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 TACITUS, 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 ARTHUR MURPHY, ESQ. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY A. J. VALPY, M. A. 
 
 HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEV 
 
 NEW BURLINGTON' STREET. 
 
 1830
 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OP 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 Biographical Sketch of Tacitus 
 Arguments .... 
 
 
 THE ANNALS. 
 
 
 Book I. 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 - 11. 
 
 . 
 
 . 101 
 
 - III. . 
 
 . 
 
 . 195 
 
 — IV. . 
 
 . 
 
 . 274
 
 ' This is an excellent work, and supersedes all that has 
 been done on this author. The lost portions of Tacitus are 
 supplied by original compositions [by Brotier], and intersti- 
 tial books are added to connect and complete the whole.' — 
 Bibliographical Miscellany.
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF 
 
 TACITUS 
 
 Caius Cornelius Tacitus was born about 
 the beginning of Nero's reign, but the exact year 
 cannot be ascertained. Pliny the younger in- 
 forms us that Tacitus was nearly of his own 
 age, and that when he was growing up to man- 
 hood, his friend was florishing among the orators of 
 the bar. Pliny's age can be stated with certainty. 
 Tacitus was at least four or five years older than 
 Pliny, and most probably was born in the year 
 of Rome 810, in the sixth of Nero's reign. The 
 place of his nativity is no where mentioned. 
 
 Tacitus has gained, by the suffrages of posterity, 
 the highest rank among the historians of Greece 
 and Rome. A profound judge of men, and a se- 
 vere censor of manners, he has delineated, with 
 the pencil of a master, the characters and the very 
 inward frame of the vile and profligate ; while the 
 good and upright receive, in his immortal page,
 
 VI BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 the recompense due to their virtue. He knew the 
 value of that private history which traces the 
 springs of action in eminent men ; and in the Life 
 of Agricola has left a perfect model of biography. 
 
 It is evident he did not imbibe the smallest 
 tincture of that frivolous science, and that vicious 
 eloquence, which then debased the Roman genius. 
 He probably had the good fortune to be educated 
 on the plan adopted in the time of the republic, 
 and, with the help of a sound scheme of home 
 discipline, and the best domestic example, he 
 grew up, in a course of virtue, to that vigor of 
 mind which gives such animation to his writings. 
 The early bent of his own natural genius was such, 
 that he may be said to have been self-educated. It 
 is reasonable to suppose that he attended the lec- 
 tures of Quintilian, who, in opposition to the sophists 
 of Greece, taught, for more than twenty years, the 
 rules of that manly eloquence which is so nobly 
 displayed in his Institutes. 
 
 The infancy of Tacitus kept him untainted by 
 the vices of Nero's court. He was about twelve 
 years old when that emperor finished his career of 
 guilt and folly; and in the tempestuous times that 
 followed he was still secured by his tender age. 
 Vespasian restored the public tranquillity, revived
 
 OF TACITUS. Vll 
 
 the liberal arts, and gave encouragement to men of 
 genius. In the first eight years of that emperor's 
 reign Tacitus was at leisure to enlarge his mind, 
 and cultivate the studies proper to form an orator 
 and a Roman citizen. 
 
 Our author's first ambition was to distinguish 
 himself at the bar. In the year of Rome 828, the 
 sixth of Vespasian, being then about eighteen, he 
 attended the eminent men of the day in their in- 
 quiry concerning * the Causes of Corrupt Elo- 
 quence.' It is assumed that he was the author 
 of that elegant tract, for the reasons given in the 
 introduction to the notes on it. Two years after, 
 he had given such an earnest of his future fame, 
 that Agricola chose him for his son-in-law. Thus 
 distinguished, our author began the career of civil 
 preferment. Vespasian had a just discernment 
 of men, and was the friend of rising merit. 
 Rome at length was governed by a prince, who 
 had the good sense and virtue to consider him- 
 self as the chief magistrate, whose duty it was to 
 redress all grievances, restore good order, and give 
 energy to the laws. 
 
 By the emperor Domitian Tacitus was made 
 pretor, A. D. 88 ; and was also appointed one 
 of the college of Quindecimviri. In the course
 
 VlJl BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 of the following year our author and his wife left 
 Rome, and absented themselves more than four 
 years. Some writers state that he was sent into 
 banishment : this however is mere conjecture. 
 
 He had been four years absent from Rome 
 when he received the news of Agricola's death. 
 That commander had carried his victorious arms 
 from the southern provinces of Britain to the 
 Grampian Hills in Scotland, and reduced the 
 whole country as far as the Firth of Tay ; but such 
 a rapid course of success alarmed the jealousy of 
 an emperor, who dreaded nothing so much as the mi- 
 litary reputation of a successful general. Agricola 
 was recalled A. U. C. 838, entered Rome in a pri- 
 vate manner, and was received by Domitian with 
 cold civility. He lived a few years longer in a 
 modest retreat, endeavoring to shade the lustre of 
 his vast renown, and died August 23, in the year 
 of Rome 846. A report prevailed that a dose of 
 poison, administered by the emperor's order, put 
 an end to his days. Tacitus mentions the suspi- 
 cion, but does not forget that calumny is often busy 
 with false surmises. He returned to Rome soon 
 after the death of his father-in-law, and then be- 
 came a witness of the beginning of that most 
 dreadful era, in which Domitian, with unbridled
 
 OF TACITUS. IX 
 
 fury, made the city of Rome a theatre of blood 
 and horror. The most illustrious citizens were 
 put to death without mercy, either by poison, 
 or the assassin's dagger. In some instances the 
 tyrant wished to give the color of justice to the 
 most horrible murders, and for that purpose ordered 
 accusations, in due form of law, to be exhibited at 
 the tribunal of the Fathers. In all these cases he 
 invested the senate-house with an armed force, and 
 extorted a condemnation of the most upright citi- 
 zens. Senators were thrown into dungeons ; rocks 
 and barren islands were crowded with illustrious 
 exiles, who were, in a short time, murdered by the 
 centurions and their hired assassins. 
 
 The friendly intercourse of Pliny and Tacitus 
 has often been admired, and many have observed 
 that the familiarity of these two great men arose 
 from similar principles, and a perfect conformity of 
 manners and opinions. Yet Tacitus was as much 
 the friend of a republican government, as Pliny 
 was an admirer of the imperial power, and of the 
 short-lived virtues of his patron Trajan. Pliny 
 gained the hearts of his adherents by affability and 
 all the elegant graces which became the courtier 
 and the favorite, while Tacitus conciliated the 
 esteem of the world by his virtuous conduct, which
 
 Xll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 then known in the world ; he was versed in civil 
 art airs, knew the policy of statesmen, and read 
 men as well as books. With a mind thus pre- 
 pared, he undertook to write the History of his 
 own times. Before he entered on his task it is 
 evident that he had well considered the nature and 
 importance of it. He agreed with Cicero, who 
 says, ' It is the first law of history that the writer 
 should neither dare to advance what is false, nor 
 to suppress what is true ; that he should relate the 
 facts with strict impartiality, free from ill-will or 
 favor; that his narrative should distinguish the 
 order of time, and, when necessary, give the de- 
 scription of places; that he should unfold the 
 statesman's motives, and in his account of the 
 transactions and the events interpose his own 
 judgment; and should not only relate what was 
 done, but how it was done ; and what share chance, 
 or rashness, or prudence, had in the issue ; — that he 
 should give the characters of the leading men, 
 their weight and influence, their passions, their 
 principles, and their conduct through life.' There 
 can be no doubt this was our author's model, since 
 we find him in difterent parts of his work laying 
 down those very rules. 
 
 The Annals of Tacitus may be called an histo-
 
 OF TACITUS. XUl 
 
 rical picture gallery. It is by magic power that 
 he has been able to animate the dry regularity of 
 the chronologic order, and to spread a charm 
 through the whole that awakens curiosity and 
 enchains attention. He sits in judgment on the 
 prince, the senate, the consuls, and the people ; 
 and he finds eloquence to affect the heart, and 
 through the imagination to inform the understand- 
 ing. The history of Tacitus is philosophy teach- 
 ing by examples. 
 
 The style of the Annals differs from that 
 of the History, which required stately periods, 
 pomp of expression, and harmonious sentences. 
 The Annals are written in a strain more subdued 
 and temperate ; every phrase is a maxim ; the 
 narrative goes on with rapidity ; the characters 
 are drawn with a profound knowlege of human 
 nature; and when we see them figuring on the stage 
 of public business we perceive the internal spring 
 of their actions ; we see their motives at work, and 
 of course are prepared to judge of their conduct. 
 
 The Annals of Tacitus were in sixteen books. 
 They embraced the history of the events which 
 transpired from the death of Augustus to that of 
 Nero, as well as those which preceded the epoch 
 which formed the subject of the History. They 
 must not, however, be regarded as forming the first
 
 XIV BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 part of the History, since they constitute a sepa- 
 rate work, and are composed on a different plan, 
 more suitable to the recital of events of which the 
 historian had not been an eye-witness. There 
 remain to us of this work the first four books, a 
 part of the fifth, the whole of the sixth, and from 
 the eleventh to the sixteenth inclusive, excepting 
 the end of the sixteenth. The portion that we have 
 of the Annals contains the reign of Tiberius, the 
 close of that of Claudius, and almost the whole of 
 Nero's. We want the reign of Caligula, and the 
 beginning of that of Claudius. 
 
 The love of brevity, which distinguishes Tacitus 
 from all other writers, was probably the consequence 
 of his early admiration of Seneca; and perhaps 
 was carried farther by that constant habit of close 
 thinking, which could seize the principal idea, and 
 discard all unnecessary appendages. Tacitus was 
 sparing of words, and lavish of sentiment. Mon- 
 tesquieu says he knew every thing, and therefore 
 abridged every thing. The celebrated Montague 
 observes, that Tacitus abounds with strong and vi- 
 gorous sentences, often constructed with point and 
 subtlety, agreeably to the taste of the age, which 
 delighted in the gay and brilliant ; and when those 
 were not in the thought, the writer was sure to find 
 an antithesis in the expression.
 
 OF TACITUS. XV 
 
 The imputation of atheism, which has been al- 
 leged by critics of more piety than discernment, 
 is easily refuted. Whatever were our author's 
 doubts concerning fate, free-will, and the influence 
 of the planets, let the fine apostrophe to the de- 
 parted spirit of Agricolabe perused with attention, 
 and every sentiment will discover a mind impressed 
 with the idea of an all-ruling Providence. There 
 are many passages in the Annals and the History 
 to the same effect ; but more on this head is unne- 
 cessary. Nor does the paradox suggested by Boc- 
 calini deserve a longer discussion. That author 
 gives it as his opinion that the whole design of the 
 Annals was to teach the arts of despotism : it may 
 with as good reason be said that Lord Clarendon 
 wrote the History of the Rebellion with intent to 
 teach schismatics, puritans, and republicans, how 
 to murder their king. 
 
 The Latin of Tacitus is remarkable for being 
 pure and classical ; and though a writer in the 
 decline of the Roman empire, he has not used 
 obsolete words, antiquated phrases, or barbarous 
 expressions, but with him every thing is sanctioned 
 by the authority of the writers of the Augustan 
 age. In his biographical sketches he displays an 
 uncommon knowlege of human nature ; he paints
 
 XVI BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TACITUS. 
 
 every scene with a masterly hand, and gives each 
 object its proper size and becoming colors. Affairs 
 of importance are treated with dignity ; the secret 
 causes of events and revolutions are investigated 
 from their primeval source ; and the historian 
 every where shows his reader that he Avas a friend 
 to public liberty and national independence ; a 
 lover of truth, and of the general good and wel- 
 fare of mankind ; and an inveterate enemy to op- 
 pression and to a tyrannical government. The 
 history of the reign of Tiberius is his masterpiece. 
 The deep policy, the dissimulation and various 
 intrigues of this celebrated prince, are painted 
 with all the fidelity of the historian ; and Tacitus 
 boasted in saying that he neither would flatter the 
 follies, nor maliciously nor partially represent the 
 extravagance of the several characters he deli- 
 neated. Candor and impartiality were his stan- 
 dard, and his claims to these essential qualifications 
 of an historian have never been disputed. He 
 possesses the distinctness of Xenophon, without 
 his uniformity ; he is more eloquent than Livy, 
 and is free from his superstition ; and he has more 
 knowlege and judgment than Polybius, without 
 his affectation of reasoning on every occasion.
 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 ARGUMENTS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Sect. I. The government of Rome from the first foundation to 
 the death of Augustus ; his policy, death, and character — ■ 
 V. The succession of Tiberius ; his dissimulation ; debates 
 in the senate ; the will of Augustus ; his funeral ; all de- 
 grees rush into slavery — XVI. Revolt of three legions in 
 Pannonia ; Percennius and Vibulenus active ring-leaders ; 
 they make incendiary speeches ; Drusus, the emperor's 
 son, sent to quell the tumult ; an eclipse of the moon 
 spreads a panic among the soldiers ; they march into win- 
 ter-quarters — XXXI. A like revolt of the army on the 
 Lower Rhine; the conduct of Germanicus — XLII. His 
 speech to the soldiers ; the insurrection quelled ; fresh 
 commotions in another quarter — XLVI. An account of the 
 disturbances reaches Rome ; the behavior of Tiberius ; 
 the tumult quieted in Germany ; punishment of the muti- 
 neers — XLIX. Germanicus leads his army against the Ger- 
 mans ; the Marsians surprised at a festival, and put to the 
 sword ; the Tubantes, Bracterians, and Usipetes, con- 
 quered — LIII. Julia, the daughter of Augustus, dies in 
 exile at Rhegium ; her lover, Sempronius Gracchus, mur- 
 dered in Africa — LIV. A new order of priests in honor of 
 Augustus ; theatrical dissensions — LV. Germanicus passes 
 over the Rhine a second time, and marches against the 
 Cattians ; great slaughter of the Germans ; Arminius and 
 Segestes, two German chiefs, their characters ; Segestes 
 besieged by his countrymen, and relieved by Germanicus ; 
 his daughter married to Arminius; her behavior— LVHI. 
 Speech of Segestes — LIX. Arminius harangues the Ger- 
 mans ; war with the Cheruscans ; Germanicus arrives at 
 the spot where Varus and his legions were slain ; he buries 
 TACIT. VOL. 1. b
 
 Xviii ARGUMENTS. 
 
 their remains ; Tiberius discontented — LXIII. Caecina 
 greatly harassed on his inarch, with part of the army, to- 
 wards the Rhine ; his bravery and conduct ; Arminius de- 
 feated and put to flight, with Inguiomer, his uncle— LXIX. 
 The behavior of Agrippina ; she prevents the bridge over 
 the Rhine from being cut down ; reflections of Tiberius ; 
 his secret jealousy inflamed by Sejanus— LXXII. The law 
 of violated majesty put in force— LXXIII. The history of 
 that law ; Romanus Hispo, the first daring informer ; seve- 
 ral prosecutions— LXXVI. An inundation of the Tiber; li- 
 centiousness of the players ; decrees on the occasion— 
 LXXIX. A plan for preventing inundations of the Tiber 
 debated in the senate ; objections to the measure from va- 
 rious parts of Italy— LXXX. The policy of Tiberius ; his 
 reluctance to remove men from their employments, with 
 the reasons for that conduct— LXXXI. His policy in the 
 management of consular elections ; a show of liberty re- 
 mains ; Rome the more deeply enslaved. 
 
 These transactions include almost two years. 
 
 Years of Rome. Of Christ. Consuls. 
 
 7(i7 14 Sextus Pompeius, Sextus Apu- 
 
 leius. 
 768 15 Drusus C2esa^,C.X"orbanusJb'lac- 
 
 . cus. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Sect. I. Commotions in the east — II. Vonones sent from 
 Rome to reign over the Parthians at their own request — 
 III. He is deposed by the Parthians ; Artabanus ascends 
 the throne ; Vonones flies to the Armenians, and is received 
 as their king ; but soon dethroned, and guarded as a priso- 
 ner by Silanus, the governor of Syria — V. Tiberius, under 
 feigned pretences, thinks of recalling Germanicus from the 
 command in Germany ; the exploits of Germanicus before 
 he leaves Germany • he builds a fleet, and makes war on 
 the Cheruscans — IX. Interview between Arminius and bis 
 brother Flavins; Arminius defeated; he gives battle a 
 second time with like success— XXIII. The Roman fleet 
 suffers great damage in a violent storm ; the behavior of
 
 ARGUMENTS. XIX 
 
 Germanicus ; he repairs his ships, and chastises the IMar^ 
 sians ; lays waste the country, and returns to winter- 
 quarters— XXVI. Tiberius persists in his resolution, and 
 Germanicus returns to Rome — XXVII. Libo Urusus 
 charged with designs against the state ; his trial, and vio- 
 lent death ; the conduct of the informers — XXXIII. The 
 luxury of the times taken into consideration by the senate 
 — Lucius Piso secedes from the senate, and threatens to 
 go into voluntary exile ; his lawsuit with Urgulania, the 
 favorite of Li via, and his firmness ; the insolence of Urgu- 
 lania — XXXVII. The poverty of JNIarcus Hortalus, grand- 
 son to Hortensius, the famous orator ; he applies to the 
 senate for relief; Tiberius opposes him — XXXIX. A man 
 of the name of Clemens pretends to be the real Agrippa 
 Posthumus ; he spreads an alarm, but is found to be one 
 of Agrippa's slaves ; is seized, and put to death by order 
 of Tiberius — XLI. The public triumph of Germanicus for 
 his victories in Germany — XLII. Archelaus, king of Cap- 
 padocia, drawn by artifice to Rome ; his reception there, 
 and his death ; his kingdom reduced to a province— XLIII. 
 Germanicus made governor of the east ; and the province 
 of Syria committed to Piso, with secret instructions from 
 Livia and Tiberius — XLIV. Drusus sent into Illyricum, 
 and why ; dissensions among the Germans ; Arminius 
 gains a victory over Maroboduus king of the Suevians — 
 XLVII. Twelve cities in Asia swallowed up by an earth- 
 quake ; Tiberius grants relief to the distresses of the peo- 
 ple — L. The law of violated majesty put in force ; a woman 
 charged with speaking disrespectfully of Augustus ; and 
 also of Tiberius and his mother — LII. Tacfarinas, a Numi- 
 dian freebooter, raises an insurrection in Africa, but is de- 
 feated by Camillus — LIII. Germanicus, while on his way 
 to Asia, is chosen consul in conjunction with Tiberius ; he 
 enters Armenia, and places Zeno on the throne — LVII. The 
 contumacy of Piso ; his interview with Germanicus ; the 
 latter makes a progress into Egypt, to see the monuments 
 of antiquity — LXII. Maroboduus driven out of Germany 
 by Catualda, a German chief, flies into Italy ; he lives 
 twenty years at Ravenna, and dies there in obscurity ; 
 Catualda, in like manner expelled by his countrymen, is 
 placed by the Romans at Forum Julium — LXIV. Rhescu-
 
 XK ARGUMENTS. 
 
 poris, king of Thrace, murders his nephew, and is sent a 
 prisoner to Rome ; he is ordered to Alexandria, and there 
 put to death — LXVIII. Yonones attempts to escape out of 
 Cilicia ; and, being taken, is killed by a veteran soldier — 
 LXIX. Germanicus returns from Egypt ; animosities be- 
 tween him and Piso ; Germanicus is seized with a fit of 
 illness ; he recovers, but has a relapse ; poison suspected ; 
 he takes leave of his friends ; his last advice to his wife ; 
 his death, and the grief of all ranks of men — LXXIII. His 
 funeral, and his character— LXXIV. Sentius takes on him 
 the government of Syria ; Piso, at the isle of Coos, hears of 
 the death of Germanicus ; he returns to Syria, and endea- 
 A^ors to resume the command — LXXV. Agrippina embarks 
 with the urn of Germanicus ; Piso fails in his attempts, 
 and is sent to Rome — LXXXIII. Honors decreed to the 
 memory of Germanicus— LXXXV. Laws to restrain the 
 lascivious behavior of the women— LXXXVI. The choice 
 of a new vestal virgin in the room of Occia, deceased — 
 LXXXVII. Tiberius rejects the title of Father of his 
 Country, and the name of Sovereign Lord— LXXXVIII. 
 Arminius dies in Germany by the treachery of his own 
 people ; the character of that eminent chief. 
 
 These transactions include four years. 
 Years of Rome. Of Christ. Consuls. 
 
 769 16 Statilius Sisenna Taurus, L. Scri- 
 
 bonius Libo. 
 7T0 17 C. Ccccilius Rufus, L. Pompo- 
 
 nius Flaccus Gra^cinus. 
 
 771 18 Tiberius Caesar, ord time ; Ger- 
 
 manicus, 2nd. 
 
 772 19 M. Junius Silanus, L. Norbanus 
 
 Flaccus. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Sect. L Agrippina arrives at Brundusium with the ashes of 
 Germanicus; her journey to Rome; the attention paid 
 to her by the municipal towns; the behavior of Tiberius 
 and Livia ; the funeral ceremony — YII. Drusus once more 
 sent into lUyricum— VIIL Piso arrives at Rome ; he is
 
 ARGUMENTS. XXI 
 
 accused of poisoning Germanicus ; he pleads in his own 
 defence ; despairs of his cause, and puts himself to death 
 — XX. Tacfarinas renews the war in Africa, but is repulsed 
 by Lucius Apronius— XXII. Lepida Emilia accused of 
 adultery nnd poisoning ; she is tried and condemned — 
 XXV. The law Papia Poppa^a restrained and moderated 
 by Tiberius — XXVI. The origin of laws, and their changes 
 —XXX. Death of L. Volusius and Sallustius Crispus, two 
 eminent men— XXXI. Tiberius retires into Campania— 
 XXXII. Tacfarinus raises new commotions in Africa ; Ju- 
 nius Bla^sus made proconsul— XXXVII. Certain Roman 
 knights condemned on the law of majesty — XXXVIII. 
 Commotions in Thrace— XL. A revolt of several cities in 
 Gaul ; Julius Sacrovir and Julius Florus head the insur- 
 rection ; they are both defeated— XLIX. C. Lutorius Pris- 
 cus, a Roman knight, charged, for having written a poem, 
 with a breach of the law of majesty, and put to death by 
 the senate — LI. Tiberius affects to disapprove ; his ambigu- 
 ous letters on the occasion — LII. Laws proposed to restrain 
 the luxury of the times— LIII. Opinion of Tiberius on that 
 subject; the reform is dropped — LVI. Drusus associated to 
 his father Tiberius in the tribunitian power — LVIII. The 
 priest of Jupiter not allowed to be chosen governor of a pro^ 
 vince — LX. The number of sanctuaries in Greece ; their 
 rights examined, and regulations made — LXVI. C. Silanus 
 accused of extortion and violated majesl:y ; he is condemned 
 and banished — LXXIII. Tacfarinas sends ambassadors to 
 Tiberius, demanding lands, or denouncing perpetual war — 
 — LXXIV. Blassus stops his progress, and takes his bro- 
 ther prisoner— LXXV. The death of two eminent citizens, 
 and their characters— LXX VI. The death of Junia, sister 
 to M. Brutus, and widow of Cassius ; her will and funeral. 
 
 These transactions include three years. 
 Years of Rome. Of Christ. Consuls. 
 
 773 20 M. Valerius iVIessala, C.Aurelius 
 
 Cotta. 
 
 774 21 Tiberius, 4th time ; Drusus, his 
 
 son, 2nd time. 
 
 775 22 D. Haterius Agrippa, C. Sulpi- 
 
 cius Galba.
 
 XXH ARGUMENTS. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Sect. I. The origin and character of Julius Sejanus — II. By 
 corrupt practices he allures to his interest the army and the 
 senate — III. The condition of the state, civil and military ; 
 Sejanus seduces the younger Livia, wife of the emperor's 
 son Drusus, and engages her in a plot against the life of 
 her husband — V. The station of the Roman fleets and le- 
 gions — VI. The magistrates and the forms of government 
 at Rome — VIII. Drusus poisoned, and Sejanus aspires to 
 the empire ; Tiberius recommends the sons of Germanicus 
 to the care of the senate — XII. Tiberius delivers the fune- 
 ral oration occasioned by the death of Drusus ; Sejanus 
 plans the destruction of Agrippina and her sons — XIII. 
 Deputies from the provinces heard by Tiberius ; players 
 and pantomimes driven out of Italy — XV. A temple built 
 in Asia to Tiberius, Livia, and the senate — XVI. A new 
 priest of Jupiter, and new laws to regulate the office — 
 XVII. The zeal of the pontiff's for Nero and Drusus, the 
 sons of Germanicus, censured by Tiberius — XVIII. Sejanus 
 aims at the destruction of the friends of Germanicus ; Caius 
 Silius and Titius Sabinus accused ; character of Marcus 
 Lepidus and Messalinus Cotta — XXI. Calpurnius Piso ac- 
 cused for words ; judgment prevented by his death — XXII. 
 Plautius Sylvanus throws his wife out of the window ; his 
 defence ; Tiberius visits the house to make his inquiries ; 
 death of Sylvanus— XXIII. The war in Africa ended by 
 Dolabella; Tacfarinas, the Numidian chief, is slain — 
 XXVII. A servile war ready to break out in Italy, but 
 crushed in the bud — XXVIII. Vibius Serenus accused by 
 his own son ; his speech on the occasion, and his banish- 
 ment ; Publius Suilius condemned ; Cremutius Cordus 
 prosecuted for praising Brutus and Cassius in an historical 
 work ; his defence and voluntary death ; his book burnt by 
 the public officers, yet continued to be read — XXX\ I. The 
 city of Cyzicus deprived of its privileges ; Tiberius rejects 
 the offer of divine honors from the people of Spain ; his 
 speech on that subject — XXXIX. Sejanus petitions the 
 emperor for leave to marry Livia, the widow of Drusus ; 
 the artful answer and refusal of Tiberius — XLI. Sejanus
 
 ARGUMENTS. XXIU 
 
 resolves to withdraw Tiberius from Rome — XLIII. The 
 right to various sanctuaries claimed by deputies from the 
 cities of Greece— XLIV. The death and character of Cneius 
 Lentulus and Lucius Domitius — XLV. Lucius Piso, pre- 
 tor of Spain, murdered by a peasant ; the assassin taken ; 
 he refuses on the rack to discover his accomplices— XL VL 
 Poppaius Sabinus subdues the insurgents in Thrace, and 
 obtains triumphal ornaments — LII. Claudia Pulchra prose- 
 cuted for adultery, and condemned — LIII. Agrippina de- 
 sires the emperor's leave to marry ; Tiberius hears her with 
 sullenness, and gives no answer — LV. Eleven cities of 
 Asia contend for the honor of building the temple to the 
 emperor and the senate ; Smyrna preferred to all the rest — 
 LVII. Tiberius departs from Rome, and goes into Campa- 
 nia ; he is in danger of being crushed in a cave by the fall- 
 ing of the stones ; Sejanus saves him at the risk of his own 
 life ; the favorite rises higher in the affection of Tiberius — 
 LX. Sejanus suborns witnesses against Nero, the eldest son 
 of Germanicus — LXII. An amphitheatre at Fidena, being 
 ill-constructed, falls in, and crushes or kills fifty thousand 
 spectators — LXIV. A dreadful fire at Rome ; Mount Ca^lius 
 consumed in the flames — LXVII. Tiberius withdraws from 
 the continent to the isle of Capreaj ; Sejanus bent on the 
 destruction of X'ero and Agrippina — LXVIII. Titius Sabi- 
 nus, on account of his faithful attachment to Germanicus 
 and his family, ensnared by Latiaris and his accomplices ; 
 an account of their infamous plot; Sabinus is condemned, 
 and executed, to the astonishment of the people, on the 
 first of January, a day always sacred to religious ceremo- 
 nies — LXXL The death of Julia, grand-daughter of Augus- 
 tus— LXXII. The Frisians revolt, and are quelled with 
 difficulty, and considerable loss to the Romans — LXXV. 
 Agrippina the younger, one of the children of Germanicus, 
 married to Cneius Domitius, with the approbation of Tibe- 
 rius. 
 
 These transactions include six years. 
 
 Years of Rome. Of Christ. Consuls. 
 
 776 23 Caius Asinius Pollio, Caius An- 
 
 tistius Vetus. 
 
 777 24 Sergius Cornelius Cethegus, Lu- 
 
 cius Visellius Varro.
 
 XXIV ARGUMENTS. 
 
 Years of Rome. Of Christ. Consuls. 
 
 778 25 Marcus Asinius A grippa,Cossus 
 
 Cornelius Lentulus. 
 
 779 26 Cornelius Lentulus Getulicus, 
 
 Caius Calvisius Sabinus. 
 
 780 27 Marcus Licinius Crassus, Lucius 
 
 Calpurnius Piso. 
 
 781 28 Appius Junius Silanus, Publius 
 
 Silius Nerva.
 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Sect. I. The first form of government that prevailed 
 at Rome was monarchy.' Liberty and the consulship 
 
 1 In this introduction Tacitus gives us a compendious 
 view of the Roman government in all its various forms, and 
 every deviation from its first principles, from the foundation 
 of the city to the establishment of the Caasars. The several 
 forms were as follows : 
 
 I. The regal government, which lasted, under seven suc- 
 cessive kings, above two hundred and forty years, and ended 
 at last by the expulsion of Tarquin. 
 
 II. The consulship, and the republican government esta- 
 blished by Brutus, A. U.C. 245 ; before the Christian era 509. 
 
 III. The supreme authority of the dictator, created in press- 
 ing exigencies, and for a limited time. This office was first 
 instituted, according to Livy, A. U. C. 253. 
 
 IV. The decemvirs appointed to frame a body of laws. They 
 were the only magistrates. The government, which was trans- 
 ferred from kings to consuls, was now vested in the decem- 
 virs. Their code of laws was finished within two years. It 
 was called the Twelve Tables. The well-known tyranny of 
 Appius brought on them the name of the Ten Tarquins. 
 Their magistracy ended A. U. C. 305. 
 
 V. The military tribunes, in a violent contention between the 
 patricians and commonalty, invested with the authority of 
 the consuls, and exercising all the functions of those two 
 magistrates, A. U. C. 310. In the following year the consular 
 government was once more restored. 
 
 " VI. The usurpation of Cinna, A. U. C. 667, 
 
 TACIT. VOL. I. A
 
 2 TACITt'S. 
 
 were established by Lucius Junius Brutus. Dictators 
 were created in sudden emergencies only. Tlie juris- 
 diction of the decemvirs did not extend beyond two 
 years ; and the consular authority of the military tri- 
 bunes soon expired. The domination of Cinna ended 
 in a short time ; and that of Sylla w as not of long du- 
 ration. From Pompey and Crassus the whole power 
 of the state devolved to Julius Caesar; and, after the 
 struggle with Lepidus and Antony, centered in Au- 
 gustus ; who, under the mild and well-known title of 
 Prince of the Senate,^ took on him the management of 
 the commonwealth, enfeebled as it w as by an exhaust- 
 ing series of civil wars. But the memorable transac- 
 
 VII. The domination of Sylla ; who assumed the power of 
 dictator, A. U. C. 672, and continued in that station till the 
 year 675, v^hen he made a voluntary abdication, and retired 
 to lead the life of a private citizen. 
 
 VIII. The triumvirate of Pompey, Crassus, and Julius Cai- 
 sar, A. U. C. 699. This was a faction, not a legal institution. 
 
 IX. Caisar perpetual dictator, A. U. C. 706, 
 
 X. The triumvirate of Antony, Lepidus, and Augustus, 
 A.U.C.711. 
 
 XI. The supreme power vested in Augustus, A. U. C. 724. 
 Such were tlie various changes of government wliich Tacitus 
 has enumerated with his usual comprehensive brevity. Each 
 of them forms an important era, and all, well developed, 
 would furnish a complete political history of Kome. 
 
 1 The original says simply under the name of prince, 
 meaning prince of the senate ; a title well known ia the time 
 of the old republic, and always given to the senator whose 
 name stood first on the censor's roll. Wlien the consul called 
 on the fathers for their opinions he began with the Prfnceps 
 Senatus. Under that constitutional name Augustus seemed 
 rather to accept than to arrogate to himself tlie management 
 of the state. Tacitus says afterwards, section ix., that the 
 governme^nt was neither settled under a monarch nor a dicta- 
 tor, l)ut under the title of prince. Augustus understood the 
 policy of not assuming invidious titles in the outset of his 
 reign ; but it was owing to him that, in process of time, the 
 word princeps no longer signified prince of the senate, but, in 
 the modern acceptation, the supreme ruler of the state.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. '^> 
 
 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, <ind also the execution of the laws. 
 A new forai was thus introduced into the constitution, whi<;L 
 threw the weight into the democratic scale ; and this extra- 
 ordinary power, Cicero says, saved the republic ; because, in 
 the hands of a turbulent multitude, it would have been nothing 
 but uproar and confusion. The tribunes, however, could at 
 their pleasure control the other magistrates, and that was the 
 popular title which Augustus assumed. It gave him, under 
 a republican name, the whole force and energy of the govern- 
 ment. He knew the art of distinguishing tyranny under 
 constitutional forms. Tacitus says in another place that Au- 
 gustus, under that artful disguise, found the way, without 
 the name of king or dictator, to make himself superior to the 
 legislative and the executive powers of the commonwealth.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 5 
 
 lity, the leading men were raised to wealth and honors, 
 in proportion to the alacrity with which they courted 
 the yoke ; and all who in the distraction of the times 
 had risen to affluence preferred immediate ease and 
 safety to the danger of contending for ancient freedom. 
 The provinces acquiesced under the new establishment, 
 weary of the mixed authority of the senate and peo- 
 ple ; a mode of government long distracted by conten- 
 tions among the great, and in the end rendered into- 
 lerable by the avarice of public magistrates ; while the 
 laws afforded a feeble remedy, disturbed by violence, 
 defeated by intrigue, and undermined by bribery and 
 corruption. 
 
 III. In this state of affairs, Augustus selected Clau- 
 dius Marcellus and Marcus Agrippa to prop and 
 strengthen his administration. The former, who was 
 his sister's son,' and still a youth, he raised to the 
 dignity of pontiff and «dile : on the latter, by his 
 birth obscure, but eminent for military talents, and 
 the companion of all his victories, he conferred the 
 honor of two successive consulships ; and in a short 
 time after, on the untimely death of Marcellus, ^ chose 
 him for his son-in-law. Tiberius Nero and Claudius 
 Drusus, the sons of his wife Livia, were adorned with 
 the title of imperator,^ though the succession in the 
 
 1 Octavia was the sister of Augustus. For more of her, 
 see Genealogical Table of the Ceesars, No. 16. For Marcellus, 
 see No. 18. 
 
 2 For Julia, the daughter of Augustus, married first to 
 Marcellus and afterwards to Agrippa, see the Genealogical 
 Table, No. 46. For Agrippa, see No. 47. 
 
 3 An account of Livia and her first husband is given in the 
 Genealogical Table, No. 66. For Drusus, see No. 79; and 
 Tiberius, No. 68. The title of imperator implied no more 
 than the commander of an army. It was usually given by the
 
 6 TACITUS. 
 
 house of Augustus was at the time well secured by 
 other branches of the house of Caesar. He had al- 
 ready adopted into the imperial family Caius and Lu- 
 cius, the two sons of Agrippa; and to see them, even 
 before they had put on the manly gown, considered as 
 princes of the Roman youth, and marked out as future 
 consuls, was his ardent desire : though, for political 
 reasons, he chose to disguise his sentiments. To ob- 
 tain those honors for his family was the wish of his 
 heart ; while, under a show of coy reluctance, he 
 seemed to reject them. Agrippa departed this life; 
 and in a short time after his two sons were cut off : 
 Lucius Ccesar^ on his road to join the army in Spain ; 
 and Caius on his return from Armenia, where he had 
 receiv ed a wound that impaired his health. Whether 
 they died by their own premature fate, or the machi- 
 nations of their stepmother Livia, is to this day pro- 
 blematical. Drusus had paid his debt to nature, leav- 
 ing Tiberius the only surviving son-in-law of the em- 
 peror. The current of court favor was now directed 
 that way. He was adopted by Augustus, declared his 
 colleague in the government, his associate in the tri- 
 buuitian power, and shown as the rising sun to the 
 
 soldiers in their camp, or in the field after a victory, to the 
 general whom they approA-ed. Augustus, and the following 
 emperors, granted the name to their favorites as an honor- 
 able distinction. Tiberius reserved it for the emperor only. 
 See Annals, iii. 74. Being always, with other titles, an- 
 nexed to the imperial dignity, it served at length to convey 
 the idea now understood by the word emperor. 
 
 1 Caius and Lucius were the sons of Agrippa by Julia, the 
 daughter of Augustus. See Genealogical Table, No. 48 and 
 49. The Koman law made no difference between adoption 
 and natural filiation; conseq'uently the two sons of Agrippa, 
 being ad^opted by Augustus, becume part of the Cajsarean 
 family.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. * 
 
 army ; not, as before, by the secret arts of Livia, but 
 with her open and avoAved direction. Augustus was 
 now in the decline of life, and Livia had gained un- 
 bounded influence over his affections. By her con- 
 trivance Agrippa Posthumiis,^ the only surviving 
 grandson of the emperor, was banished to the isle of 
 Planasia.^ In praise of this young man much cannot 
 be said : he was a stranger to the liberal arts, uncouth, 
 uninformed, and stupidly valuing himself on his bodily 
 strength ; yet free from vice, or the imputation of a 
 crime. 
 
 At this time Germanicus, the immediate descendant 
 of Drusus, was appointed to the command of eight 
 legions on the Rhine. By the emperor's direction 
 Tiberius adopted him as his son, though he had then 
 issue of his own^ growing up to manhood. The po- 
 licy, no doubt, was to guard the succession with addi- 
 tional securities. Augustus, in that juncture, had no 
 war on his hands, that in Germany excepted ; which 
 was carried on, not with a view to extension of em- 
 pire, or any solid advantage, but solely to expiate the 
 disgrace incurred by the loss of Varus ^ and his le- 
 gions. A perfect calm prevailed at Rome : the magis- 
 trates retained their ancient names : the younger part 
 of the community were born since the battle of Ac- 
 
 1 Agrippa Posthuinus, so called because he was born after 
 his father's death. See Genealogical Table, No. 50. 
 
 2 For the island of Planasia, see Geographical Table at the 
 end. 
 
 3 Tiberius bad a son, named Drusus, by his first wife 
 Vipsania Agrippina, the daughter of ]M. Agrippa. See the 
 Genealogical Table of the Caesars, No. 70. Drusus was after- 
 wards cut oft by Sejanus. See Annals, iv. 8. 
 
 4 The slaughter of Varus, and his three legions, was A. U. C. 
 762. See an account of it in Suetonius, in Aug. ^3 ; Vel- 
 leius Paterculus, ii. 117 3 and also in this book, 58.60,61.
 
 H TACITUS. 
 
 tium,' and the old during the civil wars: how many 
 were then living who had seen the constitution of their 
 country ? 
 
 IV. The government thus overthrown, nothing re- 
 mained of ancient manners, or ancient spirit. Of in- 
 dependence, or the equal condition of Roman citizens,^ 
 no trace was left. All ranks submitted to the will of 
 the prince, little solicitous about the present hour ; 
 while Augustus, in the vigor of health, maintained at 
 once his own dignity, the honor of his house, and the 
 public tranquillity. In process of time, when, worn 
 with age, and failing under bodily infirmities, he 
 seemed to approach the last act, a new scene pre- 
 sented itself to the hopes of men. Some amused 
 themselves with ideas of ancient liberty, many dreaded 
 the horrors of a civil war, and others wished for pub- 
 lic commotion ; the greater part discussed, with a 
 variety of opinions, the character of the new masters 
 at that moment impending over the state : ' Agrippa 
 was rude and savage ; disgrace added to his natural 
 ferocity ; and, in point of age and experience, he was 
 by no means equal to the weight of empire. Tiberius 
 was matured by years ; he had gained reputation in 
 war: but the pride of the Claudian family^ was inve- 
 terate in his nature ; and his inbred cruelty, however 
 suppressed with art, announced itself in various shapes. 
 
 1 The battle of Actium was A. U. C. 723. For Actium, see 
 the Geographical Table. 
 
 2 By the equal condition of Roman citizens we are not to 
 understand equality of rnnka, which never did and never can 
 subsist in any age or country. The equal condition of the 
 people consisted in their having a voice in the making of 
 laws, in all questions about war and peace, and in all affairs 
 of moment. 
 
 3 The pride of the Claudian family, from which Tiberius 
 was descended both by tlie paternal and maternal line, is 
 painted forth in lively colors by Suetonius, in Tib. 1 and 2.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 9 
 
 Trained up in the imperial house, in the very bosom 
 of despotism, he had been inured from his youth to 
 the pomp and pride of consulships and triumphs. 
 During the years which he passed in a seeming re- 
 treat, but real exile, in the isle of Rhodes,^ he medi- 
 tated nothing so much as plans of future vengeance, 
 clandestine pleasures, and the arts of dissimulation.' 
 To these reflections the public added their dread of a 
 mother raging with all the impotence of female ambi- 
 tion : a whole people, they said, were to be enslaved 
 by a woman, and two young men,^ who in the begin- 
 ning would hang heavy on the state, and in the end 
 distract and rend it to pieces by their own dissensions. 
 V. While these and other observations of a similar 
 nature employed the public mind, the health of Au- 
 gustus declined apace. The wickedness of his wife 
 was not supposed to remain inactive. A rumor pre- 
 vailed that Augustus had gone a few months before, 
 in a private manner, with a select party, and Fabius 
 Maximus, his confidential friend, to the island of Pla- 
 nasia, on a visit to Agrippa. The meeting was said to 
 be of the tenderest nature : tears were shed by both, 
 and a scene of mutual aflfection followed. From that 
 interview hopes were conceived that the young prince 
 would be once more restored to the favor and protec- 
 tion of his grandfather. The secret soon transpired : 
 Fabius communicated the whole to his wife Marcia, 
 and by her it was conveyed to Livia. Augustus knew 
 that he had been betrayed. Maximus died soon after; 
 perhaps by his ov.n hand : but of that nothing can be 
 said with certainty. At his funeral Marcia was heard, 
 
 1 For an account of Tiberius in the isle of Rhodes, see 
 Suet, in Tib. 10, 11, 12. 
 
 2 Drusus, the son of Tiberius, and Germanicus, who at 
 that time commanded the legions on the llhine.
 
 10 TACITUS. 
 
 in the vehemence of distress and sorrow, to accuse 
 herself of being accessary to the death of her husband. 
 However that may be, Tiberius had scarcely set foot 
 in lUyricum when he received dispatches from his 
 mother, requiring his immediate presence. He ar- 
 rived at Nola : but whether Augustus was still living, 
 or had breathed his last, must be left in doubt. By 
 Livia's order the palace and all the avenues were 
 closely guarded : favorable accounts were issued from 
 time to time ; and with that artifice mankind was 
 amused, till all proper measures were concerted. At 
 length the same report that announced the death of 
 Augustus proclaimed Tiberius in possession of the su- 
 preme power. 
 
 VI. The first exploit of the new reign was the mur- 
 der of AgrippaPosthumus-, A centurion of undaunted 
 resolution attacked him by surprise. Though unpro- 
 vided with arms, the young man did not easily yield : 
 he fell after a stout resistance. Of this event Tibe- 
 rius made no report to the senate, content with hinting 
 a pretended order of his deceased father, by which the 
 centurion, charged with the custody of Agrippa's per- 
 son, was commanded to despatch him as soon as the 
 emperor breathed his last. Augustus, it is true, had 
 arraigned the character and conduct of the young man 
 in terms of asperity ; he had even banished him by a 
 decree of the senate : but it is equally true that he 
 never imbrued liis hands in the blood of his kindred ; 
 nor is it probable that, for the security of a stepson, 
 he would have doomed to death a descendant from 
 himself. The stronger presumption is, that Tiberius 
 and Livia, the former impelled by his dread of a rival, 
 and the latter by the malice of a stepmother, were 
 accomplices in the murder. When the assassin, in 
 the military phrase, reported to Tiberius, that what
 
 THE A^^AL^ 
 
 -BOOK I. ^1 
 
 he had given in orders was duly executed, the reply 
 of the new emperor was, that he had given no such 
 orders ; and for what was done the centurion must 
 answer before the senate. 
 
 A disavowal so very extraordinary gave the alarm 
 to Sallustius Crispus,' a minister then in favor, and 
 trusted with the secrets of tlie court. The warrant for 
 the execution had passed through his hands. He 
 dreaded a public examination ; well aware that, whe- 
 ther he disclosed the truth or attempted to disguise it, 
 his own danger would, in either case, be precisely the 
 same. To ward off the blow, he remonstrated to 
 Livia, that the secret counsels of the imperial family, 
 the conduct of ministers, and the actions of the centu- 
 rions, ought to be veiled from the public eye. By 
 referring too much to the senate the prince would 
 weaken his own authority : that men should be ac- 
 countable to the sovereign only was a branch of the 
 imperial prerogative ; and if Tiberius departed from 
 it he ceased to reign. 
 
 VII. At Rome, in the mean time, all things tended 
 to a state of abject servitude. Consuls, senators, and 
 Roman knights, contended with emulation who should 
 be the most willing slaves. The higher each person's 
 rank, the more he struggled for the foremost place in 
 bondage. All appeared with a studied countenance : 
 an air of gaiety might dishonor the memory of Augus- 
 tus, and sadness would ill befit the opening of a new 
 reigii. A motley farce was acted ; and grief and joy, 
 distress and flattery, succeeding by turns, were curi- 
 
 1 He was grand-nephew to Sallust, the great historian. 
 See Annals, iii. 30, If he disclosed the secret, he was sure 
 to incur the resentment of the emperor ; if he concealed it, 
 the senate might condemn him for the murder.
 
 12 TACITUS. 
 
 ously mixed and blended. The oath of fidelity ^ to 
 Tiberius was taken first by the two consuls, Sextus 
 Pompeius and Sextus Apuleius, and by them admi- 
 nistered to Seius Strabo and Caius Turranius :^ the 
 former, prefect of the pretorian bands ; the latter, 
 controller of the corn and public stores. Their ex- 
 ample was followed by the senate, the army, and the 
 mass of the people. 
 
 To make every thing move from the consuls was the 
 policy of Tiberius. He affected the appearance of 
 republican principles, as if the constitution still sub- 
 sisted, and he himself had formed no design to destroy 
 it. The very proclamation by which he convened the 
 senate professed no other authority than that of the 
 tribunitian power conferred on him by Augustus. The 
 proclamation itself was short, and penned in modest 
 terms ; importing ' that the business of the meeting 
 was to decree funeral honors to his deceased father : 
 as to himself, he could not leave the body ; that office 
 of piety was the only function that he presumed to 
 exercise.' This was, indeed, the language of modera- 
 tion ; but Augustus was no sooner dead than he as- 
 sumed the supreme authority : in his character of im- 
 
 1 There were two forms of oaths ; one, when they swore by 
 the name of the prince ; the other, when they bound them- 
 selves to support his acts. The last was introduced by Ro- 
 mulus, and is called by Ulpian Lex Regia. It was the foun- 
 dation of the monarchy. Julius Cffisar renewed it to support 
 his own ambition. — Suet, in Jul. Cffis. 84. It should seem, 
 from what Tacitus says, that on the present occasion they 
 swore by the name not the acts of Tiberius. The latter oath 
 was voted afterwards by the senate, but Tiberius opposed it. 
 This book, 72. 
 
 2 Turranius was the confidential friend of Augustus, and 
 by him, towards the latter end of his reign, appointed prefect 
 of corn and grain ; an office which that emperor had gene- 
 rally kept in his own hands.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 13 
 
 perator he took on liira the whole military command ; 
 he gave the word to the pretorian guards ;' sentinels 
 were stationed round the palace ; the soldiers appeared 
 under arms ; the magnificence of a court was seen in 
 all its forms ; guards attended him to the forum ; 
 guards conducted him to the senate-house ; all things 
 announced the sovereign.^ In his dispatches to the 
 army he was already the successor of Augustus : he 
 spoke the style and language of a recognised emperor, 
 without reserve, and in the tone of power, equivocal 
 only when he addressed the senate. 
 
 The fact was, Tiberius dreaded Germanicus. A 
 commander-in-chief, who had so many legions under 
 his direction, who had formed connexions with tlie 
 allies of Rome, and was besides the idol of the peo- 
 ple, might choose to seize the government rather than 
 linger in expectation : for this reason the fathers were 
 to be managed. There was at the bottom another mo- 
 tive : if, in appearance, he owed his elevation, not to 
 
 1 In every Roman camp the general's tent, or pavilion, was 
 called the Prsetorium, because the ancient Latins styled all 
 their commanders praetors. Scipio Africanus formed a pre- 
 torian cohort, or a body of select men, who were stationed 
 near his pavilion, holding themselves in readiness to attend 
 their general in all sudden emergencies. In the time of Au- 
 gustus the emperor's tent was called Prajtorium Augustale. 
 The name was continued by his successors ; and the soldiers, 
 who formed the emperor's body-guard, were called the pre- 
 torian cohorts, under the command of an officer instituted with 
 a special commission, in which he was styled Prajfectus Prae- 
 torii. The soldiers were for some time quartered at Rome, 
 till Sejanus, in order to forward his own dark designs, per- 
 suaded Tiberius to form a pretorian camp at a small distance 
 from the city. — Annals, iv. 2. 
 
 2 Tiberius appeared with the same external pomp, and all 
 the honors that distinguished Augustus ; namely, the fasces 
 wreathed with laurels, a train of lictors, and whatever at that 
 time was appropriated to the emperor. The purple and the 
 diadem, in imitation of eastern monarchy, were introduced at 
 a later period.
 
 14 TACITUS. 
 
 the intrigues of an ambitious mother, or the adoption 
 of a superannuated emperor, but to the voice of the 
 people, it would redound more to his glory. The op- 
 portunity was also fair to pry into the temper and 
 dispositions of the leading senators. The event showed 
 that his indecision was policy in disguise. He noted 
 the words of men ; he watched their looks ; warped 
 every circumstance into a crime ; and, hoarding all 
 in his memory, gathered rancor for a future day. 
 
 VIII. At the first meeting of the senate the funeral 
 of Augustus was the only subject of debate. The 
 -emperor's will was brought forward by the vestal vir- 
 gins.' Tiberius and Livia were declared his heirs: 
 the latter was adopted into the Julian family, with the 
 additional title of Augusta. His grandchildren and 
 their issue were next in succession : in the third de- 
 gree he named the nobles of Rome ; not indeed from 
 motives of personal regard, for the greater part had 
 been for a long time obnoxious ; but a bequest so ge- 
 nerous and magnificent might gain the applause of 
 future ages. In the rest of his legacies the will was 
 in the style of a Roman citizen : if we except the 
 clauses, whereby he gave to the Roman people four 
 hundred thousand great sesterces,- to the inferior 
 
 1 Suetonius informs us that Augustus made his will a year 
 and four months before his death, and committed it to the 
 care of the vestal virgins. Two- thirds of his money, which 
 he had taken care to deposit in his exchequer, he gave to 
 Tiberius, and the rest to Livia. In the event of their death, 
 one-third was to go to Drusus, the son of Tiberius ; and the 
 other two-thirds to Gerraanicus and his three sons. If they 
 did not survive him, he left the whole to his relations and 
 friends. — Suet, in Aug. 101. 
 
 2 Suetonius seems to have given a distinct account of these 
 several legacies. Tacitus mentions a gross sum to the nation, 
 and the populace; populi et plebi. What was given to the 
 former was of course carried into the public treasury, (ira- 
 rium ; the rest was distributed to the inferior citizens.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK 1. 15 
 
 commonalty five-and-thirty thousand, to each preto- 
 rian soldier one thousand small sesterces, and to every 
 common man belonging to the legions three hundred, 
 he affected neither pomp nor grandeur. The will 
 being read, the funeral honors were taken into consi- 
 
 Suetonius separates the two legacies, and the translator has 
 ventured to follow him. Suetonius says that forty millions 
 of sesterces were bequeathed to the Roman people ; to each 
 of the tribes thirty-tive thousand ; to the pretorian guards 
 one thousand to each ; to the city cohorts tive hundred ; and 
 to the soldiers of the legions three hundred to each. He fixed 
 stated times for the payment of the several legacies, de- 
 claring, that not above one hundred and fifty millions of ses- 
 terces would go to his heirs, though in the last twenty years 
 of his life he had received in legacies no less than fourteen 
 hundred millions, all of which, besides his own paternal 
 estate, he had expended on the public. — Suet, in Aug. 101. 
 
 With regard to the Roman coin, the translator thinks pro- 
 per to acknowlege, that he does not pretend to accuracy, 
 whenever the great and small sesterces occur in the original. 
 He believes that the reader, in general, will not be anxious 
 about the exact valuation. The curious in such matters are 
 referred to a dissertation on the subject in the Memoirs of 
 the Academy of Belles Lettres, vol. xxviii. 4to. edit. He 
 will there find that sestertius 7iHmnms was a piece of money 
 worth about four sols of French money ; and sestertium^ pondus 
 about 201 livres, 3 sols, and 4d. Another peculiarity is ex- 
 plained in the dissertation just mentioned. Whenever the 
 Latin adverbs, such as decies, vicies, centies, sestertium, occur 
 in the original, centena milliu must always be understood ; so 
 that decies sestertium is ten hundred thousand or one million 
 of small sesterces. It follows that the numeral letters in the 
 text, ccccxxxv, imply quadrins^enties tricies quinquies centena 
 milLia sestertium ; that is, four hundred and thirty-five times 
 one hundred thousand small sesterces. M. Guerin, who has 
 given a valuable translation of Tacitus, explains the legacy of 
 the emperor agreeably to what has been stated. * Augustus,' 
 he says. ' left to the Roman people, that is, to the state, one 
 hundred thousand sesterces four hundred times told ; and to 
 each of the five-and-thirty tribes one hundred thousand ses- 
 terces, to be distributed among the poorer citizens. This 
 note has run into length ; but it was thought necessary, that 
 the curious in Roman coins may not expect more than is 
 intended.
 
 16 TACITUS. 
 
 deration. The chief propositions were, that ' the pro- 
 cession should pass through the triumphal gate ;' this 
 was moved by Asinius Gallus : ' that the titles of all 
 the laws of Augustus, and the names of the conquered 
 nations, should be carried before the body,' was the 
 motion of Lucius Arruntius, Valerius Messala was of 
 opinion, that ' the oath of fidelity to Tiberius should 
 be renewed every year ;' and being thereon interro- 
 gated by the prince, whether that motion was made 
 with his privity ? ' I made it,' said Messala, * on my 
 own suggestion : in matters of public concern, how- 
 ever it may give umbrage, the conviction of my own 
 heart shall be the only rule of my conduct.' The age 
 had left no other mode of flattery. The senate wdth 
 one voice insisted that the body should be borne to 
 the funeral pile on their own shoulders. Tiberius 
 assented with seeming condescension, but real arro- 
 gance. The Field of Mars was the place appointed for 
 the ceremony. A proclamation was issued, warning 
 the populace to restrain their zeal, and not require 
 that the last duties should be performed in the forum, 
 as had been done with tumult and disorder at the fu- 
 neral of Julius Caesar. 
 
 On the day appointed for the ceremony the soldiers 
 were drawn up under arms ; a circumstance that served 
 only to provoke the ridicule of all who remembered 
 the day, or heard of it from their fathers, when Cajsar 
 the dictator was put to death. In that early period of 
 slavery, and in the first emotions of joy for liberty in 
 vain recovered, the blow for freedom seemed a murder 
 to some, and to others a glorious sacrifice. But in the 
 present juncture, when a prince worn out with age, 
 who had grown grey in power, and left a long train of 
 heirs, was to receive the last funeral obsequies, at 
 such a time to call forth the military, in order to
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 17 
 
 secure a quiet interment, was a vain parade, as ridi- 
 culous as it was unnecessary. 
 
 IX. Augustus now became the subject of public 
 discussion. Frivolous circumstances engaged the at- 
 tention of the greater number. They observed that 
 the anniversary of his accession to the imperial dig- 
 nity was the day of his death. He died at Nola, in 
 the same house and in the same chamber where 00-- 
 tavius his father breathed his last. They called to mind, 
 in wonder and amaze, the number of his consulships,*^ 
 equal to those of Valerius Corvinus and Caius Marius 
 put together. The tribunitian power continued in his 
 hands during a series of seven-and-thirty years : he 
 was saluted imperator no less than one-and-twenty 
 times ; and other titles of distinction were either in- 
 vented or revived, to adorn his name. Reflections of 
 a different kind were made by thinking men. They 
 rejudged the life of the emperor, and pronounced 
 with freedom. By his apologists it was argued, ' that 
 filial piety to his adopted father, the distraction of the 
 times, and the ruin of the laws, made the part he took 
 in the civil war an act of necessity ; and civil wars can 
 neither be undertaken nor conducted on principles of 
 honor and strict justice. To revenge the death of 
 Julius Caesar was the primary motive. To obtain that 
 end he made concessions to Antony, and he temporised 
 with Lepidus : but when the latter grew grey in sloth, 
 
 1 Immediately after the battle of Modena, in which Hirtius 
 and Pans a were defeated, Augustus, on the fourteenth before 
 the calends of September, that is, on the nineteenth of August, 
 A. U. C. 711, was consul for the first time. He was after- 
 wards thirteen times consul. Valerius Corvinus was six 
 times consul, and Marius seven times ; both together making 
 their number equal to Augustus. It must however be re- 
 membered that he was not emperor of Rome till the defeat of 
 Marc Antony, at the battle of Actium, A. U. C. 723. He died 
 on the nineteenth of August, in the year of Rome 7&7. 
 TACIT. VOL. I. B
 
 18 TACITUS. 
 
 and the former fell a victim to his voluptuous passions, 
 the commonwealth, convulsed by party divisions, had 
 no resource but the government of one. There was, 
 however, no monarchy, no dictator : content M'ith the 
 unassuming title of Prince of the Senate, he esta- 
 blished peace, and settled the constitution. The ocean 
 and far distant rivers' marked his boundaries of the 
 empire. The legions, the provinces, and the fleets of 
 Rome acted in concert, with all the strength of system. 
 Justice was duly administered at home ; the allies 
 were treated with moderation ; and magnificent struc- 
 tures rose to adorn the capital. Violent measures 
 were rarely adopted, and never but for the good of 
 the whole. ^ 
 
 X. To this it was answered, ' Filial piety, and the 
 distraction of the times, Avere nothing but a color to 
 varnish over the lust of dominion. It was the ambi- 
 tion of Augustus that gained the veterans by a profu- 
 sion of largesses ; it was ambition that raised an army, 
 when he was yet a young man, and in a private sta- 
 tion. By bribery and corruption he seduced to him- 
 self the forces of the consuls. To the friends of Pom- 
 pey's party he wore a mask, afi"ecting republican 
 principles : he deceived the senate ; and by an ex- 
 torted decree possessed himself of the fasces and the 
 pretorian authority. How long did the consuls Hir- 
 tius and Pansa^ survive that event? They were both 
 
 1 The distant rivers were the Rhine, the Danube, and the 
 Euphrates. 
 
 'J Hirtius and Pansa were consuls A.U. C. 711. They gave 
 battle to Marc Antony near Modena, and obliged him to aban- 
 don Italy. Hirtius fell in the engagement, and Pansa in a 
 short time after died of his wounds. Suetonius (Life of Au- 
 gustus, § 1) says that Glyco, the surgeon, was suspected of 
 infusing poison into the wound ; but Cicero refutes the 
 charge, and vindicates the character of his friend.— See Let- 
 ters to Brutus, epist. (3.
 
 THE ANaMALS. — BOOK I. 19 
 
 cut oflf. — Did tliey fall by the hand of the enemy ? 
 Who can be certain that Pansa did not die by poison 
 infused into his wound, and Hirtius by the treachery 
 of his own soldiers ? — If that was their fate, is it clear 
 that Augustus was not an actor in that scene of ini- 
 (juity ? That he put himself at the head of both their 
 armies is a fact well known : having extorted the con- 
 sulship ' from a reluctant senate, he threw off the 
 mask, and turned against the commonwealth the arms 
 Avhich had been intrusted to him in the cause of liberty 
 against Marc Antony.- — What shall be said of the 
 fury of proscriptions ? He seized the lands of Roman 
 citizens,^ and divided them among liis creatures. — 
 These were acts of violence, to this hour unjustified 
 even by those who advised the measure. 
 
 ' To atone for the death of a father, Brutus and Cas- 
 sius fell a sacrifice. So far, perhaps, may be allowed ; 
 but whether that deadly feud, when the good of the 
 commonwealth required it, might not have been, to 
 his immortal honor, appeased in silence, may still be 
 made a question. Be it as it may, the younger Pom- 
 pey wa5 ruined by an insidious peace, and Lepidus 
 was undone by treachery. Marc Antony relied on 
 the treaties of Tarentum' and Brundusium : he went 
 
 1 This was the first consulship of Augustus. He drew near 
 the city walls, and demanded it in the name of the legions. — 
 Suetonius, in Aug. § 26. He had not then obtained the tri- 
 bunitian power, and therefore was not master of the common- 
 wealtli. He was at that time in his twentieth year. 
 
 i! Augustus collected together the veteran soldiers who 
 had fought under Julius Cssar, and received a commission 
 from the senate to join Hirtius and Pansa against Marc An- 
 tony.— See Suet. Life of Augustus, § 10; and Cicero's Phi- 
 lippics passim. 
 
 3 For an account of the extreme rigor with which Augustus 
 enforced the proscription of the triumvirate, see Suetonius, 
 in Aug. § 27. 
 
 4 The "alliance between Augustus and jMarc Antony was
 
 20 TACITUS. 
 
 farther; he married the sister of Augustus; and, in 
 consequence of that insidious alliance, lost his life. 
 Peace, it is true, Avas soon after established: but what 
 kind of peace? The slaughter of Lollius' and Varus 
 stained it in Germany ; and the massacre of the Var- 
 ros,- the Egnatii, and the Julii, made Rome a theatre 
 of blood.' 
 
 From the public conduct of Augustus a transition 
 was made to his domestic character. ' Livia was 
 taken by force from Tiberius Nero, her lawful hus- 
 band ; she was then advanced in pregnancy : whether 
 in that condition she was under a legal disability to 
 contract a second marriage was indeed referred to 
 the pontifical college ; but that very reference was a 
 mockery, that turned all religion to a jest. His two 
 favorites, Quintus Tedius^and Vedius Pollio, were 
 distinguished by nothing but riot and debauchery. 
 To crown the whole, Livia ruled him with unbounded 
 
 often violated, and renewed by the interposition of friends. 
 Horace's account of his journey to Brundiisium is supposed 
 by Dacier to have been written A. U. C. 713, when the poet 
 met Maecenas and Cocceius A'erva, the famous lawyer, who 
 were then employed to settle the treaty of Brundusiura, by 
 which Antony (his wife Fulvia being then dead) agreed to 
 marry Octavia, the sister of Augustus. The treaty of Ta- 
 rentum was about three years afterwards. 
 
 1 Marcus LoUius was defeated in German/ A. U. C. 738. 
 The slaughter of Varus and his three legions was A. U. C. 
 762.— See Suet, in Aug. § 23 ; and Florus, iv. 12. 
 
 2 Varro IMursena and Marcus Egnatius suffered for a con- 
 spiracy. Julius Antonius was son to Antony the triumvir by 
 bis wife Fulvia. He was engaged in an intrigue with Julia, 
 the daughter of Augustus, and for that offence was put to 
 death. Velleius Paterculus says he despatched himself. 
 Horace's ode * Pindarum quisquis studet a;mulari ' is ad- 
 dressed to him. 
 
 3 The excessive luxury of Vedius Pollio is well known. 
 Dio Cassius says that he fattened his lampreys and other fish 
 with human blood. Of Quintus Tedius nothing more is 
 known.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 21 
 
 sway ; to the commonwealth a fatal empress, and to 
 the Cesarean family a pernicious stepmother. The 
 honors due to the gods were no longer sacred : Au- 
 gustus ^ claimed equal worship. Temples were built, 
 and statues were erected to him : a mortal man was 
 adored, and priests and pontiffs were appointed to pay 
 him impious homage. In calling Tiberius to the suc- 
 cession, he neither acted from motives of private afTec- 
 tion, nor of regard for the public welfare. He knew 
 the arrogance and innate cruelty of the man, and 
 from the contrast hoped to derive new lustre to him- 
 self.' That he knew the inward frame and cast of 
 Tiberius, appears from a fact that happened a few 
 years before. The business of granting to that prince 
 a renewal of the tribunitian power was depending in 
 the senate. Augustus, in his speech on that occasion, 
 made honorable mention of him ; but, at the same 
 time, threw out oblique reflections on his conduct, his 
 deportment, and his manners. With affected tender- 
 ness he seemed willing to palliate all defects ; but the 
 malice of the apology wounded the deeper. 
 
 XI. The rites of sepulture being performed, a temple 
 and religous worship were decreed to the memory of 
 Augustus. The senate now turned their supplications 
 to Tiberius. A direct answer could not be drawn 
 from him. ' He talked of the magnitude and the 
 weight of empire ; he mistrusted his own abilities : 
 the comprehensive mind of Augustus was, indeed, 
 equal to the charge ; but for himself, called as he had 
 
 1 Suetonius says Augustus, though be knew that temples 
 were often raised in the provinces in honor of the proconsuls, 
 allowed none to be erected to himself, unless tbey were at 
 the same time dedicated to the Roman people. In the city 
 he absolutely refused all honors of that kind. Suet, in Aug. 
 § 52,
 
 22 TACITUS. 
 
 been by that emperor to a share in the administration, 
 he knew by experience that, to direct the affairs of a 
 great nation, was to be in a state of painful pre- 
 eminence, exposed to danger, and subject to the vicis- 
 situdes of fortune. In a city so well provided with 
 men of illustrious character, was it advisable to con- 
 fide the whole to a single ruler ? The several depart- 
 ments of public business would be better filled by a 
 Coalition of the best and ablest citizens.' In this 
 strain Tiberius delivered himself with dignity of senti- 
 ment, it is true, but nothing from the heart. A pro- 
 found master of dissimulation, he had from nature, or 
 the force of habit, the art of being dark and unin- 
 telligible. Even on occasions when duplicity was 
 useless, he spoke in short and broken hints, the sense 
 suspended, mysterious, and indecisive. Intending at 
 present to conceal his sentiments,' he was of course 
 more involved than ever. The senators, dreading 
 nothing so much as the crime of knowing his character, 
 broke out in a strain of supplication ; they melted into 
 tears ; they poured forth entreaties ; Avith uplifted 
 hands they looked to the gods ; they turned to the 
 statue of Augustus, and at times fell prostrate at the 
 knees of Tiberius. Thus surrounded he called for a 
 state paper, and ordered it to be read.'- It set forth 
 
 1 Tacitus says, in another place, that Tiberius valued him- 
 self more for his art of dissimulation than for all his other 
 talents. He placed it in the rank of virtues, and hated the 
 man who attempted to discover the secrets of his heart. 
 
 2 The pacific system recommended by Augustus was 
 adopted by his two immediate successors. Tiberius and Ca- 
 ligula were contented with their triumph over the laws and 
 the lives and fortunes of the most eminent citizens. The 
 pursuit of pleasure, and the exercise of domestic tyranny, 
 banished all ideas of military glory ; and their dread of supe- 
 rior merit made them withhold from their generals the renown 
 in arms which they themselves despised. Under the auspices
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 23 
 
 an estimate of the erapire and its resources, the num- 
 ber of citizens, the allies of Rome, an account of the 
 naval strength, the names of the conquered kingdoms 
 and provinces ; the subsidies, tributes, and the amount 
 of the revenue, with the necessary disbursements of 
 government, and the demands for secret service. The 
 whole was in the handwriting of Augustus. It con- 
 cluded with his advice never to aim at an extension 
 of empire : an important rule of policy : but was it the 
 result of wisdom ? or did he view with a malignant 
 eye the fame that might accrue to his successor ? 
 
 XII. The senate still continuing, with prostrate 
 servility, to press their suit, Tiberius let fall an ex- 
 pression, intimating that though unequal to the whole, 
 he was willing to undertake any part that might be 
 committed to his care. Inform us, Ctesar, said Asi- 
 nius Gallus,' what part do you choose ? Disconcerted 
 by so unexpected a question, Tiberius paused for a 
 moment ; but soon collecting himself, ' To choose,' 
 he said, ' or to decline any part, would ill become the 
 man who wished to be dispensed with altogether.' 
 Gallus saw displeasure working in his countenance. 
 With quickness and presence of mind he made answer, 
 * The question was not put with intent to divide what 
 
 of the emperor Claudius Britain was invaded, and finally 
 reduced by Agricola in the reign of Domitian. That was the 
 only addition to the Roman empire during the first century 
 of the Christian era. Trajan afterwards departed from the 
 moderation of Augustus. He reduced the whole vast terri- 
 tory of Dacia, which lay beyond the Danube, to the form of a 
 Roman province, and extended his conquests into Armenia, 
 Mesopotamia, and other countries, as far as the gulf of Persia. 
 His death closed the career of victory. His successor, Adrian, 
 renounced all the eastern conquests, choosing to make the 
 precept of Augustus the rule of his conduct. 
 
 1 Asinius Gallus was son to Asinius Pollio, the famous 
 orator and confidential friend of Augustus. Horace and 
 Virgil have made the father immortal.
 
 24 TACITUS. 
 
 in its nature is united and indivisible. I appealed to 
 your own feelings. I wished to draw from you a con- 
 fession that the commonwealth, being one body po- 
 litic, requires one mind to direct it.' To this he added 
 a panegyric on the character of Augustus: he ex- 
 patiated on the victories obtained by Tiberius, and the 
 civil employments which he had filled, with honor to 
 himself, during a series of years. But this soothing 
 strain had no effect. The resentment of Tiberius was 
 not to be pacified. Asinius Gallus had married Vip- 
 sania,* the daughter of Marcus Agrippa, after her 
 divorce from Tiberius. By that connexion he seemed 
 to aspire above the rank of a citizen ; and the spirit of 
 his father, Asinius Pollio, was still living in the son. 
 
 XIII. Lucius Arruntius ^ delivered his sentiments, 
 nearly the same as Gallus had off'ered, and in like 
 manner gave otfence. Tiberius harbored in his breast 
 no lurking resentment to Arruntius ; but he was jea- 
 lous of a man, whom he saw florishing in opulence, an 
 ardent spirit, possessed of talents, and high in the 
 esteem of the public. Augustus, moreover, in a con- 
 versation not long before his death, talking of the suc- 
 cession to the imperial dignity, distinguished three 
 several classes ; in the first, he placed such as were 
 worthy, but would decline the honor ; in the second, 
 
 1 Vipsania Agrippina, the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius 
 Agrippa, was married to Tiberius, who was divorced from 
 her at the desire of Augustus, that he might be at liberty to 
 marry the emperor's daughter Julia, at that time the widow 
 of Agrippa. Vipsania, when repudiated, was f;ir advanced 
 in her pregnancy. She was delivered of Drusus, the son of 
 Tiberius, in the house of her second husband. Tiberius 
 always thought of her with real affection, and educated her 
 son Drusus as his own. See the Genealogical Table, No. 69. 
 
 2 Lucius Arruntius was consul A. U. C. 722. Pliny the 
 elder makes honorable mention of his talents, and ranks him 
 with the eminent authors of the age.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 25 
 
 men of ambition, but of inferior talents ; in the last, 
 such as had genius to plan, and courage to undertake. 
 Marcus Lepidus,' he said, was every way qualified, 
 but unwilling ; Asinius Gallus had more ambition 
 than merit ; Lucius Arruntius was not only equal to 
 the task, but, if occasion oflfered, would show a spirit 
 of enterprise. Of this anecdote, with regard to the 
 two first, no doubt remains ; but instead of Arruntius, 
 Cneius Piso by some writers is said to have bden 
 named. Except Lepidus, they were afterwards all cut 
 off for constructive crimes, artfully laid to their charge 
 by Tiberius. In the course of the debate Quintus 
 Haterius and Mamercus Scaurus had the misfortune 
 to alarm that gloomy and suspicious temper: the first, 
 by asking ' How long is it your pleasure, Caesar, that 
 the commonwealth shall want a head to direct it?' 
 Scaurus, by saying, ' Since the prince has not inter- 
 posed the tribunitian^ authority to prevent the report 
 
 1 The character of Marcus Lepidus is drawn by Tacitus, 
 Annals, iv. 20. He is there celebrated for his political 
 wisdom, and the virtues of moderation. See also Velleius 
 Paterculus, ii. 114. For Cneius Piso, who was afterwards 
 the mortal enemy of Germanicus, see Annals, ii. 43. 
 
 2 The question put by Haterius seems to imply a compli- 
 ment. Tiberius perhaps thought it came from a man who 
 saw through his affected delays. Mamercus Scaurus is 
 mentioned. Annals, iii. 31, as one of the most eloquent 
 orators of his time, and afterwards, 66, as a man whose 
 dissolute manners made him a disgrace to an illustrious line 
 of ancestors. His vices are described by Seneca, De Be- 
 neficiis, iv. 31. Being accused of writing verses against 
 Tiberius, he prevented a sentence of condemnation by a 
 voluntary death. Annals, vi. 29. What he says in the senate 
 is a pointed remark, and no wonder that it provoked re- 
 sentment. Tiberius, by virtue of his tribunitian power, 
 might have put an end to the importunity of the senate. 
 Since he did not use his authority, it was evident that he was 
 acting a part, and Scaurus by his observation pulled off the 
 mask. Suetonius says the senate grew impatient. According
 
 26 TACITUS. 
 
 of the consuls, there is room to hope that he will yield 
 to the entreaties of the senate/ Tiberius took fire at 
 what was said by Haterius, and broke out with sudden 
 vehemence : to Scaurus he made no reply ; resent- 
 ment had taken root in his heart, and for that reason 
 was smothered in silence. 
 
 Fatigued at length by the clamors of the senate, and 
 the solicitation of individuals, he gave way by de- 
 grees: not expressly declaring his consent; but, as he 
 said, to end the mutual trouble of repeated refusals 
 and unwearied importunity. It may be related as a 
 fact, that Haterius, on the following day, attending at 
 the palace to mitigate resentment by an apology, nar- 
 rowly escaped being put to death by the guards. In 
 a suppliant posture he clasped the emperor's knees ; 
 and in that moment Tiberius, entangled perhaps by 
 the petitioner, or making a false step, fell to the 
 ground. This provoked the soldiers on duty. Hate- 
 rius was saved from their fury : but the danger that 
 threatened a man of his illustrious character made no 
 impression on the prince ; nor did he relent till Livia 
 exerted all her power and influence. Tiberius yielded 
 at length to the solicitations of his mother. 
 
 XIV. The senate, at their next meeting, began 
 to off'er the incense of adulation to Livia. It was 
 proposed to confer on her the title of Parent : that 
 name was thought too general : tlie more distinctive 
 appellation of Mother of her Country was moved as 
 
 to him, a member cried out, * Let him accept the sove- 
 reignty, or renounce it at once.' Another said, ' Some men 
 are quick to promise, and slow to perform. Tiberius is the 
 reverse : he acts already, and yet will not promise.' Tibe- 
 rius saw that the farce lasted too long. He therefore said, 
 ' I accept the imperial dignity, till you yourselves shall 
 think fit to relieve old age from such a weight of care,' 
 Suetonius, in Tib. 24.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK 1. 27 
 
 an amendment. It was farther proposed, with the 
 general concurrence, that to the name of the Emperor 
 should be added, The Son of Julia. Tiberius opposed 
 these several motions: honors, he said, ought not to 
 be lavished on women : in what regarded his own 
 rank he was determined to act with the strictest self- 
 denial. This had the appearance of moderation ; but 
 envy was the source. By the honors intended to his 
 mother he thought his own glory might be eclipsed, 
 and, in that spirit, prevented a decree, by which a 
 lictor was ordered to attend her : * nor would he suffer 
 an altar to be raised on account of her adoption into 
 the Julian family.- Other marks of distinction were 
 proposed, and rejected. Germanicus was more favor- 
 ably treated ; for him Tiberius desired the rank of 
 proconsul.^ Special messengers were sent to invest 
 him with his honors, and at the same time to condole 
 with him on the loss of Augustus. Drusus was then 
 at Rome ;^ and being consul designed, in his favor 
 nothing new was demanded. By virtue of the im- 
 perial prerogative twelve candidates were named for 
 
 1 Livia took the name of Julia in consequence of her 
 adoption into the Julian family. Tiberius, notwithstanding, 
 thought the appointment of a lictor too great an honor. 
 Claudius was afterwards more indulgent to his wife Agrip- 
 pina. Two lictors were ordered to attend her. 
 
 2 When the Romans wished to perpetuate the memory of 
 a singular event they raised an altar, and engraved the parti- 
 culars of the transaction. Augustus, after living above seven 
 and thirty years with Livia as his acknowleged wife, chose 
 in the end to make her his daughter by adoption. The 
 fathers meant to pay their court to Livia, but Tiberius did 
 not approve of so much adulation. 
 
 3 The proconsular authority was often granted to generals 
 at the head of distant armies, but never exercised within the 
 city. 
 
 4 Drusus, as already mentioned, was the son of Tiberius. 
 See the Genealogical Table, No. 70.
 
 28 TACITUS. 
 
 the pretorship. Tliat number had been settled by 
 Augustus : and though the senate entreated Tiberius 
 to enlarge the list, he bound himself by an oath never 
 to exceed the line already drawn.* 
 
 XV. The right of electing magistrates, by public 
 suffrage, in the Field of Mars,^ was now, for the first 
 time, taken from the people at large, and vested in the 
 senate. The will of the prince had, before that time, 
 great influence in all elections ; but parties were 
 formed among the tribes, and sometimes with success. 
 To this encroachment the people made no opposition : 
 they saw their rights taken from them ; they grumbled, 
 and submitted. The senators were pleased with the 
 change. They were now delivered from the necessity 
 of humiliating condescensions in the course of their 
 canvass, and from the heavy expense of bribery and 
 corruption. The moderation of Tiberius was a farther 
 circumstance in favor of the measure : four candidates 
 of his nomination were implicitly to be chosen, with- 
 out intrigue or contention ; and the prince, content 
 
 1 He broke his promise afterwards, and, according to Die 
 Cassius, appointed no less than fifteen or sixteen candi- 
 dates. 
 
 2 Tiberius had all the arts of a subtle and disguised politi- 
 cian. He knew that by depriving the people of the last 
 remnant of liberty, their right to a voice in the election of 
 magistrates, and vesting it in the senate, he should establish 
 his own absolute power. The senate, at all times adverse to 
 the claims of the people, saw with pleasure the annihilation 
 of a restless, factious, and turbulent democracy ; never once 
 reflecting that their order, unsupported by the people, could 
 make but a feeble resistance to the will of a despotic prince. 
 The people, on their part, complained of the alteration ; but 
 they complained without principle, or a sense of public inte- 
 rest, merely because they lost the opportunity of selling 
 their votes. Juvenal describes the people, who in the days 
 of the republic granted the consulship and the command of 
 the armies, reduced to think of two things only ; their bread, 
 and the games of the circus.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 29 
 
 with that number, promised not to stretch his prero- 
 gative. The tribunes of the people applied for leave 
 to celebrate, at their own expense, the games newly- 
 instituted in honor of Augustus, and ordered to be 
 added to the calendar, under the title of Augustan 
 Games. A decree passed ; but the expense was to 
 issue out of the treasury. The tribunes were allowed 
 to preside in the circus, dressed in triumphal robes ; 
 but the pomp of splendid chariots was expressly- 
 denied.' The annual celebration of these games was 
 afterwards transferred from the tribunes to that par- 
 ticular pretor who has jurisdiction in all causes be- 
 tween strangers and the citizens of Rome.- 
 
 XVI. Such was the situation of affairs at Rome 
 when a fierce and violent mutiny broke out among the 
 legions at Pannonia. For this insurrection there was 
 no other motive than the licentious spirit which is apt 
 to show itself in the beginning of a new reign, and the 
 hope of private advantage in the distractions of a civil 
 war. A summer camp had been formed for three 
 legions under the command of Junius Bltesus. The 
 death of Augustus, and the accession of Tiberius, 
 being known to the army, the general granted a sus- 
 pension of military duty as an interval of grief or 
 joy.^ The soldiers grew wanton in idleness : dissen- 
 sions spread amongst them : the vile and profligate 
 had their circular audiences : sloth and pleasure pre- 
 
 1 The triumphal robe was a rich purple, intermixed with 
 gold. Pliny says it was in use in Homer's time, and for that 
 reason adopted by the Roman generals. 
 
 2 There were eight pretors, but two only had jurisdiction ; 
 one in all causes between citizen and citizen ; the other, 
 between citizens and strangers. See the Life of Agricola, 
 $ 6, note 4. 
 
 3 A suspension of all business whatever, occasioned by 
 some melancholy event, was called justitiuni. See the de- 
 scription of it in Lucan, ii. 19.
 
 30 TACITUS. 
 
 vailed ; and all were willing to exchange a life of toil 
 and discipline for repose and luxury. There happened 
 to be in the camp a busy incendiary, by name Percen- 
 nius, formerly a leader of theatrical factions, and now 
 a common soldier ; ' a man fluent in words, and by his 
 early habits versed in the arts of exciting tumults and 
 sedition. Over the weak and ignorant, and such as 
 felt their minds alarmed with doubts and fears about 
 the future condition of the service, this pragmatical 
 fellow began to exert his influence. In the dead of 
 the night he mixed in cabals ; and never failed at the 
 the close of day, when the sober and well disposed 
 retired to their tents, to draw together the idle and 
 most abandoned. Having gained a number of pro- 
 selytes, he stood forth the orator of sedition, and 
 liarangued his confederates in the following manner : 
 
 XVII. ' How long, my fellow-soldiers, must we 
 obey a small and despicable set of centurions? how 
 long continue slaves to a wretched band of military 
 tribunes? If we mean to redress our grievances, what 
 time so fit as the present, when the new emperor is 
 not yet settled on the throne ? Relief may now be 
 obtained either by remonstrances, or sword in hand. 
 By our passive spirit we have suffered enough ; we 
 have been slaves in thirty or forty campaigns ;'^ we are 
 grown grey in the service, worn out with infirmities, 
 and covered with wounds. In that condition we are 
 still condemned to the toils of war. Even the men 
 who have obtained their discharge still follow the 
 standard under the name of veterans ;^ another word 
 
 1 Theatrical factions were often the cause of great public 
 mischief. 
 
 2 In the time of the republic the cavalry served ten years, 
 and the infantry twenty. The civil wars prolonged the ser- 
 vice. 
 
 3 The soldiers who had served their full time were not
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 31 
 
 for protracted misery. A few, indeed, by tlieir bodily 
 vigor have surmounted all their labors ; but what is 
 their reward? They are sent to distant regions ; and, 
 under color of an allotment of lands, they are settled 
 on a barren mountain, or a swampy fen. War of 
 itself is a state of the vilest drudgery, without au 
 adequate compensation. The life and limb of a sol- 
 dier are valued at ten pence a day:* out of that 
 wretched pittance he must find his clothing, his tent 
 equipage, and his arms : with that fund he must bribe 
 the centurion ; with that must purchase occasional 
 exemptions from service ; and with that must pay 
 for a remission of punishment. But blows and stripes 
 from our officers, wounds from the enemy, intense 
 cold in winter, and the fatigue of summer campaigns ; 
 destructive war, in which every thing is hazarded, 
 and peace, by which nothing is gained, are all the 
 soldier's portion. 
 
 ' For these evils there is but one remedy left. Let 
 us fix the conditions of our service ; let every soldier 
 receive a denarius a day,^ and at the end of sixteen 
 years let him be entitled to his dismission : beyond 
 that term no further service. Without detaining any 
 man whatever, and without forcing him to follow the 
 colors as a veteran, let every soldier receive the arrears 
 that may be due to him ; let him be paid in ready 
 money on the spot, and in the very camp where he 
 signalised his valor. The pretorian cohorts receive 
 
 discharged, but still continued to enter into action when 
 occasion required. They encamped apart from the legions, 
 under a banner called ie.iiilum, and thence the name of vexil- 
 larii. They were also called veterans. 
 
 1 The daily pay of a Roman soldier, Brotier says, was 
 equal to ten sous of French money. 
 
 •2, The Koman denarius is said to be equal to sixteen sous 
 ot French money.
 
 32 TACITUS. 
 
 two denarii for their daily pay; at the end of sixteen 
 years they return to their families : and is superior 
 merit the ground of this distinction ? do they encounter 
 greater dangers ? It is theirs to mount guard within 
 the city, and the service may be honorable ; but it is 
 our 'lot to serve amidst savage nations, in a state of 
 perpetual warfare. If we look out of our tents the 
 barbarians are in view.' 
 
 XVIII. This speech was received with acclamations. 
 Various passions heaved in every breast. Some pre- 
 sented their bodies seamed with stripes ; o'hers 
 pointed to their heads grown grey in the service ; 
 numbers showed their tattered clothing, and their 
 persons almost naked. At length the frensy of the 
 malecontents knew no bounds. Their first design was 
 to incorporate the three legions into one : but which 
 should give its name to the united body was the ques- 
 tion. Mutual jealousy put an end to the project. 
 Another scheme took place : the eagles of the three 
 legions, with the colors of the cohorts, were crowded 
 together without preference or distinction. They 
 threw up sods of earth, and began to raise a tribunal. 
 Amidst the tumult Bl^esus arrived : he called aloud 
 to all ; he laid hold of individuals ; he offered himself 
 to their swords ; and ' Here/ he said, ' behold your 
 victim : imbrue your hands in the blood of your 
 general. Murder is a crime less horrible than trea- 
 son to your prince. I will either live to command the 
 ligions intrusted to me ; or, if you are determined to 
 revolt, despatch me first ; that when the frensy is 
 over you may wake to shame, to horror, and re- 
 morse.' 
 
 XIX. The work of raising a tribunal, in spite of all 
 his efforts, still went on. Heaps of turf were thrown 
 up, and rose breast-high. Conquered at length by the
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 33 
 
 perseverance of their general, the mutineers desisted. 
 Blaesus exerted all his eloquence : ' Sedition and re- 
 volt/ he said, ' could not serve the cause : the re- 
 monstrances of the army ought to be conveyed to the 
 ear of the prince with respect and deference. The 
 demands which they now made were of the first im- 
 pression, unknown to former armies, and with the 
 deified Augustus never attempted. In the present 
 juncture, when the prince was new to the cares of 
 government, was that a time to add to his solicitude by 
 tumult and insurrection ? If they would still persist, 
 in the season of profound peace, to urge a claim never 
 demanded even by the conquerors in a civil w ar, why 
 incur the guilt of rebellion ? wiiy, in violation of all 
 military discipline, urge their pretensions sword in 
 hand ? They might depute their agent to treat with 
 the prince ; and, in presence of their general, they 
 might give their instructions on the spot.' This pro- 
 posal was accepted : with one voice they called out 
 for the son of Blaesus, then a military tribune. The 
 young officer undertook the charge. His directions 
 were to insist that, at the expiration of sixteen years, 
 the soldier should be discharged from the service. 
 That point settled, it would then be time to enumerate 
 other grievances. With this commission the general's 
 son went forward on his journey. A calm succeeded, 
 and lasted for some days. But the minds of the sol- 
 diers were still in agitation : their pride was roused , 
 the general's son was now the orator of the army ; and 
 force, it was manifest, had at length extorted what by 
 gentle measures could never be obtained. 
 
 XX. Meanwhile the detached companies,' which 
 
 1 The companies of foot were called manijpuli. They con- 
 sisted in the time of Romulus of one hundred men, and 
 thence the principal officer was called centurio. They in- 
 TACIT. VOL. I. C
 
 34 TACITUS. 
 
 before the disturbance had been sent to Nauportum 
 to repair the roads, the bridges, and other military 
 works, having heard of the commotion in the camp, 
 seized the colors ; and, after ravaging the adjacent 
 villages, plundered Nauportum, a place little inferior 
 to a municipal town. They treated the centurions 
 with derision ; from derision they proceeded to op- 
 probrious language ; and, in the end, to blows and 
 open violence. Aufidienus Rufus, the prefect of the 
 camp, was the chief object of their furj^ : they dragged 
 him out of his carriage ; and, laying a heavy load on 
 his back, obliged him to march in the foremost ranks, 
 asking him with contemptuous insolence how he liked 
 his burden, and the length of his journey ? Eufus had 
 risen from a common man to the rank of centurion, 
 and was afterwards made prefect of the camp. In 
 that station he endeavored to recall the rigor of ancient 
 discipline. A veteran in the service, and long inured 
 to fatigue, he was strict and rigorous in his duty, ex- 
 pecting from others what he had practised himself. 
 
 XXI. The return of this tumultuous body renewed 
 the troubles of the camp. The soldiers, without con- 
 trol issued out of the lines, and pillaged the country 
 round. Some, more heavily loaded with booty than 
 their comrades, were apprehended by the orders of 
 Blaesus ; and, after receiving due correction, thrown 
 into prison, as an example to the rest. The authority 
 of the general was still in force with the centurions, 
 and such of the common men as retained a sense of 
 their duty. The delinquents, however, refused to 
 submit : they were dragged along, resisting with all 
 their strength : they clasped the knees of the multi- 
 creased afterwards to two hundred, but the name of centurion 
 still remained. A common soldier was called manipularis.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 35 
 
 tude round them ; they called on their fellow-soldiers 
 by name ; they implored the protection of the com- 
 pany to which they belonged ; they invoked the 
 cohorts and the legions, crying out to all that the 
 same lot would shortly be their portion. Against their 
 general they omitted nothing that calumny could 
 suggest ; they appealed to heaven ; they implored 
 their gods ; they tried, by every topic, to excite com- 
 passion, to inflame resentment, to awaken terror, and 
 rouse the men to acts of violence. A general insur- 
 rection followed : the soldiers in a body rushed to the 
 prison, burst the gates, unchained the prisoners, and 
 associated with themselves the vilest of the army, a 
 band of deserters, and a desperate crew of malefactors, 
 then under condemnation for the enormity of their 
 crimes. 
 
 XXII. The flame of discord »aged with redoubled 
 fury. New leaders joined the mutiny. Amidst the 
 crowd, one of the common soldiers, a fellow known by 
 the name of Vibulenus, mounted on the shoulders of 
 his comrades before the tribunal of Bla^sus, and ad- 
 dressed the multitude, all wild with fury, and eager 
 to hear the language of sedition. ' My friends,' he 
 said, ' you have bravely interposed to save the lives 
 of these innocent, these much injured men : you have 
 restored them to new life : but who will restore my 
 brother ? who will give him to my arms ? Sent hither 
 from the German army, in concert with you to settle 
 measures for our common safety, he was last night 
 basely murdered by the hand of gladiators ' whom 
 Blagsus arms for your destruction. Answer me, Blge- 
 sus, where have you bestowed the body? The very 
 
 1 The Roman generals had in their camp a band of gladia- 
 tors, in order to accustom their soldiers to wounds, and the 
 effusion of blood.
 
 36 TACITUS. 
 
 enemy allows the rites of sepulture. When I have 
 washed my brother with my tears, and printed kisses 
 on his mangled body, then plunge your poniard in this 
 wretched bosom. I shall die content, if these my fel- 
 low-soldiers perform the last funeral office, and bury 
 in one grave two wretched victims, who knew no crime 
 but that of serving the common interest of the legions." 
 XXIII. This speech Vibulenus rendered still more 
 inflammatory by the vehemence of his manner, by 
 beating his breast, by striking his forehead, and pour- 
 ing a flood of tears. A way being opened through the 
 crowd, he leaped from the men's shoulders, and gro- 
 velling at the feet of individuals, excited the passions 
 of the multitude to the highest pitch of frensy. In 
 their fury some fell on the gladiators retained by Blae- 
 sus, and loaded them with irons ; others seized the 
 general's domestic train ; while numbers dispersed 
 themselves on every side in quest of the body : and 
 if it had not been speedily known that no corpse could 
 be found ; that the slaves of Blaesus averred under 
 the torture that no murder had been committed; and, 
 in fact, that the incendiary never had a brother, Blae- 
 sus must have fallen a sacrifice. The tribunes and 
 the prefect of the camp were obliged to save them- 
 selves by flight. Their baggage was seized and plun- 
 dered. Lucilius the centurion was put to death. This 
 man, by the sarcastic pleasantry of the soldiers, had 
 been nick-named ' give me another ;' because, in chas- 
 tising the soldiers, when one rod was broke, he was 
 used to call for 'another,' and then * another.' The 
 rest of the centurions lay concealed in lurking places. 
 Out of the whole number, Julius Clemens, a man of 
 prompt and busy talents, was the favorite of the in- 
 surgents. He was spared as a fit person to negotiate 
 the claims of the army. Two of the legions, the eighth
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 37 
 
 and fifteenth, were on the point of coming to the deci- 
 sion of the sword : the former bent on the destruction 
 of Sirpicus, a centurion, and the latter determined to 
 protect him. The quarrel would have laid a scene of 
 blood, if the soldiers of the ninth legion had not, by 
 entreaty, or by menacing the obstinate, appeased the 
 fury of both parties. 
 
 XXIV. When the account of these transactions 
 reached Tiberius, that abstruse and gloomy temper, 
 which loved to brood in secret over all untoward 
 events, was so deeply affected, that he resolved, with- 
 out delay, to despatch his son Drusus, with others of 
 high rank, and two pretorian cohorts, to quell the in- 
 surrection. In their instructions no decisive orders 
 were given : they were left to act as emergencies might 
 require. To the cohorts was added a select detach- 
 ment, with a party of the pretorian horse, and the 
 flower of the Germans, at that time the body guard of 
 the emperor. In the train which accompanied Drusus, 
 ^lius Sejanus ' was appointed, by his counsels, to 
 guide the inexperience of the prince. Sejanus, at that 
 time in a joint commission with his father Strabo, had 
 the command of the pretorian bands, and stood high 
 in favor with Tiberius : the army would of course con- 
 sider him as the fountain of rewards and punishments. 
 As soon as they approached the camp the discontented 
 legions, by way of doing honor to Drusus, advanced 
 to meet him ; not, indeed, with colors displayed, as is 
 usual on such occasions, but with a deep and solemn 
 silence, their dress neglected, and their whole appear- 
 ance uncouth and sordid. In their looks was seen an 
 air of dejection, and at the same time a sullen gloom, 
 
 1 For the character of ^lius Sejanus see Annals, iv. 1.
 
 38 TACITUS. 
 
 tiiat plainly showed a spirit of mutiny still working in 
 their hearts. 
 
 XXV. Drusus was no sooner within the intrench- 
 ments than the malecontents secured the gates. Sen- 
 tinels were posted at different stations, while the rest 
 in a body gathered round the tribunal. Drusus stood 
 in act to speak, with his hand commanding silence. 
 The soldiers felt a variety of contending passions: they 
 looked around, and viewing their numbers, grew fierce 
 at the sight : they rent the air with shouts and accla- 
 mations : they turned to Drusus, and were covered 
 with confusion. An indistinct and hollow^ murmur 
 w as heard ; a general uproar followed ; and soon after- 
 wards a deep and awful silence. The behavior of the 
 men varied with their passions ; by turns inflamed 
 w ith rage, or depressed with fear. Drusus seized his 
 moment, and read his father's letter ; in substance 
 stating, that Tiberius had nothing so much at heart as 
 the interest of the gallant legions with whom he had 
 served in so many wars. As soon as his grief for the 
 loss of Augustus allowed him leisure it was his inten- 
 tion to refer the case of the army to the wisdom of the 
 senate. In the mean time he sent his son to grant all 
 the relief that could then be applied. Ulterior de- 
 mands he reserved for the deliberation of the fathers : 
 to enforce authority, or to relax it, was the lawful 
 right of that assembly ; and the senate, beyond all 
 doubt, would distribute rewards and punishments with 
 equal justice. 
 
 XXVI. The soldiers made answer, that they had 
 appointed Julius Clemens to speak in their behalf. 
 That officer claimed a right of dismission from the 
 service at the end of sixteen years ; all arrears then 
 to be discharged : in the mean time a denarius to be
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 39 
 
 the soldier's daily pay ; and the practice of detaining 
 the men beyond the period of their service, under the 
 name of veterans, to be abolished for ever. In a busi- 
 ness of so much moment, Drusus observed, that the 
 senate and the emperor must be consulted. A general 
 clamor followed. ' Why did he come so far, since he 
 had no authority to augment their pay, or to mitigate 
 their sufferings ? The power of doing good was not 
 confided to him ; while every petty officer inflicted 
 blows and stripes, and even death. It had been for- 
 merly the policy of Tiberius to elude the claims of the 
 army, by taking shelter under the name of Augustus ; 
 and now Drusus comes to play the same farce. How 
 long were they to be amused by the visits of the em- 
 peror's son ? Could that be deemed an equitable go- 
 vernment that kept nothing in suspense but the good 
 of the army ? When the soldier is to be punished, or 
 a battle to be fought, why not consult the senate ? 
 According to the present system reward is to be al- 
 ways a subject of reference, while punishment is in- 
 stant and without appeal.' 
 
 XXVII. The soldiers, in a tumultuous body, rushed 
 from the tribunal, breathing vengeance ; and, wher- 
 ever they met either the men belonging to the preto- 
 rian bands, or the friends of Drusus, threatening vio- 
 lence, in hopes of ending the dispute by a sudden 
 conflict. Cneius Lentulus,' whose age and military 
 character gave him considerable weight, was particu- 
 larly obnoxious : he was supposed to be the chief ad- 
 viser of Drusus, and an enemy to the proceedings of 
 the army. For the security of his person he went 
 aside with Drusus, intending to repair to the winter 
 
 1 Tacitus has recorded the praise of Lentulus. Annals 
 iv. 44.
 
 40 TACITUS. 
 
 camp. The mutineers gathered round him, demand- 
 ing, with insolence, ' which Avay was he going ? to the 
 senate? perhaps to the emperor? Was he there to 
 show himself an enemy to the demands of the legion V 
 Nothing could restrain their fury : they discharged a 
 volley of stones; and one of them taking place, Len- 
 tiilus, wounded and covered with blood, had nothing 
 to expect but instant death, when the guards that at- 
 tended Drusus came up in time, and rescued him from 
 destruction. 
 
 XXVIII. The night that followed seemed big with 
 some fatal disaster, when an unexpected phenomenon 
 put an end to the commotion. In a clear and serene 
 sky the moon was suddenly eclipsed.* This appear- 
 ance, in its natural cause not understood by the sol- 
 diers, was deemed a prognostic denouncing the fate of 
 the army. The planet, in its languishing state, repre- 
 sented the condition of the legions : if it recovered its 
 former lustre the efforts of the men would be crowned 
 with success. To assist the moon in her labors, the 
 air resounded witli the clangor of brazen instruments, 
 with the sound of trumpets, and other warlike music. 
 The crowd, in the mean time, stood at gaze : every 
 gleam of light inspired the men with joy ; and the 
 sudden gloom depressed their hearts Avith grief. The 
 clouds condensed, and the moon was supposed to be 
 lost in utter darkness. A melancholy horror seized 
 the multitude ; and melancholy is sure to engender 
 superstition. A religious panic spread through the 
 army. The appearance in the heavens foretold eter- 
 nal labor to the legions ; and all lamented that by 
 
 1 Tliis eclipse, according to the calculation of eminent ma- 
 thematicians, happened on the 27th of September, A. U. C. 
 767, of the Christian era It. Augustus died on the 19th of 
 the preceding month of August.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 41 
 
 "their crimes they had called down on themselves the 
 indignation of the gods. Drusus took advantage of 
 the moment. The opportunity was the effect of chance ; 
 but, rightly managed, might conduce to the wisest 
 purpose. 
 
 He gave orders that the men who by honest means 
 were most in credit with the malecontents should go 
 round from tent to tent. Among these was Clemens 
 the centurion. They visited every part of the camp; 
 they applied to the guards on duty; they conversed 
 with the patrole, and mixed Avith the sentinels at the 
 gates. They allured some by promises, and by terror 
 subdued the spirit of others. ' How long shall we 
 besiege the son of the emperor ? Where will this con- 
 fusion end? Must we follow Percennius and Vibule- 
 nus ? And shall we swear fidelity to those new com- 
 manders ? Will their funds supply the pay of the 
 legions ? Have they lands to assign to the veteran 
 soldier ? For them shall the Neros and the Drusi be 
 deposed ? Are they to mount the vacant throne, the 
 future sovereigns of Rome ? Let us, since we were 
 the last to enter into rebellion, be the first to expiate 
 our guilt by well-timed repentance. Demands in fa- 
 vor of all proceed but slowly : to individuals indul- 
 gence is more easily granted : deserve it separately, 
 and the reward wdll follow.' This reasoning had its 
 effect : suspicion and mutual distrust began to take 
 place ; the new-raised soldiers went apart from the 
 veterans ; the legions separated ; a sense of duty re- 
 vived in the breast of all ; the gates were no longer 
 guarded ; and the colors, at first promiscuously crowded 
 together, were restored to their proper station. 
 
 XXIX. At the return of day Drusus called an 
 assembly of the soldiers. Though unused to public 
 speaking, he delivered himself with the eloquence of a
 
 42 TACITUS. 
 
 man who felt his own importance and the dignity of 
 his rank. He condemned the past, and applauded the 
 present. It was not, he said, a part of his character 
 to yield to menaces, or to shrink from danger. If he 
 saw them penitent, if he heard the language of re- 
 morse, he would make a report in their favor, and 
 dispose his father to listen to their petition. The sol- 
 diers answered in humble terms. At their request the 
 younger Bla^sus, mentioned above, with Lucius Apro- 
 nius, a Roman knight in the train of Drusus, and 
 Justus Catonius, a centurion^ of the first rank, were 
 despatched as the delegates of the army. In the 
 councils afterwards held by Drusus various opinions 
 were entertained, and different measures proposed. 
 To wait the return of the deputies, and meanwhile to 
 win the affections of the men by moderation, was the 
 advice of many: others were for immediate coercion. 
 ' Lenity,' they said, 'makes no impression on the vul- 
 gar mind. The common men, when not kept in sub- 
 jection, are fierce and turbulent ; yet ever ready to 
 bend and crouch under proper authority. It was now 
 the time, while they were overwlielmed with supersti- 
 tion, to infuse another fear, and teach them to respect 
 their general. The authors of the late sedition ought 
 to be made a public example.' Drusus, by the bent 
 of his nature, prone to vindictive measures, desired 
 that Percennius and Vibulenus miglit be brought be- 
 fore him. By his orders they were put to death ; ac- 
 cording; to some writers, in his own tent, and there 
 
 1 Every legion was divided into thirty companies, two 
 hundred men in each ; and again, the companies were distin- 
 guished into hastciti, principes, triarii. Every compnny had 
 two centurions ; the first in command was called primipilus, 
 or primipiUiris.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 43 
 
 buried : according- to others, their bodies were thrown 
 over the iiitrenchments, a spectacle for public view. 
 
 XXX. Diligent search was made for the most ac- 
 tive incendiaries. Some were found roving on the 
 outside of the lines, and were instantly cut off by the 
 centurions, or the pretorian soldiers. Others were 
 delivered up to justice by their respective companies, 
 as an earnest of their own conversion. The rigor of 
 the winter, Avhich set in earlier than usual, added to 
 the afflictions of the army : heavy rains ensued, and 
 fell with such violence, that the men could not venture 
 from their tents. To meet in parties, and converse 
 with their comrades, was impossible. The colors, 
 borne down by torrents that rushed through the camp, 
 were with difficulty secured. Superstition still con- 
 tinued to fill the mind with terror. In every thing that 
 happened imagination saw the anger of the gods : it 
 was not without reason that the planets suffered an 
 eclipse, and storms and tempests burst from the angry 
 elements : the guilt of the army was the cause of all. 
 To avert impending- vengeance, the only expedient 
 was to depart at once from a vile inauspicious camp, 
 and, by due atonement, expiate their past offences in 
 their winter quarters. In this persuasion the eighth 
 legion departed ; the fifteenth followed ; while the 
 ninth remained behind, declaring aloud that they 
 would wait for orders from Tiberius : but they soon 
 saw themselves deserted, and therefore struck their 
 tents ; willing to do by choice what in a little time 
 would be an act of necessity. Peace and good order 
 being thus restored, Drusus judged it unnecessary to 
 wait till the return of the deputies, and immediately 
 set off for Rome. 
 
 XXXI. About the same time, and from the same 
 causes, another sedition broke out among the legions
 
 44 TACITUS. 
 
 in Germany, supported by greater numbers, and every 
 way more alarming. The leaders of the mutiny flat- 
 tered themselves that Germanicus, impatient of a new 
 master, would resign himself to the will of the legions, 
 and in that case they had no doubt but that every 
 thing would fall before him. Two armies/ in that 
 juncture, were formed on the banks of the Rhine ; one 
 in Upper Germany, commanded by Caius Silius ; the 
 other in the Lower Germany, under Aulus Cascina. 
 Both were subordinate to Germanicus, the commander- 
 in-chief, who was then in Gaul, holding the assembly 
 of the states,^ and collecting the revenues of that na- 
 tion. The forces under Silius had not as yet revolted: 
 undecided, wavering, and cautious, they judged it pru- 
 dent to wait the issue of the mutiny begun by others. 
 In Csecina's camp, on the Lower Rhine, the flame of 
 discord Avas kindled to tlie utmost fury. The one- 
 and-twentieth and fifth legions began the insurrection : 
 the first and the twentieth followed their example : 
 they were all stationed together in a summer camp on 
 the confines of the Ubians. The campaign was inac- 
 tive ; and as the calls of duty were slight, the time of 
 course was passed in repose and indolence. 
 
 New levies from Rome, the refuse of that city, had 
 lately joined the army. On the first intelligence of 
 the death of Augustus these men, long addicted to 
 licentiousness, and averse from labor, began to prac- 
 
 1 The whole tract of Gaul, on the borders of the Rhine, 
 was reduced to subjection, and divided by Augustus into 
 Upper and Lower Germany. Whenever they are mentioned 
 it will be proper to bear in mind that both lay on this side of 
 the Khine, and were no part of Germany, properly so called. 
 For a farther account of this matter see the Manners of the 
 Germans, ^ .^0. 
 
 a In collecting the tributes in the several provinces the 
 Romans made an accurate survey of the people, and an esti- 
 mate of their ricl)es : this was called censum agere.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 45 
 
 tise on the ruder minds of their fellow-soldiers. The 
 time, they said, was come when the veterans might 
 claim their dismission from the service ; when the 
 young soldier might augment his pay : when the army 
 in general might redress their grievances, and retaliate 
 the cruelty of the centurions. It was not, as in Pan- 
 nonia, a single Percennius that inflamed the mutiny ; 
 nor were these arguments urged to men that saw on 
 every side of them superior armies, and of course 
 trembled while they meditated a revolt. There were 
 numbers of busy incendiaries, and many mouths to 
 bawl sedition. Their doctrine was, that the fate of 
 Rome was in their hands : by their victories the em- 
 pire florished : by their valor Germany was subdued ; 
 and, from the country which they had conquered, the 
 emperors of Rome were proud to derive a title ^ to 
 adorn their names. 
 
 XXXII. Cfecina saw the danger, but made no effort 
 to suppress it. The malecontents were numerous, and 
 their frensy above all control ; insomuch that the ge- 
 neral no longer retained his usual firmness. The tu- 
 mult broke out at once : the soldiers fell on the centu- 
 rions, the old and lasting cause of military discontent, 
 and in every insurrection the first to fall a sacrifice. 
 They seized their victims, and without mercy dashed 
 them on the ground: in every legion^ the centurions 
 amounted to sixty ; an equal number fell on each of 
 them. The soldiers laid on with their cudgels : they 
 wounded, maimed, and mangled, their devoted offi- 
 
 1 The Roman generals, and the emperors after them, took 
 an honorary title from the conquered country. Scipio was 
 styled Africaints; Drusus, the brother of Tiberius, was called 
 Germanicus, and his sou was known by no other name. The 
 emperor Claudius assumed the addition of Germanicus. 
 
 2 It has been observed, § 29, that there were in every 
 legion thirty companies, with two centurions to each.
 
 46 TACITUS. 
 
 cers ; and, to complete their vengeance, cast them 
 dead, or ready to expire, over the intrenchments. 
 Numbers were thrown into the Rhine. One, in par- 
 ticular, named Septimius, fled to the tribunal, and 
 clasping the knees of his general, hoped there to find 
 a sanctuary. The soldiers demanded him with contu- 
 macy, and Ceecina was obliged to give him to their 
 fury. Cassius Chorea,' the same who afterwards im- 
 mortalised his name by the death of Caligula, was 
 then a centui^ion, in the vigor of youth, and of a spirit 
 to face every danger. He made head against all as- 
 sailants, and sword in hand cut his way through the 
 thickest of their ranks. From this time all was up- 
 roar and commotion. No tribune gave orders ; no 
 prefect of the camp was heard. The leaders of the 
 mutiny appointed sentinels ; they appointed the night 
 watch, and gave directions as emergencies required. 
 One mind inspired the whole body ; and this circum- 
 stance, in the judgment of those who best knew the 
 temper of the army, was the sure sign of a faction not 
 easily to be quelled. In separate bodies nothing was 
 done ; no single incendiary took on him to direct : 
 together they set up a general shout, and together all 
 were silent. Every thing moved in concert, and even 
 anarchy had the appearance of regular discipline. 
 
 XXXIII. Meanwhile Germanicus, engaged, as has 
 been mentioned, with the states of Gaul, received ad- 
 vice that Augustus was no more. He had married 
 Agrippina, the grand-daughter- of that emperor, and 
 by her had several children. Drusus, the brother of 
 Tiberius, was his father, and of course Livia was his 
 
 1 Chaerea was the chief of the conspirators against Cali- 
 gula. He desired that he might have the glory of striking 
 the first blow. Suet, in Calig. § 56. 
 
 2 For Agrippina, see the Genealogical Table, No. 51.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 47 
 
 grandmother. Thus descended, and thus allied, he 
 lived in perpetual anxiety. The sullen aversion of 
 his uncle and the secret malice of Livia embittered 
 his days. The hatred with which they pursued him 
 was unjust ; and, for that reason, unrelenting. The 
 fact is, Drusus* was the delight of the Roman people: 
 they cherished his memory ; persuaded that, if the 
 sovereign power had devolved on him the old repub- 
 lic would have been restored. At his death the af- 
 fections of mankind were transferred to his son. From 
 similar virtues the same conduct was expected. Pos- 
 sessed of popular talents, affable, and obliging to all, 
 Germanicus presented a strong contrast to the harsh 
 temper and clouded aspect of Tiberius. The jealou- 
 sies that subsisted between the women added fuel to 
 the flame : Livia beheld the wife of Germanicus with 
 the malice of a stepmother; and, in return, Agrip- 
 pina resented every thing with sensibility, perhaps 
 with indignation. But the tenderness of her affection 
 for her husband softened her fiercer passions, and 
 gave a tincture of delicacy to that haughty spirit which 
 nothing could subdue. 
 
 XXXIV. Germanicus was now advanced nearer to 
 the imperial dignity ; but his zeal for Tiberius rose 
 in proportion. He required from the Sequanians and 
 the Belgic states- the oath of fidelity to the emperor; 
 and being informed of the commotions that distracted 
 the army, he set forward without delay to appease the 
 tumult. The legions met him on the outside of the 
 intrenchments, with downcast eyes, and all the ex- 
 
 1 Drusus died A. U. C. 745. See the Genealogical Table, 
 No. 79. 
 
 "i The original says, ' Belgicae civitates.' By the word 
 'civitas,' the Roman authors do not always mean a city, in 
 the modern sense of the word ; but a body politic, a state, a 
 people.
 
 48 TACITUS. 
 
 teriial symptoms of repentance. He was however no 
 sooner within the lines than the camp resounded with 
 groans and hitter lamentations. Some laid hold of 
 the prince's hand, as if going to kiss it ; but inserting 
 his fingers in their mouths, made him feel the hone- 
 less gums, complaining that they had lost their teeth 
 in the service : others showed their bodies bent w^ith 
 age, and drooping under a load of infirmities. A tu- 
 multuous crowd gathered round the tribunal. Germa- 
 nicus ordered them to form in their respective compa- 
 nies, that the men might more distinctly hear his an- 
 sw^er ; and to distinguish the cohorts, he directed the 
 standards to be ranged in proper order. The soldiers 
 obeyed, but with reluctance. Germanicus opened with 
 the panegyric of Augustus : he proceeded to the vic- 
 tories and triumphs obtained by Tiberius,^ insisting 
 chiefly on his exploits in Germany, at the head of 
 those very legions. The succession, he observed, was 
 quietly settled. Italy consented : both the Gauls re- 
 mained in their duty, and peace prevailed in every 
 part of the empire. 
 
 XXXV. Thus far Germanicus was heard with si- 
 lence, or at worst with a low and hollow murmur. 
 He nivade a transition to the present disturbances : 
 ' Where is now the sense of military duty ? Where 
 that ancient discipline, the boast and honor of the 
 Roman armies ? Whither have you driven the tri- 
 bunes? Where are the centurions?' At these words 
 the whole multitude, as if with one instinct, threw 
 off their clothes, exposing their bodies, seamed with 
 wounds from the enemy, and with lashes from the 
 centurion. A general outcry followed. They com- 
 
 1 Tiberius conquered in Dalmatia, Pannonia and Illyricum. 
 He commanded in (iernuuiy, and obtained several victories. 
 Suet, iu Tib. § 18 and 'JO. Velleius Paterc. ii. 104.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 49 
 
 plained of the price exacted for relaxations of duty ; 
 they mentioned the miserable pittance which they re- 
 ceived for their daily pay ; they set forth their various 
 hardships, and in particular their unremitting labor at 
 the intrenchments, the fatigue of carrying provisions, 
 wood and forage, with a detail of other employments, 
 sometimes imposed by necessity, and frequently to 
 prevent idleness in the camp. The clamor of the ve- 
 terans was outrageous : they had served thirty years 
 and more, and when were they to expect a cessation 
 of misery ? They desired to retreat for old age, that 
 they might not languish in despair, and wait till the 
 hand of death released them from their troubles. 
 Some demanded immediate payment of the legacies 
 bequeathed by Augustus. They offered up ardent vows 
 for the success of Germanicus ; assuring him, if he 
 wished to seize the sovereign power, that they were to 
 a man devoted to his service. 
 
 Struck with horror, and dreading the contagion of 
 so foul a crime, Germanicus leaped from the tribunal. 
 Tlie soldiers, sword in hand, opposed his passage, and 
 even threatened violence if he did not return. The 
 prince was resolved to perish rather than forfeit his 
 honor. He drew his sword, and pointed it to his 
 breast, ready to plunge it to his heart. The people 
 near him stopped his hand; but the crowd at a dis- 
 tance, and even some who dared to advance, had the 
 insolence to bid him strike : one in particular, by 
 name Calusidius, presented a naked sword ; adding, 
 at the same time, ' Take this ; it is sharper than your 
 own.' This behavior, even in the moment of frensy, 
 appeared to the soldiers an atrocious Set. A pause 
 ensued : the friends of Germanicus seized the oppor- 
 tunity, and conveyed him to his tent. 
 
 XXXVI. A council was immediately called. It 
 
 TACIT. VOL. I. D
 
 50 TACITUS. 
 
 was well known that the insurgents were preparing a 
 deputation to the army on the Upper Rhine, in order 
 to engage them in the revolt, and make it a common 
 cause. The city of the Ubians was devoted to destruc- 
 tion. From the pillage of that place the plan of the 
 mutineers was to proceed to greater lengths, and carry 
 desolation into the provinces of Gaul. The Germans, 
 at the same time, knew the dissensions of the Roman 
 army ; and, if the Rhine were once abandoned, stood 
 in readiness to seize so advantageous a post. The 
 moment was full of perplexity. To employ the aux- 
 iliary forces and the states in alliance with Rome 
 against the revolted legions were to engage in a civil 
 war : to proceed with rigor might be dangerous ; and 
 to pacify the men by largesses were an expedient al- 
 together dishonorable. Grant all or nothing, tha di- 
 lemma was either way big with mischief. After ma- 
 ture deliberation letters were framed in the name of 
 Tiberius, importing that at the end of twenty years 
 the soldier should be entitled to his dismission ; that, 
 after sixteen, he should be deemed a veteran, still re- 
 tained in the service, but exempt from all duty, ex- 
 cept that of repelling the incursions of the enemy. A 
 promise was added, that the legacies given by Augus- 
 tus should not only be paid, but increased to double 
 the amount. 
 
 XXXVII. The forgery was suspected by the sol- 
 diers : they saw that the letter was an expedient to 
 gain time : they demanded immediate compliance, and 
 accordingly dismissions from the service were made 
 out by the tribunes. The payment of the money was 
 deferred till flie legions arrived in their winter quar- 
 ters. The fifth and one-and-twentieth refused to stir 
 from the camp till Gernianicus, with his own finances 
 and the assistance of his friends, made up the sura
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. ol 
 
 required. The first and twentieth legions, under the 
 command of Cascina, proceeded towards the city of 
 the Ubians ; exhibiting, as they marched, a shameful 
 spectacle, while they carried, amidst the colors and 
 the Roman eagles, the treasure extorted from their 
 general. Germanicus proceeded with expedition to 
 the army on the Upper Rhine, and there required the 
 oath of fidelity to the emperor. The second, the thir- 
 teenth, and sixteenth legions, complied without hesi- 
 tation : the fourteenth stood for some time in suspense : 
 they made no demand ; but Germanicus ordered dis- 
 missions from the service to be made out for the vete- 
 rans, and their money to be forthwith discharged. 
 
 XXXVIII. Meanwhile a party of veterans belong- 
 ing to the legions lately in commotion, but at that time 
 stationed in the territory of the Chaucians, discovered 
 the same spirit of disaffection ; but the firmness of 
 Mennius, the prefect of the camp, suppressed the mis- 
 chief in its birth. He ordered two of the ringleaders 
 to be seized and put to death ; an act of severity not 
 strictly legal,' but in some degree justified by neces- 
 sity. He was obliged however to seek his safety by 
 flight. The soldiers pursued him. Being detected in 
 his lurking place, he resolved to face his enemies, and 
 depend on his own bravery. ' It is not,' he said, 
 ' against me, the prefect of the camp, that this out- 
 rage is committed ; it is treachery to Germanicus ; it 
 
 1 The territory of the Chaucians lay between the rivers 
 Amisia (the Ems) and Albis (the Elbe). Hence it appears 
 that after the slaugliter of Varus the Romans were still in 
 possession of some strongholds in Germany. Tlie garrison 
 quartered in Germany began to mutiny, but the prefect of the 
 camp ordered two of" the ringleaders to be executed. This 
 was against law. The prefect of the camp had no authority 
 to punish with death : that power was vested in the com- 
 mander-in-chief. Lesser punisliments were inflicted by the 
 tribunes and centurions.
 
 52 TACITUS. 
 
 is treason to the emperor.' The leaders of the mutiny 
 were struck with terror. In that moment he seized 
 tiie standard ; and turning towards the river,' declared, 
 in a peremptory tone, that whoever quitted his rank 
 sliould suffer as a deserter. The whole body marched 
 into winter quarters, murmuring discontent, but not 
 daring to disobey. 
 
 XXXIX. During these transactions the deputies 
 of the senate met Germanicus at the Ubian altar, ^ on 
 bis return from the Upper Rhine. Two legions, the 
 first and twentieth, were stationed at that place in 
 winter quarters, and with them the veterans lately 
 appointed to follow the colors. To minds in their 
 condition, fluctuating between fear and conscious guilt, 
 every circumstance was a new alarm. The deputies, 
 they were sure, came with instructions to revoke and 
 cancel the terms which violence had extorted. The 
 credulity of the common people never works by 
 lialves : they believe without proof, and soon find tlie 
 author of what never happened. Munatius Plancus, 
 a senator of consular rank, and a principal person in 
 the embassy, was named as the framer of a decree 
 that never existed but in the imagination of the 
 soldiers. In the dead of the night tliey rushed in a 
 body to the head-quarters of Germanicus, demanding, 
 witli rage and violence, the purple standard^ which 
 was there deposited. They broke open the doors : 
 
 1 He turned towards the river, i. e. the Rhine, and led tlie 
 mutineers to their winter quarters. 
 
 2 The Ubian altar, now Bonn. See the Geographical Table. 
 .S The original says rexillnm. This, on the autliority of 
 
 Lipsius, is called in the transhition tlie purple standard, which 
 was always at the head-quarters till produced as the signal 
 for engaging the enemy. Some of the commentators contend 
 that it was the banner under which the veterans were retained 
 in the service.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 53 
 
 they forced their way into the house ; and, dragging; 
 their general out of his bed, with menaces of instant 
 death, compelled him to surrender the standard. 
 Flushed with this exploit, they ran wild through the 
 streets ; and meeting the deputies, then on their way 
 to join the prince, they poured forth a torrent of 
 opprobrious language, and threatened a general mas- 
 sacre. 
 
 Plancus was the first object of their fury. That 
 illustrious citizen could not, without dishonor to his 
 character, shrink back from a tumultuous rabble : he 
 was however compelled to take refuge in the camp of 
 the first legion. He there embraced the colors ; and, 
 laying hold of the eagles, thought himself protected 
 by the gods of the army. But even that sanctuary 
 was no longer a place of shelter : the soldiers forgot 
 the religion of the camp; and if Calpurnius, the eagle- 
 bearer, had not made a stout resistance, a deed of 
 liorror, unheard of even among barbarians, had been 
 impiously perpetrated, and the blood of a Roman am- 
 bassador, in a Roman camp had stained the altar of 
 the gods.^ At the return of day, when the general, 
 tlie men, and the actions of all might be clearly dis- 
 tinguished, Germanicus entered the camp. He ordered 
 Plancus to be conducted to his presence, and seated 
 him near himself on the tribunal. He complained of 
 the distractions of the time ; but imputed what had 
 happened not so much to the madness of the soldiers 
 as to the vengeance of the gods. He explained the 
 nature of the deputation from the senate : he stated 
 the rights of ambassadors: he painted forth, in pathetic 
 terms, the indignity off"ered to a man of such high 
 
 1 The ensigns and tlie eagles were the gods of a Roman 
 army. Tacitus calls them ' propria legionum numina.'
 
 54 TACITUS. 
 
 consideration as Plancus ; and lamented the disgrace 
 that befell the legion. The soldiers heard him like 
 men astonished, but not convinced. Germanicus 
 thought proper to dismiss the deputies ; but, to guard 
 their persons, ordered a detachment of the auxiliary 
 horse to escort them. 
 
 XL. The conduct of Germanicus was censured by- 
 many of his friends. ' Why did he not withdraw to 
 the army on the Upper Rhine ? Discipline was there 
 in force, and with proper assistance the mutiny might 
 liave been crushed at once. By dismissions from the 
 service, by largesses, and other feeble measures, the 
 disturbances were too much encouraged. If the general 
 set no value on his own life, why neglect the safety of 
 his infant son ?^ Why hazard among lawless men, 
 who had violated every sacred right, an affectionate 
 wife, at that time far advanced in her pregnancy? 
 Those tender pledges were the property of the state, 
 and should be restored to the emperor and the com- 
 monwealth.' Germanicus yielded to these remon- 
 strances ; but the consent of Agrippina was still to be 
 obtained. Descended from Augustus, she insisted 
 that the grand-daughter of that emperor had not so 
 far degenerated as to shrink from danger. Germani- 
 cus continued to urge his request : he melted into 
 tears ; he clasped her in his arms ; he embraced her 
 infant son, and at length prevailed. A procession of 
 disconsolate women moved slowly on ; and with them 
 the wife of the commander-in-chief, compelled to be a 
 wanderer, with her infant son in her arms. A band 
 of wretched women, driven forth from their husbands, 
 attended in her train. Amongst those whom they 
 
 1 This was Caligula, afterwards emperor. See the Genea- 
 logical Table, No. 8(i.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 55 
 
 left behind the scene of distress was not less af- 
 fecting. 
 
 XLI. The camp presented a mournful spectacle. 
 Instead of a Roman general at the head of his legions, 
 instead of Germanicus in all the pomp and pride of 
 authority, the face of things resembled a city taken by 
 storm. Nothing was heard but shrieks and lamenta- 
 tions. The soldiers listened ; they came forth from 
 their tents ; they stood astonished at the sight : and, 
 ' Why,' they said, ' wherefore those notes of sorrow ? 
 What means that mournful spectacle ? A train of 
 noble matrons deserted, left to themselves, abandoned 
 by all ! no centurion, not so much as a soldier, to ac- 
 company them ! The wife of the general, undistin- 
 guished in the crowd, without a guard, and without 
 the train of attendants suited to her rank, proceeding 
 ou her way towards the people of Treves, to seek in a 
 foreign state that protection which was denied her in 
 a Roman camp !' To these reflections shame and re- 
 morse succeeded, and every breast was touched with 
 sympathy. All lamented the condition of Agrippina. 
 They called to mind the splendor of her father Agrip- 
 pa : they recollected the majesty of Augustus, her 
 grandfather ; they remembered Drusus, her father-in- 
 law: her own personal accomplishments, her numerous 
 issue, and her virtue, endeared her to the army. Her 
 son, they said, was a native of the camp :' he was edu- 
 cated in the tents of the legions ; and surnamed Cali- 
 gula, from the boots so called, which, to win the af- 
 fections of the soldiers, he wore in common with the 
 meanest of the army. Amidst these reflections, the 
 honor intended for the people of Treves made the 
 
 1 Caligula was born in Germany. Suetonius seems to think 
 that he was born at Antium, in Italy. Suet, in Calig. § 8.
 
 56 TACITUS. 
 
 deepest impression. Stung by that idea, they pressed 
 forward to Agrippina : they entreated her to stay ; 
 they opposed her passage ; they ran in crowds to Ger- 
 manicus, imploring him not to let her depart. The 
 prince, still warm with mixed emotions of grief and 
 indignation, addressed them in the following manner: 
 XLII. ' My wife and child are ever dear to me, but 
 no more so than my father * and the commonwealth. 
 But the emperor will be safe in his own imperial dig- 
 nity, and the commonwealth has other armies to fight 
 her battles. For my wife and children, if from +feeir 
 destruction you might derive additional glory, I could 
 yield them up a sacrifice in such a cause : at present, 
 I remove them from the rage of frantic men. If horrors 
 are still to multiply, let my blood glut your fury. Tlie 
 great-grandson of Augustus, and the daughter-in-law 
 of Tiberius, need not be left to fill the measure of your 
 iniquity. Without that horrible catastrophe the scene 
 of guilt may end. But let me ask you, in these last 
 few days what have you not attempted ? What liave 
 you left unviolated ? By what name shall I now ad- 
 dress you ? Shall I call you soldiers ? Soldiers ! w ho 
 liave dared to besiege the son - of your emperor ! w ho 
 Jiave made him a prisoner in his own intrenchments ! 
 Can I call you citizens ? Citizens ! who have trampled 
 under your feet the authority of the senate ! who have 
 violated the most awful sanctions, even those which 
 
 1 Not his real father Drusus, who was long since dead. 
 He means Tiberius, who had adopted him by order of Au- 
 gustus, as already mentioned, § 3. See the fine passage in 
 Cicero: ' Cari sunt parentes, cari liberi, propinqui, famili- 
 ares : sed omnium caritates patria una complexa est ; pro 
 qua quis bonus dubitet mortem oppetere ? — De Officiis, i. 
 17. 
 
 ii Germanicus, the adopted son of Tiberius.
 
 THE ANVALS. — BOOK I. 57 
 
 hostile states have ever held in respect, the rights of 
 ambassadors, and the law of nations ! 
 
 ' Julius Caesar by a single word was able to quell a 
 mutiny : he spoke to the men who resisted his au- 
 thority : he called them Romans,' and they became 
 his soldiers. Augustus showed himself to the legions 
 that fought at Actium, and the majesty of his counte- 
 nance awed them into obedience. The distance be- 
 tween myself and those illustrious characters I know 
 is great; and yet, descended from them, with their 
 bloo(*' in my veins, I should resent with indignation a 
 parallel outrage from the soldiers of Syria, or of 
 Spain : and will you, ye men of the first legion, who 
 received your colors from the hand of Tiberius ; and 
 you, ye men of the twentieth, his fellow-warriors in 
 the field, his companions in so many victories ; will 
 you thus requite him for all the favors so graciously 
 bestowed on you ? From every other quarter of the 
 empire Tiberius has received nothing but joyful tidings : 
 and must I wound his ear with the news of your re- 
 volt : Must he hear from me, that neither the soldiers 
 raised by myself, nor the veterans who fought under 
 him, are willing to own his authority? Must he be 
 told that neither dismissions from the service, nor 
 money lavishly granted, can appease the fury of un- 
 grateful men ? Must I inform him, that here the cen- 
 turions are murdered ; that, in this camp, the tribunes 
 
 1 The soldiers of the tenth legion, bein;? quartered at Rome, 
 demanded of Julius Csesar the arrears of their pay, and a dis- 
 chari^e from tlie service. lie yielded to their clamor, and 
 disbanded the wliole corps. He then addressed them in a 
 soothing speech ; and as they were no longer soldiers, called 
 them (jnirites. By that single word the men were softened, 
 and once more listed in the service. Suet, in Ca?s. ^ 70. 
 After the battle of Actium Augustus quelled a mutiny at 
 Brundusium. Suet, in Aug. $ 17.
 
 58 TACITUS. 
 
 are driven from their post ; that here the ambassadors 
 of Rome are detained as prisoners ; that the intrench- 
 ments present a scene of slaughter ; that rivers are 
 discolored with our blood ; and that a Roman general 
 leads a precarious life, at the mercy of men inflamed 
 with epidemic madness ? 
 
 XLIII. ' Why, the other day, when I endeavored 
 to address you, why was the sword which I aimed at 
 my breast — why in that moment was it wrested from 
 me? Oh, my mistaken friends! The man who pre- 
 sented his sword dealt more kindly by me. I could 
 then have closed my eyes in peace. I should not have 
 lived to see the disgrace of the legions and all the 
 horrors that followed. After my death you would 
 have chosen another general, regardless indeed of my 
 unhappy lot, but still of spirit to revenge the massacre 
 of Varus and his three legions. May that revenge be 
 still reserved for the Roman sword ! and may the gods 
 withhold from the Belgic states, though now they court 
 the opportunity, the vast renown of vindicating the 
 Roman name, and humbling the pride of the German 
 nations ! and may thy departed spirit, adored Au- 
 gustus ! who now art ranked among the gods ; and 
 may thy image,' Drusus, my ever-honored father ! 
 may thy memory inspire these unhappy men, whom I 
 now see touched with remorse ! May your active 
 energy blot out the disgrace that sits heavy on them ! 
 and may the rage of civil discord discharge itself on 
 the enemies of Rome ! And you, my fellow-soldiers ! 
 whom I behold with altered looks, whose hearts begin 
 to melt witli sorrow and repentance, if you mean to 
 preserve the ambassadors of the senate ; if you intend 
 
 1 The image of Drusus was displayed among the eagles 
 and standards.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 59 
 
 to remain faithful to your prince, and to restore my 
 wife and cliildren ; detach yourselves at once from 
 the contagion of guilty men ; withdraw from the sedi- 
 tious : that act will he a proof of your remorse, an 
 earnest of returning virtue/ 
 
 XLIV. Tlie soldiers were appeased by this ha- 
 rangue. They acknowleged their guilt and the jus- 
 tice of the reproof. In a suppliant tone they entreated 
 Germanicus to select for punishment the most ob- 
 noxious ; to pardon the weakness of men drawn into 
 error; and lead them against the enemy. They 
 requested that his wife might be recalled ; and that 
 his son, the darling of the camp, might not be sent a 
 hostage to the states of Gaul. Agrippina being then 
 advanced in her pregnancy, and the winter season 
 approaching, Germanicus judged it best to let her 
 proceed on her journey. His son, he said, should 
 once more appear amongst them. What remained to 
 be done he left to themselves. 
 
 The soldiers were now incited by new sentiments 
 and passions unfelt before : they seized the ringleaders 
 of the sedition, and delivered them, loaded with irons, 
 to Caius Cetronius, who commanded the first legion. 
 By that officer the delinquents were brought to imme- 
 diate justice. The form of proceeding was as follows ; 
 The legions under arms were ranged round the tri- 
 bunal : the criminal was set up to public view : if the 
 general voice pronounced him guilty, he was thrown 
 headlong down, and put to instant death. In this 
 mode of punishment the soldier concurred with ardor : 
 by shedding the blood of others he thought his own 
 guilt expiated. The measure, however violent, re- 
 ceived no check from Germanicus. What was done 
 had no sanction from his orders. The cruelty began 
 with the soldiers, and by consequence could be im-
 
 60 TACITUS. 
 
 puted to no one else. The veterans followed the ex- 
 ample, and in a few days afterwards were ordered to 
 march into Rfetia, under color of defending the pro- 
 vince from the inroads of the Suevians ; but, in truth, 
 to remove them from the camp, polluted by rebellion, 
 and in the end made savage by the horrors of military 
 execution. A strict review of the centurions was the 
 first care of Germanicus. They were all cited before 
 him : each in person gave in his name, his rank, the 
 place of his birth, the length of his services, the ac- 
 tions in which he had distinguished himself, and the 
 military honors which he had obtained.' If the tribunes, 
 or the legion in general, reported in his favor, he pre- 
 served his station : if taxed by the general voice with 
 avarice or cruelty, he was discharged from the service. 
 XLY. Order and tranquillity were in this manner 
 restored : but at the distance of sixty miles, at a place 
 called Vetera,^ riot and disorder still subsisted. The 
 fifth and twenty-first legions were there in winter 
 quarters. In the late commotions these men were the 
 first and most active incendiaries. The worst and 
 blackest crimes were by them committed ; and now, 
 when the storm was in appearance over, they still 
 retained their former ferocity, unreclaimed by the 
 penitence of others, and undismayed by the fate of 
 those who had suft'ered death. To meet this new 
 alarm, Germanicus resolved to equip his fleet, and 
 with the auxiliary forces to sail down the Rhine, in 
 
 1 The rewards of the soldier's valor were a chain, a brace- 
 let, a spear, a branch of oak. See, in book ii. 9, the military 
 honors obtained by Flavins, the brother of Arminius. 
 
 2 Vetera is the same as Vetera caatra, tlie old camp ; a place 
 rendered famous by the siege conducted by Civillis, the Ba- 
 tavian chief. Hist. iv. '■22. It is now called Santen, in the 
 duchy of Cleves.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 61 
 
 order, if the mutiny still subsisted, to crush it at once 
 by force of arms. 
 
 XLVI. At Rome, in the mean time, where the issue 
 of the commotions in Illyricum was yet unknown, 
 advice was received of the disorders that broke out in 
 Germany. The city was thrown into consternation. 
 All exclaimed against the conduct of Tiberius. 'To 
 amuse the senate and the people, both helpless, void 
 of spirit, and disarmed, was the sole drift of the 
 emperor. The flame of discord was in the mean time 
 kindled up by the distant armies ; and two young- men 
 who had neither experience nor sufficient authority 
 were sent in vain to quell the insurrection. Why did 
 not Tiberius set out in person on the first alarm ? The 
 occasion called for his presence. At the sight of him, 
 who had gained renown in war, and was m.oreover the 
 fountain of rewards and punishments, the malecon- 
 tents would liave laid down their arms. Augustus,' 
 though in the decline of life, could make a progress 
 into Germany : and shall Tiberius, in the vigor of his 
 days, content himself with the vain parade of attending 
 the senate, there to amuse himself with petty disputes, 
 to cavil about words, and wrangle with the fathers ? 
 Enough was done at Rome to establish his system of 
 slavery and despotic power. Measures should now 
 be taken to curb the spirit of the legions, and teach 
 them to endure the leisure of repose.' 
 
 XLVII. Tiberius heard the murmurs of discontent, 
 but remained inflexible. To keep possession of the 
 capital, and neither hazard his own safety, nor that of 
 the empire, was his fixed resolution. A crowd of 
 reflections filled him with anxiety. The German army 
 
 1 Suetonius says there was not a province, except Africa 
 and Sardinia, which he did not visit. In Aug. § 47.
 
 62 TACITUS. 
 
 was superior in strength : that in Pannonia was the 
 nearest : the former had great resources in Gaul, and 
 Italy lay open to the latter. To which should he give 
 the preference? If he visited one, the other might 
 take umbrage. By sending his sons, he held the 
 balance even, and neither could be jealous. It Avas 
 besides his maxim, that the imperial dignity should 
 not be suffered to tarnish in the eye of the public. 
 What is seen at a distance is most respected. If 
 Drusus and Germanicus reserved some points for the 
 consideration of their father, the inexperience of youth 
 would be a sufficient apology. Should the mutineers 
 persist with obstinacy, there would still be time for the 
 prince to interpose, and either by rigor, or conciliating 
 measures, to restore the ancient discipline. If he 
 went in person, and the insurgents spurned his autho- 
 rity, what resource was left ? — These considerations 
 had their weight; and yet, to have the appearance of 
 being willing to face his armies was part of his policy. 
 He played this game so well, that he seemed every 
 day on the point of leaving Rome.^ He settled his 
 train of attendants, ordered his camp equipage, equip- 
 ped his fleets ; still contriving, by specious pretences, 
 to give a color to delay. The winter season, he said, 
 was near at hand, and the weight of aftairs at Rome 
 claimed his attention. The most discerning were for 
 some time the dupes of his dissimulation. The people 
 were much longer amused, and the provinces were the 
 last to see through the delusion. 
 
 1 Tiberius, in the first two years after his accession, never 
 once stirred out of ]{ome ; nor did he afterwards venture 
 farther tlian Antiuni, or the isle of Capreai. He pretended 
 an intention to visit tlie provinces, and made preparations 
 every year, without so much as beginning a journey. He 
 was at last called CuUipeiles, a man famous in Greece for being 
 in a hurry, and never advancing an inch. Suet, in Tib. § 38.
 
 THE ANNALS.— BOOK 1. 63 
 
 XLVIII. Gerraanicus in the mean time was ready, 
 with his collected force, to act against the rebel 
 legions. He was willing, notwithstanding, to suspend 
 his operations till time should show whether the late 
 example had wrought the minds of the soldiers to sub- 
 mission and a due sense of their duty. With this 
 intent he sent dispatches to Caecina, to inform that 
 ofhcer that he was advancing at the head of a power- 
 ful army ; resolved, if justice w^as not previously 
 executed, to put the whole body to the sword. 
 
 Csecina communicated, in a confidential manner, his 
 secret instructions to the standard-bearers, to the in- 
 ferior officers, and such of the private men as were 
 known to be well aifected. He recommended to them 
 to avert the danger that hung over the legions, and in 
 good time to secure their lives. In times of peace, he 
 said, there is always leisure to investigate the truth, 
 and separate the man of merit from the turbulent and 
 seditious : but war knows no distinction of cases ; the 
 innocent and the guilty fall in one promiscuous car- 
 nage. 
 
 The officers, thus instructed, sounded the common 
 men' ; and, finding the greatest part w^ell aftected, 
 agreed, at an hour approved of by Cascina, to fall with 
 sudden fury on the leaders of the mutiny. Having 
 concerted their measures, at a signal given they began 
 the attack. They rushed sword in hand into the tents,* 
 and without mercy butchered their comrades, who 
 little thought they were so near their end. A dreadful 
 slaughter followed : no cause assigned, and no expla- 
 nation given. Except the authors of the measure, no 
 man knew from what motive the assault proceeded, or 
 where it would end. 
 
 1 The tents are called, in the original, contubernia. They 
 were large enough for ten soldiers, who were lodged together.
 
 64 TACITUS. 
 
 XLIX. In the civil Avars recorded in history we no- 
 where find a scene of horror like the present. No 
 tattle was fought : there was no assault from an ad- 
 verse camp : in the same tents, where the day saw 
 them eat their meal in peace, and the night laid them 
 down to rest, comrades divide against their fellows ; 
 darts and javelins are thrown with sudden fury ; up- 
 roar and confusion follow ; shouts and dying groans 
 resound throughout the camp ; a scene of blood is 
 laid ; wretches expire, and the reason remains un- 
 known. The event is left to chance. Men of worth 
 and honor perished in the fray ; for the guilty, finding 
 themselves the devoted objects, snatched up their 
 arms and joined the better cause. Cascina remained 
 a tame spectator : no officer, no tribune, attempted to 
 stop the wild commotion. The fury of the soldiers 
 had its free career ; and vengeance rioted in blood, 
 even to satiety. Germanicus in a short time after 
 entered the camp. He saw a tragic spectacle ; and, 
 with tears in his eyes, called it a massacre, not an act 
 of justice. He ordered the bodies to be burnt. The 
 fury of the soldiers had not yet subsided : in the agi- 
 tation of their minds they desired to be led against the 
 enemy, in order to expiate by the blood of the bar- 
 barians the desolation they had made. The shades of 
 their slaughtered friends could not be otherwise ap- 
 peased : when their breasts were gashed with honor- 
 able wounds atonement would then be made. Ger- 
 manicus embraced the opportunity ; and throwing a 
 bridge over the river,' advanced with an army of 
 twelve thousand legionary soldiers, six-and-twenty 
 cohorts of th'e allies, and eight squadrons of horse ; all 
 
 1 He threw a bridge over the Rhine.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 65 
 
 free from disaffection, and during the late commotions 
 strict observers of discipline. 
 
 L. The Germans, posted at a small distance, exulted 
 in full security. They saw with pleasure the ces- 
 sation of arms occasioned by tlie death of Augustus ; 
 and the revolt of the legions inspired them with fresh 
 courage. The Romans, by a forced march, passed the 
 Caesian forest ;^ and having levelled part of the ram- 
 part "^ formerly begun by Tiberius, pitched their tents 
 on the spot. In the front and rear of the camp they 
 threw up intrenchments. The flanks were fortified 
 with a pile of trees, hewn down for the purpose. Their 
 way from that place lay through a gloomy forest : but 
 of two roads, which was most eligible, was matter of 
 doubt; whether the shortest and most frequented," 
 or another more difficult, and seldom attempted ; but 
 for that reason unsuspected by the enemy. The long- 
 est road was preferred. The army pushed on with 
 vigor. The scouts had brought intelligence that the 
 approaching night was a festival, to be celebrated by 
 the barbarians with joy and revelry. In consequence 
 of this information Caecina had orders to advance with 
 the light cohorts, and clear a passage through the 
 woods. The legions followed at a moderate distance. 
 The brightness of the night favored their design. They 
 arrived, with rapid expedition, at the villages of the 
 Marsians,'* and without delay formed a chain of posts 
 
 1 See the Geographical Table. 
 
 2 The rampart was raised by Tiberius when he commanded 
 in Germany, in the reign of Augustus. Cluverius says it 
 was near the city now called Schermbeck. See Germ. An- 
 tiqua, iii. 9. 
 
 3 This road, Brotier says, stretched from west to east, along 
 the banks of the river Luppia (the Lippe) as far as Aliso, 
 now Elsen. 
 
 4 Tlie JMarsians dwelt in the diocese of Munster, between 
 the rivers Amisia and Luppia. 
 
 TACIT. VOL. I. E
 
 (iG TACITUS. 
 
 to inclose tlie enemy on every side. The barbarians 
 were sunk in sleep and wine ; some stretched on their 
 beds, others at full length under the tables ; all in full 
 security, without a guard, without posts, and Avithout 
 a sentinel on duty. No appearance of war was seen; 
 nor could that be called a peace, which was only the 
 effect of savage riot, the langor of a debauch. 
 
 LI. Germanicus, to spread the slaughter as wide as 
 possible, divided his men into four battalions. The 
 country, fifty miles round, was laid Avaste Avith fire and 
 sword ; no compassion for sex or age ; no distinction 
 of places, holy or profane ; nothing Avas sacred. In 
 the general ruin the temple of Tanfan,' Avhich was held 
 by the inhabitants in the highest veneration, was 
 levelled to the ground. Dreadful as the slaughter 
 Avas, it did not cost a drop of Roman blood. Not so 
 much as a Avound Avas received. The attack Avas made 
 on the barbarians sunk in sleep, dispersed in flight, un- 
 armed, and incapable of resistance. An account of the 
 massacre soon reached the Bructerians, the Tubantes, 
 and the Usipetes. Inflamed Avith resentment, those na- 
 tions took up arms ; and posting themsehes to advantage, 
 surrounded the Avoods through which the Roman army 
 Avas to pass. Germanicus, informed of their motions, 
 marched in order of battle. Part of the cavalry, Avith 
 the light cohorts, formed the van : the first legion fol- 
 io Aved, to support them : the baggage moved in the 
 centre. The left Aving Avas closed by the twenty-first 
 legion, and the right by the fifth. The tAventieth, Avith 
 
 1 Woods and forests were the sanctuaries held in venera- 
 tion by the Germans. The temple of Tantan was an excep- 
 tion to the general custom. We are told by antiquarians that 
 the word A\as composed of tan, sylva, a wood, and fane, do- 
 minus, or lord. Anielot de la lloussaye says it Avas dedicated 
 to the firxt cause of all, or the Supreme Being. See the Man- 
 ners of the Germans, ^ 9.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 67 
 
 the auxiliaries, brought up the rear. The Germans, 
 in close ambush, waited till the army stretched into 
 the woods. After skirmishing with the advanced 
 party, and both their flanks, they fell with their whole 
 strength on the rear. The light cohorts, unable to 
 sustain the shock of a close embodied enemy, were 
 thrown into disorder ; when Germanicus, riding at 
 full speed to the twentieth legion, cried aloud, ' The 
 time is come when you may eiface, by one brave ex- 
 ploit, the guilt of the late sedition : charge with 
 courage, and you gain immortal honor.' Roused by 
 this animating strain, the legion rushed to the attack, 
 and at the first onset broke the ranks of the enemy. 
 The barbarians fled to the open plain : the Romans 
 pursued them with dreadful slaughter. Meanwhile 
 the van of the army passed the limits of the forest, 
 and began to throw up intrenchments. From that 
 time the march was unmolested. The soldiers, flushed 
 with success, and in the glory of this expedition losing 
 all memory of former guilt, were sent into winter 
 quarters. 
 
 LII. An account of these events arriving at Rome, 
 Tiberius was variously alFected. He received a de- 
 gree of pleasure, but it was a pleasure mingled with 
 anxiety. That the troubles in the camp were at an 
 end he heard with satisfaction ; but he saw, with a 
 jealous spirit, that by largesses and dismissions from 
 the service, Germanicus had gained the affections of 
 the legions. The glory of his arms was another cir- 
 cumstance that touched him nearly. He thought fit, 
 notwithstanding, to lay the whole account before the 
 senate. He expatiated at large in praise of Germani- 
 cus, but in terms of studied ostentation, too elaborate 
 to be thought sincere. Of Drusus, and the issue of 
 the troubles in Illyricum, he spoke with more reserve ;
 
 68 TACITUS. 
 
 concise, yet not without energy. The concessions made 
 by Germanicus to the legions on the Rhine were rati- 
 fied in every article, and at the same time extended to 
 the army in Pannonia. 
 
 LIII. In the course of the year died Julia, ^ the 
 daughter of Augustus. On account of her lascivious 
 pleasures she had been formerly banished by her 
 father to the isle of Pandataria, and afterwards to 
 Rhegium, a city on the straits of Sicily. During 
 the life of her sons Caius and Lucius, she became the 
 wife of Tiberius, and by the haughtiness of her car- 
 riage made him feel that she thought him beneath 
 her rank. The arrogance of her behavior was the 
 secret and most powerful motive for the retreat 
 which that prince made to the isle of Rhodes. At his 
 accession to the empire, when he was master of the 
 Roman world, he saw her in a state of destitution, 
 banished, covered with infamy, and, after the murder 
 of Agrippa Posthumus, without a ray of hope to com- 
 fort her. Yet this could not appease the malice of 
 Tiberius. He ordered her to be starved to death ; 
 concluding that, after a tedious exile at a place remote, 
 a lingering death in want and misery would pass un- 
 noticed. 
 
 From the same root of bitterness sprung the cruelty 
 with which he persecuted Sempronius Gracchus ;^ a 
 man descended from a noble family, possessed of 
 talents, and adorned with eloquence, but eloquence 
 viciously applied. By his wit and rare accomplish- 
 ments he seduced the affections of Julia, even in the 
 
 I She was married to Agrippa, and had by him three sons, 
 Caius, Lucius, and Agrippa Posthumus ; and also two daugh- 
 ters, Agrippina and Julia. See the Genealogical Table, No. 
 46. 
 
 'i For more of him and his son Caius Gracchus, see Annals, 
 iv. 13.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. fiO 
 
 lifetime of her husband Agrippa. Nor did his pas- 
 sion stop there : when she was afterwards married to 
 Tiberius he was still a persevering adulterer, and by 
 secret artifices poisoned the mind of the wife against 
 her husband. The letter to Augustus, in which she 
 treated the character of Tiberius with contempt, was 
 generally thought to be his composition. For these 
 offences he was banished to Cercina, an island on the 
 coast of Africa, where he passed fourteen years in 
 exile. Soldiers at length were sent to put an end to 
 his days. The assassins found him on the point of a 
 prominent neck of land, with a countenance fixed in 
 sorrow and despair. As soon as the ruffians ap- 
 proached he desired a short delay, that he might 
 write the sentiments of a dying man to his wife Al- 
 liaria. Having despatched that business, he presented 
 his neck to the murderer's stroke ; in his last moments 
 worthy the Serapronian name. His life was a series 
 of degenerate actions. The assassins, according to 
 some historians, were not hired at Rome, but sent 
 from Africa by the proconsul Lucius Asprenas, at the 
 instigation of Tiberius, who hoped to throw from him- 
 self the load of guilt, and fix it on his tools of power. 
 The artifice did not succeed. 
 
 LIV. In the course of this j^ear was formed a new- 
 institution of religious rites. In honor of Augustus a 
 list of priests was added to the sacerdotal college, in 
 imitation of the order founded in ancient times by 
 Titus Tatius, to perpetuate the religious ceremonies 
 of the Sabines. To create this new sodality the names 
 of the most eminent citizens, to the number of one- 
 and-twenty, were drawn by lot ; and Tiberius, Dru- 
 sus, Claudius, and Germanicus, were added. It hap- 
 pened, however, that the games performed this year 
 in honor of Augustus were disturbed by violent fac-
 
 70 TACITUS. 
 
 tions among the players.' In compliance with the 
 Avishes of Maecenas, that passionate admirer of Ba- 
 thyllus the comedian, Augustus had always favored 
 the exhibition of pantomimes. He had himself a taste 
 for those amusements ; and by mixing with the diver- 
 sions of the multitude, he thought he showed a popular 
 condescension. Tiberius was of a difterent character : 
 but the minds of men, softened by luxury, and during 
 a long reign dissolved in pleasure, could not easily 
 conform to that austerity which suited the rigid tem- 
 per of the prince. 
 
 LV. In the consulship of Drusus Cfesar and Caius 
 Norbanus a triumph was decreed to Germanicus, 
 though the war was not yet brought to a conclusion. 
 The prince had concerted his plan of operations for 
 the ensuing summer ; but he thought proper, early in 
 the spring, to open the campaign, by a sudden irrup- 
 tion into the territories of the Cattians ; a people dis- 
 tracted among themselves by the opposite factions of 
 Arminius ^ and Segestes ; the former famous for his 
 treachery to the Romans, and the latter for unshaken 
 fidelity. Arminius Avas the common disturber of Ger- 
 many ; Segestes, on the other hand, had given re- 
 
 1 For an account of theatrical factions see Dialogue con- 
 cerning Oratory, § 29. Batbyllus, the pantomime performer, 
 is distinguished by Horace for his graceful movement. He 
 is also mentioned by Juvenal. 
 
 2 Arminius, according to Velleius Paterculus, ii. 118, was 
 tlie son of Sigiraer, a Cheruscan chief. Inguiomer was bis 
 father's brother, and of course uncle to Arminius, as men- 
 tioned in this book, § 60. Arminius had a brother, whose 
 name was Flavius, Annals, ii. 9. Segestes was another lead- 
 ing chieftain among tlie Cberuscans. His daughter was ra- 
 visbod from him by Arminius : his son Segimund is mentioned 
 in this book, § 57. This account of tlie German chieftains 
 will make the sequel, in this and the next book, more easily 
 understood.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 71 
 
 peated proofs of his pacific temper. When measures 
 were taken for a general insurrection, he discovered 
 the conspiracy ; and during the banquet which pre- 
 ceded the massacre of Varus he proposed that he 
 himself, Arminius, and other chiefs, should be seized, 
 and loaded with irons. By that vigorous measure 
 he was sure that the minds of the common people 
 would be depressed with fear ; and, having lost their 
 chiefs, none would dare to rise in arms. The general, 
 of course, would have leisure to discriminate the inno- 
 cent from the guilty. But Varus was fated to perish, 
 and Arminius struck the blow. In the l)resent junc- 
 ture, Segestes was compelled by the ardor of his 
 countrymen to take up arms. He still, however, re- 
 tained his former sentiments. He had, besides, mo- 
 tives of a private nature : his daughter, whom he had 
 promised in marriage to another chief, was ravished 
 from him by Arminius. The father and the son-in- 
 law were by consequence inveterate enemies : and that 
 connexion, which between persons mutually well in- 
 clined forms the tenderest friendship, served only to 
 inflame the animosity of the two contending chiefs. 
 
 LVI. Encouraged by these dissensions, Germanicus 
 appointed Cascina to the command of four legions, 
 five thousand of the allies, and the German recruits 
 lately raised, by hasty levies, on this side of the 
 Rhine. He marched himself at the head of an equal 
 legionary force-, and double the number of auxiliaries. 
 On the ruins of a fort, formerly built on Mount Tau- 
 nus * by his father Drusus, he raised a fortification, 
 and proceeded by rapid marches against the Cattians. 
 To secure his retreat he left behind him Lucius Apro- 
 
 1 The IMount Taunus, near Magontiacum (now Mayence), 
 Brotier says is now called Heyrich.
 
 72 TACITUS. 
 
 iiius, with orders to work at the roads and embank the 
 rivers. The dryness of the season, uncommon in those 
 parts, and the low bed of waters in the rivers favored 
 his expedition ; but before his return the fall of heavy- 
 rains and the overflow of torrents might lay the 
 country under water. His arrival was so little ex- 
 pected by the Cattians, that their women and children 
 were either taken prisoners, or put to the sword. The 
 young and able-bodied made their escape by swim- 
 ming across the Adrana. From the opposite bank 
 they attempted to hinder a bridge from being thrown 
 over the river ; but by a fierce discharge from the 
 engines, and a volley of darts, they were driven from 
 their post. They oftered terms of peace, but without 
 success. Numbers submitted at discretion : the rest 
 abandoned their villages, and fled for shelter into the 
 woods. The country round was laid waste ; Mattium, 
 the capital, was destroyed by fire ; and the open plains 
 were made a desert. Germanicus marched his army 
 back towards the Rhine, the barbarians never daring 
 to harass the rear, as is their practice, when, pre- 
 tending to retreat in a panic, they wheel about on a 
 sudden, and return to the charge. The Cheruscans 
 meditated a sudden attack in favor of the Cattians ; 
 but Cascina, with an army of observation, spread so 
 warm an alarm that the enterprise was dropped. The 
 Marsians, more bold and desperate, risked a battle, 
 and were defeated. 
 
 LVII. Germanicus, in a short time afterwards, re- 
 ceived a message from Segestes, imploring protection 
 from the fury of his countrymen, who held him closely 
 besieged. Arminius had been the adviser of the war, 
 and was by consequence the idol of the people. In a 
 nation of savages tlie man of fierce and turbulent 
 spirit is sure, in times of commotion, to be the lead-
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 73 
 
 ing demagogue. Among the deputies sent to Ger- 
 manicus was Segimund, the son of Segestes ; a young- 
 man who, in the year famous for the revolt of Ger- 
 many, was made by the Romans a priest of the Ubian 
 altar ; but soon after, fired by the zeal that roused 
 his whole nation, he tore off his sacred vestments, and 
 went over to his countrymen. Conscious of this of- 
 fence, he hesitated for some time, willing to decline 
 the embassy ; till at length, encouraged by the fame 
 of Roman clemency, he obeyed his father's orders. 
 He met with a gracious reception ; and, under a pro- 
 per guard, was conducted in safety to the frontiers of 
 Gaul. Germanicus thought it of moment to change 
 his purpose, and march back to the relief of Segestes. 
 He no sooner appeared before the place than the 
 enemy was attacked and put to the rout. 
 
 Segestes was set at liberty, and with him a numerous 
 train of relatives and faithful followers ; several wo- 
 men of noble birth ; and, in the number, the daughter 
 of Segestes,^ then married to Arminius. In her de- 
 portment no trace appeared of her father's character : 
 she breathed the spirit of her husband. Not a tear 
 was seen to start ; no supplicating tone was heard ; 
 she stood in pensive silence ; her hands strained close 
 to her bosom, and her eyes fixed. At the same time 
 was brought forth a load of spoils, which, in the 
 slaughter of Varus and his legions, fell to the share of 
 those who now surrendered to the Roman arms. What 
 chiefly attracted every eye was Segestes himself: his 
 stature of superior size ; his countenance that of a man 
 who knew neither guilt nor fear. He spoke to this 
 effect : 
 
 1 Her name, according to Strabo, was Thusnelda. Her 
 deportment here described would be a fine subject for an 
 historical painter.
 
 74 TACITUS. 
 
 LVIII. ' It is not now the first time that Segestes 
 has given proofs of his attachment to the cause of 
 Rome. From the moment when I was enrolled a 
 citizen by the deified Augustus your interest has been 
 the rule of my conduct. Your friends I embraced ; 
 your enemies were mine. In acting thus, I have not 
 been guilty of treason to my country. A traitor I 
 know is odious even to those who profit by the treason. 
 I have been your friend, because I thought the in- 
 terests of Germany and Rome were interwoven with 
 each other. I have been your friend, because I pre- 
 ferred peace to war. Governed by these principles I 
 addressed myself to Varus, who commanded your 
 armies ; before his tribunal I exhibited an accusation 
 against Arminius, the ravisher of my daughter, and 
 the violator of public treaties. But sloth and irreso- 
 lution were the bane of that unfortunate general. 
 From laws enfeebled and relaxed I expected no relief. 
 I therefore desired, earnestly desired, that Arminius, 
 and the other chiefs of the conspiracy, might be thrown 
 into irons. I did not except myself. With what zeal 
 I pressed the measure, witness that fatal night which 
 I wish had been my last. The horrors that followed 
 demand our tears : they cannot be justified. Soon 
 after that tragic event I confined Arminius in chains ; 
 and from his faction I have suffered in my turn the 
 same indignity. Admitted now to an interview with 
 Germanicus, I prefer ancient friendship to new con- 
 nexions : my voice is still for peace. For myself, I 
 have nothing in view ; my honor is dear to me, and 
 I desire to repel all suspicion of perfidy. I would, if 
 possible, make terms for my countrymen, if they can 
 be induced to prefer a well-timed repentance to cala- 
 mity and ruin. For my son, and the errors of his 
 youth, I am a humble suppliant. My daughter,
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK 1. 75 
 
 indeed, appears before you by necessity, not by her 
 own choice : 1 acknowlege it. It is yours to decide 
 her fate : it is yours to judge which ought to have 
 most influence, her husband, or her father : she is 
 with child by Arminius, and she sprung from me.' 
 Germanicus, in his usual style of moderation, assured 
 him that his children and relations should be pro- 
 tected : as to himself, he might depend on a safe re- 
 treat in one of the old provinces. He then marched 
 back to the Rhine ; and there, by the direction of 
 Tiberius, was honored with the title of Imperator. 
 The wife of Arminius was delivered of a boy, who 
 was reared and educated at Ravenna. The disasters 
 which made him afterwards the sport of fortune shall 
 be related in their proper place. ^ 
 
 LIX. The surrender of Segestes, and his gracious 
 reception from Germanicus, being in a short time 
 spread throughout Germany, the feelings of men were 
 various, as their inclinations happened to be for peace 
 or war. Arminius, by nature fierce and enterprising, 
 seeing in this junctnre his wife for ever lost, and the 
 child in her womb a slave before its birth, felt himself 
 inflamed with tenfold fury. He flew round the country 
 of the Cheruscans, spreading the flame of discord, and 
 in every quarter rousing the people to revenge : he 
 called aloud to arms, to arms against Segestes, to arms 
 against the Romans. He spared no topic that could 
 inflame resentment. ' Behold,' he cried, ' behold in 
 Segestes the true character of a father ! in Germa- 
 nicus an accomplished general ! in the exploits of the 
 
 1 The account here promised, and without doubt given 
 either in the Annals or the History, is totally lost. Strabo 
 says that the son, who was called Thumelicus by the Romans, 
 walked among tlie captives in the triumph of Germanicus, 
 which is mentioned, Annals, ii. 41.
 
 70 TACITUS. 
 
 lloman army, the glory of a warlike nation ! with 
 mighty numbers they have led a woman into captivity! 
 It was not in this manner that Arminius dealt with 
 them : three legions, and as many commanders, fell a 
 sacrifice to my revenge. To the arts of traitors I am 
 a stranger ; I wage no war with women big with child. 
 My enemies are worthy of a soldier. I declare open 
 hostility ; and sword in hand I meet them in the field 
 of battle. 
 
 ' Survey your religious groves : the Roman banners 
 by me hung up, and dedicated to the gods of our 
 country, are there displayed : thej'^ are trophies of 
 victory. Let Segestes fly for shelter to the Roman 
 provinces ; let him enjoy his bank on the side of 
 Gaul ; and let him there meanly crouch to make his 
 son the priest of a foreign altar. Posterity will have 
 reason to curse his memory : future ages will detest 
 the man, whose crime it is that we have seen between 
 the Rhine and the Elbe rods and axes, the Roman 
 habit, and the Roman arms. To other nations punish- 
 ments and taxes are yet unknown : they are happy, 
 for they are ignorant of Romans. We have bravely 
 thrown oif the yoke ; we are free from burdens : and 
 since Augustus was obliged to retreat, that very Au- 
 gustus whom his countrymen have made a god ; and 
 since Tiberius, that upstart emperor, keeps aloof from 
 Germany, shall we, who have dared nobly for our 
 liberties, shrink from a boy void of experience, and an 
 army ruined by their own divisions ? If your country 
 is dear to you, if the glory of yoar ancestors is near 
 your hearts, if liberty is of any value, if the enjoy- 
 ment of your natural rights is preferable to new mas- 
 ters and foreign colonies, follow Arminius. I will 
 marshal you the way to glory and to freedom. Segestes 
 has nothing in store but infamy, chains, and bondage.'
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 77 
 
 LX. By these incendiary speeches all Germany was 
 roused to action. The Cheruscans took up arms, and 
 the neighboring states followed their example. In- 
 guiomer, a man long known, and high in the estimation 
 of the Romans, declared in favor of Arminius : he was 
 uncle to that chieftain. By adopting his measures he 
 added strength to the confederacy. Germanicus saw 
 the impending danger. To cause a diversion, and 
 avoid the united strength of the enemy, he ordered 
 Caecina, with forty Roman cohorts, to penetrate into 
 the territory of the Bructerians, as far as the river 
 Amisia. Pedo, at the head of the cavalry, was di- 
 rected to march along the confines of the Frisians. 
 Germanicus, with four legions, embarked on the lakes.* 
 One common place of destination was appointed. The 
 foot, the cavalry, and the fleet, arrived in due time. 
 The Chaucians joined the Roman army : the Bructe- 
 rians set fire to their houses, and abandoned their 
 country. Lucius Stertinius, with a detachment of the 
 light horse, was ordered to pursue the fugitives. That 
 officer came up with the enemy, and put the whole 
 body to the rout. Amidst the slaughter that followed 
 some of the soldiers were intent on plunder. Among 
 the spoils was found the eagle of the nineteenth legion, 
 lost in the massacre of Varus. The army pushed on 
 with vigor to the farthest limit of the Bructerians. The 
 whole country between the river Amisia and the Lup- 
 pia was made a desert. The Romans were now at 
 a small distance from the forest of Teutoburgium,- 
 
 1 The lakes which are now lost in the vast gulf called tlie 
 Zuyder Zee. 
 
 2 The commentators give different accounts of the Teuto- 
 burgian forest. Guerin, the French translator of Tacitus, 
 says it lay in the diocese of jMunster, where there is at this 
 day a place called Varendorp, which signifies the burgh of
 
 78 TACITUS. 
 
 where the bones of Varus and his legions were said to 
 be still unburied. 
 
 LXI. Touched by this affecting circumstance, Ger- 
 manicus resolved to paj'^ the last human office to the 
 relics of that unfortunate commander and his slaugh- 
 tered soldiers. The same tender sentiment diffused 
 itself through the army : some felt the touch of nature 
 for their relations, others for their friends ; and all 
 lamented the disasters of war, and the wretched lot of 
 humankind. Csecina was sent forward to explore the 
 woods : where the waters were out, to throw up 
 bridges ; and by heaping loads of earth on the swampy 
 soil, to secure a solid footing. The army marched 
 through a gloomy solitude. The place presented an 
 awful spectacle, and the memory of a tragical event 
 increased the horror of the scene. The first camp of 
 Varus appeared in view. The extent of the ground, 
 and the three different inclosures for eagles,^ still dis- 
 tinctly seen, left no doubt but that the whole was the 
 work of the three legions. Farther on were traced 
 the ruins of a rampart, and the hollow of a ditch well- 
 nigh filled up. This was supposed to be the spot 
 where the few who escaped the general massacre 
 made their last effort, and perished in the attempt. 
 The plains around were white with bones, in some 
 places thinly scattered, in others lying in heaps, as the 
 men happened to fall in fight, or in a body resisted to 
 
 Varus. Brotier places it in the diocese of Paderhorn, near 
 the town of Horn, not far from Paderborn, wliere there is a 
 forest called Teuteberg, and a field called Winfeldt, that is, 
 the field of victory. To confirm his opinion, Le says that 
 bones and military weapons, and also medals of Julius Ca;sar 
 and Augustus, are often dug up in those woods. 
 
 1 The part of a Roman camp where the arms and eagles 
 were deposited was called principia. As the traces of three 
 such places were visible, there could be no doubt but they 
 were the work of three legions.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 79 
 
 the last. Fragments of javelins, and the limbs of 
 horses, lay scattered about the field. Human skulls 
 were seen on the trunks of trees. In the adjacent 
 woods stood the savage altars where the tribunes and 
 principal centurions were offered up a sacrifice with 
 barbarous rites. Some of the soldiers who survived 
 that dreadful day, and afterwards broke their chains, 
 related circumstantially several particulars. ' Here 
 the commanders of the legions were put to the sword : 
 on that spot the eagles were seized. There Varus re- 
 ceived his first wound ; and this the place where he 
 gave himself the mortal stab, and died by his own 
 sword. Yonder mound was the tribunal from which 
 Armiuius harangued his countrymen : here he fixed 
 his gibbets ; there he dug the funeral trenches ; and 
 in that quarter he offered every mark of scorn and 
 insolence to the colors and the Roman eagles. '' 
 
 LXII. Six years had elapsed since the overthrow of 
 Varus ; and now, on the same spot, the Roman army 
 collected the bones of their slaughtered countrymen. 
 Whether they were burying the remains of strangers, 
 or of their own friends, no man knew : all, however, 
 considered themselves as performing the last obsequies 
 to their kindred and their brother-soldiers. While 
 employed in this pious oflice their hearts were torn 
 with contending passions ; by turns oppressed with 
 grief, and burning for revenge. A monument to the 
 memory of the dead was raised with turf. Germa- 
 nicus with his own hand laid the first sod ; discharging 
 at once the tribute due to the legions, and sympa- 
 thising with the rest of the army. The whole, though 
 an act of piety to the slain, was condemned by Tibe- 
 rius. The malignity of his nature led him to misin- 
 terpret the actions of Germanicus : perhaps he was 
 apprehensive that the view of a field covered with the
 
 80 TACITUS. 
 
 unburied limbs of a slaughtered army might damp the 
 ardor of the soldier, and add to the ferocity of the 
 enemy. There might be another reason for his dis- 
 pleasure. Perhaps he thought that a general, invested 
 with the office of augur, and other religious functions, 
 ought not to assist at the performance of funeral 
 rites. 
 
 LXIII. Germanicus pressed forward, by rapid 
 marches, in pursuit of Arminius, who fled before 
 him, taking advantage of the defiles and difficult parts 
 of the country. Having overtaken the barbarians, 
 and seeing his opportunity, he ordered the cavalry to 
 advance on the open plain and dislodge the enemy. 
 Arminius drew up his men in close compacted ranks, 
 and, feigning a retreat to the forest, suddenly wheeled 
 about ; giving, at the same time, the signal to the 
 troops that lay ambushed in the woods to rush out, 
 and begin the attack. The Roman cavalry, struck 
 with surprise at the sudden appearance of a new army, 
 were thrown into disorder. They fell back on the 
 cohorts sent to support them, and a general conster- 
 nation followed. The barbarians pursued their ad- 
 vantage, and had w^ell-nigh driven the Romans into a 
 morass, well known to themselves, but impracticable 
 to strangers, when Germanicus came up with the le- 
 gions in order of battle. At the sight of a regular 
 force the Germans were struck with terror. The 
 broken ranks of the Romans had time to rally. No- 
 thing decisive followed. Both armies parted on equal 
 terms : Germanicus marched back to the river Amisia, 
 and with his legions sailed across the lakes. Part of 
 the cavalry had orders to file along the sea-coast, and 
 by a winding march return to the banks of the Rhine. 
 
 Caecina, at the liead of his own division, marclied 
 through a country of which he was not ignorant. He
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 81 
 
 had directions to pass the long bridges ' with all pos- 
 sible expedition. The place so called is a narrow 
 causeway, constructed formerly by Lucius Domitius. 
 It stretches a great length of way between two prodi- 
 gious marshes. The country round is one vast fen, in 
 some parts covered with a deep and slimy mud, in 
 others with a tenacious heavy clay, intersected fre- 
 quently by rapid torrents. A thick forest, rising at 
 some distance on a gradual acclivity, inclosed the 
 whole scene, and formed a kind of amphitheatre. 
 Arminius, who knew the course of the country, made 
 a forced march, and took post in the woods, before 
 the Romans, encumbered with arms and heavy bag- 
 gage, arrived at the place. Caecina found a double 
 difficulty. The bridges, ruined by time, were to be 
 repaired ; and the enemy at the same time was to be 
 repulsed. He judged it necessary to pitch his camp; 
 as in that situation a sufficient number might work at 
 the causeway, while the rest were held in readiness to 
 engage the enemy. 
 
 LXIV. The barbarians made a vigorous eflfort to 
 force the outposts, and penetrate to the men working 
 at the intrenchments. They rushed forward with im- 
 petuous fury ; they wheeled about to the flanks ; they 
 returned to charge in front. A mingled shout arose 
 from the laborers and the combatants. All things 
 seemed to conspire against the Romans : the slimy 
 soil, if the men stood still, sunk under them ; if they 
 advanced, it was too slippery for their feet. The 
 
 1 The causeway, called the long bridge, was constructed by 
 Lucius Uomitius, the grandfather of the emperor Nero. Ac- 
 cording to Suetonius, be was in the early part of life as famous 
 for his skill in driving a curricle as his grandson, when em- 
 peror of Rome. In the time of Augustus be commanded the 
 legions in Germany, and penetrated farther into that country 
 than any Roman had done before him. Annals, iv. 44. 
 TACIT. VOL. 1. F
 
 82 TACITUS. 
 
 weight of the soldier's armor and the depth of water 
 made the management of the javelins almost impracti- 
 cable. The Cheruscans, on the contrary, were fight- 
 ing in their own element : they were used to fens and 
 marshes : their stature was large, and their spears of 
 a length to wound at a distance. The legions began 
 to give way, when night came on and put an end to 
 the unequal conflict. The barbarians were too much 
 flushed with success to complain of fatigue, or to think 
 of rest. During the night they cut a channel for the 
 waters, and from the neighboring hills let down a 
 deluge into the valley. The plains were laid under 
 water ; and the half-flnished works being carried away 
 by the flood, the soldier saw that his labor was to 
 begin again. 
 
 Caecina had been forty years in the service. A man 
 of his experience, who had known the vicissitudes of 
 war, was not to be disconcerted. He saw, between 
 the morass and the hills, a plain of solid ground, large 
 enough for a small army. To that spot, having 
 weighed all circumstances, he judged it his best ex- 
 pedient to send the wounded with the heavy baggage, 
 and in the mean time to confine the Germans in their 
 woods. For this purpose he stationed the fifth legion 
 in the right wing, and the one-and-twentieth in the 
 left; the first legion led the van, and the twentieth 
 brought up the rear. 
 
 LXV. The night in both camps was busy and un- 
 quiet, but from difterent causes. The barbarians 
 passed their time in jollity and carousing ; warlike 
 songs and savage bowlings kept a constant uproar, 
 while the woods and valleys rung with the hideous 
 sound. In the Roman camp the scene was difterent : 
 pale gleaming fires were seen ; no sound, save that 
 of low and hollow murmurs ; the soldiers extended at 
 length under the palisades, or wandered from tent to
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 83 
 
 tent, fatigued and weary, yet scarce awake. Caecina 
 was disturbed by a terrible dream : he thought that 
 Quintilius Varus emerged from the fens, and calling on 
 him to follow, waved his hand to point the way. Un- 
 willing to obey the summons, C^cina pushed the phan- 
 tom from him. At break of day the legions, which had 
 been stationed in the wings, through fear, or a spirit 
 of mutiny, abandoned their post, and seized a piece 
 of solid ground, beyond the morass. Arminius, though 
 the opportunity was fair, did not embrace it : but soon 
 after, seeing the baggage fast in the mud, or in the 
 ditches, the soldiers gathering round in tumult and 
 disorder ; the eagles in confusion ; and, as in such 
 cases always happens, each man acting for himself, 
 and deaf to the command of his officers ; he ordered 
 his men to make a vigorous onset, exclaiming as he 
 advanced, * Behold Varus and his legions ! their fate 
 once more has given them to our swords.^ 
 
 He charged at the head of a chosen band ; and by 
 gashing and mangling the horses, made a dreadful 
 havoc. Goaded by wounds, and not able to keep 
 their legs on a slimy soil, which was made still more 
 slippery by the effusion of their own blood, those ani- 
 mals in their fury threw their riders, overturned all in 
 their way, and trampled under their feet the wretches 
 that lay on the ground. The chief distress was round 
 tlie eagles : to support them under a heavy volley of 
 darts was difficult, and to fix them in the swampy ground 
 impossible. Caecina, exerting himself with undaunted 
 vigor to sustain the ranks, had his horse killed under 
 him. The barbarians were ready to surround him, 
 if the first legion had not come up to his assistance. 
 At length the rage for plunder, natural to savages, 
 turned the fortune of the day. Intent on booty, the
 
 84 TACITUS. 
 
 Germans desisted from tlie fight. The Romans seized 
 their advantage, and towards the close of the day 
 gained a station on the solid ground. Their distress, 
 however, w as not at an end : intrenchments were to 
 he raised ; earth to he brought : their tools for digging- 
 and cutting the soil were lost ; no tents for the sol- 
 diers ; no medicine for their wounded : their pro- 
 visions in a vile condition, deformed with filth and 
 blood : a night big with horror hung over their heads ; 
 and the ensuing day, to a number of brave and gallant 
 men, might prove the last. The spirit of the legions 
 sunk, and all lamented their condition. 
 
 LXVI. It happened, in the course of the night, 
 that a horse broke loose ; and, scared by the noise 
 of the soldiers, ran wild through the camp, trampling 
 down all that came in his way. This accident spread 
 a general panic. In the first hurry of surprise, it was 
 generally believed that the Germans had stormed the 
 intrenchments. The soldiers rushed to the gates, 
 chiefiy to that called the Decuman,^ at the back of the 
 camp, remote from the enemy, and the most likely 
 to favor their escape. Caecina knew that it was a 
 false alarm : he tried to recall the men from their error ; 
 he commanded, he implored, he laid hold of numbers : 
 but finding all without eflect, he threw himself on the 
 ground, and lay stretched at length across the passage. 
 At the sight of their general in that condition the men 
 recoiled Avith horror from the outrage of trampling on 
 
 1 There were four gates to a Roman camp. Livy says so 
 in express terms. The several gates were, the pretorian ; the 
 gate opposite to it, at the extremity of the camp, called the 
 (iecnmnn ; and two others, called the right and left principals, 
 because they stood on the right and left sides of the camp, 
 fronting the street called principia. See Duncan's Roman 
 Art of War.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 85 
 
 his body. In that interval the tribunes and centu- 
 rions convinced the men that their fears were without 
 foundation. 
 
 LXVII. Caecina assembled his men in the part of 
 the camp assigned for the eagles. Having commanded 
 silence, he explained their situation, and the necessity 
 that called on them to act like men. 'They had no- 
 thing to depend on except their valor ; but their valor 
 must be cool, deliberate, guided by prudence. Let 
 all remain within the lines till the barbarians, in hopes 
 of carrying the works, advance to the assault : then 
 will be the time to sally out. By one brave effort 
 they might open a passage to the Rhine. If they fled, 
 other woods and deeper fens remained behind ; per- 
 haps more savage enemies. By one glorious victory 
 they were sure of gaining every advantage : honored by 
 their country, loved by their families, and applauded 
 by the whole army.' The bright side of the military 
 life being thus held forth, he said nothing of the re- 
 verse. His next care was to select a body of his 
 bravest soldiers : these he provided with horses, as 
 well from his own retinue as from those of the tri- 
 bunes and centurions, without favor or partiality, dis- 
 tinguishing merit only. The men thus mounted were 
 to make the first impression on the enemy, and the 
 infantry had orders to support the rear. 
 
 LXVIII. The Germans, in the mean time, Avere no 
 less in agitation ; their hopes of conquest, the love of 
 plunder, and the jarring counsels of their chiefs, dis- 
 tracted every mind. The measure proposed by Ar- 
 minius was, to let the Romans break up their camp, 
 and surround them again in the narrow defiles, and in 
 the bogs and marshes. Inguiomer, more fierce and 
 violent, and for that reason more acceptable to the 
 genius of barbarians, was for storming the camp ; it
 
 86 TACITUS. 
 
 would be carried by a general assault ; the number of 
 prisoners would be greater, and the booty in better 
 condition. His advice prevailed. At the point of day 
 the attack began : at the first onset the Germans le- 
 velled the foss, threw in heaps of hurdles, and at- 
 tempted a scalade. The ramparts were thinly manned; 
 the soldiers who showed themselves put on the appear- 
 ance of a panic : the barbarians climbed to the top of 
 the works : in that moment the signal was given to the 
 cohorts ; clarions and trumpets sounded through the 
 camp ; the Romans in a body, and with one general 
 shout, rushed on to the attack. They fell on the 
 enemy in the rear ; crying aloud, as they advanced, 
 ' Here are no woods, no treacherous fens ; we are here 
 on equal ground, and the gods will decide between 
 us.' The barbarians had promised themselves an easy 
 conquest : the affair, they imagined, would be with a 
 handful of men ; but their surprise rose in proportion 
 when they heard the clangor of trumpets, and saw the 
 field glittering with arms. The sudden terror magni- 
 fied their danger. To be elated with success, and to 
 droop in adversity, is the genius of savage nations. 
 A dreadful slaughter followed. The two chiefs be- 
 took themselves to flight ; Arminius unhurt, and In- 
 guiomer dangerously wounded. No quarter was given 
 to the common men. The pursuit continued as long 
 as daylight and resentment lasted : night coming on, 
 the legions returned to their camp, covered with new 
 wounds, and their provisions no better than the day 
 before ; but health, and food, and vigor, all things 
 were found in victory. 
 
 LXIX. Meanwhile a report was spread round the 
 country that the Roman army was cut to pieces, and 
 the Germans, flushed with conquest, were pouring 
 down to the invasion of Gaul. The consternation was
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 87 
 
 such, that numbers proposed to demolish the bridge 
 over the Rhine. Vile as the project was, there were 
 men who, through fear, would have been hardy enough 
 to carry it into execution, if Agrippina had not pre- 
 vented so foul a disgrace. Superior to the weakness 
 of her sex, she took on her, with an heroic spirit, the 
 functions of a general officer. She attended to the 
 wants of the men : she distributed clothes to the indi- 
 gent, and medicines to the sick. Pliny ^ has left, in 
 his history of the wars in Germany, a description of 
 Agrippina at the head of the bridge, reviewing the 
 soldiers as they returned, and with thanks and con- 
 gratulations applauding their valor. This conduct 
 alarmed the jealous temper of Tiberius : ' Such active 
 zeal,' he said, ' sprung from sinister motives ; those 
 popular virtues had not for their object the enemies of 
 Rome. The soldiers were caressed for other pur- 
 poses. What remained for the commander-in-chief, 
 if a woman can thus unsex herself at the head of the 
 eagles? She reviews the legions, and by largesses 
 draws to herself the affections of the men. Was it not 
 enough for her ambition that she showed her son to 
 the army, and carried him from tent to tent, in the 
 uniform of the common soldier, with the title of Caesar 
 Caligula? This woman towers above the commanders 
 of the legions, and even above their general officer. 
 She can suppress an insurrection, though the name and 
 majesty of the prince makes no impression.' These 
 were the reflections that planted thorns in the breast 
 of Tiberius. By the arts of Sejanus the malice of his 
 heart was still more envenomed. That minister stu- 
 died the character of his master : he practised on his 
 passions, and had the skill to sow in time the seeds of 
 
 1 Fliny, the elegant author of the Natural History.
 
 88 TACITUS. 
 
 hatred, which he knew would work in secret, and at a 
 distant day break out with collected force. 
 
 LXX. Germanicus, who had sailed with the legions, 
 thought proper to lighten his ships, in order to render 
 them more fit for the navigation of the northern seas, 
 full of sandbanks, and often dangerous both at the 
 flood and the tide of ebb. With this view he dis- 
 embarked the second and the fourteenth legions, and 
 put them under the command of Publius Vitellius,* 
 with directions to pursue their way over-land. Vitel- 
 lius had at first a dry shore ; but the wind blowing 
 hard from the north, and the waves, as usual at the 
 equinox, rolling with a prodigious swell, the soldiers 
 were carried away by the torrent. The country was 
 laid under w ater. The sea, the shore, and the fields, 
 presented one vast expanse. The depths and shallows, 
 the quicksands and the solid ground, were no more 
 distinguished. The men were overwhelmed by the 
 waves, and absorbed by the eddies. Horses, baggage, 
 and dead bodies, were seen floating together. The 
 companies of the legions were mixed in wild confu- 
 sion, sometimes breast-high in water, and often deeper. 
 Numbers were carried off by the flood, and lost for 
 ever. Exhortations and mutual encouragement were 
 of no avail. Valor and cowardice, prudence and te- 
 merity, wisdom and folly, perished without distinc- 
 tion. Vitellius at length gained an eminence, and 
 drew the legions after him. The night was passed in 
 the utmost distress ; without fire, without utensils ; 
 many of the soldiers naked ; the greatest part wounded ; 
 aud all in a condition worse than the horrors of a 
 siege. When the enemy is at the gates an honorable 
 death still remains ; but here their fate was wretched 
 
 1 He was uncle to Vitellius, afterv\-ards emperor.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. o9 
 
 and inglorious. The return of day presented a new 
 face of tilings : the waters subsided, and the land ap- 
 peared. The general pursued his march to the river 
 Unsingis,' where Gerraanicus was arrived with his 
 fleet. The two legions were taken on board. A re- 
 port of their total loss was spread far and wide, and 
 every day gained credit, till their safe return with 
 Germanicus proved the whole to be a false alarm. 
 
 LXXI. Meanwhile Stertinius, who had been de- 
 spatched to receive the surrender of Segimer, the 
 brother of Segestes, conducted that chief, together 
 with his son, to the city of the Ubians. A free par- 
 don was granted to both : to Segimer, without hesita- 
 tion ; to the son, who was known to have oiFered in- 
 dignities to the body of Varus, not without some 
 delay. Gaul, Spain, and Italy, seemed to vie with 
 each other in exertions to repair the losses of the 
 army ; each nation offering, according to their respec- 
 tive abilities, a supply of arms, of horses, and money. 
 Germanicus thanked them for their zeal, but received 
 arms and horses only. With his own funds he re- 
 lieved the wants of the soldiers ; and to obliterate, or 
 at least to soften, the recollection of past misfortunes, 
 he united with generosity the most conciliating man- 
 ners. He visited the sick ; he applauded their bra- 
 very ; he examined their wounds ; he encouraged 
 some by promises ; he roused others to a sense of 
 glory ; and, in general, filled all hearts with zeal for 
 his person and the success of his arms. 
 
 1 The first edition of Tacitus has the river Visurgis (the 
 Weser) : this is manifestly an error. Tlie march of the troops 
 was westward, towards the Rhine; and the Visurgis flowed 
 at a great distance towards the east. Lipsius saw the mis- 
 take, but did not cure it. Brotier has clearly proved that 
 Unsingis, now the river Hunse or Hunsing, near Groniuguen, 
 is the true reading.
 
 90 TACITUS. 
 
 LXXII. Triumphal ornaments' were this year de- 
 creed to Auhis C^cina, Lucius Apronius, and Caius 
 Silius, for their conduct under Germanicus. The title 
 of ' Father of his Country/ so often pressed on him 
 b)'^ the people, Tiberius once more declined ; nor would 
 he consent that men should be sworn on his acts, 
 though a vote for that purpose had passed the senate. 
 For this self-denial he alleged the instability of hu- 
 man affairs, and the danger of the sovereign, always 
 growing in proportion to the eminence on which he 
 stands. Popular as this sentiment was, no man thought 
 it sincere. He who had lately revived, in all its rigor, 
 the law of violated majesty, could not be considered 
 as the friend of civil liberty. The title indeed of 
 that law was known in ancient times, but the spirit of 
 it differed from the modern practice. During the old 
 republic the treachery that betrayed an army, the 
 seditious spirit that threw the state into convulsions, 
 the corrupt administration that impaired the majesty 
 of the Roman people, were the objects of the law. 
 Men were arraigned for their actions, but words were 
 free. Augustus"^ was the first who warped the law to 
 new devices. The licentious spirit of Cassius Severus, 
 
 1 The triumphal insignia were a golden crown, an ivory 
 chair (sella curuUs), an ivory sceptre (called scipio), and a 
 painted robe. Livy, xxx. 15. 
 
 2 By a law of the Twelve Tables defamatory libels were 
 strictly prohibited. We read in Aulus Gelliiis, iii. 3, that 
 Na^vius, the comic poet, was thrown into prison for certain 
 defamatory verses in one of his plays. Horace says tlie poets 
 were by the Twelve Tables restrained within due bounds. 
 Augustus, not satisfied with the penalties of the old law, re- 
 vived tlie charge of violated majesty, which had been in- 
 vented by Sylla. Tiberius felt the lash of satire, as may be 
 seen in the lampoon preserved by Suetonius Cin Tib. § 59). 
 He was therefore willing to enforce the rule laid down by 
 Augustus.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 91 
 
 whose satirical pen had ridiculed the most eminent of 
 both sexes, excited the indignation of the prince; and 
 the pains and penalties of violated majesty were, by a 
 forced construction, extended to defamatory libels. 
 After his example Tiberius, being asked by the pretor, 
 Pompeius Macer, whether in such prosecutions judg- 
 ment should be pronounced, returned for answer that 
 the law must take its course. The fact was, Tiberius 
 in his turn had felt the edge of satire in certain ano- 
 nymous verses, circulated at that time, and keenly 
 pointed at his pride, his cruelty, and his dissensions 
 with his mother. 
 
 LXXIII. It will not be deemed an improper di- 
 gression if we state in this place the cases of two 
 Roman knights, Falanius and Rubrinus, both of nar- 
 row fortunes, and both attacked under the new mode 
 of prosecution. A review of those proceedings will 
 show the grievance in its origin and its progress ;* 
 how it gathered strength from the wily arts of Tibe- 
 rius : from what causes it was for a time suppressed, 
 and afterwards revived in all its force, till it proved in 
 the end the most detestable invention that ever ha- 
 rassed mankind. The charge against Falanius was, 
 that he had admitted into one of the fraternities, then 
 established in honor of Augustus, one Cassius, a co- 
 
 1 To preserve the majesty of the Roman people was the 
 scope and spirit of the Lex Majestatis. Under the emperors 
 the majesty of the people was annihilated. Whoever was 
 obnoxious to the prince or his favorites was brought within 
 the law of majesty : every thing was a state-crime. Tiberius, 
 we see, had the art to proceed in the beginning with some 
 appearance of moderation ; but the mask soon fell off, and 
 the trade of a public accuser became the scourge of society. 
 It went on with rapid success in the reign of Caligula, of 
 Claudius, and Nero. It was suppressed under Titus (see 
 Suetonius in Tit. § 8), and again blazed out under Domitian, 
 Suet. § 10 and 11.
 
 92 TACITUS. 
 
 median of profligate manners ; and farther, that, in the 
 sale of his gardens, he had suffered a statue of Au- 
 gustus to be put up to auction with the rest of his 
 goods. The crime alleged against Rubrinus was, that 
 being sworn on the name of Augustus, he was guilty 
 of perjury. Tiberius, as soon as he was apprised of 
 the proceedings, wrote to the consuls — ' that divine 
 lienors were not decreed to the memory of his father 
 in order to lay snares for the people. Cassius the 
 player, as well as others of his profession, had often 
 assisted in the games dedicated by Livia to the me- 
 mory of the deceased emperor ; and if his statue, in 
 common with those of the gods in general, was put up 
 to sale Avith the house and gardens, the interests of 
 religion would not be hurt. A false oath on the name 
 of Augustus was the same as a perjury in an appeal to 
 Jupiter : but the gods must be their own avengers.' 
 
 LXXIV. In a short time after this transaction Gra- 
 nius Marcellus, pretor of Bithynia, was accused of 
 violated majesty by his own questor, Caspio Crispinus. 
 The charge was supported by Romanus Hispo,' a mer- 
 cenary advocate, who had then lately set up the trade 
 of an informer : that detestable trade which, by the 
 iniquity of the times, and the daring wickedness of the 
 vile and profligate, became afterwards the source of 
 wealth and splendor. Obscure and indigent, but 
 bold and pragmatical, this man by secret informations 
 pampered the cruelty of Tiberius, and wriggled him- 
 
 1 The advocates subscribed their names to the accusation 
 drawn up in form. Cicero, in the Oration concerning the 
 Prosecution of Verres, called Divinatio, describes an accuser 
 supported by a number of advocates, whom he calls sub- 
 scribers. Ilispo, it seems, was the first of that vile crew 
 who lived and florished by the destruction of their fellow- 
 citizens. A specimen of his eloquence may be seen in the 
 ControversicE of Seneca.
 
 THE ANNALS.— BOOK I. .93 
 
 self into favor. By his detestable practices he became 
 formidable to the first characters in Rome. He gained 
 the ear of the prince, and the hatred of mankind ; 
 leaving an example, by which the whole race of his 
 followers rose from beggary and contempt to wealth 
 and power; till having wrought the destruction of the 
 most eminent citizens, they fell at last by their own 
 pernicious arts. The accusation brought by Caspio 
 Crispinus charged Marcellus with having spoken de- 
 famatory words against Tiberius. The charge was 
 big with danger, while the accuser had the art to bring 
 forward, from the life of the emperor, the worst of his 
 vices ; ascribing all to the malignity of Marcellus. 
 The words were believed to be spoken because the 
 facts were true. 
 
 Hispo the pleader added, that the accused had 
 placed his own statue higher than the C^sars ; and to 
 a bust, from which he had struck off the head of Au- 
 gustus,' united that of Tiberius. The prince, who had 
 hitherto remained silent, rose abruptly; declaring, in 
 a tone of vehemence, that in a cause of that import- 
 ance he would give his vote openly,^ and under the 
 sanction of an oath. By this expedient the same ob- 
 
 1 Suetonius says, a person, whom he does not name, was 
 condemned by the senate for taking the head from a statue of 
 Augustus, and placing another in its room. Life of Tiberius, 
 § 53. As Granius Marcellus was acquitted, what Suetonius 
 says most probably relates to some other person. 
 
 2 The emperor frequently gave his opinion and. his vote in 
 the senate. Tiberius, in the sequel, will be frequently found 
 taking a part in the debates. From the question put to him 
 it should seem that he might give his voice first or last, as he 
 should think proper ; but the secret of securing a majority 
 by private influence was, probably, soon discovered. To 
 decide under the sanctiou of an oath was a custom known to 
 the senate during the republic. See a dissertation, intitled 
 'The Roman Emperor in the Senate,' jMemoirs of the Aca- 
 demy of Belles Lettres, vol. xxvii. 4to. edit.
 
 94 TACITUS. 
 
 ligation was to be imposed on the whole assembly. 
 But even then, in that black period, expiring liberty 
 showed some signs of life. Cneius Piso had the spirit 
 to ask, ' in what rank, Caesar, do you choose to give 
 your voice ? If first, your opinion must be mine ; if 
 last, I may have the misfortune to differ from you.' 
 Tiberius felt that his warmth had transported him too 
 far. He checked his ardor, and had the moderation 
 to consent that Marcellus should be acquitted on the 
 law of violated majesty. There remained behind a 
 charge of peculation,' and that was referred to the 
 proper jurisdiction. 
 
 LXXV. The criminal proceedings before the senate 
 were not enough to glut the malice of Tiberius : he 
 attended the ordinary courts of justice ; taking his 
 seat near the corner of the tribunal, that he might not 
 displace the pretor from his curule chair. In his pre- 
 sence, which had the effect of controlling the intrigues 
 of the great, several just decisions were pronounced : 
 but even this was big with mischief; truth was served,^ 
 and liberty went to ruin. Pius Aurelius, a member 
 of the senate, complained to that assembly, that by 
 the making of a public road, and laying an aqueduct, 
 the foundation of his house was ruined ; he therefore 
 prayed to be indemnified. The pretors of the trea- 
 sury opposed his petition. Tiberius, however, struck 
 
 1 For the recovery of money obtained by peculation, or 
 other improper means, there was an established jurisdiction ; 
 and in case of condemnation, commissioners, called Recipera- 
 tares, were appointed to see restitution made. 
 
 2 If the truth was better investigated in the presence of 
 Tiberius, the freedom of debate was abridged, and liberty 
 was destroyed. Tiberius used to say, before judgment was pro- 
 nounced, ' If I was to decide, it should be so.' And yet Velleius 
 Paterculus, with his usual adulation, admires the gravity witli 
 which Tiberius attended the trial of causes, not as judge, sena- 
 tor, or prince, but as a private citizen. See Velleius, ii. 129.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 95 
 
 with the justice of the case, paid the value of the 
 house. The littleness of avarice was no part of his 
 character. When fair occasions called for liberality 
 he was ready to open his purse ; and this munificent 
 spirit he retained for a long- time, when every other 
 virtue was extinguished. Propertius Celer, a man of 
 pretorian family, but distressed in his circumstances, 
 desired to abdicate his rank of senator. The state of 
 indigence in which he lived being found to be the 
 consequence of hereditary poverty, he received a do- 
 nation of a thousand great sesterces. A number of 
 applications of the same nature followed soon after ; 
 but Tiberius required that the allegations of each pe- 
 tition should be proved. The austerity of his nature 
 mixed with his best actions a leaven of harshness that 
 embittered his favors. By the rigor of the prince dis- 
 tress was silenced : ingenuous minds chose to languish 
 in obscurity rather than seek, by humiliating confes- 
 sions, a precarious, and at best a painful, relief. 
 
 LXXVI. In the course of this year the Tiber, 
 swelled by continual rains, laid the level parts of the 
 city under water. When the flood subsided, men and 
 houses were washed away by the torrent. Asinius 
 Gallus proposed to consult the books of the Sibyls;' 
 but Tiberius, dark and abstruse in matters of religion 
 as well as civil business, overruled the motion. The 
 care of preventing inundations for the future was com- 
 mitted to Ateius Capito and Lucius Arruntius. The 
 provinces of Achaia and Macedonia, being found un- 
 equal to the taxes imposed on them, were relieved 
 from the expense of supporting a proconsular go- 
 
 1 The reason of this refusal seems to be explained by Sue- 
 tonius. Tiberius, be says, was loose and careless in matters 
 of religion, being early addicted to judicial astrology, and 
 fully persuaded that all things were governed by fate.
 
 96 TACITUS. 
 
 vernment,^ and for the present transferred to the su- 
 perintendence of the emperor. Drusus, in liis own 
 name, and that of his brother Germaniciis, exhibited 
 a spectacle of gladiators, and presided in person ; de- 
 lighted more than became his rank with the effusion 
 of blood, and, by consequence, giving to the populace 
 no favorable impression of his character. Tiberius, 
 it is said, reproved him for his indiscretion. Why he 
 himself did not attend the public games various rea- 
 sons were assigned. According to some, ' numerous 
 assemblies were not his taste, and crowds fatigued 
 him.' Others ascribed it to the phlegmatic genius of 
 the man, fond of solitude, and willing to avoid a com- 
 parison with the gracious manijers of Augustus, who 
 was always a cheerful spectator on such occasions. 
 That he intended, with covered malice, to afford Dru- 
 sus an opportunity of laying open the ferocity of his 
 nature, and thereby giving umbrage to the people, 
 seems rather a strained construction ; yet even this 
 was said at the time. 
 
 LXXVII. The disorders occasioned by theatrical 
 factions in the preceding year broke out again with 
 increasing fury. Numbers of the common people, and 
 even many of the soldiers, Avith their centurion, ex- 
 erting themselves to quell the tumult, and defend the 
 magistrate, were killed in the fray. A tribune of the 
 pretorian guard was wounded on the occasion. The 
 affair was taken into consideration by the senate. The 
 fathers were on the point of passing a vote, investing 
 
 1 Augustus divided the Roman provinces between himself 
 and the senate. Those which he retained in his own hands 
 were administered by governors of his own choice, called 
 imperial procurators. The senatorian provinces were governed 
 by proconsuls, appointed for a year only. See Life of Agri- 
 cola, § 4.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 97 
 
 the pretor -with authority to order the players to be 
 publicly whipped. This was opposed by Haterius 
 Agrippa, tribune of the people, who by his speech 
 drew on himself a sharp reply from Asinius Gallns. 
 Tiberius with deep reserve listened to the debate. To 
 see the senators amusing themselves with a show of 
 liberty filled him with secret satisfaction. The mo- 
 tion liowever passed in the negative. The authority 
 of Augustus, who had formerly decided that players 
 were not liable to that mode of punishment,' had great 
 weight with the fathers ; and what was established by 
 that prince Tiberius would not presume to alter. To 
 fix the salary- of the players at a certain sum, and 
 to repress the zeal of their partisans, several decrees 
 were passed: the most material were, ' That no sena- 
 tor should enter the house of a pantomime performer ; 
 that the Roman knights should not attend the players 
 in the street ; no exhibition to be presented in any 
 place except the theatre ; and all who engaged in riots 
 w^ere liable to be banished by the sentence of the 
 pretor.' 
 
 LXXVIII. In consequence of a petition from Spain 
 leave was given to erect a temple to Augustus in the 
 colony of Terragon. By this decree a precedent was 
 held forth to all the provinces. The people of Rome 
 presented a petition, praying that the payment of the 
 hundredth part,^ which was a tax on all vendible com- 
 
 1 Augustus was fond of the Circensian games, and with 
 great liberality rewarded the best performers. He took from 
 the magistrates the power of correcting the stage-players, 
 which by an ancient law was left to their discretion. See 
 Suet, in Aug. § 45. 
 
 2 The money laid out on plays and players was called 
 lucar, because it arose from the annual produce of certain 
 woods and groves (luci) in the neighborhood of Rome. Plu- 
 tarch, Koman Questions. 
 
 3 Augustus fixed the rate of the soldiers' pay throughout 
 
 TACIT. VOL. I. G
 
 98 TACITUS. 
 
 modities imposed since the close of tlie civil wars, 
 might be remitted for the future. Tiberius declared, 
 by public edict, ' That the support of the army de- 
 pended on that fund ; and even with those resources 
 the commonwealth was unequal to the charge, unless 
 the veterans were retained in the service for the full 
 term of twenty years/ By this artful stroke the re- 
 gulations limiting the time to sixteen years, which had 
 been extorted during the sedition in Germany, were 
 in effect repealed, and rendered void for the future. 
 
 LXXIX. A project to prevent inundations, by giv- 
 ing a new course to tlie lakes and rivers that empty 
 themselves into the Tiber, w^as proposed to the senate 
 by Lucius Arruntius and Atteius Capito. The muni- 
 cipal towns and colonies were heard in opposition to 
 the measure. The Florentine stated, ' that if the 
 Clanis were diverted from its channel, and made to 
 flow by a new course into the Arno, their whole coun- 
 try w'ould be ruined.' The inhabitants of Interamna 
 made the like objection ; contending that 'if the Nar, 
 according to the plan proposed, w^ere divided into 
 various rivulets, the most fertile plains in Italy would 
 be no better than a barren w^aste.' Nor did the peopltr 
 of Reate remain silent : they remonstrated, that ' if 
 the communication by which the lake Velinus fell into 
 the Nar were obstructed, the adjacent country would 
 be laid under w ater. Nature had wisely provided for 
 the interests of man ; it was she that assigned to rivers 
 their fountain-head, their proper channel, and their 
 influx into the sea. Besides this, the religion of the 
 
 all the armies of the empire ; and that a fund might be always 
 ready for tliat purpose, he established a military exchequer 
 and certain taxes, -which were to be paid into that office. [ 
 See Suetonius, Life of Augustus, ^ 49. Tiberiu^ afterward^ 
 changed this tax to tlie two-hundredth penny. Annals, ii. i-.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK I. 99 
 
 allies of Rome claimed respect. Considering the rivers 
 of their country as under the patronage of tutelary 
 gods, they had in various places established forms of 
 worship, and dedicated their priests, their altars, and 
 their sacred groves. The Tiber, too, deprived of his 
 tributary waters, would be reduced, not without indig- 
 nation, to an inglorious stream/ Convinced by this 
 reasoning, or deterred by the difficulty of the under- 
 taking, perhaps influenced by superstitious motives, 
 the senate went over to the opinion of Piso, who de- 
 clared against all innovation. 
 
 LXXX. The government of Maesia was continued 
 to Poppeeus Sabinus, with the superadded provinces 
 of Achaia and Macedonia. In the character of Tibe- 
 rius it was a peculiar feature that he was ever unwil- 
 ling to remove men from their employments. Hence 
 the same person remained for life at the head of the 
 same army, or in the government of the same pro- 
 vince. For this conduct different reasons have been 
 assigned. By some we are told that he hated the paiu 
 of thinking; and, to avoid farther solicitude, the choice 
 which he once made was decided for life. Others will 
 have it that the malignity of his nature was the secret 
 motive of a man who did not wish to see too manv 
 made happy by his favors. The problem was solved 
 by others in a different way. His discernment, they 
 observed, was quick and penetrating; but his judg- 
 ment slow and anxious. He thought with subtlety, 
 and refined till he embarrassed himself; and, thouah 
 he never was the patron of virtue, he detested vice. 
 Superior merit made him tremble for himself, and 
 he thought bad men a disgrace to the age. In this 
 manner, divided between opposite extremes, think- 
 ing without decision, and reasoning but to hesitate, 
 he has been known to appoint to the government of
 
 100 TACITUS. 
 
 provinces men whom he never suffered to depart from 
 Rome. 
 
 LXXXI. Of the consular elections, either in this 
 year or during the rest of his reign, nothing can be 
 said with precision. His own speeches, as well as the 
 historians of the time, are so much at variance, that 
 nothing like system can be traced. We see the em- 
 peror, in some instances, holding the name of the 
 candidate in reserve; yet, by an account of his birth, 
 his public conduct, and his military services, pointing 
 directly to the man. At other times he refuses even 
 that satisfaction, content with general directions to the 
 candidates, not to embroil the election by intrigue or 
 bribery, but to leave the whole to his management. 
 His custom in general was to profess that he knew no 
 candidates but those whose names he had transmitted 
 to the consuls ; others, he said, were free to offer 
 themselves, if from their merit or their interest they 
 conceived hopes of success. With speeches of this 
 nature, plausible indeed, but unsubstantial, the people 
 were amused. A show of liberty was held forth, fair 
 in appearance, but deceitful, and for that reason tend- 
 ing to plunge mankind in deeper servitude. 
 
 I
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 101 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Sect. I. During the consulship of Sisenna Statilius 
 Taurus and Lucius Libo the oriental kingdoms, and, 
 hy consequence, the Roman provinces, were thrown 
 into commotion. The flame of discord was lighted up 
 among the Parthians. That restless people had sued 
 for a king at the hands of Rome ; and after acknow- 
 leging his title, as a descendant from the line of the 
 Arsacides,' began with their natural levity to despise 
 him, as an alien to the crown. Vonones was the 
 name of this unpopular prince : he had been formerly 
 sent by his father Phraates^ as an hostage to Augus- 
 tus. The eastern monarch made head against the 
 armies of Rome, and had driven her generals out of 
 his dominions ; but he endeavored, notwithstanding, 
 by every mark of respect, to conciliate the friendship 
 of Augustus. As a pledge of sincerity, he went the 
 length of delivering up to the custody of the Romans 
 even his own children, not so much with a design to 
 avert the terror of their arms, as from want of con- 
 fidence in the fidelity of his own subjects. 
 
 1 The Parthian kings were called Arsacidse, from Arsaces, 
 the founder of the monarchy, A. U. C. 498 ; before the Chris- 
 tian era 256. The curious may see, in Brotier's edition of 
 Tacitus, a Genealogical Table of all the descendants of Ar- 
 saces, in regular succession, down to Artabanus III., the last 
 Parthian monarch, who was conquered by the Persians, and 
 put to death A. U. C. 986 ; of the Christian era 233. Orodes 
 was the king in whose reign Crassus and eleven legions 
 were massacred, A. U. C. 701. Justin, xlii. 4. Florus, iii. 2, 
 
 2 Phraates IV. was the son of Orodes. He defeated Marc 
 Antony and sixteen legions under his command, A. U. C. 718,- 
 Justin, xlii. 5. Plutarch, Life of Antony.
 
 lO-^ . TACITUS. 
 
 II. After the death of Phraates, and the kings who 
 succeeded him, the leading- men of the nation, tired 
 of civil slaughter, sent ambassadors to Rome, with 
 instructions to invite Vonones, the eldest son of 
 Phraates, to the throne of his ancestors. A nation 
 ready to receive a sovereign from the will of Augus- 
 tus, presented to that emperor ' a scene truly magni- 
 ficent. He despatched Vonones, richly loaded with 
 presents. The barbarians, pleased, as is their cus- 
 tom, with the opening of a new reign, received the 
 prince with all demonstrations of joy. But disaf- 
 fection soon took place ; they repented of their choice, 
 and saw with regret the disgrace which their tame 
 submission had brought on their country. ' The Par- 
 thians,' they said, ' were a degenerate race, who 
 meanly stooped to sue in another world, and invited 
 to reign over them an exotic king, trained up by the 
 Romans, fraught Avith their maxims, and tainted by 
 their manners. The kingdom of the Arsacides was at 
 length reduced to a Roman province, to be dealt out 
 at the pleasure of the emperor. Where now the glory 
 of those gallant heroes who put Crassus to death, and 
 made Marc Antony fly before them ? The slave of 
 Cagsar, who crouched so many years in bondage, gives 
 the law to the Parthians.' Such were the prejudices 
 of the people. The conduct of Vonones inflamed their 
 indignation. He renounced the manners of his coun- 
 try ; was rarely seen in the sports of the chase ; he 
 took no delight in horsemanship, and in his progress 
 through the kingdom lolled at ease in a litter. He 
 disdained, with fastidious pride, to have his table 
 
 1 The original says, ' Caesar thought it magnificent ;' but, 
 for the sake of perspicuity, Augustus is mentioned in tlie 
 translation. The Parthian ambassadors arrived at Home 
 A. U. C. 7j8. See Suetonius, in Tib. § 1(3.
 
 THE ANNALS. — BOOK II. 103 
 
 served agreeably to the national taste ; his train of 
 Greek attendants gave disgust; and the paltry atten- 
 tion, that secured the most trifling articles under a 
 sell,* excited the contempt and ridicule of the people. 
 Tc be easy of access w as want of dignity ; and cour- 
 teous manners degraded the prince. Virtues new to 
 t]\2 Parthians Avere new vices. Between his good 
 ard evil qualities no distinction was made : they were 
 foi'eign manners, and for that reason detested. 
 
 III. In this disposition of the public mind the 
 ciown was olfered to Artabanus, a descendant of Ar- 
 stces, educated among the Dahi. This prince, after 
 a defeat in his first engagement, reinforced his army, 
 and gained possession of the crown. Vonones fled to 
 Armenia,- where, in that juncture, the throne was 
 vacant ; but an irresolute and wavering people could 
 form no settled plan. They turned their thoughts 
 
 1 The Romans were obliged to be always on their guard 
 against the fraud and pilfering genius of their slaves. They 
 locked up their valuable utensils with care, and affixed their 
 seals to their bottles, to secure their wine from depredation. 
 Cicero says his mother was used to seal even the empty 
 bottles, that the slaves, to favor their fraud, might not pre- 
 tend that their master had left a greater number of empty 
 bottles. Horace praises the master who could with temper 
 see the seal of his bottles broken by his slaves. Persius re- 
 presents a miser, anxious about liis vapid wine, and smelling 
 at the seal. Tlie new-married man gave a seal to his bride, 
 to show that he committed the house affairs to her manage- 
 ment. 
 
 2 Vonones, the son of Phraates, was invited by the Par- 
 thians to the throne of his ancestors, A. U. C. 752. He was 
 afterwards obliged to fly to Armenia. The kings of that 
 country may be seen in a regular line of succession, Brotier's 
 Tacitus, vol. i. p. 365, 4to edit. Artaxias was the first 
 monarcl), A. U. C. o6r>. 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. I. 
 
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 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
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 IS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRAR'. FACi 
 
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