Suetonius

''«OVO. UTAH

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SUETONIUS
I

31

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*'^*SUETONIUS

WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY
J. C. ROLFE, Ph.D.

PROFESSOR OF THK LATIN LANGUAOE AND LITERATURE
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

IN TWO VOLUMES

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON

WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD

MCMLXXIX

British ISBN 0 434 99031 0
American ISBN 0'674'99036'8

First printed 1913
Reprinted 1920, 1924, 1930, 1944

Revised and Reprinted 1951
Reprinted 1960, 1964, 1970, 1979

Printed in Great Britain

H^-HiOLO B. LEE LIB«A«Y
MIOVO, UTAH

PREFACE

The translation of the Lives of ike Caesars is based
upon the text of Maximilian Ihm, Leipzig, 1907
{editio minor, 1908) with some slight changes in
punctuation, capitalisation, and orthography, to con-
form more nearly with English and American usage.
Where Ihm does not offer a readable text, con-
jectures have been admitted and mentioned in the
footnotes, and in a few other cases a different reading
from his has been adopted.

The aim has been a translation, rather than the
easier task of a paraphrase. The version of Philemon
Holland (London, 1606) cannot be surpassed in style
and spirit, and it is more accurate than any other
English translation. An attempt has been made to
compete with it in the only possible way, namely in
greater fidelity to a better text than was available in
his day, and in a nearer approach to the manner of
Suetonius. The text and interpretation of Suetonius
offer many difficulties, all of which have received
careful consideration ; but it is hardly to be hoped
that the results have been satisfactory in all cases.

PREFACE

I am indebted for many valuable suggestions to the
excellent German translation of Adolf Stahr^ Stutt-
gart^ 1857, in the new edition published at Munich
in 1912.

To the Lives of the Caesars have been added those
extracts from the Lives of Illustrious Men which
afford a continuous text and are generally regarded
as authentic. See the Prefatory Note to Part II.

A complete Index to the whole work will be found
at the end of Volume IL

JOHN C. ROLFE,

Philadelphia, April, 1913.

CONTENTS

FAOE

PREFACE V

THE LIFE AND WORKS OF SUETONIUS ... ix

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS xv

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS Xvii

THE MANUSCRIPTS Xxi

BIBLIOCiRAPHICAL NOTE XXvii

SIGLA XXxi

BOOK I.— THE DEIFIED JULIUS 1

BOOK II. — THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS 121

BOOK III. — TIBERIUS 289

BOOK IV. — GAIUS CALIGULA 403

STEMMA OF THE JITLIO-CLAUDIAN EMPERORS . . . 498

Vll

THE LIFE AND WORKS OF
SUETONIUS

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus is one of the numerous
Roman writers who give us Httle information about
themselves. He only tells us ^ that he was the son of
Suetonius Laetus, a Roman knight, who took part in
the battle of Betriaeum as tribune of the thirteenth
legion ; for four other casual allusions'^ add nothing
of importance, although they are of assistance in
conjecturing the date of his birth, which Mommsen ^
assigns to the year 77 a.d., Mace^ with somewhat
greater probability to 69. The rest of our informa-
tion is derived from the Letters of the Younger
Pliny and from a single allusion in Spartianus, who
in the time of Diocletian wrote a biography of
Hadrian.

His birthplace is unknown, and it is possible that
he was one of the few Roman writers who were born
in the city of Rome.^ The date of his death is also
uncertain. Our last reference to him is in 121, but

1 Otho, X. 1.

2 Calig. xix. 3 ; NerOf Ivii. 2 ; Dom. xii. 2 ; Gr. iv.

• Hermes, iii. p. 43. * Essai sur Su4tone, pp. 35 ff.

• There is no prominent writer of whom this can be asserted
positively ; it seems probable in the case of Caesar and
Lucretius ; for Suetonius see Mac^, Essaiy p. 33 f .

ix

THE LIFE AND WORKS OF SUETONIUS

the number and extent of his works, and the impli-
cation in one of Pliny*s Letters ^ that he was slow to
publish, suggest that he must have lired to a good
old age, perhaps including a part of the reign of
Antoninus Pius. From Pliny we learn that he
practised at the bar,^ although it was apparently
only for a short time. That he was a schoolmaster,
which is asserted by Mace and others, seems to lack
evidence.^ He took no part in political life, and
although he secured a military tribuneship through
Pliny's good offices, he soon had it transferred to a
relative.^ He received from Trajan the ius trium
liberorum,^ but this was not justified by the number
of his offspring. Apparently he had no children,
but there is no evidence that his marriage was
unhappy as well as unfruitful,^ as some assert. That
he received the privilege from an emperor so
reluctant to grant it to those who could not legally
lay claim to it, is perhaps evidence of his high
character. In his letter to Trajan Pliny refers
to Suetonius as contuhemalis, which indicates an
intimate friendship and an approximately equal age.
The latter is not inconsistent with Pliny's language
in EpisL 3. 8. 1,^ since his position was so much higher
than that of Suetonius, and it is in accord with Epist.
9. 34, where Pliny consults his friend as to the
advisability of reading his verses in public.

The letters of Pliny which refer to Suetonius
cover approximately the period from 96 to 112.

1 5. 10. 2 EpisL 1. 18.

' Sckolasticis dominis, in Pliny, Epist. 1. 24. 4, means
*' scholars turned landowners." * Pliny, Epist, 3. 8.

5 Pliny, Epist. 10. 94 and 95.
^ parum feliXy Pliny, Epi.^t. 10. 94. 2.
'' rtvertntia quam mihi pi^aestas.

THE LIFE AND WORKS OF SUETONIUS

From Spartianus ^ we learn that he held the position
of secretary ^ to Hadrian^ probably during the period
when his friend and patron Gains Septicius Clarus
was a prefect of the praetorian guard (119 to 121).
It was doubtless at this time that Suetonius gave
Hadrian the little statuette of Augustus^ referred to
in Aug, vii. 1. Spartianus tells us that both Suetonius
and Septicius were discharged by Hadrian^ ^^quod
apud Sabinam uxorem inmssu eius familiarius tunc se
egerant quam reverentia domus aulicae postulabat."
While this statement is far from clear or definite_, the
words iniussu eius suggest some violation of court
etiquette^ rather than any more serious misconduct.
From this time on we lose sight of Suetonius, and it
seems probable that he lived in retirement and
devoted himself to literary work.

The references to his works are considerably more
numerous. A catalogue of them is preserved by
Suidas/ to which additions have been made from
other sources. He was a man of scholarly tastes
and habits^ and according to the fashion of his later
years,, when the greater part of the work appears to
have been done, apparently wrote in Greek as well
as in Latin. His writings were in the fields of
history (biography), antiquities, natural history and
grammar, and may be listed as follows : —

I. — Biographical and Historical.

1. The Lives of the Caesars.

2. On Illustrious Men (in the field of literature).

3. On Famous Courtesans.

4. On the Kings.

^ ViL Hadr. 11. 3.

"^ Ah epistvZis^ referred to by Spartianus by the later title
of magister episivlarum. ^ s.v. TpdyKvWos.

xi

THE LIFE AND WORKS OF SUETONIUS

II. — Antiquities,

1. On Rome {Roma),

(a) Manners and Customs.

(6) The Roman Year.

(c) The Roman Festivals.

{d) Clothing.
"Z, The Games of the Greeks.

3. On Public Offices.

4. On Cicero's De Re Publica.

III. — Natural History {Pratinn),

1. On Mankind (On Bodily Defects).

2. On the Reckoning of Time.

3. On Nature.

IV. — Grammatical.

1. On Terms of Abuse in Greek.

2. Grammatical Questions {De Rebus Variis),

3. On the Critical Marks used in Books. ^

Of all these the only work which has come down
to us entire, or nearly so, is the Lives of the Caesars,
published in 120. It includes the biographies of
twelve '' Caesars/* from Julius to Domitian, and
except for some inconsiderable lacunae, lacks only
the first few chapters of the life of Julius. From a
reference of Johannes Lydus,^ of the sixth century,
it appears that he used a codex with the dedication

^ Schanz, Gesch. d. rom. Litteratur^ in Miiller's Handbuch
d, klasa. Alter tumswissenschaft^ viii. 3, pp. 53 f. Various
arrangements of these eighteen titles are made by different
scholars ; see for example Mac^, Essai, p. 355, and the editions
of Suetonius. ^ 2>e Magistr. 2. 6, p. 102 Fuss.

xii

THE LIFE AND WORKS OF SUETONIUS

to Septicius Clarus, and hence presumably with the
missing portion of the Julius, This must therefore
have been lost between the sixth century and the
early part of the ninth century (see p. xxi). Preud'-
homme ^ believes that he has demonstrated the
existence of a complete manuscript of the fifth
century, written in capitals.

Besides the Lives of the Caesars we have consider-
able fragments of the Lives of Illustrious Men, of
which those which are generally regarded as authentic
and offer a continuous text of any length are given
in Part II.2

The voluminous publications ot Suetonius gave
him lasting fame and were used as sources by later
writers in various fields. In this way a great number
of detached passages from his lost works and from
the missing portions of the De Viris Illustribus have
been preserved, in the form of more or less literal
excerpts. The historical writers, such as Eutropius,
Aurelius Victor, and Orosius drew on him freely, and
so frequently reproduce his exact language as to be
of occasional help in the criticism of his text.

He exercised a great influence on the form of
historical writing, which took a biographical turn for
some centuries. He found imitators and successors
in Marius Maxim us (165-230), whose works have
perished, and in the writers of the Augustan History
(Scriptores Hisioriae Augustae), whose biographies have
come down to us, while Tacitus did not find a follower
until the time of Ammianus Marcellinus (330-400).
His influence extended to the Christian writers and

^ M^moires couronn6s et autres mimoires puhli4es par
V Acad^mie royale de BelgiquCy Ixiii. pp. 84-88.
^ See Schanz, Lc. p. 47, and the Prefatory Note to Part II.

xii]

THE LIFE AND WORKS OF SUETONIUS

is seen in the form of the Life of Amhrosius by his
secretary Paulinas, and even to the Middle Ages,
when Einhardus wrote a Life of Charles the Great on
the model of Suetonius, perhaps using the manuscript
which is the archetype of those that have come down
to us (see p. xxi).

His other works w ere no less esteemed as authori-
ties. Tertullian in his De Spectaculis made use of
Suetonius's work of a similar title, and we find his
influence in Censorinus, Solinus, Macrobius, in the
scholiasts on Germanicus, Horace, and Juvenal, in
the commentator Servius, and especially in Isidore,
who has preserved many fragments of the lost works
of Suetonius.

x\y

PART I

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS

General Characteristics

The biographies of Suetonius are interesting both
for their contents and as a form of literature. Strictly
speaking they are neither history nor biography.
Great historical events, such as Caesar's campaigns
in Gaul, are dismissed in a brief chapter, or with a
casual allusion, like the defeat of Varus. The acts
of the senate and people, and the edicts of the
emperors, receive fuller attention, but are wholly
subordinate to the personal element. On the other
hand no ideal life is presented, to inspire imitation
and point a moral, and no attempt is made to trace
the development of character as influenced by
heredity, education, and environment. The Lives, as
Leo has shown,^ are of the '^ grammatical " type,^ and
they furnish material for biographies in the true
sense of the word, giving the thoughtful reader
abundant opportunity for the reflexions and deductions
which the writer has omitted.

^ Die griechisch-romischen Biographic, Leipzig, 1901.

2 These were originally designed as introductions to work«
of literature, and their material was drawn in a great
measure from those works themselves ; but they were after-
wards extended to men eminent in other fields. For fuller
details on this and other points I may refer to my paper
*' Suetonius and his Biographies " in the Proc, of the Amer.
Philosophical Soc, lii. pp. 206 ff.

xvii

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Suetonius was rather a student and a searcher
of records than an observer or inquirer, and his
interests lay in the past rather than in the present.
The Lives become shorter as he approaches his own
time, when the written sources were fewer and the
opportunities for obtaining personal information
greater. He had at his disposal a great amount
of material in the form of histories and memoirs
which are now lost ; he had access either directly or
indirectly through his colleague Ab studiis, to the
imperial archives while he was Hadrian's secretary ;
and his intimacy with Pliny must have made him
familiar with senatorial records and opinions. Occa-
sionally he made use of hearsay evidence ^ and of
personal observation.^ That he seems to have made
little use of inscriptions^ is doubtless due in large
measure to his possession of other material which is
not available to-day.

On the rare occasions when he gives us an insight
into his method of handling his sources, as in Calig,
viii, it seems clear that he examined conflicting state-
ments with care and intelligence, whenever he
thought it necessary to do so ; but the plan of his
work does not often call for such an investigation.
Although he aims to be strictly impartial, scrupu-
lously recounting the virtues and vices of the
emperors in separate lists,^ he seems as a rule to
pay little regard to the source from which his
information comes, and rarely makes any personal
comment.^

' Calig. xix. 3. ' Nero, Ivii. 2 ; Dom. xii. 2.

' See Deniiison, Amer. Jour, of Arch., sec. series, ii. pp.
26 ff.

* See Aug. ix., Ixi. ; Tib. Ixi. 2. ; Col. xxii. 1.; Nero,
xix. 3. ^ See, however, Tib. xxi. 2 ; Tit. i.

xviii

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

This apparent impartiality does not give us a fair
and unbiassed estimate of the emperors. To be con-
vinced of this we have only to imagine a biography
of some prominent man of our own day^ made up of
praise and blame drawn indiscriminately from the
organs of his own party and of the opposition^ and
presented without comment. Just as such a method
would yield a considerable number of absolute false-
hoods^ so many of the statements of Suetonius must
be rejected for one reason or another.

He is often^ perhaps generally, regarded as a
scandal-monger and a man of prurient mind, but
neither of these charges seems justified. The details
which give rise to the latter are relatively few in
number and are presented with the same judicial
coldness which characterises his work in general ;
while the so-called scandal-mongery is in reality a
feature of the development of realism ^ in the writing
of the early Empire and of the prevailing interest
in the personality and private life of prominent
men.

The style of Suetonius is rather that of the scholar
and investigator than of the man of letters. It is
plain and concise, with no attempt at fine writing or
rhetorical embellishment, and has been well charac-
terised as ^*^ businesslike.*' His brevity is rarely
obscure, and when it is, the obscurity is generally
the result of our imperfect knowledge. At times
his conciseness yields sentences worthy of Tacitus,
but these, like his intensely dramatic passages, are
due rather to the subject matter than to any departure
from his usual style. He has the grammarian's feeling

^ See H. T. Peck, Julius and Augustus^ Introduction,
pp. V ff.

xix

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

for language, and his words are always well chosen
and effective. While at times the catalogues of crimes
and of petty personal details are somewhat mono-
tonous, the Lives as a whole are of absorbing interest,
and give us a wealth of anecdotes, witticisms, and
curious information of great variety.

XX

THE MANUSCRIPTS

Two critical editions of the Lives of the Caesars
have appeared within the past few years, those of
M. Ihm, Leipzig, 1907, and of L. Preud'homme,
Groningen, 1906, each based on a painstaking and
independent study of the manuscripts. These show
remarkably few deviations from the work of Roth
(1858) and from each other. The text therefore
may be regarded as practically settled, at least until
the independent value of the fifteenth century
codices has been demonstrated. (See p. xxv.)

It is generally agreed that all our existing manu-
scripts are derived from one at Fulda, written in
rustic capitals (Ihm) or uncials (Preud'homme). This
seems to have been the only one in existence at the
time, and it is known to us from a letter of Servatus
Lupus, abbot of Ferrieres, of the year 884. This
codex and a copy of it in minuscules, which was sent
to Servatus Lupus at his request, are now lost ; but
the latter was extensively copied, and the number of
manuscripts at present existing is very large. The
Fulda codex (Q, Ihm ; P, Preud'homme^) lacked the
beginning of the Life of Julius Caesar and had other
lesser lacunae and numerous errors, but seems to
have been free from interpolation. The copies how-

^ n is used by Preud'homme to designate the manuscript
mentioned on p. xiii.

XX]

THE MANUSCRIPTS

ever were extensively emended^ so that by the twelfth
century the text was in bad condition.

The manuscripts used by Ihm, with the sigla
which he employs, are the following ; the sigla of
Preud'homme are given in parentheses :

M (A). The codex Memmianus of the ninth century.
Our oldest and best manuscript, either a copy of the
one sent to Servatus Lupus or closely related to it,
apparently free from interpolations, though not
without errors and lacunae. None of our other
manuscripts is derived from it. It contains corrections
made by another hand, not later than the twelfth
century (M^).

This codex came originally from the monastery of
St. Martin of Tours, was later in the possession of
Henri de Mesmes, and is now in the National Library
in Paris. It is commonly called Memmianus, from
de Mesmes, but was formerly called Turonensis ; its
present designation is Codex Parisinus, 6115, formerly
5984.

G (C). The codex Gudianus of the eleventh century,
now at Wolffenbuttel (Gudianus, 268). Closely
related to M and derived from a similar original, but
inferior to it. It has numerous corrections, made in
part by the scribe (M'^) and in part in the fifteenth
century (M^).

V (B). The codex Vaticamis, 1904, of the eleventh
century, a little younger than G but more trust-
worthy. It frequently agrees with M, and is of
almost equal value ; but it comes to an end at Calig.
iii, detecta sua re. It was used by Lipsius in 1574.
It contains glosses of the same general character
as M2.

Preud'homme regards his D (Parisinus, 5804), of

xxii

THE MANUSCRIPTS

the fourteenth century, as in the same class with the
above ; Ihm_, who assigns it to the fifteenth century,
rates it much less highly.

The other important manuscripts fall into two
classes, each represented by a large number of
examples. The first class is represented by the
following :

L (a). The codex Laurentianus , 68. 7, of the twelfth
century, in the Medicean Library at Florence, the
Mediceus Tertius of Oudendorp. It also contains
Caesar, De Bello Gallico, and has corrections by an
earlier (L^) and a later hand (L^).

P (b). The codex Parisinus, 5801, of the twelfth
century, with corrections from a manuscript of the
second class (P^), according to Ihm.

O (c). The codex Laurentianus, 66. 39, of the twelfth
century, in the Medicean Library at Florence. Has
corrections similar to those in P (O*^).

S (f). The codex Montepesstdanus, 117, of the
twelfth century, at Montpelier. Corrected in the
same manner as P and O.

T. The codex Berolinensis, Lat. 337, of the four-
teenth century, formerly Hulsianus or Hagia?iiis,
Frequently agrees with V and L. Corrected by
a hand of about the same date as the original
scribe.

From the agreement of L, P, O, S, and T, the
readings of their archetype are recovered, a lost
manuscript from the same original as V, but inferior
to V, designated by X (X'). The agreement of X
and V gives the readings of X', a lost codex of the
class of M and V.

The second class contains more errors and inter-
polations than the first. It is represented by a very

xxiii

THE MANUSCRIPTS

large number of manuscripts, of which Ihm uses the
following :

n (/8). The codex Parisinus, 6116, of the twelfth
century, corrected from a manuscript of the variety
represented by R.

Q (y). The codex Parisinus, 5802, of the twelfth
century, corrected in the fifteenth.

R (a). The codex Regius of the twelfth century, in
the British Museum (15. C. iii), and rated high by
Bentley. It comes to an end with Dom, xiv, nan
alias magis, but seems to have been complete in the
sixteenth century.

The agreement of these codices gives the readings
of their archetype (Y), a lost codex of about the same
date as X, but inferior to it ; and since P, O, S, and T
were corrected from a manuscript of this class, their
agreement with Y gives the readings of another lost
manuscript Y'.

J^esides the manuscripts of the whole work we
have two collections of selections, which have some
critical value. The earliest of these was made by
Heiric of Auxerre between 871 and 876 and based on
Lupus's copy of the codex Fuldensis. It is of con-
siderable value, but has suffered from emendation ;
H (Y). A fuller epitome of the thirteenth century,
of comparatively little value, is preserved in codex
Parisinus, 17903, formerly Notre-Dame, 188; N.

Ihm and Preud'homme are in substantial agreement
in their classification of the manuscripts. The
latter divides them into two classes, X and Z, the
first including M, V, X, G, 8, and H (or in his nomen-
clature, A, B, X', C, D, and Y) ; the second, R, n, Q,
and Suessionensis, 119 (in his nomenclature, a, ^, y, c).

The only important difference of opinion is as to

xxiv

THE MANUSCRIPTS

the independent value of the fifteenth-century manu-
scripts, which frequently offer good readings not
found in the earlier codices. Roth came to the con-
clusion that these were mere conjectures, without
value in determining the readings of the archetype,
and the careful and independent investigations of
Ihm and Preud'homme led them to the same opinion.
The contrary view is held by some scholars,^ but
cannot be regarded as sufficiently established.

^ See especially C. L. Smith and A. A. Howard, Harvard
Studies in Class, FhiL, xii. pp. 54 ff. and 261 flf.

XXV

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The earliest editions are two published in Rome
in 1470^ one in July by Johannes Campanus^ and the
other in December by Johannes Aleriensis ; these
were immediately followed by a Venetian edition of
1471, and all three are regarded as editiones principes.
Among other early editions are those of Beroaldus,
Bologna, 1493 and 1506, the latter with a valuable
commentary; Erasmus, Basle, 1518; R. Stephanus
(Robert Etienne), Paris, 1543 ; and Casaubon, Geneva,
1595 and Paris, 1610.

Down to 1820 more than forty editions were issued,
including some second editions, among them those
of Gronovius, Leyden, 1698 ; Burman, Amsterdam,
1736, with the full commentary of a number of his
predecessors and selections from those of others ;
Ernesti, Leipzig, 1748 and 1775; Oudendorp, Ley-
den, 1751 ; Baumgarten-Crusius, Leipzig, 1816, with
a commentary and very full indices {CI avis Suetoniana).
This is still the standard annotated edition. It was
issued with some additions by C. B. Hase at Paris in
1828. Bentley planned an edition which was never
finished, but his material is preserved in the British
Museum.

In later times the editions have been few in
number. That of C. L. Roth, Leipzig, 1858, was

xxvii

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

the standard text until the appearance of those of
Ihm and Preud'homme.

The Lives of the Caesars still lacks a commentary in
English and a full and satisfactory one in any language.
There are annotated editions ol separate lives by H. T.
Peck, Julius and Augustus, New York, 18932 ; E. S.
Shuckburgh, Augustus, Cambridge, 1896 ; and J. B.
Pike, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero, Boston,
1903 ; to these may be added H. Smilda, Claudius,
Groningen, 1896, and C. Hofstee, Galba, Otho and
Vitellius, Groningen, 1898.

The Caesars have been translated into English by
Philemon Holland, London, 1606; John Clarke,
London, 1732, with the Latin text ; and by Alexander
Thomson, London, 1796. A revision of Thomson's
translation was made by T. Forester, and published
in the Bohn Library (London) without a date.

Of books and monographs dealing with Suetonius
the following may be mentioned : A. Mace, Essai sur
Suetone, Paris, 1 900 ; Fr. Leo, Die griechisch-romischen
Biographie, Leipzig, 1901 ; L. Preud'homme, Premiere,
deuxieme, troisieme etude sur Vhistoire du texte de Sue tone
de vita Caesarum, Bulletins de V Academie royale de
Belgique, 1902 and 1904 ; Ihm, Hermes, 36, 37 and
40 ; H. R. Thimm, De usu atque elocutione C, Suet,
Tranq., Regimonti, 1867 ; P. Bagge, De elocutione
C. Suet. Tranq., Upsala, 1875; I. W^ Freund, De
Suetonii usu atque genere dice^idi, Breslau, 1901 ; W.
Dennison, " The Epigraphic Sources of Suetonius,"
Amer. Jour. ofArchoeology, Second Series, II., pp. 26 fF.;
L. Damasso, La Grammatica di C. Suet, Tranq., Turin,
1906 ; C. L. Smith, Harvard Studies in Class. Phil.,
xii. pp. 54 fF; A. A. Howard, idem, vii, 210 ff., x. pp.
23 ff., and xii. pp. 261 ff. ; J. C. Rolfe, ^^ Suetonius

xxviii

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

and his Biographies/' Proc. Amer. Philosophical Soc.
Hi, pp. 206 fF.

The reader may be reminded of S. Baring-Gould's
Tragedy/ of the Caesars, London, 1902 ; Sienkiewicz's
Quo Vadis ; Gardtliausen's Augustus und seine Zeit,
Lei})zig, 1891 ; Shuckburgh's Augustus, London, 1903;
and of other general and special works dealing with
the period.

Editor's Note (1979): The following items may now
be added :

(A) Editions

Life of Julius, H. E. Butler-M. Gary, 1927
Life of Augustus, M. Adams, 1939
Lives of Galba-Domitian, G. W. Mooney, 1930
Life of Vespasian, A. W. Braithwaite, 1927
De Poetis, A. Rostagni, 1944

(B) Index Verborum, A. A. Howard and C. N.
Jackson, repr. 1963

(C) D. R. Stuart, Epochs of Greek and Roman Bio-
graphy/, 1928

W. Steidle, Sueton und die antike Biographic,
1963

G.P.G.

XXIX

SIGLA

Q, = the archetype of our existing codices, restored
by the agreement of X' and Y'.

M = Codex Memmianus.

G = Codex Gudianus.

X' «= the archetype of V and X.

V = Codex Vaticanus.
X = the archetype of

L = Codex Laurentianus, 68.7.
P = Codex Parisinus, 5801.
O = Codex Laurentianus, 66.39.
S = Codex Montepessulanus.
T = Codex Berolinensis.

Y = the archetype of

n = Codex Parisinus, 6116.
Q = Codex Parisinus, 5802.
R = Codex Regius.

Y'«the agreement of Y with S and T, usually
accompanied by that of P^ and O (O^).

g = all the codices not included in the above list.

XXXI

THE

LIVES OF THE CAESARS
BOOK I

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

DE VITA CAESARUM
LIBER I

DIVVS IVLIVS

■K- 1

I. Annum agens sextum decimum patrem aniisit ;
sequentibusque consulibus flamen Dialis destinatus
dimissa Cossutia^ quae familia equestri sed ad-
modum dives praetextato desponsata fuerat, Cor-
neliam Cinnae quater consulis filiam duxit uxorem^
ex qua illi mox lulia nata est ; neque ut re-
pudiaret compelli a dictatore Sulla ullo modo

2 potuit. Quare et sacerdotio et uxoris dote et gen-
tilicis hereditatibus multatus diversarum partium
habebatur^ ut etiani discedere e medio et quam-
quam morbo quarbuiae adgravante prope j)er sin-
gulas noctes commutare latebras cogeretur seque
ab inquisitoribus pecunia redimeret^ donee per vir-
gines Vestales perque Mamercum Aemilium et Aure-
lium Cottam propinquos et adfines suos veniam

3 impetravit. Satis constat Sullam^ cum deprecantibus

^ Seep. xxi.

" S5/84 E.G., according to the chronology of Suetonius,
which makes the year of Caesar's birth 100 B.C. The argu-
ments in favour of 102 are however very strong.

^ By Marius and Cinna, consuls in 86 ; see Veil. 2. 43. 1.

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS
BOOK I

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

I. In the course of his sixteenth year ^ he lost his
father. In the next consulate^ having previously
been nominated priest of Jupiter^^ he broke his en-
gagement with Cossutia^ a lady of onl3r equestrian
rank^ but very wealthy, who had been betrotlied to
him before he assumed the gown of manhood^ and
married Cornelia, daughter of that Cinna who was
four times consul, by whom he afterwards had a
daughter Julia ; and the dictator Sulla could by no
means force him to put away his wife. Therefore
besides being punished by the loss of his priesthood,
his wife's dowry, and his family inheritances, Caesar
was held to be one of the opposite party. He was
accordingly forced to go into hiding, and though
suffering from a severe attack of quartan ague, to
change from one covert to another almost every
night, and save himself from Sulla's detectives by
bribes. But at last, through the good offices of the
Vestal virgins and of his near kinsmen, Mamercus
Aemilius and Aurelius Cotta, he obtained forgive-
ness. Everyone knows that when Sulla had long

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

amicissimis et ornatissimis viris aliquamdiu denegasset
atque illi pertinaciter contenderent, expugnatum
tandem proclamasse sive divinitus sive aliqua con-
iectura : vincerent ac sibi haberent, dum modo
scirent eum_, quern incolumem tanto opere cuperent,
quandoque optimatium partibus, quas secum simul
defendissent_, exitio futuruin ; nam Caesari multos
Marios inesse.

II. Stipendia prima in Asia fecit Marci Thermi
praetoris contubernio ; a quo ad accersendam classem
in Bithyniam missus desedit apud Nicomeden, non
sine rumore prostratae regi pudicitiae ; quem ru-
morem auxit intra paucos rursus dies repetita Bithynia
per eausam exigendae pecuniae, quae deberetur
cuidam libertino clienti suo. Reliqua militia se-
cundiore fama fuit et a Thermo in expugnatione
Mytilenarum corona civica donatus est.

III. Meruit et sub Servilio Isaurico in Cilicia, sed
brevi tempore. Nam Sullae morte comperta, simul
spe novae dissensionis, quae per Marcum Lepidum
movebatur, Romam propere redit. Et Lepidi quidem
societate^quamquam magnis condicionibus invitaretur,
abstinuit, cum ingenio eius diffisus tum occasione,
quam minorem opinione ofFenderat.

IV. Ceterum composita seditione civili Cornelium
Dolabellam consularem et triumphalem repetun-

" A chaplet of oak leaves, given for saving the life of a
fellow-citizen, the Victoria Cross of antiquity.

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

held out against the most devoted and eminent men
of his party who interceded for Caesar, and they
obstinately persisted, he at last gave way and cried,
either by divine inspiration or a shrewd forecast :
" Have your way and take him ; only bear in mind
that the man you are so eager to save will one day
deal the death blow to the cause of the aristocracy,
which you have joined with me in upholding ; for in
this Caesar there is more than one Marius."

II. He served his first campaign in Asia on the 8i B.a
personal staff of Marcus Thermus, governor of the
province. Being sent by Thermus to Bithynia, to
fetch a fleet, he dawdled so long at the court

of Nicomedes that he was suspected of improper
relations with the king ; and he lent colour to this
scandal by going back to Bithynia a few days after
his return, with the alleged purpose of collecting a
debt for a freedman, one of his dependents. During 30 b.c,
the rest of the campaign he enjoyed a better reputa-
tion, and at the storming of Mytilene Thermus
awarded him the civic crown.*

III. He served too under Servilius Isauricus in
Cilicia, but only for a short time ; for learning of the
death of Sulla, and at the same time hoping to profit 78 ».c
by a counter revolution which Marcus Lepidus was
setting on foot, he hurriedly returned to Rome. But

he did not make common cause with Lepidus,
although he was offered highly favourable terms,
through lack of confidence both in that leader*s
capacity and in the outlook, which he found less
promising than he had expected.

IV^ Then, after the civil disturbance had been
quieted, he brought a charge of extortion against
Cornelius Dolabella, an ex-consul who had been n^a

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

darum postulavit ; absolutoque Rhodum secedere
statuit, et ad declinandam invidiam et ut per otium
ac requiem Apollonio Moloni clarissimo tunc dicendi
magistro operam daret. Hue dum hibernis ian>
mensibus traicit, circa Pharmacussam insulam a
praedonibus captus est mansitque apud eos non sine
sumr^a indignatione prope quadraginta dies cum uno
2 medico et cubiculariis duobus. Nam comites servos-
que ceteros initio statim ad expediendas pecunias,
quibus redimeretur, dimiserat. Numeratis deinde
quinquaginta talentis expositus in litore non distulit
quin e vestigio classe deducta persequeretur abeuntis
ac redactos in potestatem supplicio, quod saepe illis
minatus inter iocum fuerat, adficeret. Vastante
regiones proximas Mithridate, ne desidere in discri-
mine sociorum videretur, ab Rhodo, quo pertenderat,
transiit in Asiam auxiliisque contractis et praefecto
regis provincia expulso nutantis ac dubias civitates
retinuit in fide.

V. Tribunatu militum, qui primus Romam reverso
per sufFragia populi honor optigit, actores restituendae
tribuniciae potestatis, cuius vim Sulla deminuerat,
enixissime iuvit. L. etiam Cinnae uxoris fratri, et
qui cum eo civili discordia Lepidum secuti post

" See chap. Ixxiv. 1,

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

honoured with a triumph. On the acquittal of
Dolabella Caesar determined to withdraw to Rhodes,
to escape from the ill-will which he had incurred^
and at the same time to rest and have leisure to
study under ApoUonius Molo^ the most eminent 74 b a
teacher of oratory of that time. While crossing to
Rhodes, after the winter season had already begun,
he was taken by pirates near the island of Pharmacussa
and remained in their custody for nearly forty days
in a state of intense vexation, attended only by a
single physician and two body-servants ; for he had
sent off his travelling companions and the rest of
his attendants at the outset, to raise money for his
ransom. Once he was set on shore on payment of
fifty talents, he did not delay then and there to
launch a fleet and pursue the departing pirates, and
the moment they were in his power to inflict on
them the punishment which he had often threatened
when joking with them.« He then proceeded to
Rhodes, but as Mithridates was devastating the
neighbouring regions, he crossed over into Asia, to
avoid the appearance of inaction when the allies of
the Roman people were in danger. There he levied
a band of auxiliaries and drove the king's prefect
from the province, thus holding the wavering and
irresolute states to their allegiance.

V. While serving as military tribune, the first
oflice which was conferred on him by vote of the
people after his return to Rome, he ardently
supported the leaders in the attempt to re-establish
the authority of the tribunes of the commons, the
extent of which Sulla had curtailed. Furthermore, to bo»
through a bill proposed by one Plotius, he effected
the recall of his wife's brother Lucius Cinna, as well

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

necem consulis ad Sertorium confugerant^ reditum in
civitatem rogatione Plotia confecit habuitque et ipse
super ea re contionem.

VI. Quaestor luliam amitam uxoremque Corneliam
defunctas laudavit e more pro rostris. Et in amitae
quidem laudatione de eius ac patris sui utraque ori-
gine sic refert :

^' Amitae meae luliae maternum genus ab regibus
ortum, paternum cum diis inmortalibus coniunctum
est. Nam ab Anco Marcio sunt Marcii Reges, quo
nomine fuit mater ; a Venere lulii^ cuius gentis
familia est nostra. Est ergo in genere et sanctitas
regum, qui plurimum inter homines pollent, et
caerimonia deorum, quorum ipsi in potestate sunt
reges.*'

In Corneliae autem locum Pompeiam duxit Quinti
Pompei filiam, L. Sullae neptem ; cum qua deinde
divortium fecit adulteratam opinatus a Publio Clodio,
quem inter publicas caerimonias penetrasse ad cam
muliebri veste tam constans fama erat, ut senatus
quaestionem de pollutis sacris decreverit.

VII. Quaestori ulterior flispania obvenit ; ubi cum
mandatu praetoris iure dicundo conventus circumiret
Gadisque venisset, animadversa apud Herculis
templum Magni Alexandri imagine ingemuit et
quasi pertaesus ignaviam suam^ quod nihil dum a se

^ The festival of Bona Dea, from which all men were
excluded.

8

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

as of the others who had taken part with Lepidus
in his revolution and after the consul's death had
fled to Sertorius ; and he personally spoke in favour
of the measure,

VI. When quaestor, he pronounced the customary 67 b.c
orations from the rostra in praise of his aunt Julia

and his wife Cornelia, who had both died. And in
the eulogy of his aunt he spoke in the following
tenms of her paternal and maternal ancestry and
that of his own father : ^^ The family of my aunt
Julia is descended by her mother from the kings,
and on her father's side is akin to the immortal
Gods ; for the Marcii Reges (her mother's family
name) go back to Ancus Marcius, and the Julii, the
family of which ours is a branch, to Venus. Our
stock therefore has at once the sanctity of kings,
whose power is supreme among mortal men, and the
claim to reverence which attaches to the Gods, who
hold sway over kings themselves."

In place of Cornelia he took to wife Pompeia,
daughter of Quintus Pompeius and granddaughter of
Lucius Sulla. But he afterward divorced her, 62B.ft
suspecting her of adultery with Publius Clodius ; and
in fact the report that Clodius had gained access to her
in woman's garb during a public religious ceremony *
was so persistent, that the senate decreed that the
pollution of the sacred rites be judicially investigated.

VII. As quaestor it fell to his lot to serve in
Farther Spain. When he was there, while making
the circuit of the assize-towns, to hold court
under commission from the praetor, he came
to Gades, and noticing a statue of Alexander
the Great in the temple of Hercules, he heaved
a sigh, and as if out of patience with his own

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

memorabile actum esset in aetate, qua iam Alexander
orbem terrarum subegisset^, missionem continuo
efflagitavit ad captandas quam primum maiorum
rerum occasiones in urbe. Etiam confusum eum
somnio proximae noctis — nam visus erat per quietem
stuprum matri intulisse — coniectores ad amplissimam
spem incitaverunt arbitrium terrarum orbis portendi
interpretantes, quando mater, quam subiectam sibi
vidisset, non alia esset quam terra, quae omnium
parens haberetur.

Vni. Decedens ergo ante tempus colonias Latinas
de petenda civitate agitantes adiit, et ad audendum
aliquid concitasset, nisi consules conscriptas in
Ciliciam legiones paulisper ob id ipsum retinuissent.

, IX. Nee eo setius maiora mox in urbe molitus est ;
siquidem ante paucos dies quam aedilitatem iniret,
venit in suspicionem conspirasse cum Marco Crasso
consulari, item Publio Sulla et L. Autronio post
designationem consulatus ambitus condemnatis, ut
principio anni senatum adorirentur, et trucidatis quos
placitum esset, dictaturam Crassus invaderet, ipse ab
eo magister equitum diceretur constitutaque ad arbit-
rium re publica Sullae et Autronio consulatus resti-
tueretur. Meminerunt huius coniurationis Tanusius

" The towns beyond the river Po, such as Verona, Comum,
and Cremona, wished^ to obtain the rights of citizenship,
which had been given to many of the Italian towns at the
close of the Social War (89-88 B.C.),

TQ

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

incapacity in having as yet done nothing noteworthy
at a time of life when Alexander had already brought
the world to his feet, he straightway asked for his
discharge, to grasp the first opportunity for greater
enterprises at Rome. Furthermore, when he was
dismayed by a dream the following night (for he
thought that he had offered violence to his mother)
the soothsayers inspired him with high hopes by
their interpretation, which was : that he was
destined to rule the world, since the mother whom
he had seen in his power was none other than the
earth, which is regarded as the common parent of all
mankind.

VIII. Departing therefore before his term was over,
he went to the Latin colonies which were in a state of
unrest and meditating a demand for citizenship^; and
he might have spurred them on to some rash act, had
not the consuls, in anticipation of that very danger,
detained there for a time the legions which had been
enrolled for service in Cilicia.

IX. For all that he presently made a more daring
attempt at Rome ; for a few days before he entered
upon his aedileship he was suspected of having made
a conspiracy with Marcus Crassus, an ex-consul, and
likewise with Publius Sulla and Lucius Autronius,
who, after their election to the consulship, had been
found guilty of corrupt practices. The design was 65 b.c.
to set upon the senate at the opening of the year

and put to the sword as many as they thought good ;
then Crassus was to usurp the dictatorship, naming
Caesar as his master of horse, and when they had
organized the state according to their pleasure, the
consulship was to be restored to Sulla and Autronius.
This plot is mentioned by Tanusius Geminus in his

JX

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

Geminus in historia, Marcus Bibulus in edictis, C.
Curio pater in orationibus. De hac significare videtur
et Cicero in quadam ad Axium epistula referens
Caesarem in consulatu confirmasse regnum, de quo
aedilis cogitarat. Tanusius adicit Crassum paenitentia
vel metu diem caedi destinatum non obisse et idcirco
ne Caesarem quidem signum, quod ab eo dari con-
venerat, dedisse ; convenisse autem Curio ait, ut
togam de umero deiceret. Idem Curio sed et M.
Actorius Naso auctores sunt conspirasse eum etiam
cum Gnaeo Pisone adulescente, cui ob suspicionem
urbanae coniurationis provincia Hispania ultro extra
ordinem data sit ; pactumque ut simul foris ille, ipse
Romae ad res novas consurgerent, per Ambranos ^ et
Transpadanos ; destitutum utriusque consilium morte
Pisonis.

X. Aedilis praeter Comitium ac Forum basilicasque
etiam Capitolium ornavit porticibus ad tempus
extructis, in quibus abundante rerum copia pars
apparatus exponeretur. Venationes autem ludosque
et cum collega et separatim edidit, quo factum est,
ut communium quoque inpensarum solus gratiam
caperet nee dissimularet collega eius MarcQs Bibulus,
evenisse sibi quod Polluci ; ut enim geminis fratri-
bus aedes in Foro constituta tantum Castoris vocare-
tur, ita suam Caesarisque munificentiam unius

^ Ambranos] Lambranos, Sahellicus ; Ambrones, Beroaldus ;
Ambarros, Urlichs ; Arvernos, Mommsen ; Campanos, Madvig.

* Forum ornare was the technical term for the display
there by the aediles of the material to be used in their
public shows.

12

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

History, by Marcus Bibulus in his edicts, and by
Gaius Curio the elder in his speeches. Cicero too
seems to hint at it in a letter to Axius, where he
says that Caesar in his consulship established the des-
potism which he had had in mind when he was aedile.
Tanusius adds that Crassus, either conscience-stricken
or moved by fear, did not appear on the day ap-
pointed for the massacre, and that therefore Caesar
did not give the signal which it had been agreed
that he should give ; and Curio says that the arrange-
ment was that Caesar should let his toga fall from
his shoulder. Not only Curio, but Marcus Actorius
Naso as well declare that Caesar made another plot
with Gnaeus Piso, a young man to whom the pro-
vince of Spain had been assigned unasked and out of
the regular order, because he was suspected of
political intrigues at Rome ; that they agreed to rise
in revolt at the same time, Piso abroad and Caesar
at Rome, aided by the Ambrani and the peoples
beyond the Po ; but that Piso's death brought both
their designs to naught.

X. When aedile, Caesar decorated ^ not only the «5 B.a
Comitium and the Forum with its adjacent basilicas,
but the Capitol as well, building temporary colon-
nades for the display of a part of his material. He
exhibited combats with wild beasts and stage-
plays too, both with his colleague and independently.
The result was that Caesar alone took all the credit
even for what they spent in common, and his
colleague Marcus Bibulus openly said that his was
the fate of Pollux :" For," said he, ^^just as the
temple erected in the Forum to the twin brethren,
bears only the name of Castor, so the joint liberality
of Caesar and myself is credited to Caesar alone."

^3

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

2 Caesaris dici. Adiecit insuper Caesar etiam gladia-
torium munus, sed aliquanto paucioribus quam
destinaverat paribus ; nam cum multiplici undique
familia conparata inimicos exterruisset, cautum est de
numero gladiatorum, quo ne maiorem cuiquam
habere Romae liceret.

XI. Conciliato populi favore temptavit per partem
tribunorum, ut sibi Aegyptus provincia plebiscito
daretur, nanctus extraordinarii imperii occasionem,
quod Alexandrini regem suum socium atque amicum
a senatu appellatum expulerant resque vulgo impro-
babatur. Nee obtinuit adversante optimatium fac-
tione; quorum auctoritatem ut quibus posset modis
in vicem deminueret, tropaea Gai Mari de lugurtha
deque Cimbris atque Teutonis olim a Sulla disiecta
restituit, atque in exercenda de sicariis quaestione eos
quoque sicariorum numero habuit, qui proscriptione ob
relata civium Romanorum capita pecunias ex aerario
acceperant, quamquam exceptos Corneliis legibus.

XII. Subornavit etiam qui Gaio Rabirio perduel-
lionis diem diceret, quo praecipuo adiutore aliquot
ante annos Luci Saturnini seditiosum tribunatum
senatus coercuerat, ac sorte iudex in reum ductus

* As iudex quaestionis, an office held by Caesar between the
aedileship and the praetorship.

* As iudex perduellioniH^ or duumvir perduellionis, one of a
commission of two men appointed to try cases of high treason.
Of these one was selected by lot {sorte ductus) to conduct the
trial, if one were necessary, and pass sentence. An appeal
was allowed and the duumvir then brought the case before the
comitia centuriata (in the regal period before the comitia
curiata). ISee Livy 1. 26. 5fiF. ; Cic. Bab. 4.

14

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

Caesar gave a gladiatorial show besides, but with
somewhat fewer pairs of combatants than he had
purposed ; for the huge band which he assembled
from all quarters so terrified his opjx)nents, that
a bill was passed limiting the number of gladiators
which anyone was to be allowed to keep in the
city.

XI. Having won the goodwill of the masses,
Caesar made an attempt through some of the tribunes
to have the charge of Egypt given him by a decree
of the commons, seizing the opportunity to ask for
so irregular an appointment because the citizens
of Alexandria had deposed their king, who had been
named by the senate an ally and friend of the Roman
people, and their action was generally condemned.
He failed however because of the opposition of
the aristocratic party ; wishing therefore to impair
their prestige in every way he could, he restored the
trophies commemorating the victories of Gaius
Marius over Jugurtha and over the Cimbri and
Teutonic which Sulla had long since demolished.
Furthermore in conducting prosecutions for murder,**
he included in the number of murderers even those
who had received moneys from the public treasury
during the proscriptions for bringing in the heads
of Roman citizens, although they were expressly
exempted by the Cornelian laws.

XII. He also bribed a man to bring a charge
of high treason against Gaius Rabirius, who some years
before had rendered conspicuous service to the
senate in repressing the seditious designs of the
tribune Lucius Saturninus ; and when he had been
selected by lot to sentence the accused,^ he did so
with such eagerness, that when Rabirius appealed to

15

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK i

tarn cupide condemnavit^ ut ad populum provocanti
nihil aeque ac iudicis acerbitas profuerit.

Xni. Deposita provinciae spe pontificatura maxi-
mum petit non sine profusissiina largitione ; in qua
reputans magnitudinem aeris alieni, cum mane ad
comitia descenderet, praedixisse matri osculanti fertur
domum se nisi pontificem non reversurum. Atque
ita potentissimos duos competitores multuraque et
aetate et dignitate antecedentes superavit^, ut plura
ipse in eorum tribubus suffragia quam uterque in
omnibus tulerit.

XIV. Praetor creatus, detecta coniuratione Cati-
linae senatuque universo in socios facinoris ultimam
statuente poenam, solus municipatim dividendos
custodiendosque publicatis bonis censuit. Quin et
t^mtum metum iniecit asperiora suadentibus, identi-
dem ostentans quanta eos in posterum a plebe
Romana maneret invidia, ut Decimum Silanum
consulem designatum non piguerit sententiam suam,
quia mutare turpe erat, interpretatione lenire, velut
2 gravius atque ipse sensisset exceptam. Obtinuisset
adeo transductis iam ad se pluribus et in his
Cicerone consulis fratre^ nisi labantem ordinem
confirmasset M. Catonis oratio. Ac ne sic quidem
impedire rem destitit, quoad manus equitum Roman-

* As governor of Egypt ; see chap. xi.
i6

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

the people, nothing was so much in his favour as the
bitter hostility of his judge.

XIII. After giving up hope of the special
commission,* he announced his candidacy for the
office of pontifex maximus, resorting to the most
lavish bribery. Thinking on the enormous debt
which he had thus contracted, he is said to have
declared to his mother on the morning of the
election, as she kissed him when he was starting for
the polls, that he would never return except as
pontifex. And in fact he so decisively defeated
two very strong competitors (for they were greatly
his superiors in age and rank), that he polled more
votes in their tribes than were cast for both of them
in all the tribes.

XIV. When the conspiracy ot Catiline was
detected, and all the rest of the senate favoured
inflicting the extreme penalty on those implicated in
the plot, Caesar, who was now praetor elect, alone
proposed that their goods be confiscated and that
they be imprisoned each in a separate town. Nay, 63 b o
more, he inspired such fear in those who favoured
severer measures, by picturing the hatred which the
Roman commons would feel for them for all future
time, that Decimus Silanus, consul elect, was not
ashamed to give a milder interpretation to his pro-
posal (since it would have been humiliating to change
it) alleging that it had been understood in a harsher
sense than he intended. Caesar would have pre-
vailed too, for a number had already gone over
to him, including Cicero, the consul's brother, had
not the address of Marcus Cato kept the wavering
senate in line. Yet not even then did he cease
to delay the proceedings, but only when an armed

17

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

orum, quae armata praesidii causa eircumstabat,
inmoderatius j)erseveranti necem comminata est,
etiam strictos gladios usque eo intentans, ut seden-
tem una proximi deseruerint, vix pauci complexu
togaque obiecta protexerint. Tunc plane deterritus
non modo cessit, sed et in reliquuni anni tempus
curia abstinuit.

XV. Primo praeturae die Quintuni Catulum de
refectione Capitoli ad disquisitionem populi vocavit
rogatione promulgata, qua curationem earn in aliuni
transferebat ; veruni impar optimatium conspirationi,
quos relicto statim novorum consulum officio fre-
quentes obstinatosque ad resistendum concucurrisse
cernebat, banc quidem actionem deposuit.

XVI. Ceterum Caecilio Metello tribuno plebis
turbulentissimas leges adversus coUegaruni inter-
cessionem ferenti auctorem propugnatoremque se
pertinacissime praestitit, donee ambo administratione
rei publicae decreto patrum submoverentur. Ac
nihilo minus permanere in magistratu et ius dicere
ausus, ut comperit paratos, qui vi ac per arma pro-
hiberent, dimissis lictoribus abiectaque praetexta
domum clam refugit pro condicione temporum
quieturus. Multitudinem quoque biduo post sponte
et ultro confluentem operamque sibi in adserenda

" Namely, (jnaeus Pompeius.

^ When the consuls went to the Capitol to olfer sacrifice at
the commencement of their term of otiice (on January 1),
their friends escorted them to the temple and back to their
homes. Caesar took advantage of the absence of the aristo-
crats for his attack on Catulus.

i8

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

troop of Roman knights that stood on guard about
the place threatened him with death as he persisted
in his headstrong opposition. They even drew their
swords and made such passes at him that his friends
who sat next him forsook him, while a few had much
ado to shield him in their embrace or with their
robes. Then, in evident fear, he not only yielded the
point, but for the rest of the year kept aloof from
the House.

XV. On the first day of his praetorship he called «2 1.0.
upon Quintus Catulus to render an account to the
people touching the restoration of the Capitol,
proposing a bill for turning over the commission to
another.* But he withdrew the measure, since he
could not cope with the united opposition of the
aristocrats, seeing that they had at once dropped
their attendance on the newly elected consuls ^ and
hastily gathered in throngs, resolved on an obstinate
resistance.

XVI. Nevertheless, when Caecilius Metellus,
tribune of the commons, brought forward some bills
of a highly seditious nature in spite of the veto of
his colleagues, Caesar abetted him and espoused his
cause in the stubbornest fashion, until at last both
were suspended from the exercise of their public
functions by a decree of the senate. Yet in spite of
this Caesar had the audacity to continue in office and
to hold court ; but when he learned that some were
ready to stop him by force of arms, he dismissed his
lictors, laid aside his robe of office, and slipped off
privily to his house, intending to remain in retire-
ment because of the state of the times. Indeed,
when the populace on the following day flocked to
him quite of their own accord, and with riotous

19

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK 1

dignitate tumultuosius pollicentem conpescuit. Quod
cum praeter opinionem evenisset, senatus ob eundem
coetum festinato coactus gratias ei per primores viros
egit accitumque in curiam et amplissimis verbis
conlaudatum in integrum restituit inducto priore
decreto.

XVn. Recidit rursus in discrimen aliud inter
socios Catilinae nominatus et apud Novium Nigrum
quaestorem ^ a Lucio Vettio indice et in senatu a
Quinto Curio, cui, quod primus consilia coniuratorum
detexerat, constituta erant publice praemia. Curius
e Catilina se cognovisse dicebat, Vettius etiam
chirographum eius Catilinae datum pollicebatur. Id
vero Caesar nullo modo tolerandum existimans, cum
inplorato Ciceronis testimonio quaedam se de coniura-
tione ultro ad eum detulisse docuisset, ne Curio
praemia darentur efFecit ; Vettium pignoribus captis
et direpta supellectile male mulcatum ac pro rostris
in contione paene discerptum coniecit in carcerem ;
eodem Novium quaestorem, quod compellari apud se
maiorem potestatem passus esset.

XVIII. Ex praetura ulteriorem sortitus Hispaniam
retinentes creditores interventu sponsorum removit
ac neque more neque iure, ante quam provinciae

^ quaestorem, H.

" Novius seems to have been quaesitor, a special com-
missioner appointed to conduct the investigation [quaestio)
of the Catilinarian conspiracy ; perhaps we should read
quaesitorem,

20

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

demonstrations offered him their aid in recovering
his position, he held them in check. Since this
action of his was wholly unexpected, the senate,
which had been hurriedly convoked to take action
about that very gathering, publicly thanked Iiim
through its leading men ; then summoning him to the
House and lauding him in the strongest terms, they
rescinded their former decree and restored him to
his rank.

XVII. He again fell into danger by being named
among the accomplices of Catiline, both before the
commissioner* Novius Niger by an informer called
Lucius Vettius and in the senate by Quintus Curius,
who had been voted a sum of money from the public
funds as the first to disclose the plans of the con-
spirators. Curius alleged that his information came
directly from Catiline, while Vettius actually offered
to produce a letter to Catiline in Caesar's hand-
writing. But Caesar, thinking that such an indignity
could in no wise be endured, showed by appealing to
Cicero's testimony that he had of his own accord
reported to the consul certain details of the plot, and
thus prevented Curius from getting the reward. As
for Vettius, after his bond was declared forfeit and
his goods seized, he was roughly handled by the
populace assembled before the rostra, and all but
torn to pieces. Caesar then put him in prison,
and Novius the commissioner went there too, for
allowing an official of superior rank to be arraigned
before his tribunal.

XVIII. Being allotted the province of Farther 6i b.u
Spain after his praetorship, Caesar got rid of his
creditors, who tried to detain him, by means of
sureties and contrary both to precedent and law was

21

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

ornarentur/ profectus est : incertum metune iudicii,
quod private parabatur_, an quo maturius sociis
inplorantibus subveniret ; pacataque provincia pari
festinatione, non expectato successore ad triumphum
simul consulatumque decessit. Sed cum edictis iam
comitiis ratio eius haberi non posset nisi privatus
introisset urbem, et ambienti ut legibus solveretur
multi contra dicerent, coactus est triumphum, ne
consulatu excluderetur, dimittere.

XIX. E duobus consulatus competitoribus, Lucio
Lucceio Marcoque Bibulo, Lucceium sibi adiunxit,
pactus ut is, quoniam inferior gratia esset pecunia-
que polleret, nummos de suo communi nomine per
centurias pronuntiaret. Qua cognita re optimates,
quos metus ceperat nihil non ausurum eum in summo
magistratu concordi et consentiente coUega, auctores
Bibulo fuerunt tantundem polHcendi, ac plerique
pecunias contulerunt, ne Catone quidem abnuente
earn largitionem e re publica fieri.

Igitur cum Bibulo consul creatur. Eandem ob
causam opera ab optimatibus data est, ut provinciae
futuris consulibus minimi negotii, id est silvae calles-
que,2 decernerentur. Qua maxime iniuria instinctus

^ ornarentur, Lamhinus ; ordinarentur, n.
2 id est. . . . callesque, del. Willems, Le S6nat de la r6-
puhlique romaine, ii. 576, N. 5.

^ That is, without waiting for the decrees of the senate
which formally confirmed the appointments of the new
governors, and provided them with funds and equipment.

^ If silvae callesque should stand in the text, it is used in a
different sense from calles in Tac. Ajin. 4. 27. It seems to
designate provinces where the duties of the governor would
be confined to guarding the mountain-pastures and keeping
the woods free from brigands. The senate would not run the
risk of letting Caesar secure a province involving the com-
mand of an army. Cf. note on xxiv. 1.
22

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

on his way before the provinces were provided for ^ ;
possibly through fear of a private impeachment or
perhaps to respond more promptly to the entreaties
of our allies for help. After restoring order in his
province, he made off with equal haste, and without
waiting for the arrival of his successor, to sue at the
same time for a triumph and the consulship. But
inasmuch as the day ibr the elections had already
been announced and no account could be taken of
Caesar's candidacy unless he entered the city as a
private citizen, and since his intrigues to gain
exemption from the laws met with general protest,
he was forced to forgo the triumph, to avoid losing
the consulship.

XIX. Of the two other candidates for this office, 6) E.f
Lucius Lucceius and Marcus Bibulus, Caesar joined
forces with the former, making a bargain with him
that since Lucceius had less influence but more funds,
he should in their common name promise largess to
the electors from his own pocket. When this
became known, the aristocracy authorized Bibulus to
promise the same amount, being seized with fear that
Caesar would stick at nothing when he became chief
magistrate, if he had a colleague who was heart and
soul with him. Many of them contributed to the
fund, and even Cato did not deny that bribery under
such circumstances was for the good of the common-
wealth.

So Caesar was chosen consul with Bibulus. With
the same motives the aristocracy took care that pro-
vinces of the smallest importance should be assigned
to the newly elected consuls ; that is, mere woods and
pastures.^ Thereupon Caesar, especially incensed by
this slight, by every possible attention courted the

23

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

omnibus officiis Gnaeum Pompeium adsectatus est
ofFensum patribus, quod Mithridate rege victo
cunctantius confirmarentur acta sua ; Pompeioque
Marcum Crassum reconciliavit veterem inimicum ex
consulatu, quern summa discordia simul gesserant ;
ac societatem cum utroque iniit, ne quid ageretur in
re publica, quod displicuisset ulli e tribus.

XX. Inito honore primus omnium instituit, ut tam
senatus quam populi diurna acta confierent et publica-
rentur. Antiquum etiam rettulit morem, ut quo mense
fasces non haberet, accensus ante eum iret, lictores
pone sequerentur. Lege autem agraria promulgata
obnuntiantem collegam armis Foro expulit ac postero
die in senatu conquestum nee quoquam reperto_, qui
super tali consternatione referre aut censere aliquid
auderet, qualia multa saepe in levioribus turbis
decreta erant, in eam coegit desperationem, ut,
quoad potestate abiret, domo abditus nihil aliud
quam per edicta obnuntiaret.

Unus ex eo tempore omnia in re publica et ad
arbitrium administravit, ut nonnuUi urbanorum, cum
quid per iocum testandi gratia signarent, non Caesare
et Bibulo, sed lulio et Caesare consulibus actum

" Business could be interrupted or postponed at Rome by
the announcement of an augur or a magistrate that he had
seen a flash of lightning or some other adverse sign ; some-
times an opponent merely announced that he would "watch
the skies " for such omens.

* Torrentius put periocuyn after sif/iiareiit, but such jesting
would not be tolerated in actual legal documents.

24

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

goodwill of Gnaeus Pompeius, who was at odds with
the senate because of its tardiness in ratifying his
acts after his victory over king Mithridates. He also
patched up a peace between Pompeius and Marcus
Crassus, who had been enemies since their consulship,
which had been one of constant wrangling. Then he
made a compact with both of them, that no step
should be taken in public affairs which did not suit
any one of the three.

XX. Caesar's very first enactment after becoming
consul was, that the proceedings both of the senate
and of the people should day by day be compiled
and published. He also revived a by-gone custom,
that during the months when he did not have the
fasces an orderly should walk before him, while
the lictors followed him. He brought forward an
agrarian law too, and when his colleague announced
adverse omens,^ he resorted to arms and drove him
from the Forum ; and when next day Bibulus made
complaint in the senate and no one could be found
who ventured to make a motion, or even to express
an opinion about so high-handed a proceeding
(although decrees had often been passed touching
less serious breaches of the peace), Caesar's conduct
drove him to such a pitch of desperation, that from
that time until the end of his term he did not
leave his house, but merely issued proclamations
announcing adverse omens.

From that time on Caesar managed all the affairs
of state alone and after his own pleasure ; so that
sundry witty fellows, pretending by way of jest
to sign and seal testamentary documents,^ wrote
" Done in the consulship of Julius and Caesar,"
instead of ^^ Bibulus and Caesar," writing down

«5

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

scriberent bis ^ eundem praeponentes nomine atque
cognomine, utque vulgo mox ferrentur hi versus :
Non Bibulo quiddam nuper sed Caesare factum est ;
Nam Bibulo fieri consule nil memini.
Campum Stellatem maioribus consecratum agrumque
Campanum ad subsidia rei publicae vectigalem
relictum divisit extra sortem ad '^ viginti milibus
civium^ quibus terni pluresve liberi essent. Pub-
licanos remissionem petentis tertia mercedum parte
relevavit ac^, ne in locatione novorum vectigalium
inmoderatius licerentur^ propalam monuit. Cetera
item^ quae cuique libuissent^ dilargitus est contra
dicente nullo ac, si conaretur quis^ absterrito.
Marcum Catonem interpellantem extrahi curia })er
lictorem ducique in carcerem iussit. Lucio Lucullo
liberius resistenti tantum calumniarum metum iniecit,
ut ad genua ultro sibi accideret. Cicerone in iudicio
quodam deplorante temporum statum Publium Clo-
dium inimicum eius^ frustra iam pride m a patribus
ad plebem transire nitentem^ eodem die horaque
nona transduxit. P^stremo in universos diversae
factionis indicem induxit ^ praemiis^ ut se de infer-

^ bis. . . cognomine, regarded as a gloss hy Lipsms and others.

^ ad, Casaiibon; ac, n.

^ indicem, omitted hi n ; induxit, Stephanus ; inductum, Xl.

"^ Through a special commission of twenty men.

^ By making a speech of several hours' duration ; (^ell,
4. 10. 8. The senate arose in a body and escorted Cato to
prison, and Caesar was forced to release him.

^ For his conduct during the war with Mithridates.

^ That is, after the close of the business day, an indication
of the haste with which the adoption was rushed through.

26

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

the same man twice, by name and by surname.
Presently too the following verses were on every-
one's lips : —

" In Caesar's year, not Bibulus', an act took place of
late;
For naught do I remember done in Bibulus*
consulate."

The plain called Stellas, which had been devoted
to public uses by the men of by-gone days, and the
Campanian territory, which had been reserved to
pay revenues for the aid of the government, he
divided without casting lots* among twenty thousand
citizens who had three or more children each. When
the publicans asked for relief, he freed them from
a third part of their obligation, and openly warned
them in contracting for taxes in the future not to bid
too recklessly. He freely granted everything else that
anyone took it into his head to ask, either without
opposition or by intimidating anyone who tried to
object. Marcus Cato, who tried to delay proceedings,*
was dragged from the House by a lictor at Caesar s
command and taken off to prison. When Lucius
Lucullus was somewhat too outspoken in his op-
position, he filled him with such fear of malicious
prosecution,*' that Lucullus actually fell on his knees
before him. Because Cicero, while pleading in court,
deplored the state of the times, Caesar transferred the
orator s enemy Publius Clodius that very same day
from the patricians to the plebeians, a thing for 59b.ci.
which Clodius had for a long time been vainly
striving ; and that too at the ninth hour.^ Finally
taking action against all the opposition in a body,
he bribed an informer to declare that he had been

27

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

enda Pompeio nece sollicitatum a quibusdam pro-
fiteretur productusque pro rostris auctores ex con-
pacto nominaret ; sed uno atque altero frustra nee
sine suspicione fraudis nominatis desperans tam
praecipitis consilii eventum intercepisse veneno
indicem creditur.

XXI. Sub idem tempus Calpurniam L. Pisonis
filiam successuri sibi in consulatu duxit uxorem
suamque, luliam, Gnaeo Pompeio conlocavit re-
pudiato priore sponso Servilio Caepione, cuius vel
praecipua opera paulo ante Bibulum inpugnaverat.
Ac post novam adfinitatem Pompeium primum rogare
sententiam coepit^ cum Crassum soleret essetque
consuetudo^ ut quern ordinem interrogandi sententias
consul Kal. lanuariis instituisset, eum toto anno
conservaret.

XXII. Socero igitur generoque sufFragantibus ex

omni provinciarum copia Gallias potissimum elegit,

tcuius^ emolumento et oportunitate idonea sit materia

triumphorum. Et initio quidem Galliam Cisalpinam

Illyrico adiecto lege Vatinia accepit ; mox per

senatum Comatam quoque, veritis patribus ne, si ipsi

negassent, populus et banc daret. Quo gaudio

elatus non temperavit, quin paucos post dies

frequenti curia iactaret, invitis et gementibus ad-

versariis adeptum se quae concupisset, proinde ex eo

^ cuius] quae et, Bentley; quae sibi, Kiessling. Of the
various emendations of the passage cuius . . . triumphorum
none is convincing. The general sense is^ however, clear.

28

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

egged on by cei'tain men to murder Pompey, and
to come out upon the rostra and name the guilty
parties according to a prearranged plot. But when
the informer had named one or two to no purpose
and not without suspicion of double-dealing, Caesar^
hopeless of the success of his over-hasty attempt,
is supposed to have had him taken off by poison.

XXI. At about the same time he took to wife
Calpurnia, daughter of Lucius Piso, who was to
succeed him in the consulship, and affianced his own
daughter Julia to Gnaeus Pompeius, breaking a
previous engagement with Servilius Caepio, although
the latter had shortly before rendered him con-
spicuous service in his contest with Bibulus. And
after this new alliance he began to call upon Pompey
first to give his opinion in the senate, although it
had been his habit to begin with Crassus, and it was
the rule for the consul in calling for opinions to
continue throughout the year the order which he had
established on the Kalends of January,

XXII. Backed therefore by his father-in-law and
son-in-law, out of all the numerous provinces he
made the Gauls his choice, as the most likely to
enrich him and furnish suitable material for
triumphs. At first, it is true, by the bill of Vatinius
he received only Cisalpine Gaul with the addition of
lUyricum ; but presently he was assigned Gallia Comata
as well by the senate, since the members feared
that even if they should refuse it, the people would
give him this also. Transported with joy at this
success, he could not keep from boasting a few days
later before a crowded house, that having gained
his heart's desire to the grief and lamentation of his
opponents, he would therefore from that time mount

29

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

insultaturum omnium capitibus ; ac negante quodam
per contumeliam facile hoc ulli feminae fore^ re-
spondent^ quasi adludens : in Suria quoque regnasse
Sameramin magnamque Asiae partem Amazonas
tenuisse quondam.

XXIII. Functus consulatu Gaio Memmio Lucio-
que Domitio praetoribus de superioris anni actis
referentibus cognitionem senatui detulit ; nee illo
suscipiente triduoque per inritas altercationes
absumpto in provinciam abiit. Et statim quaestor
eius in praeiudicium aliquot criminibus arreptus est.
Mox et ipse a Lucio Antistio tr. pi. postulatus
appellato demum collegio optinuit, cum rei publicae
causa abesset, reus ne fieret. Ad securitatem ergo
posteri temporis in magno negotio habuit obligare
semper annuos magistratus et e petitoribus non alios
adiuvare aut ad honorem pati pervenire, quam qui
sibi recepissent propugnaturos absentiam suam ;
cuius pacti non dubitavit a quibusdam ius iurandum
atque etiam syngrapham exigere.

XXIV. Sed cum Lucius Domitius consulatus
candidatus palam minaretur consulem se effecturum
quod praetor nequisset adempturumque ei exercitus,
Crassum Pompeiumque in urbem provinciae suae
Lucam extractos conpulit^ ut detrudendi Domitii

^ responderit, all the mss.y exce/pt p and some other late
codiceSy ivhichhave respondit ; responderet, ^ [Torrenflus).

• Used in a double sense, the second unmentionable.
30

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

on their heads ; ^ and when someone insultingly
remarked that that would be no easy matter for any
woman^ he replied in the same vein that Semiramis
too had been queen in Syria and the Amazons in
days of old had held sway over a great part of
Asia.

XXIII. When at the elose of his consulship the
praetors Gaius Memmius and Lucius Domitius moved
an inquiry into his conduct during the previous year^
Caesar laid the matter before the senate ; and when
they failed to take it up^ and three days had been
wasted in fruitless wrangling^ went off to his
province. Whereupon his quaestor was at once
arraigned on several counts^ as a preliminary to his
own impeachment. Presently he himself too was
prosecuted by Lucius Antistius^ tribune of the
commons^ and it was only by appealing to the
whole college that he contrived not to be brought
to trial^ on the ground that he was absent on
public service. Then to secure himself for
the future^ he took great pains always to put the
magistrates for the year under personal obligation^
and not to aid any candidates or suffer any to be
elected^ save such as guaranteed to defend him in
his absence. And he did not hesitate in some cases
to exact an oath to keep this pledge or even a
written contract.

XXIV. W^hen however Lucius Domitius^, candi-
date for the consulship^ openly threatened to effect
as consul what he had been unable to do as praetor^
and to take his armies from him, Caesar compelled
Pompeius and Crassus to come to Luca, a city in his
province, where he prevailed on them to stand for
a second consulship, to defeat Domitius ; and he also

31

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

causa consulatum alteram peterent, perfecitque
per ^ utrumque, ut in quinquennium sibi im-
perium prorogaretur. Qua fiducia ad legiones,
quas a re publica acceperat, alias private sumptu
addidit, unam etiam ex Transalpinis con-
scriptam, vocabulo quoque Gallico — Alauda enim
appellabatur — _, quam disciplina cultuque Romano
institutam et ornatam postea universam civitate dona-
vit. Nee deinde ulla belli occasione, ne ^ iniusti qui-
dem ac periculosi abstinuit, tam foederatis quam
infestis ac feris gentibus ultro lacessitis^ adeo ut
senatus quondam legatos ad explorandum statum
Galliarum mittendos decreverit ac nonnulli deden-
dum eum hostibu^ censuerint. Sed prospere
cedentibus^ rebus et saepius et plurium quam
quisquam umquam dierum supplicationes impetravit.
XXV. Gessit autem novem annis, quibus in im-
perio fuit, haec fere. Omnem Galliaoa, quae saltu
Pyrenaeo Alpibusque et monte Cebenna, fluminibus
Rheno ac Rhodano continetur patetque circuitu ad
bis et tricies centum milia passuum, praeter socias ac
bene meritas civitates, in provinciae formam redegit,
eique |^c^| ^ in singulos annos stipendii nomine in-
posuit. Germanos, qui trans Rhenum incolunt,
primus Romanorum ponte fabricato adgressus maxi-
mis adfecit cladibus ; adgressus est et Britannos

^ per added by Roth. ^ ne added by Erasmus.

^ cedentibus, $- ; decedentibus, H.

■* 7^he number is preserved only iu V ; Eutropius, 6.17, has
quadringenties.

^ A Celtic word meaning a crested lark (Plin. N.II. 11. 37)
which was the device on the helmets of the legion.

* Roman measure ; about 3106 English miles, taking the
Roman foot (296 mm.) as 0*97 English.

'^ For this and similar sums see Index, s.v. sestertius.

32

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

succeeded through their influence in having his term
as governor of Gaul made five years longer.
Encouraged by this^ he added to the legions which
he had received from the state others at his ow^n
cost, one actually composed of men of Transalpine
Gaul and bearing a Gallic name too (for it was called
Alauda^), which he trained in the Roman tactics and
equipped with Roman arms ; and later on he gave
every man of it citizenship. After that he did not
let slip any pretext for war, however unjust and
dangerous it might be, picking quarrels as well
with allied, as with hostile and barbarous nations ;
so that once the senate decreed that a commission
be sent to inquire into the condition of the Gallic
provinces, and some even recommended that Caesar
be handed over to the enemy. But as his enter-
prises prospered, thanksgivings were appointed in
his honour oftener and for longer periods than for
anyone before his time.

XXV. During the nine years of his command 58/49
this is in substance what he did. All that part of
Gaul which is bounded by the Pyrenees, the Alps
and the Cevennes, and by tlie Rhine and Rhone
rivers, a circuit of some 3,200* miles, with the
exception of some allied states which had rendered
him good service, he reduced to the form of a
province ; and imposed upon it a yearly tribute of
40,000,000 sesterces.*' He was the first Roman to
build a bridge and attack the Germans beyond iJie
Rhine ; and he iniiicted heavy losses upon them. He
invaded the Britons too, a people unknown before,

33

.c.

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

ignotos antea superatisque pecunias et obsides
iinperavit ; per tot successus ter nee amplius
adversum casum expertus ; in Britannia classe vi
tempestatis prope absumpta et in Gallia ad
Gergoviam legione fusa et in Germanorum finibus
Titurio et Aurunculeio legatis per insidias caesi-s.

XXVI. Eodem temporis spatio matrem primo,
deinde filiam, nee multo post nepotem amisit. Inter
quae, consternata Publi Clodi caede re piiblica, cum
senatus unum consulem nominatimque Gnaeum
Pompeium fieri censuisset, egit cum tribunis plebis
collegam se Pompeio destinantibus, id potius ad
populum ferrent, ut absenti sibi, quandoque imperii
tempus expleri coepisset, petitio secundi consulatus
daretur, ne ea causa maturius et inperfecto adhuc
bello decederet. Quod ut adeptus est, altiora iam
meditans et spei plenus nullum largitionis aut ofiici-
orum in quemquam genus publice privatimque omisit.
Forum de manubiis incohavit, cuius area super
sestertium milies constitit. Munus populo epulumque
pronuntiavit in filiae memoriam, quod ante eum
nemo. Quorum ut quam maxima ^ expectatio esset,
ea quae ad epulum pertinerent, quamvis macellariis

1 maxima, G. ; the other mss. have maxime.

34

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

vanquished them, and exacted moneys and hostages.
Amid all these successes he met with adverse fortune
but three times in all : in Britain, where his fleet
narrowly escaped destruction in a violent storm ;
in Gaul, when one of his legions was routed at
Gergovia ; and on the borders of Germany, when his
lieutenants Titurius and Aurunculeius w^ere ambushed
and slain.

XXVI. Within this same space of time he lost
first his mother, then his daughter, and soon after-
wards his grandchild. Meanwhile, as the community
was aghast at the murder of Publius Clodius, the
senate had voted that only one consul should be
chosen^ and expressly named Gnaeus Pompeius.
When the tribunes planned to make him Pompey*s
colleague, Caesar urged them rather to propose
to the people that he be permitted to stand for
a second consulship without coming to Rome, when
the term of his governorship drew near its end,
to prevent his being forced for the sake of the
office to leave his province prematurely and without
finishing the war. On the granting of this^ aiming
still higher and flushed with hope, he neglected
nothing in the way of lavish expenditure or of
favours to anyone, either in his public capacity
or privately. He began a forum with the proceeds
of his spoils, the ground for which cost more than
a hundred million sesterces. He announced a
combat of gladiators and a feast for the people in
memory of his daughter, a thing quite without
precedent. To raise the expectation of these events
to the highest possible pitch, he had the material
for the banquet prepared in part by his own
household, although he had let contracts to the

35

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

ablocata, etiam domesticatim apparabat. Gladiatores
notos, sicubi infestis spectatoribus dimicarent, vi ra-
pieiidos reservandosque mandabat. Tirones neque
in ludo neque per lanistas, sed in domibus per
equites Romanes atque etiam per senatores armor um
peritos erudiebat, precibus enitens, quod epistulis
eius ostenditur, ut disciplinam singulorum susciperent
ipsique dictata exercentibus darent. Legionibus
stipendium in perpetuum duplicavit. Frumentum^
quotiens copia esset, etiam sine modo mensuraque
praebuit ac singula interdum mancipia e praeda^
viritim dedit.

XX Vn, Ad retinendam autem Pompei neces-
situdinem ac voluntatem Octaviam sororis suae
neptem, quae Gaio Marcello nupta erat, condicionem
ei detulit sibique fih'am eius in matrimonium petit
Fausto Sullae destinatam. Omnibus vero circa eum
atque etiam parte magna senatus gratuito aut levi
faenore obstrictis^ ex reliquo quoque ordinum genere
vel invitatos vel sponte ad se commeantis uberrimo
congiario prosequebatur,^libertos insuper servulosque
cuiusque, prout domino patronove gratus qui ^ esset.
lam^ reorum aut obaeratorum aut prodigae iuventutis
subsidium unicum ac promptissimum erat, nisi quos
gravior criminum vel inopiae luxuriaeve vis urgeret,
quam ut subveniri posset a se ; his plane palam
bello civili opus esse dicebat.

^ " Ex praeda quidam,*' Casauhon — " quidam " being
apparently Ursinus; et praedia, Q.

* prosequebatur, L^T^; persequebatur, CI,
^ quia, mss, except M'^ (quivis, (?.).

* lam, s* ; tarn, MGX' ; turn, T.

36

When ordinarily they would be put to death.

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

markets as well. He gave orders too that whenever
famous gladiators fought without winning the favour
of the people/ tliey should be rescued by force
and kept for him. He had the novices trained,
not in a gladiatorial school by professionals, but
in private houses by Roman knights and even
by senators who were skilled in arms, earnestly
beseecl)iTig them, as is shown by his own letters,
to give the recruits individual attention and person-
ally direct their exercises. He doubled the pay
of the legions for all time. Whenever grain was
plentiful, he distributed it to them without stint
or measure, and now and then gaVe each man a
slave from among the captives. >.

XXVII. Moreover, to retain his relationship and V\
friendship with Pompey, Caesar offered him his \ ^
sister's granddaughter Octavia in marriage, although
she was already the wife of Gaius Marcellus, and
asked for the hand of Pompey's daughter, who was
promised to Faustus Sulla. When he had put all
Pompey's friends under obligation, as well as the
great part of the senate, through loans made without
interest or at a low rate, he lavished gifts on men
of all other classes, both those whom he invited to
accept his bounty and those who applied to him
unasked, including even freedmen and slaves who
were special favourites of their masters or patrons.
In short, he was the sole and ever ready help of all
who were in legal difficulties or in debt and of young
spendthrifts, excepting only those whose burden of
guilt or of poverty was so heavy, or who were so
given up to riotous living, that even he could not
save them ; and to these he declared in the plainest
terms that what they needed was a civil war.

37

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

XXVIII. Nee minore studio reges atque provineias
per terrarum orbem adliciebat, aliis captivorum milia
dono offerens, aliis citra senatus populique auctorita-
tem, quo vellent et quotiens vellent, auxilia submit-
tens, superque Italiae Galliarumque et Hispaniarum,
Asiae quoque et Graeciae potentissimas urbes praeci-

2 puis operibus exornans ; donee, attonitis iam omnibus
et quorsum ilia tenderent reputantibus, Marcus Clau-
dius Marcellus consul, edicto praefatus, de summa se re
publica acturum, rettulit ad senatum, ut ei succedere-
tur ante tempus, quoniam bello confecto pax esset ac
dimitti deberet victor exercitus ; et ne absentis ratio
comitiis haberetur, quando nee plebiscito Pompeius

3 postea abrogasset. Acciderat autem, ut is legem de
iure magistratuum ferens eo capite, quo petitione
honorum absentis submovebat, ne Caesarem quidem
exciperet per oblivionem, ac mox lege iam in aes
incisa et in aerarium condita corrigeret errorem. Nee
contentus Marcellus provineias Caesari et privilegium
eripere, rettulit etiam, ut colonis, quos rogatione
Vatinia Novum Comum deduxisset, civitas adimeretur,
quod per ambitionem et ultra praescriptum data
esset.

" That is, in correcting the bill after it had been passed
and filed, as explained in the following sentence,

38

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

XXVIII. He took no less pains to win the
devotion of princes and provinces all over the world,
offering prisoners to some by the thousand as a gift,
and sending auxiliary troops to the aid of others
whenever they wished^ and as often as they wished,
without the sanction of the senate or people, besides
adorning the principal cities of Asia and Greece
with magnificent public works, as well as those
of Italy and the provinces of Gaul and Spain.
At last, when all were thunder-struck at his
actions and wondered what their purpose could
be, the consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus, after first « m,a
making proclamation that he purposed to bring
before the senate a matter of the highest public
moment, proposed that a successor to Caesar be
appointed before the end of his term, on the ground
that the war was ended, peace was established, and
the victorious army ought to be disbanded ; also that
no account be taken of Caesar at the elections,
unless he were present, since Pompey's subsequent
action^ had not annulled the decree of the people.
And it was true that when Pompey proposed a
bill touching the privileges of officials, in the clause
where he debarred absentees from candidacy for
office he forgot to make a special exception in
Caesar's case, and did not correct the oversight
until the law had been inscribed on a tablet of
bronze and deposited in the treasury. Not content
with depriving Caesar of his provinces and his
privilege, Marcellus also moved that the colonists
whom Caesar had settled in Novum Comum by
the bill of Vatinius should lose their citizenship,
on the ground that it had been given from political
motives and was not authorized by the law.

39

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

XXIX. Commotus his Caesar ac iudicans, quod
saepe ex eo auditum ferunt^ difficilius se prineipem
civitatis a primo ordine in secundum quam ex
secundo in novissimum detrudi^ summa ope restitit,
partim per intercessores tribunos, partim per Servium
Sulpicium alterum consulem. Insequenti quoque
anno Gaio Marcello, qui fratri patrueli suo Marco in
consulatu successerat^ eadem temptante collegam
eius Aemilium Paulum Gaiumque Curionem vio-
lentissimum tribunorum ingenti mercede defensores
paravit. Sed cum obstinatius omnia agi videret et
designatos etiam consules e parte diversa, senatum
litteris deprecatus est, ne sibi beneficium populi
adimeretur, aut ut ceteri quoque imperatores ab
exercitibus discederent ; confisus, ut putant, facilius
se, simul atque libuisset, veteranos convocaturum
quam Pompeium novos milites. Cum adversariis
autem pepigit, ut dimissis octo legionibus Transalpi-
naque Gallia duae sibi legiones et Cisalpina provincia
vel etiam una legio cum Illyrieo concederetur, quoad
consul fieret.

XXX, Verum neque senatu interveniente et ad-
versariis negantibus ullam se de re publica facturos
pactionem, transiit in citeriorem Galliam, conventi
busque peractis Ravennae substitit, bello vindica-
turus si quid de tribunis plebis intercedentibus pro
se gravius a senatu constitutum esset.

Et praetextum quidem illi civilium armorum hoc

"* When the senate passed a decree that Caesar should disband
his army before a given date, the tribunes Mark Antony and
Quintus Cassius exercised their privilege and vetoed it (Caesar,
B.C. 1. 2. 6-7) ; not only did the senate disregard the veto, but
the tribunes were obliged to seek safety in flight {id. 1.5. 1-2).

40

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

XXIX. Greatly troubled by these measures, and
thinking, as they say he was often heard to remark,
that now that he was the leading man of tlie
state, it was harder to push him dow^n from the
first place to the second than it would be from
the second to the lowest, Caesar stoutly resisted
Marcellus, partly through vetoes of the tribunes
and partly through the other consul, Servius Siilpieius.
When next year Gaius Marcellus, who had succeeded
his cousin Marcus as consul, tried the same thing,
Caesar by a heavy bribe secured the support of the
other consul, Aemilius Paulus, and of Gaius Curio,
the most reckless of the tribunes. But seeing that
everything was being pushed most persistently, and
that even the consuls elect were among the opposi-
tion, he sent a written appeal to the senate, not to
take from him the privilege which the people had
granted, or else to compel the others in command
of armies to resign also ; feeling sure, it was thought,
that he could more readily muster his veterans
as soon as he wished, than Pompey his newly
levied troops. He further proposed a compromise
to his opponents, that after giving up eight legions
and Transalpine Gaul, he be allowed to keep two
legions and Cisalpine Gaul, or at least one legion
and Illyricum, until he was elected consul.

XXX. But when the senate declined to interfere,
and his opponents declared that they would accept
no compromise in a matter affecting the public
welfare, he crossed to Hither Gaul, and after
holding all the assizes, halted at Ravenna, intending
to resort to war if the senate took any drastic action
against the tribunes of the commons who interposed
vetoes in his behalf.* Now this was his excuse

41

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

fuit ; causas autem alias fuisse opinantur. Gnaeus
Pompeius ita dictitabat, quod neque opera consum-
mare, quae instituerat^ neque populi expectationem^
quam de adventu sui^ fecerat, privatis opibus explere
posset, turbare omnia ac permiscere voluisse. Alii
timuisse dicunt, ne eorum, quae primo consulatu
adversus auspicia legesque et intercessiones gessisset,
rationem reddere cogeretur ; cum M. Cato identidem
nee sine iure iurando denuntiaret delaturum se
nomen eius, simul ac primum exercitum dimisisset ;
cumque vulgo fore praedicarent, ut si privatus redis-
set, Milonis exemplo circumpositis armatis causam
apud iudices diceret. Quod probabilius facit Asinius
Pollio, Pharsalica acie caesos profligatosque adver-
sarios prospicientem haec eum ad verbum dixisse
referens : '^ Hoc voluerunt ; tantis rebus gestis Gaius
Caesar condemnatus essem, nisi ab exercitu auxilium
petissem." Quidam putant captum imperii con-
suetudine pensitatisque suis et inimicorum viribus
usum occasione rapiendae dominationis, quam aetate
prima concupisset. Quod existimasse videbatur et
Cicero scribens de Officiis tertio libro semper
Caesarem in ore habuisse ^ Euripidis versus, quos sic
ipse convertit :

'^ Nam si violandum est ius, regnandi ^ gratia
violandum est; aliis rebus pietatem colas."

1 sui, MGX' ; suo, T.

^ after habuisse the mss. have the gloss, est in Phoenissis :
etnep yap adiKe7y XP^i TvpavviZos Tr€pi KaWiffTov aBiK7]/j.a' ra 5'
6.\\a €v(xe^€LP xp^^^' ' regnandi, supplied by ^.

« 3. 82. ^ Phoenissae, 524 f. <= Way.

42

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

for the civil war^ but it is believed that he had other

motives. Gnaeus Pompeius used to declare that

since Caesar's own means were not sufficient to

complete the works which he had planned, nor

to do all that he had led the people to expect

on his return, he desired a state of general unrest

and turmoil. Others say that he dreaded the

necessity of rendering an account for what he had

done in his first consulship contrary to the auspices

and the laws, and regardless of vetoes ; for Marcus /^^/»^ 5 e a^,

Cato often declared, and took oath too, that he

would impeach Caesar the moment he had disbanded

his army. It was openly said too that if he was

out of office on his return, he would be obliged,

like Milo, to make his defence in a court hedged

about by armed men. The latter opinion is the

more credible one in view of the assertion of

Asinius Pollio, that when Caesar at the battle of

Pharsalus saw his enemies slain or in flight, he said,

word for word : '' They would have it so. Even I,

Gaius Caesar, after so many great deeds, should

have been found guilty, if I had not turned to

my army for help." Some think that habit had

given him a love of power, and that weighing

the strength of his adversaries against his own,

he grasped the opportunity of usurping the despotism

which had been his heart's desire from early youth.

Cicero too was seemingly of this opinion, when he

wrote in the third book of his De Officiis ^ that Caesar

ever had upon his lips these lines of Euripides,^ of

which Cicero himself adds a version :

^^ If wrong may e'er be right, for a throne's sake "} 6^^-^^^^
Were wrong most right : — be God in all else r
feared."^ ^

43

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

XXXI. Cum ergo sublatam tribunorum interces-
sionem ipsosque urbe cessisse nuntiatum esset,^
praemissis confestim clam cohortibus, ne qua suspicio
moveretur, et spectaculo publico per dissimulationem
interfuit et formam, qua ludum gladiatorium erat
aedificaturus, consideravit et ex consuetudine convivio
se frequent! dedit. Dein post solis occasum mulis e
proximo pistrino ad vehiculum iunctis occultissimum
iter modico comitatu ingressus est ; et cum lumini-
bus extinctis decessisset via, diu errabundus tandem
ad lucem duce reperto per angustissimos tramites
pedibus evasit. Consecutusque cohortis ad Rubi-
conem flumen, qui provinciae eius finis erat, paulum
constitit, ac reputans quantum moliretur, conversus
ad proximos : ^'^Etiam nunc," inquit, ^^ regredi pos-
sumus ; quod si ponticulum transierimus, omnia
armis agenda erunt."

XXXII. Cunctanti ostentum tale factum est.
Quidam eximia magnitudine et forma in proximo
sedens repente apparuit harundine canens ; ad quem
audiendum cum praeter pastores plurimi etiam ex
stationibus milites concurrissent interque eos et
aeneatores, rapta ab uno tuba prosilivit ^ ad flumen et
ingenti spiritu classicum exorsus pertendit ad alteram
ripam. Tunc Caesar: ^*^Eatur," inquit, ^"^quo deorum
ostenta et inimicorum iniquitas vocat. lacta alea
est," inquit.

XXXIII. Atque ita traiecto exercitu, adhibitis
tribunis plebis, qui pulsi supervenerant, pro contione

^ esset, O. ; est, T' ; the other mss. omit the tvord.
2 prosilivit, MuT ; the other rnss, have prosiluit.

44

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

XXXI. Accordingly^ when word came that the 49b.o.
veto of the tribunes had been set aside and they
themselves had left the city, he at once sent on a

few cohorts with all secrecy, and then, to disarm
suspicion, concealed his purpose by appearing at a
public show, inspecting the plans of a gladiatorial
school which he intended building, and joining as
usual in a banquet with a large company. It was
not until after sunset that he set out very privily
with a small company, taking the mules from a
bakeshop hard by and harnessing them to a carriage ;
and when his lights went out and he lost his way, he
was astray for some time, but at last found a guide at
dawn and got back to the road on foot by narrow by-
paths. Then, overtaking his cohorts at the river
Rubicon, which was the boundary of his province, he
paused for a while, and realising what a step he was
taking, he turned to those about him and said :
" Even yet we may draw back ; but once cross yon
little bridge, and the whole issue is with the sword.'*

XXXII. As he stood in doubt, this sign was given
him. On a sudden there appeared hard by a being
of wondrous stature and beauty, who sat and played
upon a reed ; and when not only the shepherds
flocked to hear him, but many of the soldiers left
their posts, and among them some of the trumpeters,
the apparition snatched a trumpet from one of them,
rushed to the river, and sounding the war-note with
mighty blast, strode to the opposite bank. Then
Caesar cried : ^^ Take we the course which the signs
of the gods and the false dealing of our foes point
out. The die is cast,'* said he.

XXXIII. Accordingly, crossing with his army, and
welcoming the tribunes of the commons, who had

45

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

fidem militum flens ac veste a pectore discissa
invocavit. Existimatur etiam equestres census pol-
licitus singulis ; quod accidit opinione falsa. Nam
cum in adloquendo adhortandoque saepius digitum
laevae manus ostentans adfirmaret se ad satis facien-
dum omnibus, per quos dignitatem suam defensurus
esset, anulum quoque aequo animo detracturum sibi,
extrema contio, cui facilius erat videre contionantem
quam audire, pro dicto accepit,quod visu suspicabatur ;
promissumque ius anulorum cum milibus quadringenis
fama distulit.

XXXIV. Ordo et summa rerum, quas deinceps
gessit, sic se habent. Picenum Umbriam Etruriam
occupavit et Lucio Domitio, qui per tumultum
successor ei nominatus Corfinium praesidio tenebat,
in dicionem redacto atque dimisso secundum Superum
mare Brundisium tetendit, quo consules Pompeiusque
confugerant quam primum transfretaturi. Hos frustra
per omnis moras exitu prohibere conatus Romam iter
convertit appellatisque de re publica patribus validis-
simas Pompei copias, quae sub tribus legatis M. Pe-
treio et L. Afranio et M. Varrone in Hispania erant,
invasit, professus ante inter suos, ire se ad exercitum
sine duce et inde reversurum ad ducem sine exercitu.
Et quanquam obsidione Massiliae, quae sibi in itinere

" Knights (as well as senators) had the privilege of wearing
a gold ring, and must possess an estate of 400,000 sesterces.

* Per tumultum is a strong expression for contra legem or
extra ordinem, since the Lex Sempronia provided that the
consuls be appointed to their provinces before election ; cf.
xix. 2.

46

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

come to him after being driven from Rome, he
harangued the soldiers with tears, and rending his
robe from his breast besought their faithful service.
It is even thought that he promised every man a
knight's estate, but that came of a misunderstanding ;
for since he often {)ointed to the finger of his left
hand as he addressed them and urged them on,
declaring that to satisfy all those who helped him to
defend his honour he would gladly tear his very ring
from his hand, those on the edge of the assembly,
who could see him better than they could hear his
words, assumed that he said w^iat his gesture seemed
to mean ; and so the report went about that he had
promised them the right of the ring and four
hundred thousand sesterces ^ as well.

XXXIV. The sum total of his movements after
that is, in their order, as follows : He overran
Umbria, Picenum, and Etruria, took prisoner Lucius
Domitius, who had been irregularl}?- ^ named his
successor, and was holding Corfinium with a garrison,
let him go free, and then proceeded along the
Adriatic to Brundisium, where Pompey and the
consuls had taken refuge, intending to cross the sea
as soon as might be. After vainly trying by every
kind of hindrance to prevent their sailing, he marched
off to Rome, and after calling the senate together to
discuss public business, went to attack Pompey's
strongest forces, which were in Spain under com-
mand of three of his lieutenants — Marcus Petreius,
Lucius Afranius, and Marcus Varro — saying to his
friends before he left ^^ I go to meet an army with-
out a leader, and I shall return to meet a leader
without an army." And in fact, though his advance
was delayed by the siege of Massilia, which had shut

47

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

portas clauserat, summaque frumentariae rei penuria
retardante brevi tamen omnia subegit.

XXXV. Hinc urbe repetita in Macedoniam trans-
gressus Pompeium, per quattuor paene menses
maximis obsessum operibus, ad extremum Pharsalieo
proelio fudit at* fugientem Alexandriam persecutus,
ut occisum deprehendit, cum Ptolemaeo rege, a quo
sibi quoque insidias tendi videbat, bellum sane
difficillimum gessit,, neque loco neque tempore aequo,
sed hieme anni et intra raoenia copiosissimi ac
soUertissimi hostis, inops ipse omnium rerum atque
inparatus. Regnum Aegypti victor Cleopatrae fra-
trique eius minori permisit, veritus provinciam
facere, ne quandoque violentiorem praesidem nacta
novarum rerum materia esset. «Ab Alexandria in
Syriam et inde Pontum transiit urgentibus de
Pharnace nuntiis, quern Mithridatis Magni filium ac
tunc occasione temporum bellantem^ iamque multi-
plici successu praeferocem, intra quintum quam
adfuerat diem, quattuor quibus in conspectum venit
horis, una profligavit acie ; crebro commemorans
Pompei felicitatem, cui praecipua militiae laus de
tarn inbelli genere hostium contigisset. Dehinc
Scipionem ac lubam reliquias partium in Africa
refoventis devicit, Pompei liberos in Hispania.

XXXVI. Omnibus civilibus bellis nullam cladem
nisi per legatos suos passus est, quorum C. Curio in

^ rebellantem, Bentlty; cf, Eutr, 6.22.3.

48

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

its gates against him, and by extreme scarcity of
supplies, he nevertheless quickly gained a complete
victory.

XXXV. Returning thence to Rome, he crossed into
Macedonia, and after blockading Pompey for almost
four months behind mighty ramparts, finally routed

him in the battle at Pharsalus, followed him in his 48b.c
flight to Alexandria, and when he learned that his
rival had been slain, made war on King Ptolemy,
whom he perceived to be plotting against his own
safety as well ; a war in truth of great difficulty, con-
venient neither in time nor place, but carried on
during the winter season, within the walls of a well-
provisioned and crafty foeman, while Caesar himself
was without supplies of any kind and ill-prepared.
Victor in spite of all, he turned over the rule of 47 b.c.
Egypt to Cleopatra and her younger brother, fearing
that if he made a province of it, it might one day
under a headstrong governor be a source of revolu-
tion. From Alexandria he crossed to Syria, and
from there went to Pontus, spurred on by the news
that Pharnaces, son of Mithridates the Great, had
taken advantage of the situation to make war, and
was already flushed with numerous successes ; but
Caesar vanquished him in a single battle within five
days after his arrival and four hours after getting
sight of him, often remarking on Pompey's good
luck in gaining his principal fame as a general by
victories over such feeble foemen. Then he over- 46 b.c
came Scipio and Juba, who were patching up the
remnants of their party in Africa, and the sons of
Pompey in Spain. 45 b.o

XXXVI. In all the civil wars he suffered not a
single disaster except through his lieutenants, of

49

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

Africa periit, C. Antonius in Illyrico in adversari-
orum devenit potestatem, P. Dolabella classem in
eodem Illyrico, Cn. Domitius Calvinus in Ponto
exercitum amiserunt. Ipse prosperrime semper ac
ne ancipiti quidem umquam fortuna praeterquam bis
dimicavit : semel ad Dyrrachium, ubi pulsus non
instante Pompeio negavit eum vincere scire, iterum
in Hispania ultimo proelio, cum desperatis rebus
etiam de consciscenda nece cogitavit.

XXXVII. Confectis bellis quinquiens triumphavit,
post devictum Scipionem quater eodem mense, sed
interiectis diebus, et rursus semel post superatos
Pompei liberos. Primum et excellentissimum tri-
umphum egit Gallicum, sequentem Alexandrinum,
deinde Ponticum, huic proximum Africanum, novis-
simum Hispaniensem, diverso quemque apparatu et
instrumento. Gallici triumphi die Velabrum prae-
tervehens paene curru excussus est axe diffracto
ascenditque Capitolium ad lumina, quadraginta ele-
phantis dextra sinistraque lychnuchos gestantibus.
Pontico triumpho inter pompae fercula trium ver-
borum praetulit titulum veni-vidi-vici non acta belli
significantem sicut ceteris, sed celeriter confecti
notam,

XXXVIII. Veteranis legionibus praedae nomine
in pedites singulos super bina sestertia, quae initio
civilis tumultus numeraverat, vicena quaterna milia
nummum dedit. Adsignavit et agros, sed non

50

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

whom Gaius Curio perished in Africa, Gaius Antonius
fell into the hands of the enemy in Illyricum,
Publius Dolabella lost a fleet also off Illyricum, and
Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus an army in Pontus. Per-
sonally he always fouglit with the utmost success,
and the issue was never even in doubt save twice :
once at Dyrrachium, where he was put to flight, and
said of Pompey, who failed to follow up his success,
that he did not know how to use a victory ; again in
Spain, in the final struggle, when, believing the battle
lost, he actually thought of suicide.

XXXVII. Having ended the wars, he celebrated
five triumphs, four in a single month, but at intervals
of a few days, after vanquishing Scipio ; and another
on defeating Pompey' s sons. The first and most
splendid was the Gallic triumph, the next the
Alexandrian, then the Pontic, after that the African,
and finally the Spanish, each differing from the rest
in its equipment and display of spoils. As he rode
through the Velabrum on the day of his Gallic
triumph, the axle of his chariot broke, and he was all
but thrown out ; and he mounted the Capitol by
torchlight, with forty elephants bearing lamps on
his right and his left. In his Pontic triumph he
displayed among the show-pieces of the procession an
inscription of but three words, " I came, I saw, I
conquered," not indicating the events of the war, as
the others did, but the speed with which it was
finished.

XXXVIII. To each and every foot-soldier of his
veteran legions he gave twenty -four thousand sesterces
by way of booty, over and above the two thousand
apiece which he had paid them at the beginning of
the civil strife. He also assigned them lands, but

51

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

continuos, ne quis possessorum expelleretur. Populo
praeter frumeiiti denos modios ac totidem olei libras
trecenos quoque nummos, quos poUicitus olim erat,
viritim di visit et hoc amplius centenos pro mora.
Annuam etiam habitationem Roniae usque ad bina
milia nummum, in Italia non ultra quingenos ses-
tertios remisit. Adiecit epulum ac viscerationem et
post Hispaniensem victoriam duo prandia ; nam cum
prius parce neque pro liberalitate sua praebitum
iudicaret, quinto post die aliud largissimum prae-
buit.

XXXIX. Edidit spectacula varii generis : munus
gladiatorium, ludos etiam regionatim urbe tota et
quidem per omnium linguarum histriones, item
circenses athletas naumachiam. Munere in Foro
depugnavit Furius Leptinus stirpe praetoria et
Q. Calpenus senator quondam actorque causarum.
Pyrricham saltaverunt Asiae Bithyniaeque principum
liberi. Ludis Decimus Laberius eques Romanus
mimum suum egit donatusque quingentis sestertiis et
anulo aureo sessum in quattuordecim e scaena per
orchestram transiit. Circensibus spatio Circi ab
utraque parte producto et in gyrum euripo addito
quadrigas bigasque et equos desultorios agitaverunt
nobilissimi iuvenes. Troiam lusit turma duplex

* The prandium was the first substantial meal of the day,
taken about noon ; the translation *' dinner" is used advisedly.

* In token of his restoration to the rank of knight,
which he forfeited by appearing on the stage ; see chap,
xxxiii.

«^ The first fourteen rows above the orchestra, reserved for
the knights by the law of L. Roscius Otho, tribune of the
commons, 67 B.C.

^ Euripus, the strait between Euboea and Boeotia, was
used also as a common noun, meaning **a ditch " or ^* canal."

52

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

not side by side^ to avoid dispossessing any of the
former owners. To every man of the people, besides
ten pecks of grain and the same number of pounds
of oil, he distributed the three hundred sesterces
which he had promised at first, and one hundred
apiece to boot because of the delay. He also
remitted a year's rent in Rome to tenants who paid
two thousand sesterces or less, and in Italy up to five
hundred sesterces. He added a banquet and a dole
of meat, and after his Spanish victory two dinners;*
for deeming that the former of these had not been
served with a liberality creditable to his generosity,
he gave another five days later on a most lavish
scale.

XXXIX. He gave entertainments of divers kinds :
a combat of gladiators and also stage-plays in every
ward all over the city, performed too by actors of
all languages, as well as races in the circus, athletic
contests, and a sham sea-fight. In the gladiatorial
contest in the Forum Furius Leptinus, a man of
praetorian stock, and Quintus Calpenus, a former
senator and pleader at the bar, fought to a finish. A
Pyrrhic dance was performed by the sons of the
princes of Asia and Bithynia. During the plays
Decimus Laberius, a Roman knight, acted a farce of
his own composition, and having been presented with
five hundred thousand sesterces and a gold ring,^
passed from the stage through the orchestra and took
his place in the fourteen rows.^' For the races the
circus was lengthened at either end and a broad canal <^
was dug all about it ; then young men of the highest
rank drove four-horse and two-horse chariots and
rode pairs of horses, vaulting from one to the other.
The game called Troy was performed by tw® Voops, of

53

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

maiorum minorumque puerorum. Venationes editae
per dies quinque ac novissime pugna divisa in duas
acies, quingenis peditibus, elephantis vicenis, tricenis
equitibus hinc et inde commissis. Nam quo laxius
dimicaretur, sublatae metae inque earum locum bina
castra exadversum constituta erant. Athletae stadio
ad tempus exstructo regione Marti campi certaverunt
per triduum. Navali proelio in minore Codeta
defosso lacu biremes ac triremes quadriremesque
Tyriae et Aegyptiae classis magno pugnatorum
numero conflixerunt. Ad quae omnia spectacula
tantum undique confluxit hominum, ut plerique
advenae aut inter vicos aut inter vias tabernaculis
positis manerent, ac saepe prae turba elisi exanimati-
que sint plurimi et in his duo senatores.

XL. Conversus hinc ad ordinandum rei publicae
statum fastos correxit iam pridem vitio pontificum
per intercalandi licentiam adeo turbatos, ut neque
messium feriae aestate neque vindemiarum autumno
conpeterent ; annumque ad cursum soUs accom-
modavit, ut trecentorum sexaginta quinque dierum
esset et intercalario mense sublato unus dies quarto
quoque anno intercalaretur. Quo autem magis in
posterum ex Kalendis lanuariis no vis ^ temporum ratio
congrueret, inter Novembrem ac Decembrem men-
sem interiecit duos ahos ; fuitque is annus, quo
haec constituebantur, quindecim mensium cum

^ no vis, Ur sinus; nobis, Ci.

* The year had previously consisted of 355 days, and the
deficiency of about eleven days was made up by inserting an
intercalary month of twenty-two or twenty-three days after
February.

54

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

younger and of older boys. Combats with wild beasts
were presented on five successive days^and last of all
there was a battle between two opposing armies^ in
which five hundred foot-soldiers^ twenty elephants,
and thirty horsemen engaged on each side. To make
room for this, the goals were taken down and in their
place two camps were pitched over against each
other. The athletic competitions lasted for three days
in a temporary stadium built for the purpose in the
region of the Campus Martius. For the naval battle
a pool was dug in the lesser Codeta and there was a
contest of ships of two, three, and four banks of oars,
belonging to the Tyrian and Egyptian fleets, manned
by a large force of fighting men. Such a throng
flocked to all these shows from every quarter, that
many strangers had to lodge in tents pitched in the
streets or along the roads, and the press was often
such that many were crushed to death, including
two senators.

XL. Then turning his attention to the reorgani-
sation of the state, he reformed the calendar, which
the negligence of the pontiffs had long since so
disordered, through their privilege of adding months
or days at pleasure, that the harvest festivals did not
come in summer nor those of the vintage in the
autumn ; and he adjusted the year to the sun's
course by making it consist of three hundred and
sixty-five days, abolishing the intercalary month,^
and adding one day every fourth year. Further-
more, that the correct reckoning of seasons might
begin with the next Kalends of January, he inserted
two other months between those of November and
December ; hence the year in which these arrange-
ments were made was one of fifteen months,

55

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK 1

intercalario, qui ex consiietudine in eum annum
inciderat.

XLI. Senatum supplevit, patricios adlegit, prae-
torum aedilium quaestorum, niinoruni etiam niagi-
stratuum numerum ampliavit; nudatos opere censorio
aut sententia iudicum de ambitu condemnatos re-
stituit. Comitia cum populo partitus est, ut exceptis
consulatus conpetitoribus de cetero numero candida-
torum pro parte dimidia quos populus vellet pro-
nuntiarentur, pro parte altera quos ipse dedisset. Et
edebat per libellos circum ^ tribum missos scriptura
brevi : '^ Caesar dictator illi tribui. Commendo vobis
ilium et ilium, ut vestro sufFragio suam dignitatem
teneant." Admisit ad honores et proscriptorum
liberos. ludicia ad duo genera iudicum redegit,
equestris ordinis ac senatorii ; tribunos aerarios, quod
erat tertium, sustulit.

Recensum populi nee more nee loco solito, sed
vicatim per dominos insularum egit atque ex viginti
trecentisque milibus accipientium frumentum e
publico ad centum quinquaginta retraxit ; ac ne qui
novi coetus recensionis causa moveri quandoque
possent, instituit, quotannis in demortuorum locum
ex iis, qui recensi non essent, subsortitio a praetore
fieret,

XLII. Octoginta autem civium milibus in trans-
marinas colonias distributis, ut exhaustae quoque

^ circum tribum] circum tribus, Venetian ed. of 1510,
Casanbon ; tributim circummissos, Bentley ; the early Roman
editions have cuique tribui.

^ Plebeians, connected in some way with the treasury.
* /.e., of the commons, with reference to the distribution
of grain.

56

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

including the intercalary months which belonged to
that year according to the former custom.

XLI. He filled the vacancies in the senate^ en-
rolled additional patricians^ and increased the number
of praetors, aediles^ and quaestors, as well as of the
minor officials ; he reinstated those who had been
degraded by official action of the censors or found
guilty of bribery by verdict of the jurors. He
shared the elections with the people on this basis :
that except in the case of the consulship, half of the
magistrates should be appointed by the people's
choice, while the rest should be those whom he had
personally nominated. And these he announced in
brief notes like the following, circulated in each
tribe : ^^ Caesar the Dictator to this or that tribe. I
commend to you so and so, to hold their positions by
your votes." He admitted to office even the sons of
those who had been proscribed. He limited the
right of serving as jurors to two classes, the
equestrian and senatorial orders, disqualifying the
third class, the tribunes of the treasury.*

He made the enumeration of the people ^ neither
in the usual manner nor place, but from street to
street aided by the owners of blocks of houses, and
reduced the number of those who received grain at
public expense from three hundred and twenty
thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand. And
to prevent the calling of additional meetings at any
future time for purposes of enrolment, he provided
that the places of such as died should be filled each
year by the praetors from those who were not on
the list.

XLII. Moreover, to keep up the population of
the city, depleted as it was by the assignment of

S7

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

urbis frequentia suppeteret, sanxit, ne quis civis maior
annis viginti minorve quadraginta,^ qui sacramento
non teneretur^ plus triennio continuo Italia abesset,
neu qui senatoris filius nisi contubernalis aut comes
magistratus peregre proficisceretur ; neve ii, qui
pecuariam facerent, minus tertia parte puberum
ingenuorum inter pastores haberent. Omnisque
medicinam Romae professes et liberalium artium
doctores, quo libentius et ipsi urbem incolerent et
ceteri adpeterent, civitate donavit.

2 De pecuniis mutuis disiecta novarum tabularum
expectatione_, quae crebro movebatur^ decrevit tan-
dem,, ut debitores creditoribus satis facerent per
aestimationem possessionum, quanti quasque ante
civile bellum comparassent, deducto summae aeris
alieni, si quid usurae nomine numeratum aut per-
scriptum fuisset ; qua condicione quarta pars fere

3 crediti deperibat. Cuncta collegia praeter antiquitus
constituta distraxit. Poenas facinorum auxit ; et
cum locupletes eo facilius scelere se obligarent^
quod integris patrimoniis exsulabant, parricidas^ ut
Cicero scribit^ bonis omnibus, reliquos dimidia parte
multavit.

XLIII. lus laboriosissime ac severissime dixit.
Repetundarum convictos etiam ordine senatorio
movit. Diremit nuptias praetorii viri^ qui digressam
a marito post biduum statim duxerat, quamvis sine

^ quadraginta, Basle ed, of 1533 ; LX, Casaiibon ; L,
Oudendorp; decern, Cl,

* The derivation of parricida is uncertain, but it cannot
come from pater and caedo. In early times it meant wilful
murder of a freeman ; XII. Tab. ap. Fest. s.v., si qui hominem
liberum dolo sciens morti ditit, paricidas esto ; later, it was
associated by popular etymology with pater and caedo, and
used also in the modern sense of the word.

5»

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

eighty thousand citizens to colonies across the sea,
he made a law that no citizen older than twenty or
younger than forty, who was not detained by service
in the army, should be absent from Italy for more
than three successive years ; that no senator's son
should go abroad except as the companion of a
magistrate or on his staff; and that those who made
a business of grazing should have among their
herdsmen at least one-third who were men of free
birth. He conferred citizenship on all who practised
medicine at Rome, and on all teachers of the liberal
arts, to make them more desirous of living in
the city and to induce others to resort to it.

As to debts, he disappointed those who looked for
their cancellation, which was often agitated, but
finally decreed that the debtors should satisfy their
creditors according to a valuation of their possessions
at the price which they had paid for them before the
civil war, deducting from the principal whatever
interest had been paid in cash or pledged through
bankers ; an arrangement w^hich wiped out about a
fourth part of tlieir indebtedness. He dissolved all
guilds, except those of ancient foundation. He
increased the penalties for crimes ; and inasmuch as
the rich involved themselves in guilt with less
hesitation because they merely suffered exile,
without any loss of property, he punished murderers
of freemen ^ by the confiscation of all their goods, as
Cicero writes, and others by the loss of one-half.

XLIII. He administered justice with the utmost
conscientiousness and strictness. Those convicted of
extortion he even dismissed from the senatorial
order. He annulled the marriage of an ex-praetor,
who had married a woman the very day after her

59

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

probri suspicione. Peregrinarum mercium portoria
instituit. Lecticarum usum, item conchyliatae vestis
et margaritarum nisi certis personis et aetatibus
2 perque certos dies ademit. Legem praecipue
sumptuariam exercuit dispositis circa macellum custo-
dibus, qui obsonia contra vetitum proposita^ retinerent
deportarentque ad se, submissis nonnumquam lictori-
bus atque militibus, qui, si qua custodes fefellissent,
iam adposita e triclinio auferrent.

XLIV. Nam de ornanda instruendaque urbe, item
de tuendo ampliandoque imperio plura ac maiora in
dies destinabat : in primis Martis templum, quantum
nusquam esset, exstruere repleto et conplanato lacu,
in quo naumachiae spectaculum ediderat, theatrumque

2 summae magnitudinis Tarpeio monti accubans ; ius
civile ad certum modum redigere atque ex immensa
diffusaque legum copia optima quaeque et necessaria
in paucissimos conferre libros ; bibliothecas Graecas
Latinasque quas maximas posset publicare data
Marco Varroni cura comparandarum ac digerendarum;

3 siccare Pomptinas paludes ; emittere Fucinum lacum ;
viam munire a mari Supero per Appennini dorsum ad
Tiberim usque ; perfodere Isthmum ; Dacos, qui se
in Pontum et Thraciam efFuderant, coercere ; mox
Parthis inferre bellum per Armeniam minorem nee
nisi ante expertos adgredi proelio.

^ proposita, an addition to the text suggested by Ihm.
6o

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

divorce, although there was no suspicion of adultery.
He imposed duties on foreign wares. He denied
the use of litters and the wearing of scarlet robes or
pearls to all except to those of a designated position
and age, and on set days. In particular he enforced
the law against extravagance, setting watchmen in
various parts of the market, to seize and bring to
him dainties which were exposed for sale in violation
of the law ; and sometimes he sent his lictors and
soldiers to take from a dining-room any articles which
had escaped the vigilance of his watchmen, even
after they had been served.

XLIV. In particular, for the adornment and con-
venience of the city, also for the protection and
extension of the Empire, he formed more projects
and more extensive ones every day : first of all, to
rear a temple to Mars, greater than any in existence,
filling up and levelling the pool in which he had
exhibited the sea-fight, and to build a theatre of vast
size, sloping down from the Tarpeian rock ; to reduce
the civil code to fixed limits, and of the vast and
prolix mass of statutes to include only the best and
most essential in a limited number of volumes ; to
open to the public the greatest possible libraries of
Greek and Latin books, assigning to Marcus Varro
the charge of procuring and classifying them ; to
drain the Pomptine marshes ; to let out the water
from Lake Fucinus ; to make a highway from the
Adriatic across the summit of the Apennines as far
as the Tiber ; to cut a canal through the Isthmus ;
to check the Dacians, who had poured into Pontus
and Thrace ; then to make war on the Parthians by
way of Lesser Armenia, but not to risk a battle with
them until he had first tested their mettle.

6j

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

Talia agentem atque meditantem mors praevenit.
De qua prius quam dicam, ea quae ad formam et
habitum et cultum et mores, nee minus quae ad
civilia et bellica eius studia pertineant, non alienum
erit summatim exponere.

XLV. Fuisse traditur excelsa statura, colore
candido, teretibus membris, ore paulo pleniore, nigris
vegetisque oeulis, valitudine prospera, nisi quod
tempore extremo repente animo linqui atque etiam
per somnum exterreri solebat. Comitiali quoque
morbo bis inter res agendas correptus est. Circa
corporis curam morosior, ut non solum tonderetur
diligenter ac raderetur, sed velleretur etiam, ut
quidam exprobraverunt, calvitii vero deforaiitatem
iniquissime ferret, saepe obtrectatorum iocis obnoxiam
expertus. Ideoque et deficientem capillum revocare
a vertice adsueverat et ex omnibus decretis sibi a
senatu populoque honoribus non aliud aut recepit aut
usurpavit libentius quam ius laureae coronae perpetuo
gestandae.

Etiam cultu notabilem ferunt ; usum enim lato
clavo ad manus fimbriate nee umquam aliter quam ut^
super eum cingeretur, et quidem fluxiore cinctura ;
unde emanasse Sullae dictum optimates saepius ad-
monentis, ut male praecinctum puerum caverent.

^ ut, supplied by Bentley, UQg- insert after nee.

" Epilepsy, called morbus comitialis, because an attack was
regarded as sufficient cause for the postponement of elections,
or other public business. Sometimes a seizure was feigned
for political reasons.

* Latus clavus, the broad purple stripe, is also applied to
a tunic with the broad stripe. All senators had the right to

62

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

All these enterprises and plans were cut short by
his death. But before I speak of that^ it will not be
amiss to describe briefly his personal appearance^ his
dress^ his mode of Hfe, and his character, as well as
his conduct in civil and military life.

XLV. He is said to have been tall of stature^ with
a fair complexion, shapely limbs, a somewhat full
face, and keen black eyes ; sound of health, except
that towards the end he was subject to sudden
fainting fits and to nightmare as well. He was
twice attacked by the falling sickness ^ during his
campaigns. He was somewhat overnice in the care
of his person, being not only carefully trimmed and
shaved, but even having superfluous hair plucked out,
as some have charged ; while his baldness was a
disfigurement which troubled him greatly, since he
found that it was often the subject of the gibes of
his detractors. Because of it he used to comb
forward his scanty locks from the crown of his head,
and of all the honours voted him by the senate and
people there was none which he received or made
use of more gladly than the privilege of wearing a
laurel wreath at all times. They say, too, that he
was remarkable in his dress ; that he wore a senator's
tunic ^ with fringed sleeves reaching to the wrist,
and always had a girdle ^ over it, though rather a
loose one ; and tliis, they say, was the occasion of
Sulla's mot, when he often warned the nobles to
keep an eye on the ill-girt boy.

wear this ; the peculiarity in Caesar's case consisted in the
long fringed sleeves.

^ While a girdle was commonly worn v/ith the ordinary
tunic, it was not usual to wear one with the latiis davits ;
Quint, XT. 3. 138. The looseness of the girdle was an addi-
tional peculiarity.

63

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

XLVI. Habitavit primo in Subura modicis aedibus,
post autem pontificatum maximum in Sacra via domo
publica. Munditiarum lautitiarumque studiossimum
multi prodiderunt ; villam in Nemorensi a funda-
mentis incohatam magnoque sumptu absolutam, quia
non tota ad animum ei responderat, totam diruisse,
quanquam tenuem adhuc et obaeratum ; in expedi-
tionibus tessellata et sectilia pavimenta circum-
tulisse.

XLVn. Britanniam petisse spe margaritarum,
quarum amplitudinem conferentem interdum sua
manu exegisse pondus ; gemmas, toreumata^ signa,
tabulas operis antiqui semper animosissime com-
parasse ; servitia rectiora politioraque inmenso pretio,
et cuius ipsum etiam puderet, sic ut rationibus
vetaret inferri.

XLVni. Convivatum assidue per provincias duo-
bus tricliniis, uno quo sagati palliative, altero quo
togati cum inlustrioribus provinciarum discumberent.
Domesticam disciplinam in parvis ac maioribus rebus
diligenter adeo severeque rexit, ut pistorem alium
quam sibi panem convivis subicientem compedibus
vinxerit, libertum gratissimum ob adulteratam equitis
Romani uxorem, quamvis nullo querente, capitali
poena adfecerit.

XLIX. Pudicitiae eius famam nihil quidem

64

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

XLVI. He lived at first in the Subura in a modest
house, but after he became pontifex maximus, in the
official residence on the Sacred Way. Many have
A^ritten that he was very fond of elegance and
luxury ; that having laid the foundations of a country-
house on his estate at Nemi and finished it at great
cost, he tore it all down because it did not suit him
in every particular, although at the time he was still
poor and heavily in debt ; and that he carried
tesselated and mosaic floors about with him on his
campaigns.

XLVII. They say that he was led to invade
Britain by the hope of getting pearls, and that
in comparing their size he sometimes weighed them
with his own hand ; that he was always a most
enthusiastic collector of gems, carvings, statues, and
pictures by early artists ; also of slaves of exceptional
figure and training at enormous prices, of which he
himself was so ashamed that he forbade their entry
in liis accounts.

XLVII I. It is further reported that in the pro-
vinces he gave banquets constantly in two dining-
halls, in one of which his officers or Greek com-
panions, in the other Roman civilians and the more
distinguished of the provincials reclined at table.
He was so punctilious and strict in the management
of his household, in small matters as well as in those
of greater importance, that he put his baker in irons
for serving him with one kind of bread and his
quests with another ; and he inflicted capital punish-
ment on a favourite freedman for adultery with the
wife of a Roman knight, although no com})laint ivas
made against him.

XLIX. There was no stain on his reputation for

65

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

praeter Nicomedis contubernium laesit, gravi tamen
et perenni obprobrio et ad omnium convicia exposito.
Omitto Calvi Licini notissimos versus :

^^ Bithynia quicquid
et pedicator^ Caesaris umquam habuit."

Praetereo actiones Dolabellae et Curionis patris, in
quibus eum Dolabella '^ paelicem reginae, spondam
interiorem regiae lecticae/' at Curio ^^stabulum Nico-
medis et Bithynicum fornicem " dicunt. Missa etiam
facio edicta Bibuli, quibus proscripsit : collegam
suum Bithynicam reginam, eique antea regem
fuisse cordi, nunc esse regnum. Quo tempore, ut
Marcus Brutus refert, Octavius etiam quidam
valitudine mentis liberius dicax conventu maximo,
cum Pompeium regem appellasset, ipsum reginam
salutavit. S^d C. Memmius etiam ad cyathum et
vinum '^ Nicomedi stetisse obicit, cum reliquis exoletis,
pleno convivio, accubantibus nonnullis urbicis nego-
tiatoribus, quorum refert nomina. Cicero vero non
contentus in quibusdam epistulis scripsisse a satelliti-
bus eum in cubiculum regium eductum in aureo lecto
veste purpurea decubuisse floremque aetatis a Venere
orti in Bithynia contaminatum, quondam etiam in
senatu defender'ti ei Nysae causam, filiae Nicomedis,
beneficiaque regis in se commemoranti : ^^ Remove/*
inquit, " istaec, oro te, quando notum est, et quid
ille tibi et quid illi tute dederis." Gallico denique
triumpho milites eius inter cetera carmina, qualia

^ pedicator] predicator, n.

2 et vinuin, T' ; et vina, G ; et vi, MVLH.

66

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

chastity except his intimacy with King Nicomedes,
but that was a deep and lasting reproach, which laid
him open to insults from every quarter. I say
nothing of the notorious lines of Licinius Calvus :

" Whate'er Bithynia had, and Caesar s paramour."

I pass over, too, the invectives of Dolabella and the
elder Curio, in which Dolabella calls him '' the
queen's rival, the inner partner of the royal couch,"
and Curio, ^^ the brothel of Nicomedes and the stew
of Bithynia." I take no account of the edicts of
Bibulus, in which he posted his colleague as ^^the
queen of Bithynia," saying that ^^of yore he was
enamoured of a king, but now of a king's estate."
At this same time, so Marcus Brutus declares, one
Octavius, a man whose disordered mind made him
somewhat free with his tongue, after saluting Pompey
as ^^king " in a crowded assembly, greeted Caesar as
^^ queen." But Gaius Memmius makes the direct
charge that he acted as cup-bearer to Nicomedes
with the rest of his wantons at a large dinner-party,
and that among the guests were some merchants
from Rome, whose names Memmius gives. Cicero,
indeed, is not content with having written in sundry
letters that Caesar was led by the king's attendants
to the royal apartments, that he lay on a golden
couch arrayed in purple, and that the virginity of
this son of Venus was lost in Bithynia ; but when
Caesar was once addressing the senate in defence of
Nysa, daughter of Nicomedes, and was enumerating
his obligations to the king, Cicero cried : *' No more
of that, pray, for it is well known what he gave you,
and what you gave him in turn." Finally, in his
Gallic triumph his soldiers, among the bantering

67

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

curruni prosequentes ioculariter canunt, etiam illud
vulgatissimum proniintiaverunt :

^^ Gallias Caesar subegit, Nicomedes Caesarem :
Ecce Caesar nunc tiiumphat qui subegit Gallias,^
Nicomedes non triiimphat qui subegit Caesarem."

L. Pronum et sumptuosum in libidines fuisse
constans opinio est, plurimasque et illustres feminas
corrupisse, in quibus Postumiam Servi Sulpici,
Lolliam Auli Gabini, Tertullam Marci Crassi, etiam
Cn. Pompei Muciam. Nam certe Pompeio et a
Curionibus patre et filio et a multis exprobratum
est, quod cuius causa post tres liberos exegisset
uxorem et quem gemens Aegisthum appellare
consuesset, eius postea filiam potentiae cupiditate
in matrimonium recepisset. 8ed ante alias dilexit
Marci Bruti matrem Serviliam, cui et primo^ suo
consulatu sexagiens sestertium margaritam mercatus
est et bello civili super alias donationes amplissima
praedia ex auctionibus hastae minimo addixit ; cum
quidem plerisque vilitatem mirantibus facetissime
Cicero : ^^ Quo inelius," inquit, '^ emptum sciatis, tertia
deducta ; '' existimabatur enim Servilia etiam filiam
suam Tertiam Caesari conciliare.

^ The second line is omitted by MHG VPO'd, while Q {and e
in the margin) add

Et quare triumphat Caesar qui subegit Gallias?

Nicomedes non triumpliat qui subegit Caesarem.
'^ primo, Torrentius; proximo, mss.

^ The word play on tertia {pars) and Tertia, daughter of
Servilia, as well as on the two senses of deducta, is quite
untranslatable. The first meaning is given in the translation,
and the second is implied in the following sentence. Cf.
Macrobius, Saturnalia, 2. 2. 5.

68

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

songs which are usually sung by those who follow
the chariot, shouted these lines, which became a
by-word :

" All the Gauls did Caesar vanquish, Nicomedes

vanquished him ;
Lo ! now Caesar rides in triumph, victor over all

the Gauls,
Nicomedes does not triumph, who subdued the

conqueror."

L. That he was unbridled and extravagant in his
intrigues is the general opinion, and that he seduced
many illustrious women, among them Postumia, wife
of Servius Sulpicius, Lollia, wife of Aulus Gabinius,
Tertulla, wife of Marcus Crassus, and even Gnaeus
Pompey's wife Mucia. At all events tiiere is no
doubt that Pompey was taken to task by the elder
and the younger Curio, as well as by many others,
because through a desire for power he had afterwards
married the daughter of a man on whose account he
divorced a wife who had borne him three children,
and whom he had often referred to with a groan as
an Aegisthus. But beyond all others Caesar loved
Servilia, the mother of Marcus Brutus, for whom
in his first consulship he bought a pearl costing
six million sesterces. During the civil war, too,
besides other presents, he knocked down some fine
estates to her in a public auction at a nominal
price, and when some expressed their surprise at
the low figure, Cicero wittily remarked : *' It's
a better bargain than you think, for there is a
third off."* And in fact it was thought that
Servilia was prostituting her own daughter Tertia
to Qiesar.

69

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

LI. Ne provincialibus quidem matrimoniis ab-
stinuisse vel hoc disticho apparet iactato aeque a
militibus per Gallicum triumphum :

^^ Urbani, servate uxores : moechum calvom addu-
cimus.
Aurum in Gallia effutuisti, hie sumpsisti mutuum."

LI I. Dilexit et reginas, inter quas Eunoen
Mauram Bogudis uxorem, cui niaritoque eius plurima
et immensa tribuit_, ut Naso ^ scripsit ; sed maxime
Cleopatram, cum qua et convivia in primam lucem
saepe protraxit et eadem nave thalamego paene
Aethiopia tenus Aegyptum penetravit, nisi exercitus
sequi recusasset, quam denique accitam in urbem
non nisi maximis honoribus praemiisque auctam
remisit fiHumque natum appellare nomine suo passus

2 est. Quem quidem nonnulli Graecorum similem
quoque Caesari et forma et incessu tradiderunt.
M. Antonius adgnitum etiam ab eo senatui adfirm-
avit, idque '^ scire C. Matium et C. Oppium
reUquosque Caesaris amicos ; quorum Gaius 0})pius,
quasi plane defensione ac patrocinio res egeret,
Hbrum edidit, non esse Caesaris filium, quem

8 Cleopatra dicat. Helvius Cinna tr. pi. plerisque
confessus est habuisse se scriptam paratamque legem,
quam Caesar ferre iussisset cum ipse abesset, uti
uxores liberorum quaerendorum causa quas et quot

^ Naso, g- {Mancinellus); vasa, n {apparently corrected
from vasu in M ; vasas, G).

'^ idque, Modderman ; the greater nnmher of the mss. have
que (^cjuae).

" M. Actorius Naso ; see chap, ix, 3.

70

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

LI. That he did not refrain from intrigues in the
provinces is shown in particular by this couplet,
which was also shouted by the soldiers in his Gallic
triumph :

'^ Men of Rome, keep close your consorts, here's a
bald adulterer.
Gold in Gaul you spent in dalliance, which you
borrowed here in Rome."

LII. He had love affairs with queens too, including
Eunoe the Moor, wife of Bogudes, on whom, as well as
on her husband, he bestowed many splendid presents,
as Naso writes ; ^ but above all with Cleopatra, with
whom he often feasted until daybreak, and he would
have gone through Egypt with her in her state-barge
almost to Aethiopia, had not his soldiers refused to
follow him. Finally he called her to Rome and did
not let her leave until he had ladened her with high
honours and rich gifts, and he allowed her to give his
name to the child which she bore. In fact, accord-
ding to certain Greek writers, this child was very
like Caesar in looks and carriage. Mark Antony
declared to the senate that Caesar had really
acknowledged the boy, and that Gaius Matius, Gains
Oppius, and other friends of Caesar knew this. Of
these Gaius Oppius, as if admitting that the situation
required apology and defence, published a book, to
prove that the child whom Cleopatra fathered on
Caesar was not his. Helvius Cinna, tribune of the
commons, admitted to several that he had a bill
drawn up in due form, which Caesar had ordered him
to propose to the people in his absence, making it
lawful for Caesar to marry what wives he wished,
and as many as he wished, " for the purpose of be-

71

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

vellet ducere liceret. At ne cui dubium omnino
sit et impudicitiae et adulteriorum flagrasse infamia,
Curio pater quadam eum oratione omnium mulierum
virum et omnium virorum mulierem appellat.

LI 1 1. Vini parcissimum ne inimici quidem ne-
gaverunt. Marci Catonis est : unum ex omnibus
Caesarem ad evertendam rem publicam sobrium
accessisse. Nam circa victum Gaius Oppius adeo
indifFerentem docet, ut quondam ab hospite conditum
oleum pro viridi adpositum aspernantibus ceteris
solum etiam largius appetisse scribat, ne hospitem
aut neglegentiae aut rusticitatis videretur arguere.

LIV. Abstinentiam neque in imperils neque in
magistratibus praestitit. Ut enim quidam monu-
mentis suis testati sunt, in Hispania pro consule et
a sociis pecunias accepit emendicatas in auxilium
aeris alieni et Lusitanorum quaedam oppida, quan-
quam nee imperata detrectarent et advenienti portas
patefacerent, diripuit hostiliter. In Gallia fana
templaque deum donis referta expilavit, urbes diruit
saepius ob praedam quam ob delictum ; unde factum,
ut auro abundaret ternisque milibus nummum in
libras promercale per Italiam provinciasque diven-
deret. In primo consulatu tria milia pondo auri
furatus e Capitolio tantundem inaurati aeris reposuit.
Societates ac regna pretio dedit, ut qui uni Ptolemaeo
prope sex milia talentorum suo Pompeique nomine

^ The words liherorum quaerendorum causa are a legal
formula indicating that the purpose of marriage is to beget
legal heirs.

* Caesar was in reality propraetor, but proconsul {pro
consule) is sometimes used of the governor of a province,
regardless of his rank.

^ Apparently about half the usual price : see Index, 8,v,
sestertius.

72

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

getting children/'* But to remove all doubt that he
had an evil reputation both for shameless vice and
for adultery, I have only to add that the elder Curio
in one of his speeches calls him "every woman's man
and every man's woman."

LIII. That he drank very little wine not even his
enemies denied. There is a saying of Marcus Cato
that Caesar was the only man who undertook to
overthrow the state when sober. Even in the
matter of food Gaius Oppius tells us that he was so
indifferent, that once when his host served stale oil
instead of fresh, and the other guests would have
none of it, Caesar partook even more plentifully than
usual, not to seem to charge his host with careless-
ness or lack of manners.

LI V. Neither when in command of armies nor as a
magistrate at Rome did he show a scrupulous in-
tegrity ; for as certain men have declared in their
memoirs, when he was proconsul in Spain,* he not
only begged money from the allies, to help pay his
debts, but also attacked and sacked some towns of
the Lusitanians although they did not refuse his
terms and opened their gates to him on his arrival.
In Gaul he pillaged shrines and temples of the gods
filled with offerings, and oftener sacked towns for the
sake of plunder than for any fault. In consequence
he had more gold than he knew what to do with,
and offered it for sale throughout Italy and the pro-
vinces at the rate of three thousand sesterces the
pound.* In his first consulship he stole three
thousand pounds of gold from the Capitol, replacing
it with the same weight of gilded bronze. He
made alliances and thrones a matter of barter, for
he extorted from Ptolemy alone in his own name

73

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

abstulerit. Postea vero evidentissimis rapinis ac
sacrilegis et onera bellorum civilium et triumphorum
ac munerum sustinuit impendia.

LV. Eloquentia militarique ^ re aut aequavit
praestantissimorum gloriam aut excessit. Post ac-
cusationem Dolabellae baud dubie principibus patronis
adnumeratus est. Certe Cicero ad Brutum oratores
enumerans negat se videre, cui debeat Caesar cedere,
aitque eum elegantem, splendidam quoque atque
etiam magnificam et generosam quodam modo
rationem dicendi tenere ; et ad Cornelium Nepotem
de eodem ita scripsit : ^^ Quid ? oratorem quern huic
antepones eorum, qui nihil aliud egerunt ? Quis
sententiis aut acutior autcrebrior? Quis verbis aut
ornatior aut elegantior?" Genus eloquentiae dum-
taxat adulescens adhuc Strabonis Caesaris secutus
videtur, cuius etiam ex oratione, quae inscribitur
'^ pro Sardis/' ad verbum nonnuUa transtulit in divina-
tionem suam. Pronuntiasse autem dicitur voce acuta,
ardenti motu gestuque, non sine venustate. Orationes
aliquas reliquit, inter quas temere quaedam feruntur.
'^ Pro Quinto Metello " non immerito Augustus existi-
mat magis ab actuariis exceptam male subsequentibus
verba dicentis, quam ab ipso editam ; nam in
quibusdam exemplaribus invenio ne inscriptam quidem
'^ pro Metello/' sed ^^ quam scripsit Metello/' cum ex
persona Caesaris sermo sit Metellum seque adversus

^ militarique re, Lipsius; militari quare, Ci (G omits
quare).

" Cic. Brut. 261.

* That is, a speech in which he competed with other advo^
cates for the right to conduct a prosecution,

74

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

and that of Pompey nearly six tliousand talents,
while later on he met the heavy expenses of the
civil wars and of his triumphs and entertainments by
the most baie-faced pillage and sacrilege.

LV. In eloquence and in the art of war he either
equalled or surpassed the fame of their most eminent
representatives. After his accusation of Dolabella,
he was without question numbered with the leading
advocates. At all events when Cicero reviews the
orators in his Bnitus,^ he says that he does not see
to whom Caesar ought to yield the palm, declaring
that his style is elegant as well as transparent, even
grand and in a sense noble. Again in a letter to
Cornelius Nepos he writes thus of Caesar : " Come
now, what orator would you rank above him of those
who have devoted themselves to nothing else ? Who
has cleverer or more frequent epigrams ? Who is
either more picturesque or more choice in diction? "
He appears, at least in his youth, to have imitated the
manner of Caesar Strabo, from whose speech entitled
'^ For the Sardinians " he actually transferred some
passages word for word to a trial address ^ of his own.
He is said to have delivered himself in a high-pitched
voice with impassioned action and gestures, which
were not without grace. He left several speeches,
including some which are attributed to him on
insufficient evidence. Augustus had good reason to
think that the speech " For Quintus Metellus " was
rather taken down by shorthand writers who could
not keep pace with his delivery, than published by
Caesar himself; for in some copies I find that even
the title is not '^For Metellus,'* but," Which he wrote
for Metellus," although the discourse purports to be
from Caesar's lips, defending Metellus and himself

75

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

communium obtrectatorum criminationes purgantis.
4 ^^^ Apud milites" quoque '^^in Hispania" idem Augustus
vix ipsius putat, quae tamen duplex fertur : una
quasi priore habita proelio, altera posteriore, quo
Asinius Pollio ne tempusquidem contionandi habuisse
eum dicit subita hostium ineursione.

LVI. Reliquit et rerum suarum commentarios*
Gallici civilisque belli Pompeiani. Nam Alexandrini
Africique et Hispaniensis incertus auctor est ; alii
Oppium putant^ alii Hirtium, qui etiam Gallici belli
novissimum imperfectumque librum suppleverit. De
commentariis Caesaris Cicero in eodem Bruto sic

2 refert : ^^ Commentarios scripsit valde quidem pro-
bandos ; nudi sunt, recti et venusti, omni ornatu
orationis tamquam veste detracta ; sed dum voluit
alios habere parata, unde sumerent qui vellent
scribere historiam, ineptis gratum fortasse fecit, qui
ilia volent calamistris inurere, sanos quidem homines

3 a scribendo deterruit." De isdem commentariis Hir-
tius ita praedicat : ^^Adeo probantur omnium iudicio, ut
praerepta, non praebita facultas scriptoribus videatur.
Cuius ^ tamen rei maior nostra quam reliquorum est
admiratio ; ceteri enim, quam bene atque emendate,
nos etiam, quam facile atque celeriter eos perscrip-

4 serit, scimus." Pollio Asinius parum diligenter
parumque integra veritate compositos putat, cum

^ Cuius . . . emendate, found only in $- ; cf. praef. ad
B.G. viii.

« Cic. Brut. 262, » De Bell, Gall, viji, preface, 5-6.

76

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

against the charges of their common detractors.
Augustus also questions the authenticity of the
address ** To his Soldiers in Spain/' although there
are two sections of it, one purporting to have been
s})oken at the first battle^ the other at the second,
when Asinius PoUio writes that because of the
sudden onslaught of the enemy he actually did not
have time to make an harangue.

LVI. He left memoirs too of his deeds in the
Gallic war and in the civil strife with Pompey ; for the
author of the Alexandrian, African, and Spanish Wars
is unknown; some think it was Oppius, others Hirtius,
who also supplied the final book of the Gallic War,
which Caesar left unwritten. With regard to Caesar's
memoirs Cicero, also in the Brutus ^ speaks in the fol-
lowing terms : ^^He wrote memoirs which deserve the
highest praise ; they are naked in their simplicity,
straightforward yet graceful, stripped of all rhetorical
adornment, as of a garment ; but while his purpose
was to supply material to others, on which those who
wished to write history might draw, he haply
gratified silly folk, who will try to use the curling-
irons on his narrative, but he has kept men of any
sense from touching the subject.'* Of these same
memoirs Hirtius uses this emphatic language^; "They
are so highly rated in the judgment of all men, that
he seems to have deprived writers of an opportunity,
rather than given them one ; yet our admiration for
this feat is greater than that of others ; for they
know how well and faultlessly he wrote, while we
know besides how easily and rapidly he finished his
task." Asinius Pollio thinks that they were put
together somewhat carelessly and without strict
regard for truth ; since in many cases Caesar was too

77

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

Caesar pleraque et quae per alios erant gesta temere
crediderit et quae per se, vel eonsulto vel etiam
memoria lapsus perperam ediderit ; existimatque
rescripturum et correcturum fuisse. Reliquit et " de
Analogia " duos libros et ^^ Anticatones " totidem ac
praeterea poema quod inscribitur '^ Iter." Quorum
librorum primos in transitu Alpium, cum ex citeriore
Gallia conventibus peractis ad exercitum rediret,
sequentes sub tempus Mundensis proelii fecit ;
novissimum, dum ab urbe in Hispaniam ulteriorem
quarto et vicensimo die pervenit. Epistulae quoque
eius ad senatum extant, quas primum videtur ad
paginas et formam memorialis libelli convertisse, cum
antea consules et duces non nisi transversa charta
scriptas mitterent. Exstant et ad Ciceronem, item
ad familiares domesticis de rebus, in quibus, si qua
occultius perferenda erant, per notas scripsit, id est
sic structo litterarum ordine, ut nullum verbum effici
posset ; quae si qui investigare et persequi velit,^
quartam elementorum litteram^ id est D pro A et
perinde reliquas commutet. Feruntur a puero et ab-
adulescentulo quaedam scripta, ut ^^ Laudes Herculis,"
tragoedia*^^ Oedipus," item ^^ Dicta collectanea": quos
omnis libellos vetuit Augustus publicari in epistula,
quam brevem admodum ac simplicem ad Pompeium
Macrum,cuiordinandas bibliothecas delegaverat,misit.

^ velit, ^ ; vellet, Cl ; volet, Stephanus.

^ et a puero et ab, UQ; et a puero ab, R ; et aituero ab, MV.

'' That is, Caesar reduced his reports to book form. If the
book was a roll, the writing was arranged in columns, parallel
with the edges (or long sides) of the roll. If it was a codex j
several sheets were folded and fastened together and the writing
was arranged on each page in one or two columns. His pre-
decessors merely took a sheet, or sheets, and wrote from side
to side and from top to bottom, without columns or margins.

78

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

ready to believe the accounts which others gave of
their actions, and gave a perverted account of his ovv^n,
either designedly or perhaps from forgetfulness ; and
he thinks that he intended to rewrite and revise them.
He left besides a work in two volumes '^'^On Analogy/'
the same number of ^^ Speeches criticising Cato/*
in addition to a poem, entitled "^^Tlie Journey."^
He wrote the first of these works while crossino; the
Alps and returning to his army from Plither Gaul,
where he had held the assizes ; the second about
the time of the battle of Munda, and the third in
the course of a twenty-four days' journey from Rome
to Farther Spain. Some letters of his to the senate
are also preserved, and he seems to have been the
first to reduce such documents to pages and the
form of a note-book,^ whereas previously consuls and
generals sent their reports written right across the
sheet. There are also letters of his to Cicero, as
well as to his intimates on private affairs, and in the
latter, if he had anything confidential to say, he
wrote it in cipher, that is, by so changing the order of
the letters of the alphabet, that not a word could be
made out. If anyone wishes to decipher these, and
get at their meaning, he must substitute the fourth
letter of the alphabet, namely D, for A, and so with
the others. We also have mention of certain
writings of his boyhood and early youth, such as the
"Praises of Hercules," a tragedy "Oedipus," and
a "Collection of Apophthegms"; but Augustus for-
bade the publication of all these minor works in
a very brief and frank letter sent to Pompeius
Macer, whom he had selected to set his libraries
in order.

79

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

LVII. Armorum et equitandi peritissimus, laboris
ultra fidem patiens erat. In agmine nonnumquam
equo, saepius pedibus anteibat, capite detecto, seu
sol seu imber esset ; longissimas vias incredibili
celeritate confecit, expeditus, meritoria raeda, centena
passuum milia in singulos dies ; si flumina morarentur,
nando traiciens vel innixus inflatis utribus, ut persaepe
nuntios de se praevenerit.

LVIII. In obeundis expeditionibus dubium cautior
an audentior, exercitum neque per insidiosa itinera
duxit umquam nisi perspeculatus locorum situs, neque
in Britanniam transvexit, nisi ante per se portus et
navigationem et accessum ad insulam explorasset.
At idem obsessione castrorum in Germania nuntiata
per stationes hostium Gallico habitu penetravit ad
suos. A Brundisio Dyrrachiuni inter oppositas classes
hieme transmisit cessantibusque copiis, quas subsequi
iusserat, cum ad accersendas frustra saepe misisset,
novissime ipse clam noctu parvulum navigium solus
obvoluto capite conscendit, neque aut quis esset
ante detexit aut gubernatorem cedere adversae
tempestati passus est quam paene obrutus fluctibus.

LIX. Ne religione quidem ulla a quoquam incepto
absterritus umquam vel retardatus est. Cum im-
molanti aufugisset hostia, profectionem adversus
Scipionem et lubam non distulit. Prolapsus etiam

" Through GaiusVolusenus(Caes. E.G. 4. 21. 1). Suetonius's
words per se do not necessarily imply that Caesar went to
Britain himself for this purpose.

8o

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

LVII. He was highly skilled in arms and horse-
manship, and of incredible powers of endurance. On
the march he headed his army, sometimes on horse-
back, but oftener on foot, bareheaded both in the heat
of the sun and in rain. He covered great distances
with incredible speed, making a hundred miles a
day in a hired carriage and with little baggage,
swimming the rivers which barred his path or cross-
ing them on inflated skins, and very often arriving
before the messengers sent to announce his cominir.

LVIII. In the conduct of his campaigns it is a
question whether he was more cautious or more
daring, for lie never led his army where ambuscades
were possible without carefully reconnoitring the
country, and he did not cross to Britain without
making personal inquiries* about the harbours, the
course, and the approach to the island. But on the
other hand, when news came that his camp in
Germany was beleaguered, he made his way to his
men through the enemies' pickets, disguised as a
Gaul. He crossed from Brundisium to Dyrrachium
in winter time, running the blockade of the enemy's
fleets ; and when the troops which he had ordered to
follow him delayed to do so, and he had sent to fetch
them many times in vain, at last in secret and alone
he boarded a small boat at night with his head
muffled up ; and he did not reveal who he was, or
suffer the helmsman to give way to the gale blowing
in their teeth, until he was all but overwhelmed by
the waves.

LIX. No regard for religion ever turned him from
any undertaking, or even delayed him. Though the
victim escaped as he was offering sacrifice, he did not
put off his expedition against Scipio and Juba. Even

8i

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

in egressu navis verso ad melius omine : ^^ Teneo te/'
inquitj '^ Africa." Ad eludendas autem vaticinationes,
quibus felix et invictum in ea provincia fataliter
Scipionum nomen ferebatur, despectissimum quendam
ex Corneliorum genere, cui ad opprobrium vitae
Salvitoni ^ cognomen erat, in castris secum habuit.

LX. Proelia non tantum destinato, sed ex occasione
sumebat ac saepe ab itinere statim, interdum spurcissi-
mis tempestatibus, cum minime quis moturum putaret ;
nee nisi tempore extremo ad dimicandum cunctatior
factus est, quo saepius vicisset, hoc minus experien-
dos casus opinans nihilque se tantum adquisiturum
victoria, quantum auferre ^ calamitas posset. Nullum
umquam hostem fudit, quin castris quoque exueret ;
ita nullum spatium perterritis dabat. Ancipiti proelio
equos dimittebat et in primis suum, quo maior
permanendi necessitas imponeretur auxilio fugae
erepto.

LXI. Utebatur autem equo insigni, pedibus prope
humanis et in modum digitorum ungulis fissis, quem
natum apud se, cum haruspices imperium orbis terrae
significare domino pronuntiassent, magna cura aluit
nee patientem sessoris alterius primus ascendit ; cuius
etiam instar pro aede Veneris Genetricis postea
dedicavit.

^ Salvitem, L'; Salutioni, cp. "^ auferre . . . umquam, ovly ing-.

^ The significance of this name can only be conjectured.
Salutio was an actor of mimes, mentioned by Pliny, N.JI.
7. 10 and 35. 2.

82

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

when he had a fall as he disembarked, he gave the
omen a favourable turn by crying : ^' I hold thee
fast^ Africa." Furthermore, to make the prophecies
ridiculous which declared that the stock of the
Scipios was f^ited to be fortunate and invincible
in that province, he kept with him in camp a
contemptible fellow belonging to the Cornelian
family, to whom the nickname Salvito ^ had been
given as a reproach for his manner of life.

LX. He joined battle, not only after planning his
movements in advance but on a sudden opportunity,
often immediately at the end of a march, and some-
times in the foulest weather, when one would least
expect him to make a move. It was not until his later
years that he became slower to engage, through a
conviction that the oftener he had been victor, the
less he ought to tempt fate, and that he could not
possibly gain as much by success as he might lose by
a defeat. He never put his enemy to flight without
also driving him from his camp, thus giving him no
respite in his panic. When the issue was doubtful,
he used to send away the horses, and his own among
the first, to impose upon his troops the greater
necessity of standing their ground by taking away
that aid to flight.

LXI. He rode a remarkable horse, too, with feet
that wxre almost human ; for its hoofs were cloven
in such a way as to look like toes. This horse was
foaled on his own place, and since the soothsayers
had declared that it foretold the rule of the world
for its master, he reared it with the greatest care,
and was the first to mount it, for it would endure no
other rider. Afterwards, too, he dedicated a statue
of it before the temple of Venus Genetrix.

83

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

LXn. Inclinatam aciern solus saepe restituit ob-
sistens fugientibus retinensque singulos et contortis
faucibus convertens in hostem et quideni adeo pie-
rum que trepidos, ut aquilifer ^ moranti se cuspide
sit comminatus, alius in manu detinentis reliquerit
signum.

LXni. Non minor ilia constantia eius, maiora ^
etiam indicia fuerint. Post aciem Pharsalicam cum
praemissis in Asiam copiis per angustias Hellesponti
vectoria navicula traiceret, L. Cassium partis adversae
cum decem rostratis navibus obvium sibi neque
refugit et comminus tendens, ultro ad deditionem
hortatus, supplicem ad se recepit.

LXIV. Alexandriae circa oppugnationem pontis
eruptione hostium subita conpulsus in scapham pluri-
bus eodem praecipitantibus, cum desiluisset^ in mare,
nando per ducentos passus evasit ad proximam navem,
elata laeva, ne libelli quos tenebat madefierent, pa-
ludamentum mordicus trahens, ne spolio poteretur
hostis.

LXV. Militem neque a moribus neque a fortuna ^
probabat, sed tantum a viribus, tractabatque pari
severitate atque indulgentia. Non enim ubique ac
semper, sed cum hostis in proximo esset, coercebat ;

^ aquilifer, Egiiatius; aquilifero, n.

'^ minora, T' ; constantiae, UQSTt;- ; immo maiora etiam, T'.

' dedisset, P'O ; the other mss. have desilisset.

* fortuna, M ; the other mss. have fortuna ; forma,
Torrentius.

" The standard of the legion was a silver eagle with
outstretched wings, mounted on a pole which had a sharp
point at the other end, so that it could be set firmly in the
ground.

* Rostratae naves^ ships of war provided with brazen beaks
(rostra) or rams.

84

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

LXII. When his army gave way, he often rallied
it single-handed, planting himself in the way of the
fleeing men, laying hold of them one by one, and
even catching them by the throat and forcing them
to face the enemy ; that, too, when they were in
such a panic that an eagle-bearer made a pass at him
with the point^ as he tried to stop him, while another
left the standard in Caesar's hand when he would
hold him back.

LXII I. His presence of mind was no less re-
nowned, and the instances of it will appear even
more striking. After the battle of Pharsalus, when
he had seivt on his troops and was crossing the strait
of the Hellespont in a small passenger boat, he
met Lucius Cassius, of the hostile party, with ten
armoured ships,* and made no attempt to escape, but
went to meet Cassius and actually urged him to
surrender ; and Cassius sued for mercy and was taken
on board.

LXIV. At Alexandria, while assaulting a bridge,
he was forced by a sudden sally of the enemy to take
to a small skiff; when many others threw themselves
into the same boat, he plunged into the sea, and
after swimming for two hundred paces, got away to
the nearest ship, holding up his left hand all the
way, so as not to wet some papers which he was
carrying, and dragging his cloak after him with his
teeth, to keep the enemy from getting it as a
trophy.

LXV. He valued his soldiers neither for their
personal character nor their fortune, but solely for
their prowess, and he treated them with equal strict-
ness and indulgence ; for he did not curb them
everywhere and at all times, but only in the presence

85

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

turn maxime exactor gravissimus disciplinae, ut
neque itineris neque proelii tempus denuntiaret^ sed
paratum et intentum momentis omnibus quo vellet
subito educeret. Quod etiam sine causa plerumque
faciebat^ praecipue pluviis et festis diebus. Ac
subinde observandum se admonens repente interdiu
vel nocte subtrahebat, augebatque iter, ut serius
subsequentis defetigaret.

LXVI. Fama vero hostilium copiarum perterritos
non negando minuendove, sed insuper amplificando
ementiendoque confirmabat. Itaque cum expectatio
adventus lubae terribilis esset, convocatis ad con-
tionem militibus : ^^ Scitote/' inquit, '^ paucissimis his
diebus regem adfuturum cum decern legionibus,
equitum triginta, levis armaturae centum milibus,
elephantis trecentis. Proinde desinant quidam
quaerere ultra aut opinari mihique, qui compertum
habeo, credant ; aut quidem vetustissima nave im-
positos quocumque vento in quascumque terras
iubebo avehi."

LXVn. Delicta neque observabat omnia neque pro
modo exsequebatur, sed desertorum ac seditiosorum
et inquisitor et punitor acerrimus conivebat in ceteris.
Ac nonnumquam post magnam pugnam atque
victoriam remisso officiorum munere licentiam
omnem passim lasciviendi permittebat, .iactare
solitus milites suos etiam unguentatos bene pug-
86

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

of the enemy. Then he required the strictest dis-
ciphne^ not announcing the time of a march or a
battle, but keeping them ready and alert to be led
on a sudden at any moment wheresoever he might
wish. He often called them out even when there
was no occasion for it, especially on rainy days and
holidays. And warning them every now and then
that they must keep close watch on him, he would
steal away suddenly by day or night and make a
longer march than usual, to tire out those who were
tardy in following.

LXVI. When they were in a panic through reports
about the enemy's numbers, he used to rouse their
courage not by denying or discounting the rumours,
but by falsely exaggerating the true danger. For
instance, when the anticipation of Juba's coming
filled them with terror, he called the soldiers to-
gether and said : ^' Let me tell you that within the
next few days the king will be here with ten legions,
thirty thousand horsemen, a hundred thousand light-
armed troops, and three hundred elephants. There-
fore some of you may as well cease to ask further
questions or make surmises and may rather believe me,
since I know all about it. Otherwise, I shall surely
have them shipped on some worn out craft and carried
off to whatever lands the wind may blow them."

LXVI I. He did not take notice of all their
offences or punish them by rule, but he kept a sharp
look out for deserters and mutineers, and chastised
them most severely, shutting his eyes to other faults.
Sometimes, too, after a great victory he relieved
them of all duties and gave them full licence to
revel, being in the habit of boasting that his
soldiers could fight well even when reeking of per-

87

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

nare posse. Nee milites eos pro eontione, sed
blandiore nomine eommilitones appellabat habebat-
que tarn cultos, ut argento et auro politis armis
ornaret, simul et ad speciem et quo tenaciores eorum
in proelio essent metu danmi. Diligebat quoque
usque adeo, ut audita clade Tituriana barbam capil-
lumque summiserit nee ante dempserit quam vindi-
casset.

LXVIII. Quibus rebus et devotissimos sibi et
fortissimos reddidit. Ifigresso civile bellum cen-
turiones cuiusque legionis singulos equites e viatico
suo optulerunt, universi milites gratuitam et sine
frumento stipendioque operam, cum tenuiorum
tutelam locupletiores in se contulissent. Neque in
tam diuturno spatio quisquam omnino descivit,
plerique capti concessam sibi sub condicione vitam,
si militare adversus eum vellent, recusarunt. Famem
et ceteras necessitates^ non cum obsiderentur modo
sed et si ipsi alios obsiderent, tan to opere tolerabant,
ut Dyrrachina munitione Pompeius viso genere panis
ex herba_, quo sustinebantur, cum feris sibi rem
esse dixerit amoverique ocius nee cuiquam ostendi
iusserit, ne patientia et pertinacia hostis animi
suorum f range rentur.

Quanta fortitudine dimicarint^ testimonio est
quod adverso semel apud Dyrrachium proelio poenam
in se ultro depoposcerunt, ut consolandos eos magis
imperator quam puniendos habuerit. Ceteris proeliis

88

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

fumes. In the assembly he addressed them not as
^^ soldiers/' but by the more flattering term ^^ com-
rades/' and he kept them in fine trim, furnishing
them witli arms inlaid with silver and gold, both for
show and to make them hold the faster to them in
battle, through fear of the greatness of the loss.
Such was his love for them that when he heard of
the disaster to Titurius, he let his hair and beard
grow long, and would not cut them until he had
taken vengeance.

LXVIIL In this way he made them most devoted
to his interests as well as most valiant. When he
began the civil war, every centurion of each legion
proposed to supply a horseman from his own savings,
and the soldiers one and all offered their service
without pay and without rations, the richer assuming
the care of the poorer. Throughout the long struggle
not one deserted and many of them, on being taken
prisoner, refused to accept their lives, when offered
them on the condition of consenting to serve against
Caesar. They bore hunger and other hardships, both
when in a state of siege and when besieging others,
with such fortitude, that when Pompey saw in the
works at Dyrrachium a kind of bread made of herbs,
on which they were living, he said that he was
fighting wild beasts ; and he gave orders that it be
put out of sight quickly and shown to none of his
men, for fear that the endurance and resolution of
the foe would break their spirit.

How valiantly they fought is shown by the fact
that when they suffered their sole defeat before
Dyrrachium, they insisted on being punished, and
their commander felt called upon rather to console
than to chastise them. In the other battles they

89

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK 1

innunieras adversarioruni copias multis partibus ipsi
pauciores facile superarunt. Denique una sextae
legionis cohors praeposita castello quattuor Pompei
legiones per aliquot horas sustinuit paene omnis
eonfixa multitudine hostilium sagittarum, quarum
centum ac triginta milia ^ intra vallum reperta sunt.
Nee mirum, si quis singulorum facta respiciat, vel
Cassi Scaevae centurionis vel Gai Acili militis, ne de
pluribus referam. Scaeva excusso oculo, transfixus
fern ore et umero, centum et viginti ictibus scuto
perforato, custodiam portae commissi castelli retinuit.
Acilius navali ad Massiliam proelio iniecta in puppem
hostium dextera et abscisa memorabile illud apud
Graecos Cynegiri exemplum imitatus transiluit in
navem umbone obvios agens.

LXIX. Seditionem per decem annos Gallicis bellis
nullam omnino moverunt, civilibus aliquas, sed ut
celeriter ad officium redierint, nee tam indulgentia
ducis quam auctoritate. Non enim cessit umquam
tumultuantibus atque etiam obviam semper iit ; et
nonam quidem legionem apud Placentiam, quanquam
in armis adhuc Pompeius esset, totam cum ignominia
missam fecit aegreque post multas et supplicis
preces, nee nisi exacta de sontibus poena, restituit.

LXX. Decimanos autem Romae cum ingentibus
minis summoque etiam urbis periculo missionem et
praemia flagitantes, ardente tunc in Africa bello,

^ Since Caesar {B.C. 3.53) gives the number as milia . . .
circiter xxx, Eniesti proposed to omit centum and read ad
for ac.

90

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

overcame with ease countless forces of the enemy,
though decidedly fewer in number themselves.
Indeed one cohort of the sixth legion^ when set to
defend a redoubt, kept four legions of Pompey at bay
for several hours, though almost all were wounded by
the enemy's showers of arrows, of which a hundred
and thirty thousand were picked up within the
ramparts. And no wonder, when one thinks of the
deeds of individual soldiers, either of Cassius Scaeva
the centurion, or of Gains Acilius of the rank and file,
not to mention others. Scaeva, with one eye gone,
his thigh and shoulder wounded, and his shield bored
through in a hundred and twenty places, continued
to guard the gate of a fortress put in his charge.
Acilius in the sea-fight at Massilia grasped the stem
of one of tlie enemy's ships, and when his right hand
was lopped off, rivalling the famous exploit of the
Greek hero Cynegirus, boarded the ship and drove
the enemy before him with the boss of his shield.

LXIX. They did not mutiny once during the
ten years of the Gallic war ; in the civil wars they
did so now and then, but quickly resumed their
duty, not so much owing to any indulgence of their
general as to his authority. For he never gave way
to them when they were insubordinate, but always
boldly faced them, discharging the entire ninth
legion in disgrace before Placentia, though Pompey
was still in the field, reinstating them unwillingly
and only after many abject entreaties, and insisting
on punishing the ringleaders.

LXX. Again at Rome, when the men of the
Tenth clamoured for their discharge and rewards
with terrible threats and no little peril to the city,
though the war in Africa was then raging, he did

91

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

neque adire cunctatus est, quanquam deterrentibus
amicis, neque dimittere ; sed una voce, qua
^' Quirites " eos pro militibus appellarat, tarn facile
circumegit et flexit, ut ei niilites esse confestim
responderint et quamvis recusantem ultro in Africam
sint secuti ; ac sic quoque seditiosissimum quemque
et praedae et agri destinati tertia parte multavit.

LXXl. Studium et fides erga clientis ne iuveni
quidem defuerunt. Masintham nobilem iuvenem,
cum adversus Hiempsalem regem tarn enixe de-
fendisset, ut lubae regis filio in altercatione barbam
invaserit, stipendiarium quoque pronuntiatum et
abstrahentibus statim eripuit occultavitque apud se
diu et mox ex praetura proficiscens in Hispaniam
inter officia prosequentium fascesque lictorum lectica
sua avexit.

LXXII. Amicos tanta semper facilitate indul-
gentiaque tractavit, ut Gaio Oppio comitanti se per
silvestre iter correptoque subita valitudine dever-
soriolo eo,^ quod unum erat, cesserit et ipse humi ac
sub divo cubuerit. lam autem r.erum potens quos-
dam etiam infimi generis ad amplissimos honores
provexit, cum ob id culparetur, professus palam, si
grassatorum et sicariorum ope in tuenda sua digni-
tate usus esset, talibus quoque se parem gratiam
relaturum.

^ deversoriolo eo, Politianiis ; deversoriolo, Casaubon ;
deversorio loco, n.

" Probably some woodcutter's hut ; deversorium means
* inn, lodging.'

92

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

not hesitate to appear before them, against the
advice of his friends, and to disband them. But with
a single word, calling them " citizens/' instead of
" soldiers/' he easily brought them round and bent
them to his will ; for they at once replied that they
were his "soldiers" and insisted on following him to
Africa, although he refused their service. Even then
he punished the most insubordinate by the loss of a
third part of the booty and of the land intended for
them.

LXXI. Even when a young man he showed no
lack of devotion and fidelity to his dependents. He
defended Masintha, a youth of high birth, against
king Hiempsal with such spirit, that in the dispute
he caught the king's son Juba by the beard. On
Masintha's being declared tributary to the king, he at
once rescued him from those who would carry him off
and kept him hidden for some time in his own
house ; and when presently he left for Spain after his
praetorship, he carried the young man off in his own
litter, unnoticed amid the crowd that came to see
him off and the lictors with their fasces.

LXXII. His friends he treated with invariable
kindness and consideration. When Gains Oppius
was his companion on a journey through a wild,
woody country and was suddenly taken ill, Caesar
gave up to him the only shelter ^ there was, while
he himself slept on the ground out-of-doors. More-
over, when he came to power, he advanced some of
his friends to the highest positions, even though they
were of the humblest origin, and when taken to task
for it, flatly declared that if he had been helped in
defending his honour by brigands and cut-throats, he
would have requited even such men in the same way.

93

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

LXXni. Simultates contra nuUas tarn graves
excepit umquani, iit non occasione oblata libens
deponeret. Gai Memmi, cuius asperrimis orationibus
non minore acerbitate rescripserat, etiam suffragator
mox in petitione consulatus fuit. Gaio Calvo post
famosa epigrammata de reconciliatione per amicos
agenti ultro ac prior scripsit. Valerium Catullum, a
quo sibi versiculis de Mamurra perpetua stigmata
imposita non dissimulaverat, satis facientem eadem
die adhibuit cenae hospitioque patris eius_, sicut con-
suerat, uti perseveravit.

LXXIV. Sed et in ulciscendo natura lenissimus
piratas, a (juibis captus est, cum in dicionem
redegisset, quoniam suffixurum se cruci ante iura-
verat, iugulari prius iussit, deinde suffigi ; Cornelio
Phagitae, cuius quondam nocturnas insidias aeger ac
latens, ne perduceretur ad Sullam, vix praemio dato
evaserat, numquam nocere sustinuit ; Philemonem a
manu servum, qui necem suam per venenum inimicis
promiserat, non gravius quam simplici morte puniit ;
2 in Publium Clodium Pompeiae uxoris suae adulterum
atque eadem de causa poUutarum caerimoniarum
reum testis citatus negavit se quicquam comperisse,
quamvis et mater Aurelia et soror lulia apud eosdem
iudices omnia ex fide rettulissent ; interrogatusque,

« Catull. 29 and 57. ^ See chap. i. 2.

94

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

LXXIII. On the other hand he never formed
6uch bitter enmities that he was not «^lad to lay them
aside when opportunity offered. Altliough Gains
Memmius had made highly caustic speeches against
him_, to which he had repHed with equ d bitterness,,
he went so far as to support Memmius afterwards in
bis suit for the consulship. When Gains Calvus,
after some scurrilous epigrams, took steps through
his friends towards a reconciliation, Caesar wrote to
him first and of his own free will, ^^alerius Catullus,
as Caesar himself did not hesitate to say, inflicted a
lasting stain on his name by the verses about
Mamurra*; yet when he apologised, Caesar invited
the poet to dinner that very same day, and continued
his usual friendly relations with CatuUus's father.

LXXIV. Even in avenging wrongs he was by
nature most merciful, and when he got hold of the
pirates who had captured him, he had them crucified,
since he had sworn beforehand that he would do so,
but ordered that their throats be cut first. He could
never make up his mind to harm Cornelius Phagites,
although when he was sick and in hiding,^ the man
had waylaid him night after night, and even a bribe
had barely saved him from being handed over to
Sulla. The slave Philemon, his amanuensis, who had
promised Caesar's enemies that he would poison him,
he merely punished by death, without torture.
When summoned as a witness against Publius
Clodius, the paramour of his wife Pompeia, charged
on the same count with sacrilege, Caesar declared
that he had no evidence, although both his mother
Aurelia and his sister Julia had given the same jurors
a faithful account of the whole affair ; and on being
asked why it was then that he had put away his

95

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

cur igitur repudiasset iixorem : ^^ Quoniam/' inquit,
" meos tarn suspicione quam crimine iudico carere
oportere."

LXXV. Moderationem vero clementiamque cum
in ad mi nist ration e tum in victoria belli civilis
admirabilem exhibuit. Denuntiante Pompeio pro
hostibus se habiturum qui rei publicae defuissent,
ipse medios et neutrius partis suorum sibi numero
futuros pronuntiavit. Quibus autem ex commenda-
tione Pompei ordines dederat, potestatem transeundi

2 ad eum omnibus fecit. Motis apud llerdam de-
ditionis condicionibus, cum, assiduo inter utrasque
partes usu atque commercio, Afranius et Petreius
deprehensos intra castra lulianos subita paenitentia
interfecissent, admissam in se perfidiam non sustinuit
imitari. Acie Pharsalica proclamavit, ut civibus
parceretur, deincepsque nemini non suorum quem

3 vellet unum partis adversae servare concessit. Nee
ulli perisse nisi in proelio reperientur, exceptis dum
taxat Afranio et Fausto et Lucio Caesare iuvene ; ac
ne hos quidem voluntate ipsius interemptos putant,
quorum tamen et priores post impetratam veniam
rebellaverant ^ et Caesar libertis servisque eius ferro
et igni crudelem in modum enectis bestias quoque

4 ad munus populi comparatas contrucidaverat. Deni-
que tempore extremo etiam quibus nondum igno-
verat, cunctis in Italiam redire permisit ^ magi-
stratusque et imperia capere ; sed et statuas Luci

^ rebellaverant, Stephanus (^); rebellaverunt, n.
2 permisit, iV$- ; permiserat, n.

96

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

wife, he replied : ** Because I maintain that the
members of my family should be free from suspicion,
as well as from accusation/'

LXXV. He certainly showed admirable self-
restraint and mercy, both in his conduct of the civil
war and in the hour of victory. While Pompey an-
nounced that he would treat as enemies those who did
not take up arms for the government, Caesar gave
out that those who were neutral and of neither party
should be numbered with his friends. He freely
allowed all those whom he had made centurions on
Pompey' s recommendation to go over to his rival.
When conditions of surrender were under discussion
at Ilerda, and friendly intercourse between the two
parties was constant, Afranius and Petreius, with a
sudden change of purpose, put to death all of
Caesar s soldiers whom they found in their camp ;
but Caesar could not bring himself to retaliate in
kind. At the battle of Pharsalus he cried out,
'^ Spare your fellow citizens/' and afterwards allowed
each of his men to save any one man he pleased of
the opposite party. And it will be found that no
Pompeian lost his life except in battle, save only
Afranius and Faustus, and the young Lucius Caesar ;
and it is believed that not even these men were slain
by his wish, even though the two former had taken
up arms again after being pardoned, while Caesar
had not only cruelly put to death the dictator's
slaves and freedmen with fire and sword, but had
even butchered the wild beasts which he had pro-
cured for the entertainment of the people. At last,
in his later years, he went so far as to allow all those
whom he had not yet pardoned to return to Italy,
and to hold magistracies and the command of armies :

97

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK 1

Sullae atque Pompei a plebe disiectas reposuit ; ac
si qua posthac aut cogitarentur gravius adversus se
aut dicerentur, inhibere maluit quam vindicare.

5 Itaque et detectas coniurationes conventusque noc-
turnos non ultra arguit, quam ut edicto ostenderet
esse sibi notas, et acerbe loquentibus satis habuit
pro contione denuntiare ne perseverarent, Aulique
Caecinae criniinosissimo libro et Pitholai carminibus
maledicentissimis laceratam existimationem suam
civili animo tulit.

LXXVI. Praegravant tamen cetera facta dictaque
eius, ut et abusus dominatione et iure caesus existi-
metur. Non enim honores modo nimios recepit :
continuum consulatum, perpetuam dictaturam prae-
fecturamque morum, insuper praenomen Imperatoris^
cognomen Patris patriae, statuam inter reges,
suggestum in orchestra ; sed et ampliora etiam
humano fastigio decerni sibi passus est : sedem auream
in curia et pro tribunali, tensam et ferculum circensi
pompa, templa, aras, simulacra iuxta deos, pulvinar,
flaminem, lupercos, appellationem mensis e suo
nomine ; ac nullos non honores ad libidinem cepit et

- dedit. Tertium et quartum consulatum titulo tenus
gessit contentus dictaturae potestate decretae cum

'' At the theatre.

^ For carrying his statue among those of the gods.

98

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

and he actually set up the statues of Lucius Sulla
and Pompey, which had been broken to pieces by
the populace. After this^ if any dangerous plots
were formed against him^ or slanders uttered^ he
preferred to quash rather than to punish them.
Accordingly, he took no further notice of the con-
spiracies which were detected^ and of meetings by
nighty than to make known by proclamation that he
was aware of them ; and he thought it enough to
give public warning to those who spoke ill of him^
not to persist in their conduct^ bearing with good
nature the attacks on his reputation made by the
scurrilous volume of Aulus Caecina and the abusive
lampoons of Pitholaus.

LXXVI. Yet after all^ his other actions and words
so turn the scale^ that it is thought that he abused
his power and was justly slain. For not only did he
accept excessive honours, such as an uninterrupted
consulship, the dictatorship for life, and the censor-
ship of public morals, as well as the forename
Imperator, the surname of Father of his Country,
a statue among those of the kings, and a raised
couch in the orchestra^; but he also allowed honours
to be bestowed on him which were too great for
mortal man : a golden throne in the House and
on the judgment seat; a chariot and litter^ in the
procession at the circus ; temples, altars, and statues
beside those of the gods ; a special priest, an
additional college of the Luperci, and the calling of
one of the months by his name. In fact, there were
no honours which he did not receive or confer at
pleasure.

He held his third and fourth consulships in name
only, content with the power of the dictatorship

99

Tin: LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK 1

ronsiilatilnis simul atcjiic utroque anno binos consiiles
siil)stitiiit sihi in tcrnos novissinios menses, ita lit
medio tein])()re eomitia nulla habuerit praeter tribu-
norum et aedilium plebis |)raefectosqiie pro praetori-
biis constituent, qui aj)sente se res urbanas adminis-
trarcnt. Pridie autein Kalendas lanuarias repentina
ronsulis morte cessantem honorem in paucas horas
S petenti dedit. Eadem licentia spreto j)atrio more
magistratus in j)luris annos ordinavit,decem praetoriis^
viris consularia ornamenta tribuit, civitate donatos et
(juosdani e semibarbaris Gallorum recepit in curiam.
Practcrea monetae j)ublicisque vectigalibus peculiares
ser\()s })raeposuit. Trium legionum, quas Alexandreae
relinquebat, curam et imperium Rufioni liberti sui
filio exoleto suo demandavit.

LXXVII. Nee minoris inpotentiae voces propalam
edebat, ut Titus Ampius ^ scribit : nihil esse rem
publicam, appellationem modo sine corpore ac specie.
Sullam nescisse litteras, qui dictaturam deposuerit.
Debere homines consideratius iam loqui seciim ac
})ro legibus habere quae dicut. Eoque arrogantiae
progressus est, ut haru spice tristia et sine corde exta
quondam nuntiante, futura diceret laetiora, cum
vellet ; nee pro ostento ducendum, si peeudi cor
defuisset.

LXXVII I. Verum praecipuam et exitiabilem sibi
invidiam liinc maxime movit. Adeuntis se cum pluri-
mis honorificentissimisque decretis universos patres

^ ])ret()ris, MV {S ( ra.scd in M) ; the other mss. have -iis.
'^ Ampins, Puhimnn, Torrtntius ; Amprius, fl (Amplius,

" Playing on the double meaning of cor, also regarded as
the seat of intelligence.

oo

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

conferred on him at the same time as the consulships.
Moreover, in both years he substituted two consuls
for himself for the last three months, in the mean-
time holding no elections except for tribur.es and
plebeian aediles, and appointing praefects instead of
the praetors, to manage the affairs of the city during
his absence. When one of the consuls suddenly
died the day before the Kalends of January, he gave
the vacant oHice for a few hours to a man who asked
for it. With the same disregard of law and prece-
dent he named magistrates for several years to come,
bestowed the emblems of consular rank on ten cx-
praetors, and admitted to the House men who had
been given citizenship, and in some cases half-
civilised Gauls. He assigned the charge of the
mint and of the public revenues to his own slaves,
and gave the oversight and command of the three
legions which he had left at Alexandria to a favourite
of his called Rufio, sop of one of his freedmen.

LXXVII. No less arrogant were his public utter-
ances, which Titus Ampius records: that the stite
was nothing, a mere name without body or form ;
that Sulla did not know his A. B. C. when he laid
down his dictatorship ; that men ought now to be
more circumspect in addressing him, and to regard
his word as law. So far did he go in his presump-
tion, that when a soothsayer once reported direful
inwards without a heart, he said : " They will be
more favourable when 1 wish it ; it should not be
regarded as a portent, if a beast has no heart." *

LXXV^llI. But it was the following action in
particular that roused deadly hatred against him.
When the Senate approached him in a body with
many highly honorary decrees, he received them

lOI

thp: lives of the caesars, book i

Antonio admotum saepius oapiti suo diadema rep-
pulerit atque in Capitolium lovi Optimo Maximo
:^ miserit. Quin etiam varia fama percrebruit migratu-
rum Alexandream vel Ilium, translatis simul opibus
imperii exhaustaque Italia dilectibus et procuratione
urbis amicis permissa, proximo autem senatii Lucium
Cottam quindecimvirum sententiam dicturum^ ut^
quoniam fatalibus libris contineretur/ Parthos nisi
a rege non posse vinci^ Caesar rex appellaretur.
LXXX. Quae causa coniuratis maturandi fuit de-
stinata negotia^ ne assentiri necesse esset.

Consilia igitur dispersim antea habita et quae
saepe bini ternive oeperant^ in unum omnes con-
tulerunt;, ne populo quidem iam praesenti statu
laeto^ sed clam palamque detrectante dominationem

2 atque assertores flagitante. Peregrinis in senatum
allectis libellus propositus est : ^' Bonum factum : ne
quis senatori novo curiam monstrare velit ! " Et
ilia vulgo canebantur :

^^ Gallos Caesar in triumphum ducit^ idem in
curiam ;
Galli bracas deposuerunt^ latum clavum sum-
pserunt."

3 Quinto Maximo suffecto ti'imenstrique consule thea-
trum introeunte^ cum lictor animadverti ex more

^ detineretur, MV; continetur GT.

^ The college of fifteen priests (quindecimviri sacris
faciundis) in charge of the Sybilline books.

* Bonutn factum {sit) was a formula prefixed to edicts, here
used in jest ; cf. the similar formulas in proposals to the
senate, Any. Iviii. 3, Calirj. xv. 3. ^' See note on xlv. 3.

104

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

the consul Antony several times attempted to place
a crown upon his head as he spoke from the rostra,
he put it aside and at last sent it to the Capitol, to
be offered to Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Nay, more,
the report had spread in various quarters that he
intended to move to Ilium or Alexandria, taking
with him the resources of the state, draining Italy
by levies, and leaving the charge of the city to
his friends ; also that at the next meeting of the
Senate Lucius Cotta would announce as the decision
of the Fifteen/ that inasmuch as it was written in
the books of fate that the Parthians could be
conquered only by a king, Caesar should be given
that title. LXXX. It was this that led the con-
spirators to hasten in carrying out their designs, in
order to avoid giving their assent to this proposal.

Therefore the plots which had previously been
formed separately, often by groups of two or three,
were united in a general conspiracy, since even the
populace no longer were pleased with present condi-
tions, but both secretly and openly rebelled at his
tyranny and cried out for defenders of their liberty.
On the admission of foreigners to the Senate, a
placard was posted : " God bless the Common-
wealth !^ let no one consent to point out the House
to a newly made senator." The following verses too
were sung everwhere : —

" Caesar led the Gauls in triumph, led them to the
senate house ;
Then the Gauls put off their breeches, and put on
the laticlave."*

When Quintus Maximus, whom he had appointed
consul in his place for three months, was entering

105

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

iussisset, ah iiniversis conclamatuiii est non esse euin
consulem. Post remotos Caesetium et Marulliiin
tribiinos reperta sunt proximis comitiis complura
siiffragia consules eos declarantium. Subscripsere
quidam Liici Bruti statuae : ^'^Utinain viveres!" item
ipsius Caesaris :

^^ Brutus, quia reges eiecit, consul primus factus
est ;
Hie, quia consules eiecit, rex postremo factus
est."

4 Conspiratum est in eum a sexaginta amplius, Gaio
Cassio Marcoque et Decimo Bruto princij)ibus con-
spirationis. Qui primum cunctati utrumne in Campo
per comitia tribus ad sufFragia vocantem partibus di-
visis e ponte deicerent atque exceptum trucidarent,
an in Sacra Via vel in aditu theatri adorirentur, post-
quam senatus Idibus Martiis in Pompei curiam
edictus est, facile tempus et locum praetulerunt.

LXXXI. Sed Caesari futura caedes evidentibus
])rodigiis denuntiata est. Paucos ante menses, cum
in colonia Cajnia deducti lege lulia coloni ad
exstruendas villas vetustissima sepulcra disicerent
idque eo studiosius facerent, quod aliquantum vascu-
lorum operis antiqui scrutantes reperiebant,, tabula
aenea in monimento, in quo dicebatur Capys conditor
Capuae sepultus, inventa est conscripta litteris

"■ The pons suffragiomm^ a temporary bridge of planks
over which the voters passed one by one, to cast their
ballots ; Cic. Ad Att. i. 14 ; Ovid, Fasti, v. 634.

lo6

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

the theatre, and his lictor called attention to his
arrival in the usual manner, a general shout was
raised : ^^ He's no consul ! " At the first election
after the deposing of Caesetius and MaruUus, the
tribunes, several votes were found for their appoint-
ment as consuls. Some wrote on the base of
Lucius Brutus' statue, " Oh, that you were still
alive" ; and on that of Caesar himself:

^^ First of all was Brutus consul, since he drove the
kings from Rome ;
Since this man drove out the consuls, he at last is
made our king."

More than sixty joined the conspiracy against him,
led by Gaius Cassius and Marcus and Decimus Brutus.
At first they hesitated whether to form two divisions
at the elections in the Campus Martius, so that while
some hurled him from the bridge * as he summoned
the tribes to vote, the rest might wait below and
slay him ; or to set upon him in the Sacred Way or
at the entrance to the theatre. When, however, a
meetino^ of the Senate was called for the Ides of
March in the Hall of Pompey, they readily gave
that time and place the preference.

LXXXI. Now Caesar's approaching murder was
foretold to him by unmistakable signs. A few
months before, when the settlers assigned to the
colony at Capua by the Julian Law were demolishing
some tombs of great antiquity, to build country
houses, and plied their work with the greater vigour
because as they rummaged about they found a
quantity of vases of ancient workmanship, there was
discovered in a tomb, which was said to be that of
Capys, the founder of Capua, a bronze tablet,

107

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

verbisque Graecis hac sententia : qiiandoque ossa
Capyis detecta essent, fpre ut illo^ prognatus maiiu
eonsanguineorum necaretur magnisqiie mox Italiae

2 cladibus vindiearetiir. Cuius rei, ne quis fabulosam
aut commenticiani putet, auctor est Cornelius Balbus,
familiarissimus Caesaris. Proximis diebus equoruni
greges, quos in traiciendo Rubiconi fluniini con-
secrarat ac vagos et sine eustode dimiserat^, coniperit
pertinacissime pabulo abstinere ubertimque flere.
Et immolantem haruspex Spurinna monuit, caveret
periculum, quod non ultra Martias Idus profer-

3 retur. Pridie autem easdem Idus avem regaliolum
cum laureo ramulo Pompeianae curiae se inferentem
volucres varii generis ex proximo nemore persecutae
ibidem discerpserunt. Ea vero nocte, cui inluxit
dies caedis, et ipse sibi visus est per quietem inter-
dum supra nubes volitare, alias cum love dextram
iungere ; et Calpurnia uxor imaginata est conlabi
fastigium domus maritumque in gremio suo confodi ;
ac subito cubiculi fores sponte patuerunt.

4 Ob haec simul et ob infirmam valitudinem diu
cunctatus an se contineret et quae apud senatum
proposuerat agere difFerret, tandem Decimo Bruto
adhortante, ne frequentis ac iam dudum opperientis
destitueret, quinta fere hora progressus est libel-
lumque insidiarum indicem ab obvio quodam por-

^ illo, Turnebus, Bentley ; ilio, MHGt ; the other mss.
have iulo or iulio.

" Properly said of a temple ; according to Florus, 4. 2. 91;
one of the honours bestowed on Caesar was fastigium in domo ;
of. Plutarch, Caesar, Ixiii.

Io8

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

inscribed with Greek words and cliaracters to this
purport: ''Whenever the bones of Capys shall be
moved, it will come to pass that a son of Ilium
shall be slain at the hands of his kindred, and
presently avenged at heavy cost to Italy." And let
no one think this tale a myth or a lie, for it is
vouched for by Cornelius Balbus, an intimate friend
of Caesar. Shortly before his death, as he was told,
the herds of horses which he had dedicated to the
river Rubicon when he crossed it, and had let
loose without a keeper, stubbornly refused to graze
and wept copiously. Again, when he was offering
sacrifice, the soothsayer Spurinna warned him to
beware of danger, which would come not later than
the Ides of March; and on the day before the March ii
Ides of that month a little bird called the king-bird
flew into the Hall of Pompey with a sprig of laurel,
pursued by others of various kinds from the grove
hard by, which tore it to pieces in the hall. In fact
the very night before his murder he dreamt now that
he was flying above the clouds, and now that he was
clasping the hand of Jupiter ; and his wife Calpurnia
thought that the pediment* of their house fell, and
that her husband was stabbed in her arms ; and on a
sudden the door of the room flew open of its own
accord.

Both for these reasons and because of poor health
he hesitated for a long time whether to stay at home
and put off what he had planned to do in the senate ;
but at last, urged by Decimus Brutus not to dis-
appoint the full meeting which had for some time
been waiting for him, he went forth almost at the
end of the fifth hour ; and when a note revealing
the plot was handed him by someone on the way, he

109

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

rectum libellis ceteris, quos sinistra manu tenebat,
quasi mox lecturus commiscuit. Dein pluribus
liostiis caesis, cum litare non posset, introiit curiam
spreta religione Spurinnamque irridens et ut falsum
arguens, quod sine ulla sua noxa Idus Martiae
adessent ; quanquam is venisse quidem eas diceret,
sed non praeterisse.

LXXXII. Assidentem conspirati specie officii cir-
cumsteterunt, ilicoque Cimber Tillius, qui primas
partes susceperat, quasi aliquid rogaturus propius
accessit renuentique et gestu in aliud tempus difFer-
enti ab utroque umero togam adprehendit ; deinde
clamantem : '' Ista quidem vis est ! " alter e Cascis
aversum^ vulnerat paulum infra iugulum. Caesar
Cascae brachium arreptum graphio traiecit conatus-
que prosilire alio vulnere tardatus est; utque animad-
vertit undique se strictis pugionibus peti, toga caput
obvolvit, simul sinistra manu sinum ad ima crura
deduxit, quo honestius caderet etiam inferiore
corporis parte velata. Atque ita tribus et viginti
plagis confossus est uno modo ad primum ictum
gemitu sine voce edito, etsi tradiderunt quidam
Marco Bruto irruenti dixisse: koX av t€kvov; Exanimis
difFugientibus cunctis aliquamdiu iacuit, donee
lecticae impositum, dependente brachio, tres servoli
domum rettulerunt. Nee in tot vulneribus, ut
1 adversum, GVO'uR.

" Possibly "from behind," though it is hard to see how a
wound paulo infra iugulum could have been dealt from that
position. Aversum has better mss. authority than adversum^
is a priori more probable, and is supported by Plutarch's
version ; but it may mean " turned away."

^ A pointed instrument of bone or metal, for writing on
waxen tablets.

Iio

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

put it with others which he held in his left hand,
intending to read them presently. Then, after
several victims had been slain, and he could not get
favourable omens, he entered the House in defiance
of portents, laughing at Spurinna and callmg him a
false prophet, because the Ides of March were come
without bringing him harm; though Spurinna replied
that they had of a truth come, but they had not
gone.

LXXXII. As he took his seat, the conspirators 44 b.o.
gathered about him as if to pay their respects, and
straightway Tillius Cimber, who had assumed the
lead, came nearer as though to ask something ; and
when Caesar with a gesture put him off to another
time, Cimber caught his toga by both shoulders ;
then as Caesar cried, ^'^Why, this is violence !" one of
the Cascas stabbed him from one side just below the
throat.^ Caesar caught Casca's arm and ran it through
with his stylus,^ but as he tried to leap to his feet,
he was stopped by another wound. When he saw
that he was beset on every side by drawn daggers, he
mufHed his head in his robe, and at the same time
drew down its lap to his feet with his left hand, in
order to fall more decently, with the lower part of
his body also covered. And in this wise he was
stabbed with three and twenty wounds, uttering not
a word, but merely a groan at the first stroke, tliough
some have written that when Marcus Brutus rushed
at him, he said in Greek, " You too, my child ? "
All the conspirators made off, and he lay there life-
less for some time, until finally three common slaves
put him on a litter and carried him home, with one
arm hanging down. And of so many wounds none
turned out to be mortal, in the opinion of the

III

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

Antistius medicus existimabat, letale ullum repertum
est, nisi quod secundo loco in pectore acceperat.

Fuerat animus coniuratis corpus occisi in Tiberim
trahere, bona publicare, acta rescindere, sed metu
Marci Antoni consulis et magistri equitum Lepidi de-
stiterunt.

LXXXni. Postulante ergo Lucio Pisone socero
testanientuni eius aperitur recitaturque in Antoni
domo, quod Idibus Septembribus proximis in Lavicano
suo fecerat demandaveratque virgin! Vestali maximae.
Quintus Tubero tradit heredem ab eo scribi solitum
ex consulatu ipsius primo usque ad initium civilis
belli Cn. Pompeium, idque militibus pro contione
recitatum. Sed novissimo testamento tres instituit
heredes sororum nepotes^ Gaium Octavium ex
dodrante, et Lucium Pinarium et Quintum Pedium
ex quadrante reliquo^; in ima cera Gaium Octavium
etiam in familiam nomenque adoptavit ; plerosque
percussorum in tutoribus fili, si qui sibi nasceretur,
nominavit, Decimum Brutum etiam in secundis
heredibus. Populo hortos circa Tiberim publice et
viritim trecenos sestertios legavit.

LXXXIV. Fun ere indicto rogus extructus est in
Martio campo iuxta luliae tumulum et pro rostris
aurata aedes ad simulacrum templi Veneris Genetricis
collocata ; intraque lectus eburneus auro ac purpura
stratus et ad caput tropaeum cum veste, in qua
fuerat occisus. Praeferentibus munera, quia sufFec-

^ reliquo, T {LipHius) ; the other mss. have reliquos.

'* To inherit a share of his estate in the event of the death
of the heirs in the first degree or their refusal to accept the
inheritance ; it was often a mere compliment.

1 12

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

physician Antistius, except the second one in the
breast.

The conspirators had intended after slaying him
to drag his body to the Tiber^ confiscate his property,
and revoke his decrees ; but they forebore through
fear of Marcus Antonius the consul, and Lepidus, the
master of horse.

LXXXIII. Then at the request of his father-in-
law, Lucius Piso, the will was unsealed and read in
Antony's house, which Caesar had made on the pre-
ceding Ides of September at his place near Lavicum, sept. la,
and put in the care of the chief of the Vestals. Quintus ^^ ^^*
Tubero states that from his first consulship until the
beginning of the civil war it was his wont to write
down Gnaeus Pompeius as his heir, and to read this
to the assembled soldiers. In his last will, however,
he named three heirs, his sisters' grandsons, Gaius
Octavius, to three-fourths of his estate, and Lucius
Pinarius and Quintus Pedius to share the remainder.
At the end of the will, too, he adopted Gaius Octavius
into his family and gave him his name. He named
several of his assassins among the guardians of his
son, in case one should be born to him, and Decimus
Brutus even among his heirs in the second degree.^
To the people he left his gardens near the Tiber for
their common use and three hundred sesterces to
each man.

LXXXIV. When the funeral was announced, a
pyre was erected in the Campus Martius near the
tomb of Julia, and on the rostra a gilded shrine was
placed, made after the model of tlie temple of Venus
Genetrix; within was a couch of ivory with coverlets
of purple and gold, and at its head a pillar hung with
the robe in which he was slain. Since it was clear

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK 1

turus dies non videbatur, praeceptum, ut omisso
ordine, quibus quisque vellet itineribiis urbis, portaret

2 in Campum. Inter liidos cantata sunt quaedain ad
niiserationem et invidiam caedis eius accommodata,
ex Paciivi Armorum iudicio :

" Men servasse, ut essent qui me perderent " ?

et ex Electra Atili ^ ad similem sententiam. Lauda-
tionis loco consul Antonius per praeconem pronun-
tiavit senatus consultum, quo omnia simul ei divina
atque liumana decreverat, item ius iurandum, quo se
cuncti pro salute unius astrinxerant ; quibus perpauca

3 a se verba addidit. Lectum pro rostris in Forum
magistratus et honoribus functi detulerunt. Quem
cum pars in Capitolini lovis cella cremare pars in
curia Pompei destinaret, repente duo quidam gladiis
succincti ac bina iacula gestantes ardentibus cereis
succenderunt confestimque circumstantium turba
virgulta arida et cum subselliis tribunalia, quicquid

4 praeterea ad donum aderat, congessit. Deinde
tibicines et scaenici artifices vestem, quam ex
triumph orum instrumento ad praesentem usum
induerant, detractam sibi atque discissam iniecere
flammae et veteranorum militum legionarii arma sua,
quibus exculti funus celebrabant ; matronae etiam
pleraeque ornamenta sua, quae gerebant, et liberorum
bullas atque praetextas.

^ Atilii, r ; Acilii, a.

" Cf. the apparition at the Rubicon ; chap, xxxii.
114

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

that the day would not be long enough for those
who offered gifts, they were directed to bring them
to the Campus by whatsoever streets of the city they
wished, regardless of any order of precedence. At
the funeral games, to rouse pity and indignation at
his death, tliese words from the ^^ Contest for the
Arms " of Pacuvius were sung : —

"Saved I these men that they might murder me ?"

and words of a like purport from the " Electra" of
Atilius. Instead of a eulogy the consul Antonius caused
a herald to recite the decree of the Senate in which
it had voted Caesar all divine and human honours at
once, and likewise the oath with which they had
all pledged themselves to watch over his personal
safety; to which he added a ver}; few words of his own.
The bier on the rostra was carried down into the
Forum by magistrates and ex-magistrates ; and while
some were urging that it be burned in the temple
of Jupiter of the Capitol, and others in the Hall of
Pompey, on a sudden two beings ^ with swords by
their sides and brandishing a pair of darts set fire to
it with blazing torches, and at once the throng of
bystanders heaped upon it dry branches, the judg-
ment seats with the benches, and whatever else could
serve as an offering. Then the musicians and actors
tore off their robes, which they had taken from the
equipment of his triumphs and put on for the
occasion, rent them to bits and threw them into the
flames, and the veterans of the legions the arms w^ith
which they had adorned themselves for the funeral ;
many of the women too, offered up the jewels which
they wore and the amulets and robes of their
children.

"5

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

In sunimo publico liictu exterarum gentium mul-
titude circulatim suo quaeque more lamentata est
praecipueque ludaei, qui etiam noctibus continuis
bustum frequentarunt.

LXXXV. Plebs statim a funere ad domum Bruti
et Cassi cum facibus tetendit «tque aegre repulsa
obvium sibi Helvium Cinnam })er errorem nominis,
quasi Cornelius is esset, quem graviter pridie contio-
natum de Caesare requirebat, occidit caputque eius
praefixum hastae circumtulit. Postea solidam colum-
nam prope viginti pedum lapidis Numidici in Foro
statuit inscripsitque ^ parenti patriae. Apud eam
longo tempore sacrifieare, vota suscipere, controversias
quasdam interposito per Caesarem iure iurando dis-
trahere perseveravit.

LXXXVI. Suspicionem Caesar quibusdam suorum
reliquit neque voluisse se diutius vivere neque curasse
quod valitudine minus prospera uteretur, ideoque et
quae religiones monerent et quae renuntiarent amici
neglexisse. Sunt qui putent, confisum eum novissimo
illo senatus consulto ac iure iurando etiam custodias
Hispanorum cum gladiis tadsectantium'^ se removisse.
Alii e diverso opinantur insidias undique imminentis
subire semel quam cavere semper sollicitum maluisse.
Quidam dicere etiam ^ solitum ferunt : non tam sua

^ inscripsitque, Bentley ; scripsitque, H.

^ adsectantium, conjecture of Ihm ; inspectaiitium, X' ;
sectantiuni, Casaiihon ; adiiispectantium, M(iT.

•^ sollicitum . . . etiam, supj^lied Jry Rofh, except semper,
which vra.s" added by Ihm.

" Caesar was beloved by the Jews, not only because he liad
overthrown Pompey, who had violated their Hol^^ of Holies,
but because of many acts of kindness besides.

Il6

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

At the height ©f the public grief a throng of
foreigners went about lamenting each after the
fashion of his country, above all the Jews,* who even
Hocked to the phice for several successive nights.

LXXXV. Innnediately after the funeral the com-
mons ran to the houses of Brutus and Cassius with
firebrands, and after being repelled with difficulty,
they slew Helvius Cinna when they met hhn,
through a mistake in the name, supposing that
he was Cornelius Cinna, w^ho had the day before
made a bitter indictment of Caesar and for whom
they were looking ; and they set his head upon a
spear and paraded it about the streets. Afterwards
they set up in the Forum a solid column of Numidian
marble almost twenty feet high, and inscribed upon
it, *' To the Father of his Country/* At the foot
of tliis they continued for a long time to sacrifice,
make vows, and settle some of their disputes by an
oath in the name of Caesar.

LXXXV'l. Caesar left in the minds of some of his
friends the suspicion that he did not wish to live
longer and had taken no precautions, because of his
failing health ; and that therefore he neglected
the warnings which came to him from portents and
from the reports of his friends. Some think that
it was because he had full trust in that last decree
of the senators and their oath that he dismissed
even the armed bodyguard of Spanish soldiers
that formerly attended him. Others, on the con-
trary, believe that he elected to expose himself
once for all to the plots that threatened him on
every hand, rather than to be always anxious and on
his guard. Some, too, say that he was wont to
declare that it was not so much to his own interest

117

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK I

qiiam rei ])iiblicae interesse, uti salvus esset ; se iam
pridem potentiae gloriaeque abunde adeptum ; rem
publicam, si quid sibi eveniret^ neqiie quietam fore
et aliquanto deteriore condicione civilia bella subi-
turam.

LXXXVII. Illud plane inter omnes fere constitit,
talem ei mortem paene ex sententia obtigisse. Nam
et quondam^ cum apud Xenophontem legisset Cyrum
ultima valitudine mandasse quaedam de funere suo,
aspernatus tam lentum mortis genus subitam sibi
celeremque optaverat ; et pridie quam occideretm%
in sermone nato super cenam apud Marcum Lepidum,
quisnam esset finis vitae commodissimus^ repentinum
inopinatumque praetulerat.

LXXXVIII. Periit sexto et quinquagensimo aetatis
anno atque in deorum numerum relatus est, non ore
modo decernentium sed et persuasione volgi. Siqui-
dem ludis, quos primos conseerato^ ei heres Augustus
edebat, stella crinita per septem continuos dies fulsit
exoriens circa undecimam horam, creditumque est
animam esse Caesaris in caelum recepti ; et hac
de causa simulacro eius in vertice additur stella.

Curiam, in qua occisus est, obstrui placuit Idusque
Martias Parricidium nominari, ac ne umquam eo die
senatus ageretur.

LXXXIX. Percussorum autem fere neque triennio
quisquam amplius supervixit neque sua morte
defunctus est. Damnati omnes alius alio casu
periit, pars naufragio, pars proelio ; nonnulli semet
eodem iilo pugione, quo Caesarem violaverant, in-
teremerunt.

^ primos consecrate, Basle ed. of 1546 ; primo conse-
crates, n.

"^ Cyropedeia, 8. 7. * About an hour before sunset.

ii8

THE DEIFIED JULIUS

as to that of his country that he rerrjain alive ; he
had long since had his fill of power and glory ; but
if aught befell him, the commonwealth would have
no peace, but would be plunged in civil strife under
much worse conditions.

LXXXVII. About one thing almost all are fully
agreed, that he all but desired such a death as he met;
for once when he read in Xenophon^ how Cyrus in his
last illness gave directions for his funeral, he expressed
his horror of such a lingering kind of end and his wish
for one which was swift and sudden. And the day before
his murder, in a conversation which arose at a dinner
at the house of Marcus Lepidus, as to what manner
of death was most to be desired, he had given his
preference to one which was sudden and unexpected.

LXXXVIIl. He died in the fifty-sixth year of 44 b.c.
his age, and was numbered among the gods, not
only by a formal decree, but also in the conviction
of the common people. For at the first of the games
which his heir Augustus gave in honour of his apoth-
eosis, a comet shone for seven successive days,
rising about the eleventh hour,^ and was believed to
be the soul of Caesar, who had been taken to heaven ;
and this is why a star is set upon the crown of his
head in his statue.

It was voted that the hall in which he was slain
oe walled up, that the Ides of March be called the
Day of Parricide, and that a meeting of the senate
should never be called on that day.

LXXXIX. Hardly any of his assassins survived
him for more than three years, or died a natural
death. They were all condemned, and they perished
in various ways — some by shipwreck, some in battle ;
some took their own lives with the self-same da^rffer
with which they had impiously slain Caesar.

'tofcj'

119

BOOK II

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

LIBER II
DIVUS AUGUSTUS

I. Gentem Octaviam Velitris praecipuam olim
fuisse multa declarant. Nam et vicus celeberrima
parte oppidi iam pridem Octavius vocabatur et
ostendebatur ara Octavio consecrata, qui bello dux
finitimo, cum forte Marti rem divinam faceret^
nuntiata repente hostis incursione semicruda exta
rapta foco prosecuit atque ita proelium ingressus
victor redit. Decretum etiam publicum exstabat, quo
cavebatur, ut in posterum quoque simili modo exta
Marti redderentur reliquiaeque ad Octavios refer-
rentur.

IL Ea gens a Tarquinio Prisco rege inter minores
gentis adlecta in senatum^ mox a Servio ^ Tullio in
patricias traducta^ procedente tempore ad plebem se
contulit ac rursus ' magno ^ intervallo per Divum
lulium in patriciatum redit. Primus ex hac magis-
tratum populi suffragio cepit C. Rufus. Is quaestorius

^ Seivio] servilio, mss.

2 magno intervallo per, ^ {also V in a correction by a late
hand).

" A term applied to the plebeian families in the senate
enrolled in addition to the patricians.

122

BOOK II
THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

I. There are many indications that the Octavian
family was in days of old a distinguished one at
Velitrae ; for not only was a street in the most
frequented part of the town long ago called Octavian,
but an altar was shown there besides, consecrated by
an Octavius. This man was leader in a war with a
neighbouring town, and when news of a sudden
onset of the enemy was brought to him just as he
chanced to be sacrificing to Mars, he snatched the
inwards of the victim from the fire and offered them
up half raw ; and thus he went forth to battle, and
returned victorious. There was, besides, a decree
of the people on record, providing that for the future
too the inwards should be offered to Mars in the
same way, and the rest of the victims be handed
over to the Octavii.

II. The family was admitted to the senate by
king Tarquinius Priscus among the lesser clans ;^ was
later enrolled by Servius Tullius among the patricians;
in course of time returned to the ranks of the ple-
beians ; and after a long interval was restored to
{)atrician rank by the Deified Julius. The first of the
house to be elected by the people to a magistracy
was Gaius Rufus, who became quaestor. He begot

123

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

Cn. et C. procreavit, a quibus duplex Octavioriini
familia defluxit condicione diversa_, siquidem Gnaeus
et deinceps ab eo reliqui omiies functi sunt honoribus
summis ; at C. eiusque posteri, seu fortuna seu
voluntate, in equestri ordine eonstiterunt usque ad
August! patrem. Proavus August! secundo Pun!co
bello st!pend!a in Sicilia tribunus militum fecit
Aemilio Papo imperatore. Avus municipalibus magi-
steriis contentus abundante patrimonio tranquil-
lissime senuit. Sed haec alii ; ipse Augustus nihil
amplius quam equestri familia ortum se scribit vetere
ae locuplete, et in qua primus senator pater suus
fuerit. M. Antonius libertinum ei proavum expro-
brat, restionem e pago Thur!no_, avum argentarium.
Nee quicquam ultra de paternis August! maioribus
repperi.

HI. C. Octavius pater a principio aetatis et re et
existimatione magna fuit, ut equidem mirer hunc
quoque a nonnullis argentarium atque etiam inter
divisores operasque eampestres proditum ; amplis
enim innutritus opibus honores et adeptus est facile
et egregie administravit. Ex praetura Macedoniam
sortitus fugitives, residuam Spartaci et Catilinae
manum, Thurinum agrum tenentis in itinere delevit,
negotio sib! in senatu ^ extra ordinem dato. Pro-

^ in senatu] a senatu, MommfieM {P, Thomas).

" In his Memoirs ; see chap. Ixxxv. 1.
124

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

Gnaeus and Gaius, from whom two branches of the
Octavian family were derived, of very different
standing ; for Gnaeus and all his scions in turn held
the highest offices, but Gaius and his progeny,
whether from chance or choice, remained in the
equestrian order down to the father of Augustus,
Augustus's great grandf^ither served in Sicily in the
second Punic war as tribune of the soldiers under the
command of Aemilius Papus. His grandf^ither, 206bo.
content with the offices of a municipal town and
possessing an abundant income, lived to a peaceful old
age. This is the account given by others ; Augustus
himself merely writes ^ that he came of an old and
wealthy equestrian family, in which his own father
was the first to become a senator. Marcus Antonius
taunts him with his great-grandfather, saying that
he was a freedman and a rope-maker from the
country about Thurii, while his grandfather was a
money-changer. This is all that I have been able to
learn about the paternal ancestors of Augustus.

ni. His father Gaius Octavius was from the
beginning of his life a man of wealth and repute,
and I cannot but wonder that some have said that he
too was a money-changer, and was even employed to
distribute bribes at the elections and perform other
services in the Campus ; for as a matter of fact,
being brought up in affluence, he readily attained
to high positions and filled them with distinction.
Macedonia fell to his lot at the end of his praetor-
ship ; on his way to the province, executing a
special commission from the senate, he wiped out a
band of runaway slaves, refugees from the armies of
Spartacus and Catiline, who held possession of the
country about ThuriL In governing his province he

125

IHE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

vinciae })raefuit non ininore iustitia quam fortitudine ;
iianique Bessis ac Thracibus magno proelio fusis ita
socios tractavit, lit epistiilae M. Ciceronis exstent^
qiiibus Quintiini fratrein eodem tempore pariim
seeunda fama proconsulatuni Asiae administrantem
hortatur et monet^ iniitetiir in promerendis sociis
vicinum suum Octavium.

IV. Decedens Macedonia, prius quam profiteri i
se candidatum consulatus posset, mortem obiit
repentinam, su})erstitibus liberis Octavia maiore,
quam ex Ancharia, et Octavia minore item Augusto,
quos ex Atia tulerat. Atia M. Atio Balbo et lulia,
sorore C. Caesaris, genita est. Balbus, paterna stirpe
Aricinus, multis in familia senatoriis imaginibus, a
matre Magnum Pompeium artissimo contingebat
gradu, functusque honore praeturae inter vigintiviros
2 agrum Campanum plebi lulia lege divisit. Verum
idem Antonius, despiciens etiam inaternam Augusti
origin em, proavum eius Afri generis fuisse et modo
unguentariam tabernam modo pistrinum Ariciae
exercuisse obicit. Cassius quidem Parmensis quadam
epistula non tantum ut pistoris, sed etiam ut num-
mulari nepotem sic taxat Augustum : '^ Materna tibi
farina est ex crudissimo Ariciae pistrino ; banc finxit
manibus collybo decoloratis Nerulonensis mensarius."
^ profiteri, g- ; confiteri; Ci.

'' Ad Quint. Frat. 1. 1. 21.

^ Q. Cicero was really propraetor ; see note on Jul. liv. 1.

^ Imagine'^ were waxen masks of ancestors of noble (^. e.,
senatorial) rank, kept in the liall {atrium) of their des-
cendants. '^ 8ee Jid. xx. 3, note.

^' According to the Thes. Ling. Lat. s.v. coUyhns^ Suetonius

126

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

showed equal justice and courage ; for besides rout-
ing the Bessi and the other Thracians in a great
battle, his treatment of our allies was such, that
Marcus Cicero, in letters which are still in existence,^
urges and admonishes his brother Quintus, who at
the time was serving as proconsular governor ^ of ei/ss
Asia with no great credit to himself, to imitate his ^-^
neighbour Octavius in winning ithe favour of our
allies.

'IV. While returning from Macedonia, before he
could declare himself a candidate for the consulship,
he died suddenly, survived by three children, an
elder Octavia by Ancharia, and by Atia a younger
Octavia and Augustus. Alia was the daughter of
Marcus Atius Balbus and Julia, sister of Gains Caesar.
Balbus, a native of Aricia on his father's side, and of
a family displaying many senatorial portraits/ was
closely connected on his mother's side with Pompey
th^ Great. After holding the office of praetor, he
was one of the commission of twenty ^ appointed by
the Julian law to distribute lands in Campania to the
commons. But Antonius again, trying to disparage
the maternal ancestors of Augustus as well, twits
him with having a great-grandfather of African
birth, who kept first a perfumery shop and then a
bakery at Aricia. Cassius of Parma also taunts
Augustus with being the grandson both of a baker
and of a money-changer, saying in one of his letters :
^^ Your mother's meal came from a vulgar bakeshop
of Aricia ; this a money-changer from Nerulun^
kneaded into shape with hands stained with filthy
lucre." «

misunderstood Cassius, who used coUybus of a kind of cake.
In general, see Scott, Me7n. Amer, Acad, in Home, xi. I'Zi.

127

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

V. Natus est Augustus M. Tullio Cicerone
C. Antonio conss. Villi. Kal. Octob. paulo ante solis
exortuni, regione Palati ad Capita Bubula, ubi nunc
sacrarium habet, aliquanto ))ost quam excessit
constitutum. Nam ut senatus actis continetur, cum
C. Laetorius, adulescens })atricii generis, in depre-
canda graviore adulterii poena praeter aetatem atque
natales hoc quoque patribus conscriptis allegaret, esse
possessorem ac velut aedituum soli, quod primum
Divus Augustus nascens attigisset, peteretque donari
quasi proprio suo ac })eculiari deo, decretum est ut ea
j)ars domus consecraretur.

VI. Nutrimentorum eius ostenditur adhuc locus in
avito suburbano iuxta Velitras permodicus et celiac
penuariae instar, tenetque vicinitatem opinio tam-
quam et natus ibi sit. Hue introire nisi necessario
et caste religio est, concepta opinione veteri, quasi
temere adeuntibus horror quidam et metus obiciatur,
sed et mox confirmata. Nam cum possessor villae
novus seu forte seu temj)tandi causa cubit um se eo
contulisset, evenit ut post paucissimas noctis horas
exturbatus inde subita vi et incerta j)aenc semianimis
cum strato simul ante fores inveniretur.

VII. Infanti cognomen Thurino inditum est, in
memoriam maiorum originis, vel quod regione Thurina
128

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

V. Augustus was born just before sunrise on the Sept m,
ninth day before the Kalends of October in the ^^ ^^'
consulship of Marcus TulHus Cicero and Gaius
Antonius, at the Ox-Heads in the Palatine quarter,
where he now has a shrine, built shortly after his
death. For it is recorded in the proceedings of the
senate, that when Gaius Laetorius, a young man of
patrician family, was pleading for a milder punish-
ment for adultery because of his youth and position,

he further urged upon the senators that he was the
possessor and as it were the warden of the spot
which the deified Augustus first touched at his birth,
and begged that he be pardoned for the sake of what
might be called his own special god. Whereupon it
was decreed that that part of his house should be
consecrated.

VI. A small room like a pantry is shown to this
day as the emperor's nursery in his grandfather's
country-house near Velitrae, and the opinion pre-
vails in the neighbourhood that he was actually born
there. No one ventures to enter this room except
of necessity and after purification, since there is a
conviction of long-standing that those who approach
it without ceremony are seized with shuddering and
terror; and what is more, this has recently been
shown to be true. For when a new owner, either by
chance or to test the matter, went to bed in that
room, it came to pass that, after a very few hours of
the night, he was thrown out by a sudden mysterious
force, and was found bedclothes and all half-dead
before the door.

VII. In his infancy he was given the surname
Thurinus in memory of the home of his ancestors, or
else because it was near Thurii that his father

129

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

recens eo uato pater Octavius adversus fugitivos rem
prospere gesserat. Thurinum cognominatiim satis
certa probatione tradiderim nactiis puerilem imagun-
culani eius aereani veterem ferreis et paene iam
exolescentibus litteris hoc nomine inscriptam, quae
dono a me principi data inter cubiculi ^ Lares colitur.
Sed et a M. Antonio in epistulis per contumeliam
saepe Thurinus appellatiir et ipse nihil amplius quam
mirari se rescribit pro obprobrio sibi prius nomen obici.
Postea Gai Caesaris et deinde Aiigusti cognomen
assumpsit, alterum testamento maioris avunculi,
alterum Munati Planci sententia, cum quibusdam
censentibus Romuhnn appellari oportere quasi et
ipsum conditorem urbis, })raevaUiisset, ut Augustus
potius vocaretur, non tantum ^ novo sed etiam
ampliore cognomine, quod loca quoque religiosa et
in quibus augurato quid consecratur augusta dicantur,
ab auctu vel ab avium gestu gustuve, sicut etiam
Ennius docet scribens :

^"^ Augusto augurio postquam incluta condita Roma

est."

VIII. Quadrimus patrem amisit. Duodecimum
annum agens aviam luliam defunctam pro contione
laudavit. Quadriennio post virili toga sumpta militari-
bus donis triumpho Caesaris Africano donatus est,

1 cabiculi Lares, Lijmiis ; cubiculares, n.
- tantuin, g- [Eras'iiius) ; eum, MQ ; cum, GuR ; enim, F;
autem, X; solum, ^- (omitted by 5).

^ i.e. Ha(h'ian. ^ Av)ia/es, 502, Vahlen.^

130

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

Octavius, shortly after the birth of his son, had
gained his victory over the runaway slaves. That
he was siirnamed Thiirinus I may assert on very
trustworthy evidence, since I once obtained a bronze
statuette, representing him as a boy and inscribed
with that name in letters of iron almost illegible
from age. This I presented to the emperor,^ who
cherishes it among the Lares of liis bed-chamber.
Furthermore, he is often called Thurinus in Mark
Antony's letters by way of insult; to which Augustus
merely replied that he was surprised that his former
name was thrown in his face as a reproach. Later
he took the name of Gaius Caesar and then the
surname Augustus, the foraier by the will of his 27 b.o
great-uncle, the latter on the motion of Munatius
Plancus. For when some expressed the opinion that
he ought to be called Romulus as a second founder
of the city, Plancus carried the proposal that he
should rather be named Augustus, on the ground
that this was not merely a new title but a more
honourable one, inasmuch as sacred places too, and
those in which anything is consecrated by augural
rites are called ^^ august" (aiigustd), from the in-
crease {ductus) in dignity, or from the movements
or feeding of the birds (avium gestus gustusve), as
Ennius ^ also shows when he writes :

'* After by augury august illustrious Rome had been
founded.**

VIII. At the age of four he lost his father. In 5» B.cb
his twelfth year he delivered a funeral oration to the
assembled people in honour of his grandmother
Julia. Four years later, after assuming the gown of
manhood, he received military prizes at Caesar's

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK 11

quanquam expers belli propter aetatem. Profectum
mox avunculuni in Hispanias ad versus Cn. Pompei
liberos vixdum firnius a gravi valitudine per infestas
hostibus vias paucissimis comitibus naufragio etiam
facto subsecutus, magno opere demeruit, approbata
cito etiam moruni indole super itineris industriain.

Caesare post receptas Hispanias expeditionem in
Dacos et inde Parthos ^ destinante praemissus Apol-
loniam studiis vacavit. Utque primum occisum eum
heredemque se comperit, diu cunctatus an proximas
legiones imploraret, id quidem consilium ut praeceps
inmaturumque omisit. Ceterum urbe repetita here-
ditatem adiit, dubitante matre, vitrico vero Marcio
Philippo consulari multum dissuadente. Atque ab eo
tempore exercitibus comparatis primum cum M.
Antonio M. que Lepido, deinde^tantum cum Antonio
per duodecim fere annos, novissime per quattuor et
quadraginta solus rem p. tenuit.

IX. Proposita vitae eius velut summa partes^
singillatim neque per tempora sed per species
exsequar, quo distinctius demonstrari cognoscique
possint.

Bella civilia quinque gessit : Mutinense, Philip-
pense, Perusinum, Siculum, Actiacum ; e quibus pri-
mum ac novissimum ad versus M. Antonium, secundum

^ Parthos, M ; the other mss. have in Parthos.
'■^ deinde, M ; the other mss. have dein.
•^ parte, n. Corrected in I5th century.

132

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

African triumph, although he had taken no part in
the war on account of his youth. When his uncle
presently went to Spain to engage the sons of Pompey,
althougli Augustus had hardly yet recovered his 4G b.c.
strength after a severe illness, he followed over roads
beset by the enemy with only a very few companions,
and that too after suffering shipwreck, and thereby
greatly endeared himself to Caesar, who soon formed
a high opinion of his character over and above the
energy with which he had made the journey.

When Caesar, after recovering the Spanish pro-
vinces, planned an expedition against the Dacians
and then against the Parthians, Augustus, who
had been sent on in advance to Apollonia, de-
voted his leisure to study. As soon as he learned
that his uncle had been slain and that he was his 44 b.c.
heir, he was in doubt for some time whether to
appeal to the nearest legions, but gave up the
idea as hasty and premature. He did, however,
return to the city and enter upon his inheritance, in
spite of the doubts of his mother and the strong
opposition of his stepfather, the ex-consul Marcius
Piiilippus. Then he levied armies and henceforth
ruled the State, at first with Marcus Antonius and
Marcus Lepidus, then with Antony alone for nearly
twelve years, and finally by himself for forty-four.

IX. Having given as it were a summary of his life,
I shall now take up its various phases one by one,
not in chronological order, but by classes, to make
the account clearer and more intelligible.

The civil wars which he waged were five, called by
the names of Mutina, Philippi, Perusia, Sicily, and
Actium ; the first and last of these v/ere against
Marcus Antonius, the second against Brutus and

133

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

adversus Brutum et Cassium, tertiiim adversus L.
Antonium triumviri fratrem, quartum adversus Sex-
tum Pompeium Cn. filium,

X. Omnium bellorum initium et causam hinc
sumpsit : nihil convenientius ducens quam necem
avunculi vindieare tuerique acta_, confestim ut Apol-
lonia rediit, Brutum Cassiumque et vi necopinantis
et, quia pro visum periculum subterfugerant, legibus
adgredi reosque caedis absentis deferre statuit. Ludos
autem victoriae Caesaris non audentibus facere quibus

2 optigerat id munus, ipse edidit. Et quo constantius
cetera quoque exsequeretur, in locum tr. pi. forte
demortui candidatum se ostendit, quanquam patricius
necdum senator. Sed adversante conatibus suis M.
Antonio consule, quem vel praecipuum adiutorem
speraverat, ac ne publicum quidem et translativum
ius ulla in re sibi sine pactione gravissimae mercedis
impertiente, ad optimates se contulit, quibus eum
invisum sentiebat, maxime quod D. Brutum obsessum
Mutinae provincia a Caesare data et per senatum

3 confirmata expellere armis niteretur. Hortantibus
itaque nonnullis percussores ei subornavit, ac fraude
deprehensa periculum in vicem metuens veteranos
simul in suum ac rei p. auxilium quanta potuit
largitione contraxit ; iussusque comparato exercitui

" Since the time of Sulla only senators were eligible for
the position of tribune.

134

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

Cassius, the third against Lucius Antonius^ brother of
the triumvir, and the fourth against Sextus Pompeius,
son of Gnaeus.

X. The initial reason for all these wars was this :
since he considered nothing more incumbent on him
than to avenge his uncle's death and maintain
the validity of his enactments, immediately on re-
turning from Apollonia he resolved to surprise
Brutus and Cassius by taking up arms against
them ; and when they foresaw the danger and fled,
to resort to law and prosecute them for murder
in their absence. Furthermore, since those who
had been appointed to celebrate Caesar's victory
by games did not dare to do so, he gave them him-
self. To be able to carry out his other plans with
more authority, he announced his candidature for the
position of one of the tribunes of the people, who
happened to die ; though he was a patrician, and not
yet a senator.^ But when his designs were opposed
by Marcus Antonius, who was then consul, and on
whose help he had especially counted, and Antony
would not allow him even common and ordinary
justice without the promise of a heavy bribe, he
went over to the aristocrats, who he knew detested
Antony, especially because he was besieging Decimus
Brutus at Mutina, and trying to drive him by force
of arms from the province given him by Caesar and
ratified by the senate. Accordingly at the advice of
certain men he hired assassins to kill Antony, and
when the plot was discovered, fearing retaliation he
mustered veterans, by the use of all the money he
could command, both for his own protection and that
of the State. Put in command of the army which he
had raised, with the rank of propraetor, and bidden

135

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

pro praetore praeesse et cum Hirtio ac Pansa, qui
consulatum susceperant, D. Bruto opem ferre, deman-
datum bellum tertio mense confecit duobus proeliis.
Priore Antonius fugisse eum scribit ac sine paluda-
mento equoque post biduum demum apparuisse,
sequenti satis constat non modo ducis, sed etiam
militis functum munere atque in media dimicatione,
aquilifero legionis suae graviter saucio, aquilam
umeris subisse diuque portasse.

XI. Hoc bello cum Hirtius in acie, Pansa paulo
post ex vulnere perissent, rumor increbruit ambos
opera eius occisos^ ut Antonio fugato, re p. consulibus
orbata solus victores exercitus occuparet. Pansae
quidem adeo suspecta mors fuit, ut Glyco medicus
custoditus sit, quasi venenum vulneri indidisset.
Adicit his Aquilius Niger alterum e consulibus
riirtium in pugnae tumultu ab ipso interemptum.

XII. Sed ut cognovit Antonium post fugam a M.
Lepido receptum ceterosque duces et exercitus
consentire pro partibus, causam optimatium sine
cunctatione deseruit, ad praetextum mutatae volun-
tatis dicta factaque quorundam calumniatus, quasi alii
se puerum, alii ornandum tollendumque iactassent,
ne aut sibi aut veteranis par gratia referretur. Et

° Cic. Epist. ad Fam, 11. 20. 1 ; according to Veil. Paterc.
2. 62. 6, Cicero punned on the double meaning of tollo, " raise **
and " put out of the way."

136

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

to join with Hirtius and Pansa, who had become
consuls^ in lending aid to Decimus Brutus, he finished
the war which had been entrusted to him within
three months in two battles. In the foraier of these,
so Antony writes, he took to flight and was not seen
again until the next day, when he returned without
his cloak and his horse ; but in that which followed
all agree that he played the part not only of a
leader, but of a soldier as well, and that, in the
thick of the fight, when the eagle-bearer of his
legion was sorely wounded, he shouldered the eagle
and carried it for some time.

XL As Hirtius lost his life in battle during this
war, and Pansa shortly afterwards from a wound, the
rumour spread that he had caused the death of both,
in order that after Antony had been put to flight and
the state bereft of its consuls, he might gain sole
control of the victorious armies. The circumstances
of Pansa's death in particular were so suspicious, that
the physician Glyco was imprisoned on the charge of
having applied poison to his wound. Aquilius Niger
adds to this that Augustus himself slew the other
consul Hirtius amid the confusion of the battle.

XII. But when he learned that Antony after his
flight had found a protector in Marcus Lepidus, and
that the rest of the leaders and armies were coming
to terms with them, he abandoned the cause of
the nobles without hesitation, alleging as e. pretext
for his change of allegiance the words and acts of
certain of their number, asserting that some had
called him a boy, while others had openly said that
he ought to be honoured and got rid of,<* to escape
the necessity of making suitable recompense to him
or to his veterans. To show more plainly that he

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

quo magis paenitentiam prioris sectae approbaret,
Nursinos grandi pecunia et quam pendere nequirent
multatos extorres oppido egit, quod Mutinensi acie
interemptorum civium tumulo publice exstructo
ascripserant pro libertate eos occubuisse.

XIII. Inita cum Antonio et Lepido societate
Philippense quoque bellum^ quamquam invalidus
atque aeger, duplici proelio transegit, quorum priore
castris exutus vix ad Antoni cornu fuga evaserat.
Nee successum victoriae moderatus est, sed capite
Bruti Romam misso, ut statuae Caesaris subiceretur,
in splendidissimum quemque captivum non sine
verborum contumelia saeviit ; ut quidem uni sup-
pliciter sepulturam precanti respondisse dicitur^ iam
istam volucrum fore potestatem ; alios, patrem et
filium, pro vita rogantis sortiri vel micare iussisse, ut
alterutri concederetur, ac spectasse utrumque mori-
entem, cum patre, quia se optulerat, occiso filius
quoque voluntariam occubuisset necem. Quare
ceteri, in his M. Favonius ille Catonis aemulus, cum
catenati producerentur, imperatore Antonio honori-
fice salutato, hunc foedissimo convicio coram
prosciderunt.

Partitis post victoriam officiis cum Antonius Orien-
tem ordinandum, ipse veteranos in Italiam
reducendos et municipalibus agris collocandos

1 dicitur, MV; dicatur GXT and the editors, except Ihm.

" A game still common in Italy, in which the contestants
thrust out their fingers {7nicare digitis), the one naming
correctly the number thrust out by his opponent being the
winner.

^ The term applied to a victorious general by his soldiers,

138

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

regretted his connection with the former party, he
imposed a heavy fine on the people of Nursia and
banished them from their city when they were
unable to pay it, because they had at public expense
erected a monument to their citizens who were slain
in the battles at Mutina and inscribed upon it :
^^ they fell for liberty."

XIII. Then, forming a league with Antony and
Lepidus, he finished the war of Philippi also in two « *.a
battles, although weakened by illness, being driven
from his camp in the first battle and barely making
his escape by fleeing to Antony's division. He did
not use his victory with moderation, but after sending
Brutus's head to Rome, to be cast at the feet of
Caesar s statue, he vented his spleen upon the most
distinguished of his captives, not even sparing them
insulting language. For instance, to one man who
begged humbly for burial, he is said to have replied :
^^The birds will soon settle that question." When two
others,, father and son, begged for their lives, he is
said to have bidden them cast lots or play mora,* to
decide which should be spared, and then to have
looked on while both died, since the father was
executed because he offered to die for his son, and
the latter thereupon took his own life. Because of
this the rest, including Marcus Favonius, the well-
known imitator of Cato, saluted Antony respectfully
as Imperator,^ when they were led out in chains, but
lashed Augustus to his face with the foulest abuse.

When the duties of administration were divided
after the victory, Antony undertaking to restore
order in the East, and Augustus to lead the veterans
back to Italy and assign them lands in the munici-
palities, he could neither satisfy the veterans nor the

139

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

recepisset, neque veteranorum neqiie possessorum
gratiam tenuity alteris pelli se, alteris non pro spe
meritorum tractari querentibus.

XIV. Quo tempore L. Antonium fiducia consulatus,
quern gerebat, ac fraternae potentiae res novas
molientem confugere Perusiam coegit et ad dedi-
tionem fame conpulit, non tamen sine magnis suis
et ante bellum et in bello discriminibus. Nam cum
speetaculo ludorum gregarium militem in quattuor-
decim ordinibus sedentem excitari per apparitorem
iussisset, rumore ab obtrectatoribus dilato quasi
eundem mox et discruciatum necasset, minimum
afuit quin periret concursu et indignatione turbae
militaris. Saluti fuit, quod qui desiderabatur repente
comparuit incolumis ac sine iniuria. Circa Peru-
sinum autem murum sacrificans paene interceptus est
a manu gladiatorum, quae oppido eruperat.

XV. Perusia capta in plurimos animadvertit, orare
veniam vel excusare se conantibus una voce oc-
currens ^^moriendum esse." Scribunt quidam tre-
centos ex dediticiis electos utriusque ordinis ad aram
Divo lulio exstructam Idibus Martiis hostiarum more
mactatos. Exstiterunt qui traderent conpecto ^ eum
ad arma isse, ut occulti adversarii et quos metus
magis quam voluntas contineret, facultate L. Antoni
ducis praebita, detegerentur devictisque iis et con-
fiscatis promissa veteranis praemia solverentur.

^ conpecto, Lipsius ; conspecto CI (conspectu, Q).
« See note on Jul. xxxix. 2.
140

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

landowners, since the latter complained that they
were driven from their homes, and the former that
they were not being treated as their services had led
them to hope.

XIV. When Lucius Antonius at this juncture ii b.c.
attempted a revolution, relying on his position as
consul and his brother's power, he forced him to
take refuge in Perusia, and starved him into sur-
render, not, however, without great personal danger
both before and during the war. For at an exhibition

of ^ames, when he had given orders that a common
soldier who was sitting in the fourteen rows ^ be put
out by an attendant, the report was spread by his
detractors that he had had the man killed later and
tortured as well ; whereupon he all but lost his life
in a furious mob of soldiers, owing his escape to the
sudden appearance of the missing man safe and
sound. Again, when he was sacrificing near the
walls of Perusia, he was well nigh cut off by a band
of gladiators, who had made a sally from the town. 40 b.c

XV. After the capture of Perusia he took ven-
geance on many, meeting all attempts to beg for
pardon or to make excuses with the one reply, " You
must die." Some write that three hundred men of
both orders were selected from the prisoners of war
and sacrificed on the Ides of March like so many
victims at the altar raised to the Deified Julius.
Some have written that he took up arms of a set
purpose, to unmask his secret opponents and those
whom fear rather than good-will kept faithful to
him, by giving them the chance to follow the lead of
Lucius Antonius; and then by vanquishing them and
confiscating their estates to pay the rewards promised
to his veterans.

141

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

XVI. Siculum belliim incohavit in priinis^ sed diu
traxit intermissum saepius^ modo reparandarum
classium causa^ quas tempestatibus duplici naufragio
et quidem per aestatem amiserat, modo pace facta^
flagitante popiilo ob interclusos commeatus famem-
que ingravescenteni ; donee navibus ex integro
fabricatis ac viginti servoruni milibus maniimissis et
ad remum datis portum lulium apud Baias inmisso in
Lucrinum et Avernuni lacuni mari effecit. In quo
cum hieme tota copias exercuisset^ Pompeium inter
Mylas et Naulochum superavit^ sub horam pugnae
tam arto repente somno devinctus^ ut ad dandum
signum ab amicis excitaretur. Unde praebitam
Antonio materiam putem exprobrandi : ne rectis
quidem oculis eum aspicere potuisse instructam
aciem^ verum supinum^ caelum intuentem^ stupidum
cubuisse nee prius surrexisse ac militibus in con-
spectum venisse quam a M. Agrippa fugatae sint
hostium naves. Alii dictum factumque eius crimi-
nantur^ quasi classibus tempestate perditis exclama-
verit etiam invito Neptuno victoriam se adeptu-
rum^ ac die circensium proximo sollemni pompae
simulacrum dei detraxerit. Nee temere plura ac
maiora pericula ullo alio bello adiit. Traiecto in
Sicilian! exercitu^ cum partem reliquam copiarum
continenti repeteret, oppressus ex inproviso a Demo-
chare et Apollophane praefectis Pompei uno demum
navigio aegerrime eff'ugit. Iterum cum praeter
Locros Regium pedibus iret et prospectis biremibus
142

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS
XVI. The Sicilian war was amons' the first that he 43/3&

B C

began, but it was long drawn out by many interrup-
tions, now for the purpose of rebuilding his fleets,
which he twice lost by shipwreck due to storms, and
that, too, in the summer ; and again by maldng peace
at the demand of the people, when supplies were cut
off and there was a severe famine. Finally, after
new ships had been built and twenty thousand slaves
set free and trained as oarsmen, he made the Julian
harbour at Baiae by letting the sea into the Lucrine
lake and lake Avernus. After drilling his forces
there all winter, he defeated Pompey between Mylae
and Naulochus, though just before the battle he was
suddenly held fast by so deep a sleep that his
friends had to awaken him to give the signal. And
it was this, I think, that gave Antony opportunity for
the taunt : ** He could not even look with steady
eyes at the fleet when it was ready for battle, but
lay in a stupor on his back, looking up at the sky,
and did not rise or appear before the soldiers until
the enemy's ships had been put to flight by Marcus
Agrippa." Some censured an act and saying of his,
declaring that when his fleets were lost in the storm,
he cried out, ** I will have the victory spite of
Neptune," and that on the day when games in the
Circus next occurred, he removed the statue of that
god from the sacred procession. And it is safe to
say that in none of his wars did he encounter more
dangers or greater ones. For when he had trans-
ported an army to Sicily and was on his way back to
the rest of his forces on the mainland, he was
surprised by Pompey 's admirals Demochares and
Apollophanes and barely escaped with but a single
ship. Again, as he was going on foot to Regium by

14^

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

Pompeianis terram legentibus suas ratus descen-
disset ad litus, paene exceptus est. Tunc etiam per.
devios tramites refugienteni servus Aemili Pauli
comitis eius, dolens proscriptum olim ab eo patrem
Paulum et quasi occasione ultionis oblata, interficere
conatus est.

Post Pompei fugam collegarum alterum M. Lepi-
dum_, quern ex Africa in auxilium evocarat, super-
bientem viginti legionum fiducia summasque sibi
partes terrore et minis vindicantem spoliavit exercitu
supplicemque concessa vita Cerceios in perpetuum
relegavit.

XVn. M. Antoni societatem semper dubiam et
incertam reconciliationibusque variis male focilatam
abrupit tandem, et quo magis degenerasse eum a
civili more approbaret, testamentum, quod is Romae
etiam de Cleopatra liberis inter heredes nuncupatis
reliquerat, aperiundum recitandumque pro contione
curavit. Remisit tamen hosti iudicato^ necessitudines
amicosque omnes atque inter alios C. Sosium et
T.2 Domitium tunc adhuc consules. Bononiensibus
quoque publice, quod in Antoniorum clientela anti-
quitus erant, gratiam fecit coniurandi cum tota Italia
pro partibus suis. Nee multo post navali proelio
apud Actium vicit in serum dimicatione protracta, ut
in nave victor pernoctaverit. Ab Actio cum Samum

^ iiidicato] indicate, H.

'^ So the manuscripts ; the co7isnl was Gnaeus Domitius
A henobarhus.

144

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

way of Locri, he saw some of Pompey's biremes
coasting along the shore, and taking them for his
own ships and going down to the beach, narrowly
escaped capture. At that same time, too, as he was
making his escape by narrow bypaths, a slave of his
companion Aemilius Paulus, nursing a grudge
because Augustus had proscribed his master's father
some time before, and thinking that he had an oppor-
tunity for revenge, attempted to slay him.

After Pompey's flight, Augustus' other colleague,
Marcus Lepidus, whom he had summoned from
Africa to help him, was puffed up by confidence in
his twenty legions and claimed the first place with
terrible threats ; but Augustus stripped him of his
army ; and though he granted him his life when he
sued for it, he banished him for all time to Circei.

XVII. At last he broke off his alliance with
Marcus Antonius, which was always doubtful and
uncertain, and witli difficulty kept alive by various
reconciliations ; and the better to show that his rival
had fallen away from conduct becoming a citizen,
he had the will which Antony had left in Rome,
naming his children by Cleopatra among his heirs,
opened and read before the people. But when
Antony was declared a public enemy, he sent back
to him all his kinsfolk and friends, among others
Gaius Sosius and Titus Domitius, who were still con-
suls at the time. He also excused the community of
Bononia from joining in the rally of all Italy to his
standards, since they had been from ancient days de-
pendents of the Antonii. Not long afterwards he won si B.a
the sea-fight at Actium, where the contest continued
to so late an hour that the victor passed the night on
board. Having gone into winter quarters at Samos

MS

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

in hiberna se recepisset^ turbatus nuntiis de seditione
praemia et missionem poscentium^ quos ex omni
numero confecta victoria Brundisium praemiserat^
repetita Italia ^ tempestate in traiectu bis conflictatus^
primo inter promunturia Peloponnesi atque Aetoliae^
rursus circa montes Ceraunios utrubique parte
liburnicarum demersa^ simul eius, in qua vehebatur,
fusis armamentis et gubernaculo diffracto ; nee
amplius quam septem et viginti dies, donee ad
desideria milituni omnia^ ordinarentur^ Brundisii com-
moratus, Asiae Syriaeque circuitu Aegyptum petit
obsessaque Alexandrea, quo Antonius cum Cleopatra
confugerat, brevi potitus est. Et Antonium quidem
seras condiciones pacis temptantem ad mortem
adegit viditque mortuum. Cleopatrae, quam ser-
vatam triumpho magno opere cupiebat, etiam Psyllos
admovit, qui venenum ac virus exsugerent, quod
perisse morsu aspidis putabatur. Ambobus com-
munem sepulturae honorem tribuit ac tumulum ab
ipsis incohatum perfici iussit. Antonium iuvenem,
maiorem de duobus Fulvia genitis^ simulacro Divi
luli, ad quod post multas et irritas preces confu-
gerat, abreptum interemit. Item Caesarionem, quem
ex Caesare patre Cleopatra concepisse praedicabat,
retractum e fuga supplicio adfecit. Reliquos Antoni
reginaeque communes liberos non secus ac necessi-
tudine iunctos sibi et conservavit et mox pro
condicione cuiusque sustinuit ac fovit.

^ repetita Italia g- (Schiffer) ; repetit alia, mss.
^ omnia, an addition to the text suggested by Ihm^

146

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

after Actiiim,lie was disturbed by the news of a mutiny
of the troops that he had selected from every division
of his army and sent on to Brundisium after the
victory, who demanded their rewards and discharge ;
and on his way back to Italy he twice encountered
storms at sea, first between the headlands of the
Peloponnesus and Aetolia, and again off the Ceraunian
mountains. In both places a part of his galleys were
sunk, while the rigging of the ship in which he was
sailing was carried away and its rudder broken. He
delayed at Brundisium only twenty- seven days —
just long enough to satisfy all the demands of the
soldiers — and then went to Egypt by a roundabout
way through Asia and Syria, laid siege to Alexandria,
where Antony had taken refuge with Cleopatra, and
soon took the city. Although Antony tried to make
terms at the eleventh hour, Augustus forced him to
commit suicide, and viewed his corpse. He greatly
desired to save Cleopatra alive for his triumph, and
even had Psylli brought to her, to suck the poison
from her wound, since it was thought that she died
from the bite of an asp. He allowed them both the
honour of burial, and in the same tomb, giving orders
that the mausoleum which they had begun should
be finished. The young Antony, the elder of Fulvia's
two sons, he dragged from the image of the Deified
Julius, to which he had fled after many vain en-
treaties, and slew him. Caesarion, too, whom
Cleopatra fathered on Caesar, he overtook in his
flight, brought back, and put to death. But he
spared the rest of the offspring of Antony and
Cleopatra, and afterwards maintained and reared
them according to their several positions, as carefully
as if they were his own kin.

«47

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

XVni. Per idem tempus conditorium et corpus
Magni Alexandria cum prolatum e penetrali subie-
cisset oculis_, corona aurea imposita ac floribus
aspersis veneratus est consultusque, num et Ptole-
maeum inspicere vellet, regem se voluisse ait
videre, non mortuos. Aegyptum in provinciae
formain redactam ut feraciorem habilioremque
annonae urbicae redderet, fossas omnis, in quas
Nilus exaestuat, oblimatas longa vetustate militari
opere detersit. Quoque Actiacae victoriae memoria
celebratior et in posterum esset, urbem Nicopolim
apud Actium condidit ludosque illic quinquennales
constituit et ampliato vetere ApoUinis templo locum
castrorum^ quibus fuerat usus, exornatum navalibus
spoliis Neptuno ac Marti consecravit.

XIX. Tumultus posthac et rerum no varum initia
coniurationesque complures, prius quam invalescerent
indicio detectas, compressit alias alio tempore ;
Lepidi iuvenis, deinde Varronis Murenae et Fanni
Caepionis, mox M. Egnati, exin Plauti Rufi Lucique
Pauli progeneri sui^ac praeter has L. Audasi falsarum
tabularum rei ac neque aetate neque corpore integri,
item Asini Epicadi ex gente Parthina ibridae, ad
extremum Telephi, mulieris servi nomenculatoris.
Nam ne ultimae quidem sortis hominum con-
spiratione et periculo caruit. Audasius atque
Epicadus luliam filiam et Agrippam nepotem ex

" The sacred precinct at Alexandria {rh KaKovfxevov 'Xri^a, %
ir€pi^o\os riv, Strabo, 17. 1. 8) containing the tombs of
Alexander and of the kings.

* The nomendator {iiomenculator) was a slave whose duty it
was to remind his master, or mistress, of the names of persons.

148

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

XVIII. About this time he had the sarcophagus
and body of Alexander the Great brought forth
from its shrine,^ and after gazing on it, showed
his respect by placing upon it a golden crown and
strewing it with flowers ; and being then asked
whether he wished to see the tomb of the Ptolemies
as well, he replied, " My wish was to see a king,
not corpses." He reduced Egypt to the forai of
a province, and then to make it more fruitful and
better adapted to supply the city with grain, he
set his soldiers at work cleaning out all the canals
into which the Nile overflows, which in the course
of many years had become choked with mud. To
extend the fame of his victory at Actium and
perpetuate its memory, he founded a city called
Nicopolis near Actium, and provided for the cele-
bration of games there every five years ; enlarged
the ancient temple of Apollo ; and after adorning the
site of the camp which he had occupied with naval
trophies, consecrated it to Neptune and Mars.

XIX. After this he nipped in the bud at various
times several outbreaks, attempts at revolution, and
conspiracies, which were betrayed before they be-
came formidable. The ringleaders were, first the
young Lepidus, then Varro Murena and Fannius
Caepio, later Marcus Egnatius, next Plautius Rufus
and Lucius Paulus, husband of the emperor's grand-
daughter, and besides these Lucius Audasius, who had
been charged with forgery, and was moreover old and
feeble; alsoAsinius Epicadus, a half-breed of Parthian
descent, and finally Telephus, slave and page^ of a
woman ; for even men of the lowest condition conspired
against him and imperilled his safety. Audasius and
Epicadus had planned to take his daughter Julia

M9

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

insiilis, quibus continebantur, rapere ad exercitus^
Telephus quasi debita sibi fato dominatione et ipsum
et senatum adgredi destinarant. Quin etiam quon-
dam iuxta cubiculum eius lixa quidam ex lUyrico
exercitu^ ianitoribus deceptis, noctu deprehensus est
cultro venatorio cinctus, iniposne mentis an simulata
dementia incertum ; nihil enim exprimi quaestione
potuit.

XX. Externa bella duo omnino per se gessit,
Delmaticum adulescens adhuc et Antonio devicto
Cantabricum. Delmatico etiam vulnera excepit, una
acie dextrum genu lapide ictus, altera et crus et
utrumque brachium ruina pontis consauciatus.
Reliqua per legatos administravit, ut tamen quibus-
dam Pannonicis atque Germanicis aut interveniret
aut non longe abesset, Ravennam vel Mediolanum
vel Aquileiam usque ab urbe progrediens.

XXI. Domuit autem partim ductu partim auspiciis
suis Cantabriam, Aquitaniam, Pannoniam, Delmatiam
cum Illyrico omni, item Raetiam et Vindelicos ac
Salassos, gentes Inalpinas. Coercuit et Dacorum
incursiones tribus eorum ducibus cum magna copia
caesis, Germanosque ultra Albim fluvium summovit,
ex quibus Suebos et Sigambros dedentis se traduxit
in Galliam atque in proximis Rheno agris conlocavit.
Alias item nationes male quietas ad obsequium

"' Applied to expeditions commanded by others, since as
commander-in-chief he took the'^ auspices before the army set
out.

150

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

and his grandson Agrippa by force to the armies from
the islands where they were confined, Telephus to
set upon both Augustus and the senate, under the
delusion that he himself was destined for empire.
Even a soldier's servant from the army in Illyricum,
who had escaped the vigilance of the door-keepers,
was caught at night near the emperor's bed-room,
armed with a hunting knife ; but whether the fellow
was crazy or feigned madness is a question, since
nothing could be wrung from him by torture.

XX. He carried on but two foreign wars in
person : in Dalmatia, when he was but a youth, and
with the Cantabrians after the overthrow of Antony.
He was wounded, too, in the former campaign, being
struck on the right knee with a stone in one battle,
and in another having a leg and both arms severely
injured by the collapse of a bridge. His other wars
he carried on through his generals, although he was
either present at some of those in Pannonia and
Germany, or was not far from the front, since he
went from the city as far as Ravenna, Mediolanum,
or Aquileia.

XXI. In part as leader, and in part with armies
serving under his auspices,^ he subdued Cantabria,
Aquitania, Pannonia, Dalmatia, and all Illyricum, as
well as Raetia and the Vindelici and Salassi, which
are Alpine tribes. He also put a stop to the inroads
of the Dacians, slaying great numbers of them,
together with three of their leaders, and forced the
Germans back to the farther side of the river Albis,
with the exception of the Suebi and Sigambri, who
submitted to him and were taken into Gaul and settled
in lands near the Rhine. He reduced to submission
other peoples, too, that were in a state of unrest.

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

redegit. Nee iilli genti sine iustis et necessariis
causis bellimi intulit, tantunique afuit a cupiditate
quoquo modo imperiuni vel bellicam gloriani augendi,
ut quorundam barbarorum principes in aede Martis
Ultoris iurare coegerit mansuros se in fide ac pace
quam petcrent, a quibusdam vero novum genus
obsidum, feminas^, exigere temptaverit, quod negle-
gere marum pignera sentiebat ; et tamen potestatem
semper omnibus fecit, quotiens vellent obsides
recipiendi. Neque aut crebrius aut perfidiosius
rebel! antis graviore umquam ultus est poena, quam
ut captivos sub lege venundaret, ne in vicina regione
servirent neve intra tricensimum annum liberarentur.
Qua virtutis moderationisque fama Indos etiam ac
Scythas auditu modo cognitos pellexit ad amicitiam
suam populique Rom. ultro per legatos petendam.
Parthi quoque et Armenian! vindicanti facile cesse-
runt et signa militaria, quae M. Crasso et M.
Antonio ademerant, reposcenti reddiderunt obsides-
que insuper optulerunt, denique pluribus quondam
de regno concertantibus, non nisi ab ipso electum
probaverunt.

XXII. lanum Quirinum semel atque iterum a^
condita urbe ante memoriam suam clausum in multo
breviore temporis spatio terra marique j)ace parta ter
clusit. Bis ovans ingressus est urbem, post Philippense

^ a, T' ; omitted by the other mss.

" Crassus lost his standards at the battle of Carrhae in 53,
and Antony through the defeat of his lieutenants. in 40 and
36 B.C.

* In the reign of Numa, and in 235 B.C., after the first
Punic war,

152

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

But he never made war on any nation without
just and due cause, and he was so far from desiring
to increase his dominion or liis military glory at any
cost, that he forced the chiefs of certain barbarians
to take oath in the temple of Mars the Avenger that
they would faithfully keep the peace for which they
asked; in some cases, indeed, he tried exacting a new
kind of hostages, namely women, realizing that the
barbarians disregarded pledges secured by males ; but
all were given the privilege of reclaiming their hostages
whenever they wished. On those who rebelled
often or under circumstances of especial treachery
he never inflicted any severer punishment than that
of selling the prisoners, with the condition that they
should not pass their term of slavery in a country
near their own, nor be set free within thirty years.
The reputation for prowess and moderation which he
thus gained led even the Indians and the Scythians,
nations known to us only by hearsay, to send envoys
of their own free will and sue for his friendship and
that of the Roman people. The Parthians, too,
readily yielded to him, when he laid claim to
Armenia, and at his demand surrendered the stand- 20 e,o.
ards which they had taken from Marcus Crassus and
Marcus Antonius ^ ; they offered him hostages be-
sides, and once when there were several claimants of
their throne, they would accept only the one whom
he selected.

XXII. The temple of Janus Quirinus, which had
been closed but twice before his time since the
founding of the city,^ he closed three times in a
far shorter period, having won peace on land and
sea. He twice entered the citv in an ovation, after
the war of Philippi, and again after that in Sicily,

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

et rursus post Siculum bellum. Curulis triumphos
tris egit, Delmaticum, Actiacum, Alexandrinum con-
tinue triduo omnes.

XX in. Graves ignominias cladesque duas omnino
nee alibi quam in Germania accepit, Lollianam et
Varianam, sed Lollianam maioris infamiae quam
detrimenti, Varianam paene exitiabilem tribus legioni-
bus cum duce legatisque et auxiliis omnibus caesis.
Hac nuntiata excubias per urbem indixit, ne quis
tumultus exsisteret, et praesidibus provinciarum pro-
pagavit imperium, ut a peritis et assuetis socii con-
tinerentur. Vovit et magnos ludos lovi Optimo
Maximo^ si res p. in meliorem statum vertisset : quod
factum Cimbrico Marsicoque bello erat. Adeo
denique consternatum ferunt^ ut per continues menses
barba capilloque summisso caput interdum foribus
illideret vociferans : '^ Quincili Vare, legiones redde! "
diemque cladis quotannis maestum habuerit ac
lugubrem.

XXIV. In re militari et commutavit multa et
instituit atque etiam ad antiquum morem nonnulla
revocavit. Disciplinam severissime rexit. Ne lega-
torum quidem cuiquam^ nisi gravate hibernisque
demum mensibus, permisit uxorem intervisere.
Equitem R., quod duobus filiis adulescentibus causa
detrectandi sacramenti pollices amputasset, ipsum
bonaque subiecit hastae ; quem tamen^ quod inminere

^ The ovation was a lesser triumph, in which the general
entered the city on foot, instead of in a chariot drawn by
four horses (whence the term iriumphus curidis), and with
other difference described by Gellius, 5. 6.

154

9 ▲.A.

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

and he celebrated three regular triumphs* for his
victories in Dalmatia, at Actium, and at Alexandria,
all on three successive days.

XXIII. He suffered but Uvo severe and igno-
minious defeats, those of Lollius and Varus, both of
which were in Germany. Of these the former was 15 B.a
more humiliating than serious, but the latter was
almost fatal, since three legions were cut to pieces
with their general, his lieutenants, and all the
auxiliaries. When the news of this came, he ordered
that watch be kept by night throughout the city, to
prevent any outbreak, and he prolonged the terms
of the governors of the provinces, that the allies
might be held to their allegiance by experienced
men with w^hom they were acquainted. He also
vowed gi^eat games to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, in
case the condition of the commonwealth should im-
prove, a thing which had been done in the Cimbric
and Marsic wars. In fact, they say that he was so
greatly affected that for several months in succession
he cut neither his beard nor his hair, and sometimes
he would dash his head against a door, crying :
^^ Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions I "
And he observed the day of the disaster each year
as one of sorrow and mourning.

XXIV. He made many changes and innovations
in the army, besides reviving some usages of former
times. He exacted the strictest discipline. It was
wdth great reluctance that he allowed even his
generals to visit their wives, and then only in the
winter season. He sold a Roman knight and his
property at public auction, because he had cut off the
thumbs of two young sons, to make them unfit for
military service ; but when he saw that some tax-

^5S

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

emptioni publicanos videbat, liberto suo addixit, ut
relegatum in agros pro libero esse sineret. Decimam
legionem contumacius parentem cum ignominia totam
dimisit, item alias immodeste mission em postulantes
citra commoda emeritorum praemiorum exauctoravit.
Cohortes, si quae cessissent loco, decimatas hordeo
pavit. Centuriones statione deserta, itidem ut
manipulares, capitali animadversione puniit, pro
cetero delictorum genere variis ignominiis adfecit,
ut stare per totum diem iuberet ante praetorium^
interdum tunicatos discinctosque, nonnumquam cum
decempedis vel etiam caespitem portantes.

XXV. Neque post bella civilia aut in contione aut
per edictum ullos militum commilitones appellabat,
sed milites, ac ne a filiis quidem aut privignis suis
imperio praeditis aliter appellari passus est, ambitiosius
id existimans, quam aut ratio militaris aut temporum
quies aut sua domusque suae maiestas postularet.
Libertino milite, praeterquam Romae incendiorum
causa et si tumultus in graviore annona metueretur,
bis ^ usus est : semel ad praesidium coloniarum
lllyricum contingentium, iterum ad tutelam ripae
Rlieni fluminis ; eosque, servos adhuc viris feminisque
pecuniosioribus indictos ac sine mora manumissos, sub

1 bis]urbis, MGVLP^T.

• That is, executed every tenth man, selected by lot.

• Instead of the usual rations of wheat.

• Carrying the pole to measure ofi' the camp, or clods for
building tlie rampart, was the work of common soldiers ;
hence degrading for oliicers, * Cf. JiU. Ixvii. 2.

»S6

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

gatherers were intent upon buying him, he knocked
him down to a freeman of his own, with the under-
standing that he should be banished to the country
districts, but allowed to live in freedom. He dis-
missed the entire tenth legion in disgrace, because
they were insubordinate, and others, too, that
demanded their discharge in an insolent fashion, he
disbanded without the rewards which would have
been due for faithful service. If any cohorts gave
way in battle, he decimated them,* and fed the
rest on barley.* When centurions left their posts,
he punished them with death, just as he did the
rank and file ; for faults of other kinds he imposed
various ignominious penalties, such as ordering them
to stand all day long before the general's tent, some-
times in their tunics without their sword-belts,
or again holding ten-foot poles or even a clod of
earth.*'

XXV. After the civil wars he never called any of
the troops ^^ comrades,'* either in the assembly or in
an edict, but always ^^ soldiers"^; and he would not
allow them to be addressed otherwise, even by those
of his sons or stepsons who held military commands,
tliinking the former term too flattering for the
requirements of discipline, the peaceful state of the
times, and his own dignity and that of his house-
hold. Except as a fire-brigade at Rome, and when
there was fear of riots in times of scarcity, he em-
ployed freedmen as soldiers only twice : once as a
guard for the colonies in the vicinity of Illyricum,
and again to defend the bank of the river Rhine ;
even these he levied, when they were slaves, from
men and women of means, and at once gave them
freedom ; and he kept them under their original

157

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

priore vexillo habiiit, neque aut comniixtos cum in-
genuis aut eodem modo armatos.

Dona militaria aliquanto facilius phaleras et tor-
ques^ quicquid auro argentoque constaret^ quam val-
lares ac murales coronas^ quae honore praecellerent^
dabat ; has quam parcissime et sine ambitione ac
saepe etiam caligatis tribuit. M. Agrippam in Sicilia
post navalem victoriam caeruleo vexillo donavit. Solos
triumphales, quamquam et socios expeditionum et
participes victoriarum suarum, numquam donis imper-
tiendos putavit, quod ipsi quoque ius habuissent
tribuendi ea quibus vellent. Nihil autem minus per-
fecto ^ duci quam festinationem temeritatemque con-
venire arbitrabatur. Crebro itaque ilia iactabat :

aorcjiaXr]^ yap ear afxeivo)v rj Opacrv^ o-TparrjXdTrjS'

et : ^^ sat celeriter fieri quidquid fiat satis bene."
Proelium quidem aut bellum suscipiendum omnino
negabat, nisi cum maior emolumenti spes quam
damni metus ostenderetur. Nam minima commoda
non minimo sectantis discrimine similes aiebat esse
aureo hamo piscantibus, cuius abrupti damnum nulla
captura pensari posset.

XXVI. Magistratus atque honores et ante tempus
et quosdam novi generis perpetuosque cepit.
Consulatum vicesimo aetatis anno invasit admotis
hostiliter ad urbem legionibus missisque qui sibi i
nomine exercitus deposcerent ; cum quidem cunctante

^ perfecto, Bentley ; inperfecto, mss.

^ That is, he kept thein apart from the rest in the companies
in which they were first enrolled.

* The phalerae were discs or plates of metal attached to a
belt or to the harness of horses,

158

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

standard,* not mingling them with the soldiers o£
free birth or arming them in the same fashion.

As military prizes he was somewhat more ready to
give trappings ^ or collars, valuable for their gold and
silver, than crowns for scaling ramparts or walls,
which conferred high honour ; the latter he gave as
sparingly as possible and without favouritism, often
even to the common soldiers. He presented Marcus
Agrippa with a blue banner in Sicily after his naval
victory. Those who had celebrated triumphs were
the only ones whom he thought ineligible for prizes,
even though they had been the companions of his
campaigns and shared in his victories, on the ground
that they themselves had the privilege of bestowing
such honours wherever they wished. He thought
nothing less becoming in a well-trained leader than
haste and rashness, and, accordingly, favourite say-
ings of his were : ^^ More haste, less speed " ; " Better
a safe commander than a bold *' ; and ^^ That is
done quickly enough which is done well enough."
He used to say that a war or a battle should
not be begun under any circumstances, unless the
hope of gain was clearly greater than the fear of loss ;
for he likened such as grasped at slight gains with no
slight risk to those who fished with a golden hook,
the loss of which, if it were carried off, could not be
made good by any catch.

XXVI. He received offices and honours before the
usual age, and some of a new kind and for life. He
usurped the consulship in the twentieth year of his
age, leading his legions against the city as if it were 43 b.c.
that of an enemy, and sending messengers to demand
the office for him in the name of his army ; and

159

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

seiiatu Cornelius centurio, princeps legationis, reieeto
sagulo ostendens gladii capulum non dubitasset
in curia dicere : " Hie faeiet, si vos non feeeritis."

2 Secundum consulatum post novem annos^ tertium
anno interiecto gessit, sequentis usque ad undecimum
continuavit^ multisque mox^ cum deferrentur,
recusatis duodecimum magno^ id est septemdecim
annorum^ intervallo et rursus tertium decimum
biennio post ultro petit, ut C. et Lucium filios
amplissimo praeditus magistratu suo quemque

3 tirocinio deduceret in Forum. Quinque medios
consulatus a sexto ad decimum annuos gessit, ceteros
aut novem aut sex aut quattuor aut tribus mensibus,
secundum vero paucissimis horis. Nam die Kal. Ian.
cum mane pro aede Capitolini lovis paululum curuli
sella praesedisset, honore abiit sufFecto alio in locum
suum. Nee omnes Romae, sed quartum consulatum
in Asia, quintum in insula Samo, octavum et nonum
Tarracone init.

XXVn. Triumviratum rei p. constituendae per
decem annos administravit ; in quo restitit quidem
aliquamdiu collegis ne qua fieret proscriptio, sed
inceptam utroque acerbius exercuit, Namque illis
in multorum saepe personam per gratiam et preces
exorabilibus solus magno opere contendit ne cui
parceretur, proscripsitque etiam C. Toranium tutorem
suum, eundem collegam patris sui Octavi in
1 60

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

when the Senate hesitated, his centurion, Cornelius,
leader of the deputation, throwing back his cloak
and showing the hilt of his sword, did not hesitate
to say in the House, ^^ This will make him consul, if
you do not." He held his second consulship nine S3 b.o.
years later, and a third after a year's interval ; the 8i b.c
rest up to the eleventh were in successive years, then 30/23
after declining a number of terms that were offered ^'^'
him, he asked of his own accord for a twelfth after a
long interval, no less than seventeen years, and two 5 a.a
years later for a thirteenth, wishing to hold the 2 b.c.
highest magistracy at the time when he introduced
each of his sons Gains and Lucius to public life upon
their coming of age. The five consulships from the
sixth to the tenth he held for the full year, the rest
for nine, six, four, or three months, except the
second, which lasted only a few hours ; for after
sitting for a short time on the curule chair in front
of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in the early
morning, he resigned the honour on the Kalends of
January and appointed another in his place. He
did not begin all his consulships in Rome, but the
fourth in Asia, the fifth on the Isle of Samos, the
eighth and ninth at Tarraco.

XXVII. He was for ten years a member of the
triumvirate for restoring the State to order, and
though he opposed his colleagues for some time and
tried to prevent a proscription, yet when it was begun,
he carried it through with greater severity than
either of them. For while they could oftentimes be
moved by personal influence and entreaties, he alone
was most insistent that no one should be spared,
even adding to the list his guardian Gains Toranius,
who had also been the colleague of his father

161

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

2 aedilitate. Julius Saturiiinus hoc amplius tradit,
cum peracta proscriptione M. Lepidus in senatu
excusasset praeterita et spem clementiae in posterum
fecisset, quoniam satis poenarum exactuni esset, hunc
e diverse professum, ita niodum se proscribendi
statuisse, ut omnia sibi reliquerit libera. In cuius
tamen pertinaciae paenitentiam postea T. Vinium
Philopoemenem, quod patronum suum proscriptum
celasse olim diceretur, equestri dignitate honoravit.

8 In eadem hac potestate multiplici flagravit invidia.
Nam et Pinarium equitem R., cum contionante se
admissa turba paganorum apud milites subscribere
quaedam animadvertisset, curiosum ac speculatorem
ratus coram confodi imperavit ; et Tedium Afrum
consulem designatum, quia factum quoddam suum
maligno sermone carpsisset, tantis conterruit minis,

i ut is se praecipitaverit ; et Quintum Gallium
praetorem, in officio salutationis tabellas duplices
veste tectas tenentem, suspicatus gladium occulere,
nee quicquam statim, ne aliud inveniretur, ausus
inquirere, paulo post per centuriones et milites
raptum e tribunali servilem in modum torsit ac
fatentem nihil iussit occidi, prius oculis eius sua
manu effossis ; quern tamen scribit conloquio petito
insidiatum sibi coniectumque a se in custodiam^
deinde urbe interdicta dimissum naufragio vel

" Se py^ecipitaverit means "hurled himself headlong," per-
haps into the Tiber ; more probably from some high place
such as the Tarpeian Rock, or the roof of a building.

162

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

Octavius in the aedileship. Julius Satu minus adds
that after the proscription was over Marcus Lepidus
addressed the senate in justification of the past and
held out hope of leniency thereafter^ since enough
punishment had been inflicted ; but that Augustus
on the contrary declared tliat he had consented to
end the proscription only on condition that he was
allowed a free hand for the future. However, to
show his regret for this infiexibilit3^_, he later
honoured Titus Vinius Philopoemen with equestrian
rank, because it was said that he had hidden his
patron, who was on the list.

While he was triumvir, Augustus incurred general
detestation by many of his acts. For example, when
he was addressing the soldiers and a throng of civilians
had been admitted to the assembly, noticing that
Pinarius,a Roman knight, was taking notes, he ordered
that he be stabbed on the spot, thinking him an eaves-
dropper and a spy. Because Tedius Afer, consul elect,
railed at some act of his in spiteful terms, he uttered
such terrible threats that Afer committed suicide.*
Again, when Quintus Gallius, a praetor, held some
folded tablets under his robe as he was paying his
respects, Augustus, suspecting that he had a sword
concealed there, did not dare to make a search on the
spot for fear it should turn out to be something else ;
but a little later he had Gallius hustled from the tri-
bunal by some centurions and soldiers, tortured him
as if he were a slave, and though he made no confession,
ordered his execution, first tearing out the man's eyes
with his own hand. He himself writes, however,
that Gallius made a treacherous attack on him after
asking for an audience, and was haled to prison ;
and that after he was dismissed under sentence of

163

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

5 latronum insidiis perisse. Tribuniciam potestatem
perpetuam reeepit, in qua semel atque iterum per
singula lustra collegam sibi cooptavit. Recepit et
morum legumque regimen aeque perpetuum, quo
iure, quamquam sine censurae honore, censum tamen
populi ter egit, primum ac tertium cum collega,
medium solus.

XXVni. De reddenda re p. bis cogitavit :
primum ^ post o))pressum statim Antonium, memor
obiectum sibi ab eo saepius, quasi per ipsum staret
ne redderetur ; ac rursus taedio diuturnae valitu-
dinis, cum etiam magistratibus ac senatu domum
accitis rationarium imperii tradidit. Sed reputans
et se privatum non sine periculo fore et illam
plurium arbitrio temere committi, in retinenda
perse veravit, dubium eventu meliore an voluntate.

2 Quam voluntatem, cum prae se identidem^ ferret,
quodam etiam edicto his verbis testatus est : ^^ Ita
mihi salvam ac sospitem rem p. sistere in sua sede
liceat atque eius rei fructum percipere, quem peto,
ut optimi status auctor dicar et moriens ut feram
mecum spem, mansura in vestigio suo fundamenta
rei p. quae iecero." Fecitque ipse se compotem voti
nisus omni modo, ne quem novi status paeniteret.

^ primum, M ; the other mas. have primo.
'-^ prae se identidem, LP^; the other mss. have praesident
(praesidens) idem.

" See chap. ci.

* Suetonius is brief to the point of obscurity. The idea
seems to be that the intentions of Augustus in establishing
the principate, and the effect of the new regime on the public
welfare, were equally good.

164

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

banishment, he either lost his life by shipwreck or
was waylaid by brigands.

He received the tribunician power for life, and
once or twice chose a colleague in the office for
periods of five years each. He was also given the
supervision of morals and of the laws for all time,
and by the virtue of this position, although without
the title of censor, he nevertheless took the census
thrice, the first and last time with a colleague, the
second time alone.

XXVIII. He twice thought of restoring the
republic ; first immediately after the overthrow of
Antony, remembering that his rival had often made
the charge that it was his fault that it was not
restored ; and again in the weariness of a lingering
illness, when he went so far as to summon the
magistrates and the senate to his house, and submit
an account of the general condition of the empire.*
Reflecting, however, that as he himself would not be
free from danger if he should retire, so too it would
be hazardous to trust the State to the control of more
than one, he continued to keep it in his hands ; and
it is not easy to say whether his intentions or their
results were the better.* His good intentions he not
only expressed from time to time, but put them on
record as well in an edict in the following words :
*^ May it be my privilege to establish the State in a
firm and secure position, and reap from that act the
fruit that I desire ; but only if I may be called the
author of the best possible government, and bear with
me the hope when I die that the foundations which
I have laid for the State will remain unshaken,**
And he realized his hope by making every effort to
prevent any dissatisfaction with the new regime.

i6s

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

3 Urbem neque pro maiestate imperii ornatam et
inundationibus incendiisque obnoxiam excoluit adeo,
ut iure sit gloriatus marmoream se relinquere^ quam
latericiam accepisset. Tutaiii uero, quantum pro-
videri humana ratione potuit, etiam in posterum
praestitit.

XXIX. Publica opera plurima exstruxit^ e quibus
vel praecipua: forum cum aede MartisUltoris^templum
Apollinis in Palatio, aedem Tonantis lovis in Capitolio.
Fori exstruendi causa fuit hominum et iudiciorum
multitudo, quae videbatur non sufficientibus duobus
etiam tertio indigere ; itaque festinatius necdum per-
fecta Martis aede publicatum est cautumque, ut
separatim in eo publica iudicia et sortitiones iudicum

*2 fierent. Aedem Martis bello Philippensi pro ultione^
paterna suscepto "voverat ; sanxit ergo, ut de bellis
triumphisque hie consuleretur senatus, provincias cum
imperio petituri hinc deducerentur^ quique victores
redissent, hue insignia triumphorum conferrent.

3 Temphim ApolHnis in ea parte Palatinae domus
excitavit, quam fulmine ictam desiderari a deo
haruspices pronuntiarant ^ ; addidit porticus cum
bibliotheca Latina Graecaque, quo loco iam senior
saepe etiam senatum habuit decuriasque iudi-

^ ultione, ^ (p) ; visione, n.

2 pronuntiarant, Sttphaim^ ; pronuntiarent, H (-runt T,
Bentley) .

" Latericiam is strictly " of sun-dried brick."
^ See Jul. Ixxi,

i66

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

Since the city was not adorned as the dignity
of the empire demanded, and was exposed to
flood and fire, he so beautified it that he could
justly boast that he had found it built of brick*
and left it in marble. He made it safe too for
the future, so far as human foresight could provide
for this.

XXIX. He built many public works, in particular
the following: his forum with the temple of Mars 24B.a
the Avenger, the temple of Apollo on the Palatine, 28 B.a
and the fane of Jupiter the Thunderer on the 22 B.a
Capitol. His reason for building the forum was the
increase in the number of the people and of cases at
law, which seemed to call for a third forum, since
two were no longer adequate. Therefore it was
opened to the public with some haste, before the
i! temple of Mars was finished, and it was provided
that the public prosecutions be held there apart
from the rest, as well as the selection of jurors by
lot. He had made a vow to build the temple of Mars
in the war of Philippi, which he undertook to avenge
his father ; accordingly he decreed that in it the
senate should consider wars and claims for triumphs,
from it those who were on their way to the pro-
vinces with military commands should be escorted,*
and to it victors on their return should bear the
tokens of their triumphs. He reared the temple of
Apollo in that part of his house on the Palatine for
which the soothsayers declared that the god had
shown his desire by striking it with lightning. He
joined to it colonnades with Latin and Greek
libraries, and when he was getting to be an old man
he often held meetings of the senate there as well,
and revised tlie lists of jurors. He dedicated the

167

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

cum recognovit. Tonanti lovi aedem consecravit
libcratus periculo, cum expeditione Cantabrica per
nocturnum iter lecticam eius fulgur praestrinxisset

4 servumque praelucentem exanimasset. Quaedam
etiam opera sub nomine alieno, nepotum scilicet et
uxoris sororisque fecit, ut porticum basilicamque Gai
et Luci, item porticus Li viae et Octaviae theatrum-
que Marcelli. Sed et ceteros principes viros saepe
hortatus est, ut pro facultate quisque monimentis vel
novis vel refectis et excultis urbem adornarent.

5 Multaque a multis tunc exstructa sunt, sicut a Marcio
Philippo aedes Herculis Musarum, a L. Cornificio
aedes Dianae, ab Asinio PoUione atrium Libertatis, a
Munatio Planco aedes Saturni, a Cornelio Balbo
theatrum, a Statilio Tauro amphitheatrum, a M. vero
Agrippa complura et egregia.

XXX. Spatium urbis in regiones vicosque divisit in-
stituitque, ut illas annul magistratus sortito tuerentur,
hos magistri e plebe cuiusque viciniae lecti. Adversus
incendia excubias nocturnasvigilesque commentus est;
ad coercendas inundationes alveum Tiberis laxavit ac
repurgavit completum olim ruderibus et aedificiorum
prolationibus coartatum. Quo autem facilius undique |
urbs adiretur, desumpta sibi Flaminia via Arimino
i68

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

shrine to Jupiter the Thunderer because of a narrow
escape ; for on his Cantabrian expedition during a
inarch by night, a flash of lightning grazed his litter
and struck the slave dead who was carrying a torch
before him. He constructed some works too in the
name of others, his grandsons and nephew to wit, his
wife and his sister, such as the colonnade and basilica 12 b.o.
of Gaius and Lucius ; also the colonnades of Livia and 15 & 33 b.c.
Octavia, and the theatre of Marcellus. More than is B.a
that, he often urged other prominent men to adorn
the city with new monuments or to restore and
embellish old ones, each according to his means.
And many such works were built at that time by
many men; for example, the temple of Hercules
and the Muses by Marcius Philippus, the temple of
Diana by Lucius Comificius, the Hall of Liberty by
Asinius Pollio, the temple of Saturn by Munatius
Plancus, a theatre by Cornelius Balbus, an amphi-
theatre by Statilius Taurus, and by Marcus Agrippa
in particular many magnificent structures.

XXX. He divided the area of the city into regions
and wards, arranging that the former should be under
the charge of magistrates selected each year by lot,
and the latter under ^^ masters" elected by the
inhabitants of the respective neighbourhoods. To
guard against fires he devised a system of stations
of night watchmen, and to control the floods he
widened and cleared out the channel of the Tiber,
which had for some time been filled wdth rubbish
and narrowed by jutting buildings. Further, to
make the approach to the city easier from every
direction, he personally undertook to rebuild the
Flaminian Road all the way to Ariminum, and
assigned the rest of the high-ways to others who had

569

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

tenus munienda reliquas triumphalibus viris ex ma-
nubiali pecunia sternendas distribuit.

Aedes sacras vetustate conlapsas aut incendio ab-
sumptas refecit easque et ceteras opulentissimis donis
adornavit, ut qui in cellam Capitolini lovis sedecim
milia pondo auri gemmasque ac margaritas quingenties
sestertium una donatione contulerit.

XXXI. Postquam vero pontificatum maximum,
quem numquam vivo Lepido auferre sustinuerat,
mortuo demum suscepit, quidquid fatidicorum li-
brorum Graeci Latinique generis nullis vel parum
idoneis auctoribus vulgo ferebatur, supra duo milia
contracta undique cremavit ac solos retinuit Sibyllinos,
hos quoque dilectu habito ; condiditque duobus
forulis auratis sub Palatini Apollinis basi. Annum a ^
Divo lulio ordinatum, sed postea neglegentia contur-
batum atque confusum, rursus ad pristinam rationem
redegit ; in cuius ordinatione Sextilem mensem e suo
cognomine nuncupavit magis quam Se})tembrem quo
erat natus, quod hoc sibi et primus consulatus et in-
signes victoriae optigissent. Sacerdotum et numerum
et dignitatem sed et commoda auxit, praecipue Vesta-
lium virginum. Cumque in demortuae locum aliam
capi oporteret ambirentque multi ne filias in sortem
darent, adiuravit, si cuiusquam neptium suarum

1 MG V omit a,
170

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

been honoured with triumphs, asking them to use
their prize-money in paving them.

He restored sacred edifices which had gone to
ruin through lapse of time or had been destroyed by
fire, and adorned both these and the other temples
with most lavish gifts, depositing in the shrine of
Jupiter Capitolinus as a single offering sixteen
thousand pounds of gold, besides pearls and other
precious stones to the value of fifty million sesterces.

XXXI. After he finally had assumed the office of 13 b.o.
pontifex maximus on the death of Lepidus (for he
could not make up his mind to deprive him of the
honour while he lived) he collected whatever pro-
phetic writings of Greek or Latin origin were in
circulation anonymously or under the names of
authors of little repute, and burned more than two
thousand of them, retaining only the Sibylline books
and making a choice even among those ; and he
deposited them in two gilded cases under the
pedestal of the Palatine Apollo. Inasmuch as the
calendar, which had been set in order by the Deified
Julius, had later been confused and disordered through
negligence, he restored it to its former system ; and
in making this arrangement he called the month 8 B.a
Sextilis by his own surname, rather than his birth-
month September, because in the former he had won
his first consulship and his most brilliant victories.
He increased the number and importance of the
priests, and also their allowances and privileges, in
particular those of the Vestal virgins. Moreover,
when there was occasion to choose another vestal in
place of one who had died, and many used all their
influence to avoid submitting their daughters to
the hazard of the lot, he solemnly swore that if

\1i

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

competeret aetas, oblaturum se fuisse earn. Nonnulla
etiam ex antiquis caerimoniis paulatim abolita restituit,
ut Salutis augurium, Diale flamonium, sacrum Luper-
cale, ludos Saeculares et Compitalicios. Lupercalibus
vetuit currere inberbes, item Saecularibus ludis iu-
venes utriusque sexus prohibuit ullum nocturnum
spectaculum frequentare nisi cum aliquo maiore natu
propinquorum. Compitales Lares ornari bis anno in-
stituit vernis floribus et aestivis.

Proximum a dis immortalibus honorem memoriae
ducum praestitit, qui imperium p. R. ex minimo maxi-
mum reddidissent. Itaque et opera cuiusque manenti-
bus titulis restituit et statuas omnium triumphali
effigie in utraque fori sui porticu dedicavit, professus
et 1 edicto : commentum id se, ut ad illorum vitam ^
velut ad exemplar et ipse, dum viveret, et inse-
quentium aetatium principes exigerentur a civibus.
Pompei quoque statuam contra theatri eius regiam
marmoreo lano superposuit translatam e curia, in qua
C. Caesar fuerat occisus.

XXXII. Pleraque pessimi exempli in perniciem
publicam aut ex consuetudine licentiaque bellorum
civilium duraverant aut per pacem etiam exstiterant.
Nam et grassatorum plurimi pal am se ferebant
succincti ferro, quasi tuendi sui causa, et rapti per

* et, Bentley ; est, Xl.

2 vitam, supplied by Bucheler ; normani, Oudendorp.

" See Index under Salus, and Dio 37. 24.

* Exigere is the technical term for making weights and
measures correspond with the standards in charge of the
aediles; see C.I.L. XIV. 4124 1,2; X. 8067. 2; etc,

^ According to Richter, Topographic von Rorriy p. 229, the
regia was the main door, leading from the stage of the theatre
to the colonnade.

172

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

anyone of his grand-daughters were of eligible age,
he would have proposed her name. He also revived
some of the ancient rites which had gradually fallen
into disuse, such as the augury of Safety,^ the office
of Flamen Dialis, the ceremonies of the Lupercalia,
the Secular Games, and the festival of the Compitalia.
At the Lupercalia he forbade beardless youths to
join in the running, and at the Secular Games he
would not allow young people of either sex to attend
any entertainment by night except in company with
some adult relative. He provided that the Lares of
the Crossroads should be crowned twice a year, with
spring and summer flowers.

Next to the immortal Gods he honoured the
memory of the leaders who had raised the estate of
the Roman people from obscurity to greatness.
Accordingly he restored the works of such men with
their original inscriptions, and in the two colon-
nades of his forum dedicated statues of all of them
in triumphal garb, declaring besides in a proclama-
tion : " I have contrived this to lead the citizens to
require * me, while I live, and the rulers of later
times as well, to attain the standard set by those
worthies of old.'* He also moved the statue of
Pompey from the hall in which Gains Caesar had
been slain and placed it on a marble arch opposite the
grand door^ of Pompey's theatre.

XXX n. Many pernicious practices militating
against public security had survived as a result of the
lawless habits of the civil wars, or had even arisen in
time of peace. Gangs of footpads openly went about
with swords by their sides, ostensibly to protect
themselves, and travellers in the country, freemen
and slaves alike, were seized and kept in confinement

173

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

agros viatores sine discrimine liberi servique ergastulis
possessorum supprimebantur, et plurimae factiones
titulo collegi novi ad nullius non facinoris societatem
coibant. Igitur grassaturas ^ dispositis per opportuna
loca stationibus inhibuit, ergastula recognovit, collegia
praeter antiqua et legitima dissolvit. Tabulas veterum
aerari debitorum, vel praecipuam calumniandi mate-
riam, exussit ; ^ loca in urbe publica iuris ambigui
possessoribus adiudicavit ; diuturnorum reorum et ex
quorum sordibus nihil aliud quani voluptas inimicis
quaereretur nomina abolevit condicione proposita, ut
si queni quis repetere vellet, par periculum poenae
subiret. Ne quod autem maleficium negotiumve in-
punitate vel mora elaberetur, triginta amplius dies,
qui honoraris ludis occupabantur, actui rerum ac-
commodavit. Ad tris iudicum decurias quartam
addidit ^ ex inferiore censu, quae ducenariorum
vocaretur iudicaretque de levioribus summis. ludices
a tricensimo ^ aetatis anno adlegit, id est quinquennio
maturius quam solebant. Ac plerisque iudicandi
munus detractantibus vix concessit, ut singulis decuriis

^ grassaturas, V; grassatur ad, M; grassaturam, G; the
other mss. have grassatores.

2 exussit, Beroaldus {cf. tKavae^ Dio^ 53.2) ; excussit, mss,

3 addidit, Stephanus ; addixit, H.

'^ tricensimo, M [the other mss. have tricesimo) ; vicesimo,
Cuiaciiis ; xxv. Shuckburyh. The number is apparently wrong^
but the error may have been made by Suetonius himself.

^ The ergastula were prisons for slaves, who were made to
work in chains in the fields.

* Collegia, or guilds, of workmen were allowed and were
numerous ; not infrequently they were a pretext for some
illegal secret organization.

^ Sordibus refers especiall}^ to the mourning garb in which
it was usual for the accused to appear in public.

174

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

in the workhouses ^ of the land owners ; numerous
leagues^ too, were formed for the commission of
crimes of every kind, assuming tliC title of some new
guild. ^ Therefore to put a stop to brigandage, he
stationed guards of soldiers wherever it seemed
advisable, inspected the workhouses, and disbanded
all guilds, except such as were of long standing and
formed for legitimate purposes. He burned the
records of old debts to the treasury, which were by
far the most frequent source of blackmail. He made
over to their holders places in the city to which the
claim of the state was uncertain. He struck off the
lists the names of those who had long been under
accusation, from whose humiliation ^ nothing was to
be gained except the gratification of their enemies,
with the stipulation that if anyone was minded to
renew the charge, he should be liable to the same
penalty.^ To prevent any action for damages or on
a disputed claim from falling through or being put off,
he added to the term of the courts thirty more days,
which had before been taken up with honorary
games. To the three divisions of jurors he added a
fourth of a lower estate, to be called ducenarii ^ and to
sit on cases involving trifling amounts. He enrolled
as jurors men of thirty years or more, that is five
years younger than usual. But when many strove to
escape court duty, he reluctantly consented that each
division in turn should have a yearns exemption,
and that the custom of holding court during the

* That i«, if he failed to win his suit, he should suffer the
penalty that would have been inflicted on the defendant, if
he had been convicted.

« Men whose property amounted to 200,000 sesterces, or
half of a knight's estate.

»75

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

per vices annua vacatio esset et ut solitae agi Novem-
bri ac Decembri mense res omitterentur.

XXXni. Ipse ius dixit assidue et in noctem
nonnumquam, si paruni corpore valeret lectica pro
tribunali collocata, vel etiam domi Cubans. Dixit
autem ius non diligentia niodo summa sed et lenitate,
siquidem manifesti parricidii reum, ne culleo in-
sueretur, quod non nisi confessi adficiuntur hac poena,
ita tertur interrogasse : ^^ Certe patreni tuum non

2 occidisti ? " Et cum de falso testaniento ageretur
omnesque signatores ^ lege Cornelia tenerentur, non
tantum duas tabellas, damnatoriam et absolutoriam,
siniul cognoscentibus dedit,. sed tertiam quoque, qua
ignosceretur iis, quos fraude ad signandum vel errore

3 inductos constitisset. Aj)})ellationes quotannis ur-
banorum quidem litigatorum praetori delegabat ur-
bano, at provincialium consularibus viris, quos singulos
cuiusque provinciae negotiis praeposuisset.

XXXIV. Leges retractavit et quasdam ex integro
sanxit, ut sumptuariam et de adulteriis et de
pudicitia, de ambitu, de maritandis ordinibus. Hanc
cum aliquanto severius quam ceteras emendasset,
prae tumultu recusantium perferre non potuit
nisi adempta demum lenitave parte poenarum et

^ signatores, Beroaldtis ; senatores, n.

"■ Parricides were sewn up in a sack with a dog, a cock, a
snake, and a monkey, and thrown into the sea or a river.
The word is liere used in its modern sense ; cf. Jul. xlii. 3.

* These consisted of various innnunities, especially those
connected with the ins trium liberorum (see Introd. p. x).

176

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

months of November and December should be given
up.

XXXIII. He himself administered justice regularly
and sometimes up to nightfall, having a litter placed
upon the tribunal, if he was indisposed, or even lying
down at home. In his administration of justice he was
both highly conscientious and very lenient ; for to
save a man clearly guilty of parricide from being sewn
up in the sack,* a punishment which was inflicted only
on those who pleaded guilty, he is said to have put
the question to him in this fonn : " You surely did not
kill your father, did you ? *' Again, in a case touch-
ing a forged will, in which all the signers were liable
to punishment by the Cornelian Law, he distributed
to the jury not merely the two tablets for condem-
nation or acquittal, but a third as well, for the
pardon of those who were shown to have been
induced to sign by misrepresentation or misunder-
standing. Each year he referred appeals of cases
involving citizens to the city praetor, but those
between foreigners to ex-consuls, of whom he had
put one in charge of the business affairs of each
province.

XXXIV. He revised existing laws and enacted
some new ones, for example, on extravagance, on
adultery and chastity, on bribery, and on the
encouragement of marriage among the various classes
of citizens. Having made somewhat more stringent
changes in the last of these than in the others, he
was unable to carry it out because of an open revolt
against its provisions, until he had abolished or miti-
gated a part of the penalties, besides increasing the
rewards ^ and allowing a three years* exemption from
the obligation to marry after the death of a husband

177

THE L1VP:S of the CAESARS, BOOK II

vacatione trienni data auctisque praemiis. Sic
quoque abolitionem eius publico spectaculo perti-
naciter postulante equite, accitos Germaiiici liberos
receptosque partim ad se partim in patris gremium
ostentavit, manu vultuque significans ne gravarentur
imitari iuvenis exemplum. Cumque etiam inma-
turitate sponsarum et matrimonioruin crebra muta-
tione vim legis eludi sentiret, tempus sponsas
habendi coartavit, divortiis modum imposuit.

XXXV. Senatorum affiuentem numerum deformi
et incondita turba — erant enim super mille, et
quidam indignissimi et post necem Caesaris per
gratiam et praemium adlecti, quos orcinos ^ valgus
vocabat — ad modum pristinum et splendorem
redegit duabus lectionibus : prima ipsorum arbitratu,
quo vir virum legit, secunda suo et Agrippae ; quo
tempore existimatur lorica sub veste munitus ferro-
que cinctus praesedisse decem valentissimis senatorii
ordinis amicis sellam suam circumstantibus. Cordus
Cremutius scribit ne admissum quidem tunc quem-
quam senatorum nisi solum et praetemptato sinu.
Quosdam ad excusandi se verecundiam eompulit
servavitque etiam excusantibus ^ insigne vestis et
spectandi in orchestra epulandique publice ius.
Quo autem lecti probatique et religiosius et minore
molestia senatoria munera fungerentur, sanxit, ut
prius quam consideret quisque ture ac mero sup-

^ orcivos, MOVT. abortivos, X; orcinos, $-.
^ excusantibus, Roman and first Venetian editions ; ex-
cusantis, n ; excusatis, TSy Gruter.

" Orcivi or Orcini, ** freedmen by the grace of Orcus,"
were slaves set free by their master's will. The Orcivx
stnatores were those adnnitted by Mark Antony under pre-
tence that they had been named in the papers left by Caesar.

178

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

or wife. When the knights even then persistently
called for its repeal at a public show, he sent for the
children of Germanicus and exhibited them, some in
his own lap and some in their father's, intimating by
his gestures and expression that they should not
refuse to follow that young man s example. And on
finding that the spirit of the law was being evaded
by betrothal with immature girls and by frequent
changes of wives, he shortened the duration of
betrothals and set a limit on divorce.

XXXV. Since the number of the senators was
swelled by a low-born and ill-assorted rabble (in fact,
the senate numbered more than a thousand, some of
whom, called by the vulgar Orcivi,^ were wholly un-
worthy, and had been admitted after Caesar's death
through favour or bribery) he restored it to its former
limits and distinction by two enrolments, one according
to the choice of the members themselves, each man
naming one other, and a second made by Agrippa and
himself. On the latter occasion it is thought that he
wore a coat of mail under his tunic as he presided,
and a sword by his side, while ten of the most robust
of his friends among the senators stood by his chair.
Cremutius Cordus writes that even then the senators
were not allowed to approach except one by one,
and after the folds of their robes had been carefully
searched. Some he shamed into resigning, but he
allowed even these to retain their distinctive dress,
as well as the privilege of viewing the games from
the orchestra and taking part in the public banquets
of the order. Furthermore, that those who were
chosen and approved might perform their duties
more conscientiously, and also with less inconvenience,
he provided that before taking his seat each member

179

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

plicaret apud aram eius dei, in cuius templo coiretur,
et ne plus quam bis in mense legitimus senatus
ageretur, Kalendis et Idibus, neve Septembri
Octobrive mense ullos adesse alios necesse esset
quam sorte ductos, per quorum numerum decreta
confici possent ; sibique instituit consilia sortiri
semenstria, cum quibus de negotiis ad frequentem
senatum referendis ante tractaret. Sententias de
maiore negotio non more atque ordine sed prout
libuisset perrogabat^ ut perinde quisque animum
intenderet ac si censendum magis quam adsentien-
dum esset.

XXXVI. Auctor et aliarum rerum fuit, in quis :
ne acta senatus publicarentur, ne magistratus de-
posito^ honore statim in provincias mitterentur^ ut
proconsulibus ad mulos et tabernacula^ quae publice
locari solebant^ certa pecunia constitueretur, ut cura
aerari a quaestoribus urbanis ad praetorios praeto-
resve transiret, ut centumviralem hastam quam quae-
sturam functi consuerant cogere decemviri cogerent.

XXXVII. Quoque plures partem administrandae
rei p. caperent^ nova officia excogitavit : curam
operum publicorum^ viarum, aquarum^ alvei Tiberis^
frumenti populo dividundi, praefecturam urbis^ trium-

^ deposito, g- ; disposito, H.

« Cf. Jul, XX. 1.

^ A very ancient tribunal, consisting at first of 105 mem-
bers, three from each tribe, but later of 180. It sat in the
Basilica Julia, with a spear (hasta), the ancient symbol of
Quiritary ownership, plantecf before it. It was divided into
four chambers, which usually sat separately, but sometimes
altogether, or in two divisions.

*^ The decemviri atlitibus iudicandis.

i8o

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

should offer incense and wine at the altar of the god
in whose temple the meeting was held ; that regular
meetings of the senate should be held not oftener
than twice a month, on the Kalends and the Ides ;
and that in the months of September and October
only those should be obliged to attend who were
drawn by lot, to a number sufficient for the passing
of decrees. He also adopted the plan of privy
councils chosen by lot for terms of six months, with
which to discuss in advance matters which were
to come before the entire body. On questions of
special importance he called upon the senators to
give their opinions, not according to the order
established by precedent, but just as he fancied, to
induce each man to keep his mind on the alert, as if
he were to initiate action rather than give assent to
others.

XXXVI. He introduced other innovations too,
among them these : that the proceedings of the senate
should not be published*; that magistrates should
not be sent to the provinces immediately after laying
down their office ; that a fixed sum should be allowed
the proconsuls for mules and tents, which it was the
custom to contract for and charge to the State ; that
the management of the public treasury should be
transferred from the city quaestors to ex-praetors or
praetors ; and that the centum viral court,* which it
was usual for ex-quaestors to convoke, should be
summoned hy the Board of Ten.*'

XXXVII. To enable more men to take part in
the administration of the State, he devised new
offices : the charge of public buildings, of the roads,
of the aqueducts, of the channel of the Tiber, of the
distribution of grain to the people, as well as the

i8i

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

viratum legend! senatus et alterum recognoscendi
turmas equitum^ quotiensque opus esset. Censores
creari desitos longo intervallo creavit. Numerum
praetorum auxit. Exegit etiam_, ut quotiens con-
sulatus sibi daretur, binos pro singulis collegas
haberet, nee optinuit^ reclamantibus cunctis satis
maiestatem eius imminui, quod honorem eum non
solus sed cum altero gereret.

XXXVIII. Nee parcior in bellica virtute hono-
randa, super triginta ducibus iustos triumphos et ali-
quanto pluribus triumphalia ornamenta decernenda
curavit.

Liberis senatorum, quo celerius rei p. assuescerent^
protinus a^ virili toga latum clavum induere et curiae
interesse permisit militiamque auspicantibus non
tribunatum modo legionum, sed et praefecturas
alarum dedit ; ac ne qui expers c^strorum esset,
binos plerumque laticlavios praeposuit singulis alis.

Equitum turmas frequenter recognovit, post
longam intercapedinem reducto more travectionis .
Sed neque detrahi quemquam in travehendo ab
accusatore passus est, quod fieri solebat, et senio vel
aliqua corporis labe insignibus permisit, praemisso
in ordine equo, ad respondendum quotiens citarentur
pedibus venire ; mox ' reddendi equi gratiam fecit

^ a, quidam apud Torrentium ; Ihm suggests sumpta.

^* See note on chap. xxii.

^ That is, were so old or infirm that they could not ride,
or would cut a sorry figure if they did.

182

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

prefecture of the city, a board of three for choosing
senators, and another for reviewing the companies of
the knights whenever it should be necessary. He
appointed censors, an office which had long been
discontinued. He increased the number of praetors.
He also demanded that whenever the consulship
was conferred on him, he should have two colleagues
instead of one ; but this was not granted, since all
cried out that it was a sufficient offence to his supreme
dignity that he held the office with another and not
alone.

XXXVIII. He was not less generous in honouring
martial prowess, for he had regular triumphs <* voted
to above thirty generals, and the triumphal regalia
to somewhat more than that number.

To enable senators* sons to gain an earlier
acquaintance with public business^ he allowed them
to assume the broad purple stripe immediately after
the gown of manhood and to attend meetings of the
senate ; and when they began their military career,
he gave them not merely a tribunate in a legion, but
the command of a division of cavalry as well ; and to
furnish all of them with experience in camp life, he
usually appointed two senators* sons to command
each division.

He reviewed the companies of knights at frequent
intervals, reviving the custom of the procession after
long disuse. But he would not allow an accuser to
force anyone to dismount as he rode by, as was often
done in the past ; and he permitted those who were
conspicuous because of old age or any bodily infirmity^
to send on their horses in the review, and come on
foot to answer to their names whenever they were
summoned. Later he excused those who were over

«83

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

eis^ qui maiores annoruni quinque et triginta
retinere eum nollent.

XXXIX. Impetratisque a senatu decern adiutoribus
unum quemque equitum rationem vitae reddere
coegit atque ex improbatis ^ alios poena, alios ignomi-
nia notavit, plures admonitione, sed varia. Lenissi-
mum genus admonitionis fuit traditio coram pugil-
larium, quos taciti et ibidem statim legerent ^ ; nota-
vitque aliquos, quod pecunias levioribus usuris
mutuati graviore faenore collocassent.

XL. Ac comitiis tribuniciis si deessent candidati
senatores, ex equitibus R. creavit, ita ut potestate
transacta in utro vellent ordine manerent. Cum
autem plerique equitum attrito bellis civilibus
patrimonio spectare ludos e quattuordecim non
auderent metu poenae theatralis, pronuntiavit non
teneri ea, quibus ipsis parentibusve equester census
umquam fuisset.

Populi recensum vicatim egit, ac ne plebs frumen-
tationum causa frequentius ab negotiis avocaretur,
ter in annum quaternum mensium tesseras dare
destinavit ; sed desideranti consuetudinem veterem
concessit rursus, ut sui cuiusque mensis acciperet.
Comitiorum quoque pristinum ius reduxit ac multi-
plici poena coercito ambitu, Fabianis et Scaptiensibus

^ ex improbatis, ^ ; the best mss. have in exprobratis.
2 legerent] legerint, MGVL^S.

^ See note on chap. x. 2.

* See note on Jul, xxxix. 2, and of. chap. xiv.

« Cf. Jill. xli.

184

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

thirty-five years of age and did not wish to retain
their horses from formally surrendering them.

XXXIX. Having obtained ten assistants from the
senate^ he compelled each knight to render an
account of his life^ punishing some of those whose
conduct was scandalous and degrading others ; but
the greater part he reprimanded with varying degrees
of severity. The mildest form of reprimand was to
hand them a pair of tablets publicly^ which they
were to read in silence on the spot. He censured
some because they had borrowed money at low
interest and invested it at a higher rate.

XL. At the elections for tribunes if there were
not candidates enough of senatorial rank^* he made
appointments from among the knights^ with the
understanding that after their term they might
remain in whichever order they wished. Morever,
since many knights whose property was diminished
during the civil wars did not venture to view the
games from the fourteen rows ^ through fear of the
penalty of the law regarding theatres^ he declared
that none were liable to its provisions^ if they them-
selves or their parents had ever possessed a knight's
estate.

He revised the lists of the people district by dis-
trict, and to prevent the commons from being called
away from their occupations too often because of
the distributions of grain, he determined to give out
tickets for four months' supply three times a year;
but at their urgent request he allowed a return to
the old custom of receiving a share every month.
He also revived the old time election privileges,*'
trying to put a stop to bribery by numerous penalties,
and distributing to his fellow members of the Fabian

i8S

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK 11

tribulibus ^ suis die comitiorum^ ne quid a quoquam
candidate desiderarent^ singula milia nummum a se
dividebat.

Magni praeterea existimans sincerum atque ab
onini colluvione peregrini ac servilis sanguinis
incorruptum servare populum, et civitates Romanas
parcissime dedit et manumittendi modum termi-
navit. Tiberio pro cliente Graeco petenti rescripsit^
non aliter se daturum^ quam si praesens sibi per-
suasisset, quam iustas petendi causas haberet ; et
Liviae pro quodam tributario Gallo roganti civitatem
negavit, immunitatem optulit affirmans facilius se
passurum fisco detrahi aliquid, quam civitatis
Romanae vulgari honorem. Servos non contentus
multis difficultatibus a libertate et multo pluribus
a libertate iusta removisse^ cum et de numero et de
condicione ac differentia eorum^ qui manumitte-
rentur^ curiose cavisset^ hoc quoque adiecit, ne
vinctus umquam tortusve quis ullo libertatis genere
civitatem adipisceretur,

Etiam habitum vestitumque pristinum reducere
studuit^ ac visa quondam pro contione pullatorum
turba indignabundus et clamitans : '^ en

Romanos^ rerum dominos^ gentemque togatam ! "

negotium aedilibus dedit, ne quem posthac pate-

^ Scaptiensibus tribulibus, Beroaldus ; scaptensibus
tribubus, n.

" Augustus was a member of the latter because of his con-
nection with the Octavian family ; of the former, through
his adoption into the Julian gens.

^ That is, even by iusta libertas, which conferred citizen-
ship. Slaves who had been punished for crimes [facinora)

j86

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

and Scaptian tribes ** a thousand sesterces a man from
his own purse on the day of the elections, to keep
them from looking for anything from any of the
candidates.

Considering it also of great importance to keep
the people pure and unsullied by any taint of foreign
or servile bloody he was most chary of conferring
Roman citizenship and set a limit to manumission.
When Tiberius requested citizenship for a Grecian
dependent of his, Augustus wrote in reply that he
would not grant it unless the man appeared in person
and convinced him that he had reasonable grounds for
the request ; and when Livia asked it for a Gaul
from a tributary province^ he refused^ offering instead
freedom from tribute, and declaring that he would
more willingly suffer a loss to his privy purse than
the prostitution of the honour of Roman citizenship.
Not content with making it difficult for slaves to
acquire freedom, and still more so for them to attain
full rights^ by making careful provision as to the
number, condition, and status of those who were
manumitted, he added the proviso that no one who
had ever been put in irons or tortured should acquire
citizenship by any grade of freedom.^

He desired also to revive the ancient fashion of
dress, and once when he saw in an assembly a
throng of men in dark cloaks, he cried out
indignantly, ^^ Behold them

Romans, lords of the world, the nation clad in the
toga,"<^

and he directed the aediles never again to allow

or disgraceful acts {flagitia) became on manumission dediticiij
"prisoners of war," • Verg. A en. 1, 282,

187

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

rentur in Foro circave ^ nisi positis lacernis togatum
consistere.

XLI. Liberalitatem omnibus ordinibus per oc-
casiones frequenter exhibuit. Nam et invecta urbi
Alexandrino triumpho regia gaza tantam copiam
nummariae rei effecit, ut faenore deminuto plurimum
agrorum pretiis accesserit, et postea, quotiens ex
damnatorum bonis peeunia superflueret, usum eius
gratuitum iis, qui cavere in duplum possent, ad
certum tempus indulsit. Senatorum censum ampli-
avit ac pro octingentorum milium summa duodecies
sestertium taxavit supplevitque non habentibus.
Congiaria populo frequenter dedit, sed diversae fere
summae : modo quadringenos, modo trecenos,^ non-
numquam ducenos quinquagenosque nummos ; ac ne
minores quidem pueros praeteriit, quamvis non nisi
ab undecimo aetatis anno accipere eonsuessent.
Frumentum quoque in annonae difficultatibus saepe
levissimo, interdum nullo pretio viritim admensus
est tesserasque nummarias duplicavit.

XLII. Sed ut salubrem magis quam ambitiosum
principem scires, querentem de inopia et caritate vini
populum severissima coercuit voce : satis provisum
a genero suo Agrippa perductis pluribus aquis, ne
homines sitirent. Eidem populo promissum quidem

^ circave] circove, Gt,-

2 trecenos, Torreniius ($-) ; tricenos, Ci.

" Congiarium, strictly a distribution of oil (from congius, a
liquid measure) came to be used of any largess.

* The tesserae, nnmmulariae were small tablets or round
hollow balls of wood, marked with numbers. They were
distributed to the people instead of money and entitled the
holder to receive the sum inscribed upon them. Grain, oil,

i88

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

anyone to appear in the Forum or its neighbour-
hood except in the toga and without a cloak.

XLI. He often showed generosity to all classes
when occasion offered. For example, by bringing
the royal treasures to Rome in his Alexandrian
triumph he made ready money so abundant, that the
rate of interest fell, and the value of real estate rose
greatly ; and after that, whenever there was an excess
of funds from the property of those who had been
condemned, he loaned it without interest for fixed
periods to any who could give security for double the
amount. He increased the property qualification for
senators, requiring one million two hundred thousand
sesterces, instead of eight hundred thousand, and
making up the amount for those who did not possess
it. He often gave largess^ to the people, but usually
of different sums : now four hundred, now three
hundred, now two hundred and fifty sesterces a
man ; and he did not even exclude young boys,
though it had been usual for them to receive a share
only after the age of eleven. In times of scarcity
too he often distributed grain to each man at a very
low figure, sometimes for nothing, and he doubled
the money tickets.*

XLI I. But to show that he was a prince who
desired the public welfare rather than popularity,
when the people complained of the scarcity and high
price of wine, he sharply rebuked them by saying :
"My son-in-law Agrippa has taken good care, by
building several aqueducts, that men shall not
go thirsty." Again, when the people demanded
largess which he had in fact promised, he replied :

and various commodities were distributed by similar tesserae ;
cf. chap. xl. 2 ; Kero^ xi ; Dom, iv.

189

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

congiarium reposceuti bonae se fidei esse respoiidit ;
non promissum autem flagitanti turpitudinem et
impudentiam edicto exprobravit affirmavitque non
daturum se quamvis dare destinaret. Nee minore
gravitate atque constantia, cum proposito congiario
multos nianumissos insertosque civiuni numero
comperisset, negavit accepturos quibus promissum
non esset, ceterisque minus quam promiserat dedit,
3 ut destinata summa sufficeret. Magna vero quondam
sterilitate ac difficili remedio cum venalicias et
lanistarum familias peregrinosque omnes exceptis
medicis et praeceptoribus partimque servitiorum urbe
expulisset, ut tandem annona convaluit, impetum
se cepisse scribit frumentationes publicas in per-
petuum abolendi, quod earum fiducia cultura agrorum
cessaret ^ ; neque tamen perseverasse, quia certum
haberet posse per ambitionem quandoque restitui.
Atque ita posthac rem temperavit, ut non minorem
aratorum ac negotiantium quam populi rationem
deduceret.

XLIII. Spectaculorum et assiduitate et varietate
et magnificentia omnes antecessit. Fecisse se
ludos ait suo nomine quater, pro aliis magistratibus,
qui aut abessent aut non sufficerent, ter et vicies.
Fecitque nonnumquam etiam vicatim ac pluribus
scaenis j)er omnium linguarum histriones, munera ^
non in Foro modo, nee in amphitheatro, sed et in

^ cesseret, §- ; cesserat, n.

^ munera, added hy Perizonui.s; circcnsibus ludis gladitori-
isque muneribus frequentissime editis interiecit plerunique
bestiarum Africauarum veiiationes, Roth (cf. Moii. Aacyr. iv.
39 ff. and Claud, xxi. ).

^ Cf. Jul. xxxix. 1.
190

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

" I am a man of my word '* ; but when they called fot
one which had not been promised, he rebuked them
in a proclamation for their shameless impudence, and
declared that he would not give it, even though he
was intending to do so. With equal dignity and
firmness, when he had announced a distribution of
money and found that many had been manumitted
and added to the list of citizens, he declared
that those to whom no promise had been made
should receive nothing, and gave the rest less
than he had promised, to make the appointed sum
suffice. Once indeed in a time of great scarcity
when it was difficult to find a remedy, he expelled
from the city the slaves that were for sale, as well as
the schools of gladiators, all foreigners with the
exception of physicians and teachers, and a part
of the household slaves ; and when grain at last
became more plentiful, he wTites : ^^ I was strongly
inclined to do away forever with distributions of
grain, because through dependence on them agri*
culture was neglected ; but I did not carry out my
purpose, feeling sure that they would one day be
renewed through desire for popular favour." But
from that time on he regulated the practice with
no less regard for the interests of the farmers and
gi'ain -dealers than for those of the populace.

XLIII. He surpassed all his predecessors in the fre-
quency, variety, aiid magnificence of his public shows.
He says that he gave games four times in his own
name and twenty-three times for other magistrates,
who were either away from Rome or lacked means.
He gave them sometimes in all the wards and on
many stages with actors in all languages,^ and combats
of gladiators not only in the Forum or the amphi-

191

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

Circo et in Saeptis, et aliquaiido nihil praeter
venationem edidit ; athletas quoque exstructis in
campo Martio sedilibus ligneis; item navale proelium
circa Tiberim cavato solo, in quo nunc Caesarum
nemus est. Quibus diebus custodes in urbe disposuit,
ne raritate remanentium grassatoribus obnoxia esset.

2 In Circo aurigas cursoresque et confectores ferarum,
et nonnumquam ex nobilissima iuventute^ produxit.
Sed et Troiae lusum edidit frequentissime maiorum ^
minorumque puerorum^ prisci decorique moris ex-
istimans clarae stirpis indolem sic notescere. In hoc
ludicro Nonium Asprenatem lapsu debilitatuni aureo
torque donavit passusque est ipsum posterosque
Torquati ferre cognomen. Mox finem fecit talia
edendi Asinio Pollione oratore graviter invidiQseque
in curia questo Aesernini ^ nepotis sui casum^ qui et

ipse crus fregerat.

3 Ad scaenicas quoque et gladiatorias operas et equi-

tibus Romanis aliquando usus est, verum prius quarn
senatus consulto interdiceretur. Postea nihil sane
praeterquam adulescentulum Lycium^ honeste natum
exhibuit, tantum ut ostenderet^ quod erat bipedali
minor^ librarum septemdecim ac vocis immensae.

4 Quodam autem muneris die Parthorum obsides tunc

^ maiorum, ^ ; magnorum, H.

'^ Aesernini, Berocddus ; Asernini, H.

3 Lycium, m.ss. (lucium, i? ; licium, JIl^); L. Iciiun, Both.

^» Cf. Jul. xxxix. 2.
192

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

theatre, but in the Circus and in the Saepta ; some-
times, however, he gave nothing except a fight with
wild beasts. He gave athletic contests too in the
Campus Martius, erecting wooden seats ; also a sea-
fight, constructing an artificial lake near the Tiber,
where the grove of the Caesars now stands. On such
occasions he stationed guards in various parts of the
city, to prevent it from falling a prey to footpads
because of the few people who remained at home.
In the Circus he exhibited charioteers, runners, and
slayers of wild animals, who were sometimes young
men of the highest rank. Besides he gave frequent
performances of the game of Troy* by older and
younger boys, thinking it a time-honoured and worthy
custom for the flower of the nobility to become
known in this way. When Nonius Asprenas was
lamed by a fall while taking part in this game, he
presented him with a golden necklace and allowed
him and his descendants to bear the surname
Torquatus. But soon afterwards he gave up that
form of entertainment, because Asinius Pollio the
orator complained bitterly and angrily in the senate
of an accident to his grandson Aeserninus, who also
had broken his leg.

He sometimes employed even Roman knights in
scenic and gladiatorial perfoiTnances, but only before
it was forbidden by decree of the senate. After
that he exhibited no one of respectable parentage,
with the exception of a young man named Lycius,
whom he showed merely as a curiosity ; for he was
less than two feet tall, weighed but seventeen
pounds, yet Iiad a stentorian voice. He did how-
ever on the day of one of the shows make a dis-
play of the first Parthian hostages that had ever

^93

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

})rimum missos per mediam harenam ad spectaculum
induxit superque se subsellio secundo collocavit.
Solebat etiam citra spectaculorum dies, si quando
quid invisitatum dignumqiie cognitu advectum esset,
id extra ordinem quolibet loco publicare, ut rhinoce-
rotem apud Saepta, tigrim in scaena, anguem quin-
quaginta cubitorum pro Comitio.

5 Accidit votivis circensibus, ut correptus valitudine
lectica Cubans tensas deduceret ; rursus commissione
ludorum, quibus theatrum Marcelli dedicabat, evenit
ut laxatis sellae curulis compagibus caderet supinus.
Nepotum quoque suorum munere cum consternatum
ruinae metu populum retinere et confirmare nullo
modo posset, transiit e loco suo atque in ea parte
consedit, quae suspecta maxime erat.

XLIV. Spectandi confusissimum ac solutissimum
morem correxit ordinavitque, motus iniuria senatoris,
quern Puteolis per celeberrimos ludos consessu fre-
quenti nemo receperat. Facto igitur decreto patrum
ut, quotiens quid spectaculi usquam publice ederetur,
primus subselliorum ordo vacaret senatoribus, Romae
legatos liberarum sociarumque gentium vetuit in
orchestra sedere, cum quosdam etiam libertini generis
mitti de})rendisset. Militem secrevit a populo.

2 Maritis e plebe proprios ordines assignavit, praetex-
tatis cuneum suum, et proximum })aedagogis, sanxit-
que ne quis pullatorum media cavea sederet. Feminis
194

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

been sent to Rome, by leading them through the
middle of the arena and placing them in the second
row above his own seat. Furthermore, if anything
rare and worth seeing was ever brought to the city,
it was his habit to make a special exhibit of it in
any convenient place on days when no shows were
appointed. For example a rhinoceros in the Saepta,
a tiger on the stage and a snake of fifty cubits in front
of the Comitium.

It chanced that at the time of the games which
he had vowed to give in the circus, he was taken
ill and headed the sacred procession lying in a litter;
again, at the opening of the games with which he
dedicated the theatre of Marcellus, it happened that
the joints of his curule chair gave way and he fell
on his back. At the games for his grandsons, when
the people were in a panic for fear the theatre should
fall, and he could not calm them or encourage them
in any way, he left his own place and took his seat
in the part which appeared most dangerous.

XLIV. He put a stop by special regulations to the
disorderly and indiscriminate fashion of viewing the
games, through exasperation at the insult to a senator,
to whom no one offered a seat in a crowded house at
some largely attended games in Puteoli. In conse-
quence of this the senate decreed that, whenever any
public show was given anywhere, the first row of
seats should be reserved for senators ; and at Rome
he would not allow the envoys of the free and allied
nations to sit in the orchestra, since he was informed
that even freedmen were sometimes appointed. He

1 1 separated the soldiery from the people. He assigned
special seats to the married men of the commons, to
boys under age their own section and the adjoining

I one to their preceptors ; and he decreed that no one

X9S

THE LIVES OR THE CAESARS, BOOK II

ne gladiatores quidem, quos promiscue spectari sol-
lemne olim erat, nisi ex superiore loco spectare
concessit. Solis virginibus Vestalibus locum in
theatro separatim et contra praetoris tribunal dedit.
Athletarum vero spectaculo muliebre secus omne
adeo summovit, ut pontifical ibus ludis pugilum par
postulatum distulerit in insequentis diei matutinum
tempus edixeritque mulieres ante horam quintam
venire in theatrum non placere.

XLV. Ipse circenses ex amicorum fere libertorum-
que cenaculis spectabat_, interdum ex pulvinari et
quidem cum coniuge ac liberis sedens. Spectaculo
plurimas boras, aliquando totos dies aberat, petita
venia commendatisque qui suam vicem praesidendo
fungerentur. Verum quotiens adesset, nibil praeterea
age bat, seu vitandi rumoris causa, quo patrem
Caesarem vulgo reprehensum commemorabat, quod
inter spectandum epistulis libellisque legendis aut
rescribendis vacaret, seu studio spectandi ac volup-
tate, qua teneri se neque dissimulavit umquam et
saepe ingenue professus est. Itaque corollaria et
praemia in alienis quoque muneribus ac ludis et
crebra et grandia de suo ofFerebat nullique Graeco
certamini interfuit, quo non pro merito quemque

" The auditorium was divided horizontally into three parts :
ima (prima)^ media, and summa {ultima) cavea.

^ This puzzling statement is thus explained by Baum.-
Crusius: "^.e. ex aedibus proxime adjacentibus, unde pro-
spectus erat in Circum. Coenacula autem in summis aedibus
esse solebant. Idem narrat Dio 57. 11 de Tiberio: rovs rwv
'iTTTTcov ayoovas e| oiKias koX avrhs tqjv CLTreXevOepcov riphs ttoA-

^ P^dvinar was originally a sacred couch for a god. The
honour was given to Julius Caesar (see Jul. Ixxvi. 1) and the
term was later applied, as here, to the place reserved for the
emperor and his family ; cf. Claud, iv. 3.

^ That is, given at Rome in the Greek language and dress.
Or Graeco certamini may mean "a contest in Greece."

196

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

wearing a dark cloak should sit in the middle of
the house.* He would not allow women to view even
the gladiators except from the upper seats, though it
had been the custom for men and women to sit
together at such shows. Only the Vestal virgins
were assigned a place to themselves, opposite the
praetor s tribunal. As for the contests of the athletes,
lie excluded Avomen from them so strictly, that when
a contest between a pair of boxers had been called
for at the games in honour of his appointment as
pontifex maximus, he postponed it until early the
following day, making proclamation that it was his
desire that women should not come to the theatre
before the fifth hour.

XLV. He himself usually watched the games in
the Circus from the upper rooms of his friends
and freedmen,^ but sometimes from the imperial box,*'
and even in company with his wife and children.
He was sometimes absent for several hours, and now
and then for whole days, making his excuses and
appointing presiding officers to take his place. But
whenever he was present, he gave his entire atten-
tion to the performance, either to avoid the censure
to which he realized that his father Caesar had been
generally exposed, because he spent Iiis time in
reading or answ^ering letters and petitions ; or from
his interest and pleasure in the spectacle, which
he never denied but often frankly confessed. Be-
cause of this he used to offer special prizes and
numerous valuable gifts from his own purse at games
given by others, and he appeared at no contest in
the Grecian fashion ^ without making a present to
each of the participants according to his deserts.

197

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

certantium honorarit. Spectavit autem studiosissime
pugiles et maxime Latinos, non legitimes atque
ordinaries modo, quos etiam committere cum Graecis
solebat, sed et cater varios oppidanos inter angustias
vicorum pugnantis temere ac sine arte. Universum
denique genus operas aliquas publico spectaculo
praebentium etiam cura sua dignatus est ; athletis
et conservavit privilegia et ampliavit, gladiatores sine
missione edi prohibuit, coercitionem in histriones
magistratibus omni tempore et loco ^ lege vetere
permissam ademit praeterquam ludis et scaena.'^
Nee tamen eo minus aut xysticorum certationes aut
gladiatorum pugnas severissime semper exegit. Nam
histrionum licentiam adeo compescuit, ut Stepha-
nionem togatarium, cui in puerilem habitum circum-
tonsam matronam ministrasse compererat, per trina
theatra virgis caesum relegaverit, Hylan pantomi-
mum querente praetore in atrio domus suae nemine
excluso flagellis verberarit et Pyladen urbe atque
Italia summoverit, quod spectatorem, a quo exsibila-
batur, demonstrasset digito conspicuumque fecisset.

XLVL Ad hunc modum urbe urbanisque rebus
administratis Italiam duodetriginta coloniarum nu-
mero deductarum a se frequentavit operibusque ac
vectigalibus publicis plurifariam instruxit, etiam iure
ac dignatione urbi quodam modo pro parte aliqua

^ loco, early editions ; longo, H.

'^ ludis et scaena, Stephanus ; ludos et scenam, n.

^ Those of Pompey, Balbus, and Maroellus.
^ That is, his middle finger, infamis digitus ; it implied a
charge of obscenity ; cf . Galig. Ivi. 2,

198

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

He was especially given to watching boxers, particu-
larly those of Latin birth, not merely such as were
recognized and classed as professionals, whom he
was wont to match even with Greeks, but the common
untrained townspeople that fouglit rough and tumble
and without skill in the narrow streets. In fine, he
honoured with his interest all classes of performers
who took part in the public shows ; maintained the
privileges of the athletes and even increased them ;
forbade the matching of gladiators without the right
of appeal for quarter ; and deprived the magistrates
of the power allowed them by an ancient law of
punishing actors anywhere and everywhere, restrict-
ing it to the time of games and to the theatre.
Nevertheless he exacted the severest discipline in
the contests in the wrestling halls and the combats
of the gladiators. In particular he was so strict in
curbing the lawlessness of tlie actors, that when he
learned that Stephanio, an actor of Roman plays, was
waited on by a matron with hair cut short to look
like a boy, he had him whipped with rods through
the three theatres * and then banished him. Hylas,
a pantomimic actor, was publicly scourged in the
atrium of his own house, on complaint of a praetor,
and Pylades was expelled from the city and from
Italy as well, because by pointing at him with his
finger ^ he turned all eyes upon a spectator who was
hissing him.

XLVI. After having thus set the city and its
affairs in order, he added to the population of Italy
by personally establishing twenty-eight colonies ;
furnished many parts of it with public buildings and
revenues ; and even gave it, at least to some degree,
equal rights and dignity with the city of Rome, by

i99

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

adaequavit excogitato genere sufFragiorum, quae de
magistratibus urbicis decuriones colonici in sua quis-
que colonia terrent et sub die comitiorum obsignata
Romam mitterent. Ac necubi aut honestorum de-
ficeret oopia aut multitudinis suboles, equestreni
militiani petentis etiam ex conimendatione publica
cuiusque oppidi ordinabat, at iis, qui e plebe regiones
sibi revisenti filios filiasve approbarent, singula num-
morum milia pro singulis dividebat.

XL VI I. Provincias validiores et quas annuis
magistratuum imperiis regi nee facile nee tutum
erat, ipse suscepit, ceteras proconsulibus sortito
permisit ; et tamen nonnullas commutavit interdum
atque ex utroque genere plerasque saepius adiit.
(Jrbium quasdam, foederatas sed ad exitium licentia
praecipites, libertate privavit, alias aut aere alieno
laborantis levavit aut terrae motu subversas denuo
condidit aut merita erga populum R. adlegantes
Latinitate vel civitate donavit. Nee est, ut opinor,
provincia, excepta dum taxat Africa et Sardinia,
quam non adierit. In has fugato Sex. Pompeio
traicere ex Sicilia apparantem continuae et immo-
dicae tempestates inhibuerunt nee mox occasio aut
causa traiciendi fuit.

XLVIII. Regnorum quibus belli iure potitus est,
praeter pauca, aut iisdem quibus ademerat reddidit

" That is, appointed tbem to the offices of trilmnns caJnyrtiSy
praefectus alae^ and trihimus legioniSy usually open only to
knights.

* A limited citizenship, taking its name from the old Latin
cities and varying in different cases and at different times.

200

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

devising a kind of votes which the members of
the local senate were to cast in each colony for can-
didates for the city offices and send under seal to
Rome against the day of the elections. To keep up
the supply of men of rank and induce the commons to
increase and multiply, he admitted to the equestrian
military career * those who were recommended by
any town, while to those of the commons who could
lay claim to legitimate sons or daughters when he
made his rounds of the districts he distributed a
thousand sesterces for each child.

XLVII. The stronger provinces, which could 27B.a
neither easily nor safely be governed by annual
magistrates, he took to himself; the others he
assigned to proconsular governors selected by lot.
But he changed some of them at times from one
class to the other, and often visited many of both
sorts. Certain of the cities which had treaties with
Rome, but were on the road to ruin through their
lawlessness, he deprived of their independence ; he
relieved others that were overwhelmed with debt,
rebuilt some which had been destroyed by earth-
quakes, and gave Latin rights * or full citizenship
to such as could point to services rendered the
Roman people. I believe there is no province, ex-
cepting only Africa and Sardinia, which he did not
visit ; and he was planning to cross to these from
Sicily after his defeat of Sextus Pompeius, but was
prevented by a series of violent storms, and later
had neither opportunity nor occasion to make the
voyage.

XLVII I. Except in a few instances he restored
the kingdoms of which he gained possession by the
right of conquest to those from whom he had taken

20I

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

aut alienigenis contribuit. Reges socios etiam inter
semet ipsos necessitudinibus miituis iimxit, prompt-
issimiis aftinitatis cuiusque atque amicitiae conciliator
et fautor ; nee aliter universos quam membra
partisque imperii curae habuit, rectorem qiioque
solitiis apponere aetate parvis aut mente lapsis,
donee adolescerent aut resipiscerent ; ac plurimorum
liberos et educavit simul cum suis et instituit.

XLIX. Ex militaribus copiis legiones et auxilia
provinciatim distribuit, classem Miseni et alteram
Ravennae ad tutelam Superi et Inferi maris
conlocavit, ceterum numerum partim in urbis partim
in sui custodian! adlegit dimissa Calagurritanorum
manu, quam usque ad devictum Antonium, item
Germanorum, quam usque ad cladem Varianam
inter armigeros circa se habuerat. Neque tamen
umquam plures quam tres cohortes in urbe esse
passus est easque sine castris, reliquas in hiberna
et aestiva circa finitima oppida dimittere assuerat.
2 Quidquid autem ubique militum esset, ad certam
stipendiorum praemiorumque formulam adstrinxit
definitis pro gradu cuiusque et temporibus militiae
et commodis missionum, ne aut aetate aut inopia
post missionem solHcitari ad res novas possent.
Utque perpetuo ac sine difficultate sumptus ad
tuendos eos prosequendosque suppeteret, aerarium
militare cum vectigalibus novis constituit.

202

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

them or joined them with other foreign nations. He
also united the kings with whom he was in alliance
by mutual ties^ and was very ready to propose or
favour intermarriages or friend sliips among them.
He never failed to treat them all with consideration
as integral parts of the empire^ regularly appointing
a guardian for such as were too young to rule or whose
minds w ere affected^ until they grew up or recovered ;
and he brought up the children of many of them
and educated them with his own.

XLIX. Of his military forces he assigned legions
and auxiliaries to the various provinces, stationed
a fleet at Misenum and another at Ravenna, to
defend the Upper and Lower seas, and employed
the remainder partly in the defence of the city and
partly in that of his own person, disbanding a troop
of Calagurritani which had formed a part of his
body-guard until the overtlirow of Antony, and also
one of Germans, which he had retained until
the defeat of Varus. However, he never allowed
more than three cohorts to remain in the city and
even those were without a permanent camp ; the
rest he regularly sent to winter or summer quarters
in the towns near Rome. Furthermore, he restricted
all the soldiery everywhere to a fixed scale of pay
and allowances, designating the duration of their
service and the rewards on its completion according
to each man's rank, in order to keep them from
being tempted to revolution after their discharge
either by age or poverty. To have funds ready at
all times without difficulty for maintaining the
soldiers and paying the rewards due to them, he
established a military treasury, supported by new
taxes,

20^

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

3 Et quo celerius ac sub manum adnuntiari cog-
noscique posset, quid in provincia quaque gereretur,
iuvenes primo modicis intervallis per militaris vias,
dehinc vehicula disposuit. Commodius id visum
est, ut qui a loco idem perferunt litteras, interrogari
quoque, si quid res exigant, possint.

L. In diplomatibus libellisque et epistulis signandis
initio sphinge usus est, mox imagine Magni Alexan-
dri, novissime sua, Dioscuridis manu scalpta,^ qua
signare insecuti quoque principes perseverarunt.
Ad epistulas omnis horarum quoque momenta nee
diei modo sed et noctis, quibus datae significarentur,
addebat.

LI. Clementiae civilitatisque eius multa et magna
documenta sunt. Ne enumerem, quot et quos
diversarum partium venia et incolumitate donatos
principem etiam in eivitate locum tenere passus sit :
lunium Novatum et Cassium Patavinum e plebe
homines alterum pecunia, alterum levi exilio punire
satis habuit, cum ille Agrippae iuvenis nomine
asperrimam de se epistulam in vulgus edidisset, hie
convivio pleno proclamasset neque votum sibi neque

2 animum deesse confodiendi eum. Quadam vero
cognitione, cum Aemilio Aeliano Cordubensi inter
cetera crimina vel maxime obiceretur quod male
opinari de Caesare soleret, conversus ad accusatorem
commotoque similis : ^^Velim," inquit, ^Mioc mihi
^ scalpta, Ernesti ; sculpta, H.

" Diploma^ strictly any document written on a two-leaved
tablet, is used especiary of those which secured to travellers
the use of the public p )st (see chap. xlix. 3) and other privi-
leges; cf. Cic. Ad Fam. 6. 12.
204

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

To enable what was going on in each of the pro-
vinces to be reported and known more speedily and
promptly, he at first stationed young men at short
intervals along the military roads, and afterwards
post-chaises. The latter has seemed the more con-
venient arrangement, since the same men who bring
the dispatches from any place can, if occasion de-
mands, be questioned as well.

L. In passports,** dispatches, and private letters he
used as his seal at first a sphinx, later an image of
Alexander the Great, and finally his own, carved by
the hand of Dioscurides ; and this his successors con-
tinued to use as their seal. He always attached
to all letters the exact hour, not only of the day,
but even of the night, to indicate precisely when they
were written.

LI. The evidences of his clemency and modera-
tion are numerous and strong. Not to give the
full list of the men of the opposite faction whom he
not only pardoned and spared, but allowed to hold
high positions in the state, I may say that he thought
it enough to punish two plebeians, Junius Novatus
and Cassius Patavinus, with a fine and with a mild
fonn of banishment respectively, although the former
had circulated a most scathing letter about him under
the name of the young Agrippa, while the latter had
openly declared at a large dinner party that he
lacked neither the earnest desire nor the courage to
kill him. Again, when he was hearing a case against
Aemilius Aelianus of Corduba and it was made the chief
offence, amongst other charges, that he was in the
habit of expressing a bad opinion of Caesar, Augustus
turned to the accuser with assumed anger and said :
" I wish you could prove the truth of that. I'll let

205

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

probes; faciam sciat Aelianus et me linguam habere,
plura enim de eo loquar '' ; nee quicquam ultra aut
statim aut postea inquisiit. Tiberio quoque de eadem
re, sed violentius ^ apud se per epistulam conquerenti
ita rescripsit : ^' Aetati tuae, mi Tiberi, noli in hac
re indulgere et nimium indignari quemquam esse,
qui de me male loquatur ; satis est enim, si hoc
habemus ne quis nobis male facere possit."

LI I. Templa, quamvis sciret etiam {)roconsulibus
decerni solere, in nulla tamen provincia nisi communi
suo Romaeque nomine recepit. Nam in urbe quidem
pertinacissime abstinuit hoc honore ; atque etiam
argenteas statuas olim sibi positas conflavit omnis
exque iis ^ aureas cortinas Apollini Palatino dedicavit.

Dictaturam magna vi ofFerente populo genu nixus
deiecta ab umeris toga nudo pectore deprecatus est.

LI 1 1. Domini appellationem ut maledictum et
obprobrium semper exhorruit. Cum spectante eo
ludos pronuntiatum esset in mimo :

^^ O dominum aequum et bonum ! "

et universi quasi de ipso dictum exsultantes compro-
bassent, et statim manu vultuque indecoras adula-
tiones repressit et insequenti die gravissimo corripuit
edicto ; dominumque se posthac appellari ne a
liberis quidem aut nepotibus suis vel serio vel ioco

^ sed violentius, Pithoeus ; sedulo lentius, MG FY ; sedulo
violentius, XN\ sed dolentius, Bentley.

'^ exque iis, Casaiibon ; ex quiis MV (ex quis, M'^) ; the other
mas. have ex quis (ex quib., S).

« Dominits, ** master," in the time of the Republic indi-
cated the relation between master and slaves. Tiberius also
shrank from it {Tib. xxvii.), and it was first adopted by
Caligula and Domitian. From the time of Trajan it was
usual in the sense of *' Lord " or '* Sire."

206

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

Aelianus know that I have a tongue as well as he,
for I'll say even more about him ; '* and he made no
further inquiry either at the time or afterwards.
When Tiberius complained to him of the same thing
in a letter, but in more forcible language, he replied
as follows : ^' My dear Tiberius, do not be carried
away by the ardour of youth in this matter, or take
it too much to heart that anyone speak evil of me ;
we must be content if we can stop anyone from
doing evil to us."

LI I. Although well aware that it was usual to vote
temples even to proconsuls, he would not accept one
even in a province save jointly in his own name and
that of Rome. In the city itself he refused this
honour most emphatically, even melting down the
silver statues which had been set up in his honour in
former times and with the money coined from them
dedicating golden tripods to Apollo of the Palatine,

When the people did their best to force the
dictatorship upon him, he knelt down, threw off
his toga from his shoulders and with bare breast
begged them not to insist.

LIII. He always shrank from the title of Lord ® as
reproachful and insulting. When the words

^^ O just and gracious Lord ! "

were uttered in a farce at which he was a spectator
and all the people sprang to their feet and applauded
as if they were said of him, he at once checked their
unseemly flattery by look and gesture, and on the
following day sharply reproved them in an edict.
After that he would not suffer himself to be called
Sire even by his children or his grandchildren either
in jest or earnest, and he forbade them to use

207

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

passus est atque eius modi blanditias etiam inter

2 ipsos prohibuit. Non temere urbe oppidove ullo
egressus aut quoquam ingressus est nisi vespera
aut noctu, ne quern officii causa inquietaret. In
consulatu pedibus fere, extra consulatum saepe
adoperta^ sella per publicum incessit. Promiscuis
salutationibus admittebat et plebem, tanta comitate
adeuntium desideria excipiens, ut quendam ioco
corripuerit, quod sic sibi libellum porrigere dubitaret,

3 ^' quasi elephanto stipem/' Die senatus numquam
patres nisi in curia salutavit et quidem sedentis ac
nominatim singulos nuUo submonente ; etiam dis-
cedens eodem modo sedentibus valere dicebat.
Officia cum multis mutuo exercuit, nee prius dies
cuiusque sollemnes frequentare desiit, quam grandior
iam natu ^ et in turba quondam sponsaliorum die
vexatus. Galium Cerrinium senatorem minus sibi
familiarem, sed captum repente oculis et ob id inedia^
mori destinantem praesens consolando revocavit
ad vitam.

LIV. In senatu verba facienti dictum est : ^^ Non
intellexi/' et ab alio : ^*^ Contra dicerem tibi, si locum
haberem/' Interdum ob immodicas disceptantium
altercationes e curia per iram se proripienti quidam
ingesserunt licere oportere senatoribus de re p.

^ adoperta, 7nss. ; adaperta, Beroaldus (Shuckburgh).
* grandior iam natu] grandi iam ornatu, n.
2 id inedia, Bologna ed. of 1488 ; inediam, n.

"' That is, they did not make a morning call on him, as in
other days.

2o8

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

such flattering terms even among themselves. He
did not if he could help it leave or enter any city or
town except in the evening or at night, to avoid dis-
turbing anyone by the obligations of ceremony. In
his consulship he commonly went through the streets
on foot, and when he was not consul, generally in
a closed litter. His morning receptions were open
to all, including even the commons, and he met
the requests of those who approached him with great
affability, jocosely reproving one man because he
presented a petition to him with as much hesitation
^^ as he would a penny to an elephant." On the day
of a meeting of the senate he always greeted the
members in the House * and in their seats, calling
each man by name without a prompter; and when
he left the House, he used to take leave of them
in the same manner, while they remained seated.
He exchanged social calls with many, and did not
cease to attend all their anniversaries, until he was
well on in years and was once incommoded by the
crowd on the day of a betrothal. When Gallus
Cerrinius, a senator with whom he was not at all
intimate, had suddenly become blind and had there-
fore resolved to end his life by starvation, Augustus
called on him and by his consoling words induced
him to live.

LIV, As he was speaking in the senate someone
said to him : ^^ I did not understand," and another :
"I would contradict you if I had an opportunity."
Several times when he was rushing from the House
in anger at the excessive bickering of the disputants,
some shouted after him : '^ Senators ought to have
the right of speaking their mind on public affairs."
At the selection of senators when each member chose

209

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

loqui. Antistius Labeo senatus lectione, cum vir
virum ^ legeret, M. Lepidum hostem olim eius et tunc
exsulanteni legit interrogatusque ab eo an essent alii
digniores, suum quemque iudicium habere re-
spondit. Nee ideo libertas aut contumacia fraudi
cuiquam fuit.

LV. Etiam sparsos de se in curia famosos libellos
nee expavit et magna cura redarguit ac ne requisitis
quidem auctoribus id modo censuit, cognoscendum
posthac de iis, qui libellos aut carmina ad infamiam
cuiuspiam sub alieno nomine edant.

LVI. locis quoque quorundam invidiosis aut petu-
lantibus lacessitus contra dixit edicto. Et tamen
ne de inhibenda testamentorum licentia quicquam
constitueretur intercessit. Quotiens magistratuum
comitiis interesset, tribus cum candidatis suis circuibat
supplicabatque more sollemni. Ferebat et ipse
suffragium in tribu,^ ^^ unus e populo. Testem se
in iudiciis et interrogari et refelli aequissimo animo
patiebatur. Forum angustius fecit non ausus ex-
torquere possessoribus proximas domos. Numquam
filios suos populo commendavit ut non adiceret : ^^ Si
merebuntur." Eisdem praetextatis adhuc assurrectum
ab universis in theatro et a stantibus plausum
gravissime questus est. Amicos ita magnos et
potentes in civitate esse voluit, ut tamen pari iure
essent quo ceteri legibusque iudiciariis aeque teneren-

^ vir virum, Torrentius ; triumvirum, n.
2 tribu, Erasmus ; tribus, n.

" See chap. xxxv. 1.

^ The Romans in their wills often express their opinion
freely about public men and affairs ; cf. chap. Ixvi., and Cassius
Dio, 58. 25, where it is said that Fulcinius Tiro, who died in
prison, bitterly assailed Tiberius in his will.

2IO

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

another/ Antistius Labeo named Marcus Lepidus, nil
old enemy of the emperor's who was at the time in
banishment ; and when Augustus asked him whether
there were not others more deserving of the honour,
Labeo replied that every man had his own opinion.
Yet for all that no one suffered for his freedom of
speech or insolence.

LV. He did not even dread the lampoons against
him which were scattered in the senate house, but
took great pains to refute them ; and without trying
to discover the authors, he merely proposed that
thereafter such as published notes or verses defama-
tory of anyone under a false name should be called
to account,

LVI. When he was assailed with scurrilous or spite-
ful jests by certain men, he made reply in a public
proclamation ; yet he vetoed a law to check freedom
of speech in wills.^ Whenever he took part in the
election of magistrates, he went tlie round of the
tribes with his candidates and appealed for them in
the traditional manner. He also cast his own vote in
his tribe, as one of the people. When he gave
testimony in court, he was most patient in submitting
to questions and even to contradiction. He made
his forum narrower than he had planned, because he
did not venture to eject the owners of the neighbour-
ing houses. He never recommended his sons for office
without adding '^ If they be worthy of it." When
they were still under age and the audience at the
theatre rose as one man in their honour, and stood
up and applauded them, he expressed strong dis-
approval. He wished his friends to be prominent
and influential in the state, but to be bound by
the same laws as the rest and equally liable to

211

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

tur. Cum Asprenas Nonius artius ei iunetus causani
veneficii accusante Cassio Severo diceret, consuluit
senatuni, quid officii sui jnitaret ; cunctari enim se,
lie si superesset, erij)ere ^ legibus reum^ sin deesset,
destituere ac praedamnare amicuni existimaretur ;
et consentientibus universis sedit in subselliis per
aliquot floras, verum tacitus et ne laudatione quidem
iudiciali data. Affuit et elientibus, sicut Scutario
cuidam evocato quondam suo, qui postulabatur
iniuriarum. Unum omnino e reorum numero ac ne
eum quidem nisi precibus eripuit, exorato coram
iudicibus accusatore, Castricium, per quem de coniu-
ratione Murenae cognoverat.

LVn. Pro quibus meritis quanto opere dilectus sit,
facile est aestimare. Omitto senatus consulta, quia
possunt videri vel necessitate expressa vel verecundia.
Equites R. natalem eius sponte atque consensu ^ biduo
semper celebrarunt. Omnes ordines in lacum Curti
quotannis ex voto pro salute eius stipem iaciebant,
item Kal. Ian. strenam in Capitolio etiam absenti, ex
qua sumnia pretiosissima deorum simulacra mercatus
vicatim dedicabat, ut Apollinem Sandaliariuin et
lovem Tragoedum aliaque. In restitutionem Palatinae
domus incendio absumptae veterani, decuriae, tribus

^ eripere, Jimcker ; eriperet, H.
'^ consensu] concessu, n.

" The movable seats provided for the advocates, witnesses,
etc.

^ The custom of defending an accused person by a general
eulogy of his character was forbidden by Pompey in his
third consulship (Dio, 40. 52), but was nevertheless resorted
to, even by Pompey himself (Dio, 40. 55).

<^ September 22 and 23.

^ Probably of the scribes and other minor officials.

212

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

prosecution. When Nonius Asprenas, a close friend of
his, was meeting a charge of poisoning made by
Cassias Severus^ Augustus asked the senate what
they thought he ought to do ; for he hesitated, he said
for fear that if he should support him, it might be
thought tliat he was shielding a guilty man, but if he
failed to do so, that he was proving false to a friend
and prejudicing his case. Then, since all approved
of his appearing in the case, he sat on the benches *
for several hours, but in silence and without even
speaking in praise of the defendant.^ He did how-
ever defend some of his clients, for instance a certain
Scutarius, one of his former officers, who was accused
of slander. But he secured the acquittal of no more
than one single man, and then only by entreaty,
making a successful appeal to the accuser in the
presence of the jurors; this was Castricius, through
whom he had learned of Murena's conspiracy.

LVII. It may readily be imagined how much he
was beloved because of this admirable conduct. I
say nothing of decrees of the senate, which might
seem to have been dictated by necessity or by
awe. The Roman knights celebrated his birthday of
their own accord by common consent, and always for
two successive days.<^ All sorts and conditions of
men, in fulfilment of a vow for his welfare, each year
threw a small coin into the Lacus Curtius, and also
brought a New Year's gift to the Capitol on the
Kalends of January, even when he was away from
Rome. With this sum he bought and dedicated in
each of the city wards costly statues of the gods, such
as Apollo Sandaliarius, Jupiter Tragoedus, and others.
To rebuild his house on the Palatine, which had been
destroyed by fire, the veterans, the guilds,^ the tribes,

213

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

atque etiam singillatim e cetero genere hominum
libentes ac pro facultate quisque pecunias contulerunt^
delibante tantiim modo eo siimmarum acervos neque
ex quoquam plus denario auferente. Revertentem ex
provincia non solum faustis ominibus, sed et modulatis
carmlnibus prosequebantur. Observatum etiam est,
ne quotiens introiret urbem, supplicium de quoquam
sumeretur.

LVIII. Patris patriae cognomen universi repentino
maximoque consensu detulerunt ei : prima plebs
legatione Antium missa ; dein, quia non recipiebat,
ineunti Romae spectacula frequens et laureata ; mox
in curia senatus, neque decreto neque adclamatione,
2 sed per Valerium Messalam. Is mandantibus cunctis :
'^^ Quod bonum/' inquit, ^^ faustumque sit tibi domui-
que tuae, Caesar Auguste ! Sic enim nos perpetuam
felicitatem rei p. et laeta liuic precari existimamus :
senatus te consentiens cum populo R. consalutat
patriae patrem." Cui lacrimans respondit Augustus
his verbis — ipsa enim, sicut Messalae, posui — :
'^ Compos factus votorum meorum, p. c, quid habeo
aliud deos immortales })recari, quam ut hunc con-
sensum vestrum ad ultimum finem vitae mihi perferre
liceat ? "

LIX. Medico Antonio Musae, cuius opera ex
ancipiti morbo convaluerat, statuam acre conlato
iuxta signum Aesculapi statuerunt. Nonnulli patrum
familiarum testamento caverunt, ut ab heredibus suis
praelato titulo victumae in Capitolium ducerentur
214

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

and even individuals of other conditions gladly con-
tributed money, each according to his means ; but he
merely took a little from each pile as a matter of
form, not more than a denarius from any of them.
On his return from a province they received him
not only with prayers and good wishes, but with
songs. It was the rule, too, that whenever he entere/^
the city, no one should suffer punishment.

LVIII. The whole body of citizens with a sudden
unanimous impulse proffered him the title of Father
of his Country : first the commons, by a deputation
sent to Antium, and then, because he declined it^
again at Rome as he entered the theatre, which
they attended in throngs, all wearing laurel wreaths ;
the senate afterwards in the House, not by a decree
or by acclamation, but through Valerius Messala. He,
speaking for the whole body, said : ^^ Good fortune
and divine favour attend thee and thy house, Caesar
Augustus ; for thus we feel that we are praying for
lasting prosperity for our country and happiness for
our city. The senate in accord with the people of Rome
hails thee Father of thy Country/* Then Augustus
with tears in his eyes replied as follows (and I have
given his exact words, as I did those of Messala) :
^^ Having attained my highest hopes. Fathers of the
Senate, what more have I to ask of the immortal
gods than that I may retain this same unanimous
approval of yours to the very end of my life."

LIX. In honour of his physician, Antonius Musa,
through whose care he had recovered from a dangerou*
illness, a sum of money was raised and Musa's statue
set up beside that of Aesculapius. Some house-
holders provided in their wills that their heirs should
drive victims to the Capitol and pay a thank-offering

«IS

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

votumque pro se solveretur, quod superstitem
Augustum reliquissent. Quaedam Italiae civitates
diem, quo primum ad se venisset, initium anni
fecerunt. Provinciarum pleraeque super templa et
aras ludos quoque quinquennales paene oppidatim
eonstituerunt.

LX. Reges amici atque soeii et singuli in suo
quisque regno Caesareas urbes condiderunt et cuncti
simul aedem lovis Olympii Athenis antiquitus in-
cohatam perficere communi sumptu destinaverunt
Genioque eius dedicare ; ac saepe regnis relictis non
Romae modo sed et provincias peragranti cotidiana
officia togati ae sine regio insigni more clientium
praestiterunt.

LXI. Quoniam qualis in imperiis ac magistratibus
regendaque per terrarum orbem pace belloque re p.
fuerit, exposui, referam nunc interiorem ac familiarem
eius vitam quibusque moribus atque fortuna domi et
inter suos egerit a iuventa usque ad supremum vitae
diem.

Matrem amisit in primo consulatu, sororem Octa-
viam quinquagensimum et quartum agens aetatis an-
num. Utrique cum praecipua officia vivae praestitisset,
etiam defunctae honores maximos tribuit.

LXIl. Sponsam habuerat adulescens P. Servili
Isaurici filiam, sed reconciliatus post primam dis-
cordiam Antonio, expostulantibus utriusque militibus

" One's tutelary divinity, or familiar spirit, closely identified
with the person himself,

2l6

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

in their behalf, because Augustus had survived them,
and that a placard to this effect should be carried
before them. Some of the Italian cities made the
day on which he first visited them the beginning
of their year. Many of the provinces, in addition to
temples and altars, established quinquennial games
in his honour in almost every one of their towns.

LX. His friends and allies among the kings each
in his own realm founded a city called Caesarea, and
all joined in a plan to contribute the funds for
finishing the temple of Jupiter Oljrmpius, which was
begun at Athens in ancient days, and to dedicate it
to his Genius * ; and they would often leave their
kingdoms and show him the attentions usual in
dependents, clad in the toga and without the emblems
of royalty, not only at Rome, but even when he was
travelling through the provinces.

LXI. Now that I have shown how he conducted
himself in civil and military positions, and in ruling
the State in all parts of the world in peace and in war,
I shall next give an account of his private and domestic
life, describing his character and his fortune at home
and in his household from his youth until the last
day of his life.

He lost his mother during his first consulship and « b.c.
his sister Octavia in his fifty-fourth year. To both 9 B.a
he showed marked devotion during their lifetime,
and also paid them the highest honours after their
death.

LXII. In his youth he was betrothed to the
daughter of Publius Servilius Isauricus, but when he
became reconciled with Antony after their first
quarrel, and their troops begged that the rivals be
further united by some tie of kinship, he took to

217

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

ut et necessitudine aliqua iungerentur, privignam
eius Claudiam, Fulviae ex P. Clodio filiam, duxit
uxorem vixdum nubilem ac simultate cum Fulvia
socru orta dimisit intactam adliuc et virginem.

2 Mox Scriboniam in matrimonium aeeepit nuptam
ante duobus consul aribus, ex altero etiam matrem.
Cum hac quoque divortium fecit, ^^pertaesus/' ut
scribit, ^' morum perversitatem eius/* ac statim
Liviam Drusillam matrimonio Tiberi Neronis et
quidem praegnantem abduxit dilexitque et probavit
unice ac perseveranter.

LXni. Ex Scribonia luliam, ex Li via nihil liber-
orum tulit, cum maxime cuperet. Infans, qui
conceptus erat, immaturus est editus. luliam primum
Marcello Octaviae sororis suae filio tantum quod
pueritiam egresso, deinde, ut is obiit, M. Agrippae
nuptum dedit exorata sorore, ut sibi genero cederet ;
nam tunc Agrippa alteram Marcellarum habeb/it et

2 ex ea liberos. Hoc quoque defuncto, multis ac diu,
etiam ex equestri ordine, circumspectis condicionibus,
Tiberium privignum suum elegit coegitque praegnan-
tem uxorem et ex qua iam pater erat dimittere.
M. Antonius scribit primum eum Antonio filio suo
despondisse luliam, dein Cotisoni Getarum regi, quo
tempore sibi quoque in vicem filiam regis in matri-
monium petisset.

LXIV. Nepotes ex Agrippa et lulia tres habuit
C. et L. et Agrippam, neptes duas luliam et Agrip-
pinam. luliam L. Paulo censoris filio, Agrippinam

2i8

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

wife Antony's stepdaughter Claudia, daughter of 48».a
Fulvia by Publius Clodius, although she was barely
of marriageable age ; but because of a falling out
with his mother-in-law Fulvia, he divorced her before
they had begun to live together. Shortly after
that he married Scribonia, who had been wedded 40 B.a
before to two ex-consuls, and was a mother by one
of them. He divorced her also, ^'unable to put
up with her shrewish disposition," as he himself
writes, and at once took Livia Drusilla from her 38 B.a
husband Tiberius Nero, although she was with child
at the time ; and he loved and esteemed her to the
end without a rival.

LXIII. By Scribonia he had a daughter Julia, by
Livia no children at all, although he earnestly desired
issue. One baby was conceived, but was prematurely
bom. He gave Julia in marriage first to Marcellus,
son of his sister Octavia and hardly more than a
boy, and then after his death to Marcus Agrippa,
prevailing upon his sister to yield her son-in-law
to him ; for at that time Agrippa had to wife one of
the Marcellas and had children from her. When
Agrippa also died, Augustus, after considering various
alliances for a long time, even in the equestrian
order, finally chose his stepson Tiberius, obliging
him to divorce his wife, who was. with child and
by whom he was already a father. Mark Antony
writes that Augustus first betrothed his daughter to
his son Antonius and then to Cotiso, king of the
Getae, at the same time asking for the hand of the
king's daughter for himself in turn.

LXIV. From Agrippa and Julia he had three
grandsons, Gaius, Lucius, and Agrippa, and two
granddaughters, Julia and Agrippina. He married

219

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

Gemianico sororis suae nepoti eollocavit. Gaium et
L. adoptavit domi per assem et libram emptos a
patre Agrippa tenerosque adhuc ad curam rei p.
admovit et consules designates circum provineias

2 exercitusque dimisit. Filiam et neptes ita instituit,
ut etiam lanifieio assuefaeeret vetaretque loqui aut
agere quicquam nisi propalam et quod in diurnos
commentarios referretur ; extraneorum quidem coetu
adeo prohibuit, ut L. Vinicio, claro decoroque iuveni,
scripserit quondam parum modeste feeisse eum, quod

3 filiam suam Baias salutatum venisset. Nepotes et
litteras et natare^ aliaque rudimenta per se plerum-
que docuit, ac nihil aeque elaboravit quam ut imitar-
entur chirographum suum ; neque cenavit una, nisi ut
in imo lecto assiderent, neque iter fecit, nisi ut
vehiculo anteirent aut circa adequitarent.

LXV. Sed laetum eum atque fidentem et subole
et disciplina domus Fortuna destituit. lulias, filiam
et neptem, omnibus probris contaminatas relegavit ;
G. et L. in duodeviginti mensium spatio amisit
ambos, Gaio in Lycia, Lucio Massiliae defunctis.
Tertium nepotem Agrippam simulque privignum
Tiberium adoptavit in foro lege curiata ; ex quibus

^ natare, mss. ; notare, Lipsius.

^ The form of purchase consisted in thrice touching a
balance (libra) with a penny (as), in the presence of the
praetor.

'^ A record of the events of the imperial household. The
custom of keeping such a day-book apparently dated from
the time of Augustus. See Friedlander, Roman Life and
Manners (Eng. Trans.), IV. p. 56.

^ The host usually occupied the summus locus on the imus
lectus.

^^ Ancient divisions of the citizens for political purposes.
In cases of adoption the curiae were represented by thirty

2 20

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

Julia to Lucius Paulus, the censor's son, and
Agrippina to Germanicus his sister's grandson.
Gaius and Lucius he adopted at home, privately
buying them from their father by a symbolic sale,^
and initiated them into administrative life when they
were still young, sending them to the provinces and
the armies as consuls elect. In bringing up his
daughter and his granddaughters he even had them
taught spinning and weaving, and he forbade them
to say or do anything except openly and such as
might be recorded in the household diary.^ He was
most strict in keeping them from meeting strangers,
once writing to Lucius Vinicius, a young man of
good position and character : '^ You have acted
presumptuously in coming to Baiae to call on my
daughter." He taught his grandsons reading, swim-
ming, and the other elements of education, for the
most part himself, taking special pains to train them to
imitate his own handwriting ; and he never dined
in their company unless they sat beside him on the
lowest couch,<^ or made a journey unless they pre-
ceded his carriage or rode close by it on either side.
LXV. But at the height of his happiness and his
confidence in his ffimily and its training. Fortune 2 b.c.
proved fickle. He found the two Julias, his daughter ^ ®-^-
and granddaughter, guilty of every form of vice, and
banished them. He lost Gaius and Lucius within
the span of eighteen months, for the former died in 2 a.d.
Lycia and the latter at Massilia. He then publicly * ^'^'
adopted his third grandson Agrippa and at the same
time his stepson Tiberius by a bill passed in the
assembly of the cuiiae ^ ; but he soon disowned

lictors, presided over by the pontifex maxinius. This form
of adoption was usual with adults ; of. chap. Ixiv. 1.

221

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

Agrippam brevi ob ingenium sordidum ac ferox
abdicavit seposuitque Surrentum.
I Aliquanto autem patientius mortem quam dedecora
suorum tulit. Nam C. Lueique casu non adeo fractus,
de filia absens ac libello per quaestorem recitato
notum senatui fecit abstinuitque congressu hominum
diu prae pudore^ etiam de necanda deliberavit.
Certe cum sub idem tempus una ex consciis liberta
Phoebe ^ suspendio vitam finisset^ maluisse se ait

3 Phoebes ^ patrem fuisse. Relegatae usum vini
omnemque delicatiorem cultum ademit neque adiri a
quoquam libero servo ve ^ nisi se consulto permisit,
et ita ut certior fieret, qua is aetate, qua statura, quo
colore esset, etiam quibus corporis notis vel cicatrici-
bus. Post quinquennium demum ex insula in
continentem lenioribusque paulo condicionibus trans-
tulit eam. Nam ut omnino revocaret, exorari nuUo
modo potuit^ deprecanti saepe p. R. et pertinacius
instanti tales filias talesque coniuges pro contione

4 inprecatus. Ex nepte lulia post damnationem editum
infantem adgnosci alique vetuit. Agrippam nihilo
tractabiliorem^ immo in dies amentiorem^ in insulam
transportavit saepsitque insuper custodia militum.
Cavit otiam s. c. ut eodem loci in perpetuum contine-

^ Phoebe, Pulmann ; foede, CI.

- Phoebes, Pulmann ; foedes (fedes, fede), 7nss.

'■'' servove, Basle ed. of 1518, in the margin ; serv(jque, d.

^ Pandataria. ^ Planasia.

222

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

Agrippa because of his low tastes and violent temper^
and sent him off to Surrentum.

He bore the death of his kin with far more
resignation than their misconduct. For he was not
greatly broken by the fate of Gaius and Lucius^ but
he informed the senate of his daughter's fall through
a letter read in his absence by a quaestor^ and for
very shame would meet no one for a long time, and
even thought of putting her to death. At all events^
when one of her confidantes^ a freedwoman called
Phoebe^ hanged herself at about that same time^
he said: ^^I would rather have been Phoebe's father."
After Julia was banished^ he denied her the use of
wine and every form of luxury^ and would not allow
any man^ bond or free^ to come near her without his
permission^ and then not without being informed of
his stature^ complexion^ and even of any marks or
scars upon his body. -It was not until five years later
that he moved her from the island ^ to the mainland
and treated her with somewhat less rigour. But he
could not by any means be prevailed on to recall her
altogether^ and when the Roman people several
times interceded for her and urgently pressed their
suit^ he in open assembly called upon the gods to
curse them with like daughters and like wives. He
would not allow the child born to his granddaughter
Julia after her sentence to be recognized or reared.
As Agrippa grew no more manageable^ but on the
contrary became madder from day to day, he trans-
ferred him to an island ^ and set a guard of soldiers
over him besides. He also })rovided by a decree of

223

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

retur. Atqiie ad omneni et eius et luliarum men-
tioneni ingemiscens proclaniare etiani solebat :

Ai^' 6(f)€\ov aya/xos r' efxevau ayovos r airoXicrOai,

nee aliter eos appellare quam tris voniicas ae tria
carcinomata sua.

LXVI. Amicitias neque facile admisit et constantis-
sime retinuit, noii tantum virtutes ac merita cuiusque
digne prosecutus, sed vitia quoque et delicta, dum
taxat niodica, perpessus. Neque enim teniere ex
omni nuniero in amicitia eius afflicti reperientur
praeter Salvidienum ^ Rufum, quern ad consulatum
usque, et Cornelium Galium, quern ad praefecturam
Aegypti, ex infima utrumque fortuna provexerat.

2 Quorum alterum res novas molientem damnandum
senatui tradidit, alteri ob ingratum et malivolum
animum domo et provinciis suis interdixit. Sed Gallo
quoque et accusatorum denuntiationibus et senatus
consultis ad necem conpulso laudavit quidem pieta-
tem tanto opere pro se indignantium, ceterum et
inlacrimavit et vicem suam conquestus est, quod
sibi soli non liceret amieis, quatenus vellet, irasci.

3 Reliqui potentia atque opibus ad finem vitae sui ^
quisque ordinis principes floruerunt, quanquam et

^ Salvidienus] Salvidenius, n, corrected in the Basle ed. of
1533. ^ sui, c ; suae, Ci.

^ Iliad 3. 40, where the line is addressed by Hector to
Paris, with the verbs in the second person.
* See chap, xlvii. , at the beginning.
^ As well as Salvidienus.
'' That is, while a private citizen could quarrel and make

224

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

the senate that he should be confined there for all
time, and at every mention of him and of the Julias
he would sigh deeply and even cry out :

^^ Would that I ne'er had wedded and would I had
died without offspring " ; *

and he never alluded to them except as his three
boils and his three ulcers.

LXVI. He did not readily make friends, but he
clung to them with the utmost constancy, not only
suitably rewarding their virtues and deserts but
even condoning their faults, provided they were not
too great. In fact one cannot readily name any of
his numerous friends who fell into disgrace, except
Salvidienus Rufus, whom he had advanced to a con-
sul's rank, and Cornelius Gallus, whom he had raised
to the prefecture of Egypt, both from the lowest
estate. The former he handed over to the senate that
it might condemn him to death, because he was plot-
ting revolution ; the latter he forbade his house and
the privilege of residence in the imperial provinces,^
because of his ungrateful and envious spirit. But
when Gallus too *' was forced to undergo death
through the declarations of his accusers and the
decrees of the senate, though commending their
loyalty and their indignation on his account, Augus-
tus yet shed tears and bewailed his lot, because he
alone could not set what limits he chose to his anger
with his friends.^ All the rest continued to enjoy
power and wealth to the end of their lives, each
holding a leading place in his own class,* although

up with his friends, the emperor's position made his anger
fatal.

* That is to say, holding the highest place in the ordo
{senatoritiSy egrieatriSy plehtius) of which he was a member.

225

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

offensis intervenientibus. Desideravit enim non-
numquam, ne de pluribus referam, et M. Agrippae
patientiam et Maecenatis taciturnitatem^ cum ille ex
levi frigoris ^ suspicione et quod Marcellus sibi ante-
ferretur, Mytilenas se relictis omnibus contulisset,^
hie secretum de comperta Murenae coniuratione
uxori Terentiae prodidisset.

Exegit et ipse in vicem ab amicis benivolentiam
mutuam, tam a defunctis quam a vivis. Nam
quamvis minime appeteret hereditates, ut qui
numquam ex ignoti testamento capere quicquam
sustinuerit^ amicorum tamen suprema iudicia mo. o-
sissime pensitavit, neque dolore dissimulato, si parcius
aut citra honorem verborum, neque gaudio^ si grate
pieque quis se prosecutus fuisset. Legata vel partes
hereditatium a quibuscumque parentibus relicta sibi
aut statim liberis eorum concedere aut^ si pupillari
aetate essent, die virilis togae vel nuptiarum cum
incremento restituere consueverat.

LXVII. Patronus dominusque non minus severus
quam facilis et clemens multos libertorum in honore
et usu maximo habuit^ ut Licinum ^ et Celadum
aliosque. Cosmum servum gravissime de se opinantem
non ultra quam compedibus coercuit. Diomeden
dispensatorem^ a quo simul ambulante incurrenti
repente fero apro per metum obiectus est, maluit
timiditatis arguere quam noxae, remque non minimi

^ frigoris, Lipsius ; rigoris, mss,
2 et after contulisset, mss. ; omitted by Torrentius.
^ Licinum,. Torrentius; Licinium, mss.; et Celadum,
Casaubon ; en celadum, n.

" Cf. chap. Ivi. 1 and the note.
226

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

sometimes differences arose. Not to mention the
others, he occasionally found Agrippa lacking in
patience and Maecenas in the gift of silence ; for the
former because of a slight suspicion of coolness and
of a preference shewn for Marcellus, threw up every-
thing and went off to Mytilene, while the latter
betrayed to his wife Terentia the secret of the
discovery of the conspiracy of Murena.

In return he demanded of his friends affection on
their part^ both in life and after death.* For though
he was in no sense a legacy-hunter, and in fact
could never bring himself to accept anything from
the will of a stranger, yet he was highly sensitive in
weighing the death-bed utterances of his friends,
concealing neither his chagrin if he was left a nig-
gardly bequest or one unaccompanied with compli-
ments, nor his satisfaction, if he was praised in terms
of gratitude and affection. Whenever legacies or
shares in inheritances were left him by men of any
station who had offspring, he either turned them over
to the children at once, or if the latter were in their
minority, paid the money back with interest on the
day when they assumed the gown of manhood or
married.

LXVII. As patron and master he was no less strict
than gracious and merciful, while he held many
of his freedmen in high honour and close intimacy,
such as Licinus, Celadus, and others. His slave
Cosmus, who spoke of him most insultingly, he
merely put in irons. When he was walking with his
steward Diomedes, and the latter in a panic got
behind him when they were suddenly charged by a
wild boar, he preferred to tax the man with timorous-
ness rather than with anything more serious, and

227

THE LIVES OP THE CAESARS, BOOK U

periculi, quia tamen fraus aberat, in iocum vertit.
2 Idem Poluni ex acceptissimis libertis mori coegit
compertum adulterare matroiias ; Thallo a manu,
quod pro epistula prodita denarios quingentos
accepisset, crura ei fregit ; paedagogum ministrosque
C. fill, per occasionem valitudinis mortisque eius
superbe avareque in provincia grassatos, oneratis ^
gravi pondere cervicibus praecipitavit in flumen.

LXVIII. Prima iuventa variorum dedecorum in-
famiam subiit. Sextus Pompeius ut effeminatum
inseetatus est ; M. Antonius adoptionem avunculi
stupro merituin ; itein L. Marci frater, quasi pudi-
citiam delibatam a Caesare Aulo etiam Hirtio in
Hispania trecentis milibus nummum substraverit
solitusque sit crura suburere nuce ardenti, quo
mollior pilus surgeret. Sed et populus quondam
universus ludorum die et accepit in contumeliam
eius et adsensu maximo conprobavit versum in
scaena pronuntiatum de gallo Matris Deum tym-
panizante :

" Videsne, ut cinaedus orbem digito temperat? "

LXIX. Adulteria quidem exercuisse ne amici
quidem negant, excusantes sane non libidine, sed
ratione commissa, quo facilius consilia adversariorum
per cuiusque mulieres exquireret. M. Antonius
super festinatas Liviae nuptias obiecit et feminam

^ oneratis, 7^$- ; onenitos, G ; the other mss. have oneratos.

"^ A double word-play on orhem, "round drum" and
" world," and temperat, " beats" and " sways."

228

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

turned a matter of grave danger into a jest, because
after all there was no evil intent. But he forced
Polus, a favourite freedman of his, to take his own
life, because he was convicted of adultery with
Roman matrons, and broke the legs of his secretary
Thallus for taking five hundred denarii to betray
the contents of a letter. Because the tutor and
attendants of his son Gains took advantage of their
master's illness and death to commit acts of arrogance
and greed in his province, he had them thrown into
a river with heavy weights about their necks.

LXVIII. In early youth he incurred the reproach
of sundry shameless acts. Sextus Pompey taunted
him with effeminacy; Mark Antony with having
earned adoption by his uncle through unnatural
relations ; and Lucius, brother of Mark Antony, that
after sacrificing his honour to Caesar he had given
himself to Aulus Hirtius in Spain for three hundred
thousand sesterces, and that he used to singe his
legs with red-hot nutshells, to make the hair grow
softer. What is more, one day when there were
plays in the theatre, all the people took as directed
against him and loudly applauded the following line,
spoken on the stage and referring to a priest of the
Mother of the Gods, as he beat his timbrel :

" See*st how a wanton's finger sways the world ? *' *

LXIX. That he was given to adultery not even
his friends deny, although it is true that they
excuse it as committed not from passion but from
policy, the more readily to get track of his adver-
saries* designs through the women of their house-
holds. Mark Antony charged him, besides his
hasty marriage ^^ith Li via, with taking the wife

229

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

consularem e triclinio viri coram in cubiculum
abductam, rursus in convivium rubentibus auriculis
incomptiore capillo reductam ; dimissam Scriboniam,
quia liberius doluisset nimiam pQtentiam paelicis ;
condiciones quaesitas per amicos, qui matres familias
et adultas aetate virgines denudarent atque per-
spicerent, tamquam Toranio mangone vendente.
Scribit etiam ad ipsum haec familiariter adhuc
necdum plane inimicus aut hostis : ^' Quid te mutavit ?
Quod reginam ineo ? Uxor mea est. Nunc coepi
an abhinc annos novem ? Tu deinde solam Drusillam
inis ? Ita valeas, uti tu^ banc epistulam cum leges,
non inieris Tertullam aut Terentillam aut Rufillam
aut Salviam Titiseniam aut omnes. An refert, ubi
et in qua arrigas ? *'

' LXX. Cena quoque eius secretior in fabulis fuit,
quae vulgo SwSe/ca^eos vocabatur ; in qua deorum
dearumque habitu discubuisse convivas et ipsum
pro Apolline ornatum non Antoni modo epistulae
singulorum nomina amarissime enumerantis ex-
probrant, sed et sine auctore notissimi versus ;

a^^ Cum primum istorum conduxit mensa choragum,
Sexque deos vidit Mallia sexque deas,

Impia dum Phoebi Caesar mendacia ludit,
Dum nova divorum cenat adulteria :

Omnia se a terris tunc numina declinarunt,
Fugit et auratos luppiter ipse thronos/*

*» Probably referring to Livia.

* The choragus at Athens had charge of the costuming and
stage setting of plays. Hence the meaning is here " when
they had found someone to make them up."

^ According to some, the choragus ; others regard it as the
name of a place.

230

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

of an ex-consul from her husband's dining room
before his very eyes into a bed-chamber^ and
bringing her back to the table with her hair
in disorder and her ears glowing ; that Scribonia
was divorced because she expressed her resentment
too freely at the excessive influence of a rival ;^
that his friends acted as his panders^ and stripped
and inspected matrons and well-grown girls, as
if Toranius the slave-dealer were putting them up
for sale. Antony also whites to Augustus himself
in the following familiar terms, when he had not
yet wholly broken vrith him privately or publicly :
^^ What has made such a change in you ? Because
I lie with the queen ? She is my wife. Am I just
beginning this, or was it nine years ago ? What
then of you — do you lie only with Drusilla ? Good
luck to you if when you read this letter you have
not been with Tertulla or Terentilla or Rufilla
or Salvia Titisenia, or all of them. Does it matter
where or with whom you take your pleasure ? "

LXX. There was besides a private dinner of his,
commonly called that of the "twelve gods," which was
the subject of gossip. At this the guests appeared
in the guise of gods and goddesses, while he himself
was made up to represent Apollo, as was charged
not merely in letters of Antony, who spitefully
gives the names of all the guests, but also in these
anonymous lines, which everyone knows :

"As soon as that table of rascals had secured a
choragus^ and Mallia*' saw six gods and six goddesses,
while Caesar impiously plays the false r6l€ of Apollo
and feasts amid novel debaucheries of the gods; then
ail the deities turned their faces from the earth and
Jupiter himself fled from his golden throne."

231

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

Auxit cenae rumorem summa tunc in civitate
penuria ac fames,, adclamatnmque est postridie :
Omne frumentum deos comedisse et Caesarem
esse plane Apollinem, sed Tortorem, quo cognomine
is deus quadam in parte urbis colebatur. Notatus
est et ut pretiosae supellectilis Corinthiorumque
praecupidus et aleae indulgens; Nam et proscriptionis
tempore ad statuam eius aseriptum est :

^^ Pater argentarius, ego Corinthiarius/'

cum existimaretur quosdam propter vasa Corinthia
inter proscriptos curasse referendos ; et deinde bello
Siciliensi epigramma vulgatum est :

^^ Postquam bis classe victus naves perdidit,
Aliquando ut vincat, ludit assidue aleam.'*

LXXI. Ex quibus sive criminibus sive maledictis
infamiam impudicitiae facillime refutavit et praesentis
et posterae vitae castitate ; item lautitiarum invidiam,
cum et Alexandria capta nihil sibi praeter unum
murrinum calicem ex instrumento regio retinuerit
et mox vasa aurea assiduissimi usus conflaverit
omnia. Circa libidines haesit, postea quoque, ut
ferunt, ad vitiandas virgines promptior, quae sibi
undique etiam ab uxore conquirerentur. Aleae

" Corinthiarius : coined in jest on the analogy of argenta-
rius; used in inscr. of slaves in charge of the vasa Corinthia,

^ Cf. chap. xli. 1.
232

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

The scandal of this banquet was the greater because
of dearth and famine in the land at tlie time,
and on the following day there was an outcry
that the gods had eaten all the grain and that
Caesar was in truth Apollo, but Apollo the
Tormentor, a surname under which the god was
worshipped in one part of the city. He was
criticized too as over fond of costly furniture
and Corinthian bronzes and as given to gaming.
Indeed, as early as the time of the proscriptions
there was written on his statue —

^' In silver once my father dealt, now in Corin-
thians« I,"
since it was believed that he caused some men to be
entered in the list of the proscribed because of
their Corinthian vases. Later, during the Sicilian
war, this epigram was current :

^^ After he has twice been beaten at sea and lost
his ships, he plays at dice all the time, in the hope
of winning one victory.'*

LXXI. Of these charges or slanders (whichever
we may call them) he easily refuted that for
unnatural vice by the purity of his life at the time
and afterwards ; so too the odium of extravagance
by the fact that when he took Alexandria, he
kept none of the furniture of the palace for himself^
except a single agate cup, and presently melted
down all the golden vessels intended for everyday
use. He could not dispose of the charge of
lustfulness and they say that even in his later
years he was fond of deflowering maidens, who
were brought together for him from all quarters,
even by his own wife. He did not in the least

233

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

rumorem nullo modo expavit lusitque simpliciter
et palam oblectamenti causa etiam senex ac praeter-
quam Decembri mense aliis quoque festis et profestis

2 diebus. Nee id dubium est. Autographa quadam
epistula : ^^ Cenavi/* ait, ^^ mi Tiberi, cum iisdem ;
accesserunt convivae Vinicius et Silius pater. Inter
cenam lusiraius geronticos et heri et hodie ; talis
enim iactatis, ut quisque canem aut senionem
miserat, in singulos talos singulos denarios in
medium conferebat, quos tollebat universes, qui

3 Venerem iecerat." Et rursus aliis litteris : ^^ Nos,
mi Tiberi, Quinquatrus satis iucunde egimus ;
lusimus enim per omnis dies forumque aleatorum ^
calfecimus. Frater tuus magnis clamoribus rem
gessit ; ad summam tamen perdidit non multum,
sed ex magnis detrimentis praeter spem paulatim
retractum est. Ego perdidi viginti milia nummum
meo nomine, sed cum effuse in lusu liberalis fuissem,
ut soleo plerumque. Nam si quas manus remisi
cuique exegissem aut retinuissem quod cuique
donavi, vicissem vel quinquaginta milia. Sed hoc
malo ; benignitas enim mea me ad caelestem

4 gloriam efFeret." Scribit ad filiam : ^^ Misi tibi
denarios ducentos quinquaginta, quos singulis con-
vivis dederam, si vellent inter se inter cenam vel
talis vel par impar ludere."

LXXII. In ceteris partibus vitae continentissimum
constat ac sine suspicione ullius vitii. Habitavit

^ aleatorum, mss. ; aleatorium, Venice ed, of 14^0^ and the
editors generally.

« When the freedom of the Saturnalia justified it.
* When only aces appeared, the throw was called canis ;
when all the dice turned up different numbers, Venus.
«^ The ** five-day " festival of Minerva, March 20-25.

234

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

shrink from a reputation for gaming, and played
frankly and openly for recreation^ even when he
was well on in years, not only in the month of
December, ** but on other holidays as well, and on
working days too. There is no question about
this, for in a letter in his own handwriting he
says : ^^ I dined, dear Tiberius, with the same
company ; we had besides as guests Vinicius and
the elder Silius. We gambled like old men during
the meal both yesterday and to-day ; for when
the dice were thrown, whoever turned up the ^ dog * *
or the six, put a denarius in the pool for each one
of the dice, and the whole was taken by anyone
who threw the ^ Venus/ '* Again in another letter :
^^ We spent the Quinquatria ^ very merrily, my dear
Tiberius, for we played all day long and kept
the gaming-board warm. Your brother made a
great outcry about his luck, but after all did not
come out far behind in the long run ; for after
losing heavily, he unexpectedly and little by little
got back a good deal. For my part, I lost twenty
thousand sesterces, but because I was extravagantly
generous in my play, as usual. If I had demanded
of everyone the stakes which I let go, or had
kept all that I gave away, I should have won
fully fifty thousand. But I like that better, for
my generosity will exalt me to immortal glory.**
To his daughter he writes : " 1 send you two
hundred and fifty denarii, the sum which I gave
each of my guests, in case they wished to play
at dice or at odd and even during the dinner."

LXXII. In the other details of his life it is generally
agreed that he was most temperate and without
even the suspicion of any fault. He lived at first

235

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

primo iuxta Romanum Forum supra Scalas anularias,
in domo quae Calvi oratoris fuerat ; postea in
Palatio, sed nihilo minus aedibus modicis Horten-
sianis, et neque laxitate neque cultu conspicuis,
ut in quibus porticus breves essent Albanarum
columnarum et sine marmore ullo aut insigni
pavimento conclavia. Ac per annos amplius quad-
raginta eodem cubiculo hieme et aestate mansit,
quamvis parum salubrem valitudini suae urbem
hieme experiretur assidueque in urbe hiemaret.
Si quando quid secreto aut sine interpellatione
agere proposuisset^, erat illi locus in edito singularis,
quem Syracusas et technyphion ^ vocabat ; hue
transibat aut in ahcuius libertorum suburbanum ;
aeger autem in domo Maecenatis cubabat. Ex
secessibus praecipue frequentavit maritima insulasque
Campaniae aut proxima urbi opf)ida, Lanuvium,
Praeneste, Tibur, ubi etiam in porticibus HercuHs
templi persaepe ius dixit. Ampla et operosa praetoria
gravabatur. Et neptis quidem suae luliae, profuse ab
ea exstructa^ etiam diruit ad solum, sua vero quamvis
modica non tam statuarum tabularumque pictarum
ornatu quam xystis et nemoribus excoluit rebusque
vetustate ac raritate notabilibus, qualia sunt Capreis
immanium beluarum ferarumque membra praegrandia,
quae dicuntur gigantum ossa, et arma heroum.

LXXni. Instrumenti eius et supellectilis parsi-
monia apparet etiam nunc residuis lectis atque
^ technyphion {rexj^vcpioy)^ Bentley ; tegnophion, H.

^ Commonly called peperino, a hard grey volcanic stone with
black nodules resembling peppercorns. * Cf. chap. Ixxxii. 1.

^ With reference to the study of Archimedes, or perhaps
to the general use of such elevated rooms in Syracuse.

^ ** Little workshop " ; a diminutive from tc^»'^.

236

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

near the Foium Romanum, above the Stairs of the
Kingmakers, in a house which had belonged to the
orator Calvus ; afterwards, on the Palatine, but in
the no less modest dwelling of Hortensius, which
was remarkable neither for size nor elegance, having
but short colonnades with columns of Alban stone ,^
and rooms without any marble decorations or hand-
some pavements. For more than forty years too he
used the same bedroom in winter and summer ;*
although he found the city unfavourable to his
health in the winter, yet continued to winter there.
If ever he planned to do anything in private or
without interruption, he had a retired place at the
top of the house, which he called ^' Syracuse " ^ and
^' technypliion/* ^ In this he used to take refuge, or
else in the villa of one of his freedmen in the
suburbs ; but whenever he was not well, he slept
at Maecenas's house. For retirement he went most
frequently to places by the sea and the islands of
Campania, or to the towns near Rome, such as
Lanuvium, Praeneste or Tibur, where he very often
held court in the colonnades of the Temple of
Hercules. He disliked large and sumptuous country
palaces, actually razing to the ground one which his
granddaughter Julia built on a lavish scale. His own
villas, which were modest enough, he decorated not
so much with handsome statues and pictures as with
terraces, groves, and objects noteworthy for their
antiquity and rarity ; for example, at Capreae the
monstrous bones of huge sea monsters and wild
beasts, called the ^^ bones of the giants," and the
weapons of the heroes.

LXXIII. The simplicity of his furniture and house-
hold goods may be seen from couches and tables still in

237

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

mensis, quorum ^ pleraque vix ))rivatae elegantiae
sint. Ne toro quidem cubuisse aiunt nisi huinili
et niodice instrato. Veste non temere alia quam
domestica usus est, ab sorore et uxore et filia
neptibusque confecta ; togis neque restrictis neque
fusis, clavo nee lato nee angusto, calciamentis altius-
culis, ut procerior quam erat videretur. Et forensia
autem et calceos numquam non intra cubieulum
habuit ad subitos repentinosque casus parata.

LXXIV. Convivabatur assidue nee umquam nisi
recta, non sine magno ordinum hominumque dilectu.
Valerius Messala tradit, neminem umquam liber-
tinorum adhibitum ab eo cenae excepto Mena, sed
asserto in ingenuitatem post proditam Sexti Pompei
classem. Ipse scribit, invitasse se quondam/-^ in
cuius villa maneret, qui speculator suus olim fuisset.
Convivia nonnumquam et serius inibat et maturius
relinquebat, cum convivae et cenare inciperent,
prius quam ille discumberet, et permanerent digresso
eo. Cenam ternis ferculis aut cum abundantissime
senis praebebat, ut non riimio sumptu, ita summa
comitate. Nam et ad communionem sermonis
tacentis vel summissim fabulantis provocabat, et
aut acroamata ^ et histriones aut etiam triviales ex
circo ludios ^ interponebat ac frequentius aretalogos.

^ quorum, Sahellicus ; quarum, CI.

2 quondam] quendam XuR.

' acroamata, Sahellicus ; acromata, mss. (cromata, M^).

^ ludios, Beroaldus ; ludos, mss.

^ Opposed to vestis for ensis or forensia {vestimenta) ; cf. Vit.
viii. 1.

* The cena recta was a regular dinner, at which the guests
reclined on couches at a table, contrasted with sportula, an in-
formal meal [Claud, xxi. 4) or a distribution of food. See Fried-
lander, Roman Life and Manners (Eng. trans.), IV. pp. 77 ff.

238

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

existence, many of which are scarcely fine enough
for a private citizen. They say that he always slept
on a low and plainly furnished bed. Except on
special occasions he wore common clothes for the
house/ made by his sister, wife, daughter or grand-
daughters ; his togas were neither close nor full, his
purple stripe neither narrow nor broad, and his shoes
somewhat high-soled, to make him look taller than
he really was. But he always kept shoes and
clothing to wear in public ready in his room for
sudden and unexpected occasions.

LXXIV. He gave dinner parties constantly and
always formally,* with great regard to the rank and
personality of his guests. Valerius Messala writes
that he never invited a freedman to dinner with the
exception of Menas, and then only when he had
been enrolled among the freeborn after betraying the
-fleet of Sextus Pompey. Augustus himself writes that
he once entertained a man at whose villa he used to
stop,^ who had been one of his bod3^-guard. He would
sometimes come to table late on these occasions and
leave early, allowing his guests to begin to dine
before he took his place and keep their places after
he went out. He served a dinner of three courses or
of six when he was most lavish, without needless
extravagance but with the greatest goodfellowship.
For he drew into tlie general conversation those
who were silent or chatted under their breath, and
introduced music and actors, or even strolling players
from the circus, and especially story-tellers.^

• See chap. Ixxii. 2.

** Tellers of marvellous tales ; cf. Jiiv. 15. 16, and Mayor
ad loc. Doubtless the same as the fahulatortSy Ixxviii. 2,
'below.

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

LXXV. Festos et sollemnes dies profusissime,
nonnumquam taritum ioculariter celebrabat. Saturn-
alibus, et si quando alias libuisset, modo munera
dividebat^ vestem et aurum et argentum, modo
numinos onmis notae, etiam veteres regios ac
peregrinos, interdum nihil praeter cilicia et spongias
et rutabula et forpices atque alia id genus titulis
obscuris et ambiguis. Solebat et inaequalissimarum
rerum sortes et aversas tabularum picturas in
convivio venditare incertoque casu spem mercantium
vel frustrari vel explere, ita ut per singulos lectos
licitatio fieret. et seu iactura seu lucrum communi-
caretur.

LXXVI. Cibi — nam ne haec quidem omiserim
— minimi erat atque vulgaris fere. Secundarium
panem et pisciculos minutos et caseum bibulum ^
manu pressum et ficos virides biferas maxime
appetebat ; vescebaturque et ante cenam quocumque
tempore et loco, quo stomachus desiderasset. Verba
ipsius ex epistulis sunt : ^*^ Nos in essedo panem et
2 palmulas gustavimus." Et iterum : ^^ Dum lectica
ex regia domum redeo, panis unciam cum paucis
acinis uvae duracinae comedi." Et rursus : ^^ Ne
ludaeus quidem, mi Tiberi, tam diligenter sabbatis
ieiunium servat quam ego hodie servavi, qui in balineo
demum post horam primam noctis duas buccas
manducavi prius quam ungui inciperem." Ex hac
inobservantia nonnumquam vel ante initum vel

^ bibulum, n ; bubulum, $- and the editors.

" See chap. xxxi. 5 ; some think that the reference is to
the Regia in the Forum.

^ That is, grapes suited for eating and not for making
wine ; cf. Mart. 13. 22 ; Colum. 3. 2.

240

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

LXXV. Festivals and holidays he celebrated lavishly
as a rule, but sometimes only in a spirit of fun. On
the Saturnalia, and at any other time when he took
it into his head, he would now give gifts of clothing
or gold and silver ; again coins of every device,
including old pieces of the kings and foreign money ;
another time nothing but hair cloth, sponges, pokers
and tongs, and other such things under misleading
names of double meaning. He used also at a dinner
party to put up for auction lottery- tickets for articles
of most unequal value, and paintings of which only
the back was shown, thus by the caprice of fortune
disappointing or filling to the full the expectations of
the purchasers, requiring however that all the guests
should take part in the bidding and share the loss or
gain.

LXXVI. He was a light eater (for I would not omit
ev^en this detail) and as a rule ate of plain food. Fie
particularly liked coarse bread, small fishes, hand-
made moist cheese, and green figs of the second
crop ; and he would eat even before dinner, wherever
and whenever he felt hungry. I quote word for
word from some of his letters ; '^ I ate a little bread
and some dates in my carriage." And again : ^^ As
I was on my homeward way from the Regia** in my
litter, 1 devoured an ounce of bread and a few berries
from a cluster of hard-fleshed grapes." ^ Once more :
" Not even a Jew, my dear Tiberius, fasts so scru-
pulously on his sabbaths as I have to-day ; for it was
not until after the first hour of the night that I ate
two mouthfuls of bread in the bath before I began
to be anointed." Because of this irregularity he
sometimes ate alone either before a dimier party

24.l^

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

post dimissum convivium solus cenitabat, cum pleiio
convivio nihil tangeret.

LXXVn. Vini quoque natura parcissimus erat.
Non amplius ter bibere eum solitum super cenam
in castris apud Mutinam, Cornelius Nepos tradit.
Postea quotiens largissime se invitaret, senos sex-
tantes non exeessit, aut si excessisset, reiciebat.
Et maxime delectatus est Raetico neque temere
interdiu bibit. Pro potione sumebat perfusum aqua
frigida panem aut cucumeris frustum vel lactuculae
thyrsum aut recens aridumve pomum suci vinosioris.

LXXVin. Post cibum meridianum, ita ut vestitus
ealciatusque erat, retectis pedibus paulisper con-
quiescebat opposita ad oculos manu. A cena in
lecticulam se lucubratoriam recipiebat ; ibi, donee
residua diurni actus aut omnia aut ex maxima parte
conficeret, ad multam noctem permanebat. In
lectum inde transgressus non amplius cum plurimum
quam septem horas dormiebat, ac ne eas quidem
continuas, sed ut in illo temporis spatio ter aut
quater expergisceretur. Si interruptum somnum
reciperare, ut evenit, non posset, lectoribus aut
fabulatoribus arcessitis resumebat producebatque ultra
primam saepe lucem. Nee in tenebris vigilavit
umquam nisi assidente aliquo. Matutina vigilia
offendebatur ; ac si vel officii vel sacri causa maturius
vigilandum esset, ne id contra commodum faceret,
in proximo cuiuscumque domesticorum cenaculo
manebat. Sic quoque saepe indigens somni, et dum

* Like an acid wine.

* That is, without a blanket over his feet, because he had
his shoes on.

^ Lucubratoriam^ **for working by lamp-light."
242

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

began or after it was over, touching nothing while it
was in progress.

LXXVII. He was by nature most sparing also in
his use of wine. Cornelius Nepos writes that in
camp before Mutina it was his habit to drink not
more than three times at dinner. Afterwards, when
he indulged most freely he never exceeded a pint ;
or if he did, he used to throw it up. He liked
Raetian wine best, but rarely drank before dinner.
Instead he would take a bit of bread soaked in cold
water, a slice of cucumber, a sprig of young lettuce,
or an apple with a tart flavour," either fresh or dried.

LXXVIIl. After his midday meal he used to rest for
a while just as he was, without taking off his clothes
or his shoes, with his feet uncovered^ and his hand to
his eyes. After dinner he went to a couch in his
study ,*' where he remained to late at night, until he
had attended to what was left of the day*s business,
either wholly or in great part. Then he went to
bed and slept not more than seven hours at most,
and not even that length of time without a break,
but waking three or four times. If he could not
resume his sleep when it was interrupted, as would
happen, he sent for readers or story-tellers, and when
sleep came to him he often prolonged it until after
daylight. He would never lie awake in the dark
without having someone sit by his side. He detested
early rising and when he had to get up earlier than
usual because of some official or religious duty, to
avoid inconveniencing himself he spent the night in
the room of one of his friends near the appointed
place. Even so, he often suffered from want of
sleep, and he would drop off while he was being

243

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

per vicos deportaretur et deposita lectica inter aliquas
moras condormiebat.

LXXIX. Forma fuit eximia et per omnes aetatis
gradus venustissima, quamquam et omnis lenocinii
neglegens ; in capite comendo tam ineuriosus, ut
raptim compluribus simul tonsoribus operam daret
ac modo tonderet modo raderet barbam eoque ipso
tempore aut legeret aliquid aut etiam scriberet. Vultu
erat vel in sermone vel tacitus adeo tranquillo
serenoque, ut quidam e primoribus Galliarum con-
fessus sit inter suos, eo se inhibitum ac remollitum
quo minus, ut destinarat, in transitu Alpium per
simulationem conloquii propius admissus in prae-
cipitium propelleret, Oculos habuit claros ac nitidos,
quibus etiam existimari volebat inesse quiddam divini
vigoris, gaudebatque, si qui sibi acrius contuenti
quasi ad fulgorem solis vultum summitteret ; sed in
senecta sinistro minus vidit ; dentes raros et exiguos
et scabros ; capillum leviter inflexum et subflavum ;
supercilia coniuncta ; mediocres aures ; nasum et a
summo eminentiorem et ab imo deduetiorem ; colorem
inter aquilum candidumque ; staturam brevem —
quam tamen lulius Marathus libertus et a miemoria ^
eius quinque pedum et dodrantis fuisse tradit, — sed
quae commoditate et aequitate membrorum occulere-

^ et a memoria, Lipsius ; etiam memoriam, etiam in
memoriam, mss.

" The so-called " Roman nose."

^ Roman measure ; a little less than five feet seven inches
(5-58) English.

244

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

carried through the streets and when his litter was
set down because of some delay.

LXXIX. He was unusually handsome and ex-
ceedingly graceful at all periods of his life^ though
he cared nothing for personal adornment. He was
so far from being particular about the dressing of his
hair, that he would have several barbers working in a
hurry at the same time, and as for his beard he now
had it clipped and now shaved, w^hile at the very same
time he would either be reading or writing something.
His expression, whether in conversation or when
he was silent, was so calm and mild, that one of
the leading men of the Gallic provinces admitted
to his countrymen that it had softened his heart,
and kept him from carrying out his design of pushing
the emperor over a cliff, when he had been allowed
to approach him under the pretence of a conference,
as he was crossing the Alps. He had clear, bright
eyes, in which he liked to have it thought that
there w^as a kind of divine power, and it greatly
pleased him, whenever he looked keenly at anyone,
if he let his face fall as if before the radiance of the
sun ; but in his old age he could not see very well
with his left eye. His teeth were wide apart, small,
and ill-kept ; his hair was slightly curly and inclining
to golden ; his eyebrows met. His ears were of
moderate size, and his nose projected a little at the
top and then bent slightly inward.^ His complexion
was between dark and fair. He was short of stature
(although Julius Marathus, his freedman and keeper
of his records, says that he was five feet and nine
inches in height^), but this was concealed by the
fine proportion and symmetry of his figure, and was

245

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

tur, ut non nisi ex comparatione astantis alicuius
procerioris intellegi posset.

LXXX. Corpore traditur maculoso dispersis per
pectus atque alvum genetivis notis in nioduni et
ordinem ac numerum stellarum caelestis ursae, sed
et callis quibusdam ex prurigine corporis adsiduoque
et vehenienti strigilis usu plurifariam concretis ad
impetiginis formam. Coxendice ^ et femore et crure
sinistro non perinde valebat, ut saepe etiam in-
claudicaret ; sed remedio harenarum atque harundi-
num confirmabatur. Dextrae quoque manus digitum
salutareni tarn imbecillum interdum sentiebat, ut
torpentem contractumque frigore vix cornei circuli
supplemento scripturae admoveret. Questus est et de
vesica, cuius dolore calculis demum per urinam eiectis
levabatur.

LXXXI. Graves et periculosas valitudines per
omnem vitam aliquot expertus est ; praecipue
Cantabria domita, cum etiam destillationibus iocinere
vitiato ad desperationem redactus contrariam et an-
cipitem rationem medendi necessario subiit ; quia
calida fomenta non proderant, frigidis curari coactus
auctore Antonio Musa.

Quasdam et anniversarias ac tempore certo recur-
rentes experiebatur ; nam sub natalem suum plerum-
que languebat ; et initio veris praecordiorum inflatione
temptabatur, austrinis autem tempestatibus gravedine.
Quare quassato corpore neque frigora neque aestus
facile tolerabat.

^ coxendice] coxaindice, H ; corrected in the fifteenth century.

*» Ursa major, Charles's Wain, the Great Dipper.
* Apparently a form of poultice ; some read hahenarum
and explain as a kind of truss. ^ Cf. Hor. Epist, 1. 15. 2-3.

246

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

noticeable only by comparison with some taller person
standing beside him.

LXXX. It is said that his body was covered with
spots and that he had birthmarks scattered over his
breast and belly, coiTCsponding in form^ order and
number with the stars of the Bear in the heavens ;^
also numerous callous places resembling ringworm,
caused by a constant itching of his body and a
vigorous use of the strigil. He was not very strong
in his left hip, thigh, and leg, and even limped
slightly at times ; but he strengthened them by
treatment with sand and reeds.^ He sometimes found
the forefinger of his right hand so weak, when it was
numb and shrunken with the cold, that he could
hardly use it for writing even with the aid of a
finger-stall of horn. He complained of his bladder
too, and was relieved of the pain only after passing
stones in his urine.

LXXXI. In the course of his life he suffered from
several severe and dangerous illnesses, especially
after the subjugation of Cantabria, when he was in 28B.a
such a desperate plight from abscesses of the liver^
that he was forced to submit to an unprecedented and
hazardous course of treatment. Since hot fomenta-
tions gave him no relief, he was led by the advice
of his physician Antonius Musa to try cold ones.*

He experienced also some disorders which recurred
every year at definite times ; for he was commonly
ailing just before his birthday ; and at the beginning
of spring he was troubled with an enlargement of
the diaphragm, and when the wind was in the
south, with catarrh. Hence his constitution was so
weakened that he could not readily endure either
cold or heat

«47

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

LXXXII. Hieme quaternis cum pingui toga tunicis
et subucula et thorace ^ laneo et feminalibus et
tibialibus muniebatur, aestate apertis cubiculi foribus
ac saepe in peristyle saliente aqua atque etiam venti-
lante aliquo cubabat. Solis vero ne hiberni quidem
patiens, domi quoque non nisi petasatus sub divo
spatiabatur. Itinera lectica et noctibus fere eaque
lenta ac minuta faciebat, ut Praeneste vel Tibur
biduo procederet ; ac si quo pervenire mari posset,
potius navigabat. Verum tantam infirmitatem magna
cura tuebatur, in primis lavandi raritate ; unguebatur
enim saepius aut sudabat ad flammam, deinde per-
fundebatur egelida aqua vel sole multo tepefacta.
At quotiens nervorum causa marinis Albulisque calidis
utendum esset, contentus hoc erat ut insidens ligneo
solio, quod ipse Hispanico verbo duretam vocabat,
manus ac pedes alternis iactaret.

LXXXII I. Exercitationes campestres equorum et
armorum statim post civilia bella omisit et ad pilam
primo folliculumque transiit, mox nihil aliud quam
vectabatur et deambulabat, ita ut in extremis spatiis
subsultim decurreret segestria ^ vel lodicula involu-
tus. Animi laxandi causa modo piscabatur hamo,
modo talis aut ocellatis nucibusque ludebat cum

1 subucula et thorace, Beroaldu^ ; subuculaethorace, Ci.
^ segestria, Roth (segestro, Cuiacius) ; sestertio, mss.

** Cf. chap. Ixxii. 1, note h.

^ Alhulae aquae were the sulphur springs which flow into
the Anio between Rome and Tivoli (Tibur).

^ The pila was a small hard ball. Three players stood at
the three points of a triangle (whence the game was called
irigoji) and passed the ball from one to the other. A skilful
player used his left hand as well as his right,

248

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

LXXXII. In winter he protected himself with
four tunics and a heavy toga, besides an undershirt,
a woollen chest-protector and wraps for his thighs
and shins, while in summer he slept with the doors
of his bed-room open, oftentimes in the open court
near a fountain, besides having someone to fan him.*
Yet he could not endure the sun even in winter, and
never walked in the open air without wearing a
broad-brimmed hat, even at home. He travelled in
a litter, usually at night, and by such slow and easy
stages that he took two days to go to Praeneste or
Tibur ; and if he could reach his destination by sea,,
he preferred to sail. Yet in spite of all he made good
his weakness by great care, especially by moderation
in bathing ; for as a rule he was anointed or took a
sweat by a fire, after which he was doused with
water either lukewarm or tepid from long exposure
to the sun. When however he had to use hot sal t water
and sulphur baths* for rheumatism, he contented
himself with sitting on a wooden bath-seat, which he
called by the Spanish name dureta, and plunging his
hands and feet in the water one after the other.

LXXXII I. Immediately after the civil war he
gave up exercise with horses and arms in the Campus
Martius, at first turning to pass-ball*' and balloon-
ball,^ but soon confining himself to riding or taking
a walk, ending the latter by running and leaping,
wrapped in a mantle or a blanket. To divert his
mind he sometimes angled and sometimes played at
dice, marbles and nuts* with little boys, searching

** The folliculus was a large light ball. The players wore
a guard on the right arm, with which they struck the ball,
as in the Italian gioco del pallone,

• Many games were played with nuts ; of. Hor. Serm. 2,

3. 171, Mart. 6. 84, etc.

249

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

pueris minutis, quos facie et garrulitate amabilis
undique conquirebat, praecipue Mauros et Syros.
Nam pumilos atque distortos et omnis generis
eiusdem ut ludibria naturae malique ominis abhor-
rebat.

LXXXIV. Eloquentiam studiaque liberalia ab
aetate prima et cupide et laboriosissime exercuit,
Mutinensi bello in tanta mole rerum et legisse et
scripsisse et declamasse cotidie traditur. Nam
deinceps neque in senatu neque apud populum neque
apud milites locutus est umquam nisi meditata et
composita oratione, quamvis non deficeretur ad subita
extemporali facultate. Ac ne periculum memoriae
adiret aut in ediscendo tempus absumeret/ instituit
recitare omnia. Sermones quoque cum singulis atque
etiam cum Li via sua graviores non nisi scriptos ^ et
e libello habebat, ne plus minusve loqueretur ex
tempore. Pronuntiabat dulci et proprio quodam oris
sono dabatque assidue phonasco operam ; sed non-
numquam infirmatis faucibus praeconis voce ad popu-
lum contionatus est.

LXXXV. Multa varii generis prosa oratione com-
posuit, ex quibus nonnulla in coetu familiarium velut
in auditorio recitavit, sicut ^^ Rescripta Bruto de
Catone/' quae volumina cum iam senior ex magna
parte legisset, fatigatus Tiberio tradidit perlegenda ;
item " Hortationes ad Philosophiam/' et aliqua '^ De

^ absumeret, S^^ ; assumeret (adsumeret), n.
2 scriptos, $- ; scriptis, n.

* See chap. Ixxxi. at the end.

* Brutus published a eulogy of Cato in 46 B.C. ; of. Cic.
adAtt. 12. 21.

250

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

everywhere for such as were attractive for their
pretty faces or their prattle, especially Syrians and
Moors ; for he abhorred dwarfs, cripples, and every-
thing of that sort, as freaks of nature and of ill
omen.

LXXXIV. From early youth he devoted himself
eagerly and with the utmost diligence to oratory and
liberal studies. During the war at Mutina, amid sucii
a press of affairs, he is said to have read, written
and declaimed every day. In fact he never after-
wards spoke in the senate, or to the people or the
soldiers, except in a studied and written address,
although he did not lack the gift of speaking off-
hand without preparation. Moreover, to avoid the
danger of forgetting what he was to say, or wasting
time in committing it to memory, he adopted the
practice of reading everything from a manuscript.
Even his conversations with individuals and the
more important of those with his own wife Livia, he
always wrote out and read from a note-book, for
fear of saying too much or too little if he spoke
offhand. He had an agreeable and rather character-
istic enunciation, and he practised constantly with a
teacher of elocution ; but sometimes because of
weakness of the throat ^ he addressed the people
through a herald.

LXXXV. He wrote numerous works of various
kinds in prose, some of which he read to a group
of his intimate friends, as others did in a lecture-
room ; for example, his ^^ Reply to Brutus on Cato/* *
At the reading of these volumes he had all but
come to the end, when he grew tired and handed
them to Tiberius to finish, for he was well on
in years. He also wrote ^^ Exhortations to Philosophy "

2SI

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

Vita Sua/' quam tredecim libris Cantabrieo tenus
2 bello nee ultra exposuit. Poetica summatim attigit.
Unus liber exstat scriptus ab eo hexametris versibus,
cuius et argumentum et titulus est ^^ Sicilia " ; exstat
alter aeque modicus ^^ Epigrammatum/' quae fere
tempore balinei meditabatur. Nam tragoediam magno
impetu exorsus, non succedenti stilo, abolevit
quaerentibusque amieis, quidnam Aiax ageret,
respondit Aiacem suum in spongiam incubuisse.

LXXXVI. Genus eloquendi secutus est elegans et
temperatum vitatis sententiarum ineptiis atque con-
cinnitate et ^^ reconditorum verborum/' ut ipse dicit,,
^^ fetoribus " ; praecipuamque curam duxit sensum
animi quam apertissime exprimere. Quod quo
facilius efficeret aut necubi leetorem vel auditorem
obturbaret ae moraretur, neque praepositiones urbi-
bus addere neque coniunctiones saepius iterare
dubitavit, quae detractae afFerunt aliquid obscuritatis,
2 etsi gratiam augent. Cacozelos et antiquarios, ut
diverso genere vitiosos, pari fastidio sprevit exagita-
batque nonnumquam ; in primis Maecenatem suum,
cuius ^^myrobrechis/' ut ait, ^^cincinnos " usque qua-
que persequitur et imitando per iocum irridet. Sed
nee Tiberio parcit et exoletas interdum et reconditas
voces aucupanti. M. quidem Antonium ut insanum
increpat, quasi ea scribentem, quae mirentur potius
252

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

and some volumes of an Autobiography, giving an
account of his Hfe in thirteen books up to the time
of the Cantabrian war^ but no farther. His^cssays in
{)oetry were but shght. One book has come down, to
us written in hexameter verse^ of whicJi the subject
and the title is "■ Sicily." There is another^ equally
brief, of ^^ Epigrams/' which he composed for the
most part at the time of the bath. I'hough lie
began a tragedy with much enthusiasm, he destroyed
it because his style did not satisfy him_, and when
some of his friends asked him what in the world
liad become of Ajax, he answered that ^^ his Ajax had
fallen on his sponge."

LXXXVI. He cultivated a style of speaking that
was chaste and elegant, avoiding the vanity of
attempts at epigram and an artificial order, and
as he himself expresses it, ^^ the noisomeness of
far-fetched v»^ords," making it his chief aim to
express his thought as clearly as possible. With
this end in view^ to avoid confusing and checking
his reader or hearer at any point, he did not
hesitate to use prepositions with names of cities,
nor to repeat conjunctions several times, the omission
of which causes some obscurity, though it adds
grace. He looked on innovators and archaizers
with equal contempt^ as faulty in opposite directions,
and he sometimes had a fling at them, in particular
his friend Maecenas, whose ^^unguent-dripping curls/'
as he calls them, he loses no opportunity of belabour-
ing and pokes fun at them by parody. He did
not spare even Tiberius, who sometimes hunted
up obsolete and pedantic expressions ; and as for
Mark Antony, he calls him a madman^ for writing
rather to be admired than to be understood. Then

253

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK 11

homines quam intellegant ; deinde ludens malum et
inconstans in eligendo genere dicendi indicium ^ eius,
addit haec : ^^ Tuque dubitas, Cimberne Annius an
Veranius Flaccus imitandi sint tibi_, ita ut verbis,
quae Crispus Sallustius excerpsit ex Originibus
Catonis, utaris ? An potius Asiaticorum oratorum
inanis sententiis verborum volubilitas in nostrum
sermonem transferenda ? " Et quadam epistula
Agrippinae neptis ingenium conlaudans : " Sed gpus
est/' inquit, ^Mare te operam, ne moleste scribas et
loquaris."

LXXXVll. Cotidiano sermone quaedam frequent-
ius et notabiliter usurpasse eum, litterae ipsius
autographae ostentant, in quibus identidem, cum
aliquos numquam soluturos significare vult, ^' ad
Kalendas Graecas soluturos *' ait ; et cum hortatur
ferenda esse praesentia, qualiacumque sint : ^^ con-
tent! simus hoc Catone " ; et ad exprimendam fest-
inatae rei velocitatem : ^^ celerius quam asparagi
cocuntur." Ponit assidue et pro stulto ^4)aceolum" et
propullo^ ^^pulleiaceum" et pro cerrito ^^vacerrosum"
et ^^vapide" se habere pro male et ^^betizare" pro
languere, quod vulgo '^ lachanizare " dicitur ; item
^^ simus " pro sumus et ^^domos" genetivo casu sin-

^ iudicium, Bentley ; ingenium, T' ; omitted by the other
mss. ^ et pro pullo, Sg- ; apud puUum, n.

" Evidently two archaizing grammarians of the day.

* See De Grammaticis, x, at the end.

^ Thus characterized in contrast with the studied simplicity
of the Attic school of orators. ^ See Index.

* Cf. CatuU. 67. 21, languidior tenera beta. All these words,
which Augustus is said to have used, are colloquialisms or

254

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

going on to ridicule his perverse and inconsistent
taste in choosing an oratorical style, he adds the
following : " Can you doubt whether you ought
to imitate Annius Cimber or Veranius Flaccus,*
that you use the words which Sallustius Crispus
gleaned from Cato*s Origines ? ^ Or would you rather
introduce into our tongue the verbose and unmeaning
fluency of the Asiatic orators } '* ^ And in a letter
praising the talent of his granddaughter Agrippina
he writes : '^ But you must take great care not to
WTite and talk affectedly."

LXXXVII. That in his everyday conversation he
used certain favourite and peculiar expressions
appears from letters in his own hand, in which
he says every now and then, when he wishes to
indicate that certain men will never pay, that
"they will pay on the Greek Kalends." Urging
his correspondent to put up with present circum-
stances, such as they are, he says : " Let's be satisfied
with the Cato we have ; " ^ and to express the speed
of a hasty action, '^ Quicker than you can cook
asparagus." He continually used baceolus (dolt) for
stultus{ioo\)^ for pullus (dark) pull eiaceus (darkish), and
for cerriius (mad) vacerrosus (blockhead) ; also vapide
se habere (feel flat) for male se habere (feel badly), and
betizare ^ (be like a beet) for languere (be weak), for
which the vulgar term is lachanizare. Besides he
used dmus for sumus^ and domos in the genitive

slang, and the exact form and derivation of many of them
are uncertain.

f Since sumtts was originally enclitic, the forms simuSy
sumus may have represented the sound between u and i in
maximusy maxumus, etc. Or stmtLS may have been formed
on the analogy of agimus and similar forma.

»55

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

gulari pro domuos. Nee umquam aliter haec duo,
ne quis mendam magis quam consuetudinem putet.

Notavi et in chirographo eius ilia praecipue : non
dividit verba nee ab extrema parte versuum abund-
antis litteras in alterum transfert, sed ibidem statim
subicit eircumducitque.

LXXXVin. Orthographiam, id est formulam ra-
tionemque scribendi a grammaticis institutam, non
adeo custodit ac videtur eorum potius sequi opinio-
nem, qui perinde scribendum ac loquamur existiment.
Nam quod saepe non litteras modo sed syllabas aut
permutat aut praeterit, communis hominum error est.
Nee ego id notarem, nisi mihi mirum videretur
tradidisse aliquos, legato eum consulari successorem
dedisse ut rudi et indocto, cuius manu^^ixi" pro
^^ipsi" scriptum animadverterit. Quotiens autem per
notas scribit, B pro A, C pro B ac deinceps eadem
ratione sequentis litteras ponit ; pro X autem
duplex A.

LXXXIX. Ne Graf carum quidem disciplinarum
leviore studio tenebatur. In quibus et ipsis prae-
stabat largiter magistro dicendi usus Apollodoro
Pergamerio, quem iam grandem natu Apolloniam
quoque secum ab urbe iuvenis adhuc eduxerat,
deinde eruditione etiam varia repletus per Arei
philosophi filiorumque eius Dionysi et Nicanoris con-
tubernium ; non tamen ut aut loqueretur expedite
aut componere aliquid auderet ; nam et si quid res

^ per Arei, Salmasius ; sperarei, MG FT ; omitted by X.

" Domuos is the earlier form of the genitive, with the
suffix -05, domus the later, with the suffix -s. There was no
form domosy and if Augustus used it, he probably did so on
the analogy of domos^ domus in the ace. plur.

^ Cf. Jul. Ivi. 6-7, and Aul. Gell. 17. 9. 1-5.

256

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

singular instead of domuos,^ The last two forms ht
wrote invariably, for fear they should be thought
errors rather tlian a habit.

I have also observed this special peculiarity in
his manner of writing : he does not divide words
or carry superfluous letters from the end of one
line to the beginning of the next, but writes them
just below the rest of the word and draws a loop
around them.

LXXXVIII. He does not strictly comply with
orthography, that is to say the theoretical rules
of spelling laid down by the grammarians, seeming
to be rather of the mind of those who believe that
we should spell exactly as we pronounce. Of course
his frequent transposition or omission of syllables
as well as of letters are slips common to all
mankind. I should not have noted this, did it not
seem to me surprising that some have written that
he cashiered a consular governor, as an uncultivated
and ignorant fellow, because he observed that he
had written ijci for ipsi. Whenever he wrote in
cipher,^ he wrote B for A, C for B, and the rest
of the letters on the same principle, using A A for X.

LXXXIX. He was equally interested in Greek
studies, and in these too he excelled greatly. His
teacher of declamation was Apollodorus of Per-
gamon, whom he even took with him in his youthful
days from Rome to Apollonia, though Apollodorus
was an old man at the time. Later he became
versed in various forms of learning through association
with the philosopher Areus and his sons Dionysius
and Nicanor. Yet he never acquired the ability
to speak Greek fluently or to compose anything
in it ; for if he had occasion to use the language,

2S7

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK 11

exigeret, Latine formabat vertendumque alii dabat.
Sed plane poeniatum quoque non imperitus, delecta-
batur etiam comoedia veteri et saepe earn exhibuit
spectaculis publicis. In evolvendis utriusque linguae
auctoribus nihil aeque sectabatur, quam praecepta et
exempla piiblice vel privatim salubria, eaque ad ver-
bum excerpta aut ad domesticos aut ad exercituum
provinciarumque rectores aut ad urbis magistratus
plerumque mittebat, prout quique monitione indi-
gerent. Etiam libros totos et senatui recitavit et
populo notos per edictuni saepe fecit, ut orationes
Q. Metelli '' de Prole Augenda" et Rutili ''de Modo
Aedificiorum/' quo magis persuaderet utrarnque rem
non a se primo animadversam, sed antiquis iam tunc
curae fuisse.

Ingenia saeculi sui omnibus modis fovit. Recit-
antis et benigne et patienter audiit, nee tantum
carmina et historias, sed et orationes et dialogos.
Componi tamen aliquid de se nisi et serio et a
praestantissimis ofFendebatur, admonebatque prae-
tores ne paterentur nomen suum commissionibus
obsolefieri.

XC. Circa religiones talem accepimus. Tonitrua
et fulgura paulo infirmius expavescebat, ut semper et
ubique pellem vituli marini circumferret pro remedio
atque ad omnem maioris tempestatis suspicionem in

*» Religione-^ includes both religious belief and regard for
omens and portents.

258

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

he wrote what he had to say in Latin and gave
it to someone else to translate. Still he was far
from being ignorant of Greek poetry, even taking
great pleasure in the Old Comedy and frequently
staging it at his public entertainments. In reading
the writers of both tongues there was nothing
for which he looked so carefully as precepts and
examples instructive to the public or to individuals ;
these he would often copy word for word, and send
to the members of his household, or to his generals
and provincial governors, whenever any of them
required admonition. He even read entire volumes
to the senate and called the attention of the people
to them by proclamations ; for example, the speeches
of Quintus Metellus ^^On Increasing the Family,"
and of Rutilius ^^On the Height of Buildings"; to
convince them that he was not the first to give
attention to such matters, but that they had aroused
the interest even of their forefathers.

He gave every encouragement to the men of
talent of his own age, listening with courtesy and
patience to their readings, not only of poetry and
history, but of » speeches and dialogues as well.
But he took offence at being made the subject
of any composition except in serious earnest and
by the most eminent writers, often charging the
praetors not to let his name be cheapened in prize
declamations.

XC. This is what we are told of his attitude
towards matters of religion.* He was somewhat
weak in his fear of thunder and lightning, for
he always carried a seal-skin about with him
everywhere as a protection, and at any sign of
a violent storm took refuge in an underground

«59

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

abditum et coiicamaratum locum se reciperet, con-
sternatus olim per nocturnum iter transcursu fulguris,
ut praediximus.

XCI. Somnia neque sua neque aliena de se negle-
gebat. Philippensi acie quamvis statuisset non
egredi tabernaculo propter valitudinem, egressus est
tamen amici somnio monitus ; cessitque res prospere,
quando captis castris lectica eius, quasi ibi Cubans
remansisset, concursu hostium confossa atque lacerata
est. Ipse per omne ver plurima et foiinidulosissima
et vana et irrita videbat, reliquo tempore rariora et
minus vana. Cum dedicatam in Capitolio aedem
Tonanti lovi assidue frequentaret, somniavit queri
Capitolinum lovem cultores sibi abduci seque res-
pondisse Tonantem pro ianitore ei appositum ; ideo-
que mox tintinnabulis fastigium aedis redimiit, quod
ea fere ianuis dependebant. Ex nocturno visu etiam
stipem quotannis die certo emendicabat a populo
cavam manum asses porrigentibus praebens.

XCII. Auspicia et omina quaedam pro certissimis
observabat : si mane sibi calceus perperam ac sinister
pro dextro induceretur, ut dirum ; si terra marive
ingrediente se longinquam profectionem forte rorasset.

" Pliny, N.H. 2. ^^, says that the laurel tree (of. Tib. Ixix.)
and the seal are never struck by lightning ; and also that
lightning never goes more than five feet below the ground.

* Chap. xxix. 3.

* This is not in accordance with the emperor's character
(cf. chap. Ivii), and Suetonius may have confused him with
Caligula ; see Calig. xlii. Yet there are records of many
such acts of humility to propitiate Nemesis ; see Casaubon
ad loc.

260

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

vaulted room ; * for as I have said,* he was once
badly frightened by a narrow escape from lightning
during a journey by night.

XCI. He was not indifferent to his own dreams
or to those which others dreamed about him.
At the battle of Philippi, though he had made
up his mind not to leave his tent because of illness,
he did so after all when warned by a friend's
dream ; fortunately, as it turned out, for his camp
was taken and when the enemy rushed in, his
litter was stabbed through and through and torn
to pieces, in the belief that he was still lying there ill.
All through the spring his own dreams were very
numerous and fearful, but idle and unfulfilled ;
during the rest of the year they were less frequent
and more reliable. Being in the habit of making
constant visits to the temple of Jupiter the
Thunderer, which he had founded on the Capitol,
he dreamed that Jupiter Capitolinus complained
that his worshippers were being taken from him,
and that he answered that he had placed the
Thunderer hard by to be his doorkeeper ; and ac-
cordingly he presently festooned the gable of the
temple with bells, because these commonly hung at
house-doors. It was likewise because of a dream
that every year on an appointed day he begged
alms of the people, holding out his open hand to
have pennies dropped in it.^

XCII. Certain auspices and omens he regarded
as infallible If his shoes wxre put on in the wrong
way in the morning, the left instead of the right, he
considered it a bad sign. If there chanced to be a
drizzle of rain when he was starting on a long journey
by land or sea, he thought it a good omen, betoken-

261

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

ut laetum maturique et prosper! reditus. Sed
et ostentis praecipue movebatur. Enatam inter
iuncturas lapidum ante domum suam palmam in con-
pluvium deorum Penatium transtulit, utque coales-
ceret niagno opere curavit. Apud insulam Capreas
veterrimae ilicis demissos iam ad terram languentis-
que ramos convaluisse adventu suo, adeo laetatus
est, ut eas cum re p. Neapolitanorum permutaverit
Aenaria data. Observabat et dies quosdam, ne aut
postridie nundinas quoquam proficisceretur aut
Nonis quicquam rei seriae incoharet ; nihil in hoc
quidem aliud devitans, ut ad Tiberium scribit, quam
SvcrcjirjiJiLav nominis.

XCHI. Peregrinarum caerimoniarum sicut veteres
ac praeceptas reverentissinie coluit, ita ceteras con-
temptui habuit. Namque Athenis initiatus, cum
postea Romae pro tribunali de privilegio sacerdotum
Atticae Cereris cognosceret et quaedam secretiora
proponerentur, dimisso consilio et corona circum-
stantium solus audiit disceptantes. At contra non
modo in peragranda Aegypto paulo deflectere ad
visendum Apin supersedit, sed et Gaium nepotem,
quod ludaeam praetervehens apud Hierosolyma^ non
supplicasset, conlaudavit.

XCIV. Et quoniam ad haec ventum est, non ab
re fuerit subtexere, quae ei prius quam nasceretur et
ipso natali die ac deinceps evenerint, quibus futura
^ Hierosolyma, Burmann ; Hierosolymam, mss.

"' The Roman month was divided into periods of eight days,
lettered in the Calendar from A to H. The last of these,
every ninth day {vundinae) according to the Roman reckoning,
was a market day.

^ Because of its resemblance to von is (from eo) ; cf. Cic.
de Div. 284 ; or perhaps merely because it contained non.

^' Into the Eleusinian mysteries of Ceres.

362

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

ing a speedy and prosperous return. But he was
especially affected by prodigies. When a palm tree
sprang up between the crevices of the pavement
before his house, he transplanted it to the inner court
beside his household gods and took great pains
to make it grow. He was so pleased that the
branches of an old oak, which had already drooped
to the ground and were withering, became vigorous
again on his arrival in the island of Capreae, that he
arranged with the city of Naples to give him the island
in exchange for Aenaria. He also had regard to
certain days, refusing ever to begin a journey on the
day after a market day,^ or to take up any important
business on the Nones ; though in the latter case, as
he writes Tiberius, he merely dreaded the unlucky
sound ^ of the name.

XCIII. He treated with great respect such foreign
rites as were ancient and well established, but held
the rest in contempt. For example, having been
initiated at Athens*' and afterwards sitting in judg-
ment of a case at Rome involving the privileges
of the priests of Attic Ceres, in which certain matters
of secrecy were brought up, he dismissed his coun-
cillors and the throng of bystanders and heard
the disputants in private. But on the other hand
he not only emitted to make a slight detour to
visit Apis, when he was travelling through Egypt,
but highly commended his grandson Gaius for not
offering prayers at Jerusalem as he passed by
Judaea.

XCIV. Having reached this point, it will not
be out of place to add an account of the omo*is
which occurred before he was born, on the very day
of his birth, and afterwards, from which it was

263

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

magnitudo eius et perpetua felicitas sperari animad-
vertique posset.

Velitris antiquitus tacta de caelo parte muri re-
sponsum est eius oppidi civem quandoque rerum
potiturum ; qua fiducia Veliterni et tunc statim et
postea saepius paene ad exitium sui cum populo R.
belligeraverant ; sero tandem documentis apparuit
ostentum illud August! potentiam portendisse.

Auctor est lulius Marathus, ante paucos quam nas-
ceretur menses prodigium Romae factum publice,
quo denuntiabatur, regem populo Romano naturam
parturire ; senatum exterritum censuisse, ne quis illo
anno genitus educaretur ; eos qui gravidas uxores
haberent, quod ad se quisque spem traheret, curasse
ne senatus consultum ad aerarium deferretur.

In Asclepiadis Mendetis Theologumenon libris
lego, Atiam, cum ad sollemne Apollinis sacrum
media nocte venisset, posita in templo lectica, dum
ceterae matronae dormirent,^ obdormisse ; draconem
repente irrepsisse ad eam pauloque post egressum ;
illam expergefactam quasi a concubitu mariti puri-
ficasse se ; et statim in corpore eius exstitisse
maculam velut picti draconis nee potuisse umquam

^ Dormirent, mss. ; domuni irent, Gaevius ; convenirent,
Bentley ; <domi> dormirent, Wissoiva ; etc., etc.

« The decree was not complete until this was done ; cf.
Jul. xxviii. 3.

* i.e. *' Discourses abovit the Gods." Aristotle wrote a
work with the same title.

^ The (jeniuSy or familiar spirit (see note on chap. Ix.), was

264

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

possible to anticipate and perceive his future great-
ness and uninterrupted good fortune.

In ancient days, when a part of the wall of
Velitrae had been struck by lightning, the prediction
was made that a citizen of that town would one day
rule the world. Through their confidence in this
the people of Velitrae had at once made war on the
Roman people and fought with them many times
after that almost to their utter destruction ; but
at last long afterward the event proved that the
omen had foretold the rule of Augustus.

According to Julius Marathus, a few months
before Augustus was born a portent was generally
observed at Rome, which gave warning that nature
was pregnant with a king for the Roman people ;
thereupon the senate in consternation decreed that
no male child born that year should be reared ; but
those whose wives were with child saw to it that the
decree was not filed in the treasury,* since each one
appropriated the prediction to his own family.

I have read the following story in the books of
Asclepias of Mendes entitled Theologumena.^ When
Atia had come in the middle of the night to the
solemn service of Apollo, she had her litter set down
in the temple and fell asleep, while the rest of the
matrons also slept. On a sudden a serpent ^ glided up
to her and shortly went away. When she awoke,
she purified herself,^ as if after the embraces of her
husband, and at once there appeared on her body
a mark in colours like a serpent, and she could
never get rid of it ; so that presently she ceased

often represented by a serpent, and those of husband and wife
by two serpents ; e.g. in Pompeian frescoes.
** To avoid profanation of the sacred rites.

265

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

exigi, adeo ut mox publicis balineis perpetuo
abstinuerit ; Augustum natum mense decimo et ob
hoc Apollinis filium existimatum. Eadem Atia,
prius quam pareret, somniavit intestina sua ferri ad
sidera explicarique per omnem terrarum et caeli
ambitum. Somniavit et pater Octavius utero Atiae
iubar solis exortum.

5 Quo natus est die, cum de Catilinae coniuratione
ageretur in curia et Octavius ob uxoris puerperium
serius afFuisset, nota ac vulgata res est P. Nigidium
comperta morae causa, ut horam quoque partus ac-
ceperit, affirmasse dominum terrarum orbi natum.
Octavio postea, cum per secreta Thraciae exercitum
duceret, in Liberi patris luco barbara caerimonia de
filio consulenti, idem affirmatum est a sacerdotibus,
quod infuso super altaria mero tantum flammae ^
emicuisset, ut supergressa fastigium templi ad caelum
usque ferretur, unique omnino Magno Alexandro
apud easdem aras sacrificanti simile proven isset

6 ostentum. Atque etiam sequenti statim nocte videre
visus est filium mortal i specie ampliorem, cum ful-
mine et sceptro exuviisque lovis Optimi Maximi ac
radiata corona, super laureatum currum, bis senis
equis candore eximio trahentibus. Infans adhuc, ut
scriptum apud C. Drusum exstat, repositus vespere
in cunas a nutricula loco piano, postera luce non

^ flammae, mss. ; flamma, Modderman.

" Otherwise unknown ; Miiller would read Caesarem
Drusum, Stahr believes that the reference is to the Eulogy
in chap. c. 3,

266

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

ever to go to tlie public baths. In the tenth montli
after that Augustus was born and was therefore
regarded as the son of Apollo. Atia too, before she
gave him birth, dreamed that her vitals were borne
up to the stars and spread over the whole extent of
land and sea, while Octavius dreamed that the sun
rose from Atia s womb.

The day he was born the conspiracy of Catiline
was before the House, and Octavius came late
because of his wife's confinement ; then Publius
Nigidius, as everyone knows, learning the reason for
his tardiness and being informed also of the hour of
the birth, declared that the ruler of the world had
been born. Later, when Octavius was leading an
army through remote parts of Thrace, and in the
grove of Father Liber consulted the priests about his
son with barbarian rites, they made the same pre-
diction ; since such a pillar of flame sprang forth
from the wine that was poured over the altar, that it
rose above the temple roof and mounted to the very
sky, and such an omen had befallen no one save
Alexander the Great, when he offered sacrifice at
the same altar. Moreover, the very next night he
dreamt that his son appeared to him in a guise more
majestic than that of mortal man, with the thunder-
bolt, sceptre, and insignia of Jupiter Optimus Maxi-
mus, wearing a crown begirt with rays and mounted
upon a laurel-wreathed chariot drawn by twelve
horses of surpassing whiteness. When Augustus was
still an infant, as is recorded by the hand of Gaius
Drusus,^ he was placed by his nurse at evening in
his cradle on the ground floor and the next morning
had disappeared; but after long search he was at

267

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

comparuit diuque quaesitus tandem in altissima
turri repertus est iacens contra solis exortum.

Cum primum fari coepisset, in avito suburban©
obstrepentis forte ranas silere iussit, atque ex eo ne-
gantur ibi ranae coaxare. Ad quartum lapidem Cam-
panae viae in nemore prandenti ex inproviso aquila
panem ei e manu rapuit et, cum altissime evolasset,,
rursus ex inproviso leniter delapsa reddidit.

Q. Catulus post dedicatum Capitolium duabus con-
tinuis noctibus somniavit : prima, lovem Optimum
Maximum e praetextatis compluribus circum aram
ludentibus unum secrevisse atque in eius sinum
signum rei p. quod manu gestaret reposuisse ; at
insequenti, animadvertisse se in gremio Capitolini
lovis eundem puerum, quem cum detrahi iussisset,
prohibitum monitu dei, tamquam is ad tutelam rei
p. educaretur ; ac die proximo obvium sibi Augustum,
cum incognitum alias haberet, non sine admiratione
contuitus simillimum dixit puero, de quo somniasset.
Quidam prius somnium Catuli aliter exponunt, quasi
luppiter compluribus praetextatis tutorem a se
poscentibus unum ex eis demonstrasset, ad quem
omnia desideria sua referrent, eiusque osculum
delibatum digitis ad os suum rettulisset.

M. Cicero C. Caesarem in Capitolium prosecutus
somnium pristinae noctis familiaribus forte narrabat :

* Apparently another name for the via Appia; see C.I.L. i.
1291.

* Instead of kissing him directly. * See note on Jul, xv,

268

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

last found lying on a lofty tower with his face towards
the rising sun.

As soon as he began to talk, it chanced that the
frogs were making a great noise at his grandfather's
country place ; he bade them be silent^ and they say
that since then no frog has ever croaked there. As
he was lunching in a grove at the fourth milestone
on the Campanian road,** an eagle surprised him by
snatching his bread from his hand, and after flying
to a great height, equally to his surprise dropped
gently down again and gave it back to him.

After Quintus Catulus had dedicated the Capitol,
he had dreams on two nights in succession : first,
that Jupiter Optimus Maximus called aside one of a
number of boys of good family, who were playing
around his alter, and put in the fold of his toga
an image of Roma, which he was carrying in his
hand ; the next night he dreamt that he saw this
same boy in the lap of Jupiter of the Capitol, and
that when he had ordered that he be removed, the
god warned him to desist, declaring that the boy was
being reared to be the saviour of his country. When
Catulus next day met Augustus, whom he had never
seen before, he looked at him in great surprise and
said that he was very like the boy of whom he
had dreamed.

Some give a different account of Catulus's first
dream : when a large group of well-born children
asked Jupiter for a guardian, he pointed out one of
their number, to whom they were to refer all their
wishes, and then, after lightly touching the boy's
mouth with his fingers, laid them on his own lips.^

As Marcus Cicero was attending Gaius Caesar
to the Capitol,^ he happened to tell his friends a

269

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

puerum facie liberali demissum e caelo catena aurea
ad fores Capitoli constitisse eique loveni flagellum
tradidisse ; deinde repente Augusto viso, quern
ignotum plerisque adhuc avunculus Caesar ad sacri-
ficandum acciverat, affirmavit ipsum esse_, cuius
imago secundum quietem sibi obversata sit.

10 Sumenti virilem togam tunica lati clavi resuta ex
utraque parte ad pedes decidit. Fuerunt qui inter-
pretarentur, non aliud significare^ quam ut is ordo
cuius insigne id esset quandoque ei subiceretur.

11 Apud Mundam Divus lulius castris locum capiens
cum silvam caederet^ arborem palmae repertam con-
servari ut omen victoriae iussit ; ex ea continuo
enata suboles adeo in paucis diebus adolevit, ut non
aequiperaret modo matricem_, verum et obtegeret
frequentareturque columbarum nidis, quamvis id
avium genus duram et asperam frondem maxime
vitet. lUo et praecipue ostento motum Caesarem
ferunt, ne quem alium sibi succedere quam sororis
nepotem vellet.

12 In secessu Apolloniae Theogenis mathematici per-
gulam comite Agrippa ascenderat ; cum Agrippae^
qui prior consulebat^ magna et paene incredibilia
praedicerentur^ reticere ipse genituram suam nee
velle edere perseverabat^ metu ac pudore ne minor
inveniretur. Qua tamen post multas adhortationes

" Marked by the broad purple stripe [latus claims).
Augustus was not yet a senator, but the privilege of wearing
the laticlave was doubtless one of the honours conferred on
him by Caesar.

270

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

dream ot the night before ; that a boy of noble
countenance was let down from heaven on a golden
chain and, standing at the door of the temple, was
given a whip by Jupiter. Just then suddenly
catching sight of Augustus, who was still unknown
to the greater number of those present and had been
brought to the ceremony by his uncle Caesar, he
declared that he was the very one whose form had
appeared to him in his dream.

When Augustus was assuming the gown of man-
hood, his senatorial tunic * was ripped apart on both
sides and fell at his feet, which some interpreted as
a sure sign that the order of which the tunic was the
badge would one day be brought to his feet.

As the Deified Julius was cutting down a wood at
Munda and preparing a place for his camp, coming
across a palm tree, he caused it to be spared as an omen
of victory. From this a shoot at once sprang forth and
in a few days grew so great that it not only equalled
the parent tree, but even overshadowed it ; moreover
many doves built their nests there, although that
kind of bird especially avoids hard and rough foliage.
Indeed, it was that omen in particular, they say, that
led Caesar to wish that none other than his sister's
grandson should be his successor

While in retirement at Apollonia, Augustus
mounted with Agrippa to the studio of the
awStrologer Theogenes. Agrippa was the first to
try his fortune, and when a great and almost in-
credible career w^as predicted for him, Augustus
persisted in concealing the time of his birth and
in refusing to disclose it, through diffidence and fear
that he might be found to be less eminent. When
he at last gave it unwillingly and hesitatingly, and

J71

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK 11

vix et cunctanter edita exsilivit Theogenes adoravit-
que eum. Tantam mox fiduciam fati Augustus
habuit_, ut thema suum vulgaverit nummumque
argenteum nota sideris Capricorni, quo natus est,
percusserit.

XCV. Post necem Caesaris reverso ab Apollonia
et ingrediente eo urbeni repente liquido ac puro
sereno circulus ad speciem caelestis arcus orbem solis
ambiit ac subinde luliae Caesaris filiae moninientum
fulmine ictum est. Primo autem consulatu et
augurium capienti duodecim se vultures ut Romulo
ostenderunt et immolanti omnium victimarum
iocinera replicata intrinsecus ab ima fibra paruerunt,
nemine peritorum aliter coniectante quam laeta per
haec et magna portendi.

XCVI. Quin et bellorum omnium eventus ante
praesensit. Contractis ad Bononiam triumvirorum
copiis aquila tentorio eius supersedens duos corvos
hinc et inde infestantis afflixit et ad terram dedit,
notante omni exercitu futuram quandoque inter
coUegas discordiam talem qualis secuta est, atque ^
exitum praesagiente. Eunti ^ Philippos ^ Thessalus
quidam de futura victoria nuntiavit auctore Divo.
Caesare, cuius sibi species itinere avio occurrisset.

Circa Perusiam sacrificio non litanti cum augeri
hostias imperasset ac subita eruptione hostes omnem
rei divinae apparatum abstulissent, constitit inter
haruspices, quae periculosa et adversa sacrificanti

^ atque exitum, Toy^rentias ; at exitum, H.

^ Eunti, stipplied by Boot.

3 Philippos, Boot ; Philippo, a.

272

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

only after many urgent requests^ Theogenes sprang
up and threw himself at his feet. From that time
on Augustus had such faith in his destiny^ that he
made his horoscope public and issued a silver coin
stamped with the sign of the constellation Capri-
cornus, under which he was bom.

XCV. As he was entering the city on his return
from Apollonia after Caesar's death^ though the
heaven was clear and cloudless, a circle like a rainbow
suddenly formed around the sun's disc, and straight-
way the tomb of Caesar's daughter Julia was struck
by lightning. Again, as he was taking the auspices
in his first consulship, twelve vultures appeared to
him, as to Romulus, and when he slew the victims,
the livers within all of them were found to be
doubled inward at the lower end, which all those
who were skilled in such matters unanimously
declared to be an omen of a great and happy future.

XCVI. He even divined beforehand the outcome
of all his wars. When the forces of the triumvirs
were assembled at Bononia, an eagle that had
perched upon his tent made a dash at two ravens,
which attacked it on either side, and struck them to
the ground. From this the whole army inferred
that there would one day be discord among the
colleagues, as actually came to pass, and divined its
result. As he was on his way to Philippi, a
Thessalian gave him notice of his coming victory
on the authority of the deified Caesar, whose shade
had met him on a lonely road. When he was
sacrificing at Perusia without getting a favourable
omen, and so had ordered more victims to be
brought, the enemy made a sudden sally and carried
off all the equipment of the sacrifice ; whereupon the

273

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

denuntiata essent, cuncta in ipsos recasura qui exta
haberent ; neqiie aliter evenit. Pridie quam Sicilien-
seni pugnam classe committeret, deambulanti in litore
piscis e mari exsilivit et ad pedes iacuit. A])iid
Actium descendenti in aciem asellus cum asinario
occurrit : homini Eutychus, bestiae Nicon erat no-
men ; utriusque simulacrum aeneum victor posuit in
tempi o, in quod castrorum suorum locum vertit.

XCVII. Mors quoque eius, de qua dehinc dicam,
divinitasque post mortem evidentissimis ostentis
praecognita est. Cum lustrum in campo Martio
magna populi frequentia conderet, aquila eum
saepius circumvolavit transgressaque in vicinam
aedem super nomen Agrippae ad primam litteram
sedit ; quo animadverso vota_, quae in proximum
lustrum suscipi mos est, collegam suum Tiberium
nuncupare iussit ; nam se, quamquam conscriptis
paratisque iam tabulis, negavit suscepturum quae

2 non esset soluturus. Sub idem tempus ictu fulminis
ex inscriptione statuae eius prima nominis littera
effluxit ; responsum est, centum solos dies posthac
victurum, quem numerum C littera notaret, futur-
umque ut inter deos referretur, quod aesar, id est
reliqua pars e Caesaris nomine, Etrusca lingua deus
vocaretur.

3 Tiberium igitur in Illyricum dimissurus et Bene-

" Prosper (euTwx^^j ** fortunate"). * Victor {uikmv).

<^ The lustrum was a sacrifice of purification, made every
five years by one of the censors, after the completion of the
census, or enumeration of the Roman people. The sacrifice
consisted of the suovetaurilia, the offering of a pig, a sheep,
and a bull. Lustrum was also applied to the five-year period.

274

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

soothsayers agreed that all the dangers and disasters
with which the sacrificer had been threatened would
recoil on the heads of those who were in possession of
the entrails ; and so it turned out. As lie was walk-
ing on the shore the day before the sea-fight off Sicily,
a fish sprang from the sea and fell at his feet. At
Actium^ as he was going down to begin tlie battle, he
met an ass with his driver, the man having the name
Eutychus ^ and the beast that of Nicon ^ ; and after
the victory he set up bronze images of the two in the
sacred enclosure into which he converted the site of
his camp.

XCVII. His death, too, of which I shall speak next,
and his deification after death, were known in
advance by unmistakable signs. As he was bringing
the lustrum ^ to an end in the Campus Martins before
a great throng of people, an eagle flew several times
about him and then going across to the temple hard
by, perched above the first letter of Agrippa's name.
On noticing this, Augustus bade his colleague
Tiberius recite the vows which it is usual to offer for
tlie next five years ; for although he had them
prepared and written out on a tablet, he declared
that he w^ould not be responsible for vows which
he should never pay. At about the same time
the first letter of his name was melted from the
inscription on one of his statues by a flash of light-
ning ; this was interpreted to mean that he would
live only a hundred days from that time, the number
indicated by the letter C, and that he would be
numbered with the gods, since aesar (that is, the
part of the name Caesar which was left) is the word
for god in the Etruscan tongue.

Then, too, when he was on the point of sending

275

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

ventum usque prosecuturus, cum interpellatores aliis
atque aliis causis in iure dicendo detinerent, excla-
mavit, quod et ipsum mox inter omina relatum est :
non, si omnia morarentur, amplius se posthac
Romae futurum ; atque itinere incohato Asturam
perrexit et inde praeter consuetudinem de nocte ad
occasionem aurae evectus causam valitudinis con-
traxit ex profluvio alvi.

XCVni. Tunc Campaniae ora proximisque insulis
circuitis Caprearum quoque secessui quadriduum
impendit remississimo ad otium et ad omnem com-
itatem animo.

2 Forte Puteolanum sinum praetervehenti vectores
nautaeque de navi Alexandrina, quae tantum quod
appulerat, candidati coronatique et tura libantes
fausta omina et eximias laudes congesserant : per
ilium se vivere, per ilium navigare, libertate atque
fortunis per ilium frui. Qua re admodum exhilara-
tus quadragenos aureos comitibus divisit iusque
iurandum et cautionem exegit a singulis, non alio
datam summam quam in emptionem Alexandrinarum

3 mercium absumpturos. Sed et ceteros continuos
dies inter varia munuscula togas insuper ac pallia
distribuit, lege proposita ut Romani Graeco, Graeci
Romano habitu et sermone uterentur. Spectavit
assidue exercentes ephebos, quorum aliqua adhuc

" The pallmm was the distinctive dress of the Greeks, as
the toga was of the Romans.

* Greek youths between the ages of eighteen and that of
full citizenship, who had regular gymnastic training as a part
of their education. The Greek training survived in Capreae,
which until recently (see chap. xcii. 2) had belonged to
Naples.

276

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

Tiberius to Illyricum and was proposing to escort him
as far as Beneventum^ and litigants detained him on
the judgment seat by bringing forward case after case,
he cried out that he would stay no longer in Rome,
even if everything conspired to delay him — and
this too was afterwards looked upon as one of the
omens of his death. When he had begun the
journey_, he went on as far as Astura and from
there, contrary to his custom, took ship by night
since it chanced that there was a favourable breeze,
and thus contracted an illness beginning with a
diarrhoea.

XCVIII. Then after skirting the coast of Campania
and the neighbouring islands, he spent four more
days at his villa in Capreae, where he gave himself
up wholly to rest and social diversions. As he sailed
by the gulf of Puteoli, it happened that from an
Alexandrian ship which had just arrived there, the
passengers and crew, clad in white, crowned with gar-
lands, and burning incense, lavished upon him good
wishes and the highest praise, saying that it was
through him they lived, through him that they sailed
the seas, and through him that they enjoyed their
liberty and their fortunes. Exceedingly pleased at
this, he gave forty gold pieces to each of his com-
panions, exacting from every one of them a pledge
under oath not to spend the sum that had been given
them in any other way than in buying wares from
Alexandria. More than that, for the several remain-
ing days of his stay, among little presents of various
kinds, he distributed togas and cloaks* as well, stipu-
lating that the Romans should use the Greek dress
and language and the Greeks the Roman. He contin-
ually watched the exercises of the ephebi,^ of whom

277

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

copia ex vetere institute Capreis erat ; isdem etiam
epulum in conspectu suo praebuit permissa, immo
exacta iocandi licentia diripiendique pomorum et
obsoniorum rerumque omnium ^ missilia. Nullo
denique genere hilaritatis abstinuit.

Vicinam Capreis insulam Apragopolim appellabat
a desidia secedentium illuc e comitatu suo. Sed ex
dilectis unum, Masgaban nomine, quasi conditorem
insulae Kricrrr^v vocare consueverat. Huius Masgabae
ante annum defuncti tumulum cum e triclinio anim-
advertisset magna turba multisque luminibus fre-
quentari, versum compositum ex tempore clare
pronuntiavit :

Kr6(TTov §€ rvfxfiov elaopix) Trvpov/xevov
conversusque ad Thrasyllum Tiberi comitem contra
accubantem et ignarum rei interrogavit, cuiusnam
poetae putaret ^ esse ; quo haesitante subiecit alium :

Opa? cjideacn Macrydf3av rt/xw/xei/ov;

ac de hoc quoque consuluit. Cum ille nihil aUud re-
sponderet quam, cuiuscumque essent optimos esse^
cachinnum sustulit atque in iocos efFusus est.

Mox Neapolim traiecit quanquam etiam tum in-
firmis intestinis morbo variante ; tamen et quin-
quennale certamen gymnicum honori suo institutum

^ omnium, added by G. F. W. Midler ; missilium, X'.
'-* putaret, T ; the other mss. have putarit (putaverit, S).

** The City of Do-nothings. There is no island '* near
Capreae," and '* the neighbouring island of Capreae " is
meaningless ; if the text is sound, Suetonius is careless, or we
must take Capreis as a locative, and regard vicinam 3ls used in
a partitive sense like reliqmis, primus^ etc.

* Kticttt^s, the Greek name for the founder of a city or colony.

278

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

there was still a goodly number at Capreae according
to the ancient usage. He also gave these youths a
banquet at which he himself was present, and not
only allowed, but even required perfect freedom
in jesting and in scrambling for tickets for fruit,
dainties and all kinds of things, which he threw to
them. In short, there was no form of gaiety in
which he did not indulge.

He called the neighbouring part of the island of
Capreae Apragopolis * from the laziness of some of his
company who sojourned there. Besides he used to
call one of his favourites, Masgaba by name, Ktistes,^
as if he were the founder of the island. Noticing from
his dining-room that the tomb of this Masgaba, who
had died the year before, was visited by a large
crowd with many torches, he uttered aloud this
verse, composed ofFliand :

^' I see the founder's tomb alight with fire " ;

and turning to Thrasyllus, one of the suite of Tiberius
who was reclining opposite him and knew nothing
about the matter, he asked of what poet he thought
it was the work. When Thrasyllus hesitated, he
added another verse :

^^ See you with lights Masgaba honoured now ? "

and asked his opinion of this one also. When
Thrasyllus could say nothing except that they were
very good, whoever made them, he burst into a laugh
and fell a joking about it.

Presently he crossed over to Naples, although his
bowels were still weak from intermittent attacks. In
spite of this he witnessed a quinquennial gymnastic
contest which had been established in his honour,

279

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK H

perspectavit et cum Tiberio ad destinatum locum
contendit. Sed in redeundo adgravata valitudine
tandem Nolae succubuit revocatumque ex itinere
Tiberium diu secreto sermone detinuit, neque post
ulli maiori negotio animum accommodavit.

XCIX. Supremo die identidem exquirens, an iam
de se tumultus foris esset, petito speculo capillum sibi
comi ac malas labantes^ corrigi praecepit et admissos
amicos percontatus, ecquid iis videretur mimum^ vitae
commode transegisse, adiecit et clausulam :

'Ettci Sk Trdvv KaXais TTcVaicrTat, S6t€ KpoTov
Kat Travre? rjjjia<; /xcra ;>(a/oa? TTpoTre/xij/aTe.

Omnibus deinde dimissis^dum advenientes ab urbe^ de
Drusi filia aegra interrogate repente in osculis Liviae
et in hac voce defecit : '^ Livia, nostri coniugii memor
vive, ac vale ! *' sortitus exitum facilem et qualem
semper optaverat. Nam fere quotiens audisset cito
ac nullo cruciatu defunctum quempiam, sibi et suis
evOavacriav similem — hoc enim et verbo uti solebat —
precabatur. Unum omnino ante efflatam animam sig-
num alienatae mentis ostendit, quod subito pavefactus
a quadraginta se iuvenibus abripi questus est. Id
quoque magis praesagium quam mentis deminutio
fuit, siquidetii totidem milites praetoriani extulerunt
eum in publicum.

C. Obiit in cubiculo eodem, quo pater Octavius,

1 labantes, the mss. except GP {corr. by first hand)y which
have labentes.

2 minium, P^ (Beroaldus) ; the other mss, have minimum.
^ ab urbe, L^ S^ ^ ; ad urbem, fl.

" Beneventum; chap, xcvii. 3.
*"'?*. e. open through weakness. « Or closed.

280

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

and then started with Tiberius for his destination.^
But as he was returning his illness increased and he
at last took to his bed at Nola, calling back Tiberius,
who was on his way to lilyricum, and keeping him
for a long time in private conversation, after which
he gave attention to no business of importance.

XCIX. On the last day of his life he asked every
now and then whether there w^as any disturbance
without on his account ; then calling for a mirror, he
had his hair combed and his falling^ jaws set straight.^
After that, calling in his friends and asking whether
it seemed to them that he had played the comedy of
life fitly, he added the tag :

^^ Since well I've played my part, all clap your hands
And from the stage dismiss me with applause."

Then he sent them all off, and while he was asking
some newcomers from the city about the daughter of
Drusus, who w^as ill, he suddenly passed away as he
was kissing Livia, uttering these last words : ^^ Live
mindful of our wedlock, Livia, and farewell,** thus
blessed with an easy death and such a one as he had
always longed for. For almost always on hearing that
anyone had died swiftly and painlessly, he prayed
that he and his might have a like euthanasia, for that
was the term he was wont to use. He gave but one
single sign of wandering before he breathed his last,
calling out in sudden terror that forty young men
were carrying him off. And even this was rather a
premonition than a delusion, since it was that very
number of soldiers of the pretorian guard that
carried him forth to lie in state.

C. He died in the same room as his father Octavius,
in the consulship of two Sextuses, Pompeius and

281

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

duobus Sextis, Pompeio et Appuleio,^ cons. XUII. Kal.
Septemb. hora diei nona, septuagesimo et sexto aetatis
anno, diebus V et XXX minus.

Corpus decuriones municipiorum et coloniarum a
Nola Bovillas usque deportarunt noctibus propter
anni tempus, cum interdiu in basilica cuiusque oppidi
vel in aedium sacrarum maxima reponeretur. A
Bovillis equester ordo suscepit urbique intulit atque in
vestibulo domus conlocavit. Senatus et in funere
ornando et in memoria honoranda eo studio certatim
progressus est, ut inter alia complura censuerint
quidam, funus triumphali porta ducendum, prae-
cedente Victoria quae est in curia, canentibus neniam
principum liberis utriusque sexus ; alii, exsequiarum
die ponendos anulos aureos ferreosque sumendos ;
nonnulli, ossa legenda per sacerdotes summorum
collegiorum. Fuit et qui suaderet, appellationem
mensis Augusti in Septembrem transferendam, quod
hoc genitus Augustus, illo defunctus esset ; alius, ut
omne tempus a primo die natal i ad exitum eius
saeculum Augustum appellaretur et ita in fastos
referretur. Verum adhibito honoribus modo bifariam
laudatus est : pro aede Divi luli a Tiberio et pro rostris
veteribus a Druso Tiberi filio, ac senatorum umeris
delatus in Campum crematusque. Nee defuit vir
praetorius, qui se effigiem cremati euntem in caelum

^ Appuleio, Monumentum Ancyranum ; Apuleio, fl.

« See Claud, vi. 1.
282

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

Appuleius^ on the fourteenth day before the Kalends

of September at the ninth hour^ just thirty-five days Aug. 19,

before his seventy-sixth birthday. ^* '^•^*

His body was carried by the senators of the
municipaUties and colonies from Nola all the way to
Bovillae^ in the night time because of the season of
the year, being placed by day in the basilica of the
tow2i at which they arrived or in its principal temple.
At Bovillae the members of the equestrian order*
met it and bore it to the city, where they placed it
in the vestibule of his house.

In their desire to give him a splendid funeral and
lionour his memory the senators so vied with one
another that among many othei suggestions some
proposed that his cortege pass through the triumphal
gate, preceded by the statue of Victory whicli stands
in the House, while a dirge was sung by children of
both sexes belonging to the leading families ; others,
that on the day of the obsequies golden rings be laid
aside and iron ones worn ; and some, that his ashes
be collected by the priests of the highest colleges.
One man proposed that the name of the month
of August be transferred to September, because
Augustus was born in the latter, but died in the
former ; another, that all the period from the day of
his birth until his demise be called the Augustan Age,
and so entered in the Calendar. But though a limit
was set to the honours paid him, his eulogy was twice
delivered : before the temple of the Deified Julius
by Tiberius, and from the old rostra by Drusus, son
of Tiberius ; and he was carried on the shoulders of
senators to the Campus Martins and there cremated.
There was even an ex-praetor who took oath that he
had seen the form of the Emperor, after he had been

283

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK U

vidisse iuraret. Reliquias legerunt primores equestris
ordinis tunicati et discincti pedibusque nudis ac
Mausoleo condiderunt. Id opus inter Flaminiam viam
ripamque Tiberis sexto suo consulatu exstruxerat cir-
cumiectasque silvas et ambulationes in usum populi
iam turn publicarat.

CI. Testamentum L. Planco C. Silio cons. III. Non.
Apriles, ante annum et quattuor menses quam de-
cederet, factum ab eo ac duobus codicibus partim
ipsius partim libertorum Polybi et Hilarionis manu
scriptum depositumque apud se virgines Vestales cum
tribus signatis aeque voluminibus protulerunt. Quae
omnia in senatu aperta atque recitata sunt. Heredes
instituit primos : Tiberium ex parte dimidia et sex-
tante, Liviam ex parte tertia, quos et ferre nomen
suum iussit ; secundos : Drusum Tiberi filium ex
triente, ex partibus reliquis Germanicum liberosque
eius tres sexus virilis ; tertio gradu propinquos,
amicosque compluris. Legavit populo R. quad-
ringenties, tribubus tricies quinquies sestertium, prae-
torianis militibus singula milia nummorum, cohortibus
urbanis quingenos, legionaris trecenos nummos ; quam
summam repraesentari iussit, nam et confiscatam
semper repositamque habuerat. Reliqua legata varie
dedit perduxitque quaedam ad vicena sestertia, qui-
bus solvendis annuum diem finiit, excusata rei fami-
liaris mediocritate nee plus perventurum ad heredes

" Augustus and Augusta, but Tiberius did not assume the
title until it was conferred on him by the senate ; Dio 57.
2-3. * See note on Jut. Ixxxiii. 2. ^ See chap. Ixiv. 1.

** Probably those with which he was connected (see chap
xl. 2) ; Lipsius suggested tribulihus,

284

1SA.D.

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

reduced to ashes^ on its way to heaven. His lemains
were gathered up by the leading men of the
equestrian order, bare-footed and in ungirt tunics,
and placed in the Mausoleum. This structure he
had built in his sixth consulship between the Via 28 b.c.
Flaminia and the bank of the Tiber, and at the same
time opened to the public the groves and walks by
which it was surrounded.

CI. He had made a will in the consulship of -^p^^^^s,
Lucius Plancus and Gaius Silius on the third day
before the Nones of April, a year and four months
before he died, in two note-books, written in part in his
own hand and in part in that of his freedmen Polybius
and Hilarion. These the Vestal virgins, with whom
they had been deposited, now produced, together
with three rolls, which were sealed in the same way.
All these were opened and read in the senate. He
appointed as his cliief heirs Tiberius, to receive two-
thirds of the estate, and Livia, one-third ; these he also
bade assume his name.^ His heirs in the second de-
gree ^ were Drusus, son of Tiberius, for one-third, and
for the rest Germanicus and his three male children.*^
In the third grade he mentioned many of his relatives
and friends. He left to the Roman people forty million
sesterces; to the tribes^ three million five hundred
thousand ; to the soldiers of the pretorian guard a
thousand each ; to the city cohorts five hundred ;
and to the legionaries three hundred. This sum he
ordered to be paid at once, for he had always kept the
amount at hand and ready for the purpose. He gave
other legacies to various individuals, some amounting
to as much as twenty thousand sesterces, and pro-
vided for the payment of these a year later, giving
as his excuse for the delay the small amount of

285

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK II

suos quam milies et quingenties professus, quamvis
viginti proximis annis quaterdecies milies ex testa-
mentis amicorum percepisset, quod paene omne cum
duobus paternis patrimoniis ceterisque hereditatibus
in rem p. absumpsisset. lulias filiam neptemque, si
quid iis accidisset, vetuit sepulcro suo inferri. Tribus
voluminibus, uno mandata de funere suo complexus
est, altero indicem rerum a se gestarum, quem
vellet incidi in aeneis tabulis, quae ante Mausoleum
statuerentur, tertio breviarium totius imperii, quantum
militum sub signis ubique esset, quantum pecuniae
in aerario et fiscis et vectigaliorum residuis. Adiecit
et libertorum servorumque nomina, a quibus ratio
exigi posset.

* That is, on their death ; a common euphemism.

^ Tlie original of this inscription is lost, but the greater
part of a copy inscribed in Greek and Latin on marble is
preserved at Ancyra in Asia Minor and is known as the
Monumentum Aiwyranum.

286

THE DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

his property^ and declaring that not more than a
hundred and fifty milHons would come to his heirs ;
for though he had received fourteen hundred mil-
lions during the last twenty years from the wills
of his friends^ he said that he had spent nearly all of
it, as well as the estates left him by his natural and
his adoptive father, for the benefit of the State. He
gave orders that his daughter and his granddaughter
Julia should not be put in his Mausoleum, if anything
befell them.^ In one of the three rolls he included
directions for his funeral ; in the second, an account
of what he had accomplished, which he desired to
have cut upon bronze tablets and set up at the
entrance to the Mausoleum^; in the third, a summary
of the condition of the whole empire ; how many
soldiers there were in active service in all parts of it,
how much money there was in the public treasury
and in the privy-purse, and what revenues were in
arrears. He added, besides, the names of the freed-
men and slaves from whom the details could be
demanded.

287

BOOK III

TIBERIUS

LIBER III

TIBERIUS

I. Patricia gens Claudia — fuit enim et alia
plebeia^ nee potentia minor nee dignitate — orta
est ex Regillis op})ido Sabinorum. Inde Romani
recens conditam euni magna clientium manu
conmigravit auctore Tito Tatio consorte Romuli^
vel^ quod magis constat, Atta Claudio gentis
principe, post reges exactos sexto fere anno ; atque
in patricias cooptata ^ agrum insu})er trans Anienem
clientibus locumque sibi ad sepulturam sub Capitolio
publice accepit. Deince})s ])rocedente tempore
duodetriginta consulatus, dictaturas quinque, cen-
suras septem, triumphos sex, duas ovationes adepta
est. Cum praenominibus cognominibusque variis
distingueretur, Luci praenomen consensu repudiavit,
postquam e duobus gentilibus praeditis eo alter
latrocinii, caedis alter convictus est. Inter co-
gnomina autem et Neronis assumpsit, quo ^ significatur
lingua Sabina fortis ac strenuus.

^ cooptata, ^; coaptata, CI. ^ Oj^^o, ^; quod, n.

" 504 B.C. in the traditional chronology.
^ See note on A^ig. xxii.

290

BOOK III

TIBERIUS

I. The patrician branch of the Claudian family
(for there was^ besides_, a plebeian branch of no less
influence and prestige) originated at Regilli^ a town
of the Sabines. From there it moved to Rome
shortly after the founding of the city with a large
band of dependents^ through the influence of Titus
Tatius^ who shared the kingly power with Romulus
(or, according to the generally accepted view, of
Atta Claudius, the head of the family) about six
years after the expulsion of the kings.^ It was
admitted among the patrician families, receiving,
besides, from the State a piece of land on the
farther side of the Anio for its dependents, and
a burial-site for the family at the foot of the
Capitoline hill. Then as time went on it was
honoured with twenty-eight consulships, five dictator-
ships, seven censorships, six triumphs, and two ova-
tions.* While the members of the family were
known by various forenames and surnames, they
discarded the forename Lucius by common consent
after two of the family who bore it had been found
guilty, the one of highway robbery, and the other of
murder. To their surnames, on the other hand,
they added that of Nero, which in the Sabine tongue
means ^^ strong and valiant."

J91

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

n. Multa multorum Claudiorum egregia merita^
multa etiam sequius admissa in rem p. exstant. Sed
ut praecipua commemorem, Appius Caecus societa-
tem cum rege Pyrrho ut parum salubrem iniri
dissuasit. Claudius Caudex primus freto classe
traiecto Poenos Sicilia expulit. Tiberius ^ Nero
advenientem ex Hispania cum ingentibus copiis
Hasdrubalem, prius quam Hannibali fratri coniun-
geretur, oppressit. Contra Claudius Regillianus,
decemvir legibus scribendis, virginem ingenuam
per vim libidinis gratia in servitutem asserere
conatus causa plebi fuit secedendi rursus a patribus.
Claudius Russus ^ statua sibi diademata ad Appi
Forum posita Italiam per clientelas occupare tem-
ptavit. Claudius Pulcher apud Siciliam non pas-
centibus in auspicando pullis ac per contemptum
religionis mari demersis, quasi ut biberent quando
esse nollent, proelium navale iniit ; superatusque,
cum dictatorem dicere a senatu iuberetur, velut
iterum inludens discrimini publico Glycian ^ viatorem
suum dixit.

Exstant et feminarum exempla diversa aeque,
siquidem gentis eiusdem utraque Claudia fuit, et
quae navem cum sacris Matris deum Idaeae obhae-
rentem Tiberino vado extraxit, precata propalam,
ut ita demum se sequeretur, si sibi pudicitia

1 Tiberius] Tibus, M; tybus, G^ ; tybus, G'^ ; TibI, V;
the other mss. have Tibius or Tiberius.

2 'R\xasus,co7ijecture of Ihm^ Hermes, 36,303 ; Drusus, mss.
'^ Glycian, Salmasius ; ilycian, CI.

" 449 B.C. in the traditional chronology.

* Cybele, a Phrygian goddess worshipped near Mount

292

TIBERIUS

II. There are on record many distinguished
services of the Ciaiidii to their country^ as well
as many deeds of the opposite character. But to
mention only the principal instances^ Appius the Blind
advised against forming an alliance with king Pyrrluis 28o b.c.
as not at all expedient. Claudius Caudex was the
first to cross the straits w^ith a fleet_, and drove the 264 k.c.
Carthaginians from Sicily. Tiberius Nero crushed
Hasdrubal_, on his arrival from Spain with a vast army^ 207 b.c
before he could unite with his brother Hannibal. On
the other hand^ Claudius Regillianus^ decemvir for codi-
fying the laws^ through his lawless attempt to enslave
a freeborn maid^ to gratify his passion for her^ was the
cause of the second secession of the plebeians from the
patricians.^ Claudius Russus^ having set up his statue
at Forum Appi with a crown upon its head^ tried
to take possession of Italy through his dependents.
Claudius Pulcher began a sea-fight off Sicily^ though 249 B.a
the sacred chickens would not eat when he took the
auspices^ throwing them into the sea in defiance
of the omen, and saying that they might drink,
since they would not eat. He was defeated, and
on being bidden by the senate to appoint a dictator,
he appointed his messenger Glycias, as if again
making a jest of his country's peril.

The women also have records equally diverse, since
both the famous Claudias belonged to that family :
the one who drew the ship with the sacred proper- 204 b.c.
ties of the Idaean Mother of the Gods ^ from the
shoal in the Tiber on which it was stranded, after
first publicly praying that it might yield to her
efforts only if her chastity were beyond question ; and

Ida. In the year 204 B.C. her cult was introduced into
Rome, where she was worshipped as the Magna Mater.

293

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

constaret ; et quae novo more iudicium maiestatis
apud j)opulum mulier subiit, quod in conferta
niultitudine aegre procedente carpento palam opta-
verat, ut frater suus Pulcher revivisceret atque
iterum classem amitteret, quo minor turba Romae
foret. Praeterea notatissimum est, Claudios omnis,
excepto dum taxat P. Clodio, qui ob expellendum
urbe Ciceronem plebeio homini atque etiam natu
minori in adoptionem se dedit, optimates adserto-
resque unicos dignitatis ac potentiae patriciorum
semper fuisse atque adversus plebem adeo violentos
et contumaces, ut ne capitis quidem quisquam
reus apud populum mutare vestem aut deprecari
sustinuerit ; nonnulli in altercatione et iurgio tri-
bunos plebi pulsaverint. Etiam virgo Vestalis
fratrem ^ iniussu populi triumphantem ascenso simul
curru usque in Capitolium {)rosecuta est, ne vetare
aut intercedere fas cuiquam tribunorum esset.

III. Ex hac stirpe Tiberius Caesar genus trahit,
et quidem ^ utrumque : paternum a Tiberio Nerone,
maternum ab Appio Pulchro, qui ambo Appi Caeci
filii fuerunt. Insertus est et Liviorum familiae
adoptato in eam materno avo. Quae familia
quanquam plebeia, tamen et ipsa admodum floruit
octo consulatibus, censuris duabus, triumphis tribus,

^ fratrem, ??i.s.s\ ; patreni, Cic. Gael. 34.

^ et quidem, UQ ; the other mss. have equidem.

« Of. Jul. XX. 4.
294

TIBERIUS

the one who was tried by the people for treason, 246 «.a
an unprecedented thing in the case of a woman,
because when her carriage made but slow progress
through the throngs she openly gave vent to the
wish that her brother Pulcher might come to life
and lose another fleets to make less of a crowd in
Rome. It is notorious besides that all the Claudii
were aristocrats and staunch upholders of the prestige
and influence of the patricians^ with the sole excep-
tion of Publius Clodius^ who for the sake of driving
Cicero from the city had himself adopted by a 60B.a
plebeian and one too who was younger than himself.*
Their attitude towards the commons was so head-
strong and stubborn that not even when on trial for
his life before the people did any one of them deign
to put on mourning or beg for mercy ; and some of
them during bickerings and disputes struck the
tribunes of the commons. Even a Vestal virgin
mounted her brother's chariot with him, when he 143 B.a
was celebrating a triumph without the sanction of
the people, and attended him all the way to the
Capitol, in order to make it an act of sacrilege for
any one of the tribunes to forbid him or interpose his
veto.

III. Such was the stock from which Tiberius
Caesar derived his origin, and that too on both sides :
on his father's from Tiberius Nero ; on his mother's
from Appius Pulcher, both of whom were sons of
Appius Caecus. He was a member also of the family
of the Livii, through the adoption into it of his
maternal grandfather. This family too, though of
plebeian origin, was yet of great prominence and had
been honoured with eight consulships, two censor-
ships, and three triumphs, as well as with the

29s

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

dictatura etiam ac niagisterio equitum honorata ;
clara et insignibus viris ac maxime Salinatore

2 Drusisque. Salinator universas tribiis in censura
notavit levitatis nomine^ quod^ cum se post priorem
consulatum multa iiirogata condemnassent;, consulem
iterum censoremque fecissent. Drusus hostium duce
Drauso comminus trucidato sibi posterisque suis
cognomen invenit. Traditur etiam pro praetore ex
provincia Gallia rettulisse aurum Senonibus olim
in obsidione Capitolii datum nec^ ut fama est^
extortum a Camillo. Eius abnepos ob eximiam
adversus Gracchos operam patronus senatus dictus
filium reliquit^ quem in simili dissensione multa
varie molientem di versa factio per fraudem interemit.
IV. Pater Tiberi^ Nero, quaestor C. Caesaris
Alexandrino bello classi praepositus^ plurimum ad
victoriam contulit. Quare et pontifex in locum
P. Scipionis substitutus et ad deducendas in Galliam
colonias^ in quis Narbo et Arelate erant^ missus
est. Tamen Caesare occiso^ cunctis turbarum metu
abolitionein facti decernentibus^ etiam de praemiis

2 tyrannicidarum referendum censuit. Praetura deinde
functus^ cum exitu anni discordia inter triumviros
orta esset^ retentis ultra iustum tempus insignibus
L. Antonium consulem triumviri fratrem ad Perusiam

" That is, affixed the mark of ignominy {nofa) to their
names on the census roll.

296

TIBERIUS

offices of dictator and master of the horse. It was
made illustrious too by distinguished members^ in
particular Salinator and the Drusi. The former in
his censorship put the brand on all the tribes^ on 20*B.a
the charge of fickleness, because having convicted
and fined him after a previous consulship, they made
him consul a second time and censor as well. Drusus
gained a surname for himself and his descendants by
slaying Drausus, leader of the enemy, in single
combat. It is also said that when propraetor he
brought back from his province of Gaul the gold
which was paid long before to the Senones, when
they beleaguered the Capitol, and that this had not 390 B.a
been wrested from them by Camillus, as tradition
has it. His grandson's grandson, called " Patron of
the Senate" because of his distinguished services
against the Gracchi, left a son who was treacher- 122 b.c.
ously slain by the party of his opponents, while he
was busily agitating many plans during a similar 91 b.c.
dissension.

IV. Nero, the father of Tiberius, as a quaestor of
Julius Caesar during the Alexandrian war and com- ^8-47
mander of a fleet, contributed materially to the
victory. For this he was made pontiff in place of
Publius Scipio and sent to conduct colonies to Gaul,
among them Narbo and Arelate. Yet after the
murder of Caesar, when all the others voted for an
amnesty through fear of mob violence, he even
favoured a proposal for rewarding the tyrannicides.
Later on, having held the praetorship, since a dispute
arose among the triumvirs at the close of his term,
he retained the badges of his rank beyond the
legitimate time and followed Lucius Antonius, consul « b.^
and brother of the triumvir, to Perusia. When the

297

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

secutus, deditione a ceteris facta, solus permansit
in partibns ac primo Praeneste, inde Neapolim
evasit servisqiie ad ])illeiim frustra vocatis in Sicilian!
3 profugit. Sed indi<i^ne ferens nee statini se in
conspectum Sexti Pompei adniissum et fascium
usu prohibitum, ad M. Antonium traiecit in Acliaiani.
Cum quo brevi reconciliata inter omnis pace Romam
redit uxoremque Liviam Drusillam et tunc gravidam
et ante iam ajmd se filium enixam })etenti Au^usto
concessit. Nee multo })ost diem obiit, utroque
liberorum superstite, Tiberio Drusoque Neronibus.

V. Tiberium quidam Fundis natum existimaveruiit
secuti levem coniecturam, quod materna eius a via
Fundana fuerit et quod mox simulacrum Felicitatis
ex s. c. ])ublicatum ibi sit. Sed ut })lures certioresque
tradunt, natus est Romae in Palatio XV J. Kal. Dec.
M. Aemilio Le})ido iterum L. Munatio Planco conss.
per bellum Pliilippense. Sic enim in fastos actaque
in publica relatum est. Nee tamen desunt, qui
partim antecedente anno, Hirti ac Pansae, partim
insequenti, Servili Isaurici L.^ que Antoni consulatu,
genitum eum scribant.

VI. Infantiam pueritiamque habuit laboriosam ^ et
exercitatam, comes usque quaque parentum fugae ;
quos quidem apud Neapolim sub inruptionem hostis
navigium clam j)etentis vagitu suo })aene bis prodidit,

^ L., added by Beniley and Roth.

- laboriosam, Pithoeus ; luxoriosain, 3fO ; the other 7nss.
hare luxuriosam.

" Ad pill eum : the pilleus, a close-fitting felt cap, was given
to slaves on mariinnission, as a token of freedom.

^ See A7L(j. Ixii. 2.
298

TIBERIUS

others capitulated, he alone held to his allegiance
and got away first to Praeneste and then to Naples ;
and after vainly trying to enlist the slaves by a
promise of freedom/ he took refuge in Sicily. Piqued
however because he was not at once given an audience
with Sextus Pompeius^ and was denied the use of the
fasces, he crossed to Achaia and joined Mark Antony.
With liim he shortly returned to Rome, on the con-
clusion of a general peace, and gave up to Augustus
at his request his wife Livia Drusilla, who was
pregnant at the time and had already borne him
a son.^ Not long afterward he died, survived by
both his sons, Tiberius Nero and Drusus Nero.

V, Some have supposed that Tiberius was born at
Fundi, on no better evidence than that his maternal
grandmother was a native of that place, and that
later a statue of Good Fortune was set up there by
decree of the senate. But according to the most
numerous and trustworthy authorities, he was born at
Rome, on the Palatine, the sixteenth day before tlie
Kalends of December, in the consulship of Marcus Nov. 1«,
Aemilius Lepidus and Luciiis Munatius Plancus (the
former for the second time) while the war of Philippi
was going on. In fact it is so recorded both in the
calendar and in the public gazette. Yet in spite
of this some write tliat he was born in the preceding
year, that of Flirtius and Pansa, and others in the
following year, in the consulate of Servilius Isauricus
and Lucius Antonius.

VI. He passed his infancy and his youth amid
hardship and tribulation, since he was everyw^here
the companion of his parents in their flight ; at
Naples indeed he all but betrayed them twice by his
crying, as they were secretly on their way to a ship

299

42B.a

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

semel cum a nutricis ubere, iterum ^ cum a sinu
matris raptim auferretur ab iis, qui pro necessitate
temporis mulierculas levare onere temptabant. Per
Sicilian! quoque et per Achaiam circumductus ac
Lacedaemoniis publice, quod in tutela Claudiorum
erant, demandatus, digrediens inde itinere nocturno
discrimen vitae adiit flamma repente e silvis undique
exorta adeoque omnem comitatum circumplexa, ut
Liviae pars vestis et capilli amburerentur. Munera,
quibus a Pompeia Sex. Pompei sorore in Sicilia donatus
est, chlamys et fibula, item bullae aureae, durant
ostendunturque adhuc Baiis. Post reditum in urbem
a M. Gallio senatore testamento adoptatus hereditate
adita mox nomine abstinuit, quod Gallius adversarum
Augusto partium fuerat.

Novem natus annos defunctum patrem pro rostris
laudavit. Dehinc pubescens Actiaco triumpho currum
August! comitatus est sinisteriore funali equo, cum
Marcellus Octaviae filius dexteriore veheretur. Prae-
sedit et asticis ^ ludis et Troiam circensibus lusit ^
ductor turmae puerorum maiorum.

Vn. Virili toga sumpta adulescentiam omnem
spatiumque insequentis aetatis usque ad principatus
initia per haec fere transegit. Munus gladiatorium
in memoriam patris et alterum in avi Drusi dedit,
diversis temporibus ac locis, primum in Foro, se-

^ iterum, Urshnifi ; item, Ci.

^ Atticis, T and V in the margin ; atricis, LPS (attricis,
L) ; acticis, T. The. astici {from &(ttv) were originally cele-
brated at Athene, in honour of Dioyiynus.

^ lusit, supplied by Bentley and after Troiam by Both.

" See Aug, xxii. * Cf. Jul. xxxix. 2.

300

TIBERIUS

just as the enemy burst into the town, being suddenly
torn from his nurse's breast and again from his
mother's arms by those who tried to reheve the poor
women of their burden because of the imminent
danger. After being taken all over Sicily also and
Achaia, and consigned to the public care of the
Lacedaemonians, because they were dependents of
the Claudii, he almost lost his life as he was leaving
there by night, when the woods suddenly took fire
all about them, and the flames so encircled the whole
company that part of Livia's robe and her hair were
scorched. The gifts which were given him in Sicily
by Pompeia, sister of Sextus Pompeius, a cloak and
clasp, as w^ell as studs of gold, are still kept and
exhibited at Baiae. Being adopted, after his return
to the city, in the will of Marcus Gallius, a senator,
he accepted the inheritance, but soon gave up the
name, because Gallius had been a member of the
party opposed to Augustus.

At the age of nine he delivered a eulogy of his
dead father from the rostra. Then, just as he was
arriving at puberty, he accompanied the chariot of
Augustus in his triumph after Actium,* riding the
left trace-horse, while Marcellus, son of Octavia,
rode the one on the right. He presided, too, at the
city festival, and took part in the game of Troy
during the performances in the circus, leading the
band of older boys.^

VII. The principal events of his youth and later
life, from the assumption of the gown of manhood
to the beginning of his reign, were these. He gave
a gladiatorial show in memory of his father, and a
second in honour of his grandfather Drusus, at differ-
ent times and in different places, the former in the

301

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

Augusto cognoscente defendit ; pro Laodicenis Thyati-
renis Chiis terrae motu afflictis opemque implorantibus
senatum deprecatus est ; Fannium Caepionem, qui
cum Varrone Murena in Augustuni conspiraverat,
reuin maiestatis apud iudices fecit et condenniavit.
Interque haec duplicem curam administravit, annonae
quae artior inciderat, et repurgandorum tota Italia
ergastulorum, quorum domini in invidiam venerant
quasi exceptos supprimerent non solum viatores sed
et quos sacramenti metus ad eius modi latebras com-
pulisset.

IX. Stipendia prima expeditione Cantabrica tri-
bunus militum fecit, dein ducto ad Orientem exercitu
regnum Armeniae Tigrani restituit ac pro tribunal!
diadema imposuit. Recepit et signa, quae M. Crasso
ademerant Parthi. Post hoc Comatam Galliam.anno
fere rexit et barbarorum incursionibus et principum
discordia inquietam. Exin Raeticum Vindelicumque
bellum^ inde Pannonicum, inde Germanicum gessit.
2 Raetico atque Vindelico gentis Alpinas, Pannonico
Breucos et Dalmatas subegit, Germanico quadraginta
milia dediticiorum traiecit in Galliam iuxtaque ripam
Rheni sedibus adsignatis conlocavit. Quas ob res et
ovans et curru urbem ingressus est, prius, ut quidam
putant, triumphalibus ornamentis honoratus, novo
nee antea cuiquam tributo genere honoris.

** See note on Aug. xxxii. 1. * Cf. Aug. xxi, 3.

^ Transalpine Gaul was called Comaia, *' long-haired."
The southern part was called Braccafa, " breeches- wearing,"
and Cisalpine (xaul, Togata.

** i.e. celebrating a iitstum triumphnTn ; see note on Aug.
xxii., and cf. Veil. 2, 121. For a different version see Dio, 54.
31.

TIBERIUS

senate in behalf of the citizens of Laodicea, Thj-
atira and Chios, who had suffered loss from an earth-
quake and begged for help. Fannius Caepio, who
had conspired with Varro Murena against Augustus,
he arraigned for high treason and secured his con- 2S b.o.
demnation. In the meantime he undertook two
public charges : that of the grain supply, which, as it
happened, was deficient ; and the investigation of the
slave-prisons * throughout Italy, the owners of which
had gained a bad reputation ; for they were charged
with holding in durance not only travellers, but also
those whom dread of military service had driven to
such places of concealment.

IX. His first military service was as tribune of the 2« ».0.
soldiers in the campaign against the Cantabrians ;
then he led an army to the Orient and restored the
throne of Armenia to Tigranes, crowning him on the
tribunal. He besides recovered the standards which
the Parthians had taken from Marcus Crassus.^
Then for about a year he was governor of Gallia
Comata,^' which was in a state of unrest through
the inroads of the barbarians and the dissensions of
its chiefs. Next he carried on war with the Raeti
and Vindelici, then in Pannonia, and finally in
Germany. In the first of these wars he subdued
the Alpine tribes, in the second the Breuci and
Dalmatians, and in the third he brought forty
thousand prisoners of war over into Gaul and assigned
them homes near the bank of the Rhine. Because
of these exploits he entered the city both in an 7*nd9
ovation and riding in a chariot,^ having previously, ^* ^*
as some think, been honoured with the triumphal
regalia, a new kind of distinction never before
conferred upon anyone,

305

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

3 Magistratus et maturius incohavit et paene
iunctim percucurrit, quaesturam praeturam consula-
tum ; interpositoque tempore consul iterum etiam
tribuniciam potestatem in quinquennium accepit.

X. Tot prosperis eonfluentibus integra aetate ac
valitudine statuit repente secedere seque e medio
quam longissime amovere ; dubium uxorisne taedio,
quam neque criminari aut dimittere auderet neque
ultra perferre posset, an ut vitato assiduitatis fastidio
auctoritatem absentia tueretur atque etiam augeret,
si quando indiguisset sui res p. Quidam existimant,
adultis iam Augusti liberis, loco et quasi possessione
usurpati a se diu secundi gradus sponte cessisse
exemplo M. Agrippae, qui M. Marcello ad munera
publica admoto Mytilenas abierit, ne aut obstare

2 aut obtrectare praesens videretur. Quam causam et
ipse, sed postea, reddidit. Tunc autem honorum
satietatem ac requiem laborum praetendens com-
meatum petit ; neque aut matri suppliciter precanti
aut vitrico deseri se etiam in senatu conquerenti
veniam dedit. Quin et pertinacius retinentibus,
cibo per quadriduum ^ abstinuit. Facta tandem
abeundi potestate, relictis Romae uxore et filio con-
festim Ostiam descendit, ne verbo quidem cuiquam
prosequentium reddito paucosque admodum in di-
gressu exosculatus.

^ quadriduum] quatriduum, n.

^ Since he was quaestor in 23 B.C. and consul for the first
time in 13 B.C., paene mnctim is used loosely, to indicate a
general disregard of the ages required for the various offices
and the prescribed intervals. * Cf. Aug. Ixvi. 3.

306

TIBERIUS

He entered upon the offices of quaestor, praetor,
and consul before the usual age, and held them
almost without an interval * ; then after a time he
was made consul again, at the same time receiving 6 b.q
the tribunicial power for five years.

X. At the flood-tide of success, though in the
prime of life and health, he suddenly decided to go
into retirement and to withdraw as far as possible
from the centre of the stage ; perhaps from disgust at
his wife, whom he dared neither accuse nor put away,
though he could no longer endure her; or perhaps,
avoiding the contempt born of familiarity, to keep
up his prestige by absence, or even add to it, in case
his country should ever need him. Some think that,
since the children of Augustus were now of age, he
voluntarily gave up the position and the virtual
assumption of the second rank which he had long
held, thus following the example of Marcus Agrippa,'*
who withdrew to Mytilene when Marcellus began
his public career, so that he might not seem either to
oppose or belittle him by his presence. This was,
in fact, the reason which Tiberius himself gave, but
afterwards. At the time he asked for leave of
absence on the ground of weariness of office and
a desire to rest ; and he would not give way either
to his mother's urgent entreaties or to the complaint
which his step-father openly made in the senate,
that he was being forsaken. On the contrary, when
they made more strenuous efforts to detain him, he
refused to take food for four days. Being at last
allowed to depart, he left his wife and son in Rome
and went down to Ostia in haste, without saying a
single word to any of those who saw him off, and
kissing only a very few when he left,

307

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

XI. Ab Ostia oram Campaniae legens inbecillitate
August! nuntiata paulum substitit. Sed incre-
brescente rumore quasi ad occasionem maioris spei
commoraretur, tantum non adversis tempestatibus
Rhodum enavigavit, amoenitate et salubritate insulae
iam inde captus cum ad earn ab Armenia rediens
appulisset. Hie modieis eontentus aedibus nee
multo laxiore suburbano genus vitae eivile admodum
instituit, sine lietore aut viatore gymnasio interdum
obambulans mutuaque cum Graeeulis offieia usurpans
prope ex aequo.

Forte quondam in disponendo die mane prae-
dixerat_, quidquid aegrorum in civitate esset visitare
se velle ; id a proximis aliter exceptum iussique sunt
omnes aegri in publicam porticum deferri ac per
valitudinum genera disponi. Perculsus ergo inopinata
re diuque quid ageret incertus, tandem singulos
circuit excusans factum etiam tenuissimo cuique et
ignoto.

Unum hoc modo neque praeterea quicquam
notatum est, in quo exseruisse ius tribuniciae potes-
tatis visus sit : cum circa scholas et auditoria pro-
fessorum assiduus esset, moto inter antisophistas
graviore iurgio, non defuit qui eum intervenientem
et quasi studiosiorem partis alterius convicio inces-
seret. Sensim itaque regressus domum repente cum
308

TIBERIUS

XI. From Ostia he <;oasted along the shore of
Campania^ and learning of an indisposition of
Augustus^ he stopped for a while. But since gossip
was rife that he was lingering on the chance of
realising his highest hopes^ although the wind was all
but dead ahead, he sailed directly to Rhodes^ for he
had been attracted by the charm and heal thfuln ess
of that island ever since the time when he put
in there on his return from Armenia. Content
there with a modest house and a villa in the suburbs
not much more spacious, he adopted a most un-
assuming manner of life, at times walking in the
gymnasium without a lictor or a messenger, and
exchanging courtesies with the good people of Greece
with almost the air of an equal.

It chanced one morning in arranging his pro-
gramme for the day, that he had announced his wish
to visit whatever sick folk there were in the city.
This was misunderstood by his attendants, and orders
were given that all the sick should be taken to a
public colonnade and arranged according to the
nature of their complaints. Whereupon Tiberius,
shocked at this unexpected sight, and in doubt for
some time what to do, at last went about to each
one, apologizing for what had happened even to
the humblest and most obscure of them.

Only one single instance was noticed of a visible
exercise of the rights of the tribunicial authorit}^
He was a constant attendant at the schools and
lecture-rooms of the professors of philosophy, and
once when a hot dispute had arisen among rival
sophists, a fellow had the audacity to ply him with
abuse when he took part and appeared to favour one
side. Thereupon he gradually backed away to his

309

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

apparitoribiis prodiit citatumque pro tribunali voce
praeconis conviciatorem rapi iussit in carcerem.

Comperit deinde luliam uxorem ob libidines atque
adiilteria damnatam repudiumque ei suo nomine ex
auctoritate Augusti remissum ; et quamquam laetus
nuntio, tamen officii duxit_, quantum in se esset, exo-
rare filiae patrem frequentibus Htteris et vel ut-
cumque meritae, quidquid umquam dono dedisset,
concedere. Transacto autem tribuniciae potestatis
tempore, confessus tandem, nihil aliud secessu
devitasse se quam aemulationis cum C. Lucioque
suspicionem, petit ut sibi securo iam ab hac parte,
conroboratis his et secundum locum facile tutantibus
permitteretur revisere necessitudines, quarum de-
siderio teneretur. Sed neque impetravit ultroque
etiam admonitus est, dimitteret omnem curam
suorum, quos tarn cupide reliquisset.

Xn. Remansit igitur Rhodi contra voluntatem,
vix per matrem consecutus, ut ad velandam igno-
miniam quasi legatus Augusto abesset.

Enimvero tunc non privatum modo, sed etiam
obnoxium et trepidum egit, mediterraneis agris
abditus vitansque praeternavigantium officia, quibus
frequentabatur assidue, nemine cum imperio aut

« The title of legatus gave him an official position and con-
cealed the fact that his absence was a forced one.

TIBERIUS

house, and then suddenly coming out with his lictors
and attendants, and bidding his crier to summon the
foul-mouthed fellow before his tribunal, he had him
taken off to prison.

Shortly after this he learned that his wife Julia
had been banished because of her immorality and
adulteries, and that a bill of divorce had been sent
her in his name by authority of Augustus ; but
welcome as this news was, he yet considered it
his duty to make every possible effort in numerous
letters to reconcile the father to his daughter ; and
regardless of her deserts, to allow her to keep any
gifts which he had himself made her at any time.
Moreover, when the term of his tribunicial power
was at an end, at last admitting that the sole object
of his retirement had been to avoid the suspicion of
rivalry with Gaius and Lucius, he asked that inasmuch
as he was free from care in that regard, since they
were now grown up and had an undisputed claim
on the succession, he be allowed to visit his relatives,
whom he sorely missed. But his request was denied
and he was besides admonislied to give up all
thought of his kindred, whom he had so eagerly
abandoned.

XII. Accordingly he remained in Rhodes against
his will, having with difficulty through his mother's
aid secured permission that, while away from Rome,
he should have the title of envoy ^ of Augustus, so
as to conceal his disgrace.

Then in very truth he lived not only in private,
but even in danger and fear, secluded in the
country away from the sea, and shunning the
attentions of those that sailed that way ; these,
however, were constantly thrust on him, since

3"

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

magistratu tendente quoqiiam quin deverteret
Rhodum. Et accesserimt maioris sollicitudinis
causae. Namque ]irivigmim Gaiuiii Orienti prae-
positum^ cum visendi gratia traiecisset Samum,
alieniorem sibi sensii ex crimiiiationibus M. Lolli

3 comitis et rectoris eius. Venit etiam in suspicionem
per quosdam beneficii sui centuriones a commeatu
castra repetentis niandata ad complures dedisse
ambigua et quae temptare singuloruin animos ad
novas res viderentur. De qua suspicione cert'")r ab
Augusto factus non cessavit ettiagitare aliquem
cuiuslibet ordinis custodem factis atque dictis suis.

XI n. Equi quoque et armorum solitas exercita-
tiones omisit redegitque se deposito patrio habitu ad
pallium et crepidas atque in tali statu biennio fere
permansit^ contemptior in dies et invisior, adeo ut
imao^ines eius et statuas Nemausenses ^ subverterint
ac familiari quondam convivio mentione eius orta
exstiterit qui Gaio polliceretur_, confestim se^ si
iuberet, Rhodum navigaturum caputque exsulis — sic

2 enim appellabatur — relaturum. Quo praecipue non
iam metu sed discrimine coactus est^ tam suis quam
matris inpensissimis precibus reditum expostulare^
impetravitque adiutus aliquantum etiam casu. Desti-
natum Augusto erat^ nihil super ea re nisi ex

^ Nemausenses, Q^<;-; Remausenses, n.

" The Greek dress ; see note on Aug. xcviii. 3.
^ In Gallia Comata, where Tiberius had been governor ;
see chap. ix. 1.

312

TIBERIUS

no general or magistrate who was on his way to
any province failed to put in at Rliodes. He
had besides reasons for still greater anxiety ; for
when he had crossed to Samos to visit his stepson
Gaius^ w^ho had been made governor of the Orient^,
he found him somewliat estranged through the
slanders of Marcus Lollius^ a member of Gains' staff
and his guardian. He also incurred the suspicion of
having through some centurions of his appointment,
who were returning to camp after a furlough, sent
messages to several persons which were of an
ambiguous character and apparently designed to
incite them to revolution. On being informed by
Augustus of this suspicion, he unceasingly demanded
the appointment of someone, of any rank whatsoever,
to keep watch over his actions and words.

XIII. He also gave up his usual exercises with
horses and arms, and laying aside the garb of his
country, took to the cloak and slippers ^ ; and in this
state he continued for upAvards of tAvo years, becom-
ing daily an object of greater contempt and aversion.
This went so far that the citizens of Nemausus *
threw down his statues and busts, and when mention
was once made of him at a private dinner party, a man
got up and assured Gains that if he would say the
word, he would at once take ship for Rhodes and bring
back the head of "the exile," as he was commonly
called. It was this act especially, which made his
position no longer one of mere fear but of actual
peril, that drove Tiberius to sue for his recall with
most urgent prayers, in which his mother joined ;
and he obtained it, although partly owing to a
fortunate chance. Augustus had resolved to come
to no decision of the question which was not agree-

313

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

voluntate maioris fill statuere ; is forte tunc M. Lollio
offensior, facilis exorabilisque in vitricum fuit. Per-
mittente ergo Gaio revocatus est, verum sub con-
dicione ne quam partem curamve rei p. attingeret.

XIV. Rediit octavo post secessum anno, magna
nee incerta spe futurorum, quam et ostentis et
praedictionibus ab initio aetatis conceperat.

Praegnans eo ^ Livia cum an marem editura esset,
variis captaret ominibus, ovum incubanti gallinae
subductum nunc sua nunc ministrarum manu per
vices usque fovit, quoad pullus insigniter cristatus
exclusus est. Ac de infante Scribonius mathemati-
cus praeclara spopondit, etiam regnaturum quando-
que, sed sine regio insigni, ignota scilicet tunc
adhuc Caesarum potestate. Et ingresso primam
expeditionem ac per Macedoniam ducente exercitum
in Syriam, accidit ut apud Philippos sacratae olim
victricium legionum arae sponte subitis conlucerent
ignibus ; et mox, cum Illyricum petens iuxta
Patavium adisset Geryonis oraculum, sorte tracta,
qua monebatur ut de consultationibus in Aponi
fontem talos aureos iaceret, evenit ut summum
numerum iacti ab eo ostenderent ; hodieque sub
aqua visuntur hi tali. Ante paucos vero quam
revocaretur dies aquila numquam antea Rhodi
conspecta in culmine domus eius assedit ; et pridie

^ eo, Bentley ; eum, n.

« Genius Caesar.

TIBERIUS

able to his elder son/ who, as it happened, was at the
time somewhat at odds with Marcus Lollius, and
accordingly ready to lend an ear to his stepfather's
prayers. With his consent therefore Tiberius was
recalled, but on the understanding that he should
take no part or active interest in public affairs.

XIV. So he returned in the eighth year after his 2 a.».
retirement, with that strong and unwavering con-
fidence in his destiny, which he had conceived from
his early years because of omens and predictions.

When Livia was with child with him, and was
trying to divine by various omens whether she would
bring forth a male, she took an egg from under a
setting-hen, and when she had warmed it in her own
liand and those of her attendants in turn, a cock with
a fine crest was hatched. In his infancy the astrologer
Scribonius promised him an illustrious career and
even that he would one day be king, but without the
crown of royalty ; for at that time of course the rule
of the Caesars was as yet unheard of. Again, on his 42 B.a
first campaign, when he was leading an army through
Macedonia into Syi'ia, it chanced that at Philippi the
altars consecrated in bygone days by the victorious
legions gleamed of their own accord with sudden
fires. When later, on his way to Illyricum, he
visited the oracle of Geryon near Patavium, and
drew a lot which advised him to seek an answer to
his inquiries by throwing golden dice into the fount
of Aponus, it came to pass that the dice which
he threw showed the highest posssible number ;
and those dice may be seen to-day under the water.
A few days before his recall an eagle, a bird never
before seen in Rhodes, perched upon the roof of his
house ; and the day before he was notified that he

31S

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

quam de reditu certior fieret, vestimenta mutanti
tunica ardere visa est. Thrasyllum quoque mathe-
maticum, quern ut sapientiae professorem contubernio
admoverat, turn maxime expertus est affirmantem
nave provisa gaudium afFerri ; cum quidem ilium
durius et contra praedicta cadentibus rebus ut falsum
et secretorum temere conscium, eo ipso momento,
dum spatiatur una, praecipitare in mare destinasset.

XV. Romam reversus deducto in Forum filio
Druso statim e Carinis ac Pompeiana domo Esquilias
in hortos Maecenatianos transmigravit totumque
se ad quietem contulit, privata modo officia obiens
ac publicorum munerum expers.

Gaio et Lucio intra triennium defunctis adoptatur
ab Augusto simul cum fratre eorum M. Agrippa,
coactus prius ipse Germanicum fratris sui filium
adoptare Nee quicquam postea pro patre familias
egit aut ius, quod amiserat, ex ulla parte retinuit.
Nam neque donavit neque manumisit, ne hereditatem
quidem aut legata percepit ulla aliter quam ut
peculio referret accepta. Nihil ex eo tempore
praetermissum est ad maiestatem eius augendam
ac multo magis, postquam Agrippa abdicato atque
seposito certum erat, uni spem successionis incum-
bers

XVI. Data rursus potestas tribunicia in quin-
quennium, delegatus pacandae Germaniae status,

* Cf. Aug. XX vi. 2.

^ *' The Keels," so-called from its shape, on the western
slope of the Esquiline Hill, where the church of S. Pietro in
Vincoli now stands.

^ Peculiiim was the term applied to the savings of a slave
or of a son under his father's control, which they were allowed
to hold as their own propert}^ though technically belonging
to the master or father.

316

TIBERIUS

might return, his tunic seemed to blaze as he was
changing his clothes. It was just at this time that
he was convinced of the powers of the astrologer
Thrasyllus, whom he had attached to his household
as a learned man ; for as soon as he caught sight
of the ship^ Thrasyllus declared that it brought good
news — this too at the very moment when Tiberius
had made up his mind to push the man off into the
sea as they were strolling together, believing him a
false prophet and too hastily made the confidant of
his secrets, because things were turning out adversely
and contrary to his predictions.

XV. On his return to Rome, after introducing his
son Drusus to public life," he at once moved from
the Carinae ^ and the house of the Pompeys to the
gardens of Maecenas on the Esquiline, where he led
a very retired life, merely attending to his personal
affairs and exercising no public functions.

When Gaius and Lucius died within three years,
he was adopted by Augustus along with their brother
Marcus Agrippa, being himself first compelled to adopt
his nephew Germanicus. And from that time on he
ceased to act as the head of a family, or to retain in
any particular the privileges which he had given up.
For he neither made gifts nor freed slaves, and he
did not even accept an inheritance or any legacies,
except to enter them as an addition to his personal
property.^ From this time on nothing was left
undone which could add to his prestige, especially
after the disowning and banishment of Agrippa made
it clear that the hope of the succession lay in him
alone.

XVI. He was given the tribunician power for a
second term of three years, the duty of subjugating

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

Parthorum legati mandatis Augusto Romae redditis
eum quoque adire in provincia iussi. Sed nuntiata
Illyrici defectione transiit ad curam novi belli,
quod gravissimum omnium externorum bellorum
post Punica, per quindecim legiones paremque
auxiliorum copiam triennio gessit in magnis omnium

2 rerum difficultatibus summaque frugum inopia. Et
quanquam saepius revocaretur, tamen perseveravit,
metuens ne vicinus et praevalens hostis instaret
ultro cedentibus. Ac perseverantiae grande pretium
tulit, toto Illyrico, quod inter Italiam regnumque
Noricum et Thraciam et Macedoniam interque
Danuvium ^ flumen et sinum maris Hadriatici patet,
perdomito et in dicionem redacto.

XVn. Cui gloriae amplior adhuc ex opportunitate
cumulus accessit. Nam sub id fere tempus Quintilius
Varus cum tribus legionibus in Germania periit,
nemine dubitante quin victores Germani iuncturi
se Pannoniis fuerint, nisi debellatum prius Illyricum
esset- Quas ob res triumphus ei decretus est

2 multique ^ et magni honores. Censuerunt etiam
quidam ut Pannonicus, alii ut Invictus, nonnulli
ut Pius cognominaretur. Sed de cognomine inter-
cessit Augustus, eo contentum repromittens, quod
se defuncto suscepturus esset. Triumphum ipse
distulit maesta civitate clade Variana ; nihilo minus
urbem praetextatus et laurea coronatus intravit

^ Danuvium] Danubium, D..

'^ est multique, I6th cenhiry editions ; et multi, Stephauus ;
multi, n.

3'8

TIBERIUS

Germany was assigned him, and the envoys of the
Parthians, after presenting tlieir instructions to
Augustus in Rome, were bidden to appear also before
him in his province. But when the revolt of II-
lyricum was reported, he was transferred to the
charge of a new war, the most serious of all foreign
wars since those with Carthage, which he carried on
for three years with fifteen legions and a correspond-
ing force of auxiliaries, amid great difficulties of every
kind and the utmost scarcity of supplies. But though
he was often recalled, he none the less kept on, for
fear that the enemy, who were close at hand and very
strong, might assume the offensive if the Romans
gave ground. He reaped an ample reward for his
perseverance, for he completely subdued and reduced
to submission the whole of Illyricum, which is bounded
by Italy and the kingdom of Noricum, by Thrace and
Macedonia, by the Danube, and by the Adriatic sea.
XVII. Circumstances gave this exploit a larger and
crowning glory ; for it was at just about that time
that Quintilius Varus perished with three legions in
Germany, and no one doubted that the victorious
Germans would have united with the Pannonians,
had not Illyricum been subdued first. Consequently
a triumph was voted him and many high honours.
Some also recommended that he be given the sur-
name of Pannonicus, others of Invictus, others of Pius.
Augustus however vetoed the surname, reiterating
the promise that Tiberius would be satisfied with the
one which he would receive at his father's death.
Tiberius himself put off the triumph, because the
country was in mourning for the disaster to Varus ;
but he entered the city clad in the purple-bordered
toga and crowned with laurel, and mounting a

319

THE LIVP:S of the CAESARS, BOOK HI

positumque in Saeptis tribunal senatu astante
conscendit ac medius inter duos consules cum
Au/:]^usto simul sedit ; unde populo consalutato
circum temj)]a deductus est.

XVni. Proximo anno repetita Germania cum
animadverteret Varianam cladem temeritate et
neglegentia ducis accidisse, nihil non de consilii
sententia eo^it ; semper alias sui arbitrii contentusque
se uno, tunc praeter consuetudinem cum compluribus
de ration e belli communicavit. Curam quoque solito
exactiorem praestitit. Traiecturus Rhenum com-
meatum omnem ad certam formulam adstrictum
non ante transmisit, quam consistens aj)ud ripam
explorasset vehiculorum onera, ne qua deportarentur
nisi concessa aut necessaria. Trans Rhenum vero
eum vitae ordinem tenuit, ut sedens in caespite
nudo cibum caperet, saepe sine tentorio pernoctaret^
praecepta sequentis diei omnia, et si quid subiti
muneris iniungendum esset, per libellos daret ;
addita monitione ut, de quo quisque dubitaret,
se nee alio interprete quacumque vel noctis hora
uteretur.

XIX. Disciplinam acerrime exegit animad-
versionum et ignominiarum generibus ex antiquitate
repetitis atque etiam legato legionis, quod paucos
milites cum liberto suo trans ripam venatum misisset,
ignominia notato. Proelia, quamvis minimum
fortunae casibusque permitteret, aliquanto con-

320

TIBERIUS

tribunal which had been set up in the Saepta, while
the senate stood alongside^ he took his seat beside
Augustus between the two consuls. Having greeted
the people from this position, he was escorted to the
various temples.

XVIII. The next year he returned to Germany,
and realising that the disaster to Varus was due to
that general's rashness and lack of care, he took no
step without the approval of a council ; while he
had always before been a man of independent judg-
ment and self reliance, then contrary to his habit he
consulted with many advisers about the conduct of
the campaign. He also observed more scrupulous
care than usual. When on the point of crossing the
Rhine, he reduced all the baggage to a prescribed
limit, and would not start without standing on the
bank and inspecting the loads of the wagons, to
make sure that nothing was taken except what w^as
allowed or necessary. Once on the other side, he
adopted the following manner of life : he took his
meals sitting on the bare turf, often passed the night
without a tent, and gave all his orders for the follow-
ing day, as well as notice of any sudden emergency,
in writing ; adding the injunction that if anyone was
in doubt about any matter, he was to consult him
personally at any hour whatsoever, even of the
night.

XIX. He required the strictest discipline, reviving
bygone methods of punishment and ignominy, and
even degrading the commander of a legion for
sending a few soldiers across the river to accompany
one of his freedmen on a hunting expedition. Al-
though he left very little to fortune and chance, he
entered battles with considerably greater confidence

321

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

stantius inibat, quotiens lucubrante se subito ac niillo
propellente decideret lumen et exstingueretur,
confidens, iit aiebat, ostento sibi a maioribus suis in
omni ducatu expertissimo. Sed re prospere gesta
non multuni afuit qiiin a Bructero qiiodam occide-
retur^ ciii inter proximos versanti et trepidatione
detecto tormentis expressa confessio est cogitati
facinoris.

XX. A Germania in urbem post biennium
regressus triumphuni, qiiem distulerat, egit prose-
quentibus etiam legatis, qiiibus triumphalia or-
namenta imj)etrarat. Ac priiis quam in Capitoliuni
flecteret, descendit e curru seque praesidenti patri
ad genua summisit. Batonem Pannonium ducem
ingentibus donatuni praemiis Ravennam transtulit,
gratiam referens, quod se quondam cum exercitu
iniquitate loci circumclusum passus esset ^ evadere.
Prandium dehinc populo mille mensis et congiarium
trecenos nummos viritim dedit. Dedicavit et
Concordiae aedem, item Pollucis et Castoris suo
fratrisque nomine de manubiis.

XXL Ac non multo post lege per consules la'.a, ut
provincias cum Augusto communiter administraret
simulque censum ageret,^ condito lustro in Illyricum
profectus est. Et statim ex itinere revocatus iam
quidem adfectum, sed tamen spirantem adhuc
Augustum repperit fuitque una secreto })er totum
diem.

^ esset, Sfej)ha7ms ; est, H.

^ ageret, IV ; the other ms.s. have augeret.

" At the Porta Triumphalis, at the head of the senate, who
met the triumphing general there, and joined in the procession.

^ Ordinarily the leaders of the enemy were strangled in
ihe career, or dungeon, at the foot of the Capitoline Hill.

^ See Aug, xcvii. L
322

TIBERIUS

whenever it happened that, as he was working at
night, his lamp suddenly and w ithout human agency
died down and went out ; trusting, as he used to say^
to an omen in which he had great confidence, since
both he and his ancestors had found it trustworthy
in all of their campaigns. Yet in the very hour of
victory he narrowly escaped assassination by one of
the Bructeri, who got access to him among his
attendants, but was detected through his nervous-
ness ; whereupon a confession of his intended crime
was wrung from him by torture.

XX. After two years he returned to the city from 12 a.d.
Germany and celebrated the triumph which he had
postponed, accompanied also by his generals, for whom

he had obtained the triumphal regalia. And before
turning to enter the Capitol, he dismounted from his
chariot and fell at the knees of his father, who was pre-
siding over the ceremonies.^ He sent Bato, the leader
of the Pannonians, to Ravenna,^ after presenting him
with rich gitts ; thus showing his gratitude to him for
allowing him to escape when he was trapped w ith his
army in a dangerous place. Then he gave a banquet
to the people at a thousand tables, and a largess of
three hundred sesterces to every man. With the
proceeds of his spoils he restored and dedicated the
temple of Concord, as well as that of Pollux and
Castor, in his own name and that of his brother.

XXI. Since the consuls caused a law to be passed
soon after this that he should govern the provinces
jointly with Augustus and hold the census with him,
he set out for Illyricum on the conclusion of the
lustral ceremonies ^ ; but he was at once recalled,
and finding Augustus in his last illness but still alive,
he spent an entire day with him in private.

323

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

2 Scio vulgo persuasum quasi egresso post secretum
sermonem Tiberio vox Augusti per cubicularios
excepta sit : ^^ Miserum populiim R., qui sub tain
lentis maxillis erit ! " Ne illud quidem ignoro aliquos
tradidisse, Augustum palam nee dissimulanter morum
eius diritatem adeo improbasse, ut nonnumquam
remissiores liilarioresque sermones superveniente eo
abrumperet ; sed expugnatum precibus uxoris
adoptionem non abnuisse, vel etiam ambitione
tractum, ut tali successore desiderabilior ipse quan-

3 doque fieret. Adduci tamen nequeo quin existimem,
circumspectissinium et prudentissimum principeni in
tanto praesertini negotio nihil temere fecisse ; sed
vitiis Tiberi virtutibusque perpensis potiores duxisse
virtutes, praesertim eum et rei p. causa adoptare se
eum pro eontione iuraverit et epistulis aliquot ut
peritissimum rei militaris utque unicuni p. R.
praesidium prosequatur. Ex quibus in exemplum
pauca hinc inde subieci.

4 '^ Vale, iucundissime Tiberi, et feliciter rem gere,
ifxol KOL rats ixovcrai^ ^ (jTparrjyuyv. Iucundissime et ita
sim felix, vir fortissime et dux vo/xt/Awrarc, vale."

5 *^ Ordinem aestivorum tuorum ego vero laudo,^ mi
Tiberi, et inter tot rerum difficultates koI Toaavr-qv
aTroOvjJiiav t(ov (TTparevofievojv non potuisse quemquam
prudentius gerere se quam tu gesseris, existimo. li

^ luLovaais] /j.oviCacaiCT, m.s8. '^ laudo, iiiseiitd by Stephanies.

" If the text is correct, the reference is to Tiberius'
literary tastes ; of. Horace, Odes, 3. 4. 37 ff. ; Epist. 1. 3.

TIBERIUS

I know that it is commonly believed, that when
Fiberius left the room after this confidential talk,
Augustus was overheard by his chamberlains to say :
^^ Alas for the Roman people, to be ground by jaws
that crunch so slowly ! " I also am aware that some
have written that Augustus so openly and unre-
servedly disapproved of his austere manners, that he
sometimes broke off his freer and lighter conversation
when Tiberius appeared ; but that overcome by his
wife's entreaties he did not reject his adoption, or
perhaps was even led by selfish considerations, that
with such a successor he himself might one day be
more regretted. But after all I cannot be led to
believe that an emperor of the utmost prudence and
foresight acted without consideration, especially in a
matter of so great moment. It is my opinion that
after weighing the faults and the merits of Tiberius,
he decided that the latter preponderated, especially
since he took oath before the people that he was
adopting Tiberius for the good of the country, and
alludes to him in several letters as a most able
general and the sole defence of the Roman people.
In illustration of both these points, I append a few
extracts from these letters.

^^ Fare thee well, Tiberius, most charming of men,
and success go with you, as you war for me and
for the Muses.** Fare thee well, most charming and
valiant of men and most conscientious of generals,
or may I never know happiness."

^^ I have only praise for the conduct of your summer
campaigns, dear Tiberius, and I am sure that no one
could have acted with better judgment than you did
amid so many difficulties and such apathy of your army.

325

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

quoque qui tecum fuerunt omnes confitentur, versum
ilium in te posse dici :

Unus homo nobis vigilando restituit rem."

^^Sive quid incidit de quo sit cogitandum dili-
gentius, sive quid stomachor, valde medius Fidius
Tiberium meum desidero succurritque versus ille
Homericus :

TovTOV y ecTTOfiivoLO /cat €K nvpo^ aWofjiivoLo
"Aficfuo vodTria-aijxev, €7r€t Trcpt'otSc voriaaL.

" Attenuatum te esse eontinuatione laborum cum
audio et lego, di me perdant nisi cohorrescit corpus
meum ; teque oro ut parcas tibi, ne si te languere
audierimus, et ego et mater tua expiremus et summa
imperi sui populus R. periclitetur."

'^ Nihil interest valeam ipse necne, si tu non
valebis.'*

" Deos obsecro, ut te nobis conservent et valere
nunc et semper patiantur, si non p. R. perosi sunt."

XXII. Excessum Augusti non prius palam fecit,
quam Agrippa iuvene interempto. Hunc tribunus
militum custos appositus occidit lectis codicillis, quibus
ut id faceret iubebatur ; quos codicillos dubium
fuit, Augustusne moriens reliquisset, quo materiam

^* Cf. Enn. Ann. 870 V'^ ; where cunctando takes the place
of vigilando.

* Literally, '*by the god of Truth"; Fidius was one of
the surnames of Jupiter. ^ Iliad ^ 10. 246 f.

326

TIBERIUS

All who were with you agree that the well-known
line could be applied to you :

" ^ One man alone by his foresight has saved our dear
country from ruin.*

^^ If anything comes up that calls for careful
thought, or if I am vexed at anything, I long
mightily, so help me Heaven,* for my dear Tiberius,
and the lines of Homer come to my mind :

^^^Let him but follow and we too, though flames
round about us be raging.
Both may return to our homes, since great are his
wisdom and knowledge.*

"When I hear and read that you are worn out
by constant hardships, may the Gods confound me if
my own body does not wince in sympathy ; and
I beseech you to spare yourself, that the news of
your illness mtxy not kill your motlier and me, and
endanger the Roman people in the person of their
future ruler."

" It matters not whether I am well or not, if you
are not well."

"I pray the Gods to preserve you to us and to
grant you good health now and forever, if they do
not utterly hate the people of Rome."

XXn. Tiberius did not make the death of Augustus
public until the young Agrippa had been disposed
of. The latter was slain by a tribune of the soldiers
appointed to guard him, who received a letter in
which he was bidden to do the deed ; but it is not
known whether Augustus left this letter when he
died, to remove a future source of discord, or
whether Livia wrote it herself in the name of her

327

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

tumultus post se subduceret ; an nomine August! Livia
et ea conscio Tiberio an ignaro, dictasset. Tiberius
renuntianti tribuno, factum esse quod imperasset,
neque imperasse se et redditurum eum senatui
rationem respondit, invidiam scilicet in praesentia
vitans. Nam mox silentio rem obliteravit.

XXIII. lure autem tribuniciae potestatis coacto
senatu incohataque adlocutione derepente velut impar
dolori congemuit, utque non solum vox sed et spiritus
deficeret optavit ac perlegendum librum Druso filio
tradidit. Inlatum deinde Augusti testamentum, non
admissis signatoribus nisi senatorii ordinis, ceteris
extra curiam signa agnoscentibus, recitavit per li-
bertum. Testament! initium fuit : ^^ Quoniam atrox
fortuna Gaium et Lucium filios mihi eripuit, Tiberius
Caesar mihi ex parte dimidia et sextante heres esto.'*
Quo et ipso aucta suspicio est opinantium successorem
ascitum eum necessitate magis quam iudicio, quando
ita praefari non abstinuerit.

XXIV. Principatum, quamvis neque occupare con-
festim neque agere dubitasset, et statione militum,
hoc est vi et specie dominationis assumpta, diu tamen
recusavit, impudentissimo mimo ^ nunc adhortantis
amicos increpans ut ignaros, quanta belua esset
imperium, nunc precantem senatum et procum-

^ mimo, J,F, Gronovius ; animo, n.

328

TIBERIUS

husband ; and in the latter case, whether it was with
or without the connivance of Tiberius. At all events,
when the tribune reported that he had done his
bidding, Tiberius replied that he had given no such
order, and that the man must render an account to
the senate ; apparently trying to avoid odium at the
time, for later his silence consigned the matter
to oblivion,

XXIII. When, however, by virtue or his tribu-
nicial power, he had convened the senate and had
begun to address it, he suddenly groaned aloud,
as if overcome by grief, and with the wish that not
only his voice, but his life as well might leave him,
handed the written speech to his son Drusus to
finish. Then bringing in the will of Augustus, he
had it read by a freedman, admitting of the signers
only such as were of the senatorial order, while the
others acknowledged their seals outside the House.
The will began thus : " Since a cruel fate has bereft
me of my sons Gaius and Lucius, be Tiberius Caesar
heir to two-thirds of my estate.^' These words in
themselves added to the suspicion of those who
believed that he had named Tiberius his successor
from necessity rather than from choice, since he
allowed himself to write such a preamble.

XXIV. Though Tiberius did not hesitate at once
to assume and to exercise the imperial authority,
surrounding himself with a guard of soldiers, that is,
with the actual power and the outward sign of
sovereignty, yet he refused the title for a long time,
with barefaced hypocrisy now upbraiding his friends
who urged him to accept it, saying that they did
not realise what a monster the empire was, and now
by evasive answers and calculating hesitancy keeping

329

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

bentem sibi ad genua ambiguis responsis et callida
cunctatione suspendens, ut quidam })atientiam rum-
perent atque iiniis in tumultu proclamaret : " Aut
agat aut desistat ! " Alter coram exprobraret ceteros,
quod polliciti sint tarde praestare, sed ^ ipsum, quod
praestet tarde poUiceri. Tandem quasi coactus et
querens miseram et onerosam iniungi sibi servitutem,
recepit imperium ; nee tamen aliter, quam ut deposi-
turum se quandoque spem faceret. Ipsius verba sunt :
^^ Dum veniam ad id tempus^ quo vobis aequum possit
videri dare vos aliquam senectuti meae requiem."

XXV. Cunctandi causa erat metus undique im-
rainentium discriminum, ut sae}>e lupum se auribus
tenere diceret. Nam et servus Agrippae Clemens
nomine non contemnendam manum in ultionem
domini compararat et L. Scribonius Libo vir nobilis
res novas clam moliebatur et duplex seditio militum
in Illyrico et in Germania exorta est. Flagitabant
ambo exercitus multa extra ordinem, ante omnia ut
aequarentur stipendio praetorianis.^ Germaniciani
quidem etiam principem detractabant non a se datum
summaque vi Germanicum, qui tum iis ])raeerat, ad
capessendam rem p. urgebant, quanquam obfirmate
resistentem. Quem maxime casum timens, partes
sibi quas senatui liberet, tuendas in re p. depoposcit,
quando universae sufficere solus nemo posset nisi cum
altero vel etiam cum pluribus. Simulavit et valitu-

^ sed, UQRP^ ; the other mss. have se (seet, 0) ; omitted by
Lipsins. 2 praetorianis] praetoriani, m.ss.

^ A Greek proverb; of. Ter. Phorm, 506 and Donatus,
ad loc.

TIBERIUS

the senators in suspense when they implored him
to yield, and fell at his feet. Finally, some lost
patience, and one man cried out in tlie confusion :
^' Let him take it or leave it." Another openly
voiced the taunt that others were slow in doing what
they promised, but that he was slow to promise what
he was already doing. At last, as though on
compulsion, and complaining that a wretched and
burdensome slavery was being forced upon him,
he accepted the empire, but in such fashion as to
suggest the hope that he would one day lay it down.
His own words are : " Until I come to the time
when it may seem right to you to grant an old man
some repose."

XXV. The cause of his hesitation was fear of the
dangers which threatened him on every hand, and
often led him to say that he was '^ holding a wolf by
the ears.** " For a slave of Agrippa, Clemens by name,
had collected a band of no mean size to avenge his
master ; Lucius Scribonius Libo, one of the nobles,
was secretly plotting a revolution ; and a mutiny of
the soldiers broke out in two places, lUyricum and
Germany. Both annies demanded numerous special
privileges — above all, that they should receive the
same pay as the praetorians. The army in Germany
was, besides, reluctant to accept an emperor who was
not its own choice, and with the greatest urgency
besought Germanicus, their commander at the time,
to assume the purple, in spite of his positive refusal.
Fear of this possibility in particular led Tiberius
to ask the senate for any part in the administration
that it might please them to assign him, saying that
no one man could bear the whole burden without a
colleague, or even several colleagues. He also

331

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

dinem, quo aequiore animo Germanicus celerem suc-
cessionem vel certe societatem principatus opperiretur..
Compositis seditionibus Clementem quoque fraude
deceptum redegit in potestatem. Libonem, ne quid
in novitate acerbius fieret, secundo demum anno in
senatu coarguit^ medio temporis spatio tantum cavere
contentus ; nam et inter pontifices sacrificanti simul
pro secespita plumbeum eultrum subiciendum curavit
et secretum petenti non nisi adhibito Druso filio dedit
dextramque obambulantis veluti incumbens, quoad
perageretur sermo, continuit.

XXVI. Verum liberatus metu civilem admodum
inter initia ac paulo minus quam privatum egit. Ex
plurimis maximisque honoribus praeter paucos et
modicos non recepit. Natalem suum plebeis in-
currentem circensibus vix unius bigae adiectione
honorari passus est. Templa, flamines, sacerdotes
decerni sibi prohibuit, etiam statuas atque imagines
nisi permittente se poni ; permisitque ea sola con-
dicione, ne inter simulacra deorum sed inter ornamenta
aedium ponerentur. Intercessit et quo minus in acta
sua iuraretur, et ne mensis September Tiberius,
October Livius vocarentur. Praenomen quoque
imperatoris cognomenque patris patriae et civicam

^ The secespita, or sacrificial knife, had a long, sharp
point and a double edge, with an ivory handle ornaniented
with gold and silver.

^ Civilis rwQuu^ *' suited to a citizen" (of the days of the
Republic). His conduct was that of a magistrate of the
olden time, who had regard to the laws and the rights of his
fellow-citizens.

^ The reference is to an oath taken by all the citizens to
support what the emperor had done in the past and might do
in the future ; see Dio, 57. 8. ^* Cf. Jul. Ixxvi. 1.

^ See note on Jul. ii. This had been conferred on Augustus
honoi^is causa, as the saviour of all the citizens.

332

TIBERIUS

feigned ill-health, to induce Germanicus to wait with
more patience for a speedy succession, or at least for
a share in the sovereignty. The mutinies were put
down, and he also got Clemens into his power, out-
witting him by stratagem. Not until his second year
did he finally arraign Libo in the senate, fearing to
take any severe measures before his power was secure,
and satisfied in the meantime merely to be on his
guard. Thus when Libo w^as offering sacrifice with
him among the pontiffs, he had a leaden knife
substituted for the usual one,^ and when he asked
for a private interview, Tiberius would not grant it
except with his son Drusus present, and as long as
the conference lasted he held fast to Libo's riorht
arm, under pretence of leaning on it as they walked
together.

XXVI. Once relieved of fear, he 'at first played a
most unassuming ^ part, almost humbler than that of
a private citizen. Of many high honours he accepted
only a few of the more modest. He barely con-
sented to allow his birthday, which came at the time
of the Plebeian games in the Circus, to be recognized
by the addition of a single two-horse chariot. He
forbade the voting of temples, fiamens, and priests in
his honour, and even the setting up of statues and
busts without his permission ; and this he gave only
with the understanding that they were not to be
placed among the likenesses of the gods, but among
the adornments of the temples. He would not
allow an oath to be taken ratifying his acts,*' nor the
name Tiberius to be given to the month of September,
or that of Livia to October. He also declined the
forename Imperator,^ the surname of Father of his
Country, and the placing of the civic croMOi * at his

333

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HJ

ill vestibule coroiiani recusavit ; ac ne Au^iisti (lui-
dein iiomen, quaiiquain hcreditariuin, ullis ^ nisi ad
reges ac dynastas epistulis addidit. Nee amplius
quam mox tres consulatus, unum paucis diebus,
alterum tribus mensibus, tertium absens usque in Idus
Maias gessit.

XX Vn. Adulationes adeo aversatus est, ut nemi-
nem senatorum aut officii aut negotii causa ad lecti-
cam suam admiserit, consularem vero satisfacientem
sibi ac per genua orare conantem ita suffugerit, ut
caderet supinus ; atque etiam, si quid in sermone
vel in continua oratione blandius de se diceretur,
noil dubitaret interpellare ac reprehendere et com-
mutare continuo. Dominus appellatus a quodam
denuntiavit, ne se amplius contumeliae causa nomin-
aret. Aliuni dicenteni sacras eius occupationes
et rursus alium, auctore eo senatum se adisse/-
verba mutare et pro auctore suasorem, pro sacris
laboriosas dicere coegit.

XXVni. Sed et adversus convicia malosque ru-
mores et famosa de se ac suis carmina firmus ac
patiens, subinde iactabat in civitate libera linguani
mentemque liberas esse debere ; et quondam senatu
cognitionem de eius modi criminibus ac reis flagi-
tante: ^^Non tantum/' inquit/^otii habemus, ut impli-
care nos pluribus negotiis debeamus ; si banc
fenestram aperueritis, nihil aliud agi sinetis ; omnium
inimicitiae hoc praetexto ad vos deferentur." Exstat

^ ullis] nuUus, M 'j the other mss. /lare nullis.
2 adi(i)sse, ^; audisse, H.

« See Aug. ci. 2. ^ See Atig. liii. 1.

334

81

TIBERIUS

door ; and he did not even use the title of Augustus

in any letters except those to kings and potentates,

although it was his by inheritance.^ He held but

three consulships after becoming emperor — one for a 18, «i, uad

few days, a second for tliree months, and a third,

during his absence from the city, until the Ides

of May.

XXVIL He so loathed flattery that he would not
allow any senator to approach his litter, either to pay
his respects or on business, and when an ex-consul in
apologizing to him attempted to embrace his knees,
he drew back in such haste that he fell over back-
ward. In fact, if anyone in conversation or in a set
speech spoke of him in too flattering terms, he did
not hesitate to interrupt him, to take him to task,
and to correct his language on the spot. Being onee
called "Lord,"^he warned the speaker not to address
him again in an insulting fashion. When another
spoke of his " sacred duties,'* and still another said
that he appeared before the senate ^^by the em-
peror's authority," he forced them to change their
language, substituting "advice" for "authority"
and " laborious " for "sacred."

XXVIII. Moi-e than that, he was self-contained
and patient in the face of abuse and slander, and of
lampoons on himself and his family, often asserting
that in a free country there should be free speech
and free thought. When the senate on one occa-
sion demanded that cognizance be taken of such
offences and those guilty of them, he said : " We
have not enough spare time to warrant involving
ourselves in more affairs ; if you open this loophole
you will find no time for any other business ; it will
be an excuse for laying everybody's quarrels before

535

thp: lives of the caesars, book hi

et sermo eius in senatii ])ercivilis: ''^Siquidem locutus
aliter fuerit, dabo operani ut ratioiiem factorum
meorum dictoriimque reddam ; si perseveraveHf,
in vicem eum odero."

XXIX. Atqiie haec eo notabiliora erant, quod
ipse in appellandis venerandisque et singulis et
universis prope excesserat humanitatis modum.
Dissentiens in curia a Q. Haterio : *^^Ignoscas/' inquit^
^^ rogo^ si quid adversus te liberius sicut senator
dixero." Et deinde omnis adloquens : '^ Dixi et
nunc et saepe alias, p. c.^ bonum et salutarem
principem, quern vos tanta et tani libera potestate
instruxistis^ senatui servire debere et universis
civibus saepe et plerunique etiam singulis ; neque
id dixisse me paenitet, et bonos et aequos et
faventes vos habui dominos et adhuc liabeo.''

XXX. Quin etiam speciem libertatis quandam
induxit conservatis senatui ac magistratibus et
maiestate pristina et potestate. Neque tam parvum
quicquam neque tam magnum publici privatique
negotii fuit, de quo non ad patres conscriptos
referretur : de vectigalibus ac monopoliis^ de exstru-
endis reficiendisve o{)eribus^ etiam de legendo vel
exauctorando milite ac legionum et auxiliorum
discriptione, denique quibus imperium prorogari aut
extraordinaria bella mandari, quid et (jua forma ^
regum ^ litteris rescribi placeret. Praefectum alae

^ et qua forma, q- ; ad quam for mam, Salmasuis ; et quam
formam, H. '^ regum, ^; legiim, n.

" See note on chap. xxvi. 1.

^ The flattery of tlie term dominos is the more marked
because Tiberius himself slirank trom it ; cf. xxvii.

^ That is, the granting to an individual or a company of the
exclusive right to sell certain commodities. Forbidden in
Cod. JuRt, 4. 59. 1.

TIBERIUS

you." A most unassuming'* remark of his in the
senate is also a matter of record : " If so and so
criticizes me I shall take care to render an account
of my acts and words ; if he persists^ our enmity will
be mutual."

XXIX. All this was the more noteworthy, because
in addressing and in paying his respects to the
senators individually and as a body he himself
almost exceeded the requirements of courtesy. In
a disagreement with Quintus Haterius in the House,
he said : " I crave your pardon, if in my capacity as
senator I use too free language in opposing you/'
Then addressing the whole body : " I say now and
have often said before. Fathers of the Senate, that a
well-disposed and helpful prince, to whom you have
given such great and unrestrained power, ought to
be the servant of the senate, often of the citizens as
a whole, and sometimes even of individuals. I do
not regret my words, but I have looked upon you as
kind, just, and indulgent masters,^ and still so regard
you."

XXX. He even introduced a semblance of free
government by maintaining the ancient dignity and
powers of the senate and the magistrates ; for there
was no matter of public or private business so small
or so great that he did not lay it before the senators,
consulting them about revenues and monopolies,*^
constructing and restoring public buildings, and
even about levying and disbanding the soldiers, and
the disposal of the legionaries and auxiliaries ; finally
about the extension of military commands and
appointments to the conduct of wars, and the form
and content of his replies to the letters of kings.
He forced the commander of a troop of horse, when

337

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

de vi et rapinis reum causam in senatu dicere coegit.
Numquam curiam nisi solus intravit ; lectica quon-
dam intro latus aeger comites a se removit.

XXXI. Quaedam adversus sententiam suam de-
cerni ne questus quidem est. Negante eo destinatos
magistratus abesse ^ oportere, ut praesentes honori
adquiescerent, praetor designatus liberam legationem
impetravit. Iterum censente_, ut Trebianis legatam
in opus novi theatri pecuniam ad munitionem viae
transferre concederetur, oj)tinere non potuit quin
rata voluntas legatoris esset. Cum senatus consultum
per discessionem forte fieret, transeuntem eum
in alteram partem, in qua pauciores erant, secutus
est nemo.

Cetera quoque non nisi per magistratus et iure
ordinario agebantur, tanta eonsulum auctoritate,
ut legati ex Africa adierint eos querentes, trahi
se a Caesare ad quem missi forent. Nee mirum,
cum palam esset, ipsum quoque eisdem et assurgere
et decedere via.

XXXII. Corripuit consulares exercitibus prae-
positos, quod non de rebus gestis senatui scriberent
quodque de tribuendis quibusdam militaribus donis
ad se referrent, quasi non omnium tribuendorum
ipsi ius haberent. Praetorem conlaudavit, quod

^ abesse, 5- ; adesse, H.

" That is, to make use of the public post ; see Aug. xlix. 3,
and Cic. de Leg. 3. 18. * See Aug. xxv. 3.

338

I

TIBERIUS

charged with violence and robbery, to plead his
cause before the senate. He always entered the
House alone ; and when he was brought in once
in a litter because of illness, he dismissed his
attendants.

XXXI. When certain decrees were passed con-
trary to his expressed opinion, he did not even re-
monstrate. Although he declared that those who
were elected to office ought to remain in the city
and give personal attention to their duties, a praetor
elect obtained permission to travel abroad with the
privileges of an ambassador.^ On another occasion
when he recommended that the people of Trebia
be allowed to use, in making a road, a sum of
money which had been left them for the construc-
tion of a new theatre, he could not prevent the
wish of the testator from being carried out. When
it happened that the senate passed a decree by
division and he went over to the side of the minority,
not a man followed him.

Other business as well wag done solely through
the magistrates and the ordinary process of law,
while the importance of the consuls was such that
certain envoys from Africa presented themselves
before them with the complaint that their time was
being wasted by Caesar, to whom they had been
sent. And this was not surprising, for it was plain
to all that he himself actually arose in the presence
of the consuls, and made way for them on the street.

XXXII. He rebuked some ex-consuls in command
of armies, because they did not write their reports to
the senate, and for referring to him the award of
some military prizes,^ as if they had not themselves
the right to bestow everything of the kind. He

339

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

honore inito consuetudinem antiquam rettulisset
de maioribus suis pro contione memorandi. Quo-
rundam illustrium exsequias usqu« ad rogum fre-
quentavit.

Parein moderationeni minoribus quoque et personis
et rebus exhibuit. Cum Rhodiorum magistratus,
quod litteras publicas sine subscriptione ad se
dederant, evocasset, ne verbo quidem insectatus
ac tantum modo iussos subscribere remisit. Diogenes
grammaticus, disputare sabbatis Rhodi solitus, veni-
entem eum, ut se extra ordinem audiret, non
admiserat ac per servolum suum in septimum
diem distulerat ; hunc Romae salutandi sui causa
pro foribus adstantem nihil amplius quam ut post
septimum annum rediret admonuit. Praesidibus
onerandas tributo provincias suadentibus rescripsit
boni pastoris esse tondere pecus, non deglubere.

XXXIII. Paulatim principem exseruit praestititque
etsi varium diu, commodiorem tamen saepius et
ad utilitates publicas proniorem. Ac primo eatenus
interveniebat, ne quid perperam fieret. Itaque
et constitutiones senatus quasdam rescidit et magis-
tratibus pro tribunali cognoscentibus plerumque
se ofFerebat consiliarium assidebatque iuxtim vel
exadversum in parte primori ; et si quem reorum
elabi gratia rumor esset, subitus aderat iudicesque

^* Consisting of prayers for the emperor's welfare ; see Dio,
57. 11, and cf. Plin. EpUt. 10. 1, Fortem te et hilarem, Im-
perator optime, et privatim et publice opto.

* The designation of the seventh day of the week (Saturday)
by the Jewish term " Sabbath" seems to have been common;
of. Aug. Ixxvi. 2.

^ That is, at one end of the curved platform, to leave room
for the praetor in the middle ; cf. Tac. Ann. 1. 75, iudiciis
adsidehat in cornu tribunalis, ne praetorem atruli depelleret.

340

TIBERIUS

highly complimented a praetor, because on entenng
upon his office he had revived the custom of eulogiz-
ing his ancestors before the people. He attended
the obsequies of certain distinguished men, even
going to the funeral-pyre.

He showed equal modesty towards persons of
lower rank and in matters of less moment. When
he had summoned the magistrates of Rhodes, because
they had written him letters on public business
without the concluding formula," he uttered not a
word of censure, but merely dismissed them with
orders to supply the omission. The grammarian
Diogenes, who used to lecture every Sabbath ^ at
Rhodes, would not admit Tiberius when he came to
hear him on a different day, but sent a message by a
common slave of his, putting him off to the seventh
day. When this man waited before the Emperor's door
at Rome to pay his respects, Tiberius took no further
revenge than to bid him return seven years later.
To the governors who recommended burdensome
taxes for his provinces, he wrote in answer that it
was the part of a good shepherd to shear his flock,
not skin it.

XXXIII. Little by little he unmasked the ruler,
and although for some time his conduct was variable,
yet he more often showed himself kindly and devoted
to the public weal. His intervention too was at first
limited to the prevention of abuses. Thus he revoked
some regulations of the senate and sometimes offered
the magistrates his services as adviser, when they
sat in judgment on the tribunal, taking his place beside
them or opposite them at one end of the platform ^ ;
and if it was rumoured that any of the accused were
being acquitted through influence, he would suddenly

341

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

aut e piano aut e quaesitoris tribunal! legum et
religionis et noxae, de qua cognoscerent, admonebat ;
atque etiam, si qua in publicis moribus desidia
aut mala consuetudine labarent, corrigenda suscepit.

XXXIV. Ludorum ac munerum impensas eorripuit
mercedibus scaenicorum recisis paribusque gladia-
torum ad certum numerum redactis. Corinthiorum
vasorum pretia in immensum exarsisse tresque mullos
triginta milibus nummum venisse graviter conquestus,
adhibendum supellectili modum censuit annonamque
macelli senatus arbitratu quotannis temperandam,
dato aedilibus negotio popinas ganeasque usque eo
inhibendi, ut ne opera quidem pistoria proponi
venalia sinerent. Et ut parsinjoniam publicam
exemplo quoque iuvaret, soUeinnibus ipse cenis
pridiana saepe ac semesa obsonia apposuit dimidia-
tumque aprum, affirmans omnia eadem habere,
quae totum,

Cotidiana oscula edicto prohibuit, item strenarum
commercium ne ultra Kal. Ian. exerceretur. Con-
suerat quadriplam strenam, et de manu, reddere ; sed
oflTensus interpellari se toto mense ab iis qui potesta-
tem sui die festo non habuissent, ultra non tulit.

XXXV. Matronas prostratae pudicitiae, quibus ac-
cusator publicus deesset, ut propinqui more maiorum

^ mullos, $- ; the other mss. have mulos.

* See note on Jul. xvii. 1. * Cf. Aug. Ixx. 2.

'^ Both an hygienic and a moral measure, see Plin. N.U. 26.
Iff., and Mart. xi. 99.

^ Sfrena, Fr. etrenne, literally *' an omen," meant strictly
gifts given for good luck.

^ That is, of four times the value of the one which he
received.

342

TIBERIUS

appear, and eithei from the floor or from the
judge's • tribunal remind the jurors of the laws
and of their oath, as well as of the nature of the
crime on which they were sitting in judgment.
Moreover, if the public morals were in any way
affected by laziness or bad habits he undertook to
reform them.

XXXIV. He reduced the cost of the games and
shows by cutting down the pay of the actors and
limiting the pairs of gladiators to a fixed number.
Complaining bitterly that the prices of Corinthian
bronzes ^ had risen to an immense figure and that
three mullets had been sold for thirty thousand
sesterces, he proposed that a limit be set to house-
hold furniture and that the prices in the market
should be regulated each year at the discretion of
the senate ; while the aediles were instructed to put
such restrictions on cook-shops and eating-houses as
not to allow even pastry to be exposed for sale.
Furthermore, to encourage general frugality by his
personal example, he often served at formnl dinners
meats left over from the day before and partly
consumed, or the half of a boar, declaring that it
had all the qualities of a whole one.

He issued an edict forbidding general kissing,*' as
well as the exchange of New Year's gifts ^ after the
Kalends of January. It was his custom to return a
gift of four-fold value,* and in person ; but annoyed
at being interrupted all through the montli by those
who did not have access to him on the holiday, he
did not continue it.

XXXV. He revived the custom of our forefathers,
that in the absence of a public prosecutor matrons of
ill-repute be punished according to the decision of a

343

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

de communi sententia coercerent auctor fuit. Equiti
Romano iuris iurandi gratiam fecit, uxorem in stupro
generi compertam dimitteret, quam se numquam
repudiaturum ante iuraverat. Feminae famosae, ut
ad evitandas legum poenas iure ac dignitate matronali
exsolverentur, lenocinium profiteri coeperant, et ex
iuventute utriusque ordinis profligatissimus quisque,
quominus in opera scaenae harenaeque edenda
senatus consulto teneretur, famosi iudicii notam
sponte subibant ; eos easqiie omnes, ne quod
refugium in tali fraude cuiquam esset, exsilio adfecit.
Senatori latum clavum ademit, cum cognosset sub
Kal. lul. demigrasse in hortos, quo vilius post diem
aedes in urbe conduce ret. Alium e quaestura re-
movit, quod uxorem pridie sortitionem ductam
postridie repudiasset.

XXXVI. Externas caerimonias, Aegyptios ludai-
cosque ritus compescuit, coactis qui superstitione ea
tenebantur religiosas vestes cum instrumento omni
comburere. ludaeorum iuventutem per speciem
sacramenti in provincias gravioris caeli distribuit,
reliquos gentis eiusdem vel similia sectantes urbe
summovit, sub poena perpetuae servitutis nisi
obtemperassent. Expulit et mathematicos, sed de-

^* The punishments for adultery had been made very severe
by Augustus (cf. Aug. xxxiv.). To escape these some
matrons registered with the aediles as prostitutes, thereby
sacrificing their rights as matrons, as well as their responsi-
bilities ; cf. Tac. Ami. 2. 85.

^ The first of July was the date for renting and hiring
houses and rooms ; hence it was "moving-day." See Mart.
12. 32.

«^ To determine his province or tlie sphere of his duty. The

344

TIBERIUS

council of their relatives. He absolved a Roman
knight from his oath and allowed him to put away
his wife, who was taken in adultery with her son-in-
law, even though he had previously sworn that he
would never divorce her. Notorious women had
begun to make an open profession of prostitution,
to avoid the punishment of the laws by giving up
the privileges and rank of matrons,* while the most
profligate young men of both orders voluntarily
incurred degradation from their rank, so as not to be
prevented by the decree of the senate from appear-
ing on the stage and in the arena. All such men
and women he punished with exile, to prevent any-
one from shielding himself by such a device. He
deprived a senator of his broad stripe on learning
that he had moved to his gardens just before the
Kalends of July,** with the design of renting a house
in the city at a lower figure after that date. He
deposed another from his quaestorship, because he
had taken a wife the day before casting lots* and
divorced her the day after.

XXXVI. He abolished foreign cults, especially the
Egyptian and the Jewish rites, compelling all who
were addicted to such superstitions to burn their
religious vestments and all their paraphernalia. Those
of the Jews who were of military age he assigned
to provinces of less healthy climate, ostensibly
to serve in the army ; the others of that same race
oi' of similar beliefs he banished from the city, on
pain of slavery for life if they did not obey. He
banished the astrologers as well, but pardoned such

reason for his divorcing his wife is problematical. Evidently
his marriage brought him some advantage which no longer
existed after his province was determined.

345

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

precantibus ac se artem desituros promittentibus
veniam dedit.

XXXVII. In ])nmis tuendae pacis a grassaturis ac
latrociniis seditionumque licentia curam habuit.
Stationes militum per Italiam solito frequentiores
disposuit. Romae castra constituit, quibus praetoria-
nae cohortes vagae ante id tempus et per hospitia
dispersae continerentur.

Populares tumultus et ortos gravissime coercuit et
ne orerentur sedulo cavit. Caede in theatre per
discordiam admissa capita factionum et histriones,
propter quos dissidebatur, relegavit, nee ut revocaret
umqiiam ullis populi precibus potuit evinci. Cum
Pollentina plebs funus cuiusdam primipilaris non
prius ex foro misisset quam extorta pecunia per vim
heredibus ad gladiatorium munus, cohortem ab urbe
et aHam a Cotti regno dissimulata itineris causa
detectis repente armis concinentibusque signis per
diversas j)ortas in oppidum immisitac partem maiorem
plebei ac decurionum in perpetua vincula coniecit.
Abolevit et ius moremque asylorum, quae usquam
erant. Cyzicenis in cives R. violentius quaedam
ausis publice libertatem a] emit, quam Mithridatico
bello meruerant.^

Hostiles motus nulla postea expeditione suscepta
per legates compescuit, ne per eos quidem nisi
cunctanter et necessario. Reges infestos suspec-

1 mernei'ant, c { Beroaldn^) ; meruerunt, Ci.

^ That is, the supporters and partisans of the rival actors ;
see Tac Ann. \.ll.

^ The members of the local senate.

'^ Taking refuge in temples and holy places, to avoid
punishment for crimes ; for its abuse see Tac. Ann. 3. 60.

TIBERIUS

as begged for indulgence and promised to give up
their art.

XXXVII. He gave special attention to securing
safety from prowling brigands and lawless outbreaks,
He stationed garrisons of soldiers nearer together
than before throughout Italy, while at Rome he
established a camp for the barracks of the praetorian
cohorts, which before that time had been quartered
in isolated groups in divers lodging houses.

He took great pains to prevent outbreaks of the
populace and punished such as occurred with the
utmost severity. When a quarrel in the theatre
ended in bloodshed, he banished the leaders of the
factions,^ as well as the actors who were the cause of
the dissension ; and no entreaties of the people could
ever induce him to recall them. When the populace
of Pollentia would not allow the body of a chief-
centurion to be taken from the forum until their
violence had extorted money from his heirs for a
gladiatorial show, he dispatched one cohort from the
city and another from the kingdom of Cottius, con-
cealing the reason for the move, sent them into the
city by different gates, suddenly revealing their arms
and sounding their trumpets, and consigned the
greater part of the populace and of the decurions^
to life imprisonment. He abolished the customary
right of asylum ^ in all parts of the empire. Because
the people of Cyzicus ventured to commit acts of
special lawlessness against Roman citizens, he took
from them the freedom which they had earned in the
war with Mithridates.

He undertook no campaign after his accession, but
quelled outbreaks of the enemy through his generals ;
and even this he did only reluctantly and of necessity,

347

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

tosque comminationibus magis et querelis quam vi
repressit ; quosdam per blanditias atque promissa
extractos ad se non remisit, ut Marobodum Ger-
manum, Rhascuporim ^ Thracem, Archelaum Cappa-
docem, cuius etiam regnum in formam provinciae
redegit.

XXXVin. Biennio continuo post adeptum
imperium pedem porta non extulit ; sequenti tem-
pore praeterquam in propinqua oppida et, cum
longissime, Antio tenus nusquam afuit, idque perraro
et paucos dies ; quamvis provincias quoque et
exercitus revisurum se saepe pronuntiasset et prope
quotannis profectionem praepararet, vehiculis com-
prehensis, commeatibus per municipia et colonias
dispositis, ad extremum vota pro itu et reditu sue
suscipi passus, ut vulgo iam periocum" Callippides"^
vocaretur, quem cursitare ac ne cubiti quidem
mensuram progredi proverbio Graeco notatum est.

XXXIX. Sed orbatus utroque filio, quorum Ger-
manicus in Syria, Drusus Romae obierat, secessum
Campaniae petit ; constanti et opinione et sermone
paene omnium quasi neque rediturus umquam et cito
mortem etiam obiturus. Quod paulo minus utrum-
que evenit ; nam neque Romam amplius rediit et ^
paucos post dies iuxta Tarracinam in praetorio, cui
Speluncae nomen est, incenante eo complura et
ingentia saxa fortuito superne dilapsa sunt, multisque

^ Rhascuporim, Ihm; Thrascipolim, n.

*^ Callippides, Basle ed, of 1533 ; Gallipidis (Gallipedes),
mss. ^ et, Erasmus ; sed, MGX' ; sed et, T.

^ The same proverb is mentioned by Cic. ad Att. 13. 12.
The reference is to an Athenian actor of mimes, who imitated

348

TIBERIUS

Such kings as were disaffected and objects of his sus-
picion he held in check rather by threats and re-
monstrances than by force ; some he lured to Rome
by flattering promises and detained there^ such as
Marobodus the German, Rhascuporis the Thracian,
and Archelaus of Cappadocia, whose realm he also
reduced to the form of a province.

XXXVIII. For two whole years after becoming
emperor he did not set foot outside the gates ;
after that he went nowhere except to the neighbour-
ing towns, at farthest to Antium, and even that very
seldom and for a few days at a time. Yet he often
gave out that he would revisit the provinces too and
the armies, and nearly every year he made prepara-
tions for a journey by chartering carriages and
arranging for supplies in the free towns and colonies.
Finally he allowed vows to be put up for his voyage
and return, so that at last everybody jokingly gave
him the name of Callippides, who was proverbial
among the Greeks for running without getting ahead
a cubit's length.*

XXXIX. But after being bereft of both his sons,
— Germanicus had died in Syria and Drusus at
Rome, — he retired to Campania, and almost every-
one finiily believed and openly declared that he
would never come back, but would soon die there.
And both predictions were all but fulfilled ; for he
did not return again to Rome, and it chanced a few
days later that as he was dining near Tarracina in a
villa called the Grotto, many huge rocks fell from
the ceiling and crushed a number of the guests and

the movements of running but remained in the same
spot.

349

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

con vi varum et ministrorum elisis praeter speiii
evasit.

XL. Peragrata Cani})ania, cum Capuae Capitolium,
Nolae tempi um Augusti, quam causam profectionis
praetenderat^ dedicasset, Capreas se contulit^ })rae-
cipue delectatus insula, quod uno parvoque litore
adiretur, saepta undique praeruptis immensae alti-
tudinis rupibus et profundo mari.^ Statimque revo-
cante assidua obtestatione populo jn-opter cladem,
qua apud Fidenas supra viginti hominum milia
gladiatorio munere amj)hitheatri ruina j)erierant,
transiit in continentem potestatemque omnibus
adeundi sui fecit ; tanto magis, quod urbe egrediens
ne quis se interpellaret edixerat ac toto itinera adeuntis
submoverat.

XLl. Regressus in insulam rei p. quid em curam
usque adeo abiecit, ut postea non decurias equitum
umquam sup{)lerit, non tribunos militum praefectos-
que, non provinciarum praesides ullos mutaverit,
Hispaniam et Syriam per aliquot annos sine con-
sularibus legatis habuerit, Armenian! a l^irthis oc-
cupari, Moesiam a Dae is Sarmatisque, Gallias a
Germanis vastari neglexerit ; magno dedecore im-
perii nee minore discrimine.

XLH. Ceterum secreti licentiam nanctus et quasi
civitatis oculis remotis, cuncta simul vitia male diu
dissimulata tandem profudit ; de quibus singillatim

^ luari, SfephavHs ; maris, 7nss.

" That is, to make some ameiuls for his conduct.
^ The divisions selcicted for jnry duty.

350

TIBERIUS

servants, while the emperor himself had a nnrrow
«sca])e.

XL. After traversing Campania and dedicating the
Capitolium at Capua and a temple to Augustus at
Nola^ which was the pretext he had given for his
journey, he went to Capreae, particularly attracted
to that island because it was accessible by only one
small beach, being everywhere else girt with sheer
cliffs of great height and by deep water. But he was
at once recalled by the constant entreaties of the
people, because of a disaster at Fidenae, where more
than twenty thousand spectators had perished through
the collapse of the amphitheatre during a gladiatorial
show. So he crossed to the mainland and made
himself accessible to all, the more willingly because
he had given orders on leaving the city that no one
was to disturb him, and during the whole trip had
repulsed those who tried to approach him.^

XLI. Then returning to the island, he utterly
neglected the conduct of state affairs, from that time
on never filling the vacancies in the decuries^ of the
knights, nor changing the tribunes of the soldiers
and prefects or the governors of any of his provinces
He left Spain and Syria without consular governors
for several years, suffered Armenia to be overrun by
the Parthians, Moesia to be laid waste by the Dacians
and Sannatians, and the Gallic provinces by the
Germans, to the great dishonour of the empire and
no less to its danger.

XLI I. Moreover, having gained the licence of
'privacy, and being as it were out of sight of tlie
x^itizens, he at last gave free rein at once to all
th^ vices which he had for a long time ill concealed ;
and of these I shall give a detailed account from the

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

ab exordio referam. In castris tiro etiam turn propter
nimiam vini aviditatem pro Tiberio '' Biberius/' pro
Claudio ^' Caldius/' pro Nerone '^ Mero " vocabatur.
Postea princeps in ipsa publicorum morum correctione
cum Pomponio Flacco et L. Pisone noctem continuum-
que biduum epulando potandoque consumpsit, quorum
alteri Syriam provinciam, alteri praefecturam urbis
confestim detulit, codicillis quoque iucundissimos et
omnium horarum amicos professus. Cestio Gallo/
libidinoso ac prodigo seni, olim ab Augusto ig-
nominia notato et a se ante jiaucos dies apud
senatum increpito cenam ea lege condixit, ne quid
ex consuetudine immutaret aut demeret, utque nudis
puellis ministrantibus cenaretur. Ignotissimum quae-
sturae candidatum nobilissimis anteposuit ob epotam
in convivio propinante se vini amphoram. Asellio
Sabino sestertia ducenta donavit pro dialogo, in
quo boleti et ficedulae et ostreae et turdi cer-
tamen induxerat. Novum denique ofHcium instituit
a • voluptatibus, praeposito equite R. T. Caesonio
Prisco.

XLHI. Secessu vero Caprensi etiam sell aria ex-
cogitavit, sedem arcanarum libidinum, in quam un-
dique conquisiti puellarum et exoletorum greges
monstrosique concubitus repertores, quos spintrias
appellabat, triplici serie conexi, in vicem incestarent
coram ipso, ut aspectu deficientis libidines excitaret.

^ Cestio, Roth ; Sestio, n. Gallo, f^ (Torrentius).

" See Index 8.?;. Biberius.

^ Probably the emperor took a sip from the huge vessel and
passed it to the man, who drained it to the dregs ; cf. Verg.
Aen. 1. 738. Since the amphora as a measure contained
about seven gallons, the word is here probably used of a
large tankard of that shape.

352

TIBERIUS

beginning. Even at the outset of his mihtary
career his excessive love of wine gave him the name
of Biberius^ instead of Tiberius^ Caldius for Claudius,
and Mero for Nero.^ Later, when emperor and at
the very time that he was busy correcting the public
morals, he spent a night and two whole days feasting
and drinking with Pomponius Flaccus and Lucius Piso,
immediately afterward making the one governor
of the province of Syria and the other prefect
of the city, and even declaring in their commissions
that they were the most agreeable of friends, who
could always be counted on. He had a dinner given
him by Cestius Gall us, a lustful and prodigal old
man, who had once been degraded by Augustus
and whom he had himself rebuked a few days
before in the senate, making the condition that
Cestius should change or omit none of his usual
customs, and that nude girls should wait upon
them at table. He gave a very obscure candi-
date for the quaestorship preference over men of
the noblest families, because at the emperor's chal-
lenge he had drained an amphora^ of wine at a
banquet. He paid Asellius Sabinus two hundred
thousand sesterces for a dialogue, in which he had
introduced a contest of a mushroom, a fig-pecker,
an oyster and a thrush. He established a new
office, master of the imperial pleasures, assigning it
to Titus Caesonius Priscus, a Roman knight.

XLHL On retiring to Capri he devised a pleasance
for his secret orgies : teams of wantons of both sexes,
selected as experts in deviant intercourse and dubbed
analists, copulated before him in triple unions to
excite his flagging passions. Its bedrooms were
furnished with the most salacious paintings and

353

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

Cubicula plurifariam disposita tabellis ac sigillis
lascivissimarum picturarum et figurarum adornavit
librisque Elephantidis instruxit, ne cui in opera
edenda exemplar imperatae ^ schemae deesset. In
silvis quoque ac nemoribus passim Venerios locos
commentus est prostantisque ^ per antra et eavas rupes
ex utriusque sexus pube Paniscorum et Nympharum
habitU;, quae palam ^ iam et vulgo nomine insulae
abutentes ^' Caprineum " dictitabant.

XLIV. Maiore adhuc ac turpiore infamia flagravit,
vix ut referri audirive, nedum credi fas sit, quasi
pueros primae teneritudinis, quos pisciculos vocabat,
institueret, ut natanti sibi inter femina versarentur
ac luderent lingua morsuque sensim adpetentes ; atque
etiam quasi infantes firmiores, necdum tamen lacte
depulsos, inguini ceu papillae admoveret, pronior sane
ad id genus libidinis et natura et aetate. Quare Par-
rasi quoque tabulam, in qua Meleagro Atalanta ore
morigeratur, legatam sibi sub condicione, ut si argu-
mento oifenderetur decies pro ea sestertium acciperet,
non modo praetulit^ sed et in cubiculo dedicavit.
Fertur etiam in sacrificando quondam captus facie
ministri acerram praeferentis nequisse abstinere, quin
paene vixdum re divina peracta ibidem statim se-
ductum constupraret simulque fratrem eius tibicinem ;
atque utrique mox, quod mutuo flagitium exprobrarant,
crura fregisse.

XLV. Feminarum quoque, et quidem illustrium,
capitibus quanto opere solitus sit inludere, evidentis-
sime apparuit Malloniae cuiusdam exitu, quam per-
ductam nee quicquam amplius pati constantissime

^ imperatae, ^ ; impetratae, CI.

^ prostantesque, YlQ ; the other mss, have prostrantesqiie or
prostrantisque. ^ habitu, quae palam] hal)itu(iue palam, n.

354

TIBERIUS

sculptures, as well as with an erotic library, in case a
performer should need an illustration of what was
required. Then in Capri's woods and groves he
arranged a number of nooks of venery where boys
and girls got up as Pans and nymphs solicited out-
side bowers and grottoes: people openly called this
** the old goat's garden," punning on the island's
name.

XLIV. He acquired a reputation for still grosser
depravities that one can hardly bear to tell or be told,
let alone believe. For example, he trained little boys
(whom he termed tiddlers) to crawl between his
thighs when he went swimming and tease him with
their licks and nibbles; and unweaned babies he
would put to his organ as though to the breast, being
by both nature and age rather fond of this form of
satisfaction. Left a painting of Parrhasius's
depicting Atalanta pleasuring Meleager with her lips
on condition that if the theme displeased him he was
to have a million sesterces instead, he chose to keep
it and actually hung it in his bedroom. The story is
also told that once at a sacrifice, attracted by the
acolyte's beauty, he lost control of himself and,
hardly waiting for the ceremony to end, rushed him
off and debauched him and his brother, the flute-
player, too ; and subsequently, when they complained
of the assault, he had their legs broken.

XLV. How grossly he was in the habit of
abusing women even of high birth is very clearly
shown by the death of a certain Mallonia. When
she was brought to his bed and refused most
vigorously to submit to his lust, he turned her

355

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

recusantem delatoribus obiecit ac ne ream quidem
interpellare desiit, ^^ ecquid paeniteret " ; donee ea
relicto iudicio dorfium se abripuit ferroque transegit,
obscaenitate oris hirsuto atque olido seni clare ex-
probrata. Unde nota^ in Atellanico exhodio proximis
ludis adsensu maximo excepta percrebruit, ^' hircum
vetulum capreis naturam ligurire.'*

XLVl. Pecuniae parcus ac tenax comites peregrina-
tionum expeditionumque numquam salario, cibariis
tantum sustentavit, una modo liberalitate ex indul-
gentia vitrici prosecutus, cum tribus classibus factis
pro dignitate cuiusque, primae sescenta sestertia,
secundae quadringenta distribuit, ducenta tertiae,
quam non amicorum sed Graecorum ^ appellabat.

XLVII. Princeps neque opera ulla magnifica fecit —
nam et quae sola susceperat, Augusti templum re-
stitutionemque Pompeiani theatri, imperfecta post tot
annos reliquit — neque spectacula omnino edidit ; et
iis, quae ab aliquo ederentur, rarissime interfuit,
ne quid exposceretur, utique postquam comoedum
Actium coactus est manumittere. Paucorum sena-
torum inopia sustentata, ne pluribus opem ferret,
negavit se aliis subventurum, nisi senatui iustas
necessitatium causas probassent. Quo pacto pleros-
que modestia et pudore deterruit, in quibus
Hortalum, Quinti Hortensi oratoris nepotem, qui

^ nota, P^T^ ; the other mss. have mora.
^ Graecorum] gratorum, Turnebus.

" See chap. Ivi.

356

TIBERIUS

over to the informers, and even when she was
on trial he did not cease to call out and ask her
'^ whether she was sorry " ; so that finally she left
the court and went home, where she stabbed
herself, openly upbraiding the ugly old man for
his obscenity. Hence a stigma put upon him at the
next plays in an Atellan farce was received with
great applause and became current, that "the old
goat was licking the does."

XLVL In money matters he was frugal and
close, never allowing the companions of his foreign
tours and campaigns a salary, but merely their
keep. Only once did he treat them liberally, and
then through the generosity of his stepfather, when
he formed three classes according to each man's
rank and gave to the first six hundred thousand
sesterces, to the second four hundred thousand,
and to the tliird, which he called one, not of his
friends, but of his Greeks,* two hundred thousand.

XL VII. While emperor he constructed no mag-
nificent public works, for the only ones which he
undertook, the temple of Augustus and the restora-
tion of Pompey's theatre, he left unfinished after so
many years. He gave no public shows at all, and
very seldom attended those given by others, for fear
that some request would be made of him, especially
after he was forced to buy the freedom of a comic
actor named Actius. Having relieved the neediness
of a few senators, he avoided the necessity of further
aid b}'^ declaring that he would help no others unless
they proved to the senate that there were legitimate
causes for their condition. Therefore diffidence and
a sense of shame kept many from applying, among
them Hortalus, grandson of Quintus Hortensius the

3S7

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

permodica re familiari auctore Augusto quattuor
liberos tulerat.

XLVni. Publice munificentiam bis omnino ex-
hibuit, proposito milies sestertium gratuito in trienni
tempus et rursus quibusdam dominis insularum, quae
in monte Caelio deflagrarant, pretio restitute.
Quorum alterum magna difficultate nummaria populo
auxilium flagitante coactus est facere, cum per
senatus consul turn sanxisset, ut faenera tores duas
patrimonii partes in solo coUocarent, debitores toti-
dem aeris alieni statim solverent, nee res expedire-
tur ; alterum ad mitigandam temporum atrocitatem.
Quod tamen beneficium tanti aestimavit, ut montem
Caelium appellatione mutata vocari Augustum
iusserit. Militi post duplicata ex Augusti testament©
legata nihil umquam largitus est, praeterquam singula
milia denariorum praetorianis, quod Seiano se non
accommodassent, et quaedam munera Syriacis
legionibus, quod solae nullam Seiani imaginem inter
signa coluissent. Atque etiam missiones veterano-
rum rarissimas fecit, ex senio mortem, ex morte
compendium captans. Ne provincias quidem liberali-

« Cf. Aug. xli. 1 ; Tac. Ann. 2. 37.

* This occurred twice, in 27 and 36 ; see Tac. Ami. 4. 64
and 6. 45. The second fire was on and near the Aventine.

^ The decree is quoted by Tac. Anii. 6. 17. The purpose
was to put the money into circulation and at the same time
to allow the debtors to pay in land.

** According to Tacitus {Ann. 4. 64) this was done by the
senate, because the. statue of Tiberius remained uninjured
in the midst of the burned district.

« The standards had a sacred character ; see, for example,

358

TIBERIUS

orator, who though of very limited means had
begotten four children with the encouragement of
Augustus.*

XLVIII. He showed generosity to the public in
but two instances, once when he offered to lend a
hundred million sesterces without interest for a
period of three years, and again when he made good
the losses of some owners of blocks of houses on
the Caelian Mount, which had burned down.* The
former was forced upon him by the clamour of the
people for help in a time of great financial stress,
after he had failed to relieve the situation by a
decree of the senate,* providing that tlie money-
lenders should invest two-thirds of their property in
land, and that the debtors should at once pay the
same proportion of their indebtedness ; and the
latter also was to relieve a condition of great hard-
ship. Yet he made so much of his liberality in the
latter case, that he had the name of the Caelian
changed to the Augustan Mount.^ After he had
doubled the legacies provided for in the will of
Augustus, he never gave largess to the soldiers, with
the exception of a thousand denarii to each of the
praetorians, for not taking sides with Sejanus, and
some presents to the legions in Syria, because they
alone had consecrated no image of Sejanus among
their standards.* He also very rarely allowed veteran
soldiers their discharge, having an eye to their death
from years, and a saving of money through their
death/ He did not relieve the provinces either by

Tac. Ann. 1. 39. 7 ; and the head of the reigning emperor
was often placed under the eagle or other emblem.

/ Since he would save the rewards to be paid on the oom-
pletion of their term of service.

359

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

tate ulla sublevavit, excepta Asia, disiectis terrae
motu civitatibus.

XLIX. Procedente mox tempore etiam ad rapinas
convertit animum. Satis constat, Cn. Lentulum Augu-
rem, cui census maximus fuerit, metu et angore ad
fastidium vitae ab eo actum et ut ne quo nisi ipso
herede moreretur ; condemnatam et generosissimam
feminam Lepidam in gratiam Quirini consularis
praedivitis et orbi, qui dimissam eam e matrimonio
post vicensimum annum veneni olim in se com-
parati arguebat ; praeterea Galliarum et Hispaniarum
Syriaeque et Graeciae principes confiscatos ob tam
leve ac tam impudens calumniarum genus, ut qui-
busdam non aliud sit obiectum, quam quod partem
rei familiaris in pecunia haberent ; plurimis etiam
civitatibus et privatis veteres immunitates et ius
metallorum ac vectigalium adempta ; sed et Vononem
regem Parthorum, qui pulsus a suis quasi in fidem
p. R. cum ingenti gaza Antiochiam se receperat,
spoliatum perfidia et occisum.

L. Odium ad versus necessitudinesin Druso primum
fratre detexit, prodita eius epistula, qua secum de
cogendo ad restituendam libertatem Augusto agebat,
deinde et in reliquis. luliae uxori tantum afuit ut
relegatae, quod minimum est, offici aut humanitatis
aliquid impertiret, ut ex constitutione patris uno
oppido clausam domo quoque egredi et commercio

* Under pretence that they were hoarding money for
revolutionary purposes. Caesar had limited the amount to be
held b}^ any one person in Italy to 60,000 sesterces ; cf. Tac.
Ann. 6. 16; Dio, 41. 38. * But cf. chap. xi. 4, above.

360

TIBERIUS

any act of liberality, except Asia, when some cities
were destroyed by an earthquake.

XLIX. Presently, as time went on, he even re-
sorted to plunder. All the world knows that he
drove Gnaeus Lentulus Augur, a man of great wealth,
to take his own life through fear and mental anxiety,
and to make the emperor his sole heir ; that Lepida,
too, a woman of very high birth, was condemned to
banishment to gratify Quirinius, an opulent and child-
less ex-consul, who had divorced her, and twenty
years later accused her of having attempted to poison
him many years before ; that besides this the leading
men of the Spanish and Gallic provinces, as well as
of Syria and Greece, had their property confiscated
on trivial and shameless charges, some being accused
of nothing more serious than having a part of their
property in ready money ; * that many states and
individuals were deprived of immunities of long
standing, and of the right of working mines and
collecting revenues ; that Vonones, king of the
Parthians, who on being dethroned by his subjects
had taken refuge at Antioch with a vast treasure, in
the belief that he was putting himself under the
protection of the Roman people, was treacherously
despoiled and put to death.

L. He first showed his hatred of his kindred in
the case of his brother Drusus, producing a letter of
his, in which Drusus discussed with him the question
of compelling Augustus to restore the Republic ; and
then he turned against the rest. So far from show-
ing any courtesy or kindness to his wife Julia, after
her banishment, which is the least that one might
expect,^ although her father s order had merely con-
fined her to one town, he would not allow her even to

361

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

hominum friii vetuerit ; sed et peculio concesso a
patre praebitisque annuls fraudavit^, })er speciem
public! iuris, quod nihil de his Augustus testamento

2 cavisset. Matrem Liviam gravatus velut partes sibi
aequas potentiae vindicantem, et congressum eius
assiduum vitavit et longiores secretioresque sermones,
ne consiHis, quibus tamen interduni et egere et uti
solebat, regi videretur. Tulit etiam perindigne ac-
tum in senatu, ut titubs suis quasi ^^ Augusti/' ita et

^ ^*^ Liviae fibus " adiceretur. Quare non ^^ parentem
patriae " appellari, non ullum insignem honorem
recipere pubbce passus est ; sed et frequenter ad-
nionuit, niaioribus nee feminae convenientibus
negotiis abstineret, praecipue ut animadvertit
incendio iuxta aedem Vestae et ipsam intervenisse
populumque et mibtes, quo enixius opem ferrent,
adhortatam, sicut sub marito sobta esset.

LI. Dehinc ad simultatem usque processit hac,
ut ferunt, de causa. Instanti saepius^, ut civitate
donatum in decurias adlegeret, negavit aba se
condicione adlecturum, quani si patereter ascribi
albo extort um id sibi a matre. At ilia commota
veteres quosdam ad se Augusti codicillos de acerbi-
tate et intolerantia morum eius e sacrario protubt
atque recitavit. Hos et custoditos tarn diu et

" See note on chap. xv. 2.

^ Sacrarium is really a shrine (perhaps to Augustus) in
which the letters had been deposited.

362

TIBERIUS

leave her house or enjoy the society of mankind. Nay
more, he even deprived her of the allowance* granted
her by her father and of her yearly income, under
colour of observance of the common law, since
Augustus had made no provision for these in his
will. Vexed at his mother Livia, alleging that she
claimed an equal share in the rule, he shunned
frequent meetings with her and long and confidential
conversations, to avoid the appearance of being
guided by her advice ; though in point of fact he was
wont every now and then to need and to follow it.
He was greatly offended too by a decree of the
senate, providing that ^^son of Livia," as well as
"son of Augustus" should be written in his honorary
inscriptions. For this reason he would not suffer her
to be named " Parent of her Country,'* nor to receive
any conspicuous public honour. More than that, he
often warned her not to meddle with affairs of
importance and unbecoming a woman, especially
after he learned that at a fire near the temple of
Vesta she had been present in person, and urged the
people and soldiers to greater efforts, as had been
her way while her husband was alive.

LI. Afterwards he reached the point of open
enmity, and the reason, they say, was this. On her
urging him again and again to appoint among the
jurors a man who had been made a citizen, he
declared that he would do it only on condition that
she would allow an entry to be made in the official
list that it was forced upon him by his mother.
Then Livia, in a rage, drew from a secret place ^ and
read some old letters written to her by Augustus
with regard to the austerity and stubbornness of
Tiberius* disposition. He iii turn was so put out

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

exprobratos tarn infeste adeo graviter tulit, ut
quidam putent inter causas secessus banc ei vel
praecipuani fuisse. Toto qiiidem triennio, quo
vivente matre afuit, semel oninino earn nee amplius
quam uno die paucissimis vidit boris ; ac mox neque
aegrae adesse curavit defunctamque et, dum adventus
sui spem facit, complurjiuni dierum mora corrupto
demum et tabido corpore funeratam probibuit con-
secrari, quasi id ipsa mandasset. Testanientum
quoque eius pro irrito babuit omnisque amicitia? et
famibaritates, etiam quibus ea funeris sui curam
moriens demandaverat, intra breve tempus afflixit,
uno ex iis, equestris ordinis viro, et in antbam
condemnato.

LU. Fiborum neque naturalem Drusum neque
adoptivum Germanicum patria caritate dilexit,
alterius vitiis infensus. Nam Drusus fluxioris re-
missiorisque vitae erat. Itaque ne mortuo quidem
perinde adfectus est, sed tantum non statim a funere
ad negotiorum consuetudinem rediit iustitio longiore
inbibito. Quin et Ibensium legatis paulo serius
consolantibus, quasi obbterata iam doloris memoria,
irridens se quoque respondit vicem eorum dolere,
quod egregium civem Hectorem amisissent. Ger-
manico usque adeo obtrectavit, ut et praeclara facta

TIBERIUS

that these had been preserved so long and were
thrown up at him in such a spiteful spirit^ that some
think that this was the very strongest of the reasons
for his retirement. At all events^ during all the three
years that slie lived after he left Rome he saw her
but once, and then only one day, for a very few
hours ; and when shortly after that slie fell ill, he
took no trouble to visit her. When she died, and
after a delay of several days, during which he held
out hope of his coming, had at last been buried
because the condition of the corpse made it necessary,
he forbade her deification, alleging that he was
acting according to her own instructions. He further
disregarded the provisions of her will, and within a
short time caused the downfall of all her friends and
intimates, even of those to whom she had on her
deathbed entrusted the care of her obsequies, actually
condemning one of them, and that a man of equestrian
rank, to the treadmill.

LIL He had a father's affection neither for his
own son Drusus nor his adopted son Germanicus,
being exasperated at the former's vices ; and, in fact,
Drusus led a somewhat loose and dissolute life.
Therefore, even when he died, Tiberius was not
greatly affected, but almost immediately after the
funeral returned to his usual routine, forbidding
a longer period of mourning. Nay, more, when a
deputation from Ilium offered him somewhat belated
condolences, he replied with a smile, as if the
memory of his bereavement had faded from his
mind, that they, too, had his sympathy for the loss
of their eminent fellow-citizen Hector. As to
Germanicus, he was so far from appreciating him,
that he made light of his illustrious deeds as un-

365

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

eius pro supervacuis elevarit et gloriosissimas vic-
torias ceu damnosas rei p. increparet. Quod vero
Alexandream propter immensam et repentinam
famem inconsulto se adisset, questus est in senatu.

3 Etiam causa mortis fuisse ei per Cn. Pisonem
legatum Syriae creditur, quern mox huius criminis
reum putant quidam mandata prolaturum, nisi ea
secreto ostentanti auferenda ipsumque iugulandum
curasset.^ Propter quae multifariam ini^criptum et
per noctes celeberrime adclamatum est : ^^ Redde
Germanicum ! " Quam suspicionem confirmavit ipse
postea coniuge etiam ac liberis Germanici crudelem
in modum afflictis.

LI 1 1. Nurum Agrippinam post mariti mortem
liberius quiddam questam manu apprehendit Graeco-
que versu : '^^Sinon dominaris/' inquit, ^^ filiola, in-
iuriam te accipere existimas " ? Nee ullo mox
sermone dignatus est. Quondam vero inter cenam
porrecta a se poma gustare non ausam etiam vocare
desiit, simulans veneni se crimine accersi ; cum prae-
structum utrumque consulto esset, ut et ipse temp-
tandi gratia offerret et ilia quasi certissimum exitium ^

2 caveret. Novissime calumniatus modo ad statuam

Augusti modo ad exercitus confugere velle, Pan-

datariam relegavit conviciantique oculum per centu-

rionem verberibus excussit. Rursus mori inedia desti-

^ ostentaiit(i auferenda ipsumque iugulandum curasset
Propter) quae : the part in parcntlicsis is xuppUed by Roth.
'^ exitium, GS'-; the other rnss. have exitum.

366

TIBERIUS

important, und railed at his brilliant victories as
ruinous to his country. He even made complaint in
the senate when Germanicus, on the occasion of a
sudden and terrible famine, went to Alexandria
without consulting him. It is even believed that he
caused his death at the hands of Gnaeus Piso,
governor of Syria, and some think that when Piso
was tried on that charge, he would have produced
his instructions, had not Tiberius caused them to be
taken from him when Piso privately showed them,
and the man himself to be put to death. Because
of this the words, ^^ Give us back Germanicus," were
posted in many places, and shouted at night all over
the city. And Tiberius afterwards strengthened this
suspicion by cruelly abusing the wife and children of
Germanicus as well.

LI II. When his daughter-in-law Agrippina wa$
somewhat outspoken in her complaints after her
husband's death, he took her by the hand and quoted
a Greek verse, meaning " Do you think a wrong is
done you, dear daughter, if you are not empress ? "
After that he never deigned to hold any conversation
with her. Indeed, after she showed fear of tasting
an apple which he handed her at dinner, he evea
ceased to invite her to his table, alleging that he had
been charged with an attempt to poison her ; but as
a matter of fact, the whole affair had been pre-
arranged, that he should offer her the fruit to test
her, and that she should refuse it as containing
certain death. At last, falsely charging her with a
desire to take refuge, now at the statue of Augustus
and now with the armies, he exiled her to Panda-
taria, and when she loaded him with reproaches, he
had her beaten hj a centurion until one of her eyes

3^7

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

nanti per vim ore didueto infulciri cibiim iussit. Sed
et perseveraiitem atque ita absumptam criminosissime
insectatus, cum diem quoque natalem eius inter ne-
fastos referendum suasisset_, imputavit etiam^ quod non
laqueo strangulatam in Gemonias abiecerit ; proque
tali dementia interponi decretum passus est, quo sibi
gratiae agerentur et Capitolino lovi donum ex auro
sacraretur.

LIV. Cum ex Germanico tres nepotes, Neronem
et Drusum et Gaium, ex Druso unum Tiberium
haberet, destitutus morte liberorum maximos natu de
Germanici filiis, Neronem et Drusum, patribus con-
scriptis commendavit diemque utriusque tirocinii
congiario plebei dato celebravit. Sed ut comperit
ineunte anno pro eorum quoque salute publice vota
suscepta, egit cum senatu, non debere talia praemia
2 tribui nisi expertis et aetate provectis. Atque ex eo
patefacta interiore animi sui nota omnium criminationi-
bus obnoxios reddidit variaque fraude inductos, ut et
concitarentur ad convicia et concitati proderentur,
accusavit per litteras amarissime congestis etiam
probris et iudicatos hostis fame necavit, Neronem in
insula Pontia, Drusum in ima parte Palatii. Putant
Neronem ad voluntariam mortem coactum, cum ei

368

TIBERIUS

was destroyed. Again, when she resolved to die of
starvation, he had her mouth pried open and food
crammed into it. Worst of all, when she persisted in
her resolution and so perished, he assailed her
memory with the basest slanders, persuading the
senate to add her birthday to the days of ill omen,
and actually taking credit to himself for not having
had her strangled and her body cast out on the
Stairs of Mourning. He even allowed a decree to
be passed in recognition of this remarkable clemency,
in which thanks were offered him and a golden gift
was consecrated to Jupiter of the Capitol.

LIV. By Germanicus he had three grandsons,
Nero, Drusus, and Gaius, and by Drusus one, called
Tiberius. Bereft of his own children, he recom-
mended Nero and Drusus, the elder sons of
Germanicus, to the senate, and celebrated the day
when each of them came to his majority by giving
largess to the commons. But as soon as he learned
that at the beginning of the year vows were being
put up for their safety also, he referred the matter
to the senate, saying that such honours ought to
be conferred only on those of tried character and
mature years. By revealing his true feelings to-
wards them from that time on, he exposed them to
accusations from all quarters, and after resorting to
various tricks to rouse them to rail at him, and
seeing to it that they were betrayed when they did
so, he brought most bitter charges against them both
in writing ; and when they had in consequence been
pronounced public enemies, he starved them to
death, Nero on the island of Pontia and Drusus in a
lower room of the Palace. It is thought that Nero
was forced to take his own life, since an executioner,

3^9

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

carnifex quasi ex senatus auctoritate missus laqueos
et uncos ostentaret, Druso auteni adeo alimenta
subducta, ut tomentum e culcita temptaverit man-
dere ; amborum sic reliquias dispersas, ut vix quando-
que colligi possent.

LV. Super veteres amicos ac familiares viginti sibi
e numero principum civitatis depoposcerat velut con-
siliarios in negotiis publicis. Horum omnium vix
duos anne tres incolumis praestitit, ceteros alium alia
de causa perculit, inter quos cum plurimorum clade
Aelium Seianum ; quem ad silmmam potentiam non
tam benivolentia provexerat, quam ut esset cuius
ministerio ac fraudibus liberos Germanici circum-
veniret, nepotemque suum ex Druso filio naturalem ad
successionem imperii confirmaret.

LVI. Nihilo lenior in convictores Graeculos, quibus
vel maxime adquiescebat, Xenonem quendam ex-
quisitius sermocinantem cum interrogasset, quaenam
ilia tam molesta dialectos esset, et ille respondisset
Doridem, relegavit Cinariam, existimans expro-
bratum sibi veterem secessum, quod Dorice Rhodii
loquantur. Item cum soleret ex lectione cotidiana
quaestiones super cenam proponere comperissetque
Seleucum grammaticum a ministris suis perquirere,
quos quoque tempore tractaret auctores, atque ita
praeparatum venire, primum a contubernio removit,
deinde etiam ad mortem compulit.

LVII. Saeva ac lenta natura ne in puero quidem
latuit ; quam Theodorus Gadareus ^ rhetoricae prae-

^ Gadareus, editions of 1472 (?) and 1480 ; cadareus, n.

" A sign that he was condemned to death ; the noose was
for strangling liim and the hooks for dragging his body to
tlie Tiber.

TIBERIUS

who pretended that he came by authority of the
senate, showed him the noose and hooks/ but that
Drusus was so tortured by hunger that he tried
to eat the stuffing of his mattress; while the
remains of both were so scattered that it was with
difficulty that tliey could ever be collected.

LV. In addition to his old friends and intimates,
he had asked for twenty of the leading men of the
State as advisers on public affairs. Of all these he
spared hardly two or three ; the others he destroyed
on one pretext or another, including Aelius Sejanus,
whose downfall involved the death of many others.
This man he had advanced to the highest power, not
so much from regard for him, as that he might
through his services and whiles destroy the children
of Germanicus and secure the succession for his owii
grandson, the child of his son Drusus.

LVI. He was not a whit milder towards his Greek
companions, in whose society he took special pleasure.
When one Xeno was holding forth in somewhat far-
fetched phrases, he asked him what dialect that was
which was so affected, and on Xeno's replying that it
was Doric, he banished him to Cinaria, believing that
he was being taunted with his old-time exile, inas-
tnuch as the Rhodians spoke Doric. He had the
habit, too, of putting questions at dinner suggested
by his daily reading, and learning that the gram-
marian Seleucus inquired of the imperial attendants
what authors Tiberius was reading and so came
primed, he at first banished the offender from his
society, and later even forced him to commit suicide.

LVI I. His cruel and cold-blooded character was
not completely hidden even in his boyhood. His
teacher of rhetoric^ Theodorus of Gadara, seems first

S7i

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

ceptor et perspexisse primus sagaciter et assimilasse
aptissime visus est^ subinde in obiurgando appellans
eum Tr-qkov at/AttTt Trcc^vpa/xeVov, id est lutum a sanguine
maceratum. Sed aliquanto magis in prineipe eluxit,
etiam inter initia cum adhuc favorem hominum
2 moderationis simulatione captaret. Scurram, qui
praetereunte funere clare mortuo mandarat, ut
nuntiaret Augusto nondum reddi legata quae plebei
reliquisset, adtractum ad se recipere debitum ducique
ad supplicium imperavit et patri suo verum referre.
Nee multo post in senatu Pompeio cuidam equiti R.
quiddam perneganti, dum vincula minatur, affirmavit
fore ut ex Pompeio Pompeianus fieret, acerba cavil-
latione simul hominis nomen incessens veteremque ^
partium fortunam.

LVni. Sub idem tempus consulente praetore an
iudicia maiestatis cogi iuberet, exercendas esse leges
respondit et atrocissime exereuit. Statuae quidam
Augusti caput dempserat, ut alterius imponeret ; acta
res in senatu et, quia ambigebatur, per tormenta
quaesita est. Damnato reo paulatim genus calumniae
eo processit, ut haec quoque capital ia essent : circa
Augusti simulacrum servum cecidisse, vestimenta
mutasse, nummo vel anulo effigiem impressam latrinae
aut lupanari intulisse, dictum ullum factumve eius
^ veterumque, PR {Bofh, PreiuVhomme),

^ With a play on the double meaning of dehitnm.

TIBERIUS

to have had the insight to detect it, and to have
characterized it very aptly, since in taking him to
task he would now and then call him tr-qXov alixari
7r€cf)vpafxevov, that is to say, ^^mud kneaded with
blood." But it grew still more noticeable after he
became emperor, even at the beginning, when he
was still courting popularity by a show of modera-
tion. When a funeral was passing by and a jester
called aloud to the corpse to let Augustus know that
the legacies which he had left to the people were
not yet being paid, Tiberius had the man haled before
him, ordered that he be given his due ^ and put
to death, and bade him go tell the truth to his
father. Shortly afterwards, when a Roman knight
called Pompeius stoutly opposed some action in the
senate, Tiberius threatened him with imprisonment,
declaring that from a Pompeius he would make of
him a Pompeian, punning cruelly on the man's
name and the fate of the old party.

LVIII. It was at about this time that a praetor
asked him whether he should have the courts con-
vened to consider cases of lese-majesty ; to v/hich he
replied that the laws must be enforced, and he did
enforce them most rigorously. One man had re-
moved the head from a statue of Augustus, to sub-
stitute that of another ; the case was tried in the
senate, and since the evidence was conflicting, the
witnesses were examined by torture. After the
defendant had been condemned, this kind of accusa-
tion gradually went so far that even such acts as
these were regarded as capital crimes : to beat a
slave near a statue of Augustus, or to change one's
clothes there ; to carry a ring or coin stamped with
his image into a privy or a brothel, or to criticize any

373

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

existimatione aliqua laesisse. Perit ^ denique et is,
qui honorem in colonia sua eodem die decerni sibi
passus est, quo decreti et Augusto olim erant.

LIX. Multa praeterea specie gravitatis ac morum
corrigendorum, sed et magis naturae optemperans,
ita saeve et atrociter factitavit, ut nonnulli versi-
culis quoque et praesentia exprobrarent et futura
denuntiarent mala :

^^ Asper et immitis, breviter vis omnia dicam ?
Dispeream, si te mater amare potest.

Non es eques ; quare ? non sunt tibi milia centum ;
Omnia si quaeras, et Rhodus exilium est.

Aurea mutasti Saturni saecula, Caesar ;
Incolumi nam te ferrea semper erunt.

Fastidit vinum, quia iam sitit iste cruorem ;

Tam bibit hunc avide, quam bibit ante merum.

Aspice felicem sibi, non tibi, Romule, Sullam
Et Marium, si vis, aspice, sed reducem,

Nee non Antoni civilia bella moventis

Non semel infectas aspice caede manus,

^ periit, XT.

" A knight must possess four hundred thousand sesterces ;
Tiberius, as the adopted son of Augustus, had no property.
See chap. xv. 2.

^ That is, not even a Roman citizen, since an exile lost his
citizenship ; still less a knight.

^ Sulla adopted the surname Felix.

374

TIBERIUS

word or act of his. Finally, a man was put to death
merely for allowing an honour to be voted him in his
native town on the same day that honours had
previously been voted to Augustus.

LIX. He did so many other cruel and savage
deeds under the guise of strictness and improvement
of the public morals, but in reality rather to gratify
his natural instincts, that some resorted to verses to
express their detestation of the present ills and a
warning against those to come :

" Cruel and merciless man, shall I briefly say all I
would utter ?
Hang me if even your dam for you affection can
feel.

You are no knight. Why so ? The hundred thousands
are lacking ; *
If you ask the whole tale, you were an exile at
Rhodes.^

You, O Caesar, have altered the golden ages of
Saturn ;
For while you are alive, iron they ever will be.

Nothing for wine cares this fellow, since now *tis for
blood he is thirsting ;
This he as greedily quaffs as before wine without
water.

Look, son of Rome, upon Sulla, for himself not for you
blest and happy,*'
Marius too, if you will, but after capturing Rome ;
Hands of an Antony see, rousing the strife of the
people.
Hands stained with blood not once, dripping again
and again ;

375

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

Et die : Roma perit ! regnavit sanguine multo,
Ad regnum quisquis venit ab exsilio."

Quae primo, quasi ab impatientibus remediorum ^ ac
non tarn ex animi sententia quam bile et stomacho
fingerentur, volebat accipi dicebatque identidem :
^^ Oderint, dum probent." Dein vera plane eertaque
esse ipse fecit fidem.

LX. In paucis diebus quam Capreas attigit pis-
catori, qui sibi secretum agenti grandem mullum
inopinanter obtulerat, perfricari eodem pisce faciem
iussit, territus quod is a tergo insulae per aspera et
devia erepsisset ad se ; gratulanti autem inter
poenam, quod non et lucustam, quam praegrandem
ceperat, obtulisset, lucusta quoque lacerari os im-
peravit. Militem praetorianum ob subreptum e
viridiario pavonem capite puniit. In quodam itinere
lectica, qua vehebatur, vepribus impedita explora-
torem viae, primarum ^ cohortium centurionem,
stratum humi paene ad necem verberavit.

LXI. Mox in omne genus crudelitatis erupit num-
quam deficiente materia, cum primo matris, deinde
nepotum et nurus, postremo Seiani familiares atque
etiam notos persequeretur ; post cuius interitum vel
saevissirnus exstitit. Quo maxjme apparuit, non tam

1 remediorum, Graeviuf< ; remedium, mss.
^^ primarum, w-s-s. ; praetoriarum, Lipsivs.

"" Cf. Calig. XXX. 1.

^ If the text is correct, primae cohortes would seem to refer
to the praetorians.

376

TIBERIUS

Then say : Rome is no more ! He ever has reigned
with great bloodshed
Whoso made himself king, coming from banish-
ment home."

These at first he wished to be taken as the work of
those who were impatient of his reforms, voicing
not so much their real feelings as their anger and
vexation ; and he used to say from time to time :
"Let them hate me, provided they respect my
conduct.'** Later he himself proved them only too»
true and unerring.

LX. A few days after he reached Capreae and was
by himself, a fisherman appeared unexpectedly and
offered him a huge mullet ; whereupon in his alarm
that the man had clambered up to him from the back
of the island over rough and pathless rocks, he had
the poor fellow's face scrubbed with the fish. And
because in the midst of his torture the man thanked
his stars that he had not given the emperor an
enormous crab that he had caught, Tiberius had his
face torn with the crab also. He punished a soldier
of the praetorian guard with death for having stolen
a peacock from his preserves. When the litter in
which he was making a trip was stopped by brambles,
he had the man who went ahead to clear the way, a
centurion of the first cohorts,^ stretched out on the
ground and flogged half to death.

LXI. Presently he broke out into eveiy form of
cruelty, for which he never lacked occasion, venting
it on the friends and even the acquaintances, first
of his mother, then of his grandsons and daughter-
in-law, and finally of Sejanus. After the death of
Sejanus he was more cruel than ever, which showed

377

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

ipsum ab Seiano concitari solitum^ qiiam Seianum
quaerenti occasiones sumministrasse ; etsi com-
mentario, quern de vita sua summatim breviterque
composuit, ausus est scribere Seianum se punisse,
quod comperisset furere adversus liberos Germanici
filii sui ; quorum ipse alterum suspecto iam, alterum
oppresso demum Seiano interemit.

2 Singillatim crudeliter facta eius exsequi longum
est ; genera, velut exemplaria saevitiae, enumerare
sat erit. Nullus a poena hominum cessavit dies, ne
religiosus quidem ac sacer ; animadversum in quos-
dam ineunte anno novo. Accusati damnatique multi
cum liberis atque etiam a liberis suis. Interdictum
ne capite damnatos propinqui lugerent. Decreta
accusatoribus praecipua praemia, nonnumquam et

3 testibus. Nemini delatorum fides abrogata. Omne
crimen pro capitali receptum, etiam paucorum sim-
pliciumque verborum. Obiectum est poetae, quod in
tragoedia Agamemnonem probris lacessisset ; obiec-
tum et historico, quod Brutum Cassiumque ultimos
Romanorum dixisset ; animadversum statim in
auctores scriptaque abolita, quamvis probarentur
ante aliquot annos etiam Augusto audiente recitata.

4 Quibusdam custodiae traditis non modo studendi
solacium ademptum, sed etiam sermonis et conloqui
usus. Citati ad causam dicendam partim se domi
vulneraverunt certi damnationis et ad vexationem

378

TIBERIUS

thai his favourite was not wont to egg him on, but
on the contrary gave him the opportunities which
he himself desired. Yet in a brief and sketchy auto-
biography which he composed he had the assurance
to write that he had punished Sejanus because he
found him venting his hatred on the children of his
son Germanicus. Whereas in fact he had himself
put one of them to death after he had begun to
suspect Sejanus and the other after the latter's
downfall.

It is a long story to run through his acts of cruelty
in detail ; it will be enough to mention the forms
which they took, as samples of his barbarity. Not a
day passed without an execution, not even those
that were sacred and holy ; for he put some to death
even on New Year's day. Many were accused and
condemned with their children and even by their
children. The relatives of the victims were forbidden
to mourn for them. Special rewards were voted the
accusers and sometimes even the witnesses. The
word of no informer was doubted. Every crime was
treated as capital, even the utterance of a few simple
words. A poet was charged with having slandered
Agamemnon in a tragedy, and a writer of history of
having called Brutus and Cassius the last of the
Romans. The writers were at once put to death and
their works destroyed, although they had been read
with approval in public some years before in the pre-
sence of Augustus himself. Some of those who were
consigned to prison were denied not only the con-
eolation of reading, but even the privilege of conversing;
and talking together. Of those who were cited to
plead their causes some opened their veins at home,
feeling sure of being condemned and wishing to avoid

37!^

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

ignominiamque vitandam^ partim in media curia
venenum hauserunt ; et tamen conligatis vulneribus
ac semianimes palpitantesque adhuc in carcerem
rapti. Nemo punitorum non in ^ Gemonias abiectus
uncoque tractus^ viginti uno die abiecti tractique,
inter eos feminae et pueri. Immaturae puellae, quia
more tradito nefas esset virgines strangulari^ vitiatae
prius a carnifice, dein strangulatae. Mori volentibus
vis adhibita vivendi. Nam mortem adeo leve sup-
plicium putabat, ut cum audisset unum e reis,
Carnulum nomine, anticipasse eam, exclamaverit :
" Carnulus me evasit.'' Et in recognoscendis custodiis
precanti cuidam poenae maturitatem, respondit :
^^ Nondum tecum in gratiam redii." Annalibus suis
vir consularis inseruit, frequenti quodam convivio,
cui et ipse afFuerit, interrogatum eum subito et clare
a quodam nano astante mensae inter copreas, cur
Paconius maiestatis reus tam diu viveret, statim
quidem petulantiam linguae obiurgasse, ceterum
post paucos dies scripsisse senatui, ut de poena
Paconi quam primum statueret.

LXIl. Auxit intenditque saevitiam exacerbatus
indicio de morte filii sui Drusi. Quem cum morbo et
intemperantia perisse existimaret, ut tandem veneno
interemptum fraude Livillae uxoris atque Seiani
cognovit, neque tormentis neque supplicio cuiusquam
^ in, M ; the other mss. have et in.

380

I

TIBERIUS

annoyance and humiliation, while others drank poison
in full view of the senate ; yet the wounds of the
former were bandaged and they were hurried half-
dead, but still quivering, to the prison. Every one
of those who were executed was thrown out upon the
Stairs of Mourning and dragged to the Tiber with
hooks, as many as twenty being so treated in a single
day, including women and children. Since ancient
usage made it impious to strangle maidens, young
girls were first violated by the executioner and then
strangled. Those who wished to die were forced to
live ; for he thought death so light a punishment
that when he heard that one of the accused, Carnulus
by name, had anticipated his execution, he cried :
^^ Carnulus has given me the slip " ; and when he was
inspecting the prisons and a man begged for a speedy
death, he replied : " I have not yet become your
friend.'' An ex-consul has recorded in his Annals
that once at a large dinner-party, at which the writer
himself was present, Tiberius was suddenly asked in a
loud voice by one of the dwarfs that stood beside the
table among the jesters why Paconius, who was
charged with treason, remained so long alive ; that the
emperor at the time chided him for his saucy tongue,
but a few days later wrote to the senate to decide as
soon as possible about the execution of Paconius.

LXII. He increased his cruelty and carried it to
greater lengths, exasperated by what he learned
about the death of his son Drusus. At first sup-
posing that he had died of disease, due to his bad
habits, on finally learning that he had been poisoned
by the treachery of his wife Livilla and Sejanus,
there was no one whom Tiberius spared from torment
and death. Indeed, he gave himself up so utterly for

3^1

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

pepercit, soli huic cognitioni adeo per totos dies
deditus et intentiis^ iit Rhodiensem hospitem, quern
familiaribus litteris Romam evocarat/ advenisse sibi
nuntiatum torqueri sine mora iusserit, quasi aliquis
ex necessariis quaestioni adesset, deinde errore

2 detecto et occidi^ ne vulgaret iniuriam. Carnificinae
eius ostenditur locus Capreis, unde damnatos post
longa et exquisita tormenta praecipitari coram se in
mare iubebat, excipiente classiariorum manu et contis
atque remis elidente cadavera, ne cui residui spiritus
quicquam inesset. Excogitaverat autem inter genera
cruciatus etiam, ut larga meri potione per fallaciam
oneratos, repente veretris deligatis, fidicularum simul

3 urinaeque tormento distenderet. Quod nisi eum et
mors praevenisset et Thrasyllus consulto,, ut aiunt,
differre quaedam spe longioris vitae compulisset,
plures aliquanto necaturus ac ne reliquis quidem
nepotibus parsurus creditur, cum et Gaium suspectum
haberet et Tiberium ut ex adulterio conceptum
aspernaretur. Nee abhorret a vero ; namque iden-
tidem felicem Priamum vocabat, quod superstes
omnium suorum exstitisset.

LXni. Quam inter haec non modo invisus ac
detestabilis, sed praetrepidus quoque atque etiam
contumeliis obnoxius vixerit, multa indicia sunt.
^ evocarat, ^ [Beroaldus) ; evocabat, Ci.

382

TIBERIUS

whole days to this investigation and was so wrapped
up in it, that when he was told of the arrival of a-
host of his from Rhodes^ whom he had invited to Rome
in a friendly letter, he had him put to the torture at
once, supposing that someone had come whose testi-
mony was important for the case. On discovering
his mistake, he even had the man put to death,
to keep him from giving publicity to the wrong
done him.

At Capreae they still point out the scene of his
executions, from which he used to order that those
who had been condemned after long and exquisite
tortures be cast headlong into the sea before his
eyes, while a band of marines waited below for the
bodies and broke their bones with boathooks and
oars, to prevent any breath of life from remaining in
them. Among various foniis of torture he had
devised this one : he would trick men into loading
themselves with copious draughts of wine, and then
on a sudden tying up their private parts, would
torment them at the same time by the torture of
the cords and of the stoppage of their water. And
had not death prevented him, and Thrasyilus, pur-
posely it is said, induced him to put off some things
through hope of a longer life, it is believed that still
more would have perished, and that he would not
even have spared the rest of his grandsons; for he had
his suspicions of Gaius and detested Tiberius as the
fruit of adultery. And this is highly probable, for
he used at times to call Priam happy, because he
had outlived all his kindred.

LXIII. Many things go to show, not only how
hated and execrable he was all this time, but also that
he lived a life of extreme fear and was even exposed

383

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

Haruspices secreto ac sine testibus consuli vetuit.
Vicina vero iirbi oracula etiam disicere conatus est,
sed maiestate Praenestinariiin sortiuni territus
destitit, cum obsignatas devectasque Romam non
rep])erisset in area nisi relata rursus ad templum.
Unum et alterum consulares oblatis provinciis non
ausus a se dimittere usque eo detinuit, donee succes-
sores post abquot annos praesentibus daret, cum
interim manente officii titulo etiam delegaret plurima
assidue, quae ilU per legatos et adiutores suos ex-
sequenda curarent.

LXIV. Nurum ac nepotes numquam aliter post
damnationem quam catenatos obsutaque lectica loco
movit, prohibitis per mibtem obviis ac viatoribus
respicere usquam vel consistere.

LXV. Seianum res novas molientem, quamvis iam
et natalem eius pubHce celebrari et imagines aureas
coli passim videret, vix tandem et astu magis ac dolo
quam principali auctoritate subvertit. Nam primo,
ut a se per speciem honoris dimitteret, collegam sibi
assumpsit in quinto consulatu, quem longo intervallo
absens ob id ipsum susceperat. Deinde spe affinitatis
ac tribuniciae potestatis deceptum inopinantem
criminatus est pudenda miserandaque oratione^ cum
inter alia patres conscriptos precaretur, mitterent

" Of Fortuna Priniigenia. ^ Cf. chap. xxvi. 2.

384

TIBERIUS

to insult. He forbade anyone to consult soothsa}'ers
secretly and without witnesses. Indeed, he even
attempted to do away with the oracles near the city,
but forbore through terror at the divine power of the
Praenestine lots ; for though he had them sealed up
in a chest and brought to Rome, he could not find
them until the box was taken back to the temple.'*
He had assigned provinces to one or two ex-consuls,
of whom he did not dare to lose sight, but he detained
them at Rome and finally appointed their successors
several years later without their having left the city.
In the meantime they retained their titles, and he
even continued to assign them numerous commissions,
to execute through their deputies and assistants.

LXIV. After the exile of his daughter-in-law and
grandchildren he never moved them anywhere except
in fetters and in a tightly closed litter, while a guard
of soldiers kept any who met them on the road
from looking at them or even fi'om stopping as they
went by.

LXV. When Sejanus was plotting revolution,
although he saw the man*s birthday publicly cele-
brated and his golden statues honoured everywhere,
yet it was with difficulty that he at last overthrew
him, rather by craft and deceit than by his imperial
authority. P'irst of all, to remove him from his
person under colour of showing him honour, he chose
him as his colleague in a fifth consulship,^ v/hich, with si a. a
this very end in view, he assumed after a long in-
terval while absent from the city. Then beguiling
him with hope of marriage into tlie imperial family
and of the tribunicial power, he accused him when
he least expected it in a shameful and pitiable
speech, begging the senators among other things

385

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

alterum e consulibus,, qui se senem et solum in
conspectum eorum cum aliquo militari praesidio
perduceret. Sic quoque diffidens tumultumque
metuens Drusum nepotem, quem vinculis adhuc
Romae continebat, solvi_, si res posceret, ducemque ^
constitui praeceperat. Aptatis etiam navibus ad
quascumque legiones meditabatur fugam, specula-
bundus ex altissima rupe identidem signa, quae,
ne nuntii morarentur^ tolli procul, ut quidque factum
foret, mandaverat. Verum et oppressa coniuratione
Seiani nihilo securior aut constantior per novem
proximos menses non egressus est villa^ quae vocatur
Io\ds.2

LXVI. Urebant insuper anxiam mentem varia
undique convicia, nullo non damnatorum omne probri
genus coram vel per libellos in orchestra positos
ingerente. Quibus quidem diversissime adficiebatur,
modo ut prae pudore ignota et celata cuncta cuperel,
nonnumquam eadem contemneret et proferret ultro
atque vulgaret. Quin et Artabani Parthorum regis
laceratus est litteris parricidia et caedes et ignaviam
et luxuriam obicientis monentisque, ut voluntaria
morte maximo iustissimoque civium odio quam
primum satis faceret.

^ ducem {omitting que), M; et ducem, Salmasius.
2 lovis, Z^- and the, editors ; lunonis, HeinsiiLS,

^ Since Tiberius and Sejanus were consuls for the year,
the reference is to consides auffecti, appointed to succeed to
the honour for a part of the year, probably from July 1st.

^ A somewhat similar method of telegraphy is mentioned

386

TIBERIUS

to send one of the consuls * to bring him, a lonely
old man, into their presence under military protec-
tion. Even then distrustful and fearful of an out-
break, he had given orders that his grandson Drusus,
whom he still kept imprisoned in Rome, should be
set free, if occasion demanded, and made commander-
in-chief. He even got ships ready and thought of
tlight to some of the legions, constantly watching
from a high cliff for the signals which he had
ordered to be raised afar off^ as each step was
taken, for fear the messengers should be delayed.
But even when the conspiracy of Sejanus was crushed,
he was no whit more confident or courageous, but for
the next nine months he did not leave the villa
whicli is called lo's.

LXVI. His anxiety of mind became torture
because of reproaches of all kinds from every quarter,
since every single one of those who were condemned
to death heaped all kinds of abuse upon him, either
to his face or by billets placed in the orchestra.*^
By these, however, he was most diversely affected, now
through a sense of shame desiring that they all be
concealed and kept secret, sometimes scorning them
and producing them of his own accord and giving them
publicity. Why, he was even attacked by Artabanus,
king of the Parthians, who charged him in a letter
with the murder of his kindred,*^ with other bloody
deeds, and with shameless and dissolute living, coun-
selling him to gratify the intense and just hatred of
the citizens as soon as possible by a voluntary death.

at the beginning of the Agamemnon of Aeschylus as the
means of sending the news of the fall of Troy to Mycenae.

« Where the senators sat at the theatre ; cf. Aug. Iv.

* For this meaning of parricidium see note on Jul. xlii. 3.

387

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

LXVn. Postremo semet ipse pertaesus, tali ^
epistulae })nncipio tantu'm iion sumniam maloruin
suoruni professus est : " Quid scribam vobis, p. c, aiit
quo modo scribam, aut quid omnino non scribam hoc
tempore, dii me deaeque peius perdant quam cotidie
perire sentio, si scio."

Existimant quidam praescisse haec eum peritia
futurorum ac multo ante, quanta se quandoque
acerbitas et infamia maneret, prospexisse ; ideoque,
ut imperium inierit, et patris patriae appellationem
et ne in acta sua iuraretur obstinatissime recusasse,
ne mox maiore dedecore impar tantis honoribus
inveniretur. Quod sane ex *^ oratione eius, quam de
utraque re habuit, colligi potest ; vel cum ait,
similem se semper sui futurum nee \jrmquam muta-
turum mores suos, quam diu sanae mentis fuisset ;
sed exempli causa cavendum esse, ne se senatus
in acta cuiusquam obligaret, quia aliquo casu mutari
posset. Et rursus :

^^Si quando autem," inquit, "de moribus meis
devotoque vobis aniino dubitaveritis, — quod prius
quam eveniat, opto ut me supremus dies huic
mutatae vestrae de me opinioni eripiat — nihil honoris
adiciet mihi patria appellatio, vobis autem expro-
brabit aut temeritatem delati mihi eius cognominis
aut inconstantiam contrarii de me iudicii."

LXVin. Corpore fuit amplo atque robusto, statu ra
quae iustam excederet ; latus ab umeris et pectore,

^ tali, Muretus ; talis, ws.s\

'^ ex, MT ; the other mss. have et ex.

" Quoted also by Tac. Ann. 6. 6.

^ That is, the change in his character and its consequences.

388

TIBERIUS

LXVII. At last in utter self-disgust he all but
admitted the extremity of his wretchedness in a 32a.i>c
letter beginning as follows ^ : ^^ If I know what to
write to you^ Fathers of the Senate^ or how to write
it, or what to leave unwritten at present, may all
gods and goddesses visit me with more utter destruc-
tion than I feel that I am daily suffering.'* Some
think that through his knowledge of the future he
foresaw this situation,^ and knew long beforehand
what detestation and ill-repute one day awaited
him ; and that therefore when he became emperor,
he positively refused the title of ^^ Father of his
Country" and to allow the senate to take oath to sup-
port his acts, for fear that he might presently be found
undeserving of such honours and thus be tlie more
shamed. In fact, this may be gathered from the
speech which he made regarding these two matters ;
for example, when he says ; ^^ I shall always be
consistent and never change my ways so loug as I
am in my senses ; but for the sake of precedent the
senate should beware of binding itself to support the
acts of any man, since he might through some
mischance suffer a change." Again : ^^ If you ever
come to feel any doubt," he says, '' of my character
or of my heartfelt devotion to you (and before that
happens, I pray that my last day may save me from
this altered opinion of me), the title of Father of my
Country will give me no additional honour, but
will be a reproach to you, either for your hasty action
in conferring the appellation upon me, or for your
inconsistency in changing your estimate of my
character."

LXVII I. He was large and strong of frame, and
of a stature above the average ; broad of shoulders

389

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

ceteris quoque membris usque ad imos pedes aequalis
et congruens ; sinistra manu agiliore ac validiore,
articulis ita firmis, ut recens et integrum malum
digito terebraret, caput pueri vel etiam adulescentis
talitro vulneraret. Colore erat candido, capillo pone
occipitium summissiore ut cervicem etiam obtegeret,
quod gentile in illo videbatur ; facie honesta, in qua
tamen crebri et subiti tumores, cum praegrandibus
oculis et qui, quod mirum esset, noctu etiam et
in tenebris viderent, sed ad breve et cum primum e
somno patuissent ; deinde rursum hebescebant.
Incedebat cervice rigida et obstipa, adducto fere
vultu, plerumque tacitus, nullo aut rarissimo etiam
cum proximis sermone eoque tardissimo, nee sine
molli quadam digitorum gesticulations Quae omnia
ingrata atque arrogantiae plena et animadvertit
Augustus in eo et excusare temptavit saepe apud
senatum ac populum professus naturae vitia esse,
non animi. Valitudine prosperrima usus est, tem-
pore quidem principatus paene toto prope inlaesa,
quamvis a tricesimo aetatis anno arbitratu eam suo
rexerit sine adiumento consiliove medicorum.

LXIX. Circa deos ac religiones neglegentior,
quippe addictus mathematicae plenusque persuasionis
cuncta fato agi, tonitrua tamen praeter modum
expavescebat et turbatiore caelo numquam non

"- One of the strongest arguments against the trutli of the
tales of his debauchery.

TIBERIUS

and chest ; well proportioned and symmetrical from
head to foot. His left hand was the more nimble
and stronger, and its joints were so powerful that
he could bore through a fresh, sound apple with
his finger, and break the head of a boy, or even a
young man, with a fillip. He was of fair complexion
and wore his hair rather long at the back, so much
so as even to cover the nape of liis neck ; which was
apparently a family trait. His face was handsome,
but would break out on a sudden with many pimples.
His eyes were unusually large and, strange to say,
had the power of seeing even at night and in the
dark, but onl}- for a short time when first opened
after sleep ; presently they grew dim-sighted again.
He strode along with his neck stiff and bent forward,
usually Avith a stern countenance and for the most
part in silence, never or very rarely conversing with
his companions, and then speaking with great de-
liberation and with a kind of supple movement of his
fingers. All of these mannerisms of his, M^hich were
disagreeable and signs of arrogance, were remarked
by Augustus, who often tried to excuse them to the
senate and people by declaring that they were
natural failings, and not intentional. He enjoyed
excellent health, which was all but perfect during
nearly the whole of his reign,^ although from the
thirtieth year of his age he took care of it accord-
ing to his own ideas, without the aid or advice of
physicians.

LXIX. Although somewhat neglectful of the gods
and of religious matters, being addicted to astrology
and firmly convinced that everything was in tlie
hands of fate, he was nevertheless immoderately
afraid of thunder. Whenever the sky was lowering,

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

coronam lauream capite gestavit, quod fulmine afflari
negetur id genus frondis.

LXX. Artes liberales utriusque generis studio-
sissime coluit. In oratione Latina secutus est
Corvinum Messalam, quern senem adulescens
observarat. Sed adfectatione et morositate nimia
obscurabat stilum, ut aliquanto ex tempore quam a
cura praestantior haberetur. Composuit et carmen
lyricum, cuius est titulus *^ Conquestio de morte L.
Caesaris." Fecit et Graeca poemata imitatus
Euphorionem et Rhianum et Parthenium, quibus
poetis admodum delectatus scripta omnium et
imagines publicis bibliothecis inter veteres et prae-
cipuos auctores dedicavit ; et ob hoc plerique
eruditorum certatim ad eum multa de his ediderunt.
Maxime tamen curavit notitiam historiae fabularis
usque ad ineptias atque derisum ; nam et gram-
maticos, quod genus hominum praecipue, ut diximus,
appetebat, eius modi fere quaestionibus experiebatur :
^^ Quae mater Hecubae, quod Achilli nomen inter
virgines fuisset, quid Sirenes can tare sint solitae."
Et quo primum die post excessum Augusti curiam
intravit, quasi pietati simul ac religioni satis facturus
Minonis exemplo ture quidem ac vino verum sine
tibicine supplicavit, ut ille olim in morte filii.

LXX I. Sermone Graeco quamquam alioqui promp-
tus et facilis, non tamen usque quaque usus est
abstinuitque maxime in senatu ; adeo quidem, ut

^ See note on Aug. xc.

^ The grammaticus was a critic and teacher of literature,
but "grammarian" has become conventional in this sense,
as well as in its more restricted meaning.

TIBERIUS

he always wore a laurel wreath, because it is said
that that kind of leaf is not blasted by lightning.*

LXX. He was greatly devoted to liberal studies in
both languages. In his Latin oratory he followed
Messala Corvinus, to whom he had given attention in
his youth, when Messala was an old man. But he so
obscured his style by excessive mannerisms and ped-
antry, that he was thought to speak much better off-
hand than in a prepared address. He also composed
a lyric poem, entitled ^^ A Lament for the Death of
Lucius Caesar," and made Greek verses in imitation
of Euphorion, Rhianus, and Parthenius, poets of
whom he was very fond, placing their busts in the
public libraries among those of the eminent writers
of old ; and on that account many learned men vied
with one another in issuing commentaries on their
works and dedicating them to the emperor. Yet his
special aim was a knowledge of mythology, which
he carried to a silly and laughable extreme ; for he
used to test even the grammarians,* a class of men in
whom, as I have said, he was especially interested,
by questions something like this : ^^ Who was
Hecuba's mother?** "What was the name of
Achilles among the maidens ? " " What were the
Sirens in the habit of singing? " Moreover, on the
first day that he entered the senate after the death
of Augustus, to satisfy at once the demands of filial
piety and of religion, he offered sacrifice after the
example of Minos with incense and wine, but without
a fluteplayer, as Minos had done in ancient times on
the death of his son.

LXX I. Though he spoke Greek readily and
fluently, yet he would not use it on all occasions,
and especially eschewed it in the senate ; so much

393

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

mono})olium nomiiiaturus veniam prius postularet^
quod sibi verbo peregrino utendum esset. Atque
etiam cum in quodam decreto patrum e/x/5Xr;/xa
recitaretur, commutandam censuit vocem et pro
peregrina nostratem requirendam aut, si non reperi-
retur, vel pluribus et per ambitum verborum rem
enuntiandam. MiHtem quoque Graece testimonium
interrogatum nisi Latine respondere vetuit.

LXXn. Bis omnino toto secessus tempore Romam
redire conatus, semel triremi usque ad proximos nau-
machiae hortos subvectus est disposita statione per
ripas Tiberis^ quae obviam prodeuntis submoveret,
iterum Appia usque ad septimum lapidem ; sed pro-
spectis modo nee aditis urbis moenibus rediit, primo in-

2 certum qua de causa, postea ostento territus. Erat ei
in oblectamentis serpens draco, quem ex consuetu-
dine manu sua cibaturus cum consumptum a formicis
invenisset, monitus est ut vim multitudinis caveret.
Rediens ergo propere Campaniam Asturae in
languorem incidit, quo paulum levatus Cerceios
pertendit. Ac ne quam suspicionem infirmitatis
daret, castrensibus ludis non tantum interfuit, sed
etiam missum in harenam aprum iaculis desuper
petit ; statimque latere convulso et, ut exaestuarat,

3 afflatus aura in graviorem recidit morbum. Susten-

^* *' Monopoly," a Greek word transliterated into Latin;
see note on chap. xxx.

^ The Greek word for inlaid figures of metal riveted or
soldered to cups. There is no exact equivalent in Latin, but
(yicero twice uses the transliterated form eniblenia {In Verr.
4. 49).

'■ 8ee Jul. xxxix. 4,

394

TIBERIUS

so that before using the word ^^ monopolium/' * he
begged pardon for the necessity of employing a
foreign term. Again, when the word ^/x/SX-rjixa ^ was
read in a decree of the senate, he recommended that
it be changed and a native word substituted for the
foreign one ; and if one could not be found, that the
idea be expressed by several words, if necessary,
and by periphrasis. On another occasion, when a
soldier was asked in Greek to give testimony, he
forbade him to answer except in Latin.

LXXII. Twice only during the whole period of
his retirement did he try to return to Rome, once
sailing in a trireme as far as the gardens near the
artificial lake/ after first posting a guard along the
banks of the Tiber to keep off those who came out to
meet him ; and again coming up the Appian Way as
far as the seventh milestone. But he returned after
merely having a distant view of the city walls,
without approaching them ; the first time for some
unknown reason, the second through alarm at a
portent. He had among his pets a serpent, and
when he was going to feed it from his own hand, as
his custom was, and discovered that it had been
devoured by ants, he was warned to beware of the
power of the multitude. So he went back in haste
to Campania, fell ill at Astura, but recovering some-
what kept on to Circeii. To avoid giving any
suspicion of his weak condition, he not only attended
the games of the soldiers, but even threw down
darts from his high seat at a boar which was let into
the arena. Immediately he was taken with a pain
in the side, and then being exposed to a draught
when he was overheated, his illness increased. For
all that, he kept up for some time, although he con-

395

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

tavit tamen aliquamdiu, quamvis Misenum usque
devectus nihil ex ordine cotidiano praetermitteret, ne
con vi via quidem aut ceteras voluptates partim in-
temperantia partim dissimulatione. Nam Chariclen
medicum, quod commeatu afuturus e convivio egre-
diens manum sibi osculandi causa apprehendisset,
existimans temptatas ab eo venas, remanere ac
recumbere hortatus est cenamque protraxit. Nee
abstinuit consuetudine quin tunc quoque instans in
medio triclinio astante lictore singulos valere dicentis
appellaret.

LXXni. Interim cum in actis senatus legisset
dimissos ac ne auditos quidem quosdam reos,
de quibus strictim et nihil aliud quam nominatos ab
indice scripserat, pro contempto se habitum fremens
repetere Capreas quoquo modo destinavit, non temere
quicquam nisi ex tuto ausurus. Sed tempestatibus et
ingravescente vi morbi retentus paulo post obiit in
villa Lucullana octavo et septuagesimo aetatis anno,
tertio et vicesimo imperii, XVII. Kal. Ap. Cn.
Acerronio Proculo C. Pontio Nigrino ^ conss.

Sunt qui putent venenum ei a Gaio datum lentum

atque tabificum ; alii, in remissione fortuitae febris

cibum desideranti negatum ; nonnulli, pulvinum iniec-

tum, cum extractum sibi deficienti -^nulum mox

^ Nigrino, Torrentivs ; Nigro, H.

TIBERIUS

tinued his journey as far as Misenum and made no
change in his usual habits^ not even giving up his
banquets and other pleasures, partly from lack of
self-denial and partly to conceal his condition.
Indeed, when the physician Charicles had taken his
hand to kiss it as he left the dining-room, since he
was going away on leave of absence, Tiberius, think-
ing that he was trying to feel his pulse, urged him
to remain and take his place again, and prolonged
the dinner to a late hour. Even then he did not
give up his custom of standing in the middle of the
dining-room with a lictor by his side and addressing
all the guests by name as they said farewell.

LXXIII. Meanwhile, having read in the pro-
ceedings of the senate that some of those under
accusation, about whom he had written briefly,
merely stating that they had been named by an
informer, had been discharged without a hearing,
he cried out in anger that he was held in contempt,
and resolved to return to Capreae at any cost, since
he would not risk any step except from his place of
refuge. Detained, however, by bad weather and
the increasing violence of his illness, he died a little
later in the villa of Lucullus, in the seventy-eighth
year of his age and the twenty- third of his reign, on
the seventeenth day before the Kalends of April, in Mar. 16,
the consulship of Gnaeus Acerronius Proculus and ^'^^•^*
Gaius Pontius Nigrinus.

Some think that Gaius gave him a slow and vicLCW.
wasting poison ; others that during convalescence
from an attack of fever food was refused him when
he asked for it. Some say that a pillow was thrown
upon his face, when he came to and asked for a
ring which had been taken from him during a fainting

397

Xll.

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK III

resipiscens requisisset. Seneca eum scribit intellecta
defectione exemptum anulum quasi aliciii traditurum
parumper tenuisse, dein rursus aptasse dii^ito et com-
pressa sinistra manu iacuisse diu immobilem ; subito
vocatis ministris ac nemine respondente consurrexisse
nee procul a lectulo deficientibus viribus concidisse.

LXXIV. Supremo natalisuo Apollinem Temenitem
et amplitudinis et artis eximiae,, advectum Syracusis ul
in bibliotheca templi novi poneretur, viderat per
quietem aflirmantem sibi non posse se ab ipso
dedicari. Et ante paucos quam obiret dies, turris
phari terrae motu Capreis concidit. Ac Miseni cinis
e favilla et carbonibus ad calficiendum triclinium
inlatis,^ exstinctus iam et diu frigidus, exarsit repente
prima vespera atque in muUam noctem pertinaciter
luxit.

LXXV\ Morte eius ita laetatus est populus, ut ad
primum nuntium discurrentes pars: *^Tiberium in
Tiberim ! *' clamitarent, pars Terram matrem deosque
Manes orarent, ne mortuo sedem ullam nisi inter
impios darent^ alii uncum et Gemonias cadaveri
minarentur, exacerbati super memoriam pristinae
crudeliUitis etiam recenti atrocitate. Nam cum
senatus consulto cautum esset, ut poena damnatorum
in decimimi semper diem dilferretur, forte accidit ut
quorundam supplicii dies is esset, quo nuntiatum de
Tiberio erat. Hos implorantis hominum fidem, quia

^ illatis, $-; inlatus (illatus), XI.

• This statue, which took its name from Temenos, a suburb
of Syracuse, was a celebrated one ; cf. Cic. In Verr, 2. 4. 119,

* Of Augustus, on the western slope of the Palatine Hill.

«^ Pharos, the lighthouse at Alexandria, became a general
term. Cf. turipus^ Jul. xxxii. 2.

398

TIBERIUS

fit. Seneca writes that conscious of his approaching
end, he took off the ring, as if to give it to someone,
but held fast to it for a time; then he put it back
on his finger, and clenching his left hand, lay for a
long time motionless ; suddenly he called for his
attendants, and on receiving no response, got up ;
but his strength failed him and he fell dead near the
couch.

LXXIV. On his last birthday he dreamt that the
Apollo of Temenos,* a statue of remarkable size and
beauty, which he had brought from Syracuse to be
set up in the library of the new temple,^ appeared to
him in a dream, declaring that it could not be
dedicated by Tiberius. A few days before his death
the lighthouse ^ at Capreae was wrecked by an earth-
quake. At Misenum the ashes from the glowing
coals and embers which had been brought in to
warm his dining-room, after they had died out and
been for a long time cold, suddenly blazed up in the
early evening and glowed without cessation until
late at night.

LXXV. The people were so glad of his death,
that at the first news of it some ran about shouting,
"Tiberius to the Tiber/' while others prayed to
Mother Eartli and the Manes to allow the dead man
no abode except among the damned. Still others
threatened his body with the hook and the Stairs of
Mourning, especially embittered by a recent outrage,
added to the memory of his former cruelty. It
had been provided by decree of the senate that the 21 a.».
execution of the condemned should in all cases
be put off for ten days, and it chanced that tlie
punishment of some fell due on the day when the
news came about Tiberius. The poor wretches

399

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK HI

absente adhiic Gaio nemo exstabat qui adiri inter-
pel larique j)osset, custodes, ne quid ad versus con-
stitutum facerent, strangulaverunt abieceruntque
in Gemonias. Crevit igitur invidia, quasi etiani post
mortem tyranni saevitia j)ermanente. Corpus ut
moved a Miseno coepit, conclamantibus plerisque
Atellam potius deferendum et in ampliitheatro se-
miustilandum, Romam per milites deportatum est
crematumque publico funere.

LXXVT. Testamentum duplex ante biennium
fecerat, alterum sua, alterum liberti manu, sed eodem
exemplo, obsignaveratque etiam humillimorum signis.
Eo testamento heredes aequis partibus reliquit (jaium
ex Germanico et Tiberium ex Druso nepotes sub-
stituitque in vicem ; dedit et legata plerisque, inter
quos virginibus Vestalibus, sed et militibus universis
plebeique Romanae viritim atque etiam separatim
vicorum magistris.

^* The exact point is not clear. Perliaps an amphitheatre
was chosen for the sake of ignomin3% as well as to furnish
accommodation for spectators, and that of Atella seems to
have been the one nearest to Misenum. Or it may have been
because of Tiberius's failure to entertain the people with
shows (see chap, xlvii. ) that it was proposed to make a farce
of his funeral in Atella, the home of the popular Atellan
farces.

400

TIBERIUS

begged the public for protection ; but since in the
continued absence of Gaius there was no one who
could be approached and appealed to^ the jailers^
fearing to act contrary to the law, strangled them
and cast out their bodies on the Stairs of Mourning.
Therefore hatred of the tyrant waxed greater, since
his cruelty endured even after his death. When the
funeral procession left Misenum^ many cried oat that
the body ought rather to be carried to Atella/ and
half-burned in the amphitheatre ; but it was taken
to Rome by the soldiers and reduced to ashes with
public ceremonies.

LXXVI. Two years before his death he had made
two copies of a will, one in his own hand and the
other in that of a freedman, but of the same content,
and had caused them to be signed and sealed by
persons of the very lowest condition. In this will
he named his grandsons, Gaius, son of Gennanicus,
and Tiberius, son of Drusus, heirs to equal shares
of his estate, each to be sole heir in case of the
other's death. Besides, he gave legacies to several^
including the Vestal virgins, as well as to each and
every man of the soldiers and the commons of Rome,
with separate ones to the masters of the city wards.

401

BOOK IV

GAIUS CALIGULA

LIBER IV

C. CALIGULA

I. Germanicus^ C. Caesaris pater^ Drusi et minoris
Antoniae filius^ a Tiberio patruo adoptatus^ quaesturam
quinquennio ante quam per leges liceret et post earn
consulatum statim gessit, missusque ad exercitum in
Germaniam^ excessu August! nuntiato, legiones uni-
versas imperatorem Tiberium pertinacissime recusantis
et sibi summam rei p. deferentis incertum pietate an
constantia maiore compescuit atque hoste mox devicto
triumphavit. Consul deinde iterum ereatus ac prius
quam honorem iniret ad componendum Orientis
statum expulsus^ cum Armeniae regem devicisset,
Cappadoeiam in provinciae formam redegisset^ annum
agens aetatis quartum et tricehsimum diuturno morbo
Antiochiae obiit_, non sine veneni suspieione. Nam
praeter livores^ qui toto corpore erant, et spumas^ quae
per OS fluebant^ cremati quoque cor inter ossa in-
corruptum repertum est^ cuius ea natura existimatur,
ut tinctum veneno igne confici nequeat.

" That is, without holding the intermediate offices ; the
interval between his quaestorship and consulship was five
years.

^ Cf. Tib. XXV. 2.

404

BOOK IV

GAIUS CALIGULA

I. Ge-rmanicus, father of Gaius Caesar^ son of
Drusus and the younger Antonia, after being
adopted by his paternal uncle Tiberius^ held the 4 a.©.
quaestorsliip five years before the legal age and 7 a.d.
passed directly to the consulship.^ When the 12 a.d,
death of Augustus was announced^ he was sent u a-i».
to the anny in Germany, where it is hard to say
whether his filial piety or his courage was more
conspicuous ; for although all the legions obstinately
refused to accept Tiberius as emperor, and offered
him the rule of the state,* he held them to their
allegiance. And later he won a victory over the 17 a.iv
enemy and celebrated a triumph. Then chosen is a.d
consul for a second time, before he entered on his
term he was hurried off to restore order in the
Orient, and after vanquishing the king of Armenia
and reducing Cappadocia to the form of a province,
died of a lingering illness at Antioch, in the thirty-
fourth year of his age. There was some suspicion
that he was poisoned ; for besides the dark spots
which appeared all over his body and the froth
which flowed from his mouth, after he had been
reduced to ashes his heart was found entire among
his bones ; and it is supposed to be a characteristic of
that organ that when steeped in poison it cannot be
destroyed by fire.

405

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS^BOOK IV

II. Obiit autem^ ut opinio fuit^ fraude Tiberi^
ministerio et opera Cn. Pisonis^ qui sub idem tempus
Syriae praepositus^ nee dissimulans offendendum sibi
aut patrem aut filium^ quasi plane ita necesse esset^
etiam aegrum Germanicum gravissimis verborum
ac rerum acerbitatibus nullo adhibito modo adfecit ;
propter quae^ ut Romam rediit^ paene discerptus a
populo^ a senatu capitis damnatus est.

III. Omnes Germanico corporis animique virtutes^
et quantas nemini cuiquam^ contigisse satis constat :
formam et fortitudinem egregiam^ ingenium in utroque
eloquentiae doctrinaeque genere praecellens^ beni-
volentiam singularem conciliandaeque hominum
gratiae ac promerendi amoris mirum et efficax studium.
Formae minus congruebat gracilitas cruriim^ sed ea
quoque paulatim repleta assidua equi vectatione post
cibum. Hostem comminus saepe percussit. Oravit
causas etiam triumphal is ; atque inter cetera studiorum
monimenta reliquit et comoedias Graecas. Domi
forisque civilis, libera ac foederata oppida sine lictori-
bus adibat. Sicubi clarorum virorum sepulcra cog-
no^ceret^ inferias Manibus dabat. Caesorum clade
Variana veteres ac dispersas reliquias uno tumulo
humaturus^ colligere sua manu et comportare primus
adgressus est. Obtrectatoribus etiam^ qualescumque
et quantacumque de causa nanctus esset, lenis adeo

« Cf. Tib. lii. 3.

* See note on Tib. xxvi. 1,

406

GAIUS CALIGULA

II. Now the belief was that he met his death
through the wiles of Tiberius^ aided and abetted by
Gnaeus Piso.^ This man had been made governor of
Syria at about that time^ and realising that he
must give offence either to the father or the son,
as if there were no alternative^ he never ceased to
show the bitterest enmity towards Germanicus in
word and deed, even after the latter fell ill. In
consequence Piso narrowly escaped being torn to
pieces by the people on his return to Rome, and was
condemned to death by the senate.

III. It is the general opinion that Geniianicus
possessed all the highest qualities of body and mind,
to a degree never equalled by anyone ; a handsome
person, unequalled valour, surpassing ability in the
oratory and learning of Greece and Rome, un-
exampled kindliness, and a remarkable desire and
capacity for winning men's regard and inspiring
their affection. His legs were too slender for the
rest of his figure, but he gradually brought them to
proper proportions by constant horseback riding
after meals. He often slew a foeman in hand-to-hand
combat. He pleaded causes even after receiving the
triumphal regalia ; and among other fruits of his
studies he left some Greek comedies. Unassuming *
at home and abroad, he always entered the free and
federate towns without lictors. Wherever he came
upon the tombs of distinguished men, he always
offered sacrifice to their shades. Planning to bury
in one mound the old and scattered relics of those
who fell in the overthrow of Varus, he was the first
to attempt to collect and assemble them with his
own hand. Even tow^ards his detractors, whosoever
they were and whatever their motives, he was so

407

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

et innoxius, ut Pisoni decreta sua rescindenti,
clientelas divexanti ^ non prius suscensere in animum
induxerit, quam veneficiis quoque et devotionibus
impugnari se comperisset ; ac ne tunc quidem ultra
progressus, quam ut amicitiam ei more maiorum
renuntiaret mandaretque domesticis ultionem, si quid
sibi accideret.

IV. Quarum virtu turn fructum uberrimum tulit,
sic probatus et dilectus a suis, ut Augustus — omitto
enim necessitudines reliquas — diu cunctatus an sibi
successorem destinaret, adoptandum Tiberio dederit ;
sic vulgo favorabilis, ut plurimi tradant, quotiens
aliquo adveniret vel sicunde discederet, prae turba
occurrentium prosequentiumve nonnumquam eum
discrimen vitae adisse, e Germania vero post com-
pressam seditionem revertenti praetorianas cohortes
universas prodisse obviam_, quamvis pronuntiatum
asset, ut duae tantum modo exirent, populi autem
Romani sexum, aetatem, ordinem omnem usque ad
vicesimum lapidem efFudisse se.

V. Tamen longe maiora et firmiora de eo iudicia in
morte ac post mortem exstiterunt. Quo defunctus
est die, lapidata sunt templa, subversae deum arae.
Lares a quibusdam familiares in publicum abiecti,
partus coniugum expositi. Quin et barbaros ferunt,
quibus intestinum quibusque adversus nos bellum
esset, velut in domestico communique maerore con-
sensisse ad indutias ; regulos quosdam barbam posuisse

^ divexanti, Torrentius; diu vexanti, mss.

^ Fuller details are given by Tac. Ann. 2. 69. 5. Such
spells were often inscribed on leaden tablets {dejtxiones ;
plumJfeis tahulis, Tac), specimens of which have come down
to us.

* See note on Aug. ci. 3. ^ See note on 7Hb. vii. 2.

408

GAIUS CALIGULA

mild and lenient, that when Piso was annulling his
decrees and maltreating his dependents, he could not
make up his mind to break with him, until he found
himself assailed also by potions and spells.* Even
then he went no farther than formally to renounce
Piso's friendship in the old-time fashion, and to bid
his household avenge him, in case anytliing should
befall him.^

IV. He reaped plentiful fruit from these virtues,
for he was so respected and beloved by his kindred
that Augustus (to say nothing of the rest of his
relatives) after hesitating for a long time whether to
appoint him his successor, had him adopted by
Tiberius. He was so popular with the masses, that,
according to many writers, whenever he came to any
place or left one, he was sometimes in danger of his
life from the crowds that met him or saw him off;
in fact, when he returned from Germany after quell-
ing the outbreak, all the cohorts of the praetorian
guard went forth to meet him, although orders had
been given that only two should go, and the whole
populace, regardless of age, sex, or rank, poured
out of Rome as far as the twentieth milestone.

V. Yet far greater and stronger tokens of regard
were shown at the time of his death and immediately
afterwards. On the day when he passed away the
temples were stoned and the altars of the gods thrown
down, while some flung their household gods into the
street and cast out their newly born children.*' Even
barbarian peoples, so they say, who were engaged in
war with us or with one another, unanimously con-
sented to a truce, as if all in common had suffered a
domestic tragedy. It is said that some princes put
off their beards and had their wives* heads shaved, as

409

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

et uxorum capita rasisse ad indicium maximi luctus ;
regum etiam regem et exercitatioiie venandi et
convictu megistanum abstinuisse_, quod apud Parthos
iustiti ^ instar est.

VI. Romae quidem, cum ad primam famam vali-
tudinis attonita et maesta civitas sequentis nuntios
opperiretur, et repente iam vesperi incertis auctoribus
convaluisse tandem percrebruisset, passim cum lumini-
bus et victimis in Capitolium concursum est ac paene
revolsae templi fores, ne quid gestientis vota redd ere
moraretur, expergefactus e somno Tiberius gratu-
lantium vocibus atque undique concinentium :

^' Salva Roma, salva patria, salvus est Germanicus."

Et ut demum fato functum })alam factum est, non
solaciis ullis, non edictis inhiberi luctus j)ublicus
potuit duravitque etiam per festos Decembris mensis
dies. Auxit gloriam desideriumque defuncti et
atrocitas insequentium tem})orum, cunctis nee temere
opinantibus reverentia eius ac metu repressam Tiberi
saevitiam, quae mox eruperit.

VII. Habuit in matrimonio Agrippinam, M.
Agrippae et luliae filiam, et ex ^ ea novem liberos
tulit ; quorum duo infantes adhuc rapti, unus iam
puerascens insigni festivitate, cuius effigiem habitu
Cupidinis in aede Capitolinae Veneris Livia dedicavit,

^ iusticii nQ ; the other ms.^. have iusti.
'^ et ex TT; the other mss. have ex only.

" A title originally applied to the king of Persia and trans-
ferred to the king of the Parthians.

* The Saturnalia, see Index and cf. note on Aug. Ixxi. 1.

410

GAIUS CALIGULA

a token of the deepest mourning ; that even the king
of kings'* suspended his exercise at hunting and
the banquets with his grandees^ which among the
Parthians is a sign of pubUc mourning.

VL At Rome when the community., in grief and
consternation at the first report of his illness, was
awaiting further news, and suddenly after nightfall
a report at last spread abroad, on doubtful authority,
that he had recovered, a general rush was made from
every side to the Capitol with torches and victims,
and the temple gates were all but torn off, that
nothing might hinder them in their eagerness to pay
their vows. Tiberius was roused from sleep by the
cries of the rejoicing throng, who all united in sing-
ing :—

" Safe is Rome, safe too our country, for Germanicus
is safe."

But when it was at last made known that he was
no more, the public grief could be checked neither
by any consolation nor edict, and it continued even
during the festal days of the month of December.^

The fame of the deceased and regret for his loss
were increased by the horror of the times which
followed, since all believed, and with good reason,
that the cruelty of Tiberius, which soon burst forth,
had been held in check through his respect and awe
for Germanicus.

Vn. He had to wife Agrippina, daughter of
Marcus Agrippa and Julia, who bore him nine
children. Two of these were taken off when they
were still in infancy, and one just as he was reaching
the age of boyhood, a charming child, whose statue,
in the guise of Cupidj Livia dedicated in tiie temple

411

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

Augustus in cubiculo suo positam, quotiensque in-
troiret, exosculabatur ; ceteri superstites patri fuerunt,
tres sexus feminini, Agrippina Drusilla Livilla, con-
tinuo triennio natae ; totidem mares, Nero et Drusus
et C. Caesar. Neronem et Drusum senatus Tiberio
criminante hostes iudicavit.

VIII. C. Caesar natus est pridie Kal. Sept. patre
suo et C. Fonteio Capitone coss. Ubi natus sit, in-
certum diversitas tradentium facit. Cn. Lentulus
Gaetulicus Tiburi genitum scribit, Plinius Secundus
in Treveris vico Ambitarvio supra Confluentes ; addit
etiam pro arguniento aras ibi ostendi inscriptas
OB AGRiPPiNAE PVERPERivM. Versiculi imperante mox
eo divulgati apud hibernas legiones procreatum
indicant :

^^ In castris natus, patriis nutritus in armis,
lam designati principis omen erat."

Ego in actis Anti editum invenio. Gaetulicum refellit
Plinius quasi mentitum per adulationem, ut ad laudes
iuvenis gloriosique })rincipis aliquid etiam ex urbe
Herculi sacra sumeret, abusumque audentius men-
dacio, quod ante annum fere natus German ico filius
Tiburi fuerat, appellatus et ii)se C. Caesar, de cuius
amabili pueritia immaturoque obitu supra diximus.
Plinium arguit ratio temporum. Nam qui res Augusti

« See Tib, liv.

* The actapuhlica or acta diurna, an official publication of
important events.
^ Chap. vii.

412

GAIUS CALIGULA

of the Capitoline Venus, while Augustus had another
placed in his bed chamber and used to kiss it fondly
whenever he entered the room. The other children
survived their father, three girls, Agrippina, Drusilla,
and Li villa, born in successive years, and three boys,
Nero, Drusus, and Gaius Caesar. Nero and Diiisus
were adjudged public enemies by the senate on the
accusation of Tiberius.**

VIIL Gaius Caesar was born the day before the a\i^. si.
Kalends of September in the consulship of his father ^^ ^*^*
and Gaius Fonteius Capito. Conflicting testimony
makes his birthplace uncertain. Gnaeus Lentulus
Gaetulicus writes that he was born at Tibur, Plinius
Secundus among the Treveri, in a village called
Ambitarvium above the Confluence. Pliny adds as
proof that altars are shown there, inscribed ^^ For
the Delivery of Agrippina." Verses which were in
circulation soon after he became emperor indicate
that he was begotten in the winter-quarters of the
legions :

^' He who was born in the camp and reared 'mid the
arms of his country.
Gave at the outset a sign that he was fated to
rule."

I myself find in the gazette * that he first saw the
light at Antium. Gaetulicus is shown to be wronij
by Pliny, who says that he told a flattering lie, to add
some lustre to the fame of a young and vainglorious
prince from the city sacred to Hercules ; and that
he lied with the more assurance because Germanic us
really did have a son born to him at Til)ur, also
called Gaius Caesar, of whose lovable disposition and
untimely death I have already spoken. ^' Pliny has

413

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

memoriae mandarunt, Germaniciim exacto consulatu
in Galliam missum consentiunt iam nato Gaio. Nee
Plini opiiiionem inscriptio arae quicquam adiiiverit,
cum Agrippina bis in ea regione filias enixa sit, et
qualiscumque partus sine uUo sexus discrimine puer-
perium vocetur, quod antiqui etiam puellas pueras,

4 sicut et pueros puellos dictitarent. Exstat et Augusti
epistula, ante paucos quam obiret menses ad Agrippi-
nam neptem ita scripta de Gaio hoc — neque enim
quisquam iam alius infVms nomine pari tunc su})ere-
rat : ^' Puerum Gaium XV. Kal. lun. si dii volent,
ut ducerent Talarius et Asillius, heri cum iis con-
stitui. Mitto praeterea cum eo ex servis meis
medicum, quem scripsi Germanico si vellet ut
retineret. Valebis, mea Agrippina, et dabis operam

5 ut valens pervenias ad Germanicum tuum." Abunde
parere arbitror non potuisse ibi nasci Gaium, quo
prope bimulus demum perductus ab urbe sit. Versi-
culorum quoque fidem eadem haec elevant et eo
facilius, quod ii sine auctore sunt. Sequenda est
igitur, quae sola ^ restat et publici instrumenti
auctoritas, praesertim cum Gaius Antium omnibus
semper locis atque secessibus praelatum non aliter
quam natale solum dilexerit tradaturque etiam sedem
ac domicilium imperii taedio urbis transferre eo de-
stinasse.

IX. Caligulae cognomen castrensi ioco ^ traxit,
quia manipulario habitu inter milites educabatur.

^ The mss. have auctor after sola.
^ ioco, Beroaldus ; loco, Ci.

" '* Little Boots" (though really siiigular number). The
caliga, or half-boot, was regularly worn by the soldiers.

4M

14 A.D.

GAIUS CALIGULA

erred in his chronology ; for the historians of
Augustus agree that Germanicus was not sent to
Germany until the close of his consulship, v/hcn
Gaius was already born. Moreover, the inscription
on the altar adds no strength to Pliny's view, for
Agi'ippina twice gave birtli to daughters in that
region, and any childbirth, regardless of sex, is called
piierperium, since the men of old called girls piierae,
just as they called boys puclli. Furtliermore, we
have a letter written by Augustus to his grand-
daughter Agrippina, a few months before he died,
about the Gaius in question (for no other child of the
name was still alive at that time), reading as follows :
^^ Yesterday I arranged with Talarius and Asillius to
bring your boy Gaius on the fifteenth day before the Mayu
Kalends of June, if it be the will of the gods. I
send with him besides one of my slaves who is a
physician, and I have written Germanicus to keep
him if he wishes. Farewell, my own Agrippina,
and take care to come in good health to your
Germanicus.'*

I think it is clear enough that Gaius could not have
been born in a place to which he was first taken from
Rome when he was nearly tw^o years old. This letter
also weakens our confidence in the verses, the more
so because they are anonymous. We must then ac-
cept the only remaining testimony, that of the public
record, particularly since Gaius loved Antium as if it
were his native soil, always preferring it to all other
places of retreat, and even thinking, it is said, of
transferring thither the seat and abode of the empire
through weariness of Rome.

IX. His surname Caligula** he derived from a joke
of the troops, because he was brought up in their

41S

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

Apud quos quantum praeterea per hanc uutrimen-
torum consuetudinein amore et gratia valuerit,
maxime cognitum est, cum post excessum August!
tumultuantis et in furorem usque praecipites solus
baud dubie ex conspectu suo flexit. Non enim
prius destiterunt, quam ablegari ^ eum ob seditionis
periculum et in j)roximam civitatem demandari
animadvertissent ; tunc demum ad paenitentiam versi
reprenso ac retento vehiculo invidiam quae sibi fieret
deprecati sunt.

X. Comitatus est patrem et Syriaca expeditione.
Unde re versus primum in matris, deinde ea relegata
in Liviae Augustae proaviae suae pontubernio man sit ;
quam defunctam praetextatus etiam tunc pro rostris
laudavit. Transitque ad Antoniam aviam et unde-
vicensimo aetatis anno accitus Capreas a Tiberio
uno atque eodem die togam sumpsit barbamque
posuit, sine ullo honore qua! is contigerat tirocinio
fratrum eius. Hie omnibus insidiis temptatus elicien-
tium ^ cogentiumque se ad querelas nullam umquam
occasion em dedit, perinde obliterate suorum casu ac
si nihil cuiquam accidisset, quae vero ipse pateretur
incredibili dissimulatione transmittens tantique in
avum et qui iuxta erant obsequii, ut non immerito sit
dictum nee servum meliorem ullum nee deteriorem
dominum fuisse.

XI. Naturam tamen saevam atque probrosam ne ^

^ ablegari, G ; the other 77iss. have oblegari.
^ elicientium, i^V ; elicentium, XuQ ; the other ?7ls'.s\
have et licentium.

^ ne, G^ ; the other 7nsi^, have rice.

416

GAIUS CALIGULA

midst in the dress of a common soldier. To what ex-
tent besides he won their love and devotion by being
reared in fellowship with them is especially evident
from the fact that when they threatened mutiny after
the death of Augustus and were ready for any act of
madness^ the mere sight of Gains unquestionably
calmed them. For they did not become quiet until they
saw that he was' being spirited away because of the
danger from their outbreak and taken for protection
to the nearest town. Then at last they became
contrite, and laying hold of the carriage and stopping
it, begged to be spared the disgrace which was being
put upon them.

X. He attended his father also on his expedition to
Syria. On his return from there he first lived with
his mother and after her banishment, with his great-
grandmother Livia ; and when Livia died, though he 29 a.d.
was not yet of age, he spoke her eulogy from the rostra.
Then he fell to the care of his gi*andmother Antonia
and in tlie nineteenth year of his age he was called
to Capreae by Tiberius, on the same day assuming
the gown of manhood and shaving his first beard,
but without any such ceremony as had attended the
coming of age of his brothers. Although at Capreae
every kind of wile was resorted to by those who tried
to lure him or force him to utter complaints, he never
gave them any satisfaction, ignoring the ruin of his
kindred as if nothing at all had happened, passing
over his own ill-treatment with an incredible pretence
of indifference, and so obsequious towards his grand-
father and his household, that it was well said of him
that no one had ever been a better slave or a worse
master.

XL Yet even at that time he could not control

417

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

tunc quidem inhibere poterat, quin et animadversioni-
bus poenisque ad supplicium datorum cupidissime
interesset et ganeas atque adulteria capillamento
celatus et veste longa noctibus obiret ac scaenicas
saltandi canendique artes studiosissime appeteret, fa-
cile id sane Tiberio patiente, si per has mansuefieri
posset ferum eius ingenium. Quod sagacissimus senex
ita prorsus perspexerat, ut aliquotiens praedicaret
exitio suo omniumque Gaium vivere et se na-
tricem^ populo Romano, Phaethontem orbi terrarum
educare.

XII. Non ita multo post luniam Claudillam M.
Silani nobilissimi viri filiam duxit uxorem. Deinde
augur in locum fratris sui Drusi destinatus, prius
quam inauguraretur ad pontificatum traductus est
insigni testimonio pietatis atque indolis, cum deserta
desolataque reliquis subsidiis aula, Seiano hoste ^ sus-
pecto mox et oppresso, ad spem successionis paulatim
admoveretur. Quam quo magis confirmaret, amissa
lunia ex partu Enniam Naeviam, Macronis uxorem,
qui tum praetorianis cohortibus praeerat, sollicitavit
ad stuprum, pollicitus et matrimonium suum, si
potitus imperio fuisset ; deque ea re et iure iurando
et chirographo cavit. Per banc insinuatus Macroni
veneno Tiberium adgressus est, ut quidam opinan-
tur, spirantique adhuc detrahi anulum et, quoniam
suspicionem retinentis dabat, pulvinum iussit inici

^ The mss, have the gloss serpentis id genus after natricem.

^ hoste, Y; vete, M ; vetere, 0 ; ve tunc, LP^^ (ne, L) ; hoste
tunc, OP^T, Leg. Seiano ve[l] tc suspecto, mox et oppresso,
e.q.s.
418

GAIUS CALIGULA

his natural cinielty and viciousness, but he was a most
eager witness of the tortures and executions of those
who suffered punishment, revelling at night in glut-
tony and adultery, disguised in a wig and a long robe,
passionately devoted besides to the tlieatrical arts of
dancing and singing, in which Tiberius very willingly
indulged him, in the hope that through these his savage
nature might be softened. This last was so clearly
evident to the shrewd old man, that he used to say
now and then that to allow Gaius to live would
prove the ruin of himself and of all men, and that
he was rearing a viper for the Roman people and a
Phaethon for the world.

XIL Not so very long afterward Gaius took to
wife Junia Claudilla, daughter of Marcus Silanus, a
man of noble rank. Then appointed augur in place
of his brother Drusus, before he was invested with
the office he was advanced to that of pontiff, with
strong commendation of his dutiful conduct and
general character ; for since the court was deserted
and deprived of its other supports, after Sejanus had
been suspected of hostile designs and presently put
out of the way, he was little by little encouraged to
look forward to the succession. To have a better
chance of realising this, after losing Junia in child-
birth, he seduced Ennia Naevia, wife of Macro, who
at that time commanded the praetorian guard, even
promising to marry her if he became emperor, and
guaranteeing this promise by an oath and a written
contract. Having through her wormed himself into
Macro's favour, he poisoned Tiberius, as some think,
and ordered that his ring be taken from him while he
still breathed, and then suspecting that he was trying
to hold fast to it, that a pillow be put over his face ;

419

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

atque etiam fauces manu sua oppressit, liberto, qui
oh atrocitateni facinoris exclamaverat, confestim in
crucem aeto. Nee abhorret a veritate, cum sint
quidam auctores, ipsum postea etsi non de perfecto,
at certe de cogitato quondam parricidio professum ;
gloriatum enim assidue in commemoranda sua pietate,
ad ulciscendam necem matris et fratrum introisse se
cum pugione cubiculum Tiberi dormientis et miseri-
cordia correptum abiecto ferro recessisse ; nee ilium,
quanquam sensisset, aut inquirere quicquam aut
exsequi ausum.

XIII. Sic imperium adeptus, populum Romanum,
vel dicam hominum genus, voti compotem fecit,
exoptatissimus princeps maximae parti provincialium
ac militum, quod infantem plerique cognoverant, sed
et universae plebi urbanae ob memoriam Germanici
patris miserationemque prope afflictae domus. Itaque
ut a Miseno movit quamvis lugentis habitu et funus
Tiberi prosequens, tamen inter altaria et victimas
ardentisque taedas densissimo et laetissimo obviorum
agmine incessit, super fausta nomina ^^ sidus " et
"pullum" et ^^pupum" et "alumnum*' appellan-
tium.

XIV. Ingressoque urbem, statim consensu senatus
et irrumpentis in curiam turbae, inrita Tiberi volun-
tate, qui testamento alterum nepotem suum praetex-
420

GAIUS CALIGULA

or even strangled the old man with his own hand,
immediately ordering the crucifixion of a freedman
who cried out at the awful deed. And this is likely
enough; for some writers say that Caligula himself
later admitted, not it is true that he had committed
parricide, but that he had at least meditated it at
one time ; for they say that he constantly boasted, in
speaking of his filial piety, that he had entered the
bedchamber of the sleeping Tiberius dagger in hand,
to avenge the death of his mother and brothers ; but
that, seized with pity, he threw down the dagger and
went out again ; and that though Tiberius knew of
this, he had never dared to make any inquiry or take
any action.

XIII. By thus gaining the throne he fulfilled the bt a.ik
highest hopes of the Roman people, or I may say of

all mankind, since he was the prince most earnestly
desired by the great part of the provincials and
soldiers, many of whom had known him in his
infancy, as well as by the whole body of the city
populace, because of the memory of his father
Germanicus and pity for a family that was all but
extinct. Accordingly, when he set out from Misenum,
though he was in mourning garb and escorting the
body of Tiberius, yet his progress was marked by
altars, victims, and blazing torches, and he was met
by a dense and joyful throng, who called him besides
other propitious names their ^^ star,*' their '^ chick,"
their ^^babe," and their ^^ nursling.'*

XIV. When he entered the city, full and absolute
power was at once put into his hands by the unani-
mous consent of the senate and of the mob, which
forced its way into the House, and no attention was
paid to the wish of Tiberius, who in his will had

421

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

tatum adhuc coheredem ei dederat, ius arbitriumque
omnium rerum illi permissum est tanta publica
laetitia, lit tribus proximis mensibiis ac ne totis qui-
dem supra centum sexaginta milia victimarum caesa
tradantur.

Cum deinde paucos post dies in proximas Cam-
paniae insulas traiecisset, vota pro reditu suscepta
sunt, ne minimam quidem occasionem quoquam
omittente in testificanda sollicitudine et cura de
incolumitate eius. Ut vero in adversam valitudinem
ineidit, pernoctantibus cunctis circa Palatium, non
defuerunt qui depugnaturos se armis pro salute aegri
quique capita sua titulo proposito voverent. Accessit
ad immensum civium amorem notabilis etiam exter-
norum favor. Namque Artabanus Parthorum rex,
odium semper contemptumque Tiberi prae se ferens,
amicitiam huius ultro petiit venitque ad colloquium
legati consularis et transgressus Euphraten aquilas et
signa Romana Caesarumque imagines adoravit,

XV. Incendebat et ipse studia hominum omni
genere popularitatis. Tiberio cum plurimis lacrimis
pro contione laudato funeratoque amplissime, con-
festim Pandateriam et Pontias ad transferendos
matris fratrisque cineres festinavit, tempestate tur-
bida, quo magis pietas emineret, adiitque venera-
bundus ac per semet in urnas condidit ; nee minore
scaena Ostiam praefixo in biremis puppe vexillo et
inde Romam Tiberi subvectos per splendidissimum

^ See Tih. Ixxvi.

^ They were compelled to fulfil their vows ; see chap,
xxvii. 2.

<^ Cf. Vit. ii. 4.

422

GAIUS CALIGULA

named his other grandson, still a boy, joint heir with
Caligula.* So great was the public rejoicing, that
within the next three months, or less tiian that,
more than a hundred and sixty thousand victims are
said to have been slain in sacrifice.

A few days after this, wlien he crossed to the
islands near Campania, vows were put up for his
safe return, while no one let slip even the slightest
chance of giving testimony to his anxiety and regard
for his safety. But when he fell ill, they all spent
the whole night about the Palace ; some even vowed
to fight as gladiators, and others posted placards
offering their lives, if the ailing prince were spared.^
To this unbounded love of his citizens was added
marked devotion from foreigners. Artabanus, for Tib. 63
example, king of the Parthians, who was always
outspoken in his hatred and contempt for Tiberius,
voluntarily sought Caligula's friendship and came to
a conference with the consular governor ; then
crossing the Euphrates, he paid homage to the
Roman eagles and standards and to the statues of
the Caesars. ^'

XV. Gains himself tried to rouse men's devotion
by courting popularity in every way. After eulo-
gising Tiberius with many tears before the assembled
people and giving him a magnificent funeral, he
at once posted off to Pandateria and the Pontian
islands, to remove the ashes of his mother and
brother to Rome ; and in stormy weather, too, to
make his filial piety the more conspicuous. He
approached them with reverence and placed them in
the urns with his own hands. With no less theatrical
effect he brought them to Ostia in a bireme with a
baimer set in the stern, and from there up the Tiber

423

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

quemque equestris ordinis medio ac frequent! die
duobus ferculis Mausoleo intiilit, inferiasque iis annua
religione publice instituit, et eo amplius matri cir-
censes carpentunique quo in pompa traduceretur.

2 At in memoriam patris Septembrem mensem Ger-
manicum appellavit. Post haec Antoniae aviae,
quidquid umquam Livia Augusta honorum cepisset,
uno senatus consiilto congessit ; patruum Claudium,
equitem R. ad id tempus^ collegam sibi in consulatu
assumpsit ; fratrem Tiberium die virilis togae adop-

3 tavit apT>ellavitque principem iuventutis. De sorori-
bus auctor fuit, ut omnibus sacramentis adiceretur ^ :
" Neque me liberosque meos cariores habebo quam
Gaium habeo et sorores eius '* ; item relationibus
consulum : " Quod bonum felixque sit C. Caesari
sororibusque eius."

4 Pari popularitate damnatos relegatosqiie restituit ;
criminum, si quae residua ex priore tempore mane-
bant, omnium gratiam fecit ; commentarios ad
matris fratrumque suorum causas pertinentis, ne cui
postmodum delatori aut testi maneret ullus metus,
convectos in Forum, et ante clare obtestatus deos
neque legisse neque attigisse quicquam, concremavit;
libellum de salute sua oblatum non recepit, conten-

* adiicerentur, sixteenth ctntury tditioiis ; affioerentur
(adficerentur) XI.

*» Of Augustus ; see Aug, c 4.

* Originally the title of the commander of the knights who
were under forty-five and in active service. Conferred on
C, and L. Caesar by Augustus, it became the designation of
the heir to the throne, and was later assumed by the emperors
themselves.

« The consuls in making propositions to the senate began

424

GAIUS CALIGULA

to Rome, where he had them carried to the Mauso-
leum ** on two biers by the most distinguished men of
the order of knights, in the middle of the day, when
the streets v/ere crowded. He appointed funeral
sacrifices, too, to be offered each year with due
ceremony, as well as games in the Circus in honour
of his mother, providing a carriage to carry her image
in the procession. But in memory of his father
he gave to the month of September the name of Ger-
manicus. After this, by a single decree of the senate,
he heaped upon his grandmother Antonia what-
ever honours Livia Augusta liad ever enjoyed ; took
his uncle Claudius, who up to that time had been a
Roman knight, as his colleague in the consulship; sTi^m
adopted his brother Tiberius on the day that he
assumed the gown of manhood, and gave him the
title of Chief of the Youth. ^ He caused the names
of his sisters to be included in all oaths : " And I
will not hold myself and my children dearer than I
do Gaius and his sisters *' ; as well as in the pro-
positions ^ of the consuls : ^^ Favour and good fortune
attend Gaius Caesar and his sisters."

With the same degree of popularity he recalled
those who had been condemned to banishment ; took
no cognizance of any charges that remained untried
from an earlier time ; had all documents relating to
the cases of his mother and brothers carried to the
Forum and burned, to give no informer or witness
occasion for further fear, having first loudly called
the gods to witness that he had neither read nor
touched any of them. He refused a note which was
offered him regarding his own safety, maintaining that

with a set formula (cf. Aug. Iviii. 2, Jul. Ixxx. 2), wisliing
success to the emperor, oi in earliei days to the State.

4^5

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

dens nihil sibi admissiim cur cuiquam invisiis esset,
negavitqiie se delatoribus aiires habere.

XVI. Spintrias monstrosarum hbidiniini aegre ne
profiindo mergeret exoratus, iirbe submovit. Titi
Labieni, Cordi Cremiiti, Cassi Severi scripta senatus
consultis abolita reqiiiri et esse in nianibiis lectitari-
que permisit, quando maxinie sua interesset ut
facta quaeque posteris tradantur. Rationes imperii
ab Augusto proponi soHtas sed a Tiberio intermissas
pubUcavit. Magistratibus liberam iuris dictionem et
sine sui appellatione concessit. Equites R. severe
curioseque nee sine moderatione recognovit, palam
adempto equo quibus aut probri aliquid aut ignomi-
niae inesset, eoruni qui niinore culpa tenerentur
noniinibus modo in recitatione praeteritis. Ut levior
labor iudicantibus foret, ad quattuor })rioris quintam
decuriam addidit. Teniptavit et coniitioruni more
revocato suffragia populo reddere. Legata ex testa-
mento Tiberi quamquam abolito, sed et luliae
Augustae, quod Tiberius suppresserat, cum fide
ac sine calumnia repraesentata persolvit. Ducentesi-
mam auctionum Italiae remisit; multis incendiorum
damna sup])levit ; ac si quibus regna restituit, adiecit ^
et fructum omnem vectigaliorum et reditum medii
temporis, ut Antiocho Commageno sestertium milies
confiscatum. Quoque magis nullius non boni

^ adiecit, f [Btroaldus) ; affecit (adfecit), £i.

^ See Tib. xliii. 1.

^ Cf. Avg. XXXV. 2.

^ See Aug. xxviii. 1 and ci. 4.

'^ Dtirenfe.mnam (sc. jmrfcm), one half of one per cent.

426

GAIUS CALIGULA

he had done nothing to make anyone hate him, and
that he had no ears for informers.

XVI. He banished from the city the sexual per-
verts called spiniriae,^ barely persuaded not to sink
them in the sea. The writings of Titus Labienus,
Cremutius Cordus,^ and Cassius Severus^ which had
been suppressed by decrees of the senate, he allowed
to be hunted up, circulated, and read, saying that it
was wholly to his interest that everything which
happened be handed down to posterity. He published
the accounts of the empire, which had regularl}^ been
made public by Augustus,^ a practice discontinued by
Tiberius. He allowed the magistrates unrestricted
jurisdiction, without appeal to himself. He revised
the lists of the Roman knights strictly and scrupu-
lously, yet with due moderation, publicly taking their
horses from those guilty of any wicked or scandalous
act, but merely omitting to read the names of men
convicted of lesser offences. To lighten the labour
of the jurors, he added a fifth division to the
previous four. He tried also to restore the suffrage
to the people by reviving the custom of elections.
He at once paid faithfully and without dispute the
legacies named in the will of Tiberius, though this
had been set aside, as well as in that of Julia
Augusta, which Tiberius had suppressed. He
remitted the tax of a two-hundredth ^ on auction
sales in Italy ; made good to many their losses from
fires ; and whenever he restored kings to their
thrones, he allowed them all the arrears of their
taxes and their revenue for the meantime ; for
example, to Antiochus of Commagene, a hundred
million sesterces that had accrued to the Treasury.
To make it known that he encouraged every kind of

427

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

exempli faiitor videretur, mulieri libertinae octin-
genta donavit, quod excruciata gravissimis tormentis
de scelere patroni reticuisset. Quas ob res inter
reliquos honores decretus est ei clipeus aureus, quern
quotannis certo die collegia sacerdotum in Capitolium
ferrent, senatu prosequente nobilibusque pueris ac
puellis carmine modulato laudes virtutum eius
canentibus. Decretum autem ut dies, quo cepisset
imperium, Parilia vocaretur, velut argumentum rursus
conditae urbis.

XVII. Consulatus quattuor gessit, primum ex Kal.
lul. per duos menses, secundum ex Kal. Ian. per
XXX dies, tertium usque in Idus Ian., quartum usque
septimum Idus easdem. Ex omnibus duos novissi-
mos coniunxit. Tertium autem Litguduni iniit solus,
non ut quidam opinantur superbia neglegentiave, sed
quod defunctum sub Kalendarum diem collegam
rescisse absens non potuerat. Congiarium popu-lo
bis dedit trecenos sestertios, totiens abundantissimum
epulum senatui equestrique ordini, etiam coniugibus
ac liberis utrorumque ; posteriore epulo forensia
insuper viris, feminis ac pueris fascias ^ purpurae
atque ^ conchylii distribuit. Et ut laetitiam publicam
in perpetuum quoque augeret, adiecit diem Saturna-
libus appellavitque luvenalem.

XVIII. Munera gladiatoria partim in amphitheatro
Tauri partim in Saeptis aliquot edidit, quibus
inseruit catervas Afrorum Campanorumque pugilum

^ fascias, $- {Beroaldus); fasces, fl.
'^ atque, G ; ac, UX ; at, MQR.

428

" An error, since he was consul in 39, 40, and 41.
* See Avg. xxix. 5.

GAWS CALIGULA

noble action, he gave eight hundred thousand ses-
terces to a freedwoman, because she had kept silence
about the guilt of her patron, though subjected to
the utmost torture. Because of these acts, besides
other honours, a golden shield was voted him, which
was to be borne every year to the Capitol on an
appointed day by the colleges of priests, escorted by
the senate, while boys and girls of noble birth sang
the praises of his virtues in a choral ode. It was
further decreed that the day on which he began to
reign should be called the Parilia, as a token that
the city had been founded a second time.

XVII. He held four consulships, one from the
Kalends of July for two months, a second from the Juiyi,37A.
Kalends of January for thirty days, a third up to the Jan.i,3e ,
Ides of January, and the fourth until the seventh Jan.13,40 ,
day before the Ides of the same month. Of all jan.7,41 ,
these only the last two were continuous.^ The third

he assumed at Lugdunum without a colleague, not,
as some think, through arrogance or disregard of
precedent, but because at that distance from Rome
he had been unable to get news of the death of the
other consul just before the day of the Kalends. He
twice gave the people a largess of three hundred ses-
terces each, and twice a lavish banquet to the senate
and the equestrian order, together with their wives
and children. At the former of these he also dis-
tributed togas to tlie men, and to the women and
children scarves of red and scarlet. Furthermore, to
make a permanent addition to the public gaiety, he
added a day to the Saturnalia, and called it Juvenalis,

XVIII. He gave several gladiatorial shows, some
in the amphitheatre of Taurus^ and some in the
Saepta, in which he introduced pairs of African and

429

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

ex utraque regione electissimorum. Neque specta-
culis semper ipse praesedit^ sed interdum aut
magistratibus aut amicis praesidendi munus iniunxit.
Scaenicos ludos et assidue et varii generis ac
multifariam fecit, quondam et nocturnos accensis
tota urbe luminibus. Sparsit et missilia variarum
rerum et panaria cum obsonio viritim divisit ; qua
epulatione equiti R. contra se hilarius avidiusque
vescenti partes suas misit, sed et senatori ob eandem
causam codicillos, quibus praetorem eum extra
ordinem designabat. Edidit et circenses pluri-
mos a mane ad vesperam interiecta modo African-
arum venatione modo Troiae decursione, et quosdam
praecipuos, minio et chrysocolla constrato Circo nee
ullis nisi ex senatorio ordine aurigantibus. Com-
misit et subitos, cum e Gelotiana apparatum Circi
prospicientem pauci ex proximis Maenianis postu-
lassent.

XIX. Novum praeterea atque inauditum genus
spectaculi excogitavit. Nam Baiarum medium inter-
vallum ad ^ Puteolanas moles, trium milium et
sescentorum fere passuum spatium, ponte coniunxit
contractis undique onerariis navibus et ordine
duplici ad ancoras conlocatis superiectoque aggere ^
terreno ac derecto in Appiae viae formam. Per
hunc pontem ultro citro commeavit biduo continent!,

^ ad, inserted by Torrenthis.

'^ aggere terreno, t'P^ ; the other mss. omit aggere.

* To be scrambled for by tlie spectators.

* Africanae, supply hestiae and see Index.

^ On the houses adjoining the Cirous ; called Maeniana

GAIUS CALIGULA

Campanian boxers^ the pick of both regions. He
did not always preside at the games in person^ but
sometimes assigned the honour to the magistrates or
to friends. He exhibited stage-plays continually^ of
various kinds and in many different places, sometimes
even by night, lighting up the whole city. He also
threw about gifts ^ of various kinds, and gave each
man a basket of victuals. During the feasting he
sent his share to a Roman knight opposite him, who
was eating with evident relish and appetite, while to
a senator for the same reason he gave a commission
naming him praetor out of the regular order. He also
gave many games in the Circus, lasting from early
morning until evening, introducing between the races
now a baiting of panthers ^ and now the manoeuvres of
the game called Troy ; some, too, of special splendour,
in which the Circus was strewn with red and green,
while the charioteers were all men of senatorial rank.
He also started some games off-hand, when a few
people called for them from the neighbouring bal-
conies,*^ as he was inspecting the outfit of the Circus
from the Gelotian house.

XIX. Besides this, he devised a novel and un-
heard of kind of pageant ; for he bridged the gap
between Baiae and the mole at Puteoli, a distance of
about thirty-six hundred paces,^ by bringing together
merchant ships from all sides and anchoring them in
a double line, after which a mound of earth was
heaped upon them and fashioned in the manner of
the Appian Way. Over this bridge he rode back
and forth for two successive days, the first day on a

after a certain Maenius, who was supposed to have been the
first to build such balconies.

^ Over three and a half Roman miles.

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

primo die phalerato ^ equo insignisqiie quercea ^
corona et caetra et gladio aureaque chlamyde,
postridie quadrigario habitu curriculoque biiugi
fainosorum equorum, prae se ferens Dareum puerum
ex Parthorum obsidibus, comitante praetorianorum
3 agmine et in essedis cohorte amicorum. Scio
plerosque existimasse talem a Gaio pontem ex-
cogitatum aemulatione Xerxis, qui non sine ad-
miratione aliquanto angustiorem Hellespontum
contabulaverit ; alios, ut Germaniam et Britanniam,
quibus imminebat, alicuius inmensi operis fama
territaret, Sed avum meum narrantem puer audie-
bam, causam operis ab interioribus aulicis proditam,
quod Thrasyllus niathematicus anxio de successore
Tiberio et in verum nepotem proniori affirmasset
non magis Gaium imperaturum quam per Baianum
sinum equis discursurum.

XX. Edidit et peregre spectacula, in Sicilia
Syracusis asticos ludos et in Gallia Luguduni mis-
cellos ; sed hie certamen quoque Graecae Latinaeque
facundiae, quo . certamine ferunt victoribus praemia
victos contulisse, eorundem et laudes componere
coactos ; eos autem, qui maxime displicuissent,
scripta sua spongia linguave delere iussos, nisi
ferulis obiurgari aut flumine proximo mergi malu-
issent.

XXI. Opera sub Tiberio semiperfecta, templum

^ falerato, H.

^ quercea, $- {Roth) ; quiercica, MG ; quercica, T ; insignis
quoque aerea, X.

« See Tib. Iv.
* See note on Tib. vi. 4.

<^ Obviously not a choice, but determined by tlie degree of
success of the contestants.

432

GAIUS CALIGULA

caparisoned horse, himself resplendent in a crown of
oak leaves, a buckler, a sword, and a cloak of cloth of
gold ; on the second, in the dress of a charioteer in
a car drawn by a pair of famous horses, carrying
before him a boy named Dareus, one of the hostages
from Parthia, and attended by the entire praetorian
guard and a company of his friends in Gallic
chariots. I know that many have supposed that
Gaius devised this kind of bridge in rivalry of
Xerxes, wlio excited no little admiration by bridging
the much narrower Hellespont ; others, that it was
to inspire fear in Germany and Britain, on which he
had designs, by the fame of some stupendous work.
But when 1 was a boy, I used to hear my grandfather
say that the reason for the work, as revealed by tlie
emperor's confidential courtiers, was that Thrasyllus
the astrologer had declared to Tiberius, when he was
worried about his successor and inclined towards his
natural grandson,^* that Gaius had no more chance of
becoming emperor than of riding about over the gulf
of Baiae with horses.

XX. Fie also gave shows in foreign lands,
Athenian games* at Syracuse in Sicily, and mis-
cellaneous games at Lugdunum in Gaul ; at the
latter place also a contest in Greek and Latin
oratory, in which, they say, the losers gave prizes to
the victors and were forced to compose eulogies
upon them, while those who were least successful
were ordered to erase their writings with a sponge
or with their tongue,^ unless they elected rather
to be beaten with rods or thrown into the neigh-
bouring river.

XXI. He completed the public works which had
been half finished under Tiberius, namely the temple

433

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK 1\

August! theatrumque Pompei, absolvit. Incohavit
autem aquae ductum regione Tiburti et amphi-
theatrum iuxta Saepta^ quorum operum a successore
eius Claudio alterum peractum^ omissum alterum
est. Syracusis conlapsa vetustate moenia deorumque
aedes refectae. Destinaverat et Sami Polycratis
regiam restituere^ Mileti Didymeum peragere^ in
iugo Alpiuni urbem condere^ sed ante omnia
Isthmum in Achaia perfodere^ miseratque iam ad
dimetiendum opus primipilarem.

XXn. Hactenus quasi de principe, reliqua ut de
monstro narranda sunt.

Compluribus cognominibus adsumptis — nam et
" pius " et '^'^ castrorum filius " et ^*^ pater exercituum "
et '^'^optimus maximus Caesar" vocabatur — cum
audiret forte reges^ qui officii causa in urbem
advenerant, concertantis apud se super cenam de
nobilitate generis^ exclamavit :

Et? KOipavos ecTTix), cts /Saatkev^.

Nee multum afuit quin statim diadema sumeret
speciemque principatus in regni formam converteret.
Verum admonitus et principum et regum se
excessisse fastigium^ divinam ex eo maiestatem
asserere sibi coepit ; datoque negotio^ ut simulacra
numinum religione et arte praeclara^ inter quae
Olympii lovis, apportarentur e Graecia/ quibus

^ e Graecia, Venetian td. o/1510 ; egregia, Ci.

^ See Claud, xx. 1.

* Of. Jul. xliv. 3. ' Iliad 2. 204.

^ Under Caligula the so-called "principate" had become
an absolute monarchy. Caligula proposed to assume the
pomp of a king.

434

GAIUS CALIGULA

of Augustus and the theatre of Pompey. He
likewise began an aqueduct in the region near
Tibur and an amphitheatre beside the Saepta, tlie
former finished by his successor Claudius/ while the
latter was abandoned. At Syracuse he repaired the
city walls^ which had fallen into ruin through lapse of
time^ and the temples of the gods. He had planned,
besides^ to rebuild the palace of Polycrates at Samos^
to finish the temple of Didymaean Apollo at Ephesus^
to found a city high up in the Alps_, but_, above all_, to
dig a canal through the Isthmus in Greece^^ and he
had already sent a chief centurion to survey the
work.

XXII. So much for Caligula as emperor ; we must
now tell of his career as a monster.

After he had assumed various surnames (for he
was called '^ Pious^" '^ Child of the Camp/' ^^ Father
of the Armies/' and ^^ Greatest and Best of Caesars "),
chancing to overhear some kings^, who had come to
Rome to pay their respects to him^ disputing at dinner
about the nobility of their descent^ he cried :

" Let there be one Lord, one King." *

And he came near assuming a crown at once and
changing the semblance of a principate into the
form of a monarchy.^ But on being reminded that
he had risen above the elevation both of princes and
kings, he began from that time on to lay claim
to divine majesty; for after giving orders that such
statues of the gods as were especially famous for
their sanctity or their artistic merit, including
that of Jupiter of Olympia/ should be brought from

« The chryselephantine statue of Zeus by Pheidias ; see
chap. Ivii. 1.

435

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

cnpite dempto suum imponeret, partem Palatii ad
Forum usque promovit, atque aede Castoris et
Pollucis in vestibulum transfigurata, consistens saepe
inter fratres deos, medium adorandum se adeuntibus
exhibebat ; et quidam eum Latiarem lovem con-
sal utarunt. Templum etiam numini sue proprium
et sacerdotes et excogitatissimas hostias instituit.
In templo simulacrum stabat aureum iconicum
amiciebaturque cotidie veste, quail ipse uteretur.
Magisteria sacerdotii ditissimus quisque et ambitione
et licitatione maxima vicibus comparabant. Hostiae
erant phoenicopteri^ pavones, tetraones, numidicae,
meleagrides, phasianae, quae generatim per singulos
dies immolarentur. Et noctibus quidem plenam
fulgentemque lunam invitabat assidue in amplexus
atque concubitum, interdiu vero cum Capitolino love
secreto fabulabatur, modo insusurrans ac praebens
in vicem aurem, modo clarius nee sine iurgiis. Nam
vox comminantis audita est :

11 ju. ava€ip r/ eyw ere,

donee exoratus, ut refer ebat, et in contubernium
ultro invitatus super templum Divi August! ponte
transmisso Palatium Capitoliumque coniunxit. Mox^
quo propior esset, in area Capitolina novae domus
fund amenta iecit.

XXIII. Agrippae se nepotem neque credi neque
dici ob ignobilitatem eius volebat suscensebatque,
si qui vel oratione vel carmine imaginibus eum
Caesar um insererent. Praedicabat autem matrem

<* mimidicae and meleagrides arc the same.

^ lliady 23. 724, where after a long and indecisive Avrestling
bout Ajax thus challenges Odysseus to settle the contest.
'Ametpe is doubtless used in a double sense, perhaps with
aposiopesis, " Raise me up (to heaven), or thee I'U — ."

GAIUS CALIGULA

Greece, in order to remove their heads and put
his own in their place, he built out a part of the
Palace as far as the Forum, and making the temple
of Castor and Pollux its vestibule, he often took his
place between the divine brethren, and exhibited
himself there to be worshipped by those who pre-
sented themselves ; and some hailed him as Jupiter
Latiaris. He also set up a special temple to his own
godhead, with priests and with victims of the choicest
kind. In this temple was a life-sized statue of the
emperor in gold, whicli was dressed each day in
clothing such as he wore himself. The richest
citizens used all their influence to secure the priest-
hoods of his cult and bid high for the honour. The
victims were flamingoes, peacocks, black grouse,
guinea-hens ^ and pheasants, oifered day by day each
after its ow^n kind. At night he used constantly to
invite the full and radiant moon to his embraces and
his bed, while in the daytime he would talk confiden-
tially with Jupiter Capitolinus, now whispering and
then in turn putting his ear to the mouth of the god,
now in louder and even angry language ; for he was
heard to make the threat: *' Lift me up, or I'll lift
thee." ^ But finally won by entreaties, as he re-
ported, and even invited to live with the god, he built
a bridge over the temple of the Deified Augustus,
and thus joined his Palace to the Capitol. Presently,
to be nearer yet, he laid the foundations of a new
house in the court of the Capitol.

XXIII. He did not wish to be thought the grand-
son of Agrippa, or called so, because of the latter's
humble origin ; and he grew very angry if anyone in
a speech or a song included Agri})pa among the
ancestors of the Caesars. He even boasted that

437

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

suam ex incesto, quod Augustus cum lulia filia
admisisset, procreatam ; ac non contentus hac
August! insectatione Actiacas Siculasque ^ victorias,
ut funestas p. R. et calamitosas, vetuit sollemnibus
feriis celebrari. Liviam Augustam proaviam " Ulixem
stolatum " identidem appellans, etiam ignobilitatis
quadam ad senatum epistula arguere ausus est quasi
materno avo decurione Fundano ortam, cum publicis
monumentis certum sit, Aufidium Lurconem^ Romae
honoribus functum. Aviae Antoniae secretum petenti
denegavit, nisi ut interveniret Macro praefectus,
ac per istius modi indignitates et taedia causa
exstitit mortis, dato tamen, ut quidam putant, et
veneno ; nee defunctae ullum honorem habuit
prospexitque e triclinio ardentem rogum. Fratrem
Tiberium inopinantem repente immisso tribuno
militum interemit, Silanum item socerum ad necem
secandasque novacula fauces compulit, causatus in
utroque, quod hie ingressum se turbatius mare non
esset secutus ac spe occupandi urbem, si quid sibi
per tempestates accideret, remansisset, ille antidotum
oboluisset,^ quasi ad praecavenda venena sua sump-
tum, cum et Silanus impatientiam nauseae vitasset
et molestiam navigandi, et Tiberius propter assiduam
et ingravescentem tussim medicamento usus esset.

' Siculasque, $- ; singulasque, H.

- Lurconem, Sfephanus ; Lyrgonem, H.

^ oboluisset, Beroaldus ; obolevisset, m.ss.

" See Aug. xvi. 1.

* The stola was the characteristic dress of the Roman
matron, as the toga was that of the man.
^ See note on Tib. xxxvii. 3.
** By adoption ; see chap. xv. 2.

438

GAIUS CALIGULA

his own mother was born in incest^ which Augustus
had committed with his daugliter JuHa ; and not
content with this slur on the memory of Augustus,
he forbade tlie celebration of his victories at Actium
and off Sicily by annual festivals/ on the ground that
they were disastrous and ruinous to the Roman
people. He often called his greatgrandmother Livia
Augusta "a, Ulysses in petticoats/*^ and he had the
audacity to accuse her of low birth in a letter to the
senate, alleging that her maternal grandfather had
been nothing but a decurion ^ of Fundi ; whereas it is
proved by public records that Aufidius Lurco held
high offices at Rome. When his grandmother
Antonia asked for a private interview, he refused it
except in the presence of the praefect Macro, and by
such indignities and annoyances he caused her death ;
although some think that he also gave her poison.
After she was dead, he paid her no honour, but
viewed her burning pyre from his dining-room. He
had his brother ^ Tiberius put to death without warn-
ing, suddenly sending a tribune of the soldiers to do
the deed ; besides driving his father-in-law Silanus to
end his life by cutting his throat with a razor. His
charge against the latter was that Silanus had not
followed him when he put to sea in stormy weather,
but had remained behind in the hope of taking
possession of the city in case he should be lost in the
storm ; against Tiberius, that his breath smelled
of an antidote, which he had taken to guard against
being poisoned at his hand. Now as a matter of
fact, Silanus was subject to sea-sickness and wished
to avoid the discomforts uf the voyage, while
Tiberius had taken medicine for a chronic cough,
which was growing worse. As for his uncle

439

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

Nam Claudium patruum non nisi in ludibrium
reservavit.

XXIV. Cum omnibus sororibus suis consuetudinem
stupri fecit plenoque convivio singulas infra se
vicissim conlocabat uxore supra cubante. Ex iis
Drusillam vitiasse virginem praetextatus adhuc
creditur atque etiam in concubitu eius quondam
deprehensus ab Antonia avia, apud quam simul
educabantur ; mox Lucio Cassio Longino consulari
conlocatam abduxit et in modum iustae uxoris
propalam habuit ; heredem quoque bonorum atque
imperii aeger instituit. Eadem defuncta iustitium
indixit, in quo risisse lavisse cenasse cum parentibus
aut coniuge liberisve capital fuit. Ac maeroris im-
patiens, cum repente noctu profugisset ab urbe transcu-
currissetque Campaniam, Syracusas petit, rursusque
inde propere rediit barba capilloque promisso ; nee
umquam postea quantiscumque de rebus, ne pro
contione quidem populi aut apud milites, nisi per
numen Drusillae deieravit. Reliquas sorores nee
cupiditate tanta nee dignatione dilexit, ut quas saepe
exoletis suis prostraverit ^ ; quo facilius eas in causa
Aemili Lepidi condemnavit quasi adulteras et in-
sidiarum adversus se conscias ei. Nee solum chiro-
grapha omnium requisita fraude ac stupro divulgavit,
sed et tres gladios in necem suam praeparatos Marti
Ultori addito elogio consecravit.

^ prostraverit, $- ; the earlier mss. have prostravit.
440

GAIUS CALIGULA

Claudius^ he spared him merely as a laughing-
stock.

XXIV. He lived in habitual incest with all his
sisters^ and at a large banquet he placed each of
them in turn below him^ while his wife reclined
above. Of these he is believed to have violated
Drusilla when he was still a minor^ and even to have
been caught lying with her by his grandmother
Antonia^ at whose house they were brought up in
company. Afterwards^ when she was the wife of
Lucius Cassius Longinus^ an ex-consul^ he took her
from him and openly treated her as his lawful wife ;
and when ill^ he made her heir to his property and
the throne. When she died^ he appointed a season
of public mourning, during which it was a capital
offence to laugh, bathe, or dine in company with
one's parents, wife, or children. He was so beside
himself with grief that suddenly fleeing the city by
night and traversing Campania, he went to Syracuse
and hurriedly returned from there without cutting
his hair or shaving his beard. And he never after-
wards took oath about matters of the highest moment,
even before the assembly of the people or in the
presence of the soldiers, except by the godhead of
Drusilla. The rest of his sisters he did not love
with so great affection, nor honour so highly, but
often prostituted them to his favourites ; so that he
was the readier at the trial of Aemilius Lepidus to
condemn them, as adulteresses and privy to the con-
spiracies against him ; and he not only made public
letters in the handwriting of all of them, procured
by fraud and seduction, but also dedicated to Mars
the Avenger, with an explanatory inscription, three
swords designed to take his life.

441

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

XXV. Matrimonia contraxerit turpius an dimiserit
an tenuerit, non est facile discernere. Liviam
Orestillam C. Pisoni nubentem, cum ad officium et ipse
venisset, ad se deduci imperavit intraque paucos dies
repudiatam biennio post relegavit, quod repetisse usum
prioris mariti tempore medio videbatur. Alii tradunt
adhibitum cenae nuptial i mandasse ad Pisonem contra
accumbentem : *^^Noliuxoremmeampremere/' statim-
que e convivio abduxisse secum ac proximo die edi-
xisse : matrimonium sibi repertum exemplo Romuli

2 et Augusti. Lolliam Paulinam, C.^ Memmio consulari
exercitus regenti nuptam, facta mentione aviae eius
ut quondam pulcherrimae, subito ex provincia evocavit
ac perductam a marito coniunxit sibi brevique missam
fecit interdicto cuiusquam in perpetuum coitu.

3 Caesoniam neque facie insigni neque aetate integra
matremque iam ex alio viro trium filiarum, sed luxu-
riae ac lasciviae perditae, et ardentius et constantius
amavit, ut saepe chlamyde peltaque et galea ornatam
ac iuxta adequitantem militibus ostenderit, amicis vero
etiam nudam.. Uxorio nomine non prius^ di^natus
est quam enixam, uno atque eodem die professus et

4 maritum se eius et patrem infantis ex ea natae. In-
fantem autem, luliam Drusillam appellatam, per

1 C, mss.; P., inscriptions.
'^ non prius, supplied hy Roth.

442

GAIUS CALIGU^LA

XXV. It is not easy to decide whether he acted
more basely in contracting his marriages, in annulling
them, or as a husband. At the marriage of Livia
Orestilla to Gaius Piso, he attended the ceremony him-
self, gave orders that the bride be taken to his own
house, and within a few days divorced her ; two years
later he banished her, because of a suspicion that in
the meantime she had gone back to her former
husband. Others write that being invited to the
wedding banquet, he sent word to Piso, who reclined
opposite to him : ^^ Don't take liberties with my wife,"
and at once carried her off with him from the table, the
next day issuing a proclamation that he had got him-
self a wife in the manner of Romulus and Augustus.
When the statement was made that the grandmother
of Lollia Paulina, who was married to Gaius Memmius,
an ex-consul commanding armies, had once been a
remarkably beautiful woman, he suddenly called Lollia
from the province, separated her from her husband, and
maiTied her ; then in a short time he put her away,
with the command never to have intercourse with
anyone. Though Caesonia was neither beautiful nor
young, and was already mother of three daughters
by another, besides being a woman of reckless ex-
travagance and wantonness, he loved her not only
more passionately but more faithfully, often exhibit-
ing her to the soldiers riding by his side, decked
with cloak, helmet and shield, and to his friends
even in a state of nudity. He did not honour her
with the title of wife until she had borne him a
child, announcing on the selfsame day that he had
married her and that he was the father of her babe.
This babe, whom he named Julia Drusilla, he carried
to the temples of all the goddesses, finally placing

443

THE LIVES OP THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

omnium dearum templa circumferens Minervae gremio
imposuit alendamque et instituendam commendavit.
Nee ullo firmiore indieio sui seminis esse credebat
quam feritatis, quae illi quoque tanta iam tunc erat,
ut infestis digitis ora et oculos simul ludentium in-
fantium incesseret.

XXVI. Leve ac frigidum sit his addere, quo pro-
pinquos amicosque pacto tractaverit, Ptolemaeum regis
lubae filium, consobrinum suum — erat enim et is M.
Antoni ex Selene filia nepos — et in primis ipsum
Macronem, ipsam Enniam, adiutores imperii ; quibus
omnibus pro necessitudinis iure proque meritorum
gratia cruenta mors persoluta est.

Nihilo reverentior leniorve erga senatum^ quosdam
summis honoribus functos ad essedum sibi currere
togatos per aliquot passuum milia et cenanti modo
ad pluteum modo ad pedes stare succinctos linteo
passus est ; alios cum clam interemisset, citare nihilo
minus ut vivos perseveravit, paucos post dies volun-
taria morte perisse mentitus.^ Consulibus oblitis de
natali suo edicere abrogavit magistratum fuitque per
triduum sine summa potestate res p. Quaestorem
suum in coniuratione nominatum flagellavit veste de-
tracta subiectaque militum pedibus, quo firme ver-
beraturi insisterent.

Simili superbia violentiaque ceteros tractavit or-
dines. Inquietatus fremitu gratuita in Circo loca de
media nocte occupantium, omnis fustibus abegit ; elisi

^ ementitus, Benthy.

^ Or perhaps, in short linen tunics.

* This remark sliows the regard in which the empty title
of "consul" was still held.

444

GAIUS CALIGULA

her in the lap of Minerva and commending to her
the child's nurture and training. And no evidence
convinced him so positively that she was spi-ung
from his own loins as her savage temper, which was
even then so violent that she would try to scratch
the faces and eyes of the little children who played
with her.

XXVL It would be trivial and pointless to add to
this an account of his treatment of his relatives and
friends, Ptolemy, son of king Juba, his cousin (for
he was the grandson of Mark Antony by Antony's
daughter Selene), and in particular Macro himself
and even Ennia, who helped him to the throne ; all
these were rewarded for their kinship and their
faithful services by a bloody death.

He was no whit more respectful or mild towards
the senate, allowing some w^ho had held the highest
offices to run in their togas for several miles beside
his chariot and to wait on him at table, standing
napkin in hand * either at the head of his couch, or at
his feet. Others he secretly put to death, yet con-
tinued to send for them as if they were alive, after a
few days falsely asserting that they had committed
suicide. When the consuls forgot to make proclama-
tion of his birthday, he deposed them, and left the
state for three days without its highest magistrates.^
He flogged his quaestor, who was charged with con-
spiracy, stripping off the man*s clothes and spreading
them under the soldiers' feet, to give them a firm
footing as they beat him.

He treated the other orders with like insolence
and cruelty. Being disturbed by the noise made by
those who came in the middle of the night to secure
the free seats in the Cii'cus, he drove them all out

445

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

per eum tumultum viginti amplius equites R., totidem
matronae,su})er innumeram turbam ceteram. Scaenicis
ludis^ inter plebem et equitem causam discordiarum
sevens, decimas maturius dabat, ut eqiiestria ^ ab

5 infimo quoque occiiparentur. Gladiatorio munere re-
ductis interdum flagrantissimo sole velis emitti quem-
quam vetabat, remotoque ordinario apparatu tabidas
feras, vilissimos senioque confectos gladiatores, pro-
que 2 paegniariis ^ patres familiarum notos in bonam
partem sed insignis debilitate aliqua corporis subicie-
bat. Ac nonnumquam horreis praeclusis populo
famem indixit.

XXVI I. Saevitiam ingenii per haec maxime osten-
dit. Cum ad saginam ferarum muneri praeparatarum
carius pecudes compararentur, ex noxiis laniandos
adnotavit, et custodiarum seriem recognoscens, nullius
inspecto elogio, stans tantum modo intra porticum

2 mediam, ^^a calvo ad calvum " duci imperavit. Votum
exegit ab eo, qui pro salute sua gladiatoriam operam
promiserat, spectavitque ferro dimicantem nee dimisit
nisi victorem et post multas preces. Alterum, qui se
pcrilurum ea de causa voverat, cunctantem pueris

* equestria, S{- ; ecjuestri, n.

2 proque, Bi'ichder ; quoque, mss.

' paegniaris (-iis), AfOX; pegmares, UQ,

"■ The reason for the terra dtcimaSy if the reading be correct,
is uncertain ; of. note on Aug. xli. 2. Obviously his purpose
was to lead the rabble to occupy the knights' seats before
the plays began, and thus to start a fight.

^ The meaning oi paegniarii is uncertain ; they may have
carried arma lusoria or arms incapable of causing death. See
Friedlander, Roman Life and Manners, Eng. trans, iv. p. 179.

<^ The elor/iiim was the tablet on which the charge against
the prisoner was recorded,

4-l6

GAIUS CALIGULA

with cudj^els ; in the confusion more than twenty
Roman knights were cruslied to death, with as many
matrons and a countless number of others. At tlie
plays in the theatre, sowing discord between the
commons and the knights, he scattered the gift
tickets ^ ahead of time, to induce the rabble to take
the seats reserved for the equestrian order. At a
gladiatorial show he would sometimes draw back the
awnings when the sun was hottest and give orders that
no one be allowed to leave ; then removing the usual
equipment, he would match worthless and decrepit
gladiators against mangy wild beasts, and have sham
fights^ between householders who were of good
repute, but conspicuous for some bodily infirmity.
Sometimes too he would shut up the granaries and
condemn the people to hunger.

XXVIL The following are special instances of his
innate brutality. When cattle to feed the wild beasts
which he had provided for a gladiatorial show were
rather costly, he selected criminals to be devoured,
and reviewing the line of prisoners without examining
the charges,^^ but merely taking his place in the middle
of a colonnade, he bade them be led away " from
baldhead to baldhead.'*^ A man who had made a
vow to fight in the arena,* if the emperor recovered,
he compelled to keep his word, watched him as he
fought sword in hand, and would not let him go
until he was victorious, and then only after many
entreaties. Another who had offered his life for the
same reason, but delayed to kill himself, he turned

<* It seems probable that there happened to be a bald-
headed man at each end of the line ; the expression became
proverbial.

• See chap. liv, 2,

447

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

tradidit, verbenaturn infulatumque votum repos-
ceiites per vicos agerent, quoad praecipitaretur ex

3 aggere. Multos honesti ordinis deformatos prius
stigniatiim notis ad metalla et munitiones viarum
aut ad bestias condemnavit aiit bestiarum more
quadripedes cavea coercuit aut medios serra dissecuit,
nee omnes gravibus ex causis^ verum male de munere
suo opinatos, vel quod numquain per genium suum

4 deierassent. Parentes supplicio filiorum interesse
cogebat : quorum uiii valitudinem excusanti lecticam
misit, alium a spectaculo poenae epulis statimi adhi-
buit atque omni comitate ad hilaritatem et iocos
provocavit. Curatorem munerum ac venationum per
continuos dies in conspectu suo catenis verberatum
non prius occidit quam ofFensus putrefacti cerebri
odore. Atellanae poetam ob ambigui ioci versiculum
media amphitheatri harena igni cremavit. Equitem
R. obiectum feris, cum se innocentem proclamasset^
reduxit abscisaque lingua rursus induxit.

XXVIII. Revocatum quendam a vetere exilio
sciscitatus^ quidnam ibi facere consuesset, respon-
dente eo per adulationem : '^ Deos semper oravi ut^
quod evenit^ periret Tiberius et tu imperares/'
opinans sibi quoque exsules suos mortem imprecari,

" 8ee Aiuf. Ix.

448

GAIUS CALIGULA

over to his slaves, with orders to drive him through
the streets decked with sacred boughs and fillets,
calling for the fulfilment of his vow, and finally hurl
him from the embankment. Many men of honour-
able rank were first disfigured with the marks of
branding-irons and then condemned to the mines, to
work at building roads, or to be thrown to the
wild beasts ; or else he shut them up in cages on all
fours, like animals, or had them sawn asunder. Not
all these punishments were for serious offences, but
merely for criticising one of his shows, or for never
having sworn by his Genius.^ He forced parents to
attend the executions of their sons, sending a litter for
one man who pleaded ill health, and inviting another
to dinner immediately after witnessing the death,
and trying to rouse him to gaiety and jesting by a
great show of adability. He had the manager of his
gladiatorial shows and beast-baitings beaten with
chains in his presence for several successive days,
and would not kill him until he was disgusted at the
stench of his putrefied brain. He burned a writer of
Atellan farces alive in the middle of the arena of the
amphitheatre, because of a humorous line of double
meaning. When a Roman knight on being thrown
to the wild beasts loudly protested his innocence, he
took him out, cut off his tongue, and put him back
again.

XXVin. Having asked a man who had been
recalled from an exile of long standing, how in the
world he spent his time there, the man replied by way
of flattery : " I constantly prayed the gods for what
has come to pass, that Tiberius might die and you
become emperor." Thereupon Caligula, thinking
that his exiles were likewise praying for his death,

449

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

misit circuni insulas, qui universes contrucidarent.
Cum discerpi senatorem concupisset, subornavit qui
ingredientem curiam repente hostem publicum appel-
lantes invaderent, graphiisque confossum lacerandum
ceteris traderent ; nee ante satiatus est quam membra
et artus et viscera hominis tracta per' vicos atque
ante se congesta vidisset.

XXIX. Immanissima facta augebat atrocitate ver-
borum. Nihil magis in natura sua laudare se ac
probare dicebat quam, ut ipsius verbo utar, dStarpe-
xf/iav, hoc est inverecundiam. Monenti Antoniae aviae
tamquam parum esset non oboedire : ^*^ Memento/'
ait, ^^ omnia mihi et in omnis licere." Trucidaturus
fratrem, quem metu venenorum praemuniri medica-
mentis suspicabatur : " Antidotum," inquit, ^^ ad versus
Caesarem ? " Relegatis sororibus non solum insulas
habere se, sed etiam gladios minabatur. Praetorium
virum ex secessu Anticyrae, quam valitudinis causa
petierat, propagari sibi commeatum saepius desideran-
tem cum mandasset interimi, adiecit necessariam
esse sanguinis missionem, cui tam diu non prodesset
elleborum. Decimo quoque die numerum punien-
dorum ex custodia subscribens, rationem se purgare
dicebat. Gallis Graecisque aliquot uno tempore
condemnatis gloriabatur Gallograeciam se subegisse.

XXX. Non temere in quemquam nisi crebris et
miiiutis ictibus animadverti passus est, perpetuo

'* '* Imnxobility," a Stoic virtue. Since in Gains this took
the form of callous indifference to suffering and to pu])lic
opinion, it became inverecundia.

450

GAIUS CALIGULA

sent emissaries from island to island to butcher them
all. Wishing to have one of the senators torn to
pieces, he induced some of the members to assail
him suddenly^ on his entrance into the House, with
the charge of being a public enemy, to stab him with
their styles, and turn him over to the rest to be
mangled ; and his cruelty was not sated until he
saw the man's limbs, members, and bowels dragged
through the streets and heaped up before him.

XXIX. He added to the enormity of his crimes
by the brutality of his language. He used to say
that there was nothing in his own character which
he admired and approved more highly than what he
called his dStarpei/^ta,* that is to say, his shameless
impudence. When his grandmother Antonia gave him
some advice, he was not satisfied merely not to listen
but replied : " Remember that I have the right to
do anything to anybody," When he was on the pomt
of killing his brother, and suspected that he had
taken drugs as a precaution against poison, he cried :
'^ What ! an antidote against Caesar ? " After banish-
ing his sisters, he made the threat that he not only
had islands, but swords as well. An ex-praetor who
had retired to Anticyra for his health, sent frequent
requests for an extension of his leave, but Caligula
had him put to death, adding that a man who had
not been helj^ed by so long a course of hellebore
needed to be bled. On signing the list of prisoners
who were to be put to death later, he said that he
was clearing his accounts. Having condemned
several Gauls and Greeks to death in a body, he
boasted that he had subdued Gallograecia.

XX.X. He seldom had anyone put to death except
by numerous slight wounds, his constant order, which

451

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

notoque iam praecepto : ^' Ita feri ut se mori sentiat."
Punito per errorem nominis alio qiiani queni destina-
verat, ipsum quoque paria meruisse dixit. Tragicum
illud subinde iactabat :

^' Oderint, dum metuant.'*

Saepe in cunctos pariter senatores ut Seiani clientis,
ut matris ac fratrum suorum delatores^ invectus est
prolatis libellis, quos cremates simulaverat, defensa-
que Tiberi saevitia quasi necessaria, cum tot
criminantibus credendum esset. Equestrem ordinem
ut scaenae harenaeque devotum assidue proscidit.
Infensus turbae faventi adversus studium suum
exclamavit : ^^ Utinam p. R. unam cervicem haberet ! "
cumque Tetrinius latro postularetur, et qui
postularent, Tetrinios esse ait. Retiarii tunicati
quinque numero gregatim dimicantes sine certamine
ullo totidem secutoribus succubuerant ; cum occidi
iuberentur, unus resumpta fuscina omnes victores
interemit ; banc ut crudelissimam caedem et deflevit
edicto et eos, qui spectare sustinuissent^ exsecratus
est.

XXXI. Queri etiam palam de condicione temporum
suorum solebat, quod nullis calamitatibus publicis
insignirentur ; Augusti principatum clade Variana,
Tiberi ruina spectaculorum apud Fidenas memora-

" Accius, Trag., 203.
* See chap. xv. 4.

^ For punishment, or to fight in the arena.
^ See Index and Friedlander, op. cit. (p. 446, ftn. h) iv,
171 fF.
« See Aug. xxiii. 1. ^ See Tih. xl.

452

GAIUS CALIGULA

soon became well-known, being : ^^ Strike so that he
may feel that he is dying." When a different man
than he had intended had been killed, through a
mistake in the names, he said that the victim too
had deserved the same fate. He often uttered the
familiar line of the tragic poet^ :

^^ Let them hate me, so they but fear me/'

He often inveighed against all the senators alike,
as adherents of Sejanus and informers against his
mother and brothers, producing the documents
which he pretended to have burned,^ and upholding
the cruelty of Tiberius as forced upon him, since he
could not but believe so many accusers. He con-
stantly tongue-lashed the equestrian order as devotees
of the stage and the arena. Angered at the rabble
for applauding a faction which he opposed, he cried :
^^ I wish the Roman people had but a single neck,"
and when the brigand Tetrinius was demanded,*' he
said that those v/ho asked for him were Tetriniuses
also. Once a band of five retiarii ^ in tunics, matched
against the same number of secutores,^ yielded without
a struggle ; but when their death was ordered, one
of them caught up his trident and slew all the
victors. Caligula bewailed this in a public pro-
clamation as a most cruel murder, and expressed
his horror of those who had had the heart to
witness it.

XXXL He even used openly to deplore the state
of his times, because they had been marked by no
public disasters, saying that the rule of Augustus had
been made famous by the Varus massacre,* and that
of Tiberius by the collapse of the amphitheatre
at Fidenae/ while his own was threatened with

453

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

bilem factum, suo oblivionem imminere prosperitate
rerum ; atque identidem exercituum caedes, famem,
pestilentiani, incendia, hiatum aliquem terrae
optabat.

XXXII. Animum quoque remittenti ludoque et
epulis dedito eadem factorum dictorumque saevitia
aderat. Saepe in conspectu prandentis vel comis-
antis seriae quaestiones per tormenta habebantur,
miles decollandi artifex quibuscumque e custodia
capita amputabat. Puteolis dedicatione pontis, quem
excogitatum ab eo significavimus, cumi multos e
litore invitasset ad se, repente omnis praecipitavit,
quosdam gubernacula apprehendentes contis remis-

2 que detrusit in mare. Romae publico epulo servum
ob detractam lectis argenteam laminam carnifici
confestim tradidit, ut manibus abscisis atque ante
pectus e collo pendentibus, praecedente titulo qui
causam poenae indicaret, per coetus epulantium
circumduceretur. Murmillonem e ludo rudibus
secum battuentem et sponte prostratum confodit
ferrea sica ac more victorum cum palma discucurrit.

3 Admota altaribus victima succinctus poparum habitu
elato alte malleo cultrarium mactavit. Lautiore
convivio efFusus subito in cachinnos consulibus, qui
iuxta cubabant, quidnam rideret blande quaerentibus :

* See chap. xix. * See note on chap. xxx. 3.

" The popa knocked down the victim with a mallet or with
the back of an axe-head, and the cultrarius then cut the
animal's throat.

454

GAIUS CALIGULA

oblivion because of its prosperity ; and every now
and then he wished for the destruction of his
armies, for famine, pestilence, fires, or a great
earthquake.

XXXII. His acts and words were equally cruel,
even when he was indulging in relaxation and given
up to amusement and feasting. While he was
lunching or revelling capital examinations by torture
were often made in his presence, and a soldier who
was an adept at decapitation cut off the heads of
those who were brought from prison. At Puteoli, at
the dedication of the bridge that he contrived/ as has
been said, after inviting a number to come to him
from the shore, on a sudden he had them all thrown
overboard ; and when some caught hold of the
rudders of the ships, he pushed them off into the
sea with boathooks and oars. At a public banquet
in Rome he immediately handed a slave over to the
executioners for stealing a strip of silver from the
couches, with orders that his hands be cut off and
hung from his neck upon his breast, and that he
then be led about among the guests, preceded by
a placard giving the reason for his punishment.
When a murvdllo * from the gladiatorial school fought
with him with wooden swords and fell on purpose,
he stabbed him with a real dagger and then ran
about with a palm-branch, as victors do. Once
when he stood by the altar dressed as a popa,^
and a victim was brought up, he raised his mallet
on high and slew the cultrarius. At one of his
more sumptuous banquets he suddenly burst into
a fit of laughter, and when the consuls, who were
reclining next him, politely inquired at what he
was laughing, he replied: ^^What do you suppose,

455

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

^^ Quid/' inquit^ " nisi uno meo nutu iugulari utrumque
vestrum statim posse ? '*

XXXIII. Inter varios iocos, cum assistens simulacro
lovis Apellen tragoedum eonsuluisset uter illi maior
videretur, cunctantem flagellis discidit conlaudans
subinde vocem deprecantis quasi etiam in gemitu
praedulcem. Quotiens uxoris vel amiculae eollum
exoscularetur^ addebat : ^^ Tarn bona cervix simul ac
iussero demetur." Quin et subinde iactabat exquisi-
turum se vel fidiculis de Caesonia sua^ cur earn tanto
opere diligeret.

XXXIV. Nee minore livore ac malignitate quam
superbia saevitiaque paene adversus omnis aevi
hominum genus grassatus est. Statuas virorum
inlustrium ab Augusto ex Capitolina area propter
angustias in campum Martium conlatas ita subvertit
atque disiecit ut restitui salvis titulis non potuerint,
vetuitque posthac viventium cuiquam usquam statuam
aut imaginem nisi consulto et auctore se poni.
Cogitavit etiam de Homeri carminibus abolendis, cur
enim sibi non licere^ dicens^ quod Platoni licuisset,
qui eum e civitate quam constituebat eiecerit? Sed
et Vergil i ac Titi Livi scripta et imagines paulum afuit
quin ex omnibus bibliothecis amoveret^ quorum
alterum ut nullius ingenii minimaeque doctrinae,
alterum ut verbosum in historia neglegentemque
carpebat. De iuris quoque consultis^ quasi scientiae

" Literally, " the cords," as an instrument of torture ; cf.
Tih. Ixii. 2. On the whole passage cf. Calig. xxv. 3 and 1. 2.

GAIUS CALIGULA

except that at a single nod of mine both of you
could have your throats cut on the spot? '*

XXXIIL As a sample of his humour, he took his
place beside a statue of Jupiter, and asked the
tragic actor Apelles which of the two seemed to him
the greater, and when he hesitated, Caligula had
him flayed with whips, extolling his voice from time
to time, when the wretch begged for mercy, as
passing sweet even in his groans. Whenever he
kissed the neck of his wife or sweetheart, he would
say : ^^ Off comes this beautiful head whenever J
give the word." He even used to threaten now and
then that he would resort to torture * if necessary,
to find out from his dear Caesonia why he loved her
so passionately.

XXXIV. He assailed mankind of almost every
epoch with no less envy and malice than insolence
and cruelty. He threw down the statues of famous
men, which for lack of room Augustus had moved
from the court of the Capitol to the Campus Martius,
and so utterly demolished them that they could not
be set up again with their inscriptions entire ; and
thereafter he forbade the erection of the statue of
any living man anywhere, without his knowledge
and consent. He even thought of destroying the
poems of Homer, asking why he should not have
the same privilege as Plato, who excluded Homer
from his ideal commonwealth. More than that, he
all but removed the writings and the busts of Vergil
and of Titus Livius from all the libraries, railing at
the former as a man of no talent and very little
learning, and the latter as a verbose and careless
historian. With regard to lawyers too, as if intend-
ing to do away with any practice of their profession,

457

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

eorimi omnem usum aboliturus, saepe iactavit se
niehercule eff'ecturum ne quid respondere possint
praeter euni.

XXXV. Vetera familiaruni insignia nobilissimo
cuique ademit, Torquato torquem, Cincinnato crinem,
Cn. Pompeio stirpis antiquae Magni cognomen.
Ptolemaeum, de quo rettuli, et arcessitum e regno et
exceptuni honorifice, non alia de causa repente per-
cussit, quam quod edente se munus ingressum
spectacula convertisse hominuni oculos fulgore
purpureae abollae animadvertit. Pulchros et comatos
quotiens sibi occurrerent, occipitio raso deturpabat.
Erat Aesius ^ Proculus patre primipilari, ob egregiani
corporis am})litudinem et speciem Colosseros dictus ;
hunc spectaculis detractuni repente et in harenani
deductum Thraeci et mox hoplomacho ^ comparavit
bisque victorem constringi sine mora iussit et pannis
obsitum vicatim circumduci ac mulieribus ostendi,
deinde iugulari. Nullus denique tam abiectae condi-
cionis tamque extremae sortis fuit, cuius non commodis
obtrectaret. Nemorensi ^ regi, quod multos iam annos
poteretur sacerdotio, validiorem adversarium suborn-
avit. Cum quodam die muneris essedario Porio post
prosperam pugnam servum suum manumittenti

^ Aesius, Ihm ; Esius, Ci.

2 hoplomacho, Sahellicus ; aplumacho, Xl.

^ Nemorensi, 6r"^$-; nemoressi, n.

" See chap. xxvi. 1.

^' He himself was bald ; see chap. 1. 1.

^ The '* Giant Cupid" from /coAotro-os and epccs.

^ The priest of Diana at Nemi, who must be a fugitive
slave and obtain his office by slaying his predecessor.

^ A gladiator who fought from a British chariot ; see note
on chap. xxx. 3,

458

GAIUS CALIGULA

he often threatened that he would see to it, by
Heaven, that they could give no advice contrary to
his wish.

XXXV. He took from all the noblest of the city
the ancient devices of their families, from Torquatus
liis collar, from Cincinnatus his lock of hair, from
Gnaeus Pompeius the surname Great belonging to
liis ancient race. After inviting Ptolemy, whom I
have mentioned before,* to come from his kingdom
and receiving him with honour, he suddenly had
him executed for no other reason than that when
giving a gladiatorial show, he noticed that Ptolemy
on entering the theatre attracted general attention
by the splendour of his purple cloak. Whenever he
ran across handsome men with fine heads of hair,^ he
disfigured them by having the backs of their heads
shaved. There was a certain Aesius Proculus, son of
a chief centurion, called Colosseros^ because of his
remarkable size and handsome appearance ; this man
Caligula ordered to be suddenly dragged from his
seat in the amphitheatre and led into the arena,
where he matched him first against a Thracian and
then against a heavy-armed gladiator ; when Proculus
was victor in both contests, Caligula gave orders tliat
he be bound at once, clad in rags, and then put
to death, after first being led about the streets and
exhibited to the women. In short, there was no one
of such low condition or such abject fortune that he
did not envy him such advantages as he possessed.
Since the king of Nemi ^ had now held his priest-
hood for many years, he hired a stronger adversary
to attack him. When an essedarius ^ called Porius was
vigorously applauded on the day of one of the games
for setting his slave free after a victory, Caligula

459

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

studiosius plaiisum esset, ita proripuit ^ se spectaculis,
ut calcata lacinia togae praeceps per gradus iret,
iiiditi;nabinidus et clamitans dominum gentium
populum ex re levissima {)lus honoris gladiatori
tribuentem quam conseeratis prineipibus aiit praesenti
sibi.

XXXVI. Pudieitiae neqiie suae ^ neque alienae
pepercit. M. Lepidum, Mnesterem pantomimum,
quosdam obsides dilexisse fertur commereio mutui
stupri. Valerius Catullus, consulari familia iuvenis,
stupratum a se ac latera sibi contubernio eius defessa
etiani vociferatus est. Super sororum incesta et
notissimum prostitutae Pyrallidis amorem nontemere
ulla inlustriore femina abstinuit. Quas plerumque
cum maritis ad cenam vocatas praeterque pedes suos
transeuntis diligent er ac lente mercantium more con-
siderabat, etiam faciem manu adlevans, si quae pudore
submitterent ; quotiens deinde libuisset egressus tri-
clinio, cum maxime placitam sevocasset, paulo post
recentibus adhuc lasciviae notis reversus vel laudabat
palam vel vituperabat, singula enumerans bona malave
corporis atque concubitus. Quibusdam absentium
maritorum nomine repudium ipse misit iussitque in
acta ita referri.

XXXVII. Nepotatus sumptibus omnium prodi-
gorum ingenia superavit, commentus novum bal-
nearum usum, portentosissima genera ciborum atque

^ proripuit se, Both; proripuit, ML^P ; proripuit e, OR ;
se proripuit, L\ST ; se proripuit e, n(^.

^ neque suae, added in N^ ; owiftcd Jnj the other mss,

460

GAIUS CALIGULA

rushed from the amphitheatre in such] haste that he
trod on the fringe of his toga and went headlong
down the steps^ fuming and shouting : ^^ The people
that rule the world give more honour to a gladiator
for a trifling act than to their deified emperors or
to the one still present with them."

XXX VL He respected neither his own chastity
nor that of anyone else. He is said to have had
unnatural relations with Marcus Lepidus^ the panto-
mimic actor Mnester, and certain hostages. Valerius
Catullus^ a 3^oung man of a consular family^ publicly
proclaimed that he had violated the emperor and
worn liimself out in commerce with him. To
say nothing of his incest with his sisters and his
notorious passion for the concubine Pyrallis^ there
was scarcely any woman of rank whom he did
not approach. These as a rule he invited to
dinner with their husbands^ and as they passed
by the foot of his couch^ he would inspect them
critically and deliberately^ as if buying slaves, even
putting out his hand and lifting up the face of
anyone who looked down in modesty ; then as
often as the fancy took him he would leave the
room, sending for the one who pleased him best,
and returning soon afterward with evident signs
of what had occurred, he would openly commend
or criticise his partner, recounting her charms
or defects and commenting on her conduct. To
some he personally sent a bill of divorce in the
name of their absent husbands, and had it entered
in the public records.

XXX VH. In reckless extravagance he outdid
the prodigals of all times in ingenuity, inventing
a new sort of baths and unnatural varieties of food

461

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

cenariim, iit calidis fri^idisqiie uiiguentis lavaretur,
pretiosissinia margarita ace to liquefacta sorberet, ccni-
vivis ex auro panes et obsonia apponeret, aut frugi
hominem esse oportere dictitans aut Caesarem.
Quin et nummos non mediocris sumniae e fastigio
basilieae luliae per aliquot dies sparsit in })lebem.
Fabricavit et deceris Liburnicas gemmatis puppibus,
versicoloribus velis, magna therniaruni et porticuuni
et tricliniorum laxitate niagnaque etiam vitium
et j)omiferarum arborum varietate ; quibus discumbens
de die inter choros ae symphonias ^ litora Campaniae
peragraret. In extructionibus praetoriorum atque
villarum onini ratione posthabita nihil tarn efficere
concupiscebat quam quod posse effici negaretur. Et
iaetae itaque moles infesto ac profundo mari et excisae
rupes durissimi silicis et campi montibus aggere
aequati et complanata fossuris montium iuga, in-
credibili quidem celeritate^, cum morae culj)a ca])ite
lueretur. Ac ne singula enumerem, immensas opes
totumque illud Ti.^ Caesaris vicies ac septies milies
sestertium non toto vertente anno absumpsit.

XXXVIII. Exhaustus igitur atque egens ad ra})inas
convertit animum vario et exquisitissimo calumniarum
et auctionum et vectigalium genere. Negabat iure
civitatem Romanam usurpare eos, quorum maiores
sibi j)osterisque eam impetrassent, nisi si filii essent,
neque enim intellegi debere ^^posteros" ultra hunc

^ symphonias, GSN^; the other 7nss hare symphro or
simphro.

2 Ti., Both; T., n.

« The Liburnian gallej's, so-called from a people of 111}^-
ricum, were famous for their speed. They commonly had
but one or two banks of oars.

462

GAIUS CALIGULA

and feasts ; for he would bathe in hot or cold
perfumed oils, drink pearls of great price dissolved
in vinegar, and set before his guests loaves and
meats of gold, declaring that a man ought either
to be frugal or Caesar. He even scattered
large sums of money among the commons from
the roof of the basilica Julia for several days in
succession. He also built Liburnian galleys^ with
ten banks of oars, with stems set with gems,
particoloured sails, huge spacious baths, colonnades,
and banquet-halls, and even a great variety of vines
and fruit trees ; that on board of them he might re-
cline at table from- an early hour, and coast along the
shores of Campania amid songs and choruses. He
built villas and country houses with utter disregard of
expense, caring for nothing so much as to do what
men said was impossible. So he built moles out
into the deep and stormy sea, tunnelled rocks of
hardest flint, built up plains to the height of
mountains and razed mountains to the level of
the plain ; all with incredible dispatch, since the
penalty for delay was death. To make a long
story short, vast sums of money, including the
2,700,000,000 sesterces which Tiberius Caesar had
amassed, were squandered by him in less than the
revolution of a year.

XXXVIIL Having thus impoverished himself,
from very need he turned his attention to pillage
through a complicated and cunningly devised system
of false accusations, auction sales, and imposts. He
ruled that Roman citizenship could not lawfully
be enjoyed by those whose forefathers had ob-
tained it for themselves and their descendants,
except in the case of sons^ since '^descendants"

463

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

graduin ; prolataque Divorum luli et August! diplo-
mata ut Vetera et obsoleta deflabat.^ Arguebat et
perperam editos census, quibus postea quacunique de
causa quicquani incrementi accessisset. Testamenta
primipilariuni, qui ab initio Tiberi principatus neque
ilium neque se heredem reliquissent, ut ingrata
rescidit ; item ceterorum ut irrita et vana quoscumque
quis diceret herede Caesare mori destinasse. Quo
metu iniecto cum iam et ab ignotis inter familiares et
a parentibus inter liberos palam heres nuncuparetur,
derisores vocabat, quod post nuncupationem vivere
perseverarent, et multis venenatas matteas misit.
Cognoscebat autem de talibus causis, taxato prius modo
summae ad quem conficiendum consideret, confecto
demum excitabatur. Ac ne paululum quidem morae
patiens super quadraginta reos quondam ex diversis
criminibus una sententia condemnavit gloriatus-
que est expergefacta e somno Caesonia quantum
egisset, dum ea meridiaret.

Auctione proposita reliquias omnium spectaculorum
subiecit ac venditavit^ exquirens per se pretia et usque
eo extendens, ut quidam immenso coacti quaedam
emere ac bonis exuti venas sibi inciderent. Nota res

1 deflabat, Lipsms ; deflabat, corrected to deflaebat (= de--
flebat), M ; deflebat, XT ; delebat, G.

" That is, if anyone chanced to have received an addition
to his income since the last census, he charged him with
having made a false report to the censors, and of course con-
tiscated his estate.

464

GAIUS CALIGULA

ought not to be understood as going beyond that
degree ; and when certificates of the deified Juhus
and Augustus were presented to him^ he waved
them aside as old and out of date. He also charged
that those estates had been falsely returned, to
which any addition had later been made from
any cause whatever." If any chief centurions since
the beginning of Tiberius' reign had not named
that emperor or himself among their heirs, he
set aside their wills on the ground of ingratitude ;
also the testaments of all others, as null and void,
if anyone said that they had intended to make
Caesar their heir when they died. When he
had roused such fear in this way that he came
to be named openly as heir by strangers among
their intimates and by parents among their
children, he accused them of making game of
him by continuing to live after such a declaration,
and to many of them he sent poisoned dainties. He
used further to conduct the trial of such cases
in person, naming in advance the sum which he
proposed to raise at each sitting, and not rising
until it was made up. Impatient of the slightest
delay, he once condemned in a single sentence
more than forty who were accused on different
counts, boasting to Caesonia, when she woke after
a nap, of the great amount of business he had
done while she was taking her siesta.

Appointing an auction, he put up and sold
what was left from all the shows, personally
soliciting bids and running them up so high, that
some who were forced to buy articles at an
enormous price and were thus stripped of their
possessions, opened their veins. A well-known

465

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

est, Aponio Saturnino inter subsellia dormitante
monitum a Gaio praeconem ne praetoriuni virum
crebro capitis motu nutantem sibi praeteriret, nee
licendi finem factum, quoad tredecim gladiatores
sestertium nonagies ignoranti addicerentur.

XXXIX. In Gallia quoque, cum damnatarum
sororum ornamenta et supellectilem et servos atque
etiam libertos immensis pretiis vendidisset, invitatus
lucro, quidquid instrumenti veteris aulae erat ab urbe
repetiit comprensis ad deportandum meritoriis quoque
vehiculis et pistrinensibus iumentis, adeo ut et panis
Romae saepe deficeret et litigatorum plerique, quod
occurrere absentes ad vadimonium non possent, causa
caderent. Cui instrumento distrahendo nihil non
fraudis ac lenocinii adhibuit, modo avaritiae singulos
increpans et quod non puderet eos locupletiores esse
quam se, modo paenitentiam simulans quod princi-
palium rerum privatis copiam faceret. Compererat
provincialem locupletem ducenta sestertia numerasse
vocatoribus, ut per fallaciam convivio interponeretur,
nee tulerat moleste tam magno aestimari honorem
cenae suae ; huic postero die sedenti in auctione misit,
qui nescio quid frivoli ducentis milibustraderet diceret-
que cenaturum apud Caesarem vocatu ipsius.

XL. Vectigalia nova atque inaudita primum per

" The part occupied by Augustus and Tiberius, to which
Caligula had made some additions.

466

GAIUS CALIGULA

incident is that of Aponius Saturninus ; he fell
asleej) on one of the benches^ and as the auc-
tioneer was warned by Gaius not to overlook the
praetorian gentleman who kept nodding to him,
the bidding was not stopped until thirteen glad-
iators were knocked down to the unconscious sleeper
at nine million sesterces.

XXXIX. When he was in Gaul and had sold
at immense figures the jewels, furniture, slaves,
and even the freedmen of his sisters who had
been condemned to death, finding the business
so profitable, he sent to the city for all the para-
phernalia of the old palace,^* seizing for its trans-
portation even public carriages and animals from
the bakeries ; with the result that bread was often
scarce at Rome and many who had cases in court
lost them from inability to appear and meet their
bail. To get rid of this furniture, he resorted to
every kind of trickery and wheedling, now rail-
ing at the bidders for avarice and because they
were not ashamed to be richer than he, and
now feigning regret for allowing common men
to acquire the property of princes. Having learned
that a rich provincial had paid those who issued the
emperor's invitations two hundred thousand sesterces,
to be smuggled in among the guests at one of his
dinner-parties, he was not in the least displeased
that the honour of dining with him was rated
so high ; but when next day the man appeared
at his auction, he sent a messenger to hand him
some trifle or other at the price of two hundred
thousand sesterces and say that he should dine
with Caesar on his personal invitation.

XL. He levied new and unheard of taxes, at

467

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

publicanos, deinde, quia lucrum exuberabat, per
centuriones tribunosque praetorianos exercuit, nullo
rerum aut hominum genere omisso, cui non tributi
aliquid imponeret. Pro edulibus, quae tota urbe
venirent, certum statumque exigebatur ; pro litibus
ac iudiciis ubicumque conceptis quadragesima summae,
de qua litigaretur, nee sine poena, si quis composuisse
vel donasse negotium convinceretur ; ex gerulorum
diurnis quaestibus pars octava ; ex capturis prostitu-
tarum quantum quaeque uno concubitu mereret ;
additumque ad caput legis, ut tenerentur publico et
quae meretricium quive lenocinium fecissent, nee non
et matrimonia obnoxia essent.

XLI. Eius modi vectigalibus indictis neque propo-
sitis, cum per ignorantiam scripturae multa commissa
fierent, tandem flagitante populo proposuit quidem
legem, sed et minutissimis litteris et angustissimo
loco, uti ne cui describere liceret. Ac ne quod non
manubiarum genus experiretur, lupanar in Palatio
constituit, districtisque et instructis pro loci dignitate
compluribus cellis, in quibus matronae ingenuique
starent, misit circum fora et basilicas nomenculatores
ad invitandos ad libidinem iuvenes senesque ; praebita
advenientibus pecunia faenebris appositique qui
nomina palam subnotarent, quasi adiuvantium
Caesaris reditus. Ac ne ex lusu quidem aleae
compendium spernens plus mendacio atque etiam

" See note on Aug. xix. 1.

468

GAIUS CALIGULA

first througli the publicans and then, because their
profit was so great, through the centurions and
tribunes of the praetorian guard ; and there was
no class of commodities or men on which lie did
not impose some form of tariff. On all eatables
sold in any part of the city he levied a fixed and
definite charo;e ; on lawsuits and legal processes
begun anywhere, a fortieth part of the sum
involved, providing a penalty in case anyone was
found guilty of compromising or abandoning a
suit ; on tJie daily wages of porters, an eighth ;
on the earnings of prostitutes, as much as each
received for one embrace ; and a clause was added
to this chapter of the law, providing that those who
had ever been prostitutes or acted as panders should
be liable to this public tax, and that even matri-
monv should not be exempt.

XLL When taxes of this kind had been proclaimed,
but not published in writing, inasmuch as many
offences were committed through ignorance of the
letter of the law, he at last, on the urgent demand of
the people, had the law posted up, but in a very
narrow place and in excessively small letters, to
prevent the making of a copy. To leave no kind of
plunder untried, he opened a brothel in his palace,
setting apart a number of rooms and furnishing them
to suit the grandeur of the place, where matrons
and freeborn youths should stand exposed. Then
he sent his pages ^ about the fora and basilicas,
to invite young men and old to enjoy themselves,
lending money on interest to those who came and
having clerks openly take down their names, as
contributors to Caesar's revenues. He did not
even disdain to make money from play, and to

469

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

periurio lucrabatur. Et quondam proximo conlusori
demandata vice sua progressus in atrium domus, cum
praetereuntis duos equites R. locupletis sine mora
corripi confiscarique iussisset, exultans rediit glorians-
que numquaiu se prosperiore alea usum.

XL [I. Filia vero nata paupertatem nee iam impera-
toria modo sed et patria conquerens onera conlationes
in alimonium ac dotem puellae recepit. Edixit et
strenas ineunte anno se recepturum stetitque in
vestibulo aedium Kal. Ian. ad captandas stipes, quas
plenis ante eum manibus ac sinu omnis generis turba
fundebat. Novissime contrectandae pecuniae cupi-
dine incensus, saepe super immensos aureorum acer-
vos patentissimo diffiisos loco et nudis pedibus
spatiatus et toto corpore aliquamdiu volutatus est.

XLIII. Militiam resque bellicas semel attigit
neque ex destinato, sed cum ad visendum nemus
flumenque Clitumni Mevaniam processisset, admoni-
tus de supplendo numero Batavorum, quos circa
se h&bebat, expeditionis Germanicae impetum cepit ;
neque distulit, sed legionibus et auxiliis undique
excitis, dilectibus ubique acerbissime actis, contracto
et omnis generis commeatu quanto numquam antea,^
iter ingressus est confecitque modo tam festinanter
ct rapide, ut praetorianae cohortes contra morem

^ an tea iter, Gronovius : ante alter, Q. Ante iter R, Steph.
(" duo probatissimi libri " Tom).

• See Aug, Ivii. 1.

» Sinus means the bosom of the toga, which was often
used as a pocket.

• Celebrated for its beautiful scenery, described by Pliny,
Epist. 8. &

470

GAIUS CALIGULA

increase his gains by falsehood and even by perjury.
Having on one occasion given up his place to the
player next him and gone into the courtyard, he spied
two wealthy Roman knights passing by ; he ordered
them to be seized at once and their property con-
fiscated and came back exultant, boasting that he
had never played in better luck.

XLIL But when his daughter was bom, com-
plaining of his narrow means, and no longer
merely of the burdens of a ruler but of those
of a father as well, he took up contributions for
the girl's maintenance and dowry. He also made
proclamation that he would receive New Year's
gifts,* and on the Kalends of January took his
place in the entrance to the Palace, to clutch the
coins which a throng of people of all classes
showered on him by handfuls and lapfuls.* Finally,
seized with a mania for feeling the touch of money,
he would often pour out huge piles of goldpieces
in some open place, walk over them barefooted, and
wallow in them for a long time with his whole body.

XLHL He had but one experience with military
affairs or war, and then on a sudden impulse ; for
having gone to M evania to visit the river Clitumnus *
and its grove, he was reminded of the necessity of
recruiting his body-guard of Batavians and was
seized with the idea of an expedition to Germany.
So without delay he assembled legions and aux-
iliaries from all quarters, holding levies every-
where w^ith the utmost strictness, and collecting
provisions of every kind on an unheard of scale.
Then he began his march and made it now so
hurriedly and rapidly, that the praetorian cohorts
were forced, contrary to all precedent, to lay their

471

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

signa iumentis imponere et ita siibseqiii cogerentur,
interduni adeo segniter delicateque, ut octaphoro
veheretur atqiie a propinquarum urbium plebe verri
sibi vias et conspergi propter pulverem exigeret.

XLIV. Postquam castra attigit, ut se acrem ac
severiim ducem ostenderet, legates, qui auxilia serius
ex diversis locis adduxerant, cum ignominia dimisit ;
at in exercitu recensendo plerisque centurionum
maturis iam et nonnullis ante paucissimos quam
consummaturi essent dies, primos pilos ademit,
causatus senium cuiusque et imbecillitatem ; cetero-
rum increpita cupiditate commoda emeritae militiae
ad senum ^ milium summam recidit. Nihil autem
amplius quam Adminio Cynobellini Britannorum
regis filio, qui pulsus a patre cum exigua manu
transfugerat, in deditionem recepto, quasi universa
tradita insula, magnificas Romam litteras misit,
monitis speculatoribus, ut vehiculo ad Forum usque
et curiam pertenderent nee nisi in aede Martis ac
frequente senatu consulibus traderent.

XLV. Mox deficiente belli materia paucos de
custodia Germanos traici occulique trans Rhenum
iussit ac sibi post prandium quam tumultuosissime
adesse hostem nuntiari. Quo facto proripuit se cum

^ senum, Lipsivs ; sescentorum, H.

« Half the amount established by Augustus ; see Dio, 55. 23.

^ Ordinarily such vehicles were allowed to pass through
the city streets only before sunrise or during the last two
hours of the day. See Friedlander, Roman Life and Manners^
Eng. trans, iv. p. 28.

^ See Aug. xxix. 2.

472

GAIUS CALIGULA

standards on the pack-animals and thus to follow
him ; again he was so lazy and luxurious that he
was carried in a litter by eight bearers^ requiring
the inhabitants of the towns through which he
passed to sweep the roads for him and sprinkle
them to lay the dust.

XLIV. On reaching his camp, to show his vigil-
ance and strictness as a commander, he dismissed
in disgrace tlie generals who were late in bringing
in the auxiliaries from various places, and in re-
viewing his troops he deprived many of the chief
centurions who were well on in years of their
rank, in some cases only a few days before they
would have served their time, giving as a reason
their age and infirmity ; then railing at the rest
for their avarice, he reduced the rewards given on
completion of full military service to six thousand
sesterces.*

All that he accomplished was to receive
the surrender of Adminius, son of Cynobellinus
king of the Britons, who had been banished by
his father and had deserted to the Romans
with a small force ; yet as if the entire island had
submitted to him, he sent a grandiloquent letter
to Rome, commanding the couriers who carried
it to ride in their post-chaise ^ all the way to the
Forum and the House, and not to deliver it to
anyone except the consuls, in the temple of Mars
the Avenger,^ before a full meeting of the senate,

XLV. Presently, finding no one to fight with,
he had a few Germans of his body-guard taken
across the river and concealed there, and word
brought him after luncheon with great bustle and
confusion that the enemy were close at hand. Upon

473

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

amicis et parte equitum praetorianorum in proximam
silvam, truncatisque arboribus et in modiim tropae-
orum adornatis ad lumina reversus, eorum quidem qui
secuti non essent timiditatem et ignaviam corripuit,
coniites autem et participes victoriae novo genere ac
nomine coronarum donavit, quas distinctas solis ac
lunae siderumque specie exploratorias appellavit.
Rursus obsides quosdam abductos e litterario ludo
clamque praemissos, deserto repente convivio, cum
equitatu insecutus veluti profugos ac reprehensos in
catenis reduxit ; in hoc quoque mimo praeter modum
intemperans. Repetita cena renuntiantis coactum
agmen sic ut erant loricatos ad discumbendum
adhortatus est. Monuit etiam notissimo Vergili
versu ^^^durarent secundisque se rebus servarent."

Atque inter haec absentem senatum populumque
gravissimo obiurgavit edicto, quod Caesare proeli-
ante et tantis discriminibus obiecto tempestiva
convivia, circum et theatra et amoenos secessus
eelebrarent.

XL VI. Postremo quasi perpetraturus bellum, de-
recta acie in litore Oceani ac ballistis machinisque
dispositis, nemine gnaro aut opinante quidnam
coepturus esset, repente ut conchas legerent galeas-
que et sinus replerent imperavit, '^ spoHa Oceani *'
vocans " CapitoUo Palatioque debita/' et in indicium

* From exploratoresy scouts or rangers.

& Aen. 1. 207.

^* One of the various kinds of '* torsion-engines" {formenta)
used by the Romans. The hallista cast stones, the cxUapulta
large arrows or darts.

474

GAIUS CALIGULA

this he rushed out with his friends and a part
of the praetorian cavalry to the woods close by,
and after cutting the branches from some trees
and adorning them like trophies, he returned by
torchlight, taunting those who had not followed
him as timorous and cowardly, and presenting his
companions and the partners in his victory with
crowns of a new kind and of a new name, orna-
mented with figures of the sun, moon and stars,
and called exploratoiiae^ Another time some
hostages were taken from a common school and
secretly sent on ahead of him, when he suddenly
left a banquet and pursued them with the cavalry
as if they were runaways, caught them, and brought
them back in fetters, in this farce too showing
immoderate extravagance. On coming back to
the table, when some announced that the army
was assembled, he urged them to take their places
just as they were, in their coats of mail. He
also admonished them in the familiar line of Vergil
to "bear up and save themselves for better days.'* ^

Meanwhile he rebuked the absent senate and
people in a stern edict because "while Caesar was
fighting and exposed to such dangers they were
indulging in revels and frequenting the theatres
and their pleasant villas."

XLVL Finally, as if he intended to bring the war
to an end, he drew up a line of battle on the shore
of the Ocean, arranging his ballistas*' and other
artillery ; and when no one knew or could imagine
what he was going to do, he suddenly bade them
. gather shells and fill their helmets and the folds of
their gowns, calling them "spoils from the Ocean,
due to the Capitol and Palatine." As a monument

475

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

victoriae altissiniam turrem excitavit, ex qua ut
Pharo noctibus ad regendos navium ciirsiis ignes
emicarent ; pronimtiatoque militi donativo centenis
viritim denariis, quasi omne exemplum liberalitatis
supergressus : ^'^Abite," inquit, " laeti, abite locu-
pletes."

XLVII. Conversus hinc ad curam triumphi praeter
captivos ac transfugas barbaros GaHiarum quoque
procerissimum quemque et, ut ipse dicebat, d^to^pta/x-
(SevTov^ ac nonnullos ex principibus legit ac seposuit
ad j)ompam coegitque non tantum rutilare et
summittere coniam, sed et sermonem Germanicum
addiscere et nomina barbarica ferre. Praecepit etiam
triremis, quibus introierat Oceanum, magna ex parte
itinere terrestri Romam devehi. Scripsit et pro-
curatoribus, triumphum appararent quam minima
summa, sed quantus numquam alius fuisset, quando
in omnium hominum bona ius haberent.

XLVIII. Prius quam provincia decederet, consilium
iniit nefandae atrocitatis legiones, quae post excessum
Augusti seditionem olim moverant, contrucidandi,
quod et patrem suum Germanicum ducem et se
infantem tunc obsedissent, vixque a tam praecipiti
cogitatione revocatus, inhiberi nullo modo potuit quin
decimare velle perseveraret. Vocatas itaque ad con-
tionem inermes, atque etiam gladiis depositis, equitatu
armato circumdedit. Sed cum videret suspecta re
plerosque dilabi ad resumenda si qua vis fieret arma,

'' The lighthouse at Alexandria.
^ To the privy-purse, of course.
^ See chap. ix.
^ See Any. xxiv. 2.

476

GAIUS CALIGULA

of his victory he erected a lofty tower, from which
hghts were to shine at night to guide the course of
ships, as from the Pharos." Then promising the
soldiers a gratuity of a hundred denarii each, as if
he had shown unprecedented liberality, he said,
" Go your way happy ; go your way rich."

XLVIL Then turning his attention to his triumph,
in addition to a few captives and deserters from the
barbarians he chose all the tallest of the Gauls, and
as he expressed it, those who were "worthy of a
triumph," as well as some of the chiefs. These he
reserved for his parade, compelling them not only to
dye their hair red and to let it grow long, but also
to learn the language of the Germans and assume
barbarian names. He also had the triremes in which
he had entered the Ocean carried overland to Rome
for the greater part of the way. He wrote besides
to his financial agents to prepare for a triumph at
the smallest possible cost,^ but on a grander scale
than had ever before been know^n, since the goods
of all were at their disposal.

XLVHL Before leaving the province he formed a
design of unspeakable cruelty, that of butchering the
legions that had begun the mutiny years before just
after the death of Augustus,*' because they had
beleagured his father Germanicus, their leader, and
himself, at the time an infant ; and though he was
with difficulty turned from this mad purpose, he
could by no means be prevented from persisting in
his desire to decimate ^ them. Accordingly he sum-
moned them to an assembly without their arms,
not even wearing their swords, and surrounded them
with armed horsemen. But seeing that some of the
legionaries, suspecting his purpose, were stealing off

477

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

profugit contioneni confestimque urbein ^ petit, deflexa
omni acerbitate in senatum, cui ad avertendos ^ tan-
torum dedecorum rumores palam minabatur, querens
inter cetera fraudatum se iusto triumpho, cum ipse
paulo ante, ne quid de honoribus suis ageretur, etiani
sub mortis poena denuntiasset.

XLIX. Aditus ergo in itinere a legatis amplissimi
ordinis ut maturaret orantibus, quam maxima voce :
^^Veniam," inquit, " veniam, et hie mecum/' capulum
gladii crebro verberans, quo cinctus erat. Edixit et
reverti se, sed iis tantum qui optarent, equestri
ordini et populo ; nam se neque civem neque
principem senatui amplius fore. Vetuit etiam
quemquam senatorum sibi occurrere. Atque omisso
vel dilato triumpho ovans urbem natali suo ingressus
est ; intraque quartum mensem periit, ingentia
facinora ausus et aliquanto maiora moliens, siquidem
proposuerat Antium, deinde Alexandream commigrare
interempto prius utriusque ordinis electissimo quoque.
Quod ne cui dubium videatur, in secretis eius reperti
sunt duo libelli di verso titulo, alteri '^ Gladius,"
alteri ^^ Pugio " index erat ; am bo nomina et notas
continebant morti destinatorum. Inventa et area
ingens variorum venenorum plena, quibus mox a

^ urbem, T ; urbem omnem, MGS ; omnem urbem, X.
2 ad avertendos, TL^; animadvertendos, T ; the. oihtr mss.
have advertendos.

" See note on Aug. xxii.

478

GAIUS CALIGULA

to resume their arms, in ease any violence should be
offered them, he fled from the assembly and set out
for the city in a hurry, turning all his ferocity upon
the senate, against which he uttered open threats, in
order to divert the gossip about his own dislionour.
He complained among other things that he had
been cheated of his fairly earned triumph ; whereas
a short time before he had himself given orders
that on pain of death no action should be taken
about his honours.

XLIX. Therefore when he was met on the road by
envoys from that distinguished body, begging him to
hasten his return, he roared, '^ I will come, and this
will be with me," frequently smiting the hilt of the
sword which he wore at his side. He also made
proclamation that he was returning, but only to
those who desired his presence, the equestrian order
and the people, for to the senate he would never
more be fellow-citizen nor prince. He even for-
bade anj^one of the senators to meet him. Then
giving up or postponing his triumph, he entered
the city on his birthday in an ovation ; * and within
four months he perished, having dared great crimes
and meditating still greater ones. For he had made
up his mind to move to Antium, and later to
Alexandria, after first slaying the noblest members of
the two orders. That no one may doubt this, let me
say that among his private papers two notebooks
were found with different titles, one called "The
Sword " and the other " The Dagger,*' and both
containing the names and marks of identification of
those whom he had doomed to death. There was
foand besides a great chest full of divers kinds of
poisons, which tiiey say were later thrown into the sea

479

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

Claudio demersis infecta maria traduntur iion sine
piscium exitio, quos enectos aestus in proxima litora
eiecit.

L. Statura fuit eminenti, colore expallido, corpore
enormi, gracilitate maxima cervicis et crurum, oculis
et temporibus concavis, fronte lata et j;orva, eapillo
raro at circa verticem nullo, hirsutus cetera. Quare
transeunte eo prospicere ex superiore parte aut
omnino quacumque de causa capram nominare,
criminosum et exitiale habebatur. Vultum vero
natura horridum ac taetrum etiam ex industria
efferabat componens ad speculum in omnem terrorem
ac formidinem.

2 Valitudo ei neque corporis neque animi constitit.
Puer comitiali morbo vexatus, in adulescentia ita pa-
tiens laborum erat, ut tamen nonnumquam subita de-
fectione ingredi, stare, colligere semet ac sufFerre vix
posset. Mentis valitudinem et ipse senserat ac
subinde de secessu deque purgando cerebro cogitavit,
Creditur potionatus a Caesonia uxore amatorio quidem

3 medicamento, sed quod in furorem verterit. Incita-
batur insomnio maxime ; neque enim plus quam
tribus nocturnis horis quiescebat ac ne iis quidem
placida quiete, sed pavida miris rerum imaginibus, ut
qui inter ceteras pelagi quondam speciem conloquen-
tem secum videre visus sit. Ideoque magna parte
noctis vigiliae cubandique taedio nunc toro residens,

" Cf. chap. iii. 1. ^ See Jid. xlv. 1.

480

GAIUS CALIGULA

by Claudius and so infected it as to kill the fish,
which were thrown up by the tide upon the neigh-
bouring shores.

L. He was very tall and extremely pale, with an
unshapely body, but very thin neck and legs.« His
eyes and temples were hollow, his forehead broad
and grim, his hair thin and entirely gone on the top
Oi his head, though his body was hairy. Because
of this to look upon him from a higher place as he
passed by, or for any reason whatever to mention a
goat, was treated as a capital offence. While his
face was naturally forbidding and ugly, he j)urposely
made it even more savage, practising all kinds of
terrible and fearsome expressions before a mirror.

He was sound neither of body nor mind. As
a boy he was troubled with the falling sickness,*
and while in his youth he had some endurance, yet
at times because of sudden faintness he was hardly
able to walk, to stand up, to collect his thoughts, or to
hold up his head. He himself realised his mental in-
firmity, and thought at times of going into retirement
and clearing his brain. It is thought that his wife
Caesonia gave him a drug intended for a love
potion, which however had the effect of driving
him mad. He was especially tormented with sleep-
lessness ; for he never rested more than three hours
at night, and even for that length of time he did
not sleep quietly, but was terrified by strange
apparitions, once for example dreaming that the
spirit of the Ocean talked with him. Therefore
weary of lying in bed wide awake during the greater
part of the night, he would now sit upon his couch,
and now wander through the long colonnades, crying

481

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

nunc per longissimas porticus vagus invocare
identidem atque expectare lucem consuerat.

LI. Non inmerito mentis valitudini attribuerim
diversissima in eodem vitia, summam confidentiam et
contra nimium metum. Nam qui deos tanto opera
contemneret, ad minima tonitrua et fulgura conivere,
caput obvolvere, at vero maiore ^ proripere se e strato
sub lectumque condere solebat. Peregrinatione
quidem Siciliensi irrisis multum locorum miraculis
repente a Messana noctu profugit Aetnaei verticis
fumo ac murmure pavefactus. Adversus barbaros
quoque minacissimus, cum trans Rhenum inter
angustias densumque agmen iter essedo faceret,
dicente quodam non mediocrem fore consternationem
sicunde hostis appareat, equum ilico conscendit ac
propere reversua ^ad pontes, ut eos calonibus et
impedimentis stipatos repperit, impatiens morae per
manus ac super capita hominum translatus est. Mox
etiam audita rebellione Germaniae fugam et subsidia
fugae classes apparabat, uno solacio adquiescens
transmarinas certe sibi superfuturas provincial, si
victores Alpium iuga, ut Cimbri, vel etiam urbem, ut
Senones quondam, occuparent ; unde credo percus-
soribus eius postea consilium natum apud tumultuantes
milites ementiendi, ipsum sibi manus intulisse nuntio
malae pugnae perterritum.

^ at vero maiore, MLP (ad, M,)\ ad (at) vero maiora,
Q^'O ; ad maiora vero HNg-,
' reversus, Bentleyy Cannegieter ; versus, n.

" After his murder ; probably referring to the praetorians.
482

GAIUS CALIGULA

out from time to time for daylight and longing for
its coming.

LL I think I may fairly attribute to mental weak-
ness the existence of two exactly opposite faults in
the same person, extreme assurance and, on the
other hand, excessive timorousness. For this man,
who so utterly despised the gods, was wont at the
slightest thunder and lightning to shut his eyes, to
muffle up his head, and if they increased, to leap from
his bed and hide under it. In his journey through
Sicily, though he made all manner of fun of the
miracles in various places, he suddenly fled from
Messana by night, panic-stricken by the smoke and
roaring from Aetna's ci-ater. Full of threats as he
was also against the barbarians, when he was riding
in a chariot through a narrow defile on the far side
of the Rhine, and someone said that there would be
no slight panic if the enemy should appear any-
where, he immediately mounted a horse and hastily
returned to the bridges. Finding them crowded
with camp servants and baggage, in his impatience
of any delay he was passed along from hand to
hand over the men's heads. Soon after, hearing
of an uprising in Germany, he made preparations
to flee from the city and equipped fleets for the
purpose, finding comfort only in the thought that
the provinces across the sea would at any rate be
left him, in case the enemy should be victorious and
take possession of the summits of the Alps, as the
Cimbri, or even of the city, as the Senones had once
done. And it was this, I think, that later inspired
his assassins with the idea of pretending to the
riotous soldiers * that he had laid hands on himself in
terror at the report of a defeat

483

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

LH. Vestitu calciatuque et cetero habit u neque
patrio neque civili, ac ne virili quidem ac denique
humano semper iisus est. Saepe depictas gemmatasque
indutus paeiiulas, manuleatus et armillatus in
publicum processit ; aliquando sericatus et cycladatus ;
ac modo in crepidis vel eoturnis, modo in speculatoria
caliga, nonnumquam socco muliebri ; plerumque vero
aurea barba, fulmen tenens aiit fuscinam aiit eadiiceiim
deorum insignia, atque etiam Veneris cultu consj^eetiis
est. Triumphalem quidem ornatum etiam ante expe-
ditionem assidue gestavit, interdum et Magni
Alexandri thoracem repetitum e conditorio eius.

Lin. Ex disciplinis liberalibus minimum eruditioni,
eloquentiae plurimum attendit, quamtumvis faeundus
et promptus, utique si perorandum in aliquem esset.
Irato et verba et sententiae suppetebant, pronuntiatio
quoque et vox, ut neque eodem loci prae ardore
consisteret et exaudiretur a procul stantibus. Perora-
turus stricturum se lucubrationis suae telum
minabatur, lenius comptiusque scribendi genus adeo
contemnens, ut Senecam tum maxime placentem
^^ commissiones meras " componere et '^ liarenam esse
sine calce" diceret. Solebat etiam prosperis oratorum
actionibus rescribere et magnorum in senatu reorum
accusationes defensionesque meditari ac, prout stilus

« Men were forbidden to wear silk garments ; see Tac.
Ann. 2. 33, ne vestis serica inros foedaret.

^ The cydas was a kind of robe worn by women and em-
broidered with gold and purple.

^' Cf. Any. xviii. 1.

484

GAIUS CALIGULA

LI I. In his clothing, his shoes, and the rest of his
attire he did not follow the usage of his country
and his fellow-citizens ; not always even that of his
sex ; or in fact, that of an ordinary mortal. He
often appeared in public in embroidered cloaks
covered with precious stones, with a long-sleeved
tunic and bracelets ; sometimes in silk ^ and in a
woman's robe ^ ; now in slippers or buskins, again in
boots, such as the emperor's body-guard wear, and
at times in the low shoes which are used by females.
But oftentimes he exhibited himself with a golden
beard, holding in his hand a thunderbolt, a trident, or
a caduceus, emblems of the gods, and even in the
garb of Venus. He frequently wore the dress of
a triumphing general, even before his campaign,
and sometimes the breastplate of Alexander the
Great, which he had taken from his sarcophagus.*'

LI 1 1. As regards liberal studies, he gave little
attention to literature but a great deal to oratory,
and he was as ready of speech and eloquent as you
please, especially if he had occasion to make a charge
against anyone. For when he was angry, he had an
abundant flow of words and thoughts, and his voice
and delivery were such that for very excitement he
could not stand still and he was clearly heard by
those at a distance. When about to begin an
harangue, he threatened to draw the sword of his
nightly labours, and he had such scorn of a polished
and elegant style that he used to say that Seneca,
who was very popular just then, composed ^^mere
school exercises," and that he was "sand without
lime." He had the habit too of writing replies to
the successful pleas of orators and composing
accusations and defences of important personages

48s

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

cesserat, vel onerare sententia sua quemque vel
sublevare, equestri quoque ordine ad audiendum
invitato per edicta.

LIV. Sed et aliorum generum artes studiosissime
€t diversissimas exercuit. Thraex ^ et auriga, idem
cantor atqiie saltator, battuebat pugnatoriis armis,
aurigabat exstructo plurifariam circo ; canendi ac
saltandi voluptate ita efFerebatur, ut ne publicis
quidem spectaculis temperaret quo minus et tragoedo
pronuntianti concineret et gestum histrionis quasi
2 laudans vel corrigens palam effingeret. Nee alia de
causa videtur eo die, quo periit, pervigilium indixisse
quam ut initium in scaenam prodeundi licentia temporis
auspicaretur. Saltabat autem nonnumquam etiam
noctu ; et quondam tres consulares secunda vigil ia in
Palatium accitos multaque et extrema metuentis super
pulpitum conlocavit, deinde ^ repente magno tibiarum
et scabellorum crepitu cum palla tunicaque talari
prosiluit ac desaltato cantico abiit. Atque hie tam
docilis ad cetera natare nesciit.

LV. Quorum vero studio teneretur, omnibus ad
insaniam favit. Mnesterem pantomimum etiam inter
spectacula osculabatur, ac si qui saltante eo vel leviter

1 Thrax, n.

'^ deinde, MT ) the other mss. have dein.

^ That is, if he succeeded better in his accusation, he took
sides against the defendant, and vice versa, regardless of
justice.

* Cf. chap, xxxii. 2.

'■ A festival in honour of some god or goddess, celebrated
with feasting, dancing, and plays of all kinds.

•'^ About midnight, since the night was divided into four
vifjiliae.

486

GAIUS CALIGULA

who were brought to trial before the senate ; and
according as his pen had run most easily^ he brought
ruin or relief to each of them by his speech^" while
he would also invite the equestrian order by pro-
clamation to come in and hear him.

LIV. Moreover he devoted himself with much
enthusiasm to arts of other kinds and of great
variety, appearing as a Thracian gladiator, as a
charioteer, and even as a singer and dancer, fighting
with the weapons of actual warfare,^ and driving in
circuses built in various places ; so carried away by
his interest in singing and dancing that even at the
public performances he could not refrain from sing-
ing with the tragic actor as he delivered his lines, or
from openly imitating his gestures by way of praise
or correction. Indeed, on the day when he was
slain he seems to have ordered an all-night vigil ^ for
the sole purpose of taking advantage of the licence of
the occasion to make his first appearance on the
stage. Sometimes he danced even at night, and once
he summoned three consulars to the Palace at the
close of tlie second watch,^ and when they arrived in
great and deathly fear, he seated them on a stage
and then on a sudden burst out with a great din of
flutes and clogs,* dressed in a cloak and a tunic
reaching to his heels, and after dancing a number
went off again. And yet varied as were his accom-
plishments, the man could not swim.

LV. Toward those to whom he was devoted his
partiality became madness. He used to kiss Mnester,
an actor of pantomimes, even in the theatre, and
if anyone made even the slightest sound while his

• The scahellum was attached to the feet of dancera and
sounded an accompaniment to their movements.

487

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

obstreperet, detrahi iussum manii sua flagellabat.
Equiti R. tumultuanti per centurioiiem denuntiavit,
abiret sine mora Ostiam j)erferretque ad Ptolemaeum
regem in Mauretaniam ^ codicillos siios ; quorum
exemplum erat : '' Ei quem istoc misi, neque boni
quicquam neque mali feceris." Thraeces quosdam
Germanis corporis custodil)us praeposuit. Murmil-
lonum armaturas recidit. Columbo victori, leviter
tamen saucio, venenum in plagam addidit, quod ex
eo Columbinum appellavit ; sic certe inter alia
venena scriptum ab eo repertum est. Prasinae
factioni ita addictus et deditus, ut cenaret in stabulo
assidue et maneret, agitatori Eutycho comisatione
quadam in apophoretis vicies sestertium contulit.
Incitato equo, cuius causa pridie circenses, ne inquie-
taretur, viciniae silentium per milites indicere solebat,
praeter equile marmoreum et praesae})e eburneum
praeterque purpurea tegumenta ac monilia e gemmis
domum etiam et famiHam et supellectilem dedit,
quo lautius nomine eius invitati acciperentur ; con-
sulatum quoque traditur destinasse.

LVI. Ita bacchantem atque grassantem non defuit
plerisque animus adoriri. Sed una atque altera-
conspiratione detecta, aliis per inopiam occasionis

^ Mauritaniam, Cl.

2 atque altera, Ihm ; altera, M \ et altera, GXlQ ; alteraque
XR.

" tSee note on chap. xxx. 3. He disliked the mnr)niilo}ies,
as the opponents of his favourites, the Thracians.

^ The charioteers in the Circus were divided into four
parties, distinguished by their colours, which were red, white,
blue, and green. Domitian added two more ; see Doni. vii. 1.

'^ The "stable" was in reality a kind of club, containing
the quarters of the drivers as well as the stalls of the horses.

'^ The host at a dinner party often gave gifts to his guests

488

GAIUS CALIGULA

favourite was dancing, he had him dragged from
his seat and scourged him with his own hand.
When a Roman knight created a disturbance, he
sent a centurion to bid him go without delay
to Ostia and carry a message for him to king
Ptolemy in Mauretania ; and its purport was this :
^^ Do neither good nor ill to the man whom I have
sent you." He gave some Thracian gladiators com-
mand of his German body-guard. He reduced the
amount of armour of the murmillones.^ When one
Columbus had won a victory, but had suffered a
slight wound, he had the place rubbed with a poison
which he henceforth called ^^ Columbinum " ; at least
that name was found included in his list of poisons.
He was so passionately devoted to the green faction ^
that he constantly dined and spent the night in their
stable,*' and in one of his revels with them he gave
the driver Eutychus two million sesterces in gifts.^
He used to send his soldiers on the day before the
games and order silence in the neighbourhood, to
prevent the liorse Incitatus^ from being disturbed.
Besides a stall of marble, a manger of ivory, purple
blankets and a collar of precious stones, he even gave
this horse a house, a troop of slaves and furniture,
for the more elegant entertainment of the guests
invited in his name ; and it is also said that he
planned to make him consul.

LVL During this frantic and riotous career several
thought of attempting his life. But when one or
two conspiracies had been detected and the rest were
waiting for a favourable opportunity, two men made

to take away with them (hence called by the Greek name
apophoreta) ; of. A tig, Ixxv,
• Swift, ** Flyer."

489

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

cunctantibus, duo consilium communicaverunt per-
feceruntque, non sine conscientia potentissimorum
libertorum praefectorumque praetori ; quod ipsi
quoque etsi falso in quadam coniuratione quasi
participes nominati, suspectos tanien se et invisos
sentiebant. Nam et statim seductis magnam fecit
invidiam destricto gladio affirmans s})onte se peritu-
rum, si et illis morte dignus videretur, nee cessavit
ex eo criminari alterum alteri atque inter se omnis
committere

Cum placuisset Palatinis ludis spectaculo egressum
meridie adgredi, })rimas sibi partes Cassius Chaerea
tribunus cohortis praetoriae depoposcit, quem Gaius
seniorem iam et mollem et effeminatum denotare
omni probro consuerat et modo signum petenti
^^ Priapum " aut '^^ Venerem " dare, modo ex aliqua
causa agenti gratias osculandam manum offerre
formatam commotamque in obscaenum modum.

LVII. Futurae caedis multa prodigia exstiterunt.
Olympiae simulacrum lovis, quod dissolvi transf errique
Romam placuerat, tantum cachinnum repente edidit,
ut machinis labefactis opifices difFugerint ; supervenit-
que ilico quidam Cassius nomine, iussum se somnio
affirmans immolare taurum lovi. Capitolium Capuae
Id. Mart, de caelo tactum est, item Romae cella
Palatini atriensis. Nee defuerunt qui coniectarent
altero ostento periculum a custodibus domino

^ Of. Anr/, xlv. 4.
490

GAIUS CALIGULA

common cause and succeeded, with the connivance of
his most influential freedmen and the officers of the
praetorian guard ; for although the charge that these
last were privy to one of the former cons[)iracies was
false, they realised that Caligula hated and feared
them. In fact, he exposed them to great odium by
at once taking them aside and declaring, drawn
sword in hand, that he would kill himself, if they too
thought he deserved death ; and from that time on
he never ceased accusing them one to the other and
setting them all at odds.

When they had decided to attempt his life at the
exhibition of the Palatine games, as he went out at
noon, Cassius Chaerea, tribune of a cohort of the
praetorian guard, claimed for himself the principal
part ; for Gains used to taunt him, a man already well
on in years, with voluptuousness and effeminacy by
every form of insult. When he asked for the watch-
word Gaius would give him "Priapus" or " V'^enus,"
and when Chaerea had occasion to thank him for
anything, he would hold out his hand to kiss, form-
ing and moving it in an obscene fashion.^

LVII. His approaching murder was foretold by
many prodigies. The statue of Jupiter at Olympia,
which he had ordered to be taken to pieces and moved
to Rome, suddenly uttered such a peal of laughter that
the scaffoldings collapsed and the workmen took to
their heels ; and at once a man called Cassius turned
up, who declared that he had been bidden in a dream
to sacrifice a bull to Jupiter. The Capitol at Capua
was struck by lightning on the Ides of March, and v^^, ifc
also the room of the doorkeeper of the Palace
at Rome. Some inferred from the latter omen that
danger was threatened to the owner at the hands of

491

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

portendi, altero caedem rursus insignem, qualis
eodem die facta quondam fiiisset. Consul enti qiioque
de genitura sua Sulla mathematicus certissimani
neceni apj)r()pinquare affirmavit. Monuerunt et
Fortunae Antiatinae, ut a Cassio caveret ; qua causa
ille Cassiuni Longinum Asiae turn })roconsuleni
occidendum delegaverat, inmemor Chaeream Cassium
nominari. Pridie quani periret, somniavit consistere
se in caelo iuxta solium lovis impulsumque ab eo
dextri pedis poll ice et in terras praecipitatum,
Prodigiorum loco habita sunt etiam, quae forte illo
ipso die paulo })rius acciderant. Sacrificans respersus
est phoenicopteri sanguine ; et j)antomimus Mnester
tragoediam saltavit, quam olim Neoptolemus tragoe-
dus ludis, quibus rex Macedonum Philipjnis occisus
est, egerat ; et cum in Laureolo mimo, in quo actor ^
proripiens se ruina sanguinem vomit, plures secun-
darum certatim experimentum artis darent, cruore
scaena abundavit. Parabatur et in noctem s})ecta-
culum, quo argumenta inferorum })er Aegyptios et
Aetliiopas explicarentur.

LV^III. Vlin. Kal. Febr. hora fere septima cunc-
tatus an ad prandium surgeret marcente adhuc
stomacho j^ridiani cibi onere, tandem suadentibus
amicis egressus est. Cum in crypta, per quam trans -

^ aiictor, ^ ; actor, CI.

" Referring of course to the assassination of Julius Caesar.

'' See chap. xxii. 8.

^ It was called Cinyras, and its story is told by Ovid,
Mttani. 10. 298 fF.

'^ Its name was derived from a famous highwayman ; cf.
Juv. 8. 186.

* The actors see nndarum partium entertained the spectators
after a play b}' imitating the actions of the star.

492

GAIUS CALIGULA

his guards ; and from the former, the murder of a
second distinguished personage, such as had taken
place long before on that same day.* The sooth-
sayer Sulla too, when Gaius consulted him about his
horoscope, declared that inevitable death was close
at hand. The lots of Fortune at Antium warned
him to beware of Cassius, and he accordingly ordered
the death of Cassius Longinus, who was at the time
proconsul of Asia, forgetting that the family name
of Chaerea was Cassius. The day before he was
killed he dreamt that he stood in heaven beside the
throne of Jupiter and that the god struck him with
the toe of his right foot and hurled him to earth.
Some things which had happened on that very day
shortly before he was killed were also regarded as
portents. As he was sacrificing, he was sprinkled
with the blood of a flamingo,^ and the pantomimic
actor Mnester danced a tragedy * which the tragedian
Neoptolemus had acted years before during the
games at which Philip king of the Macedonians was
assassinated. In a farce called " Laureolus," ^ in
which the chief actor falls as he is making his escape
and vomits blood, several understudies* so vied with
one another in giving evidence of their proficiency
that the stage swam in blood. A nocturnal perform-
ance besides was rehearsing, in which scenes from
the lower world were represented by Egyptians and
Aethiopians.

LVIII. On the ninth day before the Kalends of Jan. 21,
February at about the seventh hour he hesitated *^ ^*^-
whether or not to get up for luncheon, since his
stomach was still disordered from excess of food
on the day before, but at length he came out at tlic
persuasion of his friends. In the covered passage

493

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

eundum erat, pueri nobiles ex Asia ad edendas in
scaena operas evocati praepararentur^ ut eos inspiceret
hortareturque restitit, ac nisi princeps gregis algere
se diceret, redire ac repraesentare spectaculum voluit.
Duplex dehinc fama est : alii tradunt adloquenti
pueros a tergo Chaeream cervicem gladio caesim
graviter percussisse praemissa voce : ^^ Hoe age ! "
dehinc Cornelium Sabinum, alterum e coniuratis,
tribunum ex adverso traiecisse pectus ; alii Sabinum
summota per conscios centuriones turba signum more
militiae petisse et Gaio " lovem " dante Chaereain
exclamasse: ^^Accipe ratum!" respicientique maxillam
ictu discidisse. lacentem contractisque membris
clamitantem se vivere ceteri vulneribus triginta
confecerunt ; nam signum erat omnium : ^^ Repete ! "
Quidam etiam per obscaena fernim adegerunt. Ad
primum tumultum lecticarii cum asseribus in auxilium
accucurrerunt, mox Germani corporis custodes, ac non-
null os ex percussoribus, quosdam etiam senatores in-
noxios interemerunt.

LIX. Vixit annis viginti novem, imperavit triennio
et decem mensibus diebusque octo.^ Cadaver eius
clam in hortos Lamianos asportatum et tumultuario
rogo semiambustum levi caespite obrutum est, postea
per sorores ab exsilio reversas erutum et crematum

^ viii, XT ; vii, O.

<» Part of the ritual at a sacrifice. The slayer raised his
axe with the question " Agone? *' " Shall I do the deed (i.e.,
strike) ? " To which the priest replied '* Hoc age.'' Cf. Galba,
XX, 1, ut hoc agerent ac ferirent, Chaerea addressed himself.

^ xinother formula " Receive the fulfilment of your omen ",
i.e., in naming Jupiter, the god of the thunderbolt and sudden
death. " Qui legendum vidit iratum, verum vidit : hoc est
aliquid Latine dicere, cum alterum nihil sit," Gronovius.

'^ With which they carried his litter.

494

GAIUS CALIGULA

through which he had to pass, some boys of good
birth, who had been summoned from Asia to appear
on the stage, were rehearsing their parts, and he
stopped to watch and encourage them ; and had not
the leader of the troop complained that he had a chill,
he would have returned and had the performance
given at once. From this point there are two
versions of the story : some say that as he was talk-
ing with the boys, Chaerea came up behind, and
gave him a deep cut in the neck, having first
cried, " Take that," and that then the tribune
Cornelius Sabinus, who was the other conspirator
and faced Gains, stabbed him in the breast.
Others say that Sabinus, after getting rid of the
crowd through centurions who were in the plot,
asked for the watchword, as soldiers do, and that
when Gains gave him " Jupiter," he cried ^^ So be
it," ^ and as Gains looked around, he split his jawbone
with a blow of his sword. As he lay upon the
ground and with writhing limbs called out that he
still lived, the others dispatched him with thirty
wounds ; for the general signal was ^^ Strike again."
Some even thrust their swords through his privates.
At the beginning of the disturbance his bearers ran
to his aid with their poles,*' and presently the
Germans of his body-guard, and they slew several of
his assassins, as well as some inoffensive senators.

LIX. He lived twenty-nine years and ruled three
years, ten months and eight days. His body was
conveyed secretly to the gardens of the Lamian
family, where it was partly consumed on a hastily
erected pyre and buried beneath a light covering
of turf ; later his sisters on their return from
exile dug it up, cremated it, and consigned it to

495

THE LIVES OF THE CAESARS, BOOK IV

sepultumque. Satis constat, prius quam id fieret,
hortoriim custodes iimbris inquietatos ; in ea quoque
donio, in qua occubuerit, nuUani noctem sine aliquo
terrore transactam, donee ipsa domus incendio con-
sumpta sit. Perit una et uxor Caesonia gladio a
centurione confossa et filia parieti inlisa.

LX. Condicionem temporum illorum etiani per
liaec aestimare quivis possit. Nam neque caede
vulgata statim creditum est, fuitque suspicio ab ipso
Gaio famam caedis siniulatani et emissam, ut eo pacto
hominuni erga se mentes deprelienderet ; neque
coniurati cuiquam imperium destinaverunt ; et senatus
in asserenda libertate adeo consensit, ut consules
primo non in curiam, quia lulia vocabatur, sed in
Capitolium convocarent, quidam vero sententiae loco
abolendam Caesarum memoriam ac diruenda templa
censuerint. Observatum autem notatumque est in
})rimis Caesares omnes, quibus Gai praenomen fuerit,
ferro perisse, iam inde ab eo, qui Cinnanis temporibus
sit occisus.

" Gains Julius Caesar Strabo, slain in 87 B.C. But the
Dictators father died a natural death, as did also Gaius
Caesar, grandson of Augustus ; see Aug. Ixv. 1.

496

GAIUS CALIGULA

the tomb. Before tliis was done^ it is well known
that the caretakers of the gardens were disturbed by
ghosts^ and that in the house where he was slain not
a night passed without some fearsome apparition,
until -it last the house itself was destroyed by tire.
With him died his wife Caesonia, stabbed with
a sword by a centurion, while his daughter's brains
were dashed out against a wall.

LX. One may form an idea of the state of those
times by what followed. Not even after the murder
was made known was it at once believed that he was
dead, but it was suspected that Gaius himself had
made up and circulated the report, to find out by
that means how men felt toAvards him. The con-
spirators too had not agreed on a successor, and the
senate was so unanimously in favour of re-establish-
ing the republic that the consuls called the first
meeting, not in the senate house, because it had the
name Julia, but in the Capitol ; while some in ex-
pressing their views proposed that the memory of
the Caesars be done away with and their temples
destroyed. Men further observed and commented on
the fact that all the Caesars whose forename was
Gaius perished by the svv^ord, beginning with the
one who was slain in the times of Cinna.®

497

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Demosthenes I.: Olynthiacs, Philippics and Minor Ora-
tions. I.-XVII. AND XX. J. H. Vince.

Demosthenes II.: De Corona and De Falsa Legatione.
C. A. Vince and J. H. Vince.

Demosthenes III.: Meidias, Androtion, Aristocrates,
Timocrates and Aristogeiton, I. and II. J. H. Vince.

Demosthenes IV.-VI. : Private Orations and In Neaeram.
A. T. Murray.

Demosthenes VII : Funeral Speech, Erotic Essay, Exordia
and Letters. N. W. and N. J. DeWitt.

Dio Cassius : Roman History. E. Cary. 9 Vols.

Dio Chrysostom. J. W. Cohoon and H. Lamar Crosby. 5 Vols.

DiODORUS SicuLus. 12 Vols. Vols. I.-VI. C. H. Oldfather.
Vol. VII. C. L. Sherman. Vol. VIII. C. B. Welles. Vols.
IX. and X. R. M. Geer. Vol. XI. F. Walton. Vol. XII.
F. Walton. General Index. R. M. Geer.

Diogenes Laertius. R. D. Hicks. 2 Vols. New Introduc-
tion by H. S. Long.

DiONYsius OF Halicarnassus : Roman Antiquities. Spel-
man's translation revised by E. Cary. 7 Vols.

DiONYsius OF Halicarnassus: Critical Essays. S. Usher.
2 Vols.

Epictetus. W. a. Oldfather. 2 Vols.

Euripides. A. S. Way. 4 Vols. Verse trans.

EusEBius: Ecclesiastical History. Kirsopp Lake and
J. E. L. Oulton. 2 Vols.

5

Galen: On the Natural Faculties. A. J. Brock.
The Gbeek Anthology. W. R. Paton. 5 Vols.

Greek Elegy and Iambus with the Anacreontea. J. M.

Edmonds. 2 Vols.
The Greek Bucolic Poets (Theocritus, Bion, Moschus).

J. M. Edmonds.
Greek Mathematical Works. Ivor Thomas. 2 Vols.
Herodes. Cf. Theophrastus : Characters.
Herodian. C. R. Whittaker. 2 Vols.
Herodotus. A. D. Godley. 4 Vols.
Hesiod and The Homeric Hymns. H. G. Evelyn White.

Hippocrates and the Fragments of Heracleitus. W. H. S.

Jones and E. T. Withington. 4 Vols.
Homer: Iliad. A. T. Murray. 2 Vols.
Homer: Odyssey. A. T. Murray. 2 Vols.
IsAEUS. E. W\ Forster.

IsocRATES. George Norlin and LaRue Van Hook. 3 Vols.
[St. John Damascene]: Barlaam and Ioasaph. Rev. G. R.

Woodward, Harold Mattingly and D. M. Lang.

JosEPHUS. 9 Vols. Vols. I.-IV. H. Thackeray. Vol. V.

H. Thackeray and R. Marcus. Vols. VI.-VII. R. Marcus.

Vol. VIII. R. Marcus and Allen Wikgren. Vol. IX. L. H.

Feldman.
Julian. Wilmer Cave Wright. 3 Vols.
LiBANius. A. F. Norman. Vols. I.-II.
LuciAN. 8 Vols. Vols. I.-V. A. M. Harmon. Vol. VI. K.

Kilburn. Vols. VII.-VIII. M. D. Macleod.
Lycophron. Cf. Callimachus.
Lyra Graeca. J. M. Edmonds. 3 Vols.
Lysias. W. R. M. Lamb.
Manetho. W. G. Waddell: Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos. F. E.

Robbins.
Marcus Aurelius. C. R. Haines.
Menander. F. G. Allison.
Minor Attic Orators (Antiphon, Andocides, Lycurgus,

Demades, Dinarchus, Hyperides). K. J. Maidment and

J. O. Burtt. 2 Vols.
MusAEus: Heor and Leander. Cf. Callimachus.
Nonnos: Dionysiaca. W. H. D. Rouse. 3 Vols.
Oppian, Colluthus, Tryphiodorus. a. W. Mair.

Papyri. Non-Literary Selections. A. S. Hunt and C. C.
Edgar. 2 Vols. Literary Selections (Poetry). D.L.Page.

Parthenius. Cf. Daphnis and Chloe.

Pausanias: Description of Greece. W. H. S. Jones. 4
Vols, and Companion Vol. arranged by R. E. Wycherley.

Philo. 10 Vols. Vols. I.-V. F. H. Colson and Rev. G. H.

Whitaker. Vols. VI.-IX. F. H. Colson. Vol. X. F. H.

Colson and the Rev. J. W. Earp.
Philo : two supplementary Vols. {Translation only.) Ralph

Marcus.
Philostratus : The Life of Apollonius of Tyana. F. C.

Conybeare. 2 Vols.
Philostratus: Imagines; Callistratus : Descriptions. A.

Fairbanks.
Philostratus and Eunapius: Lives of the Sophists. Wil-

mer Cave Wright.
Pindar. Sir J. E. Sandys.
Plato: Charmides, Alcibiades, Hipparchus, The Lovers,

Theages, Minos and Epinomis. W. R. M. Lamb.
Plato: Cratylus, Parmenides, Greater Hippias, Lesser

HippiAS. H. N. Fowler.
Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Phaedrus,

H. N. Fowler.
Plato : Laches, Protagoras, Meno, Euthydemus. W. R. M.

Lamb.
Plato: Laws. Rev. R. G. Bury. 2 Vols.
Plato: Lysis, Symposium, Gorgias. W. R. M. Lamb.
Plato : Republic. Paul Shorey. 2 Vols.
Plato: Statesman, Philebus. H. N. Fowler; Ion. W. R. M.

Lamb.
Plato : Theaetetus and Sophist. H. N. Fowler.
Plato : Timaeus, Critias, Clitopho, Menexenus, Epistulae.

Rev. R. G. Bury.
Plotinus: a. H. Armstrong. Vols. I.-III.
Plutarch: Moralia. 17 Vols. Vols. I.-V. F. C. Babbitt.

Vol. VI. W. C. Helmbold. Vols. VII. and XIV. P. H. De

Lacy and B. Einarson. Vol. VIII. P. A. Clement and H. B.

Hoffleit. Vol. IX. E. L. Minar, Jr., F. H. Sandbach, W. C.

Helmbold. Vol. X. H. N. Fowler. Vol. XI. L. Pearson

and F. H. Sandbach. Vol. XII. H. Cherniss and W. C.

Helmbold. Vol. XIII 1-2. H. Cherniss. Vol. XV. F. H.

Sandbach.
Plutarch: The Parallel Lives. B. Perrin. 11 Vols.
PoLYBius. W. R. Paton. 6 Vols.

Procopius: History of the Wars. H. B. Dewing. 7 Vols.
Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos. Cf. Manetho.
QuiNTUS Smyrnaeus. a. S. Way. Verse trans.
Sextus Empiricus. Rev. R. G. Bury. 4 Vols.
Sophocles. F. Storr. 2 Vols. Verse trans.
Strabo : Geography. Horace L. Jones. 8 Vols.
Theophrastus : Characters. J. M. Edmonds. Herodes,

etc. A. D. Knox.

7

Theophrastus : Enquiry into Plants. Sir Arthur Hort,
Bart. 2 Vols.

Theophrastus: De Causis Plantarum. G. K. K. Link and
B. Einarson. 3 Vols. Vol. I.

Thucydides. C. F. Smith. 4 Vols.

Tryphiodorus. Cf. Oppian.

Xenophon : Cyropaedia. Walter Miller. 2 Vols.

Xenophon : Hellencia. C. L. Brownson. 2 Vols.

Xenophon: Anabasis. C. L. Brownson.

Xenophon : Memorabilia and Oeconomicus. E. C. Marchant.
Symposium and Apology. O. J. Todd.

Xenophon: Scripta Minora. E. C. Marchant. Constitu-
tion OF THE ATHENIANS (Athenians.) G. W. Bowersock

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