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 THE 
 
 ANNALS AND HISTORY 
 
 r 
 
 OF 
 
 TACITUS.
 
 OXFORD : PRINTED BY D. A. TAM1OYS.
 
 THE 
 
 ANNALS AND HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 TACITUS. 
 
 A NEW 
 AND LITERAL ENGLISH VERSION. 
 
 OXFORD: D. A. TALBOYS. 
 
 AND 113, FLEET STREET, LONDON. 
 M DCCC XXXIX.
 
 THE 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 KINGS held dominion in the city of Rome from its foun- 
 dation: Lucius Brutus instituted liberty and the consu- 
 late. Dictatorships were resorted to in temporary emer- 
 gencies : neither the power of the decemvirs continued in 
 force beyond two years, nor the consular authority of the 
 military tribunes for any length of time. The domination 
 of Cinna did not continue long, nor that of Sylla : the 
 influence of Pompey and Crassus quickly merged in 
 Caesar : the arms of Lepidus and Antony in Augustus, 
 who, with the title of .prince, took under his command 
 the commonwealth, exhausted with civil dissensions. But 
 the affairs of the ancient Roman people, whether pros- 
 perous or adverse, have been recorded by writers of re- 
 nown. Nor were there wanting authors of distinguished 
 genius to have composed the history of the times of Au- 
 gustus, till by the spirit of flattery, which became preva- 
 lent, they were deterred. As to Tiberius, Caligula, Clau- 
 dius, and Nero, whilst they yet reigned the history of 
 their times were falsified through fear; and after they 
 had fallen, they were written under the influence of recent 
 detestation. Thence my own design of recounting a few 
 incidents respecting Augustus, and those towards the lat- 
 ter part of his life ; and after that of giving a history of 
 the reign of Tiberius and the rest; uninfluenced by re- 
 sentment and partiality, as I stand aloof from the causes 
 of them. 
 
 2. When, after the fall of Brutus and Cassius, there re- 
 mained none to fight for the commonwealth; when Sex- 
 tus Pompeius was utterly defeated at Sicily; and Lepidus 
 being deprived of his command, and Mark Antony slain, 
 there remained no leader even to the Julian party but Octa- 
 vius ; having put off the name of triumvir, styling himself 
 consul, and pretending that all he aimed at was the jurisdic- 
 tion attached to the tribuneship for the protection of the 
 commons; when he had cajoled the soldiery by donations, 
 the people by distribution of corn, and men in general by 
 
 B
 
 2 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 the charms of peace, he (Octavius) began by gradations to 
 exalt himself over them; to draw to himself the functions 
 of the senate and of the magistrate, and the framing of the 
 laws ; in which he was thwarted by no man : the boldest 
 spirits having fallen in some or other of the regular bat- 
 tles, or by proscription ; and the surviving nobility being 
 distinguished by wealth and public honours, according to 
 the measure of their promptness to bondage; and as these 
 innovations had been the cause of aggrandisement to them, 
 preferring the present state of things with safety, to the re- 
 vival of ancient liberty with personal peril. Neither were 
 the provinces averse to that condition of affairs ; since they 
 mistrusted the government of the senate and people, on 
 account of the contentions among the great and the avarice 
 of the magistrates : while the protection o'fthe laws was en- 
 feebled and borne down by violence, intrigue, and bribery. 
 3. Moreover, Augustus, as supports to his domination, 
 raised his sister's son Claudius Marcellus, a mere youth, 
 to the dignity of pontiff and curule aedile ; aggrandised by 
 two successive consulships Marcus Agrippa, a man meanly 
 born but an accomplished soldier, and the companion of 
 his victories ; and soon, on the death of Marcellus, chose 
 him for his son-in-law. The sons of his wife, Tiberius 
 Nero and Claudius Drusus, he dignified with the title 
 of imperator, though there had been no diminution in 
 the members of his house. For into the family of the 
 Caesars he had already adopted Lucius and Caius, the 
 sons of Agrippa; and though they had not yet laid aside 
 the puerile garment, vehement had been his ambition to 
 see them declared princes of the Roman youth, and even 
 designed to the consulship ; while he affected to decline 
 the honours for them. Upon the decease of Agrippa, 
 they were cut off, either by a death premature but na- 
 tural, or by the arts of their stepmother Livia ; Lucius 
 on his journey to the armies in Spain, Caius on his return 
 from Armenia, ill of a wound : and as Drusus had been 
 long since dead, Tiberius Nero was the only survivor of 
 his stepsons. On him every honour was accumulated; (to 
 that quarter all things inclined ;) he was by Augustus 
 adopted for his son, assumed colleague in the empire, 
 partner in the tribunitian authority, and presented to the 
 several armies ; not from the secret machinations of his 
 mother as heretofore, but at her open suit. For over 
 Augustus, now very aged, she had obtained such abso- 
 lute sway, that he banished into the isle of Planasia his 
 only surviving grandson, Agrippa Posthumus ; a person 
 destitute indeed of liberal accomplishments, and stupidly
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 3 
 
 conceited of his bodily strength, but convicted of no 
 heinous offence. The emperor, strange to say, set Ger- 
 manicus, the son of Drusus, over eight legions quartered 
 upon the Rhine, and ordered that he should be engrafted 
 into his family by Tiberius by adoption, though Tiberius 
 had then a son of his own on the verge of manhood ; but 
 the object was that he might stand firm by having many 
 to support and protect him. War at that time there re- 
 mained none, except that in Germany, kept on foot rather 
 to blot out the disgrace sustained by the loss of Quinc- 
 tilius Varus, with his army, than from any ambition to 
 enlarge the empire, or for any advantage worth contend- 
 ing for. In profound tranquillity were affairs at Rome. 
 The magistrates retained their wonted names ; of the Ro- 
 mans the younger sort had been born since the battle of 
 Actium, and even most of the old during the civil wars : 
 how few were then living who had seen the ancient free 
 state ! 
 
 4. The character of the government thus totally changed, 
 no traces were to be found of the spirit of ancient in- 
 stitutions ; the system by which every citizen shared in 
 the government being thrown aside, all men regarded the 
 orders of the prince as the only rule of conduct and obe- 
 dience ; nor felt they any anxiety for the present, while 
 Augustus, yet in the vigour of life, maintained the credit 
 of himself and house, and the peace of the. state. But 
 when old age had crept over him, and he was sinking 
 under bodily infirmities; when his end was at hand, and 
 thence a new source of hopes and views was presented, 
 some few there were who began to talk idly about the 
 blessings of liberty; many dreaded a civil war, others 
 longed for one ; while far the greatest part were occupied 
 in circulating various surmises reflecting upon those who 
 seemed likely to be their masters : " That Agrippa was na- 
 turally stern and savage, and exasperated by contumely ; 
 and neither in age nor experience equal to a task of such 
 magnitude. Tiberius indeed had arrived at fulness of years, 
 and was a distinguished captain, but possessed the in- 
 veterate and inherent pride of the Claudian family ; and 
 many indications of cruel nature escaped him, in spite of 
 all his arts to disguise it ; that even from his early infancy 
 he had been trained up in an imperial house; that consul- 
 ships and triumphs had been accumulated upon him while 
 but a youth ; not even during the years of his abode at 
 Rhodes, where, under the plausible name of retirement, 
 lie was in fact an exile, did he employ himself other- 
 wise than in meditating future vengeance, studying the
 
 4 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 arts of simulation, and practising secret and abominable 
 sensualities; that to these considerations was added, that 
 of his mother, a woman with the ungovernable spirit pe- 
 culiar to her sex ; that the Romans must be under bond- 
 age to a woman, and moreover to two youths, who would 
 meanwhile oppress the state, and at one time or other, 
 rend it piecemeal." 
 
 5. While the public mind was agitated by these and si- 
 milar discussions, the illness of Augustus grew daily more 
 serious, and some suspected nefarious practices on the 
 part of his wife. For some months before, a rumour had 
 gone abroad that Augustus, having singled out a few to 
 whom he communicated his purpose, and taken Fabius 
 Maximus for his only companion, had sailed over to the 
 island of Planasia, to visit Agrippa ; that many tears were 
 shed on both sides, many tokens of mutual tenderness 
 shown, and hopes from thence conceived, that the youth 
 would be restored to the household gods of his grand- 
 father; that Maximus had disclosed this to Martia, she to 
 Livia ; and that the emperor was informed of it ; and that 
 Maximus, not long after, dying, (it is doubtful whether 
 naturally or by means sought for the purpose,) Martia 
 was observed, in her lamentations at his funeral, to up- 
 braid herself as the cause of her husband's destruction. 
 Howsoever that matter might have been, Tiberius was 
 scarce entered Illyrium when he was summoned by a 
 letter from his mother, forwarded with speed ; nor is it 
 fully known whether at his return to Nola he found Au- 
 gustus yet breathing, or already lifeless. For Livia had 
 carefully beset the palace and all the avenues to it, with 
 vigilant guards ; and favourable bulletins were from time 
 to time given out, until the provisions which the con- 
 juncture required being completed, in one and the same 
 moment were published the departure of Augustus, and 
 the accession of Tiberius. 
 
 6. The first atrocity of this new reign was the murder 
 of Posthumus Agrippa : the assassin, a bold and deter- 
 mined centurion, found him destitute of arms, and little 
 apprehending such a destiny, yet was scarce able to de- 
 spatch him. Of this transaction Tiberius avoided any men- 
 tion in the senate: he pretended that orders had been 
 given by his father, in which he enjoined the tribune ap- 
 pointed to the custody of his person, " not to delay to slay 
 Agrippa whensoever he himself had completed his last 
 day." It is very true, that Augustus having made many 
 and vehement complaints of the young man's demeanour, 
 had obtained that his exile should be sanctioned by a de-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 5 
 
 cree of the senate ; but he never hardened himself to the 
 extent of inflicting death upon any of his kindred ; neither 
 is it credible that he murdered his grandson for the se- 
 curity and establishment of his Stepson. More probable 
 it is that Tiberius and Livia, the former from motives of 
 fear, the latter impelled by a stepmother's aversion, ex- 
 pedited the destruction of this young man, the object 
 of their jealousy and hatred. When the centurion, ac- 
 cording to the custom of the army, acquainted Tiberius, 
 " that his commands were executed ;" he answered, " he 
 had commanded no such execution, and that he must 
 appear before the senate, and be answerable to them 
 for it." When this came to the knowledge of Sallustius 
 Crispus, who shared in his secret counsels, and had sent 
 the centurion the warrant, he dreaded that he should be 
 arraigned on a false charge of the assassination, and per- 
 ceiving it to be equally perilous to confess the truth or 
 invent a falsehood, he warned Livia " that the secrets of 
 the palace, the counsels of friends, and the ministerial 
 acts of soldiers should not be divulged ; that Tiberius 
 should not enfeeble the force of princely authority by re- 
 ferring all things to the senate ; that such were the conditions 
 of sovereign authority, that an account should not stand 
 good otherwise than if it were rendered to one alone." 
 
 7. Now -at Rome, consuls, senators, and knights, were 
 rapidly degenerating into a state of abject servitude; and 
 the higher the quality of any, so much the more false and 
 forward ; all carefully framing their countenances so as not 
 to appear overjoyed at the departure of the prince, nor over 
 sorrowful in the commencement of a new reign, they inter- 
 mingled tears with gladness, and wailings with adulation. 
 Sextus Pompeius and Sextus Apuleius, at that time con- 
 suls, took first an oath of fidelity to Tiberius ; then ad- 
 ministered it to Seius Strabo and Caius Turranius ; the 
 former, captain of the praetorian guai'ds, the other, inten- 
 dant of the public stores ; next, to the senate, to the peo- 
 ple, and to the soldiery : for Tiberius began all things by 
 the consuls, as if the ancient republic still subsisted, and 
 he were yet unresolved about assuming the sovereign rule; 
 even his edict for summoning the senate, he issued not 
 but under the title of the tribunitian po\ver, received by him 
 under Augustus. The words of the edict, too, were few, 
 and extremely modest. It imported that, " he should 
 consult them on the funeral honours proper to be paid his 
 father: for himself, he would not depart from the corpse; 
 and that this alone of the public functions he took upon 
 himself." Yet when Augustus was dead, he had given
 
 6 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 the word to the praetorian cohorts, as imperator; sentinels 
 were stationed about the palace; had soldiers under arms, 
 and all the other appendages of a court ; went guarded 
 into the forum, guarded to the senate ; wrote letters to 
 the armies in the style of one who had obtained prince- 
 dom ; nor did he ever hesitate, but when he spoke to 
 the senate ; then he was all diffidence and hesitation. 
 The chief cause proceeded from fear lest Germanicus, 
 who was master of so many legions, numberless auxi- 
 liaries, of the allies, who was wonderfully in favour with 
 the people, might wish rather to possess the empire 
 than to wait for it: he likewise sacrificed somewhat to 
 fame, that he might seem chosen and called to the em- 
 pire by the voice of the people, rather than to have crept 
 darkly into it by the intrigues of a wife, and by adoption 
 from a superannuated prince. It was afterwards found, 
 that this irresolution was counterfeited, that he might also 
 penetrate into the designs and inclinations of the great 
 men : for, warping their words and their looks into crimes, 
 he stored them up in his heart against a day of vengeance. 
 8. On the first day the senate met, he would suffer no 
 other business to be transacted but that about the funeral 
 of Augustus, whose last will, brought in by the vestal 
 virgins, appointed Tiberius and Livia his heirs. Livia 
 was adopted into the Julian family, and dignified with the 
 name of Augusta : in the second degree of succession he 
 appointed his grandchildren and their children ; and in 
 the third degree he had named the great men of Rome, 
 most of them hated by him : but out of vainglory, and for 
 future renown. His legacies were not beyond the measure 
 of a Roman citizen ; except that he left to the Roman 
 people 435,000 great sesterces, part to them as a body 
 and part to be distributed individually : to every soldier 
 of the praetorian guards a thousand small sesterces, to 
 every soldier of the Roman legions three hundred, and to 
 every man in the cohorts of Roman citizens, five hundred. 
 The funeral honours were next considered. Of these, 
 the most signal appeared the following : Asinius Gallus 
 moved, that " the funeral should pass through the tri- 
 umphal gate :" Lucius Arruntius, " that the titles of all 
 the laws which he had made, and the names of all the 
 nations which he had conquered, should be carried before 
 the corpse :" Valerius Messala added that, " the oath of 
 allegiance to Tiberius should be renewed every year;" 
 and being asked by Tiberius, " whether at his instigation 
 he had made that motion?" Messala said " he spoke it of 
 his own accord ; nor would he ever be determined by any
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 7 
 
 but his own counsel, in things which concerned the com- 
 monweal; even though with the hazard of giving offence." 
 This was the only form of flattery which was left to the 
 age. The senators then concurred in a loud cry, " that 
 upon their own shoulders they must bear the body to 
 the pile." Tiberius granted the request with modest in- 
 solence, and cautioned the people by an edict, " that 
 they would not insist that the corpse of Augustus should 
 be burnt rather in the forum, than in the field of Mars, 
 which was the place appointed, arid act as they did 
 on a former occasion, when from an excess of zeal they 
 had disturbed the funeral solemnities of the god Julius." 
 On the funeral day the soldiers were stationed as for a 
 guard, a circumstance which excited deep derision in 
 those who had either seen, or had received from their 
 fathers, a description of that day of slavery yet crude and 
 immature, and of liberty unsuccessfully reclaimed, when 
 the assassination of the dictator Cassar was regarded by 
 some as a deed of unexampled atrocity, by others an 
 achievement of superlative glory ; " that now an aged 
 prince, who had been long in possession of power, after 
 having provided resources for his heirs, to be employed 
 against the commonwealth, that such an one, forsooth, 
 must be protected by a guard of soldiers in order that 
 his interment might be undisturbed!" 
 
 9. Much discourse concerning Augustus himself followed: 
 the multitude expressing their wonderment at things of no 
 importance ; " that the last day of his life, and the first of 
 his reign, was the same ; that he died at Nola, in the 
 same house, and in the same chamber, where his father 
 Octavius died. Even the number of his-consulships, equal 
 to those of Valerius Corvinus and of CaiusMarius together, 
 was much talked of: that he had exercised the power of 
 the tribuneship seven and thirty continued years : that he 
 was one and twenty times proclaimed imperator ; with 
 other honours repeated to him, or created for him." On 
 the other hand, by men of deeper discernment, his life 
 was variously lauded or censured. His admirers said, 
 " that by his filial piety to his father Caesar, and the ne- 
 cessities of the republic, where the laws no longer go- 
 verned, he had been driven into a civil war ; which, what- 
 ever be the first cause, can never be begun or carried on 
 by just and gentle means. Indeed, provided he might 
 be revenged on the murderers of his father, he had made 
 many sacrifices to Antony ; many to Lepidus : but when 
 Lepidus became torpid with sloth, and Antony was lost 
 in sensuality, there was then no other remedy for his dis-
 
 8 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 tracted country than the sovereignty of one : that the re- 
 public, however, had not been settled by him in the form 
 of a kingdom or a dictatorship, but placed under the go- 
 vernment of one with the title of prince ; that by him the 
 empire was fenced in by the ocean and rivers far remote ; 
 the legions, the provinces, the navy, and all things were 
 systematically connected; justice was dispensed to the 
 citizens, moderation observed towards the allies, and 
 Home herself was adorned with magnificent structures : 
 in a very few instances had force been employed, and in 
 those only to secure the peace of the whole." 
 
 10. In answer to this it was urged, that "his filial piety, 
 and the exigencies of the republic, were laid hold of as a 
 pretence; but that from an ardent lust of reigning, the vete- 
 ran soldiers were worked upon by means of his largesses: 
 and though a private youth, he had levied an army ; had 
 corrupted the legions of the consul ; that his interest 
 with the party of Pompey was simulated : that soon after, 
 when, in virtue of a decree of the senate, he possessed 
 himself of the fasces and the authority of the praetorship, 
 when Hirtius and Pansa, the two consuls, were slain, he 
 had seized both their armies : (whether it was that the 
 consuls fell by the enemy, or whether Pansa was killed by 
 pouring poison into his wounds ; and Hirtius cut off by 
 his own soldiers, and Caesar the contriver of this trea- 
 son;) that by terror he had extorted the consulship in 
 spite of the senate ; and turned against the common- 
 wealth the very arms with which the commonwealth had 
 intrusted him for her defence against Antony. To these 
 were added his proscription of citizens ; the divisions of 
 lands ; which were not commended even by the very per- 
 sons on whom they were bestowed. But admitting that 
 the deaths of Cassius and the Bruti were sacrifices offered 
 to his father's hate of them (though eternal justice de- 
 manded that he should have made personal animosities 
 yield to public good,) yet he betrayed Pompey by the 
 phantom of a peace, Lepidus by a specious show of friend- 
 ship. And afterwards that Antony, having been en- 
 snared by treaties, those of Tarentum and Brundusium, 
 and by the marriage of his sister, paid with his life the 
 penalty of that insidious alliance. After these things no 
 doubt there was peace, but it was a bloody peace. There 
 was, too, the disasters of Lollius, and of Varus; and at 
 Rome, the Varrones, the Egnatii, the Juli, put to death." 
 Nor was his domestic life spared upon this occasion. 
 " The abduction of Nero's wife the pontiffs consulted 
 in mockery as to whether she might marry him con-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 9 
 
 sistently with religion, having conceived but not yet 
 brought forth the uxorious excesses of Quintus Tedius 
 and Vidius Pollio ; lastly, his wife Livia had proved a 
 cruel mother to the commonwealth, and to the Julian 
 house a more cruel stepmother : nothing was left by him 
 for the honours of the gods, since it was his pleasure to 
 have temples dedicated to himself, to be represented under 
 the similitude of the powers above, and be ministered unto 
 by flamens and priests : nor had he adopted Tiberius for 
 his successor, either out of affection for him, or from con- 
 cern for the public welfare ; but having discovered in him 
 a spirit proud and cruel, he sought glory for himself by 
 the contrast of a character consummately base." For, 
 Augustus, when, a few years before, he solicited the 
 senate to grant to Tiberius another term of the authority 
 of the tribuneship, though in a laudatory speech, had 
 thrown out some observations upon his personal pecu- 
 liarities, his tastes and course of life, in order that under 
 colour of apologising for them he might brand him with 
 infamy. 
 
 11. However, as soon as the funeral of Augustus was 
 over, a temple and divine worship were decreed him. The 
 prayers of the senate were then turned to Tiberius, to fill 
 his vacant place ; but he replied evasively, descanting on 
 the magnitude of the task of governing and his own un- 
 aspiring disposition ; he said that, " the divine genius of 
 Augustus was alone capable of the mighty charge: that 
 for himself, having been called by him to a participation 
 of his cares, he had learnt by experience how difficult to 
 bear was the burthen of government, and how subject to 
 the caprices of fortune : that a number of persons would 
 more easily discharge the functions of the public adminis- 
 tration by sharing its toils amongst them : he therefore 
 implored them that in a state supported by so many illus- 
 trious patriots they would not cast the whole administra- 
 tion upon one." Such was his speech; but there was more 
 dignity of sentiment in it than sincerity ; and the words of 
 Tiberius, which, even upon subjects on which he sought 
 not disguises, were dark and cautious, whether from 
 nature, or from habit, at this juncture indeed, as he la- 
 boured wholly to hide his heart, were more than ever in- 
 volved in ambiguity and uncertainty : but the senators, 
 whose sole fear was to seem to understand him, burst into 
 tears, plaints, and vows : with extended arms they sup- 
 plicated the gods, invoked the image of Augustus, and 
 embraced the knees of Tiberius. He then commanded 
 the imperial register to be produced and recited. It con-
 
 10 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 tainecl a summary of the resources of the state, the num- 
 ber of Romans and auxiliaries in the armies, the amount 
 of the navy, kingdoms, provinces, tributes, customs, the 
 public expenditure, and largesses. This register was all 
 written by the hand of Augustus; and he had added a 
 recommendation to keep the empire within fixed limits ; 
 but whether from apprehension for its safety, or jealousy 
 of future rivals, is uncertain. 
 
 12. Meanwhile, the senate, stooping to the most humili- 
 ating importunity and prostrations, Tiberius happened to 
 say, that, " as he was unequal to the weight of the whole 
 government; so if they intrusted him with any particular 
 part, whatever it were, he would undertake it." Here- 
 upon Asinius Gallus says : " I beg to know, Caesar, what 
 part of the government you desire to be committed to 
 you?" He was confounded at the unlocked for question ; 
 for a short space he continued mute ; but recovering him- 
 self, answered, that, " it ill became his modesty to choose 
 or reject any particular branch of the administration, 
 when he desired rather to be excused from the whole." 
 Gallus rejoined, (for he concluded from his countenance 
 that he had given offence,) " by this question he did not 
 mean that he should divide things which were inseparable; 
 but that he might be convinced out of his own mouth that 
 the commonwealth is but one body, and can be governed 
 only by the mind of one." He added an encomium upon 
 Augustus, and reminded Tiberius himself of his many 
 victories, of the many civil employments which he had 
 long and admirably sustained : nor even thus could he 
 mollify his wrath, who had long hated him, from a sus- 
 picion that having married Vipsania, daughter of Marcus 
 Agrippa, and formerly wife of Tiberius, he meant to soar 
 above the rank of a subject, and inherited the haughty 
 spirit of Asinius Pollio his father. 
 
 13. Lucius Arruntius incurred his displeasure next, by 
 a speech not much unlike that of Gallus: though towards 
 him Tiberius bore no inveterate rancour; but he regarded 
 with jealousy Arruntius, as being rich, energetic, accom- 
 plished, and accordingly in repute with the people. Indeed 
 Augustus, shortly before his decease, mentioning those 
 who would be capable of obtaining the supreme power, 
 but would not accept it ; or unequal to it, yet wished for 
 it; or who had both ambition and sufficiency; had said, 
 that " Marcus Lepidus was qualified, but would reject 
 it ; Asinius would be aspiring, but had inferior talents ; 
 and that Lucius Arruntius was not unworthy of it, and 
 upon a proper occasion, would attempt it." That he
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 11 
 
 spoke thus of Lepidus and Asinius, is agreed ; but, in- 
 stead of Arruntius, some writers have transmitted the 
 name of Cneius Piso : and every one of these great men, 
 except Lepidus, were afterwards cut off, under imputa- 
 tions of various crimes, all concocted by Tiberius. Quin- 
 tus Haterius also, and Mamercus Scaurus excited his jea- 
 lous spirit; the first by asking him, "How long, Ca?sar, 
 wilt tliou suffer the commonwealth to remain destitute of 
 a head?" Scaurus, because he had said, "There was 
 room to hope that the prayers of the senate would not 
 prove abortive, since he had not put his veto on the mo- 
 tion of the consuls as he might have done, according to 
 the privilege of the tribunitian authority." He inveighed 
 against Haterius on the instant ; Scaurus, towards whom 
 his resentment was more implacable, he passed over in 
 profound silence. Wearied at last with the general im- 
 portunity, and the expostulations of individuals, he re- 
 relaxed by little and little ; not so far as to declare openly 
 that he would undertake the empire, but only to avoid 
 the uneasiness of rejecting solicitation. It is well known 
 that Haterius, when he went next day to the palace 
 to implore pardon, and embraced the knees of Tiberius 
 who was walking, narrowly escaped being slain by the 
 soldiers, because Tiberius had fallen down, whether by 
 chance or .entangled in the arms of Haterius ; his anger 
 however was not appeased by the danger which threatened 
 so great a man, until Haterius supplicated Augusta, whose 
 most earnest entreaties obtained protection for him. 
 
 14. Towards Livia too, extravagant was the adulation of 
 the senate. Some were for decreeing her the appellation 
 of Parent, others of Mother of her Country ; and almost 
 all were of opinion, that to the name of Tiberius should 
 be added, The son of Julia. Tiberius urged impatiently, 
 that " Public honours to women ought to be cautiously 
 adjudged ; and that with the same moderation he would 
 receive such as were presented to himself." But, torn 
 with jealousy, and regarding the elevation of a woman as 
 the depression of himself, he suffered not so much as a 
 lictor to be decreed her, and even forbad the raising an 
 altar upon her late adoption, and other similar honours. 
 But, for Germanicus he asked the proconsular power ; and 
 deputies were sent to present it to him, and at the same 
 time to condole with him on the death of Augustus. The 
 same honour was not solicited for Drusus, because he 
 was present and already consul elect. He then named 
 twelve candidates for the praRtorship ; the number settled
 
 1,' THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 by Augustus ; and though the senate requested him to in- 
 crease it, he bound himself by an oath never to exceed it. 
 15. The assemblies for electing magistrates were now 
 first transferred from the Campus Martins to the senate : 
 for though the emperor had conducted all affairs of moment 
 at his pleasure, yet till that day, some were still trans- 
 acted according to the inclination of the tribes. Neither 
 did the regret of the people for the seizure of these their 
 ancient rights, rise higher than some impotent grumbling: 
 the senate too, released from the charge of buying votes, 
 and from the shame of begging them, willingly acquiesced 
 in the regulation, by which Tiberius contented himself with 
 the recommendation of four candidates only, to be accepted 
 without opposition or canvassing. At the same time, the 
 tribunes of the people asked leave to celebrate at their 
 own expense certain games in honour of Augustus, which 
 were called after his name, and which were now inserted 
 in the calendar. But it was decreed that the charge 
 should be defrayed out of the exchequer, and that the 
 tribunes should in the circus wear the triumphal robe ; 
 but to be carried in chariots was denied them. The an- 
 nual celebration of these plays was, for the future, trans- 
 ferred to the praetors, to whom should fall the jurisdiction 
 of deciding suits between citizens and strangers. 
 ~* 16. Thus stood affairs at Rome when a sedition made 
 its appearance in the legions in Pannonia ; without any 
 fresh grounds, save that the accession of a new prince pro- 
 mised impunity to tumult, and held out the hope of ad- 
 vantages to be derived from a civil war. Three legions 
 occupied a summer camp together, commanded by Junius 
 Blaesus, who, upon notice of the death of Augustus and 
 accession of Tiberius, had granted the soldiers a recess 
 from their wonted duties for some days, as a time either 
 of public mourning or festivity. From this beginning 
 they waxed wanton and quarrelsome, lent their ears to 
 the discourses of every profligate; and at last they longed 
 for a life of dissipation and idleness, and spurned all mi- 
 litary discipline and labour. In the camp was one Per- 
 cennius; formerly a busy leader of theatrical factions, after 
 that a common soldier; of a petulant tongue, and from his 
 experience in theatrical party zeal well qualified to stir up 
 the bad passions of a crowd. Upon minds uninformed and 
 agitated with doubts as to what might be the condition of 
 military service now that Augustus was dead, he wrought 
 gradually by confabulations by night, or when day verged 
 towards its close ; and when all the better-disposed had
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 13 
 
 retired to their respective quarters, he would congregate 
 all the most depraved about him. 
 
 17. Lastly, when now also other ministers of sedition 
 were at hand to second his designs, in imitation of a gene- 
 ral solemnly haranguing his men he, asked them : " Why 
 did they obey, like slaves, a few centurions and a fewer tri- 
 bunes? when would they be bold enough to demand redress, 
 unless they approached the prince, yet a novice and totter- 
 ing on his throne, either with entreaties or arms ? Enough 
 had they erred in remaining passive through so many years, 
 since decrepid with age and maimed with wounds, after a 
 course of service of thirty or forty years, thy were still 
 doomed to carry arms : nor even to those wno were dis- 
 charged, was there any end of service ; but they were still 
 kept to the colours, and under another name endured the 
 same hardships. And if any of them survived so many 
 dangers, still were they dragged into countries far remote, 
 where, under the name of lands, they are presented with 
 swampy fens, or mountain wastes. But surely burthensome 
 and ungainful of itself was the occupation of war: ten asses 
 a day the poor price of their persons and lives ; out of this 
 they must buy clothes, and tents, and arms out of this 
 the cruelty of centurions must be redeemed, and occasional 
 exemptions from duty ; but, by Hercules, stripes, wounds, 
 hard winters, and laborious summers, bloody wars and 
 barren peace, were miseries eternally to be endured ; nor 
 remained there other remedy than to enter the service 
 upon certain conditions, as that their pay should be a dena- 
 rius a-day, sixteen years be the utmost term of serving ; 
 beyond that period to be no longer obliged to follow the 
 colours, but have their reward in money, paid them in the 
 camp where they earned it. Did the praetorian guards, 
 who had double pay, they who after sixteen years' service 
 were sent home, undergo more dangers ? This was not 
 said in disparagement of the city guards ; their own lot 
 however was, serving among uncivilised nations, to have 
 the enemy in view from their tents." 
 
 -18. The general body received this harangue with shouts 
 of applause ; but stimulated by various motives ; some 
 showing, in all the bitterness of reproach, the marks of 
 stripes, others their hoary heads, many their tattered 
 vestments and naked bodies. At length to such an excess 
 of fury did they proceed, that they proposed to incorpo- 
 rate the three legions into one; frustrated in this by jea- 
 lousy, for every man claimed that honour for his own le- 
 gion, they took another method, and placed the three 
 eagles and the standards of the cohorts together ; at the
 
 14. THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 same time they heap up pieces of turf and rear a tribunal, 
 to form a more conspicuous seat. While engaged in this 
 hurried work, Blaesus came up to them, rebuked them, 
 held them back individually, passionately exclaiming, 
 " Nay ; dip your hands rather in my blood : to murder 
 your general will be a crime less heinous than to revolt 
 from your prince; either 1 will live to preserve the legions 
 in their faith and obedience, or by my death I will ac- 
 celerate your remorse." 
 
 19. For all this the turf continued to be accumulated, 
 and the work had already risen breast high, when, at last, 
 overcome by his perseverance, they desisted from their 
 undertaking. Blaesus, with the tact of a consummate 
 speaker, told them, " That sedition and mutiny were not 
 the methods of conveying to the emperor the demands of 
 his soldiers ; that neither the soldiers of old had ever 
 made to the ancient generals, nor they themselves to the 
 deified Augustus, requests so novel ; that it was most 
 inopportune to add to the load of cares which pressed 
 upon a prince in the commencement of his reign. If 
 however they meant to try to gain in peace those con- 
 cessions, which, even after a civil war, the conquerors 
 never claimed, why did they meditate violence, trampling 
 upon the laws of respect and obedience, violating the 
 solemn obligations of military discipline ? They might 
 appoint deputies ; and in his presence intrust them with 
 their pretensions." Approving his suggestion, they cried 
 out, " That the son of Blaesus, one of their tribunes, should 
 execute that deputation ; and demand in their name, that 
 after sixteen years' service they should be discharged ; 
 they would commit to him the other points, after the 
 successful issue of the first." After the departure of 
 the young officer, all was quiet for a time ; the soldiers 
 however exulted to have carried such a point ; the send- 
 ing the son of their general as the advocate of the pub- 
 lic cause, was a satisfactory indication that they had ex- 
 torted by force what by gentle means they would never 
 have gained. 
 
 20. In the mean time those companies, which, before the 
 sedition began, were sent to Nauportum, to repair roads 
 and bridges, and see to other requisites, no sooner heard 
 of the uproar in the camp, than they tore up their ensigns 
 and plundered the neighbouring villages, even Nauportum 
 itself, which resembled a municipal town. The centurions, 
 who sought to restrain them, they first assailed vyith 
 mockery and contumelies, at last with blows. Their ven- 
 geance was chiefly directed against the praefect of the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 15 
 
 camp, Aufidienus Rufus ; whom they drag from his cha- 
 riot, load with baggage, and drive in the van of the moving 
 body, repeatedly asking him in scorn, " Whether he liked 
 carrying such enormous burthens such immense dis- 
 tances?" This they did because Rufus who had been long 
 a common soldier, then a centurion, and afterwards praefect 
 of the camp, had restored the primitive strictness of dis- 
 cipline ; was inured to service and toil ; and therefore a 
 more rigid exactor of them because he had endured 
 them himself. 
 
 21. By their arrival the sedition was renewed ; the sedi- 
 tious roaming about ravaged the country on every side. 
 Blaesus, for an example of terror to the rest, ordered those 
 who were most laden with plunder, to be scourged and in- 
 carcerated ; for the general was still obeyed by the centu- 
 rions, and by all the best disposed soldiers ; but the others 
 struggled with those who were carrying them off; clasped 
 the knees of the bystanders; now called upon individuals by 
 name; then cried out to the century, the cohort, the legion, 
 to which each belonged, that the same ignominy awaited 
 upon them all: with the same breath they heaped invectives 
 their general, and called heaven and the gods to witness ; 
 nor left they ought unattempted to excite hatred, com- 
 miseration, .fear, resentment. The whole body rushed 
 to their relief, burst open the prison, and loosed their 
 bonds; and now even united with deserters, and men con- 
 victed of capital crimes. 
 
 22. After this the flame of discord burst forth with in- 
 creased fury, and the sedition found more leaders. One 
 Vibulenus, a common soldier, exalted on the shoulders of 
 his comrades, before the tribunal of Blaesus, even thus de- 
 claimed in the ears of a multitude already outrageous, and 
 eager to hear what he had to say; " To these unoffending 
 men, these abject sufferers, you have indeed restored light 
 and breath ; but, who will restore life to my brother ; my 
 brother to me ? Sent hither by the German army, with 
 propositions for our common good, he was last night but- 
 chered by the gladiators of Blaesus, men whom he enter- 
 tains and arms for the destruction of his soldiers. An- 
 swer me, Blaesus, where hast thou thrown away his corpse? 
 Even the enemy do not grudge burial to the slain : when 
 I have satiated my sorrow with kisses and tears, command 
 me also to be murdered, provided that these may bury us; 
 the heinous crime for which we were slain being none 
 other than that of studying the common interest of the 
 legions."
 
 16 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 23. He added to the effect of these expostulations by 
 tears, and by beating his breast and face. Then disengag- 
 ing himself from those on whose shoulders he was borne, 
 and throwing himself headlong at the feet of individuals, he 
 raised such a spirit of frenzy and vengeance, that one party 
 of them bound the gladiators that formed a portion of the 
 slaves of Blaesus; another, the rest of his slave-band; while 
 others hurried away to search for the corpse; and, had it 
 not been quickly manifest that there was no corpse to be 
 found, that the slaves had upon the rack denied the mur- 
 der, and that Vibulenus never had any brother, they had 
 gone nigh to sacrifice the general ; as it was, they thrust 
 out the prasfect of the camp and tribunes, and as they 
 fled, plundered their baggage: they likewise put to death 
 Lucilius the centurion, on whom, with the drollery cha- 
 racteristic of soldiers, they had fixed the appellation of 
 * Cedo alteram' (' Give me another,') because when upon the 
 back of a soldier he had broken one wand, he was wont 
 to call aloud for another, and then another. The other 
 centurions sought safety in concealment; one only, Julius 
 Clemens, being retained, who for his prompt capacity was 
 deemed a fit person to be intrusted with the conveyance of 
 the soldiers' demands; nay, even two of the legions, the 
 eighth and fifteenth, were preparing to turn their swords 
 upon each other ; the eighth demanding that a centurion 
 nicknamed Sirpicus should be put to death, and the fif- 
 teenth protecting him ; and blood would have flowed had 
 not the soldiers of the ninth interposed with entreaties 
 and with threats to those who would not listen to prayers. 
 
 24. Intelligence of these things compelled Tiberius, 
 though close, and ever labouring to smother all events of a 
 disastrous nature, to despatch his son Drusus thither, with 
 the principal men of the state and two praetorian cohorts ; 
 without any precise instructions, but to adapt his mea- 
 sures to the exigencies of the case : the cohorts were 
 strengthened with an extraordinary force of chosen men. 
 To these were added great part of the praetorian horse, 
 and the flower of the German troops, then serving as the 
 emperor's guards. Elius Sejanus, lately joined with his 
 father Strabo in the command of the praetorian bands, 
 was also appointed, not only as governor to the young 
 prince, but, as his credit with the emperor was known to 
 be great, as a fit instrument to inspire the fear of punish- 
 ment and the hope of reward. When Drusus approached, 
 the legions, for show of respect, marched out to meet him; 
 not, as usual, with joy, and glittering with gay trappings,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 17 
 
 but in a state of such hideous uncouthness, and with such 
 looks as indicated contumacy rather than the sadness they 
 affected. 
 
 25. As soon as he was within the entrenchment, they 
 secured the entrances with guards, and ordered parties of 
 armed men to wait in certain quarters of the camp : the 
 rest surrounded the tribunal of Drusus in an immense 
 mass; Drusus stood beckoning with his hand for silence: 
 as often as they looked back upon their own numbers, 
 they spoke loud, and in terms of furious insolence: again, 
 when they beheld Caesar, awe and trembling seized them : 
 a hollow and inarticulate murmur was heard ; next, a fu- 
 rious clamour ; then, suddenly, a dead silence : according 
 to the different passions which agitated their minds, th?y 
 were either timorous or terrible. At length, during a 
 quiet interval, he read his father's letter, in which it was 
 recorded, " that he would take an especial care of the 
 invincible legions, with whom he had shared the hardships 
 of so many wars; and, as soon as his mind had recovered 
 the effects of grief, negotiate with the senate about their 
 demands ; in the meantime lie had sent them his son, to 
 make them the concessions without delay which could im- 
 mediately be granted : the rest must be reserved for the 
 senate, who could not reasonably be supposed destitute 
 of mercy any more than of justice." 
 
 26. The assembly answered that, to Julius Clemens they 
 had intrusted what to speak in their name: he began with 
 their demands, " to be discharged after sixteen years' ser- 
 vice, the rewards to be given them at the conclusion of 
 their service, their daily pay to be a denarius, the veterans 
 to be no longer detained under their ensigns." When 
 Drusus alleged in reply that it belonged to the senate and 
 his father to determine these matters, he was interrupted 
 by clamours: " To what purpose came he; since he could 
 neither augment their pay, nor alleviate their grievances ; 
 and, without permission, to render them a single service? 
 But, by Hercules, the power of inflicting blows and death 
 was granted to all. Tiberius used to frustrate every re- 
 quest of the soldiers, by referring all to Augustus ; now 
 Drusus was come, with the same artifices : were they 
 never to have a higher visit than from the children of the 
 royal household? It was, indeed, unaccountable, that to 
 the senate the emperor should leave no part in the direc- 
 tion of the army but the rewarding of the soldiery : the 
 same senate ought to be consulted as often as a battle was 
 to be fought, or a private man to be punished^ or, were 
 
 c
 
 18 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 their recompences to be adjudged by many masters, but 
 their punishments to remain without any arbitrator?" 
 
 27. At last, they abandoned the tribunal, menacing and 
 insulting all they met, either of the praetorian guards or 
 friends of Drusus ; to create occasion for a quarrel, and a 
 pretext for bloodshed. Chiefly were they enraged against 
 Cneius Lentulus, because, as he surpassed others in years 
 and military renown, he was suspected to have encouraged 
 the prince, and been himself the foremost to despise those 
 outrages in the soldiery : nor was it long after, that, as he 
 was leaving Drusus, and from the foresight of danger re- 
 turning to the winter-quarters, they surrounded him and 
 demanded " whither he went? to the emperor or senate? 
 tftere also to exercise his enmity to the legions, and op- 
 pose their interest?" and instantly assaulted him with 
 stones. He was already covered with blood from a wound 
 by a stone, and awaiting certain assassination, when the 
 troops attending Drusus flew to his assistance and saved 
 him. 
 
 28. The following night had a threatening aspect, and 
 seemed likely to give birth to some impious deed : it was 
 made to pass off tranquilly by a mere accident. The 
 moon, in the midst of a clear sky, became suddenly eclipsed ; 
 the soldiers, who were ignorant of the cause, took this for 
 an omen referring to their present adventures : to their 
 own labours they compared the eclipse of the planet, and 
 prophesied, " that, if to the distressed goddess should be 
 restored her wonted brightness and splendour, equally 
 successful would be the issue of these their struggles :" 
 hence they made a loud noise, by ringing upon brasen 
 metal, and by blowing trumpets and cornets : as she ap- 
 peared brighter or darker, they exulted or lamented : but 
 when gathering clouds had obstructed their sight, and it 
 was believed that she was now buried in eternal darkness, 
 then (for minds once dismayed are prone to superstition) 
 they bewailed " their own eternal sufferings thus por- 
 tended, and that the gods viewed their daring deeds with 
 aversion." Drusus, who thought it behoved him to im- 
 prove this turn in their minds, and to convert to the ends 
 of wisdom, what chance had presented, ordered certain 
 persons to go round from tent to tent. For this purpose, he 
 summoned the centurion Clemens, and whoever else were 
 by honest methods acceptable to the multitude. These 
 insinuated themselves everywhere, and mixed with those 
 who kept the night watch, the piquets, and centinels at the 
 gates, cheering their hopes or alarming their fears : ''How
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 19 
 
 long," said they, " shall we besiege the son of the ern- 
 peror? Where will our contentions end? Shall we swear 
 allegiance to Percennius and Vibulenus ? Will Vibulenus 
 and Percennius support us with pay during our service, 
 and reward us with lands when dismissed ? In short, shall 
 they, supplanting the Neros and Drusi, assume the em- 
 pire of the Roman people? Why should we not rather, 
 as we were the last to revolt, be the first to relent? Such 
 demands as comprise terms for all, are ever slowly ac- 
 corded : but on your own individual account you may 
 merit favour instantly, and instantly receive it." These 
 reasonings alarmed them, and filled them with mutual 
 jealousies ; they separated the younger soldiers from the 
 veterans, and one legion from another: then, by degrees, 
 returned the love of duty and obedience. They relin- 
 quished the guard of the gates : and the standards, which 
 in the beginning of the tumult they had thrown together, 
 they now restored each, to its distinct station. 
 
 &9. Drusus, as soon as it was day, summoned an assem- 
 bly, and though unskilled in speaking, yet from the im- 
 pulse of a noble heart, he rebuked their past, but com- 
 mended their present behaviour : " With threats and ter- 
 rors," he said, "it was impossible to subdue him; but if 
 he saw them reclaimed to submission, if from them he 
 heard the knguage of supplicants, he would write to his 
 father to accept with a reconciled spirit the petitions of 
 the legions." At their entreaty, for their deputy to Ti- 
 berius, the same Blaesus was again despatched, and with 
 him Lucius Apronius, a 'Roman knight of the cohort of 
 Drusus, and Justus Catonius, a centurion of the first rank. 
 Conflicting opinions were entertained as to the course now 
 to be pursued ; some advised " to suspend all proceeding 
 till the return of the deputies, and by a courteous treat- 
 ment in the meanwhile, to soothe the soldiers;" others 
 maintained, " that remedies more potent must be applied: 
 in a multitude was to be found nothing which was not in 
 extremes ; always imperious where they are not awed, 
 when subdued by fear they might be safely despised : now 
 that they were bowed down by superstition, the general 
 should add to their fears by cutting off the authors of the 
 sedition." The genius of Drusus inclined to measures of 
 severity : Vibulenus and Percennius were by his command 
 produced and executed : most writers state that they were 
 despatched and hastily buried within his tent ; others, 
 that their bodies were ignominiously thrown over the en- 
 trenchments, for a public spectacle of terror. 
 
 30. Then the other culprits were hunted up, according
 
 20 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 as each had a principal hand in the disturbance. Some, too, 
 who were wandering up and down without the camp, were 
 slain by the centurions or praetorian soldiers : others were 
 by their own companies delivered up, as a proof of their 
 fidelity. The consternation of the soldiers was heightened 
 by the premature setting in of winter, with incessant rains, 
 and so violent, that they were unable to stir from their 
 tents, or maintain common intercourse ; nay, scarce to 
 keep their standards fixed, assailed continually, as they 
 were, by tempestuous winds and raging floods. Dread of 
 the displeasure of heaven, also, still haunted them. " Not 
 without cause," said they, " the stars grew dim, and tem- 
 pests burst on impious heads ; neither against these their 
 calamities was there other relief than to relinquish an ill- 
 starred and polluted camp, and, after expiation of their 
 guilt, return to their several winter-quarters." The eighth 
 legion departed first; and then the fifteenth: the ninth 
 clamoured for waiting the arrivaj of a letter from Tibe- 
 rius ; but when deserted by the other two, anticipated the 
 necessity which shortly awaited them, by a voluntary act. 
 Drusus also, as the commotion in that quarter had now 
 pretty well subsided, without staying for the return of the 
 deputies, went back to the city. 
 
 31. Almost at the same time, and from the same causes, 
 a disturbance arose in the legions in Germany, but the more 
 alarming as their numbers were greater. Earnest were 
 their hopes that Germanicus would never brook the rule 
 of another, but put himself in the hands of the legions, 
 who had force sufficient to carry everything their own 
 way. Upon the Rhine were two armies; that called the 
 higher, commanded by Caius Silius, lieutenant-general; 
 the lower, by Aulus Caecina : the command in chief rested 
 in Germanicus, then occupied in making a census of 
 the Gauls: the forces, however, under Silius, would not 
 make up their minds till they had seen the success of 
 the revolt which others began: the soldiers of the lower 
 army had broken out into open outrage, which took its 
 rise from the fifth legion, and the one and twentieth, draw- 
 ing after them the first and twentieth. These were all 
 upon the frontiers of the Ubians, in the same summer 
 camp, living in utter idleness or light duty. On hearing, 
 therefore, that Augustus was dead, the herd of slaves 
 lately enlisted in the city, familiar with licentiousness, and 
 impatient of military hardship, began to incite the simple 
 minds of the rest with saying, " that now was the time for 
 veterans to obtain their well-earned dismission ; the fresh 
 soldiers, larger pay ; and all, some mitigation of their
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 21 
 
 miseries ; and get redress for the cruelty of the centurions." 
 These were not the harangues of a single incendiary, like 
 Percennius amongst the Pannonian legions; nor uttered, 
 as there, in the ears of men, who while they saw before 
 their eyes armies more powerful than their own, heard 
 them with awe and trembling: many were the mouths 
 that uttered seditious language ; frequent were the boasts, 
 " that in their hands lay the destinies of Rome; by their 
 victories the empire was enlarged ; and that the com- 
 manders of armies were complimented with a surname de- 
 rived from them." 
 
 32. Neither did Csecina strive to restrain them; for the 
 madness of so many had broken his spirit. On a sudden, 
 transported with rage, they rushed, with drawn swords, 
 upon the centurions, for they had ever given occasion to 
 discontent among the soldiers, and were always the first 
 victims of their vengeance. They knocked them down, 
 and beat them dreadfully, sixty falling upon each, to 
 match the number of centurions in a legion. Then, torn 
 and mangled, and some of them lifeless, they threw them 
 out before the rampart, or into the Rhine. Septimius, 
 who had fled for refuge to the tribunal of Caecina, and lay 
 clasping his feet, was demanded with incessant importu- 
 nity, till he -was surrendered to destruction. Cassius Chae- 
 rea, (afterwards famous among posterity for killing Cali- 
 gula,) then a young man, and of undaunted spirit, opened 
 himself a passage with his sword through the armed men 
 that opposed him. After this, neither tribune nor praefect 
 of the camp retained authority. The soldiers themselves 
 divided among them the watches and the guards, and 
 whatever other services the exigency of the moment im- 
 posed. Hence those who dived deepest into the spirit of 
 the soldiery, gathered a special indication of an important 
 and obstinate insurrection ; for not in separate bodies, nor 
 at the instigation of a few, but all indiscriminately, either 
 kindled into rage or reposed in silence : and that with so 
 much uniformity and regularity, that you would conclude 
 them to be under the command of one. 
 
 33. To Germanicus, meanwhile, then receiving, as I 
 have said, the tribute in Gaul, news arrived of the decease 
 of Augustus, whose grand-daughter Agrippina he had to 
 wife, and by her many children : he was himself the son 
 of Drusus, who was brother of Tiberius ; and he was the 
 grandson of Livia; but he was harassed by the secret 
 hate which his uncle and grandmother bore him: hate, 
 the occasions of which were the more stimulating because 
 they were unjust: for, the memory of his father Drusus
 
 ^ THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 was revered amongst the Koinan people, and there was a 
 strong persuasion that, had he succeeded to the empire, 
 In- would have restored liberty: hence their partiality to 
 Germanicus, and the same hope of him : for this young 
 man possessed an unassuming disposition, and a remark- 
 able sweetness of manners ; utterly remote from the lan- 
 guage and looks of Tiberius, which were haughty and 
 mysterious. In addition, there were such animosities as 
 arise between females, while towards Agrippina, Livia 
 was actuated by the rancour natural to stepmothers: and 
 Agrippina was somewhat too vindictive; only that from 
 her chastity, and love for her husband, she always gave a 
 good direction to her spirit, though unyielding. 
 
 34. But Germanicus, the nearer he stood in succes- 
 sion to supreme rule, the more vigorously he exerted him- 
 self on behalf of Tiberius: to him he induced the Sequa- 
 nians, a neighbouring people, as also the Belgic states, to 
 swear allegiance. Immediately after, having heard of the 
 mutiny of the legions, he proceeded to the spot with all 
 despatch, when he found them advanced without the camp 
 to receive him, with eyes cast down, in feigned token of 
 remorse. After he entered the lines, a dissonant cry of 
 woe began to be heard ; nay, some, catching hold of his 
 hand, as if to kiss it, thrust his fingers into their mouths, 
 to feel their toothless gums ; others showed their limbs, 
 bowed with old age. As he saw the assembly which stood 
 before him was a confused mass, he commanded them 
 " to range themselves into companies, that they might 
 thus more distinctly hear his answers ; as also to place 
 before them their several standards ; that thus at least the 
 cohorts might be distinguished." They obeyed him dog- 
 gedly; then beginning with "the high character of Au- 
 gustus," he passed on to the " victories and triumphs of 
 Tiberius," and with especial praises celebrated his bril- 
 liant achievements, with those very legions, in the Ger- 
 inanies ;" he next commended the harmony that prevailed 
 in Italy, the fidelity of the Gauls : " there was," he said, 
 " no trace of commotion or dissension in any quarter." 
 
 35. Thus far they listened with silence, or with a sub- 
 dued murmur. When he touched on their mutiny, inquir- 
 ing, "Where was the discretion of the soldier? where the 
 glory of ancient discipline? whither had they driven their 
 tribunes, whither their centurions?" to a man, they stript 
 themselves to the skin, exhibiting reproachfully the seams 
 that once were wounds, and the marks of stripes. Then, 
 with mingled voices, they urge, " the exactions for ex- 
 emptions, their scanty pay, their rigorous labours ;" and
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 23 
 
 in particular they complain of " ramparts, entrenchments, 
 laying in forage, materials, wood," with every other labour 
 required by the exigencies of war, or against idleness in 
 the camp. Most distressing was the cry of the veterans, 
 who, enumerating thirty years' service or more, " besought 
 him to give relief to men worn out with toils, and not 
 leave them to die in them ; but grant them a discharge 
 from a service so oppressive, and a comfortable retreat." 
 Nay, some there were who demanded payment of the 
 money bequeathed them by the deified Augustus ; with 
 expressions of happy omen to Germanicus ; and proffered 
 their cordial support if he wished the empire. Here, as 
 if contaminated with their treason, he leaped headlong 
 from the tribunal; but with swords drawn they opposed 
 his departure, and threatened his life if he refused to re- 
 turn : but he, with passionate pi'otestations, that " he 
 would rather die than throw off his allegiance," snatched 
 his sword from his side, and having raised it, was in the 
 act of bringing it down upon his breast, but those who 
 were next him seized his hand and held it firmly. A clus- 
 ter of soldiers in the extremity of the assembly exhorted 
 him, nay, what is incredible to hear, some separate indi- 
 viduals, deliberately advancing nearer, exhorted him, ' to 
 strike:' a soldier named Calusidius, even offered him his 
 naked sword, adding, " it is a sharper one ;" an act, which 
 to the rest, furious though they were, seemed inhuman, 
 and of pernicious tendency : and a pause ensued, during 
 which Caesar was hurried away into his tent by his friends. 
 36. There a consultation was held on the means of allay- 
 ing the disorder : for it was advised, that " deputies were 
 preparing to be despatched to bring over the upper army 
 to the same cause ; that the capital of the Ubians was de- 
 voted to destruction ; and that their hands, once engaged 
 in plunder, would forthwith be employed in ravaging the 
 Gauls." This dread was augmented by the fact that the 
 enemy knew of the mutiny in the Roman army, and were 
 ready to invade the empire, if the bank of the river were 
 left unguarded. Now, to arm the allies and the auxilia- 
 ries against the departing legions, was to engage in a civil 
 war : severity was dangerous ; to bribe, flagitious ; and 
 the state would be equally endangered whether nothing 
 were conceded to the soldiers or everything. After a 
 careful comparison of the arguments, it seemed good that 
 a letter should be written as from Tiberius, " that those 
 who had served twenty years should be altogether dis- 
 missed; such as had served sixteen, should receive a qua- 
 lified discharge, being still retained in the service, but
 
 ;:i THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 released from every duty except that of repelling the 
 enemy; and that the legacy which they demanded should 
 be paid and doubled." 
 
 iJ7. The soldiers perceived that these offers were fabri- 
 cated to meet the exigencies of the moment, and demanded 
 to have them forthwith executed ; but though the dis- 
 charges were promptly executed by the tribunes, the pay- 
 ment was adjourned to their several winter-quarters : but 
 [the fifth legion and the twenty-first did not stir, till in the 
 same summer camp they received the money, collected 
 from the stock of Germanicus himself and his friends. 
 Caecina, lieutenant-general, led the first legion and twen- 
 tieth back to the capital of the Ubians; their march ex- 
 hibiting a disgraceful spectacle, for the money-bags-ex- 
 torted from their general were carried amidst the ensigns 
 and eagles. Germanicus, having gone to the upper army, 
 brought the second, thirteenth, and sixteenth legions to 
 swear allegiance without hesitation : to the fourteenth, 
 who demurred a little, he offered their money and a dis- 
 charge, though they did not demand them. 
 
 38. But a party of veterans of the disorderly legions, and 
 who were then in garrison among the Chaucians, showed 
 symptoms of mutiny, but were somewhat awed by the in- 
 stant execution of two soldiers at the command ofMen- 
 nius, praefect of the camp ; an act beneficial in its effect, 
 but irregular. Afterwards, the commotion beginning to 
 wear a stormier aspect, he fled, but was discovered ; and 
 finding no security in his retreat, he drew upon daring for 
 protection, and told them, " That not to the praefect, but 
 to Germanicus their general, to Tiberius their emperor, 
 was this violence done." At the same time, all that would 
 have stopped him being dismayed, he snatched the co- 
 lours and faced about towards the bank of the river, and 
 exclaiming that he would treat as deserters every man 
 who quitted the marching body, led them back to their 
 winter-quarters, discontented but afraid to mutiny. 
 
 39. Meantime the deputies from the senate met Germani- 
 cus at the Ubian altar, whither he had returned. Two 
 legions wintered there, the first and twentieth, with the 
 veterans lately discharged but retained under the stand- 
 ard. Timorous and distracted with conscious guilt, they 
 conceived a fear that they were come by command of the 
 senate to cancel concessions which they had by sedition 
 extorted ; and, as it is the custom of the crowd to charge 
 some one with crimes however imaginary, they accuse Mi- 
 nutius Plancus, who had been consul, and was chief of 
 the deputation, of being the proposer of this decree of the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 25 
 
 senate. In the dead of night, they began to clamour for 
 the standard in the quarters of Germanicus, and rushing 
 tumultuously to his gate, hurst the doors, dragged the 
 prince out of his bed, and with menaces of death, com- 
 pelled him to deliver the standard. Then, as they roamed 
 about the streets, they met the deputies ; who, having 
 heard of the tumult, were hastening to Germanicus, 
 loaded them with insults, and were about to massacre 
 them, particularly Elancus, whom a sense of dignity had 
 restrained from flight ; nor in this danger had he other 
 refuge than the quarters of the first legion, where, em- 
 bracing the eagle and standards, he protected himself by 
 the sanctity in which they were held. And had not Cal- 
 purnius the eagle-bearer warded off the fatal blow, an am- 
 bassador of the Roman people, in a Roman camp, would 
 have deluged with the pollution of his blood the altars 
 of the gods ; a deed seldom paralleled among our enemies. 
 At length, day returning, when the general, and the sol- 
 diers, and their actions could be distinguished, Germani- 
 cus entered the camp, and commanding Plancus to be 
 brought, seated him by himself upon the tribunal ; then 
 imputing the furious outbreak to a fatality, and affirming 
 that it had been rekindled by the resentment not of the 
 soldiers 'but of the gods, he explained the objects of the 
 embassy, and lamented eloquently " the violated laws of 
 legation, and the serious and unprovoked attack upon 
 Plancus himself, together with the deep disgrace incurred 
 by the legion." And as the assembly seemed awed rather 
 than pacified, he dismissed the deputies under a guard of 
 auxiliary horse. 
 
 40. Germanicus was generally censured "That in this 
 alarming crisis he retired not to the higher army, where 
 he would have received obedience, and succour against the 
 revolters. Enough and more had he erred by discharges, 
 rewards, and lenient counsels ; or, if he disregarded his 
 own safety, why expose his infant son, why his pregnant 
 wife, amongst soldiers infuriated and the violators of every- 
 thing held sacred by man ? It became him at least to re- 
 store his wife and son to her grandfather and to the state." 
 He was long unresolved ; and his wife, who was averse to 
 leave him, urged that " she was the grand-daughter of 
 the deified Augustus, and was not so degenerate as to 
 shrink from danger." At last embracing her and their 
 son, with great tenderness and many tears, he prevailed 
 with her to depart. A band of females in mournful plight 
 moved slowly on ; the wife of a great commander com- 
 pelled to be a fugitive, and bearing her infant son in her
 
 26 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 bosom. Around her were the wives of her friends, dragged 
 along with her, and uttering lamentations ; nor were those 
 that remained less affected. 
 
 41 . The appearance of Caesar, unlike that of a victorious 
 general, and in his own camp, but as if he were in a van- 
 quished city, and the groans and plaints of the multitude, 
 engaged the ears and eyes even of the soldiers. They ad- 
 vanced from their tents, and asked, "Whence that doleful 
 sound? what so lamentable! that so many ladies of illustrious 
 quality, (not a centurion to guard them, not a soldier, their 
 general's wife utterly undistinguished, destitute of her ordi- 
 nary train,) should be proceeding to the Treveri to the pro- 
 tection of aliens !" Hence shame and commiseration seized 
 them, and the remembrance of Agrippa, her father; Au- 
 gustus, her grandfather ; Drusus, her father-in-law ; her- 
 self celebrated for a fruitful bed, and of signal chastity : 
 then they thought of her infant son, born in the camp, 
 nursed in the tents of the legions, and by them named 
 Caligula, because he generally wore that kind of boot to 
 win the affections of the common soldiers ; but nothing so 
 subdued them as jealousy of the Treveri; they beseech her 
 to return and remain with them; thus some hasted to stop 
 Agrippina; but the main body returned to Germanicus, 
 who, as he was, yet in the transports of grief and anger, 
 thus addressed the surrounding crowd. 
 
 42. " To me, nor wife, nor son, are dearer than my fa- 
 ther and the commonwealth. But as for my father, he will be 
 protected by his own majesty ; and the Roman empire by 
 her other armies. As for my wife and children, whom for 
 your glory I could freely sacrifice, I now remove them from 
 your rage, that whatever dire purpose you may have con- 
 ceived towards them, my blood alone may flow to satiate 
 your fury ; and that the murder of the great-grandson of 
 Augustus, the murder of the daughter-in-law of Tiberius, 
 may not augment your guilt. For, during these last days, 
 what has been unattempted by you ? What unviolated ? 
 To this audience what name shall I give? Can I call you 
 ' Soldiers ?' you who have beset with arms the son of your 
 emperor, confined him in your trenches ? ' Citizens' can 
 I call you ? you who have treated with such scorn the au- 
 thority of the senate ? The obligations observed by ene- 
 mies ; the sacred persons and privileges of ambassadors ; 
 the laws of nations, you have violated. The deified Ju- 
 lius quelled a sedition in his army by a single word ; by 
 calling those who renounced their allegiance ' Quirites.' 
 The deified Augustus terrified the legion that fought at 
 Actium into submission by his countenance and look.
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 27 
 
 If the armies in Syria and Spain contemn the authority 
 of us, who, though not yet equal to them, are descended 
 from them, we should think their behaviour strange and 
 base. Do you, the first and the twentieth legions, the former 
 enrolled by Tiberius himself, the other his constant com- 
 panions in so many battles, and by him enriched with so 
 many bounties, make this goodly return to your general? 
 And shall I be the bearer of such tidings to him, while he 
 receives none hut joyful intelligence from the other pro- 
 vinces ? that his own recruits, his own veterans, have not 
 been satiated with exemption from service nor money ? 
 Must I tell him that here centurions are butchered, tri- 
 bunes expelled, ambassadors imprisoned ; the camp and 
 the rivers polluted with blood ; and that I drag out a 
 precarious existence among men implacably set against 
 me. 
 
 43. "Wherefore, on the first day that I addressed you, 
 did you wrest from me that sword which I was on the point 
 of plunging into my breast? Officious friends! preferably 
 and with greater kindness did he act who proferred me a 
 sword ; at all events I should have fallen ere I was privy 
 to so many enormities committed by my army : you would 
 have chosen a general who would leave my death unatoned 
 for, but would avenge that of Varus and the three legions : 
 and, 6h ! may the gods never permit that the Belgians, 
 although offering their services, shall reap the credit and 
 renown of retrieving the Roman name, and of humbling 
 the German nations. May thy spirit, O deified Au- 
 gustus! which is received into heaven; thy image, my fa- 
 ther Drusus! and thy memory, with those same soldiers 
 who even now are touched with a sense of duty and a de- 
 sire of fame, wash out this stain, and turn the rage of 
 citizens among themselves to the destruction of their ene- 
 mies ! And as for you, in whom I behold other coun- 
 tenances and altered minds, if you mean to render to the 
 senate its ambassadors, to your emperor the allegiance 
 due to him, to me my wife and son, fly from the touch of 
 guilt ; set the disaffected by themselves: this will confirm 
 your resolution to repent, and pledge you to fidelity." 
 
 44. Softened into supplicants by these words, and con- 
 fessing that his reproaches were true, they besought him 
 
 ,to punish the guilty, to pardon trie misled, and lead them 
 against the enemy ; to recall his wife, to bring back the 
 nurseling of the legions, and not let him be given a hostage 
 to the Gauls. Against the recalling of Agrippina he al- 
 leged the advance of winter, and her approaching de- 
 livery; but said, that his son should return, and that to
 
 j.\s THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 themselves he left to execute what remained. No longer 
 the same men, they run in all directions and drag all the 
 ringleaders of the mutiny in bonds to Caius Cetronius, 
 commander of the first legion, who judged and punished 
 them severally after this manner. The legions, with their 
 swords drawn, surrounded the tribunal, the accused was 
 by a tribune exposed to view upon a scaffold, and if they 
 proclaimed him guilty, cast headlong down and butchered. 
 The soldiers rejoiced in the execution, because by it they 
 thought their own guilt to be expiated. Nor did Ger- 
 manicus restrain them, since on themselves remained the 
 cruelty and reproach of the slaughter committed without 
 any order of his. The veterans followed the example, 
 and were soon after ordered into Rhaetia, in appearance to 
 defend that province on account of the threatened inroads 
 of the Suevians ; in reality, to remove them from a camp 
 still horrible to their sight, not less from the severity of 
 the remedy than from the memory of their crime. He af- 
 terwards reviewed the centurions ; before him they were 
 cited singly ; each gave account of his name, his com- 
 pany, country, the length of his service, exploits in war, 
 and military presents, if with any he had been distin- 
 guished ; if the tribunes, or his legion, bore testimony to 
 his diligence and integrity, he kept his post; upon con- 
 curring complaint of his avarice or cruelty, he wa's de- 
 graded. 
 
 45. The disturbances at hand thus composed, others as 
 great remained from the outrageous conduct of the fifth 
 and twenty-first legions. They were in winter-quarters 
 sixty miles off, in a place called the Old Camp, and had 
 first begun the sedition ; nor was there any wickedness so 
 horrid that they had not perpetrated; neither terrified by 
 the punishment, nor reclaimed by the penitence of their 
 fellow-soldiers, they persevered in their fury. Caesar there- 
 fore prepared to send vessels, arms, and allied troops 
 down the Rhine, determined to put the matter to the de- 
 cision of the sword if they persisted in their revolt. 
 
 46. But at Rome the issue of the sedition in Illyricum 
 being not yet known, and tidings of the uproar in the Ger- 
 man legions having arrived, the city, in a state of alarm, made 
 it a matter of charge against Tiberius, " That while with 
 feigned delay he mocked the senate .and people, who were 
 feeble and unarmed, the soldiery were in open rebellion ; 
 nor could they be kept in subjection by the immature au- 
 thority of two young men ; he ought to have gone himself, 
 and awed them with the majesty of imperial power; as 
 doubtless they would have returned to duty upon the sight
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 29 
 
 of a prince of consummate experience, and also the su- 
 preme arbiter of the richest rewards and the most rigorous 
 punishment. Could Augustus, in the decline of life, take 
 so many journies into Germany ? and should Tiberius, in 
 the vigour of his age, sit in the senate, wresting the ex- 
 pressions of senators? He had consulted sufficiently for 
 the servitude of the city : measures should be taken to 
 calm the restless spirits of the soldiers, that they might 
 adapt themselves to the burthen of repose." 
 
 47. Against these remonstrances Tiberius maintained his 
 fixed resolve not to quit the capital, nor imperil himself and 
 the empire ; in truth, many and conflicting considerations 
 perplexed him: "The German army was the stronger; 
 that of Pannonia nearer ; the power of both the Gauls 
 supported the former; the latter was at the gates of Italy. 
 To which therefore should he first repair? He feared too, 
 lest those who were not preferred might be exasperated 
 by the affront. But by sending one of his sons to each, 
 they were treated alike, without lowering the imperial 
 dignity, which is most reverenced at a distance. Besides, 
 the young princes would be excused, if to their father 
 they referred some matters ; and if they disobeyed Ger- 
 manicus and Drusus, he might himself appease or quell 
 them ; but if they contemned their emperor, what resource 
 remained ? "- However, as if he were on the point of march- 
 ing, he chose his attendants, provided his equipage, and 
 prepared a fleet ; then artfully alleging the winter or bu- 
 siness, for some time he imposed upon men of sense, still 
 longer on the multitude, and it was very long before the 
 provinces saw through him. 
 
 48. Germanicus had already drawn together his army, 
 and was prepared to take vengeance on the seditious: but 
 judging it proper to allow farther space for trial, whether 
 they would follow the late example, and consult their own 
 safety; he sent letters before him to Caecina, "that he 
 was coming, with a powerful force ; and if they prevented 
 him not, by executing the guilty, he would put them to 
 the sword indiscriminately." These letters Caecina pri- 
 vately read to the standard-bearers, the inferior officers, 
 and such of the private soldiers as were least disaffected ; 
 exhorted them, " to redeem themselves from death, and 
 all from infamy ; for in peace motives and merits were re- 
 garded ; but when war assailed, the innocent and guilty 
 fell promiscuously." The officers having sounded those 
 they believed for their purpose, and found the majority 
 of the legions still to persevere in their duty, at the sug- 
 gestion of the general, settled a time for putting to the
 
 30 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 sword all the most depraved and turbulent : then, on a 
 signal given among themselves, they rushed into their 
 tents, and butchered them, while in utter ignorance of the 
 plot ; none but those who were privy to it understanding 
 wherefore the massacre began, or where it would end. 
 
 49. This had a different character from all the civil 
 slaughters that ever happened : it was not in a battle, nor 
 between men from opposite camps, but from the same tents; 
 men who ate at the same board by day, and slept in the 
 same apartment by night, separated themselves into parties, 
 and hurled darts at their comrades : wounds, outcries, and 
 blood, were open to sense; but the cause remained hid: 
 chance governed the rest. Some, too, of the well-affected 
 were slain, after that the most guilty, finding who were 
 the objects of the carnage, had themselves also snatched 
 up arms : neither general, nor tribune, was present to 
 control the proceeding ; full licence was given to the sol- 
 diers, with leave to gratify revenge, and satiate themselves 
 with blood. Germanicus soon after entered the camp, 
 and, lamenting with many tears, that " this was not a 
 remedy, but a massacre," commanded the bodies to be 
 burnt. Their minds even then fiercely agitated, were 
 seized with a sudden desire to attack the foe, as an expia- 
 tion of their ferocity : nor otherwise, they thought, could 
 the ghosts of their brethren be appeased, than by receiv- 
 ing honourable wounds in their own profane breasts. 
 Germanicus fell in with the ardour of the soldiers, and 
 throwing a bridge over the river, marched over twelve 
 thousand legionary soldiers, twenty-six cohorts of the 
 allies, and eight squadrons of horse, whose sense of duty 
 had not been vitiated by that mutiny. 
 
 50. The Germans, who were not far off, passed their 
 time merrily whilst the Romans were held by a cessation of 
 arms, occasioned first by the death of Augustus, afterwards 
 by dissensions : but the Romans, by a forced march, cut a 
 way through the Cassian forest, and levelling the barrier 
 begun by Tiberius, encamped there. In the front and rear 
 they were defended by a palisade; on each side by a pile of 
 timber : thence, traversing a gloomy forest, they deliberated 
 which of two routes they should adopt, the short and fre- 
 quented, or the more intricate and unexplored, and there- 
 fore unguarded against by the foe: the latter being chosen; 
 in everything else despatch was observed : for, by the 
 scouts intelligence was brought, that there was with the 
 Germans, that night, a festival devoted to mirth, and re- 
 gularly celebrated with banqueting. Caecina was ordered 
 to advance with the light cohorts, and to clear a passage
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 31 
 
 through the forest: at a moderate distance followed the 
 legions: the night, which was starlight, aided the design; 
 and they arrived at the villages of the Marsians, and 
 parties were posted around : the Germans, were even 
 then stretched here and there upon their beds, or lying 
 by their tables, in perfect security, and without any watch 
 stationed in advance : so complete was the disorder occa- 
 sioned by their carelessness : no fear of hostile attack ; 
 nor was it indeed a state of repose, other than the lan- 
 guor and remissness of men oppressed with drunkenness. 
 
 51. The legions, who were impatient for the onset, Cae- 
 sar divided into four battalions, to give a wider range to 
 the devastation : he wasted the country by fire and sword 
 to the extent of fifty miles; nor sex nor age found mercy; 
 places sacred and profane, without distinction, even the 
 temple of Tanfana, the most celebrated amongst these na- 
 tions, all were levelled with the ground : the soldiers, who 
 had slain men half asleep, disarmed, or dispersed, escaped 
 unwounded. This slaughter roused the Bructerians, the 
 Tubantes, and the Usipetes ; and they beset the passes of 
 the forest, through which the army was to return : which 
 Caesar discovering, he proceeded cautiously, in an order 
 adapted at once to marching and fighting. The auxiliary 
 cohorts and. part of the horse were in the van, followed at 
 a short interval by the first legion ; the baggage was in 
 the middle; the twenty-first legion closed the left wing, 
 and the fifth the right ; the twentieth defended the rear, 
 and after them marched the rest of the allies. But the 
 enemy stirred not, till the army was extended through the 
 wood : then, skirmishing with the front and wings, with 
 their whole force they fell upon the rear: the light cohorts 
 were disordered by the close German bands, when Caesar, 
 riding up to the twentieth legion, cried aloud, " This is 
 the moment to obliterate the scandal of sedition: forward! 
 hasten to turn your guilt into glory." Their courage 
 burst into a flame, and at one rush they broke through 
 the enemy's line, and drove them back into the plain, 
 slaughtering them as they went: meanwhile, the van of the 
 army emerged from the forest and there fortified a camp. 
 The rest of the march was uninterrupted, and the soldiers, 
 elated with their recent exploits, and forgetting by-gone 
 matters, were placed in winter-quarters. 
 
 52. The intelligence of these proceedings affected Tibe- 
 rius with mingled joy and anxiety. He was glad that the 
 mutiny was suppressed, but it was torture to him that Ger- 
 manicus, by anticipating the term of service, and by lar- 
 gesses, had gained the affections of the army, as well as
 
 32 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 that he had acquired military renown. However, he con- 
 sulted the senate on his acts, and bestowed copious praises 
 upon his valour, but in terms too pompous and studied 
 for it to be believed that he spoke from the recesses of 
 his heart. With more brevity he commended Drusus, 
 and his address in quelling the sedition of Illyricum, but 
 with greater earnestness, and in the language of sincerity ; 
 all the concessions made by Germanicus he fulfilled, and 
 extended them also to the Pannonian troops. 
 
 53. The same year died 'Julia, some time since confined 
 by her father Augustus to the isle of Pandataria, and after- 
 wards to the city of Rhegium, upon the straits of Sicily, on 
 account of her incontinence. Whilst Caius and Lucius, her 
 sons by Agrippa, yet lived, she was given in marriage to Ti- 
 berius ; whom she treated with contempt as one beneath 
 her rank. Nor any motive so cogent as this had Tiberius 
 for his retirement to Rhodes. In disgrace and exile, and 
 by the death of Agrippa Posthumus, bereaved of all hope, 
 he caused her to pine away gradually from want, calculating 
 that from the duration of her exile her murder would lie 
 concealed. Similar was the ground of his cruelty to Sem- 
 pronius Gracchus, a man of a noble family, of shrewd in- 
 tellect and eloquent, but unprincipled. He, while Julia 
 was yet Agrippa's wife, had debauched her : nor did his 
 lust end here; but after she was given to Tiberius, the 
 pertinacious adulterer inspired her with disrespect and 
 hatred to her husband ; and the letters, too, she wrote to 
 her father, full of asperity against Tiberius, were thought 
 to have been composed by Gracchus. He was therefore 
 banished to Cercina, an island in the African sea, where, 
 for fourteen years, he suffered exile. The soldiers de- 
 spatched to assassinate him found him upon an eminence 
 which jutted out into the sea, expecting no tidings of 
 happy import. On their arrival he begged a brief respite 
 to send his last will in a letter to Alliaria his wife, and 
 then presented his neck to the executioners: in the mag- 
 nanimity of his death not unworthy of the Sempronian 
 
 .name, though in his life he had degenerated. Some have 
 related, that these soldiers were not sent from Rome, but 
 by Lucius Asprenas, proconsul of Africa, at the instance 
 of Tiberius, who vainly hoped that the imputation of the 
 murder might be shifted on Asprenas. 
 
 54. There was likewise this year an admission of new 
 rites, by the addition of a college of priests of Augustus ; 
 as formerly Titus Tatius, to preserve the rites of the Sa- 
 bines, had founded the Tatian priests. One and twenty 
 of the most considerable Romans were drawn by lot ; Ti-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 33 
 
 berius, Drusus, Claudius, and Germanicus were added. 
 The games in honour of Augustus, began then first to be 
 embroiled by dissension arising out of the performance of 
 pantomimes. Augustus had countenanced that pastime, 
 out of complaisance to Maecenas, who was a passionate ad- 
 mirer of Bathyllus ; neither was he himself averse to such 
 pursuits ; and he thought it popular to mix in the plea- 
 sures of the people. The habits of Tiberius took a dif- 
 ferent turn; but as yet he dared not attempt to engage 
 in severer pursuits a people so long humoured. 
 
 55. In the consulship of Drusus Ca?sar and Caius Nor- 
 banus, a triumph was decreed to Germanicus, the war 
 continuing. He was preparing with all diligence to pro- 
 secute it in the summer ; but anticipated it by a sudden 
 irruption early in the spring into the territories of the 
 Cattians : for he had conceived a hope that the enemy 
 was divided into opposite parties under Arminius and Se- 
 gestes ; both remarkable for perfidy or fidelity towards 
 us : Arminius was the incendiary of Germany ; but Se- 
 gestes had given repeated warning of an intended revolt, 
 at other times, and during the banquet immediately pre- 
 ceding the insurrection, and advised Varus, " to secure 
 him, and Arminius, and all the other chiefs ; that the mul- 
 titude, bereft of their leaders, would not dare to attempt 
 anything ; and Varus would have an opportunity to sepa- 
 rate the guilty from the innocent." But fate decreed it, 
 and he was slain by Arminius. Segestes, though drawn into 
 the war by the universal agreement of the nation in it, yet 
 continued to disapprove of it ; his detestation being aug- 
 mented by motives of a domestic nature, for Arminius had 
 carried away the daughter of Segestes, already betrothed 
 to another : the son-in-law hated, the fathers-in-law were 
 at enmity ; and those relations which are bonds of affec- 
 tion between friends, fomented the animosities of enemies. 
 
 56. Germanicus therefore handed over to Caecina four 
 legions, five thousand auxiliaries, and some tumultuary 
 bands of Germans, who dwelt on this side the Rhine ; he 
 led himself as many legions, with double the number of 
 allies, and erecting a fort in mount Taunus, upon the site 
 of one raised by his father, he pushed on in battle array 
 against the Cattians; having left Lucius Apronius to secure 
 the roads and the rivers : for, as the roads were dry, and 
 the rivers within bounds, events in that climate of rare 
 occurrence, he had found no check in his rapid march, 
 but on his return apprehended the violent rains and 
 floods. He fell upon the Cattians with such surprise, 
 that all the weak through sex or age were instantly taken 
 
 D
 
 34 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 or slaughtered : their youth swam over the Adrana and 
 endeavoured to obstruct the Romans, who commenced 
 building a bridge ; then, repulsed by engines and arrows, 
 and having in vain tried terms of peace, after some had 
 gone over to Germanicus, the rest abandoned their can- 
 tons and villages, and dispersed themselves into the woods. 
 Mattium, the capital of the nation, he burnt, ravaged the 
 open country, and bent his march to the Rhine: nor durst 
 the enemy harass his rear, which is their custom, when- 
 ever they have fled, more from craft than fear. The Che- 
 ruscans had purposed to assist the Cattians, but were de- 
 terred by Caecina, who moved about with his forces from 
 place to place ; and the Marsians, who dared to engage 
 him, he checked by a victory. 
 
 57. Soon after arrived deputies from Segestes, praying 
 relief against the violence of his countrymen, by whom he 
 was besieged ; Arminius having more influence with them 
 than himself, because he advised war; for with Bar- 
 barians, the more resolute in daring a man is, the more he 
 is trusted and preferred in times of commotion. To the 
 deputies Segestes had added Segimundus his son ; but 
 the young man hesitated, from self-conviction ; for the 
 year when Germany revolted, having been created priest 
 at the Ubian altar, he had rent the fillets and fled to the 
 revolters : yet, induced to rely upon Roman clemency, he 
 undertook the execution of his father's orders, was gra- 
 ciously received, and conducted with a guard to the Gallic 
 bank of the Rhine. Germanicus thought it worth while 
 to march back, fought the besiegers, and rescued Segestes 
 with a numerous train of his relations and followers ; in 
 which were ladies of illustrious rank, and among them the 
 wife of Arminius, the same who was the daughter of Se- 
 gestes : with a spirit more like that of her husband than 
 her father; neither subdued to tears, nor uttering the 
 language of supplication, but her hand folded within her 
 bosom, and her eyes fixed upon her teeming womb. There 
 were likewise carried the spoils taken at the slaughter of 
 Varus and his army, and given as booty to most of those 
 who then surrendered. 
 
 58. At the same time appeared Segestes himself, of vast 
 stature, and undaunted in the consciousness of his fidelity. 
 In this manner he spoke : " This is not the first day that I 
 have approved my faith and constancy to the Roman peo- 
 ple : from the moment I was by the deified Augustus pre- 
 sented with the freedom of the city, I have chosen my friends 
 and enemies with reference to your interests, and that not 
 from hatred of my country, (for odious are traitors even to
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 35 
 
 the party they prefer,) but, because the interests of the 
 Romans and Germans were the same ; and because I was 
 inclined to peace rather than war. For this reason, before 
 Varus, the then general, I arraigned Arminius, the ra- 
 visher of my daughter, and the violator of the league with 
 you. Put off, from the supineness of the general, and 
 seeing there was little protection in the laws, I importuned 
 him to throw into irons myself, and Arminius, and his 
 accomplices : witness that night, to me I would rather it 
 had been the last! more to be lamented than defended 
 are the events which followed. However I cast Arminius 
 into irons, and was myself cast into irons by his faction : 
 and now, on the first opportunity of conferring with you, 
 I prefer old things to new, peace to turbulence ; and at 
 the same time I might be a fitting mediator for the Ger- 
 man nation, with no view of reward, but to clear myself of 
 perfidy, if they would rather repent than be destroyed. 
 For the youth and inexperience of my son I implore par- 
 don ; I admit my daughter has been brought into this 
 state by constraint; it will be yours to consider which 
 should preponderate with you ; that she is the wife of 
 Arminius or the daughter of Segestes." The answer of 
 Germanicus was gracious : he promised indemnity to his 
 children and kindred, and to himself, as a retreat, a place 
 called ' Vetera,' in the province ; then returned with his 
 army, and by the direction of Tiberius, received the title 
 of Imperator. The wife of Arminius brought forth a male 
 child, and the boy was brought up at Ravenna : the 
 mockery he was soon after exposed to I will relate at the 
 proper time. 
 
 59. The account circulated of the surrender of Se- 
 gestes, and his gracious reception affected his country- 
 men with hope or anguish, as they were severally prone 
 or averse to the war. Acting upon a temper naturally 
 violent, the captivity of his wife, and the child in her 
 womb subjected to bondage, drove Arminius to distrac- 
 tion : he flew about amongst the Cheruscans, calling them 
 to arms against Segestes, against Germanicus : nor did he 
 refrain from invectives : " An excellent father ! a great 
 general! a valiant army, whose many hands had carried 
 off one bit of a woman ! That before him three legions 
 fell, three lieutenant-generals : for his method of carrying 
 on war was not by treason nor against pregnant women, 
 but openly, against armed hosts. That the Roman stand- 
 ards were still to be seen in the German groves, there 
 suspended by him to his country's gods. Segestes might 
 live upon the vanquished bank ; he might get the priest-
 
 3G THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 hood restored to his son: but the Germans would ever 
 regard the fellow as the guilty cause of their having seen 
 between the Elbe and Rhine rods and axes, and the toga. 
 That to other nations who know not the Roman domina- 
 tion, executions and tributes were unknown ; and as they 
 had thrown them off, and as Augustus, he who was enrolled 
 with the gods, had retreated without accomplishing his 
 object, and Tiberius his chosen successor, let them not 
 dread an inexperienced stripling and a mutinous army. 
 If they preferred their country, their parents, and their 
 ancient possessions, to masters and new settlements, they 
 should follow Arminius, who led them to glory and liberty, 
 rather than Segestes, who conducted them to infamous 
 servitude." 
 
 60. By these means, not the Cheruscans only were roused, 
 but the bordering nations ; and Inguiomerus, paternal 
 uncle to Arminius, a man long in high credit with the Ro- 
 mans, was drawn into the confederacy ; hence Germanicus 
 became more alarmed, and sent Caecina with forty Roman 
 cohorts to the river Amisia, through the territories of the 
 Bructerians. Pedo the praefect led the cavalry along the 
 confines of the Frisians ; he himself, embarking four le- 
 gions, sailed through the lakes; and at the aforesaid river 
 the whole body met, foot, horse, and fleet. The Chau- 
 cians, upon offering their assistance, were taken into the 
 service ; but the Bructerians setting fire to their effects 
 and dwellings, were routed by Stertinius, despatched 
 against them by Germanicus with a band lightly armed; 
 And amidst the carnage and plunder, he found the eagle of 
 the nineteenth legion lost in the overthrow of Varus. The 
 army marched next to the farthest borders of the Bruc- 
 terians, and the whole country between the rivers Amisia 
 and Luppia was laid waste. Not far hence lay the forest 
 of Teutoburgium, and in it the bones of Varus and the 
 legions, by report still unburied. 
 
 61. Germanicus therefore conceived a desire to pay 
 the last offices to the legions and their leader ; while the 
 whole of the army present were moved to deep commise- 
 ration for their kinsmen and friends; and generally for 
 the calamities of war and the condition of humanity. Cae- 
 cina having been sent before to explore the gloomy re- 
 cesses of the forest, and to lay bridges and causeways 
 over the watery portions of the morasses and insecure 
 places in the plains, they enter the doleful scene, hideous 
 in appearance and association. There was the first camp 
 of Varus, of wide extent, and after measuring off the courts 
 they marked the space occupied by the body of three le-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 37 
 
 gions ; after that, a half decayed rampart with a shallow 
 foss, where their remains, now sadly reduced, were under- 
 stood to have sunk down. In the intervening portion of 
 the plain, were whitening bones, either scattered or ac- 
 cumulated, according as they had fled or had made a stand. 
 Near them lay fragments of javej|ns and limbs of horses. 
 There were also skulls fixed upon the trunks of trees. 
 In the adjacent groves were the savage altars, where they 
 had immolated the tribunes and centurions of the first 
 rank. Those who survived the slaughter having escaped 
 from captivity and the sword, related the sad particulars 
 to the rest : " Here the commanders of the legions were 
 slain; there we lost the eagles; here Varus had his first 
 wound ; there he gave himself another, and perished by 
 his own unhappy hand. In that place too stood the tri- 
 bunal whence Arminius harangued. How many gibbets 
 he erected for the execution of his captives; what trenches 
 he dug ; and how in proud scorn he made a mock at 
 the standards and eagles." 
 
 62. The Roman army which was on the spot, buried the 
 bones of the three legions, six years after the slaughter: nor 
 could any one distinguish whether he buried the remains 
 of a stranger, or of a kinsman ; but all considered the 
 whole as friends, as relations, with heightened resentment 
 against the foe; at once sad and revengeful. Germanicus 
 laid the first sod used in raising a tomb ; thus rendering 
 a most acceptable service to the dead, and showing that 
 he shared the sorrows of the living ; a proceeding not 
 liked by Tiberius ; whether it were that upon every action 
 of Germanicus he put a malignant construction, or that he 
 believed that the impression produced by the sight of the 
 unburied slain, would damp the ardour of the army for bat- 
 tle ; he also said that " A general invested with the office 
 of augur, and the most ancient religious functions, ought 
 not to have put his hand to the ceremonies of the dead." 
 
 G3. Arminius, retiring into pathless places, was pursued 
 by Germanicus; who as soon as he reached him, command- 
 ed the horse to advance and dislodge the enemy from the 
 post they had possessed. Arminius, having directed his 
 men to keep close together, and draw near to the woods, 
 wheeled suddenly about, and to those whom he had hid 
 in the forest, gave the signal to rush out. Then the Ro- 
 man horse were* thrown into disorder by the assault of a 
 new army, and the cohorts sent out to support them 
 broken in upon by the body of troops that fled, had 
 augmented the consternation ; and they were now being 
 pushed into the morass, a place well known to the pur-
 
 38 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 suers, but dangerous to those unacquainted with it, had 
 not Germanicus drawn out the legions in order of battle. 
 Hence the enemy became terrified, our men reanimated, 
 and both retired without advantage on either side. Ger- 
 manicus, soon after, returning with the army to the Amisia, 
 reconducted the legiorti, as he had brought them, in the 
 fleet; part of the horse were ordered to march along the 
 sea-shore to the Rhine. Csecina, who led his own men, 
 was warned, that though he was to return through well- 
 known roads, yet he should with all speed pass the cause- 
 way called The Long Bridges: it is a narrow causeway, be- 
 tween vast marshes, and formerly raised by Lucius Domi- 
 tius. The rest of the country is of a moist nature, either 
 tough and sticky from a heavy kind of clay, or dangerous 
 from the streams which intersect it. Round about are 
 woods which rise gently from the plain ; which at that 
 time were filled with soldiers by Arminius, who, by short 
 cuts and quick marching, had arrived there before our 
 men, who were loaded with arms and baggage. Caecina, 
 who was perplexed how at once to repair the causeway de- 
 cayed by time, and to repulse the foe, resolved to encamp 
 in the place, that whilst some were employed in the work, 
 others might begin the fight. 
 
 64. The Barbarians having made a vigorous effort to 
 break through the outposts, and fall upon those employed in 
 the works, harass the troops, march round them, and throw 
 themselves in their way. A mingled shout arose from the 
 workmen and the combatants; all things equally combined 
 to distress the Romans: the place deep with ouze, sinking 
 under those who stood, slippery to such as advanced ; their 
 bodies were encumbered with their coats of mail, nor could 
 they hurl their javelins in the midst of water. The Che- 
 ruscans, on the contrary, were inured to encounters in the 
 bogs; their persons tall, their spears long, so as to wound at 
 a distance. At last the legions, already giving way, were 
 saved from defeat by the approach of night ; the Germans 
 not feeling fatigue on account of their success, without re- 
 freshing themselves with sleep, even then diverted all 
 the courses of the springs which rise in the neighbour- 
 ing mountains into the plains; thus the ground being 
 flooded, and the work, as far as they had carried it, over- 
 turned, the soldiers had all to do over again. Ceecina, who 
 had served forty years, either under others or in command, 
 was experienced in the vicissitudes of war, prosperous or 
 disastrous, and thence undaunted. Weighing therefore 
 all probabilities, he could devise no other expedient than 
 that of restraining the enemy to the woods till he had sent
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 39 
 
 forward all the wounded and baggage ; for between the 
 mountains and the marshes there stretched a plain large 
 enough to admit a little army: to this purpose the legions 
 selected were, the fifth for the right wing, and twenty-first 
 for the left ; the soldiers of the first legion to lead the 
 van, of the twentieth to oppose the pursuers. 
 
 65. It was a restless night to both armies, but from dif- 
 ferent causes ; the Barbarians with festive carousals, songs 
 of triumph, or horrid cries, filled the vales below and 
 echoing woods: amongst the Romans were feeble fires, low 
 broken murmurs; they leaned drooping here and there 
 against the pales, or wandered about the tents more like 
 men wanting sleep than quite awake. The general too 
 was alarmed by direful visions during his sleep ; he thought 
 he heard and saw Quinctilius Varus, rising out of the 
 marsh, all besmeared with blood, stretching forth his hand, 
 and calling upon him ; but that he rejected the call and 
 pushed back his hand as he held it towards him. At 
 break of day, the legions posted on the wings, whether 
 from perverseness or fear, deserted their post, and took 
 sudden possession of a field beyond the bogs : neither 
 did Arminius fall straight upon them, though they lay 
 open to assault ; but, when the baggage was set fast in 
 the mire and ditches, the soldiers about it in disorder, 
 the order of the standards confounded, and, as usual at 
 such a time, each man acting hastily for himself, when the 
 ears are slow to catch the word of command, he then com- 
 manded his Germans to charge, exclaiming vehemently, 
 " Behold! Varus and his legions again subdued by the 
 same fate!" Thus he cried, and instantly with a select 
 body broke through the mass, and chiefly against the 
 horse directed his weapons; floundering in their own 
 blood and the slippery soil of the marsh, they threw their 
 riders; overturned all they met, a'nd trampled on those that 
 were on the ground. The greatest distress was around 
 the eagles; which could neither be carried against a shower 
 of darts, nor be planted in the slimy ground. Caecina, 
 while he sustained the fight, had his horse shot, and having 
 fallen, would have been overpowered had not the first le- 
 gion come up to succour him; our relief came from the 
 greediness of the enemy, who ceased slaying to seize the 
 spoil. And the legions by great exertion got into the open 
 and firm ground ; nor was this the end of their miseries ; 
 a palisade was to be raised, an entrenchment digged ; their 
 instruments too for throwing up and carrying earth, and 
 their tools for cutting turf, were almost all lost; no tents 
 for the soldiers; no remedies for the wounded. While
 
 40 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 dividing amongst them their food, defiled with mire or 
 blood, they lamented that mournful night, they lamented 
 the approaching day, to so many thousand men the last. 
 
 66. It happened that a horse which had broken his fasten- 
 ings, as he strayed about, became frightened with a noise, 
 and ran over some that were in his way ; this raised such 
 a consternation in the camp, from a persuasion that the 
 Germans had forced an entrance, that all rushed to the 
 gates, especially to the postern, as the farthest from the 
 foe, and safer for flight. Caecina having ascertained that 
 there was no cause for alarm, but unable to stop them or 
 hold them back, either by his authority or prayers, or 
 even by force, prostrated himself on the threshhold of the 
 gate; and thus at length, by appealing to their humanity, 
 (for if they proceeded it must be over the body of the ge- 
 neral), he blocked the passage, and the tribunes and cen- 
 turions satisfied them the while that it was a false alarm. 
 
 67. Then assembling them in the court, and desiring 
 them to hear him with silence, he warned them of their dif- 
 ficulties, and their duty under them: " That their sole hope 
 of safety was in their valour, but that must be guided by 
 counsel ; that they must keep close within their camp, 
 till the enemy, in hopes of taking it by storm, came up 
 nearer to them ; then make a sudden sally on every side ; 
 that by this sally, they might make good their way to the 
 Rhine : but if they fled, more forests, deeper marshes, 
 and the fierce attack of the foe still remained to them ; 
 but that if they conquered, honour and renown awaited- 
 them." He reminded them of all that was dear to them at 
 home, and the rewards to be obtained in the camp ; but 
 suppressed all mention of defeat. He next distributed 
 horses, first his own, then those of the tribunes and lead- 
 ers of the legions, to all the bravest warriors, without any 
 flattery, that these first, and afterwards the infantry, might 
 charge the enemy. 
 
 68. The Germans were in no less agitation, from hope, 
 eagerness, and the opposite counsels of their leaders. Ar- 
 minius proposed, "To let them march out, and to beset 
 them again in their way, when they got into marshes and 
 difficult passes." Inguiomerus advised measures more re- 
 solute and acceptable to barbarians: " To invest the camp: 
 it would be quickly captured : there would be more cap- 
 tives, and the plunder uninjured." As soon therefore as 
 it was light, they level the ditch, cast hurdles into it, at- 
 tempt to scale the palisade, there being but few men on the 
 rampart, and those who were standing as if paralyzed by 
 fear. But when they were hampered in the fortifications,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 41 
 
 the signal was given to the cohorts ; the cornets and trum- 
 pets sounded at once, and instantly, shouting and charg- 
 ing, they poured down upon their rear, telling them taunt- 
 ingly, " That here were no thickets ; no marshes ; but 
 equal chances in a fair field." The enemy, expecting an 
 easy conquest, and that the Romans were few and half 
 armed, were overpowered with the sound of trumpets and 
 the glitter of arms, which were then magnified in propor- 
 tion as they were unexpected ; and they fell like men who, 
 as they are void of moderation in prosperity, are also des- 
 titute of conduct in distress. Arminius fled from the fight 
 unhurt; Inguiomerus severely wounded. The men were 
 slaughtered as long as day and rage lasted. At length at 
 night the legions returned, and though disti'essed by the 
 same want of provisions, and more wounds; yet in victory 
 they found all things, health, vigour, and abundance. 
 
 C9. Meanwhile, a report had spread, that the army was 
 cut off', and a body of Germans on full march to invade Gaul ; 
 so that under the terror of this news there were those, 
 whose cowardice would have emboldened them to de- 
 molish the bridge upon the Rhine, had not Agrippina 
 forbidden the infamous attempt ; but this high-minded 
 woman took upon herself all the duties of a general, and 
 distributed to the soldiers gratuitously medicines and 
 clothes, according as any one was in want or wounded. 
 Caius Plinius, the writer of the German wars, relates that 
 she stood at the head of the bridge, as the legions re- 
 turned, and bestowed on them thanks and praises, a be- 
 haviour which sunk deep into the heart of Tiberius; "for 
 these attentions he thought were not disinterested ; nor 
 was] it against foreigners she sought to win the army; 
 for nothing was now left the generals to do, when a woman 
 paid her visits of inspection to the companies, attended 
 the standards, and presumed to distribute largesses : as if 
 before she had shown but small tokens of ambitious de- 
 signs, in carrying her child (the son of the general) in a 
 soldier's uniform about the camp, and desiring that he be 
 styled Caesar Caligula. Already Agrippina was in greater 
 credit with the army than the lieutenant-generals, or even 
 the generals : a woman had suppressed a sedition, which 
 the authority of the emperor was not able to restrain." 
 These jealousies were inflamed and ministered to by Se- 
 janus ; who was well acquainted with the temper of Tibe- 
 rius, and supplied him with materials for hatred prospec- 
 tively, that he might treasure them up in his heart, and 
 draw them out augmented in bitterness. 
 
 70. Germanicus handed over the second and fourteenth
 
 4i> THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 of the legions, which he had brought in ships, to Publius 
 Vitellius to conduct them by land, that his fleet thus light- 
 ened might sail on the shoally sea, or run aground with 
 safety when the tide ebbed. Vitellius at first marched 
 without interruption while the ground was dry, or the tide 
 flowed within bounds ; presently the ocean beginning to 
 swell by the action of the north-west wind upon it, and 
 also by the influence of the equinoctial constellation, at 
 which season the sea swells most, the troops were miser- 
 ably harassed, and driven about. The lands were com- 
 pletely inundated ; the sea, the shore, the fields, had one 
 uniform face ; no distinction of depths from shallows ; of 
 firm from treacherous footing ; they were overturned by 
 billows ; absorbed by the eddies ; beasts of burden, bag- 
 gage, and dead bodies floated among them and came in 
 contact with them. The several companies were mixed 
 at random; wading now breast high, now up to their chin; 
 sometimes the ground failing them, they fell, some never 
 more to rise ; their cries and mutual encouragements 
 availed them nothing, the noise of the water drowning them ; 
 no difference between the coward and the brave, the wise 
 and the foolish ; none between circumspection and hapha- 
 zard ; but all were involved in the sweeping torrent. Vitel- 
 lius at length having by great exertion gained the higher 
 ground, withdrew the legions thither, where they passed 
 the night without fire, and without food ; many of them 
 naked or lamed ; not less miserable than men enclosed by 
 an enemy, for even such had the resource of an honour- 
 able death, while these must perish ingloriously ; daylight 
 restored the land, and they marched to the river Unsingis, 
 whither Germanicus had gone with the fleet. The legions 
 were then embarked, while rumour reported that they 
 were sunk ; nor was their escape believed, till Germanicus 
 and the army were seen to return. 
 
 71. Stertinius, who had been sent before to receive the 
 submission of Sigimerus, the brother of Segestes, had now 
 brought him and his son to the city of the Ubians : both 
 were pardoned ; the father promptly, the son with more 
 hesitation, because he was said to have insulted the corpse 
 of Varus. For the rest, Spain, Italy, and the Gauls vied in 
 supplying the losses of the army ; offering arms, horses, 
 money, whatever each had at hand. Germanicus ap- 
 plauding their zeal, accepted only the horses and arms 
 for the war : with his own money he assisted the soldiers ; 
 and to soften by kindness also the memory of the late dis- 
 aster, he visited the wounded, extolled the exploits of 
 individuals, and, looking at their wounds, with hopes en-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 43 
 
 couraged some, with a sense of glory animated others, and 
 by affability and attention confirmed them all in devotion 
 to himself and to the service. 
 
 72. The ornaments of triumph were this year decreed 
 to Aulus Caecina, Lucius Apronius, and Caius Silius, for 
 their services under Germanicus. The title of father of 
 his country, so often forced by the people upon Tiberius, 
 was rejected by him : nor would he permit swearing upon 
 his acts, though the same was voted by the senate : urging, 
 " the instability of all mortal things ; and that the higher 
 he was raised, the more slippery was his position :" he 
 did not, however, thus get credit for a popular spirit : for 
 he had revived the law of treason ; a law which, in the 
 days of our ancestors, had indeed the same name, but 
 different questions were tried under it. If any one im- 
 paired the majesty of the Roman people by betraying an 
 army, by exciting sedition among the commons, in short, 
 by any maladministration of the public affairs, the actions 
 were matter of trial, but words were free : Augustus was 
 the first who used to take cognizance of libels under pre- 
 tence of this law, incensed by the insolence of Cassius 
 Severus, which had prompted him to asperse distinguished 
 persons of both sexes by coarse lampoons. Soon after, 
 Tiberius, when Pompeius Macer, the praetor, consulted 
 him " whether trials should be had under this law ?" an- 
 swered, " that the laws must be executed.*' He also was 
 exasperated by the publication of satirical verses written 
 by unknown authors ; exposing his cruelty, his pride, and 
 dissensions with his mother. 
 
 73. It will be worth the trouble to relate here the pretend- 
 ed crimes charged in the cases of Falanius and Rubrius, two 
 Roman knights of small fortunes ; that it may be known 
 from what beginnings, and with what subtlety on the part 
 of Tiberius, this grievous mischief crept in ; how it was 
 again restrained ; how at last it blazed out and bore down 
 all before it. To Falanius was objected by his accuser, 
 that " amongst the adorers of Augustus, of which there 
 was a sort of college in every house, he had admitted one 
 Cassius, a mimic and infamous character ; and having sold 
 his gardens, had likewise with them transferred the statue 
 of Augustus." Against Rubrius it was charged, " that he 
 had sworn falsely by the divinity of Augustus." When 
 these accusations were known to Tiberius, he wrote to the 
 consuls, " that heaven was not therefore decreed to his 
 father, that that honour should be perverted to the de- 
 struction of citizens ; that Cassius the player was wont to 
 assist with others of his profession at the interludes con-
 
 44 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 secrated by his mother to the memory of Augustus : nor 
 was it incompatible with religious adorations, that his 
 bust, like other images of the gods, was comprehended in 
 the sale of houses and gardens. That the oath was to be 
 regarded in the same light as if he had sworn falsely by 
 the name of Jupiter; but to the gods belonged the aveng- 
 ing of injuries done to the gods." 
 
 74. Nor long after, Granius Marcellus, praetor of Bithy- 
 nia, was prosecuted for high treason by his own quaestor 
 Cepio Crispinus ; Romanus Hispo supporting the charge. 
 ThisCepio began a species of avocation which, through the 
 miserable times and the daring wickedness of men, after- 
 wards became very common and notorious : for, at first 
 needy and obscure, but of a restless spirit, by creeping into 
 the good graces of the prince, who was naturally cruel, by 
 secret informations, and thus imperiling the life of all the 
 most distinguished citizens ; he acquired influence with 
 one, but the hatred of all, and thus exhibited an example, 
 by following which men from being poor became rich, 
 from being contemptible became formidable, and after 
 bringing destruction upon others, at last perished by their 
 own arts. He accused Marcellus of " holding defamatory 
 discourses concerning Tiberius ;" a charge which it was 
 impossible to repel : when the accuser collected all the 
 most detestable parts of the prince's character, and framed 
 his accusation with reference to them : for, because they 
 were true, they were believed to have been spoken. To 
 this Hispo added, " that the statue of Marcellus was by 
 him placed higher than those of the Caesars ; and that 
 having cut off the head of an Augustus, he had in the room 
 of it set the head of a Tiberius." At this he flew into such 
 a rage, that breaking silence, he cried out that, " he 
 would himself, in this cause, give his vote openly, and 
 upon oath;" that the rest might be under the necessity of 
 doing the same. There remained even then some faint 
 traces of expiring liberty. Hence Cneius Piso asked him, 
 "in what place, Caesar, will you give your opinion? If 
 first, I shall have your example to follow : if last, I fear I 
 may unwittingly dissent from you." Deeply affected by 
 these words, and by how much the more indiscreetly he 
 had let his passion boil over, by so much the more sub- 
 missive now from regret that he should have committed 
 himself, he suffered the accused to be acquitted of high 
 treason. His trial on the charge of peculation was referred 
 to the proper judges. 
 
 75. Nor was Tiberius satisfied to assist in the judicial 
 proceedings of the senate only : he likewise sat in the court
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 45 
 
 of justice ; in the corner of the tribunal, because he would 
 not dispossess the praetor of his chair : and in his pre- 
 sence, many decisions were given in opposition to the 
 intrigues and solicitations of powerful citizens. But 
 while the interests of justice were consulted, liberty was 
 undermined. About this time, Pius Aurelius the senator, 
 whose house, yielding to the pressure of the public road 
 and aqueducts, had fallen, complained to the senate and 
 prayed relief. Opposed by the praetors of the treasury, 
 he was supported by Tiberius, who ordered him the price 
 of his house ; for he was fond of being liberal upon fair 
 occasions : a virtue which he long retained, even after he 
 had abandoned all others. Upon Propertius Celer, once 
 praetor, but now desiring leave to resign the dignity of 
 senator, on the score of poverty, he bestowed a thousand 
 great sesterces, upon satisfactory information that his ne- 
 cessities were derived from his father. Others, who at- 
 tempted the same thing, he ordered to prove their allega- 
 tions to the senate ; from his over anxiety to be strict he 
 was thus austere even in his good actions. Hence the 
 rest preferred poverty and concealment to exposure and 
 relief. 
 
 76. The same year, the Tiber, swoln with continual 
 rains, overflowed the level parts of the city ; when the 
 flood subsided, men and houses were washed away by the 
 torrent. Hence Asinius Gallus moved, " that the Si- 
 bylline books might be consulted." Tiberius opposed it, 
 equally smothering all inquiry into matters human or 
 divine. To Ateius Capito, however, and Lucius Arrun- 
 tius, was committed the care of restraining the river within 
 its banks. The provinces of Achaia and Macedon, pray- 
 ing relief from their public burdens, were for the present 
 discharged of their proconsular government, and trans- 
 ferred to Tiberius. In the entertainment of gladiators at 
 Rome, Drusus presided : it was exhibited in the name of 
 Germanicus, and his own ; and at it he manifested too 
 much delight in blood, though that of slaves: a feeling 
 terrible to the populace; and for which even his father 
 was said to have reproved him. The absence of Tiberius 
 from these shows was variously construed : by some it was 
 ascribed to his impatience of a crowd ; by others to the 
 austerity of his genius, and his fear of comparison with 
 Augustus, who was wont to be a cheerful spectator. But, 
 that he thus purposely furnished matter for exposing the 
 cruelty of his son there, and for raising him popular hate, 
 is what I would not believe: though this too was asserted. 
 
 77. The riots connected with the theatre, begun last year,
 
 40 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 broke out now more violently : several, not of the people 
 only, but of the soldiers, with a centurion, lost their lives; 
 and a tribune of a praetorian cohort was wounded, whilst 
 they were securing the magistrates from insults, and re- 
 storing tranquillity among the rabble. This tumult was 
 canvassed in the senate, and opinions were given that the 
 praetors should be empowered to whip the players : Ha- 
 terius Agrippa, tribune of the people, opposed it ; and 
 was sharply rebuked by a speech of Asinius Gallus. Ti- 
 berius was silent, and to the senate allowed these mockeries 
 of liberty. The opposition, however, prevailed, because 
 the deified Augustus had formerly given his judgment, 
 " that players were exempt from stripes :" nor would re- 
 ligion permit that Tiberius should annul his decisions. 
 Concerning the limitation of the money laid out on the- 
 atrical exhibitions, and to restrain the licentiousness of 
 their partisans, many decrees were made : the most re- 
 markable were, " that no senator should enter the houses 
 of pantomimes ; that Roman knights should not attend 
 them when they went into the street : they should exhibit 
 nowhere but in the theatre ; and the praters should have 
 power to punish the excesses of the spectators with exile." 
 
 78. The Spaniards were, upon their petition, permitted 
 to build a temple to Augustus in the colony of Terragon: 
 and an example was held up for all the provinces to follow. 
 In answer to the people, who prayed to be relieved from 
 the * centesima,' a tax of one in the hundred, established 
 at the end of the civil wars, upon all vendible commodi- 
 ties ; Tiberius by an edict declared, " that upon this tax 
 depended the fund for maintaining the army : nor even 
 thus was the commonwealth equal to the expense, if be- 
 fore their twentieth year the veterans were dismissed." 
 Thus the ill-advised regulations, made during the late se- 
 dition, by which the limit of sixteen years was assigned to 
 their service, in submission to force, were rescinded. 
 
 79. It was next proposed to the senate, by Arruntius and 
 Ateius, whether, in order to restrain the overflowing of 
 the Tiber, a new course should be given to the rivers and 
 lakes by which it is swelled. Upon this question the de- 
 puties of several cities and colonies were heard. The 
 Florentines besought, " that the bed of the Clanis might 
 not be turned into their river Arnus; for that the same 
 would prove their utter ruin." A similar objection was 
 urged by the Interamnates ; "since the most fruitful plains 
 in Italy would be lost, if, according to the project, the 
 Nar, branched out into rivulets, overflowed them." Nor 
 did the Reatinians fail to remonstrate against stopping the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 47 
 
 outlets of the lake Velinus into the Nar ; " for," they said, 
 " it would overflow the adjacent country : that nature 
 had made the wisest provision for the interests of man : 
 that she had assigned to rivers their proper mouths and 
 courses, and as she had fixed their sources so had she 
 determined their exits. Regard, too, was to be paid to 
 the religion of our Latin allies, who, esteeming the rivers 
 of their country sacred, had to them dedicated priests, 
 and altars, and groves : nay, the Tiber himself, bereft of 
 the neighbouring streams, would refuse to flow with di- 
 minished majesty." Now, whether it were, that the prayers 
 of the colonies, or the difficulty of the work, or the influ- 
 ence of superstition prevailed, it is certain the opinion of 
 Piso was followed ; namely, that nothing should be altered. 
 To Poppaeus Sabinus was continued his province of Mae- 
 sia ; and to it was added that of Achaia and Macedon. 
 
 80. This, too, was part of the policy of Tiberius, to con- 
 tinue persons in offices, and for the most part to maintain 
 them in the same military authority, or civil employments, 
 to the end of their lives; with what view, is not agreed. 
 Some think, " that from an impatience of recurring care, 
 he was for making whatever he once resolved on, per- 
 petual." Others, " that from the malignity of his nature 
 he could not endure that many should reap the benefit of 
 office." There are some who believe, that as he had a 
 crafty, penetrating spirit, so he had an understanding ever 
 irresolute and perplexed." Nor, indeed, did he seek men 
 of pre-eminent virtue, while, on the other hand, he de- 
 tested vice : from the best men he dreaded danger to him- 
 self, and disgrace to the public from the worst. This diffi- 
 culty in deciding grew to such a pitch at last that he as- 
 signed provinces to some persons whom he had resolved 
 never to suffer to quit the city. 
 
 81. Of the comitia for the creation of consuls, which took 
 place in the reign of Tiberius, for the first time in this 
 year, and in each successive year, I hardly dare affirm 
 anything : so different are the accounts about it, found 
 not only amongst historians, but even in his own speeches. 
 Sometimes, not naming the candidates, he described them 
 by their family, by their life and manners, and by the 
 number of their campaigns ; so as it might be apparent 
 whom he meant. Again, avoiding even to describe them, 
 he exhorted the candidates not to disturb the election by 
 their intrigues, and promised, himself, to take care of their 
 interests. His general practice was, to declare, " that to 
 him none had signified their pretensions but those whose 
 names he had delivered to the consuls; others, too, might
 
 48 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 do the same, if they had confidence in their interest or 
 merits." Sentiments, plausible in terms ; in substance, 
 hollow and insidious : and the greater the semblance of 
 liberty with which they were covered, the more remorse- 
 less the slavery in which they would issue.
 
 THE 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 DURING the consulship of Sisenna Statilius Taurus, and 
 Lucius Libo, the kingdoms and Roman provinces of the 
 east, were in a state of commotion ; it began with the 
 Parthians, who, having sought and accepted a king from 
 Rome, afterwards, though he was of the race of the Ar- 
 sacidae, contemned him as a foreigner. This was Vonones, 
 who had been given as an hostage to Augustus by Phra- 
 ates : for Phraates, though he had repulsed the Roman 
 generals and armies, had accumulated every mark of re- 
 verence on Augustus, and sent him, to bind their friend- 
 ship, part of his offspring ; not so much through fear of 
 us, as distrusting the allegiance of his countrymen. 
 
 2. After the death of Phraates and the succeeding kings, 
 ambassadors- from the chief men of Parthia arrived at 
 Rome, to call home Vonones his eldest son ; in order to 
 end their intestine slaughters. Tiberius thought this a 
 high honour to himself, and dismissed him with great pomp 
 and presents. The Barbarians, too, received him with 
 exultation ; as is usual at the commencement of a reign. 
 But shame soon succeeded " for the. degeneracy of the 
 Parthians, who had thus fetched from another world a 
 king tainted by the practices of their enemies : the imperial 
 throne of the Arsacidae," they said, " was now deemed 
 and given as a Roman province : where was the glory of 
 those who slew Crassus, of those who expelled Mark An- 
 tony, if a slave of Caesar's, who had endured bondage for 
 so many years, should lord it over the Parthians?" He 
 himself also inflamed their disdain, by abandoning the 
 institutions of his ancestors, by rarely joining in the chace, 
 by the sluggish interest he took in horses, and, whenever 
 he made a progress through the cities, by riding in a litter, 
 and by his haughty contempt of the national mode of ban- 
 queting: they also ridiculed his Greek attendants, and 
 the most worthless articles of domestic use secured under 
 a seal : but his easiness of access, his unhesitating cour- 
 
 E
 
 50 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 tesy, virtues unknown to the Parthians, were'to them new 
 vices ; and every part of his manners, the laudable and 
 the bad, were subject to equal hatred, because foreign 
 from their own. 
 
 3. They therefore sent for Artabanus, of the blood of 
 the Arsacidae, bred amongst the Dahae. In the first en- 
 gagement he was routed, but repaired his forces and gained 
 the kingdom. The vanquished Vonones found a retreat 
 in Armenia, where was a vacant throne, and a people 
 wavering between the powers of Parthia and of Rome : 
 distrusting us by reason of the villany of Mark Antony, 
 who having by professions of friendship inveigled into his 
 power Artavasdes, king of the Armenians, then loaded 
 him with chains, and at last put him to death. Artaxias, 
 his son, for his father's sake hating us, defended himself 
 and his kingdom by the forces of the Arsacidae. Artaxias 
 being slain through the perfidy of his kindred, Tigranes 
 was by Augustus appointed king of the Armenians, and 
 by Tiberius Nero put in possession of the kingdom. But 
 neither was the reign of Tigranes lasting, nor that of his 
 children, though, according to the custom of foreign na- 
 tions, they took partners of the throne and marriage bed 
 from among themselves. Artavasdes was next set over 
 them, by the appointment of Augustus ; but at great ex- 
 pense of Roman blood he was deposed. 
 
 4. At that juncture Caius Caesar was chosen to settle 
 affairs in Armenia: by him Ariobarzanes, by descent a 
 Mede, distinguished for his graceful person and eminent 
 endowments, was placed over the Armenians, with their 
 own consent. Ariobarzanes being killed by accident, they 
 would not bear the rule of his children, but tried the go- 
 vernment of a woman named Erato, and having soon de- 
 posed her, unsettled, wavering, and rather without a mas- 
 ter than possessed of liberty, they received the fugitive 
 Vonones for their king: but when Artabanus menaced 
 him, and he could expect little help from the Armenians, 
 as, if he were protected by our forces, a war with the 
 Parthians must be undertaken, Creticus Silanus, governor 
 of Syria, invited him thither ; but when he came, set a 
 guard upon him ; leaving him still the name and pomp of 
 royalty : what attempts Vonones made to escape from this 
 mockery, we will relate in its place. 
 
 5. Now Tiberius was not displeased with the occurrence 
 of commotions in the east, since thence he had a colour for 
 separating Germanicus from the legions that were attached 
 to him from habit; for setting him over strange provinces, 
 and exposing him at once to casual perils and the efforts
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 51 
 
 of fraud. But he, the more ardent the affections of the 
 soldiers, and the greater the hatred of his uncle, so much 
 the more intent upon expediting a victory, weighed with 
 himself the methods of bringing on battles, with all the 
 disasters and successes which had befallen him in the war 
 to this his third year. He remembered, " that the Germans 
 were ever routed in a regular battle and upon ground 
 adapted to fighting ; that they were benefited by woods 
 and bogs, short summers, and early winters ; that his own 
 men suffered not so much from their wounds, as from the 
 length of the marches, and the loss of the instruments of 
 war : the Gauls were weary of furnishing horses ; long 
 and cumbersome was his train of baggage, easily sur- 
 prised, and with difficulty defended : but if the country 
 should be entered by sea, it would be easy for them to get 
 possession of favourable ground, while the enemy would 
 be unaware of their movement : besides, the war would be 
 earlier begun ; the legions and provisions conveyed to- 
 gether; and the horsemen and horses brought with safety, 
 through the mouths and channels of the rivers, into the 
 heart of Germany." 
 
 6. To this object, therefore, he directed his efforts: 
 whilst Publius Vitellius and Publius Cantius were sent to 
 collect the tribute of the Gauls, Silius, Anteius, and Caecina 
 had the direction of building the fleet : a thousand vessels 
 were thought sufficient, and quickly finished : some were 
 short, with narrow stern and prow, and broad in the mid- 
 dle, the easier to endure the shock of the waves : some 
 had flat bottoms, that without damage they might run 
 aground : several had helms at each end, that by suddenly 
 turning the oars, they might work either way. Many 
 were furnished with decks, upon which the engines of 
 war might be conveyed, and were fitted for carrying horses 
 or provisions, convenient for sails, and swift with oars ; 
 the effective and formidable appearance of the fleet was 
 heightened by the spirit of the troops. The Isle of Ba- 
 tavia, by reason of its easy landings, its convenience for 
 receiving the forces, and transporting them to the war, 
 was appointed as the place of rendezvous. For the Rhine, 
 flowing in one uninterrupted channel, or broken by small 
 islands, is, at the commencement of Batavia, divided as it 
 were into two rivers ; one retaining its name and the vio- 
 lence of its course, where it flows by Germany, till it mixes 
 with the ocean ; the other washing the Gallic shore, with 
 a broader and more gentle stream, is by the inhabitants 
 called by another name, the Wahal, which it soon after
 
 52 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 changes for that of the river Meuse, by whose immense 
 mouth it is discharged into the same ocean. 
 
 7. But while the ships were being brought up, Germani- 
 cus commanded Silius his lieutenant with a flying band to 
 invade the Cattians; and he himself, upon hearing that the 
 fort upon the river Luppia was besieged, led six legions 
 thither: but the sudden rains prevented Silius from doing 
 more than taking some small plunder, with the wife and 
 daughter of Arpus, prince of the Cattians ; nor did the 
 besiegers stay to fight Germanicus, but upon the report of 
 his approach stole off and dispersed : they had, however, 
 thrown down the barrow lately raised to the Varian le- 
 gions, and the old altar erected to Drusus. He restored 
 the altar; and the prince himself, with the legions, per- 
 formed a solemn procession to the honour of his father ; 
 but he did not think proper to raise a fresh barrow ; all 
 the space, too, between fort Aliso and the Rhine, he se- 
 cured with new barriers and ramparts. 
 
 8. And now the fleet had arrived ; when, having sent 
 the stores forward, and assigned ships to the legions and 
 the allies, he entered the canal named after Drusus, and 
 prayed to his father, " to be propitious and favourable to 
 him, and aid him in attempting the same enterprises, by 
 the inspiration of his example, and the recollection of his 
 counsels and achievements." Thence he sailed prosper- 
 ously through the lakes and the ocean as far as the river 
 Amisia. The fleet being left at Amisia, upon the left 
 shore, (and it was a fault that it sailed no higher up) ; he 
 put the troops over by bridges, their destination being to 
 the territories on the right ; thus many days were con- 
 sumed in making bridges. The horse and the legions 
 crossed the sestuaries at the mouth of the river without 
 confusion, as it was yet ebb ; but the auxiliaries forming 
 the rear, and among them the Batavians, while they 
 played with the waves, and showed their dexterity in 
 swimming, were thrown into disorder, and some were 
 drowned. Whilst Germanicus was encamping, he was 
 told of the revolt of the Angrivarians behind him ; thither 
 he despatched a body of horse and light infantry, under 
 Stertinius, who with fire and slaughter revenged their 
 perfidy. 
 
 9. Between the Romans and the Cheruscans flowed the 
 river Visurgis : on its bank stood Arminius, with the other 
 chiefs, inquiring whether Germanicus was come ; and 
 being answered that he was there, he prayed leave to 
 speak with his brother: this brother of his was in the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 53 
 
 army, his name Flavius, remarkable for his fidelity, and 
 for the loss of an eye under Tiberius : permission was then 
 granted. Flavius advancing, was saluted by Arminius, 
 who having removed his own attendants, requested that 
 the archers, ranged upon our bank, might retire : when 
 they were gone, " how came you," he asked his brother, 
 " by that deformity in your face?" .The brother having 
 informed him where, and in what fight, he desired to 
 know, "what reward he had received?" Flavius an- 
 swered, "increase of pay, the chain, the crown, and other 
 military gifts ;" which Arminius treated with derision, as 
 the vile wages qf servitude. 
 
 10. After that they began in different strains: Flavius 
 urged " the Roman greatness, the power of Caesar, the se- 
 vere punishment inflicted on the vanquished ; and the cle- 
 mency vouchsafed to those who submitted ; that neither the 
 wife nor son of Arminius was treated as a captive." Ar- 
 minius to this opposed " the claims of country, their here- 
 ditary liberty, the domestic gods of Germany ; their mother, 
 who joined in his prayer that he would not prefer the cha- 
 racter of a deserter, and a betrayer of his kinsmen and 
 connections, in short, of his race, to that of their general." 
 From this they gradually proceeded to invectives ; nor 
 would the interposition of the river have restrained them 
 from an encounter, had not Stertinius, running to him, 
 held back Flavius, full of rage, and calling for his arms 
 and his horse. On the opposite side was seen Arminius, 
 menacing furiously and proclaiming battle. For, most of 
 what he said in this dialogue was in Latin ; having, as the 
 general of his countrymen, served in the Roman camp. 
 
 11. Next day, the German army stood in order of battle 
 beyond the Visurgis. Germanicus, who thought it be- 
 came not a general to endanger the legions in the passage 
 without bridges and guards, made the horse ford over. 
 They were led by Stertinius, and^Emilius one of the prin- 
 cipal centurions, who entered the river at distant places, 
 to divide the attention of the foe. Cariovalda, captain of 
 the Batavians, dashed through where most rapid, and 
 was by the Cheruscans, who feigned flight, drawn into a 
 plain surrounded with woods. Then starting up at once, 
 and pouring upon him on every side, they overthrew those 
 who resisted, and pressed after those who gave way, who 
 at length forming themselves into a circle, were assailed 
 by some hand to hand, by others were annoyed with mis- 
 siles. Cariovalda, having long sustained the fury of the 
 enemy, exhorted his men to break through the assailing 
 bands in a solid body ; he himself charged into the thick-
 
 54 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 est, and fell under a shower of darts, his horse also being 
 killed, and many nobles fell around him: the rest were 
 saved by their own bravery, or by the cavalry under Ster- 
 tinius and yEmilius, which came up to their assistance. 
 
 12. Germanicus, having passed the Visurgis, learnt from 
 a deserter that Arminius had marked out the place of bat- 
 tle ; that more nations had also joined him at a wood sa- 
 cred to Hercules, and would attempt to storm our camp 
 by night. The deserter was believed ; the enemy's fires 
 were in view ; and the scouts, having advanced towards 
 them, reported that they had heard the neighing of horses, 
 and the murmur of a mighty and tumultuous host. Being 
 thus upon the eve of a decisive battle, Germanicus thought 
 it behoved him to learn the sentiments of the soldiers, and 
 deliberated with himself how to get at the truth: "the 
 reports of the tribunes and centurions were oftener agree- 
 able than true ; the freedmen had servile spirits; friends 
 were apt to flatter; if an assembly were called, there too 
 the counsel proposed by a few was carried by the clamor- 
 ous plaudits of the rest. The minds of soldiers could then 
 only be thoroughly known when by themselves, free from 
 all restraint, and over their mess, they gave unreserved 
 utterance to their hopes and fears." 
 
 13. At nightfall, he went out of the pavilion with a sin- 
 gle attendant; the skin of a wild beast covering his shoul- 
 ders ; and proceeding by a secret way, where there were 
 no sentinels, entered the avenues of the camp, stationed 
 himself near the tents, and eagerly listened to what was 
 said of himself; while one magnified the imperial birth 
 of his general, another his graceful person, very many his 
 firmness, condescension, and the evenness of his temper, 
 whether seriously occupied or in moments of relaxation ; 
 and they confessed that their sense of his merits should be 
 shown in battle, protesting at the same time that those 
 traitors and violators of peace should be made a sacrifice 
 to vengeance and to fame. In the mean time, one of the 
 enemy who understood Latin, rode up to the palisades, 
 and, with a loud voice, offered, in the name of Arminius, 
 to every deserter a wife and land, and as long as the war 
 lasted an hundred sesterces a day. This affront kindled 
 the wrath of the legions : " Let day come," they cried, 
 " battle should be given : the soldiers would themselves 
 take the lands of the Germans ; lead away wives by right 
 of conquest ; they, however, welcomed the omen, and 
 considered the wealth and women of the enemy as their 
 destined prey." About the third watch an attempt was 
 made upon the camp, but not a dart was discharged, as
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 55 
 
 they found the cohorts planted thick upon the works, 
 and nothing neglected that was necessary for a vigorous 
 defence. 
 
 14. Germanicus had the same night a cheering dream : 
 he thought he sacrificed, and, in place of his own robe 
 besmeared with the blood of the victim, received one fairer 
 from the hands of his grandmother Augusta. Elated by 
 the omen, and the auspices being favourable, he called 
 an assembly, and laid before them what in his judgment 
 seemed likely to be advantageous and suitable for the im- 
 pending battle. He said, " that to the Roman soldiers 
 not only plains, but, with due circumspection, even woods 
 and forests were convenient : the huge targets, the enor- 
 mous spears of the Barbarians, could never be wielded 
 amongst trunks of trees and thickets of underwood, shoot- 
 ing up from the ground, like Roman swords and javelins, 
 and armour fitting the body ; that they should reiterate 
 their blows, and aim at the face with their swords ; the 
 Germans had neither helmet nor coat of mail ; their buck- 
 lers were not even strengthened with leather, or iron, but 
 mere contextures of twigs, and boards of no substance 
 flourished over with paint; their first rank was armed with 
 pikes, in some sort, the rest had only stakes burnt at the 
 end, or short darts : and now to come to their persons, as 
 they were terrific to sight, and vigorous enough for a brief 
 effort, so they were utterly impatient of wounds : un- 
 affected with shame for misconduct, and destitute of re- 
 spect for their generals, they would quit their posts, or 
 run away before the enemy : cowards in adversity, in pro- 
 sperity despisers of all divine, of all human laws : if, weary 
 of marches and sea voyages, they wished an end of these 
 things, by this battle it was presented to them : the Elbe 
 was now nearer than the Rhine ; there was nothing to 
 subdue beyond this ; they had only to place him, crowned 
 with victory, in the same country which had witnessed the 
 triumphs of his father and uncle, in whose footsteps he 
 was treading." The ardour of the soldiers was kindled by 
 this speech of the general, and the signal for the onset 
 was given. 
 
 15. Neither did Arminius, or the other chiefs, neglect 
 solemnly to assure their several bands, that " these were 
 Romans ; the most desperate fugitives of the Varian army, 
 who to avoid the hardships of war had put on the cha- 
 racter of rebels ; who, without any hope of success, were 
 again braving the angry gods, and exposing to their ex- 
 asperated foes, some of them, backs burthened with 
 wounds, others, limbs enfeebled with the effects of storms
 
 56 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 and tempests. Their motive for having recourse to a 
 fleet and the pathless regions of the ocean was, that no 
 one might oppose them as they approached or pursue them 
 when repulsed ; but when they engaged hand to hand, 
 vain would be the help of winds and oars after a defeat : 
 the Germans needed only remember their rapine, cruelty, 
 and pride ; was any other course left them than to main- 
 tain their liberty, and if they could not do that, to die be- 
 fore they took a yoke upon them?" 
 
 16. The enemy thus inflamed, and calling for battle, 
 were led into a plain called Idistavisus: it lies between the 
 Visurgis and the hills, and winds irregularly along, as it 
 is encroached upon by the projecting bases of the moun- 
 tains, or enlarged by the receding banks of the river : at 
 their rear rose a majestic forest, the branches of the 
 trees shooting up into the air, but the ground clear be- 
 twen their trunks : the army of Barbarians occupied the 
 plain, and the entrances of the forest: the Cheruscans 
 alone sat in ambush upon the mountain, in order to pour 
 down from thence upon the Romans, when engaged in 
 the fight. Our army marched thus ; the auxiliary Gauls 
 and Germans in front, after them the foot archers, next 
 four legions, and then Germanicus with two praetorian 
 cohorts, and the choice of the cavalry ; then four legions 
 more, and the light foot with the mounted archers, and 
 the other cohorts of the allies ; the men were on the alert 
 and in readiness, so that the order of march might form 
 the order of battle when they halted. 
 
 17. As the bands of Cheruscans who had impatiently 
 rushed forward were now perceived, Germanicus com- 
 manded the most efficient of his horse to charge them in the 
 flank, and Stertinius with the rest to wheel round to attack 
 them in the rear, and promised to be ready to assist them 
 at the proper moment. Meanwhile an omen of happiest im- 
 port appeared; eight eagles, seen to fly toward the wood, 
 and to enter it, caught the eye of the general: "Advance!" 
 he cried, "follow the Roman birds; follow the tutelar 
 deities of the legions !" At once the foot charged, and the 
 cavalry sent forward attacked their flank and rear: and 
 strange to relate, the two divisions of their army fled op- 
 posite ways ; that in the woods ran to the plain, that in 
 the plain rushed into the woods. The Cheruscans be- 
 tween both, were driven from the hills; amongst them 
 Arminius formed a conspicuous object, while with his 
 hand, his voice, and the exhibition of his wounds, he 
 strove to sustain the fight: he had vigorously assaulted 
 the archers, and would have broken through them, had
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 57 
 
 not the cohorts of the Rhaetians, the Vindelicians, and 
 the Gauls, advanced to oppose him : however, by his own 
 personal effort, and the impetus of his horse, he made 
 good his passage ; his face besmeared with his own blood 
 to avoid being known. Some have related that the Chau- 
 cians, who were amongst the Roman auxiliaries, knew 
 him, and let him go : the same bravery or stratagem pro- 
 cured Inguiornerus his escape : the rest were slain on all 
 hands; great numbers attempting to swim the Visurgis, 
 perished, either by the darts showered after them, or 
 the violence of the current ; or if they escaped these they 
 were overwhelmed by the weight of the rushing crowd, 
 and the banks which fell upon them : some, seeking an 
 ignominious refuge, climbed to the tops of trees, and con- 
 cealing themselves amongst the branches, were shot in 
 sport by the archers, who were brought up for the pur- 
 pose ; others were dashed against the ground as the trees 
 were felled. This was a great victory, and withal achieved 
 without loss on our side. 
 
 18. This slaughter of the foe, from the fifth hour of the 
 day till night, filled the country for ten miles with carcases 
 and arms. Amongst the spoils, chains were found, which, 
 sure of conquering, they had brought to bind the Roman 
 captives. The soldiers saluted Tiberius as ' Imperator,' 
 upon the field of battle, and, raising a mount, placed upon 
 it, after the 'manner of trophies, the German arms, with 
 the names of all the vanquished nations inscribed below. 
 
 19. This sight filled the Germans with more anguish 
 and rage than all their wounds, afflictions, and overthrows. 
 They, who were just now prepared to abandon their dwell- 
 ings, and retire beyond the Elbe, meditate war and grasp 
 their arms; people, nobles, youth, aged, all rush suddenly 
 upon the Roman army in its march, and disorder it. 
 Lastly, they chose a position shut in by a river and a forest, 
 the inner space being a confined and humid plain ; the 
 forest too surrounded with a deep marsh, except that the 
 Agrivarii had elevated one side by erecting a broad mound 
 to part them and the Cheruscans. Here their foot were 
 posted : their horse were concealed amongst the neigh- 
 bouring groves, that they might be on the rear of the le- 
 gions when they had entered the wood. 
 
 20. Nothing of all this was a secret to Germanicus. He 
 knew their counsels, their stations ; their overt movements 
 and their concealed measures ; and turned their subtlety 
 to the destruction of themselves. To Seius Tubero, his 
 lieutenant, he committed the horse and the field ; the in- 
 fantry he so formed, that part might pass the level ap-
 
 58 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 preaches into the wood, and the rest force their way up 
 the rampart: whatever was arduous he reserved to him- 
 self, the rest he committed to his lieutenants. Those who 
 had the even ground to traverse, easily forced an entrance, 
 but they who were to storm the rampart, were battered 
 from above, as if they had been assaulting a wall. The 
 general perceived the inequality of this close encounter, 
 and drawing off the legions a small distance, ordered the 
 stingers and engineers to discharge ttieir missiles, and dis- 
 lodge the enemy : immediately darts were poured from 
 the engines, and the defenders of the barrier, the more 
 conspicuous they were, with the more wounds were beaten 
 down. Germanicus, having taken the rampart, first forced 
 his way, at the head of the praetorian cohorts, into the 
 woods, and there it was fought foot to foot: behind the 
 enemy was the morass, behind the Romans the mountains 
 or the river ; no room for either to retreat, no hope but 
 in valour ; no safety but in victory. 
 
 21. The Germans were not inferior in courage, but in 
 the mode of fighting and the nature of their arms; as their 
 vast numbers, hampered in narrow places, could not push 
 forward nor recover their immense spears ; nor practise 
 their usual assaults and rapid motions, being compelled 
 by their crowded condition to adopt a stationary mode of 
 fight. On the contrary, our soldiers, with shields fitted 
 to their breasts, and their hands firmly grasping their 
 sword-hilts, could gash the brawny limbs and naked faces 
 of the Barbarians, and open themselves a way with havoc 
 of the enemy. Besides, the activity of Arminius now failed 
 him ; either exhausted by a succession of disasters, or dis- 
 abled by his recent wound. Nay, Inguiomerus too, who 
 flew from place to place throughout the battle, was aban- 
 doned by fortune rather than courage. Germanicus, to 
 be the easier known, pulled off his helmet, and exhorted 
 his men, "To prosecute the slaughter; they wanted no 
 captives, he said, the extermination of the people alone 
 would put an end to the war." It was now late in the day, 
 and he drew off a legion to pitch a camp; the rest glutted 
 themselves till night with the blood of the foe : the horse 
 fought with doubtful success. 
 
 %%. Germanicus, having in a public harangue praised his 
 victorious troops, raised a pile of arms, with this proud in- 
 scription : " That the army of Tiberius Caesar, having sub- 
 dued the nations between the Rhine and the Elbe, had 
 consecrated these memorials to Mars, to Jupiter, and to 
 Augustus." Of himself he made no mention ; either fear- 
 ful of provoking envy, or that he felt satisfied with the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 59 
 
 consciousness of his own merit. He next charged Ster- 
 tinius with the war amongst the Angrivarians ; and he 
 would have proceeded, had they not made haste to submit ; 
 approaching as supplicants, and making a full confession 
 of their guilt, they received pardon without reserve. 
 
 23. The summer being now far advanced, some of the 
 legions were sent back into winter-quarters by land ; the 
 greater part Caesar put on board the fleet and conveyed 
 them along the Amisia to the Ocean. The sea, at first se- 
 rene, resounded only with the oars of a thousand ships, or 
 their impulse when under sail ; but presently a shower of 
 hail poured down from a black mass of clouds ; at the 
 same time, storms raging on all sides, in every variety, the 
 billows rolling, now here now there, obstructed the view, 
 and made it impossible to manage the ships : the soldiers 
 too, unaccustomed to the perils of the sea, while in their 
 alarm they embarrassed the mariners or helped them awk- 
 wardly, rendered unavailing the services of the skilful. 
 After this the whole expanse of air and sea was swept 
 by a south-west wind ; which, deriving strength from the 
 mountainous regions of Germany, its deep rivers, and 
 boundless tract of clouded atmosphere, and rendered still 
 harsher by the rigour of the neighbouring north, tore away 
 the ships, scattered and drove them into the open ocean, 
 or upon islands dangerous from precipitous rocks or the 
 hidden sand-banks which beset them. Having got a little 
 clear of these, but with great difficulty, the tide turning 
 and flowing in the same direction as that in which the 
 wind blew, they were unable to ride at anchor, or bale out 
 the water that broke in upon them ; horses, beasts of bur- 
 then, baggage, even arms, were thrown overboard, to 
 lighten the holds of the vessels, which took in water at 
 their sides, and from the waves too running over them. 
 
 24. By how much the Ocean is more stormy than other 
 seas, and Germany exceeds other countries in the rigour 
 of its climate, by so much this disaster surpassed in point 
 of magnitude and the peculiarity of its circumstances. 
 Around them were either shores inhabited by enemies, or 
 a sea so vast and unfathomable as to be supposed the 
 limit of the world, and unbounded by lands. Part of the 
 fleet were swallowed up ; many were driven upon remote 
 islands, where, without a trace of civilised humanity, the 
 men perished through famine, or were kept alive by the 
 carcases of horses that were dashed upon the same shore. 
 The galley of Germanicus alone reached the coast of the 
 Chaucians, where, during the whole period of his stay, 
 both day and night, amid the rocks and prominences of
 
 60 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 the shore, he reproached himself as the author of such 
 overwhelming destruction, and was hardly restrained by 
 his friends from destroying himself in the same sea.' At 
 last, with the returning tide, and favouring gale, the shat- 
 tered ships returned, almost all destitute of oars, or with 
 garments spread for sails ; and some towed by those that 
 were less disabled. He repaired them hastily, and de- 
 spatched them to search the islands ; by this diligence the 
 greater part were gleaned up ; many were by the Angri- 
 varians, our new subjects, redeemed from their more inland 
 neighbours and restored ; and some, driven into Great 
 Britain, were sent back by the petty kings. Each accord- 
 ing to the remoteness of the regions he had returned from, 
 recounted the wonders he had witnessed : " The impe- 
 tuosity of whirlwinds; strange birds ; sea-monsters of am- 
 biguous forms between man and beast;" things either seen, 
 or fancied from the effects of fear. 
 
 25. Intelligence of this wreck animated the Germans 
 with hopes of renewing the war ; which Germanicus per- 
 ceiving, he resolved to check them. He commanded Caius 
 Silius, with thirty thousand foot and three thousand horse, 
 to march into the country of the Cattians; he himself with 
 a greater force invaded the Marsians, where he learnt 
 from Malovendus, their general, lately taken into our sub- 
 jection, that the eagle of one of Varus's legions, was hid 
 under ground in a neighbouring grove, and kept by a 
 slender guard. Instantly two parties were despatched ; 
 one to face the enemy and draw them from their post, 
 the other to march round upon their rear and open the 
 ground : success attended both. Hence Germanicus ad- 
 vanced towards the interior with greater alacrity, laid 
 waste the country, and destroyed the effects of the foe, 
 either not daring to engage, or, wherever they engaged, 
 instantly defeated ; nor, as was learnt from the prisoners, 
 were they ever more dismayed : " The Romans, they ex- 
 claimed, are invincible ; no calamities can subdue them, 
 they have wrecked their fleet ; their arms are lost, our 
 shores are covered with the bodies of their horses and 
 men; and yet they have invaded us with their usual spirit, 
 with the same firmness, and as if their numbers were in- 
 creased." 
 
 26. The army was thence led back into winter-quarters, 
 full of joy to have balanced, by this prosperous expediton, 
 their misfortune at sea; and by the bounty of Germanicus, 
 their joy was heightened, since to each sufferer he paid as 
 much as each declared he had lost; neither was if doubted 
 but the enemy were tottering, and concerting measures for
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. til 
 
 obtaining peace, and that the next summer would termi- 
 nate the war. But Tiberius, by frequent letters, pressed 
 him "To come home to the triumph decreed him; urged, 
 that he had experienced enough of events and casualties ; 
 he had indeed fought great and successful battles ; but he 
 must likewise remember his losses and calamities, which, 
 however owing to wind and waves, and no fault of the ge- 
 neral, were yet great and grievous. He himself had been 
 sent nine times into Germany by Augustus, and effected 
 much more by policy than arms ; it was thus he had 
 brought the Sugambrians into subjection, thus the Sue- 
 vians, thus king Maroboduus had been obliged to submit 
 to terms. The Cheruscans too, and the other hostile na- 
 tions, now the Roman honour was vindicated, might be 
 left to pursue their own intestine feuds." Germanicus be- 
 sought one year to accomplish his conquest ; but Tiberius 
 assailed his modesty with fresh importunity, by offering 
 him another consulship, the duties of which would require 
 his presence ; he added, " That if the war was still to be 
 prosecuted, he should leave materials for the fame of his 
 brother Drusus, who, as there then remained no other 
 enemy, could acquire the title of ' Imperator,' and earn 
 the privilege of presenting the laurel, in Germany alone." 
 Germanicus persisted no longer; though he knew that 
 this was all hypocrisy, and that through envy he was torn 
 away from a harvest of ripe glory. 
 
 27. About this time, Libo Drusus, of the Scribonian fa- 
 mily, was charged with attempts against the state; and, be- 
 cause then first were devised those arts which for so many 
 years preyed upon the commonweal, I will lay open with 
 the more exactness the beginning, progress, and issue of this 
 affair. Firmius Catus, the senator, availing himself of an 
 intimate friendship with Libo, induced that youth, unwary 
 as he was, and open to impositions, to try the predictions 
 of the Chaldaeans, the mysteries of magicians, and even 
 the interpreters of dreams ; perpetually suggesting to him 
 that " Pompey was his great-grandfather, Scribonia, once 
 the wife of Augustus, his aunt, the Caesars his kinsmen ; 
 and his house crowded with images:" tempting him to 
 luxury and debt ; sharing in his excesses and his obliga- 
 tions, in order to insure his conviction by multiplying the 
 evidences of his guilt. 
 
 28. When he found he had witnesses enough, and some, 
 slaves, who were also privy to Libo's conduct, he sought 
 access to the emperor ; having first by Flaccus Vescula- 
 rius, a Roman knight, more intimate with Tiberius, repre- 
 sented to him the person he accused and the charge. Ti-
 
 62 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 berius slighted not his information, but denied him access, 
 " For that communications," he said, " might be still in- 
 terchanged through the medium of Flaccus." In the mean 
 time, he preferred Libo to the prajtorship, entertained him 
 at his table, showed no signs of aversion in his counten- 
 ance, no resentment in his words (so deeply had he smo- 
 thered his vengeance), and when he might have restrained 
 all the speeches and practices of Libo, he preferred to 
 know them ; till one Junius, who was solicited to raise 
 ghosts, gave information to Fulcinius Trio, who was dis- 
 tinguished for his talents as an accuser above others of 
 that fraternity, and had an appetite for infamous notoriety. 
 Instantly Trio seized upon the accused, went before the 
 consuls, and demanded that the senate should take cog- 
 nizance of the charge; and the fathers were summoned, 
 with special intimation, that "They were to deliberate on 
 an affair of magnitude and the most serious importance." 
 
 39. Libo meanwhile putting on mourning, went from 
 house to house, accompanied by ladies of the highest rank, 
 supplicated his kindred, and solicited their voices to avert 
 the dangers which threatened him. But every one of them 
 declined his suit, each upon a different pretence, but, in 
 reality, all from the same fear. The day the senate sat, 
 worn out with fear and disease, or, as some relate, feign- 
 ing it, he was borne in a litter to the doors of the court, 
 and, leaning upon his brother, with suppliant hands and 
 words, he addressed himself to Tiberius, who received 
 him with unmoved countenance. The emperor next re- 
 cited the articles against him, and named the accusers; so 
 restraining himself as to appear neither to extenuate nor 
 aggravate the force of the charges. 
 
 30. To Trio and Catus, two other accusers, Fonteius 
 Agrippa and Caius Vibius, joined themselves, and strove 
 who should have the right to implead the accused ; at last, 
 when no one would yield to the other, and Libo was come 
 unprovided with a pleader, Vibius undertook to state the 
 several heads of the charge, and produced articles so ex- 
 travagant, that they represented Libo as having consulted 
 the fortunetellers, " Whether he should ever have wealth 
 enough to cover the Appian road with money as far as 
 Brundusium." There were others of the same kind, fool- 
 ish, chimerical, or (to apply a milder term to them) piti- 
 ful ; but in one document the accuser urged that to the 
 names of the Caesars or senators were appended charac- 
 ters of deadly or mysterious import, written in the hand 
 of Libo. Libo denied it, and hence it was resolved to 
 examine by torture his conscious slaves ; but seeing it was
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 63 
 
 prohibited by an ancient decree of the senate, to put ser- 
 vants to the question in a trial touching the life of their 
 master, the crafty Tiberius invented a new law to elude the 
 old, and ordered these slaves to be severally sold to the 
 public steward, that by this expedient, evidence against 
 Libo might be obtained from his servants, without violating 
 the decree. Upon this, Libo prayed an adjournment till 
 the next day, and returning to his own house, transmitted, 
 by his kinsman, Publius Quirinius, his prayers to the em- 
 peror, his last resort; but he replied, that " He must make 
 his request to the senate." 
 
 31. His house was in the meantime encompassed with a 
 band of soldiers. They made a rout even in the vestibule 
 on purpose to be seen and heard. When Libo, thus tortured 
 at the very banquet which he had prepared as the last gra- 
 tification of his life, called for a minister of death, grasped 
 the hands of his slaves and put a sword into them ; but 
 they, in their confusion and efforts to shun the task, over- 
 turned the lamp set on the table ; and in this darkness, 
 now to him the shades of death, he gave himself two stabs 
 in the bowels; as he groaned and fell, his freedmen sprang 
 in, and the soldiers seeing that he was slain, retired. The 
 charge against him however was gone through with in the 
 senate, with the same formality, and Tiberius vowed " That 
 he would have interceded for his life, though convicted, 
 if he had not thus hastily died by his own hands." 
 
 32. His estate was divided amongst his accusers; and 
 those of them who bore the rank of senators wei'e, without 
 the ceremony of an election, preferred to praetorships. Then 
 Cotta Messalinus moved that " The image of Libo might 
 not accompany the funerals of his posterity ;" Cneius Len- 
 tulus, that " None of the Scribonii should assume the sur- 
 name of Drusus." On the motion of Pomponius Flaccus, 
 days of thanksgiving were appointed : that " Gifts should 
 be presented to Jupiter, to Mars, and to the goddess Con- 
 cord ; and that the thirteenth of September, the day on 
 which Libo slew himself, should be an established fes- 
 tival" were the votes of L. Publius and Asinius Gallus, 
 of Papius Mutilus and of Lucius Apronius. I have re- 
 lated the suggestions and sycophancy of these men, to 
 show that this is an inveterate evil in the state. Decrees 
 of the senate were likewise made for expelling astrologers 
 and magicians out of Italy ; and one of them, Lucius Pi- 
 tuanius, was precipitated from the Tarpeian rock: on Pub- 
 lius Marcius, another of the consuls, at the sound of trum- 
 pet inflicted punishment without the Esquiline gate, ac- 
 cording to the ancient form.
 
 64 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 33. Next time the senate sat, much was said against the 
 luxury of the city hy Quintus Haterius, a man of consular 
 rank, and by Octavius Fronto. formerly praetor; and a 
 law was passed " Against using vessels of solid gold in 
 serving up repasts ; and against men's disgracing them- 
 selves with silken garments." Fronto went heyond this 
 proposition, and submitted that "The quantities of silver 
 plate, the expense of furniture, and the number of domes- 
 tics, might be limited." For it was yet common for sena- 
 tors, instead of speaking to the question, to offer whatever 
 they judged conducive to the interest of the commonweal. 
 Against him it was argued by Asinius Gallus, " That with 
 the growth of the empire private riches had also increased, 
 and that it was no new thing, but agreeable to the most 
 primitive usage ; that the measure of private wealth in the 
 time of the Fabricii was different from that in the time of 
 the Scipios, but both proportioned to the condition of the 
 state ; if the state was poor, the establishments of citizens 
 were on a small scale ; but, when the state rose to such a 
 height of magnificence, individuals advanced in splen- 
 dour; that neither in domestics, plate, or necessary ex- 
 pense, was there any standard of excess or frugality, but 
 from the means of the owner : a distinction was made be- 
 tween the fortunes of senators and of knights, not for any 
 natural difference between them, but that they who ex- 
 celled in place, rank, and honours, might excel too in other 
 things, such as conduced to the health of the body, or to 
 the relaxation of the mind ; unless it were expected that 
 the most illustrious citizens should sustain more than their 
 share of cares, and expose themselves to greater dangers 
 than others, but continue destitute of every solace of fa- 
 tigue and danger." The sentiments of Gallus met with 
 ready assent ; those who spoke were not ashamed to con- 
 fess their vices, by clothing them in language which be- 
 longed to virtue, while those who spoke not sympathised 
 with them from the similarity of their own habits. Tibe- 
 rius closed the discussion with the remark, " That that 
 was not the time for correcting these matters; but if there 
 were any corruption of manners, there would not be want- 
 ing one to advise a reformation." 
 
 34. During these transactions, Lucius Piso, after inveigh- 
 ing against " the intrigues of the forum, the corruption of 
 the tribunals, and the brutal proceedings of informers, 
 who filled the city with alarm by threats of impeachment," 
 declared " he would retire and abandon Rome, and live 
 in some secluded and remote part of the country." With 
 these words he left the senate: Tiberius was stung by
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. Go 
 
 these remarks; and though he had soothed him with gentle 
 words, he also urged Piso's relations, by their authority 
 or entreaties to prevent his departure. The same Piso 
 gave soon after no less remarkable a proof of earnest inde- 
 pendence, by prosecuting a suit against Urgulania ; a lady 
 whom the partial friendship of Livia had set above the 
 laws. Urgulania was conveyed for shelter to the palace, 
 and in defiance of Piso disobeyed the summons ; but Piso 
 persisted, although Augusta complained that she was her- 
 self insulted and degraded by this proceeding. Tiberius, 
 who thought he might humour his mother thus far without 
 violating the laws of civil equality, promised to attend the 
 trial, and assist Urgulania ; and thus left the palace, ordering 
 his guards to follow at a distance. As the people flocked 
 about him he appeared perfectly composed, walking lei- 
 surely along and prolonging the time by conversations on 
 incidental topics ; till at length, Piso's friends failing in 
 their efforts to restrain him, the empress ordered the pay- 
 ment of the money claimed by him. This was the issue 
 of the affair ; by which Piso lost no renown, and the credit 
 of Tiberius was increased. The power however of Ur- 
 gulania was so much too great for a state of civil equality, 
 that she disdained to appear a witness in a certain cause 
 which depended before the senate, and a praetor was sent 
 to examine her at her own house ; whereas it had been 
 always usual even for the vestal virgins to attend the 
 forum and courts of justice, as oft as their evidence was 
 required. 
 
 35. The postponement of public affairs which happened 
 this year, I should not mention, but that the different opi- 
 nions of Cneius Piso and Asinius Gallus about it, are worth 
 knowing. Piso declared his opinion, that although Tibe- 
 rius had said " that he should be absent," " for that very 
 reason the prosecution of public business was the rather 
 to be continued ; and that for the senate and equestrian 
 order to be able to discharge their functions in the ab- 
 sence of the prince, would redound to the honour of the 
 commonwealth." As Piso had anticipated him in this 
 display of liberal principles, Gallus said, " That nothing 
 truly great, nor suiting the dignity of the Roman people, 
 could be transacted except under the immediate eye of the 
 emperor, and therefore the mass of business which came 
 to Rome from all parts of Italy, and the influx of affairs 
 from the provinces, should be reserved for his presence." 
 Tiberius heard and was silent, while the debate was ma- 
 naged on both sides with great vehemence ; but the post- 
 ponement was carried. 
 
 F
 
 <;<> THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 36. A debate too arose between Gallus and the emperor; 
 for Gallus moved, "That the magistrates should be hence- 
 forth elected but once every five years ; that the lieute- 
 nant-generals of legions, who served in that capacity before 
 they had been praetors, should be praetors-elect ; and that 
 the prince should nominate twelve candidates every year." 
 It was not doubted but this motion had a deeper aim ; 
 and that by it the secret resources of imperial power were 
 invaded. But Tiberius, as if his power would be aug- 
 mented by it, argued, " That it would be inconsistent with 
 his moderation to choose, and to postpone so many ; that 
 disgusts could scarcely be avoided even in yearly elections, 
 where the hope of success on a speedily occurring occa- 
 sion, formed a solace for disappointment; how great must 
 be the resentment of those whose pretensions were put off 
 for five years ! and whence could it be foreseen that, in so 
 long a tract of time, the same men would continue to have 
 the same sentiments, the same connections and fortune ? 
 even an annual designation to power, made men impe- 
 rious; how much more so if they bore the honour for five 
 years! The influence of magistrates would at once be 
 multiplied fivefold ; the laws which had prescribed a pro- 
 per space for exercising the diligence of candidates, and 
 for soliciting as well as enjoying honours, would be sub- 
 verted." 
 
 37. By this speech, in appearance popular, he prevented 
 encroachments on the imperial power. He likewise sus- 
 tained by gratuities, the dignity of certain senators; hence 
 it was the more wondered, that he received somewhat su- 
 perciliously the petition of Marcus Hortalus, a young man 
 of high family and unquestionable poverty. He was the 
 grandson of Hortensius, the orator; and had been induced 
 by the deified Augustus, who presented him with a thou- 
 sand great sesterces, to marry and have children, to pre- 
 vent the extinction of a family of the highest renown. 
 The senate were sitting in the palace, and Hortalus having 
 set his four children before the door, fixed his eyes, now 
 upon the statue of Hortensius, placed amongst the orators, 
 then upon that of Augustus; and, instead of speaking to 
 the question, began on this wise : " Conscript fathers, I 
 have not incurred the expense of bringing up these chil- 
 dren, whose number and tender years you perceive, by 
 my own choice, but in compliance with the advice of the 
 prince. At the same time, the achievements of my ances- 
 tors demanded that their line should be perpetuated ; as 
 for myself, since by the revolution of the times I could not 
 raise wealth, nor engage popular favour, nor cultivate the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 67 
 
 hereditary fortune of our house, the fortune of eloquence; 
 I deemed it sufficient, if in my slender circumstances, I 
 lived no disgrace to myself, no burden to others. Com- 
 manded by the emperor, I took a wife ; behold the off- 
 spring of so many consuls ; behold the descendants of so 
 many dictators ! nor is this recital made invidiously, but 
 to excite commiseration. If you, Caesar, continue to flou- 
 rish, they shall attain to such honours as you may bestow; 
 meanwhile, protect from want the great-grandsons of Hor- 
 tensius, the foster-children of Augustus." 
 
 38. The inclination of the senate was favourable; an in- 
 citement this to Tiberius the more eagerly to thwart Hor- 
 talus. These were in effect his words: "If all that are poor 
 come hither arid ask for provision for their children, while 
 it will be impossible to satisfy the cravings of individuals, 
 the public funds mu&t fail: our ancestors did not permit 
 an occasional departure from the question, and the pro- 
 posal of something more important to the state, instead of 
 speaking to the subject, that we might here transact do- 
 mestic matters, and augment our private resources; thus 
 bringing odium both on the senate and the prince, whe- 
 ther they grant or deny the bounties petitioned. In truth 
 it is not a petition, but an unreasonable and monstrous 
 importunity, thus while you are assembled upon other 
 affairs, to rise up and seek to move the senate from their 
 propriety by the number and infancy of his children, to 
 transfer the violent attack to me, and as it were break 
 open the treasury, which if we shall exhaust by largess, 
 we must replenish by crime. The deified Augustus gave 
 you money, Hortalus, but without solicitation, and on no 
 condition that it should always be given ; otherwise dili- 
 gence will languish, sloth will prevail, if men have no- 
 thing to hope or fear from themselves ; and all will look 
 securely for the assistance of others, useless to themselves, 
 and a burden to us." These and similar reflections of Ti- 
 berius, though they were heard with approbation by those 
 whose practice it is to extol whatever proceeds from 
 princes, worthy or unworthy, were received by the ma- 
 jority in silence, or with low murmurs. Tiberius perceived 
 it ; and having paused a little, said, " His answer was di- 
 rected particularly to Ilortalus; but if the senate thought 
 fit, he would give his sons two hundred great sesterces 
 each." The others returned thanks ; but Ilortalus said 
 nothing; either from perturbation, or that amidst the 
 embarrassments of adversity he remembered the dignity 
 of his noble ancestry : nor did Tiberius ever after show
 
 68 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 pity, though the house of Hortensius was fallen into shame- 
 ful distress. 
 
 39. The same year, the boldness of a single slave had, 
 but for early prevention, torn the state with discord and in- 
 testine war. A slave of Posthumns Agrippa, named Cle- 
 mens, with a spirit that soared high above his condition, 
 having learnt the death of Augustus, conceived a design 
 of sailing to Phanasia, and seizing Agrippa, by art or force, 
 to carry him to the armies in Germany ; but the slowness 
 of the laden vessel defeated his bold purpose; for Agrippa 
 was already murdered. Hence he formed a purpose still 
 more daring and perilous; he stole the funeral ashes, and 
 sailing to Cosa, a promontory of Etruria, hid himself in se- 
 cluded places till his hair and beard were grown long; for 
 in age and person he was not unlike his master. Then a 
 report, originated by chosen emissaries and the associates 
 of his plot, ' that Agrippa lived,' began to spread; at first 
 by secret communications, as usual in matters of a dan- 
 gerous nature ; but becoming soon a prevailing rumour, it 
 filled the greedy ears of all the most credulous, or was en- 
 couraged by persons of a turbulent disposition, and there- 
 fore desirous of political convulsions. He himself, when he 
 entered the neighbouring towns, did it at shut of day ; 
 never to be seen publicly, nor long in the same place; but 
 as truth is strengthened by observation and time ; pre- 
 tences by haste and uncertainty, he departed, either as 
 soon as his arrival began to be rumoured, or before. 
 
 40. It flew through Italy in the mean time, " That 
 by the bounty of the gods, Agrippa was preserved." It 
 was already believed at Rome : on his arrival at Ostia 
 he was greeted by an immense concourse, and in the city 
 by clandestine meetings. Tiberius was bewildered with 
 perplexing doubts, whether he should repress his slave 
 by the power of the sword, or suffer the unfounded per- 
 suasion of the public to vanish by the unaided operation 
 of time ; now he thought that nothing was to be slighted ; 
 now that not everything was to be dreaded, wavering be- 
 tween shame and fear : at last he committed the affair to 
 Sallustius Crispus. Crispus chose two of his clients (some 
 say two soldiers) and directed them to go directly to him, 
 to feign conviction of his identity, to present him with 
 money, to promise to be faithful to him and hazard every- 
 thing for him. They executed these orders, and after- 
 wards discovering that at night he was without guards, 
 they took a band of men chosen for the purpose, and car- 
 ried him to the palace, gagged and bound. To Tiberius,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 69 
 
 when he asked him, " How he was become Agrippn?" he 
 is said to have answered, " Just as you became Csesar." 
 He could not be induced to discover his accomplices ; 
 neither dared Tiberius venture to execute him publicly, 
 but ordered him to be despatched in a secret part of the 
 palace, and his body to be carried away privately ; and 
 though many of the prince's household, many knights and 
 senators, were said to have supported him with money, 
 and assisted him with their counsels, no inquiry followed. 
 
 41. At the end of the year, a triumphal arch was raised 
 near the temple of Saturn, in commemoration of the re- 
 covery of the eagles lost with Varus, under the conduct of 
 Germanicus, and under the auspices of Tiberius. A tem- 
 ple was dedicated to Fortune near the Tiber, in the gar- 
 dens bequeathed to the Roman people by Caesar, the dic- 
 tator. A chapel was consecrated to the Julian family, and 
 statues to the deified Augustus, at Bovillse. In the con- 
 sulship of Caius Coelius and Lucius Pomponius, on the se- 
 venth day before the calends of June, Germanicus Caesar 
 triumphed over the Cheruscans, the Cattians, the Angri- 
 varians, and the other nations as far as the Elbe. In the 
 triumph were carried all the spoils and captives, with re- 
 presentations of the mountains, rivers, and battles ; the 
 war, because he was restrained from finishing it, was held 
 as finished.. His own singularly fine person, and his cha- 
 riot filled with his five children, heightened the admiration 
 of the beholders : but within were secret apprehensions 
 when they reflected " That popular favour had proved 
 calamitous to his father, Drusus ; that his uncle, Marcel- 
 lus, was snatched, in his youth, from the ardent affections 
 of the populace ; and that ever short-lived and unfortu- 
 nate were the favourites of the Roman people." 
 
 42. However, Tiberius distributed to the people in the 
 name of Germanicus, three hundred sesterces a man, and 
 named himself his colleague in his consulship. But not 
 even thus gaining credit for sincere affection, on pretence 
 of investing the young prince with fresh honours, he re- 
 solved to remove him from Rome: and to accomplish it, 
 craftily framed an occasion, or availed himself of such as 
 chance presented. Archelaus, who had enjoyed the king- 
 dom of Cappadocia now fifty years, had incurred the dis- 
 pleasure of Tiberius, because, during his residence at 
 Rhodes, the king had not paid his respects to him ; an 
 omission this which proceeded not from disdain, but from 
 the warnings given him by the confidants of Augustus ; 
 for Caius Caesar, then in his bloom, being sent to com- 
 pose the affairs of the east, the friendship of Tiberius was
 
 70 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 reckoned impolitic ; but when on the overthrow of the 
 family of the Caesars he had gained the empire, he en- 
 ticed Archelans to Rome, by means of letters from his 
 mother, who, professing to be offended at her son, held 
 out hopes of pardon if he came and implored it : either 
 in ignorance of the snare, or dreading violence if he ap- 
 peared to perceive it, lie hastened to the city, lie was re- 
 ceived by Tiberius with great sternness, and soon after 
 accused before the senate, when, not on account of the 
 crimes alleged against him, which were mere fictions, but 
 from distress of mind, together with the infirmities of age, 
 and because ordinary treatment is not suited to the habits 
 of kings, much less the deepest humiliation, he finished 
 his mortal career, either by his own act, or in the course 
 of nature. His kingdom was reduced into a province, and 
 by its revenues Tiberius declaring that the tax of the hun- 
 dredth penny might be abated, reduced it for the future 
 to the two hundredth. At the same time Antiochus, king 
 of Commagena, and Philopator, king of Cilicia, dying, 
 great commotions shook these nations ; whilst some de- 
 sired the Roman, and others a kingly government. The 
 provinces too of Syria and Judea, oppressed with imposi- 
 tions, prayed an abatement of tribute. 
 
 43. These affairs, and such as I have above related con- 
 cerning Armenia, Tiberius represented to the fathers, and 
 "That the commotions of the east could only be settled 
 by the wisdom of Gennanicus : for himself, he was now 
 declining in years, while Drusus was net yet at maturity." 
 The provinces beyond the sea were then decreed to Ger- 
 manicus, with authority wherever he went, superior to 
 those who obtained provinces by lot, or the will of the 
 prince. But Tiberius had removed from Syria Creticus 
 Silanus, who was united to Germanicus by affinity, the 
 daughter of Silanus being betrothed to Nero, the oldest 
 of his children, and set over it Cneius Piso, a man of vio- 
 lent and unyielding temper, inheriting the turbulent spirit 
 of his father Piso ; who, in the civil war, assisted the re- 
 viving party against Ca2sar in Africa, with vehement efforts; 
 then followed Brutus and Cassius; and being permitted to 
 come home, he sought not any public offices ; but after- 
 wards being importuned to accept a consulship offered 
 him by Augustus, he yielded. Besides his hereditary 
 impetuosity, the nobility and wealth of Plancina, his 
 wife, ministered fuel to his ambition; yielding to Tibe- 
 rius, he despised as men far beneath him the sons of 
 Tiberius ; neither did he doubt but he was set over Syria 
 on purpose to defeat the views of Germanicus.. Some be-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 71 
 
 lieved that he hail secret orders from Tiberius; certain it 
 was that Livia, in the spirit of female rivalry, prompted 
 Plancina to persecute Agrippina. For the whole court 
 was rent, and their affections secretly divided between 
 Drusus and Germanicus. Tiberius was partial to Drusus, 
 as his own son by generation ; others loved Germanicus, 
 the more for the aversion of his uncle, and for being, by 
 his mother, of more illustrious descent ; as he could boast 
 of Marc Antony his grandfather, and Augustus his great 
 uncle. On the other side, Pomponius Atticus, the great- 
 grandfather of Drusus, being but a Roman knight, seemed 
 to bring a stain upon the images of the Claudian house : 
 besides, Agrippina, the wife of Germanicus, in fruitfulness 
 and reputation, far excelled Livia the wife of Drusus: 
 but the brothers were patterns of unanimity, and could 
 not be moved by the contentions amongst their adhe- 
 rents. 
 
 44. Drusus was soon after sent into Illyricum to inure him 
 to war, and gain the affections of the army : besides, Ti- 
 berius thought that the youth who grew wanton amid the 
 luxuries of Rome, would be reformed in the camp, and 
 that it would be safer for himself that both his sons should 
 be at the head of legions. But the pretence for sending 
 him was the protection of the Suevians, who implored as- 
 sistance against the Cheruscans. For on the departure 
 of the Romans, those nations, being now free from foreign 
 alarms, by the force of national habit, and at that time 
 also from rivalry in the career of fame, had turned their 
 swords upon each other. The two people were equally 
 powerful ; their leaders equally brave ; but the title of 
 king had brought the aversion of his countrymen upon 
 Maroboduus; whilst Arminius, as the champion of liberty, 
 was the object of affection. 
 
 45. Hence not only the Cheruscans and their allies, the 
 ancient soldiery of Arminius, took arms ; but the Semnones 
 and Langobards, both Suevian nations, and even subjects 
 of Maroboduus, came over to him ; and by their accession 
 he would have had the advantage, but Inguiomerus with 
 his band of followers deserted to Maroboduus ; for no 
 other cause than disdain that the veteran uncle should 
 obey his youthful nephew. Both armies were drawn out 
 with equal hopes ; and fought, not as usual with the Ger- 
 mans, in scattered parties and desultory attacks ; for in 
 the long war with us they had learnt to follow their stand- 
 ards, to form reserves to support their line, and to ob- 
 serve the orders of their generals. On this occasion, Ar- 
 minius inspected the whole array on horseback, and as he.
 
 72 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 approached the several bands, he brought before their 
 view " their liberty recovered, the slaughtered legions, 
 and the spoils and arms wrested from the Romans still in 
 the hands of many." On the other hand, calling Maro- 
 boduus a runaway, he described him as one who was inex- 
 perienced infighting; who had sought defence from the 
 coverts of Hercynia, and then by gifts and embassies 
 courted the alliance of Rome ; a betrayer of his country ; 
 a lifeguardsman of Caesar's, worthy to be exterminated 
 in the indignant spirit with which they had slaughtered 
 Quinctilius Varus. Let them only remember their many 
 battles, the issue of which, and at length the expulsion of 
 the Romans, were proof enough which side had the ad- 
 vantage in the war." 
 
 46. Neither did Maroboduus fail to boast of himself and 
 vituperate the foe; but, holding Inguiomerus by the hand, 
 " He protested that the whole glory of the Cheruscans, 
 centred in him, and that by his counsels had been con- 
 ducted whatever had terminated successfully : Arminius, 
 a man of a frantic spirit, and a novice in affairs, appro- 
 priated the glory of another, by treacherously surprising 
 three legions 'left to themselves and their unsuspecting 
 leader; thus involving Germany in slaughter, and himself 
 in infamy, for his wife and son still endured captivity. 
 For himself, when attacked formerly by Tiberius at the 
 head of twelve legions, he had preserved unstained the 
 glory of Germany, and on equal terms ended the war: nor 
 did he repent of having put it in their own power to choose 
 whether they would renew the war with unimpaired re- 
 sources, or continue in peace and security." The armies, 
 besides the incitement from these speeches, were animated 
 by motives of their own: the Cheruscans fought for their 
 ancient renown, the Langobards for their recent liberty ; 
 on the other side, the contest was for an extension of do- 
 minion. Never did they engage with greater effort, or 
 with more equivocal success ; the right wing of both ar- 
 mies being routed, a fresh encounter was expected, till 
 Maroboduus drew off his army to the hills; a sign that he 
 was humbled ; and reduced by successive desertions, he 
 retired to the Marcomannians, and thence sent ambassa- 
 dors to Tiberius to implore succour. They were answered, 
 " That he had no right to invoke aid of the Roman arms 
 against the Cheruscans ; since to the Romans, while they 
 were warring with the same foe, he had never administered 
 any assistance." Drusus was however despatched, as I 
 have said, to preserve the tranquillity of the empire. 
 
 47. The same year, twelve populous cities of Asia fell in
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 73 
 
 ruins from an earthquake which happened by night, and 
 therefore the more sudden and destructive was the cala- 
 mity ; neither did the usual mode of escape in such events 
 by rushing into the open space avail now, as those who 
 fled were swallowed up by the yawning earth. It is re- 
 lated, "That immense mountains sank down, that level 
 places were seen to be elevated into hills, and that fires 
 flashed forth during the catastrophe." The Sardinians 
 suffered most severely from the destructive visitation, and 
 therefore received the greatest share of compassion ; for 
 Tiberius promised them a hundred thousand great ses- 
 terces, and remitted all their contributions to the public 
 treasury and the prince's privy purse, for five years. The 
 inhabitants of Magnesia under Mount Sipylus, were held 
 the next in sufferings, and had proportionable relief. The 
 Temnians, Philadelphians, the Egeatae, Apollonians, with 
 those called the Mostenians or Macedonians of Hyrcania, 
 the cities too of Hierocesarea, Cyme, and Tmolus, were 
 all for the same term exempted from tribute ; and it was 
 resolved to send one of the senate to view their present 
 emergency, and administer relief: Marcus Aletus was 
 therefore chosen, one of praetorian rank ; lest, as a man of 
 consular rank then governed Asia, jealousy might arise 
 between persons of equal rank, and the business be im- 
 peded thereby. 
 
 48. The credit of this noble bounty to the public Caesar 
 increased by acts of private beneficence equally popular ; 
 the estate of the \vealthy Emilia Musa, who died intestate, 
 and which was claimed for the prince's purse, he surren- 
 dered to Emilius Lepidus, to whose family she seemed to 
 belong ; as also to Marcus Servilius the inheritance of 
 Patuleius, a rich Roman knight, though part of it had 
 been bequeathed to himself; but he found Servilius named 
 sole heir in a former and well-authenticated will ; alleging 
 that such was " the nobility of both, that they deserved 
 to be supported." Nor did he ever accept any man's in- 
 heritance, but where friendship gave him a title; the wills 
 of such as were strangers to him, and of such as, from 
 pique to others, had appointed the prince their heir, he 
 utterly rejected. But, as he relieved the honest poverty 
 of the virtuous, so he degraded from the senate, (or suf- 
 fered to quit it of their own accord) Vibidius Varro, Ma- 
 rius Nepos, Appius Appianus, Cornelius Sylla, and Quin- 
 tus Vitellius, who were spendthrifts and brought them- 
 selves to poverty by misconduct. 
 
 49. About this time, Tiberius consecrated the temples 
 of the gods consumed by age or fire, the building of which
 
 74 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 had been begun by Augustus ; that near the great circus, 
 vowed by Aulus Posthumius the dictator, to Bacchus, 
 Proserpina, and Ceres; in the same place, the temple of 
 Flora, foui id td by Lucius Piiblicius and Marcus Publicius, 
 while they were aediles ; the temple of Janus, built in the 
 herb market by Caius Duillius, who first signalised the 
 Roman power at sea, and merited a naval triumph over 
 the Carthaginians. That of Hope was dedicated by Ger- 
 manicus : this temple Atilius had vowed in the same war. 
 
 50. The law of violated majesty, in the meantime, was 
 advancing rapidly, and an informer charged Apuleia Va- 
 rilia, grand-niece to Augustus and descended from his 
 sister, with vilifying the deified Augustus, Tiberius, and 
 liis mother, in defamatory language ; and though nearly 
 allied to the emperor, with having committed adultery. 
 Concerning the adultery, sufficient provision was thought 
 to be already made by the Julian law : in the charge of 
 treason, Tiberius desired that a distinction should be 
 made: "If she had spoke irreverently of Augustus, she 
 must be condemned ; but, for invectives against himself, 
 he would not have her called to account." The consul 
 asked him, " What were his sentiments respecting the 
 aspersions of his mother, which the accused was charged 
 with uttering." To this he made no answer; but at the 
 next sitting of the senate, he prayed too in her name, 
 " that no words in whatsoever manner spoken against her, 
 might be imputed to any one as a crime;" he thus caused 
 Apuleia to be released from the charge of treason : of her 
 punishment too for adultery he begged a mitigation, and 
 prevailed that, " according to the example of our ances- 
 tors, she should be removed by her kindred two hundred 
 miles from Rome." Manlius, her adulterer, was banished 
 Italy and Africa. 
 
 51. A contest at this time arose about substituting a 
 praetor in the room of Vipsanius Gallus, removed by death: 
 Germanicus and Drusus (for they were yet at Rome) pa- 
 tronised Haterius Agrippa, a relation of Germanicus ; the 
 majority, on the contrary, insisted that the greater number 
 of children should be a ground of preference in candi- 
 dates, for such was the law. Tiberius rejoiced to see the 
 senate adjudicating between his sons and the laws': the 
 law, without doubt, was vanquished, yet not easily, and 
 by a small majority, in the same manner as laws were van- 
 quished when laws were in force. 
 
 52. This year a war began in Africa, under the conduct 
 of Tacfarinas. He was a native of Numidia, and had 
 served amongst the auxiliaries in the Roman armies ; but
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 75 
 
 soon deserting, he collected, at first a herd of vagabonds 
 and men inured to robberies, for purposes of depredation 
 and rapine ; then formed them like an army, into regular 
 companies of foot and troops of horse; at length lie was 
 no longer esteemed the leader of a disorderly gang, but 
 as general of the Musulanians. This powerful people, 
 bordering upon the deserts of Africa, still uncivilised and 
 without towns, took arms arid drew into the war the neigh- 
 bouring Moors; these too had a general, named Muzippa, 
 and between the two leaders the army was divided ; so 
 that Tacfarinas might keep the flower of the army in camp, 
 armed after the Roman manner, and accustom them to 
 discipline and obedience, Mazippa with a flying band 
 might carry fire, slaughter, and terror through the sur- 
 rounding neighbourhood. They had likewise forced tlj^e 
 Cinithinns into their measures; a nation far from con- 
 temptible ; when Furius Camillus, proconsul of Africa, 
 marched against the enemy with one legion and what 
 troops of the allies were under his command collected to- 
 gether, a handful of men, when compared with the mul- 
 titude of Numidiaris and Moors ! But it was his chief 
 care that they should not be induced by fear to evade an 
 engagement, and thus protract the war. He gave them 
 hopes of victory, only to enable, him to vanquish them. 
 The legion was therefore placed in the centre, the light 
 cohorts and two squadrons of horse, in the wings: nor 
 did Tacfarinas decline the combat. The Numidians were 
 routed ; and after a long series of years, military renown 
 obtained for the name of Furius. For since Camillus, the 
 famous restorer of Rome, and his son, the renown of com- 
 manding victorious armies was enjoyed by other families 
 of that stock : even the last, whose achievements I now re- 
 cord, was thought to possess no military talents: whence 
 Tiberius was the more disposed to laud him in the senate. 
 The fathers decreed him triumphal ornaments, which on 
 account of his unambitious character, was not attended 
 with any danger to Camillus. 
 
 53. The consuls for the following year were, Tiberius 
 the third time, Germanicus the second; but this honour 
 Germanicus entered upon at Nicopolis, a city of Achaia, 
 whither he had arrived by the coast of Illyricum, from 
 visiting his brother Drusus, then staying in Dalmatia, and 
 after enduring a tempestuous passage in the Adriatic, and 
 soon after in the Ionian sea : he therefore spent a few 
 days in refitting his fleet, and meanwhile viewed the Bay 
 of Actium, renowned for the naval victory there, as also 
 the spoils consecrated by Augustus, and the camp of An-
 
 76 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 tony, with an affecting remembrance of these his ances- 
 tors ; for Antony, as I have said, was his great-uncle, 
 Augustus his grandfather : hence this scene proved to 
 Germanicus a prolific source of images pleasing and me- 
 lancholy. Hence he came to Athens, where in compli- 
 ment to that ancient city and ally, he employed hut one 
 lictor. The Greeks received him with the most elaborate 
 honours, and to give greater weight to their adulation, re- 
 counted the ancient exploits and sayings of their coun- 
 trymen. 
 
 54. Hence sailing to Eubcea, he crossed over to Lesbos, 
 where Agrippina gave birth to Julia, the last of her chil- 
 dren; then keeping the coast of Asia, he visited Perinthus 
 and Byzantium, cities of Thrace, and entered the straits 
 of Propontis, and the mouth of the Euxine, from a desire 
 to become acquainted with ancient places ; at the same 
 time, he relieved such of the provinces as were labouring 
 under intestine strife, or the oppressions of their magis- 
 trates. On his return he endeavoured to go and view the 
 sacred rites of the Samothracians, but was prevented from 
 landing by the north winds which blew in the opposite di- 
 rection. Quitting Ilium and her remains, venerable for 
 her vicissitudes of fortune and the origin of Rome, he re- 
 traced the coast of Asia, and put in at Colophon, to con- 
 sult there the oracle of the Clarian Apollo ; it is not a 
 female there, as at Delphi, but a priest, chosen from 
 certain families, chiefly of Miletus, who merely learns the 
 names and numbers of the applicants, and then descends 
 into the oracular cave, where, after a draught of water 
 from a secret spring, though ignorant for the most part of 
 letters and poetry, he utters responses in verse, treating 
 of such matters as the mind of any applicant suggests ; 
 and he was said to have predicted to Germanicus his ap- 
 proaching fate, but as oracles are wont, in aenigmatical 
 terms. 
 
 55. But Cneius Piso, that he might lose no time in com- 
 mencing the execution of his purposes, having struck ter- 
 ror into the Athenians by the boisterous manner in which 
 he entered the city, rebuked them in an angry speech, 
 obliquely censuring Germanicus, " because lowering the 
 dignity of the Roman name, he had paid excessive court, 
 not to Athenians, a race extirpated by repeated slaughters; 
 but that impure conflux, the offscouring of various nations, 
 for these were they who had leagued with Mithridates 
 against Sylla, and with Antony against Augustus." He 
 even charged them with the errors and misfortunes of an- 
 cient Athens; her impotent attempts against the Macedo-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 77 
 
 nians ; her outrages on her own citizens. He was also 
 exasperated against the city on account of insults offered 
 to himself personally ; because they would not pardon at 
 his request one Theophilus, condemned by the Areopagus 
 for forgery. Thence sailing hastily through the Cyclades, 
 and taking the shortest course, he overtook Germanicus 
 at Rhodes ; but Germanicus, who was not ignorant with 
 what invectives he was assailed, yet acted with so much 
 humanity, that when he might have left him to perish, 
 when a sudden tempest drove him upon rocks, and the 
 destruction of his enemy might be referred to accident, he 
 despatched galleys to rescue him from his perilous situa- 
 tion. The animosity of Piso however was not softened ; 
 and scarce could he brook a day's delay, but left him, and 
 arrived in Syria before him : nor was he sooner there, 
 and found himself amongst the legions, than he began to 
 court the common men by bounties and caresses, to re- 
 move all the ancient centurions and every tribune remark- 
 able for strict discipline, and assign their places to de- 
 pendents of his own, or men recommended only by their 
 crimes ; he permitted sloth in the camp, licentiousness in 
 the towns, the soldiery to range at large over the country, 
 and commit every kind of wanton excess ; and carried the 
 corruption so far, that in the discourses of the common 
 men, he was styled ' Father of the Legions.' Nor did 
 Plancina restrain herself within the decencies of her sex, 
 but mingled in the exercises of the cavalry, and the evo- 
 lutions of the cohorts ; threw out reflections upop Agrip- 
 pina, upon Germanicus ; and some even of the well or- 
 dered soldiers willingly obeyed these base commands, from 
 a rumour whispered abroad, " that all this was not unac- 
 ceptable to Tiberius." 
 
 56. These doings were known to Germanicus ; but it 
 was with him an object of more urgent solicitude to go to 
 Armenia. An inconstant nation this from of old ; from 
 the genius of the people, as well as from the situation of 
 their country, which borders with a large frontier on our 
 provinces, and stretches thence quite to Media, and lying 
 between the two great empires, was often at variance with 
 them ; with the Romans from hatred, with the Parthians 
 from jealousy. At this time, and since the removal of Vo- 
 nones, they had no king; but the affections of the nation 
 leaned to Zeno, son of Polemon, king of Pontus, because 
 by emulating from his infancy the customs and tastes of the 
 Armenians, hunting, feasting, and other pursuits, in fashion 
 among the Barbarians, he had equally won the nobles and 
 people. Upon his head therefore, at the city of Artaxata,
 
 78 Till-: ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 with the approbation of the nobles, in a great assembly, 
 Germanicus put the regal diadem ; and all the people 
 doing homage to their king, saluted him by the name ' Ar- 
 taxias,' which they gave him from the name of their city. 
 The Cappadocians, at this time reduced into the form of 
 a province, received for their governor, Quintus Veranius; 
 and to raise their hopes of the gentler dominion of Rome, 
 several of the royal taxes were lessened. Quintus Ser- 
 vaeus was set over theCommagenians, then first transferred 
 to the jurisdiction of a praetor. 
 
 57. From the affairs of the allies, thus all successfully 
 settled, Germanicus reaped no pleasure, through the in- 
 solence of Piso, who was ordered to lead by himself or his 
 son, part of the legions into Armenia, but neglected both. 
 They at last met at Cyrrhus, the winter-quarters of the 
 tenth legion ; Piso with a countenance so set as not to indi- 
 cate fear, and Germanicus so as to conceal his displeasure. 
 He was indeed, as I have observed, of a humane spirit ; 
 but his friends, expert in inflaming animosities, aggravated 
 real offences, added fictitious ones, and in various ways 
 accused Piso, Plancina, and their sons. To this interview 
 Germanicus admitted a few intimates, arid began his com- 
 plaints in words such as resentment coupled with a desire 
 to conceal its dictates suggests; Piso replied with ironical 
 entreaties; and they parted in open enmity. Piso hereafter 
 rarely sat on the tribunal by Germanicus; and when he did 
 he showed manifest signs of the most determined opposi- 
 tion to IMID. He was also heard to say, at a banquet given 
 by the king of the Nabathaeans, when golden crowns of 
 great weight were presented to Germanicus and Agrippina,. 
 but to Piso and the rest such as were light : " That this 
 banquet was made for the son of a Roman prince, not of a 
 Parthian monarch." With these words, he cast away his 
 crown, and added many strictures upon luxury, which, 
 though cutting, Germanicus bore with patience. 
 
 58. At this time arrived ambassadors from Artabanus, 
 king of the Parthians: he sent them with instructions "to 
 call attention to their mutual league and friendship, and 
 state his desire to renew it ; that in honour to Germanicus 
 he would come to receive him as far as the banks of the 
 Euphrates; and that he requested in the mean time, that 
 Vonones might not be suffered to remain in Syria, nor, 
 taking advantage of so near a neighbourhood, to cor- 
 respond with the nobles of the nations, in order to draw 
 them into dissensions." The answer given by Germani- 
 cus, as far as related to the alliance of the Romans and 
 Parthians, was conceived in lofty terms; but, of the coming
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 79 
 
 of the king, and the respect intended to himself, he spoke 
 with grace and modesty. Vonones was removed to Pom- 
 peiopolis, a maritime city of Cilicia ; a concession made 
 not only in consideration of the request of Artabanus, but 
 as a rebuff to Piso, with whom Vonones was high in fa- 
 vour, for the many attentions and presents by which he 
 had obliged Plancina. 
 
 59. In the consulship of Marcus Silanus and Lucius 
 Norbanus, Germanicus went to Egypt, to view the anti- 
 quities of the country ; but his pretext was his concern for 
 the state of the province : and, indeed, by opening the 
 granaries he reduced the price of corn, and practised many 
 things grateful to the people; walking without guards, his 
 feet bare, and his habit the same with that of the Greeks; 
 after the example of Publius Scipio, who, we are told, 
 was constant in the same practices in Sicily, even while 
 the Punic war raged. For his manners and habit, Tibe- 
 rius blamed him in a gentle style, but censured him with 
 great asperity for violating an establishment of Augustus, 
 and entering Alexandria without consent of the prince. 
 For Augustus, amongst other secret plans of power, had 
 appropriated Egypt, and restrained the senators and dig- 
 nified Roman knights from going thither without licence ; 
 as he apprehended that Italy might be distressed with fa- 
 mine by any who seized that province, the key to the em- 
 pire by sea and land, and defensible by a small garrison of 
 men against large armies. 
 
 60. Germanicus, not yet informed that his journey was 
 censured, sailed up the Nile, beginning at Canopus ; 
 which was built by the Spartans, as a monument to Cano- 
 pus, a pilot buried there, at the time when Menelaus re- 
 turning to Greece was driven to opposite seas and the 
 Libyan continent. Hence he visited the neighbouring 
 mouth of the river, sacred to Hercules ; whom the na- 
 tives aver to have been born amongst them ; that he was 
 the most ancien^ of the name, and that all the rest, who 
 with equal virtue followed his example, were called after 
 him. Next he visited the mighty remains of Thebes ; 
 where upon huge obelisks yet remained Egyptian cha- 
 racters describing its former opulence : one of the oldest 
 priests was ordered to interpret them ; he said they re- 
 lated " that it once contained seven hundred thousand 
 fighting men ; that with that army king Rhamses had con- 
 quered Libya, ^Ethiopia, the Medes and Persians, the Bac- 
 trians and Scythians; and to his empire had added the 
 territories of the Syrians, Armenians, and their neighbours 
 the Cappadocians ; a tract of countries reaching from the
 
 80 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 sea of Bithynia to that of Lycia :" here also was read the 
 assessment of tribute laid on the several nations ; what 
 weight of silver and gold ; what number of horses and 
 arms ; what ivory and perfumes, as gifts to the temples ; 
 what quantities of grain ; and of all necessaries, were by 
 each people paid ; forming an amount no less costly than 
 the revenues exacted by the domination of the Parthians, 
 or by the power of the Romans. 
 
 61. Germanicus was intent upon seeing other wonders: 
 the chief were, the stone statue of Memnon, yielding, 
 when struck by the solar rays, a vocal sound ; the pyra- 
 mids, raised like mountain* amidst irregular and almost 
 impassable heaps of sands, by the pride and opulence of 
 their kings ; the artificial lake, a receptacle of the over- 
 flowing Nile; and elsewhere the straits and depths so im- 
 mense as not to be fathomable by any measures which 
 the curious could employ. Thence he proceeded to Ele- 
 phanlina and Syene, formerly barriers of the Roman em- 
 pire, which is now extended to the Red sea. 
 
 62. Whilst Germanicus spent this summer in several 
 provinces, Drusus acquired no inconsiderable renown by 
 sowing feuds amongst the Germans; and as the power of 
 Maroboduus was now broken, by engaging them to follow 
 him up and complete his ruin. Amongst the Gothones 
 was a young man of rank, named Catualda, formerly driven 
 into exile by Maroboduus, but now in his distress resolved 
 on revenge. With a strong force he entered the borders 
 of the Marcomannians, and having seduced their chiefs 
 into his alliance, stormed the regal palace, and the castle 
 adjoining it. Here were the stores of prey accumulated 
 by the Suevians; and here also were found many victuallers 
 and traders from our provinces ; who, drawn hither from 
 their several homes, by privilege of traffic, and induced to 
 remain by the thirst of gain, had at last, through utter 
 oblivion of their own country, fixed themselves in a hostile 
 soil. 
 
 63. To Maroboduus, on every side forsaken, no other 
 refuge remained but the mercy of Caesar ; he therefore 
 passed the Danube where it washes the province of No- 
 ricum, and wrote to Tiberius; not in the language of a fugi- 
 tive or supplicant, but in a spirit suitable to his former 
 fortune : " That many nations invited him to them, as a 
 king once so glorious ; but he preferred to all the friend- 
 ship of Rome." The emperor answered, "That in Italy 
 he should have a safe and honourable retreat, and when 
 his affairs required his presence, the same security to re- 
 turn." But to the senate he declared, " That never had
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 81 
 
 Philip of Macedon been so terrible to the Athenians ; nor 
 Pyrrhus, nor Antiochus to the Roman people." The 
 speech is extant ; in it he magnifies " the greatness of the 
 nian, the fierceness of the nations his subjects ; the alarm- 
 ing proximity of such an enemy to Italy, and his own mea- 
 sures to destroy him." Maroboduus was kept at Ra- 
 venna, for a check and terror to the Suevians : as if, when 
 at any time they grew turbulent, he were there in readi- 
 ness to resume his dominion : but for eighteen years he 
 left not Italy, but grew old in exile there ; losing much of 
 his celebrity in consequence of his immoderate love of se- 
 curity. Catualda experienced the same fate and sought 
 the same refuge ; he was soon after expelled by the forces 
 of the Hermundurians, led by Vibilius, and being received 
 under the Roman protection, was conveyed to Forum 
 Julii, a colony in Narbon Gaul. The Barbarians, their 
 followers, lest, had they been mixed with the provinces, 
 they might have disturbed their present quiet, were placed 
 beyond the Danube, between the rivers Marus and Cusus, 
 and for their king had assigned them Vannius, by nation 
 a Quadian. 
 
 64. As soon as it was known at Rome that Artaxias was 
 by Germanicus given to the Armenians for their king, the 
 fathers decreed to him and Drusus that they should enter 
 the city in ovation : arches were likewise erected on each 
 side the temple of Mars the Avenger, with the statues of 
 these two Caesars ; and for Tiberius, he was more rejoiced 
 to have established peace by policy, than if he had ended 
 the war by battles. He therefore also assailed by craft 
 Rhescuporis, a king of Thrace. That whole nation had 
 been subject to Rhemetalces ; but upon his death, one 
 moiety was by Augustus granted to Rhescuporis his bro- 
 ther ; and one to Cotys his son : in this partition, the cul- 
 tivated lands, cities, and territories bounding upon Greece, 
 fell to Cotys ; to Rhescuporis the wilds, the hills, and the 
 parts exposed to a hostile neighbourhood. The two kings 
 were likewise dissonant in their genius ; the former mild 
 and agreeable ; the latter stern, rapacious, and impatient 
 of a partner in power. At first they lived in hollow friend- 
 ship; but soon Rhescuporis began to pass his limits, to 
 seize for himself the portions of Cotys, and where he met 
 resistance, to exercise violence ; cautiously, indeed, in the 
 life of Augustus, for as both owed their kingdoms to him, 
 he feared that he would avenge any contempt of his au- 
 thority : but upon the change of emperors, he poured in 
 bands of robbers, and demolished forts, to bring about a 
 war.
 
 82 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 65. Tiberius was solicitous above all tilings, that matters 
 once settled should not be disturbed. He despatched a 
 chosen centurion to the two kings, to forbid a decision by 
 arms : and Cotys forthwith dismissed the forces he had 
 raised: Rhescuporis,with pretended moderation, requested 
 an interview, "for by treaty," he said, "they might ad- 
 just all their differences :" upon the time, the place, and 
 even upon the conditions, they quickly agreed, while one 
 from natural facility, the other with a guileful purpose, 
 yielded and accepted every proposition. Rhescuporis, to 
 give solemnity, as he said repeatedly, to the league, added 
 a banquet ; and when the pleasures of the feast had been 
 protracted to a late hour, when the revelry was at its 
 height, and the wine had produced its effect, Rhescuporis 
 seized upon Cotys unawares; and though, when he per- 
 ceived the treacherous purpose he conjured him by the 
 sanctity of kings, the common gods of their family, and 
 the laws of the hospitable board, he loaded him with 
 chains. Rhescuporis having now seized all Thrace, wrote 
 to Tiberius, " that a plot had been laid for him ; but he 
 had anticipated the contriver ;" and pretending a war 
 against the Bastarnians and Scythians, fortified himself 
 with new forces, horse and foot. 
 
 66. Tiberius answered very quietly, " That if he had 
 practised no guile, he might securely trust to his inno- 
 cence ; but neither could he himself nor the senate, with- 
 out hearing the cause, distinguish between justice and 
 injustice : that therefore, delivering up Cotys, he should 
 come, and upon him transfer the odium of guilt." This 
 letter, Latinius Pandus, propraetor of Moasia, transmitted 
 to Thrace by the soldiers sent to receive Cotys. Rhes- 
 cuporis, wavering between fear and rage, determined at 
 last rather to be tried for a completed than an imperfect 
 villany : he caused Cotys to be murdered, and gave out 
 that he had died by his own hands. Tiberius however did 
 not abandon the artful course he had once adopted, but 
 upon the death of Pandus, whom Rhescuporis alleged to 
 have been his enemy, selected for the government of Mo2- 
 sia, Pomponius Flaccus, an old officer, in close friendship 
 with the king, and therefore more qualified to betray 
 him. 
 
 67. Flaccus passed into Thrace, and though he found 
 him full of hesitation, and reflecting on the enormities he 
 had committed, yet by large promises he prevailed upon 
 him to enter the Roman lines. Upon this, the king, on 
 pretence of honour, was surrounded with a strong party. 
 The tribunes and centurions by advice and persuasion in-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 83 
 
 duced him to proceed. The further they advanced the 
 more evident it was that he was a prisoner, and he at 
 length became aware of the necessity he was under thus 
 they conveyed him to the city. He was accused before 
 the senate by the wife of Cotys, and condemned to exile 
 far from his kingdom. Thrace was divided between Rhe- 
 metalces his son, who had opposed his father's measures, 
 and the sons of Cotys ; these were minors, and placed with 
 their kingdom under the administration of Trebellienus 
 Rufus, formerly praetor ; after the example of our ances- 
 tors, who sent Marcus Lepidus into Egypt, as guardian to 
 the children of Ptolemy. Rhescuporis was transported 
 to Alexandria, and there slain while attempting to escape, 
 or falsely charged with it. 
 
 68. At the same time Vonones, who had been removed 
 as I have above related, into Cilicia, corrupted his keepers, 
 and endeavoured to escape to Armenia, thence to the Al- 
 banians and Heniochians, and then to his kinsman the 
 king of Scythia. Under pretence of hunting, he struck 
 away from the coast and made for the intricacies of the fo- 
 rests, and soon from the speed of his horse reached the river 
 Pyramus. But the neighbouring inhabitants, apprised of 
 the king's flight, had broken the bridges ; and the stream 
 could not be forded : upon the banks therefore of the 
 river, he was by Vibius Frohto, a captain of horse, put in 
 bonds ; soon after, Remmius, a resumed veteran, who was 
 before his keeper, in affected wroth, ran him through with 
 a sword ; whence the more probable account is, that he 
 slew Vonones,- because he was an accomplice in his escape, 
 and feared he might give evidence against him. 
 
 69. Germanicus, returning from Egypt, learned that all 
 his orders to the legions, and the cities, were either en- 
 tirely abolished or perverted : hence he sought to inflict 
 every indignity on Piso. Nor less virulent were the efforts 
 of Piso against Germanicus. Piso afterwards determined 
 to leave Syria, but was detained by the illness of Ger- 
 manicus : again when he heard of his recovery, and per- 
 ceived that vows were paid for his restoration, the lictors, 
 by his command, drove away the victims already at the 
 altars ; overturned the apparatus for the sacrifices, and 
 scattered the people of Antioch employed in celebrating 
 the festival. He then departed to Seleucia, waiting the 
 event of the malady, which had again assaulted Ger- 
 manicus. His own persuasion that poison was given him 
 by Piso, heightened the relentless vehemence of the dis- 
 ease : indeed, upon the floors and walls were found the 
 exhumed remains of human bodies, with charms and spells, 
 
 G2
 
 84 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 and the name of Germanicus graven on sheets of lead; 
 carcases half burnt, besmeared with gore ; and other in- 
 struments of sorceries, by which souls are thought to be 
 doomed to the infernal gods : besides certain persons, sent 
 by Piso, were accused of coming to ascertain the unfa- 
 vourable symptoms. 
 
 70. These things filled Germanicus with apprehensions 
 great as his indignation : " If his doors," he said, " were 
 besieged, if under the eyes of his enemies he must render 
 up his spirit, what might be expected to befall his un- 
 happy wife, his infant children ? The progress of poison 
 was thought too slow ; Piso was impatient, and eager to 
 command alone the legions and the province : but Ger- 
 manicus was not sunk so low, nor would the price of his 
 murder remain with the murderer :" in a letter to Piso, he 
 renounced his friendship ; most add, that he commanded 
 him to depart the .province. Nor did Piso tarry longer, 
 but sailed away ; regulating his course so that he should 
 not have far to return should the death of Germanicus 
 leave the government of Syria vacant. 
 
 71. Germanicus, for a short interval conceived hopes of 
 his recovery, but drooping again, when his end approached, 
 he spoke on this wise to his attending friends : " If I were 
 dying in the course of nature, I should have just cause of 
 complaint against the gods, for hurrying me from my pa- 
 rents, my children, and my country, by a premature de- 
 parture in the vigour of youth ; but cut short in my career 
 as I now am, by the nefarious arts of Piso and Plancina, 
 my dying prayer, which I deposit in your breasts, is that 
 you would tell my father and my brother, with what per- 
 secutions mangled, with what treachery circumvented, I 
 end a life of consummate misery by a death the most re- 
 volting. Those who felt an interest in my prospects, or 
 were connected with me by blood, nay, even those who 
 envied me while I lived, will weep at the fate of him who, 
 once renowned, and the survivor of so many wars, hath 
 fallen by the dark devices of a woman. You will have an 
 opportunity of complaining to the senate, and invoking the 
 laws. To show respect for the dead with idle wailings, 
 is not the principal office of friends ; it is to remember his 
 dying wishes, to fulfil his last injunctions. Even strangers 
 will lament Germanicus; you will avenge me, if it was my- 
 self and not my fortune that you caressed. Show the peo- 
 ple of Rome my wife, the grand-daughter of Augustus, 
 tell over to them our six children. Compassion will wait 
 on those who bring such charges ; and the accused, if they 
 pretend iniquitous mandates, will not be believed ; or if
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 85 
 
 believed, not pardoned." His friends, touching the hand 
 of the dying prince, swore that they would forego their 
 lives sooner than their revenge. 
 
 72. Then turning to his wife, he conjured her " by her 
 remembrance of him, by their common children, to divest 
 herself of her unyielding spirit and humble to fortune in 
 the storm of her displeasure ; and, on her return to the 
 city, not to irritate those who were more than a match for 
 her by a competition for the mastery." So much openly, 
 and more in secret; whence he was believed to have warned 
 her of danger from Tiberius. Soon after he expired, to 
 the inexpressible grief of the province and the neighbour- 
 ing people ; remote nations and their kings mourned for 
 him : such had been his urbanity to the allies ; such his 
 clemency to his enemies ! Alike an object of veneration, 
 whether seen or heard ; for while he sustained the dignity 
 and authority of his exalted station, he kept clear of of- 
 fence, and avoided the imputation of arrogance. 
 
 73. The funeral, which was unaccompanied by the fa- 
 mily images and a procession, was abundantly honoured 
 by the praises of the deceased, and the commemoration of 
 his virtues. There were those who from his person, his 
 age, his manner of death, and even from the proximity of 
 the places where he departed, compared him in the cir- 
 cumstances of his fate, to Alexander the Great : " Each 
 of a graceful person, each of illustrious descent ; in years 
 neither much exceeding thirty; both fell victims to the 
 machinations of their countrymen, in the midst of foreign 
 nations : but Germanicus was gentle towards his friends ; 
 moderate in his pleasures ; the husband of one wife ; his 
 children legitimate ; nor inferior as a warrior, though not 
 so rash, and though hampered and prevented from a final 
 reduction of Germany, which had been smitten to the 
 earth by his repeated victories. But had he been sole 
 arbiter of things, had he possessed the sovereignty and 
 title of royalty, he would have attained to military renown 
 with greater facility in proportion as he surpassed him in 
 clemency, in moderation, and all the other virtues." His 
 body, before its commitment to the pile, was exhibited 
 naked in the Forum of Antioch, the place fixed upon for 
 the sepulchral rites : whether it bore the marks of poison 
 remained undecided ; for people were divided in their con- 
 clusions according as they pitied Germanicus, and pre- 
 sumed the guilt of Piso, or were prejudiced in his favour. 
 
 74. It was next debated amongst the legates of the le- 
 gions and the other senators there, to whom should be 
 committed the administration of Syria: and after the faint
 
 86 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 efforts of others, it was long disputed between Vibius Mar- 
 sus and Cneius Sentius. Marsus at last yielded to Sen- 
 tius, the older man and the more active candidate. By 
 him one Martina, infamous in that province for practices 
 in poisoning, and a close confidant of Plancina, was sent 
 to Home, at the suit of Vitellius, Veranius, and others, 
 who were collecting evidence of guilt, and preparing arti- 
 cles against Piso and Plancina, as actively as if the charge 
 had been formally brought against them. 
 
 75. Agrippina, though worn out with sorrow, and her 
 health impaired, yet impatient of all delay to her revenge, 
 embarked with the ashes of Germanicus and her children, 
 amidst universal grief " that a lady of the very highest 
 quality, who in her late most honoured union was wont to 
 be seen surrounded by persons offering her the tribute of 
 their homage and congratulations, should then be carry- 
 ing in her bosom funeral ashes, uncertain of vengeance, 
 alarmed for herself; and from her unfortunate fruitfulness 
 exposed to the assaults of fortune at so many points." 
 Piso the while was overtaken at the Isle of Cos by a mes- 
 sage, " that Germanicus was deceased." He rejoiced ex- 
 travagantly at the intelligence, slew victims, and repaired 
 with thanksgiving to the temples : but immoderate as was 
 his joy, more arrogant and insulting proved that of Plan- 
 cina, who immediately threw off her mourning for a de- 
 ceased sister, and assumed the habit of gaiety. 
 
 76. To him flocked the centurions with representations, 
 " that the affections of the legions were eagerly fixed on 
 him, and that he should proceed to resume the province in- 
 juriously taken from him, and now vacant." As he there- 
 fore consulted what he had best pursue, his son Marcus 
 Piso advised " a speedy journey to Rome ; hitherto," he 
 said, " nothing past expiation was committed ; nor were 
 impotent suspicions to be dreaded ; nor the idle blazonings 
 of fame : his variance with Germanicus might perhaps ex- 
 pose him to odium, but not penal visitation ; and by de- 
 priving him of the province, the malice of his enemies was 
 glutted ; but if he returned thither, as Sentius would cer- 
 tainly oppose him, a civil war would thus be commenced : 
 neither would the centurions and soldiers persist in his 
 party, as the memory of their late commander, and an in-* 
 veterate love to the Caesars would preponderate." 
 
 77. Domitius Celer, in virtue of his intimate friendship 
 with Piso, argued on the contrary, " that the event should 
 be followed up ; Piso, and not Sentius, was governor of 
 Syria ; to him were given the badges and jurisdiction of 
 praetor, to him the legions : if assailed by hostilities, with
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 87 
 
 how much better warrant could he take up arms in his 
 defence, who was thus invested with the authority of gene- 
 ral, and acted under special orders from the emperor. 
 Time also should be suffered to intervene after the circu- 
 lation of rumours, that they may grow stale : rarely could 
 the innocent bear up against the prejudice created by re- 
 cent charges; but were he once possessed of the army, and 
 had augmented his forces, many events, not to be foreseen, 
 would turn up in his favour. Are we then hastening to 
 arrive at Rome with the ashes of Germanicus, that you 
 may there fall, unheard and undefended, a victim to the 
 wailings of Agrippina, and the first impressions made on 
 the unreasoning multitude by rumour ? Livia, it is true, 
 is your confederate ; Tiberius is your friend ; but both 
 secretly : and indeed none will more ostentatiously bewail 
 the fate of Germanicus, than such as most heartily rejoice 
 at it." 
 
 78. Piso, of himself prone to violent measures, was with 
 no great labour persuaded into this opinion, and, in a letter 
 transmitted to Tiberius, accused Germanicus " of luxury 
 and insolence ; observing that he who had been expelled 
 to make room for dangerous designs against the state, had 
 now sought to resume, with his former faith and loyalty, 
 the care of the army." In the mean time, he put Domi- 
 tius on board a galley, and ordered him, avoiding the 
 coasts and the isles, to sail through the main sea to Syria. 
 The deserters, who from all quarters were flocking to him, 
 he formed into companies, and armed all the retainers to 
 the camp ; then sailing over to the continent, intercepted 
 a regiment of recruits upon their march into Syria ; and 
 wrote to the petty princes of Cilicia to assist him with suc- 
 cours : nor was the younger Piso slow in forwarding the 
 war, though he had given his voice against commencing it. 
 
 79. As they coasted Lycia and Pamphilia, they encoun- 
 tered the ships which carried Agrippina, with hostile feel- 
 ings on both sides, each at first prepared for combat ; but 
 as their fears were reciprocal, they proceeded no further 
 than reproaches. Vibius Marsus summoned Piso, as a cri- 
 minal, to Rome, there to make his defence : he answered 
 with derision, " that when the praetor, who was to sit upon 
 cases of poisonings, had assigned a day to the accusers 
 and the accused, he would attend." Domitius, meanwhile, 
 landing at Laodicea, a city of Syria, would have proceeded 
 to the winter-quarters of the sixth legion, which he be- 
 lieved to be the most prone to engage in novel attempts, 
 but was anticipated by Pacuvius, the lieutenant-general. 
 Sentius represented this by letter to Piso, and warned
 
 88 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 him, " at his peril to infect the camp by ministers of cor- 
 ruption ; or to assail the province by war ;" and drew into 
 a body such as he knew cherished the memory of Ger- 
 manicus, or were averse to his foes : upon them he incul- 
 cated with much ardour, that Piso was attacking the ma- 
 jesty of the prince, and invading the Roman state ; and 
 then put himself at the head of a powerful force ready for 
 the encounter. 
 
 80. Neither did Piso, though his enterprise miscarried, 
 fail to adopt the best measures of security under existing 
 circumstances ; but seized a castle of Cilicia strongly for- 
 tified, named Celendris: for, to the auxiliary Cilicians, sent 
 him by the petty kings, he had joined his body of de- 
 serters, as also the recruits lately intercepted, with all his 
 own and Plancina's slaves, and in number and bulk formed 
 them into a legion. In his harangue to them he pro- 
 tested, " that he, who was the lieutenant of Caesar, was ex- 
 cluded from the province which Caesar had committed to 
 him ; not by the legions (for by their invitation he came) 
 but by Sentius, who disguised under feigned charges his 
 own personal hate ; but with confidence they may stand 
 in battle against men who would refuse to fight when they 
 saw Piso, a commander lately by themselves styled their 
 ' Father,' who had the best of it, if the question were tried 
 on principles of justice, and who was not deficient in power 
 and resolution, if the sword must decide it." He then ar- 
 rayed his men without the fortifications, on a hill lofty 
 and precipitous, for all the rest was begirt by the sea : 
 against them stood the veterans regularly embattled, and 
 with a reserve ; one side had the advantage in the hardy 
 character of the troops, the other in the rugged and in- 
 accessible nature of their position ; but the latter had no 
 spirit, nor hope, nor even weapons, save those of rustics, 
 snatched up to meet a sudden emergency. As soon as 
 they came to blows, the issue was no longer doubtful than 
 while the Roman cohorts struggled up to level ground : 
 the Cilicians then fled, and shut themselves up in the 
 castle. 
 
 81. Piso meanwhile attempted in vain an assault upon the 
 fleet, which waited at a small distance; when he returned, 
 he presented himself upon the walls, where, now pros- 
 trating himself in an agony of grief, then calling upon par- 
 ticular soldiers by name, and tempting them by rewards, 
 he laboured to excite a mutiny ; and thus much had al- 
 ready effected, that a standard-bearer of the sixth legion 
 revolted to him with his eagle, when Sentius commanded 
 the cornets and trumpets to sound, the works to be as-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 89 
 
 saulted, the ladders reared, and all the bravest men to 
 mount, and others to pour from the engines volleys of 
 darts and stones, and brands. The obstinacy of Piso was 
 at last vanquished ; and he desired " that upon delivering 
 his arms he might remain in the castle while the emperor 
 was consulted as to whom he would commit the govern- 
 ment of Syria;" these conditions were not accepted; nor 
 was ought granted him save ships and a safe conduct to 
 Rome. 
 
 82. At Rome, when the illness of Germanicus became 
 generally known, and all its circumstances, as usually hap- 
 pens in reports coming from a distance, were related with 
 aggravations ; grief and indignation prevailed, which even 
 burst forth into lamentations. "There could be no doubt," 
 they said, "that it was for this that he had been banished 
 to the extremities of the empire ; for this the province of 
 Syria was committed to Piso, and these the fruits of Li- 
 via's mysterious conferences with Plancina : truly had their 
 fathers spoken concerning his father Drusus; that the 
 possessors of rule beheld with an evil eye the popular 
 spirit of their sons ; nor for ought else were they sacrificed, 
 but that they meditated giving the Roman people a sys- 
 tem of equal laws, and restoring liberty." These lamen- 
 tations of the populace were so inflamed, upon the tidings 
 of his death, that, without staying for an edict from the 
 magistrates, without a decree of senate, they assumed a 
 vacation ; the courts were deserted, private houses shut 
 up; everywhere were groans, or silent grief: nothing was 
 devised for form or show; and, though they forbore not to 
 inhibit the exterior marks of mourning; in their souls they 
 mourned still deeper. Accidentally some merchants from 
 Syria, who had left Germanicus still alive, brought more 
 joyful news of his condition: these were instantly believed, 
 and instantly proclaimed : each, as fast as they met, in- 
 formed others, who forthwith from joy conveyed their ill 
 authenticated information with improvements to more, 
 and they flew through the city, and burst open the tem- 
 ples' doors ; the night aided their credulity, and assertion 
 was more confident in the dark. Nor did Tiberius oppose 
 these fictions, but left them to vanish with time, and run 
 their course : hence with more bitterness they afterwards 
 grieved for him, as if anew snatched from them. 
 
 83. Honours were invented and decreed to Germani- 
 cus, various according to the intensity of affection for 
 him and the power of genius in the particular senators 
 who proposed them : " that his name should be sung in 
 the Salian hymns; curule chairs placed for him amongst
 
 DO THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 the priests of Augustus, and over these chairs oaken 
 crowns hung; his statue in ivory precede in the Circen- 
 sian games ; none but one of the Julian race be, in the 
 room of Germanicus, created flamen or augur :" arches 
 were added ; one at Rome, one upon the banks of the 
 Rhine, one upon mount Amanus, in Syria ; with inscrip- 
 tions of his exploits, and a testimony subjoined, " that he 
 died for the commonwealth:" a cenotaph at Antioch, where 
 his corpse was burnt; a. tribunal at Epidaphne, the place 
 where he ended his life. The multitude of statues, the 
 many places where divine honours were appointed to be 
 paid him, would not be easily recounted. When they 
 would have decreed him a golden bust, distinguished in 
 bulk as in material, to be placed among the founders of 
 eloquence, Tiberius insisted "that he should dedicate one 
 himself, such as was usual and of a like size with others ; 
 for that eloquence was not measured by fortune; and it 
 was sufficient glory if he were ranked with ancient writers." 
 The battalion called the Juniors was now, by the eques- 
 trian order, entitled the battalion of Germanicus, and a 
 rule made by them that, on every fifteenth of July, these 
 troops should follow, as their standard, the effigies of Ger- 
 manicus : of these honours many continue ; some were 
 immediately omitted, or have become obsolete in the lapse 
 of time. 
 
 84. In the height of this public sorrow, Livia, sister to 
 Germanicus, and married to Drusus, was delivered of 
 male twins ; an event even in middling families rare and 
 acceptable, but to Tiberius matter of such joy, that he 
 could not refrain boasting to the fathers, " that to no Ro- 
 man of the same eminence, before him, were ever two 
 children born at a birth:" for to his own glory he turned 
 all things, even mere accidents. But to the people, at 
 such a sad conjuncture, it was a source of additional grief; 
 as they feared that the family of Drusus thus increased, 
 would press heavier upon that of Germanicus. 
 
 8.5. The same year the licentiousness of women was by 
 the senate restrained with severe laws ; and it was pro- 
 vided, "that no woman should become venal, if her father, 
 grandfather, or husband, were Roman knights." For Vis- 
 tilia, a lady born of a praetorian family, had before the 
 aediles published herself a prostitute ; after a custom that 
 prevailed among our ancestors, who thought that prosti- 
 tutes were sufficiently punished by merely thus avowing 
 their infamy. Titidius Labeo too was questioned, why in 
 the manifest guilt of his wife, he had neglected the punish- 
 ment prescribed by the law; but he alleged that the sixty
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 91 
 
 days allowed for consultation were not elapsed ; and it was 
 deemed sufficient to proceed against Vistilia, who was ba- 
 nished to the Isle of Seriphos. Measures were also taken 
 for exterminating the solemnities of the Jews and the 
 Egyptians ; and a decree of senate was passed that four 
 thousand descendants of franchisee! slaves, defiled with 
 that superstition, and of age to carry arms, should be de- 
 ported to Sardinia, to check the practice of freebootry 
 there ; and if, through the malignity of the climate, they 
 perished, it would be small loss ; that the rest should de- 
 part Italy, unless by a stated day they had renounced 
 their profane rites. 
 
 86. After this, Tiberius represented that to supply the 
 place of Occia, who had presided seven and fifty years 
 over the vestals with the greatest sanctity, another virgin 
 was to be chosen; and thanked Fonteius Agrippa and 
 Asinius Pollio, that by offering their daughters, they con- 
 tended in good offices towards the commonwealth. Pol- 
 lio's daughter was preferred ; for nothing else but that 
 her mother had continued in the same matrimonial union; 
 for Agrippa, by a divorce, had impaired the credit of his 
 house. Upon her who was posthabited, Tiberius bestowed, 
 as a consolation, a dowry of a thousand great sesterces. 
 
 87. As the people murmured at the oppressive price of 
 corn, he settled the price of it to the buyer, and under- 
 took to pay two sesterces a measure to the corn-dealers : 
 neither however would he, on account of these acts, ac- 
 cept the name of ' Father of his Country,' a title offered 
 him before ; nay, he sharply rebuked such as said ( his 
 divine occupations,' and called him ' Lord.' Hence it was 
 difficult and dangerous to speak under a prince, who 
 dreaded liberty, and abhorred flattery. 
 
 88. I find in the writers of those times, some of them 
 senators, that in the senate were read letters from Adgan- 
 destrius, prince of the Chattians, undertaking to despatch 
 Arminius, if in order to it poison were sent him ; and an 
 answer returned, " that the Roman people took vengeance 
 on their foes not by fraud and covert acts, but armed and 
 in the face of the sun." In this, Tiberius gained equal 
 glory with our ancient captains, who rejected and dis- 
 closed a plot to poison king Pyrrhus. Arminius however, 
 upon the departure of the Romans and expulsion of Ma- 
 roboduus, aiming at royalty, became opposed to the liberty 
 of his countrymen ; who took up arms against him ; and 
 during a contest carried on with fluctuating success, he 
 fell by the treachery of his own kindred : the deliverer of 
 Germany without doubt he was, and one who assailed the
 
 92 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 Roman state, not like other kings and leaders, in its in- 
 fancy, but in the pride of imperial elevation ; in single en- 
 counters sometimes victorious sometimes defeated, but not 
 worsted in the general issue of the war : he lived thirty- 
 seven years ; twelve he was in possession of power ; and, 
 amongst barbarous nations, his memory is still celebrated 
 in their songs ; his name is unknown in the annals of the 
 Greeks, who only admire their own achievements ; nor is 
 he very much celebrated among us Romans, whose habit 
 it is to magnify men and feats of old, but to regard with 
 indifference the examples of modern prowess.
 
 THE 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 AGRIPPINA, continuing her course without the least inter- 
 mission through all the perils and rigours of a sea-voyage 
 in the winter, arrived at the island Corcyra, situated over 
 against the shores of Calabria. Unable to moderate her 
 grief, and impatient from inexperience of affliction, she 
 spent a few days there to tranquillise her troubled spirit ; 
 when, on hearing of her arrival, all the intimate friends of 
 the family, and most of the officers who had served under 
 Germanicus, with a number of strangers from the neigh- 
 bouring municipal towns, some thinking it due as a mark 
 of respect to the prince, but the greater part carried 
 along with the current, rushed to the city of Brundusium, 
 the readiest port in her way and the safest landing. As 
 soon as the fleet appeared in the deep, instantly were 
 filled, not the port alone and adjacent parts of the sea, 
 but the walls and roofs, and wherever the most distant 
 prospect could be obtained, with a sorrowing multitude, 
 earnestly asking each other " whether they should re- 
 ceive her on landing in silence, or with some expression 
 of feeling ?" Nor was it clearly determined what course 
 would be most suitable to the occasion, when the fleet 
 came slowly in, not as usual in sprightly trim, but all wear- 
 ing the impress of sadness. When she descended from 
 the ship, accompanied by her two infants, and bearing in 
 her hand the funeral urn, her eyes fixed stedfastly upon 
 the earth, one simultaneous groan burst from the whole 
 assemblage : nor could you distinguish relations from 
 strangers, nor the wailings of men from those of women ; 
 nor could any difference be discerned except that those 
 who came to meet her, in the vehemence of recent grief, 
 surpassed the attendants of Agrippina, who were ex- 
 hausted with continued mourning. 
 
 2. Tiberius had despatched two praetorian cohorts, with 
 directions that the magistrates of Calabria, with Apulians 
 and Campanians, should pay their last offices of respect to
 
 94 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 the memory of his son : upon the shoulders therefore of 
 the tribunes and centurions his ashes were borne ; before 
 them were carried the ensigns unadorned, and the fasces 
 reversed. As they passed througli the colonies, the popu- 
 lace in black, the knights in their purple robes, burnt pre- 
 cious raiment, perfumes, and whatever else is used in 
 funeral solemnities, according to the ability of the place : 
 even they whose cities lay remote from the route came 
 forth, offered victims and erected altars to the gods of the 
 departed, and with tears and ejaculations testified their 
 sorrow. Drusus came as far as Terracina, with Claudius 
 the brother of Germanicus, and those of his children who 
 had been left at Rome. The consuls Marcus Valerius and 
 Marcus Aurelius (for they had now entered upon their 
 office), the senate, and great part of the people, filled the 
 road ; a scattered processiofl, each walking and expressing 
 his grief as inclination led him : in sooth, flatttery was an 
 utter stranger here ; for all knew how real was the joy, 
 how hollow the grief of Tiberius for the death of Ger- 
 manicus. 
 
 3. Tiberius and Livia avoided appearing abroad : public 
 lamentation they thought below their dignity; or perhaps 
 they apprehended that if their countenances were exam- 
 ined by all eyes, their hypocrisy would be detected. That 
 Antonia, mother to the deceased, bore any part in the fu- 
 neral, I do not find either in the historians or in the jour- 
 nals ; though, besides Agrippina, and Drusus, and Clau- 
 dius, his other relations are likewise there recorded by 
 name : whether by sickness she was prevented, or whether 
 her soul vanquished by sorrow, could not bear to go 
 through the representation of such an overpowering cala- 
 mity. I would rather believe her constrained by Tiberius 
 and Livia, who left not the palace, that they might seem 
 to grieve alike, and that the grandmother and uncle might 
 appear to have followed her example in staying at home. 
 
 4. The day on which his remains were deposited in the 
 tomb of Augustus, at one time exhibited the silence of per- 
 fect desolation; at another, the uproar of vociferous lamen- 
 tation ; the streets of the city were crowded ; one general 
 blaze of torches glared throughout the Campus Martius ; 
 there the soldiers under arms, the magistrates without the 
 insignia of office, and the people ranged according to their 
 tribes, passionately exclaimed " that the commonwealth 
 was utterly lost, that henceforth there remained no hope," 
 so openly and so boldly that you would have- believed they 
 had forgotten those who ruled over them. But nothing 
 pierced Tiberius more deeply than the warm interest ex-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 95 
 
 cited in favour of Agrippina, while they gave her such 
 titles as "the ornament of her country, the only blood of 
 Augustus, an unparalleled example of primitive virtue ;" 
 and, looking up to heaven and the gods, they implored 
 " the preservation of her issue, and that they might out- 
 live their oppressors." 
 
 5. There were those who missed the pomp of a public 
 funeral, and compared with this the superior honours and 
 magnificence displayed by Augustus in that of Drusus, the 
 father of Germanicus ; observing, " that he himself had 
 travelled, in the depth of winter, as far as Ticinus, and 
 continuing by the corpse, had with it entered the city ; 
 around his bier were crowded the images of the Claudii and 
 Julii ; he was mourned in the Forum; his encomium pro- 
 nounced 011 the rostra ; all the honours, invented by our 
 ancestors, or added by their posterity, were heaped upon 
 him. But to Germanicus were denied the ordinary so- 
 lemnities, and such as were due to every distinguished 
 Roman. Certainly his corpse was burnt in a foreign coun- 
 try, because of the long journey, in such a manner as it 
 was ; but afterwards it was but just to have compensated 
 the scantiness of the first ceremony by the increased so- 
 lemnity of the last: his brother met him but one day's 
 journey ; his uncle not even at the gate. Where were 
 those observances of the ancients; the effigies of the dead 
 laid in state oh a bed ; hymns composed in memory of de- 
 parted virtue, with encomiums and tears ? Where at least 
 the ceremonial of sorrow ? " 
 
 6. All this was known to Tiberius ; and to suppress the 
 reflections of the populace, he admonished them in an edict, 
 " that many illustrious Romans had died for the common- 
 wealth, but none so universally and vehemently regretted : 
 and that it was to the honour of himself and all others, if 
 bounds were observed. The same things which became 
 private families and small states, became not princes and an 
 imperial people: that it was not unseemly to lament in the 
 first transport of sorrow ; nay, relief was afforded by weep- 
 ing; but it was now time to recover and compose their 
 minds. Thus the deified Julius, upon the loss of an only 
 daughter; thus the deified Augustus, upon the premature 
 death of his grandsons, had both concealed their sorrow. 
 More ancient examples were unnecessary ; how often had 
 the Roman people sustained with equanimity the slaughter 
 of their armies, the death of their generals, and entire de- 
 struction of illustrious families : princes were mortal ; the 
 commonwealth was eternal : they should therefore resume 
 their customary vocations." And because the spectacle
 
 96 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 of the Megalensian games was at hand, he added, " that 
 they should even lay aside their grief for amusements." 
 
 7. The vacation ended, public affairs were resumed ; 
 Drusus departed for the army in Illyricum, the minds of 
 all men impatiently looking for vengeance upon Piso and 
 amidst many complaints, that while he was roaming at 
 large through the delightful regions of Asia and Greece, 
 he was undermining by contemptuous and artful delay, 
 the evidences of his crimes ; for it was generally knownf 
 that Martina, that notorious trafficker in sorceries, and 
 sent, as I have above related, by Cnaeius Sentius to Rome, 
 had died suddenly at Brundusium ; that poison lay con- 
 cealed in a knot of her hair, but upon her body were found 
 no symptoms of self-murder. 
 
 8. Piso, sending forward his son to Rome, with instruc- 
 tions how to soften the emperor, proceeded himself to 
 Drusus: him he hoped to find less implacable for the death 
 of a brother than favourable for the removal of a rival. 
 Tiberius, to make it appear that the trial should be fair, 
 received the young man graciously, and honoured him 
 with the presents usually bestowed on young noblemen. 
 The answer of Drusus to Piso was, " that if the current 
 rumours were true, he stood in the first place of grief and 
 revenge; but he hoped they were false and chimerical, 
 and that the death of Germanicus would be fatal to rfone." 
 This he declared in public, avoiding all private communi- 
 cation with him : nor was it doubted but the answer was 
 dictated by Tiberius, when one otherwise artless and un- 
 guarded from the inexperience of youth, practised the 
 cunning of age. 
 
 9. Piso having crossed the sea of Dalmatia, and left his 
 ships at Ancona, took first the road through Picenum, and 
 then proceeding on the Flaminian way, met with the legion 
 which was going from Pannonia to Rome, and thence to 
 garrison in Africa. This too became the subject of popu- 
 lar censure, that he officiously mixed with the soldiers, 
 and courted them in their march and quarters : therefore 
 to avoid suspicion, or because when men are in dread their 
 conduct wavers, he embarked at Narnia upon the Nar, 
 thence sailed down the Tiber, and by landing at the tomb 
 of the Caesars heightened the wrath of the populace : be- 
 sides, he and Plancina, in open day, strutted through the 
 assemblage of persons on the banks, with an air of cheer- 
 fulness ; he attended by a long band of clients, she by a 
 train of ladies. Among the incentives to popular displea- 
 sure were also his house, proudly overlooking the forum, 
 and gaily decorated ; the feast and revel he made, and the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 97 
 
 publicity given to these proceedings from the frequented 
 locality. 
 
 10. The next day Fulcinius Trio commenced criminal 
 proceedings against Piso before the consuls, but was op- 
 posed by Vitellius, Veranius, and others, who had accom- 
 panied Germanicus: they said, "that in this prosecution 
 Trio had no part ; rior did they themselves act as accusers, 
 but as informants and witnesses of the facts, they would 
 produce the injunctions of Germanicus." Trio, dropping 
 the accusation in that cause, got leave to call in question 
 his former life : and the emperor was solicited to under- 
 take the trial ; which not even the accused opposed, dread- 
 ing the inclinations of the people and senate : " Tiberius, 
 on the contrary, he knew to be resolute in despising popu- 
 lar rumours, and implicated in guilt with his mother : be- 
 sides, that truth and misrepresentations were easiest dis- 
 tinguished by a single judge, but in assemblies odium 
 and envy prevailed." Tiberius was aware of the heavy 
 responsibility of the trial, and the imputations circulated 
 against him. In the presence therefore of a few friends, 
 he heard the menacing charges of the accusers, as also the 
 deprecatory defence of the accused ; and referred the en- 
 tire cause to the senate. 
 
 11. Meanwhile Drusus returned from Illyricum ; and 
 though the senate, for the captivity of Maroboduus, and 
 his exploits the summer before, had decreed him an ova- 
 tion, he postponed the honour, and entered the city with- 
 out that distinction. Piso, for his advocates, desired Titus 
 Arruntius, Fulcinius, Asinius Gallus, ^Eserninus Marcel- 
 lus, and Sextus Pompeius ; but as they excused themselves 
 on various grounds, he had in their room, Marcus Lepi- 
 dus, Lucius Piso, and Liveneius Regulus. And earnest 
 were the speculations of all, how great would prove the 
 fidelity of the friends of Germanicus ; what the assurance 
 of the criminal, what the behaviour of Tiberius; whether 
 he would be able to restrain and keep down his feelings. 
 Never were the people more intent on these matters ; 
 never did they exercise greater freedom in privately ex- 
 pressing reflections on the prince, or in keeping silence 
 where silence implied suspicion. 
 
 12. On the day the senate met, Tiberius made a studied 
 speech of artful temperament; he said, "that Piso had 
 been his father's lieutenant and friend; and was appointed 
 by himself, with the sanction of the senate, as coadjutor 
 to Germanicus in administering the affairs of the east: whe- 
 ther he had there by contumacy and opposition exaspe- 
 rated the young prince, and exulted in his death, or wick- 
 
 H
 
 98 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 edly procured it, they were then to judge with unpreju- 
 diced minds. For, said he, if he who was the lieutenant of 
 my son, exceeded the limits of his commission, failed in 
 respect to his commanding officer, and even rejoiced at his 
 decease and at my affliction, I will detest the man, I will 
 banish him from my house ; I will punish the private 
 wrong, but not with the power of a prince. But if he be 
 found guilty of a crime which would call for vengeance, 
 whosoever the murdered man might be, give to yourselves, 
 to the children of Germanicus, and to us his parents, the 
 solace of a just retribution. Consider too at, the same 
 time, -whether he sought to excite discontent and mutiny 
 in the army ; whether he endeavoured to win the affec- 
 tions of the soldiers by sinister arts, and to recover the 
 province by arms : or whether these are falsely reported 
 as aggravations by the accusers, with whose excessive 
 zeal J am justly offended : for, what purpose was answered 
 by stripping the corpse and exposing it to the ocular ex- 
 amination of the populace ? with what view was it dis- 
 seminated even among foreign nations, that his death was 
 the effect of poison, if all this was still doubtful, and re- 
 mains yet to be tried ? It is true, I bewail my son, and 
 shall ever bewail him ; but neither do I hinder the ac- 
 cused from bringing forward everything by which his in- 
 nocence may be sustained, or oppressive conduct on the 
 part of Germanicus, if he was chargeable with any, might 
 at the same time be proved. And you also I implore not 
 to treat imputed crimes as proved, because of my melan- 
 choly connection with this cause. If the ties of blood, if 
 the faith of friends, has made any of you his patrons, aid 
 him in his peril with your utmost eloquence and diligence. 
 To the same pains, to the same constancy, I entreat his 
 accusers. Thus we have granted to Germanicus, beyond 
 the laws, that the inquest on his death is held rather in 
 this court than in the forum, before the senate than the 
 ordinary judges. In every other respect, let the same im- 
 partiality be observed. Let no man in this cause consider 
 Drusus's tears ; let none regard my sorrow, nor any false 
 imputations upon my honour." 
 
 13. Two days were then appointed for maintaining the 
 charge ; six for preparing the defence, and three for making 
 it. Fulcinius then began with charges relating to a re- 
 mote period, and having no bearing upon the question, 
 " the ambition and rapacity of Piso in his administration 
 of Spain;" which proved, brought no guilt on the accused 
 with reference to recent charges if acquitted ; nor, if re- 
 pelled, could it clear him if found guilty of higher crimes.
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 99 
 
 After him, Servaeus, Veranius, and Vitellius, all with equal 
 zeal, but Vitellius with great eloquence, urged "that Piso, 
 in his hatred to Germanicus, and zeal for innovation, had 
 by tolerating their licentiousness and oppressions of the 
 allies, corrupted the common soldiers to that degree, that 
 by the most profligate he was styled 'Father of the le- 
 gions :' that he had, on the contrary, shown himself im- 
 placably hostile to all the best men, especially the friends 
 and companions of Germanicus ; lastly, by witchcraft and 
 poison destroyed Germanicus himself: hence the offerings 
 and immolations practised by him and Plancina : he had 
 then attacked the commonwealth with open hostilities; 
 and, that he might be prosecuted as a criminal, they were 
 forced to defeat him in a regular battle." 
 
 14. In every article but one his defence was faltering. 
 For, neither the charge of debauching the soldiery, nor 
 abandoning the province to all the most profligate, nor 
 even his insults to Germanicus, could he deny; he seemed 
 only to clear himself of the charge of poison ; a charge 
 which in truth was not sufficiently corroborated by. the 
 accusers, since they had only to allege " that at an enter- 
 tainment of Germanicus, Piso, while he sat above him, 
 with his hands poisoned the meat." For it appeared ab- 
 surd that amongst so many slaves not his own, in view of 
 so many bystanders, and under the eye of Germanicus, he 
 would attempt it ; besides, the accused offered to have his 
 set of slaves put to the rack, and demanded that the waiters 
 should also : but the judges were implacable, but from 
 different motives ; Tiberius for the hostile attack on the 
 province ; the senate because it could never be convinced 
 that the death of Germanicus was not the effect of fraud. 
 Some moved for the letters written to Piso from Rome ; a 
 motion opposed by Tiberius no less than by Piso. From 
 without, at the same time, were heard the cries of the peo- 
 ple, " that if he escaped the judgment of the senate, they 
 would not keep their hands off him." They had already 
 dragged some of his statues to the Gemonian steps, and 
 were now pulling down others ; but by the orders of Ti- 
 berius they were rescued and replaced. Piso was there- 
 fore put into a litter and escorted by a tribune of a pras- 
 torian cohort ; and various were the surmises expressed, 
 whether he attended as a guard for safety, or a minister of 
 death. 
 
 15. Plancina was under equal odium, but had more in- 
 ter^st ; hence it was doubted how far Tibei'ius durst pro- 
 ceed against her. While her husband's hopes were un- 
 decided, she professed "she would share his fortune what- 
 
 H 2
 
 100 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 ever it were, and, if fate would have it so, perish with 
 him." But when by the secret solicitations of Livia, she 
 had secured her own pardon, she began by degrees to de- 
 tach herself from her husband, and to make a separate de- 
 fence. After this fatal warning, he doubted whether he 
 should make any further efforts ; but, by the advice of his 
 sons, fortifying his mind, he again entered the senate; 
 where he had to hear the renewal of the prosecution, the 
 angry expressions of the fathers, and on all hands indica- 
 tions of displeasure and failure ; but nothing daunted him 
 so much as to behold Tiberius, exhibiting no token either 
 of commiseration or anger, but sullen and close shut up, 
 that he might be impregnable to every attempt at moving 
 him. When he was brought home, as if he were pre- 
 paring for his further defence the next day, he wrote 
 somewhat, which he sealed and delivered to his freedman: 
 he then paid the usual attention to his person ; and after 
 that, late in the night, his wife leaving the chamber, he 
 ordered the door to be shut, and was found, at break of 
 day, stabbed through the throat, his sword lying on the 
 ground. 
 
 16. I remember to have heard from aged men, that in 
 the hands of Piso was frequently seen a bundle of writings, 
 which he did not expose, but which, as his friends con- 
 stantly averred, " contained the letters of Tiberius and 
 his orders against Germanicus ; that he was resolved to 
 lay them before the fathers and to charge the emperor, 
 but was deluded by the hollow promises of Sejanus ; and 
 that neither did Piso die by his own hands, but of an ex- 
 press executioner, sent into his house." I dare affirm nei- 
 ther ; nor yet ought I to conceal the relations of such as 
 still lived when I was a youth. Tiberius, framing his 
 countenance to sadness, complained to the senate that 
 Piso, by that sort of death, had sought to throw odium 
 upon him ; and in a rapid succession of questions, in- 
 quired particularly how he had passed his last day, how 
 his last night ? The freedman answered to most with pru- 
 dence, to some confusedly. The emperor then recited 
 the letter sent him by Piso. It was conceived almost in 
 these words : " Oppressed by a combination of my ene- 
 mies and the odium of falsely imputed crimes ; since no 
 place is left here for truth and my innocence ; to the im- 
 mortal gods I appeal, that towards you, Ca3sar, I have 
 lived with sincere faith, nor towards your mother with less 
 reverence. For my sons I implore her protection a,nd 
 yours: my son Cneius had no share in the events laid to 
 my charge, of whatsoever character they were, since,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 101 
 
 during the whole time, he abode at Rome : and my son 
 Marcus dissuaded me from returning to Syria. Oh that, 
 old as I am, I had yielded to him, rather than he, young 
 as he is, to me ! Hence the more earnestly I pray that 
 innocent as he is, he be not involved in the punishment of 
 my guilt: by my devoted services for five and forty years, 
 I entreat you; I, who formerly during my fellowship in the 
 consulship with the deified Augustus, your father, enjoyed 
 his approbation and your friendship ; I, who shall never 
 ask a favour of you hereafter, implore your mercy for my 
 unhappy son." Of Plancina he said nothing. 
 
 17. Tiberius, upon this, cleared the young man of any 
 participation in the guilt of the civil war; alleging that he 
 had acted under " the orders of his father, which a son 
 could not disobey," at the same time bewailing "that noble 
 house, and even the melancholy fate of Piso himself, how- 
 soever deserved." For Plancina he pleaded with shame 
 and guilt, alleging the importunity of his mother; against 
 whom the secret complaints of all the worthiest citizens 
 burst forth with augmented vehemence. " Was it then 
 right for a grandmother to admit to her sight the mur- 
 deress of her grandson, to hold converse with her, and 
 rescue her from the vengeance of the senate ? To Ger- 
 manicus alone was denied what by the laws was granted 
 to every citizen. By Vitellius and Veranius, the fate of 
 that prince was mourned and his cause pleaded ; by the 
 emperor and his mother, Plancina was defended. Hence- 
 forth she might turn her infernal arts so successfully tried, 
 and her poisons, upon Agrippina and her children ; and, 
 with the blood of that most miserable house, satiate this 
 exemplary grandmother and uncle." Two days were thus 
 wasted in the semblance of a trial; Tiberius animating the 
 sons of Piso to protect their mother. When the pleaders 
 and witnesses had zealously pushed the charge, as no one 
 replied in her defence, commiseration was increased rather 
 than hatred. The consul Aurelius Cotta was first asked 
 his opinion ; (for when the emperor collected the voices, 
 the magistrates likewise voted): his sentence was, "that 
 the name of Piso should be erased from the annals, part of 
 his estate confiscated, part granted to his son Cneius, upon 
 changing that name ; that his son Marcus be divested of 
 his dignity, and taking fifty thousand great sesterces for 
 his support, be banished for ten years: and that to Plan- 
 cina indemnity should be granted, in consideration of the 
 prayer of Augusta." 
 
 18. Much of this sentence was abated by the emperor ; 
 as that of striking Piso's name out of the annals, when
 
 102 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 " that of Marc Antony, who made war upon his country ; 
 that of Julus Antonius, who had violated the house of 
 Augustus, continued still there." He also exempted Mar- 
 cus Piso from ignominy, and left him his whole paternal 
 inheritance ; for, as I have already often observed, he was 
 tolerably proof against the temptation of money, and at 
 that time from shame at having screened Plancina, he was 
 the more disposed to mercy. He likewise withstood the 
 motion of Valerius Messalinus, " for erecting a golden 
 statue in the temple of Mars the Avenger ;" and that of 
 Caecina Severus, " for founding an altar to Revenge." 
 " Such monuments as these," he insisted, " were only fit 
 to be raised upon foreign victories ; domestic calamities 
 should be buried in the grief which attended them." Mes- 
 salinus had added, " that to Tiberius, Livia, Antonia, 
 Agrippina, and Drusus, public thanks should be rendered 
 for having revenged the death of Germanicus ;" but had 
 omitted to mention Claudius. Messalinus was asked by 
 Lucius Asprenas, in the presence of the senate, "whether 
 he was aware that he had omitted him?" and then at 
 length the name of Claudius was subjoined. The more I 
 meditate on the events of ancient or modern times, the 
 more I am struck with the capricious uncertainty which 
 mocks the calculations of men in all their transactions; for 
 there was not a man who was not thought more likely to 
 succeed to the throne, whether from his fame, his promise, 
 or public veneration, than he whom Fortune treasured up 
 in her secret counsels as the future prince. 
 
 19. A few days after, Vitellius, Veranius, and Severus, 
 were by the senate preferred to the honours of the priest- 
 hood, at the motion of Tiberius. To Fulcinius he pro- 
 mised his suffrage for preferment, but advised him "not 
 to embarrass his eloquence by impetuosity." Here was 
 the termination of the proceedings for avenging the death 
 of Germanicus ; an affair which has been the subject of 
 every variety of misrepresentation, not by those only who 
 then lived, but likewise in succeeding times: so true is it 
 that all transactions of pre-eminent importance are wrapt 
 in doubt and obscurity ; while some hold for certain facts 
 the most precarious hearsays, others turn facts into false- 
 hood ; and both are exaggerated by posterity. Drusus 
 went out of the city to renew the auspices, and presently 
 entered it in ovation. A few days after died Vipsania his 
 mother ; the only one of the children of Agrippa who died 
 a natural death: the rest manifestly perished, or are be- 
 lieved to have perished, by the sword, poison, or famine. 
 
 20. The same year, Tacfarinas, whom I have men-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 103 
 
 tioned to have been defeated the former summer by Ca- 
 millas, renewed the war in Africa ; first by desultory in- 
 cursions for the purposes of devastation, so sudden that 
 they escaped unchastised ; next by sacking towns ~and 
 bearing away large booty ; at last he beset a Roman co- 
 hort, at a small distance from the river Pagida. The fort 
 they occupied was commanded by Decrius, an active and 
 experienced soldier, who regarded this siege as a disho- 
 nour. Encouraging his men to offer battle on the open 
 plain, he drew them up without the walls : at the first 
 shock the cohort was repulsed ; but the resolute Decrius 
 braved the enemy's darts, opposed the runaways, and up- 
 braided the standard-bearers, " that upon vagabonds and 
 undisciplined robbers the Roman soldiers turned their 
 backs." At the same time he received several wounds ; 
 and though his eye was pierced through, he faced the 
 foe, nor ceased fighting till, deserted by his men, he was 
 slain. 
 
 21. Lucius Apronius had succeeded Camillus. As soon 
 as he learnt this defeat, grieved rather at the disgrace of 
 his own men, than the glory of the enemy, he practised 
 a severity, at this time rare, and founded on the example 
 of ancient times; beating to death with a cudgel every 
 tenth man of that degraded cohort, drawn by lot : and 
 such was the benefit of this rigour, that those very forces 
 of Tacfarinas, as they assaulted the fortress of Thala, 
 were routed by a body of not more than five hundred ve- 
 terans. In this battle Rufus Helvius, a common soldier, 
 acquired the glory of saving a citizen, and was by Apro- 
 nius presented with the spear and collar : Tiberius added 
 the civic crown, complaining rather than offended, that 
 Apronius had not, in his own right as proconsul, granted 
 that also. Tacfarinas, as the Numidians were dismayed 
 and set against sieges, adopted a desultory mode of war ; 
 retiring when attacked, and, upon a retreat, assaulting the 
 rear. As long as the barbarian observed this method, 
 without sustaining any loss himself, he mocked the baffled 
 and harassed Romans ; but after he drew down to the 
 maritime places, being prevented from moving by the 
 quantities of plunder, he pitched a camp and remained 
 there. Hither Apronius Cesianus was by his father de- 
 spatched with the cavalry and auxiliary cohorts, to which 
 he had added the most active of the legionary foot ; and, 
 having successfully fought the Numidians, drove them 
 back to the deserts. 
 
 22. At Rome, Emilia Lepida, who, besides the noble- 
 ness of the Emilian family, was great-granddaughter to
 
 104 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 Pompey and Sylla, was charged with feigning that she 
 had given birth to a child by Publius Quirinius her 
 husband, a man rich and childless. She was further 
 charged, with " adulteries, poisonings, and treasonable 
 dealings with the Chaldaeans about the fate and continu- 
 ance of the imperial house." Her brother, Manius Lepi- 
 dus, defended her ; and guilty and infamous as she was, 
 the persecution from her husband (continued after their 
 divorce) drew compassion upon her. In this trial, it was 
 no easy matter to discover the heart of Tiberius; with such 
 subtlety he blended and disguised the symptoms of in- 
 dignation and clemency. At first, he besought the senate, 
 " not to meddle with the articles of treason ;" and pre- 
 sently engaged Marcus Servilius, once consul, and the 
 other witnesses, to produce the very evidences of treason 
 which he had desired to suppress : and yet, he took the 
 slaves of Lepida from the guard of soldiers, and trans- 
 ferred them to the consuls ; nor would he suffer them to 
 be examined by torture, as to her practices against his 
 own house : he even excused Drusus from voting first, as 
 consul elect. This some understood as a concession to civil 
 equality, " that the rest might not be obliged to follow the 
 example of Drusus :" some ascribed it to cruelty ; " for 
 that he would not have surrendered his privilege except 
 he had meant to condemn her." 
 
 23. The public games interrupted the trial, when Le- 
 pida, accompanied with other ladies of distinguished qua- 
 lity, entered the theatre ; and with doleful lamentations 
 invoking her ancestors, and Pompey himself, whose sta- 
 tues stood round in view, and who raised those monu- 
 ments they saw, she excited such universal commiseration, 
 that the spectators burst into tears, and gave vent to angry 
 and direful imprecations against Quirinius, " to whose 
 childless old age and mean extraction, a lady once designed 
 for the wife of Lucius Caesar, and for the daughter-in-law 
 of the deified Augustus was given." At last, by putting 
 her slaves to the rack, her crimes were made manifest, and 
 the judgment of Ilubellius Blanclus prevailed, for inter- 
 dicting her from fire and water. To this judgment Dru- 
 sus assented, though others had proposed a milder. That 
 her estate should not be forfeited, was shortly after granted 
 to Scaurus, who by her had had a daughter: and now 
 after condemnation, Tiberius divulged the fact, that "from 
 the slaves too of Quirinius he had learnt her attempts to 
 poison him." 
 
 24. As a consolation to the illustrious families of Rome, 
 for their late calamities (for the Calpurnian house had suf-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 105 
 
 fered the loss of Piso, and just after, the ^milian house 
 that of Lepida) Decius Silanus was now restored to the 
 Junian family. I will briefly recite his disgrace. As, 
 against the republic, the fortune of Augustus carried all 
 before it, so, in his family, it was unhappy ; on account of 
 the lewdness of his daughter and granddaughter, whom 
 he banished the city, punishing with death or exile their 
 adulterers. For, by giving to a fault common between 
 men and women, the heinous name of sacrilege and trea- 
 son, he departed from the lenity of our ancestors and his 
 own laws. But 1 shall hereafter relate the fate of others 
 from this his severity, as also the other transactions of that 
 time, if, having finished my present undertaking, life re- 
 mains for other studies. Silanus, who had debauched the 
 granddaughter of Augustus, though the only punishment 
 inflicted on him was, to be excluded from the friendship and 
 presence of the emperor, yet understood this as a denun- 
 ciation of banishment ; nor durst he, till the reign of Ti- 
 berius, supplicate the prince and senate for leave to re- 
 turn, through the influence of his brother Marcus Silanus, 
 who was pre-eminently distinguished by his illustrious rank 
 and eloquence. Marcus having returned thanks to Tibe- 
 rius, had this answer from him before the senate ; " that 
 he himself also rejoiced that his brother was returned 
 after a long absence ; and justly was it permitted him ; 
 since neither by decree of the senate, nor by any law had 
 he been banished ; that he himself however retained en- 
 tire the resentment of his father towards him; nor by the 
 return of Silanus were the resolutions of Augustus can- 
 celled. Thenceforward he remained in Rome, but ob- 
 tained no honours. 
 
 25. A mitigation of the law Papia Poppaea was next 
 proposed ; a law which Augustus had made when in years, 
 in support of the Julian laws, for punishing celibacy and 
 enriching the exchequer. Nor even by this means did 
 marriages and the bringing up of children become more 
 in vogue, the advantage of having no children to inherit 
 outweighing the penalty of disobedience : however, the 
 numbers endangered by it increased, while by the glosses 
 of informers every family was suffering. So that, as be- 
 fore the city laboured under the weight of crimes, so now 
 under the pest of laws. From this circumstance I am in- 
 duced to investigate the first rise of laws, and show how it 
 was that this countless multitude and variety of laws were 
 introduced. 
 
 26. The first race of men, free as yet from every de- 
 praved passion, lived without reproach and crimes, and
 
 106 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 therefore without chastisements and restraints; nor was 
 there occasion for rewards, when from their own natural 
 inclination they pursued things honourable : and where 
 they coveted nothing inordinately, they were prohibited 
 from nothing by fear. But, after they had put off their 
 original equality, and instead of moderation and diffidence, 
 ambition and violence entered in, sovereignties sprang up, 
 and in many nations continued without intermission. Some, 
 either from the beginning, or after they were surfeited 
 with tyrants, preferred the government of laws; which, in 
 those early ages, when the minds of men were unsophis- 
 ticated, were plain and simple. The laws in most renown 
 were those framed for the Cretans by Minos ; for the 
 Spartans by Lycurgus ; and afterwards that more elabo- 
 rate and extended code which Solon composed for the 
 Athenians. Romulus ruled over us Romans according to 
 his own pleasure ; after him, Numa managed the people 
 by religious devices and divine law. Some institutions 
 were introduced by Tullus Hostilius, and Ancus Martius ; 
 but Servius Tullius stands pre-eminent as the founder of 
 laws which the kings themselves were bound to obey. 
 
 27. After the expulsion of Tarquin, the people resorted 
 to many expedients for the security of their freedom 
 against the cabals of the senate, and to consolidate the in- 
 terests of the different orders of the state : hence were 
 created the decemviri, and by them were composed the 
 XII Tables, that consummation of equitable legislation, 
 in which were adopted whatever excellencies could be 
 found in any other codes in existence. For the laws which 
 were made in after times, though sometimes framed to meet 
 the crimes of offenders as they arose, yet more frequently 
 were carried in a violent manner, and during the conflicts 
 of the different orders, from a desire of obtaining unper- 
 mitted honours, or getting rid of illustrious men, and for 
 other sinister objects. Hence the Gracchi and Saturnini, 
 those exciters of the people ; and hence Drusus, in the 
 name of the senate, vying with them in largesses ; hence 
 the allies seduced to espouse his cause by the hope of ob- 
 taining the freedom of the city, or rather mocked and de- 
 ceived by the veto of the tribunes. Neither during the 
 Italian war, nor during the civil war which followed, was 
 the practice discontinued ; but many and contradictory 
 laws were then made ; till at length Sylla, the dictator, 
 changing or abolishing the past, added many of his own, 
 and procured so.ne respite in this matter, but not for long ; 
 for presently followed the turbulent propositions of Lepi- 
 dus, and soon after to the tribunes was restored their ex-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 107 
 
 travagant power of raising commotions among the people 
 by whatsoever means they pleased. And now laws were 
 not made for the public only, but for particular men ; and 
 in the most corrupt period of the commonwealth the great- 
 est number of laws were made. 
 
 28. Cnaeius Pompey, in his third consulship, was chosen 
 to correct the public enormities ; but his remedies proved 
 more unsupportable than its distempers. He was at once 
 the maker and the violator of his own laws, and what he 
 had acquired by arms he lost by the same means. Hence- 
 forward for twenty years discord raged, neither unwritten 
 nor written law had any force ; the most wicked found im- 
 punity in the excess of their wickedness ; and many vir- 
 tuous men perished in their uprightness. At length, Au- 
 gustus Csesar in his sixth consulship, then confirmed in 
 power, abolished the orders which during the triumvirate 
 he had established, and gave us laws proper for peace 
 and a single ruler. From that time the bonds of slavery 
 were drawn closer : spies were appointed, who by the law 
 Papia Poppaea were encouraged with rewards, to watch 
 such as neglected the privileges of marriage, in order that 
 the state, as the common parent, might obtain their vacant 
 possessions. But these informers went beyond the inten- 
 tion of the law, and had got into their clutches the city, 
 Italy, and the Roman citizens in every part of the empire : 
 numbers were stripped of their entire fortunes, and all 
 had the terror of them before their eyes ; when Tiberius, 
 chose by lot five of consular rank, five of praetorian, with 
 ten other senators, to apply a remedy ; by whom most of 
 its intricacies were explained ; which afforded some alle- 
 viation of the pressing mischief. 
 
 29. Tiberius about this time recommended to the fa- 
 vour of the senate Nero, one of the children of Germani- 
 cus, now entered on the state of manhood ; and, with the 
 ridicule of those who heard him, desired " that he might 
 be exempted from executing the office of the vigintivirate, 
 and have leave to put up for the quaestorship five years 
 sooner than the laws directed." Tiberius pretended " that 
 the same indulgences had been decreed to himself and his 
 brother Drusus, at the request of Augustus." Nor do I 
 doubt but there were then those who secretly ridiculed 
 such petitions ; although then the foundations of the lofty 
 power of the Caesars were but being laid, the ancient 
 custom was fresher in the recollection ; and the relation 
 between Augustus and his wife's sons was slighter than be- 
 tween a grandfather arid his grandsons. A seat in the pon- 
 tifical college was given in addition ; and the first day he
 
 108 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 entered the forum a gratuity was presented to the people, 
 who were much pleased in beholding a son of Germanicus 
 now of age. After that their joy was heightened by his 
 marriage with Julia the daughter of Drusus. But as these 
 events were received with approbation, so the intended 
 marriage of the daughter of Sejanus with the son of Clau- 
 dius excited dissatisfaction. Tiberius seemed to have pol- 
 luted the nobility of the Claudian house by it ; and fur- 
 ther to have increased the influence of Sejanus, already 
 suspected of aspiring views. 
 
 30. In the latter part of this year died Lucius Volusius 
 and Sallustius Crispus ; distinguished characters. The 
 family of Volusius was ancient, but rose no higher than 
 the prastorship ; it was he who honoured it with the con- 
 sulship ; and was likewise created censor for modelling 
 the classes of the equestrian order; he also laid the found- 
 ation of the wealth which that family enjoyed in so bound- 
 less a degree. Crispus, who was of an equestrian house, 
 and great-nephew by a sister to Caius Sallustius, that 
 most renowned Roman historian, was adopted by him ; 
 and though the way to the great offices was open to him, 
 yet, in imitation of Maecenas, without the dignity of sena- 
 tor, he surpassed in influence many who were distin- 
 guished by consulships and triumphs : differing from the 
 customs of ancient times in his style of living and the ele- 
 gance of his habits ; and, in expense and affluence, bor- 
 dering upon luxury. But beneath this gay exterior was 
 an energy of mind equal to the greatest affairs, which ex- 
 erted itself the more in proportion as he made a show of 
 indolence and sloth : he was therefore, in the lifetime of 
 Maecenas, the next in favour, afterwards chief confidant 
 in all the secret counsels of Augustus and Tiberius, and 
 privy to the order for slaying Agrippa Posthumus ; in 
 his old age, he preserved with the prince rather the ap- 
 pearance than the influence of authority. The same 
 had happened to Maecenas. It is the fate of power, 
 rarely to be lasting ; perhaps from satiety in both, when 
 princes have no more to grant, and ministers no more to 
 crave. 
 
 31. Next followed the consulship of Tiberius and Dru- 
 sus ; to Tiberius the fourth, to Drusus the second : re- 
 markable from father and son being colleagues for the 
 same fellowship in the office between Tiberius and Ger- 
 manicus, two years before, was neither gratifying to the 
 uncle, nor were they so closely connected by relationship. 
 In the beginning of the year, Tiberius, on pretence of re- 
 instating his health, retired to Campania ; whether it was
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 109 
 
 that he would gradually prepare himself for a long and 
 lasting retirement, or to leave to Drusus, in his father's 
 absence, the execution of the consulship alone : and, as it 
 happened, a trifling circumstance which led to a serious 
 contest, afforded the tyoung consul materials for ingratiat- 
 ing himself with the public. Domitius Corbulo, formerly 
 praetor, complained to the senate of Lucius Sylla, a noble 
 youth, "that in the show of gladiators, he would not yield 
 him place." His years, the national custom, and the zea- 
 lous support of the old men, formed the advantages of 
 Corbulo : on the other side, Mamercus Scaurus, Lucius 
 Arruntius, and others, laboured for their kinsman Sylla : 
 they argued the matter warmly, and the examples of our 
 ancestors were urged, " who by severe decrees had cen- 
 sured irreverence in youth." Till at length Drusus inter- 
 posed with remarks calculated to soothe their animosities, 
 and Corbulo had satisfaction made him by Scaurus, who 
 was both father-in-law and uncle to Sylla, and the most 
 copious orator of that age. The same Corbulo, exclaim- 
 ing against " the condition of most of the roads through 
 Italy, that through the fraud of the contractors and neg- 
 ligence of the magistrates, they were interrupted and im- 
 passible ;" willingly undertook the execution of the busi- 
 ness ; but executed it not so much to the convenience of 
 the public as .to the ruin of many on whose -properties and 
 reputation he made ruthless havoc by his convictions and 
 confiscations. 
 
 32. Soon after, Tiberius by a letter acquainted the se- 
 nate, " that by the incursions of Tacfarinas fresh commo- 
 tions had arisen in Africa ; and that they must select for 
 proconsul a man of military experience, of vigorous con- 
 stitution, and who would be equal to the war." Sextus 
 Pompeius, taking this occasion to discharge his hate, re- 
 proached Marcus Lepidus as dastardly, indigent, a dis- 
 grace to his ancestors, and therefore to be divested even 
 of the government of Asia, his province by lot." But the 
 senate opposed him ; they considered Lepidus as a man 
 rather mild than indolent; and that, as in his narrow for- 
 tune bequeathed to him, but not impaired by him, he pre- 
 served his dignity without reproach, he merited honour 
 rather than contumely : he was therefore sent to Asia. 
 Concerning Africa, it was decreed that the appointment 
 of a governor should be left to the emperor. 
 
 So. In the course of the debate, Crccina Severus pro- 
 posed, " that no magistrate should go into any province 
 accompanied by his wife." He introduced this motion 
 with a long preface, " that he lived with his own in per-
 
 110 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 feet concord, by her he had six children ; and what he 
 was establishing as a law for all, he had observed at home, 
 having during forty years service confined her to Italy. 
 It was not indeed without cause established of old, that 
 women should not be taken into allted nations or foreign. 
 A train of women introduced luxury in peace, by their 
 fears retarded war, and made a Roman army resemble, in 
 their march, the stately progress of Barbarians. The sex 
 was not only delicate and unequal to fatigue, but, if suf- 
 fered, cruel, aspiring, and greedy of authority : that they 
 walked among the troops and had the centurions at their 
 beck. A woman had lately presided at the exercises of the 
 troops, and at the decursions of the legions. The senate 
 themselves should consider that as often as any of the 
 magistrates were charged with plundering the provinces, 
 their wives were the chief offenders. To the ladies the 
 most profligate in the province immediately attached them- 
 selves ; by them all affairs were undertaken and trans- 
 acted : that two persons were to be attended when they 
 went out, and there were two courts of justice ; but the 
 orders of the ladies were the more peremptory and capri- 
 cious. Such excesses were formerly restrained by the 
 Oppian and other laws; but now, these barriers removed, 
 women ruled all things, their families, the courts of justice, 
 and at length even the armies." 
 
 34. This proposition was heard by few with approba- 
 tion; more met it with clamorous objections, urging "that 
 neither was it regularly laid before the senate, nor was 
 Caecina of sufficient consideration to originate a reform in 
 so grave a matter." He was soon after answered by Va- 
 lerius Messalinus, who was the son of Messalia, and the 
 eloquence of the father was reflected in the son. He said: 
 " that many rigorous institutions of the ancients were soft- 
 ened and changed for the better : for, neither was Rome 
 now, as of old, beset with wars, nor the provinces in arms; 
 and a few concessions were made to the conveniences of 
 the gentler sex, who were so far from burdening the pro- 
 vinces, that they were not felt in the private expenditure 
 of their husbands. As to honours, attendance, and ex- 
 pense, they enjoyed them in common with their husbands, 
 who could receive no embarrassment from their company 
 in time of peace. To war indeed we must go equipped 
 and unencumbered ; but after the fatigues of war, what 
 relief was more honourable than that which a wife af- 
 forded ? But some wives had given loose to ambition and 
 avarice ! What ! were not most of the magistrates them- 
 selves chargeable with various excesses? we did not there-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. Ill 
 
 fore send none into the provinces. Husbands were often 
 corrupted by the vices of their wives ; and were therefore 
 all single men untainted by such influences? The Oppian 
 laws were formerly passed because the condition of the 
 times required them ; such restrictions were afterwards 
 somewhat relaxed and mollified, because it was expedient. 
 In vain we covered our own supineness with borrowed 
 names : if the wife ran into excess, the husband was to 
 blame. It was moreover unreasonable, for the weak and 
 uxorious spirit of one or a few, to bereave all others of 
 the natural partners of their prosperity and distress. Be- 
 sides, the sex, weak by nature, would be left defenceless, 
 abandoned to their natural extravagance, and the solicita- 
 tions of adulterers. Scarcely under the eye and restraint 
 of the husband, was the marriage bed preserved inviolate; 
 what must be the consequence, when by an absence of 
 many years, the obligations of marriage should be enfee- 
 bled, as in a divorce? It became them so to proceed 
 against abuses abroad, as not to forget the enormities at 
 Rome." To this Drusus added somewhat concerning his 
 own married state : " princes," he said, " were frequently 
 obliged to visit the remote parts of the empire : how often 
 did the deified Augustus travel to the east, how often to 
 the west, accompanied by Livia ? He himself too had 
 made a progress to Illyricum, and, if it were expedient, 
 was ready to visit other nations ; but not always content- 
 edly if he were to be torn from his wife, who was most 
 dear to him, and by whom he had so many children. " 
 Thus was Caecina's motion eluded. 
 
 35. When the senate met next, they had a letter from 
 Tiberius, indirectly rebuking the fathers, " that they cast 
 upon him all the public cares ;" and named M. Lepidus 
 and Junius BIa9sus, one of whom they should choose as 
 proconsul of Africa. They were then both heard ; when 
 Lepidus excused himself with earnestness, pretending 
 " his infirm constitution, the tender age of his children, 
 and a daughter fit for marriage." There was another rea- 
 son too, of which he said nothing ; but it was easily un- 
 derstood : Blaesus was the uncle of Sejanus, and therefore 
 had the prevailing interest. Blaesus, too, made a show of 
 refusing, but not with the same pertinacity, and he was 
 not assisted in his repugnance by the acquiescence of those 
 who wished to flatter him. 
 
 36. After this a grievance was brought to light which 
 had hitherto only been matter of suppressed dissatisfac- 
 tion. It had become a practice for the most abandoned 
 characters to assume the privilege of slandering and ma-
 
 112 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 ligning good men, under the protection of Caesar's statue, 
 to which they fled as a sanctuary : even slaves and freed- 
 men were, out of all reason, objects of terror to their mas- 
 ters or patrons, even when they had insulted and threat- 
 ened them. Against this abuse it was argued by Cains 
 Sestius the senator, " that princes were indeed as the 
 gods; but by the gods just petitions only were heard: nor 
 did any one betake himself to the Capitol, or the other 
 temples of Rome, that under their shelter he might exer- 
 cise villanies. That the laws were a dead letter, and ut- 
 terly subverted, if in the public forum, nay, at the thresh- 
 hold of the senate, Annia Rufilla, whom he had prose- 
 cuted to conviction for forgery, could abuse and threaten 
 him : neither durst he seek relief from the law, for that 
 she protected herself with the emperor's statue." Others 
 urged similar complaints, and some beset Drusus with cla- 
 morous representations of more aggravated cases, and be- 
 sought him to hold up a salutary example in the punish- 
 ment of the offenders ; when he ordered her to be sum- 
 moned, and on her conviction to be committed to the pub- 
 lic prison. 
 
 37. Considius ./Equus too, and Ccelius Cursor, Roman 
 knights, were, at the motion of Drusus, punished by a de- 
 cree of senate, for forging a charge of treason against the 
 praetor Magius Caecilianus. From both these events, Dru- 
 sus reaped applause ; it was said, " that by his living 
 thus sociably at Rome, and mixing in company, the close- 
 ness and reserve of his father were compensated." Nei- 
 ther did the luxury in which the young prince lived, give 
 much offence. " Let him, it was said, rather thus em- 
 ploy his days in shows, his nights in banqueting, than in 
 dismal solitude, and secluded from all pleasure, wear 
 himself out in gloomy suspicions and meditations of mis- 
 chief." 
 
 38. For neither Tiberius nor the informers were weary 
 of their efforts. Ancharius Priscus had accused Caesius 
 Cordus, proconsul of Crete, of official plunder, with 
 an additional charge of high treason ; a charge, which at 
 that time formed the universal resource in accusations. 
 Antistius Vetus, a nobleman of the first rank in Macedo- 
 nia, had been tried for adultery and absolved : this of- 
 fended Tiberius, who reproached the judges, and recalled 
 him to be tried for treason, as a disturber of the public 
 peace, and confederate with the late king Rhescuporis, 
 when having slain his brother Cotys, he meditated war 
 against us. So that Vetus was condemned, and inter- 
 dicted from fire and water : to this sentence it was added,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 113 
 
 " that he should be confined to an island not affording 
 an easy passage either to Macedonia or Thrace." For, 
 upon the division of that kingdom between Rhemetalces 
 and the sons of Cotys, who on account of their youth had 
 for their guardian Trebellienus liufus, the Thracians not 
 used to our government, were in a state of discontent and 
 hostility; nor did they less censure Rhemetalces than Tre- 
 bellienus, for leaving unpunished the wrongs of their coun- 
 trymen. The Caeletseans, Odrysaeans, and Dians, power- 
 ful nations, took up arms, under different captains, but 
 equally unknown to fame. For this reason, their armies 
 were not united so as to give a formidable character to 
 the war : some excited to revolt at home, others traversed 
 mount Haemus, to engage in the insurrection the distant 
 provinces: the greatest part, and best appointed, besieged 
 Philippopolis, (a city founded by Philip of Macedon) and 
 in it king Rhemetalces.) 
 
 39. Publiiis Velleius, who commanded the army in the 
 neighbouring province, hearing of this, despatched the 
 auxiliary horse and light foot; some against those who 
 roamed about for plunder, or to obtain succours : he 
 himself led the flower of the infantry to raise the siege. 
 These several enterprises were at once successfully exe- 
 cuted : the plundering parties were cut off; a division 
 arose amongst the besiegers, and the king fortunately 
 made a sortie just as the Roman forces arrived. But it 
 deserves not to be called a regular battle, nor a battle of 
 any sort, where men half armed and stragglers were 
 slaughtered, without blood on our side. 
 
 40. The same year the cities of Gaul, stimulated by 
 their excessive debts, began a rebellion. The most active 
 incendiaries were Julius Florus among the Treveri, and 
 Julius Sacrovir among the yEduans. They were borti 
 distinguished by their nobility, and by the good services 
 of their ancestors, and were therefore formerly presented 
 with the freedom of the city ; a privilege rare in those 
 days, and then only the rewards of virtue. When by secret 
 conferences they had gained all the most daring, with 
 such as were desperate through indigence, or, from guilt 
 of past crimes, forced to commit more ; they agreed that 
 Florus should begin the insurrection in Belgium ; Sacro- 
 vir amongst the neighbouring Gauls. In order to this, 
 going about to places of public resort and meetings of the 
 people, they uttered seditious harangues ; representing 
 "their tribute without end, their oppressive usury, the in- 
 solence and cruelty of their governors : further, that since 
 the report of the murder of Germanicus, dissension pre- 
 
 I
 
 114 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 vailed among the Roman soldiery : that to be convinced 
 that a rare opportunity of recovering their liberty now pre- 
 sented itself, they need only consider, whereas they were 
 themselves in a flourishing state, how poor and exhausted 
 was Italy ; the Roman populace how weak and unwarlike, 
 the Roman armies how destitute of all vigour but that de- 
 rived from foreigners." 
 
 41. Scarcely one city remained untainted with the seeds 
 of this rebellion ; but it first broke out among the Ande- 
 cavii and the Turonii. The former were reduced by Aci- 
 lius Aviola, a legate, with the assistance of a cohort drawn 
 from the garrison at Lyons. The latter were suppressed 
 by the same Aviola, with some legionary troops sent by 
 Visellius Varro, lieutenant-governor of lower Germany. 
 Some of the chiefs of the Gauls had likewise joined him 
 with succours, the better to disguise their defection, and 
 to advance it with more effect at a convenient time. Even 
 Sacrovir was seen animating the troops to fight for the 
 Romans, with his head bare, a demonstration, he pre- 
 tended, of his bravery ; but the prisoners maintained, that 
 " he did it to be known to his countrymen, and to escape 
 their darts." An account of all this was laid before Tibe- 
 rius, who repudiated it as unauthentic, and by his indeci- 
 sion gave increased vigour to the war. 
 
 42. Florus meanwhile followed up his designs, aod tried 
 to entice a regiment of horse, levied at Treves, and kept 
 under our pay and discipline, to begin the war by putting 
 to the sword the Roman bankers ; and a few were cor- 
 rupted, but the body remained in their allegiance. In 
 another part a rabble of his followers and debtors took 
 arms, and were making for the forest called Ardenna, 
 when the legions sent from both armies by Visellius and 
 Caius Silius by opposite routes intercepted them; and Ju- 
 lius Indus, one of the same city with Florus, at enmity 
 with him, and therefore more eager to perform the ser- 
 vice, being sent forward with a chosen band, further 
 routed the ill appointed multitude. Florus, by shifting 
 from one hiding place to another, frustrated the search of 
 the conquerors ; but at last, when he saw all the passes 
 beset with soldiers, he fell by his own hands. This was 
 the issue of the insurrection of the Treveri. 
 
 43. Amongst the .^Eduans the revolt was an affair of 
 more magnitude, in proportion as the state was more opu- 
 lent, and the forces to suppress it lay at a greater dis- 
 tance. Augustodunum, the capital of the nation, was 
 siezed by Sacrovir, and in it all the most illustrious youth 
 of Gaul, who were there occupied in learning the liberal
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 115 
 
 arts. By securing these pledges be aimed at attaching to 
 his interest their parents and relations ; and at the same 
 time distributed to the young men arms which he had 
 caused to be secretly made. He had forty thousand men, 
 the fifth part armed like our legions, the rest with poles, 
 hangers, and other weapons used by hunters. To the 
 number were added sucli of the slaves as had been ap- 
 pointed to be gladiators ; these were covered, after the 
 fashion of the country, with a complete plate of iron, and 
 styled Crupellarii ; too much encumbered to use their 
 own weapons, and yet impenetrable by those of others. 
 These forces were still increased by volunteers from the 
 neighbouring cities, where, though the public body did 
 not hitherto avow the revolt, yet the zeal of individuals 
 exerted itself: they had likewise leisure to increase from 
 the contention of the two Roman generals ; who were dis- 
 puting which should take the conduct of the war, while 
 each demanded it. At length Varro, old and infirm, 
 yielded to the superior vigour of Silius. 
 
 44. Now at Rome was reported, " not only the insur- 
 rection of the Treveri and of the ./Eduans, but likewise, 
 that sixty-four cities of Gaul had revolted ; that the Ger- 
 mans had joined in the confederacy, and that Spain was 
 wavering ; all which was believed in this exaggerated 
 form, as is usual in matters of rumour. All the worthiest 
 men grieved', from concern for their country: many from 
 hatred of the present state of things and thirst of change, 
 rejoiced even in their own perils : they inveighed against 
 Tiberius, " that in a commotion so extensive, he spent his 
 time upon the informations of the state accusers." They 
 asked, " would Julius Sacrovir be tried for treason be- 
 fore the senate ?" They exulted, " that there were at 
 last found men who would with arms restrain the bloody 
 orders for private murders," and declared, " that even 
 war was a happy change for a miserable peace." So much 
 the more studiously Tiberius assumed an air of security 
 and unconcern ; neither changing his place nor counte- 
 nance, but conducting himself at that critical time as at 
 others ; whether it arose from the depth of his dissimula- 
 tion, or that he had learnt that it was no great matter, and 
 of less importance, than rumour represented it. 
 
 45. Silius meanwhile sent forward a band of auxiliaries, 
 and marching slowly with two legions ravaged the villages 
 of the Sequanians, a people at the extreme confines of 
 Gaul, bordering upon the ^duans, and their associates in 
 arms. He then advanced rapidly towards Augustodunum; 
 the standard-bearers mutually vying in expedition, and the
 
 1IG THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 common men indignantly desiring " that they might not 
 wait to take their usual repose, nor intermit their march 
 by night; let them only see and confront the foe; they 
 wanted no more to be victorious." -Twelve miles from 
 Augustodunum Sacrovir appeared with his forces upon 
 the plains : in the front he had placed the, troops in iron 
 armour, his cohorts in the wings ; the half-armed in the 
 rear : he himself, on a superb charger, and attended by 
 the other chiefs, rode from rank to rank, and addressing 
 them, reminded them " of the glorious achievements of the 
 ancient Gauls ; the defeats they had given the Romans ; 
 how honourable their liberty regained by victory, and how 
 much more intolerable their servitude if again subdued." 
 
 46. The speech was brief; and the hearers out of 
 heart ; for the embattled legions approached, while the 
 crowd of townsmen, ill-appointed and novices in war, were 
 scarcely collected enough to see or hear. On the other 
 side, Silius, although the confidence with which the com- 
 pletion of their hopes was anticipated rendered exhorta- 
 tion unnecessary, yet called to his men, " that they might 
 be with reason ashamed that they, the conquerors of Ger- 
 many, should be thus led against a rabble of Gauls as 
 against an equal enemy : one cohort had lately defeated 
 the Turonian rebel ; one regiment of horse the Trevirian; 
 a handful of this very army had routed the Sequanians : 
 and now as to the ^Eduans, since as they are more exu- 
 berant in wealth, and prodigal in voluptuousness, they are 
 so much the more unwarlike, show how far you are supe- 
 rior to them, but spare those who fly from the field." His 
 words were received with a mighty cry. Instantly the horse 
 attacked the foe on both flanks ; the foot attacked their 
 front; the business was soon settled in the wings: the men 
 in iron armour stood their ground for a while, as their iron 
 plates resisted the strokes of sword and pike: but the sol- 
 diers had recourse to their hatchets and pickaxes, and, as 
 if they had battered a wall, hewed their bodies and armour: 
 others with clubs, or forks, beat down the unwieldy mass, 
 and as they lay stretched along, without the least power 
 to raise themselves up, they were left like dead men. Sa- 
 crovir fled first to Augustodunum ; and thence, fearful of 
 being surrendered, to a neighbouring town, accompanied 
 by his most faithful adherents : there he slew himself, and 
 the rest smote each other, having first set fire to the town 
 over their heads, in the flames of which they were all con- 
 sumed. 
 
 47. Then at length Tiberius wrote to the senate about 
 this war, and at once acquainted them with its rise and
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 117 
 
 conclusion, neither aggravating nor extenuating the facts ; 
 but added " that it was conducted by the fidelity and bra- 
 very of his lieutenants, and that he had -himself aided 
 them by his counsels." He likewise assigned the reasons 
 why neither he, nor Drusus, went to that war ; alleging 
 in lofty terms "the great extent of the empire; and urging 
 that it became not the dignity of a prince, upon the revolt 
 of one or two towns, to desert the capital, which was the 
 source of government to the whole ; but now that he could 
 not be supposed to be under any apprehension, he would 
 go and look into the state of those nations and adjust their 
 affairs." The senate decreed vows and supplications for 
 his return, with other marks of honour. Only Cornelius 
 Dolabella, while he strove to outdo others, fell into ridi- 
 culous sycophancy, and moved " that from Campania he 
 should enter Rome in ovation." This was followed by a 
 letter from Tiberius ; in which he declared, " he was 
 not so destitute of glory, that after having in his youth 
 subdued the fiercest nations, and enjoyed or slighted so 
 many triumphs, he should now in his old age seek empty 
 honours from a short progress about the suburbs of 
 Rome." 
 
 48. About the same time he desired of the senate, that 
 " the decease of Ptiblius Quirinius might be celebrated 
 by a public funeral." Quirinius was born at Lanuvium, 
 a municipal town, and nowise related to the ancient pa- 
 trician family of the Sulpicii ; but being a brave soldier, 
 was for his active services rewarded with the consul- 
 ship under Augustus ; and soon after with a triumph, 
 for driving the Homonades out of their strongholds in. 
 Cilicia : next when the young Caius Caesar was sent to 
 settle the affairs of Armenia, Quirinius was appointed his 
 governor, and at the same time had paid court to Tiberius, 
 then in his retirement at Rhodes. This the emperor re- 
 presented now to the senate ; he extolled the kind offices 
 of Quirinius, and branded Marcus Lollius as the author 
 of the perverse behaviour of Caius Caesar to himself, and 
 of all the jarring between them. But the memory of Qui- 
 rinius was not agreeable to the rest of the senate, by rea- 
 son of the danger he brought upon Lepida, as 1 have be- 
 fore related, and his sordid meanness and overbearing con- 
 duct in the latter part of his life. 
 
 49. At the end of the year, Caius Lutorius Priscus, a 
 Roman knight, who had composed a celebrated poem, 
 bewailing the death of Germanicus, and received a reward 
 from Tiberius, was laid hold of by an informer. His charge 
 was, " that during an illness of Drusus, he had composed
 
 118 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 another, which, if the distemper proved fatal, he hoped to 
 publish with a reward still greater." This poem Lutorius 
 had, in the fulness of vanity, rehearsed at the house of 
 Publius Petronius, in the presence of Vitellia, mother-in- 
 law to Petronius, and many other ladies of quality : when 
 the informer appeared, the other witnesses yielded to their 
 fears and gave testimony: Vitellia alone persisted that she 
 had heard nothing. But the evidence tending to destroy 
 him had most credit ; and it was the sentence of Haterius 
 Agrippa, consul elect, that the accused should suffer the 
 extreme penalty of the law. 
 
 50. This was opposed by M. Lepidus, who spoke on 
 this wise : " Conscript fathers, if we only regard with what 
 abominable effusions Lutorius Priscus has defiled his own 
 soul, and the ears of men ; neither dungeon, nor rope, nor 
 indeed the punishments peculiar to slaves, are sufficient 
 for him. But though immoralities and enormities exceed 
 all measure ; yet the clemency of the prince and the pre- 
 cedents of our ancestors and yourselves, moderate the se- 
 verity of punishments and remedial visitations ; there is a 
 difference between vanity and villany, empty words and 
 nefarious deeds: there is room left for a middle judgment, 
 by which neither his offence need escape unpunished, nor 
 we repent either of our lenity or our severity. 1 have 
 often heard our prince bewailing the event, when any cri- 
 minal had, by a voluntary death, prevented the exercise 
 of his mercy. The life of Lutorius is still untouched: to 
 save it, will not endanger the state ; to take it away will 
 be of no benefit as an example to others. His pursuits, 
 as they exhibit nothing but the creations of a disordered 
 imagination, so are they powerless and ephemeral ; nor is 
 anything important or serious to be apprehended from one 
 who thus betrays his own follies, and seeks to work upon 
 the minds not of men, but silly women: let him however 
 be banished from Rome, interdicted from fire and water, 
 and forfeit his goods : and this punishment I award him, 
 in like manner as if he were convicted of high treason." 
 
 51. Among those of consular rank, only Rubellius Blan- 
 dus assented to this opinion of Lepidus ; the rest voted 
 with Agrippa. Priscus was led to the dungeon, and in- 
 stantly put to death. Tiberius complained of this pro- 
 ceeding before the senate in his usual see-saw style ; he 
 magnified " their loyalty in avenging thus with severity 
 injuries done to the prince, though slight;" but he en- 
 treated them, " not to be so precipitate in punishing for 
 mere words;" he praised Lepidus, and censured not 
 Agrippa. Hence a decree was made, "that the decrees of
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 119 
 
 senate should not in less than ten clays be carried to the 
 treasury, and that the life of the condemned should be 
 spared for that interval." But to the senate was given no 
 liberty of revising their judgments ; nor was Tiberius ever 
 softened by time. 
 
 52. Caius Sulpicius and Decimus Haterius were the next , 
 consuls. Their year was exempt from disturbances abroad ; 
 but at home some severe measures were apprehended 
 against luxury, which was carried beyond all bounds in 
 everything which involved a profuse expenditure. But the 
 more pernicious instances of extravagance were covered, 
 as the cost was generally a secret ; while from the sums 
 spent in gluttony and revelry, as they were the subject of 
 daily animadversion, apprehensions were raised of some 
 severe corrective from a prince who observed himself the 
 ancient parsimony. For, Caius Bibulus having begun the 
 complaint, the other anliles took it up, and declared, "that 
 the sumptuary laws were despised ; the pomp 'and expense 
 of plate and entertainments, in spite of restraints, increased 
 daily, and by moderate penalties the evil could not be 
 stopped." This grievance thus represented to the senate, 
 was by them referred entire to the emperor. Tiberius 
 having long weighed with himself whether such propen- 
 sities to prodigality could be stemmed; whether the stem- 
 ming it would not bring heavier evils upon the public; how 
 ignominious it would be to attempt what could not be ef- 
 fected, or which could only be effected by the disgrace 
 and degradation of the most illustrious citizens ; wrote at 
 last to the senate in this manner: 
 
 53. " In other matters, conscript fathers, perhaps it 
 might be more expedient for you to consult me in the se- 
 nate, and for me to declare there what I judge for the 
 public weal : but in the debate on this affair, it was best 
 that my eyes were withdrawn ; lest, while you marked the 
 countenances and trepidation t>f individuals charged with 
 scandalous luxury, I too should have observed them, and, 
 as it were, caught them in it. Had the vigilant aediles first 
 asked counsel of me, I know not whether I should not 
 have advised them rather to wink at overpowering and in- 
 veterate corruptions, than only make it manifest what enor- 
 mities are too strong for us : but they in truth have done 
 their duty, as I would have all other magistrates fulfil 
 
 ' theirs. But for myself, it is neither commendable to be 
 silent, nor yet to speak out ; since I neither bear the cha- 
 racter of aedile, praetor, or consul : something still greater 
 and higher is required of a prince. Every one is ready 
 to assume to himself the credit of whatever is well done,
 
 120 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 while upon the prince alone are thrown the miscarriages 
 of all. But what is it that I am first to prohibit, what ex- 
 cess retrench to the ancient standard ? Am I to begin 
 with that of our country seats, spacious without bounds ; 
 and with the number of domestics, from various countries ? 
 or with the quantity of silver, and gold ? or with the pic- 
 tures, and statues of brass, the wonders of art ? or with 
 vestments, promiscuously worn by men and women ? or 
 with what is peculiar to the women, those precious stones, 
 for the purchase of which our coin is carried into foreign 
 or hostile nations ? 
 
 54. " Nor am I ignorant that at entertainments and in 
 parties these excesses are censured, and a regulation is 
 demanded; and yet if an equal law were made, if equal 
 penalties were prescribed, these very censors would loudly 
 complain, ' that the state was utterly overturned, that 
 every illustrious house was menaced with ruin, and that 
 every citizen was exposed to criminal informations.' And 
 yet as bodily diseases grown inveterate and strengthened 
 by time, cannot be checked but by potent and violent re- 
 medies, so the morbid fire which rages in the mind, cor- 
 rupted and corrupting, is not to be quenched but by re- 
 medies equally strong as its own flaming lusts. So many 
 laws made by our ancestors, so many added by the deified 
 Augustus ; the former being lost in oblivion, and (which 
 is more heinous) the latter in contempt, have only served 
 to render luxury more secure ; for when we covet a thing 
 yet unforbidden, we are apt to fear that it may be for- 
 bidden ; but when once we can with impunity overleap 
 prohibited bounds, there remains afterwards nor fear nor 
 shame. Why then did parsimony prevail of old? It was 
 because every one was a law to himself; it was because we 
 were then the citizens of one city : nor afterwards, while 
 our dominion was confined to Italy, had we the same 
 incentives to voluptuousness. By foreign conquests we 
 learned to waste the property of others, and by civil wars 
 to consume our own. How small is the evil of which the 
 aediles warn us ! how lightly does it weigh in the balance 
 with others ? It is wonderful that nobody lays before the 
 senate that Italy stands in need of foreign supplies ; that 
 , the lives of the Roman people are daily exposed to the 
 mercy of uncertain seas and tempests : were it not for our 
 supplies from the provinces ; supplies by which the mas- 
 ters, and their slaves, and their estates, are maintained ; 
 will our groves forsooth, and villas maintain us ? This 
 duty, conscript fathers, devolves upon the prince ; and if 
 it were neglected, the utter ruin of the state would follow.
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 121 
 
 The remedies for the other maladies are all within our 
 own breasts : some of us shame will reclaim ; necessity 
 will mend the poor ; satiety the rich. Or if any of the 
 magistrates, from a confidence in his own strictness of 
 principle and energy, will undertake to stem the pro- 
 gress of so great an evil, he has my praises, and my ac- 
 knowledgment that he disburdens me of part of my la- 
 bours; but if their will is merely to declaim against abuses, 
 and when they have gained applause for the same leave 
 me to bear the odium of proposing the measures they re- 
 commend, believe me, conscript fathers, I too am not fond 
 of giving offence: and though I am content to encounter 
 heavy, and for the most part unmerited animosities, for the 
 good of the commonwealth, I am justified in deprecating 
 such as are uncalled for and superfluous ; and can be of 
 no service either to me or to yourselves." 
 
 55. The senate, upon reading the emperor's letter, de- 
 clined interfering in an affair of this nature, and sent it 
 back to the agdiles: and the luxury of the table which, 
 from the battle of Actium to the revolution by which 
 Galba obtained the empire, a space of a hundred years, 
 was practised with the most costly profusion, began then 
 gradually to decline. The causes of this change I would 
 investigate. Formerly, noble families who were distin- 
 guished for opulence or the splendour of their fame, fre- 
 quently fell into decay from a passion for magnificence : 
 for even then it was allowed to court the good graces of 
 the Roman people, the allies and potentates, and to be 
 courted by them : each was distinguished for popularity 
 and the number of clients, in proportion to his affluence, 
 the splendour of his house, and the figure he made. But 
 when tyrants shed the blood of their subjects, and the 
 greatness of reputation formed a motive for destruction, 
 those who escaped grew wiser: besides, men of no family 
 frequently chosen senators from the municipal towns, from 
 the colonies, and even from the provinces, brought with 
 them the frugality they observed at home ; and though, 
 by good fortune or industry, many of them grew wealthy 
 as they grew old, yet their former habits continued. But 
 Vespasian was the great promoter of parsimonious living, 
 himself a pattern of primitive strictness in his person and 
 table : hence the compliance of the public with the man- 
 ners of the prince ; and the gratification of imitating him, 
 operated more powerfully than the terror of laws and all 
 their penalties. Or perhaps all human things go a certain 
 round, and there are revolutions in manners arialagous to 
 the vicissitudes of the seasons : nor indeed have our an-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 cestors excelled us in all things ; our own age has pro- 
 duced many bright examples in moral conduct and the 
 arts, to excite the emulation of posterity. But for these 
 we are indebted to our forefathers: and may these con- 
 tests for pre-eminence in virtue continue. 
 
 56. Tiberius, having gained the fame of moderation be- 
 cause he had checked the presumptuous expectations of 
 the informers, wrote to the senate to desire the tribunician 
 power for Drusus. Augustus had devised this designa- 
 tion of supreme power, that while avoiding the title of 
 king or dictator, he might yet have some appellation by 
 which he would overtop all the other authorities. He 
 afterwards shared it with Marcus Agrippa; and, upon his 
 death, chose Tiberius for his associate ; that none might 
 doubt who was to be his successor. By this means, he 
 conceived, he should prevent the aspiring views of others; 
 while he confided in the moderation of Tiberius, and the 
 extent of his own authority. By his example, Tiberius 
 now advanced Drusus to the supreme magistracy ; whereas, 
 while Germanicus yet lived, he had shown no preference 
 to either. In the beginning of his letter he besought the 
 gods " that they would prosper his counsels in behalf of 
 the republic ;" and then added a guarded testimony to the 
 qualities of the young prince, without any false additions; 
 " that he had a wife and three children, and was of the 
 same age with himself when called by the deified Augus- 
 tus to that office : that Drusus was not now adopted pre- 
 cipitately by him as a partner in the toils of government ; 
 but after having had eight years' proof of him in seditions 
 suppressed, wars concluded, the honour of a triumph and 
 two consulships." 
 
 57. The senators had anticipated this address ; hence 
 they received it with the more elaborate adulation. How- 
 ever, they could devise nothing to decree, but " statues 
 to the two princes, altars to the gods, arches," and other 
 usual honours : only that Marcus Silanus, in his zeal to 
 honour the princes, would have degraded the consulate: he 
 proposed " that all monuments, public and private, should, 
 as a record of their date, be inscribed not with the names 
 of the consuls, but of those who exercised the tribunician 
 power." But Haterius Agrippa, by moving to have "the 
 decrees of that day engraved in letters of gold, and hung 
 up in the senate," became an object of derision ; since as 
 he was an old man he could reap from his most abomin- 
 able flattery no other fruit but that of infamy. 
 
 58. In the mean time, as the province of Africa was 
 continued to Junius Blsesus, Servius Maluginensis, priest
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 123 
 
 of Jupiter, demanded that of Asia. He insisted " that it 
 was vainly alleged that such priests were not allowed to 
 leave Italy: tl^at he was under no other restriction than 
 those of Mars and Romulus ; and if the latter were ad- 
 mitted to the lots of provinces, why were those of Jupiter 
 debarred ? There were no decisions of the people on this 
 subject, nor could anything be found in the books of ce- 
 remonies. That frequently, when the priests of Jupiter 
 were prevented by sickness or public duty, their function 
 was supplied by the pontiffs. That there was no priest 
 appointed in his room for two and seventy years together, 
 after the death of Cornelius Merula, and yet the exercise 
 of religion never ceased. Now if in such a series of years, 
 religion could subsist unimpaired, without the creation of 
 any such priest at all; how much easier might his absence 
 be borne in the exercise of the proconsular power, for 
 one year ? That it was the effect of private piques, that 
 formerly the priests of Jupiter were by the chief pontiffs 
 debarred from the government of provinces. But now, 
 by the goodness of the gods, the chief of pontiffs was also 
 the chief of men; a pontiff with whom emulation, hatred, 
 and other personal prepossessions, haxl no influence." 
 
 59. To these his reasonings various answers were made 
 by Lentulus the augur, and others; the result was "to 
 wait for the decision of the supreme pontiff." Tiberius 
 postponing his notice of the pretensions of the priest of 
 Jupiter, qualified the honours decreed to Drusus on his 
 assuming the tribunician power ; and especially censured 
 the " extravagance of the motion, and the golden letters, 
 as contrary to the custom of Rome." Letters from Dru- 
 sus were likewise read, and though modest in expres- 
 sion, they were construed to be full of haughtiness; " had 
 things then come to this pass, they said, that even a 
 youth, just distinguished with such high honour, deigned 
 not to visit the gods of Rome, nor appear in senate ; nor 
 take the initiatory auspices in his native city? A war, for- 
 sooth, detained him ; he had a journey to make from re- 
 mote countries, while he was doing nothing more than di- 
 verting himself upon the lakes and shores of Campania. 
 Thus was the ruler of the earth trained for his task ; and 
 this the lesson he had learnt from the maxims of his fa- 
 ther ! The emperor himself, now in the decline of life, 
 might indeed be averse to living under the eye of the pub- 
 lic, and plead exhausted energies and the toils he had 
 endured ; but what except insolence could prevent Dru- 
 sus ? " 
 
 60. Tiberius, while he fortified himself in the prince-
 
 124 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 dom, amused the senate with a shadow of their ancient 
 jurisdiction ; by referring to their examination petitions 
 and claims from the provinces. For there> had now pre- 
 vailed amongst the Greek cities a latitude of instituting 
 sanctuaries at pleasure. Hence the temples were filled 
 with the most profligate slaves : here debtors found pro- 
 tection against their creditors ; and hither were admitted 
 such as were pursued for capital crimes. Nor was any 
 authority sufficient to bridle the licentiousness of the peo- 
 ple, who protected the crimes of men as if they were cere- 
 monies appertaining to the gods. It was therefore or- 
 dered that these cities should send deputies and their mu- 
 niments. Some of the cities voluntarily relinquished the 
 nominal privileges which they had arbitrarily assumed : 
 many confided in the antiquity of their superstitions, or 
 in the merits of their kind offices to the Roman people. 
 Glorious was the spectacle on that day, when the grants 
 from our ancestors, the engagements of our confederates, 
 the ordinances even of kings who had reigned before the 
 Roman power, and even the sacred ceremonies of their 
 gods, were now all subjected to the inspection of the se- 
 nate; their judgment free, as of old, to ratify or abolish. 
 
 61. First of all the Ephesians appeared. They alleged, 
 that " Diana and Apollo were not, according to the cre- 
 dulity of the vulgar, born at Delos : in their territory 
 flowed the river Cenchri, where also stood the Ortygian 
 grove : there the teeming Latona, leaning upon an olive- 
 tree, which even then remained, was delivered of these 
 deities ; and thence by their appointment the grove be- 
 came sacred. Thither Apollo himself, after his slaughter 
 of the Cyclops, retired from the wrath of Jupiter : soon 
 after, the victorious Bacchus pardoned the suppliant Ama- 
 zons, who sought refuge at the altar of Diana: by the 
 concession of Hercules, when he reigned in Lydia, the 
 sanctity of the temple was increased ; nor during the Per- 
 sian monarchy were its privileges invaded: they were next 
 maintained by the Macedonians, and then by us." 
 
 62. The Magnesians next asserted their claim, founded 
 on the ordinances of Lucius Scipio, and Sylla: the former 
 after the defeat of Antiochus ; the latter after that of 
 Mithridates, having, as a testimony of the faith and 
 bravery of the Magnesians, dignified their temple of the 
 Leucophrynean Diana with the privileges of an inviolable 
 sanctuary. After them, the Aphrodisians and Stratoni- 
 ceans pvoduced a grant from Caesar the dictator, for their 
 early services to his party; and another lately from Au- 
 gustus, with a commendation inserted, " that with zeal
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 125 
 
 unshaken towards the Roman people, they had borne the 
 irruption of the Parthians." But these two people adored 
 different deities : Aphrodisium was a city devoted to 
 Venus; that of Stratonicea maintained the worship of Ju- 
 piter and of Diana Trivia. Those of Hierocaesarea exhi- 
 bited claims of higher antiquity, " that they possessed the 
 Persian Diana, and her temple consecrated by king Cy- 
 rus." They likewise pleaded the authorities of Perpenna, 
 Isauricus, and of many more Roman captains, who had 
 allowed the same sacred immunity not to the temple only, 
 but to a precinct two miles round it. Those of Cyprus 
 pleaded right of sanctuary to three of their temples ; the 
 most ancient, dedicated by ^Erias to the Paphian Venus ; 
 another by his son Amathus, to the Amathusian Venus ; 
 the third, to the Salaminiari Jupiter by Teucer, the son of 
 Telamon, when he fled from the fury of his father. 
 
 63. The deputies of other cities also were heard. But 
 the senate tired with so many, and because there was a 
 contention of parties, referred to the consuls " to search 
 into the validity of their several pretensions, and if in 
 them any fraud was involved, to lay the whole matter once 
 more before the senate." The consuls reported, that be- 
 sides the cities already mentioned, " they had found the 
 temple of .^Esculapius at Pergamos to be a genuine sanc- 
 tuary; the others rested upon titles obscured by the mists 
 of antiquity. ' Smyrna particularly pleaded an oracle of 
 Apollo, in obedience to which they had dedicated a tem- 
 ple to Venus Stratonicis ; as did the isle of Tenos on an 
 oracle from the same god, to erect to Neptune a statue and 
 temple. Sardis urged a later authority, namely, a grant 
 from the great Alexander ; Miletus insisted on one from 
 king Darius : as to the deities of these two cities, one 
 worshipped Diana, the other Apollo. And Crete too de- 
 manded the privilege of sanctuary to a statue of the deified 
 Augustus." Hence diverse orders of senate were made, 
 by which, though great reverence was expressed towards 
 the deities, yet the extent of the sanctuaries was limited ; 
 and the several people were enjoined " to hang up in each 
 temple the present decree engraven in brass, as a sacred 
 memorial, and a restraint upon any attempts to exceed 
 their due claims, under the colour of religion." 
 
 64. At the same time, the severe illness of Livia obliged 
 the emperor to hasten his return to Rome; for hitherto 
 the mother and son lived in real unanimity, or dissembled 
 hate. It was indeed not long before, that Livia, having 
 dedicated a statue to the deified Augustus, near the thea- 
 tre of Marcellus, had the name of Tiberius inscribed after
 
 126 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 her own. This he was believed to have resented heinously, 
 as degrading to the dignity of the prince ; but to have 
 buried his resentment in dark dissimulation. Upon this 
 occasion, the senate decreed "supplications to the gods; 
 with the celebration of the greater Roman games, under 
 the direction of the pontiffs, the augurs, the college of 
 fifteen, assisted by the college of seven, and the fraternity 
 of the Augustal priests." Lucius Apronius had moved, 
 that "with the rest might preside the company of heralds." 
 Tiberius opposed it ; he distinguished between the juris- 
 diction of the priests and theirs, and referred to prece- 
 dents : "for that at no time," he said, "had the heralds 
 arrived to so much pre-eminence; but as for the Augustal 
 fraternity, they were added because they exercised a 
 priesthood peculiar to that family for which the present 
 vows and solemnities were made." 
 
 05. It is no part of my place to detail the votes that 
 were given, unless they are distinguished for integrity, or 
 notable for infamy : this I conceive to be the principal use 
 of annals, that instances of virtue may be recorded ; and 
 that by the dread of future infamy and the censures of 
 posterity, men may be deterred from depravity in word 
 or deed. But such was the pestilential character of those 
 times, so contaminated with adulation, that not only the 
 first nobles, whose obnoxious splendour found protection 
 only in obsequiousness, but all who had been consuls, a 
 great part of such as had been praetors, and even many of 
 the inferior senators, strove for priority in the fulsomeness 
 and extravagance of their votes. There is a tradition, 
 that Tiberius, as often as he went out of the senate, was 
 wont to cry out in Greek, ' How fitted for slavery are 
 these men ! ' Yes, even Tiberius, the enemy of public li- 
 berty, nauseated the crouching tameness of his slaves. 
 
 66. Hence by degrees they proceeded from acts of 
 abasement to those of vengeance. Caius Silanus, procon- 
 sul of Asia, accused by our allies of rapine and extortion, 
 was further impleaded by Mamercus Scaurus, once con- 
 cul, Junius Otho, praetor, and Brutidius Niger, aedile : 
 they charged him with "violating the divinity of Augus- 
 tus, and with despising the majesty of Tiberius." Mamer- 
 cus boasted, that he imitated the great examples of old ; 
 " that Lucius Cotta was accused by Scipio ; Servius Galba 
 by Cato the censor; Publius Rutilius by Marcus Scaurus." 
 As if such crimes were avenged by Scipio and Cato ; or 
 by that very Scaurus, whom this same Mamercus his great 
 grandson, and the reproach of his progenitors, was now 
 disgracing by the vile occupation of an informer ! The
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 127 
 
 original employment of Junius Otho, was that of a school- 
 master. Thence being by the influence of Sejanus created 
 a senator, Jie laboured by deeds of shameless daring to 
 triumph over the meanness of his original. Brutidius 
 abounded in worthy accomplishments; and, had he pro- 
 ceeded in the direct road, would have succeeded to all the 
 highest honours ; but over-eagerness hurried him out of 
 his course, while he strove to outdo first his equals, after- 
 wards his superiors, and at last his own anticipations ; a 
 conduct which has been fatal to many even virtuous men, 
 who, scorning slow but safe advancement, have grasped at 
 honours before they were ripe for them, and brought ruin 
 upon themselves. 
 
 67. Gellius Poplicola, and Marcus Paconius, joined the 
 ranks of the accusers ; the former quaestor to Silanus, the 
 other his lieutenant. Neither was it doubted but the ac- 
 cused was guilty of cruelty and extortion. But he was 
 beset by disadvantages, dangerous even to the innocent ; 
 besides so many senators his open foes, he had to reply 
 alone and unaided to the most eloquent pleaders of all 
 Asia, and therefore chosen purposely to accuse him ; ig- 
 norant as he was of pleading, and under personal fear ; a 
 circumstance which disables even practised eloquence : 
 neither did Tiberius refrain from browbeating him, ad- 
 dressing him in a harsh tone, frowning upon and asking 
 him incessanfquestions ; nor was he allowed leisure to re- 
 fute or evade them ; nay, he was often forced to confess, 
 lest the emperor should have asked in vain. The slaves 
 too of Silanus, in order to be examined by torture, were 
 delivered in sale to the city-steward; and that none of his 
 relations might engage in his defence, or aid him under 
 such a heavy prosecution, crimes of treason were sub- 
 joined ; a sure bar to all help, and a seal upon their lips. 
 Having therefore requested an interval of a few days, he 
 abandoned his defence, and tried the emperor by a memo- 
 rial, in which he blended remonstrances with prayers. 
 
 68. Tiberius, the better to palliate by precedent his 
 purposes against Silanus, caused to be recited the record 
 of Augustus, concerning Volesus Messala, proconsul of 
 the same province, and the decree of senate made against 
 him. He then asked Lucius Piso his opinion: Piso, after 
 a long preface about the emperor's clemency, proposed 
 " to interdict Silanus from fire and water, and to banish 
 him into the island Gyarus." The rest voted the same 
 thing ; only that Cneius Lentulus moved " that the estate 
 descending from his mother Cornelia should be distin- 
 guished from his own, and restored to his son ; inasmuch
 
 128 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 as his own mother was a different person from her from 
 whom he inherited the property in question." Tiberius 
 assented. But Cornelius Dolabella, pursuing his old strain 
 of adulation, and having first inveighed against the morals 
 of Silanus, added " that no man of profligate manners, 
 and branded with infamy, should be eligible to the govern- 
 ment of provinces ; and of this the prince was to judge. 
 Transgressions, he said, were punished by the laws; but 
 how much more merciful would it be to prevent transgres- 
 sions! more merciful to the men themselves, and advan- 
 tageous to the provinces." 
 
 69. Against this Tiberius reasoned, " that in truth he 
 was not ignorant of the prevailing rumours concerning the 
 conduct of Silanus ; but decrees must not be built upon 
 rumours : in the administration of provinces, many had 
 disappointed our hopes ; and many our fears. Some, by 
 the magnitude and importance of their duties, were roused 
 into amendment ; others sunk under them : the prince 
 could not within his own view comprise everything ; nor 
 was it at all expedient for him to be answerable for the 
 ambitious proceedings of others. Laws were therefore 
 appointed against acts committed, because all things fu- 
 ture are hid in uncertainty. Such were the institutions 
 of our ancestors ; that if crimes preceded, punishments 
 were to follow : nor should they change establishments 
 wisely contrived and always approved. The prince had 
 already a sufficiency of burdens, and even a sufficiency of 
 power: the rights of individuals decreased when that of 
 the prince advanced ; nor was sovereignty to be exercised 
 where the laws would serve." This speech was listened 
 to with the greater delight as manifestations of popular 
 principles were rare with Tiberius. He added, prudent 
 as he was in mitigating extremes, where his own personal 
 resentments did not impel him, " that Gyarus was an in- 
 hospitable island, and devoid of human culture ; that, in 
 favour to the Junian family, and as a patrician lately of 
 their own order, they should allow him for his place of 
 exile the isle of Cythera : that this too was the request of 
 Torquata, the sister of Silanus, a vestal virgin of primitive 
 sanctity." This motion prevailed. 
 
 70. The Cyrenians were afterwards heard ; and Caesius 
 Cordus charged by them, and impleaded by Ancharius 
 Priscus, for plundering the province, was condemned. 
 Lucius Ennius, a Roman knight, was impeached of trea- 
 son, " for that he had converted an effigy of the prince 
 into the ordinary purposes to which silver is applied ;" but 
 Tiberius would not allow him to be arraigned. Against
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 129 
 
 this acquittal Ateius Capito openly declared his protest, 
 with an air of liberty: " for the emperor," he said, "ought 
 not to force from the fathers the power of determining; 
 nor ought so great an iniquity to pass unpunished : he 
 might indeed be passive under his own grievances, but let 
 him not make free with the indignation of the senate and 
 the injuries done the commonwealth." Tiberius consi- 
 dered rather the drift of these words than the expression, 
 and persisted in his interposition. The infamy of Capito 
 was the more noted, because, learned as he was in laws 
 human and divine, he thus obstructed the public good, 
 and cast a stain upon his own personal accomplishments. 
 
 71. The next was a religious debate, in what temple to 
 place the gift vowed by the Roman knights to Fortune, 
 styled the Equestrian, for the recovery of Livia : for, 
 though in the city were many temples to this goddess, yet 
 none had that title. At last it was discovered that at An- 
 tium was one thus named : and as all the religious insti- 
 tutions in the cities of Italy, all the temples and statues 
 of the deities, were included in the jurisdiction and so- 
 vereignty of Rome, the gift was ordered to be presented 
 there. While matters of religion were in agitation, the 
 answer lately deferred, concerning Servius Maluginensis, 
 priest of Jupiter, was now produced by Tiberius, who re- 
 cited a statute of the pontiffs, " that when the priest of 
 Jupiter was taken ill, he might, with the consent of the 
 chief pontiff, be absent two nights, except on days of pub- 
 lic sacrifice, and never more than twice in the same year." 
 This regulation made under Augustus, sufficiently showed 
 that a year's absence and the administration of provinces, 
 were not allowed to the priests of Jupiter. He likewise 
 quoted the example of Lucius Metellus, chief pontiff, who 
 restrained to Rome Aulus Postumius, who was in that ca- 
 pacity. So the lot of Asia was conferred on that consular 
 who was next in seniority to Maluginensis. 
 
 72. At this time, Lepidus asked leave of the senate 
 to strengthen and beautify, at his own expense, the Ba- 
 silica of Paulus ; a peculiar monument of the ^Emilian fa- 
 mily. For even then it was usual with private men to be 
 magnificent in public works. Nor had Augustus opposed 
 Taurus, Philippus, or Balbus, for applying their overflow- 
 ing wealth, or the spoils of the enemy, towards the deco- 
 ration of the city, and the perpetuation of their own re- 
 nown. By their example Lepidus, though but moderately 
 rich, meant now to revive the glory of his ancestors. But 
 Tiberius undertook to rebuild the theatre of Pompey, 
 which was accidentally burnt, because none of the family 
 
 K
 
 130 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 were equal to the charge ; still however to be called by 
 the name of Pompey. At the same time, he celebrated the 
 praises of Sejanus, and to his vigilance and efforts ascribed 
 it, that a flame so violent was stopped at one building only. 
 Hence the fathers decreed a statue to Sejanus, to be placed 
 in the theatre of Pompey : nor was it long after that the 
 emperor, when he dignified Junius Blaesus with the en- 
 signs of triumph, declared " that in honour to Sejanus he 
 did it ;" for Blaesus was the uncle of Sejanus. 
 
 73. And yet the actions of Blaesus were entitled to such 
 a distinction. For Tacfarinas, though often repulsed, yet 
 still repairing his forces, in the heart of Africa, had arrived 
 at such a pitch of arrogance, that he sent ambassadors to 
 Tiberius with demands " for a settlement for himself and 
 his army;" otherwise he threatened to involve him in "end- 
 less war." They say that upon no occasion was Tiberius 
 ever so deeply affected at an insult offered to himself and 
 the Roman name ; " that a deserter and a robber should 
 thus, like a regular enemy, offer to treat ! Not even to 
 Spartacus was granted permission to treat for peace, while 
 after the slaughter of so many consular armies, he still 
 carried fire and desolation through Italy with impunity, 
 though the commonwealth, then engaged in two wars of 
 surpassing magnitude with Sertorius and Mithridates, was 
 tottering under them. Much less was Tacfarinas, a free- 
 booter, when the Roman people were in their most glo- 
 rious elevation, to be bought off by terms of peace and 
 the concession of lands." Hence he commissioned Blaesus 
 " to engage all his followers, by the hopes of indemnity, to 
 lay down their arms ; but to get into his hands the leader 
 himself, by whatever means." 
 
 74. And on these terms of pardon many were brought 
 over ; and the war was forthwith prosecuted against him 
 by stratagems not unlike his own. For as he, who in 
 strength of men was unequal, but in arts of stealth and pil- 
 laging superior, made his incursions in separate bands, and 
 thence could at once elude any attack of ours, while at the 
 same time he planted ambushes; so on our side, three dis- 
 tinct routes were resolved upon, and three several bodies 
 set in motion. Scipio, the proconsul's lieutenant, com- 
 manded on that quarter whence Tacfarinas made his de- 
 predations upon the Leptitanians, and then his retreat 
 amongst the Garamantes : in another quarter the younger 
 Blaesus led a band of his own, to protect the territory of the 
 Cirtensians from ravages: between both marched the pro- 
 consul himself, with the flower of the army, erecting forts 
 and casting up entrenchments in convenient places, thus
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 131 
 
 hemming the enemy in by a complete chain of positions, 
 so that whichever way they turned, still some party of the 
 Roman forces was upon them ; in front ; in flank ; and 
 often in the rear; and by this means were many slain, or 
 made prisoners. This triple army was again split by Blae- 
 sus into bands still smaller, and over each a centurion of 
 tried bravery placed. Neither did he, as usual at the end 
 of the season, draw off his forces from the field, or dispose 
 them in winter-quarters in the old province ; but, as if 
 in the threshhold of the war, having raised more forts, he 
 despatched light parties, acquainted with the deserts, 
 who drove Tacfarinas before them, continually shifting his 
 huts; till having captured his brother, he retreated; too 
 hastily however for the good of the province, as there 
 were still left behind the means of rekindling the war. 
 But Tiberius took it for concluded, and likewise granted 
 to Blaesus that he should be by the legions saluted 'Impe- 
 rator:' an ancient honour, usually rendered to the old 
 Roman captains, who, upon their successful exploits for 
 their country, were saluted with shouts of joy and vehe- 
 ment exultation from their victorious armies : and there 
 have been at once several Imperators ; without any pre- 
 eminence of one over the rest. It was a title vouchsafed 
 to some even by Augustus ; and now, for the last time, by 
 Tiberius to.Blsesus. 
 
 75. This year died two illustrious men ; the first, Asi- 
 nius Saloninus, distinguished as the grandson of Marcus 
 Agrippa and Asinius Pollio ; half-brother of Drusus, and 
 the intended husband of the emperor's granddaughter. 
 The second, Ateius Capito, mentioned above : in civil ac- 
 quirements, the most eminent man in Rome ; for pedigree, 
 his grandfather was only a centurion under Sylla, but his 
 father attained the rank of praetor. Augustus had pushed 
 him early into the consulship, that, by the honour of that 
 office, he might set him above Antistius Labeo, who ex- 
 celled in the same accomplishments ; for, that age pro- 
 duced together these two ornaments of peace : but Labeo 
 possessed the genuine spirit of liberty, and therefore en- 
 joyed a larger share of popularity ; while Capito gained 
 by obsequiousness greater credit with those who bore 
 rule. The former, as he was never suffered to rise be- 
 yond the prsetorship, derived favour from the injustice 
 done him : the other, from having obtained the consulate 
 of which he was considered unworthy, was on that account 
 an object of aversion. 
 
 76. Junia too, now sixty-four years after the battle of 
 Philippi, finished her course; by birth the daughter of the
 
 132 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 sister of Cato, sister of M. Brutus, and wife of C. Cassius. 
 Her will was the subject of much talk amongst the popu- 
 lace ; since being immensely rich, and having honourably 
 distinguished with legacies almost all the great men of 
 Rome, she omitted Tiberius : an omission which drew 
 from him no indications of offended dignity, nor did he 
 hinder her panegyric from being pronounced from the 
 rostra, nor her funeral from being celebrated with all the 
 other customary solemnities. The images of twenty of 
 the most illustrious families, the Manlii, the Quinctii, and 
 other names of equal splendour, were carried before it. 
 Those of Brutus and Cassius were not displayed, but for 
 that very reason they shone with pre-eminent lustre.
 
 THE 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 WHEN Caius Asinius and Caius Antistius were consuls, 
 Tiberius was in the ninth year of his reign ; during the 
 whole of which he saw the state undisturbed by commotion 
 and his family flourishing, (for he regarded the death of 
 Germanicus as one of the lucky events which had befallen 
 him) ; but now, on a sudden, fortune began to work con- 
 fusion and trouble ; Tiberius himself to tyrannise, or en- 
 courage and support others in tyrannical proceedings. 
 The origin and cause of this change is attributable to 
 .^Elius Sejanus, commander of the praetorian guards, whose 
 prevailing influence I have already mentioned. I will now 
 unfold the particulars of his birth, his character, anfl the 
 atrocious act by which he sought to grasp the sovereign 
 power. He was born at Vulsinii; his father was Sejus 
 Strabo, a Roman knight; in early youth he attached him- 
 self to Caius Caesar, grandson of the deified Augustus ; 
 and was reported to have prostituted himself to Api- 
 cius, a rich man and a noted spendthrift. Soon after, he 
 gained such an ascendancy over Tiberius by various arts, 
 that though he was close and mysterious in his intercourse 
 with others, he threw off all restraint and reserve with 
 him. This was not so much effected by superior sagacity 
 (for it was in this that he was surpassed by Tiberius) as 
 the displeasure with which the gods regarded the Roman 
 state, to which he was equally fatal in the height of his 
 power and in his death. His person was hardy and equal 
 to fatigues ; his spirit daring ; expert in disguising his 
 own iniquities, prompt to spy out the failings of others ; 
 at once fawning and imperious ; with an exterior of as- 
 sumed modesty, his heart insatiably lusted for supreme do- 
 mination ; and with this view he engaged sometimes in 
 profusion, largesses, and luxury ; but more frequently gave 
 himself to business and watching, practices no less dan- 
 gerous, when counterfeited by ambition for the acquisi- 
 tion of empire.
 
 134 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 2. The authority of his commission over the guards, 
 which was but moderate before his time, he extended, by 
 gathering into one camp all the praetorian cohorts then 
 dispersed over the city ; that thus united, they might re- 
 ceive his orders simultaneously, and by continually be- 
 holding their own numbers and strength, and by familiar 
 intercourse, conceive a confidence in themselves and strike 
 terror into others. He pretended, " that the soldiers, 
 while they lived scattered, became debauched; that when 
 gathered into a body, in any hasty emergency, a larger 
 force might be brought up at once to give aid ; and that 
 when their camp was fixed remote from the allurements 
 of the town, they would in their discipline be more exact 
 and severe." When the encampment was finished, he 
 began gradually to creep into the good graces of the sol- 
 diers, by conversing with, and addressing them by name : 
 he also chose fhe centurions, and the tribunes himself. 
 Nor did he fail to strengthen his interest in the senate by 
 getting those who were of his party invested with honours 
 and the command of provinces ; Tiberius yielding to him 
 in everything, and seconding his views with such zeal, that 
 not in conversation only, but in his speeches to the senate 
 and people, he frequently made honourable mention of 
 him as his associate in the toils of government ; nay, he 
 allowed his effigies to be adored in the several theatres, in 
 the forum, and at the head-quarters of the legions. 
 
 3. But the imperial house full of Caesars; the emperor's 
 son in the vigour of manhood, and his grandsons grown up, 
 were obstacles to his ambition: and because to cut them 
 all off" at once was dangerous, the success of his treacher- 
 ous plot required that the horrid deeds should be perpe- 
 trated at intervals. He however chose the more secret 
 method, and to begin with Drusus ; against whom he was 
 impelled by recent motives of resentment. For Drusus, 
 impatient of a rival, and in temper irascible, had lifted 
 his hand against Sejanus, in an altercation which hap- 
 pened to arise between them, arid, as he prepared to resist, 
 given him a blow on the face. Carefully considering there- 
 fore every means of revenge, the most opportune seemed 
 to be to have recourse to Livia, his wife : she was the sis- 
 ter of Germanicus, and though in her younger days she 
 was not handsome, she grew up surpassingly beautiful. 
 Pretending to be violently enamoured of her, he tempted 
 her to adultery ; and having once triumphed over her ho- 
 nour (nor will a woman who has sacrificed her chastity stick 
 at any other iniquity) he led her on to entertain the project 
 of a marriage with him, a partnership in the empire, and
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 135 
 
 the murder of her husband. Thus the niece of Augustus, 
 the daughter-in-law of Tiberius, the mother of children 
 by Drusus, disgraced herself, her ancestors, and her pos- 
 terity, by a connection with an adulterer from a municipal 
 town ; exchanging an honourable certainty, for guilty pros- 
 pects which might never be realised. Eudemus, the friend 
 and physician of Livia, who, under colour of his profes- 
 sion, was frequently with her in private, was admitted into 
 the plot. Sejanus too, to avoid the jealousy of his mis- 
 tress, repudiated Apicata his wife, by whom he had three 
 children. But still the enormity of the crime induced 
 fear, delay, and frequently opposite counsels. 
 
 4. In the beginning of this year, Drusus, one of the 
 offspring of Germanicus, put on the manly gown ; and 
 upon him the senate conferred the same honours decreed 
 to his brother Nero. A speech was added by Tiberius, 
 with high encomiums on his son, " that he showed the 
 tenderness of a father to the children of his brother." 
 For Drusus, however difficult it be for power and una- 
 nimity to subsist between equals, was esteemed kind, cer- 
 tainly not ill disposed, towards these youths. Now again 
 was revived by Tiberius his stale and oft counterfeited 
 purpose of a progress into the provinces. He pretended 
 " the multitude of veterans to be discharged, and the ne- 
 cessity of recruiting the armies ; for there was a deficiency 
 of volunteers, or if there were a sufficient supply, they 
 were inferior in courage and conduct, as those who vo- 
 lunteered were generally desperate and loose characters." 
 He likewise cursorily recounted the number of the legions, 
 and what countries they defended : a detail which I think 
 it behoves me also to repeat; that thence may appear 
 what was then the complement of the Roman forces, what 
 kings their confederates, and how much more narrow the 
 limits of the empire were then than now. 
 
 5. Italy was guarded by two fleets, in the two seas ; 
 one at Misenum, one at Ravenna ; and the nearest coast 
 of Gaul, by the galleys taken by Augustus at the battle of 
 Actium, and sent ably manned to Forojulium. But the 
 chief strength lay upon the Rhine ; it consisted of eight 
 legions, a common resource against the Germans and the 
 Gauls. Spain, lately subdued, was held in subjection by 
 three. King Juba had received Mauritania b^ gift from 
 the Roman people : the rest of Africa was occupied by 
 two legions ; and Egypt by a similar number. Four le- 
 gions kept in subjection all that is comprehended in the 
 vast range of country commencing with Syria, and extend-
 
 186 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 ing as far as the Euphrates and bordering upon the Ibe- 
 rians, Albanians, and other territories, whose princes are 
 protected against foreign powers by our greatness. Thrace 
 was held by Rhemetalces, and the sons of Cotys ; and 
 both banks of the Danube by four legions ; two in Pan- 
 nonia, two in Mresia. In Dalmatia likewise were placed 
 two ; who, by the situation of the country, were at hand 
 to support the former in their rear, and had not far to 
 march into Italy, were any sudden succours required there: 
 though Rome too had her peculiar soldiery ; three city 
 cohorts and nine praetorian, levied chiefly out of Etruria 
 and Umbria, or from the ancient Latium and the old Roman 
 colonies. In convenient stations in the several provinces 
 were the fleets of the several confederates, squadrons of 
 the allied cavalry, and auxiliary cohorts and battalions; an 
 extent of forces not much differing from the others : but 
 the particular detail would be uncertain, since, according 
 to the exigency of times, they often shifted stations, some- 
 times were increased in number and sometimes reduced. 
 
 6. I consider this a fitting occasion to review also the 
 other parts of the administration, and by what measures 
 it was hitherto conducted ; since in this year commenced 
 the pernicious changes introduced by Tiberius. In the 
 first place, then, all the public, and every private business 
 of moment, was managed by the senate : to the leading 
 members he allowed liberty of debate: those who deviated 
 into flattery, he himself checked : in conferring prefer- 
 ments, he was guided by merit, by ancient nobility, re- 
 nown in war, and distinguished civil accomplishments ; 
 insomuch that it was agreed, that none had greater pre- 
 tensions. The consuls and the praetors retained the usual 
 distinctions of their offices ; inferior magistrates the exer- 
 cise of their authority; and the laws, except the inquisition 
 for treason, were beneficially administered. The tithes, 
 taxes, and all public receipts, were directed by companies 
 of Roman knights: the management of his affairs he com- 
 mitted only to men of eminent probity ; and to some from 
 their reputation, though unknown to him: and when once 
 engaged, they were continued, without any restriction of 
 term ; since most of them grew old in the same employ- 
 ments. The people were indeed distressed by the dearth 
 of provisions ; but without any fault of the prince : nay, 
 he spared no possible expense nor pains to remedy the 
 effects of barrenness in the earth, and storms at sea. He 
 took care that the provinces should not be oppressed with 
 new impositions ; and that the existing burthens should
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 137 
 
 not be rendered intolerable by rapacity or severity in the 
 magistrates : corporal punishments, and confiscations of 
 goods, were unknown. 
 
 7. The emperor's lands in Italy were small, and thinly 
 scattered ; the behaviour of his slaves modest ; the freed- 
 men in his house few; his disputes with private individuals 
 were determined by the courts and the law. All these re- 
 gulations lie observed, though in his manner not mild and 
 gracious, but harsh, and not unfrequently ferocious ; yet 
 still he retained them, till on the death of Drusus they 
 were reversed : for, while he lived they continued ; be- 
 cause Sejanus, while he was but laying the foundations of 
 his power, studied to recommend himself by good coun- 
 sels. He had too, an avenger to dread, who disguised not 
 his enmity, but was frequent in his complaints : " that with 
 a son alive, a stranger was called in as coadjutor in the 
 government ; nay, how little was wanting to his being de- 
 clared colleague? That the first advances to sovereignty 
 are steep and perilous ; but, once entered on, and you 
 find plenty of zealous friends and agents. Already a camp 
 for the guards was formed, at the pleasure of the captain: 
 into his hands the soldiers were delivered : in tlje theatre 
 of Pompey his statue was beheld : in his grandchildren 
 would be mixed the blood of the Drusi with that of Seja- 
 nus. After all this, what remained but to pray that he 
 might set bounds to his ambition, and be satisfied with 
 what he had got." Nor was it rarely that he threw out 
 these taunts, or to a few ; besides, his wife being de- 
 bauched, all his secrets were betrayed to Sejanus. 
 
 8. Sejanus therefore judging that he must despatch, 
 chose such a poison as by operating gradually, might give 
 the appearance of a casual disease. This was adminis- 
 tered to Drusus by Lygdus, the eunuch, as, eight years 
 after, was discovered. Now during all the days of his 
 illness, Tiberius disclosed no signs of apprehension (per- 
 haps from ostentation of a firmness of spirit), nay, when 
 he had expired, and while he was yet unburied, he en- 
 tered the senate; and finding the consuls placed upon 
 the ordinary benches in testimony of their grief, he admo- 
 nished them of their dignity and proper place : the sena- 
 tors burst into tears, but Tiberius suppressing even a sigh, 
 in a speech uttered without hesitation, thus animated them. 
 He said " that he was perfectly aware that he might be cen- 
 sured for having thus, in the first throbbings of sorrow, ex- 
 posed himself to the view of the senate ; most of those who 
 mourn, can scarce endure the soothings of their kindred, 
 scarce look upon the face of day : neither were they to be
 
 138 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 condemned of weakness : but he had sought more manly 
 consolations, from throwing himself into the bosom of the 
 commonwealth." He then lamented " the extreme age of 
 his mother, the as yet tender years of his grandsons, his 
 own time of life, now verging towards its close ;" and de- 
 sired that " as the great alleviation of the present evils, 
 the children of Germanicus might be introduced." The 
 consuls therefore went for them, and having with kind 
 words cheered the young princes, escorted them to the 
 house, and placed them before the emperor. He took 
 them by the hand and said, " Conscript fathers, these fa- 
 therless youths I committed to their uncle ; and besought 
 him that, though he had issue of his own, he would rear 
 and nourish them no otherwise than as his own blood ; 
 and train them up so that they might be worthy of himself 
 and posterity. Drusus being snatched from us, to you I 
 address the same prayers ; and in the presence of the 
 gods, in the face of your country, I conjure you, receive 
 into your protection, take under your tuition the great- 
 grandchildren of Augustus; children descended from an- 
 cestors the most glorious in the state : towards them fulfil 
 your own and my duty. To you, Nero and Drusus, these 
 senators are in the place of fathers ; and such are the cir- 
 cumstances of your birth, that the good and evil which 
 befalls you, must extend to the commonwealth." 
 
 9. All this was heard with much weeping, and followed 
 by benedictions : and had he observed a medium in his 
 speech, he had left the minds of his hearers full of sym- 
 pathy and veneration. But, by recurring to that hollow 
 and oft ridiculed proposition of his, about restoring the 
 republic, and that the consuls, " or some one else, should 
 undertake the administration," he threw suspicion upon 
 what was commendable and sincere. To the memory of 
 Drusus were decreed the same solemnities as to that of 
 Germanicus, with many superadded ; the natural effect of 
 flattery, which gathers strength as it grows older. The 
 funeral was signally splendid in the procession of images ; 
 as yneas, the father of the Julian race ; all the kings of 
 Alba, and Romulus, founder of Rome ; next the Sabine 
 nobility, Attus Clausus, and the effigies of the rest of the 
 Claudian family, were displayed in lengthened train. 
 
 10. In relating the death of Drusus, I have followed the 
 majority, and the most trustworthy historians: I would not 
 however omit a rumour which in those times was so pre- 
 vailing that it is not extinguished in ours; " that Sejanus, 
 having by adultery gained Livia to the murder, had like- 
 wise engaged by constupration the concurrence of Lygdus
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 139 
 
 the eunuch; because Lygdus was, on account of his youth 
 and form, dear to his master, and one of his chief at- 
 tendants : that when the time and place of poisoning were 
 concerted by the conspirators, Sejanus carried his bold- 
 ness so far as to change his plan, and charging upon Dru- 
 sus a design of poisoning Tiberius, secretly warned the 
 emperor to shun the first draught offered him in an enter- 
 tainment at his son's : that the old man, deceived by this 
 fictitious treason, after he had sat down to table, having 
 received the cup delivered it to Drusus, who, uncon- 
 sciously and in all the gaiety of youthful spirits, drank it 
 off: a circumstance which heightened suspicion of his 
 guilt, as if through fear and shame he inflicted on himself 
 the death he had contrived for his father." 
 
 11. These common rumours, besides that they are sup- 
 ported by no certain author, may be easily refuted. For, 
 who of ordinary prudence (much less Tiberius, so prac- 
 tised in affairs of moment) would to his own son, without 
 hearing him, present the poisoned cup; with his own hands 
 too, and when there was no retracing his step, so as to 
 reverse the act upon reconsideration? He would rather 
 have applied the torture in finding out the minister of 
 the poison and its author. And lastly, have observed to- 
 wards his only son, a son hitherto convicted of no ini- 
 quity, that inherent hesitation which he showed even to- 
 wards strangers. But as Sejanus was reckoned the framer 
 of every wickedness, therefore, from the excessive fondness 
 of Tiberius towards him, and from the hatred of all others 
 towards both, even fabulous and monstrous things, were 
 believed of them ; besides that common fame is ever more 
 fraught with tales of horror as to the departure of pi'inces. 
 The truth is, the plan and process of the murder were 
 first discovered by Apicata, wife of Sejanus, and confirmed 
 upon the rack by Eudemus and Lygdus. Nor has any 
 writer appeared so hostile as to charge it upon Tiberius ; 
 though in other instances they have sedulously collected 
 and inflamed every action of his. My purpose in relating 
 and refuting this rumour, was, under so glaring an exam- 
 ple, to destroy the credit of groundless hearsays ; and to 
 request of those into whose hands my present undertaking 
 shall come, that they would not prefer vague and impro- 
 bable rumours, unscrupulously credited, to the narrations 
 of truth unadulterated with romance. 
 
 12. To proceed ; when Tiberius was pronouncing in 
 public the panegyric of his son, the senate and people as- 
 sumed the port and accents of mourners, in appearance 
 rather than cordially ; and in their hearts exulted to see
 
 14-0 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 the house of Germanicus begin to revive. But this dawn 
 of popular favour, and the conduct of Agrippina, ill dis- 
 guising her hopes, quickened its overthrow. For Sejanus, 
 when he saw the death of Drusus pass unrevenged upon 
 his murderers, and unregretted by the public : undaunted 
 as he was in villany since his first efforts had succeeded, re- 
 volved with himself how he might extirpate the sons of Ger- 
 manicus, whose succession to the empire was now unques- 
 tionable. They were three, and, from the eminent fidelity 
 of their governors, and inviolable chastity of Agrippina, 
 poison could not be administered to all at once. He began 
 to inveigh against the contumacy of Agrippina ; to rouse 
 the old hatred of Augusta the elder, and the guilty mind 
 of his recent accomplice, Livia ; that they might persuade 
 the emperor, " that proud of her numerous offspring, and 
 relying on the affections of the people, Agrippina had de- 
 signs upon the sovereignty." And in addition to these 
 things, by means of crafty calumniators, [and amongst the 
 rest she had selected Julius Posthumus, a man every way 
 qualified for her purposes ; as he was the adulterer of 
 Mutilia Prisca, and thence a confidant of her grandmo- 
 ther's ; for over the mind of the empress Prisca had pow- 
 erful influence] ; she rendered the old woman, in her own 
 nature anxious for power, utterly irreconcileable to the 
 widow of her grandson. Such too as were nearest the 
 person of Agrippina, were prompted to be continually 
 goading on her naturally haughty spirit. 
 
 13. Tiberius meanwhile nowise relaxing in the cares 
 of government, but deriving relief from his occupations, 
 attended to the administration of justice at Rome, and de- 
 spatched the petitions from the provinces. By a decree 
 of senate, at his motion, the city of Cibyra in Asia, and 
 that of ./Egium in Achaia, which had both suffered from 
 earthquake, were eased of tribute for three years. Vi- 
 bius Serenus too, proconsul of Further Spain, was con- 
 demned for violence in his administration ; and for the fe- 
 rocity of his conduct banished to the Isle of Amorgos. 
 Carsidius Sacerdos, charged with supplying corn to the 
 enemy Tacfarinas, was acquitted ; as was Caius Gracchus 
 of the same crime. This Caius was in his childhood car- 
 ried by his father Sempronius into the island Cercina, a 
 companion in his exile : he grew up there amongst fugi- 
 tives and men destitute of liberal education ; and after- 
 wards sustained himself by trafficking in a small way be- 
 tween Africa and Sicily : nor did he escape the perils that 
 wait on elevated fortune: and had not ^Elius Lamia and 
 Lucius Apronius, proconsuls of Africa, protected his in-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 141 
 
 nocence, he would have been swept away in the tide which 
 overwhelmed that illustrious but ill-starred family, and 
 have been involved in the calamitous fate of his father. 
 
 14. This year also brought deputations from the Gre- 
 cian cities; one from the people of Samos; one from those 
 of Cos ; the former to request that the ancient right of 
 sanctuary in the temple of Juno might be confirmed ; the 
 latter for that of ^Esculapius. The Samians claimed upon 
 a decree of the council of Amphictyon, the supreme judi- 
 cature of Greece, at the time when the Greeks by their 
 cities founded in Asia, possessed the maritime coasts. Nor . 
 had they of Cos a weaker title to antiquity ; to which were 
 added the pretensions of the place to the friendship of 
 Rome : for they had lodged in the temple of .^Esculapius 
 all the Roman citizens there, when by the order of king 
 Mithridates, they were being massacred throughout all the 
 cities of Asia and the Isles. And now after many and ge- 
 nerally ineffectual complaints from the praetors, the empe- 
 ror at last made a representation to the senate, concerning 
 the licentiousness of the players ; ' ' that in many instances 
 they seditiously violated the public peace ; and, in many 
 promoted debauchery in private families : that the Oscan 
 Farce, formerly only the contemptible delight of the vul- 
 gar, had risen to such a pitch of depravity, and exercised 
 such an influence on society, that it must be checked by 
 the authority of the senate." The players were then driven 
 out of Italy. 
 
 15. The same year carried off one of the twins of Dru- 
 sus, and thence afflicted the emperor with fresh woe ; nor 
 with less for the death of a particular friend. It was Lu- 
 cilius Longus, the inseparable companion of all the vicis- 
 situdes of his fortune, prosperous or adverse ; and, of all 
 the senators, the only one who accompanied him in his re- 
 tirement at Rhodes. For this reason, though not a man 
 of family, the senate decreed him a censorian funeral, and 
 a statue to be placed, at the expense of the treasury, in 
 the forum of Augustus. For by the senate even yet all 
 affairs were transacted ; insomuch that Lucilius Capito, the 
 emperor's comptroller in Asia, was, at the accusation of 
 the province, put upon his defence before them: the em- 
 peror protesting with great earnestness, " that from him 
 Lucilius had no authority but over his slaves, and in col- 
 lecting his domestic rents : that if he had usurped the ju- 
 risdiction of praetor, and employed military force, he had 
 so far violated his orders ; they should therefore hear the 
 allegations of the province." Thus the accused was upon 
 trial had condemned. For this just vengeance, and that
 
 142 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 inflicted the year before on Caius Silanus, the cities of 
 Asia decreed a temple to Tiberius, and his mother, and the 
 senate ; and obtained leave to build it. For this conces- 
 sion Nero made a speech of thanks to the senators and 
 his grandfather ; while all who heard him were thrilled 
 with delight, for as the image of Germanicus was still fresh 
 in their minds, they fancied it was him they heard, and 
 him they saw. The young man also possessed a modesty 
 and gracefulness of person worthy of a prince, which de- 
 rived additional charms from the danger to which he was 
 exposed from the known antipathy of Sejanus. 
 
 16. About the same time the emperor made a discourse 
 " about the choice of .a new priest of Jupiter, in the room 
 of Servius Maluginensis, deceased ; and the proposal of a 
 new law in this matter: for that it was the ancient custom 
 to nominate three patricians, born of parents who had in 
 their nuptials observed the form of confarreation, one of 
 whom was elected : but now that the solemnity of confar- 
 reation was quite omitted, or by few observed, there re- 
 mained not then as formerly the same scope for choice." 
 He adduced "several reasons for that omission ; the prin- 
 cipal was a want of zeal both in men and women for 
 that right ; to this were added the difficulties attending 
 the ceremony itself, which prompted them to avoid it; 
 besides, that the paternal authority was for ever lost over 
 any son who acquired that priesthood ; and over any 
 daughter who became subject to him by a marriage con- 
 tract. A remedy therefore ought to be applied by a de- 
 cree of the senate, or by a law ; after the example of 
 Augustus, who had softened some rigid usages of an- 
 tiquity, and adapted them to the genius of the times." 
 The senate therefore discussing the subject of religious 
 ceremonies, agreed " to make no change from the first in- 
 stitution." Only a law passed, " that the priestess of Ju- 
 piter should, in the administration of things sacred, be 
 under the dominion of her husband ; but enjoy, in other 
 things, the ordinary privileges of women." Maluginensis, 
 the son, was appointed to succeed his father. And that 
 the estimation of the priesthood might increase, and the 
 zeal of the priests themselves for the sacred solemnities 
 might be encouraged, a present of two thousand great 
 sesterces was decreed to the vestal virgin, Cornelia, chosen 
 in the place of Scantia ; and to Augusta a privilege 
 granted, that as often as she went to the theatre, she 
 should sit amongst the vestals. 
 
 17. In the consulship of Cornelius Cethegus and Visel- 
 lius Varro ; the pontiffs, and by their example the other
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 143 
 
 priests, when they offered vows for the prosperity of the 
 emperor, commended likewise Nero and Drusus to the 
 care of the same gods : not so much from any tenderness 
 towards these youths, as from flattery ; a practice which, 
 in corrupt times, it is equally dangerous to exceed in, and 
 to fail in altogether. For Tiberius, never kindly disposed 
 to the house of Germanicus, now lamented passionately 
 that " no difference was made between their youth and 
 his years ;" and sending for the pontiffs, examined them, 
 " whether to the entreaties or menaces of Agrippina, they 
 had had made this concession?" And though they denied 
 both, he gave them a tolerable reprimand ; for most of 
 them were her kinsmen, or men of the first distinction in 
 Rome. But in a speech to the senate he warned them 
 for the time to come, " that no one should encourage the 
 giddy minds of young men to indulge in presumptuous 
 aspirations by premature distinctions. For Sejanus goaded 
 him on, and complained that the state was separated into 
 opposite parties as in a civil war : that already there were 
 those who called themselves the partizans of Agrippina ; 
 and if no stop were put to it, the faction would increase. 
 Nor was there any other remedy for the prevailing spirit of 
 faction, than the cutting off one. or two of the ringleaders." 
 
 18. With this view he commenced an attack upon Caius 
 Silius and Titius Sabinus. The friendship of Germani- 
 cus was fatal to both ; but other considerations helped to 
 ruin Silius : he had for seven years commanded a power- 
 ful army ; he had for his exploits in Germany been distin- 
 guished with the ensigns of triumph ; he had subdued the 
 revolting Gauls under Sacrovir; and the greater the shock 
 of his prostration, the greater the terror it would spread 
 among others. It was believed by many that by his own 
 intemperate speeches he had heightened the displeasure 
 conceived against him; while he boasted extravagantly 
 " that his soldiers persisted in obedience, when others 
 lapsed into sedition ; nor had the empire remained to Ti- 
 berius, if in those legions too there had been a thirst of 
 change." By these pretensions of his the emperor thought 
 his own state was disparaged, and that it was unequal to 
 the recompense of such important services. For benefits 
 are only so far acceptable as they seem capable of being 
 requited ; but when they have much exceeded the power 
 of remuneration, they are recompensed with hatred instead 
 of gratitude. 
 
 19. Sosia Galla was the wife of Silius, and for the love 
 Agrippina bore her, frowned on by Tiberius. It was 
 agreed to arraign him and her, and to postpone for a time
 
 144 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 the trial of Sabinus. Against them was engaged as an 
 accuser, Varro the consul, who under colour " of reveng- 
 ing his father's quarrel," gratified, by his own infamy, the 
 malice of Sejanus. The request of the accused for a short 
 respite till Varro ceased to be consul, was opposed by the 
 emperor ; " for that it was customary for magistrates to 
 put private persons upon trial ; nor ought the privilege of 
 a consul to be infringed ; since upon his vigilance it de- 
 pended that no damage accrued to the commonweal." It 
 was a policy peculiar to Tiberius, to shelter under vener- 
 able names the villanies of modern invention. The senate 
 was therefore summoned with great formality, as if Silius 
 were to be dealt with according to the laws, or as if Varro 
 had been in substance a consul, and protecting the public, 
 or as if the present domination had been the ancient re- 
 public. Silius remained silent ; or if he made an effort to 
 speak in his defence, it was but to declare the truth, that 
 struggled in his breast, that he was the victim of a tyrant's 
 resentment. The charges brought against him were, " his 
 long connivance at the machinations of Sacrovir, arising 
 out of his being an accomplice with him ; his victory tar- 
 nished with abominable avarice ; and the behaviour of his 
 wife, Sosia. " And certainly they could not exculpate 
 themselves from the charge of extortion : but the whole 
 accusation was carried on as a question of treason ; and 
 Silius prevented by a voluntary death, the condemnation 
 that inevitably awaited him. 
 
 20. His estate however was eagerly seized upon ; not 
 that the money extorted from those who paid tribute 
 might be refunded, for none of these claimed it; but what 
 he had received from the bounty of Augustus, was ri- 
 gorously exacted; and a specific calculation made of all 
 the effects of Silius claimed by the exchequer. This was 
 the first instance in which Tiberius showed a covetousness 
 of the property of others. Sosia was sentenced to banish- 
 ment, at the motion of Asinius Galhis, who proposed, " that 
 half her effects should be forfeited, half left to her chil- 
 dren." M'arcus Lepidus on the contrary, voted "the 
 fourth part to the accusers, as the law required ; all the 
 rest to the children." This Lepidus I find to have been, for 
 those times, a wise and sedate man ; for, by him the tor- 
 rent of flattery was frequently turned, and many of its cruel 
 suggestions mitigated : nor was he at all deficient in tact 
 and management, as he contrived to maintain at the same 
 high and unvarying level his influence and favour with Ti- 
 berius. Hence I am driven to raise the question, whether 
 the inclination of princes to some men, and their antipathy
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 145 
 
 to others, as well as the other things of the same class, 
 are to be ranked among the uncontrolable contingencies 
 of nature, or whether they depend upon our own counsels, 
 and we may if we please preserve a course equally remote 
 from rash contumacy and unseemly complaisance, exempt 
 from ambition and the dangers which attend it. Cotta Mes- 
 salinus, a man descended from ancestors no less illustrious 
 than Lepidus, but of a different spirit, moved to provide 
 by a decree of senate, "that the magistrates of the several 
 provinces, however innocent themselves, and even unac- 
 quainted with the mismanagement of others, should be 
 punished for the crimes of their wives, committed in the 
 provinces, equally as for their own." 
 
 21. The next proceeding was against Calpurnius Piso, 
 a man of noble descent, and undaunted spirit. For, it 
 was he who, as I have related, protested with so much ve- 
 hemence in the senate, " that he would abandon Rome, to 
 escape the conspiracies of the informers;" and in defiance 
 of the court influence of Augusta, dared to prosecute her 
 favourite Urgulania ; and summon her from the palace of 
 the emperor. All which Tiberius treated at the time in a 
 manner suitable to a citizen of a free state ; but in a soul 
 like his, that brooded over vengeance, though the trans- 
 ports of resentment had abated, the impression remained 
 deep in his memory. Quintus Granius charged Piso with 
 treasonable words uttered privately ; and added, " that 
 he kept poison in his house, and came into the senate 
 armed with a dagger :" an article too heinous to be true, 
 and therefore dropped. But for other crimes, which 
 were accumulated manifold, he was to be put upon his 
 trial ; which on account of his destroying himself on pur- 
 pose to avoid it, was not gone through with. Then too 
 came before them the business of Cassius Severus, the 
 exile ; a man of mean origin and wicked life, but a power- 
 ful speaker ; who in consequence of the enemies he had 
 wantonly made, had occasioned an order of senate, passed 
 with the solemnity of swearing, for his banishment into 
 Crete : where, by persisting in his wonted practices, he 
 drew upon himself his former enemies and fresh ones in 
 addition : so that he was now stripped of his goods, inter- 
 dicted from fire and water, and doomed to wear out his 
 existence on the rocky island of Seriphos. 
 
 22. About the same time Plautius Silvanus, the praetor, 
 for what cause is uncertain, killed Apronia his wife, by 
 throwing her down headlong from a window. When he 
 was brought by Apronius his father-in-law before the em- 
 peror, he answered in confusion of mind ; "as if while he 
 
 L
 
 116 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 was sound asleep, and therefore unaware of what she was 
 doing, his wife had destroyed herself." Tiberius instantly 
 hastened to the house and inspected the chamber ; and in 
 it the marks of his violence and her struggling were appa- 
 rent This he reported to the senate ; and judges being 
 appointed, Urgulania, the grandmother of Plautius, sent 
 him a dagger; which it was believed she did by the advice 
 of Tiberius, in regard of the friendship of Augusta for 
 her. The criminal having in vain essayed to use the steel, 
 caused his veins to be opened. Soon after, Numantina, 
 his former wife, was accused of having by charms and po- 
 tions disordered the understanding of her husband ; but 
 was adjudged innocent. 
 
 23. This year at last relieved the Romans from the long 
 war with Tacfarinas the Numidian. For the former ge- 
 nerals, as soon as they believed their exploits had entitled 
 them to the honour of triumphal distinctions, always aban- 
 doned the enemy. Insomuch that there were already in 
 Rome three statues adorned with laurel, but still Tacfa- 
 rinas was ravaging Africa, reinforced by auxiliaries from 
 the Moors, who had exchanged for war the oppression of 
 the king's fireedmen, and the commands of slaves, to which 
 they were subject under the government of Ptolemy, son 
 of Juba, who from his youth and inexperience, suffered 
 things to take their own course. For the harbourer of his 
 plunder, and partner in depredations, he had the king of 
 the Garamantes : not that this king marched at the head 
 of an army ; but only sent out light parties, which were 
 magnified by report as coming from a distance. From the 
 province itself too flowed in all that were bankrupt in for- 
 tune, all that were disorderly in their lives; the more 
 readily, because the emperor after the feats performed by 
 Blaesus, as if there had no longer remained any enemy in 
 Africa, had ordered the ninth legion to be withdrawn : 
 nor durst Publius Dolabella, proconsul there in that year, 
 retain it; as he dreaded more the orders of the prir;ce 
 than the casualties of the war. 
 
 24*. Tacfarinas therefore disseminated a rumour, "that se- 
 veral other nations also were tearing piecemeal the Roman 
 power : that hence their forces were by degrees being drawn 
 off from Africa: and that the remainder might be wholly 
 destroyed, if all to whom liberty was dearer than bondage 
 would exert themselves in the cause." By this rumour 
 his forces were augmented, and he besieged the city of 
 Thubuscum. But Dolabella drawing together what sol- 
 diers were there, at his first approach raised the siege, by 
 the terror of the Roman name, and because the Numi-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 147 
 
 dians cannot stand a regular encounter with our foot. He 
 likewise established fortified posts in convenient situations; 
 and at the same time executed the chiefs of the Musula- 
 nians, who were on the point of commencing a revolt. 
 Then, since from many expeditions against Tacfarinas, it 
 was manifest that an enemy so desultory in his motions 
 could not be brought to close quarters by a heavily 
 equipped army, and by bearing upon him with a single 
 force, he therefore called to his aid king Ptolemy, with a 
 body of his subjects, and formed four bands, commanded 
 by lieutenant-generals and tribunes; while predatory bands 
 were led on by chosen Moors ; the proconsul himself su- 
 perintending the whole operations. 
 
 25. Not long after, tidings came, " that the Numidians 
 had pitched their huts near a decayed fort called Auzea, 
 which they had formerly set fire to ; trusting now to its 
 situation, because it was shut in on every side by wild and 
 extensive forests." The light infantry and allied cavalry 
 were then hastily marched off at a rapid pace, not know- 
 ing whither they were being led ; and just at dawn of day, 
 with trumpets sounding and terrific shouts, they came 
 upon the Numidians, still half asleep, their horses tethered, 
 or straggling loosely at grass. The Romans were come 
 prepared for battle: their foot in close array, their cavalry 
 marshalled: the enemy, on the contrary, utterly surprised 
 and bewildered, without arms, or order, or plan, were, with 
 all the passiveness of sheep routed, slaughtered, or captured. 
 The soldiers, exasperated by the remembrance of their 
 toils, and encountering a foe that had so often eluded the 
 wished-for opportunity, severally took their fill of ven- 
 geance and of blood. Through all the ranks the word 
 ran, " that they must all try to get hold of Tacfarinas, 
 known to them in so many conflicts : that there would be 
 no rest from war unless he were killed." As for Tacfari- 
 nas, his guards slain around him, his son a prisoner, and 
 the Romans pouring upon him on all sides, he rushed 
 upon the darts and escaped captivity by a death not un- 
 compensated with the blood of his foe. And thus an end 
 was put to the war. 
 
 26. Dolabella solicited triumphal ornaments, but was 
 refused by Tiberius, in consideration of Sejanus ; that the 
 fame of his uncle Blaesus might not lose its lustre. But 
 the fame of Blaesus shone no brighter for this ; while to 
 Dolabella increase of glory accrued from withholding the 
 honour due to him, for he had reaped the renown of taking 
 illustrious prisoners, slaying the general, and terminating 
 the war with a smaller army. He was also attended by
 
 148 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 ambassadors from the Garamantes ; a rare sight in Rome ! 
 that nation struck with the death of Tacfarinas, and not 
 unconscious of guilt, had sent them to appease the resent- 
 ment of the Roman people. And now that the zeal of 
 Ptolemy during that war was known, a custom of remote 
 antiquity was revived in his favour, and one of the senators 
 sent to deliver him an ivory sceptre and painted robe ; 
 (the ancient presents of the senate,) and to salute him 
 as 'King, Friend, and Confederate.' 
 
 27. The same summer the seeds of a servile war spread 
 through Italy, were prevented from developing themselves 
 by a lucky accident. The author of the commotion was 
 Titus Curtisius, formerly a soldier of the praetorian guards. 
 First by clandestine meetings at Brundusium, and the 
 neighbouring towns ; afterwards by orders publicly issued 
 he was inviting to liberty the agrarian slaves, through the 
 wild and remote forests, and such as were of a turbulent 
 spirit; when, as it were by the bounty of the gods, three 
 galleys destined for the necessities of those who frequented 
 that sea, landed there. Curtius Lupus too, the quaestor, 
 was then in these parts, for to him had fallen, according 
 to ancient custom, the province of Cales. Lupus mar- 
 shalled the mariners, and dissipated the conspiracy then 
 just breaking out. Staius the tribune, despatched thither 
 by the emperor with an efficient force, haled the leader 
 himself and his most resolute partizans, to Rome; already 
 in a state of alarm, on account of the multitude of slaves 
 that were augmenting immensely, while the freeborn com- 
 monalty daily dwindled away. 
 
 28. During the same consulship there were brought be- 
 fore the senate a father as defendant and his son the ac- 
 cuser, both named Vibius Serenus ; a deplorable example 
 of wretchedness and inhumanity ; the father dragged from 
 exile, covered with filth and squalid from neglect, and 
 moreover bound in chains, heard himself impleaded by his 
 son. The yoiing man dressed for the occasion with studied 
 elegance, his countenance cheerful and elated, alleged, "a 
 plot framed against the emperor, and that some of the con- 
 spirators were sent into Gaul to instigate a rebellion there;" 
 at once a witness and an informer. He likewise charged 
 " Caecilius Cornutus, formerly prretor, with having fur- 
 nished money." But he, from the pain of anxiety, and be- 
 cause the accusation was regarded as tantamount to de- 
 struction, anticipated death by his own hand. The ac- 
 cused, on the other side, with a spirit undismayed, turning 
 full upon his son, and clanking his chains, invoked " the 
 avenging gods, that to himself they would give back his
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 149 
 
 place of banishment, where he might dwell far away from 
 such practices ; and that just vengeance might one day 
 overtake his son." He insisted too, " that Cornutus was 
 innocent, and only terrified with forged crimes ; as might 
 be easily learnt if other accomplices were produced ; for 
 it was not probable that, with one confederate only, he 
 should have meditated the murder of the prince, and a 
 change of the state." 
 
 29. The accuser then named Cnaeius Lentulus and Seius 
 Tubero, to the great confusion of Tiberius ; when men of 
 the first rank in Rome, his own intimate friends, Lentulus 
 in extreme old age, Tubero worn out with infirmities, were 
 charged with seditious movements and designs of innova- 
 tion. But they indeed were instantly acquitted. Against 
 the father his slaves were examined upon the rack ; and 
 their examination went against the accuser; who, distracted 
 with guilt, and frightened besides with the language of 
 the populace, who menaced him with the dungeon, the 
 rack, and the punishment of parricides, fled the city. He 
 was dragged back from Ravenna, and compelled to pro- 
 secute his accusation ; Tiberius not concealing his old 
 hatred to the exile Serenus : for after the condemnation 
 of Libo, he had by letters upbraided the emperor, that 
 such signal zeal as he had shown in that trial remained 
 without reward : he had likewise inserted some expres- 
 sions more contumacious than safe in the ears of a prince 
 proud and prone to take offence. These matters were 
 eight years after revived by Tiberius, who charged him 
 with many misdemeanours during that interval, though 
 through the obstinacy of his slaves nothing, he said, could 
 be discovered by torture. 
 
 30. The votes being then taken, and Serenus sentenced 
 " to death according to the custom of antiquity;" Tibe- 
 rius, to soften the public odium, interposed. Then Asi- 
 nius Gallus moved, " to confine him to the Isle of Gyarus 
 or Donusa :" a motion which Tiberius also rejected ; ar- 
 guing, " that both these isles were destitute of water; and 
 that to whom they granted life, the conveniencies of life 
 ought likewise to be granted." So Serenus was carried 
 back to Amorgos. And now as Cornutus had died by 
 his own hands, it was moved, " to abrogate the rewards 
 of informers, as often as any person charged with treason, 
 should, before judgment passed, put an end to his own 
 life." And this motion was being carried, but Tiberius 
 in behalf of the informers, openly complained, with stern- 
 ness, and contrary to his custom, " that the laws would be 
 defeated, and the commonwealth placed in imminent peril;
 
 150 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 that they should rather dissolve the laws than dismiss 
 their guardians." Thus the informers, a description of 
 men called into existence to prey upon the vitals of so- 
 ciety, and never sufficiently restrained even by penalties, 
 were now encouraged by rewards. 
 
 31. This so continued and so sad a series of events 
 was interrupted by a degree of joy from the pardon ex- 
 tended by Tiberius to Cominius, who had been convicted 
 of writing defamatory verses upon him, at the instance of 
 his brother, a senator. An event which made it the more 
 astonishing, that he who knew better things, and the fair 
 fame that waits on clemency, should prefer severity. For 
 neither did he err from want of discernment; nor is it dif- 
 ficult to distinguish when the doings of princes are ap- 
 plauded with sincerity, and when they are received with 
 simulated satisfaction. Nay, Tiberius himself, upon other 
 occasions studied and artificial in his manner, and as if 
 struggling to give utterance to his sentiments, yet, when- 
 ever he spoke as an advocate, delivered himself with readi- 
 ness and volubility. But Publius Suilius, formerly quae- 
 stor to Germanicus, now convicted of having taken money 
 in an affair where he was to decree as a judge, and for 
 which he was about to be sentenced to be excluded from 
 Italy ; the emperor adjudged him to banishment into an 
 island, with such earnestness of feeling, that with the so- 
 lemnity of an oath he declared it " for the interest of the 
 commonwealth :" a proceeding which though at the time 
 regarded as harsh, turned afterwards to his praise, when 
 Suilius returned to Rome : a following age saw that exile 
 possessed of extravagant power ; abandoned to venality, 
 and employing his friendship with Claudius which he long 
 enjoyed, in all cases for his own advancement, but never 
 in the cause of virtue. Catus Firmius the senator was 
 adjudged to the same punishment, " for having forged 
 charges of treason against his own sister." Catus, as I 
 have before declared, had involved Libo in guilt by insi- 
 dious arts, and then, by informing against him, procured 
 his overthrow. Tiberius, mindful of this service, but pre- 
 tending other motives, deprecated the sentence of banish- 
 ment ; but made no opposition to his expulsion from the 
 senate. 
 
 32. I am aware that most of the transactions which I 
 have related, or shall hereafter relate, may perhaps ap- 
 pear unimportant, and too trivial to be recorded. But, 
 none must compare these, my Annals, with the writings of 
 those who compiled the history of the ancient Roman 
 people. They had for their subjects mighty wars, cities
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 151 
 
 sacked, kings routed and taken captive : or if they turned 
 from these to treat of domestic affairs, they had before 
 them an unlimited field of digression in the dissensions be- 
 tween the consuls and the tribunes, the agrarian laws, the 
 corn laws, and the contests between the commons and the 
 patricians. The matter on which I am occupied, is cir- 
 cumscribed and unproductive of renown to the author a 
 state of undisturbed peace, or only interrupted in a limited 
 degree, the sad condition of affairs in the city, and a prince 
 indifferent about extending the bounds of the empire. 
 Not unprofitable however will it be to investigate matters 
 which, though unimportant in a superficial view, frequently 
 give the first impulse to events of magnitude. 
 
 33. For, all nations and cities are governed either by 
 the populace, by the nobility, or by single rulers. The 
 form of government consisting of elements selected from 
 these and blended together, is easier applauded than 
 realised ; or if realised, cannot be of long duration. So 
 that, as during the republic, either when the power of the 
 people prevailed, or when the senate bore the chief sway, 
 it was necessai-y to know the genius of the commonalty, 
 and by what measures they were to be managed ; and such 
 too as were most thoroughly acquainted with the spirit of 
 the senate and leading men, were esteemed skilful in the 
 times, practical and wise statesmen : so now, under an al- 
 tered condition of affairs, when the government of Rome 
 is no other than the arbitrary rule of one man, it will be 
 of advantage to collect and record these matters; since 
 few can by their own foresight distinguish between ho- 
 nesty and knavery, between counsels pernicious and pro- 
 fitable ; but most men are instructed by the examples of 
 others. But this detail, as conferring future benefit, is 
 far from affording present gratification. For the descrip- 
 tions of countries, the alternations of success in war, the 
 fate of illustrious generals, engage the attention of readers 
 and prevent it from flagging. For my v self, I have only to 
 record the mandates of despotism, incessant accusations, 
 faithless friendships, the ruin of innocence ; one unvarying 
 repetition of causes terminating in the same event, and 
 presenting no novelty 'from their similarity and tiresome 
 reiteration. Besides that the old historians are rarely 
 censured; nor is any man now concerned whether they 
 laud with greater zeal the Roman or Carthaginian armies. 
 But, of many who under Tiberius suffered punishment, or 
 were branded with infamy, the posterity are still subsist- 
 ing; and though the families themselves may be extinct, 
 you will find those who from a similitude of manners, think
 
 152 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 that, in reciting the evil doings of others, they themselves 
 are censured : nay, even virtue and a glorious name create 
 enemies, as they expose the opposite characters by too 
 close a contrast. But I return to my undertaking. 
 
 34. Whilst Cornelius Cossus and Asinius Agrippa were 
 consuls, Cremutius Cordus was arraigned for that, " having 
 published annals and in them praised Brutus, he had 
 styled Cassius the last of the Romans :" a new crime, and 
 then first heard of. Satrius Secundus and Pinarius Natta 
 were his accusers ; creatures of Sejanus. This circum- 
 stance, and the fact that Tiberius received his defence 
 with a countenance of settled austerity, formed a fatal 
 omen to the accused ; who having made up his mind 
 to die, thus expressed himself: "As to facts 1 am so 
 guiltless, conscript fathers, that my words only are ac- 
 cused: but neither are any words of mine pointed against 
 the emperor, or his mother ; who are the only persons com- 
 prehended in the law of violated majesty. It is alleged 
 that I have praised Brutus and Cassius ; men whose lives 
 and actions have been compiled by many writers, but by 
 none without encomiums. Titus Livius, an historian emi- 
 nently renowned for eloquence and veracity, signalised 
 Pompey with such abundant praises, that he was by Au- 
 gustus named Pompeianus ; nor did this interfere with 
 their friendship. Neither Scipio, nor Afranius, nor even 
 this same Cassius, nor this same Brutus, are any where 
 mentioned by him as ruffians and parricides, the common 
 appellations now bestowed on them ; but often as great and 
 distinguished men. The writings of Asinius Pollio have 
 handed down the memory of the same men in honourable 
 characters. Corvinus Messala gloried to have had Cas- 
 sius for his general : and yet both Pollio and Corvinus 
 continued in the uninterrupted enjoyment of wealth and 
 honours under Augustus. That book of Cicero's, in which 
 he exalted Cato to the skies ; what other animadversion 
 did it draw from Ca?sar the dictator, than a written reply, 
 as if appealing to judges ? The letters of Mark Antony ; 
 the speeches of Brutus, are full of reproaches against Au- 
 gustus; unfounded indeed, but urged with signal asperity; 
 the poems of Bibaculus, and those of Catullus, filled with 
 virulent satires against the Caesars, still are read. But 
 even the deified Julius, even the deified Augustus, bore 
 all these invectives and passed them over ; whether with 
 greater moderation or wisdom, it were difficult to say. 
 For, if they are despised, they fade away ; if you show 
 displeasure, they seem to be admitted as true. 
 
 35. " 1 refer not to the Greeks : with them not the free-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 153 
 
 dom only, but even the licentiousness of speech, is un- 
 punished : or if any correction is applied, it is only by re- 
 venging -words with words. It has been ever freely al- 
 lowed, without exciting the censure of any one, to pass 
 our judgment upon those whom death had withdrawn from 
 the influence of affection and hate. Are Cassius and Bru- 
 tus now in arms ? do they at present fill with armed troops 
 the fields of Philippi ? or do I fire the Roman people by 
 inflammatory harangues, to stir up the spirit of civil war ? 
 Brutus and Cassius, who fell now more than seventy years 
 ago, are still known in their statues, which even the con- 
 queror did not abolish : and as these exhibit their per- 
 sons, why not the historian their characters? Posterity 
 renders to every man his proper praise: nor will there be 
 wanting such as, if my death is determined, will not only 
 revive the story of Cassius and Brutus, but even mine." 
 Having thus said, he withdrew from the senate, and 
 starved himself to death. The fathers condemned the 
 books to be burned by the asdiles ; but there remained 
 copies, which were concealed and afterwards brought out: 
 whence we may with the greater justice deride the stu- 
 pidity of those who imagine that they can, by an exertion 
 of contemporary power, extinguish the memorial of events 
 among succeeding generations : for, on the contrary, the 
 punishment of authors of genius, exalts the credit of the 
 writings : nor have foreign kings, or any others who have 
 resorted to the same severity, produced any other effect 
 than infamy to themselves and glory to the sufferers. 
 
 36. To proceed : this whole year there was such an un- 
 interrupted series of accusations, that even during the so- 
 lemnity of the Latin festival, when Drusus, for the purpose 
 of his inauguration as praefect of the city, had ascended 
 the tribunal, he was accosted by Calpurnius Salvianus with 
 a charge against Sextus Marius ; a proceeding openly re- 
 sented by the emperor, and which led to the banishment 
 of Salvianus. The city of Cyzicus was next accused, " of 
 not observing the established worship of the deified Au- 
 gustus ;" with additional crimes, " in acts of violence com- 
 mitted upon Roman citizens." Thus that city lost her 
 liberties ; which by her behaviour during the Mithridatic 
 war, she had earned, having sustained a siege; and as 
 much by her own bravery, as by the aid of Lucullus, re- 
 pulsed the king. But Fonteius Capito, who had as pro- 
 consul governed Asia, was acquitted, upon proof that 
 the crimes brought against him by Vibius Serenus were 
 forged : and yet the forgery drew no penalty upon Sere- 
 nus : for the public hate rendered him the more secure :
 
 154 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 for every accuser, the more eager and busy he was, the 
 more he resembled one whose person is sacred and in- 
 violable : those who practised on a small scale and were 
 not in repute, were punished. 
 
 37. About the same time, the furthermost Spain be- 
 sought the senate by their ambassadors, " that after tlie 
 example of Asia, they might erect a temple to Tiberius 
 and his mother." Upon this occasion, the emperor, always 
 resolute in contemning honours, and now judging it pro- 
 per to confute those, who represented him as chargeable 
 with having deviated into ambition, spoke in this manner: 
 "I know, conscript fathers, that it is ascribed to a defect 
 of firmness in me, that when the cities of Asia lately pre- 
 ferred the same petition, I withstood them not. I shall 
 therefore now unfold at once the motives of my silence 
 then, and the rules which for the future I am determined 
 to observe. Since the deified Augustus had not opposed 
 the founding at Pergamus of a temple to himself and the 
 city of Rome ; I, with whom all his actions and sayings 
 have the force of laws, have followed an example already 
 approved, the more cheerfully, because to the worship be- 
 stowed upon me, the adoration of the senate was annexed. 
 But as the admission of it in one instance will find pardon, 
 scr a general latitude of being hallowed through every pro- 
 vince under the representations of the deities, would de- 
 note a vain spirit; a heart swelled with ambition. The 
 homage paid to Augustus will also fade, if it is made com- 
 mon by indiscriminate and unmerited acts of adoration. 
 
 38. " For myself, conscript fathers, that I am a mortal 
 man ; that I am confined to the functions of human na- 
 ture; and that if I well supply the principal place amongst 
 you, it suffices me, I solemnly assure you, and I would 
 have posterity remember it. They will render enough to 
 my memory, if they believe me to have been worthy of my 
 ancestors ; watchful of your interests ; unmoved in perils, 
 and, in defence of the public weal, fearless of private 
 enmities. These are the temples I would raise in your 
 breasts ; these are the fairest effigies, and such as will 
 endure. As for those of stone, if the judgment of posterity 
 changes from favour to dislike, they are despised as no bet- 
 ter than sepulchres. Hence it is I here invoke the gods, 
 that to the end of my life they would grant me a spirit un- 
 disturbed, and discerning in duties human and divine: and 
 hence too I implore our citizens and allies, that whenever 
 my dissolution comes, they would celebrate my actions 
 and the odour of my name, with praises and benevolent 
 testimonies of remembrance." And thenceforward he per-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 155 
 
 severed in slighting upon all occasions, and even in private 
 conversation, this worship of himself. A conduct which 
 was by some ascribed to modesty ; by many to distrust of 
 his merit; by others to degeneracy of spirit. "For men of 
 the most exalted virtue, have ever coveted the highest 
 honours: thus Hercules and Bacchus amongst the Greeks, 
 and with us Romulus, were added to the society of the 
 gods : Augustus had chosen the nobler part, who hoped 
 for deification : all the other gratifications of princes were 
 presently procured : one object only was to be pursued in- 
 satiably ; the applauding voice of posterity. For by con- 
 temning fame, the virtues that acquire it are contemned." 
 
 39. Now Sejanus, infatuated with excess of fortune, and 
 moreover stimulated by the importunity of Livia, who with 
 the restless passion of a woman, craved the promised mar- 
 riage, composed a memorial to the emperor. For, it was 
 then the custom to apply to him in writing, though he 
 were present. The form in which it was conceived was 
 this: " That he had been so familiarised to the kindness of 
 Augustus, and subsequently to the numerous decisions of 
 Tiberius in his favour, that he would not address his hopes 
 and prayers to the gods rather than to the ears of princes: 
 nor of them had he ever sought the glare of honours : 
 watching and toils, like one of the common soldiers, for 
 the safety of the prince, had been his choice. However 
 what was most glorious for him he had attained ; to be 
 thought worthy of alliance with the emperor. Hence the 
 foundation of his present hopes : and, since he had heard 
 that Augustus, in the disposal of his daughter, had not 
 been without thoughts even of some of the Roman knights; 
 he therefore begged that if a husband were sought for Li- 
 via, Tiberius would remember his friend ; who would seek 
 no other advantage than the high honour of the alliance : 
 for he would not solicit exemption from the duties imposed 
 upon him; but hold it sufficient that his house was for- 
 tified against the injurious animosity* of Agrippina; and in 
 this he only consulted the security of his children ; for 
 himself, his own life would be abundantly long, if he might 
 continue it during the life of such a prince." 
 
 40. In answer, Tiberius, having praised the loyalty of 
 Sejanus, recapitulated cursorily the instances of his own 
 favours towards him, and required time, as it were for a 
 thorough deliberation, and then added : " that all other 
 men were, in their deliberations, guided by views of their 
 own interest: far different was the lot of princes, who were 
 in their most important actions to consider fame : he there- 
 fore did not resort to that trite subterfuge in his reply ;
 
 150 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 that Livia could herself determine whether, after Drusus, 
 she ought again to marry, or patiently continue under the 
 same household gods, that she had a mother and grand- 
 mother, advisers more nearly related to her. He would 
 deal more candidly with him : and first, as to the enmity 
 of Agrippina; it would flame out with far more fury, if by 
 the marriage of Livia, the family of the Caesars were rent 
 as it were into two contending parties: that even as things 
 stood, the emulation of these ladies broke out, and by their 
 animosities, his grandsons were assailed by conflicting in- 
 fluences. What would be the consequence ; if, by such a 
 marriage, the strife were inflamed? For you are deceived, 
 Sejanus, if you .think to continue then in the same rank as 
 now ; or that Livia, she who was first the wife of the young 
 Caius Caesar, and afterwards the wife of Drusus, will be 
 of a temper to grow old with a husband no higher than a 
 Roman knight : nay, allowing that I suffered you after- 
 wards to remain what you are; do you believe that they 
 who saw her father, her brother, and the ancestors of our 
 house, enjoying the highest dignities, will ever suffer it ? 
 You indeed propose, yourself, to stand still in the same 
 station : but the great magistrates and nobles, who, in 
 spite of you, break in upon you, and consult you in all 
 affairs, make no secret of complaining that you have long 
 exceeded the equestrian eminence, and far outgone in 
 power all the confidants of my father; and from their envy 
 of you, they also censure me. But still you say, Augustus 
 deliberated about giving his daughter to a Roman knight. 
 It is a wonderful thing to -be sure, if, perplexed with a 
 crowd of distracting cares, and foreseeing that the man 
 would be raised to an unbounded height, whomsoever he 
 dignified with such a match, he talked of Proculeius, and 
 certain others like him, remarkable for their retired ha- 
 bits, and not at all mixed up with politics ! But if .we are 
 influenced by the hesitation of Augustus, how much more 
 powerful is his decision ; since he bestowed his daughter 
 on Agrippa, and then on me ? These are considerations 
 whicli in friendship I have not withheld : however, neither 
 your own inclinations, nor those of Livia, shall be thwarted 
 by me. The secret purposes of my own heart towards 
 you, and with what further ties of affinity, I am contriving 
 to bind you to me, I shall at present forbear to recount. 
 Thus much only I will disclose, that there is nothing so 
 high which those virtues of yours, and your zeal towards 
 me, do not merit : and when opportunity presents, either 
 in the senate, or in a popular assembly, I shall not sup- 
 press my sentiments."
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 157 
 
 41. In answer to this, Sejanus, no longer solicitous about 
 the marriage, but filled with higher apprehensions, be- 
 sought him " to resist the dark suggestions of suspicion ; 
 the pratings of the vulgar ; and the assaults of envy." 
 And lest by refusing admission to the suitors, who inces- 
 santly thronged his house, he might impair his power ; or 
 by encouraging them, furnish a handle to his accusers, he 
 adopted the expedient of urging the emperor to pass his 
 time in some agreeable situation far from Rome. From 
 this counsel he foresaw many advantages: upon himself 
 would depend all access to the emperor; the letters would, 
 as the soldiers were the carriers, be for the most part un- 
 der his direction ; in a little time the prince, now declining 
 in years, and enervated by retirement, would more easily 
 transfer to him the whole charge of the empire : the envy 
 felt towards himself would be diminished by getting rid 
 of the crowd of visitors, and though the empty parade 
 of power was removed, he would possess more of its es- 
 sentials. He therefore began by little and little to rail at 
 the hurry of business at Rome, the throng of people, the 
 conflux of suitors, applauding "retirement and quiet; 
 which afford the greatest facilities for deliberation on the 
 most important matters, unwearied by importunities and 
 unexposed to annoyance from the dissatisfied." 
 
 42. There happened too, about that time, the trial of 
 Votienus Montanus, a celebrated wit ; which induced the 
 hesitating Tiberius to resolve upon shunning all assemblies 
 of the fathers, and the true and painful reflections which 
 were there unsparingly uttered to his face. For, as Vo- 
 tienus was charged with calumnies spoken against Caesar, 
 ^Emilius the witness, of the military profession, from a 
 zeal to make good his evidence, rehearsed every tittle he 
 had heard ; and notwithstanding the clamour raised to 
 stop his mouth, he persisted in the detail with obstinate 
 pertinacity. Tiberius heard the reproaches by which he 
 was secretly lacerated ; and he was so struck, that he ex- 
 claimed passionately, " that he would instantly clear himself 
 on a judicial investigation :" and the prayers of his particu- 
 lar friends, and flatteries of all, were scarcely sufficient to 
 calm him. Votienus indeed suffered the pains of treason ; 
 but Tiberius persisted with so much more obstinacy in the 
 harshness imputed to him, that he punished Aquilia with 
 exile, for adultery with Varius Ligur; though she were 
 sentenced by Lentulus Getulicus, consul elect, to the pe- 
 nalties of the Julian law. He also erased Apidius Merula 
 from the roll of senators, "because he had not sworn upon 
 the acts of the deified Augustus."
 
 158 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 43. Next were heard ambassadors from the Lacedaemo- 
 nians and Messenians, about their claim to the temple of 
 Diana Limnatis; which the Lacedaemonians asserted to 
 be theirs, " founded in their territory, and dedicated by 
 their ancestors," and offered as proofs the ancient records 
 of their annals, and the hymns of the old poets ; " but it 
 had been taken from them forcibly by Philip of Macedon, 
 having been at war with him ; but restored afterwards by 
 the sentence of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony." The 
 Messenians, on the contrary, pleaded, "the ancient par- 
 tition of Peloponnesus amongst the descendants of Her- 
 cules ; and that the territory Denthelia, where the temple 
 stood, had fallen to their king ; memorials of which event 
 still remained, engraven on stone and old tables of brass : 
 but, if the testimony of histories and poets were appealed 
 to, they themselves had the most and the fullest. Nor 
 had Philip, in his decision, acted by virtue of his power, 
 but from equity : tire same was the adjudication of king 
 Antigonus; the same that of the general Mummius. Thus 
 too the Milesians had awarded, who were by both states 
 chosen arbitrators : and thus lastly it had been'determined 
 by Atidius Geminus, praetor of Achaia." It was given 
 therefore in favour of the Messenians. The citizens also 
 of Segesta applied to have " the temple of Venus on 
 Mount Eryx, which had fallen into decay through age, 
 restored." They represented the well-known, and to Ti- 
 berius gratifying, story of its origin, who willingly took 
 upon himself the charge, as a kinsman to the goddess. 
 Then was discussed the petition from the citizens of Mar- 
 seilles, and the precedent of Publius Rutilius was ap- 
 proved : for Rutilius, though by a law expelled from 
 Rome, had been by the Smyrnaeans adopted a citizen : 
 and as Volcatius Moschus, another exile, had found at 
 Marseilles the same privilege and reception, he had left 
 his estate to their republic, as his country. 
 
 44. Those noble Romans, Cnaeius Lentulus and Lucius 
 Domitius, died this year. Lentulus, to the consulship, 
 and the ensigns of triumph over the Getulas, had added 
 that of poverty honourably borne; and afterwards a splen- 
 did fortune, virtuously acquired and modestly enjoyed. 
 Upon Domitius devolved the lustre of his father, who in 
 the civil war held the dominion of the sea, till he espoused 
 first the interest of Mark Antony, and then that of Au- 
 gustus: his grandfather had fallen for the cause of the 
 senate in the battle of Pharsalia. He himself was chosen 
 for the husband of the younger Antonia, daughter of Oc- 
 tavia : he afterwards led an army over the Elbe, and ad-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 159 
 
 vanced further into Germany than any Roman before him, 
 for which he obtained the insignia of triumph. Then also 
 died Lucius Antonius, of a race highly illustrious, but un- 
 happy : for, Julius Antonius his father, having suffered 
 death for adultery with Julia, Augustus removed this Lu- 
 cius, then a child, and the grandson of his sister, to the 
 city of Marseilles, where under pretence of pursuing his 
 studies, the name of exile might be veiled. Funeral ho- 
 nours were however jfaid him, and by a decree of senate 
 his bones were deposited in the tomb of the Octavii. 
 
 45. During the same consulship, an atrocious crime was 
 perpetrated in Nether Spain, by a peasant of the Termes- 
 tinian nation, who surprised and struck dead with a single 
 wound, Lucius Piso, governor of the province, as he tra- 
 velled careless and unattended, as in a state of peace. 
 The assassin however escaped to a forest by the fleetness 
 of his horse, and there dismissed him : from thence tra- 
 velling over rocks and pathless places, he baffled his pur- 
 suers : but he did not long escape detection ; for his horse 
 being taken and shown through the neighbouring villages, 
 it was discovered who was the owner. When found and 
 put to the rack to declare his accomplices, he proclaimed 
 with a loud voice, in the language of his country, " that 
 in vain they questioned him ; his associates might stand 
 by and look on : that no force of torture could extort the 
 truth from him." Next day, as he was dragged back to 
 the rack, he burst with so vehement an effort from his 
 guard, and dashed his head so violently against a stone, 
 that he instantly expired. But Piso is believed to have 
 been assassinated from a plot of the Termestinians ; as in 
 exacting the repayment of some public money, which had 
 been embezzled, he acted with more asperity than a bar- 
 barian people could endure. 
 
 46. In the consulship of Lentulus Getulicus and Caius 
 Calvisius, the insignia of triumph were decreed to Pop- 
 paeus Sabinus for having routed some clans of Thracians, 
 who, living wildly on the high mountains, conducted them- 
 selves with the greater contumacy. The ground of their 
 late commotion, in addition to the savage genius of the 
 people, was their scorn at having recruits raised amongst 
 them, and all their stoutest men enlisted in our armies ; 
 accustomed as they were not even to obey their native 
 kings excepting according to their caprice, nor to aid them 
 with forces but under captains of their own choosing, nor 
 to fight against any enemy but their own borderers. A 
 rumour was then also current amongst them, that they 
 were to be dispersed and mixed with other nations, and
 
 1GO THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 thus dragged away to distant countries. But before they 
 took up arms, they sent ambassadors to Sabinus, to re- 
 present " their past friendship and submission, and that 
 the same should continue, if they were provoked by no 
 fresh impositions : but if like a people subdued by war, 
 they were doomed to bondage, they had able men and 
 steel, and souls determined upon liberty or death." The 
 ambassadors at the same time pointed to their strong 
 holds founded upon precipitous rocks; whither they had 
 conveyed their wives and parents ; and threatened a war 
 intricate, hazardous, and sanguinary. 
 
 47. Sabinus, who amused them with gentle answers till 
 he could draw together his army ; when Pomponius Labeo 
 arrived with a legion from Mcesia, and king Rhemetalces 
 with an auxiliary body of his countrymen who had not re- 
 nounced their allegiance. With these and what forces he 
 had of his own, lie marched towards the foe, now disposed 
 in the passes of the forest : some more bold presented 
 themselves upon the hills : then the Roman general ap- 
 proaching gave them battle, and without difficulty drove 
 them thence, but with small slaughter of the Barbarians, 
 because they had refuge at hand. Here he soon, after 
 raised an encampment, and with a stout band took posses- 
 sion of a hill, which extended with an even narrow ridge 
 to the next fortress, which was garrisoned by a great host 
 of armed men and rabble : and as the most resolute were, 
 according to the custom of the nation, gambolling without 
 the fortification in dances and songs, he forthwith de- 
 spatched against them a select body of archers. These, 
 while they only poured in volleys of arrows at a distance, 
 wounded many with impunity; but, approaching too near, 
 were by a sudden sally thrown into disorder. They were 
 however supported by a cohort of the Sigambrians, a peo- 
 ple prompt in encountering danger, and no less terrible 
 from their war-cries and the clangour of their arms, which 
 Sabinus had posted at a short distance. 
 
 48. He afterwards moved his camp nearer to the enemy; 
 leaving in his former entrenchments the Thracians, who, 
 as I have mentioned, had joined us, with permission "to 
 lay waste, burn, and plunder, on condition that their ra- 
 vages were confined to the day ; and that, at nights, they 
 kept within the camp, secure and under guard." This 
 restriction was at first observed ; but, soon lapsing into 
 luxury, and enriched with plunder, they neglected their 
 guards, and resigned themselves to excessive feasting, or 
 wallowed in sleep and intoxication. The enemy therefore 
 apprised of their negligence, formed themselves into two
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 161 
 
 bands ; one to set upon the plunderers, the other to as- 
 sault the Roman camp, not with the hope of taking it, 
 but that the soldiers, alarmed with shouts and darts, and 
 each intent upon the danger which threatened himself, 
 might not hear the din of the other battle : moreover to 
 heighten the terror, night was chosen for the operation. 
 But those who assailed the lines of the legions were easily 
 repulsed ; the auxiliary Thracians were terrified with the 
 sudden assault; some of them lying near the entrench- 
 ments, many roaming without them ; they were slain with 
 the more relentless vengeance, as they were charged with 
 " being fugitives and traitors, who bore arms to enslave 
 their country and themselves." 
 
 49. Next day Sabinus drew up his army in view of the 
 enemy, on level ground ; to try if, elated with their suc- 
 cess by night, they would venture a battle: and, when they 
 still kept within the fortress, or on the chain of hills, he 
 began a siege by means of the works he was then fortify- 
 ing, and which were convenient for the purpose: and then 
 forming a fosse and circumvallation, he carried his lines 
 round for a space of four miles. Then to deprive them of 
 water and forage, he streightened his barriers by degrees, 
 and hemmed them in still closer. A rampart was also 
 raised, whence, upon the enemy now within reach, were 
 discharged stones, darts, and brands. But nothing dis- 
 tressed them so much as thirst, as only a single fountain re- 
 mained amongst a huge multitude of armed men and their 
 families: their horses too and cattle, penned up with them, 
 after the manner of the country, perished for want of pro- 
 vender : near them lay the bodies of men ; some who had 
 died of thirst, some of their wounds ; everything foul and 
 tainted with gore, stench, and infection. To these dis- 
 tresses was also added, that consummation of all calamities, 
 dissension: some were disposed to surrender; others pro- 
 posed present death, and to fall upon one another. There 
 were some too who advised a sally, and to die avenging 
 their deaths. Nor were these last mean men, though dis- 
 senting from the rest. 
 
 50. But of their leaders, one named Dinis, a man stricken 
 in years, and by long experience acquainted with the ri- 
 gour and clemency of the Romans, argued, " that they 
 must lay down their arms ; which was the sole remedy for 
 their pressing calamities :" and he first submitted, with his 
 wife and children, to the conqueror. He was followed by 
 all that were weak through sex or age, and such as had a 
 greater love of life than glory. The young men were di- 
 vided under Tarsa and Turesis ; both determined to fall 
 
 M
 
 162 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 with liberty : but Tarsa declared earnestly " for instant 
 death ; and the severance of all hopes and fears at once :" 
 and setting an example, buried his sword in his breast. 
 Nor were there wanting some who despatched themselves 
 the same way. Turesis and his band stayed for night: of 
 which our general was aware. The guards were there- 
 fore strengthened with more numerous parties ; and now 
 came on a night dark and cloudy in the extreme ; and the 
 enemy now with tumultuous shouts, and now with pro- 
 found silence, alarmed and embarrassed the besiegers. 
 Sabinus therefore went round the camp and warned the 
 soldiers, " that they should not allow an opportunity to the 
 insidious arts of the enemy, deceived by ambiguous noises, 
 or counterfeited stillness ; but keep immoveably to their 
 several posts ; nor throw their darts at random." 
 
 51. Meanwhile the Barbarians, pouring down in sepa- 
 rate troops, now with stones as large as they could grasp, 
 poles hardened at the point in the fire, and with the limbs 
 of trees lopped off, they batter the palisade ; now with 
 hurdles, fagots, and dead bodies, they fill the trench: by 
 others, bridges and ladders, which they had framed be- 
 forehand, were planted against the battlements ; these 
 they grasped and tore down, and struggled hand to hand 
 with those who opposed them. The Romans, on the other 
 side, beat them back with their bucklers, drove them 
 down with darts, hurled upon them great mural jave- 
 lins, and rolled down heaps of stones. These derived ad- 
 ditional courage from the confidence inspired by the ad- 
 vantage already gained, and the more signal disgrace if 
 they gave way: those, from the fact that this was their 
 only hope of safety for their wives and mothers, who stood 
 near them, and urged them on by the lamentations they 
 uttered. The night ministered to the daring of some, to 
 the fears of others ; blows were dealt at random, wounds 
 were received they knew not whence ; there was no pos- 
 sibility of distinguishing friend or foe. The shouts, re- 
 verberated from the cavities of the mountain, seeming to 
 proceed from their rear, involved everything in such con- 
 fusion that the Romans abandoned some of their works, 
 believing them to have been carried : and yet such of the 
 enemy as broke through were very few. The rest, all 
 their most resolute champions being wounded or slain, 
 were at the returning light driven back to the high ground 
 on which their fort stood, where they were at length forced 
 to surrender; and the neighbouring villages submitted vo- 
 luntarily : the remainder could not be reduced by storm 
 or siege, as they were protected by the setting in of win-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 163 
 
 ter, usually premature and inclement in the regions of 
 mount Haemus. 
 
 52. At Rome the tranquillity of the prince's family was 
 disturbed: and, to begin the series of destructions which 
 
 was to end in Agrippina, Claudia Pulchra her cousin was 
 prosecuted ; Domitius Afer the accuser. This man, just 
 out of the praetorship, of small estimation, but eager to 
 signalise himself by some notable exploit however heinous, 
 alleged against her the " crimes of prostitution, adultery 
 with Furnius, with witchcraft and spells against the empe- 
 ror." Agrippina, ever vehement, and then in a flame on 
 account of the perilous situation of her kinswoman, flew to 
 Tiberius, and by chance found him sacrificing to the em- 
 peror his father. When, availing herself of the circum- 
 stance to upbraid him, she told him " that it was incon- 
 sistent in him to offer victims to the deified Augustus and 
 to persecute his children : his divine spirit was not trans- 
 fused into dumb statues : the genuine images of Augustus 
 were the living descendants from his celestial blood : she 
 herself was one ; one sensible of impending danger, and 
 now in the mournful state of a supplicant. In vain was 
 Pulchra set up as the object of attack ; when the only 
 cause of her overthrow was her affection for Agrippina, 
 foolishly carried even to adoration, forgetful of Sosia, a 
 sufferer for the same fault." These words elicited an ex- 
 pression of his sentiments from the close-minded Tiberius; 
 a rare occurrence with him ; and he rebuked her ; admo- 
 nishing her in a Greek verse, " that she was only hurt be- 
 cause she did not reign :" Pulchra and Furnius were con- 
 demned. Afer having thus spread the fame of his genius, 
 and afterwards received an attestation from Tiberius, in 
 which he pronounced him justly entitled to the appella- 
 tion of " eloquent," was ranked with the most celebrated 
 orators : afterwards in prosecuting accusations, or in pro- 
 tecting the accused, he enjoyed a greater reputation for 
 eloquence than integrity, except that in the latter part of 
 his life he lost much of his oratorical power, still retaining 
 his inability to hold his tongue when his energies were ex- 
 hausted. 
 
 53. Agrippina, who continued inflexible in her resent- 
 ment, was seized with a fit of illness. The emperor paid 
 her a visit, when after a long silence, during which she 
 shed a profusion of tears, she at length accosted him with 
 expostulations and prayers " that lie would relieve her 
 solitude, and give her a husband. She was still young 
 enough for the married state ; to virtuous women there 
 was no consolation but that of marriage ; and Rome af-
 
 164- THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 forded men who would think it no dishonour to receive 
 the wife of Germanicus and his children." Tiberius was 
 not ignorant what power in the state was involved in that 
 request, but, that he might betray no tokens of resent- 
 ment or fear, he left her, though instant with him, without 
 an answer. This passage, not related by the authors of 
 our annuls, I found in the Commentaries of her daughter 
 Agrippina; who was the mother of the emperor Nero, 
 and has published her own life and the fortunes of her fa- 
 mily. 
 
 54. Agrippina, still grieving and not anticipating any 
 thing of the kind, was yet more deeply wounded by an 
 artifice of Sejanus, who employed emissaries under colour 
 of friendship, to warn her, " that poison was prepared for 
 her, and that she must avoid eating at her father-in-law's 
 table." She was a stranger to all dissimulation: so that 
 as she sat near him at table, she continued speechless, not 
 moving a muscle of her face, or touching any of the viands. 
 At length Tiberius observed her, whether accidentally, or 
 that he was before apprised ; and to put the matter to a 
 severer test, praising the apples that stood before him, he 
 presented some with his own hand to his daughter-in-law. 
 This only increased the suspicion of Agrippina; and, with- 
 out ever putting them to her mouth, she delivered them 
 to the servants. For all this, the reserved Tiberius let 
 not a word drop from him openly ; but, turning to his mo- 
 ther, "there was no wonder," he said, "if he took rigo- 
 rous measures with her who thus charged him as a poi- 
 soner." Hence a rumour spread, " that her doom was 
 meditated; and that the emperor not daring to accomplish 
 it publicly, some secret method of perpetrating the deed 
 was sought." 
 
 55. Tiberius, to divert the popular talk, assiduously at- 
 tended the senate, and heard for many days ambassadors 
 from Asia, who were contending, " in what city should be 
 built the temple lately decreed." For this honour eleven 
 cities strove, with equal zeal, though dissimilar in im- 
 portance : nor did the pleas urged greatly vary ; namely, 
 " the antiquity of their original, and their distinguished 
 zeal for the Roman people, during their several wars with 
 Perseus, Aristonicus, and other kings." But, the Tral- 
 lians, the Laodiceans, the Magnesians, and those of Hy- 
 paepa, were at once passed over as unequal to the charge. 
 Nor, in truth, had they of Ilium, who represented, " that 
 Troy was the mother of Rome," any superior advantage, 
 besides the glory of antiquity. The plea of the Halicar- 
 nassians created some little hesitation: they asserted, " that
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 165 
 
 for twelve hundred years no earthquake had shaken their 
 town ; and that they would fix in a solid rock the founda- 
 tions of the temple." It was thought enough for the in- 
 habitants of Pergamus that they had a temple erected 
 there to Augustus, though on that very circumstance 
 they grounded their claim. The Ephesians and Milesians 
 seemed to have given sufficient employment to their states 
 in the ceremonies of their own deities ; the former of 
 Diana, the other of Apollo. Thus the dispute was con- 
 fined to Sardis and Smyrna. The first recited a decree 
 of the Etrurians, which owned them for kinsmen : " for 
 that Tyrrhenus and Lydus, sons of king Atys, having di- 
 vided their people, because of their multitude, Lydus re- 
 mained in his native country, and it became the lot of 
 Tyrrhenus to find out a fresh residence ; and by the 
 names of these chiefs the parted people came afterwards 
 to be called, Lydians in Asia, Tyrrhenians in Italy. That 
 the opulence of the Lydians spread yet further, by their 
 colonies sent under Pelops into Greece, which afterwards 
 took its name from him:" They likewise urged " the let- 
 ters of our generals ; their mutual leagues with us during 
 the war of Macedon ; their fertilising rivers, tempered cK- 
 inate, and the richness of the surrounding country." 
 
 56. The Smyrnasans having appealed to their ancient re- 
 cords to show " whether Tantalus, the son of Jupiter ; or 
 Theseus, the son also of a god ; or one of the Amazons, were 
 their founder;" proceeded to considerations in which they 
 chiefly trusted, their friendly offices to the Roman people, 
 having aided them with a naval force, not in their foreign 
 wars only, but in those which they had endured in Italy. 
 " It was they who first reared a temple to the city of Rome, 
 in the consulship of Marcus Porcius; when the power of 
 the Roman people was already great, but not yet raised to 
 its highest glory ; for the city of Carthage still stood, and 
 potent kings governed Asia. They referred also to Lucius 
 Sylla as having experienced their generosity when his 
 army was in the most imminent peril from the inclemency 
 of the winter and a scarcity of clothes; for when it was re- 
 ported to the citizens of Smyrna then assembled, all that 
 were present divested themselves of their garments, and 
 sent them to our legions." Thus when the votes of the 
 senators were gathered, the Smyrna3ans were preferred. 
 It was also moved by Vibius Marsus, that Lentulus, to 
 whom had fallen the province of Asia, should be attended 
 by an extraordinary legate to superintend the building of 
 the temple ; and as Lentulus himself modestly declined to
 
 166 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 choose one, Valerius Naso was chosen by lot from among 
 those of praetorian rank. 
 
 57. In the mean time, according to a design long medi- 
 tated, and from time to time deferred, Tiberius at last re- 
 tired to Campania; under pretence of dedicating a temple 
 to Jupiter at Capua, and one at Nola to Augustus ; but 
 in truth, determined to remove for ever from Rome. The 
 cause of his departure I have before referred to the in- 
 trigues of Sejanus ; but though in this 1 have followed 
 most of our authors, yet, since after the execution of Se- 
 janus, he persisted for six successive years in the same 
 retirement, 1 am frequently induced to entertain strong 
 doubts whether his absence was not more justly ascribable 
 to his wish to indulge his cruel and libidinous disposition 
 with greater effect, in the secrecy of a retired situation. 
 Some believed that, in his old age, he was ashamed of the 
 style of his person; for he was exceedingly emaciated, tall, 
 and stooping, his head bald, his face ulcerous, and thickly 
 patched with plaisters : he was wont too, during his recess 
 at Rhodes, to avoid the public, and practice his de- 
 baucheries in secrecy. There is also a tradition that he 
 was driven from Rome by the restless spirit of his mother, 
 whom he scorned to admit as a partner in the sovereignty; 
 nor yet could entirely exclude, since as her gift he had re- 
 ceived the sovereignty itself. For, Augustus had deli- 
 berated about placing Germanicus at the head of the Ro- 
 man state, his sister's grandson, and one applauded by all 
 men : but subdued by the solicitations of his wife, he 
 adopted Tiberius, and caused Tiberius to adopt Germani- 
 cus. With these services Livia upbraided him, and de- 
 manded a return for them. 
 
 58. He was attended on his journey by a slender reti- 
 nue ; one senator, Cocceius Nerva, formerly consul, an ac- 
 complished lawyer; and, besides Sejanus, the only person 
 of distinguished rank was Curtius Atticus, a Roman knight. 
 The rest were men of letters, chiefly Greeks ; whose con- 
 versation might amuse him. The astrologers declared, 
 " that he had left Rome in such a conjunction of the pla- 
 nets, as for ever to exclude his return." This was a source 
 of destruction to many, who conjectured his end to be at 
 hand, and published their conjectures: nor indeed could 
 they anticipate so improbable a contingency as that for 
 eleven years he should of choice withdraw himself from his 
 country. Subsequently it appeared how narrow is the limit 
 which divides the deductions of the art from falsehood, 
 and what obscurities envelope the truth. ( That he should
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 167 
 
 never return to Rome,' proved not to be falsely said : as 
 to everything else about him they were perfectly in the 
 dark ; since he sojourned sometimes in the adjacent coun- 
 try, sometimes on the neighbouring coast, often under the 
 very walls of the city ; and died at last in the fulness of 
 years. 
 
 59. About that time, an accident, which placed the 
 life of Tiberius in imminent danger, gave encouragement 
 to these idle predictions ; while to himself it furnished 
 matter of increased confidence in the friendship and con- 
 stancy of Sejanus. They were taking a repast in a na- 
 tive cave at a villa, called Spelunca, between the Amy- 
 claean sea and the mountains of Fundi, when the stones 
 giving way its mouth fell suddenly in, and buried some of 
 the attendants : all were thrown into a state of alarm, and 
 the company fled; but Sejanus, hanging over the empe- 
 ror with his knees, face, and hands, intercepted the falling 
 substance : such was the posture he was found in by the 
 soldiers who came to their relief. He derived increased 
 influence from the circumstance, and whatever he advised, 
 though it might tend to death and destruction, he obtained 
 the credit of sincerity with the emperor, as he now seemed 
 to have no thought about himself: so that he assumed the 
 office of a judge against the offspring of Germanicus, and 
 suborned such as were to act the parts of accusers, and 
 especially to persecute Nero, the next in succession ; a 
 young prince modest indeed, but for the most part forget- 
 ful of what his present situation required, while his freed- 
 men and dependents, eager to acquire power, goaded him 
 on to show a spirit erect and confident ; alleging that it 
 was what the Roman people wished, what the armies de- 
 sired : nor would Sejanus dare then to oppose him, though 
 he now equally trampled upon the imbecility of an old man 
 and the supineness of a young one. 
 
 60. While he listened to these suggestions, and such as 
 these, though he exhibited no indications of meditated de- 
 pravity, yet upon occasions he would let fall intemperate 
 and unadvised expressions, which were caught up by the 
 spies set over him, and charged against him with aggra- 
 vations : neither was he allowed the privilege of clearing 
 himself. Whereupon materials for solicitude presented 
 themselves in a variety of forms ; for some cut him, others 
 merely returning his salute, turned instantly away : many, 
 after commencing a conversation, abruptly terminated it ; 
 while the creatures of Sejanus who were near, made a 
 dead set at them, and jeered them. As for Tiberius, he 
 received him either sternly or with a countenance smiling
 
 168 THIi ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 treacherously ; nnd whether the youth spoke or said no- 
 thing, crimes were founded on his words, crimes on his 
 silence : nor was he safe even in the night; since his watch- 
 ings, his dreams, his sighs, were, by his wife, divulged to 
 her mother Livia, and by Livia to Sejanus ; who had also 
 drawn his brother Drusus into the combination, by tempt- 
 ing him with the immediate prospect of empire, if his elder 
 brother, already sinking, were "once set effectually aside. 
 The genius of Drusus, naturally morose, in addition to 
 the desire of power, and the usual jealousies between bro- 
 thers, was inflamed with envy because his mother, Agrip- 
 pina, was fonder of Nero. However, Sejanus did not so 
 far favour Drusus, but that against him too he meditated 
 plans of future destruction; as he knew him to be of an 
 ungovernable spirit, and thence the more obnoxious to in- 
 sidious machinations. 
 
 Gl. In the end of this year, the following eminent per- 
 sons died ; Asinius Agrippa, of a family rather illustrious 
 than ancient, and in his own character not unworthy of it: 
 and Quintus Haterius, of a senatorian family, and himself, 
 while he yet lived, famous for eloquence : but the speci- 
 mens of his genius, since published, are not equally es- 
 teemed. In truth, he prevailed more by rapidity than ac- 
 curacy: and as depth of thought and diligence confer last- 
 ing fame upon the works of others, so the melody of voice 
 and fluency of Haterius perished with him. 
 
 62. A sudden calamity occurred in the consulship of 
 Marcus Licinius and Lucius Calpurnius, which equalled 
 the havoc of the most destructive wars ; its beginning and 
 end were simultaneous. One Atilius had undertaken to 
 erect an amphitheatre at Fidenae, there to exhibit a com- 
 bat of gladiators: he was of the race of freedmen, and as 
 he engaged in the business from no exuberance of wealth, 
 nor to acquire popularity amongst the inhabitants, but as 
 a matter of sordid gain, he neither put it upon solid 
 foundations nor employed braces to strengthen the wooden 
 fabric which formed the superstructure. Thither flocked 
 from Rome persons of every sex and age, eager for such 
 shows, as during the reign of Tiberius they were debarred 
 from diversions at home, and in greater crowds from the 
 nearness of the place : hence the calamity was the more 
 disastrous ; for the theatre being crowded so as to form 
 a dense mass, and then rent asunder, some portions tum- 
 bling inwards, other bulging towards the outer parts, a 
 countless number of human beings, either intent upon the 
 spectacle, or standing near around the place, were either 
 borne headlong to the ground or buried under the ruins,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 169 
 
 Those indeed who were killed by the shock of the first 
 crash, escaped as far as was possible in such a disaster 
 the misery of torture : much more to be pitied were those, 
 who with portions of their bodies torn away, were not yet 
 forsaken of life ; those who by day beheld their wives and 
 children, and by night distinguished them by their groans 
 and cries. And now others, summoned to the spot by the 
 sad tidings, bewailed one his brother, another his kinsman, 
 a third his parents : even they whose friends or kindred 
 were absent on a different account, were yet terrified; for 
 as it was not as yet distinctly known who had fallen in the 
 calamity, the alarm spread wider from the uncertainty. 
 
 63. When the ruins began to be removed, they crowded 
 round the dead, embracing them and kissing them ; and 
 frequently there arose a contest about their identity, 
 where distortion of the features, personal resemblance, 
 or similarity of age had created a liability to error in those 
 who claimed them. Fifty thousand souls were crushed 
 to death or maimed by this sad disaster: it was there- 
 fore for the future provided by a decree of senate " that 
 no man under the qualification of four hundred thou- 
 sand sesterces, should exhibit the spectacle of gladia- 
 tors ; and no amphitheatre should be founded but upon 
 ground of proved solidity." Atilius was punished with 
 exile. However, immediately upon this destructive ca- 
 lamity, the doors of the great were thrown open ; medi- 
 cines and physicians were furnished to all ; and at that 
 juncture the city, though under an aspect of sorrow, pre- 
 sented an image of the public spirit of the ancient Ro- 
 mans ; who, after great battles, relieved and sustained the 
 wounded by their liberality and attentions. 
 
 64. The sensation created by this terrible blow had 
 not yet subsided, when the city was visited with a fire, 
 which raged with unusual violence, and entirely consumed 
 mount Caelius. " It was a mournful year, they said, 
 and under ill-boding omens the prince had formed the 
 design of his absence." Such is the way of the multitude ; 
 who are wont to ascribe fortuitous events to evil counsels. 
 But the emperor dissipated their murmurs, by bestowing 
 on each sufferer money to the value of his damage : hence 
 he had the thanks of men of rank, in the senate ; and was 
 rewarded with applause by the populace, " for that with- 
 out any views of ambition, or the importunities of friends, 
 he had of his own free will sought out the sufferers though 
 unknown to him, and relieved them by his bounty." It 
 was likewise moved and decreed in senate, " that mount 
 Caelius should be for the future styled ' Mount Augustus,'
 
 170 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 since there the statue of Tiberius, standing in the house 
 of Junius the senator, alone escaped unhurt, while the 
 flames devoured all around ; that the same had formerly 
 happened to Claudia Quinta; that her statue, twice spared 
 by the rage of fire, had been solemnly deposited by our 
 ancestors in the temple of the mother of the gods ; that 
 the Claudian race were sacred and dear to the deities ; 
 and therefore the place, where the gods had testified such 
 distinguished honour towards the prince, ought to be dig- 
 nified with religious reverence." 
 
 65. It will not be improper to mention here, that this 
 mount was of old named Querquetulanus, from a thick 
 and exuberant grove of oaks which grew upon it. It was 
 afterwards commonly called mount Cselius, frtfrn Caeles Vi- 
 benna, who having led to Rome a body of Tuscan auxi- 
 liaries, was presented with that settlement by Tarquinius 
 Priscus, or some other of our kings ; for in this particular 
 writers differ: about other circumstances there remains no 
 dispute ; that these forces were very numerous, and had 
 their dwellings all along the plain below, as far as the 
 forum. Hence the Tuscan-street, so called after these 
 strangers. 
 
 66. But as the zeal of the great men, and the bounties 
 of the prince, had solaced the sufferers under the events 
 of fortune, so the fury of the informers, which grew daily 
 more fierce and relentless, continued its career without 
 alleviation. Quinctilius Varus, a wealthy man and the 
 emperor's cousin, was assailed by Domitius Afer, the same 
 who had procured the condemnation of Claudia Pulchra, 
 his mother: nor did any man wonder that he who had 
 lived long in poverty, and had squandered the reward 
 lately earned, should address himself to fresh iniquities: 
 the wonder was, that Publius Dolabella appeared as his 
 associate in the accusation ; because as he was nobly de- 
 scended, and related to Varus, he was going to efface the 
 glory of his house, and shed kindred blood. The senate 
 however stopped the process, and voted " that the empe- 
 ror's return was to be waited :" the only course which af- 
 forded even a temporary escape from this overwhelming 
 evil. 
 
 67. Tiberius, having dedicated the temples in Campa- 
 nia, though he had by an edict warned the public, " that 
 none should interrupt his retirement;" and though parties 
 of soldiers were posted to prevent the conflux of persons 
 from the neighbouring towns ; nevertheless, hating the 
 municipalities, and the colonies, and all continental situa- 
 tions, secluded himself in Capreae, an island disjoined from
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 171 
 
 the point of the cape of Surrentum by a channel of three 
 miles. I am strongly inclined to believe that he was taken 
 with its perfect solitude, for the sea in its neighbourhood 
 is void of havens, and the stations even for smaller vessels 
 are few, while none could put in unperceived by the coast- 
 guards. The temperature of the climate is mild in winter, 
 from the shelter of a mountain, which intercepts the ri- 
 gour of the winds : its summers are refreshed by gales 
 from the west, and are rendered delightful from the wide 
 expanse of sea which the island commands: before the 
 fiery eruptions of mount Vesuvius had changed the face 
 of the country, there was also a prospect of the lovely 
 bay of Naples. Tradition records that the Greeks occu- 
 pied the opposite region, and that Capreae was inhabited 
 by the Teleboi. However it were, Tiberius chose for his 
 retreat twelve villas, having separate names, and of con- 
 siderable magnitude. And the more intent he had for- 
 merly been upon public cares, he became now so much 
 the more abandoned to secret debaucheries, and mis- 
 chievous privacy ; for there still remained in him his old 
 unreflecting proneness to suspicion and credulity ; quali- 
 ties which even at Rome Sejanus had always fostered, 
 and here excited with increased assiduity ; his devices 
 against Agrippina and Nero being no longer conducted in 
 secret. Soldiers were set to watch them, by whom every 
 petty circumstance, the messages they sent or received, 
 their visits and company, their open acts, their private 
 proceedings, were all as it were minuted in journals. Even 
 persons were suborned to warn them to fly to the armies 
 in Germany ; or that embracing the statue of the deified 
 Augustus when the Forum was crowded, they would there 
 implore the aid and protection of the senate and people 
 of Rome. And these counsels, though rejected by them, 
 they were charged with having entertained. 
 
 68. Junius Silanus and Silius Nerva being consuls, the 
 year began with a disgraceful transaction : Titius Sabinus, 
 an illustrious Roman knight, was hurried to prison on ac- 
 count of his friendship for Germanicus ; whose wife and 
 children, he alone of all his followers, never ceased to re- 
 verence, to attend them at home, and accompany them in 
 public: a conduct applauded by the good, but offensive to 
 their persecutors. There combined against him, Latinius 
 Latiaris, Porcius Cato, Petilius Rufus, and Marcus Op- 
 sius, who had been all praetors, and were now looking up 
 to the consulship, to which there was no access but by 
 Sejanus, and the kindness of Sejanus was to be purchased 
 only by iniquity. It was settled amongst them that Lati-
 
 172 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 avis, who had a slight acquaintance with Sabinns, should 
 lay the snare, the rest be witnesses, and then begin the 
 accusation. Latiaris therefore accosted him at first with 
 incidental remarks, and then proceeded to praise his con- 
 stancy, "that he had not, like others, been only a friend 
 to that family when in its glory, and deserted it in afflic- 
 tion." He at the same time spoke in commendation of 
 Germanicus, and bewailed Agrippina. This affected Sa- 
 binus; and, as the heart of man is easily wrought upon in 
 calamity and sorrow, he burst into tears, followed imme- 
 diately by complaints : he now inveighed more boldly 
 against Sejanus, his cruelty, his pride, his traitorous de- 
 signs ; nor, in truth, did Tiberius escape his invectives. 
 And now, as between men who had communicated to each 
 other their secret guilt, these conversations led to a show 
 of close friendship : so that Sabinus henceforward sought 
 Latiaris, frequented his house, and laid open to him all 
 his griefs, as to a most faithful confidant. 
 
 G9. The persons I have mentioned next consulted how 
 to have these things uttered in the hearing of more : for 
 the place in which they met must wear the appearance 
 of privacy ; and if they stood behind the door, there was 
 danger of being seen, or heard, or of suspicion arising 
 from some accident. Into the space between the roof and 
 the ceiling, a concealment as vile as the treachery was ex- 
 ecrable, three Roman senators stowed themselves, and ap- 
 plied their ears to the chasms and crannies. Latiaris 
 meanwhile found Sabinus abroad, and, as if about to tell 
 him some late discoveries, drew him home, and into the 
 chamber : there he recounted the past and present cruel- 
 ties (for of both there was store) with an accumulation too 
 of fresh and impending terrors. Sabinus took up his 
 former detail with the greater prolixity in proportion as 
 griefs once broached are with difficulty restrained. The 
 accusation was forthwith despatched ; and in a written 
 memorial to Tiberius, these senators opened the order 
 of the fraud, and became narrators of their own infamy. 
 At no time was the city in a state of deeper anxiety and 
 alarm, never was there greater need of caution against a 
 man's nearest relatives; men were afraid to meet, afraid to 
 discourse: silence and distrust extended alike to strangers 
 and acquaintance, and both were equally avoided: even 
 things dumb and inanimate, roofs and walls, were regarded 
 with apprehension. 
 
 70. The emperor sent a letter to the senate on the ca- 
 lends of January, and after offering the usual prayer at 
 the entrance of the new year, he turned to Sabinus : he
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 173 
 
 charged him with '" having corrupted some of his freed- 
 men, and aimed at his own life;" and in no obscure terms 
 required vengeance. The condemnation passed without 
 delay, and the condemned was dragged away to instant 
 death. His head was muffled in his robe, and his throat 
 pinched with a halter; but, as far as he could exert his 
 voice, he cried, " that these were the solemnities with 
 which the year began ! such were the victims slain to Se- 
 j;nus!" Whichever way he cast his eyes, whithersoever 
 he directed his words, nought appeared but the effects of 
 universal terror, namely, flight and solitude; the streets and 
 public places deserted: there were some who having fled, 
 returned, and again exhibited themselves; terrified afethis 
 very tiling, that they had discovered dread. " What day," 
 they cried, " will be free from executions ? when even in 
 the midst of public assemblies, in the midst of vows and 
 sacrifices ; a time when custom has established a forbear- 
 ance even from profane words, fetters and halters are in- 
 troduced. That Tiberius knew what he was about in thus 
 incurring so much odium : that it was a studied and pre- 
 concerted artifice that it might be considered that there 
 was nothing to prevent the new magistrates from opening 
 the prisons as well as the temples and the altars." There 
 followed upon this a letter of thanks to the senate, " for 
 having punished an enemy to the commonwealth:" and he 
 added, " that he lived a life of fear and solicitude ; in con- 
 stant apprehensions of the snares of his enemies;" but 
 named none : however it was not doubted that Agrippina 
 and Nero were meant. 
 
 71. Were it not my purpose to refer the several inci- 
 dents to their proper year ; my spirit longs to anticipate, 
 and instantly to relate the fate of Latiaris, Opsius, and the 
 other contrivers of this atrocity, not only after Caligula 
 came to the empire, but even while Tiberius yet reigned ; 
 who, though he would not suffer the ministers of his cruel- 
 ties to be crushed by others, yet, as he generally became 
 surfeited with their infamy, arid as fresh ones daily pre- 
 sented themselves for the same vile services, was himself 
 wont to strike down the old and overgrown : but I shall 
 at the proper time relate the punishments of these and 
 other culprits. Now, Asinius Gallus, to whose children 
 Agrippinu was aunt, moved " that the prince should be 
 desired to explain his fears to the senate, and allow them 
 to be removed." Tiberius was fonder of his dissimulation 
 than of all his other virtues; for such he conceived it: he 
 was therefore the more pained to find his secret purposes 
 laid bare : but Sejanus soothed him ; not from any love to
 
 174 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 Gallus, but to wait the lingering gradations of the prince's 
 vengeance ; for he knew him to be slow in maturing his 
 resolutions ; but that when he once broke out, he would 
 link sanguinary deeds to expressions of Severity. About 
 the same time died Julia, granddaughter to Augustus ; by 
 him condemned for adultery, and banished to the island 
 Trimetus, not far from the coast of Apulia. She there 
 suffered exile twenty years, sustained by relief from Au- 
 gusta, who having by secret devices despatched, in the 
 midst of their hopes and glory, Caius and Lucius, the bro- 
 thers of Julia, made an open show of compassion towards 
 others of the family when under the pressure of adversity. 
 
 7& The same year the Frisians, a people beyond the 
 Rhine, rebelled ; rather from our rapacity than their un- 
 willingness to submit. The tribute laid on them by Dru- 
 sus was easy, and suited to their contracted means; namely, 
 " to furnish certain hides for military purposes." No one 
 thought to insist on the particular size or thickness, till 
 Olennius, the first centurion of a legion, being sent to go- 
 vern them, picked out hides of some wild bulls, and de- 
 manded that according to their measure the tribute should 
 be paid ; a hard task even upon other nations, and to the 
 Germans the more intolerable, as their forests abound 
 in beasts of mighty bulk, and their domestic cattle are 
 small. First they parted with the herds themselves, next 
 they resigned their lands, last of all they surrendered their 
 wives and children to bondage. Hence their indigna- 
 tion and complaints: but as these brought no relaxation, 
 they sought relief by war. They seized the soldiers ap- 
 pointed over the tribute, and hanged them on gibbets : 
 Olennius by flight prevented their vengeance, and found 
 sanctuary in a neighbouring castle, its name Flevum, and 
 garrisoned by a stout band of soldiers, Romans and auxi- 
 liaries, for the defence of the sea coast. 
 
 73. Lucius Apronius, propraetor of Lower Germany, 
 as soon as he was apprised of the insurrection, summoned 
 from the upper province some of the legionary veterans 
 with a chosen band of auxiliary foot and horse ; and sailing 
 down the Rhine with both forces, made a descent on the 
 Frisians ; the revolters having now abandoned the siege 
 of the castle, and marched back to cover their own coun- 
 try. He therefore, by bridges and causeways laid over 
 the neighbouring aestuaries, rendered them passable for 
 the heavier forces ; and the meanwhile, having discovered 
 certain fordable places, he commanded the cavalry of the 
 Caninefates and all the German foot in our pay, to move 
 round to the rear of the enemy ; who being already drawn
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 175 
 
 up for battle, repulsed the allied troops and even some le- 
 gionary horse sent to support them : a fresh aid of three 
 cohorts was then sent ; and then two more ; and, after 
 some space, the whole squadron of cavalry : forces suffi- 
 ciently strong, had they attacked them in a body, but as 
 they advanced by intervals, they did not inspire fresh 
 courage in those who were disordered, but were them- 
 selves carried away in the panic of the retreating troops. 
 To Cethegus Labeo, who commanded the fifth legion, he 
 committed the rest of the auxiliaries ; but he too, being 
 hard pressed, and his men in danger of giving way, de- 
 spatched messages to implore the entire force of the le- 
 gions : those of the fifth ran before the rest to his relief, 
 and, in a sharp encounter, repulsing the foe, protected 
 our cohorts and cavalry, much enfeebled with wounds. 
 The Roman general neither pursued his vengeance, nor 
 even buried the dead ; though many tribunes, many prae- 
 fects, and many centurions of the first rank, were slain. 
 It was afterwards learnt from deserters, that nine hundred 
 Romans, having the whole night long defended themselves 
 in the wood called Baduhenna, were every man cut off; 
 and that another band of four hundred, having possessed 
 themselves of the villa of Cruptorix, who formerly served 
 in the Roman army, apprehending that they must sur- 
 render to the enemy, had fallen by the hands of each 
 other. 
 
 74. Hence the name of the Frisians became renowned 
 amongst the Germans ; whilst Tiberius dissembled the 
 public loss, that he might trust no man with the conduct 
 of the war. As for the senate, it was no part of their 
 anxiety, what disgraces were received in the extremities 
 of the empire : domestic terror had possessed their souls ; 
 a malady for which they sought a cure from flattery: in- 
 somuch, that though they met to deliberate upon far dif- 
 ferent matters, they decreed " an altar to clemency ; an 
 altar to friendship ; and round them the statues of Tibe- 
 rius and Sejanus ;" and, with repeated supplications, im- 
 portuned both " that they would deign to show themselves 
 to the citizens." They however neither visited Rome nor 
 the neighbourhood : to them, it seemed sufficient, to leave 
 the island, and suffer themselves to be seen on the shore 
 of Campania : thither crowded the senators, the knights, 
 and great part of the people ; all solicitous for admission 
 to Sejanus, who was harder of access than the emperor ; 
 and therefore it was sought by means of intrigue or par- 
 ticipation in his counsels. It was abundantly apparent 
 that his natural arrogance was augmented, when one
 
 176 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 looked upon that disgraceful crowd of slaves exposed to 
 open view : for, at Rome, the continual hurrying to and 
 from, is a familiar sight; and from the greatness of the 
 city, it was a matter of uncertainty what was the business 
 they were going upon. But here, they appeared lying 
 along on the fields and shores, day and night, without dis- 
 tinction of rank ; and bore with equal patience the favour 
 and insolence of his porters ; till at length even that was 
 forbidden : and those whom he condescended not to see, 
 others whom he deigned not to speak to, returned to the 
 city in alarm ; but some with ill-starred joy, for a dreadful 
 issue of his disastrous friendship overhung them. 
 
 75. For the rest, Tiberius, having in person betrothed 
 to Cnaeius Domitius the younger Agrippina, his grand- 
 daughter and daughter of Germanicus, ordered the nup- 
 tials to be celebrated at Rome. In Domitius he preferred, 
 besides the antiquity of his family, his near kindred to the 
 Caesars ; for he had the honour of having Octavia for his 
 grandmother, and through her Augustus for his great- 
 uncle.
 
 THE 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 IN the consulship of Rubellius and Fusius, each surnamed 
 Geminus, died Julia Augusta, the mother of Tiberius, in 
 extreme old age. She belonged to a family of the highest 
 nobility, being a member of the Claudian house ; and 
 adopted through her father into the Livian family ; into 
 the Julian by Augustus. Her first marriage was with Ti- 
 berius Nero ; by whom she had children : her husband, 
 at the time of the surrender of Perusia, in the civil war, 
 became a fugitive ; but, upon peace concluded between 
 Sextus Pompeius and the triumvirate, returned to Rome. 
 Afterwards, Octavius Caesar, enamoured of her beauty, took 
 her from her husband ; whether against her inclination, is 
 uncertain; but with such precipitation, that, without stay- 
 ing for her delivery, he brought her home while pregnant. 
 She had no further issue ; but, united in blood to Augus- 
 tus by the marriage of Germanicus and Agrippina, her 
 grandchildren stood in the same relation to him. In her 
 domestic deportment she was formed after the model of 
 primitive sanctity; but with more of affability than was al- 
 lowed by ladies of old : as a mother, zealous and deter- 
 mined ; as a wife, kind and indulgent ; well adapted to the 
 fastidious and complex character of her husband, and the 
 subtle nature of her son : her funeral was plain, and her 
 last will was long unfulfilled : her encomium was pro- 
 nounced in public by Caligula, her grandson, afterwards 
 emperor. 
 
 2. Tiberius excused himself to the senate by letter, for 
 not having in person paid the last offices to his mother, 
 on the score of the pressure of business ; nor suffered the 
 event to interfere at all with his enjoyments. He likewise 
 abridged the ample honours decreed to her memory by 
 the senate 5 , under pretence of moderation, adding, " that 
 no religious worship should be appointed her ; for such 
 was her own choice." Nay, in a part of the same letter, 
 he censured female friendships ; obliquely carping at the
 
 178 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. V. 
 
 consul Fusius, who had stood high in the favour of Au- 
 gusta, and was an adept in winning the affections of 
 women ; he was also of a witty turn, and used to play 
 upon Tiberius with cutting pleasantries ; the impressions 
 of which are long retained by those in high places. 
 
 3. From this period however his government assumed 
 a character of furious and crushing despotism : for while 
 Augusta lived, some refuge still remained, as the respect 
 of Tiberius for his mother had all the force of habit ; nor 
 durst Sejanus attempt to supersede the authority of the 
 parent : but now, as being free from restraint, they broke 
 out with unbridled fury : letters were despatched against 
 Agrippina and Nero; which, as they were read in the se- 
 nate soon after the death of Augusta, the people believed 
 to have been sent long before and by her suppressed. 
 They contained expressions of refined barbarity ; not im- 
 puting acts of armed hostility, or designs of treason : but 
 he charged his grandson with " the love of young men, 
 and lewdness:" against Agrippina he durst not even feign 
 so much ; but accused her " of haughty looks, and a tur- 
 bulent spirit;" to the great consternation of the senate, 
 who remained speechless, till a few, who had no hope of 
 rising by Honourable means, for verily public calamities 
 are converted into occasions of personal favour, demanded, 
 that " the question of the letters should be laid before the 
 senate:" amongst these the foremost in zeal was Cotta Mes- 
 salinus, who expressed himself in terms of extreme se- 
 verity; but the other leading men, and chiefly the magis- 
 trates, were embarrassed, for Tiberius, though he had in- 
 veighed against them bitterly, left the ulterior proceedings 
 in uncertainty. 
 
 4. In the senate was one Junius Rusticus, appointed 
 by the emperor to keep a journal of their proceedings, 
 and therefore thought well acquainted with his purposes. 
 This man, by some fated impulse (for he had never before 
 shown any instance of magnanimity) or from shortsighted 
 cunning, while forgetful of impending dangers, he dreaded 
 future possibilities, joined the party that hesitated, and 
 warned the consuls, " not to introduce the question :'' he 
 argued " that from impulses transient and inconsiderable 
 in themselves, the most important affairs might take a 
 bias; that one day the offspring of Germanicus might rise 
 again, when the old man had had time to reconsider his 
 conduct." At the same time, the people, carrying the 
 images of Agrippina and Nero, gathered round the senate, 
 and with prayers for the prosperity of the emperor, cried 
 earnestly, " that the letters were counterfeit; and that the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. V, 179 
 
 prince was no party to the contrivance to ruin his family:" 
 so that no dire resolution was come to on that day. There 
 were also circulated several speeches, said to have been 
 uttered by men of consular rank, against Sejanus ; and 
 framed with the greater petulance as most of them vented 
 whatever their genius suggested in secret: whence Sejanus 
 was the more enraged, and derived a pretext for complain- 
 ing that the senate " had treated the affliction of the 
 prince with contempt; that the people had renounced their 
 allegiance ; that revolutionary harangues were publicly 
 heard and read: seditious acts of senate were passed: 
 what more remained, but to take up ai'ms and choose as 
 their leaders and generals those whose images they had 
 followed as standards?" 
 
 5. Tiberius therefore having repeated his accusations 
 against his grandson and daughter-in-law; having rebuked 
 the people by an edict, and complained to the senate, 
 " that by the artifice of a single senator the imperial dig- 
 nity was baffled and insulted, required that the whole 
 affair should be left to himself, entire and untouched." 
 Without further deliberation, they did not indeed resolve 
 to come to a final decision, for that they were forbidden to 
 do, but they testified their readiness to inflict vengeance, 
 had they not been prevented by the authority of the prince. 
 * # # * 
 
 6. * * * Upon this subject four-and-forty speeches were 
 delivered; of which a few from fear, more from the habit 
 ********** "I judged that either it would bring 
 infamy upon myself or odium upon Sejanus * * * the 
 course of fortune is turned ; and he who even chose him 
 for his son-in-law and his colleague does not condemn 
 himself. For the rest; as they brought disgrace upon 
 themselves by caressing him while he lived, so now they 
 incur a deeper guilt by reviling him when dead * * * which 
 is the more wretched fate, I can hardly decide ; that of 
 accusing a friend, or of being accused for showing him 
 friendship * * * I will put no man's cruelty, no man's mercy 
 to the proof; but, free as I am, and approved by my own 
 conscience, I will anticipate danger. I adjure you that 
 you do not retain the memory of me in sorrow rather than 
 with joy, adding me too to the number of those who, by 
 a noble end, have escaped from the spectacle of their 
 country's miseries." 
 
 7. He then spent part of the day in conversation with 
 the several persons that came to him ; either retaining 
 them or despatching them, according as the purpose of 
 
 N 2
 
 180 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. V. 
 
 each was to attend him, or merely to speak with him : and 
 while there was yet a throng of company remaining, all 
 admiring his fearless and unaltered countenance, and 
 imagining that there was still time to spare before the last 
 sad scene, he fell upon his sword, which he had concealed 
 in a fold of his gown. Nor did Tiberius, after his death, 
 persecute his memory with reproaches, or blacken him 
 with accusations : whereas he had loaded Blresus with 
 many and foul imputations. 
 
 8. The cases of Publius Vitellius and Pomponius Se- 
 cundus were next brought before the senate. The first 
 was charged by informers, " that he, when presiding over 
 the exchequer, had offered to open the treasury and give 
 the military fund in aid of a revolution." To the other, 
 his accuser Considius, lately praetor, objected " the friend- 
 ship of ylius Gallus, who, after the execution of Seja- 
 nus, had fled to the gardens of Pomponius, as to a most 
 secure shelter :" nor had the accused any other resource 
 against the danger that menaced them than the constancy 
 of their brothers, who came forward as their sureties. 
 Soon afterwards, the trial having been frequently post- 
 poned, Vitellius, wearied out with fear and hope alike, 
 called for a penknife, under pretence of writing, with 
 which he opened his veins, but timorously and without ef- 
 fect; and at last died brokenhearted. Pomponius, a man 
 of great elegance of manners, and shining wit, bore his 
 adverse fortune with equanimity, and outlived Tiberius. 
 
 9. Now though the rage of the populace was beginning 
 to evaporate, and most men were mollified by former exe- 
 cutions ; it was determined to punish the remaining chil- 
 dren of Sejanus. They were therefore both carried to 
 prison, the boy sensible of his impending doom ; but the 
 girl so unconscious, that she frequently asked, " for what 
 offence ? and whither did they drag her ? she would do so 
 no more; and they might take the rod and whip her." 
 The writers of that time relate, " that as it was held un- 
 precedented for a virgin to suffer capital punishment, she 
 was violated by the executioner just before he tied the 
 rope ; and then being both strangled, the tender bodies 
 of these children were cast into the Gemoniae." * * * * 
 
 10. About the same time Greece and Asia were dis- 
 mayed by a rumour more rife than lasting; " that Drusus, 
 the son of Germanicus, had been seen in the Cyclades, 
 and soon afterwards upon the continent." And there was 
 indeed a youth nearly of the same age, to whom some of 
 the emperor's freedmen, as if he were recognised by them, 
 attached themselves, with the purpose of betraying him.
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. V. 181 
 
 The unwary were allured by the splendour of the name ; 
 the Greeks being prone to catch at anything new and 
 marvellous. So much so that they imagined, and believed 
 their own imaginings at the same time, " that, escaped 
 from custody and proceeding to the armies of his father, 
 he would invade Syria or Egypt." He was now attended 
 by a crowd of young men, and thronged with eager par- 
 tizans, elated with his present success and airy hopes of 
 future greatness, when the story reached Poppseus Sabi- 
 nus. He was at that juncture engaged in Macedonia, and 
 likewise had charge of Greece : to obviate the mischief, 
 whether the account were true or false, he hastily passed 
 the bay of Toronis and that of Therme ; and presently 
 reached Eubcea, an island of the yEgean sea, and Piraeus, 
 on the coast of Attica; he then passed along the coast of 
 Corinth, and the straits of the Isthmus; and, by another 
 sea, entered Nicopolis, a Roman colony : there at length 
 he learnt, that being shrewdly questioned, he had declared 
 himself the son of Marcus Silanus ; and that many of his 
 followers having fallen off, he had embarked, as if he 
 meant to sail to Italy. Sabinus sent this account to Ti- 
 berius, and further than this we have found nothing of the 
 origin or issue of that affair. 
 
 11. Towards the conclusion of the year, a dissension be- 
 tween the consuls which had been long gathering strength, 
 burst forth : for Trio, who was careless about making him- 
 self enemies, and a practised pleader, had obliquely cen- 
 sured "Regulus, as slow in crushing the tools of Sejanus." 
 The last, a moderate and inoffensive man, unless pro- 
 voked, not only repulsed the charge of his colleague, but 
 summoned him to trial, as an accomplice in the conspiracy ; 
 though many senators besought them to lay down their 
 animosities, as they tended to destruction, they continued 
 in determined hostility, menacing each other, as long as 
 they remained in office.
 
 THE 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 CN^IUS DOMITIUS and Camillas Scribonianus had begun 
 their consulship, when the emperor, having crossed the 
 channel between Caprese and Surrentum, sailed along the 
 shore of Campania ; either unresolved whether he should 
 enter the city, or else counterfeiting a show of coming, be- 
 cause he had determined otherwise. He often came down 
 into the neighbourhood of the city, and even visited the 
 gardens upon the Tiber, but went back again to the rocks 
 and loneliness of the island, ashamed of his villanies and 
 lusts; in which he rioted so inordinately, that after the 
 fashion of foreign tyrants, the children of ingenuous pa- 
 rentage became the objects of his pollution : nor were 
 beauty and gracefulness of person the only provocatives 
 of his passion ; but the modest deportment of some youths, 
 the ancestral images of others. Then likewise were first 
 devised the names, till then unknown, of 'Sellarii' and 
 ' Spintrias,' expressive of the abominable lewdness of the 
 place, and the manifold methods of prostitution. Pro- 
 curers were appointed to hunt out victims, and bring them 
 to him. The willing they encouraged with presents, the 
 backward they terrified with threats ; and upon such pa- 
 rents or kindred as withheld their infants, they employed 
 force, seizure, and just what they pleased, as upon so 
 many captives. 
 
 & At Rome, in the beginning of the year, as if the ini- 
 quities of Livia had been but just discovered, and not long 
 since punished too, rigorous decrees were passed against 
 even her statues and memoi-y ; with another, " that the 
 effects of Sejanus should be taken from the public trea- 
 sury, and placed in that of the emperor:" as if it made 
 any difference. And yet such was the motion of the Sci- 
 pios, the Silani, and the Cassii; who urged it, each almost 
 in the same words, or with slight alterations introduced, 
 and all with great apparent earnestness: when suddenly 
 TagoniusGallus, while he thrust his own meanness amongst
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 183 
 
 illustrious names, became an object of derision: for he be- 
 sought the prince " to choose a body of senators of whom 
 twenty, drawn by lot and under arms, should wait upon 
 him and defend his person, as often -as he entered the se- 
 nate." He had been weak enough to credit a letter from 
 the emperor, requiring " one of the consuls as a guard, 
 that he might proceed in safety from Caprese to Rome." 
 Tiberius, however, whose custom it was to convey a sneer 
 in the language of seriousness, thanked the senate for this 
 instance of their regard; but asked, " what senators were 
 to be chosen ? what to be omitted ? whether always the 
 same, or a continued succession? whether young senators, 
 or such as had borne dignities ? whether those who were 
 magistrates, or otherwise ? And then, what a sight it would 
 be to behold them taking their swords in the porch of the 
 senate-house ! in truth he held not his life of such im- 
 portance, as to have it thus protected by arms." So much 
 in answer to Tagonius, abstaining from any harshness of 
 expression ; nor did he urge them to anything beyond 
 cancelling the motion. 
 
 3. But Junius Gallic, who had proposed " that the prae- 
 torian soldiers, having fulfilled their term of service, should 
 thence acquire the privilege of sitting in the fourteen rows 
 of the theatre allotted to the Roman knights," he rebuked 
 vehemently, and, as if present, demanded " what business 
 he had with the soldiers, whose duty bound them to ob- 
 serve only the orders of the emperor, and from the empe- 
 ror alone to receive their rewards? Gallio had forsooth 
 discovered what had escaped the sagacity of the deified 
 Augustus ! Or was It not rather a method invented by a 
 satellite of Sejanus, to raise sedition and discord ; an arti- 
 fice by which, under pretence of conferring honour, he 
 might stimulate the simple minds of the soldiery to break 
 through the established regulations of the service ?" This 
 reward of his studied flattery had Gallio ; who was forth- 
 with expelled the senate, and afterwards Italy: nay, as it 
 was alleged against him that he would experience no hard- 
 ship from an exile at Lesbos, a celebrated and charming 
 island, which he had selected for its place, he was haled 
 back to Rome, and kept under guard in the house of a 
 magistrate for the time being. Tiberius in the same letter 
 doomed to destruction Sextus Paconianus, of praetorian 
 rank, to the great joy of the senate, as he was daring 
 and mischievous, prying into everybody's secrets, and 
 chosen by Sejanus as an instrument for concerting the 
 overthrow of Caligula. When this was now laid open, 
 the hate long since conceived against him, broke out, and
 
 IS* THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 had he not offered to make a discovery, he had been in- 
 stantly condemned to capital punishment. 
 
 4. And when he impeached Latinius Latiaris, the ac- 
 cuser and the accused, both equally detested, exhibited a 
 most gratifying spectacle. Latiaris, as I have recorded, 
 had been the chief instrument in ensnaring Titius Sabinus, 
 and was now the first that expiated the guilt of that affair. 
 During these transactions Haterius Agrippa attacked the 
 consuls of the preceding year : " how came they to be si- 
 lent now, after threats of mutual accusation ? fear, doubt- 
 less, and conscious guilt, operated as a compact of mutual 
 forbearance. But the fathers must not suppress what 
 they had heard. 1 ' Regulus answered, " that he waited for 
 the proper time to press for punishment, and that he 
 would prosecute his colleague before the prince." Trio 
 said that " the emulation between colleagues, and what 
 they had uttered in the heat of dissension, were better 
 blotted out of remembrance." Agrippa still persisting, 
 Sanquinius Maximus, of consular rank, besought the se- 
 nate " not to increase the cares of the emperor by wan- 
 tonly hunting up matter for fresh severities ; that the em- 
 peror himself was equal to the task of remedying the evils 
 of the times." Thus Regulus escaped destruction; and 
 Trio obtained a postponement of his doom. Haterius was 
 the more detested, since enervated with sleep or nocturnal 
 debaucheries, and protected by his voluptuous sloth against 
 all peril from the prince, bloodthirsty though he was, he 
 meditated in the midst of revelry and lewdness the ruin of 
 illustrious citizens. 
 
 5. Next, Cotta Messalinus, the author of every the 
 most sanguinary counsel, and therefore inveterately hated, 
 was accused of a multitude of crimes, as soon as ever an 
 opportunity was afforded ; " that he had represented Caius 
 Caligula as contaminated by incest;" that at a banquet 
 among the priests on the birthday of Augusta, he had 
 styled it a ' funeral supper ;' and that, complaining of the 
 influence of Marcus Lepidus and Lucius Arruntius, with 
 whom he had a suit about money, he had added, " they 
 indeed will be supported by the senate, but I by my dear 
 little Tiberius." Nor could he be convicted as to all 
 these charges by men of the first rank in Rome; and when 
 they pressed their suit/ he appealed to Ca?sar : soon after 
 a letter came, which was a kind of defence of Cotta ; in it 
 he recounted "the beginning of their friendship," repeated 
 " his many good services to himself," and desired " that 
 words maliciously misconstrued, and the simplicity of con- 
 vivial conversation, might not be wrested into crimes."
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 185 
 
 6. Most remarkable was the beginning of that letter ; 
 for in these words he commenced: "What to write you, 
 conscript fathers, or in what manner to write, or what al- 
 together not to write at this juncture, if I can determine, 
 may all the gods and goddesses doom me to worse de- 
 struction than that by which I feel myself consuming 
 daily." With such just retribution did his enormous crimes 
 and atrocities recoil upon their author. Nor was it un- 
 advisedly that the wisest of all men was wont to affirm, 
 that if the hearts of tyrants were bared to view, wounds 
 and hideous lacerations would be seen in them; for as the 
 body is torn by stripes, so is the heart by cruelty, lusts, 
 and evil purposes. For assuredly not his imperial fortune, 
 not his inaccessible solitude, could insure tranquillity to 
 Tiberius, or prevent his acknowledging the anguish of his 
 breast, and the penal tortures he had brought upon him- 
 self. 
 
 7. It was then left to the discretion of the senate to de- 
 cide on the case of Caecilianus the senator, " who had 
 brought forward many charges against Cotta;" and it was 
 resolved, " to subject him to the same penalties as were 
 inflicted upon Aruseius and Sanquinius, the accusers of 
 Lucius Arruntius." An event more gratifying to his pride 
 never befel Cotta ; who, of noble descent indeed, but 
 beggared by extravagance, and infamous for his enor- 
 mities, was, in the estimate of the redress due to him, 
 placed upon a level with the immaculate character of Ar- 
 runtius. Afterwards were arraigned Quintus Servaeus and 
 Minutius Thermus ; Servaeus, formerly praetor, and once 
 the follower of Germanicus ; Minutius, of the equestrian 
 rank, and though distinguished yet never elated by the 
 friendship of Sejanus : and hence the greater commisera- 
 tion for both. Tiberius, on the contrary, charged them 
 " as the leaders and principals in treason," and directed 
 Caius Cestius the elder, " to declare to the senate what he 
 had written to himself." Thus Cestius undertook the ac- 
 cusation. This was the most pestilent calamity of those 
 times, that the principal members of the senate degraded 
 themselves to perform the office of the meanest informers : 
 some openly, many in secrecy; nor could you observe 
 any distinction between kinsmen and aliens ; friends and 
 strangers; whether the acts imputed were recent or fetched 
 from the obscurity of past times. Equally for words spoken 
 in the forum, at entertainments, upon what subject soever 
 uttered, the speakers were accused; according as everyone 
 hastened to get the start and fix his man in the character 
 of a defendant: some did it for their own protection, but the
 
 186 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 generality infected as it were with the malady and contagion 
 of the times. Minutius and Servaeus were condemned ; but 
 to save themselves became evidence : and thus Julius Afri- 
 canus and Seius Quadratus were drawn into the same pre- 
 dicament; the former from the Santones, a city of Gaul; 
 whence the other was I have not discovered. Neither am 
 I unaware that by most writers the~ trials and sufferings of 
 many of the accused are wholly omitted ; either sinking 
 under their multiplicity, or apprehensive that the recital, 
 which to themselves proved surfeiting and melancholy, 
 would be equally irksome to their readers. But to me 
 many events have presented themselves deserving to be 
 known, however unrecorded by others. 
 
 8. For, at a juncture when all men else affected to re- 
 nounce the friendship of Sejanus; a Roman knight, named 
 Marcus Terentius, then upon his trial on this very ac- 
 count, dared to avow it before the senate in a speech on 
 this wise : " In my present circumstances, to deny the 
 charge were perhaps more expedient than to acknowledge 
 it : but, whatever be the result, I will own that I was the 
 friend of Sejanus, that I even sought to be his friend, and 
 gloried in it when I had gained his friendship. I had seen 
 him colleague with his father Strabo in the command of 
 the praetorian cohorts, and soon afterwards discharging 
 the functions of the civil and military department at the 
 same time. His kinsmen and friends were covered with 
 public honours ; and prevalent with the prince was every 
 man's credit in proportion to his intimacy with Sejanus. 
 Those, on the contrary, under his displeasure, were ex- 
 posed to the terrors of informations or charged as crimi- 
 nals. Instances I adduce not ; but with myself I will vin- 
 dicate, and at my own individual peril, all those friends of 
 his, who like myself, were guiltless of his last designs. 
 Sejanus the Vulsinian was not the man whom we courted : 
 but Sejanus a member of the Claudian, of the Julian house, 
 into which by alliance he was ingrafted : your son-in-law, 
 Cassar ; your colleague in the consulship, and who admi- 
 nistered your functions in the empire. To us it belongs 
 not to judge whom above all others you exalt, nor for 
 what reasons. Upon you the gods have devolved the su- 
 preme disposal of affairs ; and to us is left the glory of 
 obedience. Facts and things obvious we all behold : we 
 perceive who it is upon whom you accumulate power and 
 honours ; who they are that have supreme influence in 
 dispensing rewards and punishments : and that these were 
 possessed by Sejanus, no man can deny : but to pry into 
 the hidden thoughts of the prince, and the measures he
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 187 
 
 meditates in secret, is forbidden and hazardous ; nor if at- 
 tempted would one succeed. Do not, conscript fathers, 
 confine your thoughts to the last day of Sejanus; but take 
 in the whole sixteen years of his power ; when we adored 
 even such men as Satrius and Pomponius, and to be ac- 
 quainted with his porters and freedmen was esteemed a 
 high honour. What then! shall, this defence be allowed 
 indiscriminately and without exception? far from it: let 
 just limits bound it. Let conspiracy against the state; 
 let murderous designs upon the prince, be punished : but 
 as to the offices of friendship, and tokens of respect to- 
 wards Sejanus, the same limitation is necessary to absolve 
 you, Caesar, and us." 
 
 9. The magnanimity of the speech, added to the joy that 
 one was at last found who gave utterance to sentiments 
 which all entertained in their hearts, produced such an 
 effect, that his accusers were for this and former delin- 
 quencies sentenced to banishment or death. Next fol- 
 lowed letters from Tiberius against Sextus Vcstilius, of 
 praetorian rank; whom, as a dear friend of his brother Dru- 
 sus, he had adopted into the class of his own friends. The 
 cause of offence was his either having composed an invec- 
 tive against the impurities of Caligula, or the credit given 
 to a false statement that he had done so ; and for this rea- 
 son, being forbidden the prince's table, with an aged hand 
 he tried the steel, and feebly pierced his veins, but bound 
 them up again, and by a memorial sought pardon of Tibe- 
 rius; but receiving a relentless answer, opened them again. 
 Next were charged with treason, in one batch, Annius 
 Pollio, Appius Silanus, with Mamercus Scaurus, Calvisius 
 Sabinus, and Viriicianus added to his father Pollio; a band 
 of illustrious men, all noble in descent, some distinguished 
 with the first dignities. The fathers one and all trembled 
 for the result; (for how few senators were unconnected by 
 friendship or alliance with so many men of the highest 
 quality?) but one of the evidence, named Celsus, tribune 
 of a city-cohort, exculpated Appius and Calvisius : the 
 trial of Pollio, Vinicianue, and Scaurus, was by the em- 
 peror postponed, that he himself might take cognizance of 
 their cases with the senate. Towards Scaurus however 
 he exhibited some ominous tokens of displeasure. 
 
 10. Nor could even women escape the peril of accusa- 
 tions. With designs to usurp the government they could 
 not be charged ; their tears are therefore made treason ; 
 and Vitia, mother to Fusius Geminus, once consul, sen- 
 tenced to execution in old age, for bewailing the death of 
 her son. These were the proceedings in the senate : nor
 
 if>S THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 
 were they different before the emperor. Vescularius Flac- 
 cus and Julius Marinus, were doomed to death ; two of 
 his oldest friends, men who had followed him to Rhodes, 
 and never forsook him at Capreae. Vescularius was his 
 go-between in the plot against Libo : by the co-operation 
 of Marinus, Sejanus had effected the ruin of Curtius At- 
 ticus. Hence it was hailed with the greater joy, that their 
 pernicious examples had recoiled upon the authors of 
 them. About the same time died Lucius Piso, the pontiff; 
 and, by a felicity rare in one so distinguished, in the 
 course of nature : never the spontaneous author of any 
 servile motion, and ever wise in moderating them when 
 necessity enforced his assent. That his father had sus- 
 tained the office of censor, I have before recorded : he 
 himself lived to fourscore years, and for his services in 
 Thrace, had obtained the honour of a triumph. But his 
 chief renown arose from his conduct in the office of prae- 
 fect of the city, lately made perpetual, and the more 
 odious, as the people were unused to its authority, but the 
 rigour of which he qualified with admirable discretion. 
 
 11. For of old, in the absence of the kings, and after- 
 wards of the consuls, that the city might not be without a 
 ruler, a temporary magistrate was appointed to administer 
 justice, and apply a remedy in cases of emergence: and it 
 is said that by Romulus, Denter Romulius was deputed ; 
 Numa Marcius by Tullus Hostilius ; and by Tarquin the 
 Proud, Spurius Lucretius. Subsequently the delegation 
 was made by the consuls; and there remains still a shadow 
 of the old institution, when by reason of the Latin fes- 
 tival, one is authorised to discharge the consular function. 
 Moreover, Augustus, during the civil wars, committed to 
 Cilnius Mascenas of the equestrian order, the government 
 of Rome and of all Italy. Afterwards, when sole master 
 of the empire, moved by the multitude of people and the 
 slowness of relief from the laws, he chose one of consular 
 rank to control the slaves, and such citizens as from their 
 daring spirit are apt to run riot if they have not the fear 
 of chastisement before their eyes. Messala Corvinus was 
 the first invested with this authority, and in a few days 
 dismissed, as a man incompetent to discharge it. It was 
 then filled by Taurus Statilius, who, though very aged, 
 sustained it with signal honour. After him Piso held it 
 for twenty years, with equal credit ; so that he was dis- 
 tinguished with a public funeral, by decree of the senate. 
 
 12. A motion was then made in the senate by Quinc- 
 tilianus, tribune of the people, concerning a book of the 
 Sybil, which Caninius Gallus, one of the college of fifteen,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 189 
 
 had prayed " might be received amongst the rest of that 
 prophetess, a decree being made to that effect." The de- 
 cree passed without opposition, but was followed by letters 
 from Tiberius, gently chiding the tribune, " as young, and 
 therefore unskilled in the ancient usages ;" he upbraided 
 Gallus " that when it was not known who was the author 
 of the book, he, who was so expereinced in the science of 
 sacred ceremonies, should, without taking the opinion of 
 the college, without the usual reading and deliberation on 
 the character of the composition, by the presidents of the 
 college, should have transacted this business in a thin 
 house." He also advised them " that Augustus, on ac- 
 count of the multitude of fictitious predictions circulated 
 under that celebrated name, had ordained a day before 
 which they should be carried to the city-praetor, and after 
 which it was unlawful for any private person to hold 
 them." The same had likewise been decreed by our an- 
 cestors, when after the burning of the Capitol in the social 
 war, the verses of the Sybil (whether there were but one, 
 or more) were everywhere sought, in Samos, Ilium, and 
 Erythrae, through Africa too and Sicily, and all the Ro- 
 man colonies, with injunctions to the priests that, as far as 
 human wit could enable them, they would separate the 
 genuine. Therefore, upon this occasion also, the book 
 was subjected to the cognizance of the quindecimvirate. 
 
 13. Under the same consuls, matters proceeded to the 
 verge of rebellion, from the dearth of provisions. The 
 populace for many days urged their wants and demands 
 in the public theatre, with an unusual licentiousness of 
 language towards the emperor. This roused the emperor, 
 who censured the magistrates and senate, " that they had 
 not by the civil power restrained the people." And fur- 
 ther stated " the supplies of grain which he had caused 
 to be imported ; from what provinces, and in how much 
 greater abundance than those procured by Augustus." 
 So that for correcting the populace, a decree passed 
 framed on the model of ancient severity : nor less vigorous 
 was the edict published by the consuls. His own silence 
 was not, as he had hoped, ascribed to his regard for civil 
 equality, but was imputed to scorn. 
 
 14. In the end of the year Geminius, Pompeius, and 
 Celsy^s, Roman knights, were laid low by a conviction for 
 conspiracy. Of these Geminius by lavish expenditure, 
 and voluptuous living, had gained the friendship of Seja- 
 nus, but not for any serious matters. Celsus, a tribune, 
 while in bonds, loosened his chain, and passing it over his 
 head, by bearing in the opposite direction broke his neck.
 
 190 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 
 But over llubrius Fabatus a guard was set ; as to bim it 
 was objected, that despairing of the Roman state, he meant 
 to throw himself on the compassion of the Parthians. He 
 was, certainly, apprehended in the Straits of Sicily, and 
 when haled back to Rome by a centurion, he assigned no 
 satisfactory motives for so long an excursion. He re- 
 mained however unhurt, through oblivion rather than 
 mercy. 
 
 15. In the consulship of Servius Galba and Lucius 
 Sylla, Tiberius having long deliberated upon whom to be- 
 stow his granddaughters, as now they were marriageable, 
 chose for their husbands Lucius Cassius and Marcus Vi- 
 nicius. The last was originally from Gales a municipal 
 town, and of an equestrian family ; but his father and 
 grandfather had been consuls; himself of a gentle temper 
 and polished eloquence. Cassius was a Roman of plebeian 
 family, but ancient and honourable; was brought up under 
 the strict tuition of his father, and more admired for the 
 easiness than vigour of his spirit. To him the emperor 
 married Drusilla, and to Vicinius Julia ; both daughters 
 of Germanicus ; and upon this subject wrote to the senate 
 with a slight commendation of the young men. Then as- 
 signing some extremely vague reasons for his absence, he 
 proceeded to considerations more weighty, and the ani- 
 mosities towards him arising out of his zeal for the re- 
 public ; and desired, " that Macro, praefect of the praeto- 
 rian guards with some few tribunes and centurions might 
 always accompany him into the senate." To this purpose 
 an ordinance passed, comprehensive, and without limita- 
 tion as to number or condition : yet so far was Tiberius 
 from coming near the council of the nation, that he never 
 entered the walls of Rome : generally travelling on indirect 
 roads round his country and shunning it. 
 
 16. In the meanwhile, the whole band of accusers broke 
 loose upon those who augmented their wealth by usury, 
 in contravention of a law of Caesar the dictator, "in which 
 provision is made respecting the terms of lending money, 
 and holding property in Italy ;" a law formerly neglected, 
 because the public good is posthabited to private gain. 
 Usury was, in truth, an inveterate evil in Rome, and the 
 cause of ever-recurring discord and seditions, and there- 
 fore restrained even in ancient times, when the public 
 manners were less corrupt. For, first it was ordained by 
 the XII Tables, " that no man should take higher interest 
 than one per cent, per annum ;" when, before, it was ex- 
 acted at the pleasure of the rich. Afterwards by a regu- 
 lation of the tribunes it was reduced to one half, and at
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 1<H 
 
 last usury was forbidden. By the people, too, repeated sta- 
 tutes were made for obviating frauds, which though so fre- 
 quently repressed, yet by strange devices sprang up afresh. 
 But at this time Gracchus the praetor, whose office it was 
 to inquire and determine on this matter, appalled by the 
 multitude of those involved, had recourse to the senate. 
 The fathers also were dismayed (for of this fault not one 
 was guiltless), and sought indulgence from the prince; and 
 a' year and six months were granted for every one to ad- 
 just his domestic finances to the directions of the law. 
 
 17. Hence a great scarcity of current money: as all 
 debts were at once called in ; and so many being con- 
 demned, and their effects sold, the current coin stagnated 
 in the public treasury, or in that of the emperor. More- 
 over, the senate had provided, " that two-thirds of his 
 capital should by every one be laid out upon lands in 
 Italy." But the creditors called in the whole ; nor was it 
 reputable for the debtors to break faith. So that at first, 
 meetings and entreaties were tried ; then the tribunal of 
 the praetor was beset with clamorous applicants. And the 
 project resorted to as a remedy, namely, that the debtor 
 should sell, and the creditor buy, had a contrary opera- 
 tion : for the usurers hoarded up all their money for 
 purchasing lands ; and the plenty of estates to be sold 
 lowering the price, the more men were indebted the more 
 difficult they found it to sell. Many, from a state of af- 
 fluence, were plunged into utter ruin; and the destruction 
 of private property hurled down with it both rank and 
 character. At length the emperor brought relief, by 
 placing a sum of a hundred thousand great sesterces at 
 the different bankers, with liberty to borrow for three 
 years without interest, provided the debtor gave security 
 to the people to double the value in lands. Thus credit 
 was restored ; and by degrees private lenders too were 
 found : neither was the order of the senate enjoining the 
 purchase of lands observed ; like most other projects of 
 the kind, having been eagerly embraced at first, it was in 
 the end treated with neglect. 
 
 18. After this Rome was revisited with her former ter- 
 rors, Considius Proculus being put on his trial for treason. 
 While he was celebrating his birthday, devoid of all ap- 
 prehension, he was hurried to the senate, and was at once 
 condemned and executed. Sancia too, his sister, was in- 
 terdicted fire and water at the accusation of Quintus Pom- 
 poniiis ; a man of turbulent temper, who pretended " that 
 he followed these and similar practices, to ingratiate him- 
 self with Tiberius, and thus to obviate the fate which
 
 192 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 
 threatened his brother Pomponius Secundus." Pompeia 
 Macrina was also sentenced to exile ; her husband Argo- 
 licus and his father Laco, two of the prime nobility of 
 Greece, had already fallen victims to the displeasure of 
 Tiberius. Her father too, an illustrious Roman knight, 
 and her brother, of praetorian rank, when they saw the 
 condemnation that awaited them, slew themselves. The 
 crime imputed to them was, " that their grandfather, 
 Theophanes of Mytelene, had been one of the confidants 
 of Pompey the Great ; and that to Theophanes, when 
 dead, Grecian flattery had paid divine honours." 
 
 19. These were followed by Sextus Marius, the most 
 wealthy man of Spain. He was accused of incest with his 
 daughter, and thrown headlong from the Tarpeian rock : 
 and lest it should be doubted that the extent of his riches 
 proved his ruin, his mines of gold, though forfeited to the 
 state, were by Tiberius appropriated to himself; and, ex- 
 asperated rather than appeased by past executions, all 
 who were in prison under accusation of attachment to Se- 
 janus, were by his command put to death. There lay the 
 countless mass of slain; of every sex and age; the illus- 
 trious and the mean ; some dispersed, others collected in 
 heaps : nor was it permitted to their friends or kindred 
 to attend them in the hour of death, to shed a tear over 
 them, or any longer even to go and see them ; but guards 
 were placed around, who marked signs of sorrow in each ; 
 and attended the putrid bodies till they were dragged to 
 the Tiber ; where floating in the stream, or driven upon 
 the banks, none dared to burn them, none to touch them. 
 Even the natural sympathy for human woes was inter- 
 cepted in its offices by the violence of fear ; and in pro- 
 portion as cruelty prevailed, commiseration was stifled. 
 
 20. About the same time, Claudia, daughter to Marcus 
 Silanus, was given in marriage to Caligula, who had ac- 
 companied his grandfather to Capreae. Concealing a fero- 
 cious spirit under an artful guise of modesty ; even upon 
 the condemnation of his mother, and the exile of his bro- 
 thers, not a word escaped him. Closely aping Tiberius, 
 he put on the same dress as he did from day to day, and 
 in his language differed little from him. Whence the 
 shrewd observation of Passienus the orator, afterwards so 
 famous, " that never was a better slave nor a worse mas- 
 ter." Neither would I omit the presage of Tiberius con- 
 cerning Galba, then consul. Having sent for him and 
 sifted him on several subjects, he at last told him in Greek, 
 " and thou, Galba, shalt hereafter taste of empire ;" inti- 
 mating his late and brief reign ; by virtue of his skill in
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 193 
 
 the astrology of the Chaldaeans, which he acquired in his 
 retirement at Rhodes under the tuition of Thrasullus, 
 whose skill he proved in the following way : 
 
 SJ1. As often as he sought information on any subject of 
 this sort, he retired to the roof of the house, trusting with 
 his secret one freedman only, a man of great personal 
 strength but illiterate, who conducted the astrologer, 
 whose art Tiberius had resolved to test, by an unfre- 
 quented and precipitous path, for the house was seated on 
 the brow of a rocky eminence, and, as he returned, if any 
 suspicion of vain pretension or fraud arose, plunged him 
 headlong into the sea beneath, that he might not live to 
 betray the secret. Thrasullus being therefore led over the 
 same rocks, and having astonished the emperor by the re- 
 plies to his interrogatories ; for he revealed to him, by the 
 power of his art, his succession to the empire, and a series 
 of future events. Tiberius asked him, " whether he had 
 calculated his own nativity, and what was to befall him 
 that same year, nay, that very day ?" Thrasullus, survey- 
 ing the aspects and positions of the stars, at first hesi- 
 tated, then quaked, and however much he examined them, 
 the more and more dismayed with astonishment and dread, 
 he at last cried out, "that over him hung a danger immi- 
 nent and all but fatal." Forthwith Tiberius embraced 
 him, congratulated " him upon his foresight of perils, and 
 assured him that he should suffer no harm ;" and esteem- 
 ing his predictions as oracular, continued him among his 
 most intimate friends. 
 
 22. For myself, while I listen to these and similar rela- 
 tions, my judgment wavers, whether human affairs are re- 
 gulated by fate and immutable necessity, or left to roll on 
 at random. For upon this subject you will find the wisest 
 of the ancients and the followers of their sects are of op- 
 posite sentiments ; and that many are of opinion, " that 
 the gods take no interest in the beginning or the end of 
 our course, or in short in humanity in any aspect : and 
 thence so eternally calamities afflict the upright, while 
 prosperity attends the wicked." Others hold the con- 
 trary position, and believe " that events proceed in accord- 
 ance with fate; but not a fate resulting from planetary in- 
 fluences, but referrible to the principles and concatena- 
 tion of natural causes. Yet they leave us liberty of elec- 
 tion in our course of life ; but after the choice is made, 
 they say the chain of consequences is inevitable : neither 
 is that good or evil which passes for such in the esti- 
 mation of the vulgar : many who seem to struggle with 
 adversity are yet happy ; numbers that wallow in wealth,
 
 194 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 
 are yet most wretched : as when the former bear with 
 magnanimity the pressure of adverse fortune ; and the 
 latter make an unwise use of her bounties. " However, 
 very many men remain still convinced that " the future 
 fortunes of each are determined at the moment of their 
 birtli : or if some events thwart the prediction, that it 
 is owing to the errors of such as pronounce without un- 
 derstanding the subject ; and thus the credit of an art is 
 impaired, which, both in ages past and in our own, has 
 afforded signal instances of its certainty." In fact, the 
 prediction of the son of this same Thrasullus, that Nero 
 would be emperor, will be recorded at the proper time ; 
 but not here, lest I should digress too much from the mat- 
 ter in hand. 
 
 23. During the same consulship the death of Asinius 
 Gallus became generally known: that he perished through 
 famine, was undoubted; but whether of his own accord, 
 or by constraint, was held uncertain. The emperor was 
 consulted, "whether he would suffer him to be buried;" 
 when he blushed not to grant it as a favour; and even 
 went so far as to express dissatisfaction that a casualty 
 should have carried off* the accused before lie was con- 
 victed publicly : as if during three intermediate years be- 
 tween his accusation and his death, there wanted time for 
 the trial of the aged man, of consular rank himself, and the 
 father of so many more. Next the light of Drusus was 
 quenched, after having protracted his existence to the 
 ninth day, by means of the wretched nutriment afforded 
 by the stuffing of his bed. Some have related, that, in 
 case Sejanus had attempted force, Macro had instructions 
 to take the young man from his confinement (for he was 
 kept in the palace) and set him at the head of the people: 
 afterwards because a report was circulated " that the em- 
 peror was about to be reconciled to his daughter-in-law 
 and grandson ;" he chose rather to be accounted cruel 
 than to have changed his purpose. 
 
 24?. Nay, even after death he pursued him with invec- 
 tives, and charged him with " having dishonoured his 
 body ; with spirit breathing destruction to his own fa- 
 mily, and hostility to the republic;" and ordered to be 
 recited " the minutes of such of his words and actions, as 
 had been daily registered." This was thought a proceed- 
 ing of unparalleled atrocity ; that for so many years spies 
 should have attended him to note down his looks, his 
 groans, his secret murmurs ; and that his grandfather 
 could hear the tale, read it, and expose it to the public, 
 was scarcely credible, were it not for the letters of Actius
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 195 
 
 the centurion, and Dklymus the freedman ; which exhi- 
 bited the names of the slaves accordingly as one struck him 
 as he was coming out of his chamber, and another terri- 
 fied him with menaces. The centurion too repeated, as 
 matter of special merit, his own language to Drusus, lan- 
 guage full of barbarity, with the words uttered by him 
 while sinking under famine ; in which at first feigning 
 madness, he pronounced, as if in a phrenzy, deadly denun- 
 ciations against Tiberius, and afterwards, when all hopes 
 of life had fled, he poured forth studied and deliberate 
 imprecations, " that as he had slaughtered his son's wife, 
 the son of his brother, and his son's sons, and filled his 
 whole house with carnage, so might he pay to the utter- 
 most the penalty of his crimes, in justice to his name, the 
 generations of his forefathers, and posterity." The sena- 
 tors indeed interrupted him, with exclamations of assumed 
 horror at these imprecations : but their hearts were pene- 
 trated with consternation and amazement that he who was 
 heretofore so wary, and threw so dense a covering over 
 his iniquities, had arrived at such a pitch of hardihood as 
 thus to remove, as it were, his prison walls, and exhibit 
 his own grandson under the lash of a centurion, exposed 
 to the violence of slaves, and imploring in vain the home- 
 liest aliment of life. 
 
 25. Before the impressions of this grief were worn away, 
 the death of Agrippina was announced. I suppose she had 
 spun out her life upon the hopes she had conceived from 
 the execution of Sejanus ; but, feeling afterwards no re- 
 laxation of cruelty, voluntarily put an end to her life, un- 
 less it was that by bereaving her of nourishment, a mode 
 of death was artfully resorted to, which might seem self- 
 sought. For Tiberius indeed broke out with abominable 
 imputations against her, charging her " with lewdness ; 
 adultery with Asinius Gallus; and that upon his death she 
 became weary of life." But Agrippina, impatient of an 
 equal lot, and eager to rule, had sacrificed to masculine 
 ambition the vices of her sex. The emperor added, " that 
 she departed the same day two-years on which Sejanus 
 had suffered as a traitor, and that the same ought to be re- 
 corded." Nay, he boasted of his clemency, in " that she 
 had not been strangled, and her body cast into the Ge- 
 monise." For this the senate thanked him, and decreed 
 " that, on the seventeenth of October, the day of both 
 their deaths, a yearly offering should be consecrated to 
 Jupiter for ever." 
 
 26. Not long after, Cocceius Nerva, the constant com- 
 panion of the prince, skilled in all laws, human and di- 
 
 o2
 
 196 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 vine, in unimpaired prosperity and perfect vigour of body, 
 formed a resolution of dying. Tiberius having heard of 
 it, sat down beside him, requested to know his motives, 
 adding entreaties, and even confessed, " that it would dis- 
 turb his peace of mind, and be a stain on his reputation, 
 if the nearest of his friends should relinquish life, without 
 any cause for dying." Nerva shunned conversing on the 
 subject, and immediately began to abstain from food. It 
 was alleged by such as knew his thoughts, that the more 
 he saw into the miseries of the state, the more transported 
 with indignation and fear, he resolved to die with honour 
 while unscathed and unassailed. Moreover, the fall of 
 Agrippina, which is hardly credible, drew with it that of 
 Plancina. She was formerly married to Cnaeius Piso; and 
 though she exulted publicly in the death of Germanicus, 
 yet when Piso fell, she was protected by the solicitations 
 of Augusta, nor less by the*nimosity of Agrippina. When 
 favour and hate had ceased to act, justice prevailed, and 
 being prosecuted for notorious crimes, with her own hand 
 she inflicted upon herself a punishment more tardy than 
 unmerited. 
 
 27. While the city was saddened by so many subjects 
 of mourning, one occasion of grief was that Julia, the 
 daughter of Drusus, and lately the wife of Nero, was 
 espoused to Rubellius Blandus, whose grandfather was re- 
 membered by many to have been only a Roman knight 
 from Tibur. At the close of the year, the death of^lius 
 Lamia was celebrated with a public funeral. He was prae- 
 fect of the city ; having been at length discharged from 
 the mock administration of Syria. He was a man of dis- 
 tinguished family, enjoyed a vigorous old age, and derived 
 additional popularity from his province being withheld 
 from him. Pomponius Flaccus, propraetor of Syria, died 
 sometime after; when a letter from Tiberius was recited, 
 in which he complained " that all the senators of distinc- 
 tion, and qualified to command armies, refused that office; 
 in this difficulty he was driven to entreaties, in order to 
 induce, some of those of consular rank to undertake the 
 provinces ;" forgetting Arruntius, now for ten years pre- 
 vented from going into Spain. The same year also died 
 Marcus Lepidus, of whose wisdom and moderation I have 
 in former books, as was fitting, said enough. Nor is it re- 
 quisite to dwell long on the display of his nobility, since 
 the /Emilian race is fertile in good citizens ; and even 
 those of the same family who lapsed into corruption, con- 
 tinued still to be distinguished by the splendours of for- 
 tune.
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 197 
 
 28. In the consulship of Paulus Fabius and Lucius Vi- 
 tellius, after a long series of ages, the bird called the 
 phoenix arrived in Egypt, and furnished the most learned 
 of the natives and Greeks with occasion for much spe- 
 culation concerning that marvel. The circumstances in 
 which they agree, with many others of a doubtful cha- 
 racter, though not undeserving of record, I purpose re- 
 citing. That it is a -creature sacred to the sun, and in the 
 form of its head, and the varied tints of its plumage dis- 
 tinguished from other birds, all who have described its 
 characteristics are agreed : as to the number of years it 
 lives, accounts vary. The most generally received fixes 
 it at five hundred years : but there are those who affirm 
 that one thousand four-hundred and sixty one years inter- 
 vene between its visits ; and assert that the three former 
 phoenixes appeared, the first in the reign of Sesostris, the 
 next of Amasis ; and that one was seen in the reign of 
 Ptolemy, the third king of Egypt of the Macedonian race, 
 and flew to the city of Heliopolis, accompanied by a vast 
 retinue of other birds gazing with admiration on the beau- 
 teous miracle. But the accounts of antiquity are enve- 
 loped in doubt and obscurity : between Ptolemy and Ti- 
 berius the interval was less than two hundred and fifty 
 years : when.ce some have believed that the present was a 
 spurious phoenix, and did not proceed from the regions 
 of Arabia, nor observed any of the instincts which an- 
 cient tradition constantly attributes to the genuine : for 
 the latter having completed his course of years, on the ap- 
 proach of death builds a nest in his native land, and upon 
 it sheds a generative power, from whence arises a young 
 one, whose first care, when he is grown up, is to bury his 
 father : neither does he go about this task unadvisedly, 
 but taking up a heavy piece of myrrh, tries his strength 
 in a long excursion ; and as soon as he finds himself equal 
 to the burthen and the passage, he takes his father's 
 body upon his back, carries it all the way to the altar of 
 the sun, and consumes it in the fire thereon. These ac- 
 counts are not entitled to unqualified credit, and their 
 uncertainty is increased by the admixture of matter pal- 
 pably fabulous ; but that this bird has been at some time 
 seen in Egypt, is not questioned. 
 
 29. At Rome, the destruction of her citizens continued 
 without intermission. Pomponius Labeo, who, as I have 
 mentioned, was governor of Mcesia, opening his veins 
 poured out his lifeblood ; his wife Paxaea, in emulation of 
 his example, did the same. The dread of falling by the 
 executioner, made deaths of this sort a welcome resource;
 
 198 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 
 in addition to which, those who were condemned forfeited 
 their estates, and were debarred the rights of burial: of 
 such as made away with themselves, the bodies were in- 
 terred, and the wills were valid, the reward of their de- 
 spatch ! Tiberius, however, in a letter to the senate, ar- 
 gued, "that it was the usage of their ancestors, when they 
 would renounce the friendship of any one, to forbid him 
 their house ; and thus put an end to all gracious inter- 
 course ; a usage he had repeated in the case of Labeo : 
 but he who was pressed with a charge with maladminis- 
 tration, and other crimes, had sought to veil his guilt by 
 an act reflecting odium upon others ; while his wife had 
 alarmed herself unnecessarily, for though guilty, she was 
 nevertheless in no danger." Mamercus Scaurus was then 
 arraigned afresh, a man of highly distinguished family, 
 and an eminent pleader, but of profligate habits. In his 
 overthrow, the friendship of Sejanus had jio share, but an 
 engine no less potent to destroy, the enmity of Macro, 
 who pursued, but more secretly, the same arts. The sub- 
 ject of a tragedy composed by Scaurus, in which were 
 some lines which might be made to apply to Tiberius, 
 formed the groundwork of his information. But by the 
 accusers, Servilius and Cornelius, the crimes objected were 
 those of "adultery with Livia, and the mysteries of the ma- 
 gicians." Scaurus, as became the magnanimity of the an- 
 cient ^Emilii, prevented condemnation, by the persuasion 
 of Sextia his wife, who encouraged him to die and shared 
 his fate. 
 
 30. And yet the informers, when opportunity occurred, 
 were surrendered to vengeance ; as were Servilius and 
 Cornelius, who had acquired an infamous notoriety by the 
 ruin of Scaurus, for accepting from Varius Ligur a bribe 
 to drop a prosecution, for which they were interdicted fire 
 and water, and banished to the islands. Abudius Rufo 
 too, once aedile, whilst he brought a charge against Len- 
 tulus Gaetulicus, under whom he had led a legion, " that 
 he had marked out a son of Sejanus for his son-in-law ;" 
 was himself on the contrary condemned and banished 
 Rome. Gaetulicus was at this time commander of the 
 legions in Upper Germany, and wonderfully beloved by 
 them for his unbounded clemency and well-tempered di- 
 scipline. Neither was he unacceptable to the neighbour- 
 ing army, through the interest of Lucius Apronius his 
 father-in-law. Hence he was firmly believed to have dared 
 to represent to the emperor in a letter, "that by no choice 
 of his own had he set about an affinity with Sejanus, but 
 in compliance with the counsel of Tiberius, and was as
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 199 
 
 liable as Tiberius to be deceived ; nor ought one and the 
 same error to pass unblamed in the prince only; and draw 
 down destruction upon all others. He had never violated 
 his allegiance ; and if no plots were framed against him, it 
 would continue unshaken. A successor he should receive 
 as no other than the herald of death. It remained there- 
 fore that they should as it were establish a league, by 
 which the prince should still enjoy all the rest of the em- 
 pire, and he himself retain his province." This proceed- 
 ing, however amazing, derived credit from hence, that he 
 only of all that were allied to Sejanus, remained in safety, 
 and even in high favour, Tiberius considering the public 
 odium under which he laboured, his great age, and that 
 his authority was upheld more by reputation than force. 
 
 31. In the consulship of Caius Sestius and Marcus Ser- 
 vilius, there came to Rome some noble Parthians, un- 
 known to Artabanus their king. He had formerly, through 
 dread of Germanicus, reigned with humanity towards his 
 own people, and kept his faith with the Romans ; but, 
 afterwards treated us with arrogance, and his subjects with 
 cruelty. His confidence grew out of the successful wars 
 which he had waged against the, circumjacent nations ; 
 from his contempt of Tiberius, as enfeebled through age 
 and unwarlike, and from an avidity to possess Armenia ; 
 over which kingdom, upon the death of Artaxias, he set 
 Arsaces, his eldest son. To this usurpation was super- 
 added an insult,, having sent to reclaim " the treasure left 
 by Vonones in Syria and Cilicia;" as also "the re-esta- 
 blishment of the ancient boundaries between the Persians 
 and Macedonians :" he even threw out in a menacing and 
 vain-glorious style, "that he would invade all the coun- 
 tries possessed by Cyrus, and since by Alexander." Of 
 this secret embassy from the Parthians the most energetic 
 promoter was Sinnaces, of a noble family and correspond- 
 ing wealth ; and, next to him, Abdus the eunuch, a de- 
 scription of person not despised amongst the Barbarians, 
 but, on the contrary, possessing influence. These two, in 
 concert with others of the nobles, sent to Rome for Phra- 
 hates, son of king Phrahates, since of all the race of the 
 Arsacidae, many haying been murdered by Artabanus, 
 and the rest too young, there were none whom they could 
 set upon the throne. The deputies represented, "that 
 there needed nothing more than a name and a sanction; 
 nothing more than that a descendant of Arsaces, with the 
 concurrence of Caesar, should show himself upon the banks 
 of the Euphrates." 
 
 32. This was what Tiberius wished. He furnished
 
 200 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 
 Phrahates with every requisite, and equipped him for the 
 recovery of his father's throne ; still holding to his deter- 
 mination to transact his foreign affairs by policy and coun- 
 sels only, and avoid engaging in war. Artabanus mean- 
 while informed of the combination, was at one time para- 
 lysed by apprehensions, at another fired with the desire 
 of revenge. And yet, by Barbarians delay is reckoned 
 a mark of a servile mind ; but instant execution is con- 
 sidered the attribute of royalty. Expediency however 
 so far prevailed, that he invited Abel us to a banquet, un- 
 der pretence of friendship, and tied him up by a dose 
 of slow poison : Sinnaces he managed to hold back by 
 dissimulation, presents, and engaging him in business at 
 the same time. Now Phrahates arriving in Syria, and 
 laying aside the Roman dress and manners, to which for 
 so many years he had been accustomed, to assume the 
 customs of the Parthians, proved unequal to the hardship 
 of adopting the habits of his country, fell sick and died. 
 Tiberius did not abandon the enterprise : but set up Tiri- 
 dates, of the same blood, as a competitor with Artabanus; 
 and for the recovery of Armenia, chose Mithridates the 
 Iberian, and reconciled him to his brother Pharasmanes, 
 who inherited the sovereignty of Iberia ; and over the 
 east, for executing all his projects there, he placed Lu- 
 cius Vitellius, I am aware that in Rome this man was 
 in bad odour, and that many odious acts are related of 
 him : yet in governing provinces he acted with primitive 
 uprightness. It was after his return thence, that his dread 
 of Caligula, and then his intimacy with Claudius, trans- 
 formed him into a slave so abject, that he is reckoned as 
 an example to posterity of the deformity of flattery : his 
 last state swallowed up his first, and the excellencies of 
 his younger years are obliterated by a flagitious old age. 
 
 33. Of the petty kings, Mithridates was the first in 
 motion, and incited Pharasmanes to promote his efforts 
 against Arsaces, by force and stratagem ; instruments of 
 corruption were found, who, by large presents of gold, 
 urged his servants to murder him : at the same time the 
 Iberians made an irruption into Armenia with numerous 
 forces, and gained the city Artaxata. When Artabanus 
 heard of this, he despatched his son Orodes, at the head 
 of the Parthian army, to take vengeance on the enemy, 
 and sent emissaries to hire auxiliaries. Pharasmanes, on 
 the other hand, united the Albanian forces to his own, 
 procured troops from the Sarmatae, whose princes engaged 
 themselves on both sides; according to the manner of the 
 nation, to embark for pay in opposite quarrels. But the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 201 
 
 Iberians were masters of the passes, and tbence poured 
 the Sarmatae by the Caspian way into Armenia : whereas 
 those that came to join the Parthians, were easily pre- 
 vented from proceeding ; the enemy having shut up every 
 approach, except one between the sea and the uttermost 
 mountains of Albania, which was impassable in the sum- 
 mer, for then, by the force of the Etesian winds, the shal- 
 lows are filled with water ; but in the winter, the south- 
 west wind rolls back the flood, and leaves the shallows 
 upon the coast dry. 
 
 34. While Orodes was thus bereft of his allies, Pharas- 
 manes strengthened with succours, challenged him to bat- 
 tle, and, as he declined it, insulted him, rode up to his en- 
 trenchments, cut off his foragers, and often hemmed him 
 in, as it were in a siege, with parties of troops; till at length 
 the Parthians, unable to brook these indignities, beset the 
 prince and demanded battle. Their only forces were 
 horse ; but Pharasmanes was likewise powerful in foot : 
 for, the Iberians and Albanians, as they inhabit regions 
 covered with forests, are more inured to hardness and en- 
 durance. They say "that they are descended from Thes- 
 salians, at the time when Jason having carried away Me- 
 dea, and had children by her, returned to Colchis, upon 
 the death of JEetes, and took possession of the vacant 
 throne." And many are the traditions which are current 
 about him and the oracle of Phrixus ; in reverence to 
 which none of them will sacrifice a ram, as upon this* ani- 
 mal they believe Phrixus to have been carried thither ; 
 whether the same were a ram, or only the figure head of 
 a ship. However, both armies being drawn up in battle 
 array, Orodes descanted upon " the empire of the east, 
 the renown of the Arsacidae ; and, on the other hand, the 
 ignoble character of the Iberians, with their hireling sol- 
 diery." Pharasmanes represented to his, that " they had 
 ever kept themselves free from the Parthian yoke; that the 
 higher their aims, the more renown to the victors : but if 
 they fled, the greater reproach and danger." At the same 
 time he bade them view and compare their own terrific 
 array with the mass of Medes tricked out with gold ; 
 " here," pointing to them, he said, " is a band of heroes ; 
 there, a heap of booty." 
 
 35. But with the Sarmatae, the voice of their general is 
 not the only means of exhortation ; they animate one an- 
 other : " they must not," they said, " begin the fight by a 
 disqharge of arrows, but break in at once upon the foe and 
 surprise them by a close engagement." And now the bat- 
 tle commenced ; every mode of fighting might be seen :
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS, VI. 
 the Parthians, accustomed with equal dexterity to pursue 
 or fly, opened their ranks, seeking scope for their arrows: 
 the Sarmatse abandoning the bow, which they can use 
 with effect but for a short time, rushed in with their swords 
 and pikes : sometimes, as in an encounter of horse, alter- 
 nately charging and flying; at another time in condensed 
 array, breast to breast, and arms clashing with arms, 
 they forced back the foe, or yielded to the shock them- 
 selves : and now the Albanians and Iberians grappled 
 with the Parthians, dragged them from their horses, and 
 confounded them by a twofold attack ; for besides the as- 
 saults from the horse, they were still more closely gulled 
 by the foot. Meanwhile Pharasmanes and Orodes ani- 
 mating the brave by their presence, or supporting the wa- 
 vering, might be seen by all, and therefore soon descried 
 each other. In a moment they gallop to the encounter, 
 with loud shouts and lances poised; but Pharasmanes with 
 the greater impetuosity : he drove his weapon through 
 his opponent's helmet, but could not follow up the blow, 
 his horse hurrying him along; and the bravest of his 
 guards protected the wounded Orodes. A false report 
 that he was slain spreading through the ranks, dispirited 
 the Parthians, and they yielded the victory. 
 
 36. Soon after, Artabanus marched with the whole 
 strength of Parthia, to have his revenge; but the Iberians, 
 from their superior knowledge of the country, had the 
 advantage in the encounter. Nor even thus would he 
 have retreated, but that Vitellius, drawing together his 
 legions, and spreading a rumour that he was about to in- 
 vade Mesopotamia, made him apprehend a Roman war. 
 Armenia was therefore abandoned, and the affairs of Ar- 
 tabanus were ruined ; Vitellius inviting the Parthians " to 
 renounce a king cruel in peace, and baneful to them in 
 war from the disasters he experienced." Sinnaces there- 
 fore, whom I have mentioned as already incensed, consults 
 his father Abdageses and others, who had hitherto dis- 
 guised their disaffection, and finding them now less re- 
 served from their continued overthrows, induces them to 
 revolt. While those who had continued in allegiance 
 through fear, rather than affection, but now having found 
 leaders, had assumed courage, gradually joined them. 
 None now adhered to Artabanus except some few foreign- 
 ers, the guards of his person; outlaws and fugitives from 
 their several homes, destitute of all sense of honour, and 
 indifferent to disgrace; hirelings by profession, and the 
 retained instruments of villany and blood. Taking these 
 for his attendants, he hastily fled to remote regions, bor-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 
 dering upon Scythia, in hope of succours ; for with the 
 Hyrcanians and Carmanians he was connected by affinity : 
 he hoped too meanwhile that the Parthians, a people al- 
 ways favourable to their princes after expulsion, but fickle 
 and restless under their dominion, might undergo a change 
 of sentiment. 
 
 37. Artabanus being fled, and the minds of the Par- 
 thians inclined to a new king, Vitellius exhorted Tiridates 
 " to lay hold of the opportunity presented to him ;" and, 
 with the flower of the legions and auxiliaries, marched to 
 the banks of Euphrates. Whilst they sacrificed to the 
 river, the one after the rights of the Romans, a swine, a 
 ram, and a bull ; the other a horse ; the neighbouring in- 
 habitants informed them, " that the Euphrates, without 
 any excess of rain, had of itself swollen immensely ; that 
 at the same time the white foam upon its surface curled 
 into circles in the form of a diadem ; an omen of a pros- 
 perous passage." Some interpreted with greater sub- 
 tlety, " that the commencement of the enterprise would 
 be attended with success, which however would not con- 
 tinue ; and for this reason, that whereas reliance might 
 be placed on portents exhibited in earth or heaven : rivers 
 were in their nature unstable ; and in the same instant 
 that they vouchsafed their omens, withdrew them from the 
 sense." A bridge of boats being constructed, the army 
 crossed ; and the first who arrived in the camp was Or- 
 nospades, with many thousand horse. He was formerly 
 an exile, and had distinguished himself not a little by the 
 aid he rendered Tiberius in putting the finishing stroke 
 to the war in Dalmatia ; a service for which he was pre- 
 sented with the freedom of the city. Afterwards having 
 regained the friendship of his king, he rose to high ho- 
 hour ; and was made governor of the plains, which being 
 encompassed by the waters of those celebrated rivers Eu- 
 phrates and Tigris, are called Mesopotamia. Soon after 
 came Sinnaces with more forces ; as also Abdageses, the 
 pillar of the party, with the king's treasure and the rega- 
 lia. Vitellius thought it enough to have countenanced 
 them with a display of the Roman arms, and now admo- 
 nished Tiridates and the chiefs ; him " to remember his 
 grandfather Phrahates, and Caesar his foster-father ; sig- 
 nal honours and equal incitements to glory :" upon them 
 he pressed " obedience to their king, and reverence to- 
 wards us ; that they would each of them preserve their 
 reputations unsullied, and their faith inviolate." Then 
 immediately he repassed with his legions into Syria. 
 
 38. I have related in immediate succession, the trans-
 
 :,>0i THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 
 actions of two summers ; to afford the mind some repose 
 from the contemplation of domestic calamities. For, Ti- 
 berius, though now three years had elapsed since the ex- 
 ecution of Sejanus, was not so far appeased by time, sup- 
 plications, and saliety of blood, means which are wont to 
 soften all other men, but that he still punished even stale 
 and dubious imputations, as the most heinous and recent 
 crimes. Under this dread, Fulcinius Trio, unable to bear 
 up against a host of informers who rushed upon him, in- 
 serted in his will many imputations of the most atrocious 
 conduct against Macro and the emperor's principal freed- 
 men: with regard to the emperor himself, he said that he 
 was reduced to " a state of mental imbecility from old age; 
 and spoke of his continued retirement, as a kind of exile." 
 These invectives, which the heirs of Trio desired to sup- 
 press, were by Tiberius ordered to be recited ; whether 
 to parade his tolerance of a free expression of sentiment, 
 and despising reflections upon his own character; or whe- 
 ther from having been long ignorant of the enormities of 
 Sejanus, he afterwards chose to have them published in 
 whatever language conveyed, and at least through the me- 
 dium of reproaches to get at the knowledge of that truth 
 which flattery smothers. During the same consulship, 
 Granius Martianus, the senator, charged with treason by 
 Caius Gracchus, laid violent hands upon himself; and 
 Tatius Gratianus, who had been praetor, under the same 
 law was sentenced to capital punishment. 
 
 39. Similar was the fate of Trebellienus Rufus and Sex- 
 tius Paconianus. For, Trebellienus fell by his own hand ; 
 and Paconianus, for verses made in prison against the em- 
 peror, was there strangled. When Tiberius was made 
 acquainted with these executions, he was not now sepa- 
 rated from Italy by the sea, nor had the messenger far to 
 travel, but he was in the neighbourhood of Rome ; so 
 near that he received and answered the letters from the 
 consuls the same day, or only after the interval of a night; 
 gazing, as it were, upon the bloody torrent as it rolled on 
 from house to house; and watching the busy hands of the 
 ministers of death. In the end of the year expired Pop- 
 paeus Sabinus, of no very high lineage, but by the friend- 
 ship of the emperor he had acquired the consulship and 
 triumphal honours. He was also entrusted for four and 
 twenty years with the government of great provinces; not 
 for any pre-eminent accomplishments, but because he had 
 talents equal to business, and aspired no higher. 
 
 40. Quintus Plautius and Sextius Papinius were the 
 following consuls. It was remarked as a matter of horror.
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 205 
 
 or surprise that Lucius Aruseius and * * * underwent this 
 year the pains of death : so familiar were civil miseries. 
 But it was a terrifying spectacle when Vibulenus Agrippa, 
 a Roman knight, after his accusers had finished their 
 speeches, taking out the poison he had concealed un- 
 der his gown, swallowed it in the very senate-house ; and 
 as he fell forward in the agonies of death, was by the hur- 
 ried hands of the lictors dragged to the dungeon, where, 
 though already lifeless, his neck was fretted with a halter. 
 Not even Tigranes, who had once reigned in Armenia, 
 but was now accused, could, with the title of king, escape 
 the lot of the citizens. But Caius Galba, of consular rank, 
 and the two Blaesi, fell by their own hands : Galba, upon 
 receiving a dismal letter from Caesar, which forbad him 
 to undertake a province ; the Blaesi, because the priest- 
 hoods which in the prosperity of their family he had as- 
 signed them, and in its distress withheld, he now be- 
 stowed, as vacant dignities, upon others. This they un- 
 derstood as a signal of death, and obeyed it. .^Emilia 
 Lepida too, who, as I have related, was married to the 
 young Drusus, who had pursued her husband with inces- 
 sant accusations, and during the days of her father Le- 
 pidus remained unpunished, though detested, after his 
 death was pounced upon by the accusers for adultery 
 with a slave: nor was there any doubt of her guilt: re- 
 nouncing therefore all defence, she put an end to her own 
 life. 
 
 41. About the same time the Clitaeans, a people subject 
 to Archelaus the Cappadocian, aggrieved at being com- 
 pelled after the Roman manner to make returns and pay 
 tribute, seceded to the ridges of mount Taurus, and by the 
 nature of the situation defended themselves against the 
 unwarlike forces of the king ; till Vitellius, president of 
 Syria, despatched to their relief his lieutenant, Marcus 
 Trebellius, with four thousand legionary soldiers and some 
 chosen auxiliaries. Trebellius begirt with entrenchments 
 the two hills upon which the Barbarians were encamped ; 
 the lesser named Cadra, the other Davara; those who at- 
 tempted to sally out he put to the sword ; the rest were re- 
 duced by drought. Tiridates, with the approbation of the 
 Parthians, took possession of Nicephorium, Anthemusias, 
 and other cities founded by the Macedonians, and thence 
 called by Greek names; as likewise of Halus and Arte- 
 mita, Parthian cities ; the inhabitants vying with each 
 other in expressing their joy for the change, as they exe- 
 crated Artabanus, who was bred amongst the barbarous
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 
 Scythians, for his cruelty, but in Tiridates hoped to find a 
 humane spirit, from his Roman education. 
 
 1 .'. Excessive was the flattery displayed on this occa- 
 sion by the citizens of Seleucia, a powerful city, sur- 
 rounded with walls; nor had it lapsed into the barbarous 
 usages of the Parthians, but still retained the institutions 
 of Seleucus, its Greek founder. Three hundred citizens, 
 chosen for their wealth or wisdom, compose as it were a 
 senate ; the populace too have their share of power; and 
 when all act with unanimity, they despise the Parthian^ ; 
 but when discord reigns, while each side invites foreign aid 
 against their competitors, the power called in to support a 
 party gets the mastery of all. This had lately been ex- 
 emplified in the reign of Artabanus, who delivered the 
 commonalty to the dominion of the nobles, with a view to 
 his own advantage : for the sovereignty of the people 
 verges on liberty ; but the domination .of a few comes 
 nearer to absolute monarchy. Upon the approach of Ti- 
 ridates they heaped upon him all the honours paid to an- 
 cient kings, with all the additions which the ingenuity of 
 modern time has introduced, and with the praises of the 
 new prince poured forth invectives against Artabanus, 
 " that only by his mother was he of the blood of the Ar- 
 sacidae, in every other respect an alien from their race." 
 Tiridates committed to the people the government of Se- 
 leucia; and soon afterwards, while deliberating about the 
 day for solemnising his coronation, he received letters from 
 Phrahates and Hiero, who were invested with the most 
 influential prefectures, entreating a brief delay : it was 
 agreed to await the arrival of men so high in power, and 
 in the meantime the court proceeded to Ctesiphon, the 
 seat of empire. But as from day to day they delayed 
 coming, the Surena, before a numerous and applauding 
 assembly, bound the royal diadem on the head of Tiri- 
 dates, according to the custom of the country. 
 
 43. And had he at once proceeded into the centre of 
 the kingdom and the further provinces, the hesitation of 
 the wavering would have been overcome, and all would 
 have been unanimous in acknowledging him. But by be- 
 sieging a fortress, whither Artabanus had conveyed his 
 money and concubines, he afforded opportunity for re- 
 nouncing the compact. For, Phrahates and Hiero, with 
 such others as had not joined in celebrating the day chosen 
 for his coronation, some from fear, others from envy of Ab- 
 dageses, who then ruled the new king and the court, went 
 after their former king Artabanus. They found him in
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 207 
 
 Hyrcania, all filthy and neglected, and seeking precarious 
 support with his bow. At first he was terrified, and ap- 
 prehended treachery : when they assured him of their 
 honour, and that they were come to restore him to so- 
 vereignty, he took courage, and asked, " whence the sud- 
 den change ?" Hiero, in answer, inveighed against " Ti- 
 ridates as a boy, and said that the empire was no longer 
 administered by one of the Arsacidae; but that the empty 
 title of empire was possessed by one enervated by foreign 
 luxury, while its powers were wielded by Abdageses and 
 his family." 
 
 44. From long experience in reigning, he felt that, how- 
 ever false in friendship, their hate was unfeigned : and 
 merely staying to get together some Scythian succours, he 
 hastened away that he might anticipate the devices of his 
 enemies, and the defection of his friends : neither changed 
 he as yet his wretched apparel, that he might attract the 
 commiseration of the populace ; he left no expedient un- 
 tried, nor prayers nor wiles, to engage in his interest such 
 as wavered, to confirm such as were inclined to him. He 
 was now approaching the neighbourhood of Seleucia,when 
 Tiridates, hearing with dismay of the proceedings, and of 
 the arrival of Artabanus at the same moment, was per- 
 plexed and undetermined in the plan he should pursue ; 
 whether to make head against him, or protract the war by 
 a lingering policy. They who preferred a battle and a 
 speedy issue, argued " that the enemy's forces were still 
 in disarray, and their bodies exhausted with the length of 
 their march ; while not even their minds could be made 
 up to obedience, betrayers and open enemies as they were 
 so lately of that same prince whom now after expulsion 
 they espoused." But Abdageses advised " a retreat into 
 Mesopotamia, that there defended by the interposition of 
 the river, they might have time to arm the Armenians and 
 Elymaeans, with other nations in their rear ; and being 
 thus strengthened by confederate troops, and such as the 
 Roman general should send, they might try the fortune 
 of war." This advice prevailed, as the influence of Ab- 
 dageses was predominant, and Tiridates irresolute in facing 
 dangers. But their departure had all the appearance of 
 flight: for the Arabs beginning the desertion, the rest fol- 
 lowed, and retired to their several homes or to the camp 
 of Artabanus; so that at length Tiridates, with a few at- 
 tendants, returning to Syria, relieved all from the disgrace 
 of defection. 
 
 45. The same year the city suffered grieviously from a 
 fire, which burnt down the part of the Circus contiguous
 
 208 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 
 to Mount Aventine and the mount itself: a loss which 
 turned to the glory of the prince, as he* paid the value of 
 the houses and clusters of tenements destroyed. A hun- 
 dred thousand great sesterces he expended in this bounty, 
 which proved the more grateful to the people, as he was 
 ever sparing in his own private building : in truth, his 
 public works never exceeded two, the temple of Augustus 
 and the scene of Pompey's theatre ; nor, when he had 
 finished both, did he dedicate either, whether prevented 
 by old age, or despising popularity. For ascertaining the 
 damage of the several sufferers, the four sons-in-law of 
 Tiberius were appointed, Cneius Domitius, Cassius Lon- 
 ginus, Marcus Vinicius, and Rubellius Blandus ; assisted 
 by Publius Petronius, nominated by the consuls. To the 
 emperor likewise were decreed honours, devised accord- 
 ing to the genius of those who proposed them. Which 
 of these he would accept or reject, was a matter of un- 
 certainty as he died in a short time. For not long after, 
 Cnaeius Acerronius and Caius Pontius commenced con- 
 suls ; the last under Tiberius, when the power of Macro 
 was excessive ; for, as he had at no time neglected the fa- 
 vour of Caligula, he courted it now more and more earn- 
 estly every day ; and after the death of Claudia, whom 
 I have mentioned to have been espoused to the young 
 prince, he constrained Ennia his own wife to inveigle Ca- 
 ligula by pretending she was in love with him, and to se- 
 cure him by a promise of marriage, while he declined 
 nothing that opened his way to sovereignty ; for although 
 naturally impetuous, yet in the bosom of his grandfather 
 he had become an adept in the hollow arts of simulation. 
 
 46. The emperor was aware of this, and thence he was 
 puzzled about naming a successor to the empire: and first 
 as to which he should select of his grandsons, of whom 
 the son of Drusus was nearer in blood, and dearer in point 
 of affection, but as yet a child : the son of Germanicus 
 had arrived at the vigour of youth, and the favour of the 
 people attended him, a motive this with his grandfather, 
 to hate him. He had even debates with himself about 
 Claudius, as he was a sedate character and inclined to li- 
 beral studies ; but his deficiency in mental vigour formed 
 an impediment. In case he sought a successor apart from 
 his own family, he dreaded lest the memory of Augustus, 
 lest the name of the Caesars should be scorned and de- 
 graded. For, it was not so much that he cared to gratify 
 the present generation, as that he was desirous of stand- 
 ing well with posterity. Still wavering, and his strength 
 decaying, he was soon induced to leave to the decision of
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 209 
 
 fortune a question for which he was unequal, though he 
 dropped some expressions from which it might be gathered 
 that he had an insight into futurity : for, he upbraided 
 Macro, in no obscure and indirect terms, " with forsaking 
 the setting sun and turning to the rising :" and of Caligula, 
 who in some incidental conversation ridiculed Sylla, he 
 foretold, "that he would have all Sylla's vices, and none 
 of his virtues." At the same time, embracing the younger 
 of his grandsons, not without many tears, while the coun- 
 tenance of Caligula assumed a stern and angry aspect, he 
 said to him, " thou wilt slay him, and another shall slay 
 thee." But, while his illness became more and more se- 
 rious, he relinquished nothing of his libidinous excesses ; 
 affecting strength of constitution by showing how he could 
 bear illness. He was wont too to ridicule the physician's 
 art, and those who, after the age of thirty, needed to be 
 informed by any one else, what benefitted or injured their 
 constitutions. 
 
 47. At Rome, meanwhile, were sown the seeds that 
 were destined to yield a harvest of blood after the de- 
 cease of Tiberius. Laslius Balbus had charged Acutia, 
 some time the wife of Publius Vitellius, with high treason; 
 and, as the senate were, after her condemnation, decree- 
 ing a reward to the accuser, Junius Otho, tribune of the 
 people, interposed his veto : hence their mutual hate, and 
 afterwards the exile of Otho. Then Albucilla, infamous 
 for her many amours, who had been married to Satrius 
 Secundus, the man who revealed the conspiracy of Seja- 
 nus, was impeached of impiety towards the prince. In the 
 charge were involved, as her accomplices and her adul- 
 terers, Cnaeius Domitius, Vibius Marsus, and Lucius Ar- 
 runtius. Of the noble descent of Domitius I have spoken 
 before: Marsus too was distinguished by the ancient dig- 
 nities of his house, and his own fame for learning. The 
 minutes, however, transmitted to the senate, imported, 
 "that in the examination of the witnesses, and torture of 
 the slaves, Macro had presided :" and as there came not 
 any letter from the emperor against the accused, it was 
 suspected, that, while he was ill, and perhaps without his 
 privity, the accusations were in great measure forged, in 
 consequence of the notorious enmity of Macro to Arrun- 
 tius. 
 
 48. Domitius therefore by preparing for his defence, 
 and Marsus by seeming determined to starve himself to 
 death, protracted their lives. Arruntius, to the impor- 
 tunity of his friends, urging him to try delays and eva- 
 
 p
 
 SJ10 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 
 sions, answered, " that the same measures were not ho- 
 nourable to all men alike : he had lived long enough ; his 
 only regret was, that exposed on all sides to derision and 
 peril, he had submitted to bear thus far an old age loaded 
 with anxieties ; long obnoxious to the malice of Sejanus, 
 now of Macro, always of some minion of power ; not be- 
 cause he was guilty of any crime, but because he was in- 
 tolerant of the grossest iniquities. Grant that the few and 
 last days of Tiberius could be got over, yet how could he 
 escape all that he would have to endure under the youth 
 who threatened to succeed him ? When the mind of Ti- 
 berius, a man of consummate experience, underwent such a 
 convulsion and transformation from the potent influence of 
 imperial power, was it likely ,that Caligula, who had scarce 
 outgrown his childhood, ignorant of everything, or nursed 
 and principled in the worst, would follow a course more 
 righteous under the guidance of Macro ; the same Macro, 
 who, as the more expert villain, having been selected 
 for the task of crushing Sejanus, had brought the com- 
 monwealth to a state of wretchedness the most abject, by 
 his numerous atrocities ? He had now before him," he 
 said, "a prospect of slavery still more embittered; and 
 therefore it was that he withdrew at once from the hor- 
 rors which had been enacted, and those that impended." 
 While pouring forth these warnings, with the intense 
 emotion of a prophet, he opened his veins. That Arrun- 
 tius was wise in resorting to suicide, the following events 
 will testify. Albucilla, after inflicting an ineffectual wound 
 upon herself, was by order of the senate dragged to prison. 
 As to the ministers of her lusts, it was decreed, " that Car- 
 sidius Sacerdos, of pra3torian rank, should be banished to 
 an island ; Pontius Fregellanus, expelled the senate ; and 
 that upon Laelius Balbus the same penalty be inflicted." 
 The senators gave the latter judgment with feelings of 
 joy, as he was accounted a man of turbulent eloquence, 
 and zealous in his efforts against the innocent. 
 
 49. About the same time, Sextus Papinius, of a consu- 
 lar family, chose a sudden and frightful end, by throwing 
 himself down from an eminence. The cause was ascribed 
 to his mother, who, after many repulses, had by fondling 
 and excitement brought him into a situation from which 
 he could escape by death only. She was therefore ac- 
 cused in the senate ; and, though she embraced the knees 
 of the fathers, and pleaded " the natural tenderness of a 
 mother's grief, and the greater weakness of a woman's 
 spirit under such a calamity ;" with other motives of pity
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 211 
 
 in the same doleful strain, she was banished Rome for ten 
 years, till her younger son was past the slippery period 
 of youth. 
 
 50. As for Tiberius, his body was now wasted and his 
 strength exhausted, but his dissimulation failed him not. 
 He exhibited the same inflexibility of mind, the same energy 
 in his looks and discourse ; and even sometimes by affected 
 vivacity tried to hide his decaying strength, though too 
 manifest to be concealed. And after much shifting of 
 places, he settled at length at the promontory of Misenum, 
 in a villa of which Lucullus was once lord. There it was 
 discovered that his end was approaching in the following 
 manner. In his train was a physician, named Charicles, 
 noted in his profession, not indeed to prescribe for the 
 prince in cases of indisposition, but that he might have 
 some one to consult if he thought proper. Charicles, as 
 if he were departing to attend his own affairs, and taking 
 hold of his hand, under pretence of taking leave, felt 
 his pulse. But he did not escape detection ; for he in- 
 stantly ordered the entertainment to be renewed ; whether 
 incensed, and thence the more concealing his displeasure, 
 is uncertain : but, at table he continued beyond his wont, 
 as if to do honour to his friend on his departure. Chari- 
 cles however assured Macro " that life was ebbing fast, 
 and could not outlast two days." Hence the whole court 
 was in a bustle with consultations, and expresses were de- 
 spatched to the generals and armies. On the seventeenth 
 before the calends of April, he was believed to have 
 finished his mortal career, having ceased to breathe : and 
 Caligula, in the midst of a great throng of persons, paying 
 their congratulations, was already going forth to make a 
 solemn entrance on the sovereignty, when suddenly a no- 
 tice came, "that Tiberius had recovered his sight and 
 voice, and had called for some persons to give him food 
 to restore him." The consternation was universal: the 
 concourse about Caligula dispersed in all directions; every 
 man affecting sorrow, or feigning ignorance : he himself 
 stood fixed in silence ; fallen from the highest hopes, he 
 now expected the worst. Macro, undismayed, ordered 
 the old man to be smothered with a quantity of clothes, 
 and the doorway to be cleared. Thus expired Tiberius, 
 in the seventy-eighth year of his age. 
 
 51. His father was Nero, and he was on both sides a 
 branch of the Claudian house, though his mother had been 
 ingrafted by adoptions into the Livian, and next into the 
 Julian family. From his first infancy, his life was chequered 
 by various vicissitudes and perils : for then as a voluntary 
 
 P 2
 
 212 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. VI. 
 
 exile he followed his proscribed father; and when taken as 
 a stepson into the family of Augustus, he struggled with 
 many rivals, while Marcellus and Agrippa, and after them 
 the Caesars Caius and Lucius, flourished. His brother Dru- 
 sus too enjoyed a greater degree of favour with the Ro- 
 man people than himself. But his greatest embarrassment 
 arose out of his marriage with Julia, whether he should 
 connive at the prostitution of his wife, or repudiate her. 
 Afterwards, upon his return from Rhodes, he found the 
 prince's family bereft of heirs, and continued its sole sup- 
 port for twelve years. For near four-and-twenty years he 
 ruled the Roman state with absolute sway. His manners 
 also varied with the conditions of his fortune: his conduct 
 was exemplary, and his reputation high, while in a private 
 capacity or holding dignities under Augustus; but while 
 Germanicus and Drusus were alive, his manners were re- 
 served and mysterious, artfully assuming the merit of vir- 
 tues to which he had no claim. And while his mother 
 lived, his character exhibited a compound of good and 
 evil. While he loved or feared Sejanus, though detested 
 for his cruelties, he observed a secrecy and caution in the 
 gratification of his lusts; but at last, when all restraints of 
 shame and fear were removed, and he was left to the un- 
 controled bent of his genius, he broke out at once into 
 acts of atrocious villany and revolting depravity.
 
 THE 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 A. 
 
 BOOK XI. 
 
 * * * * FOR Messalina, who believed that Valerius Asiati- 
 cus, who had been twice consul, was engaged in an adul- 
 terous intercourse with Poppffia, was bent upon his ruin; 
 and as she equally coveted his fine gardens, commenced 
 by Lucullus, but carried out on an extended scale and 
 adorned in a style of unexampled magnificence by himself, 
 she suborned Suilius to accuse both him and her. In the 
 plot was joined Sosibius, tutor to Britannicus, who under 
 the mask of friendship was to warn Claudius " to beware 
 of power and wealth in private hands, as dangerous to the 
 interests of princes ; that Asiaticus had been the princi- 
 pal promoter of the assassination of Caligula, nor feared 
 to avow it in a public assembly of the people, nor even to 
 claim the glory of the atrocious deed : hence he had de- 
 rived popularity in Rome : hence his fame was spread 
 through the provinces : and even now he meditated put- 
 ting himself at the head of the armies in Germany, for, 
 born at Vienna, and supported there by numerous and 
 powerful connections, he might whenever he chose excite 
 an insurrection of his countrymen." Claudius, without 
 further inquiry, speedily despatched Crispinus, captain of 
 the praetorian guards, with a body of soldiers, as if a war 
 had been to be crushed. He found him at Baias, and 
 hurried him to Rome in chains. 
 
 2. Neither was he allowed a hearing before the senate ; 
 but was privately tried in a chamber in the presence of 
 Messalina ; Suilius charging him " with corrupting the 
 soldiery, whom by money and abominable lusts, he con- 
 tended that he had engaged in his interest, associating 
 himself with them in every kind of enormity ; with his 
 adultery with Poppaea; and, lastly, with unnatural defile- 
 ments." On hearing this, unable to refrain from speak- 
 ing, the accused broke out, and said, " ask your own sons, 
 Suilius, they will allow that I am a man;" and entering 
 into his defence, he wrought powerfully upon Claudius,
 
 214 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. 
 
 and forced tears even from Messalina. But the empress 
 leaving the room to dry her eyes, warned Vitellius, " not 
 to suffer the accused to escape/' She hastened herself to 
 accomplish the doom of Poppa?a, by suborning persons to 
 drive her to a voluntary end by the terrors of imprison- 
 ment : a catastrophe of which the emperor was so utterly 
 unapprised, that a few days after, as her husband Scipio 
 was at table with him, he asked why he sat down without 
 his wife? when Scipio answered, that she was no more. 
 
 3. Now as Claudius was deliberating about acquitting 
 Asiaticus, Vitellius, weeping, reminded him of their an- 
 cient friendship, and the devotion which in common they 
 had ever paid to Antonia, the prince's mother; and then 
 recapitulating the services of Asiaticus to the common- 
 wealth, and in his recent expedition against Britain, with 
 every other argument calculated to excite compassion, 
 proposed after all merely that he should grant him the 
 free choice of his mode of death ; a sort of clemency of 
 which Claudius declared his approbation. Afterwards, 
 when some urged him to resort to abstinence, and die an 
 easy death, Asiaticus replied that he would not accept the 
 indulgence ; and persisting in his wonted exercises, he 
 bathed, and even supped cheerfully : and after declaring 
 that it would have been less ignominious to die by the 
 dark artifices of Tiberius, or the fury of Caligula, than 
 thus to fall by the base devices of a woman, and the un- 
 chaste lips of Vitellius, he opened his veins : but first he 
 viewed his funeral pile, and directed its removal into an- 
 other place, lest the smoke should injure the foliage of the 
 trees and diminish the shade. Such was his composure 
 in his last moments. 
 
 4. The senate was then summoned, and Suilius pro- 
 ceeded also to accuse the illustrious Roman knights, sur- 
 named ' Petra.' The cause of their destruction was, that 
 they had accommodated Valerius and Poppaea with the 
 use of their house as a place of assignation ; but to one of 
 them was objected a vision during the stillness of the 
 night, in which he had beheld Claudius crowned with a 
 chaplet of the ears of corn, their beards downwards ; 
 whence he foretold a dearth of corn: others have related, 
 that the chaplet he beheld was of vine branches with 
 white leaves ; which he construed to portend the death of 
 the prince at the close of autumn. It is undoubted, that 
 for a dream of some sort or other, both he and his brother 
 were sacrificed. To Crispinus were decreed the insignia 
 of the praetorship, and fifteen hundred thousand sesterces; 
 and to Sosibius ten, on the motion of Vitellius, for ser-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XL 215 
 
 vices rendered to Britannicus by his instructions, and to 
 Claudius by his counsels. Scipio } who was also asked his 
 opinion, said, " seeing I entertain of Poppaea's deeds the 
 same opinion as all others, consider that I express the 
 same vote :" thus observing a judicious mean between the 
 dictates of conjugal affection and the compulsion he was 
 under as a senator. 
 
 5. Suilius continued thenceforward an unremitting and 
 merciless accuser; and many emulated his audacity. For, 
 the emperor, by invading the authority of the magistrates, 
 and assuming the arbitrary dispensation of the laws, had 
 opened a field for rapine ; nor of all commodities publicly 
 exposed to sale, was aught so venal as the mercenary faith 
 of the pleaders: insomuch that Samius, an illustrious Ro- 
 man knight, having given Suilius a fee of four hundred 
 thousand sesterces, and finding that he was playing false, 
 fell upon his sword in the house of his advocate. The 
 consequence was, that a complaint of this grievance being 
 begun by Caius Silius, consul elect, whose power and 
 overthrow I shall record in their place, the whole senate 
 rose up as one man and demanded the revival of the Cin- 
 cian law ; which in ancient times afforded a barrier against 
 any man's receiving money, or a present of any kind, for 
 pleading a cause. 
 
 6. Hereupon the parties against whom this blow was 
 levelled, raising a clamour against the motion, Silius, who 
 was at variance with Suilius, urged it strenuously, quoting 
 " the examples of the ancient orators, who esteemed the 
 praises of posterity the fairest reward of eloquence : other- 
 wise, he said, an accomplishment the most dignified of 
 all others, would be debased by mercenary services : nor 
 would even faith remain inviolate, where the greatness of 
 the gains was regarded. But, if suits were matter of gain 
 to none, there would be fewer of them ; whereas now, 
 enmities, accusations, animosities, and wrongs, were fo- 
 mented; so that as the prevalence of diseases brought fees 
 to physicians, so the corruption of the bar was a source 
 of revenue to the pleaders. They might remember Cains 
 Asinius and Marcus Messala, and more lately Arruntius 
 and Eserninus ; that they arrived at the highest dignities 
 by a life unblemished, and eloquence unbought." This 
 reasoning of the consul elect met with the concurrence of 
 the senate, and a decree was about to pass, making them 
 liable to the penalties of the law against extortion, when 
 Suilius, Cossutianus, and the rest, who saw that the effect 
 of the decree was not to put them on their trial, for their 
 guilt was manifest, but to assign their punishment, ga-
 
 !>16 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XL 
 
 therecl round the prince, beseeching remission for what 
 was passed : and after he had, by a motion of his head, 
 signified his pleasure to hear them, they thus proceeded 
 to argue the matter. 
 
 7. " Where was the man," they said, "so presumptuous 
 as to anticipate an eternity of fame? That eloquence 
 formed an useful resource in the ordinary transactions of life 
 and in public affairs, to prevent any man's being trampled 
 upon by his superiors in power from the want of advo- 
 cates ; neither was eloquence acquired without pains and 
 expense ; they who professed it neglected their own do- 
 mestic concerns, to apply themselves to the business of 
 others. Many supported themselves by the profession of 
 arms, some by the cultivation of lands, but no man de- 
 voted himself to any pursuit except with a foresight of the 
 advantages it produced. Easily might Asinius and Mes- 
 sala, enriched as they were by the fruits of the war be- 
 tween Anthony and Augustus ; easily might the Esernini 
 and Arruntii, heirs of wealthy houses, assume that lofty 
 tone; they too were furnished with precedents in the large 
 remunerations which Publius Clodius and Caius Curio re- 
 ceived for their oratorical exertions. They were them- 
 selves senators of limited means, and in a state of public 
 peace sought only the rewards of peaceful employments. 
 The prince should consider the men of plebeian extrac- 
 tion, who rose to eminence by forensic occupations; if the 
 rewards of liberal pursuits were abolished, the pursuits 
 themselves would fall into decay." These arguments ap- 
 peared to the prince not devoid of force, although de- 
 ficient in dignity; he therefore fixed the maximum of re- 
 muneration to be received at ten thousand sesterces ; those 
 who took more to be held guilty of extortion. 
 
 8. About this time Mithridates, whom I have mentioned 
 to have reigned in Armenia, and to have been summoned 
 before Caligula, returned by the direction of Claudius to 
 his kingdom, confiding in the support of Pharasmanes. 
 The latter, who was king of the Iberians, and also bro- 
 ther of Mithridates, sent advice, " that dissensions pre- 
 vailed amongst the Parthians ; and that, while the fate of 
 their whole empire was in suspense, things of less moment 
 were neglected." For amidst the many cruelties of Gotar- 
 zes, who had concerted the murder of his brother Arta- 
 banus, with his wife and son, whence he had become an 
 object of terror to all others, they had invited Bardanes 
 to the throne ; a prince of great activity and enterprise ; 
 who in two days travelled three thousand furlongs, sur- 
 prised, terrified, and drove Gotarzcs from the throne.
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XL 21, 
 
 With the same expedition he seized the neighbouring pro- 
 vinces, all but Seleucia, which alone disowned his sway: 
 fired witli resentment against the Seleucians, as a people 
 who had likewise revolted from his father, rather than con- 
 sulting his present interest, he entangled himself in .the 
 siege of a city naturally strong, and rendered still more 
 secure by the protection of a river, a wall, and a facility of 
 introducing supplies. Meanwhile Gotarzes, strengthened 
 by forces from the Dahians and Hyrcanians, renewed the 
 war; and Bardanes, obliged to raise the siege of Seleucia, 
 retired to the plains of Bactria and there encamped. 
 
 9. In this distracted state of the powers in the east, and 
 while it was uncertain how it would terminate, an occasion 
 of possessing Armenia was ministered to Mithridates, as- 
 sisted by the Roman soldiers, who demolished the strong 
 holds ; and by the Iberians, who overran and wasted the 
 country. For the Armenians made no longer resistance, 
 after the fate of Demonax their governor, who had ven- 
 tured a battle, and was defeated : Cotys, king of the Les- 
 ser Armenia, to whom certain of the nobles had recourse, 
 presented a brief obstacle ; but he was restrained by let- 
 ters from the emperor; and the tide set in favour of Mith- 
 ridates, who fell however into measures more violent than 
 befitted a prince newly established. As to the Parthian 
 competitors, when preparing for a battle, they suddenly 
 struck a league, having been informed of a conspiracy of 
 their countrymen, which Gotarzes divulged to his brother. 
 On their interview, they were at first reserved and diffi- 
 dent, but at last joined hands, and then entered into an 
 engagement upon the altar of the gods, to revenge the 
 treason of their enemies, and settle their own disputes by 
 mutual concessions : Bardanes was held the more worthy 
 to retain the monarchy ; but Gotarzes, in order to remove 
 all occasion of jealousy, retired into the remotest parts of 
 Hyrcania. To Bardanes, upon his return, Seleucia was 
 surrendered, after having continued in a state of revolt 
 for seven years, to the dishonour of the Parthians, whose 
 efforts a single city had so long eluded. 
 
 10. He next took possession of the most powerful 
 provinces, and was proceeding to recover Armenia, but 
 Vibius Marsus, lieutenant of Syria, restrained him, by 
 threatening him with war. Meanwhile, Gotarzes regret- 
 ting his concession of the kingdom, and recalled by the 
 nobility, who felt the yoke of slavery more sensibly during 
 peace, formed an army, and was met as far as the river 
 Charinda by Bardanes, who after an obstinate fight in dis-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XL 
 
 puting the passage, remained conqueror ; and by a series 
 of victories subdued all the nations lying between that 
 river and the Gyndes, which parts the Dahians from the 
 Arians. There his conquests received a check ; for the 
 Parthians, though victorious, refused to serve at a long 
 distance from home. Accordingly, after erecting monu- 
 ments to testify his power, and that none of the Arsacidae 
 before him had obtained tribute from these nations, he 
 returned, covered with glory, and therefore the more im- 
 perious and insupportable to his subjects, who, according 
 to a preconcerted plot, slew him, while off his guard and 
 intent upon the chace, in the flower of his youth, but 
 equalled in renown by few aged kings, had he studied to 
 be beloved among his countrymen as much as he did to 
 be feared among his enemies. The assassination of Bar- 
 danes produced fresh commotions amongst the Parthians, 
 divided as they were about choosing a successor to the 
 throne : many inclined to Gotarzes ; some to Meherdates, 
 the grandson of Phrahates, and by him given as a hostage 
 to the Romans. Gotarzes eventually prevailed, but was 
 no sooner established than by a course of cruelties and 
 luxury, he forced the Parthians to send a secret memorial 
 to the Roman emperor, soliciting for Meherdates permis- 
 sion to ascend the throne of his ancestors. 
 
 11. Under the same consuls were celebrated the secular 
 games, eight hundred years after the founding of Rome; 
 and sixty-four after they had been exhibited by Augustus. 
 The computations of both princes I pass over, as having 
 been sufficiently explained by me in my History of the 
 emperor Domitian ; for, he too exhibited secular games, 
 at which I assisted in person, and the more assiduously as 
 I was invested with the quindecimviral priesthood, and 
 at that time prsetor ; a circumstance which from no vain 
 glory I relate, but because in ancient times the college of 
 fifteen presided in that festival, and the magistrates chiefly 
 discharged the offices of the solemnity. Whilst Claudius 
 beheld the exhibition in the Circus, the young nobility re- 
 presenting on horseback the game of Troy ; and amongst 
 them Britannicus, the emperor's son, with Lucius Domi- 
 tius, who was afterwards adopted into the Claudian family 
 by the name of Nero, and succeeded to the empire ; Do- 
 mitius was received with especial favour by the populace, 
 which was taken as a presage of his future greatness; and 
 currency was given to a tradition, "that in his infancy two 
 dragons were posted near him, like guards;" a mere fable, 
 and framed in imitation of the miraculous tales of foreign
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. fcit, 
 
 nations. For, Nero himself, a prince who never abridged 
 his own frame, was wont to declare that in his chamber 
 only one snake at most was seen. 
 
 12. But this partiality of the people arose from the me- 
 mory of Germanicus, of whom he was the only remaining 
 male descendant; and the popular commiseration for his 
 mother Agrippina was increased on account of the bar- 
 barity of Messalina, who always her relentless enemy, and 
 now inflamed with more than ordinary rage, was prevented 
 from fabricating charges and suborning accusers by a 
 new attachment which she carried to a pitch bordering on 
 frenzy ; for she was so vehemently enamoured of Caius 
 Silius, the handsomest of the Roman youth, that she 
 obliged him to divorce his wife Julia Silana, a lady of 
 high quality, and had her adulterer to herself. Nor was 
 Silius blind to the danger and malignity of his crime ; but 
 as it was certain destruction to decline her suit, and there 
 were some hopes of beguiling Claudius, while great re- 
 wards were held out to him, he was content to take the 
 chance of what might happen thereafter, and enjoy the 
 present advantages. The empress proceeded not stealthily, 
 but went to his house frequently, with a numerous train ; 
 accompanied him incessantly abroad, loaded him with pre- 
 sents and honours ; and, at last, as if the fortune of the 
 empire had been transferred with the emperor's wife, at 
 the house of her adulterer were now seen the slaves, 
 freedmen, and equipage of the prince. 
 
 13. As for Claudius, ignorant of what his own wife was 
 doing, and then exercising the functions of censor, he 
 rebuked the people by severe edicts for their wanton ex- 
 cesses at the theatres ; for they had offered gross insults to 
 Publius Pomponius, a man of consular rank, at a dramatic 
 representation which he had given to the stage ; and also 
 to several ladies of high rank. He restrained by an act 
 the barbarity of creditors, prohibiting their lending money 
 to young men, to be repaid with increase upon the death 
 of their fathers. The waters that rise in the Simbruine 
 hills, were by him conveyed to Rome : and to the Roman 
 alphabet he added letters of a new form, and made them 
 known ; having learnt that even that of Greece was not 
 devised and completed at once. 
 
 14. The Egyptians were the first who formed charac- 
 ters to represent the conceptions of the mind, and that by 
 figures of animals. Specimens of these, and they are the 
 most ancient monuments of the history of human kind, 
 are to be seen engraven upon stones. The Egyptians 
 also give out that they were the inventors of letters ; that
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XL 
 
 the Phoenicians learnt them from them, and as they were 
 the masters of the sea, introduced them into Greece, thus 
 acquiring celebrity as the inventors of what they had re- 
 ceived from others. For history records, " that Cadmus 
 arriving there in the Phoenician fleet, instructed the as 
 yet rude and uncultivated nations of Greece in that art." 
 Some hold, that " Cecrops the Athenian, or Linus of 
 Thebes, and Palamedes the Argive, who lived during the 
 Trojan times, invented the forms of sixteen letters ; and 
 that by others afterwards, especially by Simonides, the 
 rest were added." As to Italy, the Etruscans learned 
 tl>em of Damaratus the Corinthian ; the native Latins, of 
 Evander the Arcadian ; and the fashion of the Latin let- 
 ters was the same with the most ancient of the Greeks. 
 But we too had few at first, afterwards additions were 
 made to them. Claudius, following this example, added 
 three more, which continued in use during his own reign, 
 and were thenceforth abolished ; but are to this day seen 
 in the tables of brass on which are published the decrees 
 of the people, and which are fixed in the temples and great 
 squares. 
 
 15. He next made a representation to the senate con- 
 cerning the college of soothsayers ; " that they would not 
 suffer the most ancient discipline of Italy to be lost through 
 supineness: that frequently during times of public calamity 
 recourse was had to them ; and that by their counsel the 
 sacred ceremonies were retrieved, and cultivated there- 
 after with more strict observance: and that the nobility of 
 Etruria, whether from their own suggestion or at the in- 
 stance of the Roman senate, had always preserved the 
 science, and conveyed the same to posterity through cer- 
 tain families ; but that it was now neglected, from a gene- 
 ral indifference to worthy arts, and more especially from 
 the growing prevalence of foreign superstitions : it was 
 true that the republic at present prospered ; but it was 
 their duty to show their gratitude to the gods for it by 
 keeping up in prosperous times those sacred rites, which 
 had been cultivated in seasons of perplexity." Hence the 
 senate decreed, " that the pontiffs should inquire what 
 parts in the mystery of soothsaying ought to be retained 
 and confirmed." 
 
 16. The same year, the Cheruscan nation had recourse 
 to Rome for a king, their domestic wars having swept 
 away their nobles, and of the royal stock only one remain- 
 ing who resided in the city, named Italicus. He was the 
 son of Flavins the brother of Arminius, his mother the 
 daughter of Catumerus, prince of the Cattians. He was
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XL 221 
 
 himself of a handsome person, and trained to arms and 
 horsemanship as well after the manner of his own country 
 as of ours. The emperor therefore furnished him with 
 money and an escort, and exhorting him " boldly to as- 
 sume his hereditary honour," reminded him withal " that 
 he was the first who, being born at Rome, nor held as a 
 hostage there, but living as a citizen, went forth to ascend 
 a foreign throne." His accession was, at first, hailed with 
 joy by the Germans, the more so because as his mind was 
 untinctured with their civil dissensions, he showed no 
 particular favour to any in his conduct. The people 
 sounded his praises and paid him homage; sometimes he 
 showed himself all affability and moderation, qualities 
 that could provoke the displeasure of none ; but fre- 
 quently surrendered himself to drunkenness and libidinous 
 excesses, in which barbarians take delight. And now his 
 name was famous amongst the adjacent nations, and even 
 amongst those more remote ; when those who had flou- 
 rished during the reign of faction, taking umbrage at his 
 ascendancy, betook themselves to the several neighbour- 
 ing nations, and represented, " that the ancient liberty of 
 Germany was departed, and the Roman power triumphant. 
 Was there then," said they, " no native Cheruscan worthy 
 to fill the throne, that the offspring of Flavius the spy 
 must be lifted over all their heads? Vain was the pre- 
 tence of his relationship to Arminius ; since even the son 
 of Arminius were to be dreaded in the same station, if he 
 were bred, as he was, in a hostile soil, infected by a foreign 
 nurture, foreign slavery, foreign manners, foreign every- 
 thing : and if he inherited the spirit of his father, never 
 had man waged war against his native country and his 
 own household gods more rancorously than the father of 
 Italicus." 
 
 17. By these and similar incitements they got together 
 a numerous army ; nor were the followers of Italicus 
 fewer. They urged in vindication of him, " that he had 
 not seized the throne by force or invasion, but held it 
 by their own choice and invitation; and since in the splen- 
 dour of his descent he surpassed all others, it became them 
 to make trial of his virtues, and see whether he would 
 show himself worthy of his uncle Arminius, and his grand- 
 father Catumerus: nor need the son blush, that his father 
 had never violated that faith towards the Romans which 
 with the approbation of the Germans he had sworn to 
 keep : false and hypocritical was the pretence of liberty, 
 urged by those, who degenerate in their own lives, and 
 disastrous to the state, placed their only hopes in rending
 
 222 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. 
 
 their country by civil discord." The king had the hearts 
 and acclamations of the people ; and in a great battle be- 
 tween these Barbarians, he came off victorious ; but after- 
 wards, transported with his good fortune, he grew impe- 
 rious, was expelled, and again restored by the forces of 
 the Longobards ; and he continued to bring trouble on 
 the Cheruscan state no less in his prosperity than his ad- 
 versity. 
 
 18. About the same time the Chaucians, free from civil 
 dissensions, and encouraged by the death of Sanquinius, 
 governor of lower Germany, made incursions into that 
 province, under the conduct of Gannascus, while Corbulo 
 was on his way to succeed him. Gannascus was of the 
 country of the Caninefates, had long served the Romans 
 as an auxiliary, but deserted ; and furnishing himself with 
 some light barks, became a desperate pirate; infesting 
 principally the coasts of Gaul, a nation which he knew to 
 be rich and unwarlike. But when Corbulo entered the 
 province, he proceeded with the utmost circumspection, 
 and in this his first military command, laid the foundation 
 of his future glory ; he pushed his galleys down the chan- 
 nel of the Rhine, and the other vessels along the aestuaries 
 and canals, according as each was suited to the purpose. 
 Thus, having sunk the enemy's wherries, and driven out 
 Gannascus, he took order first for settling effectually the 
 affairs of the province, and then restored the ancient dis- 
 cipline amongst the legions, which were averse to military 
 toils and operations, and took delight in depredations only. 
 Under Corbulo no man dared to stir from his rank, nor, 
 without orders, attack the foe : the piquets, the watches, 
 all their duties by day or by night were constantly per- 
 formed under arms : it is reported, " that he punished a 
 soldier with death, for digging in the trenches without 
 his sword; and another for being there armed only with 
 his dagger." Instances these indeed of overmuch severity, 
 and withal of dubious authority; but still whether true or 
 false, their existence proves that the general was a strict 
 disciplinarian ; and one may conclude how vigilant in de- 
 tecting, and how inexorable in punishing offences of mag- 
 nitude, must have been the man who could be believed 
 capable of visiting trifling delinquencies with so much 
 asperity. 
 
 19. The terror inspired by this system, however, af- 
 fected the army and the enemy in opposite ways : the 
 courage of the Romans was augmented, the ferocity of the 
 Barbarians gave way under it. Hence the Frisians, who 
 after their rebellion, begun in the defeat of Lucius Apro-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. 223 
 
 nius, had continued in fierce hostility, or in a state of hol- 
 low and precarious allegiance, gave hostages, and settled 
 themselves in the territory assigned them by Corbulo : he 
 also placed them under the government of a senate, ma- 
 gistrates, and laws ; and, to insure their subjection, he 
 erected and garrisoned a fort in their country, despatch- 
 ing proper persons to solicit the greater Chaucians to sub- 
 mission, and at the same time to circumvent Gannascus. 
 The stratagem succeeded ; nor did its employment against 
 a deserter and a violator of his oath, reflect dishonour 
 on the Roman character ; yet, by his assassination, the 
 minds of the Chaucians were inflamed, and Corbulo fur- 
 nished them with occasion of rebellion ; and though his 
 conduct was applauded by most men, it did not escape the 
 censure of others: "why," they said, "should he provoke 
 a people to arms? Upon the commonwealth must light 
 the consequences of failure ; but, if success attended him, 
 a man so signally renowned would be dangerous to the 
 tranquillity of the state, and oppressive to a supine and 
 nerveless prince." Claudius therefore was so resolved to 
 prevent any fresh attempts upon Germany, that he or- 
 dered the Roman forces to recross the Rhine. 
 
 20. Corbulo was now encamping in the enemy's coun- 
 try, when a letter to that effect was delivered him. The 
 contents surprised him, and though a variety of reflections 
 crowded upon him at once, his dread of the emperor's 
 displeasure, the scorn of the Barbarians, the derision of 
 the allies ; yet without uttering a word more than that 
 "happy were the Roman generals of old;" he ordered the 
 retreat to be sounded. However, to prevent the soldiers 
 from relapsing into habits of idleness, he dug a canal three 
 and twenty miles long between the Meuse and the Rhine ; 
 by which occasional inundations by the sea might be car- 
 ried off. The emperor however allowed him the decora- 
 tions of triumph, though he had denied hfm the prosecu- 
 tion of the war. Shortly after, the same honour was con- 
 ferred on Curtius Rufus, who, in the territory of the Mat- 
 tiacians had opened a mine in which veins of silver were 
 to be found ; a source of small advantage, nor of long 
 continuance ; but the legions suffered from the labour of 
 making excavations to drain it, and from toiling under 
 ground at works which in the open air are arduous and 
 fatiguing. The soldiers therefore, overcome by these 
 hardships, and perceiving that the same drudgeries were 
 exacted from them in several provinces, wrote secretly to 
 the emperor, in the name of the armies, beseeching him 
 " to grant triumphal honours beforehand to those per-
 
 224 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. 
 
 sons whom he purposed to entrust with the command of 
 armies." 
 
 21. Of the original of Curtius Rufus, who is represented 
 hy some as the son of a gladiator, I would not give a false 
 account ; and yet I am ashamed to state the truth. As 
 soon as he was grown up, lie attended a Roman quaestor 
 into Africa ; where, at the city of Adrumetum, as he was 
 walking hy himself in a spacious portico at noon-day, the 
 vision of a woman exceeding human proportions appeared 
 before him, and a voice was heard to this effect: "Rufus, 
 hereafter you shall come into this province with procon- 
 sular authority." Inspired with high hopes hy such a 
 prediction, he returned to Rome, where by largesses on 
 the part of his friends and the vigour of his own genius, 
 he gained the qusestorship ; and standing afterwards for 
 the office of praetor against several noble competitors, car- 
 ried it hy the suffrage of Tiberius, who had thrown a veil 
 over his mean original by the following remark : "Curtius 
 Rufus seems to me to he descended from himself." With 
 regard to his subsequent history, a sorry flatterer of those 
 above him, overbearing to his inferiors, and surly to his 
 equals, he lived to a great age, obtained the consular 
 power, the honours of triumph, and lastly the government 
 of Africa ; where he fulfilled the presage of his destiny 
 and died. 
 
 22. About the same time Cnaeius Novius, a distinguished 
 Roman knight, was found armed with a dagger in the 
 throng of those who were paying their court to the prince; 
 but from what motives it did not appear at the time, nor 
 was afterwards discovered. For when he lay stretched 
 upon the rack, he confessed his own design, but named 
 no accomplices ; whether it was that he concealed them, 
 or had none, is uncertain. Under the same consuls it 
 was moved by Publius Dolabella, " that a public enter- 
 tainment of gladiators should be yearly exhibited at the 
 charge of such as obtained the office of quaestor." An 
 office which in the days of our ancestors had been the re- 
 ward of virtue ; and every Roman citizen, if his preten- 
 sions were founded on virtuous pursuits, was free to sue 
 for the magistracies ; nor was any distinction drawn with 
 respect to age, which could prevent them even in early 
 manhood from becoming consuls and dictators. As to the 
 quaestorship, it was instituted so far back as the time 
 of our kings, as is manifest from a law Curiata, re- 
 vived by Lucius Brutus ; and the power of choosing quae- 
 stors continued in the consuls till the people conferred 
 that honour also: Valerius Potitus and /Emilius Mamcr-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XL 225 
 
 cus, were the first popular queestors created, twenty-three 
 years after the expulsion of the Tarquins, to attend to the 
 pecuniary affairs of the armies : subsequently, upon the 
 multiplication of business, two more were added to officiate 
 at Rome. Some time afterwards, all Italy being now tri- 
 butary, and the revenues from the provinces added, the 
 number was doubled : Sylla next, in order to fill the se- 
 nate, upon which he had devolved the authority of ad- 
 judging causes, created twenty ; and though the eques- 
 trian order had since recovered the decision of suits, yet 
 the quaestorship was conferred freely, either according to 
 the dignity of the candidates, or the facility of those who 
 had the disposal of it, till by this motion of Dolabella, it 
 was exposed as it were to sale. 
 
 23. In the consulship of Aulus Vitellius and Lucius 
 Vipsanius, when the business of supplying the vacancies 
 in the senate was in agitation, and the nobility of that 
 part of Gaul called Comata, who had long since acquired 
 the distinction of confederates and citizens of Rome, now 
 sued for a participation of offices and honours ; many and 
 various were the reasonings of the public upon their pre- 
 tensions, and eager were the efforts of the opposite parties 
 to influence the mind of the prince : he was told, " that 
 Italy was not fallen so low, that she could not furnish a 
 supply of senators to her own capital. Of old her natives 
 sufficed for recruiting the people who were of the same 
 blood with themselves : nor was there any cause for con- 
 demning the institutions of the ancient republic. Nay, 
 even at this day, examples of virtue and renown were re- 
 ferred to, which the Roman genius had produced under 
 her ancient institutions. Was it not enough that the Ve- 
 netae and Insubrians had invaded the senate, but that a 
 host of foreigners, like a band of captives, must be intro- 
 duced ? What distinctions would remain to the old no- 
 bility ? or to any poor senator from Latium ? All public 
 honours would be engrossed by these opulent Gauls ; 
 whose fathers and forefathers at the head of hostile na- 
 tions, opposed and slaughtered our armies, and at Alesia 
 besieged the deified Julius : instances these of later days ; 
 but what if the recollection should flash across the mind, 
 of those who fell before the capitol and citadel of Rome 
 by the hands of these same men ? They might, in truth, 
 enjoy still the title of citizens; but not profane the ho- 
 nours of the senatorial! rank, or the splendours of the ma- 
 gistracy." 
 
 24. The emperor, little affected by these and similar 
 allegations, answered them off hand ; and then summon- 
 
 Q
 
 226 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. 
 
 ing the senate, thus addressed them : " My ancestors, the 
 oldest of whom, Attus Clausus, though of Sabine origin, 
 was at once enrolled among Roman citizens, and adopted 
 into the patrician rank, furnish me with a lesson that I ought 
 to pursue similar measures in directing the affairs of the 
 commonwealth, and transfer to Rome everything that is of 
 pre-eminent merit wheresoever found. Nor indeed am I 
 ignorant that from Alba we had the Julii, from Camerium 
 the Coruncanii, and the Porcii from Tusculum : and not 
 to enter into a minute detail of remote transactions, that 
 from Etruria, Lucania, and all Italy, persons have been 
 incorporated into the senate ? At last our city became 
 bounded only by the Alps ; so that not only separate in- 
 dividuals, but whole states and nations, became ingrafted 
 into the Roman name. We had solid peace at home, and 
 our arms prospered abroad, when the nations beyond the 
 Po were presented with the rights of citizens ; and when 
 under pretext of leading out our legions into colonies all 
 over the earth, and uniting with them the flower of the 
 natives, we recruited our exhausted state. Do we regret 
 that the Balbi migrated to us from Spain, or men equally 
 illustrious from the Narbon Gaul. Their descendants re- 
 main yet with us, nor yield to us in their love of this our 
 common country? What proved the bane of the Spartans 
 and Athenians, though potent in arms, but that they 
 treated as aliens and refused to unite with the conquered ? 
 On the other hand, so great was the wisdom of Romulus, 
 our founder, that he saw several people his enemies and his 
 citizens, in one and the same day. Foreigners have even 
 reigned over us. For magistracies to be intrusted to the 
 children of freedmen is no innovation, as many are erro- 
 neously persuaded, but a constant practice of the elder 
 people. But, it is urged, we have had wars with the Se- 
 nones : have the Volcians, have the ^Equians never en- 
 gaged us in battle? It is true, our capital has been taken 
 by the Gauls ; but by the Tuscans we have been forced to 
 give hostages; and by the Samnites to pass under the yoke. 
 However, upon a review of all our wars, none will be found 
 to have been more speedily concluded than that with the 
 Gauls ; and from that time uninterrupted peace has ex- 
 isted : identified with us in customs, in civil and military 
 accomplishments, and domestic alliances; let them rather 
 introduce amongst us their gold and wealth, than enjoy 
 them without our participation. All the institutions, con- 
 script fathers, which are now venerated as most ancient, 
 were once new : the plebeian magistrates were later than 
 the patricians ; the Latin later than the plebeian ; those
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. 227 
 
 of other nations in Italy came after the Latin : the pre- 
 sent admission of the Gauls will also wax old ; and what 
 is this day supported by precedents, will hereafter become 
 a precedent." 
 
 25. By a decree of the fathers, which followed this 
 speech, the ./Eduans first obtained the privilege of admis- 
 sion into the Roman senate, in consideration of their an- 
 cient confederacy with Rome, and because they alone of 
 all the Gauls, are entitled the brethren of the Roman 
 people. About the same time, all the ancient senators, 
 with those whose fathers had sustained offices of honour 
 in the state, were by Claudius enrolled in the patrician 
 order. For, of the families who by Romulus were named 
 of the elder class, or of those added by Lucius Brutus 
 and called the younger, there were few remaining : even 
 such as Caesar the dictator by the Cassian law, and the 
 emperor Augustus by the Senian law, had created patri- 
 cians, were now extinct. As these reformations by Clau- 
 dius, in quality of censor, were acceptable to the public, 
 he entered upon them with great alacrity. Anxiously de- 
 liberating how he might remove from the senate those 
 who were of infamous character, he determined to apply 
 a new and mild expedient, rather than to follow the ri- 
 gorous example of antiquity; and warned them, "to con- 
 sider each his own circumstances, and ask leave to retire 
 from the order; a request easily to be obtained." He said, 
 " he would include in one list, those who were expelled , 
 and those who were excused ; that the sentence of the 
 censor and a voluntary retirement from a sense of shame 
 being blended indiscriminately might mitigate the infamy 
 of expulsion." On account of these acts, the consul Vip- 
 sanius proposed, " that Claudius should be called ' the fa- 
 ther of the senate ; ' for that the name of father of his 
 country was a common title ; and his extraordinary bene- 
 fits to the commonwealth ought to be distinguished with 
 no ordinary appellations :" but the emperor thought the 
 flattery extravagant, and checked the consul. He then 
 closed the lustrum ; on which occasion the census of the 
 citizens was five millions nine hundred and eighty-four 
 thousand and seventy-two. From this time he remained 
 no longer a stranger to his domestic reproach, but was 
 brought to hear and punish the crimes of his wife; which 
 was followed by his burning for an incestuous union with 
 his niece. 
 
 26. Messalina now, the facility of ordinary adulteries 
 having produced satiety, broke forth into unheard-of ex- 
 cesses ; when even Silius, whether impelled by some fatal
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. 
 
 infatuation, or judging that the dangers hanging over him 
 were only to be averted by boldly confronting them, urged 
 " that all disguises should now be renounced, for matters," 
 he said " were gone too far for them to wait for the death 
 of the emperor: blameless counsels were for the inno- 
 cent, but in glaring guilt safety must be sought in reck- 
 less daring. They were backed by accomplices who 
 dreaded the same doom. As for himself, he was single, 
 childless, ready to marry her, and to adopt Britannicus : 
 to Messalina would still remain her present power ; with 
 the addition of security, if they anticipated Claudius; who, 
 as he was unguarded against the approaches of stratagem, 
 so was he headstrong and impetuous when provoked to 
 anger. These suggestions were but coldly received by 
 Messalina ; from no love to her husband ; but lest Silius, 
 when he had gained the sovereignty, should scorn his 
 adulteress ; and the treason, which in his present perilous 
 predicament he approved, would then be estimated ac- 
 cording to its real desert. She however coveted the name 
 of matrimony, from the greatness of the infamy attaching 
 to it; which, with those who are prodigal of fame, forms 
 the crowning gratification of depraved appetite. Nor staid 
 she longer than till Claudius went to Ostia, to assist at a 
 sacrifice ; when she celebrated her nuptials with Silius, 
 with all the usual solemnities. 
 
 27. I am aware that it will appear fabulous, that any 
 human beings should have exhibited such recklessness of 
 consequences ; and that, in a city where everything was 
 known and talked of, any one, much more a consul elect, 
 should have met the emperor's wife, on a stated day, in 
 the presence of persons called in, to seal the deeds, as for 
 the purpose of procreation, and that she should have 
 heard the words of the augurs, entered the house of 
 the husband, sacrificed to the gods, sat down among the 
 guests at the nuptial banquet, exchanged kisses and em- 
 braces, and in fine passed the night in unrestrained con- 
 jugal intercourse. But I would not dress up my narrative 
 with fictions to give it an air of marvel, rather than relate 
 what has been stated to me or written by my seniors. 
 
 28. The consequence was, that the domestic circle of 
 the prince was horror-struck ; especially those who had 
 the chief sway, and who dreaded the result, if the state of 
 things should be changed, no longer confined themselves 
 to secret communications, but exclaimed with undisguised 
 indignation, " that while the emperor's bedchamber was 
 made the theatre for a stage-player to dance upon, a re- 
 proach was indeed incurred, but the immediate dissolu-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XL 
 
 lion of the state was not immediately threatened : a young 
 man of noble rank, of fascinating person, mental vigour, 
 and just entering upon the consulship, was addressing 
 himself to higher objects ; nor was it any enigma what re- 
 mained to be done after such a marriage." It is true, 
 when they reflected on the stupidity of Claudius, his blind 
 attachment to his wife, and the many lives sacrificed to 
 her fury, they were unable to divest themselves of appre- 
 hensions : again, even the passive spirit of the emperor re- 
 vived their confidence, that, if they could first possess him 
 with the horrid blackness of her crimes, she might be de- 
 spatched without trial. But the danger turned upon this, 
 that she might make a defence ; and that even if she con- 
 fessed her guilt, the emperor might be deaf to that evi- 
 dence also. 
 
 29. But first it was deliberated by Callistus, whom in 
 relating the assassination of Caligula, I have already men- 
 tioned ; by Narcissus, who plotted the murder of Appius ; 
 and by Pallas, then the reigning favourite, whether, feign- 
 ing ignorance of all the other circumstances, they should 
 compel Messalina to break off her amour with Silius by 
 secret menaces ; but they afterwards abandoned this pro- 
 ject from fear, lest they should themselves be dragged to 
 execution as culprits. Pallas was fainthearted ; and Cal- 
 listus, a courtier in the last reign also, had learnt by ex- 
 perience, that power was secured more effectually by wary 
 measures, than by daring counsels. Narcissus persisted ; 
 with this difference only, that he took care not to let fall 
 a word by which she might know beforehand the charge 
 against her or her accuser; and watching all occasions, 
 while the emperor lingered at Ostia, he prevailed with 
 two courtezans, who were the chief mistresses of Claudius, 
 to undertake the task of laying the matter before him, by 
 means of presents and promises, and by representing to 
 them in attractive colours " that by the fall of his wife, 
 their own influence would be increased." 
 
 30. Calpurnia therefore, for that was the name of the 
 courtezan, upon the first occasion of privacy, falling at the 
 emperor's feet, exclaimed, " that Messalina had married 
 Silius ;" and at the same time asked Cleopatra, who pur- 
 posely attended to attest it, " whether she had not found 
 it to be true ?" Claudius upon a confirmation from Cleo- 
 patra, ordered Narcissus to be called. He, when he came, 
 begged pardon for his past conduct in having concealed 
 from the prince her adulteries while they were limited to 
 the Vectii and Plautii ; " nor meant he now," he said, " to 
 charge Silius with adulteries ; nor urge that he should re-
 
 230 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. 
 
 store the house, the slaves, and the other decorations of 
 imperial fortune: the adulterer might still enjoy these: 
 let him only break the nuptial tables, and restore the em- 
 peror's wife. Know you, Caesar, that you are in a state 
 of divorce? in the face of the people, and senate, and sol- 
 diery, Messalina has espoused Silius : and unless you act 
 with despatch, her husband is master of Rome." 
 
 31. He then sent for his most confidential friends, par- 
 ticularly for Turranius, superintendent of the stores ; next 
 for Lusius Geta, captain of the pragtorian guards ; and 
 inquired of them : as they avouched it, the rest beset 
 him with clamorous importunities, that he should forth- 
 with proceed to the camp, secure the praetorian cohorts, 
 and consult his preservation before his revenge. It is cer- 
 tain that Claudius was so confounded and panic-struck, 
 that he was incessantly asking "whether he were still em- 
 peror? whether Silius was still a private man?" As to 
 Messalina, she never wallowed in greater voluptuousness ; 
 it was then the middle of autumn, and in her house she 
 exhibited a representation of the vintage: the wine-presses 
 were plied, the wine vats flowed, and round them danced 
 women begirt with skins, like Bacchanalians at their sa- 
 crifices, or under the maddening inspiration of their deity : 
 she herself, with her hair loose and flowing, waived a 
 thyrsus ; by her side Silius, crowned with ivy, and wear- 
 ing buskins, tossed his head about ; while around them 
 danced the wanton choir in obstreperous revelry. It is 
 reported, that Vectius Valens, having in a frolic climbed 
 to the top of an exceeding high tree, when asked what 
 he saw, answered, " a terrible storm from Ostia:" whether 
 it was that a vision of that kind presented itself to his 
 mind, or that an expression uttered fortuitously proved a 
 presage of the truth. 
 
 32. It was now no longer vague rumour ; but mes- 
 sengers poured in on all sides with tidings " that Clau- 
 dius was apprised of all, and approached, bent upon in- 
 stant vengeance. " They separated ; Messalina betook 
 herself to the gardens of Lucullus; and Silius, to dissem- 
 ble his fear, resumed the offices of the forum. As the 
 rest were slipping off different ways, the centurions came 
 up with them and bound them, some in the street, others 
 in lurking places, according as each was found. Messa- 
 lina, however, though in her distress incapable of delibera- 
 tion, formed the bold resolution of meeting her husband, 
 and presenting herself to his view; an expedient which 
 had often proved her protection : she likewise ordered 
 that Britannicus and Octavia should go forth and embrace
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. 231 
 
 their father; and besought Vibidia, the oldest vestal, to 
 intercede with the chief pontiff, and earnestly importune 
 his clemency. She herself meanwhile traversed on foot 
 the whole extent of the city, attended only by three per- 
 sons (so suddenly had her whole train forsaken her), and 
 then in a cart employed to carry out dirt from the gar- 
 dens, took the road to Ostia ; unpitied by any one, as 
 the deformity of her crimes overpowered every feeling of 
 the kind. 
 
 33. Claudius was in a state of no less trepidation; for he 
 could not implicitly rely on Geta, the captain of his guards; 
 an equally fickle instrument of fraud or honesty. Nar- 
 cissus therefore in concert with those who entertained the 
 same mistrust, assured the emperor, " that there was no 
 other expedient to preserve him than the transferring the 
 command of his guards to one of his freedmen, for that 
 day only;" and offered himself to undertake it. And, 
 that Lucius Vitellius and Publius Largus Caecina, might 
 not on his way to the city prevail with Claudius to relent, 
 he desired to have a seat in the same vehicle, and took it. 
 
 34. It was afterwards currently reported, that, while 
 the emperor was giving expression to the opposite feel- 
 ings which agitated his breast, at one time inveighing 
 against the atrocities of his wife, and then at length re- 
 curring to the recollection of conjugal intercourse and the 
 tender age of his children, Vitellius uttered nothing but 
 "Oh! thevillany! Oh! the treason!" Narcissus indeed 
 pressed him to discard all ambiguity of expression, and 
 let them know his real sentiments ; but he did not there- 
 fore prevail upon him to give any other than indecisive 
 answers, and such as would admit of any interpretation 
 which might be put upon them ; and his example was fol- 
 lowed by Largus Caecina. And now Messalina was in 
 sight, and importunately called on the emperor " to hear 
 the mother of Octavia and Britannicus," when her ac- 
 cuser drowned her cries with the story of Silius, and the 
 marriage, and delivered at the same time to Claudius a 
 memorial reciting all her whoredoms ; to divert him from 
 beholding her. Soon after, as the emperor was entering 
 Rome, it was attempted to present to him his children by 
 her; but Narcissus ordered them to be taken away: he 
 could not however prevent Vibidia from insisting, with 
 earnest remonstrances, " that he would not deliver his 
 wife to destruction without a hearing :" so that Narcissus 
 was obliged to assure her, that the prince would hear Mes- 
 salina, who should have full opportunity of clearing her-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. 
 
 self; and advised the vestal to retire, and attend the so- 
 lemnities of her goddess. 
 
 35. The silence of Claudius, while all this was going on, 
 was matter of astonishment : Vitellius seemed like one 
 who was not in the secret ; the freedman controled every- 
 thing ; by his command, the house of the adulterer was 
 opened, and the emperor escorted thither ; where the first 
 thing he showed him, was the statue of Silius, the father, 
 in the porch, though it had been decreed to be demolished 
 by the senate ; then that all the articles belonging to 
 the Neros and Drusi, had now become the price of dis- 
 honour. Thus incensed, and breaking forth into menaces, 
 he led him direct to the camp, where the soldiers being 
 already assembled, by the direction of Narcissus, he made 
 them a short speech ; for shame prevented his giving ut- 
 terance to his indignation, though he had just cause for 
 it. The soldiers then clamoured unremittingly and im- 
 portunately that the culprits should be tried and punished. 
 Silius was placed before the tribunal, he made no de- 
 fence ; he sought no delay, but begged only to be de- 
 spatched immediately. Illustrious Roman knights also 
 with similar firmness of mind were eager for a speedy 
 death. He therefore commanded Titius Proculus, as- 
 signed by Silius as a guard to Messalina; Vectius Valens, 
 who confessed his guilt, and offered to discover others ; 
 Pompeius Urbicus and Saufellus Trogus, as accomplices ; 
 to be all dragged to execution : on Decius Calpurnianus 
 too, praefect of the watch ; Sulpicius Rufus, comptroller 
 of the games ; and Juncus Virgilianus, the senator, the 
 same punishment was inflicted. 
 
 36. Mnester alone caused some hesitation : he tore off 
 his clothes and called upon the emperor " to behold upon 
 his body the impressions of the lash ; to remember his 
 own commands, obliging him to submit to the pleasure 
 of Messalina without reserve : others had been tempted 
 to the iniquity by great presents or aspiring hopes; but his 
 offence was forced upon him ; nor would any man have 
 sooner perished had Silius gained the sovereignty." These 
 considerations affected Claudius, and strongly inclined him 
 to mercy ; but his freedmen overruled him : they urged, 
 " that after so many illustrious sacrifices, he should by no 
 means think of saving a player ; that in a crime of such 
 enormity, it mattered not whether he had committed it 
 from choice or necessity." As little effect had the defence 
 even of Traulus Montanus : a youth of signal modesty 
 and remarkably handsome, summoned by Messalina to her
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. 
 
 bed without any solicitation on his part, and in one night 
 cast oft'; such was the wantonness with which her passion 
 was alike surfeited and inflamed. The lives of Suilius 
 Caesoninus and Plautius Lateranus, were spared ; of the 
 last on account of the noble exploits of his uncle : the other 
 was protected by his vices, as one who, in the late abo- 
 minable society, had prostituted himself like a woman. 
 
 37. Meanwhile Messalina was in the gardens of Lucul- 
 lus, still striving to prolong her life, and composing sup- 
 plications to the prince, sometimes in the language of 
 hope, at others giving vent to rage and resentment, so in- 
 domitable was her insolence even under the immediate 
 prospect of death. And had not Narcissus hastened her 
 assassination, the doom which he had prepared for her 
 would have recoiled upon himself. For Claudius, upon 
 his return home, experienced a mitigation of his wrath, 
 from the effects of a sumptuous repast; and as soon as he 
 became warm with wine, he ordered them " to go and ac- 
 quaint the miserable woman (for this was the appellation 
 which he is said to have used) that to-morrow she should 
 attend and plead her cause." These words indicated that 
 his resentment was abating, his wonted affection return- 
 ing ; besides, if they delayed, the effect of the following 
 night, and the reminiscences which the conjugal chamber 
 might awaken in Claudius, were matter for alarm: Nar- 
 cissus therefore rushed forth, and directed the tribune and 
 centurions then attending upon duty, " to despatch the ex- 
 ecution, for such," he said, "was the emperor's command." 
 With them he sent Euodus of the freedmen, as a watch 
 upon them, and to see his orders strictly fulfilled. Euodus 
 flew before them to the gardens, and found her lying along 
 upon the earth : her mother, Lepida, sitting by her side ; 
 who during her prosperity had not lived in harmony with 
 her ; but, in this her extreme necessity, was overcome by 
 compassion for her, and now persuaded her " not to wait 
 for the executioner : the course of her life was run ; and 
 her only object now should be to die becomingly." But a 
 mind sunk and corrupted by debauchery, retained no sense 
 of honour: she was giving way to bootless tears and la- 
 mentations when from the shock of the approaching party 
 the door flew open : the tribune stood in silence before 
 her ; but the freedman upbraided her with many and in- 
 solent reproaches, characteristic of the slave, 
 
 38. Then for the first time she became deeply sensible 
 of her condition, and laying hold of the steel, applied it 
 first to her throat, then to her breast, with trembling and 
 irresolute hand, when the tribune ran her through ; her
 
 234 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XI. 
 
 corpse was granted to her mother. Tidings were then 
 carried to Claudius " that Messalina was no more ;" with- 
 out distinguishing whether by her own or another's hand; 
 neither did he inquire : but called for a cup of wine, and 
 proceeded in the usual ceremonies of the feast : nor did 
 he, indeed, during the following days, manifest any symp- 
 tom of disgust or joy, of resentment or sorrow, nor in short 
 of any human affection; not when he beheld the accusers 
 of his wife exulting at her death ; not when he looked 
 upon her mourning children. The senate aided in effacing 
 her from his memory, by decreeing " that from all public 
 and private places her name should be rased, and her 
 images removed." To Narcissus were decreed the deco- 
 rations of the quaestorship ; a very small reward indeed, 
 considering his towering elevation ; for he was more in- 
 fluential than Pallas and Callistus.
 
 THE 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 ** 
 
 BOOK XII. 
 
 UPON the death of Messalina, the imperial palace was 
 torn with a contest among the freedmen. The question 
 was, which of them should choose a wife for Claudius ; 
 who was impatient of a single life, and submitted to be 
 ruled by the partners of his bed. Nor were the ladies 
 animated by an emulation less ardent, each maintaining 
 her superiority in rank, beauty, and wealth, and displaying 
 her pretensions to the exalted connection. But the com- 
 petition lay principally between Lollia Paullina, daughter 
 of Marcus Lollius, a man of consular rank, and Julia Agrip- 
 pina, daughter of Germanicus ; the latter supported by 
 the interest of Pallas, the other by that of Callistus. 
 But JE\\a Petina, of the Tuberonian family, had the coun- 
 tenance of Narcissus. Claudius, who was sometimes hot 
 upon one, at other times upon another, according as he 
 was persuaded by his several advisers, summoned his dis- 
 cordant counsellors to deliberate on the point, desiring 
 them to deliver their opinions and support them by argu- 
 ments. 
 
 2. Narcissus recommended " his former wife Petina, by 
 whom he had a daughter (for Antonia was her daughter), 
 and argued that by resuming his old connection, he would 
 introduce into his family no innovation ; but a woman who 
 would never exhibit the spirit of a stepmother towards 
 Britannicus and Octavia, as they were closely allied to her 
 own children." Callistus urged " that she had been long 
 divorced, in consequence of the emperor's disapprobation 
 of her, and if she were taken back again, that very circum- 
 stance would inflame her pride: Lollia would be a much 
 more eligible match ; who, having no issue of her own, was 
 free from every motive of emulation, but would treat her 
 step-children with the tenderness of a parent." Pallas 
 chiefly recommended Agrippina from the consideration, 
 " that she would bring with her the grandson of Germani- 
 cus, who was in every view worthy of the imperial fortune :
 
 5336 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 herself of noble descent, and a fit bond of union to the 
 posterity of the Claudian family, provision ought to be 
 made that a woman who had shown herself fruitful, and 
 was still in the freshness of youth, should not transfer the 
 splendour of the Caesars to another house." 
 
 3. The reasonings of Pallas prevailed, enforced as they 
 were by the fascinations of Agrippina ; who under colour 
 of relationship, was assiduous in her visits to her uncle, 
 and won him so effectually, that she was preferred to the 
 others, and though not yet his wife, already exercised the 
 influence belonging to that relation. For when secure of 
 her own marriage, she began to concert further plans of 
 ambition, and concoct a match between Domitius, her son 
 by Cnaeius ^nobarbus, and Octavia, the emperor's daugh- 
 ter : a design which could not be accomplished without 
 the grossest iniquity, as the emperor had betrothed Oc- 
 tavia to Lucius Silanus, whom, when a youth and other- 
 wise celebrated, Claudius had recommended to the favour 
 of the people by presenting him with splendid triumphal 
 ornaments, and by a magnificent exhibition of gladiators 
 in his name. But nothing appeared insurmountable which 
 depended on the will of a prince, who had neither pre- 
 ference nor aversion, but such as were infused and directed 
 by others. 
 
 4. Vitellius, therefore, who could veil his fraudulent 
 servility with the name of censor, foreseeing who would 
 carry all before them in the strife for power, sought to 
 ingratiate himself with Agrippina, by entering into her 
 plans, and laid the foundations of charges against Silanus, 
 whose sister, Junia Calvina, beautiful indeed but impru- 
 dent, had been not long before the daughter-in-law of Vi- 
 tellius. Hence he took occasion for the accusation, and 
 construed into infamy a fraternal affection not incestuous, 
 but unguarded ; and the emperor listened to the charge, 
 as his affection for his daughter rendered him the more 
 prone to entertain suspicions against his son-in-law. As 
 for Silanus, unapprised as he was of the plot, and he hap- 
 pened to be prastor that year, he was suddenly degraded 
 from the rank of a senator, by an edict of Vitellius, not- 
 withstanding the senate had been recently reviewed, and 
 the lustrum closed : Claudius, at the same time, annulled 
 the connection ; Silanus was compelled to renounce his 
 magistracy ; and for the unexpired day of his praetorship, 
 the office was conferred upon Eprius Marcellus. 
 
 5. During the consulship of Caius Pompeius and Quin- 
 tus Veranius, the marriage previously agreed upon be- 
 tween Claudius and Agrippina, was now ratified by the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 237 
 
 public voice and their own criminal commerce. They 
 dared not however to celebrate the nuptials, as there was 
 no precedent of an uncle's taking to wife his brother's 
 daughter. Besides, the connection was incestuous; and 
 if that were disregarded, it was apprehended that it might 
 issue in some public calamity. This hesitation continued 
 till Vitellius undertook to accomplish the business by me- 
 thods of his own. He asked the emperor, " whether he 
 would submit to the sense of the people, and the authority 
 of the senate?" Claudius answered, "that he himself 
 was one of the people, and could not withstand the con- 
 sentient voice of them all :" Vitellius then desired him to 
 wait the issue within the palace, and went himself to the 
 senate; where after a solemn declaration, that he had some- 
 what to communicate of the highest importance to the 
 commonwealth, he obtained leave to be heard before any 
 other ; when he commenced by saying, " that the over- 
 powering labours of the prince, in governing the world, 
 called for support and assistance, in order that, relieved 
 from domestic cares, he might attend the interests of the 
 public. Moreover, what more honourable alleviation of 
 the cares which oppress the mind of a censor, than to 
 take a wife who might share his good fortune and his dis- 
 tresses, to whom he might commit his most secret thoughts 
 and the care of his little ones, unhabituated as he was to 
 luxury and voluptuousness, but accustomed to yield obe- 
 dience to the laws from his earliest years ? " 
 
 6. After thus prefacing his object in a speech calcu- 
 lated to win applause, and which was followed by many 
 expressions of servile acquiescence from the fathers, be- 
 ginning afresh, he said " that seeing they all were of opinion 
 that the prince should marry, it became necessary that a 
 lady should be selected who was distinguished by family, 
 the fertility of her womb, and unblemished purity of man- 
 ners. Nor had they long to search before they would find 
 that Agrippina stood pre-eminent for the splendour of her 
 lineage ; had given proofs of her fruitfulness ; and came 
 up to their requirements in virtuous accomplishments : it 
 was indeed a singularly happy circumstance, that through 
 the providence of the gods, she was a widow, and might 
 be united with a prince who had ever confined himself to 
 his own wives. They had heard from their fathers, nay, 
 themselves had seen, that wives were ravished from their 
 husbands, at the lawless caprice of the Caesars: a proceed- 
 ing far from the moderate spirit of the present ruler ; nay, 
 rather a precedent was being established which might 
 guide an emperor in taking a wife. But, amongst them it
 
 238 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 seemed an innovation to marry their brother's daughters ; 
 a usage frequent in other nations, nor by any law forbid- 
 den. The intermarriage of cousins-german was a practice 
 long unknown, yet in time became frequent: customs were 
 to be suited to exigencies ; and this very novelty was one 
 of those things which would soon be followed and prac- 
 tised." 
 
 7. There were several senators who declared with emu- 
 lous zeal, " that if the emperor lingered longer, they would 
 compel him," and rushed out of the senate. A promis- 
 cuous multitude likewise assembled, and proclaimed with 
 shouts, " that the same was the voice and demand of the 
 Roman people." Nor did Claudius delay any further, but 
 proceeded to the Forum, to receive in person their greet- 
 ings and acclamations ; and entering the senate, required 
 " a decree to legalise for ever the marriages between un- 
 cles and their brothers' daughters." But no man however 
 was found who desired this kind of alliance, except Titius 
 Alledius Severus, a Roman knight ; and he, as many be- 
 lieved, urged to it by the influence of Agrippina. From 
 this moment the city assumed a different character, and 
 a woman had the control of everything : who, however, 
 did not, like Messalina, mock and trample upon the in- 
 terests of the state in the extravagance of her lewdness. 
 The despotism exercised was strict as though it were 
 under the direction of a man ; in her public conduct she 
 was grave and rigid, frequently haughty and overbearing; 
 no departure from chastity was observable in her domestic 
 deportment, unless it were necessary to support her power; 
 while an insatiable thirst for money was veiled under the 
 pretext of its uses in maintaining the imperial authority. 
 
 8. On the day of the nuptials, Silanus slew himself; 
 whether it was that up to that time he had entertained hopes 
 of life, or chose that day to increase the odium the deed 
 would excite. His sister Calvina was banished Italy ; and 
 to her sentence Claudius added an injunction to the pon- 
 tiffs, " that, according to the institution of king Tullus, 
 they should offer sacrifices and atonements at the grove 
 of Diana:" a proceeding which was treated with universal 
 derision, that penalties and expiations for incest should 
 be devised at such a juncture. As for Agrippina, that 
 she might not be distinguished only for nefarious deeds, 
 she obtained for Annaeus Seneca a reversal of his exile, 
 and with it the praetorship ; favours which she supposed 
 would prove acceptable to the public, on account of his 
 high renown for learning. She also wished that the youth- 
 ful mind of her son Domitius should be trained up to man-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 239 
 
 hood under such a preceptor, and that he might have the 
 benefit of his counsels in realising his hopes of imperial 
 power : for Seneca, she believed, would continue faith- 
 fully attached to her from ties of gratitude ; and incensed 
 against Claudius from resentment of his wrongs. 
 
 9. It was now thought expedient to hesitate no longer; 
 and Memmius Pollio, the consul elect, was gained by vast 
 promises, to move the senate, that Claudius might be so- 
 licited " to betroth Octavia to Domitius :" a match not un- 
 suitable in respect of both their ages, and such as would 
 open the way to matters of greater moment: Pollio moved 
 it much in the same words with those lately used by Vi- 
 tellius : Octavia was betrothed ; and Domitius, besides his 
 former relationship, being now also the affianced son-in- 
 law of the emperor, was raised to a parity with Britannicus, 
 an elevation which he owed to the interest of his mother, 
 and the devices of those who having been the accusers of 
 Messalina, dreaded the vengeance of her son. 
 
 10. I have before related that ambassadors from the 
 Parthians were sent to Rome, to solicit Meherdates for 
 their king: they were at this time introduced into the 
 senate, where they opened their embassy to this effect ; 
 they said " they were not uninformed of the treaty sub- 
 sisting between Rome and Parthia ; nor came they as re- 
 volters from the family of the Arsacidae ; but to declare 
 their attachment to the son of Vonones, the grandson of 
 Phrahates, that he might rescue them from the tyranny of 
 Gotarzes ; a tyranny equally insupportable to the nobility 
 and the commons : already his brothers, his kinsfolk, and 
 others standing in more remote relations, had been all cut 
 oft* by him: and to them were adding their pregnant wives 
 and tender children; while he, in peace a sluggard, and 
 a pest in war, sought to hide his dastard spirit by acts of 
 cruelty : that with us the Parthians had an ancient friend- 
 ship, founded upon public treaties ; and it behoved us to 
 succour allies who rivalled us in power, but yielded the 
 first place to us from motives of veneration. That the sons 
 of their kings were given as hostages to the Romans, with 
 this understanding, that when disgusted with their do- 
 mestic government, that they might have a refuge in the 
 emperor and the senate, from whom they might receive a 
 new and better king, trained up under their auspices in 
 the manners and habits of the Romans." 
 
 11. When they had urged these and similar arguments, 
 Claudius commenced a reply, by adverting to the proud 
 elevation of the Roman name, and the deference paid to it 
 by the Parthians; and placing himself upon a level with the
 
 .'10 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 deified Augustus, represented that from him also they had 
 sought a king; but omitted all mention of Tiberius, though 
 he too had sent them kings. He further addressed some 
 precepts to Meherdates, who was also present, admonish- 
 ing him " that he should not consider his government as a 
 tyranny, nor his people as slaves ; but regard himself in 
 the light of a chief magistrate, and the people as his fellow- 
 citizens ; that he should cultivate justice and clemency ; 
 blessings unknown to Barbarians, and thence so much the 
 more likely to reconcile them to the yoke." Then turning 
 to the ambassadors, he spoke of the young prince in terms 
 of high commendation, " as the foster-son of the city, and 
 moreover of exemplary conduct ;" still however he admo- 
 nished them, " that they should bear with the humours of 
 kings, and that frequent changes were injurious to their 
 interests ; that the Roman state was so thoroughly sa- 
 tiated with military glory, that she studied the repose of 
 foreign nations also." It was therefore given in commis- 
 sion to Caius Cassius, governor of Syria, to conduct the 
 young king to the banks of the Euphrates. 
 
 12. This Cassius surpassed all his contemporaries in the 
 knowledge of laws : for, in a state of repose from war, mi- 
 litary arts are intermitted ; and, during peace, there is no 
 distinction between the strenuous and the inactive. Still 
 however, so far as it was permitted him in the absence of 
 war, he revived the ancient discipline, kept the legions in 
 constant exercise, exerted precisely the same diligence 
 and precaution as if an enemy were menacing him; feeling 
 that such conduct became the renown of his ancestors and 
 the Cassian family, which was celebrated even amongst 
 those nations. Having encamped at Zeugma, the most 
 convenient place for passing the river, and having called 
 together those by whose advice a king was sought from 
 Rome, as soon as the Parthian chiefs, and with them Ag- 
 barus, king of the Arabs, were arrived, he warned Meher- 
 dates, " that the zeal of Barbarians, impetuous in its first 
 sallies, lost its energy by delays or changed sides ; he 
 should therefore press on his enterprise :" advice which 
 he neglected, through the treachery of Agbarus, who de- 
 tained the young king many days at the city of Edessa ; 
 inexperienced as he was, and possessed with a notion that 
 the essence of royalty consisted in luxury: and though 
 Carrhenes solicited them, and assured them that success 
 was certain, if they advanced with speed, they neglected 
 entering Mesopotamia, which was close at hand, but turned 
 off to go to Armenia, at that time unfavourable to his 
 operations, as the winter had already set in.
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 241 
 
 13. As they descended into the plains, wearied with the 
 snows and mountains, Carrhenes joined them with his 
 forces. Thence they passed the Tigris, and crossed the 
 country of the Adiabenians, whose king, Izates, had ostens- 
 ibly espoused the interest of Meherdates, though secretly 
 and with more sincerity, he inclined to that of Cotarzes. 
 In the course of their progress they took the city Ni- 
 nos, the ancient seat of the Assyrian empire, as also the 
 castle of Arhela, so renowned in story as the scene of the 
 last battle between Darius and Alexander, in which the 
 power of Persia was overthrown. Gotarzes meanwhile 
 was sacrificing upon mount Sambulos to the gods of the 
 place ; and amongst these Hercules with especial so- 
 lemnity, who, at stated times, warns the priests in a dream, 
 " to prepare him horses equipped for hunting, and place 
 them by the temple;" the horses, when furnished with 
 quivers full of arrows, scour the forests, and return at 
 night with empty quivers, and panting vehemently: again, 
 the god, in another vision of the night, describes the 
 course he took in traversing the woods ; and beasts are 
 found stretched upon the ground in all directions. 
 
 14. Gotarzes, as his troops were not yet assembled in 
 sufficient force, took advantage of the river Corma as a 
 protection, and though challenged to battle by insults and 
 heralds, still procrastinated, shifted his position, and em- 
 ployed emissaries meanwhile to bribe the enemy to re- 
 nounce their engagements. Izates, leader of the Adiabe- 
 nians, and presently Agbarus, king of the Arabs, went off 
 with their -respective armies, with the fickleness of those 
 barbarous nations, and in confirmation of previous expe- 
 rience, that they would rather sue for a king from Rome, 
 than be governed by one. Meherdates thus bereft of these 
 powerful allies, and apprehending treasonable designs in 
 the rest, determined, as his only resource, to commit the 
 issue to fortune, and risk a battle : nor did Gotarzes, in- 
 spirited by the diminution of the enemy's forces, decline 
 the challenge. A sanguinary conflict ensued, and the 
 event was doubtful, till Carrhenes, having overthrown 
 those that opposed him, pursuing his victory too far, was 
 hemmed in on the rear by a body of reserve. This blow 
 annihilated the hopes of Meherdates; who trusting to the 
 promises of Parrhaces, a dependent of his father's, was 
 betrayed by him and delivered in chains to the conqueror. 
 Gotarzes disowning him " for a kinsman, or one of the fa- 
 mily of the Arsacidse," and reviling him as a " foreigner 
 and a Roman," cut off his ears, and bid him live as a me- 
 morial of his own clemency, and of our degradation. After 
 
 R
 
 MC THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 this, Gotarzes fell sick and died ; and Vonones, then go- 
 vernor of Media, was called to the throne ; a prince dis- 
 tinguished by nothing memorable, fortunate, or diastrous : 
 his reign was short and inglorious, and the government of 
 Parthia devolved upon his son Vologeses. 
 
 15. On the other hand, Mithridates of Bosporus, who 
 since the loss of his territories wandered from place to 
 place, having learnt that Diclius, the Roman commander, 
 had retired with the flower of his army, and that Cotys, a 
 young prince void of experience, was left in his new king- 
 dom with only a few cohorts under Julius Aquila, a Roman 
 knight, looked upon both with contempt, incited the neigh- 
 bouring people to arms, drew over deserters, and lastly, 
 having thus assembled an army, drove the king of the 
 Dandaridae from his throne, and seized his dominions. 
 Upon these tidings, apprehending that he would instantly 
 invade Bosporus, Aquila and Cotys, who distrusted their 
 own forces, as Zorsines king of the Siracians, had resumed 
 hostilities, had recourse themselves to foreign favour, and 
 despatched ambassadors to Eunones, prince of the Ador- 
 sians. Nor was it difficult to engage him in their cause, 
 when they represented the power of the Romans in com- 
 petition with the rebel Mithridates. It was therefore 
 accorded, " that Eunones should encounter the enemy 
 with the cavalry, and the Romans undertake the siege of 
 towns." 
 
 16. Then they advanced in a combined body, of which 
 the Adorsians composed the front and rear ; the cohorts 
 and troops of the Bosporus, armed like Romans, formed 
 the strength of the centre. Thus they discomfited the 
 enemy, and arrived at Soza, a city of the Dandaridae, de- 
 serted by Mithridates; in which it was judged proper to 
 leave a garrison, on account of the doubtful affections of 
 the inhabitants. Thence they proceeded against the Sira- 
 cians, and crossing the river Panda besieged the city Us- 
 pes, situated upon a hill and well fortified with walls and 
 moats, except that the walls being not formed of stone, but 
 crates and hurdles with earth between, were unable to 
 bear an assault ; towers were raised high enough to over- 
 look them, and thence the besieged were infested with 
 darts and brands ; and had not night interrupted the 
 assault, the city had been besieged and carried within a 
 single day. 
 
 17. Next day they sent deputies to solicit pardon for 
 the free; ten thousand slaves they proposed to give up: 
 conditions rejected by the conquerors, since the massacre 
 of such as were surrendered would have been inhuman ;
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 and to secure such a host of prisoners, extremely diffi- 
 cult: it was therefore resolved that they should fall in 
 the regular course of war ; and to the soldiers who had 
 mounted the walls, the signal for slaughter was given. 
 The overthrow of Uspes terrified its neighbours, who 
 now believed that nothing could be secure against the 
 Romans ; since arms and bulwarks, heights and fast- 
 nesses, rivers and towns, were equally surmounted by 
 them. Hence Zorsines, after long deliberation whether 
 still to adhere to the desperate fortune of Mithridates, 
 or consult the security of his own 'dominions, when at 
 length the interest of his own nation prevailed, gave 
 hostages, and prostrated himself before the image of Clau- 
 dius ; to the signal glory of the Roman army, which it ap- 
 peared had advanced, in a course of bloodless victory, 
 within three days' journey of the river Tanais: but in their 
 return, the same fortune did not attend them ; for certain 
 vessels, as they went back by sea, were driven upon the 
 shores of the Taurians, and the Barbarians seizing them, 
 slew the leader of a cohort and most of the centurions. 
 
 18. Mithridates meanwhile, finding no resource in arms, 
 deliberated to what quarter he should look for mercy: his 
 brother Cotys he dreaded as one who had formerly be- 
 trayed him, and then became his open enemy : of the 
 Romans, there was none at hand of such weight that his 
 engagements could be depended upon : he therefore de- 
 termined to apply to Vonones, who had no quarrel of his 
 own with him, and was influential by virtue of his late 
 alliance with us. With a mien and garb studiously adapted 
 to his present fortune, he entered the palace, and, throw- 
 ing himself at the feet of Eunones, " I am Mithridates," 
 said he; "I who have been pursued by the Romans for so 
 many years through sea and land, stand before you, of my 
 own choice; deal as you please with a descendant of the 
 great Achaemenes: it is the only advantage of which *my 
 enemies have not bereaved me." 
 
 19. Eunones was affected by the renown of the prince, 
 his reverse of fortune, and the undegenerate tone of his 
 prayer. He raised his suppliant from the earth, and 
 praising him for preferring the Adorsians, and committing 
 himself to his honour in suing for pardon, despatched am- 
 bassadors to Claudius with letters to this purport: " The 
 alliances of the Roman emperors with the kings of mighty 
 nations," he said, " were founded upon a similitude of 
 fortune ; himself and Claudius also were united in the 
 participation of a common victory ; that the most brilliant 
 terminations of war wefe those in which matters were set-
 
 Ml THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 tied by pardoning the vanquished : in this manner was 
 /orsines conquered, but deprived of nothing. For Mi- 
 thridates, who had offended more grievously, neither 
 power nor a kingdom were craved, but an exemption from 
 capital punishment, and the ignominy of being led in 
 triumph." 
 
 #0. Claudius, though lenient to illustrious foreigners, 
 was at a loss whether it were more advisable to receive 
 the captive on terms of mercy, or to seek redress by arms. 
 A painful sense of injuries, and the thirst of vengeance, 
 strongly incited him to the latter course; but, on the 
 other hand, it was argued, " that a war must be under- 
 taken in a remote and rugged country, upon a sea desti- 
 tute of havens ; moreover, against fierce and warlike kings, 
 and nations unsettled and vagabond ; where the soil was 
 unproductive, where prompt measures would be danger- 
 ous, and lengthened operations disheartening and weari- 
 some ; small the glory of victory, great the infamy of re- 
 pulse : the emperor ought, therefore, readily to embrace 
 the overture, and spare the life of the exile ; who, the 
 longer he lived in a state of destitution, would suffer so 
 much the severer punishment." These considerations 
 moved Claudius, and he wrote to Eunones, " that Mithri- 
 dates had, indeed, merited to be made an example of by 
 extreme severity, nor wanted he power to inflict it ; but it 
 was a principle established by his ancestors, that sup- 
 pliants should be treated with a lenity as boundless as the 
 rigour with which an unrelenting foe was pursued. As 
 for triumphs, they were only to be acquired by the con- 
 quest of entire kingdoms and nations." 
 
 21. Mithridates was, after this, delivered to Julius Cilo, 
 the procurator of Pontus, and by him carried to Rome, 
 where, in the presence of the emperor, he is said to have 
 spoken with more haughtiness than suited his fortune : 
 a speech of his to the following effect was much talked of: 
 " I am not brought back to you, Ca?sar; but of my own 
 choice I have returned ; or, if you do not believe me, let 
 me go, and try to retake me." When, too, he was exposed 
 to the view of the people at the rostrum, and encompassed 
 with guards, his countenance continued perfectly un- 
 daunted. To Cilo were decreed the consular ornaments, 
 and to Aquila those of the praetorship. 
 
 22. During the same consulship, Agrippina, ever impla- 
 cable in her hate, and enraged at Lollia for having con- 
 tended with her for the emperor's hand, framed crimes 
 against her, and suborned an accuser, to tax her, " with 
 dealing with the magicians and Chaldeans, and con-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 245 
 
 suiting the oracle of the Clarian Apollo, concerning that 
 match." Claudius, then, without hearing the accused, after 
 a long preface, addressed to the senate, on the splendour 
 of her birth and circumstances, " that by her mother she 
 was niece to Lucius Volusius ; Cotta Messalinus her great 
 uncle, herself formerly married to Memmius Regulus," 
 (for of her marriage with Caligula he purposely said no- 
 thing) added, " that she had meditated schemes injurious 
 to the commonwealth, and must be divested of the means 
 of treason ; that her estate should therefore be confis- 
 cated, and herself banished from Italy." Thus, out of her 
 immense wealth, only five millions of sesterces were left 
 her. Calpurnia too, another illustrious lady, was doomed 
 to ruin, because the prince had praised her beauty, though 
 from no passion for her, but merely in casual discourse : 
 for which reason, the vengeance of Agrippina stopped 
 short of death. To Lollia, a tribune was despatched, 
 to compel her to destroy herself. Cadius Rufus was like- 
 wise convicted, under the act against public plunder, at 
 the suit of the Bithynians. 
 
 23. To the province of Narbon Gaul it was granted, 
 in consideration of the distinguished reverence paid by 
 its people to the senate, that Roman senators of that 
 province should be allowed the same privilege with those 
 of Sicily, of visiting their estates there without leave ob- 
 tained of the prince : and the countries of Iturea and 
 Judea, were, upon the death of their kings Sohemus and 
 Agrippa, annexed to the government of Syria. It was also 
 resolved that the augury as to tjje will of the gods in the 
 matter of imploring divine protection, which, for five and 
 twenty years, had been disused, should be revived, and 
 thereafter regularly observed : and the emperor extended 
 the consecrated precincts of the city, according to ancient 
 institution, which impowered such as had advanced the 
 limits of the empire, to enlarge also the bounds of the 
 city : a right which hitherto was never exercised by any 
 of the Roman captains, though they had subdued mighty 
 nations, before Sylla the dictator, and the deified Au- 
 gustus. 
 
 24. The motives of ostentation or ambition which influ- 
 enced our kings in this matter have been variously stated. 
 But I think it not impertinent to show where the first 
 foundations began, and what was the circuit fixed by 
 Romulus. Now, from the ox market, where still is seen 
 the brazen statue of a bull, because by that animal the 
 plough is drawn, a furrow was cut to describe the bounda- 
 ries of the town, so as to include the great altar of Her-
 
 246 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 cules : thence, stones were placed, at certain intervals, 
 along the foot of mount Palatine, to the altar of Consus ; 
 soon after, to the Old Courts: then, to the small temple 
 of the Lares; and, lastly, to the great Roman forum, 
 which, as well as the Capitol, it is believed, was added to 
 the city, not by Romulus, but by Tatius. With the in- 
 crease of her empire, the city afterwards continued to in- 
 crease : and what were the boundaries now established 
 by Claudius, is easily learnt, as they are detailed in the 
 public records. 
 
 25. In the consulship of Caius Antistius and Marcus 
 Suilius, the adoption of Domitius was hurried on by the 
 influence of Pallas ; who, as he had brought about the 
 late marriage of Agrippina, and afterwards became leagued 
 with her in adultery, being wholly addicted to her interest, 
 stimulated Claudius " to provide for the exigency of the 
 commonwealth, and support the infancy of Britannicus 
 with a collateral stay : so with the deified Augustus, 
 though he had grandchildren of his own to recline upon, 
 the sons of his wife were raised to power. Thus, too, Ti- 
 berius, notwithstanding he had a son of his own, adopted 
 Germanicus : and thus he, also, should fortify himself 
 with the aid of a young prince, who might take upon him 
 a share of the public cares." To these considerations 
 Claudius yielded, and, in preference to his own son, 
 adopted Domitius, older only by two years ; declaring the 
 adoption to the senate in a speech to the same effect as 
 that of his freedman to him. It was observed, by men 
 conversant with such matters, that history recorded no 
 adoption, before this, into the patrician family of the 
 Claudii; which, from Attus Clausus, had maintained its 
 descent continuous and entire. 
 
 26. The prince, however, received the thanks of the 
 senate, accompanied with expressions of more refined 
 flattery towards Domitius : and a law was carried through 
 the house, decreeing his adoption into the Claudian fa- 
 mily, and his assumption of the name of Nero : Agrippina 
 was also further distinguished by the title of Augusta. 
 When these measures were effected, not a man was found 
 so void of compassion as not to be affected with grief at 
 the situation of Britannicus. Bereft, by little and little, even 
 of the help of slaves, he ridiculed the officious attentions 
 of his stepmother, well aware of her treachery, for he is 
 said not to have wanted quickness of understanding : whe- 
 ther it were really so, or that, regarded with favour on 
 account of his hard fortune, he retained the reputation of 
 it, without affording proof that he deserved it.
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 247 
 
 27. But Agrippina, that she might display her power 
 even to the nations our allies, procured a colony of vete- 
 rans to be sent to the capital of the Ubians, the town in 
 which she was born, and which was called after her own 
 name : it had also been the lot of her grandfather Agrippa, 
 when that people came over the Rhine, to receive them 
 under the protection of the Romans. At that same time, 
 the higher Germany was in a state of alarm, from an irrup- 
 tion of the Cattians, on an expedition of plunder : hence 
 Lucius Pomponius, the Roman general, ordered the auxi- 
 liary Vangiones and Nemetse, with the addition of the 
 allied cavalry, " to get in front of the depredators, or to 
 pour upon them unawares, when they separated." The 
 soldiers exerted themselves to give effect to the plan of 
 the commander: having divided themselves into two bands, 
 that which marched to the left, enclosed them just as they 
 were returned, while labouring under the effects of ex- 
 cessive indulgence in the fruits of their rapine, and sunk 
 in sleep. Their joy was increased by rescuing some pri- 
 soners, who had been taken at the time of the overthrow 
 of Varus, forty years ago. 
 
 28. The body that turned to the right, and by a shorter 
 cut, meeting the enemy, who ventured to engage them, 
 made a greater slaughter. So that, laden with booty, and 
 covered with glory, they returned to mount Taunus, where 
 Pomponius waited with his legions, prepared for ba,ttle, 
 if the Cattians, from a desire for revenge, should afford 
 opportunity for fighting : but, as they dreaded being as- 
 saulted on every side ; here, by the Romans, there, by the 
 Cheruscans, with whom they are incessantly at enmity, 
 they despatched deputies and hostages to Rome. To 
 Pomponius was decreed the honour of triumph ; from 
 which, however, he derives but a slender share of his fame 
 among posterity, with whom every other title to consider- 
 ation is merged in the celebrity of his poems. 
 
 29. It was at this time, too, that Vannius, formerly 
 created king of the Suevians by Drusus Caesar, was driven 
 from his kingdom. In the early period of his reign, he 
 enjoyed a high reputation, and was in favour with his 
 countrymen: but, intoxicated with long possession of 
 power, grew, afterwards, imperious; so that he was at 
 once hated by the neighbouring states, and entangled in 
 a combination of his own subjects. It was conducted by 
 his own sister's sons, Vangio and Sido, and Vibillius king 
 of the Hermundurians : nor would Claudius, though often 
 entreated, engage in the quarrel of the Barbarians : he 
 only answered the suit of Vamiius, by a promise of a safe
 
 24S THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 refuge, in case of expulsion ; and wrote to Publius Attel- 
 lius Mister, governor of Pannonia, " to hold in readiness, 
 on the banks of the Danube, his legion, with a body of 
 auxiliaries raised in the province itself; to succour the 
 vanquished, and awe the conquerors ; lest, elated by suc- 
 cess, they might venture also to disturb the peace, of the 
 empire." For the Ligians and other nations were arriving 
 in swarms, allured by the fame of that wealthy kingdom, 
 which for thirty years Vannius had been enriching by de- 
 predations and exactions. His own native troops were 
 foot, and his horse were from the lazygians of Sarmatia ; 
 a force unequal to the multitude of his enemies : hence he 
 determined to confine himself to his strongholds, and pro- 
 tract the war. 
 
 30. But the lazygians, impatient of a siege, and roving 
 about the adjacent country, created a necessity of fighting, 
 as the Ligians and Hermundurians attacked them in that 
 situation. Vannius, therefore, issuing from his fortresses, 
 was overthrown in battle : but not without praise, even in 
 his defeat, as he engaged in the battle with his own hand, 
 and exposed liis breast to the weapons of the enemy: he 
 then fled to his fleet, which lay waiting for him in the 
 Danube, and was soon followed by his adherents, who 
 were settled in Pannonia, and portions of land assigned 
 them. Vangio and Sido parted his kingdom between 
 them, and were exemplary in their fidelity towards us, 
 much beloved by their subjects, while they were yet ac- 
 quiring domination, and, after it was acquired, still more 
 hated : whether this arose from the character of their 
 own minds or that of their subjects. 
 
 31. In Britain, Publius Ostorius, the propraetor, found 
 affairs in a troubled state ; the enemy making irruptions 
 into the territories of our allies, with so much the more 
 insolence, as they suppossed that a new general, with an 
 army unknown to him, and now that the winter had set 
 in, would not dare to make head against them. But as he 
 was convinced that, by the first events of war, confidence 
 or consternation was produced in an enemy, he instantly 
 led forth his cohorts at a rapid pace, put to the sword all 
 who resisted, followed up those who were dispersed, and 
 lest they should reunite, and thus an angry and heartless 
 peace afford no repose to the general or his troops, he 
 determined to deprive of arms all whom he suspected, 
 and, by means efforts, to confine them between the rivers 
 Nen and Severn : a determination thwarted first by the 
 Iceniaris, a powerful people, who, having of their own 
 accord become our confederates, were weakened by no
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 249 
 
 assaults of war. Under their guidance, the bordering na- 
 tions selected, as a position for a battle, a place fenced in 
 by a rude rampart, and the approach narrow, so that it 
 might not be passable by the horse. The Roman general, 
 though, unsupported by the flower of the legions, he had 
 with him only the allied troops, prepared to break through 
 their works; and, having disposed his cohorts in suitable 
 positions, he employed the horsemen in the duties of foot- 
 soldiers. Upon the signal given, they forced the rampart 
 and discomfited the enemy, who were hampered with their 
 own barriers : but from the conscious guilt of rebellion, 
 and all egress being precluded, they performed many and 
 memorable feats of bravery. In this battle, Marcus Osto- 
 rius, the son of the general, having saved the life of a 
 Roman citizen, acquired the civic crown. 
 
 32. For the rest, the overthrow of the Icenians deter- 
 mined those who were wavering between peace and war 
 to remain quiet; the army was led thence against the Can- 
 gians, wasted their territories, and gathered booty on all 
 sides : the enemy not daring to encounter them openly, 
 or if they attempted to gall them on their march by covert 
 attacks, it was not with impunity. He had now approached 
 near the sea which washes the coast of Ireland, when 
 commotions, begun amongst the Brigantes, obliged the 
 general to return thither ; as he had formed a settled de- 
 termination not to prosecute any new enterprise till his 
 former were completed and secure. The Brigantes, in- 
 deed, soon returned to their homes, a few who raised the 
 revolt having been slain, and the rest pardoned : but nei- 
 ther rigour nor clemency could induce the Silures to aban- 
 don their resolution of prosecuting hostilities ; nor could 
 they be quelled but by encamping the legions among 
 them. To facilitate this design, a colony, consisting of a 
 powerful body of veterans, was conveyed to Camalodunum, 
 to settle upon the conquered lands, as a resource against 
 the rebels, and for initiating the allies in the requisitions 
 of the Roman laws. 
 
 33. Then he marched against the Silures, a people 
 resolute and fierce by nature; and, moreover, rendered 
 confident by the valour of Caractacus, whom his many 
 perplexities and many victories had raised to a pre- 
 eminence over all other generals of the Britons. But, 
 though possessing an advantage in the dangerous nature 
 of the localities, yet, as he was inferior in the number of 
 his troops, he cunningly transferred the seat of war to the 
 territory of the Ordovicians, where, being joined by all 
 such as feared a peace with the Romans, he resolved to
 
 250 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 put all to the hazard of a battle. For this purpose he 
 chose a place against which it was difficult to advance, and 
 from which it was as difficult to retreat ; every way in- 
 commodious to our army, and every way favourable to his 
 own. He then took post upon the ridges of some lofty 
 mountains, and, where their sides were gently inclining 
 and approachable, he piled up stones for a rampart : his 
 position was also skirted by a river, dangerous to be 
 forded; and troops of soldiers manned his entrenchments. 
 
 34. Moreover, the chieftains of the several nations were 
 busily employed in going from rank to rank, exhorting 
 and animating their followers by dissipating their fears, 
 by kindling their hopes, and by the other incitements 
 employed in war. But as for Caractacus, he flew from 
 one quarter to another, protesting " that from that day, 
 that battle, they would have to date the recovery of li- 
 berty, or the commencement of interminable bondage." 
 He invoked by name " those ancestors who had repulsed 
 the dictator Cassar ; by whose valour they had lived ex- 
 empted from the terrors of the Roman axes and the op- 
 pression of Roman tributes, and were enabled to keep the 
 persons of their wives and children uncontaminated." As 
 he thus harangued them, he was answered by the accla- 
 mations of the multitude; and each soldier bound himself 
 by the oath held most sacred by his nation, " that they 
 would never turn away from the weapons of the enemy, or 
 shrink from wounds." 
 
 35. This display of courage and alacrity amazed the 
 Roman general ; besides, the river to be passed, the ram- 
 part they had raised, the frowning ridges of the moun- 
 tains, every part exhibiting symptoms of fierce determina- 
 tion, and every post well manned all these things alarmed 
 him. But, the soldiers demanded battle ; all things, they 
 cried, were to be surmounted by courage ; and the prse- 
 fects and tribunes, by expressing similar sentiments, in- 
 flamed the ardour of the army. Ostorius seizing the au- 
 spicious moment, having carefully surveyed the situation, 
 where inaccessible, and where to be passed, led them on 
 thus excited ; and without much difficulty cleared the 
 river. When he approached the bulwark, while the con- 
 flict was carried on by means of missiles, there were more 
 of our men wounded, and many began to fall; but after 
 they had formed themselves into the military shell, de- 
 molished the rude and shapeless structure of stones, and 
 encountered hand to hand upon an equality, the Bar- 
 barians betook themselves to the ridges of the mountains, 
 and thither also our soldiers forced their way, both the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 251 
 
 light and heavy-armed ; the former assailing them with 
 darts, the latter fighting foot to foot, while the ranks of 
 the Britons, on the other hand, were broken, as they had 
 no covering of breastplates or helmets; and if they re- 
 sisted the auxiliaries, they were slaughtered by the swords 
 and javelins of the heavy-armed, and by the sabres and 
 spears of the auxiliaries, when they faced the heavy-armed. 
 Glorious was the victory gained that day : the wife and 
 daughter of Caractacus were taken prisoners, his brothers 
 also surrendered at discretion. 
 
 36. Caractacus himself sought the protection of Car- 
 tismandua, queen of the Brigantes, but, as is generally 
 the case, adversity can find no sure refuge ; he was de- 
 livered up in chains to the conquerors, in the ninth year 
 after the commencement of the war in Britain. Whence 
 his renown overpassing the limits of the isles, spread over 
 the neighbouring provinces, and became celebrated even 
 in Italy ; where all longed to behold the man, who, for so 
 many years, had defied the Roman arms : not even at 
 Rome was the name of Caractacus unassociated with 
 fame ; and the emperor, while exalting his own glory, 
 added to that of the vanquished. For the people were 
 summoned to see him, as a rare spectacle ; and the prae- 
 torian bands stood under arms in the field before their 
 camp. Then first the servants and followers of the British 
 king moved in procession, and the trappings and collars, 
 and all he had taken in wars with his neighbours; were 
 borne along ; next came his brothers, his wife and daugh- 
 ter ; and last himself, attracting the gaze of all. All the 
 rest descended to humiliating supplications under the im- 
 pulse of fear ; but Caractacus, who seemed not to solicit 
 compassion either by dejected looks or pitiful expressions, 
 as soon as he was placed before the imperial tribunal, thus 
 spoke : 
 
 37. " If my moderation in prosperity had been as great 
 as my lineage was noble, and my successes brilliant, I 
 should have entered this city as a friend, rather than as a 
 captive ; nor would you then have disdained to receive a 
 prince descended from illustrious ancestors, and the ruler 
 of many nations, into terms of alliance. My present lot, 
 as it is to me ignominious and degrading, so is it a matter 
 of glory and triumph to you. I had men and arms, horses 
 and riches ; where is the wonder if I was unwilling to part 
 with them ? If you Romans aim at extending your domi- 
 nion over all mankind, it does not follow that all men should 
 take the yoke upon them. Had I at once been delivered 
 into your hands a prisoner at discretion, neither had my
 
 252 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 fall nor your glory been thus signal. If you inflict pu- 
 nishment upon me, the affair will sink into oblivion ; but 
 if you preserve my life, I shall form an imperishable re- 
 cord of your clemency." Claudius upon .this pardoned 
 him, with his wife, and his brothers. The prisoners re- 
 leased from their chains, did homage to Agrippina also, 
 who at a short distance occupied another throne, in full 
 view of the assembly, with the same expressions of praise 
 and gratitude, as they had employed to the emperor. A 
 spectacle this, strange and unauthorised by the customs 
 of our ancestors, for a woman to preside over the Roman 
 ensigns. She herself claimed to be a partner in the em- 
 pire which her ancestors had acquired. 
 
 38. The senate after this was assembled, when many 
 and pompous encomiums were pronounced upon the cap- 
 ture of Caractacus ; it was represented as an event "no 
 less illustrious than when Syphax was by Publius Scipio, 
 Perses by Lucius Paulus, or any other conquered kings 
 were by any of our great captains, presented in chains to 
 the Roman people." To Ostorius the triumphal orna- 
 ments were decreed ; and thus far his administration had 
 been successful; but it was afterwards chequered with 
 misfortunes ; whether it was, that upon the captivity of 
 Caractacus, the war was thought concluded, and therefore 
 less attention was paid to military matters ; or that the 
 enemy in compassion for so gi*eat a king, sought revenge 
 with more intense ardour. They poured down upon the 
 praefect of the camp and legionary cohorts, left to rear 
 fortified posts amongst the Silures ; and but for speedy 
 succours from the neighbouring towns and ports, our 
 troops had then been cut in pieces : as it was, the praefect 
 himself and eight centurions were slain, with the most re- 
 solute of the soldiers ; and soon after they entirely routed 
 our foragers, and even the troops of horse sent to relieve 
 them. 
 
 39. Ostorius then drew out the light-armed cohorts ; 
 nor was he thus able to stay the flight ; nor would it have 
 been effected had not the legions been brought into the 
 field. By their powerful efforts the balance was first re- 
 stored, and then turned in our favour. The enemy fled, 
 but, as day was declining, with slight loss. Henceforward 
 there were frequent encounters, many of them resembling 
 skirmishes with plundering parties; sometimes in the woods, 
 sometimes in morasses, as chance or valour led them ; on 
 the impulse of the moment, or advisedly; from resentment, 
 or for booty ; by command of their officers, and often 
 without their knowledge. The Silures were the most de-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 253 
 
 termined of all ; as they were incensed by an expression 
 of the Roman general currently reported amongst them, 
 " that their name must be utterly extinguished, as was 
 that of the Sugambrians, who had been partly slain, and 
 the rest transplanted into Gaul." They therefore cut off 
 two auxiliary cohorts as they were plundering the coun- 
 try without due circumspection, from the avarice of their 
 officers : and by distributing the spoil and captives amongst 
 the neighbouring nations, they were drawing them also 
 into the revolt, when Ostorius sinking under the weight 
 of his anxieties, expired ; to the great joy of the enemy, 
 who considered that a formidable general had sunk tinder 
 the effects of the campaign, though he had not fallen in 
 battle. 
 
 40. The emperor apprised of the death of his lieu- 
 tenant, that the province might not be without a governor, 
 replaced him by Aulus Didius. On his arrival, after a 
 quick voyage, he found that the cause had suffered ; for 
 the legion commanded by Manlius Valens had in the mean 
 time sustained a defeat : the report of which was magni- 
 fied by the enemy, to terrify the new general; and aggra- 
 vated by Didius himself to gain greater glory, if he quelled 
 the rebellion ; or a more plausible apology if it were pro- 
 tracted. This loss too we suffered from the Silures, who 
 were making incursions on all hands, till Didius now set 
 upon them and repulsed them. Their most accomplished 
 leader, since the taking of Caractacus, was Venusius, of 
 the city of the Jugantes, as I have above mentioned ; long 
 faithful to the Romans, and protected by their arms during 
 his marriage with the queen Cartismandua ; but being 
 afterwards divorced from her, and then immediately at 
 war with her, he conceived hostile purposes towards us 
 also. Their arms at first were only employed against each 
 other; but the queen having by subtle stratagems pos- 
 sessed herself of the brother and other kindred of Venu- 
 sius ; the enemy became exasperated, and scorning the in- 
 famy of falling under the dominion of a woman, assembled 
 all their ablest and most warlike youth, and invaded her 
 territories : an event foreseen by us ; so that we had sent 
 some cohorts to her aid, and a fierce battle ensued, in 
 which the first onset was doubtful, but the issue success- 
 ful. A similar fortune attended a battle fought by the 
 legion commanded by Caesius Nasica. For Didius, op- 
 pressed with the weight of years and loaded with honours, 
 was content to act by his lieutenants, and keep the foe in 
 check. All these transactions, though spread over several 
 years, under two propraetors, Ostorius and Didius, I have
 
 254 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 connected ; lest, if interrupted, they should be less con- 
 veniently remembered. I now return to the order of 
 
 41. During the consulship of Claudius for the fifth 
 time, with Servius Cornelius Orfitus, that Nero might ap- 
 pear qualified for entering upon state affairs, the manly 
 gown was given him while under age. The emperor 
 yielded willingly to the flattering decree of the senate ; 
 " that in his twentieth year he should enter on the con- 
 sulship ; and that meanwhile, as consul elect, he should 
 be invested with proconsular authority out of the city, 
 and be .styled prince of the Roman youth." Moreover, in 
 Nero's name a largess was bestowed upon the soldiers, 
 and another upon the people : and, at the Circensian 
 games, which were then solemnised, to gain for him the 
 affections of the populace, Britannicus wore the pretexta, 
 Nero the triumphal robe, in the procession. So that the 
 people, beholding one in a general's robe, the other in the 
 habit of a boy, might accordingly anticipate the destiny of 
 both. At the same time, such of the centurions and tri- 
 bunes as manifested any compassion for the lot of Britan- 
 nicus, were removed ; some on pretence of honour, and all 
 upon fictitious grounds: even those of the freedmen whose 
 constancy was impregnable, were discarded on the fol- 
 lowing opportunity. The two young princes happening 
 to meet, Nero saluted Britannicus by that name, and Bri- 
 tannicus him by that of Domitius. This was represented 
 to Claudius by Agrippina, in a tone of earnest grief, as 
 the first step to dissension; for by it "the adoption of 
 Nero, decreed by the senate and ratified by the people, 
 was repealed within the walls of the palace ; and if the 
 knavery of those who suggested these heartburnings were 
 not repressed, it would issue in some public mischief." 
 Claudius, exasperated by these representations, as if the 
 charges were true, punished all the most virtuous of his 
 son's tutors with exile or death ; and appointed others, 
 chosen by his stepmother, to watch over him. 
 
 42. Agrippina however dared not yet proceed to the 
 accomplishment of her great design, unless Lusius Geta 
 and Rufius Crispinus were first removed from the com- 
 mand of the praetorian cohorts ; as she believed that they 
 revered the memory of Messalina, and were devoted to 
 her children. Accordingly, on the strong representation 
 of his wife, " that by the competition of two commanders, 
 the guards were rent into factions ; whereas, were they 
 under the authority of one, they would be kept in stricter 
 discipline," Claudius transferred the charge of these bands
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 255 
 
 to Burrus Afranius, an officer of high repute, but well 
 aware to whose suggestion he owed his advancement. 
 Agrippina also began to assert her pre-eminence more 
 studiously, and even to enter the Capitol in a chariot, a 
 distinction which being of old allowed to none but the 
 priests and things sacred, heightened the reverence of the 
 people for a lady who, as the daughter, mother, sister, 
 and wife of an emperor, had no parallel in the history of 
 previous times. In the midst of this, her principal cham- 
 pion, Vitellius, in the height of favour, and the extremity 
 of age (so precarious is the condition of favourites), was 
 involved in an accusation, by Junius Lupus a senator, 
 who charged him with treason, and aspiring to the diadem. 
 Claudius too would have listened to the charge, had not 
 Agrippina prevailed upon him by menaces rather than 
 prayers to interdict the accuser from fire and water. Vi- 
 tellius desired no more. 
 
 43. Many prodigies happened this year : birds of evil 
 omen settled upon the Capitol ; frequent earthquakes oc- 
 curred, by which many houses were thrown down : and, 
 in the general rush occasioned by the wide-spread panic, 
 all the infirm people were trampled upon. A failure in 
 the crops, and a famine consequent thereupon, was re- 
 garded as a prodigy. Nor were the complaints of the 
 populace confined to murmurs; they even gathered round 
 the prince with tumultuous clamours while administering 
 justice, and driving him to the extremity of the Forum, 
 pressed upon him in a violent manner ; till at length by 
 means of a compact body of soldiers, he forced his way 
 through the incensed multitude. It is certain, there was 
 then in Rome provision only for fifteen days ; and it was 
 by the signal bounty of the gods and the mildness of the 
 winter, that the public was relieved in its urgent distress. 
 And yet in former days, distant provinces were furnished 
 with supplies from the districts of Italy ; nor at this time 
 was the distress owing to sterility; but we now choose to 
 ply Africa and Egypt; and the lives of the Roman people 
 are made dependent upon ships and casualties. 
 
 44. The same year, a war which broke out between the 
 Armenians and Iberians, occasioned the most serious dis- 
 turbance between the Parthians and Romans. Over the 
 Parthians reigned Vologeses, who, though the son of a 
 Greek concubine, had by the cession of his brothers ob- 
 tained the diadem. The kingdom of Iberia had been long 
 held by Pharasmanes ; and his brother Mithridates was, 
 by our aid and procurement, possessed of Armenia. Pha- 
 rasmanes had a son named Rhadamistus,of fine stature, and
 
 25G THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 remarkably powerful ; trained up in the politic arts of his 
 father, and in high repute with the neighbouring nations. 
 This man gave vent to his indignation, that the small 
 kingdom of Iberia should be so long detained from him 
 by he protracted life of his father, with too much fre- 
 quency and passion, for his ambitious vie\vs to be con- 
 cealed : Pharasmanes therefore, reflecting upon his own 
 declining age, and fearing his youthful son, who, possess- 
 ing all the requisites for power himself, was supported by 
 the affections of his subjects, diverted his aspirations to 
 another object, and held out to him the prospect of gain- 
 ing Armenia ; observing, that " having expelled the Par- 
 thians, he had given it to Mithridates : but," he said, "all 
 methods of violence must be postponed, and stratagem re- 
 sorted to in preference, so as to crush him unawares." 
 Thus Rhadamistus, feigning a quarrel with his father, as 
 if he were overpowered by the malice of his stepmother, 
 withdrew to his uncle ; and, while treated by him with 
 much kindness, as though he had been one of his own chil- 
 dren, he drew the nobility of Armenia into a revolutionary 
 plot ; while Mithridates was ignorant of his conduct, and 
 moreover distinguishing him with favours. 
 
 45. Then, under show of being reconciled to his father, 
 he returned, and informed him, " that what might be ef- 
 fected by fraud, was in a train of ready accomplishment ; 
 the rest must be executed by military force." Pharas- 
 manes, in the interval, employed himself in framing colour- 
 able pretences for hostilities ; he declared, " that, having 
 applied to the Romans for aid, while he was at war with 
 the king of the Albanians, his brother opposed it ; and 
 this injury he was now about to revenge with the destruc- 
 tion of its author." At the same time, he committed a 
 numerous army to the conduct of his son ; who, by a sud- 
 den invasion, dismayed Mithridates, drove him from the 
 plains, and forced him to take refuge in the fortress of 
 Gorneas; a place naturally strong, and defended by a 
 garrison of our soldiers, under the command of Celius 
 Pollio the praefect, and Casperius a centurion. In nothing 
 are Barbarians more uninformed than in the use of the 
 implements and devices employed in reducing fortified 
 places ; a department of military science with which we 
 are particularly familiar. Thus Rhadamistus, having, 
 without effect, or with loss, attempted to carry the works, 
 commenced a siege, and, when his efforts of force were 
 despised, he bribed the avarice of the praefect, though 
 Casperius implored him " that a confederate king, that 
 Armenia, the gift of the Roman people, might not be
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 257 
 
 sacrificed to villany and lucre." But at last, Pollio, plead- 
 ing the multitude of the enemy, and Rhadamistus the 
 orders of his father, the centurion, having stipulated a 
 truce, quitted the place, with the view either of deterring 
 Pharasmanes from pursuing the war, or of informing Nu- 
 midius Quadratus governor of Syria, of the condition of 
 Armenia. 
 
 46. By the departure of the centurion, Pollio being, as 
 it were, discharged from the restraint of a keeper, recom- 
 mended Mithridates to consent to a treaty, alleging " the 
 ties of the fraternal relation, the seniority of Pharasmanes, 
 and their other bonds of affinity ; that he was himself 
 espoused to his brother's daughter, and to Rhadamistus 
 had given his own : that the Iberians, however then su- 
 perior in forces, were not averse to peace ; and the per- 
 fidy of the Armenians was sufficiently known : neither had 
 he any other refuge than a castle, destitute of stores: he, 
 therefore, ought not to scruple to prefer bloodless con- 
 ditions to the casualties of war." But Mithridates, hesi- 
 tating to adopt this advice, and suspecting the counsels of 
 the governor, as he had debauched a royal concubine, 
 and was regarded as capable of being bribed to the com- 
 mission of any of the acts which depraved appetites sug- 
 gest ; Casperius, meanwhile, reached Pharasmanes, and 
 pressed him " to recall his Iberians from the siege." To his 
 face he returned him equivocal answers ; and frequently 
 such as indicated a relaxation of his purpose, but warned 
 Rhadamistus, by secret messengers, " to push the attack 
 by every means." Hence the price of the treason was 
 augmented to Pollio, who also privately corrupted the 
 soldiers, and prompted them to demand peace, and 
 threaten that they would abandon the garrison. Mithri- 
 dates, under this compulsion, agreed to the time and place 
 of capitulation, and went out of the castle. 
 
 47. Rhadamistus at first rushed into his arms, feigned 
 all the marks of duty and obedience, and called him father 
 and uncle ; he even swore that he intended him no vio- 
 lence, either by poison or the sword ; and drew him, at 
 the same time, into a neighbouring grove, where the ap- 
 pointed sacrifice, he said, was prepared, that in the pre- 
 sence of the gods their league of peace might be con- 
 firmed. It is a custom with these kings, when they form 
 treaties, to join their right hands, and tie their thumbs 
 together, compressing them by a knot; and when the 
 blood has flowed into these extremities, they give it vent by 
 a slight puncture, and suck each other's blood. A league 
 thus executed is esteemed most sacred and inviolable, as
 
 258 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 being sealed with the blood of both parties. But upon 
 this occasion, he who was applying the bandage, pretend- 
 ing to fall, seized Mithridates by the knees, and threw 
 him down ; at the same time, a number of persons rushing 
 upon him, he was manacled, and, what is considered an 
 indignity by Barbarians, haled along by a chain. The 
 people, too, whom he had ruled with rigour, assailed him 
 with reproaches, and threatened him with blows : some, 
 on the contrary, commiserated so great a reverse of for- 
 tune ; and his wife, who followed him with his little child- 
 ren, filled every place with her lamentations. They were 
 shut up in different covered carriages, till the pleasure of 
 Pharasmanes was ascertained. With him, the lust of 
 power prevailed over his regard for a brother or daugh- 
 ter ; his heart was prepared for every enormity. He, 
 however, avoided the horrid spectacle of murdering them 
 openly. Rhadamistus, too, as if in observance of his oath, 
 employed neither sword nor poison against his sister and 
 uncle ; but caused them to be thrown upon the ground, 
 and smothered beneath a quantity of heavy clothes. The 
 children also of Mithridates, for shedding tears over the 
 murder of their parents, were butchered. 
 
 48. Quadratus, learning that Mithridates had been the 
 victim of treason, and that they who took his life had pos- 
 session of his kingdom, summoned a council, and, repre- 
 senting these acts, sought their advice whether he should 
 revenge them. Few were concerned for the public honour; 
 most of them reasoned from considerations of security ; 
 " that all the atrocities of foreign nations ought to be 
 matter of joy to the Romans; nay, the seeds of dissension 
 should be sown among them ; as frequently the Roman 
 emperors, under colour of bestowing it as a gift, had made 
 that same kingdom of Armenia a means of embroiling the 
 Barbarians : Rhadamistus might continue to hold his ill- 
 gotten acquisitions, provided it was with public detestation 
 and infamy; since thus it served the interest of Rome 
 more effectually, than if he had obtained them with 
 honour." This counsel was adopted ; but that they might 
 not seem to assent to the atrocity, and orders should 
 be issued by the emperor to a contrary effect, they de- 
 spatched a message to Pharasmanes, " to retire from the 
 frontiers of Armenia, and recall his son." 
 
 49. Julius Pelignus was then procurator of Cappadocia; 
 a man destitute of mental energy, and equally contemned 
 from the oddity of his person, but in closest intimacy with 
 Claudius, who, while yet a private man, was wont to re- 
 lieve the dulness of an inactive life with the company of
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 259 
 
 buffoons. This Pelignus drew together a body of auxi- 
 liary forces from the adjacent provinces, as if to reconquer 
 Armenia: but, as he despoiled the allies more than the 
 enemy, he was abandoned by his own men, harassed by 
 the incursions of the Barbarians, and, thus bereft of all 
 defence, he betook himself to Rhadamistus, by whose 
 liberalities he was so overcome, that even unasked he ex- 
 horted him to assume the royal diadem, and even assisted 
 in person at that solemnity, as its author and supporter. 
 When this disgraceful intelligence had gone forth, that 
 the character of the other Roman commanders might not 
 be judged of by that of Pelignus, Helvidius Priscus was 
 despatched at the head of a legion, with orders to apply 
 remedies to the present disturbances, according to exi- 
 gencies. Having, with great rapidity, crossed mount Tau- 
 rus, he had already restored tranquillity in more instances 
 by mild measures, than by force, when an order came "for 
 his return into Syria, that there might be no occasion of 
 war to the Parthians." 
 
 50. For, Vologeses believing that an opportunity now 
 offered for invading Armenia, a kingdom possessed by his 
 ancestors, but now, by an act of atrocity, in the hands of 
 a foreign king, drew together an army, and prepared to 
 conduct his brother Tiridates to the throne; that none of 
 his house might live without imperial power. At the ap- 
 proach of the Parthians, the Iberians fled without a battle, 
 and the Armenian cities of Artaxata and Tigranocerta 
 received the yoke. But, a tempestuous winter, or scanty 
 provision of stores, and the sickness arising from both, 
 constrained Vologeses to relinquish his enterprise : so that 
 the throne of Armenia, being once more vacant, was again 
 invaded by Rhadamistus, now more incensed than before, 
 as against those who had abandoned his cause, and who 
 would rebel again on the first opportunity. But, though 
 inured to servitude, by a sudden effort they shook off 
 their apathy, and beset the palace in arms. 
 
 51. Nor was Rhadamistus saved by anything but the 
 fleetness of his horses, which enabled him to escape with 
 his wife. She was advanced in pregnancy, yet, from 
 dread of the enemy, and tenderness for her husband, she 
 bore up, at first, as well as she could, under the fatigue 
 of the flight; but when, from the unremitted rapidity of 
 their progress, her womb became affected by the motion, 
 and internal palpitation arose, she besought him, " to save 
 her by an honourable death from the reproach and misery 
 of captivity.'' At first, he embraced her, comforted and 
 cheered her, now admiring her heroic spirit, now faint
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 with fear, lest, if she were left, some other might possess 
 her : at last, from excess of love, and familiarity with 
 deeds of horror, he bared his scimitar, and wounding her, 
 drew her to the banks of the Araxes, when he committed 
 her to the flood ; that even her body might be borne 
 away. He himself fled with headlong speed till he reached 
 Iberia, the kingdom of his father. Zenobia, meanwhile, 
 (for such was her name) was descried by shepherds, float- 
 ing on the still plash, breathing, and with manifest signs 
 of life ; and, as they gathered from the dignity of her 
 aspect, that she was of no mean rank, they bound up her 
 wound, and applied their rustic medicines to it. And 
 when they had learnt her name and adventures, they con- 
 veyed her to Artaxata; whence, at the public charge, she 
 was conducted toTiridates, who received her courteously, 
 and treated her with the respect due to royalty. 
 
 52. In the consulship of Faustus Sylla and Salvius 
 Otho, Furius Scribonianus suffered exile, as having "con- 
 sulted the Chaldeans on the term of the prince's life." 
 His mother Junia was arraigned with him, " as having 
 borne with impatience her previous lot ;" for she had been 
 banished. Camillus, the father of Scribonianus, had levied 
 war in Dalmatia : Claudius, therefore, courted the merit of 
 clemency in again saving the life of a member of a disaffected 
 family: but the exile did not long survive this proceeding; 
 whether he died a natural death, or by poison, was dif- 
 ferently reported, according to people's convictions. For 
 expelling the astrologers from Italy, a decree of senate 
 was passed, severe but powerless. The emperor then de- 
 livered a speech in praise of those senators, who, from the 
 narrowness of their fortunes, voluntarily renounced their 
 dignity : but such as adhered to it were degraded, as 
 adding, he said, insolence to poverty. 
 
 53. During these transactions, a motion was made in 
 the senate, to inflict a penalty upon ladies who married 
 slaves ; and it was ordained, " that she who thus debased 
 herself, without the privity of the master of the slave, 
 should be adjudged a slave ; but, where he consented, she 
 should be held as a slave manumitted." To Pallas, who 
 was by Claudius declared to be the originator of this 
 measure, the ornaments of the praetorship, and fifteen mil- 
 lions of sesterces, were adjudged by Barea Soranus, con- 
 sul elect. Cornelius Scipio added, " that public thanks 
 should be given him ; for, that being a descendant from 
 the kings of Arcadia, he postponed his most ancient no- 
 bility, to the service of the state, and deigned to be num- 
 bered amongst the ministers of the prince." Claudius
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 261 
 
 gravely assured them, " that Pallas was satisfied with the 
 honour, and would still live in his former poverty." Thus 
 a decree of senate was engraven in brass, in which a fran- 
 chised slave, possessing three hundred millions of ses- 
 terces, about two millions four hundred thousand pounds, 
 was loaded with commendations for his primitive par- 
 simony. 
 
 54. His brother, surnamed Felix, for some time go- 
 vernor of Judaea, acted not with the same moderation, 
 but, relying upon such powerful protection, supposed he 
 might perpetrate with impunity every kind of villany. It 
 must be admitted that the Jews had exhibited some evi- 
 dence of insurrection in the disturbance which broke 
 out, since, after they were apprised of his assassination, 
 they scarcely returned to obedience : their fears remained 
 lest some of the succeeding emperors might lay the same 
 injunctions upon them. Felix, too, meanwhile, by apply- 
 ing unseasonable remedies, inflamed the disaffection, emu- 
 lated, as he was, in his abandoned courses, by Ventidius 
 Cumanus, who held part of the province; the division 
 being such, that Galilea was subject to Cumanus, and 
 Samaria to Felix ; nations long at variance, and now, from 
 contempt of their rulers, less than ever restraining their 
 reciprocal hate. Accordingly, mutual depredations were 
 committed, bands of robbers employed, ambuscades form- 
 ed, and sometimes battles fought, and the spoils and booty 
 obtained were given to their governors, who, at first, re- 
 joiced over it; but when the mischief increased, they in- 
 terposed their troops, and their men were slain ; and, but 
 for the aid of Quadratus ruler of Syria, the whole pro- 
 vince had been in a blaze of war. Nor, in the proceedings 
 against the Jews, who had carried their violence so far as 
 to kill our soldiers, was there any hesitation about pu- 
 nishing them capitally : but Cumanus and Felix created 
 some delay; for Claudius, upon hearing the causes of the 
 revolt, had also granted a power to try and sentence the 
 governors: but Quadratus, taking Felix up on the tri- 
 bunal, exhibited him among the judges, to awe the zeal 
 of his accusers : so that Cumanus alone was doomed to 
 punishment, for the crimes which two had committed. 
 Thus the tranquillity of the province was restored. 
 
 55. And not long after this, the tribes of Cilician boors, 
 called Clitaeans, that had before raised many insurrections, 
 encamped under the conduct of Trosobor, in the district 
 of their rugged mountains, and rushing down from thence 
 upon the maritime regions and the cities, had the boldness 
 to assault the inhabitants and husbandmen, and, in fre-
 
 202 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 quent instances, the merchants, and owners of trading 
 vessels. They even besieged the city of Anemurium, and 
 routed a body of horse sent from Syria to its relief, under 
 the command of Curtius Severus : for, the ground was of 
 a rugged and difficult nature, and favourable to the 
 operations of foot, but unsuited to those of cavalry. But 
 afterwards, Antiochus, to whose dominion that coast be- 
 longed, having, by courtesies to the people, and by em- 
 ploying stratagem against their leader, broken up the 
 union of the Barbarian forces, put to death Trosobor and 
 a few more of the chiefs, and restored the rest to obedi- 
 ence by methods of clemency. 
 
 56. About the same time, a passage having been cut 
 through the mountain between the lake Fucinus and the 
 river Liris; that a greater number of persons might be 
 induced to come and see the magnificence of the work, 
 a sea-fight was got up on the lake itself; in the same 
 manner as Augustus before exhibited one upon an arti- 
 ficial pool on this side the Tiber, but with light ships, and 
 fewer men. Claudius equipped galleys, of three and four 
 banks of oars, and manned them with nineteen thousand 
 mariners ; surrounding the space with a line of rafts, to 
 limit the means of escape, but giving room enough, in its 
 circuit, to ply the oars, for the pilots to exert their skill, 
 for the ships to be brought to bear down upon each other, 
 and for all the usual operations in a sea-fight. Upon the 
 rafts, parties of the praetorian guards, foot and horse, 
 were stationed, with bulwarks before them, from which 
 catapults and balistas might be worked : the rest of the 
 lake was occupied by marine forces, stationed on decked 
 ships. The shores, the adjacent hills, and the tops of the 
 mountains, were crowded with a countless multitude, many 
 from the neighbouring towns, others from Rome itself; 
 impelled either by desire to witness the spectacle, or in 
 compliment to the prince ; and exhibited the appearance 
 of a vast theatre. The emperor presided, in a superb 
 coat of mail, and, not far from him, Agrippina, in a mantle 
 of cloth of gold. The battle, though between malefactors, 
 was fought with the spirit of brave men ; and, after a 
 great effusion of blood, they were excused from pursuing 
 the carnage to extremity. 
 
 57. When the spectacle was concluded, the channel 
 through which the water passed off was exhibited to view, 
 when the negligence of the workmen became manifest, as 
 the work was not carried to the depth of the bottom or 
 centre of the lake. The excavations were, therefore, after 
 some time, extended to a greater depth ; and, to draw the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 263 
 
 multitude once more together, a show of gladiators was 
 exhibited upon bridges laid over it, in order to display a 
 fight of infantry. Moreover, an erection for the purpose 
 of a banquet, at the embouchure of the lake, occasioned 
 great alarm to the whole assembly; for, the force of the 
 water rushing out, carried away whatever was near it, 
 shook and sundered what was more distant, or terrified 
 the guests with the crash and noise. At the same time, 
 Agrippina, converting the emperor's alarm to her pur- 
 poses, charged Narcissus, the director of the work, with 
 avarice and robbery : nor did Narcissus suppress his in- 
 dignation, but charged Agrippina with " the overbearing 
 spirit of her sex, and with extravagant ambition." 
 
 58. During the consulship of Decimus Junius and Quin- 
 tus Haterius, Nero, now in the sixteenth year of his age, 
 espoused Octavia the daughter of Claudius ; and, to give 
 his character the lustre of a devotion to honourable pur- 
 suits, and the fame of eloquence, he undertook the cause 
 of the Ilians, and, having floridly represented the Romans 
 as descendants from Troy, and ./Eneas as the founder 
 of the Julian race, with other old traditions not very 
 unlike fables, he obtained, for the Ilians, immunity from 
 all public charges. By the rhetoric of the same advocate, 
 the colony of Bononia, which had suffered grievously by 
 fire, was relieved by a bounty of ten millions of sesterces. 
 To the Rhodians, too, was restored their liberty, which 
 had been often withdrawn and re-established, according 
 as they obliged us by their assistance in foreign wars, or 
 provoked us by their seditions at home : and, to the city 
 of Apamea, overturned by an earthquake, a remission of 
 tribute for five years was granted. 
 
 59. Claudius, on the contrary, was compelled to pro- 
 pose all the measures of excessive cruelty, by the arts of 
 that same Agrippina, who, as she longed for the gardens 
 of Statilius Taurus, a nobleman of distinguished wealth, 
 procured his ruin by an accusation conducted by Tarqui- 
 tius Priscus, who was the lieutenant of Taurus, when he 
 was proconsul of Africa, and who, on their return, brought 
 against him a few charges of public plunder, but eked 
 them out with that of magical practices. Taurus, unable 
 longer to endure the malice of the false accuser, and the 
 ignominy of imputed guilt, without waiting for the deci- 
 sion of the senate, laid violent hands upon himself. Tar- 
 quitius was, however, expelled the senate : a point which, 
 impelled by detestation of the informer, the fathers suc- 
 ceeded in carrying as a check to the intrigues of Agrippina. 
 
 60. This year, the prince was frequently heard to de-
 
 264 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 clare, " that the judicial decisions of the imperial pro- 
 curators ought to be regarded as equally valid with his 
 own ; and, that he might not seem to have uttered this 
 sentiment unadvisedly, a decree of the senate also was 
 passed, providing for it more explicitly and fully than 
 heretofore: for, the deified Augustus had ordained, that 
 the knights who ruled Egypt should act judicially, and 
 that the decisions pronounced by them should be equally 
 valid with those of the Roman magistrates : soon after, 
 this jurisdiction of the knights was extended to other pro- 
 vinces; and, even in Rome itself, many things formerly 
 taken cognisance of by the praetors, were passed over to 
 them. Claudius now conferred upon them universal juris- 
 diction ; that same jurisdiction for which so many seditions 
 had been raised, and so much blood shed, when, by the 
 Sempronian law, the equestrian order was invested with 
 the power of judicature, and when, again, the Servilian 
 law gave it back to the senate, and when, too, it formed 
 the chief incitement of the wars between Marius and Sylla. 
 But, in those days, different orders of the state were op- 
 posed to each other, and the party that prevailed deter- 
 mined public regulations according to their pleasure. 
 Caius Oppius and Cornelius Balbus were the first indi- 
 viduals who, by the influence of Caesar, were enabled to 
 settle the terms of peace, and dictate in affairs of war. 
 It would be to no purpose to recount, after these, the Matii 
 and Vedii, and the names of other Roman knights, to 
 which a predominant influence was attached, when Clau- 
 dius put upon an equality with himself and the laws, the 
 freedmen whom he had set over his household affairs. 
 
 61. He then proposed to grant to the inhabitants of 
 Cos an immunity from impositions, and gave a copious ac- 
 count of their antiquity ; "how the Argives, or Cceus, the 
 father of Latona, first settled in that island; and that soon 
 after, the healing art was introduced there by the arrival 
 of ^Esculapius ; an art, cultivated chiefly amongst his de- 
 scendants:" whose names he severally rehearsed, marking 
 the times in which each flourished. He moreover stated, 
 that " Xenophon, his own physician, was a branch of 
 the same family, and to his supplications it ought to be 
 granted, that his countrymen, the people of Cos, should 
 be for ever discharged from all tribute, and only attend to 
 the cultivation of an island sacred to that deity, and solely 
 dedicated to his service." Nor is there any question, that 
 many good offices of theirs towards the Roman people, 
 might have been alleged, and even victories gained by 
 their aid ; but Claudius, with his usual complaisance, did
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 265 
 
 not disguise by auxiliary considerations derived from any 
 other source, a concession he had resolved to make to one 
 individual. 
 
 62. The deputies from Byzantium, when on their hear- 
 ing before the senate, they prayed relief from their heavy 
 impositions, recapitulated everything from the first, be- 
 ginning with the league which they had struck with us, 
 what time we maintained a war against that king of Ma- 
 cedon, who from his degeneracy was surnamed Pseudophi- 
 lippus : the forces sent by them subsequently against An- 
 tiochus, Perses, and Aristonicus : the assistance given to 
 Antonius in the piratical war; with the aids offered to 
 Sylla, Lucullus, and Pompey ; then the recent services 
 to the Caesars, when they occupied those regions which 
 were convenient at once for securing the transit of our ge- 
 nerals and armies, and the conveyance of provisions. 
 
 63. For Byzantium was founded by the Greeks, at the 
 extreme verge of Europe, upon the very narrow strait 
 which separates Europe from Asia. Thither the founders 
 were directed by an oracle of the Pythian Apollo, who, 
 when asked by them where they should build a city, re- 
 plied, " that they should seek a situation opposite to the 
 habitations of blind men. " By this riddle the Chalce- 
 donians were intimated ; who, having come before them 
 into those parts, and seen before them the advantages of 
 this shore, had yet chosen an inferior place. For Byzan- 
 tium is situated on a fertile soil and a productive sea ; for 
 countless shoals offish, which, pouring out of the Pontus, 
 shun the curvature of the other coast, as they are fright- 
 ened by the slanting rocks beneath the waters, are brought 
 directly to these ports. Whence at first the gain and 
 wealth of the Byzantines; but, afterwards oppressed by 
 the amount of their impositions, they now besought that 
 they might be extinguished or reduced ; the emperor sup- 
 porting their petition, who represented them as having 
 lately suffered in the war of Thrace, and in that of Bos- 
 porus, and as deserving relief. They were therefore dis- 
 charged from tribute for five years. 
 
 64. In the consulship of Marcus Asinius and Marcus 
 Acilius, the frequency of prodigies was considered as por- 
 tending a change of affairs for the worse. The ensigns of 
 the soldiers and their tents were scorched with fire from 
 heaven : a swarm of bees settled upon the cupola of the 
 Capitol : children were born of compound forms ; and a 
 pig was farrowed with the talons of a hawk. Amongst 
 the prodigies also was reckoned, that the number of every 
 order of magistrates was then curtailed ; a quaestor, an
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 sedile, a tribune, a praetor, and a consul, being all deceased 
 within a few months. . But, great above all was the fear of 
 Agrippina: in consequence of a saying of Claudius, uttered 
 heedlessly in his wine, " that he was fated to bear the 
 iniquities of his wives, and then to punish them;" whence 
 she determined to be on the alert, and prevent him ; but 
 first to destroy Domitia Lepida, from motives peculiar to 
 her sex. For Lepida, who was the daughter of the 
 younger Antonia, the great-niece of Augustus, and sister 
 to Cnaeius Domitius (once husband to the present Agrip- 
 pina), accounted herself of equal nobility with the other : 
 neither did they differ much in beauty, age, or wealth : 
 both lewd, infamous, and tyrannical; nor less rivals in vice 
 than in such advantages as they derived from fortune. 
 Vehement indeed was the contention between them, whe- 
 ther the aunt or mother should acquire the predominance 
 with Nero : for Lepida laboured to engage his youthful 
 mind, by caresses and liberalities ; while Agrippina, on 
 the contrary, treated him with sternness and threats ; for 
 though she could confer the sovereignty upon her son, 
 she could not bend to his authority. 
 
 65. But to proceed ; the crimes charged upon Lepida 
 were, " that she had assailed by imprecations the empe- 
 ror's marriage-bed ; and by neglecting to restrain the 
 tumultuous behaviour of her bands of slaves in Calabria, 
 disturbed the peace of Italy." For these imputations she 
 was doomed to die, notwithstanding the laboured opposi- 
 tion of Narcissus, who was now become more and more 
 suspicious of Agrippina; insomuch that he is said to have 
 disclosed to his acquaintances, " that certain destruction 
 awaited him, whether Britannicus or Nero succeeded to 
 the empire ; but such had been the favour of the emperor 
 towards him, that for the benefit of his master he would 
 lay down his life. Under Claudius he had procured the 
 conviction and doom of Messalina and of Silius : and under 
 Nero (if Nero came to reign) there would be similar 
 grounds for accusation; if Britannicus succeeded, he had 
 no claim to favour from him. The imperial house was now 
 torn piecemeal by the intrigues of a step-mother ; and to 
 conceal them would involve a deeper guilt than to have 
 suppressed the lewdness of the emperor's former wife, 
 though neither in truth was his present wife free from 
 prostitution, as Pallas was notoriously her adulterer; so 
 that no man could doubt that she holds in contempt her 
 character, her chastity, her person, everything, in compa- 
 rison with dominion." While uttering these and similar 
 sentiments with deep emotion, he embraced Britannicus,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 267 
 
 and "prayed that he might as speedily as possible attain 
 to maturity and vigour;" his hands now uplifted to the 
 gods, now extended towards the young prince, he ex- 
 claimed, " Oh ! that he may arrive at man's estate. Oh ! 
 may he put to flight the enemies of his father ! Aye, and 
 be revenged even on the murderers of his mother!" 
 
 66. In the midst of this vast accumulation of anxieties, 
 Claudius was attacked with illness, and for the recovery 
 of his health had recourse to the soft air and salubrious 
 waters of Sinuessa. It was then that Agrippina, long 
 since bent upon the impious deed, and eagerly seizing the 
 present occasion, well furnished too as she was with wicked 
 agents, deliberated upon the nature of the poison she 
 would use: whether, "if it were sudden and instantaneous 
 in its operation, the desperate achievement would not be 
 brought to light : if she chose materials slow and con- 
 suming in their operations, whether Claudius, when his 
 end approached, and perhaps having discovered the trea- 
 chery, would not resume his affection for his son." Some- 
 thing of a subtle nature was therefore resolved upon, 
 " such as would disorder his brain and require time to 
 kill." An experienced artist in such preparations was 
 chosen, her name Locusta; lately condemned for poison- 
 ing, arid long reserved as one of the instruments of am- 
 bition. By this woman's skill the poison was prepared : 
 to administer it was assigned to Halotus, one of the eu- 
 nuchs, whose office it was to serve up the emperor's re- 
 pasts, and prove the viands by tasting them. 
 
 67. In fact, all the particulars of this transaction were 
 soon afterwards so thoroughly known, that the writers of 
 those times are able to recount, " how the poison was 
 poured into a dish of mushrooms, of which he was par- 
 ticularly fond ; but whether it was that his senses were 
 stupified, or from the wine he had drunk, the effect of 
 the poison was not immediately perceived:" at the same 
 time a relaxation of the intestines seemed to have been of 
 service to him : Agrippina therefore became dismayed ; 
 but as her life was at stake, she thought little of the 
 odium of her present proceedings, and called in the aid of 
 Xenophon the physician, whom she had already impli- 
 cated in her guilty purposes. It is believed that he, as 
 if he purposed to assist Claudius in his efforts to vomit, 
 put down his throat a feather besmeared with deadly 
 poison ; not unaware that in desperate villanies the at- 
 tempt without the deed is perilous, to insure the reward 
 they must be done effectually at once. 
 
 68. The senate was in the meantime assembled, and the
 
 268 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XII. 
 
 consuls and pontiffs were offering vows for the recovery 
 of the emperor, when, already dead, he was covered with 
 clothes, and warm applications to hide it till matters were 
 arranged for securing the empire to Nero. First there 
 was Agrippina, who feigning to be overpowered with grief, 
 and anxiously seeking for consolation, clasped Britannicus 
 in her arms, called him " the very model of his father," 
 and by various artifices withheld him from leaving the 
 chamber: she likewise detained Antonia and Octavia, his 
 sisters; and had closely guarded all the approaches to the 
 palace: from time to time too she gave out that the prince 
 was on the mend ; that the soldiery might entertain hopes 
 till the auspicious moment, predicted by the calculations of 
 the astrologers, should arrive. 
 
 69. At last, on the thirteenth day of October, at noon, 
 the gates of the palace were suddenly thrown open, and 
 Nero, accompanied by Burrus, went forth to the cohort, 
 which, according to the custom of the army, was keeping 
 watch. There, upon a signal made by the prgefect, he 
 was received with shouts of joy, and instantly put into a 
 litter. It is reported, that there were some who hesitated, 
 looking back anxiously, and frequently asking, where was 
 Britannicus ? but as no one came forward to oppose it, 
 they embraced the choice which was offered them. Thus 
 Nero was borne to the camp ; where, after a speech suit- 
 able to the exigency, and the promise of a largess equal 
 to that of the late emperor his father, he was saluted em- 
 peror. The voice of the soldiers was followed by the de- 
 crees of the senate ; nor was there any hesitation in the 
 several provinces. To Claudius were decreed divine ho- 
 nours, and his funeral obsequies were solemnised with the 
 same pomp as those of the deified Augustus ; Agrippina 
 emulating the magnificence of her great-grandmother Li- 
 via. His will however was not rehearsed, lest the prefer- 
 ence of the son of his wife to his own son, might excite 
 the minds of the people by its injustice and baseness.
 
 THE 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK XIII. 
 
 THE first death under the new prince was that of Junius 
 Silanus, proconsul of Asia ; it was brought about by the 
 stratagems of Agrippina, without the privity of Nero : it 
 was not that he had provoked his fate by turbulence of 
 spirit, having lived in such a state of indolence and even 
 contempt, during the late reigns, that Caligula was wont 
 to call him the golden sheep. But Agrippina feared that 
 he might avenge the murder of his brother Lucius Sila- 
 nus, at her hands : a rumour being current that as " Nero 
 had scarcely arrived at manhood, and had acquired the 
 empire by iniquity, a man like Silanus, of staid and ma- 
 ture age, of unblemished character, of illustrious descent, 
 and (what was then much looked to) of the lineage of the 
 Caesars, was to be preferred to him;" For Silanus was 
 also the great-grandson of the deified Augustus. Such 
 was the cause of his doom : the instruments were Publius 
 Celer, a Roman knight, and Helius, a freedman ; both 
 employed to manage the emperor's domestic revenue in 
 Asia. By them poison was administered to the proconsul 
 at a banquet, so openly, that they could not escape de- 
 tection. With no less precipitation Narcissus, the late 
 emperor's freedman, whose vituperations of Agrippina I 
 have related, was driven to put an end to his existence, by 
 rigorous imprisonment and the extremity of destitution. 
 This proceeding took place in opposition to the wishes of 
 the prince, whose vices, as yet undeveloped, were mar- 
 vellously assimilated to the avarice and prodigality which 
 marked the character of Narcissus. 
 
 2. And they were proceeding to more deeds of blood, 
 had not Afranius Burrus and Annaeus Seneca presented 
 an obstacle to it. They were the tutors of the emperor's 
 youth ; lived in harmony with each other; which is rarely 
 the case with associates in power; and possessed an equal 
 influence, arising from accomplishments of a different kind.. 
 Burrus was distinguished for his assiduous attention to mill-
 
 270 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 tary affairs, and strictness of moral discipline; Seneca for his 
 lessons in eloquence, and the elegant propriety of his man- 
 ners : each assisting the other, that they might the more 
 easily restrain the prince, at his perilous time of life, within 
 the limits of unforbidden pleasures, should he be disin- 
 clined to virtuous pursuits. One constant struggle they 
 had both to maintain against the fierce spirit of Agrip- 
 pina, who burning with every lust of lawless dominion, was 
 supported in her designs by Pallas ; at whose instance 
 Claudius, by an incestuous marriage and a disastrous adop- 
 tion, had worked his own ruin. But Nero's temper was 
 not to be controled by slaves ; and Pallas having ex- 
 ceeded the limits of a freedman's license, had by his in- 
 sufferable arrogance moved the disgust of Nero. Upon 
 Agrippina however, in public, he accumulated all kinds of 
 honours; and to a tribune who, according to military prac- 
 tice, desired the word, gave ' the best of mothers ;' by the 
 senate too two lictors were decreed her, with the office of 
 priestess to Claudius. At the same time a censorial fune- 
 ral was decreed to Claudius, and soon afterwards deifica- 
 tion. 
 
 3. On the day of the funeral, the encomium of the prince 
 was pronounced by Nero ; and while he recorded the an- 
 tiquity of his lineage, the consulships, the triumphs of his 
 ancestors, he spoke with fervour, and the whole assembly 
 listened with deep emotion ; the mention also of his liberal 
 accomplishments, and the observation that during his reign 
 no calamity from foreigners had befallen the state, met with 
 a ready response in the minds of the auditory. But when 
 once he deviated into a commemoration of his wisdom and 
 foresight, not a soul could refrain from laughter ; though 
 the speech, which was the composition of Seneca, exhibited 
 many indications of a cultivated taste, for the genius of 
 that distinguished man was graceful and agreeable, and 
 suited to the ears of the age in which he lived. Old men, 
 who make it their recreation to compare the present and 
 the past, took notice, that Nero was the first Roman em- 
 peror who required the aid of another's eloquence : for, 
 Caesar the dictator rivalled the most distinguished orators; 
 and the eloquence of Augustus was prompt and flowing, 
 as became a prince : Tiberius also possessed the art, so 
 far as nicely balancing his words ; his meaning too was 
 forcibly expressed when he did not study to be ambi- 
 guous: even the disordered mind of Caligula impaired not 
 his power of speaking : nor in Claudius would you desi- 
 derate elegance whenever his speech was premeditated : 
 Nero from his early childhood turned his vivid intellect
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 271 
 
 to other pursuits, carving, painting, singing, and the 
 manege ; sometimes too, in the composition of poems, 
 he showed that he was initiated in the elements of litera- 
 ture. 
 
 4. To proceed : having finished these mockeries of sor- 
 row, he repaired to the senate, where, after referring to 
 the authority of the fathers, and the concurrence of the 
 soldiery, he set forth the counsels and models by follow- 
 ing which he hoped to administer the affairs of empire 
 in the best manner; his youth, he said, had not been mixed 
 up with civil dissensions or domestic broils : he brought 
 with him no animosities, no sense of injuries received, no 
 desire of revenge. He then laid down his future plan of 
 government; pointedly repudiating those practices, the 
 odium of which was still fresh and vehement; " for," he 
 said, "he would not be the judge in all affairs, in order 
 that, the accusers and the accused being shut up in one 
 house, the influence of a few favourites might bear down 
 everything. In his house there should be nothing venal ; 
 nothing pervious to the arts of ambition ; that his family 
 concerns and the affairs of the state, should be kept dis- 
 tinct. The senate should retain its ancient functions : 
 that Italy, and .the provinces of the people, should address 
 themselves to the tribunals of the consuls, and they should 
 give them access to the senate. He would himself provide 
 for the provinces and the armies committed to the prince." 
 
 5. Nor did he fail in his professions; many regulations 
 were made by the independent authority of the senate ; 
 such as, that no advocate should defend a cause for fee 
 or reward ; that the quaestors-elect even should be no 
 longer obliged to exhibit gladiatorial spectacles. All 
 which was opposed by Agrippina, as rescinding the acts 
 of Claudius; but was carried by the fathers, who were 
 designedly assembled in the palace, that she might take 
 her stand by a door which was covered on the back with 
 tapestry, separated from them by a curtain which inter- 
 cepted the sight but did not prevent her hearing. Nay, 
 when the ambassadors from Armenia were pleading before 
 Nero the cause of their nation, she was proceeding to 
 ascend the imperial tribunal, and to preside jointly with 
 the emperor, if Seneca, while the rest fixed their eyes im- 
 moveably upon the earth through fear, had not suggested 
 to him " to meet his mother." Thus, under the guise of 
 filial reverence, this indignity was prevented. 
 
 6. At the close of the year, alarming reports reached 
 the city, " that the Parthians having broke out into fresh 
 hostilities, were seizing Armenia, having expelled Rhada-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 mistus," who, having often made himself master of that 
 kingdom, and as often been compelled to abandon it, had 
 now too quitted the field. At Rome, therefore, where the 
 people are so eager to gossip, they began to inquire, 
 " how a prince scarce passed his seventeenth year, could 
 undertake so heavy a charge ; how ward off the menaced 
 danger ? what dependence could the state repose in one 
 governed by a woman? could battles too be fought, towns 
 stormed, and all the other operations of war be conducted 
 by means of his tutors?" Others, on the contrary, main- 
 tained " that it was better thus than if Claudius, under all 
 the defects of old age and a naturally inactive spirit, had 
 been summoned to the cares and fatigues of a campaign, 
 subject as he would have been to the commands of slaves. 
 Burrus and Seneca were known for men of consummate 
 experience in affairs ; and to the emperor himself how 
 little was wanting of mature age ; when Pompey, in his 
 eighteenth year, and Octavius Caesar in his nineteenth, 
 each sustained the weight of a civil war ? that many mili- 
 tary operations were conducted more successfully under 
 the auspices and counsels of princes, than if they were 
 present themselves, bearing arms, and fighting with their 
 own hands: Nero would give a manifest proof whether 
 he employed worthy or unworthy counsellors ; if, unin- 
 fluenced by the suggestions of jealousy, he chose a gene- 
 ral pre-eminent for his virtues, rather than yielding to the 
 arts of court intrigue, selected one recommended by his 
 wealth and supported by interest." 
 
 7. While the public were occupied in these and similar 
 remarks, Nero ordered the recruits, raised through the 
 neighbouring provinces to supply the legions in the east, 
 to be brought up, and the legions themselves to be posted 
 near to Armenia : and those ancient kings, Agrippa and 
 Antiochus, to draw out their forces to invade the territo- 
 ries of the Parthians ; and also that bridges should be 
 thrown over the Euphrates. To Aristobulus he com- 
 mitted the lesser Armenia ; and the region of Sophene to 
 Sohemus, with the insignia of royalty. There arose too a 
 rival to Vologeses in the person of his son, Vardanes : 
 hence the Parthians withdrew from Armenia, as if they 
 meant to postpone the war. 
 
 8. But, in the senate, all this was spoken of in exag- 
 gerated terms by such as voted " supplications, and that 
 on the days of the supplications the prince should wear 
 the triumphal robe ; that he should enter the city in ova- 
 tion, and that a statue should be erected to him of the 
 same dimensions with that of Mars the Avenger, and in
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 273 
 
 the same temple." Besides the habit of adulation, they 
 were impelled by joy that he had appointed Domitius Cor- 
 bulo for the duty of retaining Armenia; it seemed to open 
 a place and standing for virtue. The forces in the east 
 were so divided, that part of the auxiliaries, with two 
 legions, should remain in Syria, under the command of 
 Ummidius Quadratus, governor of the province ; that an 
 equal number of Romans and allies should be with Cor- 
 bulo, with an addition-of the cohorts and cavalry that win- 
 tered in Cappadocia. The confederate kings were di- 
 rected to act in submission to their orders, according to 
 the exigencies of the war : but their affections were more 
 devoted to Corbulo ; who, in subservience to fame, which 
 in all infant enterprises exercises a most potent sway, 
 marched with great expedition; but at JQgaeae, a city of 
 Cilicia, he was met by Quadratus, who advanced thither, 
 lest Corbulo, if he had entered Syria to receive his forces 
 there, should draw upon him the eyes of all men; majestic 
 as he was in person, an effective speaker, and, in addition 
 to his wisdom and experience, deriving influence from the 
 imposing effect of things worthless in themselves. 
 
 9. Both however warned Vologeses by messages, " to 
 prefer peace to war, and by delivering hostages to con- 
 tinue to the Roman people the reverence wont to be paid by 
 his ancestors." Vologeses, to give himself the opportunity 
 to prepare for war, or under the name of hostages to get 
 rid of suspected rivals, handed over the most illustrious of 
 the Arsacidae; who were received by Insteius, the centu- 
 rion, who went to the king for that purpose, having as it 
 happened been sent there on some previous business by 
 Numidius. When Corbulo knew this, he ordered Arriu^ 
 Varus, praefect of a cohort, to go and take them ; hence a 
 quarrel arose between the centurion and the pragfect ; but, 
 to prevent the continuance of such an exhibition to foreign 
 nations, it was left to the arbitration of the hostages them- 
 selves and the deputies who conducted them : and they 
 preferred Corbulo, in regard of his recent fame, and from 
 a kind of prepossession even in enemies. This led to a 
 dissension between the generals : Numidius complained 
 that the acquisitions of his prudence were snatched out of 
 his hands ; Corbulo, on the contrary, maintained that the 
 king had not been induced to give hostages, till he, being 
 appointed to conduct the war, had changed his hopes into 
 fear. Nero, to heal the difference, ordered it to be made 
 known, " that for the successes of Quadratus and Cor- 
 bulo, the laurel should be added to the imperial fasces.' 1
 
 274 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 Though these transactions extended to the years of other 
 consuls, I have given them in succession. 
 
 10. The same year, Nero applied to the senate for a 
 statue to his father Domitius, and for the consular orna- 
 ments to Asconius Labeo, who had been his tutor. Sta- 
 tues to himself of solid silver and gold he forbad, in oppo- 
 sition to those who offered them; and, notwithstanding an 
 ordinance of senate, that the year for the future should 
 begin in December, the month in. -which Nero was born, 
 he retained the ancient solemnity of beginning the year 
 with the calends of January. Neither would he admit a 
 prosecution against Carinas Celer the senator, preferred 
 by a slave ; nor against Julius Densus, a knight, whose 
 attachment to Britannicus was objected to him as a crime. 
 
 1 1. In the consulship of Nero and Lucius Antistius, as 
 the magistrates were swearing upon the acts of the empe- 
 rors, Nero prohibited Antistius, his colleague, from swear- 
 ing upon his : a conduct highly applauded by the fathers, 
 in order that his youthful mind, elveated by the glory 
 resulting from even light things, might proceed in that 
 course. Then followed an instance of his mercy towards 
 Plautius Latei'anus, formerly degraded from the senatorial 
 order for adultery with Messalina, whom he now restored: 
 pledging himself to clemency in frequent speeches, which, 
 either to show the purity of the precepts he instilled, or 
 in ostentation of his talents, Seneca gave to the world by 
 the mouth of the emperor. 
 
 12. Meanwhile, the authority of his mother became gra- 
 dually impaired, Nero having fallen in love with a freed- 
 woman, named Acte, having also taken as his confidants 
 Otho and Claudius Senecio ; the first of a consular fa- 
 mily, the other a son of one of Claudius's freedmen ; 
 two handsome lads, who first, unknown to his mother, and 
 then in spite of her, by companionship in luxury and in 
 suspicious secrets, had insinuated themselves deep into 
 his good graces : nor did even his older friends thwart 
 this intrigue; when with a woman of low condition, to the 
 injury of no man, the prince satisfied his youthful inclina- 
 tions and pleasures : for he abominated Octavia his wife, 
 a woman of illustrious birth, and approved virtue, whether 
 it was from some fatality, or that forbidden pursuits were 
 more attractive with him. And it was feared that, if 
 prohibited this indulgence, he might throw off all re- 
 straints and assail the virtue of illustrious females. 
 
 13. But Agrippina, with the impatience of her sex, gave 
 vent to her indignation, " that a freedwoman was brought
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 275 
 
 into competition with her, and that a handmaid was her 
 daughter-in-law," with other similar invectives: she would 
 not wait till her son repented, or was surfeited ; hut the 
 fouler her reproaches were, the more vehemently she in- 
 flamed his passion : so that, overcome at last hy its influ- 
 ence, he put oft' all reverence for his mother, and sub- 
 mitted himself to the direction of Seneca, whose friend 
 Anneus Serenus threw a veil over the prince's youthful 
 passion for Acte, by feigning to be enamoured of her him- 
 self, and lending his name, to all appearance bestowed 
 upon her the presents which Nero secretly furnished. 
 Upon this Agrippina resorted to other arts, and assailed 
 the youth with blandishments : she offered him " her own 
 chamber, that there, and even within her own arms, he 
 might more covertly accomplish whatever the warmth of 
 youth and sovereign fortune prompted him to." She even 
 acknowledged her unseasonable rigour, and placed at his 
 disposal her own wealth ; which was not far short of the 
 imperial treasures : as she had lately been over-strict in 
 checking her son, so now on the other hand running into 
 the extreme of submissive indulgence. Nero remarked 
 this change ; his most confidential friends dreaded it, and 
 besought him, " to beware of treachery in a woman ha- 
 bitually daring, and now acting under a mask." It hap- 
 pened about that time, that as Nero was surveying the 
 splendid apparel in which the wives and mothers of the 
 emperors were wont to glitter, he selected a vesture and 
 jewels, and sent them as a present to his mother, in a spirit 
 of unreserved liberality; for without solicitation he pre- 
 sented to her the choicest things, and what others coveted : 
 but Agrippina openly asserted " that the effect of these 
 presents was not to furnish her own wardrobe, but pre- 
 clude her from the rest of the imperial treasures; and that 
 her son gave her only a portion of what he owed wholly to 
 her." Nor were there wanting those who related these 
 expressions to her with aggravations. 
 
 14. Nero, incensed with those who upheld the impe- 
 rious spirit of Agrippina, dismissed Pallas from the em- 
 ployment which he had received from Claudius, and in 
 consequence of which he assumed to be the absolute mas- 
 ter of the empire: and it is reported that, as he went down 
 from the palace, with a numerous train of followers, Nero 
 remarked not inappropriately, that " Pallas was going to 
 swear himself insolvent." Pallas had, certainly, stipulated 
 " that he should be questioned for no part of his past con- 
 duct ; and that his accounts with the public should be 
 considered as balanced." After this Agrippina ahan-
 
 276 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 doned herself to a system of terrorism and menace, and 
 went so far as even to protest in the emperor's hearing : 
 " that Britannicus was now grown up, a genuine issue, 
 and worthy to succeed to that empire of his father, which 
 a son adopted and engrafted, swayed by trampling upon 
 his mother: she was not unwilling that all the calamities 
 of the hapless house should be laid bare ; above all, her 
 own incestuous marriage, her own guilt in poisoning her 
 husband: one only resource, by the providence of the gods 
 and her own foresight, remained to her her stepson was 
 still alive: with him she would repair to the camp; where, 
 on one side, would be heard the daughter of Germanicus, on 
 the other, the impotent Burrus and the exile Seneca; one 
 with a maimed hand, the other with the tongue of a peda- 
 gogue, pressing their claim to govern the world." At the 
 same time she shook her fists at him, heaped reproaches 
 upon him, invoked the deified Claudius, the manes of the 
 Silani in the regions below, and recounted the many atro- 
 cities she had perpetrated to no purpose. 
 
 15. Nero was discomposed at these proceedings, and 
 as the day was approaching when Britannicus completed 
 his fourteenth year, he revolved within himself, now upon 
 the ungovernable spirit of his mother, now upon the na- 
 tural parts of the prince himself, as they were lately dis- 
 covered and proved by an incident of slight consequence 
 in itself, but by which he had attracted general favour. 
 During the festival of the Saturnalia, among other sports 
 practised by those of the same age with him, they drew 
 lots who should be king of the play, when the lot fell upon 
 Nero: he therefore gave to all the rest distinct commands, 
 yet such as exposed them to no ridicule : and when he 
 ordered Britannicus to rise, and advancing to the centre to 
 begin some song, he expected that the boy would become 
 an object of derision, unhabituated as he was to sober so- 
 ciety, and much more so to drunken revels ; but with perfect 
 self-possession he pronounced some verses, which imported 
 how " he was thrown out of his father's throne and im- 
 perial power." Hence he drew compassion from those 
 who heard him, the more unequivocal, as the midnight 
 hour and extravagant mirth had banished dissimulation. 
 Nero, struck with the invidious application, conceived a 
 still stronger aversion to him; and, urged to despatch by 
 the menaces of Agrippina, as he had no crime to allege 
 against his brother, and dared not command his execu- 
 tion openly, he set about a secret machination : he ordered 
 poison to be prepared ; and as his instrument employed 
 Julius Pollio, tribune of a praetorian cohort, in whose cus-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 277 
 
 tody was kept the woman named Locusta, who was under 
 sentence for poisoning, and was notorious for her many 
 iniquities. For care had been long since taken that those 
 who were about the person of Britannicus should be such 
 as had no sense of virtue or honour. The first poison he 
 took was even administered by the hands of his tutors, 
 but he voided it in an alvine evacuation ; whether it 
 wanted energy, or had been qualified so as not to act with 
 sudden violence. Nero, who was impatient at the tardy 
 execution of the guilty deed, began to threaten the tri- 
 bune, ancV doom the sorceress to execution, " for that 
 whilst they were looking to public opinion, and meditating 
 the means of clearing themselves, they impeded his se- 
 curity." They then undertook to despatch him, as in- 
 stantaneously as if he were run through with a sword; 
 and in a chamber next to the emperor's, the deadly potion 
 xvas seethed, compounded of poisons whose rapid action 
 had been proved. 
 
 16. It was a custom for the children of princes, with 
 other young nobles, to eat their meals in a sitting posture, 
 in the sight of their friends, at a table of their own and 
 less costly. Britannicus thus taking his food ; forasmuch 
 as whatever he ate or drank, was first tasted by a special 
 officer; that neither this usage might be omitted, nor by 
 the death of both, the iniquity be detected, the following 
 artifice was concerted. A 'cup of drink, as yet harmless, 
 and tried by the taster, but scalding hot, was handed to 
 Britannicus ; and when he refused it on account of its 
 being too hot, cold water was poured into it, containing a 
 poison which so completely entered his whole system that 
 he, was at once bereft of speech and breath. Fear and 
 trembling seized his companions ; such as comprehended 
 not the mystery, made off instantly, but those of deeper 
 discernment remained, with their eyes fixed steadfastly 
 upon Nero ; who, as he lay in a reclining posture, de- 
 clared, with an air of unconsciousness, " that he was used 
 to be so affected by reason of the falling sickness, with 
 which Britannicus from his early childhood had been afflict- 
 ed; and that by degrees his sight and senses would return.," 
 But in Agrippina such tokens of alarm and consternation 
 discovered themselves, though by her looks she laboured 
 to suppress them, that it was manifest she was as much a 
 stranger to the affair as his own sister Octavia : and well 
 they might, for she was sensible that her last refuge was 
 torn from her, and that here was a precedent for parri- 
 cide. Octavia too, though in the artlessness of youth, 
 had learnt to hide her grief, her tenderness, and every
 
 278 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 other affection. Accordingly, after a short silence, the 
 delights of the banquet were resumed. 
 
 17. One night coupled the murder of Britannicus and 
 his funeral pile; for the appointments for his burial, which 
 were on a moderate scale, had been prepared beforehand. 
 He was however buried in the Campus Martius, during 
 such tempestuous rains that the populace believed them 
 to be denunciations of the wrath of the gods against the 
 deed ; a deed which even many men excused, considering 
 the dissensions which have ever existed between brothers, 
 and that sovereign power admits no partner. R is related 
 by most of the writers of those times, that on frequent 
 occasions before the murder, Nero had abused the person 
 of the youthful Britannicus: so that after this, his death 
 cannot appear premature or horrifying, though during 
 the sacred ceremonies of the table, so that his sister had 
 not a moment for a last embrace, and under the eye of an 
 enemy, it was hastily inflicted on this last representative 
 of the Claudian family, who had been polluted by unna- 
 tural lust before he perished by poison. Nero, by an 
 edict, justified the hurrying of the obsequies: alleging that 
 it was an institution of our ancestors, "to withdraw from 
 the sight the bodies of such as died prematurely, and not 
 lengthen the solemnity by encomiums and processions: for 
 the rest, having in Britannicus lost the support of a bro- 
 ther, he now rested all his hopes in the commonwealth ; and 
 hence with the greater tenderness ought the senate and 
 people to cherish a prince, who alone survived of a family 
 born to sovereignty." He then bestowed additional pre- 
 sents on his most confidential friends. 
 
 18. Nor were there wanting such as censured men who, 
 setting up for gravity and wisdom, parted amongst them- 
 selves, on that occasion, palaces and villas like spoils : 
 others believed that they were constrained to accept them, 
 by the emperor, who was conscious of his guilt, and hoped 
 for impunity if by largesses he engaged in his interest the 
 most powerful men in the state. But his mother's resent- 
 ment could not be assuaged by any acts of munificence; but 
 she attached herself more closely to Octavia, held frequent 
 conferences with her confidants in secret; with more than 
 her inherent avarice, scraped together money from every 
 source, as if to form a reserved fund ; courteously enter- 
 tained the tribunes and centurions, and honoured the 
 names and virtues of the few nobles who still remained, as 
 if she were seeking a party to support her and a leader. 
 Nero was apprised of this ; and therefore the guards 
 which attended at her gate as consort to the late empe-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 279 
 
 ror, and were continued to her as mother of the pi'esent, 
 he ordered to withdraw, together with the band of Ger- 
 mans which, as an additional honour, had been joined to 
 the former: moreover, to prevent her being followed by 
 such a throng of courtiers, he separated her habitation 
 from his, and removed her to the house which had be- 
 longed to Antonia : as often as he visited her there, he 
 was surrounded by a crowd of officers, and after a hasty 
 salute, departed. 
 
 19. Of all human things, none is so unstable and tran- 
 sitory, as the reputation of influence which depends not 
 upon its own inherent strength : instantly the threshhold 
 of Agrippina was deserted; none consoled her, none visited 
 her, except some few ladies, whether from affection or 
 hate is uncertain. Amongst these was Junia Silana, who 
 was through Messalina divorced from Caius Silius, as I have 
 related before ; she was distinguished for family, beauty, 
 and lewdness, and long on the most affectionate terms with 
 Agrippina : but, between them afterwards secret heart- 
 burnings arose; for Sextius Africanus, a noble youth, had 
 been deterred from marrying Silana by Agrippina, who 
 urged, "that she was lewd, and past her prime:" not that 
 she might reserve Africanus for herself, hut lest he should, 
 as she had no children, get possession of her wealth. Si- 
 lana, a prospect of vengeance presenting itself, instructed 
 two of her own creatures, Iturius and Calvisius, to accuse 
 her: neither did she attack her with stale charges often 
 before alleged, such "as bewailing the fate of Britannicus, 
 and publishing the wrongs done to Octavia ; but with a 
 design of inciting Rubellius Plautus to effect a change in 
 the state ; as, by his mother, he was in blood as near as 
 Nero to the deified Augustus ; and by espousing him, of 
 once more seizing the commonwealth." This Iturius and 
 Calvisius imparted to Atimetus, freedman to Domitia, 
 Nero's aunt. Atimetus, rejoicing at the opportunity, (for 
 between Agrippina and Domitia a bitter rivalry was main- 
 tained) instigated Paris the player, who was also Domi- 
 tia's freedman, to proceed with all haste, "and represent 
 the charge to the emperor as a horrible affair." 
 
 20. Night was far advanced, and Nero was lengthening 
 it out in carousing, when Paris entered : under other cir- 
 cumstances, he was wont at such seasons to be occupied 
 in promoting the prince's amusements ; but now, with a 
 face framed to sadness, he laid before Nero an orderly 
 detail of the evidence; which so terrified him, that he not 
 only determined the death of his mother and of Plautus, 
 but also to remove Burrus from the command of the
 
 j80 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 guards, as owing his promotion to the interest of Agrip- 
 pina, and now rendering her a return for it. Fabius Rus- 
 ticus states, " that to Caecina Thuscus a note was de- 
 spatched, committing to him the command of the praetorian 
 cohorts ; but that by the interest of Seneca, Burrus re- 
 tained his dignity." Cluvius and Pliny say, no suspicion 
 was entertained of the fidelity of the praefect ; but it must 
 be owned Fabius manifests a bias in favour of Seneca, 
 by whose friendship he flourished : as for myself, adopt- 
 ing that in which authors are agreed, I shall give the 
 statements in which they differ, under their respective 
 names. Nero, alarmed and eager to make away with his 
 mother, could not be brought to defer his purpose, till 
 Burrus undertook for her execution, in case she was con- 
 victed of the crime : " but," Burrus remarked, that " to 
 every one, a liberty of defence must be granted; much more 
 to a mother; nor, indeed, did any accusers appear; the only 
 evidence they had was the assertion of one man, who came 
 from a house hostile to the accused : the darkness of the 
 night turned into day in feasting, the state of recklessness 
 and stupidity into which all were sunk at such a time, 
 threw discredit on the charge." 
 
 21. The emperor's fears being thus assuaged, and day 
 returned, recourse was had to Agrippina herself, to apprise 
 her of the charges, that she might dissipate them or suffer 
 for them. Burrus, in the presence of Seneca, executed 
 this commission ; there attended also some of the freed- 
 men, to watch the conference. Burrus, after he had 
 laid the charges before her, and given her the names of 
 their authors, proceeded to high words and menaces. 
 Agrippina, with her wonted fierceness, said, " I wonder 
 not that Silana, who never bore a child, should be a 
 stranger to the affections of a mother; for, in truth, chil- 
 dren are not so easily renounced by their parents, as 
 adulterers are changed by a profligate: nor, because Itu- 
 rius and Calvisius, after having consumed their whole 
 fortunes, as a last resource, pay back to an old woman 
 their services in undertaking my accusation, as an equiva- 
 lent for their hire, does it follow that I am to be branded 
 with the infamy, or that Caesar should conceive the guilt 
 of parricide. As to Domitia, I would thank her for all 
 the efforts of her enmity to me, if she strove to exceed me 
 in kindness to my Nero. At present, by the ministration 
 of Atimetus her minion, and of Paris the player, she is 
 framing plots as it were for the stage. She was adorning 
 the fishponds of her own Baiae, when by my counsels his 
 adoption into the Claudian name, the proconsular au-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 281 
 
 thority, his designation to the consulship, and all the other 
 measures necessary for acquiring the empire were plan- 
 ning. Say if there is a man who will come forward and 
 charge me, either with practising upon the guards at Rome, 
 or with shaking the allegiance of the provinces, or with 
 seducing the prince's slaves and freedmen to treason. If 
 Britannicus had heen sovereign, could I have preserved 
 my life? On the other hand, if Plautus or any other 
 were to gain the supreme rule, and thence a power of 
 pronouncing judgment upon me, of course I should want 
 accusers, when, even under Nero, there are those who 
 charge me, not with expressions sometimes unguarded 
 from the vehemence of affection, but with crimes such as 
 I could not be acquitted of except by my son." Those 
 who were present being powerfully affected by her re- 
 marks, and actually trying to calm her emotion, she pressed 
 for and obtained an interview with her son : in which 
 she alleged nothing to prove her innocence, as if her 
 heart misgave her, nor mentioned her services as though 
 she taunted him ; but besought vengeance upon her ac- 
 cusers, and rewards for her friends; in both which she 
 succeeded. 
 
 22. To Fenius Rufus was granted the superintendence 
 of provisions; to Aruntius Stella the direction of the pub- 
 lic shows, which the emperor was preparing to exhibit ; 
 and to Caius Balbillus the government of Egypt: that of 
 Syria was assigned to Publius Anteius ; but soon he be- 
 came the object of all manner of deceptive artifices, and 
 ultimately he was prevented leaving the city. As for Si- 
 lana, she was exiled : Calvisius too and Iturius were ba- 
 nished : Atimetus was put to death ; but Paris was too 
 important to the emperor in his debauches to suffer pu- 
 nishment. Plautus was for the present passed over in si- 
 lence. 
 
 2%. Pallas and Burrus were thereafter charged with 
 " having conspired to raise to the sovereignty Cornelius 
 Sylla, in regard of his splendid lineage and alliance with 
 Claudius," whose son-in-law he was, having married An- 
 tonia. One Paetus, infamous for his dealings with the ex- 
 chequer in the redemption of confiscated goods, and on 
 this occasion manifestly guilty of falsehood, was the pro- 
 secutor in the case ; the acquittal of Pallas was not so gra- 
 tifying, as his arrogance was offensive : for, upon naming 
 his freedmen as his accomplices, he answered, " that at 
 home he always signified his pleasure by a nod, or motion 
 of the hand ; or, if he had many directions to give, he 
 wrote them, to avoid the familiarity of exchanging words
 
 282 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 with them." Burrus, though arraigned, voted among the 
 judges: the accuser was punished with banishment; and 
 the papers by which he revived the cancelled claims of 
 the exchequer were burnt. 
 
 24-. At the close of the year, the guard of a cohort, 
 which usually attended the public spectacles, was removed, 
 to make a greater display of liberty, as also to preserve 
 the integrity of military discipline, by preventing the sol- 
 diers from mixing with the licentiousness of the theatre; 
 and moreover, that the people might afford proof whether 
 they would preserve order in the absence of the military. 
 The emperor performed a lustration of the city, according 
 to a response of the soothsayers, relative to the fact that 
 the temples of Jupiter and Minerva had been struck by 
 lightning. 
 
 25. In the consulship of Quintus Volusius and Publius 
 Scipio, while tranquillity reigned abroad, abominable licen- 
 tiousness was exhibited at Rome, in the person of Nero; 
 who, disguised in the habit of a slave, went roaming about 
 the streets, the stews, and public inns, with a set of com- 
 panions who seized upon wares exposed to sale, and as- 
 saulted all they met ; while the objects of this violence so 
 little suspected him, that he himself received blows and 
 bore the marks in his face. Afterwards, when it came 
 to be understood that the emperor was the offender, in- 
 creased outrages were committed on men and ladies of dis- 
 tinction, and the name of Nero being once used to warrant 
 licentiousness, some, with gangs of their own, practised 
 the same excesses with impunity; and the state of things 
 during the night, resembled that of a captured city. Ju- 
 lius Montanus, of senatorial rank, but hitherto exercising 
 no magistracy, having casually encountered the prince in 
 the dark, resolutely repulsed his assaults ; and afterwards 
 recognising him, implored his forgiveness : but the empe- 
 ror felt this as a reproach to him, and had him put to 
 death. After this, however, Nero was less daring, and 
 fortified himself with a party of soldiers and a numerous 
 train of gladiators : who interposed not in the beginning 
 of a fray while it kept within bounds, and was as it were 
 only a private affair ; but if such as were insulted resisted 
 with any degree of vigour, they fell on. Theatrical disturb- 
 ances also, and the contests between the partisans of play- 
 ers, he exasperated into a sort of battle, by impunity and re- 
 wards, and by looking on himself, sometimes concealed, 
 and more frequently exposed to view; till the people being 
 torn with dissensions, and more serious commotions appre- 
 hended, the only remedy that could be devised was to
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 283 
 
 banish the players from Italy, and again guard the theatre 
 with troops. 
 
 26. About this time the senate took into consideration 
 the mal-practices of the freed men ; and it was demanded 
 importunately "that patrons should have a right of re- 
 voking the enfranchisement of delinquents." For this 
 many were ready to vote ; but, the consuls, afraid to put 
 the question without apprising the prince, acquainted him 
 in writing with the general opinion of the senate, and con- 
 sulted him whether he would become the author of this 
 constitution, since it was opposed by few : some of the 
 senators, complaining indignantly " that their insubordina- 
 tion, which had increased by enfranchisement, had pro- 
 ceeded to such a pitch that they put themselves upon an 
 equality with their patrons, canvassed their votes in the 
 senate, audaciously lifted up their hands against them to 
 strike them ; and impudently warned their patrons not to 
 punish them. What privilege, they alleged, was given to 
 the abused patron, except to banish his freedmen an hun- 
 dred miles off, to the coast of Campania? In every other 
 action, their rights were common and their privileges si- 
 milar. It was therefore expedient to arm the patron with 
 a power which could not be treated with contempt : nor 
 was it a grievance that they should continue their liberty 
 by the same respectful behaviour by which they acquired 
 it. And as for those notoriously guilty, it was but just 
 to remand them to servitude ; that those whom benefits 
 had failed of reclaiming, might be coerced by penal 
 terrors." 
 
 27. On the other side it was argued, that " the trans- 
 gression of a few, ought to be visited on the guilty only, 
 but the established rights of the whole order should not 
 be diminished; for they were a body widely diffused: 
 from them commonly the tribes were supplied, and the 
 colleges of scribes filled up ; from the same source were 
 furnished the several officers attending the magistrates and 
 pontiffs ; thence too the city cohorts were enlisted : nor 
 did a majority of the knights and many senators originate 
 in any other order. If the descendants of freedmen were 
 removed, the paucity of such as were originally free, would 
 be glaring. Not without good reason our ancestors, when 
 they distinguished the privileges of the three orders, made 
 liberty the common right of all: moreover, two kinds of 
 manumission were instituted, so as to leave room for re- 
 penting of the grant already made, or of adding to it by 
 further generosity : those whom their patron had not 
 freed by the praetor's wand were still held as it were by a
 
 284 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 bond of servitude : every patron sliould examine carefully 
 their merits, and concede with caution what once granted 
 could never be withdrawn." This opinion prevailed ; and 
 Nero wrote to the senate, that they should investigate the 
 cases of freed men individually, whenever they were pro- 
 secuted by their patrons ; but in nothing retrench the 
 rights of the body. Not long after, Domitia, Nero's aunt, 
 was deprived of Paris her freedman, under colour of a 
 civil right; not without the dishonour of the prince, since 
 by his command was given a judgment which pronounced 
 him free born. 
 
 28. There however subsisted still a faint similitude of a 
 free state : for, in the contest which arose between Vibul- 
 lius the prastor and Antistius tribune of the people, about 
 some turbulent partisans of the players, committed to 
 prison by the praetor, and by order of the tribune re- 
 leased, the senate affirmed the judgment of Vibullius, and 
 reprimanded the arbitrary conduct of Antistius. The tri- 
 bunes were moreover prohibited from forestalling the ju- 
 risdiction of the praetors and consuls, or from summoning 
 before them out of any quarters of Italy such as might be 
 sued at tribunals of their own: it was added by Lucius 
 Piso, consul elect, " that they should not do any judicial 
 act in virtue of their authority within their own house ; 
 nor the queestors of the exchequer enter on the public re- 
 gister a mulct imposed by them within four months ; that 
 in the interval there should be liberty of controverting 
 their sentence, and that the consuls should determine." 
 The jurisdiction too of the aediles was further limited, and 
 it was settled how high the patrician aediles, how high the 
 plebeian, might exact sureties, and to what amount impose 
 penalties. In virtue of this regulation, Helvidius Priscus, 
 to gratify personal pique, accused Obultronius Sabinus, 
 quaestor of the exchequer, "of unmercifully extorting from 
 the poor in the exercise of his prerogative of confiscation." 
 After this, the management of the exchequer was by the 
 prince transferred from the quaestors to the praefects. 
 
 29. Various had been the regulations of this office, and 
 its form often altered : for Augustus left to the senate the 
 power of choosing the prasfects : thereafter, as the suf- 
 frages were suspected to have been gained by intrigue, 
 those who were to preside were drawn by lot from the 
 number of the praetors. Neither did this regulation con- 
 tinue long ; for the erring lot often fell upon the incom- 
 petent. Claudius then once more restored the quaestors ; 
 and, that fear of raising enemies might not relax the vigour 
 of their superintendence, he promised them the honours
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 85 
 
 by special dispensation : but vigour and maturity could 
 not be found in those who undertook this magistracy, as 
 it was the first step in the career of office ; accordingly, 
 Nero chose such as had passed the praetorship, and were 
 of tried ability. 
 
 30. Under the same consuls Vipsanius Lenas was con- 
 demned for rapacity, in the administration of the province 
 of Sardinia. Cestius Proculus (his accusers withdrawing) 
 was acquitted of extortion : Clodius Quirinalis, charged 
 with " having by his profligate habits and cruelty op- 
 pressed Italy, as though it had been the most abject of 
 nations, when commanding the crews stationed at Raven- 
 na," prevented his condemnation by poison: Caius Ami- 
 nius Rebius, one of the first rank for legal knowledge and 
 greatness of wealth, took refuge from the miseries of ailing 
 age by discharging the blood from his veins ; though not 
 supposed magnanimous enough to embrace a voluntary 
 death, infamous as he was for lust and effeminacy. On 
 the other hand, Lucius Volusius died, pre-eminently ho- 
 noured ; the measure of his life was ninety-three years ; 
 his wealth, which was surpassing, was acquired in the 
 paths of virtue ; and he had escaped giving offence to so 
 many depraved emperors. 
 
 31. During the consulship of Nero (his second) and 
 Lucius Piso, few events occurred worth recording, unless 
 one were disposed to fill volumes in lauding the founda- 
 tions and beams of the stupendous amphitheatre which 
 Nero then erected in the Field of Mars: since it has been 
 ibund to comport with the grandeur of the Roman people 
 to insert in their annals events of celebrity only, and to 
 consign such details as these to the city journals. The 
 colonies however of Capua and Nuceria were strengthened 
 by a supply of veterans; to the populace was distributed 
 a largess of four hundred small sesterces a man; and into 
 the exchequer was conveyed the sum of forty thousand 
 great sesterces ; to support the credit of the Roman peo- 
 ple. Moreover, the duty of four in the hundred upon the 
 sale of slaves, was remitted, in appearance rather than ef- 
 fect ; for, as the seller was obliged to pay it, it formed an 
 additional component of the price to purchasers. The 
 emperor too issued an edict, " that no procurator, nor any 
 other magistrate, who had obtained any province, should 
 exhibit a spectacle of gladiators, or of wild beasts, or any 
 other popular entertainment whatsoever :" for, heretofore, 
 they had by such acts of munificence no less oppressed 
 those under their jurisdiction, than by extortion, warding
 
 286 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 off the blame of their guilty excesses by the arts of po- 
 pularity. 
 
 3^. A decree of senate also passed equally tending to 
 the vindication of justice and security; " that if any one 
 was killed by his slaves, those too, who by his will were 
 made free under the same roof, should be executed amongst 
 his other slaves." Lucius Varius, who had been consul, 
 but formerly degraded on charges of rapine, was now re- 
 stored to his rank : and Pomponia Graecina, a lady of 
 distinction, charged with embracing a foreign superstition, 
 and married to Plautius, who upon his return from Bri- 
 tain entered the city in ovation, was consigned to the ad- 
 judication of her husband. Plautus assembled her kin- 
 dred, and in observance of primitive institution, having in 
 their presence held solemn inquisition upon the conduct 
 and character of his wife, adjudged her innocent. She 
 lived to a great age, and in unintermitted sorrow : for 
 since the fate of Julia (the daughter of Drusus) procured 
 by the perfidy of Messalina, she wore for the space of 
 forty years no habit but that of mourning, nor was grief 
 absent from her breast; a conduct which during the reign 
 of Claudius escaped with impunity, and redounded there- 
 after to her honour. 
 
 33. The same year produced many arraignments ; and 
 amongst them one against Publius Celer, at the suit of 
 Asia, which, the emperor, unable to absolve him, pro- 
 tracted till he died of old age. For Celer, as I have stated, 
 having poisoned the proconsul Silanus, by the magnitude 
 of that iniquity screened all his other enormities. Cossu- 
 tianus Capito was impleaded by the Cilicians, " as impure 
 and detestable, and claiming authority to commit in his 
 province the same bold excesses as he had in Rome." 
 Sorely beset however by the unremitting vigour of the 
 accusation, at last he abandoned his defence, and was 
 condemned under the law against extortion. In behalf 
 of Eprius Marcellus, from whom the Lycians sought re- 
 stitution, interest predominated so much, that some of his 
 accusers were punished with exile, " as if they had con- 
 spired to ruin an innocent man." 
 
 34. With Nero now consul for the third time Valerius 
 Messala entered upon the consulship : his great-grand- 
 father, Corvinus the orator, was now by a few old men 
 remembered as a colleague in that office with the deified 
 Augustus, the third grandfather of Nero. But the ho- 
 nour of that illustrious family was augmented by a yearly 
 pension of five-hundred great sesterces, given to Messala,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 287 
 
 to sustain his honest poverty. To Aurelius Cotta also, 
 and Haterius Antoninus, annual payments were assigned 
 by the prince, though they had wasted their patrimonial 
 wealth in dissipation. In the beginning of this year the 
 war between the Parthtans and Romans, for the mastery 
 of Armenia, which had been protracted by the feebleness 
 of the efforts with which it had been hitherto commenced, 
 was resumed with vigour : for Vologeses would not suffer 
 his brother Tiridates to be bereft of the monarchy by him- 
 self conferred upon him, nor to hold the same as a gift 
 from any other power : and Corbulo esteemed it becom- 
 ing the grandeur of the Roman people to recover the con- 
 quests formerly made by Lucullus and Pompey. More- 
 over, the Armenians, a people hesitating and wavering in 
 their attachments, invited the arms of both ; though from 
 the situation of 'their country and similitude of manners, 
 they were more identified with the Parthians, being als.p in- 
 termixed in conjugal alliances ; and, as they were strangers 
 to liberty, they were the rather inclined to Parthian 
 slavery. 
 
 35. But Corbulo had more to struggle with in the sloth- 
 fulness of his soldiers than the perfidy of his. enemies: 
 for, the legions brought out of Syria, enervated by a long 
 peace, bore with much impatience the duties of Roman 
 soldiers. It fully appeared that in that army there were 
 veterans who had never mounted guard, never stood sentry ; 
 men who gazed at a palisade and foss as things strange and 
 wonderful ; without helmets or breastplates, coxcombs, 
 and only looking after gain, having served their whole 
 time in different towns. Having therefore discharged such 
 as were unfit from sickness or age, he sought to recruit 
 his forces; and levies were made through Cappadocia and 
 Galatia, and a legion from Germany was added, with some 
 squadrons of allied cavalry, and a detachment of infantry 
 from the cohorts. The whole army too was kept in tents ; 
 though such was the rigour of the winter, that the earth, 
 which was covered with ice, would not, without digging, 
 afford a place for their tents. Many had their limbs 
 shrivelled up by the intense cold ; and some, as they stood 
 sentry, were frozen to death. One soldier was particularly 
 remarked, whose hands, as he carried a bundle of wood, 
 mortified so suddenly, that still clasping the burden, they 
 dropped from his mutilated arms. The general himself, 
 thinly clad, his head bare, when the troops were assem- 
 bled, when employed in their works, was incessantly among 
 them, commending the stout-hearted, comforting the fee- 
 ble, and exhibiting an example to all. Afterwards, as
 
 288 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 many, shrinking from the hardship of the climate ami the 
 service, deserted, he had recourse to severity ; nor did he 
 as is done in other armies, treat the first or second offence 
 with indulgence; but whoever deserted his colours, in- 
 stantly atoned for it with his life : a course which expe- 
 rience proved to be salutary, and preferable to compassion: 
 inasmuch as there were fewer desertions from that camp, 
 than from those in which lenity was employed. 
 
 36. Corbulo, meanwhile keeping his legions in camp, 
 till the spring had advanced ; and having stationed the 
 auxiliary cohorts in convenient places, forewarned them 
 not to venture to provoke a battle : the superintendence 
 of these garrisons he committed to Pactius Orphitus, who 
 had served in the honourable rank of first centurion. 
 Although he had acquainted the general by letter, that 
 the Barbarians acted negligently, and an opportunity pre- 
 sented itself for striking a blow, he was ordered to abide 
 within his entrenchments, and wait for reinforcement : but 
 he broke through his orders : for, upon the arrival of 
 some few troops of horse from the neighbouring fortresses, 
 who from inexperience demanded battle, he engaged the 
 enemy and was routed ; and those who ought to have sup- 
 ported him, terrified with his disaster, returned in alarm 
 and precipitation to their respective fortifications : Cor- 
 bulo regarded this as a serious offence, and after reproving 
 Pactius, the captains, and common soldiers, he ordered 
 them all to camp without the entrenchment : and under 
 this degradation they were continued ; nor were they re- 
 lieved but on the supplication of the whole army. 
 
 37. Now Tiridates, who besides his own vassals, was 
 supported by the power of his brother Vologeses, no 
 longer assailed Armenia by furtive attacks, but with open 
 war, and committed depredations upon all such as he sus- 
 pected of attachment to us ; if troops were drawn out 
 against him, he eluded the encounter, shifting rapidly 
 from place to place, and effecting more by the terror of 
 his name than by fighting. Corbulo therefore, having 
 long laboured to come to an engagement, but always frus- 
 trated, and being obliged, after the plan of the enemy, to 
 adopt a desultory mode of operation, he distributed his 
 forces so that his lieutenants and praefects might invade 
 several places at once : at the same time he directed king 
 Antiochus to fall upon the Armenian provinces contiguous 
 to his own. For Pharasmanes having slain his son Rha- 
 damistus as a traitor, was, in order to testify his fidelity 
 to us, giving increased effect to his enmity against the 
 Armenians. The Insechians too, a people then first en-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 289 
 
 gaged in our alliance, and never before united with the 
 Romans, overran the wilds of Armenia. Thus all the 
 measures of Tiridates reversed his anticipations ; and he 
 despatched ambassadors to demand, in his own name and 
 that of the Parthians; "upon what score it was that, after 
 lately giving hostages, and renewing his former amity, 
 which should open a way even to fresh benefits, he was 
 driven from Armenia, his hereditary right? that Vologeses 
 had not hitherto taken arms in person, because they both 
 desired to settle matters by argument rather than force. 
 But, if war were persisted in, the Arsacidae would not be 
 forsaken of the courage and good fortune so often proved 
 by Roman defeats." Corbulo, aware that Vologeses was 
 occupied with the revolt of Hyrcania, in answer to Tiri- 
 dates, persuaded him to apply to the emperor as a sup- 
 plicant ; " he might," he said, " enjoy a permanent king- 
 dom in peace, and without effusion of blood ; if, rejecting 
 remote and protracted hopes, he would embrace the pre- 
 ferable objects within his reach." 
 
 38. But, as the consummation of peace was not ad- 
 vanced by the interchange of messengers, it was at last 
 resolved to fix a time and place for an interview. Tiri- 
 dates said, "he would be attended by a guard of a thou- 
 sand horse, but would not prescribe to Corbulo what num- 
 ber of troops of every kind should accompany him, pro- 
 vided they came without helmets and breastplates, so as 
 to exhibit the appearance of peace." The cunning of the 
 Barbarian must have been manifest to every man breath- 
 ing, especially to an old and cautious captain ; that by li- 
 miting the number of men on one side, and leaving liberty 
 for a greater number on the other, a snare was intended : 
 for, against horsemen practised in the use of the bow, 
 numbers would avail nothing if their persons were exposed 
 without the protection of armour. Corbulo, however, 
 concealing his convictions, answered, "that matters which 
 concerned both their states, would be more properly dis- 
 cussed in presence of both armies :" and chose a place 
 composed in part of hills rising with a gentle ascent, suit- 
 able for receiving his infantry; partly of an extended plain, 
 affording scope for ranging the troops of horse. On the 
 day appointed, Corbulo advanced first ; on the wings he 
 posted the allied troops and the auxiliaries of the kings : 
 in the centre, the sixth legion, with which he had mingled 
 three thousand men of the third, brought by night from 
 another camp, all under one eagle, to preserve still the 
 appearance of a single legion. Tiridates, late in the day, 
 
 u
 
 JJ90 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 appeared at some distance, whence he could be easier 
 seen than heard. Thus the Roman general, no conference 
 taking place, ordered his men to retire to their several 
 camps. 
 
 of). The king too retreated in haste, whether it were 
 that he apprehended a design to surprise him, as the Ro- 
 mans filed off in different directions, or to intercept their 
 provisions which were coming from Trapezus and the 
 Euxine sea: but, as the provisions passed over the moun- 
 tains, which were secured by parties of our men, he had 
 no opportunity of attacking them : and Corbulo, that the 
 war might not linger on without effecting anything, and to 
 force the Armenians to defend their own dwellings, set 
 himself to raze their strong holds : the attack of the 
 strongest of all in that quarter, named Volandum, he re- 
 served to himself; to Cornelius Flaccus his lieutenant, and 
 Insteius Capito praefect of the camp, he committed the 
 smaller. Then having viewed the fortifications and pre- 
 pared all things requisite for storming the place, he ex- 
 horted his men, " to exterminate a vagabond foe, unpre- 
 pared for war, and indisposed to peace, but by their flight 
 confessing their perfidy and cowardice : he bid them do 
 this, and at once enrich themselves with spoil and cover 
 themselves with glory." He then distributed his forces into 
 four divisions: one he brought up in close array in form of 
 a tortoise, in order to undermine the rampart: others were 
 ordered to apply ladders to the walls, and a large party to 
 throw brands and javelins from the engines : to the en- 
 gineers too and slingers a position was assigned whence 
 they might from a distance discharge stones and bullets : 
 so that consternation prevailing everywhere alike, no one 
 position might relieve another. Such was the ardour and 
 emulation of the troops in the execution of these orders, 
 that, in four hours the walls were stript of their defenders, 
 the barriers of the gates forced, the works scaled, and all 
 of full age put to the sword ; without the loss of one of 
 our men, and very few wounded. The multitude not 
 bearing arms, were set to sale by public auction : the con- 
 querors made spoil of the rest. Equal success attended 
 the lieutenant-general and prefect of the camp : in one 
 day they took three castles by storm : when the rest, from 
 dread, or the inclination of the inhabitants, surrendered; 
 which inspired a resolution to attempt Artaxata, the capi- 
 tal of Armenia. The legions were not however conducted 
 thither the shortest road ; for if they passed the Araxes, 
 which washes the walls of the city, by a bridge, they
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 291 
 
 would have been exposed to the weapons of the enemy. 
 At a distant point therefore they forded it, where the 
 stream was broader and shallow. 
 
 40. As for Tiridates, he struggled between shame and 
 fear ; lest if he submitted to a siege, it would appear that 
 there was no reliance to be placed upon him : if he at- 
 tempted to prevent it, he should be hampered with his 
 cavalry on difficult and intricate ground : at last he deter- 
 mined to show himself in order of battle, and at break of 
 day begin the onset, or by a feigned flight draw the Ro- 
 mans into a snare. Suddenly therefore he beset them, 
 but without surprise to our general, who had formed his 
 army as well for a battle as a march. On the right 
 marched the third legion ; on the left the sixth ; and in the 
 centre a chosen detachment from the tenth; the baggage 
 was secured between the ranks, and a thousand horse 
 guarded the rear: they were ordered "to repulse the foe, 
 when they came on ; but, not to pursue them when they 
 fled." The foot archers and remainder of the horse were 
 placed on the wings on the left, extending further than 
 the other, over the lower part of the mountains ; that, if 
 the enemy broke in there, he might be encountered at 
 once by our front, and by the centre of the army. Tiri- 
 dates advanced upon them from different points, yet never 
 within the throw of a dart; but at one time, with a me- 
 nacing air, at another assuming the appearance of dismay, 
 trying to induce us to open our ranks, that he might fall 
 upon us when disordered. When he saw no unwary relax- 
 ation in our order, and only one captain of horse, who had 
 advanced too boldly, falling under a shower of arrows, 
 had confirmed all the rest in submission to discipline by 
 his fate, he marched off at the approach of the evening. 
 
 41. Corbulo encamped upon the place; and, supposing 
 that Tiridates had retired to Artaxata, was unresolved 
 whether he should march thither the same night with his 
 legions unencumbered by baggage, and immediately invest 
 it : but, upon tidings brought him by his spies, that the 
 king had undertaken a long march, it was uncertain whe- 
 ther towards Media or Albania, he waited for the light, 
 and despatched his light-armed troops to invest the city, 
 and begin the storm at a distance. But the inhabitants 
 voluntarily opening their gates, surrendered themselves 
 and all that belonged to them to the Romans : for which 
 their lives were spared. The city was set fire to and le- 
 velled with the ground ; for, such was the compass of its 
 walls, that they could not be defended without a powerful 
 garrison, nor were our forces such as to divide between 
 
 u 2
 
 292 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 the establishment of a garrison and the prosecution of the 
 war: or, had it been left untouched and unguarded, there 
 had been no profit nor glory in having taken it. A mira- 
 cle, interposed as it seemed by the decree of heaven, is 
 also reported to have occurred : for while the whole re- 
 gion without the walls and up to the buildings, was illu- 
 minated by the sun, the space enclosed by them was sud- 
 denly so completely enveloped in a pitchy cloud, and parted 
 with flashes of lightning, that it was concluded the city 
 was given over to destruction; the powers of heaven being 
 arrayed, as it were, in hostility against it. For these suc- 
 cesses Nero was solemnly saluted Imperator ; and by de- 
 cree of senate, days of public supplication were appointed, 
 with statues, arches, and perpetual consulships to the 
 prince : moreover, it was decreed that the day when the 
 city was won, when the news arrived, and on which it was 
 laid before the senate, should all be enrolled amongst the 
 festivals; with several other particulars of the same stamp, 
 so extravagant, that Caius Cassius, though he had agreed 
 to the former, yet argued here, " that were every instance 
 of public prosperity to be attended with public thanks- 
 giving, the whole year would not suffice for supplication: 
 a distribution ought therefore to be made of days of de- 
 votion and days of business, in such sort that the worship 
 of the gods might be solemnised without interfering with 
 the secular business of men," 
 
 42. After this, a man who had been harassed with vi- 
 cissitudes, and had earned the hatred of many, was con- 
 demned ; not however without imputation on the honour 
 of Seneca : it was Publius Suilius, who, during the reign 
 of Claudius, had been an object of terror, and notoriously 
 venal, and though now by the change of times consider- 
 ably fallen, yet not so low as his enemies wished : and 
 who chose rather to bear the character of a criminal, than 
 descend to that of a supplicant. For the purpose of 
 crushing him, it was supposed that the decree of senate 
 was made at this time for the revival of the Cincian law, 
 which subjected to penalties those who had pleaded for 
 hire. Nor did Suilius, on his part, spare complaints and 
 recriminations ; but besides the inherent vehemence of his 
 temper, feeling himself at liberty to say what he liked at 
 his advanced time of life, upbraided Seneca, " as an inve- 
 terate foe to all the friends of Claudius, during whose 
 reign he had been justly doomed to exile; and also as one 
 who being habituated to indolent studies, and conversant 
 only with the inexperience of youth, was actuated by envy 
 towards those who in defending the rights of their fellow
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 293 
 
 citizens, exercised a vigorous and genuine eloquence. For 
 himself, he had been quaestor to Germanicus ; but Seneca 
 the adulterer of Germanicus's daughter. Ought it to be 
 considered a more heinous offence, to obtain the rewards 
 of an honest vocation from a suitor who freely gives it, 
 than to convert the chambers of princesses into scenes of 
 adultery ? By what precepts of wisdom, what principles 
 of philosophy, had he, during four years of imperial fa- 
 vour, amassed a fortune of three hundred thousand great 
 sesterces? At Rome, testaments and the childless were 
 caught, as it were, in his toils; Italy and the provinces 
 were drained by his exorbitant usury. But as for him- 
 self, his wealth was the fruit of industry, and within the 
 bounds of moderation. He was determined to be exposed 
 to charges, perilous prosecutions, and every degree of 
 hardship and suffering, rather than debase an established 
 reputation, the acquisition of a long life, by submitting to 
 an upstart of fortune." 
 
 - 43. Nor were there wanting persons to relate to Seneca 
 all these reproaches, in the very words, or in their own 
 malignant versions of them. Accusers too were found, 
 who arraigned him " for his excesses in Asia, when he 
 ruled as quaestor there ; for plundering the inhabitants, 
 and embezzling the public revenue." But as a whole 
 year was granted them for preparing their evidence, it was 
 determined to save time by proceeding upon his enormi- 
 ties at Rome, of which there were abundant witnesses at 
 hand. By these it was urged, " that by a virulent accu- 
 sation he had driven Quintus Pomponius to the necessity 
 of raising a civil war : that by him was procured the vio- 
 lent death of Poppaea Sabina, and of Julia the daughter of 
 Drusus : by him the doom of Valerius Asiaticus, of Lusius 
 Saturninus, and of Cornelius Lupus were contrived. In 
 addition to these, they laid to his charge whole bands of 
 Roman knights, condemned at his instance; with the long 
 train of cruelties that stained the reign of Claudius." In 
 his defence he began to allege, " that of all these prose- 
 cutions, he had engaged in none of his own inclination, 
 but in obedience to the prince." But Nero checked this 
 plea, and testified that, from the memoirs of Claudius, he 
 found that no accusation of any person whatsoever had 
 been undertaken by compulsion from him. The accused 
 then set up the pretence of the orders of Messalina, and 
 his defence began to give way: "for why, it was said, 
 had no other advocates but Suillius been singled out to 
 prostitute their eloquence to the purposes of that merci- 
 less strumpet? the instruments of atrocious deeds must
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 be punished, when, having received the wages of their in- 
 iquities, they shift the iniquities themselves upon others." 
 A part of his estate was accordingly confiscated : for to 
 his son and granddaughter the other part was granted ; 
 besides that from the sentence were also exempted the for- 
 tunes left them by the will of their mother, and that of their 
 grandfather; and he was banished to the Balearian Isles. 
 But neither during the heat and peril of the prosecution, 
 nor after his condemnation, was his spirit dismayed : he is 
 even said to have supported the loneliness of exile by 
 living luxuriously and voluptuously. The informers at- 
 tacked his son Nerullinus with charges of public plunder, 
 relying on the odium of his father's guilt; but the prince 
 interposed, on the ground that the demands of justice were 
 already satisfied. 
 
 44. About the same time Octavius Sagitta, tribune of 
 the people, infatuated with a passion for Pontia, a married 
 woman, gained her by vast presents, first to consent to 
 adultery, afterwards to abandon her husband ; engaging 
 to marry her, and stipulating that she should marry him. 
 But the woman, when she found herself single, framed 
 perpetual excuses for delays ; alleged the aversion of 
 her father, and then, having found reason to hope for a 
 wealthier husband, renounced her engagement. Octa- 
 vius, on the other hand, one moment complained bitterly, 
 the next menaced: he adjured her by the reputation 
 which he had shipwrecked, by the wealth he had con- 
 sumed ; and in fine told her, that his life, which was all 
 that was left him, was at her disposal. Finding her deaf 
 to all his reasonings, he requested the solace of one night, 
 soothed by which, he might afterwards govern his passion. 
 The night was fixed, and Pontia appointed a maid, her 
 confidant, to watch her chamber. Sagitta brought with 
 him one freed man, and a dagger concealed under his 
 robe. The interview began as is usual in lovers' quarrels; 
 there was chiding and beseeching, reproaches and recon- 
 ciliations ; and part of the night was devoted to embraces : 
 immediately after which, fired with rage, he stabbed her 
 with his dagger, in a moment of perfect security ; wounded 
 and frightened away the maid, who was running to her 
 assistance, and burst out of the chamber. The next day 
 disclosed a manifest murder, and by what hand could not 
 be doubted ; for it was proved he had passed some time 
 with her. But his freedman took the guilty deed upon 
 himself, and said he did it to avenge the wrongs of his 
 master : and some, touched with the signal magnanimity of 
 his conduct, were disposed to believe him, till the maid,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 295 
 
 recovered from her wound, brought the facts to light; so 
 that the tribune was arraigned before the consuls, by the 
 father of the deceased, and, at the expiration of his office, 
 condemned by the senate to the penalties of the law on 
 assassins. 
 
 45. An instance of immodesty no less remarkable, proved 
 this year the source of serious calamities to the state. In 
 the city lived a daughter of Titus Ollius, who had taken 
 the name of Poppaea Sabina from Poppaeus Sabinus, her 
 mother's father ; a man distinguished on the roll of fame, 
 and eclipsing his contemporaries by the splendour of con- 
 sular and triumphal honours. For Ollius, ere he had 
 been invested with public dignities, had his prospects 
 blighted by the friendship of Sejanus. This woman pos- 
 sessed every ornament but that of an unpolluted mind ; 
 for from her mother, who in beauty excelled all the 
 women of her time, she derived the charms of person and 
 the recommendation of family: her wealth was propor- 
 tioned to the lustre of her birth ; she was engaging in her 
 conversation, and not deficient in parts; prudish in her 
 exterior deportment, but a wanton in reality : seldom she 
 appeared abroad, and when she did, with her face par- 
 tially veiled, that she might not satiate the sight, or be- 
 cause it became her. Reckless of character, she made no 
 distinction between husbands and adulterers; unshackled 
 by affection in herself or others, wherever her interest ap- 
 peared, thither she transferred her attachments. Hence, 
 though she was married to Rufus Crispinus, a Roman 
 knight, by whom she had a son, she was allured by the 
 youth and gaiety of Otho ; and because the rays of Nero's 
 friendship were concentrated upon him without any in- 
 terval of delay the adulterous connection was followed by 
 a marriage. 
 
 46. Otho began to extol the beauty and charms of his 
 wife to the prince ; either from the indiscretion of a lover, 
 or to inflame the passions of Nero, that the tie arising out 
 of their enjoyment of the same woman might increase his 
 influence. Often, as he proudly rose from the emperor's 
 table, he was heard to say, "that he was going to her; 
 ejaculating, that he was blessed with a wife who united 
 noble birth and beauty, qualities which all desired, but 
 the favourite of fortune alone enjoyed." After these and 
 similar incitements, little time was lost ; but having per- 
 mitted him to visit her, Poppaea at first gradually gained 
 an ascendency over him by soft arts and caresses ; feign- 
 ing herself smitten with his fine person, and overcome by 
 her passion for him. But soon, when now the prince's
 
 296 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 affection was inflamend, she changed her former beha- 
 viour into haughtiness: if she were detained above a 
 night or two, "she was a married woman, she cried, nor 
 cotild she relinquish her husband, who had won her by 
 his mode of living, which no man could equal. Otho was 
 magnificent in his ideas and in his style of living; under 
 his roof she beheld every thing worthy the most exalted 
 fortune: whereas Nero, as he was attached to Acte, and 
 inured to the embraces of a slave, had derived from an 
 association with a bondwoman nothing but what was mean 
 and abject." Otho was debarred from his usual intimacy, 
 and afterwards from all intercourse and access; and at 
 last, to remove a rival from the city, he was preferred to 
 the government of Lusitania : where, till the beginning of 
 the civil wars, he conducted himself with uprightness and 
 honour, and not in accordance with his previous disrepute 
 heedless and dissolute in a state of inactivity, but dis- 
 creet in the exercise of power. 
 
 47. Nero hitherto sought disguises for his immoralities 
 and crimes. He entertained the strongest suspicions of 
 Cornelius Sylla, mistaking the dullness of his spirit for the 
 opposite qualities of deep artifice and dissimulation. Grap- 
 tus, a freedman of Caesar's, who had grown old in court 
 intercourse, and ever since the reign of Tiberius had been 
 made familiar with the practices of the palace, inflamed 
 these apprehensions by the following forgery. The Mil- 
 vian bridge was then the great place of resort for nightly 
 debaucheries ; and thither Nero often went that he might 
 play his pranks with the more freedom without the city. 
 Graptus therefore feigned, " that persons had waylaid 
 him as he returned thence by the Flaminian way, but by 
 good fortune he had escaped it by coming home by a dif- 
 ferent route through the gardens of Sallust; and that of 
 this plot Sylla was the author." The only foundation of 
 all this was, that as some of the emperor's attendants were 
 returning, certain youths, indulging in the licentiousness 
 then universally practised, had tried to frighten them. 
 But not a slave of Sylla's, nor one of his dependents 
 was recognised as being present ; and as for himself, he 
 was of a spirit so despicable, and so unequal to all enter- 
 prise, that it was absurd to suppose him guilty of the 
 crime. Nevertheless, just as if he had been convicted, he 
 was banished, and confined within the walls of Marseilles. 
 
 48. During the same consulship were heard two dif- 
 ferent deputations from Puteoli, one from their senate, the 
 other from the populace ; the former inveighing against 
 the violence of the multitude, the latter against the op-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 297 
 
 pression and avarice of the magistrates and nobles : and 
 as the factious had proceeded so far as to throw stones, and 
 threaten fire, and were betaking themselves to arms and 
 massacre, Caius Cassius was appointed to apply a remedy ; 
 but as they could not bear the severity of his proceedings, 
 at his own request the charge was transferred to the two 
 brothers Scribonii, assisted by a praetorian cohort; by the 
 terror of which, and the execution of a few, concord was 
 restored amongst the inhabitants. 
 
 49. The decree of senate now made, for permitting the 
 Syracusans to exceed the numb'er formerly limited in their 
 shows of gladiators, is a matter so common, that I should 
 not insert it here had not Psetus Thrasea opposed it, and 
 thence ministered to his revilers occasion of censuring his 
 sentiments. " For if he believed," said they, " that the 
 condition of the commonwealth called upon the senators 
 to exert freedom of speech, why were his censures con- 
 fined to things of such trivial moment? How came it that 
 he did not advise or impugn measures relating to war and 
 peace, the revenue, the laws, and whatever else concerned 
 the stability of the Roman state? To every senator, as 
 soon as he had the privilege of voting, full freedom was 
 allowed of propounding whatever he would, and of claim- 
 ing that it might be put to the vote. Was there no other 
 subject calling for amendment, that he confined himself to 
 objecting to an enlargement of the scale on which the Syra- 
 cusans should exhibit their spectacles ? Were all the other 
 matters in evei'y department of the government just as excel- 
 lently regulated as if Thrasea himself, and not Nero, held 
 the reins '. But if things of the highest importance must 
 be winked at, how much more should they abstain from 
 those of trivial moment?" To his friends, who asked him 
 the meaning of his conduct, Thrasea answered, " that it 
 was not in ignorance of the state of things that he recti- 
 fied decrees of that sort, but consulting the honour of the 
 senate; that it might be plain that those, who applied 
 their thoughts even to the most insignificant things, would 
 never omit the care of the most important." 
 
 50. The same year, so frequent were the importunities 
 of the people against the oppressions of the tax-gatherers, 
 that Nero deliberated about the suppression of all duties, 
 and thus bestowing the fairest gift upon the human race. 
 But the senators, after many high encomiums upon his 
 magnanimity, restrained his rashness by apprising- him, 
 " that the dissolution of the empire must follow a reduc- 
 tion of the revenues which sustained it; inasmuch as if 
 duties were extinguished, the natural consequence was,
 
 298 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 that the abolition of tributes must be conceded to clamour. 
 That the companies for farming the revenues were for the 
 most part instituted by the consuls and tribunes, even at 
 a time when popular liberty was in its vigour at Rome ; 
 and the provisions which followed were so adapted, that 
 the calculation of income, and the necessity of expend- 
 iture should correspond. But the extortions of the tax- 
 gatherers evidently required to be restrained, that the 
 burdens borne by the people for so many years without 
 murmuring, might not be rendered odious by the severity 
 of additional exactions." 
 
 51. The emperor therefore by an edict ordained, " that 
 the schedules of every impost, which had till then been 
 kept secret, should be published. That the publicans 
 should revive no omitted claims more than a year in ar- 
 rear. That at Rome the praetor, and in the provinces the 
 propraetor or procunsul for the time being, should adjudi- 
 cate summarily in suits against the tax-gatherers : but the 
 soldiers should still be exempt, save those who trafficked; 
 with other regulations highly equitable, which were ob- 
 served for a short time, but afterwards became obsolete. 
 The abolition however of the fortieth penny, and of the 
 fiftieth, continues; as also that of other heads of illicit exac- 
 tions invented by the publicans. Moreover, the importation 
 of grain from the provinces beyond sea was regulated; and 
 an ordinance made that the ships of traders should not be 
 reckoned in the estimate of their effects, nor any duty be 
 paid for the same. 
 
 52. Two men accused of mal-administration in Africa, 
 where they had been proconsuls, were acquitted by the 
 emperor: they were Sulpicius Camerinus, and Pomponius 
 Silvanus. The former in opposition to a few private pro- 
 secutors, who charged him rather with acts of severity than 
 extorting money. But Sylvanus was beset by a vast array 
 of accusers, who required time to produce their witnesses ; 
 but he demanded to be instantly put on his defence, and 
 carried his point by being wealthy, childless, and old ; 
 though he outlived and disappointed those by whose in- 
 trigues he was acquitted. 
 
 53. Till this time affairs in Germany had continued in 
 a state of tranquillity, from the feeling of our commanders 
 there, who, as triumphal honours were so miserably prosti- 
 tuted, judged that the greater honour was to be reaped by 
 preserving peace. Paulinus Pompeius and Lucius Vetus 
 then commanded the army. Not however to keep the sol- 
 diers unemployed, the former now perfected the dam which 
 had been begun by Drusus sixty-three years before, to re-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 299 
 
 strain the overflowing of the Rhine; while Vetus was 
 digging a canal of communication between the Arar and 
 Moselle, that the armies from Italy, having sailed by sea, 
 and then up the Rhone and Arar, might pass through 
 this canal into the Moselle, and thence sail down the 
 Rhine- into the ocean : so that all difficulties of the passage 
 being removed, a communication by water might be opened 
 from west to north, between the two shores. But this 
 great work was marred by the envy of ^Elius Gracilis, the 
 lieutenant of Belgic Gaul, who warned Vetus against 
 bringing his legions into another's province, and courting 
 the affections of the Gauls; insisting that such conduct 
 would alarm the emperor: an apprehension by which 
 worthy enterprises are frequently frustrated. 
 
 54. But from the continued inaction of both armies, a re- 
 port arose that the generals were enjoined not to lead 
 them against the enemy. The Frisians therefore occupied 
 the forests and morasses with their youth, and conveying 
 over the lakes those unfit for war from sex or age, placed 
 them along the banks of the Rhine, and then proceeded 
 to settle themselves upon the unoccupied lands set apart 
 for the soldiers, under the counsel and conduct of Verritus 
 and Malorix, who ruled this nation, so far as Germans 
 submit to rule. They had already founded their dwell- 
 ings, sown the fields, and were cultivating the lands, as if 
 they had been their native soil, when Dubius Avitus, who 
 succeeded Paulinus in the province, by threatening them 
 with an attack from the Romans, unless they retired to 
 their ancient territories, or from the emperor obtained a 
 new settlement, forced Verritus and Malorix to betake 
 themselves to supplication. They proceeded to Rome ; 
 where, while while they waited for access to Nero, who 
 was engaged in other affairs, amongst the several sights 
 which are usually shown to Barbarians, they were con- 
 ducted into Pompey's theatre, that they might observe the 
 immensity of the Roman people. Here, while they gazed 
 round them, for indeed they took no delight in scenic re- 
 presentations which they understood not, asking about 
 the mass of people seated in the pit, the distinctions of 
 orders, " which were the Roman knights, and where sate 
 the senate," they spied certain persons in a foreign habit, 
 sitting upon the benches of the senators, and asked who 
 were these J When they had learnt that this was a distinc- 
 tion conferred upon the ambassadors of such nations as 
 signalised themselves by their merit and friendship to- 
 wards the Romans; "there is not a nation upon earth," 
 they exclaimed, "which surpasses the Germans in prowess
 
 300 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 and fidelity," and clown they came and took their seats 
 among the senators: a proceeding viewed indulgently by 
 the spectators, as a specimen of ancient simplicity, and 
 the effect of an honest emulation. Nero bestowed upon 
 both the privileges of Roman citizens, but ordered that 
 the Frisians should abandon their new possessions : and 
 as they refused to obey, they were forced to it by a sud- 
 den attack of the auxiliary horse, who made prisoners or 
 slew all who obstinately resisted. 
 
 55. The same lands were seized by the Ampsivarians, 
 a more potent people, not in their own multitudes only, 
 but also from the sympathy of the neighbouring nations : 
 for having been exterminated by the Chaucians, and de- 
 stitute of a settlement, they were seeking shelter in some 
 foreign land. They were also led by a man of high re- 
 nown amongst these nations, as well as of approved fidelity 
 towards the Romans, named Boiocalus; who, upon this 
 occasion alleged, " that, upon the revolt of the Cheruscans, 
 he had been thrown into bonds by order of Arminius, and 
 afterwards served under Tiberius, then under Germani- 
 cus ; and, to the merit of fifty years' service and adherence 
 to the Romans, he was ready to add that of submitting his 
 people to their dominion. What portion of the plain lay 
 unoccupied, to receive sometime the sheep and cattle of 
 the soldiers? They might certainly keep the lands reserved 
 for flocks in those quarters were human beings were said 
 to dwell : all that was desired was that they would not 
 prefer desolation and solitude to a friendly population. 
 These lands were formerly held by the Chamavians ; next 
 by the Tubantes; afterwards by the Usipians. As the 
 heavens were appropriated to the gods, so was the earth 
 to the children of men ; and such portions of it as none 
 possessed, were free to all." Then, turning his eyes to 
 the sun, and invoking the starry host, he asked them, as 
 if holding personal converse with them, " whether they 
 looked with complacency upon a desert soil ; rather would 
 they pour the ocean over it in revenge of robbers of 
 lands." 
 
 56. Avitus, who was affected by this appeal, replied, 
 " that the commands of superiors must be obeyed. The 
 gods whom they invoked had appointed, that to the Ro- 
 mans should appertain the sovereign disposal, what to be- 
 stow and what to take away; and not to allow any other 
 judges than themselves." This was his answer to the Amp- 
 sivarians generally ; but to Boiocalus himself he promised, 
 that in acknowledgment of his attachment to the Romans, 
 he would give him lands ; an offer which he spurned, re-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 301 
 
 garding it as the price of treachery, and added, " a land to 
 live in we may want, but a place to die in we cannot:" and 
 thus they parted with angry feelings on both sides. The 
 Ampsivarians invited to a confederacy in the war the 
 Bructerians, Tencterians, and even other nations more re- 
 mote. Avitus having written to Curtilius Mantca, who 
 commanded the upper army, to pass the Rhine, and make 
 a hostile demonstration upon their rear, himself led his 
 legions into the territories of the Tencterians, threatening 
 them with annihilation unless they abandoned the con- 
 federacy. The Tencterians accordingly withdrawing, the 
 Bructerians impelled by similar fears followed them ; and 
 all the other members shrinking from dangers incurred 
 in others' quarrels, the Ampsivarians, alone and deserted 
 by all, fell back upon the Usipians and Tubantes, who 
 drove them out of their territories ; and having sought a 
 a reception first with the Cattians, then with the Che- 
 ruscans, after protracted wanderings, as strangers, desti- 
 tutes, and enemies, all their youth fell by the sword in a 
 foreign land, and the helpless multitude were portioned 
 out as captives. 
 
 57. A severe battle was fought between the Herman- 
 durians and the Cattians during the same summer, each 
 party forcibly asserting a claim to the river which divided 
 their territories, and which yielded abundance of salt. 
 Besides their propensity to settle every thing by the sword, 
 they were animated by a deep-rooted religious persuasion, 
 " that these places approached nearer to heaven than any 
 other, and nowhere did the supplications of men reach the 
 ears of the gods more speedily. Hence by the indulgence 
 of the deities, in this river, and in these groves, salt was 
 produced, not, as with other nations, from the inundations 
 of the sea drying upon the shore, but by pouring water 
 upon a flaming pile of wood, condensed by the opposite 
 elements of fire and water." The issue of the war was 
 prosperous to the Hermandurians, but to the Cattians the 
 more calamitous, as the victors had devoted the adverse 
 host to Mars and Mercury; by which vow men and 
 horses, and whatever else appertains to the vanquished, 
 are doomed to destruction : thus their threats against the 
 enemy recoiled upon themselves. The Ubians, a state in 
 alliance with us, were at this time afflicted by a sudden 
 calamity ; for fires issuing from the earth caught and con- 
 sumed, in every direction, their farm houses, their crops, 
 and their towns, and were advancing to the walls of the 
 lately-built settlement. Neither could they be extinguished 
 even by the falling of rain, or by the throwing of water,
 
 302 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 
 
 or by any other similar application ; till some boors, de- 
 spairing of a remedy, and enraged at the havoc, attacked 
 it at a distance with vollies of stones: and then, as the 
 flames abated, they approached nearer, and by blows from 
 their clubs and other stripes, they frightened the fires 
 away as though they had been wild beasts. At length 
 they stripped themselves of their clothes, and threw them 
 on, and the more soiled and worn they were, the more 
 effectual they proved. 
 
 58. During the same year the decay of the Tree Rumi- 
 nalis, in the Comitium, in consequence of its branches dying 
 and its trunk withering, that tree which, eight hundred and 
 forty years ago, had sheltered the infancy of Romulus and 
 Remus, was regarded as an awful portent ; but at length 
 it put forth new shoots, and recovered its verdure.
 
 THE 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK XIV. 
 
 DURING the consulship of Caius Vipstanus and Caiua 
 Fonteius, Nero determined no longer to delay the parricide 
 he had long meditated ; his daring spirit having gathered 
 strength from the duration of his power, and growing 
 more vehement from day to day in his passion for Pop- 
 paea, who, despairing of the divorce of Octavia, and her 
 own marriage while Agrippina lived, teased him with in- 
 cessant accusations, and sometimes with an air of raillery 
 upbraided him, calling him " a pupil, who being sub- 
 ject to the orders of another, was so far from wielding 
 the authority of emperor, that he was curtailed of liberty 
 himself. For why did he delay to marry her ? was it for- 
 sooth that he had objections to her person and her ances- 
 tors, men distinguished with triumphal honours? or to 
 the fruitfulness of her body, and the sincerity of her affec- 
 tion ? No ; the truth was, it was dreaded that when his 
 wife, she at least would lay open the injurious treat- 
 ment of the senate, the indignation of the people at the 
 insolence and rapaciousness of his mother: but if Agrip- 
 pina would bear no daughter-in-law who was not virulently 
 opposed to her son, she desired to be restored to the em- 
 braces of Otho; for she was ready to withdraw to any 
 quarter of the earth, where she might hear of the empe- 
 ror's degradation, rather than stay to behold it, mixed up 
 with the perils that beset him." These and similar ex- 
 postulations, enforced with tears, and the arts of an 
 adultress, penetrated the soul of Nero : nor did any one 
 check their operation, as all desired to see the influence 
 of his mother weakened, and as no one supposed that the 
 son would become so hardened in hatred as to spill the 
 blood of his mother. 
 
 2. Cluvius relates that the eagerness of Agrippina to 
 retain her influence grew to such a pitch, that often at 
 noon-day, as Nero was then heated with wine and meats,
 
 304 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 she presented herself to him, while intoxicated, gaily at- 
 tired and ready for incest; and when at length their 
 wanton kisses and caresses, the harbingers of guilt, at- 
 tracted the notice of their intimate friends, Seneca, for an 
 antidote against the enticements of one woman, had re- 
 course to another: and hence Acte, the freedwoman, 
 was introduced; who equally anxious for her own safety 
 and the character of Nero, warned him that the incest 
 was talked of everywhere, his mother glorying in it; and 
 that the soldiery would never bear the rule of a prince so 
 impious. Fabius Rusticus ascribes this to the passion, not 
 of Agrippina, but Nero; and says that it was broken off 
 by the address of the same Acte. But the account given 
 by Cluvius agrees with those of the other writers ; and to 
 this side tradition inclines. Whether it were that she 
 conceived in her heart an impurity so monstrous, or whe- 
 ther this scheme of unheard of lust appeared the more 
 credible in her', who almost in her childhood had, from 
 thirst of dominion, prostituted herself to Lepidus; with a 
 similar object had abandoned herself to the lust of Pal- 
 las ; and during her marriage with her uncle Claudius, 
 had been trained to guilt of every kind and degree. 
 
 3. In consequence Nero began to avoid all private inter- 
 views with her, and upon her going to her gardens, or to 
 her villa at Tusculum or Antium, he used to applaud her 
 for thus courting retirement. At length, feeling her as an 
 oppression and terror to him wherever she resided, he 
 resolved to kill her, and was in suspense only about the 
 mode ; by poison, the sword, or any other violent means : 
 poison was preferred at first ; but if it were administered 
 at the prince's table, its effects could not be ascribed to 
 accidental causes, as Britannicus had already perished in 
 the same way. To tamper with her domestics appeared 
 impracticable, as from her long familiarity with crime, she 
 was on the alert against treachery; and by taking an- 
 tidotes beforehand, had fortified her body against poison: 
 and how to despatch her with the sword, and yet hide the 
 deed, no one could suggest : he feared too lest the person 
 selected for the perpetration of so heinous an act, should 
 disregard his orders. Anicetus, an enfranchised slave, 
 tutor to Nero in his infancy, but now commander of the 
 fleet at Misenum, hated by and hating Agrippina, here 
 proffered the aid of his ingenuity. Accordingly he ex- 
 plained, " how a vessel might be so constructed that a 
 portion of it might by a contrivance fall to pieces and 
 plunge her unawares into the water: nothing," he said, 
 " was so prolific in accidents as the sea; and if she were
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 325 
 
 thus cut off by shipwreck, who could be so injurious as to 
 ascribe the offence of wind and waves to the malice of 
 men ? the prince should also erect a temple and altars to 
 the deceased, and adopt every other means of parading 
 his filial reverence." 
 
 4. Nero was pleased with the device, which was also 
 favoured by the particular juncture, for he was then keep- 
 ing the holidays of the Quinquatrus at Raise. Thither he 
 enticed his mother; frequently declaring, " that the hasty 
 humours of parents should be borne with, and her spirit 
 should be soothed ;" in order to raise a rumour of his 
 being reconciled to her; which Agrippina might believe 
 with the credulous facility with which women acquiesce in 
 whatever gratifies their wishes. When she approached, 
 he met her upon the shore, for she came from Antium, 
 gave her his hand, embraced her, and conducted her to 
 Bauli ; so the villa is called, which lying between the cape 
 of Misenum and the gulf of Baiae, is washed by the wind- 
 ing sea. Here, amongst other vessels, lay one more orna- 
 mental than the rest; as if, in this too, he sought to 
 honour his mother: for she had been always wont to 
 make her excursions in a galley with three banks of oars, 
 rowed by mariners from the fleet. She was then invited 
 to a banquet, that the shades of night might minister in 
 shrouding the horrid deed. It was, however apparent 
 that somebody had betrayed the design, and that Agrip- 
 pina, upon hearing of the plot, though doubtful whether 
 to believe it, was conveyed to Baiae in a sedan: but, upon 
 her arrival, his caresses assuaged her fear : he received 
 her graciously, and placed her at table above him ; enter- 
 tained and amused her with a variety of conversation ; at 
 one time with the frankness natural to youth, at another 
 with an air of gravity, pretending to communicate with her 
 upon serious topics : and after he had drawn out the ban- 
 quet to a late hour, he escorted her on her departure, 
 fixing his eyes upon her, and clinging to her bosom, whe- 
 ther it was to complete the hollow part he had assumed, or 
 that the last sight of a mother on the point of perishing, 
 had power to fix the attention of his mind, though bru- 
 talized. 
 
 5. The gods, as if to bear damning testimony against 
 the impious deed, granted a night lit up with stars; while 
 not a breath disturbed the unruffled deep. Agrippina 
 was attended to by two only of all her train, of whom Cre- 
 pereius Gallus stood by the steerage, and Aceronia, who, 
 as Agrippina reposed, lay at her feet, was again setting 
 before her, with joy, the remorse of her son, and her re- 
 
 x
 
 326 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 covered influence with him : the vessel had not yet made 
 much way ; when suddenly, upon a signal given, the roof 
 of the cabin fell in, being loaded with a quantity of lead, 
 and instantly crushed Crepereius to death. Agrippina 
 and Aceronia were defended by the sides of the couch 
 which rose above them, and happened to be too strong to 
 yield to the weight : neither did the vessel at once fall to 
 pieces ; for the mariners were all in confusion, and the 
 major part of them not being privy to the plot, embar- 
 rassed even such as were. The mariners then proposed to 
 bear the vessel down on one side, and so sink her : but 
 neither did all the accomplices themselves fall in with a 
 project thus startling ; and others resisting it, diminished 
 the violence with which they were thrown into the sea. 
 Now Aceronia, little thinking of the consequence, while 
 she cried out that she was Agrippina, and bid them suc- 
 cour the prince's mother, was pursued with poles and 
 oars, and whatever other naval weapons came first to 
 hand, and so slain. Agrippina kept silence, and being 
 therefore the less known, escaped, with one wound how- 
 ever upon her shoulder. By swimming, and then meet- 
 ing with some small barks, she reached the lake Lucrinus, 
 and was thence conducted to her own villa. 
 
 6. There, reflecting that for this very end she had been 
 summoned by the fraudulent letters of her son, and treated 
 with especial honour: that the vessel, close to the shore, 
 not from the violence of winds, or from striking upon 
 rocks, had given way in its upper works, and fallen to 
 pieces like a frail structure for land purposes ; taking into 
 her consideration also the fate of Aceronia, and looking upon 
 her own wound, she inferred that her only resource against 
 these treacherous machinations was to act as if she saw 
 them not. With this view she despatched Agerinus, her 
 freedman, to notify to her son, " that through the mercy 
 of the gods, and the auspicious influence of his fortune, 
 she had escaped a grievous casualty ; but besought him, 
 however terrified at the danger which had threatened 
 his mother, to postpone the attention of visiting her; for 
 what she needed at present was rest." And meanwhile, 
 counterfeiting perfect security and composure, she had 
 medicines applied to her wound, and fomentations to her 
 body : she ordered the will of Aceronia to be brought to 
 her, and her effects to be registered and sealed up : de- 
 parting in this instance only from her plan of dissimu- 
 lation. 
 
 7. As for Nero, while he was waiting for expresses to 
 apprise him that the deed was done, tidings arrived,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 307 
 
 " that she had escaped with a slight hurt ; having been so 
 far imperilled as to leave no doubt who was the author." 
 Overpowered with terror and dismay at this intelligence, 
 and protesting that she would forthwith come, eager for 
 revenge, he asked, " what resources he had to meet her, 
 whether she armed the slaves, or kindled a flame among 
 the soldiery, or forced her way to the senate and people, 
 and charged him with her shipwreck, her wound, and the 
 murder of her friends, unless Burrus and Seneca could 
 devise some expedient." He had instantly summoned 
 both of them to consult them; neither is it clear whether 
 they were previously informed of the conspiracy : they 
 both kept silence for a long time, either lest they should 
 fail in dissuading him from his purpose, or else convinced 
 that matters had gone so far that either Agrippina must 
 be cut off or Nero perish. At length Seneca, heretofore 
 the more forward, fixed his eyes on Burrus, and asked, 
 " whether orders for this execution might be given to the 
 soldiery?" he answered, that " the praetorian guards were 
 so attached to the whole family of the Caesars, so revered 
 the memory of Germanicus, that they would shrink from 
 executing any severity upon a descendant of him : Ani- 
 cetus should carry out his engagement." Anicetus paused 
 not a moment, but even demanded the task of completing 
 the murder. Nero at these words declared himself to be 
 that day presented with the empire, and that his freed- 
 man was the author of the costly present. He bid him 
 despatch, and take with him such as would most promptly 
 execute his orders. The freedman however, having heard 
 that Agerinus was arrived as a messenger from Agrip- 
 pina, contrived a plot to turn the treason upon her; as 
 he was delivering his message, he dropped a dagger be- 
 tween his feet; and then, as if he had caught hjni in the 
 treason, ordered him to be put in irons. This he did to 
 give consistency to a fiction, that the mother of the prince 
 had concerted his destruction, and then from shame, on 
 the detection of the treason, had put herself to death. 
 
 8. Meanwhile the circumstance of Agrippina's peril 
 having been made known among the people, and it was 
 represented as the effect of pure accident, each as soon as 
 he heard it, hastened down to the beach. Some climbed 
 up the piers which jut out into the sea ; some got into the 
 barks that were at hand ; others entered the sea, and 
 waded as far as their height would permit; some stretched 
 out their arms; so that the whole coast resounded with 
 lamentations, with vows, and with the shouts of the multi- 
 tude, asking various questions, or returning unsatisfac- 
 
 \2
 
 308 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 tory answers. A great number crowded to the spot with 
 torches in their hands; and, as soon as it was confirmed 
 that Agrippina was out of danger, they were preparing to 
 offer her their congratulations, when an armed band ap- 
 pearing and threatening them they were dispersed. Anice- 
 tus beset the villa with a guard, and bursting open the gates, 
 seized such of her slaves as he met on his way to the door 
 of her chamber, which he found guarded by very few, the 
 rest being scared away by the terror of the irruption. In 
 her chamber was a small light, and only one of her maids. 
 Agrippina was more and more agitated with anxious 
 thoughts that no one had yet arrived from her son, not 
 even Agerinus : she observed the alteration in the general 
 aspect of the shore, the solitude that reigned, startling 
 noises, and symptoms of some dire catastrophe. Her 
 maid then leaving her, she said, " you too are deserting 
 me;" when looking round she saw Anicetus, accompanied 
 with Herculeus, captain of a galley, and Oloaritus, a cen- 
 turion of the navy : she told him, " if he came from the 
 emperor to be informed of her health, to say she was re- 
 vived ; if for any sanguinary purpose, she would never be- 
 lieve it of her son : he had never given orders for parri- 
 cide." The assassins placed themselves round her bed, 
 the captain first struck her violently upon the head with 
 a club : for to the centurion, as he was drawing his sword 
 to despatch her, she presented her womb, and with a loud 
 voice, " strike your sword into my belly," she cried, and 
 was instantly despatched with a number of wounds. 
 
 9. In these particulars authors are unanimous : but as 
 to whether Nero surveyed the breathless body of his 
 mother, and applauded its beauty ; there are those who 
 have affirmed it, and those who deny it. Her body was 
 committed to the funeral pile the same night on a common 
 couch ; and her obsequies performed in a mean manner : 
 neither, during the reign of Nero, was any tomb raised, or 
 her grave enclosed ; but afterwards, from the respect of 
 her domestics, she received a humble monument upon the 
 road to Misenum, near a villa of Caesar's the dictator, 
 which, elevated above the surrounding objects, overlooks 
 the coast and bays below. Mnester, a freedman of hers, 
 as soon as her funeral pile was lighted, ran himself through 
 with a sword ; whether from affection to his patroness, or 
 from dread of some horrible doom to himself, is uncertain. 
 Agrippina had been taught to expect many years before 
 that she would end her life thus, but cared not for it: for 
 the Chaldeans, whom she consulted on the fortune of 
 Nero, anwsered, that " he would certainly reign and kill
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 309 
 
 his mother;" when she replied, " let him kill me, so that 
 he reign." 
 
 10. As for Nero, now at length, after the impious deed 
 was completed, he became sensible of its enormity: during 
 the rest of the night, at times he would remain profoundly 
 silent, fixing his eyes immoveably upon the ground ; at 
 others starting up, amazed and trembling *and in the dis- 
 traction of despair, waited the approach of day; which, 
 he apprehended, would bring his final doom. But he was 
 roused into hopes and assurance, first by the flattery of 
 the tribunes and centurions, who, at the instigation of 
 Burrus, grasped his hand and congratulated him, " upon 
 having escaped an unforeseen peril, and the treason of his 
 mother." Next, his friends repaired to the temples, and 
 the example once set, the adjacent municipalities of Cam- 
 pania testified their joy by victims and embassies. For 
 himself; his dissimulation taking a different turn, he ap- 
 peared sad and dejected in his mien ; seeming to be dis- 
 pleased at his own preservation, and mourning over the 
 death of his mother. However, as the face of a country 
 cannot change its aspect, like the countenances of men, 
 and as the offensive prospect of that sea and of those 
 shores, lay continually before his eyes, (there were those 
 too who believed that from the surrounding hills the sound 
 of a trumpet was heard, and wailings from Agrippina's 
 grave), he withdrew to Naples, and sent letters to the se- 
 nate, of which the substance was : 
 
 11." That Agerinus, a confidential freedman of Agrip- 
 pina's, sent by her to assassinate him, had been detected 
 with a dagger in his possession ; 'and that she had atoned 
 for her crime on the suggestion of the same guilty con- 
 sciousness that had impelled her to contrive the treason." 
 To this he added a long catalogue of her past crimes ; 
 how " she had aimed at a co-ordinate power with himself 
 in the empire, at drawing from the praetorian bands, an 
 oath of submission and fidelity to a woman ; to the dis- 
 grace and abasement at once of the senate and people ; 
 and finding her wishes disappointed, became enraged 
 against the soldiery, the fathers, and the populace ; and 
 hence opposed a donative to the army, and a largess to 
 the people ; and had got up capital prosecutions against 
 the most illustrious men of Rome. What labour it cost 
 him to defeat her design of assuming a seat in the senate, 
 and of replying to foreign ambassadors." Obliquely cen- 
 suring the proceedings of the Claudian times, he laid to 
 his mother all the atrocities of that reign ; alleging, " that 
 through the good fortune of the state, she had fallen :"
 
 310 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 for he also related the shipwreck : but, where is the man 
 so stupid as to believe that event to be the effect of chance? 
 or that a shipwrecked woman should send one man with 
 a dagger to break through the fleets and guards of the 
 emperor ? Therefore it was not now upon Nero that the 
 popular censure fell (whose barbarity could not be affected 
 by the complaints of the whole city), but upon Seneca ; 
 for that, by using such language he had proved 'himself 
 an accomplice. 
 
 12. However, with wonderful competition among the 
 great, supplications at all the couches of the gods were 
 decreed, " that the Quinquatrus, during which the con- 
 spiracy was deteced, should be celebrated by anniversary 
 spectacles ; in the senate-house should be placed the sta- 
 tue of Minerva in gold, and close by it that of the empe- 
 ror ; and, that Agrippina's birthday should be regarded 
 as an unlucky day." Thrasea Paetus, who was hitherto 
 wont either to pass over these sallies of flattery in silence, 
 or with a brief assent, now walked out of the senate, and 
 thence laid the foundation of danger to himself, without 
 opening a source of liberty to others. There happened 
 moreover at the same time, frequent prodigies ; but no 
 consequences followed: a woman brought forth a serpent; 
 another, in the embraces of her husband, was struck dead 
 with lightning; the sun too became suddenly darkened, 
 and the fourteen quarters of the city were struck by light- 
 ning: all which proved so entirely independent of any de- 
 sign in the deities, that for many years after this Nero 
 continued his sovereignty and crimes. Now, in order to 
 heighten the popular hate towards his mother, and show 
 that his own clemency was increased by her removal, he 
 restored to their native country and inheritance Junia and 
 Calpurnia, ladies of illustrious quality, with Valerius Ca- 
 pito and Licinius Gabolus, men of praetorian dignity ; all 
 formerly exiled by Agrippina : he likewise permitted the 
 ashes of Lollia Paulina to be brought home, and a sepul- 
 chre to be built for them: Iturius too, and Calvisius, whom 
 he had lately banished, he now pardoned and released : 
 for Silana had finished her course at Tarentum, whither, 
 from her remote banishment, she had returned, when the 
 influence of Agrippina, by whose enmity she fell, was de- 
 clining, or her resentment had subsided. 
 
 13. While Nero lingered in the towns of Campania, un- 
 determined how to conduct himself upon his return to 
 Rome, and distracted with doubt whether he should find 
 the senate obsequious, or the people attached to him, all 
 the profligates of the court (and no court upon earth more
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 311 
 
 abounded with them) combated his misgivings by de- 
 claring, " that the very name of Agrippina was detested ; 
 and that by her death, the affections of the people to- 
 wards him had been kindled into a flame ; they bid him 
 go fearlessly, and in person receive proofs of the popular 
 adoration. They obtained leave at the same time, to go 
 there before him ; which they did, and found a more for- 
 ward zeal than they had promised : the tribes came forth 
 to meet him, the senate in their robes of state, with troops 
 of women and children, ranged in separate classes accord- 
 ing to sex and age ; and on the line of his route erections for 
 spectators with seats one above another, in the same man- 
 ner as triumphs are viewed. Elated with pride upon^such 
 a reception, and conscious of his triumph over a servile 
 public, he repaired to the Capitol, and returned thanks 
 to the gods : and thenceforth abandoned himself to all 
 his inordinate passions ; which, though insufficiently con- 
 trolled, had been somewhat checked by his reverence for 
 his mother, such as it was. 
 
 14. It had long been a practice with him to drive a 
 chariot drawn by four horses : nor less scandalous was his 
 passion for singing to the harp, after the theatrical fashion, 
 when at supper. " An employment, which he alleged to 
 have been commonly practised by the kings and heroes 
 of old; was celebrated by the poets, and devoted to the 
 honour of the gods; indeed song was sacred to Apollo, 
 and with a similar habit and instrument, not only in the 
 cities of Greece, but even in the Roman temples, that pre- 
 eminent and oracular deity might be seen." Nor could 
 he any longer be restrained, when Seneca and Burrus, lest 
 he should carry his point in both, resolved to indulge him 
 in one ; and a piece of ground in the valley of the Vatican 
 was enclosed, where he might drive without being exposed 
 to a promiscuous crowd of spectators : but in a short 
 time, even the Roman populace were invited to see him, 
 who animated him with acclamations, according to the 
 genius of the multitude, who are eager for amusements, 
 and rejoice when the inclinations of the prince point in 
 that direction. But this public exhibition of his shame 
 did not produce disgust as they supposed, but encourage- 
 ment. Imagining also that his disgrace would be dimi- 
 nished by involving more in the contamination, he intro- 
 duced, as actors into the theatre, some of the descendants 
 of illustrious families, whose poverty exposed them to the 
 temptation of hire; men now no more, and whose names I 
 repeat not, because I deem it due to their ancestors ; and 
 also because the guilt is his who has given money to in-
 
 312 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 dace them to commit offences, rather than to prevent 
 them. He likewise engaged several distinguished Roman 
 knights to undertake the acting of parts in public repre- 
 sentations, by excessive rewards; unless it be thought 
 that pay from one who has authority to command, carries 
 with it the efficacy of compulsion. 
 
 15. Nevertheless, that he might not as yet be debased 
 in the public theatre, he instituted a sort of plays called 
 ' Juvenales ;' and for these, names were given in from all 
 quarters : neither noble descent, nor age, nor offices of ho- 
 nour borne, prevented any one from practising the art of 
 a Greek or Roman stageplayer, even to their effeminate 
 gestures and modulations: nay, even illustrious ladies prac- 
 tised unseemly things : and in the grove which was planted 
 by Augustus round the lake where the naval combat was 
 exhibited, for their entertainment taverns and booths were 
 built ; and incentives to wantonness were exposed to sale. 
 Moreover, money was given by the emperor to the inno- 
 cent as well as the voluptuous, to be wasted alike in riot ; 
 by the former from compulsion, by the latter from osten- 
 tation of vice. The consequence was, that guilt and in- 
 famy increased; nor was there anything which infused 
 more debauchery into the public manners, which had long 
 fallen from primitive purity, than this concentration of the 
 dregs and offscourings of vice. Hardly can modesty be 
 secured by virtuous training ; much less can chastity, or 
 moderation, or aught that savours of moral purity, be pre- 
 served amidst a general i % ivalry in vice. At length, Nero 
 mounted the stage, tuning his lute with much care, and 
 flourishing before he began his part. About him stood 
 his companions; a cohort too of the guards was also there, 
 with tribunes and centurions, and Burrus, praising his 
 master but grieving for him. At this time also was first 
 enrolled the body of Roman knights entitled 'Augustani,' 
 men in the prime of life, and remarkable for their bodily 
 vigour ; some naturally licentious, others from the pros- 
 pect of elevation. They were occupied by day and by 
 night in applauding the prince as loudly as they could ; 
 applying to him and to his voice, terms appropriate to the 
 gods ; and lived in honour and renown, as though they 
 had been preferred for their virtues. 
 
 16. The emperor however, that he might be renowned 
 not for theatrical accomplishments only, affected a passion 
 for poetry also ; having gathered about him such as had 
 any talent in that way : all these were wont to sit down 
 together with the prince, and connect together lines they 
 brought, or composed there, and patch them on to the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 313 
 
 emperor's effusions, howsoever crude they might be. This 
 is apparent from the very character of these poems, which 
 are without fire and inspiration, as well as the uniformity 
 that marks the production of one author. He was wont 
 also to give some time after meals to professors of philo- 
 sophy, that the squabbles of those who maintained oppo- 
 site opinions, might afford amusement to him : nor were 
 there wanting some, who were not averse to exhibit their 
 austere looks and mien amidst these royal recreations. 
 
 17. About the same time, a trivial altercation gave rise 
 to a sanguinary conflict between the inhabitants of the 
 colonies of Nuceria and Pompeii, at the celebration of 
 a combat of gladiators exhibited by Livineius Regulus, 
 whose expulsion from the senate I have before recounted. 
 For, as they rallied each other with the freedom usual 
 among the inhabitants of small towns, they proceeded to 
 abuse, then to throwing stones, and at length they had 
 recourse to arms: but the people of Pompeii, where the 
 spectacle was exhibited, were too strong for their oppo- 
 nents. In consequence, numbers of the Nucerians were 
 conveyed to Rome, wounded and mutilated ; and many 
 bewailed the death of sons and fathers. The cognizance 
 of this affair was by the prince left to the senate, and by 
 them to the consuls ; and on their report of the merits of 
 the case to the fathers, the people of Pompeii were pro- 
 hibited from holding any such public meeting for ten years, 
 and the societies they had instituted contrary to the laws 
 were dissolved. 
 
 18. Pedius Blafisus also was expelled the senate, at the 
 suit of the Cyrenians, who urged that he profanely robbed 
 the treasure of yEsculapius: and had been guilty of venal 
 and corrupt practices in the matter of the levies. The 
 same Cyrenians prosecuted Acilius Strabo, who had ex- 
 ercised prastorian authority, and had been sent as an arbi- 
 trator by Claudius respecting lands formerly held by king 
 Apion, and by him bequeathed, together with his king- 
 dom, to the Roman people ; the same had been usurped 
 by the bordering proprietors, who founded a claim upon 
 continual encroachment and wrong, as though they had 
 justice and right on their side. The consequence was, 
 that Strabo, having adjudged the lands not theirs, incurred 
 their displeasure. In answer to the application the senate 
 said, " that the terms of his commission from Claudius 
 were unknown to them, and the matter must be referred 
 to the prince." Nero approved the arbitration of Strabo, 
 but wrote, " that he would nevertheless support our allies 
 and grant them the possessions they had usurped."
 
 314 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 19. Then followed the deaths of those eminent Romans, 
 Domitius Afer and Marcus Servilius, who had lived in 
 high repute, having filled the most honourable offices and 
 distinguished themselves for their eloquence ; the former 
 was celebrated as a pleader; Servilius was also long noted 
 at the bar, but afterwards acquired fame by his Roman 
 history, as also for the elegance and probity of his life ; 
 which received additional lustre from that of Afer, who 
 was in genius his equal, but a contrast to him in his man- 
 ners. 
 
 20. During the consulship of Nero (for the fourth time) 
 and Cornelius Cossus, quinquennial games were instituted 
 at Rome, after the model of the Greek contest ; and, as 
 generally happens in new institutions, various were the 
 opinions expressed upon the occasion. There were some 
 who alleged, " that Pompey too was censured by our an- 
 cestors, for having founded a permanent theatre : till then, 
 the spectacles used to be exhibited on temporary stages, 
 and were seen from seats raised on the moment: or, if times 
 more remote were consulted, the people would be found 
 to have stood to behold them ; lest, had they been in- 
 dulged with seats, they should consume whole days in the 
 theatre from idleness. In truth, the primitive rule in po- 
 pular shows would be preserved, as often as the praetors 
 should exhibit them, if no Roman citizen were compelled 
 to "enter the lists; but now, the usages of our country, 
 which had long been gradually disappearing, were utterly 
 obliterated by imported extravagances, so that at Rome 
 might be seen, from all quarters, whatever was corrupting 
 or corrupt; and the Roman youth were degenerating from 
 the virtue of their ancestors, by the introduction of foreign 
 tastes, by habituating them to gymnastics, to idleness, and 
 filthy amours ; and that under the sanction of the prince 
 and senate, who not only have granted a dispensation for 
 vices, but now enforce them; and the chief men of Rome 
 are exposed to scenic pollutions under pretence of encou- 
 raging poetry and eloquence. What remained, but to 
 strip themselves, to take up the gauntlet and practise that 
 mode of combat in lieu of martial exercises and the use of 
 arms? Would they become acquainted with the system 
 of justice administered by the augurs, or be qualified to 
 act as knights exercising the judicature ; to discharge 
 the exalted function of judges, because they had listened 
 with a critic's ear to languishing tones and mellifluous in- 
 flexions of the voice? Night as well as days were devoted 
 to dishonour; that not a moment might be left which mo- 
 desty might call her own ; but that in a promiscuous crowd
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 315 
 
 every profligate might dare, under the cover of darkness, 
 whatever his lust may have suggested during the day." 
 
 21. To many this dissolute pastime was congenial, but 
 they disguised it under specious names : " even our an- 
 cestors," they alleged, "were not averse to the gratification 
 of public shows, exhibited in a manner suitable to the cir- 
 cumstances of that time, and the revenue of the state : for 
 this end, Tuscany furnished them with players; Thurium 
 with horse-racing: after the conquest of Greece and Asia, 
 their sports were got up more elaborately : yet, for two 
 hundred years, from the triumph of Lucius Mummius, 
 the first who presented this kind of show in the city, no 
 Roman of respectability had debased himself to the pro- 
 fession of the stage. Moreover, frugality was consulted 
 in rearing a standing theatre, rather than incurring an 
 immense expense every year in putting up and pulling 
 down one: neither had the magistrates the same occasion 
 to exhaust their private fortune, nor the people to impor- 
 tune them for the exhibition of the Grecian games ; since 
 the expense was defrayed by the state. The prizes gained 
 by poets and orators, would prove incentives to the culti- 
 vation of genius ; nor was it invidious for any judge to 
 lend his ear to the productions of honourable ambition, 
 and blameless gratifications. That a few nights once in 
 the five years were rather appropriated to mirth than 
 wantonness ; during which, illuminated as they were with 
 such a blaze of lights, no impropriety could escape obser- 
 vation." It must be admitted that this spectacle passed 
 off without any remarkable violation of decorum ; nor did 
 the zeal of the people break out into any excesses ; for, 
 though the pantomimes were again restored to the stage, 
 they were restrained from the exhibitions which were held 
 sacred. The prize of eloquence was borne away by none ; 
 but Caesar was pronounced the victor. The Grecian garb, 
 worn at this solemnity by many, ceased to be used from 
 that time. 
 
 22. During these transactions, a comet blazed ; a phe- 
 nomenon which, according to the persuasion of the vulgar, 
 portended change to kingdoms ; hence, as if Nero had 
 been already deposed, it became the topic of inquiry, who 
 should be chosen to succeed him : and the name of Ru- 
 bellius Plautus, a man of noble lineage, being descended 
 from the Julian family, through his mother, was in every 
 body's mouth. He was himself a strict observer of the 
 institutions of ancient times ; sober in his dress ; in his 
 private character blameless and retiring ; but the more he 
 sought concealment from the dangers of public life, the
 
 316 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 more his fame resounded. The popular voice was fur- 
 ther stimulated by the construction put, in the same spirit 
 of superstition, upon a flash of lightning: for, as Nero sat 
 at meat in a villa called Sublaqueum, upon the banks of 
 the Simbruine lakes, the viands were struck by lightning 
 and the table overthrown ; and as this occurrence took 
 place in the neighbourhood of Tibur, whence the paternal 
 ancestors of Plautus sprang, they believed that this was the 
 man predestinated for empire by the decree of the deities. 
 He was likewise warmly supported by many whose eager 
 and commonly shortsighted ambition plunges them into 
 projects of revolution and hazard. All this alarmed Nero, 
 who therefore signified to Plautus by letter, " that he 
 should consult the peace of Rome, and withdraw himself 
 from those who malignantly aspersed him : that in Asia 
 he had hereditary possessions, where he might pass the 
 best of his days in security and peace." He accordingly re- 
 tired thither, with Antistia his wife, and a few friends. 
 About the same time, the inordinate propensity of Nero 
 to voluptuousness, involved him in danger and obloquy ; 
 by entering for the purpose of swimming the fountain 
 head of the Marcian water, which is conveyed to the city, 
 he was considered to have polluted the sacred water, and 
 to have profaned the sanctity of the place by washing his 
 person there ; and a dangerous fit of illness, which fol- 
 lowed, left no doubt of the displeasure of the gods. 
 
 23. Now, Corbulo, judging it proper, after the demo- 
 lition of Artaxata, to take advantage of the consternation, 
 before it had subsided, in seizing Tigranocerta ; for if he 
 razed it he should strike fresh terror into the foe, or if he 
 spared it acquire the reputation of clemency; marched to- 
 wards it, but without any indications of exasperated feel- 
 ing, lest he should banish all hopes of pardon ; and yet 
 preserving the strictness of discipline ; knowing that they 
 were a nation prone to changes, and as little to be de- 
 pended upon under temptation as they were cowardly in 
 encountering danger. The Barbarians, each following 
 the impulse of his own will, met him with supplications, 
 or abandoned their towns and betook themselves to the 
 wilds: some crept into caves, accompanied with whatever 
 was dearest to them. The methods therefore taken by 
 the Roman general were various as the occasion : to the 
 suppliants he extended mercy ; the fugitives he pursued 
 with speed ; but towards those who had hid themselves 
 in dens showed no pity ; he filled the mouths and passes 
 of the caverns with fagots and brushwood, and burned 
 them out. But as he marched along the confines of the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 317 
 
 Mardians, he was galled by the predatory bands of that 
 people, who are protected against invasions by their moun- 
 tain fastnesses : but Corbulo, by pouring in the Iberians 
 upon them, laid waste their country, and revenged their 
 insolence at the expense of foreign blood. 
 
 24;. But, though neither he nor his army suffered at all 
 in encounters with the enemy, they were exhausted with 
 scarcity of provisions and fatigue, and compelled to avert 
 famine by living on animal food. In addition to which, 
 the scarcity of water, a scorching summer, long and re- 
 mote marches, were relieved only by the unflinching en- 
 durance of the general, who himself underwent more 
 hardships than any common soldier. They then arrived 
 at cultivated regions, where they reaped the crops ; and, 
 of the two castles whither the Armenians had fled for 
 safety, one was taken by assault ; the other, having re- 
 pulsed the first onset, was besieged and compelled to sur- 
 render. Corbulo, crossing over thence to the country of 
 the Tauranitians, escaped an unlocked for danger ; for 
 not far from his pavilion, a Barbarian of distinction, armed 
 with a dagger was apprehended ; who, upon the rack, 
 unfolded the order of the conspiracy, confessed that he 
 was the author of it, and discovered his associates, who 
 were convicted and punished, as men who under the guise 
 of friendship were meditating villany. Not long after, his 
 ambassadors sent to Tigranocerta bring tidings that the 
 gates were open to receive him, and that the inhabitants 
 were ready to submit to his commands. At the same 
 time, they handed to him a golden crown, as a token of 
 hospitality : which he accepted with every mark of honour, 
 and in no respect detracted from their present state ; that 
 being left in the full enjoyment of it, they might continue 
 in cordial submission. 
 
 25. But the royal citadel, which was defended by a 
 band of resolute youths, was not captured without a strug- 
 gle : for they even ventured upon a battle under the walls, 
 but were beaten back within their fortification; which our 
 troops carried, and at length compelled them to yield. 
 These operations proceeded the more favourably because 
 the Parthian forces were diverted by a war with the Hyr- 
 canians, who had sent an embassy to the Roman em- 
 peror, to entreat his alliance ; pointing to the detention 
 of Vologeses from them as a pledge of their friendship. 
 As these ambassadors were returning, that they might not 
 by crossing the Euphrates be intercepted by the parties 
 of the enemy, Corbulo furnished them with a convoy of sol- 
 diers, and conducted them as far as the shores of the Red
 
 318 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 sea, whence, without touching the precincts of Parthia, 
 
 they went back to their country. 
 
 26. Moreover, as Tiridates had passed through Media, 
 and was thence invading the extreme parts of Armenia ; 
 Corbulo, having sent forward Verulanus, his lieutenant- 
 general, with the auxiliary troops, and advancing himself 
 rapidly at the head of the legions, compelled him to move 
 off' to a distance and abandon all hopes of pursuing the 
 war : and having likewise carried fire and sword through 
 all those quarters which he had learnt were zealous for 
 that king, and therefore disaffected to us, he had already 
 assumed the government of Armenia, when Tigranes ar- 
 rived, a prince preferred by Nero to that crown. He was 
 a Cappadocian, nobly descended, and grandson to king 
 Archelaus ; but having passed many years at Rome in the 
 quality of a hostage, his spirit was humbled to a degree 
 of abject servility : neither was he received with general 
 unanimity, as there still remained some who favoured the 
 family of the Arsacidae; but the majority detesting the in- 
 solence of the Parthians, preferred a king given them by 
 the Romans. He also gave him as a body guard, a thou- 
 sand legionary soldiers, three cohorts of the allies, and 
 two squadrons of horse ; and to enable him the better to 
 maintain his new kingdom, several portions of Armenia 
 were subjected to the neighbouring kings, to Pharasmanes, 
 to Polemon, Aristobulus, and Antiochus ; according to 
 the contiguity of the same to their respective dominions. 
 Corbulo then withdrew into Syria ; a province now vacant 
 by the death of Ummidius, and assigned to him. 
 
 27. The same year, Laodicea, one of the famous cities 
 of Asia, having been prostrated by an earthquake, re- 
 covered its pristine glory from its own resources and with- 
 out any relief from us. In Italy, the ancient town of 
 Puteoli obtained from Nero the privilege of a colony, and 
 an appellation derived from himself. Veterans were in- 
 grafted on the inhabitants of Tarentum and Antium, who 
 however did not remedy the defect of population there : 
 for many of them slipped off to the different provinces in 
 which they had completed their period ; and being unac- 
 customed to wedlock, or to rear children, they lived child- 
 less, and left none to succeed them when they died. For, 
 colonies were not now established as of old, when entire 
 legions were transplanted thither, with tribunes and cen- 
 turions, and the soldiers of the several classes ; so as to 
 form a commonweal united by similarity of sentiment and 
 mutual affection ; but men unknown to each other, with- 
 out a ruler, and without any reciprocity of feeling, were
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 319 
 
 suddenly assembled from, as it were, different races of 
 men ; a multitude rather than a colony. 
 
 28. The election of praetors, which used to be managed 
 at the discretion of the senate, having been marked by an 
 outbreak of acrimonious competition, the prince allayed 
 the excitement by preferring to the command of a legion 
 each of the three defeated candidates. He also enhanced 
 the dignity of the fathers, by ordaining, that, " whoever 
 appealed from individual judges to the senate, sjiould 
 hazard the forfeiture of the same sum as those who ap- 
 pealed to the emperor." For, theretofore it was left open 
 and free from penalty. At the close of the year Vibius 
 Secundus, a Roman knight, was, upon the accusation of 
 the Moors, condemned for public plunder, and banished 
 Italy ; he was indebted for his escape from a severer doom 
 to the opulence of Vibius Crispus, his brother. 
 
 29. In the consulship of Ca3sonius Pastus and Petronius 
 Turpilianus, a severe defeat was sustained in Britain ; 
 where Avitus, the governor, had done no more than main- 
 tain our former conquests, as I have stated ; and his suc- 
 cessor Veranius, after having in some slight incursions 
 ravaged the territories of the Silures, was prevented by 
 death from further prosecution of the war: this man, 
 though in high repute during his life for strictness of man- 
 ners, yet in the style of his last will gave flagrant proof of 
 a fawning spirit; for after much flattery bestowed on Nero, 
 he added, "that he should completely subject that province 
 to him, if his life were prolonged for two years." But 
 now Suetonius Paullinus held the government of Britain ; 
 a competitor with Corbulo in the science of war, and in 
 the estimation of the populace, who suffer no man to 
 enjoy their favour without a rival; and he hoped by sub- 
 duing that fierce enemy, to equal the renown of recover- 
 ing Armenia. He therefore prepared to attack the Isle 
 of Mona, remarkable for the valour of its inhabitants, and 
 a common receptacle for fugitives : he built, for that end, 
 boats with flat bottoms, to meet the difficulties of a sea 
 abounding in shallows and subject to variations : in these 
 the foot were embarked: the horse followed, partly by 
 fording and partly swimming by the side of their horses, 
 where the water was deep. 
 
 30. On the shore stood the forces of the enemy, a dense 
 array of arms and men, with women dashing through the 
 ranks like furies ; their dress funereal, their hair dishe- 
 velled, and carrying torches in their hands. The druids 
 around the host, pouring forth dire imprecations, with 
 their hands uplifted towards the heavens, struck terror
 
 320 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 into the soldiers by the strangeness of the sight; insomuch 
 that as if their limbs were paralysed, they exposed their 
 bodies to the weapons of the enemy, without an effort to 
 move. Afterwards, at the earnest exhortations of the ge- 
 neral, and from the effect of their own mutual importuni- 
 ties that they would not be scared by a rabble of women 
 and fanatics, they bore down upon them, smote all that 
 opposed them to the earth, and wrapped them in the 
 flames themselves had kindled. A garrison was then esta- 
 blished to overawe the vanquished, and the groves de- 
 dicated to sanguinary superstitions destroyed ; for they 
 deemed it acceptable to their deities to make their altars 
 fume with the blood of captives, and to seek the will of 
 the gods in the entrails of men. While Suetonius was 
 thus employed, tidings were brought him of the sudden 
 revolt of the province. 
 
 31. Prasutagus, king of the Icenians, a prince long re- 
 nowned for opulence, had by will appointed the emperor 
 joint heir with his own two daughters : judging that by 
 such an instance of loyalty, he should place his kingdom 
 and family out of the reach of harm : a design which 
 turned out so contrary to his anticipations, that his realm 
 was ravaged by the centurions, and his house by slaves ; 
 as if they had been the spoils of war. First of all Boadi- 
 cea his wife was subjected to stripes, and his daughters 
 ravished : and, as though the entire region had been a 
 donation to the plunderers, all the principal Icenians 
 were spoiled of their hereditary possessions, and the re- 
 lations of the king were made slaves of. Enraged by 
 these indignities, and dreading oppressions still more se- 
 vere, for they were reduced into the form of a province, 
 they flew to arms ; having roused the Trinobantes to 
 join in the revolt ; as well as all others who, not yet 
 broken by the yoke of servitude, had secretly cove- 
 nanted to recover their liberty, from their implacable an- 
 tipathy to the veterans. For those who had been recently 
 planted in the colony of Camulodunum had thrust the 
 people out of their houses, and driven them from their 
 lands, calling them captives and slaves. These outrages 
 of the veterans were encouraged by the common soldiers, 
 from similarity of occupation and the hope of enjoying 
 the same privilege. They had also before their eyes a 
 temple erected to the deified Claudius, which they re- 
 garded as the citadel of endless domination: priests too 
 were appointed, who, under pretence of religious rites, ex- 
 hausted their whole substance. Neither did it appear 
 an arduous undertaking to raze a colony secured by
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 321 
 
 no fortifications: a provision neglected by our generals, who 
 paid more attention to matters of elegance than utility. 
 
 32. Meanwhile, the statue of Victory at Camulodunum, 
 without any apparent cause, fell down, and the face turned 
 round, as if she yielded to the enemy : the women too, 
 worked up to frenzy by their fears, prophesied that de- 
 struction was at hand. The circumstance of murmurs in 
 a foreign tongue being heard in their council chamber ; 
 that their theatre rang with howlings ; and that in the 
 mouth of the Thames was seen the appearance of the co- 
 lony in ruins; that at one time the ocean assumed an aspect 
 of blood; and when the tide ebbed, the prints of human 
 bodies were left; all these things the Britons interpreted 
 in confirmation of their hopes, the veterans of their fears. 
 But, because Suetonius was at a great distance, they 
 sought succours from Catus Decianus, procurator of the 
 province, who yet sent them no more than two hundred 
 men, nor these completely armed ; and, in the colony 
 itself, was but a small number of soldiers. The veterans 
 not only relied upon the shelter and strength of the tem- 
 ple, but being frustrated in their measures by secret ac- 
 complices in the revolt, they neither protected them- 
 selves by a ditch or palisade ; nor removed their wo- 
 men and old men, reserving only the youth for their de- 
 fence. Unguarded, unprepared, as if in the midst of 
 peace, they were surrounded by a host of the Barbarians. 
 Everything else in the colony was reduced to ruins in their 
 fury, or was consumed by fire ; but the temple, whither 
 the soldiers had retired in a body, after two days' siege 
 was taken by storm. Moreover, Petilius Cerialis, com- 
 mander of the ninth legion, as he advanced to relieve his 
 friends, was met and encountered by the victorious Bri- 
 tons: his legion routed, and all his infantry slain. Ceria- 
 lis, with the horse, escaped to the camp, and there de- 
 fended himself in his entrenchments: Catus the procurator, 
 terrified with this defeat, and the exasperated feeling in 
 the province, which by his avarice he had driven to hos- 
 tilities, passed over into Gaul. 
 
 33. But Suetonius, with amazing perseverance, pushed 
 on through the midst of enemies to London ; a city not 
 indeed signalised by the title of a colony, but very much 
 frequented by an abundance of merchants, and ships that 
 enter its port. There, hesitating whether he should fix 
 upon that city as the seat of the war, when he surveyed 
 the scanty number of his men, and reflected on the terrible 
 proofs he had of the punishment of Petilius's temerity, he 
 resolved, with the loss of one town, to save the whole pro- 
 
 Y
 
 322 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 vince. Nor could the tears and wailings of those who im- 
 plored his protection, divert him from giving the signal for 
 marching, and incorporating with the marching body those 
 who would accompany him: whoever staid behind, whe- 
 ther from the weakness of sex, or the infirmities of age, or 
 the attractions of the place, fell beneath the rage of the 
 enemy. The municipal town of Verulamium experienced 
 the same diastrous fortune ; for the Barbarians, who were 
 charmed with plunder, but averse to other exploits of war, 
 omitted to attack forts and garrisons, and directed their 
 attempts to whatever afforded ample booty to the spoiler, 
 and was difficult of preservation to those who guarded it. 
 In the several places which I have mentioned, it appeared 
 that seventy thousand souls had perished, of Romans and 
 the allies. For the enemy neither made nor sold pri- 
 soners, nor transacted anything else appertaining to the 
 commerce of war ; but they hastened to butcher, hang, 
 burn, crucify ; as men who were themselves doomed to 
 suffer capital punishment, and who snatched their revenge 
 beforehand while they might. 
 
 34. Suetonius had already an army of near ten thou- 
 sand men ; namely, the fourteenth legion, with the ve- 
 terans of the twentieth, and auxiliaries from the neigh- 
 bourhood : so that, relinquishing all further delay, he 
 prepared for a regular encounter, and chose a place ap- 
 proached by a narrow ravine, and in the rear enclosed by 
 a wood ; satisfied that the enemy could come upon him 
 only in front, and that as the plain afforded no cover, 
 there was no fear of ambuscade : he, therefore, drew up 
 the legionary soldiers in close order, and around them 
 placed the light-armed troops ; the cavalry, in a dense 
 body, being posted in the wings. The British army were 
 everywhere flying about in parties of foot and troops of 
 horse, in greater number than on any other occasion ; and 
 with minds so confident that they brought with them their 
 wives, to witness their victory, and stowed them in their 
 wagons, which they placed around upon the extreme 
 verge of the plain. 
 
 35. Boadicea, seated in a chariot, with her two daughters 
 before her, traversed the field, and as she came up to each 
 nation, she called them to witness " that it was usual for 
 Britons to war under the conduct of women : but on that 
 occasion she entered the field not as one descended from 
 ancestors so illustrious to recover her kingdom and her 
 treasure ; but as one of the humblest among them, to take 
 vengeance for liberty extinguished, her own body lacerated 
 with stripes, the chastity of her daughters defiled ; that
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 323 
 
 the Romans, in the fury of their inordinate passions, had 
 proceeded to such extremes, that the persons of those 
 within their reach were not safe; they would not leave old 
 age unmolested, nor virginity uncontaminated ; that the 
 gods, however, aided their righteous revenge ; a legion, 
 which dared an engagement, had already fallen ; the rest 
 skulked behind their intrenchments, or were looking about 
 for a way to escape : they would not be able to endure 
 the clangour and shouts of so many thousands ; much less 
 their spirit and their strength. If they reflected on the 
 numbers of their men, and the motives that brought them 
 into the field, they would see that in that battle they must 
 conquer or perish. Such was the fixed resolve of a wo- 
 man ; the men might live if they pleased, and be the 
 slaves of Romans." 
 
 36. Neither was Suetonius silent at a juncture so peril- 
 ous : for though he confided in the bravery of his men, 
 yet he mingled exhortations with entreaties " to despise 
 the noises of the Barbarians, with all their impotent 
 menaces. In that great host were to be seen more women 
 than efficient men ; un%arlike, unarmed, they would give 
 way the instant they felt the swords and the valour of 
 those victorious troops by whom they had been so often 
 routed. Even in an army composed of many legions, 
 those who turned the fortune of the day were few, and it 
 would add to their glory, that though a small band, they 
 earned the fame enjoyed by the whole host. They were 
 only to keep their ranks, and having first discharged their 
 darts, with the bosses of their shields and their swords 
 follow up the work of havoc and carnage, without be- 
 stowing a thought upon the spoil; the victory once gained, 
 everything would fall into their hands." Such was the ar- 
 dour which the language of the general inspired, that the 
 soldiers, long practised and experienced in many battles, 
 so promptly put themselves in readiness to hurl their 
 weapons upon the enemy, that Suetonius gave the signal 
 for battle, in confident anticipation of the issue. 
 
 37. And first, the legion kept their ground immoveably, 
 sheltering themselves within the defiles as with a bulwark, 
 till the enemy, having come near them, had received all 
 their darts, discharged at a sure distance, when they sal- 
 lied out upon then), in a kind of wedge : equal was the 
 ardour of the auxiliaries : and the cavalry, advancing with 
 their pikes extended, broke through everything they met 
 with, and that made any resistance ; all the rest turned 
 their backs, but found it difficult to escape; the inclosure 
 made by their own carriages obstructing their flight: the
 
 S24 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 soldiers spared not even the lives of women ; nay, the very 
 beasts, pierced with darts, served to swell the heaps of the 
 slain. The glory gained that day was signal indeed, and 
 equal to the victories of ancient times: for, there are 
 authors who record that of the Britons were slain almost 
 eighty thousand; of our men, about four hundred, with 
 not many more wounded : Boadicea ended her life by 
 poison : Pcenius Postumus too, praefect of the camp to the 
 second legion, learning the success of the fourteenth and 
 twentieth, and reflecting that he had defrauded his own 
 of equal honour, and, contrary to the laws of military duty, 
 had disobeyed the orders of his general, ran himself 
 through with his sword. 
 
 38. The whole army was then collected, and kept under 
 tents, in order to finish the remains of the war. The 
 forces were also augmented by Nero, who sent two thou- 
 sand legionary soldiers, eight cohorts of auxiliaries, and a 
 thousand horse from Germany. By their arrival the de- 
 fect of legionary soldiers in the ninth legion was supplied ; 
 the cohorts and allied cavalry were posted in new winter- 
 quarters ; and such of the natiotfs as were suspected, or 
 opposed the Romans, were subjected to devastation by 
 fire and sword. But nothing so much distressed the enemy 
 as famine, for they had neglected to sow the ground ; and 
 their people of every age were sent away to the war, as they 
 looked forward with certainty to appropriating our stores : 
 besides, these nations, naturally headstrong, were more 
 backward in their inclination to peace, from the circum- 
 stance that Julius Classicianus, who was sent to succeed 
 Catus, and was at variance with Suetonius, obstructed the 
 public good to gratify private pique : he had propagated 
 the notion, " that a new governor was by all means to be 
 waited for, who being free from the resentment of an 
 enemy, and the arrogance of a conqueror, would treat the 
 foe with humanity on their submission." At the same 
 time, he sent advice to Rome, " that unless a successor 
 were sent to Suetonius, there would be no end of the 
 contest :" and, while he charged the failures of that gene- 
 ral upon his own defects, he ascribed his successes to 
 good fortune. 
 
 39. Accordingly, Polyclitus, one of the imperial freed- 
 men, was despatched to inspect the condition of Britain : 
 Nero entertaining confident hopes, that by his authority, 
 not only would a good understanding be restored between 
 the governor and procurator, but the discontented spirits 
 of the Barbarians would be calmed and pacified : nor was 
 Polyclitus backward to assume the employment ; but hav-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 325 
 
 ing travelled through Italy and Gaul, oppressing them 
 with his enormous train, and then crossing the channel, 
 he came with such state that he struck terror even into 
 our soldiers. But to the enemy he was an object of de- 
 rision ; for the flame of popular liberty even then burned 
 with undiminished energy among them, and they were as 
 yet strangers to the authority of freedmen : their wonder, 
 too, was excited that a general and army who had success- 
 fully terminated a war of such magnitude, should crouch 
 to the commands of a slave. The transactions there, were, 
 however, reported to the emperor in a favourable light ; 
 so that Suetonius was continued in the government : but, 
 after having stranded a few galleys, and lost the men who 
 rowed them, as if the war was still unfinished, he was 
 ordered to resign his army to Petronius Turpilianus, who 
 had just ended his consulship : who, taking care not to 
 irritate the enemy, and receiving no provocation himself, 
 veiled this state of spiritless inactivity under the honour- 
 able appellation of peace. 
 
 40. This same year were committed at Rome two glar- 
 ing iniquities; one by a senator, the other by the des- 
 perate hand of a slave. Domitius Balbus had sustained 
 the dignity of praetor ; and his wealth and childlessness, 
 added to his extreme age, exposed him to the machina- 
 tions of villany. A will in his name was forged by Vale- 
 rius Fabianus his kinsman, who was marked out for ad- 
 ministering public offices ; having combined with him in 
 the plot Vincius Rufinus and Terentius Lentinus, both 
 Roman knights : who associated in the same cause Anto- 
 nius Primus and Asinius Marcellus ; Antonius a man 
 prompt and enterprising, Marcellus illustrious for his de- 
 scent from Asinius Pollio, who was his grandfather : nor 
 was he considered despicable in point of morals, save 
 that he believed poverty to be the chief of evils. Fabianus 
 therefore, in the presence of those whom I have men- 
 tioned, and others of less note, sealed the will ; a fraud of 
 which they were convicted before the senate : and Fabia- 
 nus and Antonius, with Rufinus and Terentius, were all 
 doomed to the penalties of the Cornelian law. With 
 regard to Marcellus, the memory of his ancestors, with 
 the entreaties of Nero, procured him an exemption rather 
 from punishment than infamy. 
 
 41. The same day beheld the ruin of Pompeius^Elianus; 
 a young man once invested with the dignity of quaestor, 
 but now charged with being privy to the atrocities of 
 Fabianus : he was therefore interdicted Italy, and also 
 Spain, his native country. Upon Valerius Ponticus was
 
 326 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 inflicted similar ignominy, for arraigning the delinquents 
 at the tribunal of the praetor, that they might not be im- 
 pleaded before the preefect of the city; meanwhile en- 
 deavouring to defeat the ends of justice, first under colour 
 of the laws, and afterwards by foul play. To the decree 
 of the senate it was added, " that whoever should hire or 
 take a price for such employment, should be involved 
 in the same penalty with one publicly condemned for 
 calumny." 
 
 42. Not long after, Pedanius Secundus, praefect of the 
 city, was murdered by his own slave; either upon refusing 
 him his liberty, for which he had bargained at a certain 
 price, or that he was enraged by jealousy in respect of a 
 pathick, and could not bear his master for a rival. Now, 
 since according to ancient custom, the whole family of 
 slaves, who upon such occasion abode under the same 
 roof, must be subjected to capital punishment; such was 
 the conflux of the people, who were desirous of saving so 
 many innocent lives, that matters proceeded even to sedi- 
 tion: in the senate itself were some who were favourable to 
 the popular side, and rejected such excessive rigour; while 
 many, on tire contrary, voted against admitting any inno- 
 vation : of these last was Caius Cassius, who, instead of 
 barely giving his vote, reasoned in this manner : 
 
 43. " Many times have I assisted, conscript fathers, in 
 this august assembly, when new decrees of senate have 
 been demanded, contrary to the laws and institutes of our 
 forefathers, without opposing such demands: not because 
 I doubted that the provisions made of old upon all mat- 
 ters were the wiser and more equitable, and that such as 
 were changed were altered for the worse, but lest I should 
 appear to commend the side I espoused by an immoderate 
 attachment to ancient institutions. At the same time I 
 considered that whatever weight might attach to my cha- 
 racter ought not to be destroyed by reiterated defeats, in 
 order that it might remain entire if at any time the state 
 stood in need of my counsels; such a conjuncture this day 
 has brought forth : when a man of consular rank, having 
 been murdered in his own house, by the treachery of 
 his slaves ; a fraud none of them prevented, none of 
 them disclosed, although the decree of senate was still 
 in full force, which denounced the pains of death to 
 the whole household. By all means establish impunity 
 by your decree ; but then, what security will any man 
 derive from his dignity, when even the prefecture of 
 Home availed not him who possessed it? who will be pro- 
 tected by the number of his slaves, when a band of four
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 327 
 
 hundred afforded no protection to Pedanius Secundus ? 
 To which of us will such domestics administer aid, when, 
 even with the terrors of the law before their eyes, they 
 stir not to protect us from danger ? or is it, as some blush 
 not to feign, that the murderer only took vengeance for 
 injuries he had received? what injuries? had this slave 
 any dispute about his paternal property ? or had he in- 
 herited the bondman, now taken from him? let us not 
 mince matters, but pronounce at once that the master was 
 killed justifiably. 
 
 44. " But are we to hunt up arguments in an affair 
 long since weighed and determined by our wiser ances- 
 tors? but even if the question were now for the first time 
 to be decided, do you believe that a slave could conceive 
 a purpose of murdering his master, without one menacing 
 expression escaping him? without incautiously uttering 
 one syllable which might intimate his design? grant that he 
 effectually concealed his purpose ; that he procured the 
 weapon without the privity of his fellows : could he pass 
 through the guard of slaves at the chamber door, open 
 that door, bring in a light, perpetrate the murder, un- 
 known to them all? Many indications of atrocious guilt 
 precede its commission. If our slaves discover them to 
 us, we may live, though but one among many; secure 
 amidst those who are torn with guilty purposes; and lastly, 
 if we must perish, we know that our death will be avenged 
 upon the guilty persons among whom we live. By our 
 ancestors the dispositions of slaves were suspected, even 
 of such as were born on their estates, or in their own 
 houses, and had, from the moment of their birth partaken 
 of the benevolence of their masters. But now that in our 
 families we have nations of slaves, having rites widely dif- 
 ferent from our own, and addicted to the religions of fo- 
 reign countries, or none at all, it is impossible to curb such 
 a promiscuous rabble, without the terrors of the law. But 
 under this act, some who are innocent must perish with 
 the guilty : true ; but out of a routed army, when every 
 tenth man is struck with a club, the lot falls upon the 
 brave as well as the coward. Every great judicial warning 
 involves somewhat of injustice to individuals, which is 
 compensated by the general benefit." 
 
 45. Though no particular senator ventured to combat 
 this judgment of Cassius, it was responded to by the dis- 
 sonant voices of such as commiserated the number af- 
 fected, the age of some, the sex of others, the undoubted 
 innocence of very many of them : it was however carried 
 by the party, who adjudged all to death. But it could not
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 be executed, the populace gathering tumultuously to- 
 gether, and threatening vehemently that they would resort 
 to stones and firebrands. Nero, therefore, rebuked the 
 people in an edict, and with lines of soldiers secured all 
 the way through which the condemned were led to exe- 
 cution. Cingonius Varro had moved that the freedmen 
 too, who abode under the same roof, should be deported 
 from Italy : but this was prohibited by the prince, who 
 urged, " that the usage of antiquity, which had not been 
 relaxed from compassion, ought not to be made more 
 stringent from cruelty." 
 
 46. During the same consulship, Tarquitius Priscus 
 was, at the suit of the Bithynians, condemned for public 
 rapine ; to the infinite gratification of the fathers, who 
 well remembered that Statilius Taurus, his own proconsul 
 in Africa, had been accused by him. A general rate was 
 also made throughout both the Gauls, by Quintus Volu- 
 sius, Sextius Africanus, and Trebellius Maximus ; of 
 whom, Volusius and Africanus, priding themselves upon 
 the splendour of their descent, were inflamed with envy 
 of each other; and while they each looked with contempt 
 upon Trebellius, they rendered him superior to both. 
 
 47. The same year died Memmius Regulus ; a man as 
 conspicuous for authority, constancy of mind, and fame, 
 as is compatible with the darkening shadows of the im- 
 perial elevation : insomuch that when Nero was once under 
 the pressure of sickness, and the flatterers about him were 
 lamenting " that, if the illness proved fatal, there must be 
 an end of the empire with that of his life;" he replied, 
 " that the republic still had a support :" then asking, " in 
 whom, above all others?" he subjoined, "in Memmius 
 Regulus." Regulus, notwithstanding, preserved his life 
 after this, shielded by his quiet habits ; and further be- 
 cause the renown of his family was of recent growth, and 
 his wealth was not such as to attract envy. This year, 
 too, Nero instituted a gymnastic school, and provided the 
 knights and senators with oil, with Grecian laxity of 
 morals. 
 
 48. In the consulship of Publius Marius and Lucius 
 Asinius, the praetor Antistius, whose arbitrary conduct as 
 tribune of the people I have recorded, composed some 
 scurrilous verses against the prince, and recited them to a 
 numerous convivial assembly at the house of Ostorius 
 Scapula. He was forthwith arraigned under the law of 
 violated majesty, by Cossutianus Capito, who, at the en- 
 treaties of Tigellinus his father-in-law, had acquired the 
 dignity of Senator: this was the occasion upon which this
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 329 
 
 law was first revived : though it was believed, that thereby 
 the ruin of Antistius was not so much intended, as an op- 
 portunity of obtaining renown to the emperor ; in order 
 that, after the accused was condemned by the senate, 
 Caesar might interpose his tribunitian power, and save 
 him from death. And though Ostorius testified, that 
 he had heard nothing at all, the witnesses for the pro- 
 secution were credited ; and Junius Marullus, consul 
 elect, voted that " the accused should be divested of 
 his praetorship, and executed, according to the custom 
 of antiquity :" the rest, after this, concurring with him ; 
 Paetus Thrasea, after much honourable commendation 
 of Nero, and severe strictures upon Antistius, argued, 
 " that it was not incumbent upon them to determine the 
 measure of punishment due to the guilt of the convicted 
 criminal, living, as they were, under a prince so excellent, 
 and unfettered as was the senate in the exercise of its 
 functions ; halters and executioners were long since abo- 
 lished : there were, moreover, penal sentences already 
 prescribed by the laws, and in conformity to them, pu- 
 nishment might be pronounced without bringing the 
 judges under the imputation of cruelty, or casting a stigma 
 upon the times. Rather let him be confined to an island, 
 his goods being forfeited to the state ; so that the longer 
 his guilty existence is protracted, the greater may be the 
 suffering he will undergo personally, while he will con- 
 tinue a signal example of the public clemency." 
 
 49. The boldness of Thrasea burst the fetters of others : 
 so that after the consul had given leave to divide, with 
 few exceptions they sided with Thrasea : of these few was 
 Vitellius, a very zealot in flattery, always assailing the 
 most upright with invectives, but silenced by reply ; as 
 usually happens with craven spirits. The consuls how- 
 ever fearing to give their final sanction to the decree of 
 senate, wrote the emperor an account of their unanimity. 
 He hesitated for a time, struggling between shame and 
 resentment : at last he returned an answer, " that Antis- 
 tius, altogether unprovoked by any sort of injury, had ut- 
 tered many most severe aspersions upon the prince ; for 
 which vengeance had been required from the senate : and 
 it was fitting that a punishment proportioned to the mag- 
 nitude of the offence should have been decreed. How- 
 ever, for himself, as he would have opposed any rigorous 
 decree, so he would not now frustrate their lenity ; they 
 might determine as to them seemed best: from him they 
 had full leave even to pronounce a sentence of acquittal." 
 By the recital of these expressions, and other such, it was
 
 330 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 manifest that he was offended ; but neither did -the con- 
 suls therefore vary the state of the question, nor Thrasea 
 depart from his motion, nor any of the rest flinch from 
 what they had given their assent to. Some would not 
 seem to expose the prince to popular odium, many felt 
 secure in their numbers : Thrasea was governed by his 
 habitual firmness of purpose, and a determination to pre- 
 serve the dignity of his character. 
 
 50. On a charge not unlike the former, Fabricius Vei- 
 ento was involved in an oppressive prosecution : it stated 
 " that he had inserted a series of opprobrious invectives 
 against senators and pontiffs, in the rolls to which he had 
 given the title of codicils." To this charge it was added 
 by Talius Geminus his accuser, " that he had made con- 
 stant traffic of the prince's favours, and the privilege of 
 obtaining offices of state:" this determined Nero to ad- 
 judge his cause in person. Veiento was convicted, and 
 the emperor banished him from Italy; dooming to the 
 flames these his writings, which were universally sought 
 and read, while it was difficult to find them, and dangerous 
 to keep them : afterwards, when there was full permission 
 to have them, they fell into oblivion. 
 
 51. But while the public evils grew daily more oppres- 
 sive, the means and sources of redress were decreasing. 
 It was now that Burrus departed this life ; whether by 
 poison or disease is uncertain : that it was disease, was in- 
 ferred from the fact, that his throat gradually swelling in- 
 ternally, and the passage being choked up, he ceased to 
 breathe. Many asserted that by the order of Nero, under 
 colour of applying a remedy, his palate was anointed with 
 a poisonous drug, and that Burrus having discovered 
 the treachery, when the prince came to visit him, turned 
 his face and eyes another way, and to his repeated inqui- 
 ries about his health, made no other answer than this ; ' I 
 am well.' At Rome the sense of his loss was deep and 
 lasting, as well from the memory of his virtue as from 
 the spiritless simplicity of one of his successors and the 
 flaming enormities and adulteries of the other. For Nero 
 had created two captains of the praetorian guards ; namely, 
 Fenius Rufus for his popularity, in consequence of his 
 administration of the public stores without deriving any 
 profit from it; and Sofonius Tigellinus, purely from par- 
 tiality to the inveterate lewdness and infamy of the man ; 
 and their influence was according to their known man- 
 ner of life. Tigellinus held greater sway over the mind 
 of Nero ; and was admitted to share in his most secret 
 debaucheries: Rufus flourished in the good opinion of
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 331 
 
 the people and soldiery, which he found a denial to him 
 with the emperor. 
 
 52. The death of Burrus made an inroad upon the in- 
 fluence of Seneca ; as good counsels had no longer the 
 same force now that one of the champions of virtue was 
 removed ; and Nero naturally inclined to follow the more 
 depraved, who assailed Seneca with various imputations : 
 " that he had already accumulated enormous wealth, far 
 surpassing the measure of a citizen, and was still increas- 
 ing it: that he was alienating from the emperor and di- 
 verting to himself the affections of the citizens : that he 
 sought to outdo the prince in the elegance of his gardens 
 and the splendour of his villas." They laid to his charge 
 also, " that he claimed a monopoly in the glory of elo- 
 quence ; and that after Nero conceived a passion for ver- 
 sifying, he had employed himself in it with unusual assi- 
 duity : for, to the recreations of the prince, he was an open 
 enemy ; disparaged his vigour in the managing of horses ; 
 ridiculed his vocal powers whenever he sang; with what 
 view did he endeavour to effect that in the whole republic 
 nothing should go down which was not the product of his 
 ingenuity? Surely Nero was passed the weakness of child- 
 hood, and arrived at the prime of youth : he ought now 
 to discard his pedagogue, furnished as he was with in- 
 structors the most accomplished, even his own ances- 
 tors. 
 
 .53. Seneca was not unapprised of the efforts of his ca- 
 lumniators, as they were disclosed to him by such as re- 
 tained some concern for the interests of virtue ; and as 
 the emperor manifested daily more shyness towards him, 
 he besought an opportunity of speaking to him, and having 
 obtained it, thus began: "this is the fourteenth year, 
 Caesar, since I was summoned to train you for your high 
 destiny; and the eighth since your advancement to the 
 empire. During the intervening period, you have showered 
 such honours and riches upon me, that nothing is wanting 
 to complete my felicity but the capacity to use them with 
 moderation. I shall quote great examples, such as are 
 adapted, not to my station and fortune, but to yours. Au- 
 gustus, from whom you are the fourth in descent, granted to 
 Marcus Agrippa leave to retreat to Mitylene, and to Caius 
 Maecenas he allowed, even in Rome itself, a retirement as 
 complete as in any foreign country : the former his com- 
 panion in the wars ; the other long harassed at Rome 
 with manifold occupations and public cares: both received 
 rewards ample indeed, but proportioned to their services. 
 For myself; what other claims upon your munificence 
 have I been able to advance, except my literary attain-
 
 332 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 ments, nursed, so to speak, in the shade of retirement, and 
 which have been rendered famous, because I am believed 
 to have assisted your early years in the acquisition of 
 learning ; a glorious reward for such a service ! But you 
 encompassed me with boundless favours, unnumbered 
 riches; so that when I ruminate upon my situation, as I 
 often do, I say to myself, Can it be that I, the son of a 
 knight, the native of a province, am ranked among the 
 chief men of Rome ? Has my upstart name acquired 
 splendour among the nobles of the land, and men who 
 glory in a long line of honoured ancestors ? where then is 
 that philosophic spirit, which professed to be satisfied 
 with scanty supplies? Is it employed in adorning such 
 gardens as these ? in pacing majestically through these 
 suburban retreats? does it abound in estates so extensive 
 as these, and in such immense sums put out at interest ? 
 One plea only occurs to my thoughts; that it becomes 
 not me to oppose your bounties. 
 
 54. " But both of us have now filled up our measure ; 
 you, of all that the bounty of a prince could confer upon 
 his friend : I, of all that a friend could accept from the 
 bounty of his prince. Every addition can only furnish 
 fresh materials for envy ; which, indeed, like all other 
 earthly things, lies prostrate beneath your towering great- 
 ness ; but weighs heavily on me : I require assistance. 
 Thus, in the same manner, as were I weary and faint with 
 the toils of warfare or a journey, I should implore indul- 
 gence ; so in this journey of life, old as I am, and unequal 
 even to the lightest cares, since I am unable longer to sus- 
 tain the weight of my own riches, I seek protection. 
 Order your own stewards to undertake the direction of 
 my fortune, and to annex it to your own : nor shall I by 
 this plunge myself into poverty ; but having surrendered 
 those things by whose splendour I am exposed to the as- 
 saults of envy, all the time which is set apart for the care 
 of gardens and villas, I shall apply once more to the cul- 
 tivation of my mind. To you vigour remains more than 
 enough, and the possession of imperial power established 
 during so many years. We, your friends, who are more 
 advanced in years, may take our turn of repose. This 
 too will redound to your glory, that you had elevated to 
 the highest posts those who could put up with a humble 
 condition." 
 
 55. To this speech, Nero replied much in this man- 
 ner: "That I am able, thus on the moment to combat 
 your studied reasonings, is the first benefit which I ac- 
 knowledge to have derived from you, who have taught 
 me not only to speak on subjects previously considered,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 333 
 
 but also to deliver my sentiments extemporaneously. 
 It is true, my direct ancestor Augustus allowed Agrippa 
 and Maecenas to pass their time in retirement after their 
 toils, but at that period of life when his authority pro- 
 tected him, whatever was the extent or nature of the 
 concession he made to them ; but nevertheless he di- 
 vested neither of them of the rewards he had conferred 
 upon them. They had earned them in war and civil 
 perils; for in these the earlier days of Augustus were 
 occupied : nor would your sword or your hands have been 
 wanting had I been engaged in military affairs. But what 
 my existing circumstances required you rendered ; you 
 nursed my childhood and directed my youth by your mo- 
 ral lessons, your counsel, and your precepts; and the fa- 
 vours you have bestowed on me, will never perish while 
 life remains : those you have received from me, your gar- 
 dens, capital, and country seats, are liable to the accidents 
 of fortune ; and though they may appear of great extent, 
 yet many men, by no means equal to you in accomplish- 
 ments, have enjoyed more. I am ashamed to instance 
 freedmen, who in point of riches cut a greater figure than 
 you ; and when I consider this, I see occasion to blush 
 that a man who holds the highest place in my esteem, 
 does not as yet transcend all others in the gifts of fortune. 
 56. " But while you have attained maturity of years, 
 and have yet vigour enough for business and the enjoy- 
 ment of the fruits of your toils, I am only performing the 
 early stages of the imperial career ; unless perhaps you 
 deem less of yourself than Vitellius, who was thrice con- 
 sul ; and think that I should fall short of Claudius. But 
 my liberality is unable to make up to you a fortune equal 
 to that which Volusius amassed during years of parsimony. 
 If in any respect I deviate from the right path, owing to 
 the proneness to error natural to youth, you should rather 
 recall my wandering steps, and guide that strength which 
 you have adorned, by more intense efforts to assist me. It 
 is not your moderation, if you give back your wealth, nor 
 your retirement, if you forsake your prince, on which the 
 tongues of all men will be employed : but my rapacious- 
 ness, and the dread of my cruelty. But suppose your 
 self-command should form the great theme of public ap- 
 plause ; still it will reflect no honour upon the character 
 of a wise man, to reap a harvest of glory to himself from a 
 proceeding by which he brings infamy upon his friend." 
 To these words he added kisses and embraces; framed as 
 he was by nature, and trained by habit to veil his rancour 
 under the guise of hollow compliments. Seneca presented
 
 334 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 his thanks ; the universal close of conferences with a so- 
 vereign: he changed however the methods of his former 
 state of power, put a stop to the conflux of visitors, 
 avoided a train of attendants, and seldom appeared in the 
 streets of the city ; pretending that his health was in an 
 unfavourable state, or that he was detained at home by 
 philosophical pursuits. 
 
 57. After the downfall of Seneca, a ready way was 
 opened to undermine the credit of Fenius Rufus ; when 
 the crime charged upon him by his enemies, was that of 
 his friendship for Agrippina. Tigellinus too grew daily 
 more influential ; and concluding that his mischevous de- 
 vices, in which alone his power lay, would prove more 
 agreeable if he could engage the prince by the ties of a 
 confederacy in crime, he dived into his secret fears ; and 
 having discovered that Plautus and Sylla were the men 
 principally dreaded, and therefore both lately sent out of 
 the way, the former into Asia, the other into Narbon Gaul, 
 he reminded Nero "of their noble descent, and their 
 proximity to great armies ; Plautus to that in the east ; 
 Sylla to that in Germany. For himself; he harboured 
 not, like Burrus, separate views, but consulted purely the 
 security of the prince : but though his safety at Rome 
 might be insured, where they were on the spot, yet, by 
 what measures could remote insurrections be suppressed ? 
 The nations of Gaul were excited by the dictatorial name 
 of Sylla ; nor were the several people of Asia less sus- 
 pected of an attachment to the other, for the illustrious 
 memory of his grandfather Drusus : Sylla was indigent : 
 which was the greatest incitement to enterprise, and a 
 counterfeiter of sloth and indolence, till he spied an op- 
 portunity for some desperate attempt. Plautus was master 
 of vast wealth, not even pretending to a fondness for quiet; 
 but boasting that he copied the examples of the ancient 
 Romans : having adopted too the sect of the Stoics, with 
 all their superciliousness and pride ; a sect which prompts 
 men to turbulence, and a life of action." This was enough, 
 there was no delay. Sylla, by assassins, who in six days 
 arrived at Marseilles, was despatched as he sat down to 
 meat, without previous apprehension or intimation. His 
 head was conveyed to Nero, who in a tone of sportive in- 
 solence remarked, " that it was disfigured by premature 
 hoariness." 
 
 58. That the murder of Plautus was meditated, was not 
 so easily concealed ; for his life was matter of concern to 
 many ; moreover, the length of the journey by land and 
 sea, and the intervening time, had caused it to get wind ;
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 335 
 
 and amongst the people an ungrounded persuasion pre- 
 vailed, that he made proposals to Corbulo, who then com- 
 manded mighty armies, and who, if men of high character 
 and innocence were to be marked out for slaughter, stood 
 in the first degree of jeopardy. It was even said, " that 
 Asia had taken arms, from attachment to the young noble- 
 man; and that the soldiers despatched to perpetrate the 
 murder, neither strong in point of numbers nor resolute 
 of purpose, when they could not execute their orders, 
 had gone over to the insurrectionary cause." These 
 groundless statements, such is the nature of rumour, were 
 credited and propagated with exaggeration by those who 
 had nothing else to do. For the rest, Plautus received 
 advices from Lucius Antistius, his father-in-law, by a freed- 
 man of his own, who, by means of a brisk wind, had out- 
 sailed the centurion, to the effect, " that he would shun 
 a dastardly death, retirement, or escape ; and that from the 
 compassion that would be felt for a name so great, he 
 would find good men ready to espouse his cause ; that he 
 should associate with him the resolute and daring: and in 
 the mean time not despise anything that might be of ser- 
 vice. If he could repulse the sixty men (the number that 
 were coming to attack him) ; while information was carry- 
 ing back to Nero, while another band was performing the 
 journey to him, many events would occur in furtherance 
 of his attempt, which might ripen into a formidable war : 
 lastly, that he would either save his life by such measures 
 as these, or suffer nothing more grievous from making the 
 attempt than if he had exerted no effort." 
 
 59. But these considerations moved not Plautus ; whe- 
 ther it was that being an exile and without arms, he fore- 
 saw no certain resource ; or that he was weary of a state 
 of doubt and anxiety : or that he was influenced by ten- 
 derness for his wife and children, to whom he imagined 
 the prince would be more lenient, if no attempts were made 
 that might discompose and alarm him. There are those 
 who relate, that the advices he received from his father- 
 in-law were of a different kind, importing that he need 
 fear no severe infliction ; and, " that two philosophers, 
 Cceranus a Greek, and Musonius a Tuscan, had re- 
 commended firmness in awaiting death, as preferable to 
 a life of anxiety and alarm." Certain it is, the assassins 
 found him in the middle of the day, naked, and em- 
 ployed in corporeal exercise. In this situation the cen- 
 turion butchered him, in the sight of Pelago the eunuch, 
 who was by Nero set over the centurion and his band, 
 like the minister of some tyrant over his satellites. The
 
 336 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 head of the slain was carried to Rome ; at the sight of 
 which he said, I will relate his own words : " why does 
 not Nero, banishing all fear, set about expediting his mar- 
 riage with Poppaea, which has been procrastinated on 
 account of alarms such as these ? why not put away his 
 wife Octavia, although her conduct is that of a modest 
 woman, since the name of her father and the affections of 
 the people have made her an eyesore to him ?" To the 
 senate he sent letters ; but in them owned nothing of the 
 assassination of Sylla and Plautus ; but said, that both 
 were turbulent spirits, and that it cost him much solicitude 
 to preserve the peace of the commonwealth. Public pro- 
 cessions and devotions were decreed to the deities on this 
 account, and Sylla and Plautus degraded from the dignity 
 of senators. These mockeries however were more insuf- 
 ferable than the horrid deeds to which they related. 
 
 60. Nero therefore having received the decree of senate, 
 and perceiving that all his villanies passed for acts of ex- 
 emplary merit, rudely repudiated Octavia, alleging, " that 
 she was barren," and then espoused Poppasa. This wo- 
 man, who had been long the concubine of Nero, and as 
 her adulterer and her husband, exercising absolute sway 
 over him, suborned one of Octavia's domestics to accuse 
 her of an amour with a slave: Eucerus, a native of Alex- 
 andria, a skilful flute player, was marked out as the object 
 of the charge : her maids were examined upon the rack ; 
 and though some of them, overcome by the intensity of 
 the torture, made false admissions, the major part per- 
 sisted in vindicating the purity of their mistress : one of 
 
 jthem replied to Tigellinus, while urging a confession, 
 " that the womb of Octavia was purer than his mouth." 
 She was however put away in the first instance under 
 the specious formality of a legal divorce, and the house of 
 Burrus, with the estate of Plautus, ill-omened gift, were 
 assigned to her: soon after she was banished into Campa- 
 nia, and a guard of soldiers placed over her : this led to 
 frequent and undisguised complaints among the popu- 
 lace, who are comparatively unrestrained by prudential 
 motives, and from the mediocrity of their circumstances 
 are exposed to fewer dangers. They had an effect upon 
 Nero, who in consequence recalled Octavia from banish- 
 ment; but without the slighest misgiving at his atrocious 
 villany. 
 
 61. Forthwith the people went up to the Capitol in 
 transport, and at length poured forth unfeigned thanks to 
 the gods. They threw down the statues of Poppasa, car- 
 ried those of Octavia upon their shoulders, wreathed them
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 337 
 
 with garlands, and placed them on the forum and the tem- 
 ples. They even went to offer the tribute of their applause 
 to the prince ; the prince was made the object of their 
 grateful adoration. And now they were filling the palace 
 with their crowd and clamour, when parties of soldiers 
 were sent out, who by beating them and threatening them 
 with the sword, terrified and dispersed them: whatever 
 was overthrown during the tumult was restored, and the 
 tokens of honour to Poppaea replaced. This woman, ever 
 prone to atrocities from the impulse of hatred, and now 
 stimulated by her fears also, lest either a more violent 
 outbreak of popular violence should take place, or Nero 
 should succumb to the inclination of the people, threw 
 herself at his knees, and said therewith, "her circumstances 
 were not in that state that she should contend about her 
 marriage with him, though that object was dearer to her 
 than life ; but her very life was placed in imminent jeo- 
 pardy by the dependents and slaves of Octavia, who call- 
 ing themselves the people of Rome, had dared to commit 
 acts in time of peace which were seldom produced by war. 
 But those arms were taken up against the prince: they 
 only wanted a leader, and a civil commotion once excited, 
 they would soon find one. Octavia has only to leave 
 Campania and come into the city; when at her nod, in 
 her absence; such tumults were raised. But if this was 
 not the object, what crime had she committed ? whom 
 had she offended ? was it because she was about to give 
 a genuine offspring to the family of the Caesars, that the 
 Roman people chose that the spawn of an Egyptian flute- 
 player should be palmed upon the imperial eminence ? To 
 sum up all, if that step was essential to the public weal, 
 he should call home his mistress voluntarily rather than 
 by compulsion, or consult his safety by a righteous retri- 
 bution. The first commotion had subsided under mode- 
 rate applications, but if they should despair of Octavia's 
 being the wife of Nero, they would give her another 
 husband." 
 
 This artfully compounded speech, adapted to excite 
 fear and rage, at once produced the desired effect, and 
 terrified while it inflamed the imperial hearer: but a sus- 
 picion resting only on the evidence of a slave, and neutra- 
 lised by the asseverations of the tortured maids, was not 
 strong enough for this purpose. It was therefore re- 
 solved that some person should be found who would con- 
 fess the guilty commerce, and who might also be plausibly 
 charged with the crime of rebellion. Anicetus was judged 
 a fitting instrument for this purpose; the same who had 
 
 8
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 accomplished the murder of his mother, and, as I have 
 related, commanded the fleet at Misenum ; whom the em- 
 peror, after that horrid service, held in light esteem, 
 but afterwards in extraordinary detestation : for the mi- 
 nisters of nefarious deeds seem in the eyes of their em- 
 ployers as living reproaches of their iniquity. Him there- 
 fore Nero summoned ; and told him, " that he alone had 
 saved the life of the prince from the dark devices of his 
 mother : an opportunity for a service of no less magnitude 
 now presented itself, hy relieving him from a wife who 
 was his mortal enemy : nor was there need of force or 
 arms; he had only to admit adultery with Octavia. He 
 promised rewards, which he said must indeed be kept a 
 secret for the present, but of great value, and also a de- 
 lightful retreat; but threatened him with death, if he 
 declined the task. Anicetus, from an inherent perversity 
 of principle, and a facility in crime produced by the 
 horrible transactions in which he had been already en- 
 gaged, even exceeded his orders in lying, and made con- 
 fession of the adultery to the friends of the prince, whom 
 he had summoned as a council. He was then banished to 
 Sardinia, where he lived in exile, but not in poverty, and 
 where he died a natural death. 
 
 63. Now, Nero in an edict stated, " that Octavia, in 
 hopes of engaging the fleet in her conspiracy, had cor- 
 rupted Anicetus the admiral :" and forgetting that he had 
 just before accused her of barrenness, he added, " that in 
 guilty consciousness of her lusts, she had produced abor- 
 tion ; and that all these were clearly proved to him." And 
 he confined her in the island Pandataria. Never was 
 there any exile who touched the hearts of the beholders 
 with deeper compassion: some there were who still re- 
 membered to have seen Agrippina banished by Tiberius : 
 the more recent sufferings of Julia were likewise recalled 
 to mind, confined there by Claudius: but they had expe- 
 rienced some happiness, and the recollection of their for- 
 mer splendour proved some alleviation of their present 
 horrors. To Octavia, in the first place, the day of her 
 nuptials was in place of a funeral day, being brought under 
 a roof where she encountered nothing but memorials of 
 woe ; her father cut oft' by poison, and soon afterwards 
 her brother ; then a handmaid more influential than her 
 mistress; Poppaea wedded to her husband, only to bring 
 destruction on his lawful wife : and lastly, a crime laid to 
 her charge more intolerable than death in any shape. 
 
 64. And this young lady, in her twentieth year, thrown 
 among centurions and common soldiers, and already bereft of
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIII. 339 
 
 life under the presage of impending woes, did not however 
 as yet enjoy the repose of death. After an interval of a few 
 days she was ordered to die, when she protested, " she was 
 now a widow, and only the emperor's sister ;" appealed to 
 the Germanici, the common relatives of Nero and herself; 
 and lastly, invoked the name of Agrippina, observing, " that 
 had she lived her marriage-state would have been made 
 wretched, but she would not have been doomed to de- 
 struction." She was then tied fast with bonds, and her 
 veins opened in every joint ; and because the blood, co- 
 agulated from the effect of fear, flowed too slowly, her 
 death was accelerated by the vapour of a bath, heated to 
 the highest point. A deed of still more atrocious bru- 
 tality was added ; her head was cut off and conveyed to 
 the city for Poppaea to see it. Offerings at the temples 
 were decreed by the fathers on account of these events : 
 a circumstance which I have recorded in order that all 
 those who shall read the calamities of those times, as they 
 are delivered by me or any other authors, may conclude 
 by anticipation, that as often as a banishment or a murder 
 was perpetrated by the prince's orders, so often thanks 
 were rendered to the gods; and those acts which in 
 former times were resorted to to distinguish prosperous 
 occurrences, were now made the tokens of public disas- 
 ters. Still I will not suppress the mention of any decree 
 of the senate which is marked by unheard of adulation, or 
 the extremity of abject servility. 
 
 65. The same year Nero is believed to have destroyed 
 by poison the most influential of his freedmen, Doryphseus, 
 for opposing his marriage with Poppaea ; Pallas because 
 his protracted life kept him out of the vast riches he had 
 accumulated. Romanus had secretly criminated Seneca 
 as an accomplice of Caius Piso ; but sunk himself under 
 the same charge brought by Seneca with greater force of 
 evidence. Piso in consequence became alarmed; and a 
 powerful and extensive conspiracy was formed against 
 Nero, but it proved abortive.
 
 THE 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK XV. 
 
 MEANWHILE Vologeses, king of the Parthians, having 
 heard of the acts of Corbulo, and that Tigranes, an alien, 
 was placed upon the throne of Armenia ; while he was 
 desirous of seeking revenge for the contempt shown for 
 the high claims of the Arsacidae by the expulsion of his 
 brother, was perplexed with conflicting considerations, 
 when on the other hand he reflected on the Roman great- 
 ness, and the respect he had for the treaty which had con- 
 tinued without interruption between him and the Romans ; 
 for he was naturally wanting in decision, and was also 
 hampered by the defection of the Hyrcanians, and the va- 
 rious wars growing out of it. Moreover, while in this state 
 of suspense, he was further excited by intelligence of fresh 
 indignities ; for Tigranes, passing the confines of Arme- 
 nia, had devastated the territories of the Adiabenians, a 
 bordering nation, more extensively and leisurely than com- 
 ported with a mere predatory excursion : while the chiefs 
 of the nations gave vent to their indignation, " that they 
 should have sunk so low, that they were overrun, not in- 
 deed by a Roman general, but an undisciplined hostage, 
 who had for so many years been numbered among slaves." 
 His distress was inflamed by Monozabus, sovereign of the 
 Adiabenians, who asked angrily, " what succour he could 
 seek, or from what quarter ? Armenia was already given 
 up, and the adjacent regions would follow it ; and unless 
 they were defended by the Parthians, they would consider 
 that bondage under the Romans was lighter to such as 
 surrendered themselves than to those who staid to be sub- 
 dued." Tiridates too, a fugitive from his kingdom, af- 
 fected him in no small degree by the silent appeal of his 
 presence ; still more when he complained, " that mighty 
 empires were not to be held together by inaction ; that 
 men and arms must be brought into the field : that in 
 matters of empire, right and might went together; that it 
 became those in a private station to be content with retain-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 341 
 
 ing their own, but it was the glory of sovereigns to battle 
 for the possessions of others." 
 
 2. Vologeses therefore, stimulated by these considerations, 
 assembled a council, and placing Tiridates next to him- 
 self, began thus : " this prince, the son of the same father 
 as myself, having yielded to me the supreme dominion, in 
 right of primogeniture, I put in possession of Armenia, 
 which stands in the third degree of power ; for Pacorus 
 had pre-occupied Media: and I fancied that I had ad- 
 justed the interests of our family discreetly, guarding 
 against the proverbial antipathies and rivalries between 
 brothers. The Romans however thwart my views; and 
 those pacific relations which in no instance they have dis- 
 turbed without discomfiture, they now abruptly sever to 
 their own destruction. I will not deny that I choose to 
 preserve the acquisitions of my ancestors by justice rather 
 than blood, by argument rather than arms ; but if I have 
 erred on the side of caution, I will atone for it by valour. 
 As for you, while your resources are unimpaired, your 
 honour unsullied, you have earned in addition the praise 
 of moderation ; a virtue not to be despised by the most 
 exalted among men, and prized also by the gods." As 
 soon as he had thus spoken, he set the royal diadem 
 upon the head of Tiridates ; to Moneses, a noble Par- 
 thian, he delivered a gallant band of horse, which accord- 
 ing to custom attended the king, with the auxiliary Adia- 
 benians; with orders to " to drive Tigranes out of Arme- 
 nia." While he himself, suspending his differences with 
 the Hyrcanians, assembled the main forces of the country, 
 and directed the principal operations of the war, with a 
 view to a descent upon the Roman provinces. 
 
 3. Corbulo, when he received certain intelligence of 
 these proceedings, sent two legions to succour Tigranes, 
 under the command of Verulanus Severus and Vettius 
 Bolanus, with secret injunctions, " that they should act in 
 all cases with caution rather than despatch ;" for he aimed 
 more at keeping a war on foot, than pushing it to a con- 
 clusion : and had written to Nero, " that to defend Arme- 
 nia a special general was necessary ; for Syria was in the 
 more imminent danger from the menaced attack of Volo- 
 geses." Meanwhile he disposed the remaining legions 
 along the banks of the Euphrates ; raised a body of mi- 
 litia from the natives of the province ; posted guards at 
 all the passes, to obstruct the inroads of the enemy ; and, 
 because that region was ill supplied with water, he built 
 forts to secure the springs ; and concealed some of the 
 rivers by an accumulation of sand.
 
 342 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 4. While Corbulo was thus busied in measures for se- 
 curing Syria, Moneses pushed on by forced marches, that 
 he might outstrip the report of his approach : but not- 
 withstanding, he found Tigranes neither uninformed nor 
 unprepared ; for he had possessed himself of Tigrano- 
 certa, a city strong in the multitude of its defenders, and 
 the magnitude of its walls. Moreover, the Nicephorius, a 
 river of no contemptible breadth, washes a great portion 
 of the walls, and where the river was not relied on, a vast 
 trench was drawn: within it too was a garrison of sol- 
 diers, and provisions laid up in store. In bringing in 
 these provisions some few of the soldiers, in their eager- 
 ness advancing too far, fell into the hands of a party of 
 the enemy, which came upon them unawares; a cir- 
 cumstance which inflamed resentment rather than ex- 
 cited alarm. But the Parthians dare not prosecute a 
 siege closely; with a few scattered arrows they do not 
 dismay the besieged ; and fail in their own objects. The 
 Adiabenians, with ladders and engines, began to approach 
 the walls, but were easily driven back ; and soon after, 
 our men, making a sortie, put them to the sword. 
 
 5. Corbulo however, though all his proceedings pros- 
 pered, judging it wise to moderate the career of his good 
 fortune, despatched ambassadors to Vologeses to expostu- 
 late with him upon his attack " upon a Roman province; 
 upon his besieging a king who was a friend and confede- 
 rate of Rome, and the Roman cohorts themselves ;" and 
 to warn him, " that he had better abandon the siege, or 
 Corbulo too would encamp in the territories of the enemy." 
 Casperius, the centurion, who was selected for this em- 
 bassy, presented himself before the king at the city of 
 Nisibis, thirty-seven miles distant from Tigranocerta, and 
 delivered his message in a tone of defiance. It had long 
 been the settled resolution of Vologeses to avoid an en- 
 counter with the Romans ; and besides, his present mea- 
 sures did not proceed prosperously : the siege had proved 
 a failure ; Tigranes was secured by his forces and sup- 
 plies ; those who had undertaken to storm the place were 
 put to flight; Roman legions were sent into Armenia; 
 and others, stationed for the defence of Syria, were ready 
 to assume the character of invaders, and make an irrup- 
 tion into his territory : his cavalry were enfeebled by the 
 scarcity of forage, for a swarm of locusts suddenly appear- 
 ing had devoured all the herbage and foliage. Concealing 
 his fears therefore, and pretending an inclination to pacific 
 counsels, he answered, " that he would send ambassadors 
 to the Roman emperor to solicit the grant of Armenia,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 343 
 
 and to place the peace upon a firm footing. Moreover 
 he ordered Monoses to abandon Tigranocerta, and retired 
 himself. 
 
 6. These results were represented by many as attri- 
 butable to the fears of the king and the menaces of Cor- 
 bulo; and extolled as glorious achievements. Others 
 construed them as if a secret compact had been entered 
 into, that both parties abandoning hostilities, and Volo- 
 geses quitting the field, Tigranes should also evacuate 
 Armenia. Otherwise, why was the Roman army with- 
 drawn from Tigranocerta? why give up in peace what 
 they had defended in war? was it better to have win- 
 tered in the remote regions of Cappadocia, in huts hastily 
 erected, than in the capital of a kingdom which their arms 
 had so recently preserved ? In every view of it it was 
 clear that the war had been suspended, that Vologeses 
 might be opposed by another general rather than Cor- 
 bulo; and that Corbulo might not further hazard the re- 
 nown he had earned through a period of so many years. 
 For, as I have related, he had requested a commander 
 specially appointed for the defence of Armenia; and it 
 was reported that Csesennius Paetus was coming: and now 
 Cesaennius was arrived ; and the forces were so divided, 
 that Paetus should command the fourth legion and the 
 twelfth, to which was added the fifth, lately summoned 
 out of Maesia, as also the auxiliaries from Pontus, Galatia, 
 and Cappadocia : while Corbulo continued to command 
 the third, sixth, and tenth legions, and the forces formerly 
 belonging to Syria. The rest they were to possess in 
 common, or share as exigencies required. But as Corbulo 
 could not bear a rival; so Paetus, to whom it was glory 
 enough if he were accounted second to Corbulo, dispa- 
 raged his achievements, incessantly remarking, " that no 
 hostile blood was spilled, no spoil taken; and that all he 
 had to do with the storming of cities was limited to the 
 name of the thing only. For himself, he would impose 
 tribute and laws ; and, instead of the shadow of a king, 
 subject the vanquished to the jurisdiction of Rome." 
 
 7. At this juncture, the ambassadors of Vologeses, 
 whom I have mentioned to have been sent to the prince, 
 returned unsuccessful : and the Parthians proceeded to 
 open war; nor did Paetus decline it; but, with two legions, 
 the fourth and twelfth, the former then commanded by 
 Funisulanus Vettonianus, the other by Calvisius Sabinus, 
 he entered Armenia, under an omen of dismal import; 
 for, in passing the Euphrates, which he crossed by a 
 bridge, the horse which carried the consular ornaments,
 
 344 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 became frightened without any apparent cause, and start- 
 ing back again, got clear away : moreover, a victim, which 
 stood by the winter camp, which they were fortifying, 
 broke through the half-completed works, cleared the ram- 
 part, and fled. The javelins of the soldiers took fire ; a 
 prodigy which appeared the more remarkable, as the 
 Parthians fight with missile weapons. 
 
 8. But Paetus, deeming lightly of these omens, ere yet his 
 winter camp was adequately secured, and without making 
 any provision for a supply of grain, marched hastily over 
 mount Taurus, " to recover, as he said, the city of Ti- 
 granocerta ; and lay waste the regions which Corbulo had 
 left untouched." And he took certain castles ; somewhat 
 of glory too he won, and somewhat of booty, if he had 
 either enjoyed his glory with moderation, or his booty 
 with circumspection. But after long and tedious marches, 
 in overrunning countries which could not be held ; the 
 provisions he had captured being spoiled, and the winter 
 just setting in, he led back his army. And then, as though 
 he had concluded the war, he wrote a letter to Nero in 
 pompous terms, but destitute of substance. 
 
 9. Meanwhile, Corbulo occupied the bank of the Eu- 
 phrates, which he had never neglected, with an increased 
 number of stations. And, that the enemy's horse, who 
 with great ostentation were flying about the neighbouring 
 plains, might create no obstruction to his laying a bridge 
 over the river, he fastened together with beams some 
 vessels of vast bulk, with towers erected upon them ; and, 
 steering them to and fro upon the river, drove off the 
 Barbarians with catapults and balistas ; for the stones 
 and javelins thus hurled upon them, reached to a greater 
 distance than could be attained by the arrows discharged 
 in the opposite direction. The bridge was then carried 
 over the whole breadth, and the opposite heights occu- 
 pied by the allied cohorts, and afterwards by the camp of 
 the legions, with such celerity, and so formidable a dis- 
 play of power, that the Parthians, desisting from their 
 project of invading Syria, directed all their efforts to the 
 accomplishment of their design upon Armenia. 
 
 10. In that quarter, Paetus, unaware of what menaced 
 him, had the fifth legion at a distance in Pontus ; and 
 had weakened the remaining legions by indiscriminate 
 furloughs; when at length it was stated that Vologeses 
 was approaching with a numerous and determined force. 
 Forthwith he summoned the twelfth legion : but this very 
 thing, whence he had anticipated the reputation of aug- 
 mented forces, betrayed their paucity : yet few as they
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 345 
 
 were, they might have maintained their camp, and by 
 protracting the war, have baffled all the efforts of the 
 Parthians, if Paetus had shown any firmness, either in 
 adhering to his own counsel or those of others. But 
 when men of military experience had instructed him in 
 the methods of securing himself against pressing dangers, 
 he abandoned their plans for other and worse, lest he 
 should appear to stand in need of the advice of others. 
 And on this occasion, quitting his winter camp, he ex- 
 claimed that "a ditch and rampart were not the things he 
 was commissioned to employ against the enemy, but men 
 and arms ;" and led the legions forth as if with the pur- 
 pose of engaging in a battle ; but afterwards, upon losing 
 a centurion and a few private soldiers, whom he had sent 
 in advance to reconnoitre the enemy's forces, he retreated 
 in trepidation. And then, again, elated with empty con- 
 fidence because Vologeses had not pursued them so vigor- 
 ously as he expected, he stationed three thousand chosen 
 infantry on the nearest eminence of Taurus to prevent 
 the passage of the king ; and placed on a part of the plain 
 the auxiliary horse of the Pannonians, which formed the 
 flower of his cavalry. His wife and son he put out of the 
 way in a fort named Arsamosata, with a cohort to guard 
 them; and dispersed his troops, which, if kept together, 
 might more effectually have checked the desultory move- 
 ments of the enemy. It is also said that he was with diffi- 
 culty induced to admit to Corbulo that he was hard 
 pressed by the enemy ; and that Corbulo did not hurry, 
 in order that, the dangers he was exposed to growing 
 more imminent, the merit of relieving him might also be 
 augmented. However, he ordered a thousand men from 
 each of the three legions, and eight hundred auxiliary 
 horse, with an equal number from the cohorts, to be got 
 in readiness for marching. 
 
 11. As for Vologeses, though he was advised that 
 Paetus beset the roads, here with his infantry, there with 
 his horse, yet he in no respect varied his plan ; but drove 
 the auxiliary horse from their post by force and menaces, 
 and trampled under foot the legionary troops; one cen- 
 turion alone, Tarquitius Crescens, having dared to defend a 
 tower in which he commanded a garrison. This man made 
 frequent sallies, and slew such of the Barbarians as came 
 up near him ; till at length he was overpowered by the 
 discharge of combustibles at all points. Such of the in- 
 fantry as were not wounded, made for the remote and 
 wild districts ; the wounded betook themselves to the 
 camp, where, under the impulse of fear, they magnified
 
 346 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 everything the valour of the king, the ferocity and num- 
 bers of the nations; all which was believed by the un- 
 scrupulous credulity of those who were impressed with 
 the same fears. Nor did even the general struggle against 
 these adverse circumstances, but had abandoned all mili- 
 tary duties, having again sent a supplicatory letter to 
 Corbulo, " to come quickly and protect the standards and 
 eagles, and the shadowy remnant of the unhappy army : 
 they would in the mean time maintain their honour, while 
 life remained." 
 
 12. Corbulo, undismayed at this intelligence, left a part 
 of his forces in Syria, to retain possession of the fortifica- 
 tions he had erected to secure the Euphrates ; and taking 
 the route which was shortest and afforded a sufficiency 
 of provisions, made for the country of Commagene, passing 
 on to Cappadocia, and thence to Armenia. Besides the 
 other customary appendages of war, a vast quantity of 
 camels, laden with corn, accompanied the army, to repel at 
 once both the enemy and famine. The first that he met 
 of those who were routed, was Pactius, a centurion of the 
 highest rank : after him came several common soldiers, 
 who, while they strove to cover the shame of their flight, 
 by different excuses, were by Corbulo admonished " to 
 return to their colours, and try the mercy of Psetus : for 
 himself, he owned himself implacable to all who were not 
 victorious." At the same time he addressed himself to 
 his own legions, going from rank to rank, exhorting them, 
 reminding them of their former victories, and pointing out 
 to them fresh glory, which they might acquire: " it was 
 not the villages and cities of the Armenians that they 
 were now in pursuit of, as the recompence of their la- 
 bours, but a Roman camp, and in it two legions. If in- 
 dividual soldiers, who have saved the life of a citizen, were 
 presented by the hand of the general with a crown ex- 
 celling all others, what and how great must that honour 
 be when the number of those who earned it was equal to 
 the number to be saved, of those who were the ministers 
 of safety, and of those who received it at their hands." 
 Animated by these and similar incentives in the common 
 cause, and there were some whom the dangers which 
 beset their brothers or their relations impelled by peculiar 
 motives, they hastened on, marching day and night with- 
 out intermission. 
 
 13. Hence, too, the more earnestly did Vologeses press 
 the besieged ; now assaulting the intrenchment of the 
 legions, then the castle in which were guarded those who 
 from the tenderness of their sex and years were unfit for
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 347 
 
 war ; and pushed his assaults much more closely than 
 was usual with the Parthians ; in hopes by such temerity 
 to draw out the enemy to a battle. But they could scarcely 
 be dragged out of their tents : at most, they only endea- 1 
 voured to maintain their works : part of them in this obey- 
 ing the orders of their general, others from their own 
 want of spirit; as men who waited for deliverance from 
 Corbulo, or if overpowered by the attack of the enemy, as 
 provided with examples in the disasters of Caudium and 
 Numantia: "for, they said, neither did the Samnites, a 
 single Italian state, nor the Spaniards, who were rivals of 
 the Roman empire, possess a force equal to the Parthians; 
 and the characters of antiquity, valorous and lauded as 
 they were, made provision for their safety whenever for- 
 tune declared against them." By the temper of the army, 
 thus abandoned to despair, the general was constrained 
 to write to Vologeses : yet, the first letter he sent con- 
 tained nothing supplicatory, but was conceived in a strain 
 of complaint, " that he had thus entered upon a war to 
 gain the kingdom of Armenia, ever subject to the Roman 
 jurisdiction, or to a king appointed by the emperor of 
 Rome. Peace was alike advantageous to the Parthians 
 and to the Romans : neither ought he to consider only 
 what presented itself to his view ; that he was come at the 
 head of the whole power of his kingdom against two 
 legions, while to the Romans remained all the rest of the 
 globe to aid them in the war." 
 
 14. Vologeses, without entering at all into the merits 
 of the case, in answer to the representation, wrote back, 
 " that he must wait the arrival of his brothers, Pacorus 
 and Tiridates : such was the place and time appointed 
 for deliberating as to what course they should adopt with 
 regard to Armenia ; that the gods had added fresh matter 
 worthy of the Arsacidae, namely, that they should also 
 decide with respect to the Roman legions." Paetus again 
 despatched a message, and desired a conference with the 
 king ; who directed Vasaces, his general of horse, to go. 
 At this interview Paetus referred to " the Luculli and 
 Pompeii, and the proceedings of the Caesars relative to 
 the conquest or disposal of Armenia." Vasaces alleged, 
 " that the Romans had, indeed, a nominal and shadowy 
 right of holding and conferring it, but the Parthians pos- 
 sessed the power." After much mutual discussion, Mono- 
 bazus the Adiabenian was called in to attend them the 
 next day, as a witness to their stipulations: and it was 
 agreed, " that the legions should be relieved from the 
 siege ; all the Roman troops depart the territories of Ar-
 
 348 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 menia; the fortresses and stores be delivered up to the 
 Parthians; and, after performance of these conditions, 
 Vologeses should have liberty to send ambassadors to 
 Nero." 
 
 15. In the meantime, Paetus threw a bridge over the 
 river Arsanias, which flowed before his camp ; under pre- 
 text of preparing to march off that way : but it was, in 
 reality, enjoined by the Parthians, as a monument and 
 confession of their victory ; for to them only it was of use: 
 our men took a different route. Rumour added, that " the 
 legions had passed under the yoke :" with other circum- 
 stances arising out of misfortune ; an image of which 
 was exhibited in the conduct of the Parthians ; for they 
 entered the fortifications before the Roman army had 
 quitted them, beset the avenues, singled out the slaves 
 and beasts of burden which formerly belonged to them, 
 and took them away: stripped the Romans of their clothes, 
 and. seized their arms: the soldiers trembling, and giving 
 up all they desired, to prevent any occasion of a quarrel. 
 Vologeses, who raised a heap of all the arms and bodies 
 of the slain, in testimony of our overthrow, abstained from 
 seeing the legions as they were flying. After glutting his 
 pride, he sought the praise of moderation. He crossed 
 the river Arsanias, mounted on an elephant ; but all who 
 were next to him in dignity, forced their way through by 
 the efforts of their horses ; for a report had gone abroad 
 that the bridge would give way under the weight, by the 
 fraudulent contrivance of its builders. But those who 
 were bold enough to go upon it, found it to be strong 
 and trustworthy. 
 
 16. For the rest ; it was notorious that the besieged 
 army were provided with such supplies of grain, that they 
 set fire to their storehouses. On the other hand, Corbulo 
 gave out, " that the Parthians, destitute of provisions, and 
 their forage reduced, were about to abandon the siege; 
 neither was he above three days' march distant." He 
 added, " that Paetus covenanted, by an oath sworn under 
 the eagles, in the presence of those whom the king had 
 sent to witness it, that no Roman should enter Armenia 
 till by the arrival of letters from Nero, it were known 
 whether he consented to the peace." But though these 
 should be regarded as inventions to aggravate infamy, yet 
 the remaining imputations admit of no doubt; that in one 
 day Paetus travelled the space of forty miles ; abandoning 
 his wounded everywhere as he went; and that the tre- 
 pidation of the flying troops was no less unseemly than if 
 they had turned their backs in the day of battle, Corbulo,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 349 
 
 with his forces, met them upon the banks of the Eu- 
 phrates ; but not with such a display of colours and arms 
 as might put to shame their different plight. His bands 
 were deeply affected with grief; and in their commisera- 
 tion for the lot of their comrades, refrained not even from 
 tears ; scarcely could they exchange salutations for weep- 
 ing. Rivalry in valour, and competition for fame, feelings 
 which belong to prosperous men, had departed from their 
 breasts ; compassion alone prevailed ; and the humbler 
 the condition, the more intense the emotion. 
 
 17. Between the two leaders there followed a brief 
 conference ; Corbulo lamenting passionately " his labour 
 lost ; that the Parthians might have been put to flight, 
 and the war thus terminated. tf Pastus replied, " that all 
 things were in the same state as before : and urged that 
 they should turn the eagles against the enemy, and with 
 their united forces invade Armenia, exposed as it was by - 
 the departure of Vologeses." Corbulo alleged, " that 
 from the emperor he had no such orders : that moved by 
 the dangerous predicament of the legions, he had passed 
 the limits of his province, and as it was uncertain whither 
 the next efforts of the Parthians would be directed, he 
 would return into Syria : and even thus he had cause to 
 invoke the most favourable fortune, that his infantry, 
 spent with tedious marches, might be able to come up 
 with the Parthians' horse, which were fresh, and, from 
 the evenness of the plains, would outstrip him." Paetus then 
 withdrew to Cappadocia, and there wintered. But to 
 Corbulo a message arrived from Vologeses, " to withdraw 
 his garrisons beyond the Euphrates, and let the river be, 
 as formerly, the common boundary." Corbulo, too, in- 
 sisted, " that the garrisons on the other side should eva- 
 cuate Armenia." At last the king complied ; and the 
 fortifications raised by Corbulo beyond the Euphrates 
 were demolished ; and the Armenians were left to their 
 own disposal. 
 
 18. But, at Rome meanwhile, they were erecting tro- 
 phies over the Parthians, and raising triumphal arches in 
 the middle of the Capitoline hill ; decreed by the senate 
 while the war was yet raging, nor even now discontinued, 
 from regard to appearance, and in defiance of conviction. 
 Nay, Nero, to disguise all solicitude about foreign affairs, 
 ordered the corn, destined to supply the populace, but 
 now spoiled by keeping, to be thrown into the Tiber, to 
 produce an impression that there was no fear about pro- 
 visions: the price of which was nothing raised, though 
 near two hundred vessels were by a violent storm sunk in
 
 350 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 the very harbour; and a hundred more, brought up the 
 Tiber, were consumed by an accidental fire. He next 
 committed the care of the public imposts to three men of 
 consular rank, Lucius Piso, Ducennius Geminus, and 
 Pompeius Paullinus ; inveighing against former princes, 
 " who by the oppressive extravagance of their expendi- 
 ture had exceeded their adequate incomes, while he had 
 given to the state annually sixty thousand great ses- 
 terces." 
 
 19. A most iniquitous custom had become extremely 
 prevalent at that time : whenever the election of magis- 
 trates, or the allotment of provinces, was at hand, the 
 greater part of those who had no children provided them- 
 selves with sons by fraudulent adoptions : and when they 
 had obtained praetorships and provinces in competition 
 with fathers, they instantly dismissed such as they had 
 adopted. Hence the genuine fathers approached the 
 senate with loud remonstrance ; representing the " rights 
 of nature, and the toils of bringing up children, in oppo- 
 sition to the fraud, cunning, and facility of shortlived 
 adoptions : to the childless, it was abundant compensa- 
 tion, that, exempt from anxiety and burdens, they were 
 courted and honoured, and had everything to their wishes 
 without solicitation or impediment. For themselves, the 
 advantages promised by the law, and long looked forward 
 to, vanished in disappointment and mockery, while any 
 man becoming a parent without solicitude, and childless 
 again without grief, might by the ceremony of a moment 
 countervail the time-established claims of fathers." This 
 produced a decree of senate, " that in the pursuit of any 
 public employment whatsoever, no feigned adoptions 
 should be of service, nor avail in inheriting estates." 
 
 20. Then followed the prosecution of Claudius Timar- 
 chus of Crete, who was charged with all the other crimes 
 usual with provincial despots, and those who presume 
 upon their overgrown wealth to oppress their inferiors ; 
 but one expression of his had gone so far as to offer an 
 indignity to the senate ; for he had often declared, that it 
 depended upon him whether the " proconsuls who had 
 obtained the government of Crete, should receive the 
 public thanks." An occasion which Paetus Thrasea con- 
 verting to the public benefit, after he had delivered his 
 vote, " that the accused should be expelled from Crete," 
 added the following speech : " it is a truth confirmed by 
 experience, conscript fathers, that excellent laws and salu- 
 tary warnings are amongst the good derived from the delin- 
 quencies of others : thus was the Cincian resolution produced
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 351 
 
 by the excesses of the orators ; the Julian laws by the 
 intrigues of candidates; and the Calpurnian ordinances 
 by the avarice of the magistrates. For guilt is ever ante- 
 cedent to punishment; and after offence comes correc- 
 tion. In order therefore to quell this fresh insolence of 
 provincials, let us take measures worthy of the good faith 
 and firmness of Romans, such as may in nowise infringe 
 upon the protection due to our allies, and may efface the 
 impression that a man's character shall depend upon any- 
 thing but the judgment of citizens. 
 
 21. Of old indeed, not praetors and consuls only, but pri- 
 vate persons were sent into the pi'ovinces to inspect their 
 state, and to report their opinion of the submission of every 
 person; and the nations were in fear concerning the judg- 
 ment formed by individuals. But now we court foreigners, 
 and flatter them ; and as at the beck of some one of them 
 thanks are decreed ; so with greater facility is their accusa- 
 tion decreed : let it be decreed, and let provincials continue 
 to enjoy the privilege of thus displaying their power : but 
 let groundless applause, and commendations extorted by 
 prayers, be restrained with the same rigour as the efforts 
 of malice and cruelty. We often fall into heavier faults 
 while we labour to oblige, than when we are not afraid to 
 offend. Nay, some virtues are subject to popular hate ; 
 such as inflexible strictness, and a mind impregnable to 
 the influences of favour and affection. Hence the admi- 
 nistration of our magistrates is generally best at the be- 
 ginning, but relaxes in the close ; while after the manner 
 of candidates, we solicit suffrages. Now, if this custom is 
 suppressed, the provinces will be administered with more 
 impartiality and firmness : for, as by the* terror of the law 
 against extortion avarice is defeated, so by abolishing the 
 usage of giving thanks, the arts of ambition are checked." 
 
 22. This proposition from Thrasea was received with 
 earnest and very general approbation ; but a decree of the 
 senate could not be perfected, the consuls insisting that 
 it was foreign to the question. But afterwards, on the 
 authority of the prince, it was ordained, " that to the 
 council of the provinces no man should propose that 
 thanks should be given to any praetorian or proconsular 
 governor before the senate ; and that no man should ex- 
 ecute such a deputation." During the same consuls, the 
 Gymnasium was struck with lightning and burnt to the 
 ground ; and the brazen statue of Nero therein melted to 
 a shapeless mass. In Campania too, the populous city of 
 Pompeii was in a great measure reduced to ruins by an
 
 THE ANNALS *OF TACITUS. XV: 
 
 earthquake ; and this year died Laalia the vestal virgin, in 
 whose place Cornelia, of the Cossian family, was chosen. 
 
 23. In the consulship of Memmius Regulus and Ver- 
 ginius Rufus, Poppaea presented Nero with a daughter ; 
 which he received with a joy exceeding the lot of hu- 
 manity. He named her Augusta, and conferred the same 
 title upon Poppaea. The place where she. gave birth to 
 the child was the colony of Antium, where he himself was 
 born : the senate had before recommended the womb of 
 Poppaea to the gods, and undertaken public vows for her 
 delivery : now many were added, and the whole fulfilled : 
 supplications were also made, a temple was decreed to 
 " Fecundity, and a contest after the model of the Actian 
 rites; also, that on the throne of Jupiter Capitolinus should 
 be placed golden images of the Fortunes ; and that at An- 
 tium, in honour to the Claudian and Domitian families, Cir- 
 censian games should be celebrated, as at Bovillas in honour 
 of the Julian race." But these were not carried into effect; 
 for within four months the infant died : whence arose a 
 new series of flattery ; as they voted honour to her as to 
 a goddess, with a " couch, a temple, and a priest." The 
 emperor, as he had rejoiced, so he sorrowed immoderately. 
 It was remarked, that when upon the delivery of Poppaea, 
 the whole senate poured forth with congratulations to An- 
 tium, Thrasea, who was prohibited, received the insult 
 undismayed, though it was the harbinger of impending 
 destruction. It was reported that Nero afterwards vaunted 
 to Seneca his reconciliation to Thrasea ; and that Seneca 
 congratulated Nero upon it. The characters of these ex- 
 cellent men received an accession of renown from this cir- 
 cumstance, but their danger increased with it. 
 
 24. During these transactions, there arrived in the be- 
 ginning of spring, ambassadors from the Parthians, with 
 a message from Vologeses their king, and letters to the 
 same purport : that he now relinquished " his former 
 claims, so often agitated, about the possession of Armenia, 
 since the gods, the sovereign arbiters between states how- 
 ever potent, had yielded the possession of that kingdom 
 to the Parthians, not without disgrace to the Romans. 
 He had lately blockaded Tigranes, and next Paetus and 
 the legions ; though it was in his power to have annihi- 
 lated them, he had dismissed them unhurt: he had given 
 satisfactory proof of his power, and had put on record a 
 specimen of his clemency : neither would his brother Ti- 
 ridates refuse coming to Rome, to receive the Armenian 
 diadem, but that the obligation of his priesthood withheld
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 353 
 
 him : he would however go to the standards, and images of 
 Caesar, and there in presence of the legions, solemnly re- 
 ceive the kingdom." 
 
 25. After reading these letters of Vologeses, so opposite 
 to the account transmitted by Paetus, which assumed that 
 things remained in the same situation as before ; the centu- 
 rion, who had arrived with the ambassadors, was asked, 
 " in what condition Armenia stood ?" he answered, that " all 
 the Romans had quitted it." The mockery of the Barbarians 
 in suing for a country which they had already seized, was 
 then perceived ; and Nero held a consultation with the prin- 
 cipal citizens, to determine whether they preferred a peril- 
 ous war, or a disreputable peace : nor was there any hesita- 
 tion in resolving upon war ; and Corbulo, who by the expe- 
 rience of so many years, knew both the soldiery and the 
 enemy, was appointed to conduct it, lest through the in- 
 experience of any other, a fresh failure should be encoun- 
 tered, for they were dissatisfied with Pastus. The am- 
 bassadors were therefore sent back without accomplishing 
 their object, but with presents ; to raise hopes that, were 
 Tiridates in person to bring his supplications, he would 
 not fail in his suit. To Sestius was given the administra- 
 tion of Syria ; and to Corbulo were granted all the mili- 
 tary forces ; with the addition of the fifteenth legion, led 
 by Marius Celsus out of Pannonia : directions were like- 
 wise written to the kings and tetrarchs in the east, to the 
 governors and procurators, and to the propraetors who 
 ruled the neighbouring provinces, "to obey the orders of 
 Corbulo;" who was thus intrusted with much the same 
 extensive authority, as the Roman people had conferred 
 upon Pompey for the conduct of the piratical war. Though 
 Paetus, upon his return to Rome, apprehended severer 
 treatment, Nero deemed it sufficient to punish him with 
 a stroke of humour, in much such language as this : " I 
 pardon you forthwith; lest one so prone to fear should 
 grow sick if kept in further suspense." 
 
 26. Now when Corbulo had removed into Syria the 
 fourth and twelfth legions, which from the loss of till their 
 bravest men, and the dispirited condition of the rest, were 
 judged of little use for war ; he drew from that province 
 the sixth legion and the third, a body of men in unim- 
 paired vigour, and practised in frequent and successful 
 exertions, and led them into Armenia ; adding the fifth, 
 which being quartered in Pontus had escaped the late 
 defeat ; at the same time, the soldiers of the fifteenth 
 legion, lately arrived, and some chosen bands from Illy- 
 ricum and Egypt, with all the auxiliary troops of horse 
 
 A a
 
 354- THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 and companies of foot, as also the succours from the con- 
 federate kings, were assembled at Melitene, whence he 
 purposed crossing the Euphrates. After purifying the 
 army by the usual solemnity of lustration, he summoned 
 them to an assembly ; when he discoursed in lofty terms 
 of "the auspices of the emperor, and his own exploits; 
 imputing the untoward events which had occurred to the 
 incapacity of Paetus ; this he did in a style of commanding 
 authority, which in a military character stood in the 
 place of eloquence. 
 
 27. He then took the route formerly traversed by Lu- 
 cullus, removing the impediments which time had created : 
 neither did he discountenance ambassadors who were ap- 
 proaching from Tiridates and Vologeses, with overtures 
 of peace; but to confer with them, appointed certain cen- 
 turions, with instructions of no harsh nature : " that as 
 yet the contest had not proceeded so far that nothing could 
 determine it but the ultimate decision of the sword: that 
 the Roman arms had in many instances been prosperous, 
 in some the Parthian, furnished a lesson against presump- 
 tion to both. That in like manner as it concerned the 
 interest of Tiridates to receive a kingdom untouched by 
 devastations; so too would Vologeses better consult the 
 advantage of the people of Parthia by an alliance with the 
 Romans, than by mutual injuries. He well knew what ter- 
 rible dissensions were rending the vitals of his kingdom ; 
 how exceeding fierce and unruly were the nations he go- 
 verned. His master, the emperor, on the contrary, en- 
 joyed a settled peace in all his dominions, and had only 
 this single war." He at once proceeded to support his 
 counsels by the terrors of the sword ; drove from their 
 seats the grandees of Armenia, who first revolted from us; 
 razed their castles ; and filled with equal dismay the in- 
 habitant of the mountain and the vale, the powerful and 
 the feeble. 
 
 28. The name of Corbulo was held in no aversion, much 
 less in hostile hate, even amongst the Barbarians : whence 
 they believed his counsel sincere. Vologeses therefore 
 did not show an intractable spirit with regard to the ge- 
 neral question, and solicited a truce for certain of his pro- 
 vinces. Tiridates demanded a day and place for con- 
 ference ; an early day was appointed : as for the place, 
 since the Barbarians chose that in which they had lately 
 besieged Paetus and the legions, for the sake of the re- 
 membrance of their success there, Corbulo made no objec- 
 tion to it ; that the contrast of his fortune might enhance 
 his glory; nor was the disgrace of Pa?tus studiously ag.
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 355 
 
 gravated; which was chiefly evinced by the fact that he 
 ordered the son of Paetus, a tribune, to take some com- 
 panies and cover the remains of the unfortunate encounter. 
 Upon the day stipulated, Tiberius Alexander, an illus- 
 trious Roman knight, assigned to him as a coadjutor in 
 the war; and with him Vivianus Annius, son-in-law of 
 Corbulo, not yet of senatorial age, but employed as de- 
 puty commander of the fifth legion, entered the camp of 
 Tiridates, as a compliment to him, and that with such 
 hostages he might fear no guile. Then each took twenty 
 horsemen ; and at the sight of Corbulo the king leaped 
 first from his horse, nor was Corbulo slow to return the 
 courtesy ; but both dismounted joined right hands. 
 
 29. Then the Roman captain proceeded to laud the 
 young prince, " for renouncing desperate projects, and 
 adopting safe and pacific counsels." Tiridates, after a 
 long preface "on the splendour of his lineage," observed a 
 tone of moderation in his subsequent remarks, insomuch 
 that he said, " he would proceed to Rome and present a 
 spectacle which would give to Caesar a renown unparal- 
 leled one of the Arsacidae a suppliant before him, while 
 no reverse of fortune had visited the affairs of Parthia." 
 It was then agreed that he should lay down the royal 
 diadem before the image of Caesar, and not resume it ex- 
 cept from the hand of Nero; and the conference ended 
 with an embrace. Then after an interval of a few days, 
 the two armies met with great pomp and circumstance on 
 both sides : there stood the Parthian horse, ranged in 
 troops, with the standards of their several nations ; here 
 were posted the battalions of the legions, their eagles glit- 
 tering, their ensigns displayed, with the images of their 
 gods, and forming a kind of temple. A tribunal, placed 
 in the centre, supported a chair of state, on which the 
 statue of Nero rested. Tiridates approached, and having 
 immolated the victims in due form, he lifted the diadem 
 from his head and laid it at the feet of the statue ; while 
 every heart throbbed with intense emotion ; which was 
 augmented by the image of the slaughter or siege of the 
 Roman armies, that was still grafted upon their eyes : 
 " but now, they reflected, the current of fortune was 
 changed : Tiridates would go to Rome a spectacle to the 
 nations, and in a character how little below that of a cap- 
 tive!" 
 
 30. To the splendour of renown Corbulo added the 
 graces of courtesy and the delights of the banquet ; during 
 which the king, as often as he observed any usage which 
 was new to him, was frequent in his inquiries what it 
 
 A a 2
 
 356 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 might mean ; as that a centurion advertised the general, 
 when the watch was first set, and the company at the ban- 
 quet broke up at the sound of a trumpet? why the fuel 
 upon the altar reared before the augural was kindled 
 with a torch ? all which Corbulo explaining in a strain 
 of exaggeration, inspired him with admiration of the an- 
 cient institutions of the Romans. The next day, Tiri- 
 dates besought " as much time, before he undertook so 
 long a journey, as might suffice to visit his brothers and 
 his mother;" and, for an hostage, delivered up his daugh- 
 ter, and wrote a suppliant letter to Nero. 
 
 31. He accordingly departed, and found Pacorus in 
 Media ; and Vologeses at 'Ecbatana, who was far from 
 being unconcerned about his brother: for, by a spe- 
 cial embassy, he had desired of Corbulo, " that Tiridates 
 might not be subjected to any semblance of slavery ; nor 
 surrender his sword, nor be debarred from embracing the 
 governors of provinces ; nor stand waiting at their gates 
 for admittance ; and, that in Rome, the same honour 
 should be paid to him as to the consuls." In truth, that 
 prince, habituated to the haughty bearing of foreign des- 
 pots, was a stranger to the maxims of the Romans, with 
 whom the realities of power are considered of importance, 
 while its empty formalities are discarded. 
 
 32. The same year, Caesar conferred upon the nations 
 of the maritime Alps the privileges of Latium : to the 
 Roman knights he assigned places in the Circus before the 
 seats of the populace: for, till that time, they sat there with- 
 out discrimination ; since the regulations of the Roscian law 
 were confined to the fourteen rows of the theatre. This 
 year too was exhibited a combat of gladiators equally mag- 
 nificent with the former ; but many ladies of illustrious 
 quality, and many senators, were degraded by entering 
 the lists. 
 
 33. In the consulship of Caius Lecanius and Marcus 
 Licinius, Nero's passion for appearing on the public stage, 
 became every day more vehement : hitherto he had only 
 sung in private nouses or gardens, at the games called 
 ' Juvenalia,' which he despised as not sufficiently public, 
 and too confined for a voice so powerful. Wanting cou- 
 rage however to come out at Rome, he chose Naples for 
 the purpose, as being a Greek city ; his object was " to 
 commence there, that crossing over thence into Achaia, 
 and gaining the crowns that conferred such signal honour 
 and were from of old held sacred, he might with this ac- 
 cession of fame win the favour of the citizens. Accord- 
 ingly a herd of people collected from the small towns, and
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 357 
 
 those whom the rumour of such an exhibition had at- 
 tracted from the neighbouring colonies and municipal- 
 ities, together with such as attended the emperor, either 
 to do him honour or for various services, including even 
 bands of soldiers, filled the Neapolitan theatre. 
 
 34. An accident occurred there which, in the opinion 
 of many, was ominous of evil; but Nero regarded it as in- 
 dicating the especial care and favour of the gods ; for the 
 theatre, when the audience had retired, being empty, fell 
 into a heap of ruins without hurting any one. Nero 
 therefore returned thanks to the gods in songs com- 
 posed for the purpose, and also celebrated the story of 
 the recent accident, while intending to cross the Adriatic, 
 he rested at Beneventum, where Vatinius presented a 
 famous show of gladiators. Vatinius was one of the most 
 hateful monsters of that court; bred in a shoemaker's stall, 
 deformed, and with a vein of low wit, he was at first ad- 
 mitted as a buffoon ; but afterwards, by bringing accusations 
 against every worthy man, he arrived at such high consi- 
 deration, that in favour, in opulence, and in the power to 
 injure, he attained pre-eminence among the base also. 
 
 35. Nero, while attending the exhibition of this man, 
 relaxed not in his career of iniquity even in the midst of 
 his pleasures ; for in those very days was Torquatus Si- 
 lanus forced to die ; because, in addition to the splendour 
 of the Junian family, he represented himself as great- 
 grandson of the deified Augustus. The accusers had or- 
 ders to charge him with "prodigality in his bounties; and 
 that he had no other resource than in revolution ; nay, 
 that already he kept men of no mean rank with the style 
 of secretaries, accountants, treasurers : names belonging 
 to the imperial function, and preparations for assuming it." 
 All his confidential freedmen were then bound and hur- 
 ried off; and Torquatus, seeing his impending condem- 
 nation, opened the veins of both his arms. After this 
 event Nero, as usual, remarked, " that however guilty, 
 and justly hopeless of clearing himself, he would how- 
 ever have lived had he waited for the clemency of his 
 judge." 
 
 36. Nero, having deferred his voyage to Greece, for 
 reasons which were not known, soon after revisited Rome, 
 while his thoughts were occupied with fantastic notions of 
 showing himself to the provinces in the east, especially 
 Egypt. The next thing he did was to assure the citizens 
 that " his absence would not be of long continuance ; and 
 the commonwealth, in all its parts, would continue in the 
 same perfect quiet and prosperity ;" and then, for the
 
 358 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 success of that journey, betook himself in devotion to the 
 Capitol. While he was there, paying his worship to the 
 deities, as he entered, amongst others, the temple of Vesta, 
 he was seized with a trembling, which shook every joint : 
 whether it were that he was overpowered with awe of the 
 divinity, or from the recollection of his atrocities, for he 
 knew no intermission of fear, he abandoned his design, 
 earnestly declaring " that every other consideration with 
 him was absorbed by his love for his country ; that he 
 had seen the sad countenances of the citizens, and heard 
 their ill-suppressed complaints that he was about to 
 undertake so long a journey, whose short excursions they 
 were unable to bear, accustomed as they were to be re- 
 vived under misfortunes by the sight of their prince. 
 Therefore, as in the relations of private life, the pledges 
 of affection which were nearest in blood were the most 
 potent, so the Roman people had the greatest weight 
 with him, and he must yield to their wish to keep him 
 with them." These and similar expressions were accept- 
 able to the people from their propensity to diversions, 
 and because they apprehended a scarcity of provisions if 
 he should absent himself; a consideration of paramount 
 concern with them. The senate and nobles were in doubt 
 whether he were more to be dreaded when at a distance 
 or present ; but subsequently, as usually happens in cases 
 of violent fear, they regarded the course which he adopted 
 as the more pregnant with danger. 
 
 37. Nero himself, to make it believed that he enjoyed 
 himself nowhere so much as at Rome, caused banquets to 
 be prepared in the public places, and used the whole city 
 as his house. Remarkable above all others for the display 
 of luxury and the noise it made in the world was the feast 
 given by Tigellinus, which I will describe by way of spe- 
 cimen, that I may not have to repeat the instances of 
 similar prodigality. For this purpose, he built, in the 
 lake of Agrippa, a raft which supported the banquet, 
 which was moved to and fro by other vessels, drawing it 
 after them : the vessels were striped with gold and ivory, 
 and rowed by bands of pathics, who were ranged accord- 
 ing to their age, and accomplishments in the science of 
 debauchery. He had procured fowl and venison from 
 remote regions, with sea-fish even from the ocean : upon 
 the margin of the lake were erected brothels, filled with 
 ladies of distinction : over against them naked harlots 
 were exposed to view: now, were beheld obscene ges- 
 tures and motions ; and as soon as darkness came on, 
 all the neighbouring groves and circumjacent dwellings
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 359 
 
 resounded with music, and glared with lights. Nero wal- 
 lowed in all sorts of defilements, lawful and unlawful: and 
 seemed to leave no atrocity which could add to his pollu- 
 tion, till a few days afterwards, he married, as a woman, one 
 of this contaminated herd, named Pythagoras, with all the 
 solemnities of wedlock: the Roman emperor put on the 
 nuptial veil ; the augurs, the portion, the bridal bed, the 
 nuptial torches, were all seen ; in fine, everything exposed 
 to view which, even in a female, is covered by the night. 
 
 38. There followed a dreadful disaster; whether for- 
 tuitously, or by the wicked contrivance of the prince, is 
 not determined, for both are asserted by historians : but 
 of all the calamities which ever befell this city, from the 
 rage of fire, this was the most terrible and severe. It 
 broke out in that part of the Circus which is contiguous 
 to mounts Palatine and Ccelius ; where, by reason of 
 shops, in which were kept such goods as minister aliment 
 to fire, the moment it commenced it acquired strength, 
 and being accelerated by the wind, it spread at once 
 through the whole extent of the Circus: for, neither were 
 the houses secured by enclosures, nor the temples envi- 
 roned with walls, nor was there any other obstacle to in- 
 tercept its progress ; but the flame, spreading every way 
 impetuously, invaded first the lower regions of the city, 
 then mounted to the higher; then again, ravaging the 
 lower, it baffled every effort to extinguish it, by the ra- 
 pidity of its destructive course, and from the liability of 
 the city to conflagration, in consequence of the narrow 
 and intricate alleys, and the irregularity of the streets in 
 ancient Rome. Add to this, the wailings of terrified 
 women, the infirm condition of the aged, and the helpless- 
 ness of childhood : such as strove to provide for them- 
 selves, and those who laboured to assist others; these 
 dragging the feeble, those waiting for them ; some hurry- 
 ing, others lingering; altogether created a scene of uni- 
 versal confusion and embarrassment : and while they 
 looked back upon the danger in their rear, they often 
 found themselves beset before, and on their sides : or if 
 they had escaped into the quarters adjoining, these too 
 were already seized by the devouring flames ; even the 
 parts which they believed remote and exempt, were found 
 to be in the same distress. At last, not knowing what to 
 shun, or where to seek sanctuary, they crowded the streets, 
 and lay along in the open fields. Some, from the loss of 
 their whole substance, even the means of their daily sus- 
 tenance ; others from affection for their relations, whom 
 they had not been able to snatch from the flames, sufferer!
 
 360 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 themselves to perish in them, though they had oppor- 
 tunity to escape. Neither dared any man offer to check 
 the fire : so repeated were the menaces of many who for- 
 bade to extinguisli it; and, because others openly threw 
 firebrands, with loud declarations, " that they had one 
 who authorised them;" whether they did it that they 
 might plunder with the less restraint, or in consequence 
 of orders given. 
 
 39. Nero, who was at that juncture sojourning at An- 
 tium, did not return to the city till the fire approached 
 that quarter of his house which connected the palace with 
 the gardens of Maecenas: nor could it, however, be pre- 
 vented from devouring the house and palace, and everything 
 around. But for the relief of the people, thus destitute, 
 and driven from their dwellings, he opened the field of 
 Mars and the monmumental edifices erected by Agrippa, 
 and even his own gardens. He likewise reared temporary 
 houses for the reception of the forlorn multitude : and 
 from Ostia and the neighbouring cities, were brought, up 
 the river, household necessaries ; and the price of grain 
 was reduced to three sesterces the measure. All which 
 proceedings, though of a popular character, were thrown 
 away, because a rumour had become universally current 
 " that at the very time when the city was in flames, Nero, 
 going on the stage of his private theatre, sang ' The De- 
 struction of Troy,' assimilating the present disaster to 
 that catastrophe of ancient times." 
 
 40. At length, on the sixth day, the conflagration was 
 stayed at the foot of ILsquiliae, by pulling down an im- 
 mense quantity of buildings, so that an open space, and 
 as it were void air, might check the raging element by 
 breaking the continuity. But ere the consternation had 
 subsided, the fire broke out afresh, with no little violence, 
 but in regions more spacious, and therefore with less de- 
 struction of human life : but more extensive havoc was 
 made of the temples, and the porticoes dedicated to 
 amusement. This conflagration, too, was the subject of 
 more censorious remark, as it arose in the ^milian pos- 
 sessions of Tigellinus : and Nero seemed to aim at the 
 glory of building a new city, and calling it by his own 
 name : for, of the fourteen quarters into which Rome is 
 divided, four were still standing entire, three were levelled 
 with the ground ; and, in the seven others, there remained 
 only here and there a few remnants of houses, shattered 
 and half consumed. 
 
 41. It were no very easy task to recount the number of 
 tenements and temples which were lost : but the following,
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 361 
 
 most venerable for antiquity and sanctity, were consumed : 
 that dedicated by Servius Tullius to the Moon ; the temple 
 and great altar consecrated by Evander the Arcadian to 
 Hercules while present ; the chapel vowed by Romulus to 
 Jupiter Stator ; the palace of Numa, with the temple of 
 Vesta, and in it the tutelar gods of Rome. Moreover, 
 the treasures accumulated by so many victories, the beau- 
 tiful productions of Greek artists, ancient writings of au- 
 thors celebrated for genius, and till then preserved en- 
 tire, were consumed : and though great was the beauty of 
 the city, in its renovated form, the older inhabitants re- 
 membered many decorations of the ancient which could 
 not be replaced in the modern city. There were some 
 who remarked that the commencement of this fire showed 
 itself on the fourteenth, before the calends of July, the 
 day on which the Senones set fire to the captured city. 
 Others carried their investigation so far as to determine 
 that an equal number of years, months, and days, inter- 
 vened between the two fires. 
 
 42. To proceed ; Nero appropriated to his own pur- 
 poses the ruins of his country, and founded upon them a 
 palace ; in which the old-fashioned, and, in those luxu- 
 rious times, common ornaments of gold and precious 
 stones, were, not so much the objects of attraction, as 
 lands and lakes ; in one part, woods like vast deserts ; in 
 another part, open spaces and expansive prospects. The 
 projectors and superintendents of this plan were Severus 
 and Celer, men of such ingenuity and daring enterprise as 
 to attempt to conquer by art the obstacles of nature, and 
 fool away the treasures of the prince : they had even 
 undertaken to sink a navigable canal from the lake Aver- 
 nus to the mouth of the Tiber, over an arid shore, or 
 through opposing mountains : nor indeed does there 
 occur anything of a humid nature for supplying water, 
 except the Pomptine marshes ; the rest is either craggy 
 rock or a parched soil : and had it even been possible 
 to break through these obstructions, the toil had been in- 
 tolerable, and disproportioned to the object. Nero, how- 
 ever, who longed to achieve things that exceeded credi- 
 bility, exerted all his might to perforate the mountains 
 adjoining to Avernus : and to this day there remain traces 
 of his abortive project. 
 
 43. But the rest of the old site not occupied by his 
 palace, was laid out, not, as after the Gallic fire, without 
 discrimination and regularity, but with the lines of streets 
 measured out, broad spaces left for transit, the height of 
 the buildings limited, open areas left, and porticoes added
 
 362 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 to protect the front of the clustered dwellings : these por- 
 ticoes Nero engaged to rear at his own expense, and then 
 to deliver to each proprietor the areas about them, cleared. 
 He moreover proposed rewards proportioned to every 
 man's rank and private substance, and fixed a day within 
 which, if their houses, single or clustered, were finished, 
 they should receive them : he appointed the marshes of 
 Ostia for a receptacle of the rubbish, and that the vessels 
 which had conveyed grain up the Tiber should return 
 laden with rubbish ; that the buildings themselves should 
 be raised to a certain portion of their height without 
 beams, and arched with stone from the quarries of Gabii 
 or Alba, that stone being proof against fire : that over the 
 water springs, which had been improperly intercepted by 
 private individuals, overseers should be placed, to provide 
 for their flowing in greater abundance, and in a greater 
 number of places, for the supply of the public: that every 
 housekeeper should have in his yard means for extin- 
 guishing fire; neither should there be party walls, but 
 every house should be enclosed by its own walls. These 
 regulations, which were favourably received, in considera- 
 tion of their utility, were also a source of beauty to the 
 new city : yet some there were who believed that the 
 ancient form was more conducive to health ; as from the 
 narrowness of the streets, and the height of the build- 
 ings, the rays of the sun were more excluded ; whereas 
 now, the spacious breadth of the streets, without any 
 shade to protect it, was more intensely heated in warm 
 weather. 
 
 44. Such were the provisions made by human coun- 
 sels. The gods were next addressed with expiations ; 
 and recourse had to the Sibyl's books. By admoni- 
 tion from them, to Vulcan, Ceres, and -Proserpina, sup- 
 plicatory sacrifices were made, and Juno propitiated 
 by the matrons, first in the Capitol, then upon the near- 
 est shore, where, by water drawn from the sea, the 
 temple and image of the goddess were besprinkled ; 
 and the ceremony of placing the goddess in her sacred 
 chair, and her vigil, were celebrated by ladies who had 
 husbands. But not all the relief that could come from 
 man, not all the bounties that the prince could bestow, 
 nor all the atonements which could be presented to the 
 gods, availed to relieve Nero from the infamy of being 
 believed to have ordered the conflagration. Hence, to 
 suppress the rumour, he falsely charged with the guilt, 
 and punished with the most exquisite tortures, the per- 
 sons commonly called Christians, who were hated for their
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 363 
 
 enormities. Christus, the founder of that name, was put 
 to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, procurator of 
 Judaea, in the reign of Tiberius : but the pernicious su- 
 perstition, repressed for a time, broke out again, not only 
 through Judaea, where the mischief originated, but through 
 the city of Rome also, whither all things horrible and 
 disgraceful flow, from all quarters, as to a common recep- 
 tacle, and where they are encouraged. Accordingly, first 
 those were seized who confessed they were Christians : 
 next, on their information, a vast multitude were con- 
 victed, not so much on the charge of burning the city, as 
 of hating the human race. And in their deaths they were 
 also made the subjects of sport, for they were covered 
 with the hides of wild beasts, and worried to death by 
 dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when day 
 declined, burnt to serve for nocturnal lights. Nero offered 
 his own gardens for that spectacle, and exhibited a Cir- 
 censian game, indiscriminately mingling with the common 
 people in the habit of a charioteer, or else standing in his 
 chariot. Whence a feeling of compassion arose towards 
 the sufferers, though guilty and deserving to be made ex- 
 amples of by capital punishment, because they seemed not 
 to be cut off for the public good, but victims to the ferocity 
 of one man. 
 
 45. In the meantime, in order to supply money, all 
 Italy was pillaged, the provinces ruined : both the people 
 in alliance with us, and the states which are called free. 
 Even the gods were not exempt from plunder on this 
 occasion, their temples in the city being despoiled, and 
 all the gold conveyed away, which the Roman people, in 
 every age, either in gratitude for triumphs, or in fulfil- 
 ment of vows, had consecrated, in times of prosperity, or 
 in seasons of dismay. Through Greece and Asia indeed, 
 the gifts and oblations, and even the statues of the deities 
 were carried off; Acratus and Secundus Carinas being sent 
 into those provinces for the purpose: the former, Nero's 
 freedman, a prompt instrument in any iniquity; the other, 
 acquainted with Greek learning, so far as relates to lip- 
 knowledge, but unadorned with virtuous accomplishments. 
 Of Seneca it was reported, " that to avert from himself 
 the odium of this sacrilege, he prayed to retire to a seat 
 of his, remote from Rome, and being refused, feigned in- 
 disposition, as though his nerves were affected, and con- 
 fined himself to his chamber." Some authors have re- 
 corded, " that a freedman of his, named Cleonicus, had, 
 by the command of Nero, prepared poison for his master, 
 who escaped it, either from the discovery made by the
 
 364 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 freedman, or from the caution inspired by his own appre- 
 hensions, as he supported nature by a diet perfectly sim- 
 ple, satisfying the cravings of hunger by wild fruits, and the 
 solicitations of thirst from the running brook." 
 
 4G. About the same time a body of gladiators, at the 
 city of Praeneste, having made an attempt to escape, were 
 quelled by the guard of soldiers placed there to keep 
 them ; while the people, whose nature it is to be at once 
 eager for political changes and terrified at their approach, 
 were already agitated with rumours about another Spar- 
 tacus, and the calamities of old. Nor was it long after 
 this that a fatal disaster befell the fleet ; not in a hostile 
 encounter; for never was there a time of more profound 
 peace : but Nero had ordered the galleys to return to the 
 coast of Campania, on a specified day, without any allow- 
 ance for the casualties of the deep : so that the pilots, 
 though the sea raged, weighed from the port of Formiae, 
 and by a violent tempest from the south, while they strug- 
 gled to double the cape of Misenum, were driven upon 
 the shore of Cuma, where many galleys of three banks of 
 oars, and smaller vessels on all hands, were wrecked. 
 
 47. In the close of the year, the public mind was occu- 
 pied with accounts of prodigies, which seemed the har- 
 bingers of impending calamities. At no other time did 
 lightning flash with such frequency ; there appeared also 
 a comet ; an omen ever expiated by Nero with the effu- 
 sion of illustrious blood. In the streets and roads were 
 found exposed several monstrous births with double heads, 
 some of the human species, some of brutes; or were dis- 
 covered in sacrifices at which custom required bedsts that 
 are pregnant : and in the territory of Placentia, by the 
 side of the public way, was bvought forth a calf with its 
 head growing upon its leg: a prodigy which, according to 
 the interpretation returned by the soothsayers, boded 
 " that for human kind another head was preparing, but 
 one which would never arrive at strength, or remain con- 
 cealed ; for that this had been contracted in the womb, 
 and came into the world by the wayside." 
 
 48. Silius Nerva and Atticus Vestinus then entered 
 upon the consulship ; when a conspiracy sprang into ex- 
 istence and grew into importance at the same instant ; a 
 conspiracy in which senators, knights, soldiers, and even 
 women, had entered with the ardour of competition, both 
 from detestation of Nero and attachment to Caius Piso, 
 who being a descendant of the Calpurnian race, and con- 
 nected with many illustrious families, through the noble 
 house of his father, enjoyed a brilliant reputation with the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS, XV. 365 
 
 people in consequence of his virtues, or qualities that 
 wore the attractive form of virtues : for, he was a master 
 of eloquence, and employed it in the defence of his fellow 
 citizens ; he was generous to his friends, and even towards 
 such as were unknown to him, courteous in his language 
 and address. He possessed also accidental recommenda- 
 tions : a tall person and a handsome face. But his morals 
 were lax ; his love of pleasure unrestrained by modera- 
 tion ; he gave way to delicacy and display, and occasion- 
 ally to luxurious excess. Many found no fault with him 
 in these respects, for in the general rage for vicious in- 
 dulgence they were not for having a strait-laced and 
 austere person at the head of affairs. 
 
 49. It was in no inordinate ambition of his own that the 
 conspiracy originated ; and yet I could not easily state 
 who concerted it, or who instigated a plot which such a 
 number espoused: that Subrius Flavius, tribune of a prae- 
 torian cohort, and Sulpicius Asper the centurion, were the 
 foremost in it, the firmness with which they encountered 
 death evinces. Lucanus Annaeus, and Plautius Lateranus, 
 consul elect, brought into it a spirit of keen animosity} 
 the former stimulated by personal provocations, as Nero 
 had obstructed the fame of his poems, and from a ridi- 
 culous rivalry forbade their publication : Lateranus, in- 
 duced to join it, not from any personal injury, but from 
 affection for the republic. But there were two men, Fla- 
 vius Scaevinus and Afranius Quintianus, both of senatorian 
 rank, who belied their previous character in taking a lead- 
 ing part in so great an enterprise ; for the mind of Scaevi- 
 nus had been enervated with sensuality, and therefore his 
 time was consumed in sleep and languor. Quintianus was 
 infamous for effeminacy ; and having been vilified by 
 Nero in a virulent satire, he sought to revenge the in- 
 dignity. 
 
 50. 'Now while these persons, as well in conferences with 
 each other as amongst their friends, were declaiming upon 
 " the enormities of the prince, the approaching dissolution 
 of the empire, and the necessity of choosing some one 
 capable of restoring the afflicted state," they drew into the 
 combination Tullius Senecio, Cervarius Proculus, Vulca- 
 tius Araricus, Julius Tugurinus, Munatius Gratus, Anto- 
 nius Natalis, and Martins Festus; all Roman knights. 
 One of these, Senecio,who had lived in intimacy with Nero, 
 and preserved even then the face of friendship, was on 
 that account the more beset with perils. To Natalis all the 
 secret purposes of Piso were communicated without re- 
 serve : the rest sought their separate interests in a change.
 
 366 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 Of military men, besides Subrius and Sulpicius, already 
 mentioned, Granius Silvanus and Statius Proximus, tri- 
 bunes of the praetorian bands, with the centurions, Maxi- 
 mus Scaurus and Venetus Paullus, were admitted into the 
 plot. But their main dependence was in Fenius Rufus, 
 captain of the imperial guards, a man of conduct and high 
 estimation, but rivalled in the affections of the prince by 
 Tigellinus, who was recommended by his cruelty and im- 
 purity, and who perpetually harassed him with false accu- 
 sations, and had frequently put him in fear of his life, re- 
 presenting him as " having had a criminal connection with 
 Agrippina, and from grief at her untimely end inflexibly 
 bent upon revenge." Accordingly, when the conspirators 
 felt assured, by language frequently used by him, that the 
 captain of the praetorian band had resolved to take a part, 
 they now deliberated with more confidence on the time 
 and place for the assassination ; and Subrius Flavius was 
 said to have conceived a strong inclination to attack Nero 
 while singing on the stage, or his house being on fire, to 
 fall on him while he was scampering from place to place in 
 the night unattended by his guards. In the latter case, 
 the opportunity of finding him alone ; in the former, the 
 very numbers who would witness the glorious achievement 
 had impelled his noble nature into action, had not an over 
 anxiety to execute it with impunity held him back ; a feel- 
 ing which is ever adverse to attempts of magnitude. 
 
 51. While the conspirators were hesitating, and pro- 
 tracting the issue of their hopes and fears, a woman 
 named Epicharis, (and how she became acquainted with 
 the affair is involved in mystery, nor had she ever mani- 
 fested a concern for worthy objects before,) began to ani- 
 mate the conspirators, and goad them on by reproaches ; 
 but at length disgusted with their dilatoriness, while so- 
 journing in Campania, she tried every effort to shake the 
 allegiance of the officers of the fleet at Misenum, and en- 
 gage them in the plot. The following circumstance gave 
 her an opening. Volusius Proculus, who was one of the 
 parties employed in the murder of Nero's mother, and as 
 he thought had not been promoted proportionately to the 
 magnitude of the crime, was a chiliarch in that fleet. 
 Being previously known to Epicharis, or having recently 
 formed a friendship with her, he disclosed to her the ser- 
 vices he had rendered Nero, and the little advantage he 
 had reaped from them ; adding complaints, and his settled 
 purpose of being revenged should an opportunity present 
 itself. This inspired her with a hope that he might be 
 worked upon and win over others to the scheme ; and the
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 367 
 
 fleet formed a powerful auxiliary, and had frequent oppor- 
 tunities of effecting the object, for Nero took delight in 
 resorting to the sea at Puteoli and Misenum. Epicharis 
 therefore entered more at large into matters, and went 
 through all the atrocities of the prince, concluding with 
 the remark, " that Nero had stripped the senate of all 
 their powers; but," she added, "they had taken mea- 
 sures to punish him for overturning the constitution : Pro- 
 culus had only to address himself manfully to the work, 
 and bring over to their side the most energetic of the 
 troops, and he might depend upon receiving suitable re- 
 wards." She, however, concealed the names of the conspi- 
 rators : whence it was that, though he laid before Nero 
 her whole discourse, his evidence was of no avail. For 
 when Epicharis was summoned, and confronted with the 
 informer, as his charge against her was supported by no 
 witnesses, she easily confuted him. But she was detained 
 in prison ; as Nero suspected that these matters were not 
 therefore false, even though they had not been proved to 
 be true. 
 
 52. The conspirators however, distressed with appre- 
 hensions of a discovery, resolved to hasten on the assassin- 
 ation at Baiae, in a villa of Piso's, whither the emperor, 
 charmed with the loveliness of the place, was in the habit of 
 going, and where he entered the bath and banquet without 
 his guards, and unincumbered by the pomp of his imperial 
 state. But Piso declined, under pretext of " the odium 
 that would attach to him if the sacred rites of the table, 
 and the gods of hospitality, were imbrued with the blood 
 of a prince, whatever his character : it were more advisa- 
 ble to despatch him at Rome, in that detested house built 
 with the spoils of the citizens ; or rather in the face of the 
 public, to execute a deed which they had undertaken for the 
 benefit of the public." Thus he reasoned openly amongst 
 the conspirators ; but in his heart he dreaded lest Lucius 
 Silanus, a man of the highest quality, and by the tuition of 
 Caius Cassius, by whom he was brought up, formed to 
 every noble aspiration, should seize upon the government; 
 while those who stood aloof from the conspiracy, and 
 those who compassionated Nero as a victim of treachery, 
 would render him zealous assistance. Many believed that 
 " Piso likewise feared the ardent spirit of the consul Vesti- 
 nus, lest he might be prompted to restore liberty ; or, se- 
 lecting another emperor, acquire the merit of having con- 
 ferred the empire upon him." For he was no party to the 
 conspiracy, although Nero, under colour of that charge,
 
 368 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 afterwards satiated his inveterate rancour towards a guilt- 
 less man. 
 
 53. At length they agreed to perpetrate their designs 
 upon the anniversary sacred to Ceres, and solemnised with 
 Circensian games ; as the emperor, who seldom came 
 abroad, but remained shut up in his palace or gardens, 
 was wont to frequent the diversions of the Circus, where, 
 amidst the gaiety of the sports, access to him was more 
 easily obtained. Their plan of proceeding in the plot 
 they had thus arranged: " Lateranus, a man of determined 
 spirit and gigantic power, approaching the prince with 
 humblest supplication, and falling at his knees under pre- 
 tence of imploring assistance in supporting himself, was 
 to throw him down by surprise and press upon him: and 
 when thus prostrate and hampered, the tribunes and cen- 
 turions, and each of the rest as his courage prompted him, 
 were to rush in and despatch him : Scaevinus, at his own 
 earnest request, performing the principal part; for he had 
 a dagger from the temple of Safety in Etruria, or, as 
 others have related, of Fortune in the town of Ferentum, 
 and wore it as a weapon devoted to a deed of magnitude. 
 Piso meanwhile was to wait at the temple of Ceres, 
 whence Fenius, the captain of the guards, and the rest 
 should summon him, that they might take him into the 
 camp attended by Antonia, daughter of Claudius Caesar, 
 to conciliate the favour of the people :" as Caius PJinius 
 relates. I was myself determined not to conceal what is 
 stated under any circumstances : although it appeared im- 
 probable that Antonia would have lent her name and ha- 
 zarded, her life in a project from which she had nothing to 
 hope for, or that Piso, remarkable for his love of his wife, 
 should have entered into a matrimonial contract with 
 another; unless it be that the lust of domination burns 
 with a flame so fierce as to overpower all other affections 
 of the human breast. 
 
 54. It is matter of astonishment that in a conspiracy 
 embracing persons of different families, rank, age, and 
 sex, rich and poor, all its proceedings should have been kept 
 secret and undivulged so long. At length, however, its 
 discovery commenced in the house of Scasvinus, who on 
 the day before the intended execution of the plot, after a 
 long conference with Antonius Natalis, returned home and 
 sealed his will. He then drew from its scabbard the dag- 
 ger of which I have spoken before, and remarking angrily 
 that it was blunted from the effects of time, gave orders 
 that it should be whetted upon a stone, and be made to
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 369 
 
 flame up into a point. This task he assigned to his freed- 
 man, Milichus. At the same time he partook of a repast 
 more than ordinarily sumptuous : his most favourite slaves 
 were presented with their liberty, and the others with 
 money; and he himself seemed sad, and manifestly medi- 
 tated some momentous business, although he assumed an 
 air of cheerfulness, in his conversation running from one 
 subject to another. At last he cautioned the same Mili- 
 chus to provide bandages for wounds, and materials for 
 stanching blood ; whether it was that he was acquainted 
 with the conspiracy, and had continued faithful up to that 
 time, or that he had no previous knowledge of it, and 
 then for the first time suspicion flashed upon him, as most 
 subsequent authors have stated. For when the slave, 
 with the sordid spirit that belongs to his condition, pon- 
 dered on the rewards of perfidy, and the image of bound- 
 less riches and power presented itself to his vision, con- 
 science, the safety of his patron, gratitude for the boon of 
 liberty, all gave way : moreover he had taken counsel of 
 his wife also, a woman's counsel, the worst in such a mat- 
 ter, for, as might be expected, she alarmed, him by fresh 
 motives for fear; "many freedmen and slaves," she said, 
 " stood by and heard the same that he had : the silence 
 of one person would be of no avail ; while the rewards 
 would be gained by him who should be the first to make 
 the discovery.'" 
 
 55. Milichus, therefore, at the first dawn of day, went di- 
 rect to the Servilian gardens ; and being refused admittance, 
 declared, in a tone of earnestness, that he had matters to 
 communicate of the deepest, the most serious importance: 
 he was conducted by the porters to Epaphroditus, a 
 freedman of Nero's, and by him presently to Nero him- 
 self: to whom he represented " the imminent danger that 
 threatened him, the formidable conspiracies concerted," 
 with all the circumstances which he had heard, and made 
 out by conjecture, even showing the dagger destined to 
 destroy him, and desiring to be confronted with the cri- 
 minal. Scaevinus was seized and haled away by the sol- 
 diers; and proceeding to make his defence, he answered, 
 " that the dagger which had been produced against him, was 
 a relic ever held sacred in their family, always kept in his 
 chamber, and thence surreptitiously conveyed by the villany 
 of his freedman. Testamentary documents he had often 
 sealed, without observing any distinction of days : frequently 
 before this he had bestowed liberty and presents upon his 
 slaves: with the greater liberality on this occasion, because 
 his fortune being reduced, and his creditors importunate, he 
 
 B b
 
 370 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 feared his will would not be fulfilled. No one could deny 
 that he had always kept a liberal table ; that his style of living 
 was elegant, and such as rigid censors did not altogether 
 approve of; the applications for wounds had been ordered 
 by him ; but because his other allegations were negatived 
 by notorious facts, the acccuser had subjoined a charge 
 in which he might make himself at once the informer and 
 witness." His arguments were aided by the undaunted 
 spirit he showed ; he turned round upon his accuser, and 
 represented him as being " unworthy of credit, and co- 
 vered with guilt," and that with a tone and look so confi- 
 dent, that the information would have broken down, had 
 not his wife reminded Milichus that " Antonius Natalis 
 had had many and secret conversations with Scaevinus, 
 and that both were confidants of Caius Piso." 
 
 56. Natalis therefore was called, and they were asked 
 apart " what the nature of the conversation was, and what 
 its subject;" when, as their answers agreed not, strong 
 suspicion arose, and they were put in chains ; and when 
 shown the instruments of torture, and threatened with 
 them, their courage failed them. First, however, Natalis, 
 who was the better acquainted with the whole conspiracy, 
 and also better qualified to manage the impeachment, con- 
 fessed in the first place the guilt of Piso : then he added 
 Annaeus Seneca; whether it was that he had been the 
 medium of communication between Seneca and Piso, or to 
 gain favour with Nero, whose hostility to Seneca led him 
 to seek all sorts of devices to destroy him. Now Scae- 
 vinus, having learnt that a confession was made by Nata- 
 lis, with the same weakness, or believing that already the 
 whole confederacy was disclosed, and from his own silence 
 no advantage was to be expected, gave up the other ac- 
 complices. Of these Lucanus, Quinctianus, and Senecio, 
 persisted long in denying the charge ; but at length sur- 
 rendering their principles on a promise of impunity, to 
 apologise for their backwardness, Lucan informed against 
 Atilla, his own mother, Quinctianus against Glitius Gallus, 
 and Senecio against Annius Pollio, their most intimate 
 friends. 
 
 57. Nero meanwhile recollected that, upon the inform- 
 ation of Volucius Proculus, Epicharis was held in cus- 
 tody ; and supposing the body of a woman unequal to the 
 pain, ordered her to be torn to pieces by the instruments 
 of torture. But neither stripes, nor fire, nor the rage of 
 the tormentors, who tore her with the more vehemence, 
 lest they should be scorned by a woman, could vanquish 
 her, so as not to deny the allegations. Thus the first day
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 371 
 
 of torture was passed without producing any effect on her. 
 The day following, as she was being brought back to 
 suffer the same torments, riding in a chair, for, all her 
 members being disjointed, she could not support herself; 
 taking off the girdle that bound her breasts, she tied it in 
 a noose to the canopy of the chair, and placing her neck 
 in it, hung upon it with the whole weight of her body, and 
 forced out the slender remains of life: a freedwoman, by 
 thus screening strangers, and persons almost unknown to 
 her, though pressed to do so by such extreme torture, ex- 
 hibiting an example which derived augmented lustre from 
 the fact that free-born persons, men, Roman knights, and 
 senators, untouched by the instruments of torture, each 
 of them, betrayed their dearest pledges of affection. For, 
 Lucan too and Senecio, and Quinctianus, omitted not to 
 give up accomplices on all hands, while Nero grew more 
 and more alarmed ; though he had fenced himself in by 
 increasing the number of the guard manifold. 
 
 58. Nay, he seemed to have put the city itself in ward, 
 having manned the walls with bands of soldiers, and 
 planted troops on the sea coast and the bank of the 
 river. Through the squares, from house to house, in the 
 country also and the nearest municipal towns, foot and 
 horse were flying about, mixed with Germans, in whom 
 the prince confided, as being foreigners. Henceforth 
 troops of the accused in continuous succession were haled 
 along, and lay waiting at the gates of the gardens: and 
 when they had gone in to make their defence, " to have 
 shown any token of kindly feeling towards the conspira- 
 tors ; nay, even to have spoken to them, though fortui- 
 tously ; or to have met them, however unexpectedly ; or 
 to have been common guests at the same table, or sat to- 
 gether at some public show ;" all this was considered as 
 proof of guilt ; since, besides the cruel scrutiny made by 
 Nero and Tigellinus, Fenius Rufus also pressed upon 
 them with a severity that spurned all bounds, not having 
 been, as yet, named by the informers, but to create a 
 belief that he was not privy to the conspiracy, by his 
 harshness towards his associates. And when Subrius 
 Flavius, who stood by, asked him by signs whether he 
 should draw his sword and kill Nero during the very in- 
 quisition, this same man signified dissent, and checked his 
 effort while bringing back his hand to the hilt of his 
 sword. 
 
 59. There were those who, when the conspiracy was 
 first betrayed, while Milichus was under examination, and 
 while Scsevinus wavered, exhorted Piso, " to proceed di-
 
 372 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 rectly to the camp, or mount the rostrum, and throw him- 
 self on the affections of the people and soldiery : if his 
 accomplices co-operated in his efforts, those too who were 
 not so, would follow; and when the design was avowed, 
 and the commotion begun, great would be the excitement: 
 which, in all new attempts, is of infinite importance ; that 
 Nero had made no provision against such a contingency : 
 even brave men were daunted by unforeseen alarms : much 
 less would that comedian, guarded forsooth by Tigel- 
 linus with his host of harlots, dare to risk an armed en- 
 counter: that many difficulties, which to dastardly spirits 
 appeared insuperable, were got over in the course of the 
 experiment: that in such a multitude of accomplices, it 
 was vain to expect constancy and secrecy : that their 
 minds would not be proof against temptation, nor their 
 bodies against pain: that torture and rewards would pene- 
 trate all things : that men would soon come to bind Piso 
 himself, and put him to an ignominious death. How much 
 more honourably would he fall, while clinging to the 
 commonwealth ; while invoking aid in defence of liberty ! 
 It were better that the soldiers refused to join him, that 
 the people forsook him, provided that, if he lost his life in 
 the attempt, he perished in a manner worthy of his ances- 
 tors and posterity." Upon Piso these reasonings had no 
 influence : after he had appeared in public for a short 
 time, he secluded himself at home, and was preparing his 
 mind to encounter death, when at his house arrived a band 
 of soldiers, chosen by Nero from among the novices and 
 those who had served but a short time; for the old sol- 
 diers were feared, as tinctured with partiality for the con- 
 spirators. He died by severing the veins of his arms. 
 He left a will full of odious flattery to Nero, in tenderness 
 to his wife, a depraved woman, and void of every recom- 
 mendation but personal beauty, whom he had taken away 
 from her husband, a friend of his. His name was Domi- 
 tius Silius, and hers Arria Galla ; and both concurred, he 
 by his passiveness, she by her wantonness, to blazon the 
 ..jnfamy of Piso. 
 
 60. The next death added by Nero was that of Plau- 
 tius Lateranus, consul elect ; and with such precipitation, 
 that he would not allow him to embrace his children, nor 
 the usual brief interval to choose his mode of death. He 
 was dragged to the place allotted for the execution of 
 slaves, and there, by the hand of Statius the tribune, 
 slaughtered. In his death he maintained the most invin- 
 cible silence, not charging his executioner with participa- 
 tion in the design for which he suffered. The destruction
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 373 
 
 of Seneca followed, to the infinite joy of the prince ; not 
 because he had ascertained that he was a party to the 
 conspiracy, but that he might assail him with the sword, 
 since poison had failed : for, Natalis only had named him ; 
 and his disclosure amounted but to this, " that he had 
 been sent by Piso to visit Seneca, then indisposed, to com- 
 plain that he was refused admittance; and to represent, 
 that it would be better if they maintained their friendship 
 by intercourse: that to this Seneca replied, that talking 
 to each other and frequent interviews, were to the service 
 of neither : but upon the safety of Piso his own security 
 rested." Granius Silvanus, tribune of a praetorian cohort, 
 was ordered to represent this to Seneca, and to demand 
 of him, " whether he admitted the words of Natalis, and 
 his own answers. Seneca had that very day, either from 
 chance or design, returned from Campania, and rested at 
 a villa of his, four miles from Rome: thither arrived the 
 tribune towards evening, and beset the villa with his men ; 
 and then, as he sat at table with Paullina his wife, and 
 two friends, delivered his orders from the emperor. ' 
 
 61. Seneca replied, "that Natalis had in truth been 
 sent to him, and in the name of Piso complained, that he 
 was debarred from visiting him ; and that he had excused 
 himself on the score of illness and his love of retirement ; 
 but he had ho motive to declare, that he preferred the 
 safety of a private man to his own security ; nor was his 
 disposition prone to flattery; as no man better knew than 
 Nero who had experienced more frequent proofs of the 
 freedom than the servility of Seneca." When this an- 
 swer was by the tribune reported to Nero, in presence of 
 Poppaea and Tigellinus, who composed the cabinet coun- 
 cil, the raging tyrant asked, whether Seneca meditated a 
 voluntary death? the tribune averred, "that he had ma- 
 nifested no symptoms of fear ; and neither in his words or 
 looks did he detect any indication of regret." He was 
 therefore commanded to return, and tell him he was 
 doomed to die. Fabius Rusticus writes, " that the tribune 
 did not return by the road he went, but turning off went 
 to Fenius, captain of the guards, and stating to him the 
 emperor's orders, asked whether he should obey him ; and 
 was by him admonished to execute them :" thus display- 
 ing that want of spirit which by some fatality prevailed 
 universally ; for Silvanus too was one of the conspirators, 
 and yet was contributing to multiply the atrocities he had 
 conspired to avenge. He avoided however seeing and 
 speaking to Seneca ; but sent in a centurion to apprise 
 him of his final doom.
 
 374 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 62. Seneca undismayed, called for tables to make his 
 will ; and, as this was prohibited by the centurion, turn- 
 ing to his friends, he told them, " that since he was de- 
 barred from requiting their services, he bequeathed them 
 that which alone was now left him, but which yet was the 
 fairest legacy he had to leave them the example of his 
 life : and if they kept it in view, they would reap the fame 
 due to honourable acquirements and inviolable friendship." 
 At the same time he endeavoured to repress their tears 
 and restore their fortitude, now by soothing language, and 
 now in a more animated strain and in a tone of rebuke, 
 asking them, " where were the precepts of philosophy ? 
 where the rules of conduct under impending evils, studied 
 for so many years ? For who was unapprised of the fero- 
 cious disposition of Nero ? Nor could anything else be 
 expected after he had murdered his mother and brother, 
 than that he should proceed to destroy his nursing father 
 and preceptor." 
 
 63. After these and similar reasonings addressed to the 
 company in general, he embraced his wife ; and after a 
 brief but vigorous effort to get the better of the appre- 
 hensions that pressed upon him at that moment, he be- 
 sought and implored her " to refrain from surrendering 
 herself to endless grief; but endeavour to mitigate her re- 
 gret for her husband by means of those honourable con- 
 solations which she would experience in the contemplation 
 of his virtuous life." Paullina, on the contrary, urged 
 her purpose to die with him, and called for the hand of 
 the executioner. When Seneca, unwilling to impede her 
 glory, and also from affection, as he was anxious not to 
 leave one who was dear to him above every thing, exposed 
 to the hard usage of the world, thus addressed her : " I 
 had pointed out to you how to soften the ills of life ; but 
 you prefer the renown of dying : I will not envy you the 
 honour of the example. Though both display the same 
 unflinching fortitude in encountering death : still the glory 
 of your exit will be superior to mine." After this, both 
 had the veins of their arms opened with the same stroke : 
 as the blood flowed slowly from the aged body of Seneca, 
 attenuated as it was too by scanty sustenance, he had the 
 veins of his legs and hams also cut ; and unable to bear 
 up under the excessive torture, lest by his own sufferings 
 he should overpower the resolution of his wife, and by 
 witnessing her anguish be betrayed into impatience hinir 
 self, he advised her to retire into another chamber. His 
 eloquence continued to flow during the latest moments of 
 his existence, and summoning his secretaries, he dictated
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 375 
 
 many things, which as they have been published in his 
 own words, I forbear to exhibit in other language. 
 
 64. Nero bore no personal dislike to Paullina, and, to 
 avoid inflaming the public abhorrence of his cruelty, he 
 ordered her death to be prevented. At the instance of the 
 soldiers, her slaves and freedmen bound up her arms, and 
 stanched the blood ; but, whether with her own concur- 
 rence, is uncertain. For such is the proneness of the peo- 
 ple to put the worse construction upon things, that there 
 were some who believed, " that while she feared the wrath 
 of Nero was implacable, she aimed at the applause of 
 sharing her husband's fate; but when she had reason to 
 hope he would relent, she yielded to the attractions of 
 life ; to which she added but a few years, ever cherishing 
 a laudable recollection of her husband, while her face and 
 limbs exhibited such deadly paleness, that it was plain 
 the vital energy had been much exhausted. Seneca mean- 
 while, his blood continuing to flow but slowly, and death 
 advancing at a lingering pace, besought Statius Annseus, 
 long esteemed by him as a sincere friend and expert phy- 
 sician, to bring him a draught of the poison which he had 
 long kept in store ; the same which is used at Athens to 
 despatch those who by the state are adjudged to die; 
 when brought to him, he took it ; but in vain, his limbs 
 being now cold, and his body impervious to the power of 
 poison. At length he had recourse to a warm water bath, 
 whence he besprinkled the slaves nearest him, adding, 
 that "of this liquor he made a libation to Jupiter the De- 
 liverer." From thence, he was conveyed into a stove and 
 suffocated with the steam. His corpse was burnt without 
 any funeral solemnity ; for thus he had directed in his 
 will : even then when, in the plenitude of wealth and in- 
 fluence, he had an eye to his latter end. 
 "" 65. It was rumoured that Subrius Flavius, in a secret 
 consultation with the centurions, and even with the privity 
 of Seneca, had determined, that, as soon as Nero was 
 slain by the aid of Piso, Piso too should be despatched, 
 and the empire transferred to Seneca, as though he had 
 been chosen for the imperial eminence by men of blameless 
 lives, for the renown of his virtues." Nay, even the words 
 of Flavius were in every one's mouth, " that the disgrace 
 would continue as before, if a minstrel were deposed only 
 to be succeeded by a tragedian." For, as Nero was wont to 
 sing to the guitar, so was Piso in the dress of a tragedian. 
 
 66. But the share the soldiers took in the conspiracy 
 no longer remained a mystery : the indignation with which 
 the informers saw Fenius Rufus, who was an accomplice,
 
 37G THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 acting the part of an inquisitor, set them on fire to im- 
 peach him. Accordingly, when pressing his interrogations 
 upon the accused, and threatening them, Scaevinus,with a 
 sarcastic smile, told him, " that no one knew more about 
 the matter than himself;" and turning round upon him, 
 exhorted him " to prove his gratitude to so good a prince." 
 Fenius could neither speak in refutation of this, nor keep 
 silence ; but stammering out his words, and exhibiting 
 manifest signs of extreme alarm, while all the other con- 
 spirators, and particularly Cervarius Proculus, strained 
 every nerve to bring the charge home to him, the emperor 
 directed Cassius, a soldier who was ordered to attend 
 there on account of his remarkable bodily strength, to lay 
 hands on him and bind him in chains. 
 
 67. Soon afterwards, Subrius Flavius, the tribune, was 
 involved in destruction on the impeachment of the' same 
 men. At first he endeavoured to wrest to his defence 
 the diversity of his mode of life, and urged that he who 
 bore arms would never league himself with unarmed and 
 effeminate persons in accomplishing so daring a deed. 
 Then, being sorely beset, he thought the best thing he 
 could do would be to assume the glory of avowing his 
 guilt ; and on being asked by Nero, from what motive he 
 had gone the length of renouncing his oath of allegiance, 
 he said, " I hated you ; nor had you a soldier more true 
 to you while you deserved to be loved : I began to hate 
 you from the time you showed yourself the impious mur- 
 derer of your mother and your wife, a coachman, a stage- 
 player, an incendiary." I have given the very words, be- 
 cause they were not published, as in the case of Seneca; 
 and it was equally fitting that the unadorned but nervous 
 sentiments of a soldier should be known. It was well known 
 that nothing which occurred during that conspiracy fell 
 so painfully upon the ears of Nero; who as he was prompt 
 in the perpetration of villany, had likewise an antipathy 
 to hearing of his flagitious doings. The execution of Fla.- 
 vius was committed to the tribune Veianus Niger. He 
 directed a pit to be dug in the adjoining field; which Fla- 
 vius derided, "as too confined and shallow;" and address- 
 ing himself to the soldiers that stood around him, he said, 
 " even this is not done according to rule;" and being ad- 
 monished by the tribune to extend his neck boldly, " I 
 wish," he said, " you may strike as boldly." And sure 
 enough the tribune trembled excessively; and having 
 hardly severed his head from his body at two blows, made 
 a boast of his cruelty to Nero ; observing, that he finished 
 him with a blow and a half.
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 377 
 
 68. The next example of constancy was furnished by 
 Sulpicius Asper, the centurion ; who, in answer to a ques- 
 tion of Nero, why he had conspired to kill him, said, in 
 few words, " that was the only way of remedying his atro- 
 cities ;" and immediately underwent his prescribed doom. 
 Nor did the other centurions show a want of spirit in un- 
 dergoing the punishment of death ; but Fenius Rufus did 
 not exhibit equal firmness, but crowded his lamentations 
 into his will. Nero was anxiously expecting that Vesti- 
 nus the consul also would be involved in this charge ; as 
 he esteemed him a man of a violent spirit and virulently 
 disaffected. But the conspirators had not imparted their 
 counsels to Vestinus; some from long-standing animosi- 
 ties, but the greater part because they believed him to be 
 a headstrong and intractable person. But the antipathy 
 of Nero arose out of their intimate acquaintance, during 
 which Vestinus learned and scorned the cowardly spirit 
 of the prince, while the prince feared the independent 
 bearing of his friend, having been frequently made the 
 butt of his cutting raillery; which, when founded upon 
 truth in any considerable degree, long rankles in the me- 
 mory. Ah additional motive for resentment arose out of 
 a recent occurrence, for Vestinus had married Statilia 
 Messalina, not without knowing that Caesar also was one 
 of her gallants. 
 
 69. When therefore there appeared no accuser, and no 
 charge that could be brought against him, Nero, since he 
 could not assume the guise of a judge, resorted to the 
 violence of the tyrant, and despatched Gerelanus the tri- 
 bune, at the head of five hundred men, with orders " to 
 forestall the machinations of the consul ; to take posses- 
 sion of his citadel, and surprise his band of chosen youths:" 
 for, the house of Vestinus overlooked the Forum, and he 
 kept a number of beautiful slaves, of the same age. He 
 had that day discharged all the functions of consul; and 
 was celebrating a banquet totally void of fear, or perhaps 
 in order to hide his fears, when the soldiers entering, told 
 him the tribune wanted him : without a moment's delay he 
 rose from table, and every particular of the business was 
 at once carried into instant execution : he was shut up in 
 a chamber ; a physician was at hand ; his veins were 
 opened ; and, while yet full of life, he was conveyed into 
 a bath and immersed in hot water ; not a word betokening 
 regret escaped him. Meanwhile, those who supped with 
 him, were enclosed with a guard ; nor released till the 
 night was far spent, and till Nero, having pictured to him- 
 self and passed his jokes upon the terror of men expect-
 
 378 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 ing when they rose from the table to be put to death, sig- 
 nified that " they had paid dear enough for their consular 
 supper." 
 
 70. The next execution he ordered was that of Marcus 
 Annreus Lucanus. His blood gushing out, when he per- 
 ceived his feet and hands grow cold, and life retiring gra- 
 dually from the extremities; while his heart was still warm, 
 and he retained his senses ; calling to mind some verses of 
 his own, in which he had described a wounded soldier ex- 
 piring in a similar manner, he repeated the very verses ; 
 and they were the last words he uttered. After this, Se- 
 necio, and Quinctianus, and Scaevinus, died in a manner 
 at variance with their former dissolute course of life ; and 
 soon afterwards, the remaining conspirators were cut off, 
 but without saying or doing any thing worthy of record. 
 
 71. But at one and the same time the city was thronged 
 with funerals, and the Capitol with victims. One whose 
 son, another whose brother, a third whose kinsman or 
 friend had been put to death, returned thanks to the 
 gods, decked the house of Nero with laurel, fell at his 
 knees, and wearied his right hand with kisses. And the 
 emperor believing that the joy was undissembled, rewarded 
 Antonius Natalis and Cervarius Proculus with impunity, 
 for their despatch in impeaching the traitors. Milichus, 
 enriched with rewards, adopted the name of Saviour, em- 
 ploying a Greek term to denote it. Of the tribunes, Gra- 
 rias Silvanus, though absolved, fell by his own hand; Sta- 
 tius Proximus rendered useless the pardon he had re- 
 ceived from the emperor, by the foolish way in which he 
 met his death. Next, the following tribunes were bereft 
 of their commands : Pompeius, Cornelius Martialis, Fla- 
 vius Nepos, and Statius Domitius; not on the ground that 
 they bore any ill-will towards the emperor, but that they 
 nevertheless were supposed to do so. To Nonius Priscus, 
 by reason of the friendship of Seneca, to Clitius Gallus, 
 and Annius Pollio, rather calumniated than convicted, ba- 
 nishment was adjudged. Antonia Flaccilla accompanied 
 Priscus her husband, and Gallus was attended by his wife 
 Egnatia Maximilla, who originally possessed great and 
 unimpaired wealth, which was afterwards taken from her; 
 both which circumstances increased her renown. Rufus 
 Crispinus was also driven into banishment ; for which the 
 conspiracy furnished a pretence : but in reality from the 
 jealousy of Nero ; as he had been once the husband of 
 Poppaea. Virginius and Musonius Rufus owed their ba- 
 nishment to the splendour of their reputation. For Vir- 
 ginius kept the Roman youth warmly attached to him by
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 379 
 
 his eloquence ; Musonius by his lectures on philosophy. 
 Cluvidienus Quietus, Julius Agrippa, Blitius Catulinus, 
 Petronius Priscus, and Julius Altinus, in a host and batch, 
 as it were, were allowed the range of the islands of the 
 .^Egean sea. But Cadicia the wife of Scaevinus, and 
 Caesonius Maximus, were banished Italy ; only knowing 
 that they were accused, by the punishment inflicted. 
 Atilla, the mother of Annaeus Lucanus, was designedly 
 passed over, without pardon and without punishment. 
 
 72. This business being concluded, Nero addressed the 
 assembled soldiery, distributed among them a largess of 
 two thousand sesterces a-man; and further allowed them 
 to have corn gratuitously, whereas before they paid the 
 market price. Then, as if about to recount the trans- 
 actions of a war, he summoned the senate. Upon Petro- 
 nius Turpilianus, the consular, upon Cocceius Nerva, 
 praetor elect, and Tigellinus, captain of the praetorian 
 guards, he conferred the triumphal ornaments ; signalising 
 Tigellinus and Nerva in such a manner, that, besides their 
 triumphal statues erected in the Forum, he placed their 
 images in the palace also. He granted the consular de- 
 corations to Nymphidius : of whom, since his name now 
 first occurs, I shall recite a few particulars. For he too 
 will bear a part in the calamities of Rome. The 'son then 
 of a freedwbman who had prostituted her beautiful person 
 among the slaves and freedmen of the emperors, he 
 boasted that he was the offspring of Caius Caesar, as, by 
 some chance, he was tall in figure and of a stern counte- 
 nance ; or else it was that Caesar, who was partial to har- 
 lots as well as to others, amused himself with the mother 
 of this man also. 
 
 73. But Nero having assembled the fathers, addressed 
 a speech to them; and issuing an edict to the people, sub- 
 joined the evidence against the conspirators which had 
 been taken down in writing, and also their confessions ; 
 for he was vituperated unmercifully by the people, among 
 whom it was rifely reported " that he had wrought the 
 destruction of blameless men from motives of jealousy or 
 fear." But all who concerned themselves in ascertaining 
 the truth, doubted not, at the time, that a conspiracy had 
 been formed, matured, and suppressed, and the exiles who 
 returned to the city after the decease of Nero, admit it. 
 In the senate, when each of the members humbled himself 
 to acts of adulation, more and more abject in proportion 
 to his grief at what had happened, Saliemis Clemens made 
 a fierce attack upon Junius Gallic, who w'as terrified at 
 the death of his brother Seneca, and who earnestly prayed
 
 380 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XV. 
 
 that his own life might be spared. He called him " a pub- 
 lic "enemy and a parricide ;" but was deterred from pro- 
 ceeding by the general opinion of the senate, " that he 
 should not appear to pervert public grievances to the ob- 
 jects of private animosity, nor revive, as occasions for re- 
 newed severities, matters which had been set at rest and 
 obliterated by the clemency of the prince." 
 
 74. And now it was decreed that tf public thanksgivings 
 and oblations should be paid to the deities, and peculiar 
 honours to the sun ; the god who, possessing an ancient 
 chapel in the Circus, the place intended for the perpe- 
 tration of the deed, had brought to light the secrets of 
 the conspiracy : that the Circensian games, in honour of 
 Ceres, should be solemnised with an additional number 
 of chariot races ; that the month of April should bear 
 the name of Nero; and to the goddess Salus a temple 
 erected in the place whence Scaevinus had brought out 
 the dagger." The dagger Nero himself dedicated in the 
 Capitol, and inscribed it to Jupiter Vindex, a circumstance 
 which at that time did not attract particular notice. But, 
 after the revolt of Julius Vindex it was construed as an 
 omen and presage of future vengeance. In the journals 
 of the senate I find that Cerialis Anicius, consul elect, in- 
 stead of voting on the question, moved, " that a temple 
 should, with all possible speed, be erected, at the charge 
 of the state, to the deified Nero :" a motion by which he 
 meant to intimate that he had out-topped the pinnacle of 
 mortal greatness, and deserved the worship given to the 
 gods; but which was interpreted as an omen of his ap- 
 proaching decease, for divine worship is not paid to a 
 prince before he has ceased to sojourn among men.
 
 THE 
 ANNALS OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK XVI. 
 
 AFTER this, Nero was made the object of fortune's 
 sport, through his own credulity and the representations 
 of Cesellius Bassus, a Carthaginian by birth, and of a wild 
 and irregular cast of mind ; who perverted a vision of the 
 still night into a foundation for the most confident hopes : 
 making a voyage to Rome, he procured access to the 
 prince by money, and laid before him the intelligence that 
 " there had been discovered on his estate a cavern of im- 
 mense depth, containing a vast quantity of gold, not re- 
 duced to the form of coin, but in shapeless masses, as it 
 used to be in ancient times. In fact, ingots of surprising 
 weight were lying in one part, and in another were stand- 
 ing bars of the same metal : treasures which had lain con- 
 cealed for so long a period to augment the happiness of 
 the present times. For the rest, to show the probability 
 of the thing, he suggested that Dido the Phoenician, when 
 she fled from Tyre, and founded the city of Carthage, had 
 secreted those treasures, lest the newly-established people 
 should run riot from superabundance of wealth ; or the 
 kings of the Numidians, otherwise inimically disposed, 
 should be incited to make war upon her by a desire to 
 get possession of the gold." 
 
 2. In consequence of this, Nero, without sufficient evi- 
 dence of the veracity of the man, or the credibility of his 
 story, and without having sent persons to ascertain whe- 
 ther the facts were as reported, even heightened the po- 
 pular expectation himself, and despatched persons to con- 
 vey away the wealth as though it had been spoil already 
 acquired. Three-oared galleys and chosen mariners were 
 employed, to facilitate despatch ; nor during those days 
 did any other topic engage the credulity of the people or 
 the discussions of the wise. It happened also that the 
 quinquennial games were then celebrating, on closing the 
 second lustrum ; and the poets and orators drew their 
 principal materials from this source for praising the
 
 382 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 
 
 prince : for they said, that hot only were the customary 
 fruits produced, and gold mixed with other metals, but 
 the earth gave forth her treasures with unheard-of ex- 
 uberance, and the gods brought riches and laid them at 
 his feet ; with such other degrading flatteries as men of 
 the highest eloquence and the most abject servility could 
 invent, well assured of the credulous facility of the prince. 
 
 3. Meanwhile, his extravagance, encouraged by these 
 chimerical anticipations, grew still mdre excessive; and 
 his existing treasures were wasted under the idea that 
 fresh ones had fallen in which would supply his lavish ex- 
 penditure for many years. Nay, he even now made lar- 
 gesses from this source, and the expectation of riches was 
 one of the causes of the impoverishment of the state : for 
 Bassus having made excavations on his own estate, and 
 on the surrounding lands, to a wide extent, affirming now 
 this and then another place as the site of the promised 
 mine, and attended not only by the soldiers but a throng 
 of rustics engaged to do the work, at length came to his 
 senses, and, wondering that his dreams should never have 
 proved false before, and that this was the first time he 
 had been mocked by one, he escaped from the anguish of 
 shame and the dangers that threatened him, by a volun- 
 tary death. Some authors have stated that he was thrown 
 into chains, and soon after released, his goods being taken 
 from him in lieu of the royal treasure. 
 
 4. Meanwhile, as the quinquennial games were now 
 approaching, the senate, to avert the disgrace of the em- 
 peror's appearing, offered to him " the victory in song ;" 
 and added " the crown of eloquence," to veil the inde- 
 corum of his theatrical exhibition. But Nero insisting, 
 " that he needed not the favour and protection of the 
 senate, and declaring that he was a match for his com- 
 petitors, and would obtain the honours due to his talents 
 by the conscientious decision of the judges," first recited 
 a poem upon the stage; but afterwards, the people im- 
 portuning him "to give them the benefit of all his accom- 
 plishments," (their very words), he mounted the orchestra, 
 and complied with all the laws of the harp : not to sit 
 down from fatigue ; not to wipe off the perspiration with 
 any thing but the garment he wore ; and that no secre- 
 tions from the mouth or nostrils should be visible. Lastly, 
 going down upon his knee, and stretching out his hand in 
 a supplicatory form to the persons assembled there, he 
 awaited the voices of the judges with pretended agitation; 
 and the populace of the city, for their part, accustomed to 
 encourage the gesticulations of the stage-players, ap-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 383 
 
 plauded him from one end of the theatre to the other, in 
 measured time, and according to a set form of clapping : 
 you would have supposed that they were delighted, and 
 possibly they were, from insensibility to the public dis- 
 grace. 
 
 5. But those who had come from remote municipal 
 towns, and occupied that part of Italy where strictness of 
 manners and primitive simplicity were still preserved ; 
 those, too, who had come from the various distant pro- 
 vinces in the capacity of ambassadors, or on private busi- 
 ness, could neither endure this sight, nor were able to 
 perform the degrading task; for their inexperienced hands 
 soon tired, and they embarrassed those who understood 
 it; in consequence of which they were often struck by the 
 soldiers, who were stationed in different parts of the 
 benches, that not a moment of time should be misapplied 
 in discordant applause or sluggish silence. It is certain 
 that many knights were trampled to death in making their 
 way through the crowded avenues and the pressing multi- 
 tude ; and that others, from being on the seats for a day 
 and a night, without intermission, were seized with dan- 
 gerous disease ; for, in truth, they had more serious ap- 
 prehensions if they failed in attending the exhibition, 
 there being many employed openly, and more secretly, to 
 note the names and countenances, the alacrity or reluc- 
 tance of the company. The consequence was, that pu- 
 nishment was at once inflicted on the meaner sort, while 
 his resentment against persons of rank was stifled for the 
 present, and paid off afterwards : and it was said that 
 " Vespasian was severely rebuked by Phoebus, his freed- 
 man, for closing his eyes as if in sleep ; and having been 
 with difficulty shielded by the entreaties of men of influ- 
 ence, escaped the destruction that threatened him after- 
 wards by the fatality which reserved him for greater 
 things." 
 
 6. The diversions of the theatre were followed by the 
 death of Poppaea ; occasioned by a fit of passion in her 
 husband, who gave her a violent blow with his foot when 
 she was pregnant ; for I cannot believe he poisoned her ; 
 as some have stated, rather from spite than conviction; as 
 he desired to have children, and was devoted to his wife. 
 Her body was not consumed by fire, according to the rites 
 of the Romans ; but, after the manner of foreign monarchs, 
 embalmed by being filled with spices, and laid in the tomb 
 of the Julian family. Her obsequies, however, were pub- 
 licly celebrated, and from the rostrum the emperor mag- 
 nified " her beauty and her lot, in having been the mother
 
 384 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 
 
 of an infant enrolled amongst the gods," with many other 
 gifts of fortune, which he treated as so many virtues. 
 
 7. The death of Poppaea was mourned, in appearance, 
 but rejoiced at by those who recollected her character, on 
 account of her lewdness and cruelty; and, besides the re- 
 proach of this murder, Nero earned fresh detestation by 
 forbidding Caius Cassius to assist at her funeral ; the first 
 signal this of impending doom ; nor was it long postponed ; 
 and Silanus was involved in the same fate, without guilt 
 in either, except that Cassius was pre-eminent for he- 
 reditary opulence and sedate manners ; Silanus for the 
 splendour of his ancestry, and the modesty of his youth. 
 Nero therefore sent a letter to the senate, and argued for 
 " the necessity of removing both from any share in the 
 administration of the state;" to Cassius, objecting "that 
 amongst the images of his ancestors, he preserved with 
 veneration that of Caius Cassius, thus inscribed, ' The 
 leader of the party;' and that because he meditated a civil 
 war and defection from the house of the Caesars : and as 
 if it were not enough to employ the memory of a name 
 implacably hostile to it for purposes of rebellion, he had 
 attached to his cause Lucius Silanus, a young man of noble 
 family and impetuous spirit, as a fit example to point to 
 in drawing others into his revolutionary schemes." 
 
 8. He then assailed Silanus himself, with the same im- 
 putations as he had objected to his uncle Torquatus ; " that 
 he made arrangements for performing the various duties 
 of empire ; and appointed his freedmen treasurers, audi- 
 tors, and secretaries :" imputations false in fact and prin- 
 ciple, for Silanus was particularly on his guard in conse- 
 quence of his fears ; and had been frightened into pre- 
 cautionary measures by the destruction of his uncle. Nero 
 next prompted persons to assume the name of informers, 
 and falsely accuse Lepida the wife of Cassius, and aunt of 
 Silanus, " of incest with her nephew, and of practising 
 horrible magic rites." Vulcatius Tullinus and Marcellus 
 Cornelius, senators, and Calpurnius Fabatus a Roman 
 knight, were implicated as accomplices, who, by appealing 
 to Caesar, eluded immediate condemnation ; and after- 
 wards, Nero being occupied with atrocities of surpassing 
 magnitude, they escaped, as too insignificant to engage 
 his attention. 
 
 9. The senate then pronounced sentence of banishment 
 against Cassius and Silanus ; but referred the case of Le- 
 pida to Caesar. Cassius was deported into Sardinia, where 
 he was allowed to pass the few remaining years of his life. 
 Silanus was removed to Ostia, under colour of being con-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 385 
 
 veyed to Naxos, and afterwards confined in Barium, a city 
 of Apulia: while there, supporting himself from the re- 
 sources of wisdom, under a lot of extreme hardship, he was 
 laid hold of by a centurion sent to kill him, who advised him 
 to open his veins : but he answered, " that his mind was 
 made up to death, but he would not allow an assassin the 
 glory of inflicting it." The centurion on the other hand 
 perceiving that though unarmed he was a man of sur- 
 passing strength, and showed more of indignation than 
 fear, directed the soldiers to overpower him : nor did Si- 
 lanus fail to make vigorous resistance, and to deal blows 
 with as much effect as he could with naked hands, till he 
 fell, as though in battle, from wounds received from the 
 centurion in the front of his body. 
 
 10. Nor with less intrepidity did Lucius Vetus and his 
 mother-in-law Sextia, with Pollutia his daughter, meet 
 their death. The prince long hated these persons, who 
 while living seemed to reproach him with the murder of 
 Rubellius Plautus, son-in-law to Lucius Vetus: but an op- 
 portunity for giving scope to his savage purpose was ad- 
 ministered by a freedman of Vetus, named Fortunatus, 
 who having embezzled his patron's property, turned ac- 
 cuser: having united with him in the plot Claudius De- 
 mianus, who for his crimes in Asia was put in chains by 
 Vetus, proconsul there ; but was now released by Nero, 
 in recompense for this accusation. The accused, when 
 informed of this, and that his freedman and himself were 
 permitted to arraign each other on a footing of equality, 
 retired to his seat near Formiae; when a guard of soldiers 
 secretly beset him: with him was his daughter, who, in 
 addition to the danger that now loured, had been suf- 
 fering agonies of grief ever since she beheld the assas- 
 sins sent to butcher Plautus her husband ; and, as she 
 had clasped his gory neck, she preserved the garments 
 stained by his blood ; a widow, devoted to unrelent- 
 ing grief, and declining all nutriment, beyond what was 
 necessary to keep her alive. Upon this occasion, at 
 the instance of her father, she travelled to Naples ; and, 
 since she was denied access to Nero, she besieged his 
 gates, and besought him " to hear an innocent man, and 
 not sacrifice his former colleague in the consulship to his 
 freedman ;" sometimes imploring him in the piercing tones 
 of woman's grief, sometimes overstepping the modesty of 
 her sex and assailing him in accents of bitter reproach ; 
 till the emperor convinced her that he was alike impreg- 
 nable to supplication and remonstrance. 
 
 11. Hence she informed her father, " that he must ba- 
 
 c c
 
 ,'JS6 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XIV. 
 
 nish all hope, and meet his fate in the best way he could." 
 Tidings at the same time arrived, " that the senate was 
 hastening his trial, and proceeding to a sentence of ex- 
 treme severity." There were some who persuaded him to 
 bequeath to Nero the bulk of his fortune, as the best ex- 
 pedient "to secure to his grandchildren the remainder;" 
 but spurning this proposal, lest he should cast a stain 
 upon a life spent in a manner verging upon ancient liberty 
 by closing it with an act of servility, he distributed amongst 
 his domestics all his ready money, with orders, "to appro- 
 priate to themselves everything portable; and that three 
 couches only should be reserved for the funeral rites." 
 They then opened their veins in the same chamber, with 
 the same knife ; and each being covered with one gar- 
 ment only, and that from regard to modesty, they were 
 without delay conveyed into baths ; the father's eyes fixed 
 upon his daughter, the grandmother's upon her grand- 
 daughter, and hers upon both : each praying with rival 
 earnestness for a quick and easy passage of the soul, and 
 to leave the others still alive, though soon to follow. 
 And 'fate observed the order of nature ; for life was first 
 extinguished in the elder, and then in her who was yet in 
 its early stage. They were arraigned after their burial ; 
 and it was decreed that " they should be punished accord- 
 ing to ancient precedent." Nero interposed ; granting 
 them uncontrolled option of death : such were the mock- 
 eries that were superadded after the murders were con- 
 summated. 
 
 \2. Publius Gallus, a Roman knight who had been in- 
 timate with Fenius Rufus, and not unacquainted with Ve- 
 tus, was, therefore, prohibited fire and water. To the 
 freedman and accuser, in recompense of the service, a 
 place in the theatre was assigned amongst the tribunes' 
 runners. And as the name April was changed into that 
 of Nero, so was May into that of Claudius, and June into 
 that of Germanicus : Cornelius Orfitus, on whose motion 
 these alterations were made, declared, "that he had pro- 
 posed superseding the name of June because two of the 
 Junii Torquati, executed for treason, had rendered that 
 name inauspicious." 
 
 13. This year, stained with so many acts of tyranny and 
 blood, was by the gods also branded with storms and pes- 
 tilences : by a whirlwind the country of Campania was 
 ravaged, villages were overturned, plantations torn up, 
 the fruits of the earth scattered : its violence extended as 
 far as the neighbourhood of the city of Rome, in which a 
 terrible pestilence was sweeping away every living thing
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 387 
 
 without any discernible derangement of the atmosphere; 
 though the houses were filled with dead and the streets with 
 funerals: neither sex nor age was exempt from danger: 
 bondmen and free were snatched offindiscriminately, amidst 
 the wailings of wives and children; who, whilst they were 
 yet attending and lamenting them, were themselves seized, 
 and frequently burnt on the same funeral pile ; knights 
 and senators, though they were carried off' in common 
 with the inferior orders, were yet less lamented in their 
 deaths ; from the consideration that by falling in a mor- 
 tality which spared none, they did but prevent the 
 cruelty of the prince. The same year levies were made 
 through Narbon Gaul, Africa, .and Asia, for recruiting 
 the legions in Illyricum, from whicli all who were debili- 
 tated by years or sickness were discharged. To the in- 
 habitants of Lyons, to solace them for their late calamity 
 by fire, the emperor presented four thousand great ses- 
 terces, to repair the damages of their city ; a sum which 
 they had formerly presented to Rome, during a time of 
 distraction and calamity. 
 
 14. In the consulship of Caius Suetonius and Lucius Te- 
 lesinus, Antistius Sosianus, who was punished, as I have 
 related, with exile, for defamatory verses composed upon 
 Nero, becoming apprised of the honours paid to inform- 
 ers, and of the emperor's propensity to acts of blood, and 
 being withal a man of a restless spirit, and prompt in laying 
 hold of opportunities, formed a friendship, based on the 
 similitude of their lot, with Pammenes, an exile of the 
 same place, celebrated for his skill in the arts of the Chal- 
 dasans, and on that account connected in friendship with 
 many. Concluding that it was not for nothing that so 
 many messengers went to him, and so many consultations 
 were had with him, he learnt also that, from Publius 
 Anteius a yearly stipend was allowed him : nor was it un- 
 known to Sosianus that Anteius was regarded with jea- 
 lousy by Nero for the attachment of Agrippina to him : 
 that his opulence was eminently calculated to stimulate 
 the rapacity of the prince, and that to this cause multi- 
 tudes owed their destruction. Having therefore inter- 
 cepted letters from Anteius, and even stolen the papers 
 containing the calculation of his nativity, and the future 
 events of his life, which were secretly kept in the custody 
 of Pammenes : and having also found out the scheme of 
 the birth and fortune of Ostorius Scapula, he wrote to the 
 emperor, " tiiat if he could obtain a short intermission of 
 banishment, he would bring him intelligence of mighty 
 import, and materially affecting his safety; for Anteius 
 
 c c 2
 
 388 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 
 
 and Ostorius were meditating attempts upon the state, 
 and diving into their own and Caesar's destiny." Imme- 
 diately light galleys were despatched, and Sosianus con- 
 veyed with expedition to Rome ; where, when his disclo- 
 sures were known, Anteius and Ostorius were considered 
 rather in the. light of men already condemned, than de- 
 fendants in a prosecution: insomuch that no one would 
 witness the execution of Anteius's will, till Tigellinus au- 
 thorised it. Anteius was previously warned not to ob- 
 struct the validity of his will, when he took poison ; but 
 impatient at the slowness of its operation, accelerated 
 his death by opening his veins. 
 
 15. Ostorius was then at an estate of his in a remote quar- 
 ter of Italy, on the borders of Liguria ; thither a centurion 
 was sent with orders to despatch him. The motive for 
 such precipitation was founded on the following considera- 
 tions : Ostorius was a man of high military renown ; had 
 earned a civic crown in Britain; possessed prodigious 
 bodily strength, and extraordinary experience in war: 
 Nero, therefore, who was always timorous, and whose 
 fears were excited to the utmost by the recently detected 
 conspiracy, was apprehensive of an attack from him. The 
 centurion accordingly, having beset every way of escape 
 from the villa, acquainted Ostorius with his orders from 
 the emperor : Ostorius turned against himself the bravery 
 so often displayed against the foe ; and seeing that from 
 his veins, though completely severed, there flowed but 
 little blood, availed himself of the assistance of a slave 
 so far as to make him hold out a poniard firmly ; he then 
 pressed his right hand towards him, and at the same time 
 bounding forward, received the weapon in his throat. 
 
 16. Even if I were describing foreign wars, and deaths 
 encountered in defence of the commonwealth, still if they 
 were attended with so unvarying an uniformity of circum- 
 stances, I should be surfeited with the task myself, and 
 should expect to tire the patience of others, who would 
 turn away from the long and melancholy catalogue of 
 deaths, however honourably incurred by their country- 
 men. But in the case before, us, the mind is fatigued and 
 oppressed with sorrow at the contemplation of passive ser- 
 vility, and such a torrent of blood poured forth in time of 
 peace. The only indulgence I would crave of my readers 
 is that they will pardon me for deigning to mention the 
 fate of men who yielded up their lives so tamely. It was 
 the wrath of heaven against the Roman state ; the effects 
 of which it is impossible to describe at once, and then 
 leave the subject, as in the case of armies overthrown, or
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 389 
 
 cities captured. Let it be granted as a boon to the pos- 
 terity of those illustrious men, that as in respect of burial 
 they are distinguished from the common herd by their 
 funeral obsequies, so likewise in the narrative of their 
 deaths they may receive and retain a distinct and separate 
 place in the records of history. 
 
 17. For within a few days Annaeus Mela, Cerialis Ani- 
 cius, Rufius Crispinus, and Gaius Petronius, were put 
 to deatli in one troop. Mela and Crispinus were Roman 
 knights, ranking with senators : the latter had been once 
 captain of the praetorian guards, and presented with con- 
 sular ornaments, but lately banished, as an accomplice in 
 the conspiracy, into Sardinia; where, upon notice that he 
 was doomed to die, he slew himself. Mela, who was own 
 brother to Gallic and Seneca, had forborne suing for the 
 great offices of state, from a wayward ambition, that a 
 Roman knight might be equal in influence with men of 
 consular dignity: he also thought that to act as procu- 
 rator to the prince, in the ministration of his revenues, 
 was a shorter way to wealth. He was also the father of 
 Lucan ; a vast accession to his fame : but after the fate of 
 his son, while rigorously looking up his effects, he raised 
 an accuser, in the person of Fabius Romanus, one of Lu- 
 can's intimate friends. He feigned, " that the father and 
 son were equally cognisant of the conspiracy," counter- 
 feiting letters to this purport in the hand of Lucan ; 
 on their perusal, Nero, who was ravenous for his wealth, 
 ordered them to be carried to the accused. Mela opened 
 his veins ; a mode of death adopted at that time with the 
 utmost alacrity, after having made a hasty will, in which 
 he bequeathed to Tigellinus and his son-in-law CossutSa- 
 nus Capito, an immense sum of money, to secure the re- 
 mainder. It is added that, complaining in his will of the 
 injustice of his doom, he wrote, " that he died guiltless of 
 every crime deserving death; and yet Rufius Crispinus 
 and Anicius Cerialis, bitter enemies of the prince, were 
 suffered to live." But this was believed to be a fiction, 
 to justify the execution of Crispinus, already slain, and of 
 Cerialis, who was marked out for death : nor indeed was 
 it long ere he became his own executioner, but with less 
 commiseration than the rest ; because it was remembered 
 that he had disclosed a conspiracy to Caligula. 
 
 1 8. Concerning Caius Petronius some few particulars must 
 be recapitulated. He passed his day in sleep, the night 
 in visits and diversions : as others by industry, so Petro- 
 nius was raised into notice by indolence. Nor was he 
 considered a debauchee and prodigal, like most of those
 
 g60 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 
 
 who exhaust their substance, but he was curious and re- 
 fined in his luxury ; and the more of laxity and a certain 
 recklessness his words and actions exhibited, the better 
 they were received, as wearing the appearance of undis- 
 guised nature. However as proconsul of Bithynia, and 
 afterwards as consul, he showed himself possessed of vi- 
 gour, and equal to the transaction of affairs : but forth- 
 with relapsing into vices, or the affectation of vices, he 
 was enrolled among the few intimate companions of Nero, 
 who looked up to him as a decisive authority in matters of 
 taste, esteeming nothing elegant or delicately luxurious 
 which had not been commended to him on the judgment 
 of Petronius. Hence the hate of Tigellinus, who regarded 
 him as his rival; and in the science of pleasures his supe- 
 rior. He had therefore recourse to the cruelty of the 
 prince, a passion to which all his other depraved appe- 
 tites gave place, laying to the charge of Petronius an inti- 
 macy with Scaevinus ; having seduced one of his slaves to 
 accuse his master, precluded him from all defence, and 
 haled away to prison most of his domestics. 
 
 19. Nero happened at that time to be upon the road to 
 Campania, and Petronius having accompanied him as far 
 as Cuma, was there apprehended. He determined not to 
 linger in suspense between hope and fear ; and yet did not 
 force out life by one violent effort ; but ordering his veins 
 to be opened, had them bound again ; then opened them 
 afresh as inclination prompted ; addressing his friends, but 
 not in serious mood, or with the view of gaining the praise 
 of fortitude ; and listened to them while they recited, not 
 anything relating to the soul's immortality, or the opinions 
 of philosophers, but elegant poems and smooth verses. 
 Some of his slaves he rewarded with presents ; others he 
 whipped : he also feasted, and took a nap, so that his 
 death, though compulsory, had all the appearance of 
 being natural. Neither in his will did he flatter Nero or 
 Tigellinus, or any other of those in power, as most of 
 those did who perished in this way, but wrote a detailed 
 account of the horrid practices of the prince, specifying 
 his pathicks and harlots, and all his monstrous debauche- 
 ries, and sealing it sent it to Nero ; he then broke the sig- 
 net, that it might not be employed thereafter to fabricate 
 evidence affecting the safety of any one. 
 
 20. While Nero was perplexed with doubts as to the 
 means by which the nature of his nocturnal doings was 
 divulged, his suspicion alighted on Silia, who was not un- 
 known, by reason of her marriage with a senator, had 
 been made privy to all his debaucheries, and was particu-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 391 
 
 larly intimate with Petronius. Accordingly, as having 
 blabbed what she had seen and undergone, she was driven 
 into banishment : a sacrifice this to his own personal hate. 
 To the animosity of Tigellinus he surrendered Numicius 
 Thermus, who had been praetor; because a freedman of 
 Thermus had thrown out some criminal imputations upon 
 Tigellinus, which the freedman himself expiated by the 
 torture of the rack, and his guiltless patron by death. 
 
 21. After shedding the blood of so many men of emi- 
 nence, Nero at length conceived a burning passion to ex- 
 tirpate virtue herself, by putting to death Thrasea Paetus 
 and Bareas Soranus; both of whom had incurred his 
 fierce displeasure long ago : but Thrasea had furnished 
 him with additional motives to hostility, by going out of 
 the senate when the question relative to Agrippina was 
 put, as I have recorded ; by not giving the aid and coun- 
 tenance he ought at the Juvenalian sports ; and this offence 
 produced a deeper impression because the same Thrasea 
 had performed in the habit of a tragedian at the games of 
 the Cestus, instituted by Antenor the Trojan, at Pata- 
 vium, his native place; also on the day Antistius the prae- 
 tor was being condemned to die for lampooning Nero, he 
 proposed a mitigated sentence, and carried it; and having 
 purposely absented himself on the occasion of decreeing 
 divine honours to Poppaea, he was not present at her fu- 
 neral. These impressions Capito Cossutianus would not 
 suffer to be effaced ; for besides that he had a mind im- 
 petuously prone to flagitious acts, he was exasperated 
 against Thrasea because he had been convicted in conse- 
 quence of the powerful aid he rendered the deputies of 
 Cilicia in their prosecution of him for peculation. 
 
 22. In addition to these he further laid to his charge 
 that " he had avoided the established practice of renew- 
 ing the oath at the beginning of the year : that he had 
 absented himself from the ceremony of making vows for 
 the preservation of the prince, though he was invested 
 with the Quindecimviral priesthood : he had never made 
 oblations for the safety of the prince, nor for his heavenly 
 voice; that he who had formerly been so assiduous and 
 indefatigable, who was wont to put himself forward as a 
 promoter or opponent of every trivial motion, had not en- 
 tered the senate for three years ; and that in a very recent 
 instance, when the fathers assembled with such eagerness 
 to repress Silanus and Vetus, he preferred attending to 
 the affairs of his clients. That this conduct amounted to 
 revolt and sedition ; and if there were many who dared 
 to do the same, there would be a civil war. As formerly,
 
 392 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 
 
 in the case of Caius Caesar and Marcus Cato, so now, said 
 he, this city, ever longing for dissension, resounds with the 
 names of you, Nero, and Thrasea ; and he has his follow- 
 ers, or rather body-guards, who have not as yet attained 
 to his forwardness of language, but ape his modes and 
 mien, austere and sour in their deportment, in order to 
 upbraid you for licentiousness. This is the only man who 
 neglects to give honour to the gods in regard of your 
 safety and your accomplishments. Grant that he is con- 
 temptuously indifferent about the prosperity of the prince : 
 yet is not his malice satiated by his griefs and distresses ? 
 It was in the same spirit that he believed not in the deifi- 
 cation of Poppaea, and omitted to swear to observe the 
 acts of the deified Augustus and the deified Julius. He 
 despises the rites of religion, and sets at naught the laws. 
 The journals of the Koman people are read throughout 
 the provinces and armies with more intense interest, in 
 order to learn what Thrasea has not done. Either let 
 us adopt those principles of his, if they are preferable, or 
 let the champion and adviser of a revolutionary party be 
 removed. It was the same odious set that gave birth to 
 the Tuberos and Favonii, names unpalatable even to the 
 ancient republic. Under the mask of liberty, they aim 
 at the subversion of government; and should they succeed, 
 they will then attack liberty herself. In vain have you ba- 
 nished Cassius, if you shall suffer the imitators of the Bruti 
 to gather numbers and strength. Lastly, write nothing 
 yourself to the senate about Thrasea, let the senate adju- 
 dicate upon his case, and leave the senate to our manage- 
 ment." Nero encouraging Cossutianus in his designs, 
 gave additional impulse to a mind already eager for action 
 from the promptings of resentment; and appointed Mar- 
 cellus Eprius, a man of keen eloquence, to assist him in 
 the business. 
 
 23. The task of accusing Bareas Soranus was already 
 claimed by Ostorius Sabinus a Roman knight, after the 
 return of Bareas from the proconsular government of 
 Asia, in which his justice and energy aggravated the 
 offence he had given to the prince ; as well as that he had 
 exerted himself in opening the port of Ephesus, and left 
 unpunished the efforts of the citizens of Pergamus in pre- 
 venting Acratus, a freedman of Caesar's, from removing 
 their statues and pictures. But the ostensible subject 
 of the charge was, " his friendship with Plautus, and si- 
 nister practices with the view of inducing the province to 
 revolt." The juncture chosen for their condemnation was 
 the arrival of Tiridates to receive the crown of Armenia;
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 393 
 
 in order that while the people were gossiping about foreign 
 matters, a domestic atrocity might pass unnoticed ; or else 
 it was to make a display of the greatness of the imperial 
 power, by the execution of illustrious men, under the idea 
 that it was a regal feat. 
 
 24.: Accordingly, when the city emptied itself to receive 
 the emperor, and to gaze on a foreign king, Thrasea had 
 orders not to appear; his spirit, however, sank not, but 
 he composed a memorial to Nero, requiring to know "the 
 allegations against him ; and averring that he would clear 
 himself, were he apprised of the charges, and had an op- 
 portunity of refutation." Nero received the memorial 
 with eagerness, hoping that Thrasea, under the influence 
 of terror, had written what might magnify the glory of the 
 prince, and tarnish his own fair fame ; but finding himself 
 disappointed, he played the coward himself, and dreading 
 the countenance, the high bearing, and independent spirit 
 of a guiltless man, he ordered the senate to be sum- 
 moned. 
 
 25. Thrasea then consulted with his nearest friends, 
 whether he should attempt a defence or treat the charge 
 with disdain. They were divided in the advice they gave : 
 those who counselled him to enter the senate, said " they 
 had no apprehension of his quailing ; they were sure no- 
 thing would escape him but what would increase his 
 glory. It belonged to the timorous and spiritless to fling 
 a veil of privacy over their last moments ; the people 
 should be allowed to look upon the spectacle of a man 
 going forth to meet death ; the senate should hear his 
 words, transcending human energy, and seeming as though 
 they issued from the lips of some divinity. The very mi- 
 racle of the thing might work relentings even in Nero; but 
 if he should stand firm in his cruelty, yet doubtless an 
 honourable death would be remembered by posterity far 
 more reverentially than the timorous conduct of those who 
 perished in silence. 
 
 26. Those on the contrary who were for his waiting 
 the issue at home, concurred in the merit ascribed to 
 Thrasea ; but observe'd, " that mockeries and insults 
 awaited him ; it were better not to have his ears assailed 
 with invectives and reproaches. Not only were Cossutia- 
 nus and Eprius forward in villany ; there were others be- 
 side, who perhaps would assault him with their hands and 
 weapons, to gratify the brutality of Nero ; while even the 
 good would be constrained by fear to follow their ex- 
 ample. Rather should he spare the senate, of which he 
 had ever been an ornament, the infamy of such an out-
 
 394 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 
 
 rage; and leave unproved what would have been the de- 
 cree of the fathers on seeing Thrasea before them ar- 
 raigned as a criminal. Any scheme with the object of 
 touching the heart of Nero with shame for his atrocities, 
 must prove abortive; much more ground was there for 
 fearing lest he should vent his fury upon his wife, his 
 family, and all his other pledges of affection. For these 
 reasons therefore, having never swerved from his integ- 
 rity, or brought a stain upon his honour, he should be 
 content to die with the renown enjoyed by those in whose 
 footsteps he had trodden, and whose pursuits he had 
 emulated in his life." Rusticus Arulenus, a young man 
 of fiery spirit, was present at this consultation, and from 
 an ardent passion for fame, offered to interpose his veto 
 to the decree of senate; for he was tribune of the people. 
 Thrasea restrained his impetuosity, and cautioned him 
 against an opposition " useless and unavailing to the ac- 
 cused, and fatal to its author : as for himself, he had passed 
 the best of his days; and must not now abandon the post 
 which he had kept through life. Arulenus had but just 
 entered upon the career of office, and had not committed 
 himself as to his future proceedings. Deeply and cau- 
 tiously should he weigh beforehand what path he would 
 pursue in the discharge of public duties at a time like the 
 present." However he reserved it as matter for his own 
 private consideration, whether he ought to appear in the 
 senate. 
 
 27. But lo, on the next day two prastorian cohorts un- 
 der arms, environed the temple of Venus Genetrix ; a 
 number of men in plain clothes, but openly armed with 
 swords, had beset the entrance of the senate; and through- 
 out the great squares, and several temples, were posted 
 bands of soldiers : and through the midst of this terrific 
 and menacing array, the senators passed to their assembly; 
 where an address from the prince was read by his quaestor. 
 Without accusing any individual by name, he charged the 
 fathers generally with " abandoning their public func- 
 tions, and setting an example which had led the Roman 
 knights into sloth and inaction. And what ground was 
 there for wonder that there was no attendance from re- 
 mote provinces, when most of them having obtained the 
 consulate and priesthoods, preferred devoting their ta- 
 lents to the embellishment of their gardens?" This fur- 
 nished a. weapon as it were for the accusers, which they 
 clutched with avidity. 
 
 28. Cossutianus taking the lead, Marcellus followed 
 with increased vehemence, exclaiming, "that the very ex-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 395 
 
 istence of the commonwealth was jeoparded ; that the 
 clemency of the sovereign was checked by the contumacy 
 of subordinates. That hitherto the fathers had carried 
 their forbearance to excess, in allowing such persons to 
 escape punishment, as Thrasea, who had renounced his 
 allegiance: his son-in-law Helvidius Priscus, who was 
 possessed with the same mania ; together with Paconius 
 Agrippinus, who inherited his father's detestation of 
 princes : and Curtius Montanus, the author of verses of 
 an odious description. That he should make it matter 1 of 
 charge that he missed a man of consular rank in the se- 
 nate; who was also a priest, but absented himself from the 
 ceremony of making vows : who was a citizen, but declined 
 the annual oath ; were it not that trampling upon all the 
 civil and sacred institutions of our ancestors, Thrasea had 
 avowedly put on the character of a traitor and enemy. 
 To make short of the matter, accustomed as he has been 
 to act the part of a senator, and screen the calumniators 
 of the prince, let him come and give his opinion as to 
 what reforms and changes he would have : more endurable 
 would it be to hear him vituperating particular measures, 
 than to have him condemning the whole system by sullen 
 silence. Was it peace throughout the round world, or 
 victories achieved by our armies without loss, that excited 
 his displeasure? A man who mourned over the public 
 prosperity ; who would have the courts, the theatres, the 
 temples deserted, and threatened to banish himself from 
 his country, they should never allow to accomplish the ob- 
 jects of his unprincipled ambition. These their decrees, 
 their magistrates, and the city of Rome itself, were to 
 him as though they were not. He ought to sever by death 
 his connection with a state, all affection for which he had 
 long renounced, and whose very sight he now loathed." 
 
 29, While these and similar remarks flashed from the 
 lips of Marcellus, with corresponding tones of voice, ex- 
 pression of countenance and looks, for he was naturally 
 stern and menacing, the senate no longer felt that sadness 
 which they had so often experienced, and which had be- 
 come familiar to them from the frequency of perils ; but a 
 sensation of unwonted and deeper dread came over them, 
 seeing as they did before them the hands and weapons of 
 the soldiery ; at the same time the venerable form of Thra- 
 sea presented itself to their imagination : there were some 
 too who were touched with compassion for Helvidius, 
 who was about to suffer through a connection which in- 
 volved no guilt. And, thought they, what charge could
 
 396 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 
 
 be brought against Agrippinus, save the unhappy fate of 
 his father? for he too, equally innocent as his son, had 
 fallen a victim to the ferocity of Tiberius. But as for 
 Montanus, who was a moral young man, and whose poems 
 were not of a scurrilous character, he was driven from his 
 country simply because he had put forth a specimen of 
 his talent." 
 
 30. But in the meantime Ostorius Sabinus, the accuser 
 of Soranus, entered the senate, and proceeded to charge 
 him with " his friendship for Rubellius Plautus ; with 
 having administered his proconsulate of Asia with a view 
 to popularity, and with consulting his own private objects 
 rather, than the public benefit^ encouraging disaffection 
 in the various communities." These were old affairs ; but 
 a charge of recent date involved the daughter in the fa- 
 ther's peril : it was, " that she had distributed sums of 
 money among the magi." Such was the fact, it must be 
 admitted ; but it arose from the filial piety of Servilia, for 
 that was her name, who out of affection for her parent, 
 and with the simplicity natural to so young a creature, had 
 merely consulted them " on the safety of the family : whe- 
 ther Nero would be disposed to mercy, and whether the in- 
 vestigation before the senate would issue in anything of a 
 formidable nature." Accordingly she was summoned be- 
 fore the senate, and the two parties were stationed on op- 
 posite sides before the judgment seat of the consuls; the 
 father, far advanced in years: the daughter, not yet twenty, 
 widowed, and desolate; her husband, Pollio, having been 
 recently banished. And so oppressed was she with the 
 thought of having added to her father's dangers, that she 
 could not even look towards him. 
 
 31. The accuser then questioned her, "whether she had 
 not sold her bridal ornaments, and even the chain off her 
 neck, to raise money for the performance of magic rites?" 
 At first she fell prostrate upon the floor, and continued for a 
 long time bathed in tears and speechless; afterwards, em- 
 bracing the altar and its appendages, she said, " I have 
 prayed to no malignant deities: I have used no spells: nor 
 did I seek aught by my unhappy prayers than that you, Cae- 
 sar, and you, fathers, would preserve this best of fathers 
 unharmed. With this view I gave up my jewels, my rai- 
 ment, and the ornaments belonging to my station ; as I 
 would have given up my blood and life, had they required 
 them. To those men, till then unknown to me, it belongs 
 to declare whose ministers they are, and what mysteries 
 they use ; the prince's name was never uttered by me ex-
 
 THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 397 
 
 cept among the gods. Yet to all this proceeding of mine, 
 whatever it were, my most unhappy father is a stranger ; 
 and if it is a crime, I alone am the delinquent." 
 
 32. Soranus, while she was yet speaking, caught up her 
 words, and cried with earnestness, '* that his daughter 
 went not with him to the province ; such was her tender 
 age she could not have been acquainted with Plautus. She 
 was not implicated in the charges against her husband ; he 
 implored them, that as her only crime was too much piety, 
 they would separate her case from his; but as for himself, 
 he would submit to whatever fate awaited him." At the 
 same time he sprang forward to embrace his daughter, 
 who flew to meet him ; but the consular lictors stepped 
 between and prevented them. The witnesses were then 
 heard ; and the indignation excited by the appearance of 
 Publius Egnatius as a witness, equalled the sympathy 
 kindled by the barbarity of the accusation. Egnatius was a 
 client of Soranus, but now bribed to crush his friend. He 
 professed to be a follower of the Stoic sect, and in his 
 exterior and language had learned to exhibit the sem- 
 blance of virtue, but in his heart was perfidious and crafty, 
 hiding beneath his superficial virtues the vices of avarice 
 and lust. And when his latent depravity was drawn out 
 by the power .of money, he afforded a warning that as we 
 guard against men who are wrapt in villany and contami- 
 nated with notorious vices, so must we guard against those 
 who wear a fair but false appearance of virtuous pursuits, 
 and are capable of betraying friendship. 
 
 33. The same day however furnished a bright example 
 of virtue in the person of Cassius Asclepiodotus, a man 
 conspicuous among the Bithynians for the extent of his 
 wealth, who continued to treat Soranus in the decline with 
 the same respect he had constantly shown him in the me- 
 ridian of his fortune: the consequence was, that he was 
 stripped of all his property, and driven into exile : thus 
 exemplifying the indifference of the gods towards patterns 
 of virtue and of vice. Thrasea, Soranus, and Servilia 
 were indulged with the choice of their mode of death : 
 Helvidius and Paconius were banished from Italy: Mon- 
 tanus, for the sake of his father, was pardoned, with a pro- 
 viso, " that he should never be admitted to any office in 
 the state." To Eprius and Cossutianus was decreed a 
 reward of five thousand great sesterces; to Ostorius twelve 
 hundred great sesterces, with the ornaments of the quae- 
 storship. 
 
 34. The quaestor of the consul was then, on the approach 
 of evening, despatched to Thrasea, who was in his garden.
 
 39$ THE ANNALS OF TACITUS. XVI. 
 
 He was surrounded by numerous parties of illustrious men 
 and women ; but was chiefly attentive to Demetrius, a pro- 
 fessor of the Cynic school. With this philosopher, as far 
 as could be conjectured by the intenseness of his looks, 
 and by certain words, which when they happened to raise 
 their voices were over-heard, he was reasoning and in- 
 quiring about the nature of the soul, and its disjunction 
 from the body, when he was interrupted by the arrival of 
 Domitius Cecilianus, one of his most intimate friends, who 
 informed him of what the senate had decreed. When upon 
 these sad tidings the whole company melted into passion- 
 ate lamentations and tears, Thrasea pressed them " to 
 hasten away, and not involve themselves in danger be- 
 cause he was condemned to die." And as Arria his wife 
 essayed to emulate the example of her mother, and to 
 share his fate with her husband, he besought her " to 
 preserve her life, nor deprive their common daughter of 
 her only remaining refuge." 
 
 35. He then went forth into a portico, and there the 
 quaestor found him, in a frame of mind approaching to 
 exultation, as he had learned that his son-in-law Helvidius 
 was only banished from Italy. Then having received the 
 decree of the senate, he took Helvidius and Demetrius 
 into his chamber, and stretching out both his arms, when 
 the blood began to flow he called the quaestor to him, and 
 sprinkling it upon the floor, he said, " let us make a liba- 
 tion to Jove the Deliverer. Behold, young man, and may 
 the gods avert the omen, but you are fallen upon such 
 times that it may be useful to fortify your mind by ex- 
 amples of unflinching firmness." Afterwards suffering 
 violent torture from the slow approach of death, turning 
 to Demetrius * * * *
 
 THE 
 HISTORY OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 MY narrative commences with the second consulship of 
 Servius Galba, in which Titus Vinius was his colleague. 
 For of the antecedent period of eight hundred and twenty 
 years from the foundation of Rome, the history has heen 
 composed by various authors ; who, as long as they had 
 before them the transactions of the Roman people, wrote 
 with as much eloquence as freedom. After the battle 
 of Actium, when, to close the scene of civil distraction, 
 all power was centred in a single ruler, those noble 
 examples of the historic character quitted the field. 
 Truth was then violated in various ways ; first from 
 indifference and ignorance of public affairs, the admi- 
 nistration of which had now passed into other hands : 
 soon after, from an extravagant propensity to flattery, or 
 on the other hand from detestation of those who held the 
 sovereign power. Between both parties, one cringing, the 
 other burning with resentment, the care of posterity was 
 lost sight of. There is however this difference : men are 
 naturally disgusted with the time-serving historian ; while 
 spleen and calumny are received with a greedy ear : for 
 flattery labours under the odious charge of servility, while 
 malignity wears the imposing appearance of independence. 
 Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, were neither known to me by 
 favours nor injuries. I will not deny that my own elevation, 
 begun by Vespasian, was advanced by Titus, and carried to 
 a still greater extent by Domitian : but the historian who 
 enters on his office with a profession of inviolable integrity, 
 must not allow himself to be influenced by affection or 
 antipathy in delineating any character. The history of 
 the sovereignty of the deified Nerva and the reign of 
 Trajan, eminently rich as they are in materials, and free from 
 danger, I have reserved for the evening of my days, if my 
 life continues times when men were blessed with the
 
 400 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 rare privilege of thinking with freedom and uttering what 
 they thought. 
 
 2. The period now before me is fertile in vicissitudes, 
 pregnant with sanguinary encounters, embroiled with in- 
 testine dissensions, and even in the intervals of peace, 
 deformed with horrors: four princes put to death; three 
 civil wars; with foreign enemies more; and, in some con- 
 junctures, both at-once ; prosperity in the East, disasters 
 in the West; Illyricum convulsed; both the Gauls on the 
 eve of revolt; Britain conquered, and, in the moment of 
 conquest, lost again ; the Sarmatians and the Suevians 
 rising up at once against us ; the Dacians renowned for 
 defeats given and sustained ; and even the Parthians well 
 nigh induced to take up arms by the trick of a pretended 
 Nero. Italy afflicted moreover with calamities, unheard 
 of, or occurring again after a long series of ages ; cities 
 overwhelmed or swallowed up by earthquakes in the fer- 
 tile country of Campania; Rome laid waste by fire; her 
 most ancient temples destroyed ; the Capitol itself wrapt 
 in flames by the hands of citizens ; the ceremonies of re- 
 ligion violated ; enormous adulteries ; the sea crowded with 
 exiles ; rocks stained with blood of murdered citizens ; 
 Rome itself a theatre of still greater horrors; there no- 
 bility and wealth, dignities borne and declined, were alike 
 treated as crimes: there virtue was a source of certain 
 ruin ; the guilty acts of informers, and their wages were 
 alike detestable; for some of them having obtained priest- 
 hoods and consulates which they regarded as spoils ; others, 
 imperial procuratorships, and posts of greater influence 
 with the prince, they carried rapine and plunder in every 
 direction, impelled by personal hate, and armed with ter- 
 ror. Slaves were practised upon against their masters; 
 freedmen betrayed their patrons ; and he, who had no 
 enemy, died by the treachery of friends. 
 
 3. And yet this period, barren as it was of virtue, 
 produced some honourable examples. Mothers went with 
 their sons into voluntary exile ; wives followed their hus- 
 bands in banishment ; relations stood boldly forth in the 
 cause of their kindred ; sons-in-law shrunk not ; slaves, 
 even on the rack, scorned to renounce their fidelity; emi- 
 nent citizens, doomed to die, bore their lot with fortitude, 
 and their deaths were nothing inferior to those of the ap- 
 plauded characters of antiquity. In addition to the mis- 
 fortunes incident to humanity, the earth and skies teemed 
 with prodigies, terrific warnings by thunder and lightning, 
 and prognostics, auspicious or disastrous, ambiguous or 
 plain. Indeed never was it established by more terrible
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 401 
 
 calamities on the Roman people, or by more decisive 
 indications that the gods are not concerned about the 
 protection of the innocent, but the punishment of the 
 guilty. 
 
 4. Before however I proceed in the execution of my plan, 
 it will be proper I think to inquire what was the state of 
 affairs at Rome, what the feeling in her armies; how the 
 provinces stood affected, wherein consisted the strength 
 or weakness of the empire, that we may not only have a 
 recital of events and the issues of things which are often 
 ascribable to chance, but may learn the plans pursued and 
 the causes of events. As the death of Nero, in the first 
 burst of joy was hailed with exultation, so the senate, 
 the people of Rome, the praetorian guards, and the legions, 
 wherever stationed, were variously affected by that event. 
 A secret of empire was then let out, namely, that else- 
 where than at Rome an emperor might be created. The 
 fathers were highly pleased, as they were at once restored 
 to their legislative independence, which they exercised 
 freely considering that the prince was new to his office 
 and absent. The principal Roman knights were next to 
 them the most gratified. Honest men among the people, 
 such as were connected with families of credit ; and the 
 clients and freedmen of condemned and exiled men were 
 animated with hope. The inferior populace, who loitered 
 in the theatre and circus ; the slaves of abandoned 
 character, and those who having wasted their substance 
 were supported by the vices of Nero, were plunged in 
 grief, and eager to learn the floating rumour. 
 
 5. The praetorian guards, by habit and the obligation 
 of their oath, had been always devoted to the imperial 
 family. Their revolt from Nero was not so much their 
 own inclination as the management of their leaders. They 
 saw the promise of a donative in the name of Galba still 
 unperformed. They reflected that peace affords no 
 opportunity to gain the recompense due to valour ; and 
 that the favours of the new prince would be engrossed by 
 the legions to whom he owed his elevation ; strongly 
 inclined of themselves to bring about a change, they were 
 further instigated by the arts of Nymphiclius Sabinus, 
 their commanding officer, who aimed at the sovereignty. 
 The conspiracy was crushed in the bud, and Nymphidius 
 perished in the attempt. But the soldiers had thrown off 
 the mask, and the sense of guilt remained. They even 
 talked of Galba with contempt, and inveighed against his 
 advanced age and avarice: the rigorous discipline by 
 which he had acquired his military character, inflamed the 
 
 Dd
 
 402 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 prejudices of men, who hail been trained to such habits 
 during a long peace of fourteen years, by Nero, that they 
 now loved the vices of the princes as much as formerly 
 they venerated their virtues. To this cause was added an 
 expression of Galba, commendable for its constitutional 
 character, but dangerous to himself. He said, he chose 
 his soldiers, but did not buy them. But his other proceed- 
 ings were not framed according to this model. 
 
 6. Galba, being now in the decline of life, resigned 
 himself altogether to Titus Vinius and Cornelius Laco ; 
 the former the most profligate of men, and the latter de- 
 spised for his sluggish inactivity. By those pernicious 
 ministers he -was involved in the popular hatred due to 
 their own flagitious deeds. The wickedness of Vinius, 
 and the incapacity of Laco, proved his ruin in the end. 
 He made his approach to Rome by slow journeys, marking 
 his way with blood. Cingonius Varro, consul elect, and 
 Petronius Turpilianus, of consular rank, were put to 
 death ; the former as an accomplice in the enterprise of 
 Nymphidius, and the latter because he had been ap- 
 pointed general under Nero. They were condemned un- 
 heard and undefended; and, for that reason, thought the 
 innocent victims of a barbarous policy. Galba's entry 
 into the city of Rome, after the massacre of several thou- 
 sands of unarmed soldiers, formed a disastrous omen of 
 things to come; and. even the men who executed the 
 orders of their general had reason to fear the conse- 
 quences. Rome was filled with a strange and unusual 
 body of troops. Besides the forces drawn from the fleet, 
 and left as a garrison by Nero, Galba, when he entered 
 the city, brought with him a legion from Spain. To these 
 must be added the several companies from Germany, from 
 Britain, and Illyricum, which had been sent forward to- 
 wards the Caspian straits to serve in the war then intended 
 against the Albanians, and, in a short time afterwards, re- 
 called to crush the attempts of Vindex : a vast mass of 
 materials for the effectuation of political changes ; as they 
 were not devotedly attached to any one leader, so were 
 they ready for the purposes of any who had the courage 
 to lead them on. 
 
 7. It happened at this conjuncture, that an account 
 arrived of the murders of Clodius Macer in Africa, and 
 Fonteius Capito in Germany. Macer, beyond all doubt, 
 was engaged in schemes of ambition, and, in the midst of 
 his projects, was cut off by Trebonius Garutianus, the 
 procurator of the province, who had received his orders 
 from Galba. Capito was put to death by Cornelius
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 403 
 
 Aquinus and Fabius Valens, for similar attempts. Some 
 thought that Capito, however branded with avarice, ra- 
 pacity, and other vices, had not added to his crimes the 
 guilt of rebellion ; but that the authors of his destruction, 
 having first endeavoured to draw him into their own de- 
 signs, combined to execute on an innocent victim the ven- 
 geance due to their own iniquity. Galba, with his usual 
 facility, or, perhaps, wishing to avoid the danger of an 
 inquiry into what could not be recalled, thought it prudent 
 to give his sanction to the acts of his officers, however un- 
 just and cruel. Both executions were, notwithstanding, 
 the subject of public censure : the usual fate of princes 
 who have once incurred displeasure; their 'actions, whe- 
 ther good or evil, serve to increase the public hate. The 
 emperor's freedmen, domineering without controul, now 
 brought everything into the market. The slaves were 
 eager to seize the booty suddenly presented to them, and, 
 fearing the uncertainty of an old man's life, hastened to en- 
 rich themselves. The new court exhibited all the vices of 
 Nero's reign, without the same apology. The very age of 
 Galba was a subject of ridicule and loathing with men who 
 were accustomed to the youth of Nero ; and who, according 
 to the custom. of the populace, formed their estimate of their 
 emperors according to their figure and personal graces. 
 
 8. Such was the state of feeling at Rome, as in a city 
 where so vast a multitude was congregated. Of the pro- 
 vinces, Spain was governed by Cluvius Rufus, a man dis- 
 tinguished by his eloquence, and experienced in the arts of 
 peace, but not of war. In both the Gauls the name of 
 Vindex was still held in veneration; and the people, 
 pleased with their recent admission to the freedom of 
 Rome, and the diminution of their tribute, showed no 
 symptoms of disaffection. However, the inhabitants of 
 the cities contiguous to the German armies saw, with dis- 
 content, that they were not thought worthy of the like 
 honour; and some of them, whose territories were en- 
 croached upon, grieved at the good extended to others 
 as much as if it were an injury done to themselves. In 
 Germany the soldiers, flushed with pride by their late 
 victory, yet dreading the imputation of having espoused 
 another party, were by turns inflamed with rage and over- 
 whelmed with fear. From such a number of soldiers, 
 who had the power of the sword in their own hands, the 
 greatest danger was to be apprehended. They had been 
 slow to detach themselves from Nero ; nor did Verginius 
 declare immediately for Galba : whether from his own 
 ambitious projects, cannot now be known. The soldiers,
 
 404 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 it is agreed, made him a tender of the imperial dignity. 
 The death of Fonteius Capito was another cause of dis- 
 content ; such as could not deny its justice, exclaimed 
 against it with indignation. Galba, under a show of 
 friendship, had recalled Verginius from his post: the 
 legions had therefore now no leader. That he was not 
 sent back, and was even arraigned, they regarded as an 
 imputation upon themselves. 
 
 9. The legions on the Upper Rhine were ill retained 
 in their duty by Hordeonius Flaccus, an officer far ad- 
 vanced in years, disabled in his limbs, without vigour of 
 mind or authority. Unequal to the command even in 
 quiet times, his feeble endeavours to enforce obedience 
 served only to irritate the minds of men disposed to mu- 
 tiny. On the lower Rhine, the army had been for some 
 time without a general of consular rank, till Aulus Vitel- 
 lius, son of the person of that name who had been censor 
 and three times consul, was sent by Galba to take upon 
 him the command. This satisfied the soldiery. In Britain 
 every thing was quiet. It must be admitted that, during 
 the civil wars that followed, no legion conducted them- 
 selves more correctly, whether it was that, situated at 
 a distance, and divided by the ocean from the rest of the 
 world, they did not catch the phrensy of the times, or 
 that they knew no enemies but those of their country, 
 and were not taught by civil discord to hate one another. 
 Illyricum remained in a state of tranquillity, though the 
 legions drawn by Nero from that country found the 
 means, while they loitered in Italy, of tampering with 
 Verginius. But the armies, separated by a long interval, 
 the best expedient to preserve the allegiance of the mili- 
 tary, could neither communicate their vices nor combine 
 their forces. 
 
 10. The East was hitherto free from commotion. Li- 
 cinius Mucianus governed the province of Syria with four 
 legions. He was distinguished equally for his good and 
 evil fortune. In his youth, the favour of the great was 
 the object of his ambition, and in that pursuit he wasted 
 his fortune. His circumstances growing desperate, and 
 suspecting the displeasure of Claudius, he retired into 
 Asia, and there lived in obscurity, as little removed from 
 the condition of an exile, as he was afterwards from that 
 of a sovereign. He united in his character a mixture of 
 repugnant qualities : he was affable and arrogant ; ad- 
 dicted to pleasure, and a man of business. When at lei- 
 sure from affairs, he gave a loose to his luxurious pas- 
 sions ; when on an expedition, he displayed qualities of a
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 405 
 
 high order. In his public capacities you might praise 
 him, but as a private man he was in bad odour. With 
 those who were under him, and with his friends and col- 
 leagues, his varied accomplishments gave him a command- 
 ing influence; but he was fitter to raise others to the 
 imperial dignity, than to obtain it for himself. The 
 war against the Jews had been committed by Nero 
 to Flavius Vespasian, at the head of three legions. He 
 had entertained no design, nor wish, against the interest 
 of Galba. He sent his son Titus to Rome, as will be seen 
 hereafter, with congratulations to Galba, and assurances 
 of fidelity. That the sovereign power was marked out by 
 the secret counsels of heaven, and by portents and re- 
 sponses for Vespasian and his two sons, we began to believe 
 after his accession. 
 
 11. Egypt, and the forces appointed to keep it in awe, 
 were, according to the system of Augustus, confided to 
 Roman knights, with the powers of kings. Difficult of 
 access, and at the same time prolific in corn ; with a 
 people, who, from superstition and insolence, were dis- 
 cordant and prone to change ; unacquainted with laws, 
 and unhabituated to the civil authority, it was the policy 
 of Augustus to retain the administration of this country in 
 his own hands. In the present juncture, Tiberius Alex- 
 ander, a native of the country, was intrusted with the 
 government of the province. Africa, and the legions 
 quartered there, were, since the murder of Clodius Macer, 
 willing to submit to any prince, after having experienced 
 the government of an inferior master. The two Maurita- 
 nias, Rhsetia, Noricum, and Thrace, with the places com- 
 mitted to the care of imperial procurators, according to 
 their proximity to each army, caught the spirit of anti- 
 pathy or favour from a superior force. The ungarrisoned 
 provinces, and Italy in particular, were open to the first 
 invader, the ready prey of any conqueror. Such was the 
 situation of the Roman world, when Servius Galba, in his 
 second consulship, and Titus Vinius, his colleague, began 
 their year; to them their last, to the commonwealth all 
 but the year of its destruction. 
 
 12. A few days after the calends of January, letters ar- 
 rived at Rome from Pompeius Propinquus, the procurator 
 of Belgic Gaul, with intelligence that the legions in Upper 
 Germany, disregarding the obligation of their oath, de- 
 manded another emperor, leaving the choice to the judg- 
 ment of the senate and the Roman people, that the se- 
 dition might be viewed the more leniently. This intelli- 
 gence induced Galba to hasten the adoption of a sue-
 
 406 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 cessor ; a point which he had for some time revolved in 
 his mind, and often discussed with his secret advisers. 
 During the few months of his reign, no subject had so 
 much engrossed the public conversation ; at first from 
 mere garrulity and passion for talking about such things, 
 afterwards from consideration of the advanced age of the 
 emperor. Few were able to think with judgment, and 
 fewer had the virtue to feel for the public good. Private 
 views and party connections suggested various candidates. 
 Different factions were formed, and all intrigued, caballed, 
 and clamoured, as their hopes or fears directed ; and even 
 spite to Titus Vinius, as he grew in power every day, and 
 was for that very cause proportionately hated by the people. 
 In truth, the very facility of Galba stimulated the cupidity 
 of his friends, who were eagerly seeking advantages from 
 his elevation, since, weak and credulous as he was, they 
 had the less to fear and more to gain from their rapacity. 
 
 13. The whole sovereign power was in the hands of 
 Titus Vinius, the consul, and Cornelius Laco, the praefect 
 of the praetorian guards. Nor was the influence of Icelus 
 inferior to either of the former. He was one of the em- 
 peror's freedmen, lately created a Roman knight, and 
 honoured with the equestrian name of Martianus. The 
 three ministers were soon at variance. In all inferior 
 transactions they drew different ways ; but in the choice 
 of a successor they were divided into two factions. Vinius 
 declared for Marcus Otho : Laco and Icelus joined in op- 
 position to that measure, not so much to favour a friend of 
 their own, as to thwart Otho. Galba was not to learn the 
 connection between Vinius and Otho. The busy gossips 
 settled it that they were to become related as father 
 and son-in-law ; for Vinius had a daughter a widow, and 
 Otho was unmarried. I think also, that Galba was ac- 
 tuated by concern for the state, and that he saw that the 
 sovereign power was wrested out of the hands of Nero in 
 vain, if transferred to a man like Otho : a stranger, from 
 his earliest days, to every fair pursuit, and in the pride of 
 manhood distinguished by nothing but riot and de- 
 bauchery. His emulation in luxury recommended him to 
 the notice of Nero; and, in consequence of his being 
 privy to his lusts, he became the depository of his princi- 
 pal mistress Poppasa, till Octavia was put away. But 
 Otho's fidelity in respect of this same Poppaea soon be- 
 came suspected, and he was sent to Lusitania, under pre- 
 text of governing that province. Otho, having gained 
 popularity in the administration of his province, was the 
 Hrst to espouse the interest of Galba. While the war lasted
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 407 
 
 he continued an active partisan, shining conspicuously 
 among those who figured in it. Hence his hopes of the 
 imperial adoption, which he cherished with daily increas- 
 ing ardour ; most of the soldiers favouring his views, and 
 the creatures of Nero's court zealously supporting him, as 
 a congenial character. 
 
 14. Galba saw, with deep anxiety, a storm gathering in 
 Germany, and where it would burst he could not foresee. 
 Of Vitellius and his designs no certain account arrived. 
 The revolt of the legions filled him with apprehensions, 
 and he reposed no confidence in the praetorian guards. 
 The nomination of a successor seemed, in such a crisis, to be 
 the best expedient ; and for that purpose he held a cabinet 
 council. Besides Vinius and Laco, he thought proper to 
 summon Marius Celsus, consul elect, and Ducennius Ge- 
 minus, the prasfect of the city. Haying prefaced the 
 business by a short speech concerning his age and in- 
 firmities, he sent for Piso Licinianus ; whether of his own 
 free choice, or at the instigation of Laco, remains uncer- 
 tain. That minister had contracted an intimacy with him 
 at the house of Rubellius Plautus, though he now craftily 
 recommended him as though a stranger. To this conduct 
 the fair esteem in which Piso was held gave an appearance 
 of sincerity. Piso was the son of Marcus Crassus and Scri- 
 bonia, both of illustrious descent. His aspect and de- 
 portment savoured of primitive manners. By the candid 
 and impartial he was called strict and severe ; by ma- 
 lignant judges, morose and sullen. That part of his cha- 
 racter which excited suspicion in the anxious minds of 
 others, recommended him to his future parent. 
 
 15. Galba, we are told, taking Piso by the hand, ad- 
 dressed him in the following manner : " If the adoption 
 which I am now to make, were, like the act of a private 
 citizen, to be acknowledged as the law Curiata directs, in the 
 presence of pontiffs, I should derive the highest honour to 
 myself from an alliance with a person descended from the 
 great Pompey and Marcus Crassus: and, in return, you 
 would add to the nobility of your own family the lustre of 
 the Sulpician and Lutatian names. Called by the consent of 
 gods and men to the sovereignty, I am now induced by 
 your rare accomplishments, and the love I feel for my 
 country, to present to you, without any effort on your part, 
 that imperial dignity, for which our ancestors led armies 
 to the field, and which I myself obtained in battle. For 
 this proceeding I have the example of Augustus, who 
 placed in the next degree of elevation to himself, first his 
 sister's son Marcellus, and then Agrippa his son-in-law,
 
 4-08 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 his grandsons afterwards, and, finally, Tiberius, the son of 
 his wife. Augustus, indeed, looked for an heir in his own 
 family ; I in the bosom of the commonwealth. If, upon 
 such an occasion, I could listen to private affection, I have 
 a numerous train of relations, and I have companions in 
 arms. But it was not from motives of ambition that I ac- 
 cepted the sovereignty of the state: I brought with me to 
 the seat of government an upright intention ; and that I 
 now act on the same principle may be fairly seen, when, 
 in my present choice, I postpone not only my own re- 
 lations, but even yours. You have a brother, in point 
 of nobility your equal ; by priority of birth your supe- 
 rior; and, if your merit did not supersede him, a man 
 worthy of the highest elevation. You are now at the time 
 of life at which the passions subside. Your former con- 
 duct requires no apology. Fortune has hitherto frowned 
 upon you : you must now beware of her smiles. Prosperity 
 tries the human heart with more powerful temptations. 
 We struggle with adversity, but success undermines our 
 principles. You will carry with you to the highest station, 
 and endeavour to retain unshaken, good faith, independent 
 spirit, constancy in friendship ; the prime virtues of the 
 human character : but others will seek to weaken them by 
 fawning complaisance; adulation will break in upon you; 
 flattery, the bane of all true affection, and self-interest, 
 will lay snares to seduce you. To-day you and I con- 
 verse with perfect candour and singleness of purpose: 
 how will others deal with us? Their respect will be paid 
 to our fortunes, not to ourselves. To guide a prince by 
 honest counsels, is a laborious task: to humour the in- 
 clinations of any prince whatsoever, is a work which may 
 be accomplished without the zealous affection of the 
 heart. 
 
 16. "If the mighty fabric of this empire could subsist 
 and balance itself without a ruler, the glory of restoring 
 the old republic should be mine. But such has long been 
 the state of things, and we cannot alter it, that, at my age, 
 all that remains for me is to bequeath to the people an 
 able successor : while your youth can give them nothing 
 better than a virtuous prince. Under Tiberius, Caligula, 
 and Claudius, we were all, as it were, the heir-loom of one 
 family : that we begin to be elected will have the effect of 
 a return to liberty. The Julian and the Claudian race are 
 both extinct, and eminent virtue will now succeed by adop- 
 tion. To be born the son of a prince is the result of chance ; 
 mankind consider it in no higher light. In adoption, an un- 
 biassed and deliberate judgment is exercised, and the public
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 409 
 
 voice will serve as a guide in the choice. Let Nero be ever 
 before your eyes : proud of his long line of ancestors, and 
 warm with the blood of the Caesars, it was not Vindex, 
 at the head of a province naked and disarmed, nor my- 
 self, with only one legion : his own excesses, his own 
 cruelty, hurled him from the necks of mankind. Of a 
 prince condemned by a public sentence there was till 
 then no example. As to myself, raised as I was by the 
 events of war, and called to the sovereignty by the delibe- 
 rate voice of the people, envy and malice will pursue me, 
 however immaculate I may be. But after the storm that 
 lately shook the empire, if two legions still waver in their 
 duty, your courage must not be disconcerted. My reign 
 did not begin in a state of undisturbed peace. Old age, 
 at present, is the objection urged against me ; but when it 
 is known whom I have adopted, I shall appear young in 
 my successor. Nero will ever be regretted by the vile and 
 profligate : that good men may not regret him, it will be 
 ours to provide. More than I have said the time will not 
 admit : if I have made a proper choice, I have achieved 
 all I designed. In distinguishing good from evil, the most 
 effectual and compendious course, is to consider what you 
 would approve or repudiate were you a subject and an- 
 other the sovereign. It is not at Rome as in despotic 
 governments, where one particular family are lords, and 
 the rest groan in bondage. You are to reign over men 
 who can neither endure absolute slavery, nor unqualified 
 liberty." To this effect Galba delivered himself, as 
 though he was creating a prince ; and the rest conversed 
 with Piso as with a Prince regularly constituted. 
 
 17. Piso, we are told, neither at the first moment, nor 
 afterwards, when all eyes were fixed upon him, betrayed 
 any symptom of immoderate joy or discomposure. He ad- 
 dressed the emperor, now his father, in terms of profound 
 respect, and spoke of himself with reserve and modesty. 
 His mien and countenance remained unaltered, as though 
 he possessed the power, rather than desired it. The next 
 consideration was, whether the adoption should be an- 
 nounced in the forum, the senate, or the camp. The 
 latter was preferred : the army would feel the compliment ; 
 whose affections, though it were base to purchase them 
 by bribery and intrigue, were to be sought by fair and 
 honourable means. Meanwhile, the anxious populace 
 surrounded the palace, impatient for the important news ; 
 while those who sought to stifle the ill-suppressed rumour 
 increased its vehemence. 
 
 18. On the fourth of the ides of January the rain fell
 
 410 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 in torrents, while thunder and lightning, and all the terrors 
 of heaven, produced a scene of confusion and alarm seldom 
 witnessed. From ancient times this phenomenon was suffi- 
 cient to dissolve all public assemblies: but Galba was not to 
 be deterred from his purpose. He proceeded to the camp, 
 regardless of prodigies, which he considered as the effect 
 of natural causes ; or, it might be, that what was fixed by 
 fate, though foreshown, could not be avoided. A vast 
 conflux of soldiers assembled in the camp. Galba ad- 
 dressed them in a short speech, such as becomes the im- 
 perial dignity. He told them that, in conformity to the 
 example of Augustus, and the practice of the army, where 
 each soldier chooses his companion in arms, he had adopted 
 Piso for his son. Fearing that his silence on the subject 
 of the German revolt might tend to magnify the danger, 
 he added, that the fourth and eighteenth legions were, by 
 the artifice of a few factious leaders, incited to disorder ; 
 but their transgression went no further than words and 
 expressions, and they would soon return to their alle- 
 giance. He added no flattery, nor hopes of a donative. The 
 tribunes, notwithstanding, with the centurions and soldiers 
 who stood nearest to him, made an acceptable response. 
 Through the rest of the lines a deep and sullen silence 
 prevailed. They saw that, in war, they were deprived of 
 those gratuities which had been always granted in time of 
 peace, and were become their indefeasible right. The 
 emperor, beyond all doubt, had it in his power to secure 
 the affections of the soldiers. From a parsimonious old 
 man the smallest mark of liberality would have made an 
 impression. His primitive inflexibility and excessive 
 strictness hurt his cause : we cannot now bear the exercise 
 of these virtues. 
 
 19. Galba then addressed the senate in a speech, like 
 that to the soldiers, brief and unadorned. Piso delivered 
 himself with grace and eloquence. The fathers heard 
 him with attention ; many with the warmth of unfeigned 
 affection; others, who in their hearts opposed his inter- 
 est, with moderate zeal ; while the greatest number made 
 a tender of their services, with private views, and regard- 
 less of their country. In the time that followed between 
 his adoption and his death (an interval of four days) Piso 
 neither said nor did anything in public. As messengers 
 upon the heels of one another now came posting to Rome, 
 with tidings of the revolt in Germany, and as in the city men 
 were athirst for news, and swallowed the worst with avidity, 
 the fathers resolved to treat by their deputies with the Ger- 
 man legions. In a secret council it was discussed whether
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 411 
 
 Piso should go with the embassy, to give a more imposing 
 effect, that the army might have before their eyes the au- 
 thority of the senate in the ambassadors, and the majesty 
 of the empire in Piso. It was further thought advisable that 
 Laco, the praefect of the praetorian guards, should accompa- 
 ny the deputation; but he opposed the measure. Nor was 
 the choice of the ambassadors easily arranged. The whole 
 was left to Galba's judgment, and he executed it with 
 shameful indecision. Men were appointed, excused, or 
 substituted ; as fear or ambition prompted them to make 
 interest for the service, or for permission to remain at 
 home. 
 
 20. The means of raising money came next under con- 
 sideration. Various expedients were proposed, but none 
 appeared so just, as that of making reprisals on such as by 
 their rapacity had impoverished the commonwealth. Nero 
 had lavished in donations two millions of great sesterces. 
 The men who had enriched themselves by this profusion 
 were allowed to retain a tenth part of the plunder, and 
 were sued for the rest. But scarcely the tenth part was left 
 unexpended. Prodigal no less of the public money than 
 of their own, they had squandered all in riot and de- 
 bauchery. The most rapacious and profligate had neither 
 lands nor money. The wreck of their fortunes consisted 
 only of the instruments of vice. To enforce the resumption 
 of thegrants, a court of thirty Roman knights was appointed; 
 a tribunal, odious on account of its novelty, and troublesome 
 from the number that composed it, and the intrigue that 
 prevailed. Nothing was to be seen but sales and brokers; 
 the whole city was in a ferment with public auctions. How- 
 ever, it was matter of infinite joy that those on whom Nero 
 had bestowed his bounties were as poor as those whom he 
 had robbed. About the same time several tribunes were 
 discharged from the service : Antonius Taurus and An- 
 tonius Naso, both of the praetorian guards; yEmilius Pa- 
 censis, from the city cohorts, and Julius Fronto, from the 
 night-watch. But this, so far from being a remedy, served 
 only to alarm and irritate the rest of the officers. They 
 concluded that all were suspected, and that from timidity 
 and cunning they were being expelled one by one. 
 
 #1. Otho, in the mean time, felt every motive that could 
 inflame ambition. In quiet times he had nothing before 
 him but despair; trouble and confusion were his only 
 source of hope. His luxury was too great for the revenue 
 of a prince, and his poverty unendurable in one below a 
 sovereign. He hated Galba, and envied Piso. To these 
 he added pretended fears, to give a colour to his inordi-
 
 412 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 nate ambition. He said, " he had been an offence to 
 Nero ; he must not now wait for a second Lusitania, nor 
 another honourable banishment, under pretence of friend- 
 ship. The man whom the public voice has named for 
 the succession, was sure to be suspected by the reigning 
 prince. It was that jealousy that ruined his interest with 
 a superannuated emperor; and would act with greater 
 force on the mind of a young man, naturally truculent, and 
 in his long exile grown fierce and savage. Otho might be 
 doomed to destruction. This was therefore the time for 
 action and a bold stroke while the authority of Galba was 
 waning, and that of Piso not yet established. The convul- 
 sions of states, and the change of masters, afford the true 
 season for courage and vigorous enterprise: when inac- 
 tivity is ruin, and temerity may be crowned with success, 
 hesitation is folly. To die is the common lot of humanity. 
 In the grave, the only distinction is between oblivion and 
 renown. And if the same end awaits the guilty and the 
 innocent, the man of spirit will earn his death." 
 
 22. The mind of Otho was not, like his body, soft and 
 effeminate. His slaves and freedmen lived in a course of 
 luxury unknown to private families. Aware of his at- 
 tachment to such pleasures, they painted to him in lively 
 colours the joys of Nero's court; adultery without con- 
 trol, the choice of wives and concubines, and all the other 
 excesses of despotic courts. These, if he dared nobly, 
 they represented to him as his own ; if he remained inac- 
 tive, as the prize of others. The astrologers also inflamed 
 his ardour: they announced gi'eat commotions, and to Otho 
 a year of glory. This is a description of men dangerous 
 to princes, and a fallacious reliance to their aspiring sub- 
 jects ; a description of men who will always be proscribed, 
 but always harboured in our city. It was with this vile 
 crew of fortune-tellers that Poppaea held secret consul- 
 tations when she aspired to the imperial bed. One of 
 these, a man named Ptolemy, accompanied Otho into 
 Spain. He had there foretold that Otho would survive 
 Nero ; and the event giving credit to his art, he took upon 
 him to promise greater things. Galba was on the verge 
 of life, and Otho in his vigour. From the current of po- 
 pular rumour grounded thereon, and his own calculations 
 of probability, he persuaded Otho that he was destined 
 to the imperial dignity. These bodings were welcome to 
 the ear of Otho: he considered them as the effect of 
 science, and believed the whole, with that natural credu- 
 lity, which receives the marvellous for reality. Ptolemy 
 followed up his work : he now inspired the plan of trea-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 413 
 
 son, and Otho embraced it with avidity. The heart that 
 has formed such a wish, has no scruple about the means. 
 
 23. Whether this bold conspiracy was then first ima- 
 gined, or prepared and settled long before, cannot now 
 be known. It is, however, certain that Otho had been in 
 the habit of courting the affections of the army, either with 
 a view to the succession, or, with a design to some bold step. 
 On their march, in the lines, at their quarters, he made it 
 his business to converse freely with all ; he accosted the ve- 
 terans by name, and, reminding them of their joint service 
 under Nero, called them his brother-soldiers; he renewed 
 his acquaintance with some ; he inquired after others, and 
 with his interest and his purse was ready to be tUeir 
 friend. Mingling complaints, and, with malignant insinua- 
 tion glancing at Galba, he omitted nothing that could fill 
 the vulgar mind with discontent. Fatiguing marches, pro- 
 visions ill supplied, and rigorous discipline, were now re- 
 garded as the more oppressive, because having known the 
 times when they visited the lakes of Campania, and sailed 
 to the cities of Achaia, now, the Alps, the Pyrenees, and 
 long tracts of country, were to be marched over with a 
 load of amour. 
 
 24. While the minds of the soldiers were thus excited, 
 Maevius Pude-ns, a near relation of Tigellinus, added fuel 
 to the flame. Whoever was known to be of a light and 
 versatile disposition, in distress for money, or fond of 
 public commotions, this man attracted to his party. He 
 sapped his way with a degree of dexterity, as unperceived 
 as it was successful. As often as Galba was entertained 
 at Otho's house, he distributed to the cohort on duty a 
 hundred sesterces for every man. under colour of an allow- 
 ance for their entertainment The effect of this dona- 
 tion, given to them, as it were openly, Otho increased with 
 individuals by more secret presents ; a corruptor so bold 
 and shameless, that, when Cocceius Proculus, a soldier of 
 the body-guard, was engaged in a litigation with one of his 
 neighbours about a portion of the boundaries of their 
 grounds, Otho bought the whole estate of the neighbour- 
 ing party, and conveyed it to the soldier as a present. 
 These practices gave no jealousy to the commander of 
 the praBtorian bands : so far from penetrating dark trans- 
 actions, he could not see what escaped no eye but his 
 own. 
 
 25. Otho then chose one of his freedmen, by name Ono- 
 mastus, to conduct the enterprise. He attached to him as 
 his accomplices, Barbius Proculus, whose duty it was to bear
 
 414 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 the watchword to the life-guards, and one Veturius, a super- 
 numerary of the same body. Otho sounded them on various 
 topics ; and finding them subtle and resolute, he loaded 
 them both with presents, and dismissed them with a sum 
 of money, to be employed in bribing the rest of the 
 guards. In this manner two soldiers undertook to dispose 
 of the Roman empire, and succeeded in it. A few only 
 were made privy to the plot. The rest, whose minds 
 were not made up, they stimulated by opposite arts. The 
 soldiers of note were told, that having received favours 
 from Nymphidius, they were suspected. The loss of the 
 donative, so often promised, and still withheld, was the 
 topic enforced, to inflame the minds of the common men 
 with resentment and despair. Numbers lamented the loss 
 of Nero, and longed for the former laxity of discipline ; 
 and the idea of changing their place of service diffused a 
 general terror. 
 
 26. The spirit of disaffection spread, as it were by con- 
 tagion, to the legions and the auxiliary troops, already 
 agitated by the news of the revolt in Germany. The 
 vile and profligate were so ready for mutiny, and the 
 upright to connive, that, on the day after the ides of 
 January, they formed a resolution to take Otho under 
 their care, as he returned from supper, and, without fur- 
 ther delay, proclaim him emperor. This project, how- 
 ever, did not take effect. In the darkness of the night, 
 and the confusion inseparable from it, no man could an- 
 swer for the consequences. The city was full of soldiers; 
 and among men inflamed with liquor, no union, no con- 
 certed measure, could be expected. The traitors desisted 
 from their purpose, with no patriotic motive ; for they 
 had deliberately conspired to imbrue their hand in the 
 blood of their sovereign, but they were afraid that 
 the first who offered himself to the troops from Ger- 
 many and Pannonia, might by those strangers, and in the 
 dark, be mistaken for Otho, and saluted emperor. The 
 plot began to transpire, and must have been by various 
 circumstances brought to light, had not the chief conspi- 
 rators suppressed them. Some facts, however, reached 
 the ears of Galba ; but Laco explained everything away. 
 The prefect of the guards had no knowledge of the mili- 
 tary character, opposed every measure, however excellent, 
 which did not originate with himself, and, by the perver- 
 sity of his nature, was always at variance with those of su- 
 perior talents. 
 
 27. On the eighteenth day before the calends of Fe-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 415 
 
 bruary, Galba assisted at a sacrifice in the temple of Apollo, 
 when Umbricius the augur, after inspecting the entrails 
 of the victims, announced impending treason, and an enemy 
 within the walls of Rome. Otho, who stood near the em- 
 peror, heard this prediction, but interpreted it in his own 
 favour, pleased with omens that promised so well to his 
 cause. In that moment, Onomastus came to inform him, 
 that his builders and surveyors were waiting to talk with 
 him on business. This, as had been concerted, was a 
 signal that the conspirators were assembling, and ready 
 to strike the decisive blow. Otho told such as wondered 
 at his sudden departure, that, being on the point of pur- 
 chasing certain farm-houses, which from their age were 
 thought to be out of repair, he had appointed workmen to 
 examine the buildings before he concluded his bargain, 
 and then walked off', supported by his freedman ; and, 
 passing through the palace formerly belonging to Tiberius, 
 went to the Velabrum, and thence to the golden mile-stone 
 near the temple of Saturn. At that place a party of the 
 prastorian soldiers, in number three and twenty, saluted him 
 emperor. The sight of such an insignificant handful of 
 men struck him with dismay ; but his partisans drew their 
 swords, and, placing him in a litter, carried him off. They 
 were joined in their way by an equal number, some of 
 them accomplices in the treason ; others, in wonder and 
 astonishment : some brandishing their swords, and shout- 
 ing, others in silence, determined to see the issue before 
 they took a decided part. 
 
 28. Julius Martialis, a military tribune, at that time 
 commanded the guard in the camp. Either amazed at a 
 treason so daring, or imagining that it extended wider, 
 and dreading destruction if he attempted to oppose 
 the torrent, he created a suspicion in many of a confede- 
 racy in guilt. The rest of the tribunes and centurions, in 
 their solicitude for their immediate safety, lost all sense of 
 honour and constancy. Such, in that alarming crisis, was 
 the disposition of the camp : a few seditious incendiaries 
 dared to attempt an act of the foulest treason; more 
 wished to see it, and all were disposed to acquiesce. 
 
 29. Galba, in the mean time, ignorant of all that 
 passed, continued in the temple, attentive to the sacred 
 rites, and with his prayers fatiguing the gods of an em- 
 pire now no longer his. Intelligence at length arrived, 
 that a senator (whom, no man could tell) was carried in 
 triumph to the camp. Otho was soon after announced. 
 At the same time the people poured in from every quarter, 
 according as each fell in with him; some representing the
 
 416 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 danger as greater than it was, others lessening it, not even 
 then forgetting their habitual flattery. A council was 
 called. On deliberation, it was thought advisable to sound 
 the dispositions of the cohort then on duty before the pa- 
 lace, but not by Galba in person. His authority was to be 
 reserved entire, to meet more pressing necessities. Piso 
 called the men together, and, from the steps of the palace, 
 addressed them to the following purport : " It is now, my 
 fellow-soldiers, the sixth day since I was made by adop- 
 tion heir to this great empire. Whether the honour was 
 to be desired or dreaded, was more than I could then 
 foresee: with what advantage to my own family in par- 
 ticular, or to the commonwealth at large, it will be yours 
 to determine ; not that I fear any sadder fate personally ; 
 for trained in the school of adversity, I now perceive that 
 even the smiles are no less perilous than the frowns of for- 
 tune. I grieve for the situation of an aged father, the senate, 
 and the empire itself, should we fall this day by the hands 
 of assassins, or, which to a generous mind is no less afflict- 
 ing, find ourselves obliged to shed the blood of our fellow- 
 citizens. In the late revolution, it was matter of joy that 
 the city was not discoloured with Roman blood, and that, 
 without civil discord, the reins of government passed into 
 other hands. To secure the same tranquillity after the 
 decease of Galba was the object of the late adoption. 
 
 30. " I will neither boast of my nobility, nor claim the 
 merit of moderation. In contrast with Otho there is in- 
 deed no necessity to call our virtues to our aid. His vices, 
 even when he played the friend of Nero, were the ruin of 
 his country : in those he places all his glory. And can he, 
 by a life of debauchery, that proud gait, and effeminate 
 dress, earn the empire of the world ? Those with whom 
 profusion passes for liberality, are deceived. Otho will 
 show that he knows how to squander, but not to be- 
 stow. The objects that even now engross his thoughts, 
 are lawless gratifications, carousals, and the embraces of 
 lascivious women. These with him are the privileges 
 of sovereignty. The debauchery and pleasures will be 
 his : it will be yours to blush and bear the disgrace. 
 For of those who by their crimes have risen to power, 
 there is not an instance of one who administered it with 
 virtue. Galba was raised by the consentient voice of 
 the world to his present situation : his inclination, and 
 your consent, have added me to the line of the Caesars. 
 If the commonwealth, the senate, and the people, are mere 
 empty names, yet, my fellow-soldiers, it concerns you that 
 the worst and most abandoned of mankind should not
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 417 
 
 create an ernperor. The legions, it is trj.ie, have at differ- 
 ent times mutinied against their generals ; but your fidelity 
 and character have never been questioned. Nero aban- 
 doned you ; you did not desert him. And shall less than 
 thirty runaways and deserters, whom no man would 
 suffer to vote in the choice of a tribune or centurion, 
 dispose of the Roman empire at their will and pleasure? 
 Will you allow such a precedent? and, by conniving at 
 it, will you become accomplices in the guilt? The ex- 
 ample will pass into the provinces. Galba and I may 
 suffer th'e consequences of treason; but the calamities of 
 a civil war must 'remain for you. By murdering your 
 prince you may earn the wages of iniquity ; but the reward 
 of virtue will not be less. You will as certainly receive a 
 donative for youffcinnocence from us, as a largess for mur- 
 der and rebellion from others." 
 
 31. During this r harangue, the soldiers belonging to the 
 guard withdrew from the place. The rest of the cohort 
 shewed no sign of 'dispontent; and, as usual in a disturbed 
 state of things, displayed their colours as a matter of 
 course, and without any preconcerted design, rather than, 
 as was imagined afterwards, with a concealed purpose of 
 treachery and revolt. Celsus Marius was sent to use his 
 influence w.ith the chosen forces from Illyricum, at that 
 time encamped under the portico of Vipsanius. Orders 
 were likewise given to Amulius Serenus and Dornitius 
 Sabinus, centurions of the first rank, to draw from the 
 temple of Liberty the German soldiers there. The legion, 
 draughted from the marines, was not to be trusted. They 
 had seen, on Galba's entry into Rome, the massacre of 
 their comrades, and the survivors, with minds exasperated, 
 panted for revenge. At the same time, Cetrius Severus, 
 Subrius Dexter, and Pompeius Longinus, three military 
 tribunes, made the best of their way to the praetorian 
 camp, to try if the mutiny, as yet in its early stage, and 
 not full grown, might be appeased by wholesome advice. 
 Subrius and Cetrius were assailed with menaces. Lon- 
 ginus was roughly handled. The revolters took away his 
 weapons, unwilling to listen to a man, whom they con- 
 sidered as an officer promoted out of his turn, by the 
 favour of Galba, and, for that reason, faithful to his 
 prince. The marine legion, without hesitation, joined the 
 praetorian malcontents. The chosen troops of the Illyrian 
 army, obliged Celsus to retire under a shower of darts. 
 The veterans from Germany wavered for a long time, suf- 
 fering as they still were from bodily weakness, though 
 their minds were favourably disposed ; for they had been 
 
 E e
 
 418 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 sent by Nero to^ Alexandria ; but, being recalled, they 
 returned to Rome, worn out with toil, and weakened by 
 sickness during their voyage ; and Galba had been par- 
 ticularly attentive in recruiting their strength. 
 
 32. The whole populace, in the mean time, with a 
 crowd of slaves intermixed, crowded the palace, demand- 
 ing, with discordant cries, vengeance on the head of Otho 
 and his partisans, as though they were clamouring in the 
 circus or amphitheatre for some spectacle. Without judg- 
 ment or sincerity ; for before the close of day, the same 
 mouths were bawling as loudly for the reverse of what 
 they desired in the morning, but according to the esta- 
 blished custom of courting with heedless shouts and un- 
 meaning acclamation the reigning prince, whoever he may 
 be. Galba, in the mean time, balanced between two op- 
 posite opinions. Titus Vinius was for his remaining in 
 the palace. " The slaves," he said, " might be armed, and 
 all the avenues secured. The prince should by no means 
 expose himself to a frantic mob. E)ue time should be al- 
 lowed for the seditious to repent, and for good men to 
 form a plan of union. Crimes succeeded by sudden de- 
 spatch : honest counsels gained vigour by delay. Lastly, 
 should it be hereafter proper to sally forth, that expedient 
 would be still in reserve : but should he repent of the step 
 once taken, it would depend upon others whether he could 
 retrace it. 
 
 33. It was argued by the rest, " that the exigence 
 called for vigorous measures, before the as yet powerless 
 conspiracy of a few traitors gained strength. Otho him- 
 self would then be thrown into a state of trepidation and 
 perplexity : Otho, who, having gone off by stealth, and 
 presenting himself among men to whom he is a total 
 stranger, is now learning how to enact the prince through 
 the hesitation and supineness of those who allow the 
 opportunities for action to elapse. They must not linger 
 till the usurper, having settled matters in the camp, in- 
 vades the forum, and, under the eye of Galba, ascends 
 the capitol; while, in the mean time, our valiant em- 
 peror remains trembling in his palace with his warlike 
 friends, barricades his house even to the door and thres- 
 hold, resolved forsooth to endure a siege. Slaves too 
 will render a precious service, if we neglect the peo- 
 ple, now ready to support our cause, and suffer their first 
 impulse of indignation to subside. What is dishonourable 
 is proportionably dangerous. If we must fall, let us 
 bravely meet our fate. Mankind will applaud our valour, 
 and Otho, the author of our ruin, will be the object of
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 419 
 
 public detestation." Vinius maintained his former opi- 
 nion. Laco opposed him with warmth, and even with 
 violent menaces. In this he was prompted by Icelus, who 
 obstinately sought to gratify private malice, at the risk of 
 ruin to his country. 
 
 34. Galba hesitated no longer to adopt what appeared 
 to him the more plausible advice. Piso, notwithstanding, 
 was sent forward to the camp, as being a young man of 
 high expectation, and lately called to the first honours of 
 the state, and also as the enemy of Vinius ; whether it 
 was that he really hated him, or that the enemies of the 
 minister wished it; and certianly malice imputed, is easily 
 believed. Piso was hardly gone forth, when a rumour pre- 
 vailed that Otho was slain in the camp. The report at 
 first was vague and uncertain, but like all important lies, 
 it was confirmed by men who averred that they were on 
 the spot, and saw the blow given ; the account gaining 
 easy credence, what with those who rejoiced in it, and 
 those who cared not to scrutinise it. It was afterwards 
 thought to be a rumour, framed and encouraged by Otho's 
 friends, who mingled in the crowd, and published a false 
 report of good news, in order to entice Galba from his 
 palace. 
 
 35. Then indeed not only the vulgar and ignorant mul- 
 titude were transported beyond all bounds, but the knights 
 and senators were hurried away with the torrent ; they 
 forgot their fears ; they rushed to the emperor's presence ; 
 broke open the doors of the palace, and complaining that 
 the punishment of treason was taken out of their hands, 
 the men who, as it appeared soon after, were the most 
 likely to shrink from danger, displayed their zeal with 
 ostentation; lavish of words, yet cowards in their hearts. 
 No man knew that Otho was slain, yet all averred it as a 
 fact. In this situation, wanting certain intelligence, but 
 overpowered by the consentient voice of mistaken men, 
 Galba determined to go forth from his palace. He called 
 for his armour, and finding himself too feeble from age 
 and bodily constitution for the throng that gathered round 
 him, he was supported in a litter. Before he left the 
 palace, Julius Atticus, a soldier of the body-guard, ac- 
 costed him with a bloody sword in his hand, crying aloud, 
 " It was I that killed Otho." Galba answered, " Com- 
 rade, who gave you orders?" So signally was the spirit of 
 the man adapted to repress the licentiousness of the sol- 
 diers; by their insolence undismayed, by their flattery 
 unseduced.
 
 420 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 30. Meanwhile, the praetorian guards with one voice 
 declared for Otho. They ranged themselves in a body 
 round his person, and, not content with that, in the ar- 
 dour of their zeal, placed him, amidst the standards and 
 eagles, on the very tribunal where, a little before, stood 
 the golden statue of Galba. The tribunes and centurions 
 were not suffered to approach. The common soldiers, 
 even went so far as to give orders to watch the motions 
 of all in command. The whole camp resounded with 
 shouts and tumult, and mutual exhortations, not, as in 
 a concourse of the people and of the lower orders, with 
 varying acclamations prompted by heartless adulation, 
 but they embraced their comrades as they saw them ad- 
 vancing; they clasped their hands, pressed them to their 
 bosoms with their shields, placed them by Otho's side; 
 they repeated the military oath, and administered it to 
 all. They recommended the prince of their own choice 
 to the affections of the men, and the men, in their turn, to 
 the favour of the prince. Otho, on his part, omitted 
 nothing; he paid his court to the rabble with his hands 
 outstretched, scattering kisses in profusion, and, in order 
 to be emperor, crouching like a slave. After the marine 
 legion had taken the oath of fidelity, Otho felt himself in- 
 spired with uncommon ardour. Having hitherto incited 
 the soldiers man by man, he judged it right to animate 
 them in a body, and taking his station on the rampart of 
 the camp, spoke to the following effect : 
 
 37. "In what character I now address you I am unable 
 to declare: a private man I cannot call myself, for you 
 have bestowed upon me the title of prince : nor can I style 
 myself a prince, while another is still in possession of the 
 sovereign power. In what description you yourselves are 
 to be classed, is to me matter of doubt; and must remain 
 so, till the question is decided, Whether you have in your 
 camp the emperor of Rome, or a public enemy ? Hear ye 
 how the same voice that demands vengeance on me, 
 calls for your destruction ? so evident is it that we can 
 neither die nor live otherwise than together. Such is the 
 humanity of Galba, perhaps he has already pronounced 
 our doom ; since, without a request, of his own free will, 
 he could consign to the sword so many thousand innocent 
 soldiers. My heart recoils with horror, when I reflect on 
 the disastrous day on which he made his public entry into 
 the city ; and on that, his only victory, when after receiving 
 the submission of the suppliant soldiers, he ordered the 
 whole body to be decimated in the view of the people.
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 Under these auspices he entered the city of Rome ; and 
 what has been since the glory of his reign ? Obultronius 
 Sabinus and Cornelius Marcellus have been murdered in 
 Spain ; Betuus Chilo in Gaul ; Fonteius Capito in Ger- 
 many; and Clodius Macer in Africa. Add to these Cin- 
 gonius Varro, butchered on his march, Turpilianus in the 
 heart of the city, and Nymphidius in the camp. Is there 
 a province, is there in any part of the empire a single 
 camp, which he has not defiled with blood ? or, as he will 
 tell you, reformed and amended ? What all good men 
 call a deed of barbarity, passes with him for a correction 
 of abuses ; while under specious names he confounds the 
 nature of things : calls cruelty justice, avarice economy, 
 and massacre military discipline. Since the death of Nero 
 not more than seven months have elapsed ; and, in that 
 time, Icelus his freedman has amassed, by plunder, more 
 enormous wealth than the Polycliti, the Vatinii, the ^Egi- 
 alii, were able to do. Even Titus Vinius, if he had seized 
 the empire, would not have oppressed us with such ra- 
 pacity, such wanton barbarity. As it is, he at once tram- 
 ples upon us as his own subjects, and pours scorn upon 
 us as though we were another's. His house alone con- 
 tains wealth sufficient to discharge the donative which is 
 never forthcoming, and is daily cast in your teeth. 
 
 38. " And that you might despair of improvement un- 
 der the successor even of Galba, he has recalled from 
 banishment a man, in his temper dark and gloomy, hard- 
 ened in avarice, whom he judged the counterpart of 
 himself. You remember, my fellow-soldiers, the day on 
 which that adoption was made ; a day deformed with 
 storms and tempests, when the warring elements an- 
 nounced the awful displeasure of the gods. The senate 
 and the people are now of one mind. They depend upon 
 your valour. It is your generous ardour that must give 
 vigour to our honourable enterprise. Without your aid 
 the best designs must prove abortive. It is not to a war, 
 nor even to danger, that I am now to conduct you : the 
 armies of Rome are on our side. The single cohort 
 remaining with Galba is composed of citizens, not of 
 soldiers; and they do not stand forth in his defence; they 
 detain him as their prisoner*. When they see you ad- 
 vancing in firm array, when my signal is given, the only 
 struggle will be, who may charge my gratitude with the 
 heaviest debt. There is no place for delay in a project 
 which cannot be applauded unless it be gone through with 
 successfully." He then ordered the magazine of arms to 
 be thrown open. The soldiers seized their weapons; they
 
 4-22 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 paid no regard to military rules ; no distinction was ob- 
 served ; the praetorians, the legions, and the auxiliaries 
 crowded together, and shields and helmets were snatched 
 up in a tumultuary manner. No tribune, no centurion, 
 gave orders. Each man was his own commanding officer 
 and encourager; while the most abandoned drew their 
 principal incitement from the grief that overwhelmed the 
 good. 
 
 39. The number of the rebels increasing every moment, 
 and their noise and clamour reaching the city of Rome, 
 Piso, in a state of alarm, met Galba, who had left the pa- 
 lace, on his way to the Forum. Marius Celsus had now 
 brought unfavourable tidings. Some advised the empe- 
 ror to return to his palace ; others were for taking pos- 
 session of the Capitol, and the major part for proceeding 
 directly to the rostra ; numbers gave their advice, for no 
 better reason than to oppose the opinions of others ; 
 and, as usually happens in unfortunate projects, those 
 steps were deemed best the opportunity for which had 
 elapsed. We are told that Laco, without the privity of 
 Galba, formed a design against the life of Vinius. The 
 murder of that minister, he thought, would appease the 
 fury of the soldiers, or it may be that he suspected trea- 
 chery, and thought him joined in a secret league with 
 Otho : in fine, perhaps his own malice was the motive. 
 The inconvenience of the time and place made him hesi- 
 tate : the sword once drawn, it is difficult to check the 
 carnage. Messengers arriving every moment, and the 
 desertion of friends, increased the consternation ; and the 
 zeal of all those who at first were so forward in vaunting 
 their fidelity and courage, now waxed cold. 
 
 40. Galba meanwhile was borne in various directions, 
 according as the waving multitude impelled him. The 
 temples, the porticoes, and great halls round the forum, 
 were filled with crowds of sorrowing spectators. A deep 
 and sullen silence prevailed. The very rabble was hushed. 
 Amazement sat on every face. Their eyes watched every 
 motion, and their ears caught every sound. It was not 
 a tumult, it was not the stillness of peace, but the si- 
 lence of terrible anticipation and high-wrought resent- 
 ment. Otho, however, received intelligence that the 
 populace had recourse to arms, and thereupon ordered 
 his troops to push forward with rapidity, and prevent 
 the impending danger. At his command the Roman 
 soldiers, as if marching to dethrone an eastern monarch, 
 a Vologeses, or a Pacorus, and not their own lawful 
 sovereign, advanced with impetuous fury to imbrue their
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 423 
 
 hands in the blood of an old man, defenceless and un- 
 armed. They entered the city ; they dispersed the com- 
 mon people, trampled the senate under foot, with swords 
 drawn, and horses at full speed, they burst into the 
 forum. The sight of the Capitol, the sanctity of the 
 temples that overhung it, the majesty of former princes, 
 and of those who were to succeed, deterred them not 
 from committing a detestable parricide, sure to be pu- 
 nished by the prince that succeeds to the sovereign power, 
 be he who he may. 
 
 41. The praBtorians no sooner appeared in sight, than 
 the standard-bearer of the cohort still remaining with 
 Galba (his name, we are told, was Atilius Vergilio) tore 
 off the image of Galba, and dashed it on the ground. 
 That signal given, the soldiers, with one voice, declared 
 for Otho. The people fled in consternation. Such as 
 hesitated were attacked sword in hand. The men, who 
 carried Galba in a litter, in their fright let him fall to the 
 ground near the Curtian lake. His last words, accord- 
 ing as men admired or hate'd him, have been variously 
 reported. According to some, he asked, in a suppliant 
 tone, What harm he had done? and prayed for a few 
 days, that he might discharge the donative due to the 
 soldiers. Others assure us, that he promptly presented 
 his neck to 'the assassin's stroke, and said with a firm 
 voice, " Strike; if the good of the commonwealth re- 
 quires it." To ruffians thirsting for blood, no matter 
 what he said. By what hand the blow was given, cannot 
 now be known. Some impute it to Terentius, a resumed 
 veteran ; others to Lecanius. A still more general tradi- 
 tion states, that Camurius, a common soldier of the fif- 
 teenth legion, killed him by cutting his throat, with his 
 sword pressed against it. The rest tore his legs and arms 
 with brutal rage, for his breast was covered with armour; 
 and many wounds were inflicted, in a savage and ferocious 
 spirit, upon the body as it lay headless. 
 
 42. Titus Vinius was the next victim. The manner 
 in which he met his fate is likewise left uncertain : whe- 
 ther on the first assault his utterance was suppressed by 
 fear, or whether he had power to call out, that Otho had 
 given no orders against his life. Those words, if really 
 spoken, might be an effort of pusillanimity to save his life, 
 or they were the confession of a man, who was actually an 
 accomplice in the conspiracy. His life and manners leave 
 no room to doubt but he was capable of joining in a par- 
 ricide, of which his own administration was the principal 
 cause. He fell before the temple of Julius, by a wound in
 
 424 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 the joint of his knee, and as he lay, lie was run through 
 the body by Julius Carus, a legionary soldier. 
 
 43. The age beheld on that day a splendid example of 
 courage and fidelity, in the conduct of Sempronius Den- 
 sus, a centurion of the praetorian cohort. Having been 
 ordered by-Galba to join the guard that escorted Piso, he 
 no sooner saw a band of armed assassins, than he advanced 
 to oppose their fury, brandishing his poniard, and ex- 
 claiming against the horrible deed. By drawing the at- 
 tention of the murderers upon himself with his voice, with 
 his hand, he gave Piso, wounded as he was, an opportunity 
 of making his escape. Piso reached the temple of Vesta, 
 where a slave of the state, touched with compassion, con- 
 ducted him to his own private apartment. Piso lay con- 
 cealed for some time, not indebted to the sanctity of the 
 temple, nor to the rights of religion, but sheltered by the 
 obscurity of the place from the destruction that threatened 
 him. At length, Sulpicius Florus, who belonged to a 
 British cohort, and had been made by Galba a citizen of 
 Rome, and Statins Marcus, a praetorian soldier, arrived 
 in quest of him by Otho's special order. By these two 
 men he was dragged to the vestibule of the temple, where, 
 under repeated blows, he breathed his last. 
 
 44. No murder, we are told, gave so much satisfaction 
 to Otho, nor was there, among the heads cut off, one on 
 which he gazed with such insatiable delight. Whether it 
 was that by this event he first felt himself relieved from all 
 apprehensions, and his mind could admit sensations of 
 joy, or that the fate of Galba, bringing to his thoughts 
 an idea of majesty fallen from a state of elevation, and 
 the death of Vinius, awakening the memory of an early 
 friendship, had caused his heart, though ruthless, to melt 
 at the mournful image they presented. When Piso fell, 
 an enemy and a rival expired ; and he thought it just 
 and reasonable to exult in the event. The three heads 
 were fixed on poles, and carried about amidst the en- 
 signs of the cohorts, by the side of the eagle of the 
 legion. A band of soldiers followed, stretching forth 
 their hands reeking with blood, and boasting aloud that 
 they gave the mortal wounds, or that they were present 
 aiding and abetting ; all, with truth or falsehood, claiming 
 the honour of an atrocious deed. No less than one hun- 
 dred and twenty memorials, presented on this occasion, 
 by persons who claimed the reward of crimes committed 
 on that day, were afterwards found by Vitellius; and the 
 several authors, after diligent search made by his orders, 
 were punished with death, not from motives of regard for
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 425 
 
 the memory of Galba, but with the usual policy of princes, 
 as a security for the present, and as a warning of future 
 vengeance. 
 
 45. Another senate and another people seemed now to 
 be in possession of Rome. All pressed forward to the 
 camp. Every man endeavoured to distance those near 
 him, and strive with those before him. They reviled 
 Galba, and applauded the judgment of the soldiers. 
 They kissed the hand of Otho, and, in proportion to their 
 want of sincerity, the more they multiplied their compli- 
 ments. Otho was not deficient in his attention to each 
 severally ; taking care, by his looks and actions, to restrain 
 the ferocious spirit of the soldiers, who seemed to threaten 
 further mischief. Marius Celsus, the consul elect, was the 
 object of their vengeance. He had been the friend of 
 Galba, and in the last extremity continued faithful to that 
 unhappy prince. His talents and integrity gave offence 
 to them, as though they were noxious qualities. They 
 demanded his immediate execution. Their views were 
 apparent. The best and ablest men in Rome were 
 doomed to destruction by them. But Otho's authority, 
 though sufficient to command the perpetration of crimes, 
 was not yet adequate to prohibiting them. In pretended 
 fury he ordered Celsus to be loaded with irons, as a man 
 reserved for heavier punishment, and by that stratagem 
 saved him from immediate destruction. 
 
 46. From this time the soldiers had every thing their 
 own way. The praetorians chose their own praefect; 
 namely, Plotius Firmus, formerly a common soldier, raised 
 afterwards to the command of the night-guard, and, even 
 during the life of Galba, a partisan of Otho's. To him 
 they added Licinius Proculus, a man who, living in inti- 
 macy with Otho, was supposed to be an accomplice in his 
 designs. As governor of Rome they named Flavius Sa- 
 binus, in accordance with the judgment of Nero, who had 
 committed to him the same charge. The majority meant 
 it as a compliment to Vespasian, his brother. Their next 
 object was to abolish the fees exacted by the centurions 
 for occasional exemptions from duty, and for leave of ab- 
 sence ; for they were an annual tribute out of the pockets 
 of common men. A fourth part of every company was 
 rambling about the country, or loitering in the very camp, 
 provided the centurion received his perquisites. Nor was 
 the soldier solicitous about the price : he purchased a 
 right to be idle, and the means by which he enabled himself 
 to defray the expense gave him no kind of scruple. By 
 theft, by robbery, and by servile employments, he gained
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 enough to purchase an exemption from military duties. 
 Then, whoever had hoarded up a little money, was, for 
 that reason, harassed with labour and severity, till he 
 purchased an exemption. By these extortions the soldier 
 was impoverished, his industry moreover relaxed, and he 
 returned to the camp poor instead of rich, and lazy instead 
 of active. And so again another and another had his 
 principles corrupted by poverty and irregularities similarly 
 induced whence they fell rapidly into sedition and dissen- 
 sion, and lastly into civil war. To remedy the mischief, 
 and, at the same time, not to alienate the minds of the 
 centurions, by giving up these fees as a bounty to the com- 
 mon soldiers, Otho undertook to pay an annual equivalent 
 to the officers out of his own revenue. This reform was, 
 no doubt, both wise and just. Good princes adopted it 
 afterwards, and made it a settled rule in the military sys- 
 tem. Laco, the late commander of the praetorians, was 
 condemned to an island, there, as was given out, to pass the 
 remainder of his days; but a veteran soldier, whom Otho 
 had despatched for the purpose, put an end to his life. 
 Martianus Icelus, being of no higher rank than that of a 
 manumitted slave, was publicly executed. 
 
 47. After a day spent in guilt and carnage, the joy that 
 succeeded completed the climax of abominations. The 
 praetor of the city summoned the senate. The magistrates 
 emulated each other in adulation. The fathers assembled 
 without delay. The tribunitian power, the name of Au- 
 gustus, and all imperial honours enjoyed by former 
 princes, were by a decree granted to Otho ; while all 
 strove to obliterate the effects of reproaches and invectives, 
 which, as they were uttered at random, were not supposed 
 by any one to have sunk deep into his heart. Whether 
 Otho would have ^passed over those reflections, or stored 
 them in his memory for future occasions, the shortness of 
 his reign has left undecided. He was conveyed in triumph 
 to the Capitol, and thence to the imperial palace. In his 
 way he saw the forum discoloured with blood, and heaps of 
 slaughtered citizens lying round him. He granted leave 
 to remove the dead bodies, and to perform the rites of 
 sepulture. The remains of Piso were buried by his wife 
 Verania, and Scribonianus his brother. The last duty to 
 Titus Vinius was performed by his daughter Crispina. 
 Their heads, which the murderers had reserved for sale, 
 were found and redeemed. 
 
 48. Piso had well nigh completed the thirty-first year 
 of his age ; higher in the esteem of the public than in the 
 favour of fortune. Two of his brothers suffered a violent
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 427 
 
 death ; Magnus, by the command of Claudius, and Cras- 
 sus, of Nero. An outlaw for some years, and four days a 
 prince ; by the hurried adoption of Galba, he was raised 
 above his elder brother, only to be murdered first. Titus 
 Vinius had reached the age of fifty-seven; a man of un- 
 settled principle, and various manners. His father was of 
 a praetorian family ; his grandfather, by the maternal line, 
 was among the number proscribed by the triumvirate. His 
 first campaign, under Calvisius Sabinus, was mai-ked with 
 disgrace. The wife of Sabinus, prompted by vicious 
 curiosity, went by night, in the dress of a soldier, to view 
 the site and disposition of the camp. In her frolic, she 
 went round to visit the sentinels, and the posts and sta- 
 tions of the army. Arriving at length at the place where 
 the eagles were deposited, she did not scruple to commit 
 the act of adultery on that sacred spot. Vinius was 
 charged as her accomplice, and, by order of Caligula, 
 loaded with irons. By the revolution which soon after 
 happened, he regained his liberty, and from that time rose 
 to honours. He discharged the office of praetor, and 
 afterwards commanded a legion, free from reproach. His 
 name, however, was soon after branded with a crime of 
 the meanest character. Being a guest at the table of 
 Claudius, he was charged with pilfering a golden goblet. 
 On the following day that emperor gave orders that he 
 alone of the whole party should be served with earthen- 
 ware. Notwithstanding, as proconsul of Narbon Gaul, 
 he acquitted himself in his administration with gravity and 
 integrity. Soon after, the friendship of Galba drew him 
 into dangerous courses. He was at once bold and subtle, 
 of an enterprising genius, and, according as he set his 
 mind upon it, he could work mischief, or apply himself to 
 honest pursuits, with equal ardour and energy. His last 
 will, on account of his immoderate wealth, was declared 
 null and void. That of Piso was confirmed by reason of 
 his poverty. 
 
 49. Galba's body lay neglected for a long time, and 
 under license of the night, was molested by numberless 
 indignities. It was at length conveyed by Argius, his 
 former slave and steward, to the private gardens of his 
 master, and there deposited in an humble manner. His 
 mangled head was fixed on a pole by the rabble of the 
 camp, near the tomb of Patrobius, a slave manumitted by 
 Nero, and by Galba put to death. There it was found 
 the following day, and added to the ashes of the body. 
 Such was the end of Servius Galba, in the seventy-third 
 year of his age. He had, during the reign of five princes,
 
 428 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 enjoyed a series of prosperity, happier as a private citizen 
 than a prince. He was descended from a long line of an- 
 cestors. His wealth was great ; his talents not above 
 mediocrity. Free from vice, he cannot be celebrated for 
 his virtues. He knew the value of fame, yet was neither 
 arrogant nor vain-glorious. Without rapacity, he was an 
 economist of his own, and of the public treasure careful 
 to a degree of avarice. To his friends and freedmen, 
 when his choice was happily made, his passive submission 
 was unobnoxious to censure ; but when bad men sur- 
 rounded him, his blindness bordered on criminality. The 
 splendour of his birth, and the dangerous character of the 
 times, formed a pretext for giving t!ie appellation of wis- 
 dom to what in fact was sheer indolence. In the vigour 
 of his days, he served with honour in Germany ; as pro- 
 consul of Africa, he governed with moderation ; and Hither 
 Spain, when he was advanced in years, was administered 
 with similar equity. While a private citizen, his merit 
 was thought superior to his rank; and the suffrages of 
 mankind would have pronounced him worthy of empire, 
 had he never made the experiment. 
 
 50. While Rome was shuddering at the late dreadful 
 carnage, and, from the well-known vices of Otho's nature, 
 men were in dread of worse evils still to come, despatches 
 from Germany brought an account of new calamities. 
 Intelligence of the revolt of Vitellius arrived before the 
 death of Galba, but was suppressed, that the sedition on 
 the Upper Rhine might be thought the only mischief. 
 Then not only the senators and Roman knights, who had 
 still some shadow of authority, but the populace, mourned 
 to see two men of the most pernicious characters, en- 
 ervated by luxury, and abandoned to every vice, chosen 
 by some fatality to ruin the commonwealth. The ex- 
 amples of atrocities committed, during the late sanguinary 
 period of peace, were no longer the objects that employed 
 the public mind ; but the civil wars were recalled to 
 memory : they talked of Rome, so often captured by her 
 own armies ; Italy laid waste ; the provinces plundered ; 
 of Pharsalia, Philippi, Modena, and Perusia, places 
 memorable for public disasters. " When the struggle," it 
 was observed, " lay between .men of illustrious character, 
 by their contentions for empire the state was brought to 
 the brink of ruin. But even then, under Julius Cassar, 
 the empire still survived. It survived under the victorious 
 Augusths. Under Pompey and Brutus, had their arms 
 prevailed, the republic would have been once more esta- 
 blished. Otho and Vitellius are now the competitors
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 429 
 
 for which of them shall the people crowd the temples ? 
 prayers for either were impious, vows an abomination, 
 since, in a war between two detestable rivals, he who con- 
 quers will be ar,med with power to commit still greater 
 crimes, and prove himself the worst." Some looked for- 
 ward in a prophetic spirit to Vespasian, and the armies 
 in the East. Vespasian, they agreed, was in every respect 
 superior to the two chiefs, who now convulsed the state, 
 but dreaded another war, and an additional series of ca- 
 lamities. Vespasian's character too was 'equivocal ; and 
 certainly he was the only prince, down to his time, who 
 reformed his life. 
 
 51. That the revolt under Vitellius may be seen in its 
 true light, I will set forth its origin, and the causes that 
 produced it. After the defeat and death of Julius Vindex, 
 and the rout of his armies, the legions, enriched with 
 booty and wanton with success, having without fatigue or 
 danger closed a lucrative war, preferred hostilities to in- 
 action, plunder to pay. They had long endured the 
 hardships of a rigorous service, in a bleak climate and a 
 desolate country, where discipline was enforced with strict 
 severity. But that discipline which is cultivated with re- 
 lentless rigour .in peace, they knew would be relaxed by 
 civil discord, w.here both sides encourage licentiousness, 
 and perfidy goes unpunished. They were abundantly 
 provided with arms and horses, both for parade and ser- 
 vice ; but before the late war in Gaul, they knew only the 
 companies and troops of horse to which they belonged ; and 
 the boundaries of the provinces kept the several armies 
 distinct and separate. The legion being then drawn to- 
 gether to make head against Vindex, they felt their own 
 strength, and that of Gaul ; wanted to renew the war, and 
 stir up fresh troubles. They no longer treated the Gauls 
 as their allies and friends, but as enemies, and a van- 
 quished people. In these sentiments they were joined by 
 the Gauls who dwelt on the borders of the Rhine. This 
 people had taken up arms against Vindex, and his allies, 
 whom, since the death of that chief, they in disdain of him 
 called the Galbian Faction ; and now by every artifice they 
 instigated a war between the Romans and their country- 
 men. The Sequanians, the ^Eduans, and other states, ac- 
 cording to their opulence, were the chief objects of resent- 
 ment. The soldiers anticipated with eager delight towns 
 stormed, the plunder of houses, and the desolation of the 
 country. In addition to their arrogance and avarice, the 
 never-failing vices of the strongest, they were exasperated 
 by the froward insolence with which the Gauls boasted,
 
 1.30 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 that, in contempt of the legions, they had obtained from 
 Galba a remission of one-fourth of their tribute, and an 
 extension of their territory. To these incentives was 
 added a report, artfully thrown out and jeadily believed, 
 that the legions were to be decimated, and the best and 
 bravest of the centurions to be dismissed. Tidings of an 
 alarming nature arrived from every quarter, and rumours 
 of a disastrous character from the city of Rome. The 
 people of Lyons, still faithful to the memory of Nero, and 
 the avowed enemies of Galba, formed a fertile source of 
 rumours : but the camp was the magazine of news, where 
 invention framed the lie of the day, and credulity stood 
 ready to receive it ; where malice and fear prevailed ; and 
 where, when they viewed their own numbers, all appre- 
 hension of danger vanished. 
 
 52. It was near the calends of December in the pre- 
 ceding year, when Aulus Vitellius first appeared in the 
 Lower Germany. He made it his business to review the 
 legions in their winter-quarters ; he restored several 
 officers who had been degraded, and relieved others from 
 disgrace and ignominy : in some instances acting with jus- 
 tice, in others, with a view to his own ambition. To the 
 honour of his principles, he condemned the sordid avarice 
 with which Fonteius Capito granted or refused rank in 
 the army. He appeared in this to exceed the powers 
 usually vested in consular generals, and to be an officer of 
 superior weight and authority. As reflecting men saw 
 the baseness of his motives, so the profusion, which, with- 
 out judgment or economy, lavished away in bounties all 
 his own property, and squandered that of others, was by his 
 sycophants called benevolence and generosity. Even the 
 vices that sprung from lust of dominion were transformed 
 into so many virtues. In both armies there were, no doubt, 
 men well disposed and moderate ; but there were also some 
 restless incendiaries. Alienus Cascina and Fabius Valens, 
 each the commander of a legion, were both remarkable for 
 their avarice, and both of a daring spirit. Valens was ex- 
 asperated against Galba, because, having exposed the 
 dilatoriness of Verginius, and crushed the machinations 
 of Capito, he had shown no gratitude for those services. 
 He now, therefore, endeavoured to rouse the ambition 
 of Vitellius : "The soldiers," he said "were zealous 
 in his service, and the name of Vitellius stood in high 
 esteem throughout the world. From Hordeoriius Flac- 
 cus no opposition was to be apprehended. Britain was 
 ready to declare against Galba, and the German aux- 
 iliaries would follow their example. The provinces
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 431 
 
 wavered in their duty, and the authority of the feeble 
 old man stood on a precarious footing, and would be soon 
 transferred to other hands. He had nothing to do but 
 to open his arms, and receive the favours of fortune. Ver- 
 ginius, indeed, had every thing to damp his resolution. 
 He was of an equestrian family ; but his father lived and 
 died in obscurity. A man of his cast would have proved 
 unequal to the weight of empire. A private station 
 was to him a post of safety. A father who had been 
 three times consul, once in conjunction with the emperor 
 Claudius, and who, moreover, had discharged the office of 
 censor, imposed on Vitellius the necessity of aspiring to 
 the imperial dignity, and denied him the security of a 
 private station." By this inflammatory speech the phleg- 
 matic temper of Vitellius was moved to covet, rather than 
 to hope for, the object set before him. 
 
 53. Meanwhile Csecina, who served in the army on the 
 Upper Rhine, had drawn to himself the affections of the 
 army. He was young and handsome, tall and robust, with 
 an air of dignity in his deportment, of winning eloquence, 
 and boundless aspirations. While a young man, discharg- 
 ing the office of quaestor in Bsetica, he promptly went over 
 tp Galba's interest, and the emperor, to reward his zeal, 
 gave him the command of a legion in Germany; but find- 
 ing, afterwards, that he had been guilty of embezzling the 
 public money, he ordered him to be called to a strict ac- 
 count. Caecina was not of a temper to submit with pa- 
 tience. He resolved to embroil the state, and in the ge- 
 neral confusion throw a veil over his private dishonour. 
 The seeds of rebellion were ready sown in the army. 
 In the war against Vindex they had all taken the field, 
 and, till they heard that Nero was no more, never de- 
 clared in favour of Galba. Even in that act of submission, 
 they suffered the legions on the Lower Rhine to take the 
 lead. The Treviri, the Lingones, and other states, which 
 had felt the severity of Galba's edicts, or had seen their 
 territory reduced to narrow limits, lay contiguous to the 
 winter-quarters of the legions. Hence frequent seditious 
 conferences, in which the soldiers grew more corrupt, by 
 mixing with the peasants. Hence their zeal for Verginius, 
 which might be turned to account by any other leader. 
 
 54. The Lingones, in token of friendship, had sent 
 presents to the legions, and, in conformity to their ancient 
 usage, the symbolical figure of two right hands clasping 
 one another. Their deputies appeared with the mien and 
 garb of affliction. They went round the camp, in the
 
 432 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 tents, and in the place for the standards and eagles, set- 
 ting forth now their own wrongs, and now the favour and 
 the protection of Galba enjoyed, by neighbouring states. 
 Finding that they were heard with avidity, they inflamed 
 the minds of the soldiers by sympathizing in the dangers 
 that hung over them, and the hardships under which they 
 laboured. The flame of sedition was ready to break out, 
 when Hordeonius Flaccus ordered the deputies to depart, 
 and in the night, that it might be less observed. A report 
 soon prevailed that they were all treacherously murdered, 
 and that, if the soldiers did not instantly provide for their 
 own safety, the bravest of the army, and those who had 
 complained of the present state of things, would be butch- 
 ered, under cover of the night, and without the knowledge 
 of their friends. A secret combination was immediately 
 formed. The auxiliaries entered into the league ; at first 
 they were suspected of a design to surround the legions 
 with the cohorts and horse, and put them to the sword, 
 but afterwards they eagerly engaged in the project. Such 
 is the nature of abandoned minds ; in peace and profound 
 tranquillity, they seldom agree ; but for seditious purposes 
 a coalition is easily formed. 
 
 55. The legions on the Lower Rhine, on the calends of 
 January, went through the usual form of swearing fidelity 
 to Galba; but little alacrity was displayed. In the fore- 
 most ranks but few voices were heard, while the rest re- 
 mained in silence, each man expecting the bold example 
 of his comrades ; such is the inherent weakness of human 
 nature, men are ready to second what they are slow to 
 begin. A leaven of discordant humours pervaded the 
 whole mass of the army. The first and fifth legions were 
 so outrageous, that some pelted the images of Galba with 
 stones. The fifteenth and sixteenth abstained from acts 
 of violence, but were clamorous and menacing; waiting 
 for ringleaders to begin the fray. In the Upper Germany, 
 on the same calends of January, the fourth and eighteenth 
 legions, quartered together in one winter-camp, dashed 
 the images of Galba into fragments. The fourth legion 
 led the way ; and the eighteenth, after balancing for some 
 time, followed their example. Unwilling, however, to in- 
 cur the imputation of a rebellion against their country, 
 they agreed to revive the antiquated names of the SENATE 
 AND ROMAN PEOPLE in the oath of fidelity. Not one 
 commander of a legion, nor tribune, appeared in favour of 
 Galba; on the contrary, many of them, as often happens in 
 cases of public confusion, distinguished themselves in the
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 433 
 
 tumult. No man, however, took upon him to harangue the 
 multitude from the stage; nor could the incendiaries, as yet, 
 tell in whose service their eloquence was to be employed. 
 
 56. Hordeonius Flaccus beheld this scene of confusion, 
 and, though a consular commander, never once interposed 
 to restrain the violent, to secure the wavering, or to ani- 
 mate the well-affected. He looked on tamely and timor- 
 ously ; and if he avoided the imputation of guilt, it was 
 because he had not spirit enough to act at all. Four cen- 
 turions of the eighteenth legion, namely, Nonius Recep- 
 tus, Donatius Valens, Romilius Marcellus, and Calpurnius 
 Repentinus, attempted to defend the images of Galba; 
 but the soldiers attacked them with impetuousity, and 
 loaded them with fetters. From that moment all fidelity 
 was at an end. The obligation of the former oath was no 
 longer respected. It happened in this, as in all seditions, 
 the whole herd followed the majority. The night after 
 the calends of January, the eagle-bearer of the fourth le- 
 gion arrived at the Agrippinian colony, where Vitellius was 
 engaged at a banquet, with intelligence, that the fourth and 
 eighteenth legions, having destroyed the images of Galba, 
 had taken a new form of oath to the senate and Roman 
 people. That oath was deemed a nullity. It was judged 
 proper to seize the opportunity that fortune offered, and, 
 by the nomination of an emperor, fix the wavering temper 
 of the legions. Despatches were accordingly sent to in- 
 form the army and its commanders in the Lower Germany, 
 that the soldiers on the Upper Rhine had revolted from 
 Galba, and that, by consequence, it remained for them 
 either to march against the rebels, or, for the sake of 
 peace and mutual concord, to create another emperor. In 
 choosing for themselves they would hazard little ; but in- 
 decision might be dangerous. 
 
 57. The winter-quarters of the first legion were the 
 nearest ; it was commanded by Fabius Valens, the most 
 prompt and daring of all the generals. On the following 
 day he put himself at the head of the cavalry belonging 
 to his own legion, and, with a party of the auxiliaries, 
 entering the Agrippinian colony, saluted Vitellius by the 
 title of emperor. The legions of the province, with ex- 
 traordinary ardour, followed his example ; and three days 
 before the nones of January, the legions in Upper Ger- 
 many declared for Vitellius, abandoning the plausible 
 names of the senate and the Roman people. It now was 
 plain, that they were never in their hearts devoted to a 
 republic. The Agrippinian people, the Treveri, and Lin- 
 
 F f
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 gones were not behind the armies in demonstrations of 
 zeal. They offered a supply of arms and horses, of men 
 and money, in proportion to their respective abilities. 
 Not only the leading chiefs, as well in the colonies as in 
 the camp, who had already enriched themselves by the 
 spoils of war, and looked forward to an accumulation of 
 wealth when the victory was obtained, but the body of the 
 army, the common soldiers, in the place of money, made a 
 tender of their travelling subsistence, their belts, their ac- 
 coutrements, and the silver ornaments of their armour ; 
 all actuated by one impulse, by blind enthusiasm, and a 
 thirst for gain. 
 
 58. Vitellius, after praising the alacrity of the soldiers, 
 proceeded to regulate the various departments of public 
 business. He transferred the offices, hitherto granted to 
 the imperial freedmen, to the Roman knights; and the 
 fees claimed by the centurions for exemption from duty, 
 he defrayed out of the revenue of the prince. The fury 
 of the soldiers, demanding vengeance on a number of per- 
 sons, was not to be repressed. He yielded in many in- 
 stances, and in others eluded their resentment under colour 
 of reserving the obnoxious parties in chains. Pompeius 
 Propinquus, the procurator of Belgic Gaul, was put to 
 death on the spot ; but Julius Burdo, who commanded 
 the German fleet, he saved by stratagem. The resent- 
 ment of the army had been kindled against that officer as 
 the accuser first, and afterwards as the murderer, of Fon- 
 teius Capito, whose memory was still held in respect. To 
 pardon openly was not in the power of Vitellius: he could 
 execute in open day ; but to be merciful, he was obliged 
 to deceive. Burdo remained in prison till the victory ob- 
 tained by Vitellius appeased the wrath of the soldiers : he 
 then was set at liberty. In the mean time Centurio Cris- 
 pinus, who with his own hand had shed the blood of Ca- 
 pito, was presented to them as an expiation of that deed. 
 His guilt was manifest; the soldiers demanded his blood, 
 and Vitellius thought a man of that description no kind of 
 loss. 
 
 59. Julius Civilis was the next whom the army doomed 
 to destruction : but being of high rank and consequence 
 among the Batavians, fear of a rupture with that fierce 
 and warlike people saved his life. There were, at that 
 time, in the territory of the Lingones, eight Batavian co- 
 horts, annexed at first as auxiliaries to the fourteenth le- 
 gion, but separated in the distraction of the times ; a body 
 of men, in that juncture, of the greatest moment. It was
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 435 
 
 in their power to turn the scale in favour of whatever 
 party they espoused. Nonius, Donatius, Romilius, and 
 Calpurnius, the four centurions already mentioned, were, 
 by order of Vitellius, hurried to execution. They had 
 remained steady in their duty to their prince ; a crime 
 which men in open rebellion never pardon. Valerius 
 Asiaticus, the governor of Belgic Gaul, to whom, in a 
 short time after, Vitellius gave his daughter in marriage ; 
 and Junius Blaesus, who presided in the province of 
 Lyons, and had under his command the Italic legion, and 
 the body of horse called the Taurinian cavalry, went over 
 to the party of the new emperor. The forces in Rhaetia 
 were not long in suspense, and the legions in Britain de- 
 clared without hesitation in favour of Vitellius. 
 
 60. Britain was, at that time, governed by Trebellius 
 Maximus ; a man, for his avarice and sordid practices, 
 despised and hated by the army. Between him and 
 Roscius Caelius, who commanded the twentieth legion, 
 there had been a long-subsisting quarrel, renewed of late 
 with keener acrimony, on occasion of a civil war. Caelius 
 was charged by Trebellius with sedition, and the viola- 
 tion of the established discipline : Caelius recriminated 
 that Trebellius plundered the legions, and left the soldiers 
 to languish in distress and poverty. From this dissension 
 between their officers, all discipline was at an end in the 
 army; and the tumult rose at length to such a height, that 
 Trebellius, insulted openly by the auxiliaries, deserted by 
 the cavalry, and betrayed by the cohorts, fled for refuge 
 to Vitellius. The province, however, notwithstanding the 
 flight of a consular governor, remained in tranquillity. 
 The commanders of the legions held the reins of govern- 
 ment, by their commissions equal in authority, but the en- 
 terprising genius of Caelius had given him a superior in^ 
 fluence. 
 
 61. The arrival of the forces from Britain was an acces- 
 sion of strength ; and thereupon Vitellius, abounding in 
 resources, and strong in numbers, resolved to carry the 
 war into Italy by two different routes, under the conduct 
 of two commanders. Fabius Valens was sent forward, 
 with instructions to draw to his interest the people of 
 Gaul, and, if he found them obstinate, to lay waste their 
 country: then, passing over the Cottian Alps, make an 
 irruption into Italy. Caecina, the other general, was or- 
 dered to take a nearer way, over the Penine mountains, 
 and make his descent on that side. The flower of the 
 army from the Lower Rhine, with the eagle of the fifth 
 legion, and the cohorts and cavalry, amounting to forty
 
 430 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS: I. 
 
 thousand men, were put under the command of Valens. 
 Caecina advanced from the Upper Germany with no less 
 than thirty thousand, of which the one and twentieth le- 
 gion was the main strength. Each commander had a re- 
 inforcement of German auxiliaries. From these too Vitel- 
 lius recruited his own forces ; and was himself to follow 
 with the whole weight of the war. 
 
 62. The new emperor and his army presented a strik- 
 ing contrast: the soldiers burned with impatience, and 
 with one voice demanded to be led against the enemy. 
 " It was time," they said, " to push on the war with vi- 
 gour, while the two Gauls are in commotion, and Spain is 
 yet undecided. The winter season was no obstacle ; nor 
 should idle negotiations to bring on a compromise detain 
 them. Italy must be invaded, and Rome seized at once. 
 In civil dissensions, expedition was the safest policy. They 
 called for vigour; and debate was out of season." Vitel- 
 lius loitered in indolent repose, drunk at noon-day, and 
 overwhelmed with gluttony. The imperial dignity, he 
 thought, consisted in riot and profusion, and he resolved 
 to anticipate the privileges of a prince. The spirit of 
 the soldiers, however, supplied the defects of their prince: 
 they neither wanted him in the ranks to animate the 
 brave, nor to rouse the tardy and inactive. Already 
 formed, and straining upon the start, they demanded the 
 signal for march. They saluted Vitellius by the name of 
 Germanicus ; that of Caesar he chose to decline, even after 
 his victory. Valens began his march : on that very day 
 an omen of happy import to himself and the army he led 
 presented itself an eagle, at the head of the lines, mea- 
 suring his flight by the movement of the soldiers, as if to 
 guide them on their way. Such were the shouts of joy, 
 while the bird proceeded in the same regular course un- 
 dismayed by the uproar, and still seeming to direct their 
 march, that the phenomenon was considered as a sure 
 prognostic of a signal victory. 
 
 63. The army advanced in good order towards the 
 state of the Treveri, as their friends and allies. At Divo- 
 durum (a city of the Mediomatrici) they received every 
 mark of kindness, but were seized with a sudden panic, so 
 extraordinary, that the soldiers fell upon the innocent in- 
 habitants sword in hand. In this dreadful outrage the 
 love of plunder had no share ; a sudden frenzy possessed 
 every mind ; and, as the cause was unknown, no remedy 
 could be applied. No less than four thousand men were 
 massacred ; and, if the entreaties of the general had not 
 at length prevailed, the whole city had been laid in blood.
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 437 
 
 The rest of Gaul was alarmed to such a degree, that, 
 wherever the army approached, whole cities, with the ma- 
 gistrates at their head, went forth in a suppliant manner 
 to sue for mercy. Women and children were prostrated 
 along the ways, and every other means of appeasing hostile 
 rage offered to them, not because they were at war, but 
 for the preservation of peace. 
 
 64. At the capital city of the Leucians, Valens received 
 intelligence of the murder of Galba, and the accession of 
 Otho. The news made no impression on the soldiers : 
 unmoved by joy or fear, they thought of nothing but the 
 spoils of war. The Gauls had now no motive for hesita- 
 tion : Otho and Vitellius were equally objects of their de- 
 testation ; but they also feared the latter. The Lingones, 
 a people well disposed towards Vitellius, were the next 
 they came to: they met with a friendly reception, and 
 sought to outdo each other in good conduct. But this 
 delightful intercourse was interrupted by the intemper- 
 ance of the cohort which had been separated, as already 
 mentioned, from the fourteenth legion, and by Valens 
 incorporated with his army. Opprobrious language 
 passed between the legionaries and the Batavians ; from 
 words contention arose: the soldiers entered into the dis- 
 pute, and joined the different parties. The quarrel rose 
 to such a pitch, that, if Valens had not interposed, and, by 
 making a few examples, recalled the Batavians to a sense of 
 their duty, a bloody battle must have been the consequence. 
 A pretext for falling on the ^Eduans was sought in vain 
 by the army ; but that people not only complied with the 
 demand of money and arms, but added a voluntary supply 
 of provisions. What was thus done by the ./Eduaris 
 through motives of fear, the people of Lyons performed 
 with joy. From that city the Italic legion and the Tauri- 
 nian cavalry were ordered to join the army. The eigh- 
 teenth cohort, which had been used to winter there, was 
 left in garrison. Manlius Valens at that time commanded 
 the Italic legion : he had rendered good service to the 
 cause, but he was not held in esteem by Vitellius. The 
 fact was, Fabius Valens, the commander in chief, had 
 given a secret stab to his reputation, and, that he might 
 be the less disposed to suspect his deception, he praised 
 him in public. 
 
 65. The late war had kindled afresh the deadly feud, 
 which had long subsisted between the people of Lyons 
 and the inhabitants of Vienne. In the various battles, 
 which they had fought with alternate success, and prodi- 
 gious slaughter, it was visible that so much animosity was
 
 438 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 not the mere effect of party rage in a contest between 
 Nero and Gnlba. Galba, taking occasion from his dis- 
 pleasure, had wrested their revenues out of the hands of 
 the people of Lyons, and confiscated them to the imperial 
 treasury, while their enemies enjoyed the favours of the 
 emperor. Hence a new source of jealousy and complaint, 
 and the natural boundary of a single river, was insufficient 
 to prevent their mingling in strife. Accordingly the citi- 
 zens of Lyons excited the legions against their rivals ; they 
 talked with the soldiers, man by man, and urged them to 
 the destruction of Vienne. " Lyons," they said, " had 
 been besieged by them ; they had taken up arms in the 
 cause of Vindex, and lately raised recruits to complete the 
 legions in the service of Galba." And when they had 
 laid these grounds for hatred, they showed them that 
 there was abundance of booty. They now no longer de- 
 pended on secret practices, but openly preferred their pe- 
 tition, imploring the army to march forth, the redressers of 
 wrong, and rase to the ground a city that had been the 
 nursery of war, a nucleus of foreigners and foes. " Lyons," 
 they said, " was a confederate colony, a portion of the 
 army, sharers in the good or evil fortune of the empire." 
 They implored the legions not to leave them, in the event 
 of a failure in the expedition, at the mercy of their impla- 
 cable enemies. 
 
 66. These means, and more of the same kind, had their 
 effect ; and the flame rose to such a height, that the com- 
 manders and other officers despaired of being able to ex- 
 tinguish it. When the inhabitants of Vienne, having no- 
 tice of their danger, came forth, bearing the suppliant 
 vestments and fillets. They met the Romans on their 
 march, and, clasping their weapons, their knees, and feet, 
 turned the soldiers from their purpose. Fabius Valens 
 added a gift of three hundred sesterces to each man. 
 Then the colony was respected for its worth and ancient 
 dignity. The general pleaded for the safety and preser- 
 vation of the inhabitants, and was heard with attention. 
 The state, however, was obliged to furnish a supply of 
 arms. Individuals assisted the soldiers from their private 
 and ordinary resources. The uniform report, however, 
 was, that the people purchased the protection of the com- 
 mander-in-chief with a large sum of money. Thus much 
 is certain, that, after being for a long time depressed with 
 poverty, he grew suddenly rich, but ill-concealed his 
 affluence. His appetites had been whetted by protracted 
 indigence, and now, when fortune smiled, he knew no 
 bounds. A beggar in his youth, he was, in old age, a
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 439 
 
 voluptuous prodigal. The army proceeded by slow 
 marches through the territory of the Allobrogians, and 
 thence to the Vocontians ; the general, during the whole 
 progress, making his market at every place, and selling 
 his favours for a sum of money. For a bribe he fixed the 
 length of each day's march, and shifted his camp for a 
 price, driving disgraceful bargains with the owners of the 
 lands and the magistrates of the several cities ; and that 
 with such cruelty, that firebrands were prepared to burn 
 the municipal town of Lucus, in the territory of the Vo- 
 contians, but he was softened by the payment of a sum of 
 money. Where the means of giving money were wanting, 
 prostitutions and adulteries were required to appease him. 
 In this manner Valens arrived at the Alps. 
 
 67. Caecina, in his progress, obtained a greater quantity 
 of booty, and shed more blood. The Helvetians provoked 
 his ferocious spirit. Originally a Gallic nation, they were 
 renowned in former times for their valour and exploits in 
 war. Of late years the history of their ancestors was 
 their only glory. Not having heard of the death of 
 Galba, they were unwilling to acknowledge Vitellius. 
 Occasion of quarrel was afforded by the rapacity and 
 eagerness of the twenty-first legion, who seized the money 
 sent to pay the troops in a fort, where the Helvetians had 
 immemorially maintained a garrison. The indignant 
 people intercepted a small party on their way to Pan- 
 nonia, with letters from the German army to the legions 
 stationed in that country, and detained in custody a cen- 
 turion with some of his soldiers. Caecina, who thirsted 
 for war, proceeded to punish each offence as it occurred, 
 without allowing time for repentance. He marched eagerly 
 against the Helvetians, and, having laid waste the country, 
 sacked a place, built, during the leisure of a long peace, in 
 the form of a municipal town, and, from the attraction 
 of its salubrious waters, much frequented. He also sent 
 despatches to the Khaetian auxiliaries, with orders to fall 
 upon the rear of the Helvetians, while their attention 
 was occupied by the legion. 
 
 68. The spirit of the Helvetians, fierce while the dan- 
 ger was at a distance, began to droop when it was present. 
 In the beginning of these hostilities they had chosen 
 Claudius Severus to command their forces; but they 
 neither knew the use of their arms, nor the methods of 
 discipline, nor were they able to act in concert with their 
 united force. The contest, they now perceived, must be 
 destruction, with a veteran army;- and, their fortifications 
 being everywhere in decay, to stand a siege was hopeless.
 
 440 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 One one side, Caecina advanced at the head of a powerful 
 army; on the other, were the cavalry and auxiliary forces 
 from Rhaetia, with the youth of that country, inured to 
 arms, and trained in habits of war. The country was 
 laid waste on all sides, and its inhabitants put to the 
 sword. The Helvetians betook themselves to flight ; and, 
 after shifting about between the two forces, many of 
 them wounded and straggling, they threw down their 
 arms, and fled for refuge to the mountain named Vocetius. 
 Forthwith a band of Thracians was sent, which dis- 
 lodged them ; when the Germans and Rhaetians, closely 
 pursuing them, slew them as they found them in the 
 woods, and in their very hiding places. Several thousands 
 were put to the sword, and as many sold to slavery. And 
 when, having spread desolation through the country, the 
 army marched to the siege of Aventicum, the capital city 
 of the Helvetians, the inhabitants sent deputies to sur- 
 render at discretion. Their submission was accepted. 
 Julius Alpinus, one of the leading chiefs, charged with 
 being the author of the war, was by order of Caecina 
 publicly executed. The rest were left to the mercy or 
 resentment of Vitellius. 
 
 69. The Helvetians sent their ambassadors to the new 
 emperor ; but which was most implacable, he or his army, 
 it is difficult to decide. The soldiers clamoured for the 
 utter destruction of the whole race. They brandished 
 their arms in the face of the ambassadors, and threatened 
 violence. Vitellius himself refrained not from abuse and 
 menaces. At length Claudius Corsus, one of the deputies, 
 a remarkably eloquent man, but concealing his oratorical 
 artifices under a well-acted trepidation, which made him 
 the more effective, melted the hearts of the soldiery, liable 
 as they are, like those of the common people generally, to 
 be diverted from their purpose by occurrences of the 
 moment, and as prone to compassion as they were before 
 extravagant in their rage. After torrents of tears, and 
 by importunately soliciting milder treatment, they obtained 
 
 - impunity, and saved their city from destruction. 
 
 70. Caecina, waiting for further instructions from Vi- 
 tellius, and, at the same time, making arrangements for 
 his passage over the Alps, halted for a few days in the 
 territory of the Helvetians. In that situation, he received 
 intelligence that the squadron of horse called Sylla's 
 squadron, at that time quartered on the banks of the Po, 
 had sworn fidelity to Vitellius. They had formerly served 
 under Vitellius, when he was the proconsular governor of 
 Africa. Nero, when he projected an expedition into
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 441 
 
 Egypt, ordered them to sail for that country ; but, being 
 soon after alarmed by the commotions stirred up by Vin- 
 dex, he called them back to Italy, where they remained 
 from that time. Their officers, unacquainted with Otho, 
 and closely connected with Vitellius, espoused the interest 
 of the latter. By representing to the men the strength of 
 the legions then on their march to the invasion of Italy, 
 and by extolling the valour of the German armies, they 
 drew the whole squadron into their party. As some proof 
 of their zeal for their new prince, they attracted to his in- 
 terest the chief municipal towns on the other side of the 
 Po, namely, Mediolanum, Novaria, Eporedia, and Ver- 
 cellae. Of this fact Chechia was apprised by despatches 
 from the officers. But a single squadron, he knew, was 
 not sufficient to defend so large a tract of country. In 
 order to reinforce them, he sent forward the cohorts of 
 Gaul, Lusitania, and Britain, with the succours from Ger- 
 many, and the squadron of horse called the Ala Petrina. 
 How he himself should pass into Italy, was his next con- 
 sideration. His first plan was to march over the Rhaetian 
 mountains, in order to make a descent into Noricum, 
 where Petronius Urbicus, the governor of the province, 
 supposed to be a partisan in Otho's service, was busy in 
 collecting forces, and destroying the bridges over the rivers. 
 But this enterprise was soon relinquished. The detach- 
 ment already sent forward might be cut off, and, after all, 
 the secure possession of Italy was the important object. 
 The issue of the war, wherever decided, would draw after 
 it all inferior places, and Noricum would fall, by conse- 
 quence, into the hands of the conqueror. He therefore 
 ordered the reserves to proceed over the Penine heights, 
 and marched the heavy armed legions over the Alps, 
 through all the rigours of the winter season. 
 
 71. Otho, in the mean time, to the surprise of all, 
 ceased to loiter in voluptuousness and inglorious ease ; he 
 postponed his pleasures, suppressed his luxury, and 
 framed his whole deportment suitably to the dignity of 
 empire. And yet the change created increased terror: men 
 knew that his virtues were counterfeited, and they dreaded 
 a return of his former vices. He ordered Marius Celsus, 
 the consul elect, whom he had put in irons in order to 
 rescue him from the soldiers, to appear before him in the 
 Capitol. To acquire the fame of clemency, by releasing a 
 man of illustrious character, and well known to be an 
 enemy to Otho and his party, was the object of his ambi- 
 tion. Celsus, with unshaken constancy, confessed the 
 crime of adhering faithfully to Galba, and challenged his
 
 442 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 gratitude for the example he had set. Otho, not because 
 he forgave him, but lest his enemy should suspect the sin- 
 cerity of his reconciliation, at once received Celsus among 
 his intimate friends, and, in a short time afterwards, ap- 
 pointed him one of his generals to conduct the war ; and 
 Celsus, as it were by a fatality, continued strictly faith- 
 ful to Otho, and thus brought ruin upon himself. The 
 clemency of the prince gave great satisfaction to the lead- 
 ing men at Rorne ; the populace applauded, and even 
 with the soldiers, who admired the virtue which had ex- 
 cited their anger, it was not ill-received. 
 
 72. The joy excited on this occasion was followed by 
 an event no less acceptable, but for reasons of a different 
 nature. Sophonius Tigellinus, a man of low parentage, 
 stained in his youth with the worst impurities, and in his 
 advanced years, abandoned to lechery. Having been 
 rapidly elevated, by the help of his vices, to the command, 
 first of the city cohorts, afterwards of the praetorian 
 guards, and other offices due to virtue only, he soon gave 
 way to cruelty, then to avarice and the enormities of ma- 
 turer years. Having gained an entire ascendant over the 
 affections of Nero, he was, in some instances, the adviser 
 of the horrors committed by that prince, and in others the 
 chief actor, without the knowledge of his master, whom, in 
 the end, he deserted and betrayed. Hence it was that the 
 blood of none was ever demanded with such importunate 
 clamour by the men who detested the memory of Nero, 
 and those who regretted him, though under opposite 
 feelings. During the short reign of Galba he lived secure 
 under the protection of Titus Vinius, who alleged that he 
 had saved the life of his daughter; and so he undoubtedly 
 had : but humanity could not have been his motive, so 
 much innocent blood as he had shed; but to secure a 
 refuge thereafter. Such, at all times, is the policy of the 
 worst of men : placing no trust in the continuance of their 
 present prosperity, they dread a reverse of fortune, and lay 
 up for themselves in private gratitude a refuge against 
 public odium. The consequence is, that they are wholly 
 unconcerned about innocence, and look only to the reci- 
 procation of impunity. But the friendship of Vinius, who 
 was still remembered with detestation, was an additional 
 spur to the populace. They crowded together from all 
 quarters 4 they surrounded the palace ; they filled the 
 forum ; and in the circus and the theatre, where licentious- 
 ness is most apt to show itself, they clamoured, with a 
 degree of violence little short of sedition, for the punish- 
 ment of a vile malefactor. Tigellinus was then at the
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 443 
 
 baths of Sinuessa. Orders were sent to him to put a 
 period to his life. He received the fatal news in a circle 
 of his concubines ; he took leave with tenderness ; and 
 after mutual embraces, and other unseemly delays, he 
 cut his throat with a razor ; by the pusillanimity of his 
 last moments aggravating even the infamy of his former 
 life. 
 
 73. About the same time, the execution of Calvia Cris- 
 pinilla was demanded by the public voice : but by various 
 artifices, in which the duplicity of the prince covered him 
 with dishonour, she was saved from danger. She had 
 been, in the reign of Nero, the professed teacher of la- 
 scivious pleasures, and, in the various scenes of that em- 
 peror, the caterer for his appetites. She passed after- 
 wards into Africa, and, having instigated Cloclius Macer 
 to revolt, was known to have been an accomplice in the 
 plot to cause a famine in the city of Rome. But being 
 married soon after to a man of consular rank, and, by that 
 connection, gaining a powerful interest, during the reigns 
 of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, she lived in perfect secu- 
 rity. In the following reign, her riches and her want of 
 children placed her in a flourishing state : two circum- 
 stances, which, in good as well as evil times, are sure to 
 have weight. 
 
 74. Otho, in the mean time, sent frequent letters to Vi- 
 tellius, in the alluring style of female persuasion ; he offered 
 him money, favour, and whatever retreat he chose for his 
 voluptuous enjoyments. Vitellius offered similar terms ; at 
 first in a soothing strain : and both displaying the most 
 absurd and degrading hypocrisy. Then in a tone of angry 
 altercation, they charged each other with criminal plea- 
 sures and flagitious deeds. Both with truth. Otho re- 
 called the deputies, who had been sent by Galba, and, in 
 their room, despatched others to the German army, to the 
 Italic legion, and the troops quartered at Lyons, with in- 
 structions to negotiate in the name of the senate. The 
 men employed in this embassy tarried with Vitellius, and, 
 by their prompt compliance, left little room to think that 
 they were detained by force. Under pretence of doing 
 honour to the embassy, Otho had sent a detachment of 
 the praetorian guards. Not suffering them to mix with 
 the soldiers, Vitellius ordered them to return without 
 delay. Fabius Valens took the opportunity to write, in 
 the name of the German army, to the praetorian guards. 
 His letters, in a style of magnificence, set forth the 
 strength of the party, and, at the same time, offered terms 
 of accord. He condemned the forward zeal, with which
 
 Ill THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 they presumed to transfer to Otlio an empire which had 
 been so long before assigned to Vitellius. 
 
 75. He so mingled promises with threats as to treat 
 the praetorians as men unequal in the war, while assuring 
 them that they would lose nothing by peace. These 
 letters, however, were without effect. The praetorians 
 continued firm in their duty, But secret emissaries 
 were sent by Otho into Germany, and others hy Vi- 
 tellius to Rome. Both parties missed their aim. Those 
 of Vitellius escaped unhurt amidst so vast a concourse of 
 people, where all were strangers to each other ; while, on 
 the other hand, in a camp where all were known to each 
 other, the men employed by Otho were soon discovered 
 by the novelty of their faces. Vitellius sent letters to 
 Titianus, the brother of Otho, threatening, if any violence 
 was offered to his mother or his children, to make re- 
 prisals, and put both him and his son to death. Both 
 families remained unhurt. As long as Otho lived, fear 
 might be the motive : Vitellius, as conqueror, obtained 
 the praise of acting from clemency. 
 
 76. The first occurrence that inspired Otho with confi- 
 dence in his cause, was an account from Illyricum that the 
 legions of Dalmatia, of Pannonia, and Maesia, had de- 
 clared in his favour. Advices from Spain brought the 
 like intelligence ; and in a public edict, honourable men- 
 tion was made of Cluvius Rufus, the governor of the pro- 
 vince ; but immediately after, it was ascertained that Spain 
 had gone over to Vitellius. Not even the people of A<jui- 
 taine, though, under the influence of Julius Cordus, they 
 had sworn obedience to Otho, continued long firm. Every- 
 where affection and truth were banished. Fear, and the 
 necessity of the times, compelled men to shift from side to 
 side. The same principle of fear attached Narbon Gaul to 
 Vitellius. A party in force, and near at hand, found no 
 difficulty in bringing them over. The distant provinces, 
 and all places separated by the sea, adhered to Otho, not 
 from regard for his party, but because there was vast 
 weight in the name of the city, and in the assumption of 
 the authority of the senate. Besides this, Otho, being 
 the first announced in foreign parts, had pre-occcupied 
 their minds. The army in Judaea under Vespasian, and 
 that in Syria under Mucianus, swore fidelity to Otho. 
 Egypt, and all the provinces eastward, acknowledged his 
 authority. The same submission prevailed in Africa, the 
 people of Carthage having set the example. Without 
 waiting for the authority of Vipsanius Apronianus, the 
 proconsul, a public treat was given by Crescens, one of
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 445 
 
 Nero's freedmen (for it is usual in evil times for such 
 characters as Crescens to put themselves forward in public 
 affairs), in testimony of their joy at the recent succession ; 
 and many other things were done by the populace in a 
 premature and intemperate manner. The rest of Africa 
 followed the example of Carthage. 
 
 77. In this posture of affairs, while the armies and the 
 several provinces embraced opposite interests, it was 
 evident that Vitellius, to secure his title, had nothing left 
 but the decision of the sword. Otho, in the mean time, 
 remained at Rome, discharging all the functions of the 
 sovereign power, as if he was established in profound tran- 
 quillity. His conduct, in some instances, was such as be- 
 came the dignity of the state ; but his measures, for the 
 most part, were hastily adopted, the mere expedients of 
 the day. He named himself and his brother Titianus 
 joint consuls, to continue in office till the calends of 
 March. For the two following months, with a view to 
 conciliate the German army, he appointed Verginius, and 
 gave him for his colleague Pompeius Vopiscus. For the 
 nomination of the latter he pretended motives of friend- 
 ship ; but, as. men of penetration thought, his real view 
 was to pay court to the people of Vienne. With regard 
 to future consuls, no alteration was made in the arrange- 
 ment settled by Nero or by Galba. Caelius Sabinus and 
 his brother Flavins were to succeed for the months of May 
 and June. From the first of July to September, Arrius 
 Antoninus and Marius Celsus were to be in office. Nor 
 did even Vitellius, after his victory, distrub this order of 
 succession. Otho thought proper to grant the augural 
 and pontifical dignities, as the summit of civil honours, to 
 senators grown grey in public stations ; and as a solace to 
 the young patricians lately recalled from banishment, he 
 recompensed them with the sacerdotal honours which had 
 been enjoyed by their ancestors. Cadius Rufus, Pedius 
 Blsesus, and Saevinus Pomtinus, who under Claudius or 
 Nero had been charged with extortion, and expelled the 
 senate, were restored to their rank. In pardoning them it 
 was thought proper to give the name of treason to what 
 was in fact avarice ; for such was the odium that attached 
 to the law of treason at that time, that even good laws 
 were defeated under it. 
 
 78. Otho, by similar acts of liberality, essayed to work 
 upon the minds of men in the cities and provinces. To 
 the colonies of Hispalis and Emerita, he added a number 
 of families : the Lingones were honoured with the privi-
 
 446 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 leges of Roman citizens, and to the province of Baetica all 
 the Moorish cities were annexed. The new codes of laws 
 given to Cappadocia and Africa, were rather the visions 
 of a moment than lasting possessions. Even while occu- 
 pied in these measures, for which an apology might be 
 found in the force of present circumstances, and consider- 
 ations of urgent importance, he was not forgetful of his 
 amours, but procured the restoration of Poppaaa's statues 
 by a decree of the senate. There is reason to think, that, 
 with a view to popularity, he intended to celebrate the 
 memory of Nero with public honours. Many were for 
 erecting the statues of that emperor, and even proposed it 
 as a public measure. The populace and the soldiers, as 
 if they meant to decorate their emperor with additional 
 splendour, saluted him by the title of NERO OTHO. He 
 himself held the honour in abeyance ; perhaps unwilling 
 to reject it, perhaps ashamed to accept it. 
 
 79. The public mind being now intent on a civil war, 
 foreign affairs were neglected. Emboldened by this 
 state of things, the Rhoxolanians, a people of Sarmatia, 
 who in the preceding winter had cut off two entire co- 
 horts, and thence conceived high hopes, made an irrup- 
 tion into Maesia, with nine thousand horse. Naturally 
 presumptuous, and elated with their success, they were 
 more intent on plunder than fighting. They prowled 
 about in quest of prey, without order, or apprehension of 
 an enemy, when, on a sudden, they found themselves 
 hemmed in by the third legion and their auxiliaries. The 
 Romans advanced in order of battle. The Sarmatians, 
 overloaded with booty, were taken by surprise. On a 
 damp and slippery soil, the swiftness of their horses was of 
 no use. Unable to retreat, they were cut to pieces, more 
 like men bound in fetters, than soldiers armed for the field 
 of battle. It may seem strange, but it is not less true, 
 that the courage of the Sarmatians has no inward prin- 
 ciple, but depends altogether upon external circumstances. 
 In an engagement with the infantry, nothing can be more 
 dastardly ; in an onset of the cavalry, they are almost ir- 
 resistible. But on this occasion, the day being rainy, and 
 there being a thaw, neither their weapons, long spears, 
 nor sabres of an enormous size, which they wield with 
 both hands, were of any service, from the slipping of their 
 horses and the weight of their coats of mail ; for their 
 chiefs wear coats of mail, formed with plates of iron, or 
 the tough hides of animals, impenetrable to the enemy, 
 but to themselves an incumbrance so unwieldy, that he
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 447 
 
 who falls in battle is never able to rise again. They were 
 also overwhelmed by the depth and softness of the snow. 
 The Romans, unincumbered by their breastplates, and 
 galling their enemy with their missive weapons or their 
 lances, and, when occasion served, coming to close quar- 
 ters, smote the defenceless Sarmatians with their light 
 swords, for the Sarmatians are not accustomed to protect 
 themselves with shields. The few who escaped from the 
 slaughter fled for refuge to their fens and marshes, and 
 there died of their wounds, or perished under the in- 
 clemency of the season. An account of this transaction 
 being received at Rome, a triumphal statue was decreed 
 to Marcus Aponius then governor of Massia. Fulvius 
 Aurelius, Julianus Titius, and Numisius Lupus, all three 
 commanders of legions, obtained the consular ornaments : 
 while Otho was delighted with the occurrence, and as- 
 sumed the merit of the victory, boasting that he too was 
 fortunate in war, and that, by his generals and his armies, 
 he had aggrandised the commonwealth. 
 
 80. Meanwhile, from a cause of a trifling nature, and 
 threatening no kind of danger, a violent sedition well nigh 
 involved the city in ruin. The seventeenth cohort, then 
 quartered at Ostia, had orders to remove to Rome. The 
 care of providing them with arms was committed to Varius 
 Crispinus, a tribune of the praetorian bands. That officer, 
 to execute his orders with the less noise, opened the 
 magazine of arms, and ordered the waggons of the cohort 
 to be loaded at the close of day. The lateness of the hour 
 filled the men with suspicion ; the intention seemed dark 
 and dangerous, and the affectation of secrecy had the 
 effect of producing tumult. The soldiers were in liquor, 
 and the sight of their arms suggested a desire to use 
 them. They murmured, they complained; they charged 
 the tribunes and centurions with treachery, declaring 
 aloud, that a dark conspiracy was formed, with intention 
 to arm the slaves and domestics of the senators against 
 the life of Otho. Some were stupified with liquor, and 
 comprehended nothing : the profligate availed themselves 
 of the opportunity to commit plunder ; and the multitude, 
 as usual, were ready to mix in any sudden commotion. 
 Those who regarded discipline and good order were un- 
 distinguished in the dark. The tribune who attempted 
 to restrain their fury, and the strictest of the centurions, 
 were murdered on the spot. The soldiers seized their 
 arms; they mounted their horses, and, entering the city 
 sword in hand, rushed in a body to the imperial palace. 
 
 81. Otho was engaged at a grand entertainment, to
 
 448 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 which he had invited the most distinguished of both sexes. 
 A sudden terror seized the whole company. Was it an 
 accidental fray among the soldiers, or the perfidy of the 
 emperor? would it be more dangerous to stay and be 
 taken; or fly and disperse? Now they made a show of 
 resolution ; now their fears showed themselves : at the 
 same time fixing their eyes on Otho. As usual when sus- 
 picion is awakened in the mind, they were afraid of Otho, 
 while he stood trembling for himself; alarmed as much on 
 account of the danger which threatened the senate as his 
 own, he ordered the two praetorian commanders to go 
 forth, in order to appease the tumult, and advised his 
 guests to depart as quickly as possible. Then indeed the 
 magistrates threw aside the ensigns of their office, on all 
 hands, and dispensed with their friends and their attend- 
 ants. Old men and women of distinction wandered about 
 in the dark, they knew not whither. Few dared to venture 
 towards their own habitations. The greatest part sought 
 precarious shelter at the houses of their friends and the 
 meanest of their dependents. 
 
 82. The madness of the soldiers was not to be con- 
 trolled. They burst the palace gates, and rushed forward 
 to the banqueting-room, demanding a sight of Otho. 
 Julius Martialis, one of the tribunes, and Vitellius Satur- 
 ninus, the praafect of the legion, in opposing the torrent 
 were both wounded. Nothing was to be seen but arms, 
 and nothing heard but threats, now against the centurions, 
 and, at times, against the whole body of the senate : the 
 soldiers, in a state of frantic -alarm, of which they knew 
 not the cause, having no particular victim in view, de- 
 manded liberty to slaughter indiscriminately. At length 
 Otho, forgetting the majesty of empire, stood upon his 
 couch, and by tears and supplications succeeded, but with 
 great difficulty, in restraining them. The men retired to 
 the camp with a sullen spirit, and not without guilt. On 
 the following day Rome had the appearance of a city taken 
 by assault. The houses were shut, the streets deserted, 
 the populace in a general panic. The soldiers wandered 
 about with eyes fixed on the earth, discontented rather 
 than repentant. The two praefects, Licinius Proculus and 
 Plotius Firmus, went round to the several companies, and 
 harangued the men, each according to his own peculiar 
 temper, in soothing terms, or in a style of reproach. A 
 distribution of five thousand sesterces to each man con- 
 cluded the business. The tumult over, Otho ventured to 
 enter the camp. The tribunes and centurions gathered 
 round him, but without the military ornaments of their
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 449 
 
 rank, praying to be dismissed from the service, that they 
 might live in ease and safety. The soldiers felt the re- 
 quest as a reproach. They expressed their willingness to 
 return to their duty, and, of their own motion, desired 
 to see the authors of the insurrection brought to punish- 
 ment. 
 
 83. In this conjunctui'e, when the times were big with 
 danger, and a discordant soldiery heightened the distrac- 
 tion ; when all the best men called for a reform of the 
 present disorders, but the common herd and the majority, 
 who liked nothing so well as tumult and insurrections, 
 under the conduct of an ambitious leader, might be more 
 easily impelled to a civil war, in a scene of tumult and ra- 
 pine ; Otho, reflecting that power obtained by guilt is not 
 to be maintained by a sudden transition to order, and the 
 rigour of ancient manners, and yet distressed at the 
 danger that hung over the city and the Roman senate, 
 after weighing the matter in all its bearings, delivered 
 himself to the following effect : " I come not now, my fel- 
 low-soldiers, to excite your zeal for me, nor to add new 
 ardour to your courage by exhortation : of both, to your 
 honour be it spoken, you have enough, and to spare. 
 But I come to request that you would moderate the im- 
 petuosity of your courage, and put limits to your affection 
 for me. In the late tumult, it was not the love of plunder, 
 nor ill-will, that impelled you: motives from which dis- 
 cord and mutiny have broken out in various armies. Nor 
 was it the fear of danger, or so much as a wish to shrink 
 from your duty. It was your excessive regard for me, 
 which gave you up to the impulse of passion, rather than 
 to prudence : for where judgment does not direct, it often 
 happens that the most honourable motives of action pro- 
 duce fatal results. We are going forth to a war. And 
 must all intelligence be communicated to the army ? Must 
 every secret be disclosed? And must councils of war be 
 held in a public assembly of the soldiers ? Does the rea- 
 son of things, and the opportunity, which must be seized 
 at once or lost for ever, allow such a mode of proceeding. 
 It is as fitting that the soldier should be ignorant of some 
 things, as that he should know others. The authority of 
 generals, and the strictness of discipline, are such, that 
 even the tribunes and the centurions must often receive 
 their orders without a reason assigned. If every subaltern 
 may discuss the reasons of his orders, discipline is at an 
 end, and the authority of the commander falls to the 
 ground. And shall the soldier, even at such a junc- 
 ture, seize his arms in the dead of night ? Shall one 
 
 G S
 
 450 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 or two drunken men (in last night's frenzy I do not be- 
 lieve there were more) imbrue their hands in the blood of 
 a centurion and a tribune, and rush into the pavilion of 
 their general? 
 
 84. " You, my fellow-soldiers, have transgressed thus 
 in your zeal for me. But amidst that general hurry and 
 confusion, and in the gloom of midnight darkness, an op- 
 portunity might have been given for an attack on me. 
 Give Vitellius and his satellites the power of choosing, 
 and what greater curse could they invoke? what calamity 
 could they call down upon us, so much to be dreaded, as 
 a turbulent and factious spirit, and all the evils of discord 
 and sedition ? that the soldier should refuse to obey his 
 centurion ; the centurion his tribune ; and that hence the 
 cavalry and the foot soldiers, without order or distinction, 
 should rush into destruction? It is implicit obedience, 
 rather than wrangling about orders, that gives to military 
 operations their energy. The army that shows itself, in 
 time of peace, the most quiet and orderly, is sure to be 
 the most formidable in the day of battle. Let it be yours 
 to arm in the cause of your country, and to face the enemy 
 with heroic valour; and leave to me the direction and 
 guidance of your courage. The guilt of last night extends 
 to a few only ; two only shall expiate the offence. And 
 you, the rest, bury in oblivion the horrors of that shameful 
 tumult; and may no other army hear those dreadful im- 
 precations uttered against a Roman senate. That vene- 
 rable body, the head of the empire, and the ornaments of 
 all the provinces, not even those Germans, whom, above 
 all others, Vitellius is exciting against us, would dare to 
 demand for punishment. And could any of the sons of 
 Italy, and the genuine youth of Rome, demand for blood 
 and slaughter, an order, by whose splendour and renown 
 we dazzle the low and obscure party of Vitellius? Some 
 states, it is true, have been induced to join his standard ; 
 he has the appearance of an army ; but the senate is on 
 our side. The commonwealth is with us ; our enemies 
 are the enemies of Rome. And when I mention Rome, 
 do you imagine that it consists in walls, and buildings, and 
 a pile of stones? Those mute and senseless edifices may 
 moulder away, and rise again ; but the stability of empire, 
 the peace of nations, your fate and mine, are established 
 on the safety of the senate. Romulus, the father and 
 founder of the city, instituted, with solemn auspices, that 
 sacred order. From that time till the establishment of the 
 Caesars, it has been preserved inviolate ; and as we re- 
 ceived it from our ancestors, let us transmit it to our pos-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 451 
 
 terity : foivas from the people at large the senate is sup- 
 plied, so from the senate you derive your princes." 
 
 85. This speech, adapted as it was to rebuke and soothe 
 the irritated soldiery, as well as the moderation of the 
 prince, who punished only two of the mutineers, gave 
 general satisfaction ; and those who were too fierce to be 
 controlled, were quieted for the present. Rome, however, 
 was not in a state of tranquillity. A constant din of arms 
 was heard, and warlike preparations were seen in every 
 quarter. The soldiers did not, as before, riot in tumultu- 
 ous bodies ; but, being dispersed throughout the city, they 
 insinuated themselves into, houses in disguise, where they 
 watched, with malignant purpose, the motions of all, who, 
 by their nobility, their wealth, or their talents, were emi- 
 nent enough to be objects of calumny. A report prevailed 
 at the same time, that Vitellius had a number of emissaries 
 dispersed among the populace, to act as spies, and observe 
 the state of parties. Hence jealousy, mistrust, and fear. 
 No man thought himself safe under his own roof. Abroad 
 and under the eye of the public the alarm was still greater. 
 Whatever was the rumour of the day, all were obliged to 
 set their faces for the occasion : if bad, they were afraid of 
 seeming to despond ; and, if propitious, unwilling to be 
 thought backward in demonstrations of joy. The fathers 
 assembled in the senate-house had a hard task to observe 
 the due mean under all circumstances, lest their silence 
 might be thought sullen discontent, and liberty of speech 
 excite jealousy. Otho too, so lately a subject, and a 
 flatterer himself, was acquainted with the arts of adulation. 
 The fathers, therefore, tortured their expression, and di- 
 versified them in all manner of ways, while calling Vitellius 
 a public enemy and a parricide. Men, who looked for- 
 ward to their own security, were content with hackneyed 
 declamation ; others poured out well-merited invectives, 
 but in the midst of noise and clamour, and when a number 
 were speaking at once, or they rendered themselves un- 
 intelligible by a confused torrent of words. 
 
 86. A number of prodigies, announced from different 
 quarters, aggravated the panic. The goddess of victory, 
 in the vestibule of the Capitol, let the reins of two horses, 
 harnessed to her chariot, fall from her hand. A form of 
 more than human size was seen to issue from the chapel 
 of Juno. In an island in the Tiber, the statue of Julius 
 Caesar, without any apparent cause, on a day perfectly 
 serene and calm, turned round from the west to the east. 
 In Etruria an ox was said to have spoken ; animals 
 brought forth monstrous births; and to these were added 
 
 Qg*
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 a variety of preternatural appearances, such as in rude 
 and barbarous ages were observed even in profound peace, 
 though of late years they are only heard of in a time of pub- 
 lic distress. But the great source of alarm, was an inunda- 
 tion of the Tiber, coupling as it did a present calamity with 
 an omen of future ill. The waters swelled above their 
 banks, and overflowed the adjacent country ; the Sublician 
 bridge was carried away by the flood ; and the ruins that 
 fell in, obstructing the course of the river, the torrent was 
 thrown back, so that not only the level parts of the city, 
 but even the higher grounds, where no such casualty was 
 apprehended, were covered with water. The people in 
 the streets were carried away, and numbers were cut off 
 in their shops, and in their beds. The common people 
 were exposed to famine, want of employment, and scarcity 
 of the materials of subsistence. The stagnant waters 
 sapped the foundation of the plebeian's houses, and when 
 the flood returned into its channel, they fell. The sensa- 
 tion produced by this disaster was no sooner over, than a 
 new occurrence spread a general terror. Otho was pre- 
 paring to set out on his expedition : his way was over the 
 field of Mars, and the Flaminian road ; but both places 
 were impassable. This circumstance, though accidental, 
 or the effect of natural causes, was magnified into a pro- 
 digy, by which the gods denounced the slaughter of ar- 
 mies, and a train of public calamities. 
 
 87. Having purified the city, and weighed the various 
 plans for the conduct of the war, as the Penine and the 
 Cottian Alps, with all the passes into the Guals, were in 
 the possession of Vitellius and his armies, Otho resolved 
 to make a descent on Narbon Gaul, with a fleet well 
 manned, and firmly attached to his party; for having 
 formed into a legion all who survived the massacre at the 
 Milvian bridge, and had been, by Galba's orders, thrown 
 into prison, he had inspired all the others with the like 
 hopes of preferment. To his fleet he added the city co- 
 horts, and a considerable detachment from the pra?torian 
 guards, the strength and flower of his army ; and adapted 
 to assist the counsels, and keep an eye upon the fidelity 
 of the generals themselves. The conduct of the expedi- 
 tion was committed to Antonius Novellus and Suedius 
 Clemens, centurions of principal rank, and ^Emilius Pa- 
 censis, a tribune degraded by Galba, whom he had re- 
 stored to his rank. A freedman, Oscus, directed the ope- 
 rations of the fleet, having been solicited to act as a spy 
 on better men than himself. The horse and infantry were 
 put under the command of Suetonius Paulinus, Marius
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 453 
 
 
 
 Celsus, and Annius Gallus. But in Licinius Proculus, 
 praefect of the praetorians, Otho reposed his chief confi- 
 dence. This officer, in time of peace, discharged his du- 
 ties with ability, but he had seen no service; and by plac- 
 ing in an invidious light the several talents of the generals, 
 the authority of Paulinus, the ardour of Celsus, and the 
 judgment of Gallus, this depraved and crafty character 
 rose superior to men of unassuming worth ; a task very 
 easy to be performed. 
 
 88. About that time Cornelius Dolabella was, by his 
 order, conveyed under a guard to the Aquinian colony, 
 to be kept out of the way in undisguised but not close 
 confinement. His only crime was the antiquity of his 
 family, and his affinity to Galba. Several magistrates, 
 and others of consular rank, had it in command to attend 
 Otho on his expedition, not to assist in the war by their 
 counsels or their valour, but to swell the pomp of the em- 
 peror's retinue. In the number was Lucius Vitellius, who 
 was suffered to mix with the rest of the train undistin- 
 guished either as the brother of one emperor, or the 
 enemy of another. During these preparations, Rome pre- 
 sented a scene of solicitude and confusion. No order of 
 men was exempt from fear or anger. The principal sena- 
 tors, enfeebled by age, or enervated by a long peace; the 
 nobility, sunk in sloth and unwarlike habits; the Roman 
 knights, without any military experience the more they 
 assumed an air of confidence, the more clearly their fears 
 were seen. Some, on the contrary, bought with vain and 
 senseless ostentation the most splendid armour, horses for 
 parade, all the conveniences of a luxurious table, and in- 
 centives to inordinate appetite, as if such implements were 
 a necessary part of their camp-equipage. The wise 
 and moderate thought of nothing but their own safety 
 and the public welfare; while the vain and heartless, 
 whose views did not extend to remote consequences, filled 
 their minds with chimerical expectations; and all who 
 were bankrupts both in fame and fortune, hoped to find 
 in the distractions of their country that security, which in 
 quiet times, they had never known. 
 
 89. The lower orders and the people, though from their 
 vast numbers exempt from public cares, began, Tiowever, 
 to feel the ill effects of war. They saw the whole revenue 
 exhausted in the service of the army; they laboured under 
 a scarcity of provisions, whereas in the troubles stirred up 
 by Vindex, those inconveniences had not extended to the 
 people, as the city was tranquil, and that commotion was 
 in the remote parts of Gaul, a foreign affair between the
 
 454 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 
 
 legions and the provincial insurgents. For from the time 
 when Augustus established the power of the Caesars, the 
 wars which the Roman people carried on, brought honour 
 and solicitude to one person only. Under Tiberius and 
 Caligula, the evils of peace were the dreaded calamities. 
 The attempt of Scribonianus to shake the authority of Clau- 
 dius was crushed as soon as discovered. Nero was undone 
 by rumours and vague intelligence, not by force of arms. 
 In the present juncture the pressure was felt at home. The 
 fleets and legions, and, contrary to the usual practice, the 
 praetorian bands and city cohorts, were obliged to take the 
 field. The east and west, and the provinces in rear of the 
 leading chiefs, were up in arms; and, under better gene- 
 rals, there were ample materials for a long and difficult 
 war. When Otho was setting out, a scruple was started 
 to deter him from proceeding, till the ceremony of depo- 
 siting the sacred shields was performed. He repudiated 
 all idea of delay as having been the ruin of Nero, and 
 would be -so to himself. Caecina by this time had passed 
 the Alps ; a motive which stimulated him irresistibly to 
 exertion. 
 
 90. On the day preceding the ides of March, Otho 
 commended the care of the commonwealth to the wisdom 
 of the fathers, and ordered the property of such as had 
 been recalled from banishment, since the death of Nero, to 
 be restored to the respective owners ; an act in strict con- 
 formity with justice, in appearance munificent, but of 
 little use, as the public officers had long since seized the 
 whole. Otho then harangued the people; he talked in a 
 pompous style of the consent of the senate and people in 
 his favour, and of the majesty of the Roman citizens ; but 
 mentioned the adverse party in terms of mitigated cen- 
 sure, imputing to the legions error in judgment rather 
 than a turbulent spirit. Of Vitellius he made no mention; 
 perhaps from motives of delicacy, or perhaps the writer 
 of the speech, looking forward to his own safety, abstained 
 from invective against Vitellius. For as in all military 
 operations Suetonius Paulinus and Marius Celsus were 
 Otho's advisers; so in matters of civil administration, he 
 availed himself of the talents of Galerius Trachalus. There 
 were too some who recognised the peculiar style of forensic 
 eloquence, much in vogue at the bar, and calculated to 
 fill the ear from its copious and high-sounding character. 
 In conformity with the prevailing spirit of adulation, the 
 populace received him with acclamations, and expressions 
 of extravagant and hollow applause. They vied with each 
 other in demonstrations of zeal and invocation of bless-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. I. 455 
 
 ings, as though Caesar the dictator, or Augustus the em- 
 peror, were the object of their attentions : nor were they 
 influenced by fear or love of him, but by an inordinate 
 passion for slavery ; and, after the manner of domestic 
 slaves, each was stimulated by selfish motives, and no 
 longer felt any concern for the honour of the community. 
 Otho, on his departure, left the preservation of the peace 
 of the city, and the administration of the government, to 
 the discretion of his brother, Salvius Titianus.
 
 THE 
 HISTORY OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 IN a distant part of the world fortune was now corr- 
 certing the commencement of that series of events* that 
 originated a dynasty, under which the commonwealth ex- 
 perienced the extreme vicissitudes of the highest happi- 
 ness and the direst affliction ; and the princes of which en- 
 joyed supreme felicity, or met with a disastrous fate. 
 While Galba still possessed the sovereign power, Titus 
 Vespasian, by order of his father, set out from Judaea, for 
 the purpose, as he stated, of paying respect to the em- 
 peror, and because he was arrived at years to begin the 
 career of public honours : but the common people, who 
 delight in surmises, believed he came to be adopted heir 
 to the empire, and circulated the rumour. The advanced 
 age of Galba, his want of issue, and the busy spirit of the 
 populace in fixing upon a number of persons, as long as 
 no one was selected, added to the probability of the re- 
 port ; which derived additional credibility from the genius 
 of Titus himself, which was adequate to the highest ele- 
 vation ; from the grace and majestic style of his person ; 
 the flourishing state of Vespasian ; prophetic responses ; 
 and even casual circumstances, which are regarded as 
 omens of an event which the mind is previously inclined 
 to believe. In the city of Corinth in Achaia, Titus re- 
 ceived intelligence of the death of Galba, and assurances 
 from persons who had come there, that Vitellius was in 
 motion at the head of an army. He carefully revolved 
 the matter in his mind, and summoning a council of his 
 most confidential friends, weighed all the circumstances 
 of his predicament on either supposition. " If he pro- 
 ceeded to Rome, the homage intended for a prince now no 
 more, would have no merit with his successor ; and to re- 
 main a hostage in the custody of Otho, or Vitellius, would, 
 most probably, be his lot. On the other hand, if he re- 
 turned, he must inevitably give umbrage to the con- 
 queror; and yet, as it happened while the issue of the 
 war was uncertain, and especially if Vespasian should join 
 the party, his son would be excused. But if Vespasian
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 457 
 
 should put in a claim for the government, he must pease 
 to think of offences amidst the cares of war." 
 
 2. After oscillating for some time between hope and 
 fear, in consequence of these and similar reflections, he 
 yielded to hope. A change so sudden was by some im- 
 puted to his love of queen Berenice. It is true he was 
 not indifferent to her; but it interfered not with his du- 
 ties. Titus in his youth indulged in pleasures, and was 
 more distinguished for self-control in his own than in his 
 father's reign. He set sail from Corinth, and after steer- 
 ing along the coast of Achaia and Asia, which lay to the 
 left, he directed his course towards Rhodes and Cyprus. 
 From those islands he went across the open sea to the 
 coast of Syria. At Cyprus curiosity led him to visit the 
 temple of the Paphian Venus, famous for the worship 
 paid by the inhabitants, and the conflux of strangers to 
 it. It will not perhaps be tedious to trace the origin of its 
 worship, to describe the situation of the temple, and the 
 form of the goddess, differing as it does entirely from 
 what is seen in any other place. 
 
 3. The founder of the temple, if we believe ancient tra- 
 dition, was king ^Erias ; a name ascribed by some writers 
 to the goddess herself. According to a more recent opi- 
 nion, the temple was built and dedicated by king Cinyras, 
 on the spot where the goddess, after emerging from her 
 native waves, was gently wafted to the shore : the science 
 a.nd practice of divination were imported by Thamyras, 
 the Cilician, and it was settled by mutual compact, be- 
 tween the priest and Cinyras, the king of the island, that 
 the sacerdotal function should be held by the descendants 
 of their respective families. In process of time, the race 
 of Thamyras, willing that the sovereign should be distin- 
 guished by a superior prerogative, resigned the conduct 
 of the mysteries, of which their ancestors were the found- 
 ers. A priest of the royal line only is consulted. For 
 victims, animals of every species are allowed, at the option 
 of the votarist provided he chooses from the male kind 
 only. The fibres of kids are deemed to afford the surest 
 prognostics. The altar is never stained with blood, and, 
 though exposed to the open air, never moistened by rain. 
 Supplications and the pure flame of fire are the only of- 
 ferings. The statue of the goddess bears no resemblance 
 to the human form : it is round throughout, broad at one 
 end, and gradually tapering to a narrow span at the other, 
 like a goal. The reason of this is unascertained. 
 
 4. Titus having viewed the wealth of the temple, the 
 presents of kings, and the other rarities, which the genius
 
 458 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 of the Greeks, fond of antiquity, affects to refer to re- 
 mote and obscure times, first consulted the oracle about 
 his future voyage. A calm sea and a safe passage were 
 promised. He then slew a number of victims, and, in cir- 
 cuitous terms, inquired into his own destiny. The priest, 
 whose name was Sostratus, finding the entrails of several 
 animals agreeing in favourable prognostics, and that the 
 goddess was propitious, answered briefly for the present in 
 high aspirations, but afterwards, at a private interview, 
 laid open the secrets of futurity. Titus, swelling with vast 
 anticipations, proceeded on his voyage, and joined his 
 father, while the armies and provinces of the east were 
 undecided, and contributed immensely to turn the scale. 
 Vespasian had almost brought the Jewish war to a con- 
 clusion. Nothing remained but the siege of Jerusalem ; 
 an arduous enterprise, not so much on account of the re- 
 sources of the enemy to endure the difficulties of a siege, 
 as by reason of the hill, and their stubborn superstition. 
 Vespasian, as already mentioned, had three legions under 
 his command, all inured to the service. Mucianus, in a 
 province at peace, was at the head of four legions ; emu- 
 lation, and the gallant exertions of the army under Ves- 
 pasian, had stimulated them into activity : they were not 
 made soldiers in the field ; but being unimpaired by fa- 
 tigue, they were as efficient as those whom dangers and 
 toils had invigorated. Both had an auxiliary force of 
 horse and foot, besides ships and the support of the kings; 
 and both were in high repute, but for different reasons, 
 and for qualities peculiar to each. 
 
 5. Vespasian was prompt and zealous in the service, he 
 was often seen at the head of a march; he went in person 
 to mark out the ground of his camp, and, by night as well 
 as day, thwarting the plans of his enemies by his counsels, 
 and if need were by active operations. In his diet, con- 
 tent with whatever came before him : in his apparel, 
 scarce distinguished from the common men ; and if he 
 were free from avarice, quite equal to the generals of an- 
 tiquity. The pride and riches of Mucianus, on the con- 
 trary, lifted him in every thing above the rank of a pri- 
 vate citizen. He was a more accomplished speaker, and 
 clever in the ordering and forecast of civil affairs : an ad- 
 mirable compound of princely qualities, if, deducting their 
 vices, their virtues only were combined. Situated as they 
 were -in contiguous provinces, Vespasian in Judaea, and 
 Mucianus in Syria, they beheld each other, for some time, 
 with the jealousy of rivals. The death of Nero put an 
 end to their dissensions : from that time they began to
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 459 
 
 act in concert. Their mutual friends made the first ad- 
 vances towards a reconciliation ; afterwards Titus formed 
 the great bond of union between them, and made them 
 sink their criminal jealousies in the common interest. Na- 
 ture and art had qualified Titus to win the attachment of 
 all characters, even of Mucianus. The tribunes, the cen- 
 turions, and the common men, were brought over by va- 
 rious means. The diligent met with encouragement, the 
 licentious with indulgence, and, according to the bent of 
 each man's disposition, all were secured by their virtues 
 or their vices. 
 
 6. Before the arrival of Titus, both armies had sworn 
 fidelity to Otho, with such speed, as is usual, had they 
 received intelligence of what passed at Rome ; while 
 the preparations for a civil war are in their nature slow 
 and difficult. The East, which had long reposed in peace, 
 now, for the first time, began to think of mixing in the 
 feuds that shook the empire. Heretofore the most im- 
 portant civil contests arose in Gaul or Italy, and were de- 
 cided by the forces of the West. It is true, that Pompey, 
 Cassius, Brutus, and Antony, carried the war across the 
 Mediterranean., and had reason to repent. Syria and Ju- 
 daea heard of the Caesars, but seldom saw them. The le- 
 gions were undisturbed by sedition. Embroiled at dif- 
 ferent times with the Parthians, they had a few slight 
 conflicts, with varying success. In the late civil war, when 
 every part of the empire was agitated, the East was un- 
 moved. Galba obtained the sovereignty, and the oriental 
 legions acquiesced ; but it was no sooner known that Otho 
 and Vitellius were engaged in an impious war against their 
 country than they began to murmur, and calculate their 
 resources, lest while others obtained the rewards of con- 
 ferring the sovereignty, all they would have to do would 
 be to receive the yoke. Forthwith Syria and Judaea 
 reckoned seven legions, with a large body of auxiliaries : 
 contiguous to these was Egypt, with two legions : in an- 
 other part, Cappadocia and Pontus, and the forces that 
 lined the frontier of Armenia. Asia, and the rest of the 
 provinces, were provided with men and money. All the 
 islands, and the sea itself, propitious and safe for the trans- 
 port of the materials of the war ; and the Mediterranean, 
 which afforded them facilities for making hostile prepara- 
 tions in security. 
 
 7. The zeal of the soldiers was no secret to the com- 
 manders in chief; but they judged it best to wait the issue 
 of the war in Europe ; aware that, between the victor and 
 the vanquished, a sincere coalition never can succeed, and
 
 460 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 whether fortune favoured the arms of Otho or Vitellius, 
 the consequence would be the same. The pride of vic- 
 tory is apt to corrupt even the ahlest generals. Discord, 
 sloth, and luxury would be the ruin of both : their own 
 vices would destroy them ; one in the course of the war, the 
 other in victory. For these reasons they postponed ope- 
 rations till an opportunity arose. Vespasian and Mucia- 
 nus, lately reconciled to each other, concurred in this 
 opinion, which had been beforehand adopted by their 
 friends. Men of principle acted with a view to the public 
 good; many were impelled by the allurements of plunder, 
 others by the precarious condition of their domestic af- 
 fairs. Good and evil, from different motives, but with 
 uniform zeal, were all eager for war. 
 
 8. About this time, a report that Nero was still alive, 
 and on his way to the East, excited a false alarm through 
 Achaia and Asia. The accounts of his death had been 
 various ; which caused the more to assert that he was 
 alive, and to believe it. In the course of this work the reader 
 will hear of the attempts of various pretenders, and the fate 
 that attended them. The impostor, in this case, was a slave 
 from Pontus, or, according to some writers, a freedman 
 from Italy, who played with skill on the harp, and had a mu- 
 sical voice. With those talents, and a countenance that 
 resembled Nero superadded, he was the nearer succeeding 
 in the imposture. By immense promises, he drew to his 
 party a number of deserters, whom their poverty compelled 
 to lead a vagrant life. With this crew he put to sea, but 
 was thrown by adverse winds on the isle of Cythnus. At 
 that place he fell in with a party of soldiers on their re- 
 turn from the East. Some of these he enlisted ; and such 
 as refused, he ordered to be put to death. Having plun- 
 dered the merchants and armed the stoutest of their 
 slaves, he endeavoured to seduce Sisenna, a centurion 
 from Syria, who happened to land on the island of Cyth- 
 nus, on his way to greet the praetorian bands in the name 
 of the Syrian army, and, in token of friendship, to present 
 two right hands clasping each other. Apprehending 
 danger from so bold an adventurer, Sisenna made his es- 
 cape from the island. A general panic seized the inhabi- 
 tants. Numbers were elated to find the name of Nero so rife, 
 hating the existing system, and wishing for a revolution. 
 
 9. The fame of this pretended Nero gained strength every 
 day, when by a sudden accident the illusion vanished. It 
 happened that Calpurnius Asprenas, whom Galba had 
 appointed governor of Galatia and Pamphylia, arrived at 
 the isle of Cythnus, with two galleys that escorted him,
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 461 
 
 from the fleet at Misenum. The commanders of the ships 
 were summoned, in the name of Nero, to attend their 
 lawful prince. The impostor, with an air of dejection, 
 implored their assistance, by the duty which they owed 
 him, and prayed for safe conduct either to Syria or to 
 ./Egypt. The masters of the galleys, either wavering or 
 intending to deceive, desired time to speak to their sailors, 
 and promised to return, when they had prepared their 
 minds. But Asprenas was duly informed of all that 
 passed, and, at his instance, the ship was seized, and the 
 pretended emperor, whoever he was, put to death. The 
 person of the man, his eyes, his hair, and the ferocity of 
 his countenance, were remarkable. His body was con- 
 veyed to Asia, and afterwards sent to Rome. 
 
 10. In a city, distracted by internal discord, and, amid 
 so many revolutions, fluctuating between liberty and an- 
 archy, even trivial transactions excited violent commotions. 
 Vibius Crispus, a man, for his wealth, his power, and his 
 talents, accounted an eminent, rather than a good citizen, 
 cited to the bar of the senate, Annius Faustus, a Roman 
 knight, and, in the reign of Nero, an informer by profes- 
 sion. In the beginning of Galba's reign, it was ordained 
 by a decree, that all causes against the race of public ac- 
 cusers should be fairly heard. This law, however salu- 
 tary, was enforced or relaxed as the person accused hap- 
 pened to be of weight and consequence, or poor and 
 friendless : it was, notwithstanding, still in force ; and 
 Crispus, availing himself of it, exerted all his influence to 
 ruin the man who had been the prosecutor of his brother. 
 In the senate his party was strong and powerful. With- 
 out hearing the criminal, the fathers were for condemning 
 him to immediate execution. With others, on the con- 
 trai'y, nothing served the cause of the accused so much as 
 the overwhelming influence of the prosecutor. They in- 
 sisted that the specific charge should be exhibited, and a 
 day fixed, when the defendant, however guilty, should be 
 allowed the common right of being heard in his defence. 
 They prevailed in the first instance, and the hearing of 
 the cause was adjourned for a few days. The trial, at 
 length, came on, and Faustus was condemned, but not with 
 that universal assent of the people, which a life of iniquity 
 might have warranted. The accuser, it was well known, 
 had been concerned in similar prosecutions, and received 
 the profits of his trade. Men rejoiced to see the punish- 
 ment of a crime so dangerous and detestable ; but the 
 triumph of a notorious offender gave disgust. 
 
 11. Meanwhile, the affairs of Otho, at the outset, wore
 
 4G2 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 a favourable aspect. The armies in Dalmatia and Pan- 
 nonia were on their march to join him. A detachment of 
 two thousand advanced by rapid marches, while the main 
 body followed at moderate distances. The legions that 
 composed this force were the seventh, which had been 
 raised by Galba; the eleventh, the thirteenth, and four- 
 teenth, all veterans in the service, and the last in great re- 
 nown for the vigour with which they quelled the insurrec- 
 tion in Britain, and still more famous for the choice made 
 by Nero, who had selected that corps as the best in the 
 empire. Whence they remained to the last faithful to 
 that emperor, and, after his death, declared with equal 
 zeal in favour of Otho. Knowing their own strength, 
 they were inspired with confidence ; but that confidence 
 made them proceed on their march by slow journeys. 
 The cavalry and auxiliary cohorts outstripped the body of 
 the legions. The troops that marched from Rome were 
 a formidable body. They consisted of five praetorian co- 
 horts, several squadrons of horse, and the first legion. To 
 these were added two thousand gladiators; a degrad- 
 ing resource, but in civil commotions often employed, 
 even by strict generals. Annius Gallus and Vestricius 
 Spurinna were sent at the head of this whole force, with 
 orders to take post on the banks of the Po, as the first 
 project had proved abortive, Caecina having already passed 
 the Alps ; whereas Otho had hoped that he might be 
 prevented from advancing out of Gaul. Otho followed 
 with a select detachment of body-guards, and the rest of 
 the praetorian cohorts, and veterans of that corps, and a 
 prodigious number of marines. On the march he betrayed 
 no symptom of sloth, nor violated dicipline by luxurious 
 indulgence : he advanced on foot, at the head of the co- 
 lours, with an iron breastplate, fiercelooking and rough ; a 
 contrast to his former character. 
 
 12. Fortune seemed to open a flattering prospect, as he 
 was master of the greatest part of Italy, and by means of his 
 fleets had the command of the sea, even to the foot of the 
 maritime Alps. To pass over those mountains, and make 
 a descent on Narbon Gaul, he committed to the conduct 
 of Suedius Clemens, Antonius Noveilus, and yEmilius Pa- 
 cencis. The last was loaded with irons by his own sol- 
 diers. Antonius Noveilus lost all influence ; and Suedius 
 Clemens, in the exercise of his authority, yielded too much 
 to the humours of his men ; at once allowing himself to be 
 worked upon, against the propriety of discipline, and over- 
 eager for action. It seemed as if the parts they came to 
 did not belong to Italy, nor the lands and habitations to
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 463 
 
 their native country : they burned, destroyed, and plun- 
 dered, as if the war had been in a foreign realm, against 
 the enemies of their country ; and the effects were the more 
 deplorable, because the people, having entertained no fear, 
 had prepared no defence. The fields were covered with 
 grain and cattle ; the houses were open ; and the owners, 
 who, with their wives and children by their side, went 
 forth to meet the army in the security of peace, were 
 involved in all the calamities of war. Marius Maturus 
 was, at that time, governor of the maritime Alps. He re- 
 solved to dispute the passage with Otho's troops, and, for 
 that purpose, armed the youth of the country. In the first 
 encounter, the mountaineers were either cut to pieces or 
 put to the rout, as might be expected ; since, having been 
 assembled hastily, and unacquainted with military duties 
 or their general, they had no honour to gain by victory, 
 no disgrace to incur by flight. 
 
 13, An opposition so rash and feeble served only to ex- 
 asperate the Othonian soldiers, and they vented their fury 
 upon Albium Intemelium, a municipal town ; for the late 
 victory was a fruitless advantage, affording neither spoil 
 nor plunder. The peasants had no property, and their 
 arms were of no value. Even prisoners of war could not 
 be made ; for they knew the course of the country, and 
 were swift of foot. The soldiers, therefore, glutted their 
 avarice with the effects of harmless men. The odium at- 
 taching to this conduct was aggravated by the noble ex- 
 ample of a Ligurian woman. She had concealed her 
 child ; and the soldiers, persuaded that she had deposited 
 her treasure in the same place, pressing her by torture to 
 tell where she had deposited him, she pointed to her 
 womb, and said, " here my child is sheltered." Nor by 
 any subsequent horrors, or death itself, could she be in- 
 duced to deviate from that magnanimous reply. 
 
 14. Messengers came in breathless haste and alarm to 
 inform Fabius Valens that Otho's fleet was hovering on 
 the coast of Narbon Gaul, which had already embraced 
 the interest of Vitellius. The adjacent colonies, by their 
 deputies, were come to sue for protection. Valens de- 
 spatched two Tungrian cohorts, four squadrons of horse, 
 with the whole cavalry of the Treviri, under the command 
 of Julius Classicus ; a detachment from those forces being 
 retained to garrison the port of Forojulium, that the colony 
 might not, while the troops marched up the country, lie 
 exposed to an immediate descent from the fleet. Classi- 
 cus marched against the enemy with twelve troops of 
 horse, and a select body from the cohorts. To these
 
 464 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 were added the Ligurian cohort, which had been usually 
 quartered at Forojulium, and five hundred men from Pan- 
 nonia, not yet formed into companies. Neither side de- 
 clined an engagement. The line of battle was thus ar- 
 ranged : a body of marines, intermixed with the peasantry, 
 extended up the heights near the sea. The level space 
 between the hills and the coast was occupied by the prae- 
 torian soldiers ; and, to support them, the fleet stood in 
 close to the shore, drawn up in order of battle, and pre- 
 senting a formidable front. The Vitellians, consisting of 
 cavalry rather than infantry, stationed their Alpine moun- 
 taineers on the ridge of the neighbouring hills, and their 
 cohorts in close array behind the cavalry. The Trevi- 
 rian squadrons began the attack incautiously. The vete- 
 rans of Otho's army received them in front, while their 
 peasants, from the high grounds, discharged a volley of 
 stones, and, being expert slingers, annoyed the enemy in 
 flank. They mixed in the lines with the regular soldiers, 
 and, in the hour of victory, the coward and the brave 
 pursued their advantage with equal ardour. The Vitel- 
 lians, thrown into disorder, were further terrified by an 
 attack on the rear from the fleet. Thus hemmed in on 
 every side, they must have been cut off to a man, if the 
 night had not afforded them a pretext for retreat, and re- 
 strained the victorious army from pursuing them. 
 
 15. The Vitellians, though defeated, did not remain in- 
 active. With a reinforcement, drawn together in haste, 
 they returned to the charge ; and, finding the enemy elate 
 with joy, and by success lulled into security, they assaulted 
 the outposts, put the advanced guard to the sword, forced 
 their way into the camp, and, at the fleet, all was tumult 
 and disorder. The surprise, however, gradually sub- 
 siding, the Othonians betook themselves to an adjacent 
 hill, whence, after a little time, they rushed down with 
 great fury. A dreadful slaughter followed. The Tun- 
 grian cohorts stood the brunt of the action, till their com- 
 manding officers fell under a shower of darts. The Otho- 
 nians conquered, but their victory was dearly bought. 
 Some of them pursued the flying enemy incautiously, when 
 the Trevirian cavalry wheeled round and cut them off. 
 From this time the two armies remained inactive. As if 
 a truce had taken place, and both sides had agreed that 
 the fleet of one party, and the cavalry of the other, should 
 not make any sudden incursions ; the Vitellians retired to 
 Antipolis, a municipal town of Narbon Gaul, and the 
 Othonians to Albigaunum, in the inland part of Liguria. 
 
 16. Corsica, Sardinia, and the rest of the islands in
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 465 
 
 those seas, were kept in subjection to Otho by the fame of 
 the victorious fleet. Corsica, indeed, was well nigh ruined 
 byawild scheme of the governor, Decimus Pecarius, which, 
 in a war carried on by such powerful adversaries, could be 
 of no advantage, and ended in his own destruction. For 
 from antipathy to Otho, he determined to aid Vitellius 
 with the forces of Corsica, which would have rendered little 
 service if he had succeeded. He summoned a council of 
 the leading men, and communicated his design. Claudius 
 Phirricus, who commanded the galleys on that station, and 
 Quinctius Certus, a Roman knight, objected to the mea- 
 sure, and were put to instant death. The rest of the assem- 
 bly, who were terrified by this act of violence, as well as 
 the populace, blind and ignorant, but catching the fears of 
 the 'others, swore fidelity to Vitellius. But when Pacarius 
 began to muster, and train to the use of arms, a race of 
 rude peasants, having no relish for the fatigue of military 
 discipline, they began to consider their inability to support 
 a war. " They were islanders, remote from Germany and 
 the aid of the legions. The fleets of Otho had lately 
 ravaged the maritime countries, though defended by the 
 cohorts and cavalry of Vitellius:" This reflection pro- 
 duced a sudden change in every mind. They resolved to 
 act, however, not with open force, but by covert strata- 
 gem. When Pacarius, his train of visitors having left 
 him, retired to his bath, the conspirators fell upon him, 
 naked and disarmed, and put him and his attendants to 
 death. Their heads, like those of traitors, were conveyed 
 to Otho by the assassins themselves, who were neither re- 
 warded by that prince, nor punished by Vitellius. Such 
 was the mass of abominations that deformed the times, 
 that they were lost sight of amongst atrocities of greater 
 importance. 
 
 17. The cavalry, called the SYLLANIAN SQUADRON, had, 
 as already mentioned, forced their way into Italy, and 
 there fixed the seat of war ; not from favour which any 
 one felt for Otho, nor from preference for Vitellius : but 
 by a long peace, their minds had been debased, and pre- 
 pared for slavery in any shape ; ready to support the first 
 who solicited them, and careless about the merits of com- 
 petitors. The fairest portion of Italy, extending from the 
 Po to the Alps, with all its fertile plains and flourishing 
 cities, was in the possession of Vitellius ; the forces sent 
 forward by Caectna having already penetrated into that 
 quarter. At Cremona a Pannonian cohort laid down 
 their arms; and between Placentia and Ticinum a party 
 of a hundred horse, with a thousand marines, were made 
 
 Hh
 
 4436 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 prisoners. In this tide of success, the Po opposed its 
 stream and its banks in vain. Nay, to the Batavians, and 
 the troops from beyond the Rhine, the river was no more 
 than a motive to inflame their ardour. They passed over 
 it suddenly, under the walls of Placentia, and, intercepting 
 some of the enemy's scouts, spread such a panic among 
 the rest, that in their alarm they reported, falsely, that 
 Caecina and his whole army were there. 
 
 18. Spurinna, who commanded at Placentia, was well 
 informed that Caecina was still at a distance ; and, if he 
 should approach, he was determined to keep his men 
 within their works, and not oppose three praetorian co- 
 horts and a thousand vexillaries, with a small body of 
 horse, to a veteran army. But his soldiery, unruly and 
 unskilled in military operations, seized the standards and 
 colours, and sallied forth in a body. The general en- 
 deavoured in vain to check their violence; they pointed 
 their weapons at his breast, when holding them back, and 
 spurned at the tribunes and centurions; nay, they even 
 clamoured that Otho was assailed by treason, and that 
 Caecina was invited to come. Spurinna became a partaker 
 of the rashness which originated -with others, at first per- 
 force, but afterwards with a show of approbation, in 
 hopes, if the sedition subsided, that he might have the 
 greater weight. 
 
 19. The Po appearing in sight, and night coming 
 on, it was judged necessary to fortify a camp. This labour, 
 new to men who had only served in the city, abated their 
 ferocity ; all the oldest soldiers censured their own cre- 
 dulity, communicated their fears, and pointed out their 
 imminent danger, if Caecina with a regular army had sur- 
 rounded their few cohorts in a wide champaign country. 
 Throughout the ranks nothing was now heard but re- 
 spectful language; and the tribunes and centurions mixing 
 with them, all lauded the sagacity of their general, 
 who had chosen a strong and powerful colony for the seat 
 and centre of the war. At length Spurinna, choosing 
 rather to convince by reason than to irritate by reproof, 
 leaving some scouts there, marched back to Placentia 
 with the troops, now less excited, and disposed to obey his 
 orders. The walls of the place were repaired ; new works 
 were added ; the towers were increased ; the soldiers were 
 provided with arms; and, what was of greater moment, a 
 spirit of discipline and prompt obedience was diffused 
 through the army. This was the only desideratum : 
 want of courage could not be imputed to Otho's party. 
 
 20. On the other hand, Caecina advanced through Italy
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 467 
 
 with every attention to discipline, as if he had left his 
 cruelty and love of plunder on the other side of the Alps. 
 His own dress gave offence to the municipalities and 
 colonies, who construed it as indicating arrogance. They 
 felt it as an affront, that, arrayed in a particoloured mantle 
 and drawers, used only by savage nations, he should con- 
 verse with men habited in the toga. Besides this, the 
 splendid appearance of his wife, Salonina, mounted on a 
 superb horse, adorned with purple, though in itself a mat- 
 ter of no importance, and certainly injurious to no person 
 whatever, was held to be a public insult. Such is the na- 
 ture of the human mind, disposed at all times to behold 
 with jealousy the sudden elevation of other men, and to de- 
 mand especially, that he who has been seen in a humble 
 station should know how to rise in the world with mode- 
 ration. Caecina passed the Po, and by negotiation and 
 artful promises endeavoured to seduce the leaders of 
 Otho's party. The like insidious game was played 
 against himself. Both sides talked of peace and concord, 
 but they amused each other with words of specious sound, 
 importing nothing. At length Caecina directed his coun- 
 sels and cares to the object of assaulting Placentia, in such 
 a manner as should fill his enemies with alarm ; well know- 
 ing that the influence of his reputation, through the re- 
 mainder of the war, would depend upon the success which 
 attended his first efforts. 
 
 21. The first day, however, exhibited the bravery, 
 rather than the skill, of a veteran army. The soldiers, 
 oppressed with gluttony and intoxicated, advanced to the 
 foot of the walls, without shelter or precaution. In this 
 attack, a magnificent amphitheatre, which stood on the 
 outside of the fortifications, was burnt to the ground. 
 Whether this was occasioned by the brands, hot balls, 
 and other combustibles thrown in by the besiegers, or by 
 the same hurled back from the works, cannot now be as- 
 certained. The common people of the town, prone to 
 suspicions, believed that combustibles had been basely in- 
 troduced by some of the neighbouring colonists, who saw 
 with envy and jealousy a structure more capacious than 
 any in Italy. The sense of this misfortune, howsoever be- 
 gun, was lost in the fear of greater afflictions ; but, security 
 restored, the inhabitants lamented it as the worst calamity 
 that could befall them. Caecina was repulsed with con- 
 siderable loss. The night, on both sides, was employed 
 in preparing works. The Vitellians provided themselves 
 with penthouses, sheds, and mantlets, for sapping the 
 foundation of the walls, and protecting them in the attack.
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 The besieged were busy in preparing stakes and rafts of 
 timber, with huge heaps of stone, and lead, and brass, in 
 order to break through the works and overwhelm the as- 
 sailants. On both sides were the love of glory, and the 
 fear of shame; and various were the topics of exhortation. 
 On one side, they magnified the vigour of the legions and 
 the German armies ; on the other, the honour of serving 
 in the city, and of the praetorian bands. The Vitellians 
 held up their foes to contempt, as a spiritless and supine 
 soldiery, corrupted by the circus and theatres ; the Otho- 
 nians spoke of their enemies as foreigners and aliens: at 
 the same time, lauding and vituperating Otho and Vitel- 
 lius, their mutual incitements found a more exuberant re- 
 source in their censures than in their praises. 
 
 22. The day had scarce dawned, when the walls and 
 ramparts were covered with soldiers, and the fields 
 gleamed with arms and men. The legions in close array, 
 and the auxiliaries in separate divisions, began the attack 
 with stones and darts, aimed at the higher parts of the 
 fortifications ; and where the works were either impaired 
 by time or thinly manned, the Vitellians attempted a sea- 
 lade. The German auxiliaries, with their savage war- 
 songs, and, according to the custom of their country, 
 waving their shields over their shoulders, while their 
 bodies were exposed, advancing with impetuous fury; the 
 garrison, with more deliberate aim, discharged their darts. 
 The legionary soldiers, under their penthouses and sheds, 
 battered the foundation of the walls, threw up a mound, 
 and attempted to force the gates. Massy mill-stones, 
 prepared for that very purpose by the besieged, were 
 rolled down with a loud crash, and some of them who had 
 come up to the walls, were thus crushed under the weight; 
 others transfixed and expiring, or dreadfully mangled : 
 the confusion and alarm increasing the havoc, and the ef- 
 forts of the besieged in consequence augmented, the Vi- 
 tellians reti'eated with a manifest loss of credit to the party ; 
 and Csecina, feeling ashamed of an enterprise rashly under- 
 taken, resolved to raise the siege and leave a camp, where 
 he had nothing to expect but ridicule, and could not hope 
 to do any good. He repassed the Po, and bent his march 
 towards Cremona. He had not proceeded far, when he 
 was joined by Turullius Cerealis, a principal centurion, who 
 had headed the ranks under him in Germany, and also by 
 Julius Briganticus, a Batavian by birth : the former de- 
 serted with a strong body of marine soldiers, and the latter 
 with a small party of horse. 
 
 23. Spurinna, as soon as he was informed of the move-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 469 
 
 ments of the enemy, sent despatches to Annius Gallus, 
 with the particulars of the siege, the gallant defence of 
 Placentia, and the measures concerting by Caecina. Gal- 
 lus was then on his march, at the head of the first legion, 
 to relieve Placentia, little imagining that a few cohorts 
 would be able to hold out against the strength and valour 
 of the German army. When, however, it was known that 
 Caecina had abandoned his enterprise, and was then pro- 
 ceeding to Cremona, the legion burned to be led against 
 the enemy. Their impatience rose to a pitch little short 
 of sedition. It was with difficulty that Gallus appeased 
 the tumult, and made them halt at Bedriacum, a village 
 situated between Verona and Cremona, and unhappily 
 famous for the slaughter of two Roman armies. About the 
 same time Martius Macer fought with success near Cre- 
 mona. With the spirit of enterprise that distinguished him, 
 he embarked the gladiators on the Po, and, making a 
 sudden descent on the opposite bank, fell with fury on the 
 auxiliaries of Vitellius. All who attempted to make head 
 against him were put to the sword ; the rest fled with pre- 
 cipitation to Cremona. Macer was not willing to lose by 
 rashness the fruit of his victory. He knew that, by the arrival 
 of fresh forces, the fortune of the day might be changed, 
 -and, for that reason, checked the impetuosity of the vic- 
 torious troops. This excited suspicion amongst Otho's 
 soldiers, who were in the habit of putting the worst con- 
 struction upon every act whatsoever : according as each man 
 was craven in heart and petulant of tongue, they vied with 
 each other in defaming by various charges, Annius Gal- 
 lus, Suetonius Paulinus, and Marius Celsus, for these were 
 put in command by Otho also. But the murderers of 
 Galba were the worst incendiaries. Frantic with conscious 
 guilt and fear, they made it their business to embroil, to 
 distract, and throw every thing into confusion. They 
 gave vent to their seditious designs with open insolence, 
 and by clandestine letters infused their venom into the 
 mind of Otho, who was in a state of alarm and agitation, 
 disposed to rely on every abject instrument, arid dreading 
 men of worth and honour: in prosperity weak and irreso- 
 lute, but appearing in a better light when in distress. In 
 his present situation he sent to Rome for his brother Ti- 
 tianus, and committed to him the conduct of the war. 
 The interval was filled by Celsus and Paulinus with active 
 enterprise and brilliant success. 
 
 24. Caecina felt deeply the failure of all his undertakings, 
 and saw with anxiety the fame of his army mouldering 
 away. Repulsed at Placentia, his auxiliaries lately cut to
 
 470 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 pieces, and worsted even in collisions of scouts, encoun- 
 ters frequent, rather than worth mentioning, lest Valens, 
 who was advancing, should reap all the laurels of the war, 
 he hastened, with more avidity than judgment, to redeem 
 his honour. With this intent at a village called Castorum, 
 twelve miles from Cremona, in a wood that overhangs the 
 road, he stationed the flower of his auxiliaries in ambus- 
 cade. His cavalry had orders to advance further than or- 
 dinary, and, provoking an engagement, to give ground 
 voluntarily, and entice their pursuers to quicken their 
 speed, till the troops in ambuscade should pounce upon 
 them. The stratagem was betrayed to the generals of 
 Otho's army. Paulinus took the command of the infantry, 
 while Celsus led on the cavalry. In the left wing were 
 placed the vexillaries of the thirteenth legion, four auxi- 
 liary cohorts, and five hundred horse. The high road 
 was occupied by three praetorian cohorts, in deep rank. 
 In the right wing, marched the first legion, with two aux- 
 iliary cohorts, and five hundred horse. Besides these, a 
 thousand of the cavalry, selected from the praetorian and 
 auxiliary bands, were taken to support the broken ranks, 
 or, if the enemy gave way, to complete the victory. 
 
 25. Before the two armies came to action, the Vitellians 
 feigned a flight. Aware of the stratagem, Celsus held 
 back his men. The Vitellians rose from their ambus- 
 cade without effect, and, Celsus retiring gradually, they 
 pursued him too far, and fell themselves into a snare. 
 The legions attacked them on both wings ; the cohorts in 
 front ; and the cavalry, wheeling round rapidly, charged 
 them in the rear. Suetonius Paulinus still kept his in- 
 fantry out of the engagement. By his natural temper 
 slow and deliberate, and choosing to take his measures 
 with reason and precaution, rather than owe his success 
 to the chance of war, he ordered the hollows to be filled 
 up, the ground to be cleared, and his ranks to be ex- 
 tended ; judging that it would be time to begin the work 
 of victory, when he had taken care not to be defeated. 
 By this delay the Vitellians seized the opportunity to shift 
 their ground. They betook themselves to the adjacent 
 vineyards, thick with interwoven branches. A small wood 
 too lay contiguous ; wherein having recovered their cou- 
 rage, they sallied out and slew the best and bravest of 
 the praetorian cavalry. Epiphanes, the eastern king, who 
 in Otho's cause urged on the battle with great spirit, was 
 wounded. 
 
 26. At length the infantry, under the command of 
 Paulinus, rushed forward. The line of the enemy was
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 471 
 
 trampled under foot, and the parties that came to support 
 them were put to the rout ; for Caecina had brought up 
 his cohorts singly, not all at once ; which increased the 
 confusion in the engagement, for, coming forward in suc- 
 cession, and nowhere strong enough, they were carried 
 along in the panic of the flying troops. A tumult also 
 broke out in Caecina's camp. The soldiers were enraged 
 that the whole army was not drawn out. Julius Gratus, 
 the prasfect of the camp, they loaded with irons, on a sus- 
 picion that he held treasonable intercourse with his brother 
 Julius Pronto, at that time a tribune in Otho's army, and, 
 under a similar accusation, then confined in prison by the 
 adverse party. Nothing now could equal the disorder 
 and consternation that involed the whole Vitellian army. 
 In the camp, in the field of battle, in the flight, and 
 amongst the parties that came to support the fugitives, the 
 confusion was such, that, if Paulinus had not sounded a 
 retreat, it was the opinion of both parties that Caacina, 
 with his whole army, might have been cut to pieces. 
 Paulinus alleged, that, seeing how much toil and labour 
 still remained, he was afraid to expose his men, already 
 spent with the fatigue of the day, to fresh forces kept in 
 reserve, and ready to issue from the adverse camp ; and, 
 if once broken, no post, no station, remained behind. 
 With this reasoning the judicious few were satisfied, but 
 in the lower ranks dissatisfaction prevailed. 
 
 27. This loss had less effect in alarming the Vitellians, 
 than in reducing their turbulent spirit to a sense of duty. 
 Nor was this the case with the troops of Caacina only, 
 who threw the whole blame upon the army, at all times 
 more disposed to mutiny than to face the enemy. The 
 same reformation showed itself in the camp of Fabius 
 Valens, who was now advanced as far as Ticinum. His 
 soldiers no longer despised the enemy, but, eager to re- 
 trieve the honour of the army, submitted more respect- 
 fully and uniformly to their general. Among them too 
 the spirit of mutiny had flamed forth with grievous vio- 
 lence, which I will now return to, tracing its origin from 
 more remote transactions, for it would have been incon- 
 venient to interrupt the narrative of Caecina's acts. The 
 cohorts of the Batavian nation, which, in the war between 
 Nero and Vindex, separated from the fourteenth legion, 
 then on its way to Britain, and, having heard, in the city 
 of the Lingones, of commotions in favour of Vitellius, went 
 over, as 1 have related, to Fabius Valens, conducted 
 themselves with great insolence; making it their boast, 
 when they came to the tents of each legion, " that by
 
 472 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 them the fourteenth legion had been overawed ; by them 
 Italy was wrested out of the hands of Nero; and upon 
 their swords the issue of the war depended." The soldiers 
 heard these speeches with indignation; the general with 
 wounded feelings : disputes and quarrels put an end to 
 discipline; and at length Valens suspected that they 
 would proceed from clamour to actual mutiny. 
 
 28. Valens, therefore, having received advice that the 
 Tungrians and Treverians had met with a defeat, and 
 that Otho's fleet was hovering on the coast of Narbon 
 Gaul, ordered a detachment of the Batavians to march to 
 the relief of the province ; intending, at the same time, by 
 a stroke of policy, to divide the mutinous troops, who, in 
 a body, were too formidable to be managed. When this 
 measure was heard of, and generally known, the auxiliaries 
 murmured, and the legions complained aloud, " that they 
 were now to lose the bravest troops in the service ; that, 
 when the enemy was near at hand, those experienced 
 soldiers, who had so often fought and returned with vic- 
 tory, were withdrawn, as it were, from the line of battle. 
 If a single province is of more moment than the city of 
 Rome and the salvation of the empire, all should follow 
 them thither: but if the soundness, the support, the 
 pillar of their hopes of success, rested on the efforts made 
 in Italy, the most efficient members should not be thus 
 severed, as it were, from the body. 
 
 29. While giving vent to this insolence, Valens, sending 
 his lictors among them, was proceeding to repress the 
 mutiny, when they pelted the general himself with stones, 
 forced him to fly, and pursued him, accusing him of having 
 embezzled the spoils of Gaul, the gold of Vienne, and the 
 recompense due to the soldiers for all their toils ; they 
 pillaged his camp-equipage, rummaged his pavilion, and 
 searched the ground itself with their spears and javelins. 
 Valens in the mean time, disguised like a slave, lay con- 
 cealed in the tent of an officer of the cavalry. In this 
 juncture Alphenus Varus, the praefect of the camp, 
 the frenzy gradually subsiding, called in the aid of stra- 
 tagem: ordering the centurions not to visit the night- 
 watch, and omitting the sound of the trumpet, by which 
 the soldiers are summoned to the offices of war. Thus 
 everything was at a standstill. The mutineers surveyed 
 each other with amazement, terrified beyond measure 
 for this very cause, that there was no one at the helm. 
 By silence and resignation, in the end by supplications 
 and tears, they were seeking to obtain forgiveness, when 
 Valens came forth. As soon as the soldiers saw him
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 473 
 
 beyond expectation safe, in unseemly apparel, and in tears, 
 joy and sorrow and affection ensued. With the quick 
 transition from one extreme of passion to the other, com- 
 mon with the multitude, they poured forth their congratu- 
 lations ; and with shouts of applause placed their general 
 amidst the eagles and standards, on his tribunal. Valens 
 acted with well-timed moderation. No man was singled 
 out for punishment. Afraid, however, that by passing it 
 over altogether he might make them suspect some deep 
 design, he laid the blame on a few ; knowing that in civil 
 wars soldiers may do more than their generals may notice. 
 
 30. While Valens employed his army in throwing up 
 intrenchments at Ticinum, an account of Caecina's defeat 
 reached the camp, when the sedition nearly broke out 
 again : it seemed that by the treachery and delays of 
 Valens they had been detained from the field of battle. 
 They resolved to linger no longer ; nor to wait for their 
 commander: they marched before the colours, and, order- 
 ing the standard-bearers to push on, after a rapid march, 
 joined Caecina's army. In that camp Valens was in no 
 kind of credit. The vanquished soldiers complained, that 
 with so inferior a force they were exposed to the entire 
 strength of the enemy ; and, at the same time that they 
 urged this as their apology, they flattered the troops who 
 carne to them by magnifying their valour, lest they should 
 be looked down upon as beaten and cowards. Though 
 Valens was at the head of an army which exceeded that of 
 Caecina, having almost double the number, yet the latter was 
 the favourite of the men. Besides his superior liberality 
 of spirit, he was recommended by the vigour of youth, a 
 graceful figure, and those qualities, which, though of no 
 solid value, conciliate favour. Hence a spirit of emulation 
 between the two commanders. Cascina represented Valens 
 as horribly vicious and impure ; and, in return, Valens 
 ridiculed Caecina as empty and vainglorious. And yet, 
 suppressing their animosities, they zealously promoted the 
 common cause, giving vent to reproaches against Otho in 
 their many letters, in a manner that showed they were 
 reckless of reconciliation. Whereas the officers in the 
 opposite army spoke of Vitellius with reserve, though his 
 manners afforded ample materials for invective. 
 
 31. It must be admitted, that, before the deaths of these 
 two persons, though Otho fell with glory, and Vitellius 
 with disgrace and infamy, yet men dreaded greater mis- 
 chief from the furious passions of Otho, than from the 
 sluggish debauchery of Vitellius. Besides, the murder of 
 Galba made the former an object of detestation and alarm ;
 
 474- THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 while the latter was never charged with being the author 
 of the war. Vitellius, by his voracity and gluttony, was 
 his own enemy ; Otho, by his profusion, his cruelty, and 
 his daring spirit, was the enemy of his country. As soon 
 as the forces under Caecina and Valens had formed a 
 junction, the Vitellian party no longer declined a decisive 
 action. Otho took counsel whether a speedy engagement 
 or a lingering war seemed best, when Suetonius Paulinus, 
 an officer surpassed by no man of that age, judging it con- 
 sistent with his high military character to give his opinion 
 on the entire complexion of the war, contended, that to 
 bring the dispute to an immediate issue was advantageous 
 to Vitellius ; to protract the war was the game for Otho to 
 play. 
 
 32. " The whole collected force of Vitellius," he said, 
 " is now in Italy : the resources which he has left behind 
 him are inconsiderable ; since Gaul is teeming with dis- 
 affection, and with hostile nations ready to invade the 
 Roman provinces, the banks of the Rhine cannot be left 
 defenceless. The legions in Britain have an enemy on 
 their hands, and are divided by the sea. Spain is not 
 so overflowing with troops. The province of Narbon Gaul 
 has been thrown into dismay by the incursion of Otho's 
 fleet and a defeat. Italy, beyond the Po, is shut in by the 
 Alps, deprived of all relief by sea, and the armies that 
 passed that way have exhausted the country. There is 
 no place from which Vitellius can hope to be supplied 
 with grain; and without provisions, he cannot maintain 
 his army. Moreover the Germans, the most warlike por- 
 tion of the Vitellian party, if the war be protracted till 
 summer, will be unable to bear the change of soil and 
 climate with their infirm constitutions. Many wars, for- 
 midable in the first impetuous effort, have come to no- 
 thing through the effects of delay and suspense. On the 
 other hand, Otho's party are rich in supplies, and their 
 friends are firm. They have Pannonia, Ma?sia, Dalmatia, 
 and the east, with their entire armies; Italy; and Rome, 
 the capital of the empire : the senate and the Roman people, 
 always of considerable importance, though their glory in 
 some conjunctures has been eclipsed: a store of wealth, 
 both public and private, and boundless riches ; in public 
 dissensions more powerful than the sword. Their soldiers 
 inured to Italy, or seasoned to the heat in warmer climates. 
 In their front the river Po is a barrier, and cities fortified 
 and garrisoned ; of which the defence of Placentia is a 
 proof that none will surrender. For these reasons, he 
 should protract the war. In a few days, the fourteenth
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 475 
 
 legion, famous for its bravery, will arrive with reinforce- 
 ments from Maesia. A council of war may then be called ; 
 and should it be thought advisable to hazard a battle, 
 Otho, may then take the field with augmented force." 
 
 33. Marius Celsus concurred in this opinion. Annius 
 Gallus, who had been thrown by the falling of his horse 
 a few days before, being consulted by persons sent for 
 the purpose, also concurred. Otho was eager for the 
 issue of a battle. His brother Titianus, and Proculus, the 
 prasfect of the praetorian guards, both disposed to hasty 
 measures from inexperience, averred that the gods, and 
 the tutelar genius of Otho, were present in council, and 
 would stand by them in their enterprises ; and that no 
 one might venture to oppose their sentence, they had 
 adopted the tone of flattery. To offer battle was the re- 
 sult of the debate ; but whether the emperor should com- 
 mand in person, or withdraw to a place of safety, was a 
 question still to be discussed. Celsus and Paulinus now 
 made no opposition. To expose the prince to the dangers 
 of the field, was more than they chose to take upon them- 
 selves ; and the authors of the pernicious counsel already 
 given, carried it, that Otho should retire to Brixellum, 
 there, removed from the hazards of battle, to reserve him- 
 self for the chief administration of affairs and of empire. 
 From this day the ruin of Otho's party may be dated. 
 He took with him a considerable detachment of the prae- 
 torian cohorts, the body-guard, and cavalry. After their 
 departure, the spirit of the army began to droop ; for they 
 suspected their officers ; and the prince, on whom alone 
 the soldiers relied, for he confided in none but them, had 
 left them under the command of generals of dubious 
 authority. 
 
 34. Nothing of all that passed was a secret in the camp 
 of Vitellius. From the deserters, who in civil wars are 
 always numerous, and also from the spies, \vhose genius 
 it is, while they pry into the secrets of others, to betray 
 their own, every thing transpired. Caecina and Valens lay 
 quiet on the watch for the opportunity when the enemy 
 should rush on unwarily, and waiting to avail themselves 
 of the folly of others, a good substitute for wisdom, com- 
 menced a bridge, as though they meditated crossing the 
 Po, to attack the gladiators on the opposite bank ; and 
 that their own soldiers might not pass their time in listless 
 inactivity. They ranged at equal distances a number of 
 boats, united at each end by strong timbers, with their 
 prows turned against the current, and resting upon their 
 anchors ; to hold the bridge firmly together, the cables
 
 476 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 however were not tense, but played in the water, in order, 
 when the stream increased, that the row of vessels might 
 be lifted up without disturbance. Standing upon the 
 bridge, and raised up on the last ship, was a turret, which 
 closed the passage, and gave the men a station, whence 
 they might, with their battering engines, prevent the ap- 
 proach of the enemy. 
 
 35. The Othonians also raised a tower on the opposite 
 bank, whence they threw stones and brands. A small 
 island stood in the middle of the water. The gladiators 
 attempted to pass over in boats; but the Germans, expert 
 in swimming, outstripped them. Several, as it happened, 
 crossed over ; and in order to dislodge them, Macer put 
 off with a strong party of gladiators on board his galleys : 
 but the gladiators were not able to cope with regular sol- 
 diers ; and the motion of the vessels not allowing them a 
 firm footing, they could not discharge their weapons with 
 the same certainty as men standing steadily on land ; and 
 since from the jarring movements of men in a state of 
 alarm, the rowers and combatants intermixed, obstructed 
 each other, the Germans became the assailants, and plung- 
 ing into the river from the bank, held back the boats, 
 boarded them, or sunk them by manual force. The whole 
 passed under the eye of both armies. The Yitellians 
 looked on with joy proportioned to the abhorrence in 
 which the Othonians held Macer, the cause and author of 
 their disgrace. 
 
 36. The gladiators, in such vessels as they could save, 
 retreated from the island, and thus an end was put to the 
 engagement. The soldiers clamoured for the blood of 
 Macer. One of 4hem darted his lance, and wounded him; 
 when the rest rushed on sword in hand, and would have 
 killed him on the spot, if the tribunes and centurions had 
 not interposed to save him. Shortly after, Vestricius 
 Spurinna, having, by order of Otho, left a moderate gar- 
 rison at Placentia, came up to the main body witb his 
 cohorts. Flavius Sabinus, consul elect, was immediately 
 afterwards sent by Otho to command the troops Macer 
 had headed; to the great joy of the common men, who 
 saw with pleasure every change of their officers; while the 
 commanders were disgusted with a service rendered so 
 perilous from the frequency of sedition. 
 
 37. I find it asserted by some authors, that the two 
 armies, dreading a war, or detesting both princes, whose 
 flagitious deeds grew every day more notorious, had 
 doubted whether in laying down their arms, they should 
 either themselves deliberate upon the matter with a view
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 477 
 
 to the common good, or commit to the senate the choice 
 of an emperor ; and that from this consideration Otho's 
 generals proposed to protract and delay the war ; the pro- 
 spects of Paulinus being the most promising, as he was the 
 oldest of consular rank, of high military reputation, and 
 his conduct in Britain had given superior lustre to his name. 
 But as I would admit, that a few, in their hearts wished for 
 repose instead of discord, and to see the most base and 
 abandoned of mankind, postponed to a virtuous and inof- 
 fensive prince ; so I cannot suppose that Paulinus, a man of 
 understanding, could, in an age so corrupt, hope for such 
 an effort of moderation in the masses, as that those who had 
 unsettled a state of peace from a passion for war, would lay 
 down war from an attachment to peace; nor that the armies, 
 dissonant in language and manners, could be brought to 
 coalesce in this opinion ; or that the leading chiefs, im- 
 mersed in luxury, overwhelmed with debt, and conscious 
 of enormous crimes, would submit to any master who was 
 not stained with guilt, and bound to them by the services 
 they had rendered him. 
 
 38. The love of domination, an inveterate and deep- 
 seated propensity of the human heart, waxed strong as 
 the empire grew in greatness, and at length threw off all 
 restraints ; for while the republic was limited in its ex- 
 tent, the equality of conditions was easily preserved. But 
 when the world was subjugated, and rival kings and rival 
 cities being overthrown, men were at leisure to covet wealth 
 which they might enjoy in repose, contentions arose, first, 
 between the senate and the people. Factious tribunes 
 prevailed at one time, and ambitious consuls at another ; 
 and in the city, and the forum, were exhibited the first 
 essays of civil war. Soon after, Caius Marius, a man 
 sprung from the dregs of the populace, and Lucius Sylla, 
 the fiercest of the nobles, vanquished liberty by force of 
 arms, and erected absolutism on its ruins. Pompey came 
 after, with passions more disguised, but no way better. 
 From that time, the struggle has been for supreme domi- 
 nion alone. The legions that filled the plains of Phar- 
 salia, and afterwards met at Philippi, though composed of 
 Roman citizens, never onqp thought of disbanding ; much 
 less would the armies of Otho and Vitellius sheath the 
 sword of their own mere motion ; the same wrath of the 
 gods, the same popular frenzy, the same motives, de- 
 rived from enormities committed, urged them on to mutual 
 slaughter. Their wars, it is true, were ended by, as it 
 were, single blows ; but that was owing to the abject spirit 
 of the princes. But these reflections on the spirit of an-
 
 478 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 cient and modern times, have betrayed me into too long a 
 digression. I now come to the series of transactions as 
 they occurred. 
 
 39. From the time when Otho withdrew to Brixellum, 
 his brother Titianus assumed the pomp of command, but 
 the power and real authority were with Proculus. Celsus 
 and Paulinus were no more than nominal generals. No 
 man sought their advice ; they did but bear the blame of 
 blunders not their own. The tribunes and centurions 
 were in doubt and perplexity, seeing the worst characters 
 pi'eferred, and real talents neglected. The common men 
 were in good spirits, but more disposed to scan than to 
 execute their generals' orders. It was resolved to advance 
 the camp to within four miles of Bedriacum ; which they 
 did with such want of skill, that, though it was then the 
 spring of the year, and the country round abounded with 
 rivers, the army was distressed for want of water. The 
 expediency of hazarding a battle became again the sub- 
 ject of debate. Otho, in frequent despatches, insisted on 
 the most vigorous nleasures : the soldiers demanded that 
 the emperor should be present on the day of battle. Many 
 were of opinion, that the forces beyond the Po should be 
 called in ; nor is it so easy to decide what would have 
 been the most prudent measure, as that they chose the 
 most pernicious. 
 
 40. They set out for the conflux of the Po and the 
 Addua, at the distance of sixteen miles, as if going to 
 open a campaign, not to decide it. Celsus and Paulinus 
 represented the danger of exposing the soldiei's, fatigued 
 by their march, and bending under the weight of their 
 baggage, to the attack of an enemy unincumbered, and 
 fresh from a march of four miles only ; who would not com- 
 mit such a blunder as not to assault them before they could 
 form the line of battle, or while dispersed and employed 
 at the intrench men ts. Titianus and Proculus, when over- 
 come by argument, resorted to their orders, and the will 
 of the prince. And it is true that a Numidian horseman, 
 at full speed, arrived with letters from Otho, in a style of 
 sharp reproof condemning the dilatoriness of the generals, 
 and commanding that a ^decisive action should be ha- 
 zarded ; for he was heartsick with suspense, and impa- 
 tient to realise his anticipations. 
 
 41. On the same day, while Caecina was employed in 
 throwing a bridge over the Po, two praetorian tribunes 
 arrived to demand an interview. He was on the point of 
 hearing their terms and replying, when the scouts an- 
 nounced with headlong haste that the enemy was at hand.
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 479 
 
 The business broke off abruptly, and therefore what their 
 design was, whether to betray their own party, to lay a 
 snare for the Vitellians, or to make some honourable pro- 
 posal, cannot now be known. Caecina dismissed the tri- 
 bunes, and rode back to the camp, where he found that 
 Valens had given the signal for battle, and the men under 
 arms. While the legions were settling by lot their re- 
 spective stations, the cavalry advanced to charge the 
 enemy, and, strange to say, an inferior number of the 
 Othonians would have driven them into their intrench- 
 ments, had not the Italic legion opposed the runaways, 
 and sword in hand compelled them to return to the 
 charge. Meanwhile, the rest of the army, without hurry 
 or confusion, drew up in order of battle, unmolested by 
 the enemy, and, in fact, without being seen : as a thick 
 coppice, that stood between both parties, intercepted their 
 view. In Otho's army the chiefs were in dismay ; the men 
 mistrusted the officers; the baggage waggons and the 
 followers of the camp mixed with the ranks, and the road 
 rendered so narrow by a deep ditch on each side as to be 
 difficult of passage, even though no enemy were at hand; 
 some were crowding about their colours ; others looking 
 for their proper post ; nothing was heard but a confused 
 clamour of men calling to their comrades, and answering 
 to their names ; while some advanced to the front line ; 
 others fell into the rear; as fear or courage prompted 
 them. 
 
 42. The Othonians thus amazed with sudden alarm, 
 were lulled into a state of languor by the joy inspired 
 by certain persons who falsely stated that the army 
 had abandoned Vitellius. From what source it took 
 its origin, whether design or chance, from the emis- 
 saries of the Vitellians, or the adverse party, has never 
 been explained. The Othonians no longer burning for 
 battle, went so far as to salute the opposite army, but 
 being received with hostile murmurs, most of their own 
 party, not knowing the cause of the salutation, were in- 
 duced to apprehend treason. In that moment the Vitel- 
 lians began the attack : their army was in regular order, 
 their strength and numbers superior. The Othonians, still 
 in disorder, and fatigued by their march, nevertheless fell 
 to with vigour. The place of the action being entangled 
 with trees and vineyards, the aspect of the combat was 
 varied. They fought man to man, and at a distance, in 
 separate battalions, and in the form of a wedge. On the 
 high road they fought hand to hand, foot to foot, and 
 buckler against buckler: they ceased to throw their jave-
 
 480 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 lins, and with their swords and axes cut through helmets 
 and breastplates. They knew one another; each indi- 
 vidual was conspicuous to his friends and enemies ; and 
 every man fought as if the issue of the war depended 
 upon his single arm. 
 
 43. Upon an open plain, between the Po and the high 
 road, two legions happened to encounter each other; on 
 the part of Vitellius, the one and twentieth, famed for its 
 valour, and named Rapax ; on the side of OtliOj the first 
 legion, entitled Adjutrix, which had never been in action, 
 but of desperate courage, and eager for the acquisition 
 of honour. They broke through the foremost rank of 
 the one and twentieth, and carried off their eagle. Roused 
 by this disgrace, the Vitellians in their turn drove back 
 the first, killing Orphidius Benignus, who commanded 
 Otho's legion, and carrying off several standards and flags. 
 In another part of the field, the thirteenth legion was 
 routed by the fifth, and the fourteenth was hemmed in by 
 superior numbers. Otho's generals had long since fled 
 the field, while Caecina and Valens supported their ranks 
 in every quarter. Fresh forces came- to their assistance. 
 The Batavians, under Varus Alphenus, having cut to 
 pieces the gladiators attempting in boats to cross the Po, 
 came into the field flushed with success, and charged the 
 enemy in flank. 
 
 44. The centre of Otho's army gave way, and fled with 
 precipitation towards Bedriacum. A long space lay before 
 them ; the road was obstructed with heaps of slain : the 
 slaughter, therefore was the more dreadful. In civil wars, 
 indeed, no prisoners arc reserved for sale. Suetonius 
 Paulinus and Licinius Proculus fled different ways, both 
 avoiding the camp. Vedius Aquila, who commanded the 
 thirteenth legion, by his own indiscreet fears exposed 
 himself to the fury of the soldiers. He entered the camp, 
 while it was yet broad daylight ; and those who are ever 
 ready to rebel against their officers, and run away from 
 their enemies, crowded round him with loud clamourihgs, 
 abusing him, and even offering violence to him. They 
 charged him with treachery and desertion, not because he 
 was guilty of any crime, but, in the true spirit of vulgar 
 minds, transferring to others their own guilt and infamy. 
 Titianus and Celsus owed their safety to the night. The 
 watch being now stationed, and the soldiers appeased by 
 the entreaties, the advice, and authority of Annius Gallus, 
 who had the address to make the men sensible of" the folly 
 of adding to the havoc of the field by turning their swords 
 upon themselves." Whether the war was at an end, or to be
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 481 
 
 once more renewed with vigour, he represented that the 
 one great remedy for the vanquished was in their union. 
 The spirits of the rest were completely broken ; but the prae- 
 torians complained that they were defeated by treachery, 
 not by the valour of the enemy. " The Vitellians," they 
 said, " could not boast of a bloodless victory. Their 
 cavalry were routed, and one of their legions lost their 
 eagle. Otho and the troops beyond the Po were still left ; 
 the legions from Massia were on their march ; and a con- 
 siderable part of the army, detained at Bedriacum, had no 
 share in the action. These certainly were not yet con- 
 quered ; and if that was to be their lot, they would fall 
 with more glory in the field of battle." From these re- 
 flections, the praetorians, inflamed with anger or depressed 
 with fear, were rather stimulated by resentment, than dis- 
 heartened by their desperate predicament. 
 
 45. The army of Vitellius halted at the distance of five 
 miles from Bedriacum, the generals not thinking it advis- 
 able on the same day to attempt the enemy's camp. A 
 voluntary surrender was at the same time anticipated. 
 But the soldiers, having gone forth prepared only as for 
 battle, and unincumbered, their arms and their victory 
 were their only defence. On the following day the in- 
 clination of the Othonians, showing itself unequivocally; 
 and even those who had been the fiercest, being now dis- 
 posed to relent, they sent a deputation to the enemy. The 
 Vitellian leaders were willing to hearken to terms of ac- 
 commodation. The deputies not returning immediately, 
 the doubt whether they had succeeded somewhat checked 
 their resolution. But the embassy soon returning, the in- 
 trenchments were thrown open. The conquerors and the 
 conquered burst into tears, and, with mingled joy and 
 sorrow, deprecated the horrors of civil war. In the same 
 tents, relations, friends, and brothers, dressed each other's 
 wounds. They now perceived that their hopes and re- 
 wards were dubious; while deaths and mournings were 
 their certain lot. Nor was there a person so fortunate as 
 not to have some death to lament. The body of Orphidius, 
 the commander of a legion, after diligent search, was 
 found, and burned with the usual solemnities. A few of 
 the common men- were buried by their friends : the rest 
 were left above ground. 
 
 46. Otho, in the mean time, having taken his resolution, 
 waited, without trepidation, for an account of the event. 
 First, rumours of a melancholy character reached his ears; 
 soon after, fugitives, who escaped from the field, brought 
 sure intelligence that all was lost. The fervour of the 
 
 i i
 
 482 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 soldiers stayed not for the voice of the emperor ; they bid 
 him summon up his best resolution. There were forces 
 still in reserve, and, in their prince's cause they were 
 ready to suffer and dare the utmost. Nor was this the 
 language of flattery : impelled by a kind of frenzy, and 
 like men possessed, they were all on fire to go to the field 
 and restore the state of their party. The men who stood 
 at a distance stretched forth their hands in token of their 
 assent, while such as gathered round the prince clasped 
 his knees ; Plotius Firmus being the most zealous. This 
 officer commanded the praetorian guards. He implored 
 his master not to abandon an army devoted to his interest; 
 a soldiery who had undergone so much in his cause. " It 
 was more magnanimous," they said, " to bear up against 
 adversity, than to shrink from it : the brave and strenuous 
 sustained themselves upon hope, even against the current 
 of fortune ; the timorous and abject only allowed their 
 fears to plunge them into despair." While uttering these 
 words, accordingly as Otho relaxed or stiffened the muscles 
 of his face, they shouted or groaned. Nor was this spirit 
 confined to the praetorians, the peculiar soldiers of Otho : 
 the detachment sent forward by the Magsian legions 
 brought word that the same zeal pervaded the coming 
 army, and that the legions had entered Aquileia. Whence 
 it is evident that a fierce and bloody war, the issue of 
 which could not have been foreseen by the victors or the 
 vanquished, might have been still carried on. 
 
 47. Otho himself was averse to any plans of prosecuting 
 the war, and said : " To expose to further perils such 
 spirit and such virtue as you now display, would, I deem, 
 be paying too costly a price for my life. The more bril- 
 liant the prospects which you hold out to me, were I 
 disposed to live, the more glorious will be my death. I 
 and Fortune have made trial of each other ; for what 
 length of time is not material : but the felicity which does 
 not promise to last, it is more difficult to enjoy with mode- 
 ration. Vitellius began the civil war ; and he originated 
 our contest for the princedom. It shall be mine to esta- 
 blish a precedent, by preventing a second battle for it. 
 By this let posterity judge of Otho. Vitellius shall be 
 blest with his brother, his wife, and children. I want no 
 revenge, nor consolations. Others have held the sove- 
 reign power longer ; none has resigned it with equal for- 
 titude. Shall I again suffer so many of the Roman youth, 
 so many gallant armies, to be laid low, and cut off from 
 the commonwealth ? Let this resolution of yours to die 
 for me, should it be necessary, attend me in my departure,
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 483 
 
 but live on yourselves. Neither let me long obstruct your 
 safety, nor do you retard the proof of my constancy. To 
 descant largely upon our last moments is the act of a das- 
 tard spirit. Hold it as an eminent proof of the fixedness 
 of my purpose, that I complain of no man : for to arraign 
 or Gods or men is the part of one who fain would live. 
 
 48. Having thus declared his sentiments he talked with 
 his friends, addressing each in courteous terms, according 
 to his rank, his age, or dignity, and endeavoured to induce 
 all, the young in an authoritative tone, the old by en- 
 treaties, to depart without loss of time, and not aggravate 
 the resentment of the conqueror by remaining with him. 
 His countenance serene, his voice firm, and endeavouring 
 to repress the tears of his friends as uncalled for. He 
 ordered boats or carriages for those who were willing to 
 depart. Papers and letters, containing strong expressions 
 of duty towards himself, or ill-will towards Vitellius, he 
 committed to the flames. He distributed money in pre- 
 sents, but not with the profusion of a man quitting the 
 world. Then, observing his brother's son, Salvius Coc- 
 ceianus, in the bloom of youth, and distressed and weep- 
 ing, he even comforted him, commending his duty, but 
 rebuking his fears : " Could it be supposed that Vitel- 
 lius, finding his own family safe, would refuse, inhu- 
 manly, to return the generosity shown to himself? By 
 hastening my death," he said, " I shall establish a claim 
 upon his clemency; since, not in the extremity of despair, 
 but at a time when the army was clamouring for another 
 battle, he had made his death an offering to his country. 
 For himself, he had gained ample renown, and left to 
 his family enough of lustre. After the Julian race, the 
 Claudian, and the Servian, he was the first who carried 
 the sovereignty into a new family. Wherefore he should 
 cling to life with lofty aspirations, and neither forget at 
 any time that Otho was his uncle, nor remember it over- 
 much." 
 
 49. After this, his friends having all withdrawn, he re- 
 posed awhile. When lo ! while his mind was occupied 
 with the last act of his life, he was diverted from his pur- 
 pose by a sudden uproar. The soldiers, he was told, were 
 in a state of frenzy and riot, threatening destruction to 
 all who offered to depart, and directing their fury parti- 
 cularly against Verginius, whom they kept besieged in his 
 house, which he had barricaded. Having reproved the 
 authors of the disturbance, he returned, and devoted him- 
 self to bidding adieu to those who were going away, until 
 they had all departed in security. Towards the close of 
 
 i i 2
 
 484 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 day he quenched his thirst with a draught of cold water, 
 and then ordered two poniards to be brought to him. He 
 tried the points of both, and laid one under his head. 
 Having ascertained that his friends were safe on their way, 
 he passed the night in quiet, and, as we are assured, even 
 slept. At the dawn of day, he applied the weapon to his 
 breast, and fell upon it. On hearing his dying groans, 
 his freedmen and slaves, and with them Plotius Firmus, 
 the praetorian praefect, found that with one wound he had 
 despatched himself. His funeral obsequies were per- 
 formed without delay. This had been his earnest request, 
 lest his head should be cut off and be made a: public spec- 
 tacle. He was borne on the shoulders of the praetorian 
 soldiers, who kissed his hands and his wound, amidst tears 
 and praises. Some of the soldiers slew themselves at the 
 funeral pile : not from any consciousness of guilt, nor from 
 fear ; but in emulation of the bright example of their 
 prince, and to show their affection. At Bedriacum, Pla- 
 centia, and other camps, numbers of every rank adopted 
 that mode of death. A sepulchre was raised to the 
 memory of Otho, of ordinary structure, but likely to en- 
 dure. 
 
 50. Such was the end of Otho, in the thirty-seventh 
 year of his age. He was born in the municipal city of 
 Ferentum. His father was of consular rank ; his grand- 
 father of praetorian. By the maternal line his descent was 
 respectable, though not equally illustrious. The features 
 of his character, as well in his earliest days as in the pro- 
 gress of his youth, have been already delineated. By two 
 actions, one atrocious and detestable, the other great and 
 magnanimous, he earned an equal degree of honour and 
 infamy among posterity. As I should regard it as un- 
 becoming the gravity of my undertaking to hunt up fabu- 
 lous accounts, and amuse my readers with fictions, so I 
 would not presume to impugn the credibility of those 
 statements which have been generally received, and regu- 
 larly handed down. The inhabitants relate, that, on the 
 day when the battle was fought at Bedriacum, a bird of 
 unusual appearance perched in a frequented place near 
 Regium Lepidum, and, notwithstanding the great con- 
 course of people, and a numerous flight of other birds, 
 never moved from its place till Otho put an end to his life, 
 and then vanished out of sight; and that, on comparing 
 the times, the appearance and disappearance of this phe- 
 nomenon tallied with the circumstances of the prince's 
 death. 
 
 51, The grief and anguish of the soldiers at the funeral
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 485 
 
 drove them to another mutiny. Nor was there any one 
 to restrain it. They turned their thoughts to Verginius ; 
 one moment calling upon him to accept the sovereignty, 
 and the next, with menaces, pressing him to undertake an 
 embassy to Valens and Caecina. Verginius, while they 
 were forcing his house, disappointed them by stealing 
 off the back way. The cohorts that lay encamped at 
 Brixellum deputed Rubrius Gallus with terms of sub- 
 mission; and pardon was immediately obtained, the troops 
 under Flavius Sabinus going over to the conqueror, 
 through the negotiation of their commander. 
 
 52. Though the war in every quarter was now at an 
 end, a great part of the senate, who accompanied Otho 
 from Rome, and by him were left at Mutina, were involved 
 in the utmost danger. They received an account of the 
 defeat at Bedriacum; but the soldiers, treating it as a false 
 alarm, as they suspected that the senate were hostile to 
 Otho, they observed their language, and put a malignant 
 construction upon their looks and demeanour. They pro- 
 ceeded, lastly, to reproaches and insults, hoping to find a 
 pretence and occasion for bloodshed, when the senators saw 
 another cloud gathering over their heads: the Vitellian 
 party was now superior ; and they feared lest they should 
 be thought to entertain the intelligence of the victory 
 coldly. Thus alarmed, and painfully perplexed, they met; 
 no one suggesting any plan of his own, as he felt more 
 secure as one of many who participated in the same fault. 
 The magistracy of Mutina increased the anxiety of the 
 terror-stricken senators, by offering them arms and money, 
 and, with ill-timed courtesy, giving them the appellation 
 of conscript fathers. 
 
 63. After this a notable dispute arose between Licinius 
 Caecina and Eprius Marcellus; the former vehemently 
 charging Marcellus with speaking in ambiguous terms. 
 Nor did any of the others express their sentiments frankly; 
 but the name of Marcellus, detested from the recollection 
 of his informations, had stimulated Caecina, a new man, 
 and lately admitted into the senate, to seek popularity by 
 encountering powerful enmities. The dispute was ended 
 by the interposition of worthier men, and the senate re- 
 turned to Bononia, there to deliberate again, and, in the 
 mean time, they hoped to have more intelligence. There 
 they stationed persons on the several roads to interrogate 
 all who could give the latest intelligence. One of Otho's 
 freedmen, being asked why he had left his master, he 
 made answer, " I bear his last directions ; he is still alive, 
 but he renounces all the joys of life : his thoughts are
 
 486 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 fixed upon posterity alone." This account excited their 
 admiration ; they felt a delicacy in making further in- 
 quiries : and the consequence was, that all transferred 
 their attachment to Vitellius. 
 
 54. Lucius Vitellius, brother of the new emperor, at- 
 tended the meeting of the senate, and was now presenting 
 himself to receive the court of the senators, when Caenus, 
 a freedman of Nero's, by a bold and impudent falsehood, 
 threw the assembly into consternation. He affirmed it as 
 a fact, that, by the coming up of the fourteenth legion, 
 and the junction of the forces from Brixellium, the victors 
 had been cut to pieces, and the fortune of the party re- 
 trieved. The motive of this fiction was, that Otho's pass- 
 ports, now slighted, might revive, under more favourable 
 news. By this stratagem he gained a quick conveyance to 
 Rome, and in a few days was put to death by order of 
 Vitellius. But the danger of the senators was increased, 
 as the Othonian soldiers gave credit to the fiction ; and it 
 gave intensity to their fears, that they seemed to have 
 quitted Mutina on public grounds, and to have abandoned 
 their party. From this time the senate was convened no 
 more. Every man acted on his own private views, till 
 letters from Fabius Valens put an end to their fears. 
 Besides, the death of Otho was known the sooner, in pro- 
 portion as it was meritorious. 
 
 55. At Rome a general calm prevailed. The games 
 sacred to Ceres were exhibited as usual. When intelli- 
 gence arrived that Otho was no more, and that all the 
 military then in the city had, at the requisition of Flavius 
 Sabinus, sworn fidelity to Vitellius, the spectators signified 
 their applause. The people, with laurel and flowers, 
 carried the images of Galba to the several temples, and 
 piled their chaplets in the form of a tomb, on the spot 
 near the lake of Curtius, which he had died with his life- 
 blopd. All the honours invented during the long reigns 
 of other princes were forthwith decreed in the senate. 
 They moreover passed a vote of thanks and applause to 
 the German armies, and despatched a deputation to per- 
 form the office of congratulation. A letter from Fabius 
 Valens to the consuls was read : it was not arrogant in 
 its style, but the modesty of Caecina, in not writing at all, 
 gave greater satisfaction. 
 
 56. The sufferings of Italy, however, were more severe 
 and terrible than under the war. The Vitellian soldiers, 
 quartered in the colonies and municipal cities, were bent 
 on spoil and rapine. Tiiey committed the most horrible 
 outrages, deflouring the women, and trampling on all laws,
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 487. 
 
 human and divine ; either from lust or with a view to be 
 bought off, they spared nothing sacred or profane. Some 
 were murdered by their private enemies under pretence 
 of their being soldiers of Otho. The soldiers who knew 
 the country, plundered without control .the opulent 
 farmers and lands well slocked ; while all who resisted 
 were doomed to the sword, the officers not daring to 
 cfyeck them, and obliged to truckle to them. Csecina ex- 
 hibited less avarice, but more servility. Valens had made 
 himself infamous by his avarice and rapacity, and was 
 therefore obliged to connive at the crimes of others. Italy 
 was long since exhausted, and could ill endure to maintain 
 so many foot and horse, together with outrage, losses, and 
 oppression. 
 
 57. Vitellius, in the mean time, advanced towards Italy 
 with the remainder of the German armies, ignorant of his 
 victory, and supposing that not a blow had been struck. 
 A few of the veteran soldiers were left behind in winter- 
 quarters ; and to recruit the remaining legions, which were 
 mere skeletons, hasty levies were made in Gaul. On the 
 frontiers bordering on the Rhine the command was given 
 to Hordeonius Flaccus, To his own army Vitellius added 
 eight thousand men from Britain. Having marched a few 
 days, he received intelligence of the victory at Bedriacum, 
 and the conclusion of the war by the death of Otho. He 
 called an assembly, and highly extolled the valour of the 
 troops. The army wished to see his freedman Asiaticus, 
 raised to the dignity of a Roman knight, but Vitellius re- 
 strained the disgraceful adulation : but such was his natu- 
 ral levity, that what he refused in public, he granted in 
 private over his bottle. And thus a despicable slave, who 
 was goaded on by ambition, and had nothing to recom- 
 mend him but his vices, was honoured with the equestrian 
 ring. 
 
 58. About the same time Vitellius received advices that 
 the two Mauritanias had acceded to his party, Lucceius 
 Albinus, the governor of that country having been mur- 
 dered. The province which was called Caesariensis had 
 been by Nero committed to Albinus ; and the other, called 
 Tingitana, being afterwards added by Galba, the governor 
 was master of a considerable force; not less than nineteen 
 cohorts, five squadrons of horse, and a numerous body of 
 Moors, accustomed to live by depredation and rapine, and 
 therefore available for war. Albinus, on the death of 
 Galba, declared at once for Otho, and, not content with 
 Africa, began to form plans against Spain, which was se~ 
 parated by a narrow channel. Cluvius Rufus, who pre~
 
 488 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 sided in Spain, alarmed at this, ordered the tenth legion 
 to march to the sea-coast, with a design, as he gave out, 
 to cross the sea; and chosen centurions were sent forward 
 to draw the Moors over to Vitellius. This was not a diffi- 
 cult task; the fame of the German armies resounded 
 through all the provinces. A report prevailed, at the 
 same time, that Albinus, disdaining the title of procura- 
 tor, had usurped the regal diadem, and the name of 
 Juba. 
 
 59. Thus a change taking place in the minds of the 
 people, Asinius Pollio, who commanded a squadron of 
 horse, and one of the most firm friends of Albinus, was 
 surprised and put to death, with Festus and Scipio, prae- 
 fects of cohorts. Albinus himself, after sailing from the 
 province of Tingitana to that of Caesariensis, was put to 
 death as soon as he landed. His wife, who presented 
 herself to the assassins, perished with her husband. 
 These transactions passed without the notice of Vitellius: 
 even to matters of high importance the attention of a mo- 
 ment was all that he gave, unequal as he was to concerns 
 of magnitude. He ordered his army to proceed by land 
 into Italy, while he himself sailed down the Arar; not 
 with any of the pomp of a prince, but exhibiting in a 
 striking manner the poverty of his former condition. At 
 length Junius Blaesus, at that time governor of the Lyo- 
 nese Gaul, a man of illustrious descent, of liberal mind, 
 and. corresponding wealth, supplied Vitellius with a train, 
 and attended him in person, sparing no expense. But 
 this very conduct excited the displeasure of Vitellius, 
 who, however, concealed his aversion with servile caresses. 
 At Lyons the generals of both parties, as well the van- 
 quished as the victorious, attended. Vitellius in a public 
 speech lauded Valens and Csecina, whom he placed on 
 each side of his curule chair. He then ordered out the 
 whole army to receive his son, then an infant of tender 
 years. The child was brought forward; the father took 
 him in his arms, adorned as he was with a purple robe ; 
 saluted him by the title of Germanicus ; and arrayed him 
 with all the insignia of princely state. This extravagant 
 honour shown in prosperity, formed a source of consola- 
 tion in the reverse of fortune which followed. 
 
 60. The centurions who had signalized themselves in 
 Otho's service, were then put to death. By this, more 
 than anything, he lost the affections of the forces from II- 
 lyricum. The rest of the legions caught the infection, and, 
 being already on bad terms with the German soldiery, be- 
 gan to meditate a revolt. Suetonius Paulinas and Licinius
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 489 
 
 Proculus were kept for some time in a wretched state of 
 suspense. Being at length admitted to an audience, they 
 made a defence, which nothing but the necessity of the 
 times could excuse. They made a merit with Vitellius of 
 their treachery to Otho, and to their own sinister designs 
 ascribed the inarch of the army on the day of battle, the 
 fatigue of the troops, and the confusion in the ranks, oc- 
 casioned by not removing the baggage, with many other 
 accidental circumstances. Vitellius gave them credit for 
 their perfidy, and pardoned their attachment to his enemy. 
 Salvius Titianus, the brother of Otho, was screened from 
 danger on the score of natural affection, and his imbecile 
 character. Marius Celsus, consul elect, was suffered to 
 succed to his honours, though Cascilius Simplex, as was 
 generally believed, and the charge was afterwards brought 
 against him in the seriate, endeavoured by bribery to sup- 
 plant him; meditating also the destruction of Celsus. The 
 emperor, however, withstood him, but in time raised him 
 to that office, without the guilt of bribery or murder. 
 Trachalus was shielded from his accusers by Galeria, the 
 wife of Vitellius. 
 
 61. Amidst the dangers that involved the first men of 
 the age, shameful to relate, one Mariccus, a plebeian of 
 the Boii, had the presumption to mix up his name with 
 the great events of the time, and provoke the Roman 
 arms by a pretence ta supernatural lights ; and already 
 as deliverer of Gaul, and as a god, for such was the title he 
 assumed, having mustered eight thousand men, he made 
 an attempt on the adjacent villages of the ^Eduans, when 
 that powerful state, with a chosen band of their youth, 
 and with a reinforcement of cohorts from Vitellius, put the 
 fanatic multitude to the rout. Mariccus was taken pri- 
 soner, and soon after given to wild beasts. The popu- 
 lace, astonished to see that he was not immediately torn 
 to pieces, believed him to be sacred and inviolable, till he 
 was put to death under the eye of Vitellius. 
 
 62. From this time the partisans of Otho were no longer 
 persecuted : the effects of all remained inviolable. The 
 last wills of such as fell fighting for Otho, were allowed 
 to be valid, and, where no will was made, the law of intes- 
 tacy took its course. In fact, if Vitellius had moderated 
 his luxuries, one needed not fear his avarice. His appe- 
 tite lor feasting was shocking, and knew no bounds. From 
 Rome and Italy incentives to gluttony were conveyed; the 
 roads from both the seas ringing with the din of carriages. 
 To entertain him on his march the principal men of every 
 city were obliged to lavish all their wealth, and the cities
 
 190 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 themselves were exhausted. The soldiers lost all energy 
 and virtue, from being habituated to pleasure and con- 
 tempt of their general. Vitellius, by an edict sent forward 
 to Rome, signified his pleasure to postpone for the pre- 
 sent the title of Augustus, and decline that of Caesar; but 
 did not foVego any portion of the princely power. He 
 ordered the mathematicians to be banished out of Italy, 
 and, under heavy penalties, restrained the Roman knights 
 from disgracing themselves by public games and the prize 
 ring. Former princes had not scrupled to allure men to 
 that practice by money, and still oftener by force. Many 
 of the municipal towns and colonies emulated the city in 
 alluring all the most profligate to engage in these prac- 
 tices by means of rewards. 
 
 G3. Vitellius, on the arrival of his brother, and other 
 adepts in tyrannic arts gaining an ascendency over him, 
 became more haughty and sanguinary. He gave orders 
 for the execution of Dolabella, who, as already stated, was 
 I'emoved by Otho to the colony of Aquinum. Being there 
 informed of that emperor's death, he ventured to return 
 to Rome. That step was objected to him as a crime by 
 his intimate friend, Plancius Varus, who had been praetor, 
 before Flavius Sabinus, the praefect of the city. He pre- 
 tended that Dolabella broke from his place of confinement 
 to offer himself as a leader to the vanquished party, and 
 added, that he had endeavoured to seduce to his interest 
 the cohort stationed at Ostia. He could bring no proof 
 of these serious charges; and visited with remorse, which 
 proved too late to be of any service, he implored forgive- 
 ness for the accused, after incurring the horrible guilt. 
 Flavius Sabinus hesitated in a matter of such magnitude, 
 till Triaria, the wife of Lucius Vitellius,. a woman fu- 
 rious beyond her sex, warned him not to seek the fame of 
 clemency at the peril of the prince. Sabinus naturally 
 humane, but when danger threatened himself infirm of 
 purpose, and feeling his own life hazarded in another's 
 peril, precipitated the fall of a man, whom he dared not 
 appear to help. 
 
 64. Vitellius, from motives of fear and hatred, for Pe- 
 tronia, his former wife, was no sooner divorced than Do- 
 labella married her, by letters despatched to Rome invited 
 him to his presence, advising him, at the same time, to 
 shun the publicity of the Flaminian road, and come by 
 the way of Interamnium. At that place, he ordered him 
 to be put to death. The assassin thought he should lose 
 too much time, and attacked Dolabella at an inn on the 
 road, while stretched on the ground, and cut his throat;
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 491 
 
 a transaction which brought into great odium the new 
 reign, the future character of which was understood from 
 this incipient specimen. The daring spirit of Triaria was 
 the more detested, as it stood in immediate contrast to the 
 mild character of Galeria, the emperor's wife, and also to 
 that of Sextilia, his mother; a woman of equal excellence, 
 and formed on the model of ancient manners. On receipt 
 of the first letters from her son, she is said to have 
 declared that his name was not Germanicus but Vitel- 
 lius ; and never afterwards, either elated by the splendour 
 of her family, or deceived by the voice of flattery, was she 
 won to cheerfulness, but was alive only to the calamities 
 of her family. 
 
 65. Vitellius having set out from Lyons, was met by 
 Marcus Cluvius Rufus, who had left his government in 
 Spain for the purpose. He appeared with joy and gra- 
 tulation in his countenance, and anxiety in his heart. He 
 knew that an accusation had been prepared against him 
 by Hilarius, one of the emperor's freedmen, importing 
 that, during the war between Otho and Vitellius, Rufus 
 intended to set up for himself, and seize the provinces of 
 Spain; and that, with this view, he had issued various 
 edicts, without inserting the name of any prince whatever. 
 He also put a construction upon some of his public ha- 
 rangues, tending to blacken the character of Vitellius, 
 and recommend himself to popular favour. The interest 
 of Rufus was too powerful, and his freedman was even 
 condemned to punishment by Vitellius. Rufus was en- 
 rolled among the emperor's intimate friends, and, at the 
 same time, retained his government of Spain during his 
 absence, after the example of Lucius Arruntius, whom 
 Tiberius, from suspicion, never suffered to depart from 
 Rome. But Vitellius entertained no fear of Cluvius. Tre- 
 bellius Maximus did not meet with equal favour. He had 
 fled from Britain on account of the angry feeling of the 
 soldiers. Vettius Bolanus, then a follower of the court, 
 was sent to succeed him. 
 
 66. Vitellius heard, with deep anxiety, that the spirit 
 of the vanquished legions was far from being subdued. 
 Dispersed through Italy, and intermixed with the victo- 
 rious troops, they talked of vengeance. Foremost in in- 
 solence was the fourteenth legion, who denied that they 
 were conquered ; and that, because at Bedriacum the vex- 
 illaries only were defeated, but the strength of the legion 
 was not engaged. It was judged proper to send them 
 back into Britain, whence they had been recalled by 
 Nero ; and the Batavian cohorts were ordered in the
 
 4-92 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 mean time to camp with them, as an old animosity sub- 
 sisted between them and the soldiers of the fourteenth. 
 Between armed men so inflamed with hatred, a quarrel 
 soon broke out. At Augusta, the capital of the Turi- 
 nians, a Batavian soldier had words with an artisan, whom 
 he charged with fraud. A man of the legion took the 
 part of his host ; their comrades joining each of them, 
 from abusive language they proceeded to blows ; and, if 
 two praetorian cohorts, taking part with the fourteenth, 
 had not awed the Batavians, and -inspired confidence in 
 the legionaries, a bloody conflict had ensued. Vitellius, 
 satisfied with the fidelity of the Batavians, incorporated 
 them with his army. The legion had orders to proceed 
 over the Graian Alps, that by this circuitous route they 
 might avoid Vienne, whose inhabitants were suspected. 
 The night the legion marched, they left fires burning in 
 all quarters, by which a part of the Turinian city was 
 destroyed. This loss, like many other calamities of war, 
 was thrown into the shade by the greater disasters of 
 other cities. After the soldiers had descended from the 
 Alps, all the most disaffected of them marched to Vienne. 
 They were, however, reduced to order by the unanimity 
 of the better disposed, and the legion was transported into 
 Britain. 
 
 67. The prastorian cohorts formed the next source of 
 disquietude to Vitellius. They were separated first, and 
 afterwards, this step being followed by an honourable dis- 
 charge to soften their resentment, they delivered up their 
 arms to their tribunes; but at length, when the war com- 
 menced by Vespasian assumed consistency, they assembled 
 again, and proved the best support of the Flavian cause. 
 The first legion of marines was ordered into Spain, that 
 in repose and indolence their spirit might evaporate. The 
 seventh and eleventh were sent back to their old winter- 
 quarters. The thirteenth was ordered to build amphi- 
 theatres ; for Caecina at Cremona, and Valens at Bononia, 
 were preparing to exhibit a spectacle of gladiators, Vitel- 
 lius being at no time so intent upon business as to forget 
 his amusements. 
 
 68. And certainly he had in a quiet way broken up 
 the party; but a mutiny arose among the victors, in its 
 commencement ridiculous, had not the numbers slain 
 brought the war into increased odium. Vitellius had sat 
 down at a banquet at Ticinum, and Verginius was of the 
 party. According to the manners of the chiefs, the tri- 
 bunes and centurions emulate their strictness or delight in 
 noon-day feasts, and the soldiers equally are either orderly
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 493 
 
 or riotous. In the army of Vitellius, all was confusion 
 and drunkenness, 1 resembling wakes and bacchanalian 
 routs, rather than a camp, or a disciplined army. Ac- 
 cordingly two soldiers, one of the fifth legion, the other 
 an auxiliary Gaul, under the excitement of revelry, pro- 
 ceeded to a trial of skill in wrestling. The Roman was 
 thrown; his antagonist exulted over him; and the specta- 
 tors, who had gathered round them, were soon divided 
 into parties. The consequence was, that the legions fell 
 upon the auxiliaries sword in hand, and two cohorts were 
 cut to pieces. Another alarm put an end to this fray! 
 A cloud of dust was seen at a distance, and the glittering 
 of arms. A shout was suddenly raised, that the four- 
 teenth legion was returning to offer battle; but it was the 
 men who brought up the rear of the army, and, when re- 
 cognised, all anxiety subsided. Meanwhile a slave of 
 Verginius was observed by the soldiers, who charged him 
 with a design to assassinate Vitellius, and rushed directly 
 to the banqueting-room, demanding the execution. of Ver- 
 ginius. The emperor himself, though tremblingly alive 
 to every suspicion, doubted not the innocence of Vergi- 
 nius, but with difficulty restrained the men, who thirsted 
 for the blood of a consular man, at one time their own 
 general. It had ever been the fate of Verginius, more 
 than of any other officer, to encounter the seditious spirit 
 of the army. Their admiration of the man, and their 
 estimation of his character, remained unaltered, but they 
 hated him as having been treated with contempt by 
 him. 
 
 69. The next day, the deputies from the senate having 
 been admitted to an audience, Vitellius visited the camp, 
 and actually lauded the zeal of the soldiers, while the 
 auxiliaries murmured at the extent of impunity now en- 
 joyed by the legionaries, and the insolence they manifested. 
 The Batavian cohorts had been ordered back to Germany, 
 lest they should make any desperate attempts : the Fates 
 even then preparing the seeds of a foreign and a civil war. 
 The allies from Gaul were restored to their respective 
 states: a vast unwieldy multitude, employed in the be- 
 ginning of the revolt merely to make up an appearance. 
 For the rest, that the imperial revenues, now well nigh 
 exhausted by largesses, might hold out, Vitellius ordered 
 the complement of the legions and auxiliaries to be re- 
 duced, and no new levies to be made. Dismissions from 
 the service were offered indiscriminately. The policy 
 was of the worst consequence to the commonwealth, and 
 unacceptable to the soldiers, who had the same duties to
 
 491 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 perform with reduced numbers, and more frequent returns 
 of danger and toil. Their energies, too, were wasted by 
 luxury : so different from the ancient system of discipline, 
 and the institutions of their ancestors, with whom virtue 
 proved a better support of Roman power than money. 
 
 70. Vitellius, quitting this place, turned out of his way 
 to go to Cremona. Having there attended the spectacle 
 exhibited by Caecina, he earnestly desired to tread the 
 field of Bedriacum, and survey the vestiges of his recent 
 victory. Shocking and terrible was the spectacle. Forty 
 days had not elapsed since the battle : there lay bodies, 
 hideously mangled ; limbs dissevered ; the decaying forms 
 of men and horses; the ground tainted with gore: one 
 scene of dire devastation, where trees and the fruits of the 
 earth were trampled under foot. No less shocking to 
 humanity was that portion of the road which the people of 
 Cremona had strown with roses and laurels, with altars 
 raised and victims slain, after the custom observed to- 
 wards despots. But these acts of momentary exultation 
 in a short time after brought destruction on their authors. 
 Valens and Caecina attended, and pointed to the local cir- 
 cumstances of the battle : " From this spot the legions 
 rushed on to the attack ; thence the cavalry charged in a 
 body ; from that quarter the auxiliaries wheeled about, 
 and surrounded the enemy." And now, the tribunes and 
 praefects, each extolling his own achievements, gave a 
 medley of facts and falsehoods, or facts magnified by ex- 
 aggeration. The common soldiers, with shouts and ex- 
 ultations, quitted the road, retraced the scene of their 
 struggles, and surveyed the heaps of arms and piles of 
 dead bodies with delight and wonder. Some, too, re- 
 flecting on the sudden transitions of fortune, shed tears, 
 and were touched with commiseration. But Vitellius 
 looked on with unaverted eyes, nor shuddered to behold 
 so many thousand bodies of Roman citizens unburied ; 
 nay, with feelings of preposterous joy, and little thinking 
 that his catastrophe was so near, he offered solemn sacri- 
 fice to the genii of the place. 
 
 71. Next, at Bonnonia Fabius Valens exhibited a show 
 of gladiators, with decorations brought from Rome. In 
 proportion as the emperor advanced towards the capital, 
 the greater the licentiousness that marked his progress : 
 players and bands of eunuchs mixing with the soldiers, 
 and all the other characteristic abominations of Nero's 
 court. For Vitellius was in the habit of showing his ad- 
 miration of Nero, and used to attend him when he went 
 about singing, not by compulsion, as was the case with all
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 495 
 
 men of integrity, but enslaved by luxury and gluttony, 
 and finding his reward in them. In order to open for 
 Valens and Caecina unoccupied months of office, the con- 
 sulates of others were abridged. Martins Macer, as 
 having been a general of Otho's party, was passed over ; 
 and Valerius Marinus, who had been put in nomination 
 by Galba, was also set aside, not for any offence, but as 
 being a man of mild temper, and likely to bear the wrong 
 tamely. Pedanius Costa was omitted, being odious to the 
 prince for having taken an active part against Nero, and 
 excited the ambition of Verginius. But he pretended 
 other reasons. To crown all, thanks were given to Vitel- 
 lius, in conformity with the inveterate habit of servility. 
 
 72. A fraud, which made vigorous progress at its com- 
 mencement, passed current for not more than a few days. 
 There started up a man who pretended to be Scribonianus 
 Camerinus, and that, through fear of the Neronian times, 
 he had lain concealed in Istria, as the followers and the 
 lands of the ancient Crassi, and partiality to that illustrious 
 house, still continued there. The impostor, having en- 
 gaged all the most profligate to support the fiction, the 
 credulous vulgar, and certain of the soldiers, either led 
 into error or from love of innovation, eagerly joined in the 
 plot. Being "brought before Vitellius, and asked who in 
 the world he was, when it was found that no reliance was 
 to be placed on what he stated, and he was recognised 
 by his master as being in condition a runaway slave, 
 named Gela, he was put to death after the manner of 
 slaves. 
 
 73. When intelligence was brought by his chosen men 
 from Syria and Judea that the East had sworn allegiance 
 to him, it would hardly be believed if I were to relate how 
 much the insolence and heartlessness of Vitellius in- 
 creased ; for though as yet he had been only the subject 
 of vague and unauthenticated rumours, still Vespasian 
 was in the mouths of men, and his fame had gone forth, 
 so that Vitellius was frequently startled at the name of 
 Vespasian. Now that a rival was no longer dreaded, the 
 emperor and his army plunged into every excess of foreign 
 manners, giving loose to cruelty, lust, and rapine. 
 
 74. Meanwhile Vespasian was considering the war, and 
 revolving the means of conducting it. He surveyed his re- 
 sources at a distance, as well as those at hand. His troops 
 were so devoted to his interest, that, when he set them the 
 example of swearing fidelity to Vitellius, and prayed for 
 the entire prosperity of his reign, the soldiers heard him 
 in profound silence. Mucianus was zealously attached to
 
 496 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 Titus, and not averse to Vespasian. Alexander, the prae- 
 fect of Egypt, shared his counsels. The third legion, 
 which had been removed from Syria to Maesia, he con- 
 sidered as his own, and had hopes that all the other le- 
 gions in Illyricum would follow its example. In fact, all 
 the armies were in a flame at the insolence of the soldiers 
 that came among them from Vitellius ; terrific in person, 
 and uncouth in their language, they treated all others 
 with contempt. But, in an enterprise of such importance, 
 it was natural to hesitate ; and Vespasian, one while elate 
 with hope, at other times reflected upon the counteracting 
 motives. " What a day would that he, when he should 
 commit himself, at the age of sixty, with his two youthful 
 sons, to a civil war ! In undertakings of a private nature, 
 men may retreat, and draw more or less upon fortune 
 as they please; but when sovereign power is the object 
 sought, there is no middle ground between the highest 
 elevation and the abyss of destruction. 
 
 75. The valour of the German armies, well known to 
 him as an experienced soldier, continually recurred to his 
 imagination. "The legions under his command had not 
 been tried in a civil war, while those of the Vitellians had 
 conquered in one. The vanquished would exhibit more 
 of discontent than vigour. In civil discord the fidelity of 
 the soldiery is an unstable reliance ; and danger is to be 
 apprehended from each individual. For of what avail 
 would be cohorts of foot, and squadrons of horse, if one or 
 two should seek, by a deed of daring villany, the reward 
 ever held out by an adverse party. Such was the fate of 
 Scribonianus in the reign of Claudius : he was murdered 
 by Vologinius, a common soldier, and the highest posts in 
 the service were the wages of an assassin. It was an easier 
 task to incite whole armies to action, than to escape the 
 attacks of individuals. 
 
 76. While wavering under the effect of these timorous 
 anticipations, his resolution was confirmed by other dele- 
 gates and friends, and among the rest by Mucianus, who, 
 after many conversations in private, now in public also 
 thus addressed him : " All who meditate the accom- 
 plishment of great enterprises, ought to weigh carefully 
 whether that which is being undertaken is beneficial to the 
 commonwealth, honourable to themselves, and either easy 
 to be achieved, or certainly not attended with arduous 
 difficulties. At the same time, the character of the man 
 who advises the measure should be considered, whether 
 he hazard himself in the enterprise. And, if fortune 
 favour the undertaking, who is to reap the chief glory?
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 497 
 
 I am the person, Vespasian, who invite you to empire, 
 as much for the good of the commonwealth, as for your 
 own glory : next after the gods, the issue depends on your 
 own exertions. Nor should you be deterred by appre- 
 hensions that I am imposing upon you by flattery. To be 
 elected emperor after Vitellius is rather a disgrace, than 
 an honour. It is not against the vigorous mind of Au- 
 gustus, nor the consummate craft of the aged Tiberius ; 
 nor against the house of Caligula, or Claudius, or Nero, 
 firmly established by the long possession of imperial 
 power that we rise up. Even Galba's illustrious line of 
 ancestors commanded your submission. But longer to re- 
 main inactive, and leave the commonwealth a prey to vice 
 and infamy, would seem sheer lethargy and cowardice; even 
 if to serve were as free from danger to you as it is replete 
 with dishonour. The time is departed, and gone by, when 
 you might appear to have desired the empire : you must 
 flee to the sovereignty as your only refuge. Have we for- 
 gotten the butchered Corbulo ? the splendour of his birth 
 was superior, it must be confessed, to ours : but Nero too 
 surpassed Vitellius in the lustre of his ancestry. In the 
 eyes of the person who lives in fear, the man who makes 
 himself dreaded is illustrious enough, be he who he may. 
 And that the armies can create an emperor, Vitellius 
 furnishes the proof: a man of no experience as a soldier, 
 no military renown, but owing his elevation to Galba's dis- 
 repute. Otho, whom he has caused to be regretted and 
 regarded as a great prince, was conquered, not by his 
 skill as a general, or the valour of his army, but by his 
 own precipitate despair of success. While Vitellius, in 
 the interval, is disbanding his legions, disarming the co- 
 horts, and every day furnishing the seeds for war, what- 
 ever of spirit and fire his soldiery possessed is wasting 
 away in taverns and drunken revelry, and in aping the 
 habits of the prince. On the other hand, you have from 
 Syria, Judaaa, and Egypt, nine legions, unimpaired by 
 battles, and undebauched by dissensions. An army inured 
 to the operations of war, and crowned with victory over 
 the enemies of their country. The prime of fleets, of 
 cavalry, and cohorts ; kings, devoted to your cause ; and 
 your own experience, superior to all of them. 
 
 77. " For myself, I claim nothing, but not to be thought 
 inferior to Valens or Caecina. If in Mucianus you do not 
 find a rival, do not therefore despise him, as I count my- 
 self superior to Vitellius, but inferior to you. Your house 
 has been distinguished by triumphal honours; you have 
 two sons, one of them already equal to the weight of em- 
 
 Kk
 
 498 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 pire, and who acquired fame even with the German armies 
 in the early period of his service. Had I myself the sove- 
 reign power, I should adopt your son ; it were ahsurd 
 therefore not to yield to you the claim of empire. How- 
 ever, the distribution of the rewards of success, and the 
 consequences of failure, between us, will not be one and 
 the same ; for if we conquer, I shall have such honour as 
 you may please to bestow, but the hazard and danger we 
 shall slvare equally ; nay rather, as is the better course, do 
 you rule these armies, and consign to me the war, and the 
 casualties of hostile encounters. In the vanquished party 
 there is stricter discipline than in the victorious; anger, 
 indignation, and a desire for revenge, fan the flame of 
 valour. The former have lost all sense of virtue, through 
 disdain and frowardness. The war itself will discover 
 and reopen the concealed and angry wounds of the victo- 
 rious party. Nor is my confidence excited more by your 
 vigilance, economy, and wisdom, than by the torpor, 
 ignorance, and cruelty of Vitellius. But our case is 
 better if we take up arms, than if we continue in peace ; 
 for those who deliberate about revolting have revolted 
 already." 
 
 78. After this speech of Mucianus, all the rest, with 
 increased confidence, pressed round Vespasian, recounting 
 the responses of seers and the motions of the stars. Nor 
 was Vespasian untinctured with that superstition, for 
 afterwards, when possessed of the supreme authority, he 
 openly retained a mathematician, named Seleucus, to 
 guide and warn him by his predictions. Former prog- 
 nostics again presented themselves to his mind : a cypress- 
 tree of conspicuous height, on his own estate, had fallen 
 suddenly to the ground, and, on the following day, rose 
 again, on the same spot, and resumed its verdure, in- 
 creased in height and breadth. This, in the unanimous 
 opinion of the soothsayers, was an omen of grandeur and 
 prosperity, and the prospect of the highest renown was 
 held out to Vespasian in his early youth. But at first, 
 triumphal honours, the consulship, and the glory of con- 
 quering Judaea seemed to have fulfilled the prediction; 
 when he had acquired these, he began to cherish the 
 conviction that the imperial dignity was foreshown to him. 
 Between Syria and Judaea stands mount Carmel, such is 
 the name given to the mountain and the deity ; nor is 
 there any representation of the deity or temple ; according 
 to ancient usage, there is only an altar and worship. 
 While Vespasian was offering sacrifice there, and was 
 meditating on his secret aspirations, Basilides, the priest,
 
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IF. 499 
 
 having examined the entrails of the victims diligently, said 
 to Vespasian, " Whatever are your designs, whether to 
 build a house, to enlarge the boundaries of your lands, or 
 increase your slaves, a mighty seat, immense borders, a 
 multitude of men are given to you." This mysterious pre- 
 diction was forthwith spread abroad, and now received an 
 interpretation. Nor was there any more frequent topic of 
 discourse among the populace ; still more frequent were 
 the conversations upon it in the presence of Vespasian 
 himself, in proportion as more things are said to those who 
 entertain hopes. 
 
 79. Mucianus and Vespasian, with minds thoroughly 
 made up, parted, and went, the former to Antioch, the 
 capital of Syria, the latter to Caesarea, the capital of 
 Judaea. The first public step towards creating Vespasian 
 emperor of Rome, was taken at Alexandria in Egypt : 
 Tiberius Alexander, the praefect of the province, eager to 
 show his zeal, administered the oath to the legions under 
 his command, on the calends of July; and that day was 
 ever after celebrated as the first of Vespasian's reign, 
 though the army in Judaea swore fidelity on the fifth 
 before the nones of the same month to Vespasian himself, 
 with such zeal that they would not wait for the return of 
 his son Titus from Syria, who bore despatches relative to 
 the plans between his father and Mucianus. The whole 
 transaction was hurried on by the impetuosity of the 
 soldiery, without any public harangue, and without a 
 union of the legions. 
 
 80. While they were looking out for a proper time and 
 place, and, that which forms the chief difficulty in such 
 
 affairs, who should first declare while hope and fear, 
 
 the calculations of reason and the uncertainties of fortune, 
 presented themselves to the mind, a small number of 
 soldiers, who were stationed near him in the usual form to 
 salute him as lieutenant-general when he came forth from 
 his chamber, saluted him by the title of emperor. The 
 whole body then pressed forward, and loaded him with 
 the name of Caesar, Augustus, and every other title of im- 
 perial grandeur. In a moment his fears subsided, and he 
 resolved to pursue the road of ambition. In his own con- 
 duct there was no manifestation of vanity, or insolence, or 
 affectation of manners suited to his altered position. The 
 instant he dissipated the film, which so great a change had 
 spread over his vision, he addressed them in the spirit of 
 a soldier, and received with courtesy the congratulations 
 of all, and the troops that came flocking to him. And 
 now Mucianus, who waited for this opportunity, ad- 
 
 K k 2 '
 
 500 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 ministered the oath of allegiance to Vespasian to the 
 soldiers, who took it with alacrity. Mucianus then went 
 into the theatre at Antioch, where the inhabitants were 
 used to hold their public debates, and harangued the 
 multitude that crowded round him, and poured forth 
 their compliments in profusion, as he could speak with 
 considerable grace and eloquence, even in the Greek lan- 
 guage, and possessed a peculiar talent of producing effect 
 in whatever he said or did. Nothing inflamed the pas- 
 sions of the army and the province so much as his 
 assurance, " that it was a fixed point with Vitellius, to 
 transfer the German troops to Syria, to serve in a rich 
 and peaceful province ; while, in exchange, the barracks 
 in Germany, where the climate was severe and the service 
 arduous, should be occupied by the legions of Syria : for 
 both the natives of the province, by the force of habit, 
 took a pleasure in the society of the soldiers, and many 
 were united with them by close relationships and connec- 
 tions ; and their camp, so familiar and natural to them, 
 from the long time they had served in it, was regarded 
 by the soldiers with the affection felt for the domestic 
 hearth. 
 
 81. Before the ides of July, the whole province of 
 Syria had taken the same oath. His party was further 
 sti'engthened by Sohemus, with his kingdom, no con- 
 temptible accession ; and also by Antiochus, who inhe- 
 rited immense treasures from his ancestors, and was the. 
 richest of all the kings who submitted to the authority 
 of Rome. Soon after, Agrippa receiving private ex- 
 presses from the East, summoning him from Rome, 
 departed before Vitellius had any intelligence, and by a 
 quick navigation passed over into Asia. Queen Berenice, 
 at that time in the bloom of youth and beauty, with no 
 less zeal espoused the interest of Vespasian, to whom, 
 notwithstanding his advanced age, she had made herself 
 agreeable by magnificent presents. The several maritime 
 provinces, including Asia and Achaia, and the whole in- 
 land country between Pontus and the two Armenias, en- 
 tered into the confederacy; but the governors of those 
 provinces had no forces, as no legions were as yet sta- 
 tioned in Cappadocia. A council was held at Berytus, 
 on the general state of affairs. Mucianus attended, with 
 the generals and tribunes, and all the most distinguished of 
 the centurions and soldiers, and a chosen band of the 
 most eminent of the army in Judaea. An assembly, con- 
 sisting of such a numerous train of horse and foot, and of 
 eastern kings, who vied with each other in splendour and
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 501 
 
 magnificence, presented a spectacle worthy of the imperial 
 dignity. 
 
 82. The first object in the prosecution of the war was 
 to raise recruits, and recall the veterans to the service. 
 The strong cities were fixed upon to ply the manufacture 
 of arms, and a mint for gold and silver coin was esta- 
 blished at Antioch. The whole was carried on with dili- 
 gence, each in its appointed place, by persons qualified 
 for the service. Vespasian in person visited every quar- 
 ter; encouraged the industrious by commendations; roused 
 the inactive by his example, more frequently than by re- 
 buke : shutting his eyes to the failings of his friends ra- 
 ther than their merits. He advanced many to the admi- 
 nistration of provinces, and others to the rank of senators; 
 all men of distinguished character, who rose afterwards 
 to the highest honours in the state. There were some 
 whose good fortune supplied the place of virtues. Nei- 
 ther did Mucianus in his first harangue hold out hopes of 
 a donative, except upon a moderate scale ; nor did even 
 Vespasian, though engaged in a civil war, offer more than 
 others in times of peace; setting a bright example of firm- 
 ness against corrupting the soldiery by largess; and to that 
 firmness he owed the superiority of his army. Ambassa- 
 dors were sent to Parthia and Armenia, and arrangements 
 proposed that, when the legions marched to the civil war, 
 the country in their rear should not be left defencless. 
 Titus was to follow up the war in Judsea, while Vespasian 
 held the passes into Egypt. To make head against Vi- 
 tellius, part of the army was deemed sufficient, under the 
 conduct of Mucianus, with Vespasian's name, and the re- 
 sistless power of destiny. Letters were despatched to the 
 several armies, and the officers in command, with instruc- 
 tions to conciliate the praetorian soldiers, who were ex- 
 asperated against Vitellius, by the allurement of reinstat- 
 ing them in the service. 
 
 83. Mucianus, with the appearance rather of an asso- 
 ciate in the sovereign power, than an officer, advanced at 
 the head of a light-armed detachment, never lingering in 
 the course of his progress, that he might not be thought 
 irresolute, and yet, not proceeding rapidly ; by the very 
 time he consumed he afforded an opportunity for rumour 
 to gather strength; well aware that his forces were none of 
 the greatest, and that exaggerated notions are formed of 
 things at a distance. But he was followed by the sixth 
 legion, and thirteen thousand vexillaries, forming together 
 a vast body. The fleet at Pontus had orders to assem- 
 ble at Byzantium, as he had not determined whether he
 
 502 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 should not avoid Maesia, and beset Dyrrhachium with his 
 foot and horse, while his men of war commanded the sea 
 towards Italy; thus protecting Achaia and Asia in his 
 rear, which would be exposed to the mercy of Vitellius, 
 unless they were strengthened by forces ; and on the 
 other hand, Vitellius himself would not know what part 
 of Italy to guard, if Brundisium and Tarentum, and the 
 coasts of Lucania and Calabria, were menaced by his 
 fleets. 
 
 84. The provinces therefore resounded with the bustle 
 of warlike preparations, soldiers, ships, and arms. How 
 to raise money was the chief difficulty. Mucianus, whose 
 constant plea was, that funds were the sinews of war, in 
 all questions regarded neither truth nor justice, but 
 merely the extent of means possessed. Informations fol- 
 lowed without number, and all the richest men were plun- 
 dered without mercy. Oppressive and intolerable as these 
 proceedings were, the pressing exigencies of the war fur- 
 nished an excuse; but the practice continued even in peace. 
 Vespasian himself, in the beginning of his reign, was not 
 so urgent in enforcing oppressions ; but at length cor- 
 rupted by the smiles of fortune and evil instructors, he 
 learned the arts of rapacity, and dared to practise them. 
 Mucianus, even from his own funds, contributed to the 
 war ; expending his private means that he might plunder 
 the public the more, under pretext of indemnifying him- 
 self. The rest followed his example in contributing 
 money, but precious few enjoyed the same uncontroled 
 power of reimbursement. 
 
 85. In the mean time, the project of Vespasian was ac- 
 celerated by the army in Illyricum coming over to his in- 
 terest. In Maesia the third legion revolted, and drew 
 after them the eighth, and also the seventh, called the 
 Claudian ; both favourably disposed to Otho, though not 
 engaged in the action at Bedriacum. They had advanced 
 as far as Aquileia, when being informed of Otho's over- 
 throw, they spurned and assaulted the messengers; tore 
 the colours that displayed the name of Vitellius ; and 
 lastly, having plundered the military chests, and divided 
 the spoil, conducted themselves as open enemies. Whence 
 their fears, which prompted them to take counsel: they 
 considered that what required pardon from Vitellius, 
 might be made a merit of with Vespasian. Accordingly 
 they sent despatches to the army in Pannonia, inviting 
 them to join the league ; and made ready, if they did not 
 comply, to compel them. In this commotion, Aponius 
 Saturninus, governor of Mtesia, conceived a most iniqui-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 tous design. Under colour of public zeal, but to gratify 
 private malice, he despatched a centurion to murder Ter- 
 tius Julianus, who commanded the seventh legion. That 
 officer had timely notice, and providing himself with 
 guides who knew the country, escaped through devious 
 tracts to the region beyond Mount Haemus. From that 
 time he took no part in the civil war; affected often to be 
 on the point of setting out to join Vespasian; but delayed 
 his journey on various pretences, and according to the in- 
 telligence he received, either studiously dallying, or quick- 
 ening his motions. 
 
 86. On the other hand, in Pannonia, the thirteenth le- 
 gion, and the seventh, called the Galbian, still feeling 
 with indignation their defeat at Bedriacum, unhesitatingly 
 joined the party of Vespasian, principally at the persua- 
 sion of Antonius Primus, convicted of forgery in the reign 
 of Nero, and obnoxious to the laws : among the other evils 
 of civil dissension, he recovered the senatorian rank. Ad- 
 vanced by Galba to the command of the seventh legion, 
 according to report, he wrote several letters to Otho, offer- 
 ing himself as general of the party. Otho paid no atten- 
 tion to the proposal, and he was not employed in the 
 Othonian war. When the cause of Vitellius began to 
 decline, he veered round to Vespasian, and became a 
 grand support to the party; for he was a man of great 
 personal courage : a fluent speaker ; had the art of draw- 
 ing down odium upon others ; a great man in civil broils 
 and mutinies; rapacious; profuse; a pest in peace, but no 
 contemptible character in war. The armies of Maesia and 
 Pannonia thus formed a junction, and drew the forces of 
 Dalmatia after them, though the consular governors re- 
 mained neutral. Titus Ampius Flavianus ruled in Panno- 
 nia, and Poppaeus Silvanus in Dalmatia; both rich, and 
 advanced in years, but Cornelius Fuscus, descended from 
 illustrious ancestors, and then in the vigour of life, was 
 there as imperial procurator. In his youth he had re- 
 signed his senatorian rank, from love of retirement. In 
 behalf of Galba he commanded his own colony, and for 
 the service obtained the post of procurator; and now 
 taking part with Vespasian, he carried, as it were, a flam- 
 ing firebrand in the van of the movement; glorying not so 
 much in the reward of dangers, as in dangers themselves. 
 He preferred a life of enterprise, uncertainty, and peril, 
 to security and the enjoyment of his previous acquisitions. 
 Wherever they believed that there existed a discon- 
 tented spirit, they set about exciting and stirring it into 
 action. They sent despatches to the fourteenth legion in
 
 504 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 Britain, and to the first in Spain, knowing that both had 
 favoured the cause of Otho against Vitellius. Their let- 
 ters were spread all over Gaul, and in a moment a war of 
 vast extent blazed forth ; the forces in Illyricum declaring 
 openly for Vespasian, and all the others ready to follow 
 where the prospect of success invited. 
 
 87. While Vespasian and the leaders of his party were 
 thus employed throughout the provinces, Vitellius, grow- 
 ing daily more insignificant and supine, advanced by slow 
 marches towards the city of Rome, stopping for every 
 gratification that presented itself in the villas and munici- 
 pal towns. He was followed by sixty thousand men in 
 arms, all corrupted by excessive indulgence. The num- 
 ber of drudges was still greater; while sutlers, the most 
 froward characters in existence, were mingled with the 
 slaves. There was also a train of officers and courtiers, 
 whom it would have been difficult to keep in subjection, 
 even though their ruler had exhibited the most exemplary 
 self-command. The crowd was rendered still more cum- 
 brous by senators and Roman knights, who came from 
 Rome to meet the prince ; some impelled by fear, many 
 to pay their court, others, and gradually all came under 
 this denomination, that they might not stay behind while 
 others went. A multitude of the populace, known to Vi- 
 tellius as the servile ministers of his vices, joined the 
 throng ; such as players, buffoons, and charioteers, cha- 
 racters that are a disgrace to the name of friends, but 
 in which Vitellius wonderfully delighted. In furnishing 
 such a mass of provisions," not the colonies and municipal 
 cities alone were exhausted, but the fruits of the earth 
 being then ripe, the husbandmen and the land, as if it 
 were an enemy's country, were stripped. 
 
 88. The animosity between the legions and the auxilia- 
 ries, which followed the mutiny at Ticinum, still con- 
 tinuing, frequent and dreadful butcheries occurred among 
 the soldiery ; but when they had to contend with the pea- 
 sants they were unanimous. The most extensive carnage 
 happened seven miles from Rome. At that place Vitel- 
 lius ordered victuals, ready dressed, to be distributed 
 among the soldiers, as if it were a feast to pamper a band 
 of gladiators, and the common people, who had come in 
 crowds from Rome, were dispersed through the camp. 
 In sport, as they considered, such as is usual among 
 slaves, some of them made free with the soldiers who 
 were sauntering about, slyly cutting off their belts, and 
 then .teased them by asking if they were girt with their 
 awns. Their spirit, intolerant of any indignity, would not
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 505 
 
 brook the jest : they fell sword in hand on the defence- 
 less multitude. Among the slain was the father of one of 
 the soldiers, as he accompanied his son. He was soon 
 after recognised, and his death being made known, it put 
 a stop to the slaughter of unoffending persons. Rome, 
 however, was thrown into consternation, a number of 
 soldiers hurrying forward into the city. They made 
 chiefly for the forum, impatient to see the spot where 
 Galba had fallen. Covered with the skins of savage 
 beasts, and wielding large and massive spears, the spectacle 
 which they exhibited to the Roman citizens was no less 
 hideous, when, from stupidity, they ran against the 
 crowded people, or when falling down from the slipperi- 
 ness of the street, or from encountering some one, they 
 resorted to abuse, from which, anon, they proceeded to 
 blows and the sword. Nay, even the tribunes and centu- 
 rions, at the head of their troops of cavalry, scoured 
 through the streets, spreading terror as they went. 
 
 89. Vitellius himself, in his military robe, girt with 
 his sword, and mounted on a superb horse, advanced from 
 the Milvian bridge, driving the senate and the people be- 
 fore him. His friends, however, by their advice deterred 
 him from entering the city as though it were taken by 
 storm : he therefore put on his senatorian robe, and made 
 his entry in a pacific manner. The eagles of four legions 
 led the way, with an equal number of standards from 
 other legions on each side. Then the colours of twelve 
 squadrons of horse. The files of infantry followed, and 
 after them the cavalry. Next in order were four and 
 thirty cohorts, distinguished according to their several 
 nations, or the description of their arms. The praefects 
 of the camp, the tribunes, and principal centurions, ar- 
 rayed in white, preceded their several eagles. The rest 
 of the officers marched at the head of their companies, all 
 gleaming with their arms and honours. The collars of 
 the common men, and the trappings of the horses, had a 
 glittering appearance, an imposing spectacle, and an army 
 worthy of a better prince than Vitellius. Thus he pro- 
 ceeded to the Capitol, and there, embracing his mother, 
 saluted her by the name of Augusta. 
 
 90. Next day Vitellius delivered an harangue, and 
 spoke of himself in laudatory terms, as if he addressed 
 the senate and people of another city ; magnifying his in- 
 dustry and temperance, though in the presence of men 
 privy to his vices, as well as all Italy, in passing through 
 which he had made the most shameful exhibition of sloth 
 and luxury. The populace, however careless, and tho-
 
 506 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 roughly versed in flattery, without discrimination between 
 truth or falsehood, gave many tokens of approbation by 
 shouts and exclamations ; and on his declining to accept 
 the title of Augustus, they obliged him to receive it ; but 
 his compliance was as nugatory as his refusal. 
 
 91. In a city which gave a meaning to every thing, it 
 was considered as an unfavourable omen that Vitellius, 
 who had obtained the office of chief pontiff, had issued an 
 edict concerning the rites and ceremonies of religion, 
 dated the fifteenth before the calends of August, a day 
 rendered inauspicious by the disasters of Cremera and 
 Allia. Profoundly ignorant of law, human and divine, 
 and his freed men and courtiers as doltish as himself, he 
 seemed like one of a party where all were fuddled. But 
 Vitellius attending the assembly for the election of consuls 
 with the other candidates, as a mere citizen, sought to 
 catch every breath of applause from the lowest of the 
 people, both as a spectator in the theatre, and as a parti- 
 san in the circus ; arts, it must be admitted, calcul ued 
 to please, and popular if they were based upon good 
 qualities ; but from the recollection of his past life, they 
 were regarded as the efforts of a low and abject spirit. 
 He went frequently to the senate, even when the subject 
 of debate was of a small moment ; and on one occasion 
 Helvidius Priscus, praetor elect, happening to give an 
 opinion opposed to the emperor's inclination, Vitellius, 
 incensed at the moment, went no further than to call upon 
 the tribunes of the people to support his slighted author- 
 ity. Upon this his friends, apprehending his more settled 
 displeasure, endeavoured to soften him. His answer was, 
 " Nothing new has happened in two senators of a free 
 state differing in opinion ; he himself too used to oppose 
 Thrasea." Many ridiculed the insolence of the compari- 
 son ; others derived satisfaction from the very circumstance 
 of his having selected, as a model of true glory, not one of 
 the men of over-grown power, but Thrasea. 
 
 92. Publius Sabinus, from being prasfect of a cohort, 
 and Julius Priscus, a centurion, were advanced to the 
 command of the praetorian guards. The former owed his 
 elevation to the friendship of Valens, and the latter to 
 that of Caecina. By those two ministers, though at vari- 
 ance, the authority of the emperor was rendered a nullity. 
 Valens and Caecina administered all the functions of empire; 
 their mutual animosity, which had been ill suppressed 
 during the war and in the camp, the malignity of their 
 friends, and the various factions that for ever distract the 
 city of Rome, had inflamed ; while they vied with each
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 507 
 
 other in influence, in their train of followers and their 
 crowded levees, and were brought into comparison by 
 others; Vitellius showing a preference now for one of 
 them and now for the other. Nor indeed does it ever 
 happen that dependence is to be placed upon power where 
 it is immoderate. At the same time they alternately de- 
 spised and feared Vitellius himself, who was liable to shift 
 his affections upon any unpremeditated offence, or bland- 
 ishments addressed to him when not in the humour to re- 
 ceive them. They were not, however, the less prompt in 
 seizing houses, gardens, and the wealth of the empire; 
 while a piteous and indigent throng of illustrious men, 
 whom Galba had recalled from banishment, received no 
 help from the compassion of the prince. That he re- 
 stored to those who were recalled from exile their rights 
 over their freedmen, was acceptable to the grandees of the 
 city, and even gained the applause of the populace; 
 though this boon was marred in every conceivable way 
 by the low cunning that marks the genius of slaves, 
 who deposited their money with others, either with the 
 mere object of concealing it, or with ambitious views; 
 and some of . them were translated into the imperial 
 family, and there acquired more influence than their 
 masters. 
 
 93. But the soldiers, as the camp was crowded, and 
 their numbers overflowed, being left to go where they 
 pleased, in the public porticoes, the temples, and every 
 part of the city, took no notice of their head quarters, 
 neglected the watches, omitted all invigorating exercises. 
 Abandoning themselves to the temptations of the city, 
 and vices shocking to relate, they impaired the vigour of 
 their bodies by sloth, and of their minds by lewdness. 
 At length, negligent even of health, many of them pitched 
 their tents in the abhorred regions of the Vatican : whence 
 frequent deaths among the soldiers in general ; and, as 
 the Tiber was near, their eagerness for water, and their 
 impatience of heat, broke up the sickly constitutions of 
 the Germans and Gauls. Moreover, the established sys- 
 tem of the service was violated through erroneous judg- 
 ment or intrigue : sixteen cohorts for the praetorian camp, 
 and four for the city, were raised, each to consist of a 
 thousand men. Valens arrogated to himself the ^chief 
 direction in this levy, on the ground that he had rescued 
 Caecina himself from danger. And it must be admitted 
 that the arrival of Valens had given life and vigour to 
 the cause; and he had turned the current of adverse
 
 508 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 fame, in consequence of the slowness of his march, by 
 a successful battle. The soldiers from the Lower Ger- 
 many were to a man devoted to his interest. On which 
 account the fidelity of Caecina is believed to have begun 
 to waver. 
 
 94. The indulgence shown by Vitellius to his principal 
 officers, still fell short of the license given to the common 
 soldiers. Each man chose his own station, though unfit 
 for it; if it was his choice, he was appointed to the city 
 service. Then, again, others, well adapted, were suffered 
 to remain in the legions or the cavalry, as they pleased, 
 and there were many who wished it, worn out as they 
 were with diseases, and dissatisfied with the temperature 
 of the climate. The flower of the legions and auxiliary 
 cavalry was however withdrawn from them. The beauty 
 of the camp was totally destroyed : twenty thousand men 
 being taken promiscuously, rather than selected out of the 
 whole army. While Vitellius was holding an harangue, 
 Ascalicus Flavius and Rufinus, who had commanded in 
 Gaul, were required to be given up to punishment, as 
 they had served in the cause of Vindex. Nor did Vi- 
 tellius restrain such demands. Besides the natural su- 
 pineness of his disposition, he knew that the time for 
 discharging the promised donative was drawing near ; and 
 having no funds to answer the expectation of the soldiers, 
 he granted whatever else they required. In order to 
 raise supplies, a tax was imposed on all the freedmen of 
 former emperors, to be collected in proportion to the 
 number of their slaves. Vitellius himself, whose sole 
 anxiety was how to spend money, built a set of stables 
 for the charioteers, kept in the circus a constant spectacle 
 of gladiators and wild beasts, and fooled away his money 
 as if his treasury overflowed with wealth. 
 
 95. Nay, Caecina and Valens even, celebrated the 
 birthday of Vitellius by exhibiting shows of gladiators in 
 every quarter of the city, with prodigious pomp, and 
 theretofore rarely paralleled. It was a source of delight to 
 the vile and profligate, but of disgust to all men of prin- 
 ciple and of virtue, that he erected altars in the Campus 
 Martins, and paid funeral honours to Nero. Victims 
 were slain and burnt, in the name of the state, and the 
 torch was applied by the Augustan priests ; a priesthood 
 dedicated by Tiberius to the Julian family, in imitation of 
 that consecrated by Romulus to Tatius, the Sabine king. 
 From the victory at Bedriacum four months had not 
 elapsed, and yet, in that short time, Asiaticus, the manu-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 509 
 
 mitted slave of the emperor, rivalled the Polycleti, the 
 Patrobii, and other names, long consigned to execration. 
 No man endeavoured to rise by his virtue or his talents in 
 that court. The only road to preferment was by sumptu- 
 ous banquets, profusion, and debauchery, to pander to 
 the ever-craving appetites of Vitellius. As for Vitellius 
 himself, satisfied with consuming all within his reach, and 
 without a thought for anything beyond the moment, he 
 is believed to have squandered nine hundred thousand 
 great sesterces, (about 7,500,000,) in a very few months 
 indeed. This great, but hapless city, afflicted with an 
 Otho and a Vitellius in the same year, between the Vinii, 
 Fabii, Iceli, and Asiatic!, experienced every variety of 
 distress and degradation, only to fall into the hands of 
 Mucianus and Marcellus, different men, but with the 
 same vices. 
 
 96. The first intelligence of a revolt, that reached the 
 ear of Vitellius, was that of the third legion, in Illyricum, 
 and conveyed in a letter sent by Aponius Saturninus, be- 
 fore he too joined the party of Vespasian. But his 
 despatches, as he wrote in the first tumult of surprise, did 
 not state the whole of the mischief; and his friend, in the 
 spirit of adulation, endeavoured to put the most favourable 
 construction upon it. They called it a mutiny of one le- 
 gion only, while every other army preserved its allegiance 
 unshaken. Vitellius addressed the soldiers to the same 
 effect, inveighing against the praetorians, lately disbanded, 
 by whom, he maintained, false reports had been dissemi- 
 nated, and that there was no reason to fear a civil war; 
 not mentioning the name of Vespasian : and, to suppress 
 all talk among the populace, soldiers were dispersed 
 throughout the city : a proceeding which contributed 
 more than anything to spread the news. 
 
 97. Notwithstanding, he summoned auxiliaries from 
 Germany, both Spains, and Britain, not in an urgent 
 manner, but studiously concealing the pressing nature of 
 the occasion ; and, accordingly, the governors of the pro- 
 vinces were in no haste to obey : Hordeonius Flaccus, at 
 that time suspecting the designs of the Batavians, was, oc- 
 cupied with the thoughts of a war upon his own hands. 
 In Britain, Vettius Bolanus was kept in a constant alarm 
 by the restless genius of the natives ; and both were on 
 the balance between Vitellius and Vespasian. Spain 
 showed no alacrity in sending troops, as she was then 
 without a governor of consular rank ; the commanders of 
 the tree legions, equal in authority, and, as long as Vitellius 
 prospered, disposed to contend which should be the most
 
 510 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 submissive, equally declined all connection with him in 
 adversity. In Africa, the legion and cohorts levied there 
 by Clodius Macer, and disbanded by Galba, were again 
 embodied by order of Vitellius; at the same time, the rest 
 of the youth promptly enlisted. The fact was, Vitellius 
 had governed Africa as proconsul with uprightness and 
 condescension ; but Vespasian with disrepute and odium : 
 the allies formed their ideas of what they had to expect 
 under the reign of each accordingly ; but the proof showed 
 otherwise. 
 
 98. At first, Valerius Festus, the governor of the pro- 
 vince, co-operated with the zeal of the people, but in 
 a short time began to waver; in his letters and public 
 edicts warmly supporting Vitellius, but in his secret cor- 
 respondence Vespasian : determining to maintain the 
 cause which proved the strongest. In Rhaetia and the 
 Gauls, certain soldiers and centurions, seized with letters 
 and proclamations of Vespasian, were sent to Vitellius, 
 and put to death. More, by their own address, or the 
 protection of their friends, escaped detection. The 
 consequence was, that the measures of Vitellius tran- 
 spired, while most of those of Vespasian remained a se- 
 cret, owing first to the stupidity of Vitellius, but after- 
 wards, the Pannonian Alps, secured by a chain of 
 posts, obstructed the transmission of intelligence ; and 
 the sea, which, from the blowing of the Etesian winds, 
 favoured the navigation to the east, was adverse to the 
 homeward voyage. 
 
 99. At length, the enemy having made an irruption 
 into Italy, and news big with danger arriving from .every 
 quarter, Vitellius, in the greatest alarm, gave orders to 
 his generals to take the field. Ca3cina was sent in ad- 
 vance, while Valens, who was just recovering from a severe 
 illness, was detained by weakness. Far different was the 
 appearance of the German forces, marching out of the 
 city. Their strength wasted ; their vigour of mind de- 
 pressed ; their motions slow, and ranks thin ; their arms 
 inefficient; their horses spiritless; the men overpowered by 
 the heat, the dust, and the weather, and prompt to mutiny 
 in proportion as they wanted the energy to encounter toil. 
 In addition, there was the habitual ambition of Ca3cina, 
 and his indolence, newly contracted, dissolved in luxury 
 as he was, from the excessive indulgence of fortune ; or 
 perhaps meditating perfidy, even then, it was part of his 
 plan to impair the vigour of the army. Most men believed 
 that the constancy of Ca?cina was undermined by the arts 
 of Flavius Sabinus, Rubrius Gallus being the bearer of
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 511 
 
 his messages ; who assured him, that the terms on which 
 it was stipulated that he should come over to the party, 
 would be fulfilled by Vespasian. At the same time, when 
 he recollected the hatred and jealousy subsisting between 
 himself and Valens, it occurred to him, that, as he had 
 less weight with Vespasian than his rival, he ought to lay 
 the foundation of interest and influence with his suc- 
 cessor. 
 
 100. Caecina on quitting the embrace of Vitellius, who 
 treated him with much respect, sent forward a detachment 
 of the cavalry to take possession of Cremona. The 
 vexillaries of the fourteenth and sixteenth legions fol- 
 lowed, and after them the fifth and twenty-second. The 
 rear was closed by the twenty-first, named RAPAX, and 
 the first legion, called the ITALIC, with the vexillaries of 
 three British legions, and the flower of the auxiliary 
 forces. Caecina having set out, Valens wrote to the army, 
 which he had conducted into Italy, to wait for him on 
 their march, such, he said, was his understanding with 
 Caecina. But the latter, being on the spot, and, by con- 
 sequence, having greater weight, pretended that that plan 
 had been altered, to the end that they might meet the 
 formidable approach of the enemy with their united 
 forces. Thus he ordered the legions to proceed by rapid 
 marches to Cremona, and a detachment to make for Hos- 
 tilia. He himself turned off towards Ravenna, under a 
 pretence of conferring with the officers of the fleet ; soon 
 after, he went to Patavium, that in that retired spot he 
 might settle the plan of betraying the cause. For Lu- 
 cilius Bassus, a man, who, from a squadron of horse, had 
 been raised by Vitellius to the command of two fleets, one 
 at Ravenna, and the other at Misenum, because he did 
 not immediately obtain the command of the praetorian 
 guards, sought to gratify his unjust resentment by the 
 most flagitious perfidy : nor can it be ascertained 
 whether he corrupted Caecina, or, as is often the case 
 with bad men, namely, that they also resemble each 
 other in their conduct, the same depraved motives ac- 
 tuated both. 
 
 101. The historians of the times, who, while the Fla- 
 vian house possessed the sovereign power, recorded the 
 transactions of this war, have corrupted the truth, from 
 motives of flattery, in stating that this transaction is at- 
 tributable to an anxiety to preserve peace and true 
 patriotism. For myself, I think, that, in addition to his 
 inherent inconstancy and contempt for principle, after 
 his treachery to Galba, he was induced to ruin the cause
 
 512 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. II. 
 
 of Vitellius from rivalry and jealousy, lest others should 
 surpass him in influence with that prince. Caecina, 
 having overtaken the legions, endeavoured by all kinds 
 of artifices to work upon the minds of the centurions and 
 soldiery who were devoted to the cause of Vitellius. 
 Bassus, in playing the same game, experienced less dif- 
 ficulty, as the mariners were predisposed to throw off 
 their allegiance, from the impressions existing in their 
 minds, in consequence of having served in the cause of 
 Otho.
 
 THE 
 HISTORY OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 1. THE leaders of the Flavian party conducted their de- 
 liberations on the prosecution of the war with greater 
 success, and in better faith. They met at Paetovio, the 
 winter-quarters of the thirteenth legion. There they 
 discussed the question, whether it was most advisable to 
 secure the passes over the Pannonian Alps, till the forces 
 in their rear should all be prepared to co-operate with 
 them, or whether it would be the more valorous course to 
 push on and battle for Italy. Those who proposed to 
 wait for aids, and protract the war, referred to " The 
 high fame and valour of the German legions, and to the 
 fact, that Vitellius had been reinforced by the flower of 
 the army in Britain, while their own legions were in- 
 ferior in number, and had been lately conquered. They 
 talked indeed with ferocity ; but the spirit of vanquished 
 men invariably drooped. If the Alps were occupied by 
 them for awhile, Mucianus would come up with the 
 strength of the East, and Vespasian would still have the 
 command of the sea, fleets, and provinces in his favour, 
 through which he might collect a mass of forces, for, as it 
 were, another war. From delay, thus salutary, new suc- 
 cours would be derived, while their present force would 
 continue undiminished." 
 
 2. Antonius Primus, the grand promoter of the war, 
 replied that, " Speed would be advantageous to them- 
 selves, and ruinous to Vitellius. The conquerors had 
 grown in slothfulness, more than they had gained in con- 
 fidence ; for they were not kept under arms, and in the 
 camp, but, dispersed through all the municipal towns of 
 Italy, had lost their martial spirit: objects of terror to 
 their landlords only. The more savage and uncouth their 
 former mode of living, the greater the avidity with which 
 they plunged into unwonted pleasures. They were ener- 
 vated by the circus, the theatres, and the delights of 
 Rome, or disabled by disease ; but allow them time, and 
 even they would recover their energy, having their 
 thoughts fixed on war. Germany was near at hand, 
 
 L 1
 
 514 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 whence they might obtain succours ; Britain was separated 
 by a narrow channel ; Spain and Gaul were contiguous, 
 and from both they may draw supplies of men, and horses, 
 and money. All Italy was at their command, and the 
 wealth of Rome. If they chose to act on the offensive, 
 they had two fleets, and the Illyrian sea open to them. 
 Then what would be the use of shutting up the mountain 
 passes, and of protracting the war till another summer ? 
 whence, in the mean time, are we to find money and pro- 
 visions ? Nay, rather should they take advantage of the 
 very fact, that the legions of Pannonia, beguiled rather than 
 conquered, were eager to rise up and vindicate their honour, 
 while the Msesian armies came with forces entire and un- 
 defeated. If the number of men, and not of legions, be 
 reckoned, on the side of Vespasian, there was superior 
 force, and no licentiousness ; while a sense of shame had 
 promoted discipline. In the last action the cavalry suf- 
 fered no disgrace ; on the contrary, though the event of 
 the day was adverse, they threw the enemy into disorder. 
 Two squadrons of horse, one from Pannonia, the other 
 from Msesia, broke through the line of their opponents : 
 now, the joint forces of sixteen squadrons, by the im- 
 petuosity of their onset, their shouts, the clangour of 
 their arms, -and the very dust raised by them, will con- 
 found and overwhelm the horses and their riders, both 
 having lost what they knew of battles. What I advise, I 
 will execute, if allowed. You, who have not taken a de- 
 cided part, keep the legions with you : the light-armed 
 cohorts will be sufficient for me. Presently you will hear 
 that I have forced a passage into Italy ; that the affairs of 
 Vitellius have sustained a shock: you will then be de- 
 lighted to follow, and tread in the steps of the con- 
 queror." 
 
 3. He poured forth these and similar remarks, in 
 such a manner, his eyes flashing fire, and with tones of 
 thunder, to make himself heard the farther, for the cen- 
 turions and soldiers had pressed into the council, that 
 even the wary and prudent were carried away by the tor- 
 rent of his eloquence. The crowd extolled him, despising 
 the common soldiers and the other officers for their want 
 of spirit, as the only man of enterprise and worthy of com- 
 mand. In a former council of war, where Vespasian's 
 letters were read to the meeting, Antonius had at once 
 made a favourable impression on his hearers, when he 
 appeared fairly and openly to grapple with the matter; 
 not as many do, using equivocal terms, which might after- 
 wards receive the construction that suited the views of the
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 515 
 
 speaker; and thus the soldiers the moi'e admired a 
 general, whom they saw ready to be their partner in the 
 censure or glory of the enterprise. 
 
 4. Cornelius Fuscus, the procurator of the province, 
 was the next in credit. He too,, as he was used to in- 
 veigh against Vitellius unsparingly, had left himself no- 
 thing to hope for, if the cause failed. Titus Ampius 
 Flavianus, his natural slowness increased by years, pro- 
 voked the suspicion of the soldiers, who thought him in- 
 fluenced by his connection with Vitellius ; and also, as, in 
 the first commotion of' the legions, he fled from his post, 
 and shortly afterwards returned to the province, he was 
 believed to have sought an occasion of treachery. For 
 he had quitted Pannonia, entered Italy, and was clear of 
 danger; but was induced to return, to resume his autho- 
 rity, and mix himself up in the troubles of a civil war, by 
 his thirst for innovation. To this he was incited by the 
 advice of Cornelius Fuscus, not with a view of deriving 
 advantage from his talents, but that the name of a con- 
 sular officer might give an air of credit and respectability 
 to the party which was just then springing up. 
 
 5. But, to. march the troops into Italy safely, and with 
 advantage to the cause, letters were sent to Aponius Sa- 
 turninus, ordering him to advance, by rapid marches, with 
 his army from Maesia, At the same time, that the pro- 
 vinces thus evacuated might not lie open to the incursions 
 of barbarians, the chiefs of the Jazyges, a people of Sar- 
 matia, who hold the chief rule among those states, were 
 engaged to co-operate. They offered to bring into the 
 field a body of the natives, and also their cavalry, in which 
 consists the sole strength of the country. Their service, 
 however, was not accepted, lest they should learn to in- 
 terfere with the affairs of other countries in the distrac- 
 tions that convulsed the empire, or for better pay from 
 the opposite party break faith and desert- The Suevian 
 nation had, at all times, given proofs of attachment to the 
 Romans; and, as they were remarkably tenacious of en- 
 gagements entered into, their two kings, Sidoand Italicus, 
 were admitted into the league. As Rhaetia, where Por- 
 tius Septimius, the procurator, remained firm to Vitellius, 
 was hostile, auxiliaries were stationed in flank. With 
 this view Sextilius Felix was sent with a squadron of horse 
 called Auriana, eight cohorts, and the militia of Noricum, 
 with orders to line the banks of the river ^Enus, which di- 
 vides Rhaetia from Noricum. But neither the latter nor 
 the former sought to bring on a battle. The fate of the 
 parties was elsewhere decided.
 
 ."!(> THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 0. Antonius Primus pressed on to invade Italy at the 
 head of a body of vexillaries drafted from the cohorts, 
 and a detachment of the cavalry. He was accompanied 
 by Arius Varus, an officer of distinguished valour, who 
 had served under Corbulo, from whose character and suc- 
 cesses in Armenia he derived all his reputation. He was 
 also said to have disparaged the virtues of Corbulo by secret 
 insinuations poured into the ear of Nero, whence, by fa- 
 vour thus infamously acquired, he rose to the rank of prin- 
 cipal centurion ; but his ill-gotten advancement, though 
 highly gratifying at the time, proved his ruin in the end. 
 To proceed, Antonius and Varus took possession of all 
 the parts adjacent to Aquileia. At Opitergium and Al- 
 tinum they were received with feelings of joy. At Altinum 
 a garrison was left to check the fleet at Ravenna, not then 
 known to have revolted. They then united Patavium and 
 Ateste to their party. The generals there learnt that 
 three Vitellian cohorts, with the squadron of horse called 
 Scriboniana, had taken post at Forum Allienum, after 
 throwing up a bridge. The opportunity seemed fair to 
 attack them, for they were also reported to be remiss and 
 negligent. At the dawn of day they surprised and over- 
 powered the greater part, while unarmed. It had been 
 previously ordered, that they should kill a few, and terrify 
 the rest into an abandonment of their party, and several 
 surrendered at discretion: but the greater part broke down 
 the bridge and thus obstructed their enemy who pressed 
 close upon them. 
 
 7. The news of this victory spreading, when the 
 first events of the war were found to be favourable to 
 Vespasian, two legions, the seventh, called Galbiana, 
 and the thirteenth, named Gemina, with Vedius Aquila, 
 who commanded them, came promptly to Padua. A few 
 days were spent at that place to refresh the men ; and 
 Minucius Justus, prefect of the camp to the seventh le- 
 gion, who enforced his orders with more severity than was 
 consistent with civil war, was withdrawn from the fury of 
 the soldiers, and sent to Vespasian. After that, Antonius 
 ordered the statues of Galba, which the rage of civil dis- 
 cord had thrown down, to be again set up in all the muni- 
 cipal towns. This act, the want of which had been long 
 and painfully felt, was interpreted as redounding to the 
 honour of the party more than one might have anticipated. 
 His conclusion was, that it would be honourable to the 
 cause, if the government of Galba was believed to meet 
 with his approbation, and that his party were beginning to 
 revive.
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 517 
 
 8. Where to fix the seat of war was now the question. 
 Verona seemed the better place ; the surrounding plains 
 being adapted to the operations of cavalry, which was 
 their strength ; and to wrest from Vitellius an important 
 colony, seemed useful and glorious. The army, in their 
 very march, became masters of Vicetia ; a municipality of 
 no great consideration, but regarded as the birth-place of 
 Caecina, and reflecting that the general of the enemy 
 was thus stripped of his fatherland, it assumed a very im- 
 portant character. The reduction of Verona brought an 
 accession of wealth, and gave an example to other cities. 
 Moreover, as it lies between Rhaetia and the Julian Alps, 
 it was a post of importance, where an army in force 
 might command the pass into Italy, and render it im- 
 pervious to the German armies. Of these operations 
 Vespasian had either no knowledge, or they were such as 
 he had forbidden, for his orders were, that the troops 
 should halt at Aquileia till Mucianus arrived. Vespasian 
 also explained the motives of his councils. While he was 
 master of Egypt, had the power of stopping the supplies 
 of provisions, and commanded the revenues of the most 
 opulent provinces, the Vitellian army, for want of pay and 
 provisions, might be forced to capitulate. Mucianus, in 
 all his letters, recommended the same measure ; disguising 
 his designs under a desire for a victory without blood and 
 mourning, and other similar pretences : but, insatiably am- 
 bitious, he wished to engross the whole honour of the war. 
 However, before their advices could arrive from a distant 
 part of the world, the blow was struck. 
 
 9. Antonius, therefore, by a sudden movement, at- 
 tacked the picquets *of the enemy; but after trying 
 each other's mettle in a slight encounter, they parted 
 without advantage on either side. In a short time Caecina 
 fortified a camp near Verona, between the village Hos- 
 tilia and the marshes of the river Tartarus : a well-pro- 
 tected position, with the river covering his rear, and the 
 fens securing his flanks. Had he not wanted fidelity, he 
 Certainly might, with the whole strength of his army, have 
 crushed the two legions, not yet joined by the Maesian 
 army, or, at least, forced to retreat and abandon Italy, 
 they would have incurred the disgrace and humiliation of 
 flight. But, by all kinds of delays, he suffered the first 
 precious opportunities to elapse, content with writing- 
 vituperative letters to those whom he might have con- 
 quered; till, by his messengers, he settled the terms of 
 perfidy. Aponius Saturninus, meanwhile, arrived at 
 Verona with the seventh legion, called the Claudian, 
 under the command of Vipstanus Messalla, the tribune ;
 
 518 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 a man of illustrious birth, and the highest character: of 
 all who entered into that war, the only person who carried 
 with him fair and honourable motives. With this rein- 
 forcement the army amounted to no more than three le- 
 gions ; and yet to that inferior force Cascina despatched a 
 letter, condemning the rashness of men, who, after their 
 late defeat, took up arms again. At the same time he 
 magnified the bravery of the German soldiers, making 
 slight and ordinary mention of Vitellius, and abstaining 
 from all abuse of Vespasian : nothing whatever that could 
 seduce or intimidate the enemy. Vespasian's generals 
 in their answer, entering into no defence of their former 
 conduct, bestowed the highest praise on Vespasian, 
 confidently anticipated the success of their cause, showed 
 no fear about their army, and spoke in a hostile tone 
 of Vitellius. To the tribunes and centurions they pro- 
 mised the same favours as they had received from Vi- 
 tellius, and in explicit terms invited Caecina to join them. 
 The letters, which were read publicly to the army, in- 
 creased the confidence of the troops : for Caecina had 
 written in a subdued spirit, as fearing to exasperate Ves- 
 pasian, while the manner of their own generals was con- 
 temptuous, and that of men who scorned Vitellius. 
 
 10. After this, being reinforced by the arrival of two 
 legions, the third, commanded by Dillius Aponianus, 
 and the eighth, by Numisius Lupus, it was resolved to 
 display their strength, and inclose Verona with lines of 
 circumvallation. It happened that the Galbian legion was 
 employed in an advanced part of the trenches, fronting 
 the enemy. Some of the cavalry of their allies, descried 
 at a distance and mistaken for enemies, excited a false 
 alarm ; and thinking themselves betrayed, they seized 
 their arms, and the resentment of the soldiers fell upon 
 Ampius Flavianus as the author of the plot. They had 
 no kind of proof; but they had long hated the man, and 
 in the tempest of their rage demanded his blood ; voci- 
 ferating that he was the kinsman of Vitellius, the betrayer 
 of Otho, and had embezzled their donative. Nor would 
 they allow him to clear himself, though he stretched forth 
 his hands in supplication, prostrated himself continually 
 before them, rent his garments, his breast heaving, and 
 his countenance convulsed with sobbing; nay, these very 
 things stimulated their angry prejudices, as they looked 
 upon his excessive alarm as proof of conscious guilt. 
 Aponius Saturninus attempted to speak, but was over- 
 powered by the soldiers' clamour. The rest were con- 
 temptuously treated with murmurs and shouts. Antonius 
 was the only person whom they would hear. To au-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 519 
 
 thority and eloquence he united the art of managing 
 the temper of the soldiers; when the disturbance began 
 to assume a sanguinary character, and from foul abuse 
 they proceeded to violence and arms, the general ordered 
 Flavianus to be thrown into irons. This deception was 
 seen through by the soldiers, who dispersed the soldiers 
 that guarded the tribunal, and threatened immediate exe- 
 cution. Antonius opposed his bosom to their fury, and, 
 drawing his sword, solemnly declared that he would fall 
 by their hands or his own. He looked around, invoking 
 the assistance of all, whom he either knew, or saw distin- 
 guished by any kind of military decoration ; anon he 
 directed his eyes to the eagles and standards, those gods 
 of the camp, and implored them rather to infuse that 
 frensy and dissentious spirit into the breasts of the enemy. 
 At length the sedition began to abate, and day closing 
 apace, the men slunk offto their respective tents. The same 
 night Flavianus left the camp, and, receiving letters from 
 Vespasian on his way, was relieved from all apprehension. 
 11. The legions, as if infected by a contagion, fell with 
 still more violence on Aponius Saturninus, the commander 
 of the Maesian forces, because their fury broke out in the 
 middle of the day, and not, as before, when overpowered 
 with toil and working. The disturbance arose from the 
 publication of letters which Saturninus was believed to 
 have written to Vitellius. As under the old republic there 
 was an emulation in sobriety and valour, so now there 
 was a contest for preeminence in frowardness and inso- 
 lence, resolved as they were to demand the blood of Apo- 
 nius as fiercely as they had clamoured for that of Saturni- 
 nus. The fact was, the Maesian legions making it a merit 
 with the Pannonian army, that, in the late insurrection, 
 they had lent their assistance ; and the Pannonians, being 
 under the notion that they would be absolved by the mu- 
 tiny of others, they were glad to repeat their crime. 
 They rushed to the gardens, where Saturninus was walk- 
 ing for recreation, and though Antonius, Messala, and 
 Aponianus exerted their best endeavours, they were not 
 so effectual in saving Saturninus as the obscurity of the 
 retreat in which he was secreted, having concealed himself 
 in the furnace of a bath that happened to be out oF use. 
 Soon after he dismissed his lictors, and went to Patavium. 
 There being now no officer of consular rank left, the 
 whole command devolved upon Antonius. The soldiers 
 were willing to submit to his authority; the other officers 
 declined all competition; nor were there wanting those 
 who believed that Antonius, by secret practices, excited
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 the two seditions, that he alone might reap the honour 
 of the war without a rival. 
 
 12. During these transactions, the camp of Vitellius 
 was not free from disturbance. The discord there did 
 not originate in the suspicions of the soldiers, hut the per- 
 fidy of the generals. Lucilius Bassus, who commanded the 
 fleet at Ravenna, had drawn over to the party of Vespasian 
 the wavering inclinations of the marines, natives principally 
 of Dalmatia and Pannonia, provinces which had declared 
 for Vespasian. Night was chosen as the time for carrying 
 the treason into effect, when all the rest being in ignorance 
 of the proceeding, the conspirators alone might meet in 
 the head-quarters. Bassus remained in his own house, 
 either from shame or alarm, waiting the issue. The mas- 
 ters of the galleys attacked the images of Vitellius in the 
 most tumultuous manner, and put to the sword the few 
 who attempted to resist. The common herd, with their 
 usual love of innovation, went over to Vespasian. Bassus 
 then came forth, avowing himself the author of the trea- 
 son. The fleet immediately chose another commander, 
 Cornelius Fuscus, who eagerly joined them. Bassus, 
 under guard, but honourably treated, was conveyed by 
 some light barks to Atria, where he was thrown into fet- 
 ters by [Mennius Rufinus, who commanded the garrison ; 
 but he was soon released at the desire of Hormus, one of 
 Vespasian's freedmen, who was also looked upon as one 
 of the general officers. 
 
 13. When the defection of the fleet was known, Cascina, 
 having dispersed the best part of his army under pretexts 
 of military duty, from a desire to have the camp more to 
 themselves, called a meeting of the principal centurions, 
 and a select party of soldiers, in the place assigned for the 
 eagles. He there magnified the valour of Vespasian, and 
 the strength of his party. The fleet, he said, had re- 
 volted ; Italy would be distressed for provisions ; the 
 Spains and Gauls were against them ; at Rome the minds 
 of men were wavering; and spoke of every thing relating 
 to Vitellius in terms of disparagement. The men whom 
 Antonius had engaged in the plot setting the example, 
 the rest, confounded at the suddenness of the affair, were 
 induced to take the oath of fidelity to Vespasian. The 
 images of Vitellius were torn from the ensigns, and de- 
 spatches were sent off to Antonius. When this betrayal 
 was known throughout the camp, the soldiers rushing 
 back to the head-quarters, saw the name of Vespasian 
 written up, and the images of Vitellius thrown upon the 
 ground. A deep and sullen silence followed. Soon with
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 521 
 
 one voice the men exclaimed, " Have the German armies 
 come to this, that without a battle, without a wound, they 
 must lay down their arms, and deliver themselves to the 
 enemy in chains? And what was the character of the le- 
 gions brought against them? forsooth, defeated legions; 
 nay, the peculiar strength of Otho's forces, the first and 
 fourteenth, are not with the army, whom, nevertheless, 
 they had routed and made havoc of. Is it come to this, 
 that so many thousand gallant soldiers should now, like a , 
 drove of slaves, be delivered to the exile Antonius? The 
 fleet, we are told, has revolted : and shall eight legions be 
 transferred as an appendage to their treachery ? Bassus, 
 it seems, will have it so ; and such is the pleasure of Cae- 
 cina. They have despoiled the pi'ince of his houses, his 
 gardens, and his treasure, and they want now to rob him 
 of his soldiers; who, with vigour unimpaired, are to yield 
 without an engagement, objects of scorn even to Vespa- 
 sian's party. But to soldiers who may hereafter desire an 
 account of battles fought, and dangers encountered, what 
 answer shall we make?" 
 
 14. Such were the remonstrances, not of individuals, 
 but of the whole body, each man giving clamorous vent to 
 his feelings; and the fifth legion taking the lead, they re- 
 stored the images of Vitellius, and loaded Caecina with 
 fetters. Fabius Fabullus, commander of the fifth legion, 
 and Cassius Longus, the praefect of the camp, were de- 
 clared commanders in chief. The marines belonging to 
 three light galleys fell into the hands of the enraged sol- 
 diery, and though ignorant of all that passed, and guilt- 
 less, were put to the sword. Having broken up their camp, 
 and demolished the bridge, they marched back to Hosti- 
 lia, and thence to Cremona, to join the first legion, called 
 Italica; and the one and twentieth, known by the name of 
 Rapax, which had been sent by Caecina, with a party of 
 horse, to occupy Cremona. 
 
 15. Apprised of these transactions, Antonius resolved 
 to attack the enemy while he was still distracted and dis- 
 persed, and not to wait till the Vitellians returned to sub- 
 mission, the generals recovered their authority, and the 
 united legions their confidence. He concluded that Valens 
 had set out from Rome, and that Caecina's treachery would 
 make him push forward. The fidelity of Valens, and his 
 military skill, were undoubted. Besides, a vast body of 
 Germans was expected to force their way through Rhuetia 
 into Italy, and Vitellius had sent for succours into Britain, 
 Gaul, and Spain ; a> countless armament, which would 
 have spread destruction as a pestilence, had not Antonius,
 
 522 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 apprehending this very circumstance, hastened to bring 
 on a battle, and snatched a victory beforehand. He 
 moved with his whole army from Verona, and in two days 
 arrived at Bedriacum. On the following morning he kept 
 back the legions to work at the intrenchments, and, 
 under colour of foraging, to give the men a relish for 
 civil plunder, sent the auxiliary cohorts into the lands 
 near Cremona. To support them in this expedition, he 
 himself, at the head of four thousand horse, advanced 
 within eight miles of Bedriacum; while his scouts took a 
 wider range, to discover the motions of the enemy. 
 
 16. About the fifth hour of the day, a trooper at full 
 speed brought intelligence that the enemy was approach- 
 ing. Their advance parties were in sight, and the tramp 
 and bustle of the whole army were distinctly heard. An- 
 tonius began to prepare for action. While he was deli- 
 berating, Arrius Varus, eager to distinguish himself, ad- 
 vanced at the head of a party of horse, and drove in the 
 Vitellians with trifling slaughter ; for a party of the enemy 
 advancing to support the broken ranks, changed the for- 
 tune of the day, and they, who had pursued with the 
 greatest eagerness, were now in the rear of the retreat. 
 In this rash action Antonius had no share; indeed he 
 foresaw the consequence of it. Having exhorted his men 
 to go to work fearlessly, he ordered the cavalry to draw 
 off* in two divisions towards the flanks, leaving a way for 
 Varus and his horsemen. The legions were called out, 
 and, in the country round, the signal was given to the 
 foraging cohorts to abandon their booty, and repair, each 
 the shortest way he could, to meet the battle. Varus, in 
 the mean time, himself dismayed, and a source of alarm 
 to others, together wfth his disordered band, formed one 
 confused mass : overpowered by the enemy, the able and 
 the wounded together were borne down through their own 
 mere fears, and the difficulties of the ways. 
 
 17. In this state of alarm Antonius omitted nothing that 
 was to be expected from the calm and collected general, or 
 the most gallant soldier. He threw himself in the way of 
 those who were overpowered by fear, held back those who 
 were giving ground ; wherever the battle was hottest, 
 wherever a gleam of hope appeared, there was he, plan- 
 ning, doing, speaking, a signal object to the enemy, and 
 conspicuous to his friends. At length he rose to such a 
 height of enthusiasm, that he transfixed with his spear a 
 standard-bearer in the act of flying, and instantly seizing 
 the colours, advanced against the enemy. Not more than 
 a hundred of the cavalry felt the disgrace, and stood their
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 523 
 
 ground. The nature of the ground favoured Antonius; 
 the causey was narrowest in that part, and the bridge 
 over the river that flowed in the rear being broken down, 
 the men could not pursue their flight, as the banks were 
 steep, and the depth dangerous. Whether it were a fa- 
 tality or an accident, the now fallen fortune of the party was 
 thus restored. The soldiers, forming a dense and compact 
 array, received the Vitellians, who rushed on without 
 order, and in a short time were put to the rout. Antonius 
 pressed on the rear of such as fled, and trampled upon 
 all who resisted. The rest of Vespasian's army acted as 
 the impulse of individuals prompted ; despoiled, made 
 prisoners, and seized both arms and horses. Those who 
 erewhile had fled, and were straggling about the fields, 
 summoned by the triumphant shouts of their comrades, 
 came up and took part in the work of victory. 
 
 18. At the distance of four miles from Cremona, ap- 
 peared the glittering banners of the two legions, Rapax 
 and Italica. The advantage gained by the Vitellian 
 cavalry, in the beginning of the day, was their motive for 
 advancing so far: but, seeing a reverse of fortune, they 
 neither opened their ranks nor received their routed 
 friends, nor dared to advance and fall upon an enemy ex- 
 hausted with so long a chase, and with fighting. It hap- 
 pened that having sustained a defeat, they felt in their ad- 
 versity the absence of a general whom they did not re- 
 gret so much in their prosperity. The victorious cavalry 
 charged the vacillating line, and Vipsianus Messalla sup- 
 ported them with the Maesian auxiliaries, whom, though 
 hurried into the engagement, the soldiers considered to 
 have rendered as much service as legionary troops. Thus 
 the foot and cavalry united bore down the mass of legions, 
 and the Vitellians, the more they hoped to find within the 
 walls of Cremona a safe shelter, were the less inclined to 
 maintain the conflict. 
 
 19. Antonius did not think it prudent to pursue his 
 advantage, in consideration of the fatigues and wounds 
 which men and horses had encountered in a battle so ob- 
 stinate and fluctuating, though ultimately successful. As 
 the shades of evening came on, the whole force of Vespa- 
 sian's army joined him. Having marched over the heaps 
 of slain, and the prints of feet still reeking with blood, 
 they concluded that the war was over, and demanded to 
 be led on to Cremona, either to receive the submission of 
 the vanquished, or to storm the place. Such were their 
 public professions; plausible to the ear; but in their 
 hearts the men had selfish and personal views. " Cre-
 
 524 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 mona," they said, " was situated in an open plain, and 
 might be taken by assault. The darkness of the night 
 would not abate their courage, and afforded greater lati- 
 tude for rapine. If they waited for the return of day, 
 terms of peace would be proposed, entreaties would be re- 
 sorted to, and, in that case, for all their toil and wounds, 
 the praise of humanity and glory, those profitless acquisi- 
 tions, would be their only recompense, while the wealth of 
 the citizens would go into the laps of the prasfects and 
 generals. When a town is carried by storm, the booty be- 
 longs to the soldiers ; but if surrendered, it goes to the ge- 
 nerals." They set at nought the tribunes and centurions, 
 and with the clangour of their arms drowned the voice of 
 reason, determined, if not led on to the attack, to shake 
 off all authority. 
 
 20. Upon this Antonius made his way through the 
 ranks, and by his look and authority having obtained si- 
 lence, protested that " he was not the man to deprive 
 them of the glory or the recompense due to their valour : 
 but the general, and the men under his command, had 
 distinct provinces. Ardour for the conflict became the 
 soldier; but generals more frequently succeeded by fore- 
 cast, deliberation, and caution, than inconsiderate action. 
 As he had manfully contributed his share to the victory 
 by his sword and bodily exertion, so would he advance 
 the cause by deliberation and counsel, the appropriate 
 functions of a general. The question at present does not 
 admit of a doubt. We have the night before us; a town, 
 the peculiarities of whose situation are unknown to us; an 
 enemy within its walls, with every facility for stratagem. 
 Not if the gates were thrown open, without reconnoitring, 
 without day-light, ought they to march in. Would they ha- 
 zard an assault without the power of ascertaining a single 
 particular, where the ground was even, what the height of 
 the walls, whether they ought to employ engines and 
 darts, or works and mantelets?" Then addressing himself 
 to them severally, he asked them, " whether they had 
 brought with them hatchets, pick-axes, and the various 
 tools a siege requires?" And on' their replying in the 
 negative, he asked, " where were the hands that with 
 swords and javelins could break through and undermine 
 walls? If it should he. necessary to throw up ramparts, 
 and with sheds and penthouses to cover our approach, 
 shall we stand baffled and impotent like the thoughtless 
 vulgar, wondering at the lofty towers and fortifications of 
 the enemy ? why not rather wait one night, and advancing 
 our engines and instruments of war, carry with us strength
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 525 
 
 and victory ?" At the close of this harangue he sent the 
 sutlers and followers of the camp, with a party of the 
 freshest of the cavalry, to Bedriacum, to bring a supply of 
 provisions, and all necessaries for the use of the army. 
 
 21. The soldiers were still dissatisfied, and a mutiny 
 was ready to break out, when a party of horse that ad- 
 vanced as far as the walls of Cremona, learnt, from 
 stragglers who had fallen into their hands, that six Vitel- 
 lian legions, and the whole army encamped at Hostilia, 
 having heard of that day's defeat, having marched thirty 
 miles, were prepared for battle, and would soon be upon 
 them. In this alarm the soldiers were willing to listen to 
 their general. Antonius ordered the thirteenth legion 
 to take post on the Posthumian causey ; contiguous to 
 them, on the open plain, towards the left, stood the seventh, 
 called the Galbian ; and next to them the seventh, named 
 the Claudian, defended by a country ditch, just as they 
 found it. On the right he placed the eighth legion, along 
 the road-side; and the third behind a thick copse, at a 
 short distance. Such was the arrangement of the eagles 
 and standards: the soldiers took their post as chance di- 
 rected them, in the dark. The praetorian banner stood 
 next the third . legion ; the auxiliary cohorts were in the 
 wings : the cavalry covered the flanks and the rear. The 
 two Suevian kings, Sido and Italicus, with the best troops 
 of their nation, took post in the front of the lines. 
 
 22. The Vitellian army, on the other hand, whose plan 
 should have been to halt that night at Cremona, and the 
 next day, refreshed by food and sleep, to rout and drive be- 
 fore them an enemy exhausted with cold and hunger ; yet 
 having no commander, nor settled plan of action, about the 
 third hour of the night dashed forward upon the Flavian 
 army, now drawn up in regular order of battle. Of the 
 disposition of the Vitellians-, disordered as they were from 
 the effects of their own impetuosity and the night, I would 
 not venture to speak positively: we are told, however, 
 that the fourth legion, called Macedonica, was stationed 
 in the right wing; the fifth and fifteenth, supported by 
 the vexillaries of three British legions, the ninth, the se- 
 cond, and the twentieth, in the centre : the left wing was 
 formed by the first, the sixteenth, and two-and-twentieth. 
 The soldiers of the two legions called Rapax and Italica 
 were scattered throughout all the companies. The ca- 
 valry and auxiliaries chose their own station. The battle, 
 which lasted through the night, was various, obstinate, 
 and bloody ; threatening annihilation now to one side and 
 then again to the other; courage or strength gave no su-
 
 526 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 periority ; even sight itself was powerless to discern the 
 approach of danger. The weapons on both sides were 
 the same. The watch-word, frequently asked and re- 
 peated, was known to both armies. The colours, accord- 
 ing as they were taken by different parties, and borne to 
 one side or the other, were mixed in wild confusion. The 
 seventh legion, lately raised by Galba, suffered the most. 
 Six of their principal centurions were killed on the spot, 
 and some of their colours taken : the eagle itself was only 
 preserved by Atilius Verus, the principal centurion, after 
 a great carnage of the enemy, and at last with the sacri- 
 fice of his life. 
 
 23.. Vespasian's army was giving way, when Antonius 
 brought the praetorian cohorts to its support. Taking, 
 upon themselves the brunt of the action, they routed the 
 enemy, and in their turn were forced to retreat. For the 
 Vitellians had conveyed their engines to the high road, 
 that their missiles might be discharged without obstruction 
 or impediment, whereas at first they were scattered at 
 random, and struck the shrubs without harming the 
 enemy. The fifteenth legion had a balista of enormous 
 size, which by discharging massy stones, was demolishing 
 the opposing line, and would have dealt destruction far 
 and wide, if two soldiers had not signalized themselves by 
 a brave exploit. Covering themselves with the shields of 
 the enemy which they found among the slain, they ad- 
 vanced undiscovered, and cut off' the ropes and weights. 
 They both instantly fell, covered with wounds, and there- 
 fore their names are lost : of the fact there is no question. 
 The battle was hitherto fought with doubtful success, 
 when, night being far advanced, the rising moon dis- 
 covered the contending armies, and deceived them. But 
 she was more favourable to the Flavians, as they had their 
 backs to the light. Hence the-shadows of men and horses 
 were elongated, and the weapons of the Vitellians, aimed 
 at them as if they were substances, were thrown away, 
 and fell short of their enemies. While the Vitellians, ex- 
 posed to view by the light in front of them, formed, with- 
 out knowing it, a distinct mark for their enemies, who 
 discharged their javelins as it were from a hiding place. 
 
 24. Antonius, when he could distinguish his troops, 
 and be distinguished by them, did everything to rouse 
 the courage of his men ; upbraiding some, applauding 
 others, made ample promises, and gave hopes to all. He 
 asked the Pannonian legions, what was their motive for 
 taking up arms? "Here," he said, "here is the spot 
 where you may efface the memory of your former defeat :
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 527 
 
 in this field you may redeem your honour." Then turning 
 to the Maesians, he called upon them as the chief, the 
 first movers of the war ; in vain were the Vitellians chal- 
 lenged with menaces and boasts, if they shrunk from their 
 swords and looks. This was his language as he came up 
 to each. To the third legion he spoke more at large: he 
 called to their minds their former and recent exploits. 
 " How, under Mark Antony, they had defeated the Par- 
 thians ; and the Armenians, under Corbulo. In a late 
 campaign the Sarmatians fled before them. 1 ' Then he 
 addressed the praetorians in sharper terms : " If you do 
 not conquer now, you band of peasants, what other gene- 
 ral, or what camp, will receive you ? Your ensigns and 
 your colours are in the hands of the enemy, and death is 
 all that is left you, if you are vanquished ; for you have 
 drained infamy to the dregs." A general shout arose; 
 and the third legion, according to the custom observed in 
 Syria, paid their adoration to the rising sun. 
 
 25. This circumstance, either by chance, or by the 
 contrivance of Antonius, gave rise to a report that Mucia- 
 nus was arrived, and that the armies exchanged salutations. 
 Vespasian's soldiers, as if strengthened by fresh reinforce- 
 ments, bore down upon the enemy; the Vitellian ranks 
 being now less compact, for, without a chief to conduct 
 them, they extended or condensed their lines as fear or 
 courage prompted. Antonius, seeing them give way, 
 threw them into disorder by charging them in close array ; 
 their ranks were thus dissolved and broken through, and 
 the carriages and engines made it impossible to restore 
 the order of the battle. The victors, in their eagerness 
 to pursue their advantage, spread themselves along the 
 road-side. The slaughter on this occasion was rendered 
 the more remarkable from the fact, that a father was 
 killed by his own son. The fact and the names I will 
 state, on the authority of Vipstanus Messalla. Julius 
 Mansuetus, a native of Spain, enlisting in the legion 
 Rapax, left behind him a son, then of tender years. The 
 youth, grown up to manhood, entered the seventh legion 
 raised by Galba. It happened that he met his father in 
 the battle, and with a mortal wound stretched him on the 
 ground ; and while rifling his expiring victim, he recognised 
 and was recognised by his father, when he clasped him in 
 his arms, and in piteous tones implored forgiveness of his 
 father's manes, and prayed that they would not persecute 
 him as a parricide. The guilt of this deed was common 
 to all; and how small a portion, he said, was one soldier 
 of those engaged in civil war. He then lifted up the
 
 528 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 body, opened a grave, and discharged the last melancholy 
 duty to his father. He attracted the observation first of 
 those nearest him, then more came up. Hence horror, 
 grief, and execration of this- inhuman kind of war, ran 
 through the whole army. And yet, with no less avidity, 
 they plundered their friends, relations, and brothers, 
 whom they had slaughtered. Their tongues declare that 
 a deed of horror has been done, and yet they do the 
 same. 
 
 26. When they came to Cremona, they found a new 
 and enormous difficulty. In the war with Otho, the Ger- 
 man legions had formed a camp round the walls of the 
 town, and fortified it with lines of circumvallation. New 
 works were added afterwards. The victors stood asto- 
 nished at the sight, and even the generals were at a stand, 
 undecided what orders to give. With troops harassed 
 by exertions through the night and day, to carry the 
 place by storm was difficult, and, without succours at 
 hand, might be dangerous ; but if they marched to Bedri- 
 acum, the fatigue would be insupportable, and the victory 
 would end in nothing. To throw up intrenchments was 
 dangerous, in the face of an enemy, who might suddenly 
 sally forth and put them to the rout, while employed on 
 the work in detached parties. A difficulty, still greater 
 than all, arose from the temper of the men, more patient 
 of danger than delay : inasmuch as a state of security 
 afforded no excitement, while hope grew out of enterprise, 
 however perilous; and carnage, wounds, and blood, to 
 whatever extent, were counterbalanced by the insatiable 
 desire of plunder. 
 
 27. Antonius determined upon the latter course, and 
 ordered the rampart to be invested. The attack began 
 at a distance, with a volley of stones and darts, with the 
 greater loss to the Flavians, on whom the enemy's weapons 
 were thrown with advantage from above. Antonius pre- 
 sently assigned portions of the rampart and the gates to 
 the legions, that by this mode of attack in different quarters, 
 valour and cowardice might be distinguished, and a spirit 
 of emulation in honour animate the army. The third and 
 seventh legions took their station nearest the road to 
 Bedriacum; the seventh and eighth Claudian, a portion 
 more to the right-hand of the rampart; the thirteenth 
 were carried by their own impetuosity to the gate that 
 looked towards Brixia. Some delay then took place while 
 they supplied themselves from the neighbouring villages 
 with pick-axes, spades, and hooks, and scaling-ladders. 
 They then formed a close military shell, with their shields
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS: III. 529 
 
 raised above their heads, and under that cover advanced 
 to the ramparts. The Roman art of war was seen on 
 both sides. The Vitellians rolled down massy stones, 
 with which having disjoined and shaken the shell, they 
 inserted their long poles and spears ; till at last, the whole 
 frame and texture of the shields being dissolved, they 
 strewed the ground with numbers of the crushed and 
 mangled assailants. 
 
 28. The assault now flagged, and must have failed, had 
 not the generals, who saw that their exhortations were 
 without effect upon the exhausted soldiery, pointed to Cre- 
 mona as the reward of victory. Whether this expedient 
 was, as Messala informs us, suggested by Hormus, or, on 
 the authority of Caius Plinius, must be laid to the account 
 of Antonius, I have little means of determining. All I 
 can say, is, that neither of those officers can be said to 
 have degenerated from his former principles by an act of 
 such atrocity. Now, braving wounds and danger, and 
 death itself, they began to sap the foundation of the walls ; 
 they battered the gates ; standing on the shoulders of 
 their comrades, and forming a second shell, they scaled 
 the walls and grasped the weapons and arms of the be- 
 sieged. The unhurt, the wounded, the half dead, and 
 the dying, were tumbled down ; while every diversity of 
 appearance was exhibited by the sufferers, and an image 
 of death in all its varied horrors. 
 
 29. Severe in the extreme was the conflict maintained by 
 the third and the seventh legions. Antonius in person led 
 on a select body of auxiliaries to the same quarter. The 
 Vitellians were no longer able to sustain the shock of men 
 all bent on victory, and seeing their darts fall on the mili- 
 tary shell, and glide off without effect, at last they rolled 
 down their battering-engine on the heads of the besiegers. 
 For the moment, it dispersed and overwhelmed the party 
 among which it fell; but it also drew after it, in its fall, 
 the battlements and upper parts of the rampart. An ad- 
 joining tower, at the same time, yielded to the effect of 
 the stones which struck it, and left a breach, at which the 
 seventh legion, in the form of a wedge endeavoured to 
 force their way, while the third hewed down the gate with 
 axes and swords. The first man that entered, according 
 to all historians, was Caius Volusius, a common soldier of 
 the third legion. He gained the summit of the rampart, 
 and, bearing down all resistance, in the view of all 
 beckoned with his hand, and cried aloud that the camp 
 was captured. The rest of the legion followed him with 
 resistless fury, the Vitellians being panic-struck, and 
 Mm
 
 530 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 throwing themselves headlong from the works. The 
 whole space between the camp and the walls of Cremona 
 was .filled with slain. 
 
 30. And now a new form of difficulty was presented by 
 the high walls of the city, and towers of stone, the gates 
 secured by iron bars, and troops brandishing their arms ; 
 the inhabitants, a large and numerous body, all devoted 
 to Vitellius ; and a conflux of people from all parts of 
 Italy at the stated fair which was then held. The latter 
 was regarded by the garrison as an aid, from the increase 
 of numbers; but they inflamed the ardour of the besiegers 
 on the score of booty. Antonius ordered his men to take 
 combustibles, and set fire to the most elegant edifices 
 without the city ; if peradventure, the inhabitants, seeing 
 their mansions destroyed, would be induced to abandon 
 the adverse cause. In the houses that stood near the 
 walls, of a height to overlook the works, he placed the 
 bravest of his troops ; and from those stations beams, tiles, 
 and fire-brands were thrown down to drive the defenders 
 of the walls from their posts. 
 
 31. The legions under Antonius now formed a military 
 shell, while the rest poured in a volley of stones and darts; 
 when the spirit of the besieged gradually gave way. The 
 men highest in rank were willing to make terms for them- 
 selves, lest, if Cremona was taken by storm, they should 
 receive no quarter, and the conquerors, disdaining vulgar 
 lives, should fall on the tribunes and centurions, from 
 whom the largest booty was to be expected. The common 
 men, as usual, careless about future events, and safe in 
 their obscurity, still held out. Roaming about the streets, 
 or lurking in private houses, they did not sue for peace 
 even when they had given up the contest. The principal 
 officers took down the name and images of Vitellius. 
 Caeciha, for he was still in confinement, they released from 
 his fetters, and desired his aid in pleading their cause 
 with the conqueror. He heard their petition with disdain, 
 swelling with pride and insolence they importune him 
 with tears ; the last stage of human misery ! when so 
 many brave and gallant men were obliged to sue to a traitor 
 for protection. They then hung out from the walls the 
 fillets and badges of supplicants. When Antonius ordered 
 a cessation of hostilities, the garrison brought out their 
 eagles and standards. A mournful train of soldiers with- 
 out their arms, their eyes rivetted to the ground, followed 
 them. The conquerors .gathered round them, and first 
 heaped reproaches upon them, and threatened violence 
 to their persons. But afterwards, when they saw the
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 531 
 
 passiveness with which they received the insults, and that 
 the vanquished, abandoning all their former pride, sub- 
 mitted to every indignity, the thought occurred that these 
 very men lately conquered at Bedriacum, and used their 
 victory with moderation. But when Caecina came forth, 
 decorated with his robes, and preceded by his lictors, who 
 opened a way for him through the crowd, the indignation 
 of the victors burst into a flame. They reproached him 
 for his pride, his cruelty, and even for his treachery : so 
 detested is villany. Antonius opposed the fury of his men, 
 and sent him under escort to Vespasian. 
 
 32. Meanwhile, the common people of Cremona, in the 
 midst of so many soldiers, were subjected to grievous op- 
 pressions, and were in danger of being all put to the 
 sword, if the rage of the soldiery had not been assuaged 
 by the entreaties of their leaders. Antonius called them 
 to an assembly, when he spoke of the conquerors in lofty 
 terms, and of the vanquished with humanity; of Cremona 
 he said nothing either way. But the army, adding to 
 their love of plunder an inveterate aversion to the people, 
 were bent on the extirpation of the inhabitants. In the 
 war against Qtho they were deemed the abettors of Vi- 
 tellius ; and afterwards, when the thirteenth legion was 
 left among them to build an amphitheatre, with the usual 
 insolence of the lower orders in towns, they had assailed 
 them with offensive ribaldry. The spectacle of gladiators 
 exhibited there by Caecina inflamed the animosity against 
 the people. Their city, too, was now for the second 
 time the seat of war; and, in the heat of the last engage- 
 ment, the Vitellians were thence supplied with refresh- 
 ments ; and some of their women, led into the field of 
 battle by their zeal for the cause, were slain. The period 
 too, of the fair, had given to a colony otherwise affluent, 
 an imposing appearance of accumulated wealth. Anto- 
 nius by IMS fame and brilliant success eclipsed all the 
 other commanders. The attention of all was fixed on him 
 alone. He hastened to the baths to wash off the blood; 
 and on observing that the water was not hot enough, he 
 said that they would soon grow hotter. The expression 
 was caught up : a casual word among slaves had the effect 
 of throwing upon him the whole odium of having given 
 a signal for setting fire to Cremona, which was already in 
 flames. 
 
 33. Forty thousand men had poured into it. The 
 number of drudges and camp-followers was still greater, 
 and more abandoned to lust and cruelty. Neither age 
 
 M m 2
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 nor dignity served as a protection ; deeds of lust were 
 perpetrated amidst scenes of carnage, and murder was 
 added to rape. Aged men and women that had passed 
 their prime, and who were useless as booty, were made 
 the objects of brutal sport. If a mature maiden, or any 
 one of comely appearance, fell in their way, after being 
 torn piecemeal by the rude hands of contending ruffians, 
 they at last were the occasion of their turning their swords 
 against each other. While eagerly carrying oft* money or 
 massy gold from the temples, they were butchered by 
 others stronger than themselves. Not content with the 
 treasures that lay open to their view, some forced the 
 owners to discover their hidden wealth, and dig up their 
 buried riches. Numbers carried flaming torches, and, as 
 soon as they had brought forth their booty, in their wan- 
 ton sport, set the gutted houses and plundered temples on 
 fire. In an army differing in language and manners, com- 
 posed of Roman citizens, allies, and foreign auxiliaries, 
 all the diversities of passions were exhibited. Each had 
 his separate notions of right and wrong ; nor was any 
 thing unlawful. Four days did Cremona minister to their 
 rapacity. When every thing else, sacred and profane, 
 was levelled in the conflagration, the temple of Mephitis 
 alone remained standing, outside of the walls; saved either 
 by its situation, or the influence of the deity. 
 
 34. Such was the fate of Cremona, two hundred and 
 eighty-six years from its foundation. It was built during 
 the consulship of Tiberius Sempronius and Publius Cor- 
 nelius, at the time when Hannibal threatened an irruption 
 into Italy, as a bulwark against the Gauls inhabiting be- 
 yond the Po, or any other power that might break in over 
 the Alps. The colony, as might be expected, grew and 
 flourished in the number of its settlers, from the contiguity 
 of rivers, the fertility of its soil, from alliances and inter- 
 marriages with the neighbouring people ; ne*er having 
 suffered from foreign wars, but a sad sufferer from civil 
 dissensions. Antonius, shrinking from the infamy of this 
 horrible transaction, for the detestation it excited was in- 
 creasing, issued an edict, forbidding all manner of persons 
 to detain the citizens of Cremona as prisoners of war. At 
 the same time the booty was rendered valueless by a re- 
 solution adopted throughout Italy, not to purchase the 
 captives taken on that occasion. The soldiers then began 
 to murder them. However, when this was known, the 
 prisoners were eagerly ransomed by their friends and re- 
 lations. The survivors in a short time returned to Cre-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 533 
 
 mona. The temples and public places were rebuilt, at 
 the recommendation of Vespasian, by the munificence of 
 the burgesses. 
 
 35. But the unwholesome state of the soil, from the de- 
 composed bodies, soon obliged the army to quit its position 
 near the remains of the entombed city. They encamped 
 at the distance of three miles. The Vitellian soldiers, 
 who in their panic had fled in all directions, were brought 
 back, and severally enrolled in their proper companies ; 
 and, lest the vanquished legions should meditate hostile 
 designs, the civil war being not yet extinguished, they were 
 sent into different parts of Illyricum. To spread the 
 fame of Vespasian's arms, messengers were despatched 
 into Britain and both the Spains. Julius Calenus, one of 
 the tribunes, was sent into Gaul, and Alpinus Montanus, 
 the preefect of a cohort, into Germany. The former was 
 by birth an ^Eduan, and the latter a native of Treves, 
 both partisans of Vitellius, and for that reason chosen, as 
 palpable evidences of his defeat. Care was also taken to 
 secure by a chain of posts the passes over the Alps, as 
 Germany was supposed to be arming in aid of Vitellius. 
 
 36. Vitellius, in a few days after Caecina set out from 
 Rome, having prevailed on Fabius Valens to proceed with 
 the war, buried all sense and appearance of alarm in 
 excess and revelry. He made no preparation for the 
 field, neglected to cheer and invigorate the soldiers by 
 addressing them and by military exercise, nor kept himself 
 before the eyes of the public; but, hid in the recess of his 
 gardens, dismissed from his thoughts equally the past, the 
 present, and the future ; like those cold-blooded animals 
 which, while they are supplied with food, lie torpid and 
 insensible. While thus sunk in sloth and wasting his 
 energies in the grove of Aricinum, the treachery of Lu- 
 cilius Bassus, and the revolt of the fleet at Ravenna smote 
 upon his ear. In a short time after arrived other de- 
 spatches, by which he learned, with mixed emotions of 
 grief and joy, the perfidy of Csecina, and his imprison- 
 ment by the soldiers. In a mind incapable of reflection, 
 the joy absorbed all ideas of danger. He returned to 
 Rome in the highest exultation ; and having extolled, 
 before an assembly of the people, the zeal and ardour of 
 the army, he ordered Publius Sabinus, the praefect of the 
 praetorian guards and the intimate friend of Caecina, to 
 be taken into custody. Alphenus Varus succeeded to 
 the command. 
 
 37. Vitellius next addressed the senate in a speech of 
 studied pomp ; and the fathers extolled him in a strain of
 
 534 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 refined adulation. Lucius Vitellius took the initiative in 
 pronouncing a vehement censure upon Caecina. After 
 him the rest of the senate, with well-acted indignation 
 that a consul should have abandoned the commonwealth, 
 a general betrayed his prince, and a friend, loaded with 
 honours and emoluments, should have turned upon his 
 benefactor, affecting to lament the lot of Vitellius, in 
 fact, gave utterance to the anguish they felt on their own 
 accounts. Not a word was said by any one against the 
 leaders of Vespasian's party ; the conduct of the armies 
 was blamed as a mistake and indiscretion ; while the 
 name of Vespasian was evaded with cautious and studied 
 circumlocution. To complete the consulship of Caecina, 
 one day remained, and a man was found who, with abject 
 servility, sought and obtained the office, while the public 
 looked with infinite contempt and derision both upon the 
 giver and receiver. On the day before the calends of 
 November, Rosius Regulus entered upon the office and 
 resigned it. It was observed by men versed in the history 
 of their country, that no instance had ever occurred of a 
 new consul created before the office was declared vacant 
 in due course of law. Caninius Rebilus, it is true, had 
 been consul for one day when Julius Caesar was dictator, 
 and when everything was done to expedite the reward of 
 services rendered in the civil war. 
 
 38. The death of Junius Blaesus became at this time 
 publicly known, and engrossed the conversation of all 
 ranks of men. It happened that Vitellius, confined by 
 serious illness in the gardens of Servilius, saw, in the 
 night-time, a tower in the neighbourhood gaily illuminated. 
 He inquired the reason, and was told that Caecina Tuscus 
 gave an entertainment to a party of his friends, amongst 
 whom Junius Blaesus was the most distinguished. The 
 sumptuous preparations, and the mirth of the company 
 were described with every circumstance of exaggeration. 
 The creatures of the court did not fail to impute it as a 
 crime to Tuscus and his guests, but to Blaesus with pecu- 
 liar virulence, that they chose their time for revelling 
 when the prince was indisposed. When the men who 
 make it their business to pry into the humours of princes 
 perceived that Vitellius was offended, and that the ruin of 
 Blaesus might be easily accomplished, the task of managing 
 the information was assigned to Lucius Vitellius. Being 
 himself stained with every vice, in the spirit of unprinci- 
 pled rivalry he hated Blaesus because of the superiority 
 which his umblemished character gave him, and clasping 
 the emperor's son in his arms, he entered the prince's
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 535 
 
 chamber, and fell down at his knees. Vitellius asked 
 him the cause of his perturbation. " It is not from any 
 fears for myself," he replied, " nor from anxiety on my 
 own account, but in behalf of a brother, and the children 
 of a brother, that I come with prayers and tears. From 
 Vespasian we have nothing to fear : the numerous Ger- 
 man legions and provinces, by their valour and fidelity, 
 and vast tracts of sea and land, prevent his approach. 
 The enemy to be dreaded is in the city of Rome ; in your 
 bosorn. Proud of his descent from Mark Antony and the 
 Junian family, he affects to be connected with the im- 
 perial line, and, by caresses and a style of magnificence, 
 endeavours to conciliate to himself the affections of the 
 soldiers. Upon this man all eyes are fixed. Vitellius, in 
 the mean time, neglecting at once his enemies and his 
 friends, cherishes in his bosom a treacherous rival, who 
 from the banqueting-table beheld with joy the sufferings 
 of his sovereign. But for his ill-timed mirth he must be 
 repaid with a night of mourning and sorrow ; that he may 
 know that Vitellius lives and reigns, and, if any thing 
 should happen to him, that he has a son." 
 
 39. Vitellius balanced, for some time, with nervous 
 agitation, between the horrible deed and his apprehen- 
 sions for himself. By deferring the death of Blaesus he 
 might accelerate his own ruin, and to give public orders 
 for it would bring upon him a storm of indignation. He 
 resolved, therefore, to despatch him by poison. He 
 added to the evidence that he was the author of that ex- 
 ecrable villany, by the satisfaction he so conspicuously 
 displayed in going to see Blaesus ; nay, Vitellius was 
 heard to utter an expression of the most ferocious charac- 
 ter, in which, for I will relate the very words, he gloried in 
 having feasted his eyes with the sight of an expiring 
 enemy. Blaesus, to dignity of birth, and elegance of 
 manners, united unshaken fidelity ; and even before a 
 blow had been struck, when Csecina, and other chiefs of 
 the party, beginning to despise Vitellius, endeavoured to 
 seduce him, he was proof against all temptation ; incor- 
 ruptible, unambitious, seeking no sudden elevation what- 
 ever, much less aiming at the sovereignty, he hardly 
 escaped being deemed worthy of the succession. 
 
 4-0. Meanwhile Fabius Valens, proceeding with a nu- 
 merous and effeminate train of concubines and eunuchs, 
 with little of the spirit of a general going to a war, re- 
 ceived intelligence of the treachery of Lucilius Bassus, 
 and the defection of the fleet at Ravenna. Had he then 
 pushed on with vigour, he might have joined Caecina,
 
 536 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 while still undecided ; or have put himself at the head of 
 the legions before they came to a decisive action ; and 
 there were some who advised him that, with a few faith- 
 ful attendants, avoiding the road to Ravenna, he should, 
 through private ways, go direct to Hostilia or Cremona. 
 Others pressed him to bring into the field the praetorian 
 bands from Rome, and force his way to the Vitellian 
 army. But the time was lost in fruitless deliberation. 
 The posture of affairs called for vigour, but Valens 
 remained irresolute and inactive. In the end, rejecting 
 both plans, he chose a middle course, in pressing emer- 
 gencies always the most pernicious ; neither acting with 
 the degree of courage or caution which the occasion re- 
 quired. 
 
 41. He sent despatches to Vitellius for aid, and was 
 soon after joined by three cohorts and a squadron of 
 horse from Britain; a number too great to steal a march, 
 and too weak to open a passage through an enemy's coun- 
 try. Not even in this perilous juncture was the character 
 of Valens unstained with the infamy of rushing perforce 
 into forbidden pleasures and polluting the houses of his 
 hosts with adulteries and rapes. He was backed by 
 power, had money at command, and was impelled by that 
 recklessness of irregular appetite which marks the last 
 stage of falling fortune. He was no sooner joined by the 
 foot and cavalry sent by Vitellius, than he saw, too late, 
 the folly of his measures ; for with so small a force, sup- 
 posing the men devoted to Vitellius, he could not hope to 
 penetrate through the adverse army ; nor had they 
 brought with them a fidelity unimpeached. Shame, how- 
 ever, and respect for the general under whose eye they 
 were, deterred them for awhile ; but those restraints could 
 not long act upon men fired with the love of daring enter- 
 prise and reckless of character. Valens, alarmed at this 
 state of things, ordered the cohorts to advance to Arimi- 
 num, and the allied cavalry to bring up the rear ; himself, 
 with a few adherents whom adversity had not seduced, 
 directing his course to Umbria, and thence to Etruria; 
 where hearing for the first time of the defeat at Cremona, 
 he conceived a design of a bold character, and which, 
 had it been carried out, must have produced the most 
 serious results ; it was to seize the ships on the coast, and 
 bear away to some part or other of Narbon Gaul, rouse 
 the provinces of Gaul, the armies stationed there, and the 
 various German nations, and thus kindle a new war. 
 
 42. The departure of Valens throwing* the garrison of 
 Ariminum into consternation, Cornelius Fuscus advanced
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 537 
 
 his army to the place, and stationing his light gallies at 
 the nearest point of the shores, invested it by sea and 
 land. His forces spread themselves over the plains of 
 Umbria, and the territory of Picenum, where it is washed 
 by the Adriatic ; and all Italy was now divided between 
 Vespasian and Vitellius by the Apennine mountains. 
 Valens embarked at the port of Pisa, but being becalmed, 
 or meeting with contrary winds, was compelled to put in 
 at the port of Hercules Monaecus. Marius Maturus, the 
 governor of the maritime Alps, was then in the neigh- 
 bourhood ; a man attached to Vitellius, and who, though 
 the country round espoused the opposite interest, had 
 not yet renounced his oath of allegiance to him. He 
 received Valens courteously ; and by his advice deterred 
 him from rashly making an attempt on the coast of Narbon 
 Gaul ; he also considered that the fidelity of his followers 
 was weakened by their fears; for Valerius Paulinus, the 
 procurator, an active and experienced officer, and before 
 his elevation devoted to Vespasian, had brought the sur- 
 rounding states to swear allegiance to him. 
 
 43. Paulinus having gathered round him all those who 
 having been disbanded by Vitellius zealously entered 
 upon the war, secured with a garrison the colony of 
 Forojulium, which commanded the sea, having the greater 
 weight and influence as he was a native of the colony, 
 and honoured by the praetorian bands, of which he had 
 formerly been a tribune. The inhabitants themselves, 
 too, from a natural partiality for their townsman, and the 
 hope of future advancement, enrolled themselves in favour 
 of the cause. When these proceedings, now placed upon 
 a secure footing, and magnified by the voice of fame, 
 were currently reported among the Vitellians, whose 
 minds were already unsettled, Fabius Valens returned 
 to his ships, taking with him four select praetorians, 
 three friends, and as many centurions, leaving Maturus 
 and the rest free to stay where they were, and join the 
 party of Vitellius. But though the open sea was safer 
 than the shore or the adjacent cities, yet perplexed as to 
 his future course, and rather seeing what was to be 
 avoided than where he could repose confidence, he was 
 thrown by adverse winds on the islands called the Stae- 
 chades, near Marseilles, where some light-armed galleys, 
 sent by Paulinus, surprised and took him. 
 
 44. Valens being captured, the whole force of the 
 empire was transferred to increase the resources of the 
 victor. In Spain, the first legion, called Adjutrix, 
 which from respect for the memory of Otho, was incensed
 
 538 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 against Vitellius, led the way, and was followed by the 
 tenth and sixth legions. The Gauls hesitated not. The 
 well-known partiality to Vespasian, who had commanded 
 the second legion by the appointment of Claudius, and 
 had acquired fame in the war in that quarter, had the 
 effect of attaching Britain to his interest, though not 
 without an effort on the part of some of the legions, in 
 which a considerable number of centurions and soldiers, 
 who had been promoted by Vitellius, felt reluctant to 
 desert a prince to whom they were bound by ties of 
 gratitude. 
 
 45. In consequence of this dissension, and the frequent 
 rumours of civil war, the Britons conceived ideas of inde- 
 pendence at the instance of Venutius, who, in addition to 
 his own natural ferocity, and an antipathy to the Roman 
 name, was stimulated by motives of personal hostility 
 to Cartismandua, queen of the Brigantes, who possessed 
 great influence from her high descent, and which grew still 
 greater when, after Caractacus had been treacherously 
 seized, she was thought to have embellished the triumph 
 of Claudius Caesar. This led to wealth and the dissipa- 
 tion that waits upon prosperity. Shunning Venutius her 
 husband, she made Vellocatus, his armour-bearer, the 
 partner of her throne and bed. By that flagitious act 
 the power of her house was shaken to its foundation. 
 The discarded husband had the people on his side, while 
 the adulterer was supported by the unchaste passion and 
 the ferocious disposition of the queen. Venutius, there- 
 fore, having drawn together a body of auxiliaries, and 
 being aided by the defection of the Brigantians them- 
 selves, reduced Cartismandua to the last extremity. She 
 then invoked the protection of the Romans, who sent 
 some cohorts and squadrons of horse to her relief. Several 
 battles ensued, with various success. The queen, how- 
 ever, was rescued from impending danger. The kingdom 
 was restored to Venutius, and the Romans found them- 
 selves involved in a war. 
 
 46. About the same time, Germany was up in arms, 
 from the seditious spirit of the legions, and the sluggish 
 inactivity of the commanders. By the treachery of the 
 states in alliance, and the strength of the enemy, the in- 
 terests of the empire were brought to the brink of ruin. 
 Of this war, with its causes and issues, I shall hereafter 
 give an account, for it ran out to a considerable length. 
 Commotions, about the same time, broke out in Dacia, a 
 people never to be relied on ; and, since the legions were 
 withdrawn from Maesia, there was no force to awe them.
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 539 
 
 They, however, watched in silence the first movements^of 
 affairs. But when they heard that Italy was in a .blaze 
 of war, and that all the inhabitants were in arms against 
 each other, they stormed the winter-quarters of the co- 
 horts and the cavalry, and made themselves, masters of both 
 banks of the Danube. They then prepared to raze the 
 camp of the legions, when Mucianus sent the sixth legion 
 to check them, having heard of the victory at Cremona, 
 and lest a formidable foreign force should invade Italy on 
 both sides, the Dacians and the Germans making eruptions 
 in opposite quarters. On this, as on many other occa- 
 sions, fortune favoured the Romans in bringing Mucianus 
 and the forces of the east into that quarter, and also in 
 that we had settled matters at Cremona in the very nick 
 of time. Fonteius Agrippa, from Asia, where he had 
 governed for a year with proconsular authority, was now 
 appointed to command in Maesia, with the addition of 
 some Vitellian soldiers, whom it was politic and desirable 
 with a view to peace to disperse through the provinces, 
 and occupy with foreign wars. 
 
 47. The rest of the provinces were by no means free 
 from commotion. A barbarian slave, who had formerly 
 commanded the royal fleet, had suddenly kindled the 
 flame of war in Pontus. His name was Anicetus, a freed- 
 man of Polemon, high in power at one time, but now that 
 the kingdom was turned into a Roman province, impatient 
 of the change. Having, therefore, in the name of Vitel- 
 lius prevailed upon the nations bordering on Pontus to 
 join him, and by the hope of plunder attracted to his 
 standard all who were plunged in poverty, he found him- 
 self at the head of a force not to be despised, with which 
 he made a sudden assault upon Trapezus, a city cele- 
 brated from of old, and founded by Grecians at the ex- 
 tremity of the Pontic coast. A cohort, formerly a royal gar- 
 rison, was put to the sword there. They had subsequently 
 received the privilege of Roman citizens, and, from that 
 time, used the arms and banners of Rome, still retaining 
 the indolent and dissolute habits of the Greeks. He also 
 set fire to the fleet, as he had it all his own way by sea, 
 the best of the light galleys, and all his troops, by order 
 of Mucianus, being stationed at Byzantium. Nay, even 
 the Barbarians scoured the sea with perfect composure, 
 in vessels constructed in an offhand manner, which they 
 call camarae, the sides of which are brought near together, 
 with broad bottoms, and joined together without fasten- 
 ings of brass or iron. In a tempestuous sea, they raise 
 the sides with additional planks in proportion to the swell
 
 510 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 of the waves, till the vessel is covered over like a roof; 
 thus .they roll about amidst the billows, since having a prow 
 at either extremity alike, and the steerage convertible, 
 it makes no difference to them, and is unattended with 
 danger to row in one direction or the other. 
 
 48. Vespasian thought the affair of sufficient moment 
 to send a detachment of the legions under the command 
 of Virdius Geminus, an officer of undoubted experience. 
 He came up with the Barbarians as they were roaming in 
 disorder on the shore from their eager pursuit of prey, 
 and forced them to fly to their boats. Having rapidly 
 constructed a number of galleys, he overtook Anicetus in 
 the mouth of the river Cohibus, now shielded by the aid 
 of the king of the Sedochezans, having, by money and 
 presents, purchased the friendship of that prince. The 
 king at first protected him by threats and arms; but find- 
 ing that he must choose between the price of treason or 
 war, with the usual treachery of Barbarians, having 
 struck a bargain for the blood of Anicetus, he surren- 
 dered his suppliants, and thus ended the servile war. 
 Rejoiced at this success, and while everything was pros- 
 pering beyond his hopes, an account of the victory at 
 Cremona reached him in Egypt. He proceeded with the 
 greater speed to Alexandria, that as Vitellius could no 
 longer keep the field, he might distress the City, de- 
 pendent as it was on foreign supplies, by famine. With 
 this view he also purposed, by land and sea, to invade 
 Africa, which lay on the same side, in order to cause 
 famine and dissensions, by stopping the supplies of pro- 
 visions. 
 
 49. While the imperial dignity was passing into other 
 hands by this revolution in every part of the world, 
 Antonius conducted himself after the affair of Cre- 
 mona with anything but his wonted honesty; whether it 
 was that he considered that he had done the business of 
 the war, and that what remained required no effort, or 
 that prosperity called forth the pride, avarice, and other 
 latent vices of his nature. He ramped over Italy as a 
 conquered country ; caressed the soldiers, as if they were 
 his own; by all his words and actions sought to build up 
 his own power; and, to tincture the soldiers with a spirit 
 of insubordination, gave to the legions the disposal of slain 
 centurions' commissions. The consequence was, that the 
 most turbulent were elected, the soldiers were no longer 
 under the control of the generals, but the generals were 
 carried away by the violence of the soldiery. This spirit, 
 destructive of all subordination and discipline, he soon
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 541 
 
 made instrumental to purposes of plunder, not entertain- 
 ing the least awe of Mucianus, who was approaching ; a 
 conduct more disastrous in its consequences, than to have 
 slighted Vespasian. 
 
 50. To proceed; the winter coming on, and the country 
 being inundated by the Po, the army was obliged to march 
 lightly equipped. The eagles and banners of the victo- 
 rious legions, with the old, the wounded, and numbers 
 even in lull vigour, were left at Verona. The cohorts and 
 cavalry, with a select detachment from the legions, were 
 thought sufficient for a war already extinguished. The 
 eleventh legion, at first hesitating, but since the turn of 
 affairs regretting that they had no share in the victory, 
 had joined them, accompanied by six thousand Dalma- 
 tians, newly levied; the whole led by Poppaeus Silvanus, 
 a man of consular rank ; but virtually commanded by An- 
 nius Bassus, general of the legion. Silvanus, a supine and 
 spiritless character, who wasted in talking the time that 
 called for enterprise, was ruled by Bassus, under the sem- 
 blance of submission, and wherever there was anything to 
 be done, Bassus aided with unostentatious energy. To 
 this body of forces was added the flower of the marines 
 from the fleet at Ravenna, who desired to act as legionary 
 soldiers. The Dalmatians supplied their place in the fleet. 
 The army and generals halted at the temple of Fortune, 
 being undetermined about their plan of operations ; as 
 they had heard that the praetorian cohorts were on their 
 march from Rome, and the passes over the Apennine were 
 supposed to be occupied. They were also themselves 
 alarmed at the scarcity of provisions, in a country laid waste 
 by war ; and at the tierce clamours of the soldiers demand- 
 ing the donative for nails. They had made no provision 
 for money or food ; while the imprudence and greediness 
 of the soldiers, who seized and devoured what might have 
 served if dealt out to them, precluded all management. 
 
 51. I find from historians of the highest note, that the 
 victorious army exhibited such an indifference to the dis- 
 tinction between what is permitted and what is forbidden, 
 that a common horse-soldier made a merit of having killed 
 his brother in the late battle, and solicited a reward from 
 the generals. And while the law of nature forbade them 
 to give honorary rewards to that act of blood, the policy 
 of the war they were engaged in prevented their punish- 
 ing it. Under a pretence that he had earned ampler re- 
 wards than they could bestow on the moment, they ad- 
 journed the business, and history has not recorded any- 
 thing more. In former civil wars, however, a similar horror
 
 542 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 had occurred. In the battle with China at the Janiculum, 
 a man of Pompey's party (as Sisenna relates) slew his bro- 
 ther, and forthwith on discovering the dire fact, despatched 
 himself: so true it is, that in ancient times men not only 
 were more prompt in honouring virtue, but also felt a 
 keener remorse for crimes than now. But these and other 
 transactions, fetched from the records of past ages, we 
 shall call to mind whenever opportunities, circumstances, 
 and situations require examples of virtue, or solace under 
 instances of turpitude. 
 
 52. Antonius and the principal officers judged it pru- 
 dent to send forward the cavalry, and explore every part 
 of Umbria to find, if possible, a place of moderate acclivity 
 over the Apennine. In the mean time, the troops left 
 behind at Verona were ordered to advance with the eagles 
 and standards. Measures were also taken to have a plen- 
 tiful supply of provision-ships on the sea and on the Po. 
 Some of the chiefs sought occasions for delay from time 
 to time : for Antonius had now become insupportable ; 
 and they had more reason to hope from Mucianus, who 
 saw with a jealous eye the rapid success of Antonius, and 
 concluded that if he did not arrive in time to enter Rome 
 with the victorious army, he would have no share in the 
 operations or glory of the war. He therefore wrote to 
 Varus and Antonius in dark, ambiguous terms ; some- 
 times descanting on the necessity of despatch, and then 
 on the advantages of caution; and with such studied art, 
 that according to events he might assume the merit of 
 success, and throw the blame of failure on others. To his 
 intimate friends, and in particular Plotius Griphus, lately 
 raised by Vespasian to the rank of senator, and the com- 
 mand of a legion, he gave less equivocal instructions. 
 The answers which he received from all this, were ac- 
 commodated to his wishes, and reflected on the rashness 
 of Varus and Antonius. These letters Mucianus for- 
 warded to Vespasian, and in consequence the measures 
 and achievements of Antonius were not estimated as he 
 had hoped. 
 
 53. Antonius was indignant, and imputed to Mucianus 
 the guilt of causing his heroic acts to be lightly deemed 
 of by his calumnies ; nor did he refrain from speaking 
 his mind, for he had no control over his tongue, and had 
 no idea of submission. He wrote a letter to Vespasian, 
 in a style more arrogant than became one addressing a 
 prince, and not without disparaging insinuations against 
 Mucianus. " It was by Antonius that the legions in Pan- 
 nonia wei'e excited to a revolt ; by him the leaders in Ma3-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 543 
 
 sia were inspirited ; by his firmness the Alps were forced, 
 Italy seized, and the succours from Germany and Rheetia 
 cut off. That his having discomfited the legions of Vi- 
 tellius, when separated and disunited among themselves, 
 by a storm of horse, and then pressed them with the foot- 
 force for a night and day, was an exploit of the most bril- 
 liant kind, and accomplished by him. The calamity of 
 Cremona was attributable to the nature of the war : that 
 former civil dissensions had stood the state in greater 
 losses the razing of more cities. That he served his em- 
 peror in war, not by messages and epistles, but by his arm 
 and his sword. Nor did he mean to detract from the merit 
 of those who in the mean time managed matters in Asia : 
 they had the task of maintaining tranquillity in Maesia, he 
 of preserving and protecting Italy. Spain and Gaul, the 
 most potent force in the world, were by his influence 
 drawn over to Vespasian. But his efforts had been vain, 
 if those only who partook not in the danger obtained its 
 rewards." These proceedings did not escape Mucianus : 
 and thence a deadly feud between them ; on the part of 
 Antonius, carried on with openness : on that of Mucianus, 
 covertly, and, for that reason, the more implacably. 
 
 54. Vitellius, after the overthrow of his army at Cre- 
 mona, suppressing the news, by that shallow attempt to 
 conceal the fact, delayed the remedy rather than postponed 
 the disease. For unquestionably had he admitted the mis- 
 chief and taken counsel upon it, he had resources and 
 means in abundance ; when on the contrary, he pretended 
 that all was prosperous, his case grew worse from the dis- 
 guise. A marvellous silence about the war was observed 
 in his presence ; the citizens of Rome were forbid to talk 
 about it, and for that reason the more did so ; and those 
 who, had there been no restraint, would have stated only 
 the truth, circulated exaggerated accounts because they 
 were commanded to keep silence. Nor did the chiefs of 
 the adverse party omit anything that could extend the 
 .fame of their victory. The spies that fell into their hands 
 were led round the camp, and, after seeing the strength 
 of the conquerors, sent back. Vitellius examined them 
 all in private, and then ordered them to be put to death. 
 A singular proof of magnanimity was given by a centu- 
 rion, named Julius Agrestis, who having in several inter- 
 views tried in vain to rouse Vitellius to exertion, obtained 
 leave to go in person to view the strength of the enemy, 
 and see the real condition of Cremona. Nor did he try 
 to escape the notice of Antonius by secret observation, 
 but avowed the emperor's orders and his own resolution,
 
 514 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 and requested to see everything. Persons were sent to 
 show him the field of battle, the ruins of Cremona, and 
 the lesions that had laid down their arms. He returned 
 to Vitellius. The emperor, denying the truth of his in- 
 telligence, and actually charging him with treachery, he 
 said, " since some great and decisive proof is necessary, 
 and since neither my life nor death can now be of any use, 
 I will give you convincing evidence." And having thus 
 spoken, retired and sealed his assertions by voluntary 
 death. Some historians say he was slain by order of Vi- 
 tellius, agreeing in the account of his fidelity and mag- 
 nanimity. 
 
 55. Vitellius, as though roused from sleep, ordered 
 Julius Priscus and Alphenus Varus, with fourteen prae- 
 torian cohorts, and all the squadrons of cavalry, to guard 
 the passes of the Apennine. A legion of marines fol- 
 lowed. So many thousand chosen horse and foot, under 
 any other general, would have been sufficient even for of- 
 fensive operations. The cohorts that remained were put 
 under the command of Lucius Vitellius, the emperor's 
 brother, for the defence of the city. The emperor abated 
 nothing of his habitual luxury, and with the precipitation 
 of one who felt himself falling, hurried on the elections, 
 at which he appointed a succession of consuls for several 
 years; he concluded treaties with the allies; invested fo- 
 reigners with the Latin privileges: he granted to some ex- 
 emption from all tribute, others he assisted with immuni- 
 ties ; in short, utterly regardless of posterity, he tore the 
 empire to tatters. But the populace were swayed by the 
 extent of his bounties. Simpletons gave their money for 
 favours, while men of reflection looked upon those grants 
 as nugatory, which could neither be made nor accepted 
 without ruining the state. At length Vitellius, urged by 
 the importunity of the army, which lay encamped at Me- 
 vania, marched out of the city, attended by a numerous 
 train of senators ; some to pay their court, many through 
 fear, having no settled plan, and entirely dependent upon- 
 advice of dubious sincerity. 
 
 56. While haranguing the army, a circumstance oc- 
 curred which may well be called portentous. So nume- 
 rous a flight of ill-omened birds hovered over his head, 
 that forming a dense cloud they obscured the day. This 
 was followed by another prognostic of an alarming nature. 
 A bull broke broke loose from the altar, and trampling 
 under foot the preparations for sacrifice, fled to a distant 
 place, and thei'e, on a spot where victims were never slain, 
 was felled. But Vitellius himself was the great portent
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 545 
 
 after all, without a particle of experience or capacity to 
 direct ; obliged to ask others how to put the troops in 
 array, what provision was to be made for reconnoitring ; 
 how to regulate proceedings with the view of urging on 
 or protracting the war ; and even changing countenance, 
 and in his step betraying the alarm he felt at every breath 
 of intelligence ; and then stupifying himself with drink. 
 Weary at length of the camp, and hearing of the revolt of 
 the fleet at Misenum, he went back to Rome, where each 
 adverse event as it occurred terrified him most, because it 
 was the latest; but not a thought did he bestow upon the 
 issue of the general contest. For when it was open to 
 him to pass over the Apennine with his whole force un- 
 impaired, and attack an enemy distressed by cold and 
 scarcity, by dividing his troops he exposed to be cut to 
 pieces and captured by the enemy, a gallant soldiery, and 
 devoted to him to the death, though the most experienced 
 of the centurions condemned his measures, and if con- 
 sulted, would have given him sound advice. The crea- 
 tures immediately about the person of Vitellius prevented 
 their access to him ; the ears of the prince being brought 
 to such a state that wholesome counsels grated harshly 
 upon them, and he would listen only to what was gratify- 
 ing at the moment, though pernicious in its consequences. 
 57. The revolt of the fleet at Misenum was occasioned 
 by the fraud of Claudius Faventinus ; so much in civil 
 commotions depends on the boldness of one man. He 
 had been a centurion under Galba, who cashiered him 
 with ignominy. He forged letters from Vespasian, pro- 
 mising ample rewards to such as went over. Claudius 
 Apollinaris commanded the fleet ; a man inconstant in his 
 attachments and irresolute in perfidy. It happened that 
 Apinius Tiro, who had discharged the office of praetor, 
 was then at Minturnae. He offered to head the revolters. 
 They drew the neighbouring colonies and municipal towns 
 into the confederacy. The inhabitants of Puteoli de- 
 clared with alacrity for Vespasian, while Capua adhered to 
 Vitellius: and thus with the rage of civil war the jealousies 
 of rival municipalities were blended. Vitellius fixed on 
 Claudius Julianus, who as prsefect of the fleet at Misenum 
 lately, had exercised his authority mildly, to endeavour to 
 reclaim the soldiers by soothing means. He was supported 
 by a city-cohort, and a band of gladiators whom he had 
 commanded. When the two camps were pitched in view 
 of each ofher, Julianus, without much hesitation went 
 over to Vespasian, and they took possession of Tarracina, 
 
 N n
 
 54-6 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 a place better protected by its walls and situation than the 
 character of its inhabitants. 
 
 58. Vitellius, informed of these transactions, left part of 
 his army at Narnia, with the praetorian praefects, and sent 
 his brother Lucius Vitellius with six cohorts and five hun- 
 dred horse to check the force which was coming upon 
 him by way of Campania. He himself, heart-sick and 
 desponding, was revived by the ardour of the soldiers and 
 the clamours of the populace demanding to be armed ; 
 while deceived by the hollow semblance, he gave the name 
 of army, and legions, to a spiritless rabble, bold only in 
 tongue. At the instance of his freedmen, for as to his 
 friends, the higher they ranked the less confidence he re- 
 posed in them, he ordered the people to be assembled in 
 their tribes, and as they gave their names, he adminis- 
 tered the oath of fidelity ; but the crowd pressing too 
 thick upon him, he divided the task of completing the levy 
 between the consuls. The senators were required to bring 
 in a certain weight of silver, and a certain number of 
 slaves. The Roman knights made a voluntary offer to 
 serve with their persons and fortunes ; and even the de- 
 scendants of freedmen, without solicitation, pressed to do 
 the same. This affectation of zeal, which had its origin 
 in fear, issued in a favourable feeling ; and very many 
 were touched with compassion, not so much for Vitellius 
 as for the unfortunate state and degradation of the so- 
 vereignty. Vitellius, on his part, omitted not to invite 
 commiseration by a dejected air: a pathetic tone of voice: 
 and by tears; making ample promises, nay, as is usual 
 with men in distress, generous beyond all bounds. He 
 even now was willing to accept the title of Caesar; having 
 repudiated it theretofore ; but then from the superstitious 
 veneration in which it was held, and because in cases of 
 extreme danger the voice of the rabble is equal to the 
 wisest counsels, he acquiesced. However, as all under- 
 takings originating in blind impulse, though vigorous at 
 first, languish under the effect of time, the senators and 
 knights fell off by degrees ; at first slowly, and in the ab- 
 sence of the prince, but soon boldly and indifferently ; till 
 at last Vitellius, ashamed of his defeated efforts, granted 
 a remission of those services which were withheld. 
 
 59. As by taking possession of Mevania, Italy was 
 stricken with terror, and the war seemed to be revived, 
 so Vitellius, by his dastardly departure, gave a manifest 
 impulse to the feeling in favour of the Flavian party. The 
 Samnites, the Pelignians, and the Marsians, stung with
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 547 
 
 envy at the alacrity with which Campania had taken the 
 lead in the revolt, were roused into action ; and applied 
 themselves to all the duties of the war with the energy 
 usually exhibited in the service of a new master; but the 
 army, in passing over the Apennine, suffered extremely 
 from the rigour of the winter ; and the difficulty with 
 which, though unmolested by the enemy, they laboured 
 through the snow, plainly showed the dangers they must 
 have encountered if fortune, to which the Flavian gene- 
 rals were often indebted no less than to the wisdom of 
 their counsels, had not drawn Vitellius from his post. 
 During the march they met with Petilius Cerealis, who 
 in the habit of a peasant, and from his acquaintance with 
 the country, had eluded the guards of Vitellius. As he 
 was closely allied to Vespasian, and himself an officer of 
 no mean repute, he was ranked with the commanders in 
 chief. Many writers have stated that not only he, but 
 Flavius Sabinus, and Domitian, had it in their power to 
 escape out of Rome ; and messengers sent by Antonius, 
 who had made their way through the enemy's lines by all 
 sorts of disguises, pointed out to them a refuge, and pro- 
 mised them safe conduct; but Sabinus pleaded his ill state 
 of health as unfitting him for the fatigue and danger of 
 the attempt. Domitiarf was not deficient in inclination : 
 but the guards appointed by Vitellius to watch his mo- 
 tions, though they offered to join his flight, he suspected 
 of a design to draw him into a snare. In reality Vitellius, 
 from regard for his own connections, meditated no severity 
 towards Domitian. 
 
 GO. Arrived at Carsulae, the generals thought fit to 
 halt there for some days, as well to rest the troops, as to 
 wait the arrival of the eagles and standards of the legions. 
 It also appeared an eligible spot for their camp, com- 
 manding, as it did, a view of the country on every side, 
 with the opportunity of bringing in provisions in security ; 
 having several municipalities of the greatest affluence in 
 their rear. Being ten miles distant from the Vitellian 
 forces, they hoped, by intrigue and secret negotiations, to 
 induce the whole party to lay down their arms. But the 
 soldiers were impatient of delay. They wished to end 
 the war by victory, not by compromise. They did not 
 even desire to wait the arrival of their own legions, regard- 
 ing them rather as sharers in the booty than the dangers 
 of the battle. Antonius called the men together, and, in 
 a public harangue, informed them, " that Vitellius had 
 still numerous forces in reserve, who might come over if 
 left to their own reflection, but determined adversaries if 
 
 N n2
 
 548 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 precluded from hope. In the first movements of a civil 
 war, much must be left to chance. To complete the con- 
 quest, is the province of wisdom and deliberate counsels. 
 The fleet at Misenum, with the whole region of Campa- 
 nia, the fairest part of Italy, had already declared for 
 Vespasian. Of the whole Roman world, the tract that 
 lies between Narnia and Tarracina was all that remained 
 in the hands of Vitellius. By the victory at Cremona 
 enough of glory had been gained, and, by the demolition 
 of that city, too much disgrace. He implored them not 
 to desire to capture rather than to preserve the city of 
 Rome. They would reap ampler rewards, and their fame 
 would stand higher, if they sought the safety of the senate 
 and people of Rome without effusion of blood." 
 
 61. By these and similar reasonings the impetuosity of 
 the soldiers was calmed. The legions arrived soon after, 
 and, by the terror and fame of the augmented force, the 
 Vitellian cohorts oscillated, there being no one to incite 
 them to go on with the war, but many to change sides, 
 who strove with each other in going over to the enemy 
 with their companies of foot, or their troops of horse, 
 thereby to confer a benefit on the victor, and lay up a 
 fund of favour to be enjoyed thereafter. Information was 
 received through these that four hundred of the enemy's 
 cavalry were stationed in the neighbourhood, in garrison 
 at Interamna. Varus was instantly despatched at the 
 head of a detached party against them. A few who re- 
 sisted were put to^the sword ; the greater part laid down 
 their arms, and begged forgiveness. Some fled back to 
 the camp at Narnia, which they filled with consternation, 
 by magnifying the numbers and courage of the enemy, to 
 palliate the disgrace of evacuating the garrison. In the 
 Vitellian army defection and treachery went unpunished : 
 allegiance was undermined by the rewards of the revolter ; 
 and the only contest now was, who should be first in per- 
 fidy. The tribunes and centurions deserted in shoals ; 
 not so the common soldiers, who had contracted a firm 
 attachment to Vitellius ; but at last Priscus and Alphenus, 
 by abandoning the camp, relieved them all from any 
 misgivings on the score of treason. 
 
 62. During these transactions, Fabius Valens was put 
 to death while under restraint at Urbinum. His head 
 was shown in triumph to the Vitellian cohorts, to cut off 
 all hope from him; for a belief prevailed that he had 
 made his escape into Germany, and was there employed 
 in raising an army of veterans to renew the war. Seeing 
 that he was slain they resigned themselves to despair.
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 549 
 
 The effect of the death of Valens, in producing an impres- 
 sion on the mind of the Vitellian army that the war was at 
 an end, was incalculable. Fabius Valens was a native of 
 Anagnia, of an eqeustrian family. Of profligate manners, 
 but not destitute of genius, he aimed at the reputation of 
 urbanity in libertine excesses. In the interludes, called 
 Juvenalia, in the reigji of Nero, he appeared often among 
 the pantomime performers, at first with seeming reluct- 
 ance, but afterwards of his own choice, with more talent 
 than decency. As commander of a legion under Vergi- 
 nius, he encouraged his designs, and blackened him to 
 the world. He murdered Fonteius Capito, after under- 
 mining his principles! or because he failed in the attempt. 
 False to Galba, he continued faithful to Vitellius, deriv- 
 ing lustre from the perfidy of others. 
 
 63, The Vitellians, seeing all hopes cut off, determined, 
 to submit to the conqueror, and even in this act paying 
 regard to chai'acter, descended into the plains overlooked 
 by Narnia, with their banners and colours displayed. 
 Vespasian's army fully expecting a battle, and equipped 
 for it, formed their lines in close array on each side of the 
 road. In the interval they received the Vitellians. Thus 
 surrounded, Antonius addressed them in the language of 
 humanity. One division was ordered to stay at Narnia, 
 and the other at Interamna. Some of the victorious legions 
 were left with them, not to annoy them if they remained 
 quiet, but strong enough to check any violation of order. 
 Antonius and Varus, in the mean time, did not omit to 
 send frequent messages to Vitellius, offering him money, 
 and a safe retreat in Campania, upon condition that he 
 should lay down his arms, and surrender himself and his 
 children at discretion to Vespasian. Letters to the same 
 effect were also written to him by Mucianus. Vitellius 
 not unfrequently listened to these proposals, and talked 
 about the number of his train, and the spot on the coast 
 he should choose. Such a torpor had come over his 
 mind, that if others had not remembered that he was a 
 prince, he himself had forgotten it. 
 
 64. On the other hand, leading men of the state en- 
 deavoured, by secret exhortations, to incite Flavius Sabi- 
 nus, the prsefect of the city, to earn a share in the success 
 and glory of the revolution. " The city-cohorts," they 
 said, " were peculiarly his own ; the cohorts of the night- 
 watch would join him ; there were their own slaves, the 
 name of a successful party, and the strong and universal 
 tendency of things in favour of the victors. He should 
 not yield to Varus and Antonius the whole glory of the
 
 550 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 war. Vitellius had but a few cohorts left, and those per- 
 plexed and alarmed at the disheartening news from every 
 quarter. The minds of the populace were prone to 
 change. Let Sabimis show himself, and the acclamations, 
 now given to Vitellius, would he as loud for Vespasian. 
 As to Vitellius, prosperity overpowered him ; much more 
 must his energies be enfeebled in the ruin of his fortune. 
 The merit of concluding the war would be his who 
 first got possession of the city. It became Sabinus to 
 secure the sovereign power for his brother ; and it com- 
 ported with the dignity of Vespasian that Sabinus should 
 earn the first place among his subjects. 
 
 65. Sabinus, enfeebled by old age, received these ex- 
 postulations in any thing but a spirit of alacrity. Some 
 there were who whispered their suspicions, that he wished 
 to retard the elevation of his brother from motives of envy 
 and jealousy. Sabinus was the elder, and, while both re- 
 mained in a private station, always took the lead, superior 
 in fortune and influence ; and when Vespasian's credit was 
 giving way, Sabinus is said to have propped it up, by taking 
 a mortgage on his brother's house and lands. Whence, 
 though they preserved the exterior of friendship, a 
 
 * smothered animosity was supposed to exist. The fairer 
 construction is, that Sabinus, a man of a meek disposition, 
 was averse to carnage, and, with that intent, held frequent 
 conferences with Vitellius on the subject of a pacification 
 and the settlement of terms for a cessation of hostilities. 
 Having frequently met in private, they, as the report 
 went, at last concluded a treaty in the temple of Apollo, 
 when Cluvius Rufus and Silius Italicus witnessed their 
 expressions and exclamations : the looks of the contract- 
 ing parties were observed by spectators at a distance. 
 The countenance of Vitellius was downcast, and indi- 
 cative of a broken spirit ; while Sabinus exhibited no 
 signs of triumph, but had more the air of commiseration. 
 
 66. And if Vitellius could have influenced the minds of 
 his followers with the facility he himself displayed in 
 giving up the contest, Vespasian's army might have taken 
 possession of the city of Rome unstained with blood. 
 But in proportion as his friends were firm in his interest, 
 they rejected all terms of accommodation, representing 
 the danger and disgrace of it, and that their security for 
 its fulfilment depended on the caprice of the conqueror. 
 Vespasian had not the magnanimity to suffer Vitellius to 
 live in a private station ; even the vanquished would not 
 bear it. Thus danger would grow out of the commisera- 
 tion of his friends. Grant that he is himself an aged man,
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 551 
 
 and wearied with the alternations of prosperity and ad- 
 versity. But what name, what rank, would be bestowed 
 on his son Germanicus ? Promises of a supply of money, 
 a retinue of slaves, and a retreat in the delightful regions 
 of Campania were now held out ; but when Vespasian 
 had seized the imperial dignity, neither he, nor his 
 friends, nor even his armies, would think themselves secure, 
 save in the annihilation of the rival interest. Even Fabius 
 Valens, though a prisoner, and, while they feared a re- 
 verse of fortune, reserved as a pledge in the hands of the 
 enemy, was thought too formidable to live ; much less 
 would Antonius, and Fuscus, or Mucianus, who might be 
 regarded as embodying the characteristic principles of 
 the party, be content with any extent of power over Vitel- 
 lius, unless it included that of killing him. Pompey was 
 pursued to death by Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony by 
 Augustus. Unless, perhaps, nobler sentiments are to be 
 expected from Vespasian, the client of Vitellius, who was 
 the colleague of Claudius. Nay, as became the censor- 
 ship of his father, three consulships, the numerous 
 honours of his illustrious house, they urged Vitellius to 
 gird himself up for acts of daring, from desperation at 
 least, if from no other impulse. The soldiers were inflex- 
 ible in their attachment, and the affections of the people 
 were still with him. To sum up all, nothing so calamitous 
 could befall them as that into which they were rushing 
 voluntarily. If vanquished, they must perish; if they 
 surrendered, they must perish. All they had to consider 
 was, whether they would pour out their parting breath 
 amidst scorn and contumely, or with the honour due to 
 valour. 
 
 67. Vitellius was deaf to vigorous counsels. His whole 
 soul was absorbed in commiseration and anxiety, lest by 
 pertinacious resistance the conqueror would be inexorable 
 to his wife and children when he was gone. He had also 
 a mother worn out with age ; who, however, died a few 
 days before, happily anticipating the downfall of her 
 family. From the elevation of her son she derived 
 nothing but sorrow, and an extended reputation for virtue. 
 On the fifteenth before the calends of January, the defec- 
 tion of the legions and cohorts, that surrendered at 
 Narnia, reaching the ears of Vitellius, he came down 
 from his palace in mourning apparel, surrounded by his 
 afflicted family. His infant son was carried in a small 
 litter, exhibiting the appearance of a funeral procession. 
 The voices of the people were sweet, but out of season ; 
 the soldiery wrapt in sullen silence.
 
 552 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 68. Nor was there a man so dead to human sympathies, 
 as not to be touched by the scene before him. A Roman 
 emperor, but a little before lord of mankind, abandoning 
 the habitation of his greatness, and going forth from 
 empire, through the midst of citizens, through the streets of 
 the capital. They had never beheld such a spectacle ; 
 they had heard of nothing like it. Caesar, the dictator, 
 fell by sudden violence ; Caligula perished by a dark con- 
 spiracy. The shades of night and rural solitudes had 
 thrown a veil over the flight of Nero; Piso and Galba 
 may be said to have died in battle. Vitellius, before an 
 assembly of the people called by himself, in the midst of 
 his own soldiers, and in the view even of women, after 
 declaring in brief terms, but such as assorted with the 
 mournful circumstances, that he retired for the sake of 
 peace and the good of the commonwealth ; that all he 
 desired, was that they would retain him still in their 
 memory, and look with pity on the misfortunes of his 
 brother, his wife, and unoffending children ; at the same 
 time raising his son in his arms, and commending him now 
 to individuals, now to the whole body, at length, suffocated 
 with grief, took the dagger from his side, and offered 
 it, as the symbol of the power of life and death over 
 citizens, to Caecilus Simplex, the consul, who stood near 
 him. The consul refusing to accept it, and the people 
 loudly opposing his resignation, Vitellius left the place, to 
 lay down the ensigns of sovereignty in the temple of Con- 
 cord, and seek a retreat in his brother's house. Here a 
 still louder cry arose. They objected to the house of a 
 private citizen, and insisted on his returning to the palace. 
 Every other way they obstructed, and none was left open, 
 except that which led into the Sacred Way. Then, having 
 no alternative, he returned to the palace. The abdication 
 of the prince was already rumoured through the city, and 
 Flavius Sabinus had written to the tribunes of the cohorts, 
 to restrain the violence of the soldiers. 
 
 69. Accordingly, as if the whole power of the state had 
 fallen into the lap of Vespasian, the leading members of 
 the senate, with a numerous band of the equestrian order, 
 and all the city-soldiers, and the night-watch, crowded 
 the house of Flavius Sabinus. They were there informed 
 of the zeal of the people for Vitellius, and the menaces 
 thrown out by the German cohorts. Sabinus had gone 
 too far to think of retreat. Individuals trembling for 
 themselves, lest, if they dispersed, and thus diminished 
 their strength, the Vitellians should come upon them, 
 induced Sabinus, though reluctant, to take up arm..
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 553 
 
 But, as often happens in cases of this kind, all were ready 
 to advise, and few to share the danger. Near the Fun- 
 dane lake a desperate band of the Vitellians met the 
 armed citizens who were going forth in attendance on 
 Sabinus. A slight encounter, in the surprise and confu- 
 sion of the moment, ensued, but was favourable to the 
 Vitellians. Sabinus, in the alarm and perplexity of the 
 occasion, retreated to the fort of the capitol, which he 
 garrisoned with the soldiers, and a small party of senators 
 and Roman knights, judging this the safest course open 
 to him. Their names cannot be given easily, as numbers 
 afterwards, in the reign of Vespasian, assumed the merit 
 of this service to his party. There were even women who 
 braved a siege. Among these the most distinguished was 
 Verulana Gratilla, who had neither children nor relations 
 to attract her, but followed in the course of war. The 
 Vitellians invested the citadel with so much negligence, 
 that Sabinus, in the dead of night, was able to receive 
 into the place his own children, and Domitian, his bro- 
 ther's son ; sending, also, through the unguarded 
 quarters, information to the Flavian generals, that they 
 were themselves besieged, and that without relief they 
 would be reduced to a state of distress. Sabinus ex- 
 perienced so little molestation during the night that he 
 might have safely made his escape ; for the soldiery of 
 Vitellius, resolute in facing danger, paid little attention 
 to laborious duties and night-watches ; besides that, a 
 winter storm of rain obstructed the sight and hearing. 
 
 70. At the dawn of day, before mutual hostilities. com- 
 menced, Sabinus despatched Cornelius Martialis, a prin- 
 cipal centurion, with instructions and complaints to Vitel- 
 lius, that the treaty was violated. " That it was a mere 
 pretence and semblance of abdication to deceive so many 
 illustrious citizens. For, why did he go from the rostra to 
 his brother's house, which overlooked the forum, and was 
 calculated to offend the eyes of the citizens, rather than to 
 the Aventine and the mansion of his wife. Such a course 
 became a private character, and one who avoided all ap- 
 pearance of sovereign power. Vitellius, on the contrary, 
 returned to his palace, the very citadel of empire; thence 
 a military force was sent forth, arid the most frequented 
 part of the city was strewed with the corses of unoffend- 
 ing citizens. The capitol itself was not spared. Surely he 
 had himself continued in a civil capacity, and as one of the 
 senators, while the contest between Vitellius and Vespa- 
 sian was carrying on by encounters of the legions, the 
 capture of cities, the surrender of cohorts; when both
 
 554 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 the Spains, the Upper and Lower Germany, and all 
 Britain, had revolted ; though the brother of Vespasian, 
 he had not swerved from his allegiance ; and when at 
 length he entered into a negotiation, Vitellius invited 
 him to it. The pacification and agreement were advan- 
 tageous to the vanquished ; and to the victors brought 
 nothing but honour. If he repented of the convention, 
 he should not point his arms against Sabinus, whom he 
 duped by perfidy ; nor the son of Vespasian, scarcely 
 arrived at puberty. By the murder of one old man, and 
 one stripling, what advantage could be gained ? He 
 should make head against the legions, and decide the 
 contest with them. Everything would be determined 
 by the issue of the battle. Vitellius, who was in a 
 state of the utmost agitation, in his reply endeavoured 
 briefly to clear himself, laying the blame upon the soldiers, 
 whose intemperate zeal was more than a match for his 
 mild control. He advised Martialis to depart through 
 a private part of the house, lest the soldiers in their fury 
 should destroy the negotiator of a peace which they ab- 
 horred. He was himself unable to command or to pro- 
 hibit any measure; no longer emperor, but merely the 
 cause of war. 
 
 71. Martialis had scarcely re-entered the capitol, when 
 the furious soldiers appeared before it, without a general, 
 and each man acting on his own suggestions. Having 
 rapidly passed the forum, and the temples that over- 
 look it, they marched up the opposite hill, as far as the 
 first gates of the citadel. On the right side of the ascent, 
 a range of porticoes had been built in ancient times. Going 
 out upon the roof of those, the besieged threw a shower 
 of stones and tiles. The assailants had no weapons but 
 their swords, and to fetch engines and missiles seemed a 
 tedious delay. They threw brands into the portico that 
 jutted near them. They followed up the fire, and would 
 have forced their way through the gate of the capitol, which 
 the fire had laid hold of, if Sabinus had not placed as a 
 barrier in the very approach, in lieu of a wall, the statues, 
 those honourable monuments of our ancestors, which were 
 pulled down wherever they could be found. They 
 then assaulted the capitol in two different quarters; near 
 the grove of the asylum, and where the Tarpeian rock is 
 ascended by a hundred steps. Both attacks were unfore- 
 seen. That by the asylum was the nearer and most 
 vigorous. Nor could they be stopped from climbing 
 up the contiguous buildings, which being raised high 
 under the idea of undisturbed peace, reach the basement
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 555 
 
 of the capitol. Here a doubt exists whether the fire was 
 thrown upon the roofs by the storming party or the 
 besieged, the latter being more generally supposed to have 
 done it to repulse those who were climbing up, and had 
 advanced some way. The fire extended itself thence to 
 the porticoes adjoining the temples; soon the eagles that 
 supported the cupola caught fire, and as the timber was old 
 they fed the flame. Thus the capitol, with its gates shut, 
 neither stormed nor defended, was burned to the ground. 
 72. From the foundation of the city to that hour, the 
 Roman republic had felt no calamity so deplorable, so 
 shocking as that, unassailed by a foreign enemy, and, 
 were it not for the vices of the age, with the deities pro- 
 pitious, the temple of Jupiter, supremely good and great, 
 built by our ancestors with solemn auspices, the pledge of 
 empire, which neither Porsenna, when Rome surren- 
 dered to his arms, nor the Gauls, when they captured the 
 city were permitted to violate, should be now demolished 
 by the madness of the rulers of the state. The capitol 
 was once before destroyed by fire during a civil war ; but 
 it was from the guilty machinations of private individuals. 
 Now it was besieged publicly, publicly set fire to, and 
 what were the motives for the war ? what was the object 
 to be gained, that so severe a calamity was incurred? 
 Warred we in our country's cause ? Tarquinius Priscus, 
 during the war with the Sabines, built it in fulfilment of a 
 vow, and laid the foundations more in conformity with 
 his anticipations of the future grandeur of the empire, 
 than the limited extent of the Roman means at that 
 time. Servius Tullius, assisted by the zeal of the allies 
 of Rome, and after him Tarquin the Proud, with the 
 spoils of Suessa Pometia added to the building. But 
 the glory of completing the design was reserved for the 
 era of liberty. When tyrants were swept away, Horatius 
 Pulvillus, in his second consulship, dedicated the temple, 
 finished with such magnificence, that the wealth of after 
 ages graced it with new embellishments, but added nothing 
 to its dimensions. Four hundred and fifteen years after- 
 wards, in the consulship of Lucius Scipio and Caius Nor- 
 banus, it was burnt to the ground, and again rebuilt on the 
 old foundation. Sylla having now triumphed over his op- 
 ponents, undertook to build it, but nevertheless did not 
 dedicate it; the only thing wanting to crown his felicity. 
 That honour was reserved for Lutatius Catulus, whose 
 name, amidst so many works of the Ca?sars, remained 
 legible till the days of Vitellius. Such was the sacred 
 building, which was at this time reduced to ashes.
 
 556 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 73. But the fire occasioned greater consternation among 
 the besieged than among the besiegers, inasmuch as the 
 Vitellian soldiers, in the moment of difficulty, wanted 
 neither skill nor courage. In the opposite party the men 
 were seized with panic, and the commander had neither 
 spirit nor presence of mind ; he lost all power of speech 
 and hearing. Deaf to the advice of others, he was unable 
 to devise any plan himself. Driven about in all direc- 
 tions according to the shouts of the enemy, he ordered 
 what he had forbidden, and countermanded what he had 
 ordered. Soon, as usually happens in desperate emer- 
 gencies, alTdirected, and none obeyed. At length they 
 threw down their arms, and each man looked about for a 
 way of escape, and how to conceal himself; the Vitellians 
 burst in, and in a moment all was one scene of fire, and 
 swords, and blood. A few gallant spirits made a brave 
 resistance, and perished in the attempt. The most dis- 
 tinguished were Cornelius Martialis, ymilius Pacensis, 
 Casperius Niger, and Didius Scaeva. Flavius Sabinus, 
 without his sword, and not so much as attempting flight, 
 was surrounded ; as was also Quinctius Atticus, the 
 consul, who was marked out by the shadowy ensigns of 
 his magistracy, and his own vain glory, as he had put 
 forth edicts to the people laudatory of Vespasian, and re- 
 flecting harshly uprui Vitellius. The rest by various 
 stratagems made their escape ; some in the disguise of 
 slaves; others protected by the fidelity of their friends, 
 and concealed amidst the baggage. A few, who having 
 caught the signal by which the Vitellians knew each 
 other, by boldly asking it and giving it in reply, found 
 security in their daring. 
 
 74. Domitian, on the first irruption, was secreted in 
 the apartments of the warden, and then by the con- 
 trivance of his freedman, having been clad in a linen 
 vestment, and put among the band of the sacrificers with- 
 out being recognised, he remained in concealment in the 
 neighbourhood of Velabrum, at the house of Cornelius 
 Primus, a client of Vespasian's. During the reign of 
 his father, he threw down the warden's lodge, and built 
 a chapel to JUPITER CONSERVATOR, with an altar, 
 having the story of his vicissitudes engraven on a marble 
 tablet. Afterwards, on his accession, he dedicated a 
 magnificent temple to JUPITER THE GUARDIAN, and a 
 statue representing the god with himself in his arms. 
 Sabinus and Quinctius Atticus were conducted in fetters 
 to the presence of Vitellius. He received them without 
 an angry word or look, though the soldiers indignantly
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 557 
 
 insisted on their right to murder both, and to reap the 
 rewards of their service. A shout arising from those 
 nearest him, the meaner portion of the populace, called 
 for vengeance on Sabinus, mingling menaces with adula- 
 tion. Vitellius, who endeavoured to address them from 
 the stairs of the palace, was forced by their importunity 
 to withdraw. The mob then fell upon Sabinus, stabbed 
 him in many places, mangled him horribly, and cutting 
 off his head, dragged his mutilated trunk to Gernoniae. 
 
 75. Such was the end of a man who, it must be ad- 
 mitted, was entitled to respect. He had carried arms 
 five and thirty years in the service of his country, dis- 
 tinguished both in his civil and military capacities. His 
 integrity and love of justice were unimpeachable. His 
 fault was that of talking too much. In the course of 
 seven years, during which he administered the province of 
 Maesia, and twelve more, while he was governor of Rome, 
 malice itself could find no other blemish in his character. 
 In the close of his life some condemned him for want of 
 spirit ; many regarded him as a man of moderation, and 
 sparing of Roman blood. Before the elevation of Ves- 
 pasian, all agree that he was the ornament of his family. 
 It is recorded that his fall was matter of joy to Mucianus. 
 In general, his death was considered as an event of public 
 utility, by putting an end to a contention between two 
 rivals, one of whom would consider that he was the em- 
 peror's brother, and the other that he was a claimant for 
 a share of the imperial power. The consul, Quinctius 
 Atticus, was the next victim demanded by the populace, 
 but Vitellius opposed their fury ; being now reconciled 
 to him, and as it were making a requital, because being 
 interrogated as to the destruction of the capitol, he 
 avowed himself the author, and by that confession, or 
 perhaps well-timed falsehood, he seemed to take upon him- 
 self the odium and guilt, exonerating the Vitellian party. 
 
 76. During these transactions, Lucius Vitellius, having 
 pitched his camp in the neighbourhood of Feronia, 
 menaced the destruction of Tarracina, where the marines 
 and gladiators were shut up, not daring to sally out and 
 face the enemy in the open field. The gladiators, as has 
 been mentioned, were under the command of Julianus, 
 and the marines under that of Apollinaris ; two men, im- 
 mersed in sloth and luxury, from their vices more like 
 gladiators than generals. They kept no night-watch, nor 
 guarded the insecure parts of the walls. Day and night 
 abandoned to excess, they made the voluptuous haunts of 
 that coast resound with revelry, sending the soldiers in
 
 558 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 all directions to provide luxuries, and talked of war only 
 while feasting. Apinius Tiro, who had left the place a 
 few days before, by unfeelingly exacting presents and 
 contributions from the municipal towns, brought a greater 
 accession of ill-will than of strength to the party. 
 
 77. In the mean time a slave of Verginius Capito de- 
 serted to Lucius Vitellius, with an offer, if placed at the 
 head of a detachment, to put the citadel, loosely guarded 
 as it was, into their hands. In the dead of night he 
 stationed a party of light-armed cohorts on the topmost 
 ridges of the hill, over the heads of the* enemy. Thence 
 the soldiers poured down to slaughter rather than fight. 
 They mowed them down unarmed or afming, others 
 scarce awake, and all thrown into consternation by the 
 general uproar, the darkness, the clangour of trumpets, 
 and the shouts of the enemy. A few of the gladiators 
 made resistance, and sold their lives dearly. The rest fled 
 with precipitation to the ships, where all was involved in in- 
 discriminate terror, the peasants being intermixed with the 
 troops, and all were put to the sword without distinction. 
 In the beginning of the tumult, six light galleys escaped. 
 On board of one of them was Apollinaris, the commander 
 of the fleet. The rest were either taken, or, by the over- 
 weight of those that rushed on board, were sunk. Julia- 
 nus was conducted to Lucius Vitellius, and, in his pre- 
 sence, first ignominiously scourged, and then put to death. 
 Some persons charged Triaria, the wife of Lucius the 
 commanding officer, with having appeared girt with a 
 soldier's sword, and behaving in a tyrannical and cruel 
 manner amidst the afflictions and calamities of the sacking 
 of Terracina. The general sent a letter wreathed with 
 laurel to his brother, with intelligence of the victory, 
 desiring, at the same time, to know whether he should 
 march directly forward to Rome, or stay to finish the 
 entire reduction of Campania ; a delay which was of real 
 benefit, not only to Vespasian's party, but the common- 
 wealth ; for if a soldiery, flushed with success, and to 
 their natural hardihood adding the insolence of victory, 
 had been led to Rome, there would have been a conflict 
 of no trifling magnitude, and not without the destruction 
 of the city. For Lucius Vitellius, though his character 
 was bad, wanted not vigour of mind. He had raised 
 himself to eminence, not by his virtues, as is the case with 
 good men, but by his vices, like the most profligate of 
 mankind. 
 
 78. While these transactions were going on with the 
 party of Vitellius, the army of Vespasian, quitting Narnia,
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 559 
 
 were passing the Saturnalian holidays at Ocriculum, quite 
 at their ease. To wait for the arrival of Mucianus, was 
 the ostensible reason for this ill-timed delay. Motives of 
 a different nature were imputed to Antonius. There 
 were those who suspected him of having lingered there with 
 a fraudulent intent, in consequence of letters of Vitel- 
 lius, in which he offered him the consulship, his daughter, 
 who was marriageable, and a rich dowry. Others treated 
 it as mere invention, a contrivance to gratify Mucianus. 
 Some were of opinion that it was the deliberate plan of 
 all the generals to alarm the city with the appearance of 
 war, rather than to carry it into Rome; since the strongest 
 cohorts had abandoned Vitellius, and as all his resources 
 were cut off, it was thought he would abdicate. But all 
 was defeated, at first, by the temerity, and, in the end, by 
 the irresolution, of Sabinus, who having rashly taken up 
 arms, was not able, against so small a force as three 
 cohorts, to defend the capitol, a fortress of unequalled 
 strength, and capable of resisting the shock of powerful 
 armies. Where all were guilty of misconduct, the blame 
 cannot well be fixed on any one in particular, for both 
 Mucianus, by the ambiguity of his letters, checked the 
 progress of the victorious army; and Antonius, by ill- 
 timed compliances, or perhaps to retort odium upon Mu- 
 cianus, committed an error ; and the rest of the officers, 
 concluding that the war was ended, occasioned the dis- 
 asters that signalized its close. Even Petilius Cerealis, 
 who had been sent forward at the head of a thousand 
 horse, that cutting across through the Sabine country he 
 might enter Rome by the Salarian road, did not push on 
 with the requisite vigour ; but at last the news that the 
 capitol was besieged put them on the alert. 
 
 79. Antonius, in the night time, moved along the 
 Flaminian road, and arrived at the Red Rocks when the 
 mischief was done. There he heard that Sabinus was 
 murdered ; that the capitol was burnt ; that the city was 
 in consternation ; in fact, nothing but bad news. Word 
 was also brought that the populace, joined by the slaves, 
 had taken up arms for Vitellius. At the same time the 
 cavalry, under Petilius Cerealis, met with a defeat. Ad- 
 vancing incautiously, and with precipitation, as against 
 vanquished troops, they were received by a body of in- 
 fantry and cavalry intermixed. The battle was fought at 
 a small distance from Rome, amidst houses, and gardens, 
 and ziz-zag ways, well known to the Vitellians, but creat- 
 ing alarm and confusion in men unacquainted with them. 
 Nor did now the cavalry under Cerealis act with una-
 
 560 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 nimity. They had among them a party of those who 
 laid down their arms at Narnia, who waited to see the 
 issue of the battle. Tullius Flavianus, who commanded a 
 squadron of Vespasian's horse, was taken prisoner. The 
 rest fled with scandalous precipitation ; the conquering 
 troops pursuing them only as far as Fidenae. 
 
 80. The success of the Yitellians in this engagement 
 inspired his partisans at Rome with new courage. The 
 populace had recourse to arms. A few were provided 
 with regular shields ; the rest snatched up whatever 
 weapons fell in their way, and with one voice demanded 
 the signal for the attack. Vitellius thanked them, and 
 bid them press forward in defence of the city. He then 
 convened the senate ; when ambassadors to the armies 
 were chosen, to propose, in the name of the common- 
 wealth, an agreement and pacification. They were vari- 
 ously treated. In the camp of Petilius Cerealis they were 
 in danger of their lives ; the soldiers disdaining all terms 
 of accommodation. The praetor Arulenus Rusticus was 
 wounded. In addition to the violation of the rights of 
 ambassadors, the personal dignity of the man increased 
 the odium of the proceedings. His attendants were dis- 
 persed. The lictor that preceded him, presuming to 
 clear the way, was murdered ; and if the guard appointed 
 by Cerealis had not interposed in time, the privilege of 
 ambassadors, respected even by barbarous nations, had 
 been trampled under foot, in the frenzy of civil discord, 
 under the very walls of Rome. The deputies who went 
 to the camp of Antonius met with a milder reception ; not 
 because the soldiers had more self-control, but the gene- 
 ral more authority. 
 
 81. Musonius Rufus, a Roman knight, had followed in 
 the train of the ambassadors. He professed himself de- 
 voted to the study of philosophy, and the doctrines of the 
 stoic sect. He mixed among the soldiers, and began to 
 lecture armed men by a dissertation on the blessings of 
 peace, and the calamities of war. Many treated him 
 with derision ; more were disgusted ; and some were 
 going to beat him off and trample upon him, had he not, 
 by the advice of the more orderly, and the menaces of 
 others, ceased from his ill-timed lessons of wisdom. The 
 vestal virgins went out with letters from Vitellius ad- 
 dressed to Antonius. He requested a postponement of 
 the contest for a single day. If he allowed an interval 
 for reflection, it would afford facilities for settling matters. 
 The virgins were permitted to depart with every mark of 
 honour. An answer in writing was sent to Vitellius, in-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 561 
 
 forming him, that by the murder of Sabinus, and the 
 destruction of the capitol, negotiations for the settlement 
 of the war were put out of the question. 
 
 8#. Antonius, however, called an assembly of the 
 soldiers, and in a soothing speech, endeavoured to induce 
 them to encamp at the Milvian bridge, and enter Rome 
 the next day. His reason for delay was, lest the soldiery, 
 with feelings excited by the late battle, should give no 
 quarter to the people or the senate, or respect the temples 
 and shrines of the gods. But they looked with suspicion 
 on every postponement of their victory as proceeding 
 from hostility to them. At the same time colours glitter- 
 ing on the hills, though followed by an undisciplined 
 rabble, gave the appearance of a hostile army. Forming 
 into three divisions, the first proceeded by the Flaminian 
 road ; the second along the banks of the Tiber ; and the 
 third approached the gate Collina, by the Salarian way. 
 The mob was put to flight by the charge of the cavalry ; 
 and the Vitellian soldiers, themselves also ranged in 
 three columns, came on. Many engagements took place 
 before the walls, with various success, but for the most 
 part favourable to Vespasian's men, who had the ad- 
 vantage in the talent of their leaders. That party only 
 that had wheeled round to the left of the city, through 
 slippery and narrow passes, towards the Sullustian 
 gardens, were roughly handled. The Vitellians, standing 
 on the walls of the gardens, repulsed them with stones 
 and javelins as they approached, for the best part of the 
 day ; but at length Vespasian's cavalry forced their way 
 through the Collinian gate, and took them in the rear. 
 A fierce battle was also fought in the field of Mars. 
 Their good fortune and reiterated success gave the 
 Flavians the victory. The Vitellians fought under the 
 impulse of despair alone ; and though dispersed, they 
 rallied again within the walls of the city. 
 
 83. The people were present as spectators of the com- 
 batants; and, as in a theatrical contest, encouraged now 
 this side, and, when a change took place, the other, with 
 shouts and plaudits. Whenever one or other side gave 
 way, and the men took shelter in shops, or ran for 
 refuge into any houses, by demanding to have them 
 dragged forth, and put to death, they secured to them- 
 selves a larger share of plunder ; for while the sol- 
 diers were intent on blood and slaughter, the plunder 
 fell to the rabble. The city exhibited one entire scene 
 of ferocity and abomination ; in one place battle and 
 wounds ; in another bathing and revelry. Rivers of blood 
 
 o o
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 and heaps of bodies at the same time ; and hy the side of 
 them harlots, and women that differed not from harlots 
 all that unbridled passion can suggest in the wantonness 
 of ease all the enormities that are committed when a 
 city is sacked by its relentless foes so that you would 
 positively suppose that Rome was at one and the same 
 time frantic with rage and dissolved in sensuality. Before 
 this period regular bodies of armed men had met in con- 
 flict within the city, twice when Sylla, and once when 
 Cinna conquered. Nor was there less of cruelty on those 
 occasions; but now there prevailed a reckless indifference 
 alien from human nature ; nay, even pleasures were not 
 intermitted, no, not for an instant. As if the occurrence 
 formed an accession to the delight of the festive season, 
 they romped, they enjoyed themselves, without a thought 
 about the success of their party, and rejoicing amidst the 
 afflictions of their country. 
 
 84'. The greatest exertions were required in storming 
 the camp, which the bravest of the Vitellians still clung 
 to as their last hope ; and therefore, with the more dili- 
 gent heed, the conquerors, and with especial zeal the old 
 praetorian cohorts, applied at once whatever means had 
 been discovered in the capture of the strongest cities ; 
 shells, engines, mounds, and firebrands, exclaiming that 
 all the fatigues and dangers they had undergone in so 
 many battles were consummated in that effort, that their 
 city was restored to the senate and people of Rome, and 
 to the gods their temples ; that the camp was the peculiar 
 glory of the soldier there was his country, there his 
 household gods. They must either carry it forthwith, or 
 pass the night under arms. On the other hand the Vitel- 
 lians, though inferior in numbers, and less favoured by 
 fortune, sought to mar the victory, to delay the pacifica- 
 tion, stained their hearths and altars with their blood, 
 clung to those endearing objects which the vanquished 
 might never more behold. Many, exhausted, breathed 
 their last upon the towers and battlements; the few that 
 remained tore open the gates, in a solid mass rushed in 
 upon the victors, and fell, to a man, with honourable 
 wounds, facing the enemy ; such was their anxiety, even 
 in death, to finish their course with credit. Vitellius, 
 seeing the city conquered, was conveyed in a litter, by a 
 private way at the back of the palace, to his wife's house 
 on mount Aventine, with intent, if he could lie concealed 
 during the day, to fly for refuge to his brother and the 
 cohorts at Tarracina. Straightway, from his inherent 
 fickleness, and the natural effects of fright, since, as he
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 563 
 
 dreaded everything, whatever course he adopted was the 
 least satisfactory, he returned to his palace, and found 
 it empty and desolate ; even his meanest slaves having 
 made their escape, or shunning the presence of their 
 master. The solitude and silence of the scene alarmed 
 him ; he opened the doors of the apartments, and was 
 horror struck to see all void and empty. Exhausted 
 with this agonizing state of doubt and perplexity, and 
 concealing himself in a wretched hiding-place, he was 
 dragged forth by Placidus, the tribune of a cohort. With 
 his hands tied behind him, and his garment torn, he was 
 conducted, a revolting spectacle, through crowds insulting 
 his distress, without a friend to shed a tear over his mis- 
 fortunes. The unseemliness of his end banished all 
 sympathy. Whether one of the Germanic soldiers who 
 met him intended for him the stroke he made, and if he 
 did, whether from rage or to rescue him the quicker from 
 the mockery to which he was exposed ; or whether he 
 aimed at the tribune, is uncertain : he cut off the ear of 
 the tribune, and was immediately despatched. 
 
 85. Vitellius was pushed along, and with swords 
 pointed at his throat, forced to raise his head, and expose 
 his countenance to insults ; one while they made him look 
 at his statues tumbling to the ground ; frequently to the 
 rostrum, or the spot where Galba perished ; and lastly 
 they drove him to the Gemoniae, where the body of 
 Flavius Sabinus had been thrown. One expression of 
 his was heard, that spoke a spirit not utterly fallen, when 
 to a tribune who insulted him in his misery Vitellius ob- 
 served, that nevertheless he had been his emperor. He 
 died soon after under repeated wounds. The populace, 
 with the same perversity of judgment that had prompted 
 them to honour him while living, assailed him with indig- 
 nities when dead. 
 
 86. He was born at Luceria. He had completed his 
 fifty-seventh year. He rose to the consulship, to ponti- 
 fical dignities, and a name and rank amongst the most 
 eminent citizens, without any personal merit ; but ob- 
 tained all from the splendid reputation of his father. 
 The men who conferred the imperial dignity upon him 
 did not so much as know him. By impotence and sloth 
 he gained the affections of the army, to a degree in which 
 few have attained them by worthy means. Frankness 
 and generosity, however, he possessed ; qualities which, 
 unless duly regulated, become the occasions of ruin. He 
 imagined that friendship could be cemented, not by an 
 uniform course of virtue, but by profuse liberality, and 
 
 o o2
 
 564 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. III. 
 
 therefore earned them rather than cultivated them. 
 Doubtless the interest of the commonwealth required the 
 fall of Vitellius ; but those who betrayed Vitellius to 
 Vespasian can claim no merit for their perfidy, since they 
 had broken faith with Galba. The day now verging 
 rapidly towards, sunset; on account of the consternation 
 of the magistrates and senators who secreted themselves 
 by withdrawing from the city, or in the several houses of 
 their clients, the senate could not be convened. When 
 all apprehension of hostile violence had subsided, Domi- 
 tian came forth to the generals of his party, was unani- 
 mously saluted with the title of Caesar, and escorted by a 
 numerous body of soldiers, armed as they were, to his 
 father's house.
 
 THE 
 HISTORY OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 BY the death of Vitellius, the war was suspended rather 
 than peace established. The victors, armed, hunted the 
 vanquished through the city with inexorable rancour. 
 The streets were choked with carnage ; the Forum and 
 the temples inundated with blood, all who fell in the 
 way of the conquerors being butchered without distinc- 
 tion. And in a little time, their audacity increasing, they 
 searched for and dragged to light those who had con- 
 cealed themselves ; any person they saw who was tall in 
 stature and in the vigour of life, they butchered ; making 
 no distinction between citizen and soldier. Their cruelty 
 satiated itself with blood in the first heat of resentment, 
 and then it assumed the form of rapacity. Nothing was 
 suffered to remain concealed, nothing unviolated, under 
 colour of detecting the partisans of Vitellius ; hence they 
 took occasion to begin breaking open houses, or if resist- 
 ance were made, it formed an excuse for shedding blood. 
 All the vile and indigent joined in the fray ; abandoned 
 slaves came forward and betrayed their rich masters ; 
 others were pointed out by their friends. Lamentations 
 were heard in every quarter, and Rome was filled with 
 the cries of despair and the horrors of a city taken by 
 storm; insomuch that the people regretted the licentious- 
 ness of the Othonian and Vitellian soldiers, which before 
 excited their indignation. The chiefs, who had succeeded 
 so well in kindling the flame of civil war, were unable to 
 check the insolence of victory : and that, because to stir 
 up tumult and public distraction, the most profligate have 
 the greatest power ; but peace and order are the work of 
 virtue and ability. 
 
 2. Domitian fixed his residence in the imperial palace, 
 with the name of Caesar, but as yet paid no attention to 
 affairs of government. However, in riot and debauchery, 
 he played the part of the emperor's son. The command 
 of the praetorian bands was assigned to Arrius Varus, 
 while the supreme authority rested with Antonius, who
 
 566 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 eagerly appropriated treasure and 1 slaves from the house 
 of the prince, as if they were the spoils of Cremona. The 
 other officers, as from their moderation or obscurity they 
 were undistinguished during the war, so were they unre- 
 warded. The people, still in consternation, and ready to 
 crouch in servitude, demanded that Lucius Vitellius, then 
 advancing with the cohorts from Tarracina, might be in- 
 tercepted, and the remains of the war annihilated. The 
 cavalry was sent forward to Aricia, and the legions halted 
 on this side of Bovillae ; but Lucius Vitellius, without he- 
 sitation, surrendered himself and his cohorts to be dealt 
 with as the victor chose ; and the soldiers, abandoning an 
 unfortunate cause, laid down their arms, as much from in- 
 dignation as fear. The captives marched through the 
 city in a long procession, guarded on each side by a file 
 of troops ; not one with the mien of a suppliant, but all 
 gloomy and sullen, not moving a muscle at the shouts and 
 insolence of the jeering rabble. A few, who ventured to 
 rush out upon them, were overpowered by those that 
 hemmed them in : the rest were secured in prison. Not 
 a word escaped from any of them unworthy of their war- 
 like character ; and though under the frowns of fortune, 
 they preserved their reputation for valour. Lucius Vi- 
 tellius was forthwith put to death. In vice equal to his 
 brother, he surpassed him in activity while he was at the 
 head of affairs; not so much a sharer in his good fortune, 
 as involved in the consequences of his fall. 
 
 3. About the same time, Lucilius Bassus was despatched 
 with a party of light-armed cavalry, to restore tranquillity 
 in Campania; where the municipalities were agitated with 
 dissensions among themselves, rather than by a spirit of dis- 
 affection towards the prince. On the first appearance of 
 a military force, all was hushed : and the cities of inferior 
 note were treated with indulgence. The third legion was 
 stationed in winter-quarters at Capua, and its principal 
 families were exposed to severe suffering ; whereas, on 
 the other hand, to the people of Tarracina no relief was 
 extended ; so true it is, that men are more willing to re- 
 taliate an injury than to requite an obligation : because 
 gratitude imposes a burthen, but revenge is attended with 
 gain. It was some solace to the people of Tarracina to 
 see the slave of Verginius Capito, who, as already men- 
 tioned, betrayed them, hanging on a gibbet, with the 
 identical rings on his fingers which he received from Vi- 
 tellius. At Rome, the senate in high glee, and confident 
 as to the result of things, decreed to Vespasian all the 
 honours usually granted to their princes : for the civil war
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 567 
 
 which first broke out in Spain and Gaul, involving Ger- 
 many and soon after Illyricum, after having swept over 
 Kgypt, Judea, Syria, and all the provinces and armies of 
 the empire, seemed at length to have come to a close 
 when the whole world had been, as it were, purged from 
 its pollutions. Their zeal was heightened by letters from 
 Vespasian, written on the supposition that the war con- 
 tinued. Such was their character, on a cursory view of 
 them, but notwithstanding he spoke as emperor ; though 
 concerning himself his language was constitutional, and 
 showed a paramount concern for the public interest. Nor 
 was the senate backward in demonstrations of respect ; 
 they decreed the consulship to Vespasian and his son Ti- 
 tus. Domitian was made praetor with consular authority. 
 
 4. Mucianus had also sent letters to the senate, which 
 furnished matter for remarks. "If he was still a private 
 citizen, why should he speak on the affairs of the state ? 
 The same might have been said in a few days as a sena- 
 tor, instead of speaking to the question. His very invec- 
 tive too, against Vitellius, came too late, and gave no proof 
 of independent spirit. His vain-glorious boast, that having 
 the sovereign power in his own disposal, he conferred it 
 on Vespasian, was degrading to the commonwealth, and 
 insulting to the prince." In terms of much respect, they 
 decreed triumphal decorations to Mucianus, in reality for 
 his conduct in the civil war ; but his expedition against 
 the Sarmatians was the pretext. The consular ornaments 
 were voted to Antonius Primus, and the praetorian to Cor- 
 nelius Fuscus and Arrius Varus. The gods were the 
 next object of their care ; they resolved to rebuild the 
 capitol. All these motions were made by Valerius Asi- 
 aticus, consul elect. The rest signified their assent by 
 a nod, or the hand. A few, distinguished for their 
 rank, or habitual servility, expressed their assent in set 
 speeches. When it came to the turn of Helvidius Pris- 
 cus, praetor elect, without hesitation he delivered a speech 
 as complimentary to a virtuous prince as it was destitute 
 of disguises ; he was heard with applause by the whole 
 assembly, and that day formed an important era in his 
 life, as ministering occasion for a serious collision, and the 
 acquisition of signal renown. 
 
 5. As I have again fallen upon the mention of a man 
 whose name must frequently recur, the case seems to re- 
 quire that I should- briefly trace out his character and 
 pursuits, as well as the fortune that attended him. Hel- 
 vidius Priscus was born in the municipal city of Tarracina. 
 His father, Cluvius, was a centurion of principal rank.
 
 568 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 He applied hia splendid talents to sublime studies, from 
 his earliest years ; not with a design, as most men do, to 
 veil a life of indolence with an imposing name, but to bring 
 with him into public business a mind fortified against the 
 accidents of fortune. He adopted the tenets of those phi- 
 losophers who maintain that virtue alone is good, and vice 
 evil ; who consider power, noble descent, and all other 
 circumstances independent of the mind, as belonging to 
 the class of things neither good nor evil. When yet only 
 of quasstorian rank, Psetus Thrasea gave him his daughter 
 in marriage. Of all the virtues of his father-in-law, he 
 imbibed none so deeply as his spirit of liberty. As a citi- 
 zen, senator, husband, son-in-law, friend, he discharged 
 all the duties of his several relations with undeviating pro- 
 priety ; despising riches ; in the cause of truth inflexible ; 
 and, when danger threatened, erect and firm. 
 
 6. Some might consider him as too fond of fame, for 
 the desire of glory clings even to the best of men, longer 
 than any other passion. When his father-in-law fell, he 
 was driven into exile ; but, being recalled in the reign of 
 Galba, he stood forth the accuser of Eprius Marcellus, 
 the informer against Paetus Thrasea. This prosecution, 
 which whether it was the more just or magnanimous, it 
 were hard to tell, divided the senate into contending fac- 
 tions ; for the ruin of Marcellus would draw after it the 
 whole phalanx of informers. The contest at first was 
 fiercely conducted, and sustained by speeches of consum- 
 mate eloquence on both sides afterwards. Galba balanced 
 between the parties, and many senators deprecating its 
 continuance, Helvidius desisted; a proceeding which sub- 
 jected him to conflicting remarks ; such is human nature ; 
 some commending his moderation, others regretting his 
 want of firmness. However, on the day when the senate 
 voted the succession of Vespasian, it was agreed that de- 
 puties should be sent to the prince. In the debate upon 
 this occasion, a sharp conflict ensued between Helvidius 
 Priscus and Eprius Marcellus. The former proposed that 
 the ambassadors should be named by the magistrates on 
 oath ; the latter was for drawing the names by lot, as had 
 been proposed by the consul elect. 
 
 7. But the zeal of Marcellus was stimulated by appre- 
 hensions of personal disgrace, if he should appear to be 
 postponed to others in the selection. After an inter- 
 change of remarks they proceeded gradually to continuous 
 and acrimonious speeches ; Helvidius asking Marcellus, 
 " Why he should dread so much the decision of the ma- 
 gistrates ? He had wealth and eloquence, which would
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 569 
 
 give him advantage over many, unless the recollection of 
 his crimes proved a hindrance : no distinction of charac- 
 ter was made by the lot and urn. The method of suffrage 
 and appeal to the judgment of the senate, had been 
 adopted to reach the life and character of individuals ; it 
 was for the interest of the community, and the honour of 
 the prince, that such as approached him should be men 
 of unblemished integrity, who would pour into the ear of 
 the prince the language of truth and sincerity. Vespa- 
 sian had been in habits of friendship with Thrasea, So- 
 ranus, and Sentius ; and if the informers against them are 
 not to suffer punishment, still it was not fitting that they 
 should be held up as paragons. By this decision of the 
 senate, the prince would, as it were, be warned whom he 
 may trust, and whom he should suspect. There was no 
 more efficient means of insuring good government, than 
 for the prince to have honest friends. Marcellus may rest 
 satisfied with inciting Nero to the murder of so many in- 
 nocent citizens; he should be content to enjoy the rewards 
 of his guilt and impunity, and leave Vespasian to better 
 men than himself." 
 
 8. Marcellus observed in reply, "that the motion, which 
 was opposed with so much warmth, did not originate with 
 himself. It was proposed by the consul elect, in con- 
 formity to ancient precedents, which had established the 
 lot for the election of ambassadors, to preclude cabals and 
 prejudices. No reason could be assigned why established 
 usages should fall into desuetude, or the ceremony of pay- 
 ing respect to the prince be wrested to the purpose of stig- 
 matising any person. All were competent to the duty of 
 doing homage; what was more to be guarded against was, 
 lest by the intractable tempers of some persons, offence 
 should be given to the prince at the opening of his reign, 
 when his mind is naturally filled with apprehensions, and 
 watches the very looks and language of every body. For 
 himself, he was not unmindful of the times on which he was 
 fallen, of the form of government established by their an- 
 cestors : he admired the past, and accommodated himself to 
 the present system, devoutly wishing for virtuous princes, 
 but willing to acquiesce under any sort. The overthrow of 
 Thrasea could not be imputed to his speech, more than 
 to the decision of the senate ; the cruelty of Nero accom- 
 plished its purposes by means of such mockeries as these. 
 Nor did others suffer more from exile than he himself 
 did from such a friendship ; in a word, let Helvidius be 
 ranked with the Catoes and the Bruti in courage and for- 
 titude, for himself, he pretended to be no more than one
 
 570 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 of that very senate, which, as well as he, crouched to the 
 tyrant. He advised even Priscus not to aspire above his 
 sovereign, nor affect to control by his lectures a prince 
 advanced in years, who had gained triumphal honours, 
 and the father of princes in the prime of life. As unlimited 
 power was the aim of the worst princes ; so however ex- 
 cellent they may be, they desired to see liberty exercised 
 within due bounds." These arguments, urged with earn- 
 est zeal on both sides, were heard with the extremes 
 of approbation and aversion. The party that preferred 
 choosing the ambassadors by lot prevailed ; even those 
 of the fathers who were for a middle course, assisting to 
 retain the customary practice ; while all the most distin- 
 guished inclined the same way, from fear of incurring 
 odium if they should themselves be chosen. 
 
 9. This struggle was followed by another. The prae- 
 tors, who at that time conducted the department of the 
 treasury, after complaining of the poverty of the state, 
 proposed a plan of retrenchment. The consul elect was 
 for referring this business to the prince, in consideration 
 of the magnitude of the grievance and the difficulty of re- 
 medying it. Helvidius Priscus contended that it was a 
 matter to be settled according to the discretion of the 
 senate. The consuls were collecting the votes, when Vol- 
 catius Tertullinus, a tribune of the people, interposed his 
 veto, that in so arduous a business anything should be de- 
 termined in the absence of the emperor. Helvidius had 
 moved that the capitol should be rebuilt by the public, 
 with the aid of Vespasian. Men of moderation passed 
 this proposition over in silence, and then forgot it. There 
 were some who also remembered it. 
 
 10. Musonius Rufus then made an attack on Publius 
 Celer, whom he charged with having accomplished the 
 ruin of Bareas Soranus, by false testimony. This inves- 
 tigation it was thought would revive the animosities con- 
 nected with the system of informations. But the defen- 
 dant, base and guilty as he was, could not be screened, 
 for the memory of Soranus was held in veneration, and 
 Celer, who was a teacher of philosophy, and afterwards 
 the accuser of Bareas, appeared as the betrayer and se- 
 ducer of his friend, and, as he pretended, his pupil. The 
 next sitting was fixed for the cause. Nor did Musonius 
 or Publius excite the public expectation so much as Pris- 
 cus and Marcellus, and others of that class, now that 
 the minds of men were inflamed with a desire of ven- 
 geance. 
 
 11. In this state of affairs, when the senate was split
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 571 
 
 into factions; when the vanquished party burned with re- 
 sentment, and the conquerors were without authority ; 
 with no laws, no sovereign at the head of affairs, Mucia- 
 nus entered the city, and soon engrossed the whole power 
 of the state. The influence of Antonius Primus and Ar- 
 rius Varus, was demolished at once ; Mucianus ill sup- 
 pressing his rage against them, though he betrayed it not in 
 his looks. But the people of Rome, shrewd in exploring the 
 antipathies of parties, veered round, and transferred their 
 homage to Mucianus. He alone was the object of their suit 
 and adoration. Mucianus, on his part, omitted nothing ; 
 he appeared in public attended by armed guards ; chop- 
 ping and changing his palaces and gardens ; in his equi- 
 page, his gait, his night watches, aspiring to the substance 
 of imperial power, while repudiating the name. The mur- 
 der of Calpurnius Galerianus, diffused a sensation of ex- 
 treme alarm. He was the son of Caius Piso. He was 
 a perfectly guiltless man, but the splendour of his name 
 and his own fine person, formed frequent subjects of com- 
 mendation among the people ; and in a city like Rome, 
 still in agitation, and listening with greedy ears to every 
 fresh rumour, .there were not wanting persons to invest 
 him with the .empty name of succeeding to the throne. 
 By order of Mucianus he was taken into custody, and lest 
 his death in the city should excite too much notice, he 
 was conveyed under guard to a place forty miles distant 
 on the Appian road, where his veins were opened, and he 
 bled to death. Julius Priscus, who commanded the prae- 
 torian bands under Vitellius, despatched himself with his 
 own hand, from a sense of shame rather than by compul- 
 sion. Alphenus Varus preferred to protract a life of 
 sloth and infamy. Asiaticus, for he was a freedman, suf- 
 fered for his abused and ill-gotten power, by being put 
 to death as a slave. 
 
 12. About this period, the report which had gained 
 ground, of a dreadful defeat in Germany, reached the 
 city, but without exciting any sensation of sorrow. Men 
 talked of the revolt of Gaul, slaughtered armies, and the 
 capture of the winter-camp of the legions, as if they were 
 not calamities. The causes which led to the war in that 
 quarter, the commotions which it kindled among our 
 allies, and nations unconnected with us, I will' trace to 
 their origin. The Batavians, while they dwelt beyond 
 the Rhine, were a part of the people called the Cattians. 
 Driven from their native country by intestine commotions, 
 they settled on a waste tract of land on the extreme con- 
 fines of Gaul, and, at the same time, took possession of
 
 - 
 
 572 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 an island among the shoals, washed at the northern ex- 
 tremity by the ocean, and at the back, and on both sides, 
 by the Rhine. Unoppressed by the Roman power and 
 an alliance with a nation more potent than themselves, 
 they merely furnished men and arms in support of the 
 empire ; having had much experience in the German 
 wars, and afterwards added to their fame by their service 
 in Britain, whither cohorts of them were conveyed under 
 the command of the most distinguished chiefs of their 
 country, in conformity with their long established prac- 
 tice. In their own country they also maintained a chosen 
 body of cavalry, so remarkably expert in swimming, that 
 in whole squadrons, with their arms, and keeping hold of 
 their horses, they can make good their way across the 
 Rhine. 
 
 13. The most eminent chieftains of the nation were 
 Julius Paulus and Claudius Civilis, both of royal descent. 
 The former, under a false charge of rebellion, was put to 
 death by Fonteius Capito. Civilis was sent in irons to 
 be disposed of by Nero : Galba released him from his 
 fetters. Under Vitellius, he was again in danger from 
 the Roman soldiers, who called aloud for his execution. 
 Hence his hatred of the Roman name, and his hopes of 
 success founded on the distractions of the empire. But 
 Civilis, with a natural shrewdness above the ordinary run 
 of barbarians, took occasion from a similar blemish of the 
 face, to call himself a second Sertorius, or Hannibal; and 
 wishing to avoid an open rupture with Rome, lest a force 
 should be sent against him as an enemy, affected attach- 
 ment to the person and cause of Vespasian. Some colour, 
 it must be admitted, was given to this proceeding by the 
 letters he received from Antonius, directing him to pre- 
 vent the arrival of the succours summoned by Vitellius, 
 and keep the legions in the province under pretence of 
 commotions in Germany. Hordeonius Flaccus gave the 
 same advice in person, having espoused Vespasian's cause, 
 and from concern for his country, whose destruction was 
 inevitable, if renewed force wei'e given to the war, and so 
 many thousands of troops poured down upon Italy. 
 
 14. Civilis, therefore, having taken his resolution to 
 revolt, concealed his ulterior views for the time, and in- 
 tending to be guided by events as to other matters, thus 
 commenced his revolutionary proceedings. By order of 
 Vitellius, the youth of Batavia was to be called upon to 
 enlist. This requisition, onerous in itself, was rendered 
 still more so by the avarice and profligacy of the Roman 
 officers, who pressed the aged and infirm into the service,
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 573 
 
 to gain the price of their discharge. On the other hand, 
 boys of tender years, and handsome persons, (and gene- 
 rally their youths are well-grown), were dragged away to 
 prostitution. Hence a feeling of indignation ; and the 
 leaders of the preconcerted conspiracy induced them to 
 refuse to be enrolled. Civilis, under the pretext of a 
 banquet, convened the nobles, and bravest of the nation, 
 in a sacred grove ; and when he saw that they were 
 warmed with midnight revelry and mirth, he addressed 
 them, first expatiating on the fame and exploits of the 
 Batavians, and then enumerating the wrongs of his coun- 
 trymen, the depredations of the Romans, and all the 
 other evils of thraldom. Indeed, he said, they were no 
 longer ti-eated as allies, but as bond-slaves. When would 
 a lieutenant-general come to govern them, though with a 
 burthensome retinue, and domineering authority ? They 
 were now turned over to prasfects and centurions, who, as 
 soon as they have gorged themselves with spoils and 
 blood are recalled, a fresh set of rapacious creatures 
 sent out, and the same system of depredation carried 
 on under varied names. A levy was just at hand, by 
 which children. would be separated in a manner for ever 
 from their parents, brothers from brothers. The Romans 
 were never, at any period, in so feeble a condition. Nor 
 had they aught in their winter-quarters besides old men, 
 and plunder. Let them only lift up their eyes, and they 
 would see no reason to dread their shadowy unsubstantial 
 legions. On the other hand, they had themselves an 
 efficient force of foot and horse. The Germans were 
 their kinsmen ; the Gauls sympathized with them. Not 
 even the Romans' displeasure was to be apprehended in 
 the war he advised ; in which, if they failed, they could 
 lay the blame on Vespasian : and if they succeeded there 
 was no account to be rendered at all. 
 
 15. Having been heard with zealous approbation, he 
 bound them all according to barbarian forms, and by the 
 oaths and imprecations of their country. Deputies were 
 sent to the Canninefates, to engage them in the confe- 
 deracy. That nation occupies part of the island, in their 
 origin, language, and valour, equal to the Batavians, but 
 inferior in numbers. He then, by secret communications, 
 gained over the British auxiliaries, consisting of cohorts 
 of Batavians, that were sent into Germany, as I have 
 mentioned already, and now quartered at Magontiacum. 
 Among the Canninefates was a chieftain named Brinno, 
 a man of stolid daring, and of signally illustrious parentage. 
 His father, after many signal exploits, had laughed at the
 
 574 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 ridiculous expedition of Caligula with impunity. As the 
 mere descendant, therefore, of a rebel family, he was ac- 
 ceptable to his countrymen, and being placed on a shield, 
 according to the custom of the nation, and rocked to and 
 fro on the shoulders of the men, was chosen general-in- 
 chief. Calling in the aid of the Frisians, a people beyond 
 the Rhine, he forthwith assaulted, by way of the sea, the 
 winter-quarters of two cohorts, which, from their prox- 
 imity, lay most open to attack. The assault was not fore- 
 seen ; nor if it had been, had they force enough to repulse 
 them. The camp was therefore taken and pillaged. 
 They next fell upon the settlers and Roman traders, who 
 had spread themselves over the country as in security. 
 At the same time they menaced their strong holds with 
 destruction ; but as they could not be defended, they 
 were burned by the praefects of the cohorts to the ground. 
 Aquilius, a principal centurion, collected together all the 
 colours and standards, and the remnant of his forces, 
 into the upper part of the island, exhibiting rather the 
 name than the strength of an army. For the flower of 
 the cohorts having been drawn away, Vitellius had en- 
 cumbered with arms a nerveless band collected from the 
 neighbouring villages of the Nervians and Germans. 
 
 10. Civilis, thinking it his interest to proceed by craft, 
 actually blamed the praefects for deserting their forts. 
 With the cohort under his command, he would quell the 
 insurrection of the Canninefates : the Romans might re- 
 turn to their respective quarters. That fraud was at the 
 bottom of this advice, and that the cohorts when dispersed 
 might fall an easy prey, and also that Civilis, and not 
 Brinno, was at the head of this war, was evident from 
 proofs which were gradually disclosing themselves, and 
 which the Germans, a nation transported with war, 
 were not able long to suppress. When his stratagem 
 failed he resorted to force, and combined the Cannine- 
 fates, Frisians, and Batavians in distinct bodies in the 
 form of wedges. The line of battle of their opponents 
 was formed not far from the Rhine; while their ships, 
 which, when the forts were burned, they had brought to 
 land there, were ranged to face the enemy. The battle 
 had not lasted long, when a cohort of Tungrians, with 
 their ensigns displayed, went over to Civilis. By this un- 
 expected treachery the Roman army was thrown into 
 confusion, and the soldiers were slaughtered by their 
 friends and enemies. Nor' did the fleet behave with 
 less perfidy. Some of the rowers, pretending 1 inexpe- 
 rience, impeded the functions of the mariners and fight-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 575 
 
 ing-men. Soon afterwards they pulled in the opposite 
 direction, and drove the sterns against the bank occupied 
 by the enemy ; at last they butchered the pilots and cen- 
 turions who did not join with them ; till at length the 
 whole four-and-twenty ships were either taken, or went 
 over to the enemy. 
 
 17. This victory was attended with eclat at the moment, 
 and with future advantages. In want of arms and ship- 
 ping they were now supplied with both, and their fame 
 resounded throughout Gaul and Germany as the assertors 
 of liberty. The Germanies, by their ambassadors, forth- 
 with offered auxiliaries. Civilis sought to allure the 
 Gauls to his interest by policy and presents, granting to 
 such of their officers as were taken prisoners liberty to 
 return to their native country, and giving to the cohorts 
 the power of doing as they pleased, whether they pre- 
 ferred to go or to remain. If they stayed, honourable 
 military employment, if they departed, the spoils of the 
 Romans were offered to them. At the same time Civilis 
 reminded them of the oppressions they had endured for 
 so many years, while by an abuse of language they gave 
 the name of peace to a state of miserable bondage. The 
 Batavians were, exempt from taxes and tributes, and yet 
 they took up arms against the oppressors of mankind. In 
 the first engagement the Romans were routed and con- 
 quered. What if the Gauls shake off the yoke ? What 
 amount of force would remain in Italy ? It was, he said, 
 by the blood of the provinces that the provinces are con- 
 quered. He bid them not think of the battle with 
 Vindex. By the Batavian cavalry the ^Eduans and 
 Arvernians were put to the rout. Among the auxiliaries 
 of Verginius on that occasion were Belgians ; and Gaul, 
 on a just estimate of the case, had been crushed by her 
 own forces. At present, one common interest united all, 
 with the further advantage of whatever military disci- 
 pline was observed in a Roman camp. The veteran 
 cohorts, before whom Otho's legions fell prostrate, had 
 declared for them. Syria and Asia, and the oriental 
 nations, habituated to despots, might bow down in slavery. 
 In Gaul many still lived who were born before tributes 
 were imposed. Unquestionably, by the overthrow of 
 Varus and his legions, slavery was recently driven out of 
 Germany ; when it was not Vitellius, but Augustus Caesar, 
 who was challenged to the conflict. Liberty, he said, 
 was imparted by nature even to dumb animals, while valour 
 was the characteristic excellence of man. The gods 
 looked with favour on superior courage. Wherefore, let
 
 576 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 them, unoccupied as they were, and with vigour unim- 
 paired, pounce upon men whose thoughts were engaged 
 with other matters, and whose strength was exhausted ; 
 while some espoused the cause of Vespasian, and others 
 that of Vitellius, an opportunity of striking a blow against 
 both was presented. 
 
 18. Thus Civilis, while vigorously prosecuting his 
 designs upon Gaul and Germany, if his project succeeded, 
 thought of making himself king of the richest and most 
 powerful nations. On the other hand, Hordeonius Flac- 
 cus encouraged the first essays of Civilis by affecting not 
 to see them. When, however, messengers arrived in 
 haste and alarm with intelligence that the camp was taken 
 by storm, the cohorts cut to pieces, and the Roman name 
 exterminated from the isle of Batavia, he ordered Mum- 
 mius Lupercus, with two legions, then under his com- 
 mand in winter-quarters, to march forth against the 
 enemy. That officer, with all speed, conveyed over into 
 the island the legionaries he had with him, the Ubians, 
 who were near at hand, and the Treverian cavalry, sta- 
 tioned at no great distance, adding a squadron of Bata- 
 vian horse, long since wavering in their allegiance, but 
 keeping up a semblance of fidelity, that by abandoning 
 the Romans in the crisis of a regular battle, they might 
 earn a greater reward by going over. Civilis having 
 surrounded himself with the banners taken from the 
 vanquished cohorts, that his own troops might have their 
 recent trophies before their eyes, and the enemy be 
 dispirited by the tokens of their defeat, ordered his 
 mother and his sisters, with the wives and little ones of 
 the soldiers, to stand together in the rear, as objects 
 which would stimulate them to victory, or prevent their 
 giving way by inspiring a sense of shame. When the 
 field resounded with the war-whoop of the men, and the 
 cries of the women ; the Roman legions and cohorts re- 
 turned a shout by no means so great. The Batavian 
 cavalry going over to their countrymen, and at once 
 turning their arms against us, exposed the left wing of 
 the army ; but the legionary soldiers, though the predica- 
 ment was alarming, preserved their ranks and their arms, 
 l^he Ubian and Treverian auxiliaries fled with scandalous 
 precipitation, and dispersing themselves, skulked all over 
 the fields. The Germans pressed on in that quarter. 
 The legions, in the mean time, were enabled to retreat to 
 the camp called Veterum. Claudius Labeo, captain 
 of the squadron of Batavian cavalry, and who enter- 
 tained a feeling of rivalry towards Civilis, from a contest
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 577 
 
 about town matters, was removed to the country of the 
 Frisians, lest if put to death, he might be the occasion of 
 odium among his countrymen, or if retained he might 
 furnish the materials of dissension. 
 
 19. During these transactions the cohorts of the Can- 
 ninefates and Batavians, which, by order of Vitellius, 
 were on their march from Rome, were overtaken by a 
 messenger despatched by Civilis. The soldiers imme- 
 diately swelled with pride and arrogance. They de- 
 manded the donative as a recompense for their march, 
 double pay, and an augmentation of their cavalry, all 
 which had, it must be admitted, been promised by Vitel- 
 lius ; but their object was not to obtain them, but to have 
 a pretext for sedition. Hordeonius Flaccus yielded in 
 several instances ; but the only effect was, that they de- 
 manded with increased importunity what they knew he 
 would deny. Throwing aside all respect for Flaccus, 
 they bent their course towards the Lower Germany to 
 join Civilis. Flaccus called a council of the tribunes and 
 centurions, to deliberate whether he should reduce the 
 mutineers by force. Soon afterwards, from his natural 
 timidity, and the irresolution of his officers, who regarded 
 with concern the wavering fidelity of the auxiliary forces, 
 and the legions which were recruited by a hasty levy, he 
 resolved to keep his men within their entrenchments. 
 Then altering his mind, and the very officers who ad- 
 vised the measure condemning it, under the idea of pur- 
 suing them, he sent despatches to Herennius Gallus, then 
 at the head of the first legion stationed at Bonna, to oppose 
 the march of the Batavians, and he himself, with his 
 army, would hang upon their rear ; and they might have 
 been cut off, if Hordeonius on one side, and Gallus on 
 the other, advancing their troops on either hand, had 
 hemmed them in between them. Flaccus relinquished 
 his project, and in a second letter to Gallus, directed 
 him not to obstruct their departure. Whence a suspicion 
 arose that the war was fomented with the concurrence of 
 the generals, and that all that had happened, ' or was 
 apprehended, was the result, not of the supineness of the 
 soldiery, or the energy of the enemy, but the dishonesty 
 of the generals. 
 
 20. The Batavians, when they drew near to the camp 
 at Bonna, sent forward messengers to lay before Heren- 
 nius Gallus the resolutions of the cohorts, with which 
 they were charged. They imported that they had often 
 fought for the Romans, and did not mean to make war 
 against them. Worn out in a long and painful service, 
 
 pp
 
 578 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 they desired nothing but a retreat from labour in then- 
 native country. Their march, if not obstructed, would 
 leave behind no trace of mischief; but if their passage 
 was disputed, they were determined to cut their way 
 sword in hand. The Roman general hesitated ; but the 
 soldiers goaded him on to hazard a battle. Three 
 thousand legionary soldiers, some Belgic cohorts raised 
 by sudden levies, and a body of peasants, and followers 
 of the camp, of no service in action, but tongue-valiant 
 before the hour of danger, sallied forth from all the gates 
 to surround the inferior numbers of the Batavians. The 
 Batavians, who had seen much service, formed themselves 
 into wedges, with deep files on all sides, and secured in 
 front, rear, and flank. Thus they charged through the 
 slender array of our troops. The Belgic cohorts giving 
 way, the legion was driven in, and they made for the 
 rampart and gates in dismay. There an extensive car- 
 nage took place, the fosses were filled with heaps of 
 bodies ; nor did they perish by the sword only and by 
 wounds, but many of them from the rush and their own 
 weapons. The conquerors pursued their march, avoided 
 the Agrippinian colony, during the rest of the way com- 
 mitting no act of hostility ; and alleged, in excuse for the 
 encounter at Bonna, that they had only acted in self- 
 defence, having solicited peace and received a refusal. 
 
 21. Civilis, by the arrival of these veteran cohorts, 
 found himself at the head of a regular army, but doubt- 
 ful as to the course he should pursue, and reflecting on 
 the power of the Romans, he made his whole army take 
 the oath of fidelity to Vespasian, and also sent a deputation 
 to the two legions, which after their late defeat retired to 
 the Old Camp, inviting them to take the same oath. The 
 legions returned for answer, " that it was not their cus- 
 tom to adopt the counsels of an enemy, nor of a traitor. 
 They had Vitellius for their sovereign, in whose behalf 
 they would maintain their allegiance, and fight to their 
 last gasp. Wherefore let not a Batavian fugitive assume 
 the style and character of an arbiter in the affairs of 
 Rome, but expect the punishment due to treason." En- 
 raged by this reply, Civilis roused the whole Batavian na- 
 tion to arms. The Bructerians and Tencterians entered 
 into the league, and by agents, despatched for the purpose, 
 all Germany was invited to share in the spoil and glory of 
 the conquest. 
 
 22. Munius Lupercus and Numisius Rufus, the com- 
 manders of the legions, to meet this formidable combina- 
 tion of forces, strengthened their rampart and walls. The
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 579 
 
 structures erected during a long peace near the entrench- 
 ments, so as to resemble a municipal town, were levelled 
 to the ground, lest they should be of service to the enemy. 
 But sufficient foresight was not exercised in storing the 
 camp with provisions ; they allowed them to be seized as 
 plunder; and thus, that which would have long sufficed 
 for the supply of necessary wants, was consumed in a few 
 days in unrestrained excess. Civilis commanded the cen- 
 tre in person, with the flower of the Batavian forces ; and 
 that he might appear the more formidable, he lined both 
 banks of the Rhine with battalions of Germans, while the 
 cavalry scoured the country round. His ships, at the 
 same time, were brought up the river. On one side, the 
 colours taken from the veteran cohorts, on the other the 
 images of wild beasts brought forth from the woods arid 
 sacred groves, according to the custom observed by each 
 barbarous nation on going into action, astounded the be- 
 sieged by the appearance of native and foreign forces ar- 
 rayed together against them. The extent of the entrench- 
 ments, designed at first for the reception of two legions, 
 and now defended by scarce five thousand men, inspired 
 the assailants with additional confidence. But there was 
 within a numerous body of sutlers, who, on the first alarm 
 had crowded to the canrp, and aided in the military 
 operations. 
 
 23. A portion of the camp rose up the side of an emi- 
 nence with a gentle ascent, the other part afforded a level 
 approach. The fact was, Augustus Caesar conceived that 
 the legions, stationed there in winter-quarters, would be 
 able to check and bridle both the Germanics, but not that 
 such an adverse state of things would occur, that they would 
 come and actually assault our legions. In consequence, no 
 pains were employed to add to the natural strength of the 
 place, or to raise works ; courage and arms were deemed 
 sufficient. The Batavians, and the troops from beyond 
 the Rhine, in order that the valour of each separately 
 might be more distinctly seen, took up detached posi- 
 tions according to the several nations, discharging their 
 missile weapons in a skirmishing manner. Afterwards, 
 when most of their darts hung without effect upon the 
 towers and pinnacles of the walls, while they were 
 wounded by the discharge of stones from above, they 
 raised a shout, and rushed forward to assault the ram- 
 parts, many of them applying scaling ladders ; others, by 
 means of a military shell, formed by their party; and 
 already some were gaining the top of the fortification, 
 when they were thrown down headlong by the swords of
 
 580 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 the enemy, and by blows with their bucklers, and were 
 overwhelmed with stakes "and javelins ; for they were 
 over-hot at starting, and elated immoderately by success. 
 They even ventured to use engines to which they were 
 unaccustomed : nor had they themselves any skill in them. 
 They were taught by prisoners and deserters to raise, 
 with rude materials, a platform, in the shape of a bridge, 
 and then to move it forward upon wheels; that some 
 standing on it might fight as from a rampart, while others, 
 under cover of it, endeavoured to sap the walls. But the 
 stones discharged from the engines of the Romans dissi- 
 pated the rude fabric. They then began to prepare 
 penthouses and mantelets, but the besieged attacked 
 them with a volley of flaming javelins, from engines, and 
 even the assailants were enveloped in flames ; till at 
 length, in despair of carrying the works by force, they 
 changed their plan for more protracted operations, for 
 they were not uninformed that the besieged had provi- 
 sions but for a few days, and a vast unwarlike rabble to 
 supply. At the same time, from the effects of scarcity, 
 treason was anticipated ; the unstable attachment of slaves 
 seemed likely also to break down, and hopes were enter- 
 tained that some prize would turn up in the lottery of 
 war. 
 
 24. Hordeonius Flaccus, having received intelligence 
 that the Old Camp was invested, sent despatches into Gaul 
 for a reinforcement, and ordered Dillius Vocula, who 
 commanded the eighteenth legion, to proceed at the head 
 of a chosen detachment as rapidly as possible along the 
 banks of the Rhine; being himself paralysed with fear, 
 disabled by bodily infirmity, and detested by his men. 
 Indeed his soldiers complained in terms distinct and audi- 
 ble, of the Batavian cohorts sent out of Magontiacum ; of 
 the machinations of Civilis connived at ; that the Germans 
 were drawn into the revolt; that neither by the aid of 
 Antonius Primus or Mucianus, had the interest of Vespa- 
 sian more advanced.- That avowed enmity and hostility 
 might be met openly; but fraud and treachery worked in 
 the dark, and therefore were not to be warded off. That 
 Civilis was standing in undisguised opposition to them, 
 drawing up his troops in order of battle : Hordeonius, 
 from his chamber and his bed, ordered whatever served 
 the cause of their enemy. That so many gallant soldiers, 
 with arms in their hands, were governed by one sickly 
 old man. Nay, rather, by putting the traitor to death, 
 they should relieve their fortune and their valour from the 
 inauspicious omen. While excited by these discourses
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 581 
 
 among themselves, letters were brought from Vespasian 
 which ministered fresh fuel to the flame. Flaccus, as they 
 could not be concealed, read them to the assembled sol- 
 diers, and sent the bearer bound in chains to Vitellius. 
 
 25. The men thus pacified arrived at Bonna, the win- 
 ter station of the first legion. The soldiers there, still 
 more exasperated, transferred the blame of their defeat 
 to Hordeonius. " By his orders," they said, " they had 
 advanced in battle array against the Batavians, expecting 
 that the troops from Magontiacum would follow. By the 
 treachery of the same man they were cut to pieces, no 
 succours arriving to support them. The other armies 
 were kept in ignorance of all that passed, nor was any ac- 
 count sent to Vitellius, although by the timely access of 
 the forces of so many provinces, the perfidious outbreak 
 might have been suppressed." Flaccus read, in the pre- 
 sence of the army, copies of the several letters by which 
 he had entreated succours from Britain, Spain, and Gaul; 
 and introduced a bold and noxious precedent, that letters 
 should be delivered to the eagle-bearers of the legions, to 
 be by them communicated to the soldiers, before they 
 were read by .the generals. , He then ordered one of the 
 mutineers to.be loaded with irons, rather to exercise his 
 authority than because the blame attached to one only. 
 From Bonna the army proceeded to the Agrippinian co- 
 lony, where numerous succours came pouring in from the 
 Gauls, who at first zealously supported the Roman inter- 
 est ; but shortly afterwards, when the Germans began to 
 make head, most of the states had recourse to arms, from 
 the hope of liberty, and, if the enterprise succeeded, with 
 the ambitious design of lording it over others. The re- 
 sentment of the legions waxed furious ; the example of a 
 single offender bound in chains had not inspired awe; 
 nay, that very man turned round upon the general, and 
 charged him with being an accomplice, alleging, that as 
 he had been a messenger between Civilis and Flaccus, he 
 was overwhelmed with a false accusation, because he was 
 a witness of the truth. Vocula mounted the tribunal with 
 admirable firmness, and ordered the soldier, who remon- 
 strated vociferously, to be seized and led away to execu- 
 tion; and while the seditious were panic-struck, all the 
 well-disposed obeyed his orders. Forthwith the soldiers, 
 with one voice, insisted that he should be their general, 
 and Flaccus resigned the supreme command into his 
 hands. 
 
 26. But the minds of the soldiers, still dissatisfied, were 
 violently agitated by various causes. Deficiency of pay and
 
 582 THE HISTORY OF TACIT4JS. IV. 
 
 provisions distressed them ; the Gauls too were averse to 
 the levy, and to paying their tribute ; the Rhine, by reason 
 of a drought unknown in that climate, was hardly navigable; 
 supplies were conveyed with difficulty ; to hinder the Ger- 
 mans from fording over, a chain of posts was formed on 
 the banks of the river ; and owing to the same cause the 
 supply of grain was diminished, while the consumers were 
 increased. With vulgar minds, the very shallowness of 
 the stream passed for a prodigy ; as if even the rivers and 
 the ancient defences of the empire deserted them. That, 
 which in time of peace would have been regarded as acci- 
 dental or natural, was then called fatality and divine ven- 
 geance. The army having entered Novesium, was there 
 joined by the thirteenth legion, the commander of which 
 Herennius Gallus was now associated with Vocula in the 
 superintendence of affairs. Not daring to seek the enemy, 
 they pitched their camp at a place called Gelduba. They 
 then endeavoured to restore the tone of the troops by employ- 
 ing them in forming the line of battle, in digging trenches, 
 throwing up ramparts, and other military works: and to 
 animate their courage by plunder, Vocula marched with 
 the main body into the neighbouring villages of the 
 Gugernians, a people leagued with Civilis. A portion 
 of the troops kept possession of the camp with Herennius 
 Gallus. 
 
 27. It happened that a barge, laden with grain, was 
 stranded in a shallow part of the river, at a small distance 
 from the camp. The Germans endeavoured to draw the 
 vessel to their own bank. Gallus would not submit to it, 
 and sent a cohort to aid it. On the side of the Germans 
 also the numbers were increased, and succours gradually 
 flocking in on both sides, a regular battle ensued. The 
 Germans, after making a prodigious slaughter, carried off 
 the vessel. The Romans, for this had now grown into a 
 habit, imputed their defeat not to their own want of va- 
 lour, but to the treachery of the general. The soldiers, 
 dragging Gallus out of his tent, tearing his clothes, and 
 scourging him, demanded who were his accomplices in 
 betraying the army? what was the price of his perfidy? 
 Their rage against Hordeonius Flaccus returned. He, 
 they said, was the author of the crime, and Gallus was an 
 instrument in his hands; and thus they proceeded, till at 
 length Gallus himself also, impelled by his fears of those 
 who menaced instant destruction, charged Hordeonius 
 with treason ; and being loaded with fetters, he was not 
 released till Vocula returned to the camp. That general, 
 on the following day, ordered the ringleaders of the mu-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 583 
 
 tiny to be put to death. Such was the contrast of law- 
 lessness and passive submission that existed in that army. 
 The common men, beyond all doubt, were devoted to 
 Vitellius, while the most distinguished officers inclined 
 strongly to Vespasian. Hence that alternation of atro- 
 cious guilt and capital punishment ; that medley of duti- 
 ful obedience and savage ferocity; so that those who 
 could not be kept in order, submitted to chastisement. 
 
 28. In the mean time all Germany was swelling the 
 power of Civilis by numberless accessions of forces, the 
 fidelity of the several states being guaranteed by hostages 
 of the chief of their nobility. Civilis issued his orders, 
 that the territories of the Ubians and Treverians, should 
 be laid waste, according to their proximity to each confede- 
 rate state ; and, at the same time, that another party should 
 pass over the Mosa, to harass the Menapians, the Mori- 
 nians, and the frontiers of Gaul. Booty was seized in both 
 quarters, but with peculiar animosity from the Ubians ; 
 because, though originally Germans, they had forsworn 
 their country, and, adopting a Roman name, styled them- 
 selves the Agrippinian colony. Their cohorts were cut 
 to pieces in the town of Marcodurum, where they lay in a 
 state of fancied security, because they were at a distance 
 from the bank of the Rhine. Nor did the Ubians take it 
 so passively as not to go in quest of plunder from Ger- 
 many ; at first with impunity, but afterwards they were 
 cut off; and throughout the war the fidelity they observed was 
 more enviable than the fortune that attended them. Flushed 
 with success, and rendered more formidable by the de- 
 feat of the Ubians, Civilis pressed the siege of the Old 
 Camp, keeping strict guard that no secret intelligence of 
 coming succours might reach the garrison. The manage- 
 ment of the battering-engines and other warlike prepara- 
 tions he delegated to the Batavians ; the forces from be- 
 yond the Rhine, who demanded the signal for action, he 
 ordered to advance and tear down the rampart, and when 
 they were repulsed, he bade them renew the contest, as 
 he had a redundance of men, and the loss of some of them 
 would not be felt ; nor did the night put a period to the 
 effort. 
 
 29. The barbarians having placed heaps of wood around 
 and set fire to them, betook themselves to a repast, con- 
 currently with their operations ; and as each grew warm 
 with liquor, they rushed with bootless temerity to the 
 assault. For indeed their darts were without effect from 
 the darkness, while the Romans took aim at the barba- 
 rian line, which was exposed to full view, and singled out
 
 584 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 as marks whoever was conspicuous by his valour, or the 
 splendour of his decorations. Civilis saw the disadvan- 
 tage, and ordered the fires to be put out, that all might 
 be enveloped in darkness, and the fight carried on with- 
 out distinction. Then indeed dissonant noises were heard, 
 unforeseen^ accidents occurred, there was no room for fore- 
 sight either in striking or avoiding blows; they faced about 
 to the quarter whence the shout proceeded, and directed 
 their weapons thither. Valour could profit nothing; 
 chance confounded all things, and the bravest often fell 
 by the hand of the coward. The Germans fought with 
 blind fury ; the Roman soldiers, inured to danger, threw 
 not their poles'pointed with iron nor discharged their massy 
 stones at hap-hazard. Whenever the sound of the bar- 
 barians sapping the foundations of the walls, or of the 
 scaling-ladders applied to the ramparts, presented the 
 enemy to their attack, they drove the assailants down 
 with the bosses of their shields, and followed them up 
 with their javelins. Many who made good their way to 
 the top of the walls they stabbed with daggers. After a 
 night spent in this manner, the day disclosed a new mode 
 of conflict. 
 
 30. The Batavians had reared a turret two stories 
 high, which, as it approached the praetorian gate, where 
 the ground was most even, was shivered to pieces by 
 strong bars brought forward for the purpose, and beams 
 which were made to impinge upon it ; many of those who 
 stood upon it were annihilated ; and an attack was made 
 upon the assailants, in their alarm and confusion, by a 
 sudden and successful sally. At the same time more ma- 
 chines were made by the legionary soldiers, who excelled 
 in skill and ingenuity. One, in particular, struck the 
 enemy with terror and amazement. It was an instrument 
 poised in the air, and having an oscillatory motion, by 
 which, when suddenly let down, one or more of the enemy 
 were borne aloft before the faces of their comrades, and 
 then, by turning the whole mass, were discharged within 
 the camp. Civilis abandoning the hope of storming the 
 place, again had recourse to a leisurely blockade; em- 
 ploying himself in undermining the fidelity of the legions 
 by messages and promises. 
 
 31. These transactions happened in Germany before 
 the battle of Cremona, the issue of which was communi- 
 
 ,cated by a letter from Antonius Primus, with Cascina's 
 proclamation annexed. Alpinus Montanus also, the com- 
 mander of one of the vanquished cohorts, in person ad- 
 mitted the fate of his party. By this event the minds of
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 585 
 
 the Roman army were variously affected. The auxiliaries 
 from Gaul, who neither loved nor hated either party, and 
 whose service was unconnected with sentiment, persuaded 
 by their officers, forthwith abandoned the cause of Vitel- 
 lius. The veteran soldiers hesitated, but at the instance 
 of Hordeonius Flaccus, and importuned by the tribunes, 
 they swore fidelity to Vespasian ; but without any de- 
 cisive indication of concurrence in their looks or their 
 state of mind. And though they repeated accurately 
 all the other words of the oath, they passed over the 
 name of Vespasian in a faltering manner, or in a low 
 murmur, and very generally in silence. 
 
 32. A letter from Antonius to Civilis, read before the 
 assembled legions, excited the suspicions of the soldiers, 
 as their tone was that of one writing to a co-partisan, and 
 they spoke in a hostile manner of the Germanic army. 
 Soon afterwards, intelligence of this having been conveyed 
 into the camp at Gelduba, the same things were said and 
 done, and Montanus was deputed to Civilis, with instruc- 
 tions to require, that he would " cease from prosecuting 
 the war, and abstain from veiling his hostile views under a 
 false pretence of military operations. If he meant to 
 serve Vespasia-n, that end was answered." To this mes- 
 sage Civilis replied at first with subtlety ; but perceiving 
 in Montanus a determined spirit, and a promptitude for 
 enterprise, commencing with complaints and the dan- 
 gers he had gone through in the Roman service during 
 five and twenty years, he said, " a fine reward I have re- 
 ceived for my toils, in the death of a brother, in being 
 loaded with fetters myself, in the ferocious language of 
 this army, language in which I was demanded to be given 
 up for capital punishment, and for which I now seek sa- 
 tisfaction according to the law of nations. But as for 
 you Treverians, and the other crouching souls, what re- 
 ward do you expect for having so often shed your blood, 
 except hard and thankless service, eternal tributes, rods, 
 axes, and the humours of your masters? Lo I, the prae- 
 fect of a single cohort, with the Canninefates and the Ba- 
 tavians, who are but a small portion of Gaul, have razed 
 that spacious and inefficient camp, or we hem them in 
 and distress them with sword and famine. In a word, by 
 daring nobly, either liberty will follow ; or if we fail, our 
 condition cannot be worse than it was before." Civilis, 
 having thus fired the ambition of Montanus, dismissed 
 him, but with directions to report his answer in milder 
 terms. Montanus, on his return, reported that he had
 
 586 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 failed in his negotiation, suppressing the rest; which how- 
 ever soon afterwards came to light. 
 
 33. Civilis, reserving for himself a part of his forces, 
 despatched his veteran cohorts, and the bravest of the 
 Germans, under the command of Julius Maximus and 
 Claudius Victor, to act against Vocula and his army. 
 The latter was his sister's son. As they passed they 
 stormed the winter-quarters of a squadron of cavalry, 
 situated at Asciburgium ; and fell upon the camp with 
 such suddenness, that Vocula had not time to harangue 
 his men, nor form his line. The only admonition he could 
 give them, in the tumult of the moment, was to strengthen 
 the centre with legionary troops. The auxiliaries were 
 placed in the wings pellmell. The cavalry advanced to 
 the attack ; but being received by the well-ordered ranks 
 of the Germans, they turned their backs, and fled towards 
 their party. From that moment it was a massacre, not a 
 battle. The Nejjyians, through fear or treachery, left the 
 flank of the Romans open to the enemy ; and thus the 
 Barbarians penetrated to the legions. The legions, after 
 losing their colours, were driven into their entrenchments, 
 with great carnage ; when on a sudden the fortune of the 
 day was changed, by the arrival of fresh succours. The 
 Vascon cohorts, formerly levied by Galba, and who had 
 then received orders to join the army, hearing, as they ap- 
 proached, the uproar of battle, charged the Batavians in 
 the rear. The terror that seized the enemy was greater 
 than could be expected from the number. Some imagined 
 that they were succours fromNovesium ; others, the whole 
 army from Magontiacum. That doubt added to the 
 courage of the Romans. Depending on the valour of 
 others, they recovered their own. The bravest of the 
 Batavian infantry were put to the rout. Their cavalry 
 escaped with the prisoners and standards, which they had 
 taken in the beginning of the action. The number slain 
 on the part of the Romans greatly exceeded the loss of 
 the enemy ; but the slaughter fell on the worst of their 
 troops, whereas the Germans lost the flower of their 
 army. 
 
 34. The commanders on both sides equally deserved to 
 fail ; and, when fortune favoured, equally neglected to im- 
 prove the advantage. For had Civilis sent into the field 
 a stronger force, his men could not have been hemmed in 
 by so small a number; and, having forced the entrench- 
 ments, he would have razed them to the ground. Vocula 
 had sent out no scouts to inform him of the approach of
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 587 
 
 the enemy, and therefore he had no sooner marched out 
 of his camp, than he was defeated. .And afterward*, 
 falling short of that .confidence which the victory should 
 have inspired, he wasted several days before he advanced 
 against the enemy, whom, if he had hastened at once to 
 smite, and had followed the tide of fortune, he might have 
 raised the siege of the legions by the same effort. Civilis 
 meanwhile, had endeavoured to work upon the minds of 
 the besieged, representing that it was all over with the 
 Romans, and victory had crowned the efforts of his party. 
 The standards and banners were carried round ; even the 
 prisoners were exhibited ; one of whom had the courage 
 to achieve a memorable act: with a loud voice he declared 
 what had really occurred ; when he was instantly put to 
 death ; a proceeding which gave additional credibility to the 
 informant. At the same time, the blaze of villages on fire, 
 and the country laid waste on every side, announced the 
 approach of a victorious army. Vocula commanded his 
 men to halt in sight of the camp, and ordered a fosse to be 
 made, and a palisade to be thrown up. His desire was, 
 that, the baggage and knapsacks being safely deposited, 
 they might fight without incumbrance. After this arose 
 a clamour from the men, who demanded the signal for 
 battle ; they had even accustomed themselves to use 
 menaces. Without taking time to form the line, fatigued 
 by their march, and their ranks in confusion, they com- 
 menced the fight. For Civilis was ready to receive them. 
 He relied no less on the errors of his enemy, than on the 
 valour of his own troops. The Romans fought with fluc- 
 tuating success. The bold and forward in sedition were 
 cowards in the field. Some remembering their late vic- 
 tory, maintained their post, smote the barbarians, kept up 
 their own spirits, cheered on their comrades, and, having 
 restored the broken ranks, and renewed the battle, 
 stretched out their hands* to the besieged, inviting them 
 to seize the opportunity. The legions from their ramparts 
 seeing all that occurred, rushed out at every gate. Civilis, 
 as it happened, being thrown to the ground from his horse 
 falling, and, in consequence, a report that he was slain or 
 dangerously wounded, being credited in both armies; it 
 is incalculable what terror the circumstance struck into 
 his friends, and with what alacrity it inspired the enemy. 
 
 35. Vocula, instead of hanging on the rear of the fugi- 
 tives, repaired the rampart and turrets of the camp, as if 
 a second siege threatened him ; so that he who so often 
 neglected to make use of his victory, was with good 
 reason suspected of preferring the continuance of war.
 
 588 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 The scarcity of provisions was what chiefly distressed the 
 Reman army. The baggage of the legions, with the 
 crowd of useless persons, were sent to Novesium, to bring 
 in corn from that place by land ; for the enemy was 
 master of the river. The first train proceeded in safety, 
 Civilis not having then sufficiently recovered his strength. 
 Being informed soon after that a second party was on 
 their way to Novesium, with a few cohorts, marching in 
 all the negligence of a profound peace, but a few soldiers 
 with the standards, their arms laid up in the waggons, and 
 all scattei'ed in complete disorder, he advanced against 
 them in regular order, having sent forward troops to 
 occupy the bridges and the narrow defiles. The battle 
 extended through a wide space, and was continued with 
 fluctuating success, till night put an end to the encounter. 
 The cohorts pushed into Gelduba, where the camp, re- 
 maining as before, was occupied by a garrison left there 
 for the purpose. The danger the foragers would have 
 been exposed to on their return, when incumbered and 
 disheartened, was apparent. Vocula added to his own 
 army a thousand chosen men from the fifth and fifteenth 
 legions, who had stood the siege in the old camp : invin- 
 cible soldiers, and exasperated against their commanding 
 officers. A number of others, without orders, thought tit 
 to follow, declaring aloud on their march that they would 
 no longer bear the distress of famine, nor the treachery of 
 their chiefs. While those who remained behind, com- 
 plained that, by drawing off a part, they were abandoned 
 to their fate. Hence two seditions raged at the same 
 time ; one demanding the return of Vocula, and the other 
 resolved not to re-enter the camp. 
 
 36. Civilis, in the mean time, besieged the Old Camp. 
 Vocula retired to Gelduba, and thence to Novesium. 
 Civilis took possession of Gelduba, and soon after, in an 
 engagement of the cavalry, near Novesium, gained a vic- 
 tory. But all events, whether prosperous or otherwise, 
 alike excited the soldiery to seek the destruction of their 
 general officers. Being reinforced by the arrival of the 
 fifth and fifteenth legions, and having gained intelligence 
 that a sum of money was sent by Vitellius, they clamoured 
 loudly for their donative. Hordeonius Flaccus complied 
 without much hesitation, but in the name of Vespasian. 
 This formed the great aliment of sedition. The men, 
 betaking themselves to feasts, revellings, and nocturnal 
 carousings, in their liquor renewed their old antipathy to 
 Flaccus ; and none of the tribunes or commanders daring 
 to oppose them, for the night banished all feeling of re-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 589 
 
 spect, they dragged him from his bed and slew him. The 
 same proceeding was meditated against Vocula, but he 
 escaped through the darkness, effectually disguised in the 
 habit of a slave. When their fury had subsided, and fear 
 succeeded, they sent centurions with letters to the states 
 of Gaul, to solicit succours and money. 
 
 37. The mutineers themselves, as is usual with a multi- 
 tude without a leader, rash, faint-hearted, nerveless, on 
 the approach of Civilis, seized their arms, laid them down, 
 and betook themselves to flight. Distress engendered a 
 spirit of disunion; the soldiers from the upper Rhine 
 separating their own cause from the rest. The images of 
 Vitellius were, notwithstanding, set up in the camp, and the 
 adjacent Belgic cities, when Vitellius had already fallen. 
 Then the soldiers of the first, the fourth, and the 
 eighteenth legions, returning to a sense of their duty, put 
 themselves under the command of Vocula, and having, by 
 his direction, again taken the oath of fidelity to Vespasian, 
 marched under him to raise the siege of Magontiacum. 
 The besiegers had departed ; a motley army of Cattians, 
 Usipians, and the Mattiaci, satiated with plunder, but not 
 without loss of blood. While on their march, dispersed 
 and off their. guard, our soldiers fell upon them. The 
 Treverians had even constructed a breast-work and 
 palisade along the frontiers of their country, and in their 
 contests with the Germans received and gave defeats of 
 considerable magnitude; but, in the end, they marred 
 their signal services to the Roman people, by afterwards 
 renouncing their connection with them. 
 
 38. Meanwhile, Vespasian and his son Titus, though 
 both absent from Rome, entered on the consulship; 
 while the city was plunged in grief, and perplexed with 
 manifold apprehensions ; in addition to the calamities that 
 pressed upon her, having given way to groundless fears 
 that Africa had revolted, at the instance of Lucius Piso, 
 who had engaged in revolutionary schemes. Piso was 
 at that time governor of the province ; by no means a tur- 
 bulent character. But because the ships were detained 
 by the severity of the winter, the populace, who are ac- 
 customed to buy food from day to day, and concern them- 
 selves about the price of provisions alone, of all the affairs 
 of the state, while they dreaded, believed that the coast 
 was barred ; and the transport of provisions prohibited. 
 The Vitellians, not having yet renounced the spirit of 
 party, did what in them lay to confirm the report; and 
 even the conquerors did not dislike the news, for they
 
 590 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 were men whose rapacious appetites, not to be glutted 
 even with foreign war, no civil victory could ever satisfy. 
 
 39. On the calends of January, in the senate convened 
 by Julius Frontinus the city praetor, a vote of thanks was 
 passed to the general officers, the armies, and the kings 
 in alliance with Rome. Tertius Julianus, who had quitted 
 the legion under his command, as soon as the men de- 
 clared for Vespasian, was deprived of the praetorship. 
 Plotius Griphus succeeded to the office. Hormus was 
 raised to the equestrian rank soon after. Upon the 
 resignation of Frontinus, Caesar Domitian received the 
 praetorship. His name was prefixed to all edicts and 
 letters ; but the authority of government still centred in 
 Mucianus, save that Domitian, prompted by his friends or 
 his own caprice, had the temerity to do many acts. But 
 Antonius Primus and Arrius Varus were the chief objects 
 of apprehension to Mucianus : in all the freshness of 
 recent glory, renowned for the splendour of their achieve- 
 ments, and high in the favour of the soldiery, they were 
 caressed also by the populace, because they had shown no 
 severity towards any one out of the field of battle. An- 
 tonius too was reported to have urged Scribonianus Cras- 
 sus, who derived splendour from a line of illustrious an- 
 cestors, and the reflection of his brother's fame, to under- 
 take the government ; and he would not have wanted par- 
 tisans ; but Scribonianus declined, being so little disposed 
 to embark in dangerous uncertainties, that he would hardly 
 have been prevailed upon to acquiesce, if every difficulty 
 were removed. Mucianus, therefore, as Antonius could 
 not be openly crushed, after accumulating praises upon 
 him in the senate, loaded him with promises in private, 
 holding out to his view the province of Hither Spain, 
 vacant by the departure of Cluvius Rufus ; and at the 
 same time bestowed upon his friends tribuneships and prae- 
 fectures. Then, havingfilled his ambitious mind with hopes 
 and aspirations, he destroyed the foundation of his influ- 
 ence, by sending the seventh legion, which was ardently 
 attached to Antonius, into winter-quarters. The third 
 was in the interest of Arrius Varus, and for that reason 
 sent into Syria. Part of the army was marched into 
 Germany ; thus, the seeds of sedition being removed, the 
 city began to resume its ancient form : the laws revived, 
 and the magistrates discharged the functions of their 
 office. 
 
 40. Domitian, on the day of his first appearance in the 
 senate, discoursed in few and measured terms of the
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 591 
 
 absence of his father and his brother and of his own in- 
 experience. His deportment was graceful, and his pro- 
 pensities being as yet unknown, his frequent blushes were 
 considered as a mark of modesty. Caesar proposing that 
 the honours of Galba should be revived, Curtius Montanus 
 expressed an opinion that the compliment should be paid to 
 the memory of Piso. The senate voted both propositions, 
 but that relating to Piso was not carried into effect. 
 Commissioners were then appointed by lot; some with power 
 to restore to the lawful owners the property wrested from 
 them during the war ; others, to inspect the tables of 
 brass, on which the laws were engraved, and to repair 
 such as were defaced by time ; to amend the public 
 registers, which had been vitiated by the servile spirit of 
 the times ; and to set limits to the public expenditure. 
 To Tertius Julianus, as it now appeared that he had fled 
 to join the banners of Vespasian, the praetorian dignity 
 was restored ; but the honour was confirmed to Griphus. 
 It was resolved that the hearing of the question between 
 Musonius Rufus and Publius Celer should be resumed. 
 Celer was convicted, and atonement made to the manes of 
 Soranus. This day, which was signalised by an act of 
 public justice^ was not without an instance also of indivi- 
 dual merit. Musonius was considered to have fully made 
 out his charge in all its parts. In contrast with this was 
 the estimation in which Demetrius, a disciple of the Cynic 
 school, was held, for having defended a notorious culprit, 
 with more ambition than sincerity. Publius himself, in 
 the hour of danger, had neither courage nor ability to 
 defend himself. The signal for retribution on the whole 
 race of informers being given, Junius Mauricus requested 
 Caesar to lay the journals of the late emperors before the 
 senate, that in those records they might see who were the 
 accusers, and whom they solicited permission to accuse. 
 Domitian replied, that, in a matter of such magnitude, the 
 emperor ought to be consulted. 
 
 41. The senate, on the motion of some of the leading 
 members, devised a form of oath, in which all the magi- 
 strates, with rival zeal, and the rest as they were asked to 
 vote, called the gods to witness, that no man's life by any 
 aid of theirs had been affected, and that they themselves 
 had derived no honour or reward from the distresses of the 
 citizens; while those who felt conscious of guilt were 
 agitated, and, by various subtleties, varied the terms of 
 the oath. The fathers approved of their respect for the 
 sanctity of an oath, but still considered them guilty of 
 perjury. That stigma, as it were, fell with intense force
 
 592 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 upon Sariolenus Vocula, Nonius Actianus, and Cestius 
 Severus, notorious for their frequent informations in the 
 reign of Nero. The first of these laboured under the re- 
 cent guilt of attempting the same thing with Vitellius ; 
 and the fathers continued to threaten him with violence, 
 till he withdrew from the senate-house. Pactius Africanus 
 was the next object of resentment. It was he, they said, 
 who pointed out to Nero as victims the two brothers, the 
 Scribonii, distinguished by the splendour of their fortunes, 
 and the harmony in which they lived. He dared not 
 avow the fact, and he could not deny it. Turning round 
 upon Vibius Crispus, who pressed him with pointed ques- 
 tions, by mixing him up with acts which he could not clear 
 himself of, he parried the odium due to his own crimes by 
 a communication of guilt. 
 
 42. On that day Vipstanus Messalla, not yet of sena- 
 torian age, acquired, in an eminent degree, the fame of 
 eloquence and fraternal affection, in boldly standing forth 
 to plead for his brother Aquilius Regulus. The ruin of 
 the house of the Crassi, and of Orfitus, had raised Regu- 
 lus to the pinnacle of public detestation. Of his own 
 motion, as it appeared, he undertook the prosecution 
 when a very young man, not to ward off danger from 
 himself, but to promote his views of advancement. -Sul- 
 picia Preetextata, the wife of Crassus, with four children, 
 also attended, to demand vengeance if the senate should 
 take cognizance of the case. Messalla, .therefore, did not 
 attempt to defend the cause or the accused, but by his ex- 
 posing himself to intercept the dangers that menaced his 
 brother, many of the fathers were softened. To counter- 
 act that impression, Curtius Montanus, in a speech of 
 great vehemence, went so far as to allege against Regulus, 
 that as soon as Galba was despatched, he gave money to 
 the murderer of Piso, and gnawed the head of Piso with 
 his teeth. " This surely," he said, " was an act which Nero 
 did not force him to nor did you, Regulus, redeem your 
 dignity, or earn your life by that barbarity. Let us, if 
 you will, admit the plea of those who, to save themselves, 
 accomplish the ruin of others. You, Regulus, after the 
 banishment of your father, and the distribution of his 
 effects among his creditors were left beyond the reach of 
 danger. Excluded by your youth from public honours, 
 you had nothing to tempt the avarice of Nero ; nothing 
 to excite his fears. Frond a thirst for blood, a yearning for 
 the wages of iniquity, you initiated your genius, as yet 
 unknown and untried in the defence of any man, with the 
 murder of an illustrious citizen ; when, after snatching
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 593 
 
 the spoils of a consul from the funeral pile of your country, 
 pampered with a reward of seven thousand great sesterces, 
 and glittering with the sacerdotal honours, you prostrated 
 in one common ruin, unoffending youths, aged men of the 
 highest character, and women of illustrious rank ; when 
 you upbraided the supineness of Nero in troubling him- 
 self and the informers to go from house to house: the 
 whole senate, you said, might be destroyed by one word. 
 Retain amongst you, conscript fathers, preserve this man 
 of compendious counsels, that Romans of every time of 
 life may be instructed, and as Marcellus and Crispus are 
 models for our old men, so our youth may imitate Regulus. 
 Iniquity, even when unsuccessful, finds its followers. 
 What if it thrives and flourishes? and what if we shall 
 see the man whom we dare not now cross, though only of 
 quaestorian rank, raised to the rank of praetor and consul ? 
 Think you that the race of tyrants ended with Nero ? 
 The men who survived Tiberius reasoned in that manner; 
 after the death of Caligula they said the same ; whereas 
 in the mean time there sprang up one still more hateful 
 and barbarous. From Vespasian we have nothing to 
 fear ; such is his time of life, such his moderation : but 
 examples continue to operate when. the authors of them 
 are no more. Conscript fathers, we have lost all our 
 energy : we are no longer the senate, that, after Nero was 
 put to death, demanded that the informers and the 
 ministers of his iniquity should be punished in the esta- 
 blished way. The day that succeeds the downfall of a 
 tyrant is a blessed day indeed." 
 
 43. Montanus was heard with such marked approba- 
 tion, that Helvidius conceived the hope that Marcellus 
 also might be borne down. Commencing, therefore, with 
 an encomium upon Cluvius Rufus, who, though equally 
 rich and distinguished for eloquence, during the reign of 
 Nero, had never busied himself to work the ruin of any 
 man, he pressed Eprius with this example, and the charge 
 he had against him, at once, while the minds of the 
 fathers were still glowing with indignation. Marcellus 
 saw the temper of the assembly, and, pretending to quit 
 the senate house, said, " I withdraw, Priscus, and leave 
 your senate to you. Reign there in the presence of a 
 Caesar." Vibius Crispus followed him; both enraged, 
 but with different expressions in their looks ; Marcellus 
 with eyes flashing vengeance : Crispus, with a malignant 
 smile. Their friends, however, hastening up to them 
 prevailed on them to return. As the matter was hotly 
 contested, by the men of integrity on one side, the largest 
 
 Qq
 
 594 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 party ; on the other by a few, but powerful, striving with 
 pertinacious rancour to carry their, point, the day was 
 consumed in altercation. 
 
 44. At the next meeting of the senate, Domitian pro- 
 posed to bury in oblivion all complaints, all resentments, 
 and all the sad necessities of former times. Mucianus 
 spoke at large in behalf of the informers, and in a mild 
 tone advised and, as it were, entreated such as wanted to 
 revive prosecutions which had been commenced, and 
 afterwards abandoned. The fathers gave up the inde- 
 pendence which they had just begun to exercise, when they 
 found that opposition was made to it. Mucianus appre- 
 hending that, by this check, a blow might appear to be 
 given to the authority of the senate, and that impunity 
 would seem to be granted to all the crimes committed in 
 Nero's time, remanded to the islands, to which they had 
 been banished, Octavius Sagitta, and Antistius Sosianus, 
 of senatorian rank. The former had, in a frenzy of 
 love, murdered Pontia Posthumia, whom he had been 
 connected with, and who refused to marry him. Sosi- 
 anus, by his evil practices, had been the ruin of numbers. 
 Both had been condemned by a solemn decree of the 
 senate, and banished ; and though others were allowed to re- 
 turn, they were compelled to abide by the original sentence. 
 But the odium Mucianus had incurred was not mitigated 
 by this expedient ; for, verily, Sosianus and Sagitta, 
 even if they had returned from exile, were of small account. 
 The danger was from the craft, the wealth of the in- 
 formers, and their influence ever employed in schemes of 
 villany. 
 
 45. A cause, which was heard in the senate, according 
 to ancient usage, had the effect of calming the excited 
 feelings of the fathers. Manlius Patruitus, a senator, 
 complained that, in the colony of the Seniensians, he had 
 been beaten by a crowd of people, and by order of the 
 magistrates. Nor did the injury stop there : a repre- 
 sentation of funeral obsequies, with waitings and lamenta- 
 tions, was exhibited around him in his presence, together 
 with insults and invectives thrown out against the whole 
 body of the senate. The parties accused were cited to 
 appear. The cause was heard, the accused convicted, and 
 condign punishment inflicted. The fathers added a 
 decree, by which the people of the colony were required 
 to observe good order. About the same time, Antonius 
 Flamma, at the suit of the inhabitants of Cyrene, was 
 condemned to suffer the penalties under the law against 
 extortion, and to be banished for his cruelty.
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 595 
 
 46. During these transactions, a sedition was near 
 breaking out among the soldiery. The soldiers, disbanded 
 by Vitellius, and afterwards embodied in the service of 
 VeSpasian, claimed a right to their former rank in the 
 pratorian guards. At the same time, a number of others, 
 who had been drafted from the legions, under a prospect 
 of being promoted to that station, demanded their pro- 
 mised pay. Even the Vitellian soldiers could not be dis- 
 placed without much bloodshed. Mucianus entered the 
 camp. The better to ascertain the period of time each 
 had served, he directed that the victorious troops, leaving 
 proper distances between them, should be drawn up 
 under arms, and with their standards. The Vitellians, 
 who, as has been mentioned, surrendered at Bovilla?, with 
 all that could be found either at Rome or in the neigh- 
 bourhood, were brought forward almost in a state of 
 nudity. These Mucianus directed to be placed apart, 
 and the German and British soldiery, and if there were 
 any belonging to other armies to stand near in separate 
 bodies. The Vitellians were at once paralysed with fear at 
 the first view, since they beheld, as it were, a hostile army 
 exhibiting a terrific appearance with javelins and arms, 
 while they themselves were enclosed, unarmed, and dis- 
 figured by neglect. But when they began to be haled 
 hither and thither, an universal panic seized them, and 
 great above all was the alarm of the German soldiers, 
 who thought, from this separation, that they were marked 
 out for slaughter. They embraced their companions, 
 clung round their necks, bid them give a last kiss, begged 
 that they might not be left to perish alone, nor, as their 
 cause was one, allow them to suffer a different fate. One 
 while they appealed to Mucianus, then invoked their 
 absent sovereign, and lastly summoned heaven and the gods 
 to witness ; till at length Mucianus, calling to them in the 
 name of soldiers bound by the same oath, and serving 
 the same emperor, proceeded to obviate their groundless 
 fears; for the victorious army also aided their tears by 
 clamours, and so ended matters that day. A few days 
 after, when Domitian addressed them, having now re- 
 covered their firmness, they replied in a tone of confi- 
 dence. They spurned the lands offered, requested to 
 serve, and receive their arrears of pay. Their request 
 was in a supplicatory style, but it was not to be resisted. 
 They were accordingly incorporated with the prastorian 
 guards. The superannuated, and such as had served out 
 their time, were then discharged with honour from the 
 service. Some were cashiered for misbehaviour; but
 
 596 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 gradually and singly, the safest expedient for destroying 
 a combination of numbers. 
 
 47. For the rest, whether it arose from real poverty, 
 or a wish to seem poor, a scheme was proposed in the 
 senate for raising, by a loan from private persons, the 
 sum of six millions sesterces. The management of the 
 business was committed to Poppaeus Silvanus ; but, soon 
 after, the necessity was removed, or perhaps the pretence 
 was dropped. On the proposal of Domitian, the several 
 appointments to the consulship, by Vitellius, were de- 
 clared null and void. A censorian funeral was performed 
 in honour of Flavius Sabinus; signal instances these of 
 the instability of fortune, exhibiting the extremes of ele- 
 vation and depression in the same persons. 
 
 48. About this time Lucius Piso, the proconsul, was 
 murdered. I shall be enabled to exhibit this sanguinary 
 deed in the most perfect light, after having retraced a 
 few circumstances already related, and which are not un- 
 connected with the cause and origin of this class of atro- 
 cities. In the time of Augustus and Tiberius, the legion 
 quartered in Africa, with the auxiliaries employed to 
 defend the frontier of the province, were subject to the 
 proconsul. Caligula, whose mind was of a wild unsettled 
 character, suspecting Marcus Silanus, then governor of 
 Africa, transferred the command of the legion to an im- 
 perial lieutenant, whom he sent for the purpose. The 
 power of granting military preferment was divided between 
 the two; and the orders of both clashing with each 
 other, a disagreement arose, which was aggravated by an 
 improper feeling of rivalry. The authority of the lieu- 
 tenants gained the ascendant, either from the long con- 
 tinuance of the office, or because inferiors are naturally 
 more diligent in a contest for pre-eminence ; while the 
 most illustrious of the proconsuls were more solicitous 
 about personal security than the preservation of their 
 authority. 
 
 49. But at that time Valerius Festus had the command 
 of the legion; a young man of lavish expenditure and im- 
 moderate ambition. He also felt uncomfortable on ac- 
 count of his alliance with Vitellius. Whether it be true, 
 that, in private conferences, he endeavoured to incite Piso 
 to a revolt, or withstood the solicitations of Piso, is un- 
 certain, as no man was admitted to their privacy ; and 
 after the death of Piso the generality were inclined by 
 views of interest towards the murderer. The natives of the 
 province, as well as the soldiers, were undoubtedly dis- 
 affected to Vespasian. It is likewise certain, that parti-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 597 
 
 sans of Vitellius, coming from Rome, represented to Piso 
 that Gaul was on the eve of a revolt ; the Germans ready 
 to take up arms; the dangerous situation in which he 
 stood ; and the greater security afforded by open war 
 than doubtful peace. In that juncture, Claudius Sagitta, 
 who commanded the squadron of horse called Petrina, 
 favoured by a quick passage, arrived in Africa before 
 Papirius, a centurion, despatched by Mucianus, and 
 asserted that the centurion was charged to assassinate 
 Piso; that'Galerianus, his cousin-german and son-in-law, 
 had already fallen, his only hope of safety was in taking 
 a bold step ; two courses were open to him ; he might, if 
 he preferred it, forthwith summon the province to arms ; 
 or, passing over into Gaul, offer to head the Vitellian 
 party. Piso remained deaf to these remonstrances. The 
 centurion sent by Mucianus had no sooner landed at 
 Carthage, than with a loud voice, and without intermis- 
 sion, he cried, all prosperity to Piso, as though he were 
 prince, and urged all he met, thunderstruck as they were 
 at an event so strange and unexpected, to echo his huzzas. 
 The credulous multitude rushed to the forum, and in- 
 sisted on Piso's making his appearance. They made the 
 whole place' ring with shouts of joy, from an inherent 
 supineness in ascertaining truth, and a propensity to 
 adulation. Piso, from the information of Sagitta, or his 
 natural modesty, went not out of his house, nor com- 
 mitted himself to the intemperate zeal of the people ; but 
 interrogated the centurion; and finding that the object 
 was to lay a ground of charge against him as a pretext 
 for his murder, he ordered his officers to put him to 
 death, not so much from the hope of saving his life, as in- 
 dignation at the assassin, because, being also one of the 
 murderers of Clodius Macer, he had come with hands 
 reeking with the blood of a legate to assassinate a pro- 
 consul. Henceforth, having rebuked the Carthaginians 
 in an edict indicating the anxiety he felt, he discontinued 
 the duties of his station, and confined himself to his house, 
 lest any occasion of fresh disturbance should arise even 
 by accident. 
 
 50. But when Festus was apprised of the excitement of 
 the populace, the punishment of the centurion, and other 
 matters true and false, magnified, as usual, by the voice 
 of fame, he despatched a party of horse to kill Piso. 
 The assassins, who performed the journey at full speed, 
 rushed, sword in hand, into Piso's house, at the dim hour 
 when the light is still but beginning to appear ; and being 
 chosen from the Carthaginian auxiliaries and Moors,
 
 598 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 many of them were ignorant of the person of Piso. Near 
 his chamber-door they met one of the slaves, and asked 
 him who he was, and where was Piso. The slave replied, 
 with a noble falsehood, that he was Piso, and was 
 butchered on the spot. Piso in a short time after met 
 his fate ; for there was one among them who knew him, 
 Bebius Massa, one of the imperial procurators in Africa, 
 even then the bane of every worthy character, and whose 
 name will often recur hereafter as a prime mover in the 
 calamities of our country. Festus proceeded from Adru- 
 metum, where he had stopped, anxiously looking out for 
 the result, to the legion, and ordered Cetronius Pisanus, 
 praefect of the camp, to be put in bonds, from personal 
 animosity ; but he called him a satellite of Piso. He also 
 punished some of the soldiers, and rewarded others, with no 
 good reason for either, but to acquire the reputation of having 
 suppressed a war. He then adjusted a quarrel between the 
 CEensians and the people of Leptis ; which, from the seizure 
 of fruits and cattle by rustics one among another, an affair of 
 no such magnitude, was now carried on by arms and regular 
 battles. For the CEensians were inferior in number to their 
 adversaries ; but they had formed a league with the Gara- 
 mantes, a fierce and savage race, and a prolific source of 
 depredations among their neighbours. Hence the people 
 of Leptis were reduced to the last extremity. Their 
 lands were laid waste, and they were trembling within 
 their walls, till, by the intervention of the Roman cohorts 
 and cavalry, the Garamantes were routed, and all their 
 booty was retaken, except what some of them, going 
 about from one to another of their inaccessible huts, had 
 sold to the inhabitants of more remote districts. 
 
 51. Vespasian having received intelligence of the vic- 
 tory at Cremona, and the success of his arms in every 
 quarter, the death of Vitelltus was announced to him by 
 men of all ranks, who, with equal courage and good for- 
 tune, ventured to traverse the sea at that tempestuous 
 season. Vologeses, the Parthian king, offered by his 
 ambassadors to assist him with forty thousand of his 
 cavalry. It was a proud and gratifying circumstance to 
 him to be solicited to accept such powerful auxiliaries, and 
 not to want them. He returned thanks to Vologeses, and 
 told him to send ambassadors to the senate, apprising him 
 also that the war was concluded. Vespasian, whose 
 thoughts were anxiously fixed on Italy and the affairs of 
 the city, heard the unfavourable rumour of the conduct 
 of Domitian, according to which it seemed that he was 
 outstepping the limits that belonged to his time of life,
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 599 
 
 and assuming more than could be conceded to a son. 
 Vespasian, therefore, consigned to Titus the main 
 strength of his forces to accomplish the remains of the 
 Jewish war. 
 
 52. Titus, we are told, before he parted from his fa- 
 ther, entreated him in a lengthened conversation, not to 
 allow himself to be excited too easily by the statements 
 of the accusers of his son ; and that in dealing with him, 
 he would show a mind unprejudiced and placable. Fleets 
 and armies were not such impregnable bulwarks of em- 
 pire, as a numerous family ; for friends may be cut off by 
 the effects of time, transfer their attachment in a change 
 of fortune, or fail under the influence either of inordinate 
 desires or erroneous views ; but it was a difficult task to 
 detach from men those who are connected with them by 
 the ties of blood : but especially in the case of princes in 
 whose prosperity others participate, whilst their misfor- 
 tunes pressed peculiarly upon their nearest relatives. 
 Even between brothers, unanimity would riot be lasting, 
 if the parent did not set the example. Vespasian, more 
 charmed with the filial piety of Titus than softened to- 
 wards DomUian, desired him to banish all anxiety, and 
 proceed in the great work of aggrandizing his country by 
 vigorous prosecution of the war. His own business should 
 be to cultivate the arts of peace, and secure the welfare 
 of his family. Vespasian then committed to the still tem- 
 pestuous sea some of the swiftest of his ships, laden with 
 corn ; and well it was he did, for the city was then totter- 
 ing under a state of things so critical that the corn in 
 the granaries was sufficient for no more than ten days' 
 supply, when the stores from Vespasian came in to their 
 aid. 
 
 . 53. The care of rebuilding the Capitol he committed 
 to Lucius Vestinus, a man of equestrian rank, but in cre- 
 dit and dignity among the first men in Rome. The sooth- 
 sayers, who were convened by him, advised that the ruins 
 of the former shrine should be removed to the marshes, 
 and a temple raised on the old foundation ; for the gods 
 would not permit a change of the ancient form. On the 
 eleventh day before the calends of July, the sky being re- 
 markably serene, the whole space devoted to the sacred 
 structure was encompassed with chaplets and garlands. 
 Such of the soldiers as had names of auspicious import 
 entered within the enclosure, with branches from trees, 
 emblematical of good fortune. Then the vestal virgins in 
 procession, with a band of boys and girls, whose parents, 
 male and female, were still living, sprinkled the whole
 
 600 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 place with water drawn from living fountains and rivers. 
 Helvidius Priscus, the praetor, preceded by Plautius J\\- 
 anus, the pontiff, after purifying the area by sacrificing 
 a swine, a sheep, and a bull, and replacing the entrails 
 upon the turf, invoked Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, and 
 the tutelar deities of the empire, praying that they would 
 prosper the undertaking, and, with divine power, carry to 
 perfection a work begun by the piety of man ; and then 
 Helvidius laid his hand upon the wreaths that bound the 
 foundation-stone and entwined about the cords ; at the 
 same time, the magistrates, the priests, the senators, the 
 knights, and a number of citizens, with simultaneous ef- 
 forts, prompted by zeal and exultation, haled the pon- 
 derous stone along. Contributions of gold and silver, and 
 pieces of other metals, the first that were taken from the 
 mines, that had never been melted in the furnace, but in 
 their native state, were thrown upon the foundations on 
 all hands. The soothsayers enjoined that neither stone 
 nor gold, which had been applied to other uses, should 
 profane the building. Additional height was given to the 
 edifice ; this was the only variation conceded by religion ; 
 and in point of magnificence it was considered to be in- 
 ferior to the former temple. 
 
 54. Meanwhile, the news of Vitellius's death spreading 
 through Gaul and Germany, gave rise to two wars at once. 
 For Civilis, throwing off his mask, declared open hostility 
 against the Romans ; and the Vitellian soldiers, rather 
 than acknowledge Vespasian, were ready to submit to 
 slavery under a foreign yoke. The Gauls had assumed a 
 tone of confidence, concluding that the same fate had at- 
 tended the Roman armies wherever stationed ; a rumour 
 being current among them that the Dacians and Sarma- 
 tians had laid siege to the encampments in Ma?sia agd 
 Pannonia. Affairs in Britain were supposed to be in no 
 better situation. Above all, the destruction of the Capi- 
 tol impressed them with a conviction that the dissolution 
 of the Roman empire was at hand ; the city, they said, 
 had been captured formerly by the Gauls, but the abode 
 of Jupiter being untouched the empire had survived. The 
 Druids, in their wild enthusiasm, declared in prophetic 
 strains that now a sign of the wrath of heaven had been 
 given by the appointed fire, and that the transfer of the 
 empire of the world to the transalpine nations was por- 
 tended. A report prevailed, at the same time, that the 
 chieftains of Gaul, who had been employed by Otho 
 against Vitellius, bound themselves in a compact not to 
 neglect the opportunity for regaining their liberty, should
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 601 
 
 the power of the Roman people be broken in a succession 
 of civil wars and internal calamities. 
 
 55. Before the murder of Hordeonius Flaccus, nothing 
 transpired from which the confederacy could be inferred ; 
 but after the assassination of Hordeonius, messengers were 
 seen passing to and fro between Civilis and Classicus, who 
 commanded a squadron of Treverian horse. Classicus, in 
 rank and wealth, surpassed the rest of his countrymen ; 
 he was of a royal lineage, and his ancestors renowned for 
 wisdom and valour : as for himself, he made his boast, 
 that he was the hereditary enemy, rather than the ally, of 
 Rome. He was joined in the plot by Julius Tutor and 
 Julius Sabinus ; the former a Treverian, the latter a Lin- 
 gonian. Tutor had been preferred by Vitellius to com- 
 mand on the banks of the Rhine. Sabinus, in addition to 
 his natural vanity, was inflamed by pride, in consideration 
 of his falsely supposed descent. He pretended, that his 
 great-grandmother attracted the admiration of the deified 
 Julius, and had an adulterous amour with him. These 
 men made it their business, in secret conferences, to sound 
 the temper of others ; and, having engaged in the plot 
 such as they, thought proper for the purpose, met at a 
 private house in the Agrippinian colony ; for, as a body, 
 the inhabitants abhorred attempts of this kind. Never- 
 theless there were present certain of the Ubians and Tun- 
 grians, but the Treverians and Lingonians possessed the 
 greatest influence ; nor could they brook the delay of de- 
 liberating. They proclaimed each as loud as he could, that 
 "the Roman people were raging with civil dissensions; 
 her armies were cut to pieces ; Italy was laid waste, and 
 the city at that moment taken by storm ; while all her ar- 
 mies had each of them a war upon its hands. If the 
 passes over the Alps should be secured by garrisons, the 
 Gauls having established their independence, might then 
 determine what limit they would assign to their efforts." 
 This project was approved as soon as heard. 
 
 56. How to dispose of the remaining Vitellian soldiers 
 was a perplexing question ; many were of opinion that they 
 ought to be put to the sword, as turbulent and unprincipled 
 men, and polluted with the blood of their officers. The 
 plan of sparing them prevailed, lest by removing all hope 
 of pardon they should rouse them to a desperate resist- 
 ance. It were better that they should be enticed into the 
 confederacy. Let their officers only be put to death, and 
 the common men, conscious of their crimes, yet entertain- 
 ing hopes of impunity, would readily join them. Such 
 was the nature of their first measure. They also sent
 
 602 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 emissaries, to kindle the flame of war in Gaul. The con- 
 spirators themselves feigned submission to the commands 
 of Vocula, that he might be the more off his guard, and 
 fall an easier victim. Some persons however conveyed in- 
 formation to Vocula, but he wanted strength to suppress 
 the movement, as the legions were deficient in comple- 
 ment and not to be trusted. Surrounded by a suspected 
 soldiery and secret enemies, he concluded that his best 
 course under existing circumstances, was to proceed by 
 dissimulation and the arts by which he was assailed, and 
 therefore went down to the Agrippinian colony. Thither 
 Claudius Labeo, who, as already mentioned, had been 
 captured and sent out of the jurisdiction to the Frisians, 
 having corrupted his guard, had fled for refuge ; and 
 having promised, if a force were assigned him, to pene- 
 trate into Batavia, and bring back the chiefs of the coun- 
 try to the interest of Rome, he obtained a small party of 
 foot and cavalry ; but not venturing to attempt anything 
 with the Batavians, he induced some of the Nervians and 
 Betasians to take up arms, and made incursions upon the 
 Canninefates and Marsacians more by stealth than open 
 war. 
 
 57. Vocula, induced by the fraudulent representations 
 of the Gauls, proceeded against the enemy. As soon as he 
 approached the Old Camp, Classicus and Tutor, advancing 
 under colour of exploring the motions of the enemy, 
 concluded a treaty with the German chiefs ; and then for 
 the first time they encamped apart from the legions, and 
 threw a separate rampart round a camp of their own, 
 Vocula protesting that Rome was not so rent by her own 
 divisions as to become the scorn of the Treverians and 
 Lingones : she had still a number of provinces firm in 
 her interest ; victorious armies ; the auspicious fortune of 
 the empire ; and the gods her avengers. Thus formerly 
 Sacrovir and the ./Eduans, and recently Vindex and the 
 Gauls, had been crushed, each by a single battle. And 
 now too, the violators of treaties might expect the same 
 gods, the same fate. Julius and Augustus best under- 
 stood the disposition of the Gauls ; Galba, and a miti- 
 gation of tributes, had excited hostile feelings in them. 
 They were enemies now because they were subjected to 
 a mild rule ; when they had been despoiled and stripped 
 of their possessions, they would resume a friendly spirit. 
 Having delivered this speech in a tone of high displeasure, 
 seeing that Classicus and Tutor persisted in their perfidy, 
 he marched back to Novesium. The Gauls encamped at 
 the distance of two miles. The minds of the centurions
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 603 
 
 and soldiers that visited them there, were seduced by 
 bribes to engage that a Roman army, with a baseness of 
 spirit till then unheard of, should swear fidelity to a foreign 
 power; and that an earnest of the atrocious compact should 
 be given by the murder of their commanders, or by deliver- 
 ing them up in chains. Vocula, though many persuaded him 
 to escape, resolved to go boldly through with the busi- 
 ness ; and summoning an assembly, discoursed in the fol- 
 lowing manner : 
 
 58. " Never have I addressed you, my fellow-soldiers, 
 with more anxiety for your welfare ; or with less concern 
 for myself. For that my destruction is meditated I hear 
 without regret ; and look forward to death, plunged as I 
 am in affliction, as the termination of my sufferings. But 
 I blush for you, my heart bleeds for you, against whom 
 no battle is preparing, no troops are marshalling ; for that 
 were according to the law of arms and the usage of ene- 
 mies ; Classicus hopes to fight against the Roman people 
 with your hands ; and boasts of the empire of Gaul, and 
 of the oath of fidelity to Gaul. If our good fortune and 
 courage have failed us for the moment, are we so deficient 
 in examples of former times, when, as was often the case, 
 Roman legions chose to perish rather than abandon their 
 post ? The allies of Rome have seen their cities wrapped 
 in fire, and, with their wives and children, have perished 
 in the flames : nor had they any other motive for under- 
 going that fate, than the preservation of their honour and 
 fame. At this moment, in the Old Camp, the legions are 
 enduring the horrors of famine and a siege ; but neither 
 threats nor promises can shake their constancy. Besides 
 arms and men, and a camp excellently fortified, we have 
 provisions sufficient for a war, however protracted. Our 
 money sufficed on a recent occasion, even for a donative; 
 and whether you prefer to impute it to Vespasian or to 
 Vitellius, doubtless it is the bounty of a Roman emperor. 
 Conquerors in so many wars, after routing the enemy so 
 often at Gelduba at the Old Camp, if you dread a pitched 
 battle, that surely were unworthy of you ; but you have 
 a rampart and walls, and methods of protracting the war 
 till succours arrive, and armies crowd to your relief from 
 the neighbouring provinces. Grant that I have incurred 
 your displeasure ; there are other commanders, there are 
 tribunes ; at all events, a centurion, or even a common 
 soldier. Let not this portentous fact be circulated round 
 the world, that Civilis and Classicus purpose invading 
 Italy attended by Roman soldiers. And if the Gauls and 
 Germans shall lead you to the walls of Rome, will you
 
 604 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 use your arms against your country? My soul recoils 
 with horror at the bare idea of such an atrocity. Shall 
 watches be set for Tutor the Treverian? Shall a Bata- 
 vian give the signal for battle ? Will you serve as rer 
 emits to complete the German battalions ? When the 
 Roman legions appear before you in order of battle, in 
 what horrible act will your conduct issue? Deserters al- 
 ready, will you become so a second time ? Traitors to 
 your country, will you turn traitors to your new allies ? 
 Will you stagger between your recent and your former 
 oath, objects of detestation to the gods? Thee, Jove, su- 
 premely great and good, to whom through a space of 
 eight hundred and twenty years we have paid our vows 
 to for so many triumphs ; and thee, Quirinus, founder of 
 the Roman name, I implore and beseech, that if it is not 
 your pleasure, that, under my command, this camp shall 
 remain pure and inviolate, you would at least not suffer it 
 to be defiled and polluted by Tutor and Classicus. Grant, 
 I beseech you, to Roman soldiers, either purity of thought, 
 or that they may repent speedily, and before they plunge 
 into guilty acts." 
 
 59. This speech was heard with various emotions, be- 
 tween hope, fear, and shame. Vocula retired ; and while 
 he was deliberating about putting a period to his exist- 
 ence, his slaves and freedmen prevented him from fore- 
 stalling a horrible death by a voluntary act. Classicus 
 hastened to destroy him by the hand of /Emilius Longi- 
 nus, a deserter from the first legion, whom he sent for 
 the purpose. It was thought enough that Herennius and 
 Numisius, commanders of legions, should be secured in 
 chains. Classicus, in a short time afterwards, entered 
 the camp, with the pomp and apparel of a Roman com- 
 mander ; and though he brought with him a mind inured 
 to every kind of daring, he had not power to say anything 
 beyond reciting the words of the oath. All the soldiers 
 present swore fidelity to the empire of the Gauls. The 
 assassin of Vocula was raised to high rank in the army ; 
 the rest he signalised by rewards in proportion to their 
 services in crime. Tutor and Classicus took their respec- 
 tive shares in the conduct of the war. Tutor, with a 
 strong force, invested the Agrippinian colony, and com- 
 pelled the inhabitants and all the soldiers stationed on the 
 Upper Rhine, to swear on the same terms, after putting 
 to death the tribunes at Magontiacum, and driving away 
 the praefect of the camp, because they declined. From 
 those who submitted Classicus selected the most profli- 
 gate, and sent them to the Old Camp, with directions to
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 605 
 
 promise a free pardon if they acquiesced in things as they 
 were ; otherwise, that famine, the sword, and the utmost 
 he could inflict, would be their portion. The messengers 
 added the weight of their own example. 
 
 60. The besieged were distracted between the claims 
 of duty and the pangs of hunger: between honour and 
 infamy. While in this state of indecision, they were in 
 want not only of ordinary food, but even of such as is un- 
 usual ; their beasts of burden and horses being consumed, 
 and all other animals impure and filthy which necessity 
 brought into use, at last, while tearing up shrubs and 
 stocks, and the herbs that grew between the stones, they 
 exhibited an example of patience and suffering, till at 
 length they tarnished their transcendant merit by an in- 
 glorious termination, in suing for their lives by deputies 
 sent to Civilis. Nor were their supplications listened to 
 till they swore fidelity to the empire of Gaul. Then having 
 stipulated for the plunder of the camp, he assigned guards 
 to secure the money, sutlers, and baggage, and to escort 
 them away, destitute as they were. They had proceeded 
 about five miles, when the Germans starting up, fell upon 
 them as they were marching and off their guard. The 
 most resolute of them never stirred a foot ; many were cut 
 off while attempting to escape ; the rest fled for refuge 
 back to the camp ; when it must be admitted Civilis com- 
 plained of the proceeding, and rebuked the Germans, as 
 having broken faith by an act of villany. Whether this 
 was mere pretence, or he was really unable to restrain 
 their savage violence, is not clearly made out. After ran- 
 sacking the camp they threw fire upon it, and all who sur- 
 vived the battle the flames destroyed. 
 
 61. Now, at length, having completed the destruction 
 of the legions, Civilis cropped his long and burnished hair, 
 in fulfilment of a vow common to barbarians, which he 
 took upon himself after he commenced hostilities against 
 the Romans. He is also reported to have placed as marks 
 some of the captives, to be shot by his son, a little boy, 
 with arrows and javelins suited to children. However, 
 he neither took the oath of allegiance to the Gauls him- 
 self, nor obliged any Batavian to do so, relying on the 
 power of the Germans; and should it be necessary to con- 
 tend for empire, he knew that his name stood high, and 
 that he had the advantage. Munius Lupercus, the com- 
 mander of a legion, was sent, among a number of pre- 
 sents, as a gift to Veleda, a virgin of the Bructerian na- 
 tion, who ruled over a large tract of territory ; according 
 to an ancient custom among the Germans of supposing
 
 606 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 that many of their women have a prophetic spirit, and 
 when the superstitious notion has waxed strong of believing 
 them to be divinities. The authority of Veleda, at that 
 time, was at its zenith, for she had foretold the success 
 of her countrymen, and the destruction of the legions. 
 Lupercus was murdered on the road. A few centurions 
 and tribunes, who were natives of Gaul, were reserved as 
 hostages for the alliance. The winter-camps of the co- 
 horts, the cavalry, and the legions, excepting one at Ma- 
 gontiacum, and another at Vindonissa, were pulled down 
 and burned. 
 
 62. The thirteenth legion, with the auxiliaries that sur- 
 rendered at the same time, received orders to march from 
 Novesium to the colony of the Treverians ; a day being 
 fixed within which they should quit the camp. The 
 whole interval they passed in anxiety, some on one ac- 
 count, others on another ; the dastardly looked with hor- 
 ror at the example of those slain at the Old Camp ; the 
 better sort were touched with shame, and felt the infamy 
 of their situation. " What kind of march would that be, 
 they reflected ? and \vho was to lead them ? And every 
 thing would be at the caprice of those whom they had 
 made their masters." Others, without a thought about 
 the disgrace, stowed their money and what they valued 
 most about their persons ; some prepared their arms, and 
 accoutred themselves as if for battle. While occupied 
 with these reflections, the day for their departure arrived, 
 and brought with it still deeper woes than they anticipated ; 
 for indeed the mutilation and defacement within the camp 
 was not so striking. It was the open space, the light of 
 day that developed their degradation. The images of the 
 emperors were torn down ; the Roman standards neg- 
 lected ; while the banners of the Gauls flared on all sides, 
 The train moved on in silence, like a long funereal proces- 
 sion. Their leader was Claudius Sanctus, a man who 
 had lost an eye, of a horrid countenance, and still more 
 deformed in mind. The disgrace was redoubled by the 
 arrival of another legion from the camp at Bonna ; and 
 when the report was spread of the captured legions, all 
 who a little before shuddered at the Roman name, hasten- 
 ing from the fields and houses, and pouring forth from 
 all quarters, gazed on the unwonted spectacle with too 
 much zest. The joy of the jeering rabble was more than 
 the squadron of horse, called Picentina, could endure, 
 and heedless of the threats or promises of Sanctus, 
 they marched off towards Magontiacum ; and in their way, 
 accidentally meeting Longinus, the murderer of Vocula,
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 607 
 
 by overwhelming him with their darts, they made the first 
 step in the expiation of their guilt, which they had to 
 complete thereafter. The legions, without altering their 
 course, proceeded to the city of the Treverians, and 
 pitched their tents under the walls. 
 
 63. Civilis and Classicus, elated with success, were in 
 doubt whether to give up the Agrippinnian colony to be 
 plundered by the soldiers. Their own natural ferocity 
 and love of plunder conspired to prompt them to raze the 
 city, but the plan of the war suggested arguments against 
 it, and the advantage of a reputation for clemency to 
 those who are commencing a new empire. Civilis was also 
 moved by the recollection of a service rendered to his 
 son, on the first breaking out of the war, who was laid 
 hold of in the colony of the Agrippinians ; and whom they 
 had treated with respect while in their custody. But the 
 nations beyond the Rhine saw the opulence and growth 
 of the place with envy, and considered that, to terminate 
 the war, it was necessary either that it should be an open 
 city for all Germans, or that by being demolished, it 
 should occasion the dispersion of the Ubians also. 
 
 64. Accordingly the Tencterians, a people separated 
 by the Rhine, sent ambassadors to the Agrippinian colo- 
 ny, with directions to explain to an assembly of the state 
 their resolution, which the boldest of the deputies thus 
 laid before them : "That you should have returned to the 
 community and title of Germans, we give thanks to the 
 gods, whom we adore in common, and to Mars, the chief 
 of deities ; and we congratulate you that at length free 
 yourselves, you will live, henceforward, among free men. 
 For the Romans hitherto have barred our lands, our ri- 
 vers, and, in a manner, the heavens, to prevent our hold- 
 ing intercourse in word or deed ; or, what is still more 
 offensive to men born to arms, to make us visit you with- 
 out arms, and almost naked, under the eye of a guard, 
 and obliged to pay a tax for the favour. But that our 
 friendship and union may be established imperishably, we 
 require of yojn to pull down the walls of your city, those 
 strongholds of slavery : even savage animals, if you keep 
 them confined, forget their natural courage. We require 
 that you put to the sword all the Romans within your 
 borders ; liberty and tyrants cannot dwell together. Let 
 the goods of the slain be brought into a common stock, 
 that no one may embezzle any thing, or consult his own 
 private interest apart. Let it be lawful for us and you to 
 inhabit both banks of the Rhine, as our ancestors of old. 
 As the use of light and air is given by nature to us all,
 
 608 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 she has made every land free to the brave. Revive 
 the institutions and customs of your country ; renouncing 
 those luxuries by which the Romans acquire power 
 over the people subject to them, more than by their 
 valour. An unmixed, and untainted, and unenslaved peo- 
 ple, you will either live upon a footing of equality, or you 
 will exercise authority over others." 
 
 65. The Agrippinians having taken time for delibera- 
 tion, since their present state was not such as to admit of 
 their accepting terms which would expose tbem to future 
 danger, nor of openly rejecting them, replied in this sort : 
 " As soon as the opportunity of recovering our liberty 
 presented itself, we seized it, more in compliance with our 
 eager desire to be united with you and the rest of the 
 Germans, our kinsmen by blood, than from calculations of 
 security. Now that the Roman armies are just assem- 
 bling, it is more for our safety to add to the strength of 
 our walls than to demolish them. If there were any 
 strangers out of Italy or the provinces within our bor- 
 ders, they have perished in the war, or they have escaped 
 to their respective homes. Those who of old were set- 
 tled here, and have been united with us in marriages, and 
 those who have since sprung from them, may fairly claim 
 this colony as their country. Nor do we esteem you so 
 inhuman as to wish us to murder our fathers, our bro- 
 thers, and our children. All duties, all restrictions upon 
 commerce we repeal. Let the passage over the river be 
 free and unguarded, but in the day time and without 
 arms, untij these new and recent privileges become esta- 
 blished by custom. We desire that Civilis and Veleda may 
 arbitrate between us : under their sanction the treaty shall 
 be ratified." The Tencterians were thus appeased, and 
 ambassadors were sent with presents to Civilis and Veleda, 
 who concluded everything to the satisfaction of the 
 Agrippinians. The deputies, however, were not admitted 
 to the presence of Veleda, and to accost her. Persons 
 were not allowed to see her, to increase the awe of her. 
 She herself resided in the summit of a lofty tower : a rela- 
 tion, chosen for the purpose, was employed to convey 
 the questions and responses, like a messenger between 
 man and a deity. 
 
 66. Strengthened by his alliance with the Agrippinian 
 colony, Civilis determined to gain over the neighbouring 
 states ; or, if they opposed him, to subdue them by force. 
 The Sunicians had already submitted to his arms, and he 
 had formed the youth of the country capable of bearing 
 arms into regular cohorts. To oppose his progress, Clau-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 609 
 
 dius Labeo encountered him with a body of Betasians, 
 Tungrians, and Nervians, raised by sudden levies, rely- 
 ing on the advantage of his position, as he had got pos- 
 session of the bridge over the Meuse. The battle was 
 for some time fought in a narrow defile, with doubtful 
 success, till the Germans swam across the river, and 
 charged Labeo's forces in the rear. Civilis at the same 
 time, whether from an effort of courage or a preconcerted 
 plan, rushed among the Tungrians, proclaiming aloud, 
 " that the object of the war was not to procure for the 
 Batavians and Treverians dominion over the nations. Far 
 be from us such arrogance, said he ; accept our alliance : I 
 am ready to join you ; your general, if you will ; if not, a 
 common soldier." The crowd were moved by his words, 
 and sheathed their swords. In that moment, Campanus 
 and Juvenalis, the leading chieftains of the Tungrians, 
 surrendered the whole nation to Civilis. Labeo made his 
 escape, lest he should be cut off. The Betasians and the 
 Nervians, who also surrendered, Civilis incorporated with 
 his army ; carrying all before him as the states were either 
 awed into submission, or came over spontaneously. 
 
 67. Meanwhile, Julius Sabinus, having destroyed the 
 monuments of the alliance with Rome, caused himself to 
 be proclaimed Caesar ; and at the head of a large and un- 
 disciplined body of his countrymen, marched hastily 
 against the Sequanians, a neighbouring state, and faith- 
 ful to Rome. The Sequanians did not decline the con- 
 flict. Fortune favoured the juster cause: the Lingones 
 were defeated. The rashness with which Sabinus rushed 
 on to the attack, was equalled by the precipitation with 
 which he fled. He escaped to a farmhouse, and, in order 
 to spread a report of his death, set fire to it. It was be- 
 lieved that he died there voluntarily ; but the various arts 
 by which he protracted life for nine years, and the places 
 in which he lay concealed, together with the constancy of 
 his friends, and the memorable example of his wife Eppo- 
 nina, shall be recorded in their proper place. The vic- 
 tory obtained by the Sequanians checked the progress of 
 the war; the states began to alter their tone, and to re- 
 flect on the obligations of justice and the faith of treaties; 
 the Remi setting the example, who sent a notice to the 
 different states of Gaul, to send deputies to consult in 
 common, whether they should strike for liberty or remain 
 quiet. 
 
 68. These transactions, when reported at Rome, in an 
 exaggerated form, were a source of anxiety to Mucianus, 
 lest the generals, though distinguished soldiers, for he 
 
 E r
 
 610 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 had selected Annius Gallus and Petilius Cerealis to com- 
 mand the German armies, should prove unequal to the 
 weight of the war. Rome, at the same time, could not 
 be left without a ruler. The unbridled passions of Do- 
 mitian also were dreaded ; while Antonius Primus and 
 Arrius Varus were suspected. The latter, who had been 
 put in command of the pra3torian guards, had arms and 
 men in his power. Mucianus removed him from his office, 
 and, to solace him, made him superintendent of provisions. 
 To pacify the mind of Domitian, the friend of Varus, he 
 appointed Arretinus Clemens, a man nearly related to the 
 house of Vespasian, and high in favour with Domitian, to 
 the command of the praetorian guards ; urging that, in the 
 reign of Caligula, his father held the same command with 
 high repute. The same name, he observed, would be 
 welcome to the soldiers ; and Clemens himself, though a 
 member of the senate, would be able to discharge the 
 duties of both stations. The most eminent individuals 
 among the citizens were chosen to join the expedition, 
 and others procured the appointment by intrigue. Domi- 
 tian and Mucianus prepared to set out, but in dissimilar 
 moods ; the young prince in the confidence and fervour 
 of youth, impatient for action ; Mucianus, studying pre- 
 texts for delay, to check his ardent spirit, lest, if he were 
 suddenly placed at the head of an army, from the impe- 
 tuosity natural to his years, and the impulse of pernicious 
 counsellors, he should embarrass the negotiations for 
 peace, and the operations of war. Two of the victorious 
 legions, the sixth and eighth, the twenty-first from the 
 Vitellian party, and the second from the forces lately 
 raised, were marched into Gaul ; some over the Pennine 
 and Cottian Alps, and others over the Graian mountain. 
 The fourteenth legion was summoned from Britain, and 
 the sixth and tenth from Spain. The consequence was, 
 that the states of Gaul, being inclined to more pacific 
 counsels from the rumour of the approaching army, as 
 well as the impulse of their own minds, assembled in con- 
 gress at Rheims. A deputation from the Treverians 
 waited there for the result of the deliberations, and with 
 them Tullius Valentinus, the most strenuous promoter of 
 the war. In a speech prepared for the purpose, he 
 poured forth all the charges usually urged against exten- 
 sive empires, with insulting and invidious reflections upon 
 the Roman people ; a congenial promoter of seditious dis- 
 turbances, and a favourite with the multitude on account 
 of his intemperate eloquence. 
 
 69. On the other hand, Julius Auspex, a leading chief
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 611 
 
 among the people of Rheims, by representing the power 
 of the Romans, and the blessings of peace, that war was 
 undertaken even by men of no account in the field, but 
 was carried on at the peril of the bravest spirits, and that 
 the legions were already bearing down upon them, re- 
 strained the more discreet by motives of respect and alle- 
 giance, and the more inexperienced by setting before them 
 the danger they would encounter, and by appealing to their 
 fears. The consequence was, that they applauded the 
 spirit of Valentinus, but adopted the advice of Auspex. 
 There can be no doubt that the interest of the Treverians 
 and Lingones with the states of Gaul was impaired by 
 their having espoused the cause of Verginius, in the com- 
 motions excited by Vindex. The mutual jealousies of the 
 provinces, operated in deterring many. Which was to 
 be the leading state in the war? where the source of au- 
 thority and the auspices ? what city would they choose as 
 the seat of empire, if all things succeeded according to their 
 wishes ? They had not yet gained the victory, but were 
 already quarrelling among themselves. One state boasted 
 of its alliances ; another of its riches and power ; a third 
 of its ancient. origin, in their altercations. Dissatisfied with 
 the prospect, of the future, they resolved to acquiesce in 
 their present condition. Letters were despatched to the 
 Treverians in the name of the states of Gaul, requiring 
 them to lay down their arms, while they might obtain 
 their pardon, and their friends were ready to solicit for 
 them. The same Valentinus opposed this course, and 
 his countrymen, by his advice, were deaf to all remon- 
 strances : though he was not so diligent in preparing the 
 means of war, as he was assiduous in his attendance on 
 public assemblies. 
 
 70. Thus the exertions of the Treverians, the Lingo- 
 nes, and other revolted states, were in no proportion to 
 the extent of the danger they had incurred in undertak- 
 ing the war. Not even their generals acted in concert. 
 Civilis traversed the devious regions of Belgium with the 
 object of making Labeo his prisoner, or forcing him out 
 of the country. Classicus loitered away the best part of 
 his time in indolence, as if he were enjoying the privileges 
 of empire already acquired. Even Tutor neglected to 
 secure the upper bank of the Rhine, and the passes of 
 the Alps. In the mean time, the one and twentieth le- 
 gion, by the way of Vindonissa, penetrated into Gaul, 
 and Sextilius Felix, with auxiliary cohorts, through Rhae-. 
 tia. He was joined by a squadron of horse, called Singu- 
 lares, first summoned to his aid by Vitellius, and after- 
 
 Rr 2
 
 612 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 wards united with Vespasian. Their commanding officer 
 was Julius Briganticus, whose mother was the sister of 
 Civilis ; hated by his uncle, and hating him implacably, 
 as is often the case in quarrels between near connections. 
 Tutor having augmented his army by new musters in the 
 country of the Vangiones, the Caeracatians, and Tribo- 
 cians, strengthened them with a body of veterans, horse 
 and foot, from the legions ; men whom he had either in- 
 veigled by promises, or compelled by menaces. A cohort 
 detached by Sextilius Felix appeared in sight ; they put 
 them to the sword ; but soon after, seeing the approach 
 of Roman generals and an army, they went over to that 
 side; a desertion that did them honour; and the Tribo- 
 cians, the Vangiones, and the Caeracatians, followed their 
 example. Tutor, avoiding Magontiacum, retired with the 
 Treverians to Bingium, where, having broken down the 
 bridge over the Nava, he thought himself posted to ad- 
 vantage ; but being charged by Felix with a cohort under 
 his command, who had found a fordable place, Tutor's 
 reliance was gone, and he was put to the rout. The Tre- 
 verians were struck with terror at this severe defeat, and 
 the common people laying down their arms dispersed 
 themselves about the country. Some of their chiefs, to 
 claim the merit of being the first to submit, fled for re- 
 fuge to such states as had not renounced the Roman al- 
 liance. The legions which had been removed, as already 
 mentioned, from Novesium and Bonna to the territory of 
 the Treverians, voluntarily swore fidelity to Vespasian. 
 Valentinus was absent during these transactions ; he re- 
 , turned furious, and resolved to throw everything into 
 confusion and peril again, but the legions went off to Me- 
 diomatricum, a city in alliance with Rome. Tutor and 
 Valentinus induced the Treverians once more to take up 
 arms ; putting to death Herennius and Numisius com- 
 manders of legions, to strengthen the bond of guilt that 
 held them together by diminishing the hope of par- 
 don. 
 
 71. Such was the state of the war when Petilius Cere- 
 alis reached Magontiacum. By his arrival the hopes of 
 the party were raised. Eager for battle himself, and 
 more to be admired for the contempt in which he held 
 the enemy than the prudence of his measures, he kindled 
 the spirit of the soldiery by the bold tone of his language, 
 intimating that he would not hesitate a moment to engage 
 the enemy on the first opportunity of getting at him. 
 The levies, which had been raised in Gaul, he ordered 
 back to their own country, with directions to publish
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 613 
 
 everywhere, that the legions were sufficient to defend the 
 empire; and, therefore, that the allies might return to the 
 employments of peace, as though the war was concluded, 
 now that the Roman armies- had taken up the matter. By 
 this message the Gauls were brought to a more submissive 
 temper. Their young men being thus restored to their 
 country, they felt their tribute lighter ; and were the more 
 zealous in their duties, because they were not made much 
 of. Civilis and Classicus learning that Tutor was defeated, 
 the Treverians cut to pieces, and fortune favouring the 
 Roman arms in everything, were in a state of alarm and 
 nervous agitation, and drawing together their scattered 
 forces, in the mean time warned Valentinus, by repeated 
 messengers, not to run the hazard of a decisive engage- 
 ment. Cerealis was the more impatient to strike a sudden 
 blow. He despatched emissaries to Mediomatricum, with 
 orders to bring the legions against the enemy by a shorter 
 rout, and uniting the soldiers stationed at Magontiacum 
 with the forces which he brought with him from Italy, he, 
 in three days' march, arrived at Rigodulum. At that 
 place Valentinus, at the head of a large body of Treve- 
 rians, had taken post, defended on one side by the Moselle, 
 and on the -other by mountains. He added a fosse, and 
 a barrier of stones; nor did these defences deter the 
 Roman general from ordering his infantry to force them, 
 and marching his cavalry in battle array up the hill, de- 
 spising an enemy hastily drawn together, who, he knew, 
 would not be so much benefitted by their position, as that 
 his own troops would not derive superior advantages from 
 their valour. The soldiers were retarded a little in the 
 ascent till they got clear of the enemy's missiles ; when 
 they came to engage hand to hand, the barbarians were 
 hurled headlong from the steep like the fragments of a 
 falling edifice. In the mean time a party of the cavalry, 
 wheeling round the more level eminences, made the prin- 
 cipal Belgic chiefs prisoners of war, with Valentinus, their 
 general, in the number. 
 
 72. On the following day Cerealis entered the capital 
 of the Treverians. The soldiers panted for the destruc- 
 tion of the city. " It was the birth-place of Classicus and 
 of Tutor. By their treason the legions had been besieged 
 and massacred. What was the great demerit of Cremona, 
 a city which had been plucked from the bosom of Italy 
 because, for a single night, she delayed the career of the 
 victors? A city, standing on the confines of Germany, 
 exulting in the spoils of armies, and reeking with the 
 blood of generals, was left untouched. The booty might
 
 614 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 be brought into the account of the public treasury ; they 
 would themselves be satisfied with the burning and demo- 
 lition of a rebel colony, as an atonement for the destruc- 
 tion of so many camps." Cerealis, from fear of the dis- 
 grace that would attach to him, if he should be supposed 
 to engender in his soldiers a taste for rapine and cruelty, 
 checked the fury of his men, and they obeyed. The rage 
 of civil war was over, and against foreign enemies there 
 was less violence of feeling. Their attention was imme- 
 diately turned to the legions summoned from Medioma- 
 tricum, who presented a spectacle truly wretched. Con- 
 scious of their guilt, they stood overwhelmed with grief, 
 with their eyes fixed on the ground. Between the two 
 armies no mutual salutation passed when they met. They 
 heard the words of consolation and encouragement, but 
 made no answer, skulking to their tents, and shunning 
 even the light of day. Nor was it so much a sense of 
 danger and fear that had confounded them as shame and 
 humiliation ; while even the victors were overpowered by 
 their feelings, not daring to lift up their voices and en- 
 treat for them, but interceding for their pardon with tears 
 and silent appeals, till at length Cerealis soothed their 
 minds by declaring that all that had ^happened, either in 
 consequence of dissensions among the superior officers, 
 and among the soldiers, or the treachery of the enemy, 
 was the effect of fatal necessity. They must consider 
 that day as the first of their service, and of sworn alle- 
 giance. Their former offences, great though they were, 
 neither the emperor nor their general desired to look 
 back upon. They were then admitted into the camp ; 
 and the general gave out orders to every company, that 
 no man should presume, upon any occasion of contest or 
 altercation, to reproach his comrades with having been 
 engaged in sedition, or having suffered a defeat. 
 
 73. Cerealis then called an assembly of the Treverians 
 and Lingones, and thus addressed them : " Eloquence, 
 indeed, is a talent which I never cultivated. In the field 
 of battle I have maintained the character of the Roman 
 people for valour. But as words weigh with you more than 
 anything, and things good and evil are estimated by you, 
 not with reference to their intrinsic merits, but the colour- 
 ing of incendiaries, I have resolved to address a few 
 words to you, which, now the war is over, it will be more 
 your interest to have heard, than mine to have uttered. 
 The Roman generals and emperors entered your terri- 
 tories, and the other provinces of Gaul, from no lust of 
 conquest, but solicited by your ancestors, at that time
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 615 
 
 torn by intestine divisions, and driven to the brink of 
 ruin ; and when the Germans, whom you called to your aid, 
 enslaved, without distinction, those who invited them, and 
 those who resisted. The battles which Rome has fought 
 with the Teutones and the Cimbrians her wars in Ger- 
 many, and the toil and vigour of her legions, with the 
 various events that followed, are all sufficiently known. 
 If our legions were posted on the banks of the Rhine, it 
 was not for the defence of Italy, but lest another Ariovis- 
 tus should aspire to reign over you. And do you now 
 imagine that Civilis, or the Batavians, or the nations 
 beyond the Rhine, have that affection for you and your 
 welfare which your forefathers never experienced from 
 their ancestors ? The same motives that first incited the 
 Germans to cross the Rhine, will ever subsist: ambition, 
 avarice, and the love of new settlements : ready, at all 
 times, to change their swampy fens and barren deserts to 
 get possession of your fertile plains and yourselves. But 
 liberty and specious pretences are employed to veil their 
 designs ; nor did ever any man desire to reduce others 
 to servitude and subjection to himself, that he did not use 
 those same terms. 
 
 74. " Your country, till you put yourselves under our 
 protection, was at all times harassed with wars, and op- 
 pressed by tyrants. Rome, though so often provoked 
 by war, imposed upon you by the right of conquest that 
 only which was necessary to preserve peace. For to 
 maintain the tranquillity of nations, arms are necessary ; 
 soldiers must be kept in pay ; and without a tribute sup- 
 plies cannot be raised. All other things are placed upon 
 a footing of equality. Our legions are often commanded 
 by you ; you are governors of your own provinces, and 
 even of others. Nothing is reserved to ourselves, no ex- 
 clusiveness exercised. Does a virtuous prince reign at 
 Rome ? though placed at a distance, you feel the mildness 
 of his government equally with ourselves. Tyrants turn 
 their rage upon those immediately within their reach. 
 In the same manner as you submit to excessive rains, and 
 barren seasons, and all the other calamities of nature, 
 so also put up with the avarice and prodigality of princes. 
 As long as human nature remains there will be faults. 
 But even these are not unvaried ; but are compensated 
 by the occasional display of better qualities. Unless, 
 perhaps, you expect from Tutor and Classicus a milder 
 and more equitable reign; or that under their auspices 
 armies will be raised to repel the Germans and the 
 Britons, by means of lighter tributes than are now paid.
 
 616 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 For if the Roman dominion is repudiated, (which may the 
 gods avert!) what other consequence will result than that 
 all the nations will be engaged in war with each other ? 
 During a space of eight hundred years, this fabric of 
 empire has been raised by good fortune and strict disci- 
 pline ; nor can it be torn down without bringing ruin upon 
 its destroyers. But you will be exposed to the greatest 
 danger. You have gold and riches, those great incentives 
 to war. Cherish, therefore, and honour peace and the 
 city of Rome : a city whose privileges we enjoy, alike the 
 conqueror and the conquered. Let the experience you 
 have had of the vicissitudes of fortune instruct you to 
 prefer submission with security to rebellion with ruin." 
 Such was the speech in which he allayed the fears, and 
 revived the hopes of the Gauls, who apprehended severer 
 treatment. 
 
 75. The Treverian state was occupied by the victori- 
 ous army, when Cerealis received letters from Civilis and 
 Classicus, the purport of which was, that Vespasian, 
 though they suppressed the intelligence, was no more ; 
 that Italy and Rome were reduced to the last extremity 
 by intestine war ; that the names of Domitian and Muci- 
 anus carried no weight or authority with them. If Cerealis 
 aspired to the sovereignty of Gaul, Civilis and Classicus 
 would rest contented with the limits of their own states. 
 If he preferred the decision of the sword, they did not 
 decline even that. To this message Cerealis returned no 
 answer, but sent the letter, and the person who brought 
 it, to Domitian. Meanwhile, the barbarians, in detached 
 parties, came pouring down from every quarter. Cerealis 
 was generally censured for suffering the forces to form a 
 junction, when he might have cut them off in detail. 
 The Roman army threw a fosse and rampart round the 
 camp, which he had occupied hitherto in an unprotected 
 state. 
 
 76. The Germans were arrayed against each other in a 
 conflict of opinions. Civilis was for waiting the arrival 
 of the nations beyond the Rhine, with the terror of whose 
 name the Roman forces would be disheartened, and yield 
 an easy victory. What more were the Gauls than a 
 ready prey to the conqueror ? and yet the Belgians, the 
 main strength of the nation, were with them, either avow- 
 edly, or in their hearts. Tutor maintained that, by pro- 
 tracting the war the Roman power would increase, as 
 their legions were drawing together from all parts. One 
 was already arrived from Britain, others were summoned 
 from Spain, and more were on their march from Italy;
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 617 
 
 not tumultuary bands, but veterans inured to war. He 
 alleged, too, that the Germans, for whom they should 
 wait, listened to no orders, submitted to no rule, but were 
 governed solely by caprice ; that money and presents, 
 the sole objects for which they bartered their principles, 
 were possessed in a superior degree by the Romans, and 
 that no man was so addicted to arms as not to prefer the 
 same reward for repose to incurring danger for it. But 
 if they engaged the enemy immediately, Cerealis had no 
 legions except those saved from the wreck of the Ger- 
 manic army, who were bound by treaties with the states 
 of Gaul : and the very circumstance of their having lately 
 routed an undisciplined band under Valentinus, contrary 
 to their own expectations, would minister to their own 
 temerity and that of their general. They would venture 
 again, and would encounter, not an untutored boy, whose 
 thoughts were occupied with words and harangues more 
 than steel and arms, but Civilis and Classicus ; whom they 
 will no sooner have set eyes upon than their former fears 
 will again take possession of their minds, their former 
 flight and famine, and the thought of the many occasions 
 in which they had been captured, and held their lives at 
 the mercy of others. Nor were the Treverians and Lin- 
 gonians bound to them by affection ; they would take up 
 arms against them again when their fear was removed. 
 Classicus put an end to the war of opinion by approving 
 of the sentiments of Tutor, and they proceeded to carry 
 them into effect. 
 
 77. In the centre of their array were the Ubians and 
 Lingonians, the Batavian cohorts in the right wing, the 
 Bructerians and Tencterians in the left. They made their 
 assault with such suddenness, one division from the hills, 
 another along the plain between the high road and the 
 Moselle, that Cerealis, who passed the night out of his 
 camp, received in bed the news of the attack and the 
 defeat at once, rebuking the timidity of the messengers ; 
 but at length the whole extent of the disaster presented 
 itself to his view. The Germans had forced the en- 
 trenchments of the legions ; the cavalry were routed ; and 
 the bridge over the Moselle, which forming a communica- 
 tion connected the parts beyond it with the colony, was in 
 possession of the enemy. Cerealis, undismayed in the 
 midst of this confusion and alarm, and staying the fugitives 
 with his own hand, exposed himself unsparingly amidst the 
 weapons of the enemy though his person was unprotected ; 
 and by a happy effort of desperate courage, with the 
 prompt assistance of the most intrepid of his troops, sue-
 
 618 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 ceeded in recapturing the bridge, and securing it by a 
 chosen band. Then returning to the camp, he saw the 
 legions which had been captured at Novesium and Bonna, 
 dispersed in wild disorder, their standards well nigh 
 abandoned, and the eagles in danger of falling into the 
 hands of the enemy. Fired with indignation, he ex- 
 claimed, " It is not Flaccus, it is not Vocula, whom you 
 thus abandon. There is no treachery here ; nor have I 
 anything to be apologised for, except that I was simple 
 enough to believe that you had blotted out the remem- 
 brance of your Gallic alliance, and had returned to your 
 former obligation of fealty to Rome. I shall be numbered 
 with the murdered generals ; stretch me in death with the 
 Herennii and Numisii; that all your commanders may 
 have perished by the hands of their soldiers, or of the 
 enemy. Go, tell Vespasian, or, if you will, tell Classicus 
 and Civilis, for they are nearer, that you have deserted 
 your general in the battle. But remember the legions 
 will come, who will neither leave me unavenged, nor you 
 unpunished." 
 
 78. These reproaches were founded in truth ; and the 
 tribunes and other officers assailed them with the same 
 topics. The soldiers rallied and formed by cohorts and 
 companies. Indeed, as the enemy had advanced with 
 precipitation, and the tents and baggage obstructed them, 
 for the fight took place within the rampart, their line 
 could not extend itself. Tutor, Classicus, and Civilis, 
 each in his station, kept up the spirit of the battle, urging 
 the Gauls to fight for liberty, the Batavians for glory, and 
 the Germans by motives of plunder. All things conspired 
 in their favour, till the one-and-twentieth legion, having 
 more space than the rest, forming into a dense body, sus- 
 tained the shock of the charge, and soon after made 
 them give way. Nor was it without divine interposition 
 that the victors, their courage all at once forsaking them, 
 turned their backs. Their consternation, as they them- 
 selves pretended, was occasioned by the appearance of 
 the cohorts, which, having been dispei'sed- on the first 
 onset, rallied on the topmost ridges, and produced an im- 
 pression that they were a fresh reinforcement. But the 
 fact is, that when on the point of gaining the day, they 
 were impeded by a pernicious rivalry in securing plunder, 
 in the mean time intermitting their exertions against the 
 enemy. Cerealis, as by his carelessness he well nigh 
 ruined all, so by his intrepidity restored things ; and fol- 
 lowing up his success, captured and razed the camp of 
 the enemy the same day.
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 619 
 
 79. The interval allowed to the soldiers for repose from 
 their fatigue was but short. The Agrippinians implored 
 his aid, offering to deliver up the wife and sister of Civilis, 
 with the daughter of Classicus, all left in their hands as 
 pledges of the alliance. They had, during this time, 
 massacred all the Germans who were amongst them in 
 their several houses ; whence their fears and natural 
 entreaties for succours, before the enemy should pre- 
 pare themselves for any object of ambition, or to avenge 
 their slaughtered countrymen. For Civilis had his 
 thoughts directed to that quarter, having no mean force 
 at his command, with a cohort of resistless bravery and 
 unimpaired strength, composed of Chaucians and Frisians, 
 and posted at Tolbiacum, in the Agrippinian territory. 
 But he was diverted by the mournful intelligence that 
 the cohort was annihilated by a stratagem of the Agrip- 
 pianians, who, when the Germans were asleep, after a 
 copious feast and drinking bout, fastened the doors, set 
 fire to their habitations, and burned them. At the same 
 time, Cerealis made a forced march to the relief of the 
 city. Civilis was now beset by another source of fear, lest 
 the fourteenth legion, co-operating with the fleet from 
 Britain, might harass the Batavians on the sea-coast. 
 That legion, however, marched over land, under the con- 
 duct of Fabius Priscus, to invade the Tungrians and the 
 Nervians ; and those two states submitted to the Romans. 
 The Canninefates, assuming an offensive attitude, at- 
 tacked the fleet, and either took 9r sunk the greatest 
 part. By the same people a large body of the Ner- 
 vians, who had voluntarily taken up arms in favour 
 of the Romans, was overthrown. Classicus also fought 
 with a party of horse, detached by Cerealis to Novesium, 
 with good success. These advantages, small it is true, 
 but coming one after another, damaged the eclat of the 
 recently obtained victory. 
 
 80. During these transactions, Mucianus ordered the 
 son of Vitellius to be put to death, alleging, as his excuse 
 for it, that discord would continue to prevail unless he 
 extirpated the seeds of dissension. IS or did he suffer 
 Antonius Primus to be summoned by Domitian to form 
 one of his attendants in the expedition, being jealous of 
 his favour with the soldiery, and the lofty bearing of the 
 man, who was so impatient of a superior, that he could 
 not even brook an equal. Antonius went to join Vespa- 
 sian, by whom he was received, not indeed answerably to 
 his own anticipations, but still not in a manner which in- 
 dicated any aversion on the part of the emperor. Ves-
 
 G20 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 pasian was acted upon by conflicting considerations; on 
 the one hand by the services of Antonius, under whose 
 conduct the war was unquestionably terminated ; on the 
 other by the letters of Mucianus. The other courtiers 
 also represented him in odious colours, as morose and 
 overbearing, not forgetting the imputations that attached 
 to his earlier years. Antonius himself, too, provoked 
 animosities by his arrogance, for he was too fond of magni- 
 fying his own merits. Others he censured as men of no 
 capacity for war; Caecina he stigmatised as a captive, and 
 one that could not hold out. The consequence was, that 
 he grew daily more despised and despicable, though the 
 emperor still kept up an appearance of friendship with 
 him. 
 
 81. In the course of those months during which Ves- 
 pasian was waiting at Alexandria for the periodical sea- 
 son of the summer winds, and a safe navigation, many mi- 
 racles occurred, by which the favour of heaven and a 
 sort of bias in the powers above towards Vespasian were 
 manifested. One of the common people of Alexandria, 
 known to have a disease in his eyes, embraced the knees 
 of the emperor, importuning with groans a remedy for his 
 blindness. In this he acted in compliance with the ad- 
 monition of the god Serapis, whom that nation, devoted 
 to superstition, honours above all other gods ; and he 
 prayed the emperor that he would deign to sprinkle his 
 cheeks and the balls of his eyes with the secretion of his 
 mouth. Another, who was diseased in the hand, at the 
 instance of the same god, entreated that he might be 
 pressed by the foot and sole of CaRsar. Vespasian at first 
 ridiculed the request, and treated it with contempt ; but 
 when they persisted, at one time he dreaded the imputa- 
 tion of weakness, at another he was led to hope for suc- 
 cess, by the supplications of the men themselves, and the 
 encouragements of his flatterers. Lastly, he ordered that 
 the opinion of physicians should be taken, as to whether 
 a blindness and lameness of these kinds could be got the 
 better of by human power. The physicians' stated va- 
 rious points : that in the one the power of vision was not 
 wholly destroyed, and that it would be restored if the ob- 
 stacles were removed; in the other, that the joints which 
 had become diseased might be renovated, if a healing 
 power were applied ; such peradventure was the pleasure 
 of the gods, and the emperor was chosen to perform their 
 will. To sum up all, that the glory of accomplishing the 
 cure would be Caesar's, the ridicule of its failure would 
 rest upon the sufferers. Accordingly, under an impres-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 621 
 
 sion that everything was within the power of his for- 
 tune, and that after what had occurred nothing was in- 
 credible, with a cheerful countenance himself, and while 
 the multitude that stood by waited the event in all the 
 confidence of anticipated success, Vespasian excuted what 
 was required of him. Immediately the hand was restored 
 to its functions, and the light of day shone again to the 
 blind. Persons who were present even now attest the 
 truth of both these transactions, when there is nothing to 
 be gained by falsehood. 
 
 82. After this, Vespasian conceived a deeper desire to 
 visit the sanctuary of Serapis, in order to consult the god 
 about affairs of the empire. He ordered all persons to be 
 excluded from the temple ; and lo, when he entered, and 
 his thoughts were fixed on the deity, he perceived behind 
 him a man of principal note among the Egyptians, named 
 Basilides, whom, at that moment, he knew to be detained 
 by illness at a distance of several days' journey from Alex- 
 andria. Vespasian inquired of the priests, whether Ba- 
 silides that day had entered the temple. He asked of 
 others whom he met, whether he was seen in the city. 
 At length, from messengers whom he despatched on horse- 
 back, he received certain intelligence, that Basilides was 
 at that instant of time, eighty miles distant from Alex- 
 andria. He then concluded that it was a divine vision, 
 and deduced the import of the response from the name of 
 Basilides. 
 
 83. The origin of the god Serapis, is a subject hitherto 
 not much discussed by Roman writers; the account given 
 by the priests of Egypt is as follows : At the time when 
 Ptolemy, the first of the Macedonian race, who consoli- 
 dated the power of Egypt, was adding walls and temples 
 and religious institutions to the new-built city of Alex- 
 andria, a youth of surpassing grace, and in appearance 
 transcending the human form, presented himself to him in 
 the night, commanding him to send some of his most trusty 
 friends into Pontus, to bring from that place his effigy ; 
 that it would be a source of prosperity to his kingdom, 
 and great and glorious would be the country that gave re- 
 ception to it. In that instant the youth was seen mount- 
 ing to heaven in a column of fire. Ptolemy, struck with 
 the omen and the marvellous event, laid his visions of the 
 night before the Egyptian priests, the usual interpreters 
 of such things. And as they had no knowledge of Pon- 
 tus, nor of foreign matters, he asked Timotheus, the Athe- 
 nian, one of the race of the Eumolpidaa, whom he had in- 
 vited from Eleusis, to preside over the mysteries of reli-
 
 622 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 gion, what were those rights and ceremonies, and who was 
 the deity alluded to ? Timotheus, upon inquiry of such 
 as had travelled into Pontus, learned that there was in 
 those parts a city called Sinope, and near it a temple 
 celebrated from of old among the neighbouring people, 
 sacred to the infernal Jupiter ; for there also stood near 
 him a female effigy, which many called Proserpina. But 
 Ptolemy, such is the character of despotic kings, easily 
 alarmed, but when his fears had subsided, more eager in 
 pursuit of his pleasures than concerned about religious 
 matters, came by degrees to think nothing about it, and 
 devoted his attention to other objects ; till at length the 
 same form, now more terrific in aspect, and more urgent 
 in his manner, denounced destruction to himself and his 
 kingdom, unless his behests were fulfilled. He then or- 
 dered ambassadors and presents to be despatched to Scy- 
 drothemis the king, who then ruled over the Sinopians, 
 and enjoined them, when about to sail, to repair to the 
 Pythian Apollo. They sailed with favourable winds, and 
 had a quick passage. The answer of the oracle was in 
 explicit terms: "That they should go and bring back the 
 statue of his father, and leave unmoved that of his sister." 
 84. Having reached Sinope, they delivered the presents, 
 supplications, and instructions of their king to Scydrothe- 
 mis. Fluctuating in his resolves, one while he dreaded 
 the displeasure of the deity, again, he was alarmed by the 
 menaces of the people, who opposed the request; oft- 
 times the gifts and presents of the ambassadors moved 
 him ; and after three years had been spent, while these 
 proceedings were going on, Ptolemy omitted no efforts of 
 zeal, no methods of supplication ; he added to the]dignity of 
 his ambassadors, increased the number of ships, and aug- 
 mented the weight of gold. A threatening vision then ap- 
 peared to Scydrothemis, warning him no longer to impede 
 the appointment of a god. The king still hesitating, was 
 harassed by a variety of disasters, diseases, tokens of divine 
 vengeance which could not be mistaken, and daily increasing 
 in severity. He called an assembly of the people, and laid 
 before them the orders of the god, the visions of Ptolemy 
 and himself, and the miseries that threatened them. The 
 populace turned away in disgust from their sovereign ; 
 envied the Egyptian monarch, trembled for themselves, 
 and beset the temple. Hence a more marvellous report 
 states that the god, of his own motion, quitted the tem- 
 ple, and embarked on board the fleet that lay at the 
 shore ; and wonderful to relate, they came to land at Alex- 
 andria, on the third day from that time, after measuring
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 623 
 
 so great an expanse of sea. A temple, such as suited a 
 great and opulent city, was built at a place called Rhaco- 
 tis, where, in ancient times, a chapel had been dedicated 
 to Serapis and Isis. Such is the most generally received 
 history of the god Serapis, and his conveyance into Egypt. 
 I am aware that there are those who state that he was 
 brought from Seleucia, a city of Syria, in the reign of that 
 Ptolemy whom the third generation produced ; others as- 
 sert that he was brought from Memphis, formerly a cele- 
 brated city and the pillar of ancient Egypt, by the same 
 Ptolemy. The god himself, on account of his healing art, 
 is by many called ^Esculapius; by others, Osiris, the most 
 ancient deity of the country ; and many give him the 
 name of Jupiter, as lord of the universe. But the most 
 maintain that he is Pluto ; either from tokens which are 
 discernible in the deity himself, or by a circuitous process 
 of probable reasoning. 
 
 85. As for Domitian and Mucianus, before they reached 
 the foot of the Alps, they received advices of the victory 
 gained in the country of the Treverians. Of this victory 
 the best evidence was afforded by the presence of Valen- 
 tinus, the general of the enemy, who appeared by no 
 means cast -down, but exhibited in his looks the deter- 
 mined spirit that had animated him in the field. He was 
 heard in his defence, for the mere object of ascertaining 
 the character of his mind, and was condemned. While 
 under the hands of the executioner, some one remarked 
 insultingly, that his country was reduced to subjection, 
 when he replied, that that circumstance consoled him in 
 his death. But Mucianus now declared, as an idea which 
 occurred to him at the time, what he had long harboured 
 in his breast : " that as by the blessing of the gods the 
 power of the enemy was crushed, it would be hardly be- 
 coming in Domitian, now that the war was brought to the 
 verge of a successful termination, to step in and seize the 
 glory which belonged to another. If the repose of the 
 empire, or the safety of the Gauls, were in jeopardy, then 
 Caesar ought to appear in the field ; but the Canninefates 
 and Batavians should be delegated to inferior generals. 
 Domitian himself should remain at Lyons, and at a short 
 distance from the seat of war, dazzle the enemy with the 
 power and auspicious fortune of the princedom : neither 
 condescending to engage in affairs of minor importance, 
 nor wanting when great occasions occurred. 
 
 86. His artifices were seen through, but the respect 
 due to his station required that they should not be ex- 
 posed. Thus they arrived at Lyons, from which place
 
 624 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. IV. 
 
 Domitian is believed to have sent secret messengers to 
 sound Cerealis as to whether on his appearance he would 
 place the army and the command in his hands. Whether 
 Domitian had it in contemplation, when he thought of 
 this proceeding, to levy war against his father, or to sup- 
 port and strengthen himself against his brother Titus, re- 
 mains uncertain; for Cerealis, by a judicious middle course, 
 evaded his question, as proceeding from one who in the 
 inexperience of youth desired what was ridiculous. Domi- 
 tian, seeing himself slighted by older officers, ceased to 
 discharge even those functions of empire which were of 
 limited importance, and which he had been in tb,e habit 
 of exercising; burying himself in the depths of his own 
 reflections, while he exhibited externally a semblance of 
 simplicity and modesty, affecting the pursuit of letters and 
 a passion for poetry to veil his real purposes and with- 
 draw himself from the jealousy of his brother, whose dis- 
 similar and milder nature he mistook for its opposite.
 
 THE 
 HISTORY OF TACITUS. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 IN the beginning of the same year, Titus, who was ap- 
 pointed by his father to complete the subjugation of Ju- 
 daea, and who, when both were no higher than subjects, 
 had gained a reputation for military talents, now exer- 
 cised a more extended influence, and shone with aug- 
 mented lustre ; the provinces and armies emulating each 
 other in their zeal and attachment to him. Titus, on his 
 part, that he might be thought deserving of still higher 
 distinctions, appeared in all the splendour of external em- 
 bellishments, and showed himself a prompt and resolute 
 soldier, challenging respect by courtesy and affability ; mix- 
 ing with the common soldiers when engaged in the works 
 and on their march, without impairing the dignity of 
 the general. He succeeded to the command of three le- 
 gions in Judaea, the fifth, the tenth, and the fifteenth ; 
 who had long served under Vespasian. To these he 
 added the twelfth, from Syria ; and the third, and twenty- 
 second, withdrawn from Alexandria. He was attended, 
 besides, by twenty cohorts of the allies, and eight squa- 
 drons of horse, with the two kings Agrippa and Sohemus, 
 and auxiliaries from Antiochus. He had also a band of 
 Arabs, formidable in themselves, and harbouring towards 
 the Jews the bitter animosity usually subsisting between 
 neighbouring nations. Many persons had come from Rome 
 and Italy, each impelled by the hopes he had of preoccupy- 
 ing the favour of a prince who had not yet chosen his 
 friends. With this force Titus advancing into the enemy's 
 country in order of battle, by his scouts diligently explor- 
 ing the motions of the enemy, and prepared for action, 
 formed a camp a short distance from Jerusalem. 
 
 2. Being now about to relate the catastrophe of that 
 celebrated city, it seems fitting that I should unfold the 
 particulars of its origin. The Jews, we are told, escaping 
 from the island of Crete, at the time when Saturn was 
 driven from his throne by the violence of Jupiter, settled 
 
 s s
 
 626 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 
 
 extreme parts of Libya. Their name is adduced as a 
 proof. Ida, it is alleged, is a well known mountain in 
 Crete : the neighbouring Idaeans, by an addition to the 
 name to adapt it to the language of barbarians, are ordi- 
 narily called Judaeans. Some say that the population, 
 overflowing throughout Egypt, in the reign of Isis, was 
 relieved by emigration into the neighbouring countries, 
 under the conduct of Hierosolymus and Juda. Many 
 state that they are the progeny of the Ethiopians, who 
 were impelled by fear and detestation to change their 
 abode in the reign of king Cepheus. There are those 
 who report that they are a heterogeneous band from 
 Assyria, a people who, being destitute of a country, made 
 themselves masters of a portion of Egypt, and subse- 
 quently settled in cities of their own in the Hebrew terri- 
 tories, and the parts bordering on Syria. Others, ascrib- 
 ing to the Jews an illustrious origin, say that the Solymi, 
 a nation celebrated in the poetry of Homer, called the 
 city which they built Hierosolyma, from their own name. 
 
 3. Very many authors agree in recording that a pesti- 
 lential disease, which disfigured the body in a loathsome 
 manner, spreading over Egypt, Bocchoris, at that time 
 king, repairing to the oracle of Jupiter Hammon in quest 
 of a remedy, was directed to purify his kingdom, and ex- 
 terminate that race of men as being detested by the gods. 
 That a mass of people thus searched out and collected 
 together were in a wild and barren desert abandoned to 
 their misery, when, all the rest being bathed in tears and 
 torpid with despair, Moses, one of the exiles, admonished 
 them not to look for any aid from gods or men, being 
 deserted of both, but to trust themselves to him as a hea- 
 ven-commissioned guide, by whose aid already they had 
 warded off the miseries that beset them. They assented, 
 and commenced a venturous journey, not knowing whither 
 they went. But nothing distressed them so much as want 
 of water; and now they lay stretched through all the 
 plains, ready to expire, when a herd of wild asses, return- 
 ing from pasture, went up a rock shaded with a grove. 
 Moses followed them, and forming his conjecture by the 
 herbage that grew upon the ground, opened copious 
 springs of water. This was a relief; and pursuing their 
 journey for six days without intermission, on the seventh, 
 having expelled the natives, they took possession of a 
 country, where they built their city, and dedicated their 
 temple. 
 
 4. In order to bind the people to him for the time to 
 come, Moses prescribed to theni a new form of worship, and
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 627 
 
 opposed to those of all the world beside. Whatever is 
 held sacred by the Romans, with the Jews is profane : 
 and what in other nations is unlawful and impure, with 
 them is permitted. The figure of the animal through 
 whose guidance they slaked their thirst, and were enabled 
 to terminate their wanderings, is consecrated in the sanc- 
 tuary of their temple; while in contempt of Jupiter Ham- 
 mon, they sacrifice a ram. The ox, worshipped in Egypt 
 for the god Apis, is slain as a victim by the Jews. They 
 abstain from the flesh of swine, from the recollection of 
 the loathsome affliction which they had formerly suffered 
 from leprosy, to which that animal is subject. The fa- 
 mine, with which they were for a long time distressed, is 
 still commemorated by frequent fastings ; and the Jewish 
 bread, made without leaven, is a standing evidence of 
 their seizure of corn. They say that they instituted a 
 rest on the seventh day because that day brought them 
 rest from their toils; but afterwards, charmed with the 
 pleasures of idleness, the seventh year also was devoted 
 to sloth. Others allege that this is an honour rendered 
 to Saturn, either because their religious institutes were 
 handed down by the Idaeans, who; we are informed, were 
 expelled from their country with Saturn, and were the 
 founders of the nation ; or else because that of the seven 
 stars, by which men are governed, the star of Saturn 
 moves in the highest orbit, and exercises the greatest 
 influence; and most of the heavenly bodies complete their 
 effects and course by the number seven. 
 
 5. These rites and ceremonies, howsoever introduced, 
 have the support of antiquity. Their other institutions, 
 which have been extensively adopted, are tainted with ex- 
 ecrable knavery ; for the scum and refuse of other nations, 
 renouncing the religion of 'their country, were in the habit 
 of bringing gifts and offerings to Jerusalem. Hence the 
 wealth and grandeur of the state ; and also because faith 
 is inviolably observed, and compassion is cheerfully shown 
 towards each other, while the bitterest animosity is har- 
 boured against all others. They eat and lodge with one 
 another only; and, though a people of unbridled lust, 
 they admit no intercourse with women from other nations. 
 Among themselves no restraints are imposed. That they 
 may be known by a distinctive mark, they have esta- 
 blished the practice of circumcision. All, who embrace 
 their faith submit to the same operation. The first 
 thing instilled into their proselytes is to despise the gods, 
 to abjure their country, to set at nought parents, children, 
 brothers. They show concern, however, for the increase 
 
 s s 2
 
 G28 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 
 
 of their population, for it is forbidden to put any of their 
 brethren to death ; and the souls of such as die in battle, 
 or by the hand of the executioner, are thought to be im- 
 mortal. Hence their desire of procreation, and contempt 
 of death. The bodies of the deceased they choose rather 
 to bury than burn, following in this the Egyptian custom; 
 with whom they also agree in their attention to the dead, 
 and their persuasion as to the regions below, but are op- 
 posed to them in their notions about celestial things. The 
 .^Egyptians worship various animals and images, the work 
 of man's hands; the Jews acknowledge one God only, and 
 conceive of him by the mind alone, condemning, as im- 
 pious, all who, with perishable materials, wrought into 
 the human shape, form representations of the Deity. 
 That being, they say, is above all, and everlasting, nei- 
 ther susceptible of likeness nor subject to decay. In con- 
 sequence they allow no resemblance of him in their city, 
 much less in their temples. In this way they do not flat- 
 ter their kings, nor show their respect for the Ca3sars. 
 But because their priests performed in concert with the 
 pipe and timbrels, were crowned with ivy, and a golden 
 vine was found in the temple, some have supposed that 
 Bacchus, the conqueror of the East, was the object of 
 their adoration ; but the Jewish institutions have no con- 
 formity whatever to the rites of Bacchus. For Bacchus 
 has ordained festive and jocund rites, while the usages of 
 the Jews are dull and repulsive. 
 
 6. Their land is bounded and their borders are formed 
 on the east by Arabia; on the southern confine lies 
 Egypt ; on the west Phoenicia and the sea ; they command 
 an extended range northward on the side of Syria. The 
 natives are robust, and patient of labour. Rain is seldom 
 seen, and the soil is rich and fertile. The productions of 
 the earth are such as are usually found with us, and be- 
 sides them palms and the balm tree flourish in great luxu- 
 riance. The palm groves are beautiful and lofty; the 
 balm is of moderate size. As the branches successively 
 swell, if you apply the force of iron the veins shrink, but 
 they may be made to discharge by the fragment of a stone 
 or by a shell; the fluid is employed as a medicine. The 
 principal mountain which this country rears aloft is Liba- 
 nus, which, astonishing to be related, in a climate in- 
 tensely hot, is kept cool by its shady groves, and affords 
 a secure retreat for snows. From this mountain the river 
 Jordan springs, and receives its supply of waters. The 
 stream does not discharge itself into the sea; it runs into 
 two different lakes, without mixing with them, and is ab-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 
 
 sorbed into a third. The last of these lakes is of immense 
 circuit, resembling a sea, but more nauseous in taste, and, 
 by the offensiveness of its odour, pestiferous to the neigh- 
 bourhood. The wind does not stir its surface, nor can fish 
 or water fowl endure it. The equivocal waters sustain 
 things thrown upon them as if they were thrown upon a 
 solid material ; those who are able to swim and those who 
 are not are equally upborne. At a stated season of the 
 year, the lake throws up bitumen. Experience, the mo- 
 ther of all useful arts, has taught men the method of 
 gathering it. It is a liquid substance, naturally of a black 
 hue, and by sprinkling vinegar upon it, it floats on the 
 surface in a condensed mass, which those whose business 
 it is lay hold of with the hand, and draw to the upper 
 parts of the vessel ; thence it continues to flow in and 
 load the vessel, till you cut it off. Nor could you cut it 
 off with brass or iron. It shrinks from the touch of red 
 blood, or a garment stained with the sanguineous fluid 
 which females discharge monthly. Such is the account 
 transmitted to us by ancient authors ; but persons ac- 
 quainted with the country, record that waving masses of 
 bitumen are driven towards the shore, or drawn by the 
 hand; and when by the vapour from the land, or the heat 
 of the sun, they have dried, they are cut asunder, like 
 wood or stone, by wedges, or the stroke of the hatchet. 
 
 7. At a small distance from the lake are plains, which 
 tradition says were formerly a fruitful country, and occupied 
 by populous cities, but had been destroyed by thunder- 
 bolts. Traces still remain, we are told, and that the soil, in 
 appearance parched with fire, has lost the power of bring- 
 ing forth fruits. For all things, whether spontaneously 
 produced or planted by the hand of man, whether they 
 grow to the extent of the blade only and the flower, or 
 their ordinary form, blackened and insubstantial, crumble 
 into ashes. For my part, as I would admit that cities 
 once famous have been destroyed by fire from heaven, so 
 am I of opinion that the earth is tainted by the exhala- 
 tion from the lake, the superincumbent air contaminated, 
 and that, therefore, the young plants of corn, and the 
 fruits of autumn, wither away, the soil and air alike being 
 infected. There is also a river named Belus, which glides 
 into the Judaean sea; sands are found in the neighbour- 
 hood of its mouth, which mixed with nitre are fused into 
 glass. The shore is of moderate extent, and affords an 
 exhaustlesssupply to those who dig it out. 
 
 8. A great portion of Judaea consists of scattered vil- 
 lages. They have likewise towns. Jerusalem is the
 
 630 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 
 
 capital of the nation. There stands a temple of immense 
 wealth ; the city is enclosed by the first fortifications you 
 meet with ; the royal palace by the second ; the temple 
 by the inmost. A Jew is not admitted beyond the portal. 
 All, except the priests, are excluded from the threshold. 
 While the Assyrians, and after them the Medes and Per- 
 sians, were masters of the East, the Jews, of all the nations 
 then held in subjection, were deemed the vilest. After 
 the Macedonian monarchy was established, king Antio- 
 chus having formed a plan to abolish their superstition, 
 and introduce the manners and institutions of Greece, 
 was prevented by a war with the Parthians (for Arsaces 
 had then revolted) from reforming this execrable nation. 
 In process of time, when the Macedonians were by de- 
 grees enfeebled, when the Parthian state was in its 
 infancy, and the Romans were at a distance, the Jews 
 seized the opportunity to erect a monarchy of their own. 
 Their kings were soon deposed by the caprice and levity 
 of the people ; but having recovered the throne by force 
 of arms, and having dared to drive citizens into exile, de- 
 molish cities, put to death brothers, wives, and parents, 
 and all the cruelties usual with despotic kings, they 
 encouraged the superstition, because they took to them- 
 selves the dignity of the priesthood as a support of their 
 power. 
 
 9. Pompey was the first Roman that subdued the 
 Jews, and by right of conquest entered their temple. 
 Thenceforward it became generally known that the habi- 
 tation was empty, and the sanctuary unoccupied, no re- 
 presentation of the deity being found within it. The 
 walls of the city were levelled to the ground ; the temple 
 remained. In the civil wars that afterwards shook the 
 empire, when the eastern provinces fell to the lot of Mark 
 Antony, Pacorus, the Parthian king, made himself master 
 of Judaea ; but was, in a short time after, put to death by 
 Ventidius, and his forces retired beyond the Euphrates. 
 Caius Sosius once more reduced the Jews to obedience. 
 Herod was placed on the throne by Mark Antony, and 
 Augustus enlarged his privileges. On the death of 
 Herod, a man of the name of Simon, without waiting for 
 the authority of the emperor, seized the sovereignty. He, 
 however, was punished for his ambition by Quinctilius 
 Varus, the governor of Syria ; and the nation, reduced to 
 submission, were divided in three portions between the 
 sons of Herod. During the reign of Tiberius things re- 
 mained in a state of tranquillity. Afterwards, being or- 
 dered by Caligula to place his statue in the temple, the
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 631 
 
 Jews, rather than submit, had recourse to arms. This 
 commotion the death of Caligula extinguished. Claudius, 
 the Jewish kings being either dead, or their dominion 
 reduced to narrow limits, committed the province of 
 Judaea to Roman knights, or his freedmen. One of 
 these, Antonius Felix, exercised the prerogatives of a 
 king with the spirit of a slave, rioting in cruelty and 
 licentiousness. He married Drusilla, the granddaughter 
 of Antony and Cleopatra, that he might be grandson-in- 
 law of Mark Antony, who was the grandfather of 
 Claudius. 
 
 10. The patience, however of the Jews held out to the 
 time of Cassius Florus, the procurator. Under him a war 
 broke out. Cestius Gallius, the governor of Syria, en- 
 deavoured to crush the revolt. He fought some obstinate 
 battles, most of them unsuccessfully. After his death, 
 which happened either by destiny or from disappointment 
 and vexation, Vespasian, who was sent by Nero, succeeded 
 to the command. By his character, the good fortune that 
 attended his arms, and with the advantage of excellent of- 
 ficers, in two summer campaigns he overran the whole coun- 
 try, and made himself master of all the cities except Jeru- 
 salem. The following year, which was devoted to civil war, 
 passed in tranquillity so far as concerned the Jews. The 
 peace of Italy restored, the care of foreign affairs returned. 
 It enflamed his resentment that the Jews were the only 
 nation that had not submitted. At the same time it was 
 deemed politic for Titus to remain at the head of the 
 armies, with a view to any events or casualties that might 
 arise under the new reign. Accordingly the prince, as 
 already mentioned, encamped under the walls of Jerusa- 
 lem, and displayed his legions in the face of the enemy. 
 
 11. The Jews formed in order of battle under the 
 very walls, determined, if successful, to push forward ; 
 and, if obliged to give ground, secure of a retreat. The 
 cavalry, with the light-armed cohorts, sent against them, 
 fought with doubtful success. Soon the enemy gave way, 
 and on the following days engaged in frequent skirmishes 
 before the gates, till at length, after a series of losses, 
 they were forced to retire within the walls. The Romans 
 resolved now to carry the place by storm. To linger 
 before it, till famine compelled a surrender, appeared in- 
 deed unworthy of them, and the soldiers demanded the 
 post of danger, some from courage, many from hardihood 
 and the hope of gaining rewards. Rome, her splendours 
 and her pleasures, kept flitting before the eyes of Titus 
 himself; and if Jerusalem did not fall at once, he laoked
 
 632 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 
 
 upon it as obstructing his enjoyments. But Jerusalem, 
 standing upon an eminence, naturally difficult of approach, 
 was rendered still more impregnable by redoubts and 
 bulwarks, by which even places on a level plain would 
 have been competently fortified. Two hills that rose to 
 a prodigious height, were inclosed by walls constructed so 
 as in some places to project in angles, in others to curve 
 inwards. In consequence the flanks of the besiegers were 
 exposed to the enemy's weapons. The extremities of the 
 rock were abrupt and craggy. And the towers were 
 built, upon the mountain, sixty feet high, in the low 
 ground, a hundred and twenty feet. These works pre- 
 sented a spectacle altogether astonishing. To the distant 
 eye they seemed to be of equal elevation. Within the city 
 there were other fortifications inclosing the palace of the 
 kings, and the tower of Antonia, with its conspicuous 
 pinnacles, so called by Herod, in honour of Mark Antony. 
 12. The temple itself was in the nature of a citadel, 
 inclosed in walls of its own, and more elaborate and 
 massy than the rest. The very porticoes that surrounded 
 it were a capital defence. A perennial spring supplied the 
 place with water. Subterraneous caverns were scooped out 
 in the mountains, and there were basins and tanks as reser- 
 voirs of rain-water. It was foreseen by the founders of the 
 city, that the manners and institutions of the nation, so 
 repugnant to the rest of mankind, would be productive of 
 frequent wars ; hence every kind of provision against a 
 siege, howsoever protracted ; and exposed as they had 
 been to the successful assault of Pompey, their fears and 
 experience had taught them many expedients. On the 
 other hand, having purchased the privilege of raising for- 
 tifications through the venality of the Claudian times, 
 they constructed such walls in a period of peace as show- 
 ed they had an eye to war ; while their numbers were 
 augmented by a conflux of people from every quarter, 
 and from the overthrow of other cities ; for all the most 
 indomitable spirits took refuge with them ; and by conse- 
 quence they lived in a state of greater dissension. They 
 had three armies, and as many generals. The outward 
 walls, which were of the widest extent, were defended by 
 Simon : John, otherwise called Bargioras, guarded the 
 middle precinct. The two former were strong in the 
 number of men ; the latter in situation. But battles, 
 plots, and burnings occurred among themselves, and a 
 large quantity of grain was consumed by fire. After a 
 short time, John, sending a band of assassins under colour 
 of performing a sacrifice, to cut off Eleazar and his party,
 
 THE HISTORY % OF TACITUS. V. 633 
 
 gained possession of the temple. From that time the 
 citizens separated into two factions ; and in this state they 
 continued till the Romans approaching, an enemy without 
 produced unanimity within. 
 
 13. Prodigies had occurred which that race, enslaved 
 to superstition, but opposed to religion, held it unlawful, 
 either by vows or victims, to expiate. Embattled armies 
 were seen rushing to the encounter, with burnished arms, 
 and the whole temple appeared to blaze with fire that flash- 
 ed from the clouds. Suddenly the portals of the sanctuary 
 were flung wide open, and a voice, in more than mortal 
 accents, was heard to announce that the gods are going 
 forth ; at the same time a prodigious bustle, as of persons 
 taking their departure. Occurrences which few inter- 
 preted as indicative of impending woe : the majority were 
 deeply impressed with a persuasion that it was contained 
 in the ancient writings of the priests, that it would come 
 to pass at that very time, that the East would renew its 
 strength, and they that should go forth from Judaea 
 should be rulers of the world. Mysterious words, which 
 foreshowed Vespasian and Titus : but the people, accord- 
 ing to the usual course of human fondness, interpreting 
 this consummation of destiny as referring to themselves, 
 were not induced to abandon their error even by afflic- 
 tion. We learn that the number of the besieged of every 
 age, male and female, was six hundred thousand ; all that 
 were capable bore arms, and more than could be expected 
 out of that number had the fortitude to do so. The de- 
 votion of the women was equal to that of the men ; and if 
 they must needs move their seat, and quit the habitation 
 of their fathers, they dreaded to live more than to die. 
 Such was the city, such the nation, against which Titus 
 Caesar determined to act by means of mounds and mantelets, 
 since the nature of the locality was adverse to assault and 
 sudden attacks. The legions had each their several 
 duties assigned them, and there was a cessation of fight- 
 ing until all the engines and appliances for reducing cities, 
 invented by ancient or modern genius, were prepared. 
 
 14-. As for Civilis, after the check he had received in 
 the country of the Treverians, having recruited his army 
 by supplies in Germany, he fixed his station in the Old 
 Camp, depending on the strength of the place, and that 
 the recollection of the exploits already performed there 
 might increase the confidence of the barbarians. Cerealis 
 followed him thither, with an army doubled by the junc- 
 tion of the second, sixth, and fourteenth legions; and the 
 cohorts and cavalry, which had some time before received
 
 634 THE HISTORY 6> TACITUS. V. 
 
 orders to come up to his assistance, had quickened their 
 motions after the victory. Neither of the commanders 
 was an advocate for slow operations ; but the extent of 
 the plains, naturally marshy, kept them apart ; and 
 Cerealis had increased their moisture by erecting a mole 
 athwart the Rhine, by which obstruction the water was 
 thrown back and spread over the adjacent regions. Such 
 was the nature of the place, deceptive from the unknown 
 variations in the depth, and unfavourable to us, inasmuch 
 as the Roman soldiers wore heavy armour, and were fear- 
 ful of getting out of their depth ; the Germans, on the 
 contrary, accustomed to rivers, were enabled to keep 
 their heads above water from the lightness of their arms, 
 and the height of their persons. 
 
 15. The Batavians therefore endeavouring to provoke 
 a battle, the most forward of our men commenced an en- 
 gagement. A scene of confusion followed, when arms 
 and horses as well disappeared in the deeper parts of the 
 marshes. The Germans, who knew the shallow places, 
 skipped about with ease and safety, for the most part de- 
 clining an attack in front, but wheeling round upon our 
 flank and rear. Nor was the contest carried on at close 
 quarters as in a regular engagement upon land, but as if 
 it were a naval combat the men shifted about amidst the 
 waters, or if any firm footing presented itself, there grap- 
 pling with their whole bodies at liberty, the wounded 
 with the unwounded, those who could swim with those 
 who could not, were inextricably engaged in mutual de- 
 struction. The carnage however was not proportioned to 
 the confusion, because the Romans not venturing to quit 
 the marsh returned to their camp. The issue of this en- 
 counter stimulated both the generals, but with opposite 
 motives, to expedite a decisive engagement ; Civilis to fol- 
 low up his good fortune, Cerealis to efface the stain of 
 failure. The Germans were flushed with their success, the 
 Romans were goaded on by a sense of shame. The night 
 was spent by the barbarians in songs and shouting : by 
 our men in rage and menaces. 
 
 16. Next day Cerealis formed his entire front with his 
 cavalry and auxiliary cohorts ; the legions were posted be- 
 hind them. He reserved for himself a chosen band, to 
 act as occasion might require. Civilis formed not in an 
 extended line, but in platoons. On the right stood the 
 Batavians and Gugernians ; the left was occupied by the 
 Germans, with the Rhine on their flank. No general 
 harangue was made to either army ; the commanders, on 
 both sides, exhorting their men as they came up to them.
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 635 
 
 Cerealis called to mind the established renown of the Ro- 
 man name, and their victories of ancient as well as modern 
 date. " In order to extirpate for ever a faithless, das- 
 tard, vanquished enemy, it was necessary to go and inflict 
 the punishment clue to his guilt, rather than to fight with 
 him. In the late engagement they were inferior in num- 
 ber, and yet the Germans, the bravest of the enemy's 
 troops, fled before them. There remained some still who 
 in their minds bore the memory of their flight, and on 
 their backs the marks of wounds." He next applied to 
 the legions the incitements peculiarly suited to each. The 
 fourteenth he called the conquerors of Britain ; the ex- 
 ample of the sixth, he said, raised Galba to the imperial 
 dignity. The soldiers of the second, in that battle for the 
 first time, were to consecrate their new banners and their 
 new eagle. From the legions he passed to the German 
 army, and, with hands outstretched, called upon them to 
 redeem, by the blood of the enemy, their own bank of the 
 Rhine, their own camp." The acclamations were the 
 heartier of all those, who either after a long peace were 
 eager for war, or from weariness of war, longed for peace ; 
 and who anticipated rewards and tranquillity for the future. 
 17. Nor did Civilis, when he had formed his troops, 
 omit to address them, appealing to the ground whereon 
 they stood as the witness of their valour. The Batavians 
 and the Germans," he said, " were standing on the mo- 
 numents of their own fame, treading on the ashes and 
 bones of legions. The Romans, whichever way they 
 turned their eyes, had nothing before them but memo- 
 rials of captivity and defeat. They ought not to be dis- 
 couraged at the unfavourable turn of the battle in the 
 Treverian territory ; their own victory on that occasion 
 stood in the way of the Germans, whilst neglecting to use 
 their weapons, they encumbered their hands with plun- 
 der. From that moment they had met with nothing but 
 success, while the Romans had had to struggle with every 
 difficulty. Whatever provision ought to be made by the 
 skill of a general, had been made the fields were inun- 
 dated, while they themselves were aw, are of their nature, 
 and swamps formed which would prove fatal to their ene- 
 mies. The Rhine and the gods of Germany were be- 
 fore their eyes, under whose protection he bid them apply 
 themselves to the battle, mindful of their wives, their pa- 
 rents, and their country. That day would either rank 
 them among the most renowned of their ancestors, or hand 
 them down to posterity with infamy." When his words 
 had been applauded by the clangour of arms and dancing
 
 C3G THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 
 
 such is their custom, they commenced the battle by a 
 discharge of stone balls and other missiles ; but our men 
 did not enter the fens, though the Germans annoyed them 
 for the purpose of drawing them forward. 
 
 18. Their store of darts exhausted, and the battle kin- 
 dling, the enemy charged with greater determination. 
 With their long spears and towering persons, they were 
 able at a distance to pierce the Romans, who were tossed 
 to and fro, and could not keep their footing. A solid 
 mass of the Bructerians, in the form of a wedge, swam 
 across from the mole which, as I have stated, had been 
 extended into the Rhine. In that quarter the Romans 
 were thrown into disorder, and the auxiliary cohorts be- 
 gan to give way, when the legions advanced to sustain the 
 fight ; and checking the impetuous career of the enemy, 
 the battle was restored to an equal footing. In that mo- 
 ment, a Batavian deserter came up to Cerealis, and as- 
 sured him that the enemy might be attacked in the rear, 
 if some cavalry were sent round the extremity of the fen. 
 The ground, he said, was, in that part, firm, and the Gu- 
 gernians who guarded that quarter were not on the alert. 
 Two squadrons of horse, sent with the deserter, sur- 
 rounded the unsuspecting enemy ; and the event being 
 announced by a shout, the legions at the same time bore 
 down in front. The barbarians gave way, and fled to- 
 wards the Rhine. Had the fleet been diligent in pur- 
 suing them, that day would have closed the war. The 
 approach of night, and a sudden storm of rain, hindered 
 even the cavalry from following them up. 
 
 19. Next day, the fourteenth legion was sent into the 
 upper province to Gallus Annius: Cerealis made up the 
 deficiency thus occasioned in his army, by the tenth from 
 Spain. Civilis was reinforced by the Chaucians; but with- 
 out attempting to take active measures in defence of the 
 Batavian cities. After carrying off whatever was port- 
 able, he set fire to the rest, and retired to the island ; 
 aware that the Romans could not follow him without 
 constructing a bridge, and for that purpose they had no 
 boats in readiness;, nay, he even demolished the mole 
 formed by Drusus Germanicus, and by dissipating the ob- 
 struction caused the river to pursue its rapid course to- 
 wards Gaul. The river being thus as it were swept away, 
 its diminished stream made the space between the island 
 and Germany assume the form of an uninterrupted con- 
 tinent. Tutor also and Classicus passed over the Rhine, 
 with a hundi'ed and thirteen Treverian senators. Alpinus 
 Montanus, the deputy sent, as above mentioned, from Cre-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 637 
 
 mona by Antonius Primus to the states of Gaul, was one 
 of the number. He was accompanied by his brother De- 
 cimus Alpinus. At the same time the rest of his adhe- 
 rents exerted themselves in collecting troops among those 
 nations that delighted in dangerous enterprises, by ex- 
 citing compassion, and by gifts. 
 
 20. And so great were the means of prosecuting the 
 war still left, that Civilis, dividing his army into four parts, 
 attacked on the same day the Roman cohorts, the cavalry, 
 and the legions ; the tenth legion at Arenacum ; the se- 
 cond atBatavodurum ; and the auxiliaries in their entrench- 
 ments at Grinnes and Vada. In this enterprise, Civilis 
 headed one of the divisions ; Verax, his sister's son, led 
 the second ; Classicus and Tutor had their separate com- 
 mands : nor in all their attempts, did they act in confi- 
 dence of success ; but where much was hazarded, the 
 issue in some quarter might be prosperous. They knew 
 that Cerealis was not an officer of the strictest caution ; 
 and therefore hoped, that, while he was distracted by dif- 
 ferent tidings, hastening from one post to another, he 
 might be intercepted on his march. The party, destined 
 to storm the quarters of the tenth legion, judging it an 
 enterprise -of too much danger, were content with sur- 
 prising such of the soldiers as had gone out of the camp 
 and were occupied in hewing wood. In this attack, the 
 praefect of the camp, five principal centurions, and a few 
 soldiers, were cut to pieces. The rest took shelter within 
 the entrenchments. Meanwhile at Batavodurum they ex- 
 erted themselves to destroy a bridge which the Romans 
 had in part constructed over the river; the troops en- 
 gaged, but night parted them before the victory was decided. 
 
 21. The affairs at Grinnes and Vada were of a more 
 critical character. Civilis led the assault on Grinnes, 
 Classicus that on Vada : nor could they be checked, the 
 bravest of the troops having fallen in the attempt, and 
 amongst them Briganticus, at the head of a squadron of 
 horse ; a man, as already stated, distinguished by his 
 fidelity to Rome, and his hostility to Civilis, his uncle. 
 But when Cerealis, with a select body of cavalry, came up 
 to their relief, the fortune of the day was changed, and 
 the Germans were sent flying into the river. Civilis, while 
 attempting to stop their flight, was recognised, and as- 
 sailed with a shower of darts ; but he quitted his horse, 
 and swam across the river. Verax escaped in the same 
 way : Tutor and Classicus were conveyed away in boats 
 that were brought to the shore for the purpose. The Ro- 
 man fleet, notwithstanding positive orders, failed again to
 
 638 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 
 
 co-operate with the land forces ; but they were restrained 
 by fear, and the circumstance of the rowers being dis- 
 persed on various other duties. It must be admitted that 
 Cerealis did not allow due time for the execution of his 
 orders ; hasty in taking his measures, but eminently suc- 
 cessful in their issue. Where his conduct was liable to 
 censure, fortune aided him ; and, by consequence, disci- 
 pline fell into neglect with himself and army. Only a 
 few days after, though he had the luck to escape being 
 made a prisoner, he fell under merited censure. 
 
 22. Going to Bonna and Novesium occasionally to in- 
 spect the camps erecting at those places for the winter- 
 quarters of the legions, he was in the habit of returning 
 with his fleet, his forces proceeding in a disorderly man- 
 ner, and no attention paid to the watches. The Germans 
 observed their negligence, and concerted a plan of sur- 
 prising them. They chose a night overcast with clouds, 
 and shooting down the river, entered the entrenchments 
 without opposition. They began the carnage with a strat- 
 agem. They cut the cords of the tents, and butchered the 
 men as they lay enveloped in their own dwellings. An- 
 other party, in the meantime, surprised the fleet ; threw 
 grappling instruments on the vessels, and hauled them 
 away. And as they approach in silence to escape dis- 
 covery, so, when the slaughter was begun, they raised a 
 deafening shout to add to the alarm. Roused by the 
 wounds inflicted on them, the Romans seek their arms, 
 hurry through the avenues of the camp : a few of them 
 properly armed, most of them with their vestments wrapped 
 round their arms, and with their swords drawn. The ge- 
 neral, half asleep and almost naked, was saved by a blun- 
 der of the enemy ; for they carried off the praetorian ship 
 in which a flag was hoisted, under an impression that the 
 general was aboard. Cerealis had been passing the night 
 elsewhere, as was generally believed, on account of an il- 
 licit amour with Claudia Sacrata, an Ubian woman. The 
 sentinels made an excuse for their guilt that did no ho- 
 nour to the general ; alleging that their orders were to 
 observe silence, that they might not disturb his rest, 
 and, by consequence, making no signal, and using no 
 watch-word, they themselves were overpowered with sleep. 
 It was broad day-light when the Germans sailed back, 
 towing with them the captured vessels, and among them 
 the praetorian galley, which they hauled up the river Lup- 
 pia, as an offering to Veleda. 
 
 23. Civilis conceived a vehement desire of exhibiting a 
 naval armament: he manned all the vessels with two ranks
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. G39 
 
 of oars, and even those which were impelled by one rank. 
 To these he added a prodigious number of small craft, 
 among which were thirty or forty fitted out like the Ro- 
 man Liburnian galleys. The barks lately taken from the 
 Romans were supplied, in lieu of sails, with mantles of 
 various colours, which made no unbecoming appearance. 
 The field, as it were, chosen for this naval exhibition was 
 the vast bay, resembling a sea, where the Rhine discharges 
 itself through the mouth of the Mosa into the ocean. The 
 motives for fitting out this fleet, in addition to the in- 
 herent vanity of the Batavians, was to prevent the supplies 
 on their way from Gaul, by the terror it would inspire. 
 Cerealis, from the strangeness of the thing rather than 
 apprehension, drew out against it a fleet inferior in num- 
 ber, but in the skill of the mariners, the experience of 
 the pilots, and the size of the vessels, superior. The 
 Romans sailed with the current ; the enemy had the wind 
 in their favour. Thus, brushing by each other, they 
 parted after a faint discharge of light darts. Civilis, 
 without attempting anything further, retired beyond the 
 Rhine ; Cerealis laid waste the isle of Batavia with deter- 
 mined hostility, leaving however the lands and houses of 
 Civilis untouched ; according to the known policy of mi- 
 litary commanders. But during these proceedings, as it 
 was now the latter end of autumn, and the rainy season 
 had set in, the river, swelling above its banks, so com- 
 pletely inundated the naturally low and swampy island, 
 that it presented the appearance of a lake. No ships 
 were at hand ; no means of getting provisions ; and the 
 tents, which stood on a flat, were carried away by the 
 force of the waters. 
 
 24-. Civilis pleaded it as a merit on his part, that the 
 Roman army, in this juncture, might have been cut off, 
 and that the Germans wished it, but were by his artifices 
 diverted from the enterprise. The surrender by that 
 chief, which followed soon after, made this account not 
 improbable. For Cerealis, by secret agents, offered terms 
 of peace to the Batavians, and a promise of pardon to Ci- 
 vilis ; and at the same time suggested to Veleda and her 
 family to change the fortune of the war, hitherto pregnant 
 with disasters to them by conferring a well-timed favour 
 upon the Romans. The Treverians were cut to pieces, 
 the Ubians reduced, and the Batavians shorn of their 
 country ; nor did aught result from the friendship of Ci- 
 vilis, but wounds, banishment, and mourning. Civilis was 
 now an exile and outcast from his country, a burthen to 
 those who harboured him. Enough of error had they
 
 640 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 
 
 committed in so often crossing the Rhine. If they carried 
 their machinations further, iniquity and guilt would be on 
 one side : on the other, a just retribution and the gods. 
 
 25. Menaces were mingled with his promises. The at- 
 tachment of the nations beyond the Rhine giving way, 
 the Batavians also began to express dissatisfaction. " It 
 was unwise," they said, " to persist in a desperate cause ; 
 nor was it possible that a single nation could deliver the 
 world from bondage. By the slaughter of the legions, 
 and the firing of the Roman camps, what end had been 
 answered, except that of bringing into the field a greater 
 number of legions and more efficient ? If the war was 
 waged for Vespasian, Vespasian was master of the empire. 
 If they were challenging the Roman people to a trial of 
 strength, what proportion did the Batavians bear to the 
 whole human race. Let them turn their eyes to Rhaetia, 
 to Noricum, and the burthens borne by the other allies of 
 Rome. From the Batavians Rome exacted no tribute : 
 men and valour were all she enjoined. This was all but 
 freedom; and if they were to choose who should rule over 
 them, it was more honourable to submit to the emperor 
 of Rome, than the female rulers of the Germans." Such 
 was the reasoning of the common people. The nobles 
 complained that, exasperated themselves, they were hur- 
 ried into the war by the more violent frenzy of Civilis ; 
 that he had sought to avert the calamities of his house by 
 the ruin of his country. Then it was that the gods were 
 offended at the Batavians, when the legions were being 
 besieged, commanders murdered, and a war undertaken 
 which held out the only hope to one man, but was fatal 
 to themselves. They were now on the brink of destruc- 
 tion, unless they set about retracing their steps, and de- 
 monstrating their contrition, by punishing the originator 
 of their guilt." 
 
 26. Civilis perceived this turn in the sentiments of his 
 countrymen, and resolved to be beforehand with them ; not 
 only because he was weary of the calamities of war, but 
 from the hope of saving his life, a feeling which often sub- 
 dues noble minds. He desired a conference. The bridge 
 over the Nabalia was broken through in the middle ; the 
 two chiefs advanced to the extremities of the chasm, when 
 Civilis thus began : " Were I pleading my cause before a 
 commander of Vitellius, I should neither deserve pardon 
 for what I have done, nor credit for what I state. Vitel- 
 lius and I were mortal foes ; we acted with avowed hos- 
 tility. The quarrel was begun by him; it was inflamed by 
 me. Towards Vespasian I have long behaved with re-
 
 THE HISTORY OF TACITUS. V. 641 
 
 spect. While he was yet a private man, we were reputed 
 friends. This was well understood by Antonius Pri- 
 mus ; by whose letters I was urged to kindle the flame of 
 war, lest the German legions and the youth of Gaul should 
 pass over the Alps. The instructions Antonius commu- 
 nicated by letters, Hordeonius Flaccus gave in person. 
 I stirred up a war in Germany in the same manner as 
 Mucianus did in Syria, Aponius in Maesia, and Flavianus 
 in Pannonia." * * * * 
 
 THE END. 
 
 OXFORD i PRINTED BY D. A. TALBOYS.
 
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