he mutt encounter, to be many, & hard, in 
 respect of the issue of German icus ( who were next in hope 
 for the succession ) be deviseth to make Tiberius telfe, bis 
 meanes : & instill" s into bis eares many doubts, and tut- o 
 picions, both against the Prince t, and their mother Agrip- 
 pina: which Caesar jealously bearkning to, as covetously 
 consenteth to their ruine, and their friends. In this time, 
 the better to mature and strengthen bis designe, Sejanus 
 
 19 for tht tueeeiiioii. Q omits. Stt note, p. aoi. 
 24 Stjmut. y, FP, Hee.
 
 ^e Argument 23 
 
 labors to marry Livia, and worketk ( with all his ingine ) 25 
 to remove Tiberius from the knowledge of publike busi- 
 nesse, 'with allurements of a quiet and retyred life: the 
 latter of 'which, Tiberius ( out of a pronenesse to lust, and 
 a desire to hide those unnaturall pleasures, 'which he could 
 not so publikely practise ) embraceth : the former inkindleth 30 
 his feares, and there, gives him first cause of doubt, or 
 suspect toward Sejanus. Against 'whom, he raiseth (in 
 private ) a new instrument, one Sertorius Macro, and by 
 him under-worketh, discovers the others counsells, his 
 meanes, his ends, sounds the affections of the Senators, 35 
 divides, distracts them : at last, 'when Sejanus least looketh, 
 and is most secure ( with pretext of doing him an un- 
 wonted honour in the Senate ) he traines him from his 
 guardes, and with a long doubtful! letter, in one day, 
 hath him suspected, accused, condemned, and tome in 40 
 pieces, by the rage of the people. 
 
 27 retyred. Q, seperated. 
 
 32 to-war d. F3, etc., towards. 
 
 39 a long doubtfull letter, in. Q, FP, one Letter, & in one. 
 
 41 peofle. Q adds : This do we advance as a marke of Terror 
 to all Traytors, & Treasons , to shewe how just the Heavens are in 
 powring and thundring downe a weighty vengeance on their unnat- 
 ural intents, even to the worst Princes : Much more to those, for 
 guard of whose Piety and Vertue, the Angels are in continuall 
 watch, and God himselfe miraculously working.
 
 THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY. 
 
 TIBERIUS. 
 
 DRUSUS w[nior]. 
 
 NERO. 
 
 DRUSUS ju[nior]. 
 
 CALIGCLA. 
 
 'LUCIUS] 
 
 'CAIUS] Siuus. 
 
 "TiTius] SABINUS. 
 
 'MARCUS] LIPIDUS. 
 
 'CREMUTIUS] CORDUS. 
 
 ASINIUS] GALLUS. 
 REGULUS. 
 TERENTIUS. 
 [GRACINUS] LACO. 
 EUDEMUI. 
 Rurus. 
 
 SEJANUS. 
 
 LATIAUS. 
 
 VARRO. 
 
 [SERTORIUS] MACRO. 
 
 COTTA. 
 
 [DOMITIUS] A FEE. 
 
 HATERIUS. 
 
 SANQUIMUI.. 
 
 FOMPONIUS. 
 
 [JULIUS] POSTHUMUI. 
 
 [FuLCiNius] TRIO. 
 
 MlNUTlUS. 
 
 SATRIUS [SECUNDUS] 
 [PINNARIUS] NATTA. 
 Ortius. 
 
 TRIBUNI. 
 
 AGRIPPINA 
 
 }LlVIA. 
 SOSIA. 
 
 PR AGONES. 
 FLAMEN. 
 TUBICINES. 
 NUNTIUI. 1 
 
 LlCTORES. 
 MlNlSTRI. 
 TlBICINES. 
 
 SERv[i, etc.] 
 
 The Scene. 
 Rome. 
 
 The Pertoni, etc. Q, The Names of the Actors. 
 Luciut. Names in brackets first added by Gifford for reader's 
 convenience, for Jonson often uses either name. 
 Servi, etc. Q-C, Servus. 
 Rome. Q omits.
 
 ACT I. 
 
 [SCENE I. A State Room in the Palace.~\ 
 
 \_Enter\ Sabinus, Silius, [followed by~\ Natta, Latiaris, 
 Cordus, Satrius, Arruntius, Eudemus, Haterius, &c. 
 
 Sabinus. Haile, Caius Silius. 
 
 Silius. Titius Sabinus, Haile. 
 
 Yo'are rarely met in court ! 
 
 Sab. Therefore, well met. 
 
 Sil. 'Tis true : Indeed, this place is not our 
 sphaere. 
 
 Sab. No, Silius, wee are no good inginers; 
 We want the fine arts, & their thriving use, 
 Should make us grac'd, or favour'd of the times : 
 We have no shift of faces, no cleft tongues, 
 No soft, and glutinous bodies, that can sticke, 
 Like snailes, on painted walls ; or, on our brests, 
 Creepe up, to fall, from that proud height, to 
 
 which 
 We did by slaverie, not by service, clime. 
 
 Sabinus. Jonson, where the first speaker is the first person named 
 in the entrance, never prefixes the name to the opening speech. 
 5 the. A, etc., their.
 
 26 >r fanu0 [ACT i. 
 
 We are no guilty men, and then no great ; 
 We have nor place in court, office in state, 
 That we can say, we owe unto our crimes : 
 We burne with no black secrets, which can 
 
 make 15 
 
 Us deare to the pale authors ; or live fear'd 
 Of their still waking jealosies, to raise 
 Our selves a fortune, by subverting theirs. 
 We stand not in the lines, that doe advance 
 To that so courted point. 
 
 [Enter Satrius and Nafta at a distance.] 
 Sil. But yonder leane ao 
 
 A paire that doe. 
 
 (Sab. [salutes Latiaris~\. Good cousin Latiaris.) 
 .Sil. Satrius Secundus, and Pinnarius Natta, 
 The great Sejanus clients : There be two, 
 Know more, then honest councells : whose close 
 
 brests 
 
 Were they rip'd up to light, it would be found 5 
 A poore, and idle sinne, to which their trunkes 
 Had not beene made fit organs. These can lye, 
 Flatter, and sweare, forsweare, deprave, informe, 
 Smile, and betray ; make guilty men ; then beg 
 The forfeit lives, to get the livings ; cut 30 
 
 Mens throates with whisprings ; sell to gaping 
 sutors 
 
 13 nor. Fa, etc., no. ttatt. G, taste. 
 30 (lit livingt. A, etc., their living*.
 
 27 
 
 The emptie smoake, that flyes about the Palace; 
 Laugh, when their patron laughes ; sweat, when 
 
 he sweates ; 
 
 Be hot, and cold with him ; change every moode, 
 Habit, and garbe, as often as he varies ; 35 
 
 Observe him, as his watch observes his clocke ; 
 And true, as turkise in the deare lords ring, 
 Looke well, or ill with him: ready to praise 
 His lordship, if he spit, or but pisse faire, 
 Have an indifferent stoole, or breake winde well, 40 
 Nothing can scape their catch. 
 
 Sab. Alas ! these things 
 
 Deserve no note, confer'd with other vile, 
 And filthier flatteries, that corrupt the times : 
 When, not alone our gentries chiefe are faine 
 To make their safety from such sordide acts, 45 
 But all our Consuls, and no little part 
 Of such as have beene Praetors, yea, the most 
 Of Senators (that else not use their voyces) 
 
 c i_i- o i L Pcdarii. 
 
 Start up in pubhque Senate, and there strive 
 Who shall propound most abject things, and 
 
 base, 50 
 
 37 ring. A, rings. 
 
 43 flatteries. Fa, F3, A, Flatterers. 
 
 Pedarii. These stage-directions and comments are printed in the 
 Folio in fine type in left or right margin, as is most convenient. In 
 this edition the marginal comments are distinguished by smaller italic 
 type from the marginal stage-directions, which have been drawn into 
 the text.
 
 28 >rfanu* 
 
 So much, as oft Tiberius hath beene heard, 
 Leaving the court, to crie, 6 race of men, 
 Prepar'd for servitude ! which shew'd, that, he 
 Who least the publique liberty could like, 
 As loathly brook'd their flat servilitie. 55 
 
 Si/. Well, all is worthy of us, were it more, 
 Who with our ryots, pride, and civill hate, 
 Have so provok'd the justice of the gods. 
 We, that (within these fourescore yeercs) were 
 
 borne 
 
 Free, equall lords of the triumphed world, 60 
 
 And knew no masters, but affections, 
 To which betraying first our liberties, 
 We since became the slaves to one mans lusts ; 
 And now to many : every ministring spie 
 That will accuse, and sweare, is lord of you, 65 
 Of me, of all, our fortunes, and our lives. 
 Our lookes arecall'd to question, and our wordes, 
 How innocent soever, are made crimes ; 
 We shall not shortly dare to tell our dreames, 
 Or thinke, but 'twill be treason. 
 
 Sab. " Tyrannes artes 70 
 
 "Are to give flatterers, grace ; accusers, power; 
 "That those may seemc to kill whom they de- 
 voure. 
 
 [Enter Cor dm and Arruntim.] 
 Now good Crcmutius Cordus. 
 
 66 all. F}, etc., omit comm*.
 
 SCENE I.] >efattU$ 2Q 
 
 Cordus, [Salutes Sabintis."] Haile, to your lord- 
 ship ! 
 
 Natta [to Latiaris'] . Who's that salutes your 
 cousin ? They whisper. 
 
 Latiaris. 'Tis one Cordus, 
 
 A gentleman of Rome : one, that has writ 75 
 
 Annal's of late, they say, and very well. 
 Nat. Annal's ? of what times ? 
 Lot. I thinke of Pompei's, 
 
 And Caius Caesars ; and so downe to these. 
 Nat. How stands h'affected to the present 
 
 state ? 
 
 Is he or Drusian ? or Germanican ? 80 
 
 Or ours ? or neutrall ? 
 
 Lat. I know him not so far. 
 
 Nat. Those times are somewhat queasie to be 
 
 toucht. 
 
 Have you or scene, or heard part of his worke ? 
 Lat. Not I, he meanes they shall be publike 
 
 shortly. 
 
 Nat. O. Cordus do you cal him ? 
 Lat. I. 
 
 \_Exeunt Natta and Satrius.] 
 
 Sab. But these our times 85 
 
 Are not the same, Arruntius. 
 
 79 h" . G, he. It may be said once for all that G almost invari- 
 ably practises this expansion, as -well as the for th', as in 1. 88. 
 No further notice "will be taken of them save -where other considera-
 
 30 >rfanu* (ACTL 
 
 Arruntius. Times? the men, 
 
 The men are not the same : 'tis we are base, 
 Poore, and degenerate from th'exalted streine 
 Of our great fathers. Where is now the soule 
 Of god-like Cato ? he, that durst be good, 90 
 
 When Caesar durst be evill ; and had power, 
 As not to live his slave, to dye his master. 
 Or where the constant Brutus, that (being 
 
 proofe 
 
 Against all charme of benefits) did strike 
 So brave a blow into the monsters heart 95 
 
 That sought unkindly to captive his countrie ? 
 O, they are fled the light. Those mightie spirits 
 Lye rak'd up, with their ashes in their urnes, 
 And not a sparke of their eternall fire 
 Glowes in a present bosome. All's but blaze, too 
 Flashes, and smoke, wherewith we labour so, 
 There's nothing Romane in us ; nothing good, 
 Gallant, or great : 'Tis true, that Cordus say's, 
 Brave Cassias was the last of all that race. 
 
 Druiui paisetb by [attended by Haterius, etc.] 
 
 Sab. Stand by, lord Drusus. 
 
 Haterius. Th'Emp'rours son, give place. 105 
 
 &7. I like the prince well. 
 
 Arr. A riotous youth, 
 
 There's little hope of him. 
 
 Sab. That fault his age 
 
 93 vokert, Fi, etc., where*!. 
 Druim . . . by. F, by U. io$-o6.
 
 SCENE I.] $>efattUflf 31 
 
 Will, as it growes, correct. Me thinkes, he 
 
 beares 
 
 Himselfe, each day, more nobly then other : 
 And wins no lesse on mens affections, no 
 
 Then doth his father lose. Beleeve me, I love 
 
 him j 
 And chiefly for opposing to Sejanus. 
 
 Sil. And I, for gracing his yong kinsmen so, 
 The sonnes of Prince Germanicus : It shewes 
 A gallant cleerenesse in him, a streight minde, 115 
 That envies not, in them, their fathers name. 
 Arr. His name was, while he liv'd, above all 
 
 envie ; 
 
 And being dead, without it. O, that man ! 
 If there were seedes of the old vertue left, 
 They liv'd in him. 
 
 Sil. He had the fruits, Arruntius,no 
 
 More then the seedes : Sabinus, and my selfe 
 Had meanes to know him, within; and can re- 
 port him. 
 We were his followers, (he would call us 
 
 friends.) 
 
 He was a man most like to vertue' ; In all, 
 And every action, neerer to the gods, 115 
 
 Then men, in nature ; of a body'as faire 
 As was his mind ; and no lesse reverend 
 
 113 kinsmen. Q, kinsman. 
 I zj reverend. C, reverent.
 
 32 >efantif [ACT L 
 
 In face, then fame : He could so use his state, 
 Temp'ring his greatnesse, with his gravitie, 
 As it avoyded all selfe-love in him, 130 
 
 And spight in others. What his funeralls lack'd 
 In images, and pompe, they had supply'd 
 With honourable sorrow, souldiers sadnesse, 
 A kind of silent mourning, such, as men 
 (Who know no teares, but from their captives) 
 
 use 13$ 
 
 To shew in so great losses. 
 
 Cor. I thought once, 
 
 Considering their formes, age, manner of deaths, 
 The neerenesse of the places, where they fell, 
 T'have paralelPd him with great Alexander : 
 For both were of best feature, of high race, 140 
 Yeer'd but to thirtie, and, in forraine lands, 
 By their owne people, alike made away. 
 
 Sab. I know not, for his death, how you might 
 
 wrest it : 
 
 But, for his life, it did as much disdaine 
 Comparison, with that voluptuous, rash, 14$ 
 
 Giddy, and drunken Macedon's, as mine 
 Doth with my bond-mans. All the good, in him, 
 (His valour, and his fortune) he made his; 
 But he had other touches of late Romanes, 
 That more did speake him : Pompei's dignitie, 150 
 The innocence of Cato, Caesar's spirit, 
 Wise Brutus temp'rance, and every vertue,
 
 SCENE I.] >efaitU0 33 
 
 Which, parted unto others, gave them name, 
 Flow'd mixt in him. He was the soule of good- 
 
 nesse : 
 
 And all our praises of him are like streames 155 
 Drawne from a spring, that still rise full, and 
 
 leave 
 The part remayning greatest. 
 
 Arr. I am sure 
 
 He was too great for us, and that they knew 
 Who did remove him hence. 
 
 Sab, When men grow fast 
 
 Honor'd, and lov'd, there is a tricke in state 160 
 (Which jealous princes never faile to use) 
 How to decline that growth, with faire pretext, 
 And honourable colours of employment, 
 Either by embassie, the war, or such, 
 To shift them forth into another aire, 165 
 
 Where they may purge, and lessen ; so was he : 
 And had his secon'ds there, sent by Tiberius, 
 And his more subtile damme, to discontent him ; 
 To breede, and cherish mutinies ; detract 
 His greatest actions; give audacious check 170 
 To his commands ; and worke to put him out 
 In open act of treason. All which snares 
 When his wise cares prevented, a fine poyson 
 Was thought on, to mature their practices. 
 
 Cor. Here comes Sejanus. 
 
 Sil. Now observe the stoupes,i75 
 
 The bendings, and the falls.
 
 34 
 
 Arr. Most creeping base ! 
 
 Sejanus, Satrius, Terentius, &c. They pane over the 
 stage. 
 
 Sejanus [to Natta] . I note 'hem well : No more. 
 Say you. 
 
 Satrius. My lord, 
 
 There is a gentleman of Rome would buy 
 
 Sej. How cal you him you talk'd with ? 
 
 Sat. 'Please your lordship, 
 
 It is Eudemus, the physitian 180 
 
 To Livia, Drusu's wife. 
 
 Sej. On with your sute. 
 
 Would buy, you said 
 
 Sat. A Tribunes place, my lord. 
 
 Sej. What will he give ? 
 
 Sat. Fiftie sestertia. 
 
 Sej. Livia's physitian, say you, is that fellow? 
 
 Sat. It is, my lord ; your lordships answere ? 
 
 Stj. To what ?,8 S 
 
 Sat. The place, my lord. 'Tis for a gentleman, 
 Your lordship will well like off, when you see 
 
 him ; 
 And one, you may make yours, by the grant. 
 
 Sej. Well, let him bring his money, and his 
 name. 
 
 Tkty . . . aagt. Direction in small type in left margin. 
 177 Say you. G place* at beginning of next line. 
 179 Haw cal you. W, C, How do you call. 
 
 1 88 one, you. W, C, G, one that you 
 
 189 kil menty. Fz, Fj, A, omit hi i.
 
 ^efanua 35 
 
 Sat. Thanke your lordship. He shall, my lord. 
 
 Sej. Come hither. 19 
 
 Know you this same Eudemus ? Is he learn'd ? 
 
 Sat. Reputed so, my lord : and of deepe prac- 
 tice. 
 
 Sej. Bring him in, to me, in the gallerie ; 
 And take you cause, to leave us there, togither : 
 I would confer with him, about a griefe. On. 195 
 [Exeunt Sejanus, Satrtus, Terentius, &c. 
 Some clients remain.] 
 
 Arr. So, yet! another? yet? o desperate state 
 Of grov'ling honour ! Seest thou this, 6 sunne, 
 And doe wee see thee after ? Me thinkes, day 
 Should lose his light, when men doe lose their 
 
 shames, 
 
 And, for the emptie circumstance of life, *oo 
 
 Betray their cause of living. 
 
 Sil. Nothing so. 
 
 Sejanus can repaire, if Jove should ruine. 
 He is the now court-god; And well applyed 
 With sacrifice of knees, of crookes, and cringe, 
 He will doe more then all the house of heav'n 205 
 Can, for a thousand hecatombes. 'Tis he 
 Makes us our day, or night ; Hell, and Elysium 
 Are in his looke : We talke of Rhadamanth, 
 Furies, and fire-brands ; But 'tis his frowne 
 
 195 On. G begins a new line. 
 
 203 the now. G, now the. 204 cringe. G, cringes.
 
 36 g>efanu0 [ACT L 
 
 That is all these, where, on the adverse part, *io 
 His smile is more, then ere (yet) Poets fain'd 
 Ofblisse, and shades, nectar 
 
 Arr. A serving boy? 
 
 I knew him, at Caius trencher, when for hyre, 
 He prostituted his abused body 
 To that great gourmond, fat Apicius; i5 
 
 And was the noted pathick of the time. 
 
 Sab. And, now, the second face of the whole 
 
 world. 
 
 The partner of the empire, hath his image 
 Rear'd equall with Tiberius, borne in ensignes, 
 Command's, disposes every dignitie, o 
 
 Centurions, Tribunes, Heads of provinces, 
 Praetors, and Consuls, all that heretofore 
 Romes generall suffrage gave, is now his sale. 
 The gaine, or rather spoile, of all the earth, 
 One, and his house, receives. 
 
 Sil. He hath of latea$ 
 
 Made him a strength too, strangely, by reducing 
 All the Praetorian bands into one campe, 
 Which he command's : pretending, that the 
 
 souldier 
 
 By living loose, and scattered, fell to ryot ; 
 And that if any sodaine enterprise *3 
 
 Should be attempted, their united strength 
 Would be far more, then sever'd ; and their life 
 More strict, if from the citie more remov'd. 
 a*8 uulditr, W, C, G, soldier*.
 
 SCINI: i.] >efanua 37 
 
 Sab. Where, now, he builds, what kind of 
 
 fort's he please, 
 
 Is hard to court the souldier, by his name, 235 
 Wooes, feasts the chiefest men of action, 
 Whose wants, not loves, compell them to be his. 
 And, though he ne're were liberall by kind, 
 Yet, to his owne darke ends, hee's most profuse, 
 Lavish, and letting flye, he cares not what *4 
 To his ambition. 
 
 Arr. Yet, hath he ambition ? 
 
 Is there that step in state can make him higher? 
 Or more ? or any thing he is, but lesse ? 
 
 Sil. Nothing, but Emp'rour. 
 
 Arr. The name Tiberius 
 
 I hope, will keepe ; how ere he hath fore-gone 4S 
 The dignitie, and power. 
 
 Sil. Sure, while he lives. 
 
 Arr. And dead, it comes to Drusus. Should he 
 
 fayle, 
 
 To the brave issue of Germanicus ; 
 And they are three : Too many (ha ?) for him 
 To have a plot upon ? 
 
 Sab. I doe not know *s 
 
 The heart of his designes ; but, sure, their face 
 Lookes farther then the present. 
 
 Arr. By the gods, 
 
 If I could gesse he had but such a thought, 
 
 135 hard. W, C, G, heard.
 
 38 ferfanu* 
 
 My sword should cleave him downe from head 
 
 to heart, 
 
 But I would Hnde it out : and with my hand 255 
 I'ld hurle his panting braine about the ay re, 
 In mites, as small as atomi, to'undoe 
 The knotted bed 
 
 Sab. You are observ'd, Arruntius. 
 
 Arr. Death ! I dare tell him so ; and all his 
 spies : He tvrnes to Stjanus clyents. 
 
 You, sir, I would, doe you looke ? and you. 
 
 Sab. Forbeare. 160 
 
 [Exeunt] 
 
 [SCENE II. {The former Scene continued.) 
 A Gallery discovered opening into the State Room.] 
 [Enter] Satrius, [with] Eudemut, [later] Sejanut. 
 
 Satrius. Heere, he will instant be; Let's walke 
 
 a turne. 
 Yo'are in a muse, Eudemus? 
 
 Eudemui. Not I, sir. 
 
 I wonder he should marke me out so ! well, 
 Jove, and Apollo forme it for the best. [Aide] 
 Sat. Your fortune's made unto you now, 
 
 Eudemus, 5 
 
 If you can but lay hold upon the meanes ; 
 
 $7 atomt. Fl - C, A tome*. 
 259 dan. Fa, F}, A, dare to. 
 Hi . , . djrtnti. F, by 11. 259-60.
 
 ii.] 0efanu0 39 
 
 Doe but observe his humour, and beleeve it 
 He's the noblest Romane, where he takes 
 
 [Enter Sejanus.] 
 Here comes his lordship. 
 
 Sejanus. Now, good Satrius. 
 
 Sat. This is the gentleman, my lord. 
 
 Sej. Is this ? 10 
 
 Give me your hand, we must be more ac- 
 quainted. 
 
 Report, sir, hath spoke out your art, and learn- 
 ing: 
 
 And I am glad I have so needfull cause, 
 (How ever in it selfe painefull, and hard) 
 To make me knowne to so great vertue. Looke, 15 
 Who's that ? Satrius [Exit Satrius.] I have a 
 
 griefe, sir, 
 
 That will desire your helpe. Your name's Eude- 
 mus ? 
 
 Eud. Yes. 
 
 Sej. Sir ? 
 
 Eud. It is, my lord. 
 
 Sej. I heare, you are 
 
 Physitian to Livia, the princesse ? 
 
 Eud. I minister unto her, my good lord. 20 
 
 Sej. You minister to a royall lady, then. 
 
 Eud. She is, my lord, and fayre. 
 
 Sej. That's understood 
 
 12 spoke. Fa, F3, A, spoken.
 
 40 &rfanu0 [ACT L 
 
 Of all their sexe, who are, or would be so ; 
 And those, that would be, physicke soone can 
 
 make 'hem : 
 For those that are, their beauties feare no collours. 15 
 
 Eud. Your lordship is conceited. 
 
 Sfj. Sir, you know it. 
 
 And can (if need be) read a learned lecture, 
 On this, and other secrets. Pray you tell me, 
 What more of ladies, besides Livia, 
 Have you your patients ? 
 
 Eud. Many, my good lord. 30 
 
 The great Augusta, Urgulania, 
 Mutilia Prisca, and Plancina, divers 
 
 Sfj. And, all these tell you the particulars 
 Of every severall griefe ? how first it grew, 
 And then encreas'd, what action caused that; 35 
 What passion that : and answere to each point 
 That you will put 'hem. 
 
 Eud. Else, my lord, we know not 
 
 How to prescribe the remedies. 
 
 Stj. Goe to, 
 
 Yo'arc a subtill nation, you Physitians! 
 And growne the onely cabinets, in court, 40 
 
 To ladies privacies. Faith which of these 
 Is the most pleasant lady, in her physicke ? 
 Come, you are modest now. 
 
 Eud. 'Tis fit, my lord. 
 
 Sfj. Why, sir, I doe not aske you of their 
 urines,
 
 SCENE H.] fytfrWlS 4! 
 
 Whose smel's most violet ? or whose seige is 
 
 best ? 45 
 
 Or who makes hardest faces on her stoole ? 
 Which lady sleepes with her owne face, a nights ? 
 Which puts her teeth off, with her clothes, in 
 
 court ? 
 
 Or, which her hayre ? which her complexion ? 
 And, in which boxe she puts it ? These were 
 
 questions 50 
 
 That might, perhaps, have put your gravity 
 To some defence of blush. But, I enquir'd, 
 Which was the wittiest ? meriest ? wantonnest ? 
 Harmelesse intergatories, but conceipts. 
 Me thinks, Augusta should be most perverse, 55 
 And froward in her fit ? 
 
 End. She's so, my lord. 
 
 Sej. I knew it. And Mutilia the most jocund? 
 
 Eud. 'Tis very true, my lord. 
 
 Sej. And why would you 
 
 Conceale this from me, now ? Come, what's 
 
 Li via ? 
 
 I know, she's quick, and quaintly spirited, 60 
 
 And will have strange thoughts, when she's at 
 
 leasure ; 
 She tells 'hem all to you ? 
 
 Eud. My noblest lord, 
 
 He breaths not in the empire, or on earth, 
 
 45 smel's. Q-A, smels. 46 her. Q, the. 63 on. Q, the.
 
 4* feffanUfl! (AcrL 
 
 Whom I would be ambitious to serve 
 
 (In any act, that may preserve mine honour) 65 
 
 Before your lordship. 
 
 Sej. Sir, you can loose no honor, 
 
 By trusting ought to me. The coursest act 
 Done to my service, I can so requite, 
 As all the world shall stile it honorable : 
 u Your idle, vertuous definitions 70 
 
 u Keepe honor poore,and are as scorn'd, as vaine : 
 u Those deeds breathe honor, that do sucke in 
 gaine. 
 
 Eud. But, good my lord, if I should thus betray 
 The counsels of my patient, and a ladies 
 Of her high place, and worth ; what might your 
 
 lordship, 75 
 
 (Who presently are to trust me with your owne) 
 Judge of my faith ? 
 
 Sej. Only the best, I sweare. 
 
 Say now, that I should utter you my griefe ; 
 And with it, the true cause ; that it were love ; 
 And love to Livia : you should tell her this ? go 
 Should she suspect your faith ? I would you 
 
 could 
 
 Tell me as much, from her ; see, if my braine 
 Could be turn'd jealous. 
 
 Eud. Happily, my lord, 
 
 I could, in time, tell you as much, and more ; 
 
 74 ladin. A, Lady.
 
 43 
 
 So I might safely promise but the first, 85 
 
 To her, from you. 
 
 Sej. As safely, my Eudemus, 
 
 (I now dare call thee so) as I have put 
 The secret into thee. 
 
 Eud. My lord 
 
 Sej. Protest not. 
 
 Thy lookes are vowes to me, use onely speed, 
 And but affect her with Sejanus love, 90 
 
 Thou art a man, made, to make Consuls. Goe. 
 
 Eud. My lord, He promise you a private 
 
 meeting 
 This day, together. 
 
 Sej. Canst thou ? 
 
 Eud. Yes. 
 
 Sej. The place ? 
 
 Eud. My gardens, whither I shall fetch your 
 lordship. 
 
 Sej. Let me adore my ./Esculapius. 95 
 
 Why, this indeed is physick ! and out-speakes 
 The knowledge of cheape drugs, or any use 
 Can be made out of it! more comforting 
 Then all your opiates, julebes, apozemes, 
 Magistrall syrrupes, or Be gone, my friend, 100 
 Not barely stiled, but created so ; 
 Expect things, greater then thy largest hopes, 
 To overtake thee : Fortune, shall be taught 
 To know how ill she hath deserv'd thus long,
 
 44 >ffanu0 (ACT i. 
 
 To come behinde thy wishes. Goc, and speed. 's 
 
 [Exit Eudemus.] 
 
 " Ambition makes more trusty slaves, then need, 
 These fellowes, by the favour of their arte, 
 Have, still, the meanes to tempt, oft-times, the 
 
 power. 
 
 If Livia will be now corrupted, then 
 Thou hast the way, Sejanus, to worke out > 
 
 His secrets, who (thou knowest) endures thee 
 
 not, 
 Her husband Drusus : and to worke against 
 
 them. 
 
 Prosper it, Pallas, thou, that betterst wit ; 
 For Venus hath the smallest share in it. 
 [Enter Tiberius and Drusus, attended.] 
 
 Tiberius, Sejanus, Drusus. 
 Tiberius. Wee not endure these flatteries, let 
 
 him stand ; One kneeles to him. 115 
 
 Our empire, ensignes, axes, roddes, and state 
 Take not away our humane nature from us : 
 Looke up, on us, and fall before the gods. 
 Stj. How like a god, speakes Caesar! 
 Arruntius. There, observe ! 
 
 He can indure that second, that's no flattery. >*o 
 O, what is it, proud slime will not beleeve 
 Of his owne worth, to heare it equall prais'd 
 Thus with the gods ? 
 
 lit knctvett. Fi, etc., knowtt 
 Out . . . kirn. F, by II. I I ? 16
 
 SCENE II.] ^f 311110 45 
 
 Cordus. He did not heare it, sir. 
 
 Arr. He did not ? Tut, he must not, we 
 
 thinke meanely. 
 
 'Tis your most courtly, knowne confederacy, 125 
 To have your private parasite redeeme 
 What he, in publique subtilty, will lose 
 To making him a name. 
 
 Haterius. Right mighty lord 
 
 \_Gives him letter s.~\ 
 
 Tib. We must make up our eares, 'gainst 
 
 these assaults 
 
 Of charming tongues ; we pray you use, no more 130 
 These contumelies to us : stile not us 
 Or lord, or mighty, who professe our selfe 
 The servant of the Senate, and are proud 
 T'enjoy them our good, just, and favouring lords. 
 
 Cor. Rarely dissembled. 
 
 Arr. Prince-like, to the life. 135 
 
 " Sabinus. When power, that may command, 
 
 so much descends, 
 " Their bondage, whom it stoupes to, it intends. 
 
 Tib. Whence are these letters ? 
 
 Hat. From the Senate. 
 
 Tib. So. \_Latiaris gives him letters.] 
 
 Whence these ? 
 
 Latiaris. From thence too. 
 
 1*7 publique. G, comma after this, tubtilty. W, C, G, subtilly. 
 128 To. C, In.
 
 46 >rfanu* 
 
 Tib. Are they sitting, now ? 
 
 Lot. They stay thy answere, Caesar. 
 Silius. If this man 14.0 
 
 Had but a minde allied unto his words, 
 How blest a fate were it to us, and Rome? 
 We could not thinke that state, for which to 
 
 change, 
 
 Although the ayme were our old liberty : 
 The ghosts of those that fell for that, would 
 
 grieve 145 
 
 Their bodies liv'd not, now, againe to serve. 
 44 Men are deceiv'd, who thinke there can be 
 
 thrall 
 
 "Beneath a vertuous prince. Wish'd liberty 
 44 Ne're lovelier lookes, then under such a crowne. 
 But, when his grace is meerely but lip-good, >s 
 And, that no longer, then he aires himselfe 
 Abroad in publique, there, to seeme to shun 
 The strokes, and stripes of flatterers, which 
 
 within 
 
 Are lechery unto him, and so feed 
 His brutish sense with their afflicting sound, 155 
 As (dead to vertue) he permits himselfe 
 Be carried like a pitcher, by the cares, 
 To every act of vice : this is a case 
 Deserves our feare, and doth presage the nigh, 
 And close approach of bloud and tyranny. >6o 
 
 160 hind and. C, bloody.
 
 SCENE II.] &tfanU8 47 
 
 " Flattery is midwife unto princes rage : 
 
 " And nothing sooner, doth helpe foorth a ty- 
 ranne, 
 
 " Then that, and whisperers grace, who have 
 the time, 
 
 " The place, the power, to make all men offend- 
 ers. 
 
 Arr. He should be told this ; and be bid dis- 
 semble 165 
 
 With fooles, and blinde men : We that know 
 the evill, 
 
 Should hunt the Palace-rattes, or give them bane ; 
 
 Fright hence these worse then ravens, that de- 
 voure 
 
 The quicke, where they but prey upon the dead : 
 
 He shall be told it. 
 
 Sab. Stay, Arruntius, 170 
 
 We must abide our oportunity : 
 
 And practise what is fit, as what is needfull. 
 
 u It is not safe t'en force a soveraigne's eare : 
 
 " Princes heare well, if they at all will heare. 
 Arr. Ha ? Say you so ? well. In the meane 
 time, Jove, 175 
 
 (Say not, but I doe call upon thee now.) 
 
 Of all wilde beasts, preserve me from a tyranne ; 
 
 And of all tame, a flatterer. 
 
 &7. 'Tis well pray'd. 
 
 161 princes. G, prince's.
 
 48 frt fanua (ACT L 
 
 Tib. [having read the letter i\. Returne the 
 lords this voyce, we are their creature : 
 And it is fit, a good, and honest prince, 180 
 
 Whom they, out of their bounty, have instructed 
 With so dilate, and absolute a power, 
 Should owe the office of it, to their service; 
 And good of all, and every citizen. 
 Nor shall it e're repent us, to have wish'd 185 
 
 The Senate just, and fav'ring lords unto us, 
 " Since their free loves doe yeeld no lesse defence 
 " T'a princes state, then his owne innocence. 
 Say then, there can be nothing in their thought 
 Shall want to please us, that hath pleased them ; 190 
 Our suffrage rather shall prevent, then stay 
 Behind their wills : 'tis empire, to obey 
 Where such, so great, so grave, so good deter- 
 mine. 
 
 Yet, for the sute of Spaine, t'erect a temple 
 In honour of our mother, and our selfe, 195 
 
 We must (with pardon of the Senate) not 
 Assent thereto. Their lordships may object 
 Our not denying the same late request 
 Unto the Asian cities : We desire 
 That our defence, for suffering that, be knowneaoo 
 In these briefe reasons, with our after purpose. 
 Since deified Augustus hindred not 
 A temple to be built, at Pergamum, 
 
 179 (rtaturt. C, creituret.
 
 SCENE II.] fytfanUt 49 
 
 In honour of himselfe, and sacred Rome, 
 We, that have all his deedes, and wordes ob- 
 
 serv'd 205 
 
 Ever, in place of lawes, the rather follow'd 
 That pleasing precedent, because, with ours, 
 The Senates reverence also, there, was joyn'd. 
 But, as, t'have once receiv'd it, may deserve 
 The gaine of pardon, so, to be ador'd 210 
 
 With the continew'd stile, and note of gods, 
 Through all the provinces, were wild ambition, 
 And no lesse pride : Yea, ev'n Augustus name 
 Would early vanish, should it be prophan'd 
 With such promiscuous flatteries. For our part, 215 
 We here protest it, and are covetous 
 Posteritie should know it, we are mortall ; 
 And can but deedes of men : 'twere glory 'inough, 
 Could we be truely a prince. And, they shall 
 
 adde 
 
 Abounding grace, unto our memorie, 220 
 
 That shall report us worthy our fore-fathers, 
 Carefull of your affaires, constant in dangers, 
 And not afraid of any private frowne 
 For publike good. These things shall be to us 
 Temples, and statues, reared in your mindes, 225 
 The fairest, and most during imag'rie : 
 For those of stone, or brasse, if they become 
 Odious in judgement of posteritie, 
 
 225 your. F2 ,F3, A, our.
 
 50 >rfanu* 
 
 Are more contemn'd, as dying sepulchres, 
 Then tane for living monuments. We then 130 
 Make here our suite, alike to gods, and men, 
 The one, untill the period of our race, 
 T'inspire us with a free, and quiet mind, 
 Discerning both divine, and humane lawes ; 
 The other, to vouchsafe us after death, 135 
 
 An honourable mention, and faire praise, 
 T'accompanie our actions, and our name : 
 The rest of greatnesse princes may command, 
 And (therefore) may neglect, only, a long, 
 A lasting, high, and happy memorie 240 
 
 They should, without being satisfied, pursue. 
 Contempt of fame begets contempt of vertue. 
 Natta. Rare! 
 
 Satrius. Most divine ! 
 
 Sfj. The Oracles are ceas'd, 
 
 That only Caesar, with their tongue, might 
 
 speake. 
 Arr. Let me be gone, most felt, and open 
 
 this ! 145 
 
 Cor. Stay. 
 Arr. What ? to heare more cunning, and 
 
 fine wordes, 
 With their sound flatter'd, ere their sense be 
 
 meant ? 
 
 Tib. Their choise of Antium, there to place 
 the guift
 
 SCENE II.] ^311110 51 
 
 Vow'd to the goddesse, for our mothers health, 249 
 
 We will the Senate know, we fairely like ; Fortuna eyues- 
 
 As also> of their grant to Lepidus, trit - 
 
 For his repayring the ^Emilian place, 
 
 And restauration of those monuments : 
 
 Their grace too in confining of Silanus, 
 
 To th'other Is'le Cithera, at the sute 255 
 
 Of his religious sister, much commends 
 
 Their policie, so temp'red with their mercy. 
 
 But, for the honours, which they have decreed 
 
 To our Sejanus, to advance his statue 
 
 In Pompei's theatre (whose ruining fire 260 
 
 His vigilance, and labour kept restrain'd 
 
 In that one losse) they have, therein, out-gone 
 
 Their owne great wisedomes, by their skilfull 
 
 choise, 
 
 And placing of their bounties, on a man, 
 Whose merit more adornes the dignitie, 265 
 
 Then that can him : and gives a benefit, 
 In taking, greater, then it can receive. 
 Blush not, Sejanus, thou great aide of Rome, 
 Associate of our labours, our chiefe helper, 
 Let us not force thy simple modestie 270 
 
 With offring at thy praise, for more we cannot, 
 Since there's no voice can take it. No man, here, 
 Receive our speeches, as hyperbole's ; 
 For we are far from flatt'ring our friend, 
 
 252 place. C, palace. 255 at. F2, F3, A, and.
 
 "52 ferfanu0 (ACT i. 
 
 (Let envy know) as from the need to flatter. 175 
 Nor let them aske the causes of our praise ; 
 Princes have still their grounds rear'd with them- 
 selves, 
 
 Above the poore low flats of common men, 
 And, who will search the reasons of their acts, 
 Must stand on equall bases. Lead, away. 180 
 
 Our loves unto the Senate. 
 
 [Exeunt Tiberius, Sejanus, Natta, Haterius, Latiaris, 
 Officers, sV.] 
 
 Arr. Caesar. 
 
 Sab. Peace. 
 
 Cor. Great Pompei's theatre was never ruin M 
 Till now, that proud Sejanus hath a statue 
 Rear'd on his ashes. 
 
 Arr. Place the shame of souldiers, 
 
 Above the best of generalls? cracke the world ! 185 
 And bruise the name of Romanes into dust, 
 Ere we behold it ! 
 
 Si/. Checke your passion ; 
 
 Lord Drusus tarries. 
 
 Drusus. Is my father mad ? 
 
 Wearie of life, and rule, lords ? thus to heave 
 An idoll up with praise ! make him his mate ! 19 
 His rivall in the empire! 
 
 Arr. O, good prince ! 
 
 Dru. Allow him statues ? titles ? honours ? 
 
 such, 
 As he himselfe refuseth ?
 
 SCENE II.) ^efattU0 53 
 
 Arr. Brave, brave Drusus ! 
 
 Dru. The first ascents to soveraigntie are 
 
 hard[;] 
 
 But, entred once, there never wants or meanes,295 
 Or ministers, to helpe th'aspirer on. 
 
 Arr. True, gallant Drusus. 
 
 Dru. We must shortly pray 
 
 To Modestie, that he will rest contented 
 
 Arr. I, where he is, and not write emp'rour. 
 
 [Re-enter] Sejanus, \_Satrius, Latiaris, Clients, &c.~\ 
 Drusus, Arruntius, &t. [on one side.~\ 
 
 Sej. There is your bill, and yours ; Bring you 
 
 your man : 300 
 
 I have mov'd for you, too, Latiaris. 
 
 Dru. What ? 
 
 Is your vast greatnesse growne so blindly bold, 
 That you will over us ? 
 
 Sej. Why, then give way. 
 
 Dru. Give way, Colossus ? Doe you lift ? 
 
 Advance you ? 
 
 Take that. Drusus strikes him. 
 
 Arr. Good ! brave ! excellent brave prince ! 305 
 Dru. Nay, come, approch. [Draw j.] What ? 
 
 stand you off? at gaze ? 
 It lookes too full of death, for thy cold spirits. 
 
 Re-enter. The marginal direction in the Folio is He enters, fol- 
 lowed 'with clients. 
 
 307 spirits. Q, spirit.
 
 54 >etanua [ACT L 
 
 Avoid mine eye, dull camell, or my sword 
 Shall make thy brav'rie fitter for a grave, 
 Then for a triumph. I'le advance a statue, 310 
 O'your owne bulke ; but't shall be on the crosse : 
 Where I will naile your pride, at breadth, and 
 
 length, 
 And cracke those sinnewes, which are yet but 
 
 stretch'd 
 With your swolne fortunes rage. 
 
 Arr. A noble prince ! 
 
 All. A Castor, a Castor, a Castor, a Castor 1315 
 
 \_Exeunt all but\ Sejanus. 
 Stj. He that, with such wrong mov'd, can 
 
 beare it through 
 
 With patience, and an even mind, knowes how 
 To turne it backe. Wrath, cover'd, carryes fate : 
 Revenge is lost, if I professe my hate. 
 What was my practice late, I'le now pursue 3 10 
 As my fell justice. This hath stil'd it new. 
 
 [*/.] 
 Chorus Of Musicians. 
 
 309 brav'rie. G, bravery. 
 
 315 Cotter. Q has Sec. in place of fourth Castor. 
 
 311 new. " After this speech the Quarto has Mu. Ctorat, which 
 is repeated at the end of every succeeding act. As it seems to mean, 
 in plain English, merely the music between the acts, I have not 
 thought it worth preserving." GirTord.
 
 ACT II. 
 
 [SCENE I. The Garden of Eudemus. 
 Enter~\ Sejanus, Livia, Eudemus. 
 
 Sejanus. Physician, thou art worthy of a pro> 
 
 vince, 
 
 For the great favours done unto our loves ; 
 And, but that greatest Livia beares a part 
 In the requitall of thy services, 
 I should alone, despaire of ought, like meanes, 5 
 To give them worthy satisfaction. 
 
 Livia. Eudemus, (I will see it) shall receive 
 A fit, and full reward, for his large merit. 
 But for this potion, we intend to Drusus, 
 (No more our husband, now) whom shall we 
 
 choose 10 
 
 As the most apt, and abled instrument, 
 To minister it to him ? 
 
 Eudemus. I say, Lygdus. 
 
 Sej. Lygdus ? what's he ? 
 
 Liv. An Eunuch Drusus loves. 
 
 Eud. I, and his cup-bearer. 
 
 Sej. Name not a second. 
 
 If Drusus love him, and he have that place, 15 
 We cannot thinke a fitter. 
 
 ii abled. F2, F3, ablest; A, and blest. 15 love. C, loves.
 
 56 
 
 Eud. True, my lord, 
 
 For free accesse, and trust, are two maine aides. 
 
 Sej. Skilfull physitian ! 
 
 Liv. But he must be wrought 
 
 To th'undertaking, with some labour'd arte. 
 
 Sej. Is he ambitious? 
 
 Liv. No. 
 
 Sej. Or covetous ? 10 
 
 Liv. Neither. 
 
 Eud. Yet, gold is a good generall charme. 
 
 Sej. What is he then ? 
 
 Liv. Faith, only wanton, light. 
 
 Sej. How ! is he young? and faire? 
 
 Eud. A delicate youth. 
 
 Sej. Send him to me, Fie worke him. Royall 
 
 ladie, 
 Though I have lov'd you long, and with that 
 
 height *s 
 
 Of zeale, and dutie, (like the fire, which more 
 It mounts, it trembles) thinking nought could 
 
 adde 
 
 Unto the fervour, which your eye had kindled; 
 Yet, now I see your wisedome, judgement, 
 
 strength, 
 
 Ouicknesse, and will, to apprehend the meanes 30 
 To your owne good, and greatnesse, I protest 
 My selfe through rarefied, and turn'd all flame 
 In your affection : Such a spirit as yours,
 
 SCENE I.] gtff 31X11$ 57 
 
 Was not created for the idle second 
 To a poore flash, as Drusus ; but to shine 35 
 
 Bright, as the Moone, among the lesser lights, 
 And share the sov'raigntie of all the world. 
 Then Livia triumphs in her proper spheare, 
 When shee, and her Sejanus shall divide 
 The name of Caesar ; and Augusta's starre 40 
 Be dimm'd with glorie of a brighter beame: 
 When Agrippina's fires are quite extinct, 
 And the scarce-scene Tiberius borrowes all 
 His little light from us, whose folded armes 
 Shall make one perfect orbe. \_Knocking within.'] 
 
 Who's that ? Eudemus, 45 
 
 Looke, 'tis not Drusus ? [Exit Eudemus.] Ladie, 
 doe not feare. 
 
 Liv. Not I, my lord. My feare, and love of 
 
 him 
 Left me at once. 
 
 Sej. Illustrous ladie! stay 
 
 Eud. [within] . I'le tell his lordship. 
 [Re-enter Eudemus] 
 
 Sej. Who is't, Eudemus ? 
 
 Eud. One of your lordships servants, brings 
 
 you word 50 
 
 The Emp'rour hath sent for you. 
 
 46 'tis not Drusus ? Ladie. G, 'Tis not Drusus, lady, etc. 
 
 48 Illustrous. F3, etc., Illustrious. 
 
 49 Who is't. A, Who's that ; W, C, G, Who is it. 
 
 50 brings. A, bring.
 
 5 8 efanu0 
 
 Sej. O ! where is he ? 
 
 With your faire leave, dear Princesse. Tie but 
 
 aske 
 
 A question, and returne. He goes out, 
 
 Eud. Fortunate Princesse ! 
 
 How are you blest in the fruition 
 Of this unequald man, this soule of Rome, 55 
 
 The empires life, and voice of Caesars world ! 
 Liv. So blessed, my Eudemus, as to know 
 The blisse I have, with what I ought to owe 
 The meanes that wrought it. How do'I looke 
 
 to day ? 
 Eud. Excellent cleere, beleeve it. This same 
 
 fucus 60 
 
 Was well laid on. 
 
 Liv. Me thinkes, 'tis here not white. 
 
 Eud. Lend me your scarlet, lady. 'Tis the 
 
 sunne 
 
 Hath giv'n some little taint unto the ceruse, 
 You should have us'd of the white oyle I gave 
 
 you. 
 
 Sejanus, for your love ! his very name 65 
 
 Commandeth above Cupid, or his shafts 
 
 [Paints her cheeks.] 
 
 (Z,/v. Nay, now yo'have made it worse. 
 Eud. I'le helpe it straight.) 
 
 And, but pronounc'd, is a sufficient charme 
 
 Ht . . . out. F, by I. 51. 55 thii uult. W, C, G, theioul. 
 63 unto. A, to.
 
 SCENE I.] g>efattU0 59 
 
 Against all rumour ; and of absolute power 
 
 To satisfie for any ladies honour. 7 
 
 (Liv. What doe you now, Eudemus ? 
 
 Eud. Make a light fucus, 
 
 To touch you ore withall.) Honor' d Sejanus ! 
 What act (though ne're so strange, and insolent) 
 But that addition will at least beare out, 
 If't doe not expiate? 
 
 Liv. Here, good physitian. 75 
 
 Eud. I like this studie to preserve the love 
 Of such a man, that comes not every houre 
 To greet the world. ('Tis now well, ladie, you 
 
 should 
 
 Use of the dentifrice, I prescrib'd you, too, 
 To cleere your teeth, and the prepar'd pomatum, go 
 To smoothe the skin :) A lady cannot be 
 Too curious of her forme, that still would hold 
 The heart of such a person, made her captive, 
 As you have his : who, to endeare him more 
 In your cleere eye, hath put away his wife, 85 
 The trouble of his bed, and your delights, 
 Faire Apicata, and made spacious roome 
 To your new pleasures. 
 
 Liv. Have not we return'd 
 
 That, with our hate of Drusus, and discoverie 
 Of all his councels ? 
 
 Eud. Yes, and wisely, lady, 90 
 
 84 his. C, this. 89 of. W, C, G, to.
 
 60 >rfanu$ 
 
 The ages that succeed, and stand far off 
 To gaze at your high prudence, shall admire 
 And reckon it an act, without your sexe : 
 It hath that rare apparance. Some will thinke 
 Your fortune could not yeeld a deeper sound, 95 
 Then mixt with Drusus; But, when they shall 
 
 heare 
 
 That, and the thunder of Sejanus meet, 
 Sejanus, whose high name doth strike the starres, 
 And rings about the concave, great Sejanus, 
 Whose glories, stile, and titles are himselfe, 100 
 The often iterating of Sejanus : 
 They then will lose their thoughts, and be 
 
 asham'd 
 
 To take acquaintance of them. 
 \Re-enter Sejanus.] 
 
 Stj. I must make 
 
 A rude departure, lady. Caesar sends 
 With all his haste both of command, and prayer. 105 
 Be resolute in our plot; you have my soule, 
 As certayne yours, as it is my bodies. 
 And, wise physitian, so prepare the poyson 
 As you may lay the subtile operation 
 Upon some naturall disease of his. no 
 
 Your eunuch send to me. I kisse your hands, 
 Glorie of ladies, and commend my love 
 To your best faith, and memorie. 
 
 Liv. My lord,
 
 SCENE I.] &t\WMl8 6 1 
 
 I shall but change your wordes. Farewell. Yet, 
 
 this 
 
 Remember for your heed, he loves you not; 115 
 You know, what I have told you : His designes 
 Are full of grudge, and danger : we must use 
 More then a common speed. 
 
 Sej. Excellent lady, 
 
 How you doe fire my bloud ! 
 
 Liv. Well, you must goe ? 
 
 The thoughts be best, are least set forth to shew. 120 
 
 [Exit Sej anus. ~\ 
 
 Eud. When will you take some physick, lady ? 
 
 Liv. When 
 
 I shall, Eudemus : But let Drusus drug 
 Be first prepar'd. 
 
 Eud. Were Lygdus made, that's done ; 
 
 I have it readie. And to morrow-morning, 
 Pie send you a perfume, first to resolve, 125 
 
 And procure sweat, and then prepare a bath 
 To dense, and cleere the cutis ; against when, 
 I'le have an excellent new fucus made, 
 Resistive 'gainst the sunne, the raine, or wind, 
 Which you shall lay on with a breath, or oyle, 130 
 As you best like, and last some fourteene houres. 
 This change came timely, lady, for your health ; 
 
 121 lady? When. F3, A place When at beginning of 1. 122. 
 126 and then. F2, F3, A omit and. 
 129 'gainst. F3, A, against.
 
 62 ^rfanua (ACT n. 
 
 And the restoring your complexion, 
 Which Drusus choller had almost burnt up : 
 Wherein your fortune hath prescrib'd you better 135 
 Then arte could doe. 
 
 Liv. Thankes, good physitian, 
 
 Tie use my fortune (you shall see) with rever- 
 ence. 
 Is my coach ready ? 
 
 Eud. It attends your highnesse. 
 
 [Exeunt.] 
 
 [SCENE II. An Apartment in the Palace. 
 Enter] Sejanus. 
 
 Sejanus. If this be not revenge, when I have 
 
 done 
 
 And made it perfect, let ./Egyptian slaves, 
 Parthians,and bare-foot Hebrewes brand my face, 
 And print my body full of injuries. 
 Thou lost thy selfe, childe Drusus, when thou 
 
 thought's! 5 
 
 Thou could'st out-skip my vengeance : or out- 
 stand 
 
 The power I had to crush thee into ayre. 
 Thy follyes now shall taste what kinde of man 
 They have provok'd, and this thy fathers house 
 Cracke in the flame of my incensed rage, 10 
 
 Whose fury shall admit no shame, or meane. 
 Adultery ? it is the lightest ill,
 
 SCENE II.] gtff 31111$ 63 
 
 I will commit. A race of wicked acts 
 
 Shall flow out of my anger, and o're-spread 
 
 The worlds wide face, which no posterity 15 
 
 Shall e're approove, nor yet keepe silent : Things, 
 
 That for their cunning, close, and cruell marke, 
 
 Thy father would wish his ; and shall (perhaps) 
 
 Carry the empty name, but we the prize. 
 
 On then, my soule, and start not in thy course ; 20 
 
 Though heav'n drop sulphure, and hell belch 
 
 out fire, 
 
 Laugh at the idle terrors : Tell proud Jove, 
 Betweene his power, and thine, there is no oddes. 
 'Twas onely feare, first, in the world made gods. 
 \Enter\ Tiberius, [attended, to\ Sejanus. 
 
 Tiberius. Is yet Sejanus come ? 
 
 Sej. He's here, dread Caesar. 25 
 
 Tib. Let all depart that chamber, and the 
 next : \_Exeunt Attendants.] 
 
 Sit downe, my comfort. When the master-prince 
 Of all the world, Sejanus, saith, he feares; 
 Is it not fatall ? 
 
 Sej. Yes, to those are fear'd. 
 
 Tib. And not to him ? 
 
 Sej. Not, if he wisely turne 30 
 
 That part of fate he holdeth, first on them. 
 
 Tib. That nature, bloud, and lawes of kinde 
 forbid. 
 
 Sej. Doe policie, and state forbid it?
 
 64 >r fanua IACT IL 
 
 Tib. No. 
 
 Sej. The rest of poore respects, then, let goe 
 
 by: 
 State is inough to make th'act just, them guilty. 35 
 
 Tib. Long hate pursues such acts. 
 
 Sej. Whom hatred frights, 
 
 Let him not dreame on sov'raignty. 
 
 Tib. Are rites 
 
 Of faith, love, piety, to be trod downe ? 
 Forgotten ? and made vaine ? 
 
 Sej. All for a crowne. 
 
 The prince, who shames a tyrannes name to 
 
 beare, 4 
 
 Shall never dare doe any thing, but feare ; 
 All the command of scepters quite doth perish 
 If it beginne religious thoughts to cherish : 
 Whole Empires fall, swaid by those nice re- 
 spects. 
 
 It is the licence of darke deeds protects 45 
 
 Ev'n states most hated : when no lawes resist 
 The sword, but that it acteth what it list. 
 
 Tib. Yet so, we may doe all things cruelly, 
 Not safely : 
 
 Sej. Yes, and doe them thoroughly. 
 
 Tib. Knowes yet, Sejanus, whom we point at ? 
 
 Sej. I, so 
 
 37 on. Fi, etc., of. 41 command. A, command!. 
 
 49 thoroughly. Q-A, throughly.
 
 SCENE H.] &t\mU& 65 
 
 Or else my thought, my sense, or both doe erre; 
 'Tis Agrippina ? 
 
 Tib. She ; and her proud race. 
 
 Sej. Proud ? dangerous, Caesar. For in them 
 
 apace 
 
 The fathers spirit shoots up. Germanicus 
 Lives in their lookes, their gate, their forme, 
 
 t'upbraide us 55 
 
 With his close death, if not revenge the same. 
 
 Tib. The act's not knowne. 
 
 Sej. Not prov'd. But whispring fame 
 
 Knowledge, and proofe doth to the jealous give, 
 Who, then to faile, would their owne thought 
 
 beleeve. 
 
 It is not safe, the children draw long breath, 60 
 That are provoked by a parents death. 
 
 Tib. It is as dangerous, to make them hence, 
 If nothing but their birth be their offence. 
 
 Sej. Stay, till they strike at Caesar : then their 
 
 crime 
 
 Will be enough, but late, and out of time 65 
 
 For him to punish. 
 
 Tib. Doe they purpose it? 
 
 Sej. You know, sir, thunder speakes not till 
 
 it hit. 
 
 Be not secure : none swiftlier are opprest, 
 Then they, whom confidence betrayes to rest. 
 
 56 hit. F3, A, this.
 
 66 $>rfanu* 
 
 Let not your daring make your danger such : 7 
 All power's to be fear'd, where 'tis too much. 
 The youth's are (of themselves) hote, violent, 
 Full of great thought ; and that male-spirited 
 
 dame, 
 Their mother, slackes no meanes to put them 
 
 on, 
 
 By large allowance, popular presentings, 7$ 
 
 Increase of traine, and state, suing for titles, 
 Hath them commended with like praiers, like 
 
 vowes, 
 
 To the same Gods, with Caesar : daies and nights 
 Shee spends in banquets, and ambitious feasts 
 For the Nobilitie ; where Caius Silius, 80 
 
 Titius Sabinus, olde Arruntius, 
 Asinius Gallus, Furnius, Regulus, 
 And others, of that discontented list, 
 Are the prime guests. There, and to these, she 
 
 tels 
 Whose niece she was, whose daughter, and 
 
 whose wife, 85 
 
 And then must they compare her with Augusta, 
 I, and preferre her too, commend her forme, 
 Extoll her fruitfulnesse ; at which a showre 
 Fals for the memorie of Germanicus, 
 Which they blow over straight, with windie 
 
 . praise, 9 
 
 And puffing hopes of her aspiring sonnes :
 
 SCENE II.] ^efaitU0 67 
 
 Who, with these hourely ticklings, grow so 
 
 pleas'd, 
 
 And wantonly conceited of themselves, 
 As now, they sticke not to beleeve they're such, 
 As these doe give 'hem out : and would be 
 
 thought 95 
 
 (More then competitors) immediate heires. 
 Whilest to their thirst of rule they winne the 
 
 rout 
 
 (That's still the friend of noveltie) with hope 
 Of future freedome, which on everie change, 
 That greedily, though emptily, expects. 100 
 
 Caesar, 'tis age in all things breeds neglects, 
 And princes that will keepe olde dignitie, 
 Must not admit too youthfull heires stand by ; 
 Not their owne issue : but so darkely set 
 As shadowes are in picture, to give height, 105 
 And lustre to themselves. 
 
 Tib. We will command 
 
 Their ranke thoughts downe, and with a stricter 
 
 hand 
 Then we have yet put forth, their traines must 
 
 bate, 
 Their titles, feasts and factions. 
 
 Sej. Or your state. 
 
 But how sir, will you worke ? 
 
 Tib. Confine 'hem, 
 
 Sej. No. no
 
 68 &r janujf (ACT H. 
 
 They arc too great, and that too faint a blow, 
 To give them now: it would have serv'd at first, 
 When, with the weakest touch, their knot had 
 
 burst. 
 
 But, now, your care must be, not to detect 
 The smallest cord, or line of your suspect, "5 
 For such, who know the weight of princes feare, 
 Will, when they find themselves discover'd, 
 
 reare 
 Their forces, like scene snakes, that else would 
 
 lye 
 Rould in their circles, close: Nought is more 
 
 high, 
 
 Daring, or desperate, then offenders found; no 
 Where guilt is, rage, and courage doth abound. 
 The course must be, to let 'hem still swell up, 
 Riot, and surfet on blind fortunes cup; 
 Give 'hem more place, more dignities, more stile, 
 Call 'hem to court, to senate : in the while, 115 
 Take from their strength some one or twaine, 
 
 or more 
 
 Of the maine Fautors ; (It will fright the store) 
 And, by some by-occasion. Thus, with slight 
 You shall disarme first, and they (in night 
 Of their ambition) not perceive the traine, 130 
 Till, in the ingine, they are caught, and slaine. 
 
 1 16 frincti. G, prinee'i. ill doik. Q, W, C, G, both. 
 119 dnarmt. Q, W, C, G, diurme them.
 
 SCENE II.] ^efaitUfif 69 
 
 Tib. We would not kill, if we knew how to 
 
 save; 
 
 Yet, then a throne, 'tis cheaper give a grave. 
 Is there no way to bind them by deserts? 
 
 Sej. Sir, wolves do change their haire, but not 
 
 their harts. J 3S 
 
 While thus your thought unto a meane is tied, 
 You neither dare inough, nor doe provide. 
 All modestie is fond ; and chiefly where 
 The subject is no lesse compeld to beare, 
 Then praise his sov'raignes acts. 
 
 Tib. We can no longer 140 
 
 Keepe on our masque to thee, our deare Sejanus ; 
 Thy thoughts are ours, in all, and we but proov'd 
 Their voice, in our designes, which by assent- 
 ing 
 
 Hath more confirm'd us, then if heartning Jove 
 Had, from his hundred statues, bid us strike, 145 
 And at the stroke clickt all his marble thumb's. 
 But, who shall first be strooke? 
 
 Sej. First, Caius Silius; 
 
 He is the most of marke, and most of danger : 
 In power, and reputation equall strong, 
 Having commanded an imperiall armie 150 
 
 Seven yeeres together, vanquish'd Sacrovir 
 In Germanic, and thence obtain'd to weare 
 The ornaments triumphall. His steep fall, 
 By how much it doth give the weightier crack,
 
 70 Sriamis (ACT IL 
 
 Will send more wounding terrour to the rest, '55 
 Command them stand aloofe, and give more way 
 To our surprising of the principal). 
 
 Tib. But what, Sabinus ? 
 
 Stj. Let him grow awhile, 
 
 His fate is not yet ripe : we must not plucke 
 At all together, lest wee catch our selves. *6o 
 
 And ther's Arruntius too, he only talkes. 
 But Sosia, Silius wife, would be wound in 
 Now, for she hath a furie in her brest 
 More, then hell ever knew ; and would be sent 
 Thither in time. Then, is there one Cremutiusi6s 
 Cordus, a writing fellow, they have got 
 To gather notes of the precedent times, 
 And make them into Annal's ; a most tart 
 And bitter spirit (I heare) who, under colour 
 Of praysing those, doth taxe the present state, 170 
 Censures the men, the actions, leaves no tricke, 
 No practice un-examin'd, paralels 
 The times, the governments, a profest champion, 
 For the old libertie 
 
 Tib. A perishing wretch. 
 
 As if there were that chaos bred in things, 175 
 That lawes, and libertie would not rather choose 
 To be quite broken, and tane hence by us, 
 Then have the staine to be preserv'd by such. 
 Have we the meanes, to make these guiltie, first ? 
 
 1 66 Cor Jut. F3, A, Curdiui. 178 ttaixe. C, main.
 
 SCENE n.j >efanu0 71 
 
 Sej. Trust that to me : let Caesar, by his 
 
 power, 1 80 
 
 But cause a formal! meeting of the Senate, 
 I will have matter, and accusers readie. 
 
 Tib. But how ? let us consult. 
 
 Sej. Wee shall mispend 
 
 The time of action. Counsels are unfit 
 In businesse, where all rest is more pernicious 185 
 Then rashnesse can be. Acts of this close kind 
 Thrive more by execution, then advice. 
 There is no lingring in that worke begun, 
 Which cannot praised be, untill through done. 
 
 Tib. Our edict shall, forthwith, command a 
 
 court. 19 
 
 While I can live, I will prevent earths furie : 
 'E/xoii Qavovros yala p.L^OrJT(j) Trvpt. [Exit.'] 
 
 [Enter Julius^ Postbumus [to] Sejanus. 
 
 Post humus. My lord Sejanus 
 
 Sej. Julius Posthumus, 
 
 Come with my wish ! what newes from Agrip- 
 pina's ? 
 
 Pos. Faith none. They all locke up them- 
 selves a'late; 195 
 Or talke in character : I have not scene 
 A companie so chang'd. Except they had 
 Intelligence by augurie' of our practice. 
 
 Sej. When were you there ? 
 
 Pos. Last night.
 
 72 gjffanua (ACT ii. 
 
 Sty. And what ghests found you ? 
 
 Pos. Sabinus, Silius, (the olde list,) Arruntius,aoo 
 Furnius, and Gallus. 
 
 Sej. Would not these talke? 
 
 Pos. Little. 
 
 And yet we offered choice of argument. 
 Satrius was with me. 
 
 Sej. Well: 'tis guilt inough 
 
 Their often meeting. You forgot t'extoll 
 The hospitable ladie ? 
 
 Pos. No, that tricke >5 
 
 Was well put home, and had succeeded too, 
 But that Sabinus cought a caution out ; 
 For she began to swell : 
 
 Sej. And may she burst. 
 
 Julius, I would have you goe instantly, 
 Unto the palace of the great Augusta, aio 
 
 And, (by your kindest friend,) get swift Mutilia 
 
 aCCCSSe J Priica. 
 
 Acquaint her, with these meetings : Tell the 
 
 words 
 
 You brought me, (th'other day) of Silius, 
 Adde somewhat to 'hem. Make her understand 
 The danger of Sabinus, and the times, 115 
 
 Out of his closenesse. Give Arruntius words 
 Of malice against Caesar ; so, to Gallus : 
 But (above all) to Agrippina. Say, 
 (As you may truely) that her infinite pride, 
 
 211 Mutilia Prhca. In F by 1. no. 214 Addt. A, And.
 
 SCENE II.] >t\m\l8 73 
 
 Propt with the hopes of her too fruitfull wombe,22o 
 
 With popular studies gapes for soveraigntie ; 
 
 And threatens Caesar. Pray Augusta then, 
 
 That for her owne, great Caesars, and the pub- 
 
 lique safetie, she be pleas'd to urge these dangers. 
 
 Caesar is too secure (he must be told, "5 
 
 And best hee'll take it from a mothers tongue.) 
 
 Alas ! what is't for us to sound, t'explore, 
 
 To watch, oppose, plot, practise, or prevent, 
 
 If he, for whom it is so strongly labour'd, 
 
 Shall, out of greatnesse, and free spirit, be 230 
 
 Supinely negligent? Our citi's now 
 
 Devided as in time o' th' civill warre, 
 
 And men forbeare not to declare themselves 
 
 Of Agrippina's partie. Every day, 
 
 The faction multiplies ; and will doe more 235 
 
 If not resisted : you can best inlarge it 
 
 As you find audience. Noble Posthumus, 
 
 Commend me to your Prisca: and pray her, 
 
 Shee will solicite this great businesse 
 
 To earnest, and most present execution, 240 
 
 With all her utmost credit with Augusta. 
 
 Pos. I shall not faile in my instructions. 
 
 [**.] 
 
 Sej. This second (from his mother) will well 
 urge 
 
 223-224 pub-liquc. A, W, C do not divide, but place whole 
 word at end of 1. 223.
 
 74 >rfanu0 
 
 Our late designe, and spur on Caesars rage : 
 Which else might grow remisse. The way, to 
 
 put H5 
 
 A prince in bloud, is to present the shapes 
 Of dangers, greater then they are (like late, 
 Or early shadowes) and, sometimes, to faine 
 Where there are none, onely, to make him feare; 
 His feare will make him cruell : And once en- 
 
 tred, >s 
 
 He doth not easily learne to stop, or spare 
 Where he may doubt. This have I made my 
 
 rule, 
 
 To thrust Tiberius into tyrannic, 
 And make him toile, to turne aside those blockes, 
 Which I alone, could not remoove with safetie. 255 
 Drusus once gone, Germanicus three sonnes 
 Would clog my way ; whose guardes have too 
 
 much faith 
 
 To be corrupted : and their mother knowne 
 Of too-too unreproov'd a chastitie, 
 To be attempted, as light Livia was. 160 
 
 Worke then, my art, on Caesar's feares, as they 
 On those they feare, till all my [1] etts be clear'd : 
 And he in ruines of his house, and hate 
 Of all his subjects, bury his owne state : 
 When, with my peace, and safty, I will rise, 165 
 By making him the publike sacrifice. [.*//.] 
 
 261 Ittti. F, Fa, Fj, A, beta.
 
 SCENE in.] *&efantl$ 75 
 
 [SCENE III. A Room in Agrippina's House. 
 Enter] Satrius, [and] Natta. 
 
 Satrius. They' are growne exceeding circum- 
 spect, and wary. 
 Natta. They have us in the wind : And yet, 
 
 Arruntius 
 Cannot contayn himselfe. 
 
 Sat. Tut, hee's not yet 
 
 Look'd after, there are others more desir'd, 
 That are more silent. 
 
 Nat. Here he comes. Away. 5 
 
 [Exeunt.] 
 
 [Enter] Sabinus, Arruntius, [and] Cordus. 
 Sabinus. How is it, that these beagles haunt 
 
 the house 
 Of Agrippina ? 
 
 Arruntius. O, they hunt, they hunt. 
 There is some game here lodg'd, which they 
 
 must rouse, 
 To make the great-ones sport. 
 
 Cordus. Did you observe 
 
 How they inveigh'd 'gainst Caesar ? 
 
 Arr. I, baytes, baytes, 10 
 
 For us to bite at : would I have my flesh 
 Tome by the publique hooke, these qualified 
 
 hang-men 
 Should be my company.
 
 76 
 
 Cor. Here comes another. 
 
 \Domitius Afer panes over the stage,] 
 
 Arr. I, there's a man, Afer the oratour ! 
 One, that hath phrases, figures, and fine flowres, 15 
 To strew his rethorique with, and doth make haste 
 To get him note, or name, by any offer 
 Where bloud, or gaine be objects ; steepes his 
 
 wordes, 
 
 When he would kill, in artificial! teares : 
 The Crocodile of Tyber ! him I love, 10 
 
 That man is mine. He hath my heart, and voice, 
 When I would curse, he, he. 
 
 Sab. Contemne the slaves, 
 
 Their present lives will be their future graves. 
 
 [Exeunt] 
 
 [SCENE IV. Another Apartment in the same. 
 Enter] Silius, Agrippina, Nero, [and] Sosia. 
 
 Silius. May't please your highnesse not for- 
 get your selfe, 
 
 I dare not, with my manners, to attempt 
 Your trouble farder. 
 
 Agrippina. Farewell, noble Silius. 
 
 Si/. Most royall princesse. 
 
 Agr. Sosia stayes with us? 
 
 Si/. Shee is your servant, and doth owe your 
 
 grace 5 
 
 An honest, but unprofitable love.
 
 SCENE IV.] g>efaitU$ 77 
 
 Agr. How can that be, when there's no 
 gaine, but vertuous ? 
 
 Sil. You take the morall, not the politique sense. 
 I meant, as shee is bold, and free of speech, 
 Earnest to utter what her zealous thought 10 
 
 Travailes withall, in honour of your house ; 
 Which act, as it is simply borne in her, 
 Pertakes of love, and honesty, but may, 
 By th'over-often, and unseason'd use, 
 Turne to your losse, and danger : For your state, 15 
 Is wayted on by envies, as by eyes ; 
 And every second ghest your tables take, 
 Is a fee'd spie, t'observe who goes, who comes, 
 What conference you have, with whom, where, 
 
 when, 
 What the discourse is, what the lookes, the 
 
 thoughts ao 
 
 Of ev'ry person there, they doe extract, 
 And make into a substance. 
 
 Agr. Heare me, Silius, 
 
 Were all Tiberius body stuck with eyes, 
 And ev'ry wall, and hanging in my house 
 Transparent, as this lawne I weare, or ayre; 25 
 Yea, had Sejanus both his eares as long 
 As to my in-most closet : I would hate 
 To whisper any thought, or change an act, 
 To be made Juno's rivall. Vertues forces 
 Shew ever noblest in conspicuous courses. 30 
 
 7 -virtuous. Q, G, vertu's.
 
 78 ferjanutf [ACT n. 
 
 Si/. 'Tis great, and bravely spoken, like the 
 
 spirit 
 
 Of Agrippina : yet, your highnesse knowes, 
 There is nor losse, nor shame in providence : 
 Few can, what all should doe, beware inough. 
 You may perceive with what officious face, 35 
 Satrius, and Natta, Afer, and the rest 
 Visite your house, of late, t'enquire the secrets; 
 And with what bold, and priviledg'd arte, they 
 
 raile 
 
 Against Augusta: yea, and at Tiberius, 
 Tell tricks of Livia, and Sejanus, all 4 
 
 T'excite, and call your indignation on, 
 That they might heare it at more libertie. 
 
 Agr. Yo'are too suspitious, Silius. 
 
 Sil. Pray the gods, 
 
 I be so Agrippina: But I feare 
 Some subtill practice. They, that durst to strike 45 
 At so examp-lesse, and un-blam'd a life, 
 As, that of the renown'd Germanicus, 
 Will not sit downe, with that exploit alone : 
 " He threatens many, that hath injur'd one. 
 
 Nero. 'Twere best rip forth their tongues, 
 
 scare out their eies, 50 
 
 When next they come. 
 
 Sosia. A fit reward for spies. 
 
 \Enter^Drusus ju[nior]: \to\ Agrippina, Nero, Silius. 
 
 Drusus jun. Heare you the rumour? 
 
 33 nor lout. A, not Ion. 38 tuhat. Fj, A, that.
 
 SCENE IV.] >0fattUfl! 79 
 
 Agr. What ? 
 
 Dru. jun. Drusus is dying. 
 
 Agr. Dying? 
 
 Ner. That's strange ! 
 
 Agr. Yo' were with him, yesternight. 
 
 Dru. jun. One met Eudemus, the Physician, 
 Sent for, but now : who thinkes he cannot live. 55 
 
 Sil. Thinkes ? if't be arriv'd at that, he 
 
 knowes, 
 Or none. 
 
 Agr. This's quicke ! what should bee his 
 disease ? 
 
 Sil. Poyson. Poyson 
 
 Agr. How, Silius ! 
 
 Ner. What's that ? 
 
 Sil. Nay, nothing. There was (late) a certaine 
 
 blow 
 Giv'n o'the face. 
 
 Ner. I, to Sejanus ? 
 
 Sil. True. 60 
 
 Dru. jun. And, what of that ? 
 
 Sil. I'am glad I gave it not. 
 
 Ner. But, there is somewhat else ? 
 
 Sil. Yes, private meetings, 
 
 With a great ladie, at a physicians, 
 And, a wife turn'd away 
 
 Ner. Ha ! 
 
 57 TAis's. G, "Tis. 63 ladie. G inserts sir after this.
 
 go >ffanu$ (ACT n. 
 
 Sil. Toyes, meere toyes : 
 
 What wisdom's now i'th' streets ? i'th' common 
 
 mouth ? 65 
 
 Dru. jun. Feares, whisp'rings, tumults, noyse, 
 
 I know not what : 
 They say, the Senate sit. 
 
 Si/. Tie thither, straight ; 
 
 And see what's in the forge. 
 
 Agr. Good Silius, doe, 
 
 Sosia, and I will in. 
 
 Si/. Haste you, my lords, 
 
 To visit the sicke prince : tender your loves, 70 
 And sorrowes to the people. This Sejanus 
 (Trust my divining soule) hath plots on all : 
 No tree, that stops his prospect, but must fall. 
 
 [Exeunt.] 
 
 Chorus Of Musicians. 
 67 tit. Fa, F3, A, it.
 
 ACT III. 
 
 [SCENE I.] The Senate. 
 
 Sejanus, Ibarra, Latiaris, Cotta, Afer, [Sabi- 
 nus^\ Gallus, Lepidus, Arruntius, Prcecones, 
 Lictores. 
 
 Sejanus. Tis only you must urge against him, 
 
 Varro, 
 
 Nor I, nor Caesar may appeare therein, 
 Except in your defence, who are the Consul : 
 And, under colour of late en'mitie 
 Betweene your father, and his, may better doe it, 
 As free from all suspition of a practice. 
 Here be your notes, what points to touch at ; 
 
 read : 
 Bee cunning in them. Afer ha's them too. 
 
 Varro. But is he summon'd ? 
 
 Sej. No. It was debated 
 
 By Caesar, and concluded as most fit 
 To take him unprepar'd. 
 
 Afer. And prosecute 
 
 All under name of treason. 
 
 Var. I conceive. 
 
 Sabinus. Drusus being dead, Caesar will not 
 be here. 
 
 Gallus. What should the businesse of this 
 Senate bee ? 
 
 1 1 take him. F, him take.
 
 8i >rfanu0 (ACT UL 
 
 Arruntius. That can my subtile whisperers 
 
 tell you : We, 15 
 
 That are the good-dull-noble lookers on, 
 Are only call'd to keepe the marble warme. 
 What should we doe with those deepc mysteries, 
 Proper to these fine heads ? let them alone. 
 Our ignorance may, perchance, helpe us be sav'd ao 
 From whips, and furies. 
 
 Gal. See, see, see, their action ! 
 
 Arr. I, now their heads doe travaile, now they 
 
 worke ; 
 
 Their faces runne like shittles, they are weaving 
 Some curious cobweb to catch flyes. 
 
 Sab. Observe, 
 
 They take their places. 
 
 Arr. What so low ? 
 
 Gal. O yes, 15 
 
 They must be scene to flatter Caesars griefe 
 Though but in sitting. 
 
 Var. Bid us silence. 
 
 Praco. Silence. 
 
 Var. Fathers Conscript, may this our present 
 
 meeting 
 Turne fa ire, and fortunate to the Common-wealth. 
 
 [Enter] Silius, [to tbe~\ Senate. 
 See, Silius enters. [Speaks to Lictors.'] 
 
 aa rravai/e. Fi, F$, A, tmvell. 
 
 30 See, Siiiut enter t. W, C, G assign this to Sej.
 
 83 
 
 Stilus. Haile grave Fathers. 
 
 Lictor. Stand. 3 
 
 Silius, forbeare thy place. 
 
 Senator. How ! 
 
 Pra. Silius stand forth, 
 
 The Consul hath to charge thee. 
 
 Lie. Roome for Caesar. 
 
 Arr. Is he come too ? nay then expect a 
 tricke. 
 
 Sab. Silius accus'd ? sure he will answere 
 nobly. 
 \Enter~\ Tiberius, [to tbe~\ Senate. 
 
 Tiberius. We stand amazed, Fathers, to be- 
 hold 35 
 This generall dejection. Wherefore sit 
 Romes Consuls thus dissolv'd, as they had lost 
 All the remembrance both of stile, and place ? 
 It not becomes. No woes are of fit waight, 
 To make the honour of the empire stoope : 40 
 Though I, in my peculiar selfe, may meete 
 Just reprehension, that so suddenly, 
 And, in so fresh a griefe, would greet the 
 
 Senate, 
 
 When private tongues, of kinsmen, and allies, 
 (Inspir'd with comforts) lothly are indur'd, 45 
 
 The face of men not scene, and scarce the day, 
 To thousands, that communicate our losse. 
 Nor can I argue these of weaknesse j since
 
 84 >rfanua (ACT m 
 
 They take but natural! wayes : yet I must seeke 
 For stronger aides, and those faire helpes draw 
 
 out 50 
 
 From warme imbraces of the common-wealth. 
 Our mother, great Augusta, 'is strooke with 
 
 time, 
 
 Our selfe imprest with aged characters, 
 Drusus is gone, his children young, and babes, 
 Our aimes must now reflect on those, that may 55 
 Give timely succour to these present ills, 
 And are our only glad-surviving hopes, 
 The noble issue of Germanicus, 
 Nero, and Drusus : might it please the Consul 
 Honour them in, (they both attend without.) 60 
 I would present them to the Senates care, 
 And raise those sunnes of joy, that should drinke 
 
 up 
 These flouds of sorrow, in your drowned eyes. 
 
 Arr. By Jove, I am not Oedipus inough, 
 To understand this Sphynx. 
 
 Sab. The princes come. 65 
 
 [Enter to] Tiberius, Nero, [jW] Drusus junior. 
 
 Tib. Approch you noble Nero, noble Drusus, 
 These princes, Fathers, when their parent dyed, 
 I gave unto their uncle, with this prayer, 
 
 51 'it ttrooke. W, C, G, ' itruck. 
 62 iunnti. Q, springs ; F3, A, tunu. 
 
 drinki up. Q, exhaust.
 
 i.] &efanu0 85 
 
 That, though h'had proper issue of his owne, 
 He would no lesse bring up, and foster these, 70 
 Then that selfe-bloud; and by that act confirme 
 Their worths to him, and to posteritie : 
 Drusus tane hence, I turne my prayers to you, 
 And, 'fore our countrie, and our gods, beseech 
 You take, and rule Augustus nephewes sonnes, 75 
 Sprung of the noblest ancestors ; and so 
 Accomplish both my dutie, and your owne. 
 Nero, and Drusus, these shall be to you 
 In place of parents, these your fathers, these, 
 And not unfitly : For you are so borne, 80 
 
 As all your good, or ill's the common-wealths. 
 Receyve them, you strong guardians ; and blest 
 
 gods, 
 
 Make all their actions answere to their blouds : 
 Let their great titles find increase by them, 
 Not they by titles. Set them, as in place, 85 
 
 So in example, above all the Romanes : 
 And may they know no rivals, but themselves. 
 Let fortune give them nothing ; but attend 
 Upon their vertue : and that still come forth 
 Greater then hope, and better then their fame. 90 
 Relieve me, Fathers, with your generall voyce. 
 Senators. May all the pods consent to Cae- , c 
 
 , J A forme 
 
 Sar's Wish, ofspeak- 
 
 And adde to any honours, that may crowne tn s the y 
 
 The hopeful/ issue of Germanicus. 
 
 92 Senators. Q, F, throughout scene, only Sen.
 
 86 >ffanu0 (ACT m. 
 
 Tib. We thanke you, reverend Fathers, in 
 
 their right. 95 
 
 Arr. \as\de\. If this were true now ! but the 
 
 space, the space 
 
 Betweene the brest, and lips Tiberius heart 
 Lyes a thought farder, then another mans. 
 
 Tib. My comforts are so flowing in myjoyes, 
 As, in them, all my streames of griefe are lost, 100 
 No lesse then are land-waters in the sea, 
 Or showres in rivers ; though their cause was 
 
 such, 
 
 As might have sprinkled ev'n the gods with teares : 
 Yet since the greater doth embrace the lesse, 
 We covetously obey. 
 
 (y/rr. Well acted, Caesar.) 105 
 
 Tib. And, now I am the happy witnesse made 
 Of your so much desir'd affections, 
 To this great issue, I could wish, the fates 
 Would here set peacefull period to my dayes ; 
 How ever, to my labours, I intreat no 
 
 (And beg it of this Senate) some fit ease. 
 
 (Arr. Laugh, Fathers, laugh : Ha' you no 
 spleenes about you ?) 
 
 Tib. The burden is too heavy, I sustayne 
 On my unwilling shoulders ; and I pray 
 It may be taken off, and re-confer'd "5 
 
 Upon the Consuls, or some other Romane, 
 More able, and more worthy.
 
 SCENE I.] &t\m\l8 87 
 
 (Arr. Laugh on, still.) 
 
 Sab. Why, this doth render all the rest sus- 
 pected ! 
 
 Gal. It poysons all. 
 
 Arr. O, do' you taste it then ? 
 
 Sab. It takes away my faith to any thing 1*0 
 He shall hereafter speake. 
 
 Arr. I, to pray that, 
 
 Which would be to his head as hot as thunder, 
 (Gain'st which he weares that charme) A wreath 
 should but the court oflaurell. 
 
 Receive him at his word. 
 
 Gal. Heare. 
 
 Tib. For my selfe, 
 
 I know my weakenesse, and so little covet 125 
 (Like some gone past) the waight that will op- 
 
 presse me, 
 As my ambition is the counter-point. 
 
 (Arr. Finely maintain' d ; good still.) 
 
 Sej. But Rome, whose bloud, 
 
 Whose nerves, whose life, whose very frame 
 
 relyes 
 On Caesar's strength, no lesse then heav'n on 
 
 Atlas, '3 
 
 Cannot admit it but with generall ruine. 
 
 (Arr. Ah ! are you there, to bring him of?) 
 
 Sej. Let Caesar 
 
 No more then urge a point so contrary 
 
 133 then. F3, A, than.
 
 88 fi>ffanu0 
 
 To Caesars greatnesse, the griev'd Senates 
 
 vowes, 
 Or Romes necessitie. 
 
 (Gal. He comes about. 135 
 
 Arr. More nimbly then Vertumnus.) 
 
 Tib. For the publique, 
 
 I may be drawne, to shew, I can neglect 
 All private aymes ; though I affect my rest : 
 But, if the Senate still command me serve, 
 I must be glad to practise my obedience. 140 
 
 (Arr. You must, and will, sir. We doe know 
 it.) 
 
 Sen. Caesar, 
 
 Live long, and happy, great, and royall Cae- Anotktr 
 sar, f ormt - 
 
 The gods preserve thee, and thy modestie, 
 Thy wisedome, and thy innocence. 
 
 (Arr. Where is't? 
 
 The prayer's made before the subject.) 
 
 Sen. Guard 145 
 
 Hit meekenesse, Jove, his pietie, his care, 
 His bountie 
 
 Arr. [aside\ . And his subtlety, I'le put in : 
 Yet hee'll keepe that himselfe, without the gods. 
 All prayer's are vaine for him. 
 
 Tib. We will not hold 
 
 Your patience, Fathers, with long an s were ; buti$o 
 Shall still contend to be, what you desire,
 
 i.] >efanu0 89 
 
 And worke to satisfie so great a hope : 
 Proceed to your affaires. 
 
 Arr. \aside\ . Now, Silius, guard thee ; 
 
 The curtin's drawing. Afer advanceth. 
 
 Free. Silence. 
 
 Afe. Cite Caius Silius. 
 
 Pra. Caius Silius. 
 
 Sil. Here, i ss 
 
 Afe. The triumph that thou hadst in Ger- 
 manic 
 
 For thy late victorie on Sacrovir, 
 Thou hast enjoy'd so freely, Caius Silius, 
 As no man it envy'd thee; nor would Caesar, 
 Or Rome admit, that thou wert then defrauded 1 60 
 Of any honours, thy deserts could clayme, 
 In the faire service of the common-wealth : 
 But now, if, after all their loves, and graces, 
 (Thy actions, and their courses being discover'd) 
 It shall appeare to Caesar, and this Senate, 165 
 Thou hast defiFd those glories, with thy crimes 
 
 Sil. Crimes? 
 
 Afe. Patience, Silius. 
 
 Sil. Tell thy moile of patience, 
 
 I'am a Romane. What are my crimes ? Pro- 
 
 claime them. 
 
 Am I too rich ? too honest for the times ? 
 Have I or treasure, jewels, land, or houses 170 
 
 167 moile. G, mule. 170 or treasure. A omits or.
 
 90 >rfanu0 
 
 That some informer gapes for ? Is my strength 
 Too much to be admitted ? Or my knowledge ? 
 These now are crimes. 
 
 Aft. Nay, Silius, if the name 
 
 Of crime so touch thee, with what impotence 
 Wilt thou endure the matter to be search'd ? 175 
 
 &'/. I tell thee, Afer, with more scorne, then 
 
 feare : 
 
 Employ your mercenarie tongue, and arte. 
 Where's my accuser ? 
 
 Var. Here. 
 
 Arr. [aside] . Varro ? The Consul ? 
 
 Is he thrust in ? 
 
 Var. 'Tis I accuse thee, Silius. 
 
 Against the majestic of Rome, and Caesar, 180 
 I doe pronounce thee here a guiltie cause, 
 First, of beginning, and occasioning, 
 Next, drawing out the warre in Gallia, 
 For which thou late triumph'st; dissembling long 
 That Sacrovir to be an enemie, 185 
 
 Only to make thy entertainement more, 
 Whil'st thou, and thy wife Sosia polPd the pro- 
 vince ; 
 
 Wherein, with sordide-base desire of gaine, 
 Thou hast discredited thy actions worth 
 And beene a traytor to the state. 
 
 Sil. Thou lyest. 19 
 
 Arr. [aside] . I thanke thee, Silius, speake so 
 still, and often.
 
 .] >efamt$ 91 
 
 Var. If I not prove it, Caesar, but injustly 
 Have call'd him into tryall, here I bind 
 My selfe to suffer, what I claime 'gainst him ; 
 And yeeld, to have what I have spoke, confirm'd 195 
 By judgement of the court, and all good men. 
 
 Si!. Caesar, I crave to have my cause defer'd, 
 Till this mans Consulship be out. 
 
 Tib. We cannot, 
 
 Nor may we graunt it. 
 
 Si/. Why? shall he designe 
 
 My day of triall ? is he my accuser ? 20 o 
 
 And must he be my judge ? 
 
 Tib. It hath beene usuall, 
 
 And is a right, that custome hath allow'd 
 The magistrate, to call forth private men ; 
 And to appoint their day : Which priviledge 
 We may not in the Consul see infring'd, *5 
 
 By whose deepe watches, and industrious care 
 It is so labour'd, as the common-wealth 
 Receive no losse, by any oblique course. 
 
 Sil. Caesar, thy fraud is worse then violence. 
 
 Tib. Silius, mistake us not, we dare not use 210 
 The credit of the Consul, to thy wrong, 
 But only doe preserve his place, and power, 
 So farre as it concernes the dignitie, 
 And honor of the state. 
 
 Arr. Beleeve him, Silius. 
 
 194 'gainst. W, C, G, against.
 
 92 &rfanu0 (ACT IIL 
 
 Cotta. Why, so he may, Arruntius. 
 
 Arr. I say so. 1 1 5 
 
 And he may choose too. 
 
 Tib. By the capitoll, 
 
 And all our gods, but that the deare republick, 
 Our sacred lawes, and just authoritie 
 Are interess'd therein, I should be silent. 
 
 Afe. Please' Caesar to give way unto his tryall. no 
 He shall have justice. 
 
 Si/. Nay, I shall have law ; 
 
 Shall I not Afer ? speake. 
 
 Afe. Would you have m [ore ?] 
 
 Sil. No, my well-spoken man, I would no 
 
 more; 
 
 Nor lesse : might I injoy it natural!, 
 Not taught to speake unto your present ends, 115 
 Free from thine, his, and all your unkind hand- 
 ling, 
 
 Furious enforcing, most unjust presuming, 
 Malicious, and manifold applying, 
 Foule wresting, and impossible construction. 
 
 Afe. He raves, he raves. 
 
 Si/. Thou durst not tell me 50,130 
 
 Had'st thou not Caesars warrant. I can see 
 Whose power condemnes me. 
 
 ail morif In F, the letten after m hive disappeared. Query, 
 mo or mart > 
 
 zi; Not, A, Nor.
 
 SCENE I.] ^efattUB 93 
 
 Var. This betrayes his spirit. 
 
 This doth inough declare him what he is. 
 
 SiL What am I ? speake. 
 
 Var. An enemie to the state. 
 
 &7. Because I am an enemie to thee, 235 
 
 And such corrupted ministers o'the state, 
 That here art made a present instrument 
 To gratifie it with thine owne disgrace. 
 
 Sej. This, to the Consul, is most insolent ! 
 And impious ! 
 
 Sil. I, take part. Reveale your selves. 240 
 
 Alas, I sent not your confed'racies ? 
 Your plots, and combinations ? I not know 
 Minion Sejanus hates me ; and that all 
 This boast of law, and law, is but a forme, 
 A net of Vulcanes filing, a meere ingine, 245 
 
 To take that life by a pretext of justice, 
 Which you pursue in malice? I want braine, 
 Or nostrill to perswade me, that your ends, 
 And purposes are made to what they are, 
 Before my answere ? O, you equall gods, 250 
 
 Whose justice not a world of wolfe-turn'd men 
 Shall make me to accuse (how ere provoke) 
 Have I for this so oft engag'd my selfe ? 
 Stood in the heate, and fervor of a fight, 
 When Phoebus sooner hath forsooke the day 255 
 Then I the field ? Against the blue-ey'd Gaules ? 
 
 236 o'the. Q, of the. 252 provoke. W, C, G, provoked.
 
 94 &t fanu* [ACT in. 
 
 And crisped Germanes ? when our Romane 
 
 Eagles 
 
 Have fann'd the fire, with their labouring wings, 
 And no blow dealt, that left not death behind 
 
 it? 
 
 When I have charg'd, alone, into the troopes *6o 
 Of curl'd Sicambrians, routed them, and came 
 Not off, with backward ensignes of a slave, 
 But forward markes, wounds on my brest, and 
 
 face, 
 
 Were meant to thee, 6 Caesar, and thy Rome ? 
 And have I this returne ? did I, for this, 165 
 
 Performe so noble, and so brave defeate, 
 On Sacrovir ? (6 Jove, let it become me 
 To boast my deedes, when he, whom they con- 
 
 cerne, 
 Shall thus forget them.) 
 
 Afe. Silius, Silius, 
 
 These are the common customes of thy bloud, 27 
 When it is high with wine, as now with rage : 
 This well agrees, with that intemperate vaunt, 
 Thou lately mad'st at Agrippina's table, 
 That when all other of the troopes were prone 
 To fall into rebellion, only yours 175 
 
 Remain'd in their obedience. You were he, 
 
 165 returne. F$, A, rcturn'd. 
 
 175 yourt. Q, W, C, G, thine. 
 
 176 You were Q, W, C, G, Thou wert.
 
 SCENI i.] >efamt0 95 
 
 That sav'd the empire ; which had then beene 
 
 lost, 
 
 Had but your legions, there, rebell'd, or mutin'd. 
 Your vertue met, and fronted every perill. 
 You gave to Caesar, and to Rome their surety. 280 
 Their name, their strength, their spirit, and their 
 
 state, 
 Their being was a donative from you. 
 
 Arr. Well worded, and most like an Orator. 
 
 Tib, Is this true, Silius ? 
 
 Sil. Save thy question, Caesar. 
 
 Thy spie, of famous credit, hath amrm'd it. 285 
 
 Arr. Excellent Romane ! 
 
 Sab. He doth answere stoutly. 
 
 Sej. If this be so, there needes no farder cause 
 Of crime against him. 
 
 Var. What can more impeach 
 
 The royall dignitie, and state of Caesar, 
 Then to be urged with a benefit 190 
 
 He cannot pay ? 
 
 Cot. In this, all Caesars fortune 
 
 Is made unequall to the courtesie. 
 
 Latiaris. His meanes are cleane destroy'd, 
 that should requite. 
 
 Gal. Nothing is great inough for Silius merit. 
 
 277 sav'J. Q, sav'dst. 278 your. Q, W, C, G, thy. 
 
 279 Tour. Q, W, C, G, Thy. 
 
 280 You gave. Q, W, C, G, Thou gav'st. 
 
 282 you. Q, W, C, G, thee. 287 farder. C, other.
 
 96 ferfanu* (ACT m. 
 
 Arr. [aside] . Gallus on that side to ? 
 Si/. Come, doe not hunt, 195 
 
 And labour so about for circumstance, 
 To make him guiltie, whom you have fore- 
 
 doom'd : 
 
 Take shorter wayes, Tie meet your purposes. 
 The wordes were mine, and more I now will 
 
 say : 
 
 Since I have done thee that great service, Caesar, 300 
 Thou still hast fear'd me ; and, in place of grace, 
 Return'd me hatred : so soone, all best turnes, 
 With doubtfull Princes, turne deepe injuries 
 In estimation, when they greater rise, 
 Then can be answer'd. Benefits, with you, 305 
 Are of no longer pleasure, then you can 
 With ease restore them ; that transcended once, 
 Your studies are not how to thanke, but kill. 
 It is your nature, to have all men slaves 
 To you, but you acknowledging to none. 310 
 
 The meanes that makes your greatnesse, must 
 
 not come 
 
 In mention of it ; if it doe, it takes 
 So much away, you thinke : and that, which 
 
 help'd, 
 
 Shall soonest perish, if it stand in eye, 
 Where it may front, or but upbraid the high. 3' 5 
 
 303 Wnk . . . injuritt. Q, With Princes, do conrert to injuries. 
 311 makti. Q. W, C, G, make.
 
 scrN E LI >efanu0 97 
 
 Cot. Suffer him speake no more. 
 
 Var. Note but his spirit. 
 
 Afe. This shewes him in the rest. 
 
 Lot. Let him be censur'd. 
 
 Sej. He' hath spoke inough to prove him Cae- 
 sars foe. 
 
 Cot. His thoughts looke through his words. 
 
 Sej. A censure. 
 
 Si/. Stay, 
 
 Stay, most officious Senate, I shall straight 320 
 Delude thy furie. Silius hath not plac'd 
 His guards within him, against fortunes spight, 
 So weakely, but he can escape your gripe 
 That are but hands of fortune : Shee her selfe 
 When vertue doth oppose, must lose her threats. 325 
 All that can happen in humanitie, 
 The frowne of Caesar, proud Sejanus hatred, 
 Base Varro's spleene, and Afers bloudying 
 
 tongue, 
 
 The Senates servile flatterie, and these 
 Mustred to kill, I'am fortified against; 330 
 
 And can looke downe upon : they are beneath me. 
 It is not life whereof I stand enamour'd : 
 Nor shall my end make me accuse my fate. 
 The coward, and the valiant man must fall, 
 Only the cause, and manner how, discernes 
 
 them : 335 
 
 317 Lot. . . . censured. C places this after next line.
 
 98 >rfanu0 (ACT IIL 
 
 Which then are gladdest, when they cost us 
 
 dearest. 
 
 Romanes, if any here be in this Senate, 
 Would know to mock Tiberius tyrannic, 
 Looke upon Silius, and so learne to die. 
 
 [Stats himself.] 
 
 Var. O, desperate act ! 
 Arr. An honorable hand ! 340 
 
 Tib. Looke, is he dead? 
 
 Sab. 'Twas nobly strooke, and home. 
 
 Arr. My thought did prompt him to it. Fare- 
 well, Silius. 
 Be famous ever for thy great example. 
 
 Tib. We are not pleas'd, in this sad accident, 
 That thus hath stalled, and abus'd our mercy, 345 
 Intended to preserve thee, noble Romane : 
 And to prevent thy hopes. 
 
 Arr. [aside]. Excellent wolfe ! 
 
 Now he is full, he howles. 
 
 Sej. Caesar doth wrong 
 
 His dignitie, and safetie, thus to mourne 
 The deserv'd end of so profest a traytor, 350 
 
 And doth, by this his lenitie, instruct 
 Others as factious, to the like offence. 
 
 Tib. The confiscation meerely of his state 
 Had beene inough. 
 
 Arr. [asidf]. O, that was gap'd for then ? 
 
 Var. Remove the body.
 
 SCENE I.] ^faiTUS 99 
 
 Sej. Let citation 355 
 
 Goe out for Sosia. 
 
 Gal. Let her be proscrib'd. 
 
 And for the goods, I thinke it fit that halfe 
 Goe to the treasure, halfe unto the children. 
 
 Lepidus. With leave of Caesar, I would 
 
 thinke, that fourth 
 
 Part, which the law doth cast on the informers, 360 
 Should be inough ; the rest goe to the children : 
 Wherein the Prince shall shew humanitie, 
 And bountie, not to force them by their want 
 (Which in their parents trespasse they deserv'd) 
 To take ill courses. 
 
 Tib. It shall please us. 
 
 Arr. I, 365 
 
 Out of necessitie. This Lepidus 
 Is grave and honest, and I have observ'd 
 A moderation still in all his censures. 
 
 Sab. And bending to the better Stay, who's 
 
 this ? 
 Cremutius Cordus ? what ? is he brought in ? 370 
 
 Arr. More bloud unto the banquet ? Noble 
 
 Cordus, 
 
 I wish thee good : Be as thy writings, free, 
 And honest. 
 
 Tib. What is he ? 
 
 Sej. For th'AnnaPs, Caesar. 
 
 360 Part, -which. Q, G, The which. 
 371 unto. W, C, G, into.
 
 ioo 
 
 Prtfco, [tnttr] Cordus, Satritts, Natta. 
 Pra. Cremutius Cord'. 
 Cordus. Here. 
 
 Prte. Satrius Secund', 
 
 Pinnarius Natta, you are his accusers. 375 
 
 Arr. Two of Sejanus bloud-hounds, whom he 
 
 breeds 
 With humane flesh, to bay at citizens. 
 
 Aft. Stand forth before the Senate, and con- 
 front him. 
 Satrius. I doe accuse thee here, Cremutius 
 
 Cordus, 
 
 To be a man factious, and dangerous, 380 
 
 A sower of sedition in the state, 
 A turbulent, and discontented spirit, 
 Which I will prove from thine owne writings, 
 
 here, 
 The Annal's thou hast published ; where thou 
 
 bit'st 
 
 The present age, and with a vipers tooth, 385 
 
 Being a member of it, dar'st that ill 
 Which never yet degenerous bastard did 
 Upon his parent. 
 
 Natta. To this, I subscribe ; 
 
 And, forth a world of more particulars, 
 Instance in only one : Comparing men, 390 
 
 And times, thou praysest Brutus, and affirm'st 
 That Cassius was the last of all the Romanes. 
 
 384 katt. Q, last. 387 Jegmeroui. A, dangerous.
 
 SCENE I.) >t\*nU& IOI 
 
 Cot. How ! what are we then ? 
 
 Var. What is Caesar ? nothing ? 
 
 Afe. My lords, this strikes at every Romanes 
 
 private, 
 
 In whom raignes gentrie, and estate of spirit, 395 
 To have a Brutus brought in paralell, 
 A parricide, an enemie of his countrie, 
 Rank'd, and preferr'd to any reall worth 
 That Rome now holds. This is most strangely 
 
 invective. 
 
 Most full of spight, and insolent upbraiding. 4 
 Nor is't the time alone is here dispris'd, 
 But the whole man of time, yea Caesar's selfe 
 Brought in disvalew ; and he aym'd at most 
 By oblique glance of his licentious pen. 
 Caesar, if Cassius were the last of Romanes, 45 
 Thou hast no name. 
 
 Tib. Let's heare him answere. Silence. 
 
 Cor. So innocent I am of fact, my lords, 
 As but my words are argu'd ; yet those words 
 Not reaching eyther prince, or princes parent : 
 The which your law of treason comprehends. 410 
 Brutus, and Cassius, I am charg'd,t'have prays'd: 
 Whose deedes, when many more, besides my 
 
 selfe, 
 
 Have writ, not one hath mention'd without 
 honour. 
 
 400 insolent. W, C, insolently.
 
 g>rfanu0 [ACT in. 
 
 Great Titus Livius, great for eloquence, 
 
 And faith, amongst us, in his historic, 415 
 
 With so great prayses Pompey did extoll, 
 
 As oft Augustus call'd him a Pompeian : 
 
 Yet this not hurt their friendship. In his booke 
 
 He often names Scipio, Afranius, 
 
 Yea, the same Cassius, and this Brutus too, 420 
 
 As worthi'st men ; not theeves, and parricides, 
 
 Which notes, upon their fames, are now im- 
 
 pos'd. 
 
 Asinius Pollio's writings quite throughout 
 Give them a noble memorie ; So Messalla 
 Renown'd his generall Cassius : yet both these 415 
 Liv'd with Augustus, full of wealth, and honours. 
 To Cicero's booke, where Cato was heav'd up 
 Equall with heav'n, what else did Caesar answere, 
 Being then Dictator, but with a penn'd oration, 
 As if before the judges ? Doe but see 430 
 
 Antonius letters ; read but Brutus pleadings : 
 What vile reproch they hold against Augustus, 
 False I confesse, but with much bitternesse. 
 The Epigram's of Bibaculus, and Catullus, 
 Are read, full stuft with spight of both the Cae- 
 sars ; 435 
 Yet deified Julius, and no lesse Augustus! 
 Both bore them, and contemn'd them : (I not 
 
 know 
 Promptly to speake it, whether done with more
 
 SCENE I.] fa>efatW0 1 03 
 
 Temper, or wisdome) for such obloquies 
 
 If they despised bee, they dye supprest, 440 
 
 But, if with rage acknowledg'd, they are confest. 
 
 The Greekes I slip, whose licence not alone, 
 
 But also lust did scape unpunished : 
 
 Or where some one (by chance) exception tooke, 
 
 He words with words reveng'd. But, in my 
 
 worke, 445 
 
 What could be aim'd more free, or farder of 
 From the times scandale, then to write of those, 
 Whom death from grace, or hatred had exempted ? 
 Did I, with Brutus, and with Cassius, 
 Arm'd, and possess'd of the Philippi fields, 45 
 Incense the people in the civill cause, 
 With dangerous speeches ? or doe they, being 
 
 slaine 
 
 Seventie yeeres since, as by their images 
 (Which not the conquerour hath defac'd) ap- 
 
 peares, 
 
 Retaine that guiltie memorie with writers ? 455 
 Posteritie payes everie man his honour. 
 Nor shall there want, though I condemned am, 
 That will not only Cassius well approve, 
 And of great Brutus honour mindfull be, 
 But that will, also, mention make of me. 4 6 
 
 Arr. Freely, and nobly spoken. 
 Sab. With good temper, 
 
 I like him, that he is not moov'd with passion.
 
 104 ferfanu0 
 
 Arr. He puts 'hem to their whisper. 
 Tib. Take him hence, 
 
 We shall determine of him at next sitting. 
 
 [Exeunt Officers toitb Cordus.] 
 Cot. Meane time, give order, that his bookes 
 
 be burn't, 4*5 
 
 To the'^diles. 
 
 Sfj. You have well advis'd. 
 
 Afe. It fits not such licentious things should 
 
 live 
 T'upbraid the age. 
 
 Arr. If th'age were good, they might. 
 
 Lot. Let 'hem be burnt. 
 Gal. All sought, and burnt, today. 
 
 Pr<e. The court is up, Lictors, resume the 
 fasces. 470 
 
 [Exeunt all buf^ Arruntius, Sabinus, Lepidus. 
 Arr. Let 'hem be burnt ! 6, how ridicu- 
 lous 
 
 Appeares the Senate's brainlesse diligence, 
 Who thinke they can, with present power, ex- 
 tinguish 
 The memorie of all succeeding times ! 
 
 Sab. 'Tis true, when (contrarie) the punish- 
 ment 475 
 Of wit, doth make th'authoritie increase. 
 Nor doe they ought, that use this crueltie 
 
 475 true, tuhtn. F, Fi omit comma.
 
 SCENE H.] >0fattU0 105 
 
 Of interdiction, and this rage of burning; 
 
 But purchase to themselves rebuke, and shame, 
 
 And to the writers an eternall name. 480 
 
 Lep. It is an argument the times are sore, 
 When vertue cannot safely be advanc'd ; 
 Nor vice reproov'd. 
 
 Arr. I, noble Lepidus, 
 
 Augustus well foresaw, what we should suffer, 
 Under Tiberius, when he did pronounce 485 
 
 The Roman race most wretched, that should 
 
 live 
 
 Betweene so slow jawes, and so long a bruising. 
 
 [Exeunt,] 
 
 [SCENE II. A Room in the Palace. 
 Enter] Tiberius, [and] Sejanus. 
 
 Tiberius. This businesse hath succeeded well, 
 
 Sejanus : 
 
 And quite remoov'd all jealousie of practice 
 'Gainst Agrippina, and our nephewes. Now, 
 We must bethinke us how to plant our ingines 
 For th'other paire, Sabinus, and Arruntius, 5 
 
 And Gallus too (how ere he flatter us,) 
 His heart we know. 
 
 Sejanus. Give it some respite, Caesar. 
 
 Time shall mature, and bring to perfect crowne, 
 What we, with so good vultures, have begunne : 
 Sabinus shall be next.
 
 106 
 
 Tib. Rather Arruntius. 10 
 
 Stj. By any meanes, preserve him. His franke 
 
 tongue 
 
 Being lent the reines, will take away all thought 
 Of malice, in your course against the rest. 
 We must keep him to stalke with. 
 
 Tib. Dearest head, 
 
 To thy most for[t]unate designe I yeeld it. 15 
 
 Sfj. Sir I'have beene so long train'd up in 
 
 grace, 
 
 First, with your father, great Augustus, since, 
 With your most happie bounties so familiar, 
 As I not sooner would commit my hopes 
 Or wishes to the gods, then to your eares. 20 
 
 Nor have I ever, yet, beene covetous 
 Of over-bright, and dazling honours : rather 
 To watch, and travaile in great Caesar's safetie, 
 With the most common souldier. 
 
 Tib. 'Tis confest. 
 
 Sfj. The only gaine, and which I count most 
 
 faire 15 
 
 Of all my fortunes, is that mightie Caesar Hh 
 Hath thought me worthie his alliance. <*"*'" 
 
 Wdf /<- 
 
 Hence troth' d to 
 
 Beginne my hopes. Cla*diui, 
 
 Tib. H'mh? 
 
 ii will. W, C, G, would. 
 
 1 8 Witk . . .familiar. Q, To your . . . so inur'd. 
 
 27 Hath. W, C, G, Has. Hit . . . tonne. Latin in Q.
 
 SCENE II.] 
 
 Sej. I have heard, Augustus 
 
 In the bestowing of his daughter, thought 
 But even of gentlemen of Rome : If so, 3 
 
 (I know not how to hope so great a favour) 
 But if a husband should be sought for Livia, 
 And I be had in minde, as Caesars freind, 
 I would but use the glorie of the kindred. 
 It should not make me slothfull, or lesse caring 35 
 For Caesars state ; it were inough to me 
 It did confirme, and strengthen my weake house, 
 Against the-now-unequall opposition 
 Of Agrippina ; 'and for deare reguard 
 Unto my children, this I wish : my selfe 4 
 
 Have no ambition farder, then to end 
 My dayes in service of so deare a master. 
 
 Tib. We cannot but commend thy pietie 
 Most-lov'd Sejanus, in acknowledging 
 Those bounties ; which we faintly, such, re- 
 member. 45 
 But to thy suit. The rest of mortall men, 
 In all their drifts, and counsels, pursue profit : 
 Princes, alone, are of a different sort, 
 Directing their maine actions still to fame. 
 We therefore will take time to thinke, and an- 
 
 swere. 50 
 
 For Livia, she can best, her selfe, resolve 
 If she will marrie after Drusus, or 
 
 42 master. Q, Prince. 43 pietie. Q, pitty.
 
 io8 fef fariUS | A, -Tin. 
 
 Continue in the family ; besides 
 She hath a mother, and a grandame yet, 
 Whose neerer counsels she may guide her by : 
 But I will simply deale. That enmitie, 
 Thou fear'st in Agrippina, would burne more, 
 If Livias marriage should (as 'twere in parts) 
 Devide th'imperiall house ; an emulation 
 Betweene the women might breake forth ; and 
 
 discord 
 
 Ruine the sonnes, and nephues, on both hands. 
 What if it cause some present difference ? 
 Thou art not safe, Sejanus, if thou proove it. 
 Canst thou beleeve, that Livia who was wife 
 To Caius Caesar, then to Drusus, now 
 Will be contented to grow old with thee, 
 Borne but a private gentleman of Rome ? 
 And rayse thee with her losse, if not her shame ? 
 Or say, that I should wish it, canst thou thinke 
 The Senate, or the people (who have scene 
 Her brother, father, and our ancestors, 
 In highest place of empire) will indure it ? 
 The state thou hold'st alreadie, is in talke ; 
 Men murmure at thy great nesse ; and the nobles 
 Sticke not, in publike, to upbraid thy climbing 
 Above our fathers favours, or thy scale : 
 And dare accuse me, from their hate to thee. 
 
 64 wko v>at wife. F, etc., firtt the wife. 
 
 65 To. Fz, etc., my.
 
 SCENE II.] >efatW0 IOQ 
 
 Be wise, deare friend. We would not hide these 
 
 things 
 
 For friendships deare respect. Nor will we stand 
 Adverse to thine, or Livia's designements. 80 
 
 What we had purpos'd to thee, in our thought, 
 And with what neere degrees of love to bind 
 
 thee, 
 
 And make thee equall to us, for the present, 
 We will forbeare to speake. Only thus much 
 Believe our lov'd Sejanus, we not know 85 
 
 That height in bloud, or honour, which thy 
 
 vertue, 
 
 And minde to us, may not aspire with merit ; 
 And this wee'll publish, on all watch'd occasion 
 The Senate, or the people shall present. 
 
 Sej I am restor'd, and to my sense againe, 90 
 Which I had lost in this so blinding suit. 
 Caesar hath taught me better to refuse, 
 Then I knew how to aske. How pleaseth Caesar 
 T'imbrace my late advice, for leaving Rome ? 
 Tib. We are resolv'd. 
 Sej. Here are some motives more 95 
 
 [Gives him a paper.] 
 Which I have thought on since, may more con- 
 
 firme. 
 Tib. Carefull Sejanus ! we will straight peruse 
 
 them : 
 
 8 1 had. W, C, G, have.
 
 no >rfanu$ (ACTHL 
 
 Goe forward in our maine designe, and prosper. 
 
 [*/.] 
 
 [Mantt] Sqanus. 
 Sej. If those but take, I shall. Dull, heavie 
 
 Caesar ! 
 Would'st thou tell me, thy favours were made 
 
 crimes ? 100 
 
 And that my fortunes were esteem'd thy faults? 
 That thou, for me, wert hated ? and not thinke 
 I would with winged haste prevent that change, 
 When thou might'st winne all to thy selfeagaine, 
 By forfeiture of me ? Did those fond words 105 
 Fly swifter from thy lips, then this my braine, 
 This sparkling forge, created me an armor 
 T'encounter chance, and thee ? Well, read my 
 
 charmes, 
 
 And may they lay that hold upon thy senses, 
 As thou had'st snuft up hemlocke, or tane downe 1 10 
 The juice of poppie, and of mandrakes. Sleepe, 
 Voluptuous Caesar, and securitie 
 Seize on thy stupide powers, and leave them 
 
 dead 
 
 To publique cares, awake but to thy lusts. 
 The strength of which makes thy libidinous 
 
 soule 1 1 5 
 
 Itch to leave Rome ; and I have thrust it on : 
 With blaming of the citie businesse, 
 
 114 To . . . lutti. Fi-C, Ktni-colon after earn, comma 
 after lum ; G, semi-colon after carti.
 
 SCENE in.) >efanu$ in 
 
 The multitude of suites, the confluence 
 Of suitors, then their importunacies, 
 The manifold distractions he must suffer, 12 
 
 Besides ill rumours, envies, and reproches, 
 All which, a quiet and retired life, 
 (Larded with ease, and pleasure) did avoid ; 
 And yet, for any weightie, 'and great affaire, 
 The fittest place to give the soundest counsels. 125 
 By this, shall I remoove him both from thought, 
 And knowledge of his owne most deare affaires ; 
 Draw all dispatches through my private hands; 
 Know his designements, and pursue mine owne; 
 Make mine owne strengths, by giving suites, and 
 
 places ; X 3 
 
 Conferring dignities, and offices : 
 And these, that hate me now, wanting accesse 
 To him, will make their envie none, or lesse. 
 For when they see me arbiter of all, 
 They must observe : or else, with Caesar fall. J 35 
 
 [Exit."] 
 
 [SCENE III. Another Room in the Same. 
 Enter\ Tiberius, \later^ Servus. 
 
 Tiberius. To marry Livia? will no lesse, 
 
 Sejanus, 
 Content thy aimes ? no lower object ? well ! 
 
 119 importunacies. A, Importunities. 
 
 izo distractions. A, Distraction. 
 
 126 shall I. G, I shall. 130 suites. A, Sums.
 
 ii2 STMIWS lAcrin. 
 
 Thou know'st how thou art wrought into our 
 
 trust ; 
 
 Woven in our designe , and think'st, we must 
 Now use thee, whatsoere thy projects are : 5 
 
 'Tis true. But yet with caution, and fit care. 
 And, now we better thinke who's there, 
 
 within ? 
 
 Strvus. Caesar ? 
 
 Tib. To leave our journey off, were sin 
 
 'Gainst our decree'd delights; and would appeare 
 Doubt : or (what lesse becomes a prince) low 
 
 feare. 10 
 
 Yet, doubt hath law, and feares have their ex- 
 cuse, 
 
 Where princes states plead necessarie use ; 
 As ours doth now : more in Sejanus pride, 
 Then all fell Agrippina's hates beside. 
 Those are the dreadfull enemies, we raise 15 
 
 With favours, and make dangerous, with prayse; 
 The injur'd by us may have will alike, 
 But 'tis the favourite hath the power, to strike : 
 And furie ever boyles more high, and strong, 
 Heat' with ambition, then revenge of wrong. o 
 'Tis then a part of supreme skill, to grace 
 No man too much , but hold a certaine space 
 
 It doubt. A, Doubts. 
 
 14 Tktn all f til Agrippinat. Fi, F3, A, Than in all Agrip- 
 pina't. 
 
 15 Tku. Q, They.
 
 SCENE ni.j 00(311110 
 
 Betweene th'ascenders rise, and thine owne flat, 
 Lest, when all rounds be reach'd, his aime be 
 
 that. 
 
 'Tis thought Is Macro in the palace? See: *5 
 If not, goe, seeke him, to come to us 
 
 [Exit Servus.] 
 
 Hee 
 
 Must be the organ, we must worke by now; 
 Though none lesse apt for trust : Need doth allow 
 What choise would not. I'have heard, that 
 
 aconite 
 
 Being timely taken, hath a healing might 3 
 
 Against the scorpions stroke ; the proofe wee'll 
 
 give: 
 
 That, while two poysons wrastle, we may live. 
 Hee hath a spirit too working, to be us'd 
 But to th'encounter of his like ; excus'd 
 Are wiser sov'raignes then, that raise one ill 35 
 Against another, and both safely kill : 
 The prince, that feeds great natures, they will 
 
 sway him ; 
 Who nourisheth a lyon, must obey him. 
 
 [70] Tiberius, [re-enter Servus witb~^ Macro, 
 Macro, we sent for you. 
 
 Macro. I heard so, Caesar. 
 
 Tib. (Leave us awhile.) \_Exit Servus.~\ 
 
 When you shal know, good Macro, 40 
 The causes of our sending, and the ends ; 
 
 41 our. FH, FP, Fz, F3, A, your.
 
 1 14 0efanu0 [ACT in. 
 
 You then will barken neerer : and be pleas'd 
 You stand so high, both in our choise, and trust. 
 
 Mac. The humblest place in Caesars choise, 
 
 or trust, 
 
 May make glad Macro proud ; without ambition : 45 
 Save to doe Caesar service. 
 
 Tib. Leave our courtings. 
 
 We are in purpose, Macro, to depart 
 The citie for a time, and see Campania ; 
 Not for our pleasures, but to dedicate 
 A paire of temples, one, to Jupiter 50 
 
 At Capua, th'other at Nola, to Augustus : 
 In which great worke, perhaps, our stay will be 
 Beyond our will produc't. Now, since we are 
 Not ignorant what danger may be borne 
 Out of our shortest absence, in a state 55 
 
 So subject unto envie, and embroild 
 With hate, and faction \ we have thought on thee, 
 (Amongst a field of Romanes,) worthiest Macro, 
 To be our eye, and eare, to keepe strict watch 
 On Agrippina, Nero, Drusus, I, 60 
 
 And on Sejanus : Not, that we distrust 
 His loyaltie, or doe repent one grace, 
 Of all that heape, we have conferd on him. 
 (For that were to disparage our election, 
 And call that judgement now in doubt, which 
 
 then 65 
 
 41 then will. G, will then. 46 our. Fi, etc., your.
 
 I.] >efami0 115 
 
 Seem'd as unquestion'd as an oracle,) 
 
 But, greatnesse hath his cankers. Wormes, and 
 
 moaths 
 
 Breed out of too fit matter, in the things 
 Which after they consume, transferring quite 
 The substance of their makers, int' themselves. 70 
 Macro is sharpe, and apprehends. Besides, 
 I know him subtle, close, wise, and wel-read 
 In man, and his large nature. He hath studied 
 Affections, passions, knowes their springs, their 
 
 ends, 
 Which way, and whether they will worke: 'tis 
 
 proofe 75 
 
 Inough, of his great merit, that we trust him. 
 Then, to a point ; (because our conference 
 Cannot be long without suspition) 
 Here, Macro, we assigne thee, both to spie, 
 Informe, and chastise ; thinke, and use thy 
 
 meanes, 80 
 
 Thy ministers, what, where, on whom thou wilt ; 
 Explore, plot, practise : All thou doost in this, 
 Shall be, as if the Senate, or the Lawes 
 Had giv'n it priviledge, and thou thence stil'd 
 The savier both of Caesar, and of Rome. 85 
 
 We will not take thy answere, but in act : 
 Whereto, as thou proceed'st, we hope to heare 
 
 68 fit matter, Q, FH, FP, Fa, F3, W, C, G, much humor. 
 A, much Honour.
 
 n6 er Minis IACTIIL 
 
 By trusted messengers. If 't be enquir'd, 
 Wherefore we call'd you, say, you have in charge 
 To see our chariots readie, and our horse : 9 
 
 Be still our lov'd, and (shortly) honor'd Macro. 
 
 [*//.] 
 
 [Man tt] Macro. 
 
 Mac. I will not aske, why Caesar bids doe this: 
 But joy, that he bids me. It is the blisse 
 Of courts, to be imploy'd ; no matter, how ; 
 A princes power makes all his actions vertue. 95 
 We, whom he workes by, are dumbe instruments, 
 To doe, but not enquire : His great intents 
 Are to be serv'd, not search'd. Yet, as that bow 
 Is most in hand, whose owner best doth know 
 T'affect his aymes, so let that states-man hope too 
 Most use, most price, can hit his princes scope. 
 Nor must he looke at what, or whom to strike, 
 But lose at all; each marke must be alike. 
 Were it to plot against the fame, the life 
 Of one, with whom I twin'd; remove a wife 105 
 From my warme side, as lov'd, as is the ayre; 
 Practise away each parent ; draw mine heyre 
 In com passe, though but one ; worke all my kin 
 To swift perdition ; leave no untrain'd engin, 
 For friendship, or for innocence; nay, make no 
 The gods all guiltie : I would undertake 
 This, being impos'd me, both with gaine, and 
 ease. 
 
 88 tnquir'd. C, rcquir'd.
 
 scrNt in.) ^efanu0 1 1 7 
 
 The way to rise, is to obey, and please. 
 He that will thrive in state, he must neglect 
 The trodden paths, that truth and right respect; 115 
 And prove new, wilder wayes : for vertue, there, 
 Is not that narrow thing, shee is else-where. 
 Mens fortune there is vertue ; reason, their will : 
 Their licence, law ; and their observance, skill. 
 Occasion, is their foile ; conscience, their staine; 120 
 Profit, their lustre : and what else is, vaine. 
 If then it be the lust of Caesars power, 
 T'have rais'd Sejanus up, and in an hower 
 O're-turne him, tumbling, downe, from height 
 
 of all ; 
 
 We are his ready engine : and his fall 125 
 
 May be our rise. It is no uncouth thing 
 To see fresh buildings from old ruines spring. 
 
 CHORUS Of Musicians.
 
 ACT IIII. 
 
 [SCENE I. An Apartment in Agrippina' s House. 
 
 Eater] Gallui, \and~\ Agrippina, [later] Nero, 
 Drusui, Caligula. 
 
 Callus. You must have patience, royall 
 Agrippina. 
 
 Agrippina. I must have vengeance, first : and 
 
 that were nectar 
 
 Unto my famish'd spirits. O, my fortune, 
 Let it be sodaine thou prepar'st against me ; 
 Strike all my powers of understanding blind, 5 
 And ignorant of destinie to come : 
 Let me not feare, that cannot hope. 
 
 Gal. Deare Princesse, 
 
 These tyrannies, on your selfe, are worse then 
 Caesar's. 
 
 Agr. Is this the happinesse of being borne 
 
 great ? 
 
 Still to be aim'd at ? still to be suspected ? 10 
 
 To live the subject of all jealousies ? 
 At least the colour made, if not the ground 
 To every painted danger ? who would not 
 Choose once to fall, then thus to hang for ever ? 
 
 Gal. You might be safe, if you would 
 
 Agr. What, my Callus ? 15
 
 SCENE I.] ^{311110 119 
 
 Be lewd Sejanus strumpet ? Or the baud 
 To Caesars lusts, he now is gone to practise ? 
 Not these are safe, where nothing is. Your selfe, 
 While thus you stand but by me, are not safe. 
 Was Silius safe ? or the good Sosia safe ? 20 
 
 Or was my niece, deare Claudia Pulchra safe ? 
 Or innocent Furnius ? They, that latest have 
 (By being made guiltie) added reputation 
 To Afers eloquence ? O, foolish friends, 
 Could not so fresh example warne your loves, 25 
 But you must buy my favours, with that losse 
 Unto your selves : and, when you might per- 
 ceive 
 
 That Caesars cause of raging must forsake him, 
 Before his will ? Away, good Gallus, leave me. 
 Here to be scene, is danger ; to speake, treason : 30 
 To doe me least observance, is call'd faction. 
 You are unhappy in me, and I in all. 
 Where are my sonnes ? Nero? and Drusus? 
 
 We . 
 
 Are they, be shot at ; Let us fall apart : 
 Not, in our ruines, sepulchre our friends. 35 
 
 Or shall we doe some action, like offence, 
 To mocke their studies, that would make us 
 
 faultie ? 
 
 And frustrate practice, by preventing it ? 
 The danger's like : for, what they can contrive, 
 
 22 Furnius. F^, A, Furius.
 
 1 20 >r fanua (ACT im. 
 
 They will make good. No innocence is safe, 40 
 When power contests. Nor can they trespasse 
 
 more, 
 Whose only being was all crime, before. 
 
 Nero. You heare, Sejanus is come backe 
 from Caesar ? 
 
 Gal. No. How? Disgrac'd? 
 
 Drusus. More graced now, then ever. 
 
 Gal. By what mischance ? 
 
 Caligula. A fortune, like inough 45 
 
 Once to be bad. 
 
 Dru. But turn'd too good, to both. 
 
 Gal. What was't ? 
 
 Ner. Tiberius sitting at his meat, 
 
 In a farme house, they call Spelunca, sited 
 By the sea-side, among the Fundane hills, 
 Within a naturall cave, part of the grot 50 
 
 (About the entrie) fell, and over-whelm'd 
 Some of the wayters ; others ran away : 
 Only Sejanus, with his knees, hands, face, 
 Ore-hanging Caesar, did oppose himselfe 
 To the remayning ruines, and was found 55 
 
 In that so labouring posture, by the souldiers 
 That came to succour him. With which adven- 
 ture, 
 
 He hath so tixt himselfe in Caesar's trust, 
 As thunder cannot moove him, and is come 
 With all the height of Caesars praise, to Rome. 60
 
 SCENE ii.] fa>efanus 121 
 
 Agr. And power, to turne those ruines all 
 
 on us; 
 
 And bury whole posterities beneath them. 
 Nero, and Drusus, and Caligula, 
 Your places are the next, and therefore most 
 In their offence. Thinke on your birth, and bloud, 65 
 Awake your spirits, meete their violence, 
 'Tis princely, when a tyran doth oppose ; 
 And is a fortune sent to exercise 
 Your vertue, as the wind doth trie strong trees : 
 Who by vexation grow more sound, and firme. 7 
 After your fathers fall, and uncles fate, 
 What can you hope, but all the change of stroke 
 That force, or slight can give ? then stand up- 
 right ; 
 
 And though you doe not act, yet suffer nobly : 
 Be worthy of my wombe, and take strong 
 
 cheare ; 75 
 
 What we doe know will come, we should not 
 feare. [Exeunt. ~\ 
 
 [SCENE II. The Street. 
 Enter~\ Macro. 
 
 Macro. Return'd so soone ? renew'd in trust, 
 
 and grace ? 
 
 Is Caesar then so weake ? or hath the place 
 But wrought this alteration, with the aire ; 
 And he, on next remove, will all repaire ?
 
 122 
 
 Macro, thou art ingag'd : and what before 5 
 
 Was publique ; now, must be thy private, more. 
 
 The weale of Caesar, fitnesse did imply ; 
 
 But thine owne fate confers necessity 
 
 On thy employment : and the thoughts borne 
 
 nearest 
 
 Unto our selves, move swiftest still, and dearest. 10 
 If he recover, thou art lost : yea, all 
 The weight of preparation to his fall 
 Will turne on thee, and crush thee. Therefore, 
 
 strike 
 
 Before he settle, to prevent the like 
 Upon thy selfe. He doth his vantage know, 15 
 That makes it home, and gives the foremost 
 
 blow. [Exit.'] 
 
 [SCENE III. An Upper Room of Agrippina's House. 
 Enter] Latiaris, Rufus, [and] Ofsius. 
 
 Latiaris. It is a service, great Sejanus will 
 
 See well requited, and accept of nobly. 
 
 Here place your selves, betweene the roofe, and 
 seeling, 
 
 And when I bring him to his wordes of danger, 
 
 Reveale your selves, and take him. 
 
 Rufus. Is he come ? 5 
 
 Lat. Fie now goe fetch him. [Exit.'] 
 
 I great, Q, W, C, G, Lord.
 
 123 
 
 Opsius. With good speed. I long 
 
 To merit from the state, in such an action. 
 
 Ruf. I hope, it will obtayne the Consul-ship 
 For one of us. 
 
 Ops. We cannot thinke of lesse, 
 
 To bring in one, so dangerous as Sabinus. 10 
 
 Ruf. He was a follower of Germanicus, 
 And still is an observer of his wife, 
 And children, though they be declin'd in grace ; 
 A daily visitant, keepes them companie 
 In private, and in publique ; and is noted 15 
 
 To be the only client, of the house: 
 Pray Jove, he will be free to Latiaris. 
 
 Ops. H'is alli'd to him, and doth trust him 
 well. 
 
 Ruf. And he'll requite his trust ? 
 
 Ops. To doe an office 
 
 So gratefull to the state, I know no man 2 
 
 But would straine neerer bands, then kindred 
 
 Ruf. List, 
 
 I heare them come. 
 
 Ops. Shift to our holes, with silence. 
 
 \JTbey retire.] 
 [Re-enter] Latiaris, \yoitV\ Sabinus. 
 
 Lot. It is a noble constancie you shew 
 To this afflicted house : that not like others, 
 (The friends of season) you doe follow fortune, 25 
 And in the winter of their fate, forsake
 
 1 24 >r fantiflf [ACT nn. 
 
 The place, whose glories warm'd you. You are 
 
 just, 
 
 And worthy such a princely patrones love, 
 As was the worlds-renown'd Germanicus : 
 Whose ample merit when I call to thought, 30 
 And see his wife and issue, objects made 
 To so much envie, jealousie, and hate, 
 It makes me ready to accuse the gods 
 Of negligence, as men of tyrannic. 
 
 Sabinus. They must be patient, so must we. 
 Lot. O Jove. 35 
 
 What will become of us, or of the times, 
 When, to be high, or noble, are made crimes ? 
 When land, and treasure are most dangerous 
 
 faults ? 
 
 Sab. Nay, when our table, yea our bed assaults 
 Our peace, and safetie ? when our writings are, 4 
 By any envious instruments (that dare 
 Apply them to the guiltie) made to speake 
 What they will have, to fit their tyrannous 
 
 wreake ? 
 
 When ignorance is scarcely innocence : 
 And knowledge made a capitall offence ? 4J 
 
 When not so much, but the bare emptie shade 
 Of libertie, is reft us ? and we made, 
 The prey to greedie Vultures, and vile spies, 
 That first transfixe us with their murdering eyes? 
 Lot. Me thinkes, the Genius of the Romane 
 
 race 5
 
 125 
 
 Should not be so extinct, but that bright flame 
 
 Of libertie might be reviv'd againe, 
 
 (Which no good man but with his life, should 
 
 lose) 
 
 And we not sit like spent, and patient fooles 
 Still puffing in the darke, at one poore coale, 55 
 Held on by hope, till the last sparke is out. 
 The cause is publique, and the honour, name, 
 The immortalitie of every soule 
 That is not bastard, or a slave in Rome, 
 Therein concern'd : Whereto, if men would 
 
 change 60 
 
 The weari'd arme, and for the waightie shield 
 So long sustain'd, employ the facile sword, 
 We might have some assurance of our vowes. 
 This asses fortitude doth tyre us all. 
 It must be active valour must redeeme 65 
 
 Our losse, or none. The rocke, and our hard 
 
 steele 
 Should meete, t'enforce those glorious fires 
 
 againe, 
 Whose splendor cheer'd the world, and heat 
 
 gave life 
 No less then doth the sunne's. 
 
 Sab. 'Twere better stay, 
 
 In lasting darkenesse, and despaire of day. 7 
 
 62 facile. Fz, F3, A, W, C, ready. 
 
 63 some. 2, etc., soon.
 
 n6 &rfanu0 [ACT mi 
 
 No ill should force the subject undertake 
 Against the soveraigne ; more then hell should 
 
 make 
 The gods doe wrong. A good man should, and 
 
 must 
 
 Sit rather downe with losse, then rise unjust. 
 Though, when the Romanes first did yeeld them- 
 
 selves 75 
 
 To one mans power, they did not meane their 
 
 lives, 
 
 Their fortunes, and their liberties, should be 
 His absolute spoile, as purchas'd by the sword. 
 Lot. Why we are worse, if to be slaves, and 
 
 bond 
 
 To Caesars slave, be such, the proud Sejanus ? 80 
 He that is all, do's all, gives Caesar leave 
 To hide his ulcerous, and anointed face, 
 With his bald crowne at Rhodes, while he here 
 
 stalkes 
 
 Upon the heads of Romanes, and their Princes, 
 Familiarly to Empire. 
 
 Sab. Now you touch 85 
 
 A point indeed, wherein he shewes his arte, 
 As well as power. 
 
 Lot. And villany in both. 
 
 Doe you observe where Livia lodges ? How 
 Drusus came dead ? What men have beene cut 
 
 off? 
 
 83-4 fTitk . . . Priatei. See Notei.
 
 SCENE III.] &tf 811110 127 
 
 Aa-^. Yes, those are things remov'd : I neerer 
 
 look't, 90 
 
 Into his later practice, where he stands 
 Declar'd a master in his mysterie. 
 First, ere Tiberius went, he wrought his feare, 
 To thinke that Agrippina sought his death. 
 Then put those doubts in her ; sent her oft word, 95 
 Under the show of friendship, to beware 
 Of Caesar, for he laid to poyson her: 
 Drave them to frownes, to mutuall jealousies, 
 Which, now, in visible hatred are burst out. 
 Since, he hath had his hyred instruments 100 
 
 To worke on Nero, and to heave him up ; 
 To tell him Caesar's old ; That all the people, 
 Yea, all the armie have their eyes on him ; 
 That both doe long to have him undertake 
 Something of worth, to give the world a hope ; 105 
 Bids him to court their grace ; the easie youth, 
 Perhaps, gives eare, which straight he writes to 
 
 Caesar; 
 And with this comment : See yon'd dangerous 
 
 boy, 
 
 Note but the practice of the mother, there, 
 Shee's tying him, for purposes at hand, no 
 
 With men of sword. Here's Caesar put in fright 
 'Gainst sonne, and mother. Yet, he leaves not 
 
 thus. 
 
 90 neerer. Fa, F3, A, never. 
 108 yon' d. A, etc., yon.
 
 1 28 >efanu$ IACT ira. 
 
 The second brother Drusus (a fierce nature, 
 And fitter for his snares, because ambitious, 
 And full of envie) him he clasp's, and hugs, 115 
 Poysons with praise, tells him what hearts he 
 
 weares, 
 
 How bright he stands in popular expectance ; 
 That Rome doth suffer with him, in the wrong 
 His mother does him, by preferring Nero : 
 Thus sets he them asunder, each 'gainst other, no 
 Projects the course, that serves him to con- 
 
 demne, 
 
 Keepes in opinion of a friend to all, 
 And all drives on to ruine. 
 
 Lot. Caesar sleepes, 
 
 And nods at this ' 
 
 Sab. Would he might ever sleepe, 
 
 Bogg'd in his filthy lusts. 
 
 [Opsius and Rufus rush /.] 
 
 Ops. Treason to Caesar. 125 
 
 Ruf. Lay hands upon the traytor, Latiaris, 
 Or take the name thy selfe. 
 
 Lot. I am for Caesar. 
 
 Sab. Am I then catch'd ? 
 
 Ruf. How thinke you, sir ? you are. 
 
 Sab. Spies of this head ! so white ! so full of 
 
 yeeres ! 
 
 Well, my most reverend monsters, you may live 130 
 To see your selves thus snar'd.
 
 129 
 
 Ops. Away with him. 
 
 Lat. Hale him away. 
 
 Ruf. To be a spie for traytors, 
 
 Is honorable vigilance. 
 
 Sab. You doe well, 
 
 My most officious instruments of state ; 
 Men of all uses : Drag me hence, away. 135 
 
 The yeere is well begun, and I fall fit, 
 To be an offring to Sejanus. Goe. 
 
 Ops. Cover him with his garments, hide his 
 face. 
 
 Sab. It shall not need. Forbeare your rude 
 
 assault, 
 The fault's not shamefull[,j villainie makes a 
 
 fault. [Exeunt.~\i$o 
 
 [SCENE IV. The Street before dgrippina's House. 
 
 Enter~\ Macro, [ad~\ Caligula. 
 Macro. Sir, but observe how thicke your 
 
 dangers meete 
 In his cleare drifts ! Your mother, and your 
 
 brothers, 
 
 Now cited to the Senate ! Their friend, Gallus, 
 Feasted to day by Caesar, since committed ! 
 Sabinus, here we me't, hurryed to fetters ! 5 
 
 The Senators all strooke with feare, and silence, 
 
 1 36 fall. C, shall. 
 
 140 ihamefull. F omits comma after this.
 
 130 ertanus (ACT mi. 
 
 Save those, whose hopes depend not on good 
 
 meanes, 
 But force their private prey, from publique 
 
 spoile ! 
 
 And you must know, if here you stay, your state 
 Is sure to be the subject of his hate, 10 
 
 As now the object. 
 
 Caligula. What would you advise me ? 
 
 Mac. To goe for Capreae presently : and there 
 Give up your selfe, entirely, to your uncle. 
 Tell Caesar (since your mother is accus'd 
 To flie for succours to Augustus statue, 15 
 
 And to the armie, with your brethren) you 
 Have rather chose, to place your aides in him, 
 Then live suspected ; or in hourely feare 
 To be thrust out, by bold Sejanu's plots: 
 Which, you shall confidently urge, to be lo 
 
 Most full of perill to the state, and Caesar, 
 As being laid to his peculiar ends, 
 And not to be let run, with common safety. 
 All which (upon the second) Tie make plaine, 
 So both shall love, and trust with Caesar gaine. 25 
 
 Cal. Away then, let's prepare us for our 
 journey. 
 
 15 So. Q, And.
 
 SCENE V.] 
 
 [SCENE V. Another Part of the Street. 
 
 Enter] Arruntius. 
 Arruntius. Still, do'st thou suffer heav'n ? will 
 
 no flame, 
 
 No heate of sinne make thy just wrath to boile 
 In thy distemp'red bosome, and ore-flow 
 The pitchy blazes of impietie, 
 Kindled beneath thy throne ? Still canst thou 
 
 sleepe, 5 
 
 Patient, while vice doth make an antique face 
 At thy drad power, and blow dust, and smoke 
 Into thy nostrils ? Jove, will nothing wake thee ? 
 Must vile Sejanus pull thee by the beard, 
 Ere thou wilt open thy black-lidded eye, 10 
 
 And looke him dead ? Well ! Snore on, dream- 
 
 ing gods : 
 
 And let this last of that proud Giant-race, 
 Heave mountayne upon mountayne, 'gainst your 
 
 state 
 
 Be good unto me, fortune, and you powers, 
 Whom I, expostulating, have profan'd ; 15 
 
 I see (what's equall with a prodigie) 
 A great, a noble Romane, and an honest, 
 Live an old man ! O, Marcus Lepidus, 
 When is our turne to bleed ? Thy selfe, and I 
 (Without our boast) are a'most all the few 20 
 
 Left, to be honest, in these impious times. 
 
 12 let. W, lest.
 
 132 S>rfanu0 IACTIIII. 
 
 Lepidus, [/<?] Arruntiu*. 
 Lepidus. What we are left to be, we will be, 
 
 Lucius, 
 
 Though tyrannic did stare, as wide as death, 
 To fright us from it. 
 
 Arr. 'T hath so, on Sabinus. 
 
 Lep. I saw him now drawne from the Gemo- 
 
 nies, S 
 
 And (what increas'd the direnesse of the fact) 
 His faithfull dogge (upbraiding all us Romanes) 
 Never forsooke the corp's,but, seeing it throwne 
 Into the streame, leap'd in, and drown'd with it. 
 
 Arr. O act ! to be envi'd him, of us men ! 30 
 We are the next, the hooke layes hold on, Mar- 
 
 cus : 
 
 What are thy artes (good patriot, teach them me) 
 That have preserv'd thy haires, to this white die, 
 And kept so reverend, and so deare a head, 
 Safe, on his comely shoulders ? 
 
 Lep. Arts, Arruntius ? 35 
 
 None, but the plaine, and passive fortitude, 
 To suffer, and be silent ; never stretch 
 These armes, against the torrent ; livp at home, 
 With my owne thoughts, and innocence about 
 
 me, 
 Not tempting the wolves jawes : these are my 
 
 artes. 4 
 
 Arr. I would begin to studie 'hem, if I thought
 
 v.j >ef anus 133 
 
 They would secure me. May I pray to Jove, 
 In secret, and be safe ? I, or aloud ? 
 With open wishes ? so I doe not mention 
 Tiberius, or Sejanus ? yes, I must, 45 
 
 If I speake out. 'Tis hard, that. May I thinke, 
 And not be rackt ? What danger is't to dreame ? 
 Talke in ones sleepe ? or cough ? who knowes 
 
 the law ? 
 
 May I shake my head, without a comment ? say 
 It raines, or it holds up, and not be throwne s 
 Upon the Gemonies ? These now are things, 
 Whereon mens fortune, yea their fate depends. 
 Nothing hath priviledge 'gainst the violent eare. 
 No place, no day, no houre (we see) is free 
 (Not our religious, and most sacred times) 55 
 
 From some one kind of crueltie : all matter, 
 Nay all occasion pleaseth. Mad-mens rage, 
 The idlenesse of drunkards, womens nothing, 
 Jesters simplicity, all, all is good 
 That can be catch'd at. Nor is now th'event 60 
 Of any person, or for any crime, 
 To be expected : for, 'tis alwayes one : 
 Death, with some little difference of place, 
 Or time what's this ? Prince Nero ? guarded ? 
 Lac o, Nero, \witb Guards, to J Lepidus, Arruntius. 
 Laco. On, Lictors, keepe your way : My 
 
 lords, forbeare. 65 
 
 On paine of Caesars wrath, no man attempt 
 Speech with the prisoner,
 
 134 >efanu0 (Acrira. 
 
 Nero. Noble friends, be safe : 
 
 To loose your selves for wordes, were as vaine 
 
 hazard, 
 
 As unto me small comfort : Fare you well. 
 Would all Rome's suffrings in my fate did dwell. 70 
 Lac. Lictors, away. 
 
 Ltp. Where goes he, Laco ? 
 
 Lac. Sir, 
 
 H'is banish'd into Pontia, by the Senate. 
 
 Arr. Do' I see ? and heare ? and feele ? May 
 
 I trust sense ? 
 Or doth my phant'sie forme it ? 
 
 Ltp. Where's his brother ? 
 
 Lac. Drusus is prisoner in the palace. 
 Arr. Ha? 75 
 
 I smell it now : 'tis ranke. Where's Agrippina ? 
 Lac. The princesse is confin'd, to Pandataria. 
 Arr. Bolts, Vulcan ; bolts, for Jove ! Phoebus, 
 
 thy bow ; 
 Sterne Mars, thy sword ; and blue-ey'd Maid, 
 
 thy speare ; 
 
 Thy club, Alcides : all the armorie go 
 
 Of heaven is too little ! Ha ? to guard 
 The gods, I meant. Fine, rare dispatch ! This 
 
 same 
 Was swiftly borne ! confin'd ? imprison'd ? 
 
 banish'd ? 
 Most tripartite ! The cause, sir ? 
 
 73 and heart. W, C, O omit and.
 
 SCXNEV.] >efanu0 135 
 
 Lac. Treason. 
 
 Arr. O ? 
 
 The complement of all accusings ? that 85 
 
 Will hit, when all else failes. 
 
 Lep. This turne is strange ! 
 
 But yesterday, the people would not heare 
 Farre lesse objected, but cry'd, Caesars letters 
 Were false, and forg'd; that all these plots were 
 
 malice : 
 
 And that the ruine of the Princes house 90 
 
 Was practis'd 'gainst his knowledge. Where are 
 
 now 
 
 Their voyces ? now, that they behold his heires 
 Lock'd up, disgrac'd, led into exile ? 
 
 Arr. Hush'd. 
 
 Drown'd in their bellies. Wild Sejanus breath 
 Hath, like a whirle-wind, scatter'd that poore 
 
 dust, 95 
 
 With this rude blast. Wee'll talke no treason, sir, 
 He turtles to Laco and the rest. 
 If that be it you stand for ? Fare you well. 
 We have no need of horse-leeches. Good spie, 
 Now you are spi'd, be gone. 
 
 \Exeunt Laco, Nero, and Guards. ,] 
 Lep. I feare, you wrong him. 
 
 He has the voyce to be an honest Romane. 100 
 
 Arr. And trusted to this office ? Lepidus, 
 I'ld sooner trust Greeke-Sinon, then a man 
 102 rid. F3, A, W, C, I'll.
 
 136 >rfanu0 (ACTIIII. 
 
 Our state employes. Hee's gone : and being gone, 
 I dare tell you (whom I dare better trust) 
 That our night-eyed Tiberius doth not see 105 
 His minions drifts ; or, if he doe, h'is not 
 So errant subtill, as we fooles doe take him : 
 To breed a mungrell up, in his owne house, 
 With his owne bloud, and (if the good gods 
 
 please) 
 
 At his owne throte, flesh him, to take a leape. no 
 I doe not beg it, heav'n : but, if the fates 
 Grant it these eyes, they must not winke. 
 
 Lep. They must 
 
 Not see it, Lucius. 
 
 Arr. Who should let 'hem ? 
 
 Lep. Zeale, 
 
 And dutie ; with the thought, he is our Prince. 
 
 Arr. He is our monster: forfeited to vice 115 
 So far, as no rack'd vertue can redeeme him. 
 His lothed person fouler then all crimes : 
 An Emp'rour, only in his lusts. Retir'd 
 (From all regard of his owne fame, or Rome's) 
 Into an obscure Hand ; where he lives no 
 
 (Acting his tragedies with a comick face) 
 Amid'st his rout of Chaldee's : spending houres, 
 Dayes, weekes, and months, in the unkind abuse 
 Of grave astrologie, to the bane of men, 
 Casting the scope of mens nativities, 125 
 
 107 trrmt. W, C, G, arrant. no flesh. Q, traine.
 
 SCENE V.] *a>tfaiTtt$ 137 
 
 And having found ought worthy in their fortune, 
 
 Kill, or precipitate them in the sea, 
 
 And boast, he can mocke fate. Nay, muse not : 
 
 these 
 
 Are farre from ends of evill, scarse degrees. 
 He hath his slaughter-house, at Capreae; 130 
 
 Where he doth studie murder, as an arte : 
 And they are dearest in his grace, that can 
 Devise the deepest tortures. Thither, too, 
 He hath his boyes, and beauteous girles tane up, 
 Out of our noblest houses, the best form'd, 135 
 Best nurtur'd, and most modest : what's their 
 
 good 
 
 Serves to provoke his bad. Some are allur'd, 
 Some threatned; others (by their friends detain'd) 
 Are ravish'd hence, like captives, and, in sight 
 Of their most grieved parents, dealt away 140 
 
 Unto his spintries, sellaries, and slaves, 
 Masters of strange, and new-commented lusts, 
 For which wise nature hath not left a name. 
 To this (what most strikes us, and bleeding 
 
 Rome,) 
 
 He is, with all his craft, become the ward 145 
 
 To his owne vassall, a stale catamite : 
 Whom he (upon our low, and suffering necks) 
 Hath rais'd, from excrement, to side the gods, 
 And have his proper sacrifice in Rome : 
 
 136 nurtur'd. C, natur'd.
 
 138 >ffanuflf [ACT nil. 
 
 Which Jove beholds, and yet will sooner rive 150 
 A senselesse oke with thunder, then his trunck. 
 To them Laco, Pomponius, Minutius > [later] Terentius. 
 
 Lac. These letters make men doubtfull what 
 
 t'expect, 
 Whether his comming, or his death. 
 
 Pomponius. Troth, both : 
 
 And which comes soonest, thanke the gods for. 
 
 (drr. List, 
 
 Their talke is Caesar, I would heare all voyces.)i S5 
 [Arruntius and Lepidui stand aside.] 
 
 Minutius. One day, hee's well ; and will re- 
 
 turne to Rome : 
 
 The next day, sicke ; and knowes not when to 
 hope it. 
 
 Lac. True, and to day, one of Sejanus friends 
 Honour'd by speciall writ ; and on the morrow 
 Another punish'd 
 
 Pom. By more speciall writ. 160 
 
 Mm. This man receives his praises of Sejanus, 
 A second, but slight mention ; a third, none : 
 A fourth, rebukes. And thus he leaves the Senate 
 Divided, and suspended, all uncertayne. 
 
 Lac. These forked tricks, I understand 'hem 
 
 not, 165 
 
 Would he would tell us whom he loves, or hates, 
 That we might follow, without feare, or doubt. 
 
 156 Minutiui. FP Mugn* to Mar. (See below, 1. 140.)
 
 vj ^efanusf 139 
 
 (Arr. Good Heliotrope ! Is this your honest 
 
 man ? 
 Let him be yours so still. He is my knave.) 
 
 Pom. I cannot tell, Sejanus still goes on, 170 
 And mounts, we see : New statues are advanc'd, 
 Fresh leaves of titles, large inscriptions read, 
 His fortune sworne by, himselfe new gone out 
 Caesars colleague, in the fifth Consulship, 
 More altars smoke to him, then all the gods : 175 
 What would wee more ? 
 
 (y/rr. That the deare smoke would 
 
 choke him, 
 That would I more. 
 
 Lep. Peace, good Arruntius.) 
 
 Lac. But there are letters come (they say) 
 
 ev'n now, 
 Which doe forbid that last. 
 
 Min. Doe you heare so ? 
 
 Lac. Yes. 
 
 Pom. By Pollux, that's the worst. 
 
 {.Arr. By Hercules, best.)i8o 
 
 Min. I did not like the signe, when Regulus, 
 (Whom all we know no friend unto Sejanus) 
 Did, by Tiberius so precise command, 
 Succeed a fellow in the Consulship : 
 It boded somewhat. 
 
 177 That -would . . . Arruntius. Q, FH, FP omit both half- 
 lines ; see note. 
 
 1 80 Pollux . . . Hercules. Q, FH, FP, G, Castor . . . Pol- 
 lux 5 see note.
 
 140 er-aniiG |Acrini. 
 
 Pom. Not a. mote. His partner, 185 
 
 Fulcinius Trio, is his owne, and sure. Th wAisf>fr 
 Here comes Terentius. He can give wtk Teren- 
 
 us more. 
 Ltp. Tie ne're beleeve, but Caesar hath some 
 
 sent 
 
 Of bold Sejanus footing. These crosse points 
 Of varying letters, and opposing Consuls, 190 
 
 Mingling his honours, and his punishments, 
 Fayning now ill, now well, raysing Sejanus, 
 And then depressing him, (as now of late 
 In all reports we have it) cannot be 
 Emptie of practice : 'Tis Tiberius arte. 195 
 
 For (having found his favorite growne too great, 
 And, with his greatnesse, strong; that all the 
 
 souldiers 
 
 Are, with their leaders, made at his devotion ; 
 That almost all the Senate are his creatures, 
 Or hold on him their maine dependances, aoo 
 
 Either for benefit, or hope, or feare ; 
 And that himselfe hath lost much of his owne, 
 By parting unto him ; and by th'increase 
 Of his ran Ice lusts, and rages, quite disarm'd 
 Himselfe of love, or other publique meanes, 105 
 To dare an open contestation) 
 His subtilty hath chose this doubling line, 
 
 1 86 Tkey . . . TertHiiui. Q, FH, FP omit. 
 191 Mingling. Q, FH, FP, Mixing. 
 005 other. Fa, F}, A, rather.
 
 SCENE V.] >efaiTU0 14! 
 
 To hold him even in: not so to feare him, 
 As wholly put him out, and yet give checke 
 Unto his farder boldnesse. In meane time, 210 
 By his employments, makes him odious 
 Unto the staggering rout, whose aide (in fine) 
 He hopes to use, as sure, who (when they sway) 
 Beare downe, ore-turne all objects in their way. 
 
 Arr. You may be a Linceus, Lepidus : yet, 1 215 
 See no such cause, but that a politique tyranne 
 (Who can so well disguise it) should have tane 
 A neerer way : fain'd honest, and come home 
 To cut his throte, by law. 
 
 Lep. I, but his feare 
 
 Would ne're be masqu'd, all-be his vices were. 220 
 
 Pom. His lordship then is still in grace ? 
 
 Terentius. Assure you, 
 
 Never in more, either of grace, or power. 
 
 Pom. The gods are wise, and just. 
 
 (Arr. The fiends they are. 
 
 To suffer thee belie 'hem ?) 
 
 Ter. I have here 
 
 His last, and present letters, where he writes him 225 
 The Partner of his cares, and his Sejanus 
 
 Lac. But is that true, it 'tis prohibited, 
 To sacrifice unto him ? 
 
 Ter. Some such thing 
 
 Caesar makes scruple of, but forbids it not ; 
 No more then to himselfe : sayes,he could wish 230 
 It were forborne to all.
 
 142 >rfanu* [ACTUIL 
 
 Lac. Is it no other ? 
 
 Ter. No other, on my trust. For your more 
 
 surety, 
 Here is that letter too. 
 
 (y/rr. How easily, 
 
 Doe wretched men beleeve, what they would 
 
 have ! 
 Lookes this like plot ? 
 
 Lep. Noble Arruntius, stay.) 235 
 
 Lac. He names him here without his titles. 
 
 (Lep. Note. 
 
 Arr. Yes, and come of your notable foole. I 
 will.) 
 
 Lac. No other, then Sejanus. 
 
 Pom. That's but haste 
 
 In him that writes. Here he gives large amends. 
 
 Mm. And with his owne hand written ? 
 
 Pom. Yes. 
 
 Lac. In deed? 140 
 
 Ter. Beleeve it, gentlemen, Sejanus brest 
 Never receiv'd more full contentments in, 
 Then at this present. 
 
 Pom. Takes he well th'escape 
 
 Of young Caligula, with Macro ? 
 
 Ter. Faith, 
 
 At the first aire, it somewhat troubled him. 145 
 
 235 flat. F, F3, A, a Plot. 
 
 240 Min. F, etc., assign to Mar. ; cf. I. 156 above. In that 
 ca*e, however, the error was corrected in tome of the copies of F ; 
 in this case, not. Ah. W, C omit. 245 troubltd. Q, mated.
 
 SCENE V.] >efattU$ 1 43 
 
 (Lep. Observe you ? 
 
 Arr. Nothing. Riddles. Till I see 
 
 Sejanus strooke, no sound thereof strikes me.) 
 Pom. I like it not. I muse h'would not at- 
 tempt 
 
 Somewhat against him in the Consul-ship, 
 Seeing the people 'ginne to favour him. 25 
 
 Ter. He doth repent it, now ; but h'has em- 
 
 ploy'd 
 
 Pagonianus after him : and he holds 
 That correspondence, there, with all that are 
 Neere about Caesar, as no thought can passe 
 Without his knowledge, thence, in act to front 
 
 him. 255 
 
 Pom. I gratulate the newes. 
 Lac. But, how comes Macro 
 
 So in trust, and favour, with Caligula ? 
 
 Pom. O sir, he ha's a wife ; and the young 
 
 Prince 
 
 An appetite : he can looke up, and spie 
 Flies in the roofe, when there are fleas i'bed ; 260 
 And hath a learned nose to'assure his sleepes. 
 Who, to be favour'd of the rising sunne, 
 Would not lend little of his waning moone ? 
 ' Tis the saf'st ambition. Noble Terentius. 
 Ter. The night growes fast upon us. At your 
 service. \Exeunt, .] 265 
 
 CHORUS Of Musicians. 
 
 260 i'bed. G, i'the bed.
 
 ACT V. 
 
 [SCENE I. An Apartment in Sejanus* House. 
 Enter] Sejanus. 
 
 Sejanu!. Swell, swell, my joyes: and faint not 
 
 to declare 
 
 Your selves, as ample, as your causes are. 
 I did not live, till now; this my first hower: 
 Wherein I see my thoughts reach'd by my 
 
 power. 
 
 But this, and gripe my wishes. Great, and high, 5 
 The world knowes only two, that's Rome, and I. 
 My roofe receives me not ; 'tis aire I tread : 
 And, at each step, I feele my'advanced head 
 Knocke out a starre in heav'n ! Rear'd to this 
 
 height, 
 
 All my desires seeme modest, poore and sleight, 10 
 That did before sound impudent : 'Tis place, 
 Not bloud, discernes the noble, and the base. 
 Is there not something more, then to be Caesar ? 
 Must we rest there ? It yrkes, t'have come so far, 
 To be so neere a stay. Caligula, 15 
 
 Would thou stood'st stiffe, and many, in our 
 
 way. 
 Windes lose their strength, when they doe emptie 
 
 flie,
 
 SCENE i.] *3>e|anu0 145 
 
 Un-met of woods or buildings ; great fires die 
 That want their matter to with-stand them ; so, 
 It is our griefe, and will be'our losse, to know ao 
 Our power shall want opposites; unlesse 
 The gods, by mixing in the cause, would blesse 
 Our fortune, with their conquest. That were 
 
 worth 
 Sejanus strife': durst fates but bring it forth. 
 
 \_Ent er\ Terenlius, [to~\ Sejanus. 
 Terentius. Safety, to great Sejanus. 
 Sej. Now, Terentius ? 25 
 
 Ter. Heares not my lord the wonder ? 
 Sej. Speake it, no. 
 
 Ter. I meete it violent in the peoples mouthes, 
 Who runne, in routs, to Pompey's theatre, 
 To view your statue : which, they say, sends forth 
 A smoke, as from a fornace, black, and dread- 
 full. 30 
 Sej. Some traytor hath put fire in : (you, goe 
 
 see.) 
 
 And let the head be taken off, to looke 
 What 'tis [Exit Servus.~\ 
 
 Some slave hath practis'd an imposture, 
 To stirre the people. How now? why returne 
 
 you ? 
 
 To them: [re-enter Servus, with] Satrius, [and~\ Natta. 
 Satrius. The head, my lord, already is tane 
 off, 35 
 
 To them. Q, FH, FP omit.
 
 I 4 6 er M11U5 [AcrV. 
 
 I saw it : and, at op'ning, there leap't out 
 A great, and monstrous serpent ! 
 
 Stj. Monstrous ! why ? 
 
 Had it a beard ? and homes ? no heart ? a tongue 
 Forked as flatterie ? look'd it of the hue, 
 To such as live in great mens bosomes? was 40 
 The spirit of it Macro's ? 
 
 Natta. May it please 
 
 The most divine Sejanus, in my dayes, 
 (And by his sacred fortune, I affirme it) 
 I have not scene a more extended, growne, 
 Foule, spotted, venomous, ugly 
 
 Sej. O, the fates ! 4S 
 
 What a wild muster's here of attributes, 
 T'expresse a worme, a snake ? 
 
 Ter. But how that should 
 
 Come there, my lord ! 
 
 Sej. What ! and you too, Terentius ? 
 
 I thinke you meane to make't a prodigie 
 In your reporting ? 
 
 Ter. Can the wise Sejanus 50 
 
 Thinke heav'n hath meant it lesse ? 
 
 Sej. O, superstition ! 
 
 Why, then the falling of our bed, that brake 
 This morning, burd'ned with the populous 
 
 weight 
 
 Of our expecting clients, to salute us ; 
 48 Iwd! FH, FP, lord?
 
 i.] g>efanu0 147 
 
 Or running of the cat, betwixt our legs, 55 
 
 As we set forth unto the capitoll, 
 Were prodigies. 
 
 Ter. I thinke them ominous! 
 
 And, would they had not hap'ned. As, to day, 
 The fate of some your servants ! who, declining 
 Their way, not able, for the throng, to follow, 60 
 Slip't downe the Gemonies, and brake their 
 
 necks ! 
 
 Besides, in taking your last augurie, 
 No prosperous bird appear'd, but croking ravens 
 Flag'd up and downe : and from the sacrifice 
 Flew to the prison, where they sate, all night, 65 
 Beating the aire with their obstreperous beakes ! 
 I dare not counsell, but I could entreat 
 That great Sejanus would attempt the gods, 
 Once more, with sacrifice. 
 
 Sej. What excellent fooles 
 
 Religion makes of men ? Beleeves Terentius, 70 
 (If these were dangers, as I shame to thinke 
 
 them) 
 The gods could change the certayne course of 
 
 fate ? 
 
 Or, if they could, they would (now, in a mo- 
 ment) 
 
 For a beeves fat, or lesse, be brib'd t'invert 
 Those long decrees ? Then thinke the gods, 
 
 like flies, 75 
 
 59 declining. Q, diverting.
 
 1 48 ^efanua [ACIV. 
 
 Are to be taken with the steame of flesh, 
 Or bloud, diffus'd about their altars : thinke 
 Their power as cheape, as I esteeme it small. 
 Of all the throng, that fill th'Olympian hall, 
 And (without pitty) lade poore Atlas back, 80 
 
 I know not that one deity, but Fortune ; 
 To whom, I would throw up, in begging smoke, 
 One grane of incense : or whose ear Fid buy 
 With thus much oyle. Her, I, indeed, adore ; 
 And keepe her gratefull image in my house, 85 
 Some-times belonging to a Romane king, 
 But, now call'd mine, as by the better stile : 
 To her, I care not, if (for satisfying 
 Your scrupulous phant'sies) I goe offer. Bid 
 Our priest prepare us honny, milke, and poppy, 90 
 His masculine odours, and night-vestments : say, 
 Our rites are instant, which perform'd, you'll see 
 How vaine, and worthy laughter, your feares be. 
 
 [Exeunt.] 
 
 [SCENE II. Another Room in the Same. 
 Enter] Cot (a, [and] Pomponiui. 
 
 Cotta. Pomponius ! whither in such speed ? 
 Pomponius. I goe 
 
 To give my lord Sejanus notice 
 
 Cot. What ? 
 
 Pom. Of Macro. 
 
 86 Seme-timti. W, C, G, Sometime.
 
 SCENE in.] g>efattU0 1 49 
 
 Cot. Is he come ? 
 
 Pom. Entr'd but now 
 
 The house of Regulus. 
 
 Cot. The opposite Consul ? 
 
 Pom. Some halfe houre since. 
 
 Cot. And, by night too ! stay, sir ; 
 
 I'le beare you companie. 
 
 Pom. Along, then 
 
 [Exeunt, ,] 
 
 [SCENE III. A Room in Regulus' 's House. 
 
 Enter~\ Macro, Regulus, \_and Attendants, 
 later] Laco. 
 
 Macro. Tis Caesars will, to have a frequent 
 
 Senate. 
 
 And therefore must your edict lay deepe mulct 
 On such, as shall be absent. 
 
 Regulus. So it doth. 
 
 Beare it my fellow Consul to adscribe. 
 
 Mac. And tell him it must early be proclaimed ; 
 The place, Apollo's temple. [Exit Attendant.] 
 
 Reg. That's remembred. 
 
 Mac. And at what houre ? 
 
 Reg. Yes. 
 
 Mac. You doe forget 
 
 To send one for the Provost of the watch ? 
 
 Reg. I have not : here he comes. 
 
 Mac. Gracinus Laco,
 
 [ACTV. 
 
 You'are a friend most welcome : by, and by, >o 
 I'le speake with you. (You must procure this list 
 Of the Prstorian cohorts, with the names 
 Of the Centurions, and their Tribunes. 
 
 R<g. I.) 
 
 Mac. I bring you letters, and a health from 
 Caesar 
 
 Laco. Sir, both come well. 
 
 Mac. (And heare you, with your note, 15 
 
 Which are the eminent men, and most of action. 
 
 Reg. That shall be done you too.) 
 
 The Consul goes out. 
 
 Mac. Most worthy Laco, 
 
 Caesar salutes you. (Consul ! death, and furies ! 
 Gone now ?) the argument will please you, sir. 
 (Hough ! Regulus ? The anger of the gods *o 
 
 Follow his diligent legs, and over'take 'hem, 
 In likenesse of the gout.) [The Consul] Returnes: 
 
 O, good my lord, 
 
 We lackt you present ; I would pray you send 
 Another to Fulcinius Trio, straight, 
 To tell him, you will come, and speake with him: 15 
 (The matter wee'le devise) to stay him, there, 
 While I, with Laco, doe survay the watch. 
 What are your strengths, Gracinus ? 
 
 [ The Consul] Goes out againe. 
 
 Lac. Seven cohorts. 
 
 ai AII. Q, G, your. ai food my. W, C, G, my good.
 
 >efamt$ 151 
 
 Mac. You see, what Caesar writes : and ( 
 
 gone agame r 
 
 H'has sure a veine of mercury in his feet) 30 
 
 Knew you, what store of the praetorian souldiers 
 Sejanus holds, about him, for his guard ? 
 
 Lac. I cannot the just number : but, I thinke, 
 Three centuries. 
 
 Mac. Three ? good. 
 
 Lac. At most, not foure. 
 
 Mac. And who be those Centurions? 
 
 Lac. That the Consul 35 
 
 Can best deliver you. 
 
 Mac. (When h'is away : 
 
 Spight, on his nimble Industrie.) Gracinus, 
 You find what place you hold, there, in the 
 
 trust 
 Of royall Caesar ? 
 
 Lac. I, and I am 
 
 Mac. Sir, 
 
 The honours, there propos'd, are but beginnings 40 
 Of his great favours. 
 
 Lac . They are more 
 
 Mac. I heard him 
 
 When he did studie, what to adde 
 
 Lac. My life, 
 
 And all I hold 
 
 31 Knew. W, C, G, know. 
 
 34 centuries. F$, A, Centurions. 35 Centurions. C, centuries.
 
 152 *famt* |AcrV. 
 
 Mac. You were his owne first choise ; 
 
 Which doth confirme as much, as you can 
 
 speake : 
 And will (if we succeed) make more Your 
 
 guardes 45 
 
 Are seven cohorts, you say ? 
 
 Lac. Yes. 
 
 Mac. Those we must 
 
 Hold still in readinesse, and undischarg'd. 
 
 Lac. I understand so much. But how it 
 can 
 
 Mac. Be done without suspition, you'll ob- 
 ject ? 
 
 Reg. What's that ? Returnts. 
 
 Lac. The keeping of the watch in armes, 50 
 When morning comes. 
 
 Mac. The Senate shall be met, and set 
 
 So early, in the temple, as all marke 
 Of that will be avoided. 
 
 Reg. If we need, 
 
 We have commission, to possesse the palace, 
 Enlarge prince Drusus, and make him our chiefe. 55 
 
 Mac. (That secret would have burn't his 
 
 reverend mouth, 
 
 Had he not spit it out, now :) by the gods, 
 You carry things too let me borrow'a man, 
 Or two, to beare these That of freeing Drusus, 
 
 Returntt. Q, FH omit. 53 'will. G, shall.
 
 SCENE iv.] >efanu0 153 
 
 Caesar projected as the last, and utmost ; 60. 
 
 Not else to be remembred. 
 
 Reg. Here are servants. 
 
 Mac. These to Arruntius, these to Lepidus, 
 This beare to Cotta, this to Latiaris. 
 If they demand you'of me : say, I have tane 
 Fresh horse, and am departed. \_Exeunt Servants.] 
 
 You (my lord) 65 
 
 To your colleague, and be you sure, to hold him 
 With long narration, of the new fresh favours, 
 Meant to Sejanus, his great patron ; I, 
 With trusted Laco, here, are for the guards : 
 Then, to divide. For, night hath many eies, 70 
 Whereof, though most doe sleepe, yet some are 
 spies. [Exeunt.] 
 
 [SCENE IV. A Sacellum (or Chapel} in Sej anus's 
 House. 
 
 Enter] Pr<econes, Flamen, Ministri, [Tubicines, 
 Tibicines,] Sejanus, Terentius, Satrius, [Natta,] &f. 
 
 Presco. Be all profane farre hence; Flie, flie 
 
 farre off: 
 Be absent farre. Farre hence be all profane. 
 
 Flamen. We have beene faultie, but r [/], 
 
 repent us now, r/[/] 
 
 A | | . . , sound "while 
 
 And bring pure hands, pure vestments, t ^ 
 and pure minds. -w 
 
 Tub. . . . -waiheth. Q, FH insert These after Tib.
 
 154 >rfanu$ 
 
 /. Min. Pure vessells. 
 2. Min. And pure offrings. 
 
 j. Min. Garlands pure. 5 
 
 Fla. Bestow your garlands : and (with rever- 
 ence) place 
 The vervin on the altar. 
 
 Pra. Favour your tongues. 
 
 Fla. Great mother Fortune, Queene of hu- 
 mane state, 
 
 Rectresse of action, Arbitresse of fate, 
 To whom all sway, all power, all empire bowes, 10 
 Be present, and propitious to our vowes. 
 Free. Favour it with your tongues. 
 Min. Be present, and propitious to our vowes. 
 Accept our offring, and be pleas'd, great goddesse. 
 While they sound againe, the Flamen takes 
 of the bony, toitb bis finger, & lasts, 
 then ministers to all the rest: so of the 
 milk, in an earthen vessel, be deals about ; 
 which done, be sprinkleth, upon the altar, 
 milke ; then impose tb the bony, and kind- 
 letb bis gummes, and after tensing about 
 the altar placetb bis censer thereon, into 
 which they put several! branches of poppy, 
 and the musioue ceasing, proceed. 
 5 / Min. Q and K print Min., not distinguishing here, or in 
 1. 13, among the Miniuri. 
 
 14 Acttpf . . goddtiit. G, following Q, assigns this line to 
 Outlet. Thus far F uses italics, except in 1. I of Flamen j 
 and, 1. 4; and, \. 5; and second speech of Flamen. 
 Whit . . . procttd. F, by U. 14-35.
 
 SCENE IV.] >efattU0 155 
 
 Terentius. See, see, the image stirres ! 
 
 Satrius. And turnes away ! 15 
 
 Natta. Fortune averts her face ! 
 
 Fla. Avert, you gods, 
 
 The prodigie. Still ! still ! Some pious rite 
 We have neglected. Yet ! heav'n, be appeas'd. 
 And be all tokens false, or void, that speake 
 Thy present wrath. 
 
 Sejanus. Be thou dumbe, scrupulous priest : zo 
 And gather up thy selfe, with these thy wares, 
 Which I, in spight of thy blind mistris, or 
 Thy juggling mysterie, religion, throw 
 Thus, scorned on the earth. [ Overturns the altar. ] 
 
 Nay, hold thy looke 
 
 Averted, till I woo thee, turne againe ; 25 
 
 And thou shalt stand, to all posteritie, 
 Th'eternall game, and laughter, with thy neck 
 Writh'd to thy taile, like a ridiculous cat. 
 Avoid these fumes, these superstitious lights, 
 And all these coos'ning ceremonies: you, 30 
 
 Your pure, and spiced conscience. 
 
 [Exeunt all but Sejanus, Terentius, Satrius, 
 and Natta. ,] 
 
 I, the slave, 
 And mock of fooles, (scorne on my worthy 
 
 heade) 
 That have beene titled, and ador'd a god, 
 
 19 or, W, C, G, and.
 
 156 >rfanu$ 
 
 Yea, sacrific'd unto, my selfe, in Rome, 
 
 No lesse then Jove : and I be brought, to doe 35 
 
 A peevish gigglot rites ? Perhaps, the thought, 
 
 And shame of that made Fortune turne her face, 
 
 Knowing her selfe the lesser deitie, 
 
 And but my servant. Bashfuil queene, if so, 
 
 Sejanus thankes thy modestie. Who's that? 40 
 
 [Enter] Pomponius, [to~\ Sejanus, [tvitfc] Minutius, &c. 
 
 Pomponius. His fortune suffers, till he heares 
 
 my newes: 
 I have waited here too long. Macro, my lord 
 
 Sej. Speake lower, and with-draw. 
 
 [Takes him aside.] 
 
 Ter. Are these things true ? 
 
 Minutius. Thousands are gazing at it, in the 
 streets. 
 
 Sej. What's that ? 
 
 Ter. Minutius tells us here, my lord, 45 
 
 That, a new head being set upon your statue, 
 A rope is since found wreath'd about it ! and, 
 But now, a fierie meteor, in the forme 
 Of a great ball, was scene to rowle along 
 The troubled ayre, where yet it hangs, unper- 
 
 fect, 5 
 
 The amazing wonder of the multitude ! 
 
 Sej. No more. That Macro's come, is more 
 then all! 
 
 Ter. Is Macro come ?
 
 SCENE IV.] >rfattU0 157 
 
 Pom. I saw him. 
 
 Ter. Where ? with whom ? 
 
 Pom. With Regulus. 
 
 Sej. Terentius 
 
 Ter. My lord ? 
 
 Sej. Send for the Tribunes, we will straight 
 
 have up 55 
 
 More of the souldiers, for our guard. 
 
 [Exit TerentiusJ\ 
 Minutius, 
 
 We pray you, goe for Cotta, Latiaris, 
 Trio the Consul, or what Senators 
 You know are sure, and ours. [Exit Minutius.~\ 
 
 You, my good Natta, 
 For Laco, Provost of the watch. [Exit Natta.~\ 
 
 Now, Satrius, 60 
 The time of proofe comes on. Arme all our 
 
 servants, 
 And without tumult. \_Exit Satrius.] 
 
 You, Pomponius, 
 
 Hold some good correspondence, with the Consul, 
 Attempt him, noble friend. [Exit Pomponius.] 
 
 These things begin 
 
 To looke like dangers, now, worthy my fates. 65 
 Fortune, I see thy worst : Let doubtfull states, 
 And things uncertaine hang upon thy will : 
 Me surest death shall render certaine still. 
 Yet, why is, now, my thought turn'd toward 
 death,
 
 158 >rfanu0 
 
 Whom fates have let goe on, so farre, in breath, 70 
 Uncheck'd, or unreprov'd ? I, that did helpe 
 To fell the loftie Cedar of the world, 
 Germanicus ; that, at one stroke, cut downe 
 Drusus, that upright Elme ; wither' d his vine ; 
 Laid Silius, and Sabinus, two strong Okes, 75 
 
 Flat on the earth ; besides, those other shrubs, 
 Cordus, and Sosia, Claudia Pulchra, 
 Furnius, and Gallus, which I have grub'd up ; 
 And since, have set my axe so strong, and deepe 
 Into the roote of spreading Agrippine ; 80 
 
 Lopt off, and scatterM her proud branches, Nero, 
 Drusus, and Caius too, although re-planted ; 
 If you will, destinies, that, after all, 
 I faint, now, ere I touch my period ; 
 You are but cruell : and I alreadie have done 85 
 Things great inough. All Rome hath beene my 
 
 slave ; 
 
 The Senate sate an idle looker on, 
 And witnesseof my power; when I haveblush'd, 
 More, to command, then it to suffer ; all 
 The Fathers have sate readie, and prepar'd, 90 
 To give me empire, temples, or their throtes, 
 When I would aske 'hem; and (what crownes 
 
 the top) 
 
 Rome, Senate, people, all the world have scene 
 Jove, but my equall : Caesar, but my second. 
 
 77 Claudia Pulchra. Fi-C, Claudia, Pulchra. 
 80 Agrifpint. Fi-C, Agrippina.
 
 SC.M.VJ g>eianu0 159 
 
 'Tis then your malice, fates, who (but your 
 
 owne) 95 
 
 Envy, and feare, t'have any power long knowne. 
 
 [Exit.] 
 
 [SCENE V. A Room in the Same. 
 Enter~\ Terentius, Tribunes. 
 
 Terentius. Stay here : Fie give his lordship, 
 you are come. 
 
 [Enter] Minutius, Cotta, Latiaris. 
 Minutius. Marcus Terentius, pray you tell 
 
 my lord, 
 
 Here's Cotta, and Latiaris. [Exit.] 
 
 Ter. Sir, I shall. 
 
 They confer their letters. 
 
 Cotta. My letter is the very same with yours ; 
 Onely requires mee to bee present there, 5 
 
 And give my voyce, to strengthen his designe. 
 Latiaris. Names he not what it is ? 
 Cot. No, nor to you. 
 
 Lat. 'Tis strange, and singular doubtfull ! 
 Cot. So it is ? 
 
 It may bee all is left to lord Sejanus. 
 
 To them [enter] Natta, [and] Laco. 
 Natta. Gentlemen, where's my lord ? 
 I Tribune. Wee wait him here. 10 
 
 Cot. The Provost Laco ? what's the newes ? 
 
 8 singular. F3, A omit. 
 10 I Tribune. Q, F, Trib. only, here and in 11. 162-63.
 
 160 
 
 Lot. My lord 
 
 To them [enter] Sejanus. 
 
 Sejanus. Now, my right deare, noble, and 
 
 trusted friends ; 
 
 How much I am a captive to your kindnesse ! 
 Most worthy Cotta, Latiaris ; Laco, 
 Your valiant hand ; and gentlemen, your loves. 15 
 I wish I could divide my selfe unto you ; 
 Or that it lay, within our narrow powers, 
 To satisfie for so enlarged bountie. 
 Gracinus, we must pray you, hold your guardes 
 Unquit, when morning comes. Saw you the Con- 
 sul ? ao 
 
 Mm. Trio will presently be here, my lord. 
 
 Cot. They are but giving order for the edict, 
 To warne the Senate. 
 
 Stj. How ! the Senate ? 
 
 Lot. Yes. 
 
 This morning, in Apollo's temple. 
 
 Cot. We 
 
 Are charg'd, by letter, to be there, my lord. 25 
 
 Sej. By letter ? pray you let's see. 
 
 Lot. Knowes not his lordship ! 
 
 Cot. It seemes so ! 
 
 Sej. A Senate warn'd ? without my 
 
 knowledge ? 
 
 And on this sodaine ? Senators by letters 
 Required to be there ! who brought these ?
 
 SCENE V.] %>t\mU l6l 
 
 Cot. Macro. 
 
 Sej. Mine enemie ! And when ? 
 Cot. This mid-night. 
 
 Sej. Time, 30 
 
 With ev'ry other circumstance, doth give 
 }t hath some streine of engin in't ! How now ? 
 
 [Enter] Satrius, [to] Sejanus, &c. 
 Satrius. My lord, Sertorius Macro is without, 
 Alone, and prayes t'have private conference 
 In businesse, of high nature, with your lordship, 35 
 (He say's to me) and which reguards you much. 
 Sej. Let him come here. 
 
 Sat. Better, my lord, with-draw, 
 
 You will betray what store, and strength of 
 
 friends 
 
 Are now about you ; which he comes to spie. 
 Sej. Is he not arm'd ? 
 Sat. Wee'll search him. 
 
 Sej. No, but take, 40 
 
 And lead him to some roome, where you, con- 
 
 ceal'd, 
 May keepe a guard upon us. [Exit Satrius.~] 
 
 Noble Laco, 
 
 You are our trust : and, till our owne cohorts 
 Can be brought up, your strengths must be our 
 
 guard. 
 
 Now, good Minutius, honour'd Latiaris, 45 
 
 He salutes them humbly.
 
 1 62 ^rfanU0 [ArrV. 
 
 Most worthy, and my most unwearied friends : 
 I returne instantly. [Exit.] 
 
 Lot. Most worthy lord ! 
 
 Cot. His lordship is turn'd instant kind, me 
 
 thinkes, 
 I'have not observ'd it in him, heretofore. 
 
 Tri. i. 'Tis true, and it becomes him nobly. 
 
 Mm. I 
 
 Am rap't withall. 
 
 Tri. 2. By Mars, he has my lives, 
 
 (Were they a million) for this onely grace. 
 
 Laco. I, and to name a man ! 
 
 Lot. As he did me ! 
 
 Min. And me ! 
 
 Lot. Who would not spend his life 
 
 and fortunes, 
 To purchase but the looke of such a lord ? 
 
 Lac. \ande]. He, that would nor be lords 
 foole, nor the worlds. 
 
 [Curtain drawn, disclosing another room.] 
 
 [Enter] Sejanus, Macro, [and Satrius.] 
 Sej. Macro ! most welcome, as most coveted 
 
 friend ! 
 Let me enjoy my longings. When arriv'd you ? 
 
 51 raf't. W, C, G, wrapt. 
 
 56 nor he. A, not be. For icene-divwion tee note on 1. 56. 
 
 57 at. W, C, G,t.
 
 SCENE V.] >CJantl0 163 
 
 Macro. About the noone of night. 
 
 Sej. Satrius, give leave. 
 
 [Exit Satrius.~\ 
 
 Mac. I have beene, since I came, with both 
 
 the Consuls, 60 
 
 On a particular designe from Caesar. 
 
 Sej. How fares it with our great, and royall 
 master ? 
 
 Mac. Right plentifully well ; as, with a prince, 
 That still holds out the great proportion 
 Of his large favours, where his judgement hath 65 
 Made once divine election : like the god, 
 That wants not, nor is wearied to bestow 
 Where merit meets his bountie, as it doth 
 In you, alreadie the most happy, and ere 
 The sunne shall climbe the south, most high 
 
 Sejanus. 70 
 
 Let not my lord be'amus'd. For, to this end 
 Was I by Caesar sent for, to the isle, 
 With speciall caution to conceale my journey ; 
 And, thence, had my dispatch as privately 
 Againe to Rome ; charg'd to come here by night j 75 
 And, onely to the Consuls, make narration 
 Of his great purpose : that the benefit 
 Might come more full, and striking, by how 
 
 much 
 
 It was lesse look'd for, or aspir'd by you, 
 Or least informed to the common thought. 80
 
 164 &>efanu0 
 
 Sfj. What may this be ? part of my selfe, 
 
 deare Macro ! 
 
 If good, speake out : and share with your Se- 
 janus. 
 
 Mac. If bad, I should for ever lothe my selfe, 
 To be the messenger to so good a lord. 
 I doe exceed m'instructions, to acquaint 85 
 
 Your lordship with thus much ; but 'tis my ven- 
 ture 
 
 On your retentive wisedome : and, because 
 I would no jealous scruple should molest 
 Or racke your peace of thought. For, I assure 
 My noble lord, no Senator yet knowes 90 
 
 The businesse meant : though all, by several! 
 
 letters, 
 
 Are warned to be there, and give their voyccs, 
 Onely to adde unto the state, and grace 
 Of what is purpos'd. 
 
 Sej. You take pleasure, Macro, 
 
 Like a coy wench, in torturing your lover. 95 
 
 What can be worth this suffering ? 
 
 Mac. That which followes, 
 
 The tribuniciall dignitie, and power : 
 Both which Sejanus is to have this day 
 Confer* d upon him, and by publique Senate. 
 
 Sej. [aside] . Fortune, be mine againe ; thou 
 
 hast satisfied 100 
 
 For thy suspected loyaltie. 
 
 Mac. My lord,
 
 SCENE V.] &t\*m8 165 
 
 I have no longer time, the day approcheth, 
 And I must backe to Caesar. 
 
 Stj. Where's Caligula ? 
 
 Mac. That I forgot to tell your lordship. 
 
 Why, 
 
 He lingers yonder, about Capreae, 105 
 
 Disgrac'd ; Tiberius hath not scene him yet : 
 He needs would thrust himselfe to goe with me, 
 Against my wish, or will, but I have quitted 
 His forward trouble, with as tardie note 
 As my neglect, or silence could afford him. no 
 Your lordship cannot now command me ought, 
 Because, I take no knowledge that I saw you, 
 But I shall boast to live to serve your lordship : 
 And so take leave. 
 
 Sej. Honest, and worthy Macro, 
 
 Your love, and friendship. [Exit Macro.~\ 
 
 Who's there ? Satrius, i 1 5 
 Attend my honourable friend forth. O ! 
 How vaine, and vile a passion is this feare ? 
 What base, uncomely things it makes men doe ? 
 Suspect their noblest friends, (as I did this) 
 Flatter poore enemies, intreat their servants, no 
 Stoupe, court, and catch at the benevolence 
 Of creatures, unto whom (within this houre) 
 I would not have vouchsaf'd a quarter-looke, 
 Or piece of face? By you, that fooles call gods, 
 Hang all the skie with your prodigious signes, 125 
 
 HO afford him. Q, bestow.
 
 1 66 >rfanu* 
 
 Fill earth with monsters, drop the scorpion 
 
 downe, 
 
 Out of the zodiack, or the fiercer lyon, 
 Shake off the loos'ned globe from her long henge, 
 Rowle all the world in darkenesse, and let loose 
 Th'inraged windes to turne up groves and 
 
 townes ; 1 30 
 
 When I doe feare againe, let me be strooke 
 With forked fire, and unpittyed die : 
 Who feares, is worthy of calamitie. 
 \7be curtain is here closed, and the scene returns to 
 
 the former room.] 
 
 To the rest [enter] Pomponius, Regulus, Trio. 
 Pomponius. Is not my lord here ? 
 Ter. Sir, he will be straight. 
 
 Cot. What newes, Fulcinius Trio ? 
 Trio. Good, good tidings. 135 
 
 (But, keepe it to your selfe) My lord Sejanus 
 Is to receive this day, in open Senate, 
 The tribuniciall dignitie. 
 
 Cot. Is't true ? 
 
 Tri. No wordes ; not to your thought : but, 
 
 sir, beleeve it. 
 
 Lot. What sayes the Consul ? 
 Cot. (Speake it not againe,) 140 
 
 He tells me, that to day my lord Sejanus 
 (Tri. I must entreat you Cotta, on your 
 
 honour 
 Not to reveale it.
 
 167 
 
 Cot. On my life, sir.) 
 
 Lot. Say. 
 
 Cot. Is to receive the tribuniciall power. 
 But, as you are an honourable man, 145 
 
 Let me conjure you, not to utter it : 
 For it is trusted to me, with that bond. 
 
 Lat. I am Harpocrates. 
 
 Ter. Can you assure it ? 
 
 Pom. The Consul told it me, but keepe it 
 close. 
 
 Min. Lord Latiaris, what's the newes ? 
 
 Lat. I'le tell you, 150 
 
 But you must sweare to keepe it secret 
 To them \_enter] Sejanus. 
 
 Sej. I knew the fates had on their distaffe 
 
 left 
 More of our thread, then so. 
 
 Regulus. Haile, great Sejanus. 
 
 Tri. Haile, the most honor'd. 
 
 Cot. Happy. 
 
 Lat. High Sejan'. 
 
 Sej. Doe you bring prodigies too ? 
 
 Tri. May all presage 155 
 
 Turne to those faire effects, whereof we bring 
 Your lordship newes. 
 
 Reg. May't please my lord with-draw. 
 
 Sej. Yes. (I will speake with you, anon.) 
 
 To some that stand by.
 
 1 68 &r |anu0 
 
 Ttr. My lord, 
 
 What is your pleasure for the Tribunes ? 
 
 Sfj. Why, 
 
 Let 'hem be thank't, and sent away. 
 
 Min. My lord 160 
 
 Lac. Wilt please your lordship to command 
 me 
 
 &/. No. 
 
 You are troublesome. 
 
 Min. The mood is chang'd. 
 
 / Tri. Not speake ? 
 
 2 Tri. Nor looke ? 
 
 Lac. I. He is wise, will make him friends 
 Of such, who never love, but for their ends. 
 
 [Exeunt.] 
 
 [SCENE VI. A Space before the Temple of Apollo. 
 Enter] Arruntius, [and] Lepidus, divers other Sena- 
 tors passing by them. 
 Arruntius. I,goe, make haste; take heed you 
 
 be not last 
 
 To tender your All Haile, in the wide hall 
 Of huge Sejanus : runne, a Lictors pace ; 
 Stay not to put your robes on; but, away, 
 With the pale troubled ensignes of great friend- 
 ship 5 
 
 161-3 / Tri. Not ifeakif a Tri. Nr loot*? A, W, C, G, 
 Tri. Not tpeak ? Nor look ?
 
 >efamt$ 169 
 
 Stamp't i'your face ! Now, Marcus Lepidus, 
 You still beleeve your former augurie ? 
 Sejanus must goe downe-ward ? you perceive 
 His wane approching fast ? 
 
 Lepidus. Beleeve me, Lucius, 
 
 I wonder at this rising! 
 
 Arr. I, and that we 10 
 
 Must give our suffrage to it ? you will say, 
 It is to make his fall more steepe, and grievous ? 
 It may be so. But thinke it, they that can 
 With idle wishes 'ssay to bring backe time : 
 In cases desperate, all hope is crime. 15 
 
 See, see ! what troups of his officious friends 
 Flock to salute my lord ! and start before 
 My great, proud lord ! to get a lord-like nod ! 
 Attend my lord, unto the Senate-house ! 
 Bring back my lord ! like servile huishers, make 20 
 Way for my lord ! proclaime his idoll lord-ship, 
 More then ten cryers, or sixe noise of trumpets! 
 Make legs, kisse hands, and take a scatter'd haire 
 From my lords eminent shoulder ! See, Sanquin- 
 
 ius ! 
 
 With his slow belly, and his dropsie ! looke, 25 
 What toyling haste he makes ! yet, here's an- 
 other, 
 
 Retarded with the gout, will be afore him ! 
 Get thee liburnian porters, thou grosse foole, 
 
 24 eminent, Q, excellent.
 
 170 >rfanu0 
 
 To beare thy obsequious fatnesse, like thy peeres. 
 They are met ! The gout returnes, and his great 
 
 carriage. 3 
 
 Lictors, Consult, Sejanus, &c. passe over 
 
 the stage. 
 Llctor. Give way, make place ; roome for the 
 
 Consul. 
 
 Sanquinius. Hailc, 
 
 Hailc, great Sejanus. 
 
 Haterius. Haile, my honor* d lord. 
 
 Arr. We shall be markt anon, for our not- 
 
 haile. 
 
 Lep. That is already done. 
 Arr. It is a note 
 
 Of upstart greatnesse, to observe, and watch 35 
 For these poore trifles, which the noble mind 
 Neglects, and scornes. 
 
 Lep. I, and they thinke themselves 
 
 Deepely dishonor'd, where they are omitted, 
 As if they were necessities, that helpt 
 To the perfection of their dignities : 40 
 
 And hate the men, that but refraine 'hem. 
 
 Arr. O ! 
 
 There is a farder cause of hate. Their brests 
 Are guiltie, that we know their obscure springs, 
 And base beginnings : thence the anger growes. 
 On. Follow. [Exeunt.] 
 
 44 On. Follow. W, C, G make this a separate line.
 
 vm.] &>fjtiuuS 1 7 1 
 
 [SCENE VII. Another Part of the Same. 
 Enter] Macro, [and] Laco. 
 
 Macro. When all are entred, shut the temple 
 
 doores ; 
 And bring your guardes up to the gate. 
 
 Laco. I will. 
 
 Mac. If you shall heare commotion in the 
 
 Senate, 
 
 Present your selfe : and charge on any man 
 Shall offer to come forth. 
 
 Lac. I am instructed. 
 
 [Exeunt, ,] 
 
 [SCENE VIII. The Temple of 'Apollo.'} The Senate. 
 
 [Enter] Haterius, Trio, Sanquinius, Cotta, Regulus, 
 Sejanus, Pomponius, Latiaris, Lepidus, Arrun- 
 tius, [and divers other Senators -\ Pr&cones, 
 [and] Lie tores. 
 
 Haterius. How well his lordship lookes to 
 
 day ! 
 
 Trio. As if 
 
 He had beene borne, or made for this houres state. 
 Cotta. Your fellow Consul's come about, me 
 
 thinkes ? 
 
 Tri. I, he is wise. 
 
 Sanquinius. Sejanus trusts him well. 
 
 Tri. Sejanus is a noble, bounteous lord.
 
 172 ferfanu* 
 
 Hat. He is so, and most valiant. 
 
 Latiarii. And most wise. 
 
 i Sen. Hee's every thing. 
 
 Lot. Worthy of all, and more 
 
 Then bountie can bestow. 
 
 Tri. This dignitie 
 
 Will make him worthy. 
 
 Pomponius. Above Caesar. 
 
 San. Tut, 
 
 Caesar is but the rector of an I'sle, >o 
 
 He of the empire. 
 
 Tri. Now he will have power 
 
 More to reward, then ever. 
 
 Cot. Let us looke 
 
 We be not slack in giving him our voyces. 
 
 Lot. Not I. 
 
 San. Nor I. 
 
 Cot. The readier we seeme 
 
 To propagate his honours, will more bind 15 
 
 His thought, to ours. 
 
 Hat. I thinke right, with your lordship. 
 
 It is the way to have us hold our places. 
 
 San. I, and get more. 
 
 Lot. More office, and more titles. 
 
 Pom. I will not lose the part, I hope to share 
 In these his fortunes, for my patrimonie. ao 
 
 7 / &n. Q, F, Sen. At in this and other *ccnei not distin- 
 guishing Senaton, Senate, or a special Senator. 
 16 thought. F2, etc., thought*.
 
 SCENE Vm.] >tfan\l& 173 
 
 Lot. See, how Arruntius sits, and Lepidus. 
 Tri. Let 'hem alone, they will be markt anon. 
 
 1 Sen. Fie doe with others. 
 
 2 Sen. So will I. 
 
 3 Sen. And I. 
 Men grow not in the state, but as they are planted 
 Warme in his favours. 
 
 Cot. Noble Sejanus ! 25 
 
 Hat. Honor'd Sejanus ! 
 
 Lot. Worthy, and great Sejanus ! 
 
 Arruntius. Gods ! how the spunges open, 
 
 and take in! 
 
 And shut againe ! looke, looke ! is not he blest 
 That gets a seate in eye-reach of him ? more, 
 That comes in eare, or tongue-reach ? 6, but 
 
 most, 3 
 
 Can claw his subtle elbow, or with a buzze 
 Fly-blow his eares. 
 
 Prtetor. Proclaime the Senates peace ; 
 
 And give last summons by the edict. 
 
 Praco. Silence : 
 
 In name of Caesar, and the Senate. Silence. 
 
 Memmius Regulus,and Fulcinius Trio, Consuls, 35 
 these present kalends of June, with the first light, 
 shall hold a senate, in the temple of Apollo Palatine, 
 all that are Fathers, and are registred Fathers, that 
 
 2.3 So "will I. C assigns to San. 25 in. A, for. 
 
 34 name. Fz, F3, A, the name.
 
 174 >e?anu* 
 
 have right of entring the Senate, we warne, or com- 
 mand, you be frequently present, take knowledge the 40 
 businesse is the common-wealths, whosoever is absent, 
 his fine, or mulct, will be taken, his excuse will not 
 be taken. 
 
 Tri. Note, who are absent, and record their 
 names. 
 
 Regulus. Fathers Conscript. May, what I am 
 
 to utter, 45 
 
 Turne good, and happy, for the common-wealth. 
 And thou Apollo, in whose holy house 
 We here are met, inspire us all, with truth, 
 And libertie of censure, to our thought. 
 The majestic of great Tiberius Caesar 5 
 
 Propounds to this grave Senate, the bestowing 
 Upon the man he loves, honour'd Sejanus, 
 The tribuniciall dignitie, and power ; 
 Here are his letters, signed with his signet : 
 What pleaseth now the Fathers to be done ? 55 
 
 Senators. Reade, reade 'hem, open, publiquely, 
 reade 'hem. 
 
 Cot. Caesar hath honour'd his owne greatnesse 
 
 much, 
 In thinking of this act. 
 
 Tri. It was a thought 
 
 Happy, and worthy Caesar. 
 
 Lat. And the lord, 
 
 As worthy it, on whom it is directed ! 60 
 
 45, 46, 55. These conventional formulae arc in italici in F.
 
 175 
 
 Hat. Most worthy ! 
 
 San. Rome did never boast the vertue 
 
 That could give envie bounds, but his: Sejanus 
 
 / Sen. Honour'd, and noble ! 
 
 2 Sen. Good, and great Sejanus ! 
 
 Arr. O, most tame slaverie, and fierce flat- 
 terie ! The Epistle is read. 
 
 Pra. Silence. 
 
 Tiberius C<esar to the Senate, Greeting. 
 If you, Conscript Fathers, with your children, bee in 65 
 health, it is aboundantly well : wee with our friends 
 here, are so. The care of the common-wealth, how- 
 soever we are remoov'd in person, cannot be absent 
 to our thought; although, oftentimes, even to princes 
 most present, the truth of their owne affaires is hid: 70 
 then which, nothing fals out more miserable to a state, 
 or makes the art of governing more difficult. But 
 since it hath beene our ease-full happinesse to enjoy 
 both the aides, and Industrie of so vigilant a Senate, 
 wee professe to have beene the more indulgent to our 75 
 pleasures, not as being carelesse of our office, but rather 
 secure of the necessitie. Neyther doe these common 
 rumors of many, and infamous libels, published against 
 our retirement, at all afflict us; being born more out 
 of mens ignorance, then their malice: and will, neg- 80 
 lected, finde their owne grave quickly; whereas too 
 sensibly acknowledg'd, it would make their obloquie 
 
 63 Good, and great Sejanus ! C assigns to San.
 
 176 
 
 ours. Nor doe we desire their authors (though found) 
 bee censur'd, since in a free state (as ours) all men 
 ought to enjoy both their mindes, and tongues free. 85 
 
 (drr. The lapwing, the lapwing.) 
 
 Tet, in things, which shall worthily, and more neere 
 concerne the majestie of a prince, we shall feare to 
 be so unnaturally cruel/ to our owne fame, as to neg- 
 lect them. True it is, Conscript Fathers, that wet 90 
 have raysed Sej anus, from obscure, and almost un- 
 knowne gentrie, 
 
 (Senate. How ! how !) 
 
 to the highest, and most conspicuous point of great- 
 nesse, and (wee hope) deservingly; yet, not without 95 
 danger: it being a most bold hazard in that sov'- 
 raigne, who, by his particular love to one, dares ad 
 venture the hatred of all his other subjects. 
 
 (Arr. This touches, the bloud turnes.) 
 
 But wee affie in your loves, and understandings, and\<x> 
 doe no way suspect the merit of our Sejanus to make 
 our favours offensive to any. 
 
 (Senate. O ! good, good.) 
 
 Though we could have wished his zeale had runne 
 a calmer course against Agrippina, and our Neph- 105 
 ewes, howsoever the opennesse of their actions, de- 
 clared them delinquents ; and, that he would have
 
 SCENE VIII.] >rfatTU0 177 
 
 remembred, no innocence is so safe, but it rejoyceth to 
 stand in the sight of mercie; The use of which in us, 
 hee hath so quite taken away, toward them, by his no 
 loyal! furie, as now our clemencie would be thought 
 but wearied crueltie, if we should offer to exercise it. 
 (Arr. I thanke him, there I look'd for't. A 
 
 good fox ! ) 
 
 Some there bee, that would interpret this his pub- 
 lique severitie to bee particular ambition; and that, 115 
 under a pretext of service to us, hee doth but remoove 
 his owne lets : alleadging the strengths he hath made 
 to himself e, by the Praetorian souldiers, by his faction 
 in Court, and Senate, by the offices hee holdes himself e, 
 and conferres on others, his popularitie, and depend- 120 
 ents, his urging (and almost driving) us to this our 
 unwilling retirement, and lastly his aspiring to be 
 our sonne in-law. 
 
 (Senators. This's strange! 
 Arr. I shall anon beleeve your vultures, Mar- 
 cus.) 125 
 
 Your wisedomes, Conscript Fathers, are able to exam- 
 ine, and censure these suggestions. But, were they 
 left to our absolving voyce, we durst pronounce them, 
 as we thinke them, most malicious. 
 
 (Senators. O, he has restor'd all, list.) 130 
 
 Yet, are they offered to bee averr'd, and on the lives
 
 1 78 >rjami$ [ACTV. 
 
 of the informers. What wee should say, or rather 
 what we should not say, Lords of the Senate, if this 
 bee true, our gods, and goddesses confound us if we 
 know! Only, we must thinke, we have plac'd our 135 
 benefits ill: and conclude, that, in our chaise, either 
 we were wanting to the gods, or the gods to us. 
 
 The Senators shift their places. 
 (Arr. The place growes hot, they shift.) 
 We have not beene covetous, Honourable Fathers, to 
 change; neither is it now, any new lust that altersno 
 our affection, or old lathing: but those needfull jeal- 
 ousies of state, that warne wiser princes, hourely, to 
 provide their safetie ; and doe teach them how learned 
 a thing it is to beware of the humblest enemy ; much 
 more of those great ones, whom their owne employ '^145 
 favours have made Jit for their fear es. 
 
 (/ Sen. Away. 
 2 Sen. Sit farder. 
 
 Cot. Let's remoove 
 
 Arr. Gods ! how the leaves drop off, this little 
 winde !) 
 
 We therefore desire, that the offices he holds, bee first 
 seized by the Senate; and himself e suspended from 150 
 all exercise of place, or power 
 
 (Senators. How ! 
 
 141 affection. A, affections. 143 providt. Fi-C, provide for. 
 151 (Senator t. None of the editions complete the parenthesis 
 beginning thus. Sec 1 1 54, temfett.
 
 SCENE VIII.] g>efatUl0 179 
 
 San. [thrusting by] . By your leave. 
 
 Arr. Come, Porcpisce, (wher's Haterius ? 
 His gout keepes him most miserably constant.) 
 Your dancing shewes a tempest.) 
 
 Sejanus. Reade no more. 
 
 Reg. Lords of the Senate, hold your seates : 
 reade on. 155 
 
 Sej. These letters, they are forg'd. 
 
 Reg. A guard, sit still. 
 
 La co enters with the guards. 
 
 Arr. There's change. 
 
 Reg. Bid silence, and reade forward. 
 
 Pra. Silence and himself e suspended from all 
 exercise of place, or power, but till due and mature 
 try all be made of his innocency, which yet we cam6o 
 faintly apprehend the necessitie, to doubt. If, Con- 
 script Fathers, to your more searching wisedomes, 
 there shall appear e farther cause (or of f order pro- 
 ceeding, either to seizure of lands, goods, or more ) 
 it is not our power that shall limit vour author itie, 165 
 or our favour, that must corrupt your justice : either 
 were dishonourable in you, and both uncharitable to 
 our selfe. We would willingly be present with your 
 counsailes in this businesse, but the danger of so potent 
 a faction (if it should prove so) forbids our attempt- 170 
 ing it : except one of the Consuls would be intreated 
 
 157 There i. Q, G, Here's. 
 
 170 attempting. Q, attempt.
 
 180 >rfanu0 IACTV. 
 
 for our safetie, to undertake the guard of us home, 
 then wee should most readily adventure. In the meant 
 time, it shall not bee fit for us to importune so judi- 
 cious a Senate, who know how much they hurt theij$ 
 innocent, that spare the guiltie : and how grateful! 
 a sacrifice, to the gods, is the life of an ingratefull 
 person. If^e reflect not, in this, on Sejanus (notwith- 
 standing, if you keepe an eye upon him and there 
 is Latiaris a Senator, and Pinnarius Natta, two of 1 80 
 his most trusted ministers, and so profest, whom we 
 desire not to have apprended} but as the necessitie 
 of the cause exacts it. 
 
 Reg. A guard on Latiaris. 
 
 Arr. O, the spie ! 
 
 The reverend spie is caught, who pitties him? 185 
 Reward, sir, for your service : now, you ha'done 
 Your propertie, you see what use is made ? 
 
 \Exeunt Latiaris and Natta guarded."] 
 Hang up the instrument. 
 
 Sfj. Give leave. 
 
 Laco. Stand, stand, 
 
 He comes upon his death, that doth advance 
 An inch toward my point. 
 
 Sfj. Have we no friends here? 190 
 
 Arr. Hush't. Where now are all the hailes, 
 and acclamations ? 
 
 182 appr'endtd. F3, etc., apprehended. 
 
 190 fritndi. Q, friend. 
 
 191 Wkirt now. Begin new line in W, C, G.
 
 181 
 
 \_Enter~\ Macro, [to the] Senate. 
 
 Macro. Haile, to the Consuls, and this noble 
 Senate. 
 
 Sej. [aside} . Is Macro here ? O,thou art lost, 
 Sejanus. 
 
 Mac. Sit still, and un-affrighted, reverend 
 
 Fathers. 
 
 Macro, by Caesars grace, the new-made Provost, 195 
 And now possest of the praetorian bands, 
 An honour late belong'd to that proud man, 
 Bids you, be safe : and to your constant doome 
 Of his deservings, offers you the surety 
 Of all the souldiers, tribunes, and centurions, 100 
 Receiv'd in our command. 
 
 Reg. Sejanus, Sejanus, 
 
 Stand forth, Sejanus. 
 
 Sej. Am I call'd ? 
 
 Mac. I, thou, 
 
 Thou insolent monster, art bid stand. 
 
 Sej. Why, Macro, 
 
 It hath beene otherwise, betweene you, and I ? 
 This court, that knowes us both, hath scene a 
 
 difference, 105 
 
 And can (if it be pleas'd to speake) confirme, 
 Whose insolence is most. 
 
 Mac. Come downe Typhoeus, 
 
 If mine be most, loe, thus I make it more ; 
 Kicke up thy heeles in ayre, teare off thy robe,
 
 1 82 >efanua 
 
 Play with thy beard, and nostrills. Thus 'tis fit, 210 
 (And no man take compassion of thy state) 
 To use th'ingratefull viper, tread his braines 
 Into the earth. 
 
 Reg. Forbeare. 
 
 Mac. If I could lose 
 
 All my humanitie now, 'twere well to torture 
 So meriting a traytor. Wherefore, Fathers, 115 
 Sit you amaz'd, and silent ? and not censure 
 This wretch, who in the houre he first rebell'd 
 'Gainst Caesars bountie,did condemne himselfe ? 
 P'hlegra, the field, where all the sonnes of earth 
 Muster'd against the gods, did ne're acknowledge no 
 So proud, and huge a monster. 
 
 Reg. Take him hence. 
 
 And all the gods guard Caesar. 
 
 Tri. Take him hence. 
 
 Hat. Hence. 
 
 Cot. To the dungeon with him. 
 
 San. He deserves it. 
 
 Sen. Crowne all our doores with bayes. 
 
 San. And let an oxe 
 
 With gilded homes, and garlands, straight be led 115 
 Unto the capitoll. 
 
 Hat. And sacrific'd 
 
 To Jove, for Caesars safety. 
 
 Tri. All our gods 
 
 Be present still to Caesar.
 
 183 
 
 Cot. Phoebus. 
 
 San. Mars. 
 
 Hat. Diana. 
 
 San. Pallas. 
 
 Sen. Juno, Mercuric, 
 
 All guard him. 
 
 Mac. Forth, thou prodigie of men. 230 
 
 [Exit Sejanus guarded.] 
 
 Cot. Let all the traytors titles be defac'd. 
 
 Trt. His images, and statues be pull'd downe. 
 
 Hat. His chariot-wheeles be broken. 
 
 Arr. And the legs 
 
 Of the poore horses, that deserved naught, 
 Let them be broken too. 
 
 Lep. O, violent change, 235 
 
 And whirle of mens affections ! 
 
 Arr. Like, as both 
 
 Their bulkes and soules were bound on fortunes 
 
 wheele, 
 And must act onely with her motion ! 
 
 [Exeunt all buf\ Lepidus, Arruntius, [and 
 a few Senators.] 
 
 Lep. Who would depend upon the popular 
 
 ayre, 
 
 Or voyce of men, that have to day beheld ^40 
 (That which if all the gods had fore-declar'd, 
 Would not have beene beleev'd) Sejanus fall ? 
 He, that this morne rose proudly, as the sunne ?
 
 1 84 >rfanu* 
 
 And, breaking through a mist of clients breath, 
 Came on as gaz'd at, and admir'd, as he 245 
 
 When superstitious Moores salute his light ! 
 That had our servile nobles waiting him 
 As common groomes ; and hanging on his looke, 
 No lesse then humane life on destinie ! 
 That had mens knees as frequent, as the gods ; 150 
 And sacrifices, more, then Rome had altars : 
 And this man fall ! fall ? I, without a looke, 
 That durst appeare his friend ; or lend so much 
 Of vaine reliefe, to his chang'd state, as pitty ! 
 Arr. They, that before like gnats plaid in his 
 
 beames, 155 
 
 And throng'd to circumscribe him, now not 
 
 scene ! 
 
 Nor deigne to hold a common seate with him ! 
 Others, that wayted him unto the Senate, 
 Now, inhumanely ravish him to prison ! 
 Whom (but this morne) they follow'd as their 
 
 lord, 6o 
 
 Guard through the streets, bound like a fugitive ! 
 In stead of wreaths, give fetters ; strokes, for 
 
 stoops : 
 Blind shame, for honours ; and black taunts, for 
 
 titles ! 
 Who would trust slippery chance ? 
 
 Ltp. They, that would make 
 
 263 ikamt. A, W, C, G, hamcs. 264 make. FH, ma.
 
 SCENE vni.1 efanu0 185 
 
 Themselves her spoile : and foolishly forget, 265 
 When shee doth flatter, that shee comes to prey. 
 Fortune, thou hadst no deitie, if men 
 Had wisedome : we have placed thee so high, 
 By fond beliefe in thy felicitie. 
 
 Senators. The gods guard Caesar. All the gods 
 
 guard Caesar. Shout within. 270 
 
 \Re-enter\ Macro, Regulus, \_and] Senators. 
 Mac. Now great Sejanus, you that aw'd the 
 
 state, 
 
 And sought to bring the nobles to your whip, 
 That would be Caesars tutor, and dispose 
 Of dignities, and offices ! that had 
 The publique head still bare to your designes, 275 
 And made the generall voyce to eccho yours ! 
 That look'd for salutations, twelve score off, 
 And would have pyramid's, yea, temples rear'd 
 To your huge greatnesse ! now, you lie as flat, 
 As was your pride advanc'd. 
 
 Reg. Thanks, to the gods. 280 
 
 Senators. And praise to Macro, that hath saved 
 
 Rome. 
 
 Liberty, liberty, liberty. Lead on, 
 And praise to Macro, fhat hath saved Rome. 
 
 \Exeunt all bui\ Arruntius, \and~\ Lepidus, 
 
 \_enter\ Terentius. 
 
 Arr. I prophesie, out of this Senates flatterie, 
 That this new fellow, Macro, will become 285 
 
 284 this. W, C, G, the.
 
 i86 
 
 A greater prodigie in Rome, then he 
 That now is falne. 
 
 Terentius. O you, whose minds are good, 
 
 And have not forc'd all mankind, from your 
 
 brests ; 
 
 That yet have so much stock of vertue left, 
 To pitty guiltie states, when they are wretched : 190 
 Lend your soft eares to heare, and eyes to weepe 
 Deeds done by men, beyond the acts of furies. 
 The eager multitude, (who never yet 
 Knew why to love, or hate, but onely pleas'd 
 T'expresse their rage of power) no sooner heard 195 
 The murmure of Sejanus in decline, 
 But with that speed, and heate of appetite, 
 With which they greedily devoure the way 
 To some great sports, or a new theatre ; 
 They fill'd the capitoll, and Pompei's circke, 300 
 Where, like so many mastives, biting stones, 
 As if his statues now were sensitive 
 Of their wild furie ; first, they teare them downe : 
 Then fastning ropes, drag them along the streets, 
 Crying in scorne, this, this was that rich head 305 
 Was crown'd with garlands, and with odours, 
 
 this M 
 
 That was in Rome so reverenced. Now 
 The fornace, and the bellowes shall too worke 
 The great Sejanus crack, and piece, by piece, 
 
 308 wortt. F3, etc., comma after thb.
 
 >efanu0 187 
 
 Drop i'the founders pit. 
 
 Lep. O, popular rage ! 310 
 
 Ter. The whilst, the Senate, at the temple of 
 
 Concord, 
 
 Make haste to meet againe, and thronging cry, 
 Let us condemne him, tread him downe in 
 
 water, 
 
 While he doth lie upon the banke; away : 
 Where some, more tardie, cry unto their bearers, 315 
 He will be censur'd ere we come, runne knaves, 
 And use that furious diligence, for feare 
 Their bond-men should informe against their 
 
 slacknesse, 
 
 And bring their quaking flesh unto the hooke : 
 The rout, they follow with confused voyce, 320 
 Crying, they'are glad, say they could ne're abide 
 
 him; 
 
 Enquire, what man he was ? what kind of face ? 
 What beard he had ? what nose ? what lips ? 
 
 protest, 
 
 They ever did presage h'would come to this : 
 They never thought him wise, nor valiant : Askesis 
 After his garments, when he dies ? what death ? 
 And not a beast of all the herd demands, 
 What was his crime ? or, who were his accusers ? 
 Under what [p] roofe, or testimonie, he fell ? 
 
 315 Where. W, C, G, While. 
 
 319 proofe. Q, F, roofe, with no evidence that a /> has dropped 
 out.
 
 There came (sayes one) a huge, long, worded 
 
 letter 330 
 
 From Capreae against him. Did there so ? 
 O, they are satisfied, no more. 
 
 Lep. Alas ! 
 
 They follow fortune, and hate men condemn'd, 
 Guiltie, or not. 
 
 Arr. But, had Sejanus thriv'd 
 
 In his designe, and prosperously opprest 335 
 
 The old Tiberius, then, in that same minute 
 These very raskals, that now rage like furies, 
 Would have proclaim'd Sejanus emperour. 
 
 Lep. But what hath follow'd ? 
 
 Ter. Sentence, by the Senate ; 
 
 To lose his head : which was no sooner off, 340 
 But that, and th'unfortunate trunke were seiz'd 
 By the rude multitude ; who not content 
 With what the forward justice of the state, 
 Officiously had done, with violent rage 
 Have rent it limbe, from limbe. A thousand 
 
 heads, 345 
 
 A thousand hands, ten thousand tongues, and 
 
 voyces, 
 
 Employ'd at once in severall acts of malice ! 
 Old men not staid with age, virgins with shame, 
 Late wives with losse of husbands, mothers of 
 children, 
 
 348 itaid. C, tUy'd.
 
 SCEN* vm.] >efanu0 189 
 
 Losing all griefe in joy of his sad fall, 350 
 
 Runne quite transported with their crueltie ! 
 These mounting at his head, these at his face, 
 These digging out his eyes, those with his braine, 
 Sprinkling themselves, their houses, and their 
 
 friends ; 
 
 Others are met, have ravish'd thence an arme, 355 
 And deale small pieces of the flesh for favours ; 
 These with a thigh; this hath cut off his hands; 
 And this his feet ; these fingers, and these toes ; 
 That hath his liver ; he his heart : there wants 
 Nothing but roome for wrath, and place for 
 
 hatred ! 360 
 
 What cannot oft be done, is now ore-done. 
 The whole, and all of what was great Sejanus, 
 And next to Caesar did possesse the world, 
 Now torne, and scatter'd, as he needs no grave, 
 Each little dust covers a little part : 365 
 
 So lyes he no where, and yet often buryed ! 
 Arruntius, Nuntius, Lepidus, Terentius. 
 
 Arr. More of Sejanus ? 
 
 Nuntius. Yes. 
 
 Lep. What can be added ? 
 
 We know him dead. 
 
 Nun. Then, there begin your pitty. 
 
 There is inough behind, to melt ev'n Rome, 
 
 351 mounting. W, C, Minting. 
 353 braine. Fz, etc., brains.
 
 190 >efanu$ 
 
 And Caesar into teares : (since never slave 370 
 Could yet so highly offend, but tyrannic, 
 In torturing him, would make him worth lament- 
 ing-) 
 
 A sonne, and daughter, to the dead Sejanus, 
 (Of whom there is not now so much remayning 
 As would give fastning to the hang-mans hooke)375 
 Have they drawne forth for farder sacrifice ; 
 Whose tendernesse of knowledge, unripe yeares, 
 And childish silly innocence was such, 
 As scarse would lend them feeling of their 
 
 danger : 
 
 The girle so simple, as shee often askt, 380 
 
 Where they would lead her ? for what cause they 
 
 drag'd her ? 
 Cry'd, shee would doe no more. That shee could 
 
 take 
 
 Warning with beating. And because our lawes 
 Admit no virgin immature to die, 
 The wittily, and strangely-cruell Macro, 385 
 
 Deliver'd her to be deflowr'd, and spoil'd, 
 By the rude lust of the licentious hang-man, 
 Then, to be strangled with her harmelesse brother. 
 Ltp. O, act, most worthy hell, and lasting 
 
 night, 
 To hide it from the world ! 
 
 Nun. Their bodies throwne39o 
 
 370 tinet. Q, though.
 
 SCENE Yin.] >efanu0 
 
 Into the Gemonies, (I know not how, 
 Or by what accident return'd) the mother, 
 Th'expulsed Apicata, finds them there; 
 Whom when shee saw lie spred on the degrees, 
 After a world of furie on her selfe, 395 
 
 Tearing her haire, defacing of her face, 
 Beating her brests, and wombe, kneeling amaz'd, 
 Crying to heaven, then to them ; at last, 
 Her drowned voyce gate up above her woes : 
 And with such black, and bitter execrations, 400 
 (As might affright the gods, and force the sunne 
 Runne back-ward to the east, nay, make the old 
 Deformed Chaos rise againe, t'ore-whelme 
 Them, us, and all the world) shee fills the aire ; 
 Upbraids the heavens with their partiall doomes,405 
 Defies their tyrannous powers, and demands, 
 What shee, and those poore innocents have 
 
 transgress'd, 
 
 That they must suffer such a share in vengeance, 
 Whilst Livia, Lygdus, and Eudemus live, 
 Who, (as shee say's, and firmely vowes,to prove it 410 
 To Caesar, and the Senate) poyson'd Drusus ? 
 
 Lep. Confederates with her husband ? 
 
 Nun. I. 
 
 Lep. Strange act ! 
 
 Arr. And strangely open'd : what say's now 
 
 my monster, 
 The multitude ? they reele now ? doe they not ?
 
 [A CT V. 
 
 Nun. Their gall is gone, and now they 'gin 
 
 to weepe 415 
 
 The mischiefe they have done. 
 
 Arr. I thanke 'hem, rogues ! 
 
 Nun. Part are so stupide, or so flexible, 
 As they beleeve him innocent ; all grieve : 
 And some, whose hands yet reeke with his warme 
 
 bloud, 
 
 And gripe the part which they did teare of him, 420 
 Wish him collected, and created new. 
 
 Lep. How fortune plies her sports, when shee 
 
 begins 
 
 To practise 'hem ! pursues, continues, addes ! 
 Confounds, with varying her empassion'd 
 
 moodes ! 
 Arr. Do'st thou hope fortune to redeeme thy 
 
 crimes ? 45 
 
 To make amends, for thy ill placed favours, 
 With these strange punishments ? Forbeare, you 
 
 things, 
 
 That stand upon the pinnacles of state, 
 To boast your slippery height ; when you doe 
 
 fall, 
 
 You pash your selves in pieces, nere to rise, 430 
 And he that lends you pitty, is not wise. 
 
 Ter. Let this example moove th'insolent man, 
 Not to grow proud, and carelesse of the gods : 
 
 430 path. Fz-C, dash.
 
 >efanua 193 
 
 It is an odious wisedome, to blaspheme, 
 Much more to slighten, or denie their powers. 435 
 For whom the morning saw so great, and high, 
 Thus low, and little, 'fore the'even doth lie. 
 
 [Exeunt, .] 
 
 THE END
 
 This Tragoedie was first 
 
 acted, in the yeere 
 
 1603. 
 
 By the Kings Majesties 
 SERVANTS. 
 
 The principall Tragoedians were, 
 
 RlC. BURBADGE. ^ fWlLL. SHAKE-SPEARE. 
 
 AUG. PHILIPS. I 1 IOH. HEMINGS. 
 WILL. SLY. | HEN. CONDEL. 
 
 IOH. LOWIN. ) I^ALEX. CCXJKE 
 
 With the allowance of the Master of REVELLS.
 
 to 
 
 IN these notes I have attempted to deal somewhat fully with the 
 relation of Jonson to his sources. Much doubtless remains to be done, 
 but what is here brought together, as supplementary to his own re- 
 ferences, will be sufficient for an understanding of his methods. I 
 have preferred to err on the side of inclusiveness, and perhaps the 
 reader will feel that in more than one case it is worth a question 
 whether Jonson had in mind the passage cited. 
 
 Jonson's own notes, omitted in F, are printed from Q, in which 
 a system of letter reference is employed, here changed to a line sys- 
 tem. In some instances Q does not make use of a letter, but merely 
 places the reference opposite a line or lines ; sometimes the source is 
 vague or general in language, and sometimes Jonson threw refer- 
 ences for a fairly long passage into a single note, while occasional 
 references are unnecessarily repeated. Satisfactory correspondence of 
 notes to text was thus difficult to secure. 
 
 To distinguish his notes from the editor's, they are placed in 
 italics. It did not seem necessary to expand his abbreviations more 
 than occasionally, but I add in brackets the chapter numbers where 
 omitted. I have tried to avoid repeating information supplied in his 
 notes, but without entire success. The principal editions used were 
 those at hand : e. g., Claudian by Jeep, Seneca's tragedies by Leo, 
 Juvenal by Friedlaender, Teubner texts of Tacitus, Suetonius, and 
 Seneca's prose, Foster's translation of Dio Cassius, etc. 
 
 Special philological works of Jonson's own day have not been 
 easily accessible, nor did it seem of the highest importance that his 
 references to them should be examined ; every reasonable demand is 
 satisfied when necessary information is supplied from modern books. 
 Most of his abbreviations of such titles, however, have been on first 
 occurrence expanded sufficiently to enable his notes to be utilized 
 without difficulty by any one curious in the matter. In one case 
 (Rhodig., 133, 51) I have not been able to identify the work satis- 
 factorily. 
 
 The Motto. Cunningham had a theory (see pp. 485 rf~., vol.
 
 196 
 
 in, of his 1875 ed. of Joiuon) that the editors of Fa "had a copy of 
 thi particular play with a few corrections by the author." In sup- 
 port of this he alleges that "the motto began with Nam An, and 
 was altered to Nan hie in the folio of 1640." But the motto begins 
 Non hie in the copy of Q and the three copies of F seen. The other 
 bits of evidence that he otfer* are similarly to be disposed of; they will 
 be noticed in the appropriate places. Either Cunningham was very 
 careless, or, what seems in some instances likely, he had a copy of 
 F containing a number of still different readings. 
 
 Jonson translates this passage of Martial in the Prologue to Every 
 Man in his Humour. 
 
 3. Esme L. Aubigny. " Esme, lord Aubigny, wasyounger 
 brother of Lodovick Stuart, second duke of Lenox, and first and last 
 duke of Richmond of his creation. He died in 1624, and was suc- 
 ceeded in the dukedom of Lenox by this same Esme, who had been 
 created earl of March in 1619, and was grandfather of the duke of 
 Richmond who figures in the memoirs of De Grammont, and who 
 married la belli Stuart. Esme, lord Aubigny, was perhaps the best 
 friend Jonson ever possessed, and gave him the shelter of his roof 
 during five years. . . He died 3<3th July, 1624. It was in his 
 house that Jonson wrote the translation of the Art Pottica, and the 
 commentary. . . ."Cunningham. See Epigram cxxvn,and For- 
 esi, No. xiu. 
 
 4, 6. First, if it be objected. Compare the following from 
 Webster's preface to Tht fPAitt Dtvi/ t 1 6 II : "If it be objected 
 this is no true dramatic poem, I shall easily confess it ; non pctci 
 in nugat dictrt flura meat tfse ego quam dixi. Willingly, and not 
 ignorantly, in this kind have I faulted : for, should a man present 
 to such an auditory the most sententious tragedy that ever was writ- 
 ten, observing all the critical laws, as height of style, and gravity of 
 person, enrich it with the sententious Chorus, and, as it were, liven 
 death in the passionate and weighty Nuntius ; yet, after all this 
 divine rapture, Jura messorum ilia, the breath that comes from 
 the uncapable multitude is able to poison it ; and, ere it be acted, let 
 the author resolve to fix to every scene this of Horace, 
 
 Haec porcis hodie comedenda relinques." 
 
 Incidentally, the dedication to the Duckets of Malfi is like that to 
 Catiline, and the preface to The DeviTi Laiv Gate might hare
 
 197 
 
 been written by Jonson himself. Cf. Spingarn's notes on Webster's 
 preface to The White Devil, Seventeenth Century Critical Essays, 
 
 i> *35 ff - 
 
 4, 19. truth of Argument. Cf. Chapman's dedication to 
 the Revenge of Bussy : " And for the authentical truth of either 
 person or action, who (worth the respecting) will expect it in a 
 poem, whose subject is not truth, but things like truth ? Poor envi- 
 ous souls they are that cavil at truth's want in these natural fictions; 
 material instruction, elegant and sententious excitation to virtue, and 
 deflection from her contrary, being the soul, limbs, and limit of an 
 authentical tragedy." (See Introduction, p. xli) Jonson provides 
 his notes as a defence against these " poor envious souls," but, un- 
 like Chapman, admits the duty of adhering as far as possible to his- 
 torical fact. 
 
 4, 27 ff. least, in some nice nostrill. Marston's pre- 
 face, To the General Reader, to Sophonisba, printed 1606, though 
 perhaps written before Sejanus, seems clearly an attack upon Jonson, 
 though Giffbrd doubts the connection. " Know, that I have not 
 laboured in this Poeme, to tye my selfe to relate any thing as an 
 historian, but to inlarge every thing as a poet. To transcribe au- 
 thors, quote authorities, and translate Latine prose Orations into 
 English blank verse, hath, in this subject, been the least ayme of 
 my studies." 
 
 5, 50. SO happy a Genius. Shakspere, Fletcher, Beau- 
 mont, Chapman, Middleton, as well as a certain Samuel Sheppard, 
 have been thought of in this connection, but absolutely nothing is 
 known about Jonson's coadjutor or about his share in the play. 
 
 Jonson was brought by the Earl of Northampton, " his mortal 
 enemy," as he told Drummond, " before the Council for his Seja- 
 nus, and accused of Popery and treason." Nothing in the play as 
 we have it seems to furnish grounds for such accusations, ex- 
 cept perhaps to this extent: Jonson was a Roman Catholic from 
 about 1598 to about 1610, and the conspiracy of Sejanus might be 
 thought to recall too vividly the conspiracy of Essex. But it is not 
 improbable that in this case, as in the case of Eastward Hoe, the 
 grounds were found in that part of the play with which Jonson was 
 not directly concerned. What he means, then, may be this : I am 
 compelled to excise your portion of the play (and of course to fill up
 
 198 
 
 the gaps), otherwise 1 lose my can. In any case, there seems no 
 reason for assuming, as some have done, that Jonson is here elabo- 
 rately ironical. 
 
 5, 54. Neque enim mihi cornea fibra est. The 
 quotation is from Persius, Sat. i, 47. The quotation below, from 
 Horace, Efnt. n, i, 181. 
 
 7, 21-4. Nor is . . . Rare. The sense is: I am not carry- 
 ing the comparison too far, except that the worth of jewels is ex- 
 trinsic ("in estimation meerely "), whereas that of your work is 
 intrinsic. Cf. The Distracted Emperor, i : 
 
 For Butye's like a stone of unknowne worthe, 
 The estimatyon makes it pretyous. 
 
 7, 25 ft. Wherein Minerva had beene vanquished. 
 The allusion is to the contest in weaving between Arachne and 
 Minerva, wherein the former was beaten, and as a punishment for 
 daring to contend with the goddess, was turned into a spider, see 
 Ovid, Metamorphoses, vi, 1-145. The "graphic thread" alludes 
 to the interwoven pictures in Minerva's web. Arachne is again re- 
 ferred to, below, 1. 136. 
 
 8, 50. the sable Orgies of the Muses ; that is, tragic 
 writing. 
 
 8, 53 ff. But . . . Retiring. The sense is: The first sign 
 of love consists neither in the pleasure taken in the sight of the object, 
 nor in the bold pursuit of it, but in retirement. 
 
 9, 6 1. saith Aeschilus. The reference is apparently to 
 Clytemnestra's speech to Orestes, Choephori, 906 (Swan wick's 
 translation): " For wives 'tis grievous to live spouseless, child." 
 
 9, 8 1 ff. Though . . . fits. The sense is : Though others, 
 qualified with natural! skill, blanch coals, i. e., call black white, do 
 thou speak truth. 
 
 10, 86. the good Spartane King. See Plutarch's Life 
 of Age silaut, where the latter compares himself in this way to the 
 " Great King." 
 
 10, 89. the great Stagerite. I do not know where 
 Aristotle (born at Stagira, 384 B. c., and hence called the Stagir- 
 ite) says precisely this, but several times he says what is practically 
 equivalent to it, e. g. , Nicomachtan Ethics, x, viii, 1 8. In the 
 Rhetoric, too, 11, 13, he mentions " Iphicrates' argument that the 
 most virtuous person is the noblest." (Welldon's translation.)
 
 199 
 
 IO, 97 ff. Such . . . soules : i. e., your play is so vivid 
 in style that your hearers at once become your spectators, and the 
 lively sense of good and ill that the spectators have, is felt also by 
 your readers. Chapman is evidently making a careful distinction 
 between hearers, spectators, and readers. Does he mean to suggest 
 that Jonson read the play aloud to his friends, or is he merely mak- 
 ing an academic reference to the Roman custom of public readings ? 
 
 IO, 103-4. Thespian Boules are bowls of the Muses, 
 who had a temple near Thespiae, whence the adjective was occa- 
 sionally applied to them. The particular bowl referred to is the 
 phiale, a bowl or cup used chiefly for pouring libations and rarely 
 possessing handles (Birch's Ancient Pottery, 383). In both this and 
 the next line (Palladian cask = helmet of Pallas) Chapman means 
 that Jonson's poetry combines pleasure and profit in the perusal. 
 
 10, 105 ff. thyselfe must Patronise. Apparently the 
 meaning is : You must be your own patron, and your reward must 
 be to drink more of the Castilian spring, in searching out whose 
 mysteries we poets have to weight our nets (the figure is suggested 
 by the word " expiscation ") with lead, since poets possess no gold. 
 
 10, no. Pierian Streames. The Pierides were the Muses, 
 hence " Pierian streams," streams sacred to the Muses : e. g. , the 
 " Castalian head," above, supposed to be a spring on Mt. Parnassus. 
 
 11, 113. the great Cyrrhan Poet: Apollo; the whole 
 line is a translation of Juvenal, xin, 79 : " Cirrhaei spicula vatis." 
 
 II, 117. as Sathan was. As we see from Victorinus, 
 Commentary on Revelations, xx, 1-3 (Translation of Ante-Nicene 
 Fathers, 1905, vu, 358) and from St. Prosper (Maxima Bibl. 
 Patrum, 1677, vin, fol. 45, " De diabolo ligato et misso in abys- 
 sum "), John in that passage was sometimes held to refer to a bind- 
 ing of Satan for a thousand years in direct connection with the 
 coming of Christ. This interpretation is apparently the past binding 
 that Chapman had in, mind. The accepted interpretation, of course, 
 is that of a future binding, in connection with the end of the world. 
 See A Yorkshire Tragedy, sc. x : 
 
 Now glides the devil from me, 
 
 Bind him one thousand more, you blessed angels, 
 In that pit bottomless !
 
 200 
 
 II, 119. warme but : am but warmed. 
 
 11, 127. Earthy parts. The old theory was that the uni- 
 verse was composed of four elements, earth, air, fire, and water, 
 which entered in various proportions into the composition of all 
 bodies. Chapman means that the earthy emanations of a flower held 
 close render its odor impure ; if the flower be held further away, 
 these emanations fail. For " improve," see Glotutry. 
 
 12, 135. Our Phoebus. The poets of the day frequently 
 compared James I to Phoebus. Jonson himself does it in the dedi- 
 cation to Cynthia 't Re-velt. 
 
 12, 140 ff. His Chancelor . . . Suffolke. The persons 
 referred to are the following : 
 
 Chancellor, Sir Thomas Egerton, 1540?-! 6 1 7. See Jonson'g 
 Epigrams No. 74, and Undenvoodt, 50, 51. 
 
 Treasurer, Thomas Sackville, 1536-1608, 1st Earl of Dorset 
 and Baron Buckhurst, pan author of The Mirror for Magistrate!, 
 and Gorboduc. 
 
 Northumberland, Henry Percy, 1564-1632, 9th earl 
 
 Worcester, Edward Somerset, 1553-1628, 4th earl. 
 
 Northampton, Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, 1540 
 1614. 
 
 Devonshire, Charles Blount, 1563-1606, created earl July 1 1, 
 1604. 
 
 Salisbury, Robert Cecil, 1 563?-! 612, son of Lord Burghley, 
 and secretary of state ; see Jonson 's Efigrami, Nos. 49, 63, 64. 
 
 Suffolk, Thomas Howard, 1561-1626, 1st earl. He did "fall 
 by Fortune ' ' when in 1 6 1 8 he was accused of corruption and sen- 
 tenced to a heavy fine. 
 
 12, 153 ff. our Hearde, came not to drinke, but 
 trouble The Muses waters. An obscure passage. It is suf- 
 ficiently evident that Suffolk on some occasion intervened to the 
 assistance of, presumably, Chapman and Jonson. But on what oc- 
 casion- ? Chapman, Jonson, and Marston got into trouble in 1604 
 for writing Eatnoard Hot. Jonspn, just when we do not know, was 
 brought by Northampton " before the Council for his Sejanui, and 
 accused of Popery and treason." Chapman and Jonson were again 
 in difficulties in 1605 on account of an unknown play. I do not 
 know which of these occasions Chapman had in mind.
 
 201 
 
 Jonson praises Suffolk in Epigram 67, addressed to him, the date 
 of which is uncertain ; yet in Conversations 'with Drummond, xi, 
 he says that he and Sir John Roe were "ushered" (Roe says 
 " thrust ") out from a mask by this same lord. The date of this 
 occurrence, Christmas, 1604 (Cunningham), is earlier than that, 
 apparently, of the composition of Chapman's poem. 
 
 13, 165. First binding savadge Lives. In allusion to 
 the classical and Renaissance doctrine that poetry, in its origin partly 
 to be identified with religion, was the earliest civilizing agency in 
 the progress of mankind. 
 
 14, 10. Fames Brazen House. See the description of 
 the House of Fame in Ovid, Met., xn, 39 ff. ; it is situated in the 
 middle between heaven, earth, and sea ; it is built all of brass, and 
 Fame dwells upon the extreme top. 
 
 14, II. Barathrum. The Greek pa.pa.0pov, a pit, was used 
 occasionally by the Latin poets as meaning the infernal regions. 
 
 14, 16. Georgius Chapmannus. George Chapman, c. 
 1559-1634, translator of the Iliad and Odyssey, continuator of 
 Marlowe's unfinished Hero and Leander, and author of numerous 
 tragedies, e. g., Bussy d'Ambois, 2 pts., The Conspiracy of Byron, 
 Z pts. , and comedies, e. g. , The Gentleman Usher, Monsieur a" Olive, 
 wa, of all Jonson's contemporaries, the nearest akin in character, 
 learning, and genius. The present poems are very poor specimens of 
 his powers, and exhibit perhaps more than his usual proneness to 
 conceal genuinely poetic thought and feeling under irritating eccen- 
 tricities and pedantries of expression. Jonson addresses a poem to 
 Chapman, Undertv. No. 20. The two poets appear to have been, 
 as we should expect, close friends. Yet, strangely enough, there 
 exists, attributed to Chapman, a long MS. fragment of an "In- 
 vective against Mr. Ben Jonson," certainly written in the style of 
 its reputed author, and severely if not virulently satirical. 
 
 15, 15. Hugh Holland, died 1633, was the author of a 
 sonnet printed in the Shakspere Folio of 1623, and of many other 
 bits of commendatory verse, as well as of more pretentious pieces. 
 
 17, 22. Th. R. may perhaps be Sir Thomas Roe (1581? 
 1644, knighted 16045), the ambassador. Jonson addresses two 
 epigrams to him, Nos. 98, 99, and has other poems to other men 
 of the name of Roe, presumably of the same family. It was in
 
 202 
 
 company with a Sir John Roe that Jonson was " ushered " from a 
 mask at Court by Suffolk. 
 
 18, Johannes Marstonius, 1576-1634, associated with 
 Jonson and Chapman in the composition of Eastward Hot (ed. 
 Schelling, Belles-Lettres Strict), is an interesting figure. He and 
 Jonson had quarreled, and Jonson had bitterly satirized him in 'The 
 Poetaster. A year or so later we find him assisting Jonson in the 
 play mentioned above, and a year or to later still attacking him 
 indirectly in the prologue and perhaps the epilogue to his own tragedy 
 of Sophonisba, see above, note on 4, 27. His best known plays are 
 Antonio and Melltda, 2 pts. , and The Malcontent. 
 
 19, 4. Confluence : the word seems to be used somewhat 
 in the sense of " affluence," and may be said to mean, perhaps, 
 "stock of acquired wealth and power." 
 
 19, 5-6. Lightning comes behind the Thunder. We 
 have here one form of the conventional medieval doctrine of thunder 
 and lightning. Thunder is the primary and dangerous element in 
 the phenomenon, lightning the secondary and merely attendant ; see 
 Howell's Instruction i for Forreine Travel!, 1641, ed Arber, II : 
 " It makes the effect oftentimes fore-run the came, as we lee the 
 Lightning, before we Heart the Thunder, though thunder be first 
 in Nature, being by the violent eruption it makes out of the Cloud, 
 the cause of such figurations. ' ' And cf. Extracts from Bartkolo- 
 maeus Anglicut, ed. Steele, 1893, 26. 
 
 The contrast between the cedar and the shrub and their respect- 
 ive hazards is a stock bit of moralizing, to which a rather close par- 
 allel may be found in ChalkhilTs Thealma and CltarcAus, 89 ff. 
 
 19,15. William Strachey. Evidently the same as the 
 author, fl. 1609-1618, of A True Repertory of tne tvracke and re- 
 demption of Sir Th. Gates, Knight, upon and from the Islands of tke 
 Bermudas, used by Shakspere in The Tempett. 
 
 20, ii. Where later . . . enweav'd. So careful was 
 Jonson to avoid anachronisms that it is not easy to discover un- 
 doubted references to contemporary matters in Sejanus (see, how- 
 ever, Introduction, p. lii, and the notes on 23, 41, and 125, 
 69). Yet it is easy to see how such interpretation could be made, 
 and Jonson's comedy was constantly attacked on similar grounds. 
 
 The subject-matter of the play and its treatment appear to have
 
 203 
 
 given it a kind of general application ; when revived (with great 
 alterations) as The Favorite in 1 770, the purpose appears to have 
 been political (Genest, x, 187; he classes it among plays not 
 acted); and Hazlitt, speaking of Sejanus in his Lectures on the 
 Age of Elizabeth, says : " I am half afraid to give any extracts, lest 
 they should be tortured into an application to other times and char- 
 acters than those referred to by the poet. ... It only proves that 
 the characters of prophet and poet are implied in each other ; that 
 he who describes human nature well once, describes it for good and 
 all, as it was, is, and I begin to fear, will ever be." 
 
 21, i. Globes faire Ring. The Globe, built in 1599 in 
 Maiden Lane, Bankside, was the theatre in which Shakspere was 
 financially interested. 
 
 21, 5. The Peoples beastly rage. See Dedication, 11. 
 
 4 ff., and In Sejanum, 11. 1416. 
 
 22, 19. for the Succession. Cunningham, ed. 1875, says 
 these words "are not in the folio 1616, but appear for the first 
 time in the folio 1640." They are in the three copies of F that 
 the editor has seen. 
 
 2 3> 39-4 1 - In one day . . . people. Seneca, De Tran- 
 quiUitate Animi, II: "quo die ilium senatus deduxerat, populus in 
 frusta di visit." 
 
 23, 41. people. There follows in Q the passage printed in 
 the textual notes. The allusion is probably to the Gunpowder Plot, 
 as Whalley remarks, but may conceivably be to the affair of Essex, 
 which bore less distant resemblance to Sejanus' conspiracy, and per- 
 haps suggested the subject. The allusion to the Plot would mean 
 that the play was published by Thorpe between November 5, 1605, 
 and March I, 1605-6, at least a year later than its entry in the 
 Stationers' Register (November 2, 1604, for Blount). 
 
 Doubtless this addition was for the purpose of forestalling un- 
 favorable criticism on the choice of subject, and the need for it had 
 passed away by the time of the publication of the Folio. See note 
 on 125, 69 ff. 
 
 25, i. Silius. De Caio Si/to, -vid. Tacit. Lips. edit. 4. Anna. 
 Lib. i, Pag. ii. [31] lib. 2, fag. 28. & 33. [6, 7, 25] De Titio 
 Sabino. vid. Tac. lib. 4. pag. jq. [18, 19.] 
 
 25, 4 ff. Wee are no good inginers. The following
 
 204 
 
 passage is especially characteristic of Jonson, for the flatterer and the 
 parasite are constant subjects of his cistigation ; in his comedies they 
 are stock figures, and even in Timber (pp. 35, 51) and in his minor 
 poems they receive much attention. The second of the two passages 
 in Timber contains much that closely parallels what is said by Silius 
 a few lines below. Nothing more betrays Jonson's debt to classical 
 literature than his handling of this topic, for which, of course, 
 Juvenal and the other Roman satirists, though they by no means 
 furnished all of the material, yet supplied the models. 
 
 25, ii. By slaverie, not by service. Tac. Annal. lib. 
 I. fag. 2. [* : ceteri nobilium, quanto quisservitio promptior, opi- 
 bus et honoribus extollerentur.] 
 
 26, 14. We owe unto our crimes. Juvenal, Sat. t. 
 
 -vtr. 75. 
 
 [criminibus debent hortos praetoria mensas 
 argentum vetus et stantem extra pocula caprum.] 
 
 26, 15. We burne with no black secrets. Et Sat. 
 
 vtr. 
 
 [quis nunc diligitur nisi conscius et cui fervens 
 aestuat occultis animus semperque tacendb ? 
 nil tibi se debere putat, nil conferet umquam, 
 participem qui te secret! fecit honest! : 
 cams erit Verri, qui Verrem tempore quo vult 
 accusare potest. tanti tibi non sit opaci 
 omnis harena Tagi quodque in mare volvitur aurum, 
 ut somno careas ponendaque praemia sumas 
 tristis et a mago semper timcaris amico. 
 
 See also 113: scire volunt secreta domus atque inde timeri.] 
 26, 20 ft'. But yonder leane A paire that doe. The 
 reader should note Jonson's frequent practice of describing a person- 
 age, as toon as he appears on the stage, through the mouth of some 
 one already there. It is characteristic of his comic work also, and 
 springs, as other commentators have observed, from his desire that 
 the audience should be perfectly informed as to the various figures. 
 So in Catiline, i, i ; HI, iii ; Catiline himself is careful to give us in 
 a phrase or two the special quality of each of his associates, and at 
 the beginning of the play the ghost of Sylla elaborately expounds the
 
 205 
 
 character of Catiline. The "sons of Ben" not infrequently imi- 
 tated their master in this regard, as for example Beaumont in The 
 Woman-Hattr . 
 
 26, 21. Latiaris. De Latiari, cons. Tac. Annal. lib. 4. fag. 
 Q4, [68, 69] & Dion. Step, edit.fol. lib. 58. fag. 7/7. [i.] 
 
 2u, 22. Satrius. De Satrio Secundo, & Pinnario Natta, Leg 
 Tacit. Annal. lib. 4. pag. 8j. [34] et de Satrio com. Senec. con- 
 tol. ad Mar clam. [22.] 
 
 26, 28. Flatter, and sweare. Vid. Sen. de Benef. lib. 3 
 
 cap. 26. [Given under 133, 57 ff.] 
 
 26, 30-31. cut Mens throates. Juv., iv, no : 
 
 saevior illo 
 Pompeius tenui iugulos aperire susurro. 
 
 26, 31-2. sell . . . The emptie smoake. Martial, iv, v, 7: 
 
 Vendere nee vanos circum Palatia fumos. 
 
 27, 36. watch. One of the rare anachronisms in Sejanus. 
 " The speaker alludes t6 the pocket-watch, which, in Jonson's days, 
 was not so independent of correction as at present, but was con- 
 stantly regulated by the motion of the clock, at that time the more 
 accurate machine of the two." Giffbrd. Compare Bartholomew 
 Fair, m, i : " Hag. Why, should the watch go by the clock, or 
 the clock by the watch, I pray ? " 
 
 27 37- true as turkise. All the precious stones were 
 thought in former times to have remarkable properties in the detection 
 of poisons, preservation of the wearer's health, and the like beneficent 
 activities. The particular superstition here alluded to is found more 
 often in connection with the turquoise, and perhaps the opal, than 
 with other stones, as is natural in view of the fact that under cer- 
 tain conditions these do actually lose their brightness and color. 
 Parallels innumerable might be given, e. g., in Saintsbury's Caro- 
 line Poets, ii, 161 : 
 
 And therefore, Cynthia, as a turquoise bought, 
 
 Or stol'n, or found, is virtueless, and nought, 
 
 It must be freely given by a friend, 
 
 Whose love and bounty doth such virtue lend, 
 
 As makes it to compassionate, and tell 
 
 By looking pale, the wearer is not well.
 
 206 
 
 27, 38. Looke well, . . . Catch, Juvenal, S*t. J. w. 
 103. 
 
 [non lumus ergo pares : melior, qui semper et omni 
 nocte dieque potest aliena sumcre vultum 
 a facie, iactare manus, laudare paratus, 
 si bene ructavit, si rectum minxit amicus, 
 si trulla in verso crepitum dedit aurea fundo.] 
 
 27, 41. confer'd with other vile. Pld. Toe. Ann. lib. 
 ' ?<*& 3- [* Sce undcr 25. * * ] 
 
 27, 46 ff. all our Consuls. Tac. Annal. lib. j>. fag. 69. 
 [65. Ceterum tempora ilia adeo infccta et adulatione sordida fuere, 
 ut non modo primorcs civitatis . . . sed omnes consulates, magna 
 pars eonim qui praetura tuncti multiquc etiam pedarii senatores cer- 
 tatim exsurgerent foedaque et nimia censerent. Memoriae proditur 
 Tiberium, quotient curia egrederetur, Graccis verbis in hunc modum 
 eloqui solitum : "O homines adservitutem paratos ! " Scilicet etiam 
 ilium, qui libertatem publican) nollet, tarn proiectae servientium 
 patientiae taedebat.j 
 
 27, 48 Pedarii. These, according to Harper'i Dictionary, 
 were " those senators who had not yet been entered by the censors 
 on the list or roll of senators, and who had no vote of their own, 
 but could merely signify their assent to that of another." But 
 Willems, Le Senat de la Reputliyui Romaint, i, 137 ff., shows that 
 this notion (the one that Jonson had in mind, for his meaning 
 clearly is that senators who had no right to speak would violate the 
 rules of the senate in order to flatter Tiberius) is incorrect. The 
 pedarii were the mass of senators, who had never held curule mag- 
 istracies, and hence had not the right to sit on curule chairs ; such 
 would, according to the procedure of the senate, speak rarely, since 
 they would in the nature of things be rarely called upon by the pre- 
 siding officer. 
 
 28, 51. Tiberius hath beene heard. Ibid. [See under 
 
 46 above.) 
 
 28, 60. triumphed world is probably from Ovid's "tri- 
 umphati orbis," Aaiorei, i, 15, 16. Cf. Catiline, HI, 2 : 
 
 And lay waste 
 The far triumphed world. 
 28, 64. every ministring spie. Ltgt Tac. Ann., lit i.
 
 207 
 
 f>ag. 24. [74] de Romano Hispane, & caeteris. ibid, et lib. 3. 
 Ann. pag. 61. &? 62. [apparendy 36, ^j]Ju-ven. Sat. 10. ver. 
 8 7 . 
 
 [sed videant servi, ne quis neget et pavidum in ius 
 cervice obstricta dominum trahat.] 
 
 Suet. Tib. cap. 61. [Decreta accusatoribus praecipua praemia, non- 
 numquam et testibus. Nemini delatorum tides abrogata. But this 
 is said of Tiberius after the fall of Sejanus.] 
 
 The ' ' ministering spies ' ' were specifically known as delatores. 
 Roman law recognized no official detective or police force, and 
 offenders were brought before the proper authorities by private per- 
 sons, who collected the requisite information and frequently acted 
 as prosecutors. To stimulate their zeal, a portion of the property 
 of convicted persons was bestowed upon them (see 99, 360), 
 and even the strictest administration of justice with difficulty pre- 
 vented this appeal to cupidity from nourishing a pernicious class of 
 professional spies. Under Tiberius these delators played the part here 
 assigned them (see also 7 1 , 194^, 122, I ff. ), and under the worst 
 of the following emperors they became even more active. 
 
 28, 67. Our lookes are call'd to question. Vid. Tac. 
 Ann. i. fag. 4. [Apparently chs. 4-6 are meant ; the reference is 
 vague.] & lib. J. pa. 62 [38 . . . addito maiestatis crimine, quod 
 turn omnium accusationum complementum erat. See 135, 85, 
 where the phrase is given to Arruntius.] Suet. Tib. cap. 6f. 
 [Omne crimen pro capital! receptum. . . .] Senec. de Btnef. lib. 
 3. cap. 26. [See under 133, 57.] 
 Cf. Massinger, Roman Actor, i, i ; 
 
 Rust. Noble Lamia, 
 
 So dangerous the age is, and such bad acts 
 
 Are practised everywhere, we hardly sleep, 
 
 Nay, cannot dream with safety. All our actions 
 
 Are call'd in question ; to be nobly born 
 
 Is now a crime $ and to deserve too well, 
 
 Held capital treason. 
 
 28, 70. Tyrannes. Tyranne, or tyran, is the regular Elizabeth- 
 an form, from tyrannus ; final / in tyrant is wholly excrescent, and 
 appears by analogy with forms like servant, ministrant, as though 
 from a (never-existing) original tyrans, tyrantis.
 
 208 /iotrs 
 
 28, 73. CorduS. Dt Cremutio Cor Jo via" Tacit. Annal. lib. 
 4. pag. 8j. 84. [34, 35, dramatized b latter part of in, i] Sent;, 
 consol. ad Marciam. [l, 22,25, 26] Dio. lib. 57. pag 710. [24] 
 Suet. Aug. ca. 35. Tib. cap. 6l. Col. cap. ib. 
 
 29, 78. and so downe to these. Leg. Suit. Aug. ea. 
 jj. Cordus is here cited as authority for a statement about a sena- 
 torial reform instituted by Augustus. 
 
 29, 80. or Drusian ? or Germanican ? fid. dt factio 
 [nibus] Toe. Ann. lib. 2. pag. jg. [43. Tacitus is writing of A.D. 
 17, before the death of Germanicus and with reference to the 
 tending of Piso to Syria, see below under 33, 166. Divisa namque 
 et discors aula erat tacitis in Drusum aut Germanicum studiis. Ti- 
 berius ut proprium et sui sanguinis Drusum fovebat ; Germanico 
 alienatio patrui amorem apud ceteros auxerat, et quia claritudbe ma- 
 terni generis anteibat, avum M. Antonium, avunculum Augustum 
 ferens. Contra Druso proavus eques Romanus Pomponius Atticut 
 dedecere Claudiorum imagines videbatur ; et coniunx Germanic! Ag- 
 rippina fecunditate ac fama Liviam uxorem Drusi praecellebat. Sed 
 fratres egregie Concordes et proximorum certaminibus inconcussi.l 
 & lib. 4. pa. 79. [17. Here we are told of the continuance of 
 these feuds after the death of Germanicus ; see below under 67, 96 ; 
 
 73, *3' ff-] 
 
 29, 86. Arruntius. Dt Lu. Aruntio iito, vid. Toe. Ann. 
 lib. /. pag. 6. [13] & lib. 3. pag. 6o t [31] & Dion. Rom. Hitt. 
 lib. j8. [27] 
 
 30, 9 god-like Cato : probably a recollection of Horace's 
 "sententia dia Catonis," Sat. I, l, 31. 
 
 30, 104. DfUSUS. Ltgt dt Drum Tac. Anna. lib. 1. pag. 9. 
 [14] Sutt. Tib. cap. 52. [Filiorum neque naturalem Drusum neque 
 adoptivum Germanicum patria caritate dilexit [Tiberius], alterius 
 vitiis infensus Nam Drusus fluxions rem'miorisque vitae erat. Itaque 
 ne mortuo quidem perinde adfectus est, sed tantum non statim a 
 funere ad negotiorum consuetudinem rediit, iustitio longiore inhibito. 
 See 83, 35 ff-1 Dto. Rom. kitt. lib. 57. pag. bqq. [13, 14] 
 
 30, 106 A riotous youth. Tacit. Ann. lib. j. pag. 62. 
 [37. Et Considius Aequus et Caelius Cursor equites Romani, quod 
 nctis maiestatis criminibus Magium Caecilianum praetorem petirts- 
 sent, auctore principe ac decreto senatus puniti. Utrumque in laudem
 
 jftotrs 209 
 
 Drusi trahebatur : ab eo in urbi, inter coetus et sermones hominum 
 obversante, secreta patris mitigari. Neque luxus in iuvene adeo dis- 
 piicebat: hue potius intenderet, diem aedificationibus, noctem con- 
 viviis traheret, quam solus et nullis voluptatibus avocatus maestam 
 vigilantiam et malas curas exerceret.] 
 31, 112. for opposing to Sejanus. Vid. Tac. Ann. lib. 
 
 4- P a S- 74- [7] 
 
 31, "3- gracing his young kinsmen. Ann lib. 4. 
 fag. 15. 76. [8. Drusus had adopted the two sons of Germanicus, 
 Nero and Drusus jr. See 84, 67 ff.] 
 
 31, 114. The sonnes of Prince Germanicus. Nero. 
 
 Drusus. Caius, qui in castrts genitus, et Caligula nomtnatui. Tac. An. 
 I. I. [41] De Germanico. cons. Tac. Anna. lib. i. fag. 14, [7] et 
 Dion. Hist. Rom. 1. 37. p. 694. [4, 5, 6] 
 
 31,121. Sabinus and my selfe. Vid. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. 
 fag. fq. [18. In speaking of Sabinus and Silius, Tacitus says: 
 " Amicitia Germanici perniciosa utrique."] 
 
 31, 124-5. most like to virtue'. Jonson is here quoting 
 from Velleius Paterculus, u, 35, who says of Cato: " homo virtuti 
 simillimus et per omnia ingenio diis quam hominibus propior." 
 
 32, 128 ff. He could so use his state. Tac. An. I. 2. 
 fag. 4f. [72-3. Indoluere exterae nationes regesque : tanta illi co- 
 mitas in socios, mansuetudo in hostis ; visuque et auditu iuxta ven- 
 erabilis, cum magnitudinem et gravitatem summae fortunae retineret, 
 invidiam et adrogantiam effugerat. Funus sine imaginibus et pompa 
 per laudes ac memoriam virtutum eius celebre fuit. Et erant qui for- 
 mam, aetatem, genus mortis ob propinquitatem etiam locorum, in 
 quibus interiit, magni Alexandri fads adaequarent. Nam utrumque 
 corpore decoro, genere insigni, haud multum triginta annos egressum, 
 suorum insidiis externas inter gentes occidisse : sed hunc mitem erga 
 amicos, modicum voluptatum, uno matrimonio, certis liberis egisse, 
 neque minus proeliatorem, etiam si temeritas afuerit praepeditusque 
 sit perculsas tot victoriis Germanias servitio premere.] et Dion. his. 
 Rom. lib. 57 fag. 705. [18] 
 
 32, 132. images. "I have repeatedly been reminded of a 
 custom of the ancient Romans, who placed in the niches of the at- 
 rium the painted masks of their ancestors and connected their por- 
 traits by means of the lines of the family tree. Those portraits were
 
 210 
 
 regarded u the chief adornment of the home, and were never re- 
 moved except on the occasion of a death in the family, when each 
 of the mask* was assumed by a living representative, who was robed 
 in the semblance of the departed, and took his place in the funeral 
 procession that ended at the Rostra in the Forum. There the ' an- 
 cestors ' descended from their chariots, and seated themselves in their 
 curule chain, while the next of kin arose and rehearsed the names 
 and deeds of the men enthroned around, and Anally those of him 
 who had been the last to die." Sandys, Hittory of Gaittcal Sckolar- 
 itip, n, vii. As Germanicus died in Antioch (A. n. 19), this cus- 
 tom could not of course be fully carried out. 
 
 32, 150. Pompei's dignitie . . . Brutus. Vtdt apud 
 yell. Patcrcul. lift. [= ed. by Lipsius] 4. pag. 30. 33. JJ. 47. 
 ii forum hominum Caractcrci. [n, 29, Pompey U characterized by 
 dignity and constancy ; n, 35, Cato, see under 31, 124; n, 41, 
 Caesar is spoken of as "vigore animi acerrimus " ; n, 72, the char- 
 acter of Brutus is given, but in general terms ; wisdom and temper- 
 ance are not specifically mentioned.] 
 
 33. '53-4- Which, parted . . . him. Claudian, Dt Con- 
 tut. Stilick. i, 34-5: 
 
 In te mixta fluunt, et quae di versa beatos 
 Erficiunt collecta tenes. 
 
 Cf. Ariosto, Orlando Furioto, xxxv, 9: 
 
 Quegli ornament! che divisi in mold, 
 A molti basterian per tutti ornarli, 
 In suo ornamento avra tutti raccolti 
 Costui, di c'hai voluto ch'io ti parli. 
 
 33, 158. and that they knew, ndt Tac. lib. a. Anna, 
 fag. 28. [5. Ceterum Tiberio haud ingratum accidit turbari res 
 Orientis, ut ea specie Germanicum suetis legionibus abstraheret no- 
 visque provinciis impositum dolo simul et casibus obiectaret.] (Sf fag. 
 34. [26. It treats of the recall of Germanicus from his command in 
 Germany.] Dio. Rom. kin. lib. 57. pag. ?oj. 706. [18. It re- 
 lates rumors concerning the death of Germanicus.] 
 
 33, 1 66. so was he. Con. Tac. Ann. I. a. p. jp [43], dt 
 otcultitmandotn Pnoni, 1 1 foitea pag 42. 43. [55,57- They relate
 
 211 
 
 in detail the quarrel between Germanicus and Piso, which seems to 
 have been largely over questions of jurisdiction.] 48. Oratio Do. 
 Celeris Est Tibi Augustus consciencia, est Caesarisjfa-vor, sed in oc- 
 cu/to, &c. [This speech of Domitius Celer, in which he advises Piso 
 as to how he should conduct himself after the death of Germanicus, 
 is in 77.] Leg. Suet. Tib. cap. 52. [Suetonius touches upon the 
 hatred of Tiberius for Germanicus, and refers to the belief that Piso 
 was guilty of the crime.] Dio. p. jo6. [18] 
 
 Piso was tried before the Senate in A. D. 20, but committed sui- 
 cide before conviction. There seems to have been no proof that he 
 was guilty, or even that Germanicus was poisoned. 
 
 33, 173. A fine poyson. Vid. Tac. Ann. I. 2. pag. 46 & 
 47 [69-73- They recount the death of Germanicua, and the sus- 
 picions attaching to Piso.] lib. 3. p. 54. [1020. They deal with 
 the trial of Piso. The reference is vague, but perhaps Jonson had 
 in mind the phrase ' ' conscientiae matris innexum est, ' ' suggesting 
 that both Tiber! us and his mother were implicated in the poisoning.] 
 tt Suet. Calig. cap. I.&2. [Suetonius repeats the accusations against 
 Tiberius.] 
 
 33> I 7S- Sejanus. De Sejano -vid. Tacit. Annal. I. I. pag. 
 q. [24. In A. D. 14 he was already a person of some influence 
 with Tiberius.] /. 4. princip\\o\. [i, 2. C. Asinio C. Antistio 
 consulibus nonus Tiberio annus erat compositae rei publicae, floren- 
 tis domus (nam Germanici mortem inter prospera ducebat), cum re- 
 pente turbare fortuna coepit, saevire ipse aut saevientibus vires prae- 
 bere. initium et causa penes Aelium Sejanum cohortibus praetoriis 
 prefectum, cuius de potentia supra memoravi : nunc originem, mores, 
 et quo facinore dominationem raptum ierit, expediam. genitus Vul- 
 siniis patre Seio Strabone equite Romano, et prima iuventa Gaium 
 Caesarem divi August! nepotem sectatus, non sine rumore Apicio 
 diviti et prodigo stuprum veno dedisse, mox Tiberium variis arti- 
 bus devinxit, adeo ut obscurum adversum alios sibi uni incautum in- 
 tectumque efficeret, non tam sollertia (quippe isdem artibus victus 
 est) quam deum ira in rem Romanam, cuius pariexitio viguit ceci- 
 ditque. corpus illi laborum tolerans, animus audax; sui obtegens, in 
 alios criminator; iuxta adulatio et superbia; palam compositus pudor, 
 intus summa apiscendi libido, eiusque causa modo largitio et luxus, 
 saepius industria et vigilantia, haud minus noxiae, quotiens parando 
 regno finguntur.
 
 212 
 
 Vim praefecturae modicam antea intcndit, disperas per urbrm 
 cohortea una in castra conduccndo, ut simul imperia acciperent, nu- 
 meroque et robore et visu inter se fiducia ipsis, in ceteros mctus ore- 
 rctur. praetendebat lascivire militcm diductum; si quid subitum in- 
 gruat, maiore auxilio pariter subveniri; et severius acturos, li vallum 
 itatuatur procul urbis inleccbris. ut pcrfccta sunt castra, inrepere pau- 
 latim militarcs animos adeundo, appellando ; limul centuriones ac 
 tribunes ipse deligere. neque senatorio ambitu abttinebat cliente* suos 
 honoribus aut provinciis ornandi, facili Tiberio atque ita prono, ut 
 tocium laborum non modo in sermonibus, sed apud patres et popu- 
 lum cclebrarct colique per thcatra et fora effigies cius interque prin- 
 cipia legionum sineret.] et jxr rcr[um] Sutt. Tib. Dion. lib. 37. & 
 j8. Plin. et State. 
 
 34, 1 80. Eudemus. DC Eudemo tin, vid. Tac. Ann. lib. 
 4- P"K- 74- [3- Sumitur [Sejano] in conscientiam Eudemus, amicus 
 et medicus Liviae, specie artis frequens secretut.] 
 
 34, 183. Fiflie sestertia. Monetat nottrat 375. li. vidt 
 Budaeum, dt Atu. lib. 2. fag. 64. Budaeus, 1467-1540, was, 
 says Sandys, " the first serious student of the Roman coinage." It 
 is questionable, of course, how far it is possible for us to obtain an 
 accurate knowledge of the real value of ancient coins. Money in 
 the Elizabethan period is generally thought to have possessed six to 
 eight times ita present value. 
 
 35,200-1. for the emptie circumstance. Gifford notes 
 Juv. TDI, 84: 
 
 Et propter vitam, vivendi perdere causam. 
 
 35, 101. Sejanus can repaire. Dt iagtnh, moribm, & 
 
 foientia, Stjani. leg. Tat. Annal. lib. 4.. fag. 74. [See under 175 
 above.] Dio. Hia. Rom. lib. jf. fag. 708. [ai, aa.J 
 
 36, 113. CaiuS. Caius Cottar, drvi Augutti ntfoi. com. 
 Tacit. Ann. lib. 4. pa. 74. [See under 175 above.] 
 
 36, 114-5. He prostituted . . . Apicius. Tat. ibid. 
 
 & Dion. hist. Rom. lib. 57. fag. 706. [19: "that Apicius 
 who so far surpassed all mankind in voluptuous living that when 
 he had once desired to leam how much he had already spent, and 
 how much he still had, on finding that two hundred and fifty myri- 
 ads were left him, became grief-stricken, feeling that he was d- 
 tincd to die of hunger, and took his own life."]
 
 213 
 
 36, 217 ff. Second face. Juven. Sat. 10. vert. 63. [Se- 
 ianus, deinde ex facie toto orbe secunda] Tacit, ibid. Dion. ibid. 
 
 36, 122-3. all that heretofore, etc. Saegelken, Btn 
 Jomons Romer-Dramen, p. 39, compares Juv. Sat. x, 78: 
 
 nam qui dabat olim 
 
 imperium fasces legiones omnia, nunc se 
 continet atque duas tantum res animus optat, 
 panem et circenses. 
 
 36, 225. One, and his house. Tacitus in the Histories, i, 
 37, has the phrase, " una ilia domus," but Jonson seems rather 
 here to have in mind Claudiam, In Rufinum, I, 1934 : 
 
 Congestae cumulantur opes orbisque ruinas 
 Accipit una domus. 
 
 37, 234. Where, now, etc. Tacit, ibid. [See under 175 
 above.] 
 
 37 2 35-6- to court the souldier, by his name. Per- 
 haps Jonson made use here of Tacitus, Hist, i, 23 : "in itinere, 
 in agmine, in stationibus vetustissimum quemque militum nomine 
 vocans [Otho] ac memoria Neroniani comitatus contubernales 
 appellando ; alios adgnoscere, quosdam requirere et pecunia aut 
 gratia iuvare." 
 
 This collective use of the singular " soldier" is common in Eliza- 
 bethan verse, and probably is due to the similar use of the Latin 
 miles as equivalent to soldiers or soldiery. 
 
 Cf. Massinger, Emperor of the East, v, i: 
 
 I never courted popular applause, 
 
 Feasted the men of action, or labour'd 
 
 By prodigal gifts to draw the needy soldier, etc. 
 
 Suetonius, Tiberius, 48, says that Tiberius gave certain gifts 
 ' ' praetorianis, quod Seiano se non accommodassent, et quaedam 
 munera Syriacis legionibus, quod solae nullam Seiani imaginem 
 inter signa coluissent." 
 
 37> 2 37-4- though he ne're were liberall by kind. 
 Ibid, [see under 33, 175] et Dion. ibid. [57, 19] 
 
 37, 242 ff. Is there that step in state can make him 
 higher ? . . . Nothing but Emp'rour. Cf. Machiavelli,
 
 214 jjiOtffl! 
 
 Ditcorsi, HI, vi : " Costoro [Perarnnius, Flautianus, Sejanus] tutti 
 furono dai loro imperadori costituiti in tanta ricchezza, onore e 
 grado, che non pareva che mancasse loro alia perfezione della potenza 
 altro che I'imperio; e di questo non volendo mancarc, si messono 
 a congiurare contro al principe. " 
 
 37, 144-7. The name Tiberius. "The anachronic 
 mixture in this Arruntius of the Roman republican, to whom Ti- 
 berius must have appeared as much a tyrant as Sejanus with his 
 Jame-and-Charles-the-First zeal for legitimacy of descent in this 
 passage, is amusing. Of our great names, Milton was, I think, the 
 first who could properly be called a republican. My recollections of 
 Buchanan's works are too faint to enable me to judge whether the 
 historian is not a fair exception." Coleridge, Works, ed. Shedd, iv, 
 190. 
 
 37, 149. they are three. Nero. Drums. Caligula. Tacit, 
 ibid. [3. Ceterum plena Caesarum domus, iuvenis filius, nepotea 
 adult! moram cupitis adferebant ; et quia vi tot simul corripere in- 
 tutum, dolus intervalla scelerum poscebat.j But the language of 
 Jonson's line is suggested by Ann. iv, iz: "neque spargi vene- 
 num in tres poterat." 
 
 38, 5. Your fortune's made. Leg. Terentii defensionem. 
 Tac. Annal. li. 6. fag. IO2. [8. M. Terentius, defending himself 
 on the charge of complicity in the conspiracy of Sejanus, said, 
 " Illius [SejaniJ propinqui et adfines honoribus augebantur ; ut quis- 
 que Seiano intimus, ita ad Caesaris amicitiam validus : contra quibus 
 infensus esset, metu ac sordibus confiictabantur. "] 
 
 39, 19. Livia. Germanic! soror, uxor Druti. y\d. Tac. Ann, 
 lib. 4. fag. fj. [3 ... Liviam . . . quae soror Germanic!, 
 formae initio actatis indecorae, mox pulchritudine praecellebat.] 
 
 40, 25. feare no collours. N. . D. explains this idiom 
 to mean fear no foe, " colours " having the sense it bears in " the 
 regimental colours." Sejanus is evidently punning. 
 
 1O, 31-1. Augusta : Mater Tiberii [and wife of Augustus] 
 Tac . Annal. lib. I. 2. 3. 4. moritur. j. Suet. Tib. Dio Hitt. 
 Rom. lib. 57, 38. 
 
 Urgulania : Delirium Auguitae. Tac. Ann. lib. 2. [34. In 
 this she is tried for debt ; and on another occasion, relying on her 
 favor with Augusta, she refuted to give testimony in court, so that 
 commissioners had to be sent to her.] & 4. [zi, zz]
 
 215 
 
 Mutilia Pfisca : Adultera Julii Postumi. Tacit. Ann. lib. 
 
 4-P"g- 77- t' 2 ] 
 
 Plancina : P&oail uxor. Tac. Ann. lib. 2. J. & 4. [The 
 wife of the Piso mentioned under 33, 166 ; she was suspected of 
 complicity in the murder of Germanicus.] 
 
 40, 40. the onely cabinets, in court. Vid. Tac. Ann. 
 
 lib. 4. pag. 74. [3. ... Eudemus, amicus ac medic us Liviae, 
 specie artis frequens secretis] & Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 29. cap. I. 
 
 40, 47-50. Which ... it. Almost verbatim, Cynthia's 
 Re-vets, iv, I. 
 
 41, 54. but: "Mr. Sympson conjectures that pure is the 
 true reading." Whalley. 
 
 42, 80. love to Livia. Cons. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. fag. 
 74. [3. Igitur [Seiano] cuncta temptanti promptissimum visum ad 
 uxorem eius [Drusi] Liviam convertere. Tacitus does not say that 
 Eudemus was the intermediary between Sejanus and Livia.] 
 
 43, 90- Sejanus love. Tac. ibid. [See under 42, 80.] 
 
 43, 104-5. how ill she hath deserv'd. Lucan, Phar- 
 
 ralia, v, 581-3 : 
 
 quem numina numquam 
 
 destituunt, de quo male turn Fortuna meretur, 
 cum post vota venit. 
 Made use of also in The Misfortunes of Arthur, iv, 1. 
 
 44, 106 ff. Ambition makes. Compare 113, 27 ff., and the 
 speech in Catiline at the end of in, iii, beginning: 
 
 What ministers men must for practice use, 
 The rash, the ambitious, needy, desperate. 
 
 44, 107. These fellowes, by the favour of their 
 
 arte. Eud [emus] specie artis frequens secretis. Tacit, ibid. via'. 
 Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 2Q. cap. I. in criminatfione] Medicorum. 
 [This note is a repetition of that on 40, 40.] 
 
 44, 115. Wee not endure these flatteries. De initio 
 
 Tiberii Principatus -vid. Tac. Ann. lib. l. pag. 23. [71] lib. 4. 
 pag. J5 [6. In both chapters Tacitus tells us that Tiberius began 
 his principate with at least the pretense of republican sincerity and 
 simplicity.] et Suet. Tib. cap. 27. [Adulationes adeo adversatus est, 
 ut neminem senatorum aut officii aut negotii causa ad lecticam suam 
 admiserit, consularem vero, satisfacientem sibi ac per genua orare 
 conantem, ita suffugerit ut caderet supinus; atque etiam, si quid in
 
 216 potrs 
 
 ermone vel in continua oratione blandius de se diceretur, non dubi- 
 taret interpellate ac reprehendere et commutarc continue.] De Ha- 
 ttrio <viJ. Tacit. Ann. lib. r. fag. 6. [13. Here we are told that 
 Tiberius had an old grudge against him.] 
 
 We might compare Julius Caesar , in, i, 35: 
 Cats, [to Cimber, who kneels]. I mutt prevent thee, Cimber. 
 These couching* . . . 
 
 44, 1 1 6. axes, rods : that is, the fasces, each consisting of 
 an axe, bound up with a bundle of rods; the fasces were borne before 
 the higher Roman magistrates, as symbolizing their power over life 
 and death. 
 
 44, iii-a. O, what is it. Juv. Sat. iv, 70-71: 
 
 nihil est quod credere de se 
 non postit cum laudatur dis aequa potestat. 
 
 Giffbrd. 
 
 45, 123. He did not heare it. It hardly seems consistent that 
 Cord in should have defended Tiberius against the charge of hypo- 
 crisy and then immediately (1. 135) have advanced the same charge. 
 I consequently suggest that 1. 113 be assigned to Cot(ta]. But both 
 Q and F are perfectly plain in assigning to Corfdus]. 
 
 45, 115-7. Tis your most courtly, koowne confed- 
 eracy. The sense is : It is the most refined sort of concerted trick- 
 ery known to have your own ( private ) parasite redeem the reputa- 
 tion that you lose out of public subtlety. Sejanus by uttering 119, 
 which the politic Tiberius pretended not to hear, made up for the 
 Ion which the latter sustained in refusing the Mattery directly ad- 
 dressed to him by Haterius. Compare 1 50-4. 
 
 45, 129. We must make up our eares, 'gainst these 
 assaults. Com. Tat. Anna. lib. a. fog. jo. [87 : acerbeque 
 increpuit eos, qui divinas occupationes ipsumque dominum dixerant.] 
 tt Suet. Tib. cap. 2j & 29 [a) Dominus appellants a quodam, 
 denuntiavit ne se amplius contumeliae causa nominaret. b) Atque 
 haec eo notabiliora erant, quod ipse in appellandis venerandisque et 
 singulis et universis prope excesserat humanitatis modum.] 
 
 45. '35- Rarely dissembled. Nullam aeyut Tiberiui, an 
 virtutibmi luit /juam diuimulationem diligtbat. Tat. Atinal. lib. 4. 
 
 PV- 95- [7i] 
 
 45. 1 3&~7- When power. Compare Jonson's Timb., ed. 
 Schelling, p. 37, under Morei Aulici: " I have discovered that a
 
 217 
 
 feigned familiarity in great ones is a note of certain usurpation on the 
 less. For great and popular men feign themselves to be servants to 
 others to make those slaves to them. So the fisher provides bait for 
 the trout, roach, dace, etc. , that they may be food to him. ' ' 
 
 46, 141-9. Had but a minde. See note on 125, 69 ff., 
 
 and cf. Mart., xi, v, 5 ff. : 
 
 Si redeant veteres, ingentia nomina, patres, 
 
 Elysium liceat si vacuare nemus : 
 Te colet invictus pro libertate Camillas, 
 
 Aurum Fabricius, te tribuente, volet ; 
 Te duce gaudebit Brutus. 
 
 46, 145. The ghosts of those. Bruti, Cassii, Catonis, &c. 
 46, 147-9. Men are deceiv'd. Gifford refers to Claud., De 
 Consul. Sti/icA., in, 113: 
 
 Fallitur, egregio quisquis sub principe credit 
 Servitium. Nunquam libertas gratior exstat 
 Quam sub rege pio. 
 46, 150. his grace is meerely but lip-good, Vid. 
 
 Dio. hist. Rom. lib. jjj. de moribus Tiberii. f. 6yo. [l, 2. These 
 illustrate the dissimulation of Tiberius.] 
 
 46, 153. strokes, and stripes . . . which within. 
 In allusion to the fact that sensualists sometimes employ physical 
 pain as a stimulant to desire. The phraseology of the passage, 
 though the thought is somewhat different, may possibly have been 
 suggested by Tac., Ann. vi, 6: " neque frustra praestantissimus 
 sapientiae firmare solitus est, si recludantur tyrranorum mentes, posse 
 aspici laniatus et ictus, quando ut corpora verberibus, ita saevitia, 
 libidine, mails consultis, animus dilaceretur." The classical poets 
 occasionally referred to the lash as an incitement to love ; see Reit- 
 zenstein, Horaz und die Hellenistische Lyrik, Neut Jahrbucher fur 
 das Kl. Altertum, xxi, 92. I owe this reference to Professor Pres- 
 cott of the University of Chicago. 
 
 See a curious passage in Drayton's Polyoliion, xm, 184 : 
 This man, that is alone a King in his desire, 
 By no proud ignorant lord is basely over-aw'd, 
 Nor his false praise affects, who grossly being claw'd, 
 Stands like an itchy moyle.
 
 218 
 
 And Webster, The White Devil: 
 
 Though it be very lechery unto thee, 
 Do't with a crabbed politician's face. 
 
 Heine, in Die Romantitche Schule, Book i, hat an interesting par- 
 allel : " Oder etwa, wie grcise Liistlinge durch Rutenstreiche das 
 erschlaffte Fleisch zu neuer Genussfahigkeit aufreizen: wollte das 
 alternde Rom sich monchisch geisseln lasscn, um raffinierte Ge- 
 niisse in der Qual selbst und die Wollust im Schmerze zu finden ? " 
 
 47, 161. Flattery is midwife. Tyrannis fere oritur tx 
 nimia procerum adu/atione, in principem. Arist[ote\a] Po/[itica] 
 lib. J. ca. to. II. et Delatorum auctoritate. Lege Tac. Die. Suet. 
 Tib. per totum. Sub quo decreta accutatoribus fraecifua fraemia. 
 fid. Butt. Tib. cap. 6/&fn[ecae] Beaefi. lib. 3. cap. 16. [Ap- 
 parently this is a misprint for z6 , 1 6 has nothing to do with the 
 case, being concerned mainly with the frequency of divorce. For 26 
 see under 133, 57.] 
 
 47, 167. Palace-rattes. Tineat, Soricesque Palatii vocat 
 iitos Sext. ^r/[ianus] Victor. [De Vtta et Mori but Imp. Rom. 
 xu, jo]et Tac. hiit. //'. /. fag. 233 qui ucretii criminationibui in- 
 
 mant ignarum, & quo incautior deciperctur, palam laudatum, &c. 
 
 47, 173-4- It is not safe. Perhaps a reminiscence of Hor., 
 Sat. ii, i, 18-9 : 
 
 nisi dextro tempore, Flacci 
 verba per attentam non ibunt Caesaris aurem. 
 
 or Tac., Hist., in, 56 : " ita formatis principis [Vitellii] auribus, ut 
 aspere quae utilia, necquicquam nisi iucundumetlaesurumacciperet." 
 
 48, 181. have instructed. Vtd. Suet. Tib.ca. 29. [Tibe- 
 rius, addressing the senate, says that a prince, " quem vos tanta et 
 tarn libera potestate instruxistis, senatui servire debere et universis 
 civibus saepe, et plerumque etiam singulis j neque id dixisse me 
 paenitet, et bonos et aequos et faventes vos habui dominos et adhuc 
 habeo."] et Dio. hia. Rom. lib. 57. pa. 696. [7] According to 
 Whalley, Seward and Theobald wished to read "intrusted" for 
 " instructed." 
 
 48, 194. Yet, for the sute of Spaine. Toe. Ann. lib. 
 4- P a K- ^4. & 8$. [37, 38. The whole speech of Tiberius, from
 
 219 
 
 this point to 243, is little else than a fairly close translation of these 
 two chapters, which are perhaps too long to quote.] 
 
 48, 195 if. In honour of our mother, and our selfe. 
 The principles of Roman religion were consistent with a belief in the 
 divinity of the emperor, who was often deified by a formal act of 
 the Senate after his death, comparable in a measure to canonization 
 (Boissier). With his consent, such deification might take place be- 
 forehand, and temples might be erected in Italy or the provinces to 
 his worship. Important members of the royal family and powerful 
 favorites might also be regarded as divine in essence} see 139, 
 175-9, "7-3 1 > IS5 3*-4 j 158, 9* etc - 
 
 Such flattery was largely sincere, but a wide door was open for the 
 grossest insincerity. Private persons often professed to regard the ob- 
 ject of their attentions as a god, swore by his Fortune, and on occa- 
 sion erected his image among their household deities. Men of the 
 humblest social origin, if they acquired wealth and power, were thus 
 flattered unofficially, even by nobles of the highest rank. The wor- 
 ship of Sejanus was of this unofficial character. (See Boissier, La 
 Religion Romaine, I, 109 ff". ; Friedlaender, i, 1012,111, 545, and 
 Arist., RAet., I, 5, who mentions sacrifices among "the elements 
 of honour.") 
 
 49, 205. all his deedes, and wordes observ'd. A 
 
 marked feature of Tiberius' policy was his careful observance of 
 the deeds and words of Augustus. Augustus, moreover, left behind 
 a " libellus " (Tac., Ann. i, u), in which he was said to have laid 
 down rules for the guidance of his successors, and there may be here 
 an oblique reference to that document. 
 
 Cons. Strab[onem] lib. 6. de Tib. [ch. iv, 2 : " and which his 
 son Tiberius, who has succeeded him, still maintains, who takes his 
 father for a pattern in his government and ordinances." Bohn's 
 Lib. translation, i, 441.] 
 
 50, 243. The Oracles are ceas'd. " The poet with great 
 judgment lays hold on the common opinion of the cessation of ora- 
 cles about this time, and turns it to a very artful piece of flattery. 
 The fact may be false, but the received notions of Jonson's age suf- 
 ficiently justify the application. ' ' Whalley. Jonson's own belief was 
 doubtless that of his friend, the great lawyer Selden, Tabletalk, xcv : 
 " Oracles ceased presently after Christ, as soon as nobody believed
 
 220 p.otrs 
 
 them. Just as we have no Fortune-tellers, nor Wise-men, when 
 nobody cares for them. Sometime you have a Season for them, when 
 People believe them, and neither of these, I conceive, wrought by 
 the Devil." 
 
 50, 14 5- Open: compare "quid apertius? " Juv., Sat. iv, 69. 
 W halley notes that Se ward wished to omit the comma after ' ' gone ' ' 
 and change " felt " to " fleet " ! 
 
 50, 248. Antium : modem Porto d'Anxio, on the seacoast 
 somewhat to the south of Rome. 
 
 theguift. Tac. [Ann.]//.j. fag. 71. [71. This gift was a 
 statue of Fortuna Equestris given by the Equites Romani. The statue 
 was not placed in Rome, because, though there were there many 
 temples to Fortune, there was none to her as Fortuna Equestris. ] 
 
 51, 149. Vow'd tO the goddesse. Fortuna touearii. ibid. 
 5 1 ! 2 S J - grant to Lepldus. Tac. ibid. [71] "Grant" 
 
 means permission. Marcus Lepidus asked, A. D. ax, permission of 
 the Seriate to restore, at his own expense, the Basilica Pauli, built by 
 his grandfather, L. Aemilius Lepidus. The restoration of a public 
 monument was a recognized way by which a Roman citizen might 
 deserve well of his country. 
 
 51, 254. Their grace too. Tac. Ann. lib. j. pa. 70. [69] 
 
 51, 255. Cithera : Jonson seems to have made a slight mis- 
 take. C. Silanus, convicted of plundering the province of Asia, A. D. 
 22, had been first sentenced to the island of Gyaros, one of the 
 Cyclades, then, at the suit of his religious sister (a vestal virgin, 
 " priscae sanctimoniae virginem," Tac. Ann. in, 69), transferred 
 to Cythnus, another island of the same group. Cythera is situated 
 at the foot of the Peloponnesus and has nothing to do with the 
 Cyclades. 
 
 51, 256. his religious sister. Torquata virgo vtuaJh, 
 cujut memoriam tervat marmor Romae. vid. /.i/>[sii] comment, in 
 Tacit, [in, 69.] 
 
 51, 258. decreed To our Sejanus. Tac. Ann. /it.j.fa. 
 
 7'- [7] 
 
 51, 260. Pompei's theatre: erected by Pompey on his 
 return from the Pontic War. It was burned under Tiberius, A. D. 
 12, rebuilt under Caligula, and finally destroyed by the Visigoths. 
 
 51, 268. Blush not, Sejanus, thou great aide of 
 Rome. Tacit. Ann. lib. 4. fag. 74. fb. [i, 2, 7]
 
 221 
 
 52, 276 ff. Nor let them aske. See the speech of M. 
 Terentius, defending himself in the Senate on the charge of com- 
 plicity in the conspiracy of Sejanus, Tac., Ann., vi, 8 : " non est 
 nostrum aestimare, quern supra ceteros et quibus de causis extollas : 
 tibi summum rerum iudicium di dedere, nobis obsequii gloria relicta 
 est." See, as well, Timb., ed. Schelling, 40 : " Let no man there- 
 fore murmur at the actions of the prince, who is placed so far above 
 him. If he offend, he hath his discoverer. God hath a height be- 
 yond him." 
 
 52,282. Pompei's theatre. Vid. &[ecae] conjfolationem] 
 ad Marc\iam] cap. 22. [decernebatur illi statua in Pompeii theatre 
 ponenda, quod exustum Caesar reficiebat. exclamavit Cordus tune 
 vere theatrum perire . . . non rumperetur supra cineres Cn. Pom- 
 peii constitui Seianum et in monumentis maximi imperatoris conse- 
 crari perfidum militem ?] 
 
 52, 288. Is my father mad ? Tacit. Ann. lib. 4. pag. 74. 
 76. [In I Tacitus says that Tiberius came under the control of Se- 
 janus, not so much by the latter's skill, as by the wrath of the gods. 
 In 7 he shows how complete was the control of Sejanus.] 
 
 52, 292. Statues ? titles ? honours ? Tac. ibid. [A num- 
 ber of the details in what follows come from a speech of Drusus in 
 7: " et quantum superesse, ut collega dicatur [Seianus]? primas 
 dominandi spes in arduo: ubi sis ingressus, adesse studia et ministros 
 . . . precandam post haec modestiam, ut contentus esset."] 
 
 S3 3S- Take that. Tac. scquimur, Ann. lib. 4. pag. 74. 
 [3] quanquam apud Dionem, & Zonaram, aliter legitur. [Dio, 57, 
 14; 57, 22. In 14, Dio says that Drusus was "so prone to anger 
 that he inflicted blows upon a distinguished knight, and for this 
 exploit he obtained the name of Castor." In 22, however, he says 
 that Sejanus struck Drusus a blow with his fist, and then, fearing 
 vengeance, plotted against him. Tacitus says that Drusus struck 
 Sejanus in a chance quarrel. Zonaras is merely an abridger of Dio, 
 and no authority.] 
 
 54, 311. on the CroSSe. Servile (apud Romanes) et igno- 
 miniosissimum mortis genus erat tupplicium crucis, ut ex w[io] if so 
 Tac. Dio. & omnibus fere antiyuis, praesertim historicis constet. vid. 
 P/ar[um] in Af//[es Gloriosus] Amptfltruo] ^/[laria] HOT at. lib. 
 I. Ser. 3. [80-4] Petr[onmm] in Satyrico & Ju-v. Sat. 6 Pone 
 crucem servo, &c. [219]
 
 222 
 
 54, 315. Castor. Sit Druiui ob violtntiam cognominatui. 
 viJ. Die. Hia. Rom. lib. 57. fag. foi. [See under 305 above. 
 Foster, in his translation of Dio, points out that this Castor was a 
 famous gladiator of the time, and refers to Horace, Efiit., i, 18, 
 19. But Jonson undoubtedly had the god in mind, not the gladi- 
 ator.] 
 
 54, 3i6ff. He that. From Seneca, Medea, i$off. : 
 
 Sile, obsecro, quest usque sccreto abditos 
 manda dolori. gravia quisque vulnera 
 ptiente et aequo mutus animo pertulit, 
 referre potuit : ira quac tegitur nocet ; 
 professa perdunt odia vindictae locum. 
 
 55, Act II. Scene I. A very fine criticism of this scene 
 b to be found in Taine, Hiitoirt tie la Litter ature Anglaiu, n, 3, 
 but it is too long to quote here. 
 
 55, 5. like : the word bears here the meaning of equal, equi- 
 valent, and is an adjective, not a preposition j the punctuation is 
 misleading. 
 
 55, 9. potion, yid. Toe. Ann. lib. 4. fag. 74. ft. [3, 8] 
 
 55, n. Lygdus. Tac. ibid. 
 
 56, 17. free accesse, and trust. Seneca, Oedipui, 686: 
 
 Aditum nocendi perfido praestat fides. 
 
 56, 24. Send him to me. Sptdonn animum ttupro devin- 
 xit, Tac. ibid, [iv, 10: is [Lygdus] aetate atque forma carus dom- 
 ino interque primores ministros erat. ] 
 
 56, 31 ff. I protest My selfe through rarefied. Sae- 
 
 gelken, 37, note* Jonson's fashion of sustaining a metaphor through 
 a long passage; cfT 158, 72 ff. In Timb. 63-4, Jonson himself 
 remarks : " yuintilian warns us, that in no kind of translation, or 
 metaphor, or allegory, we make a turn from what we began ; as 
 if we fetch the original of our metaphor from sea and billows, we 
 end not in flames and ashes: it is a most foul inconsequence." 
 I think few mixed metaphors will be found in Jonson, at least 
 where not demanded by characterization. 
 
 57, 36. Bright, as the Moone. Hor., Odet, i, 12, 46-8: 
 
 micat inter omnes 
 
 lulium sidus velut inter ignes 
 
 luna minores.
 
 223 
 
 57, 42. Agrippina's. Germanici uxor. 
 
 58, 60 ff. This same fucus. Compare with this The Devil 
 is an Ass, iv, i, where we have a discussion of various kinds of fu- 
 cuses, or washes for the face. The topic was one of which Jonson 
 was very fond, more especially as cosmetics were perhaps more freely 
 used by both sexes in the 1 6th century than ever before. See the 
 interesting note to in, ii, of The Maid's Revenge, in Dyce's edition 
 of Shirley. " The frequent mention offucuses, cerusses, and other 
 cosmetics by our old dramatists, shews how much they were used 
 in their times ; that they were often composed of the most danger- 
 ous and deleterious ingredients is sufficiently proved by the numer- 
 ous recipes for their composition to be found in the manuals compiled 
 for the instruction of the housewifes and ladies of fashion of those 
 days : the following extract affords a tolerable specimen. ' Another 
 mineral fucus for the face. Incorporate with a wooden pestle, and 
 in a wooden mortar, with great labour, four ounces of sublimate, and 
 one ounce of crude mercury, at the least six or eight houres (you 
 cannot bestow too much labour herein): then, with often change 
 of cold water, by ablution in a glass, take away the salts from the 
 sublimate : change your water twice every day at the least, and in 
 seven or eight days (the more the better) it will be dulcified, and 
 then it is prepared ; lay it on with the oile of white poppy.' De- 
 lights for Ladies to adorne their Persons, Tables, &c. &c. by H. 
 Platt, 1628." 
 
 58, 63. ceruse. Cerussa (apud Romanes) inter fctitios col- 
 ores erat, et yuae salem ob calorem timtbat. -vid. Mar. lib. 2. Epig. 
 41: 
 
 Quam cretata timet Fabulla nimbum, 
 Cerussata timet Sabella solem. 
 
 59, 85. his 'wife. Ex qua tres liberos genuerat, ne pellici 
 suspectaretur. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. pag. 74. [3] Divorce, well-nigh 
 unheard-of in the earlier republic, became extremely common in the 
 later and in the empire. The husband had practically unlimited priv- 
 ileges in the matter, divorce as far as he was concerned being purely 
 a question of his will and of his ability to return the dowry ; but 
 women also were given remarkable freedom. 
 
 59, 89. discoverie Of all his councels. Leg. Tac. Ann. 
 
 Lib. 4. p. jt>. [7 ; et secreta quoque eius [DrusiJ corrupta uxore 
 prodebantur.]
 
 224 
 
 60, 108. so prepare the poyson. Tac. ibid. [8 : igitur 
 
 Seianus maturandum ratus dcligit venenum, quo pauladm iorepente 
 fortuitu* morbus adsimiluretur.J et Dion. Hitt. Rom. lib. 57. fag. 
 
 709- ["] 
 
 62, 1 34. choller : according to old notions of physiology, 
 the choler, or bile, was one of the four primary humors, or bodily 
 fluids ; its predominance in the bodily constitution was supposed to 
 be the cause of a passionate disposition, whence the word came also 
 to mean anger. That is of course not quite the sense in which it is 
 here employed. 
 
 62, 2. ./Egyptian slaves. Hi apud Romanes barbari, & 
 viliuimi aestimab. Juven. Marti. &c. [See Friedlaender, Sitten- 
 gttckichtt Rums, i, 225-234; in, 609, 625. Perhaps some of the 
 passages Jonson had in mind are the following : Mart., x, 76 ; xn, 
 57. Juv., i, 26, 130; iv, 24. Tac., Hitt., v, 4 5, 8.] 
 
 62, 12 fT. Adultery ? it is the lightest ill. On our mod- 
 ern stage lines like these would be possible only in the crudest melo- 
 drama, but in the Elizabethan period it was almost a stage conven- 
 tion that the villain should gloat over his crimes, whether past or to 
 come, in much this fashion. Catiline does the like, HI, iii, ad fin.: 
 
 The cruelty I mean to act, I wish 
 
 Should be call'd mine, and tarry in my name; 
 
 Whilst after-ages do toil out themselves 
 
 In thinking for the like, but do it less : 
 
 And were the power of all the fiends let loose, 
 
 With fate to boot, it should be still example, 
 
 When, what the Gaul or Moor could not effect, 
 
 Nor emulous Carthage, with their length of spight, 
 
 Shall be the work of one, and that MY night. 
 
 Compare Barabas in Tht Jew of Malta, n ; Richard III, i, i, 
 14-40 ; Revenger' i Tragedy, i, ii, end of scene ; Aaron in Titut 
 Andrenicui ; for the Restoration period, see Chase, Englitk 
 Heroic Play, pp. 67, 70. The influence of Seneca is partly respon- 
 sible for the practice, see Med., 893 ff. , and it is to be noted that 
 Jonson is after all in this passage merely expanding a hint given by 
 that writer; see below. Coleridge was shocked by this speech, 
 which he calls " absurd rant and ventriloquism." Worki, iv, 190.
 
 225 
 
 63, 15 ff. which no posterity. Sen., Thyestes, 192: 
 
 Age, anime, fac quod nulla posteritas probet, 
 Sed nulla taceat: aliquod audendum est nefas 
 Atrox, cruentum ; tale quod frater meus 
 Suum esse malit [mallet in Leo's text]. Whalley. 
 
 Cunliffe, in his Influence of Seneca on the Elizabethan Drama, notes 
 that 11. 25-7, 44-7, of the same play are also utilized by Jonson. 
 The thought of 1 5-6 is not uncommon : Seneca uses it again in 
 Mcd., 4234, and it occurs several times in the second act of Fulke 
 Greville's Alaham, as well as in The Misfortunes of Arthur t i, i. 
 Lines 17-18 are paralleled in Cat., i, i: 
 
 Whilst what you do may strike them into fears, 
 Or make them grieve, and wish your mischief theirs. 
 And again in the same act of Alaham ; see also i, ii, of The Mis- 
 fortunes of Arthur. 
 
 63, 22-4. Tell proud Jove. Compare 145, 22-3; 155, 
 25 ff. ; 159, 94-S; l66, 124 ff. These passages are not as absurd 
 as they at first seem to a modern ear, see note on 48, 195 ff If we 
 wish, we may adopt the prosaic explanation that Sejanus, not be- 
 lieving in the gods, felt himself at liberty to say what he chose 
 about them. But antiquity, which took seriously the legend of Sal- 
 moneus, would have seen nothing ridiculous, however horrifying, 
 in such boasts. One might note in passing that not the least inter- 
 esting part of Marlowe's Tamburlaine is that in which the hero 
 first realizes that Death is his superior. Moreover, a belief in one's 
 star needs only a confusion of ideas to be converted into a belief in 
 equivalence with the divine. 
 
 Such passages appear in Restoration tragedy also (Chase, u. s. , 
 173), but there one can hardly accept them as anything but clap- 
 trap. 
 
 63, 24. "TwaS Onely feare. Idem & Petro. Arbiter. Sa- 
 fy[ricon. See Fragment xxvn in Buecheler's edition, p. 114, 
 primes in orbe deos fecit timor] & Statius, [Thebais] lib. j. [66 1, 
 where the same words occur.] 
 
 63, 27. Sit downe, my comfort. DC hoc consultation, -vid. 
 Suet. Tib. cap. 55. [The reference is misleading. Suetonius says 
 nothing about any particular interview, but merely that in addition
 
 226 
 
 to his old friends Tiberius selected as counselor* twenty of the 
 principal men, of whom hardly two or three came safely through 
 his reign ; of those who fell, Sejanus made the most noise. Per- 
 haps Jonson had in mind Suetonius' comment, that Tiberius se- 
 lected Sejanus as counselor " non tarn benivolentia . . . quam ut 
 esset cuius ministerio ac fraudibus liberos Germanic! circunu cnirrt, 
 nepotemque suum ex Druso filio naturalem ad successionem im- 
 perii confirmaret."] 
 
 63, 32 ff. That nature. Cf. Sen., Thytit., i^ff.: 
 
 sltr. Ubicumque tantum honesta dominant! licent, 
 
 prccario regnatur. Sat. Ubi non est pudor 
 
 nee cura iuris sanctitas pietas fides, 
 
 instabile regnum cat. Atr. Sanctitas pietas fides 
 
 privata bona sunt. 
 
 64, 34-5- The rest of poore respects. Compare Mach., 
 
 // Principe, cap. xv: "Ed ancora non si curi d'incorrere nelT 
 infamia di quelli vizi, senza i quali potsa difficilmcnte sal vare lo stato : 
 perche, se si considera ben tutto, si trovera qualche cosa che parra 
 virtu, e seguendola sarebbe la rovina sua ; cqualcun' altra che parra 
 rizio, e seguendola ne resulta la sicurta, ed it ben essere suo. " 
 
 A glance at the sources utilized by Jonson in this scene well illus- 
 trates the statement some one has made that Machiavelli was by no 
 means the inventor of ''Machiavellianism." See, for example, 
 Arist. , Politics, v, 1 1 , to which Jonson elsewhere refers, and com- 
 pare Boissier's remarks, Tacite, 181-3, on the Renaissance use of 
 Tacitus as a political manual. 
 
 64,36-7 Whom hatred frights. Sen., PAotnituu, 654(^1 
 Regnare non vult esse qui invisus timer, 
 simul ista mundi conditor posuit deus, 
 odium atque regnum : regis hoc magni reor, 
 odia ipsa premere. multa dominantem vetat 
 amor suorum; plus in iratos licet, 
 qui vult amari, languida regnat manu. 
 
 Note the rhymes ; it was customary to set off " sentences," that 
 is, pithy general statements having a moral or philosophical bearing, 
 in this way, though sometimes, as in 47, 161 ff., quotation marks 
 are employed.
 
 227 
 
 See Beaumont and Fletcher, Prophetess, v, ii: 
 
 Nearness of blood, 
 Respect of piety, and thankfulness, 
 And all the holy dreams of virtuous fools, 
 Must vanish into nothing, when Ambition 
 (The maker of great minds, and nurse of honour) 
 Puts in for empire. 
 
 64, 40-47. The prince, who shames. Sen., Hercules 
 
 Furens, 352-3 : 
 
 invidia factum ac sermo popularis premet ? 
 ars prima regni est posse invidiam pad. 
 Luc., Phars., vin, 489 ff. : 
 
 sceptrorum uis tola perit, si pendere iusta 
 incipit: euertitque arces respectus honesti. 
 libertas scelerum est quae regna invisa tuetur, 
 sublatusque modus gladiis. facere omnia saeue 
 non impune licet, nisi cum facis. exeat aula 
 qui uolt esse pius. uirtus et summa potestas 
 non coeunt : semper metuet quern saeua pudebunt. 
 It is also worth while noting Seneca, ibid., 342-4, 400 ff., and 
 
 Beaumont and Fletcher, False One, i, i: 
 
 All the power, 
 
 Prerogative and greatness of a prince 
 Is lost, if he descend once but to steer 
 His course, as what's right guides him. Let him leave 
 The sceptre, that strives only to be good, 
 Since kingdoms are maintained by force and blood. 
 Likewise a speech of Mordred in i, 4, of The Misfortunes of 
 
 Arthur. 
 
 64, 48-9. Yet so, we may doe all things cruelly, 
 
 not safely. Compare Jonson's fragment, The Fall of Mortimer : 
 But I, who am no common-council-man, 
 Knew injuries of that dark nature done, 
 Were to be thoroughly done, and not be left 
 To fear of a revenge ; they are light offences 
 Which admit that : the great ones get above it ; 
 where there is a striking resemblance to Mach. , // Principe, cap. in: 
 " Perche si ha a notare, che gli uomini si debbono o vezzeggiare o
 
 228 P.0tf6 
 
 spegnere ; perche li vendicano dellc leggier! offese ; delle gravi non 
 possono : sicchc 1'ofiesa che si fa aH'uomo, deveessere in modoche 
 la non tetna la vendetta." 
 
 65, 52. Agrippina. Dt Agrip. vid. Dio. Hitt. Rom. lib. 
 
 57- fg- <*)4- [6] 
 
 65, 53- Proud ? dangerous, Caesar. Dt Sejani comil [io] 
 
 in y^r;^)[pinam] leg. Tacit. Ann. lib. I. fag. 23. [69. Agrippina 
 had irritated Tiberius by being instrumental in the suppression of 
 a mutiny, and Sejanus seizes the opportunity to increase the ill-feel- 
 ing of the emperor.] & lib. 4. fag. 77. [12: igitur contumaciam 
 eius insectari, retus Augustae odium, recentem Liviae conscientiam 
 exagitare, ut superbam fecunditate [see 88], subnixam popularibus 
 studiis inhiare dominationi [see 121 J apud Caesarem arguerent. ] 79. 
 [17, i8]J< Tib. jus/>[icionibus] lib 3. pa. 52, [4: nihil tamen 
 Tiberium magis penetravit quam studia hominum accensa in Agrip- 
 pinam, cum decus patriae, solum August! sanguinem, unicum antiqui- 
 tatis specimen appellarent versique ad caelum ac deos integram illi 
 subolem ac superstitem iniquorum precarentur. See 11. 80 ff.] 
 
 ^5> 54-5- Germanicus Lives . . . t' upbraide us. 
 Gnaris omnibus lattam Tiberio Germanici mortem male ditsimulari. 
 Toe. lib. j. ibid. [2] Hue confer Taciti tfrr<j/[ionem] dt mortt 
 Pisonit. fag. 55. [15] & lib, 4. peg. 14. [l] Germanici mortem 
 inter f rot f era ducebat. 
 
 65, 60. It is not safe. Cf. Arist., Rhet., i, 15: " If one is 
 advocating the slaughter of the children whose parents have been 
 already slain, one can appeal to ... another proverb, ' Fool he 
 who slay* the sire and spares the son.' " (Welldon's translation.) 
 Machiavelli, in his chapter on Conspiracies in Ditcorii, book HI, 
 elaborates the principle involved. 
 
 65, 68-9. none swiftlier are opprest. See Veil. Pater., 
 ii, cxviii: " Arminius . . . haud imprudenter speculatus neminem 
 celerius opprimt quam qui nihil timeret, et frequcntissimum initium 
 esse calamitatis securitatem. " 
 
 66, 7 ' All power's to be fear'd, where 'tis too 
 much. Tac. , Hiit. t ii, 92: " nee urnquam satis ftda potentia, ubi 
 nimia est." 
 
 66, 73. male-spirited dame. Dt ani[mo\virili Agrip. 
 
 contul. Tacit. Ann. lib. t. fag. 12. [33 : Atque ipsa Agrippina
 
 229 
 
 paulo commotior, nisi quod castitate et mariti amore quamvis in- 
 domitum animum in bonum vertebat.] & 22. [69] lib. 2. pa. 47. 
 [75. These two citations illustrate her intrepidity.] 
 
 66, 74. slackes no meanes. Cunningham quotes, "Slack 
 
 not the good presage," from book v of Dryden's translation of the 
 ./&</ [8 3 4]. 
 
 66, 77. like praiers, like vowes. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. 
 fa. 79. [17] 
 
 66, 82. ReguhlS. This Regulus is of course not the Regulus 
 of the play, P. Mummius Regulus, consul A. D. 31, but appar- 
 ently Livineius Regulus, mentioned by Tac. , Ann. , in, 1 1. Furnius 
 is the Furnius with whom Claudia Pulchra, see 119, 21-2, wa 
 accused of committing adultery, among other crimes. Both were 
 condemned. 
 
 66, 85. Whose niece she was. Erat enim Neptis Au- 
 gutti. Agrippac, & Juliaejilia, Germanic! uxor. Suet. Aug. cap. 
 64. Niece is here used in the older sense of granddaughter. 
 
 66, 88. her fruitfulnesse. De faecunditate cjus. vij. 
 Tacit. Ann. lib. 2. fag. gq. [43 : et coniunx Germanici Agrip- 
 pina fecunditate ac fama Liviam uxorem Drusi praecellebat. ] & 
 lib. 4. pa. 77. [12. See 219 below.] 
 
 67, 96. competitors. The Roman Principate was theo- 
 retically to a certain extent elective, though actually it often proved 
 to be hereditary. The emperor might designate his successor, who 
 was usually his son, if he had a son, but need not be. In the pre- 
 sent case, Tiberius had not formally nominated his successor, and 
 all the possible nominees were strictly competitors. The sons of 
 Germanicus are accused of each attempting to secure for himself an 
 undue advantage. Later, successful rebellion often raised this or 
 that man to the throne, without apparent violation of the principle, 
 since it was easy to regard successful rebellion as a species of elec- 
 tion. 
 
 67, 98. with hope Of future freedome. Displicere reg- 
 
 nantibus ci-vilia JUiorum ingenia : neque oh aliud interceptos, quam 
 quia Po/>[ulum] Rom. aequo jure complccti, reddita libertate, agi- 
 ta-verint. Not\i\ Tacit, lib. 2. Ann. pag 49. [82] 
 
 With the parenthetical expression, compare Timb., ed. Schell- 
 ing, pp. 15-6: " Vulgi expectatio. Expectation of the vulgar
 
 230 .notes 
 
 is more drawn and held with newness than goodness ; we see it in 
 fencers, in players, in poets, in preachers, in all where fame pro- 
 miseth anything ; so it be new, though never so naught and depraved, 
 they run to it, and are taken. Which shews, that the only decay 
 or hurt of the best men's reputation with the people 'is, their wits 
 have outlived the people's palates. They have been too much or too 
 long a feast." And ChalkhilTs Tktalma and Clearchui, 2x58-9 : 
 
 As thirsting after novelty, the thing 
 
 That tickles the rude vulgar. 
 
 The observation, coeval with humanity and employed by writers 
 innumerable, has not yet lost point, cf. Lecky, Democracy and Lib- 
 
 er 'y> 44- 
 
 67, 1 06. We will command. Vid. Suet. Tit cap. 34. 
 [sed ut comperit, ineunte anno pro eorum [filiorum Germanic!] 
 quoque salute publice vota suscepta, egit cum senatu, non debere 
 talia praemia tribui nisi ezpertis et aetate provectis.] 
 
 68, izo-iii. then offenders found. Gifford quotes, 
 
 slightly inaccurately, Juv., Sat. vi, 284-5 : 
 
 nihil est audacius illis 
 deprensis ; iram et animos a crimine sumunt. 
 
 68, 124-6. Give 'hem more place. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. 
 fag. 76. 79. [In 8 Nero and Dnisus jr. are presented to the sen- 
 ate, in 1 8 Silius is attacked. These incidents are of course drama- 
 tized in in, i.] 
 
 69, 135. wolves do change their haire. Proverbial, 
 
 cf. vulpem pilum mutare, non mores, Suet. Pespatianus, 1 6. Cf. 
 German: der Fuchs wechselt den Balg und blcibt ein Schalk. 
 
 69, >3 6 ~7- While thus your thought. Tac., Hia. t HI, 
 40: " mox utrumque consilium aspernatus, quod inter ancipitia de- 
 terrimum est, dum media sequitur, nee ausus est satis nee providit." 
 
 69, 139-140. The subject is no lesse, etc. Sen., 
 %/., 105-7: 
 
 maximum hoc regni bonum est, 
 quod facta domini cogitur populus sui 
 tarn ferre quam laudare. 
 Also made use of in The Mitfortuntt of Arthur , u, ii. 
 
 69, 140. W^e Can no longer. Tibtrium variii artibut dt- 
 vinxil adto (Sejanui) ut obtcurum advtrium alit t tibi uni incau-
 
 231 
 
 turn, intectumque efficeret. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. pa. 74. \\~\-vid. Dio. 
 Hist. Rom. lib. 57. fag. 707. [19] 
 
 69, 142. Thy thoughts are ours. This is the interpreta- 
 tion of Suetonius, who ays that Tiberius was not spurred on to 
 cruelty by Sejanus, but that the minister simply supplied opportun- 
 ities for the gratification of his master's taste. See Tib., 61. 
 
 69, 146. clickt all his marble thumb's. Premere pol- 
 
 licem, apud Roman, maximi fa-voris erat Signum. Hor. ep'nt. ad 
 Lollium. [Ep. I, 1 8, 66] Fautor utroque tuum laudabit pollice lu- 
 dum. Et Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 28. cap. 2. Pollices,cumfa-veamus t 
 premere ctiam provcrbio jubcmur. De ;nrer^>[retatione] loci, "vid. 
 Ang\d\\ Po/[itiani] AfiW/[anea] cap. xlii. et 2rn[ebi] Ad-ver[sa.- 
 riorum libri triginta] lib. xi. cap. vi. 
 
 69, 150. commanded an imperiall arrnie- Tac. lib. 
 Ann, 3. pag. 63 [45, 46.]" lit. 4. fag. 79. [18. Amicitia Ger- 
 manici perniciosa utrique [Silio et Sabino], Silio et quod ingentis 
 exercitus septem per annos moderator partisque apud Germaniam 
 triumphalibus Sacroviriani belli victor, quanto maiore mole procide- 
 ret, plus formidinisin alios dispergebatur.] 
 
 69, 153. The ornaments triumphall. By this time no 
 triumphs were permitted except to the prince himself or to one of 
 his immediate family. Successful generals, whatever the greatness 
 of their services, were not allowed the triumphal procession, but 
 merely the ornaments, namely, the corona aurea, toga picta, tunica 
 palmata, scipio eburneus, etc. 
 
 70, 158. Sabinus. Tac. ibid, [iv, 19: dilato ad tempus 
 Sabino.] 
 
 70,162. Sosia. Tac. ibid. [Erat uxor Silio Sosia Galla, cari- 
 tate Agrippinae invisa principi.] 
 
 70, 165-6. Cremutius Cordus. Vid. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. 
 pag. 83. [34] Dio. Hist. Rom. lib. 57. pag. 710. [24] et &n[ecae] 
 cant, ad Afar[ciam] cap. I. et fusius. cap. 22. 
 
 70, 175 ff. As if there were that chaos. Certainly sug- 
 gested by the words of Caesar to Metellus in Luc., Phars., in, 
 137 ff. : 
 
 te uindice tuta relicta est 
 libertas ? non usque adeo permiscuit imis 
 longus summa dies, ut non, si uoce Metelli 
 seruentur leges, malint a Caesare tolli.
 
 232 
 
 and compare Can'/., iv, ii : 
 
 Cat. He cave the state ! a burgess* son of Arpinum. 
 The gods would rather twenty Rome* should perish 
 Than have that contumely stuck upon them, 
 That he should share with them in the preserving 
 A shed, or sign-post. 
 
 71, 184-6. Counsels are unfit. The thought is not un- 
 usual, see Luc., PAars., i, 281, but Jonson has specially in mind 
 Tac., Hist., i, zi : " Opportune* magnis conatibus transit us rc- 
 rum, nee cunctatione opus, ubi perniciosior quies quam temeritas." 
 The idea twice occurs in Caril., i, i, " Deferring hurts, where 
 powers are so prepared,'' where there is close resemblance to the 
 Lucan passage, and HI, i, "These things, when they proceed not, 
 they go backward." For 186-7, see Tac., Hiit., i, 62 : " nihil in 
 discordiis civilibus festinatione tutius, ubi facto magis quam consulto 
 opus esset." And for 188-9, ibid. t \, 38: " null us cunctationis 
 locus est in eo consilio, quod non potest laudari nisi peractum." 
 
 71, 190. command a court. Edicto ut plurimum Sena" 
 lores in curiam vocatos constat. Tacit. Ann. lib. i. fag. j. [7] 
 
 71, 192. 'Ejiov. yulgarii y HI dam -versus, quam saeftt Tihtr. 
 retitaut memoratur. Dion. Hist. Rom. lib.58.J2q. [23: " At all 
 events he is said to have often uttered the ancient saying : ' When 
 I am dead, let Are o'erwhelm the earth.' " The line, Foster says, 
 is probably from the lost Bellerofhon of Euripides.] 
 
 71, 193. Posthumus. Dt Julia Postumo, vid. Tacit. Ann. 
 lib. 4. fag. 77. [ 1 2 : atque haec callidis criminatoribus, inter quos 
 delegerat lulium Postumum, per adulterium Mutiliae Friscae inter 
 intimos aviae et consiliis suis peridoneum, quia Prisca in animo Au- 
 gustae valida anum suapte natura potentiae anxiam insociabilem nu- 
 rui efficiebat. See 210 ff.] 
 
 71,198. Intelligence by auguri*. Compare Catil.,iu, 5: 
 
 Cor. I hope 
 
 We are not discover' d. 
 
 Yar. Yes, by revelation ! 
 
 72, 204. forgot t'extoll. Proximi ^r//>[pinae] inlirit- 
 bantur fra-vis termonibut tumidot sfiritus feritimu/art. Tacit, ibid. 
 [IV, !.]
 
 233 
 
 72,aio. Mutilia Prisca. Mutilia Prisca, <?uae in animum 
 [sic] Augustae -valida. Tac. ibid. [See under 193 above.] 
 
 72, 212. Tell the words. Verba Silii immodice jactata. 
 vid. apud Ta<^ Ann. lib. 4. pa. 79. [18. See 94, 272 ff.] 
 
 72, 217. SO, to Gallus : that is, in the same way, ascribe 
 words of malice to Gallus ; the phrase shows that in the preceding line 
 Arruntius is not in the possessive case, as some editors have taken it. 
 
 72, 219. infinite pride. Tacit. Ann. lib. 4. pag. 77. [12 t 
 ut superbam [Agrippinam] fecunditate, subnixam popularibus studiis 
 inhiare domination! apud Caesaremarguerent.] 
 
 73, 221. With popular studies. One would Tike to quote 
 Jonson against himself, Timb.,ed. Schelling, p. 59 : " Pure and neat 
 language I love, yet plain and customary. A barbarous phrase hath 
 often made me out of love with a good sense, and doubtful writing 
 hath wracked me beyond my patience." Yet he translates " popu- 
 laribus studiis" by "popular studies." The passage illustrates as 
 well as any a tendency found everywhere in Jonson when translat- 
 ing, namely, to make over-frequent use of cognates. I do not be- 
 lieve it was ' ' plain and customary ' ' in Elizabeth's day to express the 
 idea " zeal and devotion of the people," by the phrase " popular 
 Studies." See Conversations "with Drummond, xvii : "A scholar 
 expert in Latine and Greke, but nothing in the English, said of 
 hott broath th.at he would make the danger of it : for it could not be 
 ill English that was good Latine, facere periculum. " Cf. Spingarn, 
 Introduction to Seventeenth Century Critical Essays, I, Iv : "In the 
 Elizabethan age and the period immediately following it, there were 
 two distinct schools of translation. Jonson was the recognized ex- 
 ponent of the literal theory, and as late as 1627 he praised May's 
 Luc an for having 
 
 ' brought 
 
 Lucan's whole frame unto us, and so wrought 
 As not the smallest joint or gentlest word 
 In the great mass or machine there is stirred.' 
 
 It is needless to say that he was not without followers, and a quarter 
 of a century later Marvell characterized as ' translation's thief the 
 translator who added to, or subtracted from, his original in any par- 
 ticular. The opposing school, which echoed the Horatian protest 
 against too literal translation, was represented by Harington, Chap-
 
 234 
 
 man, and others. Chapman admits that be has made luch change* 
 in his Homeric translations as the difference of tongues demands, 
 and he defends himself on the ground that he is far from taking such 
 liberties as Valla, Budessa, Solel, and the other continental transla- 
 tors of Homer; and it is true that we are still far from the method 
 of ' imitation ' or modernized paraphrase, of which Perrot d'Ab- 
 lancourt is the chief French exemplar." 
 
 73, 113-4. Pub-lie. Jonson was elsewhere guilty of what to 
 our minds is a gross assault upon the aesthetic sense (see Swinburne, 
 A Study of Ben J onion, pp. 1 1 1-1 3) ; but before we condemn him 
 as severely as Swinburne does in that passage, we must remember 
 that writers of the time frequently divided words in this fashion, 
 e. g., Herrick twice in a Nuptial Song, or Epitkalamium on Sir 
 Clipttby Crew; Chamberlayne's Pharontiida, II, 1, 61-3, IT, a, 
 17-18 ; Shirley's Cardinal, i, ii ; Beaumont and Fletcher, Maid' 'i 
 Tragedy, i, ii. And Jonson would have been especially influenced 
 by such a passage as Catullus, xi, 1 1-11 : 
 
 Gallicum Rhenum, horribile aequor ulti- 
 
 mosque Britannos. 
 
 See also Hoc., OJti, i, i, 19 ; 15, II ; u, 16, 8. Cases in which 
 Jonson breaks a word for the sake of rhyme are noted by Wilke, 
 MetriicHe Vr.tcri. *u K. jf., pp. 59, 60, 61. It may be worth 
 while to note also such instances as those in Ariosto, Orl. Fur. , 
 xxviii, 41 ; XLI, 31 ; XLII, 105. 
 
 73, 131 ff. Ourciti's now Devided. Hate apud Tac. Uge. 
 
 lib. 4. Ann. f>ag. 79. [17: instabat quippe Seianus incusabatque 
 diductam civitatem ut civil! bello: esse qui se parti urn Agrippinae vo- 
 cent, ac ni resistatur, fore pluris ; neque aliud gliscentis discordiae 
 remedium, quam si unus alterve maxime prompti subvertcrentur.] 
 
 73, 131. th' civill warre. The war between Caesar and 
 Pompey. 
 
 74, 150 ff. once entred. Compare Timb., ed. Schelling, 
 p. 39 : " But princes, by hearkening to cruel counsels, become in 
 time obnoxious to the authors, their flatterers, and ministers ; and 
 are brought to that, that when they would, they dare not change 
 them ; they must go on and defend cruelty with cruelty; they can- 
 not alter the habit. It is then grown necessary, they must be as 
 ill as those have made them : and in the end they will grow more
 
 235 
 
 hateful to themselves than to their subjects," where Jonson is in- 
 debted to Seneca, De Clemtntia, I, 1 3. Line 251 points out what was 
 one of the most striking characteristics of Tiberius, namely, his 
 persistence in a course of action once determined upon. 
 
 Cf. Macbeth, m, v, 136-8 ; and see Mach., Istorie Fior. t vni, 
 ch. ii : " queste [congiure] . . . gli danno cagione di temere ; il 
 temere, d'assicurarsi; 1'assicurarsi, d'ingiurare; donde ne nascono 
 gli odj di poi, e molte volte la sua rovina." 
 
 74, 253. To thrust Tiberius into tyrannic. These 
 lines, however, are contrary to the opinion of Suetonius, see under 
 142 above. There is of course no inconsistency on Jonson's part: 
 he rightly represents Tiberius as cruel, and Sejanus as thinking 
 that he is the one to whom that cruelty is due. 
 
 74, 256. Germanicus three sonnes. Quorum non dubia 
 
 succcssio, neque spargi venenum in tres poterat, &*c. i>id. Tac. Ann. 
 lib. 4. pag. 77. [12. See below under 259.] 
 
 74, 259. Unreproov'd a chastitie. Agrippina was noted 
 
 for her chastity; see Tac., Ann., iv, 12: " neque spargi venenum in 
 tres poterat, egregia custodum fide et pudicitia Agrippinae inpene- 
 trabili." 
 
 75 2 - in the wind : a hunting expresssion meaning : they 
 have the scent of us. 
 
 75, 4. others more desir'd. Stilus, Sabinus, de quibus 
 
 supra. [See 69, 147-160.] 
 
 75, 7. they hunt. Tib. Temper. Dclatores genus hominum 
 publico exitio rcpcrtum, & poenis quidem nunquam satis coercitum, 
 per praemia eliciebantur. Tac. Annal. lib. 4. pa. 82. [30] 
 
 75, 12. publique hooke. Criminals, once condemned, were 
 dragged to the Tiber by means of a hook struck into the neck. 
 
 76, 14. Afer. De Domit. Af. vid. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. pag. 89. 
 93- [5*, 66] 
 
 76, 1 6. strew his rethorique with. Quoquo fadnore 
 
 properus clarescere. Tacit, ibid. [52] & infra, prosperiore eloqucntiae 
 quam morum fama fuit. [52] et pag. gj. [66] diu egens, et parto 
 nuper praemio male usus, plura ad flagitia accingeretur. 
 
 77, 10. Earnest to utter, t^ld. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. pag. 
 79. [19. Tacitus says merely that she was hated by Tiberius because 
 she was dear to Agrippina.]
 
 236 
 
 77i '5- your losse, and danger: Toe. lib. 4. Anna!, 
 fag. 77. [12] 
 
 77, 22. substance : something having substance or body. 
 
 77, 27. I would hate. Tac., iv, 54, calls Agrippina " sim- 
 ulationum ncscia." 
 
 78, 35. You may perceive. Tacit, ibid. & pag. 90. &QJ. 
 [In iv, 12, Tacitus says that Sejanua set spies on Agrippina ; in 54, 
 that he sent to her those who warned her to beware of Tiberius ; in 
 59 and 60, that he set agents to work on Nero and Drusus.] 
 
 78, 45. Some subtill practice. Suet. Tib. cap. 2. [This 
 is a puzzling reference, if indeed there be not some misprint. It is 
 difficult to tell from the position of the reference letter whether it 
 refers to the first or second half of the line. If to the latter, there 
 is nothing in chap. 2 that has in the remotest degree anything to 
 do with Germanicus or his death. If to the former, the case seems 
 almost equally hopeless. The chapter gives an account of the famous 
 men and women of the Claudian family. The impression created is 
 that the Claudii were in general an able, proud, unscrupulous, violent 
 race. It may be that this general impression was all that Jonson had 
 in mind.] Dion. Rom. Hia. lib. 57. pag. 705. [18. This gives 
 a brief account of the death of Germanicus and accuses Tiberius and 
 his mother of the crime.] 
 
 78, 49 He threatens many. Whalley refers to Publius 
 [or Publilius] Syr us [1. 310]: " Multis minatur, qui uni facit in- 
 juriam." 
 
 79, 52. Drusus is dying. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. pag. 74. 73. 
 76. 77. [3, 7-1 1. These contain the account of the death of the 
 elder Drusus.] 
 
 79, 57- Poyson. Tacit, ibid. 
 
 80, 67. The Senate sit. nd. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. pag. 76. 
 
 [] 
 
 80, 73- No tree, that stops his prospect. See the 
 fragment of Mortimer : 
 
 Naught hinders now our prospect, all are even, 
 
 We walk upon a level. 
 
 So in Thi Bloody Brother, in which Jonson apparently collaborated 
 with Fletcher et al. t iv, i : 
 
 Nothing left standing to obscure our prospect.
 
 jpotes 237 
 
 Below under 144, 3, is also noted a passage from Wilson's Andro- 
 nicus Comnemus, in which a similar phrase occurs. The parallel is 
 noted by Faber in John Wilsons Dramen, Eine Quellenstudie, 1904; 
 as he apparently failed to read Sejanus with care, the other cases of 
 imitation by Wilson pointed out in these notes escaped him. 
 
 8l. The Senate. The Senate, especially under the Empire, 
 could sit as a court of trial in practically any case important enough 
 to be brought before it. The proceeding was in general similar to 
 that of ordinary courts. The consul presided. To him was made the 
 accuser's complaint (see note on delators, 28, 64) ; the evidence 
 was brought forward, and judgment rendered by vote. The peculiar 
 iniquitousness of the present trial lay in the fact that the formal 
 accuser and the presiding officer were one and the same (see 197 ff. ). 
 The whole affair will be better understood by the reader if he bears 
 in mind the fact that the forms and processes of the Republic were 
 zealously kept up during at least the early Empire. 
 
 81, i. Tis only you. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. fag. 19. [19. 
 See under 238.] It should be said that Jonson is in this scene com- 
 bining three separate meetings of the Senate ; the death of Drusus 
 took place in A. D. 23, the trial of Silius in A. n. 24, and that of 
 Cordus in A. D. 25. 
 
 8 1, 5. your father. Varro's father, C. Visellius Varro, had 
 been at odds with Silius over the command against Sacrovir, Tac., 
 Ann., m, 43. The phrase, 
 
 and under colour of late enmity 
 Between your father and his, 
 
 is a free translation of " paternas inimicitias obtendens," Tac., 
 Ann., iv, 19, where Varro's accusation of Silius is spoken of. The 
 ascription of this speech to Sejanus is justified by the fact that in the 
 same sentence Tacitus tells us that in accusing Silius, Varro gratified 
 the hatred of Sejanus (see below, 238). 
 
 81, 12. under name of treason. Tacit, ibid. [19] Sed 
 cuncta questions maiettaiis exercita. Tacitus says that the accusers 
 of Silius did not rest their case solely on the charge of embezzlement 
 in the province, but that they preferred to embrace everything that 
 they could say against him under the head of treason. With regard 
 to the lines preceding, Tacitus does not say definitely that it was the 
 plan of Caesar and Sejanus to take Silius unprepared, but the infer-
 
 ence is a legitimate one from the tone of the passage in which he 
 narrates the trial. 
 
 81, 13. Caesar will not be here. The statement of Sabi- 
 
 nus that Caesar will not appear is suggested by Tac., Ann., iv, 8, 
 where he says that Caesar entered the senate " although Drusus wai 
 dead and not yet buried," at a time, in short, when he was not 
 expected. 
 
 82, n. whips : a proverbial allusion in Elizabethan literature, 
 e.g., Spanith Tragedy, in, xi, II. 37-8 of Interpolation : 
 
 And there's Nemesis, and Furies, 
 And things called whips. 
 
 82, 15. SO low. Tacit, tod. lib. fag. 76. [iv, 8] Coniu/et- 
 cjue itde vulgar! per speciem moestrtiae tedentes. 
 
 82, 28. Fathers Conscript. Pratfatio toltnnit Contulum 
 Rom. -vid. Bar. Briss. de for. lib. 2. " Barnabe Brisson (1531- 
 1591 ) was the writer of celebrated treatises on the terminology of 
 the Civil Law (1557) and on the \ega\formulae of the Romans." 
 Sandys, History of Class. Scholarship, u, 193. 
 
 83, 30. Lictor The lictors were the personal attendants of 
 the higher magistrates (in this case the consul) and bore the fasces 
 (see note on 44, 116). Ordinarily they were not employed to exe- 
 cute commands (Mommsen, Romisches Staatsrecht, i, 359-60), but 
 symbolized the authority of the magistrate. The praecones were 
 likewise attached to the various magistrates, and had among other 
 duties that of citing the parties to a legal process and the witnesses 
 (Mommsen, ibid. 348-9). It is worth noting that Jonson is here 
 making a careful distinction between their function*. 
 
 83, 37- thus dissolv'd. Tat. Ann. lib. 4. pa. 76. [8. 
 In order to illustrate Jonson's method fully I compare Tacitus line 
 by line with the first part of this scene: " ceterum Tiberius per om- 
 nes valetudinis eius (Drusi) dies, nullo metu an ut firmirudinem 
 animi ostentaret, etiam drfuncto necdum sepulto, curiam ingrestus 
 est. consulesque sede vulgari per speciem maestitiae ( 16 ) sedente* 
 honoris locique (38) admonuit (suggests the tone of 35-40), et efru- 
 sum in lacrimas senatum victo gemitu simul oratione continua erexit : 
 non quidem sibi ignarum posse argui, quod tarn recenti dolore subi- 
 erit oculos senatus; vix propinquorum adloquia tolerari, vix diem aspict
 
 239 
 
 a plerisque lugentium (41-47). neque illos inbecillitatij damnandos 
 (48-9) ; se tamen fortiora solacia e complexu rei publicae petivisse 
 (49-51). miseratusque Augustae extremam senectam, rudem adhuc 
 nepotum et vergentem aetatem suam (52-4), ut Germanici liberi, 
 unica praesentium malorum levamenta (568), inducerentur petivit 
 (59-60). egressi consules firmatos adloquio adulescentulos deductos- 
 que ante Caesarem statuunt. quibus adprensis ' patres conscript!, hos * 
 inquit 'orbatos parente tradidi patruoipsorum precatusque 511111(67-8), 
 quamquam esset illi propria suboles, ne secus quam suum sanguinem 
 foveret, attolleret, sibique et posteris conformaret (6972). erepto 
 Druso preces ad vos converto disque et patria coram obtestor (734): 
 August! pronepotes, clarissimis majoribus genitos, suscipite, regite 
 (75 6), vestram meamque vicem explete (77). hi vobis, Nero et 
 Druse, parentum loco (78-9). ita nati estis (80) ut bona malaque 
 vestra ad rem publicam pertineant (81).' Ch. 9. Magno ea fletu 
 et mox precationibus faustis audita (8291); ac si modum oration! 
 posuisset ( this comment of Tac. affords a starting-point for the skep- 
 tical remarks of Arruntius, 64-5, 96-9, 105), misericordia sui 
 gloriaque animos audientium (compare 924) impleverat: ad vana 
 et totiens inrisa (112 is suggested by this word) revolutus, de red- 
 denda re publica (iio-ni) utque consules seu quis alius regimen 
 susciperent (115-6), vero quoque et honesto fidem dempsit " 
 (118-21).] 
 
 The heartless attitude of Tiberius toward Drusus* death demands 
 comment. It is true that at this point Tiberius makes protestations 
 of grief; but he does so in obedience to the authority of Tacitus, 
 who at the same time is skeptical about his sincerity, and nowhere 
 else in the play does he exhibit the slightest concern. Moreover, in 
 II, ii, all of Tiberius' policy is purely selfish ; his plans are all for 
 his own benefit, not for that of his son, who is not even mentioned, 
 except obliquely by Sejanus. Suetonius tells us in so many words 
 that Tiberius did not love Drusus (cap. 52), though elsewhere he 
 relates incidents somewhat inconsistent with the statement. There 
 was a rumor that Tiberius had poisoned Drusus. Dio, 57, 22, 
 Sen. , Ad Marciam, xv, and Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, xvm, 
 6, all give us to believe that Tiberius loved his son. I have com- 
 mented in the Introduction on Jonson's tendency to simplify char- 
 acter. 
 
 83, 37- dissolv'd : Lat. dissolutus, that is, lax, negligent.
 
 240 j'iotrs 
 
 The consuls, having lost "remembrance of style and place," are 
 not occupying the special or curule chain set apart for them, but 
 are sitting on the benches belonging to the body of the senators (tee 
 U. 15-6), and the first part of the quotation above. Cf. Spenter, 
 Faerie tt^ueene, i, vii, 6: " Who him disarmed, dissolute, dismaid." 
 83, 46. face : a rather unusual use of the word in an abstract 
 or collective sense; compare note on 37, 135. 
 
 85, 78. these shall be to you. Tac. Ann. Ilk. 4. pa. 76. 
 
 [See under 37 above.] 
 
 85, 84. Let their great titles. Claud., Dt Comul Stiluk. 
 U, 317-8: 
 
 Titulo tune crescere posses; 
 Nunc per te titulus. 
 
 85, 87. no rivals, but themselves. " In the Doublt 
 Faliehood, brought out by Mr. Theobald as written by Shakspeare, 
 is this line : 
 
 ' None but himself can be his parallel,' 
 
 a mode of expression which drew on him the ridicule of wits and 
 critics. In vindication of himself he produced many similar passages 
 from the classics, etc., and against this verse of Jonson, in the mar- 
 gin of his copy, he hath written parallel, as an instance of the like 
 kind. I will add another from The Dumb Knight, 1 608, act i, sc. I : 
 She is herself compared with herself, 
 
 For but herself she hath no companion.' ' (Whalley.) 
 See another in Hazlirt's edition of the above play in Hazlitt's Dcdi- 
 ley, x, and compare Lounsbury's Text of SAaiesfeare, 115 flf. , and 
 Mart., Epig., i, 109. 
 
 86, 108. issue: the issue of Germanicus. 
 
 86, ii a. Laugh, Fathers, laugh. Toe. ibid. [See under 
 37 above.] Ad -vana & totiei inrita revo/utui, de ridden da Rep. uljut 
 Counties, feu quit aliui regimen luuiperent. 
 
 The spleen was sometimes thought to be the seat of laughter. 
 
 87, IIJ. that charme. Tonitrua praeter modum expaveuebat : 
 (Sf turbattore caelo nunyuam non coronam laurtam capile geitavit, 
 quod fulmine affiar't negetur id genut frondn. Suet. Tib. cap. bg. 
 vid. Phii. Nat. Ilia. lib. 15. cap. jo. 
 
 88, 136. Vertumnus : the god of the changing yearj com- 
 pare Tke Staple of Newi, in, i :
 
 241 
 
 Tut, I am Vertumnus, 
 On every change, or chance, upon occasion, 
 A true camelion, I can colour for it. 
 I move upon my axle like a turnpike, 
 Fit my face to the parties, and become 
 Straight one of them. 
 
 88, 140. my obedience. Semper perplexa & obscura. Orat. 
 Tib. -vid. Tacit. Ann. lib. I. fag. 5. [n. Tacitus' words are: 
 "suspensa semper et obscura verba."] 
 
 89, 155 ff. Cite Caius Silius. The passage of Tacitus 
 (iv, 18, 19, 20), on which the trial of Silius is founded, is here 
 quoted in full. It will be noticed that Tacitus does not say that Afer 
 took part in the prosecution of Silius. Jonson assigns him a part on 
 the basis of what Tacitus tells us about his general share in the evil 
 activities of the time (see under 76, 16). 
 
 Qua causa C. Silium et Titium Sabinum (see below iv, Hi) ad- 
 greditur. amicitia Germanici perniciosa utrique, Silio et quod ingen- 
 tis exercitus septem per annos moderator partisque apud Germaniam 
 triumphalibus Sacroviriani belli victor, quanto maiore mole procide- 
 ret, plus formidinis in alios dispergebatur (see above, 69, 148157). 
 credebant plerique auctam offensionem ipsius intemperantia, immo- 
 dice iactantis (271) suum militem in obsequio duravisse, cum alii 
 ad seditiones prolaberentur (272-5); neque mansurum Tiberio im- 
 perium, si iis quoque legionibus cupido novandi fuisset (2767). 
 destrui per haec fortunam suam Caesar imparemque tanto merito 
 rebatur (2903). nam beneficia eo usque laeta sunt, dum videntur 
 exsolvi posse (304-5); ubi multum antevenere (3034), pro gratia 
 odium redditur (300-301). 
 
 19. Erat uxor Silio Sosia Galla, caritate Agrippinae (76, 4 ff.) 
 in visa principi (70,162-7). hos corripi dilato ad tempus Sabino 
 (70, 158160) placitum, immissusque Varro consul (178-9), qui 
 paternas inimicitias obtendens (45) odiis Sejani per dedecus suum 
 gratificabatur (238). precante reo brevem moram, dum accusator 
 consulatu abiret (197-8), adversatus est Caesar: solitum quippe 
 magistratibus diem privatis dicere (201-204); nec infringendum 
 consulis ius, cuius vigiliis niteretur, ne quod res publica detrimentum 
 caperet (204-8). proprium id Tiberio fuit scelera nuper reperta 
 priscis verbis obtegere (209). igitur multa adseveratione, quasi aut
 
 242 
 
 Icgibus cum Silio ageretur aut Varro consul aut illud ret publica 
 esset, coguntur patres. (The " asscvcratio " is the oath taken by 
 Tiberius in 216-9. The irony of Tacitus in the phrase "quasi," 
 etc., perhaps gives rise to 221-8.) silente reo, vel si defensionem 
 coeptaret, non occultante cuius ira prcmerctur (23 1-1), conscientia 
 belli Sacrovir diu dissimulatus, victoria per avaritiam foedata et uxor 
 Sosia arguebantur (181-9). nec dubie repetundarum criminibus hae- 
 rebant, sed cuncta quaestione rnaiestatis exercita (11-12), et Siliui 
 immincntcm damnationcm (315-8) voluntario fine praevertit (338). 
 
 20. Sacvitum tamen in bona (352-3), non ut stipendiariis pecu- 
 niae redderentur, quorum nemo repetebat, sed liberalitas August! 
 avulsa, conputatis singillatim quae fisco petebantur. ea prima Tibcrio 
 erga pecuniam alienam diligentia fuit (354). Sosia in ex ilium pclli- 
 tur Asinii Galh sententia (356), qui pattern bonorum publicandum, 
 pare ut liberis relinqueretur censuerat (357-8). contra M'. Lepidul 
 quartam accusatoribus secundum necessitudinem legis, cetera liberis 
 concessit (359-61). hunc ego Lepidum temporibus illis gravem et 
 sapientem virum fuisse comperior (366-8): nam pleraque ab saevit 
 adulationibus aliorum in melius riexit (369). neque tamen tempera- 
 menti egebat, cum aequabili auctoritate et gratia apud Tiberium 
 viguerit (see note on 133, 36). 
 
 Citebatur reus e tribunal! vote proecoitii. l r td. Bar. Briuon. lib. 
 J. de for. [See under 82, 28 and 83, 30 above.] 
 
 90, 17'- informer gapes for. See under 28, 64. 
 
 90, 173. These now are crimes: Vid, Suet. Tiber. Toe. 
 
 Dio. Senec. Jonson probably had in mind especially Suet., 7Y/>., cap. 
 61 ; in Tac., iv and vi contain an especially large number of trial* 
 for treason; in Dio the latter part of 57 and the whole of 58; in 
 Seneca, probably De Benefciii, ill, 26, which he has more than 
 once referred to. 
 
 90, 182. beginning, and occasioning. Tac. lib. 4. 
 
 pag. 70. Coitcitntia belli, Sacrovir diu dutimuiatui, victoria ftr 
 avaritiam foedata t (Sf uxor Sosia arguebantur. [See under 155 rt.] 
 OO, 183. the warre. Btllum Satrovirianum in Ctf//[ia] trot. 
 Triumfk. in Germ. vid. Tat. Ann. lib, J. fag. 63. [45, 46.] 
 Julius Sacrovir was a Gallic noble of apparently considerable ability. 
 In complicity with Julius Florus, another Gallic noble, he raised in 
 A. D. 21 a formidable rebellion, reduced by Silius in the same year.
 
 243 
 
 It should be noted that Tacitus does not deny that Silius was " guilty 
 of complicity in the rebellion of Sacrovir " (Allen). It does not of 
 course suit Jonson, whose object was to depict Tiberius in the dark- 
 est colors, to permit such an imputation to rest upon one of the prin- 
 cipal members of the Gcrmanican party. 
 
 90, 187. thy wife Sosia. See Tac., in, 33, in which it is 
 pointed out that the wives of those to whom provinces were allotted 
 were frequently the worst offenders. 
 
 91, 192. If I not prove it, Caesar. Vtd. accusandi for- 
 
 mulam apud Srisson. lib. j". de For. [Suet., Augustus, 32, mention! 
 a decree of that prince : " ut si quern quis repetere vellet, par peri- 
 culum poenae subiret. "] 
 91, 203. The magistrate. Tac. Anna!, lib. 4. pa. jq. 
 
 Ad-versatus est Caesar : so/itum tjuippe Magistratibus, diem privatis 
 dicerc, nee infringendum Consults ius t cuius vigitliis, &c. [See under 
 I 5S ff.] 
 
 91, 204. appoint their day: compare "design my day of 
 trial," 199-200. The phrase is a translation of " diem dicere," a 
 technical expression for bringing a prosecution. Jonson is hence 
 using both of the English phrases in a quite un-English sense. 
 
 91, 209. fraud : this consisted in a wrong interpretation of 
 the law. In commenting on Tac., iv, 19, Allen says : "The phrase 
 quoted by Tiberius ' ' [with reference to the right of the magistrate 
 to call forth private men, see quotation under 155 ff.] " had refer- 
 ence to the proclamation of martial law, not to ordinary criminal 
 prosecutions." This fact is what gives special point to 220225. 
 
 93, 238. To gratifieit. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. pa. 79. [19. See 
 
 Knder 155 ff.] Immhsusque Varro Consul, qui paternas inimicitiat 
 obtendens, odiis Sejani per dedecus suum gratificabatur . 
 
 93> 2 39~ 2 4- impious. The Roman magistrate had religious 
 as well as civil functions. He represented the Roman people toward 
 the gods as well as toward other nations (Mommsen, Rom. Staatsr., 
 i, 88-89), an d an attack upon his person might be well called im- 
 pious. Compare CatiL, v, iv: 
 
 Cats. But first 
 Let Lentulus put off his praetorship. 
 
 Len. I do resign it here unto the Senate. 
 
 Cats. So, now there's no offence done to religion. 
 
 Cato. Caesar, 'twas piously and timely urged.
 
 244 
 
 93, 245. A net of Vulcanes filing. The story was that 
 Vulcan, suspecting the infidelity of Venus with Mars, wrought a 
 fine net, which he threw over them on a certain occasion, after- 
 ward calling in the other gods to witness their discomfiture. 
 
 For first with all his craft he did invent 
 A curious toil of meshes, strongly set 
 With supple fibrous thread and branches bent: 
 Full tightly they were bounden in that net. 
 
 O'Shaughnessy, An Epic of Women. 
 
 The expression, " a Ret of Vulcan's filing," is used by Massinger 
 in Rom. Act., iv, ii. 
 93 1 S 6 ~7- blue-ey'd Gaules. Giffbrd quotes Juv., wu, 
 
 164: 
 
 Caerula quis stupuit German! lumina, flavam 
 Caesariem, et madido torquantem cornua cirro. 
 (Friedlaender's text reads torqufntem.) An image of an eagle formed 
 the legionary standard from about the time of Marius on; before 
 whom other standards had also been used. 
 
 94, 16 1. curl'd Sicambrians. Popull Germ, kodit Geldri 
 in Belgica tunt intir Mourn et Rhenum : yuoi celebrat Mart. Sftct. J. 
 
 Crinibut in nodum tortii 
 venere Sicambri. 
 
 [Kp. t ly 3-1 
 
 94, 173. Thou lately mad'st. lac. Ann. lib. 4. fag. 79. 
 
 [See under 89, 155 ff.] 
 
 95, 187-8. cause Of crime : " crime " appears to be used 
 in the sense of "crimen," an accusation, and the whole phrase 
 equals " ground of accusation." 
 
 96, 197. To make him guiltie. Wilson, Andron. Com- 
 ntn , n, i : 
 
 One need not far to find 
 A staff to beat a dog, nor circumstance 
 To make him guilty that's before foredoom'd ! 
 96, 301 ff. so soone, all best turnes. So Bacon, History 
 of Henry PI I, in speaking of the reasons why the king gave willing 
 ear to the accusations against Sir William Stanley : " First, an over- 
 merit : for convenient merit, unto which reward may easily reach, 
 doth best with Kings."
 
 liotesf 245 
 
 Wilson, Andron. Comnen., v, i: 
 
 He's gone the way of those that oblige tyrants 
 Beyond requital he's strangled. 
 
 The sentiment is common in Elizabethan literature and elsewhere ; 
 e. g., Alfieri, Rosmunda, iv, ii, turns the idea effectively : 
 
 Ne piu mi offende 
 In te tua fella ingratitudin : vero 
 Re ti conosco a cid. 
 
 As a principle of political action, it is analyzed by Mach., Disc., 
 I, 29. 
 97, 324. That are but hands of fortune. Compare 
 
 Sen., De Constantia Safientis, viii : " Et si fortunae iniurias mode- 
 rate fert, quanto magis hominum potentium, quos scit fortunae 
 manus esse ? " And in the last part of De Pro-vidcntia Seneca points 
 out how easily the good man may escape the evils of life by " the 
 bare bodkin." 
 
 97, 324-5. Shee her selfe. Luc., Phan., ix, 569 : 
 
 Fortunaque perdat 
 opposita virtute minas ? 
 
 87> 333- The coward, and the valiant man must 
 . Luc., ibid., 583: 
 
 pavido fortique cadendum est. 
 
 98, 338. Would know to mock. So in Nero, iv, vii, 
 last line, Petronius says : 
 
 Nero, my end shall mock thy tyranny. 
 
 98, 340. desperate act. Tac. ibid. [See under 89, 155 ff. 
 It will be noticed, as Whalley points out, that Tacitus does not say 
 that Silius killed himself before the senate.] 
 
 98, 344 ff. We are not pleas'd. Jonson had in mind 
 Tac., Ann., in, 50 : " Saepe audivi principem nostrum conqueren- 
 tem, si quis sumpta morte misericordiam eius praevenisset. " 
 
 98,347. Excellent. This etymological use of " excellent " 
 is Elizabethan idiom, e. g., Othello's "excellent wretch," in, ill, 
 90; instances are numerous. 
 
 99, 366. This Lepidus Is grave and honest. Tac. 
 
 Ann. lib. 4. pa. So. [See under 155 ff.]
 
 246 
 
 99, 371- Noble Cordus. Tac. Ann. hb. 4. fag.Sj. 84. 
 [34. 35] P'- Hist - Rom - lib -S7- t">g- 7 to. [24] 
 
 I give in full, as before, the passage from Tacitus : " Cornelio 
 Cosso Asinio Agrippa consulibus Cremutius Cordus poitulatur, novo 
 ac tune primum audito crimine, quod editis annalibus laudatoque 
 M. Bruto C. Cagsium Romanorum ultimum dixisset (391-2). 
 accusabant Satrius Secundus et Pinnarius Natta, Sejani clientes. id 
 perniciabile reo, et Caesar truci vultu defensionem accipiens, quam 
 Cremutius, relinquendae vitae certus, in hunc modum ezorsus est : 
 ' verba mea, patres conscript!, arguuntur (408) : adeo f'actorum inno- 
 cens sum (407) sed neque haec in principem aut principis paren- 
 tem, quos lex maiestatis amplectitur (409-10); Brutum et C'assium 
 laudavisse dicor (411), quorum res gestas cum plurimi composue- 
 rint, nemo sine honore memoravit (41 2-3 ) . Titus Livius, eloquen- 
 tiae ac fidci praeclarus in primis (414-5), Cn. Pompeium tantis 
 laudibus tulit, ut Pompeianum eum Augustus appellaret (416-7); 
 neque id amicitiae eorum offecit (418) Scipionem, Afranium, 
 hunc ipsum Cassium, hunc Brutum (418-20) nusquam latrones et 
 parricidas (420), quae nunc vocabula imponuntur (421), saepe ut 
 insignis viros nominal (421). Asinii Pollionis scripts egregiam 
 eorundem memoriam tradunt (423-4); Messalla Corvinus impera- 
 torem suum Cassium praedicabat (424-5); et uterque opibus atque 
 honoribus perviguere (425-6). Marci Ciceronis libro, quo Catonem 
 caelo aequavit (427-8), quid aliud dictator Caesar quam rescript! 
 oratione, velutapud iudices, respondit (428-30)? Antonii epistulae, 
 Bruti contiones (431-32) falsa quidem in Augustum probra, set 
 multa cum acerbitate habent (432-3) ; carmina Bibaculi et Catulli 
 referta contumeliis Caesarum leguntur (434-5) : sed ipse divus 
 lulius, ipse divus Augustus (436) et tulere ista et reliquere (437), 
 baud facile dixerim, moderatione magis an sapientia (437-9). 
 namque spreta exolescunt (439-40): si irascere, agnita videntur 
 (441). non attingo Graecos, quorum non modo libertas (442), 
 etiam libido impunita (443); aut si quis advertit, dictis dicta ultus 
 est (444-5). sed maxime solutum et sine obtrectatore fuit (446-7) 
 prodere de iis, quos mors odio aut gratiae exemisset (447-8). num 
 enim armatis Cassio et Bruto ac Philippenses campos opdnentibut 
 (449-50) belli civilis causa populum per contiones incendo (451- 
 2) ? an illi quidem leptuagensimum ante annum percmti (4523),
 
 247 
 
 quo modo imaginibus suis noscuntur, quas ne victor quidem abolevit 
 (453-4), sic partem memoriae apud scriptores retinent (455)? 
 suum cuique decus posteritas rependit (456); nee deerunt, si dam- 
 natio ingruit (457), qui non modo Cassii et Bruti, sed etiam mei 
 meminerint (458-60).' egressus dein senatu vitam abstinentia fini- 
 vit. libros per aediles cremandos censuere patres (465-6) ; set man- 
 serunt, occultati et editi. quo magis socordiam eorum inridere libet, 
 qui praesenti potentia credunt exstingui posse etiam sequentis aevi 
 memoriam (471-4). nam contra punitis ingeniis gliscit auctoritas, 
 neque aliud extern! reges aut qui eadem saevitia usi sunt, nisi dede- 
 cus sibi atque illis gloriam peperere " (475-80). 
 
 99,373. What is he. Whalley says that Upton would read: 
 
 Tib. What is he for ? (i. e. , of what is he accused ?) 
 Sej. The Annals, Caesar. 
 
 IOO, 376-7. Sejanus bloud-hounds. Sen., Ad Marc., 
 az : " etacerrimi canes, quos ille [Seianus] ut sibi uni mansuetos, 
 omnibus feros haberet, sangine humano pascebat, circumlatrare hom- 
 inem etiam ilium impetratum incipiunt." 
 
 IO2, 419. Scipio. " Metellus Scipio, father-in-law of Pom- 
 pey, who led the opponents of Caesar after the death of Pompey; 
 like Cato, he killed himself after the battle of Thapsus. Afranius 
 was another leader of the same party." (Allen.) 
 
 102, 422. notes : Jonson has in mind the " nota censoria," 
 a mark placed by the censors against the name of any one censured; 
 hence " nota " is equivalent to "blot." 
 
 IO2, 423. Asinius Pollio's : Septem Jec[em] lib. Hilt. 
 serif sit wid. 5a/W[as, I, 786] Suet, [probably De Grammaticis, 10. 
 Pollio lived from 76 B. c. to 5 A D. Fragments of his work only 
 are extant. Though an opponent of Antony, he did not, as Jonson'i 
 lines, perhaps unintentionally, suggest, live in close friendship with 
 Augustus. The Messalla of the next line is the Valerius Messalla 
 of Julius Caesar , 64 B.C. to 8 A.D.] 
 
 102, 427. To Cicero's booke. Both Cicero's Laus Ca- 
 tonis and the Anticatones of Caesar are lost. 
 
 102, 431 ff. Antonius letters: "Some extracts from 
 these letters are given by Suetonius (Oct , 7, 16, 63, 69). Of these 
 speeches of Brutus nothing is known. Bibaculus was a poet, de-
 
 248 
 
 scribed by Horace (Sat. u, 5, 40) as of an inflated style. The vul- 
 gar abuse of Canar in the poems of Catullus ( 1 1 and 29) is still 
 extant." (Allen.) 
 
 102, 436. no leSSC: supply "deified," and see under 48, 
 
 195- 
 
 103, 440. if they despised bee. See 176, 83, and com- 
 pare Cati I. in, i : 
 
 Where it concerns himself, 
 Who's angry at a slander makes it true, 
 
 and Johnson says, "Alas! reputation would be of little worth, 
 were it in the power of every concealed enemy to deprive us of it." 
 See Hill's note on p. 70, vol u of his edition of Boswell's Johmon, 
 for an interesting collection of similar sentences. Seneca, De Ira, 
 in, 5, says, " Ultio doloris confessio est," which is quite close to 
 the language employed by Cordus. 
 
 IO3, 442 ff. whose licence. The allusion appears to be to 
 the free and unrestrained practice of the Old Comedy in its satire 
 upon men prominent in the public life of Athens. 
 
 103, 457-60. Nor shall there want. See Ntr t iv, T: 
 
 And if I die 
 
 For pitying human chance and Fiso's end, 
 There will be some, too, that will pity mine. 
 104,463 Take him hence. Eg reitui dein itnatu, vitam 
 abitinentiajinivit. Tac. ibid. [See under 371.] Gtnercsam ejui mor- 
 tem fii/. apud Sen. Com. ad Mar. cap. 22. 
 
 104, 475-6. the punishment Of wit. See Milton's 
 Artopagiiica : " Although their own late arguments and defences 
 against the prelates might remember them, that this obstructing 
 violence meets for the most part with an event utterly opposite to 
 the end which it drives at : instead of suppressing sects and schisms, 
 it raises them and invests them with a reputation : ' The punishing 
 of wits enhances their authority,' saith the Viscount St. Albans ; 
 ' and a forbidden writing is thought to be a certain spark of truth, 
 that flies up in the faces of them who seek to tread it out. ' This 
 order, therefore, may prove a nursing mother to sects, but I shall 
 easily shew how it will be stepdame to truth. " 
 
 105, 480. to the writers an eternal! name. Mau- 
 
 rmnt jjui libri occult an & tditi. Tac. ibid. [See under 371.] Scrip-
 
 249 
 
 serat hie Cremut. bella civi/ia, Sf res August, extantque Fragmcnta 
 in Suasoria Sexta. Senec. 
 
 105, 486. The Roman race most wretched. Suet. 
 
 Tib. cap. 21. [Scio vulgo persuasum quasi, egresso post secretum 
 sermonem Tiberio, vox August! per cubicularios excepta sit : Misc- 
 rum populum R. qui sub tarn lends maxillis erit.] 
 
 105, 6. Callus. Vid. Tac. Ann. lib. i. fag. 6. [In 8 Gal- 
 lus proposes honors to Tiberius ; in 12 he offends the emperor by an 
 indiscreet question regarding the division of power, and then at- 
 tempts to excuse himself Tiberius' anger is not, however, appeased.] 
 lib. 2. fag. jj". [In 35, 36, Gallus again comes into opposition. 
 Note that in in, i, 294, he had spoken against Silius, and that 
 Arruntius was surprised thereby.] 
 
 105, 9. good vultures. The allusion is to that branch of 
 augury called ornithomancy, or divination by birds, whereof the 
 method is expounded at length in Jonson's notes to the Masque of 
 Augurs. " Secundis avibus " meant auspiciously. The flight of vul- 
 tures was of special importance, perhaps because they had been of 
 such assistance to Romulus in determining the site of Rome. 
 
 106, 14. Dearest head. "Carum" or "carissimum ca- 
 put " is a frequent Latin expression. Jonson, in Catiline, iv, ii, 
 makes Catulus call Catiline "impudent head." 
 
 106, 16. Sir. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. 8j. [39. Lines 16-42 are 
 directly translated from Tacitus' account of the interview, with 
 very unimportant expansions. As a matter of fact, this interview 
 was actually carried on by letter (compare 95-6), according to the 
 remarkable practice introduced by Caesar and followed by Augustus 
 and Tiberius.] 
 
 106, 27. worthie his alliance. Filia ejus Claudii flio 
 
 desponsa. [Ann., in, 29. Claudius, later the Emperor Claudius, was 
 the son of Drusus, brother of Tiberius. His son Drusus, here re- 
 ferred to, died soon after this betrothal.] 
 
 107, 46-89. The rest of mortall men. This passage is 
 again an almost literal translation of Tac., Ann., iv, 40. It did not 
 seem necessary to give either this or cap. 39, as, besides the fact 
 that they would occupy much space, the method that Jonson em- 
 ployed in dealing with such portions of Tacitus has been sufficiently 
 illustrated in the preceding scene.
 
 250 .notes 
 
 107, 49. Still to fame. Different from that in MuXapka, 
 by Fulke Greville, i, i : 
 
 For Power may be ftar'd ; Empire ador'd; 
 Good fortune wooed, and followed for ambition: 
 Rewards may make knees bow; and selfc-love humble; 
 But Love is onely that which princes covet. 
 
 108, S3- i the family. Livia was the daughter of Tiberius' 
 brother Drusus, hence Tiberius' niece, and granddaughter of Li via 
 Augusta, Tiberius' mother. 
 
 108, 65. Caius Caesar: August. Nepoti & M. yifiani; 
 
 Agrippat filio ex Julia. He died in A.D. 4 ; see note on 36, 213. 
 
 108,67. a private gentleman. Sejanus was of a muni- 
 cipal equestrian family (see Argument}, and hence not comparable 
 in rank with Livia, a daughter of the reigning house. Tiberius, 
 besides having been adopted by Augustus, sprang of the Claudii, one 
 of the oldest, noblest, and most famous of the Roman families (com- 
 pare note on 78, 45). Livia, as his niece, shared these honors 
 
 IO 9i 93- How pleaseth Caesar. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. pa. 8j. 
 [41] Dm. lib. j<?. [But I do not find that Dio says that Sejanus 
 induced Tiberius to leave Rome; in fact, in 57, n, he says that 
 the tradition ran that Tiberius removed to Capreae on account of 
 the continual interference of his mother in public affairs ; compare 
 72, 210 ff] 
 
 HO, 99 ff Dull, heavie Caesar. Compare Timb., p. 40: 
 " But princes that neglect their proper office thus their fortune is 
 oftentimes to draw a Sejanus to be near about them, who will at last 
 affect to get above them, and put them in a worthy fear of rooting 
 both them out and their family. For no men hate an evil prince 
 more than they that helped to make him such." 
 
 no, 104-5. I would . . . prevent that change. 
 Sejanus means that he will prevent Tiberius from executing the 
 same plan for placating the public that he has himself in mind ; see 
 74, 261 ff., and Timf>., p. 38 : "A prince should exercise his cru- 
 elty not by himself, but by his ministers; so he may save himself 
 and his dignity with the people by sacrificing those when he list, 
 saith the great doctor of state, MachiavelL" Schclling with that 
 passage compares " Overbury's characterization of the host as one
 
 
 251 
 
 that ' hath gotten the trick of greatness, to lay all mislikes upon his 
 servants' (Characters, ed. London, 1856, p. 71)." And see 
 Bacon, Of Envy : " Lastly, to conclude this part; as we said in the 
 beginning that the act of envy had somewhat in it of witchcraft, 
 so there is no other cure of envy but the cure of witchcraft ; and 
 that is, to remove the lot (as they call it) and to lay it upon another. 
 For which purpose, the wiser sort of great persons bring in ever upon 
 the stage somebody upon whom to derive the envy that would come 
 upon themselves ; sometimes upon ministers and servants; sometimes 
 upon colleagues and associates ; and the like ; and for that turn there 
 are never wanting some persons of violent and undertaking natures, 
 who, so they may have power and business, will take it at any cost." 
 Dio, indeed, says, 58, 12, that, after the downfall of Sejanus, "as 
 usually happens, they laid the responsibility for their previous misfor- 
 tunes upon the dead man and charged the emperor with few or none 
 of them. Of the most of this unjust treatment, they said, he had 
 been ignorant, and he had been forced into the rest against his 
 will." 
 
 IIO, no. hemlocke : not the tree, but a poisonous plant, 
 Conium maculatum. The mandrake is a poisonous plant of the genus 
 Mandragora. 
 
 IIO, H4rF. to thy lusts. The curious may compare Suet. , 
 Tib., 42-6, as to the stories in vogue concerning the secret vices 
 of Tiberius. He was thought to have retired to Capri for their more 
 secure indulgence. There is, of course, dispute as to the truth of 
 these allegations. Some scholars, like Tarver and Beesly, regard 
 them as utterly unjustified; but perhaps the soundest view is that of 
 Boissier, Tacite, 120, though, to be sure, he is not discussing the 
 point in question, but rather the general problem of the correctness 
 of Tacitus and Suetonius. 
 
 in, 123. ease, and pleasure. Tac. ibid. [From line 
 115 on the speech is an almost literal translation of iv, 41, with 
 some rearrangement of ideas.] 
 
 112, 10, Compare 141, 219-20. 
 
 112, 15-24. Those are the dreadfull enemies. With 
 this passage, cf. Mach , Disc., HI, 6 : " Debbe adunque un principe 
 che si vuole guardare dalle congiure, temere piu coloro a chi egli ha 
 fatto troppi piaceri, che a quelli a chi egli ha fatto troppe ingiure;
 
 252 jjiote* 
 
 perche questi mancano di comodita, quelli ne abbondano; e la voglia 
 e simile, perche egli e cosi grande o maggiore il desiderio del domi- 
 nare, che non e qucllo della vendetta. Debbono pcrtanto dare tanta 
 autorita agli loro amici, che da quella al principato sia qualche inter- 
 vallo, e che vi sia in mezzo qualche coca da desiderare, altrimcnte 
 sari cosa ran ae non interveni loro come ai principi soprascritti." 
 
 113, 25. Macro. DC Macrone iito, via". Dio. Rom. Hitt. lib. 
 38. fag. fi8. [apparently 9 ff.] & Toe. Ann. lib. 6. fag. JOQ. 
 114. us- [29, 46, 47] 
 
 113, 29 if. that aconite, etc. Whalley quote* Pliny, 
 Natural //it/cry, xxvii, 2 : " Hoc quoque tamen in usus humanae 
 salutis vertere ; scorpionum ictibui adversari experiendo, datum in 
 vino calido." And Dyce, in his edition of Webster, Appiut and 
 Virginia, notes use of the same thought : 
 
 O my Claudius, 
 
 Observe this rule, one ill must cure another; 
 As aconitum, a strong poison, brings 
 A present cure against all serpents' stings. 
 
 Plants of the genus Aconitum have certain medicinal uses, but they 
 
 furnish no antidotes. 
 
 114, 47- to depart The citie. Suet. Tib. cap. 4. [a mis- 
 print for 40] DID. Rom. Hitt. lib. j. fag. 7/7 [l]. 
 
 114, 48. Campania : the Latin, originally Greek, name of 
 the region in middle Italy bounded by Latium, Samnium, Lucania, 
 and the Mediterranean. Capua, Nola, Pompeii, Herculaneum were 
 contained in it. 
 
 114, 51. Capua . . . Nola. Suet. Tib. cap. 40. Toe. Ann. 
 lib. 4. pa. 9 i. [57] 
 
 115, 80 ff. thinke, and use thy meanes. Cent. Suet. 
 Tib. cap. 65. [Seianum res novas molientem, quamvis iam et nata- 
 lem eius publice celebrari et imagines aureas coli passim videret, vix 
 tandem et astu magis ac dolo quam principal! auctoritate subvertit.] 
 et Dion. Hitt. Rom. lib. jS. fag. 7/4. [Apparently 4, though the 
 reference is not clear, since Dio in that chapter merely points out 
 that Sejanus had Tiberius in the toils and that the latter was per- 
 haps beginning to get suspicious.] 
 
 116, 93. But joy, that he bids me. De Macront, t i*- 
 
 genio ejui t nntul. Taut. Ann. lib. 6. fag. 1/4. /tj. [46, 47]
 
 253 
 
 117, ii4ff. He that will thrive in state. Compare 
 
 Jonson's fragment, Mortimer : 
 
 But we 
 
 That draw the subtile and more piercing air, 
 In that sublimed region of a court, 
 Know all is good, we make so; and go on 
 Secured by the prosperity of our crimes. 
 To-day is Mortimer made Earl of March. 
 For what ? For that, the very thinking it 
 Would make a citizen start ; some politic tradesman 
 Curl with the caution of a constable. 
 
 Iiy, 1 1 6. wilder. Whalley desired to substitute "wider." 
 117, 118. Mens fortune there is vertue. An interesting 
 parallel in thought and language is afforded by the sentence "La 
 fortune est la vertu," put by Balzac into the mouth of, I believe, 
 Vautrin, and serving as the nucleus for a philosophy of success quite 
 like that here developed on a less extended scale by Macro. See the 
 article Leggendo Balzac by Scipio Sighele, Nuova Antologia, 1908, 
 1 6th November, p. 177. And for the distinction between public 
 and private morality, see the same article, p. 167, and Villari's 
 Vita di Machia-velli, bk. n, ch. 3. 
 
 117, 119. their observance: i. e. , observance of them. 
 What they choose to do is law, and to observe them and regulate 
 one's own actions accordingly, is skill in getting on in the world. 
 
 117, 122-4. the lust of Caesars power. Fid. Dion. 
 
 Hist. Rom. lib. 58. fag. Ji8. &c. [These pages merely relate the 
 proceedings of Tiberius against Sejanus, see following acts ; they 
 have no close connection with the present passage, except as Macro's 
 words are descriptive of what Tiberius did with reference to his 
 minister.] 
 
 118, 4-7. Let it be sodaine. Luc., Phars., H, 14-5 : 
 
 Sit subitum, quodcumque paras: sit caeca futuri 
 Mens hominum fati : liceat sperare timenti. 
 In The Misfortunes of Arthur, i, iv: 
 
 What shouldst thou fear, that see'st not what to hope ? 
 where the editor quotes Paradise Regained, m, 206. Moreover, 
 see The City of Dreadful Night, iv : 
 
 But I strode on austere ; 
 No hope could have no fear.
 
 254 
 
 Perhaps the original is in Arist. , Rhct. , 11, 5 : " They have no fear, 
 for they have lost all hope, whereas in order that fear may be pos- 
 sible there must still be some underlying hope of preservation from 
 the evil which causes their agony." ( Welldon's translation.) 
 
 1 1 8, 14. Choose once to fall. Cf. Seneca, Di Bent/., 
 II, v: " Nihil aequc amarum quam diu pendere. aequiore quidam 
 animo ferunt praecidi spem suam quam Irani. ' ' 
 
 The thought, in one form or another, is one of the common- 
 places of Renaissance reflection ; cf. Spenser, Faerie is^ueene, HI, 
 4, 38. The opening lines of this stanza also somewhat suggest 1. 9. 
 
 119, 21. Claudia Pulchra. Pulchra et Furniui damxat. 
 Tat. ibid. [ Afer accused Claudia Pulchra of adultery with Furnius, 
 and of plotting by poison against Tiberius.] 
 
 119, 23. added reputation. Afcr primoribui oratorum 
 a dditus, di-vulgato ingenio, (Stc. ibid. [Tac., iv, 52.] 
 
 119, 28 cause of raging must forsake him. An 
 
 adaptation of Sen., De Clem., i, 8 : " Voluntas oportet ante saevi- 
 endi quam causa deficiat. " 
 
 119, 36. some action, like offence. ThU suggests Juv., 
 
 ', 73-4: 
 
 aude aliquid brevibus GyarU et carcere dignum, 
 si vis esse aliquid. 
 
 120, 47- Tiberius sitting. Toe. Ann. lib. j.p*. 91. [59. 
 Ac forte illis diebus oblatum Cacsari anceps periculum auxit vana 
 rumoris praebuitque ipsi materiem, cur amicitiae constantiaeque Seiani 
 magis fideret. vescebantur in villa, cui vocabulum Speluncae, mare 
 Amunclanum inter et Fundanos monies, nativo in specu. eius os 
 lapsis repente sails obruit quosdam ministros : hinc metus in omnes 
 et fuga eorum, qui convivium celebrabant. Seianus genu vultuque et 
 manibus super Carsarem suspensus opposuit aese incidentibus, atque 
 habitu tali repertus est a militibus, qui subsidio venerant. maior ex 
 co, et quamquam exitiosa suaderet, ut non sui anxius, cum fide audie- 
 batur.) 
 
 I2O, 48. Spelunca. Prattorium Sutto. appelat. Tib. cap. 39. 
 [A " praetorium " appears to have been somewhat more splendid 
 than a "villa."] 
 
 For the word "sited," Cunningham compares "Above were 
 sited the masquers," from Jonson's .Maifue of IQutent.
 
 255 
 
 120, 49. Fundane : from Lat. Fundanus, of or near Fundi, 
 now Fondi, about halfway between Rome and Naples. 
 
 120, 58. He hath SO fixt himselfe : Pracbuitque if si ma- 
 tcriem, cur amicitiae constantiaeque Sejani magis fideret. Tacit, ibid, 
 [See under 47 above.] 
 
 121, 68. to exercise Your vertue. Compare Sen., De 
 Prov. , ii, where he is proving that misfortune is educational ; the 
 good man, he says, "omnia ad versa exercitationes putat." And 
 iv : " Non est arbor solida nee fords, nisi in quam frequens ventus 
 incursat. ipsa enim vexatione constringitur et radices certius figit." 
 
 121, 4. remove: the reference is to the stages of Tiberius' 
 journey. 
 
 122. An Upper Room. The stage-direction is Gifford's; 
 the probability is that Latiaris, Rufus, and Opsius enter upon the 
 balcony that we know to have formed a part of the Elizabethan 
 stage, and that Latiaris and Sabinus in 1. 23 enter upon the main 
 stage. If this is the arrangement, however, the action at 1. 125 is 
 not easy to comprehend. In any case, if Rufus and Opsius are really 
 placed ' ' between the roof and ceiling, ' ' as Tacitus says (see 1. 3 
 and note), it is difficult to see how they can have suddenly " rushed 
 in." It looks as though Jonson, anxious to preserve the language 
 of his authority, failed to see that it was not quite suitable to the 
 stage situation. Tacitus says nothing about any rushing in, but merely 
 states that, after overhearing Sabinus, the spies sent an accusation to 
 Caesar. A solution of the problem is perhaps afforded by Professor 
 Baker's suggestion, Development of Shakespeare as a Dramatist, p. 
 82, concerning the possible existence of a stairway on the Eliza- 
 bethan stage. 
 
 122, I. a Service, great SejanuS. Sabinum adgrediuntur 
 cupidine consulates, ad quern non nisi per Sejanum aditus : neque Se- 
 jani voluntas, nisi scelere quaerebatur. Tac. lib. 4.. fag. g<f. [68] 
 Dio. Hist. Rom. lib. 58. pag. 7/7. [i] 
 
 With some few changes and rearrangements this scene follows 
 pretty closely Tac., iv, 68, 69. The dialogue is considerably ex- 
 panded, the number of those concerned reduced, and the apprehen- 
 sion of Sabinus, as above suggested, altered in manner. But the 
 principal ideas of the speakers, and the general facts of the situation 
 are well-nigh all, even though briefly, indicated by Tacitus. It does 
 not seem necessary to quote in full.
 
 256 
 
 122, 3. betweene the roofe, and seeling. Tacitus' 
 
 words are: " tectum inter et laquearia." 
 
 123, 10-13. an observer of his wife, And children. 
 
 Eojue apud bonot laudatus, et gravii rniyuii. Toe. ibid. 
 
 123, 11. Shift to Our holes. Haul minus turpi latebra <fuam 
 deteaanda fraude t test abstrudunt ; foraminibui & rimli aurem ad- 
 movent. [A quotation from Tacitus.] 
 
 124, 39. yea our bed. Ne Nox qutdtm tecura cum itxor 
 (Neronii) vigi/ias, somnos, tuspiria matrl Lrviae, atyue ilia Sejant 
 patefacereU Tac. Ann. lib. 4. fa. qa. [60. Nero's wife was Julia, 
 daughter of Drusus and Livia.] 
 
 124, 50 ff. The Genius of the Romane race. Machia- 
 
 velli, in chapter v of The Prince, points out with what tenacity the 
 citizens of what was once a republic hold to their ancient notions 
 of liberty, and how the " name of liberty " tervet as a rallying-cry 
 for disaffection and rebellion. 
 
 12 5. 53- Which no good man. Sallust, Catf/ina, xxxni: 
 "ted libertatem, quam nemo bonus nisi cum anima simul amirtit." 
 
 !25. 69-74. 'Twere better Stay. This speech of Sabinus, 
 as well as, in a measure at least, that of Silius, 46, 141 ff. , is obvious- 
 ly anachronistic, for, as Janet says (Hi noire de la Science Polinyuc, n, 
 36), the right of armed resistance was in antiquity uncontested. 
 Indeed, it is flatly inconsistent to represent a Roman of the type of 
 Sabinus, especially considering the ancestral hatred that all Romans 
 bore to the name and institution of king, as imbued with this super- 
 stitious reverence for the doctrine of non-resistance. Moreover, 
 throughout the Empire, successful revolution was its own justifica- 
 tion, in practice, if not always in theory. 
 
 Jonson of course knew these facts well enough, but he was deal- 
 ing with a more or less difficult subject, considering the well-known 
 views of James I and the events of 1 600- 1 604 (see note on 23, 4 ' ). 
 An anchor cast to windward might prove extremely useful under 
 the hard conditions that the times laid upon writers who meddled 
 with politic*. It is worth noting that the orthodox political philo- 
 sophy of the sixteenth century in England contemplated an absolute 
 monarchy as the ideal form of government (see Einstein, The Ital- 
 ian Renalaanct In England, p. 295) ; moreover, the doctrine of re- 
 sistance to authority had often been urged by Puritan writers (see
 
 ote0 257 
 
 S. R. Maitland, The Reformation in England, Essays v, vi, vn), 
 and Jonson would be careful not to run the risk of agreement with 
 them. It was a doctrine perhaps too closely allied with that of tyran- 
 nicide for comfort. 
 
 Compare Timb., p. 33: " After God, nothing is to be loved of 
 man like the prince ; he violates Nature that doth it not with his 
 whole heart. . . . He is the arbiter of life and death : when he 
 finds no other subject for his mercy, he should spare himself. All 
 his punishments are rather to correct than to destroy." 
 
 126, 73. A good man should. Compare 132, 35 ff., and 
 see Crawford's article on Ben Jonson and the " Bloody Brother," 
 Shakespeare Jahrbuch, 1905, for a number of interesting parallels, 
 both from that play and from other works of Jonson. 1 give the 
 closest : 
 
 Know yet, my sons, when of necessity 
 You must deceive or be deceiv'd, 'tis better 
 To suffer treason, than to act the traitor. 
 
 Bloody Brother, i, i. 
 
 Cf. also Scntentiaefalsolnter Publilianas receftae, ed. Woelfflin, 38 1 : 
 " Veri boni est pati, non facere iniuriam" ; and Sallust, Jugurtha, 
 XLII: "sed bono vinci satius est quam malo more iniuriam vin- 
 cere. ' * 
 
 126, 82. his ulcerous . . . face. Fades ulccrosa, ac 
 plerumque medicam'tnibus inter stlncta. Tac. Ann. lib. 18 \^ l ^\pog- 
 
 9 1 - t iv 57] 
 
 126, 83. Rhodes. Tac. ibid. 
 
 Gifford has the following note : " Whalley observes, that Jonson 
 has confounded two events very distinct in time. The residence of 
 Tiberius at Rhodes took place during the life of Augustus, and he 
 was now at Capua, as the author well knew, and indeed expressly 
 mentions just below. Either this is one of the inadvertencies to 
 which the correctest minds are occasionally subject ; or, as I rather 
 think, a line has dropped out, and been subsequently overlooked. 
 Perhaps the passage might have originally stood somewhat in this 
 way : 
 
 . . . gives Caesar leave 
 To hide his ulcerous and anointed face, 
 With his bald crown, and ply his secret lusts, 
 As once he did, at Rhodes, &c."
 
 258 _f$otrs 
 
 Had either Giffbrd or Whalley examined more carefully Tacitui, IT, 
 57, the difficulty would at once have been explained ; for Tacitus, 
 after the passage quoted under 82, goes on : " et Rhodi secreto vitare 
 coetus, recondere voluptates insuerat." That is, in translating more 
 or lest literally, Jonson overlooked the pluperfect form insuerat, and 
 failed to observe the resulting discrepancy in the matter of time. No- 
 thing, of course, has dropped out. Strangely enough, Clifford adds 
 the passage from Tacitus to Jonson's note without perceiving the 
 true explanation- 
 
 126, 84. Upon the heads. Sen., Ad Marc., 22: "quod 
 tacitus ferre non potuerat Seianum in cervices nostras ne imponi 
 quidem, sed escendere." 
 
 127, 97. to poyson her. Tae. Ann. lib. 4, fag. po. [54] 
 
 127, 101. To worke on Nero. Tat. lib. tod. fag. 91. 
 
 9 2 - [59-6o] 
 
 128, ne. him he clasp's. Toe. ibid. 
 
 129, 133. You doe well. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. fag. 94. 95. 
 [70- Sed Caesar sollemnia incipient!* anni kalendis lanuariis epistuU 
 precatus, vertit in Sabinum, corruptos quosdam libertorum et peti- 
 tum se arguens, ultionemque haud obscure poscebat. nee mora quin 
 decerneretur; et trahrbatur damrutus, quantum obducta veste et ad- 
 strictis taucibus niti poterat, clamitans sic inchoari annum, has Seiano 
 victimai cadere.] 
 
 129, 138. hide his face. Gifford's note is : "Alluding to 
 the form by which a criminal was condemned to death: ' 1, lie tor, 
 colliga manus, caput obnubito," etc." 
 
 129, 139. Forbear your rude assault: paralleled by 
 
 "Forbear your rude attempt," in Jonson's Matyue of Hymen. 
 
 129,2. Your mother, and your brothers. Tac.M.j. 
 fag 98. [3] 
 
 129, 3. Callus. Aiintum Gall, eodem die & comrivam Tibt- 
 rii fuine, el to tubornante damnation, narrat. Dio. lib. jS. fag. 
 
 7*3- [3] 
 
 ISO, 7. whose hopes. Tacitus, as above: " donee pauci, 
 quis nulla ex honesto spes (et publica mala singulis in occasionera 
 gratiae trahuntur), ut." . . . 
 
 130, 12. Capreae : it was there that Tiberius had by this time 
 established himself; he did not return to the city after having once 
 left it.
 
 259 
 
 130, 14. your mother is accus'd. Vld. Tac lib. tod. 
 
 pig- <)4- [This is a misprint, as Jonson intends to refer to v, 3, as 
 above ; Tacitus says nothing about the statue ; that comes from] 
 Suet. Tib. cap. 53. [Novissime calumniatus modo ad statuam Au- 
 gusti modo ad exercitus confugere velle. The reader will notice the 
 effect of the Latin sentence structure on Jonson's style.] 
 
 The statue of Augustus was of course sacred, though the attempt 
 (Tac., Ann., I, 73) to surround it with peculiar veneration failed 
 through the good sense of Tiberius. A right of asylum attached to 
 the li-ving emperor's image (Greenidge, Roman Public Lift , p. 355, 
 n. 7); Jonson evidently believed that it belonged to the emperor's 
 image as such. 
 
 131, iff. Still, do'st thou suffer heav'n. Compare the 
 beginning of Catil. , in, ii : 
 
 Cic. Is there a heaven, and gods ? and can it be 
 They should so slowly hear, so slowly see ? 
 
 where Jonson is making use of Sen., Phaedra, 6712. Such apo- 
 strophes are a commonplace in classical literature. See also a passage 
 in Drayton's Moon- Calf : 
 
 Where is thy thunder, God, art thou asleep ? 
 
 131, 9. pull thee by the beard. Whalley quotes Pen., 
 Sat , n, 28 : 
 
 Idcirco stolidam praebet tibi vellere barbam 
 Jupiter ? 
 
 131, 10. black-lidded eye. See the song to Hercules in 
 Jonson's Masque, Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue: 
 
 Wake, Hercules, awake ; but heave up thy black eye, 
 'Tis only asked from thee to look, and these will die, 
 
 Or fly : 
 
 Already they are fled, 
 Whom scorn had else left dead. 
 And so Spenser, Mother Hubberds Tale, 1228, speaking of Jove, 
 
 ... he vewes, with his black-lidded eye. 
 
 One would expect perhaps a classical original for the epithet " black- 
 lidded," but I have not found one. "Black-browed" is often 
 applied to Jove, and " black-lidded " may easily be a natural devel- 
 opment of the idea, heavy black brows being thought of as shading 
 and darkening the eyelid.
 
 260 p.otro 
 
 131, ii. Giant-race. The giants, sons of Earth and Tarta- 
 rus, strove, by piling Ossa upon Pelion, to scale heaven and dethrone 
 Jupiter, but tailed. 
 
 131, 16. equall with a prodigie. Juv., Sat., iv, 96-7: 
 
 sed olim 
 prodigio par est in nobilitate senectus. 
 
 131, 1 8. Lepidus. Dt Ltpido iao, vid. Tac. Ann. lib. /, 
 fag. 6. [13] lib. j. fag. 60. [35] 6j. [50] et lib. 4. fag. 8l. [10. 
 See under 89, i 55-J 
 
 J 3 2 > Z 5- Gemonies. See under 51 below. 
 
 I 3 2 i ~~i- His faithfull dogge. Dio. Rom. kia. lib. jS. 
 fag. 712. [i. But Dio says that the dog was thrown into the river, 
 after accompanying Sabinus thus far] et Tacit. Ann. lib. 4. fag. gj. 
 [68-70. Tacitus says nothing about the dog.] 
 
 132, 3 1 . the hooke. See notes on 75, I J, and on 5 I below. 
 132, 36. None, but. Tac. com. Ann. lib. 4. p. 80. [10. See 
 
 under 89, 155 ff. ; it will be noticed that the words of Lepidus are 
 not quite consistent with the historical facts, since, as Tacitus tells 
 us, he enjoyed the constant favor of Tiberius.] 
 
 132, 37-8. Never stretch These armes. GiffordTiw 
 the following note : " This is from Juvenal, as are many other short 
 passages in this scene ; to which Persius also contributes. Jonton 
 seems almost afraid to trust himself out of the classics." See Juv., 
 
 IT, 8 9 : 
 
 ille igitur numquam derexit brachia contra 
 torrentem. 
 !33 43- In secret . . . or aloud. Pen., Sat., i, 119 : 
 
 me muttire nefas ? nee clam, nee cum scrobe ? 
 and for what follows, compare Tac., Ann. t iv, 69: "nun alias magis 
 anxia et pavens civitas, reticens adversum proximos ; congressus, 
 conloquia, notae ignotaeque aures vitari ; etiam muta atque ininima, 
 tectum et parietes circumspectabantur. " 
 Cf. Massingrr, Rom. Act., i, i: 
 
 What times are these ! 
 
 To what's Rome fallen! may we, being alone, 
 Speak our thoughts freely of the prince and state, 
 And not fear the informer ?
 
 261 
 
 133, 45-46. Yes, I must. That is : if I pray aloud, 1 can- 
 not help cursing Tiberius or Sejanus. 
 
 133,51. Gemonies. Scalac Gcmoniae futrunt in A-vcntino, 
 prope Templum Junonis reginae a Camilla captls f^eiis, dicatum : A 
 gemitu et planctu dictai -vu/t Rhodig. In rjuas contumeliac causa cada- 
 ver a projecta. aliquando a Carnifice unco trahtbantur. Vid. Tac. 
 Suet. Dio. Senec. Juvenal. 
 
 *33 53- violent eare. Juv.,iv, 86: "sed quid violentiu* 
 aure tyranni ? ' ' 
 
 133, 54. No place. Cunningham quotes from Pope'i Epistle 
 to Dr. Ar but knot t Jl-12: 
 
 No place is sacred, not the church is free ; 
 Ev'n Sunday shines no Sabbath-day to me. 
 
 I 33> 55- most sacred times. The New Year was a sacred 
 period, and it was then that Sabinus was put to death; Tacitus says, 
 " foedum anni principium incessit," and see Ann. y iv, 70, where he 
 enlarges upon the thought that no day, even of the sacred days, was 
 free. So Suet. , Tib., 6 1 : " Nullus a poena hominum cessavit dies, 
 ne religiosus quidem ac sacer; animadversum in quosdam ineunte 
 anno novo." 
 
 J 33t 57 ** & M occasion pleaseth. See Sen., De Bencf., 
 
 in, 26 : "Sub Tiberio Caesare fuit accusandi frequens et paene pub- 
 lica rabies, quae omni civili bello gravius togatam civitatem confecit: 
 excipiebatur ebriorum sermo, simplicitas iocantium. nihil erat tutum. 
 omnis saeviendi placebat occasio. nee iam reorum exspectabatur 
 eventus, cum esset unus." 
 
 133, 64. LaCO. De Lacon. -vid. Dio. Rom. Hist. lib. j8. fag. 
 718. [9] 
 
 134, 72. into Pontia. Suet. Tib. cap. 54. Pontia is the 
 modern Ponza, principal island of the Ponza group (see under 77 
 below) ; it was employed by the emperors as a place of confine- 
 ment. 
 
 I 34> 75- DfUSUS. Suet. ibid. 
 
 J 34 77- to Pandataria. Suet. Tib. cap. 53. Pandataria 
 (now Vandotena, Ventotena), an island of the group anciently known 
 as Pontiae (now Ponza) in the Tyrrhenian sea not far from Naples, 
 served as a state prison for Julia, Agrippina, and Octavia.
 
 262 .Ootrs 
 
 134i ? 8 ff - Bolts, Vulcan. The blue-eyed maid is Ptllai ; 
 
 Alcides is Hercules. The whole passage is an adaptation of JUT., 
 
 auii, 78-83: 
 
 per Solis radios Tarpeiaque fulmina iurat 
 et Martis framearn et Cirrhaci spicula vatis, 
 per calamus venatricis pharetramque puellae 
 perque tuum, pater Aegaei Neptune, tridentem, 
 addit et Herculeos arc us haitamquc Mincrvae, 
 quidquid habent telorum armamentaria caeli. 
 
 135, 85. The complement. Tacit, vid. jinn. lib. 3. pag. 
 
 62. [38. See under 28, 67.] 
 
 *35, 88 - Caesars letters. Tat. lib. 5. Ann. pag. <?8. 4 s 
 simul populus effigies Agrippinae ac Neronis gerens circumsistit 
 curiam faustisque in Caesarem ominibus falsa* litteras et principe 
 invito exitium domui eius intend! clamitat.] 
 
 135, 102. Greeke-Sinon. The compound is a curious one. 
 Sinon induced the Trojans to transport the wooden horse within the 
 city walls, and so deceitfully brought about the fall of Ilium. 
 
 136, 105. night-eyed. Tiberiut in tenebrit videra. testibut 
 Dion. Hist. Rom. lib. 57. fag fx)t. [] Et Plini. Nat. Hist. lib. 
 It. cap. 37. 
 
 136, 1 1 5 ff. monster ; forfeited to vice. Juv., IT, 1-4 : 
 
 monstrum nulla virtute redemptum 
 a vitiis, aegrae solaque libidine fortes 
 deliciae. 
 
 136, 117. His lothed person. Cent. Tac. Ann. Kb. 4. 
 fag. qi. [57, describing Tiberius' person. Jonson's language, how- 
 ever, comes from Juv., ibid. , 14-5 : 
 
 quid agas, cum dira et focdior omni 
 crimine persona est ?] 
 
 136, no. an obscure Hand. fid. Suet. Tib. dt uceau 
 Caprcnd. tap. 43. Dio. pag. 7/5. [5] Juvt. Sat. to. [94 : cum 
 grege Chaldaeo. ] 
 
 136, 112. his rout of Chaldee's. Tac. lib. Ann*]. 6. 
 fag. 106. [zi. Quotiens super tali negotio consultant p. e., about 
 astrology], edita domus pane ac libcrti unius conscicntia urebatur. i 
 litterarum igrurus, corpore valido, per avia ac dcrupta (rum taxis
 
 263 
 
 domus imminet) praeibat eum, cuius artem experiri Tiberius statu- 
 isset, et regredientem, si vanitatis aut fraudum suspicio incesserat, 
 in subiectum mare praecipitabat, ne index arcani exsisteret.] Dio. 
 Rom. Hist. lib. j/. fag. job. [19] Suet. Tib. cap. 62. [This is a 
 better illustration of 130 ff. than of this passage.] 
 
 The science of the stars had been especially cultivated in Chaldea, 
 and so the term Chaldeans came to be applied to those who prac- 
 tised the arts of divination, more particularly that of astrology. 
 
 J 37. 1 3 a ~3- that can Devise the deepest tortures. 
 
 Suet. ibid. [Tib. cap. 62] 
 
 137, 134. boyes. Suet. Tib. cap. 44. 
 
 I 37> 137- Some are allur'd. Tacit. Ann. lib. 6. fag. 100. 
 
 [l] Suet. Tib. cap. 43. 
 
 *37> I 43- n ot left a name. Suggested by Juv., xm, 29-30: 
 
 quorum sceleri non invenit ipsa 
 nomen et a nullo posuit natura metallo, 
 
 X 37 '45- become the ward. Leg. Dio. Rom. Hist. lib. 
 
 58. pag. 714. [4: but again the language is suggested by Juv., x, 
 90 ff. : 
 
 visne . . . sicut Seianus . . . 
 
 tutor haberi 
 
 principis , . . ? 
 Compare 185, 285.] 
 
 138, 150. and yet will sooner rive. Compare Pers., 
 ii, 24-5 : 
 
 ignovisse putas, quia, cum tonat, ocius ilex 
 sulpure discutitur sacro quam tuque domusque ? 
 The idea is almost a commonplace ; see Lucian's Zeus Cross-exam- 
 ined, Luc., Phars., vn, 449, and Fulke Grcville's Alaham,v t iii: 
 Ah powerfull God ! why do'st thou thunders spend 
 By chance or without vengeance on the plants ; 
 Since it is man, not trees, that doth offend ? 
 138. Pomponius. De Pomponio, & Minutio, -via. Tac. 
 Ann. lib. 6. [7 and 8] 
 
 138, 152. These letters. Dio Rom. Hist. lib. jS. fag. 
 
 7/6. [6. " Tiberius was no longer uninformed of aught that
 
 264 
 
 concerned his minister. He racked his brains to tee in what manner 
 he might kill him, but, not rinding any way in which he might do 
 this openly and safely, he treated both the man himself and all the 
 rest in a remarkable fashion, so as to gain an accurate knowledge 
 of their feeling. He sent many dispatches of all kinds regarding 
 himself to Sejanus and to the senate incessantly, saying at one time 
 that he was poorly and just at the point of death, and again that he 
 was in exceedingly good health and would reach Rome directly. Now 
 he would strongly approve Sejanus and again vehemently denounce 
 him: some of his companions he would honor to show bis regard for 
 him, and others he would dishonor. Thus Sejanus, filled in turn with 
 extreme elation and extreme fear, was always in a flutter. He could 
 not decide to be terrified and for that reason attempt a revolution, 
 inasmuch as he was being honored, nor yet to become bold enough 
 to attempt some desperate venture, inasmuch as he was frequently 
 abased. Moreover, all the rest of the people were getting to feel 
 dubious, because they heard alternately and at short intervals the 
 most contrary reports, because they could no longer justify them- 
 selves in either admiring or despising Sejanus, and because they were 
 wondering about Tiberius, thinking first that he was going to die 
 and then that his arrival was imminent."] 
 
 138, 156. One day, hee's well. Dio. ibid. 
 
 138, 161. This man receives. Dio. ibid. 
 
 139, 168. Heliotrope: because, like some plants, he turns 
 constantly toward the sun ; botanists call the characteristic helio- 
 tropism. 
 
 139, l?o. I Cannot tell: a frequent Elizabethan expression, 
 equivalent to " I cannot understand," or " I can't see." 
 
 139, 171. New statues. Leg. Tat. Ann. lib. 4. pag. qb. 
 
 [74] 
 
 I 39 '73- His fortune sworne by. Adulationh plttri 
 
 omnei ejui Fortunam jurabant. Dio. Hist. Rom. lib. jS. fog- ?'/ 
 [4. See also 6.] 
 
 139,174. Caesars colleague. Dio. pag. 7/4. [See above.] 
 Suet. Tib. cap. 6j. 
 
 !39 '7 8 - there are letters come. Dio. Hia. Rom. lib. 
 58. pag. 7/8. rtl 
 
 139, 177. That would . . . ArruntlUS. Cunningham :
 
 265 
 
 "These two half lines are not found in the folio of 1616, but are 
 added in the folio of 1640. They are essential to the dialogue, and 
 form one circumstance among the many which convince me that the 
 1 640 text of Sejanus is deserving particular respect. In the last line 
 but one in this page [1. 191], we have mixing (1616) for mingling 
 (1640), also an improvement. Gifford little thought that he was 
 following the latter much abused volume. ' ' As will be seen from 
 the textual notes, one copy of F does contain these readings. It will 
 be noticed that in every case in which Cunningham has mentioned 
 a reading of F2 in support of his theory (see note on the Motto), 
 that reading is to be found in at least one of the three copies of F 
 that I have examined. 
 
 139, 1 80. Pollux . . . Hercules. This is not the place 
 to discuss at length the conclusions denying the palmary authority 
 of the 1 6 1 6 Folio text arrived at by Van Dam and Stoffel in Anglia, 
 xxvi, 377 ff. Their arguments seem to me, however, by no means 
 final, especially as this line with its variant readings appears to furnish 
 well-nigh satisfactory evidence that Jonson in at least one instance did 
 concern himself with the correction of the folio text. 
 
 Q,FH,FP,G read : 
 
 Pom. By Castor, that's the worst. 
 
 Arr. By Pollux, best. (a) 
 
 F and the others : 
 
 Pom. By Pollux, that's the worst. 
 
 Arr, By Hercules, best. (b) 
 
 Which is the final reading, and who made the change ? 
 
 Clearly, the change was intentional, for no compositor would make 
 the error of setting up Pollux for Castor, Hercules for Pollux, or 
 vice versa. 
 
 (b) is the proper, and presumably final reading, for we know that 
 according to Latin colloquial usage the Roman women swore by 
 Castor, the men and the women by Pollux. This fact was overlooked 
 by Jonson in writing the play. Somebody later recognized and cor- 
 rected the error, with the result that a further change was demanded 
 in the second half of the line, and another common oath took the 
 place of the " By Pollux " of Arruntius. 
 
 Such a change, made for such a reason, was made by a man who
 
 266 j^otrs 
 
 had not merely tome knowledge of Roman colloquial usage, but also 
 a scrupulous regard for historical accuracy in the use of foreign idiom; 
 are we to look for him in Will Stansby'i printing office, about which 
 we know almost nothing, or in a place where we know him al- 
 ready to exist, namely, in the person of the author of the play ? 
 
 If these remarks are not convincing, they at least indicate that 
 Van Dam and Stoffel should have taken into consideration, not 
 merely variants between the early editions and the 1616 Folio, but 
 also the variants between the various copies of that Folio, before de- 
 ciding that Jonson had no hand in the proof-reading, and so that it 
 has no great authority in the determination of his text. 
 
 139, 181. Regulus. De Regulo. Cent. Din. fag. 7/6*. 
 
 [5, 9] 
 
 140, 185. His partner. Dio ibid. 
 
 140, 189. Sejanus footing. Sutt. Tit. cap. 63. [Seianum 
 res novas molientem . . . et astu mag is ac dolo quam principal! 
 auctoritate subverdt.] 
 
 140, 191. now ill, now well. Dio. fag. 7/6. [See under 
 151 above.] 
 
 140, 197. with his greatnesse, strong. Dio. fag. 
 
 7'4- [4] 
 
 141, 209. As wholly put him out. Dio. fag. 7/6. [See 
 
 under 151 above.] 
 
 141, 215. Linceus : one of the Argonauts, noted for the 
 strength and keenness of his sight. 
 
 141, 116. Partner of his cares. Dio, 58, 4: Tiberius 
 
 " termed him Sharer of his Cares, repeating often the phrase ' My 
 Sejanus,' and publishing the same by writing it to the senate and the 
 people." The phrase, " partner of your cares," occurs in Wilson's 
 
 Andron. Comnen., iv, i. 
 
 141, 117. it 'tis prohibited. Dio. Hitt. Rom. lib. 38. fag. 
 718. [8] 
 
 142, 134- beleeve, what they would have. Sen., 
 Here. Fur. , 3 1 3-4 : 
 
 quod nimis miseri volunt 
 hoc facile credunt. 
 
 142, 136. without his titles. Dio. Hia. Rtm. lib. 58. 
 ft 7'S. [8]
 
 267 _ 
 
 142, 243. Takes he well. Dio. fag. 7/7. [8. But Dio 
 merely says that Tiberius appointed Gaius, or Caligula, priest, and 
 gave hints that the empire would fall to him. There is nothing 
 about an escape of Caligula, for which see preceding scene.] 
 
 143, 249. in the Consul-ship. Dio. ibid. [8: "The 
 angry favorite would have begun rebellious measures, especially as 
 the soldiers were ready to obey him in everything, had he not per- 
 ceived that the populace was hugely pleased at what was said in re- 
 gard to Gaius, out of reverence for the memory of Germanicus his 
 father. Sejanus had previously thought that these persons, too, were 
 on his side, and now, finding them enthusiastic for Gaius, he be- 
 came dejected. He felt sorry that he had not shown open revolt 
 during his consulship."] 
 
 This is the first mention of any actual attempt made by Sejanus 5 
 it is characteristic of Jonson that even in such a trivial point he 
 should adhere strictly to his sources. 
 
 143, 252. PagonianilS. De Pagoniano. -vid. Tac. Armal. 
 lib. 6. fag. 101. alibi Paconiano. [3] 
 
 J 43> 2 58- he ha's a wife. Tac. cons. Annul, lib. 6. pag. 
 1x4. [45. Jonson antedates this intrigue, placed by Tacitus about 
 A.D. 37.] 
 
 143, 261. a learned nose. Juv. i, 57 : 
 
 doctus et ad calicem vigilant! stertere naso. 
 
 143, 262. the rising sunne. Dio, 58, 28 : "The latter 
 [Macro], as Tiberius was already seriously ill, was paying his court 
 to the young man, particularly as he had before this succeeded in 
 making him fall in love with his own wife, Ennia Thrasylla. 
 Tiberius suspecting this had once said : ' You understand well when 
 to abandon the setting, and hasten to the rising sun.' " 
 
 144, I. Swell, swell, my joyes. It is strictly classical to 
 represent Sejanus as animated by this spirit of extravagant pride just 
 before his fall. Moreover, what Sejanus says is not quite so much 
 in " Ercles vein " as we are at first inclined to suppose (see note on 
 63, 22). When Sejanus, apparently in the full tide of success, 
 thinks himself a rival of Jupiter, he is after all not going beyond 
 Caligula, who, indignant that a thunderstorm troubled a theatrical 
 representation that he was giving, called out to Jove a line from
 
 268 
 
 Homer "Strike me, or I strike you." Indeed Jonson is every- 
 where trying to reproduce, not merely the external, but alto the 
 internal life of Rome. As Dryden saya of his use of the writings of 
 the ancients, " you may track him in their snow." 
 144, 3 fl\ I did not live, till now. Wilson, Androu. 
 
 Comnen. iv, iii : 
 
 Now I can say I live, and not nil now. 
 
 I've elbow-room enough, and space to breathe. 
 
 1 can look round me, too. There's not a tree 
 
 That stopt my prospect but I've levelled it. 
 144, 5. Great, and high. Defaittt Sejani. leg. Dion. Hia. 
 Rom. lib. jg. fag. 7/5. [5] 
 
 144, 7. My roofe, The following line* contain expressions 
 from Sen., Thytst., 885 ff : 
 
 Aequalis astris gradior et cunctos super 
 
 ahum superbo vertice attingens polum. 
 
 nunc decora regni teneo, nunc solium patrii. 
 
 dimitto superos: sujnma votorum attigi. 
 
 bene est, abunde est, iam sat est etiam mihi. 
 
 sed cur satis est ? ne quid obstaret pudor, 
 
 dies recessit : perge dum caelum vacat. 
 
 utinam quidem tenere fugientes decs 
 
 possem et coactos trahere, ut . . . 
 
 144, 8. my 'advanced head. Hor. oJet, i, i, 35 : 
 
 Quodsi me lyricis vatibus inseres, 
 
 sublimi feriam sidera vertice. 
 144, 10. All my desires. Wilson, Andron. Comnen. iv, ii: 
 
 And what before 
 
 Was even beyond her [Ambition's] wish, being once in power, 
 Seems low and cheap. 
 
 Sen. Dt Benef. n, 17 : " Aeque ambitio non patitur quemquam 
 in ea mensura honorum conquiescerc, quae quondam eius fuit inpu- 
 dens votum." 
 
 144, n-ia. 'Tis place, Not bloud. Et Taeit. Ann. lib. 
 4. faff. 96. [74. In this we are told how haughtily Sejanui treated 
 the Roman nobles.]
 
 269 
 
 144, 1 6. Would thou stood'st Stiffe. The general idea 
 occurs again in Catil. , in, i, when Cethegus says : 
 It likes me better that you are not consul. 
 I would not go through open doors, but break 'em. 
 
 144, 17 ff. Windes lose their strength. Luc., Phan., 
 in, 362 ff. : 
 
 ventus ut amittit vires, nisi robore densae 
 occurrant silvae, spado diffusus inani, . 
 
 utque perit magnus nullis obstantibus ignis, 
 sic hostes mihi deesse nocet : damnumque putamus 
 armorum, nisi qui vinci potuere rebellent. 
 
 and Tac. , Dialogue de Oratoribus, 36 : " magna eloquentia, stcut 
 rlamma, materia alitur." Cf. Tasso, Gcrusalcmme Libcrata, xx, 58 : 
 Qual vento, a cui s'oppone o selva o colle, 
 Doppia nella contesa i sofE e 1'ira, 
 Ma con fiato piu placido e piu molle 
 Perle campagne libere poi spira. 
 
 145, 25-57. Safety, to great Sejanus. This passage is 
 imitated in Wilson, ibid., v, ii: 
 
 Enter Stephanas. 
 
 Ste. Safety to Caesar ! 
 
 The omen to his enemies ! 
 
 And. What is't 
 
 Can need that preface ? Speak ! 
 
 Ste. A fearful comet 
 
 Sweeps the air! 
 
 And. Heav'n has done us right at last, 
 
 And grac'd our triumphs with its bonfires too ! 
 If otherwise, and there be danger in 't, 
 'T'as told its errand, and betray' d its end! 
 These toys astonish more than signify. 
 
 Ste. Nor is this all. Men talk as if an earthquake 
 Had overthrown some houses ! 
 
 And. 'T'as yet left 
 
 The palace standing! Have you more? 
 
 Ste. The statue 
 
 Of your St. Paul drops tears!
 
 2 70 
 
 And. Mere change of weather! 
 
 Unless, perhaps, the general acclamations 
 May've pierc'd its marble with a feeling sense 
 Of what we are. Tears arc th' effect of joy 
 As well as mourning ! But I thought my Stephanos 
 Had had more wit than to regard these fooleries; 
 They're natural, and ignorance of cause 
 Must make them miracles. He that regards 
 The crowing of a hen, a fox with young, 
 Hare, cat, or weasel crossing his way, a snake 
 Dropt from the tile, a black dog at his door, 
 A left hand magpie, or a right hand thunder, 
 Must never sleep! The very peasant, now, 
 Can half look through them ! and shall Empire fear them ? 
 
 145, 26. Heares not my lord the wonder. Dryden, in 
 the Eisay of Dramatic Poesy, says that the prodigies before Sejanus* 
 death are related instead of being brought on the stage in order to 
 avoid "the introducing of things impossible to be believed." He 
 evidently overlooked v, IT. 
 
 145, 29. your Statue. Dio.Hia.Rom.lib.j8.pag. 7/7. [7] 
 
 145, 35. The head. Dio. ibid. 
 
 146, 52. the falling of our bed. Dio. lib. j8 p. 7/5. 
 [5. These various marvels are related.] 
 
 146, 54. expecting clients. Clients assembled early in 
 the morning at the house of their patron, who regularly held literally 
 a levee. " Expecting " means " awaiting. " 
 
 M7 55- running of the cat. Dio. pag. 7/6. [5. Dio says 
 a weasel.] 
 
 1 47. 59- The fate of some your servants. Dio. ibid. 
 147, 62. your last augurie. Dio. ibid. See Selden's note 
 
 on a similar enumeration of omens in Drayton's Polyolb., it, 161: 
 " I would not have you lay to the Author's charge a justification 
 of those signs at those times; but his liberty herein it is not hard to 
 justify, 
 
 Obseditque frequens castrorum limina bubo : 
 and such like hath Silius Italic us before the Roman overthrow at 
 Canna; and Historians commonly affirm the like; therefore a Poet 
 may well guess the like. ' '
 
 271 
 
 147, 70 f. Beleeves Terentius. See Timl>., p. 9: "Af- 
 fliction teacheth a wicked person sometimes to pray; prosperity 
 never." 
 
 147, 73 ff. Or, if they could, they would. Cf. Plu- 
 tarch, Of Superstition, translation of Moralia, edited by Goodwin, 
 I, p. 178 : " Mark we now the atheist's behavior here. 'Tis true, 
 he laughs at all that is done with a frantic and sardonic laughter, 
 and now and then whispers to a confident of his, The devil is in 
 these people sure, that can imagine God can be taken with these 
 fooleries." See especially p. 182 and Pers., n, 29-30: 
 
 aut quidnam est qua tu mercede deorum 
 emeris auriculas ? pulmone et lactibus unctis ? 
 and 69 : dicite, pontifices, in sancto quid facit aurum ? 
 
 147, 74- beeves : a rare singular, erroneously formed from the 
 plural beeves (Cent. Die. Apparently not noticed in N. E. D.). 
 
 148, 83. One grane. Grant Turn Plaut. Paenu[lus] Act I, 
 Seen. i. Et Ovid. lib. 4. Fast. [409-411] 
 
 148, 85. her gratefull image. Dio. Hist. Rom. lib. 58. 
 fag. 717. [7] 
 
 148, 90. honny, milke, and poppy. De sacris Fortunae, 
 vid. Li/. Gre. Gyr. Synt. 17. Et Stuch. lib. de Sacrif. Gent. pag. 
 48. [Lilius Gregorius Giraldus, De Deis Gentium libri si-ve Syntag- 
 mata x-vii, Lugduni, 1565. Johann Wilhelm Stuck, Sacrorum Sac- 
 rificiorumque Gen ti Hum . . . Descriptio . . . Tiguri, 1598.] 
 
 148, 91. masculine odours. Jonson has himself explained 
 the term in the notes to Part of King James's Entertainment in 
 Passing to his Coronation , as follows : " Somewhat a strange epithet 
 in our tongue, but proper to the thing: for they were only mascu- 
 line odours, which were offered to the altars, Virg. Eel. 8, [65] 
 Verbenasque adole pinguis, et mascula thura. And Plin. Nat. Hist. 
 lib. 12, cap. 14, speaking of these, saith, Quod ex rotunditate 
 guttae pependit, masculum vocamus, cum alias non fere mas voce- 
 tur, ubi non sit foemina: religioni tributum ne sexus alter usurpare- 
 tur. Masculum aliqui putant a specie testium dictum. See him also 
 lib. 34, cap. ii. And Arnobfius], lib. 7, advers[us] gent[es]. Non 
 si mille tu pondera masculi thuris incendas, &c." 
 
 149, 4. The house of Regulus. Dio, Hist. Rom. lib. 38. 
 
 pag. 718. [9]
 
 272 p.otrs 
 
 149, 2. your edict. Edicto ut plurimum Senatorti in cmrian 
 i-ofatoi c on a at : ex Tac. Ann. lib. I. [7. Sec under 71, 190.] 
 ? Li-vi. lib. 2. [?] F<f_us] fcr[peius ?] lib. jj. vid. Bar. Briu. 
 de /ori[ulis] /;/>. /. & Ltf[s\i} Safyn] Alenip[pe*. Somnium, 
 luuti in nouri aevi critical. Antwerpiae, 1581.] 
 
 I 49i 5- proclaim'd. The senate met at specified time and 
 place when convoked by a consul, on occasion by a praetor, or a 
 tribune; ir.d was presided over by whoever called it together. Under 
 the principate, the emperor presided when present ; if not present, 
 he acted through the consul or praetor. 
 
 149, 6. the place. Dio. ibid. [58, 9! 
 
 149, 7-8. You doe forget. Dio. ibid. 
 
 150, 14. I bring you letters. Dio. ibid. [But Dio men- 
 tions documents sent to the Praetorians only; he does not mention 
 any sent to Laco personally.] 
 
 I5O, 28. Seven cohorts. De praefecto vigilum vid. Rosfi- 
 ni] ytfnr[iquitates] Rom. lib. 7. et Dio. Rom. Hia. lib. jj. [16] 
 
 152, 47. in readinesse. Die. Hia. Root. lib. j. pag. 
 718. [9] 
 
 152, 54- We have commission. Vid. Tac. Ann. lib. 6. 
 fag. jo^.\i^] et Suet. Tib. cap. 63. 
 
 153. Tubicines. Stage-direction. Hi omnibut tacri/tciii in- 
 tereut ultbant. Roi. Ant. Rom. lib. J. Stuct. de Sac. pag. <)2. 
 Flamen : Ex Hi, yui Flaminet Curia/ei dicerentur t vid. Li/. 
 Greg. Gyr. Synt. 77. & Onup [Onofrio] Panvin\\o\ Ac/{ublicae] 
 Rom. Comment 2. [1558] 
 
 It is not necessary to go into a discussion of the antiquities Jonson 
 introduces in this scene ; chapter and verse for the details of the 
 sacrifice may be had in De-Marchi, // Culto Private di Roma An- 
 tica, especially pp. 125-44. Jonson seems not to be reproducing 
 any particular author, but constructing what he appears justified in 
 regarding as a typical act or scene of domestic worship. Perhaps it 
 should be said that besides subscribing to the religion of the state, 
 each Roman family had its own family (or ancestral) divinities ; in 
 addition, an individual might cultivate a particular deity, just as a 
 Roman Catholic may cultivate a particular saint. Fortune is singled 
 out by Sejanus with especial point because at Vulsinii, his birthplace, 
 particular honor was paid to Nortia, the Etruscan fate-goddess, the 
 equivalent of Fortune. See FricdLiender's note on Juv., x, 74.
 
 273 
 
 A sacellum, properly speaking, was a part of the domicile with- 
 out a roof and consecrated to the gods (De-Marchi, p. 86). 
 
 Coleridge, fForks, ed. Shedd, iv, 190 : "This scene is unspeak- 
 ably irrational. To believe, and yet to scoff at, a present miracle is 
 little less than impossible. Sejanus should have been made to suspect 
 priestcraft and a secret conspiracy against him." But Sejanus is not 
 so much scoffing at the miracle as he is defying the goddess; and if 
 it is possible that he might have come to think himself equal to 
 divinity (see notes on 63, 22, and 144, i ), we can but consider his 
 action here finely consistent with his megalomania. We need not 
 think Sejanus insane in order to realize that the question belongs to 
 the field of abnormal psychology. For other considerations, see 
 Castelain, p. 581 and note. 
 
 *53> " Be all profane. Moris antiqui erat, praecones praece- 
 dere, & sacris arc ere profanes, cons. Briss. Ros. Stuck. Li/. Gyr. &c. 
 
 *53 3' Tub[icines], etc. Obser-vatum antiquis tn-vcnimus, 
 ut qui rent di-vinam facturus esset, lautus, ac mundus accederet, & 
 ad suas le-vandas culpas, se inprimis reum dicere so/itum, & noxae 
 penituisse. Lil. Gyr. Synt. if. 
 
 153, 4. pure hands. In sacris puras manus, puras -vestes, 
 pura -vasa, &c. Antiqui desidcrabant. ut ex Virg. Plaut. Tibul. 
 0<vi. &c. pluribus locis constat. 
 
 I S4> 6- your garlands. Aliut ritus, sertis aras eoronare, & 
 verbenas imponere. 
 
 154, 7. Favour your tongues. Hujusmodi -vodbus siknt- 
 
 ium impcratum fuisse constat. Vid. Sen. in lib. de beata vita. [26] 
 5ri;[ium] & )cfl[atum] ad eum -versum. lib. 5 Atncid. [71] Ore 
 fa-vete omnes, &f cingite tempora ramis. 
 
 154, 8. Great mother Fortune. Hit sokmnibus praefa- 
 
 tionibus in sacris utebantur. 
 
 154,9. action. According to Whalley, Upton wished to read 
 absurdly " Rectress of Antium," in allusion to Hor., Odes, I, 35. 
 
 154, 12. Favour it with your tongues. Quibus, in 
 
 c/ausu, populus "vel coetus apraeconibusfa-verejubebatur. id est bona 
 verbafari. Ta/is enim altera hujus formulae interpretatio apud Briss. 
 lib. i. extat. 0-vi. lib. i. Fast. [71] Linguis animisquc favete. et 
 Metam. lib. 15 [681-2] 
 
 Piumque 
 Aeneadae praestant &f mente, & -voce favorem.
 
 274 
 
 154, 14. Accept our Offring. Solennii formula, in donis 
 cuivii numini offertndit. 
 
 154, 14. Flamen takes : Stage-direction, yocabatur kic 
 Ritui Libatio. lege. Rosin. Ant. lib. j. Bar. Britten, tit form. lib. 
 I. Stuctiium. dt Sacrif. ft Lil. Sytit. 77. 
 
 The milk : In tacris Fortunae latte, non ttino libabant. Hide* Ttt- 
 <[ibus] TaJia Sacrificia dotpa, & vi^xiAia dicta. Hoc ett lobria, & 
 vino carentia. 
 
 They put : Hoc reddere trot, & litart, iJ ett frofitiart, & votum 
 tmpttrarc : ucundum Nonium Marcel/urn. Litare triam A0r[robius] 
 lib. j. cap. 5 explicat, tacrificio facto placare numen. In quo tent. 
 leg. apud Plaut Suet. Senec. &c. 
 
 155, 1 6. averts her face. Leg. Dio. Rom. Hia. lib. 38. 
 fag. 7/7. dt aoc lacrificio. [7] 
 
 155, 33. titled and ador'd. Tac. Ann. lib. 4. pag. 96. 
 
 [74] 
 
 156, 34. sacrific'd unto. Dio. lib. 38. fag. 7/6. 7/7. 
 [4, S, 6] 
 
 156, 40. MinutitlS. Stage-direction. Dt Minutio. vid. Tat. 
 Ann. lib. 6. [7] 
 
 156, 47. A rope. Dio. Hia. Rom. lib. 38. fag. 7/7. [7] 
 
 156, 48. a fierie meteor. Vid. Sen. Na^wMutn] 
 
 Quaeil[ionum] lib. f. cap. 7. 
 
 157. 55 Send for the Tribunes. Dio. fag. 77*. [9. Dio 
 merely states that Sejanus usually had a guard of Praetorians.] 
 
 157, 65-6. dangers . . . worthy my fates. Luc., 
 
 Ptar,., v, 653-4. 
 
 credit iam digna pericula Caesar 
 fiitii eise suis. 
 
 157, 67. And things uncertaine. Ibid., , 581-3 : 
 
 sonilegis egeant dubii sempcrquc futuris 
 casibus ancipites: me non oracula eertum, 
 ed mors cetta tacit. 
 
 158, 71. I, that did helpe. fid. Tac. Ann. lib. 7. fag. 
 
 158, 72. Cedar. The cedar, a lofty, straight-growing tree, was 
 constantly associated with royalty ; compare Marlowe's Edward //,
 
 275 
 
 ii, ii, 15 ff., Richard III, i, iii, 264. Gifford and Koeppel com- 
 pare Beaumont and Fletcher, False One, iv, iii : 
 
 I cut the cedar Pompey, and I'll fell 
 This huge oak Caesar too. 
 And see Wilson's Andron. Comnen. in, i : 
 
 Then 'twill be time, and not till then, to hew 
 Th' imperial cedar. 
 
 158, 73-74. at one stroke, cut downe Drusus. Ann. 
 
 lib. 4. pag. 74. 75. [i, 2, 3, 8] a Dio. lib. 57. fag. 709. [22] 
 
 158, 75. Silius . . . Sabinus. Tac. lib. 4. pag. 79. Et 
 
 pag. 94. [18-19, 68-70] Dion. Rom. Hist. lib. 38. 712. [i] 
 
 158, 77-78. Cordus, and Sosia, . . . Claudia Pulchra, 
 
 Furnius. De Cremutio Cor. vid. Dio. Rom. Hist. lib. 57. pag. 
 710. [24] Tacit. Ann. lib. 4. pa. 83. [34-35] De Sosia. Tac. 
 Annal. lib. 4. pa. 94. [a misprint ; Jonson is referring to ch. 20] De 
 Clau. Sf Furnio. quaere Tac. lib. 4. pa. 8(). [52] 
 
 158, 78. GalluS. De Gallo, Tac. lib. 4. pag. 95. [71] & 
 Dio. lib. 58. pag. 713. [3] 
 
 158, 80. Agrippine. DeAgr. Ner. & Dm. leg. Suet. Tib. 
 
 '"? 53- 54- 
 
 158, 82. Caius. De Caio. Cons. Dio. lib. 58. pag. 717. [8] 
 
 158, 85. I alreadie have done. Luc., PAars., v, 659- 
 60 : 
 
 licet ingentes abruperit actus 
 festinata dies fatis, sat magna peregi. 
 158, 87 ff. The Senate sate. Ibid., m, 108 ff.: 
 
 privatae curia vocis 
 
 testis adest. sedere Patres censere parati, 
 si regnum, si templa sibi, iugulumque senatus 
 exsiliumque petat. Melius quod plura iubere 
 erubuit quam Roma pad. 
 
 X 58i 94- Caesar, but my second. Ibid., v, 66z: 
 vidit Magnum mihi Roma secundum. 
 
 160, 16. divide my selfe : compare the " partitur amicum" 
 of Juv., in, 121. 
 
 1 60, 22. Giving order. Vid. Dio. lib. j5. pag. 718. [9. Se- 
 janus "was troubled at Tiberius' having sent him no message."]
 
 276 
 
 161, 30. Mine enemie : Die. ibid. 
 
 161, 33. Macro is without. Dio. ibid. ["Encountering 
 Sejanus . . . [Macro] encouraged him, telling him aside and in con- 
 fidence that he was bringing him the tribunician authority. Sejanui, 
 overjoyed at this, hastened to the senate-chamber."] 
 
 162, 56. He, that. It is characteristic of Jonson that the 
 speaker of this line is himself in the tame position with regard to 
 Macro and Tiberius. 
 
 162. [Curtain Drawn.] Stage-direction. GifTbrd and all 
 later editors make a new scene, vi, at this point, and still another, 
 vii, at 1. 133, thus giving in all ten scenes to Act v. But the reader 
 will notice that such a division is hardly consistent with the words 
 "To the rest" in stage-direction at 133. If Laco, Latiaris, and 
 others, are to leave the stage at 56, then they must return at 133, 
 and hence their names should be given in the direction ; otherwise 
 we do not know who are meant by ' ' rest. ' ' The interview between 
 Sejanus and Macro must accordingly take place either on the inner 
 stage by the drawing of the curtain, or perhaps on the balcony, and 
 Laco, etc., must remain on the outer stage during its progress. This 
 division is at least in accordance with the natural interpretation of the 
 directions, as Gilford's is not, and with the frequent practice of the 
 Elizabethan stage. 
 
 162, 57- Macro I most welcome. Dio. Hia. Rom. lib. 
 
 38. pag. 718. [9] 
 
 *63 59- the noone of night. Mtriditt noctit. Varr[on\i] 
 Marcipor. -vid. Non[\um Afdr[cellum] cap. 6. [ed. Lindsay, p. 
 713], "This poetical expression, though now common by general 
 use, seems to have been first introduced into our language by Jon- 
 ton." ( Whalley. ) " It was speedily adopted, however, by Drayton, 
 Crashaw, and Herrick. Milton, who resorted to Jonson for poetical 
 expressions upon all occasions, could not miss this." (Gilford.) 
 Gilford apparently has in mind Crashaw's la tkt Holy Nativity, 
 Herrick's Tkt Suspicion, and // Penuroto, 1. 68. I have not found 
 it in Drayton, but the reader may take, to make up the number, 
 Cowley, Tkt Plaguei of Egypt, St. 14. 
 
 163, 64. That still* holds out. Dio. ibid. 
 
 163, 71. amus'd. "There is a correction of the last word, 
 in the margin of Mr. Theobald's copy, but it seems not to have
 
 277 
 
 been wrote by him : it is there propoied to read ' amazed '. * ' 
 Whalley. 
 
 *&3, 75- Charg'd to come here by night. Dio. ibid. 
 
 164, 88. I would no jealous scruple. Dio. ibid. 
 
 164, 97. The tribuniciall dignitie. Dio. ibid, nd. Suet, 
 de oppressions] Sejanfi] Tib. cap. 6jj. Giving Sejanus the tribu- 
 nitial power was equivalent to declaring him heir to the throne, as 
 from a constitutional point of view, the emperor's authority rested 
 largely upon it ; the important point was that it carried with it the 
 right of veto and of interference in state business, and made the 
 holder's person sacrosanct. 
 
 166, 128. henge. This strange expression is of course an 
 adaptation from the Latin. Cardo, a hinge, was a technical astro- 
 nomical term for a pole, or axis, as for example the North Pole. Thus 
 Statius, Theb., i, 349, " venti . . . axemque emoto cardine 
 vellunt," and Luc., Phars., i, 552, "cardine tellui subsedit." 
 Evidently some such passage was in Jonson's mind. Cf. Dekker's 
 London's Tempt, 
 
 Iron, that main hinge on which the world doth turn. 
 Spenser, Faerie S^ueene, i, 1 1, 21 : 
 
 Then gin the blustring brethren boldly threat, 
 To move the world from off his stedfast henge. 
 
 166, 134. Is not my lord here. Dio. ibid. The reference, 
 however, is really to 11. 137-8. 
 
 167, 148. Harpocrates : generally thought to be the Greek 
 name of the Egyptian god of silence, but sometimes said to have been 
 a Greek philosopher. 
 
 167, 154. Haile, the most honor'd. Dio. lib. Hist. Rom. 
 
 38. pag. 7/5. [10] 
 
 168, 162. The mood is chang'd. Dio. Hist. Rom. lib. 
 5$' P a S- 7 J 5- [5- Dio describes the haughtiness of Sejanus.] 
 
 1 68, 2. All Haile. A-ve matutina -vox salutanti propria, apud 
 Romanos. Vid. Briss. de for. lib. 8. 
 
 169, 6. Stamp't i' your face. Whalley notes that " much 
 of this speech is copied from Juvenal;" iv, 73 : 
 
 Vocantur 
 
 Ergo in concilium proceres, quos oderat ille, 
 In quorum facie miserae magnaeque sedebat 
 Pallor amicitiae.
 
 278 
 
 169, 12. more steepe, and grievous. Compare Claud., 
 In Ruf. t i, 22-3 : 
 
 tolluntur in ahum, 
 ut lapsu graviore ruant. 
 
 169, 24. Sanquinius. De &?ar. vid. Tat. Ann. lib. 6. 
 [4 or T> 
 
 169, 25. his slow belly. Juv., iv, 107: 
 
 Montani quoque renter adest abdomine tardus. 
 169, 26. another. Et dt Haterio. ibid. 
 
 169, 28. liburnian porters. Ex Ubumia, mognat, & 
 
 frocerae naturae mitrebantur t yui trant Rom. Lecticarii. Tea. Ju- 
 vtn. Sat. j. vert. 240 
 
 Turba cedentt vtketur 
 
 Dtvet, & ingenti curret super ora Liburno [Liburna]. 
 The Liburni were an Illyrian tribe. 
 
 170, 34 ff. It is a note. Die. ibid. [58, 5 : Any, how- 
 ever, that hold an artificial rank are extremely jealous of all such 
 attentions, feeling them to be necessary to render their position com- 
 plete. If they fail to obtain them then they are as irritated at if 
 slander were being pronounced against them and as angry as if they 
 were the recipients of positive insult. Consequently the world is more 
 scrupulous in the case of such persons than (one might almost say) 
 in the case of emperors themselves. To the latter it is ascribed as a 
 virtue to pardon any one if an error b committed ; but in the self- 
 made persons that course appears to argue an inherent weakness, 
 whereas to attack and to exact vengeance is thought to furnish proof 
 of great power."] And see De Quincey, in the Opium Eattr : 
 11 With the families of bishops it is otherwise : with them it is all 
 uphill work to make known their pretensions : for the proportion 
 of the episcopal bench taken from noble families is not at any time 
 very large ; and the succession to these dignities is so rapid that the 
 public ear seldom has time to become familiar with them, unless 
 where they are connected with tome literary reputation. Hence it 
 is, that the children of bishops carry about with them an austere and 
 repulsive air, indicative of claims not generally acknowledged, a sort 
 of no/i me tangtre manner, nervously apprehensive of too familiar 
 approach, and shrinking with the sensitiveness of a gouty man, from 
 all contact with the oi roXXot. ' '
 
 279 
 
 170, 39. As if they were necessities. Dio. ibid. 
 
 171, i. shut the temple doores. Dio. pag. 718. [9] 
 
 171, 5. a noble, bounteous lord. Vid. acclamation. 
 
 Scnat. Dio. pag. 719. [loj 
 
 See Wilson, Andron. Comnen., n, iv : 
 What say you, gentlemen ? You all confess 
 He is a noble person ? 
 
 Omnes. As ever liv'd. 
 
 1 Cit. Wise! 
 
 3 Cit. Bounteous ! 
 
 4 Cit. Valiant ! 
 
 2 Cit. Everything 
 
 172, 10. the rector of an I'sle. Dio. Hist. Rom. lib. 
 
 58. 713. [5. "... to make a long matter short, he seemed to 
 be the emperor and Tiberius a kind of island potentate, because the 
 latter spent all his days in the island called Capreae."] 
 172, 13. We be not slack. Dio. p. 7/9. [10] 
 
 172, 18. and get more. Dio. ibid. 
 
 J 73> 28-31. is not he blest . . . subtle elbow. Cf. 
 Ariosto, Orl. Fur., XLIV, 97: 
 
 Uno il saluta, un altro se gl'inchina, 
 Altri la mano, altri gli bacia il piede : 
 Ognun, quanto piu puo, se gli awicina, 
 E beato si tien chi appresso il vede, 
 E piu chi'l tocca; che toccar divina 
 E soprannatural cosa si crede. 
 
 173, 35- Memmius Regulus. Vid. Brissonium: deformul. 
 lib. 2. et Lipsium Sat. Menip. For details regarding the manner 
 of holding and conducting the sessions of the senate, as well as 
 formulae employed, etc., see Willems, Le Senat de la Republique 
 Romaine, n, 144 ff. Jonson's archeology seems to be substantially 
 accurate, though his desire of getting everything into the dramatic 
 picture, so to speak, occasioned at least one apparent error. The 
 proclamation of the herald should have been made outside of the 
 senate-house, for the purpose of summoning the senators, not inside, 
 if I understand Willems, who does not treat the point explicitly. 
 The matter is of no great interest save as illustrating Jonson's 
 artistic ideals.
 
 280 
 
 *73 37- Palatine. Palatinut, a monte Palatine, dictut. 
 
 X 73i 3 8 - registered Fathers: those on the list or roll of 
 senators, in other words, " patres conscripti." 
 
 174, 42. his fine. It is evident that Shakerly Marmion, in 
 his Ltgend of Cupid and Piycke, n, Hi, 266-7, had this phraseology 
 in mind. His lines run : 
 
 And that whoever had his name i' tlf book 
 His fine, but his excuse should not be took, 
 
 there being nothing to correspond with this in Apuleius, Metamor- 
 fAoseon, vi, 23. 
 
 174,45. Fathers Conscript. Solennh pratfatio Contulum 
 in relationibut. Dio. fag. 718. [9. Regulus is mentioned as the con- 
 sul opposed to Sejanus. For the formulae, see under 35 above.] 
 
 174, 53. The tribuniciall dignitie. Yid. Suet. Tib. 
 
 tap. 6j. [Sec under 164, 97.] 
 
 Z 74i 55- What pleaseth. Alia formula wlemnis. -vtd. 
 Brits, lib. 2. 
 
 174, 56. Reade. Dio. />. 7/9. [10. " Meanwhile the letter 
 was read It was a long one and contained no wholesale denuncia- 
 tions of Sejanus, but first some indifferent matters, then a slight cen- 
 sure of his conduct, then something else, and after that some further 
 objection to him. At the close it said that two senators that were 
 Tery intimate with him must be punished and that he himself must 
 be kept guarded. Tiberius did not give them orders outright to put 
 him to death, not because such was not his desire, but because he 
 feared that some disturbance might be the result of it. But since, 
 as he said, he could not take the journey safely, he had sent for one 
 of the consuls. 
 
 " This was all that the composition disclosed. During the reading 
 many diverse utterances and expressions of countenance were ob- 
 servable. First, before the people heard the letter, they were engaged 
 in lauding the man, whom they supposed to be on the point of re- 
 ceiving the tribuniclan authority. They shouted their approval, 
 realizing in anticipation all their hopes and making a demonstration 
 to show that they would concur in granting him honor. When, 
 however, nothing of the sort was discovered, but they kept hearing 
 just the reverse of what they expected, they fell into confusion and 
 subsequently into deep dejection. Some of those seated near him even
 
 281 
 
 withdrew. They now no longer cared to share the same seat with 
 the man whom previously they were anxious to claim as friend. 
 Then praetors and tribunes began to surround him to prevent his 
 causing any uproar by rushing out, which he certainly would have 
 done, if he had been startled at the outset by any general tirade. As 
 it was, he paid no great heed to what was read from time to time, 
 thinking it a slight matter, a single charge, and hoping that nothing 
 further, or at any rate nothing serious in regard to him had been 
 made a matter of comment. So he let the time slip by and remained 
 where he was. 
 
 " Meantime Regulus called him forward, but he paid no attention, 
 not out of contempt, for he had already been humbled, but 
 because he was unaccustomed to hearing any command given him. 
 But when the consul shouted at him a second and a third time, at 
 the same time stretching out his arm and saying: " Sejanus, come 
 here! " he enquired blankly : " Are you calling me f " So at last 
 he stood up, and Laco, who had entered, took his stand beside him. 
 When finally the reading of the letter was finished, all with one 
 voice both denounced him and uttered threats, some because they had 
 been wronged, others through fear, some to disguise their friendship 
 for him and others out of joy at his downfall ... he conducted 
 the former favorite out of the senate-chamber, and in company with 
 the other officials and with Laco led him down to the prison."] 
 
 175, 6i-a. the vertue That could give envie 
 
 bounds. Claud., De Consul. Stilich., ill, 39-40: 
 
 Solus hie invidiae fines virtute reliquit 
 Humanumque modum. 
 
 J 7S> *>5. If you, Conscript Fathers. Solenne exordium 
 Epistolar^ apud Romanes, cons. Briss. de formal, lib. 8. 
 
 176, 83-6. Nor doe we desire. See under 103, 440. 
 176, 84. since in a free state. Vid. Sue. Tib. cap. 28. 
 
 [Sed et adversus convicia malosque rumores et famosa de se ac suis 
 carmina firmus ac patiens, subinde iactabat, in ci-vitate libera lin- 
 guam mentemque liberas esse Jeberc.] 
 
 176, 86. lapwing. A bird whose popularity among Eliza- 
 bethan poets and whose chief characteristic are explained by the fol- 
 lowing quotation from Middleton's Old Lavu, iv, ii : 
 
 Sim. Has the lapwing's cunning, I'm afraid, my lord, 
 That cries most when she's farthest from the nest.
 
 282 
 
 177, 108. no innocence. Sen., De CJem., i, i : "ex 
 dementia onuies idem sperant, nee cst quisquam, cui tarn valde in- 
 nocentia sua placeat, ut non stare in conspectu clementiam paratam 
 humanii erroribui gaudeat." In the Timb., p. 39, the same passage 
 is made use of. 
 
 177, ui-iz. ourclemencie . . . but wearied cruelty. 
 Whalley quotes Sen., ibid., I, 1 1 : " Ego vero clementiam non voco 
 lassam crudelitatem. " In Timb., p. 39, Jonton notes Machiavelli's 
 use of a somewhat similar thought : " He that b cruel to halves 
 (saith the said Saint Nicholas) loseth no less the opportunity of his 
 cruelty than of his benefits : for then to use his cruelty is too bte ; 
 and to use his favors will be interpreted fear and necessity, and so he 
 loseth the thanks." 
 
 177, 114. that would interpret, etc. Dekacepist.vid. 
 
 Die. Hist. Rom. lib. jS. fag. 7/9. [see under 56 above] et Ju- 
 nta. Satyr, fo. [?!-* : verbosa et grandis epistula venit a Capreis.] 
 
 178, 133. What wee Should say. Ward, History of Eng- 
 lish Dramatic Literature, II, 338, note I, says: "Objection has, 
 however, been taken, and I think justly, to the perverted applica- 
 tion in this letter ... of the famous exordium of the Tacitean 
 original (Annal. vi. 6.) Justly, not because Jonson was debarred 
 from making any use he chose to make of it ; but because the bit- 
 ter force of the real meaning of the words is weakened by the more 
 commonplace use here made of them ; the saying was too famous 
 and too characteristic to be introduced in any but its real sense." 
 Ward's language allows it to be inferred that these words stood at 
 the beginning of the letter concerning Sejanus. In reality, they did 
 not do so, but formed the exordium of a much later letter concern- 
 ing Cotta Messalinus, according to Tacitus, and simply of a letter, 
 according to Suetonius. Both writers practically agree in giving the 
 words as : " Quid scribam vobis, patres conscript!, aut quo modo 
 scribam, aut quid omnino non scribam hoc tempore, dii me deaeque 
 peius perdant, quam perire me cotidie sentio, si scio." What their 
 real sense is, may be a question, since Whalley, in objecting to Jon- 
 son's use of them, takes them as " evidence of uneasiness and per- 
 turbation of spirit in the emperor, arising from the consciousness of 
 guilt," whereas Allen says that they "are certainly no confession 
 of guilt, but may express the weariness of an old man to whom life
 
 283 
 
 was no longer anything but a burden and a disappointment. ' ' Gif- 
 ford, again, agrees with Whalley's interpretation of the Latin, but 
 thinks that " the words which he Qonson] has adopted are ex- 
 tremely proper for the occasion. . . . How could it escape the 
 critic, that the only passage which gave peculiarity to the quotation 
 from the historian (for the rest is common enough) is, Dii me de- 
 aeque pejus perdant quam perire quotidie sentio, which strongly marks 
 the intolerable anguish of a guilty mind, and which Jonson has 
 wholly omitted. In a word, he has shewn uncommon skill in the 
 composition of this letter, and entered with matchless dexterity into 
 the cloudy and sanguinary character of Tiberius." Montaigne re- 
 marks, in, 8, that he does not see why Tacitus applies these words 
 "si certainement a un poignant remors qui tormente la conscience de 
 Tibere ; au moins lorsque j'estois a mesme, je ne le veis point." 
 
 179, 154. Your dancing shewes a tempest. Dio. Hist, 
 
 Rom. lib. 58. pog. 7/9. [See under 56 above.] 
 179, 1 68. We would willingly. Dio. ibid. 
 181, 192. Haile. Dio. ibid. 
 
 181, 207. Typhoeus: one of the Giants that sought to de- 
 throne Zeus. He lies now under Mt. Aetna 5 see note under 131, 
 12. 
 
 182, 219. P'hlegra : in Macedonia, where the struggle of the 
 gods and giants was thought to have taken place. 
 
 182, 224. -with bayes. Leaves and garlands of the bay, 
 or laurel, sacred to Apollo, were used on occasions of festivity and 
 rejoicing. The horns of a victim were frequently gilded, whereby 
 the victim was marked off from the common herd. Leg. Juiien. 
 Satyr. 10. [58-66. 
 
 descendunt statuae restemque sequuntur, 
 ipsas deinde rotas bigarum impacta securis 
 caedit et inmeritis franguntur crura caballis, 
 iam strident ignes, iam follibus atque caminis 
 ardet adoratum populo caput et crepat ingens 
 Seianus, deinde ex facie toto orbe secunda 
 fiunt urceoli pelves sartago matellae. 
 pone domi laurus, due in Capitolia magnum 
 cretatumque bovem.] 
 
 183, 241. If all the gods. Dio, 58, 6: "For, in view of 
 the way things stood, not even if some god had plainly foretold that
 
 284 
 
 so great a change would take place in a short time, would any one 
 have believed it. " And for the following lines, see ch. 1 1 : " Then 
 might one have obtained a clear and searching insight into the weak- 
 ness of man, so that self-conceit would have been never again, un- 
 der any conditions, possible. Him whom at dawn they had escorted 
 to the senate-halls as one superior to themselves they were now 
 dragging to a cell as if no better than the worst. On him whom 
 they once deemed worthy of crowns they now heaped bonds. Him 
 whom they were wont to protect as a master they now guarded like 
 a runaway slave, and uncovered while he wore a headdress. Him 
 whom they had adorned with the purple-bordered toga they struck 
 in the face. Whom they were wont to adore and sacrifice to as to a 
 god they were now leading to execution." 
 
 184, 246. superstitious Moores. Herodotus, iv, 188 
 (Grant's translation): The wandering Libyans " sacrifice to the sun 
 and moon, but not to any other god. This worship is common to 
 all the Libyans." See also, iv, 184, as well as Strabo, xvu, ch. 
 n, 3, and Pomponius Mela, i, 8; Jonson might have had any one 
 of these passages vaguely in mind. 
 
 184, 251. And this man fall. Dio. lib. 38. fag. 7/9. 
 f2O. we. [n, iz. See under 241 above.] 
 
 185, 267. Fortune, thou hadst no deitie. JUT., x, 
 365-6: 
 
 nullum numen habes si sit prudentia, nos te, 
 nos facimus, Fortuna, deam caeloque locamus. 
 The same thought occurs in practically the same language in Sat. 
 xiv, 315. 
 
 185, 272. And sought to bring, fid. Dion. Hia. Rom. 
 lib. 38. fag. f2O. 721. 722. 723. [12 ff. I do not quite seethe 
 point of this reference ; these pages describe the proceedings after 
 the death of Sejanus. Perhaps it is merely the exulting tone of 
 Macro's speech that Jonson is thinking of.] 
 
 185, 273- Caesars tutor. See note on 137, 145. 
 
 185,283. that hath saved Rome. Gifford says :" Here, 
 perhaps, this tragedy originally ended ; and here, indeed, is its proper 
 close. What follows is merely tedious, and has more the appear- 
 ance of a closet exercise, than a dramatic exhibition. All that has 
 passed since the exit of Sejanus, is of uncommon spirit and beauty."
 
 285 
 
 185, 184. I prophesie. Dio, 58, iz: ". . . they began 
 shortly after to fawn upon Macro and Laco. They gave them great 
 sums of money and to Laco the honors of ex-quaestors, while to 
 Macro they extended the honors of ex-praetors. Similarly they al- 
 lowed them also to view spectacles in their company and to wear 
 the toga praetextata at the ludi votivi. The men did not accept 
 these privileges, however, for the recent example served as a de- 
 terrent ' * 
 
 186, 288. forc'd all mankind. The phrase suggests the 
 "ex animo exstirpatam humanitatem " of Cicero, De Amkitia, 
 xiii. 
 
 186, 293 ff. The eager multitude. Cf. Wilson, ibid., v, 
 yiii : 
 
 The people, 
 
 Having by this time utterly defac'd 
 
 Whatever bore his name or memory, 
 
 Fell foul of him, or rather he of them ! 
 
 Had you but seen the hubbub ! One twicks his beard, 
 
 Another beats out an eye, a third a tooth, 
 
 A fourth cuts off a hand ! No cruelty 
 
 He e'er commanded but was there again 
 
 Epitomiz'd on himself; and when at last 
 
 Their tired invention could inflict no longer, 
 
 Laden with dirt and obloquies, and crown' d 
 
 With garlic, they set him on a scabbed camel, 
 
 And in that odd procession led him to 
 
 The common gallows, where they hung up that little 
 
 They'd left of him ! So fell Andronicus ! 
 
 l86, 196. murmure. The word "murmur" was undoubt- 
 edly suggested by the " secreta murmura vulgi " of Juv., x, 89. 
 
 186, 298-99. devoure the way ... a new theatre. 
 
 Sen., Here. Fur., 838-9 : 
 
 Quantus incedit populos per urbes 
 
 ad novi ludos avidus theatri. 
 
 See, also, Shakspere, Henry IV, part n, i, i He seemed in 
 running to devour the way ; and the French expression " devorer 
 1'espace" (cited by Ellis, after Benoist), which perhaps go back 
 to Catullus, 35. 7 "quare, si sapiet, viam vorabit."
 
 286 
 
 186, 301. Sensitive. Cunningham, in the ed. of 1875: 
 " So the 1640 folio, and in spite of ray theory that its editors had 
 a copy of Stjanut corrected by Jonson, I prefer the 1 6 1 6 reading : 
 4 As if his statues now were tensive grown.' " 
 
 But none of the three copies that I have seen of the 1 6 1 6 folio con- 
 tains that reading ; sec note on the Motto. 
 
 1 86, 303. they teare them down. Vid. Ju-ven. Sat. 
 
 10. [See under 183, x*4 above.] 
 
 1 86, 308. The fornace, and the bellowes. Cunning- 
 ham in edition of 1875, criticizing Gifford's text : " It seems to me 
 impossible that, at such a point of his drama, Jonson could have in- 
 tended what he is here made to write, viz. that the furnace shall be 
 lighted, the bellows be blown, and Sejanus shall crack ! How very 
 different is the reading of the 1 6 1 6 folio : 
 
 ' The furnace and the bellows too shall work 
 
 The great Sejanus crack,' 
 
 where ' crack would mean utter ruin, like the crack of doom.' " 
 None of the copies of F that I hare seen agrees with Cunningham's 
 reading except in the omission of the comma after " work." The 
 difficulty Cunningham raises is done away with when we realize that 
 Jonson is here translating Juvenal's " crepat ingens Seianus " (see 
 under 124 above). 
 
 187, 311. the temple of Concord. Dio. Rom. Hia. lit. 
 38. f>. 720. [u] 
 
 187, 313. tread him downe. Juv., x, 85-88 : 
 
 curramus praecipites et 
 dum iacet in ripa, calcemus Caesaris hostem. 
 sed videant servi, ne quis neget et pavidum in iui 
 cervice obstricta dominum trahat. 
 
 187, 310 ff. with confused voyce. Juv., x, 67 ff. : 
 
 quae labra, quis illi 
 
 Tultus erat ? numquam, si quid mihi credis, amavi 
 hunc hominem. sed quo cecidit sub crimine ? quisnam 
 delator quibus indicibus, quo teste probavit ? ' 
 nil homm ; verbosa et grandis epistula venit 
 a Capreis. * bene habet, nil plus interrogo. sed quid
 
 287 
 
 turba Remi ? * sequitur fortunam ut semper et odit 
 damnatos. idem populus, si Nortia Tusco 
 favisset, si oppressa foret secura senectus 
 principis, hac ipsa Seianum diceret hora 
 Augustum. 
 
 1 88, 333. They follow fortune. Ju-ve. Sat. to. [See 
 
 under 320 above.] 
 
 I 88, 339. Sentence, by the Senate. Dio. ibid, [n] 
 1 88, 340 fF. which was no sooner off. Scnec. lib. de 
 Tranq. Anim. cap. 1 1. %uo die ilium Senatus deduxcrat, Populus in 
 frusta di-visit, &c, [See the quotation from Wilson under 1 86, 
 
 2 93-] 
 
 1 88, 348 ff. Old men not staid with age. Claud., In 
 Ruf., ii, 427 fF. : 
 
 Vacuo plebs obvia muro 
 lam secura fluit. Senibus non obstitit aetas 
 Virginibusque pudor ; viduae, quibus illc maritos 
 Abstulit, orbataeque ruunt ad gaudia matres 
 Insultantque alacres. Laceros iuvat ire per artus 
 Pressaque calcato vestigia sanguine tingi. 
 
 Another parallel, not quite so close, in Sen. , Here. Fur. , 849 fF. 
 J 89, 355 ff have ravish 'd thence an arme. Claud., 
 ibid. 410 ff. : 
 
 Hi rabidos vultus et adhuc spirantia vellunt 
 Lumina ; truncates alii rapuere lacertos. 
 Amputat ille pedes, umerum quatit ille solatia 
 Nexibus ; hie fracti reserat curvamina dorsi ; 
 Hie iecurj hie cordis fibras, hie pandit anhelas 
 Pulmonis latebras. Spatium non invenit ira, 
 Nee locus est odiis. Consumpto funere vixdum 
 Deseritur sparsumque peril per tela cadaver. 
 
 189, 362. The whole. Claud., ibid., 451 fF. : 
 
 lacet en, qui possidet orbem, 
 Exiguae telluris inops et pulvere raro 
 Per partes tegitur, nusquam totiensque sepullus. 
 Xpo, 3741 Of whom. Vid. Senec. lib. de Tranq. Am. cap. xi.
 
 288 
 
 [in quern, quicquid congeri potent, di hominesque contulennt, ex 
 eo nihil superfuit, quod carnitcx traheret.] 
 
 190, 380. The girle so simple. Toe. Ann. lib. j. pa. 99. 
 [Thit is the chapter marked v, 9, in book vi. " Placitum posthac, 
 ut in reliquos Seiani liberos adveneretur, vanescente quamquam ple- 
 bb ira ac plerisque per priora supplicia lenitis. igitur portantur in 
 carcarem, rilius immincntium intellegens, puella adeo ncscia, ut cre- 
 bro interrogaret, quod ob delictum et quo traheretur ; neque facturam 
 ultra, et posse se puerili verbere moneri. tradunt temporis eiut auc- 
 tores, quia triumvirali supplicio adfici virginem inauditum habebatur, 
 a carnifke laqueum iuxta conpressam ; exim oblisis fkucibus id aetatii 
 corpora in Gemonias abiecta."] Et. Dion. lib. jS. fag. 720. [ll] 
 
 190, 384. no virgin immature to die. Lex tnim non 
 
 lam virginitati ignotum cautumqut voluit yuam attati. Com. Lift. 
 Comment. Toe. 
 
 I 9 I i 393- Apicata. Dio. ibid. [11. " His wife Apicata wai 
 not condemned, to be sure, but on learning that her children were 
 dead and after seeing their bodies on the Stain she withdrew and 
 composed a statement regarding the death of Drusus, directed against 
 Li villa, the latter 's wife, who had been the cause of a quarrel between 
 herself and her husband, resulting in their separation. This docu- 
 ment she forwarded to Tiberius and then committed suicide. Thus 
 the statement came to the hands of Tiberius, and when he had ob- 
 tained proof of the information he put to death Livilla and all others 
 therein mentioned. I have, indeed, heard that he spared her out of 
 regard for her mother Antonia, and that Antonia herself voluntarily 
 destroyed her daughter by starving her."] 
 
 '9 1 . 394- 1> spred on the degrees. Cunningham 
 thinks that Massinger must have had this passage in mind in Rom. 
 Act., in, i: 
 
 'T would relish more of policy to have them 
 
 Made away in private 
 
 than to have them drawn 
 
 To the degrees in public ; for 'tis doubted 
 That the sad object may beget compassion 
 In the giddy rout. 
 
 Scalet Gemoniae in quai erant frojtfta damnator. corpora.
 
 289 
 
 190, 409. Li via. Dio. Hist. Rom. lib. 58. fag. 720. [See 
 under 393 above.] 
 
 192, 425 ff. Do'st thou hope fortune. Claud., In Ruf. t 
 ii, 411 : 
 
 Criminibusne tuis speras Fortuna mederi 
 Et male donatum certas aequare favorem 
 Suppliciis ! 
 
 192, 427 ff. Forbeare, you things. Claud., ibid., 440-1 : 
 Desinat elatis quisquam confidere rebus 
 Instabilesque decs et lubrica numina discat. 
 192, 419. When you doe fall. Compare Hor., Odes, u 
 10, 10 : 
 
 celsae graviore casu 
 decidunt turres. 
 Juv., x, 106 : 
 
 excelsae turris tabula ta, unde altior esset 
 casus et impulsae praeceps inmane ruinae. 
 Sen., Here. Fur., aoi: 
 
 alte virtus animosa cadit. 
 
 Moreover, see further parallels cited by Cook in a note on a passage 
 from Wulfstan's Homilies, First Book in Old English^ p. 157. 
 
 I 93>435- F r whom the morning saw. Sen., TAyeit., 
 613: 
 
 quem dies vidit veniens superbum, 
 hunc dies vidit fugiens iacentem. 
 and Hercules Oetacus, 641 : 
 
 quos felices Cynthia vidit, 
 vidit miseros enata dies.
 
 Un/tn othtrviiit stated, tht place of publication it London. 
 
 I. TEXTS 
 
 1605. SEJANUS HIS FALL, WRITTEN >Y BEN JONSON. Printed 
 by G. Elld, for Thomas Thorpe. 
 
 1616. THE WORKES or BENJAMIN JONSON. Imprinted. . .by 
 Will Stansby. 
 
 1640. THE WORKES or BEN JONSON. Printed by Richard Bishop. 
 [Vol. I is the second edition of 1616. See Nicholson, Nott and 
 i$ueritt. S. IV, v, 573, and Greg, A Lilt of Engliih Playt printtd 
 btfort 1642.] 
 
 1692. THE WORKES or BEN JONSON. 
 
 1716. THE WORKS or BEN JONION, in Six Volumes [the first 
 octavo edition]. 
 
 1765. THE WORKS or BEN JONSON. Collated with all the former 
 editions and corrected with notes critical and explanatory, by P. 
 Whalley. 7 volumes. 
 
 l8ll. THE DRAMATIC WORKS or BEN JONSON AND BEAUMONT 
 AND FLETCHER. The first printed from the text, and with the notes 
 of Peter Whalley, etc. 
 
 1816. THE WORKS or BEN JONSON. In nine volumes, with 
 notes critical and explanatory, and a biographical memoir, by W. 
 Gifford. 
 
 1862. BEN JONION 's SEJANUS. Herausgegeben und erklart von 
 Dr. Carl Sachs. Leipzig. 
 
 1838. THE WORKS or BEN JONSON. By B. P. Proctor [Barry 
 Cornwall]. 
 
 1875. THE WOEKS or BEN JONSON ... by W. Gifford, with 
 Introduction and Appendices by F. Cunningham. 9 volumes. 
 
 1890-94. THE BEST PLAYS or BEN JONSON ... by B. Nich- 
 olson and C. H. Herford. Mermaid Scries. 3 volumes.
 
 Bibliograpijv 291 
 
 1905-. THE WORKES or BENJAMIN JONSON. A reprint of folio 
 of 1616, ed. by W. Bang, Materialien zur kunde det alteren 
 englhchen dramas. Lou vain. 
 
 II. WORKS BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL 
 
 l668. ESSAY OF DRAMATIC POETRY. John Dryden. 
 1842. BEN JONSON'S CONVERSATIONS WITH DRUMMONO OF 
 HAWTHORNDEN, ed. Laing. Old Shakespeare Society Publications. 
 
 1863. HlSTOIRE DE LA LlTTERATURE ANGLAISE. H. TalHC. 
 
 Paris. 
 
 1879. HISTORY OF ENGLISH DRAMATIC POETRY. J. P. Collier. 
 Zded. 
 
 1880. BEN JONSON'S ROEMER-DRAMEN. H. Saegelken. Bremen. 
 1884. LECTURES UPON SHAKESPEARE AND SOME OF THE OLD 
 
 DRAMATISTS. S. T. Coleridge. Works, ed. Shedd. N. Y. 
 
 1884. METRISCHE UNTERSUCHUNGEN zu BEN JONSON. W. 
 Wilke. Halle. 
 
 1888. LIFE OF BEN JONSON. J. A. Symonds. 
 
 1888. ANWENDUNG DER RHYME-TEST, UNO DOUBLE-ENDING 
 TEST AUF BEN JONSON'S DRAMEN. W. Wilke. Anglia, x. 
 
 1889. BEN JONSONS SEJANUS AM HEIDELBERG ER HOFE. J. 
 Bolte. Shakespeare yahrbucb, xxiv. 
 
 1889. A STUDY OF BEN JONSON. A. C. Swinburne. (A reprint 
 of articles published in the Nineteenth Century in 1 888.) 
 
 1890. BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA. F. 
 G. Fleay. 
 
 1891. HISTORY OF THE LONDON STAGE. F. G. Fleay. 
 
 1892. TIMBER, OR DISCOVERIES IN MEN AND MATTER, ed. 
 F. E. Schelling. Boston. 
 
 1892. BEN JONSON. C. H. Herford (in Dictionary of National 
 Biography"). 
 
 1893. THE INFLUENCE OF SENECA ON THE ELIZABETHAN 
 DRAMA. J. W. Cunliffe. 
 
 l89S. CjUELLENSTUDIEN ZU BEN JONSON, MARSTON, FLETCHER. 
 
 E. Koeppel. Erlangen. 
 
 1898. BEN JONSON'S POETIK UNO SEINE BEZIEHUNGEN z 
 HORAZ. H. Reinsch. Naumburg.
 
 292 15tUliogi\ipliy 
 
 1898. BEN JONSON AND THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL. F. E. Schcl- 
 ling. Publications of the Modern Language Association, xm. 
 
 1898. BEN JONSON ALS KRITIKER. H. Grossman. Berlin. 
 
 1899. A HISTORY or ENGLISH DRAMATIC LITERATURE. A. 
 W. Ward, ad ed. 
 
 I9OI. DlE ERSTEN SECHI MASKEN BEN JoNSONS IN IHREN 
 
 VERHALTNIS ZUR ANTIKEN LITTERATUR. J. Hofmiller. Freising. 
 
 1903. HISTORY or ENGLISH POETRY. W. C. Courthope. 
 
 1903. THE AUTHORITY or THE BEN JONSON FOLIO or 1616. 
 Van Dam and Stoffel. Anglia, xxvi. 
 
 1905. BEN JONSONS TRAGODIE CATILINE HIS CONSPIRACY UNO 
 
 IHRE QuELLEN. A. Vogt. Halle. 
 
 1905. BEN JONSON AND THE ' BLOODY BROTHER. ' C. Craw- 
 ford. Shakespeare Jahrbuch, XLI. 
 
 1905. BEN JONSON'S PROBABLE AUTHORSHIP or IT, a, or 
 FLETCHER'S BLOODY BROTHER. R. Garnett. Modern PAilt/ogy, n. 
 
 1906. JONSON'S WIRKUNG Aur ZEITGZNOSSISCHE DRAMA- 
 TIKER. E. KOEPPEL. Heidelberg. 
 
 1906. BEN JONSON. Ph. Aronstein. Berlin. 
 
 1907. BEN JONSON, L'HoMME ET L'CEuvRE. M. Castelain. 
 Para. 
 
 1908. HENSLOWE'S DIARY, ed. W. W. Greg. 
 
 1908. THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA. F. E. Schelling. Boston. 
 1908. KATALINA IM DRAMA DSR WELTUTTERATUR, H. B. 
 Speck. Breslau. 
 
 1908. TRAGEDY. A. H. Thorndike. Boston.
 
 addition, something annexed 
 to a man's name, to show his 
 rank ... or otherwise to 
 distinguish him (N. . D.). 
 
 admit, permit. 
 
 advance, to put forward, make 
 prominent. 
 
 affect (Lat. affcctare), to de- 
 sire, love ; to seek to attain. 
 
 affect (Lat. afficere), to impress. 
 
 affections, passion ; love. 
 
 afflicting (Lat. affliciaref), 
 tormenting, vexing (46, 155, 
 stimulating by irritation ? not 
 in N. E. D. in this sense ; see 
 note on passage). 
 
 against, in preparation for. 
 
 allbe, albeit. 
 
 allowance, approval, permis- 
 sion. 
 
 ammeld, enameled. 
 
 amuse, puzzle. 
 
 answer, repay. 
 
 apozem, infusion. 
 
 applied, plied. 
 
 argue, accuse, call in question. 
 
 argument, subject, subject- 
 matter. 
 
 assurance, certainty of fulfill- 
 ment. 
 
 assure, give assurance of. 
 
 at once, see once. 
 
 atomi, pi. of Lat. atomus, an 
 
 atom. 
 
 attempt, tempt, incite, 
 audience, reception. 
 
 author, performer, actor, insti- 
 gator. 
 avoid, remove. 
 
 bands, bonds. 
 
 bate, abate. 
 
 benevolence, good-will. 
 
 bill, petition. 
 
 brave, fine, excellent. 
 
 bravery, fine attire. 
 
 bulks, bodies. 
 
 by and by, immediately. 
 
 can, to know, to have know- 
 ledge. 
 Cause (Lat. causa, lawsuit, 
 
 hence metaphorically) conflict, 
 
 war. 
 
 censure, judgment, sentence. 
 Censure, to judge, criticize ; to 
 
 sentence, 
 century, a division of troops 
 
 containing a hundred men. 
 centurion, the commander of 
 
 a century. 
 Ceruse, a face-wash, cosmetic 
 
 (see note on 58, 63), formed 
 
 from white lead.
 
 294 
 
 choler, bile (see note on 62, 
 34)- 
 
 circumstance, the adjuncts of 
 a fact which make it more or 
 less criminal; or make an ac- 
 cusation more or lest probable 
 (N. E. D.). 
 
 cirque, circus. 
 
 closeness, reticence. 
 
 Cohort, a division of troops con- 
 taining six centuries (q. v.). 
 
 colour, pretext (see ground). 
 
 communicate, share. 
 
 compass, crafty contrivance, 
 stratagem. 
 
 conceit, fanciful notion. 
 
 conceited, fanciful. 
 
 Confer, gather, bring together. 
 
 conferred, compared. 
 
 confluence, affluence (? not in 
 N. E. D. in this sense; see 
 note on 19, 4). 
 
 correspondence, intercourse. 
 
 counter-point, opposite, an- 
 tithesis. 
 
 Course, line of action. 
 
 cozen, to cheat. 
 
 cunning, learned, versed. 
 
 Curious, solicitous; elaborate, 
 finespun. 
 
 decline, depress, degrade; turn 
 
 aside. 
 
 definitions, limitations. 
 degenerous, degenerate, 
 degree, *tep. 
 delator, spy. 
 deliver, declare, relate. 
 
 delude, mock. 
 
 deprave, vilify, calumniate. 
 
 deserts, good deeds (hence 
 benefits ?). 
 
 design, appoint. 
 
 designment, planning, pur- 
 pose. 
 
 detract, detract from, depre- 
 ciate. 
 
 dilate, extended 
 
 discern, distinguish, discrimi- 
 nate. 
 
 discovery, disclosure. 
 
 disprise, prise at too low a 
 rate. 
 
 dissolved, lax, negligent (Lat. 
 Jiisoluius, not in N. E. D. ; 
 see note on 83, 37). 
 
 doubtful, suspicious. 
 
 drifts, purpose ; plot. 
 
 during, enduring. 
 
 easy, pliable. 
 
 election, choice, selection. 
 
 enforce, to force out; to offer 
 force to. 
 
 engine, trickery ; plot ; ma- 
 chine. 
 
 enginers, plotters, 
 entertainment, maintenance, 
 
 W- 
 
 envy, jealousy, 
 equal, just, impartial, 
 errant, arrant, 
 even, exactly, 
 event, fate. 
 
 exact (Lat. expert, to calcu- 
 late precisely), estimated,
 
 295 
 
 weighed (not in N. E. D.). 
 
 exampless,without example, 
 example-less (apparently 
 
 unique). 
 
 exampling, serving as ex- 
 ample. 
 
 expect, await. 
 
 expectance, expectation. 
 
 expiscation, investigation, 
 searching out. 
 
 express, represent. 
 
 expulsed, driven out. 
 
 fact, deed ; evil deed. 
 
 fain, necessitated (originally 
 glad). 
 
 faint, give way, flag. 
 
 fairly, fully. 
 
 faith, authority; loyalty. 
 
 fathers, patricians. 
 
 fautors, favorers, adherents. 
 
 favor your tongues, see note 
 on 154, 7. 
 
 fear, frighten. 
 
 flamen, priest. 
 
 foil, whatever sets off (usually by 
 comparison or contrast). 
 
 fond, foolish. 
 
 forth, out of. 
 
 forward, ready, prompt. 
 
 free, innocent; noble. 
 
 frequent, thronged. But sena- 
 tus frequens (frequent senate) 
 seems to have been a technical 
 term roughly equivalent to our 
 ' 'quorum ' ' ( Willems, Le Senat 
 de la Republiquc Romainc, 
 11, 165). 
 
 frequently, numerously, in 
 
 great numbers. 
 fruition, enjoyment, 
 fucus, a face-wash, 
 funerals, funeral ceremonies. 
 
 gat, got. 
 
 giglot, a wanton. 
 
 gin, begin. 
 
 give, report ; import, signify. 
 
 grace, graciousness. 
 
 grandam, grandmother. 
 
 gratify, to oblige, do a favor. 
 
 grief, disease, ailment. 
 
 ground, in painting ... a 
 main surface or first coating of 
 colour, serving as a support for 
 other colours or a background 
 for design (N. E. D.). 
 
 happily, haply, perchance. 
 
 head, fountainhead, spring. 
 
 hecatomb, a sacrifice of a hun- 
 dred oxen; a great sacrifice of 
 animals. 
 
 impose, to place upon. 
 
 impotence, ungovernable pas- 
 sion. 
 
 improve (Lat. improbare, to 
 condemn, improbus, bad), viti- 
 ate (? not in N. E. D. ; see 1 1, 
 127). 
 
 informed, made known to. 
 
 ingine, see engine. 
 
 inginers, see enginers. 
 
 instructed, furnished.
 
 296 
 
 interdiction, authoritative 
 
 prohibition. 
 
 interess'd, interested, 
 intergatory, interrogatory. 
 
 jealous, suspicious. 
 jealousy, suspicion. 
 
 kalends, the first day of the 
 
 month. 
 kind, nature. 
 
 laid, planned. 
 
 let, hindrance, obstacle. 
 
 lictors, an attendant upon a 
 Roman magistrate, carrying 
 the fasces. 
 
 lose, waste. 
 
 lust, ungovernable passion (for 
 calumniating; opposed to li- 
 cense; see 103, 443)- 
 
 magistral, having sovereign 
 remedial qualities. 
 
 make, prepare for the business 
 (N. E. D.), gain over; 
 a leg, to bow; up, to re- 
 pair by filling up gaps. 
 
 mark, character. 
 
 mean, a middle path, modera- 
 tion. 
 
 modesty, moderation. 
 
 moile, mule. 
 
 ne, nor. 
 
 noise, a band of musicians. 
 note, a mark, stigma. 
 numerous, metrical, rhyth- 
 mical. 
 
 objected, brought forward as a 
 ground or reason. 
 
 obsequies, obedience. 
 
 Observance, observing, no- 
 ticing; respect. 
 
 observe, to pay court. 
 
 observer, one who pays court. 
 
 offence, disfavor, hatred. 
 
 offer (or offer at), to attempt, 
 
 strive after, 
 office, exercise, discharge (not 
 
 in N. E. D.; see 48, 183); 
 
 service, duty. 
 once, once for all ; at once, 
 
 together, 
 open, disclose. 
 opprest, suppressed, crushed. 
 
 parted, distributed, parted out. 
 
 particular, special ; private. 
 
 pash, to dash in pieces. 
 
 pathlC, a catamite. 
 
 peculiar, particular, individual. 
 
 perishing, injurious, destroy- 
 ing. 
 
 policy, statesmanship. 
 
 poll, plunder. 
 
 popular, to or of the people as 
 distinct from the nobility or pa- 
 tricians. 
 
 practice, treachery; plot. 
 
 practise, to plot, scheme. 
 
 praetorian, of or belonging to 
 the imperial bodyguard, which 
 served also as a garrison for the 
 city. 
 
 present, instant, immediate. 
 
 presently, immediately.
 
 297 
 
 prevent, anticipate. 
 
 prime, chief. 
 
 private, personal interest or 
 
 business. 
 
 produce, draw out, prolong. 
 profess, state openly. 
 promptly, frankly, 
 proof, test. 
 
 proper, peculiar to, one's own. 
 property, function, usej any 
 
 article for stage use. 
 prosperous, of good omen. 
 prove, to test. 
 put on, incite. 
 
 rector, ruler. 
 
 rectress, female ruler. 
 
 recure, recovery. 
 
 reflect, turn back. 
 
 religious, having formal or 
 official connection with the 
 worship of a divinity; scrupu- 
 lous. 
 
 renowm, renown. 
 
 resolve, relax. 
 
 respect, to have respect to. 
 
 respect, scruple, consideration. 
 
 satisfaction, compensation. 
 
 satisfy, compensate, make 
 amends for. 
 
 Say, assay. 
 
 Scrupulous, precise, punctil- 
 ious. 
 
 Secure, careless. 
 
 security, carelessness. 
 
 sellary, a lewd person. 
 
 sensibly, sensitively. 
 
 Sestertia, pi. of Lat. sester- 
 tium, a thousand sestertii. 
 
 Settle, to become fixed or es- 
 tablished. 
 
 shittle, shuttle. 
 
 siege, stool. 
 
 silly, innocent. 
 
 Sincere, pure, genuine. 
 
 slighten, to make slight. 
 
 slight, craft. 
 
 spintry, a male prostitute. 
 
 stain, blot, blemish. 
 
 Stalled, forestalled. 
 
 State, estate; rank, dignity; 
 reasons of state. 
 
 Still, always, constantly. 
 
 Store, a plenty, large number 
 (hence rest ?) 
 
 Strook, struck. 
 
 Study, zeal; plan. 
 
 Suffrage, approval. 
 
 suspected, suspicious. 
 
 take, to take a liking; take 
 effect; take to be. 
 
 temper, moderation. 
 
 then, than. 
 
 through, thoroughly. 
 
 tibicines, pi. of Lat. tibiccn, a 
 fluteplayer. 
 
 toys, trifle; whim. 
 
 tract, course, track. 
 
 train, stratagem. 
 
 tribune, one of the six serially 
 commanding officers of a Ro- 
 man legion. 
 
 triumph, a triumphal proces- 
 sion through the Roman
 
 298 
 
 streets, accorded, usually, to 
 a commander who had been 
 conspicuously successful in the 
 field. 
 
 tubicines, pi. of Lat. tubicen, 
 a trumpeter. 
 
 tyranne, tyrant (the regular 
 form throughout the play). 
 
 uncouth, unknown, 
 unkind, unnatural, 
 unkindly, unnaturally, 
 untrain'd, unaimed (but note 
 the pun; see train). 
 
 vervin, verbena, a plant pos- 
 
 sessed of religious associations 
 among the Romans. 
 
 vexation, shaking. 
 
 virtue, capacity (cf. Ital. virtu, 
 that quality in a man whereby 
 he succeeded in his undertak- 
 ings). 
 
 voice, word; reputation. 
 
 want, lack. 
 
 wit, knowledge, intellect, 
 without, beyond, 
 woodness, madness, 
 wreak, vengeance. 
 
 yet, still
 
 A 000 692 757 8