ll^l S>3> ^>'-W >>!> J J6 a ' A £) II T IDT ^ >^ia?-rd /y Mrr tions of the old republic, as well in her day of adver- sity as in the tide of success, have been recorded by writers of splendid genius. Even in the time of Au- gustus there florished a race of authors, from whose abilities that period might have received ample jus- tice : but the spirit of adulation growing epidemic, the dignity of the historic character was lost. What has been transmitted to us concerning Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, cannot be received without great mistrust. During the lives of those emperors fear suppressed or disfigured the truth ; and after their deaths, recent feelings gave an edge to resentment : for this reason, it is my intention shortly to state some particulars relating to Augustus, chiefly towards the close of his life ; and thence to follow downward the thread of my narration through the reigns of Tiberius and his three immediate successors, free from animo- sity and partial atfection, with the candor of a man who has no motives, either of love or hatred, to warp his integrity. II. The fate of Brutus and Cassius^ being decided, the commonwealth had no longer an army engaged in the cause of public liberty. The younger Pompey received a total overthrow on the coast of Sicily ; Lepidus was deprived of his legions ; and Marc An- 1 Brutus and Cassius, after iheir defeat at the battle of Pbilippi, despatched themselves, A. U. C. 712, having both resolved before the engagen)ent that, if they did not conquer, they would have nothing to fear from their enemies. Plutarch, Life of iirutus. They were the two last Koman patriots, and public liberty died with them. Sextus Pompeius, the son of Pompey the Great, was defeated by Agrippa in a naval en- gagement on the coast of Sicily. He fled into Asia, and was there put to death, A. U. C. 719. Florus, iv. 8 ; Veil. Paterc. ii. 72, 73. Lepidus was at the head of twenty legions, but was dismantled of his power by the policy of Augustus. jMarc Antony died a voluntary death. 4 TACITUS. tony fell on his own sword. In that situation the partisans of Julius Caesar had no leader but Octavius, who laid aside the invidious title of triumvir, content with the more popular name of consul, and with the tribunitian power, ^ which he professed to assume for the protection of the people. In a little time, when he had allured to his interest the soldiery by a profu- sion of largesses, the people by distributions of corn, and the minds of men in general by the sweets of peace, his views grew more aspiring. By degrees, and almost imperceptibly, he drew into his own hands the authority of the senate, the functions of the magis- trates, and the administration of the laws. To these encroachments no opposition was made. The true re- publican had perished, either in the field of battle, or by the rigor of proscriptions : of the remaining nobi- 1 The office of tribune of the people originated in the fol- lowing manner : The inferior citizens made a secession to the Moiis Sacer, A. U. C. 259, and refused to return till they were allowed to choose magistrates of their own. The number at first was two : in the year of Rome 283 five were chosen ; and in 297 ten. By their intercession in any business they could stop the proceedings of the senate, and all the magis- trates. In process of time their authority was held to be sacred. No man could presume to interrupt them in their harangues, and they could command all to be silent. They could stop all legislation, . Artaxias XL, the prince mentioned in the text, mounted the throne A. U. C. 7S4 : liis reign was short. In that very year Tigranes, under the conduct of Ti- berius, was placed by order of Augustus on the throne of Armenia, Velleius Paterculus, ii. 94. 104 TACITUS. first to Rome, and next to the Partliians, acting with alternate treachery to both. The insidious conduct of Marc Antony, who allured their king Artavasdes to liis friendship, then loaded him with chains, and basely murdered him, was fresh in their minds. Ar- taxias, the son of that unfortunate prince, conceived from that tragic event a rooted aversion to the Romm name. He ascended the throne of his father, and with the assistance of the Parthians stood at bay with Rome, till he fell at last by the perfidy of his ovn relations. After his death Tigranes, by the appoint- ment of Augustus, was raised to the throne. Tiberiis Nero, at the head of a powerful army, conducted him to the capital of his dominions. The reign of th.s prince was short. His issue succeeded ; but the line became extinct, notwithstanding the intermarriages oi brother and sister,' allowed by the policy of eastern nations, to strengthen the royal line. By order of Augustus Artavasdes^ succeeded. To support his cause, Rome exerted her strength, and spilt the blood of her armies but without success. The new king was driven from the throne. IV. In that juncture,^ Caius Csesar was sent to 1 Intermarriages between brothers and sisters were allowed by the custom of Egypt and the eastern nations. Cleopatra married her brother Ptolemy ; and accordingly Ca?sar, having ended the Alexandrian war, appointed brother and sister kings of the country, ' Reges constituit.' De Bell. Alexand. ^ xxxiii. Livy, in like manner, calls Ptolemy and Cleopatra kings of Egypt, Freinshemius says that the wife of Uarius, who was taken prisoner by Alexander, was also sister to her husband. 2 Artavasdes was raised by Augustus to the throne of Ar- menia A, U, C, 748, and deposed by the people in the year of Rome 752, 3 Ariobarzanes was made king of Armenia A. U. C. 755, when Caius, the son of Agrippa, adopted by Augustus into the family of the Cit'sars, commanded the army in the east. • THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 105 compose the troubles in Armenia. With the consent of the people that young commander placed the crown on the head of Ariobarzanes, by birth a Mede, distinguished by his rare accomplishments, and his graceful figure. After the death of this prince, who lost his life by an accident, the people refused obe- dience to his descendants, A woman of the name of Erato succeeded : but a female reign did not last long. From that time the nation continued in a state of anarchy, without a master, yet not in possession of liberty. It was in this posture of affairs that Vonones entered Armenia. The people received him with open arms. Artabanus, in the mean time, threatened to invade the kingdom. The Armenians were not in force ; and Rome, without undertaking an expensive war against the Parthians, could not espouse their cause. Vonones fled for shelter to Creticus Silanus,' the governor of Syria. That officer promised his pro- tection ; but afterwards thought proper to secure the person of the prince, leaving him, under a strong guard, to enjoy the title of king, and the parade of royalty. The efforts which Vonones made to escape from this mock dignity shall be related in due time. V. Tiberius, with his usual phlegm, saw the storm gathering in the east. Commotions in that part of the world might furnish an opportunity to remove Germa- nicus from an army devoted to his person, and to employ him in new scenes of action, and in distant provinces, where he would be exposed to the chance of war, and more within the reach of treachery. Ger- manicus, meanwhile, finding the legions zealous in his 1 Vonones, son of Phraates IV., succeeded queen Erato, who reigned a short time. He was himself expelled, as here related by Tacitus. Zeno succeeded, and was placed on the throne by Germanicus A. U.C. 771. This book, § 36. 106 TACITUS. service, and the malice of Tiberius still implacable^ began to consider how he might strike a decisive blow, and by one signal victory conclude the war. For this purpose he reviewed the operations in his three last campaigns, with the various turns of good and evil fortune which he had experienced. He ob- served that * the Germans, in a pitched battle, or on equal ground, were always defeated ; woods and fens protected them ; and the shortness of the summer, with the quick return of winter, favored their cause. It was not so much the sword of the enemy as the fatigue of long and difficult marches that thinned the Roman army. The loss of military weapons was an additional evil. Horses were not to be procured in Gaul, that country being well-nigh exhausted. The baggage of the army, liable to ambuscades, was always defended at great disadvantage. An expedition by sea promised better success. The army might pene- trate at once into the heart of the country ; and the Germans, unapprised of that mode of attack, would be taken by surprise. The campaign would be sooner opened ; the legions and their provisions might ad- vance together ; men and horses would arrive in good condition ; and, with the advantage of harbors for the fleet, and navigable rivers up the country, the war might be pushed to the very heart of Germany.' VI. TJiis plan of operations being judged the best, he sent Publius Vitellius and Caius Cantius to con- vene the states of Gaul ; and, in the mean time, com- mitted the care of building a fleet to Silius, Anteius, and Csecina. A thousand vessels (that number being deemed sufficient) were soon in readiness, but not all constructed on one uniform principle. Some were of a shorter size, sharpened to a point at the stern and prow, and broad in the middle, the better to endure THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 107 the fury of the waves ; others were flat-bottomed, that they might without difficulty run in on the shore. A great number had rudders at each end, that by a sud- den turn of the oars they might work with facility either way. In many of the ships, formed as well to carry sail as to advance with the stroke of the oar, arches were raised on the decks of strength to bear the engines of war, and at the same time atford room for horses and provisions. The fleet, thus equipped, dis- played a magnificent spectacle ; while the swell of the sails, the alacrity of the oars, and the bustle of the soldiers, struck a general terror. The isle ofBatavia' was the place appointed for the general rendezvous. Tlie shore in those parts being easy of approach, the troops might be speedily landed, and again embarked with expedition, so as to spread an alarm through the country. The Rhine, embracing in its course a few small islands, flows in one united stream, till it reaches the point of Batavia, where it branches off in two different channels ; one running with rapid force along the confines of Germany, and till it falls into the ocean still retaining its original name ; the other, with a wider but less violent current, washes the side of Gaul, and by the inhabitants is called the Wahal, till at last, losing itself in the Meuse, it takes the name of that river, and through an immense opening dis- charges itself into the German Ocean. VII. While the fleet was preparing for the expe- dition Germanicus ordered Silius, with a light de- tachment, to make an irruption into the territory of 1 The isle of Batavia is rendered for ever famous by tb© enterprising spirit of Civilis, the warlike chief, whose brave exploits against the Romans are related in the fourth book of the History. For a farther description of Batavia, see the Manners of tlie Germans, § 29. 108 TACITUS. the Cattians. Meanwhile, having intelligence that the fort on the river Lnppia was invested, he marched himself, at the head of six legions, to relieve the gar- rison. A sudden fall of heavy rains obliged Silius ta desist from his enterprise. He returned with a moderate booty, and two prisoners ; one the wife, the other the daughter, of Arpus, prince of the Cattians. Germa- nicus was not able to bring the Germans to an engage- ment. He no sooner appeared before the place than the enemy raised the siege, and consulted their safety by flight. It was found, however, that they had levelled to the ground the monument erected the year before to Varus and his legions, and likewise an ancient altar dedicated to Drusus. The prince rebuilt the altar ; and joining with the legions in equestrian games, performed a funeral ceremony ^ in honor of his father. He did not judge it advisable to restore the tomb, which had been erected to Varus and the legions ; but, with a chain of fortified posts, he secured the whole country between Fort Aliso and the Rhine. Vin. The fleet assembled at the place appointed. Germanicus ordered the military stores to be sent on board ; and, having completed the embarkation of the legions and the allies, sailed through the canal called the canal of Drusus,^ invoking his father to assist the enterprise, and by the memory of his example to guide 1 The equestrian games in honor of the dead are de- scribed by Virgil. Statius, in his Thebaid, has gi\^en a de- scription more at length. See vi. 313. Drusus, after many signal victories in Germany, died there in the summer camp, which was for that reason called the icicked camp. His re- mains were buried at Rome, in the Field of Mars. The sol- diers raised a monument to his memory, and went annually round the place in a funeral procession. "2 The canal of Drusus, Brotier says, was between Iselsort and Doesburg, from the Ilhine to the river Sala, now the Issel. THE ANNALS. — BOOK 11. 109 and animate his son, now pursuing the same track of glory. The fleet proceeded over the lakes ;^ and entering the German Ocean, stretched away as far as the river Amisia. There, at a place of the same name^ on the left-hand shore, he landed his men, leaving his ships safe at their moorings. This measure was ill con- certed. The debarkation should have been made higher up the country, and on the opposite bank, where the enemy had taken post. The mistake made it necessary to throw bridges over the river, and in that business several days were consumed. At low water the cavalry and the legions forded over the asstuary without difficulty ; but the rear, consisting of the auxiliary forces, was overtaken by the return of the tide, and thrown into disorder. The Batavians, in particular, eager to show their dexterity in swimming, continued sporting in the waves, till the rapidity of the current overwhelmed them. Some lost their lives. Germanicus pitched his camp. While he was em- ployed in marking out the lines he received advice that the Angrivarians, whom he had left behind him, were in motion. To check their progress he sent a detachment of light infantry, under the command of Stertinius, who chastised the treachery of the bar- barians, and laid the country waste with fire and sword. IX. The Visurgis flowed between the Romans and 1 This canal, according to Grotius, formed a third branch of the Rhine : it discharged itself into the Issel, and through that channel into the lakes, on the borders of which the Fri- sians inhabited, where it took the name of Flev^us, and emptied itself into the sea. The lakes are now lost in the Zuyder Zee. See Manners of the Germans, § 29. 2 The station on the eastern bank of the river is now called Western Emden. Germanicus was going to invade the Chau- cians, who dwelt on the western side of the river, and he landed his men on the opposite bank. 110 TACITUS. Cheruscans. On tlie opposite bank Arminius pre- sented himself. He was attended by tlie principal German chiefs. His business was to know whether Germanicus Avas with the army : being answered in the affirmative, he desired an interview v/ith his bro- ther, known to the Romans by the name of Flavins ; a man of strict fidelity, who some years before, under the conduct of Tiberius, lost an eye in battle. The meeting- was permitted. Flavius advanced to the margin of the river. Arminius; from the opposite side, saluted him ; and having ordered his guards to fail back, required that the Roman archers should withdraw in like manner. Tlie two brothers being left to themselves, Arminius fixed his eyes on Flavius ; and, ' Whence,' he said, ' that deformity of feature ?' He was told the battle and the place where it hap- pened. ' And what,' continued Arminius, ' has been your recompense V — ' I have received,' said Flavius, * an augmentation of pay,' a military chain, an orna- mental crown, and other honors.' Arminius burst into a laugh of scorn and indignation. ' They are the wages,' he said, * of a slave cheaply purchased.' X. A warm altercation followed. Flavius talked of the majesty of Rome, the power of the Caesars, the weight with which their vengeance falls on the obsti- nate, and their clemency to the nations willing to sub- mit. He added, ' Your wife and son are in the hands of Rome, and neither of them has been treated like a captive.' Arminius, on the contrary, urged the rights of men born in freedom, the laws of his country, the plan of ancient liberty, and the gods of Germany. * Your mother,' he said, * joins with me in earnest 1 These military honors have been mentioned before. See book i. § 72. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. Ill supplication : we both conjure you not to desert your family ; not to betray your friends, nor prefer the detested name of traitor to the vast renown of com- manding armies in defence of your country.' By de- grees their passions rose to a pitch of fury: insomuch, that the river could not have restrained them from deciding their quarrel by the sword, if Stertinius had not checked the impetuosity of Flavins, who stood burn- ing with resentment, and calling aloud for his horse and his arms. Arminius behaved with equal fury ; in his storm of passion denouncing vengeance, and threaten- ing the issue of a battle. What he said was perfectly understood. He had commanded the auxiliaries of his country, acting in conjunction with the legions, and having conversed in the Roman camp, was able to interlard his discourse with Latin expressions. XI. On the following day the Germans appeared on the other side of the Visurgis, drawn up in order of battle. Germanicus, till he had thrown bridges over the river, and made each pass secure, did not think it advisable to expose liis legions to the hazard of an engagement. In the mean time, to cause a di- version of the enemy, he ordered the cavalry, under the conduct of Stertinius, and iEmilius, one of the principal centurions,' to ford over at two different places. Cariovalda, at the head of his Batavians, advanced where the current was most rapid. The Cheruscans feigned a flight. Cariovalda, pursuing with too much eagerness, pushed on to a place encom- passed with woods, and fell into an ambuscade. Tlie enemy rushed on to the attack with impetuous fury. They bore down all who resisted, and pressed on such 1 The word in the original is primipilaris. Gordon calls him lieutenant-colonel, it means one of the principal cen- turions. H2 TACITUS. as gave way. The Batavians formed a ring, and were surrounded on every side. The Germans, at a dis- tance, discharged a volley of darts, while some of them, more eager than the rest, fought hand to hand in close engagement. Cariovalda sustained the shock with undaunted valor. Finding himself, at lengtli, in danger of being overpowered, he exhorted his men to form in platoons, and bravely open a passage through the ranks of the enemy. He rushed forward into tlie heat of the action ; but his horse being killed, he fell under a shower of darts, and died sword in hand. Several of the prime nobility of his country perished with him. The rest found their safety either in their own valor, or the timely succor of Stertinius and ^Emilius, who came up with the cavalry. XII. Germanicus, in the mean time, having passed the Visurgis, found by a deserter that Arminius liad already fixed on a spot for a general action ; and being reinforced by other nations, then actually assembled in a forest sacred to Hercules,' was determined in the dead of night to storm the Roman camp. This intel- ligence was thought worthy of credit. The fires of the enemy gleamed at a distance ; the scouts, who ad- vanced to reconnoitre their posts, heard the neighing of horses, and the bustle of a prodigious but undis- ciplined multitude. In this important moment, on the eve of a decisive battle, the Roman general thought it a point of moment to explore the sentiments and in- clinations of his men. How to accomplish this, with a degree of certainty, was a difficult point. The tri- bunes and centurions studied more to ' bring in agree- able reports than to relate the truth. The freed-men 1 For the Hercules of the Gennans, see the JManners of the Germans, § 2. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 113 still retained an original leaven of servility, and friends were prone to flattery. In an assembly of the soldiers a few forward spirits took the lead, and the whole herd was ready to follow. To sound the real sentiments of the army, the soldier must be taken in his unguarded moments, removed from the eye of his officer, at table with his comrades, when, with frank simplicity, he speaks his mind, and tells his hopes and fears without reserve.' XIII. As soon as night came on the prince went forth, through the augural gate,* covered with the skin of a wild beast. A single attendant followed him. He pursued his way through devious paths, un- known to the sentinels, stopping frequently near the tents, and listening to his own fame. The nobility of his descent was the topic with some ; others praised the dignity of his person ; the greater part talked of his patience, his courage, and that happy tempera- ment, Avhich, on all occasions, severe or lively, still preserved the dignity of his character. To such a commander the place to show their gratitude was the field of battle ; there the barbarians ought to suffer for their perfidy ; and there the violator of public treaties should be doomed a sacrifice to the glory of Germanicus. Amidst these discourses a soldier from the adverse camp, who could speak the Roman lan- guage, rode up to the intrenchments, and, in the name of Arminius, proclaimed aloud a promise of wives and lands to every deserter, besides a hundred sesterces 1 It has been observed, i. p. 13, note 1, that the general's tent was called thepretorium. It was a large square, with a flag in the middle, about a hundred feet distant from each of the sides. Near the tent were erected the tribunal for dispensing justice, and a kind of temple in which sacrifices were oftVred. Near the temple there was a private gate into the camp, called the augural gate. TACIT. VOL. I. H 114 TACITUS. for his daily pay, during the continuance of the war. This was felt as an affront : the soldiers cried out with indignation, ' The dawn of day shall see us in the field: let Arminius risk a battle: the lands of his countrymen shall be ours by conquest, and their wives shall be carried off in captivity. The offer is an omen of victory. The wealth and the women of Ger- many shall be the reward of valor.' At the third watch ' the enemy advanced to the intrenchraents ; but perceiving the works properly guarded, the co- horts under arms, and all intent on duty, they re- treated, without so much as throwing a single dart. XIV. Germanicus retired to rest, and in his sleep Avas favored with a joyful vision. Being employed, as he imagined, at a sacrifice, and the blood of the victim happening to stain his pontifical garment, his grandmother Livia made him a present of another robe, no less beautiful than magnificent. Pleased with this prognostic, which the auspices confirmed, he called an assembly of the soldiers, and in a speech ac- quainted them with his plan for the ensuing battle. The open plain, he observed, was not the only spot where tlie Romans could engage with advantage. Woods and forests were equally favorable. The un- wieldy buckler of the Germans, and that enormous length of spear which, amidst surrounding trees and interwoven thickets, was scarcely manageable, could not be compared to the Roman sword, the javelin, and their defensive armor, so well adapted to the shape and motions of the body. ' Redouble your blows,' he said, ' and strike at the face of the enemy. They 1 The Romans divided the night into four watches. Each watch was on duty three hours, and then relieved by the next in turn. The third watch began about the modern twelve at night. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 115 have neither helmets nor breastplates. Their shields are neither riveted with iron nor covered with hides : they are nothing but ozier twigs intertwined, or slight boards, daubed over with glaring colors. In their foremost ranks a few are provided with pikes and javelins ; in the rest of their army you see nothing but stakes hardened in the fire, or weapons too short for ex- ecution. The aspect of their men may, at first sight, be hideous ; in the onset they may have bodily vigor : but let them feel the anguish of their wounds, and they be- take themselves to flight, impatient of pain, void of honor, and regardless of their officers ; cowards in ad- versity, and, in the hour of success, above all laws, both human and divine. Do you wish, my fellow-soldiers, for an end of all your toils ? Are you weary of tedious voyages and laborious marches ? Now is your oppor- tunity : one battle ends the war. The Elbe is nearer than the Rhine. Beyond this spot we have nothing to subdue. It was here that Drusus, my father, tri- umphed ; and here Tiberius, my uncle, reaped his laurels. Exert one vigorous effort, and you make me their rival, perhaps their equal in glory.' This speech was received with acclamations : and the ardor of the men blazing out at once, the signal for the charge was given. XV. Arminius and the German chiefs omitted nothing that could rouse the courage of their men. * Behold,' they said, * the refuse of the Varian army ; a set of dastards in the field, and rebels in their camp. With their backs seamed with stripes, their limbs enervated, their strength exhausted by tempestuous voyages, dispirited, weak, and void of hope, they are given to our swords, a sacrifice to the gods, and the victims of German valor. To avoid a fiercer enemy they fled to the ocean, where we could neither attack, 116 TACITUS. nor hang on their rear. In the ensuing battle the winds cannot befriend them ; their oars can give them no assistance. Call to mind their pride, their avarice, and their cruelty : above all, let us remember to act like men who have resolved to live in freedom, or to die with glory.' XVI. By these and such-like incentives the Ger- mans were inflamed with uncommon ardor. Their chiefs conducted them, burning with impatience, to an open plain, called the Idistavisian vale,' situate be- tween the Visurgis and a chain of mountains. The ground was of an irregular form, narrow in some parts, where the hills projected forward, and in others, where the windings of the river made an opening, stretching into length. In the rear of the Germans, and at a small distance, rose a thick forest ;^ the trees large and lofty, with branches expanding near the top; but the trunks bare towards the bottom, and the inter- mediate space clear of underwood. Of this plain, and the approaches to the wood, the barbarians took pos- session. The Cheruscans, apart from the rest, took post on the hills,^ to watch the fortune of the day, and in good time to pour down with fury on the Roman army. Germanicus ranged his men in the following order : the Gauls and German auxiliaries formed the front of the line, followed by a body of archers on foot, and four legions, with Germanicus at the head 1 La Bletterie says he was told by military men that tlie Idistavisian plain is the place now called Hastenbeck, near Hamelen, on the other side of the Weser (\'isurgis), where Marshal D'Estrees obtained a victory in the year 1757. He adds that D'Anville, the celebrated geographer, assured him that there could be no doubt of the fact. 2 Tlie forest sacred to Hercules. See this book, $ 12. 3 Brotier is of opinion that these were the hills of Luer- berg and Nesselberg. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 117 of two pretorian cohorts, and a select body of cavalry. Four other legions, with the light infantry, the horse- archers, and the remainder of the allies, brought up the rear. The whole army proceeded in order of battle, all instructed to preserve their ranks and to receive with firmness the first impression of the enemy. XVII. The Cheruscans, too impatient to keep their post, rushed with impetuosity from their hills. Ger- manicus no sooner saw their motions than he sent a chosen body of horse to charge them in flank, while Stertinius, with another detachment, wheeled round to fall on the rear. The general himself was ready, if occasion required, to second the attack at the head of the legions. In that moment eight eagles were seen stretching with rapid wing towards the wood, where they entered, and disappeared. This was received as an omen of victory. ' Advance,' said Germanicus ; ' the Roman birds have marshalled you the way. Pursue the tutelar deities of the legions.' The infantry began the assault in front : the cavalry at the same time charged the flank and rear. The barbarians, thrown into confusion, presented an uncommon spec- tacle ; those who had been stationed in the woods were driven forward to the plain ; and from the plain the foremost lines fled for shelter to the woods. Between both, the Cheruscans were driven down from their heights. Arminius, their chief, performed wonders. Wounded as he was, he braved every danger ; with his voice, with his hand, with every effort still sus- taining the combat. He fell with fury on the archers, and would have opened his way, had not the Rhastian cohorts, with the Gauls and the Vindelici, advanced their standards to oppose him. Indebted to his own exertions, and the vigor of his horse, he escaped from 118 TACITUS. the field ; and, to disguise his person, besmeared his face with his own blood. If report is to be credited, the Chaucians, then serving- as the allies of Rome, knew his person, but connived at his escape. By the like gallant behavior, or a similar treachery, Inguiomer survived the havoc of the day. A general carnage followed. Numbers endeavoring to swim across the Visurgis, perished in the attempt, over- whelmed with darts, or carried away by the violence of the current. The multitude then plunging into the water obstructed one another ; and, the banks giving way, were crushed under the load. Some were das- tardly enough to seek their safety by climbing up the trees, where they hoped to skulk among the branches : but the Roman archers, in sport and derision, took aim at the fugitives ; and in that manner, or by fell- ing the trees, they were all destroyed. The victory was signal, and cost the Romans little or no effusion of blood. XVIII. The slaughter lasted from the fifth hour ' to the close of day. The country ten miles round was covered with mangled bodies and the arms of the vanquished. Among the spoils was found a large quantity of fetters, which the barbarians, anticipating a certain victory, had prepared for the Roman pri- soners. The legions on the field of battle proclaimed Tiberius imperator ;2 and having raised a mount, 1 It appears, in section 23 of this book, that the battle was fought in July, or the beginning of August. If so, the fifth hour nearly agrees with our nine in the morning. 2 In the time of the republic the title of imperator was given by the soldiers in the field of battle to the commander- in-chief. The custom ceased under Augustus, who annexed the title to the imperial dignity, the prince being then generalissimo of all the armies of the empire. The name of imperator, it is true, was afterwards given to the general who THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 119 placed on the top of it a pile of German arms, as the trophies of victory, with an inscription at the base, setting forth the names of the conquered na- tions. XIX. To the German mind nothing could be so exasperating as this monument of Roman glory. The wounds received in battle, the desolation of their country, and the wretched condition to which they were reduced, were all as nothing compared to this insulting memorial. Preparing but a little before to abandon their habitations, and seek new settlements beyond the Elbe, they changed their minds, and once more resolved to try the hazard of a battle. The nobles and the populace, the old and young, all ranks and classes of men, appeared in arms. They pursued the Romans on their march ; they harassed the rear, and often threw them into disorder. Resolved at length to risk a battle, they chose for that purpose a narrow and swampy plain, inclosed on one side by a river, ^ and on the other by a thick wood, at the back of which lay a deep morass. A rampart, formerly thrown up by the Angrivarians, as a barrier between themselves and the Cheruscans, inclosed one side of the fen. On this spot the barbarians stationed their infantry. Their cavalry lay in ambush in the woods, with intent, as soon as the Romans advanced, to attack them by surprise, and cut oif the rear of the army. had gained a victory ; but that was not done without the special permission of the prince. The same rule was ob- served under the following emperors ; and accordingly we find that Tiberius was saluted imperator ; but the soldiers did not presume to do that honor to Germanicus. 1 The field of battle chosen by the Germans is supposed to be near Minden, on the right side of the Weser, and the wood is now the forest of Schaumburger. 120 TACITUS. XX. Gerraanicus had intelligence of all that passed. Their stations, their councils of war, their public de- bates, their secret resolutions, were all discovered ; and their own devices were turned against themselves. The command of the horse was given to Seius Tubero, with orders to form on the open plain. The infantry- was so disposed, that by an easy pass one division might penetrate into the woods, while the other carried the rampart by assault. Whatever was difficult or arduous the general reserved for himself, leaving all slighter operations to his officers. On the level plain the cavalry bore down all before them ; but the ram- part was not easily taken. The soldiers who advanced to the attack were as much exposed to the darts of the enemy as if they had been before the walls of a regu- lar fortification. Germanicus saw the disadvantage. He drew off the legions ; and ordered the engineers and slingers to play on the works, in order to drive the barbarians from their post. A volley of darts was discharged from the battering machines with such in- cessant fury, that the bravest of the Germans, who dared to face every danger, died under repeated wounds. The enemy was dislodged from the rampart. Germani- cus, at the head of the pretorian cohorts, advanced into the woods : the battle there was fierce and obsti- nate : both sides fought hand to hand. Behind the barbarians lay the morass ; in the rear of the Romans the river and the woods ; no room to retreat ; valor their only hope, and victory their only safety. XXI. The martial spirit of the Germans yielded in nothing to the Romans ; but their weapons, and their manner of fighting, were a great disadvantage. Pent up in a forest too close for such a multitude, they could neither wound at a distance, nor manage their weapons with their usual agility. The Romans, on THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 121 the contrary, with their bucklers close to the breast, and their hands covered with the hilt of their swords, found the large proportions of the enemy an easy mark. They gashed the barbarians in the face, and drove them from their ranks. Arminius no longer fought with his usual ardor. Ill success, so often re- peated, depressed his spirit; or perhaps the wound which he had received in the late engagement had exhausted his strength. Inguiomer, performing won- ders, and busy in every part of the field, was aban- doned by his fortune, not by his courage. Germa- nicus threw off his helmet, that his person might be better distinguished ; and, rushing among the ranks, exhorted his men to give no quarter. He cried aloud, ' We have no need of prisoners : extirpate the bar- barians ; nothing less will end the war.' The day being far advanced, he ordered one of the legions to quit the field, in order to prepare an encampment : the rest had their measure of revenge, till the approach of night put an end to the effusion of blood. In this battle the Roman cavalry fought with undecided suc- cess. XXII. Germanicus in a public harangue commended the valor of his army; and afterwards raised a pile' of arms as a trophy of victory, with this splendid in- scription : ' The army of Tiberius Caesar, having sub- dued the nations between the Rhine and the Elbe, dedicates this monument to Mars, to Jupiter, and Augustus.' Of the commander-in-chief no mention was made. To soften envy, he assumed no part of the praise, content with deserving it. Stertinius marched into the territory of the Angrivarians, with orders, if they did not submit, to lay the country waste. The barbarians surrendered at discretion, and received a general pardon. 122 TACITUS. XXIII. The summer being now far advanced, Ger- manicus ordered some of the legions to return by land to winter quarters : he himself sailed with the rest down the river Amisia to the main ocean. The wea- ther was favorable, and the sea presented a perfect calm, unruffled by any motion except what was occa- sioned by the dashing of the oars, and the rapid mo- tion of a thousand vessels under sail. But this sere- nity did not last long ; the sky was overcast ; a storm of hail burst down with sudden fury ; ' squalls of wind drove the billows different ways, and the pilot could no longer see what course to steer. Unused to the tempestuous element, and terrified by the novelty of the danger, the soldiers added to the alarm. They interfered with the mariners ; they endeavored to lend a helping hand ; but activity, without skill, served only to embarrass such as knew their duty. The winds at last were collected to one point, and the storm blew directly from the south. In that climate the south wind is generally more tempestuous than in other seas. Sweeping over the bleak German mountains, it drives from the land a vast body of clouds, that form a scene of impending horror, which the vicinity of the northern regions renders still more formidable. The ships were dis- persed ; some were thrown on unknown islands ; sur- rounded with rocks, or on banks of sand that lay con- cealed beneath the waves. At the turn of the tide, the wind and the current, with united force, drove one way. To lie at anchor was impossible. The bil- lows broke over the ships with such violence, that all the pumps at work could not discharge the water. To lighten the vessels was tlie only expedient left : and 1 This was about the time of the autumnal equinox. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 123 accordingly horses, beasts of burden, arms, and bag- gage, were thrown overboard. XXIV. The storms in other seas are inconsiderable, when compared to the fury of a northern tempest. The ocean in those parts is more boisterous than in any other of the known world, and the rigor of Ger- many surpasses that of any other climate. The danger of the fleet was, by consequence, more alarming ; the magnitude, as well as the novelty of the mischief, exceeding any former voyage undertaken by the Romans. No friendly shore at hand ; every coast in possession of savage enemies ;* the sea of a depth incredible ; vast in circumference, and, according to the received opinion, without any nation towards the north, or any continent to fix its boundary. A number of ships went to the bottom ; many were wrecked on distant islands, secluded from the commerce of man. The soldiers who were cast on shore perished by famine, or prolonged a wretched existence by feeding on the carcasses of horses thrown up by the sea. The vessel in which Germanicus sailed was driven far from the fleet, to the coast ^ inhabited by the Chaucians. There the disconsolate prince passed whole days and nights among pointed rocks, wander- ing on the prominent beach, his eyes fixed on the brawling deep, and his heart imputing to himself the whole calamity. It was with difiiculty that his friends restrained him from burying himself in the same waves that swallowed up so many gallant soldiers. At length the storm abated. The wind and the tide serving at once, some of the ships were seen making to the land, all in a shattered condition, few oars remaining, and 1 The German and the British coasts. 2 The mouth of the Visurgis, or the Weser, 124 - TACITUS. the clothes of the men stretched out for sails. The crippled vessels were drawn in tow by such as were l«ss disabled. Germanicus refitted the fleet with all possible expedition ; and, as soon as might be, ordered some of the ships to coast along the islands, in search of the soldiers who had been cast away. By this diligence many were restored to their friends. The Angrivarians, lately reduced to subjection, returned a considerable number, whom they had ransomed from their maritime neighbors. Some were thrown on the coast of Britain, and there released by the petty princes of the country. According to the distance from which the men returned, the account of their perils was swelled with marvellous adventures ; they talked of hurricanes, and birds unheard of before ; of sea-monsters, and ambiguous forms, partly man, and partly fish ; things either seen, or else the coinage of imaginations crazed by fear. XXV. The news of these disasters spreading far and wide, the Germans began to think of renewing the war. Nor was Germanicus less active to counteract their designs. He despatched Caius Silius with thirty thousand foot, and three thousand horse, to make war on the Cattians ; and in the mean time marched him- self, at the head of a greater force, to invade the Mar- sians. Malovendus, the chief of that nation, had lately surrendered to the protection of Rome. From him intelligence was gained that the eagle of one of the legions commanded by Varus lay in a trench, covered with earth, in a neighboring grove,* and the guard 1 The more the Romans valued their eagles, the Germans in proportion were eager to keep the military gods of the legions in safe custody. The legions under A'arus had three eagles. One, according to Florus, iv. 12, was thrown into a deep morass by a Roman soldier, that it might not fall into THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 125 stationed there could make but a feeble resistance. Two parties were sent forward without delay ; one to attack the enemy in front, and draw them from their post ; the other to enter the wood in the rear, and recover the eagle. Success attended both expeditions. Germanicus now resolved to penetrate into the heart of the country : he carried destruction wherever he marched, the enemy in every quarter flying before him, or if any where they made a stand, either routed or put to the sword. According to the account brought in by the prisoners, a more general panic was never known. All agreed that the Romans rose supe- rior to adversity ; a race of men not to be subdued. Their fleet destroyed, their arms lost in the deep, the coast of Germany covered with the dead bodies of men and horses ; and yet, said the astonished Ger- mans, they return undismayed, and with their former ferocity renew the charge, as if calamity increased their numbers. XXVI. The Romans marched into winter quarters, proud of their exploits, and in their late success losing the memory of past misfortunes. The prince, with tliat munificence that graced his character, paid to each soldier the amount of his loss. Meanw^hile the Ger- mans, weakened and disheartened by the ill success of so many eff"orts, began to think of pacific measures : nor was it doubted but another summer, if they dared to take the field, would complete and end the war. But Tiberius wished for nothing so much as the return of Germanicus. His letters were all to that effect. ' It was time,' he said, ' to visit the capital, and enjoy the honors of a triumph already decreed. Enough the hands of the enemy. Stertinius recovered a second, as Tucitus relates, i. 60. The third we jfind was buried in a wood, now called the forest of Teuteberg. 126 TACITUS. had been performed. The prosperous events of war were balanced by misfortunes. Important battles had been fought, and victory had often attended the Ro- man arms: but the winds and waves conspired; and losses at sea, not indeed imputable to the general, were very heavy disasters. Tiberius added, that he himself, under the auspices of Augustus, had been sent nine times into Germany ; but it was to prudent counsels, more than to force of arms, that he owed all his success. It was by policy that the Sicambrians ' were brought to a submission ; it was by management that the Suevians were drawn into an alliance with Rome ; and it was the same conduct that made Ma- roboduus^ listen to terms of peace. Tlie honor of the Roman name was now revived in all its ancient lustre ; and it was therefore time to leave the Cherus- cans, and the hostile states of Germany, to their own dissensions.' Germanicus, notwithstanding these remonstrances, requested leave to continue in the command for one year more. Tiberius was not to be diverted from his purpose. He plied Germanicus with new arguments ; and, as a lure to young ambition, threw out the offer of a second consulship, which required personal at- tendance at Rome. He urged, moreover, that if the war continued, some share of merit ought to be left to 1 The Sicambii dwelt between the river Luppia (now the Lippe) and the Cattians, who inhabited the territory of Hesse. Being conquered by Tiberius, in the reign of Augustus, they were transplanted to the Gallic side of the Rhine. We find them mentioned by Horace, iv. 14. 2 ftlaroboduus, at the head of the]Marcomanians,and part of the Suevian nation, who dwelt between the Elbe (Albis) and the Vistula, drove the Boians out of the district called, after their name, Boiohemum, and made himself king of the conquered country. See Manners of the Germans, § 42, and this book, § 45. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 127 Drusus, the brother of Germanicus, for whom no other field of glory could be found. It was in Ger- many only that Drusus could acquire the title of im- perator. Rome had no other enemies. The laurel crown must be gained in that quarter of the world. Germanicus saw through these pretences. The object, he knew, was to stop him in the full career of fame. With regret he resigned the command, and returned to Rome. XXVII. About this time Libo Drusus, descended from the Scribonian family, was accused of a con- spiracy against the state. The history of this transac- tion in all its stages, its rise, its progress, and its final issue, shall be here laid open. The detail will not be uninteresting ; since we are now arrived at that black period, which engendered that race of men, who, for a series of years, were the scourge and pest of society. Libo owed his ruin to his intimacy with Firmius Catus, a member of the senate. Catus saw in his friend, besides the impetuosity of youth, a cast of mind susceptible of vain illusions and superstitious credulity. He saw that the judicial astrology of the Chaldaeans, the mysteries of the magi, and the inter- preters of dreams, would be sure to make their im- pression on a wild and distempered imagination. In such a mind the flame of ambition might be easily kindled. With that intent, he urged the dignity of Libo's ancestors : Pompey was his great-grandfather ; Scribonia, once the wife of Augustus, was his aunt ; the two young Caesars ' were his relations ; and his house was crowded with images that displayed an illustrious line of ancestors. Having thus inflamed his 1 Caius and Lucius, the sons of Agrippa, adopted by Au- gustus into the Caesarean family. 128 TACITUS. pride, he contrived to engage the young man in a course of luxury, and, by consequence, to involve him^ in a load of debt. He watched him closely in the hour of wild profusion, and in the scene of distress that followed ; affecting with tender regard to be his constant companion, yet lying in wait for evidence ; and playing the part of a friend, to be at last a pernicious enemy. XXVIII. Having procured a competent number of witnesses, and among them such of the slaves as knew their master's course of life, Catus demanded an au- dience of the emperor. By the means of Flaccus Vescularius,^ a Roman knight, much in the confi- dence of Tiberius, he had beforehand disclosed the nature of his business. The emperor refused to grant an interview, and yet encouraged the informer, will- ing through the same channel to receive farther in- telligence. Libo in the mean time was raised to the dignity of pretor. He was a frequent guest at the imperial table. In those convivial moments Tiberius never betrayed a symptom of suspicion. With gentle expressions, and looks of kindness, that master of dis- simulation knew how to hide the malice of his heart. The follies of Libo's conduct might have been checked in the beginning ; but Tiberius chose to collect ma- terials for a future day. It happened at last that one Junius, who pretended to raise the dead by magic incantations, was appointed, at the request of Libo, to exhibit the wonders of his art. This man hastened with the secret to Fulcinius Trio, at that time a noted 1 It was by luxury, and the extravagance that occasioned an immense load of debt, tliat Julius Caesar advanced himself 10 the supreme power. 2 Vescularius was the tool of power, and florished by his trade till Tiberius ordered him to be put to death. Annals, vi. 10. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 129 informer, who possessed dangerous talents, and by any arts, however pernicious, wished to raise himself into public notice. Libo was cited to appear. Trio applied to the consuls for a solemn hearing before the senate. The fathers were convened to deliberate, as the summons informed them, on matters of moment, and a charge of the blackest nature. XXIX. Libo changed his dress.' In a mourning garb he went from house to house, attended by a fe- male train of the first distinction. He importuned his friends, and among them hoped to find some one will- ing to undertake his defence. His application was without effect. His friends deserted him /vith diffe- rent excuses ; but all from the common motive of fear. On the day of trial, sinking under his distress, and faint with real or pretended illness, he was carried in a litter to the senate-house. He entered the court, - supported by his brother. At the sight of the empe- ror he stretched forth his hands in the manner of a supplicant, and in a pathetic tone endeavored to con- ciliate favor. Tiberius viewed him w^ith a rigid and inflexible countenance. He then proceeded to open the charge, stating the particulars, and the names of the accusers ; but in a style of moderation, neither ag- gravating nor extenuating the offence. XXX. Fonteius Agrippa and Caius Vibius, two new accusers, joined in support of the prosecution. 1 The accused always appeared in a mourning habit, in order to excite compassion. 2 The charge against him, we are told in the next section, was too extravagant. It seems, however, that Tiberius lived in dread of him. Suetonius says Libo was actually engaged in a conspiracy ; and that Tiberius, harboring dark suspicion, contrived at a sacrifice, when Libo attended, to put into his hand a knife made of lead, instead of the usual instrument. Suet, in Tib. § ^5. . TACIT. VOL. I. 1 130 TACITUS. Being now four in number, they could not agree among themselves which should take the lead. The point was contested with much warmth. Vibius at length observed that Libo came to the trial Avithout an advo- cate to support him ; and therefore, to end the dispute with his associates, he undertook to detail in a plain and simple manner the heads of the charge. Nothing could be more wild and extravagant than some of the articles. He stated that Libo had made it a question to the fortune-tellers, whether he should ever be rich enough to cover with money the Appian road as far as Brundusium. There were other allegations of the same stamp equally void of common sense ; or, to speak more truly, so weak and frivolous, that they could move no passion but pity. There was however one fact of a serious nature. A paper was produced, containing a list of the Caesars, and also several senators, with remarks or notes, which no man could decipher, annexed to their names. This was exhibited as the handwriting of Libo. He in- sisted on his innocence. It was proposed to put his slaves to the torture. Their evidence, by the esta- blished rules of law, was inadmissible. By an ancient decree of the senate it was ordained, that where the master's life was in danger no slave should undergo the question. Tiberius, by a master-stroke of inven- tion,* found an expedient to evade the law. He 1 Dio Cassius says that Augustus was the author of this subtle device ; but, as he does not tell on what occasion, it is reasonable to suppose that Tacitus was better informed. We learn from Cicero that the old law, which repelled the slave from being a witness against his master, made the case of incest an exception to the general rule. By the Roman law, H freeman could not be put to the torture. For that reason, the party accused, in order to suppress the truth, took care in time to give the slaves their freedom. To prevent that THE ANNALS. — BOOK 11. 131 directed a sale of the slaves to be made to the public officer, that, the property being altered, they might then be examined on a new principle, unknown to former times. Libo prayed an adjournment to the next day. Being returned to his own house, he sent by his relation, Publius Quirinius, a humble petition to the emperor : the answer was, ' he must address the senate.' XXXI. A party of soldiers surrounded Libo's house, and, with the brutal rudeness of men insolent in authority, forced their way into the vestibule, deter- mined to make themselves heard and seen by the family. The prisoner was then at table, intending to make an elegant banquet the last pleasure of his life : but a mind in agony could relish nothing. Distracted, terrified, he called on his servants to despatch him : he laid hold of his slaves, and endeavored to force a sword into their hands. The servants, in agitation, made an eifort to escape, and in the struggle over- turned the light that stood on the table. This to Libo was funeral darkness : he seized the moment, and gave himself two mortal stabs.' His groans alarmed the freedmen, who crowded round their master. The sol- evasion of public justice in the case of adultery, Augustus pvov'ided by the Lex Julia that the slaves of the wife ac- cused of adultery should not be manumitted before the expi- ration of sixty days, during which time they were liable to be put to the torture. 1 Seneca says Libo was a young man, no less distinguished by his folly than by his illustrious birth ; mad enough to form schemes of ambition too high for any man in that conjunc- ture, and for himself impracticable at any time. Being con- veyed from the senate in a litter to his own house, he con- sulted his friends, whether he should despatch himself. His aunt Scribonia (formerly the wife of Augustus) asked him, * Why will you do another man's business?' Her question made no impression. He put an end to his days. Seneca, epist. Ixx. 132 TACITUS. diers followed ; and, seeing him at the point of death, had the decency to withdraw. The prosecution how- ever did not die with the unfortunate victim. It was resumed in the senate with unabating severity. Tibe- rius made an end of the business by declaring, that if the criminal had not done justice on himself, he in- tended, notwithstanding the manifest proof of his guilt, to have recommended him to the mercy of the fathers. XXXII. The estate of the deceased was divided among the informers. Such of them as were of sena- torian rank were promoted to the pretorship without the form of an election. Various motions were made in the senate: Cotta Messalinus' proposed that the image of Libo should not be carried in the funeral processions of his kindred ; Cneius Lentulus, that the surname of Drusus should be no longer assumed by the Scribonian family. On the motion of Pomponius Flaccus days of public thanksgiving were voted ; and gifts were ordered to be presented to Jupiter, Mars, and Concord, at the desire of Lucius Puppius, Asi- nius Gallus, Papius Mutilus, and Lucius Apronius. It was farther decreed that the ides of September, the day on which Libo despatched himself, should be ob- served as a festival. Of these resolutions, and their several authors, I have thought proper to record the memory, that adulation may be branded to all poste- rity, and that men may mark how long a servile spirit has been the canker of the commonwealth. The tribe of astrologers and magicians,- by a decree 1 For more of Cottu Messalinus see Annals, iv. 20. lie was son to JNIessala tlie celebrated orator. 2 The Chalda^an magicians, and the professors of judicial astrology, willing to he deemed men of real science, called tliemsolves mathematicians ; and that name frequently occurs in Tacitus. The decree made on this occasion was not a new regulation, but a revival of ancient laws. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 133 of the senate, was banished out of Italy. Two of tlie number suifered death ; namely, Lucius Pituanius and Publius Marcius. The former was thrown headlong- from the Tarpeian rock ; and the latter, by order of the consuls, was executed, at the sound of a trumpet, on the outside of the Esquiline gate/ according to the form prescribed by ancient usage. XXXIII. At the next meeting of the senate tli* luxury of the times became the subject of debate. The business was introduced by Quintus Haterius, of con- sular rank, and Octavius Fronto, who had discharged the office of pretor. A law was passed prohibiting the use of solid gold for the service of the table ; and farther enacting, that men should not disgrace them- selv^es by the effeminate delicacy of silk apparel. - Fronto took a wider compass. He proposed that the quantity of silver in every family, the expense of fur- niture, and the number of domestics, should be li- mited by law. The senators at that time did not con- fine themselves to the question depending before the 1 The ancient usage, ' more majorum,' is explained by Suetonius. ' The custom,' he says, ' was to strip the crimi- nal stark naked, andlash him to death, with his head fastened within a forked stake.' Suet, in Nerone, § 49. 2 The original has vestis serica, which is translated, silk apparel. Lipsius makes a distinction between the serica and hombycina. The foi-mer, he contends, was a texture of cotton that grew spontaneously on the trees in the country of the Seres ; a people, according to Pomponius Mela, situated "between India and the Sinee, or the Chinese. The bombycina vestis, he says, was the produce of China, imported from the Persian merchants, before tlie Romans heard of so curious an animal as the silk-worm. But can it be supposed that a mere cotton manufacture could provoke the censure of the senate? ' Ne vestis serica viros focdaret.' It is more probable that the silk of China was conveyed to Rome tlirough the hands of the Seres, the Indians, and Persians, and then was found to be a dress too effeminate for the men. This opinion seems to be confirmed by Seneca, who mentions the serica vestis. 134 TACITUS. assembly ; but every speaker was at liberty to start new matter, and submit to consideration whatever he thought conducive to the public good. Asinius Gallus rose in opposition to the opinion of Octavius Fronto. ' The commonwealth,' he said, ' had increased in grandeur, and the wealth of individuals grew with the growth of empire. Nor was this a modern innovation : the same effect, from the same causes, may be traced in the early period of the com- monwealth. The Fabricii had their private wealth, and so had the Scipios, but different in degree. Wealth is relative, always in proportion to the affluence of the times. When the state w'as poor frugality was the virtue of a citizen.- Does the empire florish, indivi- duals florish with it. In matters of domestic expense, such as plate and retinue, the measure of economy or extravagance must be determined by the circumstances of the family. Nothing is mean, nothing superfluous, but what is made so by the condition of the parties. The fortune of a senator,^ as settled by law, differs from the qualification of a Roman knight. Has nature made a distinction between them ? No ; it is civil policy that draws the line : and surely it is fit that they who stand high in rank, in honors, and public station, should live in suitable splendor, not only fur- nished with the necessaries, but also Avith the ele- gances of life. High station is at best a post of dan- ger. Will any one argue that men in office are to drudge in business, condemned to endless toil, without the means of repairing the waste of labor, and without a comfort to soothe anxiety V The apologist of dissi- 1 Tlie qualification of a Koman knii'.lit was four hundred thousand sesterces; that of a senator, in the time of the re- public, eight luindred tliousand ; and under the emperors, twelve hundred thousand. Suet, in Aug. § 41. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 135 pation and luxury carried his point. With an audi- ence of congenial manners, public vices, decorated with specious names, were public virtues. Tiberius closed the debate. The times, he said, were not ripe for a censor ;^ but if corruption went on increasing there would be no want of vigor to reform abuses of every kind. XXXIV. In the course of these debates Lucius Piso broke out with vehemence against the reigning vices of the times, the spirit of intrigue that prevailed in the forum, the venality of the courts of justice, and the band of public informers, who were ever armed with accusations, and spread terror through all ranks and degrees of men. For his part, he abjured the city of Rome. In some remote corner of the world he was determined to seek an obscure but safe retreat from the villany of abandoned men. He spoke, and left the senate-house. Tiberius heard him, but not without inward mortification . He endeavored by every means in his power to appease his indignation ; and exerted all his interest with Piso's relations in order to dissuade him from his purpose. In a short time after the same eminent person gave another proof of his firmness. He had commenced a suit against Ur- gulania, a woman raised above the control of law by the friendship of Livia. Disdaining to answer the process, this haughty favorite took shelter in the im- perial palace. Piso persisted in his demand, undis- mayed by the resentment of Livia, who considered his obstinacy as an aifront to herself. Tiberius thought fit to temporise with the passions of his mother. He promised to attend the hearing of the cause, in favor 1 The censor exercised his authority in the course of every fifth year. See what Tiberius says on the subject of luxury, iii. 53, 54. 136 TACITUS. of Urgulania ; and that mark of filial compliance he thought would not be considered as a stretch of power. He set out accordingly from the palace, his guards following at a distance. He proceeded slowly through the streets, amidst a concourse of people, with an air of calm composure, occasionally loitering in conversa- tion. Piso's friends tried all in their power to make him desist from his suit ; but nothing could shake that resolute temper. To end the controversy, Livia thought good to pay the whole of his demand. Piso, by his firmness, did honor to his character, and Tibe- rius gained the popular applause. Urgulania con- tinued, notwithstanding, to tower above the condition of a citizen ; insomuch, that, being summoned as a witness in a matter depending before the senate, her pride would not suflfer her to appear. A pretor was sent to take her examination in private ; though, by ancient usage, the attendance of the vestal virgins, whenever cited to give their testimony, was never dispensed with, either in the forum or the tribunals of justice. XXXV. Part of this year was remarkable for a total suspension of all public business. Of this inac- tive state it would be scarce worth while to take no- tice, if the different sentiments of Cneius Piso * and Asinius Gallus did not seem to merit attention. Tibe- rius gave notice that he intended to absent himself for some time from Rome. Piso declared his opinion that, in such a juncture, the senate ought to attend with greater assiduity to the despatch of business. The fathers and the Roman knights might still dis- charge their respective functions ; ' the dignity of the 1 For more of Cneius Piso see this book, $ 43. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 137 commonwealth required it/ Asinius Gall us saw, with a jealous eye, that his rival had taken the popular side ; and, to counteract his design, rose to oppose the motion. ' Nothing,' he said, ' could be truly great, or worthy of the Roman people, unless conducted under the eye of the prince. The affairs of state, and the great conflux of people, not only from all parts of Italy but from the provinces, ought to be reserved for the presence of the emperor.' Tiberius heard all that passed, but remained silent. A warm debate ensued. At length the fathers agreed to adjourn all business till the prince returned to Rome. XXXVI. On another occasion the same Asinius Gallus had the spirit to clash even with the emperor. He moved, in form, that the election of civil magis- trates should take place at the end of five years ; that the officers who had the command of a legion, and dis- charged that duty before they attained the pretorship, should be declared pretors elect, without prejudice to the right of the sovereign to name twelve candidates. This motion, beyond all doubt, had a deeper aim ; pointing directly at the policy of the times, and the secret maxims of the court. ^ Tiberius affected to see a design to enlarge the sovereign authority ; and, on that ground, replied, ' that it was inconsistent with his moderation to take on him so vast a charge. The power to choose was a power to exclude ; and the last was painful. The elections, even when annual, were attended with many inconveniences. The disappointed candidate was sure to repine at his want of success, 1 It was the policy of the court to make all favors to the army issue immediately from the prince, as from the foun- tain of honors and rewards. Another rule was, to make new friends, by keeping men in expectation of preferment at the end of every year. 138 TACITUS. and yet his disgrace was but of short duration : he consoled himself with hopes of better success in the following year. Defer the election for five years, and the man rejected for that length of time will find his spirit more deeply wounded. Moreover, at the end of so long a period, who can answer that his character, his family connexions, and his fortune, will be the same ? To grow proud in ofiice is the nature of man ; extend his authority to the space of five years, and what will be the consequence ? Every single magis- trate will swell with the pride of five. The laws, which have wisely drawn the line, will be subverted ; whereas, at present, the time for soliciting, as well as that of enjoying public honors, is fixed with precision.' XXXVII. By these specious arguments, delivered with a republican spirit, Tiberius strengthened the in- terest of despotism. His next measure was a grant of money to certain senators, whose fortunes were infe- rior to their rank. Nothing, however, in the midst of such liberal donations, struck the minds of men with so much wonder as the high tone with which he re- jected the applications of Marcus Hortalus, a young- man of distinction, but embarrassed in his circum- stances. He was grandson to Hortensius,^ the cele- brated orator. To prevent the extinction of that illus- trious family, Augustus pressed him to marry, and seconded his advice by a present of a thousand great sesterces. The senate was sitting in the emperor's palace. Hortalus attended. Having stationed his four 1 Hortensius, the great orator, and rival of Cicero, is said by the elder Pliny to have been a man of unbounded expense. He gave an enormous sum for a set of pictures of the Argo- nautic expedition, and placed them in a superb gallery, which he liuilt for the purpose, at his country house. Pliny, XXXV. 11. ' No wonder,' says Brotier, * that his descendants were left in a state of indigence.' THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 13& children before the door, he rose in his place, direct- ing- his eyes, first to the statue of Hortensius, among the famous orators, then to the statue of Augustus, and spoke to the following effect : ' My children, con- script fathers, are now before you : you see their number, and their helpless infancy. They were not mine by choice : the command of Augustus made me a father. Let me add, the merit of my ancestors stood in so distinguished a light, that the line ought not to fail for want of issue. As to myself, the dis- traction of the times left me nothing but difficulties : involved in distress, destitute, without popular favor, and, above all, not end'owed with eloquence, that pe- culiar gift and fortune of my family, I could have passed my days in humble content, resolved that po- verty should neither make me a disgrace to my ances- tors nor a burden to my friends. The advice of Augustus was a command : I obeyed, and married. Behold the issue of that alliance, the posterity of con- suls and dictators. It is not the language of vain glory that I utter ; it is the voice of a father pleading for his children. Receive them, Cjesar, to your pro- tection : under your auspicious smiles they may live to deserve your favor, and to merit public honors. In the mean time, let their tender years claim compas- sion ; they are the grandchildren of Hortensius, and they were fostered by Augustus.' XXXVIII. This speech made an impression in his favor : but the inclination of the senate was sufficient to sour a temper like that of Tiberius. He replied to Hortalus nearly in the following words : ' If the trade of begging is to be encouraged ; if the poor are to come hither in crowds to solicit for their children ; the public funds may be exhausted, and the craving of individuals will remain unsatisfied. To depart from the question 140 TACITUS. before the senate, and open new matter for the public service, was no doubt the practice of our ancestors ; but, under that sanction, to introduce domestic con- cerns, with a view to private interest, is an abuse of the privilege, tending directly to reduce the senate, as well as the sovereign, to a painful dilemma. Whether we comply, or refuse our consent, either way we en- counter prejudice. Besides, this mode of petitioning is not a modest, humble request; it is a demand, brought on by surprise, while other business is before us. At such a time the petitioner comes, and with the age and uumber of his children, assails the passions of this assembly: he does more ; he makes a sudden transition to ourself, and by violence of prayer hopes to storm the treasury. But let us remember that, if by our profusion we exhaust the public stock, our crimes must replace it. You are not, Hortalus, now to learn that the bounty of Augustus was his own voluntary act : he gave you money, but never intended that you should live a rent-charge on the public. By false compassion we injure the community ; industry will go to ruin ; sloth will predominate ; men w ill no longer depend on tliemselves ; but, having from their own conduct nothing to hope or fear, they will look to their neighbors for support : they w ill first abandon their duty, and then be a burden on the public.^ Such were the reasonings of Tiberius. His speech was well received by that class of men who are ever ready to applaud the vices, no less than the virtues of their master : others heard in silence, or at most with a murmur of disapprobation. Tiberius saw the im- pression on the minds of the fathers ; he paiised, and added, that what he had said was a reply to Hortalus ; but if the senate judged it proper, he was willing to give two hundred great sesterces to each of his sons. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 141 The fathers expressed their thanks : Hortalus made no answer ; perhaps through fear, or probably retaining still the spirit of his ancestors, unbroken by distress. From this time Tiberius never relented. While the house of Hortensius sunk into distress and poverty, he looked on with unconcern, and saw that illustrious family moulder into ruin. XXXIX. In the course of this year the daring genius of a single slave well-nigh involved the empire in a civil war. The name of this man was Clemens, formerly retained in the service of Posthumus Agrippa. He v.as no sooner apprised of the death of Augustus than he conceived the bold design of passing over to the isle of Planasia, with intent, by force or stratagem, to carry off Agrippa, and convey him to the German army. This enterprise, conceived by a slave, was no indication of a grovelling mind. He embarked on board a trading vessel, deeply laden, and after a tedious passage arrived too late : Agrippa was pre- viously murdered. The man was now resolved to act a nobler part. Taking with him the ashes of the prince, he sailed to Cosa, a promontory of Etruria, and there remained concealed in the sequestered parts of the country till his hair and beard were grown into length. He was of his master's age, and in form and stature not unlike him. He began by his friends and agents to circulate a whisper that Agrippa was still living. The story, as is usual in the beginning of plots, was helped about by clandestine arts. By de- grees the tools of this bold adventurer grew more hardy ; the weak and ignorant believed every thing ; and the bold and turbulent, who wish for nothing so much as convulsions in the state, received the news with joy and exultation. While the report was gaining ground the author of it withdrew with caution from 142 TACITUS. the public eye. Truth, he was aware, is always brought to light by time and reflection ; while the lie of the day lives by bustle, noise, and precipitation. The im- postor was therefore resolved to keep the minds of men in a constant ferment : he visited the municipal towns, but always in the dusk of the evening : he Avent to one place, he flew to another, continually in motion, never long any where ; but, as soon as he made his impression, leaving his fame behind him, or flying before it, to prepossess the people in some new quarter. XL. The miraculous escape of Agrippa was cur- rently reported all over Italy. At Rome the story was believed. The impostor landed at Ostia, amidst the acclamations of the rabble. Clandestine meetings were held in the capital. Tiberius was thrown into the utmost perplexity. Should he call forth the soldiers to subdue a slave ? Were it not more advisable to leave the rumor to its own futility ? On a sudden he was bent on vigorous measures, and nothing was to be slighted: he wavered, fluctuated, and to act with cool- ness seemed more advisable : to be alarmed at trifles was unworthy of the prince. The resolution of one moment gave way to the whim of the next, and pride and fear alternately distracted him. He resolved, and decided nothing. Weary of himself, he left the whole to Sallustius Crispus. That minister sent two of his creatures (some say two soldiers) to join the fictitious Agrippa, as men devoted to his cause : he gave them full instructions to supply him with money, and pro- fess themselves ready in his service to encounter every danger. The men acted their parts ; and, in the dead of night, seizing their opportunity, fell with a strong party on the adventurer. Having seized his person, they dragged him in fetters, with a gag in his mouth, THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 143 to the imperial palace. Being there interrogated by Tiberius ' how he came to be Agrippa,' he is said to have answered, ' As you came to be Csesar.' With undaunted resolution he refused to discover his ac- complices. Tiberius, not choosing to hazard a public execution, ordered liim to be put to death in a se- questered part of the palace. The body was privately conveyed away ; and though at the time there was reason to believe that many of the emperor's house- hold, and even several of the Roman knights and sena- tors, assisted the impostor with advice and money, the affair was dropped without farther inquiry. XLI. Towards the end of the year a triumphal arch was erected near the temple "of Saturn,' in memory of the Varian eagles retaken under the conduct of Germanicus and the auspices of Tiberius. Several other public monuments were dedicated at the same time ; a temple to Fortune, in the gardens on the banks of the Tiber, which Julius Csesar had bequeathed to the Roman people ; a chapel sacred to the Julian family ; and a statue of Augustus in the suburbs, called Bovillfe.2 In the consulship of Caius Caecilius and Lucius Pom- ponius, Germanicus, on the seventh before the calends of June, enjoyed the glory of a triumph over the Cheruscans, the Cattians, the Angrivarians, and the rest of the nations extending as far as the Elbe. The spoils of the conquered, the prisoners of war, with 1 The public treasure {(crarium) was kept in the temple of Saturn. See Cicero to Atticus, vii. epist. 20. Lucan de- scribes JMetellus the tribune defending the doors of the temple against Jiilius Cajsar, who notwithstanding entered the place and seized the accumulated wealth of ages. Phar- salia, iii. 155. 2 The reason why a small village was honored with a statue of Augustus does not appear. 144 TACITUS. various pictures of battles, mountains, and rivers, were displayed with great pomp and splendor. The war, though the general was not sufiered to reap the full harvest of his glory, was considered by the populace as intirely finished. Amidst the grandeur of this mag- nificent spectacle, nothing appeared so striking as the graceful person of Germanicus, with his five children,' mounted on the triumphal car. The joy of the multi- tude was not, however, without a tincture of melan- choly. Men remembered- that Drusus, the father of Germanicus, was the darling of the people, and yet proved unfortunate : they called to mind young Mar- cellus,^ blessed with all his country's wishes, yet pre- maturely snatched away. It happened, they said, by some fatality, that whenever a favored character w-as the delight of the Roman people, their affections ended always in a general mourning. XLII. Tiberius gave a largess to the populace of three hundred sesterces^ to each man, and ordered the distribution to be made in the name of Germanicus ; at the same time declaring himself his colleague in the consulship for tlie ensuing year. These marks of good- will were specious, but by no man thouglit sincere. He was now resolved to remove the favorite of the people. This, however, was to be done under color of new honors. He framed a pretence, or took advantage of that which the posture of afi'airs presented to him. 1 The five children of Germanicus were, IS'^ero and Drusus, Avhom we shall see cruelly murdered by Tiberius ; Caligula, who was afterwards emperor • Agrippina, the mother of the emperor Nero ; and Drusilla. Julia, his last child, was born afterwards in the isle of Lesbos. This book, § 54. 2 The young jMarcellus, who was married to Julia, the daughter of Augustus. 3 The value of three hundred sesterces to each man, Gor- don says in a note on tliis passage, was seven crowns and a half. Others compute it ditlerently. THE ANNALS. — ROOK II. 145 Archelaiis,' during a space of fifty years had swayed the sceptre of Cappadocia ; but had the misfortune of being on bad terms with the emperor, who, during his residence in the isle of Rhodes, had taken umbrage at the king's behavior, and from that moment harbored the deepest resentment. Archelaus, it is true, had shown him no mark of respect ; but that inattention did not originate in pride or arrogance. It was the conduct recommended by the confidential friends of Augustus, at a time when Caius Ceesar, florishing in favor, was sent to arrange the aftairs of the east. In that juncture, to court the friendship of Tiberius would have been highly impolitic. After the failure of the Cfesarean line, and the ele- vation of Tiberius, letters to the eastern prince were despatched from the emperor's mother, avowing her son's resentment, but offering an intire remission of past offences, provided he came in person to solicit his pardon. Archelaus did not perceive the intended treachery ; or, perceiving it, thought it prudent to dis- semble. He risked a journey to Rome. Tiberius received him with pride and sullen aversion. The king of Cappadocia was arraigned before the senate ;- and though the charge was without founda- 1 It seems to be agreed among the commentators that Ar- chelaus was under considerable obligations to Tiberius, who had pleaded his cause in the reign of Augustus. Suet, in Tib. § 8. The curious will find this matter fully discussed in Bayle's Dictionary, article Archelaus. 2 He was most probably charged with a design to render himself independent of the empire. To prove this, Uio Cas- sius says a witness was called, who, in his zeal against the prince, proved too much. He deposed that Archelaus said when he returned to his own dominions he would show Tibe- rius th^t his nerves were strong and firm. This evidence astonished the fathers ; theyknewthat Archelaus was disabled by the gout, and saw him, in a state of decrepitude, brought before them in a litter. The whole assembly burst into a fit TACIT. VOL, I. K 146 TACITUS. tion, a royal mind, not used to acknowlege an equal, much less to bend to the Jmmiliating condition of a state-criminal, was naturally pierced to the quick. Worn out with grief, and drooping under the infirmi- ties of age, the unhappy monarch died of a broken heart, or perhaps fell by his own hand. His kingdom was reduced to a Roman province. With this new source of wealth, Tiberius declared himself able to diminish the tax of the hundredth penny, and accord- ingly changed it to the two hundredth. About this time died Antiochus and Philopater ; the former king of Commagena, and the latter of Cilicia. By their deaths their kingdoms were thrown into violent con- vulsions. Two factions were at variance : one, which formed a large majority, was willing to submit to the government of Rome ; the other contended for the in- dependence of their monarchy. In the same juncture the provinces of Syria and Judaea prayed to be relieved from the burden of oppressive taxes. XLIII. This state of affairs, and the commotions in Armenia, which have been already mentioned, Ti- berius laid before the senate. His conclusion was, that to settle the troubles of the east, recourse must be had to the wisdom of Germanicus. As to himself, he was now in the vale of years, and Drusus had neither maturity of age nor experience. The pro- vinces beyond the Mediterranean ' were, by a decree of the senate, committed to Germanicus. He was made commander-in-chief, with supreme authority, wlierever he went, over all other governors, whether appointed by lot, or the will of the prince. At that of laughter. The prince escaped a sentence of condemnation, but died afterwards in the manner related by Tacitus. See Dio Cassius, book v. 1 Asia, Egypt, and the provinces in Africa. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 147 time Creticus Silaniis was the governor of Syria. He had promised his daughter in marriage to Nero, the eldest son of Germanicus. For that reason Tibe- rius recalled him from the province, and in his place appointed Cneius Piso,' a man of violent passions, impatient of control, and fierce, with all the spirit of his father, that famous republican, who in the civil wars took up arms against Julius Caesar, and rekindled the flame in Africa. After that exploit he followed the fortunes of Brutus and Cassius. Being at length restored to his country, he disdained all public offices, till Augustus prevailed on him to accept of the con- sulship. To the pride derived from such a father the son united the insolence of wealth acquired by his marriage with Plancina,^ who, besides her high de- scent, possessed immoderate riches. Proud of that connexion, Piso thought himself scarcely second to Tiberius. The emperor's sons were beneath his rank. The government of Syria, he made no doubt, was given to him as a bar to the hopes of Germanicus. For this purpose secret instructions were at the time said to have been given to him by Tiberius. Plancina, it is certain, had her lesson from Livia, with full in- structions to mortify the pride of Agrippina with all the arts of female emulation. The court of Tiberius, divided between Drusus and Germanicus, was a scene of domestic faction. The emperor, as was natural, gave the preference to his 1 Piso will he seen, in a short time, ruined by his head- long passions. His father was consul A. U. C. 731 ; before) the Christian era 23. 2 Plancina was the grand -daughter of Lucius Munatius Plancus, a man distinguished in the history of the triumvi- rate. In the reign of Augustus he commanded in Gaul, and for some petty exploits obtained a triumph. He founded the city of Lyons. 148 TACITUS. own immediate issue ; but the preference had no other eflfect than that of attaching the friends of Germanicus more warmly to his interest. They considered him, by the maternal line, of higher birth than Drusus :^ Marc Antony was his grandfather, and Augustus Caesar his great-uncle. On the other hand, Pompo- uius Aiticus,^ the great-grandfather of Drusus, having never risen above the rank of a Roman knight, seemed to tarnish the lustre of the Claudian line. The merit of Agrippina weighed greatly in the scale. She had brought to Germanicus a numerous offspring; and her character, free from blemish, placed her in a point of view superior to the younger Livia,^ the wife of Dru- sus. The two brothers, amidst the heat of contending parties, lived in perfect harmony ; their friends were at variance, but the princes loved each other. XLIV. Drusus was soon after sent to command the army in Illyricum. In that school of military science he might improve in the art of war and gain the affec- tions of the army. The camp, Tiberius thought, would wean a young man from the dissolute manners of the capital. He had still another motive : while his two sons were at the head of the legions, he might live in security, free from danger, and every possible alarm. But the ostensible reason for the expedition of 1 Antonia, daughter of INIarc Antony by Octavia the sister of Augustus, was the mother of Germanicus ; consequently Augustus was great-uncle to Germanicus, and Marc Antony was his grandfather. 2 Atticus is well known by Cicero's Epistles. Pomponia, his grand-daughter, was the first wife of Agrippa, and mother of Vipsania Agrippina, whom Tiberiiis married, and divorced", by order of Augustus. Drusus, whom Tiberius acknowleged as his son, was the issue of that marriage. See the Genealo- gical Table of the Caesars, No. 69. o She was sister to Germanicus, and was also called Li- villa. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 149 Drusus was an application from the Suevians, pray- ing the assistance of Rome against the Cheruscans, who had turned their disappointed rage against their countrymen. The fact was, Germany being at tliat time evacuated by the Romans, the different nations of that country, no longer dreading a foreign inva- sion, began, according to the genius of barbarians, to quarrel among themselves. The present difference was a struggle for power between two rival states. The strength on each side was nearly equal; the abilities of the chiefs much on a balance ; but the name of king was detested by the Suevians, and, by consequence, Maroboduus was unpopular. On the op- posite side, Arminius, the champion of liberty, was the idol of his country. XLV. Arminius took the field at the head of a con- siderable army. The Cheruscans, and a large body of allies, accustomed to fight under him, followed his standard. To these were added the Sera nones and the Langobards, two Suevian nations revolted from Maroboduus. By this defection the superiority had been decidedly with Arminius, had not Inguiomer thrown his whole weight into the opposite scale. For this conduct the pride of the man was the exciting- motive. Arminius was the son of Inguiomer's bro- ther ; and the uncle, now a veteran soldier, disdained to serve under his nephew and obey the orders of a boy. The two armies were drawn up in order of battle ; on both sides equal ardor and equal hopes of victory. The Germans no longer carried on a desul- tory war, in detached parties, and irregular bodies : their long conflict with the Romans had made them soldiers. Discipline was introduced ; they followed the colors ; they supported the broken ranks, and with prompt alacrity obeyed the word of command. Armi- 150 TACITUS. nhis appeared on horseback, rushing through the ranks, and animating his men to deeds of valor. He congratulated them on the recovery of their liberty ; lie gloried in the slaughter of Varus and his legions ; he pointed to the spoils of victory, and the Roman weapons then in the hands of numbers ; he called Maroboduus a coward and a fugitive, who never fleshed his sword in battle, but fled for shelter to the Hercy- nian forest,^ where, by negotiation, by bribes and embassies, he patched up an ignominious peace. A traitor to his country, and the slave of Cassar, he was more an object of vengeance than Varus and his legions. He conjured them to remember the battles 1 Maroboduus has been mentioned, this book, § 26, note 2. To what is there said it will not be amiss to add that he was born among the jNIarcomanians, and went early to Rome, where he was distinguished by Augustus; Strabo, lib. vii. Endowed with great natural talents, he returned to his own country with an understanding above the level of barbarians. The ^larcomanians at that time inhabited an extensive territory in the district now called VVirtemburg, and in part of Suabia. He saw the Ilomans encroaching every day in the Lower Germany ; and the progress of their arms he thought would in a little time reduce him to the condition of a sceptred slave. He removed from that dangerous neighborhood to the Hercynian forest, and, having expelled the Boians from the country called Boiohemum, established his kingdom in that region. He extended his new dominions towards the south, and, by consequence, approached to the vicinity of the Ilomans. Tiberius was sent by Augustus to check the pro- gress of the German king, who must have been crushed by the army employed against him, if a sudden revolt in Panno- nia and Dalmatia had not caused a suspension of hostilities. Whether that insurrection was effected by the intriguing genius of INIaroboduus cannot now be known. He offered terms of accommodation, and the politic Tiberius (as men- tioned in this book, ^ 26) concluded a treaty of peace. From that time Maroboduus courted the alliance of Rome, and, by consequence, drew on himself the hatred of the German nations. See Caesar, Ue Bell. Gall. vi. 24 and 25. Veil. I'aterc. ii. 109. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 151 they had fought, and the glorious issue of all tlieir labors. ' The Romans/ he said, ' have abandoned Germany ; they are exterminated ; and if men desire to know who were the conquerors, the event of the war will tell.' XLVI. Maroboduus, in the mean time, was not in- active. Of himself he talked in magnificent terms, and of the enemy with contempt and indignation. Holding Inguiomer by the hand, * Behold,' he said, * in this brave warrior the support and glory of the Cheruscan name ! To him they are indebted for the success of their arms. Arminius had no share in the conduct of the war ; a rash presumptuous man, with- out knowlege or experience, he tears the laurel from another's brow, and founds his merit on fraud and murder: he fell by surprise on three legions, and put an unsuspecting general, with his whole army, to the sword. All Germany has had reason to rue the car- nage of that day ; nor has Arminius anything to boast. His wife and his son are anguishing in Roman chains. Has my conduct produced so dreadful a catastrophe ? Tiberius, at the head of twelve legions,' advanced against me ; but the glory of the German name suf- fered no diminution. The peace which followed was made on equal terms. For that treaty I have no rea- son to blush. Hostilities were suspended, and you gained time to deliberate which was most advisable, war with Rome, or a safe and honorable peace.' The two armies "were in this manner animated by their respective chiefs. The several nations added their own private motives. The Cheruscans took the field to maintain their ancient glory, and the Lango- bards to defend their liberty recently recovered. The 1 The expedition of Tiberius was A. U. C. 759. 152 TACITUS. Suevians aimed at an extcDsion of territory. No battle was ever fought with more inflamed resent- ment, and none with such equivocal success. The right wing on both sides was put to flight. A decisive action was expected ; when Maroboduus drew off his forces, and encamped on the neighboring hills ; acknow- ledging, by his retreat, the superior strength of the enemy. Desertion in a little time thinned his army. He retired into the country of the Marcomanians,' and thence sent a deputation to Tiberius, in hopes of obtaining succors. The emperor's answer was, that Maroboduus, in the late war with the Cheruscans, had given the Romans no assistance ; there was therefore no pretence for the present application. Drusus, not- withstanding, was despatched in the manner already mentioned, to secure the frontiers from the incursions of the enemy, and to maintain the tranquillity of the empire. XLVII. In the course of this year twelve principal cities in Asia were destroyed by an earthquake. The calamity happened in the night, and was for that reason the more disastrous ; no warning given, and by consequence no time to escape. The open fields, in such dreadful convulsions, are the usual refuge ; but the earth opening in various places, all who at- tempted to fly were buried in the yawning caverns. Hills are said to have sunk, and valleys rose to moun- tains. Quick flashes of lightning showed all the hor- rors of the scene. The city of Sardes suffered most, and was relieved in proportion to the distress of the inhabitants. Besides a remission for five years of all taxes, whether due to the public treasury, or the 1 Tiberius considered him as a dangerous enemy, and therefore sent his son Drusus to extirpate him, not by open war, but by craft and insidious policy. See this book, j 63. THE ANNALS, — BOOK II. 153 coffers of the prince, Tiberius promised a supply of oue hundred thousand great sesterces. The city of Magnesia, situated near Mount Sipylus, suffered in the next degree, and was considered accordingly. The inhabitants of Temnos, Philadelphia, Egaea, and Apol- lonia, Avith the cities of Hierocfesarea, Myrina, Cyme, Tmolus, as also the Mosthenians, and the people called the Macedonians of Hyrcania, were for the like term of five years exempted from all manner of imposts. The senate resolved to send a person of their own order to make an estimate of the mischief, and grant suitable relief. The affairs of Asia were at that time administered by a man of consular dignity. To avoid the jealousy incident to officers of equal rank Marcus Aletus, who had risen no higher than the office of pretor, w^as the person commissioned to superintend the business. XLVIII. Besides these acts of public munificence, Tiberius showed, in matters of a private nature, a spirit of liberality that did him the highest honor. The estate of Emilia Musa,' who was possessed of a large fortune, and died intestate, leaving no lawful heir, was claimed to the prince's use by the officers of the imperial exchequer. Tiberius renounced his right in favor of ^Emilius Lepidus, who seemed to stand in some degree of relation to the deceased. He gave up, in like manner, the rich possessions of Patuleius, a 1 Lipsius says he will endeavor to take aim in the dark, and tell, as well as can be done at such a distance of time, who tliis woman was. He concludes that she was an en- franchised slave, and that her patron, who by law was intitled to the effects of his freedworaan dying intestate, not being clearly ascertained, her property went of course to the fiscus, or exchequer of the prince. Tiberius chose to have his right, and grant the whole to Lepidus, who had some connexion with the deceased. 154 TACITUS. Roman kniglit ; and though a considerable legacy was left to himself, he resigned the whole to Marcus Ser- vilius, on the ground of a former will, duly attested, in which Servilius was constituted sole heir. For this disinterested conduct the reason assigned was, that the dignity of two such illustrious citizens deserved to be supported. In general, it was a rule with Tiberius, in all cases where he had no previous title from con- nexion or friendship, not to accept any property as testamentary heir. When humor, caprice, or pas- sion, induced a stranger to disinherit his kindred, and make a disposition in favor of the prince, he declared it an inofficious testament. To honest and virtuous poverty he often showed himself a friend : to prodi- gality he was an inflexible enemy. In the class of spendthrifts he considered Vibidius Varro, Marius Nepos, Appius Appianus, Cornelius Sylla, and Quin- tus Vitellius. These men, undone by their own ex- travagance, were either expelled the senate, or allowed to vacate their seats. XLIX. The plan undertaken by Augustus for the building of temples in the room of such as had been injured by time or damaged by fire was now com- pleted. Tiberius dedicated the various structures to their respective deities ; one near the Great Circus to Bacchus, Proserpine, and Ceres, originally raised in consequence of a vow made by Aulus Postliumius the dictator ;' a temple to Flora, near the same place, formerly dedicated by Lucius and Marcus Publicius, during their a?dileship ; another to Janus, in the herb- market, founded by Caius Duillius,^ the first who by a naval victory added lustre to the Roman name, and 1 Auhis Posthumius was dictator A. U.C. 258. 2 Dnillius obtained a signal victory over the Carthaginian fleet, A. U. C. 4-94. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 155 triumphed over the Carthaginians. The temple of Hope, vowed by Attilius in the same Punic war, was dedicated by Germanicus. L. Meanwhile the law of violated majesty went on with increasing fury. A prosecution founded on that cruel device was set on foot against Apuleia Varilia, descended from a sister of Augustus, and grand-niece to that emperor. She was charged with speaking defa- matory words to the dishonor of Augustus, and utter- ing sharp invectives against Tiberius and his mother. Adultery was another head of accusation : though related to the Caesarean family, she had, by her licen- tious conduct, brought disgrace on that illustrious name. The last article was thrown out of the case, as a matter within the provisions of the Julian law.' With regard to her calumnious language, Tiberius desired that a distinction might be made. If it ap- peared in proof that she had spoken irreverently of Augustus, the law, he said, should take its course ; but personalities levelled at himself might pass with impunity. A question was put by the consul touching the liberties taken with the emperor's mother. Tibe- rius made no reply. At the next meeting of the senate he informed the fathers that words affecting Livia were, by her own desire, never to be imputed as a crime. Varilia was acquitted on the law of majesty. With regard to the charge of adultery, Tiberius re- quested the fathers to soften the rigor of their sen- 1 The law against adultery was called Lex Julia, because Augustus, tlie author of it, had been adopted by Julius Caesar. See Justinian's Institutes, iv. 18. The wife who was found guilty forfeited half her effects, and was banished to an island. By the old law, as stated by Livy, the woman convicted of a crime was delivered over to her relations to be punished in private. If there was nobody to whose custody she could be committed she was punished in public. 156 TACITUS. tence. In conformity to ancient practice, lie was of opinion that the relations of the offender might remove her to the distance of two hundred miles from Rome. This mode of punishment was adopted. Manlius, her paramour, was banished from Italy and Africa. LI. The office of pretor becoming vacant by the death of Vipsanius Gallus, the appointment of a suc- cessor gave occasion to a warm and eager contest. Haterius Agrippa, nearly related to Germanicus, was declared a candidate. Drusus and Germanicus, both still at Rome, espoused his interest. It was however a settled rule that the person who had the greatest number of children ' should be deemed to have the superior title. From this line of decision many of the fathers were unwilling to depart. Tiberius saw with inward satisfaction the senate wavering between the law and the wishes of his sons. The law, as may be imagined, proved too feeble. The two princes carried the question, though not without a strong contention, and by a small majority. This, however, was no more than what often happened in better times, when laws were still da force, but had to struggle with power, and were often obliged to yield to superior interest. LII. By the spirit of a bold and daring adventurer a war was this year kindled up in Africa. This man, a Numidian by birth, and known by the name of Tac- farinas, had served in the Roman camp among the auxiliary troops. He deserted afterwards, and col- 1 By the law called Papia Pofpcsa, the candidate who had the greatest number of children was to be deemed duly elected. In consequence of this law, it became the common practice of men who had no issue, but were determined at all events to secure their election, to adopt a competent number, and as soon as they ol)tuined the government of provinces to renounce their fictitious children. The fraud was afterwards repressed. See Annals, xv. § 19. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 157 lected together a body of freebooters, accustomed to live by rapine, and by consequence addicted to a life of warfare. Tacfarinas had acquired some rudiments of military divScipline. He formed his rash-levied numbers into companies of foot and squadrons of horse. Having drawn over to his party the Musula- nians, a nation bordering on the wilds of Africa, where they led a roving life, without towns or fixed habitations, he was no longer a chief of a band of robbers, but, with a higher title, the general of a peo- ple. The neighboring Moors,* a race of savages, under the command of Mazippa, joined the confede- racy. The two chiefs agreed to divide their troops into two separate bodies. Tacfarinas with the flower of his army formed a regular camp, arming his men after the Roman manner, and training them to the art of war ; while Mazippa, at the head of his light-armed freebooters, ravaged the country, and marked his way with fire and sword. The Cinithians, a nation by no means contemptible, were forced to enter into the league. At length Furius Camillus, proconsul of Africa, advanced to check the insurgents at the head of a legion, and such of the allies as still remained under his command. With this handful of men, a slender force when compared to the number of the Moors and Numidians, the Roman general determined to hazard a decisive action. His chief care was, not to strike the enemy with terror. Their fears, he knew, would make them avoid an action, and protract the war. The barbarians hoped to gain an easy victory, and by their hopes were led on to their destruction. Camil- 1 The Mauri, inhabitants of Mauritania, bordered on what is now called Algiers. 158 TACITUS. lus drew up in order of battle. His legion formed the centre : in the wings were stationed the light cohorts, and two squadrons of horse. Nor did Tacfarinas de- cline the conflict. He engaged, and was totally routed. By this victory the name of Camillus, after an inter- val of many years, seemed to retrieve its ancient ho- nors. From him, who was the deliverer of Rome,' and his son, who emulated the father's example, all military fame was transplanted to other families, till Camillus, the conqueror of Tacfarinas, once more re- vived the glory of his ancestors; but he did it without their talents. He had seen no service, nor was he considered as an officer. Tiberius for that reason was the more lavish in his praise. Triumphal ornaments were decreed to him by the senate ; nor was he after- wards ruined by his merit. His moderation, and the simplicity of his manners, screened him from envy. He enjoyed his lionors with impunity. LIII. Tiberius and Germanicus were joint consuls for the following year ; the former for the third time, and the latter for the second. Germanicus, in this juncture, was absent from Rome, at the city of Nico- polis, in Achaia. He had passed into Dalmatia on a visit to his brother Drusus. From that place he sailed along the coast of Illyricum ; and, after a tempestuous voyage in the Adriatic and the Ionian seas, arrived at Nicopolis, where he was invested with his new dig- nity. His fleet had suftered, and took some days to refit for sea. In the mean time he seized the oppor- tunity to view the bay of Actium, rendered famous by the great naval victory at that place. He saw the trophies^ consecrated by Augustus, and the lines of 1 j\r. Fnrius Camillus obtained a complete victory over the Gauls, and saved the city of Rome, A. U. C. 364. •i Suetonius says, Augustus, to perpetuate the glory of his THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 159 Marc Antony's camp. To him, who was grand-nephew to Augustus, and grandson to Marc Antony, the scene was interesting. Every object reminded him of his ancestors ; and every circumstance awakened those tender sensations, in which the heart unites regret and pleasure. From Nicopolis he proceeded to Athens. In that city, the seat of valor and of literature, and for many years in alliance with Rome, he showed his respect for the inhabitants by appearing without pomp, attended only by a single lictor. The Greeks ex- hausted their invention to do him honor: ingenious in the arts of flattery, they took care to blend with their compliments frequent mention of the renowned ex- ploits and memorable sayings of their ancestors; and thus, by enhancing their own merit, they thought they gave refinement, and even value, to adulation. LIV. From Athens Germanicus sailed to the island of Euboea, and thence to Lesbos, where Agrippina was delivered of a daughter, called Julia, ^ the last of her children. From Lesbos he pursued his voyage along the coast of Asia ; and after visiting Perinthus and Byzantium, two cities of Thrace, sailed through the straits of the Propontis into the Euxine sea, led by curiosity to visit all places renowned in story. In his progress he attended every where to the complaints of the inhabitants, whom he found distracted by their own intestine divisions, or laboring under the tyranny of the magistrates. He redressed grievances, and established good order wherever he went. victory at Actium, built the city of Nicopolis, near the bay ; established quinquennial sames ; and, having enhirged an old temple of Apollo, adorned it with naval spoils, and dedicated it to Neptune and Mars. In Aug. § 18. 1 Before the birth of Julia, Germanicus had five children, who were exhibited to the people of Rome in their father's triumphal car. See in this book, ^ 41. 160 TACITUS. On his return from the Euxine he intended to visit Samothracia,' famous for its rites and mysteries ; but the wind springing up from the north, he was obliged to bear away from the coast. He viewed the ruins of Troy, and the remains of antiquity in that part of the world, renowned for so many turns of fortune, the theatre of illustrious actions, and the origin of the Roman people. He landed next at Colophon, to con- sult the oracle of the Clarian Apollo.^ The responses at this place were not delivered, like those at Delphos, by a Pythian maid : a priest officiates, chosen by cus- tom out of certain privileged families, and generally a citizen of Miletus. From such as apply to hira he requires nothing but their number and their names. Content with these particulars, he descends into a cavern ; and, after drinking from a secret spring, though untinctured with learning, and a stranger to poetry, he breaks out in a strain of enthusiastic verse, on the subject of every man's hopes and fears. He is said to have foretold the approaching fate of Germa- nicus, but in the oracular style, dark and enigmatical. LV. Piso, in the mean time, impatient to execute his evil purposes, made his entry into Athens, and with the tumult of a rude disorderly train alarmed 1 An island in the ^Egean sea. The religious rites of the place were held in the highest veneration, and initiation into the mysteries was in as high repute as those of Eleusis, called the Eieusinian mysteries. Suidas says it was generally he- lieved that such as visited Samothracia, and were initiated into the mysteries, were sure to be protected from all future danger. Broiier thinks this might be Germanicus' reason for wanting to visit that island. 2 A town of Ionia, in Asia, on a promontory of the ^gean sea. Pliny the elder mentions the oracle of the Clarian Apollo, and tlie sacred cave, where he who drank from the spring was inspired with prophetic fury, but shortened bis days. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 161 the city. In a public speech he thought fit to declaim against the inhabitants, obliquely glancing at Germa- nicus ; who, he said, b}^ ill-judged condescensions, had impaired the dignity of the Roman name. The civility of the prince, he said, was shown, not to the men of Atliens (a race long since extirpated), but to a vile heterogeneous mass, the scum of various nations, at one time in league with Mithridates against Sylla, and afterwards with Marc Antony against Augustus. He went back to the time of Philip of Macedon ; con- demning, in terms of reproach, not only their feeble exertions in their struggle with that monarch, but also the ingratitude of a giddy populace to their best and ablest citizens. To this behavior Piso was instigated by a private pique against the Athenians. It happened that one Theophilus was condemned for forgery by the judgment of the areopagus :' Piso endeavored to gain a pardon for this man ; but that upright judica- ture was inflexible. After this prelude to the scenes which he was still to act, Piso embarked ; and, after a quick passage through the Cyclades, arrived at Rhodes. While he lay at the mouth of the harbor a storm arose, and drove the vessel on the point of a rock. Germanicus was then at Rhodes. He knew the hostilities that had been already commenced against himself, and might have left a man of that dangerous character to the 1 The supreme court of judicature at Athens. It derived its name from the place where it was held, being a hill not far distant from the city, called apeionayos, Mars' hill. Whether first instituted by Solon, or improved by him, is not certain, nor is it agreed whut number of persons composed tliat vene- rable "Assembly. They heard and determined all causes at night, and in the dark. To laugh in their assembly was an unpardonable act of levity, and, by an express law, no mem- ber was to be the author of a comedy. See Potter's Anti- quities, vol. i. 101. TACIT. VOL. I. L 162 TACITUS. mercy of the winds and waves ; but, acting with his usual benevolence, he sent off boats and galleys to save an enemy from destruction. Gratitude Avas not in the character of Piso. He spent but a single day with his benefactor; and, to take his measures before- hand, proceeded on his way to Syria. Having reached that place, he began by bribery, by intrigue, and ca- bal, to draw to himself the affections of the legions. He caressed the lowest of the soldiers : he dismissed the centurions of approved experience, and removed all the tribunes who supported military discipline ; substituting in their room his own dependants; and, still worse, the vile and profligate, who had nothing but their crimes to recommend them. Sloth prevailed in the camp ; licentiousness diffused itself through the cities ; and over the face of the country nothing was seen but a dissipated and disorderly band of soldiers. By these practices Piso rose into popularity; inso- much that he was hailed tlie ' Father of the Legions.' His wife Plancina forgot the decencies of the female character. She attended the troops in the field ; she reviewed the cavalry ; she railed with spleen and ma- lice against Agrippina, and did not even spare Germa- nicus. This behavior, it was generally believed, had the approbation and countenance of Tiberius. The consequence was, that not only the weak and profli- gate were alienated from Germanicus, but even the men of sober conduct, who were inclined to remain in their duty, went in a short time to pay their homage to the favorites of the emperor. LVI. Germanicus was fully apprised of these pro- ceedings ; but Armenia claimed his first attention. He hastened without loss of, time to regulate the affairs of that kingdom ; a kingdom where caprice and levity marked the national character, and the THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 163 situation of the country encouraged the inconstancy of the people. Armenia borders a great length of way on the Roman provinces ; then stretches, to a vast extent, as far as the territory of the Medes. Hemmed in by two great empires, that of Parthia and of Rome, the Armenians are never steady to either; but, with their natural levity, alternately at variance with each : with the Romans, from rooted aversion ; with the Parthians, from motives of ambition and national jea- lousy. In the present juncture the throne was vacant. Vonones being expelled, the wishes of the people were fixed on Zeno, the son of Polemon, king of Pontus. The young prince had shown, from his earliest youth, a decided inclination to Armenian manners. The sports of the chase were his favorite amusement ; he delighted in carousing festivals, and all the pastimes of savage life. For these qualities he was high in esteem, not only with the populace, but also the gran- dees of the nation. In this disposition of men's minds Germanicus entered the city of Arta^ata, and, amidst the acclamations of the people, placed the diadem on the head of Zeno. The Armenians paid homage to their new master ; in the ardor of their zeal proclaim- ing him king, by the name of Artaxias,^ in allusion to the place of his coronation. About the same time the Cappadocians, who had been reduced to the form of a province,^ received Quintus Veranius as their go- vernor. The first measure of his administration was to remit part of the taxes heretofore paid to their 1 Lipsius says there had been many kings of the name of Artaxias, and the city was called Artaxata after one of them. 2 This vast country submitted to be a Roman province under Tiberius. The people of Comagene followed the example. Caligula restored the kingdom to Antioch, son of the last king. Vespasian finally reduced it to the form of a province. 164 TACITUS. kings ; that, from so mild a beginning, the people might conceive a favorable idea of the Roman mode- ration. The Comagenians, in like manner, submitted to the government of a pretor, and Quintus Serv^us was appointed to the office. LVII. In this manner tranquillity was established in the east. The events were important, and svich as might have given Germanicus reason to congratulate himself ; but his joy was poisoned by the repeated hostilities and the insolence of Piso. This man had orders to march with a detachment of the legions into Armenia ; or, at his option, to give the command to his son. He complied in neither instance. The prince met him at Cyrrum, the winter quarters of the tenth legion. At that place they came to an interview, both with countenances adjusted to the occasion : Piso, with an air of intrepidity, still disdaining a superior ; and Germanicus, with the serenity of a man who ^vished to stifle his resentment. The gentle qualities of his nature inclined him at all times to moderation ; but his friends, with the usual talent of men who love to make bad worse, inflamed the quarrel. They ag- gravated what was true : they gave color to false- hood ; and omitted nothing to the disadvantage of Piso, Plancina, and their sons. In the presence of a few select friends Germanicus came to an explanation : his language was in that measured style which anger and prudence, combating each other, usually inspire. Piso made an arrogant apology. The meeting broke up, and both retired with smothered resentment. From this time Piso rarely attended the tribunals of justice : whenever he appeared in court his countenance plainly discovered ill-will and sullen discontent. At a banquet given by the Nabathean king a sudden expression fell from THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 165 him, and betrayed his real temper. Golden crowms were presented to the company : two, for Germanicus and Agrippina, were of a ponderous size ; while those for Piso and the rest were of inferior value. Piqued at the distinction, Piso exclaimed, 'This feast is made for the son of a Roman prince, not of a Parthian king.' In the instant he threw the present made to himself, with peevish contempt, on the ground, declaiming with bitterness against the growth of luxury. Ger- manicus heard his rude invective, but still remained master of himself. LVIII. About this time arrived ambassadors from Artabanus, king of the Parthians, with instructions to mention, in terms of respect, the ancient alliance be- tween Rome and Parthia, and the desire of the mo- narch to renew their former friendship. As an earnest of respect for Germanicus, Artabanus was willing to advance to an interview as far as the Euphrates ; but he made it a condition that Vonones should be removed from Syria, where his residence, in the neighborhood of Parthia, gave him an opportunity to carry on secret negotiations with the nobles of the realm, and in time to stir up a revolt. Germanicus answered with con- descension, yet with dignity. Of the alliance between Rome and Parthia he spoke with due regard, and the royal visit he considered as an honor to himself. Vo- nones was removed to Porapeiopolis, on the coast of Cilicia, not so much to comply with the demands of the Parthian king as to curb de insolence of Piso, then linked in ties of friendship with the exiled prince, who had contrived, by marks of respect and magnifi- cent presents, to purchase the favor of Plancina. LIX. In the consulship of Marcus Silanus and Lucius Norbanus Germanicus made a progress into Egypt, to view the monuments of antiquity so much 16G TACITUS. celebrated in tliat country. For this journey the good of the province was his pretext. In fact, by opening the public granaries, he reduced the price of corn ; and, by pursuing popular measures, he gained the good-will of the inhabitants. He appeared in public without a guard ; his feet uncovered, after the Greek fashion ; and the rest of his apparel was also Greek. In these particulars he took for his model the conduct of Publius Scipio ;' who, we are told, did the same in Sicily, while Rome was still convulsed by the distrac- tions of the Punic war. Tiberius, as soon as he re- ceived advices from Egypt, condemned this affecta- tion"^ of foreign manners, but without asperity. An- other point appeared to him of greater moment. Among the rules established by Augustus, it was a maxim of state policy^ that Egypt should be considered as for- bidden ground, which neither the senators nor the Roman knights should presume to tread without the express permission of the prince. This was no doubt a wise precaution. It was seen that whoever made himself master of Alexandria, with the strongholds, which by sea and land were the key of the whole pro- 1 To go with the feet bare, or with sandals that did not cover them, was an Egyptian custom, and from thence passed into Greece. 2 Scipio's conformity to foreign manners was censured by f'abius JMaximus, as a dangerous example, tending to corrupt tlie Roman discipline. Li v. xxix. 3 To visit Sicily, and the provinces of Gaul and Spain, was at all times permitted to the senators and other eminent citi- zens. Egypt, by the policy of Augustus, was a sequestered and prohibited province. The senate had no authority over it. The administration was altogether in the hands of the prince. Egypt was the great corn cfluntry from which Rome drew vast supplies ; and it was thought advisable to keep it in the hands of the emperor, among the secret resources of the state. The mouths of the Nile, and the isthmus of Suez, could be defended by a small force. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 167 vince, might with a small force make head against the power of Rome ; and, by blocking up that plentiful corn country, reduce all Italy to a famine. Germa- nicus, without authority, had entered Alexandria ; and this, to the jealous temper of Tiberius, was little short of a state crime. LX. Meanwhile Germanicus, little suspecting that he had incurred the emperor's displeasure, determined to sail up the Nile. He set out from Canopus, a city built by the Spartans in memory of a pilot of that name, who was buried on the spot, at the time when Menelaus, on his return from Troy, was driven by adverse winds on the coast of Libya. From Canopus, the next place of note was a mouth of the river dedi- cated to Hercules, who was born, as the inhabitants contend, in that country. He was, according to them, the first of the heroic line ; and his name, being made another term for virtue, was by the voice of succeed- ing ages bestowed on all who emulated the example of the Egyptian worthy.* Germanicus proceeded to the magnificent ruins of the city of Thebes,^ where still was to be seen, on ancient obelisks, a pompous de- scription, in Egyptian characters, of the wealth and grandeur of the place. From the account of an elderly priest, who was desired to interpret the hieroglypliics^ 1 The Egyptians, according to Diodorus Siculus, affirmed that the Grecian Hercules was several thousand years poste- rior to the hero of their own country. See Herodotus in Eu- terpe. 2 A city in Upper Egypt, celebrated by ancient writers for its vast dimension and a hundred gates, all long since laid in ruins. The place, now called Habou, is the constant resort of travellers, who tell wonders of Egyptian grandeur and the monuments of antiquity still remaining. 3 Before the invention of letters the Egyptians expressed the ideas passing in the mind by the figures of animals and other emblematic forms. See an Account of the Origin of Letters, Annals, xi. 14. And see Diodorus Siculus, iv. 1. 168 TACITUS. of his country, it appeared that Thebes, at one time contained within her walls no less than seven hundred thousand men capable of bearing arms; that the whole army was called forth into the field by Rhamses,' one of the kings of Egypt ; and, under the auspices of that monarch, overran all Libya, Ethiopia, and in their progress subdued the Medes and Persians, the Bac- trians and the Scythians, with the extensive regions inhabited by the Syrians, the Armenians, and their neighbors the Cappadocians. By this conquest a tract of country, extending from Bithynia on the Pontic sea to the coast of Lycia in the Mediterranean was re- duced to subjection. The inscription fartlier stated the tribute paid by the conquered nations ; the specific weight of gold and silver; the quantity of arms; the number of horses ; the oiferings of ivory and of rich perfumes presented to the temples of Egypt; the mea- sure of grain ; and the various supplies administered by every nation ; making altogether a prodigious re- venue, no way inferior to the taxes of late years col- lected either by Parthian despotism or the authority of Rome.^ LXI. In a country abounding with wonders the curiosity of Germanicus was not easily satisfied. He saw the celebrated statue of Memnon,^ Avhich, though 1 Lipsius says he has read nothing of this prodigious strength, nor is he willing to believe it. And yet Diodorus Siculus, ii., relates wonders of the riches, and the armies of Sesostris, who extended his conquests over Ethiopia and Asia, and at last penetrated into Thrace, where he erected a monument with an inscription in Egyptian characters : ' Se- sostris, the king of kings, subdued this province.' Pliny mentions King Rhamises, or Rhamses, who reigned at the time of the siege of Troy. Plin. xxxvi. 8. '2 It is to be regretted that Tacitus did not in this place state the amount of the Parthian and the Roman revenue. For more on this head, see Annals, xiii. .W, bl. 3 Strabo says, xvii., that he saw this celebrated statue. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 1C9 wrought in stone, when played on by the rays of the sun returns a vocal sound. He visited the pyramids; those stupendous structures, raised by the emulation of kings, at an incredible expense, amidst a waste of sands almost impassable. He saw the prodigious ba- sin,' formed by the labor of man, to receive the over- flowings of the Nile ; and in other parts of the river, where the channel is narrowed, he observed a depth of water so profound,^ that the curiosity of travellers has never been able to explore the bottom. The prince proceeded as far as Elephantine and Syene,^ the boundaries formerly of the Roman empire, though now extended as far as the Red sea. LXII. While Germanicus passed the summer in and a little after sunrise heard the sound. It is probable therefore that there was some contrivance or deception. Dr. /jkenside has described it in the Pleasures of Imagination : As Memnon's marble harp, renown'd of old By fabling Nilus, to the quiv'ring touch Of Titan's ray, with each repulsive string Consenting, sounded through the warbling air Unbidden strains, &c. 1 The Lake IMareotis, which looks like a great sea, to the south of Alexandria. Several channels are cut to receive the overflowings of the Nile. The wine of the adjoining territory is called Mareoticum by Virgil and Horace. There is an- other lake (Moeris, or McEridos) now called Lake Bathea, in which Brotier says the remains of ancient pyramids are often discovered. 2 These reservoirs, with a number of subterraneous caves, which are so many receptacles for the waters of the Nile, are described by Ammianus Marcellinus, xxii. 15. S Elephantine is an island in the Nile, in the Higher Egypt, towards the borders of Ethiopia, not far from the town of Syene, which lies still more to the south. Strabo says the Romans had a garrison at Syene, and there Tacitus places the boundary of the Roman empire in the reign of Tiberius and the following emperors, as low down as Trajan, whose enterprising spirit forgot the maxims of Augustus, and extended his conquests as far as the Red sea. See Annals, i. 11. iv. 3. 170 TACITUS. visiting the provinces of Egypt, Drusus, by his able conduct in Pannonia, acquired no small degree of re- putation. He had the address to make the Germans turn their hostilities against themselves. The power of Maroboduus was in its wane ; and his countrymen were, by consequence, encouraged to complete the ruin of that unfortunate prince. Catualda, a young man of rank, who was formerly compelled by the in- justice of Maroboduus to fly his country, had taken refuge among the Gothones.* The season of revenge was at length arrived. At the head of a strong force he entered the territory of the Marcomanians. Having seduced the leading nobles to his party, he stormed the royal palace,- and took by assault a strong castle nearly adjoining, where the Suevians had been accus- tomed to deposit their plunder. A considerable booty fell into his hands. He found, besides, a number of victuallers and traders from the Roman provinces : men who had been attracted to that part of the world by the liberty allowed to commerce, and by the love of lucre, were induced to remain ; till, by the force of habit, they lost all remembrance of their native land. LXIII. Maroboduus, finding himself deserted by his people, had no resource but in the friendship of Tiberius. He crossed the Danube, where that river washes the confines of Noricum ; and thence sent his 1 For the Gotliones, see the Geographical Table ; and also tJie Manners of the Germans, ^ 43. 2 fhere were no regular towns in Germany. When the word civitas occurs in the Latin historians it generally means a people, or a state, not what is now called a city. Marobo- duus, however, like our ancient barons, had his castle or palace. Lipsius says, after Strabo, that it was called Bovies- mum, in the llorcynian forest. Brotier and others are of opinion that it was near the city of Prague. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 171 dispatches to Rome, not in the humble style of a prince driven from his throne, but, even in ruin, with an elevation of mind worthy of his former grandeur. The substance of his letters was, that the nations who knew his fame in arms had made him offers of friend- ship, but he chose rather to rely on the protection of the Romans. Tiberius promised him a safe retreat in Italy ; with liberty, if his affairs took a favorable turn, to withdraw whenever his interest should invite him. To the fathers he talked a different language : Philip of Macedon,' he said, was not so much to be dreaded by the Athenians, nor Pyrrhus or Antiochus by the Roman people. His speech on this occasion is still extant : we there find him magnifying the fortitude of the German chief, and the ferocity of the nations over which he reigned with absolute power. He sets forth the danger of a powerful enemy so near the Roman frontier, and applauds himself for the wisdom of the measures that brought on the ruin of a great and warlike prince. Maroboduus was received at Ra- venna ; and there held up to the Suevians, if they dared to commence hostilities, as a prince that might once more ascend the throne. In the space howe\'er of eighteen years Maroboduus never once stirred out of Italy. He grew grey in indolence ; and clinging too long to a wretched life, survived his reputation. Catualda experienced a like reverse of fortune, and found no better refuge. The Hermundurians, led on by Vibillius their chief, expelled him from the throne. The Romans fixed his residence at Foro-Julium, a colony in Narbon Gaul. The barbarians who fol- 1 Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, invaded Italy A. U. C. 176; before tlie Cliristian era '■278. Antiochus III., king of Syria, was de- feated hy Lucius Scipio, A. U. C. 564. Livy, xxxvii. 4j, 172 TACITUS. lowed the fortunes of the two exiled kings were not suffered to incorporate with the people of the provinces ; but, to prevent the danger that might otherwise shake the public tranquillity, were conducted beyond the Danube, where they had allotments of land between the rivers Marus and Cusus, under the command of Vannius, a man born in the Quadian nation, and by Tiberius made king of the colony. LXIV. The elevation of Artaxias to the throne of Armenia being about this time known at Rome, the senate decreed the lesser triumph to Drusus and Ger- manicus. Triumphal arches were raised near the tem- ple of Mars the Avenger, and the statues of the two princes were placed in a conspicuous point of view. Tiberius rejoiced at these events; and the more so, as they were the effect of policy, not of conquest. By the same insidious arts he now began to plan the de- struction of Rhescuporis, king of Thrace. Rhaeme- talces at one time reigned sole monarch over that whole country. After his death Augustus made a partition of the kingdom, assigning to Rhescuporis, the late king's brother, one moiety ; and the other to Cotys,' son of the deceased monarch. In this divi- sion of the kingdom the cultivated parts of the coun- try, the fertile vales and florishing cities that lay con- tiguous to Greece, fell to the share of Cotys ; the Avilds and barren places, which were open to hostile incursions, were allotted to Rhescuporis. The genius of the two kings resembled their soil : the milder vir- tues distinguished the character of Cotys ; ferocity, 1 Ovid has confirmed the character given by Tacitus of tJiis prince. His ninth elegy, De Ponto, is addressed to Cotys, praying a safe retreat in his dominions. He says he l)as seen verses by Cotys, and one poet owes protection to another. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 173 ambition, rapine, and impatience of an equal, were the prominent features of Riiescuporis. The princes preserved at first a show of mutual concord : in time Rhescuporis began to encroach on his nephew, not indeed with open violence, as he knew that Augustus, the founder of both kingdoms, might likewise prove the avenger of wrongs. During that emperor's life he concealed his designs ; but he no sooner heard that Rome had changed masters than he threw oiF the mask, and avowed his ambition. With a band of free- booters he ravaged the country, rased to the ground the strongholds and castles, and by every act of hos- tility provoked a war. LXV. To keep things which were once settled in the same unaltered state was the principal care that occupied the anxious spirit of Tiberius. He de- spatched a centurion to restrain the Thracian kings from an open rupture. Cotys disbanded his forces. Rhescuporis resolved to act with craft and subtlety. He proposed a conference, which, he had no doubt, would terminate all their differences. The time and place were fixed : a negotiation was opened, both princes seeming willing to remove all difficulties. Cotys brought to the meeting a conciliating spirit ; the uncle meditated a stroke of perfidy. To ratify the preliminaries he proposed a banquet. The parties met, and protracted their festivity to a late hour of the night. Amidst the joys of wine, and in the mo- ment of revelry, Rhescuporis attacked his nephew, unsuspecting and unprovided. The deluded prince urged in vain the rights of kings, the laws of hospi- tality, and the gods of their forefathers. He was loaded with irons. His treacherous uncle made him- self master of all Thrace ; and immediately sent de- spatches to inform Tiberius that a dangerous conspi- 174 TACITUS. racy against his life had been defeated by timely vigi- lance. In the mean time, under color of an enter- prise against the Basternians and the Scythians, he made levies of horse and foot, determined, at all events, to be prepared for a defensive war. LXVI. Tiberius returned for answer, that his con- duct, if found to be free from reproach, would be his best protection ; but neither the senate nor the empe- ror could prejudge the cause : the guilt or innocence af men must arise out of the facts. He added, that Rhescuporis would do well to release his nephew, and make the best of his way to Rome in order to fix the criminality where it ought to fall. A letter to this dfect from the emperor was forwarded to the Thra- cian king by Latinius Pandus, propretor of Mysia. A band of soldiers went, at the same time, to demand that Cotys should be delivered into their custody. Rhescuporis, divided between hope and fear, fluctu- ated for some time : he chose, at length, rather to answer for an actual crime than for the bare intention. He murdered Cotys, and spread a report that he died by his own hand. Tiberius heard the news without emotion, determined still to pursue his plan of fraud and treachery. Latinius Pandus died in the interval. Rhescuporis had always represented him as his inve- terate enemy ; but the government of Mysia being now vacant, Tiberius gave the administration of the province to Pomponius Flaccus,' a man of military experience, and on the best terms with Rhescuporis. A friend, he knew, might prove in the end the most fatal enemy. That consideration determined his choice. LXVII. Flaccus, without loss of time, arrived in 1 During the administration of Pomponius Flaccus Ovid says he lived in security on the banks of the Ister. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 175 Thrace. He found Rhescuporis in a state of violent agitation, conscious of his guilt, and overwhelmed with doubt and fear. He soothed him with gracious words, and by plausible promises inveigled him to ha- zard his person within the lines of a Roman garrison. Pretending there to do honor to the prince, he ap- pointed a guard to attend him. The tribunes and centurions enticed him to go forward under their pro- tection ; till, having drawn him a considerable way, they avowed their purpose, and Rhescuporis found tliat he was a prisoner in close custody. He was con- ducted to Rome, where the widow of Cotys accused him before the senate. His guilt was manifest : the senate decreed that he should pass the remainder of his days at a distance from his dominions. The king- dom of Thrace Avas once more divided. Rhaemetalces, son of the deposed king, and always adverse to his father's measures, had a portion of the realm ; the rest was granted to the sons of Cotys, then under age. During their minority Trebellienus Rufus, of preto- rian rank, undertook the government of the kingdom, in trust for the heirs of Cotys, according to the pre<>e- dent of former times, when the senate sent Marcus Lepidus ^ to administer the affairs of Egypt in the capacity of regent and guardian to the children of Ptolemy. Rhescuporis was conveyed to Alexandria ; and there attempting* to make his escape, or perhaps unjustly charged with that design, he was seized and put to death. 1 Ptc^emy Philopater died A. U. C. 550. His son was an infant about five years old. The people of Alexandria craved the protection of Rome, and the senate sent Marcus ^railius Lepidus, then chief pontiff', and a man of strict integrity, to act as guardian to the young king during his minority. Jus- tin, XXX. Valerius Maximus, xii. 176 TACITUS. LXVIII. About the same time Vonones, who, as has been mentioned, was detained in Cilicia, made a like attempt, but with no better success. Having cor- rupted the guards, he intended to push his way into Armenia, and thence to the Albanians and Henio- chians, flattering himself that he should be able to penetrate into Scythia, and there obtain protection from the reigning king, who was his near relation. With this intent he went on a hunting party; and, having watched his opportunity, betook himself to flight. Turning ofl" from the sea-coast, he struck into the woods, and rode at full speed towards the river Pyramus. The inhabitants, on the first alarm, de- molished the bridges. The river was not fordable. Vonones was found wandering along the banks, and by order of Vibius Fronto, the commander of the cavalry, loaded with fetters. He did not long survive. Remmius, a resumed veteran, had been entrusted with the custody of his person. This man, in a sudden transport of pretended passion drew^ his sword and ran the unhappy prince through the body. The secret cause of this violent act cannot now be ascertained:' the general opinion was that the soldier had been bribed to favor the king's escape, and rather than be detected as an accomplice chose to be an as- LXIX. Germanicus on his return from Egypt found all his regulations, in the civil as well as tlie military line, totally abolished, or changed to a system directly contrary to his intentions. Hence a new source of dissension. He condemned the conduct of 1 Remmius is called a resumed veteran. The original has evocatus, which was the word for a veteran who had quitted the service and returned to it again. See an account of the death of Vonones, Suet, in Tib. § 49. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 177 Piso ; and in return met with nothing but contumacy, and a spirit of opposition to all his measures. Piso was at length determined to evacuate Syria : hearing, however, that Germanicus was attacked by a sudden illness, he changed his resolution. He had soon after the mortification of learning that the disorder was abated. At Antioch the news ditfused a general joy. The people of that place had oft'ered vows for the re- covery of the prince ; and, having obtained the object of their wishes, began by solemn rites to discharge the obligations which they had imposed on themselves. Enraged at this proceeding, Piso interrupted the cere- monies ; by his lictors he drove tlie victims from the altars ; he spread terror and confusion through the temples, and dispersed the congregation. After this exploit he withdrew to Seleucia. At that place, having advice that Germanicus Avas relapsed, he resolved to make some stay in expectation of the event. The prince suspected that poison had been secretly con- veyed by Piso, and that idea added to the malignity of his disorder. A discovery was made of a singular nature. Under the floor, and in the cavities of the walls, ^ a collection of human bones was found, with charms, and magic verses, and incantations. The name of Germanicus was graved on plates of lead ; fragments of human bodies, not quite consumed to ashes, were discovered in a putrid condition ; with a variety of those magic spells, which, according to the vulgar opinion, are of potency to devote the souls of the living to the infernal gods. Amidst the confusion occasioned by these ex- traordinary circumstances messengers were sent by Piso to inquire after the health of Germanicus ; but 1 Dio Cassius gives the same account. TACIT. VOL. 1. M 178 TACITUS* those men were considered as spies, who came to watch for intelligence. LXX. Germanicus was informed of all that passed. Fear and indignation took possession of him by turns. * If ray doors/ he said, ' are to be besieged by my enemies ; if interlopers are to see me at the point of expiration, what is the prospect that my wife has before her? and what are my children to expect? The poison is too slow in its operation for the wishes of my ene- mies ; they want to hasten its effect ; and the im- patience of Piso has already swallowed up the pro- vince, with the command of the legions. But Ger- manicus is not yet deserted by all : his enemies may still have reason to repent ; and the murderer will find that he has not long to enjoy the wages of his guilt.' In this temper of mind he wrote a letter to Piso, in express terms disclaiming all friendship and connexion with him : as some will have it, he commanded him to depart from the province. Piso, in fact, did not linger at Seleucia : he embarked immediately, but slackened his course ; still willing to hover near the coast, in hopes that the death of Germanicus would leave the province open to his ambition. LXXI. The disorder intermitting for a short time, Germanicus had an interval of hope. But the fatal moment was approaching : he sunk into a mortal langor ; and, finding himself near his end, took leave of his friends in words to the following etiect : ' Were I to die a natural death, yet, thus cut off in the bloom of life from my family, my children, and my country, I might think it hard, and call the gods severe in their dispensations. Falling, as I now do, a victim to the iniquity of Piso and his wife Plancina, I leave with you, my friends, the request of a dying man. You know the indignities that provoked me beyond all en- THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 179 during ; you know the snares that have been laid for me, and you see the anguish of heart that brings me prematurely to my grave : relate the whole to my father and my brother.' The friends, whom prosperity connected with me ; my relations, more closely united by the ties of blood, will hear the story with indigna- tion ; even envy, that never fails to persecute the living, will drop a tear over my remains. All will lament the fate of an unhappy prince, whom they saw florishing in the smiles of fortune, a conqueror in so manj^ battles, yet at last snatched away by the artifices of female malice.- It will be yours to appeal to the senate ; yours to invoke the vengeance of the laws ; and yours to show your friendship, not by unavailing- tears, but by executing my last commands. In that consists the noblest duty, the best tribute to the me- mory of the dead. Even strangers who never saw me will be touched with sympathy ; and you, my friends, if I was ever dear to you, if you followed my person, and not my fortune, you will revenge my fall. Show to the Roman people my afflicted wife, the grand- daughter of Augustus ; show my children, my six un- happy orphans. Compassion will be on the side of the prosecutors ; and should my enemies attempt to screen themselves by pleading secret orders, mankind will either not believe them, or, believing, will not forgive them.' The friends of the dying prince clasped his hand, and bound themselves by a solemn oath to revenge his death, or perish in the attempt. LXXII. Germanicus turned to his wife, and fixing his eyes on her, earnestly conjured her by the memory of her husband, and by their mutual children, to abate 1 Tiberius was bis fatber by adoption; Drusus, the son of Tiberius, was of course bis brother. 2 The malice of Livia, and Flancina, Piso's wife. 180 TACITUS. from the pride and fierceness of her disposition. To bend to the stroke of adversity, and at her return to Rome not to provoke by vain competition the resent- ment of enemies too high in power, was all that now was left. — Thus far with an audible voice : he then whispered a secret caution, which was supposed to point at the malignity of Tiberius. In a short time after he breathed his last. The provinces lamented their loss ; he was honored by kings, and regretted by the neighboring nations ; such was his equal behavior to the allies of Rome, and such the humanity that en- deared him even to the enemy. Graceful in his per- son, he charmed by his alFability ; beloved, when heard ; admired, when only seen ; and, in the highest eleva- tion, great without arrogance, he maintained the dig- nity of his rank, yet never gave envy reason to repine at his success.^ LXXIII. The funeral was plain and simple, without pomp or pageantry. No images - were carried in the procession. Fond remembrance, and the praises due to virtue, were the best decorations. Between him and Alexander men formed a parallel : his time of life, the graces of his person, the manner of his death, and the small distance between the places where both ex- pired, gave room for th'e comparison. Both, it was observed, were of a comely form ; both of illustrious birth ; neither of them much exceeding the thirtieth year of his age ; and both died in a foreign land, cut oflF by domestic treachery. But Germanicus had quali- ties peculiar to himself: he was mild and gracious to his friends, in his pleasures temperate, an affectionate husband, and by one wife the father of a numerous 1 See the character of Germanicus in Suetonius, Life of Calig. §3. 2 The family images were left at Home. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 181 issue. Nor was his military character any way in- ferior : he had the bravery of Alexander, without his rashness ; and, if he had not been recalled from Ger- many, where he gained so many signal victories, the intire conquest of that country had crowned his opera- tions with immortal glory. The power of the state was never in his hands. Had he possessed the sole authority, with the royal title, and the prerogative of a prince, the progress of his arras would have made him equal to the conqueror of Darius ; while, on the side of virtue, his clemencjs his moderation, his tem- perance, and other amiable qualities, gave him a de- cided superiority. The body lay in state in the forum at Antioch, where the funeral ceremony was performed. Whether any symptoms of poison were discovered ' is uncertain. The people were divided into opposite parties, and their opinions varied accordingly. Some lamented the deceased prince, and, in minds so pre- possessed, suspicion amounted to proof; others warped into the interests of Piso ; and all pronounced accord- ing to the bias of their inclinations. LXXIV. In this juncture, who was the fit person to govern the province became the subject of debate. A council for this purpose was held by the commanders of the legions, and all of senatorian rank, then on the 1 Suetonius states this iniquity of magic spells and impre- cations as a fact. Livid spots, he says, appeared all over the body ; and when it was committed to the flames the heart remained intire, being, according to the general opinion, proof against tire when tainted with poison. Suet, in Calig^. <^ 1. La Bletterie in his note on this passage says he has been told by an English gentleman tliat the heart of Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, was in like manner spared by the flames ; but, if the fact were so, he is not willing to attribute it to the operation of poison, since it is not probable that Queen jNIary, wlio ordered that prelate to be burnt at Oxford, poisoned him before he was publicly executed. 182 TACITUS. spot. A number of candidates appeared. After a, short struggle the contest lay between Vibius Marsus and Cneius Sentius. The question hung for some time in suspense. Marsus at length withdrew his pre- tensions ; willing to yield to a senior officer, who showed himself ambitious of the honor. The first step of the new governor was to send to Rome a woman of the name of Martina, well known throughout the pro- vince for her practices in the trade of poisoning, and also for her intimacy with Plancina. This measure was adopted at the request of Vitellius,' Veranius, and a number of others, who were then actually busy in collecting evidence, and preparing the charge with as much assiduity, as if the prosecution had been al- ready commenced in due form of law. LXXV. Meanwhile Agrippina, pierced to the heart, and her health impaired by affliction, resolved, notwith- standing, to surmount every obstacle that might retard the hand of justice. She embarked for Italy with the ashes of Germanicus, and her orphan children. All eyes beheld her with compassion : all were grieved that a woman of the highest distinction, so lately happy with the best of men, and in the splendor of a court seen with universal homage, should undertake a melancholy voyage, with the urn of him she loved, not sure of a just revenge, alarmed for herself, and by the fruitfulness of her marriage-bed exposed to calami- ties yet unknown. Piso was at the isle of Coos. He there received advice that Germanicus was no more. Transported with joy beyond all bounds, he hastened to the temples, and offered victims as a public thanks- giving. Plancina was still more extravagant : she 1 Publius Vitellius, uncle to Vitellius the emperor. See Annals, i, 70. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 183 laid aside her mourning for a deceased sister, to cele- brate in her gayest apparel an event so grateful to her heart. LXXVI. The centurions flocked in crowds to Piso, assuring him that the legions were devoted to his service, and for that reason exhorted him to resume a command unjustly taken from him. Piso called a council of his friends : his son, Marcus Piso, was for his returning to Rome without delay. ' What had been done might well be jus. aed : suspicions, unsup- ported by proof, would soon evaporate ; and vague reports were of no moment. The long contention with Germanicus might perhaps be censured : it was unpopular, but could not amount to a crime. Piso had lost his government, and by that circumstance the rage of his enemies would be appeased. To return to Syria were to enter into a civil war with Sentius. The centurions and soldiers were not to be trusted. The memory of Germanicus was still recent : and that affection for the Ceesarean family, which had taken, root in the minds of all, would operate throughout the army.' LXXVII. Domitius Celer, the intimate friend of Piso, was of a contrary opinion. ' The opportunity,' he said, ' should be seized without delay. Piso, and not Sentius, was the legal governor of Syria: the pre- torian jurisdiction, the ensigns of magistracy, and the command of the legions, were committed to his care. If the sword must be drawn, who had so much right on his side as the person who received the commission from the emperor ? Public rumor should not be too soon encountered. Give the report of the day time to grow stale, and it dies of itself. In the first heat of prejudice, innocence itself has often fallen a victim to popular clamor. If Piso, at the head of an army, 184 TACITUS. stood at bay with his enemies, new emergencies, which no wisdom could foresee, might unexpectedly assist his cause. Why should he hasten to the capital .' Was it his interest to enter Rome with Agrippina bearing the urn of Germanicus ? Did he mean, unheard and undefended, to try the effect of female lamentation, or to be hurried to execution by the fury of a licentious rabble ? Livia, it is true, is of your party, and Ti- berius will favor you; but both will act in secret; and, in fact, none will grieve for Germanicus with so much ostentation of sorrow as they who, in their hearts, rejoice at the event/ LXXVIII. The turbulent genius of Piso was easily satisfied with this reasoning. He despatched letters to Tiberius, charging Germanicus with pride and luxury ; and farther complaining that, with views of ambition, he had driven out of Syria the lawful governor, duly appointed by the emperor. That governor, he added, would now resume the command ; and, by a faithful discharge of so important a trust, demonstrate his zeal for the public service. Thus de- termined, he ordered Domitius to sail for Syria; keep- ing as much as possible in the open sea, without touch- ing at any of the islands, or approaching too near to the main land. Meanwhile deserters crowded in from all quarters. Piso formed them into companies : he armed the lowest followers of the army, and with this liasty levy embarked for the continent. He had not long been landed when a body of recruits, marching to the legions in Syria, fell in his way. He drew them over to his party, and by circular letters de- manded succors from the petty kings of Cilicia. The younger Piso, though he had objected to the measure, was not inactive in his father's service. LXXIX. Piso's fleet and that which conveyed. THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 185 Agrippina met near the coast of Lycia and Pamphylia. They beheld each other with animosity. Both parties were eager to come to action ; but they passed each other, content with throwing out reproaches and op- probrious language. Vibius Marsus summoned Piso ' to appear at Rome, and stand his trial.' Piso an- swered with derision, ' that he would be sure to attend when the pretor, vested with jurisdiction in matters of poison, had cited the parties and appointed a day.* Meanwhile Domitius, who had landed at Laodicea, in the province of Syria, advanced towards the winter quarters of the sixth legion ; expecting in that corps to find the minds of the men ripe for mutiny and de-" sertion. By the vigilance of Pacuvius, who com- manded in those parts, the attempt was frustrated. Sentius, by letters to Piso, complained of these pro- ceedings ; at the same time warning him neither to corrupt the army, nor disturb the peace of the pro- vince. His next care was to draught from the legions all such soldiers as were known to be attached to Ger- manicus, or adverse to his enemies. He represented the attempts of Piso as an invasion of the imperial dignity, and a war against the commonwealth. Having excited the ardor of his men, he marched into Cilicia, prepared to decide the dispute by force of arms. LXXX. Piso found himself pressed on every side, and yet was determined not to abandon his enterprise. He seized a stronghold in Cilicia, called the castle of Celendris. With a body of deserters, incorporated with the recruits lately intercepted, and the auxiliaries sent by the kings of Cilicia, he threw himself into the place, resolved to hold out to the last. To his forces he added his own slaves and those of Plancina, form- ing altogether a number equal to a legion. To excite their courage, he complained aloud that he, the go- 186 TACITl'S. vernor appointed by Tiberius, was driven out of the province, not by tlie legions (for they invited him to return) but by Sentius, who, with the specious color of public motives, varnished over his own private ani- mosity. He told his troops that they had only to show themselves in force, and the affair would be decided. The soldiers of the adverse party, at the sight of Piso, whom they hailed the father of the legions, would lay down their arms, and submit to the man who not only had justice on his side, but, if necessary, courage and resolution to maintain his rights. Having thus exhorted his people, he drew them out before the walls of the castle, on the summit of a craggy hill. The place was every where else surrounded by the sea. The veterans, under Sentius, advanced in regular order. A body of reserve followed to support them. On one side were seen skill and bravery : on the other nothing but the advantage of the ground ; no courage to incite; no hope to animate; and no warlike weapons, but only such rustic tools as the men were able to snatch up in the first tumult of a dangerous enterprise. An engagement followed; but the victory was no longer in suspense than while the Romans were employed in forcing their way up the ascent of the hill. The steep being surmounted, the Cilicians fled for shelter to their fortifications. LXXXI. The fleet under the command of Sentius lay at anchor under the walls of Celendris. Piso made a sally, with intent to seize the ships. Being repulsed, he showed himself before the works of the castle : he complained of cruel injustice, and tried by the force of pathetic language to soften the legions in his favor : he called on individuals by name, and by ample promises hoped to raise a spirit of sedition. His success was such, that an eagle-bearer of the sixth THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 18t legion deserted to him with his standard. Sentius resolved to carry the place by assault. The signal for the charge was given : scaling-ladders were advanced to the walls ; the foremost in courage began to mount to the top of the works ; while an incessant volley of darts, and stones, and flaming brands, was poured in on the garrison. Piso desired to capitulate. He oifered to lay down his arms, on condition that he should remain in the castle till the emperor's pleasure touching the government of the province should be finally declared. The proposition was rejected. Sen- tius allowed him safe conduct to Italy, and shipping for his passage : no other terms were granted. LXXXII. The indisposition of Germanicus was known at Rome some time before his death. The news, like all distant intelligence, increased every moment, and bad was made worse by exaggeration. Grief and loud complaints filled every quarter of the city. ' Was it for this that Germanicus was sent to distant regions ? For this was the province of Syria assigned to Piso ? This is the consequence of private interviews between Livia and Plancina ! When Dru- sus, the father of Germanicus, died, it was observed by men of reflection, and observed with truth, that if the son of a despotic prince is the friend of civil liberty, his father never forgives his virtues. It was for this that Drusus and Germanicus were snatched away from the Roman people. They intended to restore the old constitution, and they perished in the cause.' Such were the sentiments that prevailed at Rome. The fatal news at length arrived. In that moment the passions of men knew no bounds. With- out waiting for an edict of the magistrates, or a decree of the senate, a cessation of all business took place ; the courts of justice were deserted; houses were shut 188 TACITUS. up ; shrieks and groans burst out, and at intervals a deep and awful silence followed. A general mourning covered the face of the city. The exterior forms of grief were observed, but the anguish of the heart surpassed all outward show. It happened, before Germanicus expired, that certain traders from Syria arrived at Rome with favorable ac- counts. What was wished was easily believed. The news spread with rapidity : he who heard imperfectly made his report with additions ; others did the same ; and thus the story w^ent on, gathering strength from mouth to mouth, and diffusing universal joy. The populace ran wild through the streets: they threw open the gates of the temples ;* night came on ; the hurry still continued ; assertion grew more confident in the dark, and credulity listened with a greedy ear. Tiberius saw the delusion, but calmly left it to its own futility. Time discloses the truth : the people renewed their sorrow with redoubled violence, as if the prince had been torn from them a second time. LXXXIII. The senate met to decree honors to liis memory. Friendship put itself to the stretch, and men of talents exhausted their invention. It was voted that the name of Germanicus should be inserted in the Salian Hymn ;2 that a curule chair, adorned wdth 1 The public demonstrations of joy were so loud and vio- lent that Tiberius was wakened in the night, and had the mortification of hearing the people sing ' Rome is safe, our country is safe, Germanicus is safe.' 2 The Salian priests, called salii from salire, were insti- tuted by Numa. They were twelve in number ; all dedicated to the worship of IMars, the god of war, whom they cele- brated with song and dance in a solemn procession througli the streets of Kome. See Livy, i. 20. Their liymns were at first in honor of the gods ; but we find that the ambition of men soon aspired to have their names inserted in the Cunnen ^aiiare. See Plutarch in the Life of Numa. To intermix the THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 189 a civic crown, should be placed in the college of Au- gustan priests ; that his statue, wrought in ivory, should be carried in the procession of the Circensian games ; that tlie vacancy made by his death in the list of flamens and augurs should be filled from the Julian familj^ only. Triumphal arches were ordered to be erected at Rome, on the Rhine, and Mount Amanus in Syria, with inscriptions setting forth the splendor of his actions, and in direct terms declaring that he died in the service of his country. At Antioch, where his remains were burnt, a mausoleum was ordered ; and at Epidaphne, where he died, a tribunal in honor of his memory. Of the several statues, and the places where they were to be worshipped, it would be diffi- cult to give a regular catalogue. It was farther pro- posed that a shield of pure gold,^ exceeding the ordinary size, should be dedicated to him in the place allotted to orators of distinguished eloquence. Tibe- rius overruled the motion, declaring his intention to order one of the common size, and the usual metal. Superior rank, he said, did not confer superior elo- quence. A place among the great writers of antiquity would be sufficient honor. The equestrian order came to a resolution that the troop called the youthful name of any man with the gods was a kind of apotlieosis, and that honor was what the senate intended for Germanicus. As to the curule chair, that distinction, which was at first granted to the living only, became in time a monument to the memory of departed virtue. 1 Pliny the elder says that the images of eminent men were represented on the sliield which they had been used to wear ; and thence the images in honor of their memory were usually called shields. Pliny, xxxv. 3. Why the shield of Germani- cus was to be placed among the orators, we learn from Sue- tonius, who says that Germanicus, among other works of genius, left Greek comedies written by himself. See Life of Caligula, § 3. Ovid dedicated his Fasti to Germanicus, whom he celebrates as an orator and a poet. Fast. i. 21. 190 TACITUS. squadron sliould for the future take its name from Germanicus ; and that his image should be carried at the head of their annual cavalcade, on the ides of July. Of these several institutions many are still subsisting; some fell into disuse ; and others by length of time have been abolished. LXXXIV. While the tears of the public still flowed for Germanicus Livia, the sister of that prince, and the wife of Drusus, was delivered of two sons at a birth. In families of inferior rank events of this kind are rare, and always matter of joy. Tiberius was transported beyond measure. He had the vanity to boast before the senate that so singular a blessing had never happened to any Roman of equal dignity. It was the policy of that subtle spirit to extract from every occurrence, and even from chance, something that tended to his own glory. The people, however, did not sympathise with the emperor. They saw, with regret, the family of Drusus increasing, and that of Germanicus in danger of being eclipsed. LXXXV. In the course of this year several de- crees against the licentiousness of female manners passed the senate. It was ordained by a law that no woman whose grandfather, father, or husband was a Roman knight should be allowed to make her person venal. The profligacy of Vistilia, descended from a father of pretorian rank, gave rise to this regulation. She presented herself before the fediles, and in form jnade a public profession of lewdness* according to 1 Women of inferior rank were allowed, in ancient times, to exempt themselves from the penalties of the law, by en- tering themselves as prostitutes in the register of the a?(liles. Suetonius says it began in the reign of Tiberius ; but, if we believe Tacitus, the meaning must be that the custom was then, for the first time, adopted by women of illustrious birth. THE ANNALS. — BOOK 11. 191 the rule established in ancient times, vvhfen women, registered as harlots by the magistrate, had the pri- vilege of leading a life of debauchery. The principle of that law was, that the very act of professing the character of a prostitute would be a punishment, and perhaps operate as a restraint. Titidius Labeo, the husband of Vistilia, was cited to assign a reason why so abandoned a woman had not been brought to con- dign punishment. To exculpate himself, he alleged that the sixty days * allowed by law for the consulta- tions necessary in matters of that nature were not elapsed. Satisfied with the answer, the fathers thought it sufficient to proceed against the adulteress. She was banished to the isle of Seriphos. The Egyptian'^ and Jewish ceremonies were the next subject of debate. By a decree of the senate four thousand of that de- scription, the descendants of enfranchised slaves, all infected with foreign superstition, and of age to carry arms, were transported to the island of Sardinia, to make war on the freebooters, who plundered the inha- bitants, and ravaged the country. If the whole num- ber died in that unwholesome climate, the loss it was said would be of no kind of moment. The remain- ing sectaries were ordered, at a certain day, to depart out of Italy, unless before that time they renounced their impious worship. LXXXVI. The choice of a vestal' virgin, in the room of Occia, wlio had been, with the greatest 1 By the Lex Julia de Adulteriis, sixty clays from the com- mission of the crime were allowed to the husband to prepare tor the prosecution. 'i Tacitus seems to confound the Egyptian and Jewish re- ligion ; and, indeed, it does not appear in his account of the Jewisli nation (Hist. b. v.) that he ever made it his business to investigate the history of that people. For the px-oceeding against the Jews and Egyptians see Suetonius in Tib. § 36. 192 TACITUS. sanctity of manners, president of the order during the space of seven-and-fifty years, was by Tiberius referred to the senate. Fonteius Agrippa and Do- mitius Pollio made each of them an oifer of his daughter. The emperor commended their zeal for the public service. The daughter of Pollio was pre- ferred. Her mother had never known but one hus- band, and still continuing to live with him, gave an example of conjugal fidelity ; whereas the divorce of Agrippa was considered as a blemish in the family. That reason, and that only, determined the present choice. The repulse of the disappointed candidate was softened by a present of a thousand great ses- terces granted by Tiberius. LXXXVII. To appease the clamors of the people about the exorbitant price of corn the sum to be paid by the purchaser was ascertained, Tiberius under- taking to grant a bounty of two sesterces on the mea- sure,^ as an encouragement to the vender. On this, as on former occasions, he refused the title of Father of his Country. He even censured, with a degree of asperity, tlie zeal of those wlio gave him the appella- tion of Lord and Master, and wanted to dignify his administration with the epithet of Divine.- In this 1 Gordon calls it fourteen pence a measure. Whether this calculation be right, the curious in such matters will judge for themselves. 2 Tlie word dominiis implied at first the master of slaves. Tiberius knew how to mask his arbitrary power under the mild, but deceitful import of republican names. He was used to say, ' I am the general of the army, the first of sena- tors, and lord and master of my slaves only.' In some time after, when the fathers expressed an inclination to give the name of Tiberius to the month of iSovember, ' What will you do,' said he. ' when you have a thirteenth emperor?' A col- lection of the popular maxims of despotic princes would form a curious book of royal apophthegms. jN'otwithstanding the THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 193 manner eloquence was confined within narrow limits. What topic could be safely handled ? The emperor was the enemy of civil liberty, and he detested flattery. LXXXVIII. In the memoirs of some of the sena- tors of that day, and also in the works of contem- porary writers, mention, I find, is made of letters from Adgandestrius, prince of the Cattians, which were read in the senate. They contained a proposal to de- spatch Arminius, provided poison for that purpose were sent from Rome. The answer was magnificent : the German was told that the Roman people were in the habit of waging war, not by fraud and covert stra- tagem, but sword in hand, and in the field of battle. In this instance Tiberius vied with the generals of ancient Rome, who with scorn rejected the scheme of poisoning Pyrrhus,* and even delivered up the traitor who harbored that base design. Arminius however did not long survive. The Roman army being withdrawn from Germany, and Marobo- duus ruined, he had the ambition to aim at the sove- reign power. The independent spirit of his country- men declared against him. A civil war ensued. Ar- minius fought with alternate vicissitudes of fortune, and fell at last by the treachery of his own relations ; a man of warlike genius, and beyond all question the deliverer of Germany. He had not, like the kings and generals of a former day, the infancy of Rome artful refusal of Tiberius, the word dominus grew into use as a term of respect to a superior. Seneca says, ad Lucilium, ' When we meet a person whose name we do not remember, we salute him by the title of dominus.' 1 This war with Pyrrhus was A. U. C. 476. See Valerius Maximus, vi. 5. The letter of Fabricius the consul to Pyr- rhus, warning him against so foul a treachery, is recorded by Plutarch in the Life of Pyrrhus. TACIT. VOL. 1. N 194 TACITUS. to cope with : he had to struggle with a great and florishing empire : he attacked the Romans in the meridian of their glory. He stood at bay for a num- ber of years with equivocal success ; sometimes vic- torious, often defeated, but in the issue of the war still unconquered. He died at the age of seven-and- thirty, after twelve years of fame and power. In the rude poetry of the barbarians^ his name is celebrated to this hour : unknown indeed to the annalists of Greece, who embellish nothing but their own story. Even amongst the Romans, the character of this illus- trious chief has met with little justice, absorbed as the people are in their veneration of antiquity, while to the virtue of their own times they remain insensible and incurious. 1 We are told by Tacitus that old songs and ballads were the only memorials of antiquity among the Germans ; and their war-song, when rushing to battle, was always a comme- moration of some ancient hero. Poets, who sung the praises of deceased warriors at the tables of kings, are often men- tioned by Homer. The Scandinavians had their scalds ; the Gauls and Germans their bards ; the savages of America their rude verses ; and all those different nations had their ' youths who died to be by poets sung.' See Manners of the Germans, § 2, and § 3. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 195 BOOK III. Sect. I. Agrippina pursued her voyage without intermission. Neither the rigor of the winter, nor the rough navigation in that season of the year, could alter her resolution. She arrived at the island of Corcyra, opposite to the coast of Calabria. At that place she remained a few days, to appease the agita- tions of a mind pierced to the quick, and not yet taught in the school of affliction to submit with pa- tience. The news of her arrival spreading far and wide, the intimate friends of the family, and most of the officers who had served under Germanicus, with a number of strangers from the municipal towns, some to pay their court, others carried along with the cur- rent, pressed forward in crowds to the city of Brun- dusium, the nearest and most convenient port. As soon as the fleet came in sight of the harbor the sea- coast, the walls of the city, the tops of houses, and every place that gave even a distant view, were crowded with spectators. Compassion throbbed in every breast. In the hurry of their first emotions, men knew not what part to act ; should they receive her with acclamations ? or would silence best suit the occasion? Nothing was settled. The fleet entered the harbor, not with the alacrity usual among mari- ners, but with a slow and solemn sound of the oar, impressing deeper melancholy on every heart. Agrippina came forth, leading two of her children,' 1 The two children of Germanicus probably were Caligula, who, according to Suetonius, accompanied his father into the east 5 and Julia, who was born in the isle of Lesbos. See ii, 34. 196 TACITUS. with the urn of Germanicus in her hand, and her eyes steadfastly fixed on that precious object. A general groan was heard. Men and women, relations and stran- gers, all joined in one promiscuous scene of sorrow, varied only by the contrast between the attendants of Agrippina and those who now received the first im- pression. The former appeared with a languid air ; while the latter, yielding to the sensation of the mo- ment, broke out with all the vehemence of recent grief. II. Tiberius had ordered to Brundusium two pre- torian cohorts. The magistrates of Calabria, Apulia, and Campania, had it in command to pay every mark of honor to the memory of the emperor's son. The urn was borne on the shoulders of the centurions and tribunes, preceded by the colors, not displayed with military pomp, but drooping in disorder, with all the negligence of grief. The fasces were inverted. In the colonies through which they passed, the populace in mourning, and the knights in their purple robes, threw into the flames rich perfumes, spices and garments, with other funeral offerings, according to the ability of the place. Even from distant towns the people came in crowds to meet the procession : they presented vic- tims ; they erected altars to the gods of departed souls, and by their lamentations marked their sense of the public calamity. Drusus advanced as far as Ter- racina, accompanied by Claudius,' the brother of Germanicus, and the children of the deceased prince that had been left at Rome. The consuls, Marcus Valerius Messala, and Marcus Aurelius Cotta, who a a little before had entered on their magistracy, with 1 These were Nero and Drusus, Agrippina and Drusilla. But it is not probable tliat the two daughters went so far to meet their father's funeral. i THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 197 the whole senate, and a numerous body of citizens, went out to meet the melancholy train. The road was crowded ; no order kept, no regular procession ; they walked, and wept, as inclination prompted. Flattery had no share in the business : where the court re- joiced in secret, men could not weep themselves into favor. Tiberius indeed dissembled, but he could not deceive. Through the thin disguise the malignant heart was seen. III. Neither the emperor nor his mother appeared in public. They imagined, perhaps, that to be seen in a state of affliction might derogate from their dignity ; or the better reason was, that a number of prying eyes might unmask their inmost sentiments. It does not appear, either in the historians of the time, or in the public journals, that Antonia, the mother of Germa- nicus, took any part in the funeral ceremony. Agrip- pina, Drusus, Claudius, and the rest of the prince's relations are registered by name : but of Antonia no mention is made. She was probably hindered from attending by want of health, or the sensibility of a mother might be unequal to so severe a trial. To speak my own opinion, I am inclined to believe that nothing but the emperor and his mother could restrain her from the last human office to her son. If all three absented themselves, equal affliction might be in- ferred ; and the uncle and grandmother might be supposed to find a precedent in the conduct of the mother. IV. The day on which the remains of Germanicus were deposited in the tomb of Augustus was remark- able for sorrow in various shapes. A deep and mourn- ful silence prevailed, as if Rome was become a desert ; and at intervals the general groan of a distracted mul- titude broke forth at once. The streets were crowded ; lyS TACITUS. the Field of Mars glittered with torches ; the soldiers were under arms ; the magistrates appeared without the ensigns of tlieiT authority ; and the people stood ranged in their several tribes. All, with one voice, despaired of the commonwealth : they spoke their minds without reserve, in the anguish of their hearts forgetting the master that reigned over them. No- thing however touched Tiberius so near as the de- cided aiFection of th.e people for Agrippina, who was styled the ornament of her country, the only blood of Augustus, and the last remaining model of ancient manners. With hands upraised the people invoked the gods, imploring them to protect the children of Germanicus from the malice of pernicious enemies. V. There were at that time men of reflection who thought the whole of the ceremony short of that funeral pomp which the occasion required. The mag- nificence displayed in honor of Drusus, the father of Germanicus, was put in contrast to the present fru- gality. ' Augustus, in the depth of winter, went as far as Ticinum to meet the body ; and, never quitting it afterwards, entered tlie city in the public procession. The bier was decorated with the images of the Clau- dian and the Livian families: tears were shed in the forum ; a funeral oration was delivered from the ros- trum ; and every honor, as well of ancient as of mo- dern invention, was offered to the memory of the deceased. How different was the case at present! Even the distinctions usually granted to persons of illustrious rank were refused to Germanicus. The body was committed to the funeral pile in a foreign land: that was an act of necessity; but, to compen- sate for the first deficiency, too much could not be done. One day's journey was all that a brother per- formed. The uncle did not so much as go to the city THE AWALS. — BOOK III. 1&9 gate. Where now the usage of ancient times ? where the bed on which the image of the deceased lay in state ? where the verses in honor of departed virtue ? where the funeral panegyric, and the tear that em- balms the dead ? If real tears were not ready to gush, where, at least, were the forms of grief? and where the decency of pretended sorrow V VI. Tiberius was not ignorant of what passed. To appease the murmurs of the people, he issued a pro- clamation, in which it was observed, ' that eminent men had at various times fallen in the service of their country, though none were so sincerely lamented as Germanicus. The regret shown on the present occa- sion did honor to the virtue of the people and the imperial dignity ; but grief must have its bounds. That which might be proper in private families, or in petty states, would ill become the grandeur of a people ' who gave laws to the world. Recent affliction must have its course. The heart overflows, and in that dis- charge finds its best relief. It was now time to act with fortitude. Julius Cfesar ^ lost an only daughter ; Au- gustus saw his grandsons prematurely snatched away ; but their grief was inward only. They bore the stroke of affliction with silent dignity. If the authority of ancient times were requisite, conjunctures might be mentioned, in which the Roman people saw, with un- shaken constancy, the loss of their generals, the over- throw of their armies, and the destruction of the 1 The Komans called themselves the masters of the world, and wherever their legions could penetrate the nations owned their superiority. The ambassadors sent to Rome by Pyr- rhus being asked, at their return, what they thought of the Romans, ' The city,' they said, 'appeared to be a temple, and the senate a convention of kings.' Florus, i. 18. 2 Julia was the daughter of Julius Caesar by his wife Cor«> nelia. See the Genealogical Table, No. 6. 200 TACITUS. noblest families. Whatever may be the fate of noble families, the commonwealth is immortal. Let all re- sume their former occupations ; and since the Me- galesian games ' were near at hand, let the diver- sions of the season assuage the general sorrow.' VII. The vacation from public business was now concluded. The people returned to their ordinary functions, and Drusus set out for the army in lUy- ricum. At Rome, in the mean time, all were im- patient to see Piso brought to justice. That an offender of such magnitude should be sutFered to roam at large through the delightful regions of Asia and Achaia, roused the general indignation. By such con- tumacy the law was eluded, and the evidence was growing weaker every day. The fact was, Martina, that notorious dealer in poison, whom Sentius, as has been mentioned, ordered to be conveyed to Rome, died suddenly at Brundusium. Poison was said to have been found in the tangles of her hair, but no trace of suicide appeared on any part of her body. VIII. Piso, taking his measures in time, sent his son to Rome with instructions to prepossess the em- peror in his favor. He went himself to seek an inter- view with Drusus ; persuaded that he should find the prince not so much exasperated at the loss of a bro- ther, as pleased at an event that delivered him from a rival. The son arrived at Rome. Tiberius, to show 1 The Megalesian games were so called from jx^yaKri Oea^ the great goddess, or magna muter. They were celebrated in the month of April, and lasted seven days. Germanicus died in the preceding month of November. The grief of the peo- ple at Rome was so violent, that even the Saturnalian games, which were towards the end of December, could not put a stop to the general sorrow. See Suet, in Calig. ^ 6. The mourning, we find from Tacitus, continued to the month of April following. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 201 that nothing was prejudged, gave the youth a gracious reception ; adding the presents usually bestowed on persons of rank on their return from the provinces. Drusus saw the elder Piso, and frankly told him that if what was rumored abroad appeared to be founded in truth the charge demanded his keenest resentment; but he rather hoped to find the whole unsupported by proof, that no man might deserve to suffer for the death of Germanicus. This answer was given in pub- lic ; no private audience was admitted. The prince, it is generally believed, had his lesson from Tiberius ; it being improbable that a young man of a free and open disposition, unhackneyed in the ways of busi- ness, could have acted with that guarded reserve which marked the veteran in politics. IX. Piso crossed the gulf of Dalmatia,* and, leaving his ships at Ancona, went forward to Picenum. From that place he pursued his journey on the Flaminian road, and on his way met a legion marching from Pan- nonia to Rome, in order to proceed from thence to serve in Africa. This incident was variously can- vassed by the people. A criminal, it was said, pre- sumes to join the soldiers on their march, and even waylays them at their quarters to curry favor with his military friends. Piso heard of these complaints, and to avoid suspicion, or because it is the nature of guilt to be always wavering and irresolute, at Narni he embarked on the Nar, and, sailing down the Tiber, landed on the Field of Mars, near the tomb of the Cassars. This was another cause of popular discon- tent : in open day, amidst a crowd of spectators, he and his wife Plancina made their appearance ; the for- mer surrounded by a tribe of clients, and the latter by 1 Now the gulf of Venice. 202 TACITUS. a train of female attendants ; all witli an air of gaiety, bold, erect, and confident, Piso's house overlooked the forum: preparations were made for a sumptuous entertainment : the scene was adorned with splendid decorations; and, from the nature of the situation, nothing could remain a secret ; the whole was exposed to the public eye. X. On the following day Fulcinius Trio exhibited an accusation before the consuls. To this proceeding Vitellius, Veranius, and others, who had attended Germanicus into Asia, made strong objections ; alleg- ing that Trio had not so much as a color to entitle him to the conduct of the prosecution. As to themselves, they did not mean to stand forth as accusers ; but they had the last commands of Germanicus, and to the facts within their knowlege intended to appear as witnesses. Trio waved his pretensions, but still claimed a right to prosecute for former misdemeanors. That liberty was allowed. Application was made to the emperor, that the cause might be heard before himself. The request was perfectly agreeable to the accused party, who was not to learn that the senate and the people were prejudiced against liim. Tiberius, he knew, was firm enough to resist popular clamor ; and in conjunction with Livia had acted an underhand part in the business. Besides this, the truth he thought would be better investigated before a single judge than in a mixed assembly, where intrigue and party violence too often prevailed. Tiberius however saw the importance of the cause, and felt the imputations' thrown out against himself. To avoid a situation so nice and difficult, he consented to hear in the presence of a few select friends the heads of the charge, with 1 For an account of these suspicions see Suetonius in Tib. §52. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 203 the answers of the defendant ; and then referred the whole to the consideration of the senate. XI. During these transactions Drusus returned from lUyricum. For the captivity of Maroboduus, and the prosperous events of the preceding summer, an ovation had been decreed by the senate ; but he chose to postpone that honor, and entered the city as a private man. Piso moved that Titus Arruntius, T. Vinicius, Asinius Gallus, a^serninus Marcellus, and Sextus Pompeius, might be assigned as advocates to defend his cause. Under diiFerent pretexts they all excused themselves ; and in their room, Marcus Le- pidus, Lucius Piso, and Livineius Regulus, were ap- pointed. The whole city was big with expectation. It remained to be seen how far the friends of Germa- nicus would act with firmness ; what resources Piso had left ; and whether Tiberius would speak his mind, or continue, as usual, dark and impenetrable. No juncture had ever occurred in which the people were so warmly interested ; none when in private discourse men made such bitter reflections ; and none when suspicion harbored such gloomy apprehensions. XII. At the next meeting of the senate Tiberius, in a premeditated speech, explained his sentiments. ' Piso,' he observed, ' had been the friend and chosen lieutenant of Augustus ; and was lately named, with the approbation of the senate, to assist Germanicus in the administration of the eastern provinces. Whether, in^that situation, he had made it his business, by arro- gance and a contentious spirit, to exasperate the prince ; whether he rejoiced at his death ; and above all, whether he was accessary to it, were questions that called for a strict but fair inquiry. If he who was only second in command exceeded the limits of his commission, regardless of the duty which he owed 204 TACITUS. to his superior officer ; if he beheld the death of Ger- manicus, and the loss which I have suifered, with un- natural, with fell delight ; from that moment he be- comes the object of my fixed aversion. I forbid him to enter my palace : he is my own personal enemy. But the emperor must not revenge the private quarrels of Tiberius. Should murder be brought home to him, a crime of that magnitude, which in the case of the meanest citizen calls aloud for vengeance, is not to be forgiven : it will be yours, conscript fathers, to ad- minister consolation to the children of Germanicus ; it will be yours to assuage the sorrows of an afflicted father, and a grandmother overwhelmed with grief. ' In the course of the inquiry, it will be material to know whether Piso endeavored, with a seditious spirit, to incite the army to a revolt. Did he try by sinister arts to seduce the affections of the soldiers ? Was his sword drawn to recover possession of the province ? Are these things true, or are they the mere suggestions of the prosecutors, with intent to aggravate the charge? Their zeal, it must be owned, has been intemperate. By laying the body naked at Antioch, and exposing it to public view, what good end could be answered? Why were foreign nations alarmed with a report of poison, when the fact is still problematical, and re- mains to be tried? I lament the loss of my son, and shall ever lament it : but, notwithstanding all my feel- ings, it is competent to the defendant to repel the charge ; he is at liberty to bring forward w^hatever may tend to establish his innocence, and even to ar- raign the conduct of Germanicus if any blame can be imputed to him. It is not for me tq abridge any part of the defence. My aifections, it is true, are inter- woven with the cause : but you will not, for that reason, take impptations for guilt, nor allegations for THE ANNALS. — BOOK 111. 205 conclusive proof. And since either the ties of con- sanguinity, or motives of friendship, have engaged able advocates to patronise the party accused, let them exert their zeal, their talents, and their eloquence. In the same manner I exhort the prosecutors : let them act with the same constancy, with equal ardor. The only distinction which the prerogative of the prince can grant is, that the cause shall be tried in this court, and not in the forum ; in the presence of the senate, not before the common tribunals. In all things else let the forms of law be observed. The tears of Dru- sus, and my own affliction, are foreign to the question : let no man regard our interest : throw it out of the case, and discard from your minds the little calumnies that may glance at myself.' XIII. Two days were allowed to the prosecutors to support their charge, six to prepare the defence, and three for hearing it. Fulcinius Trio began. The ground he took was, the avarice and tyranny with which Piso conducted himself during his administra- tion in Spain. This was starting from a period too remote. Though convicted on that point, the defend- ant might still repel the present charge ; and, if ac- quitted, he might be guilty of higher crimes. Fulci- nius was followed by Servaeus, Veranius, and Vitel- lius ; all three exerting themselves with equal zeal, but the latter with superior eloquence. The points insisted on were : * That Piso, incited by malice to Germanicus, and his own ambitious views, diffused a spirit of licentiousness through the Roman army. He corrupted the soldiery, and suffered the allies of Rome to be plundered ^with impunity. In consequence of those pernicious practices the vile and profligate hailed him ' Father of the Legions.' But his conduct was hostile to all good men, and more directly to the 20G TACITUS. friends of Germaniciis. To fill the measure of his iniquity he had recourse to magic arts, and the prince ■was destroyed by poison. Piso and his wife Plancina were known to have assisted in superstitious rites and impious sacrifices. And yet the' prisoner did not stop there : he was guilty of rebellion : he appeared in arms against the state ; and, before he could be brought to justice as a citizen, he was conquered as an enemy.' XIV. The defence in every article, except that which related to the crime of poison, was weak and ineffectual. The charge of debauching the soldiers by bribery, the rapacity of his creatures, and the insults offered to Germanicus, were stubborn facts, and could not be denied. The crime of poisoning seemed to be sufficiently answered. It was left on weak ground by the managers of the prosecution. All they had to urge in support of that article w^as a bare allegation that Piso, at an entertainment given by Germanicus, being placed on a couch above the prince, had con- trived with his own hands to mingle poison with the victuals. An attempt of the kind, in the midst of servants not his own, under the eye of numbers, and in the very presence of Germanicus, seemed impro- bable, and indeed absurd. To refute it altogether, Piso made a tender of his slaves to be questioned on the rack ; demanding, at the same time, that the do- mestics of Germanicus who waited that day at table should undergo the like examination. But nothing made an impression on the judges. For different rea- sons they were all implacable : Tiberius, on account of the war levied in Syria ; the senators, from a full persuasion that treachery had a hand in the death of Germanicus. A motion was made for the production of all letters written to the criminal by Tiberius and Livia. This was opposed with vehemence ; not only THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 207 by Piso, but also by the emperor. The clamors of the populace who surrounded the senate-house were heard within doors. The cry was, if Piso escaped by the judgment of the fathers, he should die by the hands of the people. They had already seized his statues, and in their fury dragged them to the place of execution called the Gemonia^,' with intent to break them into fragments. By order of Tiberius they were rescued out of their hands. Piso was conveyed home in a litter, guarded by a tribune of the pretorian bands : but whether that officer was sent to protect him from the populace, or to see justice executed, was left to conjecture and vague report. XV. Plancina, no less than her husband, was an object of public detestation ; but, protected by court favor, she was thought to be out of the reach of her enemies. What Tiberius would do was uncertain. While she supposed herself involved in the fate of Piso, without a gleam of better hope, her language was that of a woman willing to share all chances with her husband ; and, if he was doomed to fall, deter- mined to perish with him. Having, in the mean time, by the interest of Livia, obtained her pardon, she began to change her tone, and pursue a separate inte- rest. Finding himself thus abandoned, Piso despaired of his cause. Without farther struggle he intended to resign himself to his fate ; but, by the advice of his sons, he resumed his courage, and once more appeared before the senate. The prosecution was renewed with vigor ; the fathers spoke in terms of acrimony ; every thing was adverse ; and the prisoner plainly saw that his fate was decided. In this distress nothing affected 1 The Gemoniae SceIeb were a flight of steps at the bottom of the Capitoline hill, where the bodies of malefactors were exposed, and then dragged by a hook fixed in the throat, and thrown into the Tiber. 208 TACITUS. him so deeply as the behavior of Tiberius, who sat in sullen silence, neither provoked to anger nor softened by compassion, with his usual art stifling every emo- tion of the heart. Piso was conducted back to hisr house. He there wrote a few lines, in appearance preparing his defence for the ensuing day, and having sealed the paper, delivered it to one of his freedmen. The usual attentions to his person filled up his time, till, at a late hour of the night, his wife having left the room, he ordered the door to be made fast. In the morning he was found dead ; his throat cut, and his sword lying near him on the ground. XVI. I remember to have heard from men ad- vanced in years that a bundle of papers, not produced at the trial, was often seen in the hands of Piso ; con- taining, as his friends attested, the letters of Tiberius, full of instructions hostile to Germanicus. These do- cuments would have transferred the guilt to the em- peror ; but, by the delusive promises of Sejanus, they were all suppressed. It was also confidently said that Piso did not lay violent hands on himself, but died by the stroke of an assassin. For the truth of these as- sertions I do not mrean to be answerable : I state the facts as I heard them related by men with whom I conversed in my youth ; and the anecdotes of such men may be deemed worthy of attention. Tiberius attended the next meeting of the senate. He there complained, with seeming anxiety, that the death of Piso was intended to reflect dishonor on him- self. He sent for the freed man who had received the paper sealed up, as already stated, and inquired par- ticularly about his master : how he passed the last of his days ? and what happened in the course of the night? The man answered in some instances with caution, and in others off his guard. The emperor produced Piso's letter, and read it to the senate. It I THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 209 was nearly in the following words : * Oppressed by the malice of my enemies, and falling under a load of imputed guilt, without a friend to espouse the truth, or shelter innocence, I call the immortal gods to wit- ness, that to you, Cassar, I have through life pre- served ray faith inviolate. For your mother I have ever felt the sincerest veneration. I conjure you both to take my sons under your protection. Cneius Piso is innocent. Nothing that happened in Asia can be imputed to him, since he remained during the whole time at Rome. His brother Marcus, when I returned to the province of Syria, was strenuous against the measure. Would to heaven that I had yielded to the advice of a young man, and that my authority had not silenced all opposition ! For him I offer up my fer- vent prayers : let not the errors of the father bring down ruin on the son. If in the course of five-and- forty years I have been devoted to your service ; if Augustus made me his colleague in the consulship ;^ if the remembrance of our early friendship can now avail : by all those ties I implore your mercy for my unhappy son. It is the request of a dying father ; the last I shall ever make.' He made no mention of Plancina. XVII. Tiberius declared his opinion that Marcus Piso, being under the control of his father,^ ought not 1 Piso had been joint consul with Augustus, A. U. C. 731, and afterwards witli Tiberius, A. U.C. 747. 2 Tiberius was willing to make the apology of a young man. He could not mean, iu the latitude here laid down, that the son is bound in all cases to obey the father's orders. Quintilian has well observed that parents are not to be obeyed in every thing. To receive benefits, he adds, would be highly dangerous, if by obligations men were bound to every kind of service. They would in that ca§e be in the worst state of thraldom. TACIT. VOL. I. O 210 TACITUS. to be answerable for the civil war. He mentioned the regard due to an illustrious house, and even lamented the unhappy lot of the deceased, though brought on him by misconduct. He spoke in favor of Plancina, but with an air of embarrassment, conscious of his own duplicity. The intercession of his mother was a color for the part he acted ; but thinking men were by no means satisfied. On the contrary, their hatred of Livia was more embittered than ever. They exclaimed without reserve, ' Shall the grandmother admit to her presence a woman stained with the blood of her grand- son ? Shall she converse in familiar freedom with a murderess ? IMust she receive to her arms an aban- doned woman, and by her influence rescue her from the vengeance of the senate ? The laws protect the meanest citizen ; but in the case of Germanicus they have lost their vigor. Vitellius and Veranius poured forth their eloquence in the cause of a prince cut off by treachery, while the emperor and his mother side with Plancina. That pernicious woman may now with impunity continue her trade of poisoning ; she may practise her detestable arts on the life of Agrippina and her children ; she may proceed in her iniquity, and, with the blood of an illustrious, but unhappy fa- mily, glut the rage of a dissembling uncle and a worth- less grandmother.' For two days together Rome was amused with a mock trial of Plancina. Tiberius, in the mean time, exhorted Piso's sons to stand forth in the defence of their mother. The charge was opened ; the witnesses were examined, and the orators spared neither zeal nor eloquence in support of the prosecu- tion : no reply was made : the wretched condition of a helpless woman began to operate on the feelings of the fathers, and prejudice was melted into pity. Aure- lius Cotta, the consul, was the first that gave his vote, THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 211 according to a settled rule,' whenever the question was put by the emperor. The opinion of Cotta was, that the name of Piso should he rased out of the pub- lic registers ; that part of his estate should be confis- cated, and the rest granted to Cneius Piso, on condi- tion that he changed the family name ; and that his brother Marcus, divested of all civil honors, should be condemned to banishment for the space of ten years ; with a sum, however, of fifty thousand great sesterces for his support. In deference to the solici- tations of Livia, it was proposed to grant a free pardon to Plancina. XVIII. This sentence, in many particulars, was mitigated by Tiberius. The family name, he said, ought not to be abolished, while that of Marc An- tony, who appeared in arms against his country, as well as that of Julius Antonius,^ who by his intrigues dishonored the house of Augustus, subsisted still, and figured in the Roman annals. Marcus Piso was left 1 In the time of the republic tlie consul who presided in the senate put the question to the fathers in every debate ; but he neither called on his colleague, nor the pretors, nor any of the acting magistrates. He addressed himself to the prince of the senate, the consuls elect, and after them to the members of consular rank, and in regular succession to the rest of the senate. The reason of this arrangement seems to have' been an idea that the magistrates, if they took the lead, would have too much influence on the rest of the assembly. After the change of government the same practice continued, with this difference ; if the emperor attended the debates in the senate, he of course was the supreme magistrate, and in that case it was his to collect the voices. He began with the con- suls actually in oiiice, and proceeded to the other magistrates according to their rank. See a Dissertation intitled ' The Roman Emperor in the Senate ;' Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Lettres, xxvii. 4to edit. 2 Julius Antonius was son to Antony the triumvir. He was found guilty of adultery with Julia the daughter of Au- gustus, and punished with death. Annals, iv. 44. 212 TACITUS. in possession of his civil dignities and his father's fortune. Avarice, as has been already observed, was not the passion of Tiberius. On this occasion, the disgrace incurred by the partiality shown to Plancina softened his temper, and made him the more willing to extend his mercy to the son. Valerius Messalinus moved that a golden statue might be erected in the temple of Mars the Avenger. An altar to vengeance proposed by Caecina Severus. Both these motions were overruled by the emperor. The principle on which he argued was, that public moniiments, however proper in cases of foreign conquest, were not suited to the present juncture. Domestic calamity should be lamented, and as soon as possible consigned to oblivion. Messalinus added to his motion a vote of thanks to Tiberius and Livia, to Antonia, Agrippina, and Dru- sus, for their zeal in bringing to justice the enemies of Germanicus. The name of Claudius' was not men- tioned. Lucius Asprenas desired to know whether that omission was intended. The consequence was that Claudius was inserted in the vote. On an occa- sion like this, it is impossible not to pause for a mo- ment, to make a reflection that naturally rises out of the subject. Wlien we review what has been doing in the world, is it not evident that in all transactions, whether of ancient or of modern date, some strange caprice of fortune turns all human wisdom to a jest ? In the juncture before us, Claudius figured so little on the stage of public business, that there was scarce a man in Rome who did not seem, by the voice of fame and the wishes of the people, designed for the 1 It is unnecessary to repeat that Claudius was brother to Germanicus. He was at this time neglected and despised. See Suet, in Claud. $ 2 ; and see Supplement to book v. $ 24. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 213 sovereign power, rather than the very person whom fate in that instant cherished in obscurity, to make him at a future period master of the Roman world. XIX. The senate, a few days afterwards, on the motion of Tiberius, granted the sacerdotal dignity to Vitellius, Veranius, and Servaeus. Fulcinius Trio received a promise of the emperor's favor in his road to honors ; but was at the same time admonished to restrain the ardor of his genius, lest by overheated vehemence he might mar his eloquence. In this man- ner ended the inquiry concerning the death of Ger- manicus ; a subject which has been variously repre- sented, not only by men of that day, but by all subse- quent writers. It remains to this hour the problem of history. A cloud for ever hangs over the most important transactions ; while, on the one hand, cre- dnlity adopts for fact the report of the day; and, on the other, politicians warp and disguise the truth : between both parties two different accounts go down from age to age, and gain strength with posterity. Drusus thought it time to enjoy the honors of a public entry. For this purpose he went out of the city, and having assisted at the ceremony of the auspices, returned with the splendor of an ovation. In a few days after he lost his mother Yipsania;' of all the children of Agrippa, the only one that died a natural death. The rest were brought to a tragic end : some, as is well known, by the murderer's stroke ; and others, as is generally believed, by poi- son or by famine. XX. In the same year Tacfarinas, the Numidian chief, whom we have seen defeated by Camillus in a former campaign, once more commenced hostilities in 1 She was the daughter of Agrippa, married to Tiberius, and divorced from him. 214 TACITUS. Africa. He began by sudden incursions ; depending for his safety on the rapidity of his flight. Embold- ened by success, he attacked several towns and vil- lages, and went off enriched with plunder. At length, at a place near the river Pagida, he hemmed in a Roman cohort, and held them closely besieged. De- crius, a gallant and experienced officer, who com- manded the fort, considered the blockade as a disgrace to the Roman arms. Having exhorted his men to face the enemy on the open plain, he marched out, and formed in order of battle. At the first onset the barbarians made an impression. The cohort gave way. Decrius braved every danger. Amidst a volley of darts he opposed his person to stop the flight of his men : he called aloud to the standard-bearers, charging them not to incur the shame and infamy of yielding to an undisciplined rabble, a vile collection of runaways and deserters. His efforts were ineffectual. Covered with wounds, and one eye pierced through, he still persisted with undaunted valor ; till at last, abandoned by his troops, he died bravely sword in hand. XXI. Lucius Apronius, who had succeeded Camil- lus as proconsul of Africa, received the account of this defeat with indignation. The disgrace of the Ro- man arms touched him more than the glory that ac- crued to the barbarians. He resolved to expiate the infamy by a dreadful punishment ; founded, indeed, on ancient ])recedent, and recorded in history, but in modern times fallen into disuse. He ordered the co- liort whose behavior had been so ignominious to be decimated : ' every man on whom the lot fell died I Appius Claudius, consul A.U. C. 259, commanded in the war against the A'^olsci. The soldiers, regardless of disci- pline and subordination, paid no respect to their officers, and, in consequence of their contumacy, suffered a defeat. As THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 215 under repeated blows of the cudgel. The consequence of this severity was, that a body of five hundred vete- rans, stationed in garrison at Thala,^ maintained their post against the attempts of Tacfarinas, and even routed the troops lately flushed with victory. In this action Rufus Helvius, a common soldier, obtained the glory of saving the life of a Roman citizen. He was rewarded by Apronius with a spear and collar. Ti- berius ordered the civic crown to be added ; observing, at the same time, that the proconsul had the power of granting that reward : yet he censured the omission w^ithout asperity, pleased that something was reserved for himself. Tacfarinas, finding his Numidians unwilling, after their defeat, to undertake a siege, changed his plan of operations. He chose a roving kind of war : if the Romans advanced, quick in retreat ; and, as soon as the pursuit was over, wheeling round to hang on the rear. By this desultory mode of skirmishing the wily African baffled and fatigued the Roman army, till having ravaged the country near the sea coast, and loaded his men with booty, he was obliged to pitch his camp. In that situation Apronius C^sianus, son of the proconsul, at the head of the cavalry, the auxi- liary cohorts, and a body of light infantry draughted from the legions, gave battle to the Numidian; and, having gained a complete victory, obliged him to fly to his wilds and deserts. XXII. At Rome, in the mean time, a prosecution was carried on against Lepida, a woman of illustrious birth, descended from the /Emilian family, and great- grand-daughter both to Sylla and Pompey. She was soon as they returned to their camp Claudius punished the ringleaders with death, and decimated the rest of the army. 1 A town in Numidia. 216 TACITUS. married to Pubiius Quirinius, a citizen of great wealth, far advanced in years, but without children to inherit his estate. The wife was charged with an attempt to pass a supposititious child for his legitimate issue. Other articles were added ; such as adultery, dealing in poison, and consultations with Chaldean astrologers concerning the fate of the imperial family. Her bro- ther, Manius Lepidus, undertook her defence. Qui- rinius had repudiated her ; and yet, after his divorce, attacked her with implacable resentment. This cir- cumstance, notwithstajiding the guilt and infamy of Lepida, rendered her an object of compassion. In the course of the proceeding the real sentiments of Tibe- rius eluded all discovery. Fluctuating between oppo- site passions, he mixed and shifted mercy and resent- ment in such quick succession, that where he would fix it was impossible to guess. He desired that the crime of violated majesty might be thrown out of the case ; and, in a short time after, ordered Marcus Ser- vilius, of consular rank, and the rest of the witnesses, to prove the very facts over which he pretended to draw a veil. He removed the slaves of Lepida, who had been placed under a military guard, to the cus- tody * of the consuls ; nor would he sutler them to be examined under the torture on any point that con- cerned himself or his family. He exempted Drusus, though consul elect, from the riile that required him to give the first vote. This by some was considered as a true republican principle, that the fathers might give their voices free and uninfluenced by the exam- 1 There were at Rome four different ways of detaining the accused in custody : viz. the common jail ; commitment to a military guard ; commitment to the care of the consuls or other magistrates in their own houses ; and lastly, sureties for the person's appearance, which is what we call being out on bail. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 217 pie of the prince. Others called it a stroke of subtle cruelty ; it being by no means probable that Drusus would decline to speak in order of time, if a sentence of condemnation had not been already fixed. XXIII. The celebration of the public games sus- pended the trial for some days. In that interval Le- pida, accompanied by a train of illustrious women, entered the theatre :* in a pathetic strain she invoked her ancestors ; she called on Pompey in his own thea- tre (that monument of grandeur), and addressed her- self to the images of that illustrious man. Her grief made an impression ; tears gushed from the eyes of the people, and indignation soon succeeding, bitter execrations were thrown out against Quirinius : ' A superannuated dotard, sprung from a mean extrac- tion, to whom, in the decline of life, a noble dame, formerly intended to be the wife of Lucius Ceesar, and, by consequence, the grand-daughter of Augustus, was joined in wedlock, that he, good man, might raise heirs to his estate V Notwithstanding these cla- mors the slaves of Lepida were put to the question. Their evidence amounted to full proof of her guilt ; and, on the motion of Rubellius Blandus, she was forbid the use of fire and water. Even Drusus gave his consent, though a milder sentence would have been agreeable to the wishes of a considerable num- ber. By the interest of Scaurus, her former husband, who had a daughter by her, the confiscation of her property was remitted. At the close of the proceed- ings Tiberius informed the fathers that he had exam- ined the slaves of Quirinius, and their evidence left 1 The theatre of Pompey, dedicated A. U. C. 699. For a farther account of that magnificent structure, capable, accord- ing to Pliny, XXXV. 15, of holding forty thousand persons, see Annals, xiv. 20, 218 TACITUS. him no room to doubt of a formed design to poison her husband. XXIV. The families of tlie first consequence at Rome begati to feel with regret that their numbers were thinned by repeated misfortunes. The Calpur- iiian house had lately suiiered by the loss of Piso, and the /Emilian was impaired by the condemnation of Le- pida. In order to make some amends, Decius Silanus was restored to the Junian family. The particulars of his case seem to merit some attention. The life of Augustus was variously chequered : he was successful against his country, and in his family often unhappy. The intrigues of his daughter ^ and grand-daughter embittered his days. He ordered them both to depart from Rome, and punished the adulterers with death or banishment.^ To the commerce natural between the sexes that emperor gave the name of sacrilege and violated majesty; and, under color of this new device, forgot at once the lenity of former times, and even the laws enacted by himself. But the tragic issue that befell offenders of this kind, with other memorable events of that period, shall be the subject of a distinct liistory, if, when the work now in hand is finished, my life shall be protracted in health and vigor for a new undertaking. With regard to Silanus, who intrigued with the grand-daughter of Augustus, his offence drew on him no greater vengeance than a total exclusion from the friendship of the emperor. That exclusion, as 1 Julia man-ied to Agrippa, and their daughter Julia mar- ried to Lucius ^''milius Paulus. 2 Julius Antonius, for his adulterous connexion with Julia, the daughter of Augustus, was put to death : and Silanus, for the like offence with Julia the grand-daughter, was con- demned to banishment. For Julius Antonius, see Annals, iv. 44. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 219 Silanus understood it, implied a sentence of banish- ment. He retired into voluntary exile, and never, till the reign of Tiberius, presumed to apply, either to the prince or senate, for permission to return to his country. For the favor extended to him he was indebted to the weight and influence of his brother, Marcus Silanus, who added to his high rank the fame of distinguished eloquence. Marcus prevailed with the emperor, and, in a full meeting of the senate, ex- pressed his sense of the obligation. Tiberius answered, that ' the return of Decius Silanus, after a long ab- sence, was an event agreeable to all. It was, however, no more than his legal right. No law had abridged his liberty ; no decree of the senate was in force against him. And yet it was impossible for the prince to forget the wrongs done to Augustus ; nor could the return of Silanus either efface his crime, or cancel what had been settled by an injured emperor.' From this time Decius Silanus lived at Rome, a private citizen, without honors or preferment. XXV. The next care of the senate was to soft€n the rigor of the law Papia Popp^a ;^ a law made by Augustus in the decline of life, when the Julian in- stitutions were found ineifectual.^ The policy was, to 1 The law Papia Poppcea derived its name from the t\^■o consuls who were the authors of it; namely, Marcus Papius IMutilus, and Quintus Poppa-us, A. U. C. 762, the ninth of the Christian era. Dio observes that the two consuls had neither wife nor children ; and for that reason a law which imposed penalties on celibacy, and rewarded the married state, was the more acceptable, because disinterested. 2 In the time of the republic laws were finally passed by the people, who were asked, ' Is it your will and order that this shall be a law V The question was called rogatio. Julius Cajsar passed several laws to encourage population, but without effect. 220 TACITUS. enforce by additional sanctions the penalties of celi- bacy, and thereby increase the revenue. Marriage, however, was not brought into fashion. To be without heirs' was still considered as a state that gave great ad- vantages. Prosecutions multiplied, and numbers were every day drawn into danger. Informers were the in- terpreters of justice ; and chicane and malice wrought the ruin of families. The community labored at first under the vices of the times, and afterwards under the snares of law. From this reflection if we here go back to trace the origin of civil institutions, and the progress of that complex system which has grown up to harass mankind, the digression will not be incuri- ous, nor altogether foreign to our purpose. XXVI. In the early ages of the world ^ men led a life of innocence and simplicity. Free from irregular passions, they knew no corruption of manners ; and void of guilt, they had no need of laws. In the natu- ral emotions of the heart they found incitements to virtue, and rewards were unnecessary. Having no inordinate desires, they coveted nothing, and pains and penalties were unknown. In process of time, when all equality was overturned, and, in the place of temperance and moderation ambition and violence began to trample on the rights of man, then monarchy 1 The luxury of the times occasioned so much extrava- gance, that men did not choose the additional expense of rearing children. See JManners of the Germans, ^ 18. 2 It may be made a question whether a period of pure simplicity and innocence ever existed. Seneca expatiates in praise of those times, epist. xc. ; and the poets have been lavish in their description of the golden age ; but the history of mankind has no proofs of the fact. An ingenious \vriter says, ' Who were those men that lived in so much innocence? The first man who was born into the world killed the second. When did the times of simplicity begin?' THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 221 was established, in several nations unlimited, absolute, and florishing at this hour. Some states, indeed, in their first formation, or at least soon after they had made an experiment of kings, preferred a government by law ; and law, in its origin, was, like the manners of the age, plain and simple. Of the several political constitutions known in the world, that of Crete, esta- blished by Minos ; that of Sparta, by Lycurgus ; and that of Athens, by Solon, have been chiefly celebrated. In the latter, however, we see simplicity giving way to complication and refinement. At Rome, the reign of Romulus was the reign of despotism. His will was the law. Numa Pompilius introduced the rites and ceremonies of religion, and, by establishing forms of worship, strengthened the civil union. Some improve- ments were added by TuUus Hostilius, and some by Ancus Martins. But the true legislator was Servius Tullius, the author of that best policy, which made even kings the subjects of the laws. XXVII. After the expulsion of Tarquin the people, to secure their rights from powerful factions in the senate, and to prevent the effects of civil discord, were obliged to modify the constitution by new regula- tions. With this view the decemvirs were created. Those magistrates, by adopting from the wisdom of other nations what appeared worthy of selection, framed a body of laws, intitled the Twelve Tables. All sound legislation ended there. It is true that after that time new statutes were enacted ; but, if we except a few, suggested by the vices of the times, and passed on the spur of the occasion, they were, for the most part, made in the conflict of parties, and for the worst of purposes ; in some instances to lay open to ambition the road to honors ; in others to work the downfal of illustrious citizens; and, in general, with 222 TACITUS. pernicious motives. Hence the Gracchi,' and the Sa- turnini, those turbulent demagogues ; and hence the violent spirit of Drusus,- that famous partisan of the senate, who, by largesses and open bribery, supported the claims of the nobility, and by specious promises in- duced the allies of Rome to espouse his cause, de- ceiving them at first, and, between the senate and the popular leaders, making them in the end the bubble of contending factions. Hence a wild variety of contra- dictory laws. In the social war,^ which involved all Italy, and the civil commotions that followed, new ordinances were established, but with the same con- tentious spirit, till at length Lucius Sylla,^ the dictator, by repealing several laws, by amending others, and by organising a code of his own, gave a check to the rage of legislation. But the respite was but short. The fiery genius of Lepidus ^ preferred a number of seditious decrees, and the tribunes'^ of the people, re- 1 The two Gracchi were leaders of the popular party in opposition to the senate and the patrician order. Tiberius Grac.chus was the great factious demagogue, A. U. C. 621 ; liis brother Caius adopted the same measures A. U. C. 633. Florus, iii. 14, 15. 2 M. Livius Drusus was a grand corruptor in the name of the senate. He carried the arts of bribery beyond all former example. He died A. U. C 663. Florus, iii. 17. 3 Florus (iii. ^8.) calls this the Social War; but as it in- volved all Italy, it is called by Tacitus the Italic War. It was in the year of Rome 663. The civil war whicli followed was between jMarius and Sylla, A. U.C. 666, Florus, iii. iii. 4 Sylla usurped the autliority of dictator A. U. C. 672, and exercised those extraordinary powers till the year 67.i. Flo- rus, iii. 21. 23. He then abdicated the dictatorship, and died A. U.C. 676. 5 Lepidus was for abrogating all the laws of Sylla. See Florus, iii. 23. 6 Sylla saw that tlie tribunes made an ill use of their power, and therefore reduced those magistrates within due bounds. Pompey, in his consulship, A. U. C. 684, re-established the THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 223 Sliming' their ancient powers, alarmed the state witli tumult and popular commotions. The general good was no longer thought of: new characters appeared in the great scene of public business, and new statutes were enacted. In a corrupt republic vice increased and laws were multiplied. XXVIII. Pompey at length,' in his third consul- ship, was chosen to correct abuses, and introduce a reformation of manners. His remedies were more pernicious than the mischief. He made laws and broke them ; he had recourse to arms, and by force of arms was ruined. From that time, during a period of twenty years, the rage of civil discord threw every thing into confusion. Justice was silent; tlie manners were corrupted; vice triumphed with impunity, and virtue met with sure destruction. At length, Au- gustus'- in his sixth consulship, finding himself esta- blished without a rival, repealed the acts passed by himself during the triumvirate, and gave a new system, useful indeed to the public tranquillity, but subversive of the constitution ; fit only for the government of one. The chains of slavery were closely riveted,^ and spies tribunitian power. Speaking of this act, Cicero says he was in the habit of mentioning Pompey on all occasions with the highest commendation ; but with regard to the tribunitian power he chose to be silent. He was not willing to condemn that measure, and to approve was not in his ^ower. 1 Pompey's third consulship was A. U. C. 702 ; before the Christian era o'2. One of his rules was, that no magistrate should be governor of a province before the end of five years after the expiration of his office ; and then he took on himself the government of Spain for the additional term of five years. Dio, xi. 2 The twenty years of civil distraction are to be computed from the death of Pompey, A. U. C. 706. Augustus was con- sul for the sixth time A. U. C. 726 ; before the Christian era 28. :> Informers were encouraged by the law of Papia PoppcEa to hold a strict watch over such as lived in a state of celibacy: 224 TACITUS. of state were appointed. To excite and animate the diligence of those new officers the law Papia Popp^a held forth rewards. By that law the people, under the fiction of universal parent, were declared heirs to the vacant possessions of such as lived in celibacy, regardless of the privileges annexed to the paternal character. To enforce this regulation informers were encouraged. The genius of those men knew no bounds : they harassed the city of Rome, and stretched their harpy hands all over Italy. Wherever they found a citizen, they found a man to be plundered. Numbers were ruined, and all were struck with terror. To stop the progress of the mischief, Tiberius ordered a set of commissioners to be drawn by lot ; five of consular rank, five pretorians, and a like number from the body of the senate. Under their direction the law was ex- plained : ensnaring subtleties were removed ; and the evil, though not wholly cured, was palliated for the present. XXIX. About this time Nero, the eldest son of Germanicus, was entering on the state of manhood. Tiberius recommended him to the favor of the senate, adding his request that the young prince might be excused from serving the office of the vigintivirate ;' 1 Dio informs^us tliat while Augustus, after all his victo- ries, was still absent from Rome, the senate by a decree esta- blislaed a new magistracy, consisting of twenty, to superin- tend the police and good government of the city. Their duty was divided into different departments : three to sit in judgment; three to direct the coinage; four to superintend the public ways ; and ten to preside in such causes as were tried by the centumviri. The office vias continued by Au- gustus, and became the previous step to the higher magis- tracies. The time for entering on the questorship was at the age of four-and-twenty ; consequently Nero, the eldest son of Germanicus, might begin his career of honors when turned of nineteen. THE ANNALS. — BOOK 111. 225 with leave, five years earlier than the time limited by law, to stand candidate for the questorship. As a precedent for this indulgence he cited the example of Augustus, who had made the like application for him- self and his brother Drusus. The proposal was a mockery, and accordingly men heard it with derision. Even in the reign of Augustus there were, in all pro- bability, numbers who laughed in secret at the new way of commanding by petition. The artifice, how- ever, was at that time not impolitic : the grandeur of the Ccesars was in its infancy, and the forms of the old republic were still remembered. With regard to the request made by Tiberius, it may be observed that the relation between the stepfather and the sons of his wife did not create so tender an interest as the natural affection of a grandfather for his grandson. The senate not only granted what was asked, but added a seat in the pontifical college. The day on which the young prince made his first appearance in the forum was distinguished by a largess to the people, who saw with pleasure a son of Germanicus rising to the state of manhood. His marriage with Julia, the daughter of Drusus,' was soon after celebrated, and diffused a general satisfaction. But another match, then in con- templation, between the son of Claudius - and a daughter of Sejanus was received by the people with every mark of discontent. Men objected that the lustre of the imperial family would be tarnished, and the am- bition of Sejanus, already suspected, would, when 1 Drusus, the son of Tiberius. He married Livia, otli^r- wise Livilla, the daughter of Drusus, who was brother to Tiberius. 2 Claudius, afterwards emperor, was brother to Germani- cus. He had a son named Drusus, who died very young. The intended marriage never took place. TACIT. VOL. I. P 226 TACITUS. strengthened by that connexion, tower above the rank of a citizen. XXX. Towards the close of the year died two men of distinguished character, namely, Lucius Volusius, and Sallustius Crispus. The former was of an ancient family, at all times highly honored, though never raised above the pretorian rank. The deceased was the first of his house that rose to the consulship. When it was afterwards necessary to regulate the classes of the equestrian order he was for that pur- pose advanced to the dignity of censor In the course of his time he accumulated an immoderate fortune, and laid the foundation of that rank and splendor in which his family florished after him. The ancestors of Crispus were of equestrian rank.* By the maternal line he was grand-nephew to Caius Sallustius, the accomplished Roman historian. Being- adopted by that illustrious writer, he assumed the family name ; and though the road to honors lay open before him the example of Maecenas was the model on which he formed his conduct. Never aspiring to the rank of senator, he lived in a degree of splendor that eclipsed the consular magistrates, and even the com- manders of armies, who had triumphed for their vic- tories. The austerity of ancient manners was not to his taste. In his apparel and equipage he was gay and costly ; in his style of living fond of elegance, and even of luxury. Uniting in his character opposite qualities, he was at once a man of pleasure and a statesman of consummate ability. The vigor of his mind, though often relaxed in indolence, was such as 1 Sallustius Crispus, the minister privy to the death of Agrippa Posthumus, has been already mentioned, Annals, i. 6. His gardens, and other articles of luxury, are described by Pliny. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 227 qualified hira for the most arduous affairs. When oc- casion called, he returned to business with an elastic spring, that sliowed he gained new strength from in- activity. While Maecenas lived and florished Crispus acted the second character. Succeeding afterwards to that minister, he took the lead in the cabinet, the first in favor, and in all secret transactions the confidential manager. Agrippa Posthumus was cut off under his direction. In the decline of life he retained the ap- pearance of power without tlie reality ; a reverse of fortune which had been felt by Maecenas, and which, by some fatality, is the usual end of all who bask in the sunshine of a court. Between the prince and his favorite weariness and satiety succeed to the ardor of affection, and both begin to wean themselves from each other ; the prince, when the power of giving is exhausted ; and the minister when avarice has no more to crave. XXXI. The year which we are now to open stands distinguished by the joint consulship of the father and the son ; Tiberius for the fourth time, and Drusus the second. It is true that, two years before, Germani- cus shared the same honor ; but their union was not founded in sincerity and mutual esteem. Throughout that year Tiberius beheld his colleague with a malig- nant eye. The tie of affinity between them was not so close as the present. Tiberius had scarce entered on the office in conjunction with Drusus when, pretending to recruit his health, he removed into Campania, per- haps even then meditating that long retreat which was afterwards his plan of life: perhaps intending to give Drusus the honor of discharging the consular functions without the assistance of his father. An incident soon occurred, in itself of little moment, but by the heat of parties it kindled to a flame, and afforded to the young 228 TACITUS. consul an opportunity to gain the popular esteem. A complaint was made to the senate by Domitius Corbulo, formerly one of the pretors, stating that Lucius Sylla, a youth of illustrious rank, had refused, in a late show of gladiators, to give place to his superior in point of years. The grave and elderly were on the side of Corbulo. They saw the rights of age infringed, and the example of ancient manners treated with con- tempt. Maraercus Scaurus and Lucius Arruntius undertook the defence of Sylla, and with the rest of his relations formed a party in his favor. A warm de- bate ensued. The practice of good times was stated, and several decrees, enforcing the reverence due to age, were cited as decisive authority. Drusus, by a qualifying speech, allayed the ferment. Corbulo de- clared himself satisfied with the apology made by Ma- mercus Scaurus, who was uncle as well as father-in- law' to Sylla, and, besides, the most eloquent orator of his time. That business being thus amicably settled, the state of the public roads was made the subject of debate by the same Corbulo. The highways, he said, were in a bad condition throughout Italy, neglected every where, and in some places impassable. He im- puted the mischief to the fraudulent practices of con- tractors, and the inattention of the magistrates. He was desired to superintend the business ; but the ad- vantage, whatever it was, that accrued to the public, did not counterbalance the ruin of individuals, who suffered, both in reputation and fortune, by the harsh decisions of Corbulo, and the confiscation of their effects. XXXII. In a short time after the senate received 1 For more of Mamercus Scaurus, a man f\imous for his talents at the bar, but detested for his vicious course of life, ^ee Annals, vi. ^9. THE ANNALS. — BOOK HI. 229 dispatches from Tiberius, with intelligence that Africa was again alarmed by the incursions of Tacfarinas. The occasion, the emperor said, required a proconsul of military talents, and vigor equal to the fatigues of war; but the choice was left to the judgment of the fathers. Sextus Pompeius seized this opportunity to launch out in a bitter invective against Marcus Lepi- dus, whom he styled a man void of courage, destitute of fortune, a disgrace to his ancestors, and by no means fit to be intrusted with the government of Asia,^ which had then fallen to his lot. The senate was of a different opinion. What was called want of courage, according to them, was mildness of disposition ; his indigence was a misfortune, not a disgrace ; nor could it be deemed a fair objection to a man who, in narrow cir- cumstances, supported the dignity of his ancestors, and lived in honorable poverty, with an unblemished cha- racter. He was therefore declared proconsul of Asia. The choice of a governor to command in Africa was, by a decree, reserved for the decision of the em- peror. XXXIII. In the course of the debate a motion was made by Caecina Severus, that the governors of provinces should be no longer accompanied by their wives. He prefaced the business with repeated decla- rations, that between him and his wife, who liad brought him six children, the truest harmony sub- 1 It has been already mentioned that Augustus, having re- served some provinces for his own management, resigned the rest to the senate. Asia and Africa were in the number assigned to the fathers, and were always considered as con- sular governments. Two who had discharged the office of consul were named, and the province of each was decided by lot. That rule however was waved in sudden emergen- cies, and a proconsul was sent without any form of election or ballot. 230 TACITUS. sisted; and yet the law which he now proposed had ever been the rule of his own conduct ; insomuch that, in a series of forty years, during which time he had served as many campaigns, his wife always remained in Italy. ' It was with good reason,^ he said, ' that in former times women were neither allowed to visit the allies of Rome, nor to have any intercourse with foreign nations. The softer sex brought many incon- veniences ; in times of peace they were prone to luxury, and in war easily alarmed. A female train, in the march of a Roman army, presented an image of savage manners : it had the appearance of barbarians going to battle. ' That women are by nature feeble, and soon over- come by hardship, was not the only objection : other qualities entered into the female character, such as pride, revenge, and cruelty, and ambition. The love of power is the predominant passion of the sex, and in the exercise of it they know no bounds. They appear in the ranks ; they march with the troops ; and they entice the centurions to their party. We have seen, in a late instance, a woman ' reviewing the cohorts, and directing the exercise of the legions. Have we forgot, that as often as rapacity and extortion have been laid to the account of the husband, the wife has proved the principal offender ? She no sooner enters the province than her party is formed. The unprincipled attend to pay their homage. She becomes a politician ; she takes the lead in business, and gives a separate au- dience. The husband and the wife appear in public with their distinct train of attendants. Two tribunals^ are established, and the female edict, dictated by 1 Plancina, the wife of Piso. 2 Tlie tribunal where the consuls sat in judgment waa called pretorium. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 231 caprice and tyranny, is sure to be obeyed. By the Oppian ' and other laws the wife was formerly re- strained within due bounds ; at present all decorum is laid aside : women give the law in families ; they preside in the tribunals of justice, and aspire to be commanders-in-chief.' XXXIV. To this speech a small number assented ; the rest received it with a murmur of disapprobation. The business, they said, was not in form before the fathers, and a question of that importance ought not to be drawn into debate by a self-created censor like Cascina. His arg-ument was answered by Valerius Messalinus ; a man w ho derived from his father Mes- sala,- the celebrated orator, no inconsiderable share of eloquence. ' The rigor,' he said, * of ancient man- ners has taken a milder tone. The enemy is not at the gates of Rome, and the provinces have no hostile intentions. In favor of the tender sex some conces- sions ought to be made, especially since it is now known by experience that the wife, so far from being- a burden to the province, is scarcely felt in the private economy of the husband. She is no more than a sharer in his splendor and dignity. In time of peace what danger from her presence ? War, indeed, calls for vigor ; and men should go unincumbered to the field. When the campaign is over, where can the general so well repose from toil and labor as in the 1 Caius Oppius, tribune of the people A. U. C. 541, was the author of a law by which the women were laid under several restrictions in the articles of dress and other expenses. That law was repealed, notwithstanding the strenuous efforts of Cato the censor, A. U. C. 559. But still it was thought neces- sary that the female sex should be held within due bounds, and other sumptuary laws were enacted. 2 For Corvinus JMessala, who florished in the time of Au- gustus, see the Dialogue concerning Oratory, § 12, 232 TACITUS. bosom of a wife, whose tenderness relieves his pain and sweetens every care ? But women, it has been said, are prone to avarice and ambition : what shall be said of the magistrates ? Have they been always free from irregular passions? and if not, will it follow that men are to be no longer trusted with the adminis- tration of the provinces ? We are told that the vices of the Avife have their influence on the manners of the husband : and is it therefore true that in a life of celibacy we are sure of finding unblemished honor ? 'The Oppian laws were formerly deemed expedient : the policy of the times required them; but the manners have varied since, and with the manners the law has been modified. We strive in vain, under borrowed terms, to hide our own defects : the truth is, if the wife exceeds the bounds of the female character the blame falls on the husband. In two or three instances we may have seen that the men were weak and too uxorious ; and shall we for that reason take from the commander of armies the most endearing comforts of marriage, the mutual joy in prosperity, and, in afflic- tion, the balm that heals his sorroAV ? By the restraint now proposed the weaker sex will be left in a state of destitution, the sport of their own caprice, and a prey to the passions of the profligate seducer. The pre- sence of the husband is scarce sufficient to guard the sanctity of the marriage-bed : what must be the con- sequence if they are separated, and as it were di- vorced for a number of years ? In that interval the nuptial union may be obliterated from the mind. Let us, if we can, prevent disorder in the provinces ; but let us not forget the manners of the capital.' In this debate Drusus delivered his sentiments. He touched on the subject of his own marriage, and added, that the princes of the imperial house were liable to THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 233 the frequent necessity of visiting distant provinces. How often did it happen that Augustus made a pro- gress in the west, and in the east, accompanied by Livia his wife ? As to himself, he had commanded iu Illyricum, and was ready, if the state required it, to serve in any part of the empire ; but he should serve mth regret, if he was to be torn from an affectionate wife,* the faithful mother of all his children. In con- sequence of these reasonings Cascina's motion fell to the ground. XXXV. The senate at their next meeting received letters from Tiberius, in which, after complaining ob- liquely that the burden of all public business was thrown on himself, he named Manius Lepidus and Junius Blaesus for the proconsulship of Africa, leav- ing the choice of one of them to the determination of the fathers. Both were heard: Lepidus, with a degr-ee of earnestness, desired to be excused ; alleging the infirmities of his constitution and the care due to his children, who, except a daughter then fit for the mar- ried state, were all of tender years. Lepidus had still a better reason ; but he chose to suppress it : it was, nevertheless, well understood that Blassus was uncle to Sejanus, and of course had the prevailing influence. Blaesus in his turn declined the office, but with af- fected coyness. Flattery knew on which side its in- terest lay ; and, by consequence, the slaves of power knew how to conquer such feeble reluctance. Bleesus was of course appointed. XXXVI. A public grievance, which had long been felt with secret discontent, was soon after brought before the fathers. A licentious spirit of defamation prevailed at Rome, arid reigned without control. The 1 He was married to Livia, the sister of Germanicus. 234 TACITUS. vile and profligate launched out with virulence against the best members of society, and the statues of the Caesars were a sanctuary, where the assassins of every honest name found protection. The freedmen, and even the slaves, poured out a torrent of abuse ; and after lifting their hands against their patrons, or their masters, resorted to the same asylum, where they grew more formidable in their insolence. Caius Ces- tius, a member of the senate, complained of this , enormity. ' Princes,' he said, ' represented the gods ; but the gods lent a favorable ear to none but the just. Neither the capitol nor the temples were places of refuge, where guilt might find a shelter, and even encouragement. In a late prosecution Annia Rufilla was found guilty of manifest fraud ; and if such a woman might with impunity, in the forum, and even in the portal of the senate, insult him with opprobrious language, and even with menaces ; if such contumacy were permitted, and the emperor's statue gave a sanc- tion to evil practices, insomuch that he could obtain no redress ; all good order was at an end, and the laws were no better than a dead letter.' Others spoke to the same effect. Facts still more atrocious were stated, and with one voice the whole assembly called on Drusus for exemplary punishment. Rufilla was cited to appear ; and, being convicted, the fathers ordered her to be imprisoned in the common jail. XXXVII. Considius vEquus and Coelius Cursor, two Roman knights, who had preferred a false charge of violated majesty against Magius C^cilianus, then one of the pretors, Avere for that offence condemned, at the desire of Tiberius. From this act of justice, as well as the sentence against Rufilla, Drusus derived no small share of popularity. Men were willing to allow that by residing at Rome, and by mixing in THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 235 social meetings, he made some atonement for the dark and sullen spirit of his father. The luxurious passions of a young man were easily excused : ' Let him/ said the people, ' indulge his taste for pleasure ; let him pass his'day in the glare of public spectacles, and his night in social revelry, rather than live sequestered from mankind, without a joy to cheer him ; in painful vigils and the gloom of solitude brooding over his cares, and thinking only to engender mischief.' XXXVIII. The ruin of eminent citizens had not yet appeased the rage of Tiberius and his crew of informers. An accusation was preferred by Ancharius Prisons against Cassius Cordus, proconsul of Crete, for peculation and violated majesty. The last article was, at that time, the burden of every prosecution.' Antistius Vetus, a man of the first consequence in Macedonia, 2 had been accused of adultery, and ac- quitted. This gave umbrage to Tiberius. He cen- sured the judges, and ordered Vetus to be tried on the usual charge of violated majesty. He represented him as a man of a turbulent spirit, and an accomplice with Rhescuporis at the time when that barbarian, having put his nephew Cotys to death, was on the eve of a war with Rome. Vetus fell a sacrifice. He was interdicted from fire and water, with an additional sentence, that he should be confined to some island not contiguous either to Macedonia or Thrace. 1 Pliny the youns^er, in his panegyric on the emperor Trajan, says tiiat neither the laws enacted in the consulship of Voconius, nor the Julian law, conduced so mucli to enrich the exchequer of the prince and the public treasury as the charge of violated majesty, too often the only charge against those who were free from every crime. 2 It is probable that Antistius was a Roman by birth, who had settled in INIacedonia, and there became a man of the first consequence. 236 TACITUS. Since the partition of the latter kingdom between Rhoemetalces and the sons of Cotys, to whom Tre- l>ellienus Rufus was appointed guardian, that country- continued in a state of tumult and hostility to Rome. The people saw, with minds exasperated, the griev- ances inflicted on the natives, and, having no prospect of redress, accused Trebellienus no less than Rhceme- talces. In the same juncture the Ccelaletans, the Odrysceans, Dians, and other adjacent states, in one general revolt, had recourse to arms. They took the field under their own respective chiefs, men of no con- sideration, and all by their meanness and incapacity reduced to one common level. Hence no concerted plan, no spirit of union. By one party the country was laid waste ; another passed over Mount Ha?mus, mth a design to draw distant nations into their con- federacy ; while the most numerous and best disci- plined troops sat down before Philippopolis (a city founded by Philip of Macedon), and there held Rhoe- metalces closely besieged. XXXIX. On the first intelligence of his revolt Publius Velleius,' who commanded an army in the neighborhood, sent a detachment of horse and light infantry in pursuit of the insurgents, who spread themselves over the country, either with a view to plunder, or to reinforce their numbers. He himself marched in force to raise the siege. He was success- ful in every quarter : the freebooters were put to tlie sword ; and dissensions breaking out among the be- siegers, Rhcemetalces made a sally in the moment when the Roman army came up to his relief. The barbarians abandoned the place. Of these events, 1 Some of the commentators will have the person here mentioned to be Velleius Paterculus the historian j but the prenomen Publius seems to denote a difterent man. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. £37 however prosperous, there is no room to speak in the pomp of military language : a rabble of savag^es without discipline, and almost without weapons, can- not be called an army ; nor was that a battle, wh^re the enemy was cut to pieces, without the effusion of Roman blood. XL. In the course of the same year a rebellron broke out among the cities of Gaul, occasioned by the load of debt that oppressed the common people. The principal leaders of the revolt were Julius Florus and Julius Sacrovir ; the former a man of weight among the Treviri, and the latter among the ^duans. They were both of illustrious birth. Their ancestors had deserved well of the Romans, and for their services received the freedom of the city, at a time when that privilege was rare, and the reward of merit only. By these incendiaries secret meetings were held ; the fierce and daring were drawn into the league, together with such as languished in poverty, or, being conscious of their crimes, had nothing left but to grow desperate in giiilt. Florus undertook to kindle the flame of rebel- lion in Belgia ; and Sacrovir to rouse the neighboring Gauls. The plan thus settled, they caballed in private, held frequent meetings, and left no topic untouched that could inflame the minds of the people. ' Tri- butes,' they said, ' were levied with unabating rigor ; usurious interest oppressed the poor, and their haughty masters continued to lord it over them with pride ami arrogance. By the murder of Germanicus disaffec- tion was diff'used among the legions, and the opportu- nity to strike the blow for liberty was now arrived. Reflect on the numbers we can bring into the field : remember the impoverished state of Italy. At Ron>e every warlike principle is extinguished. The strength of their armies is mouldered away. They have no 238 TACITUS. national strength, but depend altogetlier on foreign nations to figlit their battles.' XLI. A general spirit of revolt prevailed in every part of Gaul. Scarce a city was free from commotion. The flame blazed out among the Andecavians and the people of Tours : but by the diligence of Acilius Aviola/ who marched from Lyons at the head of a cohort, the insurgents in the former province were reduced to obedience. The same commander with a legionary force, detached by Visellius Varro, from the Lower Germany, marched into the territory of Tours, and quelled the insurrection. In this expedition some of the principal chiefs in Gaul joined the Roman army, not with zeal for the cause, but pretending friendship, in order, with surer effect, to be traitors in the end. Even Sacrovir fought with the Romans : he was seen in the heat of action with his head uncovered, in order, as he gave out, to signalise his courage and fidelity ; but in truth, as was afterwards collected from the prisoners, to avoid being aimed at by the darts of his countrymen. An account of these dis- turbances was transmitted to "Tiberius. He doubted the intelligence, and by his indecision prolonged the war. XLII. Julius Florus in the mean time continued to exert his most vigorous efforts. A regiment of horse, raised formerly among the Treviri, but trained to the Roman discipline, happened to be quartered at Treves. He tampered with those troops, in hopes of beginning the war by a general massacre of the Roman merchants. A small number listened to his advice, 1 Being thought dead, some years afterwards, and laid on his funeral pile, he waked from bis lethargy, but for want of assistance was consumed in the flames. Pliny, vii. 52. Va- lerius Maximus, i. 8. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 239 but the rest continued in their duty. Florus was fol- lowed by a rabble of debtors and a number of his own dependants. He marched towards the forest of Arden, but was intercepted by the legions detached by Visellius and Caius Silius from the two armies on the Rhine. A party of those troops was ordered for- ward under the command of Julius Indus, a native of Treves, who was then at variance with Florus, and for that reason burned with impatience to encounter his enemy. He gave battle to the rebels, and over an ill- appointed and undisciplined multitude gained a com- plete victory. Florus lay for some time concealed in lurking places ; but at length finding himself unable to elude the search of the Roman soldiers, and seeing the defiles and passes guarded on every side, he died by his own sword. The people of Treves after this event returned to their duty. XLIII. The ^duan commotions were not so easily quelled. The state was rich and powerful, and the force necessary to subdue the insurrection lay at a considerable distance. Sacrovir strained every nerve to support his cause. He seized the city of Augus- todunum, the capital of the ^duans, and took into his custody the flower of the young nobility, who resorted thither from all parts of Gaul, as to a school of science and liberal education. By detaining those pledges, he hoped to attach to his interest their parents and relations. He supplied the young men with arms, which had been prepared with secrecy by his directions. His numbers amounted to no less than forty thousand, a fifth part of which were armed after the manner of the legions : the rest carried hunting-poles, knives, and other instruments of the chase. He had, besides, pressed into his service a body of slaves reared up to the trade of gladiators, and, according to the cus- 240 TACITUS. torn of tlie country, clad with an entire plate of iron. In the language of Gaul they were called Crupella- rians. Their armor was impenetrable to the stroke of the enemy, but at the same time rendered the men too unwieldy for the attack. The adjoining provinces had not taken up arms ; but a number of individuals caught the infection, and joined the rebel army. Sa- crovir gained a farther advantage from the jealousies subsisting between the Roman generals.' Each claimed to himself the conduct of the war ; and the dispute continued till Varro, finding himself impaired by age, gave up the point to Silius, who was then in the vigor of his days. XLIV. Meanwhile a report prevailed at Rome, that not only the ^duans and the Treviri, but several other cities of Gaul, to the number of sixty-four, had thrown off the yoke. Germany, it was added, had joined the league ; and Spain was wavering. The rumor, as usually happens, was magnified by the cre- dulity of the populace. Good men felt for their country ; the greater part, detesting the present sys- tem, and wishing for nothing so much as a change, enjoyed the confusion, and triumphed in the common danger. Invective did not spare Tiberius. ' In a difficult and alarming crisis, he was busy in settling the forms of some new prosecution. Did he mean to proceed by way of information against Julius Sa- crovir ? Was that chieftain to be accused of violated majesty ? The revolt plainly showed that there still existed men of undaunted valor, who Avere resolved, at the point of the sword, to defy his letters written in blood to the senate ; and war, with all its dangers, 1 Visellius Varro commanded on the Lower Rhine, and CaiuS Silius on the Upper. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 241 was preferable to a sanguinary peace under a despotic tyrant.' Amidst these murmurs of discontent Tibe- rius appeared with an unruffled temper, never once changing his look, his place of abode, or his habits of life. Is this to be ascribed to magnanimity ? or did he know, by secret intelligence, that the whole was either false, or magnified beyond the truth ? XLV. Silius, in the mean time, having sent before him a body of auxiliaries, marched at the head of two legions into the territory of the Sequanians, a people at the extremity of Gaul, bordering on the ^Eduans, and confederates in the war. He laid waste the coun- try, and proceeded by rapid marches to Augusto- dunura. Nothing could equal the ardor of the le- gions : the standard-bearers with emulation gave every proof of their alacrity ; the common soldiers declared with one voice that they wanted no repose ; the night ought not to be lost in sleep : let them but see the enemy, they asked no more : victory was sure to follow. At the distance of twelve miles from Au- gustodunum Sacrovir appeared in force. His line of battle was formed on the open plain. The gladiators in complete armor were stationed in the centre ; his cohorts in the two wings, and his half-armed multi- tude in the rear. He was himself mounted on a superb horse, attended by a number of chiefs. He rode through the ranks, haranguing his men : he called to mind the glory of their ancestors,* their brave ex- 1 The Gauls, under the conduct of Brennus, stormed the city of Rome, A. U. C. 364; before the Christian era 390. Livy, V. 35. They fought no less than thirty battles with Julius Cffisar. Brotier, in his note on this passage, is at great pains to retrieve the fame of the ancient Gauls, who have been in his opinion too much neglected, and indeed con- signed to oblivion, by the irruption of the Franks. But the Gauls, he says, were a great and powerful nation, while TACIT. VOL. I. Q 242 TACITUS. ploits against the Romans, and the eternal honor of succeeding in the cause of liberty. ' A defeat/ he said, ' would bring with it infamy, and chains, and bondage.' XLVI. The speech was short, and the soldiers heard it without emotion. The legions advanced in regular order. A band of raw recruits, lately levied in the towns of Gaul, could not sustain a sight so terrible. The faculties of eyes and ears were lost in confusion. By the Romans victory was already anti- cipated. To exhort them was unnecessary, yet Silius thought proper to inflame their ardor. ' The dis- g-race,' he said, ' would be great, if the victorious legions who had conquered in Germany were now to consider the Gauls as an equal enemy. The rebels of Tours have been chastised by a single cohort ; a de- tachment of the cavalry crushed the insurgents at Treves ; and a handful of this very army gave the Sequanians a total overthrow. The yEduans are now before you ; not an army, but an effeminate race, abounding in wealth, and enervated by luxury. Charge with valor, and to pursue the runaways will Rome, undei" TarqiiiniusPriscus, was yet in its infancy ; and though the name of Franks lias been adopted by his country- men, yet the nature of the first inhabitants has not been ex- tinguished. The Gallic mind, the Gallic genius, and the Gallic manners, have been transmitted from age to age ; inso- much, that what Julius Cresar said of" the people almost two thousand years ago is true at this hour. So far Brotier. Those who are fond of researches into remote antiquity, and, as Dr. Goldsmith somewhere expressed it, who love to pur- sue the chase when the dews of the morning have passed away, will find in Brotier's Tacitus, i. 367, 8vo. edit., an ela- borate history of the ancient Gauls. But whether, in the history of those barbarous times, any thing can be found to equal the carnage, blood, and massacre, which have lately disgraced their descendants, and excited the horror and in- dignation of all Europe, may be made a question. THE ANNALS. — ROOK III. 243 be your only trouble.' This speech was received with a general shout. The rebels were soon hemmed in by the cavalry : the front of their line gave way at the first onset of the infantry, and the wings were put to flight. The men in iron armor still kept their ranks. No impression could be made by swords and javelins. The Romans had recourse to their hatchets and pick- axes. With these, as if battering a wall, they fell on the enormous load, and crushed both men and armor. Some attacked with clubs and pitchforks. The un- Avieldy and defenceless enemy lay on the ground, an inanimate mass, without an efl"ort to rise. Sacrovir threw himself into the town of Augustodunum ; but in a short time, fearing to be given up a prisoner, with- drew with his most faithful adherents to a villa in the neighborhood, where he put an end to his life. His followers, having first set fire to the place, turned their swords against themselves, and perished in one general carnage. XLVII. Tiberius, at length, thought fit to write to the senate on the subject of these commotions. In one and the same letter he gave an account of the war begun and ended. He neither magnified nor disguised the truth, but in plain terms ascribed the whole success to the valor of his ofl5cers and the wisdom of his councils. Why he did not go in person, or send his son Drusus, the same letter explained his reasons : ' The extent and majesty of the empire claimed his utmost care. It was not for the dignity of the prince, on the revolt of one or two cities, to relinquish the seat of government. But now, since he could not be supposed to be under any kind of aljirm, it was his intention to show himself to the provinces, in order, by his presence, to allay the ferment, and restore the public tranquillity.' Vows for his return, and solemn 244 TACITUS. festivals, with other usual ceremonies, were decreed by the senate. Dolabella, intending to display his genius in the trade of flattery, succeeded so far as to show his meanness and absurdity. He proposed that the emperor, on his return from Campania, should enter the city with the splendor of an ovation. This occasioned a letter to the senate from Tiberius, where- in he observed, ' that after conquering fierce and war- like nations, and having in his youth received and de- clined triumphal honors, he was not such a novice to glory as to desire, in the evening of his days, the vain parade of a public entry, for an excursion that was little more than a party of pleasure to the suburbs of Rome.' XLVIII. About this time Tiberius wrote to the senate, requesting that a public funeral might be de- creed to Sulpicius Quirinius ;' a man no way related to the ancient patrician family of the Sulpicii. He was born at Lanuvium, a municipal town : he distinguished himself by his military services ; had considerable ta- lents for business, and was raised by Augustus to the honor of the consulship. Having afterwards stormed and taken the strongholds of the Homonadensians in Cilicia, he obtained triumphal honors. He attended Caius Cassar in his expedition to Armenia, the chief director of his councils, and made use of that oppor- tunity to pay his court, with secrecy, to Tiberius, while that prince resided in the isle of Rhodes. This anecdote Tiberius mentioned in his letter ; declaring himself, in gracious terms, well pleased with the good offices of Quirinius, and, at the same time, reflecting with a degree of^ acrimony on Marcus Lollius, to whose 1 The same Quirinius who has been mentioned in ibis book, § 22. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III 245 conduct he imputed the dissensions between himself and Caius Ciesar. But the character of Quirinius was held in no esteem: his unrelenting prosecution of Lepida, already related, was still remembered; and the sordid avarice of the man, even in old age, and in the height of power, left a stain on his memory. XLIX. The year closed with a prosecution of a singular nature. Caius Lutorius Priscus, a Roman knight, was the author of an applauded poem on the death of Germanicus, and for his composition had re- c-eived a reward from Tiberius. The crime laid to his charge was, that, when Drusus lay ill, he prepared another elegy, from which he hoped, if the young prince died, to derive still greater emolument. With the vanity of a poet Lutorius read his verses at the house of Publius Petronius, in the presence of Vitellia, the mother-in-law of that senator. Several women of distinction were of the party. As soon as the pro- secutor opened the heads of his accusation the con- fidential friends of the author were struck with terror. The fact was admitted by all, except Vitellia : she had the memory of a liberal-minded woman, and could recollect nothing. Credit however was given to the rest of the evidence. Haterius Agrippa, consul-elect, was the first to give his opinion : he proposed that the unfortunate poet should suff'er death. L. Manius Lepidus opposed the motion. He spoke as follows : ' If in our deliberations, conscript fathers, we advert to nothing but the flagitious sentiments, by which Lutorius has discovered the malignity of his heart and wounded the ear of others, neither the dun- geon, nor the rope, nor the torments which the law ordains for slaves, would be adequate to the enormity of his guilt. But on the other hand, however great the depravity of mankind, there are degrees of punish- ment. The clemency of the prince interposes often ta 246 TACITUS. mitigate the rigor of the law : the wisdom of our ancestors has delivered down to us a system of justice founded in mercy, and you have, on many occasions, followed their example. If between error in judg- ment and malignity of heart a distinction is to be made ; if words and criminal actions are not to be confounded, the case before us admits a sentence which at once will reach the offence, and leave us no reason to blush either for our moderation or our severity. The complaints of the emperor, when the guilty, by a voluntary death, have prevented the effect of his clemency, have been heard by us all. Lutorius lives ; and should he continue to do so, will the state be in danger? His death will neither promote the public interest, nor serve as an example to others. Productions such as his, the effusions of a wild and irregular fancy, may well be left to flutter for a time, and then, like all frivolous things, to be forgotten. Nothing serious or important is to be expected from him, who betrays himself, not in the hearing of men, but in a circle of women. And yet my voice is against him. Let him be condemned to exile ; let his effects be confiscated ; let fire and water be interdicted. This is my opinion, the same as I should give had he been in due form convicted on the law of violated ma- jesty.' LI. Rubellius Blandus, of consular rank, was the only person that assented to the opinion of Lepidus. The rest concurred with Agrippa. The poet was hur- ried away and strangled in a dungeon. Concerning these proceedings Tiberius wrote to the senate in his usual style, ambiguous and inexplicable. He com- mended the zeal of the fathers, even in a matter of no importance, but desired that for the future words alone should not be punished with so much precipitation. He praised the humanity of Lepidus, yet found no fault THE ANNALS. — BOOK HI. 247 with Agrippa. This produced a decree, by which it was enacted that no sentence of condemnation should, for the future, be sent to the treasury till the tenth day after passing it ; and, in the interval, execution was to be suspended. The fathers however were not to have the power of rejudging their own acts, or revoking their sentence. The appeal was to be to Tiberius, and no time could soften that implacable temper. LII. Caius Sulpicius and Decimus Haterius were the next consuls. The year was free from foreign commotions ; but at Rome new laws were expected to check the growth of luxury, and that apprehension spread a general alarm. The prodigality ^ of the times had risen to the highest pitch. In many articles of expense, and those the heaviest, the real price might be concealed ; but the cost of the table was too well understood. The profusion with which luxury was maintained could not remain a secret. It was there- fore apprehended, that a prince, addicted to the fru- gality of ancient manners, would endeavor by severe regulations to control the mischief. The subject was opened in the senate by Caius Bi- bulus, one of the asdiles ; his colleagues joined to support him. They stated that the sumptuary laws were fallen into contempt. The extravagance in fur- niture and utensils, though prohibited, grew every day more enormous, insomuch that, by moderate penalties, the mischief was not to be cured. The senate without farther debate referred the whole to the consideration of the emperor. Tiberius weighed every circumstance : 1 The particular instances of Roman luxury, and the wealth and profusion of individuals, would lead to a loni? digression. Apicius, and otliers of that class of epicures, are well known. Lucan has given a general account of the origin and progress of luxury, l^harsalia, i. 248 TACITUS. he knew that passions which had taken root could not be easily weeded out of the heart : he considered how far coercive measures might be a public griev- ance. If an unsuccessful attempt gave a victory to vice, the defeat he saw w ould be a disgrace to govern- ment ; and the necessity of vvaging continual war against the characters and fortunes of the most emi- nent citizens was what he wished to avoid. After mature deliberation, he sent his thoughts in writing to the senate, in substance as follows : LIII. '■ On any other question, conscript fathers, it would perhaps be expedient that I should attend the debate in person, and, in my place, lay before you what I conceive to be for the advantage of the com- monwealth. At present, it may be better that my eyes should not survey the scene. In so mixed an iissembly many, no doubt, by their looks and manner might be apt to betray a consciousness of their own vicious habits. The attention of the senate would naturally fix on such men, and I should, of course, be led to watch their behavior : in that case the guilty would, as it were, be taken in the fact. Had the ffidiles, whose zeal deserves commendation, applied in the first instance to me, I should perhaps have thought it advisable to connive at vices that have gathered strength from time, rather than expose to tlie world the inveteracy of the mischief, and the feebleness of legal remedies. Those magistrates, it must be acknowleged, have performed their duty with a spirit which every civil officer would do well to emulate. As to myself, to remain silent were a de- sertion of the public ; and to speak out may be im- politic. The part which I sustain is neither that of ledile, pretor, nor consul. From the emperor some- tliing more than the minute detail of business is ex- THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 249 pected. The pre-eminence is painful, while indivi- duals claim the merit of all the good that is done, and, if men transgress, the blame is transferred to tlie prince. At the expense of one all are guilty. If a reform is in truth intended, where must it begin ? and how am I to restore tlie simplicity of ancient times ? Must I abridge your villas, those vast domains, where tracts of land are laid out for ornament f Must I re- trench the number of slaves, so great at present that every family seems a nation of itself? What shall be said of massy heaps of gold and silver? of statues wrought in brass, and an infinite collection of pictures, all indeed highly finished, the perfection of art? How shall we reform the taste for dress, which, according to the reigning fashion, is so exquisitely nice, that the sexes are scarce distinguished ?' How are we to deal with the peculiar articles of female vanity, and, in particular, with that rage for jewels and precious trinkets, which drains the empire of its wealth, and sends in exchange for baubles the money of the com- monwealth to foreign nations, and even to the enemies of Rome ? LIV. * That these abuses are the subject of discus- sion at every table, and the topic of complaint in all 1 Tiberius, who writes this letter to the senate, was so well known to be fond of wine that, instead of Tiberius Claudius Nero, he was called Biberias Caldius Mcro. But though he was addicted to wine, he showed no disposition to the prevailing luxury of the times till his excesses broke out in the isle of Caprea. What Tiberius says of the fashionable style of dress, common to both sexes, is confirmed by Lucan. Horace describes a Roman lady in her silk dress from the isle of Coos, so thin, that it might be said to be transparent. Pliny tlie elder tells us that the men in the summer season did not blush to follow their example ; and were so little in- clined to wear the military breastplate, that their very clothes were a burden. 250 TACITUS. private circles, I am not now to learn. And yet, let a law be made with proper sanctions, and the very- men who call for a reform will be the first to make objections. The public peace, they will say, is dis- turbed ; illustrious families are in danger of ruin ; and all, without distinction, must live in dread of rigorous inquiries and the harpies of the law. It is with the body politic as the body natural : in the latter, chronical disorders, in time grown obstinate, call for harsh and violent remedies. Just so in the distempers of the mind : the heart, sick to the very core with vice, corrupted and corrupting, requires an antidote as strong as the poison that inflames our pas- sions. Many wholesome laws were made by our an- cestors, and many by Augustus: the former are grown obsolete ; and the latter (to the disgrace of the age) are fallen into contempt; and, by consequence, luxury riots without control. The reason is obvious : while there is no law in force to prevent abuses men pro- ceed with caution, that the magnitude of the mischief may not provoke the authority of the legislature : but when positive instructions are found inadequate the case is very difierent : unbridled passions take their course with impunity, and all transgress without fear or shame. ' Why was frugality the practice of ancient times ? Because each individual was a law to himself; be- cause he knew how to moderate his desires ; because we were then the inhabitants of a single city. Even Italy, when reduced to subjection, afforded but few incentives to luxury. Foreign victories taught us to dissipate the property of others ; and the civil wars made us prodigal of our own. But after all, is the mischief which the a^diles make the ground of their complaint the worst of our grievances ? Compare it THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 25t with other evils, and it vanishes into nothing. Italy- stands in need of foreign supplies, and yet no reformer tells us how much the commonwealth is every day at the mercy of the winds and waves. The produce of colonies is imported to maintain our pride and luxury, to feed the master of the soil, and to supply his slaves with the necessaries of life. Should these resources fail, will our groves, our villas, and our spacious pleasure-grounds, be sufficient to satisfy our wants ? That care is left to the sovereign. Should he neglect that essential duty, the commonwealth is lost. With regard to other evils, the remedy is in the breast of every individual. Men of rank may be restrained by principle, the poor by indigence, and the rich by- satiety. These are my sentiments. If, notwithstand- ing, any magistrate should be of opinion that more may be done ; if he feels within himself vigor and in- dustry to oppose the torrent ; I honor the firmness of his character, and cheerfully resign to abler hands a great part of my own solicitude. But when he has declaimed against corruption, if his zeal is to evapo- rate in a florid speech ; if the violence of party re- sentments, which his patriot cares have roused, is to point at me, while the censor of the manners enjoys the fame of his eloquence ; believe me, conscript fa- thers, I am not more than another ambitious of making enemies. To encounter animosities, for the most part unprovoked, and often unjust, is too much my lot at present ; and yet, for the interest of the community, it is a tax which I am willing to pay. But if I depre- cate new hostilities, permit me, with your consent, to avoid all such as may be excited without due consi- deration, useless to the state, and to me big with every disadvantage.' LV. This letter being read, the senate released the 252 TACITUS. sediles from all farther care about the business. Lux- ury went on with boundless profusion. It began soon after the battle of Actium/ and continued to florish, for the space of a century, down to the time when Galba attained the imperial dignity. At that period the manners changed, and temperance became the fashion. Of this revolution in the modes of life a short account will not be improper. While the old constitution still subsisted pomp and splendor were o-ften the ruin of the most illustrious families. To conciliate the favor of the populace, and of the allies of Rome, including even kings and princes, was the great object of a Roman citizen. In proportion to his wealth, his grandeur, and the magnificence of his re- tinue, his importance rose, and with it the number of his clients. But when the best blood in Rome was spilt by imperial tyranny, and to be eminent was to be marked out for destruction, it became the interest of the great to lay aside all vain ostentation, and adopt a more humble plan of life. At the same time, a new race of men from the municipal towns, the colonies, and the provinces, found their way, not only to Rome, but even into the senate. The strangers thus incor- porated brought with them their natural parsimony. In the course of a long life many of them, either by their own frugality or a tide of success in their affairs, accumulated immoderate riches ; yet even in affluence avarice was their ruling passion. But the cause which, above all others, contributed to the revival of ancient economy, was the character of Vespasian ; a man of primitive temperance and rigid austerity. All agreed to imitate so excellent a model. Respect for the 1 The battle of Actium was A. U. C. 722. Galba was mur- dered A. U. C. 81^3. THE ANNALS.— BOOK III. 253 prince did more than all the pains and penalties of the law. And yet it may be true that in the nature of things there is a principle of rotation, in consequence • of which the manners, like the seasons, are subject to periodical changes. Nor is it certain that, in the former ages of the world, every thing was better than in the times that succeeded. The present age has produced, in moral conduct and the liberal arts, a number of bright examples, which posterity will do well to imitate. May the contest with antiquity con- tinue ! but let it be a generous emulation for superior virtue ; and may that spirit go down to future times ! LVI. Tiberius gained by these proceedings a consi- derable share of popularity. His moderation in the business of the intended reform gave satisfaction to all ranks and conditions. The people saw with plea- sure the tribe of informers disappointed in their views. In this fanv^orable moment Tiberius, by letters to the senate, desired that his son Drusus might be invested with the tribunitian dignity. That specious title, importing nothing less than sovereign power, was invented by Augustus at a time when the name of king or dictator was not only unconstitutional, but universally detested. And yet a new name was wanted to overtop the magistrates and the forms of the con- stitution. In that usurped power Marcus Agrippa became his colleague ; and, after his death, Tiberius Nero succeeded. By the last promotion it was the policy of Augustus to mark out the line of succession, and thereby check the views of aspiring men. He was sure that Tiberius would act an under part ; and, be- sides, his own name was a tower of strength. Tibe- rius, in the present juncture, followed the precedent left by Augustus. During the life of Germanicus he held the balance even between the two young princes, 254 TACITUS. reserving to himself the power of deciding when he should see occasion. In the letter which opened the V matter to the senate, after invoking the gods, and fer- vently praying that the measure might be of advan- tage to the commonwealth, he introduced the charac- ter of Drusus, hut in a guarded style, never exceed- ing the bounds of truth. The prince, he said, had a wife and three children, and was then of the age which himself had attained^ when raised by Augustus to the same honor. Nor could the favor now requested be deemed premature. Drusus had gone through a pro- bation of eight years ; the proofs of his merit were, seditions quelled, wars happily terminated, the splen- dor of a triumph, and two consulships. There was therefore no danger that he would be a novice in public business. LVII. The senate was not taken by surprise : the emperor's intention had been foreseen, and flattery was ready with her servile strain. Invention, not- withstanding, was at a loss for novelty. Statues were decreed to Tiberius and his son ; altars were raised to the gods ; temples were built, and triumphal arches erected, with other honors of a similar nature. Mar-: cus Silanus aimed at something new. Willing, at the expense of the consular dignity, to pay a compliment to the princes, he proposed that, in all public and pri- vate registers, the year should no longer take its date from the names of the consuls, but from the persons invested with the tribunitian power. Quintus Hate- rius went still farther : he moved that the decrees of that day should be fixed up in the senate-house in l^Lipsius observes that Drusus, according to this account, was six-and-thirty years of age. Tiberius was born A. U. C. 712, and was invested with the tribunitian power by Augus- tus A. U. C. 748. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 255 letters of gold. His motion was treated with contempt and ridicule. The fathers saw with indignation a su- perannuated senator, who, on the verge of life, could incur present infamy, without a prospect of future wages. LVIII. Amidst these transactions the government of Africa was continued to Junius Blccsus. The pro- consulship of Asia happening then to be vacant, was demanded by Servius Maluginensis, the priest of Ju- piter. In support of his claim he contended, * that the inability of a priest, in his station, to go out of Italy, was a vulgar error. The order to which he belonged differed in nothing from that of Mars and Romulus. If the priests of the two last were eligible to foreign governments, whence arose his incapacity ? No prohibitory law was ever passed by the people : the books of religious ceremonies are silent on the subject. In particular cases, when the ministers of Jupiter were detained, either by illness or by public business, one of the pontiffs officiated in his place. After the tragical death of Cornelius Morula ' a space of no less than seventy-six years elapsed without any nomination to the office : did the interest of religion suffer in the mean time ? During that whole period the sacerdotal function was suspended without preju- dice to the established worship ; and why should not 1 The death of Cornelius Merula deserves particular no- tice. He saw Marius and Cinna in possession of Rome, and tlie most illustrious citizens bleeding in one general massacre. He abdicated his office of consul, and, opening his veins sprinkled with his blood the very altar, where, in his charac- ter of priest of Jupiter, he had frequently offered up his prayers for the peace and happiness of his country. With his last breath he poured forth his execration of Cinna, and having invoked the vengeance of the gods on that trai'tor's head, closed a life of honor and virtue. 256 TACITUS. his absence be excused during the year of his pro- consular government? That some of his predecessors had been restrained by the authority of the chief pon- titf was a fact not to be controverted ; but the re- straint in those cases was the effect of private animo- sity. At present, by the indulgence of the gods, the chief pontiff is the chief of men ; a stranger to all petty jealousies ; uninfluenced by the cabals of a party, and superior to the little motives of a private station.' LIX. Lentulus the augur, and several other sena- tors, opposed the motion. A debate ensued, with so much diversity of opinion, that the question was re- ferred to the decision of the supreme pontiff.^ Tibe- rius was not in haste to determine the point. In his letters to the senate he mentioned nothing but the honors decreed to Drusus on his elevation to the tri- bunitian power ; and those he thought good to mo- dify Avith certain restrictions. He censured, in direct terms, the resolution proposed by Silanus, and like- wise the motion of Haterius for fixing up the decrees in letters of gold ; condemning both as unconstitu- tional, and repugnant to ancient usage. Letters from Drusus were at the same time read in the senate, mo- dest in the style and turn of expression, but in the ge- neral opinion denoting pride and arrogance. 'Rome,' they said, * was reduced to an humble condition when a young man, raised to the highest dignity, declines to return thanks to the gods in their own temples ; when he disdains to honor the senate with his pre- sence, and refuses to attend the usual auspices in his 1 The emperor was not only commander-in-chief of the armies of Rome, in his character of imperator, and the sole director of all civil business, by his tribunitian power ; but he was also, as high pontiff, at the head of the religion of bis country. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 257 uative city. Was it war that detained him ? or did he dread the inconvenience of a long journey when he was only visiting- the coast of Campania, or pursuing his pleasures on the lakes ? This is the education of him who is to. be the future master of the Roman world! He is tutored in the political school of his father ! Tiberius may have his reasons for withdraw- ing himself from the public eye : the infirmities of age, and the labors of his life, aflFord a colorable pretext ; but for Drusus, what apology can be made? Pride, rank pride, is his only motive.' LX. To strengthen the foundations of his own power was the constant policy of Tiberius. Intent on that object, he still preserved the forms of the constitution, and amused the senate with a phantom of liberty. All petitions from the provinces were referred to that assembly. About this time the right of having sanc- tuaries,^ and of multiplying the number without limi- tation, was assumed by all the cities of Greece. The temples in that country were crowded by the most abaudoned slaves ; debtors screened themselves from their creditors, and criminals fled from justice. The magistrates were no longer able to control a seditious populace, who "carried their crimes, under a mask of piety, to the altar of their gods. An order was there- fore made, that the several cities should send their deputies to Rome, with a state of their respective claims. Some places, finding their pretensions brought to the test, thought proper to decline the inquiry. The rights of others were founded on traditional supersti- tion : and superstition was not willing to renounce 1 For a full account of" the origin and progress of sanctua- ries, see Grotius, De Jure Belli ac Pacis, ii. 21. See also Spanheim, De Usu Numismatum, cap. 9, TACIT. VOL. I. R 258 TACITUS. her errors. Some of the cities relied on the merit of their ancestors in the service of Rome. The business came at length to a hearing. A day more august and splendid cannot be figured to the imagination. We now behold a Roman senate sitting on the grants of the old republic ; discussing the treaties and conven- tions of confederate nations ; deliberating on the acts of kings, while kings were able to make a stand against the power of Rome ; and, above all, reviewing the va- rious systems of religion which had been for ages established in the belief of mankind. These were the important subjects ; and to give still greater dignity to the scene, the senate met, as was the practice in good times, with authority to inquire and liberty to determine. LXI. The case of the Ephesians was the first brought forward. It was stated in their behalf, that Diana and Apollo were not, as generally supposed, born in the isle of Delos, but in the Ortygian Grove, on the banks of the river Cenchris, which flows within the territories of Ephesus. In that sacred recess La- tona, taking shelter under an olive-tree, was delivered of those two deities. The tree was still to be seen in a florishing state, and the grove became a consecrated spot. It was there that Apollo, after having slain the Cyclops, found a retreat from the vengeance of Ju- piter ; it was there that Bacchus, after his victories, gave a free pardon to such of the Amazons as fled for protection to the altar ; and it was there that Her- cules, having conquered Lydia, established a temple, with rites and ceremonies, which neither the Persian kings nor the Macedonian conqueror presumed to vio- late. The Romans at all times paid the strictest re- gard to the sanctity of the place. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 259 LXII. The Magnesians were the next in order. They relied on the ordinances of Lucius Scipio,* con- firmed and ratified by Lucius Sylla ; the former victo- rious over Antiochus, and the latter over Mithridates. In the wars which were waged under their conduct, the Magnesians adhered with fidelity to the cause of Rome ; and, to reward their services, the temple of Diana Leucophryne was, by those commanders, de- clared a sanctuary. The people of Aphrodisium, and also of Stratonice, produced a decree of Cssar the dictator, and another of Augustus, commemorating the zeal with which those states withstood the Par- thian invasion, and preserved to the last their attach- ment to the interest of Rome. The Aphrodisians claimed the temple of Venus : the Stratoniceans wor- shipped Jupiter and Diana Trivia. The city of Hie- rocaesarea deduced their ceremonies from remote an- tiquity ; alleging that they had for ages adored a Per- sian Diana, in a temple consecrated by Cyrus. ^ Se- veral orders made by Perpenna, by Isauricus, and other Roman generals, were also cited ; whereby it appeared that those sanctuaries, with a precinct two miles round, were declared holy ground. The inha- bitants of Cyprus claimed three sanctuaries : the first and most ancient dedicated by yErias to the Paphian Venus ; the second by Amathus, the son of /Erias, in honor of the Amathusian Venus ; and the third to the Salaminian Jove, by Teucer, the son of Telamon, when that hero v/as obliged to fly from the rage of his father. LXIII. Several other cities appeared by their de- 1 Lucius Scipio conquered Antiochus A. U. C. 564. Mith- ridates was driven out of Asia by Lucius Sylla A. U. C. 670. '2 The Persian monarchy was founded by Cyrus A. U, C, 195 ; before the Christian era 559. 260 TACITUS. puties ; but the senate, weary of the numher, and of the party spirit with which different places weve espoused, came to a resolution to refer the whole to the consuls, and wait their report on the merits of each distinctive case. The consuls went through the inquiry. Besides the temples already mentioned, they found at Pergamos the sanctuary of ^sculapius, con- firmed by authentic proof. The titles of other places, being all deduced from ages too remote, were lost in the darkness of antiquity. In this number was the oracle of Apollo, by which it was pretended that the people of Smyrna were comm.anded to build a temple to Venus Stratonice ; and another of the same god, directing a temple and a statue to Neptune, in the isle of Tenos. The Sardians, and the people of Mile- tus, were contented with a more modern date. The former relied on the privileges granted by Alexander ; and the latter on the authority of Darius. Diana was the tutelar deity in one of those cities, and Apollo in the other. The statue of Augustus was held to be a sanctuary by the inhabitants of Crete. Several de- crees were passed, with due attention to the religious tenets of the people, yet limiting the number of sanc- tuaries. These regulations were ordered to be en- graved in brass, and fixed up in the respective tem- ples, as lasting monuments ; to ascertain the rights now established, and prevent the future claims of na- tional pride or blind superstition. LXIV. About this time a fit of illness threatened the life of Livia. Her danger was so alarming, that it occasioned the emperor's return to Rome. Hitherto the mother and son had lived on terms of mutual re- gard ; or, at worst, with hatred well disguised. Livia, not long before, had raised a statue to Augustus, near the theatre of Marcellus. In the votive inscription THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 261 her own name preceded that of the emperor. To the jealous temper of Tiberius this was an offence against the imperial dignity. His resentment however was suppressed ; and, for that reason, was thought to have sunk the deeper. The senate proceeded to order sup- plications for the recovery of Livia, with solemn games on the occasion ; in which the pontifis, the augurs, the college of fifteen, with tliat of the semptemvirs, and the sodality of Augustan priests, were to conduct the ceremonies. Lucius Apronius moved that the heralds at arms should likewise officiate. Tiberius opposed the motion. It proceeded, he said, on a mistaken principle. He mentioned the distinct functions of the several orders of the priesthood ; and made it clear, from ancient precedents, that the heralds had never been admitted to that participation of honor. The fraternity of Augustan priests was called forth with good reason, since that order belonged, in a peculiar manner, to the family, for which public vows were to be oifered. LXV. To give, in detail, the several motions and resolutions of the time, is not within the plan of this work. And yet, when virtue and fair integrity do honor to the heart, or when a slavish spirit brands the character, in either case, it is my intention to select the particular instances. In this, I apprehend, con- sists the chief part of the historian's duty. It is his jto rejudge the conduct of men, that generous actions may be snatched from oblivion, and that the author of pernicious counsels, and the perpetrator of evil deeds, may see, beforehand, the infamy that awaits them at the tribunal of posterity. In general, a black and shameful period lies before me. The age was sunk to the lowest depth of sordid adulation ; insomuch that not only the most illustrious citizens, in order to secure 262 TACITUS. their pre-eminence, were obliged to crouch and bend the knee, but men of consular and pretorian rank, and the whole body of the senate, tried with emulation which should be the most obsequious slave. We are informed by tradition that Tiberius, as often as he went from the senate house, was used to say in Greek, ' Devoted men ! how they rush headlong into bond- age!' Even he, the enemy of civil liberty, was dis- gusted with adulation : he played the tyrant, and despised the voluntary slave. LXVI. From acts of base compliance, the next step of degenerate men was to deeds of horror. Caius Silanus, proconsul of Asia, was accused of rapine and extortion by the people of the province. The conduct of the cause was undertaken by Mamercus Scaurus, of consular rank ; by Junius Otho, at that time pretor ; and Brutidius Niger, one of the jediles. The complaint was aggravated by an additional charge of irreverence to the divinity of Augustus, and the disaffection of Tiberius. Mamercus affected to grace himself by citing the bright examples of a former day :' Scipio Africanus, he observed, prosecuted Lu- cius Cotta ; Cato the Censor appeared against Ser- vius Galba, and Marcus Scaurus against Publius Ru- tilius ; as if those great and excellent men had insti- tuted prosecutions for constructive crimes like the present ; as if Scaurus, the grandfather of the prose- cutor, had descended to so vile an office. It was re- served for Mamercus to degenerate into an informer, and tarnish the lustre of his ancestors. Junius Otho, another prosecutor, had been by profession the teacher of a school. Raised from that obscurity by the pa- 1 Scipio Africanus accused Lucius Cotta A. U. C. 622. Cotta was acquitted, lest the weight and dignity of the prosecutor should be thought to influence the judges. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 263 tronage of Sejanus, he obtained a seat in the senate, and hoped by flagitious deeds to eftace the meanness of his origin. Brutidius was a different character. Adorned with liberal accomplishments, and formed for great things, he was sure of reaching the first ho- nors of the state, had he been willing to walk in the paths of virtue. His impatience ruined him. Eager to outstrip his equals, and then to rise over his supe- riors, he enlarged his views, and began to soar above his mo3t flattering hopes : but his ambition led him to the precipice from which good men have often fallen, when, not content with slow but sure success, they have hurried on with too much ardor, and ended their career in ruin. LXVII. Gellius Poplicola, who had been quaestor to Silanus, and Marcus Paconius, his lieutenant, listed on the side of the prosecution. Silanus, beyond all doubt, was guilty both of rapine and oppression ; but in his case a number of circumstances, dangerous even to innocence, conspired against him. Besides the per- sons already mentioned, the most able orators of Asia, men who were chosen on account of their eloquence, united their strength. Against that powerful combi- nation Silanus stood alone ; obliged, without any powers of oratory, to make his own defence with fear and trembling ; a situation that might disarm the noblest talents. Tiberius helped to increase his diffi- culties. With a stern tone of voice, and a contracted brow, he pressed the defendant with sudden questions, never sufl"ering him to pause a moment, either to repel or elude the charge. Silanus was obliged to admit several points rather than seem to refute or baffle the inquiry of the emperor. His very slaves, to make them competent witnesses, were sold by auction to the public officer ; and, to make destruction sure, 264 TACITUS. Tiberius added the crime of violated majesty, that none of the prisoner's family or friends might presume to assist in the defence. Silanus desired an adjourn- ment of a few days. In that interval, abandoning all his hopes, he sent a memorial to Tiberius, in a style sufficiently humble, but still with the spirit of a man who felt himself oppressed, and dared to speak the language of reproach. LXVIII. Tiberius remained inflexible : but, to give the color of precedent to his final sentence, he ordered the proceeding against Volesus Messala * (who had also been proconsul of Asia), with the record of Au- gustus, and the decree made on that occasion, to be read. He then collected the votes, beginning with Lucius Piso. That senator, after some florishes in praise of the emperor's clemency, concluded that Si- lanus should be interdicted from fire and water, and banished to the isle of Gyarus. The fathers con- curred in the same opinion, when Cneius Lentulus proposed, by way of mitigation, that the estate which descended to Silanus from his mother should not be included in the general forfeiture, but vested in the grandson. Tiberius agreed to the amendment. The business seemed to be at an end, when Cornelius Dolabella rose to show that his servile spirit had not deserted him. He launched out into a sharp invective against the morals of Silanus ; grafting on it a motion, that no man of dissolute manners should be eligible to the government of provinces ; and of this incapacity the emperor should be the sole judge. When a crime is committed, ' the law takes cognisance of it, and 1 He was, in the time of Augustus, proconsul of Asia; a man of inordinate pride, and a cruel disposition. It is said tliat three hundred men were put to death by his order in one day. Seneca, de Ira, ii. 5. THE ANNALS. — BOOK HI. 265 inflicts the punishment. But a law to prevent the offence would be at once an act of mercy to bad men, and a blessing- to the provinces.' LXIX. Tiberius spoke in reply: * To the reports/ he said, ' which were current to the disadvantage of Silanus, he was no stranger. But laws ought to have a better foundation than public rumor. The governors of provinces had often disappointed the hopes, and sometimes the fears, of mankind. By important scenes of action the powers of the mind are roused ; the heart expands to meet the occasion ; Avhile, on the other hand, feeble spirits shrink from a great oppor- tunity, and grow less by elevation. The prince can never be fully informed ; and it is not fit that he should see with the eyes of others. The arts of ambitious rivals may deceive him. In human aft'airs nothing can be foreseen with certainty, and without facts, laws can have no operation. Till men have acted, they cannot be judged. It was the wisdom of our ancestors to keep the sword of justice in the scabbard till actual offences drew it forth. In a system so just in itself, and so long established, innovations ouglit not to be rashly made. The cares of government are a burden to the sovereign, and his prerogative wants no enlarge- ment. Extend his authority, and you abridge the rights of the subject. When the laws in being are sufficient, there is no occasion to resort to the will of the prince.' This was, no doubt, a constitutional speech. From a man little studious of popularity, it was received with universal approbation. Tiberius did not stop here : when his own private resentment was not pro- voked, he knew that moderation was the best policy ; with that view he thought proper to add, that Gyarus was a dreary island, uncultivated, and inhospitable. 266 TACITUS. In honor therefore of the Julian family, and from motives of lenity to a man who M^as a member of the senate, he proposed to change the place of banishment to the isle of Cythera : ' and this,' he said, * was the request of Torquata, sister to Silanus, and a vestal virgin of distinguished sanctity/ The . fathers com- plied, and a decree was passed accordingly. LXX. The Cyrenians presented a charge of rapine against Csesius Cordus. Ancharius Priscus conducted the prosecution, and sentence of condemnation was pronounced. Lucius Ennius, a Roman knight, who had melted down a silver statue of the emperor, and converted it to domestic uses, was accused on the law of majesty. Tiberius stopped the proceedings. Against this act of lenity Ateius Capito protested openly ; contending, with an air of ancient liberty, that ' the right of the senate to hear and determine ought not to be retrenched ; especially when a crime of that magnitude called for vindictive justice. The prince, in his own case, might be slow to resent : but let him not be generous at the expense of the public' This language, blunt as it was, gave no offence to Tiberius : he saw the drift of the speech, and, disregarding the tone w ith which it was uttered, persisted in his reso- lution. Capito brought disgrace on his name. Ac- complished as he was in the science of laws both human and divine, he possessed, besides, a number of virtues that adorned his private character ; but by this act of servile flattery he sullied the lustre of a dis- tinguished name. LXXI. A question that concerned a point of religion was the next subject of debate. The Roman knights had vowed a statue, for the recovery of Livia, to For- tune the Equestrian. In what temple this should be placed was the doubt. At Rome there were various THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 267 structures sacred to the goddess, but none under that specific title. On inquiry, it was found that there was at Antium ^ a temple with that particular denomina- tion ; and it being considered that the whole system of rites and ceremonies, and the several temples and images of the gods throughout Italy, were subject to the supreme authority of Rome, it was resolved that the votive present should be placed at Antium. This being a point of religious ceremony, Tiberius took the opportunity to determine the question, which had been for some time in suspense, concerning Servius Maluginensis, the priest of Jupiter. He produced and read a decree of the pontifical college, whereby it appeared that the priest of Jupiter, when his health required it, or when he obtained a dispensation from the supreme pontiif, might absent himself from the duties of his function two nights at most, provided it was not during the public ceremonies, nor more than twice in the course of the year. From this regulation, made by Augustus, it was evident that a year's ab- sence, and of course a proconsular government, was incompatible with the sacerdotal function. The au- thority of Lucius Metellus,^ who, when high pontiff, would not suffer Aulus Posthumius, a priest of Ju- piter, to depart from Rome, was also cited. It fol- lowed, that the province of Asia could not be granted to Maluginensis. It fell to the lot of the person of consular rank who stood next in seniority. LXXII. During these transactions, Marcus Lepidus petitioned the senate for leave to repair and decorate, 1 There had been at Rome a temple of the Equestrian Fortune, built by Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, in memory of a signal victory obtained by him in Spain. 2 The objection made by Metellus was debated with great warmth in the senate, and also before the people. '268 TACITUS. at his own expense, the basilick of Paulus/ that noble monument of the ^railian family. The display of private munificence in public works, which embellished the city, was not yet fallen into disuse. In the reign of Augustus, without any objection from that em- peror, Taurus, Philippus, and Balbus, with the spoils which they had taken from the enemy, or with the superfluity of their own immoderate wealth, added greatly to the ornament of Rome, and, by conse- quence, to the honor of their families. Encouraged by this example, but with a fortune much inferior, Lepidus revived the glory of his ancestors. The theatre of Pompey had been destroyed by fire ; and the remaining branches of the family not being equal to the expense of so great a structure, Tiberius de- clared his intention to build a new edifice, with the original name. He congratulated the senate, that the damage occasioned by the fire was confined to that single building. * For this,' he said, ' they were obliged to the vigilance of Sejanus.' The senate de- creed a statue - to be placed in the theatre of Pompey, in honor of the favorite. In a short time afterwards, when triumphal ornaments were granted to Junius Bleesus, the proconsul of Africa, Tiberius made no scruple to declare, that his motive for bestowing that high reward was to pay a compliment to Sejanus, as the proconsul was his uncle. LXXIII. Blagsus, however, had fairly earned his honors. Tacfarinas, often repulsed, was never defeated. He found resources in the interior parts of A.frica, and 1 It was built by yEmilius Paulus, who was consul A. U. C. 704. Cicero calls it a glorious structure. ^ Seneca says, with indignation, WLo could bear to see the statue of Sejanus placed over the ashes of Pompey'? a base perfidious soldier among the monuments of a great com- mander 1 THE ANNALS. — BOOK 111. 389 returned to the conflict with new vigor. He had at length the arrogance to send an embassy to Tiberius, demanding lands for himself and his army, or nothing should make an end of the war. Tiberius, it is said, was on no occasion so little master of himself. ' It was an insult to the imperial majesty, and the Roman name. Shall a deserter, a wandering vagabond, pre- sume to treat on equal terms ? Even Spartacus,* though he had defeated consular armies, and spread desolation with sword and fire through the realms of Italy, was not allowed to negociate terms of peace, though the commonwealth, at that time, was well nigh exhausted by Sertorius, and the Mithridatic war. Even then, no compromise w^as admitted ; the dignity of the state was saved. And shall a florishing empire descend so low as to compound with Tacfarinas, and, by granting lands, become the purchaser of peace at the hands of a freebooter and a robber V Stung by these reflections, Tiberius ordered Bltesus to seduce the followers of Tacfarinas, by promises of,a free pardon to all who should lay down their arms ; but as to their chief, he must strain every nerve to secure the person of that daring adventurer. LXXIV. The promised amnesty reduced the num- bers of the enemy ; and Blsesus, adopting a new mode of war, turned the arts of the wily Numidian against himself. Unequal to the legions in a pitched battle, Tacfarinas depended altogether on the rapidity of his motions : he divided his men into small parties ; he showed himself in sudden incursions, fled before a^ regular force, and knew where to lie in ambush. The 1 Spartacus kindled up the servile war in Italy A. U. C. 681. He gained two important victories. Being defeated in a battle with Licinius Crassus, he died bravely sword in hand. See the account in Florus, iii. 20. 270 TACITUS. Romans accordingly marched in three columns, by as many diiferent routes. In the quarter where the Afri- cans ravaged the country near Leptis, and then fled for shelter to the Garamantes, Cornelius Scipio, the proconsul's lieutenant, advanced with his division. In another quarter, where Cirta lay exposed to the bar- barians, the younger Blaesus, the proconsul's son, com- manded a second detachment. In the intermediate part of the country, the commander-in-chief marched at the head of a chosen body of troops. At all con- venient places he threw up intrenchments, and ap- pointed garrisons, securing every station by a regular chain of posts. The barbarians found themselves counteracted on every side. Wherever they turned, the Romans were at hand, in front, in flank, and in the rear. Numbers were surrounded, and either put to the sword, or taken prisoners. To spread the alarm, the Roman army was again subdivided into smaller parties, under the com- mand of centurions of approved valor and experience. Nor was the campaign closed, as usual, at the end of the summer. Instead of retiring to winter-quarters in the old provinces, Blsesus kept the field ; he increased the number of his posts and garrisons, and sent out detachments, lightly armed, with guides acquainted with the course of the country. Tacfarinas could no longer stand at bay. He shifted his huts,' and wandered from place to place. At length his brother was taken prisoner, and Bleesus thought it time to close the cam- paign. His retreat was sudden and premature. The province was still open to incursions ; and the flame of war, though suppressed, was not extinguished. Ti- 1 Sallust says, the Numidian huts, called mapalia by the natives, were of an oblong form, with a curve on each side, somewhat resembling a ship. De Bell. Jugurth. ^ 18. THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 271 berius, however, considered the enemy as completely vanquished. Besides the honors already granted to Blaesus, he ordered that the legions should salute him by the title of Iniperator, according to the ancient custom of the Roman armies, in the pride of victory flushed with the generous ardor of warlike spirits. In the time of the republic this was a frequent custom, insomuch that several, at the same time, without pre- eminence or distinction, enjoyed that military honor. It was often allowed by Augustus, and now by Tibe- rius, for the last time. With him the practice ceased altogether.^ LXXV. Rome, in the course of this year, lost two illustrious citizens ; the first was Asinius Salouinus, grandson both to Marcus Agrippa and Asinius Pollio, half-brother to Drusus, and, besides, the intended husband of the emperor's grand-daughter. The second was Ateius Capito, already mentioned ; a man for his abil-ties and his knowlege of the laws, of the first eminence in the state. From his birth he derived no advantage. His grandfather was a centurion under Sylla : his father rose to the rank of pretor. Capito was, with rap4d speed, advanced by Augustus to the consular dignity, and by that promotion placed above his competitor, Antistius Labeo, who had grown into celebrity by his talents and his skill in jurisprudence. It was the peculiar felicity of that age to see florishing together those two illustrious rivals, who, in peaceable times, were the ornaments of their country. The fame of Labeo ^ rose on the surest foundation ; he was a 1 When titles of honor were suppressed, the incentives of ralor were extinguished, and military glory faded away. 2 Antistius Labeo is mentioned with honor in several pas- saa:es of the Digest. He was one of those men, whose singu- larities are forgiven on account of their talents and their vir- tues. His father, an ardent and zealous republican, resolved, 272 TACITUS. strenuous asserter of civil liberty, and for that reason the favorite of the people. Capito knew his approaches to the great, and by his flexibility became a favorite at the court of Augustus. Labeo was not suflFered to rise above the pretorian rank ; but that act of in- justice raised his popularity : while, on the other hand, Capito obtained the consulship, and with it the public hatred. LXXVI. In this year also, the sixty-fourth ^ from after the battle of Philippi, not to survive the loss of public liberty. He was despatched by his own command, by one of his domestics, whom be enfranchised that he might not die by the hand of a slave. Appian, iv. The son adopted the prin- ciples of his father. He thought, spoke, and acted, on all occasions, with a republican spirit. Augustus knew his cha- racter, and yet respected bim. We are told by Pomponius, the civilian, that the consulship for part of the year was of- fered to him and rejected. It is probable, that perceiving the state-craft, by which the consular authority was abridged, and, by consequence, impaired, Labeo disdained to be the time-serving consul of the court. Aulus Gellius has pre- served a fragment of a letter, in which Capito says of bis rival, that he was a man almost frantic with the love of liberty. The favorite at the court of Augustus might natu- rally enough pronounce that judgment. And yet we find that the obsequious Capito could, in the reign of Tiberius, imi- tate the blunt freedom of his rival. Being told that a word coined by Tiberius in one of his speeches was legitimate Latin, or, if it was not, that it would soon become so : ' That,' said Capito, ' is false ; for you, Cffisar, can give the freedom of the city to men, but not to words.' 1 Junia was the daughter of Decimus Junius Silanus by Servilia, the sister of Cato of Utica. Servilia was first mar- ried to M. Junius Brutus, and by him was the mother of Bru- tus, who stabbed Julius Ca?sar. Junia was of course niece to Cato, and half-sister to Brutus. She married Cassius the friend of Brutus ; and thus descended, and thus allied, the sister of one conspirator against Cajsar, and tlie widow of another, she lived unmolested, in the full enjoyment of wealth and honor, to an extreme old age. The battle of Philippi was fought A. U. C. 712. From that time to the year of Rome 775, a period of sixty-three years complete, Junia possessed splendid riches, and was buried at last with all the honors of THE ANNALS. — BOOK III. 273 the battle of Pliilippi, Junia, niece to Cato, sister of Brutus, and the widow of Cassius, paid her debt to nature. Her will engrossed the public conversation. Possessed of immoderate riches, she left marks of her regard to almost all the eminent men at Rome, without mention of Tiberius. The omission gave no umbrage to the emperor. He considered it as the exercise of a civil right, and not only suffered her funeral panegyric to be spoken from the rostrum, but allowed the last ceremonies to be performed with the usual pomp and magnificence. In the procession were seen the images of the most illustrious families, in number not less than twenty ; the Manlii, the Quintii, and others of equal rank. Those of Brutus and Cassius were not displayed ; but for that reason they were present to every imagination, and with superior lustre eclipsed the splendor of that day. a public funeral. The moderation of Augustus protected her, and the cruelty of Tiberius was not yet unchained. TACIT. VOL. I. 274 TACITUS. BOOK IV. Section I. The consuls for the year on which we are now entering- were Cains Asinius and Caius An- tistius. Tiberius had reigned nine years. During that time a state of profound tranquillity prevailed at Rome, and the emperor saw the imperial family fiorishing with undiminished lustre. The loss of Germanicus gave him no regret : on the contrary, he reckoned that event among the prosperous issues of his reign. But fortune now began to change the scene, and a train of disasters followed. Tiberius threw off the mask : he harassed the people by acts of cruelty, or, which was equally oppressive, by his authority encouraged the tyranny of others. Of this revolution ^lius Sejanus, commander of the pretorian guards, was the prime and efficient cause. The power and influence of that minister have been already mentioned. I shall here give the origin of the man, the features of his cha- racter, and the flagitious arts by which he aspired to the supreme power. He was born at Vulsinii, the son of Seius Strabo,' a Roman knight. He attached himself in his early youth to Caius Cfesar, the grandson of Augustus. Even at that time he labored under great suspi- cion of indulging in infamous passions. By various arts he afterwards gained an intire ascendant over 1 Velleius Paterculus the historian, who lackeyed at the feet of Sejanus, says that the father was the cliief of the Rom?n knights. INothing more is known of him- 2 There were three famous epicures of the name of Api- cius : one mentioned by Athenstus ; a second in the time of Augustus and Tiberius ; and a third, in the reigu of Trajan. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 275 the affections of Tiberius, insomuch that the temper of that prince, to the rest of mankind dark and in- scrutable, became to him alone unclouded, free, and complying. This influence, however, was not the effect of superior ability ; since Sejanus, in the end, fell a victim to the policy of that very prince whom he de- ceived at first. A phenomenon so very extraordinary can be ascribed to nothing less than the wrath of the gods, incensed against the Roman state. Whether the public suffered most by the elevation ^ or the down- fal of that pernicious minister, it is difficult to de- termine. His frame of body was vigorous, robust, and patient of labor ; his spirit bold and enterprising : in his own conduct a profound dissembler, and to others a sharp and dangerous accuser. With pride that swelled to arrogance, he h^d the meanness that could fawn and flatter ; and, under the outward calm The second is the person here intended. Seneca says of him : In that city, from which the teachers of philosophy were banished, this man, professing the science of the kitchen, corrupted the manners of the age by his skill in cookery. Finding himself, after a long course of profusion and glut- tony, much involved in debt, and, after satisfying all demands, not worth more than what may be called 100,000/., he finished his days by a dose of poison. Seneca De Consolatione. For the sake of an anecdote, perhaps little known, it may be pro- per to mention, there is extant, in the Latin language, a book, importing to be Apicius' Art of Cookery. I-a Bletterie relates as a certain fact, that Madame Dacier and her husband were almost killed by this book. They found in it a receipt for a particular ragout, and being both inclined to dine classi- cally, they were almost poisoned by their learned bill of fare. 1 The pernicious consequences which attended the rise of Sejanus will be seen in the sequel. His ruin was equally the cause of public calamity ; since Tacitus tells us that Ti- berius, while he loved or feared this favorite minister, re- strained his passions, but afterwards broke out with un- bounded fury. Annals, vi. 51. 276 TACITUS. bounded ambition. Profusion, luxury, and largesses were often his means, but more frequently application to business, and indefatigable industry; virtues that take the name of vice when they play an under part to inordinate passions and the lust of domination.' II. The commission over the pretorian bands had been always of a limited nature. Sejanus enlarged his powers to a degree unknown before. He had the address to collect into one camp the whole corps of the guards, till that time quartered in various parts of Rome. Being embodied, they received their orders with submission ; habit and constant intercourse esta- blished a spirit of union, and, knowing their numbers, they grew formidable to their fellow-citizens. The pretext for this measure was, that the soldiery grew wanton in idleness, but when encamped they might be drawn forth, with better effect, in any sudden emergency, and, being confined within their intrench- ments, at a distance from the vices of the metropolis, they would act with greater vigor whenever required. This plan being settled, Sejanus began his approaches to the affections of the soldiers : by affability and caresses he glided into favor ; he appointed the tri- bunes and centurions ; he endeavored to seduce the senators by corruption ; he promoted his creatures, and, at his pleasure, bestowed honors and provinces. All this was done, not only with the consent, but with the most complying facility on the part of Tiberius, who now declared openly in favor of the minister, styling him, in private conversation, his associate in the cares of government, and using the same language 1 Assumed and well-acted virtues are often more danger- ous than the worst vices. Addison's Cato says of Julius Caesar : Curse on his virtues ! they've undone his country ! THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 277 even to the senate. Nor did he stop here : he allowed the image of his favorite to be worshipped in the theatre, in the forum, and, at the head-quarters of the legions, in the place appropriated for the standards and the eagles. III. As yet, however, the imperial family was in a florishing state. To secure the succession there was no want of Caesars. The emperor's son ' was in the prime of manhood, and his grandsons in the flower of youth. These were obstacles to the views of Sejanus. To assail them with open force were big with danger ; and fraud requires delay and intervals of guilt. He resolved to work by stratagem. Drusus, against whom Sejanus was inflamed by recent provocations, was marked out as the first victim. It happened that Drusus, impatient of a rival, and by nature fierce, raised his hand, in some sudden dispute, against Se- janus ; and that haughty minister, advancing forward, received a blow on the face. Stung with indignation, he thought no expedient so sure as the gaining of the younger Livia,^ the wife of Drusus, to his interest. The princess was sister to Germanicus ; and tliough, in her younger days she had no elegance either of shape or feature, she was now grown up in the most perfect form of regular beauty. Sejanus made his ad- vances with the ardor of a lover. Having triumphed over her honor, he found another step in guilt no difii- cult matter. A woman who has sacrificed her virtue soon resigns every other principle. Engaged in a course of adultery, she was led by degrees to the project of murdering her husband, in order to marry 1 Drusus, and the three sons of Germanicus ; Nero, Dru- sus, and Caligula. 2 She was sister to Germanicus. 278 TACITUS. her paramour, and mount with him to the imperial dignity. In this manner a woman of illustrious rank, the niece of Augustus, the daughter-in-law of Tiberius, and the mother of children by Drusus, disgraced her- self, her ancestors, and her posterity, by a vile con- nexion with an adulterer from a municipal town, re- nouncing the honors which she possessed for the un- certain prospect of flagitious grandeur. Eudemus,* the confidential friend and physician of the faithless wife, was drawn into the conspiracy. Under color of his profession, this man had easy access to Livia. Sejanus listed him into his service ; and that the har- mony between himself and the adultress might be un- disturbed by jealousy, he repudiated his wife Apicata, by whom he had three children. But still the magni- tude of the crime filled their minds with terror ; they fluctuated between opposite counsels ; they resolved, they hesitated ; delay and doubt and confusion fol- lowed. IV. In the beginning of this year Drusus, the se- cond son of Germanicus, put on the manly robe." The honors which had been decreed to his brother Nero were renewed by a vote of the fathers. Tibe- rius, in a speech on the occasion, commended the teaider regard with which his son protected the children of Germanicus. The truth is, Drusus (though in high stations and among rivals sincerity is seldom found) had acquitted himself towards his nephews with all decent attention, at least without hostility. Amidst these transactions, the old project of visiting the pro- 1 Pliny the elder gives a dark picture of the physicians of his time. They had their opportunities to administer poison, to make wills, and manage intrigues. 2 He was then fourteen years of age. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 279 vinces, often intimated, but never in earnest, was re- vived by Tiberius. For this expedition the ostensible reasons were, the number of veterans intitled to their dismission from the service, and the necessity of re- cruiting the army with eifective men. Of such as voluntarily offered, the number he said was small, and even of those the greatest part were a set of distressed and profligate vagabonds, destitute of courage, and strangers to military discipline. He added a list of the Roman legions, specifying the provinces where they were stationed. A review of that estimate will not be useless, or unacceptable, since it will exhibit the na- tional strength at that period, the kings in alliance with Rome, and the narrow limits ' of the empire, compared with the extent to which they have been since enlarged. V. In the seas that on each side wash the coast of Italy two fleets were stationed ; one at Misenum, the other at Ravenna. The maritime parts of Gaul adja- cent to Italy were guarded by the large galleys which were taken at the battle of Actium, and sent by Au- gustus to Forojulium, well provided with able seamen. But the chief strength of the empire was on the Rhine, - consisting of eight legions, to bridle at once the Ger- mans and the Gauls. Spain, lately subdued, was held in subjection by the three legions. Juba^ reigned in 1 In the time of Tiberius Syene, a city strongly garrisoned at the farther extremity of Egypt, was the boundary of the Roman empire. Trajan enlarged the limits as far as the Red Sea. See i. 11, and ii. 61. t In Upper and Lower Germany, according to the plan of Augustus. See the Manners of the Germans, § 1. 3 Juba's father was king of Xumidia. He attached himself to Pompey's party, and took a decided part against Julius Caesar. Even after the death of Pompey, he stood at bay with Caesar, and at length received a total overtlirow in the battle of Thapsa. Determined however not to fall into Cae- 280 TACITUS. Mauritania, deriving his title from the favor of Rome. The rest of Africa was kept in awe by two legions. A like number served in Egypt. In that vast extent of country, which stretches from Syria to the Euphrates, bordering on the confines of Iberia, Albania, and other states under the protection of the Roman arms, four legions maintained the rights of the empire. Thrace was governed by Rhoemetalces and the sons of Cotys. The banks of the Danube were secured by four legions, two in Pannonia, and two in Moesia. Two more were stationed in Dalmatia, in a situation, if a war broke out at their back, to support the other legions ; or, if a sudden emergency required their presence, ready to advance by rapid marches into Italy. Rome at the same time had her own peculiar forces, namely, three city cohorts * and nine of the pretorian bands, raised for the most part in Etruria, Umbria,- ancient Latium, and the colonies of the old republic. To this national strength must be added the naval armaments of the allies, placed at proper stations,^ together with the in- fantry and cavalry ; forming, in the whole, a body of troops not inferior in number to the Roman army. sar's hands, he retired with Petreius, his fellow-suflFerer, and, at the close of a banquet, fell a voluntary victim by the hand of a friend. His son Juba was led to Rome to walk in Cse- sar's triumph. He was educated at the court of Augustus, and distinguished himself by his talents and his literature. Augustus gave him in marriage the young Cleopatra, daugh- ter of the famous Cleopatra, by Marc Antony, and sent him (Numidia being then a Roman province) to reign in Mauri- tania. A. U. C. 724. 1 We are told by Dio, lib. Iv., that the establishment under Augustus was ten thousand pretorians, divided into ten co- horts, and six thousand in the city cohorts. The number therefore was reduced by Tiberius. 9, For Etruria, Umbria, and ancient Latium, see the Geo- graphical Table. 3 Besides their fleets for the sea service, the Romans had always proper armaments on the Rhine and the Danube. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 281 But of the foreign auxiliaries it is impossible to speak with precision. They were shifted from place to place, with numbers now augmented, and now reduced, as occasion required ; and, consequently, an accurate esti- mate cannot be expected. VI. To this survey of the empire if we add a view of the constitution, and the manner in which the govern- ment was administered by Tiberius, from the begin- ning of his reign to the present year, the fatal era of tyranny and oppression, the inquiry will not be foreign to our purpose. In the first place, not only the affairs of state, but all questions of importance between the citizens of Rome, were referred to the wisdom of the senate. The leading members of that assembly claimed and exercised full freedom of debate ; and when they deviated into flattery, the prince was sure to reject the nauseous strain. In dispensing the honors of govern- ment, he had an eye to nobility of birth, to personal merit, and to talents as well civil as military. His choice, it was generally agreed, was made with judg- ment. The consuls and the pretors enjoyed the ancient honors of their rank and dignity. The subordinate magistrates exercised their functions without control. The laws, if we except those of violated majesty,' flowed in their regular channel. The tributes and duties, whether of corn or money, were managed by 1 The vile abuse of the law of violated majesty has been mentioned, iii. 38. The first men in Rome were vic- tims to it. In Shakspeare's language : * it was a net to en- mesh them all.' It will not be amiss to remark, that if we except, as Tacitus does, that single grievance, the descrip- tion of tlie first nine years of Tiberius is a more just and bet- ter founded panegyric than can be found in the glittering page of Velleius Paterculus, or any other professed encomiast. And yet this is tlie historian whom certain critics have called a painter in dark colors, who loves to represent men worso than they are ! 282 TACITUS. commissioners chosen from the Roman. knights. The revenues appropriated to the prince were conducted by men of distinguished probity, and frequently by such as were known to Tiberius by their character only. Being once appointed, they were never re- moved. Several, it is well known, grew grey in the same employment. The people, it is true, often com- plained of the price of corn ; but the grievance was not imputable to the emperor. To prevent the conse- quences of unproductive seasons, or losses at sea, he spared neither money nor attention. In the provinces no new burdens were imposed, and the old duties were collected without cruelty or extortion . Corporal punish- ment was never inflicted, and confiscation of men's effects was a thing unknown. VII. In Italy the land property of the emperor was inconsiderable. Good order prevailed among his slaves. His freedmen were few, and his household was managed with economy. In all questions of right between the emperor and individuals the courts of justice were open, and the law decided. And yet to this equitable system he did not know how to add a gracious manner: the austerity of his countenance struck men with terror. He continued, however, in the practice of rigid, though not amiable, manners, till the death of Drusus.^ While that prince survived Sejanus thought it prudent to advance by slow degrees. He dreaded the resentment of a young man, who did not seek to disguise his pas- sions, but complained aloud, ' that the emperor, though he had a son to succeed him, preferred a stranger to a share in the administration. How little was that up- start minister removed from being a colleague in the 1 Drusus the son of Tiberius, cut off by Sejanus, as will be seen in the sequel. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 283 empire! The road of ambition is at first a steep ascent ; but the difficulty once surmounted, the passions of de- signing- men list in the enterprise, and tools and agents are ready at hand. The favorite is already master of a camp, and the soldiers wait his nod. Among the monuments of Pompey we behold his statue : the grand- children of this new man will be allied in blood to the family of Drusus.' What remains, but humbly to hope that he will have the modesty to stop in his career, content with what he has already gained ?' Such was the discourse of Drusus, not occasional but constant ; not in private circles, but at large, and without re- serve. His inmost secrets were also known : his wife had forfeited her honor, and was now a spy on her husband. VIII. In this posture of affairs Sejanus thought he had no time to lose. He chose a poison, which, operating as a slow corrosive, might bring on the symptoms of a natural disorder. Lygdus, the eunuch (as was discovered eight years afterwards), adminis- tered the draught. While Drusus lay ill, Tiberius, never seeming to be in any degree alarmed, or, it may be, willing to make a display of magnanimity, went as usual to the senate. Even after the prince expired, and before the funeral ceremony was performed, he entered the assembly of the fathers. Perceiving the consuls, with dejected looks, seated on the ordinary benches, like men who mourned for the public loss, he put them in mind of their dignity and their proper station. The senate melted into tears : but Tiberius, superior to the weakness of nature, delivered an ani- 1 The statue of Sejanus was placed in Pompey 's theatre. See iii. 72. His daughter was also to be married to Drusus, the son of Claudius, afterwards emperor. 284 TACITUS. mated speech, in a flowing style, and a tone of firm- ness. ' He was not,' he said, ' to be informed that his appearance might be thought unseasonable in the mo- ment of recent affliction, when, according to the gene- ral custom, the mind, enfeebled with sorrow, can scarce endure the consolation of friends, and almost loathes the light of the sun. Those tender emotions were the condition of humanity, and therefore not to be con- demned. For his part lie sought a manly remedy ; in the embraces of the commonwealth, and in the bosom of the fathers, he came to lay down his sorrows. He lamented the condition of his mother, drooping under the infirmities of age, the tender years of his grandsons, and his own situation now in the decline of life. The children of Germanicus, in the present dis- tress, were the only remaining hopes of the people. He desired that they might be brought before the fathers.^ The consuls went forth to meet the princes. Having prepared their tender minds for so august a scene, they presented them to the emperor. Tiberius, taking them by the hand, addressed the senate: ' These orphans, conscript fathers, I delivered into the care of their uncle; and, though he was blessed with issue, I de- sired that he would cherish them as his own, and train them up in a manner worthy of himself and of poste- rity. But Drusus is no more. I now turn to you, and, in the presence of the gods, in the hearing of my coun- try, I implore you, take under your protection the great-grandchildren of Augustus ; adopt the issue of an illustrious line ; support them, raise them, mould them at your pleasure for the good of the state ; per- form at once my duty and your own. As for you, Nero, and you, Drusus, in this assembly you behold your fathers : born as you are in the highest station, THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 285 your lot is such, that nothing good or evil can befall you, without affecting, at the same time, the interest of the commonwealth.* IX. This speech drew tears from the whole assem- bly : vows and supplications followed. Had Tiberius known where to stop, instead of adding what exceeded the bounds of probability, every heart would have been touched with sympathy, and every mind impressed with the glory of the prince. But by recurring to the stale and chimerical project, so often heard with derision, the project of abdicating the sovereignty, and resign- ing the reins of government to the consuls, or any other person willing to undertake the task, he weak- ened the force of sentiments in themselves just and honorable. The solemnities which had been decreed to the memory of Germanicus were renewed in honor of Drusus, Avith considerable additions, agreeable to the genius of flattery, always studious of novelty. The funeral ceremony was distinguished by a long train of illustrious images. In the procession were seen ^,neas, the father of the Julian race ; the Alban kings ; Romu- lus, the founder of Rome ; the Sabine nobility, with Attus Clausus at their head, and from him the whole line of the Claudian family. X. In this account of the death of Drusus, the best and most authentic historians have been my guides. A report, however, which gained credit at the time, and has not yet died away, ought not to be omitted. It was currently said that Sejanus, having gained the person and heart of Livia, proceeded to draw Lyg- dus the eunuch to his interest, who was one of the domestic attendants of Drusus, and, for his youth and the graces of his person, high in favor with his master. The time and place for administering the poison being settled by the conspirators, Sejanus 286 TACITUS. had the hardihood to change his plan. He contrived, by secret insinuations, to charge Drusus with a plot against his father's life, and dared to whisper a caution to Tiberius not to taste the first cup that should be offered to him at his son's table. Deceived by this stroke of perfidy, the old man received the cup and presented it to his son. The prince, with the frank- ness and gaiety of yovith, drank it off: but that alacrity served only to confirm the suspicions entertained by the emperor. His conclusion was, that Drusus, over- whelmed with fear and shame, was in haste to give himself the death which he had prepared for his father. XI. A report of this kind, current among the popu- lace, but unsupported by any good authority, cannot stand the test of examination. What man of plain common sense, not to speak of a consummate states- man like Tiberius, would present inevitable death to his only son without so much as hearing him, and thus precipitately commit a fatal deed, never to be recalled? Would it not have been more natural to put the cup- bearer to the torture ? Why not inquire who mixed the liquor? Above all, is it probable that Tiberius, ever slow and indecisive, would at once forget the habits of his nature, and, in the case of an only son, a son too never charged with any crime, act with a de- gree of rashness which he had never practised to the remotest stranger? The truth is, Sejanus was known to be capable of every species of villany, however atrocious : the partiality of the emperor increased the number of his enemies ; and, both the sovereign and the favorite being objects of public detestation, malig- nity itself could frame no tale so black, and even im- probable, that men were not willing to believe. The death of princes is always variously reported, THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 287 and common fame is sure to add a tragic catastrophe. Some years afterwards the particulars of the murder were brought to light by Apicata, the widow of Sejanus, and confirmed by Eudemus and Lygdus on the rack. In the number of historians, who were envenomed against Tiberius, and with diligence collected anecdotes to wage eternal war against his memory, not one has gone so far as to impute to him a share in this foul transaction. The story, however, such as it is, I have represented in its native colors, willing to flatter my- self that, by so glaring an instance, I may destroy the credit of fabulous narrations,' and prevail with the reader, into whose hands this work may fall, not to prefer the fictions of romance, however greedily swal- lowed by vulgar credulity, to the precision of sober history. XII. Tiberius, in a public speech, delivered the funeral panegyric of his son.^ The senate and the people attended in their mourning garments ; but their grief was mere outward show, the effect of dissimula- tion, not of sentiment. They rejoiced in secret, con- ceiving that from this event the house of Germanicus would begin to florish. But the dawn of happiness was soon overclouded. The exultation of the people, and the indiscretion of Agrippina, who had not the policy to suppress the emotions of her heart, accele- rated her own ruin and that of her sons. Emboldened 1 This passage affords ?. proof of the historian's integrity. 2 Seneca represents Tiberius with an inflexible counte- nance delivering a speecii that melted the audience into tears. He adds, by this firmness, so singular on such an occasion, Tiberius proved to Sejanus, who stood at his elbow, that he could see unmoved the desolation of his family. About four or five months after the death of Drusus deputies arrived from Ilium to condole with Tiberius : * And I,' he said, ' condole with you for the loss of Hector.' Suet, in Tib. § 5i. 288 TACITUS. by success, Sejaniis was ready to go forward in guilt. He saw the murder of Drusus pass with impunity, and even without a sign of public regret. Successful vil- lany inspired him with new courage. He saw that the sons of Germanicus were the presumptive heirs of Tiberius, and for that reason began to plot their de- struction. Being three in number, they could not all be taken off by poison, while a set of faithful attend- ants watched them with a vigilant eye, and the virtue of Agrippina was impregnable. That very virtue was therefore to be turned against her. Sejanus called it pride and contumacy. By re- peated invectives he roused the inveterate hatred of the elder Livia ; and the younger of the name, so recently an accomplice in the murder of Drusus, was easily induced to join in a second conspiracy. They represented Agrippina to Tiberius as a woman proud of her children, intoxicated with popularity, and of a spirit to engage in any dangerous enterprise. The widow of Drusus knew how to choose fit agents for her purpose. Among her instruments of iniquity was Julius Posthumus, a man high in favor with the elder Livia. He had been for some time engaged in an adul- terous commerce with Mutilia Prisca, and through her influence was graciously received at court. By his subtle practices, and the whispers conveyed by Prisca, the old woman, naturally fond of power and jealous of every rival, was easily inflamed against her grand-daughter. At the same time, such of Agrip- pina's attendants as had easy access to her presence were instructed to choose, in conversation with their mistress, the topics most likely to exasperate a mind fierce with pride, and ready to take fire on every oc- casion. Xni. Meanwhile Tiberius, hoping to find in busi- THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 289 ness some respite from the anxieties of his heart, attended to the administration of justice in all dis^ putes between the citizens of Rome. He likewise heard petitions from the provinces and the allies. At his desire, the cities of Cibyra in Asia, and iEgium in Achaia, which had suffered by an earthquake, were exempted from their usual tribute for three years. Vibius Serenus, proconsul of the farther Spain, was found guilty of oppression in the course of his ad- ministration, and, being a man of savage manners, banished to the isle of Amorgos. Carsius Sacerdos, accused of having supplied Tacfarinas with corn, w^as tried and acquitted. Caius Gracchus was charged with the same crime, and in like manner declared in- nocent. He had been carried in his infancy to the isle of Cercina by Sempronius Gracchus, his father, who w^as condemned to banishment. In that place, amidst a crew of outlaws and abandoned fugitives, he grew up in ignorance. To gain a livelihood, he be- came a dealer in petty merchandise on the coast of Africa and Sicily. His obscurity however did not shelter him from the dangers of a higher station. In- nocent as he was, if /Elius Lamia and Lucius Apro- nius, formerly proconsuls of Africa, had not espoused his cause, he must have sunk under the w^eight of the prosecution, a sacrifice to the splendid name of his family and the misfortunes of his father. XIV. In the course of the year deputations from Greece, on the old subject of sanctuaries, were heard before the senate. The people of Samos claimed an ancient privilege for the temple of Juno ; and those of Coos for that of ^sculapius. The former relied on a decree of the amphictyons,' the court of supreme 1 The assembly of the amphictyons was the grand council, TACIT. VOL. I. T 290 TACITUS. authority, at the time when colonies from Greece were ill possession of the maritime parts of Asia. The de- puties from Coos had also their ancient precedents, be- sides a claim founded on their own peculiar merit. In the general massacre of the Roman citizens throughout Asia and the isles adjacent, committed by order of Mi- thridates,* they gave a refuge to numbers in the tem- ple of ^Esculapius. This business being over, the complaint against the licentiousness of stage-players, often urged by the pretors, and always without effect, was taken up by Tiberius. He stated, ' that the peo- ple of that profession were guilty of seditious prac- tices, and in manj^ instances corrupted the morals of private families. The buftoonery of the Oscan farce,^ which in its origin afforded but little pleasure even to the dregs of the people, was now grown to such a height of depravity as well as credit, that the mischief called for the interposition of the senate.' The players were banished out of Italy. or national convention of Greece. Whether it was founded by Amphictyon the son of Deucalion, or by Acrisius, accord- ing to Strabo's opinion, is a question covered by the clouds that hang over remote ages. The confederate cities of Greece sent their representatives to this general assembly, which, at ditferent periods underwent various changes, some cities renouncing the league, and others being admitted. Pausanias, who lived in the time of Antonius Pius, assures us that the amphictyons were then intire, and that the num- ber was thirty, being delegated from the cities which he enu- merates. The assembly had every year two set meetings ; one in the spring at Delphos, and the other in the autumn at Thermopyl^. See Robinson's Grecian Antiquities. 1 While Home was made a theatre of blood by Marius and Sylla, INIithridates, king of Pontus, committed a general mas- sacre of the Koman citizens throughout Asia, A. U. C. 666 ; before the Christian era 88. 2 The Oscan Farce (called also the Atellan Fable, from Atella, a town in Campania) was invented by the Osci, a people originally of Etruria, but finally settled in Campania. Liv. vii. 2^ See also Vossius. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 291 XV. Tiberius felt this year two severe strokes of affliction: he lost one of the twin-sons of Drusus, and also his intimate friend Lucilius Longus, a man connected with him in the closest friendship ; in all scenes, either of good or adverse fortune, his faith- ful companion, and, of all the senators, the only one that followed him in his retreat to the isle of Rhodes. Though of no distinction, and in fact a new man, his funeral was performed with the pomp belonging to the censorial order;' and a statue was decreed to his me- mory in the forum of Augustus, at the public expense. All business was, at this time, still transacted in the senate. The forms of the constitution remained ; and accordingly Lucilius Capito, who had been collector of the imperial revenues in Asia, was brought to his trial before the fathers at the suit of the province. Tiberius thought proper to declare, ' That the com- mission granted to the accused extended only to the slaves and revenues of the prince. Should it appear that he assumed the pretorian authority, and, to sup- port his usurpation, called in the aid of the military, he went beyond the line of his duty ; and in that case the allegations of the province ought to be heard. ^ The business came to a hearing, and Capito was con- demned. The cities of Asia, to mark their sense of this act of justice, and their gratitude for the punish- ment of Caius Silanus in the preceding year, voted a statue to Tiberius, to Livia, and the senate. They applied to the fathers for their consent, and succeeded. Nero, in the name of the province, returned thanks to the senate and his grandfather. He was heard with pleasure by the Avhole audience. Germanicus was 1 The censorian funeral was the highest honor that could he paid to the deceased. The purple robe, and other insignia, distinguished it from a public funeral. See Polybius, vi. 292 TACITUS. still present to tlieir minds ; and in the son men fancied that they saw and heard the father. The figure of tlie young prince was interesting. An air of mo- desty, united to the dignity of his person, charmed every eye ; and the well-known animosity of Sejanus engaged all hearts in his favor. . XVI. About this time the office of high priest of Jupiter became vacant by the death of Servius Malu- ginensis. Tiberius, in a speech to the senate, pro- posed that they should proceed to the choice of a suc- cessor, and at the same time pass a new law to regulate that business for the future. The custom had been to name three patricians, descended from a marriage contracted according to the rites of confarreation.' Out of the number so proposed one was to be elected. ' But this mode was no longer in use. The ceremony of confarreation was grown obsolete ; or, if observed, it was by a few families only. Of this alteration many causes might be assigned ; and chiefly the in- attention of both sexes to the interests of religion. The ceremonies, it is true, are attended with some difficulty ; and for that reason they are fallen into disuse. Besides this, the priest so chosen was no longer subject to paternal authority ; and the woman who gave him her hand in marriage was entitled to the same exemption. To remedy these inconveniences a law is necessary. Many customs, that held too much 1 Three forms of contracting marriage prevailed at Rome. 1. When a woman cohabited with one man for the space of a year. '■2. When the marriage was a kind of bargain and a sale between the parties, wliich was called coemptio. 3. When the chief" pontiff, distributing flour in the presence of ten wit- nesses, joined the bride and bridegroom. This was called marriage by confarreation. Other marriages were easily dis- solved ; but that by confarreation required the same solem- nities (diffarreatio) to divorce the parties. See Brotier's Ta- citus, i. 427. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 293 of the rigor of antiquity, were now-modelled by Au- gustus in conformity to the polislied manners of the times.' After due deliberation, it was thought advisable by the fathers to leave the priesthood on its old establish- ment, without innovation. With regard to the priestess a new law took place. In her religious functions, it was declared, that she should be in the power of her husband only, subject in all other respects to the laws ■ of her sex, without any privilege to distinguish her from other women. The son of Maluginensis suc- ceeded to his father. In order to give new weight and consideration to the sacerdotal order, and to in- spire the ministers of the altar Avith zeal for the sacred rites, a grant of two thousand great sesterces was ordered for Cornelia, the vestal virgin, who was at this time chosen superior of the order, in the room of Scantia. In compliment to Livia it was farther de- creed, that whenever she visited the theatre her seat should be among the vestal virgins. XVII. In the consulship of Cornelius Cethegus and Visellius Varro the pontifls, and, after their example, tlie other orders of the priesthood, thought proper to blend with the solemn vows which they offered for the safety of the emperor the names of Nero and Drusus. Zeal for the young princes was not altogether tlieir motive : they had an indirect design to pay their court. But in that age the safe line of conduct was not easily settled. To abstain from flattery was dangerous ; and to be lavish of it provoked contempt, and even resent- ment. Tiberius, never friendly to the house of Ger- manicus, saw with indignation two boys exalted to a level with himself. He ordered the pontiff's to attend him. In the interview that followed he desired to know whether, in what they had done, they complied 294 TACITUS. either with the solicitations or menaces of Agrippina. Being answered in the negative, he dismissed them with a reprimand, but in gentle terms, most of the order being either his relations, or the first men in Home. Not content however with expressing his dis- approbation in private, he desired, in a speech to the senate, that all might be on their guard, not to inflame the minds of young men with ideas of power, and by consequence, with a spirit above their station. Seja- lius was the prompter in this business. He had the ear of the emperor, and filled him with apprehensions that Rome was divided into factions, inflamed against each other with no less fury than if they were actually engaged in a civil war. They were those, he said, who called themselves the partisans of Agrippina : if not suppressed, they would in time become too powerful. To check the growing disorder, there was nothing left but to cut off one or two of the most active leaders. XVIII. The first blow was struck at Caius Silius and Titius Sabinus. Their connexion with Germani- cus was their crime; but Silius was obnoxious for various reasons. He had been, during a space of seven years, at the head of a powerful army: by his conduct in Germany he had gained triumphal orna- ments ; he conquered Sacrovir, and quelled the in- surrection in Gaul. Falling from that elevation, his ruin would resound far and wide, and spread a general terror. His own indiscretion was thought at the time to have incensed Tiberius, and by consequence it pro- voked his fate. Success inspired him with vain-glory. He boasted, that the army under his command con- tinued in firm fidelity, while sedition raised her standard in every other camp ; and if the spirit of revolt had reached his legions, the imperial dignity THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 295 would have tottered on the head of the prince. Ti- berius took the alarm : he thought his own importance lessened, and his fortune, great as it was, unable to recompense such extraordinary services. He felt him- self under obligations to his officer ; and obligations (such is the nature of the human mind) are only then acknowleged when it is in our power to requite them ; if they exceed all measures, to be insolvent is painful, and gratitude gives way to hatred. XIX. Sosia Galla, the wife of Silius, was closely connected with Agrippina, and for that reason de- tested by Tiberius. She and her husband were doomed to fall an immediate sacrifice. Sabinus was reserved for a future day. Against the two former Varro, the consul, undertook the despicable part of public prosecutor. Pretending to adopt the resent- ments of his father, he became the servile agent of Sejanus. Silius requested that the trial might be deferred till the consul, now turned accuser, should cease to be in office. Though the interval was short, Tiberius opposed the motion, alleging, that men were frequently arraigned by the other magistrates ; and why abridge the authority of the consul ? It is his duty to take care that the commonwealth may receive no injury. Such Avas the state-craft of Tiberius : to crimes invented by himself he gave the old republican names, and by that artifice amused the public. The senate was summoned with regular solemnity, as if the proceeding was to be according to law ; as if Varro was, in truth, acting the part of consul, and in the reign of Tiberius the constitution still remained in vigor. Silius made no defence. He broke silence indeed at different times, but merely to show that he saw in what quarter the arm of oppression was raised against him. The heads of the accusation were, that, 296 TACITUS. in a dark conspiracy with Sacrovir, he concealed the machinations of that insurgent ; that his victory was tarnished by cruelty ; and that with his connivance acts of rapacity and oppression were committed hy his wife. The last article was too well founded ; but the prosecution went altogether on the crime of vio- lated majesty. Silius saw that his doom was fixed, and, to ijrevent final judgment, put an end to his life. XX. The law, notwithstanding, laid hold of his effects : not however to make restitution to the Gauls ; for the Gauls made no claim. The whole of what the unhappy victim had received from the bounty of Augustus, after an exact estimate made, was seized, and carried into the treasury of the prince. In this instance Tiberius, for the, first time, looked with the eye of avarice on the property of others. On the motion of Asinius Gallus, Sosia was ordered into exile. By that senator it was farther proposed that part of her effects should be confiscated, and the remainder given to her children. Manius Lepidus contended that one-fourth should go, as the law directed,^ to the prosecutors, and the residue to her children. This sentence prevailed. It is but justice to the character of Lepidus - to observe in this place, that, considering the times in which he lived, he ap- pears to have been a man of ability, temperate, wise, and upright. The violent measures often proposed by others, always the result of servile adulation, were by his address frequently rejected, altered, or modified, 1 What law this was is not agreed among the commentators ; but as Tacitus says that Silius was tried on the Lex Mujestatis, Lipsius thinks that was the law cited on this occasion. 2 oManius I>epidus has already been mentioned, i. 13 ; iii. 50. For more of him, see Annals, vi. 27. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 297 with so much good sense and temper, that he preserved at once his credit at court and the esteem of the public. This liappiness, so singular, and so fairly enjoyed, arrests our attention, and naturally raises an inquiry whether the favor or antipathy of princes, like all other sublunary contingencies, is governed by the im- mutable laws of fate ;^ and by consequence, the lot of man may be said to be determined in his natal hour. The question is intricate ; but perhaps free-will and moral agency are still so far allowed, that each individual may chalk out the line of his own conduct, and by steering between the opposite extremes of blunt austerity and abject meanness, pursue a middle course wdth safety and with honor. Messalinus Cotta, a man equal in point of birth to Manius Lepidus, but of a very diflerent character, moved for a decree, declaring* that all magistrates, however blameless in their own conduct, and even ignorant of the guilt of others, should, notwithstanding, be responsible for the un- lawful acts committed in the provinces by their wives. XXI. The business brought forward in the next place was the charge against Calpurnius Piso,^ that illustrious citizen, distinguished not more by the no- bility of his birth, than by his unshaken virtue, who, as has been related, threatened a secession from Rome, in order to find, in some remote place, a shelter from the vices of the age and the harpies of the law. It may be remembered likewise that in the cause against Urgulania he scorned to yield to the weight 1 The word immutable is inserted in the translation, per- haps improperly ; since Tacitus, who points out the safest course to steer, does not seem to admit an inevitable fate. 2 Calpurnius Piso has been mentioned, much to his honor, ii. 34. 298 TACITUS. and influence of the emperor's mother, but cited the defendant from the very palace of the prince. His conduct at the time was treated by Tiberius as the exercise of a civil right ; but in a mind like his, that which at first made a slight impression was sure to be embittered by reflection. Quintus Granius was the prosecutor of Piso. He exhibited an accusation for "words spoken in private against the majesty of the emperor ; for keeping poison in his house ; and enter- ing the senate with a concealed dagger. The two last articles, too gross to be believed, were thrown out of the case. Other allegations were heaped together to swell the charge ; and Piso it was determined was to be brought to trial ; but a natural death put an end to the prosecution. A new complaint was presented to the senate against Cassius Severus,' a man of mean extraction, void of principle, profligate in his manners, but an orator of considerable eloquence. He had been, by a judgment pronounced under the sanction of an oath, condemned to exile in the isle of Crete. Persisting there in his licentious practices, he rekindled the indignation of the fathers, and by new vices provoked new enemies. Stripped of all his eff"ects, and interdicted from fire and water, he was removed to the isle of Seriphos,' where, in old age and misery, he languished on the rocks. XXII. About this time Plautius Silvanus, one of the pretors, impelled by some secret motive, threw his wife Apronia out of the window of her apartment, and 1 Cassius Severus was an orator of eminence, and a viru- lent libeller of the first persons of both sexes. He was ba- nished by Augustus. For more of him, see the Dialogue con- cerning Oratory, § 19. 2 Seriphus, a small island in the ^^gean Sea. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 299 killed her on the spot. Being immediately seized by his father-in-law, Lucius Apronius, and conveyed to the presence of the emperor, he made answer, with an air of distraction, that while he lay asleep his wife committed that act of violence. Tiberius went di- rectly to the house. He examined the apartment, and saw evident signs of a person who had struggled, but was overcome by force. He made his report to the senate, and commissioners were appointed to inquire and pronounce their judgment. Urgulania, the grand- mother of Silvanus, sent a dagger to him as her best present. This, on account of her known intimacy with Livia, was supposed to proceed from Tiberius. The criminal, after attempting, but with irresolution, to apply the dagger to his breast, ordered his veins to be opened. In a short time afterwards Numantina, his former wife, was accused of having, by drugs and magic spells, distempered his brain. She was ac- quitted of the charge. XXin. The war with Tacfarinas, the Numidian, by which Rome had been long embroiled, was this year happily terminated. The former commanders, as soon as they had laid a foundation for the obtaining of triumphal ornaments, considered their business as finished, and gave the enemy time to breathe. There were at Rome no less than three statues ' decorated with laurel, and yet Tacfarinas ravaged the province. He was reinforced by the neighboring Moors, who saw with indignation their new king Ptolemy, the son of Juba,- resign, with youthful inexperience, the reins 1 The three statues were, for Furius Camillus, ii. 52 ; L. Apronius, iii. 21 ; Junius Blsesus, iii. 72. 2 Ptolemy was the son of Juba, who was made king of Mauritania bv Augustus. See this book, § 5. He was put to death by Caligula, A. U. C. 793. Suet, in Calig. $ 26. 300 TACITUS. of government to his freedmen. The malecontents of that nation went over to the banners of Tacfarinas, de- termined to try the fortune of war, rather than tamely submit to the tyranny of enfranchised slaves. The king- of the Garamantes entered into a secret league with the Numidian. Not choosing to take the field at the head of his forces, he helped to carry on a war of depredation. His dominions were a depository for all their plunder. His troops went out in detached par- ties, and, as is usual in all distant commotions, were magnified by the voice of fame into a prodigious army. Even from the Roman province,* all who struggled with want, or by their crimes were rendered desperate, went over to Tacfarinas. A recent incident encou- raged the revolt. In consequence of the success of Blfesus, Tiberius, thinking the war at an end, ordered the ninth legion to be recalled. Dolabella, the pro- consul for the year, saw the inexpedience of the mea- sure ; but dreading the anger of Tiberius more than the incursions of the enemy, he did not venture, even for the defence of the province, to detain the troops. XXIV. Tacfarinas, availing himself of this circum- stance, spread a rumor round the country, that the Roman empire being invaded on every side, Africa, by degrees, was to be evacuated, and tlie remainder of the legions might be easily cut oif, if all who preferred their liberty to ignominious bondage would take up arms in defence of their country. He gained by these artifices a new accession of strength, and laid siege to tlie city of Thubuscum. Dolabella, with what force he could collect, marched to the relief of the place. The 1 In general, when Africa occurs, Tacitus intends the Roman province, now the kingdom of Tunis. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. SOl terror of the Roman name was on his side, and the aftair was with an enemy who could never sustain the shock of a well-embodied infantry. He no sooner showed himself in force than the Numidians aban- doned the siege. Dolabella, at all convenient places, fortified his posts, and stationed garrisons to secure the country. Finding the Musulanians on the point of a revolt, he seized their chiefs, and ordered their heads to be struck off. Experience had taught him that a regular army, encumbered with baggage, could give but a bad account of a wild and desultory enemy, wlio made war by sudden incursions, and avoided a decisive action : he therefore resolved to vary his ope- rations, and having called to his aid the young king Ptolemy, at the head of a large body of his subjects, he divided his army into four detached parties, under the command of his lieutenants and the military tri- bunes. A chosen band of Moors, conducted by offi- cers of that nation, had orders to ravage the country. The proconsul marched himself in person, ready at hand to direct the motions of his army and give vigor to the enterprise. XXV. Intelligence was brought soon after that the Numidians, depending on the advantages of a situation encompassed by a depth of forest, had pitched their Imts near the ruins of a castle called Auzea,' wliich they had formerly destroyed by fire. The cavalry and light cohorts, ignorant of their destination, were sent forward without delay. They made a forced march in the night, and at break of day arrived be- fore the place. The barbarians, scarce awake, were alarmed on every side with warlike shouts and the clangor of trumpets. Their horses were either fastened 1 A castle in Numidia, now totally destroyed. 302 TACITUS. to stakes or let loose to wander on the pasture grounds. The Romans advanced in order of battle ; their in^ fantry in close array, and the cavalry prepared for action. The barbarians were taken by surprise ; no arms at hand, no order, no concerted measure. They were attacked without delay ; and, like a herd of cattle, mangled, butchered, taken. The Roman sol- diers, fierce with resentment for all their toil and fatigue, rushed with fury against an enemy who had so often fled from their sword. The victorious troops were glutted with Numidian blood. The word was given through the ranks that Tacfarinas was the pro- per object of their vengeance : his person was well known ; his death, and nothing less, could end the war. That daring adventurer saw his guards fall on every side. His son was already in fetters, and he himself hemmed in by the Romans. In despair, he rushed forward Avhere the shower of darts Avas thicL- est ; and, selling his life at the dearest rate, had the glory of dying in freedom. This event quieted the commotions in Africa. XXVI. For these services Dolabella expected tri- umphal ornaments : but Tiberius, apprehending that Sejanus would think the honors granted to his uncle Blaesus tarnished by the success of a rival, refused to comply with the request. Bla?sus gained no addition to his fame, while that of Dolabella grew brighter by injustice. With an inferior army he had taken a number of prisoners, among whom were the leading chiefs of the nation ; and, by the death of Tacfarinas, lie put an end to the war. At his return from Africa he gave a spectacle rarely seen at Rome : a train of ambassadors from the Garamantes ! The people of that country, conscious of their guilt, and by the death of the Numidian chief thrown into consterna- THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 303 tion, sent their deputies to appease the resentment of the emperor. The services of king Ptolemy being- stated to the senate, an ancient custom, long since fallen into disuse, was revived in honor of that mo- narch. The fathers sent a member of their body to present an ivory sceptre and a painted robe,^ the ancient gift to kings, with instructions, at the same time, to salute young Ptolemy by the titles of ' king, ally, and friend of the Roman people.' XXVII. During the same summer a servile war was ready to break out in Italy ; but, by a fortunate accident, the flame was soon extinguished. The in- cendiary who excited the commotion was formerly a soldier in the pretorian bands, by name Titus Curti- sius. This man began his seditious practices in pri- vate cabals at Brundusium and the adjacent towns. Having made his impression, he went the length of fixing up in public places seditious libels, inviting the Agrarian slaves to issue from their woods and wilds, and take up arms in the cause of liberty. It hap- pened, however, that three galleys, employed in the navigation of those seas, arrived providentially on the coast. Curtius Lupus, the questor, whose pro- vince it was, according to ancient usage, to superin- tend the roads ^ through the forests, was at that time in the neighborhood. He ordered the mariners to be landed ; and, putting himself at their head, crushed 1 Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentions the same presBnts sent to Porsena by the Roman senate, A. U. C. 249. Painted vobes occur frequently in Homer, and (according to Pliny, viii. 48,) were used afterwards as triumphal ornaments. 'J When Julius Ca?sar was joint consid with Marcus Bibu- lus, the patricians, with the approbation of Cato, agreed to assign the departments of smallest consequence, such as Avoods and roads (sylvce callesque) to the care of the new con- suls. Suet, in Jul. Cees. § 19. 304 TACITUS. the conspiracy in the bud. Statins, a military tri- bune, had been on the first alarm despatched by Tibe- rius with a strong band of soldiers. He arrived in good time ; and having seized the chief conspirators, with their leader, returned to Rome with his prisoners bound in chains. The capital at that time was far from being in a state of tranquillity. Men saw, with terror, a vast multitude of slaves increasing^ beyond all proportion, while the number of freeborn citizens was visibly on the decline. XXVIII. During the same consulship a scene of horror that gave a shock to nature, and marked the cruelty of the times, w^as acted in the face of the world. A father pleaded for his life, while the son stood forth the accuser. The name of each was Vi- bius Serenus.^ They appeared before the senate. The father li,ad been banished. He was now dragged from his retreat, deformed with filth, and loaded with irons; a spectacle of misery. The son came forward in trim apparel, ease in his mien, and alacrity in his counte- nance. He charged the old man with a conspiracy against the life of the emperor, and Mith sending emis- saries into Gaul to kindle the flame of rebellion: and thus the son acted in a double character, at once the accuser and the witness. He added, that Csecilius Cornutus, of pretorian rank, supplied the accomplices with money. Cornutus, weary of life, and knowing that a prosecution was a prelude to destruction, laid violent hands on himself. Serenus, on the contrary, with a spirit undismayed, fixed his eye on his son, and 1 The slaves, increasing in consequence of luxury, began to outnumber the freeborn citizens. 2 We have seen Vibius Serenus, tbe fatber, who had been proconsul in Spain, banished to the island of Amorgos. This book, § 13. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 305 clanking his chains, exclaimed, * Restore me, just and vindictive gods, restore me to my place of banish- ment, far from the sight of men who suffer such an outrage to humanity. For that parricide, may your vengeance, in due time, overtake his guilt !' He pro- nounced Cornutus an innocent man, but destitute of courage, weak, and easily alarmed. He desired that the confederates in the plot might be named ; and, by a minute inquiry, the truth, he said, would be brought to light. ' For can it be that, with only one accom-* plice, I should undertake to imbrue my hands in the blood of the emperor, and to overturn the govern- ment?' XXIX. The informer gave in the names of Cneius Lentulus and Seius Tubero. The mention of those men threw Tiberius into confusion. They were both of illustrious rank, both his intimate friends. That Lentulus, in the evening of his days, and Tubero, drooping under bodily infirmity, should be charged with meditating an insurrection in Gaul, and a con- spiracy against the state, made a deep impression on his spirits. Against them no farther inquiry was made. The slaves of the aged father were examined on the rack, and by their testimony every allegation was refuted. The son, overwhelmed with a sense of his guilt, and terrified by the indignation of the popu- lace, who threatened' the dungeon, the Tarpeian rock, and all the pains and penalties of parricide, made his escape from Rome. He was retaken at Ravenna, and carried back to proceed in his accusation, and gratify 1 The populace threatened the Tlobur, which was the dark dungeon ; the Saxum, or the Tarpeian rock, from which the malefactors were thrown headlonc,- down ; and the pains and penalties of parricides, described by Cicero in his oration Pro Koscio Amerino, 5^ 2(J« TACIT. VOL. I. U 306 TACITUS. the spleen of Tiberius, who hated the old man, and on this occasion did not disguise his rancor. Vibius, it seems, soon after the condemnation of Libo,^ com- plained by letter to the emperor, that his services in that business had not been duly recompensed. The style of his remonstrance was more free and bold than can with safety be addressed to the proud ear of power, at all times sensibly alive to every expression, and easily alarmed. At the distance of eight years Tibe- rius showed that he had been ruminating mischief. The intermediate time, he said, though no proof could be extorted from the slaves, was passed by the pri- soner in a continued series of atrocious crimes. XXX. The question being put, the majority was for a capital punishment, according to the rigor of ancient law. Tiberius, to soften popular prejudice, opposed so harsh a sentence. Asinius Gallus moved that Serenus should be banished to the isle of Gyarus or Donusa. This also was opposed by the emperor. In those islands there was a dearth of water ; and when life is granted, the means of supporting it ought to follow. The old man was remanded to the island of Amorgos. As Cornutus had despatched himself, a motion was made, that whenever the person accused of violated majesty prevented judgment by a voluntary death, the informers should be intitled to no reward.^ The fathers inclined to that opinion ; but Tiberius, in plain terms, without his usual ambiguity, showed him- 1 For the iniquitous proceedings against Libo, see ii. 27. 2 When the person accused was found guilty the fourth part of his estate and effects went to the prosecutors ; but if he prevented judgment by a vohintary deatli his property descended to liis heirs ; and in that case the emperor paid his harpies out of the fiscus, the imperial excliequer, that is, out of his own coffers. Tiberius felt the burden of so heavy an expense, and for that reason opposed the motion. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 30/ self the patron of the whole race of informers. ' The course of justice/ he said, ' would be stopped; and, by such a decision, the commonwealth would be brought to the brink of ruin. It were better to abrogate all laws at once. If we must have laws, let us not re- move the vigilance that gives them energy.' In this manner that pernicious crew, the bane and scourge of society, who in fact have never been effectually re- strained, were uow let loose, with the wages of iniquity in view, to harass and destroy their fellow-citizens. XXXI. Through the cloud of these tempestuous times a gleam of joy broke forth. Caius Cominius, a Roman knight, was convicted for being author of defamatory verses against the emperor ; but at the intercession of his brother, a member of the senate, Tiberius pardoned the offence. This act of lenity, standing in contrast with a series of evil deeds, made men wonder that he, who knew the fair renown that waits on the virtues of humanity, should persevere in the practice of cruelty and oppression. Want of dis- cernment was not among the faults of Tiberius ; nor was he misled by the applause of temporising cour- tiers. Between the praise which adulation offers, and that which flows from sentiment, a mind like his could easily distinguish. His own manner marked his sense of good and evil. Though close and guarded on most occasions, even to a degree of hesitation, it was re- markable that, when he meant a generous act, his lan- guage was fluent, clear, and unequivocal. In a matter that came on soon after against Publius Suilius,^ formerly questor under Germanicus, and 1 Suilius was accused by Seneca in the reign of Xero. In return he declaimed with virulence against the philoso- pher ; but, in the end, was banished to one of the Balearic islands, and there ended his days. Annals, xiii. 43. •308 TACITUS. now convicted of bribery in a cause where he sat in judgment, the emperor, not content with a general sentence of banishment out of Italy, insisted that he ought to be confined to an island. Tliis decision he urged in a tone of vehemence; averring, with the so- lemnity of an oath, that the interest of the common- wealth required it. And yet this proceeding, con- demned at the time as harsh and violent, was in a subsequent reign allowed to be founded in justice. Suilius was recalled by Claudius. He then announced his real character ; proud, imperious, corrupt, and venal : high in favor with the reigning prince, and using his influence for the worst of purposes. Catus Firmius was in like manner condemned, on a charg-e of having maliciously accused his sister on the law of majesty. It was this man, as has been related, who first deceived the unsuspecting Libo,* and then be- trayed him to his ruin. For that sacrifice of all truth and honor Tiberius was not ungrateful. To reward his services, yet pretending to act with other motives, he overruled the sentence of banishment, but agreed that he should be expelled the senate. XXXII. The transactions hitherto related, and those which are to follow, may, I am well aware, be thought of little importance, and beneath the dignity of history: but no man, it is presumed, will think of comparing these annals with the historians of the old republic. Those writers had for their subject wars of the greatest magnitude ; cities taken by storm ; kings overthrown, or led in captivity to Rome : and when from those scenes of splendor they turned their atten- tion to domestic occurrences, they liad still an ample field before them ; tliey liad dissensions between the 1 Catus Firmius plotted the ruin of Libo. See ii. 27. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 309 consuls and the tribunes ; they had agrarian laws, the price of corn, and the populace and patrician order inflamed with mutual animosity. Those were objects that filled the imagination of the reader, and gave free scope to the genius of the writer. The work in whicli I am engaged lies in a narrow compass ; the labor is great, and glory there is none. A long and settled calm, scarce lifted to a tempest ; wars no sooner begun tlian ended ; a gloomy scene at home, and a prince without ambition, or even a wish to enlarge the boun- daries of the empire : these are the scanty materials that lie before me. And yet materials like these are not to be undervalued ; though slight in appearance, they still merit attention, since they are often the secret spring of the most important events. XXXIII. If we consider the nature of civil govern- ment, we shall find that in all nations the supreme authority is vested either in the people, or the nobles, or a single ruler. A constitution * compounded of 1 This passage merits more consideration than can be com- pressed into a note. It will not however be amiss to offer a few remarks. It is admitted that the three original forms of government, namely, monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, when taken separately, are all defective. Polybius assigns the reason. ' Monarchy,' he says, ' though conducted ac- cording to right reason, will in time degenerate into despo- tism. Aristocracy, which means a government of the best men, will be converted into an oligarchy, or the tyranny of a few. Democracy, in its original and purest sense, implies a system, under which the people, trained to the ancient man- ners of their country, pay due worship to the gods, and ob€y the laws established by common consent : but such a govern- ment is soon changed into tumult, rude force, and anarchy. For when once the people, accustomed to notions of equality, pay neither rent nor taxes, and commit depredations on their neighbors ; if, at such a time, some desperate incendiary should arise, whose poverty has shut him out from all the ho- nors of the state ; then commences the government of the mul- titude, who run together in tumultuous assemblies, and are hur- ried into every kind of violence ; assassinations, banishments. 310 TACITUS. these three simple forms may in theory be beautiful, but can never exist in fact ; or, if it should, it will be but of short duration. At Rome, while the republic florished, and the senate and the people gained alter- nate victories over each other, it was the business of the true politician to study the manners and temper of the multitude, in order to restrain within due bounds a tumultuous and discordant mass; and, on the other hand, he who best knew the senate, and the characters of the leading members, was deemed the most accomplished statesman of his time. At present, since a violent convulsion has overturned the old re- public, and the government of Rome differs in nothing from a monarchy,* the objects of political knowlege are changed; and, for that reason, such transactions as it is my business to relate will not be without their use. Few are qualified, by their own reflection, to mark the boundaries between vice and virtue. To and divisions of lands, till they are reduced at last to a state of savage anarchy.' See Hampton's Polybius, ii. 1. And yet Tacitus saw that the three original forms might be moulded into a beautiful system ; but he despaired of ever seeing it established, and he gives his opinion that it cannot last long. That opinion however has been long since refuted. The government of king, lords, and commons, has been the pride of Englishmen, and the wonder of all Europe, during several centuries. Tacitus, with his usual brevity, said less than he thought ; but the reason on which he founded his opinion probably was, because, in all the popular govern- ments then known in the world, the people acted in their col- lective body ; and, with Polybius, Tacitus saw the fatal con- sequences. He had no idea of a people acting by represen- tation. It is that circumstance, and the wise regulations of our ancestors, that have made in this country the according music of a well-mixed state. 1 The forms of the republican government were still pre- served ; the magistrates retained their ancient names ; but the emperor presided over the whole military department, and his tribunitian power gave him the sole direction of all civil business. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 311 separate the useful from that which leads to destruc- tion is not the talent of every man. The example of others is the school of wisdom. It must however be acknowleged, that the detail into which I am obliged to enter is in danger, while it gives lessons of prudence, of being dry and unenter- taining. In other histories, the situation of countries, the events of war, and the exploits of illustrious gene- rals, awaken curiosity, and enlarge the imagination. We have nothing before us but acts of despotism, continual accusations, the treachery of friends, the ruin of innocence, and trial after trial ending always in the same tragic catastrophe. These, no doubt, will give to the present work a tedious uniformity, with- out an object to enliven attention, without an incident to prevent satiety. It may be farther observed that the ancient historian is safe from the severity of cri- ticism : whether he favors the cause of Rome or of Carthage, the reader is indifferent to both parties ; whereas the descendants of those who in the reign of Tiberius were either put to death or branded with infamy are living at this hour ; and besides, if the whole race were extinct, will there not be at all times a succession of men who, from congenial manners and sympathy in vice, will think the fidelity of history a satire on themselves ? Even the praise due to virtue is sure to give umbrage. The illustrious character is brought too near to the depravity of modern times. The contrast is too strong for tender eyes. — But I return from this digression. XXXIV. During the consulship of Cornelius Cos- sus and Asinius Agrippa a new, and, till that time, unheard-of crime was laid to the charge of Cremutius Cordus.' He had published a series of annals. In Suetonius says a poet was prosecuted for verses against 312 TACITUS. that work, after the encomium of Brutus, he styled Cassius the last of Romans.* For this sentiment a prosecution was commenced against the author by Sa- trius Secundus and Pinarius Natta, both known to be the creatures of Sejanus. That circumstance was of itself sufficient ; but the stern countenance with which Tiberius heard the defence was a fatal prognostic. With a spirit however prepared for the worst, and even resolved on death, Cordus spoke to the foUo^ving effect : ' The charge, conscript fathers, is for words only ; so irreproachable is my conduct. And what are my words ? Do they affect the emperor or his mother, the only persons included in the law of ma- jesty ? It is however my crime that I have treated the memory of Brutus and Cassius with respect: and have not others done the same ? In the number of writers who composed the lives of those eminent men is there one who has not done honor to their memory? Titus Livius, that admirable historian, not more dis- tinguished by his eloquence than by his fidelity, was so lavish in praise of Pompey that Augustus called him the ' Pompeian :' and yet the friendship of that emperor Avas unalterable. Scipio and Afranius, with this same Brutus, and this very Cassius, are men- tioned by that immortal author, not indeed as ruffians - Agamemnon; and an historian (meaning Cordus) for calling Brutus and Cassius the last of the Komans. The authors were put to death, and their writings suppressed, though they had been read to Augustus, and approved by that em- peror. Suet, in Tib. ^ 61. Seneca, in his Essay on Consola- tion, to Marcia, the daughter of Cremutius Cordus, says her father was not put to death for praising Brutus and Cassius, but for his keen reflections on Sejanus, and therefore fell a victim. 1 We are told by Plutarch that the Romans called Pbilo- pcrmenes the last of the Greeks, as if, after his death, that nation had produced no illustrious character. See the Life of Bhilopcemenes. 2 Bublius Valerius, afterwards styled Publicola, was the THE AXNALS. — BOOK IV. 313 and parricides (the appellations now in vogue), but as virtuous, upright, and illustriovis Romans. In the works of Asinius Pollio their names are decorated with every praise. Messala Corvinus boasted that Cassius was his general. And yet those two distin- guished writers florished in the esteem of Augustus, and enjoyed both wealth and honors. Cicero dedi- cated an entire volume to the memory of Cato. What was the conduct of C^sar the dictator? He contented himself with writing an answer; in effect, appealing to the tribunal of the public. The letters of Marc Antony, as well as the speeches of Brutus, abound with passages against Augustus ; false, indeed, but in a style of bitter invective. The verses of Bibaculus and Catullus, though keen lampoons on the family of the Cgesars, are in every body's hands. Neither Ju- lius Ceesar nor Augustus showed any resentment against these envenomed productions : on the con- trary, they left them to make their way in the world. Was this their moderation, or superior vvisdom? Per- haps it was the latter. Neglected calumny soon ex- pires : show that you are hurt, and you give it the appearance of truth. XXXV. ' From Greece I draw no precedents. In that country, not only liberty but even licentiousness was encouraged. He who felt the edge of satire knew how to retaliate. Words were revenged by words. When public characters have passed away from the stage of life, and the applause of friendship as well as author of a law, by which any person whatever, who had the ambition to aim at the supreme power, so lately abolished, should forfeit his head and all his effects. Liv. ii. 8. Plu- tarch adds, in the Life of Publicola, that to kill the man who favored royalty was justifiable homicide, provided the guilt was clearly proved. And yet, notwithstanding this law, Brutus and Cassius were called murderers and parricides. 314 TACITUS. the malice of enemies is heard no more, it has evei^ been the prerogative of history to rejiidge their ac- tions. Brutus and Cassius are not now at the head of armies : they are not encamped on the plains of Philippi. Can I assist their cause ? Have I harangued the people, or incited them to take up arms? It is now more than sixty years since these two extraordi- nary men perished by the sword : from that time they have been seen in their busts and statues : those re- mains tlie very conquerors spared, and history has been just to their memorJ^ Posterity allows to every man his true value and his proper honors. You may, if, you will, by your judgment affect my life : but Brutus and Cassius will be still remembered, and my name may attend the triumph.' Having thus deli- vered his sentiments, he left the senate, and by absti- nence' put an end to his days. The fathers ordered his book to be burned by the sediles ; but to destroy it was not in their power. ^ It was preserved in secret, and copies have been multi- 1 Seneca, de Consolatione ad Mareiam, c. xxii., gives a circumstantial account of his death. He was three days starving himself. 2 Seneca says to Marcia, * Sejanus gave your father as a donative or a largess to his creature Satrius Secundus ; yet lie was not able, with all his interest at court, to suppress the works of Cordus, tliough he procured an order to burn them by the public officer.' Seneca praises Marcia for the filial piety that preserved the works of her father, and brought them into public notice after his death. He tells her, that by saving his writings she gave new life to the books, which he, who suffered death, may be said to have written in his blood. He adds, that the memory of her father will live as long as tlie Romans sliall wish to review the history of their own affairs ; as long as posterity shall desire to know the man wliose genius was unfettered, whose spirit was unconquered, and whose hand was ready to deliver himself from his ene- mies. See more on this subject of burning books, Life of Agricola, § 2. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 315 plied : §o vain and senseless is the attempt, by an arbitrary act, to extinguish the light of truth, and defraud posterity of due information. Genius thrives under oppression : persecute the author, and you en- hance the value of his work. Foreign tyrants, and all who have adopted tlieir barbarous policy, have ex- perienced this truth : by proscribing talents they re- corded their own disgrace, and gave the writer a pass- port to immortality. XXXVI. The whole of this year was one continued series of prosecutions ; insomuch, that on one of the days of the Latin festival,^ when Drusus, in his cha- racter of prefect of Rome, ascended the tribunal, Cal- purnius Salvianus took that opportunity to present an accusation against Sextus Marius. A proceeding so irregular drew down the censure of Tiberius. Sal- vianus was driven into banishment. A complaint against the inhabitants of the city of Cyzicus was pre- sented to the senate, charging that they had suffered the ceremonies in honor of Augustus to fall into con- tempt, and had moreover offered violence to several Roman citizens. For this offence they were deprived of the privileges which had been granted to them for their fidelity in the war with Mithridates. That mo- narch laid siege to their city ; but, by the fortitude of the people, not less than by the succor sent by Lucul- lus, he was obliged to abandon the place. Fonteius 1 The Latin festival was instituted by Tarquinius Super- bus, and celebrated every year in the beginning of JMay, on the jMount Albanus, near the ruins of the city of Alba. Livy, li. 16. The consuls and other magistrates went forth in procession ; and, during their absence, a person of high rank was chosen to discharge the functions of consul, and preserve the peace of the city. See Annals, vi. 11. In con- formity to this custom, we find Drusus acting on this occa- sion. •336 TACITUS. Capito, who had been proconsul of Asia, was ac- quitted of the charge alleged against him by the ma- lice of that daring accuser Vibius Serenus.* And yet the author of so vile a calumny passed with impunity. He had the curses of the people, and the protection of the emperor. Informers, in proportion as they rose in guilt, became sacred characters. If any were pu- nished, it was only such as were mere novices in guilt, obscure and petty villains, who had no talents for mischief. XXXVII. Ambassadors about this time arrived from the farther Spain ; praying leave, in imitation of the people of Asia, to build a temple to the emperor and his mother. Tiberius had strength of mind to despise the offerings of adulation ; he knew, however, that his conduct on a former occasion had been taxed with the littleness of vainglory. To clear himself from that aspersion, he made the following speech : ' I am not, conscript fathers, now to learn that, when a similar petition came from Asia, I was accused of weakness and irresolution for not giving a decided negative. The silence which I then observed, and the law which I have laid down to myself for the future, it is my intention now to explain. Augustus, it is well known, permitted a temple to be raised at Per- g^amus, in honor of himself and the city of Rome. His example has ever been the rule of my conduct. I yielded to the solicitations of Asia the more wil- lingly, as, with the veneration offered to myself, that of the senate was mixed and blended. That single act of compliance may perhaps require no apology : but to be deified throughout the provinces, and intrude my own image among the statues of the gods, what 1 The son who accused his father ; this book, ^ 28. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 317 were it but vain presumption, tlie height of human arrogance ? Erect more altars, and the homage paid to Augustus will be no longer an honor to his me- mory : by promiscuous use, it will tarnish in the eyes of mankind and vanish into nothing. XXXVIII. ' As to myself, conscript fathers, I pre- tend to nothing above the condition of humanity : a mortal man, I have the duties of our common nature to perform. Raised to a painful pre-eminence, if [ sustain the arduous character imposed on me, the measure of my happiness is full. These are my sen- timents ; I avow them in your presence, and I hope they will reach posterity. Should future ages pro- nounce me not unworthy of my ancestors ; should they think me vigilant for the public good, in danger firm, and, for the interest of all, ready to encounter personal animosities, that character will be the bright reward of all my labors. Those are the temples which I wish to raise : they are the truest temples, for they are fixed in the heart. It is there I would be wor- shipped, in the esteem and the affections of men, that best and most lasting monument. Piles of stone and marble structures, when the idol ceases to be adored, and the judgment of posterity rises to execration, are mere charnel-houses, that moulder into ruin. ' I therefore now address myself to the allies of the empire, to the citizens of Rome, and to the immortal gods : to the gods it is my prayer, that to the end of life they may grant the blessing of an undisturbed, a clear, a collected mind, with a just sense of laws both human and divine. Of mankind I request that, when I am no more, they will do justice to my memory ; and, vvith kind acknowlegements, record my name and the actions of my life.' In these sentiments he persisted ever after. Even in private conversation he 318 TACITUS, never ceased to declaim against the abuse of religious lienors. For this self-denial various motives were assigned. Some called it modesty ; others, a sense of his own demerit ; many imputed it to a degenerate spirit, insensible to all fair and honorable distinctions. The love of glory, they observed, has ever been the incentive of exalted minds. It was by this principle that Hercules and Bacchus enrolled themselves among the gods of Greece ; and it was thus that Romulus was deified at Rome. Augustus made a right esti- mate of things ; and, by consequence, aspired to rank himself with ancient worthies. With regard to other gratifications, princes are in a station where to desire is to have. But the passion for glory ought to be insatiable. The esteem of posterity is the true ambi- tion of a prince. From the contempt of fame arises a contempt of virtue.* XXXIX. Sejanus, intoxicated with success, and hurried on by the importunity of the younger Livia,2 1 A sense of moral obligation is the true motive of virtue. JMany who act from that principle ' do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.' This however is not a contempt of fame ; it is a wish not to have it thought the spring of vir- tuous actions. With others, the love of fame is the sole in- centive. Some pursue it, regardless of the rectitude of their conduct, hut sensible of the value of a fair report in their commerce with the world. Others consider fame as the re- ward of a well-acted life, and know no other motive. The effect, in the last case, is finely described by Mr. Addison : Honor's a sacred tie, the law of kings : The noble mind's distinguishing perfection ; That aids and strengthens virtue, where it meets her. And imitates her actions where she is not. It is not to be sported with. From the man who does sport with it, who despises fame, and has great talents, without one virtue, what can be ex- pected? — Suspicion, cruelty, lust, and massacre. 2 She who conspired against her husband, Drusiis. This book, § 3. THE ANNAI-S. — BOOK IV. 319 who was grown impatient of the promised marriage, thought fit to open the business to the emperor. All applications, at that time, even when a personal inter- view took place, were presented to the prince in writ- ing.' The purport of the memorial was, that 'the munificence of Augustus to the petitioner, and the favors added by Tiberius, had so engrossed all his faculties, that he was now accustomed, instead of sup- plicating the gods, to oft'er up his prayers to the prince. Of rank and splendor he had never been ambitious : a post of difficulty, where he watched day and night like a common sentinel, to guard the life of his sove- reign, was the only honor he had ever sought. And yet a mark of the highest distinction had been con- ferred on him. The emperor deemed him worthy of an alliance with the imperial house. '^ His present hopes were built on that foundation. Having heard that Augustus,^ when the marriage of his daughter was in contemplation, doubted for some time whether he should not give her to a Roman knight, he pre- sumed to offer his humble request that Tiberius, if a new match was designed for Livia, would graciously think of a friend, who would bear in mind a due sense of the favor conferred on him, but never claim an ex- emption from the toil and duty of his post. To shelter his family from the animosity of Agrippina was the object he had in view. He felt for his children ; but as to himself, if he died in the service of his prince, he should die contented and full of years.' 1 The custom was begun by Julius Caesar, and continued by Augustus. Suetonius, in Aug. § 84. 2 The daughter of Sejanus was to have been married to Drusus, the son of Claudius. Annals, iii. 29. This book, 3 Julia, the daughter of Augustus. 320 TACITUS. XL. Tiberius expressed himself pleased with the style of aifection which breathed through the memo- rial. He mentioned, in a cursory manner, the favors he had granted, but desired time for the consideration of a subject so entirely new and unexpected. Having w^eighed the business, he returned the following an- swer : ' In all matters of deliberation, self interest is the principle by which individuals decide for them- selves : with princes it is otherwise. The opinions of the people claim their attention, and public fame must direct their conduct. To the request which had been made an obvious answer presented itself to his pen : he might observe, that it was for Livia to determine whether she would contract another marriage, or be content to remain the widow of Drusus. He might add, that she had a mother ' and a grandmother, more nearly connected than himself, and for tliat reason fitter to be consulted. But he would deal openlj'^ and in terms of plain simplicity. And first, as to Agrip- pina ; her resentment would break out with redoubled violence if, by the marriage of Liv.ia, she saw the im- perial family dividing into contending factions. Even at present, female jealousies made a scene of tumult and distraction. His grandsons were involved in their dicputes. Should the marriage be allowed, perpetual discord might be the consequence. * Do you imagine, Sejanus, that Livia, the widow first of Caius Caesar, and since of Drusus, will act an humble part, and waste her life in the embraces of a Roman knight? Should I consent, what will be said by those who saw her father, her brother, and the ances- tors of our family, invested with the highest honors of 1 Antonia was her mother, and Livia, the widow of Au- gustus, was her grandmother. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 321 the state ? But it seems you will not aspire above your present station. Remember that the magistrates, and the first men in Rome, who besiege your levee, and in every thing defer to your judgment ; remember, I say, that they now proclaim aloud that you have al- ready soared above the equestrian rank, and enjoy higher authority than was ever exercised by the favor- ites of my father. They declaim against you with envy, and they obliquely glance at me. But Augustus, you say, had thoughts of giving his daughter to one of the equestrian order. And if, overwhelmed by a weight of cares, yet sensible at the same time of the honor that would accrue to the favored bridegroom, he men- tioned occasionally Caius Proculeius and some others, it was well known that they were all of moderate prin- ciples ; men who led a life of tranquillity, and took no part in the transactions of the state. And if Au- gustus had his doubts, is it for me to take a decided part ? His final determination is the true precedent. He gave his daughter first to Agrippa, and afterwards to myself. These are the reflections which I thought proper to communicate to you. My friendship is with- out disguise. To the measures which you and Livia may have concerted no obstacle shall arise from me. But still there are other ties by which I would bind you to myself in closer union.' I will not at present enlarge on the subject. I shall only say, that I know no honor to Avhich you are not intitled by your virtues, 1 Some of the commentators have been at great pains to unravel this mysterious passage. He, whose curiosity is excited by difficulty, and even sharpened by impossibility, may have the pleasure of toiling through an elaborate disser- tation on this subject by La Bletterie. After all, the passage seems to be in the style which Tiberius loved and practised; dark and impenetrable. Perhaps he meant to associate Seja- nus with himself in the tribunitian power. TACIT. VOL. I. X 322 TACITUS. and i)y your zeal for my interest. But what I think and feel on this head I shall take occasion to explain to the senate, or, it may be, in a full assembly of the people.' XLI. Alarmed by this answer, Sejanus dropped all thoughts of the marriage. A crowd of apprehensions rushed on him. He feared the penetrating eye of ma- licious enemies ; he dreaded the whispers of suspicion, and the clamors of the public. To prevent impres- sions to his disadvantage, he presented a second me- morial, humbly requesting that the emperor would pay no regard to the suggestions of ill-designing men. Be- tween two nice and difficult points the favorite was now much embarrassed. If, for the sake of a more humble appearance, he determined to avoid for the future the great conflux of visitors who frequented his house, his power, in a short time, would be in its wane ; and, on the other hand, by receiving such a numerous train, he gave access to spies on his conduct. A new ex- pedient occurred to him. He resolved to persuade the emperor to withdraw from the city, and lead, in some delightful, but remote situation, a life of ease and solitary pleasure. In this measure he saw many advantages. Access to the prince Avould depend on the minister ; all letters conveyed by the soldiers would fall into his hands ; and Tiberius, now in the vale of years, might be, when charmed with his retreat, and lulled to repose and indolence, more easily induced to resign the reins of government. In that retirement the favorite would disengage himself from the vain parade of crowded levees ; envy would be appeased ; and instead of the shadow of powder, he might grasp the substance. To this end, Sejanus affected to dis- relish the noise and bustle of the city ; the people as- sembling in crowds gave him disgust; and the courtiers, THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 323 who buzzed in the palace, brought nothing but fatigue and vain parade. He talked of the pleasures of rural solitude, where there was nothing but pure enjoyment, no little anxieties, no tedious languor, no intrigues of faction ; a scene of tranquillity, where important plans of policy might be concerted at leisure. XLII. It happened in this juncture that the trial of Votienus Montanus,^ a man famous for his wit and talents, was brought to a hearing. In the course of this business Tiberius, with a mind already balancing, came to a resolution to avoid, for the future, the as- sembly of the fathers, where he was so often mortified by grating expressions. Montanus was accused of words injurious to the emperor, ^milius, a man in the military line, was a witness against him. To esta- blish the charge, this man went into a minute detail, from little circumstances hoping to deduce a full con- viction. Though ill heard by the fathers, he persisted, in spite of noise and frequent interruption, to relate every circumstance. Tiberius heard the sarcastic language with which his character was torn and mangled in private. He rose in a sudden transport of passion, declaring, in a peremptory tone, that he would refute the calumny in that stage of the business, or institute a judicial proceeding for the purpose. The intreaties of his friends, seconded by the adulation of the fathers, were scarce sufficient to appease his anger. 1 Montanus was an eminent orator, but too copious, and often redundant. Not content with a thought happily ex- pressed, he recurred to it again ; and wanting to phice it in a new light, he disfigured what was well said, and went on repeating and retouching the same thing till he spoiled the whole. Scaurus called him the Ovid of orators ; observing, at the same time, that to know when to leave off is an essen- tial part of oratory, not less than the choice of proper expres- sion. JMontanus was also a poet. Ovid says of him, that he excelled in heroic metre, and the tender elegy. 324 TACITUS. The judgment usual in cases of violated majesty was pronounced against Montanus. Want of clemency was the general objection to Tiberius ; but the re- proach, instead of mitigating, served only to inflame that vindictive temper. With a spirit exasperated, he took up the affair of Aquilia, convicted of adultery with Varius Ligur ; and though Lentulus Getulicus, consul elect, was of opinion that the penalties ' of the Julian law would be an adequate punishment, she was ordered into exile. Apidius Merula had refused to swear on the acts of Augustus. For that offence Tiberius rased his name from the register of the senators.^ XLIII. The dispute then depending between the Lacedaemonians and the people of Messena, concern- ing the temple of the Limnatidian Diana,^ was brought to a hearing before the senate. Deputies were heard from both places. On the part of the Lacedaemonians it was contended that the structure in question was built by their ancestors, within the territory of Sparta. For proof of the fact they cited extracts from history, and passages of ancient poetry. In the war with Philip of Macedon they were deprived of their right by force of arms ; but the same was restored by Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. The Messenians, on the other 1 There were two modes of expulsion from the city of Rome: one was relegatio ; the other e.iilium. 'I'he former was a mere order of removal to a certain distance ; but the person so punished did not forfeit his property, nor the free- dom of the city. Banishment took away every right. Tibe- rius chose, on this occasion, to inflict the severest punish- ment. 2 The Alhim Senatorium was a register of the senators pub- lished every year, according to a regulation of Augustus. S Brotier says, as far as can be collected from Pausanias, this temple was not far from the place now called Zarnata, near the gulf of Coron in the Morea. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 32.5 haiul, produced an ancient chart of Peloponnesus, di- vided among the descendants of Hercules ; by which it appeared that the Dentheliate field, where the tem- ple stood, fell to the lot of the king of Messena. In- scriptions verifying the fact were still to be seen in stone and tables of brass. If fragments of poetry and loose scraps of history were to be admitted, they had, in that kind, a fund of evidence more ample, and di- rectly in point. It was not by an act of violence that Philip of Macedon transferred the possession from Sparta to the Messenians; his justice dictated that decision. Since that time several judgments, all conspiring to the same effect, were pronounced by king Antigonus, by Mummius, the Roman general, by the Milesians, in their capacity of public arbitra- tors, and finally by Atidius Geminus, then pretor of Achaia.' The Messenians carried their point. The citizens of Segestum^ presented a petition, stating, that the temple of Venus on Mount Eryx had mouldered away, and therefore praying leave to build a new edifice on the same spot. Their account of the first foundation was so highly flattering to the pride of Tiberius that, considering himself as a person related to the goddess, he undertook the care and the expense of the building. A petition from the city of Marseilles came next into debate. The fact was shortly this : Vulcatius Moschus, banished by the laws of Rome, and admitted to the freedom of the city of Marseilles, bequeathed to that republic, which he considered as his native 1 When Greece was reduced to subjection the Romans gave to the whole country the general name of Achaia. 2 A town in Sicily, now Castel a Mare, in the vale of Mazara. The temple of A'enus Erycina was afterwards re- built by Claudius ; Suetonius, Life of Claudius. 326 TACITUS. country, tlie whole of his property. To justify this proceeding, the Marseillians cited the case of Publius Rutilius,' an exile from Rome, and afterwards natu- ralised by the people of Smyrna. The authority of the precedent was admitted, and the fathers pro- nounced in favor of the will. XLIV. In the course of the year died Cneius Len- tulus- and Lucius Domitius, two citizens of dis- tinguished eminence. The consular dignity, and the honor of triumphal ornaments, for a complete victory over the Getulians, gave lustre to the name of Len- tulus ; but the true glory of his character arose from the dignity with which he supported himself, first in modest poverty, and afterwards in the possession of a splendid fortune, acquired with integrity and enjoyed Avith moderation. Domitius owed much of his conse- quence to his ancestors. His father, during the civil wars, remained master of the seas till he went over to Marc Antony, and, soon after deserting his party, fol- lowed the fortunes of Augustus. His grandfather fell in the battle of Pharsalia, fighting for the senate. Domitius, thus descended, was deemed worthy of the younger Antonia, the daughter of Marc Antony by his wife Octavia. He led the Roman legions beyond the Elbe,^ and penetrated farther into Germany than any former commander. His services were rewarded with triumphal ornaments. 1 Publius Rutilius is called by Velleius Paterculus the best man, not only of his own time, but of any age whatever. He was banished, to the great grief of the city of Ptome. 2 Lentuluswas consul A. U.C. 740. For his victories over the Getulians in Africa, he obtained triumphal ornaments. See Velleius Paterculus, ii. 116. He was sent with Drusus into Pannonia, Annals, i. 27. S See the Memoirs of tlie House of Brandenburg, by the late king of Prussia. It is there said, but not on good autho- rity, that the Romans never passed the Elbe. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 327 Lucius Aiitonius, who likewise died this year, must not be omitted. He was descended from a line of an- cestors highly honored, but unfortunate. His father, Julius Antonius, being put to death for his adulterous commerce with Julia, the son, at that time of tender years, and grand-nephew to Augustus, was sent out of the way to the city of Marseilles, where, under the pretence of pursuing his studies, he was detained in actual banishment. Funeral honors were paid to his memory, and his remains, by a decree of the senate, were deposited in the monument of the Octavian fa- mily. XLV. While the same consuls continued in office, a deed of an atrocious nature was committed in the nethermost Spain, by a peasant from the district of Termes. Lucius Piso, the pretor of the province, in a period of profound peace, was travelling through the country, unguarded, and without precaution, when a desperate ruffian attacked him on the road, and, at one blow, laid him dead on the spot. Trusting to the swift- ness of his horse, the assassin made towards the forest, and, there dismounting, pursued his way on foot over devious wilds and craggy steeps, eluding the vigilance and activity of the Romans. He did not, however, remain long concealed. His horse was found in the woods, and being led through the neighboring villages, the name of the owner was soon discovered. The vil- lain of course was apprehended. On the rack, and under the most excruciating torture, he refused to dis- cover his accomplices. With a tone of firmness, and in his own language, ' Your questions,' he said, * are all in vain. Let my associates come ; let them behold my sufferings and my constancy : not all the pangs you can inflict shall wrest the secret from me,' On 328 TACITUS. the following day, as they were again dragging him to the rack, he broke, with a sudden exertion, from the hands of the executioner, and, dashing with violence against a stone, fell and expired. The murder of Piso was not thought to be the single crime of this bold as- sassin : the inhabitants of Termes, it was generally be- lieved, entered into a conspiracy to cut off a man, who claimed restitution of the public money which had been rescued from the collectors. Piso urged his de- mand with more rigor thajn suited the stubborn genius of a savage people. XLVI. Lentulus Getulicus and Caius Calvisius suc- ceeded to the consulship. During their administra- tion triumphal ornaments were decreed to Poppseus Sabinus for his victory over the people of Thrace ; a clan of freebooters, who led a savage life on hills and rugged cliffs, without laws, or any notion of civil policy. Rushing down from their mountains, they waged a desultory war with wild ferocity. Their mo- tives to a revolt were strong and powerful. They saw the flower of their youth carried off to recruit the Ro- man armies, and of course their numbers much re- duced. Men, who measured their obedience, even to their own kings, by the mere caprice of barbarians, were not willing to submit to the Roman yoke. On former occasions, when they were willing to act as auxiliaries, they gave the command of their forces to chiefs of their own nation, under an express condition that they should serve against the neighboring states only, and not be obliged to fight the battles of Rome in distant regions. In the present juncture an idea prevailed amongst them that they were to be extermi- nated from their native soil, and mixed with other troops in foreign nations. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 329 Before they had recourse to arms they sent a depu- tation to Sabinus, stating ' their former friendship, and the passive disposition with which tliey had lieretofore submitted to the Roman generals. They were willing to continue in the same sentiments provided no new grievance gave them cause of complaint. But if the intention was to treat them as a vanquished people ; if tlie yoke of slavery was prepared for their necks, they abounded with men and steel, and they had hearts de- voted to liberty or death.' Their ambassadors, after thus declaring themselves, pointed to their castles on the ridge of hills and rocks, where they had collected their families, their parents, and their wives. If the sword must be drawn, they threatened a campaign big with danger, in its nature difficult, fierce, and bloody. XLVII. Sabinus, wishing to gain sufficient time for the assembling of his army, amused them with gentle answers. Meanwhile Pomponius Labeo, with a legion from Mcesia, and Rhoemetalces, who reigned over part of Thrace, came up with a body of his subjects, who still retained their fidelity, and formed a junc- tion against the rebels. Sabinus, thus reinforced, went in quest of the enemy. The barbarians had taken post in the woods and narrow defiles. The bold and warlike showed themselves in force on the declivity of the hills. The Roman general advanced in regular order of battle. The mountaineers were put to flight, but with inconsiderable loss. The nature of the place favored their retreat. Sabinus encamped on the spot deserted by the enemy, and, having raised intrench- ments, marched with a strong detachment to an ad- jacent hill, narrow at the top, but, by a level and con- tinued ridge, extending to a stronghold where the barbarians had collected a prodigious multitude, some 330 TACITUS. provided with arms, but the greater part no better than an undisciplined rabble. The bravest of the malcontents appeared on the out- side of their lines, according to the custom of bar- barians, dancing in wild distortion, and howling savage songs. The Roman archers advanced to attack them. They poured in a volley of darts, and wounded num- bers with impunity, till, having approached too near, the besieged made a sally from the castle, and threw the Romans into disorder. An auxiliary cohort, which had been posted to advantage, came up to support tlie broken ranks. This body of reserve consisted of the Sicambrians, a wild and ferocious people, who, like the Thracians, rushed to battle with the mingled uproar of a savage war-hoop, and the hideous clangor of their arms. XLVIII. Sabinus pitched a new camp near the forti- fications of the castle. In the former intrenchments he left the Thracians, who had joined the army under the command of Rhoeraetalces, with orders to ravage the country, and, as long as daylight lasted, to plun- der, burn, and destroy ; but, during the night, to remain within their lines, taking care to station out- posts and sentinels to prevent a surprise. These di- rections were at first duly observed ; but a relaxation of discipline soon took place. Enriched with booty, the men gave themselves up to riot and dissipation: no sentinels fixed, and no guard appointed ; the time was spent in carousals, and their whole camp lay buried in sleep and wine. The mountaineers, having good intelligence from their scouts, formed two sepa- rate divisions ; one to fall on the roving freebooters, and the other, in the same moment, to storm the Ro- mans in their intrenchments ; not, indeed, with hopes THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 331 of carrying the works, but chiefly to spread a double alarm, and cause a scene of Avild confusion, in which the men, amidst a volley of darts, would be intent on their own immediate danger, and none would listen to the uproar of another battle. To auoment the terror, both assaults began in the night. No impression was made on the legions : but the Thracian auxiliaries, stretched at ease in their intrenchments, or idly wan- dering about on the outside of the lines, were taken by surprise, and put to the sword without mercy. The slaughter raged with greater fury as the mountaineers thought they were executing an act of vengeance on perfidious men, who deserted the common cause, and fought to enslaA^e themselves and their country. XLIX. On the following day Sabinus drew up his men on the open plain, expecting that the events of the preceding night would encourage the barbarians to hazard a battle. Seeing that nothing could draw them from their works, or their fastnesses on the hills, he began a regular siege. A number of forts were thrown up with all expedition, and a fosse, with lines of cir- cumvallation, inclosed a space of four miles round. To cut off' all supplies of water and provisions, he ad- vanced by degrees, and raising new works, formed a close blockade on every side. From a high rampart the Romans were able to discharge a volley of stones and darts and firebrands. Thirst was the chief dis- tress of the mountaineers. A single fountain was their only resource. The men who bore arms, and an infinite multitude incapable of service, were all in- volved in one general calamity. The distress was still increased by the famine that raged among the horses and cattle, which, without any kind of distinction, according to the custom of barbarians, lay intermixed with tlie men. In one promiscuous heap were to be 382 TACITUS. seen the carcasses of animals, and the bodies of soldiers who perished by the sword, or the anguisli of thirst. Clotted gore and stench and contagion filled the place. To complete their misery, internal discord, that worst of evils, added to the horror of the scene. Some were for laying down their arms ; others, preferring self-destruction, proposed a general massacre ; while a third party thought it better to sally out, and die sword in hand, fighting in the cause of liberty ; a brave and generous counsel, different, indeed, from the advice of their comrades, but worthy of heroic minds. L. The expedient of surrendering at discretion was adopted by one of the leading chiefs. His name was Dinis ; a man advanced in years, and by long ex- perience convinced as well of the clemency as of the terror of the Roman name. ' To submit/ he said, * was their only remedy ;' and, accordingly, he threw himself, his wife, and children, on the mercy of the conqueror. He was followed by the weaker sex, and all who preferred slavery to a glorious death. Two other chiefs, by name Tarsa and Turesis, advised bolder measures. Between their opposite sentiments the young and vigorous were divided. To fall with falling liberty was the resolution of both ; but they chose different modes. Tarsa declared for imme- diate death, the end of all hopes and fears ; and, to lead the way, he plunged a poniard in his breast. Numbers followed his example. Turesis was still re- solved to sally out ; and, for that purpose, he waited for the advantage of the night. The Roman general received intelligence, and accordingly strengthened the guards at every post. Night came on, and brought with it utter darkness and tempestuous weather. With shouts and horrible bowlings, followed at intervals by THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 333 a profound and awful silence, the barbarians kept the besiegers in constant alarm. Sabinus rounded the watch, and at every post exhorted his men to be nei- ther terrified by savage bowlings, nor lulled into se- curity by deceitful stillness. If taken by surprise, they would give to an insidious enemy every advan- tage. ' Let each man continue fixed at his post, and let no darts be thrown at random, and, by consequence, without effect.' LI. The barbarians, in different divisions, came rush- ing down from their hills. With massy stones, with clubs hardened by fire, and with trunks of trees, they attempted to batter a breach in the Roman palisade ; they threw hurdles, faggots, and dead bodies, into the trenches ; they laid bridges over the fosse, and applied scaling-ladders to the rampart ; they grasped hold of the works ; they endeavored to force their way, and fought hand to hand. The garrison drove them back with their javelins, beat them down with their buck- lers, and overwhelmed them with huge heaps of stones. Both sides fought with obstinate bravery : the Ro- mans, to complete a victory almost gained already, and to avoid the disgrace of suffering it to be wrested from them. On the part of the barbarians, despair was courage ; the last struggle for life inspired them, and the shrieks of their wives and mothers roused them to deeds of valor. The darkness of the night favored equally ths coward and the brave. Blows were given at random, and where they fell was uncertain ; wounds were re- ceived no man could tell from whom. Friends and enemies were mixed without distinction. The shouts of the barbarians, reverberated from the neighboring hills, sounded in the ear of the Romans as if the uproar was at their backs. They thought the enemy 334 TACITUS. had stormed the intrenchments, and they fled from their posts. The barbarians, however, were not able to force the works. The number that entered was inconsiderable. At the dawn of day they beheld a melancholy spectacle ; the bravest of their comrades either disabled by their wounds, or lying dead on the spot. Disheartened at the sight, they fled to their fortifications, and were at last compelled to surrender at discretion. The people in the neighborhood made a voluntary submission. The few that still held out were protected by the severity of the winter, which setting in, as is usual near Mount Haeraus, with in- tense rigor, the Roman general could neither attack them in their fastnesses, nor reduce them by a siege. LII. At Rome, in the mean time, the imperial family was thrown into a state of distraction. As a prelude to the fate of Agrippina, a prosecution was commenced against Claudia Pulchra, her near relation. Domi- tius Afer was the prosecutor ; a man who had lately discharged the office of pretor, but had not risen to any degree of eminence or consideration in the state. Aspiring, bold, and turbulent, he was now determined to advance himself by any means, however flagitious. The heads of his accusation were adultery with Fur- nius, a design to poison the emperor, and the secret practice of spells and magic incantations. The haughty spirit of Agrippina but ill could brook the danger of her friend. Slie rushed to the presence of Tiberius. Finding him in the act of offering a sacrifice to tlie manes of Augustus, she accosted him in a tone of ve- hemence. ' The piety,' she said, ' which thus employs itself in slaying victims to the deceased emperor agrees but ill with the hatred that persecutes his posterity. Those are senseless statues which you adore ; they are not animated with the spirit of Augustus. His de- THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 335 scenJants are living images of him ; and yet even they, whose veins are warm with his celestial blood, stand trembling on the brink of peril. Why is Claudia Pulchra devoted to destruction ? What has she com- mitted ? She has loved Agrippina, to excess has loved her; that is her only crime. Improvident woman! she might have remembered Sosia, undone and ruined for no other reason.' Tiberius felt the reproach : it drew from that inscrutable breast a sudden burst of re- sentment. He told Agrippina, in a Greek verse, ' You are hurt, because you do not reign.' Pulchra and Furnius were both condemned. In the conduct of the prosecution Domitius Afer shone forth with such a flame of eloquence, that he ranked at once with the most celebrated orators, and, by the suft'rage of Tiberius, wais pronounced an original genius, depending on his own native energy. From that time he pursued the career of eloquence, sometimes engaged on the side of the accused, often against them, and always doing more honor to his talents than to his moral character. As age advanced on him the love of hearing himself talk continued, when the ability was gone.^ He re- mained, with decayed faculties, a superannuated orator. LIII. Agrippina, weakened by a fit of illness, but still retaining the pride of her character, received a visit from Tiberius. She remained for some time fixed in silence ; tears only forced their way. . At length, in 1 Quintilian has said the same thing of Domitius Afer; see Dialogue concerning Eloquence, in the Supplement, § 8. The great critic advises all men of talents not to wait tor the decay of age ; but to sound a retreat in time, and anchor safely in port before the vessel is disabled. ' The consequence,' he says, ' will be, that the man of genius will enjoy a state of tranquillity, removed from scenes of contention, out of the reach of calumny, and will have, while he is still alive, a foretaste of his posthumous fame.' 336 TACITUS. terms of supplication, mixed with bitter reproaches, she desired him to consider, ' that widowhood is a state of destitution, A second marriage might assuage her sorrows. The season of her youth was not in- tirely past, and for a woman of honor there was no resource but in the conjugal state. There were at Rome citizens of illustrious rank who would, with pride, take the widow and the children of Germanicus to their protection.' Tiberius saw in this request a spirit of ambition, that looked proudly towards the imperial dignity. Unwilling, notwithstanding, to dis- cover his jealousy, he heard her with calm indifference, and left her without an answer. For this anecdote, not to be found in the historians of the time, I am in- debted to the younger Agrippina, the mother of the emperor Nero, who, in the memoirs of her life, has related her own misfortunes and those of her family. LIV. The violence of Agrippina's passions, and the imprudence of her conduct, exposed her to the malice of Sejanus, who now had laid the seed-plots of her destruction. He sent his agents to inform her, under a mask of friendship, that she would do well to be- ware of poison, and avoid eating at the emperor's table. To dissemble was not the talent of Agrippina. Invited by Tiberius, and placed near his person, she remained silent, pensive, with downcast eyes, abstaining from every thing placed before her. Tiberius marked her behavior, or perhaps the hint was previously given. To put her to the test, he praised the apples that stood near him, and helped her with his own hand. Agrip- pina was alarmed. Without so much as tasting the fruit, she gave it to the servants to be conveyed away. Tiberius, always master of himself, with seeming in- advertence overlooked her behavior, but took an opportunity to say privately to his mother, ' Should THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 337 this woman be treated with severity, will any body wonder, when she now imputes to me the guilt of dealing in poison V A report prevailed soon after that the fate of Agrippina was determined : but the em- peror would not venture to act with open violence : he knew that the public eye was on him, and resolved, for that reason, to lie in wait for a clandestine murder. LV. To check the murmurs of suspicion, and draw the public attention to other objects, Tiberius once more attended the debates of the fathers, and gave au- dience for several days to the ambassadors from different parts of Asia, all with ardor claiming a right to build, in their respective territories, the temple already men- tioned. Eleven cities rivalled each other, not in power and opulence, but with equal zeal contending for the preference. They stated, with little variation, the antiquity of their origin, and their fidelity to Rome in the various wars with Perseus, Aristonicus, and other eastern princes. The people of Hypjepes, the Tral- lians, Laodiceans, and Magnesians, were deemed un- equal to the expense, and for that reason thrown out of the case. The inhabitants of Ilium boasted that Troy was the cradle of the Roman people, and on that foundation rested their pretensions. The citizens of Halicarnassus held the senate for some time in sus- pense. It was alleged on their behalf that, during a series of twelve hundred years, they had not felt the shock of an earthquake, and they promised to build the edifice on a solid rock. The city of Pergamus made a merit of having already built a temple in honor of Augustus ; but that distinction was deemed suffi- cient. At Ephesus, where Diana was adored, and at Miletus, where Apollo was worshipped, a new object of veneration was deemed unnecessary. The question was now reduced to the cities of Sardes TACIT. VOL. I. Y 338 TACITUS. and Smyrna. The former read a decree, in wliicli they were acknowleged by the Etrurians as a kindred na- tion. By this document it appeared that Tyrrhenus and Lydus, both sons of king Atys, finding their country overstocked with inhabitants, agreed to form a separation. Lydus continued to occupy his native territory, and Tyrrhenus withdrew to settle a new colony. From that time the two nations were called by the names of their respective chiefs ; in Asia, Ly- dians ; Tyrrhenians in Italy. The Lydians multiplied their numbers with such increase, that they overflowed a second time. A migration passed over into Greece, and from Pelops, their leader, gave to the new ter- ritory the name of Peloponnesus. Besides these vouchers the people of Sardes produced letters from some of the Roman generals, and also treaties of al- liance during the wars in Macedonia. Nor did they forget to state the number of rivers that fertilised their soil, the temperature of their climate, and the plenty that covered the face of the country. LVI. The deputies from Smyrna thought fit to grace their cause with the antiquity of their origin : but whether their city was founded by Tantalus, the son of Jupiter ; by Theseus, the son of a god; or by one of the ancient Amazons, they left as a question of curiosity ; relying more on their constant attachment to the Romans, whom they had assisted with a naval force, not only in their wars with foreign nations, but in those that involved all Italy. They thought it of moment to observe, that of all the cities in Asia, they were the first that built a temple in honor of the Roman name. This they had done in the consul- ship of Marcus Porcius Cato, at a time when the re- public was undoubtedly in a florishing condition, but had not yet attained that meridian splendor which afterwards followed the success of her arms. Car- THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 339 thage ^ still subsisted, and the kings of Asia were un- subdued. For proof of still greater merit, the de- puties appealed to the testimony of Lucius Sylla. When the legions under that commander, well-nigh reduced to famine by the severity of the winter, and distressed for want of clothing, were in danger of being destroyed, their condition was no sooner known at Smyrna than the people, then assembled in a pub- lic convention, with one generous impulse, threw off their clothes, and sent them to supply the necessities of the Roman army. The question was thereon put by the senate, and the city of Smyrna prevailed. Vi- bius Marsus moved, that in aid to Marcus Lepidus, who had obtained the province by lot, an officer ex- traordinary should be put in commission, to superin- tend the building of the temple. The delicacy of Lepidus not permitting him to choose his coadjutor, the names of such as were of pretorian rank were drawn by lot, and the chance fell on Valerius Naso. LVII. In this juncture Tiberius, bent on the mea- sure which he had often ruminated, and as often pro- crastinated, set out for Campania, under the plausible pretence of dedicating a temple to Jupiter at Capua, and another to Augustus at Nola, but in truth deter- mined never to return to Rome. Relying on the au- thority of eminent historians, I have ascribed the secret cause of this retreat to the artifice of Sejanus f but when it is considered, that after the downfal of that minister Tiberius passed the six following years in the same recluse manner, I am inclined to refer the whole to the workings of a dark and politic spirit, that wished to hide in solitude the lust and cruelty which 1 Carthage was destroyed by Scipio, A. U. C. 608. 2 Sejanus has been mentioned as the cause of the empe- ror's retreat. This book, § 41. 340 TACITUS. in his actions were too manifest to the world. At Rome there was a current opinion that, towards the end of life, he was unwilling to exhibit to public view a tall emaciated figure,' a body sinking under the weight of years, a bald head, a scrofulous face, and a number of blotches covered with medical applications. It is well known that during his retreat at the isle of Ehodes he shunned society, and passed his time in secret gratifications. According to some waiters, it was the domineering spirit^ of his mother that drove him from Rome. To admit her to a share in the go- vernment was not in his nature : and to exclude her altogether was not in his power, since it was to her that he owed his elevation. Augustus, it is certain, at one point of time, favored Germanicus, the grand- son of his sister, and even thought of raising him to the supreme authority ; but, being governed by his wife, he gave her son the preference, and left Germa- nicus to be adopted by Tiberius. With these services Livia taxed her son ; and what she had given she considered as a deposit liable to be resumed. LVIII. Tiberius departed from Rome with a slender retinue. In his train were Cocceius Nerva,^ a senator of consular rank, celebrated for his legal knowlege ; 1 Suetonius, section 68, describes Tiberius large, robust, and of a stature above the usual size. Tacitus speaks of him when he was bent under the weight of years. 2 Suetonius says there was a current report that Livia, incensed by the haughty carriage of her son, produced the letters of Augustus, complaining of the pride and arrogance of Tiberius. The production of those papers, at such a dis- tance of time, was thought to be his principal reason for leaving Rome. Suet, in Tib. § 51. S Cocceius Nerva ended his days by abstinence, A. U. C. 786, to withdraw himself from the horror of the times. An- nals, vi. 26. Brotier says he was thought to be father of the Emperor Nerva. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 341 Sejanus the favorite minister ; and Curtius Atticiis, a Roman knight. These were the only persons of rank. The rest were distinguished by nothing- but their literature ; mostly Greeks,' men whose talents amused him in his hours of leisure. The professors of judicial astrology declared their opinion that the position of the planets, under which Tiberius left the capital, made his return impossible. This prediction gained credit, and the death of the emperor being, by consequence, thought near at hand, numbers, who had been bold enough to circulate the rumor, brought on their own destruction. That the prince should re- main during the space of eleven years a voluntary exile from the seat of government, was an event be- yond the reach of human foresight. In the end, how- ever, the art of such as pretended to see into futurity was discovered to be vain and frivolous. It was seen how nearly truth and falsehood are allied, and how much the facts, which happened to be foretold, are involved in darkness. That Tiberius would return no more was a prophecy verified by the event ; the rest was altogether visionary ; since we find that long after that time he appeared in the neighborhood of Rome, sometimes on the adjacent shore, often in the suburbs, and died at last in the extremity of old age. LIX. While the reports of the astrologers were scattered abroad, an accident, which put Tiberius in danger of his life, added to the credulity of tlie people, but at the same time raised Sejanus higher than ever in the affections and esteem of his master. It hap- 1 These Greek attendants, and the cruelties inflicted on them by Tiberius, are mentioned in Suetonius, § 56 ; and see Annals, v. in the Supplement, § 42. There were also in his train a number of Chaldean astrologers, or mathematicians, as they chose to call themselves. Juvenal, x. 94. 342 TACITUS. pened that in a cave formed by nature, at a villa called Spelunca,' between the gulf of Aniycle and the hills of Fondi, Tiberius was at a banquet with a party of his friends, when the stones at the entrance gave way on a sudden, and crushed some of the attendants. The guests were alarmed, and fled for safety. Seja- nus, to protect his master, fell on his knee, and with his whole force sustained the impending weight. In that attitude he was found by the soldiers who came to relieve the prince. From that time the power of the minister knew no bounds. A man who, in the moment of danger, could show so much zeal for his master, and so little attention to himself, was heard with affection and unlimited confidence. His counsels, however pernicious, were received as the dictates of truth and honor. Towards the children of Germanicus Sejanus af- fected to act with the integrity of a judge, while in secret he was their inveterate enemy. He suborned a band of accusers ; and Nero, then presumptive heir to the empire, was the first devoted victim. The young prince, unhackneyed in the ways of men, modest in his deportment, and in his manners amiable, had not the prudence that knows how to temporise and bend to occasions. The freedmen, and others about his person, eager to grasp at power, encouraged him to act with firmness and a spirit suited to his rank. Such behavior, they told him, would gratify the wishes of the people ; the army desired it, and the pride of Sejanus would soon be crest-fallen, though at present he triumphed over the worn-out faculties of a super- annuated em.peror, and the careless disposition of a young and inexperienced prince. 1 This was in Campania, on the sea-coast, near Terracina, The villa, according to Brotier, is now called Sperlonga. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 343 LX. Roused by these discourses, Nero began to throw off all reserve. Guilt was foreign to his heart ; but expressions of resentment fell from him, incon- siderate, rash, and unguarded. His words were caught up by spies about his person, and reported with aggra- vation. Against the malice of insidious men the prince had no opportimity to defend himself. He lived in constant anxiety, and every day brought some new alarm. Some of the domestics avoided his presence ; others paid a formal salute, and coldly passed away ; the greatest part entered into talk, and abruptly broke oft' the conversation ; while the creatures of Sejanus, aftecting to be free and easy, added mockery to their arrogance. The emperor received the prince with a stern counte- nance, or an ambiguous smile. Whether Nero spoke, or suppressed his thoughts, every word was miscon- strued, and even silence was a crime. The night itself gave him no respite from his cares, no retreat from danger. His waking moments, his repose, his sighs, his very dreams, informed against him : his wife car- ried the tale to her mother Livia, and the last whispered every thing to Sejanus. By that dark politician even Drusus, the brother of Nero, was drawn into the con- spiracy. To dazzle the imagination of a stripling, the splendor of empire, and the sure succession, when the ruin of the elder brother was completed, were held forth as bright temptations. The spirit of contention common between brothers was with Drusus an ad- ditional motive ; and the partiality of Agrippina for her eldest son inflamed a 5^oung man, who was by na- ture violent and ambitious. Sejanus, in the mean time, while he seemed to cherish Drusus, was busily employed in schemes to undermine him. He knew the haughty temper of the prince, and from the 344 TACITUS. violence of his passions expected to derive every advantage. LXI. Towards the end of the year died two illus- trious citizens, Asinius Agrippa and Quintus Haterius. The former was of an honorable but not ancient family. His own character reflected lustre on his ancestors. Haterius * was descended from a race of senators. His eloquence while he lived was in the highest ce- lebrity ; but his writings, published since his death, are not regarded as monuments of genius. Warm and rapid, he succeeded more through happiness than care. Diligence and depth of thinking, which give the last finishing to other works, and stamp their value with posterity, were not the talent of Haterius. His flow- ing period, and that harmonious cadence which charmed in the living orator, are now no longer heard. His page remains a dead letter, without grace or energy. LXII. In the next consulship, which was that of Marcus Licinius and Lucius Calpurnius, an unfore- seen disaster, no sooner begun than ended, laid a scene of ruin equal to the havoc of the most destructive war. A man of the name of Atilius, the son of a freedman, undertook at Fidena to build an amphitheatre for the exhibition of gladiators. The foundation was slight, and the superstructure not sufficiently braced ; the work of a man who had neither the pride of Avealth, nor the ambition to make himself of consequence in a municipal town. The profit that might probably arise from such a scheme was all he had in view. The people, under the austerity of a rigid and unsocial 1 Haterius florished in the time of Augustus. lie was an eminent orator, but so copious and rapid, that the emperor compared him to a chariot that required a spoke in the wheels. Seneca, Controvers. lib. iv. in Prsuiatione. See also Seneca, epist. xl. Eusebius, in his Chrouicon, says be lived to the age of ninety. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 345 government, deprived of their usual diversions, were eager for the novelty of a public spectacle ;' and the place being at no great distance from Rome, a vast conflux of men and women, old and young, crowded together. The consequence was that the building, overloaded with spectators, gave way at once. All who were under the roof, besides a prodigious multi- tude that stood round the place, were crushed in the ruins. The condition of those who perished instantly was the happiest. They escaped the pangs of death, while the maimed and lacerated lingered in torment, beholding, as long as daylight lasted, their wives and children in equal agony, and, during the night, pierced to the heart by their shrieks and groans. A calamity so fatal was soon known round the country. Crowds from all quarters went to view the melancholy scene. One lamented his brother, another his near relation ; children wept for their parents, and almost all for their friends. Such as by their avocations had been led a difl'erent way were given up for lost. The real sufferers were still unknown, and, in that dreadful state of suspense, every bosom panted with doubt and fear. LXIII. The ruins were no sooner removed than the crowd rushed in to examine the place. They gathered the dead bodies ; they clasped them in their arms ; they imprinted kisses, and often mistook the person. Disfigured faces, parity of age, and simili- tude of form and feature, occasioned great confusion. Claims were made, a tender contest followed, and errors were acknowleged. The number of killed or 1 Under the gloomy reign of Tiberius the people lost their favorite amusements, and therefore ran in crowds to the theatre, and otlier spectacles, whenever an opportunity of- fered. 346 TACITUS. maimed was not less than fifty thousand.^ The senate provided by a decree that, for the future, no man whose fortune was under four hundred thousand ses- terces should presume to exhibit a spectacle of gladia- tors, and that, till the foundation was examined, no amphitheatre should be erected. Atilius, the builder, was condemned to banishment. The grandees of Rome displayed their humanity on this occasion ; they threw open their doors ; they ordered medicines to be dis- tributed ; and the physicians attended with assiduity in every quarter. The city of Rome recalled, in that juncture, an image of ancient manners, when, after a battle bravely fought, the sick and wounded were re- ceived with open arms, and relieved by the generosity of their country. LXIV. While the public mind was still bleeding for the late calamity a dreadful fire laid waste a great part of the city. Mount Caelius- was reduced to ashes. The populace began to murmur. The year, they said, was big with disasters, and the prince departed from Rome under an evil constellation. Such is the logic of the multitude : what happens by chance they im- pute to design. To appease their discontent, Tiberius ordered a distribution of money in proportion to the damage of individuals. For this act of liberality the senate passed a vote of thanks, and the people were loud in praise of munificence so seasonably applied, and granted indiscriminately. No man had occasion to make interest ; it was enough that he was a sufi'erer. The fathers came to a resolution that Mount Caelius, where a statue of Tiberius, in the house of Junius the senator, escaped the fury of the flames, should for the future be called Mount Augustus. A prodigy of a 1 Suetonius says twenty thousand ; iu Tib. § 40. a One of the seven hills of Rome. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 347 similar nature happened in ancient times. The statue ^ of Claudia Quinta was saved twice from a general conflagration, and, on that account, placed and dedi- cated in the temple of the mother of the gods. The Claudian family was ever after considered as pecu- liarly favored by heaven, and the spot where the gods were lately so propitious to Tiberius was declared to be consecrated ground. LXV. It will not perhaps be improper to mention in this place that the mount of Avhich we have been speaking- was, in the early ages of Rome, covered with a grove of oaks, and for that reason called Quer- quetulanus. It took afterwards the name of Caelius from Ccelius Vibenna, an Etrurian chief, who marched at the head of his countrymen to assist the Romans, and for that service had the spot assigned to him as a canton for himself and his people. Whether this was the act of Tarquinius Priscus, or some other Roman king, is not settled by the historians. Thus much is certain ; the number transplanted was so great, that their new habitation extended from the mount along the plain beneath as far as the spot where the forum stands at present. From those settlers the Tuscan Street derives its name.^ LXVI. Though the sufferings of the people, in their late distress, were alleviated by the bounty of the prince, and the humanity of the great, there was still an evil against which no remedy could be found. The crew of informers rose in credit every day, and covered the city with consternation. Quintilius Varus,^ the 1 Suetonius mentions this conflagration in Tib. $ 48. 2 The origin of the Tuscan Street is accounted for in a dif- ferent manner by Livy, ii. 14. 3 The son of Quintilius Varus, who perished with his three legions in Germany. The prosecution of Claudia Pul- chra has been mentioned, this book, § 52. 348 TACITUS. son of Claudia Piiichra, and nearly related to the em- peror, was marked out as a victim. His large posses- sions tempted Domitius Afer, who had already ruined the mother. The blow now aimed at the son was no more than was expected from a man who had lived in indigence, and, having- squandered the wages of his late iniquity, was ready to find a new quarry for his avarice. But that a man like Publius Dolabella, nobly descended, and related to Varus, should be- come an instrument in the destruction of his own fa- mily was matter of wonder. The senate stopped the progress of the mischief. They resolved that the cause should stand over till the emperor's return to Rome. Procrastination was the only refuge of the unhappy. LXVII. Tiberius, in the mean time, dedicated the two temples in Campania which served him as a pre- text for quitting the city of Rome. That business finished, he issued an edict, warning the neighbor- ing cities not to intrude on his privacy. For better security, he placed a guard at proper stations to pre- vent all access to his person. These precautions, how- ever, did not content him. Hating the municipal towns, weary of the colonies, and sick of every thing on the continent, he passed over to Caprere,* a small island separated from the promontory of Surrentum by an arm of the sea, not more than three miles broad. De- fended there from all intrusion, and delighted with the solitude of the place, he sequestered himself from the world, seeing, as may be imagined, many circumstances suited to his humor. Not a single port in the channel ; 1 The isle of Caprea lies at a small distance from the pro- montory of Surrentum (now Capo della Minerva), and has the whole circuit of the bay of Naples in view. It is about four miles in length from east to west, and about one in breadth. See Addison's Description in his Travels in Italy. THE ANNALS.— BOOK IV. 349 the stations but few, and those accessible only to small vessels ; no part of the island where men could land unobserved^ by the sentinels; the climate inviting; in the winter, a soft and genial air, under the shelter of a mountain, that repels the inclemency of the winds ; in the summer, the heat allayed by the western breeze ; the sea presenting a smooth expanse, and opening a view of the bay of Naples, with a beautiful landscape on its borders ; all these conspired to please the taste and genius of Tiberius. The scene, indeed, has lost much of its beauty, the fiery eruptions of Mount Ve- suvius 2 having, since that time, changed the face of the country. If we may believe an old tradition, a colony from Greece was formerly settled on the opposite coast of Italy, and the Teleboi were in possession of the isle of Capreae. Be that as it may, Tiberius chose for his residence twelve different villas," all magnificent and well fortified. Tired of public business, he now re- signed himself to his favorite gratifications, amidst his solitary vices still engendering mischief. The habit of nourishing dark suspicions, and believing every whis- perer, still adhered to him. At Rome, Sejanus knew how to practise on such a temper ; but in this retreat he governed him with unbounded influence. Having gained the ascendant, he thought it time to fall on Agrippina and her son Nero, not, as heretofore, with covered malice, but with open and avowed hostility. 1 For the barbarity with which Tiberius treated all that landed on the island without permission, see Suetonius, in Tib. ■$ 60 ; and see Annals, v. in the Supplement, § 41. 2 The eruption of Vesuvius happened in the reign of Titus, A. U. C. 832, A. D. 79. Pliny gives a description of it, vi. xvi. and xx. S Tiberius fortified and fitted up for his residence twelve villas on the island, and gave to each the name of one of the gods. Suetonius mentions the Villa Jovis, in Tib. § 65. 350 TACITUS. He gave them a guard under color of attending their persons, but in fact to be spies on their actions. Every circumstance was noted ; their public and their private discourse, their messengers, their visitors, all were closely watched, and a journal kept of petty occur- rences. The agents of Sejanus, by order of their master, advised them both to fly for protection to the German army, or to take sanctuary under the statue of Augustus in the public forum, and there implore the protection of the senate and the people. The advice was rejected ; but the project, as if their own, and ripe for execution, was imputed to them as a crime. LXVIII. Junius Silanus and Silius Nervawere the next consuls. The year began with a transaction of the blackest dye. Titius Sabinus,* a Roman knight of high distinction, was seized with violence, and dragged to prison. His steady attachment to the house of Germanicus was his only crime. After the death of that unfortunate prince he continued firm to Agrippina and her children ; at her house a constant visitor ; in public a sure attendant, and, of the whole number that formerly paid their court, the only friend at last. His constancy was applauded by every honest mind, and censured by the vile and profligate. Four men of pretorian rank entered into a conspiracy to work his ruin. Their names were Latinius Latiaris, Porcius Cato, Petilius Rufus, and Marcus Opsius. They had all attained the pretorian rank, and now aspired to the consulship. The road to that dignity they knew was open to none but the creatures of Seja- nus, and to the favor of that minister guilt was the only recommendation. The conspirators settled among 1 Sabinus has been already mentioned as a person marked out for destruction by Sejanus. This book, $ 18 and 19. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 351 themselves that Latiaris, who had some connexion with Sabinus, should undertake to lay the snare, while the rest lay in wait for evidence, determined, as soon as their materials were collected, to begin their scene of iniquity, and stand forth as witnesses. Latiaris accordingly made his approaches to Sabinus : he talked at first on trite and common topics, artfully making- a transition to the fidelity of Sabinus, who did not, like others, follow the fortunes of a noble house, while fortune smiled, and in tlie hour of adversity sound his retreat with the rest of the sneaking train. He made honorable mention of Germanicus, and spoke of Agrippina in pathetic terms. Sabinus, with a mind enfeebled by misfortunes, and now softened by com- passion, burst into a flood of tears. To emotions of tenderness resentment succeeded. He talked with in- dignation of the cruelty of Sejanus, of his pride, his arrogance, and his daring ambition. The emperor lUmself did not escape. From this time, like men who had unbosomed their secrets to each other, Latiaris and Sabinus joined in the closest union. They culti- vated each other's friendship. Sabinus sought the company of his new confederate ; he frequented his house, and without reserve, in the fullest confidence, disclosed his inmost thoughts. LXIX. The conspirators held it necessary that the conversation of Sabinus should be heard by more than one. A place for this purpose, secure and solitary, was to be chosen. To listen behind doors were to hazard a discovery ; they might be seen or overheard, or some trifling accident might give the alarm. The scene of action at length was fixed. They chose the cavity between the roof of the house and the ceiling of the room. In that vile lurking hole, with an execrable design, three Roman senators lay concealed, their ears 352 TACITUS. applied to chinks and crannies, listening to conversa- tion, and by fraud collecting evidence. To complete this plan of iniquity, Latiaris met Sabinus in the street, and, under pretence of communicating secret intelli- gence, decoyed him to the house, and to the very room where the infamous eaves-droppers lay in ambush. In that recess Latiaris entered into conversation : he re- called past grievances ; he stated recent calamities, and opened a train of evils still to come. Sabinus went over the same ground, more animated than before, and more in the detail. When griefs, which have been long pent up, once find a vent, men love to discharge the load that weighs on the heart. From the materials thus collected the conspirators drew up an accusation in form, and sent it to the emperor, with a memorial, to their own disgrace and infamy, setting forth the whole of their conduct. Rome was never at any period so distracted with anxiety and terror. Men w^ere afraid of knowing each other; society was at a pause ; relations, friends, and strangers, stood at gaze ; no public meeting, no private confidence ; things inani- mate had ears, and roofs and walls were deemed in- formers. LXX. On the calends of January Tiberius de- spatched a letter to the senate ; in which, after express- ing, as usual in the beginning of the year, his prayers and vows for the commonwealth, he fell with severity on Sabinus. He charged him with a plot against his sovereign, and with corrupting for that purpose seve- ral of the imperial freedmen. He concluded, in terras neither dark nor ambiguous, demanding vengeance on the offender. Judgment of death was pronounced ac- cordingly. Sabinus* was seized, and dragged through 1 The original shortly says, * trahehatur damnatus ;' but it THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 353 the streets to immediate execution. Muffled in his robe, his voice almost stifled, he presented to the gazing multitude a tragic spectacle. He cried out, with what power of utterance he could, ' Behold the bloody opening of the year ! With victims like my- self Sejanus must be glutted !' He continued to strug- gle and throw his eyes around. Wherever he looked, to whatever side he directed his voice, the people shrunk back dismayed ; they fled, they disappeared : the public places and the forum were abandoned ; the streets became a desert. In their confusion some re- turned to the same spot, as if willing to behold the horrid scene, alarmed for themselves, and dreading the crime of being terrified. The general murmur was, ' Will there never be a day unpolluted with blood ? Amidst the rites and ceremonies of a season sacred to religion, when all business is at a stand, and the use of profane words is by law prohibited, we hear the clank of chains ; we see the halter, and the murder of a fellow citizen. The innovation, monstrous as it is, is a deliberate act, the policy of Tiberius. He means to make cruelty systematic. By this unheard-of outrage, he gives public notice to the magistrates, that on the first day of the year they are to open, not only the temples and is clear from the context that he was hurried to execution. Dio says, he was dragged with a hook in his mouth to the Gemoniae (the place where the malefactors were exposed), and afterwards thrown into the Tiber. Pliny the elder relates a remarkable instance of the aifection of Sabinus's dog. That faithful domestic followed his master to the prison, and after- wards, at the Gemoniaj, stayed with the corpse, with pa- thetic cries and dismal bowlings lamenting the loss. Food was offered to the dog ; he took it, and held it to his master's mouth ; and finally, when the body was thrown into the Ti- ber, that generous animal leaped into the water, and endea- vored to keep the remains of his master from sinking. TACIT. VOL. I. Z 364 TACITUS. the altars, but also the dungeons and the charnel- house/ Tiberius, in a short time after, sent de- spatches to the senate, commending the zeal of the fathers in bringing to condign punishment an enemy of the state. He added, that his life was embittered with anxiety, and the secret machinations of insidious enemies kept him in a constant alarm. Though he mentioned no one by name, his malice was understood to glance at Nero and Agrippina. LXXI. The plan of this work professes to give the transactions of the year in chronological order. If that rule did not restrain me, I should here be tempted to anticipate the time ; and, to gratify indignation, re- late the vengeance that overtook Latiaris,^ Opsins, and the other actors in that horrible tragedy. Some of them were reserved for the reign of Caligula ; but, even in the present period, the sword of justice was not suffered to remain inactive. The fact was, Tibe- rius made it a rule to protect his instruments of cru- elty ; but it was also in his nature to be satiated with the hearts of flagitious men : new tools of corruption listed in his service ; and his former agents, worn out with guilt, neglected and despised, were cashiered at once, and left to the resentment of their enemies. But I forbear ; the punishment that befel the murderers of Sabinus, and other miscreants equally detestable, shall Le seen in its proper place. The emperor's letter above mentioned being read in the senate, Asinius Gallus,- whose sons were nephews 1 In what remains of Tacitus, we find the punishment of Latiaris only. See Annals, vi. 4. The rest suffered under Caligula. 2 Asinius Gallus married Vipsania Agrippina, the daugh- ter of M. Agrippa by Pomponia, the grand-daughter of At- ticus, after she was divorced from Tiberius. Agrippina, the wife of Germanicus, was also the daughter of Agrippa by THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 355 to Agrippina, moved an address, requesting the prince to reveal his secret disquietude, that the wisdom of the fathers might remove all cause of complaint. Dis- simulation was the darling practice of Tiberius, and he placed it in the rank of virtues. Hating detection, and jealous of prying eyes, he was now enraged against the man who seemed to have fathomed hi& latent meaning. Sejanus appeased his anger, not out of friendship to Gallus, but to leave Tiberius to the workings of his own gloomy temper. The favorite had studied the genius of his master. He knew that he could think wdth phlegm, slow to resolve, yet ga- thering rancor, and in the end sure to break out with fiercer vengeance. About this time died Julia,' the grand-daughter of Augustus, during that prince's reign convicted of adul- tery, and banished to the isle of Trimetus, near the coast of Apulia. At that place she languished in exile during a space of three-and-twenty years, a wretched dependent on the bounty of Li via, who first cut ofi' the grandsons of Augustus, in their day of splendor, and then made a show of compassion for the rest of the family, who were suffered to survive in misery. LXXII. In the course of this year the Frisians, a people dwelling beyond the Rhine, ^ broke out into open acts of hostility. The cause of the insurrection was not the restless spirit of a nation impatient of the yoke ; they were driven to despair by Roman avarice. A moderate tribute, such as suited the poverty of the people, consisting of raw hides for the use of the Julia, the daughter of Augustus ; and being half-sister to the wife of Asinius Gallus, she was of course aunt to his chil- dren. 1 She was guilty of adultery with Silanus. See iii. 24. 2 The Frisians inhabited along the sea-coast, between the Rhine and the Amisia (the Ems). 356 TACITUS. legions, had been formerly imposed by Drusus.' To specify the exact size and quality of the hide was an idea that never entered into the head of any man, till Olennius, the first centurion of a legion, being ap- pointed governor over the Frisians, collected a quan- tity of the hides of forest bulls, ^ and made them the standard both of weight and dimension. To any other nation this would have been a grievous burden, but was altogether impracticable in Germany, where the cattle, running wild in large tracts of forest, are of prodigious size, while the breed for domestic uses is remarkably small. The Frisians groaned under this oppressive demand. They gave up first their cattle, next their lands ; and finally were obliged to see their wives and children carried into slavery by way of commutation. Discontent and bitter resentment filled the breasts of injured men. They applied for redress, but without eff'ect. In despair they took up arms ; they seized the tax-gatherers, and hung them on gib- bets. Olennius made his escape. He fied for refuge to a castle known by the name of Flevum,^ at that time garrisoned by a strong party of Romans and aux- iliaries, who were stationed in that quarter for the de- fence of the country bordering on the German ocean. LXXIII. Intelligence of this revolt no sooner reached Lucius Apronius, at that time propretor of the Lower Germany, than he drew together from the 1 Drusus, the father of Germanicus. 2 Caesar has described this species of cattle. ' The tiri,' he says, ' nearly equal the elephant in bulk, but in color, shape, and kind, resemble the bull. They are of uncommon sti'ength and swiftness, and spare neither man nor beast that comes in their way.' See Duncan's Ctesar, vi. ^G. 3 Fle^^um castle was on the borders of the river Flevus, but no vestige of it remains at present. The river is swal- lowed up by the great gulf, called Zuyder-Zee. THE ANNALS. — BOOK IV. 367 Upper Rhine a detachment of the legionary veterans, with the flower of the allied horse and infantry. Having now two armies, he sailed down the Rhine, and made a descent on the territory of the Frisians, then employed in a close blockade of Flevum castle. To defend their country against the invaders the bar- barians thought proper, on the approach of the Ro- mans, to abandon the siege. The estuaries in that country, formed by the influx of the sea, are a grand obstacle to military operations. Apronius ordered bridges to be prepared, and causeways to be thrown over the marshes. Meanwhile, the fords and shallows being discovered, he sent the cavalry of the Canine- fates,' and the German infantry that served under him, with orders to pass over, and take post in the rear of the enemy. The Frisians, drawn up in order of battle, gave them a warm reception. The whole detachment, with the legionary horse sent to support the ranks, was put to the rout. Apronius despatched three light cohorts ; two more followed, and in a short time the whole cavalry of the auxiliaries : a force sufficient, had they made one joint attack ; but coming up in separate divisions, and at different times, they were neither able to rally the broken ranks, nor, in the general panic, to make head against the enemy. In this distress, Cethegus Labeo, who commanded the fifth legion, received orders to advance with the remainder of the allies. That officer soon found him- self pressed on every side. He sent messenger after messenger to call forth the whole strength of the army. 1 There were three different establishments of cavalry in the Roman armies : namely, the troops of horse belonging to each legion ; the cavalry that formed a separate corps, as Ala Petrina, Syllana, Scribonia; and the cavalry of the allies, as Ala Batavorum, Treverorum, ice. 358 TACITUS. His own legion, being the fifth, rushed forward to his assistance. A sharp engagement followed. The bar- barians at length gave ground ; and the auxiliary co- horts, faint with fatigue, and disabled by their wounds, were rescued from the sword of the enemy. The Ro- man general neither pursued the fugitives nor stayed to bury the slain, though a number of tribunes and officers of rank, with centurions of distinguished bra- very, lay dead on the field of battle. By deserters intelligence was afterwards brought, that no less than nine hundred Romans were surrounded in the forest called Baduhenna,' and after a gallant defence, which lasted till the dawn of day, were to a man cut to pieces. Another body, consisting of no less than four hundred, threw themselves into a strong mansion be- longing to Cruptorix, a German chief, who had for- merly served in the Roman army ; but this whole party, afraid of treachery, and dreading nothing so mucli as being delivered into the hands of the enemy, turned their swords against each other, and perished by mutual slaughter. LXXIV. The name of the Frisians was, by conse- quence, celebrated throughout Germany. Tiberius, with his usual closeness, endeavored to conceal the loss, aware that a war would call for a new commander, and that important trust he was unwilling to commit to any person whatever. As to the senate, events that happened on the remote frontiers of the empire made little impression on that assembly. Domestic grievances were more interesting : every man trem- bled for himself, and flattery was his only resource. With this spirit the fathers, at a time when matters of moment demanded their attention, made it their first 1 lirotier calls it the largest forest in the territory of the Frisians, known at present by the name of Seven VV olden. THE ANNALS.— BOOK IV. 359 business to decree an altar to Clemency, and another to Friendship ; both to be decorated with the statues of Tiberius and Sejanus. They voted, at the same time, an humble address, requesting that the prince and his minister would condescend to show themselves to the people of Rome. Neither of them entered the city, nor even approached the suburbs. To leave their island on a sailing- party, and exhibit themselves on the coast of Campania, was a sufficient favor. To enjoy that transient view, all degrees and orders of men, the senators, the Roman knights, and the po- pulace, pressed forward in crowds. The favorite at- tracted the attention of all, but was difficult of access. To gain admission to his presence was the work of cabal, intrigue, or connexion in guilt. Sejanus felt his natural arrogance inflamed and pampered by a scene of servility so openly displayed before him. He saw a whole people crouching in bondage. At Rome the infantry was not so visible. In a great and popu- lous city, where all are in motion, the sycophant may creep unnoticed to pay his homage. In a vast conflux numbers are constantly passing and repassing ; but their business, their pursuits, whence they come, and whither they are going, no man knows. On the mar- gin of the sea the case was different. Without dis- tinction of rank, the nobles and the populace lay in the fields, or on the shore, humbly waiting, night and day, to court the smiles of the porter at the great man's gate, or to bear the insolence of slaves in office. Even that importunity was at length prohibited. The whole herd returned to Rome ; some, who had not been honored with a word or a smile, sinking into the lowest dejection of spirits ; others elate with joy, for they had seen the favorite, and did not then suspect how soon that fatal connexion was to overwhelm them all in ruin. 360 TACITUS- LXXV. The year closed with the marriage of Agrippina/ one of the daughters of Germaniciis. Ti- berius gave her away in person to Cneius Domitius, but ordered the nuptial ceremony to be performed at Rome. Domitius was descended from a splendid line of ancestors ; and, besides, allied to the house of Caesar. He was the grandson of Octavia, and of course grand-nephew to Augustus. By this conside- ration Tiberius was determined in his choice. 1 Her father, Germanicus, being adopted by Tiberius, she of course was the emperor's grand- daughter. It was said of him, if he had not been the father of iNero, he would have been the worst man of the age. END OF VOL. 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