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HANDBOUND 
AT  THE 


UNIVERSITY  OF 
TORONTO  PRESS 


I 


THE   ANNALS   OF   TACITUS 


i  1 1  ofoflin  » 

•BE3r 

ANNALS  OF  TACITUS 
(BOOKS  i.— vi. 

AN    ENGLISH    TRANSLATION 

WITH   INTRODUCTION,  NOTES  AND  MAPS 

BY  GEORGE   GILBERT   RAMSAY 

M.A.,    L1TT.D.,    LL.D.,    PROFESSOR    OF    HUMANITY    IN    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    GLASGOW 

EDITOR  OF  *  SELECTIONS  FROM  TIBULLUS  AND  PROPERTIUS/  'LATIN  PROSE  COMPOSITION,' 
'LATIN  VERSIONS,'  ETC. 


S^uis  illo  <verius  narrat  aut  brevius  ?  S^uis  narrando 
magis  docet  ?  In  moribus,  quid  est  quod  non  tangat  ? 
in  afffctibus,  quod  non  rc<velet  ? 

J.  LIPSIUS. 


LONDON 

JOHN   MURRAY,  ALBEMARLE  STREET 
1904 


DG 

207 


V.I 
cop, 


TO   MY  WIFE 


PREFACE. 


I  HAVE  attempted  in  this  volume  an  ambitious,  many 
will  think  a  hopeless,  task :  to  give  a  version  of  the 
first  six  books  of  the  Annals  which  shall  be  close 
and  faithful  to  the  original,  and  yet  shall  not  read  as 
a  translation ;  which  shall  satisfy  the  strict  demands 
of  modern  scholarship,  and  yet  give  to  the  English 
reader  some  idea  of  the  power,  the  dignity,  the  great- 
ness, of  the  great  historian  of  Rome. 

The  addition  of  notes  was  indispensable  to  enable 
the  English  reader  to  understand  and  enjoy  the  text. 
Tacitus  wrote  for  a  circle  familiar  with  every  detail  of 
Roman  history,  life  and  manners,  and  there  is  hardly 
a  chapter  which  does  not  contain  historical  or  other 
matter  which  needs  explanation.  The  notes,  it  is 
hoped,  will  make  it  unnecessary  for  the  reader  to 
consult  ordinary  books  of  reference,  as  well  as  help 
the  student  to  become  acquainted  with  the  results  of 
recent  historical  research  on  the  various  points  of 
constitutional  law  and  usage  for  which  Tacitus  is  so 
important  an  authority.  For  this  purpose  I  have 
made  frequent  reference  to  the  great  German  works 
of  Mommsen,  Marquardt,  Friedlaender,  and  others, 
as  well  as  to  the  writings  of  Professor  Pelham,  Mr. 
Rushforth,  Mr.  Greenidge,  and  other  labourers  of  our 
own  in  the  same  field. 


viii  PREFACE. 

I  have  also  put  into  the  notes  what  I  have  to  say 
upon  the  larger  historical  questions  which  present 
themselves  in  these  books,  and  particularly  those 
connected  with  the  character  and  government  of 
Tiberius  and  the  qualities  of  Tacitus  as  an  historian. 
In  the  case  of  a  character  so  complex,  so  full  of 
contradictions,  as  that  of  Tiberius,  and  of  a  writer  so 
careful  as  to  his  main  facts,  but  so  often  warped  in 
his  comments  upon  them,  as  Tacitus,  I  have  thought 
that  it  would  be  more  helpful  to  discuss  these  ques- 
tions in  connection  with  the  particular  passages  on 
which  our  judgment  must  be  founded,  with  the  aid 
of  such  light  as  external  evidence  can  supply,  than  to 
begin  by  summing  up  the  whole  case  in  a  general 
introduction. 

In  preparing  the  translation,  I  have  had  constantly 
in  my  hands  the  admirable  edition  of  Mr.  Furneaux. 
I  have  taken  it  as  my  guide  throughout,  though  not 
always  agreeing  with  his  interpretations.  Nor  can 
I  admit  the  possibility  of  many  of  the  alternative 
renderings  of  passages  which  are  suggested  both  by 
him  and  by  other  commentators.  Tacitus  has  often 
been  called  obscure;  but  in  my  opinion,  a  scholar 
who  has  studied  his  style  will  very  seldom  feel 
serious  doubts  as  to  the  way  in  which  a  passage 
should  be  taken.  I  have  also  frequently  consulted 
the  editions  of  Orelli,  Ruperti,  Nipperdey,  and  other 
well-known  editors ;  I  have  made  use  of  P.  Fabia's 
excellent  "  Onomasticon  Taciteum  "  (Paris  and  Lyons, 
1900);  and  the  help  afforded  by  the  "  Lexicon  Taci- 
teum "  of  Gerber  and  Greer,  now  at  length  completed, 
has  been  invaluable. 

The  text  followed  has  been  in  almost  all  cases 
that  of  Halm,  which  was  that  adopted,  with  few 


PREFACE.  ix 

exceptions,  by  Mr.  Furneaux.  Variations  from  that 
text  have  been  mentioned  in  the  notes.  I  have  care- 
fully examined  the  famous  Medicean  MS.  No.  I.  (our 
sole  authority  for  Annals  I.— VI.)  in  regard  to  all 
difficult  or  doubtful  readings,  and  have  satisfied  myself 
of  the  extreme  accuracy  of  Halm's  recension. 

I  owe  much  to  the  help  and  encouragement 
of  many  kind  friends.  Mr.  Furneaux  expressed  to 
me  the  opinion  that  the  time  had  come  for  a  fresh 
translation,  and  warmly  encouraged  me  to  under- 
take the  work.  Dr.  J.  G.  Frazer,  Mr.  A.  O.  Prickard, 
Mr.  E.  D.  A.  Morshead,  and  Professor  Harrower, 
each  looked  over  some  portion  of  the  translation  in 
manuscript,  and  gave  me  valuable  suggestions.  The 
Ven.  Archdeacon  Aglen  has  most  kindly  read  over 
the  whole  of  the  proof  sheets,  and  enabled  me  to 
remove  many  blemishes.  But  my  greatest  debt  of 
all  is  to  the  acute  word-by-word  criticism  of  one 
whose  fine  sense  of  what  is  pure  and  perspicuous 
in  English  recalls  the  well-known  passage  in  which 
Cicero  speaks  of  the  beautiful  simple  Latin  which 
he  had  heard  spoken  in  his  youth  by  the  cultivated 
ladies  of  the  time. 

G.   G.   RAMSAY. 


THE  UNIVERSITY,  GLASGOW, 
December  i,  1903. 


/ 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION   ...          ...          ...  ...  ...  xv-lxxx 

FAMILY  STEM  OF  THE  CESARS    ...  ...  ...  facing  i 

ANNALS,  BOOK  I.            ...           ...  ...  ...  ...        i 

„        BOOK  II.          ...           ...  ...  ...  ...    100 

„        BOOK  III.         ...           ...  ...  ...  ...    184 

BOOK  IV.          ...  ...    259 

„        BOOK  V.,  CHAPTERS  1-5  ...  ...  ...    338 

„        SUPPLEMENT  TO  BOOK  V.  ...  ...  ...    344 

„        BOOK  V.,  CHAPTERS  6-11  ...  ...  ...    354 

BOOK  VI.  ...    359 

„         MAPS   ...            ...            ...  ...  ...  after  424 

„        INDEX...           ...           ...  ...  ...  ...    425 


\ 


LIST   OF   MAPS. 

ITALIA                after  424 

THE   ROMAN    EMPIRE  (WESTERN    HALF)...  „     424 

THE   ROMAN    EMPIRE   (EASTERN    HALF)    ...  „     424 


FOUR    PORTRAITS       ...  ...  ...  ...      Frontispiece 


INTRODUCTION. 


TACITUS  AND    HIS  TRANSLATORS. 

M.  BUREAU  DE  LA  MALLE,  the  most  famous  of  the 
French  translators  of  Tacitus,  tells  us  that  many 
capable  critics  and  distinguished  writers  among  his 
countrymen  had  regarded  the  production  of  a  really 
good  translation  of  Tacitus  as  'uneoeuvre  impossible.' 
Our  own  scholarly  translators,  Messrs.  Church  and 
Brodribb,  in  their  preface  to  the  Histories  (1864) 
write :  '  It  has  been  said  that  Tacitus  never  has  been 
translated,  and  probably  never  will  be.'  With  that 
opinion,  so  far  as  it  concerns  English  translations, 
they  pronounce  their  agreement :  '  They  are  all  very 
unsatisfactory ;  .  .  .  the  best  of  them,  that  of  Murphy, 
is  in  no  sense  a  translation.'  Our  own  great  authority 
on  Tacitus,  the  late  Mr.  Furneaux,  expressed  to  me 
the  same  view :  '  You  will  find  but  little  help,'  he 
wrote,  '  from  earlier  translators.  Wherever  there  is 
a  difficulty,  they  evade  it.' 

The  two  latter  judgments  doubtless  were  pro- 
nounced rather  from  the  scholar's  point  of  view  ; 
that  quoted  by  M.  de  la  Malle  from  the  point  of  view 
of  style.  But  I  can  quote  an  opinion  of  a  different 
kind,  which  was  remarkable  as  coming  from  an  acute 
critic  and  man  of  the  world,  interested  in  literature, 
though  not  a  classical  scholar  in  the  special  sense  of 


xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

the  term.  The  late  Lord  Blackburn  was  a  great  reader, 
of  the  classics  as  well  as  of  other  literature  ;  but  being 
a  busy  man,  he  read  his  classics  through  the  medium 
of  translations.  Studying  them  in  that  way,  he  said, 
he  had  been  able  to  recognise  and  appreciate  the 
greatness  of  all  the  great  authors  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
with  the  single  exception  of  Tacitus.  He  had  read  all 
the  versions  of  the  works  of  Tacitus  on  which  he 
could  lay  his  hands ;  but  not  one  of  them  had  helped 
him  to  understand  the  secret  of  his  prodigious  re- 
putation, or  even  to  comprehend  why  he  should  be 
regarded  as  a  great  writer  at  all. 

As  a  lover  of  Tacitus,  I  was  greatly  struck  by  this 
remark.  That  a  classical  scholar  like  M.  Furneaux, 
steeped  in  the  peculiarities  of  Tacitean  idiom,  should 
pronounce  existing  translations  of  Tacitus  inadequate, 
was  only  to  be  expected  ;  but  that  a  cultivated  English 
reader  could  find  none  capable  of  making  him  feel  that 
Tacitus  is  a  great  writer — this  criticism,  if  just,  conveys 
a  condemnation  far  more  sweeping  and  fundamental 
than  the  criticisms  that  '  all  existing  translations  are 
unsatisfactory '  in  point  of  correctness,  or  that  a  really 
adequate  translation  of  Tacitus,  from  a  literary  point 
of  view,  is  '  une  ceuvre  impossible.'  It  implies  that 
the  ideas  of  Tacitus  as  well  as  his  language,  his  matter 
as  well  as  his  manner,  are  inaccessible  to  the  English 
reader. 

To  classical  students,  the  merits  of  Tacitus,  as  a 
narrator,  as  a  moralist,  and  as  a  stylist,  are  obvious 
and  commanding.  He  has  been  regarded  by  many 
as  a  perfect  literary  artist.  Racine  has  pronounced 
him  '  le  plus  grand  peintre  de  1'antiquite.'  M.  Nisard 
says  of  him :  <  Le  plus  pres  de  1'ideal  de  1'histoire, 
telle  que  nous  la  concevons,  avec  la  forte  culture 


GENERAL    ENTHUSIASM    FOR   TACITUS.       X  vii 

moderne,  est  Tacite.'1  Competent  judges  have 
classed  him  as  one  of  the  four,  possibly  one  of  the 
three,  great  historians  of  the  world.  Can  it  be  the 
case  that  his  great  qualities  are  as  a  sealed  book  to 
all  who  cannot  read  him  in  the  original  ? 

If  Tacitus  has  never  been  adequately  translated, 
it  has  certainly  not  been  from  the  want  of  scholars  to 
attempt  the  work,  or  of  a  public  to  appreciate  their 
efforts.     Few  ancient  authors  have  been  translated  so 
frequently,  and  into  so  many  languages,  as  Tacitus  ; 
few,  if  any,  have  exercised  so  great  a  fascination  over 
men   of  letters,   philosophers   and   statesmen ;    none 
have  been  appealed  to  more  confidently  in  times  of 
acute  political  disturbance.     From  the  moment  when 
his  works  were  rescued  from  oblivion,  they  excited 
the  admiration  of  all  votaries  of  the  new  learning. 
Men  of  letters  were  charmed  by  the  originality  and 
splendour  of  their  style,  philosophers  and  moralists 
by  the  profound  knowledge  of  human  nature  which 
they  display  ;  statesmen  and  politicians  admired  their 
high  imperial  tone,  the  grandeur  of  their  moral  ideas, 
and   their  note    of   aristocratic    disdain.     Even    the 
vulgar  could  relish  an  historian  who  lashed  the  vices 
of  the  great,  and  endure  a  philosopher  whose  philo- 
sophy was  so  curiously  tempered  by  superstition.2 
Wherever  men  groaned   under  the  heel  of  despots, 
great  or  small,  they  were  captivated  by  the  pure  air 
of  liberty  breathed  by  Tacitus,  and  by  his  merciless 
portraiture  of  tyrants. 

'  Des  qu'il  a  peint  les  tyrans,'  says  an  enthusiastic 
admirer,  '  ils  sont  punis.  .  .  .  Tacite  apprit  alors  aux 
souverains  du  monde  qu'il  y  avait  au  dessus  d'eux  un 

>  '  Les  Quatre  grands  Historiens  '  »  See  nn.  on  Ann.  ii.  69,  5 ;  iv.  ao,  5  : 

(C.  L6vy,  1884).  58,  4 ;  vi.  22,  5 :  28,  8. 

b 


xviii  INTRODUCTION. 

pouvoir  qui  les  jugeait,  qui  les  representerait  a  la 
posterite  avec  tous  leurs  vices  a  nu  :  et  que  ce  pouvoir 
etait  1'histoire.'1 

At  the  time  when  the  works  of  Tacitus  were  dis- 
covered, the  grandeur  of  Imperial  Rome  had  still 
a  potent  influence  over  men's  minds.  The  dream  of 
universal  dominion,  the  order  of  Roman  administra- 
tion, still  excited  the  imagination  of  statesmen  ;  in 
Tacitus  they  found  at  once  an  historian  and  a  critic 
of  that  Empire  at  her  zenith,  from  whom  they  could 
gather  countless  lessons  in  matters  of  government, 
statecraft,  and  public  conduct. 

To  all  classes  alike,  Tacitus  seemed  to  speak  as 
one  having  authority.     He  was  more  than  a  philo- 
sopher or  a  mere  man  of  letters.     By  birth  a  noble, 
he  had  moved  in  the  best  society  of  Rome,  had  lived 
on  intimate  terms  with  Emperors,  and  knew  all  the 
secrets  of  the  political  history  of  his  time.     As  an 
advocate  and  an  orator,  he  had  conducted  some  of  the 
great  state  trials   of  the  day ;  as   a  member  of  the 
Senate,  he  was  familiar  with  the  procedure,  the  pre- 
judices, the  impotence,  of  that  body  ;  he  had  witnessed 
and  taken  a  part — probably  a  moderate  and  discreet 
part,  like  that  which  he  so  commends  in  the  case  of 
Manius    Lepidus    (iv.    20,  4) — in  some  of  its  most 
intamous   acts  of  servility.     Having  climbed  up  the 
political    ladder,    and    filled    every    ordinary    office, 
whether  secular  or  sacred,  up  to  the  highest,  he  was 
familiar  with  all  the  details   of  Roman  government 
and  administration ;  having  been  in   turn  '  guerrier, 
avocat,  magistral,  juge,  financier,  pontife,' 2  there  was 
no  department  of  human  life  on  which  he  could  not 
speak  from  the  practical  standpoint  of  a  man  of  affairs, 

i  Panckoucke,  pref.  p.  7.  2  M.  de  la  Malle,  pref. 


TACITUS  THE  MOUTHPIECE  OF  EVERY  AGE.      XIX 

as  well  as  from  the  lofty  moral  pedestal  of  a  Stoic  and 
a  philosopher. 

It  was  little  wonder,  then,  that  amid  the  general 
burst  of  enthusiasm  which  greeted  the  recovery  of 
the  lost  treasures  of  antiquity  in  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries,  the  works  of  Tacitus  should  have 
been  welcomed  with  peculiar  fervour.  He  supplied 
texts  for  every  school  of  political  thought,  illustra- 
tions for  every  phase  of  human  character.  Every 
class,  every  people,  were  able  to  draw  from  him 
maxims  which  seemed  to  fit  their  own  case.  In  every 
country,  at  every  period,  under  every  variety  of 
political  and  social  condition,  men  found  in  Tacitus  a 
mouthpiece  for  the  ideas  and  the  feelings  of  their  time. 

One  writer  calls  him  '  le  prince  des  historiens ; ' 
M.  de  la  Malle  describes  him  as,  Tecrivain  le  plus 
parfait  de  1'antiquite ; '  and  an  earlier  translator, 
M.  Perrot  d'Ablancourt,  speaks  thus  of  him  in  his 
dedication  to  Cardinal  Richelieu  : — 

1 II  est  depuis  quinze  cent  ans  1'Oracle  de  la 
Politique ;  on  1'a  traduit  en  toute  langue  ;  il  est  en 
estime  chez  tous  les  peuples.  On  a  fait  des 
sentences  de  toutes  ses  lignes,  des  mysteres  de 
toutes  ses  paroles.  C'est  lui  qui  a  engendre  toute 
la  Politique  de  1'Espagne  et  d'ltalie ;  c  est  dans  ses 
doctes  escrits  qu'on  s'est  instruit  en  1'art  de  regner ; 
c'est  chez  luy  que  les  Princes  de  la  maison  d'Autriche 
consultent  encore  tous  les  jours  dans  la  necessite  de 
leurs  affaires.  .  .  .  C'est  votre  Eminence  qui  a  sceu 
mettre  en  usage  ces  grandes  maximes,  et  qui  laissant 
a  nos  ennemis  les  moins  genereux,  a  reuny  sous 
1'Empire  de  Louis  le  Juste  la  magnanimite"  de 
Francois  Premier  et  la  politique  de  Louis  Onzieme.' 

Henri  IV.  of  France  commanded  his  own  phy- 
sician, Rodolphe  le  Maistre,  to  undertake  a  transla- 
tion of  Tacitus,— 


xx  INTRODUCTION. 

'  s'etonnant  que  le  Tacite,  tant  estime  sur  tous  autres 
ecrivains,  n'eust  encore  rencontre  une  plume  francaise 
pour  le  rendre  plus  intelligible ;  veu  le  grand  bien 
qui  en  pouvait  reussir  aux  Rois,  aux  Princes,  aux 
chefs  d'armees,  aux  conseillers  d'Etat  en  temps  de 
guerre  et  de  paix  ; ' 

and  Le  Maistre,  in  his  preface,  pronounces  Tacitus  to 
be  '  le  seul  autheur  digne  des  roys  and  des  grands 
princes  pour  la  cognoissance  de  bien  gouverner  leurs 
Estats ; '  his  History  is  '  remplie  de  maximes  d'Estat 
qui  paroissent  autant  d'oracles  pour  I'instruction  des 
Rois.' 

M.  Achille  de  Harlay,  Sieur  de  Chanvallon,  Mar- 
quis de  Breval,  etc.,  tells  us  in  the  preface  to  his 
translation  (1644)  that  he  has  spent  the  best  years 
of  his  life  '  in  the  School  of  Tacitus/  whom  he 
regards  as  '  le  maistre  et  1'Oracle  universel  des  secrets 
de  1'art  de  gouverner  depuis  plus  de  quinze  cent  ans.' 
And  in  dedicating  his  translation  to  Anne  of  Austria, 
Queen  of  France,  he  demands  a  safe  conduct  for  his 
author,  because  'il  est  accoutume  d'entrer  dans  les 
Cabinets  des  Princes,  et  de  penetrer  bien  avant  dans 
le  secret  de  leur  conseils.  II  donne  des  preceptes  a 
tous  les  autres  souverains.'  M.  de  la  Mothe-Josseval 
d'Aronsel,  in  the  dedication  of  his  '  Discours  Poli- 
tiques  sur  Tacite'  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy  (1683), 
carries  this  idea  further  still, — 

'  Tacite,  savant  comme  il  est  dans  les  affaires 
d'Etat,  et  dans  les  intrigues  de  Cour,  sait  parfaite- 
ment  de  cjuoi  il  faut  entretenir  et  instruire  les 
Princes.  C'est  de  la  vie  de  son  Tibere  que  Louis 
Onzieme,  Roi  de  France,  aprit  a  dissimuler,  et,  par 
consequent,  a  regner.  C'est  lui  que  Louise  de 
Savoie  consulta  pour  sauver  la  France  apres  la 
prise  du  Roi  Francois,  son  fils,  a  la  Bataille  de 
Pavie.  C'est  lui  que  Filippe  II.,  Roi  d'Espagne 


A   TEACHER    FOR    KINGS    AND    STATESMEN.      XXI 

Votre  Trisaieul  maternel,  appelloit  a  toutes  ses  plus 
secretes  deliberations.  C'est  a  force  de  le  lire  et  de 
1'etudier  que  le  Serenissime  Due  Charles-Emmanuel 
I.,  Vdtre  Bisaleul,  devint  le  plus  grand  politique  de 
son  temps.' 

Language  similar  to  this  is  applied  to  Tacitus  in 
the  various  editions  and  translations  which  appeared 
in  such  number  throughout  Europe  during  the  six- 
teenth, seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centuries.  Every- 
where his  name  is  associated  with  those  of  rulers  and 
statesmen.  In  Germany,  Goldhagen  and  Patzke  dedi- 
cate their  translation  of  the  Annals  (1771),  to  King 
Frederick  the  Great,  in  terms  similar  to  those  which 
have  been  quoted  above ;  and  another  German  trans- 
lator, J.  S.  Mailer  (1765),  in  dedicating  his  work  to 
George  III.,  declares  that  Tacitus  is  a  teacher  to  all 
statesmen,  that  Augustus  and  Germanicus  are  a  model 
for  Kings,  and  that  His  Majesty  has  followed  the 
example  of  Augustus  in  spreading  peace,  happiness, 
and  good  government  over  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

So  too  in  England,  where,  until  recent  times, 
Tacitus  has  met  with  less  attention  than  on  the 
Continent.  In  1598,  Richard  Grenewey  dedicates  his 
translation  to  'the  Rt.  Hon.  Robert,  Earle  of  Essex 
and  Earle  Marshall  of  England;'  Thomas  Gordon 
(1728),  the  merciless  critic  of  previous  translators, 
seeks  a  patron  in  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  First  Com- 
missioner of  the  Treasury;  while  Murphy  (1793),  in 
presenting  his  work  to  the  Rt.  Hon.  E.  Burke,  asks — 

'  To  whom  can  Tacitus,  the  greatest  statesman  of 
his  time,  be  so  properly  addressed  as  to  him  whose 
writings  have  saved  the  country  ?  Scenes  of  horror, 
like  those  which  you  have  described,  were  enacted  at 
Rome,  and  Tacitus  has  painted  them  in  colours  equal 
to  your  own.' 


xxii  INTRODUCTION. 

Murphy's  dedication  brings  us  down  to  the  time 
of  the  French  Revolution,  and  we  may  be  sure  that 
the  French,  with  their  rare  capacity  for  reading  into 
their  own  times  the  lessons  of  the  past,  did  not  fail  to 
call  on  Tacitus  to  take  his  part  in  the  contests  of  those 
days.  In  the  reign  of  '  Le  Grand  Monarque,'  the 
great  tyrant-hater  was  comparatively  neglected.  His 
political  teaching  was  little  suited  to  the  atmosphere 
of  the  French  Court.  He  was  admired  mainly  for  his 
style ;  he  supplied  ideas  and  inspiration  to  Corneille, 
to  Bossuet,  and  to  Racine.  But  when  the  time  of  the 
philosophers  came  on,  and  the  ideas  of  the  Revolution 
were  in  the  air,  Tacitus  again  became  the  rage ;  his 
uncompromising  note  of  freedom,  his  Stoical  theory 
of  a  state  of  nature,  delighted  the  disciples  of-Jeao. 
[acques  Rousseau,  who  himself  published  a  version 
of  the  first  book  of  the  Annals,  in  1781. 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  M.  Bureau  de  la  Malle 
gave  his  translation  to  the  world  (1790).  His  preface 
is  a  reflection  of  the  political  sentiment  of  the  hour. 
It  breathes  the  same  heroic  spirit  of  self-renunciation 
which  inspired  the  famous  meetings  in  the  Tennis- 
Court  of  Versailles  in  1789;  it  recalls  the  constitu- 
tion-mongering  of  the  Abbe  Sieyes.  The  author 
frankly  recognizes  the  necessity  of  the  change  at 
Rome  from  Republic  to  Monarchy;  but  he  severely 
hectors  Augustus  for  his  method  of  bringing  it  about. 
Instead  of  employing  craft  and  evasion  when  he  came 
to  the  ordering  of  the  Empire,  Augustus  should  have 
taken  the  Senate  into  his  confidence.  He  should  have 
deplored,  in  a  spirit  of  bitter  contrition,  the  violence 
and  the  crimes  which  had  raised  him  to  power,  and 
have  explained,  by  a  survey  of  recent  history,  the 
necessity  for  establishing  a  strong  central  government. 


TACITUS  AND  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.      XX111 

He  should  then  have  produced  a  constitution,  com- 
plete in  all  its  parts,  for  the  future  government  of 
the  Empire.  This  constitution  having  been  read 
aloud  by  a  quaestor,  Augustus  himself  should  have 
explained  all  details,  answered  all  objections,  and 
finally,  in  a  moment  of  supreme  self-sacrifice,  he 
should  have  surrendered  his  power  into  the  hands 
of  the  Senate.  M.  de  la  Malle  puts  into  his  mouth 
a  speech  of  glowing  eloquence  suitable  to  such  an 
occasion,  ending  as  follows  : — 

'  Ah  !  sortons  au  plus  tot  de  cette  triste  preeminence 
qui  nous  prive  de  1'amitie  et  de  la  vente!  Que  je 
goute  la  douceur  de  vivre  avec  mes  egaux !  Et  vous, 
Senateurs,  songez  maintenant  a  cimenter,  par  les  liens 
d'une  constitution  durable,  la  liberte  des  citoyens,  et 
la  tranquillite  de  1'Etat.  Jamais  de  plus  grands  objets 
n'auront  ete  soumis  a  vos  deliberations.  Songez  que 
de  ce  jour  ya  dependre  le  destin  de  toute  la  terre  dans 
toute  la  suite  des  siecles ! ' 

Such  a  speech  as  this,  M.  de  la  Malle  assures  us, 
would  have  been  received  with  universal  acclamation. 
The  past  of  Augustus  would  have  been  forgotten  and 
forgiven,  all  power  would  have  been  put  back  into  his 
hands,  and  the  Empire,  established  henceforth  on  a 
legal  constitutional  basis,  would  have  been  spared  all 
the  agonies  to  which  it  was  subjected  by  the  fiction 
of  republican  freedom  on  which  it  was  founded. 

A  few  years  later,  the  name  of  Tacitus  is  heard 
once  more,  in  the  midst  of  the  horrors  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. Mr.  Gaston  Boissier1  has  supplied  us  with  two 
notable  instances  of  how  the  words  of  Tacitus  breathed 
again  and  burned  in  those  dark  days.  When  Madame 
Roland  was  a  prisoner  in  the  Sainte  Pelagie,  awaiting 
the  summons  to  the  scaffold,  and  within  ear-shot  of 

1  Tacite  (Hachette  et  Cie,  1903),  pp.  191-194. 


xxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

the  raging  mob  outside,  she  used  to  comfort  herself 
by  reading  Tacitus  : — 

'J'ai  pris  pour  Tacite,'  she  writes,  'une  sorte  de 
passion ;  je  le  relis  pour  la  quatrieme  fois  de  ma  vie, 
avec  un  gout  tout  nouveau.  Je  ne  puis  me  coucher 
sans  en  avoir  savoure  quelques  pages.' 

Still  more  remarkable  was  the  use  made  of  Tacitus 
by  Camille  Desmoulins  in  the  pages  of  the  'Vieux 
Cordelier.'  Not  daring  to  fulminate  openly  against  the 
excesses  of  the  revolutionary  tribunals,  he  found  in 
quotations  from  the  Annals  an  indirect  mode  of  de- 
nouncing the  reign  of  terror  and  suspicion  under 
which  Paris  was  groaning.  He  could  tell,  in  the 
words  of  Tacitus,  how  in  Rome,  under  Tiberius — 

'  men  kept  their  counsel  from  their  nearest  and  their 
dearest,  and  avoided  meeting  or  speaking  to  their 
neighbours ;  how  they  looked  with  suspicion  on  dumb 
and  lifeless  things,  on  the  very  walls  and  roofs  of 
houses ;  how  at  one  moment  they  would  desert  the 
streets  in  terror,  at  another  come  back  to  shew  them- 
selves, afraid  because  they  had  appeared  to  be  afraid.' 1 

Or  under  cover  of  recalling  the  cruelty  of  Tiberius, 
he  could  depict  the  still  more  bloodthirsty  atrocities 
of  a  Parisian  mob  : — 

'  There  lay  the  bodies,  huddled  together,  in  untold 
number ;  victims  of  both  sexes,  high  and  low,  of  every 
age,  singly  or  in  heaps ;  no  relative  or  friend  might 
stand  by,  or  shed  a  tear  over  them,  or  even  cast  a  look 
at  them  for  more  than  a  moment.  .  .  .  Terror  had  cut 
them  off  from  all  commerce  with  their  kind,  and 
cruelty,  waxed  wanton,  had  closed  the  door  of  pity  to 

Parallels  like  these  went  home.  They  were 
received  with  rapture  by  the  trembling  many,  they 
stung  to  fury  the  powers  of  the  day ;  and,  on  the 

1  Ann.  iv.  69,  6 ;  and  70,  4.  2  Ann.  vi.  19,  3-5. 


TACITUS   AND    NAPOLEON.  XXV 

motion  of  Robespierre  himself,  the  third  number 
of  the  '  Vieux  Cordelier'  was  burned,  like  the  history 
of  Cremutius  Cordus,1  in  the  Jacobin  clubs. 

But  Desmoulins  was  not  yet  to  be  silenced.  He 
went  on  quoting  Tacitus  ;  and  in  his  seventh  and  last 
number  he  demonstrated  that  the  inhumanity  of  a 
Tiberius  or  a  Nero  was  as  nothing  compared  to  that 
of  his  own  countrymen.  M.  Gaston  Boissier  thus 
describes  the  issue  : — 

'On  comprend  que  ces  protestations  eloquentes 
aient  souleve  la  fureur  des  Jacobins.  11  ne  leur  suffit 
plus  cette  fois  de  bruler  le  numero  (jui  les  contenait. 
lls  traduiserent  1'auteur  devant  le  Tribunal  revolu- 
tionaire,  qui  1'envoya  tout  de  suite  a  1'echafaud,  pour 
lui  apprendre  a  aller  chercher  dans  les  historiens 
anciens  des  lecons  de  justice  et  de  misericorde. 

'  Ce  jour-la,  Tacite,  seize  siecles  apres  sa  mort,  se 
trouva  realiser  1'idee  qu'il  nous  donne  de  1'histoire, 
quand  il  1'associe  a  la  morale,  et  veut  en  faire,  suivant 
ses  expressions,  la  conscience  de  I'humaniteV 

This  was  a  noble  testimony  to  Tacitus  ;  but  an  act 
of  homage  of  a  not  less  notable  kind  was  rendered  to 
him  by  Napoleon.  Early  in  1804  there  had  appeared 
at  Parma  a  handsome  volume  containing  a  translation 
of  Annals,  Book  I.,  by  Ludovico  Vittorio  Saviola,  with 
a  dedication:  'All'  invitto  Napoleone  Buonaparte, 
Primo  Consule  della  Republica  Francese,  e  Presidente 
della  Republica  Italiana.'  In  the  preface,  Napoleon 
is  described  as  '  massimo  negli  studj  di  guerra  come 
di  pace ; '  and  his  patronage  is  claimed  for  the 
great  champion  of  human  liberty  at  that  auspicious 
moment  when  the  nations  have  been  redeemed  from 
bondage.  Whether  moved  by  this  hint,  or  not, 
Napoleon  did  not  fail  to  study  his  Tacitus  ;  and  took 
an  early  opportunity  of  expressing  his  opinion  of 

1  Ann.  iv.  35,  5. 


xxvi  INTRODUCTION. 

him.  On  the  i8th  of  May,  1804,  the  First  Consul  of  the 
Republic  had  been  crowned  Emperor ;  on  the  5th  of 
December,  1805,  he  fought  the  battle  of  Austerlitz ;  and 
on  the  nth  of  January,  1806,  the  Institute  of  France 
conveyed  to  him  their  congratulations  in  terms  of  high 
compliment.  They  told  him  that  History,  as  well  as 
Literature,  would  record  his  triumphs;  adding  that 
'  Tlnstitut,  en  anticipant  sur  les  eloges  que  1'histoire 
vous  reserve,  est,  comme  elle,  1'organe  de  la  verite.' 

This  allusion  to  the  verdict  of  history  was  not 
acceptable.  In  his  reply,  Napoleon  fell  foul  of 
Tacitus,  and  suggested  to  the  aged  secretary  of  the 
Institute,  M.  Suard,  that  he  should  write  something 
to  correct  the  errors  and  false  judgments  of  the 
historian.  M.  Suard  is  said  to  have  replied  with 
dignity  that  the  '  fame  of  Tacitus  stood  too  high  for 
any  one  to  think  of  pulling  it  down.' 

But  Napoleon  was  in  earnest ;  his  dislike  of  Tacitus 
was  no  freak  of  the  moment.  So,  as  M.  Suard  proved 
refractory,  an  article  decrying  Tacitus,  'from  a  learned 
and  devoted  pen,'  appeared  in  the  Journal  des  Debats  of 
February  nth.  It  was  followed  by  a  second  article — 
possibly  aided  by  notes  from  the  Emperor  himself 
— on  the  2 1 st.  In  these  articles  the  claims  of  Tacitus 
to  admiration  are  called  in  question;  his  mysterious 
oracular  style  is  derided,  and  the  reasons  for  the 
imperial  displeasure  are  thus  disclosed  : — * 

'La  haine  des  tyrans  qui  semble  avoir  guide  la 
plume,  et  enflamme  le  genie,  de  Tacite,  etait  une 
recommendation  bien  forte  pour  lui  aupres  d'un  parti 
qui  ha'issait  essentiellement  1'autorite,  et  qui  ne 
pouvait  souffrir  le  frein  de  gouvernement.' 

That  the  great  Napoleon,  at  the  very  acme  of  his 
fortunes,  should  have  winced  under  the  lash  of 

1  M.  Panckoucke,  pref.,  pp.  63-70. 


EDITIO    PRINCEPS    OF    ANNALS    I.-VI.    XXV11 

Tacitus,  and  have  cherished  the  vain  hope  of  silencing 
him,  supplies  an  illustration  as  notable  as  any  that 
history  can  give  of  the  'oracular  sentence 'of  Ann. 
iv.  35,  6-7  :— 

'One  can  but  smile  at  the  dulness  of  those  who 
think  that  the  authority  of  to-day  can  extinguish  men's 
memories  to-morrow ;  nay  rather,  they  who  would 
penalize  genius  do  but  extend  its  power:  whether 
they  be  foreign  tyrants,  or  imitators  of  foreign 
tyranny,  they  do  but  reap  dishonour  for  themselves 
and  glory  for  their  victims ! ' 

The  first-discovered  portion  of  the  works  of 
Tacitus,  containing  all  that  we  possess  of  Annals 
xi.-xvi.  and  of  the  Histories,  was  received  in  1427  by 
Poggio  Bracciolini,  from  the  hands  of  his  travelling 
agent,  Nicola  Nicoli  of  Florence ;  but  the  famous 
Medicean  MS.  No.  i,  our  sole  authority  for  Annals 
i.-vi.,  was  not  brought  to  Rome  and  delivered  to 
Cardinal  Giovanni  de  Medici,  afterwards  Pope  Leo  X., 
till  the  year  1509. 

The  Editio  Princeps  of  Annals  i.-vi.  was  published 
in  1 5 1 5,  by  order  of  the  Pope  himself.  Leo  was  so  much 
struck  by  the  'gravity  of  the  historian,  and  the  beauty 
of  his  style,'  that  he  specially  committed  the  task  of 
editing  those  books  to  the  scholar  Philip  Beroaldus ; 
and,  lest  the  text  should  be  'spoilt  or  disfigured'  by 
the  incompetence  or  carelessness  of  unworthy  hands, 
he  granted  to  him  the  exclusive  right  of  publication  for 
a  period  of  ten  years,  threatening  all  who  should  dare 
to  print  any  other  edition  with  pains  of  excommuni- 
cation, in  addition  to  a  fine  and  confiscation  of  such 
printed  copies.  One  hardy  editor,  a  Professor  at 
Milan,  ventured  to  disobey  the  order.  He  was 
straightway  summoned  to  Rome  to  answer  for  his 
conduct;  and  though  he  failed  to  appear,  he  sent  a 


xxviii  INTRODUCTION. 

humble    apology,   pleaded    ignorance    of   the   papal 
prohibition,  and  was  graciously  forgiven. 

From  that  day  to  this,  a  continuous  stream  of 
editions,  translations,  commentaries,  '  reflexions  poli- 
tiques,'  and  other  treatises  on  Tacitus,  has  been 
poured  upon  the  world,  and  there  seems  little  likeli- 
hood that  the  flood  will  ever  cease.  The  Catalogue 
of  the  British  Museum  devotes  no  less  than  41 
columns  to  the  heading  '  Tacitus ; '  and  that  list  would 
seem  to  be  far  from  complete.  M.  Panckoucke,  writing 
in  the  year  1837,  gives  a  detailed  list  of  no  less  than 
1055  separate  publications  dealing  with  Tacitus  (in- 
cluding re-impressions),  no  less  than  393  of  these  being 
translations  into  Italian,  French,  German,  or  English, 
either  of  the  whole  or  of  a  portion  of  his  works.  The 
number  of  these  has  been  largely  added  to  since 
1837  >  there  are  translations  into  Spanish,  Dutch, 
Roumanian,  Swedish,  Danish,  Russian,  Bohemian, 
Croatian,  Portuguese — in  fact,  into  every  civilized 
language. 

But  while  translators  have  been  thus  numerous, 
one  and  all,  in  undertaking  the  task,  have  pro- 
nounced success  impossible.  They  are  all  keenly 
alive  to  the  imperfections  of  their  predecessors,  and 
are  often  severe  in  their  castigation  of  them.  Each 
flatters  himself  that  he  will  improve  upon  what  has 
gone  before ;  but  it  is  too  often  only  to  fall  into  still 
greater  errors  or  weaknesses  of  his  own.  In  the 
preface  to  his  translation  of  the  Annals  (1790),  M. 
de  Meilhan  echoes  the  feeling  of  many  a  translator  of 
Tacitus,  and  reminds  us  of  the  mutinous  soldiers  in 
Pannonia,  who  trembled  when  they  looked  on  Drusus, 
and  then  again  grew  confident  when  their  eyes  fell 
upon  their  own  ranks  : — 


TRANSLATED    INTO   ALL    LANGUAGES.      XXIX 

1  En  relisant  ma  traduction  a  cote  du  texte,  la  plume 
m'est  souvent  tombee  des  mains,  et  j'ai  abandonee 
1'ouvrage ;  je  lisois  les  traductions,  et  je  reprenais 
courage.' 

If  we  analyse  M.  Panckoucke's  list  of  translations 
of  the  whole  or  part  of  Tacitus,  we  find  that  France 
stands  at  the  top  with  153  ;  next  comes  Germany  with 
142;  Italy  can  boast  of  63,  England  of  only  35.  If 
only  translations  of  the  entire  works  be  counted,  the 
numbers  are :  French,  49 ;  Italian,  25  ;  German,  16 ; 
and  English,  9 ;  England  standing  at  the  bottom  of 
the  list  in  point  of  number,  and,  as  a  whole,  it  must 
be  admitted,  in  point  of  quality  also.  Italy  was  first 
in  the  field ;  and  if  an  appraisement  were  made  by  a 
competent  judge  of  the  comparative  merits  of  existing 
translations  of  Tacitus  in  the  four  languages  named 
above,  it  is  probable  that  he  would  award  the  palm 
to  the  Italian.  It  is  obvious  that  the  Latin  languages 
possess,  in  their  forms  and  structure,  a  great  advan- 
tage over  English  and  German  for  the  purpose  of 
reproducing  the  special  peculiarities,  both  of  thought 
and  style,  of  the  most  Latin  of  all  Latin  writers. 
Italian  and  French  alike  have  a  crispness  and  pre- 
cision, a  capacity  for  keen  contrast  and  brilliant 
condensation,  which  enable  them  without  effort  to 
adopt  the  language  and  the  ideas  of  the  most 
compressed  and  epigrammatic  of  writers.  This 
seems  especially  true  of  the  early  Italian,  which  had 
acquired  the  suppleness  and  brilliancy  of  the  new 
tongue,  without  losing  the  strength  and  stately 
brevity  of  the  old  Latin.  Its  compact  grammar,  its 
clever  economy  of  pronouns,  its  compressed  verbal 
forms,  and,  above  all,  its  hammer-like  use  of  parti- 
ciples, adapt  themselves  naturally  to  the  massive 


XXX  INTRODUCTION. 

sentences  of  Tacitus;  and  one  is  tempted  to  think 
that  no  pen  but  that  of  a  Machiavelli,  or  of  a  Dante 
who  should  write  in  prose,1  could  do  full  justice  to 
the  oracular  strength,  the  pregnant  conciseness,  the 
sustained  dignity,  and  the  sombre  brilliance,  of  the 
great  Roman  historian. 

Two  early  translations  of  Tacitus  stand  out  pre- 
eminent— that  of  Georgio  Dati,  who  translated  the 
Annals  and  Histories  into  Ma  lingua  Toscana'  in 
1563,  new  editions  appearing  in  1589  and  1598;  and 
the  still  more  famous  version  of  Bernardo  Davanzati 
Bostichi,  who  published  the  first  book  of  the  Annals 
in  1596,  and  afterwards  all  the  Annals  and  the 
Histories.  This  translation  has  enjoyed  extraordinary 
popularity.  There  are  editions  of  1600,  1637,  l&4l> 
1658,  1696,  1760;  no  less  than  eight  appeared  between 
1790  and  1828 ;  and  new  editions  are  still  from  time 
to  time  produced. 

Davanzati  was  a  Florentine,  doing  business  as  a 
banker  in  Lyons.  He  was  led  to  translate  Tacitus 
accidentally,  not  from  any  desire  to  improve  upon 
the  work  of  Dati,  which  he  held  in  high  esteem.2 
Encountering  one  day  a  lettered  Frenchman,  he  fell 
into  a  dispute  with  him  as  to  the  comparative  merits 
of  the  Italian  and  French  languages.  The  Frenchman 
disparaged  Italian,  denying  to  it  the  qualities  of 
brevity  and  vigour;  whereupon  Davanzati  under- 
took, for  a  kind  of  wager,  to  translate  into  Italian  the 
tersest  of  all  Latin  writers  with  a  brevity  that  should 
equal  or  exceed  his  own.  This  promise  he  fulfilled 
by  publishing  in  1596,  'II  primo  Libro  degli  Annali,' 

1  That  is,  in  the  style  of  the  Divine  Eloquenza  Italiana  di  Monsignor  Tusto 
Comedy  ;    for   Dante's  prose   writings  Fontanini,  con  le  annotazioni  del  Signer 
are  not  remarkable  for  condensation.  Apostolo  Zeno,'  (Venezia    i7«)  vol  ii 

2  See  Davanzati's  estimate  of  Dati's  pp.  294-5. 
work    given    in    the    '  Biblioteca   dell" 


DAVANZATI'S    VERSION.  XXXI 

which  he  announces  on  the  title-page  as  '  expresso  in 
volgare  Fiorentino  per  dimostrare  quanto  questo 
parlare  sia  breve  e  arguto.'  In  his  preface,  he  con- 
tests the  claim  of  French  to  be  considered,  like 
ancient  Greek,  the  supreme  language  of  literature ; 
repudiates  the  charge  that  Italian  is  Munga  e  lan- 
guida;'  and  pronounces  the  vulgar  Florentine  dialect 
to  be  the  best  of  all  tongues  for  representing  the 
strength  of  Tacitus,  though  well  aware  that  'there 
are  some  who  will  not  admit  that  anything  vulgar  can 
be  good,  or  that  anything  Florentine  can  be  best.' 

To  prove  the  brevity  of  the  Florentine  dialect  as 
compared  with  French,  or  even  with  the  Latin  of 
Tacitus  himself,  he  translated  the  first  book  of  the 
Annals  as  a  test,  asserting  that  the  Florentine  dialect 
could  express  in  100  words  a  meaning  for  which  the 
Latin  required  108,  and  which  could  not  be  expressed 
with  less  than  160  words  in  French. 

Davanzati's  work  is  certainly  a  marvel  of  condensa- 
tion ;  but  he  scarcely  makes  good  his  boast  of  employ- 
ing fewer  words  than  Tacitus.  Selecting  a  few  fairly 
typical  chapters,  we  find  that  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Ann.  i.  Tacitus  employs  only  123  words  (counting 
enclitics  as  separate  words),  whereas  Davanzati 
employs  162  ;  in  i.  4,  Tacitus  has  145  words,  Davanzati 
177;  in  i.  49,  Tacitus  has  133  words,  Davanzati  155  ; 
in  ii.  23,  Tacitus  has  139  words,  Davanzati,  173.  If, 
however,  we  deduct  from  the  total  of  Davanzati  the 
definite  and  indefinite  articles,  and  the  preposition 
di  or  det  which  represents  the  Latin  Genitive,  his 
boast  is  all  but  justified.  In  the  first  passage  re- 
ferred to  above  (Ann.  i.  i)  the  total  number  of  words 
used  by  Davanzati  on  this  method  of  counting  comes 
out  as  only  127,  as  compared  with  the  123  of  Tacitus. 


xxxii  INTRODUCTION. 

No  other  translator  has  attained  a  brevity  like  to 
this.  For  the  same  passage,  M.  de  la  Malle  employs 
196  words  to  represent  the  123  of  Tacitus;  Messrs. 
Church  and  Brodribb,  whose  version  is  not  more 
lengthy  than  is  consistent  with  good  English,  use  197 ; 
while  Murphy,  who  touches  the  high-water  mark  of 
verbosity,  requires  no  less  than  300  words.  In  the 
second  passage  named  above  (i.  4),  Murphy  uses  324 
words  for  the  145  of  Tacitus,  as  compared  with  the 
177  of  Davanzati,  the  282  of  the  French  translator, 
and  the  262  of  Messrs.  Church  and  Brodribb. 

Such  a  mode  of  calculation,  however,  as  Signor  C. 
Cesare  Balbo  remarks  in  the  preface  to  his  brilliant 
translation  (Turin,  1832),  is  somewhat  puerile.  True 
brevity  of  style  depends  upon  other  things  than  mere 
economy  of  words ;  and  that  of  Davanzati  was  not 
obtained  without  the  loss  of  other  elements  in  the 
style  of  Tacitus  which  it  is  of  the  first  importance  to 
preserve.  The  brevity  of  Tacitus  will  continue  to  be 
the  despair  of  modern  translators.  It  is  not  merely 
that  modern  languages,  because  of  their  loose  syn- 
tactical structure,  demand  a  larger  outlay  of  words 
than  the  inflected  languages  of  the  ancients ;  but  that 
the  Latin  language,  and  especially  the  language  of 
Tacitus,  makes  large  demands  upon  the  intelligence 
of  the  reader;  permits  the  frequent  omission  of 
words — pronouns,  particles,  and  even  verbs  and 
substantives— which  we  regard  as  essential  to  the 
sense ;  can  often  use  a  single  word  where  we  would 
employ  a  whole  phrase  or  clause ;  and  thus  admits  of 
a  close  packing  of  ideas  which  would  be  fatiguing,  if 
not  incomprehensible,  to  a  modern  reader. 

For  languages  differ  from  one  another,  like  material 
substances,  in  density.  From  Lucretius  to  Lord 


LANGUAGES    DIFFER    IN    DENSITY.     XXXlll 

Kelvin,1  atomists  have  told  us  how  the  differences 
between  solids,  liquids,  and  gases,  are  to  be  accounted 
for  by  the  greater  or  the  lesser  intervals  between 
the  molecules  of  which  they  are  composed.  Solid 
bodies  have  small  intervals  or  no  intervals  at  all, 
rare  bodies  have  long  intervals,  between  their  atoms. 
It  is  the  same  with  languages;  and  Latin  may  be 
described  as  a  very  solid  language.  It  admits  of 
ideas  being  closely  packed  together,  almost  in  juxta- 
position, with  scarcely  any  medium  for  them  to 
move  in.  Latin  authors,  no  doubt,  differ  widely  from 
one  another  in  the  use  which  they  make  of  the 
condensing  property  of  their  tongue.  Cicero,  as 
was  natural  for  a  man  whose  main  business  was  to 
address  the  many,  spreads  out  his  meaning  over 
a  multitude  of  words.  Tacitus,  addressing  a  highly 
educated  coterie  alive  to  every  political  and  literary 
allusion,  sympathizing  with  all  his  opinions  and  his 
prejudices,  can  pack  his  thoughts  as  closely  as  the 
seeds  in  a  pomegranate. 

English  cannot  put  so  much  into  so  little.  It 
requires  that  the  writer  shall  set  out  his  ideas  with 
some  space  between  them  ;  and  the  ordinary  modern 
reader  expects  to  find  the  meaning  drawn  out  in 
full,  without  having  to  spend  upon  its  interpretation 
thought  and  labour  of  his  own. 

Italian  purists  admit  the  terseness,  the  force  and 
accuracy  of  Davanzati's  version,  but  they  find  fault 
with  him  for  his  use  of  popular  and  vulgar  idioms. 
They  accuse  him  of  going  down  into  the  streets  and 
markets  to  find  language  to  put  into  the  mouths  of 
noble  Romans,  and  of  degrading  the  dignified  utter- 
ances of  Tacitus  into  a  plebeian  jargon,  fit  only  for 

1  See  Lord  Kelvin  on  the  '  Size  of  Atoms,'  ('  Popular  Addresses,'  vol.  i.)- 

C 


xxxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

fish-wives  and  street-porters.  It  is  true  that  Davan- 
zati  is  crabbed,  and  often  rough,  and  that,  for  the 
sake  of  a  phenomenal  brevity,  he  has  sacrificed  that 
smoothness  in  which  the  Italian  ear  delights ;  but  it 
is  also  true  that  much  of  the  strength  of  his  style 
is  due  to  its  popular  element,  and  that  the  racy 
vernacular  expressions  which  he  takes  from  the 
mouths  of  common  folk  give  a  truer  idea  of  the 
vigour  of  Tacitean  phrase  than  the  more  polished 
and  sonorous  equivalents  of  most  translators. 

The  false  notion  that  dignity  of  style  is  to  be 
attained  by  using  pompous  and  grandiose  diction  was 
the  bane  of  Tacitean  translators  in  the  eighteenth 
and  early  nineteenth  centuries.  Alike  in  Italy,  France, 
and  England,  there  was  a  period  when  the  grand 
manner  of  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.  tended  to  banish 
simplicity  from  letters,  to  bring  homely  phraseology 
into  contempt,  and  to  enthrone  pomposity,  pedantry 
and  affectation  in  their  place.  How  carefully  such 
qualities  were  cultivated  can  be  seen  from  the  '  Dis- 
courses upon  Tacitus '  with  which  T.  Gordon  prefaces 
his  translation  (1737): — 

'No  language  whatever,'  he  says  in  his  preface, 
'  will  make  Tacitus  plain  to  vulgar  understandings. 
...  I  have  indeed  little  complaisance  for  those  who 
think  (if  any  who  understand  him  can  possibty  think) 
that  the  common  English  style  will  at  all  suit  that 
uncommon  writer,  whose  manner  is  as  peculiar  and 
affecting  as  his  thoughts.' 

Gordon  accordingly  condemns  the  vigorous  transla- 
tion of  Richard  Grenewey  (1598)  as  'a  mean  per- 
formance ;  he  starves  the  meaning  even  where  he 
best  conveys  it.'  What  he  most  admires  in  Tacitus 
is  his  'grandeur  and  dignity  ;'  and  he  deems  it  neces- 
sary to  apologise  for  his  'paucity  of  words'  by 


THE   COMMON   AND   THE   COMMONPLACE.      XXXV 

reflecting  that,  '  let  his  words  be  ever  so  few,  his 
thought  is  always  redundant.' 

Now  Tacitus  is  always  dignified,  but  he  is  never 
pretentious,  stilted  or  affected ;  the  dignity  of  his 
language  flows  naturally  out  of  the  ideas  which 
he  puts  before  us.  The  criticism  that,  being  an  un- 
common writer,  he  cannot  be  translated  into  common 
English,  arises  from  a  false  conception  of  what  con- 
stitutes a  good  style.  It  is  founded  on  the  confusion 
between  the  common  and  the  commonplace  which 
has  wrought  such  havoc  with  English  writing  in 
the  past.  Dignity  of  style  depends  upon  dignity  of 
idea,  and  is  more  often  attained  by  directness  and 
simplicity  of  diction  than  by  pompous  phrase  or 
high-flown  figure.  The  man  who  is  always  thinking 
of  his  own  dignity  is  the  least  likely  to  maintain 
it.  It  is  the  same  with  style.  Our  own  Bible 
shows  how  literary  dignity  can  be  combined  with 
simple  language  ;  Horace  and  Shakespeare  have 
taught  us  how  the  common  talk  of  common  folk  can 
be  lifted  into  the  realm  of  poetry,  adding  to  the 
strength  and  richness  of  our  literary  resources. 

Another  early  translation  of  some  fame  is  that  of 
the  Annals  and  Histories  by  Andrea  Politi  (Rome, 
1604  and  1611).  The  title-page  bears  that  the  trans- 
lation is  into  'Vulgar  Senese:'  Politi  having  chosen 
the  Sienese  dialect,  not  only,  perhaps,  because  the 
people  of  Siena  were  proud  of  the  purity  of  their 
Italian,  but  also  for  the  same  reason  that  made 
Davanzati  adopt  the  vulgar  Florentine,  considering 
that  its  crispness  and  vernacular  strength  made  it 
a  better  vehicle  for  the  style  of  Tacitus  than  the  more 
polished  literary  language  of  the  day.  Politi's  trans- 
lation is  often  racy,  it  has  much  of  the  fine  vigour  of 


xxxvi  INTRODUCTION. 

style  which  marks  the  earlier  writers,  but  it  has  no 
pretension  to  accurate  scholarship,  and  makes  little 
effort  to  reproduce  the  exact  thought  of  the  original. 

Among  the  Italian  translations  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  two  are  especially  worthy  of  notice ;  that  of 
Ludovico  Valeriani,  published  in  five  huge  volumes 
at  Florence  in  1818;  and  that  of  C.  Cesare  Balbo 
(1832),  who,  while  acknowledging  the  accuracy, 
brevity  and  strength  of  Davanzati's  version,  con- 
demns him  for  employing  a  plebeian  dialect.  In  his 
own  version  he  hopes  by  combining  'il  frassegiar  del 
Davanzati,  la  chiarezza  et  la  simplicita  del  Politi  e  la 
richezza  di  parole  del  Valeriani/  to  produce  a  ver- 
sion which  may  be  regarded  as  a  true  Italian  Tacitus. 

Among  the  numerous  French  translations  there  are 
some  which  deserve  special  mention.  Of  the  half- 
dozen  or  so  which  belong  to  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  most  famous  is  that  of  Rodolphe  Lemaistre, 
already  mentioned,  undertaken  by  the  command  oi 
Henry  IV.  (1594-1610).  His  work  enjoyed  a  great 
reputation;  enthusiastic  testimonies  by  his  admirers 
are  prefixed  to  the  edition  of  1636.  Among  these  is 
a  Latin  poem  by  de  Chalas,  ending  thus  : — 

Sileret 

Aeternum  Tacitus  y  nisi  excitasses, 
Sorderet  Tacitus  nisi  expolisses. 

These  lines  are  thus  rendered  into  French  by  M. 
Hardy,  Receveur  General  du  Mans — 

*  Tacite  estoit  muet  en  France, 
Incognu  et  non  intendu, 
Sans  que  Le  Maistre  1'a  rendu 
Orne*  de  pleine  intelligence.' 

The  verse  sorderet  Tacitus  nisi  expolisses  gives  a  true 
measure  of  what  was  expected  of  a  French  translator 


FRENCH    VIEW    OF    TRANSLATION.     XXXV11 

down  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  He  was  to 
adorn,  not  merely  to  reproduce,  his  original ;  he  was 
to  bring  forth  a  literary  work  which  should  have  a 
style  of  its  own,  in  which  the  defects  of  the  original 
should  be  removed,  and  its  harshness  smoothed  down, 
to  suit  the  literary  taste  of  the  time. 

This  doctrine  is  put  forward  in  all  seriousness  by 
a  later  French  translator  of  some  note,  M.  d'Alembert, 
Perpetual  Secretary  of  the  French  Academy,  whose 
'  Morceaux  Choisis  de  Tacite'  appeared  in  1784.  In 
his  '  Observations  on  the  art  of  translating  in  general, 
and  of  translating  Tacitus  in  particular/  he  tells  us 
that  as  all  good  writing  must  have  'harmonic  et 
facilite'  of  style,  a  translator  has  to  consider  how 
far  literal  exactness  of  rendering  must  'ceder  aux 
graces  de  la  diction  sans  trop  s'affoiblir ; '  and  how  far 
he  must  sacrifice  Tenergie  a  la  noblesse,  la  correction 
a  la  facilite,  la  justesse  rigoureuse  a  la  mechanique  du 
style.'  He  complains  that  the  rigorous  laws  of  the 
French  language,  its  uniformity  of  construction,  has 
made  it  Tecueil  des  traducteurs,  comme  elle  est 
celui  des  poetes;'  and  he  protests  against  the  idea 
that  translators  should  regard  themselves  only  as  the 
copyists,  rather  than  as  the  rivals,  of  the  authors 
whom  they  translate.  It  should  be  their  aim  to 
embellish  the  original  where  possible,  and  to  remove 
its  defects,  if  there  are  any;  'for  his  own  part/  he 
adds,  'whenever  he  has  been  in  doubt  between  two 
or  more  interpretations  of  a  passage  of  Tacitus,  he 
has  always  chosen  that  which  he  thought  the  most 
beautiful.' 

Between  the  translation  of  Le  Maistre  and  that  of 
M.  de  la  Malle,  other  notable  French  versions  are 
that  of  Perrot  d'Ablancourt  (1640);  that  of  M.  Amelot 


xxxviii  INTRODUCTION 

de  la  Houssaie  with  'Reflexions  Politiques'  (1690), 
upon  which  is  based  the  English  work  published 
under  the  patronage  of  Sir  Henry  Savile  (1698);  and 
that  of  M.  1'Abbe  de  la  Bleterie  (1768).  All  these 
have  gone  through  various  editions. 

D'Ablancourt  has  a  fine  style,  he  is  vigorous  and 
pointed ;  but  he  takes  little  pains  to  keep  to  his  text 
when  he  thinks  he  can  improve  upon  it.  No  one 
could  recognise  the  vigour  of  the  sentence  Clamor 
vulnera  sanguis  palam ;  causa  in  occulto ;  cetera  fors 
regit  (i.  49/2)  in  his  intolerable  expansion  of  it :  — 

'L'air  retentit  des  cris  des  mourans,  le  camp  se 
remplit  d'horreur  et  de  carnage.  Le  malheur  est 
visible,  et  la  cause  est  incertaine ;  la  sagesse  a  preside 
au  conseil,  la  fortune  preside  a  1'execution.' 

He  thus  excuses  himself  for  the  freedom  of  his 
translation : — 

'  II  est  bien  difficile  d'estre  exact  en  la  traduction 
d'un  auteur  qui  ne  Test  point.  On  est  constraint 
d'ajouter  cjuelque  chose  a  la  pensee  pour  Feclaircir, 
quelquefois  il  en  faut  retrancher  une  partie  pour 
donner  jour  a  tout  le  reste.' 

The  same  phrase  'donner  jour'  is  no  less  quaintly 
illustrated  by  the  translator  Achille  de  Harlay  (1644), 
who  says  of  Tacitus,  '  Ayant  a  donner  du  jour  a  des 
lieux  fort  obscurs,  je  me  suis  trouve  oblige  d'ouvrir 
toutes  les  fenestres.'  Unfortunately  this  policy  of 
'the  open  window'  has  more  often  permitted  the 
meaning  of  Tacitus  to  escape,  than  allowed  any  new 
light  on  it  to  stream  in. 

D'Ablancourt's  version  is  roughly  handled  by 
M.  1'Abbe  de  le  Bleterie.  'To  deal  with  his  author 
thus,'  says  he,  '  is  to  treat  him  like  a  rough  diamond 


D'ABLANCOURT  AND    DE    LA    HOUSSAIE.     xxxix 

which  needs  to  be  cut  before  it  will  sparkle.'  '  D'Ablan- 
court  traite  son  auteur  avec  une  license  effrenee. 
.  .  .  II  le  mutile,  le  disloque,  le  decharne,  le  desseche, 
et  sous  pretexte  de  lui  donner  plus  de  sante,  il  lui 
laisse  a  peine  un  souffle  de  vie.1  .  .  .  The  admirers 
of  d'Ablancourt  have  called  his  work  '  La  belle  in- 
fidele  .  .  .  Je  souscris  a  leur  jugement ;  mais  j'ajoute 
qu'elle  est  belle  sans  etre  piquante,  et  qu'elle  est 
infidele  jusqu'a  la  trahison.' 

M.  Amelot  de  la  Houssaie  had  previously  criticised 
d'Ablancourt ;  and  indeed  he  tells  us  that  his  own 
translation  arose  out  of  a  sharp  controversy  which  he 
had  carried  on  with  his  nephew,  M.  Fremont  d'Ablan- 
court, as  to  the  merits  of  his  uncle's  translation. 
Much  Billingsgate  seems  to  have  passed  between  the 
two.  In  response  to  De  la  Houssaie's  strictures,  the 
nephew,  taking  up  the  cudgels  for  his  uncle,  had 
challenged  De  la  Houssaie  to  do  better:  'Qu'Amelot 
de  la  Houssaie  nous  donne  une  traduction  de  Tacite 
plus  forte,  et  plus  elegante.'  'En  voici  une!'  retorts 
la  Houssaie,  'que  je  soutiens  etre  plus  exacte,  plus 
nerveuse,  et  plus  conforme  au  genie  et  an  charactere 
de  1'auteur.' 

The  Abbe  finds  equal  fault  with  De  la  Houssaie's 
version,  but  for  the  opposite  reason  : — 

'  Rien  de  plus  servile  et  de  plus  rampant ;  nul 
choix,  nulle  finesse  dans  les  tours,  point  d'expressions 
saillantes,  point  d'agrement  dans  le  style ;  un  begaie- 
ment  perpetuel,  un  language  froid  et  trivial.  .  .  .  Cest 
Tacite  en  laid  et  rev£tu  de  haillons.' 

This  criticism  can  scarcely  be  justified.  De  la 
Houssaie  is  often  vigorous  and  apt  in  his  translations ; 
but  a  modern  scholar  would  censure  him,  not  for  his 
servility,  but  for  his  freedom.  He  often  adds  whole 


xl  INTRODUCTION. 

sentences  to  elucidate  the  meaning;  but  he  seldom 
hits  the  exact  point  in  really  crucial  passages.  The 
Abbe's  censure  is  of  a  piece  with  that  which  condemns 
Davanzati  for  .his  '  vulgarity/  and  which  holds  that 
what  is  common  in  language  must  necessarily  be 
unclean.  The  '  Notes  politiques  et  historiques  '  with 
which  De  la  Houssaie  liberally  garnishes  his  transla- 
tion, have  enjoyed  a  great  name ;  but  they  are  often 
of  the  most  commonplace  and  school-boy  order,  little 
worthy  of  appearing  on  the  same  page  with  Tacitus. 

M.  de  la  Bleterie  himself  is  often  brilliant  in  his 
renderings.  Like  other  translators  of  his  time,  he 
treats  the  text  with  freedom;  but  there  is  a  true 
Tacitean  ring  in  some  of  his  phrases,  and  he  has 
furnished  many  hints  to  his  French  successors.  A  few 
instances  may  be  given.  Tiberius  suspected  Asinius 
Gallus  of  being  '  un  citoyen  qui  voulait  bien  sortir  de 
sa  sphere'  (plus  quam  civilia  agitaret,  i.  12,  6);  the 
language  of  Tiberius  in  the  Senate  '  etoit  un  labyrinthe 
d'incertitudes  et  d'ambiguites '  (in  incertum  etambiguum 
magis  implicabantur,  i.  n,  4).  The  well-known  epigram 
applied  to  the  centurion  in  i.  20,  2  (vetus  opens  ac 
laboris,  et  eo  immitior  quia  toleraveraf),  he  translates 
thus :  '  Endurci  de  longue  main  a  la  fatigue,  au  travail, 
il  etoit  impitoyable  parcequ'il  avait  souffert ; '  and  for 
the  difficult  sentence,  Sed  dum  veritati  consulitur,  libertas 
corrumpebatur  (i.  75,  2)  he  gives  the  perfect  translation, 
'  La  Justice  y  gagnait;  mais  aux  depens  de  la  liberte.' 
With  this  rendering  we  may  well  compare  that  of 
Grenewey,  who,  as  often  elsewhere,  goes  straight 
to  the  point  with  a  homely  phrase :  '  but  whilst  he 
laboured  for  justice,  libertie  went  to  wracke.' 

In  one  special  point  M.  de  la  Bleterie  happily 
imitates  the  style  of  Tacitus.  It  is  one  of  his  methods 


L'ABBE    DE    LA    BLETERIE.  xli 

of  gaining  force  to  string  together  three  strong  words 
with  no  copula  between  them.  Sometimes  the  three 
words  have  no  special  emphasis,  securing  only  brevity 
and  swiftness,  as  anna  classem  socios  (i.  45,  3) ;  vestem 
arma  tentoria  (i.  17,  6);  simulacra  montium  fluminum 
praeliorum  (ii.  41,  2).  In  other  cases  they  have  the 
effect  of  a  climax,  coming  down  with  hammer-like 
force,  like  the  three  knocks  which  prelude  the  rising 
of  the  curtain  in  a  French  theatre  :  Arminius  manu 
voce  vulnere  sustentabat  pugnam  (ii.  17,  5);  barbari 
lacessunt  circumgrediuntur  occursant  (i.  64,  i);  bellum 
impeditum  arduum  cruentum  (iv.  46,  5).  In  imitation  of 
such  phrases  the  Abb6  thus  describes  the  attitude  of 
the  mutinous  troops  upon  the  arrival  of  Drusus  in  the 
camp:  'Tout  etait  morne,  neglige,  hideux.' 

But  while  the  Abbe  was  severe  on  older  translators, 
he  was  soon  himself  to  fall  under  the  lash  of  M.  de 
Meilhan  (1790),  who,  while  admitting  that  M.  de  la 
Bleterie  had  a  profound  knowledge  of  antiquity  and 
of  his  author,  accuses  him  of  using — 

'des  expressions  triviales  et  bourgeoises  .  .  .  Au 
style  le  plus  nerveux  il  substitue  un  jargon  ridicule, 
et  Ton  voit  souvent  dans  sa  traduction  un  pedant 
de  college  qui  veut  prendre  le  langage  d'un  homme 
du  monde.' 

M.  de  Meilhan's  estimate  of  Tacitus  is  worth 
quoting  for  its  extravagance  : — 

'  Tacite,  j'ose  le  dire,  a  fixe  les  limites  de  1'esprit 
humain ;  sans  faire  de  traite  sur  aucun  sujet,  il  les  a 
tous  approfondis.' 

He  derides  those  who  have  spoken  of  the  present 
age  as  '  le  siecle  de  lumieres  : ' — 

'  Je  dois  croire  que  ceux  qui  parlent  ainsi  n'ont  pas 
lu  les  ouvrages  de  Tacite.  En  effet,  quelle  decouverte 


xlii  INTRODUCTION. 

peut  etre  a  faire  apres  lui  en  morale  et  en  politique, 
dans  ces  deux  sciences  qui  n'en  font  qu'une  par  leur 
accord  intime  ? ' 

To  judge  of  the  merits  of  M.  de  Meilhan's  own 
translation,  we  need  do  no  more  than  refer  to  two 
passages,  in  the  first  of  which  he  gives  the  dullest  of 
all  the  dull  equivalents  which  have  been  offered  for 
one  of  the  raciest  comments  to  be  found  in  Tacitus. 
In  the  year  A.D.  19,  four  thousand  freedmen,  infected 
with  Egyptian  and  Jewish  superstitions,  were  deported 
to  Sardinia,  ostensibly  to  put  down  brigandage ;  Taci- 
tus adds,  Si  ob  gravitatem  caeli  interissent,  vile  damnum 
(ii.  85,  5).  M.  de  Meilhan  translates  thus:  '  Et  Ton 
exposa  sans  regret  au  mauvais  air  de  cette  ile  des 
hommes  vils  dont  la  perte  importoit  peu  a  la 
republique.'  Again  in  ii.  87,  3,  he  gives  a  model  of 
loose  and  ineffectual  translation  by  rendering  unde 
angusta  et  lubrica  oratio  sub  principe,  etc.,  by  '  On  peut 
juger  de  1'embarras  et  du  danger  ou  se  trouvaient  les 
citoyens  qui  avoient  a  parler  d'un  prince  qui/  etc. 

We  have  seen  that  a  great  impetus  was  given  to  the 
study  of  Tacitus  in  France  by  the  ideas  and  the  events  of 
the  Revolution.  J.  J.  Rousseau  himself  published  in 
1781  a  translation  of  the  Annals,  Book  i. ;  and  in  1790 
appeared  in  three  octavo  volumes  the  translation  of 
M.  Bureau  de  la  Malle,  which  has  kept  its  place  ever 
since  as  the  standard  French  translation,  and  has  gone 
through  many  editions.  In  its  latest  form,  it  has 
been  included  by  M.  Nisard  in  his  'Collection  des 
Auteurs  Latins'  (1860  and  1882).  The  preface  ex- 
plains that  considerable  liberties  have  been  taken 
with  the  original.  Inaccuracies  have  been  corrected, 
the  results  of  modern  scholarship  have  been  made  use 
of,  and  recognizing  that  the  eighteenth  century  writers 


M.  DE  LA  MALLE  AND  HIS  FRENCH  SUCCESSORS,     xliii 

attached  an  undue  importance  to  elegance  and 
euphony  of  language,  the  editors  have  taken  pains 
to  cut  down  the  exuberance  of  the  style.  They 
present  the  work,  therefore,  '  non  comme  un  travail 
nouveau,  mais  comme  un  travail  depuis  longtemps 
juge  bon,  et  rendu  meilleur  peut-etre  par  une 
severe  revision.'  How  far  the  improvement  has 
been  secured,  may  well  be  questioned.  The 
version  as  now  revised  is  doubtless  closer  to  the 
original,  but  it  is  less  readable ;  it  is  not  exact  enough 
to  satisfy  a  scholar  by  its  aptness  of  phrase  or  by  its 
reproduction  of  the  spirit  of  the  original,  and  it  has 
lost  that  note  of  individuality  which  marked  the  writer 
and  the  time  at  which  he  wrote. 

The  version  of  M.  de  la  Malle  is  a  quarry  from 
which  almost  all  his  French  successors  have  drawn 
materials.  One  of  the  best  of  these  is  M.  Louandre, 
whose  polished  translation  of  the  whole  works, 
dedicated  to  M.  Thierry,  was  published  in  1845.  It 
was  'couronnee'  by  the  French  Academy,  and  has 
been  several  times  reprinted.  M.  Louandre  admits 
having  taken  much  from  his  predecessors;  but  he 
claims  to  have  improved  upon  them  all.  He  has 
transcribed  many  passages  literally  from  De  la  Malle  ; 
in  many  more  there  are  traces  of  imitation. 

But  the  most  glaring  example  of  appropriation  is  to 
be  found  in  a  collection  of  translations  entitled  '  Les 
auteurs  Latins,'  published  by  Hachette  et  Cie., 
between  the  years  1843  and  1866.  The  title-page 
bears  that  the  Latin  Authors  are  '  expliques  d'apres 
une  methode  nouvelle  par  deux  traductions  franchises, 
1'une  litterale  et  juxta-lineaire,  1'autre  correcte  et 
precedee  du  texte  Latin,  par  une  societe  de  Pro- 
fesseurs  et  de  Latinistes.'  Each  page  contains  (i)  the 


xliv  INTRODUCTION. 

Latin  text;  (2)  a  literal  word-for-word  translation, 
each  Latin  word  being  given  with  its  French  equiva- 
lent ;  and  (3)  a  "  correcte "  translation  of  the  whole, 
i.e.  one  written  in  good  literary  style.  In  the  case  of 
Tacitus,  it  turns  out  that  the  '  correct '  stylist  chosen 
to  undertake  the  work,  instead  of  giving  a  version 
of  his  own,  has  thought  it  best  to  give  an  almost 
verbatim  copy  of  the  version  of  M.  de  la  Malle.  There 
are  occasional  variations  on  minor  points  ;  but  whole 
chapters  are  copied  direct  from  De  la  Malle,  and  that 
without  one  word  of  alteration  or  acknowledgment. 

This  practice  of  reproducing  previous  translations 
is  denounced  by  M.  de  Burnouf,  whose  own  vigorous 
translation  of  the  works,  in  six  vols.,  appeared  be- 
tween 1827  and  1833.  He  protests  against  the  view 
that  a  good  literary  effect  can  be  produced  by  piecing 
together  fragments  borrowed  from  many  sources. 
A  translator,  he  well  remarks,  not  less  than  an 
original  author,  should  have  a  continuous  and  sus- 
tained style  of  his  own ;  his  language  should  be  that 
of  his  day,  his  scholarship  should  be  up  to  date, 
and  he  should  avoid  the  error  of  previous  translators 
in  making  it  their  aim  to  transfer  'Fair  et  1'esprit 
frangais  a  1'antique  Italic.'  Yet  even  M.  Burnouf, 
though  he  boasts  that  his  translation  is  entirely 
original,  sometimes  sins  against  his  own  rule. 

Of  all  the  French  scholars  who  have  expended 
labour  upon  Tacitus,  perhaps  none  have  served  him 
better  than  M.  Panckoucke.  He  began  his  Tacitean 
labours  in  1803,  when  he  published  some  fragments 
of  the  Agricola,  which  he  thought  might  be  interest- 
ing in  connection  with  the  descent  upon  Great 
Britain  then  contemplated  by  Napoleon ;  and  he  con- 
tinued them  until  1838,  by  which  time  he  had  added, 


FIDELITY    IN   TRANSLATION.  xlv 

at  various  dates,  some  eighteen  volumes  to  the  body 
of  Tacitean  literature.  These  include  translations 
and  editions  of  the  entire  works,  with  introductions, 
notes,  treatises  on  various  minor  points,  and  a  bibli- 
ography complete  to  date.1 

A  careful  study  of  the  various  translations  enume- 
rated above  will  show  that,  while  occasionally  brilliant 
in  their  rendering  of  single  passages  or  phrases,  they 
never  reached,  or  attempted  to  reach,  the  severe 
standard  of  accuracy  demanded  by  modern  scholar- 
ship. With  the  single  exception  of  Davanzati,  the 
principles  which  they  followed  in  their  treatment  of 
the  original  resulted  in  the  production  of  paraphrases, 
rather  than  of  translations ;  and  their  aim  was  incon- 
sistent with  that  severe  and  close  attention  to  the 
meaning  of  every  word  and  every  sentence  without 
which  no  version  can  claim  for  itself  the  merit  of 
fidelity.  During  the  course  of  the  past  century, 
exact  scholarship  has  made  immense  strides.  In 
the  interpretation  of  ancient  texts,  it  demands  a  rigid 
accuracy  which  was  not  possible  before ;  and  it  con- 
demns the  looseness  and  affected  ornateness  of  style 
which  was  considered  a  merit  in  translators  a  hundred 
years  ago. 

But  accuracy  is  one  thing,  baldness  is  another. 
The  demand  for  verbal  accuracy,  coupled  with  the 
requirements  of  examiners  and  the  needs  of  the 
examined,  gave  birth,  in  this  country,  to  a  style  of 
translation  destitute  of  all  literary  form,  which  gives 
to  the  modern  reader  no  sense  of  the  intrinsic 
beauties  of  ancient  literature.  It  is  only  of  recent 

1 1  have  not  made  mention  of  German  for  its  style;    and  I  soon  found  that 

translations,  of  which  there  are  many  of  a  German  translation,  however  good, 

much  merit.     But  German  scholarship  could  afford  no  guidance  for  a  transla- 

is  more  celebrated  for  its  learning  than  tion  into  English. 


xlvi  INTRODUCTION. 

years  that  such  works  as  the  Plato  of  Mr.  Jowett,  to 
name  only  one  example  out  of  many,  have  rescued 
the  translator's  art  from  the  evil  repute  into  which 
it  had  fallen.  A  new  school  of  translators,  both  of 
verse  and  of  prose  authors,  has  shewn  how  accurate 
scholarship,  clothing  itself  with  the  grace  of  literature, 
can  reach  a  higher  and  finer  level  of  fidelity ;  and 
how,  along  with  a  strict  regard  for  the  literal  sense, 
our  English  tongue  can  be  so  used  as  to  convey  to 
the  mind  and  to  the  ear  alike  some  sense  of  those 
qualities  which  we  admire  in  the  classical  writers. 

To  give  the  mere  words  of  an  ancient  author, 
without  regard  to  his  spirit,  or  to  the  peculiar  manner 
in  which  he  set  forth  his  ideas,  is  not  enough.  As 
Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  puts  it — 

'To  suppose  that  it  is  fidelity  to  an  original  to  give 
its  matter,  unless  you  at  the  same  time  give  its 
manner ;  or,  rather,  to  suppose  that  you  can  really 
give  its  matter  at  all,  unless  you  can  give  its  manner, 
is  just  the  mistake  of  our  pre-Raphaelite  School  of 
painters,  who  do  not  understand  that  the  peculiar 
effect  of  nature  resides  in  the  whole  and  not  in  the 
parts.'1 

No  translation  of  any  author,  least  of  all  of  an 
ancient  author,  can  ever  be  perfect.  No  two  peoples, 
no  two  periods,  think  exactly  in  the  same  way ;  and  in 
all  great  authors,  matter  and  style  are  inextricably 
interwoven.  All  that  the  best  translator  can  do  is 
to  loffer  an  approximation  to  his  original ;  but  that 
approximation  must  include,  so  far  as  in  the  trans- 
lator's power  lies,  both  the  elements  on  which  the 
greatness  of  a  work  depends — its  form  as  well  as  its 
matter.  He  may  have  to  sacrifice  something  of  both 
to  meet  the  exigencies  of  his  own  language ;  and  the 

1  '  On  translating  Homer,1  p.  14. 


THE    STYLE    OF    TACITUS    UNIQUE.       xlvii 

finer  niceties  of  style  can  never  be  transplanted  from 
one  language  to  another.  Theitranslator  can  only  aim 
at  representing,  by  methods  congenial  to  his  own 
tongue,  the  main  features  of  his  author's  style,  the 
general  character  which  stamps  the  whole  ;  but  unless 
he  can  do  this  to  some  degree,  as  well  as  set  down 
faithfully  his  author's  matter,  one  half  of  his  purpose 
is  unaccomplished. 

Whether  a  translation  of  Tacitus,  fairly  fulfilling 
these  conditions,  can  ever  be  produced,  may  well  be 
doubted.  His  style  is  unique.  Latin  differs  essen- 
tially from  English  in  construction,  in  order,  in  idiom' 
in  range  of  thought :  in  Tacitus  all  these  points  of 
difference  are  accentuated  to  a  high  degree.  He  has 
mannerisms,  and  methods  of  producing  effects,  which 
are  entirely  his  own,  and  which  are  foreign  to  our 
language;  and  which,  if  introduced  into  it,  would 
be  regarded  as  blemishes  in  the  style.  Indeed,  some  of 
his  peculiarities,  if  regarded  by  themselves,  must  be 
deemed  blemishes  even  in  the  Latin ;  but  these  are 
all  redeemed  by  the  higher  virtues  which  give  the 
style  its  character  and  place  it  beyond  the  reach  of 
criticism. 

For  these  reasons  a  literal  translation  of  Tacitus 
into  English  that  shall  read  as  English  may  be  pro- 
nounced an  impossibility.  Apart  from  all  question  of 
English  style,  such  a  translation  would  fail  in  the  two 
essential  aims  which  a  translator  has  in  view.  It 
would  give  no  idea  of  the  manner  of  the  author;  and 
in  numerous  cases  it  would  give  little  or  no  idea  of 
his  matter.  Let  any  one  try  the  experiment  of  reading 
aloud,  to  an  educated  but  not  classical  friend,  a  page 
or  two  of  the  Annals  translated  word  for  word  into 
English  ;  he  will  find  that  sentences  constantly  occur 


xlviii  INTRODUCTION. 

which  present  no  meaning  at  all,  or  only  a  very  con- 
fused meaning,  to  the  listener.  The  scholar  who  is 
acquainted  with,  the  Latin,  reads  into  a  translation, 
however  bald  and  literal,  the  meaning  which  his  know- 
ledge of  the  original  enables  him  to  supply ;  but  the 
unlearned  reader,  having  no  such  help,  requires  the 
thought  to  be  put  into  an  English  dress  before  it 
can  be  recognized.  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  tells  us 
that  the  translator  of  Homer  should  care  for  no 
judgment  but  that  of — 

'  scholars  who  both  know  Greek  and  can  appreciate 
poetry.  Let  him  not  trust  to  what  the  ordinary 
English  reader  thinks  of  him;  he  will  be  taking  the 
blind  for  his  guide.' 

A  similar  dictum  can  scarcely  be  applied  to  Tacitus. 
Of  the  scholarship  of  a  translation,  of  course,  none 
but  scholars  can  judge ;  but  as  regards  the  English,  I 
should  be  inclined  to  say  that  no  translator  of  Tacitus 
could  feel  safe  unless  he  had  submitted  his  version  to 
the  opinion  of  some  competent  judge  of  English  who 
had  no  knowledge  of  the  Latin. 

It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  because  a  trans- 
lation does  not  pretend  to  be  literal,  it  must  give  up 
its  claim  to  be  exact  and  faithful  to  the  original.  On 
the  contrary,  the  literal  translation  must  often  be 
departed  from  in  order  that  the  sense  may  be  more 
completely  and  accurately  conveyed.  It  is  the  sense, 
not  the  words,  that  has  to  be  rendered;  and  the 
sense  cannot  be  conveyed  unless  it  is  thrown  into 
the  grooves  of  thought  and  speech  in  which  the  ideas 
of  the  reader  naturally  run.  Mr.  M.  Arnold  well  illus- 
trates this  by  comparing  Pope's  version  of  Iliad  xix. 
420  with  that  of  Cowper.  Pope's  translation  has 
hardly  a  word  taken  literally  from  the  Greek ;  but  it 


PARAPHRASE    AND    TRANSLATION.          xlix 

is  more  near  to  Homer  than  the  literal  rendering  of 
Cowper. 

But  again,  if  the  translator  has  to  give  up  the  idea 
of  a  literal  version,  he  must  equally  beware  of  para- 
phrase. The  earlier  translators  of  Tacitus,  like  our 
own  Murphy,  and  to  a  lesser  extent  Gordon  also, 
find  it  necessary  to  amplify  or  supplement  the  original, 
to  omit  something  here  or  add  something  there,  in 
order  to  make  the  condensed,  and  what  they  call  the 
obscure,  style  of  Tacitus  intelligible.  Amplification, 
doubtless,  is  frequently  necessary ;  not  only  because 
English  cannot  be  made  so  short  as  Latin,  but  also 
because  in  English  it  is  not  always  the  shorter  ex- 
pression that  is  the  more  forcible.  And  some  omission 
at  times  may  be  pardoned.  To  give  a  little  less  than 
the  meaning  of  an  author  so  charged  with  meaning,  so 
subtle  in  suggestion,  as  Tacitus,  is  less  misleading 
than  to  give  more ;  and  a  translator  may  be  forgiven 
if  he  fail  to  squeeze  out  to  the  last  drop  all  the  mean- 
ing of  a  Tacitean  sentence.  But  to  attempt  to  add 
anything  of  his  own  is  sheer  impertinence. 

This  fault  the  early  translators  constantly  com- 
mitted. They  did  not  grapple  at  close  quarters  with 
their  text.  They  did  not  dissect  every  sentence  so  as 
to  discover  what  association  each  word  in  it  was 
intended  to  convey.  They  had  not  the  scholarship 
needed  for  the  purpose.  They  were  apt  to  take  an 
impressionist  view  of  a  passage,  and  to  import  into  it, 
for  effect's  sake,  their  own  notions.  They  make  their 
author  square  with  the  fashions  of  their  time ;  they 
arm  Achilles  with  an  arquebus,  and  clothe  Dido  in  a 
sacque ;  they  introduce  things  which  Tacitus  never 
could  have  seen,  suggest  ideas  which  he  never  could 
have  thought  of,  and  so  tinge  the  whole  with 

d 


1  INTRODUCTION. 

anachronism.  The  modern  scholar  will  avoid  mis- 
takes like  these.  He  will  examine  his  author's  mean- 
ing, bit  by  bit,  as  he  would  the  parts  of  a  puzzle ;  he 
will  steep  himself  in  his  spirit,  and  seek  to  understand 
how  he  looked  at  things,  with  what  colour  he  sought 
to  invest  them  ;  and  then  he  will  ask  the  question 
which  M.  de  la  Bleterie  says  he  was  always  putting 
to  himself, '  If  Tacitus  had  lived  in  my  day,  how  would 
he  have  expressed  himself?' 

The  translation  thus  arrived  at  will  be  free  and 
idiomatic ;  but  it  need  not  be  loose  or  inexact.  The 
translator  must  express  the  whole  sense,  neither 
more  nor  less ;  but  he  must  not  be  kept  from  writing 
good  English  out  of  fear  that  he  may  be  accused  of 
making  elementary  mistakes  in  Latin;  he  must  not 
follow  the  example  of  the  authors  of  the  Revised 
Version,  who  seemed  more  afraid  of  being  credited 
with  blunders  in  their  Greek  than  desirous  ol 
hitting  off  happy  equivalents  in  their  English.  Yet 
he  must  not  shirk  difficulties,  nor  take  refuge  behind 
vague  generalities  which  leave  no  crisp  and  definite 
impression  on  the  mind.  He  is  bound  so  to  translate 
as  to  enable  a  competent  scholar  to  perceive  how  he 
has  taken  the  construction;  but  he  is  not  bound  to 
satisfy  the  demands  of  a  pass-examiner,  or  to  make 
the  construction  plain  to  every  school-boy. 

No  translation,  however  accurate,  can  claim  a 
literary  character  which  does  not  approve  itself,  by 
the  quality  of  its  English,  to  the  cultivated  English 
reader.  For  this  purpose,  one  of  the  first  questions 
which  has  to  be  faced  is  as  to  the  kind  of  diction 
to  be  employed.  Tacitus  was  a  man  of  the  world  ; 
and  the  language  of  his  translator  must  be  such  as  a 
man  of  the  world  would  use.  We  have  seen  that  at 


TACITUS    AND    MODERN    IDEAS.  li 

every  past  period  Tacitus  has  been  claimed  as  giving 
voice  to  the  ideas  of  the  time ;  that  claim  is  not  less 
just  at  the  present  day.  The  world  in  which  Tacitus 
lived  was  in  many  respects  very  modern ;  the  Rome 
of  his  time  presented  in  many  points  a  similarity  to 
the  Great  Britain  of  to-day.  Rome  had  a  world-wide 
Empire,  which  she  was  being  constantly  tempted, 
often  almost  forced,  to  extend.  The  commercial  and 
expansive  instincts  of  her  citizens  were  perpetually 
leading  her  into  new  ventures,  and  creating  difficulties 
for  the  home  government.  Her  rule  embraced  many 
nationalities,  representing  various  stages  of  civiliza- 
tion ;  the  necessity  for  governing  each  according  to 
its  character,  with  due  regard  to  the  interests  of  the 
whole,  was  continually  presenting  new  problems  for 
her  statesmanship,  and  putting  a  pressure,  not  to  be 
resisted,  upon  her  central  institutions.  She  had 
debates  in  the  Senate  like  our  own  parliamentary 
debates,  dealing  with  subjects  that  are  matters  of 
debate  still ;  her  system  of  criminal  and  civil  law,  her 
municipal  institutions,  her  whole  Imperial  admini- 
stration, involve  ideas,  and  call  into  requisition  a 
vocabulary,  which  are  familiar  to  the  Englishman  of 
to-day. 

We  find  social  questions  discussed  in  the  Annals 
which  are  matters  of  discussion  still.  Seniors  com- 
plained that  their  juniors  were  no  longer  paying 
them  the  deference  which  was  their  due ;  prohibitive 
legislation  was  proposed  to  check  the  luxury  of  the 
table  and  of  apparel,  similar  to  that  which  in  our  own 
day  some  would  apply  to  the  problem  of  drink ;  women 
were  denounced  for  seeking  to  emancipate  themselves 
from  all  control,  and  for  interfering  in  matters  with 
which  they  had  no  concern :  Lord  Kitchener  himself 


Hi  INTRODUCTION. 

might  have  delivered  the  speech  in  which  Caecina 
Severus  condemned  the  license  which  permitted  wives 
to  accompany  their  husbands  in  a  campaign  (iii.  33). 
Tiberius  allayed  a  financial  crisis  by  a  measure 
analogous  to  a  suspension  of  the  Bank  Act;  in  his 
day  Rome,  like  Great  Britain,  had  been  led  to  place 
Egypt  under  a  peculiar  and  anomalous  form  of 
government,  as  holding  the  key  of  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  East ;  Rome,  like  Great  Britain,  had  to  conduct 
harassing  campaigns  of  guerilla  warfare  in  Africa; 
and  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  sins  of  Tiberius  in 
the  eyes  of  Tacitus  was  that  he  was  'A  Little 
Englander.' 

Thus  Tacitus  brings  us  into  a  region  in  which 
we  have  to  deal  with  political,  military,  social  and 
economic  problems  like  our  own,  and  which  must 
be  set  forth  in  language  such  as  we  would  nowadays 
employ.  In  military  matters,  terms  must  be  avoided 
which  would  bring  a  smile  to  a  soldier's  lips ;  social 
and  economic  facts  must  be  described  as  our  own 
economists  would  describe  them;  in  the  record  of 
debates  in  the  Senate,  only  such  expressions  should 
be  used  as  might  fall  from  the  mouth  of  a  British 
statesman  in  our  own  Houses  of  Parliament. 

In  view  of  this  requirement,  I  am  unable  to  fall  in 
with  a  suggestion  made  by  an  eminent  Latin  scholar, 
that  in  order  to  equal  the  brevity  and  force  of 
Tacitus,  it  would  be  well,  so  far  as  possible,  to  make 
use  of  Saxon  words.  In  regard  to  many  matters  of 
ordinary  life,  no  doubt,  Saxon  words  are  the  best 
and  most  vigorous  words ;  but  in  matters  of  law, 
government,  politics  and  philosophy,  with  which 
Tacitus  so  largely  deals,  our  own  ideas  being  mainly 
drawn  from  Greek  and  Latin  sources,  words  of  Greek 


USE    OF    SAXON    OR    ARCHAIC   WORDS.       liii 

or  Latin  origin  are  the  appropriate  words  to  use.  To 
replace  such  terms  by  words  of  Saxon  origin,  not 
specially  known  in  the  same  connection,  would  be  an 
affectation,  and  would  jar  upon  the  English  ear.  The 
recommendation  to  use  mostly  Saxon  words  has  been 
urged  with  more  force  in  the  case  of  Homer;  but 
Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  tells  us  that  even  in  translating 
Homer  it  is  dangerous  for  a  translator  to  start  with 
the  idea  that  any  class  of  words  should  be  excluded 
from  his  vocabulary : — 

'  It  is  a  theory  false  in  itself;  because,  in  fact,  we 
owe  to  the  Latin  element  in  our  language  most  of 
that  rapidity  and  clear  decisiveness  by  which  it  is 
contra-distinguished  from  the  German,  and  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  language  of  Greece  and  Rome.' l 

If  this  be  true  of  Homer,  how  much  more  true  of 
Tacitus,  in  whom  the  qualities  of '  rapidity  and  clear 
decisiveness'  stand  out  pre-eminent?  It  is  difficult 
at  the  best  to  render  Tacitean  thought  at  all;  and 
the  translator  cannot  afford  to  overlook  any  materials 
which  the  richness  of  our  language  may  offer  him  for 
the  purpose. 

For  a  similar  reason,  it  is  not  desirable  for  a 
translator  to  imitate  another  striking  feature  in  the 
style  of  Tacitus — its  poetic  and  archaic  element.  It 
may  be  doubted,  indeed,  whether  this  feature  was 
as  conspicuous  to  the  audience  which  Tacitus  ad- 
dressed as  it  is  to  his  modern  commentators.  Many 
traces  of  archaic  usage,  many  reminiscences  of  well- 
known  passages  of  poetry,  may  be  detected  in  his 
works ;  but  in  the  educated  circles  at  Rome,  in  which 
Tacitus  moved,  the  masterpieces  of  Roman  literature 
had  long  been  common  property ;  their  most  famous 

1  '  On  translating  Homer,'  p.  7. 


liv  INTRODUCTION. 

passages,  their  most  notable  sayings,  had  passed  like 
proverbs  into  the  educated  language  of  the  day.  Just 
as  men  nowadays  make  use  of  Biblical  or  Shake- 
spearian phrases  without  any  recollection  of  the 
source  from  which  they  come,  so  Tacitus  may  have 
introduced  phrases  from  Plautus,  Lucretius,  Virgil, 
or  Horace,  not  as  deliberate  quotations,  but  as 
phrases  which  had  become  imbedded  in  the  language, 
and  which  passed  as  current  in  ordinary  conversa- 
tion. Be  that  as  it  may,  beyond  the  occasional  use 
of  some  time-worn  expression,  some  household  word, 
which  has  been  adopted  into  common  speech,  any 
attempt  to  introduce  poetic  or  old-fashioned  diction 
into  the  Annals  would  be  grotesque,  and  would  be 
resented  as  an  affectation. 

But  while  the  language  of  the  translator  should 
be  modern,  it  should  not  be  tinged  by  the  special 
modernisms  of  the  day.  He  should  draw,  as  it  were, 
from  the  common  resources  of  the  language,  use  pure 
and  simple  English  that  may  be  good  for  all  time, 
and  abstain,  as  far  as  possible,  from  phrases  and 
figures  which  bear  the  hall-mark  of  his  own  particular 
generation.  No  doubt  he  must  write  primarily  for 
the  men  of  his  own  time,  and  is  bound  to  make  him- 
self intelligible  to  them;  and  each  generation  may 
demand  a  translation  of  its  own.  Nevertheless,  in 
dealing  with  a  great  and  immortal  classic,  it  will  be 
well  for  him  to  use  the  common  and  abiding  re- 
sources of  our  tongue,  rather  than  those  which  are 
special  and  may  last  only  for  a  day.  Modern  analogies, 
which  seem  at  first  sight  exactly  to  fit  the  case,  are 
sometimes  misleading.  It  is  tempting  to  translate  the 
phrase  loco  sententiae  dixit,  so  often  used  of  a  speech 
in  the  Senate,  by  our  Parliamentary  phrase  'got 


DIFFICULTIES    IN    TRANSLATING    TACITUS.       lv 

up  in  his  place  and  said,  etc.'  But  this  would  suggest 
a  wrong  idea,  as  the  English  phrase  implies  that  the 
member  has  a  right  to  be  heard,  which  the  Roman 
senator  had  not.  It  is  tempting  to  translate  grave 
conscientiae  suae  (vi.  26,  2),  'would  be  a  burden  on 
his  conscience.'  But  this  would  be  a  false  translation, 
because  the  ancients  had  no  consciences — in  our 
sense  of  the  term. 

It  may  be  well  now  to  point  out  some  of  the 
main  difficulties  which  confront  the  translator  whose 
aim  it  is  to  render  Tacitus  with  fidelity,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  express  himself  in  English  which  shall 
be  pure,  natural,  and  idiomatic.  Some  of  these  diffi- 
culties are  inherent  in  the  Latin  ;  some  are  peculiar  to 
Tacitus.  A  few  examples  may  after  that  be  given  to 
show  how  such  difficulties  have  been  met  by  different 
translators. 

Every  Latin  author  presents  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  literal  translation.  To  begin  with  differences  of  a 
minor  and  obvious  kind,  Latin  enjoys  great  advantages 
over  English  for  expressing  a  meaning  briefly  and 
unambiguously  in  its  nice  differentiation  of  pronouns  ; 
in  its  use  of  gender  for  adjectives,  relatives  and  nouns ; 
and  in  its  complete  system  of  verbal  endings.  The 
literal  translator  is  pulled  up  at  every  step  by  the 
necessity  of  altering  the  order  or  the  construction  of 
the  original  to  avoid  ambiguities  which  arise  from 
the  want  of  these  resources.  In  Latin,  the  verb- 
endings  render  possible  the  constant  omission  of  the 
personal  pronoun  ;  in  English,  every  pronoun  must 
be  expressed,  and  the  translator  is  apt  to  involve 
himself  in  a  constant  repetition  of  the  words  '  they,' 
'themselves,'  'who,'  and  'which/  that  results  in 
clumsiness  and  confusion.  The  loss  of  the  case- 


Ivi  INTRODUCTION. 

endings  in  English  is  less  important,  as  these  are 
made  up  for,  though  at  the  expense  of  brevity,  by 
the  use  of  prepositions.  The  loose  structure  of  the 
English  language,  and  the  absence  of  all  trammels  of 
inflection,  give  it  greater  freedom  and  flexibility ;  but 
they  in  turn  impose  upon  the  writer  the  necessity  of 
using  more  words,  and  of  exercising  the  greatest  care 
to  keep  clear  of  ambiguity. 

Again,  the  logical  and  orderly  Latin  mind  required 
to  have  the  nature  of  the  connection  between  one 
sentence  and  another  fully  set  out,  and  to  see  the 
successive  points  of  time  in  a  narrative  clearly 
indicated.  Hence  an  abundant  use  of  relative  clauses, 
and  a  plethora  of  inferential,  adversative  and  temporal 
conjunctions,  the  repetition  of  which  would  be  un- 
necessary and  uncouth  in  English.  In  a  literal  trans- 
lation of  Tacitus,  the  words  '  therefore,'  '  and  so/ 
'however,'  'but,'  'for,'  etc.,  would  be  perpetually 
recurring;  so  would  words  indicative  of  time,  to 
represent  such  Latin  words  as  mox,  dein,  dehinc,  inde, 
exin,  exinde,  interea,  interim,  inter  hcec,  turn,  sed  iam,  etc. 
The  constant  occurrence  of  the  words  et  or  que  at  the 
beginning  of  sentences,  in  different  kinds  of  con- 
nection, is  a  peculiarity  of  the  style  of  Tacitus  which 
has  hardly  been  sufficiently  noticed  by  his  editors. 
In  such  cases,  as  a  rule,  the  word  should  not  be 
translated  in  the  English  at  all. 

Other  peculiarities  in  the  style  of  Tacitus  which 
are  baffling  to  the  literal  translator,  and  which  demand 
expansion  in  the  English,  are :  (i)  his  frequent  and 
gratuitous  changes  of  subject  within  the  limits  of  the 
same  sentence,  as  in  ii.  53,  3-4,  and  iv.  48,  4;  (2)  his 
sudden  changes  from  an  active  to  a  passive  form  of 
sentence,  and  vice  versa ;  (3)  his  frequent  intermixture 


PECULIARITIES    OF    CONSTRUCTION.        Ivii 

of  Oratio  Recta  with  Oratio  Obliqua,  with  corresponding 
changes  of  tense  and  mood ;  (4)  his  frequent  inter- 
change of  past  with  present  tenses.  These  and  similar 
irregularities  may  be  called  blemishes  in  the  style,  and 
they  go  contrary  to  the  ordinary  rules  followed  by 
Latin  writers.  But  they  all  have  their  purpose  and 
their  effect.  They  all  help  to  arrest  the  reader's  atten- 
tion and  keep  it  alive ;  and  whether  we  deem  them 
blemishes  or  no,  they  are  all  essential  elements  in 
what  may  be  pronounced  the  most  perfect  pictorial 
style  which  the  ancient  world  produced. 

Another  peculiarity  of  Tacitus  which  conduces  to 
brevity  and  to  vivacity  is  his  habit  of  using  a  simple 
verb,  instead  of  a  verb,  or  some  part  of  a  verb, 
expressive  of  mood;  in  such  cases  English  must 
supply  'could,'  'would,'  or  'might,'  or  some  such 
word,  to  complete  the  sense.  Thus  in  i.  67,  i,  Caecina 
told  his  troops  that  if  they  made  a  dash  out  of  the 
camp  ilia  eruptione  ad  Rhenum  perveniri,  the  meaning 
being  '  that  they  would  reach  the  Rhine.'  Similarly  in 
iii.  71,  3,  Tiberius  decided  that  leave  of  absence 
Dialibus  non  concedi,  i.e.  'could  not  be  granted  to 
them.'  In  ii.  34,  i,  L.  Piso  declares  in  the  Senate  abire 
se  et  cedere  urbe,  '  that  he  would  leave,'  or  '  must  leave, 
the  city ; '  just  as  we  might  say  colloquially,  '  that  he 
was  off.'  So  neque  corpus  ullum  reperiri  (i.  23,  3),  '  that 
no  body  was  to  be  found ; '  si  legatos  senatui  redditis  (i. 
43>  S)>  'if  you  wish  to  restore;'  cum  hastas  ingens 
multitudo  non  protenderet  (ii.  21,  i),  'since  their  hordes 
could  not  thrust  out  their  spears  ;'  simulsexum  natura 
invalidum  deseri  et  exponisuo  luxu  (iii.  34, 9), '  the  weaker 
sex  would  be  left  unprotected  and  exposed,'  etc. 
Other  instances  occur  in  iv.  39,  6;  40,  8,  and  41,  3. 

Another  form  of  Tacitean  conciseness  is  to  put  two 


Iviii  INTRODUCTION. 

meanings  into  one  sentence,  words  being  used  which 
suggest  something  that  is  not  actually  stated.  Thus 
in  iv.  i,  4,  Sejanus  is  said  to  have  furthered  his  own 
ambitious  ends  by  means  of  industry  and  vigilance, 
which  qualities,  we  are  told,  are  in  themselves  bane- 
ful quoties  parando  regno  finguntur.  Now  industry  and 
vigilance  are  not  qualities  which  can  be  '  feigned ; ' 
they  were  actually  exhibited  by  Sejanus.  The  word 
finguntur  is  used  to  insinuate  that  even  his  good 
qualities  were  simulated ;  they  did  not  belong  to  his 
character.1  In  iv.  50,  5,  Sabinus  bids  his  men,  if 
attacked  by  night,  not  to  be  misled  by  simulation^* 
quietis,  '  a  pretence  of  silence.'  There  could  be  no 
pretence  in  the  silence ;  what  the  men  were  warned 
against  was  being  misled  by  the  ruse  of  silence  into 
supposing  that  there  was  no  enemy  at  hand.  In 
iii.  43,  4,  it  is  said  of  the  forces  of  Sacrovir  that 
augebantur  vicinarum  civitatum  studiis  et  certamine 
ducum  Romanorum.  The  rivalry  between  the  Roman 
generals  did  not  increase  the  forces  of  Sacrovir ; 
but  it  gave  him  an  advantage  of  a  different  kind, 
which  is  implied  in  the  word  augebantur.  Another 
remarkable  instance  occurs  in  ii.  35,  2,  which  is 
commented  on  in  the  notes ;  and  one  similar  to  it 
in  ii.  58,  3,  where  Artabanus  petitions  the  Romans 
ne  Vonones  in  Syria  haberetur  neu  proceres  ad  discordias 
traheret.  To  complete  the  sense,  traheret  must  be 
translated  either  by  '  nor  permitted  to  entice,'  or  else 
'where  he  had  the  opportunity  of  enticing.' 

Again,  Tacitus  often  distracts  the  translator  by 
omitting  words  which  in  English  are  essential  to 
the  sense.  He  will  omit  the  principal  verb,  as  in  haec 

1  The  same  idea  occurs  in  the  last       phase  of  his  life  suo  tantum  ingenio 
words  of  book  vi.,  where  it  is  said  of      utebatur. 
Tiberius  that  in    the  last    and  worst 


THE    LATIN    PERIOD.  lix 

callidis  criminatoribus,  iv.  12,  6,  and  even  in  depen- 
dent sentences,  as  in  spretis  quae  tarda  cum  securitate, 
iii.  66,  6;  or  the  object  of  a  verb  (vi.  24,  4),  leaving  it 
to  be  inferred  from  the  context ;  or  leave  for  the  verb 
a  wrong  object,  which  has  already  done  its  duty  with 
another  verb.  An  instance  of  this  occurs  in  i.  74,  3. 
Crispinus  accused  Marcellus  of  vilifying  Tiberius. 
Having  picked  out  all  the  worst  things  that  could  be 
said  against  Tiberius,  he  '  cast  these  up  against 
Marcellus/  obiectaret  reo ;  that  is,  he  accused 
Marcellus,  not  of  the  failings  themselves,  but  of 
having  attributed  them  to  Tiberius.  Not  unfre- 
quently  Tacitus  puts  the  principal  idea  of  a  sentence 
into  a  subordinate  place  in  it ;  as  in  iv.  64,  4,  where  he 
says  that  the  ancient  Romans  '  had  consecrated  a 
statue  which  had  twice  escaped  the  flames ; '  when 
what  he  really  means  to  say  is  that  '  a  statue  conse- 
crated by  our  ancestors  had  twice  escaped  the  flames.' 
In  these  'and  various  other  ways  Tacitus  strikes  out 
paths  of  speech  in  which  the  English  writer  cannot 
follow  him  ;  paths  in  which  the  oratio  open  to  him 
may  be  said,  in  the  words  of  ii.  87,  3,  to  become 
angusta  et  lubrica. 

One  special  difficulty  which  encounters  all  trans- 
lators of  Latin  prose  authors  is  their  use  of  the 
periodic  style.  A  Period  is  a  sentence  in  which 
several  sub-clauses  are  introduced  in  subordination  to 
one  principal  verb,  which  dominates  and  completes 
the  whole.  The  logical  Roman  mind  loved  to  place 
the  accessory  ideas  of  an  argument  or  a  narrative  in 
so  many  subordinate  clauses,  so  as  to  bring  out  the 
central  idea  with  greater  emphasis ;  and  the  organic 
structure  of  Latin,  with  its  complete  case-  and  verb- 
endings,  its  variety  of  relatives  and  conjunctions,  and 


Ix  INTRODUCTION. 

its  subtle  use  of  mood,  enabled  this  to  be  done  without 
confusion.  In  English  the  Period  is  a  foreigner ;  and 
the  attempt  to  acclimatize  it,  in  imitation  of  the  flow- 
ing style  of  Cicero,  did  much  to  impair  the  native 
vigour  of  our  language  in  writers  of  the  later  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries.  In  French,  Italian  or 
German,  the  period  is  more  possible  :  the  possession 
of  gender  and  verb-endings,  and  the  more  precise 
use  of  pronouns,  enable  a  writer  in  those  languages 
to  carry  the  thread  of  his  meaning  through  a  long 
sentence  which  would  be  intolerably  involved  in 
English.  The  following  passage  from  M.  Gaston 
Boissier  is  a  fine  example  of  the  period  in  French  : — 

1  Je  crois  done,  si  j'ai  bien  interprete  la  pensee  de 
Tacite  dans  ces  quelques  phrases  de  ses  prologues, 
que  la  preference  qu'il  accorde  aux  historiens  de 
1  epoque  republicaine,  si  serieux,  si  pleins  de  qualites 
viriles,  si  instruits  des  affaires  publiques,  si  etrangers 
a  tout  artifice  oratoire,  et  sa  severite  pour  ceux 
de  1'Empire,  qui,  pour  plaire  a  une  societe  de  lettres 
raffines,  ont  trop  sacrifie  aux  agremens  de  la  com- 
position et  du  langage,  qui  venus  en  un  temps  oil 
la  verite  etait  difficile  a  decouvrir  et  dangereuse 
a  dire,  Font  trop  aisement  remplacee  par  aautres 
merites,  permettent  de  croire  qu'au  moment  ou  il 
a  commence  ses  premiers  ouyrages,  il  avait  dans 
1'esprit  la  conception  d'une  histoire  simple,  grave, 
sincere,  qui  tirerait  surtout  son  interet  de  la  surete 
des  informations,  et  tiendrait  moins  a  la  beaute  de  la 
forme  qu'a  la  solidite  du  fond.' l 

The  structure  of  English  does  not  readily  admit 
of  complicated,  yet  perfectly  lucid,  periods  like  the 
above.  An  English  period,  in  unskilful  hands,  is 
apt  to  degenerate  into  an  agglomeration  of  single 
phrases  with  no  cohesion  but  that  afforded  by  pre- 
positions. I  had  occasion  in  a  recent  address,2  to 

1  Tacite,  p.  67. 

8  '  Efficiency    in   Education '    (MacLehose  &  Son,  1903). 


THE    PERIOD    IN    FRENCH    AND    ENGLISH.     Ixi 

quote  the  following  passage,  written  by  a  man  of 
science,  as  an  example  of  what  English  may  become 
when  science  has  banished  literature  from  our 
schools  : — 

1  Electric  arc  lights  have  been  recently  erected  in 
some  parts  of  London  on  high  standards  placed  a 

food  distance  apart,  the  height  being  arranged  to 
isperse  the  powerful  light  to  a  distance  and  to 
prevent  glare,  and  the  distance  apart  being  regulated 
by  the  intensity  of  the  light.  This  arrangement  may 
prove  perfectly  satisfactory  in  ordinary  weather,  but 
on  noticing  their  erection  the  doubt  at  once  occurred 
to  me  as  to  the  efficiency  of  such  lights  in  foggy 
weather,  particularly  in  recollection  of  some  observa- 
tions referred  to  by  me  about  twenty  years  ago  in  a 
discussion  at  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers  on 
the  illumination  of  lighthouses  as  to  the  arc  lights 
which  at  that  period  lighted  a  portion  of  the  Thames 
Embankment  being  as  readily  obliterated  by  fog  as 
some  adjacent  ordinary  gas  lights  owing  to  the  rela- 
tive deficiency  of  the  arc  light  in  red  rays,  which  are 
the  most  capable  of  penetrating  fogs.' l 

Tacitus  is  not  a  specially  periodic  writer ;  his  style 
indeed  represents  a  reaction  from  the  cloying  style 
of  Cicero.  But  he  uses  the  period  every  now  and  then 
with  extraordinary  effect  ;  and  his  writing  everywhere 
shews  traces  of  the  periodic  style.  Some  of  his  most 
compact  sentences  may  be  described  as  truncated 
periods ;  several  subordinate  ideas  are  introduced 
under  one  principal  verb,  but  they  are  expressed  by 
single  words,  usually  Ablatives  or  Participles,  loosely 
connected,  sometimes  without  any  connection  at  all, 
instead  of  by  complete  subordinate  sentences.  The 
result  may  be  an  apparently  shapeless  sentence  like 
the  following  (iii.  39,  2) : — 

Simulque  cuncta  prospere  acta,  caesis  populatoribus  et 

1  Letter  to  the  Times  of  November  7,  1901. 


Ixii  INTRODUCTION. 

dissentione  orta  apud  obsidentes  regisque  opportune*  erup- 
tione  et  adventu  legionis. 

The  most  masterly  of  the  periods  of  Tacitus  occurs 
in  i.  2,  and  is  commented  on  in  the  notes  to  that 
passage.  Another  fine  example  is  to  be  found  in  i. 

74,  2  :- 

'  Nam  egens,  ignotus,  inquies,  dum  occultis  libellis 
saevitiae  principis  adrepit,  mox  clarissimo  cuique 
periculum  facessit,  potentiam  apud  unum,  odium  a£ud 
omnis  adeptus,  dedit  exemplum  quod  secuti  ex  pauperibus 
divites,  ex  contemptis  metuendi,  perniciem  aliis  ac  postre- 
mum  sibi invenere* 

Such  a  sentence  defies  literal  translation  into 
English  ;  but  Valeriani  shews  how  it  can  pass  natur- 
ally, and  with  little  expansion,  into  Italian  : — 

'  Perocche  povero  oscuro  inquieto,  mentre  s'insinua 
con  cieche  accusa  nella  ferocia  del  Principe,  poi 
s'accinge  a  rovinare  i  piu  nobili,  fattone  grande  con 
uno,  abbominavole  a  tutti,  tal  diede  esempio  che 
quanti  lo  seguitarano  ricchi  di  miseri,  d'abietti  fatti 
tremendi,  trassero  gli  altri  e  alfin  se  stessi  in  rovina.'  . 

Another  example  of  a  truncated  period,  in  which 
single  words  do  the  office  of  separate  subordinate 
clauses,  may  be  quoted  from  ii.  2,  6  and  7,  in  which 
Tacitus  describes  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  Parthians 
with  their  new  king  Vonones  : — 

'  Accendebat  dedignantes  et  ipse,  diversus  a  maiorum 
institutis,  raro  venatu,  segni  equorum  cura ;  quotiens 
per  urbes  incederet,  lechcae  gestamine  fastuque  erga 
patrias  epulas.  Inridebantur  et  Graeci  comites  ac 
vilissima  utensilium  anulo  clausa.  Sed  prompti  aditus, 
obvia  comitas,  ignotae  Parthis  virtutes,  nova  vitia ;  et 

fuia  ipsorum  moribus  aliena,  perinde  odium  prams  et 
onestis? 

In  this  congested  passage  the  ideas  which  might 


TRUNCATED   PERIODS   OF  TACITUS.        Ixiii 

be  expressed  in  separate  clauses  are  flung  down  like 
splashes  of  paint  upon  a  canvas,  with  scarcely 
enough  construction  to  hold  them  together.  To 
express  the  above  54  words  of  Tacitus,  Dati  requires 
no  less  than  152  words ;  but  Davanzati,  keeping  close 
to  the  original,  in  construction  as  well  as  order, 
makes  63  words  suffice  : — 

'  Stomacayali  anch'  egli'  co'  supi  modi  diversi  dagli 
antichi ;  cacciar  di  rado,  non  si  dilettar  di  cavalli ;  ire 
per  le  citta  in  lettiga ;  fargli  afa  i  cibi  della  patria  : 
ridevansi  del  codazzo  grechesco,  del  serrare  e  bollare 
ogni  cencio ;  le  larghe  udienze  e  le  liete  accoglienze, 
virtu  nuove,  ai  Parti  erano  vizi  nuovi ;  e  ci6  che 
antico  non  era,  odiavano  buono  e  rio.' 

The  strength  of  this  rendering  is  unequalled  by 
any  translator.  Not  a  word  is  omitted ;  not  an  idea 
added.  M.  Perrot  d'Ablancourt,  who,  though  he  is 
often  inaccurate  and  indulges  in  amplifications,  has 
something  of  the  grand  manner  of  his  time,  thus 
gives  the  passage  : — 

'  Leur  colere  se  redoubloit  par  la  consideration  des 
moeurs  de  ce  Prince,  qui  n'avoit  ppint  la  passion  de 
ses  Ancestres  pour  la  chasse  ny  pour  les  chevaux, 
dedaignoit  leurs  festins,  se  faisoit  porter  en  littiere 
dans  ses  voyages.  D'ailleurs  ils  ne  pouvoient  spuffrir 
un  Roy  des  rarthes  qui  estoit  tpujours  environne 
d'une  troupe  de  Grecs,  et  qui  tenoit  toute  la  vaisselle 
de  son  Palais  enfermee  sous  la  clef.  Enfin  sa  facilite 
extreme  a  recevoir  et  caresser  tout  le  monde,  vertu 
inconnufi  aux  Barbares,  estoit  tachee  par  eux  de 
lachete  et  de  bassesse;  et  sans  cpnsiderer  si  ces 
coutumes  estoient  bonnes  ou  mouvaises,  ils  les  con- 
damnaient  toutes  egalement,  parce  que  ce  n'estoient 
pas  celles  de  leur  Pai's.' 

The  French  is  matchless ;  but  all  trace  of  the 
Tacitean  style  has  disappeared. 


Ixiv  INTRODUCTION. 

A  period  of  a  more  ordinary  kind,  in  a  passage  of 
simple  narrative,  may  be  given  in  the  English.  It 
occurs  in  vi.  31,  1-2  : — 

'  C.  Cestius  and  M.Servilius  being  consuls,  Parthian 
nobles  came  to  the  city,  the  king  Artabanus  being 
ignorant.  He,  loyal  to  the  Romans  through  fear  of 
Germanicus,  just  to  his  subjects,  afterwards  assumed 
insolence  towards  us,  cruelty  to  his  countrymen,  rely- 
ing on  the  successful  wars  which  he  had  waged  with 
surrounding  tribes,  and  despising  the  old  age  of 
Tiberius  as  unwarlike,  and  covetous  of  Armenia,  over 
which,  King  Artabanus  having  died,  he  had  placed 
Arsaces  the  eldest  of  his  sons,  insults  having  been 
added,  and  envoys  sent  to  ask  back  the  treasure  left 
by  Vonones  in  Syria  and  Cilicia ;  at  the  same  time 
with  vain-gloriousness  and  with  threats  he  threw  out 
talk  about  the  ancient  boundaries  of  the  Persians  and 
the  Macedonians,  and  that  he  would  invade  the 
countries  possessed  by  Cyrus  and  afterwards  by 
Alexander. 

The  intolerable  clumsiness  of  this  sentence  is 
enough  to  shew  how  foreign  to  the  genius  of  English 
is  the  Latin  period.  Such  passages  must  be  broken 
up  into  a  number  of  separate  sentences  if  we  would 
make  English  of  them ;  the  translator  will  disregard 
the  Latin  punctuation  altogether,  and  will  frequently 
find  himself  compelled  to  use  twice  as  many  full  stops 
as  there  are  in  the  Latin,  if  he  would  emulate  the 
clearness,  the  rapidity  and  the  incisiveness  of  Tacitus. 

But  if  the  English  writer  must  eschew  the  period, 
he  is  bound  to  give  especial  care  to  the  construction 
of  the  paragraph.  As  Mr.  Jowett  has  pointed  out,  in  a 
passage  quoted  below,  the  main  test  of  excellence  in 
continuous  English  writing  is  to  be  found  rather  in 
the  ordering  of  the  paragraph  than  in  the  construction 
of  individual  sentences.  The  sentences  in  a  paragraph, 


THE    ENGLISH    PARAGRAPH.  Ixv 

however  numerous,  should  all  bear  upon  some  one 
point,  and  mark  a  definite  stage  in  the  progress  of  the 
argument  or  narrative,  leaving  on  the  mind  the  im- 
pression that  some  one  particular  part  of  the  subject 
in  hand  has  been  dealt  with  and  done  with.  In 
modern  English,  paragraphs  are  tending  to  become 
inordinately  long ;  it  is  not  uncommon,  even  in  our 
best  written  Reviews,  to  find  paragraphs  of  a  page 
or  even  two  pages  in  length,  each  dealing  with  several 
subjects.  French  writers,  as  .a  rule,  thoroughly 
understand  the  logical  and  rhetorical  value  of  the 
paragraph  ;  this  is  one  reason  why  French  writing  is 
so  luminous.  The  more  flimsy  of  their  number  are 
apt  to  overdo  the  use  of  it,  and  will  sometimes 
present  a  page  with  almost  as  many  paragraphs  as 
lines. 

The  ancients  knew  nothing  of  paragraphs  in  their 
writing.  They  wrote  mostly  for  the  ear,  not  for  the 
eye ;  and  in  recitation  the  natural  pauses  in  the  sense 
would  be  marked  by  the  voice.  Their  rolls  were 
written  continuously ;  and  the  modern  division  into 
chapters  has  been  made  rather  with  a  view  to  uni- 
formity of  length  than  to  natural  pauses  in  the 
meaning.  It  would  be  a  help  both  to  the  eye  and 
to  the  understanding  if  modern  editors  would  break 
up  Latin  texts  into  paragraphs  of  various  lengths, 
corresponding  to  the  progress  of  the  subject ;  instead 
of  which  they  sometimes  run  several  chapters  to- 
gether, so  as  to  present  to  the  eye  a  long  and  tedious 
block  of  print.  In  the  present  translation,  an  attempt 
has  been  made,  as  far  as  possible,  to  introduce  para- 
graphs corresponding  to  the  sense,  while  the  usual 
division  into  chapters  and  sections  has  been  indi- 
cated in  the  margin  for  purposes  of  reference. 

e 


Ixvi  INTRODUCTION. 

We  have  seen  that  the  translator  must  frequently 
break  up  a  long  Tacitean  sentence  into  several  short 
English  sentences;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  is 
obliged  often  to  expand  a  phrase  to  make  it  intelli- 
gible. What  modern  European  language  could  ex- 
press in  four  words  the  fact  that  the  position  of 
Eudemus  as  family  physician  enabled  him  to  be  con- 
stantly present  at  the  secret  interviews  of  Sejanus  and 
Livilla,  specie  artis  frequens  secretis,  iv.  3,  5  ?  or  picture 
in  five  words  the  pestilential  condition  of  a  fortress 
captured  after  a  long  siege,  pollui  cuncta  sanie,  odore, 
contactu,  iv.  49,  4 ;  or  describe  in  four  words  how  two 
chiefs  fully  armed  spurred  their  horses  against  each 
other,  shouting  as  they  charged,  clamore  telis  equis  con- 
currunt,  vi.  35,  4;  or,  again,  express  in  three  words 
that  the  degradation  of  a  general's  declining  years 
caused  the  services  of  his  prime  to  be  forgotten, 
cesserunt  prima  postremis,  vi.  32,  7  ? 

Even  Davanzati  cannot  rival  brevity  like  this  ;  but 
the  following  examples  may  suffice  to  shew  that, 
in  dealing  with  such  pregnant  phrases,  as  well  as 
with  the  brilliant  epigrams  or  '  sentences/  as  they  are 
called,  with  which  Tacitus  loves  to  close  an  incident, 
both  Italian  and  French  translators  can  come  nearer 
to  the  original,  in  point  and  finish,  than  can  our  own. 

The  personal  encounter  between  Pharasmenes 
and  Orodes,  quoted  in  part  above,  is  thus  described 
by  Tacitus  : — 

Conspicui  eoque  gnari  clamore  telis  equis  concurrunt. 

Richard  Grenewey,  the  Elizabethan  translator,  is 
long,  but  keeps  close  to  the  original :  '  Pharasmenes 
and  Orodes,  .  .  .  being  in  sight  the  one  of  the  other  : 
and  therefore  knowing  the  one  the  other,  with  a  great 
clamour  of  arms  and  horses  ranne  one  against  the 


DIFFICULT    PASSAGES.  Ixvii 

other.'  Sir  Henry  Savile's  translator1  omits  one  half 
of  the  meaning,  and  is  content  with  '  rencountring 
each  other  as  they  rid  too  and  fro.'  Gordon  has 
'  themselves  conspicuous  to  all  and  therefore  known  to 
each  other  they  encountered  fiercely,  horse  to  horse, 
with  terrible  cries  and  lances  darted.'  Murphy,  who 
says  of  his  version  that  '  he  has  endeavoured  to  give 
a  faithful  transcript  of  the  original  in  such  English 
as  an  Englishman  of  taste  can  read  without  disgust,' 
renders  thus  :  'Conspicuous  to  all,  at  length  they  knew 
each  other.  At  the  sight,  with  instinctive  fury,  their 
horses  at  full  speed,  they  rushed  forward  to  the 
charge,  bellowing  revenge,  and  casting  their  javelins.' 
The  Oxford  translation,  revised  in  1854,  gives  : 
'  Meanwhile  Pharasmenes  and  Orodes  .  .  .  might  be 
seen  by  all,  and  therefore  soon  descried  each  other. 
In  a  moment,  they  gallop  to  the  encounter,  with 
loud  shouts  and  lances  poised.'  Messrs.  Church  and 
Brodribb  translate  thus  :  '  Pharasmenes  and  Orodes 
.  .  .  were  conspicuous  to  all,  and  so  recognized  each 
other,  rushed  to  the  combat  with  a  shout,  with 
javelins,  and  galloping  chargers.' 

Of  the  French  translators,  M.  Amelot  de  la 
Houssaie  is  graphic  and  vigorous:  'Venant  tous 
deux  a  se  connoitre  en  cete  rencontre  ils  piquent 
a  toute  bride  1'un  contre  1'autre,  le  javelot  a  la  main, 
et  le  defi  £  la  bouche.'  M.  de  la  Malle,  whose  version 
has  become  common  property,  gives  :  '  Aussitot  leur 
cris,  leurs  chevaux,  leurs  lances  se  croisent.'  This 
translation  is  copied  by  M.  Burnouf;  but  by  the 

1  The  translation  of  '  the  Annals  the  Annals  was  translated  by  Dryden. 
and  History  of  Cornelius  Tacitus,  made  It  is  a  sorry  performance.  Gordon  has 
English  by  several  hands,'  and  under  shewn  that  it  was  not  made  from  the 
the  patronage  of  'the  Learned  Sir  original,  but  from  De  la  Houssaie's  trans- 
Henry  Savile,'  was  published  by  M.  lation,  the  French  of  which  he  sometimes 
Gillyflower  in  1698.  The  first  book  of  villainously  mistranslates. 


Ixviii  INTRODUCTION. 

addition  of  two  words,  he  spoils  the  effect  of  the 
whole :  '  Et  leurs  cris,  leurs  traits,  leurs  coursiers  se 
croisent  a  V instant.'  M.  Panckoucke  is  scarcely  less 
vigorous  :  '  Us  se  reconnaissent,  ils  poussent  un  cri, 
lancent  leurs  traits,1  leurs  chevxau  se  heurtent.'  Of 
other  translators,  Davanzati  alone  gives  us  Tacitus 
himself:  '  Percio  conosciutisi,  con  grida  arme  e  cavalli 
s'affrontano.'  He  is  closely  followed  by  Valeriani : 
'  Si  fanno  Tun  all'  altro  vedere  conoscere  e  con  grida 
armi  e  cavalli  s'  affrontano.' 

A  few  instances  may  next  be  given  of  the  famous 
epigrams  or  '  sentences '  of  Tacitus.  In  the  course  of 
his  noble  address  on  behalf  of  liberty  of  speech, 
Cremutius  Cordus  commends  the  wisdom  of  Augustus 
in  taking  no  notice  of  personal  insults  (iv.  34,  8) : — 

Namque  spreta  exolescunt:  siirascare,  agnita  videntur. 

Davanzati  translates :  '  Perche  queste  cose  sprez- 
zate  svaniscono  ;  adirandoti  le  confessi ; '  a  translation 
which  has  evidently  afforded  the  model  to  the  not  less 
pointed  rendering  of  the  modern  Valeriani :  '  Poiche, 
sprezzate,  inviliscono;  setene  adiri,  pajono  meritate.' 

The  French  translator  M.  de  la  Malle  is  unusually 
brilliant  in  this  passage.  His  version  well  shews  the 
capacity  of  French  for  epigram :  '  Car  le  mepris  fait 
tomber  la  satire;  le  ressentiment  1'accredite.'  This 
rendering  is  appropriated  almost  verbatim  by  M. 
Panckoucke :  '  Car  le  mepris  fait  tomber  la  satire ; 
1'irritation  1'accredite.'  M.  de  la  Houssaie  gives  :  '  Car 
c'est  etoufer  la  medisance  que  de  la  mepriser ;  et  c'est 
avouer  qu'elle  a  raison  de  s'en  facher.' 

The  English  translators  are  good  here ;  and  they 
differ  greatly  from  one  another.  The  Elizabethan 

1  It  is  unnecessary  to  translate  telis.       the  words  which    follow  describe  the 
A  hostile  charge  implies  weapons ;  and      wound  inflicted. 


EPIGRAMS    OF    TACITUS.  Ixix 

Grenewey,  in  this  and  other  passages,  though  more 
homely  and  less  incisive  than  Tacitus,  has  much  of 
his  vigour  and  directness  :  '  For  things  of  that  qualitie 
neglected  vanish  of  themselves ;  but  repined  and 
grieved  at,  argue  a  guiltie  conscience.'  Sir  Henry 
Savile  (who,  by  the  way,  begins  the  speech  with 
'  Gentlemen ')  gives :  '  Calumny  falls  to  the  ground 
when  neglected  ;  but  we  give  a  countenance  to  it  by 
having  any  serious  concern  about  it.'  Gordon  has  an 
unusually  vigorous  version  :  '  For  if  they  are  des- 
pised, they  fade  away ;  if  you  wax  wroth,  you  seem 
to  avow  them  for  true.'  Murphy  translates :  '  Neg- 
lected calumny  soon  expires  ;  shew  that  you  are  hurt, 
and  you  give  it  the  appearance  of  truth.'  Messrs. 
Church  and  Brodribb  (but  for  the  word  '  assuredly ') 
are  excellent:  'Assuredly  what  is  despised  is  soon 
forgotten  ;  when  you  resent  a  thing,  you  seem  to 
recognize  it.' 

Another  notable  epigram  occurs  in  iv.  18,  3  : — 

Nam  beneficia  eo  usque  laeta  sunt,  dum  videntur 
exsolvi  posse  ;  ubi  multum  antevenere,  pro  gratia  odium 
redditnr. 

Here  Davanzati  is  as  short  as  Tacitus  :  '  Perche  i 
beneficj  rallegrono  in  quanto  si  posson  rendere ;  gli 
eccessivi  si  pagano  d'  ingratitudine  e  d'  odio.'  Valeriani 
is  shorter  still :  '  Poiche  i  benefizi  aggradano  sinche 
possono  ricambiarsi ;  ove  d'assai  trascessero,  rendesi 
odio  per  grazia.' 

M.  Amelot  de  la  Houssaie,  representing  the  more 
expansive  style  of  his  time,  expresses  the  thought 
admirably,  but  uses  three  words  for  every  one  of 
Tacitus :  '  Car  les  bienfaits  ne  sont  agreables,  qu'au- 
tant  qu'on  se  trouve  en  £tat  de  rendre  la  pareille ;  et 
quand  une  fois  ils  surpassent  de  beaucoup  le  pouvoir 


Ixx  INTRODUCTION. 

de  ceux  qui  les  ont  recus,  on  les  paie  de  haine  au  lieu 
de  reconnoissance.'  M.  Panckoucke  is  excellent  and 
epigrammatic  :  '  Car  les  bienfaits  ne  plaisent  qu'autant 
qu'ils  peuvent  etre  acquittes  ;  des  qu'ils  vont  au  dela, 
au  lieu  de  gratitude,  la  haine.'  Sir  George  Savile's 
translator  is  clumsy  and  pointless  :  '  All  benefits  are 
pleasing,  whilst  the  receiver  is  in  a  condition  to 
make  a  suitable  return ;  but  when  once  they  exceed 
recompence,  hatred  and  ingratitude  ever  take  place, 
instead  of  friendship  and  acknowledgment.'  Murphy, 
after  his  wont,  not  only  expands  but  adds  matter  of 
his  own  :  '  He  felt  himself  under  obligations  to  his 
officer;  and  obligations  (such  is  the  nature  of  the 
human  mind)  are  only  then  acknowledged  when  it  is 
in  our  power  to  requite  them ;  if  they  exceed  all 
measures,  to  be  insolvent  is  painful,  and  gratitude 
gives  way  to  hatred.' 

Another  passage  which  has  been  the  torment  of 
translators  occurs  in  iv.  33,  6: — 

Etiam  gloria  ac  virtus  infensos  habet,  ut  nimis  ex 
propinquo  diversa  arguens. 

Davanzati  can  translate  exactly,  both  as  to  order 
and  construction :  '  Anche  la  virtu  e  la  gloria  ha  dei 
nemici,  quasi  riprendenti  troppo  da  vicino  i  loro 
contrari.'  Not  less  close  and  exact  is  Valeriani :  '  Han 
pur  la  gloria  e  la  virtu  i  suoi  nemici,  come  d'assai 
vicino  i  loro  opposti  sgridando.' 

The  rendering  of  M.  d'Alembert,  to  whom  we  are 
indebted  for  an  elaborate  treatise  on  the  art  of  trans- 
lating Tacitus  (1784),  is  good,  but  it  has  no  pretence 
to  being  a  translation :  '  L'eclat  meme  de  la  vertu 
irrite  les  medians,  parce  qu'elle  les  demasque  et  les 
condamne.'  De  la  Malle  is  at  once  incorrect  and 
feeble  :  '  II  n'y  a  pas  jusqu'  a  la  gloire  et  a  la  vertu  qui 


TACITUS    NOT   ALL    EPIGRAM.  Ixxi 

ne  choquent,  parce  qu'  a  la  proximite  elles  semblent 
accuser  la  honte  des  contemporains.'  M.  Panckoucke 
is  no  better;  de  la  Houssaie  hopelessly  mistakes  the 
passage.  M.  Louandre  is  fairly  good :  '  La  gloire  et 
la  vertu  m6me  ofFensent,  comme  si  lorsqu'elles  sont 
trop  pres  de  nous,  elles  condamnaient  ce  qui  leur 
ressemble  pas.' 

Grenewey  and  Sir  G.  Savile's  translator  are 
quite  wrong ;  the  latter  gives  :  '  Add  to  all  this  glory 
and  virtue  make  men  jealous,  especially  since  like 
actions  may  be  differently  interpreted.'  The  best 
English  translation  is  that  of  Messrs.  Church  and 
Brodribb :  'Again,  even  honour  and  virtue  make 
enemies,  condemning,  as  they  do,  their  opposites  by 
too  close  a  contrast.' 

Lastly,  we  have  the  perfect  phrase  in  vi.   32,  7  : 

Cessemnt  prima  postremis. 

The  best  translation  of  it  that  I  have  found  is  that 
of  De  la  Malle:  'Sa  fin  fit  oublier  ses  commence- 
ments.' But  the  point  of  this  rendering  is  taken 
from  the  version  of  M.  Guerin  (1742),  who  has:  '  Les 
dernieres  actions  de  sa  vie  ont  fait  oublier  les 
premieres;'  and  it  has  been  copied  in  turn  by 
almost  all  the  later  French  translators.  There  is  a 
reminiscence  of  it  in  Messrs.  Church  and  Brodribb: 
'  The  beginning  of  his  career  was  forgotten  in  its  end.' 
More  than  one  English  translator  has  copied  the 
unhappy  rendering  of  Gordon,  '  His  last  character 
has  swallowed  up  his  first.'  Grenewey  is  good,  and 
nearer  to  the  Latin  than  them  all:  'And  so  his  first 
virtues  gave  place  to  his  latter  vices.' 

The  above  quotations  show  how  brilliant  at  times 
Italian  and  French  can  be  in  the  translation  of  the 
more  striking  sayings  of  Tacitus;  but  it  cannot  be 


Ixxii  INTRODUCTION. 

said  that  any  of  them,  except  perhaps  Davanzati, 
whose  style  is  too  crabbed,  perhaps  too  provincial, 
to  have  a  high  literary  character,  do  justice  to  the 
rare  qualities  of  his  style  as  a  whole.  The  French 
are  sometimes  inordinately  long.  M.  Guerin  is  often 
longer  than  Murphy  himself.  He  complains  that 
Tacitus  employs  'moins  de  mots  que  de  sens;'  for 
French,  he  says,  does  not  admit  of  a  '  diction  brusque 
et  coupee,  qui  lui  oterait  toute  harmonic ; '  and  so  in 
his  own  version  he  usually  reverses  the  proportion 
between  words  and  thoughts  by  expanding  the 
original  into  two  or  three  times  its  length :  see  i.  2, 
or  iii.  8,  3;  in  the  latter  passage  18  words  of  Tacitus 
are  expanded  into  62. 

But  Tacitus  is  not  all  epigram ;  and  students  of 
Tacitus  have  as  a  rule  made  too  much  of  the  gems 
and  too  little  of  the  setting.  His  more  brilliant  say- 
ings no  doubt  stand  out  conspicuously  as  condensed 
summaries  of  the  observations  of  an  experienced  man 
of  the  world.  But  many  men  have  been  great  in 
epigram  who  were  great  in  nothing  else,  and  who 
could  never  have  produced  a  work  of  sustained 
dignity  and  power  like  the  Annals.  The  greatest 
merit  of  Tacitus  is  the  uniformly  high  level  of  writing 
which  he  maintains  throughout.  His  style  never 
droops :  he  is  never  trivial,  commonplace1  or  dull 
There  is  scarcely  one  dull  sentence,  one  lifeless 
phrase,  in  all  his  works.  His  whole  mode  of  writing 
is  epigrammatic;  his  more  notable  epigrams  do  not 
come  in  by  chance,  they  are  not  dragged  in  as  orna- 
ments from  without ;  they  arise  naturally  out  of  the 
subject,  out  of  the  thought,  that  have  gone  before. 
They  are  but  the  flash-point  of  a  uniformly  brilliant 
style. 


BRILLIANCE    OF    HIS    ORDINARY    STYLE.     Ixxiii 

In  his  most  ordinary  passages,  Tacitus  shews  him- 
self a  master  in  the  art  of  painting  with  words.  In 
narrating  an  incident,  a  battle,  or  a  campaign,  he 
never  wastes  a  word;  he  omits  nothing  that  is  • 
essential,  inserts  nothing  that  does  not  help  the  effect, 
and  brings  out  his  points  exactly  in  the  order  in  which 
they  will  tell  most.  He  never*.  re_peats  himself;  each 
stage  in  the  narrative  is  brought  out  in  a  fresh  and 
original  way,  and  all  combine  to  make  up  the  colour 
with  which  he  invests  the  whole.  He  is  careless  of 
his  constructions ;  he  will  use  any  that  serves  his 
purpose ;  he  will  pass  abruptly  from  one  construction 
to  another,  or  leave  a  construction  half  developed,  if 
he  can  thereby  aid  the  swift  succession  of  ideas ;  no 
one  ever  realized  more  completely  that  grammar 
must  be  the  servant,  not  the  master,  of  the  thought. 
The  parts  of  his  narrative  come  out  in  their  proper 
proportion,  because  he  saw  them  as  a  whole.  This 
is  what  Montesquieu  meant  when  he  said :  '  Tacite 
abregeoit  tout  parce  qu'il  voyait  tout.' 

No  better  instance  can  be  given  of  the  vigour, 
vivacity,  and  variety  of  Tacitean  narrative  than  the 
account  of  the  mutiny  in  the  Pannonian  and  German 
armies.  Both  mutinies  sprang  from  similar  causes, 
aimed  at  the  same  ends,  and  ran  a  similar  course. 
Both  were  quelled,  after  much  difficulty,  by  the 
personal  influence  of  sons  of  the  Imperial  House.  Yet 
there  is  no  similarity  in  the  two  narratives.  The 
incidents  are  different ;  the  phrases  used  are  different, 
the  whole  course  of  events  is  differently  determined, 
and  each  stage  of  the  story  in  each  case  is  told  with 
a  novelty  and  freshness  that  hold  the  reader's  interest 
to  the  end. 

It  is  in  the  reproduction  of  the  general  effect  of 


Ixxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

narratives  like  these,  and  in  weaving  them  into  an 
equable  and  harmonious  whole,  that  the  translator's 
mettle  will  most  be  tried.  Mr.  Jowett  has  well  said 
that  '  the  true  test  of  translation  is  not  a  good  phrase, 
as  a  boy  at  school  supposes,  or  a  good  sentence,  as 
some  scholars  imagine,  but  an  equable  and  harmonious 
paragraph,  or,  rather,  a  harmonious  whole.'1  The 
large  features  of  the  style  of  Tacitus  are  independent 
of  all  tricks  and  turns  of  language,  and  rise  superior 
to  them.  The  whole  is  greater  than  the  parts;  and 
no  translation  of  a  single  phrase  can  be  good,  how- 
ever apt  in  itself,  if  it  is  not  of  a  piece  with  the 
whole  to  which  it  belongs.  To  extend  a  metaphor  of 
Dryden's,  it  is  better  for  a  writer  to  have  his  currency 
all  in  silver  than  to  mingle  farthings  with  his  gold. 

The  variety  .of  the  style  of  Tacitus  has  been  com- 
mented upon  by  all  his  critics ;  it  is  as  conspicuous 
in  his  choice  of  words  as  in  that  of  CP.nsjtr,uctiojrLS_, 
He  takes  infinite  pains  so  to  vary  his  diction  as  to 
avoid  a  sense  of  monotony.  But  the  variety  is  not 
obtrusive ;  it  corresponds  naturally  to  some  variety 
in  the  point  of  view,  and  leaves  no  feeling  of  effort 
on  the  reader's  mind.  The  slh  .chapter ...of-Jiaok  iv. 
contains  a  list  of  the  Roman  provinces,  with  an 
enumeration  of  the  forces  by  which  each  was  occu- 
pied ;  but  instead  of  giving  a  lifeless  catalogue  of 
names  and  numbers,  Tacitus  so  varies  his  mode  of 
statement  in  each  case  that  no  impression  of  dulness  or 
repetition  is  left  upon  the  mind  or  the  ear.  Another 
example  of  inconspicuous  variety  may  be  taken  from 
the  disquisition  on  law  in  iii.  25-28.  In  those  chapters 
the  ideas  of  law  and  law-making  occur  over  and  over 
again,  yet  there  is  scarcely  any  repetition  in  the 

1  '  Life  of  Jowett,  Abbott  and  Campbell,'  vol.  ii.  p.  204. 


VARIETY    OF    THE    STYLE    OF    TACITUS.      Ixxv 

language  by  which  they  are  expressed.  Rich  as  our 
own  tongue  is,  to  emulate  the  variety  of  such  passages 
presents  a  literary  puzzle  to  the  English  translator. 

And  there  is  another  and  opposite  kind  of  variety 
in  Tacitus  which  causes  still  more  difficulty  to  the 
translator— his  use  of  the  same  word  with  different 
shades  of  meaning.  The  Romans  had  not  the  analy- 
tical mind  of  the  Greeks ;  they  did  not  differentiate 
as  nicely  between  the  meanings  of  their  words,  or 
find  it  necessary,  like  the  French,  to  have  a  special 
word  for  every  variety  of  thing.  Every  student 
of  Latin  knows  the  difficulty  of  finding  an  exact 
equivalent,  in  any  particular  passage,  for  such  words 
as  offictum,  religio,  civitas,  etc.,  which  according  to  the 
context  may  have  a  wide  meaning  or  a  narrow  mean- 
ing, an  abstract  or  a  concrete  meaning;  may  refer 
to  something  outside  the  mind,  or  to  a  conscious- 
ness of  that  thing  inside  the  mind.  The  student 
of  Tacitus  is  constantly  baffled  in  the  attempt 
to  find  the  exact  English  equivalent  for  ambitio, 
mores,  conscientia,  ludibrium,  civilis,  artes  bonae,  and 
words  of  a  similar  character.  Latin  writers  did 
not  feel  the  awkwardness  of  using  the  same  word 
twice  over,  in  close  proximity,  with  different  mean- 
ings. Thus  in  ii.  59,  4,  Tacitus  applies  the  term 
claustra  to  Egypt,  as  the  key  of  the  Mediterranean ; 
in  the  next  chapter,  he  uses  the  same  word  to  denote 
'the  extreme  limits  of  the  Empire.'  He  makes  great 
use  of  this  vague  much-embracing  quality  of  Latin 
words.  Much  of  his  suggestiveness,  much  of  his 
so-called  ambiguity,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  he,  as 
it  were,  throws  his  net  widely,  using  words  which 
cover  various  shades  of  meaning,  and  leaving  the 
reader  to  divine  for  himself  which  is  the  particular 


Ixxvi  INTRODUCTION. 

shade  most  appropriate  in  each  case.  Thus  his 
phrases  germinate  differently  in  the  minds  of  different 
readers ;  the  crop  they  yield  is  often  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  the  quantity  of  seed  sown ;  and  it  is  this 
quality  which  accounts  for  their  applicability  to  all 
kinds  of  circumstances  other  than  those  which  origi- 
nally called  them  forth.  The  English  translator  is 
bound  to  be  more  definite ;  he  has  to  commit  himself 
to  some  one  particular  interpretation,  and  so  fre- 
quently runs  the  risk  of  giving  a  portion  of  the 
meaning  instead  of  the  whole. 

How  much  meaning  may  lurk  under  apparently 
simple  words,  may  be  illustrated  by  an  analysis  of 
the  opening  words  of  i.  4.  Having  described  the 
political  situation  at  the  death  of  Augustus,  Tacitus 
thus  sums  up  the  momentous  change  by  which  the 
Republic  had  been  converted  into  an  Empire : — 

Igitur  verso  civitatis  statu  nihil  usquam  prisci  et 
integri  moris. 

Every  word  in  this  clause  is  full  of  meaning. 
The  revolution  had  been  complete  (verso  civitatis 
statu)',  and  it  had  come  to  stay  (statu).  It  was  no 
transient  upheaval  like  those  brought  about  by 
Marius  and  Sulla.  The  change  extended  to  the 
whole  Empire,  to  every  department  of  life  (nihil 
usquam).  Editors  differ  as  to  the  meaning  tf  moris. 
Some  would  confine  its  meaning  to  '  constitutional 
usage/  some  to  'private  morality;'  some  take  it  of 
customs  and  habits  in  general.  The  word  probably 
includes  all  these  and  more — life,  manners,  modes  of 
thought,  everything  that  made  up  the  world  of  a 
Roman  citizen.  There  was  nihil  prisci  moris :  the 
good  old  days,  the  good  old  life,  were  gone ;  every- 
thing that  to  the  regretful  regard  of  Tacitus  was 


THE    ORDER    OF   TACITUS.  Ixxvii 

great  and  free  and  noble  in  the  old  Republic  had 
disappeared.  Nihil  integri  moris :  the  forms  of  the 
past  might  remain;  the  magistrates  might  be  called 
by  the  same  names  (chap.  3,  7);  but  the  heart  had 
gone  out  of  it  all,  the  reality  was  gone,  the  touch  of 
change  was  everywhere.  Integri  is  an  innocent-look- 
ing word ;  it  does  not  assert  innovation,  deterioration, 
corruption ;  but  it  implied  them  all  to  the  mind  and  to 
the  school  which  regarded  every  change  as  being  for 
the  worse.  Translations  may  be  searched  in  vain  for 
an  adequate  rendering  of  these  few  words ;  they  all 
give  some  part  of  the  meaning,  not  the  whole. 

Nothing  is  more  carefully  studied  in  the  narratives 
of  Tacitus  than  the  order.  His  frequent  changes  of 
construction  are  due  partly,  no  doubt,  to  his  love  for 
variety,  but  in  a  still  greater  degree  to  a  desire  to 
arrange  his  facts  in  the  most  effective  order.  The 
ideas  determine  the  grammar;  and  however  much 
the  grammar  varies,  the  thread  of  the  thought  runs  on 
continuously.  The  picture  of  the  sufferings  of  Drusus 
in  prison  (iv.  24,  4)  owes  half  its  force  to  the  order 
of  the  words.  The  Senate  are  aghast  that  one, 
hitherto  so  impenetrable  as  Tiberius— 

hue  confidentiae  venisse  tit  tamquam  dimotis  parietibus 
ostenderet  nepotem  sub  verbere  centurionis,  inter  servorwn 
ictus  extrema  vitae  alimenta  frustra  orantem. 

It  is  the  same  with  his  longer  narratives.  Nothing 
can  be  finer  than  the  way  in  which  the  order  is 
developed  in  the  account  of  the  disaster  at  Fidenae 
(iv.  62,  63),  or  of  the  landing  of  Agrippina  at  Brun- 
disium  (iii.  i,  2);  or  in  that  of  the  last  campaign 
against  Tacfarinas  (iv.  23-36),  and  in  other  notable 
passages. 

Order    plays    no    less  important    a    part    in   the 


Ixxviii  INTRODUCTION. 

speeches  which  Tacitus  puts  into  the  mouth  of 
various  personages.  These  speeches  are  master- 
pieces of  compressed  rhetoric.  The  language  is 
simpler,  the  construction  less  involved,  the  cadences 
more  smooth,  than  in  the  narrative  passages ;  but 
their  crowning  excellence  lies  in  the  luminous  and 
effective  order  in  which  great  ideas  swiftly  succeed 
each  other,  without  one  word  of  surplusage.  It  would 
not  be  easy  to  match  the  simple  pathos  of  the  speech 
in  which  Tiberius  commends  his  grandsons  to  the 
Senate  (iv.  8,  6-8) ;  the  loftiness  of  that  in  which  he 
declines  divine  honours  (iv.  37,  38);  the  spirit  with 
which  Cremutius  Cordus  vindicates  liberty  of  speech 
(iv.  34,  35);  the  dexterity  with  which  Germanicus 
plays  on  the  feelings  of  the  half  repentant  soldiery 
(i.  42,  43) :  and  the  most  striking  point  in  all  these 
speeches  is  the  unerring  instinct  with  which  every 
idea,  almost  every  word,  is  introduced  at  the  point 
where  it  is  most  effective. 

Now  of  all  the  features  in  the  style  of  Tacitus,  his 
order  is  the  one  in  which  it  is  most  easy  for  an 
English  translator  to  follow  him.  The  flexibility  of 
our  language  enables  it  to  express  one  thing  in  various 
ways,  and  to  place  ideas  in  almost  any  order  by  adopt- 
ing the  construction  which  suits  that  order  best.  We 
have  seen  that  it  is  not  possible  in  English  to  imitate 
the  constructions  of  Tacitus ;  and  that  if  his  swiftness 
and  vigour  are  to  be  reproduced,  his  long  sentences 
must  often  be  broken  up  into  several  short  sentences 
in  the  English.  But  with  some  care,  by  adopting  a  suit- 
ably turned  phrase,  it  is  usually  possible  to  observe 
his  order.  It  is  not  always  possible;  for  English 
has  its  own  mode  of  expressing  emphasis  as  well  as 
Latin,  and  we  often  place  the  emphatic  word  first  in 


TACITUS    UNAPPROACHABLE.  Ixxix 

a  sentence  where  Latin  places  it  last.  But,  as  a  rule, 
the  various  points  in  a  passage  of  Tacitus  can  be 
marshalled  in  the  order  in  which  he  places  them,  and 
by  preserving  his  order  we  preserve  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  features  of  his  style. 

That  a  style  so  full  of  interest  as  that  of  Tacitus 
should  have  tempted  many  translators  into  the  field, 
is  little  to  be  wondered  at ;  or  that  so  many  should 
have  fallen  short  of  the  highest  success.  Masters  of 
prose  writing  are  few  in  number  in  any  age;  Mr. 
Frederick  Harrison  tells  us  that — 

'  Mastery  in  prose  is  an  art  more  difficult  than 
mastery  in  verse.  ...  At  the  death  of  Tennyson,  we 
may  remember,  it  was  said  that  no  less  than  sixty 
poets  were  thought  worthy  of  the  wreath  of  bay. 
Were  there  six  writers  of  prose  whom  even  a  log- 
rolling confederate  would  venture  to  hail  as  a  possible 
claimant  to  the  crown?'1  .  .  . 

If  this  be  so,  it  is  indeed  vain  to  look  for  a  perfect 
translation  of  one  of  the  prose  master-pieces  of  the 
world,  or  to  hope  to  interpret  adequately  an  author 
whose  thoughts  are  dressed  in  a  strange  language, 
and  come  wafted  to  us  over  a  gulf  of  eighteen  centuries. 
Apart  from  the  essential  difficulty  of  saying  in  one 
language  what  has  been  thought  in  another,  who  can 
catch  the  tone  of  a  writer  so  concise,  so  suggestive, 
so  varied ;  whose  style  is  always  stately,  but  not 
stiff,  dignified,  yet  never  dull;  who  is  always  in 
earnest,  always  on  the  stretch,  yet  never  heavy  or 
pedantic;  always  fresh,  bright,  interesting,  though 
unrelieved  by  one  spark  of  playfulness  or  humour; 
who  speaks  in  accents  of  command,  and  who  strikes 
in  every  sentence  that  note  of  moral  and  patrician 

1  Nineteenth  Century,  June,  1898,  p.  938. 


1XXX  INTRODUCTION. 

hauteur  which  befitted  the  Stoic  philosopher,  and  the 
statesman  of  Imperial  Rome  ? 

In  these  days  when  general  interest  in  ancient 
life  and  literature  has  been  so  greatly  quickened, 
while  the  exacting  demands  of  modern  studies 
make  it  more  and  more  difficult  for  the  ordinary 
student  to  acquaint  himself  with  the  originals,  an 
incomparable  service  is  being  rendered  to  education 
and  to  modern  culture  by  those  scholars  whose 
finished  translations  are  helping  modern  readers  to 
realize  for  themselves  what  are  the  qualities  in  the 
Greek  and  Latin  classics  which  have  won  for  them 
the  admiration  of  mankind.  No  translation  can  rise 
to  the  level  of  such  a  work  as  the  Annals  of  Tacitus  ; 
but  if  the  version  here  offered  shall  do  something  to 
make  Tacitus  live  again  for  the  English  reader,  or, 
better  still,  induce  him  to  study  the  original,  it  will 
repay  the  years  of  solid  labour  which  have  been 
expended  on  it. 


THE    ANNALS 

OF 

CORNELIUS    TACITUS. 


BOOK    I. 

1  IN  the  beginning,  Rome  was  ruled  by  Kings.1     Lucius  HOW 
Brutus  established  liberty  and  the  Consulship.     The  *°5ett 

2  Dictatorship  was   resorted   to  in  emergencies.     The  Augustus. 
authority  of  the  Decemvirs  lasted  for  only  two  years  ; 

that  of  the  Military  Tribunes  with  Consular  Powers 

3  for  no  long  period.     The  tyrannies  of  Cinna  and  of 
Sulla  were  short-lived  ;2  the  ascendency  of  Pompeius 
and  Crassus  passed  quickly  on  to  Caesar,  the  swords 
of  Lepidus  and  Antonius  made  way  before  Augustus  : 
who  under  the  title  of  'Princeps'  took  the  whole 


1  Chapters  i  and  2  are  written  with 
great  care.  Chap,  i  begins  with  a 
short  enumeration  of  the  various  forms 
of  government  set  up  in  Rome  from  the 
time  of  Romulus  to  that  of  Augustus. 
Each  is  marked  by  an  appropriate 
word.  For  the  kings,  the  neutral  word 
habuere,  '  governed,"  is  used.  Li- 
bertas  stands  for  'the  Republic.' 
Potestas  and  ius  imply  that  the  powers 
of  the  decemvirs  and  military  tribunes 
were  constitutional,  and  exercised  ac- 
cording to  law.  The  rule  of  Cinna  and 
of  Sulla  was  a  dominatio — a  rule  of 
violence  without  pretence  of  legality. 
The  first  triumvirate  exercised  a.potentia, 
or  undue  ascendency  ;  it  was  an  extra- 
legal,  rather  than  an  illegal,  authority  ; 


a  combination  of  influences  which,  with- 
out palpably  overriding  the  constitu- 
tion, worked  it  for  the  sole  benefit  of 
the  triumvirs.  The  second  triumvirate, 
of  Antony,  Lepidus  and  Augustus, 
was  in  its  origin  purely  military  (arma) ; 
while  Augustus  established  an  Impe- 
rium,  under  the  title  of  Princeps. 

*  Cinna's  dominatio  lasted  from  87 
B.C.,  when  he  violated  alike  his  oath 
and  the  constitution  as  Cos.  I.  (i.e.  for 
the  first  time),  till  he  was  killed  in  a 
mutiny  at  Ancona  in  B.C.  84,  when 
Cos.  IV.  It  is  curious  that  Tacitus 
makes  no  mention  of  Marius,  whose 
reign  of  terror  was  in  B.C.  87 ;  nor  of 
Sulla's  later  career  as  a  legislator. 
Sulla  was  dictator  perpetuus  B.C.  82-79. 

B 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


Purpose 
of  this 
History. 


world,   worn   out   by   civil    conflict,   under   Imperial 

rule.1 

The  story  of  ancient  Rome,  in  her  triumphs  and  4 
reverses,   has   been    related    by   illustrious  writers; 
nor  were  men  of  genius  wanting  to  tell  of  Augustus 
and  his  times,  until  the  rising  spirit  of  sycophancy 
bid   them   beware.     The   histories   of   Tiberius    and  5 
Gaius,  of  Claudius   and  Nero,  were  either  falsified 
through   fear,   if  written   during  their  life-time ;   or 
composed  under  feelings  of  fresh  hatred  after  their 
fall.       I     purpose,    therefore,    to    write    shortly    of  6 
Augustus  and  his  end,  and  then  narrate  the  reigns 
of  Tiberius   and    his    successors ; 2    unmoved,    as    I 
have   no  reason  to   be  moved,  by  either  hatred   or 
partiality.3 


1  The  phrase  nomine  principis  sub 
impet  ium  accepit  expresses  in  the 
shortest  and  most  exact  form  the  gov- 
ernment set  up  by  Augustus  :  a  military 
title  of 


under  the  modest 
princeps.  The  imperium,  conveyed  by 
a  lex  curiata  de  imperio,  was  properly 
the  supreme  power,  civil  and  military, 
exercised  by  the  higher  magistrates  of 
the  Roman  people,  whether  at  home  or 
abroad.  In  practice,  under  the  Re- 
public, the  imperium  within  the  city 
was  so  modified  by  the  rights  of  inter- 
cessio,  provocatio,  etc.,  that  it  could 
only  be  fully  exercised,  even  by  the 
consuls,  outside  the  city  walls,  and  by 
provincial  governors  inside  their  re- 
spective provinces.  Hence  the  term 
came  to  denote  especially  the  power  of 
the  sword,  exercised  by  every  imperator 
over  his  troops,  or  over  his  province. 
An  extended  imperium  became  the 
basis  of  the  power  of  the  emperors 
(see  n.  on  chap.  2,  i)  ;  but  to  avoid 
parading  within  the  city  the  military 
nature  of  his  rule,  Augustus  chose  to  be 
designated  by  the  simple  title  of  '  prin- 
ceps.1 That  title,  under  the  Republic, 
had  been  im  honorary  designation  ; 
it  was  given  as  a  matter  of  courtesy 
to  the  senior  consular  in  the  senate, 
who  was  called  princeps  senatw. 
Gradually,  however,  it  acquired  what 
Mr.  Greenidge  ('Roman  Public  Life,' 
p.  352)  describes  as  a  semi-official 


character,  and  came  to  denote  a  kind 
of  political  pre-eminence  over  other 
citizens,  as  in  Cic.  ad  Att.  viii.  9,  4 
nihil  malle  Caesarem  quam  principe 
Pompeio  sine  metu  vivere  ;  and  ad 
Fam.  vi.  6,  5  esset  hie  quidem  (i.e. 
Caesar)  clarus  in  toga  et  princeps. 
Horace  applies  it  in  a  complimentary 
manner  to  Augustus  (Od.  i,  2,  50) 
Hie  ames  did  pater  atque  princeps. 
Similarly,  the  young  Caesars,  Gaius 
and  Lucius,  were  styled  principes  iu- 
•ventutis  (chap.  3,  2).  In  the  present 
passage,  Tacitus  is  speaking  of  the 
principate  in  its  ultimate  form,  as  con- 
stituted in  B.  c.  23,  without  reference  to 
the  intermediate  form  which  it  assumed 
in  B.C.  27.  See  n.  on  chap.  2,  i. 

2  Tacitus  here  announces  the  scope 
of  the  Annals,  and  his  reasons  for  under- 
taking the  work.     He  is  to  be  the  first 
impartial    historian   of   the    reigns  of 
Tiberius,  Caligula,  Claudius  and  Nero. 

3  Thus  ostentatiously  does    Tacitus 
proclaim  that  he  has  no  causas,  i.e.  no 
personal  reasons,  for  partiality  in  writing 
of  Augustus  and  Tiberius :  he  has  re- 
ceived neither  good  usage  nor  ill  usage 
at  their  hands.     Similarly,  in  introduc- 
ing his  Histories,  he  says  Mihi  Galba, 
Otho,  Vitellius  nee  beneficio  nee  iniziria 
cogniti  (Hist.  i.  i,  4).  How  far  he  makes 
good  this  claim  in  regard  to  Tiberius 
is  one  of  the  great  questions  for  the 
reader  of  the  Annals  to  determine. 


A.D.  14.] 


BOOK    I.   CHAPS.    1-2. 


When  the  last  army  of  the  Republic l  had  fallen  Gradual 
with  Brutus  and  Cassius2  on  the  field;  when  Sextus  Augustus 
Pompeius8  had   been  crushed   in   Sicily;  and  when 
the  deposition  of  Lepidus,4  followed  by  the  death  of 
Antonius,5  had  left  Augustus 6  sole  leader  jof  the  Julian 
party,  he  laid  aside  the  title  of  Triumvir,7  assumed 


1  In  contrast  to  the  curt  sentences  of 
chap,  i,  Tacitus  now  plunges  into  one 
of  his  most  carefully  constructed  periods. 
In  one  masterly  sentence,  he  passes  in 
review  the  whole  reign  of  Augustus  ; 
noting  the  successive  stages  in  his  up- 
ward progress,  the  methods  by  which  he 
paved  the  way  for  Empire,  the  exhaus- 
tion, the  lassitude  and  corruption,  which 
led  the  Roman  world  to  acquiesce  in  it. 
In  styling  the  army  which  fought  at 
Philippi  '  the  last  army  of  the  Republic,' 
Tacitus  declines  to  acknowledge  the 
legality  of  the  consular  powers  voted 
to  the  triumvirs  for  five  years  by 
a  plebiscite  carried  by  the  tribune  P. 
Titius  in  November,  B.C.  43. 

8  Brutus  and  Cassius  both  committed 
suicide  :  Cassius  after  the  first  battle  of 
Philippi,  B.C.  42 ;  Brutus  after  the 
second,  fought  twenty  days  later. 

*  Sextus  Pompeius  Magnus,  younger 
son  of  Pompey  the  Great,  maintained 
the  Pompeian  cause  after  his  father's 
death,  principally  in  Sicily  and  by  sea, 
till  he  was  defeated  by  M.  Agrippa  in 
the  sea-fight  off  Naulochus,   Sept.  3, 
B.C.  36. 

4  M.  Aemilius  Lepidus,  the  triumvir, 
attempting  a  revolt  on  his  own  account 
in  Sicily,  after  the  defeat  of  Sextus 
Pompey  by  M.  Agrippa  in  B.C.  36,  was 
deposed  by  Augustus,  and  forced  into 
retirement.  But  he  remained  Pontifex 
Maximus  until  his  death,  B.C.  13,  when 
he  was  succeeded  in  that  office  by 
Augustus. 

•  After    his    memorable    defeat    at 
Actium,  Sept.  2,  B.C.  31,  Antony  fled 
to  Alexandria,  where  he  put  an  end  to 
himself  in  the  year  following,  on  the 
approach  of  Augustus. 

6  Tacitus  here  speaks  of  Augustus  as 
Caesar.  In  chap,  i  he  is  spoken  of  as 
Augustus  in  connection  with  the  2nd 
triumvirate  (B.C.  43),  although  that  title 
was  not  conferred  upon  him  until 
Jan.  16,  B.c.  27;  and  in  the  same 
passage  the  name  Catsarem  refers  to 
Julius  Caesar.  Tacitus  applies  the  name 
indiscriminately,  and  without  any  addi- 
tion, to  all  the  members  of  the  imperial 


family  in  turn  :  to  Augustus,  Tiberius, 
Germanicus,  Drusus,  etc.  The  full 
name  of  Augustus  at  the  time  of  the 
triumvirate  was  Gains  Julius  Caesar 
Octaviantts ;  the  termination  anus  sig- 
nifying that  he  had  belonged  to  the 
Gens  Octavia  before  passing  by  adoption 
into  the  Gens  lulia. 

7  The  reference  here  (posito  trium- 
viri nomine)  is  to  the  intermediate  con- 
stitution of  B._c.  27,  when  Augustus, 
being  now  potenfiae  securus  (iii.  28,  3), 
professed  to  hand  back  to  the  senate  and 
people  the  extraordinary  powers  con- 
ferred upon  the  triumvirs  in  B.C.  43,  of 
which  powers  he  was  now  the  sole  holder. 
This  act  is  constantly  spoken  of  as  a 
'  restoration  of  the  Republic.'  Thus  in 
the  great  inscription  known  as  the 
Monumentum  Ancyranum,  (vi.  13  :  see 
n.  on  i.  ii,  5),  Augustus  tells  us 
that  in  his  jth  consulship  (B.C.  27)  the 
senate  conferred  on  him  the  title  of 
'  Augustus '  because  rem  publicam  ex 
mea  potestate  in  senatus  populique 
Romani arbitrium  transtnli.  In  return, 
he  received  back  at  their  hands  the 
consulship,  to  be  held  for  ten  years, 
with  enlarged  powers,  and  to  be  exer- 
cised over  the  whole  Empire;  it  in- 
cluded the  command  of  all  armies,  and 
the  right  of  making  peace  and  war. 
Besides  the  consulship,  he  was  to  hold 
the  tcHmnicia  potestas ;  that  power 
being  held,  riot  in  the  larger  sense 
attached  to  it  after  B.C.  23,  but  for  its 
old  constitutional  purpose  of  affording 
protection  to  the  plebs  (ad  tuendam 
plebem).  This  power,  with  all  its 
privileges  as  known  in  republican  times, 
had  already  been  conferred  upon  Au- 
gustus for  life  in  B.C.  37;  but  it  would 
appear  that  he  only  gradually  became 
conscious  of  the  great  possibilities  which 
the  holding  of  it  opened  up  to  him, 
enabling  him,  as  it  did,  both  to  initiate 
measures  at  his  pleasure,  and  to  inter- 
rupt the  course  of  ordinary  law  when- 
ever he  chose  to  consider  that  the 
interests  of  the  people  required  it.  The 
final  development  came  in  B.c.23,  when 
Augustus  gave.upthe  continued  holding 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


'A.D.  14. 


the  Consulship,1  and  professed  himself  content  with 
the  Tribunifian  Power  for  the  protection  of  the  plebs. 
But  when  he  had  won  the  soldiery  by  bounties,2  the 
populace  by  cheap  corn,3  and  'all  classes  alike  by  the 
sweets  of  peace,  he  rose  higher  and  higher  by  degrees, 
and  drew  into  his  own  hands  all  the  functions  of  the 
Senate,4  the  magistrates5  and  the  laws.6\  And  there 


of  the  consulship,  as  being  in  appear- 
ance unconstitutional,  and  received  in 
its  place  the  proconsulate  imperium. 
That  power  was  now  extended  by  the 
senate  so  as  to  embrace  all  the  essentials 
of  the  consulare  imperium  which  he  had 
'held  previously;  while  the  teibunicja 
potestas  also  was  so  enlarged  in  its  scope 
i  as  to  carry  with  it  the  idea  of  supreme 
authority  :  id  summi  fastigii  -vocabulum 
Augustus  repperit  ne  regis  aut  dictatoris 
nomen  adsumeret  ac  tamen  appellatione 
aliqua  cetera  imperia  praemineret  (iii. 
56,  2).  From  that  time  onward  the 
Emperors  dated  their  reigns  from  the 
assumption  of  the  tribunicia  potestas. 
The  assumption  of  the  seemingly 
modest,  but  really  extravagant,  powers 
\f  of  the  tribunate  was  a  master-stroke 
of  political  genius  ;  it  exactly  fitted  the 
leading  idea  of  the  policy  of  Augustus, 
which  was  to  gather  into  his  own  hands 
the  substance,  without  the  name,  of 
power.  See  Rushforth,  '  Roman  His- 
torical Inscriptions,"  pp.  4-6,  and  n. 
on  iii.  56,  2.  As  Mr.  Greenidge  says, 
1  Roman  Public  Life,'  p.  337,  the 
trib.  pot.  was  'the  ideal  complement 
of  a  lasting  imperium,  valuable  for  the 
inviolability  it  conferred,  and  for  the 
"civil"  and  popular  colouring  which 
<•  it  gave  its  holder.'  The  combination 
of  these  two  powers  constituted  a  demo- 
cratic military  autocracy  ;  analogous  to 
the  theory  of  the  Second  French  Empire 
— that  of  military  rule  supported  by  a 
popular  vote.  '  A  plebiscitary  empire ' 
was  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the 
Imperial  party  in  France  so  long  as  it 
had  any  practical  policy  at  all. 

1  Augustus  held  his  first  consulship 
in  B.C.  43,  forcing  the  senate  to  vote  it 
to  him.     His  second  consulship,  held 
for  only  a  short  time,  was  in  B.C.  33: 
he  then  held  the  office  for  nine  years  in 
succession,  from  B.C.  31  to  23. 

2  In    the    Mon.    Anc.    iii.    17,    18, 
Augustus  records  that  in  his  5th  con- 
sulship (B.C.  29)  he  gave  1,000  sesterces 
apiece  to  125,000  veterans  in  his  mili- 
tary colonies,   as  a  triumphale  congi- 


arium.  He  gave  the  same  amount 
(250  drachmae)  to  every  soldier  at  the 
taking  of  Alexandria,  B.C.  30,  to  save 
the  city  from  pillage  (Dio.  li.  17,  7), 
and  granted  to  the  army  generally 
liberal  terms  of  discharge  (Suet.  Oct. 
49;  Dio.  Iv.  23,  i).  Summing  up  all 
he  had  given  to  the  treasury,  or  in 
largesses,  or  to  discharged  soldiers, 
Augustus  himself  puts  the  total  at 
2400,000,000  sesterces ;  equivalent,  in 
round  numbers,  to  about  ^20,000,000 
of  our  money  (Mon.  Anc.  vi.  29,  30). 

3  The  term  annona,  here  used,  ap- 
plies primarily  to  the  measures  taken 
by  Augustus  for  securing  a   plentiful 
and  cheap  supply  of  corn  to  the  city  ; 
but  also,  no  doubt,  to  the  gratuitous, 
or    nearly  gratuitous,   distributions  of 
com    periodically    made    to    indigent 
citizens  (frumentationes}.    These  distri- 
butions constituted  what  was  practically 
a  gigantic   system   of   outdoor   relief. 
Originally,  a  small   payment  was  de- 
manded ;    in    B.c.^^S.  under  Caesar's 
influence,  the  payment  was  abolished ; 
and  later,  all  that  Caesar  ventured  to  do 
was  to  reduce  the  number  of  recipients 
to   150,000    ticket-holders.     See   Suet. 
Oct.  41,  and  Diet.  Ant.  s.v.  Frumen- 
tariae  Leges.     On  the  care  taken   by 
the    emperors    to    regulate    the    corn- 
supply  of  the   city,  see  n.  on  iii.  54, 
6-8. 

4  The  senate  nominally  retained  its 
old    functions ;     but    the     tribunitian 
powers  of  initiation  and  of  veto  gave 
the  emperor  complete  command  of  its 
decisions. 

5  All  ordinary  magistrates  exercised 
their  powers  subject  to  the  larger  powers 
conferred  upon  the  emperor  under  one 
or  other  of  his  titles  ;  the  powers  of  the 
censorship  he  exercised  under  the  regi- 
men legum  et  morum,  or  as  corrector 
morum. 

6  In  legislation,  the  emperor  held  in 
his  own  hand  the  machinery  of   the 
senate  and  of  the  comitia  ;  but  he  and 
his  successors  assumed  also,  by  degrees, 
the  right  of  issuing  ordinances  which 


A.D.  14.] 


BOOK    I.   CHAPS.   2-3. 


was  no  one  to  oppose ;  for  the  most  ardent  patriots 
had  fallen  on  the  field,  or  in  the  proscriptions ;  and 
the  rest  of  the  nobles,  advanced  in  wealth  and  place 
in  proportion  to  their  servility,  and  drawing  profit 
out  of  the  new  order  of  affairs,  preferred  the  security 
of  the  present  to  the  hazards  of  the  past. 

Nor  did  the  provinces  resent  the  change ;  for  the  ^™e£ 

rule  of  the  Senate  and  the  People  had  become  odious  the  pro- 
vinces. 
to  them  from  the  contests  between  great  leaders,  and 

the  greed  of  magistrates,  against  whom  the  laws, 
upset  by  force,  by  favour,  and,  in  fine,  by  bribery, 
were  powerless  to  protect  them.1 

Meanwhile  Augustus,  as   buttresses   to   his   rule,  Augustus 
advanced  Claudius  Marcellus,2  his  sister's  son,  to  the  he^sS;°r 
priesthood  and  Curule  Aedileship,  while  yet  a  lad  ; 
and   bestowed  the  honour  of  two3  Consulships  on 
Marcus  Agrippa4 — a  man  of  ignoble  birth,  but  a  stout 


had  the  force  of  law  :  quod  principi 
placuit  Icgis  habet  vigorem,  Ulpian 
Dig.  i.  4,  i.  And  although  the  form  of 
electing  magistrates  by  the  comitia  con- 
tinued for  some  time,  the  greater  num- 
ber were  elected  on  the  recommendation , 
and  none  without  the  approval,  of  the 
emperor.  See  the  lex  de  imperio  passed 
at  the  accession  of  Vespasian,  C.  I.  L. 
vi.  930 ;  and  Rushforth,  pp.  82-87. 

1  Even  Tacitus  has  to  acknowledge 
the  breakdown  of  all  justice  in  the 
government  of  the  provinces  under  the 
republic.  The  establishment  of  mon- 
archy was  essential  in  their  interests  ;  it 
was  largely  caused  by  the  reaction  of 
the  provinces  upon  Rome.  The  follow- 
ing books  afford  many  examples  of  con- 
sideration shewn  to  the  interests,  and 
even  the  feelings,  of  the  provincials, 
such  as  we  look  for  in  vain  in  repub- 
lican days.  Hence  the  frequent  bestow- 
ing of  honours  upon  the  emperor  by 
grateful  provinces  ;  see  iv.  15,  4 :  37, 
i ;  Suet.  Oct.  59,  60.  As  to  the  ultimate 
effects  of  the  establishment  of  the  prin- 
cipate  upon  the  civilized  world,  see 
Greenidge,  p.  427  :  '  The  results  wore 
comfort  and  peace  ;  but  a  comfort  that 
was  top  often  divested  of  even  local 
patriotism,  and  a  peace  that  was  singu- 


larly devoid  of  intellectual  ideals.  .  .  . 
The  subject  acclaimed  it  (i.e.  the  em- 
pire) in  its  initial  stages,  although  his 
descendant  was  to  find  in  it  a  burden 
in  comparison  with  which  the  yoke  of 
the  republican  proconsul  would  have 
seemed  a  trifle.'  V 

2  M.  Claudius  Marcellus,  son  of 
Octavia,  the  sister  of  Augustus.  He 
was  born  B.C.  43  ;  adopted  by  Augustus, 
and  married  to  Julia,  B.C.  25 ;  made 
curule  aedile  in  H.c.  23,  and  died  in  the 
same  year.  It  was  in  his  honour  that 
Augustus  dedicated  the  well-known 
theatre  of  Marcellus  ;  and  that  Virgil 
wrote  the  noble  passage,  Aen.  vi.  85i- 
887,  the  reciting  of  which  was  said  to 
have  caused  Octavia  to  faint  with  emo 
tion,  and  which  she  rewarded  with  -\ 
gift  of  10,000  sesterces  prosinguloversu 
('  for  each  line ' ?)  Donat.  Vit.  Virg.  47. 
See  Prop.  iii.  18  ;  Hor.  Od.  i.  12,  46. 

»  In  B.C.  28  and  27 ;  he  had  been 
previously  consul  in  B.C.  37. 

4  Marcus  Vipsanius  Agrippa,  born  in 
the  same  year  as  Augustus  (B.C.  63), 
was  his  early  companion,  and  his  right 
hand  in  all  his  wars.  His  daughter 
Vipsania  (by  his  first  wife,  Pomponia, 
daughter  of  Atticus)  was  the  first  wife 
of  Tiberius. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


The  death 

of  Agrippa 

ndthe 


opens  the 
way  for 
Tiberius. 


soldier,  and  partner  in  his  victories.  When  Mar- 
cellus  died,  he  took  Agrippa  as  his  sojizin-law ;  and 
distinguished  his  two  step-sons,  Tiberius  Nero  and 
Claudius  Drusus,  with  Imperatorial 1  titles,  though  as 
yet  there  was  no  lack  of  heirs  in  his  own  family. 

For  he  had  adopted  the  two  sons  of  Agrippa,  2 
Gaius  and  Lucius,2  into  the  family  of  the  Caesars; 
and  before  they  assumed  the  manly  gown,  had  caused 
them  to  be  styled  '  Chiefs  of  the  Youth,' 3  and  to  be 
designated  Consuls — honours  which  he  had  affected 
to  decline,  but  had  most  ardently  coveted  for  them. 
But  first  Agrippa  died ;  then  the  two  Caesars  were  3 
cut  off— whether  by  an  untimely  fate,  or  through  the 
machinations  of  their  step-mother  Livia 4— the  younger 
of  them  on  his  way  to  join  the  Spanish  army,  the 
elder  when  returning  wounded  from  Armenia. 
Tiberius  was  now  the  sole  surviving  step-son  of 
Augustus ;  for  his  brother  Drusus 5  had  perished  long 


1  Two  uses  of  the  title  imperator 
under  the  empire  have  to  be  dis- 
tinguished. What  is  here  meant  is 
the  honorary  title  by  which,  accord- 
ing to  ancient  custom,  a  conquering 
general  was  hailed  by  his  soldiers  in 
the  moment  of  victory.  Such  a  title 
was  carefully  recorded,  and  was  indi- 
cated by  the  letters  Imp.  placed  after  the 
recipient's  name.  It  might  be  bestowed 
several  times  upon  the  same  person ; 
it  was  accorded  21  times  to  Augustus. 
After  the  year  A.D.  22,  when  this  title 
was  conferred  on  Blaesus,  it  was  never 
given  to  any  but  members  of  the 
imperial  family  (iii.  74,  6,  7).  Quite 
different  was  the  praenomen  Impera- 
toris.  This  title  was  first  assumed  by 
Caesar,  as  a  distinguishing  mark  of 
imperial  sovereignty;  it  was  placed, 
as  the  words  imply,  before  the  name. 
Augustus  adopted  it  in  B.C.  40  instead  of 
his  own  praenomen  Gaius,  calling  him- 
self Imperator  Caesar  Divifilius  ;  and 
his  example  was  followed  by  most  of 
the  succeeding  emperors,  though  not 
by  Tiberius  (Suet.  Caes.  76 ;  Dio.  xliii. 
44,  2).  It  is  from  this  use  of  the  term 
that  the  modern  title  'Emperor'  is 
derived. 


2  Gaius  Caesar,  the  elder  of  the  two, 
was  born  B.C.  19,  and  died  in  Lycia, 
A.D.  4,  of  a  wound  received  in  Armenia  ; 
Lucius  was  born  B.C.  17,  and  died  at 
Marseilles,  on  his  way  to  Spain,  A.D.  2. 

3  A  courtesy  title,  bestowed  for  the 
first   time  by  the  equites  on  the  two 
young  Caesars  (Mon.  Ancyran.  iii.  5). 
From  this  time  onwards,  this  title  was 
usually  bestowed  on  the  probable  suc- 
cessor to  the  empire.    For  the  vague  use 
of  the  word  princeps,   cp.  the  phrases 
principes   liberos,    '  the   sons   of  great 
men,1  Tac.  Dial.  40,  i;  principes  femi- 
nas,  Plin.  H.N.  viii.  32,  119;  princi- 
pibus  viris,  Ann.  iii.  6,  5. 

4  One  of  the  many  passages  in  which 
Tacitus  suggests  a, suspicion  of   foul 
play,  especially  on  the  part  of  Livia, 
without  committing  himself  to  a  definite 
assertion  of  it.      See  chap.  3,  4  :  5,  2 ; 
ii.  43,  5 ;  iii.  10,  4,  etc. 

6  Claudius  Drusus  Nero,  the  younger 
brother  of  Tiberius,  and  father  of 
Germanicus  (called  senior  to  distinguish 
him  from  Drusus  the  son  of  Tiberius), 
was  born  B.C.  38,  three  months  after 
his  mother  Livia  had  been  carried  off 
from  his  father's  house  by  Augustus. 
See  chap.  10,  4.  He  was  the  more 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.  CHAP.  3.  7 

before.  On  him  therefore  all  hopes  were  centred. 
He  was  adopted  as  a  son,1  made  colleague  in  the 
'Imperium,'2  admitted  to  share  the  Tribunitian  Power,8 
and  exhibited  to  all  the  armies  :  his  mother  no  longer 
intriguing  for  him  in  secret,  but  affording  him  open 
encouragement. 

4  For  Livia  had  acquired  such  an  ascendency  over  Ascend 
Augustus   in   his   old   age,  that   he  cast   out  on  the  ijvfa.° 
island    of    Planasia4    his    only    surviving    grandson, 
Agrippa  Postumus:5  an  uncultured  youth,  no  doubt, 
with  nothing  but  brute  bodily  strength  to  recommend 

him,  but  one  who  had  never  been  found  guilty  of 

5  any  open  misdemeanour.     And  yet6  so  anxious  was 
Augustus  to  strengthen  his  position  that  he  appointed 
Germanicus,  the  son  of  Drusus,  to  the  command  of 
the   eight   legions   on   the    Rhine,    and    ordered    his 
adoption  by  Tiberius,  although  Tiberius  had  a  young 
son  of  his  own. 

popular  of  the  two  brothers.     His  vie-  would  probably  only  be  partial.     Thus 

torious  campaign   in  B.C.   15,    in  con-  Germanicus    received    in    A.  D.    u     a 

junction    with     Tiberius,    against     the  special  imperium  in  Gaul  and  Germany 

Rhaeti   and  Vindelici    in   the   Eastern  (see  chap.  14,  4);  and  in  A.D.  17  the 

%  Alps,  has  been  made  famous  by  Hor.  senate  voted  him   a  mains   impetium, 

v<    Od.  iv.  4  and  14.    After  important  sue-  above  all  ordinary  provincial  governors, 

cesses  in  Germany,  into  which  he  pene-  over  the  provinces  of  the  East  (ii.  43,  -2). 

trated  as  far  as  the  Elbe,  he  was  killed  »  3  Tiberius  received  the  trib.  pot.  for 

by  a  fall  from  his  horse,  B.C.  9.  five  years  in  B.C.  6.     It  was  again  con- 

1  After   the   deaths   of   Lucius    and  ferred  on  him  A.D.  4  for  ten  years  ;  or 

Gaius,  in  A.  D.  2  and  A.  D.  4  respectively,  more  probably  for  a  period  of  five  years, 

Tiberius  was  clearly  marked  out  for  the  renewed  again  (perhaps  for  life)  in  A.D. 

succession,   not  only  as  the  possessor  9  (Suet.,   Tib.    16).     M.  Agrippa  had 

of  the  imperium    and    the  tribunicia  previously  held  the  trib.  pot.  from  B.C. 

potestas,  but  also,  and  in  a  more  marked  18  to  his  death  in  B.C.  12. 
manner,  as  the  adopted  son  of  Augustus.  *  A  small  rocky  island  20  miles  S.  of 

On   the    triumphal    Arch   at    Ticinum  Elba,  now  called  Pianosa. 
(Pavia),  erected   in  A.D.  7  or   8,  Ti-  •  The  youngest  of  the  three  sons  of 

berius  is  described  as  '  son  of  Augustus,  Agrippa  and  Julia,  born  after  the  death 

grandson  of  Divus  (i.e.  Julius  Caesar),  of  the  former  (B.C.  12),  and  put  to  death  »•? 

Augur,  Cos  II.,  and  holder  of  the  trib.  by  Tiberius  A.D.  14,  chap.  6,  i. 
pot.  for  the  9th  time.'     See  Rushforth,  •  The  words  'and  yet'  (at  Hercule) 

p.  42.  emphasize  the  inconsistency  of  Augustus 

3  This   phrase  refers  to  partnership  in  banishing  his  own  grandson,  and  yet 

in   the   proconsulate  imperium.    That  conferring  an  important  command  upon 

power,  as  we  have  seen  above  (see  n.  his  nephew.     In  causing  Tiberius,  who 

on    chap,    a,    i),    received    its    fullest  had  a  son  of  his  own  (Drusus  junior), 

application  in   B.C.    23,  after  which   it  to  adopt  Germanicus,  Augustus  was  in- 

practically     became     perpetual.      The  troducing  into  the  imperial  family  the 

association  of  an  heir  in   this    power  fatal  system  of  rival  heirs ;  and  in  this 


8 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  U. 


All  wars  had   now  ceased   except    that    against  6 
the   Germans;  and   even   that  was   being  continued 
rather  to  wipe  out  the  disgrace  of  the  loss  of  Quin- 
tilius  Varus1  and  his  legions,  than  from  a  desire  to 
extend  the  empire,  or  for  any  profitable  end.     Tran-  7 
quillity  reigned  at  home  ;  the  magistrates  were  called 
by  their  old  names  ;2  the  younger  generation  had  been 
born   since  Actium,3  the   elder,   for  the   most   part, 
during   the  course   of  the   Civil   Wars :   how   many 
were  there  left  who  had  beheld  the  Republic  ? 

Thus  a  revolution  had  been  accomplished.     The  4- 
old  order  had  passed  away ;  everything  had  suffered 
change.    The  days  of  equality  were  gone  :  men  looked 
to  the  Prince  for  his  commands,  having  no  anxiety 


case  the  adopted  son  was  the  older  of  the 
two.     Yet,  in  spite  of  all  court  rivalries 
between  their  respective  supporters,  we 
learn  from   ii.    43,    7    that   these   two 
brothers  lived  on  terms  of  perfect  har- 
mony— egregie  Concordes  et  proximorum 
certaminibus    inconcussi — one    of    the 
very  few  pleasing  touches  introduced 
by  Tacitus  in  his  account  of  the  family 
relations  of  the  Caesars. 
4.,  The  death  and  total  defeat  of  P. 
Quintilius  Varus,  with  almost  entire  loss 
of  his  three  legions,  in  A.D.  9,  is  one 
of  the  epoch-making  disasters  of  history. 
;  Drusus,   in    his    German    campaigns, 
^between  the  years  B.C.  12  and  9,  had 
overrun  central  Germany  as  far  as  the 
Visurgis  (  Weser)  and  the  Albis  (Elbe)  \ 
and  the  beginnings  of  Roman  civilisation 
and  administration  were  being  pushed 
gradually  into  Germany  when  Varus 
•>  was    appointed    to    the  command,   in 
^  A.D.  7.    He  was  instructed  to  introduce 
regular    Roman  government   into  the 
province.    With  that  view,  he  advanced 
in  A.D.  9  as  far  as  the  Weser,  and  was 
retreating  incautiously  towards  the  head 
waters  of  the  Amisia  (Ems)  and  the 
Luppia  (Lippe),  in  the  direction  of  the 
Roman  fort  of  Aliso,  when  he  was  over- 


German  tribes  in  revolt,  and  suddenly 
fell  upon  the  Roman  army  when  en- 
tangled in  the  forest  country  known  as 
the  saltus  Teiitoburgiensis,  on  the  water- 
shed between  the  Weser  on  the  E.  and 


the  Ems  and  Lippe  on  the  W.  Almost 
the  entire  army,  numbering  about  20,000 
men,  was  destroyed.  Augustus  felt  this 
disaster  bitterly ;  and  Rome  herself  may 
be  said  never  to  have  got  over  it.  It 
led  to  the  abandonment  of  all  attempt 
to  reduce  Germany  into  the  form  of  a 
province ;  and  to  the  momentous  con- 
sequences to  modern  Europe  which  have 
resulted  from  the  fact  that  Germany  re- 
mained un-Romanised.  It  is  interesting 
to  reflect  how  the  course  of  history  might 
have  been  changed  had  Germany  been 
turned  into  a  second  Gaul ;  had  the 
shorter  and  more  scientific  frontier  of 
the  Elbe  been  substituted  for  that  of 
the  Rhine  and  the  Upper  Danube,  with 
the  gigantic  limes  which  had  to  be 
erected  between  the  upper  waters  of 
those  rivers ;  and  had  the  hardy  tribes 
of  Germany  been  enlisted  on  the  side  of 
Rome  to  confront  the  inroads  of  the 
barbarians  in  the  third  and  fourth 
centuries. 

2  As  we  have  seen,  it  was  the  essence 
of  the  policy  of  Augustus  to  conserve 
or  to  revive  the  forms  of  ancient  titles 
and  institutions,  so  as  to  conceal  more 
effectually  the  fact  that  all  reality  had 
been  taken  out  of  them. 

3  The  battle  of  Actium,  fought  upon 
the  2nd  Sept.,  B.C.  31,  decided  once 
for  all  the  question  whether  Rome  was 
to  remain  a  Western  power ;  and,  as  one 
of  the  most  decisive  battles  in  the  peren- 
nial contest  between   East  and  West, 
has  deeply  affected  the  course  of  modern 
history. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.   CHAPS.   3-4.  9 

for  the  present,  so  long  as  Augustus  was  of  the  age, 
and  had  the  strength,  to  keep  himself,  his  house  and 

2  the   public   peace   secure.      But   when    he   advanced 
in  years,   when  his   health  and  strength  failed,  and 
his  approaching  end  gave  birth  to  new  hopes,  some 
few  discoursed  idly  on  the  blessings  of  liberty;  many 
dreaded  war ;  some  longed  for  it.1 

3  But    the    greater    number    pulled    to   pieces   the 
characters   of  their  future   masters   with   comments 
such  as  these  : — 

Agrippa,  they  said,  was  a  savage,  exasperated  by  Comments 
contumelious  treatment ;   he  had  neither  the  years  nor  public  on 
the  experience  to  bear  the  weight  of  empire.   \  Tiberius  successors6 
Nero  zvas  of  ripe  age,  and  a  tried  warrior :  but  he  had 
all  the  old  pride2  of  the  Claudii*  in  his  blood ;  and,  how- 
ever carefully  suppressed,   many   indications  of  a  cruel 

4  temper  had  escaped  him.  \  He  had  been  brought  up  from 
infancy  in  a  reigning  house ;  Consulships*  and  Triumphs 
had  been  heaped  upon  him  in  his  youth  :   even  during 
the  years  of  exile 5  which  he  had  spent  in  Rhodes?  under 

1  Tacitus  here  shortly  states  the  three-  mentions  the  ovation  of  B.C.  7  as  'his 
fold  division  of  public  opinion  at  Rome  second  triumph  ;  '  ascribing  to  him  a 
at  this  crisis:  (i)  Idle  and  abstract  first  triumph  for  his  successes  in  Pan- 
laudations  of  liberty  by  the  select  few  ;  nonia  and  Dalmatia  soon  after  B.C.  12. 
(2)  the  opinion  of  the  majority,  who  In  reviewing  his  life,  Velleius  praises  him 
felt  that  nothing  but  monarchy  could  for  '  being  content  with  three  triumphs, 
avert  the  horrors  of  civil  war ;  (3)  that  when  without  any  hesitation  he  could 
of  the  party  of  revolution  and  confusion,  have  claimed  seven.'  Which  was  the 
ready  to  welcome  war  in  their  greed  third  triumph  indicated  here  by  Velleius 
for  res  novae.  is  not  clear. 

*  For  this  hereditary  quality  in  the  •  Adopting  exul  egerit,  the  reading 

Claudii,  see  Liv.  ii.  56,  8 ;  Suet.,  Tib.  2.  of  Muretus,  for  the  MS.  exulem.     Cp. 

1  Here  and  elsewhere  in  Tacitus  the  cum  Rhodi  agentem,   '  when  living  at 

word  familia  is  used  for  gens ;  so   in  Rhodes,'  ii.  42,  2. 

ii.  52,  8  of  the  gens  Furia  ;  and  in  iii.  •  The    retirement    of    Tiberius    to 

48,  2  of  ihegens  Sulpicia.  Rhodes  from  B.C.  6  to  A.D.  2  is  one  of 

4  This  is  an  exaggeration.     Tiberius  the  mysteries  of  his  life.     He  had  been 

had  only  twice  been  consul:  in  B.C.  13  Cos.   II.  in  B.C.  7;  early  in  B.C.  6  he 

(aged  29),  and  again  in  B.C.  7  (aged  35).  had  been  invested  with  the  tribunicia 

Suetonius  mentions  no  triumph  ;   only  potestas,  and  charged  with  an  important 

one  ovation,  with  triumphal  honours,  mission  to  Armenia.     Yet  he  chose  this 

granted  after  his  German  successes,  in  moment  to  retire  from  public  life,  and 

B.C.  7;  the  'triumphal  ornaments '  be-  shut    himself   up,  under    pretence    of 

ing,  as  some  thought,  first  devised  on  studying  philosophy,  in  the  island  of 

that  occasion.     See  chap.  72,   i.     His  Rhodes.     Suet.  Tib.  10  suggests  three 

panygerist.Velleius  Paterculus  (ii.  97,  5),  different  reasons  which  may  have  moved 


10 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


The  health 
of  Augus- 
tus fails. 


pretence  of  retreat,  he  had  done  nothing**-  but  brood  over 
his  resentments,  or  practise  hypocrisy  and  solitary  debauch? 
And  then  there  was  his  mother,  with  all  the  ungovernable  5 
passions  of  her  sex : 3  they  would  have  to  serve  a  woman, 
and  two  striplings*  into  the  bargain,  who  would  begin 
by  oppressing  the  commonwealth,  and  end  by  rending  it 
in  sunder. 

Amid  speculations  such  as  these,  the  health  of  5- 
Augustus  began  to  fail.     Some  suspected  foul  play 
on   the   part   of  his  wife.5     For  a  rumour  had   got  2 


him  to  this  step ;  (i)  The  profligate  con- 
duct of  his  wife  Julia  :  Tacitus  assigns 
this  as  the  main  cause,  i.  53,  2.  (2)  A 
desire  to  make  way  for  the  two  young 
Caesars,  who  were  now  stepping  into 
the  position  hitherto  occupied  by  him- 
self. (3)  A  hope  that  his  absence  from 
Rome  might  prove  him  to  be  indispen- 
sable. See  Dio  Iv.  9.  According  to  Sue- 
tonius, he  retired  in  a  fit  of  sullenness, 
greatly  against  the  will  of  Augustus ; 
and  when  after  a  time  he  begged  to  be 
allowed  to  return,  his  petition  was 
harshly  refused.  At  Rhodes  he  lived  a 
life  of  absolute  seclusion ;  he  was  sub- 
jected to  slight  and  insult  at  the  hands 
of  those  who  sought  to  curry  favour 
with  the  young  princes  (ii.  42,  3 ;  iii. 
48,  3) ;  yet  he  was  permitted  to  return 
to  Rome  while  those  princes  were  still 
alive  and  in  high  favour,  on  the  con- 
dition that  he  was  to  take  no  part  in 
public  affairs  (Suet.,  Tib.  13).  Whatever 
the  true  circumstances  of  his  retreat 
may  have  been,  it  is  certain  that  it  was 
the  result  of  friction  between  himself 
and  Augustus,  and  that  it  left  perma- 
nent traces  for  evil  upon  his  proud, 
sensitive,  and  vindictive  nature. 

1  Reading  aliud  quam  with    Halm 
and  Nipp.  for  the  MS.  aliquid  quam. 

2  Under  cover  of  quoting  opinions 
expressed  at  the  time,  Tacitus  does  not 
hesitate  to  put  the  vilest  interpretation 
on  the  enforced  seclusion  of  Tiberius  at 
Rhodes.     This  is  one  of  his  favourite 
methods  of  detraction.     He  first  puts  a 
charge  into  some  one's  mouth,  keeping 
himself  clear  of  all  responsibility  for 
it ;  then  afterwards,  without  more  ado, 
assumes  its  truth.     Thus  in  iv.  57,  4 
he  asserts  of  Tiberius    as  a  fact  Et 
Rhodi  secreto  vitare   coetus,  recondere 
voluptates  insuerat.    Even  if  we  accept 


as  true  the  evil  tales  about  the  later 
years  of  Tiberius — and  the  probability 
is  all  the  other  way — there  is  no  evidence 
against  his  private  life  in  Rhodes.  All 
that  the  scandal-monger  Suetonius  tells 
us  of  his  doings  in  Rhodes  points  in  the 
opposite  direction.  He  describes  him  as 
leading  there  a  quiet,  inoffensive  life  ; 
studious,  kindly  ;  humbly  avoiding  any 
occasion  of  giving  offence.  In  vilify- 
ing the  life  at  Capri,  he  knows  no 
bounds  ;  he  says  nothing  against  the 
life  at  Rhodes. 

3  So  in  v.  i,  5,  Livia  is  described  as 
mater    impotens,    in    reference   to   her 
exacting  demands  upon  her  son :   cp. 
iv.  57,  4.     The  word  impotentia  means 
more  than  '  imperiousness  ; '  it  implies 
that   total  want   of   control   over   the 
passions,  feelings  and  conduct,  which 
Tacitus  regards  as  a  peculiarly  feminine 
characteristic.     He  seldom  misses  an 
opportunity  of  having  a  fling  at  women. 

4  i.e.  Germanicus,   and    Drusus  the 
son  of  Tiberius. 

5  Another  suspicion  suggested,   not 
vouched    for.      Dio    is    more    precise, 
though    he    does    not   vouch    for    the 
truth  of  his  own  story.     His  account 
is  that  Livia  was  alarmed  by  the  visit 
of  Augustus  to  Agrippa  Postumus,  and 
that  she  determined  to  poison  Augustus 
before  he  could  change  the  succession. 
Augustus  being  fond  of  eating  figs  off 
the  tree,  she  took  him  to  a  tree,  plucked 
figs  for  him,  and  ate  some  herself,  con- 
triving to  spread  poison  on  those  she 
gave  to  him  (Ivi.  30,  2).    A  likely  story ! 
Tacitus  himself  deals  a  death-blow  to 
the  credibility  of  such  tales  when  he 
tells  us  that  '  Rumour  is  ever  charged 
with   horrors  when  dealing  with    the 
death  of  princes'  (iv.  u,  3). 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.   CHAPS.   4-6-  II 

abroad    that  Augustus,   some    months   before,   with 
the  privity  of  a  few  special  friends,  and  with  Fabius  ' 
Maximus1  as  sole  companion,  had  journeyed  to  Plan- 
asia  to  see  Agrippa.     It  was  said  that  many  tears  had  Hisre- 

.  ~        .  ported  visit 

been  shed,  many  signs  of  affection  exchanged,  between  to  his 
the  two ;  and  hopes  were  raised  that  the  young  man 

3  might  be  restored  to  his  grandfather's  home.2    The 
secret  of  this  visit,  it  was  reported,  had  been  betrayed 
by  Maximus  to  his  wife  Marcia,  and  by  her  to  Livia. 

4  This  had  come  to  the  ears  of  Augustus ;  and  when 
Maximus  died   not   long  after  (whether  by  his   own 
hand  or  not  was  a  matter  of  doubt),3  Marcia  had  been 
overheard    lamenting    at    his    funeral,  and    blaming 
herself  for  her  husband's  death. 

5  Be  that  as  it  may,  Tiberius  had  scarcely  reached  His  death. 
Illyricum  when  he  was  recalled  in  haste  by  a  mes- 
sage from  his  mother.     Whether  on  arriving  at  Nola 

he  found  Augustus  still  alive,  or  already  dead,  was 

6  never  known.     For  Livia  had  placed  a  strict  guard  Precau- 

.      .  r  i_  i       tions  taken 

upon    the    palace    and    its   approaches ;    favourable  by  Livia. 
bulletins  were  issued  from  time  to  time ;  until,  when 
every  necessary  precaution   had   been  taken,  it  was 
announced  in  one  and  the  same  breath  that  Augustus 
was  dead,  and  that  Tiberius  was  in  possession  of  the 
government. 
1        The  opening  crime4   of  the   new  reign  was   the  Murder  of 

Agrippa 
Postumus. 

1  Paullus    Fabius    Maximus,   consul  That  Augustus,  at  his  age,  should  have 

B.c.  ii,  the  patron  of  Ovid.     The  poet  traversed  forty  miles  of  open  sea,  and 

wrote  two  poems  to  this  Fabius  (Epist.  that  without  the  knowledge  of  Livia,  is 

ex  Pont.  i.  2  and  iii.  3)  urgently   im-  very  improbable;   that  he  could  have 

ploring  him  to  intercede  with  Augustus  thought,    at    the    eleventh    hour,     of 

in  his  favour,  and   procure  his  recall  naming  Postumus  as  his  successor,  is 

from  exile.     His  death  cut  off  Ovid's  quite  inconceivable, 

last  hope :  Certus  eras  pro  me,  Fabiae  *  Another  unverified  suspicion. 

lux     maxime     gentis,  =  Nutnen     ad  *  Tacitus  begins  his  account  of  the 

August  urn  sufiplice  voce  loqtti.  =  Occidis  reign  of  Tiberius  with  the  grim  insinua- 

ante  preces  ;  Ep.  iv.  6,  9-11.  tion  that  his  whole  reign  was  one  long 

«  Dio  goes  further,  and  says  the  fear  course  of  crime.     So  of  Nero,  Ann.  xiii. 

was    that    Augustus    meant    to    name  i.  i,  Prima  ncrvo  principatu  mors  lunii 

Agrippa  as  his  successor  (Ivi.  30,  i).  Silani  .   .    .   per    dolum    Agrippinae 


12 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 


murder  of  Agrippa  Postumus.  He  was  taken  by 
surprise,  and  was  unarmed ;  yet  the  centurion, 
though  a  determined  man,  had  some  difficulty  in 
despatching  him.  Tiberius  made  no  communication  2 
on  the  subject  to  the  Senate.  His  father,  he  pre- 
tended, had  left  orders  with  the  officer  in  charge  to 
put  Agrippa  to  death  so  soon  as  he  himself  should 
breathe  his  last.  Now  Augustus,  no  doubt,  had  said  3 
many  harsh  things  about  the  young  man's  character,1 
and  had  caused  the  Senate 2  to  decree  his  banishment ; 
but  he  never  hardened  himself  so  far  as  to  put  any  of 
his  own  family  to  death,3  nor  is  it  credible  that  he 
should  have  slain  his  grandson  to  secure  a  step-son's 
safety.  It  is  more  probable  that  this  hurried  murder  4 
of  a  youth  detested  equally  by  Tiberius  and  by  Livia, 
was  the  work  of  both ;  the  former  moved  by  fear, 
the  latter  by  her  hatred  as  a  step-mother. 

When  the  centurion  reported,  according  to  military  5 
custom,   that   he   had   executed   the   order,  Tiberius 
replied  that  he  had  never  given  any  such  order ;  and 
that  the  man  would  have  to  answer  to  the  Senate  for 
Advice  of     his  conduct.     When  this  became  known  to  Sallustius  6 

Sallustius 
Crispus. 

paratur.    Suetonius  leaves  it  an  open          2  As    Furn.    points    out,    important 

question   whether    the    order    for    the  criminals  might  be  tried  and  sentenced 

death  of  Agrippa  was  left  as  an  in-  either  by  the  senate,  or  by  the  ordinary 

struction  by  Augustus  on  his  deathbed,  courts  of  law,  or  by  the  edict  of  the 

or  was  given  by  Livia,  with  or  without  emperor  himself.     We  shall  find   in- 

the  knowledge  of  Tiberius.     He  adds  stances    of   all  these  methods  in  the 

that  the  death  of  Augustus  was  not  Annals. 

given  out  till    the  murder  had    been          8  Augustus  used  coarsely  to  describe 

accomplished  (Tib.  22).  Agrippa  and  the  two  Julias  (his  daughter 

1  Suet.    (Oct.   65)    informs    us    that  and  grand-daughter  respectively)  as  '  his 

Augustus  adopted  Tiberius  and  Agrippa  three  sores ; '  or  '  his  three  cancerous 

on  the    same  day  ;    then    disinherited  ulcers '  (Suet. ,  Oct.  65).   That  Augustus 

Agrippa    ob    ingenium     sordidum    ac  should     have     contemplated    extreme 

ferox ;  and  finally,  as  he  became  nihilo  measures  against  such  a  grandson  to 

tractabilior,    immo  in    dies    amentior,  secure   the   position  of  Tiberius  does 

sent  him  into  seclusion  at  Surrentum.  not  seem  improbable;    he  never  per- 

The  word  sordidum  is  to  be  interpreted  mitted  his  heart  to  interfere  with  his 

by  Dio,  who  calls  Agrippa  dov\onpeirw  :  policy.    But  the  real  object  of  Tacitus  in  j 

he    describes     him    as   given    to    low  exonerating  Augustus  is  to  whitewash  |  * 

pursuits,  highly  passionate,  and  violent  him   at   the  expense  of  Tiberius  and" 

in  his  abuse  of  Livia  and  Augustus.  Livia. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.   CHAPS.  6-7.  13 

Crispus,1  who  was  in  the  secret — it  was  he  who  had 
sent  the  written  instructions  to  the  Tribune— he  was 
afraid  that  the  charge  would  be  shifted  on  to  his  own 
shoulders,  in  which  case,  whether  he  should  tell  the 
truth  or  not,  he  would  be  in  equal  peril.  He  there- 
fore warned  Livia  that  the  secrets  of  the  palace,  the 
private  advice  of  friends,  and  the  services  of  the 
soldiery,  were  things  not  to  be  published  abroad  : — 
Tiberius  must  not  weaken  the  powers  of  the  Principatc 
by  referring  everything  to  the  Senate.  The  condition  of 
Imperial  rule  was  this:  that  every  one  should  be  account- 
able to  one  man,  and  to  one  only* 

1         Meanwhile  all  at    Rome — Consuls,  Senators,  and  Submission 
£  Knights — were  plunging  into  servitude.3    Men  bear-  Rome!" 
ing  the  most   illustrious  names  were   the   foremost 
with  false  professions;  composing  their  features  so  as 
not  to  show  too  much  pleasure  at  the  death  of  the  one 
prince,  or  too   little  at   the  accession  of  the  other; 
blending   tears  with   their  smiles,  and   flattery  with 
3  their  lamentations.     The  Consuls,  Sextus    Pompeius  Oathof 
and  Sextus  Appuleius,  were  the  first  to  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance,4  which  they   in   turn   administered   to  ' 
Seius    Strabo 5    and    Gaius    Turranius  —  the    former 


1  Tacitus  gives  an  interesting  account  assuming  the  command  of  his  army, 

of  this  Sallust,  grand-nephew  of  the  It  was  taken  to  the  emperor  in  virtue 

historian,   by  whom   he  was  adopted.  of  his  proconsular   imperium,    which 

He  compares  him,  both  in  character  extended  over  the  whole  empire.     By  a  ( . 

and    career,  to    Maecenas,    whom   he  gradual  extension,  it  became  customary 

succeeded  as  the  confidant  and  adviser  to  exact  this  oath  from  the  senate,  from 

first  of  Augustus,  and  of  Tiberius  after-  all  magistrates,  citizens  and  subjects, 

wards  (iii.  30,  3-6).     In  ii.  40  we  find  even  in  the  provinces,  on  the  ist  Jan. 

him   entrusted   with  a  secret    mission  in  each  year,  as  well  as  at  the  beginning 

to  inveigle  the  pretender  Clemens,  who  of  a  new  reign.     The  oath  bound  them 

attempted   to  raise  an  insurrection  by  to  maintain    the    emperor's    authority 

personating  Agrippa.  against  all  enemies,  even  though  they 

*  A  very  apt  definition  of  autocracy.  were  their  own  children  (Orell.,  Inscr. 

*  The    phrase    ruere    in    servitium  3665).     For  the  distinction  between  this 
seems  to  refer  mainly  to  the  voluntary  oath  and  the  oath   in  acta  principis, 
taking  of  the  oath  of  allegiance  de-  see  Furn.  and  n.  on  chap.  72,  2. 
scribed  below.  *  Father  of  the  notorious  favourite 

4  This  was  the  military  oath   taken  Aelius  Sejanus  (iv.   i,  3).     See  n.  on 

by  every  soldier  to  an  imptrator  on  his  chap.  24,  3. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


Commandant  of  the  Praetorian  Cohorts,1  the  latter, 
Superintendent  of  the  corn-market.2    Then  came  the 
Senate,  the  soldiers,  and  the  people.     For  Tiberius  4 
left  all  initiative  with  the  Consuls,  as  though  the  old 
Republic  were   still   standing,  and  as   if  he  himself 
had  not  made  up  his  mind  to  assume  the  Empire :  5 
even  the  edict  by  which  he  summoned  the  Senate  he 
only  put  forth  in  virtue  of  the  Tribunitian  authority 
conferred  on  him  in  the  lifetime  of  Augustus. 

The  edict  itself  was  short,  and  moderate  in  tone  : —  6 
He  desired  to  take  their  advice  as  to  the  honours  to  be 
paid  to  his  father ;  he  himself  would  not  leave  the  body, 
nor  undertake  any  other  public  duty.   And  yet,  no  sooner  7 
but  acts  as  was  Augustus  dead,  than  he  had  given  the  password 
to  the  Praetorians  as  their  commander;  he  had  sur- 
rounded himself  with  guards  and  sentinels  and  all  the 
paraphernalia  of  a  court ;  he  was  escorted  by  soldiers 
to  the  Forum  and  to  the  Senate-house,  and  he  had  8 
issued  a  proclamation  to  the  army  as  though  he  were 
already  Emperor :   nowhere  did  he  show  hesitation 
save  in  his  language  to  the  Senate.3 


Tiberius 
issues  a 
moderate 
edict, 


Emperor. 


1  The  military  office  of  praefectus 
praetorii  (or  — o),  commander  of  the 
praetorian  guards,  and  the  civil  office  of 
praefectus  annonae,  superintendent  of 
the  markets,  were  now  rising  into  great 
importance.  As  to  the  former,  see  iv.  2,  - 
1-3.  Both  officers  were  appointed  by  the 
emperor,  and  responsible  to  him  alone. 
The  securing  and  regulating  the  corn- 
supply  was  one  of  the  most  important 
of  the  imperial  duties.  Under  the 
republic,  it  had  been  discharged  by  the 
aediles,  and  its  proper  management 
was  essential  both  for  the  tranquillity  of 
the  city  and  the  security  of  the  emperor. 
Tiberius  speaks  of  this  department 
being  directly  under  his  own  control,  iii. 
54,  8 :  Hanc,  Patres  Conscripti,  curam 
sustinet  princeps  ;  haec  omissa  funditus 
rem  publicam  trahet.  At  the  head  of  the 
department  was  a  praefectus  annonae 
of  equestrian  rank.  C.  Turanius  seems 
to  have  been  the  first  to  occupy  that 


position.  See  Rushforth,  p.  31.  The 
praefectures  of  the  praetorian  guards, 
of  the  corn-supply,  and  of  Egypt,  were 
held  by  Roman  knights  only,  and  con- 
stituted the  three  great  prizes  open  to 
their  order.  The  creation  of  these 
offices,  the  holders  of  which  were  re- 
sponsible only  to  the  emperors,  was 
one  of  the  chief  means  by  which  they 
gradually  took  all  important  adminis- 
trative duties  into  their  own  hands. 
These  offices,  in  fact,  constituted  a 
kind  of  permanent  civil  service. 

2  For  annona,   see  nn.  on  chap.  2, 
i,  and  iii.  54,  6  and  7. 

3  The  anxiety  of  Tiberius  in  regard 
to  the  attitude  of  Germanicus  and  his 
army  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.     There 
was  as  yet  no  imperial  law  or  custom  of 
succession.    Tacitus  tells  us  over  and 
over   again,    as  in  this   passage,   that 
Germanicus  was  the    darling    of   the 
Roman  people;   that  he  had  all  the 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.   CHAPS.   7-8.  15 

9        His  chief  reason  for  this   attitude  was   his   fear  His  fear  of 
of    Germanicus.      That    prince    had    many    legions  cus, 
under    his    command,    and   a    vast   force    of   allies  ; 
he  was   the   darling  of  the    people;    and    it    might 
be  that  he  would  prefer  possession  to  expectation. 

10  Tiberius   had    regard   also   to    public  opinion.      He 
wanted  men  to  believe  that  he  had  been  chosen  and 
called  to  power  by  his  countrymen,  rather  than  that 
he  had  crept  into  it  through  the  intrigues  of  a  wife,1 

11  or  as  the  adopted   son   of  a  dotard.2     It  transpired  and  desire 
afterwards  that  this  air  of  hesitation  was  assumed  opinion. 
deliberately,  for  the  purpose  of  fathoming  the  feelings 

of  the  leading  men  ;  for  Tiberius  would  distort  a 
word  or  a  look  into  an  offence,  and  treasure  it  up 
in  his  memory.  • 

1  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Senate,  Tiberius  per-  The  win  of 
mitted   no    business    to   be   transacted    except    that 
relating   to  the  obsequies  of  Augustus.     The  testa- 

ment was  carried  in  by  the  Vestal  Virgins.3     Tiberius 

•     •  -11-  •     • 

2  and  Livia  were  appointed   heirs.      Livia  was   to   be 
adopted  into  the  Julian  house,  and  to  receive  the  title 
of  'Augusta.'4     His  grandsons  and  great-grandsons 

graces  of  character  in  which  Tiberius  •  With  whom,  as  in  temples  gene- 

was  so  deficient  ;  that  the  army  would  rally,  it  was  common  to  deposit  wills, 

have  been  willing  to  follow  him  had  papers,  and  other  valuables  for  security. 

he  chosen  to  take  up  arms  on  his  *  The  granting  of  the  nomen  Augus- 

own  account  ;  and  that  he  was  sup-  turn  to  Livia  was  an  extraordinary 

posed  to  have  republican  leanings.  See  honour.  It  was  more  than  a  mere 

chap.  33,  5;  ii.  13,  i  and  82,  3.  There  compliment;  for  that  title  belonged 

are  few  more  pathetic  passages  in  Taci-  properly  to  the  actually  reigning  em- 

tus  than  that  in  which  he  describes  the  peror  (Rushforth,  p.  68),  and  was  never 

misgiving  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  borne  by  any  one  else  till  the  middle  of 

which  mingled  with  their  delight  in  the  second  century.  Mommsenpointsout 

witnessing  the  triumph  of  Germanicus,  (Staatsr.  ii.  746  n.)  that  under  a  less 

A.D.  17  :  breves  et  infaustos  populi  determined  ruler  than  Tiberius,  Livia 

Romani  amores  (ii.  41,  5).  See  Dio,  Ivii.  might  have  asserted  her  claim  to  be  prac- 

3,  i,  and  n.  on  chap,  n,  4.  tically  his  colleague.  The  younger 

1  Tacitus  regards  the  adoption  of  Agrippina  bore  the  title  as  co-ruler  with 

Tiberius  as  entirely  due  to  the  machina-  Claudius  first  and  Nero  afterwards  ; 

tions  of  Livia.  In  iv.  57,  5  he  represents  her  head  appears  on  coins  beside  that 

her  as  constantly  taunting  him  with  of  Nero.  See  nn.  on  chap.  14,  3  and 

having  received  the  empire  as  her  gift.  iv.  57,  4.  The  title  was  conferred  upon 

•  Augustus  was  65  years  of  age  when  Augustus  on  Jan.  16,  B.C.  27,  as  a 

he  adopted  Tiberius  in  A.D.  4.  ^  complimentary  surname  like  Magnus, 


sons. 


i6 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


Amounts 
be- 
queathed. 


Question  of 

funeral 

honours. 


came  next  in  the  succession ;  in  the  third  rank  were 
many  names  of  distinction,  mostly  those  of  personal 
enemies,  inserted  in  a  spirit  of  vain-glory,  with  an 
eye  to  the  approbation  of  posterity.  The  amount 
bequeathed  was  not  above  the  scale  of  a  private  3 
fortune ;  but  a  sum  of  forty-three  and  a  half  million 
sesterces  was  left  to  the  people  and  to  the  plebs.  Each 
soldier  of  the  Praetorian  Cohorts  was  to  receive  one 
thousand  sesterces ;  the  soldiers  of  the  Urban  Cohorts 
five  hundred ;  the  legionaries,  and  the  members  of  the 
Cohorts  raised  from  Roman  citizens,  three  hundred 
sesterces  apiece.1  •> 

The  question  of  funeral  honours  was  then  con-  * 
sidered.     The  most  outstanding  proposals  were  that 


Germanises,  etc.,  and  also  in  a  semi- 
religious  sense  to  denote  the  greatness 
and  sanctity  of  his  person.  He  himself 
tells  us  it  was  given  to  him  in  return 
for  his  having  restored  the  republic  to 
the  senate  and  the  people  :  pro  quo 
merito  meo  senatus  consulto  Augustus 
appellatus  sum  (Mon.,  Anc.  vi.  16). 

1  There  are  some  slight  differences 
between  the  accounts  of  the  will  as 
given  by  Tacitus,  by  Suet.  (Aug.  101), 
and  by  Dio  (Ivi.  32).  But  if  we  put  the 
accounts  carefully  together  (with  the 
necessary  insertion  oiurbanis  quingentos 
after  singula  nummum  milia  in  the 
passage  before  us,  and  reading  ac  for 
aut  after  the  following  word  legionariis], 
we  may  conclude  that  the  sums  be- 
queathed were  as  follows.  The  main 
inheritance — what  we  should  call  'the 
residue ' — was  divided  between  Tiberius 
and  Livia,  in  the  proportion  of  two 
parts  to  Tiberius  and  one  to  Livia. 
Failing  them,  two-thirds  were  to  go  to 
Germanicus  and  his  three  sons,  and 
one-third  to  Drusus,  son  of  Tiberius. 
Failing  these  also,  a  number  of  dis- 
tinguished names  were  inserted  as  heirs 
in  the  third  degree.  Suetonius  states 
that  Augustus  estimated  this  residue  at 
150  million  sesterces,  equivalent  roughly 
(if  we  take  the  metal  value  of  a  thousand 
sesterces  as  £8)  to  about  ,£1,200,000. 
There  were  various  legacies  (amounts 
not  named)  to  relatives  and  others, 
including  some  foreign  princes.  The 
most  considerable  legacies  were  (i)  40 


million  HS.  (£32,000)  to  the  populus 
Romanus,  i.e.  the  public  Treasury 
(aerarium) ;  (2)  3,500,000  HS.  (£28,000) 
to  the  plebs,  i.e.  to  the  35  tribes,  at  the 
rate  of  100,000  HS.,  or  £800,  a  tribe  ; 
(3)  looo  HS.,  or  £8,  to  each  soldier  in 
the  praetorian  cohorts ;  500  HS.,  or  £4, 
to  each  soldier  in  the  urban  cohorts  ; 
300  HS.,  or  £2  8s.,  apiece,  to  each 
common  soldier,  whether  of  the  legions 
or  of  the  cohortes  civium  Romano-rum. 
Reckoning  the  praetorian  guards  at 
9000  men,  the  urban  cohorts  at  3000, 
and  the  legionaries  (25  legions)  at 
125,000  in  all,  the  total  sum  left  to  the 
soldiery  would  amount  to  £354,000  of 
our  money.  The  gross  amount  of  the 
estate  ibequeathed  would  work  out  thus : 

To  the  army  HS.  48,000,000 

To  the  populus  ,,    40,000,000 

To  the  plebs  ,,       3,500,000 

To  residue  ,,  150,000,000 

241,500,000 

making  a  total  of  less  than  two  millions 
of  our  money,  not  equal  to  a  third  of 
the  amount  bequeathed  by  Mr.  Cecil 
Rhodes  for  public  purposes.  This  was 
no  great  sum  for  one  who  had  been 
sole  ruler  of  the  Roman  empire  for 
nearly  half  a  century,  and  who,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  testimony,  had  himself 
received  in  legacies  during  twenty  years 
no  less  than  1400  million  sesterces,  or 
something  more  than  eleven  millions 
sterling. 


A.D.  14.]  "7^       BOOK    I.   CHAP.   8.  17 

tftr 
of  Callus  Asinius,  that  the  procession  should  pass 

through  the  Triumphal  Gate;1  and  that  of  Lucius 
Arruntius,2  that  the  titles  of  the  laws  passed 
by  the  deceased,  and  the  names  of  the  nations 
which  he  had  conquered,  should  be  borne  before 

5  the   body.     To  these   Messalla  Valerius  added   that 
the   oath   of  allegiance3  to   Tiberius   should    be   re- 
newed every  year ;  and  when  challenged  by  Tiberius 
to   say  whether  that   motion  had  been  made  at  his 
instigation,   he    replied   that    no    man    had  prompted 
him :   nor  would   he  follow   any  counsel   but   his  own 
in  public  matters,   even   though  he  might  give  offence 
thereby.     Such  was  the  only  form  of  flattery  still  left 
untried ! 

6  It  was  carried  by  acclamation  that  the  body  should 
be  borne  to  the  pyre  by  senators ;  an  honour  which 
Tiberius  waived,4  in  a  tone  of  arrogant  condescension. 
And  to  the  people  he  issued  a  proclamation,  praying 
them  not  to  think  of  burning  the  body  in  the  Forum,5  T?berms. 
rather  than   at   its   appointed    resting-place6   in   the 

1  This    gate    was     used    only    for  Caesar's    body,    see    Suet.,   Jul.    84  ; 
triumphal  processions.     It  was  situated  Plutarch,    Caes.    68  ;  and    above    all, 
at    some    point    in    the    low    ground  Shakespeare,    Julius    Caesar,    Act    iii. 
between    the    Capitol    and    the  river,  Scene  2.     Augustus  erected  a  temple  to 
affording  a  natural    access    from    the  Caesar  on  the  spot  where  the  body  was 
Campus    Martius,    in   which   the   pro-  cremated,  at  the  low  end  of  the  Forum, 
cession  was  marshalled,  into   the  city.  The  platform  of  this  temple,  discovered 
There  were  two  other  gates  tor  ordi-  in   1872,  may  still  be    seen    near    the 
nary  use  in   this  short  space,  the  P.  Regia  and  the  temple  of  Vesta.    Close 
FliiHientana,  or  River  Gate,  and  the  P.  by  the  temple  were  the  Rostra  Julia, 
Carmtntalis.  ornamented  by  Augustus  with  beaks  of 

2  For  Asinius  Gallus  and  L.  Arrun-  the  ships  taken  at  Actium  ;  it  was  from 
tius,  see  nn.  on  chaps.  12,  2  and  13,  i.  that  spot  that  Tiberius  delivered    the 

1  See  n.  on  chap.  7,  3.  funeral  oration  on  Augustus. 

*  Though  this  honour  was  thus  •  The  well-known  .\fausoleum  of 

graciously  'remitted'  by  Tiberius,  it  Augustus,  built  B.C.  28,  between  the 

was  conferred  all  the  same.  The  body  Via  Flaminia  and  the  Tiber,  at  the  spot 

was  carried  from  Nola  to  Bovillae  where  they  come  closest  to  each  other, 

by  the  senators  (decuriones)  of  the  It  was  a  huge  circular  structure,  rising 

various  municipalities  ;  from  Bovillae  in  three  terraces,  planted  with  cypresses, 

it  was  borne  by  equites ;  and  on  the  The  first  occupant  of  the  mausoleum 

day  of  the  funeral  senatorum  humeris  was  M.  Marcellus,  son-in-law  of 

delatus  in  Camfum  crematusque  (Suet.,  Augustus,  who  died  B.C.  23  :  vel  quae 

Aug.  ico).  Tiberine  videbis  =  Funtra,  cum  titmu- 

8  For  the  scene  at  the  burning  of  lum  practerlabere  recentem  (Virg. ,  Aen. 


l8  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 

Campus  Martius,  nor  to  repeat  the  disturbances 
caused  by  excess  of  affection  at  the  obsequies  of  the 
Immortal  Julius. 

The  On    the    funeral    day,    the    troops    were    drawn  7 

funeral.  up  Qn  guar(jj  amid  the  derision  of  those  who  had 
themselves  beheld  or  had  heard  their  elders  describe 
the  day  when  Rome,  unripe  as  yet  for  slavery,  had 
struck  that  ill-fated  blow  for  freedom — the  day  when 
some  regarded  the  assassination  of  Caesar  as  a  foul 
crime,  others  as  a  most  glorious  achievement :  whereas 
now  an  aged  emperor,  after  a  long  lease  of  power, 
and  after  providing  his  heirs  with  resources  against 
the  Commonwealth,  had  need  of  a  guard  of  soldiers 
to  keep  order  over  his  grave ! 

Public  gos-        There  followed  much  talk  about  Augustus.1    People  9. 

Augustus,  idly  marvelled  that  he  had  died  upon  the  same  day 2  as 
that  on  which  he  had  first  entered  on  power ;  in  the 
same  house,  in  the  very  room,  at  Nola,  in  which  his 
father  Octavius  had  breathed  his  last.  They  dwelt 
upon  the  number  of  his  consulships,3  equal  to  those  of  2 
Valerius  Corvus  and  Gaius  Marius  put  together ;  they 
recounted  how  the  Tribunitian  Power  had  been  con- 
tinued to  him  for  thirty-seven  years  ;4  how  the  title  of 

vi.  874-5).    Part  of  the  original  building  by  the  senate  in  B.C.  43,  along  with 

is  still  to  be  seen  ;  it  was  till  recently  Q.  Pedius.    The  regular  consuls  of  that 

used  as  a  theatre.     Close  by,  adjoining  year,  C.  Vibius  Pansa  and  A.  Hirtius, 

the  Via  Flaminia,  was  the  ustrinum  or  had  been  killed  before  Mutina  in  the 

bustum,    the  walled    and    shaded    en-  month  of  April. 

closure  in  which  the  bodies  were  burned  3  Augustus  held  the  consulship  thirteen 

before  burial.  times  in  all:  in  the  years  B.C.  43  and 

1  Chapters  9  and  10  afford  one  of  33  ;    for  nine  years  in  succession  from 
the  most  striking  instances  of  Tacitus'  31  to  23  inclusive  ;  and  again  in  B.C.  5 
power    of    condensation.       There    is,  and    2.     Valerius    Corvus    had    been 
perhaps,  nothing  like  it  in  all  historical  consul  six  times,  and  C.  Marius  seven 
literature.     In  two  short  chapters  he  times. 

gives    a    masterly    sketch,    from   two  4  i.e.  from  June  27,  B.C.  23  (when  the 

opposite  points  of  view,  of  the  career,  tribunitian  power  in  its  extended  form 

character,    and    political    motives     of  was  formally  conferred  on  Augustus  on 

Augustus,  omitting  nothing  of  essential  the  final  constitution  of  the  principate), 

importance.  down  to  his  death  on  August  19,  A.D. 

2  i.e.  Aug.  I9th,  the  day  on  which  14,  a  period  of  37  years  and  nearly  two 
Augustus    was    first    declared    consul  months. 


A.D.  14.] 


BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  8-9. 


'Imperator'  had  been  conferred  upon  him  one-and- 
twenty    times:1    how    other    distinctions    had    been 
heaped  on  him,  or  invented  in  his  honour.2 
s         Reflecting  men   discussed   his  career  in   various 
tones  of  praise  or  blame.     Some  maintained  :— 

4  That  he  had  been  forced  into  civil  war  by  regard  for  Some  laud 

-        ...        „.    .         him  and  his 

his  fathers  memory,  and  by  the  exigencies  of  public  affairs,  career ; 
which  left  no  roomforlaiv :  and  civil  war  was  a  thing  ivhich 
none  could  bring  about  or  carry  on  clean-handed.    He  had 
made  many  concessions  toAntonius,  many  also  to  Lepidus, 
in  order  to  secure  vengeance  on  his  fathers  murderers;* 

5  but  when  the  latter  became  old  and  lethargic,  and  the 
former  lost  himself  in  debauch,  no  resource  was  left  for  the 

6  distracted  country   but  the  rule  of  one  man.     Yet  even 
so,  Angus  ft  is  had  not  set  up  his  government  as  King  or 
Dictator*  but  tinder  the  name  of  'Princeps.'5     Under  his 


1  See  n.  on  chap.  3,  i.  The  custom 
is  explained  in  iii.  74,  6.  The  first  re- 
corded instance  of  this  title  being 
bestowed  was  in  the  case  of  Scipio 
Africanus  major,  B.C.  209  (Liv.  xxvii. 

19.  4)- 

*  Such  as  the  title  of  Augustus  itself, 
bestowed  B.C.  27.  For  various  other 
honours,  see  Suet.  Oct.  26,  57,  58.  The 
title  pater  patriae  was  not  new;  it  had 
been  given  to  Cicero  by  the  senate 
(Juv.  viii.  244).  It  was  formally  conferred 
on  Augustus  by  a  decree  of  senate 
B.c.  2,  though  it  had  been  in  popular 
use  long  before. 

3  As    though    Augustus    had     only 
I  acquiesced  in    the  cruel    and    violent 
proceedings   of  his  colleagues   in   the 
^Triumvirate  in  order  to  secure  their  co- 
operation in  his  one  great  object,  the 
avenging  of  Caesar's  murder.     But  in 

I  fact  he  only  used  this  pretext  as  a 
stalking-horse  for  his  own  ambition. 
The  wily  youth  never  spoiled  his  game 
by  showing  his  hand ;  or  by  making  a 
move  too  soon.  He  put  up  with 
Lepidus  until  his  ineffectual  revolt  in 
Sicily  (see  n.  on  chap,  i,  3)  ;  he  long 
diplomatised  with  Antony,  and  allowed 
him  to  waste  himself  with  Cleopatra  in 
the  East  until  he  was  ripe  to  be  struck 
down  at  Actium,  B.C.  31. 

4  The    essence    of    the     policy    of 


Augustus  was  to  avoid  the  appearance 
of  usurping  autocratic  power.  The 
title  of  king  was  hateful  to  the  Romans 
historically  ;  it  suggested  to  them  also 
the  idea  of  Oriental  despotism,  and  the 
mere  suspicion  that  he  desired  it  cost 
Caesar  his  life.  The  dictatorship  \vas 
essentially  a  temporary  office,  resorted 
to  in  emergencies  (ad  tempus  sume- 
bantur,  chap.  i.  i)  ;  a  perpetual 
dictatorship,  like  that  of  Sulla,  or  a 
dictatorship  for  10  years,  such  as  had 
been  conferred  upon  Caesar,  involved 
a  violation  of  constitutional  principle, 
and  the  extinction  of  constitutional 
rights.  The  aim  of  Augustus  was  the 
impossible  one  of  establishing  a  con- 
stitutional autocracy,  with  himself  as 
constitutional  autocrat.  In  his  dexter- 
ous hands  the  contradiction  succeeded 
for  a  time  ;  but  it  broke  down  under  his 
less  wily  successors,  and  the  fiction  of 
freedom  involved  Rome  in  degrada- 
tions which  might  have  been  spared 
her  under  an  autocracy  openly  avowed. 
5  For  the  meaning  of  the  term 
princeps,  see  above,  n.  on  chap,  i,  3. 
In  accordance  with  his  subtle  policy  of 
concealing  the  appearance  of  power, 
Augustus  assumed  the  modest  title  of 
princeps  in  a  special  sense,  to  imply 
that,  though  he  was  •  Chief  of  the  State ' 
(as  Nap.  III.  styled  himself),  he  was 


20 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


others  take 
an  adverse 
view  both 
of  his 
public 


rule,  the  frontiers  had  been  pushed  forward  to  the  Ocean  or 
to  distant  rivers;  *  the  provinces,  the  armies,  and  the  fleets 
of  the  Empire  had  been  brought  into  communication  with 
one  another.    Justice  had  been  dispensed  at  home;  con- 
sideration had  been  shewn  to  the  allies;  the  city  itself 
had  been  sumptuously  adorned:*  and,  if  some  few  acts  of 
violence  had  been  committed?  it  had  been  in  order  to  secure 
the  general  tranquillity. 

On  the  other  side  it  was  said  :— 

The  pleas  of  filial  duty  and  political  necessity  were  but 
pretexts.  It  was  lust  of  power  which  had  prompted  A  ugustus 
to.  attract  the  veterans  by  bribes,^  to  collect  an  army  while 
he  ivas  still  a  stripling  and  without  office,  to  tamper  with 
the  troops  of  the  Consul,  and  to  affect  sympathy  with  the 
Pompeian  party?  After  that,  by  virtue  of  a  decree  of  the 
Senate,  he  had  usurped  the  Praetorship?  with  its  military 
and  judicial  powers  ;  and  when  Hirtius  and  Pansa  were 


only  primus  inter  pares.     He  says  of 
himself,  Mon.  Anc.  Gr.  xviii.  7,  Itovciat 

3e  ov&ev  TI  TrXeloi/  ea\ov  TU>V  fi>yapfai>To>i/  /xot. 

No  other  title  could  have  suited  his 
purpose  so  well. 

1  The  famous  frontiers  of  the  Rhine, 
the  Danube,  and  the  Euphrates.     But 
this  description  is  only  true  in  a  loose 
sense.     There  were  considerable  popu- 
lations   E.   of   the    Rhine    subject    to 
Rome ;    and    the  frontier  between  the 
Rhine  at  Mayence  and  the  Danube  near 
Ratisbon     included     much    of     SW. 
Germany.    The   description  does  not 
apply    to    the    E.    boundary    of    the 
empire,     from     the    Euxine     to     the 
Euphrates  ;  nor  does  it  take  any  count 
of  Egypt  or  Africa.     See  the  careful 
statement  of  the   imperial  forces  and 
their  distribution  given  in  iv.  5. 

2  By  his  various  public  works  and 
buildings,  his  two  new  fora  (the  Forum 
lulium,  nearly  completed  by  Caesar, 
and  the  Forum  Augustum,  ded.  B.C.  2), 
and  his  reparation  of  ancient  temples, 
Augustus  had  changed  the  whole  face 
of  the  city.     His  boast  was  'that  he 
had  found  Rome  a  city  of  brick,  and 
left  it  a  city  of  marble'  (Suet.  Oct.  29), 
where  (and  in  chap.  30)  is  given  a  list 
of  his  public  works. 


3  This    refers    to    the    conspiracies 
mentioned  in  the  next  chapter,  §  3. 

4  Augustus  began  by  collecting  an 
army,    at    his    own    expense,    against 
Antony,  in  the  summer  of  B.C.  44.     He 
tempted    out   the    veterans   settled    at 
Casilinum  and  Calatia  in  Campania  by 
a  bribe  of  500  denarii  apiece  (Cic.  Epp. 
Att.  xvi.  8,  i).     Later,  he  seduced  from 
their   allegiance    two    legions,    Martia 
and  Quinta,  which  Antony  (then  consul) 
was  bringing    over    from    Macedonia. 
For  this   he   received   the    high-flown 
thanks  of  Cicero  in  the  3rd  and  4th 
Philippics. 

5  The    wily    youth    entirely    hood- 
winked the  orator,  who  in  the   Philip- 
pics pours  forth  all  his  eloquence  in 
panegyrizing  the  young    Caesar's  de- 
votion to  the  senate,  and  his  loyalty  to 
republican  principles. 

6  After  gaining  over  the  two  legions  of 
Antony,  Augustus  affected  to  embrace 
the  cause  of  the  senate ;  he  induced 
them  to  confer  upon  him  the  office  of 
praetor,  and   to  send  him  to  join  the 
consuls    Hirtius    and    Pansa    in   their 
attack    upon  Antony,    who   was    then 
besieging  Decimus  Brutus   in   Mutina 
(Modena). 


A.D.  14.] 


BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  9-10. 


21 


slain  in  battle 1 — whether  or  no  those  generals  were  indeed 
so  slain  :  or  had  died,  the  latter,  of  a  poisoned  wound,  the 
former,  at  the  hands  of  his  oivn  soldiers  treacherously  set 
on  by  Octavianus* — he  had  assumed  command  of  both 
armies;  he  had  forced  the  Senate  to  make  him  Consul 
against  its  ivill?  and  having  received  an  army  to  oppose 
Antonius,  had  turned  it  against  his  own  country:  the 
proscriptions*  the  confiscations*  were  measures  ivliich  not 
2  even  their  perpetrators  could  approve.  The  deaths  of 
Brutus  and  Cassius,  indeed,  might  be  deemed  a  tribute  of 
vengeance  to  his  father ;  though  even  so  if  were  right  for 
private  hatred  to  give  zvay  before  the  public  good.  But  he 
had  tricked  Sextus  Pompeius  by  a  pretence  of  peace, Q  and 
Lcpidus  under  the  guise  of  friendship ;  later  on,  he  had 


1  Hirtius  was  defeated  in  a  first 
attack  upon  Antony,  and  died  of 
his  wounds.  Next,  Pansa  assaulted 
Antony's  camp  with  success,  but  was 
killed  in  the  attack,  April  271)1.  The 
death  of  the  two  consuls  and  the  flight 
of  Antony  left  Augustus  master  of  the 
situation. 

8  This  suspicion  is  mentioned  both  by 
Suetonius  (Oct.  n)  and  by  Dio  (xlvi.  39) 
as  current  at  the  time.  Suetonius  adds 
that  the  physician  Glyco  was  arrested 
on  the  charge  of  poisoning  Pansa's 
wound.  The  fact  of  the  arrest  is  con- 
firmed by  Brutus  in  a  letter  (Brutus  ad 
Cic.  i.  6,  2),  but  Brutus  vehemently  re- 
pudiates the  charge,  and  begs  Cicero 
to  secure  Glyco's  release.  We  shall 
sec  how  often  Tacitus  records  sus- 
picions, while  taking  care  not  to  com- 
mit himself  to  their  truth. 

*  After  Mutina,  Augustus  declined  to 
follow  up  Antony,  and  began  soon  to 
parley  with  him.  Backed  by  8  legions, 
he  marched  on  Rome,  and  forcibly 
demanded  the  consulship ;  in  vain 
Cicero,  now  disabused,  attempted  to 
organise  resistance.  The  opposition 
went  over  to  Augustus,  or  slunk  away  ; 
a  rump  of  the  senate  submitted ;  all 
constitutional  usages  were  set  aside ; 
the  farce  of  a  popular  election  by  the 
comitia  was  carried  through,  and 
Augustus  was  installed  as  consul,  with 
his  cousin  Q.  Pedius  as  colleague,  on 
the  22nd  of  Sept.,  one  day  before 
attaining  the  age  of  20.  By  the  end  of 


October  the  second  triumvirate  \VMS 
formed. 

4  The  first  act  of  the  new  triumvirs 
was  to  arrange,  with  hideous  mutual 
bargaining,  for  the  massacre  of  their 
respective  enemies,  ^ooseiiatprs,  2000 
knights,  are  said  to  havcTGeen  included 
in  the  official  list  ;  a  preliminary  batch 
of  18  contained  the  great  name  of  Cicero, 
who  was  ba/barously  murdered  ivor 
Fonniao  on  thejth  Dec.  The  soldiers 
were  let  loose  on  the  city;  the  grim 
list  was  swelled  day  by  day,  from 
motives  of  private  cupidity  or  re- 
venge. Plutarch  gives  most  of  the 
blame  to  Antony,  but  Suetonius  says  of 
Augustus  rcstititquidem  aliquamdiucol- 
legis,  ne  qua  fieret  proscriptio  ;  sedinccp- 
tum  ntroque  acerbius  exercuit  (Oct.  27). 

4  Eighteen  of  the  choicest  cities  of 
Italy,  with  their  lands,  were  assigned 
to  the  soldiers  by  the  triumvirate  in 
B.C.  43 ;  no  less  extensive  were  the 
confiscations  which  took  place  after  the 
campaign  of  Philippi.  in  B.C.  41.  when 
Virgil  (Eel.  i  and  g).  Properties  (iv.  i, 
130),  and  Horace  (Epp.  n.  2,  50)  were 
deprived  of  their  ancestral  properties. 

8  Sextus  Pompey,  having  command 
of  the  sea  with  his  fleet  in  B.C.  39,  and 
threatening  Rome  with  stoppage  of  her 
corn-supplies,  had  to  be  brought  to 
terms.  The  treaty  of  Misenum  sur- 
rendered to  him  Sicily,  Sardinia, 
Corsica,  and  perhaps  Achaia  also,  and 
admitted  him  to  virtual  partnership 
with  the  triumvirs. 


22 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


entrapped  Antonius    by  the  treaties  of  Tarentum   and 
Brundisium?-  and  by  giving  him  his  own  sister  in  mar- 
riage — a  treacherous  alliance  which  Antonius  had  paid 
for  with  his  blood.     Peace,  no  doubt,  had  followed,  but  3 
it  was  a  peace  stained  with  blood :    there  had  been  the 
disasters  of  Lollius  and  of  Varus*  abroad;  at  home,  the 
executions  of  a  Varro,  an  Egnatius,  and  a  lulus? 
and  of  his          Nor  was  his  private  life  spared  : —  4 

He  had  torn  Livia  f  when  pregnant,  from  her  husband, 
going  through  the  farce  of  consulting  the  augurs  whether 
she  could  rightfully  marry  without  waiting  for  the  child 
to  be  born  ;  he  had  permitted  the  extravagance  of  a  Quintus 
Tedius 5  and  a  Vedius  Pollio.  And  lastly,  there  was  Livia  : 


1  The    treaty    of    Brundisium    was 
negotiated  in  B.C.  ^o.  to  ward  off  a 
threatened  combination  of  Antony  and 
Sextus      Pompey     against     Augustus, 
who,  having  put   down   the   Perugian 
revolt,  led  by  Lucius  Antony,  brother 
of  the    triumvir,  was   now   master  of 
Italy.       A  reconciliation  was  patched 
up  by  the  marriage  of  Octavia.  sister  of 
Augustus,  to  Antony.    Again,  by  the 
treaty  of,  Tarentum,  in  B.C.  37.  Antony 
lent    Augustus    130    ships   to   be   used 
against  Sextus,  while  Antony  received 
20,000  legionaries  for  his  contemplated 
Parthian  expedition.     The  triumvirate 
was  at  the  same  time  renewed  for  5 
years. 

2  M.    Lollius,    cos.    B.C.    21    (Hor. 
Epp.  i.  20,  28),  was  governor  of  Gaul 
in  B.C.  1 6,  when  three  German  tribes, 
the   Usipetes,  the   Tencteri,    and    the 
Sygambri,  crossed  the  Rhine,  and  in- 
flicted on  him  a  severe  defeat — soon, 
however,  repaired.  Augustus  thought  it 
necessary  to  go  to  Gaul  in  person  ;  but 
Suetonius  speaks  lightly  of  the  disaster, 
as  maioris  infamiae  quam  detrimenti 
(Oct.    23).      Much  more  terrible  was 
the  disaster  to    P.   Varus,  in  A.D.   9, 
who  perished  with  the  whole   of  his 
three  legions.     That  disaster  caused  a 
panic  in  Rome.      Augustus  never  en- 
tirely got  over  it ;   for  months  after- 
wards he  let  his  hair  grow,    and    he 
would  cry  passionately  at  intervals,  '  O 
Quintilius    yarus,   give    me  back    my 
legions  ! '     (ib).     See  n.  on  chap.  3,  6. 

3  Tacitus  uses  plurals  of  exaggeration. 


L.  Licinius  Murena,  the  augur  (Hor. 
Od.  iii.  19,  10),  called  after  his  adoption 
Terentius  Varro  Murena,  and  brother 
of  Terentia,  wife  of  Maecenas,  was  put 
to  death,  along  with  Fannius  Caepio, 
for  a  conspiracy  against  Augustus  in 
B.C.  22,  the  details  of  which  are  in- 
volved in  mystery  (Dio,  liv.  3).  M. 
Egnatius  Rufus,  aedile  in  B.C.  20,  and 
praetor  in  B.C.  19,  was  put  to  death  for 
conspiracy  B.C.  18  (Veil.  Pat.  ii.  91,  3). 
lulus  Antonius,  son  of  the  triumvir, 
after  enjoying  the  high  favour  of  Augus- 
tus, was  put  to  death  B.C.  2  for  adultery 
with  Julia. 

4  Livia  Drusilla,  a  woman  of  extra- 
ordinary fascination  and  cleverness,  was 
daughter  of  Livius  Drusus  Claudianus. 
She  was  first  married  to  Ti.  Claudius 
Nero,   to  whom  she  bore    the  future 
Emperor  Tiberius.      Augustus    forced 
her  husband  to  divorce  her,  B.C.   38, 
three  months  before  she  gave  birth  to 
her  second  son  Drusus.     She  never  bore 
any  children  to  Augustus.     For  Taci- 
tus' studied  account  of  her  career  and 
character,  see  v.  i,  1-5. 

5  Tedius  is  unknown.    Vedius  Pollio 
was  a  knight  [of  low  birth,  a  by-word 
for  his  wealth  and  savagery  (da/mornri, 
Dio) :  famous  for  feeding  his  lampreys 
on  live  slaves  (Plin.  H.  N.  ix.  23,  77). 
He  ordered  a  slave-boy  to  be  thrown 
into  his  piscina   to  be   devoured,  for 
breaking    a    crystal    vase ;    Augustus, 
who  was  present,  forbade  him,  and  had 
the  rest    of  his    crystals  broken  and 
thrown  in  instead  (Sen.  de  Ira,  iii.  40). 


A.D.  14.] 


BOOK    I.    CHAP.   10. 


a  very  scourge  to  the  Commonwealth  as  a  mother,  no  less 
a  scourge  to  the  house  of  the  Caesars 1  as  a  step-mother. 

5  What  honours  were  left  for  the  Gods,  when  Augustus 
ordained  temples  and  images  to  be  set  up  to  himself  as  to  a 

6  Deity,  with  Flamens  and  Priests  to  worship  him  ?2    Even  He  had  not 
in  adopting  Tiberius  as  his  successor,  he  had  not  been  Tiberius 
moved  by  affection,  or  by  care  for  the  public  good ;  but  tion. 
having  sounded  the  depths  of  that  proud  and  cruel  nature, 

he  had  sought  to  win  glory  for  himself  by  contrast  with 
an  execrable  successor* 

7  For  not  many  years  before,  when  Augustus  was 
asking  the   Senate   to   confer  anew  the  Tribunitian 
Power  on  Tiberius,4  though  he  spoke  of  him  in  terms 
of  compliment,   he   had   let    fall    some   observations 


1  Tacitus  can  never  forgive  I. ivia  for 
being  the  mother  of  Tiberius.  He  here 
practically  assumes  as  true  the  suspicion 
for  which  he  declines  to  vouch  in  chap. 
i,  3,  that  she  had  brought  about  the 
death  of  Gaius  Caesar. 

3  It  is  not  clear  whether  the  refer- 
ence here  is  to  the  worship  of  Augustus 
and  the  senate,  organised  throughout 
the  provinces  (see  n.  on  i.  57,  2)  ;  or  to 
the  special  worship  of  Augustus  himself 
in  Italy,  which  is  an  undoubted  fact,  in 
spite  of  the  silence  of  the  historians  in 
regard  to  it.  See  the  Immolatio  Caesari 
hostia,  noted  among  other  things  in  the 
Calendar  of  Cumae  quoted  by  Rush- 
forth,  p.  51,  1.  3.  Tacitus  himself  gives 
us  no  idea  of  the  extent  and  importance 
of  the  worship  of  the  Emperors  ;  he 
seems  to  look  upon  it  as  a  natural 
tribute  to  the  majesty  of  Rome.  See 
n.  to  iv.  37,  4  and  5.  Dio  (li.  20,  7) 
and  Suetonius  (Aug.  52)  both  state 
that  Augustus  allowed  no  temples  to 
himself  to  be  set  up  in  Italy ;  and  in 
the  provinces  only  in  conjunction  with 
the  worship  of  Rome,  such  as  was 
commonly  set  up  to  proconsuls.  In  the 
noble  speech  attributed  to  Tiberius  by 
Tacitus  (iv.  37),  Tiberius  speaks  as  if 
only  one  such  dedication  had  been  per- 
mitted before  that  time,  at  Pergamum. 
The  humorous  insouciance  with  which 
Augustus  himself  regarded  such  honours 
is  illustrated  by  an  anecdote  told  by 
Quintilian  (vi.  3,  77).  The  people  of 
Tarraco,  in  Spain,  reported  to  him  that 


a  palm-tree  had  sprung  up  out  of  an 
altar  dedicated  there  to  him  :  '  Which 
shews,'  he  remarked,  '  how  frequently 
the  fire  on  the  altar  is  kindled.' 

3  This  atrocious  innuendo  is  men- 
tioned slightingly  by  Dio  (Ivi.  45),  but  is 
emphatically  contradicted  by  Suetonius 
(Tib.  21),  who  records  a  solemn  oath 
made  in  public  by  Augustus  that  he 
adopted  Tiberius  reJ  publlcae jcausa. 
He  quotes  extracts  of  letters  Trom  him 
to  Tiberius  couched  in  the  most 
affectionate  language  ;  and  he  especially 
discredits  a  popular  rumour  to  the 
effect  that  Augustus  had  been  over- 
heard exclaiming,  Miserum  populum 
Rotnanum  qui  sub  tarn  lentis  maxillis 
erit !  At  an  earlier  period  there  was 
undoubted  estrangement  between  the 
two :  the  harsh  and  intense  nature  of 
Tiberius  can  never  have  been  congenial 
to  the  subtle,  polished,  and  easy-tem- 
pered opportunist.  The  view  of  Tacitus 
elsewhere  (iv.  57,  5)  is  that  the  adoption 
of  Tiberius  was  entirely  the  work  of 
Lfvla. 

*  Probably  in  A.D.  4,  when  the 
trib.  pot.  for  5  years  was  conferred 
upon  Tiberius  for  a  second  time, 
shortly  after  his  return  from  Rhodes. 
At  that  ti  me  some  sort  of  public  in  trod uc- 
tion  may  have  been  thought  necessary, 
on  his  return  to  favour  (Suet.  Tib.  6).  It 
may  less  probably  have  been  in  A.D.  o, 
when  a  further  extension  of  the  trio, 
pot.  was  conferred  upon  him. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


Temple 
voted  to 
Augustus. 


Entreaties 
of  the 
Senate ; 
hesitation 
of  Tiberius. 


His  dark 
and  am- 
biguous 
language 


about  his  bearing,  his  manners  and  style  of  living, 
which  under  guise  of  an  apology  bore  all  the 
character  of  a  reproach.  <i 

The  obsequies  were  carried  out  in  due  form ;  and  8 
a  temple,1  with  religious  worship,  was  voted  in  his 
honour. 

The  Senate  then  turned  to  Tiberius  with  entreaties.    1 1 
He   replied    in   various    strains.     He    spoke    of   the 
vastness  of  the  Empire;   of  his  ivant  of  confidence*  in 
himself:    no  mind    but   that  of  the    Divine  Augustus  2 
could  cope  with  so  huge  a   task.      Having  been   him- 
self invited   to    share    that   monarch's    cares,    he    had 
learned    by    experience    how  grievous,   how  precarious, 
the  burden  of  universal  rule.     A   State  which  had  so  3 
many  distinguished  men  on  whom  to  lean,  should  not 
place  all  power  in  one  man's  hands ;    the  business  of 
government  would  be  easier  were  it  divided  among  several 
partners. 

Grand  words  these ;  but  there  was  little  sincerity  * 
in  them.3   For  whether  by  nature  or  by  habit,  Tiberius 
was  at  all  times  ambiguous  and  obscure  in  his  utter- 
ances, even  when  he  had  nothing  to  conceal ;  and  on 
the  present  occasion,  when  he  was  doing  his  utmost 


1  This    temple,    built   in    course    of 
time  by  Tiberius  and  Livia,  and  dedi- 
cated to  Augustus,  is  the  huge  building 
of  which  the  brick  walls  still  survive  at 
the  corner  of  the  Palatine  nearest  to  the 
Capitol.     See  n.  on  vi.  45,  3. 

2  The  modestia  of  Tiberius— his  diffi- 
dence    or    want    of    self-assertion — is 
mentioned  by  Tacitus  (iii.  56,  4)  as  a 
quality  on  which  Augustus  thought  he 
could  safely  rely,  in  conjunction  with 
his  own  magnitude,  in  admitting  him  to 
share  the  trib.  pot. 

3  This  comment  is   hardly  justified ; 
see    n.  on  chap.  7,  9.      The   situation 
for  the  successor  of  Augustus  was  a 
very  delicate  one.    There  was  no  ac- 
knowledged law  of  succession.     Augus- 
tus himself  had  acted,  for  years,  on  the 


fiction  that  he  was  only  a  citizen ;  and 
he  had  ostensibly  waited  to  assume 
power  till  almost  entreated  to  do  so. 
The  attitude  of  the  legions  was  quite 
unknown  ;  and  the  whole  theory  of  the 
principate  was  that  its  powers  were 
spontaneously  conferred  by  the  senate, 
as  expressing  the  will  of  the  Roman 
people.  The  mimus  impudentissimus 
of  professing  to  decline  power,  while 
performing  all  the  acts  of  sovereignty, 
was  carried  on  by  Tiberius  for  a  few 
hours  or  days  at  most ;  it  was  played  by 
jAugustus  for  years.  It  was  the  fiction 
of  freedom,  with  the  absence  of  any 
recognised  law  of  succession  in  the 
*•  imperial  family,  which  deluged  Rome 
(with  her  own  best  blood,  and  finally 
iextirpated  the  family  of  the  Caesars. 


A.D.  14.] 


BOOK    I.    CHAPS.    10-12. 


to  hide  his  meaning,  his  language  was  more  involved 
and  unintelligible  than  ever.1 

Meantime  the  Senators,  whose  only  terror  was 
that  they  should  appear  to  understand  what  he  meant, 
broke  out  into  tears,  prayers,  and  protestations  ;  they 
held  out  their  hands  in  supplication  to  the  Gods,  to 
the  statues  of  Augustus,  and  to  the  knees  of  Tiberius 
himself.  Upon  that  he  ordered  a  document2  to  be  statistical 

.     .  r  account  of 

brought  in  and  read,  containing  a  statement  of  the  theEmpiie. 
public  resources;  an  enumeration  of  the  troops  under 
arms,  whether  Roman  or  allied,  and  of  the  naval 
forces  ;  of  the  Provinces  and  Protected  States,  of  the 
direct  and  indirect  taxes,  of  the  public  burdens  and 
state  largesses.8  All  this  Augustus  had  written  out 
with  his  own  hand  ;  appending  to  it  a  recommenda- 
tion —  whether  prompted  by  timidity  or  jealousy— 
that  the  empire  should  be  kept  within  its  present 
limits.4  * 

While  the  Senate  was  thus  grovelling  in  abject  Altercation 
entreaties,5  Tiberius  let  fall  the  remark  that  although 

6 


Callus. 


1  Dio  tells  us  of  Tiberius  (Ivii.  i)  that 
what  he  said  was  usually  the  opposite 
of  what  he  thought ;  he  would  refuse 
what  he  wished  for  most,  and  propose 
what  he  most  disliked  ;  he  would  show 
most  anger  when  least  offended,  and 
vice  versa.  But  it  was  not  safe  to  pre- 
sume on  this  ;  for  what  he  hated  most 
of  all  was  to  have  his  real  sentiments 
divined.  It  was  therefore  almost  a 
greater  offence  to  see  through  his  mask, 
and  endeavour  to  promote  what  he 
really  desired.Jthan  to  oppose  it  openly. 
As  to  his  slow  and  hesitating  utterance, 
Tacitus  describes  him  as  velut  eluctan- 
tium  verborum  (iv.  31,  4). 

8  Suetonius  says  that  Au£ustii§_Jejt 
three  documents  along  with  his  will 
(Oct.  101).  One  contained  instructions 
for  his  funeral  ;  a  secund,  ;i  record  of  his 
achievements,  to  be  inscribed  on~I>razen 
tablets  inTront  of  his  mausoleum.  The 
greater  part  of  this  has  been  preserved, 
both  in  Greek  and  Latin,  in  the  famous 
duplicate  inscription  found  on  the 


temple  to  Rome  and  Augustus  at 
Ancyra,  known  as  the  Monument  urn 
Ancyninutn.  The  original  is  quoted 
by  Suetonius  as  an  authority  (Aug.  10), 
and  mentioned  by  Dio  (Ivi.  33).  The 
third  was  the  breviarium  or  Blue-book 
of  the  Kmpirc  hnv  nii-ntionrd  :  onr  of 
a  more  complete  kind  than  the  ordinary 
financial  statements  which  Augustus 
used  to  put  out  at  certain  intervals 
(rat  tones  imperil  ab  Angus  to  proponi 
solitas,  Suet.  Cal.  16). 

»  These  were  voluntary  and  extra- 
ordinary distributions  of  corn  or  oil, 
such  as  are  mentioned  in  the  Mon. 
Anc.,  as  distinguished  from  the  regular 
frumentationes  (see  n.  on  chap.  2,  i). 

4  '  The  conquest  of  Britain  by  Clau-  x 
dius  in  A.D.  67  was  the  first  important/ 
departure  from  this  policy,  which  was\ 
dictated  largely  by  financial  considera-' 
tions"  (Rushforth,  p.  112).  «^ 

*  The  account  here  given  of  this 
famous  scene  corresponds  closely  with 
that  given  by  Suetonius  (Tib.  24).  He 


26  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 

tinequal  to  the  burden  of  Government  as  a  whole,  he  would 
undertake  the  charge  of  any  part  that  might  be  committed 
to  him.1    Thereupon  Asinius  Gallus 2  broke  in  : — Then  2 
let  us  know,  Caesar,  which  part  of  the  Government  you 
wish  to  have  committed  to  you  ?   Taken  aback  by  so  un-  3 
foreseen  a  question,  Tiberius  hesitated  for  a  moment ; 
then    recovering    himself,    replied    that   it   would  ill 
become  him,  diffident  as  he  was,  either  to  select  or  to 
decline    any  portion   of  a    responsibility    of  which    he 
desired   to    be    relieved   altogether.      Perceiving,    from  4 
his   face,    that   Tiberius    had    taken   offence,   Gallus 
rejoined  : — He  had  not  put  the  question  with  a  view 
to   dividing  what  was  indivisible,   but  to    convince  the 
Emperor,  out  of  his  own  mouth,  that  the  State  had  but 
one  body,  and  must  be  governed  by  a  single  mind.     He  5 
went  on  to  laud  Augustus,  and   reminded   Tiberius 
of   his   own   military   successes,   as   well   as   of  the 

tells  how  Tiberius,  though  he  had  at  once  division  of  power  into  (i)  Rome  and 

assumed  every  function  of  sovereignty,  Italy ;  (2)  the  army ;  (3)  o«  AoiTol  VTTIJKOOI, 

for  a  long  time  principatum  recusavit  '  the    rest  of   the  subjects ' — whatever 

impitdentissimo  mimo ;  how  he  rebuked  that  may  mean.     A  most   improbable 

his    insisting    friends  by  telling  them  story,  and  entirely  inconsistent  with  the 

'they    little    knew    what    a    monster  attitude    assumed  by  Tiberius,   which 

Empire    was ; '    and    how,    when    the  was  throughout    one  of   evasion  and 

senate  went  on  their  knees  before  him,  non-committal. 

he  put  them  off  with  answers  of  studied          2  We  shall  hear    much   of  Asinius 

ambiguity.      One    senator    was    bold  Gallus.     He  was  the  son  of  the  famous 

enough    to  exclaim,    '  Let  him   either  C.   Asinius    Pollio,    the   orator,   poet, 

take  it  or  leave  it ' ;  another,  '  Whereas  historian,  warrior  and  statesman  ;   the 

most  men  were  tardy  in    performing  patron  of  Virgil,   and  founder  of  the 

what  they  had  promised,  Tiberius  was  famous  Palatine   Library.      See  Virg. 

slow   in  promising  what  he  had   per-  Eel.  4,  and  Hor.  Od.   ii.   i.     The  full 

formed.'    At   last,   as    if   under  com-  name  of  the  son  was  L.  Asinius  Gallus 

pulsion,   he  accepts  the  burden ;    but  Saloninus.      He  was  cos.  B.C.  8.  and 

even  then  only  with  the  pretended  hope  married  Vipsania  after  her  divorce  by 

of  an  early  release  from  it.     Suetonius  Tiberius.       Tacitus    exhibits    him    as 

finds  the  true  reason  for  his  hesitation  generally  anxious  to  put  himself  forward 

in  a  saying  which  was  constantly  in  his  in  the  senate,  and  as  proposing,  under 

mouth,  '  That  he  had  hold  of  a  wolf  by  a  show  of   freedom,   various  motions 

the  ears.'    Cp.  Dio,  Ivii.  2,  i.    See  also  likely  to  be  grateful  to  Tiberius.    See 

Veil.  ii.  124,  2,  una  tamen  velutiluctatio  i.  8,  4  :  76,  2 ;  ii.  32,  4  :  33,  3  :  35,  i ; 

ci-vitatis  full,  pugnantis  cum  Caesare  iv.  20,  2:  30,  2:  71,  3;  etc.     He  was 

senatus  populique  Romani,  ut  stationi  denounced  in  A.D.  30,  when   actually 

paternae  succederet,    illius,    ut  potius  on  a  visit  to  Tiberius  at   Capri ;   was 

aequalem  civem  quam  eminentem  liceret  kept  for  three  years  in   custody,  and 

agere  principem.  permitted    at    last  to  die  in  prison— 

1  Dio  is  more  precise,  as  usual,  and  possibly  of  starvation  (vi.  23,  i). 
makes    Tiberius    suggest    a    threefold 


A.D.  14.] 


BOOK    I.    CHAPS.    12-13. 


admirable  work  that  he  had  done  in  civil  offices 
6  for  so  many  years.  But  this  did  not  appease  the 
Emperor's  anger.  He  had  long  hated  Asinius  ;  for 
Asinius  had  married  his  own  divorced  wife  Vipsania,1 
the  daughter  of  Agrippa,  and  he  credited  him  with 
ambitions  above  those  of  a  private  citizen  :  deeming 
him  to  retain  something  of  the  high  spirit  of  his 
father  Asinius  Pollio. 

1  Next,  Lucius  Arruntius2  gave  equal  offence  by  a  Offence 
speech  of  a  similar  kind.     Tiberius  had  no  old  grudge  Arruntius, 
against  Arruntius  ;  but  as  he  was  wealthy,  energetic, 

and  accomplished,  and  stood  correspondingly  high  in 
public  estimation,  Tiberius  regarded  him  with  sus- 

2  picion.    For  when  Augustus,  in  his  last  days,  was  dis- 
cussing what  men  were  fit  to  fill  the  highest  place,  but 
would  decline  it ;  or  being  unequal  to  the  position, 
might  aspire  to  it ;  or  possessed  alike  the  ambition 
and  the  ability:   he  had  described  Manius3  Lepidus 


y 


1  No  more  cruel  wrong  could  have 
been  inflicted  on  a  proud,  sensitive  nature 
like  that  of  Tiberius,  than  to  force  him 
to  divorce  the  wife  to  whom  he  was 
tenderly  attached,  and  marry  the  profli- 
gate Julia.  Suetonius  tells  how  once, 
and  once  only,  Tiberius  caught  sight  of 
Vipsania  after  the  divorce  ;  he  was  so 
deeply  affected  that  care  was  taken  to 
prevent  a  repetition  of  the  occurrence. 
This  incident  throws  a  flood  of  light 
upon  the  character  of  Tiberius,  and 
suggests  that  he  may  have  been  incurably 
embittered  by  the  treatment  he  received 
at  the  hands  of  Augustus  and  his  court. 
*  The  father  of  this  Arruntius  com- 
manded a  wing  of  the  fleet  at  the  battle 
of  Actium  ;  he  himself  was  cos.  A.D.  6. 
He  is  frequently  mentioned,  always 
with  respect,  in  Ann.  i.-vi.  On  some 
occasion  unknown  to  us,  his  accusers 
met  with  punishment  (vi.  7,  i) ;  in  refer- 
ence to  which  Tacitus  speaks  of  him 
in  terms  of  the  highest  praise  (sanc- 
tissimis  Arruntii  artibus).  At  last,  in 
A.D.  37— the  last  year  of  the  reign  of 
Tiberius — he  was  falsely  accused  of 
adultery  with  Albucilla.  In  a  speech 
conceived  in  the  highest  spirit  of  Stoic 
fortitude— Tacitus  says  he  pronounced 


it  like  one  inspired — he  announced  his 
determination  to  live  through  no  more 
such  humiliations,  and  calmly  put  an 
end  to  himself  by  opening  his  veins 
(vi.  48). 

8  The  MS.  here  reads  M\  i.e. 
Manius,  which  seems  to  be  the  proper 
reading,  and  is  given  in  full  iii.  22,  2 ; 
elsewhere  the  name  appears  as  M. ,  i.e. 
Marcus,  who  was  a  different  person. 
The  distinguished  man  here  named  was 
cos.  A.D.  ii ;  was  one  of  two  consulars 
selected  for  the  command  in  Africa 
A.D.  21,  iii.  35,  2;  became  proconsul  of 
Asia  A.  D.  26 ;  and  is  specially  com- 
mended for  his  wisdom  and  moderation, 
iv.  20,  4  and  vi.  27,  4.  In  this  last 
passage  his  death  is  recorded,  A.D.  33. 
Marcus  Lepidus  was  not  so  distin- 
guished. He  was  the  son  of  Cornelia, 
the  famous  subject  of  the  beautiful  poem 
of  Propertius  (El.  iv.  n);  he  was  cos. 
A.D.  6,  along  with  L.  Arruntius;  and 
was  sent  out  as  proconsul  to  Asia  A.D. 
21.  He  is  described  by  a  personal 
enemy  on  that  occasion  as  a  poor  and 
poor-spirited  person,  though  the  senate 
took  a  more  favourable  view  of  his 
character  (iii.  32,  2).  i 


28 


ANNALS    OF   TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


by  Haterius 
and  by 
Scaurus. 


as  capable  but  indifferent;  Gallus  Asinius,  as  having  the 
ambition,  but  not  the  capacity  :  but  Lucius  Arruntius  ivas 
not  unworthy,  and  if  the  chance  were  offered  him,  he  ivould 
embrace  it.  As  to  the  two  former  of  these  names,  3 
all  authorities  are  agreed ;  but  some  put  the  name  of 
Gnaeus  Piso 1  in  place  of  that  of  Arruntius :  and  all 
of  them,  except  Lepidus,  were  cut  off  before  long  on 
charges  trumped  up  against  them  by  Tiberius. 

Quintus  Haterius  2  also,  and  Mamercus  Scaurus,  4 
both  pricked  that  jealous  temper  to  the  quick  :  Hate- 
rius, by  asking  the  question,  How  long,  Caesar,  will 
you  suffer  the  Commonwealth  to  be  without  a  head  ? 8  and 
Scaurus,  by  remarking  that  he  entertained  some  hope 
that  the  Senate's  prayers  would  not  be  in  vain,  from  the 
fact  that  Tiberius  had  not  put  his  tribunitian  veto 4  on  the 
motion5  of  the  Consuls.  On  Haterius  the  Emperor  5 
retorted  at  once ;  but  to  Scaurus,  against  whom  his 
resentment  was  of  a  more  deadly  kind,  he  made  no 
reply. 


1  This  is  the  famous  Cn.  Calpurnius 
Piso  who  was  given  the  command  of 
Syria  by  Tiberius,    A.D.   17,  to  be  a 
thorn  in  the  flesh  to  Germanicus  during 
his  mission  to  the  East  (ii.   43,  3-5) ; 
and  who  was  subsequently  brought  to 
trial  for  compassing  the  death  of  that 
prince,  and  carrying  war  into  his  own 
province  (ii.  76-81  and  iii.  8-17).      He 
is    described    by    Tacitus    as    ingenio 
violentum  et  obsequii  ignarum,  like  his 
father  Gnaeus,  whose  career  is  sketched 
in  the  same  passage  (ii.  43,  3).    He  was 
cos.  along  with  Tiberius  B.C.  7.    Tacitus 
records  abold  and  embarrassing  question 

rt  by  him  to  Tiberius  in  the  senate 
74-  6). 

2  Q.  Haterius  was  a  consular,  a  fluent 
and  facile  orator  (iv.  61,  2),  and  given 
to  making  servile  motions  (iii.   57,  3). 
Mamercus  Scaurus  is  described  as  'a 
disgrace  to  his  ancestors '  (iii.  66,  3),  and 
as  insignis  nobilitate  et  orandis  causis, 
vita   probrosus    (vi.    29,   4).      Tacitus, 
however,  admits  that  his  death,  self- 
inflicted  in  face  of  threatened  prosecu- 
tion, was  dignum  veteribris  Aemiliis. 


3  The  words  caput  reipublicae  were 
an  open  assertion  of  the  monarchical 
character  of  the  government,  and  there- 
fore distasteful  to  Tiberius. 

4  This  remark  of  Scaurus  shews  how 
the  emperor  could  at   once  stop  any 
action  in  the  senate  by  virtue  of  his 
tribunitian  veto. 

5  The  motion  here  referred   to  was 
doubtless  a  decree  of  senate  prescribing 
the  terms  of  the  famous  law  styled  Lex 
de  Imperio,  by  which  the  various  im- 
peratorial  powers  were  conferred  upon 
a  new  emperor  upon  his  accession  to 
power.     In    theory,   the  whole  of  his 
authority  depended  upon   the  passing 
of  this  law  by  the  comitia,  in  terms 
approved  of  by  a  decree  of  senate  :  cum 
ipse    Imperator   per    legem     imperium 
accipiat  (Gaius,  i,  5).     The  only  extant 
example  of  such  a  law  is  the  consider- 
able fragment  of  that  passed  on   the 
accession  of  Vespasian,  A.  p.  70.     See 
the  interesting  account  of  this  fragment 
given  by  Rushforth,  '  Latin  Historical 
Inscriptions,'  pp.  82-87. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.    13-14.  29 

6        Worn  out  at  last  by  the  clamour  of  the  whole  Tiberius  at 
Senate,  and  the  remonstrances  of  individuals,  Tiberius  way. 
gradually  gave  way ;  not  indeed  so  far  as  to  agree 
to  undertake  the  government,  but  at  least  to  bring 
solicitations  and   refusals  to  an  end.     Haterius,   we  Danger  of 

Hatenus. 

are  informed,  went  afterwards  to  the  Palace  to 
implore  forgiveness.  He  found  the  Emperor  walking, 
and  threw  himself  down  on  his  knees  before  him  ; 
whether  by  accident,  or  because  entangled  in  the 
other's  arms,  Tiberius  fell :  and  Haterius  narrowly 
escaped  being  put  to  death  by  the  soldiers.1  Yet  even 
the  danger  of  so  distinguished  a  man  did  nothing 
to  mollify  Tiberius :  Haterius  had  to  implore  the 
protection  of  Augusta,  and  owed  his  safety  to  her 
urgent  intercession. 

1  The  Senate  showered  many  flatteries  on  Augusta  Flatteries 

to  Livia 

also.     Some  proposed  that  she  should  be  styled  'The  checked  by 

2  Parent,'  others  'The  Mother,'2  of  her  country;'  many 
more,  that  after  the  name  '  Caesar,'  the  words  '  son 

3  of  Julia'8  should  be  added.     Tiberius  protested  that 
there  must  be  some  limit  to  the  honours  bestowed  on 
women;4  and  that  he  would  exercise  a  like  modera- 
tion in  regard  to  honours  to  himself.     But  in  reality 
he  was  wrung  by  jealousy,  regarding  the  exaltation 
of  a  woman  as  a  belittling  of  his  own  dignity.     He 

1  This  story  (without  the  name)  is  consecratio,  was  almost  invariably  be- 

confirmed  by  Suetonius  (Tib.  27),  but  he  stowed  on  the  emperors  after  their 

gives  a  better  colour  to  it.  His  account  death  ;  sometimes  also  on  their  wives, 

is  that  Tiberius  fell  when  endeavouring  children  and  parents.  The  title  Divi 

to  escape  from  what  he  thought  the  Aug.  f.  (i.e.  Jtlius)  appears  regularly 

unworthy  abasement  of  a  senator  in  on  the  inscriptions  of  Tiberius.  To  add 

prostrating  himself  before  him.  the  mother's  name,  as  here  proposed, 

8  The  inscription  Augusta  Mater  would  have  been  contrary  to  all  Roman 

Patriae  actually  occurs  on  the  reverse  custom.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  after 

of  a  bronze  coin  of  Leptis,  along  with  a  her  adoption  by  the  will  of  Augustus 

seated  figure  of  Julia  (i.e.  Livia).  On  (chap.  8,  2),  Livia  appears  on  coins, 

the  obverse  is  a  head  of  Augustus  ;  on  etc.,  asV«/m  Augusta  (Cohen,  p.  169). 
another  \sgenetrix  orbis.  See  Cohen,  *  Tiberius  had  good  reason  to  fear 

Monnaie  de  1'Emp.  Rom.,  2nd  ed.,  pp.  undue  pretensions  on  the  part  of  his 

165,  807.  mother ;  see  n.  on  chap.  8,  2.  In  spite 

3  The    title    Dii<us,    with  a    formal  of  all  his  efforts,  Suetonius  describes 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


Imperium 
conferred 
on  Ger- 
manicus. 


refused  therefore  to  permit  even  a  lictor l  to  be  voted 
to  her ;  he  forbade  the  erection  of  an  altar  of  adoption,2 
and  other  honours  of  a  similar  kind. 

Yet  he  requested  that  the  Proconsular3  Imperium  4 
should  be  conferred  on  Germanicus  ;  and  an  embassy 
was  despatched  for  that  purpose,  as  well  as  to  offer 
condolences  upon  the  death  of  Augustus.     No  such  5 
demand  was  made  for  Drusus ;  the  reason  being  that 
he  was  Consul  Designate,  and  on  the  spot.     For  the  6 
office  of  Praetor,  Tiberius  nominated  twelve  candi- 
dates,4 the  number  usually  nominated  by  Augustus. 


her  as  Cartes  sibi  aeqiias  potentiae 
vindicans  (Tib.  50) ;  and  Dio  says  that 
in  everything  except  actually  appearing 
in  the  senate  or  in  the  comitia  or  before 
the  army,  she  claimed  for  herself  auto- 
cratic powers.  Temples  were  dedicated 
to  her  in  conjunction  with  Tiberius  and 
the  senate  (iv.  15,  4:  37,  i);  she  could 
rescue  her  favourites  from  the  courts  of 
law  (ii.  34,  3;  iii.  15,  i  and  3).  No 
wonder  that  the  relations  between  son 
and  mother  were  strained  (iii.  64,  i) : 
he  could  never  shake  her  off  (iv.  57,  4), 
nor  endure  her  eternal  reproaches  that 
he  owed  his  elevation  to  her  influence 

Ov-  57>  5)  I  and  to  tne  last  she  was 
the  only  person  who  dared  stand  in  the 
way  of  Sejanus  (v.  3,  i). 

1  Vestal  virgins,  alone  among  women, 
were  preceded  by  a  lictor  when  they 
went  abroad. 

2  Furn.  points  out  that  altars  were 
often  erected  as  monuments  of  various 
events  without  implying  worship,  as  of 
the  lying-in  of  Agrippina  (Suet.  Cal. 
8) ;  or  of  such  abstractions  as  ultio, 
dementia,  amicitia,  and  the  like. 

3  From  the  time  of  Sulla  onwards, 
military  commands  were  confined   to 
proconsuls  and  pro-praetors  ;  hence  the 
term  proconsulare.     The  imperium  pro- 
consulare  was  conferred  upon  Augustus, 
as  we  have  seen,  for  ten  years,  when  he 
was  given  charge  of  certain  provinces ; 
it    soon    became    perpetual,   and    was 
exercised  even  within  Rome.    To  invest 
a  prince    with  proconsulare   imperium 
for  a  part,  or  the  whole,  of  the  Empire, 
was  to  take  a  long  step  towards  pro- 
nouncing him  successor.     On  this  occa- 
sion,  the  imperium  was  conferred  on 
Germanicus    for     Germany    and    the 
Western  Provinces,  in  continuation  of 


that  already  bestowed  on  him  by 
Augustus  in  A.D.  ii ;  just  as  in  A.D.  17 
he  was  invested  with  an  imperium 
maius,  i.e.  an  imperium  superior  to 
that  of  all  ordinary  provincial  governors, 
overall  the  provinces  of  the  East  (ii.  43, 2). 
4  Under  the  Republic,  the  praetors, 
consuls,  and  all  higher  magistrates,  were 
elected  by_  the  people,  assembled  in 
their  comitia ;  under  the  early  empire, 
the  form  of  popular  election  was  still 
retained,  but  passed  into  a  mere  form, 
since  the  emperor,  under  one  power 
or  another,  could  control  all  elections. 
One  of  these  powers  was  (i)  Nominatio, 
by  which  the  Emperor  (as  formerly  the 
magistrate  presiding  at  the  election) 
could  decide  whether  a  particular  can- 
didate was  eligible  for  the  post  he  was 
seeking.  Naturally,  all  candidates 
desired  to  have  this  certificate  of  qualifi- 
cation ;  though  the  people,  theoretically, 
could  vote  for  others  also.  Another 
was  (2)  Commendatio,  by  which  the 
emperor  (as  any  prominent  citizen 
might  do  under  the  Republic)  '  recom- 
mended '  a  particular  candidate  to  the 
suffrages  of  the  people.  As  late  as  B.C. 
8  Augustus  would  actually  canvass  for 
his  own  nominees ;  this  probably  is 
what  is  referred  to  in  chap.  15,  i. 
Candidates  thus  '  commended '  were 
called  Candidati  Caesaris.  Now  under 
Caesar  the  number  of  praetors  had 
been  raised  to  10,  14,  and  eventually  to 
16  ;  under  Augustus  it  varied  from  8  to 
16  ;  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
Tiberius  it  was  12,  rising  afterwards 
again  to  16.  Thus  by  'nominating' 
only  12  candidates  for  12  vacancies, 
Tiberius  practically  left  no  choice  to 
the  electors  ;  not  content  with  this,  he 
1  commended '  specially  four  out  of  the 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.   14-15.  31 

The  Senate  urged  him  to  name  more ;  but  he  bound 
himself  by  an  oath  not  to  exceed  that  number. 

1  And  now  for  the  first  time  the  elections *  were  trans-  Elections 
ferred  from  the  Comitia  to  the  Senate ;  for  up  to  that  to  the 
time,  though  the  principal  appointments  were  made 

at  the  Emperor's  good  pleasure,  some  few  were  still 

2  voted  by  the  tribes.     The  people  offered  no  objection 
to  the  loss  of  their  rights  beyond  an  idle  murmur; 
while  the  Senate  were  well  pleased   to   be  relieved 
from  the  bribery  and  the  degrading  solicitations  of  the 
old  system.     Tiberius  limited  himself  to  the  recom- 
mendation of  four  candidates,  to  be  designated  with- 
out canvassing  or  risk  of  rejection. 

3  About  the  same  time  the  Tribunes  of  the  Plebs  Ludi 
petitioned  to  be  allowed  to  celebrate  games  at  their  instituted!3 
own  expense  to  be  called  after  Augustus,  and  to  be 
inserted    in    the   Calendar  under  the   title   of  'The 

4  Augustan  games.'2    The  petition  was  granted;    but 
the  money  required  for  the  purpose  was  voted  from 
the  Treasury.     The  Tribunes  were  to  wear  triumphal 
robes   in    the   Circus,   but    not   to   ride   in   chariots. 
Before  long,  however,  the  annual  celebration  of  these 
games  was  handed  over  to  one  of  the  Praetors — that 
one  to  whose  lot  it  fell  to  administer  justice  between 
citizens  and  strangers.8 

twelve  sine    repulsa   et    ambitu  cfesie-  2  The  first  celebration  of  these  games 

nandos,  as  if  the  fate  of  the  other  eight  is    mentioned    in    chap.    54,    i,  where 

was    quite    uncertain    (chap.    i<>,    2).  Tacitus  records  the  institution  of  the 

I^ater  emperors  exercised  an  unlimited  Sodales  A  ugustales,  a  special  priesthood 

right  of  '  commendation  : '  it   was  ex-  in  honour  of  Augustus.     The  games 

pressly  conferred  upon  Vespasian  in  the  were  held  annually  early  in  October. 

Lex  de  imperio  (Rushforth,  p.  86).  *  The  office  of  praetor  per egr inns  was 

1  This  passage  refers  to  the  election  instituted  about  244  B.C.,  to  try  suits  in 

of  praetors  ;  for  that  of  consuls  see  i.  81  which  foreigners  (peregrini)  were  con- 

and  n.     The  word  comitia  here  stands  cerned,    as    the    Romans    would    not 


simply  for 'elections,' irrespective  of  any  extend  to  them  the  privileges  of  their 

exercise    of    rights     by    the    popular  own   law    (ius    civile).      Out    of   the 

assembly.      Those    rights    were    now  decisions  in  such  cases,  recorded  and 

transferred  to  the  senate  ;  the  old  right  continued  from  year  to  year    in    the 

of  the  people  being  represented  by  the  annual  Praetor's  Edict,  and  vivified  by 

idle  formality  of  a  public  announcement  the  Stoical   doctrine  of  the   '  Law  of 

of  the  result  (renuntiatio).  Nature,'  grew  a  beneficent  system  of 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


Mutiny  of 


fomented 
by  Percen- 
nius. 


Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  in  Rome,  when  a  I 
mutiny  broke  out  among  the  troops  in  Pannonia.1 
There  was  no  special  cause  for  this  mutiny,  beyond 
the  fact  that  the  accession  of  a  new  emperor  afforded 
occasion  for  license,  and  held  out  the  hope  of  civil 
war  with  all  its  attendant  gains.  There  were  three  2 
legions  2  encamped  together  in  summer  quarters  under 
the  command  of  Junius  Blaesus  ;  3  who,  on  hearing  of 
the  death  of  Augustus  and  the  beginning  of  the  new 
reign,  had  suspended  the  ordinary  labours  of  the 
camp,  as  a  mark  of  mourning  or  of  joy.  From  this  3 
beginning,  a  spirit  of  insubordination  and  disorder 
took  its  rise  ;  the  men  lent  ready  ears  to  the  talk  of 
the  worst  among  their  number  ;  till  at  length  a  long- 
ing for  ease  and  idleness  set  in,  with  impatience  of 
work  and  discipline. 

Now  there  was  in  the  camp  a  man  called  Percennius,  4 
who  had  once  been  a  fugle-man  in  theatrical  factions,4 
and  had  afterwards  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier. 
Forward  of  tongue,  and  well  versed  in  the  feuds  of 
the  theatre,  this  man  was  an  accomplished  sedition- 
monger.  Discoursing  to  the  soldiers  by  night,  or  as  5 


equity  law,  analogous  to  that  which 
has  played  such  a  great  part  in  the  for- 
mation of  our  own  law  in  England. 
See  Maine's  Ancient  Law,  chap.  i. 

1  Pannonia  was  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant frontier  provinces  ;  it  extended 
eastwards  along  the  Danube  from 
Vienna  (ancient  Vindebona}.  It  was 
bounded  by  the  province  of  Noricum  to 
the  W.,  by  the  Danube  to  the  N. 
and  E.,  and  by  the  Save  to  the  S. 
Like  other  frontier  provinces,  it  was 
imperatorial,  i.e.  governed  directly  by 
the  emperor,  through  a  legatiis  pro 
praetore  appointed  by  himself.  The 
more  peaceful  senatorial  provinces  were 
governed  by  senators  of  consular  or 
praetorian  rank,  appointed,  as  of  old, 
by  lot,  and  all  equally  called  '  pro- 
consuls.' See  Furn.,  Introd.  p.  94  foil, 
and  n.  on  chap.  76,  4. 


2  These  three  legions  were  the  8th, 
Qth,  and  ijjth,  known  respectively  by 
the  names  of  Augusta,  Hispana,  and 
Ajwllinaris.     See  chap.  23,  6. 

3  Uncle  of  the    notorious    Sejanus, 
through  whose    influence    he    became 
afterwards  proconsul  of  Africa  in  A.D. 
21  (iii.  35,  2),   and  whose  fall  brought 
about  his  death  (v.  7,  2). 

4  What  these  operae  were  is  not  clear. 
They  may  have  been  (i)  actors  ;  or  (2) 
workmen  employed  about  the  theatre  ; 
or  more  probably  (3)  professional  sup- 
porters and  applauders,   acting  under 
a    leader.      Nero    had    5000  of    such 
'  claqueurs,'  some  imported  from  Alex- 
andria,   some    raised    from    the    lusty 
plebeian  youth.     The  dux  of   such  a 
body  might   earn  a  salary  of  400,000 
sesterces ;    see  Suet.    Nero,    20 ;    Oct. 
45 ;  and  Juv.  vii.  43-4. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.    16-17.  33 

night  fell,  he  worked  gradually  upon  their  ignorant 
minds,  wondering  as  they  were  what  might  be  the 
conditions  of  the  service  after  Augustus ;  and  as  the 
more  respectable  men  slipped  away,  all  the  riff-raff  of 
the  camp  gathered  round  him. 
&-,  At  last,  having  secured  a  following  ready  to  join  speech  of 

°  J  Percennius. 

in  an   outbreak,  he  addressed   them   in   demagogue 
fashion : — 

Why   did  they  obey  a  handful  of  centurions,  and  a 
number  of  Tribunes  smaller  still,1  like  so  many  slaves  ? 

2  When  ivould  they  have  the  spirit  to  demand  a  redress  of 
grievances,  if  they  dared  not  approach  a  new  Emperor, 
not  yet  firm   in  his  seat,  with  petitions  at  any  rate,  if 

3  not  with  arms  ?     They  had  shewn  weakness  enough  all 
these  years,  serving  on  for  thirty  or  forty 2  seasons,  till 
they  had  become  old  men,  their  bodies  perhaps  all  hacked 

4  with  wounds.     Even  discharge  brought  with  it  no  end  to 
service  ;  still  kept  together,  under  a  special  standard,  they 
had  the  same  round  of  toil  to  endure  under  a  new  name. 

5  If  any  lived  through  all  this,  they  would  be  draggea  off  to 
some  remote  region,  where  under  the  name  of  a  farm, 
they  would  receive  a  dismal  swamp,  or  an  uncultivated 

There    were    6    tribuni    militum       in  the  year  B.C.  13.  fixed  the  period  of 


i  and  60    centurions     (commanders    of  service  for  legionaries  at  16  years,  and 

centuriae)  to  each  legion.      Two  cen-  for  the  praetorians  at 12.     In  A.D.  5  the 

turies  made  a  maniple,  three  maniples  periods  were  extended  to   20  and    16 

a  cohort ;    ten  cohorts   made  up   the  years  respectively,  with  bounties  at  the 

legion.       The  century,    at    this    time,  close,  of  12,000  and   20,000  sesterces, 

probably    numbered    about    80    men  ;  At  some  time,  however,  the  vexatious 

and  the  whole  strength  of  the  legion,  plan  had  been  introduced  of  retaining 

including  cavalry,  artillery,  etc.,  would  veterans,  after  their  full  period  of  service, 

be  something  over  5000.    We  may  there-  under  a  separate  vexillum  or  standard 

fore  consider  a  military  tribune,  one  of  of  their  own,  for  fighting  purposes,  and 

the     six    commanding    officers   of  the  with     lighter     conditions     of    service, 

legion,  as  corresponding  more  or  less  to  These  men  were  called  vexillarii.    See 

a  colonel.     Each  legion,  since  the  time  below,  chap.  36,  4  and  38,  i.     Under 

of  Caesar,  was  under  the  command  of  this  arrangement,  or  in  other  ways,  the 

a  legatus,  called  legatus  legionis;  to  be  rules    laid     down    by  Augustus    had 

distinguished  from  the  legatus  Augusti  apparently  not  been  fairly  carried  out ; 

pro  praetore,  the  title  given  to  the  com-  hence  the  mutiny.     The  soldiers  were 

mander   of   an   imperatorial  province.  not  so  ready  to  be  put  off  with  evasions 

See  n.  above  on  chap.  16,  i.  and  legal  fictions  as  were  the  senate 

*  Such  were  extreme  cases.  Augustus,  and  populace  of  the  city. 


34 


ANNALS    OF   TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 


hillside.1     The  soldiers  life,  at  the  best,  was  hard  and  un-  6 
profitable  ;  body  and  soul  were  valued  at  ten  asses  a  day : 2 
and  out  of  that  he  had  to  find  himself  in  clothes,  arms? 
and  tents,  and  get  the  wherewithal  to  buy  off  the  brutality 
of  centurions,  and  purchase  exemptions  from  duty.    Stripes  1 
and  scars :  winters  of  privation,  summers  of  ceaseless  toil : 
bloody  wars,  or  futile  peace — these  things  were  always 
ivith  them.    There  was  but  one  remedy.    Let  them  demand  8 
fixed  conditions  of  service,  with  pay  at  the  rate  of  sixteen 
asses  a  day,  and  discharge  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  year : 
after  that,  no  further  retention  under  the  standards,  but  a 
gratuity  paid,  money  doivn,  in  the  camp  where  they  had 
been  discharged.    The  Praetorians  received  two  denarii  a-  o 
day,  and  were  sent  back  to  their  homes  after  sixteen  years  ; 
were  the  perils  of  the  Praetorians  greater  than  their  own  ? 
He  would  not  disparage  the  Guards  of  the  City  ;  neverthe-  10 
less  their  own  lot  was  cast  amongst  savage  nations,  with 
an  enemy  ever  in  sight  of  their  tents.  ± 
The  soldiers        The  multitude  murmured  assent,  each  man  stung  1 8, 

goaded  to      ,         ,  .  .  ^^  ,  .,  , 

fury.  by  his  own  grievance.     One  pointed  angrily  to  the 

marks  of  stripes,  another  to  grey  hairs ;  the  greater 

1  Such  plots  of  land  had  apparently  denarius,   or    16  asses   instead  of_  ip. 
been  substituted  for  the  money  gratui-  The  praetorians  received  double  the  pay  v 
ties.  of  the  legionaries  (Dio,  liii.    n,     5)  ; 

2  Polybius  (vi.  39,  12)  reckons  the  pay  when,  therefore,  it  is  stated  below  that 
of  the  legionaries  at   2.  obols  a-day,  the  praetorians  received  2  denarii  a  day, 
which  sum  was  usually  estimated  as  =  the    speaker    must    either    mean    the 
one-third  of  a  denarius.     But  3^  asses  denarius  of  10  asses,  or    use    a   rhe 
per  day  is  an  impossible  sum;     and  torical    exaggeration.     Suetonius    says 
Polybius  must  be  held  to  refer  to  the  the  men  demanded  equal  pay  with  the 
time  when  the  copper  coinage  had  so  praetorians  (Tib.  25). 

depreciated  (as  it  did  in  the  2nd  Punic  3  Polybius  says  the  soldier  had  to 
war)  that  the  silver  denarius  was  equal  find  corn,  dress,  and  arms  out  of  his 
to  16  copper  asses.  If  so,  he  probably  pay.  C.  Gracchus  passed  a  law  (Plut. 
meant  to  indicate  5  asses  =  2  sesterces —  5,  837)  that  dress  was  to  be  provided 
a  very  probable  sum.  Caesar  doubled,  free.  Only  in  Nero's  time  were  rations 
the  legionary_Vpay  (Suet.  Jul.  26),  thus  of  corn  provided  free  to  the  praetorians 
raising  it  to  10  asses,  or  4  sesterces;  (Suet.,  Nero,  10) ;  no  mention  is  made  of 
and  if  Pliny  be  correct  in  saying  that  corn  here.  Perhaps  the  law  of  Gracchus 
in  reckoning  soldiers'  pay,  the  denarius  was  set  aside  when  the  pay  was  raised  ; 
was  still  held  as  equivalent  to  only  10  or  perhaps  there  was  a  system  of  de- 
asses  (Nat.  Hist.,  xxxiii.  3,  44),  the  de-  ductions  from  pay,  as  in  our  own  army, 
mand  of  the  mutineers  must  have  been  for  any  damage  to  uniform  or  accoutre- 
to  receive  the  full  value  of  the  silver  ments. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.    17-19-  35 

number  to  the  tattered  garments  which  scarce  covered 

2  their  limbs.    Their  fury  went  so  far  at  last  that  they 
proposed  to  mix  up  the  three  legions  into  one;  but 

3  as  every  man  jealously  insisted  that  his  own  legion 
should  have  the  place  of  honour,  they  gave  up  this 
idea  and  adopted  another  in  its  place.   Putting  together 
the  three  eagles,  and   the  standards  of  the  cohorts,1 

•*  they  built  up  with  turf  a  kind  of  platform  to  mark  the 

•*>  spot.    They  were  hurrying  on  the  work  when  Blaesus  Biaesus 

....  i        •     i  intervenes 

came  up.  He  remonstrated  with  them,  and  tried  to 
hold  the  men  back,  one  by  one  : — Better  imbrue  your 
hands  in  my  blood,  he  cried.  //  were  lesser  shame  to  slay 
6  the  Legate  than  to  be  traitors  to  your  Impcrator ;  if  I 
cannot  maintain  your  allegiance  and  live,  my  murder 
shall  hasten  on  your  repentance. 

1  But  still  the  work  went  on  ;  and  the  sods  had  been 
raised  breast-high  before  his  urgency  compelled  them 

2  to  desist.     With  much  adroitness  he  told  them  that  and  ad- 

dresses the 
mutiny  and  riot  were  not  the  proper  methods  for  bringing  soldiers. 

their  grievances  to  Caesars  ears ;  never  in  old  days  had 
soldiers  pressed  such  novel  demands  upon  their  com- 
manders, nor  they  themselves  upon  the  Divine  Augustus  : 
the  beginning  of  a  new  reign  was  an  ill  time  to  choose 

3  for  adding  to  a  Prince's  cares.     If  they  were  bent  upon 
demanding,  in  time  of  peace,  what  they  had  never  dared 
to  ask  even  when  victors  in  the  Civil  Wars,  why  break 
through  all  habits  of  obedience,  and  the  sacred  character 
of  discipline  itself,  by  a  resort  to  violence  ?    It  were  better 
to  appoint  delegates,  and  instruct  them  in  his  presence. 

4  To  these  words  they  shouted  assent,  and  asked  They  con- 
that  the  son  of  Blaesus,  who  was  a  Tribune,  should  name  en- 
act  as  envoy,  and   demand  discharge  at  the  end  of  v 
sixteen  years'  service : — Further  instructions  would  be 

1  It  thus  appears  that  each  of  the       had  a    distinguishing  standard  of  its 
cohorts,  as  well  as  the  legion  as  a  whole,       own. 


ANNALS    OF   TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


Outbreak 
of  detach- 
ment at 
Nauportus; 


arrive  in 
the  camp, 
and  cause 
fresh 
tumult. 


added  when  they  had  gained  their  first  demand.  The  5 
departure  of  the  young  man  restored  some  kind  of 
order ;  but  the  troops  exulted  that  they  had  got  the 
son  of  their  General  to  plead  their  cause — clear  proof 
that  compulsion  had  extorted  what  they  never  could 
have  gained  by  orderly  behaviour. 

Meanwhile  some  maniples  which  had  been  sent  to  2O, 
Nauportus 1  before  the  outbreak  of  the  mutiny,  to  work 
on  roads  and  bridges  and  other  such  things,  got  word 
of  the  disturbance  in  camp.  They  at  once  plucked  up 
their  standards,  plundered  the  neighbouring  villages, 
as  well  as  Nauportus  itself,  which  was  on  the  scale  of 
a  municipal  town,  and  when  the  centurions  tried  to 
hold  them  back,  assailed  them  with  jeers  and  insults, 
and  at  last  with  blows.  The  special  object  of  their 
fury  was  Aufidienus  Rufus,  Commandant  of  the  camp.2 
They  dragged  him  from  his  carriage,  loaded  him  with 
baggage,  and  drove  him  on  at  the  head  of  the  line, 
asking  him  in  derision,  How  he  liked  such  heavy  loads, 
and  such  long  marches  ?  For  Rufus  had  long  served  2 
in  the  ranks  ;  having  risen  to  be  a  centurion,  and 
afterwards  Commandant  of  the  camp,  he  had  revived 
the  stern  discipline  of  earlier  days :  inured  to  severe 
toil  himself,  he  was  the  more  rigid  in  exacting  it.3 

The  arrival  of  this  detachment  in  camp  caused  the  21, 
trouble    to    break    out    afresh.      Marauding    parties 
spread  themselves  over  the  surrounding  country.    To  2 
strike  terror  into  the  remainder,  Blaesus  singled  out 
a  few  who  were  more   heavily  laden  with   plunder 


1  Identified    with    Ober-Laybach   in 
Carniola,  close  to  the  frontier  of  Italy. 

2  An  office  apparently  instituted  by 
Augustus,  not  connected  with  any  one 
legion.     It  was  a  post  to  which  cen- 
turions might  aspire.     It  would  appear 
that  under  the  exceptional  arrangement 
made  by  Augustus  for  Egypt,  the  com- 
mand of  the  legion  there  was  held  by  a 


Praefectus  castrorum.     See  n.  on  ii.  59, 
4 ;  and  Rushforth,  p.  132. 

3  This  famous  epigram  (eo  immitior 
quid  toleraverat)  may  have  suggested 
the  similar  phrase  applied  in  '  Waverley ' 
to  Spontoon,  the  elderly  military-look- 
ing servant  of  Col.  Talbot :  '  accustomed 
to  submit  to  discipline  himself,  he  was 
rigid  in  enforcing  it.' 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.    19-22.  37 

than  the  rest,  and  ordered  them  to  be  flogged  and  put 
in  prison ;  for  the  centurions  and  the  best  of  the  men 

3  were  still  ready  to  obey  the  Legate.     Struggling  with 
their  captors,  clutching  at  the  knees  of  the  by-standers, 
these  men  called  on  their  comrades  by  name,  or  on 
the  century,  cohort,  or  legion  to  which  they  severally 
belonged,  crying  out  that  the  same  treatment  was  in 

4  store   for    all.      With   that    they   heaped   insults   on 
Blacsus ;  they  called  Heaven  and  the  Gods  to  witness, 
leaving  nothing  untried  to  stir  up  feelings  of  hate  and 
pity,  of  terror  and  indignation.     A  general  rush  was 
made;    the    prison    doors    were    burst   open,   chains 
were    knocked   off,    and    legionaries,    deserters,    and 
condemned  criminals  were  all  mixed  up  together. 

1  The  movement  now  assumed  a  more  violent  form,  Harangue 

•i  111  i  •  •  iT°f  Vibu- 

with  several  leaders  to  direct  it.     A  common  soldier  lenus, 
of  the  name  of  Vibulenus   was   hoisted   up   on   the 
shoulders  of  the  by-standers  in  front  of  the  General's 
tribunal,  and   thus  addressed  the  rioters,  who  hung 
eagerly  on  his  lips  :— 

You  have  indeed,  he  cried,  brought  back  to  light  and 
liberty  these  unhappy  innocents;  but  who  will  bring  my 
brother  back  to  life,  or  restore  to  me  my  brother?  Despatched 
to  you  on  a  mission  from  the  German  army  upon  our 
common  interests,  he  was  murdered  last  night  by  gladiators* 
— gladiators  kept  in  arms  by  your  General  for  your 

2  destruction.     Say,  Blaesus,  where  have  you  cast  away  the 

3  body  ?    Not  even  enemies  grudge  burial  to  a  foe.     Bid 
me  too  be  slain,  when  my  grief  has  sated  itself  with  kisses 
and  ivith  tears  ;  provided  only  that  when  butchered  for  no 
other  crime  than  that  of  taking  thought  for  the  welfare  of 
the  legions,  we  may  be  buried  by  our  comrades. 

1  Gladiators  were  kept  by  provincial  or  plays,  were  forbidden  to  governors 
governors  for  holding  shows.  All  by  Nero  as  burdensome  to  the  pro- 
such  shows  of  gladiators,  wild  beasts,  vmcials  (xiii.  31,  4). 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


He  heightened  the  effect  of  these  words  by  tears,  23. 
and  by  beating  his  breast  and  face  with  his  hands. 
Then,  thrusting  aside  the  men  who  held  him  up,  he  2 
cast   himself   down   at   the  feet    of   one    man   after 
another,  till   he  raised   such  a  storm  of  dismay  and 
indignation,  that  some  of  the  soldiers  threw  into  chains 
the  gladiators  of   the   household  of  Blaesus,  others 
did  the  same  to  the  rest  of  his  slaves,  while  others 
again  dispersed  to  search  for  the  body.     And  had  it  3 
not  soon  become  known  that  no  body  was  to  be  found  ; 
that  the  slaves,   under  torture,  denied   the  murder; 
and   lastly,  that  the  man   had   never  had  a  brother : 
they  had  come  nigh  putting  the  Legate  to  death.     As  4 
it  was,  they  drove  the  Tribunes  and  the  Commandant 
out   of  the   camp,  plundered   their   baggage  as  they 
fled,  and   killed   the  centurion  Lucilius.     This   man 
was  known  amongst  the  soldiers  by  the  nickname  of 
{ Another,  quick!1  for  when  he  broke  one  vine-rod1 
over  a  man's   back,  he  would   shout   for   a  second, 
and  then  again  for  a  third.     The  rest  of  the  centurions  5 
found  safety  in   hiding;   all   except   Clemens  Julius, 
who,  being  a  man  of  ready  wit,  was  kept  as  a  suitable 
envoy  to  convey  the  demands  of  the  soldiers.     Two  6 
of  the  legions — the  8th  and  i5th — were  on  the  point 
of  drawing  their  swords  against  each  other,  because 
the  latter  refused  to  give  up  for  slaughter  a  centurion 
called  Sirpicus,  whose  blood  was  demanded   by  the 
former.     The  men  of  the  9th  legion,  however,  inter- 
posed with  entreaties,  and  when  these  proved  of  no 
avail,  with  threats. 


1  The  vine-rod  was  the  centurion's 
instrument  of  punishment,  and  the 
symbol  of  his  office.  Its  use,  however, 
was  reserved  for  the  sacred  backs  of 
soldiers  who  were  Roman  citizens,  just 
as  the  Roman  law  (hts  Civile]  was 
applied  only  to  citizens,  not  to  foreigners 


(see  n.  on  chap.  15,  5).  Soldiers  who 
were  not  citizens  were  punished  with 
ihefustis  ( Liv. ,  Epit.  57).  Cp.  Juv.  xiv. 
193,  autvitemposcelibello,  i.e.  'petition 
for  a  centurion's  post ; '  and  ib.  viii. 
247  (of  Marius),  Nodosam  post  haec 
frangebat  vcrtice  intern. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.   23-25.  39 

1  The  report  of  these  proceedings  induced  Tiberius,  Tiberius 
impenetrable  as  he  was,  and  disposed  to  hush  up  all  Drusus  to 
bad  news,  to  send  his  son  Drusus1  on  a  mission  to;l 

the  army,  accompanied  by  a  distinguished  staff  and 
an  escort  of  two  Praetorian  Cohorts.  Drusus  re- 
ceived no  specific  instructions  ;  he  was  to  act  accord- 

2  ing  to  circumstances.     The  cohorts  were  composed 
of   picked    men,    and    made    up    beyond    the    usual 

3  strength ;  in  addition,  there  was  the  greater  part  of 
the  Praetorian  horse,  and  a  strong  body  of  Germans,2 
then  serving  as  bodyguard  to  the  Emperor.     Aelius 
Sejanus,8  who  had  been   appointed  colleague  of  his 
father    Strabo    in   the   command    of   the    Praetorian 
Guards,  and  had  great  influence  with  Tiberius,  was 
to   act  as  adviser  to  the  young  man,  and   hold   out 
expectations  of  reward  or  punishment  to  the  army. 

*        At  the  approach  of  Drusus,  the  legions  came  out  Drusus 

.  .  -  -111    arrives  in 

to  meet  him,  as  if  from  respect;   but  not  with  glad  ihecamp; 
looks,   as   was   their  wont,   and   with    no  glitter    of 
decorations  :  their  unkempt,  disordered  persons,  and 
their  gloomy  faces,  might  counterfeit  distress,  but  it 
was  a  distress  that  was  closely  allied  to  insolence. 

1  No  sooner  had  Drusus  passed  within  the  ramparts  heattempts 

. .          to  address 

than  the  gates  were  secured  by  guards,  and  bodies  thesoidiers, 
of  armed  men  were  ordered  to  occupy  certain  posi- 
tions within  the  camp.     The  remainder,  in  one  vast 

2  multitude,   surrounded    the    tribunal.      There   stood 

1  Drusus  Caesar,  commonly  called  of  this  notorious  upstart,  destined  to  play 

Drusus  iunior  (to  distinguish  him  from  such  havoc  with  the  family  of  Tiberius, 

his  uncle,  Drusus  senior,  younger  brother  and  to  change  the  whole  character  of 

of  Tiberius)  was  the  only  son  of  Tiberius,  his  rule.  His  father,  Seius  Strabo,  has 

borne  to  him  by  his  first  wife  Vipsania.  been  mentioned  above  as  commander 

The  tragic  story  of  his  death  (poisoned,  of  the  praetorian  cohorts  (chap.  7,  3). 

as  supposed,  by  Sejanus)  is  told  below  The  termination  of  the  name  Seianus 

in  iv.  3-11.  He  was  married  to  his  shows  that  the  bearer  of  it  had  been 

first  cousin,  Livia,  sister  to  Germanicus.  adopted  by  one  of  the  name  of  Aelius: 

*  This  was  a  body-guard  of  Batavian  probably  the  Aelius  Gallus  who  was 

cavalry,  attached  by  Augustus  to  his  Praefect  of  Egypt  B.C.  24.  See  iv.  i,  3, 

own  person  (Dio,  Iv.  24,  7).  and  n.  there. 

3  This  is  the  first  mention  by  Tacitus 


40 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


and  reads 

the  letter  of 

Tiberius, 


The  men 
their  ' 


nation  on 

being  re- 

ferred  to 


Drusus,  demanding  silence  with  his  hand.  When 
the  men  looked  on  their  own  numbers,  a  murmur 
of  threatening  voices  would  arise  ;  but  again  they 
trembled  when  they  cast  their  eyes  on  Caesar. 
There  was  a  confused  hubbub  ;  wild  shouts  alter- 
nated with  sudden  lulls,  as  the  mob  yielded  to  con- 
tending emotions,  quailing  and  menacing  by  turns. 
At  last,  in  a  moment  of  quiet,  Drusus  read  aloud  3 

. 

his  fathers  letter.  The  terms  of  the  letter  were  as 
follows  :— 

The  interests  of  the  brave  legions,  with  whom  he  had 
gone  through  so  many  campaigns?*  were  very  near  to  his 
heart;  so  soon  as  his  mind  should  recover  from  its  present 
grief,  he  would  bring  their  demands  before  the  Senate. 
In  the  mean  time  he  had  sent  his  son,  to  make  without 
delay  such  concessions  as  could  be  granted  at  once  ;  all 
else  must  be  reserved  for  the  Senate,  who  ivould  not  be 
found  wanting,  they  should  believe,  either  in  indulgence 
or  in  firmness. 

To    this    the    multitude    replied    that    they    had  26. 
entrusted  the  centurion  Clemens  with  their  demands. 
Clemens    proceeded    to    set    these    forth    in   order  :  2 
'  Discharge  after  sixteen  years'  service,  with  gratuities 
at  its  close;   Pay  at  the   rate  of  a  denarius  a  day; 
Veterans    to   be   relieved    from   all    further  service.' 
Drusus  pleaded  that  such  matters  could  only  be  dealt 
with  by  the  Senate  and  his  father;  but  he  was  inter- 
rupted  by  a  storm  :  —  Why  had  he  come,  if  he  had  no  s 

,  ,  .  »/•»  /•    7 

authority  either  to  increase  the  soldiers  pay,  or  to  lighten 


1  In  addition  to  the  brilliant  campaigns 
in  which  Tiberius  and  his  brother  Drusus 
had  conquered  the  Raeti  and  Vindelici, 
and  so  opened  up  the  Eastern  Alps  (as 
celebrated  by  H  or.,  Od.  iv.  2  and  14), 
Tiberius  had  carried  on  the  war  in 
Germany  for  two  years  after  the  death 
of  his  brother  Drusus  in  B.C.  9.  In  A.D. 
4  and  5  he  was  consolidating  the  Roman 


authority  in  N.  Germany,  when  he  was 
called  back  to  quell  a  great  rising  in 
Pannonia  and  Dalmatia,  A.D.  6.  This 
took  him  some  three  years  to  accomplish. 
All  his  work  in  Germany  was  undone  by 
the  disaster  to  Varus  in  A.D.  9  ;  but  in 
these  various  campaigns  he  had  dis- 
played  military  talents  of  no  mean 
order. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.   25-27.  41 

his  labours,  or  to  confer  on  him  any  benefit  at  all  ?    And 
yet,  by  Hercules  !  every  one  had  liberty  to  scourge  or  slay 

4  him.     Drusus  was  but  repeating  the  old  trick  of  Tiberius, 
who  used  to  disappoint  the  legions  of  their  hopes  under 

5  cover  of  the  name  of  Augustus.1     Would  they  never  have 
coming  to  them  any  but  sons  of  the  Imperial  house  ?    It 
ivas  a  novel  thing  indeed  for  the  Emperor  to  throiv  back 
the  soldier  upon   the  Senate  for  his  rewards,  and  his 

6  rewards  only :  let  him  consult  the  same  Senate  every  time 
that  a  man  was  punished,  or  the  signal  for  battle  raised  ! 
Were  they  to  be  under  masters  for  their  reivards,  and 
have  no  appeal  against  their  punishments  ? 

1  At    last    they    moved    away   from    the    tribunal.  Their  fury 
Their  threatening  gestures  to  such  members  of  the 
Praetorian  Guard,  or  of  Caesar's  staff,  as   they  en- 
countered, led  to  altercations  and  bid  fair  to  end  in 

a  conflict.  Their  fury  was  specially  directed  against 
Gnaeus  Lentulus,2  on  whose  age  and  military  reputa- 
tion Drusus  was  supposed  to  lean,  and  who  had  taken 
the  lead,  it  was  believed,  in  scouting  the  monstrous 

2  demands  of  the  soldiers.       And  when,  not  long  after- 
wards, foreseeing  danger,  he  was  departing  for  the 
winter  camp,  in  company  with  Drusus,  he  was  set 
upon  by  a  crowd  who  asked,  Whither  was  he  going  ? 
Was  it  to  the  Emperor  or  to  the  Senate,  that  he  might 

3  there  also  oppose  the  interests  of  the  legions  ?    With  that 
they  made  a  rush  on  him,  and  pelted  him  with  stones  : 
wounded  and  bleeding,  he  was  rescued  from  certain 
death   by  the  hurrying  up  of  the   force  which    had 
arrived  with  Drusus. 

1  What  facts,  if  any,  are  here  referred  first  borne  poverty  with  patience,  and 

to  is  unknown.  afterwards  honestly  acquired,  and  un- 

3  Doubtless  the  Cn.  I^entulus  whose  ostentatiously  spent,  a  large  fortune, 

death  is  narrated  in  iv.  44,  i.  In  He  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  Cn. 

addition  to  his  distinction  as  a  consular  I^entulus  Gaetulicus,  cos.  A.D.  26,  who 

(cos.  B.C.  28),  and  for  gaining  triumphal  took  up  such  a  hardy  position  towards 

honours  over  the  Getae,  Tacitus  com-  Tiberius  when  legate  of  Upper  Germany, 

mends  him  in  that  passage  for  having  A.D.  34  (vi.  30). 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


Eclipse  of 
the  moon 


turned  to 
account  by 
Drusus. 


The  night  threatened  an  outbreak  of  crime ;  but  28, 
the  danger  was  averted  by  a  happy  chance.  Suddenly, 
in  a  clear  sky,  the  moon  was  seen  to  fail.1  Accepting  2 
this  as  an  omen,  the  ignorant  soldiery  found  a 
similitude  to  their  own  present  troubles  in  the  failing 
of  the  luminary  : — Things  would  go  well,  they  thought, 
with  their  demands,  if  the  light  and  brightness  of  the 
Goddess  should  come  back  to  her.  So  they  set  up  a  3 
clashing  of  brazen  vessels,2  with  an  accompaniment  of 
horns  and  trumpets ;  as  the  light  waxed  or  waned, 
they  passed  from  exultation  to  despair.  Then  a  cloud 
came  up,  shutting  out  the  moon  from  view;  where- 
upon they  believed  that  she  was  lost  in  darkness,  and 
with  that  susceptibility  to  superstitious  terror  which 
affects  those  who  have  once  given  way  to  it,  they 
lamented  that  labours  without  end  were  portended 
for  them,  and  that  the  Gods  were  turning  ,&way  in 
horror  from  their  crimes.3 

Minded  to  take  advantage  of  this  change  of  mood,  4 
and  turn  the  happy  incident  to  account,  Drusus  sent 
word  round  the  camp,  and  summoned  to  his  presence  5 
the  centurion  Clemens,  and  such  other  well-conducted 


1  The    eclipse    here    recorded    took 
place  on  the  26th  September,  A.D.  14, 
from  3  to ZJum.    Thus,  as  Furri!  points 
out,    there  had  been    time  in  the  38 
days  intervening  between  August  19  and 
September  26,  for  the  news  of  Augustus' 
death  to  reach  Pannonia  (a  distance  of 
over  500  Roman  miles) ;  for  the  mutiny 
to  develop,  and  for  the  news  of  it  to 
reach    Rome;   and    for    the  embassy, 
with  perhaps  a  force  of  1500  or  2000 
men,  to  reach  the  spot. 

2  For  the  superstition  that  the  evils 
predicted    by  an    eclipse  were    to  be 
averted  by  the  clashing  of  brazen  in- 
struments, see  Liv.  xxvi.  5,  9  ;   Mart, 
xii.   57,  15  ;   Juv.  vi.   442-3.      Yet  the 
true  theory  of  the  eclipse  was  known  to 
Lucretius  (v.  751),  Cicero  (de  Div.  ii.  6, 
17),  and  all  educated  persons  ;  it    was 
known    even    to  early  Greek  philoso- 
phers (Plin.  ii.  12).  A  similar  divergence 
of  view  between  the  educated  and  the 


vulgar  existed  over  the  whole  field  of 
pagan  mythology.  The  Turks  still 
regard  eclipses  as  the  direct  act  of  God, 
and  blow  horns,  trumpets,  etc.,  as  a 
means  of  propitiation.  My  colleague, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Cooper,  tells  me  that  he 
was  in  Ephesus  on  the  occasion  of  the 
solar  eclipse  of  1890,  when  the  offices 
of  a  newspaper  were  wrecked  for  having 
impiously  ventured  to  predict  the 
eclipse  on  the  day  before  it  occurred. 
The  character  of  an  Ephesian  mob  does 
not  seem  to  have  materially  changed 
since  the  days  of  St.  Paul. 

3  This  scene,  as  here  described,  recalls 
the  pathetic  story  of  the  eclipse  of  the 
moon  on  the  27th  August,  B.C.  413, 
which  completed  the  niin  of  Nicias  and 
the  Athenian  army  before  Syracuse,  as 
so  graphically  told  by  Thucydides  (vii. 
50,  4).  Probably  no  eclipses  known 
to  history  had  such  important  con- 
sequences as  these  two. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.   28-29.  43 

men  as  were  popular  with  the  multitude.  These 
men  made  their  way  among  the  sCntries,  the  pickets, 
and  the  guards,  appealing  to  their  hopes  and  fears 

6  alternately.     How  long,  they  asked,  shall  we  hold  our 
Emperors  son  in  siege  ?    How  is  this  struggle  to  end  ? 
Are  we  to  swear  allegiance  to  Pcrcennius  and  Vibulenus  ? 
Is  it  from  Pcrcennius  and  Vibulenus  that  ivc  shall  get  our 
pay,  .and  grants  of  land  upon  discharge  ?    Are  they  to 
take  the  places  of  Nero  or  of  Drusus  as  rulers  over  the 

7  Roman  people  ?     Were  it  not  better  for  us,  as  we  have 
been  the  last  to  go  astray,  to  be  the  first  with  our  repentance  ? 
Boons  ivhich  are  asked  for  all,  are  slow  to  come  ;  a  private 
favour  is  no  sooner  earned  than  granted. 

8  This  language  had  its  effect.    It  sowed  the  seeds 
of  suspicion  between   recruit  and   veteran,  between 

9  one   legion  and  another.     By  degrees,  the   sense   of 
discipline  returned  ;  the  guards  slunk  away  from  the 
gates ;  and  the  standards,  which  had  been  collected  on 
one  spot  at  the  beginning  of  the  outbreak,  were  taken 
back  to  their  proper  places. 

At    daybreak    Drusus    called   the   men   together.  Drusus  ad- 
Though  without  skill  in  speaking,  he  shewed  all  the  armyT l 
dignity  of  his  race  as  he  reproved   their  past   mis- 
conduct,   and    commended     their    present    attitude. 
Neither  fears,   he  said,   nor  threats  would  move    him. 
Should  he  see  them  inclined  to  submission,  should  they 
approach  him  as  suppliants,  he  would  write  to  his  father  to 
2  receive  their  petitions  ivithout  displeasure.     At  their  own  permits 
request,  a  deputation   was  despatched   to  Tiberius.  S  named, 
The  envoys  chosen  were  Blaesus,  as  before ;  Lucius 
Apronius,  a  Roman  knight  on  the  staff1  of  Drusus ; 
and  Justus  Catonius,  a  centurion  of  the  first  grade. 

1  The  word  coAors,  here  used,  is  the       military  division,   the   loth  part  of  a 
Special    term    to  denote  the   personal       legion,  called  by  that  name, 
suite  or  staff  of  a  commander  ;  not  the 


44  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 

and  pun-  After  that,  there  was  a  conflict  of  opinion.     Some  s 

thought  that  nothing  should  be  done  till  the  envoys 
returned,  and  that  until  then  the  soldiers  should  be 
humoured  and  kindly  treated  ;  others  called  for 
stronger  measures.  The  temper  of  a  multitude,  they 
urged,  was  always  in  extremes  ;  they  must  either  terrorise 
or  tremble  :  once  cowed,  they  were  to  be  feared  no 
more.  While  the  terrors  of  superstition  were  still  upon 
them,  let  the  General  strike  fresh  fear  into  their  minds 
by  making  an  end  of  the  ringleaders.  Drusus  himself  4 
was  by  nature  inclined  to  severity;1  he  summoned 
Vibulenus  and  Percennius  before  him,  and  ordered 
them  to  be  executed.  Their  bodies,  according  to 
some  accounts,  were  flung  outside  the  lines  to  be 
gazed  at;  but  the  common  story  is  that  they  were 
buried  hastily  inside  the  General's  tent. 

Search  was  then  made  for  the  principal  agitators.  30 
Some  were  found  wandering  outside  the  camp,  and 
were  cut  down  by  the  centurions  or  soldiers  of  the 
Praetorian  Guard  ;  others  were  given  up  by  the  men 
Depression   themselves,  as  a  token  of  their  loyalty.     The  troubles  2 
soldiers.       of  the  soldiers  were  aggravated  by  an  unusually  early 
winter.     Continual  and  excessive  rains  made  it  im- 
possible   for   them   to    leave   their    tents   or  gather 
together  ;  they  could  scarcely  keep  up  the  standards, 
which  were   blown   down   by  the  winds   and   swept 
away  by  the  waters.      And    they  were   still    under  3 
fear  of  the  divine  wrath  :  —  //  was  not  for  nothing  that 
they  had  seen  the  heavenly  bodies  grow  dim,  and  the 
storms    come  down    upon   'their   impious    heads;    their 

1  Tacitus  elsewhere  describes  Drusus  Germanicus,   the   adopted  son  of  his 

as  '  revelling  in  bloodshed  '  (i.  76,  5)  ;  father  ;  yet  Tacitus  tells  us  that  whereas 

Dio  calls  him  uo-eXyt^TaTor  xcu  w/xoraTor  their  respective  supporters  formed  two 

(Ivii.  13,  i).     In  iv.  3,  2  Tacitus  speaks  bitterly  hostile  factions  in  the  court,  the 

of  him  as  '  passionate  in  temper,  and  brothers  remained  egregie  Concordes  et 

unable  to  brook  a  rival.'     But  if  ever  proximorum     certaminibus    inconcussi 

Drusus    had    a    natural    rival,    it   was  (ii.  43,  7,  where  see  n.). 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.   29-31.  45 

troubles  would  have  no  end  till  they  quitted  that  ill-omened 
and  unhallowed  camp,  and  returned,  after  expiating  their 

4  offences,  to  their  several  winter  quarters.     So  first  the  They  re- 
8th   legion,  then   the    isth,  went   back;    the   men   of  £  winter 
the  9th  at  first  protested  that  the  answer  of  Tiberius  tiuarters- 
should  be  waited  for :  but  when  the  others  had  de- 
parted, and  they  were  left  alone,  they  made  a  virtue  of 

5  necessity  and  went  of  their  own  free  will.     Drusus 
himself  did   not  wait   for  the  return  of  the  envoys. 
Things  having  settled  down  sufficiently  for  the  present, 
he  returned  to  Rome,  j 

1  About  the  same  time,  and  from  identical  causes,  Mutiny  of 
disturbances  broke  out  in  the  armies  of  the  Rhine  ;  army.6™ 
and  with  all  the  greater  violence,  in  proportion  to 

their  greater  numbers.  They  indulged  the  hope  also 
that  Germanicus  Caesar,  unable  to  brook  a  master 
over  him,  would  lend  himself  to  the  legions  :  they  were 
strong  enough,  they  thought,  to  carry  all  before  them.1 

2  There  were  two  armies2  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine. 

1  The  legions  were  not  slow  to  learn  province,  before  the  disaster  of  A.  D.  9  ; 

the  lesson  that  emperors  could  be  made  after  that  date,  and  throughout  the 

elsewhere  than  in  Rome.  Galba,  in  first  century,  the  two  Germanics  were 

Spain,  revolted  against  Nero  in  A.D.  68 ;  not  strictly  provinces  at  all :  hence  the 

Vitellius  was  proclaimed  emperor  by  full  title  of  their  commanders  is  not 

his  army  at  Cologne,  January  10,  A.D.  legatus  provinciae,  but  legatus  Angusti 

69  ;  and  Vespasian  by  his  troops  at  pro  praetore  inferioris  (or  superioris) 

Alexandria  on  February  ist  of  the  same  exercitus,  respectively.  See  iv.  41,  3; 

year.  iv.  73,  i.  Two  altars,  with  inscriptions 

1  There  were  two  separate  commands  given  by  Rushforth,  pp.  107,  108,  fix 

on  the  Rhine  frontier,  called  respectively  the  boundary  between  the  Upper 

Upper  and  Lower  Germany.  Each  and  the  Lower  commands.  They 

comprised  the  frontier  districts  on  both  were  found  on  a  bridge  over  the 

sides  of  the  Rhine,  each  army  being  Vinxtbach,  between  Andernach  and 

prepared  to  act  as  occasion  required,  Sinzig  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine, 

either  against  Gaul  or  Germany.  Each  C.  Silms_  held  the  command  of  the 

army  consisted  of  4  legions:  /Vv<v/-  Upper  army  from  A.D.  14  to  21;  A. 

puum  robvr  Rhenvm  iuxta,  commune  Severus  Caepjna^  of  the  Lower  army 

in  Germanos  Gallosque  subsidium,  octo  from  A.D.  14  to  19.  Both  were  under 

legiones  erant  (iv.  5,  a).  The  army  of  the  supreme  command  of  Germanicus, 

Upper  Germany,  whose  headquarters  who  was  invested  with  the  imperium 

were  at  Mogumiacum  (Mayence),  con-  maius :  see  n.  on  chap.  14,  4.  Under 

sisted  of  the  and,  ijth,  I4th,  and  i6th  Augustus,  who  favoured  centralisation, 

legions;  the  tegions  of  Lower  Germany,  the  command  of  the  Rhine  had  been 

with  headquarters  at  Ara  Ubiorum  united  with  that  of  the  three  Gauls  under 

(Cologne,  were  the  jst,  5th,  aoth,  and  Agrippa,  Tiberius,  and  Drusus  in  turn. 

2 1 st.~  The  Ara  Ubiorum  had  been  the  See  Pelham,  'Outlines  of  Roman 

headquarters  of  the  original  German  History,'  p.  422. 


46  ANNALS    OF   TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 

The   Upper  army,  as   it  was  called,  was  under  the 
Legate  Gaius   Silius ;  Aulus  Caecina  had  command 
of  the   Lower :   both  alike  were  under  the  supreme 
command  of  Germanicus,  who  was  at  that  time  occu- 
pied in  taking  the  census 1  in  the  provinces  of  Gaul. 
The  Lower        The    army    of    Silius     hesitated,    watching    the 
breaks  out    result  of  the  movement  elsewhere;  but   the  Lower 
first>  army   broke   out   in    open    mutiny.     The   movement 

began  with  the  men  of  the  2ist  and  5th  legions, 
who  carried  along  with  them  the  ist  and  2oth ;  all 
these  four  being  at  that  time  encamped  together  in 
the  territory  of  the  Ubii,^  with  little  or  no  work  to 
occupy  them.  No  sooner  had  the  news  of  ^the  death 
of  Augustus  arrived,  than  the  town-bredL^recruits 
who  had  been  raised  in  the  city  not  long  before, 
accustomed  to  license,  and  impatient  of  all  labour, 
filled  the  simple  minds  of  their  comrades  with  the 
idea  that  the  time  had  now  come  for  the  veterans 
to  press  for  an  early  discharge,  the  younger  soldiers 
for  more  pay,  for  all  alike  to  demand  some  relief  from 


1  The  census  here  mentioned  was  the  2  The   Ubii  were  a  German    tribe, 
periodic  valuation  of  property  on  which  settled  originally  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  apportionment  of  the  state  tribute  the   Rhine.      Desiring    to    escape    the 
was  made.      This  general  survey  and  hostility  of  the  tribes  on  that  bank,  they 
census,  with  enumeration  of  properties  were  removed  at  their  own  request  to 
and  owners,  was  first  taken  by  Augustus  the  left  bank  of  the  river  by  Agrippa  in 
in  his  own  provinces.     See  Marquhardt,  B.C.  37  or  39  (Dio,  xli.  49).     It  was  here  ^ 
Staatsv.  ii.  p.  204-208.  A  total  contribu-  that  Agrippina — the  daughter  of  Ger- 
tion  of  40  millions  was  levied  on  Gaul  by  manicus,  the  wife  of  Claudius,  and  the 
Caesar  (Suet.,  Jul.  25);  a  Roman  com-  mother  of  the  Emperor  Nero — was  born. 
missioner  (xiv.  46,  2)  or  distinguished  In  recognition  of  that  fact,  Agrippina 
officer  (as  here)  apportioned  the  amount  had  a  colony  of  veterans  planted  there 
among  the  communities.     We  hear  of  in  A.D.  50.     It  then  took  the  name  of 
such    valuations    being  made  in  Gaul  Colonia   Claudia  Agrippinensis,    from 
in  B.C.  27,  in  B.C.   13,  in  A.D.  14  (the  which  the  present  name  Cologne  is  de- 
present  year),  and  in  A.D.  61.  Such  was  rived  (xii.  27,  i).     It  is  called  sometimes 
the  census  held  in  Judaea,  when  '  there  Civitas   Ubiorum  (chap.  37,  3),  some- 
went  out  a  decree  from  Caesar  Augustus  times  Ara  Ubiorum  (chap.  39,  i). 
that  all  the  world  should  be  taxed,'  i.e.  8  Suetonius  (Oct.  25)  and  Dio  (Ivi.  23, 
'  rated'  (St.  Luke   ii.  i).     The  taking  3)  both  inform  us  that  after  the  disaster 
of  the  census  often  caused  discontent  of  Varus  and  his  three  legions,  Augustus 
and  even  outbreaks  in  the  provinces  (vi.  enlisted  libertini    in    the    new    forces 
41,  i).    Of  a  similar  kind  are  the  revalua-  hurriedly  raised  to  supply  their  place, 
tions  of  rents  periodically  made  by  the 
British  Government  in  India. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.   31-32.  47 

their  irksome  duties,  and  wreak  vengeance  on   the 
5  centurions  for  their  brutality.    And  such  talk  was  not  with  great 

~  .  .  T^  ...        determina- 

confined  to  single  agitators,  like  Percennius  in  the  tion. 
Pannonian  army,  nor  addressed  to  trembling  soldiers, 
looking  anxiously  around  to  armies  more  powerful 
than  themselves.1  The  spirit  of  sedition  found  many 
tongues  and  many  voices  : — The  fortunes  of  Rome  were 
in  their  own  hands;  it  was  by  their  victories  that  the 
Empire  was  extended,  it  was  from  their  name  that 
Emperors  derived  their  titles? 

1  Unnerved  by  the  general  frenzy,  the  Legate  made  The  Legate 

.    c  .         Caecina 

2  no  attempt   at   resistance.     In   one   moment,    an   in-  loses  nil 
furiated   mob   rushed  with  drawn  swords  upon   the 
centurions — the  objects,  from  time  immemorial,  of  the 
soldiers'  hatred,  and  the  first  victims  of  their  violence. 

3  The  men   threw  them   down   and  beat  them,  sixty3  Attack  on 

J        the  centu- 

of  them  setting  upon  each  centurion,  so  as  to  match 
the  number  of  the  centuries ;  then  having  belaboured 
and  mangled  them,  they  cast  them  out,  many  already 
dead,  upon  the  entrenchments,  or  into  the  river. 

4  One   of  them   called   Septimius  took   refuge  on  the 
tribunal,  and   threw   himself  down   before  Caecina's 
feet ;   but  so  determined  was  the  demand   made  for 

5  him,  that  he  was  given  up  to  death.     One  young  man 
of   spirit,   called    Cassius   Chaerea,   who    afterwards 
acquired  notoriety  as  one  of  the  murderers  of  Gaius 
Caesar,4  cut   his  way,  sword   in   hand,  through  the 
armed  mob  which  blocked  his  path. 

6  The  Tribunes,  and  the  Commandant  of  the  camp,  The 

'    soldiers  act 
methodi- 

1  See  iv.  5,  $f  where  Tacitus  informs  »  Because  there  were  60  centuries  in    cally. 

us  that  the  army  of  two  legions  stationed       the  legion  :  '  a  piece  of  grim  humour,' 
in  Delmatia  (or  Dalmatia)  was  intended       as  Furn.  justly  terms  it. 
to  keep  an  eye  both  on  the  armies  of  4  Alluding    to    the    murder    of   the 

the  Danube  provinces  and  on  Italy.  Emperor    Gaius    or    Caligula    in    the 

1  The  name  Germanicvs  was  first  Crypto-porticus  of  the  Palatine  by  Cas- 
borne  by  Drusus  the  elder,  then  by  his  sius  Chaerea,  then  tribune  of  a  prae- 
two  sons  Germanicus  and  Claudius,  torian  cohort,  and  others,  Jan.  24, 
sometimes  even  by  Tiberius.  A.D.  41. 


48 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


Germani- 
cus in 
Gaul : 
difficulties 
of  his 
position. 


His  cha- 
racter and 
popularity. 


now  lost  all  authority.     The  men  distributed  among 
themselves   all    sentry  and   picket    duty,  and    other 
matters  of  immediate  urgency.     To  those  who  best  7 
understood     the     temper    of    the    soldiery,   nothing 
shewed  more  clearly  the  serious  and  uncompromising 
character  of  the  movement  than  this,  that  everything 
was  done  in  concert,  nothing  at  the  prompting  of  a 
few ;   all  rose  to  fury,  or  sunk  into  silence,  like  one 
man :    with   such    uniformity  and   regularity  that   it  . 
seemed  to  be  at  the  word  of  command.       J 

Meantime    Germanicus,    as    we    have    said,    was  33 
taking  the  census  in  Gaul  when  he  heard  of  the  death 
of  Augustus.      He  was   the  son  of  Drusus,  brother  2 
of   Tiberius ;    the  grandson    of   Augusta ;    and    his 
wife  Agrippina,  by  whom   he  had  several  children, 
was  the  grand-daughter  of  Augustus.     But  he  was  3 
disquieted    by  the    secret    hatred    which    both    his 
uncle  and  his  grandmother  bore  him  :  a  hatred  which 
was  all  the  more  bitter  that  it  sprang  from  unworthy 
reasons.1      For  the   memory   of   his    father    Drusus  4 
was   much  cherished   by  the  Roman  people ;   and  it 
was  the   popular    belief   that   if   he    had   succeeded 
to    power,  he  would    have    restored    the    Republic. 
Germanicus  had  become  the  object  of  the  same  favour, 
and  the  same  hopes ;  for  his  unassuming  character,  5 
and  his  rare  affability  of  manner,  presented  a  strong 
contrast   to   the    haughty  looks   and   dark   language 
of  Tiberius.     And  besides  all  this,  feminine  rancours  6 
were  at  work.      For  Livia  regarded  Agrippina  with 


1  Furn.  illustrates  this  sentiment  by 
the  cynical  maxim  of  the  Agricola, 
chap.  42,  4:  Proprium  humani  generis 
est  odisse  quern  laeseris  ;  which  recalls  the 
equally  cynical  opposite  saying,  'Why 
do  you  hate  me?  I  never  did  you  a 
service.'  But  iniquae  can  hardly  bear 
this  meaning.  Livia  and  Tiberius  had 


as  yet  done  Germanicus  no  injury,  if  they 
ever  did  ;  and  what  Tacitus  really 
means  is  that  they  hated  Germanicus 
for  qualities  which  should  rather  have 
won  their  love  :  his  affability,  his  popu- 
larity, and  above  all,  his  popular  lean- 
ings. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.   CHAPS.   32-35.  49 

a  true  step-mother's  hatred  ;  and  Agrippina  herself 
was  somewhat  passionate  and  imperious  in  temper, 
though  her  faults  were  all  redeemed  by  her  chastity 
and  her  devotion  to  her  husband. 

1  But  the  fact  that  Germanicus  stood  near  to  the  He  returns 
succession  only  caused  him  to  exert  himself  all  the  campe, 
more  strenuously  for  Tiberius.     He   took  the  oath 

of  allegiance  himself,  and  then  administered  it  to 
the  neighbouring  tribes,  and  to  the  communities  of 

2  Belgium.     On  hearing  of  the  mutiny,  he  hurried  back 
at  once.     The  men  met  him  outside  the  camp,  their 
eyes  cast  down  to  the  ground  as  if  in  penitence.     As 
he  passed  within  the  lines,  a  babel  of  murmurs  might 

3  be  heard.     Some  seized  his  hand  as  if  to  kiss  it,  and 
then  thrust  his  fingers  into  their  mouths  to  let  him 
feel   their  toothless  gums ;   others   pointed   to   their 

4  bodies,  bowed  down  with  age.     Perceiving  the  crowd 
about  him  to  be  without  order,  he  bid  them  form  up 
in  maniples ;  they  replied  that  they  could  hear  him 
better  as  they  were.     Next,  he  ordered  the  standards 
to  the  front,  so  that  the  cohorts  at  least  might  be  dis- 

5  tinguished  from  one  another:  reluctantly  they  obeyed.1 
Beginning  with  expressions  of  reverence  to  Augustus,  and  ad- 
he  passed  on  to  speak  of  the  victories  and  triumphs  army65 
of  Tiberius,  dwelling   especially  upon   his    splendid 
achievements    in    Germany,  along  with   those   same 

6  legions  ;  he  extolled  the  unanimity  of  Italy,  the  loyalty 
of  the  Gallic  provinces  : — Nowhere  was  there  disturbance 
or  disaffection.     He  was  listened  to  in  silence,  or  with 
slight  murmurs  of  dissent. 

i         He  then  touched  on  the  mutiny: — Where  was  noiv 

1  Germanicus  first  asks  the  legion  to  cohorts  :    the    men    unwillingly   obey, 

parade  in  proper   military  order,  each  The  word  vexillum,  properly  used  of  the 

of  the  30  maniples  in  its  own   place.  standard  of  the  maniples,  is  here  used 

This   order    disobeyed,  he  asks  them  for  the  signa  of  the  cohorts.     See  chap, 

to  observe,  at  least,  the  distinction  of  20,  i. 


50  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 

their  military  subordination  ?    he    asked,    where    their 
old  pride  in  discipline  ?     Whither  had  they  driven  forth 

The  men  their  Tribunes  and  their  centurions  ?  At  this,  with  one 
consent,  they  bared  their  bodies,  and  pointed  re- 
proachfully to  the  marks  of  wounds  and  stripes. 
With  a  confused  roar,  they  denounced  the  cost  of 
exemptions,  the  smallness  of  their  pay,  the  severity 
of  their  labours  :  naming  one  by  one  the  making  of 
earthworks  and  ditches,  the  collecting  of  fodder,  timber 
and  firewood,  and  every  other  kind  of  necessary  work, 
or  work  devised  to  keep  the  -camp  from  idleness. 
Fiercest  of  all  was  the  clamour  of  the  veterans.  2 
Counting  up  their  thirty  or  more  years  of  service, 
they  implored  him  to  find  some  remedy  for  their 
troubles  :  not  to  let  them  perish  in  the  same 
round  of  toil,  but  to  vouchsafe  to  them  some  limit 
to  so  arduous  a  service,  and  with  repose,  a  com- 
petence. 

and  offer  to        Some  even  demanded  of  Germanicus  the  money  3 

t^Rorne"1  bequeathed  by  Augustus,  adding  words  of  happy 
augury  towards  himself,1  signifying  that,  if  he  aimed 
at  empire,  they  would  back  him  up  in  the  attempt. 

His  indig-    At  this  he  leapt  down  headlong  from  the  tribunal,  as  4 
though   himself  infected  with  their  crime;   but  the 
men  thrust  their  arms  in  his  way,  threatening  him 
with  violence  unless  he  returned.    At  that  he  drew  5 
his  sword,  raised  it  in  the  air,  and  exclaiming  that  he 
would   rather  die   than   play  the  traitor,  he  was   in 
the  act  of  plunging  it  into  his  breast,  when  the  by- 
standers seized  his  arm,  and  held  it  back  by  force. 
Some  voices  from  the  densely  packed  crowd  behind,  6 
and  even,  what  almost  passes  belief,  individual  men 
coming  close   up   to   him,  urged   him   to  strike   on  ; 

1  This  demand,  and  the  language  in       des  ired  Germanicus  to  claim  the  succes- 
which  it  was  made,  implied  that  they       sion  ,  and  march  for  Rome. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.   CHAPS.   35-37.  51 

and  one  soldier  called  Calusidius  offered  him  a  drawn 
7  sword,  adding : — It  was  sharper  than  his  own.  Infuriated 
as  the  men  were,  they  thought  this  a  cruel  and 
inhuman  speech;  and  during  the  pause  which 
followed,  Germanicus  was  hurried  off  by  his  friends 
into  his  tent. 

1  A  consultation  was  now  held  as  to  what  should  Anxious 
be  done.     Word  came  that  the  men  were  preparing  fSSw! 
to  send  envoys  to  bring  over  the  Upper  Army  to  the 
movement ;    that   the   town    of   the   Ubii    had    been 
marked   out   for   destruction ;    and   that   the   troops, 
having  once  tasted  plunder,  would  make  a  raid  into 

2  Gaul.     The  alarm  was  heightened  by  the  fact  that  the 
enemy  were  aware  of  the  mutiny,  and  by  the  likelihood 
that  they  would  make  an  incursion  into  Gaul  if  the 
river-bank  were  left  unguarded  ;  yet  if  they  called  out 
the  auxiliary  and   allied  forces  against   the  seceding 

3  legions,  they  would  be  embarking  on   civil  war.     An 
unbending    attitude   was    hazardous ;    to    give    way 
was     ignominious  :    whether    all    or    nothing   were 
conceded,   the    Commonwealth   would    be    in    equal 

4  jeopardy.      After  all   due   consideration,   it  was   re-  conces- 

i         i   .  .  i    .  .1         T-.  .  sions  are 

solved  to  write  a  letter  in  the  Emperors  name  grant-  offered: 
ing  discharge   after   twenty  years'    service ;    partial 
release  to  men  of  sixteen  years'  service,  who  should 
be  kept  under  a  standard  of  their  own,  and  relieved 
of  all  duty  except  that  of  fighting;  the  sum  claimed  as 
legacies  to  be  paid  in  full,  and  to  twice  the  amount.1 
i        The  soldiers  felt  that  these  terms  were  concocted  the 
for  the  emergency,  and  demanded  their  instant  fulfil-  mand  their 
ment.     Accordingly  the  discharges  were  made  out  by 
the  Tribunes  at   once ;   the   payments  in  cash  were 
to  be  deferred  till  the  troops  should  return  to  their 

1  These  concessions,  extorted  for  the       and    repealed    in    the    year   following 
moment  (chap.  37,  5),  were  set  aside       (chap.  78,  3). 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  14. 


Germani- 
cus  pro- 
ceeds to  the 
Upper 
Army. 


Outbreak 
among  the 
veterans. 


Danger  of 

Manius 

Ennius. 


respective  winter  quarters.     But  as  the  men  of  the  2 
5th  and  2ist  legions  refused  to  move  till  the  money 
was   paid   in   their  present    summer  quarters,   Ger- 
manicus  had  to  make  up  the  amount  from  the  privy 
purses  of  himself  and  his  staff.  The  ist  and  2Oth  legions  3 
were  conducted  back  to  the  county  of  the  Ubii  by 
the   Legate  Caecina ;   when  might  be  seen  the  dis- 
graceful spectacle  of  the  treasure-chests 1  taken  from 
Germanicus  being  conveyed  among  the  standards  and 
the  eagles.      Germanicus   himself  proceeded   to   the  4 
Upper  Army,  where  the  oath  of  allegiance  was  taken 
without  hesitation  by  the  2nd,  i3th,  and  i6th  legions. 
The  i4th  hesitated  for  a  moment ;  so  the  money  and  5 
the  discharge  were  granted  to  them  unasked. 

Meantime,  in  the  country  of  the  Chauci,2  a  move-  38 
ment  had  begun   among   the  veterans    of  the    dis- 
affected legions  stationed  there  on  outpost  duty ;  but 
it  was  suppressed  for  the  moment  by  the  summary 
execution  of  two   soldiers,  on  the  order  of  Manius  2 
Ennius,    Prefect    of    the    camp.      Salutary    as    this 
example  was,  the  Prefect  had  exceeded  his  authority 3 
in  ordering  it;  and  as  the  trouble  grew  worse,  he  took  3 
to  flight.     Discovered  and  dragged  from  his  hiding- 
place,  he  drew  upon  audacity  for  his  protection: — To 
do  violence  to  him,  he  declared,  would  be  to  lay  hands,  not 
on  the  Prefect  of  the  camp,  but  on  their  General  Germanicus 
— nay,  upon  the  Emperor  Tiberius  himself.    Having  thus  4 


1  The  term  fiscus,  or  '  basket,'  was 
applied  to  the  revenues,  especially  those 
from  the  imperatorial  provinces,  which 
were  accounted  for  directly  to  the 
emperor,  as  distinguished  from  those 
paid  into  the  aerarium,  or  public 
treasury.  As  the  fiscus  included  both 
public  and  private  money,  the  term 
'  privy  purse '  is  not  in  all  cases  appli- 
cable to  it :  but  see  Juv.  iv.  53-55, 
where  the  huge  turbot  caught  in  the 
Adriatic  is  despatched  post-haste  to 


Domitian,  as  though  belonging  to  the 
fiscus. 

2  The  Chauci,  whose  territory  cannot 
exactly  be  fixed,  seem  to  have  occupied 
the  lower  parts  of  the  valleys  of  the 
Weser  and  the  Ems,  and  the  country 
between  those  rivers. 

3  Properly  speaking,  in  an  imperial  pro- 
vince.no  officer  below  ihelegatusAngusti 
could  inflict  the  death  penalty  ;  in  sena- 
torial provinces  (Africa  alone  excepted), 
not  even  the  proconsul  (Dio,  liii.  13,  7). 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.   CHAPS.  37-39.  53 

overawed  the  men  who  stood  in  his  way,  he  seized 
the  standard,  headed  with  it  towards  the  river,1  and 
proclaiming  that  all  who  left  the  ranks  should  be 
treated  as  deserters,  he  brought  the  force  back  to 
their  winter  quarters,  disaffected  indeed,  but  not  in 
open  mutiny. 

1  Meanwhile  the  envoys   from  the  Senate  reached  Arrival  of 
Germanicus  on  his  return  to  the  altar  of  the  Ubii.  fromys 

2  Two  legions  were  wintering  there,  the  ist  and  2Oth, 
together  with  the  recently  discharged  veterans  under 

3  a  standard   of  their  own.     Uneasy   and  conscience- 
stricken,  a  terror  seized  them  that  the  envoys   had 
come  with  orders  from  the  Senate  to  cancel  the  con- 

4  cessions  extorted  by  the  mutiny ;  and  with  the  usual 
tendency  of  a  mob  to  fasten  a  charge,  however  false, 
on  some  one's  shoulders,  they  laid  the  blame  of  the 
decree   on  Munatius  Plancus,2  a  Consular,  who  was  danger  of 
at   the  head  of  the  embassy.      In  the  dead  of  night, 

they  called  for  their  standard,8  which  was  in  the  house 
of  Germanicus.  Mobbing  the  door  of  the  house, 
they  forced  it  open,  dragged  Germanicus  from  his 
bed,  and  compelled  him  to  give  up  the  standard 
under  fear  of  death. 

5  Later  on,  as  they  were  parading  along  the  camp- 
roads,4  they  encountered   the    envoys,   who   having 

1  No  doubt  the  Rhine  is  meant :  the  the  privileges  of  the  vexillarii.     See 

detachment  was  at  once  marched  off  to  above,  chap.  17, 4. 

head-quarters.  *  The  viae  of  a  Roman  camp  were 

*  This  Plancus  must  have  been  a  son  laid  out  with  great   regularity.      The 

or  grandson  of  the  famous  L.  Munatius  camp  was  divided  into  three  equal  por- 

Plancus,  cos.  B.C.  42,  who  so  falsified  tions  by  two  broad  roads,  each  100  feet 

the  hopes  of  Cicero  by  going  over  to  wide,  the  Principia,  and  the  Via  Quin- 

the  triumvirs  with  his  Gallic  army  after  tana.    The  upper  portion,  that  between 

the  battle  of  Mutina  in  B.C.  43.     He  is  the  Principia  and  the  Porta  Praetoria, 

still  more  famous  for  the  allusion  to  contained    the    Praetorium,    or    head- 

him  in  Horace,  Od.  iii.  14,  27  :  Non  ego  quarters.     The  other  two-thirds  of  the 

hoc  ferrem  calidus  iuventa  =  Consult  camp  were  occupied  by  the  men's  tents, 

Planco.  being   divided  into  six  oblong  spaces 

'  To  mark  his  displeasure,  and  as  a  by  five  viae,  of  50  feet  in  width,  running 

sign  of  possible  punishment,  Germani-  at  right  angles  to  the  Via  Quinfana. 

cus  had  apparently  taken  into  his  own  For  the  gates  in  the  camp,  see  n.  on 

keeping  the  vtxillum  which  guaranteed  chap.  66,  2, 


54  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 

heard  the  uproar  were  on  their  way  to  the  quarters 
of  Germanicus.     They  loaded  them  with  insults,  and  6 
were  on  the   point   of  murdering  them  —  more  par- 
ticularly Plancus,  who  thought  it  beneath  his  dignity 
to  take  flight.     The  only  refuge  open  to  him  was  the 
camp  of  the  ist  legion.     Embracing  the  standards1  7 
and  the  eagle,  he  sought  to  protect  himself  by  their 
who  sacred  character;    but  had  not   the   standard-bearer 

Calpurnius   prevented   the  men  from  proceeding  to 


extremities,  there  would  have  been  witnessed  in  a 
Roman  camp  a  sight  scarce  ever  seen  even  among  our 
enemies  —  that  of  a  Legate  of  the  Roman  people  stain- 
ing the  altars  of  the  Gods  with  his  blood.  At  last,  s 
when  day  dawned,  and  it  became  possible  to  dis- 
tinguish soldiers  from  officers,  and  to  discover  what 
had  happened,  Germanicus  ordered  Plancus  to  be 
brought  to  him,  and  took  him  up  on  to  the  tribunal. 
speech  of  Upbraiding  the  soldiers  for  their  infatuation  —  now 

Germani-  .    .  .  ,       -  , 

cus;  reviving,  he  declared,  not  so  much   from   their  own 

passions  as  through  the  wrath  of  the  Gods  —  he  ex- 
plained to  them  the  purpose  of  the  mission;  spoke 
with  eloquence  and  sorrow  of  the  rights  of  envoys,  of 
the  grievous  and  undeserved  peril  of  Plancus,  and  of 
the  disgrace  thereby  brought  upon  the  legion  ;  and 
having  thus  cowed  rather  than  quieted  the  assem- 
blage, he  sent  off  the  envoys  under  an  escort  of 
auxiliary  cavalry. 

At  this  perilous  juncture,  Germanicus  was  much  4< 
blamed  for  not  proceeding  to  the  army  of  the  Upper 
Rhine,  which  was  still  loyal,  and  would  have  afforded 
aid  against  the  mutineers  :  —  Mischief  enough,  and  more  2 
than  enough,  had  been  done  by  discharges  and  bounties  and 
other  weak  concessions.     If  he  had  no  regard  for  his  own 

1  i.e.  the  signa  or  standards  of  the  cohorts,  and  the  eagle  which  was  the 
standard  of  the  legion. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.   39-41.  55 

life,  why  leave  his  little  son  and  his  wife,  and  his  yet  unborn 
child,  among  an  infuriated  soldiery,  who  had  violated 
every  human  right  ?    He  should  send  these,  at  least,  back 
3  in  safety  to  their  grandfather  and  their  country.      Fora  he  consents 
while  he  hesitated;  and  Agrippina  would  not  listen  send  away 


to  such  counsels,  protesting  that  she  was  of  the  blood 
of  Augustus,  and  could  face  danger  like  the  rest  of 
her  race.  At  last,  tearfully  embracing  his  wife,  now 
great  with  child,  and  the  son  she  had  borne  him, 
4  he  prevailed  on  her  to  depart.  And  now  the  long  sad 
line  of  women  moved  away;  the  General's  wife  a 
fugitive,  carrying  her  little  boy  in  her  arms  ;  her 
friends'  wives  dragging  themselves  after  her,  and 
weeping  as  they  went  :  not  less  sorrowful  were  the 
friends  that  were  left  behind. 

1  This  spectacle,  these  wailings,  more  like  those  of  The 

.  soldiers. 

a  captured    city   than  of  a  camp  commanded    by  a  touched  by 
Caesar,  drew   towards  them  the  eyes   and    the  ears 

2  of  even   the  common  soldiers.      Coming  forth  from 
their  tents,  What  are  these  sounds  of  weeping?  they 
ask;  What  this  dismal  procession  ?    A  company  of  high- 
born ladies—  with  no  centurion,  not  even  a  soldier,  for 
an  escort  ;  with  none  of  the  state  or  retinue  that  befit 
the  wife  of  an  Impcrator  —  going  forth  to  the  Treveri,1  to 
seek  protection  at  the  hand  of  strangers  ! 

3  A  feeling  of  shame  and  pity  came  over  them  at  the 
sight.      They  remembered  her  father  Agrippa,  her 
grandfather  Augustus,  and  her  father-in-law  Drusus  ; 
they  thought  of  her  notable  fertility,  her  incomparable 
purity  ;   then  of  her  infant  son,  born  in  camp,2  and 

1  The    Treveri,   or  Treviri,   were    a  dence  of  Constantine  the  Great.     Here 

powerful  tribe  in  Gallia  Belgica,  staunch  is  the  famous  Porta  Nigra,  with  other 

friends  of  Rome.     Their  chief  town,  on  Roman  remains. 

the  right  bank  of  the  Moselle,  was  made  *  That    Caligula    was   born    in    the 

a   Roman  colony  by  Augustus,  under  German  camp  was  a  fiction  of  Cali- 

the    name    Augusta    Trevirorum,   the  gula's  own,  to  which  he  himself  gave 

modern  Treves,  or  Trier,  the  chief  resi-  currency   in  a    couplet   beginning    /// 


56  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 

brought  up  in  the  soldiers'  quarters,  to  whom,  in 
soldier  fashion,  they  had  given  the  name  of  '  Little 
Boots/  because  to  please  the  men  he  used  to  wear 
boots  like  those  of  the  legionaries.  But  what  moved  4 
them  most  of  all  was  a  feeling  of  jealousy  towards 
implore  the  Treveri  ;  so  they  threw  themselves  in  the  way, 
t^rS^Sn.  and  implored  her  to  come  back  and  remain  with 
them;  some  going  after  Agrippina  herself,  the  greater 
number  turning  back  to  Germanicus.  Stung  to  the  5 
quick  with  grief  and  indignation,  he  thus  addressed 
the  throng  around  him  :  — 

Speech  of          Neither  wife  nor  son  are  dearer  to  me  than  my  father  4 
and  my  country  ;  but  my  father  is  safe  in  his  Imperial 
Majesty,  and  the  other  armies  of  Rome  will  protect  the 
Empire.    My  wife  and  children,  whom  I  would  freely  2 
offer  up  to  death  for  your  glory,  I  am  now  removing  from 
your  rage  ;  that  whatever  crime  you  may  yet  be  meditating 
may  be  wiped  out  by  my  blood  alone,  and  that  you  may 
not  add  to  your  guilt  by  the  slaughter  of  the  great-grand- 
son  of  Augustus,  the  murder  of  the  daughter-in-law^  of 
Tiberius.    For  of  what  insolence,  of  what  impiety,  have  3 
you  not  been  guilty,  during  these  past  days  ?    What  name  4 
shall  I  give  to  this  concourse  ?    Am  I  to  call  you  soldiers 
7  —you  who  have  besieged  the  son  of  your  Emperor  with 
arms  and  entrenchments  ?    Or  citizens—  you  who  have 
trampled  underfoot  the  authority  of  the  Senate  ;  who  have 
disregarded  rights  accorded  even  to  enemies  ;  who  have 
done  violence  to  the  sacred  person  of  an  envoy,  and  the  law 
of  nations  ?     The  Divine  Julius  quelled  a  mutiny  by  one  5 
word  :  styling  those  who  broke  their  oath  of  fealty  as 
The  Divine  Augustus,  by  one  look,  made  the 


castris  natus,  patriis  nutritus  in  armis.  l  The  characteristic  appellation  of  the 

Suetonius  shows  that  he  was  born  at  Roman  people  (Populus  Romanus  Qui- 

Antium,  before  Germanicus  left  Rome  ritium]  when  addressed  in  their  civil 

for  Germany,  and  was  now  two  years  capacity. 
old  (Cal.  8). 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  41-43-  57 

legions  at  Actium  quail  before  him.  Though  I  be  not 
such  as  they,  yet  am  I  sprung  from  them  ;  and  it  were  a 
strange  and  unworthy  thing  if  soldiers  from  Spain,  or 
Syria,  were  to  scorn  my  commands.  And  will  you,  the 

6  men  of  the  \st  legion,  ivho  received  your  standard  from 
Tiberius;1  and  you  of  the  2oth—you  who  shared  in  his 
many  battles,  whom  he  enriched  with  so  many  rewards — 

7  will  you  thus  notably  repay  your  General?     Is  this  the 
word  that  I  am  to  carry  to  tny^ather,  at  a  time  when  he  is 
receiving  from  other  provinces  no  news  but  what  is  good? 
How  his  own  recruits,  his  own  veterans,  are  not  content 
with  discharge  and  bounties ;  how  here,  and  here  alone, 
centurions  are  being  murdered,  Tribunes  cast  out,  envoys 
beleaguered,  camp  and  river  stained  with  blood?     And 
that  I  am  in  the  midst  of  enemies,  holding  my  life  at  their 
mercy  ! 

1  Why,  O  why,  did  you,  unthinking  friends,  on  that  first 
day  of  assembling,  hold  back  the  steel  ivhich  I  was  ready 
to  plunge  into  my  breast  ?    A  better  and  kindlier  act  was 

2  his  who  offered  to  me  his  sword !    For  I  should  have 
fallen  then  with  no  guilty  knowledge  of  outrages  by  my 
army  ;  and  you  would  have  chosen  fory ourselves  a  General, 
to  leave  my  death  indeed  unpunished,  but  to  avenge  Varus 

3  and  his  three  legions.      For  may  the  Gods  grant  that  the 
Belgians — ready  as  they  are  to  offer  themselves — may  not 
have  the  honour  and  glory  of  restoring  the  Roman  name, 

i  and  of  conquering  the  tribes  of  Germany  !  O  !  may  thy  spirit, 
Divine  Augustus,  that  has  now  been  received  into  Heaven  ; 
may  thy  image,  O  my  father  Drusus,  and  thy  memory,  in 
the  hearts  of  these  same  soldiers,  alive  once  more  to  a 
sense  of  shame  and  honour,  wash  out  this  stain,  and  turn 
this  fury  between  fellow-citizens  to  the  destruction  of  our 

5  foes  !    And  you  also :  you  whose  looks,  whose  hearts,  I 

1  It  would  appear  that,  on  some  occa-       largely  recruited  by  Tiberius.     Hence 
sion  unknown,  the  ist  legion  had  been       ifsius  tironcs  in  the  following  sentence. 


58  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 

see  to  be  other  than  they  were :  if  you  would  render  obedience 
to  your  General;  if  you  would  restore  to  the  Senate  their 
envoys,  to  me  my  wife  and  child :  withdraw  from  the 
contagion  !  Put  forth  from  you  the  breeders  of  sedition  ! 
Thus  only  will  you  make  fast  your  penitence,  thus  firmly 
bind  your  loyalty. 

Penitence          This  speech  turned  the  soldiers  into  suppliants.  44. 
of  the  men.  Humbly    acknowledging    the    justice    of   these    re- 
proaches, they  implored  Germanicus  to   punish  the 
guilty,  to  forgive  those  who  had  been  led  astray,  and 
to  lead  them  out  against  the  enemy ;  they  entreated 
him  to  recall  his  wife,  and  to  let  the  legions  havej 
their  foster-child   back  again,  rather  than  hand  him 
over  as  a  hostage  to  the  Gauls.     Germanicus  excused  2 
Agrippina  from  returning  because  of  her  lying-in,  now 
near  at  hand,  and  the  wintry  season ;  but  he  would  let 
his  son  come  back :  the  rest  they  must  do  themselves. 
The  guilty         At  this   they   hurried   away  like   new  men,   and  3 
Eyacdama-  dragged    the    ring-leaders    in    chains    before   Gaius 
tion*  Caetronius,  the  Legate  of  the  ist  legion,  who  judged 

the  culprits  and  passed  sentence  upon  them  one  by 
one   in   the   following  fashion.      In   front  stood   the  4 
legions,  with  swords  drawn ;  the  accused  was  put  up 
to  view  by  the  Tribune  on  a  raised  platform.     If  the 
men  shouted  '  Guilty/  he  was  thrown  headlong  down, 
and    cut    to    pieces.      The   troops   delighted    in   the  5 
slaughter,  as   though   they  were   thereby   absolving 
themselves ;  and  Caesar  allowed  it  to  go  on,  since  in 
this  way,  without  any  order  from  him,  the  severity 
and  odium  alike  were  laid  upon  the  same  shoulders. 
The  example  thus  set  was  followed  by  the  veterans,  6 
who  were   despatched    soon   afterwards   to   Raetia,1 

1  Raetia  was  the  name  given  to  the  extending  N.  as  far  as  the  country 
E.  part  of  Switzerland  (Canton  Grau-  between  the  Danube  and  the  Inn.  The 
bunden  or  Les  Orisons)  and  the  Tyrol,  Engadine,  or  Upper  Inn  Valley,  so  well 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  43-46.  59 

under  pretence  of  protecting  that  Province  from  an 
attack  threatened  by  the  Suevi;1  but  in  reality,  to 
remove  them  from  a  camp  whose  grim  associations 
reminded  them  not  only  of  their  crime,  but  also  of  the 

7  rigour  with  which  it  had  been  repressed.    Germanicus 
then  revised  the  list  of  centurions.     Each  was  called 
up  in  turn,  and  stated  his  name,  rank,  and  country ; 
his  period  of  service;   his  acts  of  gallantry,  and  his 

8  decorations,   if  he   had    any.      If  men    and    officers 
commended   him   for  energy  and   integrity,  he  was 
permitted    to    retain   his   rank.      If    they   agreed    in 
declaring  him  corrupt  or  cruel,  he  was  discharged 
from  the  service. 

1  Things  having  thus  been  settled  for  the  moment,  Defiant 
a  trouble   no   less   formidable   remained   because  of  the  two 
the  defiant  attitude  of  the  5th  and  2ist  legions,2  who  vftera.at 
were  in  camp  at  a  place  called  Vetera,  sixty  miles 

2  away.    These  men  had  been  the  first  to  mutiny  ;  they 
had  committed  the  worst  excesses  ;  and  now,  neither 
awed    by   the    punishment   of   their    comrades,   nor 
moved  by  their  repentance,  they  remained  as  intract- 

3  able  as  ever.     Germanicus  accordingly  prepared  to 
despatch  a  flotilla  down  the  Rhine  with  a  force  of 
legionaries  and  allied  troops,  determined  to   fight  it 
out  if  his  authority  were  disputed. 

i        At  Rome,  meanwhile,  the  news  of  the  outbreak  in  Alarm  in 
the  German  army  had  arrived  before  the  issue  of  the 
troubles    in    Illyricum   was   known.     The    city   was 

known  to  mountaineers,  still  bears  in  *  The   5th  and   aist  legions,  as  we 

its  present  language  (Romaunsch)  the  have  seen,  formed  part  of  the  army  of 

traces  of  its  conquest  by  Drusus  and  Lower  Germany.     Their  head-quarters 

Tiberius,  B.c.  i5(Hor.,  Od.  iv.  4  and  Vetera,   or    Vetera     Castra,   has  been 

14).  supposed   to  be  at   Xanten,  some  66 

»  The  name    Suebi,   or  Suevi,   was  miles  N.  of  Cologne,  where  the  other 

given  to  a  number  of  Germanic  tribes,  two  legions  of  this  army,  the  ist  and 

sometimes  confederated,  which  Wretched  zoth,  were  stationed.     See  chap.  39,  2. 

across  the   E.    of   Germany  from   the  The  next   passage  shows  that   Vetera 

lialtic  to  the  Danube.  \vas  on  the  river. 


60  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 

in    a    panic;    and  men    censured    Tiberius    in    this 
fashion  : — 

He  was  befooling  the  poor  helpless  Senate  and  people 
with  his  pretences  of  hesitation,  at  a  moment  when  the 
legions  were  in  revolt,  and  needed  something  more  than 
the  authority  of  two  youths,  new  to  command,  to  put  them 
down.      He  should  have  gone  himself,  and  confronted  2 
them  with  the  Imperial  presence :  they  would  have  given 
way  before  a  prince  of  ripe  experience,  himself  the  final 
arbiter  of  rewards  and  punishments.    Augustus,  in  ex-  3 
treme  old  age,  had  been  able  to  pay  repeated  visits1  to 
Germany ;  was  Tiberius,  in  the  prime  of  life,  to  sit  still 
in   the    Senate-house,   carping    at   the    speeches    of  the 
Fathers  ?    Precautions  enough  had  been  taken  to  secure  4 
the  servility  of  the  capital :  it  was  time  that  something 
were  done  to  soothe  the  army,  and  reconcile  it  to  a  state 
of  peace. . 

Talk  like  this  made  no  impression  upon  Tiberius;  47 
he  was  resolved  not  to  quit  the  capital,  nor  to  expose 
himself  and  the  commonwealth  to  risk.     He  was  dis-  2 
tracted  by  many  opposing  considerations  : — 

Of  the  two  armies,  the  German  was  the  more  powerful, 
the  Pannonian  the  nearer  to  Rome  ;  the  former  had  the 
resources  of  Gaul  behind  it,  Italy  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the 
latter.  Which  of  the  two  should  he  visit  first  ?  Which- 
ever he  put  last,  would  be  a-flame  at  the  indignity.  In  3 
sending  a  son  to  each,  he  put  both  on  an  equality ;  yet 
without  compromising  his  own  dignity,  which  gained  in 
reverence  from  the  distance.  Then  again,  the  young  men  4 
might  be  excused  for  referring  some  points  to  their 
father,  and  if  the  troops  resisted  Drusus  or  Germanicus, 
they  might  be  crushed  or  conciliated  by  himself :  but 

1  A  rhetorical  exaggeration.  Augustus  Gaul,  in  B.C.  16  and  8.  In  the  latter 
never  went  to  Germany  at  all.  So  far  year  Augustus  was  54 ;  Tiberius  was 
as  we  know,  he  only  twice  went  to  now  56. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.  CHAPS.  46-48-  6l 

if  they  were  to  flout  their  Emperor,  what  resource  was 
left?1 
5         For  all  that,  however,  he  made  as  though  he  were  andre- 

.  ~     solves  not 

always  on  the  point  of  starting;  he  selected  his  staff,  to  quit 
collected  his  baggage,  and  had  ships  made  ready;  then 
pleading  various  excuses  of  weather,  business,  and 
what  not,  he  hoodwinked  the  shrewdest  for  a  time  ; 
the  populace  for  a  while  longer;  longest  of  all,  the 
Provinces. 

1  Meanwhile   Germanicus  had   collected  his  army, 
and  had  everything  ready  for  taking  vengeance  upon 
the   rebels.     Thinking,  nevertheless,  that  he  should 
still  give  them  time  to  take  the  matter  into  their  own 
hands,  according  to  the  example  lately  set,  he  sent  on 
a  letter  to  Caecina,  informing  him  of  his  approach 
with  a  strong  force,  and  announcing  that  unless  the 
guilty  were  punished  before  he  came,  he  would  put 

2  all   indiscriminately   to    the    sword.     This    despatch 
Caecina   read  privately  to   the   eagle-  and  standard- 
bearers,2  and  to   the  best   affected   among  the  men, 
urging  them  to  save  the  honour  of  the  corps  as  well 
as  their  own  lives.      In  time  of  peace,  he  remarked, 
cases  are  judged  upon  their  merits ;  when   it  comes  to 
fighting,  innocent  and  guilty  fall  alike. 

3  These  men  sounded  those  whom  they  thought  the  The  men 
likeliest;   and   having  satisfied   themselves   that   the  geanoefato 

i  i     c.        j  ^i  r    their  own 

majority  were  loyal,  fixed  a  time,  at  the  suggestion  of  hands,  and 
the  Legate,  for  falling  upon  the  most  obnoxious  and 

4  prominent  agitators.     At  a  given  signal,  they  burst 
into  their  tents,  and  cut  them  down  unawares,  none 

1  The    reader  will   doubtless   be    of  view  ;   and  this  is  one  of  many  cases  in 

opinion    that  the   reasons  ascribed   to  which   Tacitus  states   fairly    the  view 

Tiberius  for  not  going  in   person    to  opposed  to  his  own.    So  with  the  speech 

quell  the  mutiny  are  convincing,  even  of  Asinius  Gallus,  ii.  33. 

as  stated  by  Tacitus.     The  historian  *  See  n.  on  chap.  39,  7. 
clearly  intends  us  to  take  the  opposite 


62  ANNALS    OF  TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 

but  those  in  the  secret  knowing  how  the  slaughter 
had  begun,  or  where  it  was  to  end. 

the  guilty          Never  was  there  a  conflict  in  any  civil  war  like  49- 
cu>wnuun-     to  this.    There  was  no  battle ;  there  were  no  opposing  2 
camps  :   men  who  had  messed  together  by  day,  and 
slept  together  at  night,  rose  out  of  the  same  beds, 
divided   themselves  into   sides,   and   fell  upon   each 
other.    The  shouts,  the  wounds,  and  the  blood,  every 
one  could  see  or  hear;  but  no  cause  for  it  could  be 
seen :  chance  ruled  all.     Some  loyal  men  were  slain  3 
with  the  rest ;  for  the  worst  offenders  had  taken  up 
their  arms  on  discovering  against  whom  the  attack 
was   aimed.     There  was   no  Legate,  no  Tribune,  to 
control;    every   man   had    free    license   to    glut    his 
vengeance  to  the  full.     Germanicus  entered  the  camp  4 
soon  afterwards  ;  and  declaring,  with  many  tears,  that 
this  was  a  massacre,  and  no  remedy,  he  ordered  the 
bodies  to  be  burned. 

Germani-  The  minds  of  the  soldiers  being  still  set  on  blood,  5 

Ssarmy  es  a  longing  seized  them  to  march  against  the  enemy  as 
RiSe, ^  an  atonement  for  their  madness;  as  though  there 
were  no  other  way  to  appease  the  spirits  of  their 
comrades  than  to  expose  their  guilty  breasts  to 
honourable  wounds.  Falling  in  with  their  ardour,  6 
Germanicus  threw  a  bridge  across  the  Rhine,  and 
passed  a  force  of  twelve  thousand  legionaries  over 
the  river,  together  with  twenty-six  cohorts  and  eight 
squadrons  of  the  allies,  who  had  never  wavered  in 
their  allegiance. 

reaches  the         The  Germans  were  not  fkr  off.     They  had  rejoiced  5°- 
Tiberius,      to  see  our  attention  taken  up,  first  by  the  holiday  on 
the  death  of  Augustus,  and  afterwards  by  the  mutiny. 
A  rapid  march  brought  Germanicus  to  the  Caesian l  2 

1  This  forest  must  have  lain  some-       Rhine  was  crossed  near  Xanten,  and 
where    between    the   point   where  the       the  Lippe.     The  limes,  on  which  was 


A.D.14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  48-51.  63 

forest,  where  he  crossed  the  lines  laid  out  by  Tiberius 
and  encamped  upon  the  works,  his  front  and  his  rear 
protected  by  entrenchments,  his  flanks  by  barricades 

3  of   trees.     He   had    next   to   traverse  a  dense  forest 
country,  having  two  routes  to  choose  from — one  the 
shorter  and  usual  route,  the  other  more  difficult  and 
unfrequented,  and  for  that  reason  unguarded  by  the 

4  enemy.     Selecting  the  longer  of  the  two,  he  pushed 
on  with  all  speed ;  for  his  scouts  had  brought  word 
that  the  Germans  were  to  hold  a  festival  that  night, 

5  with   games  and  banqueting.     Caecina  was  sent  on 
with  some  light  cohorts  to  clear  a  way  through  the 
forest ;   the  legions  followed  at  some  little  distance. 

6  A  bright  starry  night  favoured  the  enterprise.      On 
reaching  the    Marsian 1  villages,  he  drew   his   posts  captures 
all  round  them.      The  enemy  were  already  in   bed,  villages 

i .  111  •  with  much 

or  sprawling  upon  the  tables,  suspecting  no  danger ;  slaughter, 

7  there  were  no  sentries  set  in  front ;  all  was  careless- 
ness and  confusion  :  for  they  had  no  thought  of  battle, 
and  even  such  quiet  as  they  were  enjoying  was  but 
the  feeble  and  relaxed  repose  of  drunkenness. 

1  To  extend  the  area  of  his   ravages,  Germanicus  anddeva- 
divided  his  eager  troops  into  four  columns,  and  laid 

2  waste  fifty  miles  of  country  with  fire  and  sword.     No 
pity  was  shewed  to  either  age  or  sex.     Things  sacred 
and  profane  alike — even  the  most  famous  temple2  of 
the  tribe,  that  of  the  Goddess  called  Tamfana — were 

3  levelled  to  the  ground ;  and  as  our  men  had  fallen  on 
the  enemy  when  half-asleep,  unarmed  or  dispersed, 
they  had  sustained  no  loss. 

the  fort  Aliso  and  apparently  another  speak  of  them  as  an  important  tribe ; 

fort  also  (see  ii.  7,  i  and  5),  had  one  of  they  are  not  heard  of  later, 
its  extremities  on  that  river.  *  The  word  templum  in  I^atin  does 

1  The  position  of  this  tribe,  or  con-  not  necessarily  denote  a  building,  but 

federation    of    tribes,    is    not    exactly  only    a  spot  consecrated    by  augurs, 

known.     Nipp.    places    them   between  The    Germans    worshipped    in    conse- 

the  Lippe  and  the  Ruhr.    Strabo  (who  crated  ground  ;  they  had  no  temples, 
lived  till  about  A.D.  24)  and  Tacitus 


64  ANNALS    OF   TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 

Rising  of          The  news  of  this  massacre  roused  the  Bructeri,1  4 
reabr?S1'    s  the  Tubantes,  and  the  Usipetes,  who  beset  the  forest 
passes 2  by  which  the  army  had  to  return.     Apprised 
of  this,   Germanicus  arranged  his  retreat   alike   for 
marching  and   for  fighting.     The   auxiliary  cohorts,  5 
with  part  of  the  cavalry,  led  the  way ;  then  came  the 
ist  legion.     In  the  middle  was  the  baggage,  guarded 
on  the  left  flank  by  the  2ist,  on  the  right  by  the  5th 
legions ;  the  2oth  protected  the  rear,  and  behind  came 
the  rest  of  the  allies. 
The  The   enemy  bided   their  time   till   the   force   was  6 

Romans 

break         stretching  out  through  the  pass ;   then  making  feint 
success-       attacks   upon    the   front  and    flanks,   they   fell  with 
their  full   force   upon  the   rear.     The   light   cohorts  7 
were  being   thrown    into    confusion    by    the  dense 
masses  of  the  Germans,  when  Germanicus  rode  up 
to  the  2oth  : — Now  is  the  time,   he  shouted,   to  wipe 
out    all    memory    of   the    mutiny  !     Forward!    quick 
forward !    and    turn  your    shame    into   glory !      In-  8 
flamed  by  these  words,  the  2Oth  burst  through  the 
enemy's  line  with  one   dash,  and  drove  them   back 
with    great   slaughter  into   the   open;    at   the   same 
moment  the  van  emerged  from  the  pass,  and  threw  up 
entrenchments  for  a  camp.     From  this  point  onward  9 
the  march  was  undisturbed.     Rendered  confident  by 
their  recent  successes,  and  forgetting  past  occurrences, 
the  troops  settled  down  into  their  winter  quarters. 

1  The  Bructeri  were  to  the  N.  of  the  country  ;  it  is  sometimes  '  a  pass.'     In 
Marsi,  in  the  angle  between  the  Lippe  this    chapter   the   point    beset  by  the 
(flowing  W.  into  the   Rhine)  and  the  Germans  is  twice  called  saltus,   once 
Ems  (flowing  N.  into  the  North  Sea).  silvae.     The  two  words  are  frequently 
To  the  W.  of  the  Marsi,  and  nearer  the  coupled  :    silvas  saltusque  penetranti- 
Rhine,  were  the  Tencteri ;  S.  of  these,  bus  (Agr.  34,  2) ;  non  campos  modo  .  .  . 
and  closely  united  to  them,  came  the  sed   silvas    et   saltus  (ii.    14,    3);   per 
Usipetes;     then     the     Chatti.       The  angustias  saltuum   (iv.    47,    i).      The 
Tubantes  were  to  the  E.  of  these  last  Hercynian    and    Teutoburgian   forests 

•  tribes,  and  S.  of  the  River  Ruhr,  occupy-  are  called  respectively  Hercynius  saltiis 

ing  probably  the  province  of  Arnsberg.  (Germ.    30,    i),    and    Teutoburgiensis 

2  The  word  saltus  is  used  by  Tacitus  saltus  (i.  60,  5).     See  chap.  63,  2. 
of  any   wooded,  hilly,  or  uncultivated 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.    51-53.  65 

1  /The  news  of  these  events  caused  Tiberius  no  less  pissatisfac- 
anxiety  than  satisfaction.      He  was  pleased  that  the  Tiberius. 
mutiny  had  been  got  under;   but  he  was   annoyed 

that  Germanicus  should  have  gained  the  goodwill  of 
the  soldiers  by  gifts  of  money,  and  by  shortening  the 
term  of  service.  He  was  jealous  also  of  his  military 

2  success.  /  Nevertheless,  he  brought  his  exploits  before 
the  notice  of  the  Senate,  and  said  much  in  his  praise, 
though  in  language  too   carefully  studied   for  effect 

3  to  create  an  impression  of  sincerity.     His  satisfaction 
with  Drusus,  and  at  the  ending  of  the  movement  in 
Illyricum,  he   expressed   in  fewer  words  ;   but  they 
were   more   earnest   and   sincere.     And  he  extended 
to  the   Pannonian   army  all  the  concessions  which 
Germanicus  had  granted  to  the  other.v 

1  This  same  year  witnessed   the   death    of  Julia,1  Death  of 
whose    profligate    conduct    had    caused    her    father 
Augustus    to    confine    her,  first    in    the    island    of 
Pandateria,2  and  afterwards  in  the  town  of  Rhegium, 

2  on   the  Sicilian  straits.     Married   to   Tiberius  when 
her  sons  Gaius  and  Lucius  were  yet  alive,  she  had 
looked  down  upon  him  as  her  inferior;8  and  it  was  her 
conduct  that  was  the  real  reason  of  his  retirement  to 

3  Rhodes.     On  succeeding  to  the  empire,  he  left  her  in 

1  Julia    was     the     only    child     of  would    repeat  the    Homeric  line,    '  O 

Augustus,    to    whom    her    notoriously  that   I   had   never    wedded,   or    could 

profligate  life  was  a  bitter  trial.     She  childless  die'  (Suet.,  Oct.  65;  Dio,  Iv. 

had  been  married  (i)  to  Marcellus  in  10,  12).     See  also  iii.  24,  2.    In  vi.  51,  3, 

RC.  23,  when  she  was  fourteen  years  Tacitus  says    that   the   misconduct  of 

of  age;  (2)  to  Agrippa  in  B.C.  21;  and  Julia  was  the  greatest  difficulty  in  the 

(3)10  Tiberius  in  B.C.  12.    Her  children  life  of  Tiberius  :  sed  maxime  in  lubrico 

(by  Agrippa)  were  the  young  Caesars  egit  accepta  in  matrimonium  lulia. 
Gaius  and  Lucius,  Agnppina  (wife  of          *  A  small  rocky  island  in  the  bay  of 

Germanicus),      Julia,      and      Agrippa  Naples,    now    Vandotena.      Julia    re- 

Postumus.     When,  in  B.C.  2,  Augustus  mained  there  for  five  years;  and  when 

announced    her    misconduct    and    its  permitted  to  go  to  Rhegium,  she  was 

punishment  to  the  Senate,  he  was  so  still  kept,  by  order  of  Tiberius,  under 

stung  with  shame  that  he  shut  himself  the  strictest  surveillance. 
up  for  a  time,  and  even  thought  of          '  Noble  as  the  blood  of  the  Claudii 

putting  her  to  death.     Her  daughter  was,  Julia  could  boast  that  she  was  of 

Julia  was  as  bad  or  worse.     These  two,  the  Julian  gens,  and  mother  of  the  heirs 

and  his  grandson  Postumus,  he  used  to  apparent  to  the  succession. 
call  'his  three  sores  and  cancers,'  and 


66  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  14. 

dishonoured  banishment.    With  the  death  of  Agrippa 
Postumus,  her  last   hope   was   gone ;    and  Tiberius 
suffered   her  to  die  a  lingering  death  by  waste  and 
starvation,  believing  that   her  end  would   pass   un- 
noticed from  the  distance  of  her  place  of  exile. 
Her  para-          For  a  similar  offence,  Sempronius  Gracchus  was  4 
Gracchus     brought   to   punishment.     Born   of   a    noble   family, 
death!         shrewd    of    understanding,    and    with    considerable 
though  ill-directed  eloquence,  Gracchus  had  carried 
on  an  intrigue  with  Julia  when  she  was  the  wife  of 
Marcus  Agrippa.     Not  satisfied   with   that,  he   per-  5 
sisted  in  the  amour  after  her  marriage  to  Tiberius ; 
he   fanned   her    feelings    of  defiance   and    antipathy 
towards  her  husband ;  and  he  was  supposed  to  have 
been  the  composer  of  a  certain  letter  from  Julia  to 
her  father,  filled  with  abuse  of  Tiberius.     Banished  6 
on  that  account  to  Cercina,1  an  island  off  the  coast 
of  Africa,  he  languished  there  in  exile  for  fourteen 
years.     Soldiers  were  now  sent  to  put  him  to  death.  7 
They  found   him   on  a  headland,  prepared   for   the 
worst.     On  their  arrival,  he  asked  for  a  short  respite  8 
to  write   his   last   instructions   to   his   wife   Alliaria. 
He  then  offered  his  neck  to  the  blow  ;  and,  unworthy 
as  his  life  had  been,  he  perished  at  least  with  a  forti- 
tude worthy  of  the  Sempronian  name.      According  9 
to   another    account,2   the    soldiers    were    not    sent 
from  Rome,  but   by  Lucius  Asprenas,  Proconsul  of 
Africa,  under  instructions  from  Tiberius,  who  vainly 
hoped  to   throw   upon   Asprenas   the  odium   of  the 
crime. 

institution         This  same  year  witnessed  the  institution  of  a  new  C 
sodaies       religious  worship    by  the   addition   to   the   existing 

Augustales. 

1  Cercina,  now  Kerkenna,  a  group  of          2  Another  rumour  recorded,  but  not 
small  islands  in  the  Lesser  Syrtis  (Gulf       vouched  for. 
of  Cabes)  off  the  E.  coast  of  Tunis. 


A.D.  14.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.    53-54.  67 

priesthoods  of  the  Augustan  Brotherhood1— a  body 
framed  after  the  model  of  the  Titian  Brothers,  insti- 
tuted by  Titus  Tatius  for  the  conservation  of  Sabine 

2  rites.      A   body    of   twenty-one    'Companions'  was 
chosen  by  lot  from  the  principal  men  in  the  state ; 
to  these  were  added  Tiberius,  Drusus,  Claudius,  and 
Germanicus. 

3  At  the  celebration  of  the  Augustan  games,2  then  celebration 
held  for  the  first  time,  a  disturbance  took  place  owing  Augustan 
to  some  quarrel  between  the  actors.3    Augustus  had  Games- 
patronized  such  performances  out  of  regard  for  the 
passion  of  Maecenas  for  Bathyllus  ;  he  was  himself 

also  fond  of  entertainments  of  this  kind,  and  it  was 
part  of  his  popular  policy  to  share  in  the  amusements 
of  the  people.4  Very  different  was  the  temperament 
of  Tiberius  ;5  but  as  the  people  had  been  indulged  for 
so  many  years,  he  did  not  venture  as  yet  to  turn  their 
tastes  in  a  more  serious  direction. 

1  The    Sodales    Angustales,    whose  lasting  ultimately  for  five  days,  Jan. 

institution     aS    *<l    Signified     priestly  17-19   and    21-22    (Marqt.,    vol.   xiii. 

College   for   the   worship   of  Augustus  pp.  215-19,  French  trans.). 
and   the  Gens  Iitlia   is  here  recorded,  *  The   excesses    committed    by    the 

must   be  carefully   distinguished   from  supporters  of  rival  actors  often  called 

the      Order     of     Augustales    in     the  for   public  notice.      See  chap.  77;  iv. 

provinces.      These    last,   also    for  the  14,   4 ;    xiii.    25,   4.     Augustus  caused 

worship   of  Augustus,    formed    an    in-  the  actors   Stephanion   and    Hylas    to 

ferior  order  of  priests  recruited  from  be   flogged   in   three   theatres   for   im- 

freedmen,  to  which  class  membership  propriety  ;  and  exiled  Pylades,  the  rival 

of   the    Order    became    an    object  of  of  Bathyllus,  for  pointing  out  with  his 

ambition.     They  were  presided  over  by  finger  a  spectator  who  had  hissed  him 

a  body  of  six    in  each    locality,   ap-  (Suet.,  Oct.  45). 

pointed  for  one  year,  called  Sexviri  or          4  Cicero  complains    bitterly  of   the 

Seuiri.     Inscriptions  shew  that  these  intolerable  burden  and  waste  of  time 

officers  were  expected,  or  required,  to  imposed  on  public  men  by  having  to 

contribute  to  works  of   public  utility  attend  games  to  please  the  public  (ad 

(Rushforth,  pp.  63-66  ;  Marqt. ,  Staatsv.  Fam.  vii.  i).  Caesar  gave  offence  by 
iii.  p.  443  ;  and  Bouch^-Leclercq, 


Man.  reading  and  writing  despatches  while 

d.  Inst.  Rom.,  p.  558  foil.).  games  were  going  on,  an  error  which 

*  There  were  no  less  than  three  sets  Augustus  took   care    to    avoid  (Suet, 

of  games  held  in  honour  of  Augustus  :  45).    The  saying  of  Sir  George  Corn- 

(i|  Ludi   Circensfs,   inst.   in   B.C.   13;  wall  Lewis  that  '  life  would  be  tolerable 

(a)  Augustalia,  first  held  on  Oct.  12,  but  for  its  pleasures '  is  well  known. 

B.c.  9,  to  celebrate  Augustus'  return  to  •  Pliny  says  of  Tiberius,  tristissimus, 

Rome  :  after  A.D.  14  they  lasted  for  ten  ut  constat,  hominum,  H.  N.  xxviii.  a,  5. 

days,  Oct.  3-12  ;    (3)   Ludi  Palatlni,  See  nn.  on  chap.  77,  5. 
private  games  held  in  the  palace,  and 


68 


ANNALS    OF   TACITUS. 


[A.D.  15. 


A.D.  is-    CONSULS  DRUSUS  CAESAR  AND  C.  NORBANUS 

FLACCUS. 

Triumph  A    Triumph    was    now    voted    to    Germanicus,  55 

GCTmani-     although  the   war    had    not    yet    come   to   an   end. 

cus.  While  preparing  to  put  forth  his  whole  strength  in 

summer,    he   made   in    early    spring    a    sudden    ex- 
pedition against  the  Chatti.1    It  was  hoped  that  the  2 
enemy  would    be  divided   between  Arminius2   and 

Quarrel  of    Segestes,  two  chiefs  equally  notorious,  the  one  for 
his  treachery,  the  other  for  good  faith  towards  us. 


Segestes. 


Arminius  was  the  firebrand  of  Germany.  Segestes  3 
had  often  warned  Varus  of  the  coming  rebellion ; 
and  especially  at  that  last  banquet  before  the  battle, 
he  had  advised  Varus  to  throw  Arminius,  himself, 
and  the  other  chiefs  into  chains : — The  multitude,  he 
said,  would  do  nothing  without  their  chiefs  ;  Varus  ivould 
thus  gain  time  to  separate  the  innocent  from  the  guilty. 
But  Varus  met  his  fate  at  the  hands  of  Arminius ;  4 
and  though  Segestes  was  dragged  into  the  war  by 
the  general  feeling  of  the  tribe,  his  quarrel  with 
Arminius  remained,  fed  by  private  reasons  of  his 
own :  for  Arminius  had  carried  off  his  daughter, 
though  already  betrothed  to  another  man.  Hence  5 
\  Segestes  hated  his  son-in-law ;  the  two  fathers-in-law 
were  at  open  variance:  and  thus  the  ties  that  are 
wont  to  draw  friendship  closer  between  friends,  did 
but  add  fresh  fuel  to  their  animosity. 


1  A  powerful  tribe,   enemies  of  the  of  Varus  ;   his  name   survives   in    the 
Cherusci.       They     occupied     modern  modern  German  name  Hermann.     He 
Nassau  and  the  two  provinces  of  Hesse  seems  to  have  served  in  the  Roman 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine.              »  army  (ii.  10,  3),  and  to  have  received 

2  A    Cheruscan    prince,    the    great  the  Roman  citizenship  (Veil.  ii.  118,  2). 
national  hero  of  Germany  and  destroyer 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.    55-56.  69 

1  Germanicus    accordingly    gave    Caecina    a    force  Expedition 
of  four  legions,  five  thousand  auxiliaries,  and  some  cffiVnd 
levies  newly  raised  from   German  tribes  settled  on 

this  side  of  the  Rhine.  He  himself,  at  the  head  of 
a  like  number  of  legions  and  twice  the  number  of 
allies,  established  a  fort  on  Mount  Taunus1  on  the 
ruins  of  one  built  by  his  father,  and  then  hurried  on 
with  a  light  force  against  the  Chatti,  leaving  Lucius 

2  Apronius  to  secure  the  roads  and  bridges.     A  long 
drought,  unusual  in  that  country,  had  enabled  him 
to  push  on  without  check  across  dry  or  half-empty 
water-courses ;  and  he  feared  for  rain  and  floods  on 

3  his  return.     And  so  unexpectedly  did  he  fall  on  the 
enemy,  that  he  captured  at  once,  or  killed,  all  who 

4  were  helpless  through  age  or  sex.     The  younger  men 
swam   across   the   river  Adrana,2  and   attempted  to 

5  stop  the  Romans  from  building  a  bridge ;  but   they 
were   driven   off  by  engines   and   arrows.      After    a 
vain  attempt  to  arrange  terms  of  peace,  a  few  came 
over  to  Germanicus,  the  rest  abandoned  their  hamlets 
and  townships,  and  dispersed   amongst  the   forests. 

c  Germanicus  burned  their  chief  town  Mattium,3 
ravaged  the  open  country,  and  then  made  for  the 
Rhine ;  the  enemy  not  daring  to  harass  his  retreat 
as  it  is  their  wont  to  do  when  they  fall  back  through 

7  cunning  rather  than  through  fear.  The  Cherusci 4  had 
intended  to  assist  the  Chatti ;  but  they  were  alarmed 

1  A  range  of  hills  still  bearing  the  The  ideas  of  Tacitus  on  the  geography 
name  of  Taunus,  running  parallel   to  of  Germany  are  of  the  vaguest  kind, 
the  right  bank  Qf  the  Rhine,  and  N.  »  Apparently  N.  of  the  Eder.     But 
from  the  Main.     The  establishment  of  the  Mattiaci   are  subsequently   found 
this  fort  on   Mt.   Taunus  by  Drusus,  in   the  country  about  Wiesbaden,   S. 
the  castellum  on  the  Lippe  (ii.  7,  i),  the  of  the  Taunus  range. 

pontes  longi  near  the  Ems  (i.  63,  5),  the  4  The  Cherusci  appear  in  Tacitus  as 

Fossa  Drusiana  (ii.  8,  i),  and  the  Fort  the  most  powerful  of  the  Germantnl.es, 

Aliso  (ii.  7,  5),  all  show  that  the  Romans  authors  of  the  disaster  to  Varus.    Their 

had  made  considerable  progress  towards  country  lay  between  the  Weser  and  the 

the  permanent  occupation  of  Germany.  Elbe,   to  the   NE.   of   the  Chatti,  by 

2  The  modern  Eder,  which  runs  N.  E.    *  whom  at  a  later  period  they  were  over- 
into  the  Fulda,  a  tributary  of  the  Weser.  come. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  15. 


Segestes 

besieged 

asks  for 

help 

against 

Arminius, 


and  is 
rescued 
by  Ger- 
manicus. 


by  Caecina's  rapid  movements.     The  Marsi l  ventured 
to  engage  him,  but  were  defeated  and  driven  off. 

Soon  afterwards,  envoys  arrived  from  Segestes,  57 
asking  for  protection  against  his  own  countrymen 
who  were  besieging  him  in  force.  Arminius,  as  the 
advocate  of  war,  was  the  more  popular  of  the  two 
leaders ;  for  among  barbarians,  the  more  reckless  a 
man's  daring,  the  more  will  he  be  trusted  and  pre- 
ferred in  troublous  times.  Segestes  had  included  his  2 
son  Segimundus  among  the  envoys ;  but  the  youth 
hesitated,  remembering  his  own  misconduct.  For 
in  the  year  of  the  German  rebellion,  having  been 
appointed  priest  at  the  altar  of  the  Ubii,2  he  had  rent 
his  sacred  fillets,  and  gone  over  to  the  insurgents. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  hope  of  mercy  from  the  Romans,  3 
he  now  presented  himself  with  his  father's  message ; 
he  was  received  kindly,  and  sent  under  escort  to  the 
Gallic  side  of  the  river.3 

Germanicus  thought  it  worth  while  to  retrace  his  4 


1  For  the  Marsi,  see  n.  on  chap.  50,  6. 

2  This  altar  at  the  head-quarters  of 
the    Ubii — the    modern    Cologne — was 
doubtless  set  up    for  the    worship  of 
Augustus,  probably  conjoined  with  that 
of  Rome.    This  worship,  as  has  been 
proved    by    inscriptions,   was  no    idle 
piece    of   court  flattery,   but  was  de- 
liberately instituted  by  Augustus  as  a 
means  of  creating  a  sense  of  loyalty 
and  imperial  unity  among  the  hetero- 
geneous  populations  which  composed 
the   Empire.     With  his  rare  sense  of 
state-craft,  he  at  once  felt  the  want  and 
discovered  the  means  of  supplying  it, 
systematising  throughout  the  Empire  a 
practice  which  had    its  origin  in   the 
Hellenised  East.     The  worship  paid  in 
the  Eastern  cities  to  Alexander  and  his 
successors  was  naturally  transferred  to 
Rome,  the  first  example  being  set  by 
the  people  of  Smyrna,   who  erected  a 
temple  to  the  City  of  Rome,  B.C.  195 
(iv.    56,    i.).      Proconsuls     had    been 
honoured  in  the  same  way  (Suet.  Oct. 
32)  ;    and     Augustus    permitted    and 
organised  a  similar  worship  to  himself 
and   Rome  in  conjunction  (Suet.  Oct. 


32).  Such  altars  or  temples  were  set 
up  in  the  chief  towns  of  provinces,  with 
a  regular  hierarchy  to  conduct  the 
worship.  The  office  of  high  priest,  or 
flamen,  was  one  of  great  dignity,  and 
was  held  by  distinguished  provincials. 
The  first  known  instance  in  the  West  is 
that  of  the  altar  set  up  for  the  three 
Gaulish  provinces  in  B.C.  12  at  Lug- 
dunum,  where  an  inscription  describes 
a  Celt,  with  a  Latinised  name,  as  being 
sacerdos  Romae  et  Augusti  ad  aram 
q^lae  est  ad  Confluentem.  The  altar  of 
the  Ubii  was  one  of  the  same  kind  ; 
Segimundus,  son  of  the  distinguished 
Segestes,  had  been  appointed  priest,  as 
a  symbol  and  pledge  of  the  Romanisa- 
tion  of  Germany.  His  repudiation  of 
the  office  and  his  flight  were  therefore 
a  proclamation  of  revolt  from  Rome, 
and  a  declaration  of  national  in- 
dependence. See  Dio,  li.  20,  7  ;  Rush- 
forth,  pp.  18,  47,  51  ;  and  Do.  Inscr. 
Nos.  16,  17,  35.  Tacitus  seems  to  have 
had  no  idea  of  the  extent  and  real 
bearing  of  this  provincial  worship. 

3  i.e.    the   part  of  the  old  German 
province  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river. 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.    56-58.  71 

steps ;  he  attacked  the  besieging  force,  and  rescued 
Segestes  with  a  large   number  of  his  relatives  and 

5  dependents,   including  some  women   of    high   rank. 
Among  these  was  the  daughter  of  Segestes,  now  wife 
of  Arminius,  who  displayed  a  spirit  more  akin  to  that 
of  her  husband  than  to  that  of  her  father  :   no  tear 
betokened  weakness,  no  entreaty  escaped  her  lips,  as 
she  stood  with  her  hands  folded  on  her  bosom,  and 

6  her  eyes  cast  down  upon  her  gravid  womb.     Some 
trophies  also  of  the  Varian  disaster  were   brought 
in,  which    had    been   given   as  -plunder  to  some   of 

7  those   now  surrendering ;    and    there   was   Segestes 
himself,  a  man  of  imposing  mien,  undismayed  in  the 
consciousness  that  he  had  been  true  to  Rome. 

1  He  spoke  as  follows  : — This  day  is  not  the  first  on  speech  of 

Cpp-pct  AC 

which  I  have  shewn  myself  true  and  faithful   to  the 

2  Roman  people.      From    the   moment  ivhen    the    Divine 
Augustus  gave  me  the  citizenship,1  I  have  chosen  my 
friends  and  enemies  alike  in  accordance  with  your  needs  ; 
not  from   hatred  of  my  oivn  country— for  traitors  are 
abhorred   even    by  those  whose  cause  they  espouse — but 
because  I  held  that  the  interests  of  Roman  and  German 
were  one,  and  was  for  peace  rather  than  for  war.      I 

3  therefore  denounced  Anninius — Arminius,  the  ravisher 
of  my  daughter,  the  violator  of  your  treaty — to  Varus, 

4  the  commander  of  your  army.     Put  off  by  his  supine- 
ness,  and  knowing  that  the  \law  would  be  no  protec- 
tion, I  implored  him  to  put  me  into  bonds,  along  with 
Arminius  and  his  accomplices.     O  let  that  night  be  my 

5  witness  !      Would  that  it  had  been  my  last !      What 
followed  can  be  better  lamented  than  excused.      But  I 
put  Arminius  in  chains;  he  and  his  faction  did  the  like 

1  Not  only  individuals,  but  whole  usually  as  a  reward  for  military  services, 
communities,  might  receive  the  gift  of  or  for  aid  afforded  to  Rome.  See  chap, 
the  franchise  direct  from  the  emperor,  58,  2 ;  vi.  37,  4  ;  and  Hist.  i.  8,  3. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  15. 


He  is 

graciously 
received. 


Fury  of 
Arminius 


his  ha- 
rangue 


to  me:  and  now  that,  for  the  first  time,  I  approach  6 
your  person,  I  declare  that  1  prefer  the  old  state  to  the 
new,  a  state  of  peace  to  a  state  of  unrest.  I  look  for  no 
reward ;  1  ask  only  to  clear  myself  from  the  charge  of 
treachery :  I  come  as  a  fit  mediator  for  the  German 
people,  if  haply  they  may  prefer  penitence  to  perdition.  1 
For  the  youth  and  error  of  my  son,  I  crave  forgiveness : 
my  daughter,  I  avow,  has  been  brought  hither  against 
her  will.  Which  fact  shall  weigh  most  with  you — that 
she  is  bearing  a  child  to  Arminius,  or  that  she  is  a  child 
of  mine — it  will  be  your  part  to  consider. 

Germanicus  made  a  gracious  reply.     He  promised  8 
to  spare  the  children  and  the  kindred  of  Segestes ; 
to  Segestes  himself  he  offered  a  retreat  in  the  old 
province.     He  then  withdrew  his  army.     By  desire  9 
of   Tiberius,   he  received  the  title  of  '  Imperator.'1 
The  wife  of  Arminius  gave  birth  to  a  son.     The  boy 
was  brought  up  at  Ravenna ;  how  he  was  befooled  by 
fortune2  and  undone,  shall  be  related  in  the  proper 
place. 

The  news  of  the  surrender  of  Segestes,  and  of  59 
his   favourable  reception,  was  as  welcome  to  those 
who  desired  peace,  as  it  was   the  reverse  to  those 
who  wished  for  war.     At  all  times  violent  in  temper,  2 
Arminius  was  driven  to  frenzy  by  the  capture  of  his 
wife,  and  the  thought  of  her  unborn  child  condemned 
to  slavery.     He  flew  hither  and   thither  among  the 
Cherusci,  calling  them  to  arms  against  Segestes  and 
against  Caesar.     To  arms !    To  arms  !   he  cried,  not  3 
sparing  taunts  like  these  : — A  precious  father  this  !    A 


1  See  n.  on  chap.  3,  i.  This  hon.  title 
(twice  borne  by  Germanicus)  was  ap- 
parently no  longer  conferred  by  the 
soldiers,  as  of  old,  on  the  field  of  battle, 
but  by  the  senate  on  the  motion  of  the 
Emperor  (auctore  Tibeno).  Seeiii.  74,  6. 


2  The  circumstances  referred  to  are 
unknown,  and  the  translation  there- 
fore is  uncertain.  Conflictatus  does 
not  necessarily  imply  a  fatal  or  final 
issue.  For  the  meaning  of  the  word 
ludibrium,  see  n.  on  iii.  18,  6. 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.   58-60.  73 

mighty  Imperator,  a  gallant  army,  to  carry  off  one  weak 

4  woman  with  all  their  hosts  !  Before  himself,  three  legions, 
three  Legates,  had  bit  the  dust  ;  he  did  not  make  war  by 
treachery,  nor  upon  pregnant  women,  but  in  open  fight, 

5  and  against  armed  men.     The  Roman  standards  were 
still  there  to  see,  in  the  German  groves,  hung  up  to  the 
Gods  of  his  fatherland.    Let  Segestes  take  up  his  abode  on 
the  conquered  bank  of  the  river  ;  let  him  again  make  his 
son  a  priest,  for  the  worship  of  a  man  :  1  biff  that  the 
rods,  the  axes,  and  the  toga  should  have  been  seen  between 
the  Elbe  and  the  Rhine—  that  no  German  would  forgive. 

6  .  Other  nations  might  know  naught  of  Roman  rule,  might 

not  have  felt  her  punishments  or  knoivn  her  tributes;  but 
now  that  they  had  put  these  things  from  them  :  noiv  that 
the  new-made  Divinity,  Augustus,  and  his  own  chosen 
Tiberius,  had  passed  discomfited  away,  let  them  not  quail 

1  before  an  untried  stripling  and  a  mutinous  army.  If 
they  preferred  their  fatherland,  their  fathers  and  their 
fathers'  ivays,  to  living  under  masters  in  new-fangled 
colonies,  let  them  follow  Arminius  to  liberty  and  to  glory, 
rather  than  Segestes  to  shame  and  slavery  ! 

i        These  words  roused   not  the  Cherusci  only,  but  raises  the 
also  the  adjacent  tribes  ;  and  Inguiomerus,  the  uncle 


of  Arminius,  a  man  long  in  repute  among  the 
Romans,  went  over  to  his  side.  Alarmed  by  this 
2  defection,  and  wishing  to  conduct  the  campaign  on 
more  than  one  line  of  operations,  Germanicus  de- 
spatched Caecina  with  forty  cohorts2  through  the 
country  of  the  Bructeri  up  to  the  river  Ems,  to  effect  Operations 
a  diversion,  while  the  Prefect  Pedo  led  the  cavalry 

1  The    terminations    of    the    words  8  i.e.   the  four    legions  (each   legion 

saccrdotium  hominum  in  the  MS.  are  had  10  cohorts)  which  constituted  the 

not    quite    legible;    I    follow    Halm's  Lower  Army.      These  were    the    ist, 

reading  and  interpretation.    In  any  case  the  sth,  the  2oth,  and  the  2ist  (chap. 

the  words  which  follow  make  the  mean-  64). 
ing  plain. 


and  the 
Ems. 


74  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  15. 

through    the    territory   of   the    Frisii.      Germanicus  3 
himself   put    his   four    legions   on    board   ship,   and 
conducted   them   along  the   lakes;  the  whole   force, 
infantry,   cavalry   and   fleet,  effecting  a  junction   on 
the  river  at  an  appointed  spot.1     The  Chauci,  offer- 
ing assistance,  were  permitted  to  join  in  the  expe- 
dition.    The  Bructeri  set  fire  to  their  own  villages ;  4 
whereupon  Stertinius  was  sent  off  with  a  light  force, 
and  dispersed  them  with  much  slaughter.     Amid  the 
plunder  he  found  the  eagle  of  the  igth  legion,  lost 
with  Varus.      The  army  was   then   marched   to   the  5 
furthest  borders  of  the  Bructeri,  laying  waste  all  the 
country  between  the  Ems  and  the  Lippe. 

The  As  the  army  was  now  not  far  from  the  Teuto-  6 1 

army"1       burgian 2  Forest,  in  which  the  remains  of  Varus  and 
Teuto6-sthe  his  legions  were  said   to  be  lying  still  unburied,  a 
ForesT       desire  sprang  up  in  the  mind  of  Germanicus  to  pay 
the  last  rites  to  that  General  and  his  soldiers ;  and 
the  whole  army  was  moved  to  pity  at  the  thought 
of  fallen   friends  and   kinsmen,  of  the  calamities  of 
war,  and  the  chances  of  human   life.      Caecina  was  2 
sent   on   to   reconnoitre    the  recesses  of  the   forest, 
and    to    lay    down    bridges    and    causeways    over 
swampy  or  treacherous  ground. 

1  The    words     might     equally    well  the   Grosses  Moor.     He    identifies  the 
mean  'the  before-mentioned  river,"  i.e.  saltus  Teutoburgiensis,  not  as  modern 
the  Ems.  maps  do,  with  the  Osning  hills  S.  of 

2  The     Saltus     Teutoburgiensis     is  Osnabruck  and  the  Lippischer  Wald, 
mentioned  only  in  this  passage.     The  but  with  the  range  N.  of  Osnabruck, 
scene  of  the  terrible  disaster  to  Varus  stretching  from  Porta  Westphalica  on 
must  be  looked  for  somewhere  in  the  the  Weser,  close  to  Minden,  to  Bramsche 
huge  district  enclosed  by  the  Lippe  on  on   the   Haase    ('Die    Ortlichkeit   der 
the  S.,  the  Ems  on  the  W.,  and  the  Varusschlacht,'   p.    56.     Berlin,   1885). 
Weser  on  the  E.     Any  spot  within  that  Popular  sentiment,  however,  has  con- 
district  fulfilling  the  necessary   condi-  secrated  the  former  site.     In  the  year 
tions  of  mountain,  wood,  and  marsh,  1875  a  colossal  memorial  to  Arminius, 
will  satisfy  the  documentary  evidence.  as  the  champion  of  German  Liberty 
Some  have  looked  for  it  on  the  S.  side  (known   as    the    Hermanns- Denkmal), 
of    the  Osning    hills ;     but    with    the  was  inagurated  on  the  Grotenburg,  a 
further  evidence  afforded  by  coins,  etc.,  hill  1270  feet   high,    about  3  miles  to 
Mommsen  fixes  the  spot  close  to  the  the  SW.  of  Detmold,  in  the  midst   of 
village  of  Barenau,  just  N.  of  a  line  the  so-called  Teutoburgian  Forest, 
drawn  from  Engter  to  Venne,   S.   of 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  60-62.  75 

The  army  then  advanced  to  the  sad  spot,  so  full  of  visits  the 

.  ,  ,  scene  of  the 

3  ghastly  sights  and  memories.      Here  was  the  place  varian 
where  Varus  first  pitched   his   camp,  with  its  wide 
circuit,  and   its  head-quarters  marked   out,  shewing 
that  three  legions  had  been  at  work ;  further  on,  the 
half-completed1  rampart,  the  shallow  ditch,  indicated 
where  the  crippled  remnant  had  made  a  stand.     In 

the  middle  of  the  plain  lay  the  whitening  bones, 
scattered  about,  or  in  heaps,  just  as  the  men  had 
fallen :  some  running  away,  some  still  holding  their 

4  ground.       Fragments    of    weapons,    and     limbs    of 
horses,  were  lying  about ;   human  heads  also,  stuck 

5  on  to  trunks  of  trees.     In  groves  close  by  were  the 
barbarian    altars   on   which   the   Tribunes   and   cen- 

6  turions  of  the  first  rank  had  been  butchered.     And 
survivors  of  the  disaster,  who  had  escaped  from  the 
battlefield   or  from  captivity,  told   how  the  Legates 
had  fallen  here,  how  the  eagles  had  been   captured 
there ;  showed   the  spot  where  Varus   had   received 
his  first  wound,  and   where  the  unhappy  man,  with 
his   own    hand,   had    dealt    himself   the   fatal   blow ; 
pointed   out  the   mound    from  which  Arminius   had 

•  harangued ;  told  how  many  gibbets  were  set  up,  what 
trenches  dug  for  the  captured :  and  with  what 
contumely  Arminius  had  treated  the  standards  and 
the  eagles. 

52.   i        And  so  six  years  after  the  event,  the  whole  of  and  buries 
the  Roman  army  there  present  proceeded  in  sorrow  ofethen< 
and  in  anger,  and  with  an  indignation  rising  higher  s 
and  higher  against  the  enemy,  to  bury  the  bones  of 
the  three  legions.     None  could  tell  whether  he  were 
laying  the  remains  of  friend  or  stranger  in  the  earth  ; 
all  alike  were  treated  as  kinsfolk  and  of  the  same 

1  i.e.  built  up  to  only  half  the  usual  height,  the  ditch  being  correspondingly 
shallow. 


76  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  15. 

blood.  Germanicus  himself,  as  a  grateful  office  to  2 
the  dead,  and  as  sharer  in  the  present  sorrow,  laid 
the  first  sod  of  the  mound.  But  this  act  displeased  3 
Tiberius;  whether  because  he  took  everything  that 
Germanicus  did  in  evil  part,  or  because  he  thought 
that  the  sight  of  their  slain  and  unburied  com- 
rades would  unnerve  the  soldiers  for  battle,  and 
increase  their  terror  of  the  enemy :  perhaps,  also, 
he  thought  that  an  Imperator  who  held  the  Augur- 
ship  and  other  ancient  priesthoods  should  not  have 
handled  things  pertaining  to  the  dead.1 

Engage-  Arminius   retired   into   a   trackless   country;   but  63. 

ArmlnTus!1  Germanicus  followed  him  up,  and  as  soon  as  he  came 
within  striking  distance,  ordered  his  cavalry  to  move 
out  and  seize  a  level  space  occupied  by  the  enemy. 
Arminius  bid  his  men  draw  close  together,  and  move  2 
towards  the  woods;2  then  turning  suddenly  round, 
he  gave  to  a  force  which  he  had  concealed  inside  the 
forest 2  the  signal  to  charge.  This  unlooked-for  attack  3 
threw  our  horse  into  confusion;  the  confusion  was 
increased  by  some  cohorts  sent  up  as  a  support, 
who  were  pushed  back  by  the  retreating  cavalry.; 
and  both  were  being  driven  into  a  marsh  where 
the  victorious  enemy  would  have  had  the  advantage 
from  his  knowledge  of  the  ground,  when  Germanicus 
led  out  his  main  force  in  battle  order.  This  struck  4 
terror  into  the  enemy,  and  restored  the  confidence  of 
our  men :  the  armies  withdrew  without  advantage 
to  either  side. 

Caecinais          Soon  after  this   the   army  returned   to  the  Ems,  5 

retreat,    '    whence  the  legions  were   taken   back,  as   they   had 

1  It  was  a  special  impiety  for  members  comportare  primus  aggressus  est  (Cal. 

of  priestly  colleges  to  touch  the  dead  ;  3). 

see  note  of  Furn.    Suetonius  says  of  2  The  words  silvis  and  saltus   are 

Germanicus  on  this  occasion  Caesorum  here  again  used  convertibly.    See  n.  on 

reliquias  .  .   .   colligere  sua  manu  et  chap.  52,  4. 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  62-64.  77 

come,  by  sea.  Part  of  the  cavalry  were  ordered  to 
make  for  the  Rhine  along  the  coast;1  while  Caecina, 
who  was  to  lead  back  his  own  division  by  the  usual 
route,  was  warned  to  lose  no  time  in  getting  over  the 

6  Long  Bridges2 — a  narrow  causeway  traversing  a  huge 
morass,   constructed    some   time    before   by   Lucius 
Domitius.3   Except  on  the  causeway  itself,  the  ground 
was  boggy,  consisting  of  a  deep  sticky  clay,  intersected 
by  water-courses.      The  marsh  was   surrounded   by 
gently-rising  wooded  slopes ;  these  were  now  occupied 
by  the  troops  of  Arminius,  who  by  means  of  short 
cuts  and  rapid  marches  had  outstripped  the  heavily- 

7  laden  and  heavily-armed  Romans.     Doubting  in  what 
way  he  could  at  one  and  the  same  time  repair  the 
worn-out   parts   of  the  causeway  and    beat  off  the 
enemy,    Caecina  determined   to    lay   out    his    camp 
where  he  was,  telling  off  some  to  work  while  the  rest 
were  to  give  battle. 

1  The  barbarians  made  every  effort  to  break  through  and  with 

difficulty 

the  protecting  force,  and  get  at  the  working  party,  holds  his 
They  attacked  both  in  front  and  flank;  the  cries  of  the  nightfall.' 

2  workers   and  the  fighters  mingled  together.      Every 
condition  was  against  the  Romans.     The  bog  was  so 
deep  that  they  could  neither  stand  firm  where  they 
were,   nor   move   on   without   slipping.     They  were 
weighed  down  by  their  breastplates ;  they  could  not 

3  hurl  their  heavy  javelins  from  amid  the  water.     The 

1  Germanicus  had  brought  the  four  father  of  the  Emperor  Nero.  Remarried 

legions  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ems  by  the  elder  (Tacitus  wrongly  says  the 

sea ;  the  cavalry  returned  by  land  (chap.  younger)  of  the  two  daughters  borne  by 

60,3).  Octavia  to  Antony.  When  in  command 

8  Site  unknown.  Nipp.  states  that  on  the  Danube,  he  had  penetrated  into 

remains  of  such  causeways  laid  with  Germany  further  than  any  of  his  pre- 

trunks  of  trees  have  been  found  in  the  decessors,  crossing  the  upper  Elbe 

Burtanger  marshes.  If  so,  the  cavalry  (iv.  44,  3 ;  Dio,  Iv.  100,  2).  The 

must  have  accompanied  the  legions  'bridges'  here  mentioned  must  have 

to  their  point  of  embarkation  near  the  been  laid  down  at  a  later  period,  when 

mouth  of  the  Weser.  Domitius  was  in  command  in  Lower 

1  L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus,  grand-  Germany,  B.C.  2. 


;8  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  15. 

Cherusci,  on  the  other  hand,  were  used  to  fighting  in 
swamps ;  their  great  stature  and  their  enormous 
spears  gave  them  a  long  reach  in  striking.  The  4 
legions  were  beginning  to  waver  when  night  saved 
them  from  defeat.  The  Germans  lost  all  sense  of 
fatigue  in  their  success ;  late  as  it  was,  they  took  no 
rest,  but  at  once  set  to  work  to  turn  on  to  the  low 
ground  all  the  water  rising  in  the  heights  above.  In 
this  way  the  ground  was  flooded,  the  works  already 
finished  were  submerged,  and  the  labour  of  the 
soldiers  had  to  begin  all  over  again. 

Hisdispo-         But  Caecina  was  not  a  man  to  be  daunted.     He  6 
neLTday's    had  seen  forty  years  of  service,  either  in,  or  under, 
ght*          command,  and  had  had  experience  of  every  kind  of 
fortune,  good  and  bad.     On  forecasting  the  situation,  7 
he  saw  that  his  only  chance  was  to  confine  the  enemy 
to  the  woods  until  his  own  wounded,  and  the  heavier 
part  of  his  train,  should  get  well  forward ;  for  between 
the  marsh  and  the  hills  there  was  enough  level  ground 
on   which   to   draw  up   a    line    of   moderate   depth. 
For  the   right   flank  he  selected  the  5th  legion,  the  8 
2ist  for  the  left;   the  ist  were  to  lead  the  van,  the 
2oth  to  close  the  rear. 

An  anxious  Both  armies  passed  a  disturbed  night,  from  dif-  65, 
ferent  causes.  The  barbarians  feasted,  and  filled  the 
valley  below  and  the  cwoods  above  with  their  savage 
cries  and  songs  of  triumph.  In  the  Roman  camp 
the  fires  were  kept  low;  the  men  muttered  broken 
sentences  as  they  lay  scattered  along  the  entrench- 
ments, or  moved  from  one  tent  to  another,  sleepless 
The  Gene-  rather  than  watchful.  The  general  himself  had  an  2 
dream.  alarming  dream.  He  thought  he  saw  and  heard 
Quintilius  Varus,  stained  with  blood,  rising  out 
of  the  swamp  and  calling  him  :  but  he  would  not 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  64-65.  79 

go :  and  when  Varus  held  out  to    him  his  hand,  he 
thrust  it  back. 

3  At  daybreak,  the   legions  told   off  to   guard   the 
flanks,  whether  from  terror  or  in   disobedience,  left  fight  their 
their  station,  and  hurriedly  took  up  a  position  on  the 

4  ground  beyond  the  swamp.     This  movement  left  the 
way  open  for  Arminius ;  but  instead  of  attacking  at 
once,  he  waited  until  he  saw  the  baggage  stuck  fast 
in  the  mud  or  in  the  ditches,  and  the  men  in  disorder 
round  it :  each  taken  up  with   himself,  as  might  be 
expected  in  such  a  case,  and  paying  no  attention  to 
the  word  of  command.     He   then   ordered  the  Ger- 
mans to   fall   on,   shouting : — Behold  another  Varus  ! 
Behold  the  legions  caught  in  the  same  trap  once  more  ! 

5  With  these  words,  at  the  head  of  a  picked  corps,  he 
cut   the   Roman  line  in    two,  striking  chiefly  at  the 

o  horses.  Slipping  in  their  own  blood  or  on  the  oozy 
ground,  the  horses  threw  their  riders,  overturned  all 
in  their  way,  and  trampled  upon  those  that  were 

7  down.      The  fight  waxed   hottest   round  the  eagles, 
which  could  neither  be  held  up  against  the  storm  of 

8  darts,  nor  planted  in  the  boggy  ground.     Caecina  fell, 
his  horse  killed  under  him,  while  cheering  his  men 
on ;  and  he  would  have  been  surrounded  had  not  the 

9  ist  legion  thrown  themselves  in  the  way.     Happily, 
the  greed   for  plunder  drew  the  enemy  away  from 
slaughter;  and  by  the  time  evening  came   on,   the 
legions  struggled  out  on  to  open  and  solid  ground. 

10        But    even    then    their    troubles   were    not    over,  and  pass 
There  were  earthworks  to  be  put  up,  and  turf  to  be 
fetched ;  and  most  of  their  tools  for  digging  and  for  nlght* 
cutting  had  been  lost.     There  were  no  tents  for  the 
maniples,  no   appliances   for  the  wounded ;   and  as 
they  divided  among  themselves  their  rations  fouled 


another 
anxious 


8o  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  15. 

with  mire  or  blood,  they  bewailed  the  darkness  that 
seemed  like  the  darkness  of  death,  and  the  day  that 
was  to  be  the  last  for  so  many  thousands  of  men. 
Panic  in  It  chanced  that  a  horse  broke  his  tether,  and  got  66 

camp.  loose;  terrified  by  the  outcry,  he  knocked  down 
some  who  ran  in  his  way.  This  started  a  panic  :  2 
persuaded  that  the  Germans  had  broken  in,  all  rushed 
to  the  gates,  especially  the  Porta  Decumana,1  which  as 
being  furthest  from  the  enemy  was  the  safest  for 
escape.  Discovering  that  there  was  no  cause  for  3 
fright,  and  having  tried  commands,  entreaties,  and 
even  force,  all  in  vain,  to  keep  back  the  men,  Caecina 
threw  himself  down  before  the  gate ;  and  thus  at  last, 
by  working  on  the  men's  compassion,  who  would 
have  to  pass  over  the  Legate's  body,  blocked  the 
way.  The  Tribunes  and  centurions  at  the  same  time 
explained  that  it  was  a  false  alarm. 

Caecina  Caecina  then  collected  the  men  at  head-quarters,  67 

n?sc<menfes   and  bidding  them  listen  in  silence  to  what  he  had  to 
say,   warned   them  of  the  gravity   of  the  situation. 
Their  one  hope,  he  said,  was  in  their  arms;   but  they 
must  use  discretion  also.     They  must  remain  behind  their 
defences  until  the  enemy  should  come    close  up  in  the    • 
hope  of  storming  them.    Let  them  then  dash  out  all  along 
the  line ;  that  one  effort  would  bring  them  to  the  Rhine. 
Were  they  to  fly,  they  would  have  forests  as  endless,  and  2 
bogs  still  deeper,  before  them,  and  an  enemy  as  fierce  as 
ever ;    if  they  conquered,  honour   and  glory  would  be 
theirs.     He  spoke  of  their  dear  ones  at  home,  of  the  3 
honours  they  had   won  in  war;   but   not  one  word 

1  There  were  four  gates  to  a  Roman  two  gates,  right  and  left,  were  called 

camp.     The  Porta  Decumana  was  that  Porta    Principalis    Dextra   (from    the 

furthest    from    the    enemy ;    the    gate  main  cross-road,  Principia)  and  Porta 

nearest  to  the  enemy  and  to  the  Prae-  Principalis  Sinistra  respectively.     For 

torium,  the  head-quarters  of  the  general,  the  viae  of  the  camp,  see  n.  on  chap, 

was  the  Porta  Praetoria.     The  other  39,  5,  and  ii.  13,  i. 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.   65-68.  8l 

4  about  their  disasters.  He  then  distributed  the  horses 
of  the  Legates  and  Tribunes,  beginning  with  his  own, 
among  the  best  fighting  men  of  the  army,  regardless 
of  rank ;  the  mounted  men  were  to  begin  the  attack, 
and  the  infantry  to  back  it  up. 

1  Not   less  disturbed  was  the  night  passed   by  the  Opposing 
Germans,  under  the  influence  of  hope  and  greed,  and  Snongthe 
of  opposing  counsels  among  the  leaders.     Arminius  c 
advised  that  they  should  let  the  Romans  move  out, 

and  then  close  round  them,  as  before,  on  marshy 
and  difficult  ground.  Inguiomerus  proposed  a  bolder 
course,  such  as  barbarians  love,  and  advised  a  general 
assault  upon  the  Roman  lines.  These  could  easily  be 
stormed,  he  said ;  they  would  thus  take  more  prisoners, 
and  get  their  plunder  undamaged. 

2  At     daybreak,    accordingly,    they     filled     in     the  They 
ditches,  threw  hurdles   across   them,  and  were   pro-  Roman 
ceeding  to   lay  hold   of  the  top  of  the  breastwork,  c 
where    only    a    few    and     seemingly    panic-stricken 

3  soldiers  were  to  be  seen.     But  at  the  moment  when 
they   were   struggling   to   get   over,   the   signal   was 
given  to  the  cohorts  ;  the  horns  and  bugles1  blew,  and 

4  the  Romans,  sallying  forth  with  a  shout,  threw  them- 
selves upon  the  rear  of  the  Germans.     //  was  no  case 
now,  they  tauntingly  cried,  of  ivoods  and  marshes,  but 

5  of  a  fair  field  and  fair  chances.     The  enemy,  who  had  but 
looked  for  the  easy  destruction  of  a  few  half-armed 
men,  were  taken  aback  by  the  blare  of  trumpets  and  s 
the  flash  of  arms,  which  were  all  the  more  telling 
because   unexpected;  and,  being  as  resourceless  in 
reverse    as   they  are    impetuous    in    success,2    they 

c  gave  way.     Arminius  escaped  from  the  field  unhurt ; 

1  See  n.  on  ii.  81,  a.  gallant  but  unstable  hordes  were  '  more 

*  Cp.  Oman's  '  Seven  Roman  States-       than  men  at  the  first   onslaught,   less 
men,'  p.    313,    of   the    Gauls:     their       than  women  after  a  repulse. ' 


82 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  15. 


Inguiomerus,  severely  wounded.  The  slaughter  of 
the  multitude  went  on  till  fury  and  daylight  failed. 
Not  till  night-fall  did  the  legions  return ;  and  though 
suffering  not  less  than  before  from  hunger,  and  from 
the  pain  of  their  wounds  still  more,  their  victory 
salved  their  wounds,  and  supplied  them  with  strength, 
food,  and  everything. 

Meanwhile  a  rumour  had  got  abroad  that  the  army  69 
had   been  cut   off,  and   that   the   Germans   were  on 


Panic  on 
the  Rhine  : 
heroic 

A°gndppiiia!    the  march  for  Gaul.     Some,  in  terror,  were  cowardly 


Displeasure 
ms, 


enough  to  suggest  that  the  bridge1  over  the  Rhine 
should   be   broken  down  ;   but  Agrippina  would   not 
hear  of  it.     All    through   those   days    that    intrepid  2 
woman   took  upon   herself  the  duties  of  a  general.2 
She  distributed  clothes  to  such  as  needed  them,  and 
medicaments   to   the  wounded.      Gaius   Plinius,   the  3 
historian  3  of  the  German  wars,  relates  how  she  took 
her  stand  at  the  head  of  the  bridge,  bestowing  praise 
and  thanks  on  the  returning  legions. 

Such  conduct  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  mind  * 
Q£  Tiberius.     These,  he  thought,  were  no  simple-minded 
attentions  ;  it  was  not  to  meet  a  foreign  enemy  that  the 
soldiers  were  being  thus  courted.     What  was  there  left  5 
for  the  General  to  do,  if  his  wife  inspected  the  maniples, 
presented  herself  before  the  standards,   tried  her  hand 
at    largesses,    and    in    the    most    artless    manner   con- 
ceivable paraded  the   Generals  son  about  the  camp  in 
the  dress  of  a  private  soldier,  delighting  to  hear  him 
called  by  the  appellation  of  l  Little  Caesar  in  Boots1?4' 


1  The  bridge  thrown  over  the  Rhine 
by  Germanicus  at  the  beginning  of  the 
campaign  (chap.  49,  6). 

2  In  other  cases    than  that  of   his 
favourite  Agrippina,   Tacitus    had  no 
tolerance    for    women    interfering    in 
military  matters.     See  the  case  of  Plan- 
cina,  ii.   55,  5,  and  iii.  33,  2-4,  where 
Caecina  obviously  expresses    the    his- 
torian's own  sentiments. 


3  This  work  on  the  German  War  by 
the  elder  Pliny,  now  lost,  is  referred  to 
by  his  nephew  the  younger  Pliny  (Epp. 
iii.  5,  4). 

4  The  nickname  or  pet  name  '  Cali- 
gula,' by  which  posterity  has  chosen  to 
designate    the    Emperor    Gaius,    is    a 
diminutive  of  caliga,  the  heavy  shoe  or 
sandal  worn  by  soldiers.   Hence  private 
soldiers  are  called  caligati. 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  68-70.  83 

6  Agrippina  had  become  a  personage  of  more  consequence 
in  the  army  than  either  General  or  Legates :  a  woman 
had  quelled  a  mutiny  which  had  not  given  way  before  the 
name  of  Emperor. 

7  These  suspicions  were   inflamed   and   aggravated  inflamed  by 
by  Sejanus.    Knowing  full  well  the  temper  of  Tiberius, 

he  would  sow  in  his  mind  seeds  of  hatred  for  some 
far-off  day,  to  be  treasured  up  and  brought  forth 
with  increase. 

1  Meanwhile  Germanicus  had  ordered  Publius  Vitel-  Difficulties 
lius  to  take  back  by  land  two  of  the  legions  which  fnhis6 
he  had  brought  by  sea— the  2nd  and  the  i4th — so  as 

to  enable  the  vessels  either  to  float  in  shoal  waters,  or 

2  ground  more  lightly  when  the  tide  receded.    Vitellius 
at    first   encountered    no   difficulties,   his   way   lying 
across   firm  ground,  or  where   the   tides  rose   to  no 
great  height.     Before  long,  however,  the  column  was 
caught  and  buffeted  by  a  violent  gale  from  the  north, 
occurring  at  the  time  of  the  equinox,  when  the  Ocean 

:',  is  most  tempestuous.  The  land  was  flooded ;  sea, 
shore,  and  fields,  all  presented  one  aspect :  solid 
ground  and  quicksand,  deep  water  and  shallow,  were 

4  indistinguishable.     The  men  were  knocked  down  by 
the    waves    and    sucked    under;    baggage,    baggage- 
animals  and  corpses,  floated  about  and  jostled  against 
each   other.      All   distinction   of  maniples   was   lost. 
Some   had    their   breasts   above  water,    some    their 
heads  only;  sometimes  the  ground  would  give  way 
beneath  them  altogether :  they  would  be  thrown  this 

5  way  and   that,  and  go  under.     Against   this  watery 
foe,   no  words    of   mutual    encouragement    availed ; 
rash  man  and  prudent,  counsel  and  haphazard,  were 
all  as  one :   brave  man  and  coward  alike  were  swept 
along  by  the  fury  of  the  elements. 


84  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  15. 

He  reaches        At    last  Vitellius   struggled   up   to   some    higher  6 
Driver      groun(^  and  his  column  after  him.     They  passed  the 
h£aarmy.     night  without  necessaries,  without  fire,  many  of  them 
naked  or  injured,  in  a  plight  as  pitiable  as  that  of 
men  in  a  beleaguered  city;  nay,  such  men  have  the 
chance  of  an  honourable  death  open  to  them,  these 
only  of  an  ignominious  end.     Daylight  and  dry  land  7 
appeared    together;    and   the   army    made   its   way 
to  the  river  [Weser],1  where  Germanicus  had  arrived 
with   his  fleet.      The   legions  were   then   embarked.  8 
A  rumour    had   got   abroad   that   the  whole  flotilla 
had   been  lost;   nor  did  people  believe  in  its  safety 
until    they    saw    Germanicus    and    his    army    back 
again. 

Submission         By  this   time  Stertinius,  who  had   been  sent  on  y 
merufand    to  receive  the  submission  of  Segimerus,  brother  of 
his  son.       Segestes,  had  arrived  at  the  city  of  the  Ubii,  bringing 
with  him  Segimerus  and  his  son,  both  of  whom  were  2 
pardoned.    About  Segimerus,  there  was  no  difficulty ; 
but   there  was  some  hesitation  as  to  the  son,  as  he 
was  reported  to  have  treated  the  body  of  Quintilius 
Germani-     Varus  with  insult.     The  Provinces  of  Gaul,  Spain  and  3 
h?s  losses?    Italy  vied  with  one  another  in  making  good  the  losses 
of  the  army,  each  offering  what  they  had  in  the  way 
of  arms,  gold,  or  horses.     Germanicus   commended  4 
their  zeal;   but   accepted   only  the  arms  and   horses 
for  war  purposes,  relieving  the  wants  of  the  soldiers 
and  treats    out  of  his  own  purse.     And  wishing  to  soften  the  5 
kind°ydlers   recollection  of  their  suffering  by  personal  kindness, 
he  visited  the  wounded,  and  commended  them  indi- 
vidually for  acts   of  valour.     As   he   examined   their 
wounds,  he  would   appeal   to   the   ambition   of  one, 
or  to   the  pride  of  another,  thus  strengthening  the 

1  The  MS.  gives  Visurgin,  the  Weser,  as  the  name  of  this  river,  which  is  mani- 
festly wrong. 


A.D.  15.] 


BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  70-72. 


attachment   of  all    to   himself  by   his  affability  and 
attention,  and  restoring  their  confidence  for  battle. 

1  Triumphal  ornaments1  were  voted  in  this  year  to 
Lucius  Apronius  and  Gaius  Silius  for  their  services 

2  under  Germanicus.    For  himself,    Tiberius   declined 
the  title  of  'Father  of  his  Country,'2  though  it  was 
more  than  once  pressed  upon  him  by  the  people;  nor 
would  he  accept  a  proposal  voted  by  the  Senate  for 
requiring  an  oath  of  obedience  to  his  acts.3    All  human 
things,  he  protested,  were  uncertain :  every  increase  of 
his  honours  did  but  add  to  the  perils  of  his  position. 

3  And  yet  he  gained  no  credit  for  moderate  views, 
in  consequence  of  his  having  revived  the  law  against 
High   Treason.     That   law  was    known,    indeed,   by 
the   same   name   to    antiquity ;    but    it   was    applied 
to  a  different  class  of  offences,4  such  as  the  betrayal 


1  The  '  triumphal  insignia  '  or  '  orna- 
ments '  conferred  the  honour  and  status 
of  a   triumph   on   a   general,    and   his 
family  after   him,  without   actual  cele- 
bration.    The    actual^  celebration  was 
reserved  for  members  of  the  imperial 
family      Under    Tiberius,    the    only 
triumph  was  that  of  Germanicus  over 
the  Germans,  May  i6th,  A.D.  17  (ii.  41, 
a).     The  lesser  '  ovation  '  was  voted  in 
A.D.  19  to  Germanicus  for  his  successes 
in   Armenia,    and    to   Drusus    for    his 
capture    of    Maroboduus    (ii.    64,    i). 
Germanicus  died  before  his  return  home, 
but  Drusus  celebrated  his  ovation  on 
May  28,  A.D.  20  (iii.  19,  4). 

2  This  hon.   title,   first    granted    by 
acclamation  to  Cicero  in  B.C.  63,  after 
the    suppression    of    Catiline    (Roma 
patrem  patriae  Ciceroncm  libera  dixit, 
Juv.  8,  244),  and  again  in  B.C.  45  on 
Caesar,    was    formally    conferred    on 
Augustus,    B.C.   2,    by   the    senatus   et 
equtster     ordo    populusque     Romanus 
universus  (Mon.  Anc.  6,  25).     Tiberius 
consistently  refused  the  title  (ii.  87,  2), 
as  he  did  the  offer  of  divine  honours 
(>v.  38,  4). 

*  This  oath,  again,  is  a  relic  of  re- 
publican  timesj  converted  to  imperial 
uses.  During  the  last  two  centuries  at 
feast  (Liv.  xxxi.  50,  7)  magistrates 
entering  office  had  to  take  an  oath  to 


observe  the  laws,  usually  on  January  ist. 
After  B.C.  45  all  magistrates  had  to 
swear  se  nihil contra  acta  Caesarisfactu- 
ros :  the  same  oath  was  strictly  exacted 
by  the  triumvirs,  and  under  the  em- 
perors, when  the  oath  was  extended  so 
as  (i)  to  cover  the  acts  not  only  of  the 
reigning,  but  of  all  previous  emperors, 
except  such  as  were  specially  excluded, 
as  Tiberius  and  Caligula  (Dio,  l.xvii.  18, 
3) ;  (2)  to  be  required  of  senators  as 
well  as  magistrates.  Tiberius  expels 
the  senator  Apidius  Merula  quod  in  acta. 
Divi  Atignsti  non  iuravisset  (iv.  42,  3). 
This  oath  is  distinct  from  the  general 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  emperor, 
originally  the  military  oath,  taken  by  the 
whole  people  and  the  provinces  (chap. 
7,  3),  which  is  called  sacramentum  in 
nomen  Tiberii  (chap.  8,  5). 

4  In  nothing  did  the  substitution  of 
the  emperor  and  his  person  for  the 
commonwealth  as  a  whole,  tell  more 
directly  and  grievously  on  the  persons 
and  fortunes  of  Roman  citizens,  than  in 
the  new  application  of  the  law  of 
Maiestas.  By  a  disastrous  application 
of  the  principle  L ' Etat  c'est  moi,  the 
emperors  were  first  regarded  as  repre- 
sentatives of,  then  as  identified  with,  the 
state  as  a  whole.  Whatever  by  ancient 
law  had  been  an  offence  against  the 
Roman  people  became  now  a  personal 


Triumphal 
ornaments 
voted. 
Tiberius 
rejects  new- 
honours, 


but  revives 
the  law  of 
Majestas. 


How  that 
law  was 
applied 
under  the 
Republic, 


86 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  15. 


andby 
Augustus. 


of  an  army,  the  stirring  up  of  sedition  among  the 
people,  or  to  any  act  of  public  misconduct  by  which 
the  '  Majesty  of  the  Roman  people  '  might  be  im- 
paired :  deeds  were  impugned,  words  passed  un- 
punished.  Augustus,  for  the  first  time,  applied  the  4 
jaw  to  iikeuous  writings,1  being  indignant  at  the  out- 
rageous and  scurrilous  attacks  made  by  Cassius 
Severus2  upon  men  and  women  of  distinction;  and 
when  Tiberius  was  asked  by  the  praetor  Pompeius 
Macer  3  whether  cases  of  High  Treason  were  to  be  sent 
to  trial,  he  replied  :  —  The  laws  must  be  ,  put  in  forced 


offence  against  the  emperor ;  and  every 
offence  against  the  emperor  was  an 
offence  against  the  Majesty  of  the 
people. 

1  Roman  law  was  severe  on  libels ;  it 
would  not  permit  the  personalities  of  the 
Greek  comic  stage.  The  XII.  Tables, 
according  to  Cicero,  de  Rep.  iv.  10,  12, 
prescribed  capital  punishment  si  quis 
occentavisset  sive  carmen  condidisset 
guoct  infamiam  faceret  flagiliumve 
alteri  ;  whereas  among  the  Greeks  fuit 
lege  c.oncessum  nt  quod  vellet  comoedia 
de  quo  vellet  nominatim  diceret.  How 
the  poet  Naevius  was  indicted  and 
imprisoned  for  his  attack  on  the  Metelli 
is  well  known  ;  and  Horace  makes  it  a 
turnfng-point  in  the  history  of  Latin 
poetry  that  when  the  buffoonery  natural 
to  the  Italian  character  had  turned 
iocus  into  rabies,  it  had  to  be  sternly 
put  down  by  law  (Kpp.  ii.  i,  153).  The 
law,  it  seemed,  was  confined  to  libels 
on  the  stage  or  in  poetry ;  political 
speeches  were  untouched  by  it,  until, 
apparently,  the  time  of  Sulla  :  verumta- 
men  est  maiestas  ut  Sulla  voltiit  ne  in 
quemvis  impune  declamare  liceret  (Cic. 
Fam.  iii.  11,  2).  The  extraordinary 
license  of  oratory,  as  evidenced  by 
Cicero's  speeches,  as  well  as  the  gross 
freedom  of  poets  like  Catullus,  shews 
that  Sulla's  law  cannot  have  been 
rigorously  enforced.  Augustus,  as  suited 
his  character,  was  singularly  tolerant  of 
personal  abuse  (Suet. ,  Oct.  54,  55) ;  and 
according  to  the  passage  before  us, 
though  he  brought  famosi  libelli  under 
the  law  of  majestas,  it  was  not  on  his 
own  account,  but  as  a  matter  of  public 
decency  (Dio,  Ivi.  27,  i);  and  perhaps 
also,  as  Merivale  suggests  (vol.  5,  p. 
154),  with  the  special  object  of  extending 


protection  to  women.  But  there  were 
occasions  of  acknowledged  license. 
During  the  Saturnalia,  slaves  might  be 
as  saucy  as  they  pleased  to  their  masters 
(Hor.,  Sat.  ii.  7,  4) ;  and  on  the  occasion 
of  a  triumph,  soldiers  were  free  to  indulge 
in  the  grossest  scurrility  at  the  expense 
of  their  general  (Suet. ,  Jul.  49).  In  the 
triumph  of  Lepidus  and  Plancus  over 
the  Gauls,  the  soldiers  shouted  at  them 
De  germanis  non  de  Gallis  duo 
triumphant  consules ;  each  having  had  a 
brother  included  in  the  list  of  proscribed 
persons  (Veil.  Pat.  ii.  67,  4).  How 
venomous  could  be  the  spirit  of  Roman 
satire,  even  under  the  empire,  in  spite 
of  all  prohibitions,  appears  from  num- 
berless instances.  See  Suet.,  Tib.  59. 

2  Described  in  iv.  21,  5  as  sordidae 
originis,  maleficae  vitae,  sed  orandi 
•validus.  He  had  been  banished  to 
Crete,  probably  in  B.C.  12;  in  A.D.  24 
he  was  interdicted  froth  fire  and  water 
for  continuing  the  same  practices,  and 
relegated  to  the  island  of  Seriphos. 

8  For  the  family  and  fate  of  Pompeius 
Macer,  see  vi.  18,  3  and  4. 

4  i.e.  he  was  to  receive  such  a  case 
in  the  ordinary  course,  and  make 
arrangements  for  a  judge  and  jury  to 
try  it.  This  implies  that  in  addition  to 
the  state  trials  of  important  offenders 
before  the  senate,  such  as  Tacitus 
records,  there  was  an  ordinary  court 
(quaestio)  for  trying  minor  cases,  or 
minor  offenders,  under  the  law  of 
majestas.  See  Furn.  andcp.  Suet.  Tib. 
58  :  consulente  praetore  an  iudicia 
mates  tatis  cogi  de  beret,  exercendas  esse 
leges  respondit,  et  atrocissime  exercuit. 
He  then  enumerates  various  cases  too 
trivial  for  senatorial  jurisdiction. 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  72-73-  87 

For  he  too  had  been  exasperated  by  the  publication 
of  some  anonymous  verses1  animadverting  upon  his 
cruel  and  haughty  temper,  and  his  differences  with  his 
mother. 

To  shew  from  what  beginnings2  this  deadly  system  The 
of  oppression  took  its  rise;  how  craftily  it  was  fostered  agams? 
by  Tiberius  ;  how  it  was  checked  for  a  time,  and  then  and™' 
at  last  burst  out  as  it  were  in  an  all-consuming  blaze,  F 


it  will  not  be  amiss  to  recount  the  charges  that  were 


brought    against    two    respectable    Roman    knights, 

2  Falanius  and  Rubrius.3    The  former  was  accused  of 
having  admitted  into  a  College  of  priests  instituted 
for    the  worship   of  Augustus—  such   as    existed    in 
almost   every   family4—  a  certain   actor   of  infamous 
character   called    Cassius  ;    and   of   having   included 
in   the  sale   of  some    pleasure-grounds   a   statue   of 
Augustus.     Rubrius  was  charged  with  having  sworn 

3  a  false   oath   by   the   divinity   of  Augustus.     When 
Tiberius   heard   of  these   charges,  he   wrote   to   the 
consuls  as  follows  :  —  Divine  honours,  he  declared,  had  are  repelled 
not  been  granted  to  his  father  for  the  piwpose  of  bringing 

*  citizens  to  ruin.  The  actor  Cassius  had  been  in  the  habit 
of  taking  a  part,  along  with  others  of  his  profession,  at  the 
games  instituted  by  his  mother  in  honour  of  Augustus  ;  and 

1  See  Sue,!.,  Tib.  59.  4  Although  Augustus  prohibited  his 

3  I  take  these  words  to  refer  exclusively  own  worship  in  Italy,  he  permitted  the 

to  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  and  to  mark  worship  of  his   Genius    in   connection 

its  different  stages  by  the   progressive  with  the  household  gods  (fMres)  of  the 

attitude  he  assumed  to  delation.     The  265  vici,  or  quarters,  into  which  Rome 

words  quanta  arte  apply  to  the  whole.  was    divided    in    B.C.    7.     Each    vicus 

First    Tiberius    allowed    delation    in-  had  four  elected  magistri,  whose  duties 

sidiously  to  creep  in  ;  see  chap.  74,  2,  were  partly  religious  ;  they  now  began 

of  the    delator  Romanus    Hispo,  dtim  to  be  called  magistri  Larum,  and  later 

occultis     libellis     saevitiae     principis  magistri  Augustales.    A   similar  wor- 

adrepit.     For  a  time  he  appeared   to  ship  of  Augustus  was  set  up  in  private 

discourage  it  and  hold  it  in  check.     He  houses,  and  conducted,    it  would  ap-- 

next  let  it  burst  into  flame  ;  and  lastly,  pear,  by  collegia:  as  early  as  B.C.  13 

like  a  destroying  fire,  carry  all  before  it.  Horace  could  write  to  Augustus  on  his 

*  Falanius  and  Rubrius  being  only  return  to  Rome  from  Gaul,  et  Laribus 

knights    of    modest    position,   Tacitus  tuum  =  Miscet    numen,    uti    Graecia 

does  not  mention  their  pracnomina.  So  Castoris  =  Et  magni  memor  Herculis 

in  vi.  14,  i.  (Od.  iv.  5,  34-6). 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  15. 


Accusation 

of  Granius 

Marcellus 

by 

Romanus 

Hispo. 


there  was  no  impiety  in  including  a  statue  of  Augustus, 
as  of  any  other  deity,  in  a  sale  of  houses  or  gardens.    As  5 
for  the  perjury,  it  should  be  judged  as  if  the  name  of 
Jupiter  had  been  taken  in  vain : l  the  Gods  must  avenge 
their  oivn  wrongs? 

Not  long  afterwards  Granius  Marcellus,  Praetor  74. 
of  Bithynia,3  was   accused   of  treason4  by  his  own 
Quaestor,  Caepio  Crispinus,  supported5  by  Romanus 
HispoJ^This  last  was  a  man  who  entered  upon  a  line 
of  life  destined  soon   to  acquire   notoriety  in   those 
calamitous   and   shameless   days.      Needy,   low-born  2 
and   restless,  he  first  crept  into  the  good  graces  of 
the   cruel-minded   Emperor  by  supplying  him   with 


1  These  replies  of  Tiberius  to  the  first 
efforts  of  the  delators  are  a  model  of 
cutting  common  jfejase.     It  is  evident 
that  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign  he 
adopted  a  firm  and  contemptuous  atti- 
tude towards  informers.     That  attitude 
seems  gradually  to  have   been  broken 
down  by  the    distrust  engendered  by 
excess  of  flattery  ;  by  the  perpetual  in- 
sinuations of  Sejanus  ;    and  lastly,  by 
the  revealed  treachery  of  his  one  trusted 
favourite.       That    treachery    left    him 
friendless,  and  with  the  sense  that  there 
was  no  one  whom  he  could  trust. 

2  This  perfect  epigram  (deorum   in- 
iurias  dis  curae]  sums  up  that  wise,  if 
cynical,  tolerance  shewn  by  Rome  to 
foreign    religions   and    religious    cults 
which  was  a  necessity  of  her  empire, 
and  contributed  so  largely  to  its  success. 
Only  when  religion  became  associated 
with  disaffection  or  with  national  move- 
ments, as  was  thought  to  be  the  case 
with  the  Jews  and  the  Christians,  did 
she     abandon     this     principle.       The 
famous  attitude  of  Gallic  (Acts  xviii. 
12-17)  was  an  embodiment  of  Roman 
sentiment  on  the  subject.    The  Roman 
senate   (see  iii.  60-63)  adjudicated  on 
religious     differences    arising     among 
provincials  with  the  same  careful  and 
learned  impartiality  which  the  Judicial 
Committee  of  our  Privy  Council  shews 
in  its  elaborate  judgments  on  the  claims 
of  Hindoo  divinities. 

3  Bithynia  was  a  senatorial  province, 
including  not  only  Bithynia  proper,  but 
also  Paphlagonia  up  to  the  river  Halys 


to  the  E.  ;  i.e.  the  whole  country  be- 
tween that  river  and  the  Rhyndacus  on 
the  W.  As  Paphlagonia  had  been  part 
of  the  Mithradatic  Kingdom,  the  pro- 
vince was  usually  called  Bithynia  et 
Pontus.  It  was  governed  by  a  senator 
of  praetorian  rank  who  might  be  called 
(i)  proconsul,  in  virtue  of  his  com- 
mand ;  (2)  pro-praetor,  to  denote  his 
rank  ;  or  simply,  as  here,  (3)  praetor. 
He  had  under  him  a  legatus  pro  prae- 
tore  and  a  quaestor.  See  Marquardt, 
Staatsv.  i.  pp.  191  and  381. 

4  Under  the  Republic,  it  was  con- 
sidered a  breach  of  proper  feeling  for  a 
quaestor  to  impeach  the  governor 
under  whom  he  served.  They  were 
supposed  to  be  tied  together  by  bonds 
of  the  closest  kind  :  praetorem  quaestori 
suo  parentis  loco  esse  oportere  (Cic. ,  Div. 
in  Caecil.  19,  61).  Tacitus  rejoices  in 
pointing  out  that  in  prosecutions  for 
majestas  all  such  ancient  sentiments 
were  disregarded. 

6  The  word  here  used  is  subscribere. 
Those  who  added  their  signatures  to 
the  indictment  lodged  by  the  accuser 
were  called  subscriptores.  During  the 
trial  they  took  the  part  of  junior 
counsel.  In  this  case,  as  Hispo  was  a 
professional  rhetorician  (Sen.  attributes 
to  him  asperiorem  dicendi  mam),  he 
seems  to  have  taken  the  principal  part. 
He  is  treated  in  this  chapter  as  the 
sole  accuser;  hence  there  is  no  need 
to  read  the  plural  insimulabant  with 
Nipp. ,  in  §  3  below. 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  73-74-  89 

secret "  informations ;  and  before  long  no  name, 
however  distinguished,  was  safe  from  his  attacks. 
Becoming  thus  all-powerful  with  one  man,  and  earn- 
ing the  hatred  of  all  besides,  he  set  an  example 
through  which  men  rose  from  poverty  to  affluence, 
and  from  insignificance  to  power:  bringing  ruin  upon 
others  first,  and  in  the  end  upon  themselves  also. 

3  Marcellus  was   charged  with  having  spoken  evil   of 
the  Emperor-Tan  accusation  from  which  there  was 
no  escape,  since  the  accuser  picked  out  all  the  worst 
features   in   the   character   of  Tiberius,  and  charged 
Marcellus  with  having   pointed   them   out.      As   the 
things  said  were  true,  it  was  believed  that  Marcellus 
had  jaidjhem.® 

4  Hispo  added  that   Marcellus  had  placed  his  own 
statue  above  those  of  the  Caesars ;  and  that  he  had 
cut   off  the  head2  of  Augustus  from  another  statue 

5  and  substituted  that  of  Tiberius.8    This  so  incensed  Outburst  of 
the  Emperor  that  he  broke  silence,  and  declared  that 

he  zvoitld  himself  record  his  verdict  in  the  case,  openly 
and  on  oath:*  meaning  thereby  to  compel  all  the 

6  others  to  do  the  same?' But  there  remained  even  yet 
some  traces  of  expiring  liberty;   for  Gnaeus  Piso5 

1  The  venomous    bitterness  of    thjs  charges  in  modern  times  in  countries 
comment  could  hardly  be  surpassed.  not  distant  from  our  own.  A  respectable 

2  Caligula  felt  no  scruple  in  behead-  citizen  was  sent  to  prison  not  long  ago 
ing  the  statues  of  Olympian  Jove   and  for  narrating  in  his  cups  a  story  about 
other  gods,  and  substituting  his  own  Diogenes    and    Alexander    the    Great 
head  (Suet.  22).  which  was  held  to  apply  to  the  sovereign 

*  This    involved    a    double   offence.  of  the  country  ;   another  was  haled  to 

The  changing  of  the  head  of  the  statue  prison  for  dropping  and  breaking  (it 

was  at  once  an  insult  to  the  divinity  of  was  thought  intentionally)  the  bust  of  a 

Augustus,   and  a    thrusting   of  divine  royal  personage. 

honours  upon  Tiberius.      Such,    how-  4  For  the  greater  weight  attached  to 

ever,  Tiberius  persistently  refused   for  an  assertion   made,  or  a  vote  given, 

himself  (iv.   38,   4) ;    while    it  was    a  when  the  person  said  he  did  so  '  on  his 

fundamental  principle  of  his  policy  to  oath,'  see  chap.  14,  6;  iv.  21,  5:  31,  5; 

shew  every  respect  to  Augustus.    See  Liv.  xxx.  40,  12. 

chap.  77,  4  and  iv.  37,  4.     Hence  the  5  This  is  the  celebrated  Piso  who*as 

warmth     of     his     indignation.      The  governor  of  Syria  was  contumacious  to 

charges    advanced    here,    as    well    as  Germanicus  in  his   Eastern  command 

others  of  which  we  shall  hear  later,  (ii.  43,  3),  and  was  brought  to  justice 

appear  somewhat  trumpery.     But  they  after    his   death    (iii.    12-18).     See  n. 

may  be  matched  in  absurdity  by  similar  on  chap.  13,  3. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  15. 


asked,  Will  you  vote  first  or  last,  Caesar?  If  you  vote 
first,  I  shall  have  a  guide  to  follow ;  but,  if  'last,  I  fear 
I  may  unwittingly  disagree  with  you.1  Tiberius  winced  : 
repenting  of  his  incautious  outburst,  he  made  up  for 
isacquitted.  it  by  suffering  the  accused  to  be  acquitted  on  the 
charge  of  treason.2  The  matter  of  extortion  was 
referred  to  assessors 3  for  adjudication. 

But  the  Emperor  was  not  satisfied  with  taking 
part  in  trials  before  the  Senate.  He  would  take  his 
place  in  the  ordinary  courts  of  law,  seating  himself 
at  the  corner  of  the  bench,  so  as  not  to  oust  the 
Praetor  from  his  curule  chair.4  On  such  occasions, 


He  re- 
pents ; 
Marcellus 


Attendance 
of  Tiberius 
on  the 
bench. 


1  This  home-thrust  of  Piso's  brings 
out    how    absolutely   the    senate    was 
dependent  upon  the  emperor  in  virtue 
of  his  tribicnicia  potestas.     He  presided 
over  it ;  he  initiated  all  business  in  it ; 
he  could  give  his  opinion  first,  or  at  any 
stage  he  chose ;    if  he  spoke  last,  the 
unfortunate  senators,  however  anxious 
to  please,  had  no  guide  to  follow.     The 
incident    suggests    that    the    emperor 
might  attend  in  the  senate  as  an  ordi- 
nary senator,  without  actually  presiding. 
The  rule  was  for  the  presiding  magis- 
trate   {usually   a    consul)    to    ask   the 
opinion     (sententia)    of     the    leading 
senators,    beginning    with    the    senior 
consular  ;  and  then  put  the  question  to 
the  vote,  with  or  without  an  expression 
of  his  own  opinion.     Had  the  emperor 
been    himself    presiding,     Piso    could 
hardly  have  put  the  question  Quo  loco 
censebis  ?  Dio  speaks  of  Tiberius  giving 
his  vote  (Ivii.  7,  3) ;  and  it  may  be  that 
he  occasionally  took   his   seat    on   the 
ordinary  benches,  as  our  princes  of  the 
blood  do  in  the  House  of  Lords.     The 
supposition    is  confirmed   by   the  fact 
mentioned  in  the  next  chapter,  that  in 
ordinary  trials  he  would  take  a  seat  on 
the  judicial  bench  as  an  assessor,  with- 
out deposing  the  praetor  from  his  chair. 
Such    a  practice  would   be  eminently 
civilis ;  but,  as  Piso's  question  indicates, 
it  must  have  been  extremely  embarrass- 
ing to  the  other  senators. 

2  Suetonius    mentions    the  condem- 
nation ;   but  omits  the  essential   point 
that  Granius  was  acquitted  of  majestas, 
and  only  sentenced  to  give  an  account 
on  the  financial  charge  (Tib.  58).    Here. 

V  as  elsewhere,  Tiberius  aimed  at  strict 


justice  ;    and  Tacitus  has  the  fairness 
to  record  the  fact.     Nevertheless,  his 
sympathies  are  with  Granius ;   and  he 
insinuates  here  and  elsewhere,  that  if 
majestas    be    included    in  any  charge 
along    with    others,    it    is    always  the 
determining  element  in  the  conviction, 
however  much  the  other  charges  may  be  < 
proved  also.     Cp.  sed  cuncta  quaestione  \ 
maiestatis   exercita    (iv.    19,    5).     The  j 
sympathies  of  Tacitus  are  always  with  y 
any    one    accused    of   majestas,    even; 
though  proved  guilty  of  other  offences,  j 

3  The  case  was  treated  as  one  for 
civil  damages  only.     Reciperatores  or 
recuperatores  were  a  sworn  committee 
or   board,    of   three    or    five   persons, 
appointed  by  a  praetor  to  adjudicate  in 
cases  of   compensation  arising  in  the 
provinces.     We  read   in    Livy  of  this 
board  acting  sometimes  as  a  court  of 
arbitration. 

4  The  assiduity  of  Tiberius  in  attend-, 
ing  the  law  courts,  and  the  conscientious  I 
care  which  he  shewed  in  trying  cases,/  ^ 
and  resisting  undue  influence,  are  dis-] 
tinguishing  features  of  the  early  part/ 
of  his  reign — though  little  appreciated 
by  Tacitus.     Suetonius  (Tib.   33)  and 
Dio  (Ivii.   7,   6)  confirm    the    account 
here  given.     The  emperor,  as  possessed 
of   the    tribunicia    potestas,     had    an 
unlimited  power  of  veto  :  his  presence 
on    the    bench  would   enable   him   to 
exercise  that   right   in  person  (as  was 
required  under  the  old  rule),  and  thus 
over-rule  the  decision  of  the  praetor  ; 
while  his  own  claims  to  independent 
jurisdiction  would  enable  him  to  sub- 
stitute another  decision  in  its  place. 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.   74-75-  Qi 

many  just  judgments  were  pronounced  in  opposition 
to  the  influence  and  solicitation  of  important  person- 

2  ages ;  but  though  truth  might  thus  be  served,  it  was 
at  the  expense  of  liberty.1 

a        About  this  time  a  senator'2  of  the  name  of  Pius  He  deals 
Aurelius  complained  that  the  construction  of  a  public  Swo/thy 
road  and  an  aqueduct  had  caused  his  house  VD  fall  appllc 

4  in,  and  applied  to  the  Senate  for  compensation.     The 
claim  was  resisted  by  the  Treasury  ;3  but  the  Emperor,4 
who  liked  to  be  generous  in  a  good  cause— a  quality 
which  he  retained  long  after  discarding  every  other 
virtues-paid  Aurelius  the  price  of  the  house  out  of 

5  his   own   pocket.     And  when    Propertius   Celer,   an 
ex-Praetor,  craved  permission  to  resign  his  senatorial 
rank  on  the  score  of  poverty,  Tiberius  presented  him 
with  a  million 6  sesterces,  having  ascertained  that  his 

6  poverty  came  to  him  from  his  father.     When  others,  but  win  not 
however,  made  similar  applications,  he  required  them  natality  to 

be  abused. 

1  The  assertion  that    '  a   regard   for  2  Not  having  held  the  praetorship  or 

truth  was  fatal  to  liberty '  sounds  like  a  consulship,  Aurelius  is  simply  called  a 

paradox,   and  is  repugnant  to  modern  senator.     See  iii.  36,  2. 

ideas ;  but  Tacitus  is  not  so  far  wrong.  8  Tacitus  says  '  the  praetors  of  the 

An  all-powerful  emperor,  with  a  passion  Treasury.'    Originally  the  quaestors  had 

for  going  into  details,  would  bean  em-  charge  of  the  aerarium.   Augustus  trans- 

barrassing  colleague  on  a  judicial  bench,;  ferred  it  to  two  praefecti  of  praetorian 

however  anxious  to  get  at  the  facts,  he  rank,    and    afterwards   to   two   of  the 

might  fail  to  reach  them,  or  mis-read  praetors.    Eventually,  under  Nero,  A.  D. 

them.     Tiberius  himself  confesses  neque  56,  it  was  handed  over,  like  other  de- 

posse   principem    sua     scientia    cuncta  partments  of  administration,  to  special 

complect i   (iii.    69,    4).     Whatever    his  praefecti,  and  so  came  under  the  direct 

view  of  the  facts   might  be,  it   would  charge  of  the  emperor.    See  the  account 

overbear  every  other,  and  have   to  be  given  in  xiii.  29. 

accepted ;  and  his  very  anxiety  to  get  4  According    to    his    usual    policy, 

at  the  truth  might  defeat  the  ends  of  Tiberius    supports   the   magistrates    in 

justice.     A  striking  instance  of  Tiberius'  resisting  encroachments  on  the   public 

love  of   reritas — his    desire   to    probe  purse,  or  invasions  of  their  authority, 

matters  to  the  bottom  for   himself— is  *  Tacitus   repeatedly  does  justice  to 

given  in  iv.  22.     Plautius  Silvanus  was  Tiberius'    freedom    from    avarice,    and 

accused  before  him    of  throwing    his  even  his  generosity,  in  regard  to  money 

wife     out    of    the    window.       Plautius  matters.     For  special  instances  see  ii. 

alleged  that  he  was  asleep  at  the  time,  37,   i  :  48,  i :  86,  2 ;  iv.  64,  i  ;  vi.  17, 

and  that  the  lady  committed  suicide.  4 :  45,  i,  etc. 

Tiberius  went  straight  off  to  examine  6  One     million     sesterces     was     the 

the  chamber,  and  there  discovered,  with  property  qualification  for  a  senator  as 

his  own  eyes,  evidence  of  a  struggle  fixed   by  Augustus,  B.C.    18   (Dio,  liv. 

between  the  pair.     But   it   is  scarcely  17,  3).    Thus  Ov.  Fast.  iii.  8,  55,  Curia 

the   part  of  an   emperor  to   play   the  paupf ribusclausaest.dat  census  honores. 
detective. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  15. 


Inunda- 
tions the  of 
Tiber. 


Commis- 
sioners 
appointed. 


Relief  to 
Achaia 
and 
Macedonia. 


to  make  good   their  case  to   the  satisfaction  of  the 
Senate ;  his  love  of  strictness  leading  him  to  do  even 
a  right  thing  in  a  harsh  way.1    Hence  others  preferred  7 
poverty  and  silence  to  relief  coupled  with  exposure. 

In   the    same    year  the    Tiber,   swollen   by   con-  j 
tinuous   rains,  flooded   the  lower  parts  of  the  city, 
and  rnuch  destruction  of  life  and  property  followed 
on   the   subsidence   of  the  waters.2    Asinius   Callus  2 
proposed   that   the   Sibylline   books  should   be  con- 
sulted; but  this  Tiberius  would   not   permit,  Iqving 
mystery  in  all  things,  divine  as  well  as  humanV^  It  3 
was  remitted  to  Ateius  Capito 4  and  Lucius  Arruntius 
to   devise   a  plan    for  keeping  the   river  within   its 
banks. 

The  Provinces  of  Achaia  and  Macedonia!?  having  4 


1  So  in  iv.  7,  i,  while  acknowledging 
the  general  excellence  of  the  first  eight 
years  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  Tacitus 
says  of  his  manner,  non  quidem  comi 
via,  sed  horridus  plerumque  et  formi- 
datus.     Tacitus  apparently  would  have 
allowed    such    petitions    from    needy 
senators  to  be  acceded  to  without   in- 
quiry. 

2  The  floods  of  the  Tiber  were    a 
constant  source  of  disaster  in  ancient, 
as  they  have  been  in  modern,  times,  and 
afforded  a   plentiful  supply  of  omens 
(Hor.    Od.    i.    2,    3).      Augustus  took 
special  charge  of  the  work  of  cleaning 
and  keeping  open  the  channel  of  the 
river  (terminatio :    see  Suet.  Oct.  30). 
Inscriptions    on    slabs    found    on    the 
banks  of  the  Tiber  shew  that  this  work 
was  carried  out  by  the  consuls  in  B.C. 
8,    by    Augustus    himself    in    B.C.    6 
(Rushforth,  p.  29).     According  to  Dio 
(Ivii,  14,  8),  Tiberius  instituted  in  this 
year  a  special  board  of  five  Ctiratores 
for  the   purpose.     Ateius    Capito  was 
chosen,    no    doubt  as    being    Curator 
Aquarum,    or    superintendent    of   the 
aqueducts,  at  this  time  ;  L.  Arruntius 
was  apparently  made  president  of  the 
new  board.     In  more  recent  times,  no 
less  than  40  great  floods  are  known  to 
have  devastated   Rome.     In   1870  the 
water  rose  to  a  height  of  56  feet  above 
its  usual  level;   and  in   1900  a  flood 
carried  away  300    yards  of   the    new 


embankment,  which  was  supposed  to 
have  made  inundations  impossible. 

3  An  idle  scoff  on  the  part  of  Tacitus. 
With  his   usual    good  sense,    Tiberius 
would  have  nothing    to    do    with  the 
farce  of  consulting  the  Sibylline  books. 
Not  here  only,  but  on  other  occasions 
also,    he  set  his  face    against  having 
resort  to  superstitious  observances    in 
dealing  with  practical  matters.     See  n. 
on  vi,   12,  2.     Dio  treats  the  instance 
before  us  most  sensibly.      He  tells  us 
that    whereas    most    people    regarded 
floods,  like  earthquakes  and   thunder- 
storms, as  a  matter  of  divine  portent, 
Tiberius  thought   they  were  caused  by 
an    over-supply    of    water    from    the 
springs  (Ivii.  14,  8). 

4  A  distinguished  lawyer  :  described 
by  Tacitus  zsprincipem  in  civitate  locum 
studiis  civilibus  adsecutus  (Hi.  75,    i). 
He  held  the  important  post  of  curator 
aquarum  A.D.  13  to  23. 

vy  Macedonia  had  been  a  province 
since  B.C.  146;  it  originally  included 
Achaia,  which  was  not  made  into  a 
separate  province  till  B.C.  27.  These 
two  provinces  were  restored  to  the 
senate  in  A.D.  44  (Suet.  Claud.  25). 
The  division  .of  provinces  as  left  by 
Augustus  at  the  time  of  his  death  seems 
to  have  been  as  follows: — (i)  Eleven 
senatorial  province^  :  Sicily,  Sardinia' 
and  Corsica,  Hispania  Baetica,  G  a  Ilia 
Narbonensis,  Macedonia,  Achaia,  Asia, 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.    75-76-  93 

petitioned  for  some  remission  of  their  burdens,  it 
was  resolved  to  relieve  them,  for  a  time,  from  Pro- 
consular government,  and  to  hand  over  both  provinces 
to  the  Emperorfv 

5        Drusus  presided  over  a  gladiatorial  exhibition  held  Drusus 
in  his  own  name  and  that  of  his  brother  Germanicus.  giadatoriai 
The  inordinate  delight  which  he  displayed  in  blood-  ddight'in 
shed — though  it  was  but  the  blood  of  slaves2 — was 
a  quality   of  evil    import   for  the   people,  and   was 

c  said  to  have  been  reproved  by  his  father.  The 
Emperor  himself  did  not  appear;  for  which  various 
reasons  were  given.  Some  said  that  he  disliked  a 
crowd;  others  that  he  was  naturally  morose,  and 
shrank  from  a  comparison  between  himself  and 
Augustus,  who  had  graciously  attended  such  spec- 

7  tacles.3  Another  explanation  was  suggested  which  I 
cannot  bring  myself  to  believe:4  that  he  purposely 

Bithynia,  Cyprus,  Crete  and  Cyrenaica,  than  that  of  the  senatorial.     The  benefit 

Africa.     (2)  Eighteen  imperatorial  pro-  here   may   have    been    due,    as    Kurn. 

vinces  :    Hispania,   j  arraconensts,  tier-  suggests,  to  a  saving  of  expense  in  staff, 

mania    superior,    Germania    inferior,  etc.,  resulting  from  the  amalgamation  of 

Pannonia,  Moesia,  Delmatia  (including  two  provinces ;  buf  more  than  that  seems 

Illyricum),    Syria    (including    Cilicia),  to   be  implied.      There   was  probably 

Lusitania,    Aquitania,     Gallia     Lug-  more  elasticity,  and  less  of  interested 

du/iensis,     Gallia     Belgica,      Galatia,  red-tapeism,  in  regard  to  taxation,  etc., 

Pamphylia,     together     with     the     five  in   the   imperatorial    provinces,    which 

following    under    procurators  :     Alpes  made  it  easier  for  the  emperors  to  deal 

Alaritimae,   Raetia,    Vindelicia  (after-  leniently  with  the  inhabitants.     These 

wards  joined  with   Raetia),  Noricum^  two    provinces    were   restored    to   the 

Ivdaea.     Egypt  was  governed  under  a  senate  in  A.u.  44. 

special  arrangement   by  an   equestrian  2  For   the  character   of  Drusus,  see 

prefect.     Governors  of  senatorial  pro-  chap.  29,  4  and  n.     Mr.  Tarver  makes  a 

/  vinces     were     all     called    proconsuls,  curious  slip  here  ('Tiberius  the  Tyrant,1 

/  S  whetner  they  had  held  the  consulship  or  p.   314).     He  translates  'although  too 

/not,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  legates  easily   pleased  with  cheap  bloodshed,1 

\of  Caesar's   provinces,   who    bore   the  and  suggests  a  complicated   explana- 

/titlefr"0  praetore.   See  n.  on  chap.  31,  2.  tion  :  '  the  word  "  although  "  suggests 

Moreover,  the  governors  of  senatorial  that   Drusus  could  get  his  bloodshed 

provinces  were-eml,  not  military  officers,  more  cheaply  than  by  giving  gladiatorial 

and  (except  in  Africa  up  to  the  time  of  shows.'      But     quamquam     obviously 

Caligula)  did  not  command  the  troops.  goes  with  vi/i,  not  with  gaudens  ;    the 

Sge. Greenidge,  p.  433.  meaning  being  that  'Drusus  rejoiced 

UP  A  noteworthy  passage,  shewing  (i)  too  much  in  bloodshed— though,  to  be 

that  the  provinces  met  with  considerate  sure,  it  was  only  worthless  blood.' 

treatment  under  the  emperors,  such  as  *  See  n.  on  chap.  54,  3. 

they  had  not  known  under  the  Republic  ;  4  Though  Tacitus  rejects  this  hateful 

and  (2)   that   the  government    of   the  suggestion,  it  is  hateful  to  make  mention 

imperatorial  provinces  was  more  lenient  of  it,    and    the    rejection   is    not   very 


94  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  .    [A.D.  15. 

afforded  to  his  son  an  opportunity  of  displaying  his 
savage  temper,  and  thus  rousing  the  feeling  of  the 
people  against  him.  x 

Theatrical          The  theatrical  riots  which  had  begun  in  the  imme-  77 
diately   preceding  year  now    broke    out  with  fresh 
violence.1    Lives  were  lost,  and  not  amongst  the  popu- 
lace only;    for   some  soldiers  and  a  centurion  were 
killed,  and  a  Tribune  of  the  Praetorian  Cohorts  was 
wounded  in  the  attempt  to  preserve  order  and  pro- 
tect  the    magistrates    from   insult.      The    affair  was  2 
discussed  in  the  Senate ;   and  it  was  proposed  that 
the    Praetors    should    have   power    to    have    actors 
flogged.     This    proposal  was    vetoed2   by   Haterius  3 
Agrippa,8  a  Tribune  of  the  Plebs ;  for  which  he  was 
sharply  rebuked   by  Asinius   Gallus.     Tiberius   said 
nothing;  too  pleased  to  leave  this  phantom4  of  liberty 
to   the   Senate.     The  veto  howrever  was  allowed   to  4 
stand,  for  the  Divine  Augustus,  whose  every  utter- 
ance was  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  Tiberius,5  had  once 
laid  it  down  that  actors  were  exempt  from  corporal 

hearty.     The  epigrammatic  point  with  some  unimportant  matter  ;  and  the  last 

which   the  innuendo   is  conveyed  has  known  instance  of  its  exercise  (A. D.  69) 

made  it  live ;  and  it  remains  recorded  was  for  the  adulatory  purpose  of  pre- 

for  all  time  that  this  odious  suspicion  venting    the  consuls    from    putting    a 

1  was  entertained  by  some  of  the  con-  question  in  the  absence  of  the  emperor 

temporaries    of   Tiberius.       This    can  (Hist.  iv.  9,  2). 
scarcely  be  called  writing  history  sine          3  This  man  was  raised  to  the  praetor- 

|  ira  et  studio  (chap,  i,  6).  ship,    as  a  relative  of  Germanicus,  in 

1  The  old  Italian  tradition  of  license  B.C.  17  (ii.  51,  2),  to   the  consulship  in 
in  connection  with  merry-making  (Hor.  A.D.  22   (iii.    52,   i),  and  is  described 
Epp.  ii.  i,  146-150)  clung  tenaciously  in  vi.  4,  5,  as  a  man  'who  plotted  the 
to  the  theatre  and  the  circus,  the  con-  destruction  of  illustrious  men    in   the 
tests  between  supporters  of  rival  actors  intervals    between  his   gluttonies    and 
or  charioteers  frequently  ending  in  dis-  debaucheries.'     As  consul-designate  he 
order  and  even   bloodshed.      See  the  gave  his  vote  for  death  against  Clutorius 
famous  account  in  Gibbon  (chap.  40)  of  Priscus  (iii.  49,  4) ;  so  we  may  be  sure 
the  Nika  riots  at  Constantinople,  which  that  on  this  occasion  he  used  his  veto  to 
ended  in  the  massacre  of  30,000  persons.  meet  the  wishes  of  Tiberius. 

See  Mayor  on  Juv.  vii.  114,  243,  and  xi.  4  Cp.    the     similar    phrases,    imago 

198 ;  and  esp.  Ann.  xiii.  25,  4.  libertatis    (chap.     81,    4),   and    imago 

2  Thus  alongside  of  the  tribunicia  reipublicae  (xiii.  28,  i),  by  which  Tacitus 
potestas  possessed  by  the  Princeps,  the  describes  the  mockery  of  independence 
ordinary  tribunes  of  the  plebs,  who  con-  still  permitted  to  the  senate.       So  in 
tinned  to  be  elected  as  before,  could  chap.  74,  6  manebant  etiam  turn  vestigia 
still  occasionally  exercise  their  right  of  morientis  libertatis. 

veto.     But    it    was    only,  as    here,   in  5  See  iv.  37,  4,  and  Agric.  13,  3. 


A.D.  15.] 


BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  76-78. 


95 


5  chastisement.1  Several  decrees  were  passed  to  limit 
the  salaries2  of  actors,8  and  to  check  the  excesses 
of  their  partisans.4  Of  these  the  most  notable  were, 
that  Senators  should  not  be  permitted  to  enter  the 
houses  of  pantomime  players,,  nor  Roman  knights 
to  escort  them  when  they  went  abroad;  that  perform- 
ances should  be  held  only5  in  the  theatre;  and  that 
the  Praetors  should  have  the  power  of  punishing 
with  exile  any  misbehaviour  on  the  part  of  spectators. 

1  A  petition  from  Spain  for  leave  to  set  up  a  temple 
to  Augustus  in  the  colony  of  Tarraco,6  was  granted ; 
and  an  example  was  thereby  set  for  all  the  provinces. 

2  The  people  petitioned  for  the  abolition  of  the  tax  of 


remedies 
adopted. 


1  This  statement  is  scarcely  correct  : 
for,  according  to  Suetonius,  who  on  such 
a  point  is  perhaps  a  better  authority  than 
Tacitus,  all  that  Augustus  did  was  to 
enact  that  actors  should  only  be  liable 
to  corporal  punishment  when  plays  were 
actually  going  on  (ludis  et  scaena,  Oct. 
45).     The  motion  referred  to,  therefore, 
in  the  preceding  words  (nf  praetoribus 
ins  virgarum  in   histriones  esset)  was 
probably  to  revert  to  the  state  of  things 
before  Augustus. 

2  The  term  here  used  is  lucar ;  '  a 
forest-tax  '  which  was  originally  derived 
from  luc /',  or  '  sacred  groves : '  see  Diet. 
Ant.  ii.  81,  a.    It  was  a  contribution  to- 
wards the  expenses  of  scenic  games  ;  the 
remainder  being  borne  by  the  magistrate 
(usually  a  praetor)  who  held  and  pre- 
sided at  the  games.     Some  holders  of 
games  declined  to  accept  the  lucar. 

»  Suetonius  says  of  Tiberius :  Ludonnti 
ac  miinerum  imfvnsas  corripuit  mercc- 
dibns  scaenicorum  recisis,  paribnsque 
gladiatorum  ad  certitm  numeriim  re- 
itactis  (Tib.  34). 

*  This  discouragement  of  games 
added  much  to  his  unpopularity.  See 
iv.  62,  3  :  adfluxere  avidi  tali  urn,  im- 
periiante  Tiberio  procttl  a  voluptatibus 
habiti.  Actors  were  mostly  slaves,  or 
freed-men ;  when  slaves,  they  were 
either  kept  for  the  entertainment  of  their 
owners,  or  let  out  for  hire.  All  actors 
were  by  law  stigmatised  by  itifamia 
(Edict.  Praet.  Dig.  iii.  2,  i).  They 
were  liable  to  be  sent  into  exile  at  any 
moment  if  they  or  their  supporters 


caused  disorder.  In  spite  of  all  this, 
and  the  liability  to  personal  chastise- 
ment, the  text  shews  how  important 
stage  success  had  become  in  the  non- 
political  times  of  the  empire,  and  how 
extravagant  was  the  court  paid  to  popu- 
lar actors ;  the  attempts  to  drive  them 
from  Rome  seem  to  have  been  all  in 
vain  (iv.  14,  4  ;  xiii.  25,  4  and  28,  i  ;  xiv. 
21,  2,  etc.).  Actors  of  eminence,  like 
Roscius  and  Aesopus,  acquired  large 
fortunes  even  in  the  time  of  Cicero ; 
under  emperors  like  Nero  and  Hadrian 
they  might  become  favourites  and  be 
all-powerful  (Juv.  vii.  90-92). 

4  There  is  no  need,  with  Halm  and 
Furn.,  to  adopt  Wolfflin's  conjecture 
sectarentnr.  The  MS.  spectarentur 
gives  an  excellent  sense  :  performances 
in  private  houses  were  to  be  forbidden. 
The  meaning  to  be  got  out  of  secta- 
rcntttr  has  already  been  sufficiently  ex- 
pressed by  ne  egredientes  .  .  .  cingcrent. 
Nor  would  the  theatre  be  the  proper 
place  for  sectatio. 

8  Tarraco,  the  modern  Tarragona, 
about  50  miles  N.  of  the  Iberus  (Ebro), 
was  founded  by  Julius  Caesar,  and 
called  Colonia  lulia  Victrix  Trium- 
phalis.  It  had  supplanted  Carthago 
Nova  (Cartagena]  as  chief  town  of  the 
province  of  Hispania  Tarraconensis 
from  the  time  of  the  Cantabrian  wars, 
B.C.  26-19.  Its  position  near  the  month 
of  the  Ebro  made  it  the  natural  head- 
quarters for  operations  in  the  NW.  of 
Spain. 


Tarraco 
permitted 
to  set  up  a 
temple  to 
Augustus. 

Tiberius 
declines  to 
remit  tax 
on  sales. 


Deputa- 
tions as  to 
the  Tiber 
floods. 


96  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  15. 

&ve  per  cent,  on  the  value  of  things  sold  by  auction, 
which  had  been  instituted  after  the  civil  wars;  but 
Tiberius  put  forth  an  edict  declaring  that  the  military 
treasury 1  depended  upon  that  impost :  and  that  if 
veterans  were  to  be  discharged  before  completing 
twenty  years  of  service,  the  state  would  not  be  equal 
to  the  burden.  Thus  fell  to  the  ground  the  ill-advised  3 
concession  extorted  by  the  late  mutiny,  whereby 
service  was  to  end  after  sixteen  yearsC^ 

A  discussion  was  then  raised  in  the  Senate  by  y 
Arruntius  and  Ateius  as  to  whether  the  streams  and 
lakes  which  feed  the  Tiber  should  be  diverted  from 
their  natural  beds  with  a  view  to  the  abatement  of 
floods.3  Deputations  from  municipal  and  colonial 4 
towns  were  heard  upon  the  subject.  The  people  of 
Florence  implored  that  the  waters  of  the  Clanis  might 
not  be  taken  from  their  natural  channel,  and  diverted 
into  the  river  Arnus :  the  consequences,  they  de- 
clared, would  be  disastrous  to  them.  The  people  of  2 


1  The  Military  Treasury,  established 
by  Augustus  A.D.  6,  for  the  purpose  of 
providing   bounties,    etc.,    for  soldiers 
(Mon.    Anc.   iii.    37),  was  fed  by  the 
legacy  duty  (Dio,  Iv.  25,  2,  5)  as  well  as 
by  the  Centesima   Venalium.      It  was 
under  the  charge  of  three  praefecti. 

2  Much  as  Tacitus  blamed  Tiberius 
for  not  going  to  quell  the  mutiny  him- 
self, this  passage  shews  how  successful 
his  treatment  of   it  was.     Not  one   of 
the  concessions  temporarily  made  was 
maintained. 

3  The  Romans  were  not  afraid  of 
facing    huge    engineering    works,  es- 
pecially   in    connection    with    water- 
courses ;    the    draining   of   the  Alban 
Lake,  the  huge  aqueducts  which  sup- 
plied Rome  with  water,  are  monuments 
of  their  engineering  skill.     But  it  must 
be  confessed  that  the  proposals  of  the 
Commissioners     (for    whose    appoint- 
ment see  chap.  76,  3)  for  checking  the 
Tiber  floods  were  rather  wide  of  the 
mark.     To  dissipate  the  waters  of  a 
stream    like    the    Nar ;      to    dam    up 
another  like  the  Velinus,  so  as  to  hold 
up  its  waters  permanently,  would  be 


impracticable.  What  was  proposed 
for  the  Clanis  was  possible,  but  would 
have  had  little  effect  upon  the  Tiber 
floods.  That  river,  the  modern  Chiana, 
flows  for  about  thirty  miles,  from 
Arretium  (Arezzo)  to  Clusium  (Chiusi), 
through  a  valley  so  level  that  its  waters 
can  be  made  to  flow  either  way.  These 
flats  are  now  drained  by  artificial 
channels,  some  of  which  take  the  water 
N.  into  the  Arno.  The  cause  of  the 
great  floods  in  the  Tiber  is  the  heavy 
rainfall  on  the  W.  face  of  the  Appen- 
nines  of  central  Italy,  which  pour  their 
waters,  by  long  winding  valleys,  into  the 
basin  of  the  Tiber.  The  Tiber -alone 
has  a  course  of  some  225  Roman  miles  ; 
joined  by  the  Tinia,  the  Nar,  the 
Velino,  and  the  Anio,  it  carries  the 
drainage  of  a  vast  mountain  area  by 
one  channel  past  Rome  into  the  sea. 

4  Tacitus  frequently  uses  the  terms 
municipia  and  coloniae  in  conjunction, 
to  designate  the  provincial  towns  of 
Italy  generally,  the  distinction  between 
the  two  having  now  practically  dis- 
appeared (iii.  55,  4  ;  iv.  67,  i  ;  etc.). 
See  n.  on  iii.  2,  2. 


A.D.  15.] 


BOOK    I.    CHAPS.   78-80. 


97 


Interamna  spoke  in  similar  terms :  the  finest  land 
in  Italy  would  be  ruined  if  the  Nar  were  to  be 
drained  off,  as  proposed,  into  small  channels,  and 

3  spread  over  the  country.     The  people  of  Reate 1  too 
had   their  say.     They  objected   to   damming   up  the 
Veline  lake  at  the  point  of  its  outflow  into  the  Nar, 
because    it    would    inundate    the    adjacent   country. 
Nature,  they  urged,  had  done  well  for  man  in  assigning 
to  every  river  its  own  outlet,  its  own  channel  as  well  as  its 
source.      Regard  also   should  be  paid  to  the  religious 
feelings  of  the  allies,  who  had  instituted  rites,  and  set  up 
groves    and  altars,   in   honour  of  the   rivers    of   their 

4  country  ;  nay,  old  Tiber  himself*  would  ill  endure  to  be 
shorn  of  his  glory  by  the  loss  of  his  affluent  streams. 

5  Whatever  the  reason    that   prevailed — whether  it 
was  the  remonstrance  of  the  towns,  or  the  difficulty 
of  the  work,  or  the  appeal  to  religious  sentiment — 
Piso's  motion  in  favour  of  leaving  things  as  they  were 
carried  the  day. 

i         Poppaeus  Sabinus 3  was  continued  in  the  govern- 


1  Reate  was  a  Sabine  town  on  the 
Velinus  ( Velind),  close  under  the  walls 
of  Interamna  (Tern  I).     That  river  dis- 
charges   itself    into    the    Nar    by   the 
artificial  channel  which  was  cut  by  M'. 
Curius  Dentatus,  B.C.  272,  thus  forming 
the  well-known  falls  of  Terni. 

2  Even  the  prosaic  Romans  loved  to 
personify  their  rivers.    To  this  they  were 
assisted,  no  doubt,  by  the  custom  of 
carrying  along  at  triumphs  representa- 
tions of  the  rivers  of  conquered  coun- 
tries,  and    by    the    personification    of 
rivers  in  Greek  statuary,  especially  at 
the  corners  of  pediments.     See  the  fine 
lines  of  Propertius,  ii.  i,  31,  32  :  Aut 
canerem     Aegyptum    et    Nilum    cum 
atratus    in    urbein  —  Septem    captivis 
df  bills  ibat  aquis. 

*  C.  Poppaeus  Sabinus  was  grand- 
father of  Nero's  wife  Poppaea.  He  re- 
ceived triumphal  honours  in  A.  D.  26  for 
his  successes  in  Thrace  ;  when  he  died, 
in  A.I).  36,  he  had  been  in  command  of 
important  provinces  for  no  less  than  24 
years.  He  was  retained  in  command 


It  is  de- 
cided to  do 
nothing. 


all  this  time,  Tacitus  tells  us,  nullam 
ob  eximiam  artem,  sed  quod  par  tugotiis 
neque  supra  fuit  (vi.  39,  3) :  a  pas- 
sage which  shews  that  Tacitus  had 
Poppaeus  in  mind  in  the  words  which 
follow.  The  length  of  tenure  of  office 
by  provincial  governors  (C.  Silius  ruled 
Gaul  for  seven  years,  iv.  18,  8)  was  one 
of  the  blessings  conferred  upon  the 
provinces  by  the  empire.  Under  the 
republic,  short-term  governors  had  to 
squeeze  their  province  to  the  utmost 
while  in  command,  in  order  to  make 
a  good  thing  of  it ;  and  it  can  be 
imagined  to  what  an  art  provincial  ex- 
tortion had  been  carried  when  we  learn 
that  to  procure  a  really  satisfactory 
result,  a  province  should  be  held  for 
three  years.  In  the  first  year,  a  governor 
should  accumulate  enough  to  repay 
what  he  had  borrowed  to  bribe  the 
electors  in  his  candidature  for  office  ;  in 
the  second,  enough  to  secure  an  ac- 
quittal from  the  court  when  impeached 
for  extortion  on  his  return  to  Rome  ; 
in  his  third  year,  enough  to  live  upon 

II 


Poppaeus 
Sabinus 
continued 
in  his  com- 
mand. 


98 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  15. 


Reasons  • 
for  such 
prolonga- 
tions. 


Consular 
elections. 


ment  of  the   province  Moesia,1  with  the  addition  of 
Achaia  and   Macedonia.       To   prolong  commands  in  2 
this  way  was  part  of  the  policy  of  Tiberius ;  in  many 
cases  he  permitted  the  holders  of  military  or  adminis- 
trative posts  to  retain  them  throughout  their  lives. 
Various  reasons  for  this  have  been  suggested.     Some 
say  that  it  was  the  worry  and  anxiety  attending  any 
change   which  led    him   to    give   permanence   to   an 
appointment    once   made;    others   that  jealousy   in- 
clined him  to  confine  the  sweets  of  office  to  a  few. 
Others  again  think  that  the  very  shrewdness  of  his  3 
judgment   made    selection    a    perplexity.       He    had 
no   fancy   for    conspicuous    merit;    but    then    again 
he  hated  incapacity:  if  the  one  were  dangerous  to 
himself,   the    other  might    bring    disaster  upon   the 
State.     And  to  such  a  length  did  he  at  last  carry  this  4 
irresolution  that  he  appointed  governors  to  provinces 
without  any  intention  of  allowing  them  to  leave  the 
city.2 

As  to  the  consular  elections3  which  were  now  held  8 1 
for  the  first  time  under  Tiberius,  as  well  as  those 
which  came  after,  I  can  assert  nothing  positively ;  so 
conflicting    are    the    accounts    given,   not    only   by 
historians,  but  in  the  speeches  of  Tiberius  himself.4 


in  comfort  ever  afterwards.  The  em- 
pire changed  all  this.  If  a  governor 
could  look  forward  to  a  long  tenure 
of  office,  it  would  be  for  his  interest 
to  nurse  his  province,  rather  than  to 
bleed  it ;  and  he  had  a  master  over  him 
whose  interest  and  whose  care  it  was, 
for  imperial  purposes,  to  keep  the 
provinces  in  prosperity.  Hence  the 
readiness  with  which  careful  emperors 
(we  shall  find  many  instances  under 
Tiberius)  brought  to  trial  and  punish- 
ment cases  of  provincial  misgovern- 
ment.  Added  to  this,  governors  of 
provinces  had  now  a  regular  salary, 
which  removed  one  main  temptation 
to  extortion. 

1  The  important  frontier  province  of 


Moesia  (bounded  on  the  N.  by  the 
Danube,  on  the  E,  by  the  Euxine,  and 
to  the  S.  by  the  mountain  chains  of 
Thrace)  corresponded  to  the  modern 
states  of  Servia  and  Bulgaria. 

2  Only  two  instances  of  this  are  known. 
Aelius   Lamia  had  been  appointed  to 
Syria,    in    some    year    unknown  ;    L. 
Arruntius  to  Spain  :  neither  were  per- 
mitted to  leave  Rome  (vi.  27,  2  and  3). 

3  The    word    comitiis    here    means 
simply  '  elections,'  without  any  reference 
to  election  by  the  comitia.     It  is  used 
similarly  in  chap.  15,  i. 

4  According  to  Suetonius,  Augustus 
comitiorum  pristinum  ius  reduxit,  i.e. 
as  compared  with  the   anarchy  of  the 
civil  wars  (Oct.  40).     As  a  matter  of 


A.D.  15.]  BOOK    I.    CHAPS.  80-81.  99 

2  Sometimes  he  would  withhold    the   names1  of  the  Practice  of 
candidates,  indicating  each  by  his   birth,  career  and 
services,  so  that  it  might  be  known  who  they  were.  l 
Sometimes  even  that  amount  of  indication  would  be 
suppressed:  he  would  bid  candidates  not  create  dis- 
turbance at  the  elections  by  canvassing,  and  proffer 

3  his  own  services  for  that  purpose.    He  usually  gave  out 
that  none  had  offered  themselves  but   those  whose 
names  he  had  given  in  to  the  consuls  '.—Others  might 
apply,  if  they  had  confidence  in   their  influence  or  their 

4  deserts.     Specious  words   these,  but  hollow  and  in- 
sincere :  the  greater  the  semblance  of  liberty  in  which 
they  were  clothed,  the  more  abject  was  the  plunge 
into  slavery  which  was  to  follow. 

fact,  the  election  of  consuls  and  prae-  transference  was  not  made  so  openly 

tors  by  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Augustus  or  so  immediately  as    in    the  case  of 

might  have  been  described  in  the  words  other  magistracies.  The  present  passage 

of  the  Digest,  xlviii.  14,  i  pr.  ad  ctiram  suggests  that  the  form  of  popular  elec- 

principis  magistratiium  creatiopertinet,  tion  was  preserved  for  some  time  longer, 

non  ad  populi  favorem.     In  this  pas-  but  that  by  the  astute  mode  of  using 

sage  Tacitus  modifies  to  some  extent,  the  right  of  nominatio  (see  n.  on  chap, 

in  regard   to  the  consulship,  the  state-  14,  6),  Tiberius  reduced  it  to  a  nullity, 

ment  made  above  in  chap.  15,  i,  that  But  the  question  is  not  free  from  doubt 

under  Tiberius  elections  of  magistrates  (see  Greenidge,  p.  372). 

were  transferred  from   the  comitia   to  '  In  regard  to  nominatio  and  com- 

the  senate.     It  is  evident  that  in  the  mendatio,  see  n.  on  chap.  14,  6. 
case  of  the   highest  office    of  all,   the 


BOOK    II. 

A.D.  16.    CONSULS  T.  STATILIUS   SISENNA  TAURUS 
AND  L.  SCRIBONIUS  LIBO. 


Commo-      DISTURBANCES  broke  out  in  this  year  in  the  kingdoms   I 
East1"  the  and  provinces  of  the  East.    These  troubles  originated 
with  the  Parthians,1  who  after  petitioning  for,  and 


1  The  relations  of  Rome  with  the 
kingdom  of  Parthia — the  one  power 
towards  which  she  had  a  foreign  policy 
in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word — were 
so  important,  and  the  narrative  of 
Armenian  and  Parthian  affairs  given  by 
Tacitus  (ii.  1-4  ;  vi.  31-37  and  41-44) 
is  so  condensed,  that  a  more  full  and 
consecutive  account  of  them  may  here 
be  given.  The  following  note,  taken 
mainly  from  Professor  Rawlinson's 
'Sixth  Great  Oriental  Monarchy,' and 
'The  Parthian  Coinage'  of  Professor 
Percy  Gardner,  gives  a  short  account 
of  the  Parthians,  and  brings  the  history 
of  their  relations  with  Rome  down  to 
the  point  at  which  it  is  taken  up  by 
Tacitus. 

The  kingdom  of  Parthia  was  now  the 
great  power  of_the  East,  ruling  in 
Oriental  fashion- the  vast  country  be- 
tween the  Euphrates  and  the  Hindoo- 
Koosh.  The  first  mention  of  Parthia 
is  by  Herodotus,  who  includes  it  among 
the  provinces  of  the  Persian  Empire, 
and  names  Parthian  infantry  as  taking 
part  in  the  expedition  of  Xerxes  (iii. 
117).  Their  ancient  home  was  finely 
situated  in  the  well-watered  mountain 
region  which  extends  from  the  Caspian 
Sea  to  the  borders  of  Afghanistan  ; 
having  on  the  N.  the  bare  wastes  of 
the  steppes,  on  the  S.  and  W.  the  arid 
plains  of  the  Persian  desert.  The 
central  and  eastern  parts  of  this  moun- 
tain district  formed  the  province  of 
Parthia ;  the  western  portion,  extending 
to  the  SE.  corner  of  the  Caspian  Sea, 
was  the  seat  of  the  Hyrcanians,  from 


whom  that  sea  received  its  ancient  name 
of  Mare  Hyrcanum.  The  origin  of  both 
peoples  is  unknown ;  but  Professor 
Rawlinson  gives  good  reasons  for  sup- 
posing that  the  Parthians  were  of 
Scythian  or  Turanian  origin,  and  that 
their  ancestors,  like  the  Turcomans 
of  later  times,  had  formed  one  of  those 
hardy  nomad  hordes  that  have  periodi- 
cally swooped  down  from  the  barren 
plains  of  northern  Asia  to  seize  the 
fertile  regions,  and  overmaster  the 
more  civilised  and  less  warlike  races,  of 
the  sunny  South  ;  settling  in  the  coun- 
tries which  they  have  conquered,  but 
never  amalgamating  with  the  peoples 
whom  they  have  subdued. 

For  centuries  the  Parthians  bided 
their  time,  and  nursed  their  strength,  in 
their  mountain  home.  From  the  time 
of  Cyrus  onwards,  their  country  formed 
a  satrapy  of  the  Persian  empire  ;  they 
fought  against  Alexander  at  Arbela, 
and  submitted,  with  the  rest  of  the 
East,  to  his  rule  and  to  that  of  his  suc- 
cessors, until  the  growing  weakness  of 
the  Seleucid  princes,  and  the  removal 
of  their  capital  from  the  Tigris  to 
Antioch,  gave  an  opportunity  to  the 
distant  eastern  provinces  for  revolt. 
First  Bactria  rebelled,  under  a  Greek 
dynasty  of  its  own  ;  next  came  the  re- 
volt of  Parthia,  probably  about  B.C.  250, 
with  consequences  far  more  serious  to 
the  peace  of  the  eastern  world.  A  native 
prince,  Arsaces,  was  set  up  as  king  at 
HecatompylTIsT  with  the  help  appar- 
ently of  an  allied  horde  of  Scythians, 
called  Dahae  ;  and  a  movement  was 


A.D.  16.] 


BOOK    II.   CHAP.    i. 


IOI 


accepting,  their  king  from  Rome,  now  looked  down 
upon   him   as   an   alien,  although  he  was  a  member 


thus  started  whereby  the  work  of  Alex- 
ander was  to  be  undone,  and  the 
sceptre  of  the  East  was  to  pass  from 
Hellenic  hands  into  those  of  a  hardy, 
fierce,  and  alien  race,  brave  but  rude, 
filled  with  the  savage  instincts  of  their 
nomad  ancestors,  and  possessing  a 
mere  veneer  of  Greek  civilisation.  The 
name  Arsaces  remained  henceforth  the 
hereditary  royal  name  :  the  second  of 
that  name  (his  original  name  was 
Tiridates)  annexed  Hyrcania  ;  succeed- 
ing princes  resisted  every  attempt  of  the 
Syrian  kings  to  win  back  the  lost  pro- 
vinces ;  until  at  length  Mithradates  I. 
(B.C.  174-136)  came  forth  as  a  con- 
queror, wrested  from  Syria  all  her 
eastern  provinces,  and  established  a  new 
empire,  destined  to  last  for  four  cen- 
turies, over  all  the  regions  from  the 
Euphrates  to  the  mountain  frontiers  of 
India. 

The  first  contact  of  Rome  with  Par- 
thia  was  m~KE.92,  in  wTitdh  year  Sulla 
wassant  out  Jo  .check  JLhe  ambitious 
Mithradates,  king  of  Pontus, 


ing  of  Po 

upon  Cappadocia  and  other  provinces. 
Tigranes,  the  Armenian  king,  was  son- 
in-law  of  Mithradates,  and  had  assisted 
him  in  his  attempts  to  gain  possession 
of  Cappadocia:  hence  Sulla  turned 
savagely  upon  Armenia,  and  inflicted 
upon  her  a  severe  defeat.  Now  Ti- 
granes had  been  at  war  with  Parthia, 
and  had  encroached,  not  without  treach- 
ery, upon  her  territory  ;  it  was  natural 
therefore  for  the  Parthian  king  (Mith- 
radates II.)  to  make  overtures  for  an 
alliance  with  Rome.  His  ambassador 
had  a  meeting  with  Sulla  ;  but  nothing 
more  than  friendly  sentiments  were  in- 
terchanged on  that  occasion.  During 
the  later  phases  of  the  Mithradatic  war, 
the  Parthian  king  (Phraates  III.)  was 
more  anxious  to  recover  territory  seized 
by  Armenia  than  to  assist  the  Romans. 
He  irritated  Lucullus  (B.C.  69)  by 
promises  of  help  unfulfilled  ;  but  sub- 
sequently made  an  arrangement  with 
Pompey  (B.C.  66)  whereby  he  was  to 
prevent  Armenia  from  helping  Mithra- 
dates, while  Pompey,  in  return,  was  to 
aid  him  in  his  designs  upon  that 
country.  When  the  Mithradatic  war 
was  over,  Pompey  failed  to  keep  his 
promise  ;  he  cleared  the  Parthians  out 
of  Armenia,  and  a  rupture  between  the 
two  countries  was  narrowly  avoided. 

Soon  after  this,  Phraates  III.   was 
murdered  by  his  two  sons,  Mithradates 


and  Orodes.  The  two  brothers  quar- 
relled ;  Mithradates,  the  elder  of  the 
two,  worsted  and  driven  out,  sought 
help  from  Gabinius,  pro-consul  of 
Syria,  who  received  his  overtures  favour- 
ably ;  and  though  nothing  came  of  it 
at  the  time,  an  excuse  was  thus  afforded 
for  Roman  intervention  in  Parthian 
affairs.  Mithradates  carried  on  the 
struggle  for  a  time  :  in  the  end  he  sub- 
mitted to,  and  was  murdered  by,  his 
brother  Orodes,  who  thenceforth  ruled 
as  undisputed  king  of  Parthia.  It  was 
against  Orodes  that  the  disastrous  ex- 
pedition of  Crassus  was  undertaken  in 
B.C.  53,  ending  in  the  almost  total  de- 
struction of  the  Roman  army  by  the 
Parthian  archer-horsemen  on  the  fatal 
field  of  Carrhae. 

From  this  time  onwards  until  the 
reign  of  Trajan,  the  Euphrates  re- 
mained the  eastern  boundary  of  the 
Roman  Empire ;  but  for  a  time  it 
seemed  as  if  the  Parthians  were  to 
push  back  Rome  towards  the  West. 
Pompey,  in  his  difficulties,  trafficked  for 
Parthian  support  ;  Caesar's  projected 
expedition  to  wipe  out  the  disgrace  of 
Carrhae  was  cut  short  by  his  assassina- 
tion ;  and  a  body  of  Parthian  horse 
fought  for  Brutus  and  Cassias  at  Phi- 
lippi.  Then  came  the  Parthian  oppor- 
tunity. While  Antony  was  dallying  in 
Egypt  with  Cleopatra  in  B.C.  40,  a 
Parthian  host,  led  by  the  renegade 

8.  Labienus,  and  Pacorus  son  of 
ro3es7~burst  into  Syria  and  Asia, 
overthrew  the  Roman  governor  Deci- 
dius  Saxa,  and  advanced  to  the  Aegean  : 
'  for  a  year  Western  Asia  Minor  changed 
masters  ;  the  rule  of  Rome  disappeared, 
and  the  Parthians  were  recognised  as 
the  dominant  power"  (Rawlinson,  p. 
189).  Hut  it  was  not  for  long, ,  In  the 
course  of  two  swift  campaigns,  in  B.C. 
39  and  38,  Antony's  hardy  legate, 
R,_V£ntidius,  stemmed  the  invasion, 
defeatedancT  slew  Labienus,  destroyed 
Pacorus  and  his  host  in  a  final  battle  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Euphrates,  and 
put  an  end,  once  for  all,  to  the  aggres- 
sive designs  of  Parthia  on  the  West. 
Inconsolable  for  the  death  of  Pacorus, 
Orodes  abdicated  soon  afterwards  in 
favour  of  his  eldest  remaining  son, 
Ph_raates  IV. ,  who  soon  after  confirmed 
himselT  on  the  throne  by  parricide. 

One  more  attempt  at  an  invasion  of 
Parthia  was  made  by  Antony.  Collect- 
ing an  enormous  army  of  100,000  men 


IO2 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  16. 


of  the  Royal  house  of  the  Arsacidae.     The  name  of  2 
this  king  was  Vonones.     He  had  been  given  over 
to  Augustus  as  a  hostage  by  Phraates;   for  though 


in  8.0.36,  in  alliance  with  Artavasdes, 
king  of  Armenia,  he  designecTtb  attack 
Parthia  from  the  north  ;  but  permitting 
himself  to  be  inveigled  by  Artavasdes 
into  a  long  and  desperate  enterprise 
against  Media  Atropatene,  he  was  set 
upon  by  the  Parthians  on  his  return  ;  a 
large  portion  of  his  army  was  cut  off, 
and  numbers  perished  from  the  severity 
of  the  climate  before  he  made  good  his 
retreat.  .  Enraged  with  Artavasdes  for 
having  deserted  him  in  his  time  of  diffi- 
culty, Antony  wheedled  him  into  nego- 
tiations, and  finally  seized  his  person 
(see  note  on  chap.  3,  i);  but  the  final 
rupture  between  Antony  and  Augustus 
was  now  at  hand,  and  all  troops  had  to 
be  recalled  from  the  East  to  take  part  in 
the  great  struggle  which  was  to  decide 
the  mastery  of  the  Roman  world. 

Thus  ended  all  Roman  attempts  on 
Parthia,  the  contest  between  the  two 
powers  being  henceforth  mainly  con- 
fined to  the  attempt  to  gain  a  para- 
mount influence  over  the  state  of 
Armenia. 

King  Phraates  IV.  reigned  from 
B.C.  38  to  B.C.  2:  his  reign  brings  us 
down  to  the  events  recorded  in  the 
chapter  before  us.  In  B.C.  33,  his 
cruelties  raised  against  him  a  revolt, 
headed  by  Tiridates  ;  he  was  expelled, 
and  for  some  three  years  Tiridates 
reigned  in  his  stead.  But  Phraates 
was  restored  by  the  help  of  friendly 
Scythians  ;  and  Tiridates  fled  to 
Augustus,  carrying  with  him  the 
younger  son  of  Phraates.  Augustus 
declined  to  give  up  Tiridates,  but 
shortly  afterwards  restored  the  son,  in 
the  hope  of  receiving  back  the 
standards  and  the  prisoners  captured 
at  Carrhae.  At  last,  in  B.C.  20,  when 
Augustus  seemed  in  a  position  to 
threaten  war  as  an  alternative,  the 
standards  were  restored  into  the  hands 
of  Tiberius  ;  an  event  which  was  loudly 
acclaimed  by  the  writers  of  the  day  as 
the  crowning  glory  of  the  foreign 
policy  of  Augustus  (Suet.  Oct.  21  ;  Hor. 
Od.  iv.  15,  6-8;  Ov.  Trist.  ii.  227, 
etc.). 

The  succession  of  Parthian  kings, 
from  the  time  when  Rome  first  came 
into  contact  with  Parthia  down  to  the 
end  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  is  as 
follows.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  all 
Parthian  kings  bore  the  name  of 


Arsaces,    in    addition    to    their    own 
proper  name. 

1.  Mithradates  II. ,  or  Mithradates 
the  Great,  succeeded  his  father,  Arta- 
barnis    II.,    in    B.C.    123.     This    king 
drove  back    to   the  East  a  horde   of 
invading    Scythians   called  Sakas;   it 
was  he  who  negotiated  with  Sulla.    He 
reigned  at  least  until  B.C.  87. 

2.  The  successor    or  successors    of 
Mithradates  II.  are  unknown  :  a  king 
named  Sinatroces,  of  whom  nothing  is 
known,  probably  reigned  from  B.C.  76 
to  69. 

3.  Phraates  III.,  son  of  Sinatroces. 
He    was    engaged    in    constant    wars 
with  Tigranes  I.  of  Armenia  ;  he  nearly 
came  to  war  with  Pompey.      He  was 
murdered  by  his  two  sons,  Mithradates 
and  Orodes  :  of  whom — 

4.  Mithradates    III.    had    a    short 
reign,  being  expelled  for  his  cruelty  by 
the    Parthian    nobles.      He    was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  brother — 

5.  Orodes  I. ,  B.C.  55  to  37,  in  whose 
reign  Crassus  was  defeated  at  Carrhae 
by  the  Surena,  or  Grand  Marshal,  in 
B.C.  53,  and  the  Parthian  arms  were 
pushed  to  the  Aegean  in  B.C.  40.     He 
was  murdered  by  his  son — 

6.  Phraates  IV.,  B.C.  37  to  2.    This 
monarch  restored    the    standards    to 
Augustus  in  B.C.  20,  and  sent  his  four 
sons  (of  whom  Vonones  was  the  eldest) 
to  Rome.    He  also  was  murdered  by  his 
son — 

7.  Phraataces,  B.C.  2  to  A.D.  4,  who 
came  to  terms  with  Gaius  Caesar.    He 
was  killed  in  an  insurrection. 

8.  Orodes   II.,  assassinated   for    his 
cruelties  in  A.D.  7  or  8.  The  Parthians 
then  sent  for — 

9.  Vonones,  son  of  Phraates  IV.    He 
soon  disgusted  the  Parthians  (chap.  2, 
3-6),  who  substituted  the  Arsacid — 

10.  Artabanus    ///..    who     had     a 
vigorous  but  chequered  reign,  extend- 
ing from  A.D.  16  to  40,  and  covering 
all  the  events  narrated  by  Tacitus  in 
the  first  six  books  of  the  Annals  (ii. 
1-4;  ii.   58  and    68;    vi.    31-37    and 
41-44). 

In  all  the  revolutions  and  counter- 
revolutions of  Parthia  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  no  Parthian  king  or  pretender  ever 
failed,  in  time  of  difficulty,  to  get  the 
aid  of  allied  Scythian  tribes  from  beyond 
the  border. 


A.D.  16.] 


BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   1-2. 


103 


that  monarch  had  repulsed  the  Roman  armies  and 
their  generals,  he  had  shown  every  mark  of  respect 
towards  Augustus,  and  with  a  view  to  making  fast 
his  friendship  had  sent  to  him  some  of  his  own 
children— not  so  much  because  he  was  afraid  of  Rome, 
as  because  he  distrusted  his  own  countrymen.1 

1  When  Phraates  and  the  kings  who  succeeded  him 
had  been  assassinated  in  the  course  of  family  quarrels,2 
a  deputation  of  leading  Parthians  came  to  Rome  to 
invite  Vonones,  the  eldest  of  the  sons  of  Phraates, 

2  to  return.     Augustus  took  this  as  a  high  compliment 
to   himself;   he   loaded  Vonones  with    presents,  and 
Vonones  received  from  the  barbarians   the  welcome 

3  that   always  awaits  a  new  ruler.      But   after  a  time 
a  sense  of  shame  came  over  them  \-They  had  under- 
gone,  they  thought,  a  national  degradation :   they  had 
gone  to  another  world  to  fetch  a  king  tainted  with  the 
manners  of  their  foes.     The  throne  of  the  Arsacidae  was 
being  dealt  with  and  disposed  of  as  if  it  were  one  of  the 


1  The  difficulties  of  Phraates  in  his 
own  kingdom  had  enabled  Augustus  to 
obtain  by  diplomacy,  in  B.C.  20,  the 
result  which  Caesar  had  intended  to 
achieve  by  force  of  arms— the  restora- 
tion of  the  standards  lost  by  Crassus  at 
the  battle  of  Carrhae,  B.C.  53,  together 
with  a  nominal  acknowledgment  of 
Roman  supremacy.  Phraates  con- 
tinued, till  his  death,  to  maintain 
friendly  relations  with  Rome ;  and 
about  B.C.  10,  as  here  mentioned, 
he  sent  four  of  his  sons  to  Rome — 
probably  from  fear  that  one  of  them 
might  be  set  up  as  a  pretender  against 
himself.  The  names  of  these  sons  were 
Vonones,  Seraspadanes,  Rhodaspes, 
and  Phraates  ;  they  were  treated  hand- 
somely and  entertained  as  princes. 
Tacitus,  like  other  historians,  wrongly 
describes  Vonones  as  a  hostage  (chap, 
x,  i). 

8  The  reigns  which  followed  that  of 
Phraates  IV.  were  short  and  stormy. 
Phraates  himself  was  poisoned  in  B.C.  a, 
by  his  own  trusted  son  Phraataces,  who 
was  aided  in  the  crime  by  his  mother 
Musa,  who  had  been  the  favourite  wife 


The  Par- 
thians  dis- 
satisfied 
with  their 
king 
Vonones ; 


he  had 
been  given 
them  by 
Rome, 


of  Phraates,  and  who,  though  originally 
a  slave-girl,  was  a  woman  of  great 
capacity  as  well  as  beauty.  Tempted 
by  proposals  from  Armenia,  Phraataces 
adopted  at  first  a  defiant  attitude 
towards  Augustus,  and  demanded  the 
surrender  of  his  four  brothers  ;  but 
finding  Augustus  resolute  to  maintain 
Roman  influence  in  Armenia  at  allcosts, 
he  gave  way,  met  Gaius  Caesar  in  a 
friendly  interview  in  A.D.  i  (see  next 
chapter),  and  undertook  to  interfere  no 
further  in  the  affairs  of  that  country. 
After  a  reign  of  a  few  years,  Phraataces 
was  deposed  and  put  to  death ;  the 
nobles,  it  would  seem,  being  disgusted 
by  his  associating  his  mother  with  him- 
self in  the  government,  as  well  as  by 
the  extravagant  honours  paid  to  her. 
An  Arsacid  prince,  Orodes,  was  now 
put  upon  the  throne  ;  but  his  violence 
and  cruelty  soon  alienated  his  subjects, 
and  he  too  was  assassinated,  in  A.D. 
7  or  8.  Thereupon  a  mission  was 
despatched  to  Rome  to  invite  Vonones 
to  the  throne,  with  the  results  recorded 
in  this  and  the  following  chapter. 


104 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  16. 


and  his 
tastes  were 
not  to  their 
mind. 


Artabanus 
called  in. 


Affairs  of 
Armenia. 


Roman  provinces :    what  of  their  old  boast  of  having  4 
slain    Crassus    and   routed  Antonius,   if  a   minion    of 
Augustus,  who  had  passed  all  these  years  in  slavery,  were 
to  lord  it  over  them  ? 

These  feelings  were  heightened  by  the  king's  own  5 
habits,  which  were  alien  from  those  of  his  ancestors. 
He  seldom  hunted ;  he  had  no  taste  for  horses ;  if  he 
made  a  progress  through  the  cities,  he  rode  in  a 
litter;  he  had  no  stomach  for  the  national  feasts. 
He  was  ridiculed  also  for  his  Greek  attendants,  and  e 
for  his  habit  of  keeping  under  seal  even  the  most 
ordinary  domestic  articles.  He  was  easy  of  access, 
indeed,  and  affable  to  all  comers ;  but  these  virtues 
were  as  strange  to  the  Parthians  as  his  vices :  both 
being  equally  foreign  to  them,  they  hated  the  good 
and  the  bad  alike. 

They  accordingly  called   in   Artabanus,  who  was  3. 
also   of  Arsacid   blood,   and   had   been    brought    up 
among    the   Dahae.      This   prince  was   routed   in   a 
first  encounter;  but  he  rallied  his  forces  and  gained 
possession   of   the   throne.      The   defeated    Vonones  2 
took  refuge   in  Armenia,  the   throne   of  which  was 
at  that    time  vacant.1      Now  that   country,  situated 


1  For  the  Armenian  monarchy,  and  its 
relations  with  Rome,  see  n.  on  chap.  56, 
i.  The  somewhat  intricate  succession 
of  Armenian  kings  here  enumerated 
may  be  made  clearer  by  the  following 
table  :— 

1.  Tigranes     1,    (by    some    called 
Tigranes  II.),  descendant  of  Artaxias, 
the  founder  of  the  Armenian  kingdom. 
This  was  the  king  with  whom  Lucullus 
fought  (B.C.  69-67),  and  who  submitted 
to  Pompey  (B.C.  66-65).     He  died  be- 
tween B.  c.  56  and  54. 

2.  Artavasdes  /.,  son  of  Tigranes  I., 
persuaded  Antony  to  attack  Media,  and 
deserted  him  in   the  campaign ;    was 
treacherously     seized     by    Antony   in 
B.C.  34,  and  put  to  death  by  Cleopatra 
in  B.C.  30. 

3.  Artaxias  II. ,  son  of  Artavasdes  I. , 


was  hostile  to  Rome,  and  massacred 
the  Romans  in  Armenia ;  Augustus, 
being  appealed  to,  sent  Tiberius  to 
put  Tigranes,  the  exiled  brother  of 
Artaxias,  on  the  throne  :  Artaxias  was 
murdered  (per  dolum  propinquorum} 
before  the  arrival  of  Tiberius. 

4.  Tigranes  //.,  set  up  by  Tiberius 
in  B.C.  20.     A  short  reign. 

5.  Tigranes  III.  and  Erato,  son  and 
daughter  of  Tigranes  II. ,  intermarry  and 
reign  conjointly  :  another  short  reign. 

6.  Artavasdes  II.,  son  or  brother  of 
Artaxias   II.,  is  set  up  by  Augustus. 
He  is  apparently  driven  out  again  by 
Tigranes  III.  and  Erato. 

7.  Ariobarzanes,  a  Mede,  is  set  up 
by  Gaius  Caesar,  B.C.  i  to  A.n.  4. 

8.  Artavasdes  III.,  son  of  Ariobar- 
zanes, is  soon  dismissed. 


A.D.  16.] 


BOOK    II.   CHAPS.    2-4. 


105 


between  the  empires  of  Rome  and  Parthia,  was 
mistrustful  of  us  in  consequence  of  the  criminal  pro- 
ceedings of  Antonius,  who  had  first  decoyed  their 
king  Artavasdes  under  pretence  of  friendship,  then 
thrown  him  into  prison,  and  finally  put  him  to  death. 

s  Artaxias,  the  son  of  Artavasdes,  mindful  of  his 
father's  fate,  was  unfriendly  to  us ;  but  he  was  pro- 
tected in  his  throne  and  person  by  the  power  of  the 

4  Arsacidae  until  he  was  treacherously  slain  by  his 
own  kinsmen.  Thereupon  Augustus  gave  Tigranes 
to  the  Armenians  for  their  king,  and  Tiberius  Nero 

r>  conducted  him  into  his  kingdom.  But  neither 
Tigranes  nor  his  two  children  reigned  for  any  length 
of  time,  though  the  latter,  in  Oriental  fashion,  were 
united  in  matrimony  as  well  as  in  sovereignty. 

i  Then  another  Artavasdes  was  set  up  as  king  by 
order  of  Augustus ;  but  he  too  was  soon  deposed, 
not  without  disaster  to  our  arms.  Next,  Gaius  Caesar l 


9.  Tigranes    IV.:    a    king    of    this 
name,  not  mentioned  by  Tacitus,  would 
appear  to  have  been  set  up  by  Augustus 
(see   Mommsen    on    Mont.   Anc. ,   pp. 
76-80). 

10.  A    queen    Erato    (perhaps    the 
same  as  No.  5  above,  re-instated). 

11.  Vonones,    son    of    the    Parthian 
monarch,    Phraates   IV.     He    flies    to 
Syria,  A.D.  16  ;  tries  to  escape,  and  is 
put  to  death,  A.D.  19  (chap.  68,  3). 

12.  Zeno,    son   of    Polemo,    king  of 
Pontus,  is  chosen  by  the  people  to  suc- 
ceed   Vonones.      Germanicus    crowns 
him  king  at  Artaxia  in  A.D.   18  under 
the  name  of  Artaxias  III.  (chap.  56,  3). 

13.  On  the  death  of  Artaxias  III.  in 
A.D.  35,  Artabanus,  king  of  Parthia, 
puts  his  son  Arsaces  on  the  Armenian 
throne.     Arsaces  is  soon  murdered  at 
the  instigation  of  the   Iberian   prince 
Mithradates,  who   seizes   the  country 
(vi.  31-34). 

1  Gaius  Caesar  was  sent  to  the  East 
in  A.D.  i,  during  his  consulship. 
The  Mon.  Anc.  mentions  the  Arme- 
nians as  rebelling,  and  as  reduced  by 
Gaius  ;  who  set  up  first,  Ariobarzanes 
(son  of  Artavasdes),  and  at  his  death, 
his  son  Artavasdes  ;  after  which  Augus- 


Reigns  of 
Artavas- 
des, Artax- 
ias and 
Tigranes  ; 


of  Artavas- 
des III., 
Ariobar- 
zanes and 
Erato. 


tus  put  Tigranes  on  the  throne.  Gains 
died  Feb.  21,  A.D.  4.  As  the  Romans 
never  again  attempted  to  make  a  serious 
invasion  of  Parthia,  it  was  in  Armenia 
that  the  interests  of  the  two  powers 
came  most  frequently  into  collision. 
When  Tiberius,  in  B.C.  20,  set  Tigranes 
upon  the  throne  of  Armenia,  Augustus 
regarded  this  intervention  as  equivalent 
to  a  conquest  of  Armenia.  A  denarius 
of  that  year  bears  the  legend  Armenia 
capta  (Cohen,  2nd  ed.  pp.  63-64)  ; 
and  Augustus  says  of  himself,  '  When  I 
might  have  made  Armenia  Major  into  a 
province  I  preferred  to  hand  it  over  to 
Tigranes  '  (Mon.  Anc.  5,  24-27)  ;  and 
again,  in  regard  to  the  events  which 
led  to  the  mission  of  Gaius  Caesar  in 
B.C.  i,  eandem  gent  em  postea  descis- 
centem  ft  rebellantem  domitam  per 
Gaium  filium  tneum  regi  Ariobarzani 
tradidi.  Armenia  was  thus  intended 
to  be  a  Roman  Protectorate  ;  and  a 
very  troublesome  one  it  proved,  as  it 
responded  to  all  the  ups  and  downs 
of  party  faction  in  Parthia.  Rome  pur- 
sued a  very  poor  and  half-hearted 
policy  towards  both  kingdoms.  Always 
anxious  to  have  the  appearance  of 
patronising  them,  always  putting  a 


io6 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  16. 


Vonones 
put  on  the 
throne  of 
Armenia, 
and  ex- 
pelled. 


Germani- 
cus  bent 
upon  suc- 
cess in 
Germany. 


He  reflects 
upon  his 
past  cam- 
paigns, 


was  appointed  to  settle  the  affairs  of  Armenia ;  he  set  2 
up  Ariobarzanes,  who  was  by  birth  a  Mede,  and  was 
acceptable  to  the  Armenians  for  his  handsome  person 
and  his  high  spirit.     Ariobarzanes  died  an  accidental  3 
death ;  but  the  people  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
his  son,  and  for  a  time  they  tried  female  government, 
under  a  queen  of  the  name  of  Erato.     This  queen  was 
soon  deposed;   whereupon,  in  a  state  of  doubt  and 
disorganisation,  not  so  much  free  as  masterless,  they 
set  the  fugitive  Vonones  on  the  throne.    But  Artabanus  4 
assumed  a  threatening  attitude;  Vonones  had  little  or 
no  backing  among  the  Armenians ;  and  as  we  should 
have  been  involved  in  war  with  the  Parthians  had  we 
employed  force  on  his  behalf,  Creticus  Silanus,  the 
Governor  of  Syria,   sent   for  him   and   kept   him   a 
prisoner :  maintaining  him  however  in  his  royal  state 
and  title.      How  Vonones   attempted   afterwards   to  5 
escape  from  this  ignominious  position,  I  shall  relate 
in  the  proper  place. 

Meanwhile  Tiberius  was  by  no  means  displeased  5- 
by  these  disturbances  in  the  East,  since  they  afforded  . 
him  a  pretext  for  removing  Germanicus  from  his  own 
familiar  legions,  and  exposing  him   to   the   risks   of 
treachery  or  disaster  in  a  new  provincial  command. 
Germanicus,  on  the  contrary,  was  all  the  more  bent  2 
upon  hurrying  on  a  victory  on  account  of  the  devo- 
tion of  his  soldiers  to  him,  and  the  aversion   of  his 
uncle.     He  pondered  over  plans   of  campaign ;   and 
reflected  upon  his  reverses  and  successes  during  the 
two  past  years.1    The  Germans,  he  saw,  had  the  worst  3 
of  it   in   pitched   battles  and   on   level  ground;   the 
woods,  the  bogs,  the  shortness  of  the  summer,  and 


finger  into  their  affairs,  she  sheered  off 
the  moment  any  real  opposition  was 
encountered.     See  n.  on  vi.  37,  6. 
1  Germanicus  had  been  appointed  to 


the  command  of  the  Rhine  frontier  in 
A.D.  13,  having  held  his  first  consulship 
A.D.  12.  His  first  campaign  was  that 
of  A.D.  14,  narrated  in  i.  49-51. 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK    II.  CHAPS.  4-6.  107 

the  early  setting  in  of  winter,  were  the  things  that 
told  in  their  favour.  His  own  men  had  suffered 
more  from  long  marches,  and  from  loss  of  their  arms, 
than  from  injuries  in  battle.  The  supply  of  horses  in 
the  Gallic  provinces  was  used  up;1  his  long  baggage- 
4  trains  were  easy  to  surprise,  and  hard  to  protect. 
If,  however,  he  were  to  make  his  approach  by  resolves  to 

approach 

sea,  he  would  occupy  the  enemy  s  country  speedily  by  sea, 
and  without  his  knowledge,  and  begin  operations  at 
once ;  the  legions  and  their  supplies  would  advance 
together;  horses  and  horsemen,  conveyed  up  estuaries 
and  river-courses,  would  be  landed  without  loss  in 
the  heart  of  Germany. 

1  Germanicus  made  up  his  mind  accordingly.     He  and  builds 
despatched    Publius   Vitellius  and   Gaius   Antius   to 

take  the  census  of  Gaul.     Silius,  Anteius  and  Caecina 

2  were  charged  with  the  building  of  a  flotilla.     It  was 
thought  that  a  thousand  vessels  would  suffice.     Some 
were  built  of  shallow  draught,  sharp  at   both   ends, 
but  broad  in  the  beam,  so  as  better  to  stand  the  seas, 
and  some  flat-bottomed,  so  as  to  take  the  ground  with- 
out hurt ;  most  of  them  were  fitted  with  steering-oars 
on  both  sides,2  that  they  might  change  their  direction 
rapidly,  and  so  be  able  to  take  the  shore  either  way 

8  on.  Many  were  decked  over,  to  carry  engines, 
horses  or  stores.  Composed  thus  of  vessels  handy 
for  sailing  and  swift  to  row,  and  having  on  board  a 
force  full  of  enthusiasm,  the  flotilla  presented  a  truly 
formidable  appearance. 

1  An  exaggeration  ;  for  we  read  that  sentations  of  Greek  vessels  show  that  it 

in  A.D.  14  ad suppUnda  exerdtus  damna  was  not  unusual  to  have  two  such  steer- 

certavere  Galliae  Hisfaniae  Italia  (i.  ing  oars,  one  on  each   side,  for  more 

71,  3).     These  words    show    that    the  rapid  and   effective    steering.      When 

losses  of  Germanicus  in  Germany  must  there  were  two  such  oars  they  could 

have  been  considerable.  at  any  moment  be  used,  not  merely  to 

*  It  will  be  remembered  that  ancient  steer  or  stop  the  vessel,  but   to  pull 

ships  were  steered  by  an  oar  at  the  side  backwards, 
of  the  vessel,  near  the  stern.     Repre- 


io8 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  16. 


Rendez- 
vous at  the 
mouth  of 
the  Rhine. 


Raids 
against  the 
Chatti  and 
towards 
the  Lippe. 


A  rendezvous  was  appointed  at  the  Batavian  Delta,  4 
where  good  landing-places  afforded  every  facility  for 
embarking  troops,  and  fitting  out  an  armed  expedition. 
For  the  river  Rhine,  which  'down  to  this  point  flows  5 
in  a  single  channel,  broken  only  by  small  islands, 
separates  as  it  were  into  two  rivers  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Batavian  territory.  The  branch  which  skirts 
the  German  bank  preserves  its  name,  and  its  rapidity 
of  current,  until  it  mingles  with  the  Ocean ;  that  on 
the  Gallic  side,  which  is  broader  and  more  sluggish, 
has  its  name  changed  to  '  Vahala'  by  the  inhabitants. 
Lower  down,  it  changes  its  name  again  for  that  of  the 
Meuse,  and  discharges  itself  through  the  vast  mouth 
of  that  river  into  the  same  Ocean. 

While    the    flotilla    was    collecting,    Germanicus  7 
despatched  the  legate  Silius  with  a  light  force  to  raid 
the  Chatti;1  while  he  himself,  hearing  that  the  fort 
upon  the  river   Lippe  was  being  besieged,  marched 
with   six  legions    in   that    direction.     Sudden    rains,  2 
however,  prevented  Silius  from  doing  anything  more 
than   carry  off  some   booty,  together  with  the  wife 
and  daughter  of  Arpus,  chief  of  the  Chatti ;  and  Ger* 
manicus  got  no  opportunity  of  engaging  the  besiegers 
of  the  fort,2  for  they  dispersed   at   the  news  of  his 
approach  :  before  doing  so  they  destroyed  the  mound  3 
recently  set  up  as  a  memorial  to  the  legions  of  Varus, 
and  the  old  altar  in  honour  of  Drusus.     The  mound  4 
Germanicus  thought  it  better  to  leave  as  it  was ;  but 


1  This  expedition  was  to  keep  the 
Chatti  employed,  and  prevent  them  from 
joining  the  Cherusci.  In  each  cam- 
paign we  hear  of  similar  by-excur- 
sions. Germanicus  attacked  the  Chatti 
separately  in  A.D.  15  (i.  56).  On  that 
occasion  the  Cherusci  had  thought  of 
helping  the  Chatti.  The  Marsi  also 
were  attacked  separately  at  the  same 
time  (ib.). 


2  Nipp.  thinks  this  fort  could  not 
have  been  the  same  as  Fort  Aliso  (below 
§  5),  as  Tacitus  would  naturally  have 
named  it  when  mentioning  it  for  the 
first  time.  Fort  Aliso  was  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Lippe  and  Ahse  (Dio,  liv. 
33,  4) :  the  fort  here  referred  to  was  pro- 
bably further  E.,  near  the  Teutoburger 
Wald. 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK    II.    CHAPS.   6-8.  109 

he  restored  the  altar,  and  took  part  with  the  legions 
5  in  a  funeral  procession  in  his  father's  honour.     And 
he  secured  the  whole  country  between  Fort  Aliso  and 
the  Rhine  by  a  new  line  of  earthworks. 

1  By  this  time  the  fleet  had  mustered.     The  ships  Muster  of 

....  .        .  the  flotilla. 

with  supplies  were  sent  on  ahead;  the  legionaries 
and  the  allies  were  distributed  over  the  various 
vessels ;  and  Germanicus  himself,  entering  the  canal 
known  as  'the  Fosse  of  Drusus/1  addressed  a  prayer 
to  his  father  :2  entreating  him  to  look  graciously  upon 
an  enterprise  so  like  his  own,  and  to  aid  him  both  in 
counsel  and  in  action  by  his  memory  and  example. 
Passing  thence  through  the  lagoons  into  the  ocean,  he  Germani- 

.....  .    ,  r  ,        r    ,  cus  enters 

sailed  without  mishap  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  river  the  Ems. 

2  Ems.     He  left  the  fleet  upon  the  left   bank  of  that 
river ;    but    as  the    troops   were   to    operate  on   the 
right  bank,  it  would  have  been  better  had  he  either 
taken  it  further  up  the  stream,  or  landed  his  army  on 
the  other  side.     As  it  was,  several  days  were  wasted 

3  in  the  construction  of  a  bridge.     The  cavalry  and  the 
legions,  crossing  the  first  tidal  marshes   before   the 
water  rose,  passed  over  in  good  order ;  but  the  rear, 
which  was  made  up  of  allies,  the  Batavians  among 
the   number,  was   thrown   into    confusion   in   conse- 
quence of  the  men  plunging  into  the  water  to  show 
off  their  skill  in  swimming;  and  some  of  them  were 
drowned. 

4  While  Germanicus  was  laying  out  his  camp,  news  Revolt  of 

..Q,       ,  i        i  •      i  •  TT       tne  Ampsi- 

came  that  the  Ampsivarn3  had  revolted  in  his  rear.  He  varii. 
at  once  sent  off  Stertinius  with  a  body  of  cavalry  and 

1  For  this  canal,  see  Furn.  and  Suet.  *  The  MS.  reads  Angrivarii  ;  but  as 
Claudius  I.     The  work  connected  the  that    people    are  mentioned  as   living 
Rhine  near  Arnheim  with  the  old  Yssel  beyond  the  Weser,   and  bordering  on 
at  Doesburg.  the  Cherusci  (chap.  19,  3).  we  should 

2  His  father,  Drusus,  had  been  the  read    Ampsivarii   with    Nipp.      That 
first  to  sail  upon  the  North  Sea  (Ocean urn  tribe  lived  between  the  Ems  and   the 
Septemptrionalem,  Suet.  Claud,  i).  Weser  ;  they  were  old  allies  of  Rome. 


IIO  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  16. 

light-armed  troops,  who  chastised  this   perfidy  with 
fire  and  sword. 

Colloquy  of        There  was  nothing  now  to  separate  the  Romans  9- 
and  his       from   the   Cheruscans  but  the  waters  of  the  Weser. 
FiavusL       Arminius  took  his  stand  upon  the  further  bank  with 
his  chiefs  around  him,  and  enquired  if  Caesar  had 
arrived.     On  being  informed  that  he  was  there,  he 
craved  permission  to  speak  with  his  brother  Flavus,  a  2 
man  of  noted  loyalty,  who   had    lost  an   eye  while 
fighting  under  Tiberius  some  years  before,  and  was 
now  serving  in  the  Roman  army.     Permission  having  3 
been  granted,  Flavus  stepped  forward  and  was  saluted 
by  his    brother.      Dismissing    his    own    attendants, 
Arminius  requested  that  the  bowmen  posted  on  our 
side  of  the  bank  might  be  withdrawn.     As  soon  as 
they  had  retired,  he  asked  his  brother  how  he  had  got 
that  ugly  wound  upon  his  face.    Informed  of  the  place  4 
and  occasion  of  the  battle,  Arminius  enquired,  What 
reward  had  he  got  for   it  ?    Flavus  enumerated   his  5 
increase  of  pay,  his  necklace  and  crown,  and  other 
military  distinctions.      Arminius  scoffed  at  all  these 
as  the  trumpery  rewards  of  slavery.1 

They  Then  began  a  colloquy  in  opposing  strains.     The   10 

cometo  one  dwelt  on  the  power  of  Rome,  the  wealth  of 
Caesar,  the  heavy  punishments  meted  to  the  con- 
quered, the  kindly  treatment  in  store  for  his  brother 
if  he  submitted  :  even  his  wife  and  child  had  not  been 
treated  as  enemies.  The  other  spoke  of  the  sacred 
claims  of  country,  of  their  ancestral  freedom,  of  the 
national  Gods  of  Germany,  of  their  mother,  who  added 
her  prayers  to  his  '.—let  not  Flavus  choose  to  be  the 

1  This    interview   and    conversation  eagles,  chap.  17,  2 ;  and  still  more  the 

across  the  river  have  an  air  of  romance  night  ramble  of  Germanicus  among  the 

about  them.    So  also  have  the  dream  in  tents  of  the  camp,  chap.  13. 
chap.   14,   i  ;   the  omen   of  the  flying 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   8-n.  Ill 

deserter  and  betrayer,    rather  than    the  leader,   of  his 

2  own  kindred  and  his  country.      By  degrees  they  fell 
to  reproaches ;   and  not  even  the  intervening  river 
would  have  kept  them  from  coming  to  blows,  had  not 
Stertinius  run  up  and  held  back  Flavus,  who  was  full 

3  of  wrath,  and  crying  out  for  horse  and  arms.     On  the 
other  side  was  to  be  seen  Arminius,  threatening  and 
challenging  to  combat:    he   used  the  Latin  tongue1 
freely  in   his   discourse,  having  once  commanded   a 
force  of  his  countrymen  in  our  army. 

1  Next  day  the  Germans  formed  up  on  the  other  The 
side  of  the  river.     Not  deeming  it  good  generalship  cross  the 
to  risk  a  crossing  for  his  legions  without  a  bridge  and 

a  force  to  hold  it,  Germanicus  sent  his  cavalry  over  by 

2  fords,  under  the  command  of  Stertinius  and  Aemilius 
—the  latter  one  of  the  first-grade  centurions.     The 
two  passed  over  at  separate  points,  so  as  to  divide 

3  the    forces   of   the    enemy.      The    Batavians   dashed  Batavians 
through  where  the  current  was  swiftest,  under  their  handled, 
leader  Chariovalda.      The   Cherusci,  feigning  flight, 

lured  our  men  on  to  a  level  spot  surrounded  by  wood  : 
then  springing  on  them  from  every  side,  drove  in 
their  front,  followed  them  up  as  they  gave  way,  and 
having  rolled  them  up  into  one  mass,  assailed  them 

4  both  from  near  and  far.     Chariovalda  held  his  ground 
against  this  fierce  onset  for  a  time  ;  till  at  last,  urging 
his  men  to  keep  together  and  force  their  way  through 
the  attacking  hordes  in  one  compact  body,  he  threw 
himself  into  the  thickest  of  the  fight ;  after  having 
his  horse  killed  under  him,  he  fell2  amid  a  storm  of 
javelins,  with  many  of  his  chiefs  around  him.     The 

1  This  and  other  incidents  show  that  knowing  Latin,  and  familiar  with  Roman 

the  process  of  Romanising  Germany,  money. 

even  in  language,  had  gone  some  way  *  Labitur  is  poet,  for  '  fell : '  Et  la- 

before  the  disaster  of  Varus.    In  chap.  bentis  equo  describat  vulnera  Part  hi, 

13,  2  a  German  soldier  is  spoken  of  as  Hor.  Sat.  ii.  i,  15. 


112 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  16. 


but  rescued 
by  the 
cavalry. 


Arminius 
ready  to  do 
battle. 


Germani- 
cus  sounds 
the  temper 
of  his  men 


by  making 
a  night 
ramble 
among  the 
tents. 


He  hears 
his  own 
praises. 


rest  fought  their  way  out,  or  were  saved  by  the 
cavalry  of  Stertinius  and  Aemilius  coming  up  to 
the  rescue. 

Crossing  the  Weser,  Caesar  learnt  from  a  deserter  1 2 
that  Arminius  had  chosen  a  place  for  battle.     Other 
tribes  also,  he  was  informed,  had  gathered  in  a  wood 
sacred  to  Hercules  ;  they  were  to  make  a  night  attack 
upon  the  camp.     The  informant  seemed  trustworthy,  2 
and  the  enemy's  fires  could  be  seen  ;  and  some  scouts, 
creeping  close  up,  brought  word  that  they  could  hear 
the  neighing  of  horses,  and  the  hum  of  a  vast  and 
disorderly  multitude.      Being  thus  on  the  eve  of  a  3 
decisive   battle,   Germanicus   resolved   to  sound   the 
temper  of  his  soldiers,  and  pondered   how  best   he 
could   get    at    their  true   sentiments.     Tribunes  and  4 
centurions,  he  reflected,  said  what  was  pleasant,  rather 
than  what  they  knew  to  be  true  ;  freedmen  were  still  slaves 
in  mind,  friends  were  flatterers :  were  he  to  summon  an 
assembly,    whatever   the  few  proposed,   the    rest   would 
receive  with  acclamation.     He  must  discover  what  the  5 
men  really  thought  in  their  private  unguarded  moments, 
as  they  poured  out  their  hopes  and  fears  over  the  mess- 
table. 

Accordingly,  when  night  came  on,  he  threw  a  wild-  13- 
beast  skin  over  his  shoulders,  and  with  a  single 
attendant  quitted  the  augural  tent1  by  a  private 
passage  unknown  to  the  sentries.  Making  his  way 
along  the  camp-roads,  he  stood  beside  the  tents  and 
drank  in  his  own  praises.  One  spoke  of  the  General's 
noble  birth,  another  of  his  fine  person ;  almost  all 
praised  his  endurance,  his  affability,  his  temper,  always 
the  same  in  moments  grave  or  gay : — They  must  show 
him  their  thanks  on  the  battle-field,  and  at  the  same  time 


Auguralc  here  is  the  general's  tent,  as  in  Quint,  viii.  2,  8. 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   11-14-  113 

offer  up  the  faithless  peace-breakers  as  victims  to  vengeance 

2  and  to  glory. 

Just   then    one    of  the   enemy  who  could   speak 
Latin   rode   up   to    the    lines,   and    in    a   loud    voice  enemy; 
promised  wives  and  lands  in  the  name  of  Arminius  to 
all  deserters,  together  with  a  hundred  sesterces  a  day 

3  so  long  as  the  war  should  last.     This  insult  roused 
the  legions  to  fury  : — Let  daylight  come,  they  cried,  and 
battle  with  it;  they  would  indeed  take  the  lands  of  the 
Germans  and  carry  off  their  wives :  welcome  the  omen 
which  marked  out  for  their  booty  the  ivealth  and  women  of 
the  enemy  ! 

4  About  midnight  the  enemy  made  an  attempt  upon 

the  camp ;  but  when  they  found  the  lines  well  guarded,  guarded, 
and  all  on  the  alert,  they  retired  without  discharging 
their  missiles. 

1  That  same  night,  Germanicus  had  a  happy  dream.  HaPPy 

dream  of 

He  dreamt  that  he  was  engaged  in  sacrifice ;  that  the  German! 

CU5 

blood  of  the  victim  had  spurted  on  to  his  purple- 
bordered  robe,  and  that  he  received  a  more  hand- 
some garment  in  its  place  at  the  hands  of  his  grand- 

2  mother  Augusta.      Encouraged   by   this   omen,  and 
finding  the  auspices   favourable,  he  called  his   men 
together,   and    explained    to    them    the    precautions 
which  he  had  taken,  and  the  tactics  which  he  recom- 
mended for  the  coming  battle. 

3  //  was  not  level  ground  only,  he  told  them,  that  was  He  ad- 
favourable  to  the  Romans,  but  rugged  and  wooded  country  army. 
also,  if  only  judgment  ivere  used.     The  huge  shields  and 
enormous  spears  of  the  barbarians  were  more  unmanage- 
able among  the  trunks  of  trees  and  thick  undergrowth 
than  the  pila  and  swords  of  the  Roman  soldier,  with  his 

4  close-fitting  armour.     Let  them  shower  their  blows  thick, 
and  aim  straight  at  the  faces  of  the  enemy.    The  Germans 

i 


II4  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  16. 

had  neither  breast-plates  nor  helmets ;  their  shields  were 
only  made  of  osiers,  or  thin  boards  daubed  with  paint, 
without  iron  or  leather  to  give  them  strength.  The  front 
rank  had  spears  of  some  sort ;  but  the  rest  were  only 
armed  with  short  pikes,  or  wooden  stakes  burnt  at  the 
point.  Their  great  stature1  made  them  terrible  to  look  at,  5 
and  formidable  in  a  charge ;  but  they  were  impatient  of 
wounds,  they  would  leave  their  ranks  and  run  without 
sense  of  shame,  without  regard  for  their  leaders  : 
cowards  in  defeat,  they  respected  no  law,  human  or 
divine,  in  victory.  If  the  legions  desired  an  end  to  6 
the  weariness  of  voyages  and  marches,  it  lay  on  the  field 
before  them.  The  Elbe  was  now  nearer  than  the  Rhine  : 
treading  as  he  was  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father  and  his 
uncle,  they  had  only  to  place  him  as  conqueror  where 
they  had  stood,  and  the  war  would  be  at  an  end. 

These    words    roused    the    enthusiasm    of    the   15. 
soldiers,  and  the  signal  was  given  for  battle. 

Nor  did  Arminius  and   the  other  German  chiefs  2 
fail  to    harangue    their    several    tribesmen.       These 
Romans,  they  said,  were  the  runaways  of  the  army  of 
Varus :  men  who  had  broken  out  in  mutiny  rather  than 
face  war.    Some  of  them  had  their  backs  scarred  with 
wounds,  others  were  crippled  by  the  winds  and  the  waves  ; 
once  more  they  were  offering  themselves  to  the  ire  of  their 
foes,  with  the  Gods  against  them,  and  no  hope  before  them. 
They  had  come  in  ships,  over  the  pathless  ocean,  where  3 
none  might  meet  them,  none  repulse  and  rout  them :  but 
once  vanquished  in  open  fight,  neither  winds  nor  oars 
could  save  them.    Let  them  remember  the  greed,  the  cruelty,  4 
the  arrogance  of  Rome  ;  what  remained  for  them  but  to 
holdfast  their  liberty,  or  die  before  becoming  slaves  ? 
Field  of  Inflamed    by   these    words,   and    clamouring    for   1 6. 

Idiavisus. 

1  Cp.  Germ.  4,  2,  of  the  Germans,  magna  corpora  et  tantum  ad  impetum  valida. 


A  D.  16.] 


BOOK    II.   CHAPS.    14-16. 


battle,  the   barbarians  were  led   down   into   a  level 

2  plain    between    the    Weser    and    the     hills    called 
Idiavisus,1  which   takes    the    shape   of  an   irregular 
crescent,  according  as  the  river  banks  recede  from,  or 

3  come  up  to,2  the  projecting  spurs  of  the  hills.    Behind 
was  rising  ground,  covered  with  high-growing  trees, 

4  but  clear  of  undergrowth.     The   level  ground,  and 
the  lower  parts   of  the  wood   behind   it,  were   held 
by  the  barbarians ;  the  Cherusci  held  a  position  by 
themselves   on   the   heights,  ready  to  fall   upon  the 
Romans  so  soon  as  they  should  be  engaged. 

5  Our  army  advanced  in  the  following  order. 

front  were  the  Gallic  and  German  auxiliaries ;  next,  army.' 
the   unmounted    archers.     Then   came   four  legions, 
and  the  general  himself  with  two  Praetorian  Cohorts3 


I  n    Order  of 
the  Roman 


1  Explained  by  J.  Grimm  as  meaning 
'  the  Nymphs  meadow '  =  '  Elfen- 
wiese.'  Nipp.  gives  Jdiaviso  as  the 
name,  remarking  that  Tacitus  commonly 
uses  the  Nom.  case  in  this  construction. 
The  site  of  the  battle  is  supposed  to 
have  been  somewhere  between  the 
Porta  Westphalica  and  Hameln,  on  the 
Weser. 

3  The  Latin  here  has  a  false  double 
antithesis,  which  will  not  bear  trans- 
lation. I  take  resistunt  in  its  proper 
sense,  'stand  up  against.'  At  one 
point  the  river-banks  recede  from  the 
hills  (cedunt)  \  at  another,  the  hills 
stand  up  against  (resistttnt)  and  meet 
the  river.  The  two  phrases  state  the 
same  thing  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
river  and  the  hills  respectively.  The 
Mat  space  left  between  two  projecting 
spurs,  opposite  the  part  of  the  river 
which  'recedes,'  would  thus  form  'an 
irregular  crescent.1  An  exactly  similar 
phrase,  in  which  by  a  false  antithesis 
the  same  fact  is  repeated  twice  over, 
occurs  in  chap.  65,  3  :  alter  facilitate, 
alter fraude,  cuncta  inter  se  concederent 
acciperentque.  The  site  cannot  be  identi- 
fied, or  even  very  clearly  understood, 
from  the  description.  Supposing  the 
Romans  to  be  on  the  right  or  E.  bank,  on 
crescent-shaped  ground,  with  their  left 
on  the  river,  they  would  have  rising 
ground  (one  of  the  projecting  spurs)  in 
their  front,  and  on  their  right  the  main 


hill-chain.  Both  these  slopes  were 
wooded.  The  main  force  of  the  enemy 
were  in  front,  some  on  the  plain,  some 
on  the  wooded  slope  rising  behind  it  ; 
the  Cherusci  were  on  the  hills  to  the 
Roman  right,  ready  to  charge  the 
Roman  right  flank  so  soon  as  the  front 
ranks  should  be  engaged.  Germanicus 
sends  off  his  cavalry  in  two  detachments. 
The  validissimi  equitum  are  sent 
round  to  the  right,  to  take  the  Cherusci 
in  the  rear.  Stertinius,  cum  ceteris 
/unnis,  is  to  get  in  the  rear  of  the  main 
army— marching  probably  round  their 
right  flank.  Thus  both  the  Cherusci 
on  the  enemy's  left,  and  their  main 
body,  found  themselves  attacked  at  the 
same  time  in  front  and  rear;  the 
Cheniscan  attempt  to  force  a  wedge 
into  the  Roman  right  flank  being  thus 
foiled.  Stertinius,  having  made  his  way 
round  behind  the  Cheruscans,  fell  on 
their  rear  just  as  they  were  about  to 
charge  the  Roman  right  flank.  Their 
charge  was  thus  disordered  ;  and  they 
also,  as  well  as  the  main  body,  found 
themselves  between  two  attacking  forces. 
»  Nipp.  thinks  that  these  praetorian 
cohorts  must  have  been  sent  to  Ger- 
manicus from  Rome,  just  as  two  were 
sent  with  Drusus  to  Pannonia ;  for  the 
name  was  now  appropriated  to  the 
city  Guards.  Possibly  Germanicus 
may  have  been  allowed  praetorian  co- 
horts of  his  own  ;  though  no  mention  is 


n6  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  16. 

and  a  body  of  picked  cavalry ;  then  four  more  legions, 
the  light  infantry  and  the  mounted  bowmen,  with  the 
rest  of  the  allied  cohorts.  All  were  on  the  alert, 
ready  to  pass  from  the  order  of  march  into  the  order 
of  battle. 

On  sighting  the  Cherusci,  who  had  dashed  forward   17 
impetuously,  Germanicus  ordered  his  best  squadrons 
to  charge   them   in   flank,  sending  Stertinius   round 
with  the   rest   of  the   cavalry   to   take  them   in  the 
rear,  while  he  himself  was  to  come  up  at  the  critical 
moment.     In  this  interval,  a  splendid  omen  arrested  2 
his  attention :  eight  eagles  were  seen  flying  towards 
and  entering  the  wood.     Forward,  legions!  he  cried, 
follow  the  birds  of  Rome,  your  own  Divinities  !    The  3 
infantry  charged  in  front,  and  at  the  same  moment 
the  cavalry  that  had  been  sent  forward  fell  upon  the 
Complete     rear  and  flank.     Thereupon  a  strange  sight  was  to  be  4 
seen—two   bodies   of  the   enemy  flying  in  opposite 
directions  :  those  who  had  occupied  the  wood  were 
running  into  the  open,  those  formed  up  on  the  plain, 
into  the  wood.    Midway  between  the  two  the  Cherusci  5 
were   being   pushed    down   from   the   heights ;    con- 
spicuous among  them  was  Arminius,  sustaining  the 
fight  by  hand,  voice,  and  wound.     Throwing  himself  6 
upon  the  bowmen,  he  would  have  broken  through  at 
that    point,   had  not    the    Raetian,    Vindelician    and 
Gallic  cohorts   planted  their  standards1  in  the  way. 
Escape  of    Making  a  desperate  effort,  thanks  to  the  swiftness  of  7 
andinguio-  his  horse,  he  got  off:  he  had  smeared  his  face  with 
his    blood   so   as  to   prevent    his   being   recognised. 

made  of  such  a  body  in  connection  with  subject    to    Rome.      A     Vexillum     is 

Germanicus    throughout    the    mutiny.  stationed  in  their  country   (i.    38,   i); 

They    were    evidently    picked     troops  they  offered  assistance  in  the  campaign 

(chap.  20,  6).  of  A.D.  15  (i.  60,  3),  and  in  commilitium 

1  For  the  special  signa  of  the  cohorts,  adsciti  sunt. 
see  i.  18,  3 :  34,  4.    The  Chauci  were 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK    II.    CHAPS.    16-19.  Ii; 

Others   say    that   the   Cherusci   serving    among  the 
Roman  auxiliaries  recognised  him  and  permitted  him 

8  to  escape.     Inguiomerus  owed  his  safety  either  to  his 
own  bravery,  or  to  a  like  device ;  the  rest  were  cut 
down  in  every  direction.      Many  attempted  to  swim 
across  the  Weser,  but  were  shot  down  by  javelins, 
carried  off  by  the  current,  or  overwhelmed  by  the 
rush   of  fugitives   and   the   falling   in  of  the   banks. 

9  Others  ignominiously  climbed  up  trees  and  hid  them- 
selves in  the  branches.      Some  of  these  were  shot 
down,  by  way  of  sport,  by  archers  brought  up  for  the 
purpose  ;  or  else  the  trees  were  felled,  and  the  occu- 
pants dashed  to  the  ground. 

1  It   was   a  great   victory,  and   one    not   costly   to  Great 
our  side.    The  slaughter  of  the  enemy  lasted  from 

the  fifth  hour  till  night-fall ;  the  ground  was  covered  c 
with   their  arms  and   corpses   for  a  distance  of  ten 
miles.     Among  the  booty  captured  there  were  chains 
which  had  been   destined   for  the  Romans,  brought 
in  expectation  of  certain  victory. 

2  The  troops  hailed  Tiberius  as  '  Imperator ' J  on  the  Tiberius 
field  of  battle,  and  built  a  mound  on  which  were  set  'impera- 
up  arms  in  the  style  of  a  trophy,  with  the  names  of 

the  conquered  tribes  written  below. 

1  This  spectacle  roused  the  indignation  and  fury  of  Fresh 
the  Germans  more  than  all  their  wounds,  losses  and  of  the 

..  -.-.,  i         ,  .  Germans: 

2  disasters.     The  men  who  but  now  were  preparing  to 
abandon  their  settlements  and  retire  behind  the  Elbe, 
flew  to  arms,  and  called  for  battle  :  chiefs  and  tribes- 
men alike,  young  and  old.       Sudden  and    harassing 
attacks  were  made  upon  the  Romans  on  their  march. 

1  For  this  ancient  custom,  whereby  Germanicus,   but    to    Tiberius,    whose 

the  soldiers  saluted  their  victorious  com-  proconsular   imperium  gave  him   the 

mander  as  '  Imperator '  on  the  field  of  auspicia  and  the  command-in-chief  of 

battle,  see  iii.  74,  6,  and  note.     The  all  the  armies  of  the  empire.     See  chap, 

salutation     was     addressed      not     to  22,  i. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  16. 


they  block    At  last  the  enemy  took  up  a  position  where  some  flat  3 

reterea°tmai  l  marshy  ground  was  closed  in  all  round  by  a  river  and 
a  wood.1  The  wood  itself  was  surrounded  by  another 
deep  morass,  except  on  one  side  where  the  Angrivarii  2 
had  raised  a  broad  mound  as  a  boundary  between 
themselves  and  the  Cherusci.  On  this  mound  the 
enemy  posted  his  foot ;  his  cavalry  were  concealed  in  * 
the  adjoining  wood,  so  as  to  be  on  the  rear  of  the 
legions  as  soon  as  they  should  enter  it. 

severe  These  dispositions  were  all  known  to  Germanicus.   2O. 

marsh  and    He  knew  the  enemy's  plan  of  battle,  and  the  nature 

wood. 

of  the  ground ;  nothing  escaped  him :  and   he  was 
ready  to  turn  the  cunning  of  his  foes  to  their  own 
destruction.      On   the   level  ground    he    placed    the  2 
Legate  Seius  Tubero,3  with  the  cavalry.    The  infantry 
he  so  disposed  that  one  part  should  enter  the  wood 
on  the  flat,  while  another  climbed  up  the  mound  in 
front ;  he  himself  took  the  post  of  difficulty,  leaving 
the  rest  to  the  Legates.     Those  who  had  to  enter  on  3 
the  level,  got  in  easily ;  but  those  who  had  to  attack 
the  mound,  having  practically  a  wall  to  climb,  were 
severely  handled  from  above.     Seeing  that  his  men  * 
were  getting  the  worst  of  it  at  close  quarters,  the 
General    withdrew    the    legions    for    a    while,    and 


1  It  is  hopeless  to  attempt  to  localise 
the  geography  from  the  descriptions  of 
Tacitus.  Ancient  historians,  as  a  rule, 
had  little  eye  for  ground,  and  little 
sense  of  what  was  needed  in  order  to 
make  a  description  intelligible  to  a 
reader,  or  even  to  a  traveller  visiting  the 
scene.  No  one  can  discover  from  Livy's 
account  of  the  battle  of  the  Trebia  on 
which  side  of  that  river  the  contending 
armies  were  originally  drawn  up ;  and 
having  spent  some  time,  Polybius  in 
hand,  in  exploring  the  valleys  which 
compete  for  the  honour  of  having  con- 
ducted Hannibal  across  the  Alps,  I 
formed  the  opinion  that  the  conditions 
of  the  Polybian  narrative  which  the 
champions  of  each  route  consider  as 


decisive  in  their  favour,  are  fairly  satis- 
fied in  them  all.  Hence  the  vast 
literature  on  the  subject.  The  river 
indicated  in  the  present  passage  would 
seem  to  be  some  river  E.  of  the  Weser 
— possibly  the  Leine  or  the  Aller — as 
Germanicus  was  obviously  moving  from 
the  Elbe  to  the  Weser.  After  the 
victory  which  follows,  he  boasts  that 
he  has  conquered  all  the  tribes  up  to 
the  latter  river  (chap.  22,  i,  and  41,  2). 
See  Furn.'s  note. 

2  The    Angrivarii    were    N.    of   the 
Cherusci ;    they     apparently    occupied 
the  part  of  Hanover  E.  of  the  Weser. 

3  Seius  Tubero  is  mentioned  in  iv.  29,  i 
as  a  distinguished  citizen  and  personal 
friend  of  Tiberius. 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   19-21.  119 

ordered  his  slingers  and  javelin-men l  to  drive  off  the 

5  enemy ;  spears  too  were  hurled  at  them  by  engines. 

In  this  way  the  defenders,  who  suffered  the  more  in 

proportion  as  they  were  the  more  exposed,  were  dis- 

e  lodged  ;   Caesar  himself  stormed  the  mound  at  the 

head  of  his  Praetorians,  and  charged  into  the  wood 

7  beyond.     Here  a  hand-to-hand  fight  took  place.     The 

enemy  had  a  morass  behind  them ;  the  Romans  were 

closed   in   by  hill   or  river.     For   both   alike  retreat 

was  impossible ;  their  only  hope  was  in  their  valour, 

in  victory  their  only  safety. 

1  The  courage  of  the   Germans  was  equal   to  our  The 

.  11-  i          r  r    i  Romans 

own;  but  their  arms  and  their  style  of  fighting  put  prevail; 
them  to  a  disadvantage.  With  their  great  numbers 
crowded  into  a  narrow  space,  they  had  no  room  to 
thrust  out,  or  draw  back,  their  enormous  spears ; 
forced  to  a  stand-up  fight,  they  could  not  turn  to 
account  their  natural  strength  and  agility.  Our  men, 
holding  their  shields  close  against  their  breasts,  and 
grasping  their  swords  firmly  by  the  hilt,  hewed  at 
the  giant  limbs  and  exposed  faces  of  the  barbarians, 
and  so  opened  for  themselves  a  road  over  the  dead 
bodies  of  the  enemy. 

Under  the  strain  of  the   prolonged  conflict,  and  great 

.         .    .  slaughterof 

perhaps  impeded  by  his  recent  wound,  Armmius  lost  Germans. 

2  his  presence  of  mind.     Inguiomerus  displayed  his  old 
valour  in  every  part  of  the  field,  but  his  good  fortune 

3  failed  him.     Germanicus  had  thrown  off  his  helmet, 
that  he  might  more  easily  be  recognised.     He  bid  his 
men  slay  and  slay  on  :  no  captives  were  wanted :  nothing 
but  the  extermination  of  the  race  would  bring  the  war  to 

4  an  end.      Late  in  the  afternoon  he  withdrew  one  of 
the  legions  from  the  battle-field  to  lay  out  a  camp; 

1  The  words  of  Tacitus  (funditores       different  kinds  of  slingers  ;  the  distinc- 
libratoresqut)    seem    to   refer   to    two       lion  between  them  is  unknown. 


120  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  16. 

the  rest  glutted  themselves  with  the  blood  of  the 
enemy  till  night  fell.  The  cavalry  were  engaged,  but 
with  no  decisive  result. 

Having  publicly  l  commended  his  victorious  troops,  22. 

trophy.015  1  Germanicus  set  up  a  huge  pile  of  arms  with  this 
proud  inscription  :  —  Dedicated  to  Mars,  Jupiter  and 
Augustus  by  the  army  of  Tiberius,  after  conquering  all 
the  nations  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe.  Of  himself  2 
he  made  no  mention,  fearing  to  excite  jealousy  ;  or 
perhaps  satisfied  with  the  consciousness  of  what  he 

submission  had  done.     Soon  afterwards,  he  despatched  Stertinius  a 
on  an  expedition  against  the  Ampsivarii  ;  2  but  these 


made  haste  to  surrender.  Throwing  themselves  on 
his  mercy,  and  accepting  all  his  conditions,  they 
received  a  full  pardon. 

Return  of  The  season  being  now  far  advanced,  some  of  the  23. 
legions  were  sent  back  to  their  winter  quarters  by 
land;  but  Germanicus  put  most  of  them  on  board 
ship,  and  took  them  down  the  Ems  to  the  Ocean.  At  2 
first  the  sea  was  calm,  and  the  water  rippled  gently 
beneath  the  oars  and  prows  of  the  thousand  ships  as 
it  is  caught  they  sailed  or  were  rowed  along.  But  before  long  a 
terrific  storm  of  hail  burst  out  of  a  dense  black  cloud  ;  the 
sea  rose;  and  squalls,  coming  from  every  quarter  at 
once,  made  it  impossible  for  the  mariners  either  to 
see  or  steer.  The  soldiers,  in  their  terror  and  in- 
experience, got  in  the  way  of  the  crews,  and  impeded 
the  skilled  seamen  by  clumsy  attempts  at  assistance. 
Then  sea  and  sky  together  were  swept  by  a  south-  3 
east  gale,  bred  in  the  swelling  uplands  and  deep 
gorges  of  Germany.  Gathering  strength  within  a 

1  See  Furn.  here,  and  on  i.  44,  4.  2  Here  again  Nipp.  reads  Ampsivarii 

The  phrase  pro  contione  has  the  same  as  in  chap.  8,  4  (see  n.  ),  and  24,  5. 

meaning  in  both  places,  equivalent  to  He   is  apparently  right    in    all    three 

1  in  public  meeting."  places. 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK   II.   CHAPS.   21-24.  121 

vast  bank  of  clouds,  and  chilled  by  the  proximity  of 
the  frozen  north,  this  wind  caught  the  ships  and 
scattered  them,  carrying  some  out  to  the  open  sea, 
some  among  islands1  bristling  with  rocks  and  shoals. 
4  Scarcely,  and  with  much  difficulty,  had  these  dangers 
been  avoided,  when  the  tide  turned,  so  as  to  run  in 
the  same  direction  as  the  wind.  The  anchors  now 
would  no  longer  hold;  the  water  came  in  faster  than  it 
could  be  baled  out;  horses,  baggage-animals,  and  even 
arms,  were  thrown  overboard  to  lighten  the  vessels, 
into  which  the  water  found  its  way  by  leaking  through 
the  seams,  or  by  dashing  in  over  the  sides. 

1  Just  as  the  Ocean  is  the  roughest  of  all  seas,  and  Fleet 
the  climate   of  Germany  the   most   inclement  of  all  many  ships 
climates,  so   did   that   disaster  exceed   all   others   in 
novelty  and   magnitude.     On   one   side  were   shores 
occupied   by   enemies;    on   the   other  was  a   sea   so 

deep  and  vast  that  it  is  believed  to  be  the  outermost 

2  of  all,   with   no   land   beyond.      Some   of  the   ships 
foundered  ;  many  were  cast  upon  distant,  uninhabited 
islands,  where  the  soldiers  perished  of  starvation,  or 
had   to   support  life  by  feeding  upon  the  bodies  of 

3  horses  thrown  ashore  along  with  them.     The  galley  Distress  of 
of  Germanicus,  alone  of  the  whole  fleet,  came  to  land  ^esrma 

in  the  territory  of  the  Chauci.  Here  he  passed  all 
those  days  and  nights  upon  the  cliffs  and  headlands, 
reproaching  himself  as  the  cause  of  this  great  disaster, 
and  was  with  difficulty  restrained  by  his  friends 
from  seeking  an  end  in  that  self-same  sea. 

4  At  length  the  tide  flowed  back,  the  wind  became  ships  and 
favourable,  and  the  disabled  ships  began  to  come  in ;  covered, 
some  with  short  complement   of  rowers,  some  with 
outspread  garments  for  sails,  some  towed  by  vessels 

1  Another  romance.    There  are  no       Ems  and  the  Weser,  only  shoals  and 
rocky  islands  on  these  coasts  near  the       quicksands. 


122  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  16. 

that  were  less  crippled  than  themselves.     These  were 
at  once  repaired  and  sent  off  to  search  the  islands.    In  5 
this  way  the   greater  number  of  the   men   were  re- 
covered;   many  were   ransomed   from   inland   tribes 
and  brought  back  by  the  Ampsivarii,  who  had  lately 
returned   to   their  allegiance;    some  who   had   been 
carried  as  far  as  Britain  were  sent  back  by  the  princes 
after          of  that  country.1  Strange  were  the  tales  told  by  those  e 
adventures,  who   returned    from    those   distant    parts :    tales    of 
whirlpools ;  of  unheard-of  birds ;  of  sea-monsters ;  of 
forms  half-beast,   half-human :    whether  they  really 
saw  these  things,  or  only  imagined  in  their  terror 
that  they  had  seen  them. 
Fresll .  The  rumour  of  the  loss  of  the  fleet  roused  once  25 

expeditions  ** 

against  the  more  the  warlike  hopes  of  the  Germans;   but  this 

Chatti  and 

only  increased  the  determination  of  Germamcus.     He  2 
ordered  Gaius  Silius  to  march  against  the  Chatti  with 
30,000  foot  and  300  horse;  while  he  himself,  with  a 
still   larger  force,   attacked   the  Marsi,2  whose  chief 
Mallovendus  had  lately  tendered  his  submission,  and 
reported  that  the  eagle  of  one  of  the  Varian  legions 
lay  buried  in  a  wood  close  by,  with  a  small  force  to 
guard  it.    One  detachment  was  sent  off  at  once  to  3 
draw  out    the  enemy  in  front,  while  another  was 
to  go  round  behind  and  open  up  the  ground.     Both 
parties  succeeded  in  their  purpose ;  and  the  success  * 
encouraged  Caesar  to  advance  further  into  the  interior, 
plundering  and  destroying  as  he  went.     The  enemy 
did  not  venture  on  an  engagement ;  or  if  they  made  a 

1  If  this  mention  of  Britain  be  not  50  and  56) — in  spite  of  the  boast  of 
pure  romance,  it  would  imply  that  the  Germanicus  that  he  had  conquered  all 
British  princes  were  friendly  to  Rome  the  nations  between  the  Rhine  and  the 
at  this  time.  Elbe  (chap.  22,  i) — shows  how  transitory 

2  The  fact  that  military  expeditions  these  successes  must  have  been.    See 
should  be  necessary  to  hold  in  check  the  virtual  admission  of  Tacitus  himself 
such  tribes  as  the  Chatti  and  the  Marsi,  in  chap.  26,  2. 

who  had  been  already  subdued  (see  i. 


A.D.  16.] 


BOOK    II.  CHAPS.  24-26. 


123 


stand  anywhere,  were  at  once  routed.  Prisoners 
reported  that  the  tribes  had  never  been  so  cowed 

5  before : — The    Romans    were    indeed   invincible,    they 

muttered,  no  misfortunes  could  overcome  them.      Their 

fleet  had  been  wrecked ',  their  arms  lost ;  the  shores  were 

strewn  with  the  dead  bodies  of  their  men  and  horses ,  and 

yet  they  had  attacked  as  bravely ,  as  fiercely  as  before, 

and  in  numbers  that  seemed  greater  than  ever. 

j  The  army  was  now  taken  back  to  winter  quarters, 
in  high  spirits  at  having  made  up  for  their  disasters 
at  sea  by  this  successful  expedition.  Germanicus 
treated  the  soldiers  handsomely,  making  good  to 
every  man  his  reported  losses. 

2  It  was  now  evident  that  the  enemy's  power  was 
broken,  and  that  he  was  preparing  to  sue  for  peace ; 

3  one  more  summer  would  bring  the  war  to  a  close.1  But 


1  This  modest  statement  of  the  final 
result  of  the  German  campaigns  of 
Germanicus  —  that  the  enemy  was 
thought  to  be  shaken  and  ready  to  sue 
for  peace — carries  with  it  the  confuta- 
tion of  all  the  praises  showered  by  Taci- 
tus on  his  generalship.  Tacitus  attri- 
butes to  him  every  quality  of  a  great 
general ;  he  does  not  hesitate  to  regard 
him  as  the  equal,  nay  the  superior,  of 
Alexander  the  Great  (ii.  73,  4) :  yet 
nothing  is  more  certain,  from  the  narra- 
tive of  Tacitus  himself,  than  that  the 
history  of  these  three  campaigns  is  but 
a  story  of  immense  and  finely  organised 
forces  led  into  aimless  adventures  with- 
out  strategic  foresight,  winning  barren 
victories  at  the  cost  of  repeated  disasters, 
and  only  rescued  from  destruction  by 
the  disciplined  valour  of  the  legions, 
and  the  sturdy  hardihood  of  the  sub- 
ordinate commanders. 

The  failure  of  the  operations  as  a 
whole  is  kept  out  of  the  reader's  view 
by  the  annalistic  form  of  treatment. 
Each  campaign,  or  part  of  a  campaign, 
is  narrated  separately,  under  its  own 
year  ;  in  each  the  story  is  so  told  as  to 
faring  out  to  the  utmost  the  personal 
qualities  of  Germanicus,  and  the  stead- 
fastness  of  his  troops.  But  there  is  no 
general  review  of  the  results  as  a  whole": 
no  criticism  of  the  rashness  which  put 


in  jeopardy  the  main  military  strength 
of  Rome  (praecipuum  robur  Khenuni 
iuxta,  iv.  5,  2) ;  and  although  Tacitus 
had  made  a  special  study  of  Germany 
and  the  sources  of  her  strength,  he 
shows  no  appreciation  of  the  political 
problem  which  should  have  stood  first 
in  the  mind  of  Germanicus — how  to 
win  over  the  German  tribes  and  enlist 
their  sympathies  on  behalf  of  Rome,  as 
Caesar  had  done  with  the  Gallic  tribes 
in  Gaul.  It  was  as  much  by  gaining 
the  good-will  of  the  Gauls  as  by  beat- 
ing them  down  in  battle  that  Caesar 
had  won  Gaul  for  Rome. 

Let  us  recount  briefly  the  details  of 
the  campaigns  exactly  as  given  by 
Tacitus. 


First  Campaign,  A.D.  14. 

Germanicus  crosses  the  Rhine  with  a 
force  of  nearly  30,000  men.  He  storms 
the  Marsian  villages  ;  ravages  fifty  miles 
of  country  with  four  columns  or 
'  wedges  ; '  spares  neither  sex  nor  age  ; 
and  destroys  the  temple  of  Tamfana. 
The  Bructeri,  Tubantes,  and  Usipetes 
rise  in  his  rear,  and  beset  his  return. 
The  army  gets  through  with  difficulty  ; 
fortifies  a  camp,  and  retires  unmolested 
(quietum  inde  iter)  to  winter  quarters 
('•  49-50- 


despair  of 
the  enemy. 


The  army 
returns  to 
winter 
quarters. 


Tiberius 
recalls 
Germani- 
cus ; 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A  D.  16. 


his  letter. 


Tiberius  plied  Germanicus  with  letters  pressing  him 
to  come  home  and  celebrate  the  Triumph  voted  in  his 
honour : — 

He  had  achieved  enough,  and  suffered  enough.  He 
had  won  great  battles  :  but  he  must  not  forget  the  many 
and  grievous  losses  which  he  had  sustained,  through 
no  fault  of  his  own,  from  the  winds  and  the  waves. 
He  himself  had  been  sent  nine  times  to  Germany  by  the 
Divine  Augustus ;  but  he  had  always  effected  more  by 
policy  than  by  arms.  It  was  by  policy  that  the  Sygambri 
had  been  brought  to  submission,  and  peace  imposed  upon 
the  Suevi  and  their  king  Maroboduus.  Now  that  Roman 


Second  Campaign,  A.D.  15. 
In  this  year  two  separate  expeditions 
are  undertaken  :  (i)  In  early  spring 
the  entire  army  of  eight  legions,  with 
allied  forces,  march  out  in  two  divi- 
sions to  Mount  Taunus.  The  Chatti 
are  taken  unawares,  their  women  and 
children  are  slaughtered  or  captured. 
The  Marsi  (conquered  last  year),  again 
in  arms,  are  driven  back.  An  embassy 
arrives  from  Segestes,  asking  for  help 
against  Arminius,  who  is  besieging 
him.  Germanicus  turns  back,  rescues 
Segestes,  captures  Thusnelda  and  some 
Varian  spoils.  Arminius  rouses  the 
Cherusci  and  other  tribes  (i.  56-59). 
(2)  In  the  summer,  Caecina  marches 
his  four  legions  to  the  Ems  ;  Germani- 
cus takes  the  other  four  thither  by  sea. 
An  eagle  is  rescued  from  the  Bructeri  ; 
the  country  between  the  Lippe  and  the 
Ems  is  ravaged.  The  scene  of  the 
Varian  disaster  is  visited,  and  a  tumu- 
lus erected.  Arminius  draws  on  the 
Romans  to  wooded  ground  ;  the  whole 
force  barely  escapes  disaster  (manias 
aequis  abscessum).  The  army  returns 
to  the  Ems ;  Caecina,  with  his  half 
of  it,  taking  the  route  of  the  '  Long 
Bridges.'  He  is  a.ll  but  intercepted 
by  the  Germans.  After  two  days  of 
desperate  struggle,  with  every  condition 
against  him,  he  fights  his  way  out  and 
secures  his  legions  in  a  camp :  his 
escape,  on  the  following  day,  and  his 
safe  retreat  to  the  Rhine,  are  due  to  the 
rash  attempt  of  the  enemy  to  carry  his 
camp  by  assault.  P.  Vitellius,  return- 
ing with  two  legions  by  the  coast, 
suffers  severely  from  the  equinoctial 
tides  (i.  60-70). 


Third  Campaign,  A.D.  16. 
Final  effort  of  Germanicus.  A  flotilla 
of  looo  vessels  is  built.  Silius  makes  a 
fruitless  expedition  against  the  Chatti ; 
Germanicus  himself,  in  early  spring, 
with  a  force  of  six  legions,  relieves  a 
besieged  fort  on  the  Lippe,  and  restores 
the  altar  to  Drusus  ;  he  retires  without 
waiting  even  to  rebuild  the  tumulus  to 
Varus,  destroyed  since  last  summer. 

The  flotilla  being  now  ready,  it  sails 
down  the  Rhine,  passes  through  the 
fossa  Drusiana,  and  lands  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Ems.  Germanicus  marches  to  the 
Weser,  and  crosses  that  river,  not  with- 
out loss  ;  he  defeats  the  gathered  tribes 
at  Idiavisus  with  great  slaughter.  His 
erection  of  a  trophy  rouses  all  the 
tribes  once  more ;  he  has  to  engage  his 
whole  army  on  ground  of  the  enemy's 
choosing.  After  a  desperate  fight 
Roman  valour  gains  the  day ;  Germani- 
cus retreats  to  the  Ems,  leaving  another 
boastful  trophy  as  sole  fruit  of  his 
victory.  The  flotilla  returns,  after  suf- 
fering great  losses  in  a  storm.  The 
year  closes  with  an  expedition  by  Silius 
and  33,000  troops  against  the  Chatti, 
and  one  by  Germanicus  himself  with  a 
still  larger  force  against  the  Marsi. 
Nothing  but  plunder  is  attempted  by 
either  force  ;  one  more  of  the  standards 
of  Varus  is  recovered  (ii.  5-26). 

Such  were  the  achievments  of  Ger- 
manicus in  Germany ;  thus  ended  the 
efforts  of  Rome  to  subdue  that  country. 
And  yet  it  is  on  the  strength  of  these 
three  campaigns  that  we  are  calmly 
asked  by  Tacitus  to  regard  Germanicus 
as  the  military  equal,  if  not  the  superior, 
of  Alexander ! 


A.D.  16.] 


BOOK    II.   CHAPS   26-27. 


125 


honour  had  been  vindicated,  the  Cherusci  and  other  in- 
surgent tribes  should  be  left  to  their  own  dissentions. 

4  Germanicus   begged  for  one  year  more  to  com- 
plete  his  work  ;  but  the  Emperor  put  a  pressure  on 
him  too  great  to  be   resisted  by  offering  to   him  a 
second  Consulship  —  the   duties   to  be  discharged  in 

5  person.^    To  this  he  added  that  //  the  ivar  was  to  go 
on,    he  should  leave    his  brother   Drusus    some  oppor- 
tunity of  distinction,  seeing  that  in  the  dearth  of  other 
enemies,   Germany  offered  him  his  only  opportunity  of 
gaining  the  title  of1  Imperator,'  or  the  honour  of  a  Triumph. 

6  Germanicus  hesitated  no  longer;  but  he  felt  that  the 
reasons  assigned  were  false,  and  that  it  was  out  of 
jealousy   that   he  was   being  dragged   away  from  a 
distinction  which  he  had  already  won.  . 

j  About  this  same  time  Libo  Drusus,2  a  member  of 
the  Scribonian  family,  was  accused  of  treasonable 
designs.  As  it  was  on  this  occasion8  that  those  prac- 
tices were  first  devised  which  for  so  many  years  4  ate 


Tiberius 


manicus 

submits. 


Case  of 


1  This  part  of  the  promise  was  not 
fulfilled.  Germanicus  had  already  left 
Rome  to  discharge  his  Eastern  mission, 
and  was  in  the  city  of  Njcorx>hs  in 
Achaia,  when  he  entereduporT  his 
consulship  in  the  year  A.D.  18.  He 
spent  the  whole  of  that  year  abroad, 
and  died  at  Antioch  late  in  A.D.  19. 

8  This  M.  Drusus  Libo  was  probably 
brother  of  the  L.  Scribonius  Libo  who 
was  consul  in  this  same  year.  His 
mother  Pompeia  was  daughter  of  Sextus 
Pompey  and  Scribonia ;  hence  Pompey 
was  his  great-grandfather.  His  grand- 
mother, Scribonia ,  was  niece  to  Scribonia , 
the  first  wife  of  Augustus  and  mother  of 
Julia.  Thus  Scribonia  was  his  great- 
great  aunt,  and  her  descendants,  through 
Julia,  would  be  consobrini* 

*  The  words  turn  primum  are  usually 
held  to  refer  only  to  the  treachery, 
now  foruhe  first  time  used  in  delation. 
But  the  words  which  follow,  qttae  tot  per 
annos  rent  publicam  exedere,  are  more 
appropriate  to  the  system  of  delation  as 
a  whole.  Tacitus  is  never  tired  of 
denouncing  the  iniquities  of  that  system  ; 


he_comes_fresh  to  the  attack  each  time, 
a.n<iireats_each  outbreak  of  accusations 
__aj  a.  newr  development.  Delation  for 
majestas  is  first  formally  introduced  in 
i.  72 ;  in  i.  74  the  rise  of  the  dclatvres 
is  described  in  scathing  terms.  The 
case  before  us  (A.D.  16)  is  the  next  that 
occurred  after  those  recounted  in  i.  73 
and  74  (A.D.  15) ;  yet  _Tac.iVU5JU.eaiSL  Ji 
as Jf  it  wjsre  the  first  of  its  kind,  and  takes 
the  desired  opportunity  of  denouncing 
it  once  more.  In  A.D.  17  he  tells  us 
adolesccbat  interea  lex  maiestatis  (ii.  50, 
i) ;  and  after  fully  describing  the  cases 
of  Clutorius  Priscus,  A.D.  21  (Hi.  49~5i). 
of  Silanus,  A.D.  22  (iii.  66-69),  and  of 
Ennius  (iii.  70),  he  specially  notes  the 
year  A.D.  23  as  marking  the  deteriora- 
tion of  the  Government  of  Tiberius  in 
the  matler. of  prosecutions :  repente  .  .  . 
saevire  if>se  out  saevientibus  vires 
praebere  (iv.  i,  i). 

4  Tacitus  writes  as  if  from  a  haven  of 
rest,  under  the  benign  rule  of  Nerva  and 
Trajan,  when  such  political  prosecu- 
tions were  a  ttying  of  the  past. 


\ 


126  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  16. 

like  a  canker  into  our  public  life,  I  will  recount  with 
some  minuteness  the  beginning,  the  development  and 
the  issue  of  this  affair. 
He  is  in-  A  Senator  called  Firmius  Catus,  one  of  Libo's  in-  2 

timate   friends,   encouraged    that   feeble-minded   and 


credulous  youth  to  have  recourse  to  magical  1  rites,  to 
Chaldean  fortune-tellers  and  interpreters  of  dreams  ; 
representing  to  him  that  he  was  great-grandson  of 
Pompeius  ;  that  Scribonia,  once  the  wife  of  Augustus, 
was  his  great-aunt  ;  that  the  Caesars  were  his 
cousins,  and  that  his  own  house  was  full  of  ancestral 
images.  Cato  also  encouraged  him  in  extravagance, 
and  led  him  into  debt  ;  sharing  in  all  his  debaucheries 
and  embarrassments,  so  as  to  accumulate  evidence 
for  his  entanglement. 

betrayed  to        Having  collected    enough  witnesses,   as  well  as 
slaves  to   testify   to  the  same    facts,    he   asked    an 
audience  of  the  Emperor  ;  having  first  informed  him  of 
the  nature  of  the  charge,  and  the  name  of  the  accused 
person,  through  Flaccus  Vescularius,2  a  Roman  knight, 
who  was  on  more  intimate  terms  with  Tiberius  than 
himself.      Without    rejecting    the    information,    the  2 
Emperor  declined  the  interview  :  —  Communications,  he 
intimated,  might  be  conveyed  as  before  through  the  same 
Flaccus  as  go-between.     Meanwhile  he  advanced  Li  bo  3 
to  the   Praetorship;    he    invited    him    to   his    table, 
shewing  no   estrangement  in  his  face,  no  agitation, 
still  less  resentment,  in  his  language  ;   and  although 
he  might  easily  have  put  a  stop  to  the  whole  affair, 

1  Lit.  '  rites  of  the  magi  '  or  mathema-  order  of  spiritualists,  dealing  with  drugs, 

tici,  i.e.  'astrologers.'    Tacitus  himself  philtres,  raisings  from  the  dead,  etc. 
believes  in  the  art  of  astrology  ;  though  2  Flaccus   Vescularius  is  mentioned 

he  admits  that  its  reputation  is  damaged  in  vi.    10,   2  as  one  of  the  oldest  in- 

by  impostors  (vi.  22,  5).     Tiberius  and  timates  of  Tiberius,  his  companion   in 

other    emperors    believed    in    it    and  Rhodes  and  Capri.     He  fell  a  victim  to 

practised    it  ;    hence    all    the    greater  his  fury  after  the  fall  of  Sejanus,  in 

danger  to  others  who  ventured  to  do  A.D.  32. 
the  same.    The  Magi  were  an  inferior 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   27-30.  1 27 

he  preferred  to  be  kept  informed  of  everything  that 
Libo  said  or  did.  At  last  a  certain  Junius,  who  had 
been  pressed  by  Libo  to  raise  the  spirits  of  the  dead 
by  incantations,  reported  this  fact  to  the  well-known 

4  informer  Fulcinius  Trio,1  a  man  of  sinister  ambition, 
and  notorious  for  his  talents  as  an  accuser.     Trio  at 

once  impeached2  Libo,  waited   on  the  Consuls,  and  Fulcinius 

5  demanded    an   investigation  by  the   Senate:   a  sum- 
mons was  at  once  issued  for  the  consideration  of  a 
grave  and  horrible  affair. 

1  Meanwhile  Libo  assumed  mourning  attire,  and  ac-  His  trial 

it-  r  r  before  the 

compamed  by   some  ladies  of  high  rank  went  from  senate, 
house  to  house,  appealing  to  his  kinsmen,  and  im- 
ploring   the    services    of  an    advocate.      Every   one 
refused  :  each  giving  a  different  excuse,  but  all  alike 

2  afraid.     On   the   day   of  the   trial,  broken   down    by 
terror  and  anxiety— some  say  his  indisposition  was 
feigned— Libo   had  to  be  carried  to  the  door  of  the 
Senate-house  in  a  litter.     Leaning  on  his  brother's  8 
arm,  he   lifted  up  hand   and   voice  to  the  Emperor, 
imploring  mercy.      Tiberius   received  him   with    an 

3  unmoved    countenance.     He    then    read    aloud    the 
indictment,    and    the    names    of    the    informers,    in 
such  a  measured   tone   of  voice  as  seemed  neither 
to    aggravate    the    charges    nor    to    make    light    of 
them. 

i        Additional    accusers    had    now    come    forward.  Absurd 

charges 

1  This  man  Trio  was  a  notorious  in-  (v.   11,   1-3).     Finally  Trio  committed 

former    and    instrument    of    imperial  suicide  in  fear  of  accusation,  A.D.  36 

tyranny.     He  was  the  principal  accuser  (vi.  38,  a). 

of  Cn.  Piso  (iii.    10,  i),   and  for  that  *  Corripere  ream  seems  only  to  be  a 

service    Tiberius    promised    him    pro-  stronger    form    of   the    phrase    nomtn 

motion  (iii.   19,  i) ;  a  promise  fulfilled  deferre,    'to    institute    a    prosecution.' 

by  his  elevation  to  the  consulship  in  See  iii.  28,  5  and  66,  2. 
A.D.  31,  the  year  of  the  fall  of  Sejanus.  *  Apparently  the  consul  of  the  year  : 

During  his  year  of  office  he  attacked  see  above.    The  libellos  mentioned  were 

his  colleague    Regulus   for  being    too  the  documents  put  in  for  the  prosecution, 

lenient  to  the  supporters  of  Sejanus  ;  as  in  chap.  30,  i. 
hence  a  bitter  quarrel  between  the  two 


128 


ANiNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  16. 


brought 
up. 


Mysterious 

document 

adduced. 


Besides  Trio  and  Catus,  Fonteius  Agrippa1  and  Gaius 
Vibius  disputed  for  the  honour  of  conducting  the 
prosecution.2  As  none  of  them  would  give  way  and 
Libo  himself  was  undefended,  Vibius  announced  that 
he  would  state  the  charges,  one  by  one,  and  pro- 
duced the  informations.  These  proved  to  be  of 
the  most  absurd  kind :  for  instance,  Libo  was  said 
to  have  enquired  of  the  astrologers  whether  he 
was  likely  to  be  rich  enough  some  day  to  pave  the 
Via  Appia  with  money  all  the  way  to  Brundisium. 
There  were  other  follies  of  the  same  kind,  deserving  2 
of  pity  rather  than  of  censure. 

There  was,  however,  one  document  in  which  the 
accuser  alleged  that  certain  sinister  or  at  least  secret 
marks,  in  Libo's  handwriting,  were  set  against  the 
names  of  senators  or  members  of  the  Caesarian  family. 
As  this  was  denied  by  the  accused,  it  was  determined  3 
to  apply  torture  to  the  slaves  who  could  give  evi- 
dence; and  as  there  was  an  old  decree  of  Senate  which 
forbad  the  torturing  of  slaves  in  regard  to  a  capital 
charge  against  their  master,8  Tiberius  shewed  his 
cunning  as  the  inventor  of  a  new  principle  of  law  by 
ordering  the  slaves  to  be  sold  singly  to  the  agent 
of  the  Treasury.4  In  this  way  testimony  might  be 


1  The  same  who  offered  his  daughter 
to  be  a  Vestal  Virgin  (chap.  86). 

2  lus  perorandi  is  not  the  right   of 
speaking  last,  but  of  making  the  chief 
speech  in  prosecution,   after  evidence 
had  been  taken. 

3  This  was  an  old  legal  rule  ;    but 
there  were  certain  statutory  exceptions 
to  it  (Cic.  pro  Deiot.  i.  3,  and  pro  Mil. 
22,  59).     Among  these  exceptions  pro- 
bably maiestas  (certainly  in  later  times) 
was  included.     Dio  speaks  of  Augustus 
resorting  to  this  device  in  B.C.  8  (Iv.  5, 
4),  so  that  the  sarcasm  of  Tacitus  seems 
ill-placed.      The  words  of  Tacitus,  as 
they    stand,  would  imply   that  in  old 
times  the  senate  had  the  power  of  legis- 
lating, and  of  laying  down  principles  of 


law.  This  was  not  the  case.  The 
praetors  had  the  power  of  laying  down 
principles  of  interpretation  in  their 
annual  edicts  ;  in  this  case  perhaps  the 
senate  had  approved  of  the  particular 
point  referred  to  after  it  had  been  agreed 
upon  by  the  magistrates  (Greenidge, 
p.  275).  The  senate  could  only  recom- 
mend a  particular  measure,  or  inter- 
pretation of  law,  to  the  magistrates  ;  if 
the  recommendation  was  adopted,  it 
might  be  described  (as  here)  as  intro- 
duced by  a  decree  of  senate.  See  n.  on 
vi.  17,  2. 

4  The  actor publicus  was  an  official  of 
the  treasury  who  had  to  do  with  state 
property.  He  appears  again  in  iii.  67, 
3  as  taking  over  the  possession  of 


A.D.  16.] 


BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   30-31. 


129 


extracted  from  the  slaves  against  Libo  without  infring- 
4  ing  the  rule  of  Senate.   Thereupon  the  accused  asked  Trial 

r  j.  -,  r   11  adjourned. 

for  an  adjournment  until  the  day  following ;  and  on 
returning  to  his  own  house,  he  drew  up  a  final  appeal 
to  the  Emperor,  putting  it  into  the  hands  of  his 
kinsman  Publius  Quirinius1  for  presentation. 

1  The  answer  he    received    was   that   the   petition  Libo 
must  be  addressed  to  the  Senate.    Meanwhile  soldiers  suicide. 
surrounded  his  house,  and  even  clattered  about  the 
fore-court;2  making  themselves  heard  and  seen  at  the 
very  moment  when  Libo  was  at  table,  holding  a  feast 
which  he  had  ordered  as  a  final  gratification.3     In  an 
agony  of  terror,4  he  called  upon  some  one  to  strike  : 
then  clutching   at   his  slaves,  he  sought  to  thrust  a 

2  sword   into  their  hands.     Shrinking  back  in  horror, 
the  slaves  upset  a  lamp  which  was  standing  on  the 
table ;  and  then  in  the  darkness,  which  was  for  him 
the  darkness  of  death,  he  stabbed  himself  twice  in  the 

3  belly,  and  fell  groaning  to  the  ground.     His  freedmen 


slaves  who  had  been  made  over  to  the 
state  to  enable  them  to  give  evidence 
against  their  master  Silanus. 

1  The  same  Quirinius  appears  under 
the  form  of  Cyrenius  in  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Luke,  ii.  a  :  '  And  this  taxing  was 
first  made  when  Cyrenius  was  governor 
of  Syria.' 

8  The  vestibulum  was  not  part  of  the 
house  itself,  but  an  open  space  or  en- 
trance court  in  front  of  it,  being  the  space 
enclosed  between  the  two  wings  which 
extended  to  the  street,  and  the  main 
front  which  stood  back  from  it.  In  the 
case  of  great  houses,  the  vestibule  was 
big  enough  to  contain  statues,  even  a 
four-horse  chariot  (Juv.  vii.  125),  or  a 
colossus  120  feet  high,  like  that  of  Nero 
(Suet.  Ner.  31).  In  smaller  houses, 
like  those  at  Pompeii,  the  vestibulum 
might  be  a  space  of  a  few  feet  only,  the 
front  door  standing  back  that  distance 
from  the  street. 

3  That  a  man  in  instant  expectation 
of  a  death  sentence  should  order  for 
himself  a  specially  good  dinner  '  as  a 
last  pleasure,'  is  a  striking  instance  of 
the  materialism  of  the  Roman  mind. 


*  Nipp.  here  supplies  n  fine  instance 
of  the  sense  of  humour  sometimes  dis- 
played by  learned  commentators.  From 
the  special  mention  of  the  feast,  he 
argues  that  the  word  excruciatus  must 
refer,  not  to  mental  anguish,  but  to 
the  agonies  of  indigestion,  brought  on 
by  terror !  Equally  happy  is  his  note 
on  the  passage  in  chap.  13,  i,  where 
Tacitus  tells  how  Germanicus  overheard 
his  soldiers  in  their  tents  praising  him 
for  his  per  seria  per  tocos  eundem 
animiim.  A  fondness  for  jests,  Nipp. 
tells  us,  could  not  have  been  part  of  the 
character  of  Germanicus,  since  Tacitus 
describes  him,  in  chap.  72,  3,  as 
1  venerable '  (yisuque  et  auditu  iiixta 
venerabilis).  As  no  man  worthy  of 
veneration  could  indulge  in  jests,  he 
therefore  inserts  the  word  in  before 
animum  in  chap.  13,  i,  and  translates 
1  heard  the  soldiers  praise  him  in  words 
of  jest  or  earnest  to  the  same  purport* 
Apart  from  the  defective  psychology 
of  the  commentator,  it  must  be  pointed 
out  that  the  words  in  eundem  animum 
could  not  possibly  mean  '  to  the  same 
purport.1 


130 


ANNALS   OF  TACITUS. 


[A.D.  16. 


The 

accusers 

rewarded. 


Adulatory 
decrees  of 
Senate. 


ran  up  at  the  sound ;  the  soldiers,  seeing  he  was  dead, 
took  their  departure.  The  prosecution,  nevertheless,  4 
was  carried  through  in  the  Senate  with  the  same 
determination  to  the  end,  though  Tiberius  declared 
on  oath  that  he  would  have  begged  for  the  life  of 
the  accused,  however  guilty,  had  he  not  put  an  end 
to  himself  so  precipitately. 

The   property   of    Libo  was   divided   among    his  3 
accusers;1  and  Praetorships  were  conferred,  out  of 
the  ordinary  course,2  on   such  of  them   as  were  of 
senatorial   rank.      Cotta   Messalinus8  proposed   that  2 
Libo's  bust  should  not  be  borne  in  procession  at  the 
funerals  of  his  descendants ;    Gnaeus  Lentulus,  that 
none  of  the  Scribonian  family  should  bear  the  name 
of  Drusus.     Days  of  public   thanksgiving  were  ap-  .°> 
pointed  on  the  motion  of  Pomponius  Flaccus ;  offer-  4 
ings  were  voted  to  Jupiter,  Mars,  and  Concord ;  and 
it  was  resolved  that  the  i3th  of  September,  the  day 
on   which   Libo  had   put   an  end  to  himself,  should 
be  kept  as  a  public  holiday.     These  last  resolutions 
were  adopted  on  the  motion  of  Lucius  Piso,  Gallus 
Asinius,  Papius   Mutilus,  and   Lucius   Apronius   re- 
spectively :  I  give  the  names  of  those  who  brought 
forward4  these  adulatory  proposals  that  all  may  learn 
how  long  this  form  of  evil  has  flourished  among  us. 


propert 
before 


1  We  know  from  vi.  29,  2  that,  as  a 
rule,  suicide  saved  a  condemned  man's 
property  from  complete  confiscation  ; 
but  in  such  cases,  whether  suicide 
followed  or  not,  the  accusers  received  a 
fourth  part  of  the  condemned  man's 
ty  as  a  reward.  In  the  case 
us  they  received  the  whole. 
Some  years  later  (iv.  3,  3),  it  was 
proposed  that  in  cases  of  suicide 
the  accusers  should  receive  nothing 
at  all  ;  but  to  that  Tiberius  objected. 
The  case  in  iv.  20,  i,  quoted  by 
Furn.  ,  is  not  in  point  ;  the  money 
there  refunded  was  not  a  reward  for 
the  accusers,  but  a  repayment  of  sums 
claimed  as  legally  due  to  the  fiscus. 


2  This  does  not  necessarily  imply,  as 
Furn.    supposes,    that    these    men  re- 
ceived supernumerary  praetorships,  but 
only  that  they  were  admitted  to    the 
office  before  the  regular  time. 

3  For  Cotta  Messalinus  see  iv.  20,  6  ; 
v-  3.  4- 

4  The  word  here    used    is    auctori- 
tates.    The  phrase  auctoritas   senatus 
is   properly    used    of   a  resolution   of 
senate  on  a  matter  not  within  its  com- 
petence, and  therefore  not  having  the 
force  of  law,   but  yet  carrying  much 
weight  as  an  important  expression  of 
opinion — like  an  abstract  resolution  in 
our  House  of  Commons. 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   31-33-  131 

5        Decrees  were  also   passed   for  the  expulsion   of  Astrologers 
astrologers  from  Italy.     One  of  their  number,  Lucius  punished. 
Pituanius,    was    hurled    from    the    Tarpeian    Rock; 
another,  of  the  name  of  Publius  Marcius,  was  executed 
by  the  Consuls  after  the  old  fashion,1  to  the  sound  of 
the  trumpet,  outside  the  Esquiline  gate.2 

1  At  the  next  meeting  of  Senate  denunciations  of  the  Proposals 

to  restrain 

luxury  of  the  time  were  delivered  byQumtus  Hatenus,8  luxury, 
a  Consular,  and  by  Octavius  Fronto,  an  ex-Praetor. 
A  decree  was  passed  prohibiting  the  use  of  solid  gold 
plate  for  private4  entertainments,  and  forbidding  for 
men  the  shameful  practise  of  wearing  clothes  made  of 

2  silk.     Fronto  went   still   further,  and   called   for   re- 
strictions in  regard  to  silver-plate,  furniture,  and  the 
number  of  a  man's  slaves ;  for  it  was  still  a  common 
thing  for  senators,  when   called   upon5  to  speak,  to 
make  any  proposal  which  they  might  deem  for  the 
public  good. 

3  Callus   Asinius    took    the    other  side.     With   the  opposed  by 

Asmius. 

increase  of  the  Empire,  he  argued,  private  wealth  had 
increased  also.  There  was  nothing  new  in  this ;  it  had 
been  so  from  the  earliest  times.  Wealth  meant  one  thing  in 

1  i,e.  decapitation,  after  being  beaten  could  speak  on  any  subject  he  pleased, 

to  death.  See  Nipp.'s  note,  and  xiv.  whether  relevant  to  the  motion  before 

48,  4;  xvi.  ii,  6;  also  Suet.  Nero,  49.  the  house  or  not.  A  good  example  of 

8  The  usual  place  of  execution,  just  this  occurs  in  Cicero's  yth  Philippic, 

inside the  modern  Porta  Maggiore.  In  Cicero  devotes  a  few  words  at  the 

old  times  the  trumpet  was  sounded  beginning  and  at  the  end  of  that  speech 

through  the  city  as  a  summons  to  the  to  the  motion  under  discussion  ;  the 

comitia  centuriata  to  hear  a  capital  body  of  the  speech  is  taken  up  with  a 

case.  general  harangue  against  Antony.  See 

*  Q.  Haterius  was  evidently  a  person  chap.  38,  3.  The  motion  of  Caecina 
anxious  to  keep  himself  in  evidence.  that  wives  should  not  accompany  their 
See  i.  13,  4,  and  iii.  57,  3.  The  character  husbands  into  provinces  was  brought  on 
of  his  oratory  is  described  iv.  61,  2  :  in  this  way  (iii.  33  :  see  iii.  34,  i ;  and 
being  deficient  in  meditatio  et  labor,  his  also  iv.  74,  3).  Tacitus  commends  the 
canorum  et  profluens  style  of  oratory  practice,  as  enabling  independent  mem- 
secured  no  reputation  for  him  after  his  bers  of  senate  to  call  attention  to  matters 
death.  of  public  importance.  It  may  be  com- 

4  i.e.   for  private,   as    distinct    from  pared  in  this  respect  with  the  practice  of 
sacrificial,  use.  putting  questions  to  Ministers  in  our 

5  A  Roman  senator  could  not  speak  Parliament ;  or  with  special  motions  for 
unless  called  upon    by   the    presiding  adjournment. 

magistrate ;  but  once  called  upon,  he 


132  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  16. 

the  days  of  the  Fabricii,  another  in  those  of  the  Scipios  ; 
all  must  be  judged  with  reference  to  the  condition  of  the 
State.      When  the  State  was  poor,  the  establishments  of 
citizens  were  small ;    but   now   that  it  had  reached  its 
present  scale  of  magnificence,  private  grandeur  had  in- 
creased  also.  In  such  matters  as  slaves,  plate,  and  articles  4 
of  daily  use,  nothing  was  moderate  or  extravagant  except 
in  proportion  to  the  owner's  means.    Senators  and  knights  5 
had  special  scales  *  of  fortune  required  of  them,  not  because 
they  were  different  from  other  people,  but  that2  they  might 
have  the  same  pre-eminence  in  matters  conducive  to  peace  of 
mind  and  health   of  body  as  was  accorded  to  them  in 
.    place,  rank,  and  privilege :  unless  indeed  it  were  maintained 
that  men  of  mark  were  to  have  more  anxieties,  and  to  run 
greater  risks,  than  others,  and  yet  be  deprived  of  the  means 
for  their  alleviation* 
Tiberius  Veiled  under  fine  phrases  like  these,  this  acknow-  6 

agrees  with  r 

Asinius.  ledgment  of  vice  won  for  Gallus  a  ready  assent  from 
an  audience  like-minded  with  himself.  Tiberius 
added  that  the  time  was  not  opportune  for  such  a 
censorship ;  but  that,  should  any  deterioration  in 
manners  take  place,  he  would  not  fail  to  apply  a 
remedy. 

L.  Piso  In  the  course  of  this  debate 4  Lucius  Piso,5  after  ^ 

threatens  ° 

to  leave 

the  city.  *  i.e.  distinct  from  each  other,  as  tical  assembly,  are  distasteful  to  the 

well  as  from  those  of  a  lesser  rank.  The  ideas  of  Tacitus  ;  yet  he  puts  the  case 

fortune  required  for  a  senator  was  a  so  admirably  that  it  is  hard  to  believe 

million  sesterces  ;  for  an  eques,  400,000.  that  he  did  not  feel  the  force  of  the 

See  i.  75,  5,  and  Dio,  liv.  17,  3.  reasoning. 

2  The  insertion  of  sicut  after   ut  in  4  Here,  and  in  iii.  33,  i,  Nipp.  takes 
this  passage,   with   Halm  and  others,  the  words  inter  quae  to  mean  '  in  the 
may  be  avoided  by  supposing  that  by  course  of  the  same  debate '  or  '  the  same 
careless  writing  ut  does  duty  twice  over  ;  meeting  of  senate,'  as  here  rendered, 
first    with   locis,    ordinibus  and  digna-  5  This  L.  Piso  (there  were  several  of 
tionibus,  in  the  sense  of  'just  as,'  the  the    name)    ventured    to    defend    his 
verb    antistent    being   supplied  ;     and  brother  Gnaeus  Piso,  when  others  de- 
again   before  antistent,    in  a  Final  or  clined  through  fear  (iii.  11,2).    Tiberius 
Definitive  sense.     See   the  curious  use  never    forgave    him    the    freedom    he 
of  ut  in  chap.  35,  2.  showed  on  the  occasions  here  mentioned. 

3  The  wisdom  and  good  sense  of  this  He  was  accused  of  majestas,  and  corn- 
speech  of  Asinius,  which  reads  as  if  it  mitted  suicide,  A.D.  24  (iv.  21,  1-4). 
had  been  delivered  in  a  modern  poli- 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   33-34.  133 

declaiming  against  the  favouritism  of  the  courts,  the 
corruption  of  the  tribunals,  and  the  savage  eagerness 
of  orators  in  threatening  prosecutions,  announced  his 
intention  to  withdraw  from  the  city,  and  take  up  his 
abode  in  some  retired  and  distant  country  place  ;  with 
which  words  he  proceeded  to  leave  the  Senate-house. 

2  This  greatly  disturbed  Tiberius  :  he  did  all  that  soft 
words  could  do  to  soothe  Piso,  and  urged  his  relatives 
also  to  use  their  influence  and  entreaties  to  prevent 
his  departure. 

3  Not  long   afterwards,   this  same   Piso  gave  a   no  Piso  calls 

.  Urgulania 

less    notable    example    of    sturdy   independence    by  intoCourt; 
summoning  into  court  Urgulania,  a  lady  raised  above 
the  reach  of  the  law  because  of  her  friendship  with 

4  Augusta.      Defying   Piso,   she   refused   to   obey  the 
summons,  and  went  in  her  litter  to  the  Palatine  ;  but 
in  spite  of  her  protest  that  Piso's  action  was  an  affront 
and    outrage    to    herself,    he    refused   to   give    way. 

5  Tiberius  thought  it  due  to  his  mother  to  humour  her  she  is  sup- 
so  far,  and  announced  that  he  would  appear  before 

the  Praetor  to  support  Urgulania.  Bidding  his 
guards  follow  at  some  distance,  he  came  forth  from 

6  the  Palace,  and  might  be  seen  making  his  way  through 
the   crowd,1  conversing    calmly   as    he   walked.      In 
vain  did  Piso's  friends  implore  him  to  desist ;    and 
at  last  Augusta  gave  orders  for  payment  of  the  sum 

7  demanded.     Thus  ended   an  affair  which  redounded 
much  to  Piso's  honour,  and  to  that  of  Caesar  also. 

8  Urgulania,  however,  still  remained  so  powerful,  so  Great  influ- 
entirely  above   the  law,  that  when  summoned  as  a 
witness  in  a  case  which  was  being  tried  before  the 
Senate,  she  haughtily  declined  to  appear.     A  Praetor 

1  This  anecdote  gives  a  curious  ordinary  citizens,  without  pomp  or 
picture  of  how,  with  all  their  absolutism,  escort.  It  is  an  example  of  the  kind  of 
the  emperors  would  go  in  and  out  like  conduct  which  would  be  termed  civilis. 


134 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  16. 


Opinions  of 
Piso  and 
Asinius. 


was  sent  to  take  her  deposition  in  her  own  house ; 
though  according  to  ancient  custom  even  Vestal 
Virgins,  when  they  gave  evidence,  had  to  appear  in 
open  court. 

Of  the  prorogation l  of  the  Senate  this  year  I  should  35- 
take  no  notice,  were  it  not  worth  while  to  record  the 
opposing  opinions  of  Gnaeus  Piso 2  and  Asinius  Gallus 
upon  the  subject.     The  Emperor  had  intimated  his  2 
intended  absence;   and   Piso   thought   that   business 
should    be    proceeded  with   all    the    more    on    that 
account.     //  was  for  the  credit  of  the  State,  he  urged, 
that  the  knights  and  the  Senate  should  be  ready  to  do  their 
duty,  even  in  the  absence  of  the  Emperor.    Forestalled  by  3 
Piso  in  making  a  show  of  independence,  Gallus  urged 
that8  the  business  of  the  Roman  people  would  suffer 
in  distinction  and  dignity  if  it  were  not  transacted  in 
the  presence,  and  under  the  eyes,  of  the  Emperor. 
He  proposed  therefore  that  the  business  pouring  in 
from   Italy  and   the   provinces   should  be  kept  back 
until  the  Emperor  could  attend  in  person.     Tiberius  4 
listened  in  silence  while  the  point  was  hotly  argued 
on  both  sides ;  but  the  adjournment  was  carried. 

A  contention  then  arose  between  Gallus  and  the  36. 
Emperor.      Gallus    proposed    that    the    election    of 
magistrates  should  be  held  for  five  years  in  advance ; 
that  such  Legates  as  were  then  serving  in  command 


1  Res prolatae  —  'the  long  vacation.' 
The  question  was  whether  the  senate 
was  to  be  prorogued,  and  business  sus- 
pended, as  soon  as  the  emperor  left 
the  city.  For  the  reluctance  of  the 
senate  to  decide  anything  on  their 
own  authority,  see  also  iii.  32,  3  :  35,  i, 
etc. 

3  This  is  the  Cn.  Piso  whom  we  shall 
find  later  in  this  book  behaving  so  inso- 
lently to  Germanicus  in  the  East.  His 
independence  on  this  occasion  amounted 
almost  to  roughness ;  and  makes  it  the 
less  necessary  to  suppose  that  he  re- 
ceived special  instructions  from  Tiberius 


to    make    himself   obnoxious    to  Ger- 
manicus. 

3  The  use  of  ut  in  this  sentence  is 
illogical  and  untranslateable.  Tacitus 
might  either  have  made  Piso  propose 
that  the  business  should  go  on  '  in  order 
that  the  magistrates  might  discharge 
their  functions  in  the  emperor's  absence ; ' 
or  say  '  that  it  would  be  a  credit  to  the 
state'  for  them  to  do  so.  What  he 
does  say  is,  '  in  order  that  it  might  be  a 
credit  to  the  state  that  they  should  dis- 
charge their  functions,'  etc.  That  is, 
as  he  often  does  elsewhere,  he  attempts 
to  put  two  meanings  into  one  sentence. 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   34-37-  135 

of  legions  before  having  held  the  Praetorship,  should 
be  forthwith  designated  to  that  office  ;  and  that  the 
Emperor  should  nominate  twelve  candidates  for  each 

2  year.1    This  motion  had  more  in  it  than  met  the  eye  ; 
it  w.^s,  in  fact,  a  blow  aimed  at  the  secret  methods  of 
autocracy.      Tiberius,  however,  treated  the  proposal 
as  if  it  were  one  for  the  increase  of  his  powers  :— 

//  would  be  too  much  to  lay  on  him  the  burden  of  select-  opposed  by 

.    .  ~  ..,  ,  Tiberius. 

3  ing  or  postponing  so  many  claims.      rLven  ivir/i  annual 
appointments  it  ivas  hard  to  avoid  giving  offence,  though 
rejected  candidates  might  solace  themselves  with  the  hope  of 
an  early  success.     How  much  greater  would  be  the  resent- 
ment of  men  whose  claims  were  postponed  for  five  years 

4  or  more  ?     Who  could  foresee  the  state  of  a  mans  mind, 
family,  or  fortune,  at  the  end  of  so  long  a  period  ?    Men 
plumed  themselves  on  being  nominated  even  one  year  in 
advance  :  2  what  if  they  could  boast  them  of  their  offices  for 

5  five  whole  years  ?  Such  a  plan  ivould  multiply  the  number 
of  office-holders  by  five,  and  upset  the  laws  which  pre- 
scribed to  candidates  definite  periods  for  displaying  their 
talents,  for  seeking  office  as  well  as  for  holding  iff* 

Such    was     the     plausible     language     by    which 
Tiberius  retained  his  hold  of  power. 
i        As  the  Emperor  had  helped  out  the  incomes  of 
certain    needy    Senators,   it   was    the    more    strange 


that   he  stiffly  refused   an  application   from    Marcus  F 

Hortalus,   a  young  noble  in   notoriously   poor    cir- 

2  cumstances.      He    was    a  grandson    of   the    orator 

1  The  proposal  had  two  parts  :   (i)  gionum  were  senators,  and  usually,  as 

The  emperor  was  to  nominate  (commen-  here  appears,  of  praetorian  rank. 

datio  is  evidently  meant  :   see  note  on  2  i.e.  sometime  during  the  preceding 

i.  14,  6)  to  all  magistracies  for  five  years  year.     The  practice  varied  ;   but  as  a 

in  advance  ;  and  (2)  Such  legati  legionum  rule,    probably    to    lessen    excitement, 

(commanding  officers  of  legions:    see  designations  were  made  early   in   the 

note  on  i.  31,  2)  as  had  not  already  year  preceding  the  tenure  of  office. 

held  the  praetorship  were  to  be  put  on  ^  Here  again  Tacitus  puts  with  con- 

the  lists  from  which  the  emperor  should  vincing  force  the  views  which  he  con- 

select  for  that  office.     The  legati   It-  demns, 


136  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  16. 

Hortensius,1  and  had  been  induced  by  the  gift  of  a 
million2  sesterces  from  Augustus  to  marry,  and  bring 
up  a  family,3  and  so  prevent  the  extinction  of  that 
illustrious  house.  Posting  his  four  sons  at  the  door  3 
of  the  Senate-house  when  the  Senate  was  meeting  in 
the  Palatine,4  he  addressed  the  House,  and  casting  his 
eyes  now  on  the  statue  of  Hortensius,  which  stood 
amongst  those  of  other  orators,  now  on  that  of 
Augustus,  spoke  as  follows  : — 

Speech  of          These  children,  Conscript  Fathers,  whose  number  and  4 
tender  age  you  see,  I  have  reared,  not  of  my  own  wish,  but 
on  the  encouragement  of  my  sovereign ;  and  because  my 
ancestors  were  men  who  deserved  to  have  descendants.  For  5 
myself,  having  no  means,  no  popular  following,  and  being 
unable,  in  these  changed  times,  to  succeed  to  or  to  acquire  the 
hereditary  possession  of  our  house — that  of  eloquence — / 
should  have  been  content  if  my  own  lack  of  fortune  had 
brought  no  dishonour  on  myself,  and  laid  no  burden  upon 
others.    At  the  Emperor's  bidding,  I  took  to  myself  a  ivife.  6 
Behold  the  offspring  of  all  those  Consuls  and  Dictators  ! 
It  is  not  as  a  reproach  that  I  recall  these  things ;  but  to 
enlist  your  pity.     Under  your  glorious  reign,  Caesar,  they  i 
will  attain  such  honours  as  you  may  be  pleased  to  bestow  ; 
meanwhile  I  pray  you  to  save  from  penury  the  great- 
grandsons  of  Quintus  Hortensius,  the  nurslings  of  the 
Divine  Augustus. 

Cutting  The  favour  with  which  this  speech  was  received  ^ 

reply  by  «-* 

Tiberius;     by  the  Senate  made  the  Emperor  more  instant  in  his 
opposition  to  it.    He  replied  nearly  in  these  words : — 

1  Q.    Hortensius   (B.C.    114-60),    the       tollere  liberos ;  hence  below,  non  sponte 
famous  orator,  long  the  principal  rival       sustuli. 

of  Cicero,    noted  for    his  wealth  and  4  Probably  in  the  library  of  the  temple 

extravagance.  of  Apollo,  built  by  Asinius   Pollio  on 

2  See  note  on  chap.  33,  5.  the  Palatine  (Hor.    Od.   i.  31 ;   Prop. 

3  A  father  was  not   bound  to  rear  ii.  31),  of  which  the  foundations  are  still 
children  born  to  him.    He  acknowledged  to  be  seen.     In  his  later  days,  Augustus 
them  by  lifting  them  from  the  ground.  often  held  meetings  of  the  senate  there 
For     this    the    technical    phrase   was  (Suet.  Oct.  29). 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.  37-38.  137 

2  If  every  poor  man  is  to  come  to  this  House  and  ask 
for  money  for  his  children,  there  will  be  no  satisfying  the 
claimants,  and  the  public  exchequer  mill  be  emptied.    When 
our  ancestors  permitted  senators  to  pass  beyond  the  limits 
of  a  motion,  and  use  their  turn  of  speaking  to  make  sug- 

3  gestions  for  the  public  good,  it  was  not  to  enable  us  to 
push  our  private  interests,  or  advance  our  family  fortunes, 
bringing  odium  thereby  alike  on  Senate  and  on  Emperor, 

4  whether  the  bounty  were  granted  or  refused.     It  is  no 
petition,  this  :  it  is  a  demand,  a  demand  as  unseasonable 
as  it  is  unexpected  ;  that  a  member  should  get  up,  when  the 
fathers  have  been  summoned  for  some  other  purpose,  and 
by  recounting  the  number  and  ages  of  Jiis  children  put 
pressure  on  the  Senate,  and  on  me  also,  and  as  it  were 
force  open  the  door  of  the  public  treasury.     That  treasury 
ive  may  exhaust  by  favouritism  :  but  if  we  do,  we  shall 

5  have  to  replenish  it  by  crime.      The  Divine  Augustus 
did  indeed  give  you   money,    Hortalus,  but  he  gave  it 
unasked;  nor  did  he  bargain  that  he  was  to  go  on  giving 

6  it  for  ever.     If  it  be  otherwise  —  //  a  man  is  not  to  rely 
upon  himself  in  his  hopes  or  fears  —  all  energy  ivill  be 
sapped  ;   a  premium  will  be  put  on  lethargy  :   men  will 
look  calmly  for  help  to  others,  throwing  on  me  the  burden 
which  they  have  not  the  spirit  to  bear  themselves.1 

7  These  and   such-like  words,  though   assented  to  who,  how 
by   hearers   ready   to   applaud    everything,   whether 


base  or  noble,  that  falls  from  a  prince's  lips,  were 

received   by   the   majority  in   silence,  or  with   sup- 

8  pressed   disapprobation.  Perceiving  this,   Tiberius 

1  The  speech  of  Tiberius,   as   here  of  many  instances  which    show    how 

given,  is  unanswerable  in  its  justice,  but  destitute  even  the  noblest  Romans  were 

harsh  and  crushing.     It  is  the  sort  of  of  true  self-respect,  and  of  the  feeling 

answer  which  such  a  Chancellor  of  the  of  personal  honour,  in  the  modern  sense 

Exchequer  as  the  late  Lord  Sherbrooke  of  those  terms.      Tacitus  sympathises 

might  have  given  to  some  unreasonable  with  the  request  —  because  i  inacie  by  a 

demand  for  public  money.    But  nothing  jipbTe^-but   not   at  all  with   the  well- 

could  be   more  unblushing    than    the  merited  rebuke.    Nothing  could  be  more^ 

request  of  Hortalus.     His  application,  unworthy    than    his  comment  on    the 

and  his  manner  of  making  it,  is  one  speech. 


138  ANNALS    OF   TACITUS.  [A.D.  16. 

proceeded,  after  a  brief  silence,  to  say  that  he  had 
answered  Hortalus ;  but  that,  with  the  approval  of  the 
Fathers,  he  would  present  each  of  his  male  children 
with  two  hundred  thousand  sesterces.     For  this  the  9 
other  senators  thanked  him.     Hortalus  alone  uttered 
not  a  word  :  either  because  he  was  afraid,  or  because, 
even  in  his  reduced  fortunes,  he  still  retained  some 
vestiges  of  ancestral  pride.     The  family  soon  sank  10 
into  a  state  of  abject  poverty ;    but  it  met  with  no 
more  compassion  from  Tiberius. 

In   this   same  year,  but  for  prompt  measures  of-39- 
repression,  the  State  would  have  been  plunged  into 
the    miseries    of   civil   war    by    the   audacity   of   a  2 
slave  Clemens,  who  had  once  belonged  to  Agrippa 
Postumus.     On  hearing  of  the   death   of  Augustus, 
this  man,  with  a  spirit  unlike  that  of  a  slave,  formed 
the   project   of   crossing  to   the   island   of  Planasia, 
carrying  off  Agrippa  Postumus  by   force  or  fraud, 
and  presenting  him  to  the  armies  of  Germany.    The  3 
plan  was  only  frustrated  by  the  slowness  of  his  ship ; 
for  Agrippa  had  been  murdered   before  he   arrived. 
Clemens   then   resolved    upon   a  greater  and   more 
desperate  enterprise.      Carrying   off  by   stealth   the 
ashes  of  Agrippa,  he  crossed  over  to  Cosa/a  promon- 
Postumus,    tory  on  tjie  ]?truscan  Coast,  and  there  kept  himself 

in  hiding  till  his  hair  and  beard  had  grown ;  for 
he  happened  to  bear  some  resemblance  in  age  and 
appearance  to  his  late  master.  He  then  let  the  4 
idea  get  abroad,  through  suitable  confederates,  that 
Agrippa  was  still  alive.  The  story  was  at  first 
secretly  whispered  about,  as  is  the  way  with  for- 
bidden topics ;  but  it  soon  spread,  and  gained  a 

1  Cosa  was  a  town  on  the  mainland       called  Mons  Argentarius  (Monte  Argen- 
opposite    to  Planasia  (Pianosa).    The       fa  no). 
promontory  in  front  of  the  town  was 


A.D.  16.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.  38-40.  139 

ready  hearing  from  the  ignorant,  or  among  unquiet 
5  spirits  ready  for  any  change.  Clemens  himself 
would  find  his  way  into  the  towns  at  dusk,  never 
showing  himself  in  public,  nor  staying  long  in  one 
place  :  knowing  that  truth  comes  out  with  publicity 
and  delay,  while  hurry  and  evasion  befriend  impos- 
ture, he  would  run  away  from  the  rumour  of  his 
arrival,  or  arrive  before  it. 

1  Meantime   the    report    spread    throughout    Italy  lands  at 
that   Agrippa  had  been  saved   by   divine   interposi- 
tion ;    and   the   story   was    believed    in    Rome.      On 
landing  at   Ostia,  Clemens  was   received   by  a  vast 
multitude ;  crowded  meetings  of  his  supporters  were 

held  in  secret  in  the  city  ;  and  Tiberius  himself  was 
distracted  with  doubt  whether  to  use  the  soldiery  to 
crush  his  own  slave,  or  to  allow  men's  idle  credulity 
to  die  away  through  time.  Wavering  between 

2  shame  and  fear — thinking  at  one  moment  that  he  dare 
not  disregard  anything,  at  another,  that  he  need  not 

3  be  afraid  of  everything — he  put  the  affair  at  last  into 
the  hands  of  Sallustius  Crispus.1     Sallustius  selected 
two  of  his  own  clients — some  say  they  were  soldiers 
—  and  instructed  them  to  approach  Clemens  under 
pretence  of   sharing    in   his   designs ;  to    offer  him 
money,  and  pledge  themselves  to  share  his   perils. 

4  The    men    did    as    they  were    ordered.      Furnished  is  betrayed 
with   a  sufficient    force,  and    watching  for  a   night 

when  Clemens  was  off  his  guard,  they  dragged  him, 

5  gagged   and   bound,  to  the  Palace.2    Tiberius  asked 
how  he   had   made    himself  into  Agrippa  :—Just  as 

you  made  yourself  Caesar,  is  said  to  have  been  his 
reply.  Nothing  could  induce  him  to  disclose  his 

1  For  Sallustius  Crispus  see  i.  6,  6.  ing  upon  it,  especially  one  or  other  of 

*  The  Latin  Palatium  stands  properly  the    palaces    of   the    emperors   which 

for  the  Palatine  Mount  as  a  whole,  but  gradually  occupied  the  greater  portion 

is  frequently  used  to  denote  some  build-  of  the  hill. 


140 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  16. 


accomplices.  Not  venturing  to  execute  him  in  public,  6 
Tiberius  ordered  that  he  should  be  put  to  death  in 
a  private  part  of  the  Palace,  and  his  body  conveyed 
secretly  away.  And  though  many  of  the  imperial 
household,  as  well  as  knights  and  senators,  were 
said  to  have  assisted  Clemens  with  advice  and 
money,  no  further  enquiry  was  made  into  the  affair. 

At  the  end  of  the  year,  an  arch  was  put  up  near  41 
the  Temple  of  Saturn 1  to  record  how  the  standards 
lost  with  Varus  had  been  recovered  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Germanicus  and  the  auspices2  of  Tiberius.  A 
Temple  also  was  dedicated  to  Fors  Fortuna  near  the 
Tiber,  in  the  gardens 3  which  Caesar  had  bequeathed 
to  the  Roman  people;  and  a  shrine  at  Bovillae4  in 
honour  of  the  Julian  family,  with  a  statue  of  the 
Divine  Augustus. 


A.D.    17.     CONSULS   C.   CAELIUS   RUFUS   AND 
L.   POMPONIUS   FLACCUS. 

Upon  the  26th  of  May  in  this  year,  Germanicus  2 
Caesar  celebrated  his  triumph  over  the  Cherusci,  the 
Chatti,  the  Angrivarii,  and  the  other  German  nations 
as  far  as  the  river  Elbe.     Spoils  and  captives,  with  3 
representations 5  of  mountains,  rivers  and  battles,  were 
borne  along  in  the  procession ; 6  and  as  Germanicus 


1  It  is  to  this,  temple  that  the  eight 
Ionic  columns  belong  which  form   so 
conspicuous  an  object  on  the  left  hand 
of  the  ascent  to  the  Capitol  from  the 
Forum. 

2  Such  was  the  regular  formula  applied 
to  campaigns  under  the  empire  when 
not  conducted  by  the  emperor  in  person. 

3  These    gardens    were  beyond    the 
Tiber  (Hor.  Sat.  i.  9,  18). 

4  The  Julii  had  a  special  connection 
with  Bovillae,  a  town  ten  miles  from 
Rome  on  the  Via  Appia,  close  under 
the  Alban  Mount.     Both  town  and  gens 


were  supposed  to  have  sprung  from  Alba 
Longa.  Recent  excavations  have  re- 
vealed there  the  remains  of  a  stadium 
and  a  theatre. 

5  Such  representations  were  commonly 
borne  along  in  triumphal  processions. 
Propertius  finely  describes  the  Nile  as 
sorrowfully  dragged  to  Rome  after  the 
conquest  of  Egypt  by  Augustus  (ii.  i, 

3i-32)- 

6  A  coin  represents  Germanicus  in  a 
triumphal  chariot,  with  the  inscription 
Germanicus     Caesar    signis    recept(is] 
devictis  German(is).     See  Nipp. 


A.D.  17.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.  40-42.  141 

had  been  forbidden  to  end  the  war,  it  was  held  as 

4  ended.     What   riveted   most   of  all   the  gaze  of  the 
spectators   was   the   splendid   figure  of  the  General 
himself,  with  his  five  children  in  the  car  beside  him. 

5  And  yet  there  were  misgivings  in  their  hearts  as  they  Misgivings 
reflected   how   the   popular   favour   had   brought  no  people, 
good  to  his  father  Drusus ;  how  his  uncle  Marcellus, 

the  darling  of  the  people,  had  been  carried  off  in  the 
hey-day  of  youth :  how  short-lived,  how  ill-starred, 
were  the  beloved  ones  of  the  Roman  people. 

1  Then   Tiberius,  in  the  name  of  Germanicus,  pre-  Largessto 
sented  the  populace  with  a  largess  of  300  sesterces  p°r 
per  head ;  and  designated  himself  to  be  his  colleague 

in  the  Consulship.  Yet  this  did  nothing  to  make 
people  believe  in  the  sincerity  of  his  affection. 
Having  resolved  to  send  Germanicus  out  of  the  way 
on  the  pretence  of  some  honourable  appointment,  he 
now  created  an  opportunity,  or  seized  on  one  thrown 
in  his  way  by  chance. 

2  Archelaus  had  been  for  fifty  years  on  the  throne  Archelaus 
of  Cappadocia;  but  he  had  incurred  the  displeasure  Rome; 
of  Tiberius  by  omitting  all  marks  of  respect  towards 

3  him  when  residing  at   Rhodes.     This  had  not   been 
due  to  insolence  on  the  part  of  Archelaus  ;  but  to  a 
hint  from  the  intimate  friends   of  Augustus  that  at 
a  time  when  young  Gaius  Caesar  was  in  favour,  and 
charged  with  a  mission  to  the  East,  it  was  hazardous 

4  to  be  the  friend  of  Tiberius.     But  now  that  the  young 
Caesars  had  been  put  out  of  the  way,  and  Tiberius  was 
in  power,  he  caused  his  mother  to  write  to  Archelaus 
and  invite  him  to  Rome.     She  made  no  secret  of  her 
son's  displeasure,  but  held  out  hopes  of  a  pardon  if 

5  he  would  come  to  sue  for  it.   Suspecting  no  treachery, 
or  perhaps  fearing  violence  if  he  should  be  thought 


142 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  17. 


he  is  im- 
peached 
and  dies. 


Cappa- 
docia  made 
into  a 
province. 


Affairs  of 
Comma- 
gene  and 
Cilicia. 


Germani- 
cus  en- 
trusted 
with  a 
mission  to 
the  East. 


to  suspect  it,  he  hastened  to  the  city.  He  found  the 
Emperor  inexorable.  He  was  impeached  before  the 
Senate,1  and  came  to  his  end  soon  afterwards,  either 
by  his  own  hand,  or  by  a  natural  death :  not  because 
of  the  charges  trumped  up  against  him,  but  from 
chagrin  and  old  age ;  and  because  Kings  cannot  brook 
being  treated  as  equals,  much  less  as  inferiors.  His 
kingdom  was  reduced  to  the  form  of  a  Province;  the  6 
Emperor  announced  that  its  revenues  would  enable 
him  to  reduce  the  tax  of  one  per  cent.2  on  saleable 
articles,  and  he  fixed  the  amount  for  the  future  at 
one  half  per  cent. 

About  the  same  time,  the  deaths  of  Antiochus,  i 
king  of  Commagene,3  and  Philopator,  king  of  Cilicia, 
created  trouble  in  those  countries,  the  majority 
wishing  for  the  rule  of  Rome,  the  remainder  for  that 
of  their  native  princes.  And  the  provinces  of  Syria 
and  Judea,  borne  down  by  taxation,  petitioned  for  a 
diminution  of  their  tribute. 

These    facts,   as   well   as   the   state   of  affairs   in  43- 
Armenia  as  described  above,  Tiberius  laid  before  the 
Senate,  informing  them  that  nothing  short  of  the  wisdom 
of  Germanicus  could  compose  the  troubles  in  the  East :  he 
was  declining  in  years  himself*  and  his  son  Drusits  had 


1  The  senate  was  the  ordinary  High 
Court  before  which  misconduct  by  a 
foreign  prince  would  be  brought.     So 
with  the  case  of  Rhescuporis  (chap.  67). 
The  lot  of  princes  semi-dependent  on 
Rome  was   not  a  happy  one.     Every 
species  of  treachery  was  practised  on 
them.     If  troublesome,  they  might  be 
lured    to    Rome,    like    Archelaus    and 
Rhescuporis  (chap.  67,  2-5),  and  cruelly 
made  away  with.     If  they  had  to  take 
refuge  within  the  empire,   like   Maro- 
boduus    (chap.    62-63),   however  loyal 
their     previous     services,     they    were 
treated    as    puppets,    to    be    used    as 
occasion    served    to    further     Roman 
interests. 

2  This  tax  of  a  hundredth  per  cent. 
(i.e.    i   per  cent.)   on   sales  was    pro- 


nounced by  Tiberius  to  be  indispensable 
for  the  expenses  of  the  army  (i.  78,  2). 
Though  the  evidence  is  not  clear,  the 
tax  seems  to  have  been  raised  to  its 
original  amount  some  years  later  by 
Tiberius  (Dio,  Iviii.  16,  2),  and  abolished 
altogether  by  Gaius.  See  i.  42,  7. 

3  Commagene  was  a  small  mountain- 
ous district  on   the  upper  Euphrates, 
lying    between    Cilicia    and    Armenia. 
Its  princes,  descended  from  the  Seleu- 
cidae,  were  the  last  reigning  dynasty 
among    the    successors    of  Alexander. 
Temporarily  put  under  the  legatus  of 
Syria  in  A.D.  17  (chap.  56,  5),  it  was 
not  finally  incorporated  in  that  province 
until  A.D.  72,  under  Vespasian. 

4  Tiberius  was  now  59  years  of  age. 


A.D.  17.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.  42-43-  143 

2  not  yet  attained  to  man's  estate.  Upon  that,  a  decree 
was  passed  committing  to  Germanicus  all  the  pro- 
vinces beyond  the  sea,1  together  with  powers, 
wherever  he  should  go,  greater  than  those  of  other 
Governors,  whether  of  Senatorial  or  Imperial  pro- 

s  vinces.2    Meanwhile  Tiberius  had  removed  from  Syria  Pisoap- 
Creticus  Silanus,8  who  was  connected  with  Germanicus  succeed 
—the  daughter  of  Silanus  having  been  betrothed  to  Governor* 
his  eldest  son  Nero — and  had  appointed  in  his  place  c 
Gnaeus   Piso,   a  man   of   violent   and   insubordinate 
temper,  who  inherited  the  fierce  spirit  of  his  father. 
The  father  had  opposed  Caesar  during  the  civil  war, 
and  strenuously  supported   the   republican  cause  in 
Africa ;  after  that,  he   had   followed  the   fortunes  of 
Brutus  and  Cassius;  and  on  being  permitted  to  return 
to  Rome,  had  abstained   from  seeking   public  office 
until  Augustus  himself  solicited  him   to  accept   the 

4  Consulship.  The  haughtiness  which  Piso  inherited  character 
from  his  father  was  still  further  heightened  by  the 
high  birth  and  wealth  of  his  wife  Plancina.4  He  would 
scarce  yield  precedence  even  to  Tiberius  ;  he  looked 
down  upon  the  sons  of  Tiberius  as  far  beneath  him- 
self, and  he  never  doubted  that  he  had  been  selected 
for  the  command  of  Syria  for  the  purpose  of  holding 

n  in  check5  the  ambition  of  Germanicus.  Some  believed 

1  Germanicus  was  now   granted  an  inermcs,  Hist.  i.  11,4.    For  an  enumera- 

imperium  superior  to  that  of  all  ordinary  tion  of  the  provinces,  see  n.  on  i.  76,  4. 

governors  in  the  East,  similar  to  that  *  Q.     Caecilius     Metellus     Creticus 

which  he  had  exercised   in  Germany.  Silanus  had  been  consul  in  A.  D.  7,  and 

For  such  a  mains  imperium  see  note  on  legatus  of  Syria  since  A.D.  it. 

i.  14,  4.  4  Plancina  was    probably  a   grand- 

1  i.e.  in  both  classes  of  provinces :  daughter  of  the  famous   Plancus  (the 

whether  senatorial  and  proconsular,  to  consule  Planco  of  Hor.   Od.  iii.  14,  28) 

which   the   senate  appointed   qualified  who,  when  commander  of  Gaul  in  B.C. 

consulars  bylbt  (.»•.>>•//) ;  or  imperatorinl,  43,  went  over  to  Antony  and  Lepidus     . 

governed   oy  legati  appointed   by   the  with  all  his  army,  in  spite  of  the  en- 

.  inporor     \missii     pnrictpff). Suet.  treaties  of  Cicero,  and  so  sealed  the 

Oct.     47    explains    the    principle    of  fate  of  the  Republic, 

division:  pravincias  v  alidiores  ipse  sus-  •  Cn.    Piso  (Cos.  in   B.C.  7)  was  a 

cepit  .  .  .  ceteras  proconsulibus  sort  it o  formidable  personage,  counted  by  some       ^  /' 

permisit.    The  latter   were  provinciae  as  a  possible  aspirant  to  the  empire 


144 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  17. 


that  he  had  been  furnished  with  instructions  by 
Tiberius  to  that  effect ;  and  it  is  beyond  dispute  that 
Augusta  prompted  Plancina  to  do  all  that  female 
rivalry  could  do  to  harass  Agrippina. 

For  the  Court  was  torn  asunder  by  a  secret  6 
rivalry  between  the  partisans  of  Drusus  and  Ger- 
manicus. Tiberius  was  partial  to  Drusus,  as  his  own 
son,  and  of  his  own  blood ;  but  Germanicus  was  the 
more  popular  of  the  two,  not  only  because  his  uncle 
hated  him,  but  also  by  reason  of  his  more  illustrious 
birth  on  the  mother's  side.  For  whereas  Drusus  had  7 
for  his  great-grandfather  a  Roman  knight,  Pomponius 
Atticus,  a  man  whose  image  was  scarce  fit  to  stand 
beside  those  of  the  Claudii,  Germanicus  could  count 
Marcus  Antonius  as  his  grandfather,  and  Augustus 
as  his  great-uncle.1  Agrippina,  too,  the  wife  of  Ger- 
manicus, outshone  Livia,2  the  wife  of  Drusus,  both 
for  her  character  and  her  fertility.  Yet  the  two 
brothers  lived  on  terms  of  beautiful  harmony 
together,  unshaken  by  the  rivalries  of  those  around 
them.3  tw^_ 

Shortly  after  this,  Drusus  was  sent  to  Illyricum  44- 
for  military  training,  as  well  as  to  gain  the  goodwill 
of  the  army.     It  would  be  better  for  the  young  man, 
Tiberius  thought,  to  be  leading  a  camp  life  than  a 


(i.  13,  3) ;  and  we  have  seen  how  boldly 
he  could  face  Tiberius  in  the  senate 
(i.  74,  6).  Without  crediting  the  sug- 
gestion of  Tacitus  that  Tiberius  privately 
instructed  Piso  to  act  as  a  thorn  in 
the  side  of  Germanicus,  we  may  well 
believe  with  Furn.  (Introd.  p.  120)  that 
Tiberius  purposely  placed  side  by  side, 
to  act  as  checks  upon  each  other,  two 
men  who  were  special  objects  of  his  fear 
or  jealousy.  Nor  can  we  doubt  that 
this  was  the  idea  on  which  Piso  acted. 

1  Augustus  was  great-uncle  of  Ger- 
manicus ;  Octavia  minor,  the  sister  of 
Augustus,  was  his  grandmother.  The 
mother  of  Drusus  was  Vipsania  Agrip- 


pina, daughter  of  Agrippa  by  his  first 
marriage  to  Pomponia.  Pomponia 
was  the  daughter  of  Cicero's  great  friend, 
T.  Pomponius  Atticus. 

2  Livia  was  the  daughter  of  Drusus 
major  and  Antonia  minor  (daughter  of 
Octavia    and   Antony),   and    sister  of 
Germanicus. 

3  This  picture  of  the  two  brothers 
(by  adoption)  living  in  perfect  harmony 
with  each  other  in  the  midst  of  the 
furious   passions  of  their  followers,   is 
one  of  the  most  charming  touches  in 
Tacitus.    The  two  are  described  on  a 
coin  (Eckhel  vi.    211)   as   «at<rapes  veoi 
tfeol  <pi\d6e\<poi.    See  Furn.  and  Nipp. 


A.D.  17.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.  43-45-  145 

life  of  dissipation  in  the  city  ;  his  own  position  also 
would   be  more  secure  if  both  of  his  sons  were  in 

2  command   of   armies.     The  pretext  alleged  was  the  War 
attitude  of  the  Suevi,  who  had  prayed  for  help  against  theSuevi 
the  Cherusci;   for  those  two  nations,  being  relieved  cherusci. 
from  all  fear  of  external  enemies  by  the  departure  of 

the  Romans,  had  been   led   by  the  warlike   instinct 
of  their  race,  and  by  rivalry  in  their  thirst  for  glory, 

3  to  turn    their    arms    against   each   other.     The   two 
nations  were  as  well  matched   in   strength   as  were 
their  leaders  in  valour  ;  but  Maroboduus  *  bore  the  title 
of  King,  which  was  hateful  to  his  countrymen,  while 
Arminius,   as   the   champion   of  freedom,    possessed 
the  popular  favour. 

i        And  so  not  only  did  the  old  followers  of  Arminius  inguiome- 
—  the  Cherusci   and  their  allies  —  take   up  arms,  but 


two  of  the  Suevian  tribes  also  who  were  subjects  of  against 
Maroboduus—  the  Semnones  and  the  Langobardi2— 

2  went  over  to  his  cause.    This  accession  of  force  would 
have  given  Arminius  the  preponderance,  had  not  his 
uncle  Inguiomerus,  with  a  number  of  his  followers, 
deserted  to  Maroboduus  ;   for  no  other  reason  than 
that    the    uncle,    being    an    old    man,    disdained    to 

3  serve   under  his  youthful  nephew.     The  two  armies 
drew  up  for  battle,  each  equally  confident.     Taught 
by  long  experience  of  warfare  against  us,  they  had 
discarded  the  old  German  method  of  desultory  fighting 
without  regular  formation,  and  had  learned  to  range 
themselves    behind    standards,    to     have    troops    in 

4  reserve,  and  to  obey  the  word  of  command.     Passing 
the  whole  army  in  review,  Arminius  rode  up  to  each 
division    in    turn,    reminding    them    how    they    had 

1  For  Maroboduus,  see  chap.  62-64,  to  the   N.   of  Bohemia.     The  former 

and  Veil.  Pat.  ii.  108,  109.  made  terms  with  Rome  A.D.  5  (Mon. 

1  The  Semnones  and  the  Langobardi  Anc.  v.  17). 
were  between  the  Elbe  and  the  Oder, 


146 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  17. 


Speech  of 
Arminius. 


Speech  of 

Marobo- 

duus. 


Desperate 
battle : 
Marobo- 
duus  retires 
worsted. 


won  back  their  liberty,  and  cut  to  pieces  the  Roman 
legions;  pointing  to  spoils  and  arms  wrested  from 
the  Romans  which  many  of  them  had  still  in  their 
hands.  Maroboduus  he  styled  a  run-away,  with  no 
experience  of  war,  who  had  first  sought  safety  in  the 
recesses  of  the  Hercynian  *  Forest,  and  then  with  gifts  and 
embassies  had  sued  for  a  treaty  with  Rome.  A  traitor 
to  his  country,  a  hanger-on  of  Caesar,  they  should  thrust 
him  forth  with  the  same  hostile  fury  which  had  brought 
Quintilius  Varus  to  destruction.  Let  them  but  remember  5 
all  their  battles,  and  what  came  of  them :  that  they  had  at 
last  driven  forth  the  Romans  proved  well  enough  which  of 
the  two  nations  had  been  conquerors  in  the  war. 

Nor  did  Maroboduus  abstain  from  boasting,  and  46 
flinging  insults  at  the  enemy.  Holding  Inguiomerus 
by  the  hand,  he  declared  that  all  the  glory  of  the 
Cherusci  was  centred  in  his  person,  all  their  successes  were 
due  to  his  counsels.  Arminius  was  a  madman,  ignorant 
of  affairs,  who  took  to  himself  the  honour  due  to  others ; 
he  had  treacherously  beset  three  legions  that  had  gone 
astray?  and  their  unsuspecting  General — and  that  not  with- 
out disaster  to  Germany  and  to  his  own  honour,  seeing 
that  his  wife  and  son  were  now  in  slavery — whereas  he  2 
himself,  attacked  by  Tiberius  at  the  head  of  twelve  legions* 
had  kept  the  German  name  unsullied,  and  left  the  field  on 
equal  terms.  Thanks  to  him,  it  was  now  in  their  power 
to  decide  whether  to  make  war  upon  Rome  with  their 
forces  unimpaired,  or  to  secure  a  bloodless  peace. 

Incited  as  they  were  by  these  words,  each  army  3 


1  The  country  called  Hercynia  pro- 
bably corresponded    to  the   mountain 
district    of  Bohemia,   the   Erzgebirge, 
etc.  (Veil.  ii.  108). 

2  The  MS.  reading  here  is  vacitas,  for 
which  vagas,  as  translated  in  the  text, 
has  been  adopted  from  Draeger.  Vacuas 
might     possibly     mean     '  without    a 


general,'  referring  to  the  ignorance 
and  incompetency  of  Varus ;  or,  as 
Furn.  suggests,  '  taken  unawares,' 
'  off  their  guard. ' 

3  Tiberius  had  projected  a  compre- 
hensive attack  on  Maroboduus  in  A.D. 
6,  from  both  S.  and  N. ,  when  he  was 
called  off  by  the  Illyrian  revolt. 


A.D.  17.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   45-47-  147 

had  motives  of  its  own  to  prick  it  on.  The  Cherusci 
and  Langobardi  were  fighting  for  ancient  renown,  or 
new-won  liberty;  their  foes  for  increase  of  dominion. 

4  Never  did  armies  engage  in  deadlier  struggle  ;  never 
was  issue  more  doubtful.     The  right  wing  on  each 
side  was  routed  ;  and  a  renewal  of  the  struggle  was 

5  expected   when    Maroboduus    gave   sign   of  discom- 
fiture  by  withdrawing   his  camp   to  the   hills.     Left 
gradually   alone    by    desertions,1   he   retired    to    the 
country  of  the  Marcomanni,2  and  sent  envoys  to  beg 

c  help  from  Tiberius.  The  reply  returned  was  that,  as 
he  had  given  no  aid  to  the  Romans  when  fighting 
against  the  Cherusci,  he  had  no  title  to  claim  Roman 
help  against  them  now.  Drusus  however  was  de- 
spatched, as  above  related,  to  secure  the  peace  of  the 
border. 

i         In  this  same  year,  twelve   famous  cities  of  Asia  Twelve 
were  destroyed  by  an  earthquake.3    As  the  disaster  deSstroye<T 


occurred  in  the  night,  there  was  no  warning,  and  the 
2  destruction   was   all    the    greater.      Even    the   usual 
mode  of  escape  in  such  cases,  that  of  rushing  into  the 
open,  was  of  no  avail  ;  for  people  were  swallowed  up 
by  fissures  opening  in  the  ground.    Men  say  that  great 
mountains  sank  down,  that  what  had  been  plains  were 
seen  high  in  air,  and  that  flames  burst  out  amid  the 
8  ruins.      The  greatest   sufferers   were   the   people   of  Generous 
Sardis,  and  their  case  attracted  most  commiseration  :  sufferers.6 

1  This  refers  to  the  recent  defection  nient  raised  in  honour  of  Tiberius  by 

from   Maroboduus  of  the  Langobardi  the  grateful  cities  for  his  liberality  on 

and  Semnones.  this  occasion,  adds  Ephesus  and  Cibyra 

*  The  Marcomanni  were  a  powerful  to  the  list.     As  this  monument  was  set 
tribe  who  joined  Ariovistus  in  the  in-  up    in    A.D.    30,    it  is    supposed    that 
vasion  of  Gaul  (Caesar  B.  G.,  i.  51,  2),  Ephesus  may  have  suffered  and   been 
and  had  now  retired  into  Bohemia.  relieved  at   a  later  date  than  the  rest. 

*  Pliny  also,    who    calls  this  earth-  The  ruin  of  Cibyra  and  the  relief  ac- 
quake   maximus  terrae  memoria  mor~  corded   to  that  city  are  mentioned  in 
talium  motus,  gives  12  as  the  number  iv.    13,    i.       For  details  of  the  above 
of  cities  destroyed  (H.  N.  ii.  86)  ;   but  monument,  see  Rushforth,  p.  124. 

an  extant  inscription,  on  a  huge  monu- 


148 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  17. 


Liberality 
of  Tiberius 
as  to  in- 
heritances. 


the  Emperor  promising  them  ten  million  sesterces, 
with  remission  of  all  contributions  either  to  the 
public  or  the  Imperial1  exchequer  for  a  period  of  five 
years.  The  Magnesians  of  Sipylus  came  next,  both  4 
in  suffering  and  compensation.  It  was  resolved  to  give 
remission  of  tribute  for  the  same  period  to  the  people 
of  Temnos,  to  those  of  Philadelphia,  Aegeae  and 
Apollonis,  to  the  people  called  Mostenians  or  Hyrca- 
nian  Macedonians,  to  Hierocaesarea,  Myrina,  Cyme 
and  Tmolus;  and  to  send  a  senator  to  inspect  and 
give  relief  upon  the  spot.  For  this  duty  a  senator  5 
of  praetorian  rank,  Marcus  Ateius  by  name,  was 
selected,  for  fear  that  if  a  man  of  equal  consular  rank 
with  the  Governor  were  appointed,  there  might  be 
rivalry  and  difficulties  between  them. 

In  addition  to  this  splendid  public  munificence,  48. 
the  Emperor  performed  acts  of  private  generosity 
which  were  no  less  welcome.  A  rich  lady  of  the 
name  of  Aemilia  Musa  having  died  intestate,  her 
property  was  claimed  for  the  Imperial  exchequer ; 
but  Tiberius  let  it  pass  to  Aemilius  Lepidus,  to 
whose  family  she  was  reputed  to  belong.  In  another 
case,  a  wealthy  Roman  knight,  of  the  name  of  Patu- 
leius,  had  made  the  Emperor  joint-heir  with  others  ; 
but  on  discovering  that  in  a  previous  will,  un- 
doubtedly genuine,  Marcus  Servilius  had  been  named 
sole  heir,  Tiberius  gave  over  to  him  the  property. 
In  both  cases,  he  remarked,  the  money  was  needed  to 
maintain  the  nobility  of  the  family.  He  would  accept  2 
no  inheritance  which  he  had  not  deserved  by  private 
friendship;2  and  he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 


1  As  Asia  was  one  of  the  senatorial 
provinces,  it  thus  appears  that  even  in 
these  there  were  certain  payments  due  to 
the  emperor' sjtscws,  collected,  no  doubt, 
by  one  of  his  fiscal  procurators  in  the 


province.     For  the  office  of  procurator 
see  n.  on  iv.  6,  5. 

2  Caligula  and  Nero  had  no  such 
scruples  as  to  accepting  inheritances. 
The  former  calmly  pronounced  null 


A.D.  17.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.  47-50-  149 

bequests  from  strangers,  or  from  persons  who  left 
fortunes  to  the  Emperor  because  they  had  quarrelled 
with  their  own  relations. 

3        But    whilst    relieving    innocent    and    honourable  Expulsion 
poverty,1  he  either  expelled   or  permitted   to    retire  worthy 
from  the  Senate  the  following  persons,  whose  indi-  s 
gence   was   due   to  extravagant  or  vicious    habits— 
Vibidius    Varro,   Marius   Nepos,    Appius    Appianus, 
Cornelius  Sulla,  and  Quintus  Vitellius.2 

1  About  this  same  time,  Tiberius  dedicated  certain  Dfetdj£atj™ 
temples   which   had  fallen   into   decay,   or   had  been 
destroyed  by  fire,  the  restoration  of  which  had  been 
begun   by  Augustus.      One  of  these   was  to    Liber, 
Libera  and  Ceres,  near  the  Circus  Maximus,  vowed 

2  originally  by  Aulus  Postumius  the  Dictator.    Another, 
in  the  same  place,  was  to  Flora,  built  by  the  Aediles 
Lucius  and  Marcus  Publicius  ;  and  a  third,  to  Janus, 
in  the^Vegetable  Market,3  built  by  the  Gaius  Duilius 
who  won   the   first   sea-victory  for  Rome,  and  cele- 
brated   a    naval    Triumph    over  the    Carthaginians. 

3  Germanicus  consecrated  a  temple  to  Hope,  vowed  in 
that  same  war  by  Aulus  Atilius. 

i         Meantime  the  law  of  treason  was  growing  to  its  Accusation 

of  Appu- 

maturity.  Appuleia  Varilla,  a  great-niece4  of  Augustus,  leia; 
was  accused  of  that  offence  for  having  spoken  slander- 
ously of  the  Divine  Augustus,  of  Tiberius   and   his 
mother;  and  for  having  committed5  adultery  —  a  high 

and  void  the  wills  of  chief  centurions  and  paid  them  in  full  (De  Ben.  ii.  7,  2). 
(primipilares)  who  had  omitted  to  J  Uncle  of  the  future  emperor  of  that 

leave  any  legacy  to  him  ;  as  <well  as  name. 

those  of  persons  who  were  asserted  to  *  This  market  was  situated  between 

have  had  that  intention,  though  dying  the  Capitol  and  the  river,  outside  the 

without  fulfilling  it   (Suet.  Gaius,  38  ;  Porta  Carmentalis.     Part  of  the  site  is 

Nero,   32).     Such  bequests  became,  in  now  occupied  by  the  remains  of  the 

fact,  a  kind  of  serai-compulsory  death-  Theatre  of  Marcellus. 
duties.  4  The  pedigree  of  this  lady  is  not 

1  Seneca  tells  us  that  Marius  Nepos  clearly  made  out. 

Th 


had  once  asked  Tiberius  to  help  him  to  «  The  meaning  of  the  word  teneri  in 

pay  his  debts.      The    emperor  asked       a  context    like    this  is   '  to  be  found 
him  to  send  in  a  list  of  his  creditors,       guilty  ;  '    not  merely  '  to  be  implicated 


ISO 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  17. 


misdemeanour  for  one  related  to  the  Emperor.  For  2 
the  adultery,  it  was  held  that  the  punishment  provided 
under  the  Julian  Law x  would  suffice  ;  as  to  the  treason, 
Caesar  required  that  a  distinction  should  be  drawn 
between  blasphemous  remarks  about  Augustus,  and 
those  directed  against  himself.  For  the  former  the 
accused  should  be  condemned  ;  but  he  did  not  wish 
the  latter  to  be  brought  under  the  notice  of  the  court. 
Being  asked  by  the  Consul  what  he  thought  of  the  3 
unseemly  remarks  which  Appuleia  was  accused  of 
making  against  his  mother,  he  said  nothing  ;  but  at 
the  next  meeting  of  Senate,2  he  begged  in  her  name 
also  that  no  words  against  her,  whatever  their  im- 
port, should  be  held  as  criminal.  So  he  acquitted3  ± 
Appuleia  on  the  charge  of  treason ;  and  deprecating 
too  severe  a  punishment  for  the  adultery,  he  recom- 
mended that  she  should  be  dealt  with  by  her  kinsfolk,4 
in  accordance  with  ancient  custom,  and  removed  to  a 
distance  of  two  hundred  miles  from  the  city.  Her  5 
paramour  Manlius  was  interdicted  from  Italy  and 
from  Africa. 

A  division  of  opinion  then  arose  as  to  the  appoint-  51 
ment  of  a  successor  to  the  Praetor  Vipsanius  Gallus, 
who  had  died  in  office.     Germanicus  and  Drusus,  who  2 


in,'  as  Furn.  explains  it.  See  iii.  13,  2  : 
67,  2 ;  and  xi.  6,  5.  In  iv.  19,  5 
haerebant  has  a  similar  meaning. 

1  The  Julian  Law  '  de  adulteriis  et 
stupris'   was    passed   B.C.    17,   and   is 
alluded  to  by  Horace  in  the  Carmen 
Saeculare  composed  in  that  year.     See 
iv.  42,  3. 

2  The  limits  of  the  criminal  jurisdic- 
tion of   the   senate  were  not    strictly 
defined.    We  find  that  all  cases  of  public 
or     political     importance,      especially 
charges  for  treason,  came  before  it ;  and 
also  ordinary  crimes  when  committed 
by  senators  or  other  important  person- 
ages.   See  n.  on  iii.  10.     Novel  offences 
also,  unknown  to  the  law,  might  be  tried 
by  the  senate,  as  in  vi.  49 ;  and  in  the 
present  instance  two  separate  charges 


(adultery  and  treason)  are  mixed  up 
together,  in  a  way  not  permitted  in 
the  ordinary  courts  of  law  (Greenidge, 
p.  387).  It  is  to  be  noted,  however, 
that  the  adultery  in  this  case  was  re- 
garded as  a  treasonable  offence,  having 
been  committed  with  a  member  of  the 
imperial  family.  See  iii.  24,  3.  Ti- 
berius in  his  judgment  refuses  to  recog- 
nise this  view. 

3  Here  the    emperor  dismisses  Ap- 
puleia, not  by  the  exercise  of  any  general 
right  of   pardon,    but    by  placing  his 
tribunitian  veto  on  the  action  of  the 
senate.     See  iii.  70,  2,  and  xiv.  48,  3. 

4  The  old    custom   referred   to  was 
that    whereby    the    penalty    for    such 
offences  was  inflicted,  though  not  im- 
posed, by  the  relatives. 


A.D.  17.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   50-52.  151 

were  still  in  Rome,  supported  Haterius  Agrippa,  who 
was  a  relative1  of  Germanicus  ;  but  many  contended 
that,  as  prescribed  by  law,2  the  number  of  a  candidate's 
children   should    be    the    determining   factor  in  the 
3  nomination.     Tiberius  was  well  pleased^to  see  the 
Senate  divided  in  opinion,  with  his  sons  on  one  side 
and  the  law  on  the  other.     The  law,  of  course,  was  Haterius 
set  aside  ;  but  not  without  long  discussion,  and  only  arfpomted. 
by  a  narrow  majority,  just  as  used  to  be  the  case  even 
in  the  days  when  law  prevailed. 

1  In  the  same  year  war  broke  out  in  Africa,  under  a  war  m 

2  leader  of  the  name  of  Tacfarinas.     This  man  was  a 
Numidian  by  birth,  who  after  serving  as  an  auxiliary 
in  the  Roman  army  had  deserted,  and  gathered  round 
him   a   roving   body   of  freebooters  for  purposes  of 
rapine  and  plunder.     These  he  formed  into  a  regular 
force,   organised   in    cohorts   and   squadrons,   till   at 
length,  from  being  the   captain   of  an    undisciplined 
horde,    he    became    the    recognised    leader    of    the 

3  Musulamii,4  a  powerful  nomad  tribe  on  the  borders  of 
the  African  desert.     This  people  now  took  up  arms, 
and  dragged  into  the  war  the  neighbouring  Moors,5 

4  who    had    a    chief    of    their    own    called    Mazippa. 
The  whole   force  was  divided  into  two  ;    Tacfarinas 

1  The  mother  of  Haterius  was  pro-  to  Augustus   in   i.    10,   6.     Furn.   can 

bably  a  Marcella,  daughter  of  Agrippa  hardly  be  right  in  supposing  that  Ti- 

and  Marcella,  and  half-sister  to  Agrip-  berius  rejoiced  at   the  infraction  of  a 

pina  the  wife  of  Germanicus.  law  telling  in  favour  of  autocracy  ;  for 

a  For  the  Papia-Poppaean  Law  here  during  the  early  part  of  his  reign  he 

referred  to,  see  iii.  25,  i,  2,  and  Furn.,  showed  himself  a  jealous  stickler  for 

appendix  to  Book  iii.  law  and  precedent. 

'  Thisseems  a  needlessly  cruel  com-  *  This  important  name,  corrupt  in 

ment. "  The  suggestion  maac  by  Tacitus  the  text  here,  is  correctly  given  in  iv. 

is  twofold,:  first  that  Tiberius,  jealous  24,  2.    Florus  (iv.  12,  40),  and  Ptolemy 

of  the  popularity  of  his  sons,  rejoiced  to  (iv.  3,  24),  both  give  it  under  slightly 

see    them    at    loggerheads    with    the  different  forms.      Ptolemy  places    the 

senate ;    and   secondly,   that   he    was  tribe    S.    of    Cirta    (Constantine),   in 

pleased  that  the  occasion  of  the  friction  Numidia. 

was  one  in  which  the  youths,  who  were  *  These  would  be  the  Mauri,  imme- 

supposed    to    have    popular   leanings,  diately  to  the  W.  of  the  river  Ampsagas 

were  taking  a  non-popular  view  in  de-  (El     Kibir),    which     formed    the    E. 

fiance  of  the  law.    We  may  compare  boundary  of  Mauritania, 
with  this  the  cynical  motive  attributed 


152  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  17. 

retaining  a  picked  body  of  men  in  camp,  armed  in 
Roman  fashion,  to  accustom  them  to  discipline  and 
command ;  while  Mazippa,  at  the  head  of  a  light- 
armed  force,  spread  the  terror  of  fire  and  sword  far 
around. 

successor         The  two  leaders  having  compelled  the  Cinithii,1  a  5 
tribe  of  considerable  consequence,  to  join  them,  they 
were  met  by  Furius  Camillus,  the  Proconsul  of  Africa, 
who  had  united  into  one  body  the  Roman  legion  and 
all  the  allies  under  our  standards.    His  numbers  were 
small  in  comparison  with  those  of  the  Numidians  and 
Moors ;    yet   his   only  anxiety  was   lest  the   enemy 
should  take  fright  and  give  him  the  slip.    As  it  turned  6 
out,  the  hope  of  victory  lured  the  Africans  on  to  their 
defeat.     Camillus  placed  his  legion  in  the  centre  ;  his 
light  cohorts  and  two   squadrons  of  cavalry  on  the 
wings.     Tacfarinas  did  not  shrink  from  the  combat ;  7 
but  his  Numidians  were  routed,  and  thus,  once  again, 
after  an  interval  of  many  years,  the  Furian   family 
distinguished   itself  in   arms.      For  never   since   the  8 
days  of  the  famous  Camillus  who  delivered  the  city, 
and  his  son,  had  that  family  gained  military  laurels ; 
and  this  particular  member  of  it  was  looked  upon  as 
a  soldier  without  experience.     Tiberius  was  all  the  9 
more   ready   for   that    reason    to    make    honourable 
mention  of  his  services  in  the  Senate.     The  Senate 
voted  him  the  Triumphal  ornaments  ;  and,  as  he^ed  a 
quiet,   unambitious   life,   these   honours   brought    no 
punishment  in  their  train. 

1  Ptolemy  puts  the  Cinithians  to  the  Furn.  Intr.  p.  97).     The  head-quarters 

W.  of  the  lesser  Syrtis,  extending  as  of   the  legions  which  garrisoned    the 

far  E.  as  the  Cinyps.     It  is  impossible  province  were  at  Thevesta,  on  the  N. 

to  fix  the  localities  of  the  campaigns  slope  of  the  Mons  Aurasius,  on  which 

against  Tacfarinas.     The  Roman  pro-  were  the  fastnesses  of  Tacfarinas.    The 

vince  of  Africa  was  of  vast  extent  from  Musulamii  were  apparently  on  the  side 

E.    to  W.,  extending  from   the  Great  of  that  mountain  which  faced  the  desert 

Syrtis  to  the  boundary  of  Mauritania.  (Rushforth,  p.  129),  as  the  words  soli- 

It   included   most  of  modern  Tripoli,  tudinibus  Africae  propinqua   seem   to 

all    Tunis,    and   part  of   Algeria   (see  imply. 


A.D.  18.]  BOOK    II.    CHAPS.   52-54.  153 


A.D.  18.     CONSULS   TIBERIUS   CAESAR  AUGUSTUS    III. 
AND   GERMANICUS   CAESAR    II. 

i        Tiberius  now  entered  upon  his  third  Consulship,  Germani- 
Germanicus  upon   his  second.      Germanicus  entered  ib/the*0 
upon  office  in  Nicopolis,1  a  town  in  the  Province  of  East; 
Achaia,  which  he  had  reached  by  way  of  the  Illyrian 
coast  after  paying  a  visit  to  his  brother  Drusus,  then 
quartered    in    Delmatia.      Having    encountered    bad 
weather  in  the  Adriatic,  and  again  in  the  Ionian  Gulf, 

*  he  spent  a  few  days  at  Nicopolis  to  refit.     From  this 
place   he   visited   the   bay  famed   for  the  victory  of 
Actium,  where  he  inspected  the  spoils  dedicated  by  visits 
Augustus,  and  the  camp  of  Antonius.     These  scenes 

3  revived  family  memories  in  his  mind  ;  for  as  he  was 
great-nephew  of  Augustus  and  grandson  of  Antonius, 
they  called  up  before  him  many  visions  of  triumph 
and  disaster.  Thence  he  passed  on  to  Athens,  where  and 
out  of  compliment  to  our  treaty  with  that  ancient  and 
allied  city,  he  contented  himself  with  a  single  lictor.2 

i  He  was  received  with  extraordinary  attentions,  the 
Greeks  parading  the  exploits  and  sayings  of  their 
forefathers  to  add  importance  to  their  flatteries. 

1  He   then    made   for    Euboea,   crossing   thence   to 
Lesbos,  where  Agrippina  gave  birth  to  her  youngest 

2  child  Julia.3    Next,  skirting  the  province  of  Asia,  he 

1  This  city  was  founded  by  Augustus,  always  a  sworn  alliance  with  Rome,  and 

in  commemoration  of  his  great  Actian  granted  aid  to  the  Romans  only  in  an 

victory,  on  the  N.  or  Epirote  side  of  the  extraordinary,  and,  at  least  as  to  form, 

Ambracian  gulf,  where  his  camp  was  voluntary    fashion.'       See    Mommsen, 

situated.       Actium    was    opposite    to  Roman  Provinces,  i.  p.  258. 

Nicopolis  on  the  S.  side  of  the  bay.  3  This  Julia  (also  called  Livilla),  the 

9  For  a  proconsul,    the  full  number  youngest    child    of    Germanicus,    was 

would  have  been  twelve.     In  spite  of  married  to  L.  Vinicius  A.D.  33  (see  vi. 

her  defection  in  the  Mithradatic  war  (see  15,   i),  and  was  banished  by  Caligula, 


note  on  chap.  55,1),  Athens  had  always  A.D.  39,  along  with  her  sister  Agrippina, 
been  treated  by  Rome  with  distinguished  the  mother  of  Nero.  She  was  recalled 
favour.  'Athens  was  never  placed  under  by  Claudius  in  B.C.  41,  was  again 


the  Fasces  of  a  Roman  governor,  and       banished,  and   finally  put  to  death  to 
never  paid  tribute  to  Rome  ;   she  had       please  Messalina  (Dio.  Ix.  8,  5). 


154  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  18. 

touched  at  the  Thracian  cities  of  Perinthus  and 
Byzantium,  passed  through  the  Bosphorus,  and 
entered  the  Euxine  Sea.  He  was  anxious  to  become 
acquainted  with  places  so  famed  of  old ;  and  as  he 
went  along  he  gave  relief  to  the  communities  which 
had  suffered  from  domestic  factions,  or  from  the 
misrule  of  magistrates.1  On  his  way  back,  he  en-  3 
deavoured  to  visit  the  sacred  places  of  Samothrace ; 
but  he  encountered  northerly  winds  and  was 
driven  off. 

He  then  visited  Ilium,  a  spot  so  venerable  for  its 
suhsThe  varied  fortunes,  and  as  the  cradle  of  our  race ;  coasted 
Colophon,  again  along  Asia,  and  put  in  at  Colophon,  to  consult 
the  oracle  of  the  Clarian  Apollo.  There  is  no  4 
priestess  at  this  place,  as  at  Delphi,  but  a  priest, 
who  is  selected  out  of  certain  families ;  he  is  usually 
a  citizen  of  Miletus.  The  priest  is  informed  only  of 
the  number  and  the  names  of  those  who  ask  his 
counsel;  he  then  descends  into  a  cave,  drinks  a 
draught  of  water  from  a  secret  spring,  and  though,  as 
a  rule,  ignorant  both  of  writing  and  of  metre,  he 
produces  an  answer  in  correct  verse  on  the  subject 
thought  of  by  the  enquirer.  On  this  occasion  it  5 
was  reported  that,  in  the  dark  language  usual  with 
oracles,  he  prophesied  an  early  death  to  Germanicus. 
piso  Meanwhile  Gnaeus  Piso  was  in  haste  to  enter  55- 

Athenians!  upon  the  work  before  him.  He  scared  the  people  of 
Athens  by  making  a  noisy  entry  into  their  city, 
and  then  rated  them  soundly;  indirectly  rebuking 
Germanicus  for  having  dishonoured  the  name  of -Rome 
by  paying  extravagant  compliments  to  a  populace  who 
were  no  true  Athenians — the  real  Athenians  had  all 

1  Probably  the  local  magistrates  are  tion  was  to  check  the  misgovernment 
meant — not  provincial  governors.  One  of  local  native  magistrates.  See  next  n. 
beneficent  result  of  imperial  administra-  but  one. 


A.D.  18.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   54-55-  155 

died  out  under  their  calamities — but  the  mere  off-scourings 
of  the  earth :  a  people  zv/io  had  allied  themselves  with 
Mithradatcs  against  Sulla,1  and  with  Antonius  against 

2  the  Divine  Augustus.     He  even   raked  up   old  stories 
against  them  :   their  defeats  at  the  hands  of  Macedon, 
and  their  acts  of  violence  to  their  own  countrymen  ;2 
for  he  had  reasons  of  his  own  for  a  grudge  against  the 
city,  since  the  Athenians  had  refused  his  request  to 
give  up  to  him  a  certain  Theophanes,  who  had  been 

3  found  guilty  of  forgery  by  the  Areopagus.     Sailing 
swiftly  thence   by   the   shortest  course   through  the 
Cyclades,   he   caught   up   Germanicus   at   the  island 
of  Rhodes.     Germanicus  had  not  failed  to  hear  how 
he  had  been   attacked   by   Piso;   but  such   was   his 
kindliness  that  when  Piso's  vessel  was  being  driven 
on  to   some  rocks   in   a  gale,  and  the  death   of  his 
enemy  might  have   been   put  down  to   accident,  he 
sent  some  of  his  own  triremes  to  rescue  him  from 
danger. 

4  But    this    did    nothing    to    allay  Piso's    rancour,  reaches 
Scarcely  allowing   a  delay  of  one  day,  he  left  Ger-  ta^rs" 
manicus  and  went  on  before  him.     No  sooner  had  he 
reached  Syria  and  joined  the  army,  than  he  began 

to  pay  court  to  the  lowest  of  the  common  soldiers  by 
means  of  gifts  and  favours  ;  removing  from  command 
old  centurions  and  Tribunes  known  for  the  strictness 

1  i.e.  in   the   first  Mithradatic  War,  l>een  pillaged  by  Philip,  the  last  king  of 
B.c.  87,  86.     Like  most  of  the  Greek  "   Macedon,  in  B.C.  200;  by  Sulla  in  B.C. 

states,   Athens  had   taken   the  side  of  86;  and  had  lost  her  last  fleet  at  Actium, 

Mithradates  when  he  crossed  to  Greece  B.C.  31.     The  wrongs  here  referred  to 

in  B.C.  87.    Sulla  took  the  city  by  assault  are    doubtless    those    inflicted   by   the 

after  a  siege  of  some  months,  and  de-  native   magistrates    upon   their    fellow 

stroyed  the  long  walls  and  fortifications.  townsmen.      Cicero     found    that    the 

No  Greek  city  from'the  standpoint  of  native  Greek  magistrates  of  Cilicia  had 

Roman  policy  erred  so  greatly  against  been  plundering  the  local  revenues  for 

Rome  as  this  ;  its  demeanour  in  the  ten  years  (ad  Alt.  vi.  2,  5).     It  would 

Mithradatic  war  would,  had  its  case  appear  that  as  much  injury  was  done 

been  that  of  any  other  commonwealth,  to  the  provincials  by  the  carelessness 

have  inevitably  led  to  its  being  razed.'  of  Roman  governors   in  calling    local 

Mommsen,  Rom.  Provinces,  i.  p.  258.  authorities  to  account,  as  by  their  own 

1  As    Furn.    points  out,  Athens  had  exactions.    See  Greenidge,  p.  319. 


156 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  18. 


Conduct  of 
Plancina. 


Germani- 
cus in 
Armenia. 


of  their  discipline,  and  replacing  them  by  creatures 
of  his  own,  or  by  men  of  the  worst  character; 
permitting  idleness  in  the  camp  and  license  in  the 
towns,  and  allowing  the  men  to  roam  and  riot 
through  the  country ;  and  so  far  did  he  carry  the 
work  of  demoralisation,  that  he  came  to  be  called, 
in  the  talk  of  the  common  soldiers,  'The  Father 
of  the  Legions.' 

Nor  did  Plancina  confine  herself  to  matters  that  5 
befitted  her  sex$    She  assisted  at  reviews  of  horse 
and  foot,  and  spoke  in  insulting  terms  of  Germanicus 
and  Agrippina.      Some   even   of  the  better  soldiers 
shewed  an    evil    compliance  with    such    courses,    a 
rumour    having    secretly  gained    ground    that    the 
Emperor  approved  of  them.     All  this  was  known  to  6 
Germanicus ;    but  he    felt    that   his   first  and   more 
urgent  duty  was  to  deal  with  the  Armenians. 

This    people    has    borne    from    early    times    an  56. 
equivocal    character,   both    in    regard  to  their  own 
temper,    and    the    limits    of   their   territory,2  which 
borders  on   our  provinces   for  a  long  distance,  and 
extends   as  far  as  Media.     Wedged   in   between  the 


'(* )lt  is  to  be  noted  that  the  conduct 
which,  was  approved  in  Agrippina  in 
i.  69,  -2  and  3,  is  here  condemned  in 
the  case  of  Plancina. 

"  This  description  of  Armenia  is  not 
very  wide  of  the  mark.  That  interest- 
ing country — on  one  of  whose  mountains 
the  Ark  of  Noah  was  supposed  to  have 
rested — seems  to  have  been  originally, 
like  Parthia,  inhabited  by  Turanian 
tribes,  who,  from  the  ninth  century  B.C., 
were  engaged  in  constant  warfare  with 
the  Assyrians  (see  Rawlinson's  'Sixth 
Oriental  Monarchy,'  pp.  125-131).  By 
the  time  of  the  Median  and  Persian 
empires,  a  new  Armenian  race — being 
in  fact  the  Armenian  people  as  we  now 
know  it — seems  to  have  been  formed  by 
the  admixture  of  a  ruling  Arian  popula- 
tion with  the  native  Turanian  tribes 
held  in  subjection.  Submitting  first  to 
the  Medes  and  Persians,  and  then  to 


Alexander,  the  country  became  part  of 
the  kingdom  of  the  Seleucidae,  until 
the  defeat  of  Antiochus  by  the  Romans, 
in  B.C.  190,  enabled  the  Armenians  to 
achieve  a  transitory  independence,  under 
a  native  prince  called  Artaxias.  This 
independence  was  maintained,  with 
varying  fortunes  and  varying  frontiers, 
first  against  the  reviving  authority  of 
Antiochus  Epiphanes,  then  against  the 
aggressive  designs  of  the  Parthians,  and 
lastly  against  Rome  :  Rome  arrogating 
to  herself,  and  to  some  extent  exer- 
cising, the  functions  of  a  Protectorate 
over  a  country  which  was  responsive  to 
every  movement  in  Parthian  politics, 
which  was  a  continual  object  of  am- 
bition to  Parthian  monarchs,  and,  by 
mingling  in  whose  affairs,  Rome  could 
check  Parthian  aggression  more  cheaply 
and  securely  than  by  embarking  on  a 
war  with  the  formidable  monarchy  of 


A.I).  18.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.    55-57.  157 

great  Empires  of  Rome  and   Parthia,  they  are   fre- 
quently at  enmity  with  both ;  their  hatred  of  the  one 

2  being  as  great  as  their  jealousy  of  the  other.  They 
had  no  king  at  this  time,  as  Vonones  had  been 
deposed ;  and  the  popular  favour  inclined  to  Zejip^ 
son  of  Polemo  king  of  Pontus,  because  he  had 
adopted  from  early  childhood  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  Armenians,  and  had  won  the  hearts 
of  high  and  low  alike  by  his  love  of  sport  and  revel, 
and  other  qualities  dear  to  the  hearts  of  barbarians. 

s  With  the  full  consent  therefore  of  the  nobles,  and  in  He  crowns 
presence  of  a  vast  assembly,  Germanicus  set  the  sign  ^ 
of  royalty1  upon  his  head,  in  the  City  of  Artaxata.2 
All  paid  him  homage,  and  bestowing  on  him  a  name 
taken  from  that  of  the  city,  saluted  him  as  Artaxias. 

4  Cappadocia8  was  now  reduced  to  the  form  of  a  Governors 

„     .  , ,  .  .       appointed 

Province,   with  Quintus  Veranius  as  Legate;  and  in  forCappa- 
order  to   raise    hopes   of    kindlier  treatment   under  comnm- 
Roman   rule,   some    deduction   was    made   from   the  8 

5  amount  of  the  royal  tribute.     Quintus  Servius  was 
appointed   to   Commagene,  which  was  then,  for  the 
first  time,  transferred  to  the  jurisdiction  of  a  Praetor.5 

7-   1         But  though  Germanicus  had  settled  thus  success-  insolence 
fully  the   affairs   of   the   allies,  his   satisfaction   was  ° 
marred   by  the  contumacious   attitude  of  Piso.     He 
had  ordered  Piso  to  march  part  of  his  legions  into 
Armenia,  either  in  person,  or  under  the  command  of 

the  East.  The  position  of  Armenia,  Cappadocia  was  placed  under  a  pro- 

situated  as  a  buffer  state  between  the  curator  Caesaris  pro  legato,  responsible 

two  great  empires  of  Rome  and  Parthia,  directly  to  the  emperor.  Such  was 

and  inclining  now  to  the  one,  now  to  the  position  of  Pontius  Pilate,  as  pro- 

the  other,  has  been  well  compared  to  curator  of  Judaea,  though  the  procurator 

that  of  Afghanistan  between  Russia  of  that  province  seems  to  some  extent  to 

and  the  British  Empire.  (See  Pelham,  have  been  under  the  legatus  of  the  im- 

1  Outlines  of  Roman  History,' p.  419.)  portant  province  of  Syria. 

1  i.e.  the  tiara  and  the  diadem.  4  In  fulfilment  of  the    arrangement 

*  This  city  was  on  the  Araxes.  announced  chap.  42,  6. 

1  Like  several  other  outlying  and  *  i.e.  of  the  legatus  pro-praetore  who 

comparatively  unimportant  provinces,  was  governor  of  Syria. 


!58  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  18. 

his  son :  but  Piso  had  done  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other.     The  two  met  at  last  at  Cyrrus,1  at  the  winter  2 
quarters  of  the  loth  Legion.     Each  shewed  a  resolute 
face ;  Piso  was  resolved  to  make  no  sign  of  fear,  and 
Germanicus  was   equally   determined    to    avoid    all 
appearance  of  using  threats.     Germanicus,  as  I  have 
said,  was  by  nature  kind-hearted ;  but  his  friends  had  3 
skilfully  inflamed  his  resentment,  exaggerating  what 
was  true,  suggesting  what  was  false,  and  insinuating 
various  charges  against  Piso,  Plancina  and  their  sons, 
he  meets      The  meeting  took  place  in   the  presence   of  a  few  4 
cus -"they    intimates.    Caesar  spoke  first,  in  a  tone  of  suppressed 
SSnteT     anger;  Piso  shewed  as  much  insolence  as  deference 
in  his  reply.     They  parted  open  enemies.     After  that, 
Piso   rarely   took  his    seat    on   the   tribunal    beside 
Germanicus ;  or,  if  he  did,  he  would  behave  rudely, 
and  openly  indicate  dissent.     On  one  occasion,  at  a  5 
banquet  given   by  the  king  of  the   Nabataei,2  when 
massive  golden  crowns  were  presented  to  Germanicus 
and  Agrippina,  while  lighter  ones  were  given  to  Piso 
and  the  others,  he  was  heard  to  say  that  it  was  not 
the  son  of  a  Parthian  King  that  was  being  feasted,  but 
of  a  Roman  Emperor.      With   that,   he    flung  away 
his  crown,  and  launched  out  in  a  tirade  against  ex- 
travagance.    Galling  as  this  was,  Germanicus  put  up 
with  it  nevertheless. 

Embassy  During  these    occurrences,   an    embassy   arrived 

Pallia.  fr°m  Artabanus,  King  of  Parthia,  to  recall  the  old 
friendship  and  alliance  between  the  two  peoples,  and 
to  ask  for  some  fresh  assurance  of  good-will.  Out  of 
compliment  to  Germanicus,  the  King  offered  to  come 
as  far  as  the  bank  of  the  Euphrates;  meantime  he 

1  Cyrrus  (modern  Choros]  was  on  the  2  A  powerful  tribe  in  the  NW.  of 
road  from  Antioch  to  the  Euphrates  at  Arabia,  who  had  driven  the  Idumaeans 
Zeugma.  out  of  their  capital  Petra. 


A.D.  10.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   57-59.  159 

begged  that  Vonones  should  not  be  permitted  to 
remain  in  Syria,  to  carry  on  treasonable  correspond- 
ence, from  quarters  so  close  at  hand,  with  the  princes 

2  of  that  country.     Germanicus,  in  his  reply,  referred  in 
dignified   terms  to  the  alliance  between    Rome  and 
Parthia,  speaking  modestly  and   becomingly   of  the 
proposed    royal    visit,    and   of   the   respect    thereby 
shewn  to  himself.     Vonones  was  removed  to  Pompei- 

3  opolis,1  a  city  on   the  coast   of  Cilicia,   not  merely 
because  of  the  request  of  Artabanus,  but  also  as  an 
affront   to  Piso.     For  Vonones  stood    high  in  Piso's 
favour,  having  ingratiated   himself  with  Plancina  by 
various  presents  and  attentions. 


A.D.    19.     CONSULS   M.  JUNIUS   SILANUS   AND 
L.   NORBANUS   BALBUS. 

1  Germanicus   now  set   out   for   Egypt,  wishing  to 

.   ,  cus  visits 

2  become   acquainted  with  its   antiquities ;  though  his  Egypt. 
professed  object  was  to  look  after  the  affairs  of  that 
province.     He  there  lowered   the  price  of  grain  by 
throwing  open  the   public  granaries;    and  did  many 
other    things    pleasing    to    the    multitude,    such    as 
appearing  without  an   escort,  wearing  sandals,2  and 
adopting  a  Greek   style  of  dress  :  in   all  which   he 
followed  the  example  of  Publius  Scipio,  who  is  said 

to  have  done  the  same  thing  in  Sicily,  though  the 

3  Punic  War  was  raging  at  the  time.     Tiberius  ani-  Tiberius 
madverted  slightly  on  the  matter  of  his  apparel  ^and 
behaviour,    but    rebuked    him    sharply    for    having 
violated  the  rule  of  Augustus  in  entering  Alexandria 

1  Formerly  Soloi  (near  A-Mezlu),  re-  of  the  Roman  cafceus,  and  the  Greek 

named  after  its  restorer  (Furn.).  How  pallium  instead  of  the  toga.  Cicero 

Vonones  came  to  his  end  is  related  in  reproaches  Antony  for  entering  the  city 

chap.  68.  cumgallicis  (slippers)?/  lacenia  instead 

1  i.e.  wearing  Greek  sandals  instead  of  cum  calceis  et  toga  (Phil.  ii.  29,  76). 


i6o 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  19. 


without  the  Emperor's  leave.  For  amongst  other  4 
secret  principles  of  his  imperial  policy,  Augustus 
had  put  Egypt  in  a  position  by  itself/  forbidding  all 
senators  and  knights  of  the  highest  class  to  enter 
that  country  without  his  permission.  For  Egypt 
holds  the  key,  as  it  were,  both  of  sea  and  land ; 2  and 
he  was  afraid  that  anyone  occupying  that  country, 
with  however  small  a  force,  and  however  great  the 
opposing  armies,  might  threaten  Italy  with  starvation.3 

Before  learning,  however,  that  his  expedition  was  g 
to  be  thus  censured,  Germanicus  was  on  his  way  up 
the  Nile.     He  started  from  Canopus,  a  city  founded  2 
by  the  Spartans  to  mark  the  burial  place  of  Canopus,4 
master  of  the  vessel  in  which  Menelaus,  on  his  way 
back  to  Greece,  had  been  driven  out  of  his  course  on 
to  the  shore  of  Libya.     From  that  place  he  embarked  3 
on  the  nearest  of  the  mouths  of  the  Nile,  that  dedi- 
cated to  Hercules;  for  the  natives  maintain  that  the 
most  ancient   hero  of  that  name  was   born  in   their 
country,   his   name   having   been   adopted   for   those 


1  The  command  of  the  two  legions 
which  formed   the  garrison  of  Egypt 
(iv.  5,  3)  was  not  held  by  a  senatorial 
legatus,  but  by  an  officer  called  prae- 
fectus    exercitus    qui    est   in    Aegypto. 

Rushforth,  p.  132,  suggests  that  this 
officer  can  have  been  none  other  than 
the  praefectus  castromm  :  see  i.  20,  i. 

2  An    excellent    description    of    the 
position  of  Egypt,  which  holds  the  keys 
(i)  of  the  waterways  to  and  from  the 
E.  to  the  Mediterranean  ;    (2)   of  the 
passage    between    Africa    and    Asia. 
Hirtius,   in   his  Alex.  War,   chap.  26, 
describes  more  particularly  the  island 
of    Pharos    as    commanding    the    sea 
access,  Pelusium  the  land  access  (i.e. 
from  Asia)  to  Egypt.     Liv.  xlv.  n,  5 
speaks  of  claustra  Aegypti,  i.e.  'Egypt, 
the  key-country ; '  and  in  Hist.  iii.  8,  3 
Tacitus  uses  the  remarkable  expression 
Aegyptus  claustra   annonae,   '  the  land 
that  holds  the  key  of  our  granary."     In 
Hist.  iii.  48,  4  and  5  Vespasian  hurried 
to  Alexandria  ut  urbem  fame  urgeret 
clausis  annonae  subsidiis. 


3  The     annexation     of     Egypt    by 
Augustus  (B.C.  29)  is  thus  recorded  on 
the  obelisk  which  now  stands  in  the 
Piazza    del  popolo    at   Rome,    placed 
originally  by  Augustus  in  the  Spina 
of  the  Circus  Maximus  : — Aegypto  in 
potestatem  populi  Romani  redacto.    The 
reasons    why    Augustus    '  set     Egypt 
apart '  are  more  fully  stated   Hist.  i. 
11,     i  :     Aegyptum     copiasque    quibus 
coerceretur,  iam  inde  a  divo  Augnsto 
equites  Romani  obtinent  loco  regurn  ;  ita 
visum  expedire  provinciam  aditu  dijfi- 
cilem,  annonae  fecundam,  superstitions 
ac     lascivia     discordem     et    mobilem, 
insciam  legum,  ignaram  magistratuum, 
domi  retinere.     The  government  by  an 
eques,  who  was  the  mere  agent  and 
nominee    of    the    emperor,    kept    the 
country  under  his  immediate  personal 
control. 

4  The  etymology  of  this  name  is  still 
obscure.      The    city  was    probably    a 
relatively    late    foundation.      For    the 
Greek  legend,  see  Wiedemann,  '  Hero- 
dot's  Zweites  Buch  '  (1890),  p.  91. 


A.D.   19.] 


BOOK    II.   CHAPS. 


161 


who  shewed  like  qualities  in  after  times.     He  then 

4  visited  the  mighty  remains  of  ancient  Thebes,  whose 
stately  monuments,  graven  with    Egyptian  writing,1 
attest  the  former  splendour  of  the  country.      One 
of  the   older  priests,   bidden   to   act   as   interpreter, 
related  how  the  country  had  once  borne  a  population 
of  seven  hundred  thousand  warriors ;  how  with  that 
army  Rameses  2  had  conquered  Libya  and  Aethiopia, 
the  Medes  and  the  Persians,  the  countries  of  Bactria 
and  Scythia ;  how  he  had  ruled  over  all  the  country 
inhabited   by   the   Syrians,  the   Armenians,  and   the 
neighbouring  Cappadocians,  from   the   Bithynian   to 

5  the  Lycian  sea.    They  could  read  the  tributes  imposed 
on  all  these  nations  :  the  weight  of  silver  and  of  gold, 
the  number  of  arms  and  horses,  the  gifts  of  ivory  and 
incense   for  the  temples,  together  with  the   amount 
of  corn  and  other  necessaries  which  each  people  had 
to  furnish :  all  on  as  grand  a  scale  as  the  contribu- 
tions now  exacted  by  the  Parthian  monarchs  or  under 
the  rule  of  Rome.^ 

i        Germanicus  took  notice  of  other  wonders  besides, 
the  chief  of  which  were  the  marble  statue  of  Memnon,4 


1  The  writing  was  doubtless  hiero- 
glyphic, such  as  covers  the  walls  and 
pillars  of  most  Egyptian  temples.  This 
writing  could  evidently  be  read  by  the 
priests  who  informed  Germanicus  ;  it 
was  used  for  religious  and  state  pur- 
poses down  to  the  middle  of  the  third 
century  A.  D.  '  Annals '  similar  to  those 
described  by  Tacitus  are  common  on 
temples  erected  by  the  Pharaohs  of  the 
eighteenth  and  nineteenth  dynasties, 
who  built  largely  at  their  capital 
Thebes. 

*  The  Rameses  here  referred  to  is  no 
doubt  Rameses  II.  (B.C.  1324-1258)  of 
the  nineteenth  dynasty,  although  the 
most  extensive  Egyptian  conquests  (a 
better  term  would  be  'sphere  of  in- 
fluence') were  those  of  Thothmosis  III. 
(B.C.  1515-1460)  of  the  eighteenth 
dynasty.  The  former  king,  however, 
became  better  known  to  history,  as  he 


built  more  and  inscribed  himself  more 
energetically  than  the  latter.  The  con- 
quests of  the  Rameside  kings  ex- 
tended as  far  as  the  Antilibanus  and 
the  White  Nile  ;  the  Aegaean  Islands 
and  coasts  were  under  their  sovereignty 
to  some  degree.  Tribute,  or  rather 
presents,  may  have  been  received  from 
provinces  beyond  the  Euphrates ;  but 
these  and  Armenia  were  never  really 
subject  to  Egypt. 

*  These  words  are  interesting  as 
showing  that,  in  the  opinion  of  Tacitus, 
Rome  and  Parthia  might  be  placed 
more  or  less  on  a  level,  as  the  two  great 
powers  of  the  civilised  world. 

4  The  so-called  Vocal  Memnon  is  one 
of  a  pair  of  colossal  statues  represent- 
ing Amenophis  III.  of  the  eighteenth 
Dynasty,  set  up  in  front  of  his  temple 
at  Thebes.  The  Colossus  to  the  north 
is  made  in  one  piece.  The  one  to  the 

M 


The  monu- 
ments are 
explained 
to  him. 


He  sees 
Vocal 
Memnon 
and  the 
pyramids. 


, 


162 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  19. 


Drusus 
foments 
discord 
among  the 
Germans. 


which  emits  a  vocal  sound  when  struck  by  the  rays 
of  the  sun ;  those  monuments  of  kingly  opulence 
and  pride,  the  pyramids,  reared  mountain-high  out 
of  wastes  of  shifting  sand ;  the  basin  excavated  to 
receive  the  overflowing  waters  of  the  Nile,  and 
elsewhere  again  channels  so  narrow  and  profound 
that  no  sounding-line  can  reach  the  bottom.  He  2 
then  passed  on  to  Elephantine  l  and  Syene,2  which 
at  that  time  marked  the  boundaries3  of  the  Roman 
Empire — an  Empire  which  now  stretches  as  far  as 
the  Persian  Gulf.4 

Whilst  Germanicus  was  thus  spending  the  summer  62. 


south,  called  Memnon,  is  whole  up  to 
the  knees;  the  upper  part  (broken  in 
the  time  of  Strabo  and  Pausanias,  and 
repaired  probably  by  Septimius  Severus) 
is  made  up  of  thirteen  blocks,  in  five 
courses,  of  a  marble  different  from  the 
rest.  During  the  first  two  centuries  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  this  statue,  which 
saluted  with  its  voice  the  rising  sun, 
was  one  of  the  chief  objects  of  attrac- 
tion to  travellers  in  Egypt ;  but  the 
Egyptians  themselves  seem  to  have 
attached  no  importance  to  it.  The  feet 
and  legs  are  covered  with  inscriptions  in 
Greek  or  Roman  characters  by  various 
distinguished  personages  (the  emperor 
Hadrian  among  the  number)  who  had 
heard  the  phenomenon.  None  of  these 
are  earlier  than  the  reign  of  Nero,  none 
later  than  that  of  Septimius  Severus. 
The  latter  emperor  is  supposed  to  have 
restored  the  statue,  which  was  probably 
broken  by  an  earthquake  which  ruined 
Thebes  in  B.C.  27.  Pausanias  and 
Strabo  both  describe  the  sound,  which 
is  supposed  to  have  arisen  from  an 
expansion  of  some  part  of  the  statue 
under  the  influence  of  the  early  sun. 
The  story  was  a  natural  invention  of 
the  Greeks.  The  name  Memnon  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  known  to  Strabo ; 
but  he  speaks  of  a  Memnonium  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Nile,  and  the  men- 
tion of  /j-envovela  in  connection  with 
Amenophis  shews  evidently  the  Greek 
form  of  that  monarch's  name.  Find- 
ing these  colossi  attached  to  a  building 
bearing  a  similar  name,  it  was  natural 
for  them  to  identify  him  with  their 
own  Ethiopian  Memnon,  the  son  of 


Eos,  and  picture  him  as  saluting  his 
mother  on  her  daily  re-appearance. 
(See  Letranne's  work  ;  Baedeker,  Ed.  5 
(1902),  p.  307;  and  Wiedemann,  Aeg. 
Geschichte,  p.  387,  and  Supplement, 
p.  44  ;  also  Mommsen  on  C.  I.  L.  iii. 
i,  30-66 ;  and  Mayor  upon  Juv. 
xv.  5.)  Elsewhere  the  Romans  dis- 
covered marvels  unknown  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  country.  The  Greeks 
knew  nothing  of  the  inspiring  qualities 
of  the  Castalian  spring,  so  vaunted  by 
the  Roman  poets. 

1  Elephantine  is  an  island  opposite 
to  Syene  (Assouan),  which  marked  the 
Egyptian  frontier  towards  Nubia. 

2  Syene  is  on  the  site  of  the  modern 
Assuan  or  Assouan,  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Nile,  just  below  the  first  cataract. 
Immediately  opposite  to  Assouan  is  the 
island  of  Elephantine — called   by  the 
Arabs    "the  flowery  isle" — on   which 
remains  of  numerous  ancient  buildings 
may  be  traced.     It  is  at  Assouan  that 
the  great  dam  of  the  Nile  has  now  been 
constructed.    Two  hundred  miles  above 
Assouan  is  Wadi  Haifa,  to  which  point 
the  frontier  of  Egypt  had  receded  be- 
fore the  successful   advance  of  Lord 
Kitchener  in  1896. 

3  Claustra  is  here  used  in  a  different 
sense  from  that  in  chap.  59,  4.     Here 
it  means  simply   '  the  extreme  limit. ' 
So  Cic.  Place.,  13,  30;  Liv.  ix.  32,  i. 
One  of  the  difficulties  of  Latin  consists 
in  the  use  of  the  same  words  in  different 
meanings,  often,  as  here,  in  close  prox- 
imity to  each  other. 

4  As  in  xiv.  25,  3,  the  rub  rum  mare 
of  Tacitus  is  our  Persian  Gulf, 


A.D.  19.]  BOOK    II.    CHAPS.   61-63.  163 

in  moving  from  one  province  to  another,  Drusus  had 
earned  for  himself  no  little  credit  by  sowing  dis- 
sension among  the  Germans,  and  inducing  them  to 
give  a  final  blow  to  the  already  broken  power  of 

2  Maroboduus.  There  was  among  the  Gotones l  a  young  Exploit  of 
chief  called   Catualda,   who   had    been    expelled   the 
country  by  Maroboduus,  and  was   now  emboldened 

3  by  that  king's  difficulties  to  seek  revenge.     Entering 
the  territory  of  the  Marcomanni  with  a  large  force, 
and  winning  over  the  leading  men  by  bribes,  he  forced 

4  his  way  into  the  palace  and  a  fort  adjoining  it.     He 
there  found  a  quantity  of  old  Suevic  plunder,  together 
with  a  number  of  camp  followers  and  traders  from 
our  provinces,  who  had   been  induced   by  the  grant 
of  trading  rights    and    the    love   of  gain   to    forget 
their  fatherland,  leave  their  homes,  and  settle  in  the 

'..          enemy's  country. 

'3-   l         Maroboduus,   now   entirely   deserted,  could   only  Marobo- 
throw  himself  upon  the  Emperor's  mercy.     Crossing  appeals  to 
the  Danube  where  it  forms  the  frontier  of  the  province 
of  Noricum,2  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Tiberius,  not  in  the 
tone  of  a  fugitive  or  a  suppliant,  but  in  a  style  be- 
fitting the  memory  of  his  former  greatness : — In  the 
days  when  he  was  an  illustrious  monarch — and  his  aid 
had  been  invoked  by  many  nations — he  had  preferred  the 
2  friendship  of  Rome  to  all  others.     Tiberius  replied  that  he  is 
he  should  have  a  safe  and  honourable  residence  in  evasively, 
Italy,  should  he  choose  to  remain  there  ;  should  his 
interests  call  him  elsewhere,  he  might  depart  as  freely 

1  The  famous  '  Goths '  of  history.  Pannonia  ;  on  the  West  by  the  river 

They  seem  to  have  occupied  the  ex-  Inn  and  the  provinces  Kaetia  and 

treme  E.  of  Germany,  beyond  the  Vindelicia ;  while  on  the  S.  it  was 

Vistula.  separated  from  Italy  by  the  Upper 

8  The  province  of  Noricum  was  first  Save  and  the  Carnian  Alps.  This 

formed  in  B.C.  16.  It  comprised  the  country  now  forms  the  heart  of  the 

square  bounded  on  the  N.  by  the  Austrian  Empire,  while  Pannonia  corre- 

Danube,  extending  down  that  river  spends  to  that  part  of  Hungary  which 

almost  as  far  as  Vienna  ;  on  the  E.  by  lies  S.  and  W.  of  the  Danube. 


164 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  19. 


as  he  had  come.     To  the  Senate  he  spoke  in  another  3 
tone.  Maroboduus,  he  declared,  in  a  speech  still  extant, 
had  been  a  more  formidable  enemy  to  Rome  than  Philip 
to  the  Athenians,  or  either  Pyrrhus  or  Antiochus  to  the 
Romans.     He  made  much  of  the  great  power  of  the  4.  . 
king,  and  the  savage  nature  of  the  tribes  under  his 
sway ;  he  dwelt  on  the  danger  of  an  enemy  so  near 
to  Italy,  and  on  his  own  adroitness  in  accomplishing 
his  destruction. 

Maroboduus  was  kept  at  Ravenna,1  where  his  pos-  5 
sible  restoration  was  held  as  a  threat  over  the  Suevi, 
in  case  they  should  shew  signs  of  turbulence.  For 
eighteen  years,  however,  he  never  quitted  Italy,  living 
on  to  old  age,  and  losing  much  of  his  reputation 
because  of  his  undue  love  of  life.2  Catualda  met  a  6 
similar  fate,  and  found  a  similar  retreat.  Expelled 
not  long  afterwards  by  the  forces  of  the  Hermunduri 3 
under  Vibilius,  he  was  received  and  sent  to  Forum 
Julii,4  a  Colony  in  Narbonensian  Gaul.  The  barbarian  7 
followers  of  these  two  princes  were  settled  beyond 
the  Danube,  between  the  Rivers  Marus  and  Cusus,5 
under  a  king  Vannius,  who  belonged  to  the  tribe 
of  the  Quadi;6  for  it  was  feared  that  they  might 
create  trouble  if  introduced  into  the  peaceful  pro- 
vinces. 

News   arriving  about    the   same   time    that   Ger-  64. 
manicus  had  put  Artaxias  on  the  throne  of  Armenia, 
the    Senate  decreed    that  Germanicus  and    Drusus 
should  enter  the  City  in  Ovation ;   arches  also  were  2 


1  For  the  treatment  of  Maroboduus, 
see  n.  on  chap.  42,  5. 

2  A  truly  Stoical  touch.    To  shrink 
from  suicide  in  face  of  humiliation  was 
considered  a  mark  of  cowardice. 

3  This  tribe  was  on  the  borders  of 
Raetia  (Germ.  41,  i). 

4  The  modern  Frdjus,  used  by  the 
Romans  as  a    naval    station    for    the 


protection  of  the  Gulf  of  Lyons  (iv.  5,  i). 

5  The  Marus  is  the  river  March,  or 
Morovct)   which  joins  the    Danube  at 
Pressburg ;      the    Cusus    perhaps    the 
Waag,  which  falls  into  the  Danube  at 
Komorn(Furn.). 

6  The  Quadi  adjoined    the  Marco- 
manni,  inhabiting  Moravia  and  part  of 
Hungary. 


A.D.  19.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.  63-64.  165 

set  up,  one  on  each  side  of  the  Temple  of  Mars  Ultor,1 
together  with  statues  of  the  two  Caesars. 

As  Tiberius  felt  more  satisfaction  at  having  Affairs  in 
secured  peace  by  policy,  than  if  he  had  ended  a  war  quarrel  of 
by  victory^he  proceeded  to  employ  the  same  crafty  Rhescu" 

3  methods  with  Rhescuporis,  king  of  Thrace.8      That  ! 
country  had  been  under  the  rule  of  Rhoemetalces ; 
but  upon  his  death,  Augustus  had  given  one  part  to 
his  brother  Rhescuporis,  the  other  to  his  son  Cotys  : 

•t  Cotys  getting  as  his  share  the  cultivated  land,  the 
towns,  and  the  parts  adjoining  the  Greek  states;4 
Rhescuporis,  the  wild  uncultivated  country,  close  to 
the  enemy's  border.  The  character  of  the  two  kings 
corresponded  to  their  portions;  the  former  being 
gentle  and  genial,  the  latter  fierce,  ambitious,  and 

5  unable  to  brook  any  partnership  in  power.     At  first, 
a  hollow  friendship  was  observed  between  the  two ; 
but  before  long  Rhescuporis  began   to   encroach,  to 
appropriate   territory  assigned  to  Cotys,  and  to  use 
force  when  resisted.     So  long  as  Augustus  was  alive, 
he    proceeded   with    caution,   being   afraid    that    the 
Emperor  would  chastise  any  infraction  of  the  arrange- 

6  ment  which  he  had  made  for  the  two  kingdoms ;  but 
no  sooner  had  he  heard  of  the  change  of  sovereignty 
in  Rome,  than  he  began  to  let  loose  marauding  bands, 
and  destroy  his  brother's  forts,  thus  paving  the  way 
for  war. 

1  The  Temple  of  Afars  Ultor  is  the  deliberately  set   forth  in  his  letter   to 

celebrated  temple  built  by  Augustus  to  Germanicus,  chap.  26,  3. 

commemorate    the    avenging    of    the  •  The  kingdom   of  Thrace,  divided 

death  of  Caesar,  in  the  centre  of  the  from  Macedonia  by   the  river  Nestus, 

new    Forum    Augusti,   and    dedicated  had  been   finally  subdued  in  B.C.   u, 

B.C.    2.      The    well-known    A  no    del  after  a  war  lasting  for  three  years  (Veil. 

Pantant,  at  the  end  of  the  Via  Bonella,  ii.  98,  i),  by  L.  Piso  (vi.  10,  4).     It  was 

formed   one  of  the    entrances  to  the  still  governed  by  native   princes,  and 

Forum  Augusti  ;  the  fragment  of  wall  was  not    reduced    to    the    form   of  a 

and  the  three  Corinthian  pillars  close  province  till  A.D.  46,  under  Claudius 

to  it,  formed  part  of  the  temple  itself.  (Marquardt,  Staatsv.,  vol.  i.  p.  156). 

9  This  preference  for  astute  diplomacy  4  i.e.    the    Greek    colonies    on    the 

resents    a    cardinal   feature  in  the  coast. 
v    foreign    policy    of    Tiberius.       It    is 


1 66 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  19. 


Now  there  was  nothing  which  troubled  Tiberius  65. 
so   much   as   the   disturbance   of  a  settlement   once 
made;  he  therefore  despatched  a  centurion  to  forbid 
the  two  kings  to  appeal  to  arms.      Cotys  at  once  dis- 
missed the  force  which  he  had  collected;  Rhescuporis,  2 
feigning  compliance,  suggested  that  he  and  his  nephew 
should  meet  and  dispose  of  their  differences  in  a  con- 
ference.    Place,   time,    and   at   last   conditions,  were  3 
agreed  upon,  each  conceding  the  points  demanded  by 
the  other;  the  one  out  of  good  nature,  the  other,  with 
intent  to  deceive.     By  way  of  ratifying  the  treaty,  as 
he  termed  it,  Rhescuporis  insisted  on  a  banquet ;  and  4 
when  the  night  had  been  long  drawn  out  in  merry- 
making, feasting  and   wine-drinking,  he  took  Cotys 
unawares,  and  thrust   him   into   irons.     In  vain   did 
Cotys   appeal,   so   soon   as   he   discovered  the   trick 
played    upon    him,   to   his    sacred    kingly   office,   to 
their  common   family    Gods,   and    to   the    rights    of 
hospitality. 

Rhescuporis  having  thus  possessed  himself  of  all  5 
Thrace,  he  wrote  to  Tiberius  that  a  plot  had  been  laid 
against  him,  but  that  he   had   been  beforehand  with 
the  plotter  of  it ;  and  at  the  same  time,  on  the  pretext 
of  a  war  against  the  Bastarnae1  and  the  Scythians, 
he  collected  a  strong  force  both  of  horse  and  foot.2 
Tiberius  returned  a  soft  answer : — If  he  had  acted  in  G 
good  faith,   Rhescuporis  might  trust  confidently  to  his 
innocence ;  neither  he  himself  nor  the  Senate  would  pro- 
nounce upon  the  merits  of  the  case  until  they  had  heard  it. 


1  This  people,  spoken  of  by  Tacitus 
(Germ.  46,  i)  as  Germans,  seem  to  have 
occupied  the  country  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Danube.  Ovid,  writing  from  Tomi, 
speaks  of  them  as  neighbours  :  Proximo, 
Basternae  Satiromataeque  tenent  (Trist. 
ii.  198).  They  must  therefore  have  been 
situated  in  the  imperatorial  province  of 
Moesia. 


2  It  would  appear  that  the  Thracian 
princes  were  charged  with  defending 
the  Danube  frontier  for  the  last  part  of 
its  course  down  to  the  Euxine  Sea. 
Thus  Rhescuporis  makes  the  necessity 
of  chastising  the  Bastarnae  and  the 
Scythians  on  the  N.  side  of  the  Danube 
an  excuse  for  collecting  an  armed 
force. 


A.D.  19.]  BOOK    II.  CHAPS.  65-67.  167 

Let  him  therefore  deliver  up  Cotys,  conic  to  Rome,  and 
pass  on  to  others  the  odium  of  preferring  an  accusation. 

This   letter  Latinius   Pandusa,  the  Propraetor  of  but  mur- 
Moesia,  sent  off  to  Thrace,  with  a  band  of  soldiers  instead!" 
into  whose  hands  Cotys  was  to  be  delivered.     After 
hesitating  for  a  time  between  fear  and  rage,  Rhes- 
cuporis  preferred  to  be  charged  with  an  accomplished 
rather  than  an  attempted   crime  :   he  ordered  Cotys 
to  be  put  to  death,  pretending  that  he  had  made  away 
with  himself.       This,  however,  made    no   change    in 
the  policy  resolved  on  by  Tiberius.     On  the  death  of  New 
Pandusa,  whom  Rhescuporis  had  accused  of  personal 


hostility  to  himself,  the  Emperor  appointed  a  veteran 
soldier,  Pomponius  Flaccus,  to  the  province  of 
Moesia;  mainly  because  he  was  on  terms  of  close 
intimacy  with  the  king,  and  was  therefore  the  better 
fitted  to  betray  him. 

1  Flaccus  crossed  over  to  Thrace.     The  king  at  first  Rhescu- 
wavered,    feeling    misgivings   at  the    recollection   of  brought  to 
his  crimes;    but   at   last   Flaccus,  holding  out   great  *x°£J.and 
promises,  induced  him  to   come  within   the    Roman 

2  lines.     Under  name  of  a  guard  of  honour,  a  strong 
force  was  attached  to  his  person.     By  dint  of  warn- 
ing and  coaxing,  the  Tribunes  and  centurions  led  him 
on  ;  the  further  they  advanced,  the  more  undisguised 
was  the  restraint  put  upon  him  ;  till  at  last,  on  reaching 

3  Rome,  he  recognized  that  he  was  a  prisoner.     He  was 
accused  before  the  Senate  by  the  wife  of  Cotys,  and 

4  condemned  to  exile  from  his  kingdom.     Thrace  was  Thraceap- 
divided    between    his   son    Rhoemetalces,   who   was  F 
known  to  have  opposed  his  father's  projects,  and  the 

sons  of  Cotys  ;  but  as  these  last  were  not  of  full  age, 
Trebellenus  1  Rufus,  an  ex-Praetor,  was  appointed  to 

1  An  inscription  shows  that  the  cor-       other  places  in  Tacitus  it  is  written 
reel  form  of  this  name  was  Trebellenus,        Trebellienus  (C.  I.  L.  v.  i.  1878). 
which  appears  here  in  the  MS.    In  four 


1 68 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  19. 


manage  the  kingdom  for  the  present,  after  the  pre- 
cedent set  by  our  ancestors  in  Egypt  when  they 
sent  Marcus  Lepidus1  to  be  Governor  to  Ptolemy's 
children.  Rhescuporis  was  conveyed  to  Alexandria,  5 
and  was  there  put  to  death  on  a  charge,  whether  true 
or  false,  of  attempting  flight.2 

About  the  same  time  Vonones,  whose  removal  to  68. 
Cilicia  I  have  mentioned  above,  managed  to  bribe  his 
guards  and  take  flight  for  Armenia ;  intending  to  pass 
on  thence  to  the  country  of  the  Albani 3  and  Heniochi,4 
and  so  to  his  relative  the  king  of  Scythia.     Quitting  2 
the  sea-coast  on  pretence  of  a  hunting  expedition,  he 
made  for  a  trackless,  forest  country  ;  and  pushing  his 
horse  to  the  utmost,  reached  the  river  Pyramus.   Here 
the  natives,  having  heard   of  the  king's   flight,  had 
broken  down  the  bridge ;  and  as  the  river  could  not 
be  forded,  Vonones  was  caught  on  the  bank  by  Vibius  3 
Fronto,  a  cavalry  officer,  and  put  into  chains.     Soon 
afterwards  a  veteran  of  the  name  of  Remmius,  who 
had  previously  been  the  king's  keeper,  ran  him  through 
with  his  sword,  in  pretended  rage :  hence  the  general  * 
opinion   that  Remmius   had  connived   at  the   king's 
escape,  and  had  slain  him  for  fear  of  detection. 

Meanwhile    Germanicus,   returning    from   Egypt,  69. 
found  that  all  his  dispositions,  whether  civil  or  military, 
had  been  cancelled  or  reversed.     For  this  he  severely  2 
rebuked   Piso ;   Piso  retorted  with   equal  acrimony. 
Piso  then  resolved  to   quit  the  province ;   but   Ger-  3 
manicus  taking  ill,  he  waited  on.     News  came  that 


1  This  M.  Lepidus  was  cos.  in  B.C. 
187  and  175  ;  he  was  sent,  on  the  death 
of  Ptolemaeus  Epiphanes  (B.C.  181),  to 
be  guardian  of  his  sons. 

2  Rhescuporis  meets  the  usual  fate 
of  princes  who  trusted  themselves   to 
the  tender  mercies  of  Rome.     So  with 
Vonones,  chap.  68,  3. 


3  The  Albani  were  a  tribe  living  N. 
of  Armenia,  and  extending  as  far  as  the 
Caspian  Sea  on  the   E.     The  modern 
province  is  Daghestan. 

4  The  Heniochi  extended  from  the 
Caucasus     to     the     Euxine    on     the 
W. 


A.D.  19.]  BOOK    II.  CHAPS.  67-70.  169 

Germanicus  had  recovered  :  whereupon,  as  the  people 
of  Antioch 1  were  paying  the  vows  offered  for  his 
restoration  to  health,  Piso  made  his  lictors  drive  away 
the  victims,  break  up  the  sacrificial  preparations, 
and  disperse  the  mob  in  the  midst  of  its  rejoicings. 

4  He  then  went  down  to  Seleucia2  to  await  the  issue 
of  the  malady,  which  had  come  on  once  more,  and 

5  was    aggravated    by   a    conviction    in   the    mind    of  suspicions 
Germanicus    that   he   had   been    poisoned    by   Piso.  play. 
Remains  of  disinterred  human  bodies  had  been  found 
beneath   the   floor   and   in   the   walls   of   the   house, 
together  with   spells  and  magical  formulae ;   leaden 
tablets  with  the  name  of  Germanicus  inscribed  upon 

them ;  charred  and  blood-stained  human  ashes,  and 
other  baneful  substances  by  which  people  believe 
that  souls  may  be  devoted  to  the  Gods  below.3  Piso 
was  accused  also  of  sending  messengers  to  spy  out 
unfavourable  symptoms  in  the  case. 

1  This  roused  the  fears,  not  less  than  the  indignation, 

2  of  Germanicus.     If  his  threshold  were  to  be  beset ;  if  he 
had  to  draw  his  last  breath  under  the  eyes  of  his  enemies :  f 
what  would  become  of  his  unhappy  ivife  and  his  infant 
children  ? 4    Poisoning,  it  ivould  seem,  zvas  too  slow  a 
process  ;  Piso  was  in  hot  haste  to  be  in  sole  command  of 

3  the  Province  and  the  legions.     But  Germanicus  had  not 
yet  sunk  so  low;    nor  would   the  murderer    reap    the 
recompense  of  his  crime.     With  that  he  wrote  a  letter 

4  renouncing   Piso's   friendship;5    many    add    that   he 

1  Antiochlaor  Antiochea  (now  Anta-  *  Tacitus  has  a  half-belief  in  magic, 

kid],   on  the  Orontes,   capital  of   the  just  as  he  has  in  astrology. 

Greek  kingdom  of  Syria,  founded  by  4  Caligula  and  Julia  (b.    at  Lesbos 

Seleucus  Nicator  in  B.C.  301.  It  rivalled  the  year  before,  cnap.  54,  i)  were  the 

Alexandria,  and  probably  approached  two  children  with  Germanicus  at  this 

Rome,  in  population.    Germanicus  was  time. 

lying  in  the  suburb  of  Epidaphna,  five  5  The  repudiation  of  a  friend  was  a 

miles  from  the  town  (chap.  83,  3).  formal  act  (iii.  24,  5),  which  Tiberius 

*  Seleucia  Pieria,  on  the  mouth  of  the  raises  to  the  rank  of  a  '  national  custom  ' 

Orontes,  was  the  sea-port  of  Antioch.  (vi.  29,  3). 
See  Acts,  xiii.  4. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  19. 

ordered  him  out  of  the  province.  Piso  set  sail  with- 
out further  delay;  but  he  proceeded  slowly,  that 
he  might  have  the  less  distance  to  return  in  case 
the  death  of  Germanicus  should  open  up  Syria  to 
him. 

For    a    moment    Germanicus    rallied,    and    hope  7 
revived ;  but  his  strength  again  failed,  and  as  his  end 
drew  nigh,  he  thus  addressed  the  friends  who  stood 
beside  him  :— 

His  dying          If  I  were  paying  my  debt  to  Nature,  I  might  deem  2 
to  his      '   that  I  had  a  grievance  even  against  the  Gods  for  snatching 
me  thus,  so  young,  and  before  my  time,  from  my  parents, 
my  children  and  my  country  ;  but  now  that  my  days  have  3 
been  cut  short  by  the  guilty  hands  of  Piso  and  Plancina, 
I  leave  my  last  prayers  with  you.     Tell  my  father  and  my 
brother'*-   what  cruel  wrongs  I  have  endured,   by  what 
artifices  I  have  been  beset :  how  I  have  ended  a  miserable 
life  by  a  most  unhappy  death.     Those  who  have  shared  4 
my  hopes — those  who  are  near  to  me  in  blood — nay,  even 
those  who  have  envied  me  in  life — will  weep  that  one  who 
had  known  such  high  fortunes,  and  had  come  safe  through 
so  many  wars,  should  have  perished  by  the  treachery 
of  a  woman.    It  will  be  for  you  to  lay  complaint  before 
the  Senate,  and  invoke  the  law :  for  it  is  the  first  duty  5 
of  a  friend,  not  to  follow  the  dead  with  idle  lamentations 
to  the  grave,  but  to  remember  what  he  desired,  to  execute 
zvhat   he    enjoined.     Men   who    knew   not    Germanicus'  6 
will  lament  him ;  but  if  it  was  himself,  rather  than  his 
fortunes,  that  you  loved,  you  will  avenge  him.    Shew  to  the 
people  of  Rome  my  wife,  grand-daughter  of  the  Divine 
Augustus ;  count  over  to  them  our  six  children.     Men's 
pity  will  be  with  the  accusers ;   and,  if  the  accused  plead 

1  i.e.    Drusus.      His    own     brother       date  of  the  death  was  Sept.  26th,  A.D. 
Claudius  (afterwards  emperor)  was  left       19. 
out  of  account.     See  iii.  18,  5-7.     The 


A.I>.  19.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   70-73.  171 

that  they  were  bidden  to  do  the  foul  deed,  none  will  believe, 
or,  if  they  believe,  forgive. 

7  The  friends  swore,  as  they  touched  the  dying 
man's  right  hand,  that  they  would  give  up  life  sooner 
than  revenge. 

1  Germanicus  then  turned  to  his  wife.    He  implored  and  last 
her  by  the  love  she  bore  him,  and  for  their  children's  hifwtfe? 
sake,  to  tame  her  high  spirit,  to  bow  beneath  the  stroke 

of  fortune,  and  when  she  returned  to  Rome,  not  to 
anger  those  more  powerful  than  herself  by  entering 

2  into  rivalry  with  them.     This  he  said  openly  ;  he  kept 
more  for  her  private  ear,  bidding  her  beware,  it  was 
supposed,  of  Tiberius.     Soon  after  that,  he  breathed  He  dies. 
his  last,  amid  the  profound  sorrow  of  the  Province 

a  and  the  surrounding  peoples.  Foreign  nations  also, 
and  their  kings,  bewailed  him  ;  so  genial  was  he  to 
friends,  so  courteous  to  foes.  His  looks  and  his  speech 
alike  commanded  respect ;  his  manners  had  no  arro- 
gance, and  provoked  no  ill-will ;  yet  they  had  all  the 
dignity  and  distinction  which  befitted  his  high  estate, 
i  No  procession  of  images  graced  his  funeral ;  but 
•2  it  was  signalised  by  encomiums  on  his  virtues.  Some  character 
compared  him  to  Alexander  the  Great,  because  of  his 
beauty,  the  age  at  which  he  died,1  the  manner,  nay, 
even  the  place,2  of  his  death,  near  to  that  where 

3  Alexander  died.    Both  were  handsome  and  high-born  ; 
both  died  soon  after  attaining  the  age  of  thirty,  by 
the  treachery  of  their  own  peoplej^and  in  a  foreign 
land.     But  Germanicus  was  kindly  to  his  friends,  and 
moderate  in  his  enjoyments ;  he  had  lived  with  but 
one  wife,  and   had   none   but  lawful   children.     And 
he   was  as   great   a  warrior  as   Alexander,   without 

1  Alexander  died  in  his  33rd  year  ;       Alexander  died  at  Babylon,  B.C.  323.         , 
Germanicus  in  his  34111.  -  3  Thus  Tacitus  assumes  Piso's  guilt   .  , 

3  The  places  were   not  at  all  near.       as  a  fact. 


172 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  19. 


The  body 
burnt  at 
Antioch. 


Consulta- 
tions held. 
Sentius 
appointed 
Governor. 


his  rashness :  although  he  had  been  debarred,  after 
striking  down  Germany  by  his  victories,  from  com- 
pleting the  subjection  of  that  country.  Had  he  been  4 
the  sole  arbiter  of  events,  had  he  held  the  powers 
and  the  title  of  King,  he  would  have  outstripped 
Alexander  in  military  fame  as  far  as  he  surpassed 
him  in  gentleness,  in  self-command,  and  in  all  other 
noble  qualities© 

The  body,  before  being  buried,  was  exposed  to  5 
view  in  the  Forum  of  Antioch,  the  place  appointed 
for  the  sepulture ;  but  whether  it  exhibited  signs  of 
poisoning  or  not,  is  uncertain.^  For  according  as  men  c 
were  inclined  towards   Germanicus  by  compassion 
and    preconceived    suspicion,   or    towards    Piso    by 
friendship,  they  arrived  at  opposite  conclusions. 

A  consultation  was  now  held  among  the  Legates  *] 
and  other  Senators  on  the  spot  as  to  who  should  be 
placed  in  command  of  Syria.3    There  was  long  de- 
liberation  as    between  Vibius   Marsus  and   Gnaeus 
Sentius,  the  only  two  who  seriously  pressed  their 
claims ;  in  the  end,  as  Sentius  was  the  elder  and  the 
more  insistent  of  the   two,  Marsus  gave  way.     At  2 
the  instance  of  Vitellius,4  Veranius5  and  the  other 
friends  who  were  getting  up  the  case  against  Piso 


1  The  absurd  partiality  of  this  esti- 
mate does  little  credit  to  the  historical 
judgment    of  Tacitus.      According  to 
his  wont,  he  escapes  responsibility  by 
putting  his  own  opinion  into  the  mouths 
of  others  (erant  qui  adaeqnarent],  though 
he   gradually    passes   into,  a    form_of 
speech  which  adopts  the  estimate  as  his 
own.      The  reputation  of  Germanicus 

] 'has  had  the  good  fortune  which  seldom 
fails  to  wait  upon  heirs-apparent  who 
have  never  reigned.  As  to  his  qualities 
as  a  general,  see  n.  on  chap.  26,  2. 

2  Suetonius  asserts  roundly  that  his 
body  was    covered  with  black  spots  ; 
that  there  was  foam  at  the  mouth ;  and 
that  the  heart  was  found  among  his 
ashes  unburnt — a  sure  sign  of  poisoning 
(Cal.  i). 


3  It  would  appear  from  this  passage 
that  in  such  an  emergency  the  senators 
present  could  make  an  ad  interim  ap- 
pointment.    C.  Vibius  Marsus  was  cos. 
suf.  in  A.D.  17,  and  was  subsequently 
proconsul   of  Africa    for  three    years, 
probably    A.D.    27-29.       Cn.    Sentius 
seems  to  have  been  cos.  suf.  in  A.D.  4. 

4  This  was  P.  Vitellius,  uncle  of  the 
future  emperor  ;    the  same  who  con- 
ducted part  of  the  force  back  by  land  in 
the  campaign  of  A.D.  15  (i.  70). 

5  This  Q.  Veranius  is  mentioned  in 
chap.  56,  4  as  the  legatus  placed  in  com- 
mand of  Cappadocia  when  first  erected 
into  a  province.      Both  he  and  Vitel- 
lius acted    afterwards    as  accusers   of 
Piso. 


A.D.  19.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.  73-76.  173 

and  Plancina  as  though  they  were  already  on  their 
trial,  Sentius  sent  to  Rome  a  woman  called  Martina, 
a  notorious  poisoner  in  that  province,  and  a  great 
favourite  with  Plancina. 

i  Meantime  Agrippina,  bowed  down  by  grief,  and 
sick  in  body,  yet  impatient  of  everything  which  might  for  Rome, 
delay  her  revenge,  embarked  with  her  children  and 
the  ashes  of  Germanicus.  At  the  sight  of  this  high- 
born lady — till  yesterday  the  spouse  of  an  illustrious 
prince,  and  who  had  never  appeared  but  to  be  courted 
and  complimented  —  bearing  in  her  bosom  the  sad 
remains,  with  no  certainty  of  vengeance,  full  of 
fears  for  herself,  and  exposed  at  so  many  points  to 
the  attacks  of  fortune  by  her  ill-starred  fertility,  all 
hearts  were  filled  with  compassion. 

,2        The  news  of  the  death  of  Germanicus  overtook  joy  of 
Piso   at   the   island    of    Coos,  and    filled    him    with  Plancina. 

3  extravagant  joy ;  he  sacrificed  victims  and  visited 
the  temples ;  there  were  no  limits  to  his  exultation. 
His  wife  Plancina  was  more  triumphant  still;  she 
now  for  the  first  time  put  off  the  mourning  which 
she  had  been  wearing  for  her  sister's  death. 

1  Centurions  now  came  streaming  in,  telling  Piso  that  Piso  takes 
the  legions  were  favourable  and  ready  to  stand  by 

him,  and  urging  him  to  return  to  the  province  which 
had  been  wrongfully  taken  from  him,  and  was  now 

2  without  a  Governor.     He  proceeded  therefore  to  take 
counsel  as  to  what  he  should  do.     His  son  Marcus  Advice  of 
advised  him  to  go  straight  to  Rome  : — He  had  as  yet  Marcus. 
committed  no  unpardonable  offence  ;  unfounded  suspicions 

3  and  empty  rumour  were  not  things  to  be  afraid  of.     His 
quarrel  with   Germanicus  might  merit  odium,  but  not 
punishment ;  his  enemies  would  be  satisfied  by  his  depo- 

4  sition  from  the  province.     If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  were  to 


174  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  19. 

return,  and  be  resisted  by  Sentius,  that  would  be  to  em- 
bark on  civil  war.  In  that  event,  neither  men  nor 
centurions  would  stand  by  him.  The  memory  of  their  late 
Imperator  was  still  fresh  in  their  minds  ;  their  affection 
for  the  Caesars  was  deep  and  strong,  and  would  out- 
weigh all  other  considerations. 

Counter  Domitius  Celer,  one  of  the  most  intimate  friends  71 

Domftius.    of  Piso,  took  the  opposite  view.     He  urged  him  to 
make  the  most  of  the  opportunity ;  it  was  he,  and  not 
Sentius,  who  was  Governor  of  the  Province ;  it  was 
to  him  that  the  fasces,  the  praetorian  jurisdiction,  and 
the  legions,  had  been  committed.     If  any  act  of  war  2 
were  to  occur,  who  had  greater  right  to  meet  it  with 
force  than  the  man  who  held  the  position  of  Legate, 
and    had    received    instructions    of    his    own  ?      It  3 
would  be  well  too  to  give  rumour  time  to  die  away  ; 
innocence  itself  could  hardly  hold  its  own  against  the 
first  outburst  of  angry  feeling.    If  he  only  kept  his  4 
army  together,  and  added  to  its  strength,  chance  might 
help  him  in  many  unexpected  ways.     Are  we  to  hurry,  5 
he  asked,  to  land  along  with  the  ashes  of  Germanicus, 
in    order  that   the   tears   of  Agrippina,   and   the  first 
rush  of  ignorant  popular  fury,   may  sweep  you  away 
unheard  and  undefended?     You  have  on  your  side  the  6 
complicity  of  Augusta  ;  you  have  the  approval,  though 
unavowed,  of  Caesar  himself:  and  none  so  ostentatiously 
lament  the  death  of  Germanicus  as  those  who  most  rejoice 
at  it. 

Piso  re-  Piso  himself,  always  inclined   to   daring  courses,  y£ 

action  -"he   was   easily   brought  over  to   this  view.     He  sent  a 
Tiberius      letter  to  Tiberius,  accusing  Germanicus   of  extrava- 
gance and  high-handed  proceedings  : — It  was  to  make 
room  for  revolutionary  designs  that  he  had  been  driven 
from  his  Province ;  he  was  now  resuming  his  command 


A.D.  19.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   76-79.  175 

in  the  same  spirit  of  loyalty  with   which  he  had  held 

2  *'/.     At  the  same  time  he  put  Domitius  on  board  a  and  organ- 
trireme,  bidding   him  avoid   the  shore,  and   without  forces.5 
touching  at  the  islands  make  straight  for  Syria  by 

3  the  open  sea.     As  deserters  flocked  in,  he  organised 
them  in  maniples  ;  he  armed  his  camp-followers  ;  then 
passing  over  with  his  fleet  to  the  mainland,  he  inter- 
cepted a  body  of  young  soldiers  going  out  as  drafts 
to  Syria,  and  sent  orders  to  the  princes  of  Cilicia  to 
furnish  him  with  auxiliaries.    His  son  Marcus,  though 
he  had  given  his  counsel  against  war,  helped  vigor- 
ously in  these  warlike  preparations. 

i        Coasting  thus  along  Lycia  and  Pamphylia,  he  en-  He  passes 

.  .  ...  .  .  Agrippina 

countered  the  ships  which  were  conveying  Agrippina.  at  sea. 
Both  parties  at  first  stood  to  arms ;  but  each  being 
afraid  of  the  other,  they  did  not  get  beyond  angry 
words.  Marsus  Vibius  told  Piso  that  he  would  have 
'2  to  come  to  Rome  to  stand  his  trial.  Piso  mockingly 
replied  : — He  would  not  fail  to  attend  when  accusers  and 
accused  had  been  duly  summoned  by  the  Praetor  whose 
business  it  was  to  try  cases  of  poisoning.1 

3  Domitius,  meantime,  landed  at  Laodicea2  in  Syria,  Semius 

,  ....  _  prepares 

and  was  proceeding  to   the  winter  quarters   of  the  for  battle 
.   6th  Legion,  believing  that  legion  to  be  the  most  likely  ! 
to  lend  itself  to  his  designs.     But  he  had  been  fore- 

4  stalled  by  the  Legate  Pacuvius  ; 8  a  fact  which  Sentius 
communicated  to  Piso  by  letter,  warning  him  against 
any  attempt  to  corrupt  the  army,  or  to  embroil  the 

5  province  in  war.    Sentius  gathered  together  all  whom 
he    knew    to    have    a    regard    for    the    memory    of 

1  What  Piso  meant  was  that  it  would  kieh  or  I^atakia,  famous  for  its  tobacco, 

be  time  for  him  to  go  to  Rome  when  and  still  more  famous  for  the  character 

duly  summoned  to  appear  in  the  regular  of  lukewarmness  attributed  to  the 

court  for  trying  offences  of  that  kind,  Church  there,  in  Rev.  iii.  15 :  '  I  know 

i.e.  the  guaesfio  de  sicariis  et  veneficis.  thy  works,  that  thou  art  neither  cold 

8  There  were  two  towns  of  this  name  nor  hot :  1  would  thou  wert  cold  or  hot.' 

in  Syria ;  the  one  here  meant  is  Laodicea  »  Pacuvius  would  be  the  legatus  legio- 

on  the  coast  opposite  Crete,  now  Ladi-  nis  in  command  of  the  6th  legion. 


i;6  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  19. 

Germanicus,  or  to  be  hostile  to  his  enemies;  and  im- 
pressing upon  them  that  this  was  an  armed  attack 
upon  the  Emperor's  own  Majesty,  and  upon  the 
State  itself,  he  took  the  field  at  the  head  of  a  strong 
force  ready  for  battle. 

piso  Foiled  in  his  first  attempt,  Piso  adopted  the  most  80 

cSenderis,  prudent  course  open  to  him,  and  threw  himself  into 
a  well-fortified  position  in  Cilicia,  called  Celenderis.1 
Mixing  up  the  deserters,  the  intercepted  recruits,  and  2 
his  own  and  Plancina's  slaves,  with  the  auxiliaries 
furnished  by  the  Cilician  princes,  he  had  raised  his 
and  en-  force  to  the  full  strength  of  a  legion.  He  assured 
n?sUmen.s  them  that  he  was  the  Imperial  Legate,  and  that  he  3 
was  being  kept  out  of  the  Province  which  the 
Emperor  had  given  him,  not  by  the  legions — at  whose 
instance  he  had  come — but  by  Sentius,  who  had 
trumped  up  false  charges  against  him  to  screen  his 
personal  animosity  : — They  had  only  to  shew  themselves  4 
in  the  field ;  the  soldiers  would  never  fight  if  they  once 
caught  sight  of  that  Piso  whom  they  had  formerly  styled 
their  'Father'  His  was  the  better  cause,  if  it  were  a 
question  of  right;  and  were  it  a  question  of  arms,  he  had 
no  mean  force  behind  him. 

He  is  Piso  then  drew  out  his  maniples  in  front  of  the  5 

beforethe    fortifications  on  a  high  steep  hill,  the  other  sides  of 
which  were   surrounded   by  the   sea.     Against   him  6 
stood  the  veterans,  drawn  up  in  regular  order,  with 
supports  behind.     The  one  side  had  the  more  for- 
midable force  :  the  other  the  more  formidable  position. 
But  the  latter  had  neither  hope  nor  spirit,  and  their 
weapons  were  mere  rustic  implements,  extemporised 
for  the  occasion.     No  sooner  had  the  Roman  cohorts  7 
struggled  up  to  the  level  ground  and  come  to  close 

1  The  town  Celenderis  is  known  from       Cheltndreh  or  Kilindri.     It  was  part  of 
coins,   and    still    bears    the    name    of      the  principality  of  Cilicia  Trachea. 


A.D.  19.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.  79-82.  177 

quarters,  than  all  doubt  of  the  issue  was  at  an  end. 
The  Cilicians  fled,  and  shut  themselves  up  within 
the  fort. 

'I.   i         During  the  interval  that   followed,  Piso  made  an  vainly 
idle  demonstration  against  the  fleet,  which  was  lying  his  old 
not  far  off.     He  then  came  back,  took  his  stand  upon 
the  walls,   and   now   beating  upon   his   breast,   now 
calling  on  his  men  by  name,  attempted  to  draw  them 
from   their  allegiance   by   promises  of  reward  ;    but 
with  no  further  success  than  that  a  single  standard- 
bearer   of  the  6th    Legion   went   over   to   him  with 

2  his  standard.  Sentius  now  sounded  his  horns  and 
trumpets,1  and  ordered  an  attack  upon  the  defences. 
The  best  men  were  to  plant  their  ladders  and  mount 
them,  the  rest  were  to  pour  out  spears,  stones,  and 

:>  burning  brands  from  the  engines.  Then  at  last  Piso's 
obstinacy  gave  way.  He  begged  that  he  might  be 
permitted  to  remain  in  the  fort  on  surrendering  his 
arms,  pending  a  reference  to  the  Emperor  as  to 

4  the  Governorship  of  Syria.     But  this  was  refused ;  and  is 

,  .  11-1  i   •  •   i  forced  to 

nothing  was  granted  to  him  but  some  ships,  with  a  surrender, 
safe  conduct  to  Rome. 

2.    i         When    the   news    of   the   illness   of   Germanicus  indigna- 
arrived  in  Rome,  with  all  the  exaggerations  that  are  Rome. 
bred  by  distance,  there  was  an  outburst  of  grief  and 

2  anger  and  indignant  comments  : — //  ivas  for  this,  was 
if,  that  Germanicus  had  been  despatched  to  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth  ?  for  this  that  Piso  had  been  appointed 
Governor  of  Syria  ?     Was  this  the  meaning  of  Augusta's 

3  secret  conferences  with  Plancina  ?     Well  and  truly  had 
their  fathers  said  of  Drusus,  that  their  rulers  liked  not 
their  sons  to  love  the  people :  the  young  princes  had  been 

1  The  cornu  was  a  curved  horn,  the  the  blowing  of  both  together  was  the 

tuba    a    straight    trumpet.     Vegetius  signal  for  battle  (ii.  22).     See  also  i. 

states    that  while  the  cornu  and   the  68,  3. 
tuba,  were  used  for  different  purposes, 

N 


178  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  19. 

cut  off  for  no  other  crime  than  this,  that  they  had  designed 
to  give  back  to  the  people  of  Rome  their  liberty,  with  equal 
,    rights  to  all.1 

intense  Amid  talk  like  this,  came  news  of  the  death;  which  4 

people.  '  so  moved  the  populace  that  before  the  magistrates 
could  issue  an  edict,  or  the  Senate  a  decree,  all  business 
was  suspended,  the  Courts  were  deserted,  and  private 
houses  closed.  Everywhere  silence,  broken  only  by  5 
lamentations ;  there  was  no  parade  of  grief,  no  show ; 
and  although  men  did  not  fail  to  exhibit  all  the  out- 
ward marks  of  mourning,  the  sorrow  in  their  hearts 
was  deeper  still. 

Faisehopes        It  chanced  that  some  traders  who  had  left  Syria  6 
when  Germanicus  was  still  alive  brought  better  news 
of  his   condition.     This   was   at   once   believed,   and  7 
spread  abroad ;  catching  up  the  good  tidings  on  the 
slenderest   hearsay,   men   passed  them  on   to   every 
one  they  met,  and  these  again  to  many  more,  in  an 
extravagance  of  joy.     They  ran  through  the  city  and  8 
burst  open  the  doors  of  temples :  night  fostered  men's 
credulity,   and    darkness    gave    fresh    confidence    to 

and  dashed  assertion.  Tiberius  did  nothing  to  contradict  the 
false  report,  leaving  it  to  die  away  through  time. 
And  then  the  people  grieved  all  the  more,  as  though 
Germanicus  had  been  taken  from  them  a  second  time. 

Honours  Every   distinction  which    affection    or    ingenuity  83. 

memory  of   could  devise  was  voted  2  in  honour   of  Germanicus:  2 

Germani- 
cus. 

1  Popular  sentiments  have  at  all  times  in  which  he  adds  that  '  he  mentioned 

been  attributed  to  the  younger  members  this  report,   not    because    he    thought 

of    reigning    families — especially    such  there  was  any  truth  or  probability  in  it, 

as  have  never  had  the  chance  of  giving  but  merely  ne  praetermitterem,'  shows 

effect    to    their    opinions.     Suetonius  how  little  weight  we  need  attach  to  the 

asserts    that    Drusus  (the   elder)  had  many  sinister  remarks  of  a  similar  kind 

openly  announced  that  he  would   re-  which  he  records  (Claud,  i  and  Tib.  50). 

store  the  Republic  (whatever  that  might  2  Some  fragments  of  this  decree,  as 

mean)  if  ever  he  had  the  opportunity;  well  as  of  that  conferring  similar  honours 

and  that,  according  to  some  authorities,  on   Drusus  (iv.  9,   2),  have  been   pre- 

Augustus,  incensed  thereby,  had  caused  served  (C.I.L.  vi.  i,  911,  912). 
him  to  be  poisoned.     The  facile  manner 


A.D.  19.]  BOOK    II.  CHAPS.  82-83.  179 

that  his  name  should  be  inserted  in  the  Salian  hymn  ; l 
that  curule  chairs,  surmounted  by  chaplets  of  oak 
leaves,  should  be  set  in  the  places  reserved  for  the 
Augustales;  that  his  effigy  in  ivory  should  be  carried 
at  the  head  of  the  procession  at  the  Circensian  games; 
that  no  Flamen  or  Augur  should  be  elected  in  his 
'•  room  who  did  not  belong  to  the  Julian  family.  There 
were  to  be  triumphal  arches2  in  Rome,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Rhine,  and  on  the  Mons  Amanus  in  Syria,  with 
inscriptions  recording  his  achievements,  and  how  he 
had  died  for  his  country.  A  sepulchre  was  raised 
at  Antioch,  where  he  had  been  burned,  and  a  tribunal 
at  Epidaphna,  where  he  died.  The  number  of  his 
statues,  and  of  the  places  where  they  were  to  be 

4  honoured,    can    scarcely    be    enumerated.       It    was 
proposed  to  have  an  immense  shield3  of  gold  placed 
amongst  those  of  famous  orators;   but  Tiberius  an- 
nounced  that   he   would   dedicate   one   of  the  usual 
size  and  material.     A  man's  eloquence,  he  said,  zvas  not 
to  be  measured  by  his  rank ;  it  was  honour  enough  for 
Germanicus  to  be  classed  among  the  great  writers  of  old. 

5  The  knights  gave  the  name  of  Germanicus  to  one  of 
the  blocks4  of  seats  in   the   theatre   known   as  'the 
benches  of  the  Juniors';  and  ordained  that  his  image 
should  be  carried  at  the  head  of  the   squadrons   in 
the  procession  of  the   isth  of  July.     Most  of  these 
honours  are  still  maintained ;  but  some  were  omitted 


1  This  was  the  famous  ancient  hymn  Palatine  Library.     A  medallion  of  the 
sung  by  the  Salii,  a  college  of  priests  orator  Hortensius  is  referred  to  above, 
dedicated  to  Mars  by  Numa.     Horace  chap.  37,  3. 

pronounces  the  hymn  to  be  unintelligible  4  Cunens,   'a  wedge,"  was  the  name 

(Epp.  ii.  2,  86).  See  C.I. L.  vi.  i,  2104,  given  to  the  wedge-shaped  blocks  into 

and  Wilmans,  2879.  which  the  fourteen  front  rows  allotted 

2  Three     /ant,     or    archways,     are  to  equites  at  the  theatre  were  divided  by 
mentioned  in  the  inscription  referred  to  the   passages.     The  passages   running 
above.  downwards  were  called  scahie ;    those 

*  The  clipeus  was  a  bust  or  medallion.  running  round  the  semicircle  of  seats 

Such  memorials  were  probably  placed  were  praecinctiones. 
along  with  the   busts  of  poets  in  the 


i8o 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  19. 


from 
time. 


the    first,    or    have    fallen    into    disuse    with 


While  the  public  sorrow  was  still  fresh,  Livia,  the  84. 
wife  of  Drusus,  gave  birth  to  twin  sons.1    An  event  so 
rare — one   that  would   bring  joy   even  to  a  humble 
home — afforded  the   Emperor   such   delight   that    he  2 
could  not  contain  himself,  boasting  to  the  Senate  that 
never  before  had  twin  sons  been  born  to  any  Roman 
father  of  equal  eminence.     Thus  would  he  turn  every- 
thing, even  the  merest  accidents,  into  matter  for  self- 
glorification.     To    the    people,    however,    even    this  3 
event,  occurring  at  this  particular  time,  was  a  cause 
of  sorrow;  the  birth  of  children  to  Drusus   seemed 
like  a  fresh  blow  to  the  house  of  Germanicus. 

In    this    same    year    the    Senate    passed    severe  85, 
measures  to  repress  female  profligacy,  forbidding  the 
profession  of  prostitution  to  all  whose  grandfathers, 
fathers  or  husbands,  had  been  Roman  knights.     For  2 
a  woman   called  Vestilia,   belonging  to  a  praetorian 
family,  had   given   in    her  name    to   the  Aediles 2  in 
accordance  with  the  rule  adopted  by  our  ancestors, 
who  believed   that  wanton   women   would   be   suffi- 
ciently  punished   by  the  mere   acknowledgment  of 
their   shame.      Vestilia's    husband,    Titidius    Labeo,  3 
was  called  upon  to  explain  how  it  was  that,  though 
the  guilt  of  his   wife  was   notorious,  he   had   failed 
to   put   in    force    against    her   the   penalties   of   the 
law. 3     His  excuse  was  that  the  sixty   days  allowed  4 


1  Drusus    had    already  a  daughter, 
Julia ;    she  was  married    in  the    year 
following  to  Nero  (iii.  29,  4).     Drusus 
thus  acquired  the  ius  trium  liberorum. 

2  Under  the  republic,  besides  the  care 
of  public  buildings   indicated  in  their 
title,  the  aediles  had  exercised  various 
functions    in    regard    to    keeping    the 
streets,     policing    the    city,     securing 
public  decency  and  order,  as  well  as 
superintending  the  markets  and  public 


games.  Though  shorn  of  much  of  their 
power  under  the  empire,  they  still  super- 
intended the  cleaning  of  the  city,  super- 
vised places  of  public  resort,  destroyed 
books  condemned  by  the  senate  (iv.  35, 
5),  and  were  supposed  to  enforce  the 
sumptuary  laws  (iii.  52,.  3,  and  53,  2). 

3  The  law  referred  to  is  the  Lex  Julia 
de  adulteriis,  passed  B.C.  17.  By  that 
law  the  injured  husband  was  bound  to 
separate  at  once  from  his  wife ;  and  for 


A.D.  19.]  BOOK    II.   CHAPS.   83-87.  181 

him  to  make  up  his  mind  had  not  expired.     It  was 
determined  therefore  to  deal  only  with  Vestilia,  and 
she  was  secluded  in  the  Island  of  Seriphos. 
5        A  debate  then  took  place  as  to  the  expulsion  of  Foreign 
Egyptian   and  Jewish   worship ; l   and  a  decree  was  "x^iied. 
passed2  that   four    thousand   freedmen    of  full   age, 
infected   with   those   superstitions,  should  be  trans- 
ported to  Sardinia,  to  put  down  brigandage  : — Should 
they  perish  from  the  pestilential  climate,  they  never  mould 
be  missed.     The   rest  were  to  leave  Italy  if  they  did 
not    abjure    their    profane    rites    before    a    certain 
day. 

1  After  this,  Tiberius  reported  that  a  Vestal  Virgin  choice  of  a 
had   to   be  chosen   in  room  of  Occia,  who  had  pre-  virgin, 
sided   over  the   worship   of  Vesta   with  the   utmost 
sanctity  for  fifty-seven  years.     Fonteius  Agrippa  and 
Domitius   Pollio    having    both    made    offer   of  their 
daughters,  ^hej)  were  thanked  for  their  zeal  in  the 

2  public  service ;   but  the  daughter  of  Pollio  was  pre- 
ferred, for  no  other  reason  than  that  her  mother  had 
never  had  but  one   husband ;   whereas  Agrippa  had 
impaired  the  honour  of  his  house  by  a  divorce.     As  a 
consolation,    however,    to     the    daughter   for    being 
passed  over,  Tiberius  presented  her  with  a  dowry  of 
a  million  sesterces. 

*         A  popular  outcry  having  been  occasioned  by  the  Price  fixed 
high  price  of  corn,  Tiberius  fixed  a  price  to  be  paid 
by  purchasers,  undertaking  himself  to  give  traders  two 

the  next  sixty  days  he  had  the  sole  right  assume  the  government  of  a  province  (iii. 

of  taking  proceedings  against  her.     See  58,  i).  Yet  in  all  such  cases  the  emperor, 

Furn.  on  chap.  50,  2.  if  he  chose,  had  the  ultimate  deciding 

1  The  senate  was  the  authority   to  voice;  partly  from  his  general  control 

which   questions  of  religion,    such    as  over  all  proceedings  of  the  senate,  partly 

the  permission  of  foreign  cults,  were  from  his  special  religious   prerogative 

referred  in  the  first  instance.     So  with  as  Pontifex  Maximus  (iii.  59,  2). 

the  right  of  asylum  in  the  provinces  •  Josephus  (Ant.  xviii.  3,  4)  gives  an 

(iii.  60) ;  petitions  for  permission  to  set  account    of   the    circumstances  which 

up  a  temple  to  the  emperor  (iv.  13,  i) ;  occasioned  these  decrees, 
or  the  claim  of  the  Flamen  Dialis  to 


182 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  19. 


sesterces  per  bushel  in  addition.1     But  he  declined  to  2 
accept  the  title  of  '  Father  of  his  Country  '  which  was 
offered  to  him  on  this  account,  as  indeed  it  had  been 
offered  to  him  before ;  and  he  sternly  rebuked  those 
who  would  speak  of  his  occupations  as  '  divine/  or  of 
himself  as  'master.'2   So  narrow  and  so  slippery  were  3 
the  paths  of  speech  under  a  prince  who  hated  flattery 
as  much  as  he  dreaded  liberty ! 

I  find  it  recorded  by  writers  who  were  senators  at  88. 
that  time  that  a  letter  was  read  from  Adgandestrius, 
a  chief  of  the  Chatti,  in  which  he  offered  to  bring 
about  the  death  of  Arminius  if  poison  were  sent  to 
him  for  the  purpose.  The  reply  returned  was  that  it 
was  not  by  treachery  and  stealth,  but  openly  and  by  force 
of  arms,  that  the  Roman  people  took  vengeance  on  their 
enemies.  A  proud  answer  this ;  by  which  Tiberius  2 
likened  himself  to  those  generals  of  old  who  had 
forbidden  and  denounced  the  poisoning  of  King 
Pyrrhus.3 

Now  that  the  Romans  had  retired,  and  Maroboduus  3 
was  defeated,  Arminius  aimed  at  making  himself 
king;  but  his  countrymen's  love  of  freedom  barred 
the  way,  and  they  rose  against  him.  After  fighting 
with  varying  fortune,  he  fell  at  last  by  the  treachery  of 
his  kinsmen.  He  was,  in  real  truth,  the  Liberator  of 
Germany.  He  had  measured  himself  with  the  Roman 
people,  not  in  the  days  of  their  infancy,  as  other 
kings  and  generals  had  done,  but  in  the  hey-day  of 
their  power ;  and,  if  his  battles  were  of  doubtful 


1  See  Marquhardt,  Staatsv.  ii.  p.  122 
foil. ,  and  the  references  quoted  by  Furn. 
as  to  regulations  for  the  corn-supply  of 
Rome. 

2  Suetonius  says  that  Tiberius  made 
one  senator    substitute    laboriosas    for 
sacras  in  speaking  of  his  occupations  ; 
and  another  suasore  for  anctore  in  regard 
to  his    recommending   a  question    to 


the    senate    (Tib.    27).     According   to 
Dio,  Ivii.  8,  2,  he  described  himself  thus  : 

AeffTroT*)?  (Jiev  rfav  bovKSiv,  avTOK.pdru>p  8e  TWV 
arpaTitoriav,  ru>v  &€  6>]  XotTrtoi'  TrpoK^jtros  el/J.«. 

3  In  reference  to  the  well-known  story 
about  Pyrrhus  and  C.  Fabricius,  cos. 
B.C.  278  (Plut.  Pyrrhus  21  (p.  397) ; 
Val.  Max.  vi.  5,  i). 


A.D.  19.]  BOOK    II.  CHAPS.   87-88.  183 

issue,  he  was  never  beaten  in  a  campaign.  He  had 
lived  thirty-seven  years  ;  he  had  ruled  for  twelve ; 
and  his  name  still  lives  in  the  songs  of  the  barbarians. 
Greek  writers,  who  can  admire  nothing  but  what  is 
Greek,  know  him  not ;  and  we  Romans  honour  him 
not  as  he  deserves.  We  belaud  the  past ;  but  we  pay 
no  heed  to  the  glories  of  yesterday. 


y 


BOOK    III. 

A.D.   20.    CONSULS   M.  VALERIUS   MESSALLA  AND 
M.   AURELIUS   COTTA. 

Agrippina     MEANWHILE  Agrippina,  continuing  her  voyage  over  I 

arrives  at  .  .  '  .  °  , 

Corcyra.  the  winter  seas  without  a  break,  arrived  at  Corcyra,1 
an  island  which  lies  over  against  the  coast  of  Calabria. 
Overwhelmed  by  a  tempestuous  grief  which  she  knew 
not  how  to  bear,  she  tarried  there  a  few  days  to  com- 
pose her  spirits.  During  this  interval,  at  the  news  of  2 
her  approach,  there  was  a  rush  of  her  intimate  friends 
to  Brundisium,2  which  was  the  nearest  and  safest  port 
at  which  to  land.  Among  the  number  were  many 
officers  who  had  served  in  various  positions  under 
Germanicus  ;  many  even  who  had  never  known  him 3 
flocked  in  from  the  neighbouring  towns,  some  as  a 
matter  of  duty  to  the  Emperor,  some  merely  doing  as 
others  did. 

Herrecep-  When  the  fleet  was  first  sighted  in  the  offing,  not  3 
Bnm*1  only  the  harbour  and  the  adjoining  parts  of  the  beach, 
but  also  the  city  walls,  the  housetops,  and  every  point 
which  commanded  a  distant  view  out  to  sea,  were 
thronged  with  a  sorrowing  crowd,  each  man  asking 
his  neighbour  whether  they  should  receive  Agrippina 
in  silence  when  she  landed,  or  with  speech  of  some 
sort.  Before  they  could  agree  what  best  befitted  the  4 

1  The  modern  Corfu.  2  The  modern  Brindisi. 

3  Ignoti  is  here  used  in  an  active  sense,  as  in  ii.  71,  6 ;  Agr.  43,  i. 


A.D.  20.] 


BOOK    III.   CHAPS.    1-2. 


I85 


occasion,  the  fleet  came  slowly  in.  There  was  none 
of  the  usual  alertness  in  the  rowing ;  everything  was 
5  arranged  to  betoken  sorrow.  And  when  Agrippina, 
with  her  two  children,1  stepped  off  the  ship,  carrying 
the  funeral  urn  in  her  hands,  and  with  her  eyes  fixed 
upon  the  ground,  one  cry  of  grief  burst  from  the 
entire  multitude,  kinsfolk  and  strangers,  men  and 
women,  all  lamenting  alike,  save  that  the  grief  of 
Agrippina's  attendants  was  worn  out  by  long  con- 
tinuance, while  that  of  those  who  had  come  to  meet 
her  was  the  more  fresh  and  strong. 

1  The  Emperor  had  sent  an  escort  of  two  Praetorian  Funeral 

-  ~.    ,    ,      .        procession 

Cohorts,  and  had  ordered  the  magistrates  of  Calabria,  through 
Apulia  and  Campania2  to  pay  the  last  offices  of  respect 

2  to  the  memory  of  his  son.     And  so  the  ashes  were 
carried  on  the  shoulders  of  Tribunes  and  centurions ; 
in   front  went  the   standards,   undecorated,   and  the 
fasces  reversed ;  when  they  passed  through  a  Colony,8 
the  populace  were  clothed  in  black,  while  the  knights 


1  These  children  were  Gaius,  or 
Caligula  as  we  call  him  (Suet.  Cal.  14), 
and  tHe  infant  Julia,  born  at  Lesbos 
A.D.  18  (ii.  54,  if;  she  was  also  called 
Livilla.  She  was  married  to  M. 
Vinicius  (vi.  15,  i)  in  A.D.  33;  was 
banished  and  recalled  with  her  mother 
Agrippina ;  banished  again,  and  put  to 
death  in  A.D.  41  at  the  instigation  of 
Messalina  (Dio,  Ix.  8,  5). 

9  The  route  followed  would  be  by 
the  Via  Appia,  the  great  high  road 
from  Rome  to  the  East,  passing  through 
the  towns  of  Tarentum,  Venusia 
(Horace's  birthplace),  Beneventum, 
Capua,  Sinuessa,  then  along  the  coast 
by  Formiae  and  Fundi  to  Terracina  ; 
thence  straight  to  Rome  by  Aricia,  over 
the  low  land  of  Latium. 
t  *  The  distinction  between  Coloniae 
and  Municipia  was  now  nominal ;  and, 
in  fact,  every  one  of  the  towns  above 
mentioned  was  a  colony.  Here  and 
elsewhere,  Tacitus  uses  the  phrase 
municifda  et  coloniae  to  embrace  all  the 
provincial  towns  of  Italy,  whether 
known  originally  as  coloniae,  muni- 


cipia, or  praefecturae.  The  coloniae 
civium  Romanorum  stood  in  the  first 
rank,  being  the  oldest,  and  having 
enjoyed  from  the  beginning  the  full 
Roman  Civitas.  The  coloniae  Latinae 
had  probably  only  private  rights  ; 
there  were  municipia  cum  suffragio, 
and  municipia  sine  suffragio  ;  while 
the  term  praefectura  applied  to  all 
towns  (some  of  which  were  municipia) 
governed  by  a  praefectus  sent  from 
Rome.  All  these  towns  enjoyed,  under 
various  conditions,  certain  rights  of 
self-government.  The  Lex  Julia, 
passed  in  B.C.  90  after  the  Social  War, 
conferred  the  full  franchise  on  all  towns 
in  Italy  which  chose  to  accept  it ;  and 
from  that  time,  practically  all  old  Latin 
and  allied  communities  in  Italy  became 
municipia,  in  possession  of  full  political 
rights.  The  name  of  colonia,  however, 
was  still  used  and  cherished  as  a  dis- 
tinction by  the  old  colonies;  but 
politically  all  alike  were  municipia. 
See  App.  XII.  to  Watson's  Cic.'s 
Letters. 


1 86 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  20. 


Concourse 
at  Terra- 
cina  to 
meet  the 
ashes. 


Conduct  of 
Tiberius, 
Livia,  and 
Antonia. 


in  their  robes  of  state1  burned  garments  and  spices 
and  other  funeral  oblations,2  in  proportion  to  the 
wealth  of  the  community.  Even  from  cities  far  off  3 
the  line  of  the  procession  people  came  out  to  meet 
it,  offering  victims,  setting  up  altars  to  the  Manes  of 
the  deceased,  and  testifying  their  grief  by  tears  and 
wailings  for  the  dead.3 

Drusus  came  out  as  far  as  Terracina,  accompanied  4 
by  Claudius,4  the  brother  of  Germanicus,  and  such  of 
the  latter's  children  as  happened  to  be  in  Rome  at 
the  time.  Thither  came  the  newly-installed  Consuls,5  5 
Marcus  Valerius  and  Marcus  Aurelius ;  the  roadway 
was  taken  up  by  a  vast  concourse  of  senators,  and 
people  from  Rome,  each  man  standing  apart  and 
weeping  as  his  heart  inclined  him.  For  there  was 
no  sycophancy  in  their  sorrow :  every  one  knew  that 
Tiberius  was  well  pleased  at  the  death  of  Germanicus, 
and  could  scarce  conceal  his  satisfaction. 

Tiberius  and  Augusta  did  not  appear  in  public,  3, 
thinking  it  beneath  their  dignity  to  display  their  grief; 
perhaps  they  feared  that   if  exposed   to   the   public 
gaze,  their  faces  might  betray  their  insincerity.     As  2 
regards  his  mother  Antonia,6  I  cannot  discover  either 


1  Clothed    in  the    handsome    cloak 
trabea,  i.e.  in  full  official  dress.      The 
trabea  was  an  ancient  form  of  the  toga, 
ornamented  with  stripes  of  scarlet  and 
a  purple  border.     It  is  called  by  Virgil 
the  robe  of  Romulus  ;  it  was  worn  by 
consuls  when  opening  the  gates  of  the 
Temple  of  Janus  in  declaring  war  (Aen. 
vii.  188  and  612),  by  the  Salii  (Dionys. 
ii.  70),  and  by  Augurs  (Servius  ad  Aen. 
vii.  612).     Dionysius  adds  that  it  was 
worn  by  knights,   and  the  passage  in 
the  text   proves  it ;    but   it   cannot  be 
identified  on  monuments  (see  Diet.  Ant. 
i.  p.  849,  b). 

2  These  costly   stuffs  and   perfumes 
would  probably  be  burnt  on  imitation 
pyres,  as  if  at  an  actual  funeral. 

3  Conclamatio    was    the    cry    raised 
immediately  after  death,  as  soon  as  the 


eyes  of  the  dying  person  were  closed. 
The  name  of  the  deceased  was  repeated 
with  loud  cries  by  the  friends,  together 
with  last  farewells  (extremum  vale). 
Apparently  also  horns  were  blown. 

4  This  was  the  future  emperor.    The 
other    children    of    Germanicus    here 
alluded  to  were  Nero  (14),  Drusus  (13), 
Agrippina  (5),  and  Drusilla  (3). 

5  Contrary    to    his     usual    custom, 
Tacitus  mentions  the  names  of  the  new 
consuls  in  the  middle  of  the  chapter,  as 
the  voyage  of  Agrippina    had   begun 
before  the  close  of  the  year. 

6  This   was  Antonia  minor,   wife  of 
Drusus     the     elder,    and     mother    of 
Germanicus.      She    was    the    younger 
of  the  two  daughters  of  Mark  Antony 
by  Octavia,  the  sister  of  Augustus.  She 
was  celebrated  for  her  beauty  and  her 


A.D.20.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.    2-4.  187 

in  the  histories  or  the  journals1  of  the  time  that  she 
took  any  prominent  part  in  the  proceedings,  though 
besides  Agrippina,  Drusus  and  Claudius,  the  names 
of  all  the  other  relatives  are  specially  mentioned. 
Perhaps  she  was  kept  away  by  indisposition  ;  perhaps 
her  mind  was  so  overcome  by  sorrow  that  she  could 
3  not  bear  to  look  upon  the  grievous  spectacle.  For 
myself,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  Tiberius  and 
Augusta,  who  never  left  the  house,  compelled  her  to 
do  as  they  did,  that  it  might  appear  that  their  grief 
was  not  less  than  her  own,  and  that  the  grandmother 
and  the  uncle  had  but  followed  the  example  of  the 
mother. 

1  On  the  day  when  the  remains  were  borne  to  the  Popular 
Mausoleum2  of  Augustus,  there  was  at  one  moment  Snerai;  >e 
a  silence  like  that  of  the  desert ;  at  another,  cries  of 

grief  rent  the  air.     The  streets  were  thronged ;  the 

2  Campus   Martius   was   one    blaze   of   torches.      The 
soldiers  were  drawn  up  under  arms  ;8  the  magistrates 
appeared  without  their  insignia  of  office ;  the  people, 
marshalled  according  to  their  tribes,4  cried  aloud  that 
the  commonwealth  zvas  losf,  and  all  hope  was  gone — so 
spontaneously,  so  openly,  that  they  seemed   to  take 

3  no  heed  of  the  powers  above  them.     But  what  made 
the  deepest  impression  on  Tiberius  was  the  storm  of 
enthusiasm  for  Agrippina.     Men  called  her  the  glory 

virtue  (Plut.   Ant.    87,   Val.    Max.    iv.  *  These  acta  dinrna  were  a  kind  of 

3,  3).    Her  elder  sister  Antonia  married  official    gazette,    instituted     by    Julius 

L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus,  and  became  Caesar,  in  which  important  daily  events, 

mother  of  Cn.  Domitius,  the  father  of  political,  legal  or  other,  were  recorded. 

the  emperor  Nero  :  in  iv.  44,  3,  Tacitus  They    were    also    called    acta   pofuli, 

wrongly  calls  that  lady  Antonia  minor.  diurnaurbisacta,a.nAactadiurnapopuli 

The  two  Antoniae  seem  to  have  followed  Romani  (xiii.  31,  i). 

their  mother  Octavia  in  the  self-sacri-  2  For  the   Mausoleum  of  Augustus, 

ficing  domestic  simplicity  of  their  lives.  see  n.  on  i.  8,  6. 

They  never  mixed  themselves   up    in  s  i.e.  in  full  uniform.    Usually  soldiers 

political  intrigues,  or  took  any  part  in  went  about  the  city  in  mufti,  even  when 

public  affairs.     Antonia  minor  appears  on  duty  (Hist.  i.  38,  3). 

on  the  coins  of  Claudius  and  Caligula  *  Furn.  points  out  that  the  rabble  of 

as    Antonia    Augusta    Sacerdos    Divi  the  city  at  this  time  were  not  included 

Augiisti.  in  the  35  Tribes  (Introd.  p.  89). 


1 88 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  20. 


dissatisfac- 
tion at  its 
modest 
character. 


of  her  country ;  the  sole  remnant  of  the  blood  of 
Augustus;  the  one  remaining  model  of  olden  virtue  : 
they  looked  to  heaven  and  prayed  that  her  offspring 
might  be  spared  to  her,  and  escape  the  toils  of  their 
enemies.^ 

There  were  some  who  missed  the  pageant2  of  a  5. 
state  funeral,8  and  drew  comparisons, with  the  splendid 
obsequies  which  Augustus  had  provided  in  honour  of 
Drusus,4  the  father  of  Germanicus.     On  that  occasion,  2 
it  was  remarked,  he  had  himself  travelled  as  far  as  Tici- 
num  in  the  depth  of  winter ;  he  had  never  left  the  body,  and 
had  entered  the  city  with  it ;  the  bier  had  been  surrounded 
by  the  images  of  the  Claudii  and  the  Julii;  the  deceased 
had  been  bewailed  in  the  Forum,  and  belauded  from  the 
Rostra;    every  honour  devised   by   ancestral   usage  or 
modern  ingenuity  had  been  heaped  upon  him.    But  Ger-  3 
manicus  had  not  received  the  ordinary  honours  due  to 
every  Roman  noble.     Distance  from  Rome,  no  doubt,  was  4 
good  reason  why  the  body  should  have  been  burned  in  a 
foreign  land,  and  without  ceremony ;   but  if  fate  had 
denied  him  honours  at  the  beginning,  that  were  all  the 
more  reason  why  they  should  have  been  multiplied  upon 
him  in  the  end.     His  brother5  had  travelled  but  one  day's  5 
journey  to  meet  him  ;  his  uncle 6  had  not  gone  even  as  far 


1  It  must  be  confessed  that  Agrip- 
pina's  conduct  and  that  of  her  sup- 
porters,  on   this  and  other  occasions, 
was  in  the  highest  degree  calculated  to 
inflame  to  the  utmost  the  jealousy  of  a 
jealous  prince.     See  v.  4,  3. 

2  The  omission  of  the  customary  pro- 
cession of  ancestors  and  of  the  funeral 
laudatio  is  very  remarkable.     It  con- 
trasts strongly  with  the  splendour  of 
the  funeral  of  Junia  (iii.  76,  4). 

3  Also  called  censoriumfunus,  because 
held  at  the  public  expense  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  censors. 

4  The  elder    Drusus    died    in    Ger- 
many, B.C.  9,  by  a  fall  from  his  horse. 
Augustus  was  in  Gaul  at  the  time ;  he 
at  once  despatched  Tiberius  to  Germany, 


who  marched  back  with  the  procession 
the  whole  way  to  Rome  in  mid-winter, 
Augustus  himself  joining  it  at  Ticinum 
(Pavia).  Both  Augustus  and  Tiberius 
pronounced  laudationes  in  Rome,  the 
latter  in  the  Forum,  the  former  in  the 
Flaminian  Circus. 

5. Claudius,  the  brother  of  Germani- 
cus, had  also  gone  with  Drusus  to  meet 
the  body  at  Terracina  (chap.  2,  4) ;  but 
he  was  held  in  no  account,  and  was  per- 
sistently ignored.  See  chap.  18,  4-7. 

6  Patruum  here  refers  to  Tiberius ; 
but  owing  to  the  constant  confusion 
between  adoptive  and  blood  relation- 
ships, it  is  not  so  clear  whether  fratrem 
refers  to  his  own  brother  Claudius,  or 
to  Drusus,  son  of  Tiberius,  his  brother 


A.D.20.]  BOOK    III.    CHAPS.  4-6.  189 

6  as  the  city  gates.  Where  were  the  usages  of  olden  times  ? 
Where  was  the  effigy 1  at  the  head  o/*  the  bier  ?  Where  the 
laboured  poems*  and  panegyrics,  to  tell  of  the  dead  man's 
virtues  ?  Where  were  the  tears,  or  at  least  the  semblances 
of  affliction? 

1  All   this   reached   the   ears   of  Tiberius.     To   put  Tiberius 
down  the  public  talk,  he  issued  a  proclamation  to  this  a  consoling 
effect : — Many  illustrious  Romans  had   died  for  their 
country  ;  but  none  had  ever  been  so  passionately  lamented. 

2  That  feeling  did  honour  both  to  himself  and  to  them  all, 
were  it  only  kept  within  due  bounds;  but  what  befitted 
a  modest  household,  or  a  petty  state,  might  not  be  seemly 

3  for  Princes,  or  for  an  Imperial  people.    While  their  sorrow 
was  still  fresh,  it  had  been  natural  for  them  to  mourn, 
and  find  solace   in  lamentation :   but  they  should  now 
recover  their  composure,   remembering  hoiv   the  Divine 
Julius,  when  he  lost  his  only  daughter*  and  the  Divine 
Augustus,  when  his  grandchildren  were  taken  from  him, 

4  had  thrust  away  their  sorrow.     There  zvas  no  need  of 
ancient  instances,  or  to  tell  how  often  the  Roman  people 
had  borne  with  fortitude  the  loss  of  armies,  the  death  of 
generals,  the  annihilation  of  entire  families.    Princes  were 

5  but  mortal :  the  commonwealth  zvas  everlasting.     Let  them 
return,  therefore,  to  their  ivontcd  occupations,  and  as  the 

by  adoption.     It  probably  refers  to  the  See  Appian  Bell.  Civ.  ii.  147 ;  Dio  Ivi. 

latter,  as  during  this  period  Claudius  34 ;  Herodian  iv.  2,  3 ;  Suet.  Vesp.  19. 

was  hardly  thought  of.     Similarly,  in  Furneaux,  reading  praepositam,  and  re- 

the  dying  speech  of  Germanicus,  fratri  lying  on  the  preposition,  supposes  the 

refers  to  Drusus  (ii.  71,  3).    In  either  reference  to  be  to  a  waxen  effigy  placed 

case  the  statement  is  false ;   for  both  upon  the  couch. 

Claudius  and  Drusus  went  to  meet  the  *  There  seems  no  reason  here    for 

body  at  Terracina.     This  passage,  like  changing  the  propositam  of  the    MS. 

many  others  in    Tacitus,   shows  how  into  pracposiiam,  with  Halm  and  other 

bitter  and  unscrupulous  was  the  spirit  editors.     On    the    contrary,    a    slight 

in  which  the  acts  of  the  Government  variation  of  word  is  quite  in  the  manner 

were   judged ;    and    in    spite    of    the  of  Tacitus. 

vehemently     denounced     tyranny     of  a  To  be  chanted  at  the  funeral,  like 

Tiberius  in  the  capital,  how  free  and  the  poem  composed  by  the  unfortunate 

outspoken   in    its    comments  was  the  Clutorius  Priscus  in  anticipation  of  the 

clever  and  cynical  society  of  the  day.  death  of  Drusus  (chap.  49,  i). 

1  Nipp.  thinks  this  refers  to  an  imago  4  i.e.  Julia,  the  only  legitimate  child 

of  the  deceased,  worn  by  a  man,  like  of  Caesar,  who  was  married  to  Pompey 

those  of  ancestors  borne  in  funerals.  B.C.  59,  and  died  in  child-bed  B.C.  54. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  20. 


Drusus 
returns  to 
Illyricum : 
hopes  of 
vengeance 
upon  Piso. 


Piso  sends 
on  his  son 
to  Rome, 
going  first 
to  see 
Drusus. 


His  recep- 
tion by 
Drusus. 


Megalesian  Games1  were  now  near  at  hand,   let  them 
resume  their  pleasures  also. 

And  so  business  began  again,  and  men  returned  to  7. 
their  usual  employments.  Drusus  set  out  for  the 
Illyrian  army.  One  thought  exercised  every  mind — 
the  hope  of  wreaking  vengeance  upon  Piso.  It  was 
matter  of  indignant  comment  that  with  cunning  and 
contumacious  deliberation  he  was  meandering  through 
the  pleasant  regions  of  Asia  and  Achaia,  so  as  to 
frustrate  investigation  into  his  crimes.  For  the  story  2 
had  got  about  that  the  notorious  poisoner  Martina, 
who,  as  above  related,2  had  been  sent  off  to  Rome  by 
Gnaeus  Sentius,  had  died  suddenly  at  Brundisium ; 
and  that  although  poison  had  been  found  concealed  in 
a  lock  of  her  hair,  there  were  no  signs  upon  her  person 
that  her  death  had  been  self-inflicted.3 

Meanwhile   Piso   had   sent  his  son4  on  to   Rome  8. 
before  him,  furnished  with  explanations  wherewith  to 
appease  the  Emperor.     He  himself  went  first  to  see 
Drusus,  whom  he  hoped  to  find  more  pleased  at  the  re- 
moval of  a  rival  than  outraged  at  his  brother's  death. 
Tiberius  received  the  young  man  kindly,  to  shew  that  2 
he  had  not  prejudged  the  case,  and  gave  him  presents, 
such  as  are  usually  given  to  the  sons  of  noble  houses 
on  like  occasions. 

The  reply  of  Drusus  to  the  father  was  that  if  the  3 


1  The  Megalesian  games  began  on 
April  4th.      Suetonius  says  the  public 
mourning  in  Rome  on  news  of  the  death 
lasted     through     the    whole     of    the 
Saturnalia,  which  began  on  Dec.  ipth. 
The  date  of  the  death  was  apparently 
October     loth.       Agrippina      reached 
Rome  with  the  ashes  in  the  early  days 
of  January,  A.D.  20  (chap.  2,  5). 

2  See  ii.  74,  2. 

3  The    obvious    intention    of    men- 
tioning or  inventing  these  facts  was  to 
show  that   Martina  was   convicted   of 
being  a  professional  poisoner  by  having 
poison  concealed  upon  her  person ;  while 


the  absence  of  any  marks  of  poisoning 
on  her  body  showed  that  she  had  not 
poisoned  herself,  but  had  been  made 
away  with  in  order  to  suppress  the 
evidence  against  Piso.  Nipp.  with 
over-refinement  imagines  the  object  to 
be  to  show  that  Martina,  in  poisoning 
herself,  shewed  herself  such  a  mistress 
of  the  art  that  she  used  a  poison  which 
left  no  trace  after  death. 

4  This  was  the  son  Marcus,  who 
advised  his  father  to  return  at  once  to 
Rome,  and  not  run  the  risk  involved  in 
attempting  to  regain  his  province  by 
force  (ii.  76,  2). 


A.D.  20.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.   6-9.  191 

stories  going  about  were  true,  none  would  be  more  grieved 
than  he  ;  but  he  hoped  they  would  prove  false  and  imthout 
foundation,  and  that  the  death  of  Germanicus  would  bring 
4  ruin  to  none.  This  he  said  in  public  audience ;  for  he 
declined  a  private  interview.  No  one  doubted  but 
that  the  answer  had  been  dictated  to  him  by  Tiberius; 
for  whereas  at  other  times  he  was  noted  for  the 
simplicity  and  youthful  frankness  of  his  demeanour, 
he  exhibited  on  this  occasion  all  the  astuteness  of  an 
old  man. 

>.   i        Crossing  the  Adriatic,  and   leaving  his   ships   at  Hisjoumey 
Ancona,  Piso  passed  through  Picenum,  and  thence  on  myricum 
to  the  Flaminian  Way.1     He  overtook  on  the  road  a  t( 
legion  marching  from  Pannonia  to  Rome,  on  its  way 
to  join  the  forces  in  Africa.     It  was  much  remarked 
upon  that  he  shewed  himself  frequently  to  the  soldiers 

2  throughout   the  march.     At   Narnia — either  to  avoid 
suspicion,  or  because  fear  unsettles  all  men's  plans — 
he  took  boat,  and  descended  first  the  Nar,  and  then 
the  Tiber.    The  popular  feeling  against  him  was  much 
heightened  by  his  landing  in  broad  daylight,  when  the 
river-bank  was  crowded,  close  to  the  Mausoleum  of 
the  Caesars ;  whence  he  and  his  wife,  with  confident 
faces,  proceeded  on  foot  to  their  house,  which  over- 
hung the  Forum  :  Piso  escorted  by  a  train  of  clients, 
Plancina  by  a  company  of  ladies.     The  festal  decora- 

3  tions  of   the   house,   the   feastings   and   banquetings 

1  The    Via   Flaminia,  made  by  C.  leading   down   into   the    valley   of    the 

Flaminius  when  censor,  B.C.  220,   was  Metaurus,  finally  reaching  the  Adriatic 

the   Great    North    Road   from    Rome.  at  Fanum  Fortunae  (Fano),  a  point  one 

Running  close  to  the  line  of  the  modern  hundred  and  ninety  Roman  miles  due 

Corso,  and  issuing  from  the  city  by  the  N.    from   Rome.      Ancona   was    some 

Porta  Flaminia  (Pvrta  del  Popolo),  it  thirty-five  miles  S.  of  Fanum  Fortunae. 

crossed  the  Tiber  two  miles  further  on  Piso  seems  to  have  struck  inland  through 

by   the  famous    Milvian    Bridge  ;    re-  Picenum  by  a  by-road,  joining  the  Via 

turned  to  the  left  bank  at  a  point  N.  of  Flaminia    at     Nuceria,     near    Assisi. 

Falerii ;  crossed  the  Nar,  and  then  pass-  From  that  point  to  the  Nar,  where  he 

ing  through  Spoletium  (Sppleto),  Ful-  took  to  the  water,  was  a  distance  of 

ginium  (Foligno)  and  Nuceria  (Noctra),  fifty-three  Roman  miles, 
crossed  the  Apennines  by  a  low  pass 


192 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  20. 


Trio. 


which  followed,  visible  to   all   from  the   publicity  of 
the  spot,  added  to  the  general  exasperation. 

Heisim-  Next  day,  Fulcinius  Trio1  impeached  Piso  before   IO 

Fukinius  y  the  Consuls.     To  this  Vitellius  and  Veranius  and  the  2 
rest  of  the  following  of  Germanicus  objected,  contend- 
ing that  Trio  had  no  standing  in  the  case  : — They  them- 
selves were  not  there  as  accusers,  but  as  witnesses,  to  testify 
to  facts,  and  to  convey  the  instructions  of  Germanicus. 
Thereupon  Trio,  abandoning  his  right  to  prosecute  on  3 
the  present  charge,  made  good  his  claim  to  denounce 
Piso's    previous    career ;    and    demanded     that    the 
Emperor  should  try  the  cause  himself.     To  this  the  * 
accused  offered  no  objection.     He  was  afraid  of  the 
feeling  against   him   among  the   people   and   in   the 
Senate,  whereas   Tiberius,  he  believed,  would  stand 
firm  against  clamour,  and  Livia's  complicity  would  tie 
his  hands.2     He  thought  moreover  that  a  single  judge 
would   separate  truth   from   misrepresentation  more 
readily  than  a  larger  number,  among  whom  feelings 
of  prejudice  or  ill-will  might  prevail.     Tiberius  him-  5 
self  was  fully  alive  to  the  difficulties  of  the  enquiry, 
and  knew  what  damaging  reports  were  in  circulation 
about  himself.     So  having  heard  the  accusations  on  6 
the  one  side,  and  the  appeals  for  mercy  on  the  other, 
before  a  few  chosen  intimates,  he  remitted 3  the  whole 
case  for  trial  to  the  Senate.4  ., 


Tiberius 
remits  the 
case  to  the 
Senate. 


1  A  notorious  accuser.    See  ii.  28,  3. 

2  The    difficult    phrase    conscientiae 
matris    innexum  esse  seems  to  mean 
that  Tiberius  would  be  unable  to  dis- 
entangle himself  from,  and  would  feel 
himself    committed     by,     the     secret 
instructions    supposed    to    have    been 
given    by  Livia  to  Piso  and   Plancina 
(ii.  43,  4-5).     The  words  Augustae  con- 
scientia  are  used  in  exactly  the  same 
sense  by  Domitius  when  urging  Piso  to 
re-occupy  his  province :   Est  tibi  Au- 
gustae conscientia,  est  Caesaris  favor,  sed 
in  occulto  (ii.  77,  6). 


3  The  phrases  relationem  remittere 
and    relationem  facere    are    specially 
included  among  the  powers  conferred 
upon    the    emperor     by    the    Lex    de 
imperio.     The  latter  was  the  ordinary 
power  of  the  presiding  magistrate  to 
put  a  question  to  the  vote  ;  the  former 
enabled  the  emperor,  without  attending 
himself,  to  refer  a  question  to  the  senate 
for  decision.      See  Rushforth,   pp.  82 
and  85. 

4  As  we  have  seen  elsewhere,  a  trial 
of  this  kind  might  take  one  of  three 
forms.     It  might  be  tried:  (i)  By  the 


A.D.  20.] 


BOOK    III.   CHAPS.   9-1 1. 


193 


1  Drusus   meantime   returned   from    Illyricum,   and  Return  of 
entered  the  city,  postponing  the  honour  of  an  Ovation 
voted   to  him  by  the  Senate   for  the  submission  of 
Maroboduus,  and  for   his  successes  during  the  pre- 
ceding summer. 

2  Piso   now  applied   in   turn   to   Lucius  Arruntius,  Pisopre- 
Publius   Vinicius,   Asinius   Callus,   Aeserninus   Mar-  hfsrdefe°nce. 
cellus  and  Sextus  Pompeius,1  to  conduct  his  defence; 

but   they  all   on  various   pleas  excused   themselves. 
Thereupon  Manius  Lepidus,2  Lucius  Piso,8  and  Livi- 
neius  Regulus4  offered  their  services.  The  whole  town  Excitement 
was  on  the  tip-toe  of  expectation  \-Wonld  the  friends  inthccity- 
of  Gennanicns  prove  staunch  ?     On  what  did  the  accused 
rely  ?      Would    Tiberius  contain   himself?     Would  he 

3  suppress  all  indication  of  his  own  opinion  ?    Never  was 
public   feeling  more   on   the   stretch,   never  did   the 
people  indulge  more  freely  in  secret  murmurs  against 


emperor  himself:  the  emperor  might 
choose  assessors  from  the  senate  to 
assist  him,  but  would  not  be  bound  to 
follow  their  opinion.  (2)  By  the  senate 
as  a  whole,  under  the  presidency  of  a 
consul  or  a  praetor ;  or  (3)  in  an 
ordinary  court  of  law.  See  ii.  28,  5. 
The  case  of  Piso  admirably  illustrates 
these  different  modes  of  procedure. 
When  Piso  passed  the  ship  bearing 
Agrippina  and  her  friends  off  the  coast 
of  Lycia  in  A.D.  19,  his  retort  to 
Marsus  Vibius  shews  that  he  expected 
to  be  tried  by  a  praetor  and  a  jury  in 
the  ordinary  court  (quaestio)  for  trying 
cases  of  poisoning  under  the  Lex 
Cornelia  de  Veneficis  (ii.  79,  2).  The 
prosecutor,  however,  in  presenting  his 
case  to  the  consuls,  petitions  that  it 
may  be  tried  by  the  emperor  ;  and  the 
emperor  actually  undertakes  the  pre- 
liminary investigation  with  the  assist- 
ance of  a  consilium  of  friends.  In  the 
end,  feeling  how  difficult  it  would  be 
for  him  to  conduct  a  trial  in  which  the 
charge  was  that  of  murdering  his  own 
nephew  and  adopted  son,  Tiberius 
remits  the  whole  case  for  trial  to  the 
senate.  See  Greenidge,  '  Roman  Public 
Life,'  p.  388. 
1  These  were  all  distinguished  men  ; 


all  consulars,  i.e.  men  who  had  held 
the  consulship.  For  Arruntius  (cos. 
A.D.  6),  see  i.  13,  2;  for  Asinius 
Callus  (cos.  B.C.  8),  i.  12  and  13,  2.  P. 
Vinicius  was  apparently  cos.  in  A.D.  2; 
^Eserninus  Marcellus  was  a  grandson  of 
Pollio,  and  cos.  suf.  in  some  year 
unknown ;  Sextus  Pompeius  was  cos. 
A.D.  44. 

•  This  distinguished   man  was   cos. 
A.D.  ii  ;  and  was  described  by  Augustus 
as  ca.pa.cem  (imperil)  sed  asptrnantem 
(i.  13,  2).     He  defends  his  sister  Lepida 
in  a  prosecution,  chap.  22,  2.     In  chap. 
35,  i,  he  is  nominated  for  the  province 
of  Africa ;  he  makes  a  bold  speech  on 
behalf  of  Clutorius  Priscus,  chap.  50  ; 
and  is  warmly  lauded  (iv.  20,  3-5)  for 
his  rare   mixture  of  firmness  and  dis- 
cretion in  resisting  tyranny.     He  was 
appointed  proconsul  of  Asia   A.D.   26 
(iv.  56,  3) ;  and  died  a  natural  death  in 
A.D.  33  (vi.  27,  4). 

*  L.  Piso  is  supposed  to  have  been 
a    brother    of   Cn.    Piso.      His    inde- 
pendent conduct  is  described  in  ii.  34, 
1-4 ;   his  accusation  and  death  in  iv. 
21,  1-4. 

4  Livineius     Regulus    also     was    a 
consular. 


194  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  20. 

the  Emperor :  if  they  kept  silence,  it  was  the  silence 
of  suspicion. 

Tiberius  On  the  day  of  the  trial,  Tiberius  used  language  of  I 

the  Senate    studied  moderation.     Piso,  he  said,  had  been  the  Legate  2 
and  the  friend  of  his  father ;  he  himself  had  appointed 
him,  at  the  instance  of  the  Senate,  to  be  coadjutor  to 
Germanicus    in    the    management   of   Eastern    affairs. 
Whether,  in  that  position,  he  had  exasperated  the  young  3 
man  by  insolent  and  contumacious  conduct,  had  exulted  at 
his  death,  or  even  compassed  it  by  crime,  it  was  for  them 
impartially  to  determine.     For  if,  he  continued,  he  out-  4 
stepped  the  limits  of  his  position;    if  he  failed  in  due 
obedience  to  his  Imperator ;  if  he  shewed  exultation  at  his 
death  and  my  affliction,  I  shall  indeed  visit  him  with  my 
resentment,  and  close  my  doors  against  him  ; *  but  I  will 
not  use  my  authority  as  Emperor  to  avenge  my  injuries  as 
a  man.     If,  however,  it  shall  appear  that  a  crime  has  been  5 
committed,  such  as  would  call  for  punishment  had  the 
death  been  that  of  any  private  individual :  then  it  will  be 
your  duty  to  afford  just  satisfaction  both  to  the  children  of 
Germanicus,  and  to  us  his  parents.     You  will  also  con-  6 
sider  whether  Piso  encouraged  insubordination  and  dis- 
affection among  his  troops,  whether  he  courted  popularity 
with  them  for  his  own  ends,  and  sought  to  regain  possession 
of  his  province  by  force  ;  or  whether  these  are  false  charges, 
and  made  too  much  of  by  the  accusers.     Of  these  men's 
excessive  zeal,  I  have  some  reason  to  complain.     For  what  7 
end  was  served  by  laying  bare  the  dead  body,  and  exposing 
it  to  the  rude  gaze  of  the  multitude,  thus  letting  the  rumour 
go  abroad,  even  in  foreign  countries,  that  Germanicus  had 
been  poisoned,  if  that  fact  is  still  in  doubt,  and  still  calls 
for  investigation  ? 

1  This  was  done  by  a  formal  act,       of  Piso  (ii.  70,  3).     See  also  iii.  24,  5, 
such  as  that  by  which  Germanicus  on       and  vi.  29,  3. 
his  death-bed  renounced  the  friendship 


A.D.  20.]  BOOK    III.  CHAPS.   11-13.  195 

8  Deeply  as  I  lament,  and  ever  shall  lament,  my  son. 
/  shall   not  prevent  the  accused  from  producing  any 
evidence  by  which  his  innocence  may  be  established,  or  by 
which  any  fault  on  the  part  of  Gcrmanicus,  if  such  there 
were,  may  be  brought  home ;  but  I  implore  you  not  to 
accept  charges  made  as  if  they  were  charges  proved,  merely 
because  my  own  personal  grief  is  bound  up  in  the  case. 

9  If  ties  of  blood1  or  friendship  have  prompted  any  of  you  to 
undertake  the  defence,  use  all  your  eloquence,  all  your 
energy,  on  behalf  of  the  accused.     I  exhort  the  accusers 

10  to  be  no  less  industrious,  no  less  determined.     In  one  point 
only  can  I  place   Germanicus  above  the  law :   that  the 
enquiry  into  his  death  shall  take  place  in  the  Curia  rather 
than  in  the  Forum,  before  the  Senate,  rather  than  in  a 
Court  of  law?    In  all  else,  let  like  moderation  be  observed. 

11  Let  none  pay  regard  to  the  tears  of  Drusus,  or  to  my  own 
affliction  ;  nor  even  to  any  calumnies  fabricated  against 
myself* 

1  It  was  arranged  that  two  days  should  be  allowed  Accusation 
for  the  prosecution,  and  that  after  an  interval  of  six  Fuicinius, 
days,  three4  more  should  be  assigned  to  the  defence. 

2  Fuicinius  began  with  old  and  irrelevant  charges  of 
intrigues  and  extortion  during  Piso's  Spanish  command 
— charges  which,  even  if  proved,  would  not  tell  against 
the  accused,  were  he  to  clear  himself  of  those  recently 

1  Apparently  in  allusion  to  L.  Piso  that  Tacitus,  a-flame  in  the  interests  of 

(see  chap,  n,   2).     This  confirms  the  Germanicus,    regards  .  |t_  as.far_Jop 

conjecture  that  this  Lucius  was  brother  impartial,  and  as  indicating  coldness  on 

to  the  accused.  the   emperor's    part    in    avenging   His 

*  The  Latin  is  apud  iudicest  '  before  son's  death.     He  has  little  objection  to 

a  jury  ; '  the  meaning  of  which  phrase  high-handed  judicial  proceedings  when 

is  explained  in  the  n.  on  chap.  10,  4.  directed    against  JHe    objects    of  Tils 

'  '  The  tone  of  this  speech,  whether  aversion. 

delivered  by  Tiberius  or  not,  gives  a  *  Three  days  was  a  liberal  allowance 

high  idea  of  Roman  justice  and  Roman  for  the  purpose.    Pompey's  law  (B.C.  52) 

judicial  proceedings.     No  British  judge  allowed  only  two  hours  to  the  prosecu- 

in  summing  up  could  put  a  case  before  tion,  three  to  the  defence ;  the  younger 

a  jury  with   more  admirable  precision  Pliny  says  that   in   his   time   the   law 

and  impartiality.    The  attitude  of  the  allowed    no  more   than   six   hours    to 

emperor  as  exhibited  in  this  speech,  in  the  prosecution,    nine   to   the  defence 

a  matter  so  closely  concerning  himself,  (Epp.  iv.  9,  9). 
is  truly  civilis.     Indeed,  it   is  evident 


196 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  20. 


and  con- 
tinued by 
the  friends 
of  Ger- 
manicus. 


The  charge 
of  poison- 
ing breaks 
downjj 


brought  against  him ;  nor  could  their  refutation  help 
him  to  an  acquittal,  should  he  be  found  guilty  of  the 
more  serious  offences.  After  him  came  Servaeus,  3 
Veranius  and  Vitellius,1  all  with  equal  determination, 
and  Vitellius  with  much  eloquence  besides,  urging 
against  Piso  that  out  of  hatred  to  Germanicus,  and 
in  furtherance  of  revolutionary  designs,  he  had  so 
corrupted  the  soldiery  by  relaxing  discipline,  and 
permitting  outrages  on  the  allies,  that  he  had  won  for 
himself,  among  the  riff-raff  of  the  camp,  the  title  of 
'  Father  of  the  Legions ; '  that,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  had  been  severe  on  all  well-behaved  men,  and 
especially  on  the  staff  and  personal  friends  of 
Germanicus ;  and  finally,  that  he  had  brought  about 
the  death  of  Germanicus  by  means  of  poison  and 
incantations.  They  dwelt  upon  his  own  and  Plancina's 
unholy  vows  and  sacrifices,  and  his  armed  attack 
upon  the  commonwealth :  it  was  not  until  he  had 
been  defeated  in  battle  that  he  could  be  brought  to 
justice. 

On  all  poin ts  but  one  the  defence  broke  down.   1 4 
The  accused  could  not  deny  that  he  had  courted  the 
favour  of  the  soldiers ;  that  he  had  put  the  province 
at  the  mercy  of  men  of  the  worst  character ;  nor  even 
that  he   had  treated  his  Imperator  with  contumely. 
The  only  charge  on  which  he  succeeded  in  clearing  2 
himself  was  that  of  poisoning;  for  even  his  accusers 
could  not  make  good  their  story  that  at  a  banquet 


1  All  three  were  friends  of  Germanicus. 
Q.  Servaeus  is  mentioned  in  ii.  56,  5 
(A.D.  18)  as  put  in  command  of  Com- 
magene  with  the  ius  praetovis ;  when 
accused  and  condemned  in  vi.  7,  2,  he 
is  described  as  quaestura  functus, 
quondam  Germanici  comes.  P.  Vitellius 
held  command  under  Germanicus  in 
Germany  (i.  70,  i),  and  was  afterwards 
proconsul  of  Bithynia ;  Q.  Veranius 


was  appointed  legatus  of  Cappadocia, 
when  reduced  to  a  province  (ii.  56,  4). 
Pliny  says  the  speech  delivered  by 
Vitellius  on  this  occasion  was  extant  in 
his  time  ;  one  of  his  arguments  against 
Piso  was  that  Germanicus  must  have 
been  poisoned,  as  his  heart  resisted 
cremation.  Vitellius  was  uncle  to  the 
future  emperor  of  that  name. 


A.D.20.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.    13-15-  197 

given  by  Germanicus,  Piso  had,  with  his  own  hand, 
mixed  poison  with  his  food  when  reclining  above 

3  him  at  the  table.     It  seemed  absurd  to  suppose  that 
he  could  have  dared  to  do  this  with  the  slaves  of  his 
host  all  around  him,  with  so  many  bystanders  looking 
on,  and  under  the  very  eyes  of  Germanicus  himself. 

The  accused  offered  his  own  slaves  for  the  torture,  but 

and  demanded  that  the  attendants  should  be  tortured  senate"and 

4  also.     But  the  hostility  of  Piso's  judges,  arising  from  55°host?ie? 
different  reasons,  was  not  to  be  appeased.     Tiberius 

could  not  forgive  him  for  having  made  war  upon  the 
province ;  the  Senate  could  not  bring  themselves  to 
believe  that  Germanicus  had  died  a  natural  death.1 
...  A  demand  for  the  production  of  certain  docu- 
ments was  resisted  both  by  Tiberius  and  by  Piso. 

5  The   mob   in   front   of  the   senate-house   was   heard 
shouting  that  they  would   not  keep  their  hands  off 

6  Piso,   if    he   were   acquitted   by   the    Senate.     They 
dragged   his   statues   to   the   Gemonian   Stairs,2  and 
would    have    broken    them    in    pieces    had   not   the 
Emperor  ordered  them  to  be  rescued,  and  put  back  in 

7  their  places.     Piso  was  thrust  into  a  litter  and  taken  Piso  taken 
home,  under  the  escort  of  a  Tribune  of  the  Praetorian 
Guards,  men   wondering  whether  that   officer  were 

there  to  ensure  his  safety  or  to  carry  out  his  execution, 
i        The  feeling  against  Plancina  was  no  less  strong  Feeling 
than    that    against    Piso,    but    there    was    stronger 

1  There  seems   to  be  a  gap  in  the  Nipp.  with  some  probability  conjectures 

text  here.     The  trial  must   have  been  that  part  of  a  leaf  in  the  original  MS. 

prolonged  beyond  the  programme  laid  had  been  torn  off,  so  as  to  affect  the 

down  in  chap.   13,   i,  as  we  find  fresh  pages  on  both  sides, 

accusations  produced  in  chap.  15,  and  8  The  Scalae  Gemoniae,  or  '  Stair  of 

the  defence  abandoned.    It  is  supposed  sighs,'  led  down  from  the  Capitol  to 

that  Piso  asked  leave  to  bring  forward  the  Forum,  past  the  so-called  Mamer- 

fresh  charges  against  Germanicus,  and  time  prison.    Hither  bodies  of  criminals 

that  these  were  met  by  a  demand  for  were  dragged  and  exposed  after  execu- 

documents,    which    was    inconvenient  lion.     The  same  fate  was  meted  out  to 

both  to  Piso  and  Tiberius.    There  is  the  statues  of  the  fallen  :   descendant 

a  similar  gap  in  chap.  16,  3,  after  the  statuae  restemque  sequuntur,  Juv.  x.  58. 
words  quacsitam  apud  senatum;  and 


198 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  20. 


who  is 
screened 
by  Li  via. 


Piso 
appears 
once  more 
before  the 
Senate ; 


he  goes 
home,  and 
is  found 
dead  in  his 
chamber. 


Rumours 
about  an 
unpub- 
lished 
document, 
etc. 


influence  behind  her;  and  people  doubted  how  far 
Tiberius  would  be  permitted  to  proceed  against  her.1 
So  long  as   the  fate   of  Piso  was   in  suspense,   she  2 
professed  herself  ready  to  share  all  his  fortunes,  and 
even,  if  need   be,   to  die  with  him ;    but  when   she  3 
had  secured  a  pardon   by   the   secret   entreaties   of 
Augusta,  she  gradually  drew  off  from  her  husband, 
and  separated  her  defence  from  his.     Perceiving  that  4 
this  meant  death  for  him,  Piso  hesitated  whether  to 
give  up  the  case ;   urged  on,  however,  by  his  sons, 
he  hardened  his  heart,  and  made  his  appearance  in 
the  Senate  once  more.     Once  more  he  had  to  listen 
to  the  same  charges,  to  face  the  hostile  comments  of 
the   senators,   and   to   find   everything   adverse    and 
everybody   relentless;   but  what   alarmed  him  most 
was  to  see  Tiberius  pitiless,  passionless,  and  doggedly 
resolved  to  remain  impervious  to  every  human  feeling. 
Taken  back  to  his  house,  Piso  made  as  though  he  5 
would  prepare  for  his  defence  on  the  next  day.     He 
wrote  out  some  memoranda,  sealed  them,  and  delivered 
them  to  a  freedman ;  he  then  attended  to  his  person 
as  usual.     In  the  dead  of  night,  his  wife  having  left  6 
the  chamber,  he  ordered  the  door  to  be  fastened :  at 
daybreak,  he  was   found  with   his   throat  cut  right 
through,  his  sword  lying  on  the  ground  beside  him. 

I  remember  hearing  my  elders  say  that  a  certain 
document  was  often  seen  in  Piso's  hands,  which  he 
never  made  public.  This  document,  his  friends 
averred,  was  a  despatch  from  Tiberius,  containing 
instructions  with  regard  to  Germanicus :  Piso  had 
intended  to  produce  it  before  the  Senate,  and  thereby 
convict  the  Emperor,  but  Sejanus  put  him  off  with 


16 


1  As  though  Tiberius  was  powerless 
to  shake  himself  free  from  his  mother's 
ascendency.  Cp.  iv.  57,  4,  tradunt 


etiam    matris    impotentia    extrusum. 
See  n.  on  i.  14,  3. 


A.D.20.]  BOOK    III.  CHAPS,    15-16.  199 

empty  promises.  It  was  also  said  that  Piso  did  not 
die  by  his  own  hand,  but  by  that  of  the  executioner. 

2  I  cannot  affirm  the  truth  of  either  story  ;  but  I  feel 
bound  not  to  withhold  statements  made  by  persons 
who  were  still  alive  in  the  days  of  my  own  youth*-1-' 

3  Assuming  an  air  of  sadness,  Tiberius  complained  Tiberius 
before  the  Senate  that  such  a  death  was  deliberately  of  the 
designed  to  throw  odium  on  him  ;  and  sending  for 
Piso's  son,2  he  questioned  him  closely  as  to  the  manner 

in  which  his  father  had  spent  his  last  day  and  night. 

4  Most  of  these  questions  the  youth  answered  discreetly 
enough,  others  not  so  wisely;  whereupon  Tiberius 
read  aloud  a  memorandum  written  by  Piso  in  some- 
thing like  the  following  terms  : — 

5  Overwhelmed  by  a  conspiracy  among  my  enemies,  and  and  reads 
by  the  odium  of  a  false  charge,  and  seeing  that  there  is  randum 
no  place  left  for  truth  or  innocence  of  mine,  I  call  the  deceased. 
Immortal  Gods  to  witness  that  throughout  my  life  I  have 

been  loyal  to  you,  O  Caesar,  and  no  less  dutiful  to  your 
mother.  I  entreat  you  both  to  have  compassion  on  my 
children.  One  of  them,  Gnaeus  Piso,  has  had  no  part  or 
lot  in  my  fortunes,  whether  for  good  or  evil,  since  he  has 
passed  all  this  time  in  Rome.  The  other,  Marcus, 

6  entreated  me    not  to  return  to  Syria.      Would  that  I 
had  given  ivay  to  him — the  father  to  the  son,  the  elder  to 
the  younger— rather  than  he  to  me  !     1  pray  therefore  the 

1  Tacitus  thus  avows  that  he  regards  historians  on  the  authority  of  a  report' 

it  as  a  duty,  living  in  an  atmosphere  that  somebody  had  seen  a  paper  the(  * 

alive    with    rumours,    to    record    any  contents  of  which,  it  is  acknowledged,/ 

tale,   however  little  substantiated,   re-  were  never  divulged  to  any  one  ! 

lated  to  him  by  persons  living  at  the  *  The  words  conquestus  M.  Pisonetn 

\  time.    The  present  is  a  glaring  instance.  vocari  iubet  are  supplied  here  by  Halm 

The  story  that  private  instructions  had  to  fill  an  obvious  lacuna  in   the  text, 

been  given    to    Piso,   either  by   Livia  The  lost  passage  must  have  contained 

or  Tiberius,  to  undermine  Germanicus,  a  verb,  together  with  the  name  of  some 

is  a  cardinal  feature  in  the  case  agajnst  person    interrogated,    who   must    have 

Tiberius;   it  rests  throughout  on  mere  been  a  member  of  Piso's  household: 

ex  post  facto  rumour,  without  a  tittle  of  and  the  words  suggested  well  meet  the 

positive  evidence  to  support  it ;  and  it  desideratum. 
is  here  accredited  by  the    gravest   of 


200  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  20. 

more  earnestly  that,  being  innocent,  he  may  not  have  to 
pay  the  penalty  for  my  errors.     By  my  five-and-forty  1 
years1  of  devotion  to  yourself ;  by  the  Consulship  which  we 
held  in  common?  and  in  which  I  commended  myself  to 
your  father,  the  Divine  Augustus:  as  a  friend  who  will 
never  again  ask  anything  at  your  hands,  I  entreat  you 
to  spare  my  unhappy  son.      He  made   no  mention  of  8 
Plancina. 

He  acquits         Tiberius    exonerated   the  young    man    from   the   I 
and  pleads   charge  of  making  civil  war  : — The  father,  he  said,  had 
Plancina.     given  the  order,  and  the  son  was  bound  to  obey.     He 
spoke  in  feeling  terms  of  the  nobility  of  the  house, 
and  of  the  sad  fate  which  had  befallen  Piso  himself, 
whatever  his  deserts.     He  then  pleaded  for  Plancina,  2 
not  without  shame  at  his  own  shamelessness,  alleging 
the    entreaties    of   his    mother ;    but    this    inflamed 
all  the  more  the  secret  indignation  with  which  she 
indigna-      was  regarded  by  all  right-minded  people.     So  it  was  3 

lion  of  the  J  .  ,      . 

people.  right  and  proper,  they  said,  for  a  grandmother  to  look 
"T7  graciously  on  the  murderess  of  her  grandson,  to  hold 
converse  with  her,  and  to  rescue  her  from  justice ! 
Germanicus  alone  had  been  denied  the  rights  secured  by 
law  to  every  citizen.  He  had  been  lamented  by  a  Vitellius  4 
and  a  Veranius ;  but  Plancina  had  had  the  Emperor 
and  Augusta  for  her  protectors.  Let  Livia  now  turn  5 
against  Agrippina  and  her  children  the  craft  and  the 
poison  which  she  had  so  happily  essayed;  let  this  precious 
grandmother,  this  egregious  uncle,  glut  themselves  to  the 
full  with  the  blood  of  that  unhappy  family  ! 

Enquiry  Two   days   were   wasted   in    this    sham   enquiry.  6 

Tiberius    encouraged    the    young    Pisos    to    defend 

1  i.e.  ever  since  his  first  entry  upon  much  cruelty  and  avarice.     He  could 
public  life.  only  have  gained  the  consulship  on  the 

2  Piso  was  colleague  of  Tiberius  as  commendatio  of  Augustus.     See  n.  on 
cos.  in  B.C.  7,  after  which  he  was  sent  as  i.  15,  2. 

legatus  into  Spain,  where  he  exhibited 


A.D.  20.] 


BOOK    III.   CHAPS.   16-17. 


2O I 


7  their  mother.     Counsel  and  witnesses  vied  with  one 
another  in  denunciations,  to  which  none  made  answer ; 
but   this,  instead   of  adding  to    the    feeling  against 

8  her,  excited   pity  in   her   behalf.     The   opinion   first  sentence 
taken  was   that   of  the  Consul  Aurelius  Cotta ;   for  the  consul 
when  the  Emperor  presided  in  person,  the  magistrates 

were  called  upon  to  speak  firs!1  Cotta  moved  that 
Piso's  name  should  be  erased  from  the  calendar;2  that 
one  half  of  his  property  should  be  confiscated,  and 
the  other  half  given  to  his  son  Gnaeus,  who  should 
change  his  praenomen ;  that  Marcus  Piso  should  be 
stripped  of  his  rank,  and  banished^  for  ten  years, 


1  This  passage  implies  that  the 
emperor  might  attend  a  meeting  of 
senate  without  actually  presiding. 
When  he  did  preside,  as  on  this 
occasion,  the  consuls  would  take  their 
place  as  ordinary  senators,  and  be 
called  upon  first  for  their  opinion. 
Under  the  Republic,  the  presiding 
magistrate  called  first  upon  the  prin ceps 
senatus  (usually  the  senior  consular), 
using  the  words  Quid  censes  f  ( '  What  is 
your  opinion?');  and  then  upon  the 
other;consulars  in  order  of  seniority.  If, 
however,  the  consuls  for  the  next  year 
had  been  appointed,  it  was  usual  to 
call  first  upon  the  consuls  designate 
(see  chap.  22,  6),  as  the  magistrates 
responsible  for  the  policy  of  the  year 
following.  When  the  emperor  presided 
in  person,  he  would  follow  the  same 
rule.  He  was  ex  officio  prineeps 
senatus ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
he  could  ever  be  called  upon  for  his 
opinion  :  he  could  state  it  whenever  he 
chose.  See  Greenidge,  p.  375.  Under 
the  Republic,  it  would  appear  that  all 
magistrates  (from  the  rank  of  quaestor 
upwards),  as  well  as  the  tribunes  of  the 
plebs,  had  the  right  of  speaking  when 
they  chose,  without  being  called  upon 
by  the  president. 

3  Similarly,  under  the  Republic,  the 
praenomen  Marcus  had  been  forbidden 
to  the  Manlii  after  the  so-called  treason 
of  the  great  M.  Manlius  Capitolinus 
(Liv.  vi.  20,  14).  This  son  is  supposed 
to  have  taken  the  name  Lucius,  and  to 
be  the  L.  Calpurnius  mentioned  as  cos. 
iv.  62,  i. 

8  The  punishment  here  inflicted  is 


relcgatio.  The  term  exsilium,  to  denote 
a  pumshment  inflicted  by  law,  was 
unknown  to  Rome  in  republican  and 
early  imperial  times.  '  Exile  was  co_n-^. 
ceived,  not  as  a  punishment,  but  a*!ll.- 
means  of  escaping^  punishment,  which 
the  Romans  left  open  to  tfie  accused  up 
to  the  moment  of  his  condemnation ' 
(Diet.  Ant.  i.  p.  820,  a).  See  Cic.  pro 
Caec.  34  :  Exsilium  enimnon  supplinum 
est,  sed  perfugium  port  usque  supplicii 
.  ,  ,  confugiunt,  quasi  ad  arani,  in 
exsilium.  This  voluntary  retirement, 
on  the  part  of  an  accused  person,  being 
regarded  as  an  admission  of  guilt,  was 
usually  followed  by  a  law  or  plebisci- 
tum  forbidding  the  use  of  fire  and 
water  (aquae  et_ignis  interdictio),  in 
order  to  prevent  the  exile's  return.  In 
the  later  Republic,  such  an  interdictio, 
Involving  loss  of  civitas.  became  a 
regular  form  of  punishment  inflicted  by 
the  judge  after  conviction  ;  and  under 
the  empire  a  new  and  severer  form  of 
exile,  deportatio  in  insulanf. — of  which 
we  hear  so  much  in  Tacitus — came 
into  use.  Instances  of  this  punishment 
are  to  be  found  in  chap.  38,  3  :  68,  2 : 
69,  8  ;  iv.  13,  2 :  21,  5  :  30,  2  (where 
the  word  reporlatur  is  used) ;  vi.  30,  \ 
(demoti  sunt).  Relegatio  was  also 
known  under  the  Republic,  as  a  slighter 
punishment ;  it  did  not  imply  loss  of 
civitas,  or  deminutio  capitis,  although, 
as  to  Ovid  (at  Tomi),  a  definite  place  of 
abode  might  be  assigned  to  the 
rclcgatus :  Ipse  relegati,  non  exsults, 
utitur  in  me  —  Nomine  (Ov.  Trist. 
v.  n,  21). 


2O2 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  20. 


Plancina 
pardoned. 


Sentence 
mitigated 
by 
Tiberius. 


He  rejects 
proposals 
to  celebrate 
the  event. 


Omission 
of  name  of 
Claudius  in 
vote  of 
thanks. 


receiving  a  sum  of  five  million  sesterces ;  and  that,  in 
deference  to  the  intercession  of  Augusta,  Plancina 
should  be  pardoned. 

This  sentence  was  mitigated  in  several  particulars   ii 
by  the  Emperor.     He  would  not  permit  Piso's  name 
to  be  removed  from  the  calendar,  as  the  names  of 
Marcus  Antonius,  who  had  made  war  on  his  country, 
and   his   brother   lulus,  who   had  wrought   outrage 
in   the   family  of  Augustus,  were  still  to  be  found 
in  it.1    Nor  would  he  permit  degradation,  or  confisca-  2 
tion   of   his   paternal    property,   to    be    inflicted    on 
Marcus ;  for,  as  I  have  often  mentioned,  avarice  was 
not  one  of  his  foibles,  and  a  feeling  of  shame  at  the 
acquittal  of  Plancina  made  him  all  the  more  ready  to 
be  lenient  on  this  occasion.     Again,  when  it  was  pro-  3 
posed  by  Valerius   Messalinus2  to  set  up  a  golden 
statue  of  the  Emperor  in  the  temple  of  Mars  the 
Avenger,  and  by  Caecina  Severus  to  erect  an  altar  in 
the  same  place  to  Vengeance,  he  refused  his  consent 
to  both  proposals.     Such  monuments,  he  observed, 
were  appropriate  for  foreign  victories  ;  domestic  calamities 
should  be  sorrowfully  kept  out  of  sight*    Messalinus  4 
had  added  that  thanks  should  be  given  to  Tiberius, 
Augusta,  Antonia,  Agrippina  and  Drusus  for  avenging 
the  death  of  Germanicus,  omitting  all  mention  of  the 
name  of  Claudius ;  nor  was  his  name  inserted  until  5 
Lucius  Asprenas  asked   Messalinus  publicly  in  the 


1  Yet    the    name  of  Antony  would 
seem  to  have  been  twice  erased  from 
the  Fasti  Capitolini,  and  twice  restored. 

2  This  was  probably  not  the  cos.  of 
this  year  (chap.   2,  5),  but  his  father, 
Valerius  Messalla,  whose  sycophancy  is 
described  in  i.  8,  5  as  taking  the  form 
of  an  affectation  of  independence,  and 
who  champions  the  cause  of  the  women 
in  the  debate  in  chap.  34.     He  was  the 
son  of  the  famous  orator  Messalla,  patron 
of  Horace,   Ovid  and  Tibullus.     See 
chap.  34,  2. 


3  One  of  those  noble  human  senti- 
ments which  historical  truth,  or  his 
own  epigrammatic  instinct,  compel 
Tacitus  to  put  into  the  mouth  of 
Tiberius,  when  the  suitable  rhetorical 
occasion  occurs.  For  similar  instances, 
see  i.  81,  3  ;  ii.  88,  i ;  iii.  69,  6.  But 
while  recording  such  utterances,  Tacitus 
usually  contrives  to  insinuate  that 
Tiberius  was  insincere  in  giving  ex- 
pression to  them. 


A.D.20.]         .       BOOK    II  I.  CHAPS.   17-19-  203 

6  Senate  whether  the  omission  was  intentional.  For 
myself,  the  more  I  muse  upon  the  course  of  history, 
ancient  or  recent,  the  more  am  I  struck  by  the  irony l 

1  which  pervades  all  human  affairs :  for  the  very  last 
man  that  rumour,  expectation,  and  public  esteem  were 
then  marking  out  for  sovereignty,  was  the  man  whom 
Fortune  was  keeping  in  reserve  as  future  Emperor. 

1  Some   days   after  this,  Caesar  recommended  the  Rewards 
Senate  to  bestow  priesthoods  upon  Vitellius,  Veranius  accusers, 
and  Servaeus:2  Fulcinius  he  promised  to  recommend 

for  public  office,  but  in  doing  so  he  took  occasion 
to  warn  him  not  to  spoil  his  eloquence  by  undue 
vehemence. 

2  Thus  ended  the  avenging  of  the  death   of  Ger-  uncer- 

...  .          ,  tainty  sur- 

manicus ;  an   event  which   has   been   variously   can-  rounding 
vassed,  not  only  by  contemporaries,  but  by  succeed-  0feGer- 

3  ing    generations    also.     So    grave    are    the    doubts  r 
which   encompass  all  great  affairs  ;  for   while  there 
are  some  who  hold  as  proved  everything  that  they 
chance  to  hear,  there  are  others  who  turn  truth  into 
its  opposite :  and  time,  as  it  goes  on,  magnifies  either 
error. 

4  Drusus   now   quitted    the    city    to    resume8    the 

1  The  word  ludibrium,  and  the  notion  Tacitus  discusses  the  question  of  Fate 
that  Fate,  or  its  personified  form  '  For-  or  Necessity  and  Free  Will. 
tune,'  loves  to  make  a  laughing-stock  *  i.e.  as  rewards  for  their  services  in 
of  human  affairs,  frequently  recur  in  the  accusation.  They  were  probably 
Tacitus  and  the  Stoics  generally.  See  added  to  the  colleges  as  supernumerary 
Hist.  ii.  i,  i:  iv.  47,  2;  and  cp.  Juv.  members;  so  in  i.  54,  2.  These  ap- 
x.  366,  Te  facimus,  Fortuna,  deam,  pointments,  formerly  elective  by  the 
The  words  which  follow  in  §  7  of  this  comitia  out  of  selected  lists,  had  now 
chap. ,  quemfuturum  principem  fortuna  passed  to  the  senate;  the  emperor 
in  occulto  tenebat,  form  an  exact  parallel  exercising  here  also  the  right  of  corn- 
in  their  grim  humour  to  the  passage  in  mendatio. 

Juv.  vi.  605,  where  Fortune   is  repre-  *  Drusus  had  lost  his  imperium  (with- 

sented  as  chuckling  to  herself  as  she  out  which  no  ovation  or  triumph  could 

tosses  her  gutter-changelings   into  the  be  celebrated)  by  entering  the  city ;  he 

houses  of  the  great :  slat  Fortuna  im-  had  therefore  to  return  to  his  army  to 

proba  noctu  —  Arridens  nudis  infanti-  re-assume  his  command.     The  phrase 

bus.     Hos    fovct    omnes  —  Involvitque  repetere  auspicia,  as  Furn.   points  out, 

sinu  ;    domibus  tune  porrigit  altis,   =  seems  incorrect,  as  the  auspicia  were 

Secrctumque  sibi   mimum  parat.     See  properly  conferred  in  Rome  itself  (Liv. 

the  famous  passage  in  vi.  22,  where  viii.  30,  2;  Momm.  Staatsr.  i.  96). 


2O4 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  20. 


Ovation  of 
Drusus ; 
death  of 
his  mother 
Vipsania. 


Renewal  of 
the  war 
with  Tac- 
farinas. 


Defeat  of 
a  Roman 
cohort 


auspices;  and  soon  afterwards  entered  it  in  Ovation. 
Not  many  days  after  that,  his  mother  Vipsania  died — 
the  only  child  of  Agrippa  who  died  in  course  of 
nature.1  For  all  the  others  either  perished  openly  by  5 
the  sword,  or  were  believecL^to  have  come  to  their 
end  by  poison  or  starvation. 

In  the  same  year  war  was  renewed  in  Africa  by  20. 
Tacfarinas,  whose  defeat  by  Camillus  in  the  previous 
summer3  I  have  already  recorded.  Beginning  with 
marauding  forays,  in  which  he  secured  impunity  by 
the  rapidity  of  his  movements,  he  proceeded  to  pillage 
and  destroy  the  towns,  gathering  in  this  way  a  vast 
amount  of  booty.  At  last  he  beleaguered  a  Roman 
cohort  stationed  near  the  river  Pagyda.  The  com-  2 
mander  of  the  fort  was  one  Detrius,  a  bold  and 
experienced  soldier,  who  regarding  the  siege  as  a 
disgrace  urged  his  men  to  offer  battle  in  the  open, 
and  drew  out  his  force  in  front  of  the  camp.  At  the  3 
first  charge,  the  cohort  was  repulsed.  Amidst  a 
storm  of  missiles,  Detrius  threw  himself  in  the  way 
of  his  flying  soldiers,  and  reproached  the  standard- 
bearers  that  Roman  soldiers  should  be  running  away 
before  irregulars  or  deserters.  Braving  all  wounds, 
and  with  one  eye  pierced  through,  he  kept  his  face 
to  the  enemy  and  fought  on,  until  at  last,  abandoned 
by  his  men,  he  fell. 

When  news  of  this  disaster  came  to  the  ears  of  21. 
Lucius  Apronius,  the  successor  of  Camillus,  he  was 
more  concerned  at  the  shameful  behaviour  of  his  men 


1  The  statement  is  exaggerated.  No 
notice  is  taken  of  Agrippa's  children 
by  Marcella,  mentioned  by  Suet.  (Oct. 
63) ;  and  Julia  died  a  natural  death  in 
exile  (iv.  71,  6). 

1    2  Notice     the    facility    with    which 
*  [Tacitus  glides  from  suspicion  to  asser- 
tion.  The  assertion  is  made  absolutely ; 


yet  it  rests  upon  no  better  authority 
than  manifestum — vel  creditum.  Any 
false  report,  however  monstrous,  might 
be  quoted  among  '  things  which  are 
manifesto,  vel  credita.' 

3  This  is  a  mistake ;  the  campaign 
of  Camillus  was  three  years  before,  in 
B.C.  17. 


A.D.  20.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.    19-22.  205 

than  at  the  success  of  the  enemy.1     Resorting  to  an  punished 
ancient  form  of  punishment  which  had  almost  become  tion. 
obsolete,  he  caused  every  tenth  man  of  the  disgraced 

2  cohort  to  be  chosen  by  lot  and  beaten  to  death.     And  The  defeat 
so  excellent  was  the  effect  of  this  severity,  that  when  by 

the  same  force  of  Tacfarinas   attacked  a  fort   called 
Thala,  it  was  routed  by  a  detachment  of  veterans  not 

3  more  than  five  hundred  strong.     In  this  engagement 
a  common  soldier  called  Rufus  Helvius  had  the  dis- 
tinction  of  saving  a   comrade's   life.     Apronius  pre- 

4  sented  him  with  a  necklace  and  a  spear,  to  which  the 
Emperor  added  a  Civic  Crown,2  affecting  rather  than 
feeling  annoyance  that  Apronius  had  not  added  that 
distinction  in  virtue  of  his  Proconsular  command. 

5  The  Numidians  having  thus  received  a  check,  and  Tacfarinas 
being    disinclined    for    siege   operations,   Tacfarinas  ^guerilla 
commenced     a    guerilla    warfare,    retreating     when 
pressed,   and  then   again   turning  upon   the    Roman 

6  rear.      So    long    as    the    barbarians    pursued    these 
tactics,  the  Roman  troops  were  baffled,  worn  out,  and 
insulted  with  impunity  ;8  but,  when  he  turned  towards 
the   coast,  and  being  now  hampered  with  booty,  re- 
mained stationary  in  a  fixed  camp,  the  General  sent  but  is 

J  chastised 

his  son  Caesianus  against  him  with  a  force  of  cavalry  by  the 
and  auxiliaries,  and  some  of  the  swiftest  legionaries,  son. 
Caesianus  gained  a  victory  over  the  Numidians,  and 
drove  them  back  into  the  desert. 

i        At  Rome,  meanwhile,  information  was  laid  against  Prosecu- 
Lepida,  who   besides   sharing  in   the  lustre   of   the 

1  There  were    now   two    legions    in  order  of  Tiberius  in  A.  D.  23  or  24  (iv. 

Africa.    The  ordinary  garrison  of  Africa  23.2). 

consisted  of  only  one  legion,    the  3rd  8  Made  of  oak-leaves.     Such  a  crown 

(Augusta);  but  in  consequence  of  the  in  gold  was  decreed  to  Augustus  as 

troubles  created  by  Tacfarinas,  it  had  '  Saviour  of  the  citizens '  in  B.C.  27. 

been  supplemented  by  a  second  legion,  »  These  methods  recall  the  operations 

the  9th  (Hispana)  from  Pannonia  (iii.  9,  of  De  Wet  and  other  Boer  leaders  in 

i  and  iv.    5,    3).     The  9th  was  pre-  the  late  South  African  War. 
maturely  sent    back    to   Pannonia  by 


2O6 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  20. 


Aemilian  house,  could  claim  to  be  the  great-grand- 
daughter both  of  Lucius  Sulla  and  of  Gnaeus  Pom- 
peius.1  She  was  accused  of  having  pretended  to  bear 
a  son  to  a  wealthy  and  childless  man  called  Quirinius.  2 
Further  charges  were  added :  charges  of  adultery,  of 
poisoning,  and  of  having  enquired  of  the  Chaldaeans 
concerning  members  of  the  Imperial  house.  She  was 
defended  by  her  brother,  Manius  Lepidus.2  Nefarious  3 
and  guilty  as  she  was,  the  vindictiveness  with  which 
she  had  been  pursued  by  Quirinius,3  even  after 
declaration  of  divorce,  created  a  feeling  in  her  favour. 
Vacillating  What  was  the  Emperor's  own  mind  in  regard  to 

attitude  of       t  , .  -, 

Tiberius  in  the  case,  it  was  not  easy  to  discover;  so  strangely 
lse'  did  he  alternate,  or  intermingle,  signs  of  severity 
and  clemency.  At  first  he  begged  the  Senate  not  to  4 
take  up  the  charge  of  treason;  yet  not  long  after- 
wards, he  induced  Marcus  Servilius,  a  Consular,  and 
other  witnesses,  to  introduce  the  very  matters  which 
he  had  apparently  desired  to  exclude.  Then  he  5 
handed  over  Lepida's  slaves,  who  were  in  military 
custody,  to  the  Consuls,  prohibiting  the  question  to  be 
applied  to  them  in  regard  to  any  matter  relating  to 
his  own  family.  He  also  relieved  Drusus,  who  was  Q 
Consul  Designate,  of  the  duty  of  pronouncing  judg- 
ment first.4  Some  people  regarded  this  as  a  sign 
of  moderation,  designed  to  relieve  other  speakers 
from  the  necessity  of  agreeing  with  Drusus.  Others 
argued  that  it  presaged  a  severe  sentence  :  for  the 


1  Lepida's    mother     Cornelia     was 
daughter    of    Faustus    Sulla    and    of 
Pompeia,    daughter    of    Pompey    the 
Great. 

2  We  find  two  Lepidi  in  the  Annals, 
one  called  Marcus,  and  one  Manius, 
whose  names  are  confused  in  the  MS. 
This  Manius  (whose  fore-name  is  here 
rightly  given)  appears  to  be  the  man 
described  in  i.   13,   2,  as  capacem  sed 
aspernantem,  who  defended  Piso  (chap. 


ii,  2,  where  see  n.).  For  Marcus 
Lepidus,  see  n.  on  chap.  32,  2. 

3  For  this  Quirinius,  see  n.  on  ii.  30, 
4.  His  full  name  was  P.  Sulpicius 
Quirinius,  one  of  the  first  examples  of 
a  man  bearing  two  gentile  names.  His 
death  is  mentioned  and  his  career 
described  in  chap.  48,  i,  2.  He  seems 
to  be  the  Cyrenius  mentioned  in  St.  Luke 
ii.,  2. 

*  See  n.  on  chap.  17,  8. 


A.D.  20.1  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.   22-24.  207 

right  of  speaking  first  would  never  have  been  given 
up  if  the  judgment  was  to  be  other  than  one  of  con- 
demnation. 

1  The  course  of  the  trial  was   interrupted  by  the 
public    games,1    during    which    Lepida   entered    the  excitement 
theatre,2  accompanied  by  a  number  of  ladies  of  high  l^atre; 
birth.     Appealing  piteously  to  her  ancestors,  and  to 
Pompeius  himself,  whose  memorial  and  statues  were 

there  before  their  eyes,  she  aroused  such  a  storm  of 
sympathy  that  the  audience  burst  into  tears  and  im- 
precations, denouncing  Quirinius  as  a  low-born  child- 
less old  man  who  was  making  a  victim  of  one  who  had 
once  been  destined  to  be  the  wife  of  Lucius  Caesar, 
and  the  grand-daughter-in-law  of  Augustus  himself. 

2  When    the    slaves    were    put    to    the    torture,  she  is  con- 
scandalous  things  were  brought  to  light.     Rubellius  and  exiled. 
Blandus8   carried    a  motion    that    Lepida  should    be 

3  interdicted   from   fire   and   water ;   the   motion    was 
supported  by  Drusus,   though   others  had  proposed 
a  milder  sentence.      At  the  request  of  Scaurus,  to 
whom  she  had  borne  a  son,  the  confiscation  of  her 

4  property  was   remitted.     Not  till   then  did  Tiberius 
announce  that  he  had  ascertained  from  the  slaves  of 
Publius  Quirinius  himself  that  Lepida  had  attempted 
to  take  her  husband's  life  by  poison. 

i        For  these  calamities  to  great  families — for  there  Return  of 
was  no  long  interval  between  the  loss  of  Piso  to  the  sStT 
Calpurnii,  and  that  of  Lepida  to  the  Aemilii— some  fromexile- 
consolation    was    afforded    by    the    restoration    of 

1  Probably  the  Ludi  Magni  Romani,  (who  was  apparently  cos.  suf.  for  part 

which  began  Sept.  4th.  The  first  four  of  this  year)  married  Julia,  daughter  of 

days  were  scenic.  Drusus,  after  the  death  of  her  first 

8  This  was  the  great  theatre  in  the  husband  Nero.  By  this  marriage  he 

Campus  Martius  dedicated  by  Pompey  became  father  of  the  Rubellius  Plautus 

B.c.  55 ;  the  first  permanent  stone  apostrophised  by  Juv.  viii.  39  for  his 

theatre  built  in  Rome.  insane  pride  of  birth. 

*  A  son  of  this  Rubellius   Blandus 


208  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  20. 

Decimus  Silanus  to  the  Junian  family.1  His  story  can  2 
be  told  in  a  few  words.  Great  as  had  been  the 
good  fortune  of  the  Divine  Augustus  in  public 
matters,  he  had  been  unhappy  in  his  domestic  rela- 
tions in  consequence  of  the  profligate  conduct  of 
His  his  daughter  and  his  grand-daughter.  He  had 

banished  both  of  them  from  the  city,  and  punished 
their  paramours  with  death  or  exile.  For  he  gave  3 
the  harsh  names  of  '  sacrilege '  and  '  treason '  to 
offences  between  the  sexes,  now  of  common  occur- 
rence ;  thus  at  once  departing  from  the  tolerant 
attitude  of  our  ancestors  in  such  matters,  and  over- 
stepping the  provisions  of  his  own  laws.2  The  fate  of  4 
other  delinquents,  however,  as  well  as  the  general 
history  of  that  period,  I  shall  narrate  hereafter,3  if 
after  the  accomplishment  of  my  present  purpose  my 
life  shall  be  prolonged  for  further  labours. 

he  is  Decimus  Silanus 4  had  been  guilty  of  adultery  with  5 

onrhisnec  the  grand-daughter  of  Augustus.  Augustus  had 
inte£er!  passed  no  sentence  on  him  further  than  to  exclude 
him  from  his  friendship ;  but  Silanus  understood 
this  to  be  an  intimation  of  exile,  and  it  was  not  until 
Tiberius  had  come  to  power  that  he  ventured  to  make 
an  appeal  for  pardon  to  him  and  to  the  Senate.  This 
he  did  through  his  brother,  Marcus  Silanus,  a  man  of 
great  influence,  who  enjoyed  a  conspicuous  position 
from  his  high  birth  and  eloquence.  When,  however,  6 
Marcus  Silanus  returned  thanks  to  Tiberius  before 
the  Senate  for  this  favour,  the  latter  replied  that  he 
too  was  pleased  that  his  brother  had  returned  from  his 

1  Tacitus    cannot    suppress   a   sigh       penalties.      See    ii.   50,    2-4,    and   n. 
over  the  condemnation,  however  well-       there. 

deserved,  of  two  such  noble  personages.  3  This  promise  was  never  fulfilled. 

The  restoration  of  Silanus  affords  some  4  Claudia,  a  daughter  of  this  Silanus, 

compensation  for  their  loss.  was  married  to  Caligula  A.  D.  33  (vi.  20, 

2  i.e.   the  Lex  lulia  de   adulteriis,  .  i),  who  subsequently  forced  Silanus  to 
passed  B.C.  17,  which  prescribed  milder  commit  suicide,  A.D.  37. 


cession. 


A.D.  20.] 


BOOK    III.   CHAPS.   24-25. 


209 


distant  wanderings;  and  he  was  within  his  right  in  so 
returning,  seeing  that  he  had  not  been  banished  by  a  decree 
7  of  Senate  or  under  any  law.  For  himself,  however,  the 
resentment  which  his  father  had  felt  towards  Silanus 
remained  unabated:  nor  would  his  return  undo  the 
arrangements  made  by  Augustus.  So  Silanus  lived 
on  in  Rome,  but  never  attained  to  public  office. 

1  A  motion  was  now  brought  forward  for  the  re-  Trouble 
taxation    of   the    Papia-Poppaean'* '  law,    passed    by  the 
Augustus  in  his  old  age  after  the  Julian  rogations, 

to  increase  the   penalties  on  celibacy,  as  well  as  to 

2  bring  in  revenue  to  the  Exchequer.      That  law  had 
done  nothing  to  make  marriage,  and  the  rearing  of 
families,  more  frequent— so  great  were  the  privileges 
of  the  childless  man — and  yet  the  number  of  persons 
exposed  to  prosecution  was   continually  increasing. 
Not  a  house  but  was  at  the  mercy  of  informers,  whose 
interpretations  of  the  law  caused  as  much  mischief  as 


1  See  Furn.'s  Appendix  on  this  law  at 
the  end  of  Book  III.  Roman  law,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  it  permitted  a 
father  to  expose  his  children,  had 
always  encouraged  marriage  and  dis- 
couraged celibacy.  Horrified  at  the 
ravages  made  in  the  free  population  by 
the  civil  wars  and  the  proscriptions, 
both  Caesar  and  Augustus  attempted  to 
encourage  marriage  and  child-rearing 
by  an  elaborate  system  of  rewards  and 
punishments.  The  first  law  on  the 
subject  proposed  by  Augustus  (probably 
in  B.C.  28)  met  with  such  opposition  that  •* 
he  had  to  withdraw  it  (Suet.  Oct.  34)  ; 
the  confirmed  bachelor  Horace,  in  his 
Carmen  Saeculare,  B.C.  17,  implores \ 
Diana  to  prosper  the  milder  law  known 
as  Lex  Inlia  de  maritandis  ordinibits 
passed  the  year  before :  super  iugandis 
=  Feminis  prolisque  novae  feraci  = 
I^ege  marita  (C.  S.  18-20).  A  final  law, 
codifying  existing  law  on  the  subject,  ; 
was  passed  in  A.D.  9,  and  called  after  ^ 
the  consuls  of  the  year  Lex  lulia  et 
Papia  Poppaea  de  maritandis  ordinibus. 
Besides  placing  certain  restrictions  on 
the  marriages  of  senators  and  others, 
the  law  offered  handsome  privileges  or 


exemptions  to  married  men  and  fathers, 
in  regard  to  holding  public  offices,  the 
performing  of  public  duties,  the  re- 
ceiving of  inheritances,  and  to  women 
and  mothers,  in  regard  to  guardianship, 
inheritances,  etc.  ;  while  penalties  were 
imposed  upon  divorce,  and  upon  all  men 
who  were  celibates  between  the  ages  of 
25  and  60,  or  women  between  20  and 
50  years  of  age.  Yet  in  spite  of  all 
these  provisions,  never  was  there  an 
age  or  city  in  which  the  rewards  of 
childlessness  were  greater  (prawalida 
orbitate].  Old  ladies  and  gentlemen 
that  were  rich  and  childless  were  the 
pampered  tyrants  of  society,  to  whom 
every  one  paid  court  and  toll  (Hor. 
Sat.  ii.  5,  28 ;  Epp.  i.  i,  78;  Juv.  xii.  93- 
98) ;  the  accused  Silvanus  is  let  off  l>e- 
cause  valuit  pecuniosa  orbitate'et  senecta 
(xiii.  52,  3).  And  as  the  famous  ins 
liberorum  could  be  conferred  upon  the 
childless  by  the  senate  or  by  the  emperor, 
it  is  easy  to  understand  how  the  law 
became  inoperative,  and  famous  chiefly 
as  affording  delators  endless  oppor- 
tunities of  prying  into  the  private  life  of 
wealthy  persons,  or  extorting  from  them 
black  mail. 


2io  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  20. 

the  scandals  which  preceded  it.     This  prompts  me  to  3 
go  back  to  the  origin  of  law,  and  recount  from  the 
beginning  the  steps  by  which  our  statute  book  has 
attained  its  present  bulk  and  complexity. 

Origin  of          In  the  earliest  times,  when  men  had  as  yet  no  evil  26. 
passions,  they  led  blameless,  guiltless  lives,  without 
either  punishment   or  restraint.     Led  by  their  own  2 
nature    to    pursue    none    but    virtuous    ends,    they 
required   no   rewards;  and  as  they  desired  nothing 
contrary  to  right,  there  was  no  need  for  pains  and 
penalties.     But  when  equality  ceased  to  be  the  rule ;  3 
when  self-seeking  and  violence  drove  out  simplicity 
and  modest  living,  great  monarchies  came  into  being, 
which  in  many  countries  have  survived  unto  this  day. 

among        Among  some  nations,  a  demand  for  law  sprang  up  at 

nations,  once  ; l  among  others,  not  until  the  rule  of  kings  had 
been  found  intolerable.  Such  codes  were  at  first  * 
simple,  befitting  simple  folk ;  the  most  famous 
being  those  drawn  up  by  Minos  for  the  Cretans, 
by  Lycurgus  for  the  Spartans,  and  the  larger  and 
more  elaborate  system  drawn  up  somewhat  later 

and  in        by  Solon  for  the  Athenians.      In   Rome,   Romulus  5 
ruled    according    to    his    pleasure ;    his    successor, 
Numa,  brought  the  people  under  a  system  of  cere- 
monial and  sacred  ordinances ;  and  a  few  new  measures 
were  devised  by  Tullus  and  Ancus.2     But  the  greatest  6 
of  our   law-makers   was   Servius  Tullius,  to  whose 
laws  even  kings  were  to  yield  obedience. 

1  The  word  statim  is  here  used  to  yet  confined  to  religious  matters,  begin- 

cover    the    case    of   Rome.       Tacitus  ning  with  Numa.    Tacitus  thus  takes  no 

implies  that  as  a  rule— he  probably  has  notice  of  the  legendary  account  which 

the  East  in  his  eye — kings  ruled  despoti-  attributes  to  Romulus  the  fundamental 

cally,  without  law ;  for  such  was  the  social,  political,  and  military  institutions 

idea  attached  to  the  name  of  '  King '  by  of  Rome. 

the  Roman  mind.    Rome  was  an  excep-  2  A  collection  of  so-called  leges  regiae 

tion,  as  explained  below  ;  Romulus  is  or  commentarii  regum  had  been  early 

represented  as  the  only  arbitrary  ruler  made  under  the  name  of  ius  Papiri- 

of  Rome,  the  reign  of  law,  though  as  anum. 


A.D.  20.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.  25-27.  211 

7.   i        When  Tarquinius  had  been  expelled,  the  people  Legislation 

1  .  .      at  Rome  in 

got  many  measures  passed  during  their  contests  with  early 
the  patricians,  to  protect  their  liberties,  and  to  estab- 
lish concord.     Then  the  Decemviri  were  appointed, 
who  collecting  what  was   best  from  every  source l 
drew  up  the  Twelve  Tables — the  last  embodiment  of 

2  equitable  legislation.2     For  although  subsequently  to  and  in  later 
them   laws   were   sometimes  devised  to   check    new 
offences  as  they  arose,  these  owed  their  origin,  as  a 

rule,  to  class  dissensions,  and  were  passed  by  violent 
methods,  for  the  conferring  of  unconstitutional  powers, 
the  banishment  of  illustrious  citizens,  and  for  other 

3  evil  purposes.3    Then  arose  popular  agitators  like  the 
Gracchi  and  Saturninus,  or  Drusus,  who  offered  bribes 
no  less  lavish  than  theirs  in  the  name  of  the  Senate  : 
first  seducing  the  allies  with  the  hope  of  obtaining 
the  franchise,  and  then  frustrating  that  hope  by  the 
exercise  of  the  tribunitian  veto. 

4  Not  even  during   the   Social  War,  and  the  Civil 
War  after  that,  was  there  any  pause  in  the  flow  of 
conflicting    enactments ;    until    at    last    the    Dictator 

1  That  any  part  of  Roman  law  had  that,    new  laws,    though    occasionally 
its  origin  elsewhere    than    in    Roman  aimed  at  checking  new  offences  as  they 
usage  is  a  fiction  of  the  historians  (Liv.  arose,  were  in  the  main  the  product  of 
'"•  33-  5)-     But  the  Decemvirs  may  well  evil  ambitions,  proposed  for  the  purpose 
have  sent  envoys  to  learn  something  either  of  obtaining  personal  advance- 
from  Greek  examples  as  to  how  to  set  ment,   or  of  gratifying    personal    ani- 
about   the  work,   and   as   to  the  form  mosity.     Such  a  view  entirely  ignores 
which  a  code  should  take.  See  Arnold's  the  facts  of  early  Roman  history,  and 
Rome,  chap.   14,  and  Maine's  Ancient  discredits  the  claims  of  Tacitus   to  be 
Law,  pp.  14,  15.  regarded,    in    any    large  sense,   as  a 

2  The  difficult  phrase/«z>  atqui  iuris  political      philosopher.      Livy,      more 
has  by  some  been  held  to  mean  that  the  justly,  takes  an  entirely  opposite  view  ; 
I^aws  of  the  XII.  Tables  constituted  '  a  he  describes   the   XII.  Tables  as  fans 
complete     embodiment     of    equitable  omnis  publici    privatique    iuris     (iii. 
legislation.'        But    the    words    which  34,  6). 

follow,  Nam  secutae  legts,   etc.,   show  *  It  would  seem  that    these  words, 

that  the  view  of  Tacitus  is  very  different.  being  coupled  with  dissensione  ordinum, 

According  to  his  view,  Law  was  an  evil  and  relating  to  the  period   before  the 

thing,  necessitated  by  the  evil  passions  Gracchi,  must  refer  to  the  agitation  of 

.of  mankind,  which  it  was  its  object  to  the  plebeians    for    admission     to    the 

restrain.     That   function   it  performed  higher  magistracies.     The  language  of 

satisfactorily  up  to  a  certain  point  ;  and  Tacitus  recalls  the  unbending  Toryism 

that  point  was  reached  in  Rome  by  the  of  the  early  patrician  leaders, 
legislation  of  the   XII.  Tables.     After 


212 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  20. 


by  Sulla, 


and  by 
Lepidus : 

always 
from  bad 
to  worse. 


Pompey's 
3rd  con- 
sulship, 


followed  by 
20  years  of 
anarchy. 


Sulla,1  repealing  or  amending  all  former  laws,  and  add- 
ing many  of  his  own,  procured  a  temporary  respite 
from  legislation.  But  this  respite  was  not  to  last ;  for 
the  unsettling  proposals  of  Lepidus  quickly  followed, 
and  soon  afterwards  the  tribunes  had  free  license 
restored  to  them  to  agitate  as  they  pleased.2  And  5 
now  proposals  were  carried  not  only  for  the  public 
good,  but  for  the  ruin  of  individuals  also  : 3  for  the 
more  corrupt  the  State,  the  greater  the  number  of  its 
laws.^ 

The  task  of  stemming  this  tide  of  corruption  was  28. 
committed  to  Pompeius  in  his  third  consulship;5  but 
his  remedies  proved  worse  than  the  disease.     He  was 
at  once  a  law-maker,  and  a  breaker  of  his  own  laws  ;S) 
he  held  his  power  by  the  sword,  and  by  the  sword  he 
lost  it. 

Then   followed   twenty    years    of    ceaseless    dis-  2 
order,  during  which  neither  law  nor  morality  were 
regarded ;  when  the  basest  actions  went  unpunished, 
and  the  most  honourable  brought  men  to  destruction^ 


1  Sulla's  dictatorship  ended  in  B.C. 
79  ;  and  Lepidus,  as  consul  in  the  year 
following,  proposed  to  rescind  many  of 
his  laws. 

2  In  B.C.  70  the  consuls  M.  Crassus 
and    Cn.    Pompeius    passed     a     law 
restoring  the  tribuneship  of  the  plebs, 
which  Sulla  had  abolished. 

3  Such  as  the  law  passed  by  Clodius 
for  the  banishment  of  Cicero,  B.C.  58. 
The  XII.   Tables  had    forbidden    all 
privilegia,     i.e.    enactments    specially 
directed  against  individuals. 

,  4  The  perverted  view  of  the  course  of 
Roman  legislation  presented  in  this 
chapter  would  almost  seem  to  have 
been  designed  for  the  purpose  of  lead- 
ing up  to  this  notable  paradox.  The 
phrase  tempts  one  to  say  of  Tacitus  that 
the  more  false  his  view,  the  more 
brilliant  he  is  in  the  expression  of  it. 

5  Referring  to  B.C.  52,  when  Pompey 
was  sole  consul  for  seven  months, 
having  been  created  absens  et  solus  quod 
nulli  alii  umquam  contigit  (Liv.  Epit. 
107).  The  special  object  for  which  ex- 
traordinary powers  were  conferred  on 


Pompey  in  that  year  was  to  check  the 
intolerable  violence  under  which  recent 
elections  had  been  conducted. 

6  Two  remarkable  instances  are  (i) 
when  he  secured  for  himself  the  govern- 
ment of  Africa  for  a  fresh  quinQuennium 
on  vacating  his  consulship,  instead  of 
waiting,  as  the  law  then  required,  for 
five  years ;    and    (§)    when   he   con- 
sented to  allow  Caftsar  to  stand  forthe 
consulship  in  absentia  in  B.C.  60. 

7  This    sweeping    condemnation    is 
here  applied  to   the  period   from   the 
battle  of  Pharsalus,  B.C.  48,,  to  B.C.  28. 
It  thus  includes  the  whole  government 
and    legislation    of   Caesar,    the  most 
splendid  period  of  administrative  and 
legislative    reconstruction — destined   to 
be  permanent  in  its   results — that   the 
Roman   world    ever  knew.     To   deny 
or    overlook    the  lasting    work    which 
Caesar  did  for  Rome  were  as  vain  as — 
indeed,  far  more  vain  than — to  deny  the 
great  results  which  Napoleon,  with  all 
his  destructiveness,  left  behind  him  in 
the  reconstitution  of  France. 


A.D.20.]  BOOK    III.  CHAPS.  27-29.  213 

3  At   last,   in   his   sixth  consulship,  feeling  his   power  Augustus 

established 

firmly  established,  Caesar  Augustus  repealed  all  the  Peace  with 
acts  of  the  Triumvirate  ;  and  establishing  a  new  order 
of  things,1  gave  us  peace  with  empire. 

4  Thenceforward,  the  laws  were  more  strictly  en-  informers 
forced.    Men  were  appointed  to  watch  their  operation,  raged  by 
and  enticed  by  rewards  to  make  sure  that  under  the  p0eppaean 
Papia-Poppaean  act,2  the  property  of  men  indifferent  l 

to  the  privileges  of  paternity  should   pass   into  the 
hands   of   the    People,    the    common    parent   of    all. 

5  But  the  inquisitors  did  not  stop  there;   the  capital, 
Italy,  and  Roman  citizens  all  over  the  world,  fell  into 
their  clutches ;   ruin  was  brought  into  many  house- 

6  holds,3  and  terror  hung  over  every   head.     At   last  Tiberius 
Tiberius  appointed  a  Commission  to  devise  a  remedy, 
consisting  of  five  Consulars,  five  men  of  praetorian 
rank,  and  a  like  number  from  the  rest  of  the  Senate, 

all  chosen  by  lot.     This  body  unravelled  many  of  the 
complications   of  the   statute,  and   thus   produced   a 
partial  and  temporary  relief, 
i         About  this  same  time  Tiberius  commended  Nero,  Nero,  son 
one   of  the   children   of  Germanicus,   who   had  just 
arrived  at  man's  estate,4  to  the  favour  of  the  Senate ; 
and  created  some  amusement  by  requesting  that  he 
might  be  relieved  from  the  obligation  of  serving  upon 
the  Board  of  Twenty,5  and  be  allowed  to  stand  for 

1  See  nn.  on  i.  i,  3,  and  2,  i.  the  law  could  only  be  discovered  by 

8  Tacitus  passes  abruptly  from  a  dis-  prying  into  the  secret  circumstances  of 

quisition    on    law    in    general    to    an  every  home.     Hence  the   necessity  of 

account  of  the  working  of  the  Papia-  offering    rewards    to    professional     in- 

Poppaean  Law,  the  operation  of  which  formers,   whose   interest   it   became  to 

suggested  this  digression  in  chap.  25,  i.  entangle  every  family  in  one  or  other 

*  i.e.  through  the  loss  of  inheritances  of   the    complicated    meshes     of    the 

and  the  confiscations  of  property.     The  statute. 

animosity  of  Tacitus  to  this  particular  4  Nero  was  born  probably  in  A.D.  6. 

law  is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  it  *  The  name  of   vigintiviratus    was 

greatly  fostered,  if  it  did  not  create,  the  given  to  the  group  of  lesser  magistracies 

terrible  system  of  delation.     Its  minute  tenable  by  an  aspirant  for  public  office 

provisions    affected    the    most    private  before    the  quaestorship.     The    group 

relations  of  life  ;  and  infringements  of  consisted  of  four  separate  boards,  the 


214 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  20. 


He  marries 
Julia, 
daughter 
of  Drusus. 


Deaths  of 

Volusius 

and 

Sallustius 

Crispus. 


the  Quaestorship  five  years  before  the  legal  age.1  He  2 
quoted  indeed  the  authority  of  Augustus,  who  had 
made  a  similar  request  on  behalf  of  his  brother  and 
himself;  but  I  should  imagine  that  even  in  those  days, 
when  the  power  of  the  Caesars  was  yet  in  its  infancy, 
and  ancient  customs  were  more  before  men's  eyes, 
there  were  those  who  secretly  ridiculed  petitions  of 
this  kind ;  and  the  relationship  of  step-father  to  step- 
children is  less  close  than  that  of  a  grandfather  to 
his  grandson. 

Nero  was  advanced  also  to  the  priesthood ;  and  on  3 
the  day  of  his  first  public  appearance  in  the  Forum,  a 
largess  was  made  to  the  populace.   The  people  rejoiced 
to  see  a  son  of  Germanicus  grown  to  manhood ;  and 
their  satisfaction  was  still  further  increased  by  the  4 
marriage  of  Nero  to  Julia,  the  daughter  of  Drusus. 
But  in   proportion  to  their  joy  at  these  events  was  5 
their  displeasure  on  learning  that  the  son 2  of  Claudius 
was  to  take  in  marriage  the  daughter  of  Sejanus.    Men  6 
felt  that  such  a  marriage  would  be  a  blot  on  the  noble 
Claudian  house,   and    would   raise    still   higher  the 
ambitions  already  attributed  to  Sejanus. 

Two  remarkable  men  died  at  the  close  of  this  year  30. 
— Lucius  Volusius  and  Sallustius  Crispus.     Volusius  2 
belonged  to  an  ancient  family,  though  it  had  never 
risen  above  praetorian  rank  until  he  introduced  into 
it  the  Consulship.3    He  had  also  held  the  office  of 


collective  membership  of  which  a- 
mounted  in  all  to  twenty — hence  the 
name.  These  boards  were  the  Tresviri 
Capitales,  the  Tresviri  Monetales,  the 
Quatuorviri  viis  purgandis,  and  the 
Decemviri  stlitibus  iudicandis. 

1  The  legal  age  for  the  quaestorship 
at  this  time  was  apparently  the  twenty - 
fifth^ear. 

*  The  name  of  this  son  was  Drusus, 
by  Plautia  Urgulanilla  (Suet.  Claud. 
27).  This  projected  marriage  caused 


great  heart-burnings  (iv.  7,  3  and  39, 
4),  but  was  never  carried  out.  Suetonius 
says  the  lad  died  young,  only  a  few 
days  after  the  betrothal.  The  only 
known  daughter  of  Sejanus  was  still  a 
child  in  A.D.  31  (v.  9,  2).  Either,  there- 
fore, Sejanus  had  an  older  daughter,  or 
else  the  project,  if  anything  more  than 
a  surmise,  must  be  referred  to  a  later 
period. 
3  Apparently  as  cos.  suf.  B.C.  12. 


A.D.20.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.   29-30.  215 

Censor  for  selecting  the  Decuries l  of  knights ;  and  it 
was  he  who  was  the  founder  of  the  immense  wealth 
of  that  family. 

3  Crispus  was  of  equestrian   rank ;    he   had    been  career  and 
adopted  by  the  famous  historian  Sallustius,2  and  bore  saifustius^ 

4  his  name,  being  the  grandson  of  his  sister.  But  although 
the  career  of  public  office  was  thus  open  to  him,  he 
had  preferred  to  follow  the  example  of  Maecenas  ;  and 
without  ever  reaching  the  rank  of  senator,  he  had 
wielded  an  influence  far  exceeding  that  of  many  men  his  great 
who  held  Consulships  and  carried  off  Triumphs.     In 
elegance  and  refinement,  his  style  of  living  contrasted 
strongly  with  the  simple  ways  of  our  ancestors ;  his 
opulence  and  profusion  were  almost  those  of  a  volup- 

5  tuary.    But  beneath  this  exterior  there  was  a  masculine 
mind   fit   to   grapple   with   great   affairs,  and   indeed 
all  the  more  active  for  its  outward  show  of  apathy 

c  and   indolence.8    Second  only  to  Maecenas,  so  long 
as   Maecenas  lived,  he  became  afterwards  the  chief 
confidant  of  imperial  secrets ;   he  had  been  privy  to 
the  murder  of  Agrippa  Postumus.     In  his  latter  days,  not  main- 
his  hold  upon  the  Emperor's  friendship  was  apparent 

7  rather  than  real.  It  had  been  the  same  with  Mae- 
cenas. For  there  is  a  fatality  which  forbids  an 
influence  of  this  kind  to  last  for  ever ;  or  perhaps 
a  feeling  of  satiety  comes  on  when  the  one  side  has 
given  all  that  it  has  to  give,  or  the  other  has  nothing 
left  to  ask. 

1  The  Decuriae  were  the  three  (in  the  Tacitus  mentions  the  historian  Sallust 

time  of  Augustus  four)  bodies  or  panels  nowhere  but   in   this  passage,    he  has 

into  which  the  equites  were  divided  for  throughout  shown  his  appreciation   of 

the  purpose    of    acting    as   jurymen.  him    by  frequent   imitation.     See   his 

Caligula  added  a  5th  Decuria  :  see  Diet.  Introd. ,  p.  61. 

Ant.  i.  p.  1028,  a.    For  cavalry  purposes  »  In     this    also     Crispus    was    the 

the   equites  equo  publico  were  divided  counterpart  of  Maecenas  (Veil.   Pat.  ii. 

into  turmac,  six  in  number.  88,  2). 

a  As  Furn.  here    observes,    though 


2I6  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  21. 


A.D.    21.     CONSULS   TIBERIUS    CAESAR   AUGUSTUS    IV. 
AND   DRUSUS  CAESAR   II. 

Partner-  This  year  was  notable  for  the  partnership  of  father  31 

Tibedus      and  son  in  the  Consulship,  Tiberius  holding  that  office 
asConsuis!  for  the  fourth  time,  and  Drusus  for  the  second.    Three 
years  before,  Tiberius  had  shared  the  same  honour 
with  Germanicus;   but  in  that  case  the  relationship 
between  the  colleagues  had  been  less  close,  and  the 
uncle  had  felt  but  little  pleasure  in  the  association. 
Tiberius  Early  in  the  year  the  Emperor  retired  to  Campania,  2 

Campania,   on  the  plea  of  health ;   whether  it  was  that  he  was 
paving  the  way  for-  a  prolonged  absence  from   the 
city,  or  that   he  desired  by   his   departure   to   leave 
Drusus  in   sole   occupation  of  the  Consulship.     A  3 
trifling  occurrence,  ending  in  a  serious  dispute,  gave 
the  young  man  an  opportunity  of  acquiring  popularity. 
Domitius  Corbulo,  an  ex-Praetor,  complained  to  the  4 
Senate  that  a  young  noble  of  the  name  of  Lucius 
Sulla  had  refused  to  give  up  his  seat  to  him  at  a 
gladiatorial   show.      Corbulo    had   on   his    side   age,  5 
ancestral  usage,1  and  the  sympathies  of  older  men ; 
Sulla's  cause  was  espoused   by  Mamercus  Scaurus, 
Lucius  Arruntius,  and  others  of  his  relatives.     The  6 
matter  was  hotly  argued ;  and  precedents  were  quoted 
from  ancient  times  of  decrees  severely  censuring  in- 
science  on  the  part  of  young  men.    In  the  end,  Drusus 
made  a  conciliatory  speech ;  and  Mamercus,  who  was 
both  uncle  and  step-father  to  Corbulo,  and  was  also 
one  of  the  most  fluent  speakers  of  the  day,  offered 
an  apology  on  behalf  of  Sulla. 

1  See  Furn's  n.  and  the  instances  quoted  by  Mayor  on  Juv.  xiii.  55. 


A.D.  21.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.   31-32.  217 

7        This  same  Corbulo,  having  called  attention  to  the  Corbuio 

takes 

bad  and  even  impassable  condition  of  many  of  the  charge  of 
roads  in  Italy,  which  he  ascribed   to   the   frauds   of  itaiy. 
contractors  and  the  negligence  of  magistrates,  under- 
took the  charge  of  the   matter1  himself  with  much 
alacrity ;    in    performing   which   duty,   by   means   of 
prosecutions  and  confiscations,  he  managed  to  ruin 
many  persons  both  in  fame  and  fortune,  but  without 
securing  thereby   any  corresponding   benefit   to  the 
public. 

1  Not  long  after  this,  Tiberius  sent  a  message  to  the  Tacfarmas 
Senate,  informing  them  that  the  peace  of  Africa  had  afmT. m 
been  again  disturbed  by  an  inroad  of  Tacfarinas,  and 
committing  it  to  them  to  select2  for  the  office  of  Pro- 
consul an  experienced  general,  robust  enough  to  bear 

2  the  fatigues  of  a  campaign.     Sextus  Pompeius  took 
this   opportunity   of  venting  his  animosity  towards 
Marcus3  Lepidus,  denouncing  him  for  his  indolence  Marcus 
and    poverty,    and     calling    him     a    disgrace    to    liis  ^pofnted 
ancestors  ;  he  should  not  be  permitted,  so  he  declared,  l 

to  ballot  even  for  the  province  of  Asia.     This  attack, 
however,  met  with  no  support  in  the  Senate,  where 

1  Each  of  the  main  roads  of  Italy  had  province,  as   he  did  Galba  (vi.  40,  3). 

a  curator  viarum,   an   office  of  much  Africa,  as  we   have  seen,  was  a  sena- 

dignity.     This  service  was  reorganised  torial  province,  and    the  appointment 

by  Augustus,  who  created  special  offices  would  naturally  Ixi   made  by   lot,  out 

or  boards    to   deal  with  roads,  water-  of  the   eligible   consulars,   in  the  ordi- 

supply,  the  Tiber  channel,  the  distribu-  nary  way.     But  in  Africa,  contrary  to 

tion  of  corn,  the  government  of  the  city,  the   rule    in   senatorial  provinces,    the 

the  revising  the  lists  of  senators  and  governor  had  command  of  the  legion 

equites,  etc.  (Suet.  Oct.   37).    Corbulo  (see  n.  on  i,  76,  4).     Hence,  in  the  case 

apparently  was  given  a  commission  over  before  us,  when  a  war  was  afoot,  the 

the  heads  of  all  the  curatores.     That  he  senate  left  the  choice  with  the  emperor, 

feathered  his  own  nest  well  out  of  the  See  chap.  35,  i. 

job  appears  from  Dio.     Caligula  used  *  The  MS.  gives  the  full  praenomen 

him  and  his  office  as  an  instrument  of  Marcus.     He  is  described  here  as  inops  ; 

exaction  ;     under     Claudius    he     was  in  ii.  48,  i,  Tiberius  passes  over  to  him 

brought  to  trial  and  forced  to  refund  the  inheritance  of  Aemilia  Musa  ;  and 

(Dio,  Hie.  15,  5).  he  is  again  spoken  of  asftcuniae  modi- 

1  That  is,  the  appointment    was  to  CHS  in  chap.  72,  3.     His  poverty  is  here 

be  extra  sortem  ;  by  selection,  not  by  regarded  as  an  offence ;  it  is  not  clear 

lot.      The  emperor    could  prohibit    a  whether  Tacitus  (here  and  elsewhere) 

consular    from    casting    his  lot   for  a  sympathises  with  this  view  or  not. 


2i8  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  21. 

Lepidus  was  regarded  as  good-natured  rather  than 
poor-spirited;  and  it  was  reckoned  to  be  to  his 
credit  rather  than  otherwise  that,  in  spite  of  the  small- 
ness  of  his  patrimony,  he  should  have  supported  his 
illustrious  name  without  reproach.  He  was  appointed 
therefore  to  Asia;  but  in  regard  to  Africa,  it  was  3 
resolved  to  beg  the  Emperor  to  make  the  appointment 
himself. 

caecina  In  the  course  of  this  discussion,  Severus  Caecina1  33 

FhatPgover-   moved  that  no  magistrate  who  had  been  appointed  to 

provinces     a  Province  should  be  permitted  to  take  his  wife  along 

take  their*   with  him.     In  a  long  preamble,  he  recounted  on  what 

wives  with   exceuent  terms  he  lived  with  his  own  wife,  how  she 

had  borne  him  six  children,  and  how  he  had  practised 

himself  what   he   preached   for  others :   seeing  that, 

during  a  period   of  forty2  years'  service  in  various 

Provinces,  he  had  never  permitted  his  wife  to  leave 

Italy. 

His  speech         It  was  a  good  old  rule,  he  remarked,  which  forbade  2 
women  to  be  taken  to  foreign  countries,  or  to  those  of 
our  allies.     The  train  of  attendants  which  women  carried 
with  them  was  a  source  of  extravagance  in  time  of  peace, 
of  panic  and  delay  in  time  of  war,  converting  the  march  of 
a  Roman  army  into  the  semblance  of  a  barbaric  progress. 
It  was  not  only  that  women-kind  were  weak  in  body,  and  3 
unfit  to  undergo  fatigue ;   but  if  free  from  control,  they 
could  be  cruel,  scheming  and  ambitious  ;  they  would  move 
about  among  the  soldiers,  and  have  the  centurions  at  their 
beck  and  call.  It  was  not  long  since  a  woman 3  had  presided 
over  the  exercises  of  the  cohorts,  and  the  manoeuvres  of  the 
legions.     Let  them  call  to  mind  that  in  all  prosecutions  for  ± 
misgovernment,  it  was  against  the  wives  that  most  of  the 

1  The  commander  of   the  army  of       is  attributed  to  him  in  i.  64,  6 ;  and 
Lower  Germany    during    the    mutiny       that  was  not  his  last  campaign. 

(i.  31,  2.)  3  Referring  to  Plancina  (ii.  55,  5). 

2  The  same  number  of  years'  service 


A.D.  21.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.  32-34. 


219 


charges  were  laid;  *  it  was  the  wives  who  gathered  round 
them  all  the  worst  spirits  in  a  province  ;  it  was  they  who 
took  jobs  in  hand,  and  carried  them  through.  Two  persons 
had  to  be  courted  when  they  walked  abroad  instead  of 
one  ;  there  were  two  sets  of  headquarters  ;  and  the  orders 
issuing  from  those  of  the  women  were  always  the  more 
peremptory  and  outrageous  of  the  two.  In  olden  days, 
women  had  been  kept  in  order  by  the  Oppian  2  and  other 
laws  ;  but  they  had  now  burst  through  all  bonds  and  were 
masters  everywhere  —  in  their  homes,  in  the  Courts  of  Law, 
and  even  in  the~Army. 

1  These  remarks  were  listened  to  with  little  favour,  meets  with 
The  majority  made  interruptions,  objecting  that  the  favour. 
question  was  not  before  the  House,  and  that  Caecina 

was  no  fit  person  to  be  censor  in  a  subject  of  such 

2  importance.     After  an  interval,  Valerius  Messalinus 
thus  replied  :   he  was  the  son  of  Messalla,  and  pre- 
served some  semblance  of  his  father's3  eloquence. 

In  many  respects  the  harsh  usages  of  our  ancestors  Messalinus 

f.          ,        T-,          .,       i       7  7  argues  on 

had  been  wisely  softened.     The  city  had  no  longer  war  the  other 
always  at  its  gates,  as  in  the  days  of  old  ;  the  provinces 

3  were  no  longer  hostile.     Certain  concessions,  no  doubt, 


1  An  apparent  exaggeration,  perhaps 
taken  from  later  experience.  The  only 
cases  we  hear  of  in  the  Annals  are  those 
of  PlancinaandSosia(iv.  19,  4).  Accord- 
ing  to  Dio  (Iviii.  24,  3),  Paxaea,  whose 
voluntary  death  along  with  her  husband, 
M.  Pomponius  Labeo,  is  recorded  in 
vi.  29,  i,  was  implicated  in  the  charges 
brought  against  her  husband.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  all  remember  what  ex- 
cellent  advice  Pilate  received  from  his 
wife  :  '  Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with 
that  just  man'  (St.  Matt,  xxvii.  19). 

a  The  Lex  Oppia,  passed  in  B.C.  215, 
in  the  crisis  of  the  second  Punic  war, 
forbade  women  to  wear  more  than  half 
an  ounce  of  gold,  or  to  dress  in  many- 
coloured  dresses,  or  to  drive  in  carriages 
within  the  city  or  for  one  mile  round. 
It  was  repealed  when  the  war  was  over. 
The  horror  which  high-minded  Romans 


of  this  period  felt  at  women  taking  a 
part  in  politics,  and  influencing  the 
course  of  events,  had  probably  been 
much  intensified  by  their  indignation 
against  Cleopatra  and  her  influence 
over_Antony.  The  poets  of  the  Augus- 
tan  periods  say  little  against  Antony  ; 
their  wrath  culminates  upon  Cleopatra, 
and  the  indignity  put  upon  Rome  when 
she  was  made  to  tremble  for  the  safety 
of  the  Capitol  by  the  power  and  insane 
ambition  of  a  woman.  See  Hor.  Od. 
i.  37,  5-12.  The  Roman  ideal  of  the, 
_true  mission  of  a  noble  woman  finds 
jts_  highest  expression  in  the  Cornelia  of 
Propertius  (El.  iv.  n). 

J  The  father  was  the  celebrated 
orator,  M.  Valerius  Messalla  Corvinus, 
the  friend  and  patron  of  Horace,  Ovid, 
and  Tibullus  ;  he  was  consul  with 
Augustus  in  B.C.  31. 


220  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  21. 

had  been  made  to  meet  the  needs  of  women;  but  these  were 
not  such  as  to  be  burdensome  to  their  husbands,  still  less 
to  the  provincials.     In  all  other  matters,  man  and  wife 
shared  alike;   and  that  caused  no  difficulty  in  time  of 
peace.     In  time  of  war,  no  doubt,  the  husband  must  take  4 
the  field  without  incumbrance ;   but  on  his  return  from 
a    campaign,    ivhat   comfort   more    excellent   than    that 
afforded  by  a  wife  ?    Some  wives,  it  was  said,  had  given 
way  to  ambition  or  love  of  money.     Well?  were  not  many  5 
of  the  magistrates  themselves  given  over  to  all  sorts  of  evil 
passions  ?     Yet  that  would  be  no  reason  for  leaving  the 
Provinces  without  governors.    Granted  that  husbands  were  6 
often  led  astray  by  vicious  wives :  were  the  unmarried  all 
immaculate?     The  Oppian  laws  had  commended  them- 
selves to  our  forefathers  because  public  needs  so  required ; 
in    later   days,   relaxations   and   mitigations    had   been 
admitted,  as  expediency  suggested.     It  was  idle  for  men  7 
to  shift  on  to  others  the  blame  of  their  own  remissness ;  if 
the  wife  broke  all  bounds,  the  husband  was  at  fault.    And  % 
if  one  or  two  husbands  had  shown  weakness  of  mind,  it 
would  be  a  sorry  thing  to  deprive  all  husbands  of  the  joys 
of  partnership,  whether  in  success  or  failure.     That  would  9 
be  to  desert  the  weaker  vessel;  to  leave  her  a  prey  to  her 
own  self-indulgence,  or  to  the  evil  passions  of  others.     It  10 
was  no  easy  thing  as  it  was,  with  the  natural  guardian 
on  the  spot,  to  preserve  the  marriage  bond  inviolate :  what 
would  happen  if  it  were  kept  out  of  sight,  for  several  years 
at  a  time,  by  a  species  of  divorce  ?    Let  them  check,  by  all 
means,  such  vices  as  prevailed  abroad ;  but  let  them  not 
shut  their  eyes  to  the  scandals  of  the  metropolis. 

and  is  sup-         Drusus  added  a  few  words  on  the  subject  of  his  n 
DTUSUS.  y     own  married  life.     Members  of  the  Imperial  family,  he 
observed,  had  often  occasion  to  visit  the  outlying  parts 
of  the  Empire.     The  Divine  Augustus,  on   his  frequent  12 


A.D.  21.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.  34-36.  221 

journeys  to  the  East  and  West,  had  always  been  accom- 
13  panted  by  Livia  ;  he  himself  had  journeyed  to  Illyrkum, 
and  he  would  be  ready  to  go  to  other  countries  also,  if  the 
public  interest  so  required :  but  he  could  hardly  do  so 
ivithout  a  qualm  if  he  were  to  be  torn  from  a  wife 
whom  he  dearly  loved,  the  mother  of  his  many  children.1 
Thus  was  the  go-by  given  to  the  motion  of  Caecina.2  ™eec?ed!ion 

1  At  the  next  meeting  of  Senate,  a  letter  was  read  Tiberius 
from   Tiberius  in   which,  after  rebuking  the  fathers  twognames 

•     j-          ^i        r  •  'L-i-i  L-       for  Africa ; 

indirectly  for  heaping  every  responsibility  upon  his  Biaesus  is 
shoulders,  he  suggested  two  names — those  of  Manius 
Lepidus3  and  Junius  Biaesus — one  of  whom  should 

2  be  selected   for  the   Proconsulship  of  Africa.     Both 
candidates   addressed   the   Senate.     Lepidus   begged 
earnestly  to  be  excused,  pleading  ill-health  and  the 
tender  age  of  his  children,  one  of  them  a  daughter  of 
marriageable  age,  but  making  no  reference  to  what 
was  in  all  men's  minds — that  Biaesus  was  the  uncle 
of  Sejanus,  and  his  interest,  therefore,  all-powerful. 

3  Biaesus,  in   his  remarks,  made  a  show  of  declining, 
but  only  in  a  half-hearted  way  ;  and  his  refusal  met 
with  no  support  from  the  chorus  of  flatterers. 

i  Next,  an  abuse  was  brought  to  light  which  had  Abuse  of 
become  the  subject  of  much  secret  animadversion,  shelter  l 
A  practice  was  becoming  prevalent  by  which  men  th°r 
of  the  lowest  character  were  suffered  to  vilify 
respectable  people  in  the  most  scandalous  and 
offensive  manner,  and  then  to  secure  impunity  by 

1  There  were  only  three  in  all :  Julia,  except   in   a    depreciatory   sense),    the 

married  first  to  Xero  (chap.  29,  4  and  closing    words     of     this    chapter,    sic 

n.),    and    the   twins  born    in  A.D.    19  Caecinae  sentcntia    elusa ;   the  words 

(ii.  84,  i).  paucorum  haec  assensu  audita,  in  chap. 

a  M.  Gaston  Boissier  (Rev.  des  deux  34,  i,  as  well  as  the  evident  gusto  with 

Mondes,  July,  1901),  doubts  whether  it  which  he  states  the  case  against  the 

can  be  discovered  on  which  side  of  this  women  in  chap.  33,  make  it  abundantly 

controversy  the  sympathies  of  Tacitus  clear  that  he  sided  with  Caecina. 

lay.      But   apart    altogether    from    his  •  For  this  J^pidus  see  n.  on  chap, 

attitude  towards  women  in  general  (and  22,  2. 
he    seldom    uses    the    word   mulicbris 


222  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  21. 

laying  hold  of  the  Emperor's  statue.1  Even  freedmen 
and  slaves  would  thus  terrorise  their  own  patrons 
and  masters  by  insulting  language  and  threats  of 
violence.  The  question  was  taken  up  by  Gaius  2 
Cestius,  a  private  senator.  The  Emperors  were  indeed 
as  Gods,  he  said,  but  even  the  Gods  listened  to  none  but 
worthy  suppliants;  no  one  could  take  refuge  in  the 
Capitoline  or  other  temples  in  the  city  for  the  purpose 
of  turning  the  protection  so  afforded  to  scandalous  uses. 
It  was  a  subversion  and  nullification  of  all  law  that  3 
Annia  Rufilla—a  woman  whom  he  had  himself  convicted 
of  fraud  before  a  judge — should  assail  him  in  the  Forum, 
at  the  very  threshold  of  the  Senate-house,  with  insults  and 
even  with  threats,  while  he  himself  dared  not  bring  her 
into  Court  because  she  had  taken  refuge  behind  a  statue 
of  the  Emperor.  A  chorus  of  voices  quoted  similar  4 
and  more  glaring  instances,  and  implored  Drusus  to 
make  an  example.  He  accordingly  summoned  Annia 
Rufilla,  convicted  her,  and  ordered  her  to  be  detained 
in  the  common  prison. 

Two    Roman    knights,    Considius    Aequus    and  37. 
Caelius  Cursor,  were  then  punished  by  the  Senate 
at  the  instance  of  the  Emperor  for  bringing  a  false 
charge     of    treason     against    the    Praetor    Magius 
Caecilianus.     Both  of  these  decisions  redounded  to  2 
the   credit   of  Drusus.     Living  as  he  did  in  the  city, 
people  said,  mixing  and  conversing  with  men,  he  was 

1  Thus  by  degrees  the  sanctity  attach-  Cretans  claimed  a  similar  right  for  a 

ing  to  the  statues  of  deified  emperors  statue   of  Augustus  (chap.  63,  6).     If 

was  being  extended  to  those   of   the  we  may  believe  Suetonius,  the  following 

living.     See  iii.  70,   2,  and  iv.  67,  6,  acts  were  regarded  as  '  capitalia  : '  circa 

where  Agrippina  is    advised    to    seek  Augusti  simulacrum  servum  cecidisse, 

protection  by  embracing  the  image  of  vestimenta   mutasse,  nummo  vel  anulo 

Tiberius  in  the  forum  at  mid-day.     In  effigiem  impressam    latrinae  aut  lupa- 

regard  to  deified    emperors,   we  have  nari   intulisse    (Tib.   58).      To    swear 

seen    how   a    charge  of   treason    was  falsely  by  the  emperor's  name  became 

founded  on  the  mutilation  of  a  statue  the  worst  form  of  perjury  :  Tertullian 

of  Augustus  (i.  74,  4) ;   the  triumvirs  says  people  would  more  readily  forswear 

gave  a  right  of  asylum  to  the  temple  of  themselves  by  all  the  gods  in  heaven  than 

Divus  lulius  (Dio,  xlvii.  19,  2) ;  and  the  by  the  genius  of  Caesar  (Apol.  28). 


A.D.  21.]  BOOK    III.  CHAPS.  36-38.  223 

able  to  mitigate  the  harshness  of  his  father's  secret 
3  counsels.  Even  the  extravagance  of  the  young  man 
met  with  little  censure  '.—Better  for  him  to  turn  his 
mind  that  way,  and  to  pass  his  days  in  building,  his 
nights  in  banqueting,  than  to  devote  gloomy  vigils  to 
hatching  sinister  designs  in  solitary  and  pleasureless 
retirement. 

i  For  neither  Tiberius  nor  the  accusers  showed  any  Accusa- 
symptoms  of  exhaustion.  Ancharius  Priscus  had  im-  against 
peached  Cordus,  Proconsul  of  Crete,  for  extortion, 


throwing  in  a  charge  of  treason,  without  which  in 

2  those  days  no  accusation  was  complete.      Antistius 
Vetus,  a  leading  man  in  Macedonia,  was  accused  of 
adultery  ;  but  when  he  was  acquitted  on  that  charge, 
Tiberius  rebuked  the  jury,  and  had  him  dragged  back 
to  stand  his  trial  for  treason,  on  the  ground  that  he 
had  been  mixed  up  in  the  treasonable  designs  of  Rhes- 
cuporis,  at  the  time  when  that  prince  had  murdered 
his  brother  Cotys,  and  was  meditating  war  against  us. 

3  He  was  interdicted  therefore  from  fire  and  water  ;  in 
addition,  he  was  to  be  confined  in  some  island  not 
easily  accessible  either  from  Thrace  or  Macedonia. 

4  For  at  this  time  Thrace,  being  unused  to  our  rule,  Disaffec- 
was  in  a  state  of  disaffection.     The  government  had  Thrace. 
been  divided  between  Rhoemetalces  and  the  children 

of  Cotys,  who  not  being  of  full  age,  had  been  placed 
under  the  guardianship  of  Trebellenus  Rufus  ;  and 
the  people  found  as  much  fault  with  Rhoemetalces  as 
with  Trebellenus,  complaining  that  he  left  the  wrongs 
of  his  own  fellow-countrymen  unavenged. 

5  Three    powerful    tribes  —  the    Coelaletae,    the  Three 

tribes  take 

Odrusae,   and    the   Dii  —  took  up   arms,   each   under  up  arms, 
leaders    of    its    own,    all    equally    undistinguished. 
The  result  was  that  no  formidable  combination  was 


224  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  21. 

effected.  One  party  brought  about  a  rising  in  their  e 
own  country;  a  second  crossed  Mount  Haemus  to 
raise  the  outlying  tribes  ;  the  largest  and  best 
organised  of  the  three  forces  besieged  the  king  in 
Philippopolis,1  a  city  founded  by  the  Macedonian 
monarch  of  that  name. 

When  news  of  these  movements  reached  Publius  39 
Vellaeus,2  who  was  in  command  of  the  nearest  Roman 
army,  he  despatched  a  force  of  auxiliary  cavalry  and 
light-armed  infantry3  against  the  plundering  and  re- 
cruiting parties,  while  he  himself,  at  the  head  of  the 
main   body   of  foot,  marched   to  raise  the   siege   of 
Philippopolis.     These  operations  were  all  successful  2 
at   once.     The  marauding  party  was  cut  to  pieces  ; 
dissensions  broke  out   in  the   besieging  force  ;   and 
the  king  made  an  opportune  sortie  just  as  the  legion 
came  up.      But  there  was  no  regular   fighting,  nor  3 
anything  that  deserved  the  name  of  a  battle  ;  nothing 
but  a  butchery  of  half-armed  stragglers,  with  no  loss 
to  us. 

In  the  same  year  some  of  the  states  of  Gaul,4  over-  4^ 
whelmed  with  debt,5  broke  out  into  revolt.     The  most 
active  fomenters  of  the  movement  were  Julius  Florus 

1  A  town  on  the  Upper  Hebrus,  in       money-lenders.      The    Roman    negoti- 
modern  Roumelia,  still  called  Filibe.  atores  who  flooded  the  provinces  used 

2  Vellaeus  was  governor  of  Moesia.  their  capital  in  usury,  not  in  productive 
zT\\Qalariiequitesa.ndilevescohortium       industry.      Hence  they  were  the  first 

are    the    auxiliary  forces  ;     the    robur  victims  of  an  outbreak  against  Rome. 

peditum  below  are  the  Roman  legions.  When  Mithradates,  in  B.C.  88,  ordered 

4  Gaul  was  divided  into  four  separate  a  general  massacre  of  Roman  citizens 
provinces:    (i)   Gallia  Narbonensis  in  in  Asia,  it  was  not  from  mere  vindictive- 
the  South  (senatorial)  ;  (2)  Aquitania,  ness,  but  to  show  the  provincials  that 
in  the  South-  West  ;  (3)  Gallia  Lugdu-  he  wished  to  relieve  them  of  the  most 
nensis  in  the  centre  ;  and  (4)   Belgica,  obnoxious  incident  of  the  Roman  occu- 
between  the  Seine  and  the  Rhine  :  the  pation.      No    less    than    80,000    were 
three    last     were     imperatorial.      The  butchered  on  that  occasion.    See  iii.  42, 
Aedui,  Andecavi,  and  Turoni  were  in  i.     The  ubiquity  of  the  Roman  money- 
Lugdunensis  ;  the  Treviri  in  Belgica.  lender  in  Gaul  is  thus  testified  to  by 

5  Besides     the     exactions    of     the  Cic.,  pro  Fonteio,  i,  n  :  Nemo  Gallo- 
governors,  and  of  the  publicans  acting  rum  sine  cive  Romano  quidquam  negotii 
in  concert  with  the  governors,  the  pro-  gerit  :  nummus  in  Gallia  nullits  sine 
vinces  were  preyed  upon   by  Roman  civiumRomanorumtabuliscommovetur. 


A.D.21.J  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.  38-41.  225 

amongst  the  Treveri,1  and  Julius2  Sacrovir  among  the 

2  Aedui.3    Both  were  men  of  noble  family  ;  both  came 
of  ancestors  who  had  done  good  service  to  Rome,  and 
had  in  consequence  been  made  Roman  citizens4  at  a 
time  when  that  privilege  was  rare,  and  only  granted 

3  as  a  reward  for  merit.     Gathering  in  secret  conclave 
the  boldest  spirits,  or  those  who  had  in  their  poverty 
the    strongest  motives   for   disaffection,   or    because 
they  dreaded    punishment   for   their   crimes,   Florus 
undertook  to  raise  the  Belgae,  Sacrovir  the  nearer 

4  tribes  of  Gaul.     Appearing  at  public  gatherings,  or 
in  private  meetings,  they  delivered  seditious  harangues 
denouncing  the  ceaseless  exaction  of  tribute,  the  ex- 
orbitant rates  of  usury,  the  cruelty  and  insolence  of 
the  governors.     The  news  of  the  death  of  Gennanicns, 

r>  they  urged,  had  shaken  the  allegiance  of  the  army  ;  now 
was  the  time  to  recover  their  freedom.  Let  them  reflect 
how  great  were  their  own  resources,  how  impoverished 
was  Italy,  how  nnwarlikc  the  populace  of  the  city :  the 
strength  of  the  Roman  armies  lay  in  their  foreign  element. 

1  The   seeds  of   sedition  were  thus  scattered  over  The 
almost  every  State  in  Gaul;  but  the  Andecavi  and  the 
Turoni  were  the  first  to  break  out  in  open  rebellion. 

2  The  former  were  put  down  by  the  Legate5  Acilius 
Aviola,   who   called   up   for    the    purpose   a    cohort 

3  which  was  then  doing  garrison  duty  at  Lyons ;  the 
Turoni  he  crushed  with  a  legionary  force  supplied 

1  The  Treveri  or  Treviri  were  on  the  (Aiitun} ;     probably   the    Bibracte    of 

Moselle.      Their  chief  town,   Augusta  Caesar. 

Treverorum,  is  the  modern   Trier  or  4  The     Roman     legions    themselves 

Trevcs.  were   now    composed    mainly   of    pro- 

»  The  name  lulius  indicates  a  family  vincials  who  had  received  the  civitas. 

which  had  received  the  citizenship  from  Probably    only     the    Praetorians    and 

Caesar  ;  or  perhaps  from  Augustus.  household  troops  were  of  pure  Italian 

»  The  Aedui   or   Haedui,    the    most  blood.     Tacitus  ascribes  the  beginning 

powerful  of  the  Gallic  tribes  in   Cae-  of  the  mutiny  in  the  German  army  to 

sar's  time  (E.G.  vi.   12),  occupied  the  the  ill-conditioned  city  riff-raff  levied  in 

country  between    the   Saone  and    the  Rome  after  the  disaster  of Varus  (i.  31,  4). 

Loire.  Their  capital  was  Augustodunum  •  i.e.  legatus  of  Lugdunensis. 


226  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  21. 

by  Visellius  Varro,1  the  Legate  of  Lower  Germany, 
aided  by  some  Gallic  Chiefs,  who  sent  help  with 
a  view  to  disguise  their  disaffection  and  bring  it 
forth  at  a  more  convenient  season.  Sacrovir  himself  4 
might  be  seen  doing  battle  in  the  front  Roman 
line,  bareheaded ;  this,  he  pretended,  was  to  let  his 
bravery  be  seen.  Prisoners,  however,  declared  that 
he  had  exposed  himself  to  ensure  recognition,  and 
thus  save  himself  from  being  attacked.  This  was 
reported  to  Tiberius ;  but  he  declined  to  act  on  the 
information,  and  by  his  irresolution  fanned  the  war. 
Next  the  Meanwhile  Florus,  in  pursuance  of  his  design,  42, 

Treveri  are         .  .  ..     .    .  _  1-1111 

put  down,  tried  to  induce  a  division  of  cavalry  which  had  been 
raised  among  the  Treveri,  and  was  serving  as  part  of 
our  army  and  under  our  discipline,2  to  commence 
hostilities  by  a  massacre  of  Roman  traders.  A  few 
of  the  troopers  were  gained  over;  the  majority  re- 
mained loyal.  In  addition,  a  mob  of  debtors  or  2 
clients  took  up  arms  and  made  for  the  forest  of 
Arduenna ;  but  these  were  cut  off  by  the  legionary 
troops  which  Visellius  and  Gaius  Silius3  had  sent 
against  them  by  opposite  routes  from  their  respective 
armies.  Julius  Indus,  who  belonged  to  the  same  State  3 
as  Florus,  and  was  all  the  more  eager  to  proffer  his 
services  because  he  was  on  bad  terms  with  him,  was 
sent  on  with  a  picked  force ;  he  dispersed  the  multi- 

and  Florus   tude  before  it  could  be  brought  into  order.     Florus  4 
eluded  the  conquerors  for  a  while  by  changing  his 
hiding-places  ;  but  at  last,  on  seeing  his  retreat  beset 
by  soldiers,  he  put  an  end  to  himself.     Thus  ended 
the  rising  of  the  Treveri. 

1  Successor  to  A.  Caecina  Severus,  by  the  Romans  as  regular  troops.    This 
(i.  37,  2).  caused  the  Thracian  revolt  (iv.  46,  2-3). 

2  The    auxiliary   forces    were    being  3  Still  legatus  of  Upper  Germany  (i. 
more  and  more  raised  and  disciplined  31,  2). 


A.D.21.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.  41-44-  22^ 

3.   i        The  outbreak   among   the   Aedui  was  more  for-  Formid- 
midable  in  proportion  to  the  greater  resources  of  ofthe'5" 


that  people,  and  the  distance  from  which  forces  had 
to   be   brought1   for   its   repression.     Sacrovir  held  Augu 
Augustodunum,  the  chief  city   of  the   tribe,  with   a  dunum- 
well-armed   force.     In   this   town  was   collected   the 
flower  of  the  young  Gallic  nobility,  engaged  in  the 
prosecution  of  their  studies.     These  youths  Sacrovir 
retained  as  pledges  for  the  adhesion  of  their  parents 
2  and    relations,    and    at   the    same    time    distributed 
among  them  some  arms  that  had  been  manufactured 
in   secret.     His   force   amounted    to    forty    thousand  He  has  an 
men,  a  fifth  part  of  whom  were  armed  as  legionaries,2  40^000° 
the  remainder   being  provided  with   spears,  knives  body'  of" 


3  and  other  weapons  of  the  chase.     In  addition,  there 
was  a  body  of  slaves  called  Crupellarii,  destined  for 
the  gladiatorial  arena.     These  were   clad  after  the 
fashion   of   their    tribe   in    complete    suits    of   iron 
armour,   which,  though    unhandy    for    purposes    of 

4  offence,    render    their    wearers    invulnerable.      The 
force  was   swelled    by   volunteers   from    the   neigh- 
bouring states  ;  for  though  the  communities  did  not 
as  yet    venture    to  join  the   movement  openly,  in- 
dividual citizens   came   forward  very  readily.     And 
there    was    a    dispute    between    the    rival    Roman 
Generals,   each   of  whom   claimed    for    himself   the 
conduct  of  the  war  ;   but  in  the  end  Varro,  who  was 
infirm  and  old,  gave  way  to  Silius,  a  man  in  the  prime 
of  life. 

i        In  Rome  it  was  believed  that  not  only  the  Treveri  Panic  in 
and    the    Aedui,    but    all    the  sixty-four8  states    of 

1  i.e.  far  from  the  great  armies  on  meration  of  the  tribes  in  Aquitania, 

the  Rhine.  Lugdunensis  and  Belgica.  Strabo  (iv. 

1  These  would  belong  to  the  troops  3,  2)  says  that  sixty  was  the  number  of 

mentioned  above,  n.  to  chap.  4*.  i.  states  named  on  an  altar  to  Augustus 

*  So  Ptolemy  (ii.  7,  9),  in  his  enu-  at  Lyons. 


228  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  21. 

Gaul l  were  in  revolt;  that  Germany  had  made  common 
cause  with  Gaul,  and  that  the  two  Spains  were 
wavering  in  their  allegiance  :  rumour,  as  is  her  wont, 
exaggerating  everything.  All  good  citizens  were  2 
distressed  for  their  country's  sake ;  but  many  were 
so  indignant  at  the  existing  state  of  affairs,  and  so 
anxious  for  a  change,  that  they  rejoiced  at  the  very 
dangers  with  which  they  were  threatened,  and  de- 
nounced Tiberius  for  occupying  himself  with  the 
informations  of  accusers  in  the  midst  of  so  formi- 
dable a  rebellion.  Would  Sacrovir  also,  they  asked,  3 
have  to  appear  before  the  Senate  on  a  charge  of  treason  ? 
Men  had  at  last  been  found  to  reply  to  murderous 
messages  with  the  sword :  better  war  itself  than  a  state 
of  peace  ivith  infamy  ! 

Tiberius  Talk  like  this  only  made  Tiberius  assume  a  more  4 

cerned.  studied  air  of  unconcern.  He  never  changed  his 
domicile  or  his  demeanour ;  his  days  passed  as  usual. 
Possibly  this  was  strength  of  mind  ;  perhaps  he  knew 
that  the  trouble  was  not  so  serious  as  was  reported. 

Meanwhile  Silius  was  advancing  with  two  legions.   45 
He  had  sent  on  a  body  of  allies  to  lay  waste  the 

1  A  Roman  province  was  formed  on  under  the  authority  of  Roman  colonies ; 
the  principle  of  aggregating  together  a  in  the  three  northern  Gauls,  the  tribes 
definite  number  of  states  (civitates],  which  or  cantons  had  a  considerable  amount 
were  usually  cities  in  the  East,  tribes  or  of  self-government,  having  their  own 
cantons  in  the  West.  Pliny  gives  sixty-  local  magistrates  and  local  worship, 
eight  as  the  number  of  such  states  in  In  other  cases,  as  in  the  Alpine  valleys 
Sicily  (H.  N.  iii.  8,  88) ;  we  hear  of  forty-  of  North  Italy,  the  native  communities 
four  in  Asia  under  Sulla,  and  in  this  were  attached  as  subjects  to  Roman 
passage  of  sixty-four  states  in  Gaul.  towns  in  their  neighbourhood,  under  a 
These  sixty-four  states  or  cantons  repre-  system  called  attributio,  in  order  that 
sent  the  original  Celtic  tribes  of  the  three  they  might  be  placed  under  rigorous 
Gallic  provinces,  Aquitania,  Lugdun-  military  rule  until  they  were  fit  for  a 
ensis  and  Belgica.  With  their  genius  greater  degree  of  independence.  See 
for  government  and  empire,  the  Romans,  Rushforth,  pp.  14,  15  and  38-39.  This 
•  like  the  British,  did  not  seek  to  set  up  plan  of  differentiation  according  to  cir- 
everywhere  a  rigidly  uniform  system  of  cumstances,  and  the  gradually  pro- 
administration,  but  permitted  a  wise  gressive  character  thereby  given  to  the 
elasticity  in  their  arrangements,  suiting  process  of  Romanisation,  account  for 
them  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  firm  and  enduring  hold  which  Rome 
the  population  or  the  locality.  Thus  in  took  of  her  Western  empire,  and  for 
the  Narbonensis,  the  administration  was  the  few  and  slight  attempts  made  to 
purely  Roman,  all  the  inhabitants  being  shake  off  her  rule. 


A.D.  21.]  BOOK    111.   CHAPS.  44~46-  229 

villages  of  the  Sequani,1  a  people  whose  territory  lies  siiiusmcets 
on  the  furthest  border  of  the  Aedui,  and  who  had  near0' 


2  taken  up  arms  along  with  them.  He  now  made  a 
rapid  march  to  Augustodunum,  the  standard-bearers 
vying  with  one  another  for  the  lead,  and  even  the 
private  soldiers  imploring  him  not  to  halt  for  the 
usual  rests,  either  by  day  or  night  :—  Let  them  but  see 
the  enemy  before  them,  and  be  seen;  that  alone  would 

;j  give  them  victory.  At  the  twelfth  milestone  from 
the  town,  Sacrovir  was  discovered  with  his  forces 
drawn  up  on  open  ground.  He  had  placed  his  iron- 
clad men  in  front,  his  cohorts  on  the  wings,  the  half- 

4  armed  troops  in  the  rear.     He  himself,  mounted  on  a 
conspicuous  charger,  and  with  his  chiefs  around  him, 
bade   his  men   remember  the   past   glories  of  their 
countrymen,  and  the  defeats  which  they  had  inflicted 
on  the  Romans  :  —  How  glorious  to  conquer  and  be  free  !  "ul'much" 
If  vanquished  once  again  t  their  slavery  would  be  more  e 
intolerable  than  ever. 

1  This  harangue  roused  but  little  enthusiasm,  and  Confidence 

.  ofSilius 

was    soon   cut    short  ;    for    the   legions   were   upon  and  the 
them,  and  the  town-bred  levies,  without  discipline  or 
experience  of  war,  had  neither  eyes  to  see  nor  ears 

2  to  hear.     On  the  other  side  Silius,  though  the  con- 
fidence  of  his   men   made   exhortation  unnecessary, 
proclaimed    that    it    was    a  disgrace   for  them,   the 
conquerors  of  Germany,  to  be  led  against  Gauls,  as 

3  against  an  enemy.     One  cohort  of  yours,  he  cried,  lately 
put  down  the  Turoni,  a  single  wing  the  Treveri  ;  a  few 

4  of  your  squadrons  crushed  the  Sequani.    Prove  the  Aedui 
to  be  as  unwarlike  as  they  are  wealthy  and  voluptuous  ; 
and  give  a  good  account  of  them  when  they  run  !  2 

1  The  Sequani  were  to  the  E.  of  the  the  commentators,  even  Mr.  Furneaux. 

Saone,  between  the  province  of  Germany  They  interpret  the  \\orAsfugientibus 

and  the  Aedui.  consulate  literally,  as  if  it  were  a  recom 

1  Common  sense  has  here  deserted  mendation  to  s'pare  the  enemy.    This 


230 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.21. 


These  words  were  greeted  with  loud  huzzahs.  5 
The  cavalry  threw  themselves  round  the  enemy's 
flanks  at  the  same  moment  that  the  foot  charged  in 
front.  The  flanks  made  no  resistance.  A  momentary  6 
check  was  caused  in  front  by  the  iron-clad  battalions, 
whose  plates  of  armour  stood  out  against  blow  of 
sword  or  pike ;  but  at  last  our  men  got  hold  of  axes 
and  mattocks,  and  hewed  through  armour,  bodies  and 
all,  just  as  if  they  were  breaking  through  a  wall ; 
some  pushed  over  their  helpless  frames  with  poles 
and  forks,  and  left  them  lying  for  dead,  unable  to 
make  the  effort  to  rise.  Sacrovir  fled  first  towards  7 
Augustodunum ;  then,  fearing  betrayal,  made  for  a 
country  house  close  by,  with  his  most  trusty  com- 
panions. Here  he  perished  by  his  own  hand ;  the 
rest  by  each  other's  swords.  The  house  was  set  on 
fire  over  their  heads,  and  all  were  burnt  with  it. 

Not  till  then  did  Tiberius  write  to  apprise   the  47- 
Senate  of  the  outbreak  and  conclusion  of  the  war. 
He  told  them  what  had  happened  without  a  word  of 
exaggeration  or  extenuation : — The  loyalty  and  valour 
of  his  Legates,  acting  under  his  own  counsels,  had  carried 
the  day.     He  explained  at  the  same  time  why  neither  2 
Drusus   nor  himself  had  gone  to   the  seat  of  war. 
In  so  vast  an  Empire,  he  wrote,  it  was  not  seemly  that 
the  members  of  the  Imperial  family,  if  a  disturbance 
arose  in  one  State  or  another,  should  leave  the  seat  of 
government.    But  now  that  his  departure  could  not  be  put  3 
down  to  fear,  he  would  go  and  see  for  himself,  and  settle 
matters  on  the  spot.1 


in  the  mouth  of  a  Roman  general, 
addressing  a  Roman  army,  in  the 
crisis  of  a  rebellion  !  More  Roman  is 
the  exhortation  of  the  humane  Germani- 
cus  (ii.  21,  3),  nil  opus  captivis,  solam 
internecionem  gentisfinem  belli  fore. 

1  On  three  separate  occasions  Tiberius 
made  believe  that  he  was  about  to  under- 


take a  journey  into  the  provinces  :  ji) 
after  the  mutiny,  A.D.  14  (i.  47,  5) ;  (2) 
on  the  present  occasion,  A.D.  21 ;  and 
again  in  A.D.  23  (iv.  4,  3).  Each  time 
he  disappointed  expectation.  Suetonius 
says  that  Augustus  visited  every  province 
in  the  empire  in  the  course  of  his  reign 
except  Africa  and  Sardinia. 


A.D.  21.]  BOOK    III.  CHAPS.  46-48.  231 

The   Senate  offered  prayers  for  his   safe   return,  compii- 

4  thanksgivings    and    other    compliments.       Dolabella  J^Ss 
Cornelius,  in  his  desire  to  outdo  every  one  else  in  ig^e. 
flattery,  went  to  the  ridiculous  length  of  proposing 

that  the  Emperor  should  enter  the  City  from  Campania 

5  in  Ovation.      But  soon  came  a  letter  from  Tiberius, 
in   which    he   observed   that    he  ivas  not  so  destitute 
of  all  claim  to  glory,  that  after  subduing  the  fiercest  tribes, 
after  celebrating  or  declining  so  many1  Triumphs  in  his 
youth,  he  should  noio,  in  his  old  age,  be  coveting  an  empty 
distinction  for  undertaking  a  suburban  promenade. 

1  Shortly  after  this,  Tiberius  asked  the  Senate  to  Public 
bestow  the  honour  of  a  public  funeral  on  Sulpicius  granted  to 

2  Quirinius.2    This  Sulpicius  had  nothing  to  do  with  QuSnSiu; 
the  patrician  family  of  the  Sulpicii ;  he  came  from  the 
municipal  town  of  Lanuvium.     But  he  was  an  intrepid 
soldier;   and   in   return  for   his  zealous   services   he  his  origin 
had  been  rewarded  by  Augustus  with  the  Consulship. 
Later,  he  received  the  Triumphal  insignia  for  storm- 
ing the  strongholds  of  the  Homonadenses3  in  Cilicia; 

he  had   been   appointed    guardian   to   Gaius   Caesar 
when  in  charge  of  Armenian  affairs,  and  had  paid  due 

3  court  to  Tiberius,  then  residing  in  Rhodes.4    All  this 
the    Emperor    recounted    in    the    Senate,    praising 
Sulpicius  for  his  devotion  to  himself,  and  throwing 
upon  Marcus  Lollius  the  blame  for  the  perverse  and 
unfriendly   attitude    of  the    young  prince.      Others, 

4  however,  did  not   hold  the  memory  of  Quirinius  in 

1  Velleius  asserts  that,  though  content  a  number  of  colonies  in  that  neighbour- 

with    three   triumphs,    Tiberius    could  hood  ;    elsewhere    Rome    made    little 

without  any  doubt  have  claimed  seven  attempt  to  Latinise  her  Eastern  empire, 

(ii.  132,  i).      But  it  is  not  easy  to  make  content    to    preserve  and    protect   the 

out  what  the  seven  could  have  been.  existing  Hellenic  civilisation.    See  Rush- 

*  See  on  chap.  22,  3.  forth,  p.  23.     For  the  probable  date  of 

*  One  of  the  wild  hill  tribes,  untouched  these  successes  see  Furn.'s  note. 

by  Greek  civilisation,  which  inhabited  «  Tiberius  never  forgave  those  who 

the  hill  ranges  on  the  borders  of  Pisidia  had  treated  him  with  coldness  or  in- 

and    Cilicia.     The    existence  of   these  civility  when    living    in    retirement   at 

tribes  explains  why  Augustus  established  Rhodes.     See  i.  4,  4  ;  ii.  42,  2. 


232  ANNALS    OF   TACITUS.  [A.D.  21. 

so  much  favour,  because  of  his  persecution  of  Lepida, 
related  above,  as  well  as  for  the  meanness  which 
he  displayed,  and  the  inordinate  influence  which  he 
exercised,  in  his  old  age. 

At   the   close  of  this  year,  an   informer  attacked  49- 
Clutorius  Priscus,  a  Roman  knight,  to  whom  Tiberius 
had  given  a  sum  of  money  for  a  poem  of  some  dis- 
tinction upon  the  death   of  Germanicus.     This  man 
was  now  accused  of  having  written  a  poem  during 
the  illness  of  Drusus,  in  the  hope  that,  if  Drusus  died, 
its  publication  would  bring  him  a  still  larger  recom- 
pense.1   This  poem  he  had  been  vain  enough  to  read  2 
aloud    at    the    house   of  Publius    Petronius,   in   the 
presence  of  Vitellia,  the  mother-in-law  of  Petronius, 
and  several  ladies  of  high  rank.     When  the  case  came  3 
on,  all  of  them  except  Vitellia  were  intimidated  into 
giving  evidence  against  Clutorius :  she  affirmed  that 
she  had  heard  nothing.2    But  the  inculpating  evidence 
was  believed  rather  than  hers,  and  upon  the  motion 
of  Haterius   Agrippa,   Consul   elect,    Clutorius   was  4 
condemned  to  death.     Against  this  proposal  Manius 
Lepidus  spoke  as  follows  : — 

If,  Conscript  Fathers,  he  said,  we  were  to  regard  only  5^ 
the  shameful  utterance  with  which  Clutorius  has  defiled 
his  own  mind,  and  the  ears  of  his  audience,  neither  the 
prison  nor  the  halter — nay,  not  even  the  tortures  applied  to 
slaves — would    be  punishment   enough  for  him.      But  2 
though  scandalous  and  outrageous  conduct  may  have  no 
•  limit,  some  limit  has  ever  been  set  to  measures  of  punish- 
ment and  redress,  both  by  the  clemency  of  the  Emperor, 
and  by  the  precedents  of  your  own  and  former  times ;  and 

1  This  expectation  recalls  the  famous  et   ratio   studiorum    in    Caesare    tan- 

instance   of   Octavia's    munificence  to  turn. 

Virgil  on  his  reciting  the  lines  about  2  Tacitus  evidently  regards  this  as  an 

Marcellus,  Aen.  vi.   869-886.      See  n.  admirable  (and  rare)  instance  of  female 

on  i.  3,   i.      Cp.  Juv.  vii.    i :  Et  spes  discretion. 


A.D.21.]  BOOK    III.  CHAPS.  48-51-  233 

if  a  distinction  maybe  drawn  between  crime  and  folly — 
between  evil  deeds  and  evil  words — there  is  perhaps  room 
for  a  sentence  by  ivhich  this  man's  offence  shall  not  go 
unpunished,  and  yet  no  cause  be  left  for  us  to  regret  cither 

3  our  leniency  or  our  severity.     I  have  many  a  time  heard 
our  Prince  complain  when  men  have  come  in  the  way  of 

4  his  clemency  by  taking  their  own  lives.     Clutorins  still 
lives ;  his  life  will  be  no  danger  to  the  State ;  his  death 

5  will  teach  no  lesson.     Insensate  as  his  productions  are, 
they  arc  of  no  importance,  and  will  not  survive  :  what  of 
serious  import  can  be  feared  from  one  zvho  betrays  his 
own  shame,  and  looks  not  to   men,  but  to  a  parcel  of 

6  women,  for  applause  ?    Nevertheless,   let  him   leave  the 
city,  and  be  interdicted  from  fire  and  water,  with  loss  of 
all  his  property.     In  proposing  which  sentence,   I  hold 
him  guilty  tinder  the  law  of  treason.1 

1  A  single  Consular,  Rubellius  Blandus,2  supported  but 
this  proposal.      The   rest   voted  with  Agrippa  ;  and 
Priscus  was  carried  off  to  prison,  and  straightway  put  d 

2  to  death.     For  this,  Tiberius  reproved  the  Senate  in  Affected 
his  usual  two-edged  fashion,  commending  the  dutiful 
feeling  which  led  them  to  punish  severely  any  outrage 
upon   their   Prince,   however    slight,   but    censuring 
their  undue  haste  in  visiting  words  with  punishment ; 
giving  credit  to   Lepidus,  yet  finding  no  fault  with 

3  Agrippa.     So  it  was  resolved  that,  in  future,  decrees 
of  the  Senate  should  not  be  reported  to  the  Treasury 
till  the  tenth  day  after  they  were  passed ;  and  that 
the  execution  of  condemned  persons  should  be  delayed 

4  for  a  similar  period.     Yet  even  so  the  Senate  were 
not  free  to  reconsider  their  judgments  ;   nor  did  the 
interval  thus  granted  ever  move  Tiberius  to  mercy. 

1  See  n.  on  chap.  22,  2.     This  speech       which   is  attributed   to   I^epidus  in  iv. 
is    an    excellent    example   of   the    in-       20,  4. 
dependence    tempered    by    discretion  3  See  n.  on  chap.  23,  2. 


234 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  22. 


Discussion 
on  the 
luxury  of 
the  times. 


The  matter 
referred  to 
the 
Emperor. 

Tiberius 
perplexed. 


A.D.  22.     CONSULS  C.  SULPICIUS  GALBA1  AND 
D.  HATERIUS  AGRIPPA. 

During  this  year  there  were  no  disturbances  5 
abroad ;  but  there  was  a  fear  at  home  that  severe 
measures  would  be  taken  to  check  extravagance, 
which  had  become  excessive  in  every  branch  of  ex- 
penditure. The  prices  paid  for  other  objects  of  2 
luxury,  immense  though  they  were,  were  kept  secret, 
or  not  truly  stated;  but  the  sums  lavished  on 
.gluttony  had  become  subject  of  common  talk,  and 
people  were  afraid  that  the  Emperor,  himself  a  man 
of  primitive  frugality,  might  take  severe  notice  of  the 
matter.  The  question  was  raised  by  Gaius  Bibulus,  3 
and  the  discussion  was  continued  by  the  other 
Aediles,2  who  complained  that  the  sumptuary  laws  3 
were  being  disregarded ;  that  the  prices  paid  for 
articles  of  diet4  were  higher  than  the  law  allowed,  and 
were  rising  every  day ;  and  that  no  ordinary  remedies 
could  check  the  mischief.  On  being  thus  consulted, 
the  Senate  passed  the  question  on  to  the  Emperor 
without  any  expression  of  opinion. 

Now   Tiberius   had   often   pondered    in   his   own  4 
mind  whether  it  were  possible  to  restrain  extrava- 
gance, when  it  had  gone  so  far ;  whether  an  attempt 
to   check   it    might    not  do    more  harm  than  good ; 


1  This  C.  Sulpicius  Galba  was  elder 
brother  of  the  future    emperor.     His 
suicide  is  mentioned  vi.  40,  3. 

2  For  the  duties  of  the  aediles,  see  n. 
on  ii.  85,  2. 

3  The  Lex  lulia,  passed  by  Augustus 
in  B.C.  22,  and  described  by  Gell.  ii.  24, 
14,  permitted  only  200  sesterces  (less 
than  £2)  to  be  spent  in  feasts  on  ordinary 
days  ;  300  on  the  Kalends,  Ides,  Nones, 
etc. ;  at  marriages  and  funeral  festivals, 
loco.    A  subsequent  edict  by  Augustus 
or    Tiberius  raised  the  sum    to    2000 


sesterces,  or  j£i6.  Such  absurd  re- 
gulations in  an  age  of  great  sensual 
luxury  can  only  have  defeated  their 
own  end.  They  give  some  justification 
to  the  famous  epigram  corruptissima 
re  publica  plurimae  leges  (chap.  27,  5). 
Their  only  effect  seems  to  have  been 
to  put  a  vexatious  weapon  into  the  hands 
of  malicious  prosecutors. 

4  The  word  utensilia  is  here  used  for 
necessary  articles  of  food,  as  in  i.  70,  6 ; 
ii.  60,  5  ;  and  xv.  39,  2  (subvectaque  uten- 
silia ab  Ostia)* 


A.D.22.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.  52-53-  235 

whether  it  would  not  be  unbecoming  to  take  in  hand 
measures  which  he  could  not  enforce,  or  enforce  only 
at  the  expense  of  dishonour  and  disgrace  to  illus- 
trious personages.  In  the  end,  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
the  Senate  to  the  following  effect  :— 

1  In    all    other    matters.    Conscript    Fathers,    it    were  He  lays  the 

whole  dim- 

perhaps  better  that  I   should  be   interrogated   in  your  cuitiesof 
presence,  and  tell  you   ivhat  I  think  the  public  interest  before  the 
demands.     But  in  regard  to  this  question,  it  is  well  that 
my  eyes  should  be  elsewhere  ;  lest  if  you  were  to  mark  out 
those  whose  fears  or  faces   betrayed  a  consciousness  of 
shameful  extravagance,   I  might  perceive  them   myself, 

2  and  as  it  were  detect  them.      If,   indeed,  our  excellent 
Aedilcs  had  taken  counsel  first  with  me,  I  might  perhaps 
have  advised  them  to  take  no  notice  of  failings  which  have 
come  to  a  head,  and  are  overmastering  us,  rather  than 
proclaim  the  fact  that  there  are  scandals  with  which  we  are 

3  unable  to  cope.     They,  however,  have  done  their  duty,  as  I 
should  wish  to  see  all  magistrates  do  theirs  ;  but  for  me, 
it  is  neither  seemly  to  keep  silence,  nor  yet  easy  to  speak 
outt  seeing  that  I  do  not  hold  the  office  cither  of  Acdile,  of 

4  Praetor,  or  of  Consul.     Some  greater  and  grander  utter- 
ance is  expected  from  the  Princeps  ; l  and  whereas  every  one 
takes  credit  to  himself  for  his  own  well-doing,  the  odium 

5  of  all  men's  sins  falls  upon  me  alone.     And  ivhere  am  I 
to  begin  ?     Which  form  of  extravagance  am  I  to  prohibit 
first,  or  cut  down  to  the  standard  of  olden  times  ?    Is  it 
the  vast  dimensions  of  our  country  houses  ? 2  the  number 

1  An  open  assertion  on  the  part  of  Tiberius  himself,  though  praised  for 

Tiberius  that  the  old  magistrates  had  his  economy  in  building,  had  no  less 

become  mere  subordinate  officers,  all  than  12  villas  embraced  in  his  residence 

under  his  control,  and  responsible  to  in  Capri  (iv.  67,  5) ;  recalling  the 

him,  as  he  was  responsible  to  the  public  phrase  of  Sallust,  villas  in  vrbium 

for  their  failures  or  successes.  modum  exaedificatas.  The  phenomenal 

*  For  Roman  extravagance  in  build-  villa  of  Hadrian  near  Tivoli  with  its 

ing  and  planting,  see  Hor.  Od.  ii.  15  appurtenances  occupied  a  space  of  some 

and  18,  etc. ;  also  Mayor's  n.  on  Juv.  10  to  12  miles  in  circuit,  and  was  more 

xiv.  86-95,  and  fried,  iii.  pp.  58-79.  like  a  city  than  a  villa. 


236  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  22. 

and  varied  nationality  of  our  slaves  ? x  the  weight  of  our 
gold  and  silver  plate  ?  our  art-marvels,  in  bronze  or 
painting  ?  the  wearing  of  the  same  textures  by  men  and 
women  alike  ? 2  Or  that  specially  feminine  form  of  luxury 
which  transports  our  treasure  to  foreign  and  even  hostile 
lands  for  the  purchase  of  precious  stones  ? 

he  shows  /  know  that  these  things  are  denounced  at  dinner  54 

evil  cannot  tables  and  other  gatherings,  and  that  some  restriction  is 
legislation,  called  for.  But  if  a  law  were  passed,  and  penalties  pro- 
claimed, these  same  gentlemen  would  cry  out  that  everything 
was  being  turned  upside  down  ;  that  all  outstanding  citizens 
were  being  threatened  with  ruin,  all  citizens  alike  with 
prosecution.  But  just  as  in  the  body  there  are  ailments  of  2 
long  standing,  come  to  a  head  through  time,  which  cannot 
be  arrested  but  by  severe  and  violent  remedies ;  so  when 
the  mind  has  become  corrupt  and  the  breeder  of  corruption, 
its  distempered  and  fevered  condition  can  only  be  assuaged 
by  remedies  as  potent  as  the  passions  which  have  inflamed 
it.  The  many  laws  devised  by  our  forefathers?  and  those  3 
passed  by  the  Divine  Augustus,  have  but  given  immunity 
to  extravagance ;  the  former  have  passed  into  oblivion : 
the  latter — what  is  more  shameful  still — have  been  contempt- 
uously disregarded.  For  if  a  man  desires  what  has  not  4 
been  forbidden,  he  may  be  afraid  of  prohibition  ;  but  if  he 
may  with  impunity  do  what  has  been  prohibited,  neither 
fear  nor  shame  can  restrain  him  longer.  Why,  then,  was  5 
economy  the  rule  of  old?  Because  every  one  exercised 
self-restraint;  because  we  were  citizens  of  a  single  city; 
our  very  temptations  were  not  the  same  so  long  as  our 

1  Pliny  mentions  a  man  who  in  B.C.       bidding  the  use  of  gold  plate,  and  of 
8  left  4116  slaves   (H.    N.    xxxiii.    10,       silken  apparel  for  men. 

135).    Seneca  (de  Ben.  vii.  10,  4)  speaks  3  Between. the  Lex  Oppia,    B.C.  215 

of  '  slaves  in  one  household  being  more  (see  n.  on  chap.   33,  4),  and  the  Lex 

numerous  than  a  fighting  nation  :  private  Julia,   at  least  seven  sumptuary  laws 

mansions  covering  more  ground   than  were   passed,   all  equally   futile.     The 

mighty  cities.'  phrase  tot  quas  divus  Augustus  tulit  is 

2  See  the  similar  discussion  in  chap.  an  obvious    exaggeration  :  see    n.   on 
2,  33,  when  a  decree  was  passed  for-  chap.  52,  3. 


A.D.  22.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.   53-55.  237 

rule  was  confined  to  Italy.  Foreign  conquest  lias  taught 
us  to  squander  what  belongs  to  others ;  civil  war  to  be 
wasteful  even  of  our  own. 

6  And  hoiv  paltry  are  the  matters  of  which  the  Aediles 
warn  us  !  How  insignificant,  if  the  whole  field  be  taken 
into  view  !  Not  one  of  you  recalls  the  fact  that  Italy  cannot 
live  without  foreign  aid ;  that  the  sustenance  of  the  Roman 
people  is  day  by  day  being  tossed  about  at  the  caprice 

I  of  wave  and  storm  ! 1    For  were  it  not  that  the  provinces 
came  to  the  help  of  masters,  slaves,  and  lands,  with  their 
resources,  would  our  pleasures-groves  and  country  palaces 

8  support  us  ?  And  yet,  Conscript  Fathers,  this  is  the  charge 
which    the    Princeps    has    to    undertake;    to    neglect   it 

9  would  bring  the  State  to  ruin.     For  all  else,  we  must 

s'cek  a  remedy  within  ourselves.     We  senators  may  be  but  rather 
turned  to  better  things  by  shame ;  the  poor  by  necessity ;  ^dividual 
10  the  wealthy  by  satiety.     Nevertheless,  if  any  of  the  magis-  examPle- 
tratcs  will  proffer  their  services  to  grapple  strenuously  and 
strictly  with  this  evil,  I  will  not  only  commend  them,  but 
will  acknowledge  that  they  are  relieving  me  of  part  of  my 

II  burdens.     But  if  they  propose  to  denounce  men's  failings, 
and  then,  having  gained  credit  for  that  performance,  to 
leave  with  me  the  animosities  ivhich  they  provoke :  believe 
me,  Conscript  Fathers,  I  am  no  more  anxious  to  rouse 
ill-will  than  they  are.     I  am  ready  to  face  fierce  resent- 
ments,  unjust  as  they  often  are,  incurred  in  the  public 
service ;  but  I  decline,  and  rightly  decline,  to  face  such 
as  are  purposeless  and  fruitless,  and  present  no  prospect 
of  usefulness  either  to  you  or  to  me. 

i         Upon  hearing  this  letter,  the  Senate  remitted  the  The  matter 

is  referred 

1  Rome  was  as  much  dependent  on  anxiety    to    the    Emperors  ;    Tiberius   to  the 

foreign   countries  for    her   supplies  of  carefully   attended    to    it,   as    Tacitus   Aediles. 

food  as  Great  Britain  is  to-day.     See  admits  (iv.  6,6).     In  the  year  A.D.  51 

the  passage  about  Egypt  in  ii.  59,  4,  the  stock  of  corn  in  the  city  was  reduced 

ne  fame  urgent  Italiam  quisquis  earn  to   15    days'   supply.     See  xii.  43,  5  : 

prminciam  .  .  .  insedissct,   etc.     The  African  potius  (i.e.   quam  Italiam)  ft 

maintaining  a  supply  of  corn   for  the  Aegyptum    exercemus,     navibusque    et 

populace    at    Rome    was    a    constant  casibus  vita  popttli  Romanipermissaest. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  22. 


Luxurious 
living , 
gradually 
grew  out  of 
vogue. 


Reasons 
for  this 
change. 


Vespasian 
the  great 
promoter 
of 
economy. 


matter  to  the  Aediles ;  and  by  degrees,  the  excessive 
expenditure  upon  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  which 
had  been  in  vogue  for  a  hundred  years,  from  the  end 
of  the  Actian  war  down  to  that  which  placed  Galba 
upon  the  throne,  fell  out  of  fashion.  We  may  here  2 
discuss  the  causes  of  this  change. 

In  former  times,  noble  or  distinguished  families 
that  had  wealth  were  often  ruined  by  the  passion  for 
display ;  for  in  those  days  men  might  still  pay  court  3 
to  tjie  populace,  or  to  allied  peoples  and  princes, 
and  be  courted  in  return.  The  greater  a  man's  show 
of  riches,  the  more  splendid  his  house  and  equip- 
ments, the  higher  stood  his  name,  the  larger  was  the 
number  of  his  clients.  But  after  the  proscriptions, 
when  a  great  reputation  became  a  fatal  possession, 
people  adopted  a  more  prudent  style  of  living.  About  4 
the  same  period,  many  self-made  men  from  muni- 
cipal towns,  from  colonies,  and  even  from  the  pro- 
vinces, were  admitted  into  the  Senate  ;  these  brought 
with  them  the  simple  manners  of  their  own  homes : 
and  though  many  of  them,  through  good  fortune  or 
their  own  exertions,  became  rich  in  their  old  age, 
they  still  retained  their  former  ideas?-' 

But    the   great   promoter  of  economy  was   Ves-  5 
pasian,  who  was  himself  a   man  of  the  olden   type, 
both  in  his  person  and  manner  of  life ;  thenceforth  a 


1  This  is  the  solitary  passage  in  which 
Tacitus  acknowledges  that  Rome  owed 
anything  to  that  influx  of  provincials  into 
.the  city  which  came  in  with  the  empire  ; 
he  never  even  alludes  to  the  fact  that 
the  best  intellectual  and  literary  circles 
of  Rome  in  the  first  century  were 
recruited  mainly  from  the  provinces. 
What  a  loss  to  history  that  his  old 
Roman  pride  should  lead  him  to  ignore 
•  so  completely  this  new  and  recuperative 
element  in  Roman  life  !  It  is  the  same 
with  Juvenal ;  he  can  appreciate  the 
simple  virtues  of  Italian  country  life ; 


but  when  he  deals  with  the  foreigner, 
we  hear  only  of  the  Graeculus  esuriens, 
of  households  corrupted  by  incomers, 
of  the  Orontes  pouring  all  its  foul  waters 
into  the  Tiber.  Persons  from  Italian 
towns  are  said  to  have  been  admitted 
into  the  senate  by  Tiberius  ;  Claudius 
and  Vespasian  did  the  same  thing  on  a 
large  scale,  and  from  the  provinces  also. 
Suetonius  says  of  Vespasian  amplissimos 
ordines  ,  .  .  purgavit  supplevitque , 
recenso  senatu  et  eqidte,  summotis  in- 
dignissimis,  ethonestissimoquoque  I  tali- 
corum  ac  provincialism  a//^^(Vesp.  9). 


A.D.  22.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.   55-56.  239 

feeling  of  deference  towards  the  Emperor,  and  the 
desire  to  follow  his  example,  proved  more  powerful 
for  good  than  all  the  penalties  and  terrors  of  the  law. 
6  And  perhaps  there  is  a  kind  of  cycle  in  human  affairs, 
whereby  manners  have  their  revolutions  like  the 
seasons ;  it  may  be,  too,  that  all  things  were  not  so 
much  better  in  the  past,  and  that  our  own  times  also 
have  produced  many  examples  of  virtuous  and  cul- 
tured lives  which  deserve  the  imitation  of  posterity. 
Long  may  such  noble  rivalry  between  our  ancestors 
and  ourselves  continue ! 

1  Having    thus  gained    credit    for    moderation    by 
checking  the  aggression  of  informers,  Tiberius  wrote 
a  letter  to   the    Senate    requesting    them   to   confer 

2  upon  Drusus  the  Tribunitian  Power.1     This  phrase 
Augustus  had  invented2  to  indicate  the  possession  of 
supreme  power;  for,  while  avoiding  the  title  of  King 
or  Dictator,  he  desired  some  designation  which  should 
place  him  on  a  pinnacle  above  every  other  authority. 

3  In  this  power  he  associated  with  himself,  first  Marcus 
Agrippa,  and   after  his   death,  Tiberius  Nero  :  thus 

4  clearly   indicating  his   successor.3    Confident   in   his 

1  See  notes  on  i.  2,  i  and  3,  3.  Caesar  senate  (Dio,  liii.  32,  5).    To  make  up  for 

assumed  the  powers  and  the  inviola-  the  loss  of  civil  dignity  implied  in  the 

bility  of  the  tribunitian  office  without  relinquishment  of  the  consulship,  and 

actually  bearing  the  title  (Dio,  xlii.  20,  3  ;  to  prevent  his  government  having  too 

Appian,  B.C.  ii.  106).    Such  an  assump-  military  an  appearance,  Augustus  en- 

tion  was,  in  fact,   inevitable;    for  the  hanced  at  the  same  time  the  importance 

immense  powers  of  the  tribunate,  in  any  of  the  Tribunicia  Potestas  in  the  manner 

hands  but  those  of  the  sovereign,  were  here  indicated.     The  name  fitted  itself 

incompatible  with  sovereignty.  exactly  to  his  persistent  policy,  enabling 

*  The  reference  here  is  to  the  year  him  to  exercise  vast  powers  under  a 

B.c.  23,  when  the  principate  was  finally  modest  constitutional  title.    See  n.  on 

established    in    the    form  in  which   it  i.  2,  i. 

remained  for  over  three  centuries.  The  '  As  Furn.  points  out,  Tacitus  is 
essence  of  the  change  then  made,  as  we  thinking  of  later  usage,  not  yet  crystal- 
have  seen,  was  that  Augustus  gave  up  lised  under  Tiberius.  Augustus  ad- 
the  continuous  holding  of  the  consulship,  mitted  both  Tiberius  and  Agrippa  to 
which  had  been  granted  for  ten  years  in  the  Tribunicia  Potestas  at  a  time  when 
H.C.  27,  and  received  in  its  place  the  his  own  grandsons  were  still  alive.  The 
imperium  proconsular :  any  inferiority  motive  of  Augustus  is  given  more  truly 
of  that  power  as  compared  with  the  in  the  words  quo  pluribus  munimentia 
imperium  consulare  being  at  once  made  insistent,  \.  3  5. 
good  to  him  by  special  decree  of  the 


240 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  22. 


who  is  now 
practically 
marked 
out  as 
successor. 


Letter  of 
Tiberius 
commend- 
ing 
Drusus. 


Flatteries 
of  the 
Senate. 


own    position,1    and    having    nothing    to    fear    from 
Tiberius,  he   considered  that  this  step  would  check 
treasonable  hopes  in  other  quarters.     Following  this  5 
example,  Tiberius  now  advanced  Drusus  to  the  first 
place,  though  as  long   as  Germanicus  was  alive,  he 
left  open  the  decision  between  the  two.     Beginning  e 
his  letter  with  a  prayer  that  the  Gods  might  prosper 
his  counsels  for  the  public  good,  he  went  on  to  speak 
of  the  young  man  in  moderate  terms,  without  false- 
hood or  exaggeration  : — 

His  son  was  married,  and  had  three  children  ;  he  was  7 
of  the  same  age*  as  he  himself  had  been  when  first  called 
upon  to  fill   the  same  place  by  the  Divine  Augustus. 
There  was  nothing  premature  in  assuming  as  a  colleague,  s 
in  labours  already  familiar  to  him,  one  who  had  been 
tried  for  a  period  of  eight*  years,  during  which  he  had 
quelled  mutinies,  concluded  wars,  won  a  Triumph,  and 
twice  filled  the  Consulship. 

The  Senate  was   prepared  for  the  tenor  of  this  51 
message ;  and  was  all  the  more  studied  in  its  adulation. 
And  yet  they  could  devise  nothing  more  novel  than  2 
to  vote   temples,  arches,  and   such   like  usual  com- 
pliments;   save  that  Silanus  sought  to  add  honour 
to   the   Caesars   by   belittling  the    Consulship,   and 
proposed  that  the  dates   on   all   monuments,   public 
or  private,  should  be  fixed   by  inscribing  on   them, 
not    the     names     of    the     Consuls,     but     of    those 
who   held    the   Tribunitian    Power.4     And    Quintus  3 


1  An      essential     characteristic     of 
Augustus  :  if  Tiberius  had  possessed  a 
similar  confidence  in  himself,  he  might 
never  have  become  a  tyrant. 

2  In  his  thirty-fifth  year,  which  would 
put  the  birth  of  Drusus  in  B.C.  13. 

3  The  eight  years  cover  the  time  from 
the  accession  of  Tiberius.     Seditionibus 
refers  to  the  Pannonian  mutiny  (i.  24- 
30).    The  war  is  the  Illyrian  war,  ending 
in  the  fall  of  Maroboduus  and  Catualda 
(ii.  44  and  62).    Drusus  celebrated  an 


ovation  (not  a  triumph)  in  A.D.  19 
(Hi.  19,  4) ;  his  consulships  were  in 
A.D.  14  (i.  55,  i)  and  A.D.  21  (iii.  31,  i). 
4  The  proposal  may  have  been  pre- 
mature ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the 
emperors  before  long  regularly  dated 
the  years  of  their  reign  from  their  tenure 
of  the  tribunitian  power.  The  words 
Trib.  Pot.  with  a  numeral  after  them, 
to  denote  the  year  of  tenure,  occupy 
a  prominent  place  on  all  imperial 
inscriptions. 


A.D.  22.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.   56-58.  241 

Haterius1  covered  himself  with  ridicule  by  moving 
that  the  resolutions  passed  that  day  should  be  put 
up  in  the  Senate-house  in  letters  of  gold.  He  could 
reap  nothing,  at  his  age,  but  infamy  from  so  loath- 
some a  piece  of  sycophancy. 

1  About  this  time,  the  command  of  Junius  Blaesus  ciaimof 
in   Africa  was  extended  ;  and  Servius  Maluginensis,  DiWtcT" 
who  was  Flamen  Dialis,  claimed  to  have  the  Province  Province 
of  Asia  allotted   to  him.     //  ivas  a  common  error,  he  ^mgned  to 
maintained,  to  suppose  that  the  Flamen  of  Jupiter  could 

not  leave  Italy.  His  rights  were  the  same  as  those  of  the 
Flamens  of  Mars  and  Quirinus  ;  if  provinces  had  been 
allotted  to  them,  ivhy  should  they  be  refused  to  the  Flamen 
of  Jupiter?*  There  was  no  law  against  it;  there  was 

2  nothing  in  the  priestly  books  against  it.      The  sacred 
duties  of  the  office  had  often  been  performed  by  ordinary 
priests,  when  the  Flamen  was  kept  away  by  illness  or 
public  duty.     The  office  itself  had  been  in  abeyance  for 
seventy-five* years  after  the  suicide  of  Cornelius  Merula  ; 

3  yet  the  religious  services  had  never  been  intermitted.     If  a 

vacancy  could  remain  so  long  unfilled  without  detriment 
to  the  rites,  how  much  more  easy  for  the  occupant  to  absent 
*  himself  for  one  year*  of  Proconsular  command?  The  rule 
by  ivhich  in  olden  times  the  Chief  Pontiff  forbade  the 
Flamen  to  assume  the  command  of  provinces,  had  been 
due  to  personal  animosities  ;  but  now,  by  the  grace  of  the 
Gods,  they  had  a  Chief  Priest  who  was  Chief  of  the  State 

1  For  Q.  Haterius,  see  i.  13,  4 ;   ii.  8  The  MS.  says  seventy-two  years ; 

33,    i,   and  iv.  61,    i,   where    Tacitus  but      Cornelius      Messala    committed 

comments  on  his  brilliant  but  ephemeral  suicide  B.C.  87,  on  the  return  of  Marius 

rhetoric.     He  is    to    be    distinguished  to  Rome,  and  the  post  was  not  filled  up 

from  D.   Haterius  Agrippa,  mentioned  by  Augustus  till  B.C.  n. 
iii.  49,  4.  *  Thus  the    term    of   office    in    the 

1  The  old  republican  custom  was  that  senatorial  provinces  was  limited  to  one 

all   three    flamens  had    to    remain    in  year ;  in  the  imperatorial  provinces,  as 

Rome    to    attend    to    their   respective  we  have  seen,  Tiberius  kept  his  legati 

sacra.     But  in  chap.  66,  2  we  find  C.  in  office  indefinitely,  if  once  approved 

Silanus,  who  was  flamen  Martialis,  in  (i.  80,  2). 
command  of  Asia. 


242 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  22. 


The  claim 
opposed, 

Tiberius!0 


A  letter  of 
from  s 


Abuse  of 
the  right 

referred  by 
Tiberius  to 
the  Senate. 


also,   inaccessible  to  jealousy,  ill-will,   and  all  personal 
considerations. 

This  view  being  opposed  on  various  grounds  by  59- 
the  Augur  Lentulus  *  and  others,  it  was  agreed  in  the 
end  to  await  the  opinion  of  the  Pontifex  Maximus. 
Postponing,  however,  for  a  time,  an  examination  into  2 
the  rights  of  the  Flamen,  Tiberius  modified  some  of 
the  honours  bestowed  on  Drusus  in  connection  with 
the  Tribunitian  Power.     He  objected  specially  to  the 
resolution  as  to  the  golden  letters,  as  unprecedented 
and  un-Roman. 

A  letter  was  also  read  from  Drusus;  but  though  3 
couched   in   modest   terms,   it    was    regarded    as   an 
act  of  insolence  :2  —  What?  had  things  come  to  this,  that 
a  mere  stripling,  on  receiving  so  great  an  honour,  was 
not  to  present  himself  before  the  Gods  of  the  City,  or  appear 
in  the  Senate,  or  even  assume  the  auspices  on  his  native 
soil  ?    It  was  a  case  of  war,  was  it  ?  or  of  detention  in  4 
distant  lands  ?   when  he  was,   in  fact,  dallying  by  the 
shores  and  lakes  of  Campania  !     Was  this  the  way  in  5 
which  the  future  ruler  of  the  human  race  was  being 
trained  ?  were  these  the  first  lessons  that  he  was  drawing 
from  his  fathers  counsels  ?    An  aged  Emperor  might,  6 
perhaps,  shrink  from  the  gaze  of  his  fellow  citizens  ;  he 
might  plead  fatigue,  old  age,  and  a  life  spent  in  labour  ; 
but  in  the  case  of  Drusus,  what  impediment  could  there 
be  but  arrogance  ? 

Yet3  while  Tiberius  was  thus   strengthening  for  60. 
himseif  the  powers  of  the  Principate,  he  still  left  to 

*  His  full  name  was  Cn.  Cornelius  3  The    force    of    sed   here    is    that, 

I^entulus.     Seneca  describes  him  as  a  although   the    granting    of    the    Trib, 

r'cn  anc*  avaricious  dullard  ;  so  slow  of  Pot.   to   Drusus  was    a    strengthening 

speech    that,    miserly  as    he    was,    he  of  imperial  authority,  leading  Drusus  to 

parted  with  his  words  even  less  readily  an  act  of  arrogance,  Tiberius  neverthe- 

than  with  his  money  (de  Ben.  ii.  27).  less    still    entrusted    the    senate    with 

2  Drusus  was  on  the  whole  a  favourite  important  affairs. 
(chap.  37,  2)  :  but  Roman  society  did 
not  spare  its  criticisms. 


A.D.  22.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.   58-61.  243 

the  Senate  some  shadow  of  its  ancient  rights,  referring 
petitions  from  the  provinces  for  their  consideration. 

2  Thus  an  abuse  was  becoming  rampant  in  the  cities  of 
Greece  from   the   unchecked   license    of   setting  up 
sanctuaries.    These  sanctuaries  were  filled  with  slaves 
of  the  lowest  class ;  they  extended  protection  to  debtors 
flying  from  their  creditors,  and  to  persons  suspected 

3  of  capital   crimes ;   and  the  populace,  screening  the 
offences   of  men   under  cover   of   doing    service   to 
the   Gods,  broke  out  in  riots  which  the  authorities 

4  were  powerless  to  repress.      Accordingly  these  cities  investiga- 
were  ordered  to  send  envoys  to  Rome  to  make  good  cSSms 

5  their  claims.     Some  of  them  which  had  assumed  the  c 
right  without  authority,  relinquished  it  of  their  own 
accord  ;  others  relied  on  traditions,  or  on  services  ren- 

6  dered  to  the  Roman  people.     And  a  fine  sight  it  was 
that  day  to  see  the  Senate  inquiring  into  privileges 
granted  by  our  forefathers,  or  into  treaties  with  our 
allies,  or  edicts  issued  by  kings  who    had    reigned 
before  the  days  of  Roman  rule — nay,  even  into  the 
worship  of  the  Gods  themselves — free,  as  in  the  days 
of  old,  to  cancel  or  confirm.1 

1  First  came  the  people  of  Ephesus.     They  affirmed  claims  of 
that  Diana  and  Apollo  had  been  born,  not  in  Delos, 
according  to  the  popular  belief,  but  beside  their  own 

river  Cenchreus,  in  the  Ortygian  grove.  It  was  there 
that  Latona,  being  big  with  child,  had  given  birth  to 
those  two  Divinities,  leaning  upon  an  olive-tree 
which  was  still  standing;  the  grove  had  been  held 

2  sacred  ever  since  by  divine  command,   and  Apollo 
himself  had   found   shelter  there,  after  slaying   the 
Cyclops,  from  the  wrath  of  Jupiter.    At  a  later  period, 

1  Tacitus  cannot   contain   his  pride       exercising  its  high  imperial  functions  as 
and  satisfaction  at  the  idea  of  the  senate       of  old. 


244 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  22. 


of 

Magnesia, 


Father  Liber,  when  victorious  over  the  Amazons,1  had 
spared  those  who  placed  themselves  as  suppliants 
upon  the  altar ;  Hercules  had  added  to  the  sanctity  3 
of  the  shrine  when  conquering  Lydia;2  its  privileges 
had  been  respected  under  Persian  rule,  by  the  Mace- 
donians, and  lastly  by  ourselves.3 

Next  came  the  people  of  Magnesia.  They  relied  62, 
upon  the  dispositions  made  by  Lucius  Scipio  and 
Lucius  Sulla.  The  former,  after  defeating  Antiochus, 
the  latter,  after  his  victory  over  Mithradates,  had 
rewarded  the  loyalty  and  valour  of  the  Magnesians4 
by  granting  an  inviolable  right  of  asylum  to  the 
temple  of  Diana  Leucophryna.5  Then  the  people  of  2 
Aphrodisias6  and  Stratoniceia  produced  two  proclama- 
tions, one  by  the  Dictator  Caesar,  lauding  their  long 
devotion  to  his  party ;  and  one,  more  recent,  by  the 
Divine  Augustus,  in  which  they  were  commended  for 
having  withstood  an  invasion7  of  the  Parthians,  without 
faltering  in  their  allegiance  to  Rome.  The  worship  3 
maintained  by  the  Aphrodisians  was  that  of  Venus, 
by  the  Stratoniceans  that  of  Jupiter  and  Diana  of  the 
Cross  ways. 

A  claim  of   still  higher   antiquity  was   advanced  4 
by  the   people   of  Hierocaesarea,8  on   behalf  of  the 


1  For  the  various  legends  about  the 
Amazons,  see  Furn.  and  Smith,  Biog. 
Diet.     The  foundation  of  Ephesus,  as 
well  as  of  other  cities,  was  ascribed  to 
them. 

2  The  usual  form  of  the  legend  is  that 
the  Lydian  lady  Omphale  had  captivated 
Hercules. 

?  An  inscription  has  been  found 
giving  the  boundaries  of  this  asylum  as 
recognised  by  Augustus,  and  fixing  the 
date  at  B.C.  5.  See  Furn. 

4  The  town  indicated  is  Magnesia  ad 
Maeandrum,  now  Manissa,  in  the  SW. 
of  Lydia  ;  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
Magnesia  ad  Sipylum  (or  a  Sipylo,  ii. 
47,  4)  in  the  NW.  It  was  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill  Sipylus  (a  spur  of  Mt. 


Tmolus)  that  the  Scipios,  in  B.C.  170, 
gained  their  great  victory  over  Antiochus 
the  Great,  which  opened  up  the  East  to 
the  Roman  arms. 

5  The  epithet  is  said  to  be  derived 
from  an  older  town,  Leucophrys,  on  the 
site    of   Magnesia.      Remains    of   the 
temple  still  exist. 

6  Aphrodisias  was  on  the  borders  of 
Caria   and   Phrygia.      Stratoniceia,    in 
Caria,    was    called    after    the    wife  of 
Antiochus  Soter  (282  to  262  B.C.). 

7  Alluding    to    the    time    when    the 
Parthians,  under  Pacorus  and  the  rene- 
gade Q.  Labienus,  overran  the  whole 
province  of  Asia,  B.C.  40.    See  n.  on  ii.  i. 

8  Hierocaesarea  was  in  Lydia,  between 
Sardis  and  Smyrna. 


A.D.  22.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.  61-63.  245 

Temple  of  the  Persian  Diana,1  dedicated  in  the  reign 
of  Cyrus.  They  quoted  Perpenna,2  Isauricus,3  and 
other  Roman  generals  as  having  recognised  the 
sanctity  not  of  the  temple  only,  but  of  the  ground  for 
5  two  miles  round  it.  Then  followed  the  Cyprians, 
claiming  for  three  shrines,  the  oldest  of  which  was  in 
honour  of  the  Paphian  Venus,4  founded  by  Ae"rias  ; 
next,  one  built  by  his  son  Amathus  to  the  Amathusian 
Venus ;  and  lastly,  one  in  honour  of  Jupiter  of 
Salamis,  founded  by  Teucer  when  he  fled  from  the 
wrath  of  his  father  Telamon. 

1  Embassies   were    heard   from    other    cities    also,  and  of 

2  Wearied  by  their  number,  and  finding  that  there  was 
a  contest  between  rival  interests,  the  Senate  remitted 
it  to  the  Consuls  to  examine  into  the  rights  of  each 
case,   to   search   out   any  instances  of  fraud,   and  to 

3  report  to  them  upon  the  whole  subject.     In  addition  TheCon- 

.  •  i       i        V.  suls  report 

to  the  claims  above  mentioned,  the  Consuls  reported  on  the 
that  they  had  discovered  a  right  of  asylum  appertain-  question, 
ing  to  the  temple  of  Aesculapius  at  Pergamum  ;5  the 
origin  of  the  others  they  held  to  be  lost  in  antiquity. 

4  Thus   the   people   of  Smyrna    quoted   an   oracle    of 
Apollo,    bidding    them    found    a    temple    to    Venus 
Stratonicis ; 6  the  Tenians,7  an  utterance  by  the  same 
God,  ordering  them  to  dedicate  a  temple  and  a  statue 

1  The  Artemis  worshipped  at  Ephesus,  splendour,  carved  originally  out  of  the 

Magnesia,  and  Hierocaesarea  was  the  Thracian  kingdom  of  Lysimachus,  from 

same    goddess:     Pausanias    calls    her  B.C.  280  to  B.C.  133;  in  which  year  the 

Anaeitis  (iii.  16,  8).     She   was  called  last   king,  Attalus    III.,  bequeathed  it 

Persica  because  of  her  supposed  origin.  to  the  Romans.     It  thenceforth  became 

8  M.  Perpenna  or  Perperna,  cos.  B.C.  the  capital  of  the  Roman  province  of 

130,  victor  and  captor  of  Aristonicus  of  Asia. 

Pergamum.  «  The  antiquity  of  this  temple  shows 

*  Probably   P.     Servilius    Isauricus,  that  the  name  can  have  no  connection 

procos.  of  Asia  B.C.  46.  with  the  Stratoniceia  mentioned  in  the 

4  The  Venus  of  Cyprus  was  probably  n.  to  chap.  62,  2.     The  goddess  is  sup- 

Astarte.  posed  to  be  the  Aphrodite  Mi«i?$6pov  of 

4  The  city  of  Pergamum,  which  was  the  Greeks,  the   Venus   Victrix  of  the 

situated  on  the  Caicus,  in  Teuthrania,  Romans. 

is  described  by  Pliny  as  oppidum  longe  T  Tenos,  one  of  the  Cyclades,  now 

clarissimum  Asiae.     It  was  the  capital  Tino. 
of  an   independent  kingdom  of  great 


. 


246  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  22. 

to  Neptune.     The  Sardians 1  referred  to  more  recent  5 
times,  naming  Alexander  the  Great  as  the  founder  of 
their  asylum,  while  the   Milesians2  relied   on   King 
Darius :  in  these  two  cases  the  worship  was  that  of  G 
Diana  and   Apollo    respectively.     And  the  Cretans 
demanded    the    right    for    a    statue    of  the   Divine 
Augustus. 

and  the  The  Senate  issued  decrees  in  terms  full  of  respect,  7 

decrees       but  imposing  certain  restrictions.    Brazen  tablets  were 
jngiy.         to  be  set  up  inside  the  temples  as  a  record  of  the 
rights  granted,  but  such  religious  privileges  were  not 
to  be  turned  into  an  excuse  for  rivalries  with  other 
cities.3 

illness  of  About  this  time  the  severe  illness  of  Julia  Augusta  64. 
compelled  the  Emperor  to  return  hurriedly  to  Rome ; 
for  if  mother  and  son  were  no  longer  in  complete 
accord,  their  hatred  was  at  least  well  concealed.  For 
not  long  before,  when  dedicating  a  statue  to  the  2 
Divine  Augustus  near  the  theatre  of  Marcellus,4  Livia 
had  inscribed  on  it  the  name  of  Tiberius  beneath  her 
own.  Tiberius,  it  was  believed,  had  taken  offence  at 
this,  regarding  it  as  a  slight  upon  his  Imperial 
Majesty,  though  he  had  disguised  and  suppressed 
Suppiica-  his  resentment.  On  the  occasion  of  this  illness  the  3 

tion  and  ...  .  ..  . 

games  Senate  voted  a  public  supplication,  with  an  exhibi- 
tion of  Great  Games  to  be  held  by  the  Pontiffs,  the 
Augurs,  and  the  three  Sacred  Colleges — the  Quinde- 
cimviri  sacris  faciundis?  the  Septemviri  Epulones,  and  the 

1  Sardis,  the  ancient  capital  of   the  extend  the  rights  of  asylum  beyond  their 

Lydian  kings  and  Persian  Satraps.  original    limits,   in    rivalry  with   other 

'2  Miletus,  in  Caria,  at  the  mouth  of  cities. 

the  Maeander,  was  the  most  southernly  *  This    theatre    was     dedicated    by 

city  of  the  Ionian  confederation.    With-  Augustus  B.C.  n,  between  the  Capitol 

in  its  territory  lay  the  temple  of  Apollo  and  the  Tiber.     Its  picturesque  ruins, 

at  Branchidae,  the  sculptures  of  which  partly  turned  to  modern  uses,  still  exist, 

are  among  the  most  valued  treasures  of  close  to  the  Portico  of  Octavia. 

the  British  Museum.  6  The  Quindecimvirisacrisfaciundi^ 

3  i.e.  they  were  not  to    attempt  to  whose  chief   charge  was  that  of   the 


A.D.22.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.  63-65.  247 

4  Sodalcs  Augustalcs.1     Lucius  Apronius  proposed  that 
the  Fetials  should  be  added  to  the  list  of  presiding 
corporations ;  but  this  was  opposed  by  Tiberius,  who 
explained  from  ancient  precedents  the  privileges  of 

5  the  several  priestly  bodies  : — 77/6'  Fctials,  he  said,  had 
never  enjoyed  such  a  distinction  as  was  proposed  ;  the  only 
reason  for  including  the  Augustan  Brotherhood  loas  that 
their  sacred  office  was  attached  to  the  family  on  whose 
behalf  the  voivs  ivere  to  be  paid. 

i         It  is  no  part  of  my  purpose  to  set  forth   every  Fulsome 
motion  that  was  made  in  the  Senate,  but  only  such  as 


were  either  very  honourable  or  specially  disgraceful 
in  their  character.  For  I  deem  it  to  be  the  chief 
function  of  history  to  rescue  merit  from  oblivion,  and 
to  hold  up  before  evil  words  and  evil  deeds  the  terror 

2  of  the  reprobation  of  posterity.2    And  in  those  days,  so 
deep,  so  foul,  was  the  taint  of  flattery,  that  not  only 
men   of  leading  in   the  state — men   who  could  only 
maintain  their  illustrious  position  by  subserviency3 
—but   also   the  whole   body  of  Consulars,  many   of 
praetorian  rank,  and  even  many  ordinary4  senators, 
would   rise   in  the  Senate  and  outbid   one  other  in 

3  making  fulsome  and   extravagant  proposals.     Tradi-  ?rv£JJ  ri 
tion    tells    how    Tiberius,   every   time    that    he    left  disgusted 
the   Senate-house,  would   exclaim   in   Greek,   O  men 

Sibylline  Books;  the  Septemviri  Epu-          3  i.e.  there  might  be  some  excuse  for 

tones  (now  ten  in  number)  who  super-  flattery  on  the  part  of  leading  statesmen, 

vised  sacred  banquets;  the  Augures ;  and  who  had  positions  to  lose;  there  was 

the  Pontifices,  formed   the   four    great  none  in  the  case  of  ordinary  senators, 

priestly  colleges.  Not  a  very  exalted  sentiment. 
»    !  The  institution  of  this  priesthood  is  *  Originally  denoting   senators  who 

recorded  i.  54,  i.  voted    without    speaking,    the    phrase 

*  A  noble,  but  somewhat  dangerous  pedarii  came  to  denote  ordinary  senators 

principle,  even   in   worthy  hands.      It  who  had  held  no  office  higher  than  that 

tends  to  make  history  a  chronicle  of  the  of  quaestor,  or  perhaps    aedile.     The 

opinions  and  prejudices  of  the  historian.  present   passage  shows  that   they  had 

^Tacitus  is,  in  fact,  as  much,  if  not  more,  liberty  to  speak  if  they  desired.    Perhaps 

a  moralist  than  a  historian  ;   and  it  is  the  difference  was  that  they  were  not 

mainly  his  brilliance   in  that  character  called  upon  for  their  opinion,  as  were 

which  has  won  for  him  the  admiration  consulars  and  senators  of  higher  rank, 
of  posterity. 


248 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  22. 


meet  for  slavery  !    For  even  he,  enemy  of  public  free-  4 
dom  as  he  was,  felt  disgust  at  such  abject  and  all- 
enduring  servility. 

And   from   servility   they   passed   by    degrees  to  66. 
persecution.     Gaius  Silanus,1  Proconsul  of  Asia,  had  2 
freasonand  been  accused  by  the  provincials  of  extortion.    Mamer- 
Scaurus,  a  Consular,  Junius  Otho,  a  Praetor,  and 


Bruttedius  Niger,  an  Aedile,  all  set  upon  him  at  once, 
charging  him  with  having  outraged  the  Divinity  of 
Augustus,  and  insulted  the  Majesty  of  Tiberius. 
Mamercus  quoted  precedents  from  antiquity  :  how 
Lucius  Cotta  had  been  accused  by  Scipio  Africanus, 
Servius  Galba  by  Cato  the  Censor,  and  Publius 
Rutilius  by  Marcus  Scaurus;2  as  if  Scipio  or  Cato 
ever  attacked  offences  such  as  these!3  or  that  famous 
Scaurus  4  either,  the  great-grandfather  of  this  same 
Mamercus  who  was  now  dishonouring  his  ancestors, 
and  all  his  house  besides,  by  these  degrading  services.5 
Junius  Otho  had  long  been  a  schoolmaster;  raised 
to  the  Senate  by  the  patronage  of  Sejanus,  his 
unblushing  effronteries  added  a  still  deeper  stain6 


1  Silanus  had  been  procos.  of  Asia  in 
A.D.  20  and  21. 

2  These  were  all  famous  trials.     The 
prosecution  of  Cotta  was  between  B.C. 
132  and  129 ;    but  Cicero  tells  us  that 
the  high  position  of  the  accuser  actually 
told  in  favour  of  the  accused  (pro  Mur. 
28,    58).      Servius   Sulpicius    Galba,   a 
great  orator,  was  accused  by  Cato  the 
elder,    B.C.    149,    for    gross   cruelty   in 
Spain ;    his   eloquence  and  appeals  ad 
misericordiam  secured  him  an  acquittal 
{Cic.  Brut.  23,  89).     P.  Rutilius  Rufus 
and  M.  Aemilius  Scaurus  were  opposing 
candidates  for  the  consulship  in  B.C. 
1 1 6 :  each  accused  the  other  of  bribery 
(Brut.  30,  113). 

3  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  accusations 
brought  by  Scipio  and  Cato  were  ex- 
actly similar  to   those  brought  against 
Silanus  now  ;  except  that   in  his   case 
charges  of  majestas  were  added.     Taci- 
tus ignores  all  but  the  latter ;  though 


he  has  to  confess  (chap.  67,  2)  that 
Silanus  was  guilty  both  of  cruelty  and 
bribery. 

4  Tacitus  here  names  Scaurus,   the 
chosen    champion    of    the   Optimates, 
as  a  name  above  all    reproach  ;    but 
Sallust  describes  him  as  factiosus,  avi- 
dus  potentiae  honoris  divitiarum,  cete- 
rum  -vitia  sua  callide  occultans  (Jug. 

15.  3)- 

5  The  crime  of  Mamercus  consists  in 
his  prosecuting  Silanus.     Nothing  else 
discreditable  is  recorded  of  him  in  the 
Annals  (see  i.  13,   4 ;   iii.  31,   5)  ;  and 
when  himself  accused,  he  met  his  fate 
ut  digmim  veteribus  Aemiliis  (vi.  29,  7). 
Tacitus  describes  him  in  that  passage 
as  insignis  nobilitate  et  or  and  is  causis, 
•vita  probrosus  ;    the    last   words    may 
have  no  further  meaning  than  infami 
opera  in  the  present  passage. 

6  Reading  propolluebat  with  the  MS. 


A.D.22.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.   65-67.  349 

5  to  the  meanness  of  his  origin.1      Bruttedius   was   a 
man  of  high  and  varied  culture;2  had  he  followed  a 
straight   path,  he  would    have   attained  to  the  very 
highest  eminence.     But  a  spirit  of  impatience  goaded 
him  on  to  outstrip  first,  his  equals,  then  his  superiors, 

6  and  at  last  his  own  ambition  also  :  a  spirit  which  has 
been  the  ruin  of  many  a  worthy  man  who,  despising 
the  safe  and  sure  way,  has  hurried  to  be  great  before 
his  time. 

1  The   host   of   accusers   was    now     reinforced   by 
Gellius  Publicola  and  Marcus  Paconius  ;  the  former 
had   been   the   Quaestor,8  the   latter  the   Legate,   of 

2  Silanus.     That   Silanus   had   been   guilty   of  cruelty 
and    venality  was   not   questioned ;    but   he   had   to 
face   a  combination    of  circumstances   which   would 
have  been    formidable    even    to    an    innocent    man. 
Besides  a  host  of  senators,  he  had  against  him  the  Unfairness 

_    .     .  ,    _  of  the  trial: 

most  eloquent  orators  of  Asia,  selected  for  that  very 
reason ;  and  though  himself  inexperienced  in  speak- 
ing, he   had   to  conduct   his  own  defence  unaided— 
a  task  trying  to  the  most  practised  orators.     Then 
Tiberius  never  ceased  brow-beating  him  with  voice  Silanus, 
and  look,  putting  to  him  a  multitude   of  questions,  beaten 
which  he  was  not  allowed  either  to  repel  or  to  evade  :  Tiberius, 
he   had   sometimes    even   to   make   admissions,    lest 
Tiberius  should  have  asked  a  question  to  no  purpose.4 

3  Even   his  slaves  were  bought  by   the  agent  of  the 
Treasury  that  they  might  be  examined  under  torture  ;5 
and  to  prevent  his  friends  from  helping  him  in  his 

1  Though  treated  here  so    contemp-  governor,   as  he  stood   in  confidential 

tuously,  this   Otho   is  spoken  of  with  relations  towards  him.   See  n.  on  i.  74,  i. 
respect  by  Seneca  both  as  a  speaker  *  As  said  above,  Tacitus  treats   the 

and  as  an  author  (Contr.  ii.  i,  33).  main   charge  lightly,  and  regards   the 

8  Bruttedius  also  was  an  orator  and  whole  trial  as  one  for  majestas.     Tibe- 

a  writer  (Sen.   Suas.  vi.  21).     See  Juv.  rius'  method  of  personal  cross-examina- 

x.  83  and  Mayor's  n.  tion,  as  here  described,  must  have  been 

*  It  was  considered  particularly  dis-  highly  disconcerting, 
graceful  for  a  quaestor  to  accuse  his          4  See  n.  on  ii.  30,  3. 


250  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  22. 

peril,  charges  of  treason  were  trumped  up  against 
them  also,  so  as  to  secure  and  compel  their  silence, 
makes  a      He  therefore  craved  an  adjournment  for  a  few  days;  4 
toMm?*6*1  and  abandoning  his  defence,  ventured  to  write  to  the 
Emperor,  in  a  tone  of  mingled  entreaty  and  expostu- 
lation. 

He  is  Anxious  to  justify  by  some  precedent  the  punish-  68 

condem  d  ment  wnicn  he  was  preparing  for  Silanus,  Tiberius 
tocfyams.  ordered  to  be  read  aloud  a  letter  written  by  the 
Divine  Augustus  in  the  case  of  Volesus  Messalla,  who 
had  been  Proconsul  of  the  same  province,  as  well  as 
the  sentence  passed  on  him  by  the  Senate.1  He 
then  asked  Lucius  Piso  for  his  opinion.  After  a  2 
long  preamble  upon  the  Emperor's  clemency,  Piso 
proposed  that  Silanus  should  be  interdicted  from  fire 
and  water,  and  relegated  to  the  island  of  Gyarus.2 
The  others  concurred;  but  Gneaus  Lentulus  suggested  3 
that  the  property  which  had  come  to  Silanus  through 
his  mother — she  belonged  to  the  family  of  the  Atii3 
— should  be  set  apart  from  the  rest,  and  allowed  to 
pass  to  his  son.  To  this  Tiberius  assented. 

Adulatory         Cornelius  Dolabella 4  carried  his  flattery  to  a  point  69 
Doiabeiia?f  further  still.     After  denouncing  Silanus,  he  proposed 
that  no  person  of  notoriously  evil  life  and  reputation, 
of  which  the  Emperor  should  be  sole  judge,  should  be 
eligible  for  the  command  of  a  province.     The  law,  he  2 
remarked,  punished  offences  after  they  were  committed ; 
but  how  much  more  merciful  would  it  be  to  the  offender 

1  The  comparison  with  Messalla  Vo-  this  passage  has  been  offered.     I  read 
lesus  is  peculiarly  odious.     Volesus  was  /J /where,  with  much  doubt,  after  Halm, 
proconsul   of  Asia    in    B.C.    12  or   n.  instead  of  the  MS.  alia.     Atia  was  the 
Seneca  tells  how,  after  beheading  300  name  of  the  mother  of  Augustus  ;  if 
men  in  one  day,  he  walked  gloatingly  this  Atia  were  of  the  same  family,  it 
among  the  corpses,  exclaiming  in  Greek,  might   be  a  reason     for    treating  her 
O  rent  regiam !  (De  ira,  ii.  5,  5).  property     with    consideration.     .Some 

2  Gyarum  or  Gyaros,  one  of  the  lesser  think  alia   might  mean  '  of  a  different 
Cyclades,   between  Andros  and   Keos,  character  from  her  son.' 

now  Giura  (Juv.  i,  73).  4  It  was  this  Dolabella  who  proposed 

3  No    satisfactory    interpretation    of       the  absurda  adulatio  in  chap.  47,  4. 


A.D.  22.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.  67-69.  251 

— how  much  better  for  the  allies — to  provide  against 
their  being  committed!  But  this  was  opposed  by 
Tiberius  :— 

He    had   been  aware  of  the    reports  current  about  opposed  by 

•^  *  'T*:L- 


Silanus;  but  decisions  should  not  be  based  on  rumour. 
There  were  many  men  ivho  in  the  command  of  provinces 
had  disappointed  the  hopes,  or  the  fears,  which  had  been 
*  formed  in  regard  to  them.  Some  were  stimulated  to 
higher  things  by  having  great  things  to  do ;  others  were 
paralyzed  by  it.  The  Princeps  could  not  embrace  every- 
thing within  his  own  knowledge;  and  it  was  not  expedient 
that  he  should  be  led  by  the  interested  vieivs  of  others. 

5  The  law  ivas  appointed  to  deal  ivith  accomplished  facts, 
because  the  future  was  uncertain;  hence  our  forefathers 
had  laid  it  down  that  when  misdeeds  had  gone  before, 

6  punishment   should  follow  after.      Let   them  not  upset 
arrangements  wisely  devised  and  approved  by  experience. 
Princes  had  burdens  enough  as  it  was  ;  enough  of  power 
also.    Every  increase  of  prerogative  was  a  weakening  of 
the  law ;  the  Imperial  authority  should  not  be  invoked 
so  long  as  recourse  to  the  laws  was  open.1 

1        Popular  sentiments  like  these  were  all  the  more  Cymhus 
acceptable     that     they    were    seldom     heard     from  forGyarus. 

8  Tiberius.     And  knowing  well,  as  he  did,  how  to  be 
merciful  when  not  moved  by  personal   resentment, 
he  added  that  Gyarus  was  a  desert  and  uninhabited 
island;  out  of  consideration  for  the  Junian  family,  and 
for  one  who  had  been  a  member  of  their  own  order, 
let  them  permit  Silanus  to  retire  to  Cythnus2  instead.8 

9  A  request  to  that  effect,  he  added,  had  been  preferred  by 

1  These  excellent  constitutional  senti-          *  Tiberius  shows  a  similar  leniency 

ments  seem  scarcely  appropriate  in  the  in  ii.  50,  4;  iii.  18,  i  ;  and  in  iv.  31,  i, 

mouth  of  Tiberius.     Tacitus  appears  to  where    Tacitus    admits    that    he    was 

be  unable   to  resist  the  temptation  of  gnarum  meliorum,  et  qtiae  fama  cle- 

ventilating  his  own  ideas.  mentiam  scquerttur. 

*  Cythnos,   now  Thermia. :  a  larger 
island,  near  Gyaros. 


252 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  22. 


Charges 
against 
Cordus  and 
Ennius. 


Show  of 
indepen- 
dence by 
Ateius 
Capito. 


Difficulty 
as  to  the 
temple  of 
Fortuna 
Equestris. 


Torquata,  the  sister  of  Silanus,  a  Vestal  of  truly  primi- 
tive purity.  The  proposal  was  assented  to  without 
discussion. 

A  hearing  was  then  given  to  the  people  of  Cyrene,  70 
who  charged  Caesius  Cordus  with  extortion.1  Ancharius 
Priscus  was  prosecutor,  and  Cordus  was  found  guilty. 
Next,  Lucius  Ennius,  a  Roman  knight,  was  accused  of  2 
high  treason   because   he   had  used   a  statue  of  the 
Emperor    as  ordinary   silver.     Tiberius   fbrbade   the 
prosecution ;  but  Ateius  Capito,  by  way  of  shewing 
his   independence,   protested    openly.      The    right  to  3 
decide  on  such  a  case,  he  argued,  ought  not  to  be  taken 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  Senate ;   an  offence  so  serious 
should  not  be  allowed  to  go  unpunished.     Forbearing  as 
the  Emperor   might  be  in  regard   to  his  own  private 
wrongs,  he  should  not  be  indulgent  to  an  offence  com- 
mitted against  the  State.     But  Tiberius   saw  through  4 
the  real  meaning  of  such  language,  and  persisted  in 
his  veto.2    The  infamy  of  Capito  was  all   the   more 
notable,  that  being  himself  a  jurist,  skilled  in  all  law 
human  and  divine,  he  had  brought  disgrace  upon  his 
own  personal  accomplishments  3  as  well  as  on  his  high 
position  in  the  State. 

A  religious  difficulty  now  presented  itself:  in  what  7 1 
temple  was  to  be  placed  the  offering  for  the  recovery 
of  Augusta  which  the  Knights  of  Rome  had  vowed  to 
Fortuna   Equestris?    There  were   many   temples   of 
Fortuna  in   Rome ;    but    none  with    that   particular 


1  This  prosecution  has  been  already 
mentioned    under    the    previous    year 
(chap.  38,  i).     It  would  appear  that  a 
whole,  year  had  been  spent  in  getting 
up  the  case. 

2  This  passage  makes  it  clear  that  by 
the  exercise  of  his  right  of  tribunitian 
veto  the  princeps  could  extend  pardon 
to  accused  persons.     See   the  case  of 
Appuleia,  ii.  50,  4. 

3  As  in  duty  bound,  Tacitus  has  the 


greatest  veneration  for  juridical  science, 
in  spite  of  his  wholesale  theoretical 
denunciation  of  Roman  laws  and  law  in 
general  (chaps.  26-27).  Noble  birth, 
coupled  with  eminence  as  a  jurist,  con- 
stitute in  his  eyes  the  highest  title  to 
fame,  and  add  an  additional  discredit 
to  any  departure  from  virtue  ;  yet  in 
many  passages  he  mentions  a  man's 
high  birth  as  a  set-off  against  moral 
delinquencies. 


A.D.  22.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.  69-72.  253 

2  designation.1     It  was  discovered,  however,  that  there 
was  one  with  that  title  at  Antium  ;2  and  as  it  was  held 
that  all  divine  services,  temples,  and  images  of  Gods 
in    Italian   towns   were   under    the   jurisdiction   and 
headship  of  Rome,  the  offering  was  set   up  in   that 
city. 

3  Religious    questions    having    thus   been    mooted,  Tiberius 

_.          .  ......  -  disallows 

Tiberius  produced  his  decision  in  the  case  of  the  the  claim 
Flamen  Dialis,  postponed  some  time  before.  The  Fiamcn 
decision  was  adverse  to  the  claims  of  Servius  Malu- 
ginensis,  the  Emperor  quoting  a  priestly  ordinance 
to  the  effect  that  if  at  any  time  the  Flamen  should  fall 
sick,  the  Pontifex  Maximus  might  give  him  leave  of 
absence  for  a  period  exceeding  two  nights,  provided 
always  it  was  not  on  days  of  public  sacrifice,  or  oftener 
than  twice  in  any  one  year.  These  regulations,  laid 
down  in  the  Principate  of  Augustus,  clearly  showed 
that  absence  for  a  whole  year,  with  the  command  of 

4  a  Province,  could  not   be   granted.      The   precedent 
also  of  the  Pontifex  Maximus  Lucius  Metellus  was 
adduced,  who   had   refused   leave   of  absence  to  the 

5  Flamen  Aulus  Postumius.3    The  government  of  Asia 
was  therefore   assigned   to  the   Consular  who  came 
next  after  Maluginensis. 

i         About  this  same  time  Lepidus 4  asked  permission  of  Restora- 
the  Senate  to  repair  and  beautify  at  his  own  expense  public 
the  Basilica  of  Paulus,5  the  monument  of  the  Aemilian 

1  Tacitus  speaks  as  if  such  a  title  had  •  The  occurrence  was   in  B.C.   242; 

never  existed ;  but  a  temple  under  that  but    Aulus     Postumius    was     Flamen 

name  had   been   dedicated   at   Rome,  Martialis,  not  Flamen  Dialis. 

B.C.  173,  by  Q.  Fulvius  Flaccus  (Liv.  *  Doubtless    Marcus   Lepidus ;     see 

xl.  40,  10).    It  was  still  in  existence  in  chap.  32,  a. 

B.C.  92,  and  apparently  in  the  time  of  *  The  Basilica  Pauli  was  a  splendid 

Vitruvius  also,  B.C.   16  (Vit.  iii.  3,  2).  building  on  the  E.  side  of  the  Forum, 

It    must    have    been    destroyed    sub-  built  or  rather  founded  by  L.  Aemilius 

sequently.  Paulus,  cos.  B.C.  50,  grandfather  of  the 

a  Antium  was  the  great  seat  of  the  Marcus   Lepidus   of  this  chapter.     It 

worship  of  Fortune  :    O  Diva  gratum  was  dedicated  B.C.  34,  and  had  already 

quae  regis  Antium  (Hor.  Od.  i.  35,  i).  been  restored  after  a  fire  by  Augustus, 


254 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  22. 


house.     For  public  munificence  was  still  the  fashion ;  2 
and  Augustus  had  offered  no  objection 1  when  Taurus,2 
Philippus  and  Balbus  used  the  spoils  they  had  won  in 
war,  or  their  own  superabundant  means,  to  beautify 
the  city,  and  so  commend   themselves   to   posterity. 
Following  that   example,   though    possessed   of   but  3 
slender    means,8  Lepidus    now    restored    the    great 
memorial  of  his   family.     And  when   the   theatre   of  4 
Pompeius^was  accidentally  burned  down,5  the  Em- 
peror   undertook   to   rebuild   it   himself,   preserving, 
however,  the  name  of  Pompeius  ;  for  though  the  Pom- 
peian  family  was  not  extinct,  there  was  no  member 
Honours  to  of  it  wealthy  enough  to  carry  out  the  work.     He  took  5 

Sejanus.  .  _,    . 

occasion  at  the  same  time  to  commend  Sejanus,  to 
whose  vigilance  and  exertions,  he  affirmed,  it  was  due 
that  the  loss  from  this  great  fire  had  been  confined  to 
a  single  building.  So  the  Senate  voted  him  a  statue,6 
to  be  set  up  in  the  theatre ;  and  when  not  long  after-  6 
wards  the  Emperor  bestowed  triumphal  ornaments 
on  his  uncle  Junius  Blaesus,7  Proconsul  of  Africa,  he 

B.C.  14  (Dio,  liv.  24.  3).  It  has  recently  been  discovered  in  the  cellars  of  the 
been  excavated  through  the  generosity  Palazzo  Pio.  Attached  to  the  theatre 
of  Mr.  Lionel  Phillips.  was  the  Portions  Pompei,  built  to 

1  This      is     an      understatement :       shelter  the  spectators  in  bad  weather ; 
Suetonius  says  of  Augustus  principes       and  the  celebrated   Curia   Pompei,  in 
viros  saepe  hortatus  est  itt  pro  facilitate       which  the  senate  met,  and  which  was 
quisque  inonumentisvelnovisvel  refect  is       the    scene    of   Caesar's    assassination. 
et  excultis  urbem  adornarent  (Oct.  29).         The  restoration  of  this  theatre,  and  the 

2  Statilius  Taurus  (see  vi.  n,  5)  built  1  building  of  the  temple  lo  Augustus,  are 
in  the  Campus  Martius  the  first  amphi-  ^  mentioned  by  Tacitus  as  the  only  two 
theatre  of  stone,  B.C.  30;  L.  Marcius     ' public  works  executed  by  Tiberius  (vi. 
Philippus  (cos.  suf.   B.C.   38)   built   or       45,  3). 

restored  an  aedes  Herculis  Musarum  5  Only  the  stage  was  destroyed,  the 

(Ov.  Fast.  vi.  801)  ;  and  L.  Cornelius  rest  being  of  stone. 

Balbus    a    theatre    in    the    Campus  '  When    this    statue    was    set    up, 

Martius  near  the  river,  B.C.  13.  Cremutius     Cordus      remarked      that 

3  Both  the  father  and  grandfather  of  '  Now    indeed    the    theatre    was    de- 
Lepidus  had    been  proscribed  by  the  stroyed,'   NHHC    vere  theatrum   peri  re 
triumvirs  ;  hence  the  loss  of  the  family  (Sen.  Cons,  ad  Marciam,  22,  4).      The 
fortunes.  cultivated  society  of  Rome  knew  how 

4  The  theatre  of  Pompey,  built   in  to  temper  despotism  by  epigram,  and 
B.C.    55  to    the    W.    of    the    Circus  we  cannot  marvel  if  they  occasionally 
Flaminius  in  the  Campus  Martius,  was  suffered  for  it.     See  iv.  34,  i. 

the  first  theatre  in  Rome  built  of  stone.  7  For  the  career  of  Junius  Blaesus. 

A  few  fragments  of  the  theatre  have       see  Nipp.  on  i.  16. 


A.D.22.]  BOOK    III.   CHAPS.  72-74-  255 

declared  that  he  did  this  out  of  compliment  to  the 
nephew.  Nevertheless  the  services  of  Blaesus  had 
well  earned  the  distinction. 

1  For  though  Tacfarinas  had  often  been  repulsed,  he  insolence 
had  always  recruited  his  forces  from  the  interior ;  and  Tacfarinas. 
he  at   last  reached  such  a  pitch  of  insolence  as  to 

send  envoys  to  Tiberius,  demanding  a  settlement  for 
himself  and  his  army,  and  threatening  an  interminable 

2  war  as  the  alternative.    Never,  they  say,  was  Tiberius 
more  incensed :  what  an  insult  to  himself  and  to  the 
Roman  people  that  a  freebooter  and  deserter  should 

3  conduct  himself  as  a  belligerent !     Even  Spartacus,1 
when   he   had   destroyed   consular  armies,   and   was 
spreading  fire  through  Italy  with  impunity,  had  never 
been  granted  a  surrender  on  conditions ;  though  the 
wars  with  Sertorius2  and  Mithradates8  were  at  that 
time  shaking  the  State  to  its  foundations.    How  much 
less  should  a  robber  like  Tacfarinas,  at  the  moment 
of  Rome's^  highest   splendour,   be   bought   off  by   a 

4  treaty  of  peace  and  a  grant  of  territory !     He  there- 
fore instructed    Blaesus   to   induce   the   followers  of 
Tacfarinas  to  lay  down   their  arms   by  promises  of 
pardon,  and  to  use  every  possible  means  to  secure 

5  the   person   of  their  leader.      The   hope   of    pardon 
brought  in  many;   and  before  long,  Tacfarinas  was 
encountered  by  tactics  similar  to  his  own. 

i         For  having  a  force  inferior  in  point  of  numbers,  The  tactics 
but    better    fitted    for    plundering,  his   system    was 
to    send    out    several    parties    at    a   time,   to   avoid 

1  Spartacus,   a    Thracian    and    ex-  vince    until    he    was    assassinated    in 

gladiator,  devastated  Italy  at  the  head  B.C.  72. 

of  a  servile  insurrection  B.C.  73-71.  »  The  first  Mithradatic  War,  under 

*  Q.   Sertorius,    the   famous  Marian  Sulla,  lasted  from  B.C.  88  to  84.      The 

captain,   took   command  of  Spain  as  second  was  in  B.C.  82.      The  third  and 

an   ex-praetor  in  B.C.    82,  and  declar-  longest  lasted  from  B.C.  74  to  67  under 

ing  against   the  optimates,  defied  the  Lucullus,  and  from  B.C.  66  to  the  death 

whole  power    of    Rome   in    that   pro-  of  the  king  in  63  under  Pompey. 


256 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  22. 


meet  with 
consider- 
able 
success. 


engagements,  and  seek  opportunity  for  ambuscades. 
To  meet  these  tactics,  Blaesus  organised  three  columns, 
advancing  on  three  different  lines.  The  Legate,  2 
Cornelius  Scipio,1  was  in  command  at  a  point  where 
a  plundering  party  was  to  attack  the  people  of  Leptis,2 
having  the  Garamantes3  behind  them  as  a  refuge  ;  on 
the  other  side,  a  separate  force,  under  the  younger 
Blaesus,  was  to  save  the  townships  of  Cirta4  from 
being  raided  with  impunity.  Midway  between  the  3 
two  was  the  General  himself,  at  the  head  of  a  picked 
body  of  troops.  Establishing  forts  and  block-houses 
in  suitable  spots,  he  hemmed  in  the  enemy,  and  was 
ready  to  meet  them  everywhere  :  whatever  the 
direction  in  which  they  turned,  they  found  part  of  the 
Roman  forces,  in  front,  in  flank,  and  not  unfrequently 
in  rear  also.  By  these  tactics  many  were  slain  or 
taken  prisoners. 

Then  Blaesus  divided  his  three  columns  into  a  4 
number  of  smaller  bodies,  putting  each  under  the 
command  of  a  centurion  of  tried  valour;  and  instead  5 
of  withdrawing  his  troops  when  the  summer  season 
was  over,  as  had  been  the  custom  heretofore,  or 
laying  them  up  in  the  winter  quarters  of  the  old 
province,  he  set  up  a  chain  of  forts  along  the  frontier 
of  the  disturbed  country,  garrisoning  them  with  light- 
armed  troops  familiar  with  the  desert.  He  thus 
drove  Tacfarinas  before  him  from  one  village  to 
another,  till  at  last  he  captured  his  brother.  There- 
upon he  retired  :  too  soon,  however,  for  the  interests 

1  Cornelius    Scipio    was  legatus  of  4  Cirta,  now  Constantine,  capital  of 

the  gth  legion  (Hispana),  which  had 
marched  from  Pannonia  to  reinforce 
Africa  (chap.  9,  i).  He  was  cos.  A.D. 


24  or  29. 

2  The    town    of   Leptis   Minor,   be- 
tween Thapsus  and  Hadrumetum. 

3  Supposed    to    have    occupied    the 
modern  Fezzan,  further  to  the  E. 


the  French  province  of  Algiers,  about 
fifty  miles  from  the  sea.  The  province 
of  Africa  at  this  time  comprised  the 
whole  of  the  modern  Tunis,  and  a  great 
part  of  Tripoli  and  Algeria.  Maure- 
tania,  to  the  W. ,  was  at  this  time  inde- 
pendent, but  was  constituted  a  separate 
province  in  A.D.  40. 


A.D.  22.]  BOOK   III.  CHAPS.  74-75.  257 

of  the  allies,  since  enough  of  the  enemy  were  left  to 
renew  the  war. 

Tiberius,  nevertheless,  regarding  the  campaign  as  He  is 
ended,  granted  to  Blaesus  the  honour  of  being  saluted 
as  'Imperator'1  by  his  troops,  in  accordance  with 
the  old  custom  whereby  that  title  was  conferred  by 
acclamation  upon  a  successful  general  in  the  joy  and 
enthusiasm  of  victory.  The  appellation  might  be 
borne  by  several  persons  at  one  time,  no  one  of  them 
7  enjoying  any  precedence  over  the  others ;  it  had 
been  granted  on  several  occasions  by  Augustus :  and 
now,  for  the  last  time,  it  was  bestowed  on  Blaesus 
by  Tiberius. 

1  Two    men    of    note    died   in    this  year — Asinius 
Saloninus2    and    Capito   Ateius.       The   former  was 
distinguished   as   the   grandson   of  Marcus   Agrippa  Capito. 
and   Asinius    Pollio,  as   the   brother  of  Drusus,  and 

as  the  intended   husband   of  one   of  the   Emperor's 
grand-daughters.8     Of  Capito,4 1  have  already  spoken.   Capitoami 
Though  his  grandfather  was  only  one  of  Sulla's  cen-  great  ' 
turions,  and  his  father  of  no  more  than  praetorian  rank,5  J' 
he  attained  to  a  leading  position  in  the  State  in  con- 

2  sequence  of  his  acquirements  as  a  jurist.     Augustus 
had  advanced  him  to  the  Consulship  before  the  normal 
age,  that  the  holding  of  that  dignity  might  give  him 
precedence    over    Labeo   Antistius,   a    distinguished 
lawyer  like   himself.     For  those   two   ornaments   of 
the  law  were  both  of  them  products  of  that  generation.6 

1  See  n.  on  i.  9,  2.     With  the  excep-  *  See  chap.   70,    2;    also  i.  76,   3: 

tion  of  this  case,  no  instance  is  recorded  79,  i. 

after  B.C.  27  of  the  title  being  granted  *  His  humble  birth  is  mentioned  as 

to  any   but   members  of  the  imperial  a  set-off  against  his  high  qualifications 

family.  as  a  lawyer. 

8  Son  of  Asinius  Callus  (i.  12,  6)  and  •  Both  were  great  lawyers,  founders 

Vipsania,  the  first  wife  of  Tiberius.    He  of  two  schools  of  jurisprudence,  which 

was  thus  half-brother  to  Drusus.  under    the    name    of    SaHniani   and 

1  i.e.   of    one    of    the  daughters  of  Proculiani    opposed    each    other    all 

Germanicus.  through  the  imperial  epoch  ;  the  former 

S 


258  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  22. 

Labeo  was  the  more  famous  of  the  two,  because  of  3 
his    uncompromising   independence ;   while    Capito's 
deferential  demeanour1  secured  for  him  the  favour 
of  our  rulers.     The  former,  never  rising  above  the  4 
Praetorship,   gained   in   reputation   from   the   slight ; 
the   latter,  having   attained   the   Consulship,  excited 
envy  and  the  hatred  which  attends  it. 

In  this  year — the  sixty-fourth  after  the  battle  of  76. 
Philippi — Junia,2  the  niece  of  Cato,  the  wife  of  Gaius 
Cassius,  the  sister  of  Marcus  Brutus,  breathed  her 
last.     Her  will  was  the  subject  of  much  popular  talk ;  2 
for  though  she  died  wealthy,  and  made  honourable 
mention  of  nearly  all  the  nobility,  she  never  named 
the  Emperor.     Tiberius  took  this  in  good  part;  nor  3 
did  he  forbid  the  delivery  of  a  funeral  oration  from 
the   Rostra,   or    the    performance    of   other    funeral 
ceremonies  in   her  honour.     The  images  of  twenty 
illustrious  families 3  were  borne  before  her ;  those  of 
the  Manlii,4  the  Quinctii,  and  other  names  as  noble : 
but    conspicuous    above    them    all    were    those   of 
Cassius  and  Brutus,  because  they  were  nowhere  to 
be  seen. 

holding  more  to   tradition,  the  latter  we  hear  so  much   in  Cicero's  speech 

more    to   scientific  development   (Dig.  pro  Murena. 

i.  2,  2,  47).  3  The  word/ammo,  is  here  used  for 

1  An  instance  of  his  flattery  in  the  gens,  as  in  ii.  52,  8. 

guise  of  independence  is  given  in  chap.  4  A  Manlius  had  been  adopted  into 

70,  2.  the  family  of   the  Junii   Silani  in  the 

2  The    mother    of   this  Junia   (also  second  century  B.C.       Strict  ancestry 
called  Tertia  or  Tertulla)  was  Servilia,  was  not  demanded  in  such  cases  ;  thus 
half-sister  of  Cato  of  Utica,  and  mother  we  hear  that  the  images  of  the  Julii 
of  M.  Brutus,  the  assassin  of  Caesar,  followed   in   the  funeral   of   the  elder 
by  her  first  marriage.     She  was  mother  Drusus  (chap.  5,  2),  though  he  could 
of  Junia  by  her  second  marriage,  with  claim  no  relationship  with  that  house. 
D.  Junius  Silanus,  cos.  B.C.  62,  of  whom 


BOOK   IV. 


A.D.    23.      CONSULS    C.    ASINIUS    POLLIO    AND 
C.    ANTISTIUS    VETUS. 

1  AND  now  for  more  than  eight  years   Tiberius   had 
ruled  over  a  tranquil  State  and  a  prosperous  house- 
hold— for   he   counted   the   death   of  Germanicus  as 
part  of  his  prosperity — when  Fortune  suddenly  began 
to  work  confusion,  and  Tiberius  took  to  cruel  courses, 

2  or   lent    himself   to    the    cruelties    of   others.      This 
change  had  its  cause  and  origin  in  Aelius  Sejanus,1 
Commander    of    the    Praetorian   Cohorts,    of  whose 
overweening  influence  I  have  already  spoken;  I  will 
now   set   forth   the   character  and  extraction   of  the 
man,  and  relate  the  daring  scheme  by  which  he  sought 
to  seize  the  sovereignty. 

3  Born  at  Vulsinii,2  son  of  a  Roman  knight3  called 
Seius  Strabo,4  Sejanus  had  attached  himself  in  early 


1  Sejanus  has  already  been  mentioned 
by  Tacitus  in  four  passages.  He  accom- 
panied Drusus  as  an  advise!  in  hismission 
to  the  mutinied  army  jn_Eannonja  (i.  24, 
3),  being  then  magna  apnd  Tiberium 
auctoritate.  In  i.  69,  7  we  find  him 
poisoning,  the  mind  of  Tiberius  against 
Agrippina,/Vr*V*Vz  monim  Tibeni  odium 
in  longum  iaciens.  In  iii.  29,  5  a 
reported  marriage  of  a  sou  of  Claudius 
to  a  daughter  of  Sejanus  disturbs  the 
mind  of  Rome  ;  and  in  iii.  35,  2  the  in- 
fluence  of  Sejanus  secures  the  govcrno:  - 
ship  of  Africa  to  hisunclejunius  Khr.su-. 

3  Hence  Juvenal  calls  him  '  a  Tuscan  ' 
(x.  74). 

»  Velleius  calls  Sejanus  princeps 
cifiiesfris  ordinis  (ii.  127,  3),  and  ascribes 
to  him  consular  brothers,  cousins,  and 


uncles.  One  of  his  brothers,  Seius 
Tubero,  was  a  legatus  in  the  German 
campaign  (ii.  20,  i),  and  cos.  suf. 
A.D.  18.  Thus  Sejanus  was  by  no 
means  the  upstart  that  Tacitus  would 
make  him  out  to  be ;  his  position  was 
not  unlike  that  of  Maecenas,  very 
different  from  that  of  the  freedmen 
favourites  of  later  emperors. 

4  Seius  Strain,  as  commander  of  the 
lYnrtc-nun  Guards,  took  the  oath  OJ 
allegi.ino.1  to  rit^nus  n>  \t  ofttt  tbfl 
consuls  (i.  7,  3).  The  termination  of 
the  name  Seianits  shows  that  he  had 
been  adopted  from  the  gens  Aelia  into 
the  gens  Seta— perhaps  by  Aelius  Callus, 
prefect  of  Egypt  B.C.  24.  The  son  of 
Sejanus  apparently  bore  the  same  name 
Ac/ins  (v.  8,  i). 


Deteriora- 
tion in  the 
govern- 
ment of 
Tiberius, 


due  to 
Sejanus. 


Character 
of  Sejanus. 


260 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  23. 


Concentra- 
tion of  the 

Guards 
into  one 
camp. 


youth  to  Gaius  Caesar,  the  grandson  of  Augustus ; 
rumour  had  it  that  he  had  sold  his  person  to  the 
wealthy  voluptuary  Apicius.  In  course  of  time,  he 
acquired  an  ascendency  over  Tiberius  so  complete, 
that  he  brought  that  monarch,  impenetrable  as  he  was 
to  all  the  world  beside,  to  be  open  and  unguarded  to 
him  alone  :  not  so  much  through  any  cunning  of  his 
own — for  in  that  quality  he  was  himself  outmatched 
— as  from  the  Divine  wrath  against  the  Roman  Com- 
monwealth, on  which  he  brought  disaster  alike  in  his 
triumph  and  in  his  fall.  Daring  in  spirit,  incapable  4 
of  fatigue,  as  ready  to  incriminate  others  as  to  screen 
himself,  as  obsequious  as  he  was  insolent,  beneath  an 
exterior  of  studied  modesty  he  concealed  a  bound- 
less ambition,  to  which  he  would  minister  sometimes 
by  extravagance  and  debauch,  more  often  by  energy 
and  vigilance — qualities  that  are  no  less  baneful  when 
simulated  to  pave  the  way  to  power. 

Sejanus  enhanced  the  importance  of  the  Praetorian  2 
Command,  which  had  been  of  no  great  account  before 
his    time,   by    concentrating    the   cohorts,    scattered 
hitherto   throughout    the   city,  into   a  single    camp ; 
they  would  thus  receive  their  orders   as  one  body, 
while  the  sight  of  their  own  strength  and  numbers 
would  give  confidence  to  the  soldiers,  and  over-awe 
the  rest  of  the  citizensv1     His  professed  reasons  were,  2 
that  the   men  were   apt   to  get   out   of  hand   when 
not  kept  together ;  they  would  act  with  more  effect 


,.. 


1  In  accordance  with  his  usual  tactful 
policy,  Augustus  had  kept  the  military 
basis  of  his  rule  as  much  out  of  sight  as 
possible,  quartering  most  of  the  prae- 
torian cohorts  outside  Rome  in  neigh- 
bouring towns.  The  momentous  step 
taken  by  Tiberius  in  quartering  the 
guards  within  the  city  is  thus  charac- 
terized by  Gibbon,  vol.  i.  p.  169  :  '  But 
after  fifty  years  of  peace  and  servi- 


tude, Tiberius  ventured  on  a  decisive 

measure,    which  for  ever  rivetted  the 

fetters  of  his  country.     Under  the  fair 

i  pretences   of  relieving   Italy  from   the 

heavy  burden  of  military  quarters,  and 

I  of  introducing  a  stricter  discipline  among 

!  the  guards,  he  assembled  them  at  Rome, 

j  in  a  permanent  camp,  which  was  fortified 

jwith    skilful    care,    and    placed  on    a 

;  commanding  situation.' 


A.D.  23.]  BOOK    IV.    CHAPS.    1-3.  261 

in  an  emergency  if  they  acted  together ;  and  stricter 
discipline  could  be  maintained  in  a  camp  at  some 

3  distance  from  the  temptations  of  the  city.    No  sooner 
was  the  camp  finished,  than  Sejanus  began  gradually 
to   insinuate    himself   into   the   good    graces   of  the 
soldiers,  mixing  with  them,  and  addressing  them  by 
name.     He  chose  his  own  Tribunes  and  centurions.1 

4  He    intrigued    also   for    influence  with   the    Senate, 
obtaining  distinctions  and   provincial   commands  for 
his  own  creatures;2  while  Tiberius  looked  so  indul- 
gently on  his  proceedings  that  he  would  often  com- 
mend him  as  his  partner  in  toil,  not  only  in  private 
talk,  but  also  in  the  Senate,  and  before  the  people, 
and   permitted   his   statues   to   be    honoured    in    the 
theatres,   in    the    public    squares,  and    at    the    head 
quarters  of  the  legions. 

1  But  there  were  obstacles  in  the  way  of  his  ambi-  Sejanus 
tion.      There  was  no  lack  of  heirs  in   the    Imperial  ^Dmsu 
family;  there  was  a  young  son>Cand  grown-up  grand-  JJay.ofl 
sons.     To  use  violence  against  so  many  all  at  once, 

was  hazardous  ;  were  subtler  methods  employed,  there 
must  needs  be  intervals  between  one  crime  and 
another.  In  the  end,  he  chose  the  more  occult  way, 
and  determined  to  begin  with  Drusus,  with  whom 
he  had  a  special  reason  for  being  incensed  at  that 

2  moment.     For  in  the  course  of  an  altercation  between 
the  two,  Drusus,  who  was  hot-tempered,4  and  could 

1  Apparently  these  appointments  had  Germanicus.    Nero  and    Drusus    were 

hitherto  been   made    by   the    emperor  now  seventeen  and   ten  years  old  re- 

himself.  spectively ;  Gains,  the  future  emperor, 

1  i.e.    he    sought    to    establish    his  was  in  his  *J£Yfintn  y*ar. 

influence  in   the  senate  by  making  it  *  Other  passages  describing   Drusus 

felt   that  he  was   the  channel  to  pro-  are  as  follows :  Promptum  ad  asperiora 

motion.    The  servile  court  paid  to  him  ingenium  Druso  erat  (i.  29,  4) ;  Drusus 

by  senators   is  finely  described  below  praesedit  (edendis  gladiatoribus)  quam- 

(chap.  74,  6  and  7).     See  the  case  of  qitam  vili  sanguine  riimis  gandens  (i. 

Blaesus  (iii.  35,  3).  76,    5) ;    incallidus    alioqui    et  facilis 

*  Drusus.  son  of  Tiberius,  who  had  inventa  (iii.  8,  4).    A  taste  for  building 

twin  sons  of  his  own.    Of  the  sons  of  and  conviviality  is  attributed,  to  him 


262 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  23. 


He  seduces 
Livia  as  a 

Pre: 
limmary. 


Drusus, 

son  of 

German- 

icus, 

assumes 

the  manly 

gown. 


brook  no  equal,  had  lifted  his  hand  against  Sejanus. 
Sejanus  had  resisted :  whereupon  Drusus  struck  him 
in  the  face. 

After  weighing  every  plan,  the  best  seemed  to  3 
be  to  have  recourse  to  Livia,1  the  wife  of  Drusus 
and  sister  of  Germanicus,  who  although  ungainly 
in  early  life  had  grown  up  to  be  a  very  beautiful 
woman.  Professing  an  ardent  passion  for  her  person, 
Sejanus  won  her  over  to  be  his  mistress;  and  having 
thus  succeeded  in  the  first  guilty  step — for  the  woman 
who  has  lost  her  honour  can  refuse  nothing — he 
incited  her  to  the  murder  of  her  husband,  holding  out 
the  prospect  of  marriage  with  himself,  and  of  sharing 
with  him  the  Imperial  power.  And  so  this  lady — the 
niece 2  of  Augustus,  the  daughter-in-law  of  Tiberius,  4 
who  had  borne  children  to  Drusus  himself — was 
ready  to  besmirch  herself,  her  ancestors,  and  her 
descendants,  for  the  sake  of  a  provincial  paramour, 
and  to  exchange  an  honourable  and  assured  present 
for  a  shameful  and  uncertain  future. 

The  pair  took  into  their  confidence  Eudemus,  the  5 
friend  and  physician  of  Livia,  who  under  cover  of  his 
profession  assisted  often  at  their  private  interviews ; 
and    then,   lest    his    mistress    should    mistrust   him, 
Sejanus   divorced   his  wife  Apicata,  who  had   borne 
three  children  to  him.     But  the  very  greatness  of  the  6 
enterprise  bred  doubts  and  delays,  and  at  times  con- 
flicting counsels  also. 

Meanwhile,  at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  Drusus,  4, 
one  of  the  children  of  Germanicus,  assumed  the  manly 


(iii-  37  >  3)-  But  he  behaved  kindly  to 
his  nephews  (chap.  4,  3) ;  and  showed 
admirable  loyalty  to  Germanicus,  whose 
position  might  most  naturally  have 
excited  his  jealousy  (ii.  43,  7).  Dio  de- 
scribes him  as  a<re\yecrrarif  Kai  wyuoraTW, 

and  says  that  the  sharpest  sword-blades 


were  called  'Drusian'  after  him  (Ivii. 
13.  i). 

1  Suetonius  and  Dio  call  her  Livilla. 

2  Great-niece ;    this   Livia's   mother, 
Antonia,  was  daughter  of  Octavia,  the 
sister  of  Augustus. 


A.D.  23.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   3-5.  263 

gown ;  and  the  Senate  repeated  for  him  the  honours 

2  which  they   had  voted    to  his  brother  Nero.      The 
Emperor  added  some  words  of  his  own,  commending 
his    son    warmly    for  the   fatherly   kindness   he  had 

3  shewn  to  his  brother's  children.     For  though   it   be 
hard  to  find  love  in  high  places,  Drusus  was  reputed 
to  be  kindly,  or  at  least  not  ill-disposed,  to  the  young 
men. 

Tiberius  now  revived  the  project,  so  often  and  so  Tiberius 
insincerely  professed,  of  making  an  expedition  into  the  an°inte^- 

4  provinces  ;  giving  as  his  reasons  the  large  number  of  visit  the 
time-expired  soldiers,  and  the  necessity  of  filling  their  Provmces- 
places  by  levies.      Volunteers,   he  declared,  were  not 

forthcoming;  nor  were  such  as  offered  themselves  men  of 
the  same  stamp,  or  so  well  behaved,  as  formerly,  being  for 
the  most  part  men  without  means,  and  with  no  settled 

5  place  of  abode.     He  then  rapidly  ran  over  the  number 
of  the  legions,  and  the  Provinces  which  they  guarded ; 

6  an  example  which  I  think  it  well  to  follow,  so  as  to 
show  what  were  the  Roman  forces   in  arms  at  that 
time;  what  kings  were  allied  to  us;  and  how  much 
narrower  the  limits  of  the  Empire  then  were  than 
they  are  now.1 

1  Italy  was  guarded  by  two  fleets,  one  on  either  sea;  Number 
the  one  stationed  at  Misenum,  the  other  at  Ravenna.^ position  of 
The  near  coast  of  Gaul  was  defended  by  war-ships 
captured    at    the    battle    of    Actium,    and    sent    by 

2  Augustus,  fully  manned,  to  Forum  Julii.3     But   the 

1  In  the  time  of  Trajan,  when  Tacitus  remarkable   instance  of  the  care  with 

wrote,  the  empire  extended  to  the  head  which  Tacitus  varies  his  expressions, 

of   the   Persian    gulf  (ii.  61,    2),   and  It   contains  a   mere  catalogue  of  the 

included  the  vast  province  of  Dacia,  provinces,  and  of  the  armies  by  which 

north  of  the  Danube.  they   were  occupied  ;   yet   in  detailing 

a  On  this  chapter,  which  is  the  locus  these    similar    facts    he   so  varies    his 

clasricus  on  the  distribution  of  the  mili-  language  as  never  to  use  the  same  form 

tary  and  naval  forces  of  Rome  during  of  expression  twice  over, 
the  early  empire,  see  Furn. .  Introd.  vii.  3  The  modern  Frfjus. 

pp.   103,  foil.      The  chapter  affords  a 


• 


264 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  23. 


main  strength  of  the  Empire  was  on  the  Rhine,  where 
lay  an  army  of  eight  legions,  a  common  bulwark  against 
Gaul  and  Germany.1    The  two  Provinces  of  Spain,2 
but  recently  subdued,3  were   held  by  three   legions. 
Mauretania  had  been   given   to   King  Jut>a4  by  the  3 
Roman  people ;  the  rest  of  Africa  was  garrisoned  by 
Jtwo  legions,  and  Egypt  by  a  like  number.5    From  that  4 
point  onwards,  the  vast  sweep  of  country  from  the 
borders  of  Syria  to  the  River  Euphrates  was  kept  down 
by  four  legions ;  while  the  Iberian,  Albanian  and  other 
Princes  on  the  frontier 6  were  protected  against  foreign 
aggression  by  our  name.     Thrace  was  under  Rhoeme-  5 
talces   and   the   sons   of  Cotys.      The   banks   of   the 
Danube  were  occupied  by  four  legions,  two  stationed 
in  Pannonia,7  two  in  Moesia;8  a  like  number  were  in 


1  As  we  have  already  seen,  there  were 
two  so-called  provinces  of  Germany, 
the  Upper  and  the  Lower,  including 
territory  on  each  side  of  the  Rhine. 
Each  consisted  largely  of  German  tribes 
moved  to  the  left  bank  of  the  river. 
Each  was  held  by  an  army  of  four 
legions.  The  headquarters  of  Lower 
Germany  were  at  Colonia  Agrippinen- 
sis  (Cologne) :  of  Upper  Germany  at 
Moguntiacum  (M&ygrice).  The  boundary 
between  them  was  the  river  Nava 
(Nahe] ;  or  perhaps  the  Moselle.  The 
boundary  between  the  Upper  Rhine 
and  Upper  Danube  was  marked  by  a 
limes,  built  at  a  later  period,  from  the 
.Main  near  Oldenburg  to  Ratisbon  on 
the  Danube.  For  the  course  of  this 
limes,  see  the  elaborate  reports  in  the 
Limes- B  latt ,  and  the  Berichten  des 
Reichs-Limes  Commission,  now  being 
published  at  Treves  (German  Trier}. 

gJSpain,  was  divided  into  three  pro- 
vinces :  Baetica,  or  Further  Spain 
(senatorial),  with  Corduba  for  capital ; 
Lusitania  (imperatorial)  to  the  West, 
including  most  of  Portugal,  with  the  seat 
of  government  at  Emerita  (Merida) ;  and 
Tarraconensis  or  Hither  Spain  (impera- 
torial), with  Tarragona  as  its  capital. 

3  In  reference  to  the  final  reduction 
of  the  Cantabrians  by  Agrippa,  B.C.  19 
(Hor.  Od.  iii.  8,  21).  Livy  speaks  of 
Spain  as  prima  provinciarum  inita, 
postremo  omnium  perdomita  (xxviii.  12). 
Yet  Southern  Spain  had  been  organised 


on  a  Latin  model  long  before  Gaul. 
See  Mommsen, ' Roman  Provinces, 'Vol. 
i.  p.  86. 

4  This  was  a  son  of  the  king  Juba 
defeated  by  Caesar  at  Thapsus  B.C.  46. 
He  had  been  restored  to  Numidia  after 
B.C.  31,  and  was  transferred  by  Augustus 
to   Mauritania,  with  part  of  Numidia 
added,  in  B.C.  25. 

5  These  two  legions  were  stationed 
at  Alexandria.     Under  Augustus  there 
had  been  three  legions  in  Africa  (Strabo, 
xvii.  i,  12). 

6  The  three   territories    of   Colchis, 
Iberia,    and    Albania    formed    a    belt 
extending  from  the  Euxine  Sea  to  the 
Caspian,   between   the  main  chain  of 
the  Caucasus  to  the  N.  and  Armenia  to 
the  S. ,  a  district  corresponding  more  or 
less  to  modern  Georgia  and  Daghestan. 

1  Pannonia  was  reduced  to  a  province 
after  the  victories  of  Tiberius,  A.  D.  7-9. 
It  was  bounded  on  the  E.  and  N.  by 
the  Danube,  on  the  S.  by  the  Save,  on 
the  W.  by  Noricum  and  the  Mons 
Cetius.  It  thus  included  all  the  eastern 
states  of  Austria  and  almost  the  whole 
of  Hungary.  The  occupying  force  was 
probably  stationed,  not  on  the  Danube, 
but  on  the  Drave— near  the  scene  of  the 
national  rising  A.D.  6-9.  In  A.D.  50 
the  Governor  of  Pannonia  is  specially 
ordered  to  place  his  legion  and  auxiliary 
forces  on  the  Danube  (xii.  29,  2),  as  if 
it  were  a  new  thing. 

8   Moesia  extended  from   Pannonia 


A.D.  23.J 


BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   5-6. 


265 


Dehnatia,1  whence  they  could  not  only  act  in  support 
of  the  latter  army,  but  were  also  within  easy  reach  of 
Italy,  in  case  of  a  sudden  call  for  help  from  that 
quarter.  Yet  the  City  had  a  garrison  of  its  own, 
consisting  of  three  Urban  Cohorts  and  the  ten  Co- 
horts of  Praetorian  Guards ;  a  force  recruited  mainly 
from  Etruria  and  Umbria,  or  from  old  Latium  and  the 

6  original  Roman  Colonies.2  At  suitable  points  through- 
out the  Provinces  were  stationed  the  allied  fleets,  as 
well  as  the  auxiliary  horseandjoot,  making  up  a  total 
strength  little  inferior  to  our  own  ^ '  but  of  these  no 
certain  details  can  be  given,  as  they  moved  from  place 
to  place  according  to  the  necessities  of  the  moment, 
and  were  now  increased,  now  reduced,  in  number. 

i  It  may  be  convenient  that  I  should  here  review  the 
other  parts  of  the  administration,  and  explain  on  what 
methods  it  was  conducted  up  to  that  time ;  since  it 


General 
tenour  of 
the  admin- 
istration of 
Tiberius 
up  to  this 
time. 


eastwards  to  the  Black  Sea,  having  the 
Danube  for  its  northern,  Mt.  Haemus 
for  its  southern,  boundary.  It  corre- 
sponded to  modern  Servia  and  Bul- 
garia. Delmatia  (or  Dalmatia)  corre- 
sponded pretty  nearly  to  the  modern 
Dalmatia,  Bosnia,  Herzegovina,  and 
Montenegro. 

1  Though   not    a  frontier    province, 
Delmatia  had  been  garrisoned  by  two 
legions    since    the    general    rising    of 
Illyricum  (of  which  Delmatia  was  the 
southern  province)  in  A.D.  6-9:   these 
were  the  yth  and  the  nth.     According 
to  Josephus,   the    garrison    had    been 
reduced  to  one  legion  in  A.  D.  66  ;  under 
Vespasian  it  was  withdrawn  altogether. 
The  capital  of  Delmatia  was  Salonae. 

2  This    restriction    as'    to  recruiting 
was  not  long  maintained.     An  inscrip- 
tion  of   the    year    A.D.    46    mentions 
natives  of  Tridentum  as  serving  in  the 
force  (Rushforth,   p.    103);    and  even 
provincials  were  admitted  from  the  time 
of  the  reign  of  Domitian.     The  nine 
Praetorian     Cohorts    and    the    three 
Urban  Cohorts  were  so  far  treated  as 
one  force  that  they  were  numbered  con- 
secutively, the  Praetorian  Cohorts  being 
numbered  from  i  to  9,  the  Urban  from 
10  to  12.    The  number  of  Praetorian 


Cohorts  was  raised  by  Vitellius  to  16 
in  A.D.  69;  and  we  hear  of  a  i2th  as 
early  as  the  reign  of  Nero  (Rushforth, 
p.  94).  It  was  Augustus  who  first  put 
the  Praetorians  on  a  separate  footing, 
separately  recruited.  Under  the  Trium- 
virate they  had  been  chosen  from  the 
legions. 

8  The  list  here  given  makes  up  a 
total  of  twenty-five  legions.  Augustus 
at  one  time  had  as  many  as  twenty-six 
legions  under  arms ;  but  three  were 
destroyed  with  Varus,  and  only  two 
(the  2ist  and  22nd)  were  raised  in  their 
place.  Reckoning  the  whole  legion 
with  its  complement  of  allied  forces  at 
ton  thousand  men,  this  would  make  .1 
standing  force  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  men.  Furn.  calculates  that 
we  may  add  one  hundred  thousand 
more  for  the  home  troops,  the  naval 
and  other  detached  forces,  bringing  out 
three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  nu.-n 
as  the  '  total  naval  and  military  fuicc 
of  the  civilised  world'  under  the  early 
empire  (Introd.  p.  109).  We  are  accus- 
tomed to  think  of  Rome  as  a  great 
military  power  ;  but  these  numbers  are 
insignificant  in  comparison  with  modern 
armaments. 


-. 


266  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  23. 

was  in  this  year  that  the  change  for  the  worse  in  the 
government  of  Tiberius  set  in.     First,  then,  all  public  2 
business,   and   the  most   important   private  business 
also,  was  transacted  in  the  Senate.     Its  leaders  had 
liberty  of  debate,  and  the  Emperor  himself  checked 
any  lapses   into  sycophancy.      In  bestowing  public 
offices,  he  paid  regard  to  a  man's  birth,  his  distinction 
in  war,  or  his  eminence  in  civil  pursuits,  making  it 
plain  that  no  better  person  could  have  been  appointed. 
The    Consuls,    the    Praetors,    enjoyed    the    dignity  3 
of  their  offices ;   the  authority  of  the  lesser  magis- 
trates was  sustained  ;  and  the  laws,  except  in  cases  of 
High  Treason,  were  well  administered.     The  public  4 
taxes,  both  in  corn 1  and  money,  as  well  as  the  rest  of 
the  public  revenue,  were  managed  by  companies  of 
Roman  knights  :?4iis  own  affairs^Tiberius  entrusted  to  5 
persons  of  the  most  approved  character,  some  of  them 
known  to  him  only  by  reputation;   once  appointed, 
they  would  be  kept  on  in  office   indefinitely,  most 
of  them   continuing    in    the   same   employments   till 
old  age.4    The  populace,  no  doubt,  suffered  from  the  G 
high   price  of  food,  but   for.  this  the   Emperor   was 
not   to  blame ;   he  did  everything  that   money   and 

1  Thefrumenta  here  mentioned  were       up  his  hand  in  making  a  bid.      See 
the  supplies  of  grain  exacted  from  the       Rushforth,  p.  109. 

provinces  for  the  support  of  the  army  3  The  wordss&sms  seem  to  refer  not 
and  state  officials.  This  was  some-  to  the  imperial  fiscus,  of  which  the  em- 
times  -exacted  as  a  tax,  sometimes  peror  was  practically  the  trustee  for 
paid  for  by  the  State.  The  pecuniae  imperial  purposes,  not  the  owner ;  but  to  , 
vectigales  included  all  ordinary  sources  private  property,  analogous  to  crown  ^/ 
of  revenue  as  distinct  from  the  tribu-  lands,  belonging  to  the  emperor  for  his 
turn  (see  n.  on  §  7),  such  as  tithe-rent  own  private  use.  Cp.  chap.  15,  3,  non 
for  public  lands  (decumae],  products  se  ius  nisi  in  servitia  et pecunias  fami- 
of  mines,  forests,  etc.,  customs,  Hares  dedisse.  The  agent  who  looked 
transit  dues,  bridge  tolls  (portoria),  after  such  private  estate  was  called 
etc.  procurator  pat  rimonii. 

2  These    were    the   '  companies '    of  4  This  refers  to  the  officer  in  each 
Roman  knights,  each  under  a  manager  province   called  procurator  fisci,   who 
or  director  called  manceps.,  who  fanned  managed  the  public  revenues   of    the 
certain  of  the  taxes  and  other  sources  emperor.     In  imperatorial  provinces  he 
of  Roman    revenue  in   the  provinces.  was  a  very  important  officer  ;  in  smaller 
The    price  to   be   paid  was    fixed  by  provinces  he  had  almost  the  powers  of 
auction  ;  according  to  Festus,  p.  151,  the  a  governor.      Pontius  Pilate  \vas__pj-o- 
manceps  was  so  called  because  he  held  curator  of  Judaea. 


A.D.  23.] 


BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   6-7. 


267 


forethought  could  do  to  provide  against  bad  seasons 
7  and  stormy  seas.  He  took  care  that  the  provincials 
should  not  be  disturbed  by  new  imposts,  and  that  the 
avarice  and  cruelty  of  magistrates  should  not  add  to 
the  burden  of  the  old  onesS^  Corporal  punishment 
and  confiscations  were  unknown.  The  Emperor's 
own  estates  in  Italy  were  few,  his  slaves  modest  in 
demeanour,  his  retinue  of  freed-men  small  ;2  if  he  had 
disputes  with  private  citizens,  they  were  decided  in 
the  Courts  of  Law^ 

i  Such  was  the  government  of  Tiberius,  not  tem- 
pered indeed  with  any  graciousness— for  his  manner 
was  always  rough,  and  often  terrifying — but  such  it 
continued  to  be  till  all  was  changed  by  the  death  of 
Drusus^  For  in  the  early  days  of  his  ascendenc}',  and 


1  Under  the  empire,  the  system  of 
farming  out  the  public  revenues  to 
companies  of  eqii±tes  (the__capitalist 
dassj,  which  lent  itself  so  readily  to 
extortion  under  the  republic,  was  much 
modified,  and  subjected  to  centraUuper- 
vision.  The  grossest  abuses  had  arisen 
in  the  collection  of  the  decumae,  or 
tithes  of  the  produce  of  the  land:  a 
form  of  taxation  which  the  Romans 
had  found  existing,  and  continued,  in 
Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Asia  (Greenidge, 
p.  320).  This  system  was  abolished  by 
Caesar  in  Asia,  and  probably  elsewhere, 
in  B.C.  48.  Under  the  empire  the  main 
portion  of  the  revenue  was  drawn  from 
direct  taxes,  either  a  land-tax  (trilmtum 
soli)  or  a  personal  \tL\\fribnium capitis). 
These  d^yjgjjt  taxes  were  collected  by  the 
quaestor  in  senatorial  provinces,  in  mi- 
peratorial  provinces  by  the  procurator. 
The  indirect  taxes  (I't'ctigalia)  were  still 
leased  to  companies  of  knights :  hence 
these  are  called  societates  tiectigalium 
(xiii.  50,  3). 

a  Under  Tiberius  and  the  early  em- 
perors, the  members  of  the  imperial 
household,  even  the  imperial  'procu- 
rators, whose  duties  were  so  important, 
were  mainly  freedmen;  the  emperors,  no 
doubt,  found  that  it  was  necessary  for 
them  to  select  for  their  own  personal 
service  men  outside  the  class  whose 
ambitions  lay  in  a  public  career.  The 
freedman  Lacinus  was  procurator  of 


Gaul  under  Augustus,  and  amassed 
great  wealth  ;  Pallas  (the  brother  of 
Felix,  procurator  of  Judaea)  and  Nar- 
cissus, who  made  immense  fortunes, 
were  both  freedmen  of  Claudius,  in 
whose  reign  the  power  of  the  freedmen 
reached  its  height.  Tacitus  says  of 
the  influence  of  Pallas,  vclnt  arbitrium 
regni  agebat  (Ann.  xiii.  14,1).  But  this 
system  was  gradually  changed  for  one 
under  which  a  sort  of  civil  service  was 
instituted,  the  higher  ranks  of  which 
were  filled  by  equites.  Juvenal  pours 
forth  all  his  wrath  upon  these  upstart 
freedmen  (Sat.  i.  109;  xiv.  91,329). 

3  A^ fairer  picture  of  just   paternal 
government  could,  savrceiy'  be  'drawn 
than  that  given  in   this  chapter.     That 
Tiberius    knew    so    well    what     good 
government  meant  adds  to  the  bitter- 
ness of  the  indictment  against  him  ;  he 
was  sinning  against  the  light.    See  chap. 
31,  2  :  Neque  enim  socordia  peccabat. 
Dio    Ivii.   7,  and    13  gives    a    similar 
picture  of  the  good  period  of  the  reign 
of  Tiberius. 

4  The   turning-point  in  the  reign  of 
Tiberius    was    undoubtedly,    as    here 
stated,  the  death  of  Drusus,  the  circum- 
stances of  which  were  such  as  to  em- 
bitter beyond  remedy  a  naturally  proud 
and    distrustful    nature    like    that    of 
Tiberius.   Tacitus  hardly  does  justice  to 
the  terrible  revulsion  of  feeling  which 
must  have  been  caused  in  that  solitary 


Murmurs 
of  Drusus 
against 
Sejanus. 


268  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  23. 

so  long  as  Drusus  was  alive;*  Sejanus  wished  to  gain 
a  character  for  good  counsels;  he  had  to  fear  also  2 
the  vengeance  of  one  who  made  no  secret  of  his 
hatred,  and  was  for  ever  complaining  that  the 
Emperor  should  be  calling  in  another  to  assist  in 
the  government  when  he  had  a  son  of  his  own^ — 
How  long,  he  asked,  would  it  be  before  Sejanus  were 
styled  a  colleague  ?  The  path  of  ambition  was  perilous 
at  the  outset;  once  entered  upon,  parties  and  instruments 
were  never  wanting.  A  camp  had  been  built  at  the  pre-  3 
feet's  bidding  ;  the  troops  had  been  given  into  his  hand ;  his 
statue  was  to  be  seen  in  the  monument  of  Gnaeus  Pom- 
peius.  He  and  the  Drusi  would  soon  be  having  grandsons 
in  common : 2  they  would  then  have  to  appeal  to  his  modera-  4 
tion,  and  entreat  him  not  to  ask  for  more.  Drusus  would 
often  talk  thus,  and  before  many  listeners;  and  all 
his  secrets  were  betrayed  through  his  corrupted  wife. 
Sejanus  Perceiving  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost,  Sejanus  8. 

selected  a  slow-working  .  poison  which   should   pro- 


pofeon.        duce  the  symptoms  of  an  ordinary  illness^     It  was 
administered  to  Drusus  by  the  hand  of  the  eunuch 

,  as  came  out  eight  years  afterwards.     During  2 
all  the  duration  of  the  illness,  and  even  in  the  interval 
between  the  death  and  the  burial,  Tiberius  appeared 
in  the  Senate  as  usual ;  whether  because  he  was  not 
alarmed,   or  that   he    desired   to   make   show   of  his 

Fortitude     strength   of  mind.     When    the    Consuls,   in   sign   of  3 
mourning,  took  their  seats  upon  the  ordinary  benches, 

breast  by  the  discovery  that  his  only  it  removed  a  watchful  enemy  out  of  the 

son  had  been  foully  and  treacherously  path   of  Sejanus,   and  enabled  him  to 

murdered,  and  that  the  arch-traitor  and  prosecute  his    further    schemes  undis- 

murderer  was  the  one  man  whom  he  turbed.     See  above  on  chap.  6,  i.     It 

had  made  his  confidant —to  whom  alone  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  there 

he  was  incautus  intectusque — and  whom  is  no  evidence  that  Tiberius  treated  his 

i  he  had  selected  as  his  chosen  instrument  son  with  any  confidence  (see  Dio  Ivii. 

I  of  government.  13,  i  and  2), 

1  All   that  Tacitus  seems  to  see  in  2  Referring  to  the  project  of  marriage 

the  death  of  Drusus,  as  affecting  the  mentioned  iii.  29,  5,  where  see  n. 
life  and  government  of  Tiberius,  is  that 


A.D.23.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.  7-8-  269 

he  bade  them  not  forget  their  office  and  their  rank ; 
and  when  the  assembly  burst  into  tears,  he  mastered 
his  emotion,  and  delivered  a  set  speech  to  restore  their 
fortitude. 

He  was  well  aivare,  he  said,  that  lie  might  be  cen-  His  speech 
sured  for  presenting  himself  to  the  gaze  of  the  Senate  in  senate. 
the  first  moments  of  his  affliction.     Most  men,  in  times  of 
grief,  could  scarcely  endure  the  consoling  words  of  kins- 

4  men,  or  look  upon  the  light  of  day.     Such  men  were  not  to 
be  condemned  for  weakness  ;  but  for  his  own  part,  he  had 
sought  solace  of  a  robuster  sort  by  throwing  himself  into 
public  affairs'. 

5  After  that,   he   referred,  in   feeling   terms,  to   the 
great  age1  of  Augusta,  to  the  youth  of  his  grandsons, 
and  to  his  own  declining  years ;  and  then  asked  that 
the  children  of  Germanicus— his  one  comfort  in  his 

6  present  trouble — should  be  brought  in.     The  Consuls  His  grand- 
went  out,  encouraged  the  lads  with  kind  words,  and 
placed   them   before  Tiberius.     Taking  them  by  the 

hand,  he  thus  addressed  the  Senate  :— 

When  these  youths  lost  their  father,  I  committed  them 
to  their  uncle's  charge ;  and  I  implored  him,  although  he 
had  off-spring  of  his  own,  to  rear  and  cherish  them  as  his 
own  blood,  and  to  fashion  them  for  himself  and  for  posterity. 

7  And  now  that  Drusus  has  been  taken  away,  I  turn  my 
prayers  to  you,   Conscript  Fathers  ;   and  I  beseech  you, 
before  our  country  and  our  country's  Gods,  to  take  under 
your  charge  and  guidance  these  great-grandchildren  of 
Augustus,  sprung  from  ancestors  so  illustrious,  and  to 
fulfil  towards  them  my  part  as  well  as  yours.     To  you, 
Nero  and  Drusus,  these  Senators  will  take  the  place  of 

8  fathers.    Born  as  you  have  been  born,  your  good  and 
your  ill  alike  are  matters  which  concern  the  State. 

1  According  to  Dio,  she  was  now  eighty  years  old;   eighty-six   at   her  death 
(Iviii.  2,  i). 


2;o  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  23. 

This  speech  moved  the  audience  to  tears  ;  words  9- 
of  kindly  import  followed :  and  if  Tiberius  had  only 
stopped   there,   he  would   have   filled   the   minds   of 
his    hearers    with   feelings    of    pity   and    exaltation. 
But  when  he  reverted   to  the   idle  and   oft-ridiculed 
idea  of  restoring  the  Republic,  and  of  asking  the  Con- 
suls or  some  one  else  to  undertake  the  government, 
he   lost  all  credit  even  for  his  true  and  honourable 
Honours      feelings.      The   honours   voted   in    memory   of   Ger-  2 
memory  of  manicus  were  repeated  in  the  case  of  Drusus,  with 
such  additions  as  flattery  loves  to  make  as  time  goes 
on.     The  funeral  was  notable  for  the  splendid  array  3 
of  busts :  the  show  including  Aeneas,  the  progenitor 
of   the  Julian    House,   and    all  the  kings  of  Alba ; 
Romulus,  the  founder  of  the  city ;  the  Sabine  nobility, 
with  Attus   Clausus,1  and  the  other  images  of  the 
Claudii,  all  following  in  one  long  procession. 
Another  In    narrating    the    death  of  Drusus,    I   have   fol-   1C 

version  of      -  , 

the  death     lowed    the   most   numerous    and    most    trustworthy 

of  Drusus  ,  i        •   •  i          T 

authorities ;  but  I  must  not  omit  to  mention  a  rumour 
which  obtained  much  currency  at  the  time,  and  which 
has  not  yet  died  out.  The  story  is  that  Sejanus,  after  2 
corrupting  Livia^  acquired  influence  by  foul  means 
over  the  eunuch  §p?iao — a  lad  endeared  to  his  master 
Drusus  by  his  youth  and  beauty,  and  one  of  his 
principal  attendants.  The  confederates  had  agreed 
upon  a  time  and  place  for  administering  the  poison, 
when  Sejanus  had  the  hardihood  to  change  his  tactics. 
Conveying  a  covered  hint  to  Tiberius  that  Drusus 
designed  to  poison  him,  he  warned  him  to  avoid  the 
first  cup  that  should  be  offered  to  him  when  dining  in 
his  son's  house.  The  old  man  fell  into  the  trap.  On  3 

1  The  tradition  was  that  the  Claudii       from  Regillum  in  B.C.  504  (Liv.  ii.  16). 
were  descended  from  the  Sabine  noble       See  xi.  24,  i. 
Attus  Clausus,  who  migrated  to  Rome 


A.D.  23.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.  9-11.  2/1 

entering  the  dining-room,  he  took  the  proffered  cup, 
and  handed  it  on  to  Drusus.  Drusus,  in  all  inno- 
cence, and  with  youthful  eagerness,  drank  it  off,  and 
thus  confirmed  his  father's  suspicions  ;  as  if,  in  very 
fear  and  shame,  he  were  inflicting  upon  himself  the 
death  which  he  had  plotted  for  his  father. 

j         This    story    was    commonly   bruited   about;    but  is  not  to  be 
apart  from  the  fact  that  it  has  no  good  authority  to 

2  support  it,  it  can   be  refuted  without  difficulty.     For 
what  man  with  the  most  ordinary  knowledge  of  the 
world — much   less   one   experienced   in  great  affairs 
like   Tiberius — would   offer  a   deadly   potion    to   his 
own   son,   with   his  own   hand,  without  giving   him 
a  hearing,  or  leaving  any  opening  for  retreat   and 
reconsideration?    Would  he  not  rather  have  applied 
torture  to  the  attendant  who  administered  the  poison  ? 
have  enquired  who  had  prompted  him  to  the  deed? 
and  in  fine,  have  exhibited  towards  his  only  son — a  son 
never  before  found  guilty  of  misconduct — that  vacilla- 
tion and  procrastination  which  were  natural  to  him 

3  even  in  his  intercourse  with  strangers  ?    The  truth  is 
that  Sejanus  was   thought   capable   of  devising  any 
villainy;  and  such  was   the  extravagant   affection  of 
Tiberius   for  him,  and   the  hatred  of  every   one   to- 
wards them  both,  that  any  tale  against  them,  however 
fabulous    or    monstrous    it    might   be,   found    ready 
credence :  for  Rumour  is  ever  charged  with  horrors 
when  dealing  with  the  deaths  of  princes. 

4  Moreover,  the  whole  history  of  the  plot  was  dis-  Aiithe 
closed  by  Apicata,  the  wife  of  Sejanus,  and  confirmed 

by  Eudemus  and  Lygdus  under  torture.  No  his- 
torian, however  hostile  to  Tiberius,  has  ever  laid 
this  crime  at  his  door,  although  every  other  charge 
against  him  has  been  raked  up  and  made  the  most 


2/2 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  23. 


The 

popular 

favour 

shewn  to 

Agrippina 

and  her 

children 


of  fi  and  my  sole  object  in  recording  and  refuting  the  5 
story  is  that  I  may  reject,  once  for  all,  in  an  instance 
so  notable,  all  lying  hearsay  rumours ;  and  implore 
the  reader  into  whose  hands  this  work  may  fall  not 
to  accept  incredible  tales,  however  eagerly  caught 
up  and  widely  spread,  in  preference  to  sober  truth 
untainted  with  the  marvellous?' 

When  Tiberius  delivered  his  son's  funeral  lauda-   I 
tion   from   the  rostra,    the    Senate    and   the    people 
assumed  the  demeanour,  and  used  the  language,  of 
grief;  but  it  was  in  semblance  rather  than  from  the 
heart,  for  they  secretly  rejoiced  at  the  reviving  pro- 
spects of  the  family  of  Germanicus.     But  these  begin-  2 
nings  of  popular  favour,  together  with  the  ill-disguised 
exultation  of  their  mother  Agrippina,3  only  hastened 


1  The  reasoning  of  this  chapter 
presents  Tacitus  at  hfs  best  Nowhere 
does  he  show  more  brilliantly  his  power 
fof  analysing  human  motive,  and  of 
^seizing  with  convincing  clearness  the 
^essential  elements  of  a  situation.  The 
^epigram  atrociore  semper  fama  ergo, 
dominantium  exitus  flashes  a  light  over 
all  history.  It  is  applicable  to  many 
other  horrors  insinuated  by  Tacitus 
himself;  notably  to  the  death  of  Ger- 
manicus ;  and  it  is  as  true  of  the  lives 
as  it  is  of  the  deaths  of  princes.  It  is 
finely  illustrated  by  Macaulay,  in  his 
account  of  the  popular  rumours  current 
as  to  the  death  of  Charles  II.  :  '  At  that 
time  the  common  people  throughout 
Europe,  and  nowhere  more  than  in 
England,  were  in  the  habit  of  attributing 
the  deaths  of  princes,  especially  when 
the  prince  was  popular  and  the  death 
unexpected,  to  the  foulest  and  darkest 
kind  of  assassination.  .  .  .  We  cannot, 
therefore,  wonder  that  wild  stories  with- 
out number  were  repeated  and  believed 
by  the  common  people.  His  Majesty's 
tongue  had  swelled  to  the  size  of  a 
neat's  tongue.  A  cake  of  deleterious 
powder  had  been  found  in  his  brain. 
There  were  blue  spots  on  his  breast. 
There  were  black  spots  on  his  shoulder. 
Something  had  been  put  into  his  snuff- 
box. Something  had  been  put  into  his 
broth.  Something  had  beenr  put  into 
his  favourite  dish  of  eggs  and  amber- 
grease.  The  Duchess  of  Portsmouth 


had  poisoned  him  in  a  cup  of  chocolate. 
The  Queen  had  poisoned  him  in  a  jar  of 
dried  pears.  Such  tales  ought  to  be 
preserved  ;  for  they  furnish  us  with  a 
measure  of  the  intelligence  and  virtue 
of  the  generation  which  eagerly  devoured 
them '  (Vol.  I.,  chap,  iv.,  p.  442). 

2  In  this  passage  Tacitus  shows  a  true 
sense  of  the  responsibility  resting  on  an 
tflgtpi-ianv     He    recognizes   it    as   his 
supreme  duty  to  get  at  the  truth,  to  sift 
his  evidence  carefully,  and  to  discard 
mere  popular  rumour.    How  far  Tacitus 
himself  obeyed  these  canons — whether 
he  always    selected   and  followed  the 
best    authorities — will   ever    remain   a 
subject  of  dispute.     He  seldom  names 
his  authorities  ;    ancient  writers  rarely 
thought  it  necessary  to  do  so.      His 
frequent  comments  and  innuendoes — 
often  palpably  unjust — have  led  many 
to    disbelieve  in    the  accuracy  of   his 
narrative  as  a  whole.     But  they  may 
fairly  lead  to  an  opposite  conclusion. 
The  care  with  which,  as  a    rule,    he 
separates  a  fact  from  his  own  or  the 
public  comments  on  the  fact,  tends  to 
shew  that  if  the  colouring  is  his  own, 
jthe  facts — and  they  often  tell  against 
himself — have  been   carefully  inquired 
into  and  truly  stated.     I  am  unable  to 
agree  with  Mr.  Tarver's  sweeping  con- 
demnation   of   the    manner    in  which 
Tacitus  selected  and  used  his  authorities. 

3  It  must  be  confessed  that  the  friends 
of  Germanicus  and  his  family,  as  well 


A.D.  23.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   11-13.  273 

3  on    their    ruin.      For    when    Sejanus    saw    that   the 
murder  of  Drusus   brought   no   punishment  on    the 
murderers,  and  excited   no  grief  among  the  people, 
he  grew  bold  in  crime  :  having  succeeded  in  his  first 
move,  he  turned  over  in  his  mind  how  he  might  get 
rid  of  the  sons  of  Germanicus,  whose  succession  was 

4  now  assured.     To  administer  poison  to  all  three  was 
impossible  ;    so    staunch    was    the    loyalty   of   their 
guardians,  so  impregnable  the  virtue  of  their  mother. 

5  He    therefore    denounced    the    insolent    bearing    of  gives 
Agrippina,  and  worked  upon  the  long-standing  hatred  handle 


of  Augusta,  and  on  Livia's  new  and  guilty  know- 
ledge,1  urging  them  to  insinuate  into  the  mind  of  the 
Emperor  the  idea  that  she  was  presuming  on  the 
number  of  her  children,  and  that,  relying  on  popular 

6  support,  she  was  aiming  at  the  sovereignty.     These 
suspicions  he  instilled  through  the  medium  of  skilled 
slanderers,  especially   one    chosen    emissary,   Julius 
Postumus  by  name,  who  was  well  fitted  for  the  pur- 
pose as  he  had  become  intimate  with  Augusta  through 
an  intrigue  which  he  carried  on  with  Mutilia  Prisca. 
Mutilia  stood  high   in   Livia's  favour;   and  by  play- 
ing on  the  old  lady's  naturally  jealous  temperament, 
she  succeeded   in  effecting  a  complete  estrangement 

7  between   her  and  her  grand-daughter-in-law.      Even 
Agrippina's  intimate  friends  were  tampered  with,  and 
encouraged   to   urge    on    her  swelling  ambition    by 
treasonable  talk. 

!•  1  Meanwhile  Tiberius,  finding  consolation  in  employ-  Tiberius 
ment,  remained  engrossed  in  public  affairs.  He  at-  fnpmbhc 
tended  in  the  Law  Courts,  and  heard  petitions  from  b 

as    Agrippina    herself,   did    everything  Agrippina  and  her  family  ;  whilst  Livia's 

that   it   was    possible  to  do  on  every  consciousness  of  her  recent  guilt  made 

possible  occasion  to  arouse  the  suspicions  it  impossible  for  her  to   shrink   from 

of  a  jealous  nature  like  that  of  Tiberius.  any   suggestion    that   might    be  made 

1  /.<•.    Augusta     had    always   hated  for  realising  the  fruits  of  her  crime. 


274 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  23. 


Cases  of 

Vibius, 

Carsidius, 

and 

Gracchus. 


allied  states.  He  caused  the  Senate  to  pass  a  decree 
granting  exemption  from  tribute  for  three  years  to  the 
cities  of  Cibyra l  in  Asia,  and  Aegium  in  Achaia,2  which 
had  been  thrown  into  ruins  by  an  earthquake.  Then  2 
Vibius  Serenus,  Pro-consul  of  Further  Spain,3  was 
convicted  of  Public  Violence,  and  in  consequence  of 
his  savage  temper  was  condemned  to  be  deported 
to  the  island  of  Amorgos.  Carsidius  Sacerdos  and  3 
Gaius  Gracchus 4  were  accused  of  having  supplied  our 
enemy  Tacfarinas  with  corn;  but  they  were  both 
acquitted.  The  latter,  in  his  early  childhood,  had  4 
accompanied  his  father  into  exile  in  the  island  of 
Cercina.5  Brought  up  there  among  foreigners  and 
persons  of  no  education,  he  had  afterwards  gained  a 
living  by  petty  trading  in  Sicily  and  Africa ;  but  for 
all  that,  he  could  not  escape  the  perils  of  high  rank. 
All  innocent  as  he  was,  had  not  his  cause  been  5 
espoused  by  Aelius  Lamia6  and  Lucius  Apronius, 
both  former  Governors  of  Africa,  his  illustrious  and 
ill-starred  name,  coupled  with  his  father's  misfortunes, 
would  have  brought  him  to  ruin. 

In  the  course  of  this  year  embassies  were  received   I 
from  two  Greek  States,  Samos  and  Cos,  asking  that 
ancient  rights  of  sanctuary  should  be  confirmed ;  the 
former  for  the  temple  of  Juno,  the  latter  for  that  of 
Aesculapius.     The  Samians  based  their  claim  upon  a  2 
decree  of  the  Amphyctionic  Council,  which  was  the 
supreme  Court  of  the  Greeks  at  the  time  when,  having 
planted  their  colonies  in  Asia,  they  had  command  of 


1  Cibyra  was  a  town    in  the  south- 
west corner  of  Phrygia  (Hor.  Epp.   i. 
6,  33 ;  Cic.  Verr.  ii.  4,  13,  30).     . 

2  Aegium  was  the  chief  city  of  Achaia, 
in  the  Corinthian  gulf. 

3  See  n.  on  chap.  5,  2. 

4  For    Sempronius     Gracchus,     see 

i-  S3-  4- 

5  Cercina    was    a    small    island  (or 


rather  two  islands)  in  the  Lesser  Syrtis, 
off  the  N.  coast  of  Africa. 

6  Hor.  addresses  this  Lamia  in  Od. 
i.  26  and  iii.  17.  He  was  cos.  A.D.  3; 
the  date  of  his  tenure  of  Africa  is 
uncertain.  L.  Apronius  was  under 
Germanicus  in  Germany  (i.  56,  i),  and 
was  governor  of  Africa  A.D.  20  (iii. 

21,   l). 


A.D.  23.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.    13-15.  275 

3  the  seaboard  of  that  country.  The  Coans  had  equal 
antiquity  on  their  side  ;  and  they  could  point  to  a 
special  service  rendered  by  the  locality.  For  when 
Mithradates  had  ordered  a  massacre  of  Roman  citizens 
throughout  the  islands  and  towns  of  Asia,1  the  Coans 
had  opened  to  them  the  temple  of  Aesculapius. 

i  After  repeated  and  fruitless  complaints  from  the  Actors 
Praetors,  Tiberius  at  last  took  up  the  subject  of  the 
shameful  conduct  of  stage-players.  They  had  caused, 
he  declared,  much  public  disturbance  and  many  private 
scandals  ;  that  most  frivolous  of  popular  entertainments, 
the  Oscan  drama?  had  become  so  outrageous*  and  its  in- 
fluence so  formidable*  that  the  Senate  ought  to  use  its 
authority  to  put  it  doivn.  The  actors  were  accordingly 
expelled  from  Italy.5 

i         In  the  course  of  the  same  year,  two  new  sorrows  Deaths  oi 
befell  the  Emperor  :  the  death  of  one  of  the  twin  sons  6 


of  Drusus,  and   that  of  his  intimate  friend  Lucilius 


2  ^ojigus.     Lucilius  had  been  his  constant  companion  c 
in  all  his   fortunes,  good  and  bad  ;  he  was  the  only 
senator  who  had  accompanied  him  in  his  retirement 

3  to  Rhodes.     For  this  reason,  though  he  was  a  man  of 
no  family,  the  Senate  voted  him  a  censorian  funeral, 
and  a  statue  to  be  set  up  at  the  public  expense  in  the 
Forum  of  Augustus.     For  all  kinds  of  business  were  Luciius 
still  transacted  in  the  Senate  ;  so  much  so  that  they  accused 

1  This  was  in  B.C.  88:  no  less  than  in  senatu  nostro  spectarepossis. 

eighty   thou-aml    Romaic  arc   -aid    M  *  Stories   related  by  Suetonius  (Tib. 

have  been  massacreoTon  that  occasion  45,  Cal.  27,  Nero  39)  show  that  these 

(Veil.  ii.  18,  i).     The  massacre  was  the  plays  often  contained  foul  jests,   even 

immediate  cause  of  the  first  Mithradatic  against  the  emperor  himself. 

war  ;  see  n.  on  iii.  73,  3.  *  On  the  immodestia  and  discordia 

8  The  reference    is    to  the  Fabulae  of  actors  see  i.  54,  3:  77,  x. 

Atellanae,   a  form  of  genteel  comedy  *  The  account  given  by  Suet.  Tib. 

originally  reserved  for  amateurs  (Liv.  37  is  Caede  in  theatro  per  discordiam 

vii.    2,    xaj,    but  now   invaded   by   the  admissa,  capita  factionum  et  histriones, 

pantomimi  :    see    Furn.    on  i.   54,    3.  propler  quos  dissidebatur,  relegavit  ;  nee 

Cicero  alludes  to  these  plays  with  great  ut  revocaret  nrnquam  nllis  populi  preci- 

contempt,  ad  Fam.  vii.   i:    A'on  enim  bus  potuit  evinci. 

te  puto  Graecos  aut  Oscos  ludos  deside-  •  Born  in  A.D.  iQJii.  84,  i). 
rare:  praesertim   cum  Oscos  ludos  vel 


2/6 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  23. 


even  tried  Lucilius  Capito,  Procurator1  of  Asia,  on  a 
charge  advanced  by  the  provincials.  Tiberius  asserted, 
in  the  most  positive  manner,  that  he  had  given  Capito 
no  authority  except  over  his  own  slaves  and  revenues.  If  he 
had  taken  upon  himself  the  authority  of  a  Governor?  and 
made  use  of  the  services  of  the  soldiery,  he  had  done  so  in 
violation  of  his  own  instructions ;  they  should  grant  the 
allies  a  hearing. 

The  case  was  accordingly  taken  to  trial,  and  Capito  4 
was  condemned.     On  account  of  which  sentence,  as 
well   as    for    the    punishment    inflicted    upon    Gaius 
Silanus   the  year   before,  the  cities  of  Asia  voted  a 
temple  to  Tiberius,  his  mother,  and  the  Senate ;  and 
when  the  request  was  granted,  Nero  returned  thanks3  5 
to  the  Senate  and  his  grandfather  on  their  behalf.     His 
audience  listened  to  him  with  delight ;  for  having  the 
memory  of  Germanicus  still  fresh  in  their  hearts,  they 
felt  as  if  it  was  his   form   they  saw,  his  voice  they 
heard.      The  young  man,  too,  had   a  modest   bear-  Q 
ing,     and    a    person    befitting    his    princely    rank, 
which   touched  them  all   the  more   that  they  knew 
to  what  dangers  he  was  exposed  from  the  hatred  of 
Sejanus. 

Soon   after  this,   Tiberius   addressed  the  Senate   1 6. 
upon  the  choice  of  a  Flamen  Dialis  in  room  of  Servius 
Maluginensis  deceased,  suggesting  an  amendment  of 
the  law.    The  old  custom,  he  explained,  was  that  three  2 
patricians,  born  of  parents  united   by  the  ceremony 
of  Confarreatio,4  should  be  named,  and  one  selected 


1  See  n.  on  chap.  6,  5.    The  emperor 
might  be  expected  specially  to  screen 
his  own  procurator. 

2  In  a  senatorial  province  like  Asia 
the  procurators  were  only  entitled  to 
prosecute  the  emperor's  claims  in  the 
regular    courts.      Later    they    became 
independent :  Cp.  Juv.  iv.  53-55. 

8  Nero  must   have  been   chosen   by 


the  Asians  as  their  patronus  for  the 
occasion. 

4  Confarreatio  was  a  religious  form  of 
marriage,  peculiar  to  the  patricians, 
taking  its  name  from  the  offering  of  a 
wheaten  cake  (panis  farreus]  to  Jupiter 
before  certain  witnesses,  which  was  an 
essential  part  of  the  ceremony.  See 
Diet.  Ant.  s.v.  Matrimonium. 


A.D.  23.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.    15-16.  2/7 

for  the  office ;  but  as  that  form  of  marriage  had  fallen 
into  disuse,  or  was  only  practised  by  a  few,  a  sufficient 
number  of  persons  thus  qualified  was  no  longer  to 

3  be  found.     There  were  several  reasons  for  this  ;  the 
principal  one  being  an  indifference  to  the  rite  on  the 
part  of  both   men  and  women,  added  to  a  desire  to 
shirk  the  cumbrous  ceremonies  by  which  it  was  ac- 
companied.1    A  further   objection   was   the  fact  that 
when  a  person  assumed  the  Flamenship,  both  he  and 
his  wife  passed  out  of  the  paternal  authority,  the  wife 

4  falling  under  that  of  her  husband.2    This,  he  thought, 
should  be  remedied,  either  by  law  or  by  a  decree  of 
Senate  ;  just  as  Augustus  had  modified  some  of  the 
grim  usages  of  antiquity  to  meet  the  requirements  of 

5  modern  times.      After  a  discussion  on  the  religious 
question,  it  was  resolved  to  make  no  change  in  regard 
to  the  office  itself;  but  a  law  was  passed3  that  the 
Flamen's  wife  should  be  under  her  husband's  authority 
in  regard  to  his  sacred  duties,  but  that  in  all  other 
matters    she  should  have  the  same   rights  as   other 
women.     The  son  of  Maluginensis  was  then  appointed  son  of  the 

6  to  fill  his  father's  place.     And  to  add  to  the  dignity  of  Aamen 
priestly  offices,  and  so  induce  persons  to  undertake  app°" 
such  duties  more  readily,  the  Senate  voted  a  sum  of 

two  million  sesterces4  to  the  Vestal  Cornelia,  who  had 


1  There  was  a  further  drawback :   a  husband.      But    modern    fashion    had 

marriage  by  confarreatio  could  only  be  introduced  laxity  in  these  respects,  and 

dissolved   by  the  equally   complicated  by  means  of  legal  fictions  women  had 

form  di/nrreatio ;   the   marriage  of  a  obtained   practical   independence,  both 

Flamen  could  not  be  dissolved  at  all.  as  to  property  and  otherwise. 

Roman   divorce  was-  very  free  at   this  *  It  thus  appears  that  legislation  by 

time,   and    any    hindrance    to    it  was  the  comitia  did  still  occasionally  take 

regarded  as  a  grievance.  place.     So  in  xi.   13,  2.     But  it  must 

*  The    father  objected    because    he  have  been  a  pure  formality, 

lost  the patriapotestas  over  his  daughter ;  *  On  a  previous  occasion  (ii.   86,  2) 

the  daughter  objected  because  she  came  Tiberius  gave  a  million  sesterces  as  a 

under  the/a/r/a  pote stas  of  her  husband.  consolation  to  that  one  of  the  two  candi- 

Originally,  by   Roman  law,  a  woman  dates  suggested  for  the  office  who  was 

was  never  sut  itiris ;  she  passed  out  of  not  selected, 
the  power  of  her  father  into  that  of  her 


2/8 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  28. 


been  chosen  to  take  the  place  of  Scantia;  and  ordained 
that  Augusta,  when  she  went  to  the  theatre,  should 
take  her  seat  among  the  Vestal  Virgins. 


A.D.    24.     CONSULS     SERVIUS    CORNELIUS    CETHEGUS 
AND   L.   VISELLIUS   VARRO. 

AT  the  beginning  of  this  year,  when  the  Pontiffs,  17 
and  other  priests  after  them,  offered  up  prayers  for 
the  health  of  the  Emperor,  they  included  the  names 
of  Nero  and  of  Drusus  along  with  his,  not  so  much 
out  of  affection  for  the  young  men,  but  rather  by 
way  of  flattery.  But  in  evil  times,  too  much  flattery 
may  be  as  perilous  as  too  little;  and  Tiberius,  who  2 
was  at  no  time  too  well  disposed  to  the  family  of 
Germanicus,  was  incensed  beyond  endurance  that,  at 
his  age,  the  two  young  lads  should  be  put  on  an  equality 
with  himself.  He  therefore  sent  for  the  Pontiffs,  and 
enquired  : — Was  this  compliment  due  to  the  cajoleries  or 
the  threats  of  Agrippina  ?'r  They  denied  the  imputation  ;  3 
but  they  were  reprimanded  nevertheless,  though  not 
very  severely,  for  they  were  for  the  most  part  relatives 
of  his  own,  or  men  of  high  distinction.  And  in  the 
Senate  he  uttered  a  warning  that  no  one  should  in 
future  excite  ambitious  ideas  in  the  impressionable  minds 
of  the  young  men  by  conferring  distinctions  on  them  before 
their  time.  For  Sejanus  was  for  ever  dropping  insinu-  4 
ations  like  these  into  his  ear : — The  State  was  divided  into 
two  factions,  as  if  in  civil  war  ;  there  ivere  some  who  styled 
themselves  the  party  of  Agrippina  ;  if  this  were  allowed 


1  This  is  the  first  occasion  on  which 
Tiberius  shows  any  overt  sign  of 
jealousy  towards  Agrippina  and  her 
family.  It  was  the  natural  result  of 
the  death  of  Drusus.  She  could  now 
claim,  or  be  represented  as  claiming, 
the  succession  for  her  children  as  their 


inherited  right ;  and  she  could  always 
boast,  as  against  the  Claudian  line,  that 
she  and  her  children  were  descended 
from  Augustus  himself.  How  indis- 
creetly Agrippina  obtruded  this  point 
appears  in  chaps.  52,  4,  and  53,  i. 


A.D.24.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.    16-19.  279 

to  go  on,  their  numbers  would  increase :  there  was  but 
one  mode  of  curbing  the  rising  spirit  of  disaffection — to 
put  one  or  tivo  of  its  most  active  promoters  out  of  the 
way. 

1  With  this  object,  he  attacked   Gaius   Silius1  and 
Titius  Sabinus.     The   fatal  offence  of  both  was  that  sniusand 
they  had  been  friends  of  Germanicus  ;  but  there  were 
further  reasons  against  Silius.     He  had  been  in  com- 
mand of  great  armies  for  seven  years;  he  had  gained 
Triumphal    honours    in    Germany;   he    had   been   a 
conqueror  in  the  war  with  Sacrovir.     The  greater  his 

fall,  the   greater  the   terror   which  it   would    spread 

2  abroad.      Many   thought  that   Silius  had  aggravated 
his  offence  by  his  own  intemperate  conduct.     He  had 
boasted  over-much  of  the  loyalty  of  his  own  troops 
when  other  armies  broke  out  in  mutiny  : — If  the  spirit 
of  mutiny   had  spread  to  his  oivn  legions — so  he  had 
declared — //  would  have  been  all  over  with  the  government 
of  Tiberius.  Such  pretensions  Tiberius  deemed  destruc- 
tive of  his  own  position ;  such  services  too  great  to 

3  be  requited.     For  benefactions  are  welcome,  so  long 
as  it  seems  possible  to  repay  them ;  when  they  go 
far    beyond    that    limit,   hatred   takes    the   place    of 
gratitude2 } 

i        Sosia  Galla,  the  wife  of  Silius,  was  odious  to  the  TheCon- 
Emperor   because   of  her  attachment   to   Agrippina.  accuses™ 
It  was  determined  to   impeach  both   Silius  and  Sa- 
binus,8 but  to  postpone  the  prosecution  of  Sabinus  for 

1  C.   Silius  was  cos.    A.D.  13.     We  »  This    pungent    and    too    truthful 

find  him  in  i.  31/1  in  command  of  the  epigram   is   illustrated   by   Furn.   from 

army  of  JJpper  Germany  as  legatusjrro  Seneca  (Ep.  19,  n):  Quidam  quo  plus 

fraeton-,  A.D.   14,  and  he  remained  in  debent,  magis  oderunt ;  lei'e  aes  alienum 

the    same    post    until    he    conquered  debitwem  facit,  grave  inimicum.     Cp. 

Sacrovir,    A. p.  21   (iii.   45-6).     He  re-  Shakespeare,   '  For  loan  oft  loses  both 

ceived  the  triumphalia  insignia  for  his  himself  and  friend,'  Ham.,  Act  i.  Sc.  3. 

German  services  in  A.D.   15  (i.  72,  i).  J  How  Titius  Sabinus  was  entrapped 

Furn.  thinks  he  may  have  been  related  and   put  to  death  is  told  with  much 

to  Silius  Italicus,  the  poet.  detail  in  chaps.  68  to  70. 


280 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  24. 


he  is  con- 
demned, 
and  com- 
mits 
suicide. 


His  pro- 
perty not 
spared ;  his 
wife  Sosia 
exiled. 


a  season.  The  Consul  Varro  was  set  on l  to  prosecute, 
who  on  the  pretence  of  having  some  quarrel  of  his 
father's  to  avenge,  was  ready  to  sacrifice  his  own 
honour  to  abet  the  animosities  of  Sejanus.  The  2 
accused  craved  a  short  delay,  until  his  accuser  should 
vacate  his  office;  but  Tiberius  refused  the  request. 
It  was  customary,  he  said,  for  magistrates  to  prosecute 
private  persons :  there  must  be  no  curtailment  of  a  Con- 
sul's rights,  seeing  that  it  depended  on  his  vigilance  that 
the  State  took  no  harm.2  It  was  a  speciality  this  of  3 
Tiberius,  to  make  use  of  ancient  formulae3  as  a  cloak 
for  .new-fangled  villanies.  And  so,  with  all  due 
solemnity,  the  Senate  was  convened ;  just  as  if  Silius 
were  being  dealt  with  by  law,  or  as  if  Varro  were 
truly  Consul,  or  Rome  a  Commonwealth  at  all.  Silius 
himself  said  nothing ;  or  in  such  defence  as  he  at- 
tempted he  made  it  plain  whose  anger  was  bearing 
him  down.  He  was  charged  with  having  connived  at  4 
the  movement  of  Sacrovir,  and  with  sullying  his  victory 
by  rapacity.  The  conduct  of  his  wife  Sosia  was  also 
brought  up  against  him.  The  charge  of  extortion,  5 
certainly,  was  brought  home  to  them  both ;  but  the 
whole  trial  was  conducted  as  one  for  treason}^  and 
Silius  anticipated  the  inevitable  condemnation  by  a 
voluntary  death. 

Yet5  his  property  was  severely  dealt  with.    Not  that  2O 


1  As  if  he  were  a  hound  let  loose  upon 
his  quarry. 

2  Tiberius  is  here  quoting  the  words 
of  the  old  decretum  ultimum  or  supre- 
mum,  by  which  (as  in  the  case  of  Cicero 
against  Catiline)   the  senate  conferred 
dictatorial  power  upon   the  consuls  in 
the    formula  ne    quid   detrimenti    res 
publica  caperet. 

3  The  use  of  this  ancient  constitutional 
formula,  so  resented  by  Tacitus,  was 
indeed    a    mockery    in    the  mouth  of 
Tiberius.      The  great   departments  of 
administration    had  one  by  one  been 


handed  over  to  the  emperor,  and  the 
responsibility  of  the  consuls  had  become 
purely  nominal. 

4  Here  again,  as  in  the  case  of  C. 
Silanus  (iii.  67,  2),  Tacitus  admits  that 
the  accused  was    guilty  of   the  main 
charge,    but   insists   on  regarding    the 
whole  trial  as  one  for  maiestas. 

5  i.e.   in  spite  of   his    suicide.      In 
cases  of  maiestas  we  are  informed  in 
vi.  29,  2  that  confiscation  was  usually 
avoided  by  suicide,  except  so  far  as  the 
informers  had    to  be    rewarded.     See 
chap.  30,  3-4,  and  n. 


A.D.  24.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.    19-20.  281 

any  restitution  was  made  to  the  tribute-payers  ;  indeed 
none  was  asked  for  :  but  the  sums  which  had  come 
as  gifts  from  Augustus  1  were  abstracted,  and  an  ac- 
count was  asked  of  every  item  due  to  the  Imperial 

2  Treasury.     Never  before  had  Tiberius  exhibited  any 
solicitude  for  money  not  his  own.     On  the  motion  of 
Asinius  Callus,  Sosia  was  sentenced  to  exile  ;  he  had 
also  proposed  that  one  half  of  the  property  should  be 
confiscated,  the  other  half  being  left  for  the  children. 

3  But  this  Manius  Lepidus  had  opposed,  moving  that  Courage 
all  should  go  to  the  children  except  the  fourth  part  cretion  of 

4  allowed   by  law   to   the   accusers.     This   Lepidus,  I 


find,  bore  himself  with  dignity  and  wisdom  also 
throughout  all  those  evil  days  ;  for  on  many  occasions 
he  tempered  the  seventies  proposed  by  flatterers. 
And  yet  he  was  not  wanting  in  discretion  ;  for  he 
enjoyed,  without  a  break,  the  esteem  and  favour 

5  of  Tiberius.    Hence  I  am  compelled  2  to  doubt  whether 
the  favour  of  Princes  towards  some  men,  and  their 
dislike  of  others,  depend,  like  all  other  things,  upon 
Fate,  and  on  the  lot  assigned  to  us  at  our  birth;  or 
whether  our   own    prudence   also    may   not    go   for 
something,   so    as    to    make    it    possible   to   steer  a 
course  that  shall  be  safe  without  scheming,  midway 
between  abrupt  defiance  on  the   one   hand   and  de- 
grading complaisance  on  the  other. 

6  After  that  Messalinus  Cotta,  a  man  of  a  very  dif-  Motion  by 
ferent  character  from  Lepidus,  though  no  less  nobly  cotta.  ° 
born,  proposed  a  decree  that  magistrates  should  be 
punished  for  offences  committed  in  the  Provinces  by 

their  wives,  however  innocent  and  ignorant  of  them 

1  Augustus  had  probably  made  some  *  Tacitus    gives    up     his    favourite 

special  grants  of  money  to  Sjjantis,  such  fatalistic   doctrine   very  charingly   and 

as  he  made  to  Hortalus,  and  as  Tiberius  grudgingly.     See  vi.  22,  5-6. 
himself  made  to  others  (ii.  37,  i  and  2). 


282  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  24. 

they  might  be,  just  as  if  they  had  been  committed  by 
themselves.1 

Next  came  the  case  of  Calpurnius  Piso.     I  have  21 

Piso 

accused,  already  recorded2  how  this  high-spirited  nobleman  had 
proclaimed  in  the  Senate  that  he  would  quit  the  city 
on  account  of  the  machinations  of  accusers ;  how  he 
had  defied  Augusta,  and  dared  to  drag  Urgulania 
before  the  courts,  out  of  the  very  palace  of  the  Em- 
peror. All  this  Tiberius  had  borne  patiently  at  the  2 
time;  but  in  a  mind  like  his  that  brooded  over  its 
wrongs,  even  if  the  first  access  of  anger  might  die 
away,  the  memory  remained  behind.3  And  so  Piso  3 
was  accused  by  Quintus  Granius  of  having  spoken 
disrespectfully  of  the  Emperor's  Majesty  in  private  ; 
to  which  was  added  that  he  kept  poison  in  his  house, 
and  that  he  wore  a  sword  when  attending  in  the 
Senate.  This  last  point  was  passed  over  as  too  4 
monstrous  to  be  true.  He  was  indicted  on  the 
butoppor-  remaining  charges,  piled  up  against  him  in  great 
ies*  number ;  but  his  opportune  death  prevented  the  trial 

from  going  on. 

condem-  Then  Cassius  Severus 4  was  dealt  with.     This  Cas-  5 

Cass°ius0f     sius  was   a   pestilent   person   of  mean   origin,  but  a 

Severus.      forcible  forensic  speaker ;  and  in  consequence  of  the 

bitter  animosities  which  he   provoked,  he  had  been 

banished  by  the  Senate,  acting  under  oath,5  to  the 

island  of  Crete.     But  as  he  pursued  a  similar  course 

there,  and  brought  down  upon  himself  enmities  both 

1  All  strict  administration— especially  3  For  this  trait   in  the  character  of 
if  it  affected  the  nobility — is  distasteful       Tiberius  see  i.   7,    n  ;   iii.    64,  3;   iv. 
to  Tacitus.      He    is  outraged    that  a       71,  5. 

man  of  high  birth  like  Cotta  should  *  Cassius  was  a  rhetorician  of  some 

propose  to  hold  a  provincial  governor  note,  of  the  new  school  (Dial.  19,   i). 

responsible  for   the   misdoings   of   his  Quintilian  says  of  him,  plus  bills  habet 

wife.  guam  sanguinis  (x.  i,  117) ;  and  Seneca, 

2  i.e.  in  ii.  34,  1-2,  eight  years  before.  plus  stomacho  quam  consUio  dedit  (Exc. 
Tiberius    had    with    difficulty   soothed  Contr.  iii.  praef.). 

him  on  that  occasion,  5  See  nn,  on  i.  14,  6  :  74,  5. 


\.D.24.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   20-23.  283 

new  and  old,  he  was  interdicted  from  fire  and  water, 
stripped  of  his  property,  and  condemned  to  pass  his 
old  age  on  the  rocks  of  Seriphus.1 

1  About  this  same  time   the   Praetor  Plautius   Sil- 
vanus,  for   some    unknown   reason,    threw   his    wife  throws  his 
Apronia  out  of  the  window.     Summoned  before  the  of  the 
Emperor  by  his   father-in-law   Lucius   Apronius,   he 
replied,  with  much  confusion,  that  he  had  been  fast 
asleep  at  the  time ;  that  he  knew  nothing  of  what  had 
happened  ;    and  that  his  wife  had  made  away  with 

2  herself.     Without  delaying  for  one  instant,  Tiberius 
proceeded    to    the    house,   and    examined    the    bed- 
chamber, where  he  saw  with  his  own  eyes  the  signs 

:•{  of  a  struggle  and  an  ejectment.  He  reported  the 
matter  to  the  Senate,  and  a  trial  was  appointed;2 
whereupon  Urgulania,  the  grandmother  of  Silvanus, 
sent  Plautius  a  dagger.  Urgulania  being  intimate 
with  Augusta,  the  receipt  of  this  dagger  was  taken  as 

4  equivalent  to  a  hint  from  the  Emperor  himself  j3  and 
after  a  vain  attempt  to  use  the  weapon  himself,  the 
accused  caused  his  veins  to  be  opened.  Shortly  after 
this,  his  first  wife  Numantina  was  accused  of  having 
driven  him  mad  by  means  of  potions  and  incantations ; 
but  she  was  acquitted. 

i        In  this  year,  at  last,  the  Romans  saw  the  end  of  End  of  the 
their  long  war  with  the  Numidian   Tacfarinas.     All 

1  One  of  the  smaller  Cyclades,  now  up  the  whole  judicial  function  (Ov.  Fast. 

Serpho.     It   was  a  common   place    of  i.  i.  47). 

banishment  (Juv.  x.  170).  3  This  story  well  illustrates  the  pains- 

8  The  phrase  dare  iudices  simply  taking  anxiety  to  get  at  the  truth,  and 
means  '  to  permit  a  case  to  go  to  trial.1  to  probe  questions  for  himself,  which 
It  denotes  the  act  of  the  praetor  or  was  so  long  a  characteristic  of  Tiberius 
other  judge  before  whom  a  plaintiff  (see  i.  75,  2  and  n.).  Such  attention  to 
lodged  a  claim.  The  judge  was  said  dare  details  was  out  of  place  in  the  governor 
actionem  et  iudices  (i.e.  to  permit  the  of  an  empire;  it  doubtless  contributed, 
case  to  go  on  and  name  the  court) ;  di-  as  Merivale  points  out,  to  the  ultimate 
cere  ins  (to  indicate  the  law,  or  principle  break-down  of  Tiberius.  Unequal  to 
of  law,  under  which  it  had  to  be  tried) ;  the  task  of  entering  into  every  detail  of 
and  lastly,  addicerebona  (to adjudge  the  government  himself,  and  losing  all  con- 
property  under  dispute).  Hence  the  fidence  in  those  near  him,  he  gave  up 
three  words  do,  dico,  addico  summed  the  task  in  despair. 


284  ANNALS   OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  24. 

former  generals  had  relaxed  their  efforts  as  soon  as 
they  thought  they  had  done  enough  to  earn  Triumphal 
honours ;  for  though  no  less  than  three 1  laurelled 
statues  had  been  set  up,  Tacfarinas  was  still  devastating 
the  Province.  He  had  been  reinforced  by  a  body  of 
Moors,  who  under  the  negligent  rule  of  Juba's  young 
son  Ptolemy  had  chosen  war,  rather  than  submit  to  be 
ordered  about  like  slaves  by  the  King's  freedmen. 
The  king  of  the  Garamantes2  acted  as  receiver  of  2 
plunder  for  Tacfarinas,  and  took  part  in  his  depreda- 
tions ;  and  though  not  taking  the  field  in  person,  he 
supplied  him  with  a  light-armed  force,  -to  whose  num- 
bers distance  lent  exaggeration.  From  the  Province 
itself,  the  needy  and  the  restless  flocked  to  his 
standard  ;  and  that  all  the  more  eagerly  because  the 
Emperor,  after  the  successes  of  Blaesus,  had  recalled 
the  9th  legion,  as  though  the  African  war  were  over. 
The  new  Proconsul,  Publius  Dolabella,  had  not 
ventured  to  detain  this  legion;  for  he  was  more 
afraid  of  the  Emperor's  orders  than  of  the  chances 
of  war. 

Doiabeiia  Tacfarinas  accordingly  spread  abroad  the  rumour  24 
sfegeSo?e  that  other  nations  were  breaking  in  upon  the  Roman 
rhubus-  Empire ;  that  the  Romans  were,  in  consequence,  with- 
drawing gradually  from  the  Province ;  and  that  such 
of  them  as  were  left  might  be  cut  off,  if  only  a  vigorous 
effort  were  made  by  all  who  preferred  freedom  to 
slavery.  His  forces  thus  augmented,  he  established  a 
camp  and  laid  siege  to  the  town  of  Thubuscum. 
Dolabella  meanwhile  collected  all  his  regular  troops,  2 
and  with  his  first  advance  raised  the  siege :  partly 
through  the  terror  of  the  Roman  name,  partly  because 

1  The  three  commanders  were  Furius       Junius  Blaesus  (iii.  72,  6,  A.D.  22). 
Camillas     (ii.    52,    8,    A.D.    17)  ;     L.  2  See  iii.  74,  2. 

Apronius    (iii.    21,    i,    A.D.   20) ;    and 


cum 


A.D.  24.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   23-25.  285 

Numidians  cannot  stand  up  against  a  charge  of  in- 
fantry. He  then  set  up  block-houses  in  suitable 
positions,  executed  the  Musulamian  chiefs  who  were 
3  wavering  in  their  allegiance,  and  having  learned  from 
his  various  expeditions  against  Tacfarinas  that  it  was 
of  no  use  to  attempt  to  follow  up  so  mobile  an  enemy 
with  a  single  heavily-equipped  force,  he  called  out  organises 
King  Ptolemy  and  his  people,  organised  four  separate  columns"8 
columns,  each  under  the  command  of  a  Legate  or  a 
Tribune,  and  sent  out  Moorish  plundering  parties 
under  picked  leaders  of  their  own.  He  himself 
directed  the  operations  as  a  whole. 

1  Before  long,  news  arrived  that  the  Numidians  had  and  com- 
put  up  their  huts  and  established  themselves  in  a  half-  defeats  the 
ruined  fort  called  Auzea,  which  they  had  burned  some  Auzea. 
time  before,1  the  position  of  which,  in  the  midst  of 

2  vast  forests,  they  thought  secure.     A  light  column  of 
our  horse  and  foot  was  at  once  hurried  off,  without 
knowing  its  destination.     The  Romans  fell  upon  the 
barbarians  at  daybreak,  with  fierce  cries  and  blowing 
of  trumpets,  before  they  were  well  awake,  and  when 
their  horses  were  either  hobbled  or  feeding  far  away. 

3  The  Roman  infantry  was  in  one  compact  body,  their 
cavalry  was  posted  at  proper  intervals,  and  all  was 
ready  for  battle.    The  enemy,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
taken  unawares  ;   they  had  neither  arms,  nor  order, 
nor  plan  of  battle ;  they  were  dragged  off  like  sheep, 

4  and  butchered   or  taken   prisoners.      The  infuriated 
soldiery,  remembering   all   they   had   gone   through, 
how  often  they  had  longed  for  battle,  and  how  often 
they  had  been  foiled,  glutted  their  vengeance  to  the 

1  It  is  not  possible  to  make  out  with  indications  are  of  the  vaguest  kind.     Of 

any  approach   to  exactness   the    topo-  the  geography  of  Africa,  we  may  be  sure 

graphy  of  these  campaigns.     We  have  that  he  knew  even  less  than  an  average 

seen  that  even  in  the  case  of  Germany,  Englishman   knew    of    that    of   South 

a  country  which  Tacitus  had  specially  Africa  before  the  late  war. 
studied  and  described,  his  geographical 


286 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  24. 


Tacfarinas 
killed. 


Dolabella 
refused  a 
Triumph. 


Embassy 
of  the 
Gara- 
mantes. 


A  servile 
rising 
nipped  in 
the  bud. 


full.  Word  was  passed  round  the  maniples  that  every 
man  was  to  make  for  Tacfarinas,  whose  face,  after  so 
many  conflicts,  was  familiar  to  them  all.  And  so,  at  5 
last,  after  his  guards  had  been  struck  down  round 
him,  and  his  son  taken  prisoner,  seeing  the  Romans 
close  in  on  him  from  every  side,  he  rushed  upon  their 
blades,  and  by  a  dearly  bought  death  escaped  captivity. 
So  ended  the  war. 

Dolabella  asked  for  Triumphal  honours  ;  but  Tibe-   26 
rius    refused,   out    of   compliment    to   Sejanus,    not 
wishing  to  dim  the  glory  of  his  uncle  Blaesus.     But  2 
while  this  refusal  added  nothing  to  the  distinction  of 
Blaesus,  it  added  much  to  that  of  Dolabella ;  seeing 
that  the  latter,  with  a  smaller  force,1  had  slain  the  king 
and  brought   back   notable  captives,  and  had  all  the 
credit  of  bringing  the  war  to  an  end.     He  was  accom-  3 
panied    by    an    embassy    from     the    Garamantes — a 
spectacle  strange  to  Rome.     Dismayed  by  the  death 
of  Tacfarinas,  and  conscious  of  their  own  innocence, 
that  people  had  sent  envoys  to  make  submission  to 
the  Roman  people.     In  recognition  of  King  Ptolemy's  4 
loyal  attitude  throughout  the  war,  an  ancient  custom 
was  revived  in  his  honour.     A  senator  was  despatched 
to  present  to  him,  as  in  olden  times,  an  ivory  staff  and 
an  embroidered  toga,2  and  to  bestow  on  him  the  titles 
of  King,  Ally,  and  Friend. 

During  the  same  summer,  the  beginnings  of  a  ser-  2Tj 
vile  war  were   crushed3  by  a   happy  chance.     The 
movement  originated  with  a  certain  Titus  Curtisius, 
once  a  soldier  of  the  Praetorian  Guard.     Beginning 
in  Brundisium  and   the  towns   round  it  with  secret 


1  He  had  only  one  legion,  the  3rd  ; 
the  9th  having  been  withdrawn  (chap. 
23,  2).  Camillus  also  in  his  campaign 
had  but  one  legion,  supplemented  by 
local  levies  (ii.  52,  5). 


2  The  garment  worn  in  triumphs. 

3  The  phrase  sentinel  oppressit  seems 
to  contain  a  mixed  metaphor. 


A.D.  24.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   25-28.  287 

meetings,  after  a  time  he  openly  issued  proclamations, 
calling  on  the  rustic  and  half-savage  slaves  of  the 
remoter  districts  to  strike  for  freedom.  As  if  by 
special  providence,  three  war  -galleys,  kept  on  that 
coast  for  the  protection  of  traders,  put  into  the  port, 

2  The  Quaestor  Cutius  Lupus,  who  by  old  custom  had 
charge  of  the  hill  districts,1  happened  to  be  on  the 
spot  at  the  time  ;   making  a  judicious  disposition  of 

3  his  seamen,  he  crushed  the  rising  at  the  outset.     The 
Emperor  sent  off  at  once  a  strong  force  under  the 
Tribune  Staius,  who  seized  Curtisius  and  his  most 
daring  associates,  and  carried  them  off  to  Rome.    The 
city  was  already  in  a  panic;  for  the  number  of  slaves 
was  increasing  beyond  all  measure,  while  that  of  the 
free-born  population  was  dwindling  day  by  day. 

i        The  same  year  witnessed  a  most  lamentable  and  Accusation 

,     ,      r  .of  Vi  bius 

monstrous  prosecution:   a  son  appeared   before  the 


Senate  as  accuser  of  his  own  father.  Both  bore  the 
2  name  of  Vibius  Serenus.2  Dragged  back  from  exile, 
his  person  a  mass  of  filth  and  rags,  and  loaded  with 
chains,  the  father  had  to  face  the  accusations  of  his 
son  ;  while  the  youth,  in  elegant  attire,  and  beaming 
with  self-complacency,  acted  as  informer  and  witness 
in  one.  He  asserted  that  his  father  had  plotted 
against  the  Emperor,  and  had  sent  persons  to  foment 
the  war  in  Gaul  ;  he  also  accused  Caecilius  Cornutus,  comutus 
a  man  of  praetorian  rank,  of  having  supplied  him 

1  It  would  appear  that  from  an  early  supports  the  conj.   Cales),  to  have  had 

time    there   were    four  quaestors  with  the   rough  pasture-land  of  the  interior 

'provinces'  in  different  parts  of  Italy.  under  his  charge  also.     If  so,  his  duty 

One   was  stationed    at    Ostia,  one   in  would  probably  be  that  of  collecting  the 

Cisalpine    Gaul.      Their    duties    were  rents  due  for  state  pastures.    Suetonius 

connected    with    the    superintendence  speaks  of  a  provincial  post  of  no  great 

of  foreign  trade  ;  each  probably  had  a  importance    known    by   the    name    of 

port  or  ports  under  his  charge,  and  silvae  callesquc  (lul.  19). 

would  for  that  purpose  have  the  dis-  *  C.  Vibius  Serenus  was  one  of  the 

posal  of   the  local  coast-guard  force.  accusers  of  Libo(ii.  30,  i)  ;  he  had  been 

Brundisium  would  be  the  natural  station  condemned   for  i>is  fublica,   and  Lan- 

for  one  of  these  officers  ;  who  would  ished  to  Amorgus  ob  atrocitatein  tiwrum 

seem,  if  callcs  be  read  here  (Mommsen  (chap.  13,  2). 


288 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  24 


The  accu- 
sation 
breaks 
down, 


with  funds  for  the  purpose.  Unable  to  endure  the 
suspense,  and  believing  that  to  be  accused  was  to  be 
condemned,  Cornutus  hastened  to  put  an  end  to  him- 
self; whereas  Serenus,  undaunted,  shook  his  chains  3 
in  his  son's  face,  and  called  on  the  Gods  for  vengeance  : 
imploring  them  to  take  him  back  into  exile,  where 
he  might  live  far  from  fashions  like  to  these,  and  to 
send  down  punishment,  sooner  or  later,  upon  his  son. 
Cornutus,  he  protested,  was  innocent,  and  had  been  4 
alarmed  without  reason.  If  the  facts  alleged  were  true,  let 
them  produce  other  names  besides  his  ; 1  for  he  could  never 
have  plotted  against  the  Emperors  life  and  government 
ivith  one  single  confederate. 

Thus  challenged,  the  accuser  named  Gnaeus  Len-  20. 
tulus 2  and  Seius  Tubero,3  to  the  great  confusion  of  the 
Emperor ;  for  here  were  two  of  the  first  men  in  the 
State,  both  intimate  friends  of  his  own — one  in  extreme 
old  age,  the  other  in  feeble  health — accused  of  plan- 
ning an  insurrection,  and  endangering  the  public  peace. 
Both  were  at  once  acquitted  ;  and  when  the  father's 
slaves  were  put  to  the  torture  to  give  evidence  against 
their  master,  the  result  was  unfavourable  to  the 
prosecution.  In  a  guilty  frenzy,  and  alarmed  by  the  2 
murmurs  of  the  crowd  who  threatened  him  with  the 
Tullianum,4  the  Tarpeian  Rock,5  or  the  death  of  a 
parricide,6  the  accuser  fled  from  the  city ;  but  he  was  3 


1  The  Latin  is  not  quite  logical  or 
complete.     It  reads  as  if  Serenus  meant 
that  his  innocence  would  be  proved  by 
the    production    of    accomplices  :    he 
meant,  of  course,  the  opposite.     It  was 
the  lack  of  accomplices  that  would  prove 
his  innocence. 

2  Cn.  Cornelius  Lentulus  had  accom- 
panied  Drusus  in  his  mission   to   the 
mutinous  army  of  Pannonia,  when  he 
narrowly  escaped  death  at  the  hands  of 
the  soldiers  (ante  altos  aetate  et  gloria 
belli,  i.  27,   i).      He  had  been  consul 
B.C.  18,  and  had  gained  victories  over 


the  Getae.     His  death  and  character 
are  recorded  in  chap.  44,  i. 

3  Seius  Tubero  was  a  legatus  under 
Germanicus   (ii.  20,   2),  and  was  cos. 
suf.  A.D.  1 8. 

4  The  famous  Career  or  Tullianum, 
at  the  foot  of  the  Capitol. 

6  The  Tarpeian  Rock,  on  the  W. 
face  of  the  Capitol,  from  which  state 
criminals  (as  Manlius)  were  hurled. 

6  The  ancient  punishment  of  the  parri- 
cide was  to  be  beaten  with  rods  to  the 
effusion  of  blood,  then  to  be  tied  up  in 
a  sack  along  with  a  dog,  a  cock,  a 


A.D.  24.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.  28-30.  289 

dragged  back  from  Ravenna  and  compelled  to  carry 
on  the  prosecution,  Tiberius  making  no  secret  of  the 
hatped  which  he  had  long  entertained  against  the 

4  exiled  Serenus.     For  after  the  condemnation  of  Libo, 
Serenus  had  written  a  letter  to  Tiberius  reproaching 
him  with  having  left   his  own    great  services  unre- 
warded, and  containing  some  expressions  too  insolent 
to  be  safely  addressed  to  ears  so  haughty,  so  ready  to 

5  take   offence.      Tiberius   brought   all   this   up   again, 
after  an  interval  of  eight  years,  adding  divers  charges 
relating   to   the    intervening  period,  though    he  was 
now   baulked   by   the  obstinacy  of  the  slaves  under 
torture. 

1  It  was  proposed  that  Serenus  should  be  punished 
after  the   ancient    fashion;1    but    on   this   Tiberius, 
anxious  to  conciliate  public   opinion,  interposed  his 

2  veto.     Gallus  Asinius  moved  that  he  should  be  con- 
fined in  Gyarus  or  Donusa  ;  but  Tiberius  objected  to 
that   also,   on   the   ground   that   there  was  a  lack  of 
water  in  both  islands,  and  that  if  a  man's  life  were 
spared,   he  should  at  least   be  granted    the   means    of 
living.      Serenus   was     accordingly    taken     back    to  and 

3  Amorgus.     And  as  Cornutus   had   died   by  his  own 
hand,   it   was   proposed   that  if  a  person  accused  of 
treason  should  commit  suicide  before  the  trial   was 
over,    the   prosecutors   should  forfeit  their  rewards. 

4  This  motion  was  on  the  point  of  being  carried,  when 
Tiberius,  with  unusual  openness,  pronounced  in  favour  Tiberius 
of  the  informers  ;  protesting,  with  much  asperity,  that 


such  a  rule  would  nullify  all  law  and  be  a  serious  " 
danger  to  the  state  :  —  Better  upset  the  laws,  said  he,  than 
5  remove  their  guardians.     Thus  was  it  that  baits  were 

monkey  and  a  snake,  and  so  cast  into  >  i.e.    by  scourging    to  death.     See 

the  sea  (Dig.  xlviii.  9.  9  ;  Juv.  viii.  214).       ii.  32,  5. 


290 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  24. 


Pardon  of 

Gaius 

Cominius. 


dangled  before  informers — a  tribe  of  miscreants  called 
into  being  for  the  public  ruin,  whom  neither  pains 
nor  penalties  have  ever  been  able  to  repress. 

Amid  this  series  of  distressing  events,  some  slight  3 
relief  was  afforded  by  the  pardon  of  Gaius  Cominius, 
a  Roman   knight,  convicted  of  writing  a  scurrilous 
poem  against  the  Emperor.      This   favour  Tiberius 
granted  on  the  intercession  of  a  senator,  brother  of 
the  accused.      Men    marvelled   all   the   more   that   a  2 
prince  capable  of  better  things,  who  had  knowledge  of 
the  esteem  which  waits  on  acts  of  clemency,  should 
prefer  a  policy  of  severity.     It  was  not  from  any  want  3 
of  perception  that  he  went  wrong;  nor  does  it  need  a 
diviner  to  tell  whether  the  applause  which  greets  the 
acts   of    sovereigns    be   true   or    counterfeit.      Nay,  4 
Tiberius    himself,   who    on    other   occasions    would 
employ  set  phrases,  and  appear  to  struggle  with  his 
words,  spoke  with  ease  and  freedom  whenever  he 
spoke  words  of  mercy. 

Yet  when  Publius  Suillius,1  once  Quaestor  under  5 
p.suiiiius,  Germanicus,  was  convicted  of  receiving  a  judicial 
bribe,  and  it  was  proposed  to  banish  him  from  Italy, 
Tiberius  moved,  with  much  warmth,  that  he  should  be 
deported  to  an  island ;  declaring,  on  solemn  oath,  that 
he  did  so  in  the  public  interest.  This  sentence  raised  6 
much  indignation  at  the  time ;  but  it  redounded  to  the 
Emperor's  credit  in  after  days,  when  Suillius  returned 
to  Rome.  For  he  became  known  to  the  next  gene- 
ration as  a  powerful  and  corrupt  favourite  of  the 
Emperor  Claudius,  whose  friendship  he  enjoyed  long 
and  profitably,  but  never  used  for  good.  A  like  7 


Punish- 
ment of 


1  Tacitus  quotes  the  case  of  Suillius, 
in  contrast  to  that  of  C.  Cominius,  as  if 
to  shew  how  sometimes  Tiberius  seemed 
to  revel  in  pronouncing  harsh  sentences. 
Yet  he  has  to  confess  that  Tiberius  was 


right  in  his  judgment  of  Suillius.  In 
the  third  case  (that  of  Catus  Firmius) 
Tiberius  punished  the  false  traducer  ; 
but  not  severely  enough  to  please 
Tacitus. 


A.D.  24.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   30-33-  291 

penalty  was  inflicted  upon  the  senator  Catus  Firmius,  and  Catus 

J  r  .  Firmius. 

for  having  brought  a  false  charge  of  treason  against 
his  own  sister.  It  was  this  Catus  who,  as  above 
recorded,1  first  entrapped  Libo,  and  then  brought  him 

8  to  ruin  by  turning  informer.  Bearing  this  service 
in  mind,  but  alleging  some  other  reason,  Tiberius 
deprecated  a  sentence  of  banishment,  though  he 
offered  no  objection  to  his  expulsion  from  the  Senate. 

i         I  am  well  aware  that  much  of  what  I  have  related,  iknowweii 

.....  /-   i  •      ,  how  poor 

and  still  have  to  relate,  may  seem  of  little  moment,  and  barren 
and  too  trifling  to  be  recorded.     But  none  can  com-  theme, 


pare  my  subject  with  that  of  those  who  wrote  the 

2  early   history   of  Rome.      They   had  great  wars   to  °frfters.er 
describe,  the  storming  of  cities,  the  rout  and  capture 

of  kings  ;  or  if  they  turned  to  affairs  at  home,  they 
could  enlarge  freely  on  the  conflicts  of  Consuls  with 
Tribunes,  on  land  laws  and  corn  laws,  on  struggles 

3  between    patricians    and    plebeians.       My   theme   is 
narrow  and  inglorious  :  a   peace   unbroken,    or  dis- 
turbed   only   by   petty   wars  ;    a    distressful    course 
of  events  in  Rome  ;  a  prince  with  no  interest  in  the 

4  expansion  of  the  Empire.2     It  may  serve  some  good 
purpose,   nevertheless,    to    look  closely    into    these 
things,  at  first  sight  so  unimportant  ;  since  it  is  often 
from  such  beginnings  that   mighty  movements  take 
their  rise. 

i        For  every  country  and  city  must  be  ruled  either  what  of 
by  the  populace,  or  by  the  few,  or  by  one  man  ;  a 
form  of  government  selected  and  compounded  out  of 


under  a 

one-man 

rule? 


1  i.e.  in  ii.  27,  2.  and  other  laws,  does  not  consist  in  the 

*  Tacitus  does  not  appeal  here  to  a  fact  that  they  raise  great  constitutional 

high  conception  of  history.     He  takes  questions,  but  that  they  give  scope  for 

the    popular  view   that   it   reaches  its  picturesque  and  stirring  narrative.     His 

highest  interest  in  telling  of  wars  arid  own  task  is  inglorious,  because  he  has 

conquests  :    even  the   interest  of  such  no  wars  to  tell  of ;  and  the  climax  in  its 

subjects  as    the   conflict  between  the  dulness  is  that  Tiberius  was  what  we 

orders,  and   the  battles  over  agrarian  should  now  call  '  a  little  Englander." 


292  ANNAL'S    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  24. 

these  elements,  may  be  commended  more  easily  than 
brought  into  being ;  nor  could  it  endure  were  it  set  up.1 
And  just  as  in  former  times,  when  the  people  held  all  2 
power,  men  had  to  study  the  temper  of  the  multitude, 
and  learn  how  to  control  and  guide  it :  or  again,  when 
the  patricians  were  all-powerful,  those  who  had  learnt 
best  to  understand  the  mind  of  the  Senate  and  of  the 
aristocracy  were  deemed  wise  men,  and  cunning  in 
the  times :  so  now,  when  things  are  changed,  and 
Rome  is,  in  fact,  under  the  rule  of  a  single  man,  it  may 
prove  useful  to  enquire  into  and  record  such  things  as 
I  have  to  tell.  For  but  few  have  wisdom  enough  of 
their  own  to  distinguish  what  is  honourable  from 
what  is  base,  the  expedient  from  the  hurtful ;  most 
men  have  to  learn  these  things  from  the  experience 
of  others.2  And  yet  such  enquiries,  however  profit-  3 
able  they  may  be,  afford  but  little  entertainment. 
Descriptions  of  new  countries :  the  varied  incidents 
of  battle :  the  deaths  of  famous  leaders  :  these  are 
topics  which  interest  and  refresh  the  reader's  mind. 

1  Here  again  Tacitus  is  disappoint-  unus  imperitet}.     With  more  than  his 

ing.     He  propounds  one  of  the  most  usual  perverseness,   and  blind  to  the 

interesting  problems  of   constitutional  great  problems   of  government  which 

philosophy ;    decides  it   summarily   in  Rome  was  working    out  in    her  vast 

one  way ;  and  dismisses  curtly,  almost  empire,    Tacitus     pretends    that     her 

contemptuously,  the  idea  of  a  mixed  destinies  are  summed  up  in  the  person 

constitution.     Yet  that  was  a  favourite  of  the  emperor,  and  that  the  history  of 

idea  with   political   philosophers  from  the  times  is  a  mere  record  of   state 

Plato  to  Cicero,  as  well  as  of  practical  prosecutions.     For  the  exaggerated  im- 

historians  like  Polybius ;   and  Tacitus  portance    given    to     these    trials    by 

might  have  pointed  to  the  Roman  con-  Tacitus,  see    Freytag,    '  Tiberius    and 

stitution  in  its  best  days  as  a  successful  Tacitus,'   and  Tarver's    '  Tiberius  the 

example  of  it.     See  Polybius,  vi.  n,  6.  Tyrant,'  passim. 

He  makes  no  attempt  to  discuss  the  2  The  application  is  not  very  clearly 

question    raised  ;     but    taking    it    for  brought   out.     The  idea  seems  to  be 

granted     that    there    is     always    one  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  historian 

dominant   power  in  a  State,  and  one  to     teach     the    principles    of    private 

only,  his  point  is  to  shew  that  the  centre  morality  and   political  expediency,   at 

of  interest  in  history,  as  in  politics,  will  one  and  the  same  time,  by  selecting 

be  in  the  doings  and  purposes  of  that  proper   instances    as  examples    or    as 

one  power.     Thus  under  the  Republic,  warnings.     The  majority  of  mankind 

at  different    periods,   interest    centred  having  no  power  to  draw  their  own 

round  the  patricians  and  the  plebeians  conclusions,    the    historian    has  so  to 

respectively  ;     in    his    own    time,    all  marshal  his  facts  that  his  readers  may 

interest,  all  history,  centre  round  one  draw  the  proper  conclusions  from  them 

man   (neque  alia  re  Romana  quam  si  (aliorum  eventis  doceri}. 


A.D.  25.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   33-34.  293 

My  task  is  to  record  a  succession  of  cruel  edicts, 
of  prosecutions  heaped  on  prosecutions  ;  to  tell  of 
friends  betrayed,  of  innocent  men  brought  to  ruin, 
of  trials  all  ending  in  one  way,  with  a  uniformity  as 
monotonous  as  it  is  revolting. 

4  Then  again,  the  writer  of  ancient  history  finds  few  but  it 

.  .  .  brings 

to  criticise  him ;  it  concerns  no  one  if  he  praise  too  trouble 
warmly  the  armies  of  Carthage   or   of  Rome.     But  writer, 
there  are  many  living  now  whose  ancestors  suffered 
punishment,  or   incurred    disgrace,    under   Tiberius ; 

5  and   even  if  the   families   concerned   have  died   out, 
there    are    those    who    deem    an    attack    upon   vices 
akin  to  their  own  to  be  an  attack  upon  themselves. 

c  Even  glory  and  virtue  have  their  enemies  ;  for 
when  placed  too  close  to  their  opposites  they  wear 
an  aspect  of  rebuke.1  But  I  must  return  from  this 
digression. 


A.D.  25.     CONSULS   COSSUS   CORNELIUS   LENTULUS 
AND    M.  ASINIUS  AGRIPPA.2 

>4-    l         In   this  year  Cremutius   Cordus8  was  impeached 

upon  a  novel  charge,  now  heard  of  for  the  first  time4 —  Cremutius 
that  he  had  commended  Marcus  Brutus  in  his  History, 
and  called  Gaius  Cassius  'The  last  of  the  Romans.'5 
'  The  accusers,  Satrius  Secundus  and  Pinarius  Natta, 
were  both  clients  of  Sejanus ;  which  fact,  as  well 
as  the  evident  displeasure  with  which  Tiberius 

1  How  admirable  is  Tacitus  when  he  in  the  restored  theatre  of  Pompey  (see 

leaves  the  field  of  great  political  move-  iii.  72,  5),  he  exclaimed,  '  Now  indeed 

ments,  and  sums  up  in  a  perfect  phrase  is  Pompey's  theatre  destroyed  ! '   (Sen. 

some  painful  human  characteristic  !  Cons,  ad  Marc.  xxii.  4). 

1  Cossus  Cornelius  Lentulus  was  a  «  Domitian  encouraged  prosecutions 

brother  of  Lentulus  Gaetulicus  ;  Asinius  for  similar  offences  (Agr.  2,  2). 
Agrippa  was  a  son  of  Asinius  Gallus  *  The  book  was  a  history  of  his  own 

and  Vipsania.  times,  probably  embracing  only  the  reign 

»  Cremutius    Cordus    had    a    sharp  of  Augustus.      Quinlilian    praises   the 

tongue,  which  did  not  spare  Sejanus.  libertas  of  the  book,  even  after  excision 

When  the  statue  of  Sejanus  was  put  up  pf  the  noxious  passages  (x.  i,  104). 


294  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  25. 

listened  to  the  defence,  proved  fatal  to  the  accused. 
Having  made  up  his  mind  to  die,  Cremutius  spoke  as 
follows  : — 

My   words,   Conscript  Fathers,    are    arraigned;    so  3 
innocent  am  I  of  any  evil  deed.     Yet  these  words  were 
not   uttered   against   the    Emperor,    or   his  father,   the 
persons  to  whom  the  law  of  Majesty  applies :  my  offence 
is  that  I  have  praised  Brutus  and  Cassius,  men  whose 
deeds  have  been  recorded  by  many,   whom  none  have 
named   without   respect.      Titus    Livius,   a  writer  pre-  4 
eminent  for  eloquence  and  candour,1  eulogised  Gnaeus 
Pompeius    so    warmly    that    Augustus    called    him  (a 
Pompeian ' :  but  this  caused  no  interruption  in  their  friend- 
ship.   He  speaks  of  Scipio 2  and  Afranius?  of  this  same  5 
Cassius,  this  Brutus,  never  as  raiders  and  parricides — the 
names  men  give  them  now — but  often  as  distinguished 
men.     Asinius  Pollio  gives  a  noble  account  of  them  in  6 
his  history  ; 4  Messalla  Corvinus 5  used  to  call  Cassius  '  his 
own  Imperator ' ;    and  yet  both  lived  on  wealthy  and 
honoured  to  the  end.      When   Marcus    Cicero  wrote  a  1 
book  in  which  he  lauded  Cato  to  the  skies,  what  else  did 
the  Dictator  Caesar  do  but  write  a  speech  in  answer, 
as  though  he  were  pleading  before  a  judge  ?    The  letters  8 
of Antonius,  the  speeches  of  Brutus,  contain  the  most  bitter 
abuse  of  Augustus,  as  false  as  it  is  foul ;  men  read  the 
poems  ofBibaculus 6  and  Catullus,1  which  are  full  of  insults 

1  Seneca  says  of  Livy,  ut  est  natura  5  He  commanded  under   Brutus  at 
candidissimus  omnium  magnorum  inge-  Philippi.    His  history  of  the  Civil  Wars 
niorum  aestimator  (Suas.  vi.  22).  is  quoted  by  Suet.  Oct.  74. 

2  Caecilius  Metellus  Pius  Scipio,  the  6  M.  Furius  Bibaculus,  of  Cremona, 
father-in-law  of   Pompey,   and  consul  whose  turgid  verses  are  ridiculed  by 
along  with  him  in  B.C.  52.   He  slew  him-  Hor.  Sat.  i.  10,  36;  ii.  5,  41. 

self  after  the  battle  of  Thapsus,  B.C.  46.  7  i.e.  in  poems  29,  54,  57,95.      In 

3  Consul   B.C.  60,  legate  of  Pompey  regard  to  the  gross  language  used  by 
in  Spain,  B.C.  49,  killed  after  the  battle  Catullus  in  these  poems,  which  should 
of  Thapsus.  be  discounted  as  part  of  the  ordinary 

4  This    is    the    history  of  the  Civil  fashion  of  the  time,  see  the  excellent 
Wars  alluded  to  by  Hor.  Od.  ii.   i,  i  remarks  in  H.  A.  J.  Munro's  '  Eluci- 
as  beginning  from   the  consulship  of  dations  of  Catullus. ' 

Metellus,  B.C.  60.     Suidas  says  it  con- 
tained 17  books. 


A.D.  25.]  BOOK    IV.  dCHAPS.  34-36.  295 

to  the  Caesars  ;  yet  the  Divine  Julius,  the  Divine  Augustus, 
bore  these  things  and  passed  them  by.  Whether  in  this 
more  to  praise  their  forbearance,  or  their  wisdom,  I  know 
not :  for  the  insult  ivhich  goes  unnoticed  dies  ;  to  resent  it, 
is  to  accord  to  it  recognition. 

35-   i         I  say  nothing  of  the  Greeks,  who  tolerated  not  liberty 
only,  but  license,  or  at  the  most,  paid  back  loords  ivith 

2  words;  and  men  have  always  been  free  to  speak  un- 
censured  of  those  whom  Death  has  placed  beyond  the  reach 

3  of  hate  or  favour.   Am  I,  forsooth,  in  arms,  with  Cassius 
[            and  Brutus,  upon  the  plains   of  Philippi,  or  inflaming 
!           the  people  to  civil  war  by  my  harangues  ?    Is  the  case  not 

rather  this :  that  just  as  these  men  are  known  to  us  by 
their  statues — statues  respected  even  by  their  conqueror 
— so  in  like  manner,  though  dead  for  more  than  seventy 
years,  they  still  hold  their  place  upon  the  page  of  history? 

4  For  posterity  awards  to  every  man  the  honour  that  is  his 
due ;   and  if  I  be  now  condemned,  men   ivill  remember 
not  Cassius  and  Brutus  only,  but  me  also. 

5  Cremutius  then  left  the  Senate-house,  and  put  an 
end  to  himself  by  starvation.     His  books,  by  order  of 
the  Senate,  were  burned  by  the  Aediles.     And  yet 

they  were  saved ;  hidden  away   for  a  time,1  they  were  Preservetl- 
c  again  put  forth.     Hence  one  cannot  but  smile  at  the 
dulness  of  those  who  believe   that   the  authority  of 
•7  to-day  can   extinguish   men's   memories   to-morrow. 
Nay  rather,  they  who  penalise  genius  do  but  extend  its 
power :  whether  they  be  foreign  tyrants,  or  imitators 
of  foreign  tyranny,  they  do  but  reap   dishonour  for 
themselves,  and  glory  for  their  victims. 

5    j         So  unbroken  was  the  flow  of  prosecutions  through-  Sectus 
out  this  year,  that  on  the  day  of  the  Latin  Festival,  accused. 

1  They  were  hidden  away  by  his  Afarciam.  Caligula  permitted  these 
daughter  Marcia,  to  whom  Seneca  and  other  proscribed  works  to  be  circu- 
addressed  his  well-known  Cvnsolatio  ad  lated  (Suet.  cal.  16). 


296 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  25. 


Cyzicus 
punished. 


Fonteius 

Capito 

acquitted. 


Further 
Spain  pro- 
poses to 
set  up  a 
temple  to 
Tiberius ; 


when    Drusus    ascended    the  tribunal    to    take    the 
auspices  as  Prefect l  of  the  city,  Calpurnius  Salvianus 
approached  him  with   an   accusation   against  Sextus 
Marius.       For    this    he    was    publicly    rebuked    by 
Tiberius,  and  had  to  go  into  exile.     Next,  the  people  2 
of  Cyzicus  were  accused  of  neglecting  the  worship 
of  the  Divine  Augustus  ;2  to  which  were  added  certain 
charges  of  violence  towards  Roman  citizens.   For  this  3 
they  lost  the  franchise,  which  they  had  earned  during 
the   Mithradatic    siege,  when   the    king  was    forced 
to  retire  by  the  gallantry  of  the  citizens,  no  less  than 
by  the  succour  of  Lucullus.     On  the  other  hand,  Fon-  4 
teius  Capito,3  once  Governor  of  Asia,  was  acquitted, 
on  its  being  discovered  that  there  was  no  foundation 
for  the  charges  trumped  up  against  him  by  Vibius 
Serenus.4    Yet  Serenus  came  to  no  harm  thereby :  he  5 
was  protected  by  the  public  execration.   For  the  more 
aggressive  accusers  enjoyed  a  kind  of  inviolability; 
it  was  the  insignificant  and  ignoble  that  were  punished. 

About  this  time  an  embassy  arrived  from  Further  37- 
Spain,  craving  permission  from  the  Senate  to  set  up 
a  temple5  to  Tiberius  and  his  mother,  as  had  been 
done  in  Asia.     Now  Tiberius  had  no  weakness  for  2 
distinctions  of  any  sort ;  and  thinking  it  well  to  take 
this    opportunity    of   contradicting    rumours    which 
attributed  to  him  vain-glorious  leanings,  he  addressed 
the  Senate  in  this  fashion  : — 


1  An  ancient  but  honorary  office,  held 
only  during  the  absence  of  the  consuls 
at  the  Ferine  Latinae.    It  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  permanent  office  instituted 
by  Augustus,  vi.  n,  where  see  n. 

2  This   shews  that  the  worship  of  a 
deified    emperor,   usually  a  voluntary 
homage  on  the  part  of  the  city  under- 
taking it,  could  not  be  intermitted  with 
impunity. 

3  C.    Fonteius    Capito    was    consul 
A.D.    12 ;     he    seems    to  \  have   .been 
appointed  to  Asia  on  the  disqualifica- 


tion of    the  Flamen   Maluginensis  in 
A.D.  22  (iii.  71,  3). 

4  No  doubt  the  son  ;  see  chap.  28,  i. 

5  This    request    from     Spain     was 
probably  in    gratitude    for    the    con- 
demnation   of    Vibius     Serenus    (the 
father)    on    a  charge   of  vis  publica 
during  his  Spanish   command   (chap. 
13,  2) ;  just  as  the  Asian  cities  decreed 
a    temple    to  Tiberius    and    Augusta 
(chap.    15,   4)   in  consequence  of  the 
condemnation    of     C.     Silanus     and 
Lucilius  Capito  for  misgovernment. 


A.D.  25.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   36-38.  297 

3  /  am  aware,  Conscript  Fathers,  that  my  consistency  Tiberius 
is  challenged  by  some,  in  that  lately  I  did  not  refuse  aii  claim 
a  like  request  from  the  cities  of  Asia.     I  will  explain,  honours? 
therefore,    my    acquiescence    upon    that    occasion,    and 
announce,  at  the  same  time,  my  purpose  for  the  future. 

4  The   Divine  Augustus  did  not  forbid  the    erection    of 
a   temple1    to    himself  and    to    the    Roman   people    at 
Pergamum.     Observing,  as  I  do,  everything  that  he  said 
or  did  as  a  law  unto  myself,  I  followed  the  example  thus 
approved?  and  with  all  the  greater  readiness  that  veneration 

5  of  the  Senate  was  conjoined  zoith  worship  of  myself.     To 
have  accepted  such  an  honour  once,  may  be  excused ;  but 
to  permit  my  statue  to  be  worshipped  as  divine  in  all  the 
provinces,  would  be  arrogant  and  vain-glorious.     And  the 
homage  to  Augustus  will  be  gone,  if  it  be  made  common 
by  undiscriminating  adulation. 

1  /  call  you  to  witness,  Conscript  Fathers,  and  I  desire 
posterity  to  remember,  that  I  am  but  a  mortal,  discharg- 
ing the  duties  of  a  man  :  content  if  I  may  Jill  the  highest 
place  worthily.    Enough,  and  more  than  enough,  will  men 
render  to  my  memory,  if  they  shall  believe  me  worthy  of 
my  ancestors,  thoughtful  for  your  interests,  unjl inching  in 
danger,  undaunted  by  the  enmities  which  I  encounter  in 

2  the  public  service.     These  shall  be  my  temples  in  your 
hearts,   my  fairest  and  most  enduring    images?      For 

1  This  temple  to  Augustus  was  built  Pergamum,  see  chap.   55,   6,   and   iii. 

in  B.C.  29  :  see  chap.  55,  6,  and  i.  10,  5.  63,  3. 

It  is  figured  on  coins.     Other  temples  *  Tacitus    here    suggests     that    the 

were  dedicated  to  him   at   Nicomedia  temple  to  Augustus  at  Pergamum  was  a 

and  Ancyra.     Suetonius  and  Dio  both  solitary  instance  of  the  divine  worship 

assert   that  Augustus  would  allow  no  of  that   emperor ;    and    that    Tiberius 

temples  to  be  set  up  to  himself  except  never  accepted  it  but  in  the  case  of  the 

in  the   provinces,   and    then  only    in  cities  of  Asia.     But  see.n.  to  i.  57,  2. 

conjunction  with   Rome.     Yet  inscrip-  The  historian   nowhere  expresses  dis- 

tions  shew   that    even    in   Italy  some  gust  at  such  worship ;    in  the  present 

forms  of  private  worship  of  Augustus  instance  he  seems  rather  to  side  with 

were    permitted    during    his    lifetime.  those  who  thought  Tiberius  guilty  of 

The  building  of  a  temple  to  him   in  pusillanimity  in  declining  the  proffered 

Tarraco  in  A.D.  15  (i.  78,  i)  is  spoken  honour  (chap.  38,  5  and  6). 

of  as    an    exempt  urn,  because   it  was  •  The  sober  mind  of  Tiberius  took  a 

dedicated    to    Augustus    alone.      For  higher  and  juster  view  of  the  opinion  of 


298 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


A.D.  25. 


Some 
cavilled  at 
this 
decision. 


Sejanus 
indites  a 
memorial 
to  the 
Emperor, 


stone-built  monuments,  if  posterity  turn  her  judgment  into 
hate,  are  but  dishonoured  sepulchres.  I  pray  therefore  to  3 
our  allies  and  fellow  citizens,  I  pray  the  Gods  themselves  : 
these  last,  to  grant  me  unto  the  end  a  tranquil  spirit,  alive 
to  the  rights  of  Gods  and  men ;  the  former,  that  when  I 
pass  away,  they  may  honour  my  life  and  name  with  praise 
and  kindly  recollection^} 

To  this  attitude   he    held    fast    thereafter,  repu-  4 
diating,  even   in   conversation,  any  such  worship  of 
himself.    Some  put  this  down  to  modesty;  some  to 
want  of  self-confidence ;   others  called   it   poverty  of 
spirit.     The  noblest  of  mankind,  these  said,  had  ever  the  5 
loftiest  hopes;    it  was    thus    that  Hercules    and   Liber 
among  the  Greeks,  Quirinus  among  ourselves,  had  been 
ranked  among  the  Gods.     Augustus  had  done  better  in 
not  putting  the  hope  away.    All  else  Princes  had  ready  to  6 
their  hand ;  but  there  was  one  end  which  they  should  pursue 
unfalteringly :  to  leave  a  fair  name  behind  them.     For 
to  despise  Fame  is  to  despise  Virtue. 

Meanwhile  Sejanus,  goaded  on  by  a  woman's  3 
passion  —  for  Livia  kept  on  clamouring  for  the 
promised  marriage  —  indited  a  memorial  to  the 
Emperor ;  since  it  was  the  custom  in  those  days  to 
approach  him  by  writing,  even  when  he  was  present 
in  the  city.  The  letter  ran  as  follows  : —  2 


> 


posterity  than  did  his  critics,  as  recorded 
below  in  section  6.  It  was  not  those 
emperors  who  were  most  anxious  to 
assume  divine  honours  during  their  life- 
time that  were  most  honoured  after  their 
death. 

1  If  this  speech,  or  anything  like  it, 
was  indeed  delivered  by  Tiberius,  it 
must  rank  as  one  of  the  noblest  and 
most  dignified  utterances  ever  made  by 
a  great  sovereign  ;  if  its  sentiments  were 
his  own,  they  would  suffice  to  cover  a 
multitude  of  sins.  Though  its  perfect 
and  balanced  rhetoric  has  a  savour  of 
artificiality  about  it,  the  ideas  it  ex- 
i  presses  are  entirely  in  accordance  with 
the  character  of  Tiberius.  Suetonius 


tells  us :  Ex  plurimis*  maximisqne 
honoribus  praeter  paucos  et  minimos  non 
recepit  .  .  .  Templa>  fl amines,  sacer- 
dotes  decerni  sibi  prohibuit  (Tib.  26). 
Tacitus  does  not  insinuate  that  the 
speech  was  insincere  ;  but  he  is  anxious 
to  shew  that  it  made  little  or  no  im- 
pression, and  to  suggest  that  Tiberius, 
even  in  his  virtues,  was  un-human.  The 
allusion  to  Hercules,  Liber,  and  Quiri- 
nus is  borrowed  almost  literally  from 
Horace  (Odesiii.  3,  9-16),  and  doubtless 
represents  the  current  feeling  of  the  day, 
which  sympathised  with  these  divine 
claims  as  testifying  to  the  greatness  of 
the  empire. 


A.D.  25.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   38-40.  299 

The  indulgence  of  the  Emperor's  father  Augustus,  the  craving 
many  marks  of  favour  which  he  had  received  from  Tiberius  espouse 
himself,  had  accustomed  him  to  address  his  hopes  and 
prayers  not  sooner  to  the  ears  of  the  Gods  themselves, 

3  than  to  those  of  the  Princeps.     He  had  never  craved  the 
glitter  of  distinctions  ;  he  had  preferred  to  watch  and  toil, 

4  like  any  common  soldier,  for  the  Emperor's  safety ;  and  yet 
he  had  attained  the  highest  honour  of  all — to  be  deemed 

5  worthy  to  be  allied  ivith  Caesar.   Hence  his  present  hope.   He 
had  heard  it  said  that  Augustus,  in  marrying  his  daughter, 
had  bethought  him  of  a  Roman  knight ;  1  /;/  like  manner,  if  a 
husband  were  now  sought  for  Livia,  might  not  account  be 
taken  of  a  friend  who  could  reap  nothing  from  the  alliance 

c  save  its  glory  ?  He  had  no  wish  to  put  off  the  burdens  laid 
upon  him :  sufficient  for  him  to  be  protected  in  his  home 
against  the  bitter  enmity  of  Agrippina,  and  that  for  his 
children's  sake ;  for  himself,  to  have  lived  under  such  a 
Prince  was  enough,  and  more  than  enough. 

1  Tiberius,  in  his  reply,  commended  the  loyalty  of 
Sejanus;   and  recounting  briefly  the  favours  he  had 
himself  conferred  on  him,  asked  for  time,  as  though 
the  question  were  still  open.     He  then  added  :— 

Others  had  but  their  own  interests  to  consider;  it  was  Guarded 
not  so  with  an  Emperor,  who  in  matters  of  state  must  Tiberius. 

2  shape  his  course  in  view  of  public  opinion.    He  would 
not,  therefore,  resort  to  the  obvious  answer  that  Livia  could 
decide  for  herself  whether  she  should  marry  again,  now 
that  Drusus  was  dead,  or  live  on  in  his  home  ;  or  that  she 
had  a  mother  and  a  grandmother 2  to  advise  her,  counsellors 

3  nearer  than  himself.     He  would  use  greater  frankness. 
First  then,  there  was  the  hostility  of  Agrippina  to  be  con- 
sidered.    The  marriage  of  Livia  would  but  add  fresh  fuel 

1  This  is  confirmed  by  Suet.  Oct.  63 :          »  Antonia  and  Augusta, 
see  chap.  40,  8. 


300  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  25. 

to  that  hostility  ;  it  would,  so  to  say,  rend  in  two  the  family 
of  the  Caesars.     Even  as  it  was,  the  rivalry  between  the  4 
women  could  not  be  kept  under;  his  own  grandsons  were 
torn  asunder  by  it.     What  if  the  proposed  marriage  were 
to  aggravate  these  dissensions  ? 

For  you  are    mistaken,  Sejanus,  he  proceeded,   if  5 
you  think  you  could  remain  in  your  present  station; 
or   that  Lima — once    the   wife    of  Gaius    Caesar,    and 
again    of  Drusus — will    be    minded    to   grow    old   as 
the  consort   of  a   Roman   knight.     And   even   were   I  6 
to  allow  it,  do  you  suppose  that  it  would  be  tolerated 
by  those  who  have  seen  her  brother,  her  father,  and  our 
common  ancestors,  filling   the   highest  offices  of  state  ? 
Your  desire,  doubtless,  is  to  remain  what  you  are;   but  7 
these  magistrates  and  nobles  who  break  in  upon  you 
against  your  will,  and  seek  counsel  from  you  on  every 
matter,  complain,  in  no  secret  fashion,  that  you  have  long 
ago  risen  above  the  position  of  a  knight,  and  far  above 
any  of  my  father's  friends  :  and  out  of  ill-will  towards 
you,  they  cast  reflections  on  me  also.     Augustus,  you  say, 
thought  of  giving  his  daughter  to  a  Roman  knight.    But  8 
is  it  so  very  wonderful  if,  when  he  was  distracted  by  divers 
cares,  and  foresaw  to  what  a  pinnacle  that  man  would  be 
lifted  whom    he   should  exalt  by  such  an  alliance,   he 
talked  of  Gaius  Proculeius 1  and  others  noted  for  their 
quiet  lives,  and  for  having  taken  no  part  in  public  affairs  ? 
But  if  we  are  to  be  moved  by  the  doubts  of  Augustus,  9 
how  much  more  weighty  is  the  fact  that  he  gave  his 
daughter  first  to  Marcus  Agrippa?  and  then  to  me  ? 

1  Proculeius  is  well  known  from  Hor.  2  According   to  Dio  54,  6,  5,  Mae- 

Od.  ii.  2,  5,  cenas  gave  Augustus  a  sinister  reason 

Vivet  extenio  Proculeius  aevo  f°r  determining  his  choice  of  a  new 

N^,,  infratrv  mM  fatemi.  *£$££&  ^hT  pitch  ^ 

One  of  his  brothers  was  Varro  Murena,  power  that  he  must  either  make  him 

who  conspired  against  Augustus,  B.C.  his   son-in-law   or    put  him  to   death. 

22  ;    Terentia,  wife  of  Maecenas,  was  Whatever  the  truth  about  the  relations 

his  sister.  between  Augustus    and  Agrippa  may 


A.D.  25.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   40-41.  301 

10  All  this  I  say  to  you  frankly,   as  your  friend ;   but 
I   will   not   oppose  your  purposes,  or  those    of  Livia. 

11  What  projects  I  have  turned  over  in  my  own  mind ;  by 
what  further  ties  I  am  preparing  to  bind  you  to  myself,  I 

12  will  forbear  for  the  present  to  disclose.     This  only  will 
I  permit  myself  to  say,  that  there  is  no  place  too  high  for 
your  merits,  and  your  devotion  to  myself;  and  when  the 
proper  time  shall  come,  whether  in  the  Senate,  or  before 
the  public,  I  shall  not  fail  to  speak. 

1  This  letter  alarmed  Sejanus,  suggesting,  as  it  did, 

...  ,          -   ..  r    i  •  •  alarmed, 

some  graver   peril  than   the  failure  of  his  marriage  advises 
project;  and  in  his  reply  he  implored  the  Emperor  to  liveaway 
disregard  the  secret  suspicions,  the  popular  rumours  Sty.1  U 
and  the  ill-will,  that  were  ever  gathering  against  him- 

2  self.     Then  as  he  was  afraid  either  to  close  his  doors 
to  the  daily  stream  of  visitors,  lest   he  should   lose 
influence  thereby,  or  to  keep  them  open,  lest  he  should 
afford  a  handle  to  accusers,  he  conceived  the  idea  of 
inducing  Tiberius   to   take   up   his    abode    in    some 

3  pleasant  spot  at  a  distance  from  the  city.     This  plan, 
he  foresaw,  would  have  many  advantages.     Access  to 
the  Emperor's  person  would  be  in  his  own  control ; 

•  he  would  have  command,  to  a  large  extent,  of  his 
correspondence,  which  had  to  be  conveyed  by  soldiers  ; 
as  the  Emperor  grew  old  and  indolent  in  retirement, 
he  would  be  more  inclined  to  delegate  the  business  of 
government.  The  feeling  against  himself  would  die 
down  with  the  cessation  of  his  crowded  receptions ; 
and  some  sacrifice  of  the  empty  signs  of  power  would 

4  strengthen   his  hold    upon    the    reality.      He   began 
therefore     to    deliver    diatribes     against     town-life, 
with  its  business,  its  crowds,  its  hosts  of  persons 
seeking  interviews,  and  to  sing  the  praises  of  a  life 

have  been,  it  is  certain  that  Tiberius      position  in  relation  to  Sejanus. 
found    himself   in   an    exactly   similar 


302  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  25 

of  peace  and  solitude,  free  from  weariness  and  offence, 
in  which  chief  attention  might  be  given  to  the  most 
important  affairs. 

Sensitive-          It  so  happened  that  just  at  the  time  when  Tiberius  4 
Tiberius  to  was  hesitating,  a  trial  took  place  which  convinced  him 
Stacks!1      tnat  he  would  do  well  to  avoid  attending  meetings  of 
Senate,  where  remarks  that  had  been  made  about  him,  as 
offensive  as  they  were  true,  might  be  flung  in  his  face.1 
For  when  Votienus  Montanus,  a  man  of  distinguished  2 
ability,  was  accused  of  vilifying  the  Emperor,  one  of 
the  witnesses,  a  soldier  called  Aemilius,  in  his  anxiety  to 
prove  his  case,  recounted  every  detail ;  sticking  firmly 
to   his   assertions   in    spite   of   the  murmurs   of  the 
audience.     Tiberius  was  so  disturbed  to  hear  how  he 
was  abused  behind  his  back,  that  he  cried  out  he  must 
vindicate  his  character  at  once,  or  at  any  rate  during 
the  course  of  the  proceedings ;  and  all  the  entreaties 
of  his  friends, .added  to  the   adulation  of  the  whole 
Punish-       assembly,  scarce  restored  him  to  composure.  Votienus  3 
votlenus,     suffered  the  penalty  for  his   treason.    But  this  only 
an™1™'       seemed   to  make   Tiberius   the  more   determined  to 
Meruia.       exercise  that  vindictiveness  towards  accused  persons 
which  was  attributed  to  him ;  for  he  inflicted  banish- 
ment2 on   Aquilia,  accused  of  adultery  with  Varius 
Ligur,     although    the    Consul    Designate,    Lentulus 
Gaetulicus,  had  only  convicted  her  under  the  Julian 
Law;3  and  he  caused  the  name  of  Apidius  Meruia  to 
be  struck  off  the  roll  of  senators,  because  he  had  not 
sworn  obedience  to  the  acts 4  of  Augustus. 

1  This    passage,    if  compared    with  would    be    outrageously    clumsy    and 

the  original  (from  ac  forte  to  ingere-  complicated  in  English. 

bantur),  affords  a  good  instance  of  the  2  Thus  reversing  his  action  in  ii.  50, 

changes  both   in  order  and  construe-  4,  where  he  would  not  allow  the  harsher 

tion  which  a  translator  is  often  com-  law  to  be  enforced.     Exile  involved  loss 

pelled  to  make  in   rendering  a  Latin  of  citizenship ;  relegatio  did  not. 

sentence  into  English.     The  order  and  3  On  the    milder    penalties    of   the 

the  construction  which  come  easily  and  Julian  Law,  see  ii.  50,  2. 

naturally   in   the   Latin    periodic  style  4  See  n.  on  i.  72,  2. 


A.D.  25.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   41-43-  303 

Audience  was  now  given  to  embassies  from  the  Contest 
Lacedaemonians  and  the  Messenians  with  regard  to  the™ 
their  claims  to  the  temple  of  Diana  of  the  Marshes.1 


The  Lacedaemonian  contention,  supported  by  his- 
torical  records  and  ancient  poems,  was  that  the  temple 
had  been  dedicated  by  their  ancestors,  and  in  their 
territory  ;  that  it  had  been  forcibly  taken  from  them  Marshes- 
by  Philip  of  Macedon,  in  the  course  of  war,2  but  had 
afterwards  been  restored  by  a  judgment  of  Julius 

2  Caesar  and  Marcus  Antonius.     The  Messenians,  on 
their  side,  pleaded  the  original  division  of  the  Pelo- 
ponnesus among  the  descendants  of  Hercules,  when 
the  territory  of  Denthalia,  in   which  the  temple  lay, 
had  been  assigned  to  them.     This,  they  maintained, 
was  proved  by  inscriptions  still  extant,  both  in  stone  and 

3  bronze;    if  the  testimony}  of  poets  and  historians  were 
appealed  to  on  the  other  side,  there  were  more  of  such 
witnesses,  with  more  trustworthy  testimony,  upon  theirs  ; 

4  Philip's  decision  had  been  no  arbitrary  judgment,  but  one 
founded  on  the  merits  of  the  case  ;  it  had  been  confirmed 
by    the    King   Antigonus?    by    the    Roman    Impcrator 

5  Mummiusf  by  the  Milesians,  to  whom  the  matter  was 
publicly    submitted   for    arbitration  ;  5     and    lastly    by 

1  This  famous  temple  took  its  name  the    Messenians    at    the    expense    of 

from  the  town  of  Limnae,  situated  on  Sparta. 

the  right  bank  of  the  Nedon,  to  the  W.  '  Antigonus  Doson,  king  of  Macedon, 

of  Mount  Taygetus.     The  town  marked  B.C.    229  to  221.      He  supported   the 

the    confines     between    Laconia    and  Achaeans  in  a  war  against  Cleomenes, 

Messenia  ;  sacrifices  were  offered  there  king    of   Sparta,  defeated   Cleomenes, 

by  both  peoples  in  common  ;  and  the  and  captured  Sparta.     He  also  would 

first  Messenian  War  (B.C.  743  to  728}  naturally  take  an  anti-Spartan  line  about 

was  caused  by  the  murder  at  this  place  the  temple. 

of   the  Spartan  king  Teleclus.       The  *  L.   Mummius  established  the  pro- 

figer  Dentheliates,   named  below,  was  vince  of  Achaia  after  the  capture  of 

on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  Nedon,  Corinth,  B.C.  146,  and  settled  its  affairs 

opposite  to  Limnae.  on  a  permanent  basis. 

8  In    B.C.    337,    after   the   battle   of  •  This  reference  to  a  public  arbitra- 

Chaeronea,  Philip  invaded  the  Pelopon-  tion  entrusted  to  the  city  of  Miletus  has 

nese.      He  received  the  submission  of  been   most   happily   confirmed  by   the 

the  Messenians  and  of  almost  all  the  discovery  of  an  inscription  on  the  base 

other  inhabitants  except  the  Spartans,  of    the   famous    statue   of    Victory  by 

who  sullenly  held  out.       His  natural  Paeonius  at  Olympia,  which  records  the 

policy   therefore   would    be    to  enrich  whole    transaction.       The     case    was 


304 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.25. 


Decision  in 
favour  of 
the 
Mas- 
senians. 
Restora- 
tion of  the 
temple  of 
Mount 
Eryx. 


Petition  of 
the  Mas- 
silians. 


Deaths  of 
Lentulus 
and 
Domitius. 


A  tidius  Geminus,1  the  Roman  governor  of  A  chaia .  Judg- 
ment was  accordingly  given  in  favour  of  the  Mes- 
senians. 

The  people  of  Segesta  petitioned  for  the  restoration  6 
of  the  temple  of  Venus  on  Mount  Eryx,2  now  fallen 
into   ruins ;   repeating  the   well-known   story   of  its 
origin.    This  pleased  Tiberius,  who  gladly  undertook  7 
the  work  on  the  ground  of  kinship. 

Next  came  a  petition  from  the  people  of  Massilia 
in  regard  to  the  will  of  a  certain  exile,  Vulcatius 
Moschus,  who  had  been  admitted  to  citzenship  by  the 
Massilians,  and  had  left  his  property  to  that  state  as 
his  own  country.  In  support  of  this  claim  the  case  8 
of  Publius  Rutilius  was  quoted,  who  after  being 
sentenced  to  exile,  had  been  admitted  to  citizenship 
by  the  Smyrnaeans.  The  precedent  was  admitted  and 
the  petition  granted. 

Two  men  of  noble  birth  died  in  this  year— Gnaeus  44 
Lentulus 3  and  Lucius  Domitius.4    Besides  having  held 


decided  by  a  body  of  600  jurors,  who 
voted  in  favour  of  the  Messenian  claim 
by  a  majority  of  586  to  14.  See  Hicks, 
Greek  Inscriptions,  p.  200  (Edn.  1882). 

1  Nothing  is  known  of  this  officer  or  of 
his  governorship. 

2  This  was    the  famous  Temple  of 
Aphrodite  on  Mt.  Eryx  (Monte  S.  Guili- 
ano),  near  Drepanum (Trapani),  on  the 
extreme  W.  point  of  Sicily.     It  was  one 
of  the  many  temples  dedicated  to  the 
goddess  on    high    promontories    over- 
looking the  sea  (as  at  Ancona)  which 
were    connected    with    the    legend    of 
Aeneas    and   the   tale  of  the   Trojan 
origin  of  Rome.     See  Seely  on  Livy,  i. 
p.  20.     Virgil  ascribes  the  foundation 
of  the  temple  to  Aeneas  himself  (Aen.  v. 
759) ;  and  the  Segestans,  in  whose  terri- 
tory it  stood,  claimed  a  Trojan  origin. 
Hence  Tiberius  deems  himself  consan- 
guineus.     Thucydides  says  the   temple 
was    rich   in   gold    and    silver   plate ; 
which  the  Segestans,  however,  had  bor- 
rowed to  deceive  the  Athenian  envoys 
(vi.  46,  3).     It  was  held  in  high  honour 
by  Roman  governors  ;  but  is  not  men- 


tioned by  any  historian  after  Tacitus. 
Substructions  of  the  old  temple  can  still 
be  seen  under  the  modern  castle. 

3  See  n.  on  chap.  29,  i. 

4  Three    generations    of   the  distin- 
guished family  of  Domitii  Ahenobarbi 
are  here  mentioned :  (i)  The  grandfather, 
L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus,  consul  B.C. 
54,  was  a  champion  of  the  Optimates, 
and  a  bitter  opponent  of  Caesar  through- 
out his  life.    He  fell  at  Pharsalus  in  com- 
mand  of   the  left  wing.     (2)  His  son 
Gnaeus  was  taken  with  his  father  at 
Corfinium,   B.C.  49,  was  pardoned  by 
Caesar,  joined  the  Liberators,  and  held 
the  sea  with  a  fleet  in  their  interests. 
He  made  peace  with  Antony  in  B.C.  40, 
was  consul  in  B.C.  32,  and  went  over  to 
Octavianus,   in  disgust,  shortly  before 
Actium.      Suetonius  describes  him  as 
omnibus  gentis  suae  procul  dubio  prae- 

ferendum  (Nero  3).  (3)  Lucius,  son  of 
No.  2,  whose  death  is  here  recorded. 
He  was  betrothed  to  Antonia  (daughter 
of  Antony  by  Octavia)  at  the  meeting 
between  Antony  and  Octavianus  at 
Tarentum,  B.C.  36.  Suetonius  calls 


A.D.  25.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.  43~45-  305 

the  Consulship  and  gained  Triumphal  honours  over 
the  Gaetae,  Lentulus  was  honourably  known  for  having 
borne  poverty  with  patience,  and  for  having  afterwards 
honestly  acquired,  and  modestly  enjoyed,  a  large 

2  fortune.      Domitius    was    distinguished    on    various 
grounds.     His  father  had  kept  command  of  the  seas 
during    the    civil   war,    until    he   went   over   first   to 
Antonius,  and  afterwards  to  Augustus.     His  grand- 
father had  fallen  for  the  senatorial  cause  on  the  field 

3  of  Pharsalus.     He  himself  had  been  chosen  to  be  the 
husband  of  the  younger  Antonia,1  daughter  of  Octavia  ; 
after  that,  he  had  conducted  an  expedition  across  the 
Elbe  ;  and  having  penetrated  into  Germany  further 
than  any  of  those  before  him,2  had  gained  for  that 
success  the  honours  of  a  Triumph. 

4  Another  death  was  that  of  Lucius  Antonius,  a  man  MSO 

5  of  illustrious  birth,  but  unfortunate  in  his  career.     His 


father,  lulus  Antonius,3  had  suffered  death  for  adultery 
with  Julia;  and  though  he  was  a  mere  lad  at  the  time, 
and  great-nephew  to  Augustus,  that  Emperor  sent  him 
into  retirement  at  Massilia,  where  he  was  to  conceal, 
under  the  name  of  study,  the  fact  of  exile.  All 

6  honour,  however,  was  paid  to  his  remains  ;  and  his 
ashes,  by  decree  of  the  Senate,  were  laid  in  the 
sepulchre  of  the  Octavii. 

i  In  this  same  year  an  atrocious  crime  was  committed 
in  Further4  Spain,  by  a  rustic  belonging  to  the  tribe 

Piso  by  a 

him  arrogans,  frofusus,   immitis,  and  2  Dio  mentions  this  exploit,  Iv.  10,  2. 

especially  cruel  in  his  gladiatorial  exhi-  Domitius  was    in    command    on    the 

bitions  (Nero,  5).     He  was  the  father  Danube  at  the  time,  and  set  up  an  altar 

by    Antonia    of    Cn.     Domitius,    who  to  Augustus  on  the  Upper  Elbe. 

married    Agrippina,    the    daughter    of  »  Son  of    Mark  Antony  by  Fulvia. 

Germanicus,  and  so  became  father  of  He  was  married  to  Marcella  (daughter 

the  Emperor  Nero  (chap.  75,  i).  of  Octavia),  who  had  previously  been 

1  Tacitus  seems  to  make  a  mistake  married  to  Agrippa,  and  was  divorced 

in  calling  her  minor,  both  here  and  in  by  him  B.C.  21,  to  enable  him  to  marry 

xii.  64,  4.     Suetonius  correctly  calls  her  Julia. 

Antonia  tnaior,  making  A  ntonia  minor  *  i.e.  Tarraconensis.     Seen,  on  chap. 

the  wife  of  Drusus  (Cal.  i,  Nero,  5).  5,  a. 


306  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  25. 

of  the  Termestini.  Lucius  Piso,1  the  Praetor  of  the 
Province,  was  travelling  in  time  of  peace,  and  without 
thought  of  danger,  when  he  was  suddenly  attacked 
on  the  road,  and  killed  by  a  single  blow.  The 
assassin,  being  well  mounted,  made  off;  on  reaching 
the  hills,  he  turned  his  horse  loose,  and  taking  to 
some  precipitous  impracticable  country,  eluded  his 
pursuers.  But  it  was  not  for  long ;  for  the  horse  2 
being  caught  and  taken  round  the  adjoining  villages, 
the  discovery  of  the  owner  followed.  On  being  put  3 
to  the  torture  to  reveal  his  associates,  the  man  cried 
out  in  his  native  tongue  that  it  was  idle  to  interrogate 
him : — his  comrades  might  stand  by  and  look  on :  no 
amount  of  pain  would  wring  the  truth  from  him.  Next  4 
day,  as  he  was  being  dragged  back  to  be  tortured  a 
second  time,  he  broke  loose  from  his  guards,  and 
dashed  his  head  with  such  violence  against  a  rock 
that  he  was  killed  on  the  spot.  The  general  belief  was  5 
that  Piso  had  been  the  victim  of  a  plot  laid  by  the 
Termestini,  as  he  had  been  exacting  repayment  of 
certain  moneys  embezzled  from  the  public  treasury 
with  a  strictness  intolerable  to  barbarians.2 

1  This  Piso  was  the  elder  of  the  two  O  maior  iuvenum,    quamvis   et    voce 

young  Pisos  to  whom,  along  with  their  paterna 

father,      Horace     addressed    the    Ars  Fingeris  ad  rectum  et  per  te  sapis. 

Poetica;    and    therefore    son    of     the  The  younger,  according   to    Nipp.,  is 

praefectus    urbis    spoken  of  so  hand-  probably   to    be    identified     with     M. 

somely  by  Tacitus  (vi.    10,   3).      The  Licinius,  mentioned  as  cos.  A.  D.  27  (see 

authority  for  this   identification  is  the  chap.  62f  l)f  who  changed  his  name  on 

Scholiast  Porphynon,  who,  on  line  24  being  adopted  by  M.  Licinius  Crassus, 

of  the  A.   P.    (pater  et  luvenes  patre  cos   3.0.14. 

digni)  has  this  note:  L.    Piso  custos,  2' This  seems  to  refer  not  to  Piso's 

id   est  praefectus  urbis,    nam  et    ipse  own  exactions,  but  to  his  interfering  to 

Piso  poeta  futt   et   studiorum    hbera-  prevent  illegal  appropriations    of  local 

hum   anttstes.      The  elder  of  the  two  funds  by  the  local   authorities.     Ger- 

sons  is  thus  addressed  by  Hor.  A.  P.  manjcus  interfered  in  a  similar  way  in 

3°°  :  Bithynia  (ii.  54,  2). 


A.D.26.]  BOOK    IV.  CHAPS.  45~46.  307 


A.D.   26.     CONSULS   CN.   CORNELIUS   LENTULUS 
GAETULICUS1  AND   C.   CALVISIUS   SABINUS.2 

i         Triumphal  ornaments  were  voted  in  this  year  to  successes 
Poppaeus  Sabinus8  for  crushing  some  Thracian  tribes 


who,   inhabiting  a   hill-country,  were   specially  wild 

2  and  intractable.     The  cause  of  the  rising,  besides  their 
own  turbulent  temper,  was  that  they  could  not  endure 
the  system  of  conscription,4  under  which  their  best 
men  were  drafted  into  our  armies.     Even  to  their  own 
kings   they  only   rendered   such   obedience   as   they 
chose ;  and  if  they  did  furnish  them  with  contingents, 
they  would  appoint  their  own  officers,  and  fight  only 

3  against  their  neighbours.    A  report  had  gained  ground 
that  they  were  to  be  scattered,  mixed  up  with  men  of 
other  nationalities,  and  sent  off  to  distant  countries. 

4  Before  taking  up   arms,   they   sent  envoys   to  give  Revolt  of 
assurances  of  their  friendliness  and  loyalty  : — /;/  these  "15^." 
they  would  stand  firm,  they  said,  if  no  new  burdens  were 

laid  upon  them  ;  but  if  they  were  to  be  enslaved  as  a  con- 
quered people,  they  had  their  swords,  and  their  brave  young 

5  hearts  determined  to  be  free  or  die.    With  this  they  pointed 
to  their  strong-holds,  perched  on  rocks,  into  which 

1  This     Cn.      Cornelius      Lentulus  •  Poppaeus  Sabinus  was  grandfather 

Gaetulicus   (see  chap.  42,   3)  and   his  of  the  celebrated  Poppaea,  wife  of  Nero, 

elder  brother  Cossus  Cornelius  (chap.  He  was  cos.  A.D.  9 ;  was  appointed  to 

34,  i ),  were  both  sons  of  Cn.  Cornelius  the   great    imperatorial     province    of 

I^entulus,  cos.   B.C.   i,  who  gained  the  Moesia  by  Augustus,  probably  in  A.D. 

name  Gaetulicus  for  subsequent  victories  n  ;  and  was  continued  in  that  post  by 

in    Africa.     Velleius    notices    that    he  Tiberius,  with  the  addition  of  Achaia 

passed  on  the  title  to  his  son,  adulescen-  and  Macedonia.     Tacitus  quotes  him  as 

tt's  in  omnium  virtutum  exempla  geniti  an  example  of  Tiberius'  preference  for 

(ii.  116,  2) :  and  Juvenal  picks  out  the  competent     mediocrities  :      he      kept 

father,  along  with  D.  Silanus  (Ann.  iii.  Poppaeus  in  command    of  great  pro- 

24,    i)   as  examples  of  men  of  noble  vinces  for  24  years  quod  par  negotiis 

birth  whom  he  was  proud  to  salute  for  neque  supra  erat  (vi.   39,  3).      On  the 

their  virtues  (viii.  26).  difficulties  in  the  way  of  supposing  that 

*  C.  Calvisius  Sabinus,  accused,  and  Poppaeus  was  in  command  of  Moesia 

apparently  acquitted,  of  maiestas,  A.D.  for  so  long  as  24  years,  see  Furn.'snote 

26  (yi-  9.  S)t  was  legatus  of  Pannonia  on  the  above  passage, 

under  Caligula ;  was  again  accused,  and  4  See  n.  on  iii.  42,  i. 
committed  suicide. 


308 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  26. 


Sabinus 
takes  the 
field,  and 
besieges 
their 
stronghold. 


Attack 
upon 
Roman 
camp  by 
Thracians. 


they  had  gathered  their  parents  and  their  wives ;  and 
threatened  a  harassing,  arduous  and  sanguinary  war. 

To  this  message  Sabinus,  waiting  to  collect  his  47 
forces,  returned  a  gentle  answer ;  but  no  sooner  was 
he  joined  by  Pomponius  Labeo  with  a  legion  from 
Moesia,  and  by  King  Rhoemetalces  with  his  native 
auxiliaries,  who  had  remained  true  to  Rome, 
than  he  marched  with  these  and  his  own  troops 
against  the  enemy,  who  had  taken  up  a  position  in  a 
narrow  mountain  pass.  Some  of  their  number  ven-  2 
turing  to  show  themselves  openly  on  the  hill-side, 
Sabinus  attacked  them  in  force,  and  dislodged  them 
without  difficulty;  but  as  their  place  of  retreat  was 
close  at  hand,  he  could  inflict  but  little  loss  upon 
them.  He  then  established  a  fortified  camp  upon  the  3 
spot,  and  occupied  strongly  a  long  even  ridge  running 
right  up  to  an  adjacent  fort,  which  was  defended  by  a 
strong  body  of  the  enemy,  part  of  them  fully  armed,  part 
irregulars.  In  the  front  of  their  lines  could  be  seen  4 
some  bolder  than  the  rest,  singing  and  dancing  after 
the  manner  of  their  tribe.  Against  these  Sabinus  sent 
a  picked  body  of  bowmen,  who  wounded  many  of  the 
enemy  without  loss  to  themselves,  so  long  as  they  5 
kept  at  a  distance ;  but  advancing  too  close,  they  were 
routed  by  a  sudden  sally  from  the  fort,  and  had  to  fall 
back  upon  a  Sigambrian l  cohort,  placed  so  as  to  be 
ready  in  case  of  need,  which  met  the  barbarians  with 
cries  and  clashing  of  arms  as  savage  as  their  own. 

The  camp  was  then  moved  close  up  to  the  enemy,  48, 
the  former  works 2  being  left  in  charge  of  the  Thracians 
whom  I  have  mentioned3  as   fighting   on   our  side. 


1  See  n.  on  ii.  26,  3.  As  in  other 
mixed  empires,  it  would  be  part  of 
Roman  policy  to  garrison  one  country 
with  troops  raised  in  another.  Cp.  the 
present  practice  of  Austria ;  also  of 


Italy,  where  the  southern  provinces  are 
mostly  garrisoned  by  troops  from  the 
north. 

2  i.e.  the  camp  mentioned  chnp.  47,  3. 

3  i.e.  in  chap.  47,  i. 


A.D.26.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.  46-49-  309 

2  These  were  permitted  to  ravage,  burn,  and  plunder, 
provided  only  that  their  ravaging  was  done  during 
the  day,  and  that  they  kept  careful  watch  over  the 

3  camp  by  night.     This  order  at  first  they  obeyed ;  but 
before  long,  giving  themselves  up  to  enjoyment,  and 
enriched  by  plunder,  they  took  to  revelling  and  feast- 
ing, neglected  to  guard  their  outposts,  and  stretched 
themselves  on  the  ground  overcome  by  sleep  and  wine. 

4  Discovering  their  carelessness,  the  enemy  got  ready 
two   detachments,    one   of  which  was   to  attack   the 
plundering  party,  while  the  other  was  to  assail  the 
camp;  not  indeed  with  any  expectation  of  capturing 
it,  but  in  the  hope  that  the  shouting  and  the  din  of  arms, 
and  care  for  their  own  safety,  might  so  take  up  every 
man's    attention,   that    none   would    hear    the   noise 
of  the  other  engagement.     To  add  to  the  terror  of  the 

5  attack,  it  was  to  be  made  by  night.     The  assault  on 
the  Roman   lines   was   repelled   with  ease  ;   but  the 
Thracian  auxiliaries,  some  of  whom  were  lying  along 
the  ramparts,  while  many  were  wandering  about  out- 
side, were  terrified  by  the  suddenness  of  the  onset, 
and  were  cut  down  without  mercy :  the  enemy  taunt- 
ing them  with  being  renegades  and  deserters,  who 
had  taken  up  arms  for  their  own  and  their  country's 
enslavement. 

1  Next  day  Sabinus  drew  up  his  army  in  the  open,  siege  of 
hoping  that   the   success   of  the  night  attack  might  fort™0' 

2  tempt  the  barbarians  to  accept  battle.     But  when  they 
declined  to  come  down  from  the  fort  and  the  adjacent 
heights,  he  began  a  regular  siege,  establishing  fortified 
posts  in  suitable  positions,  and  connecting  these  by 
a  ditch  and  palisade  embracing  a  circuit  of  four  miles. 
Drawing    his    lines  gradually  closer  and  closer    in, 
so  as  to  cut  off  the  enemy's  supplies  of  water  and 


3io 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  26. 


forage,  he  built  up  also  a  high  mound,  from  which 
stories,  spears,  and  firebrands  might  be  hurled  against 
the  enemy,  now  within  easy  reach.  What  distressed  3 
the  garrison  most  was  want  of  water;  the  whole 
multitude  of  fighting  men  and  non-combatants  had 
but  one  spring  left.  The  horses  and  cattle,  according  4 
to  barbarian  fashion,1  had  been  shut  up  along  with 
them,  and  were  dying  for  want  of  fodder;  alongside 
lay  the  bodies  of  those  who  had  died  of  their  wounds, 
or  for  want  of  water;  all  was  foul  with  stench, 
rottenness,  and  contagion. 

Dissen-  To  crown  their  misfortunes,  dissension  broke  out  5°- 

among  the  in  their  ranks.  One  party  was  for  surrender ;  another 
besieged.  prOpOsed  that  they  should  die  by  each  other's  hands  ; 
others  again  that  they  should  make  a  dash  for  it,  and 
sell  their  lives  dearly.  This  last  proposal  was  opposed,  2 
not  only  by  the  common  sort,  but  also  by  an  aged  chief 
-  of  the  name  of  Dinis,  who  had  learned  from  long  ex- 
perience the  power  and  the  generosity  of  Rome.  In 
their  present  plight,  he  said,  there  was  no  help  for  it  but  to 
lay  down  their  arms.  He  set  the  example  himself  by 
surrendering  with  his  wife  and  children  to  the  con- 
querors ;  all  who  were  of  feeble  age  or  sex,  or  who 
preferred  life  to  honour,  did  the  same. 

The    younger    men   were    divided    between    the  3 
^counsels  of  Tarsa  and  Turesis.     Both  were  resolved 
not  to  survive  their  liberty ;  but  Tarsa  wished  to  make  4 
short  work  of  it,  and  crying  out  that  they  should  be 
done   with   hope   and    fear    alike,    showed   the  way 
by  plunging  a  sword   into   his   own  breast.      Many 
followed  his   example.     Turesis,  with  his  followers,  5 

1  Professor  Lanciani  shows  how  in  their  pastures  at   night.     Each  family 

early  Italian  towns,  such  as  Antemnae,  was  provided  with  an  agellus  and    a 

and  the  first  settlement  on  the  Palatine,  sheepfold   ('Ruins  and    Excavations,' 

space  was  included  inside  the  walls  for  pp.  112,  113). 
the  cattle,  which  were  driven  in  from 


A.D.  26.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.  49-51.  311 

waited  for  the  fall  of  night.  Aware  of  his  designs,  the 
6  Roman  General  strengthened  his  pickets.  The  night 
came  on  black  and  stormy :  raising  wild  cries  at  one 
moment,  keeping  absolute  silence  at  another,  the  enemy 
threw  the  besiegers  into  perplexity.  Sabinus  went 
round  warning  his  men  not  to  allow  confused  noises, 
or  a  craftily  preserved  silence,1  to  afford  opportunity 
for  a  surprise  : — Every  man  was  to  stand  unflinchingly 
to  his  post,  and  abstain  from  aimless  discharge  of  missiles. 

1  By  this  time  the  barbarians  were  trooping  down  Desperate 
the  slope.     They  assailed  the  entrenchments  with  such 
stones  as  they  could  lift,  with  stakes  burnt  at  the  tip, 

and  with  trunks  of  trees.     Some  filled  up  the  fosse 
with  faggots,  hurdles,  and  dead  bodies ;  others,  bring- 
ing up  gangways  and  ladders  which  they  had  ready, 
laid  them  against  the  breastwork,  clutched  hold  of  it,* 
tore  it   down,  and   engaged  in   a  hand-to-hand   fight 

2  with   the  defenders.     Our  men  drove  the  enemy  off 
with  missiles,  shoved   them  back  with  their  shields, 
and  hurled  down  upon  them  ponderous  siege  javelins, 
or    showers   of  heavy   stones.     The   one   side   were 
spurred  on   by  victory   already   won,   or   by   shame 
at  the   thought   of   yielding ;   the    other  drew   fresh 
courage   from   the  extremity  of  their   peril,  and   the 

3  cries  of  wives  and  mothers  standing  by.     The  dark- 
ness which  emboldened  the  one  party  was  a  terror 
to  the  other ;  blows  fell  at  random,  wounds  came  none 
knew  whence,  none  could  tell  friend  from  foe  :  and  such 
was  the  confusion  wrought  by  an  echo  which  carried 
what  seemed  to  be  the  sound  of  voices  from  behind,/^ 
that  the  Romans  abandoned  one  part  of  their  defences, 

4  believing  that  they  had  been  forced.     But  only  a  very 

1  The  words  simulationem  quietis  are  not  be  '  simulated,'  though  the  attacking 
untranslateable,  because  the  idea  is  force  might  keep  silence  to  conceal  its 
strained  and  false.  The  '  silence  '  could  numbers  or  its  presence. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  26. 

few  of  the  enemy  found  their  way  in,  after  all.     The 
boldest  were   all   killed  or  wounded;  the  remainder 
it  is  were  driven  back  at  daybreak  into  their  hill-fort,  and 

and6 the'      compelled   at  last  to  surrender.     The  inhabitants  of  5 
fort  the  neighbouring  districts  submitted  voluntarily  ;  but 

the  severe  and  early  winter  which  set  in  upon  Mount 
Haemus  made  it  impossible  to  reduce  the  remainder 
either  by  assault  or  siege. 

Accusation         Meantime  at  Rome,  in  the  disturbed  condition  of  cj 
Puichra.      the   Imperial  house,  the  way  was   prepared  for  the 
future  ruin  of  Agrippina  by  the  prosecution  of  her 
cousin l  Claudia  Puichra.     Her  accuser  was  Domitius  2 
Afer,  who  had  been  Praetor  not  long  before,  a  man 
held  in  little  esteem,  and  ready  to  commit  any  kind  of 
crime  in  his  hurry  for  distinction.     The  charge  was 
that  of  adultery  with  Furnius,  and  of  having  attempted 
the     Emperor's     life    by    poison    and    incantations. 
Always  hot-headed,  Agrippina  was  infuriated  by  the  3 
peril  of  her  kinswoman,  and  went  straight  to  Tiberius, 
indigna-      She  found  him  in  the  act  of  sacrificing  to  his  father ; 
and  making  this  the  text  for  her  reproaches,  she  pro-  4 
ceeded  in  this  wise  : — 

//  was  not  of  a  piece,  she  said,  to  be  slaughtering 
victims  to  the  Divine  Augustus ,  and  to  be  at  the  same  time 
persecuting  his  descendants.  That  divine  spirit  had  not 
passed  into  dumb  images  ;  she  was  his  true  image,  born  of 
his  divine  blood :  and  yet  she  now  found  herself  menaced, 
and  had  to  take  to  herself  the  garb  of  a  suppliant.  It  was  5 
idle  to  make  a  pretext  of  Puichra  ;  Pulchrds  one  and  only 
crime  was  that  she  had  attached  herself,  poor  fool !  to 
Agrippina,  forgetting  how  Sosta2  had  been  struck  down 
for  a  like  offence. 

1  This  relationship  is  not  clearly  made       major,  daughter  of  Octavia. 
out ;  but  Claudia  Puichra  is  supposed  2  See  chap.  19,  i. 

to  have  been    daughter    of    Marcella 


A.D.  26.]  BOOK    IV.    CHAPS.   51-53.  313 

6  These  words   had   the   rare   effect   of  drawing   a  Puichra 
retort   from   that   close-locked   breast.      Interrupting  demned. 
her  with  a  Greek  quotation,  Tiberius   reminded  her 

that  it  was  no  grievance  that  she  did  not  reign.1     Puichra 

7  and  Furnius  were  condemned.     The  ability  displayed  Distinction 
by  Afer  in  this  persecution,  followed  by  the  remark  of  accuser 
Tiberius  that  Afer  was  a  born  orator,  placed   him  in  Afer!' " 

8  the  front  rank  of  public  speakers ;  and  from  that  time 
forward  he  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  as  an  advocate, 
whether  in  accusation  or  defence.     For  his  character, 
he  was  less  esteemed ;  and  in  extreme  old  age,  he  lost 
much  of  his  eloquence  also.     For  though  his  powers 
failed    him,    he    was    unable    to    resign    himself   to 
silence.2 

1  But  Agrippina  abated  nothing  of  her  resentment.  Agrippina 

implores 

When  Tiberius  came  to  see  her,  on  the  occasion  of  Tiberius  to 
some  illness,8  she  received  him  with  an  outburst  of  marry. 
tears,  and  for  a  time  said  nothing;  then  beginning  in 
a  tone  of  mixed  entreaty  and  reproach,  she  implored 
him  to  take  pity  on  her  lonely  state,  and  find  a  husband 
for  her.     She  was  still  young  and  active,  she  said,  and 
an  honest  woman  could  find  no  comfort  save  in  marriage. 
There  were  plenty  of  men  in  Rome  who  would  deem  it  an 
honour  to  take  to  their  homes   the  ivife  and  children  of 

2  Germanicus.     Tiberius  saw  all  the  significance  of  such 
a  demand  ;  but  not  wishing  to  evince  either  resentment 

1  Suetonius  tells  this  same  story,  Tib.  bishop    of    Toledo  :    vidi  —  summum 

53.        The    words    he    puts    into    the  oratorem  Domitittm  A/rum  valde  senem 

emperor's  mouth  are  Si  non  dominaris,  quotidie  aliquid  ex  ea  quam  meruerat 

filiola,  iniuriam  te  accipere  existimas.  auctoritate  perdentem  ;   the   man  who 

*  Whatever  use  Domitius  Afer  may  had  been  once  without  dispute  princeps 

have   made  of  his  talents,   he  was  re-  fort,  came  to  be  laughed  at  and  blushed 

garded  as  one  of  the  first  orators  of  his  for  :  people    said    of   him    malle  eum 

time.     Quintilian  says  of  him,  Eorum  deficere  quam  dcsinere  (Inst.  xii.  11,3). 
(sc.  oratorum)  quos  viderim,  Domitius  '  The  phrase  here  used — morbo  cor- 

Afer  et  fulius  Africanus  longe  prae-  ports  implicate. — is  one  of  the  few  dis- 

stantissimi :  verborum  arte  ille  et  toto  tinctly  pedantic  phrases  used  by  Tacitus. 

genere  dicendi  praeferendus,  et  quern  in  It  merely  means  that  she  was  unwell ; 

nutnero  veterum  habere  non  titneas  (Inst.  or  perhaps  confined  to  the  house.     Cp. 

x.   i,  118).     Like  Tacitus,  Quint,  also  lento  veneno  illigarct  (vi.  32,  3). 
attributes  to  him  the  foible  of  the  Arch- 


314 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  26. 


Sejanus 
craftily 
bids  her 
beware  of 
poison  : 


she  shows 
her  sus- 
picions at 
Tiberius' 
own  table. 


or  apprehension,  he  left  her  without  an  answer,  in 
spite  of  her  importunity.  This  anecdote,  which  is  3 
not  related  by  the  historians,  I  have  found  in  the 
memoirs^  of  Agrippina  the  younger,  the  mother  of 
Nero,  who  left  behind  her  a  record  of  her  own  life  and 
of  the  fortunes  of  her  family. 

Taking  advantage  of  Agrippina's  distress,  and  her  54. 
unsuspecting  nature,  Sejanus  now  dealt  her  a  more 
deadly  blow,  by  sending  emissaries  to  warn  her,  as  if 
in  friendship,  to  beware  of  poison  ;  and  to  avoid 
eating  in  her  father-in-law's  house.  Incapable  of  2 
dissimulation,  she  put  on  a  face  of  stone  as  she 
reclined  next  to  the  Emperor  at  table  :  saying  nothing, 
and  tasting  nothing.  Tiberius  at  last  noticed  it ; 
perhaps  his  attention  was  directed  to  it.  To  bring 
the  matter  to  a  point,  he  commended  some  apples 
which  happened  to  be  on  the  table ;  and  with  his  own 
hand  offered  them  to  his  daughter-in-law.  This  con-  3 
firmed  her  suspicions;  she  passed  on  the  apples 
untasted  to  the  attendants.2  Tiberius  said  nothing 
before  the  company ;  but  turning  to  his  mother,  he 
remarked  that  no  one  could  wonder  if  he  were  to  take 
strong  measures  against  one  who  insinuated  that  he  was  a 


ance. 
of  ir 


1  This  reference  is  of  great  import- 
It   is  one    of    the   two   sources 


information  specifically  named  by 
Tacitus  in  Ann.  i.-vi.  :  the  other  being 
C.  Plinius,  historian  of  the  German 
wars  (i.  69,  3).  It  would  be  impossible 
to  imagine  a  more  prejudiced  and 
poisoned  source  of  information  than  the 
memoirs  of  such  a  woman  as  Nero's 
mother,  compiled  for  publication 
(suorum  posteris).  They  would  pro- 
bably contain  every  piece  of  foul  court 
scandal,  exaggerated  and  twisted  to 
suit  the  temporary  purposes  of  perhaps 
the  most  ambitious  and  conscienceless 
woman  of  the  early  imperial  times.  See 
Furn.  Introd.  p.  10,  foil.  Plin.  quotes 
these  same  memoirs  (H.  N.  vii.  8,  6). 
Mr.  Tarver,  in  'Tiberius  the  Tyrant,' 
makes  too  much  of  this  reference. 


He  founds  upon  it  the  theory  that 
diaries  like  that  of  Agrippina,  com- 
piled by  malignant  enemies  of  Tiberius, 
were  the  main  authorities  used  by 
Tacitus  for  Annals  i.-vi.  A  different 
view  may  be  taken.  The  pointed  and 
exceptional  reference  to  Agrippina's 
memoirs  may  be  regarded  as  a  proof 
that  Tacitus  did  not  as  a  rule  use 
evidence  of  that  kind.  The  incident 
strikes  him  as  natural  and  probable,  and 
he  therefore  mentions  it ;  but  as  it  is 
not  recorded  by  the  annalists  whom  he 
usually  follows,  he  gives  us  his  authority, 
that  we  may  take  the  story  for  what  it  is 
worth. 

2  Suetonius  tells  the  same  story,  add-' 
ing  that  Tiberius  never  invited  Agrip- 
pina to  his  table  again. 


A.D.  26.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   53-55.  315 

4  poisoner.  Hence  a  rumour  got  afloat  that  her  death 
was  resolved  upon  ;  but  that  Tiberius,  not  venturing 
to  do  the  deed  openly,  was  casting  about  for  some 
secret  mode  of  accomplishing  it. 

1  Meanwhile,  to  divert  public  talk,  Tiberius  attended  Contest 
regularly  in  the  Senate,  and  listened  for  several  days  various 

P  ..  .          .  ,  .    ,        .^      il        Asian  cities 

to  deputations  from  Asia  disputing  in  which  city  the  for  the 

2  temple  vowed  to  him  should  be  built.     The  contest  building 
lay  between  eleven  cities  of  various  degrees  of  im- 
portance,  all  equally  anxious  for  the  distinction.     The 
claims  were  all  of  a  similar  kind,  based  on  the  antiquity 

of  the  cities,  or  on  the  services  which  they  had  rendered 
to  the  Roman  people  during  the  wars  with  Perseus,1 

3  Aristonicus 2  and  other  kings.   The  towns  of  Hypaepa,3 
Tralles,  Laodiceia,  and  Magnesia,4  were  at  once  passed 

4  over  as  too  insignificant ;  even  the  people  of  Ilium,5 
though  they  could  point  to  Troy  as  the  mother-city  of 
Rome,  had  nothing  to  show  beyond  their  illustrious 

5  antiquity.     Some  attention  was  given  to  the  Halicar- 
nassians,6  because  they  asserted  that  their  city  had  not 

1  Perses  or  Perseus,  the  last  king  of  II.  (Theos).    Though  often  destroyed 

Macedon,  B.C.   178  to  168,  was  finally  by  earthquakes,  its    situation    on   the 

defeated  at  Pydna  in  the  latter  year  by  main  trade  route  from    Smyrna    and 

L.    Aemilius    Paulus.     He    ended  his  Ephesus  to  the  East  made  it  an  im- 

days  in  captivity  at  Alba.  portant  commercial  centre. 

*  Aristonicus,  brother  of  Attains  III.  4  Magnesiaad  Maeandrum  is  probably 

of  Pergamum  who  left  his  kingdom  to  meant,  not  M.  ad  Sipylum  :  see  ii.  47,  4, 

the  Romans  B.C.  133,  was  a  natural  son  and  iii.  62,  i. 

of  Eumenes  II.  ;   Aristonicus  disputed  *  The    Ilium    here    mentioned    was 

the  gift,  but  after  some  successes  he  was  the  Greek  Novum  Ilium,  an  Aetolian 

defeated    and    taken    prisoner    by   M.  foundation  at  Hissarlik,  the  last  of  the 

Perperna,  B.C.  130,  and  put  to  death  in  several  cities  built  (according  to  Dr. 

Rome  in  the  year  following.  Schliemann  and  modern  archaeologists) 

3  Hypaepa  was  in  Lydia,  on  the  upon  the  site  of  ancient  Troy.  Almost 
S.  slope  of  Mt.  Tmolus,  near  the  N.  destroyed  by  Fimbria,  B.C.  85,  it  had 
bank  of  the  Cayster.  Tralles  was  in  been  restored  by  Sulla,  and  was  made 
Lydia  also,  on  a  plateau  at  the  foot  of  a  free  city,  exempt  from  taxes. 
Mt.  Messogis,  on  the  Endon,  a  tributary  •  In  the  SW.  of  Caria,  opposite  to 
of  the  Maeander.  Laodicea  ad  Lycum  the  island  Cos ;  famed  as  the  birth- 
was  one  of  six  Greek  cities  of  the  same  place  of  Herodotus  and  Dionysius  the 
name  in  Asia— four  of  them  founded  by  historian,  and  for  its  magnificent  tomb 
Seleucus  I.  (Nicator)  and  called  after  his  to  King  Mausolus— whence  the  word 
mother  Laodice.  It  stood  on  the  river  mausoleum.  Some  fragments  of  the 
Lycus,  a  tributary  of  the  Maeander,  sculptures  are  in  the  British  Museum, 
on  the  borders  of  Lydia,  Caria,  and  The  city  had  been  destroyed  by  Alex- 
Phrygia.  It  was  founded  by  Amiochus  ander. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  26. 

been  shaken  by  an  earthquake  for  I2OO1  years,  and  that 
the  foundations  of  the  temple  would  be  laid  on  the 
live  rock.  The  people  of  Pergamum,2  it  was  thought,  6 
were  favoured  enough  already  in  having  the  temple 
of  Augustus  in  their  city ;  though  that  was  the  very 
ground  on  which  they  based  their  claim.  The 
Ephesians3  and  Milesians4  were  held  to  be  sufficiently 
occupied  with  the  worship  of  Diana  and  Apollo 
respectively. 

The  con-  In  the  end,  the  discussion  lay  between  the  cities  of 

finally         Sardis 5  and  Smyrna.  The  Sardians  quoted  an  Etruscan  7 

sard^and   document 6  as  a  proof  of  kinship  :  their  story  being  that 

Smyrna :      Tyrrhenus  and  Lydus,  the  sons  of  Atys,  had  divided 

the  nation  into  two,  because  of  its  great  numbers ; 

that  Lydus  had  remained  with  one  part  in  his  father's 

country,   while   Tyrrhenus   had    been   sent   forth    to 

found  a  new   settlement   with  the  other.7    The  two 

nations,  one  in   Asia,  the   other  in   Italy,   had   been 

lii.e.  since  the  supposed  date  of  its  rians  (Dion.  Hal.  i.  27;  Strab.  v.  2,  2), 

foundation  by  the  Dorians.     The  city  has  given  rise    to    much   speculation, 

originally  was  one  of  the  Dorian  Hexa-  The  remains  of  Etruscan  art  suggest 

polis.  for  them  an  Oriental  origin ;  but  their 

2  See  n.  on  iii.  63,  3.  language  has  never  been  satisfactorily 

3  Ephesus,  on  the  S.  of  the  Cayster,  deciphered,  and  the  problem  still  awaits 
was  chief  of  the  original  twelve  cities  solution.      Some    facts — especially  the 
founded     by    the     Ionian     migration.  existence  of  an   Etruscan  dominion  in 
Under  the  Romans  it  became  the  main  the   valley  of   the    Po — point    to    the 
seat  of  government  of  the  province  of  governing    clan  fiasena    having  come 
Asia,    and    its    most    important    city,  down    from    Rhaetia   in    the   N.  ;    on 
though   Pergamum  was  nominally  the  which  view  it  has  been  conjectured  that 
capital.      All    are    familiar    with     the  the  conquering  Rasena  may  have  found 
worship  of  '  Diana  of  the  Ephesians.'  a    Graeco-Oriental    population    more 

4  Miletus  in  Caria,  on  the  Maeander,  civilised  than  themselves  in  occupation 
the  most  southerly  of  the  twelve  Ionian  of  Middle  Italy,  amongst  whom  they 
cities  ;  it  was  famous  as  the  birthplace  settled   as   conquerors,  adopting  their 
of  the  early  philosophers  Thales,  Anaxi-  language  and  religion.     The  mythical 
mander  and  Anaximenes.  dynasty  of  the  Atyadae  ended,  accord- 

5  Sardis,4orSardes,  the  famous  "capital  ing  to  tradition,  about  B.C.   1221.     In 
of  the  Lydian  monarchy  which  ended  any  case,  it  is  recognised  that  the  re- 
with  Croesus,  was  on  the  Pactolus,  to  mains    of   Etruscan   art    point    to   an 
the    N.    of   Mt.   Tmolus.     Herodotus  Eastern  origin :  see  Deecke's  edition  of 
relates  how  it  was  at  last  taken  by  sur-  C.  Karl  Olfried  Miiller's  Die  Etrnsken, 
prise  by  Cyrus.  vol.  i.  p.  73. 

6  This  account  of  the  origin  of  that  7  i.e.  no  doubt  the  old  league  of  the 
mysterious  people  the  Etruscans,  first  twelve  cities  of  Etruria  before  they  were 
found   in  Herod,  i.  94,  repeated  here,  conquered  by  Rome. 

and  referred  to  by  other  ancient  histo- 


A.D.  26.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   55-56.  31; 

called  after  these  two  leaders;  and  the  Lydians  had 
still  further  extended  their  power  by  sending  out 
settlers  to  that  part  of  Greece  which  soon  afterwards 
8  took  its  name  from  Pelops.1  They  referred  also  to 
charters  given  them  by  our  generals,  to  treaties  made 
with  us  during  the  Macedonian  war,  and  dwelt  upon 
the  richness  of  their  rivers,2  the  mildness  of  their 
climate,  and  the  fertility  of  the  land  around  their  city 

1  On  the  other  side,  the  Smyrnaean  3  envoys,  after 
recounting    the    antiquity   of    their    origin — whether 
their  founder  were  Tantalus  son  of  Jupiter,  or  Theseus, 
also    of    divine    origin,   or    one    of   the   Amazons- 
passed  on  to  the  point  on  which  they  placed  most 
reliance,  the  services  which  they  had  rendered  to  the 
Roman    people  by  furnishing  them  with  naval  help, 
not  only  for  wars  abroad,4  but  in  Italy  also.5     They 
had  been  the  first  also  to  erect  a  temple  to  the  Roman 
people,  in  the  Consulship  of  Marcus  Porcius,6  at  a  time 
when  the  power  of  Rome,  though  no  doubt  already 
great,  had  not  yet  reached  its  height ;  when  Carthage 
was  yet  standing,  and  there  were  still  powerful  kings 

2  in  Asia.     They  produced  also  the  testimony  of  Lucius 
Sulla,  to  the  effect  that  when  his  army  was  in  the 
greatest  distress  from  cold  and  want  of  clothing,7  no 

1  The  Sardians  thus  claimed  Pelops  of  Smyrna  in  the  war  with  Antiochus, 

as  a  Lydian,  as  does  Pindar,  Ol.  i.  37.  B.c.  191-188,  xxxvii.  16,  i  ;  xxxviii.  39, 

Others  make  him  a  Phrygian.  n. 

*  i.e.  the  Pactolus  and  the  Hermus,  *  i.e.  in  the  social  war,  B.C.  91,  90. 

which  two  rivers  unite  thirty  stadia  N.  Among  the  preparations  made  by  Rome 

of  the  city.  to  resist  the  Italians  was  the  collecting 

»  Smyrna  occupied  the  most  favoured  of  a  fleet   from  cities  in  Greece  and 

site  in  Asia  Minor;  halfway  up  the  W.  Asia  Minor.     A  decree  of  the  senate  of 

coast,  in  the  centre  of  the  Greek  cities,  B.C.  78  is  still  extant  bestowing  rewards 

at  the  mouth  of  the  rich  valley  of  the  on  sea-captains  from  Asia   Minor  for 

Hermus,  and  with  a  spacious  and  safe  services  in  this  war  (Momm.,  vol.  iii.  p. 

harbour  under  its  walls.    Sole  survivor  507). 

of  the  Greek  cities  on  that  coast,  it  re-  6  M.  Porcius  Cato  the  Censor,  Cos. 

mains  to-day,  as  it  was  in  ancient  times,  B.C.  195. 

the  great  emporium  for  the  trade  between  T  i*.  in  the  first  Mithradatic  War: 

East    and    West,   while    Ephesus,    its  probably  in  B.C.  84,  when  Sulla,  having 

ancient  rival,  has  fallen  into  total  decay.  driven  Mithradates  out  of  Greece,  was 

4  Livy  specially  mentions  the  services  crossing  over  into  Asia,  and  when  the 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  26. 


Smyrna 
preferred. 


Tiberius 
retires  into 
Campania. 


Probable 
motives  for 
this  step. 


The  idea 
was  his 
own. 


sooner  had  this  fact  been  made  known  at  a  public 
meeting  in  Smyrna,  than  all  present  stripped  the 
clothes  off  their  backs,  and  sent  them  to  our  legions. 

So  when  the  question  was   put   to   the  vote,  the  3 
Senate  gave  the  preference  to  the  Smyrneans.    Vibius 
Marsus  moved  that  a  supernumerary  Legate 1  should 
be  attached  to  Manius  Lepidus,2  the  Governor  of  the 
province,3  to  take  charge  of  the  work ; 4  and  as  Lepidus,  4 
out  of  modesty,  declined  to  make  the  choice  himself, 
an   ex-Praetor  of  the   name  of  Valerius  Naso5  was 
chosen  by  lot,  and  sent  out. 

And  now,  at  last,  Tiberius  carried  out  the  project  5 
so  long  entertained,  so  continually  deferred,  of  retiring 
into  Pjjn^pajiia^  He  made  a  pretext  of  dedicating  a 
temple  tojupiter  at  Capua,  and  another  to  Augustus 
at  Nola;6  but,  in  reality,  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
live  away  from  Rome.  Now  although  following  the  2 
authority  of  most  writers,  I  have  asserted7  that  his 
retirement  was  brought  about  by  the  machinations  of 
Sejanus,  yet  seeing  that  he  continued  to  live  in  equal 
seclusion  for  six  years  after  Sejanus  was  put  to  death, 
I  am  more  inclined  to  believe  that  the  idea  was  his 
own :  his  object  being  to  find  some  place  in  which  he 
might  carry  on  his  cruelties  and  debaucheries  un- 
observed!^ Some  thought  that  he  had  become  ashamed  3 


cruelties  of  that  monarch  were  turning 
the  Greek  cities  of  Asia  against  him. 

1  The  proconsuls  of  Asia  and  Africa 
were  entitled  to  have  three  legates  each 
(Dio,  liii.  14,  7). 

2  See  n.  on  iii.  32,  2. 

3  i.e.  the  province  of  Asia,  which  it 
will  be  remembered  included  only  the 
countries  on  the  W.  seaboard  of  what 
we  call  Asia  Minor. 

4  The  temple  is  figured  on  one  of  the 
coins  of  Smyrna,  with  Tiberius  inside, 
and    the    inscription    Ze/Sao-ros  T//3tp<or 
on  the  obverse. 

5  Valerius  Naso  would  be  sent  out 
as  praefectus  fabrum,   or    '  master    of 


works '  to  Lepidus.  In  earlier  times 
that  office  was  purely  military,  the  prae- 
fectus being  commander  of  the  section 
of  engineers  attached  to  the  legion. 

6  This  temple  was  built  on  the  site  of 
the  house  in  Nola  in  which  Augustus 
had  died. 

7  See  chap.  41,  2  and  3. 

8  This,  perhaps,  is,  the  most  cruel  and 
least-vouched-for  of  all  the  insinuations  ! 
of  Tacitus.     That  Tiberius  was  accus- } 
tomed     recondere     voli/ptates,     i.e.     to,' 
practise  debauch  in  secret,  is  probablyj 
nothing  more  than  a  malignant  infer-; 
ence  from  the  fact  of  his  retired  and 
secluded  life.     The  scandal-mongers  of 


A.D.  26.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   56-58.  319 

of  his  personal  appearance  in  his  old  age.  For  his 
figure,  though  tall,  was  stooping  and  ungainly;  he 
was  bald  on  the  top  of  his  head  ;  his  face  was  covered 
with  blotches,  and  usually  patched  with  medicaments.1 

4  He  had  led  a  similar  life  at  Rhodes,  avoiding  company, 
and  keeping  his  pleasures  out  of  sight.  Others  said 
that  he  had  been  driven  away  by  his  mother's  im- 
perious temper:  he  could  neither  shake  her  off,  nor 
endure  to  share  his  power  with  her,  though  that  power 

f>  had  come  to  him  as  her  gift.  For  when  Augustus 
had  thought  of  bestowing  the  Empire  on  Germanicus, 
who  was  his  own  grandson,  and  universally  beloved, 
he  was  won  over  by  his  wife's  entreaties  to  adopt 
Tiberius  himself,  and  make  Tiberius  adopt  Germanicus. 
Augusta  was  for  ever  casting  this  in  his  teeth,  and 
demanding  of  him  repayment.2 

i         He   set  out   with   a  meagre   train   of  attendants.  His 
There  was  one  senator  of  consular  rank  among  them, 
Cocceius  Nerva,8  well  versed  in  the  law  ;  and  besides 

the  day,  unable  either  to  lift  the  veil  similar  account  (Tib.  68).  He  tells  us 
which  screened  Tiberius'  private  life,  that  Tiberius  was  tall,  broad  in  the 
or  to  penetrate  into  the  causes  of  his  chest,  and  well-proportioned  in  all  his 
retirement,  revenged  themselves  by  limbs ;  he  stooped  in  walking,  and 
asserting  as  a  fact  their  foulest  imagin-  carried  his  neck  stiffly  ;  he  was  fair,  with 
ings.  Suetonius  revels  in  detailing  the  hair  long  behind — a  family  character- 
worst  stories  in  regard  to  the  life  of  istic ;  and  his  face  was  handsome, 
Tiberius  at  Capri,  but  he  makes  no  subject  however  to  occasional  eruptions, 
such  charges  in  regard  to  his  life  at  But  there  is  an  unmistakeable  look  of 
Rhodes  ;  indeed,  the  account  he  gives  of  evil  temper  upon  the  coin  figured  on 
his  mode  of  living  there  is  inconsistent  the  outside  of  this  volume,  as  well  as 
with  their  truth.  Yet  both  here,  and  in  in  the  bust  of  Tiberius  in  the  British 
i.  4,  4,  Tacitus  assumes  that  his  life  was  Museum,  No  5  among  the  portraits  of 
equally  evil  in  both  places.  If  this  were  Roman  emperors, 
so,  why  do  we  hear  nothing,  from  either  »  So  Suet.  Tib.  50,  matrem  Liviam 
historian,  of  similar  foul  living  during  gravatus,  vclut  paries  sibi  aequas 
the  long  intervening  period  in  Rome?  potentiae  wndicanlem ;  and  Dio  Ivii. 
The  fact,  doubtless,  is  that  the  seclusion  12:  «ai  &d  roCro  owe  "tro»  «f_I<roi>  oi 
of  Tiberius  during  his  later  years  was  SPX«<»'»  «**«  «<«  vptvptvetv  aurov  nfcAe. 
un-Roman,  hateful  and  unintelligible  to  Both  Fum.*and  Tarver  suspect  that 
the  Roman  mind  ;  and  his  contem-  the  stories  of  the  quarrels  and  jealousy 
poraries  put  the  worst  possible  con-  between  Livia  and  Tiberius  may  have 
struction  upon  it.  been  largely  taken  from  the  memoirs 

1  The  well-known  statue  of  Tiberius  of  Agrippina  (see  chap.  53,  3). 

in  the  Vatican  has  every  mark  of  per-  »  Grandfather  of  the  emperor  Nerva. 

sonal    beauty  and    dignity   about    it ;  He  had  been  consul  some  years  before, 

and  it  would  appear  to  have  been  a  in  24  A.  D.,  and  from  that  time  onwards 

faithful    likeness.     Suetonius    gives    a  was  curator  ayuarurH,  a  post  of  high 


retinue. 


320 


ANNALS    OF  TACITUS. 


[A.D.  26. 


Sejanus,  there  was  one  knight  of  distinction,  Curtius 
Atticus.1   The  rest  were  men  of  letters,  mostly  Greeks, 
who  were  to  entertain  Tiberius  with  their  conversa- 
prognosti-    tion.2    Those  learned  in  the  stars  reported  that  he  had  2 

cations  ~  . 

from  the  left  Kome  under  a  conjunction  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
which  precluded  his  return  :  a  prophecy  which  proved 
fatal  to  many  who  took  up  and  spread  abroad  the 
inference  that  the  Emperor's  end  was  near  at  hand. 
For  how  could  they  foresee  anything  so  incredible  as  3 
that  he  should  of  his  own  free  will  absent  himself  from 
his  country  for  eleven  whole  years?  Time  shewed 
how  narrow  is  the  dividing  line  between  science  and 
imposture  :  how  obscure  the  veil  which  envelopes 
truth.  That  Tiberius  would  never  return  to  Rome,  4 
was  no  random  pronouncement;3  but  the  rest  they 
knew  not—  that  he  would  live  on,  till  extreme  old  age, 
in  country  or  seaside  places  close  at  hand,  sometimes 
even  sojourning  under  the  very  walls  of  the  city. 

About  this  time  an  accident  happened  to  Tiberius  59, 
which  added  strength  to  idle  rumours,  and  gave  him 
cause    for   increased   confidence   in    the   loyalty  and 
staunchness  of  Sejanus.     They  were  dining  at  a  villa  2 
called  Spelunca,  situated  between  the  sea  at  Amynclae 
and  the  hills  of  Fundi,  inside  a  natural  cave.     All  of  a  3 
sudden,  the  mouth  of  the  cave  fell  in  ;  stones  poured 
down  and  crushed  some  of  the  attendants  ;  4  a  general 
panic  ensued,  and  the  guests  fled.     Throwing  himself  4 


Accident 


Sejanus. 


importance.     His  death  is  described  in 
vi.  26. 

1  Put  to  death  on  the  accusation  of 
Sejanus,  as  we  learn  vi.  10,  2. 

2  Suetonius  says  of    Tiberius    artes 
liberates    utriusque  generis   (i.e.   both 
in  Latin  and  Greek)  studiosissime  coluit 
(Tib.  70)  ;  that  he  wrote  Greek  poems, 
and  amused  himself  by  putting  recondite 
mythological  questions  to  the  learned 
men  about  him. 

3  Thus    Tacitus      believed      in    the 
prophecy  ;  all  that  was  wrong  was  the 


interpretation    of   it.      See    vi.    22,    5 
and  6. 

4  See  Suet.  Tib.  39  :  multisque  convi- 
varum  et  ministrorum  elisis  praeter 
spent  evasit.  The  fact  that  Suetonius 
mentions,  in  close  connection  with  one 
another,  the  three  circumstances,  (i) 
the  retreat  into  Campania  ;  (2)  the 
mistaken  expectation  that  Tiberius' 
end  was  near;  and  (3)  the  accident 
recorded  in  this  chap.  ,  just  as  Tacitus 
does,  is  an  indication  that  both  bor- 
rowed  from  a  common  source. 


A.D.  26.]  BOOK   IV.   CHAPS.   58-60.  321 

above  the  Emperor's  person  on  his  knees,  hands,  and 
face,  Sejanus  warded  off  the  falling  stones ;  and  in 
this  position  he  was  found  by  the  soldiers  who  came 
to  the  rescue.     This   incident  increased   his  import-  increased 
ance;  however  sinister  the  advice  he  gave,  he  was  oTSfan^! 
now   listened   to  with  confidence,  as  one  who   took  against"" 
r>  no  thought  for  himself.      He  affected  also  a  judicial  l 
attitude   towards   the   children   of  Germanicus,   sub- 
orning    persons     to     play     the     part     of    accusers, 
especially,  of  Nero,  who  stood  next  in  the  succession. 
The     youth     was    well     enough     behaved,    yet     he 
too  often  forgot   the  prudence   which   circumstances 
demanded  ;  while  his  freedmen  and  clients,  hurrying 
to   get  power  into  their  hands,  kept  urging  him  to 
show  a  bold  and  confident  front.     That  was  what  the 
people    wanted,   they   would   say,   and  what  the  army 
desired ;  Sejanus  would  not  dare  to  move  a  hand  against 
him,  though  he  could  now  play  alike  upon  the  long-suffering 
of  the  old  man,  and  the  supineness  of  the  young  one. 

1  In   answer    to    remarks    like    these,    though    not  Nero  sub- 
meaning  any  harm,  Nero  would  let  fall  petulant  and  humiiia- 
thoughtless  remarks,  which  were  caught  up  by  men 

set  to  watch  him,  and  reported  with  exaggerations  to 
Tiberius.  The  young  man  was  given  no  opportunity 
of  defence ;  and  he  was  subjected  to  various  dis- 

2  quieting  mortifications.    One  man  would  avoid  meeting 
him  ;  another  would  return  his  salute,  and  then  turn 
his  back  on  him  ;  others  would  begin  a  conversation 
with  him,  and  then  break  it  off,  while  any  supporters 
of  Sejanus  who  might  be  present  would  stand  by  and 

3  sneer.     And  Tiberius  would  look  grimly  on,  or  with 
a  false  smile  upon  his  face :  for  whether  the  young 
man   spoke   or  held  his   peace,  his  silence   and   his 

*  speech  alike  were  construed  into  an  offence.    Night 

Y 


322 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  2G. 


even  his 

brother 

Drusus  is 

lured  to 

league 

against 

him. 


Deaths  of 
Asinius 
Agrippa 
and  Q. 
Haterius. 


itself  brought  him  no  security ;  for  his  waking,  his 
sleeping,  his  very  sighs,  were  reported  by  his  wife l  to 
her  mother  Livia,  and  by  her  communicated  to  Sejanus. 
Sejanus  even  drew  Drusus,  the  brother  of  Nero,  into 
his  plans  ;  holding  out  to  him  hopes  of  the  first  place 
if  his  elder  brother,  already  so  much  out  of  favour, 
were  put  out  of  the  way.  For  Drusus  had  an  ugly  5 
temper;  it  was  not  only  a  longing  for  power  that 
incited  him,  and  the  hatred  usual  between  brothers, 
but  also  jealousy  at  his  mother's  partiality  for  Nero. 
Yet  even  in  encouraging  Drusus,  Sejanus  plotted  6 
how  to  sow  the  seeds  of  his  future  ruin ;  for  he 
knew  how  hot-tempered  he  was,  how  fit  a  subject 
for  treacherous  designs. 

Two  men  of  distinction  died  at  the  close  of  the  6 1 
year,  Asinius  Agrippa2  and  Quintus3  Haterius.  The 
former  came  of  an  illustrious,  rather  than  an  ancient, 
family,  of  which  his  life  was  not  unworthy  ;  the  latter 
belonged  to  a  senatorial  house,  and  had  a  high  repute 
for  eloquence  during  his  life-time.  His  reputation, 
however,  has  not  been  sustained  by  the  works  which 
he  left  behind  him.  For  his  successes  were  due  to  2 
natural  impetuosity,4  rather  than  to  careful  study ;  and 
whereas  other  orators,  by  dint  of  thought  and  labour, 
have  held  their  own  with  posterity,  the  sonorous  and 
fluent  eloquence  of  Haterius  perished  with  him. 


1  Julia,     daughter    of    Drusus    and 
Livia  (iii.    29,  4).    She  married  after- 
wards C.  Rubellius  Blandus  (vi.  27,  i). 
Tacitus    evidently  means   to  insinuate 
that  she  acted  as  an  accomplice  to  her 
mother. 

2  Asinius  Agrippa  was  cos.  A.D.  25 
(chap.  34,  i).     He  was  one  of  the  sons 
of  Asinius  Gallus  and  Vipsania. 


3  For  Q.  Haterius  see  i.  13,  4  ;  ii.  33, 
i ;  iii.  57.  3- 

4  Seneca  says  his  rapidity  was  such 
that  Augustus  used  to    say,  Haterius 
noster     sufflaminandus    est  —  '  should 
have    the    drag   put    on     him'    (Exc. 
Contr.,  B.  4,  pref.  §7). 


A.I).  '11. }  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.   60-62.  323 


A.D.  27.     CONSULS    M.  LICINIUS  CRASSUS1  FRUGI  AND 
L.  CALPURNIUS    PISO. 

1  In  this  year  a  sudden  accident  caused  a  loss  of  life  Accident 
equal   to   that   of  some   great   battle.     The   calamity 

2  began  and  ended  in  a  moment.     A  certain  Atilius,  a 
freedman,  had  put  up  an  amphitheatre  at  Fidena2  for 
the  purpose  of  a  gladiatorial  exhibition  ;  but  he  had 
neither  made  the  foundations  sure,  nor  firmly  knitted 
together  the  wooden  superstructure,  being  a  man  who 
had  undertaken  the  business,  not  from  abundance  of 
means,  or  to  win   favour  among  his  townsmen,  but 

•5  merely  for  sordid  gain.  Lovers  of  such  shows,  of 
both  sexes  and  of  every  age,  poured  in  :  debarred  from 
such  pleasures  under  Tiberius,3  they  flocked  thither  in 
all  the  greater  numbers  that  the  place  was  so  near  to 
Rome.  Hence  the  magnitude  of  the  disaster  that 
followed.  For  when  the  huge  fabric  was  densely 
packed,  it  suddenly  collapsed,  part  falling  inwards, 
part  outwards,  carrying  headlong  with  it,  or  over- 
whelming, a  vast  number  of  persons  who  were 
absorbed  in  watching  the  games,  or  were  standing 

4  around.     Those   killed  outright   at   the   first,  bad   as 

5  their  case  was,  escaped  further  suffering ;  more  pitiable 
was  the  lot  of  those  who,  with  limbs  torn  off,  were  still 
alive,  recognising  wife  or  children  by  their  faces,  so 

1  Nipp.  supposes  M.  Liciniusto  have  Rome,  and  on  which  the  modern  Castel 

been  the  younger    of    the   two    Pisos  Giubileo  stands. 

addressed  in  the  Ars  Poetica  (see  n.  on  *  Tiberius  hated  games  of  all  kinds 

chap.  45,  i),  adopted  by  a  Licinius  ;  L.  (i.  54,  3  :  76,  6) ;  so  did  Cicero,  who 

Calpurnius  to  have  been  the  son  of  the  speaks   of  the  necessity  of  having    to 

Cn.  Piso  who  was  compelled  to  change  attend  such  shows,  for  popularity's  sake, 

his  praenomen  (iii.  17,  8).  as  one  of  the  greatest  bores  of  life.    See 

*  Fidena,  more  usually  in  the  plural  ad  Fam.  vii.  i,  where  he  heartily  con- 
form Fidenae,  was  an  ancient  Sabine  gratulates  his  friend  Marius  on  his  good 
town  five  mjles  from  Rome,  on  the  Via  fortune  in  escaping  from  the  wuiriness, 
SalanaT  close  to  the  "fine  hill  on  the  the  triviality,  and  the  cruelty  of  the 
left  bank  of  the  Tiber  which  forms  great  games  exhibited  by  Pompey,  B.C. 
such  a  landmark  in  the  scenery  near  55. 


324 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  27. 


Terrible 
loss  of  life. 


Measures 
passed  by 
the  Senate. 


Relief 
afforded  by 
the  nobles. 


Fire  on  the 

Caelian 

Hill. 


long  as  daylight  lasted,  by  their  cries  and  lamentations 
when  night  came  on.     The  news  brought  many  to  the  Q 
spot,  to   find   brother,   or  neighbour,  or   parents,  to 
lament.     Even  those  whose  friends  and  relatives  had  7 
left  their   homes   for  other   reasons,  were   in  terror  - 
all  the  same;   and  so  long  as  the  victims   remained 
unidentified,  doubt  doubled  the  alarm. 

As  soon  as  the  removal  of  the  debris  began,  people  6 
rushed  upon  the  dead  bodies,  kissing  and  embracing 
them ;  and  many  a  dispute  took  place  over  some 
unrecognisable  face,  if  similarity  of  age  or  form  sug- 
gested a  mistaken  identification.  No  less  than  fifty  2 
thousand  *  people  were  either  maimed  or  crushed  to 
death  in  this  disaster.  The  Senate  passed  a  decree 
providing  that  in  future  no  one  should  be  allowed  to 
exhibit  gladiatorial  games  unless  he  were  possessed 
of  at  least  400,000  sesterces,  or  to  erect  an  amphi- 
theatre except  on  ground  of  certified  solidity.  Atilius 
was  sentenced  to  exile.  Immediately  after  the  accident,  3 
nobles  threw  open  their  houses,  providing  the  injured 
with  medical  help  and  appliances.  Plunged  in  mourn- 
ing as  it  was,  the  appearance  of  the  city  during 
those  days  recalled  the  good  old  times  of  our  fore- 
fathers, who  after  some  great  battle  would  give 
bountiful  and  kindly  aid  to  the  wounded.2 

Scarcely  had  this  calamity  passed  out  of  mind, 
when  the  city  was  visited  by  a  fire  of  extraordinary 
fury,  which  destroyed  the  whole  Caelian  quarter.3 


1  An__  absurd,  exaggeration,  which 
warns  us  not  to  trust  mucnin  such 
cases  to  numbers  as  given  by  Roman 
historians.  Suet.  Tib.  40  puts  the 
number  at  20,000.  That  a  temporary 
structure  in  a  country  village  could  have 
held  50,000  spectators,  or  even  20,000,  is 
incredible.  The  Coliseum  itself,  formerly 
believed  capable  of  holding  98,000,  is 
now  calculated  to  have  had  room  for 
only  half  that  number.  The  exaggera- 
tion of  numbers  in  Livy's  early  books  is 


notorious.  For  similar  exaggerations  of 
numbers  in  mediaeval  times,  see  Sir  J.iH. 
Ramsay's  '  Angevin  Empire, '  Pref.  p.  vi. 

2  See  Liv.  ii.  47,  12. 

3  Rome    was     continually    suffering 
from  fires,  and  the  great  temples  were 
being  continually  rebuilt  in  consequence. 
See  Fried,  i.  p.  25,  foil.     In  vi.  45,  i 
we  hear  of  a  fire  destroying  the  whole 
Aventine  ;    on     which     occasion     the 
emperor  showed  a  generosity  as  great 
as  on  the  present  occasion. 


A.D.  27.]  BOOK    IV.  CHAPS.  62-65.  325 

Men  called  it  an  ill-fated  year ;  and  the  multitude, 
with  their  usual  habit  of  finding  some  one  to  blame 
for  every  chance  occurrence,  pretended  that  the 
Emperor's  design  of  living  away  from  the  city  had 
been  entered  upon  against  the  auspices — a  feeling 
which  Tiberius  counteracted  by  distributing  money  Generosity 
among  the  sufferers,  in  proportion  to  each  man's  loss.  Emperor. 

2  For  this  he  was  thanked  in  the  Senate  by  its  most 
distinguished  members ;  he  gained  much  popular 
good-will  also  by  distributing  his  bounty  without 
respect  of  persons,  not  waiting  for  petitions  from 
relatives,  but  even  inviting  applications  from  persons 
unknown  to  himself. 

a  It  was  further  proposed  that  the  Caelian  hill 
should  in  future  be  called  '  Mons  Augustus,'  because 
a  statue  of  Tiberius  in  the  house  of  a  senator  Junius 
had  remained  uninjured  when  everything  around  it  was 

4  in  flames.     The  same  thing,  it  was  said,  had  happened 
to  Claudia  Quinta,1  whose  statue,  dedicated  by  our  fathers 
in  the  temple  of  the  Mother  of  the  Gods,  had  twice  escaped 

5  the  flames.     The  Claudii  must  be  a  holy  race,  well-pleasing 
to  the  Gods;  some  special  mark  of  sanctity  should  be 
attached  to  a  spot  in  which  they  had  shewn  to  the  Emperor 
so  signal  a  mark  of  favour. 

i         It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  here  that  Origin  of 
originally  the  Caelian  hill  was  known  by  the  name  of  'Caeiian.1 
Querquetulanus,  because  of  the  number  of  oak  trees 
which  flourished  there ;  and  that  it  was  called  Caelian 
after  Caeles  Vibenna,2  an  Etruscan  Prince,  who,  having 

1  In  the  year  B.C.  204,  the  vessel  con-          *  The  legend    here  followed  agrees 

veying  the  image  of  Cybele  from  Pessi-  with    that    given     in     the    speech    of 

nus  in  Phrygia  to  Rome  stuck  fast  on  Claudius  (Tab.  Lug.  i.  17),  who  makes 

a    shoal  in   the  Tiber.      The    matron  Servius  Tullius  (or  Mastarna)  a  follower 

Claudia  proved  her  purity  by  hauling  it  of  Caeles,  or  Caelius,  who  migrated  to 

off  by  a  rope  (Liv.  xxix.  14  ;  Ov.  Fast.  iv.  Rome,  and  called  the  hill  after  his  old 

305  foil.).    'Hence   her  statue  was  set  chief.     According  to    another  version, 

up  in  the  temple  of  the  Mater  Deum  Caeles  helped  Romulus  against  Tatius 

(Cybele).  (Varro.  L.L.  v.  46;  Dion.  Hal.  ii.  36). 


326 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  27. 


Accusation 
of  Varus 
Quintilius 
by  Domi- 
tius  Afer 
and  Dola- 
bella. 


Tiberius 
takes  up 
his  abode 
at  Capri. 


come  to  the  aid  of  Rome,  was  allowed  to  settle  on 
that  hill  by  Tarquinius  Priscus,  or  one  of  the  other 
kings ;  for  on  that  point  historians  are  at  issue.  It  is  2 
beyond  doubt,  however,  that  the  strangers  settled  there 
in  large  numbers,  occupying  also  the  level  ground 
adjacent  to  the  Forum,  whence  the  Vicus  Tuscus 
took  its  name. 

But  while  public  calamities  were  thus  alleviated  by  6£ 
the  kindness  of  the  nobles  and  the  munificence  of  the 
Emperor,  the  host  of  accusers,  increasing  in  numbers 
and  hardihood  day  by  day,  relentlessly  pursued  their 
way.     Varus  Quintilius,1  a  man  of  wealth,  and  related 
to  the  Emperor,  was  laid  hold  of  by  Domitius  Afer— 
the   same   who   had   procured   the    condemnation   of 
Claudia  Pulchra,  the  mother  of  Varus,  not  long  before. 
None  wondered  that  one  who  had  been  long  in  want, 
and  had  mis-spent  his  recently-gotten  gains,  should  be 
girding  himself  for  fresh  infamies;  but  that  Dolabella2  2 
should  have  associated  himself  with  the  prosecution 
was  deemed  a  marvel.     For  Dolabella  came  of  a  noble 
house,  and  was  himself  connected  with  Varus  ;  so  that 
he  was  compassing  the  ruin  of  his  own  caste,  and  of 
his  own  flesh  and  blood.    The  Senate,  however,  stayed  3 
proceedings  till  the  Emperor's  return — sole  mode  of 
escape  for  the  moment  from  impending  calamities. 

Tiberius,  meanwhile,  had  dedicated  the  temples 3  in  6y 
Campania;   but  though  he  had  issued  an  edict  pro- 
hibiting any  intrusion  on  his  privacy,  and  had  soldiers 


Varro  adds  that  the  Etruscan  settlers 
were  brought  down  to  the  Vicus  Tuscus, 
in  the  depression  between  the  Palatine 
and  the  Capitol,  because  their  position 
on  the  Caelian  was  too  menacing. 

1  This  Varus  Quintilius  was  a  friend 
of  the  house  of  Germanicus.  Seneca 
speaks  of  his  being  betrothed  to  one  of 
the  daughters  of  Germanicus  (Cont.  iii. 
10).  The  relationship  to  Tiberius  was 
probably  through  his  mother  (see  chap. 


52,  i).  Tacitus  mentions  the  fact  in 
order  to  heighten  the  odium  of  the 
accusation. 

2  See  n.  on  iii.  47,  4.    Other  instances 
of  Dolabella's  sycophancy  are  given  in 
that  passage,  in  iii.  69,  i ;  see  also  xi. 
22,  3  and  10.    His  relationship  to  Varus 
is  not  known  :  probably  it  was  through 
Claudia  Pulchra  (chap.  52,  i). 

3  See  chap.  57,  i. 


A.D.  27.]  BOOK    IV.  CHAPS.  65-67-  327 

posted  to  prevent  gatherings  of  townsfolk,  he  took 
such  an  aversion l  to  all  towns,  municipal  or  colonial, 
and  indeed  to  all  places  on  the  mainland,  that  he 
buried  himself  in  Capreae,  an  island  separated  from 

^~~<is~+~^<-  r 

the  promontory  of  Surrentum  by  a  strait  three  miles 
2  in  width.     The  solitude  of  the  island,  I  believe,  was  Description 
its  main  attraction  for  him ;  it  possesses  no  harbours,  island. 
and  few  places  of  refuge  even  for  small  vessels  ;  no 
.•J  one  could  land  there  unobserved  by  sentinels.    Under 
shelter  of  a  mountain  which  keeps  off  cold  winds,  the 
climate  is   mild  in   winter ;   in   summer,  its   western 
exposure,  with  open  sea  all  round,  makes  it  a  charming 
residence.2     In  front  lies  what  was  the  most  beautiful 
of  all  bays,  before  the  burning  of  Mount  Vesuvius 

4  changed  the  aspect  of  the  scene.    Tradition  has  it  that 
those  parts  were  occupied  by  Greeks,  Capreae  being 

5  inhabited  by  the  Teleboi.      It  was  here  that  Tiberius 
now  took  up  his  abode,  establishing  himself  in  twelve 
spacious   villas,8  each  with  a   name   of  its  own,  and 
abandoning  himself  to  a  life  of  secret  debauch  and 
vicious   leisure4  as  entirely  as   he   had  hitherto   de- 
voted  himself  to  public   affairs.      His   temper5   was 
as  suspicious  as  ever,  ready  to  believe  anything :    a 
temper  which  Sejanus  used  to  encourage  even  before 

1  These  words  imply  a  morbid  shrink-  *  After  his  wont,  Tacitus  assumes  as 

ing  from    public    view    which     would  a  fact  a  charge  which  has  been  made 

account    for    the  retirement    to  Capri  more  or  less  conjecturally  before  (chap, 

without  calling  for  the  grosser  insinua-  57,  2  and  i.  4,  4). 

tions  made  in  chap.  57,  3.  •  The  use  of  quippe,  introduced   at 

-  «  Tacitus'  description  of   the  island  the  beginning  of  this  sentence,  betrays 

is  excellent.     It  lies  E.  and  W.  ;  it  is  animus  on  the  part  of  Tacitus.     What 

cut  in  two  by  a  depression  in  the  middle,  follows  (suspicionum  et  credendi  temeri- 

and  rises  into  high  bluffs  at  either  end.  fas)  in  no  way  justifies  the  preceding 

The  higher  of  the  two  is  at  the  E.  end,  charges  of  occultiores  luxus  and  malum 

towards  Sorrento :    here    are    the    so-  otium.     Nor  can  the  word,  as   Furn. 

called  remains  of  the  villa  of  Tiberius.  suggests,   apply  only  to   malum :  the 

8  One  was  called    Villa  /avis  (Suet.  exercise  of  a  suspicious  vindictive  spirit 

65).     Tiberius  had  no  taste  for  extrava-  would  be  inconsistent  with  otium  of  any 

gant  building  (vi.  45,  2) ;  and  the  mean-  kind,  good  or  bad.    The  known  cruelty 

ing  probably  is  that  he  united  in  some  of  Tiberius  would  seem  to  be  enough  to 

way  and    adapted   to  his    use    twelve  make  Tacitus  believe  him  guilty  of  all 

previously  existing  villas.  other  vices. 


328 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  27. 


he  left  Rome,  and  on  which  he   now  worked   more 
Agrippina    sedulously  than  ever.     He  now  made  no  secret1  of 

and  Nero          .  .  ...  .  _ ,  ... 

watched,  his  designs  against  Agrippina  and  Nero ;  soldiers  were  6 
put  over  them  to  keep  a  regular  record  of  their  cor- 
respondence, of  their  visitors,  of  everything,  open 
or  secret,  that  they  did ;  persons  were  even  set  on  to 
advise  them  to  fly  for  refuge  to  the  German  armies, 
or  to  lay  hold  of  the  statue  of  Augustus 2  in  the  Forum 
at  the  most  crowded  hour  of  the  day,  and  call  the 
people  and  Senate  to  their  aid.  Such  counsels  they 
treated  with  contempt ;  but  they  were  charged  with 
entertaining  them  none  the  less. 


Accusation 
of  Titius 
Sabinus. 


A.D.  28.    CONSULS  APP.  JUNIUS  SILANUS 
SILIUS  NERVA. 


AND  P. 


This  year  had  a  bad  beginning,  Titius  Sabinus,4  an  68 
illustrious  Roman  knight,  being  dragged  off  to  prison 
for  his  devotion  to  Germanicus.     For  he  had  omitted 
no  mark  of  respect  towards  his  widow  and  children, 
visiting  them  in  their  home,  and  attending  upon  them 
in  public :  the   one  still  faithful  of  all   their  former 
following.      Having  thus  earned  the  hatred  of  their 
enemies,  no  less  than  the  respect  of  all  honest  men,  he 
was  set  upon  by  four  men  of  praetorian  rank — Latinius  2 
Latiaris,   Porcius  Cato,  Petitius   Rufus,  and   Marcus^ 
Opsius.     All  four  were  ambitious  of  the  Consulship  \tf 


1  In  contrast  to  the  judicial  attitude 
which  he  had  previously  affected  (chap. 
59.  5)- 

2  See  n.  on  ih.  36,  i. 

3  This  Appius  Junius  Silanus  is  pro- 
bably the  son  who  was  allowed  to  keep 
his  maternal  property  when  his  father, 
C.  Silanus,  was  condemned  (iii.  68,  3). 
He  was  himself  accused,  A.D.  32   (vi. 
9,  5) ;  he  escaped  then,  but  was  put  to 
death  under  Claudius  (xi.  29,  i). 


4  Sabinus  was  first  accused  as  a  friend 
of  Germanicus,  A.D.  24  (chap.  18,  i); 
but  his  trial  was  put  off  for  a  more  con- 
venient season  (chap.    19,    i).     Furn. 
suggests  that  the  incidents  about  to  be 
related  may  have  been  spread  over  the 
four  years. 

5  The  motive  here  assigned  gives  the 
key  to  many  of  the  prosecutions  of  this 
time.      Apart  from  any  special   desire 
to   curry    favour    with  Sejanus,   every 


A.D.  28.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.  67-69.  329 

there  was  no  access  to  that  office  save  through 
Sejanus  :  and  the  good-will  of  Sejanus  was  only  to  be 

3  gained  by  crime.     It  was  arranged  among  them  that  A  trap  is 
Latiaris,   who   had    some    slight    acquaintance    with  him.°r 
Sabinus,   should   prepare   a  trap   for  him ;    that  the 
others  should  be  present  as  witnesses  ;   whereupon 

4  a   prosecution   should   be   undertaken.      Accordingly 
>,         Latiaris,  after  letting  fall  some  casual  observations, 

proceeded  to  commend  Sabinus  for  his  loyalty  in  not 
deserting  the  family  in  its  misfortunes,  as  others  had 
done,  after  having  been  their  friend  in  prosperity; 
speaking  in  high  terms  of  Germanicus,  with  compas- 

5  sion  of  Agrippina.     And  when    Sabinus— for    men's 
hearts  are  soft  in  time  of  trouble— burst  into  tears 
and  joined  in  his  lamentations,  Latiaris  launched  out 
openly    against    Sejanus,    denouncing    his    cruelty, 

o  his  arrogance  and  ambition,  and  not  sparing  Tiberius 
himself  in  his  vituperation.  Such  conversations, 
dealing  as  they  did  with  forbidden  topics,  created  the 
semblance  of  a  close  friendship  between  the  two ; 

7  Sabinus  would  now  seek  out  Latiaris ;  he  became  a 
constant  visitor  in  his  house,  and  confided  to  him  all 
his  wrongs,  as  to  a  most  trusty  friend. 
D.   i         The  confederates  named  above  then  consulted  how  and  carried 

out  by  con- 

this  sort  of  talk  could  be  brought  within  the  hearing  of  federates. 

2  several  persons.     The  place  of  meeting  must  have  an 
appearance  of  secrecy :  if  the  listeners  placed  them- 
selves behind  doors,  there  would  be  the  risk  of  their 
being  seen  or   heard,  or  of  some   chance   suspicion 

3  being  aroused.     Choosing  therefore  a  hiding-place  as 


ex-praetor  was  burning  to  gain  the  con- 
sulship ;  as  in  days  of  yore,  the  neces- 
sary distinction  could  only  be  gained  by 
oratory  ;  and  the  only  field  for  oratory, 
as  well  as  the  only  avenue  to  imperial 
favour,  lay  throug'h  conducting  prose- 
cutions in  the  law  courts.  The  detest- 


sable  story  which  follows  shows  how 
devoid  even  the  noblest  Romans  seem 
to  have  been  of  the  principle  of  personal 
honour  as  we  understand  it.  See  the 
case  of  Hortalus,  ii.  37  and  38,  and  nn. 
there. 


330 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  28. 


Terror  in 
Rome. 


Sabinus  is 
con- 
demned. 


dirty  as  the  trick  itself  was  detestable,  they  hid  them- 
selves between  the  roof  and  ceiling,  and  applied  their 
ears  to  the  chinks  and  crevices.  This  done,  Latiaris  4 
finds  Sabinus  in  the  street ;  hurries  him  off  to  his 
house,  and  to  his  own  room,  as  if  he  had  some  fresh 
news  to  tell ;  and  there  expatiates  on  the  endless  topic 
of  wrongs  past  and  present,  piling  on  the  agony  with 
horrors  yet  to  come.  Sabinus  takes  up  the  tale,  and 
at  still  greater  length;  for  when  once  a  grievance 
finds  a  vent,  there  is  no  keeping  the  torrent  back. 

The  conspirators  delayed  no  longer.     They  wrote  5 
a  letter  to  Tiberius,  telling  the  whole  story  of  the 
stratagem,  and  recording  their  own  infamy.     Never  6 
was  Rome  so  agitated,  so  terror-stricken.     Men  kept 
their  counsel  even  from  their  nearest ;  they  avoided 
meeting,  or  speaking  to,  their  neighbours  ;  they  turned 
from  the  ear  alike  of  acquaintance  and  of  stranger : 
they  looked  round  suspiciously  on  dumb  and  lifeless 
things,  on  the  very  roofs  and  walls  of  houses. 

In  his  message  of  the   ist  of  January,1  after  the  70 
customary  good  wishes  for  the  opening  year,  Tiberius 
turned  upon  Sabinus.     He  accused  him  of  tampering 
with  some  of  his  own  freedmen,  and  of  plotting  against 
his  life;    and   in   no   equivocal   terms   demanded  his 
punishment.2    Sabinus  was  condemned  forthwith,  and  2 
hurried   off   to    execution,   muffled    in    a  cloak,   and 
shouting  as  loudly  as   a  tight  grip  upon  his  throat 
would    permit : — See    how    the   New    Year  comes  in  ! 
Behold  the  victims  of  Sejanus  !    Wherever  his  eye  fell,  3 
or  his  words  carried,  men  fled  and  left  a  solitude :  the 


1  The  first  of  January  was  a  day  of 
joy  and  congratulation,  when  vows  were 
offered  up  for  the  safety  of  the  emperor 
and  the  State. 

2  The  account  of  Dio    (Iviii.    i,  3), 
compared  with  Pliny  (H.  N.  viii.  40, 
61),    would    suggest    that    the    charge 


against  Sabinus  was  more  serious  than 
appears  from  Tacitus ;  and  that  evi- 
dence was  offered  of  a  conspiracy,  in 
which  the  name  of  Nero  was  mixed 
up.  This  may  be  an  anticipation  of 
the  charge  against  Nero  in  A.D.  29 
(v.  3.  2). 


A.D.  28.]  BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.  69-71.  331 

4  streets,  the   fora,   were   deserted.     Some  came  back 
again  to  show  themselves :  afraid  because  they  had 
appeared  to  be  afraid. 

5  What  day  would  be  free  from  executions,  men  asked, 
if  in   the   hour  of  prayer  and  sacrifice — at  the  moment 
when  men  are  wont  to  abstain  even  from  ivords  of  ill  omen 
— the  halter  and  the  hangman  were  to  be  brought  upon  the 

G  scene  ?  It  ivas  not  without  intent  that  Tiberius  had  tints 
courted  public  odium  ;  he  had  done  it  deliberately  and  of 
set  purpose,  to  let  people  understand  that  nothing  was  to 
prevent  ncivly  elected  magistrates  from  opening  the  doors 
of  prisons  as  freely  as  those  of  shrines  and  altars. 

7         A  letter  followed  from  the  Emperor,  thanking  the  Thanks 
Senate  for  having  punished  a  public  enemy.    He  added  Emperor, 
that  he  trembled  for  his  life;  that  he  apprehended  plots 
among  his  enemies  ;  and  though  he  mentioned  no  name, 
none  doubted  that  he  referred  to  Nero  and  Agrippina. 

1  Had  it  not  been  my  plan  to  record  every  incident 
in   its   own  year,  I    should  have  liked  to  anticipate 
events,  and  to  relate  at  once  how  Latinius  *  and  Opsius, 
and  the  other  authors  of  this  infamous  plot,  came  to 
their  end.     Some  of  them  perished  after  Gaius  Caesar 
came   to   power ;    some  even  in   the   lifetime   of  Ti- 
berius.    For  though  Tiberius  would  not  permit  any 
one  else  to  subvert  the  instruments  of  his  crimes,  he 
frequently  grew  tired  of  them  himself ;    when    new 
agents  offered  themselves  for  the  work,  and  the  old 

2  became  burdensome,  he  would  throw  them  over.     But 
how   these  and   other  miscreants  were   punished,  I 
shall  relate  in  due  time. 

3  Then  Asinius  Gallus,  though  Agrippina  was  the  officious- 
aunt2  of  his  own  children,  proposed  that  the  Emperor  Asinius 

Gallus. 

1  The  accusation  of   Latinius  is  re-  *  Agrippina  was  half-sister  to  Vip- 

corded    vi.   4,    I.      When   the  others       sania,  the  divorced   wife  of  Tiberius, 
met  their  end  is  unknown.  both  being  daughters  of  Agrippa  by 


332 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  28. 


Death  of 
the 

younger 
Julia. 


should  be  asked  to  communicate  his  fears  to  the 
Senate,  and  allow  them  to  be  removed.  Now  there  4 
was  no  one  of  what  Tiberius  deemed  his  virtues 
which  he  prized  so  highly  as  his  dissimulation ;  he 
took  it  very  ill  therefore  that  anything  should  be  dis- 
closed which  he  desired  to  keep  concealed.  Sejanus,  5 
however,  smoothed  him  down ;  not  from  love  of 
Asinius,  but  because  he  desired  to  wait  upon  the 
Emperor's  hesitations  :  well  knowing  that,  though  he 
was  slow  to  resolve,  yet,  when  once  he  broke  out, 
the  cruel  deed  would  follow  quickly  on  the  angry 
word.1 

About    this    time    Julia,2   the    granddaughter    of  6 
Augustus,  died.     On  her  conviction  for  adultery,  she 
had   been   banished    by   Augustus   to   the    island   of 
Trimerum,  off  the  coast  of  Apulia.     There  she  had  7 
lived  for  twenty  years  in  exile,  supported  by  Augusta ; 3 
who,  after  secretly  bringing   about   the   ruin  of  her 
step-children  when  in  prosperity,  made  a  display  of 
her  compassion  to  them  in  adversity.4 


different  wives.  The  children,  there- 
fore, of  Asinius  Gallus,  who  married 
Vipsania  after  her  divorce  (i.  12,  6), 
were  the  nephews  and  nieces  of  Agrip- 
pina. 

1  i.e.  the  longer  the  resentment  of 
Tiberius  could  be  kept  smouldering,  the 
more  rapid  and  terrible  would  be  the 
outburst  when  it  came. 

2  This  was  the  younger  Julia,   full 
sister  of  Agrippina.     Daughter  of  the 
elder  Julia  and  Agrippa,  she  was  thus 
grand-daughter  of  Augustus.     She  was 
married  to  L.  Aemilius  Paulus,  one  of 
the  two  sons  of  Cornelia,  so  touchingly 
introduced  by  Propertius  in  his  famous 
elegy  on  that  noble  matron  (iv.  n,  63, 
64) ;  their  son  M.  Aemilius  Lepidus,  as 
profligate  as  his  mother,  married  Dru- 
silla,  daughter  of  Germanicus  ;  Caligula 
at  one  time  designed  him  as  his  suc- 
cessor (Dio  lix.  22,  6),  but  afterwards 
put  him   to  death.     Julia  herself  was 
banished  by  Augustus  to  the  island  of 
Tremerus,    off  Apulia,   in  A.D.    9,  on 
account  of  her  scandalous    conduct : 


some  have  supposed  that  it  was  to  an 
intrigue  with  her  that  Ovid  owed  his 
banishment. 

3  This  is  the  first  occasion  on  which 
Tacitus  permits  himself  to  say  n  kindly 
word   of   Livia.      Hitherto   he  has   in- 
sinuated  her   guiltiness    in   regard    to 
every    tragedy    in    the    house    of   the 
Caesars,  and  stigmatised  her  as  gravis 
in  rem  publicam  mater,  gravis  domui 
Caesarum  noverca  (i.  10,  4).     But  now 
that  the  cruelty  of  Tiberius  has  to  be 
painted  in  darker  colours,  she  appears 
as  humane  to  her  disgraced  grandchild  ; 
and  in  v.  3,  i  her  death  is  described 
as  removing  the  sole  protection  to  the 
younger  members  of  the  family  :  nam 
incolumi  A  ugusta  erat  adhucperfugium. 

4  A  drop  of  poison  let  fall  to  save 
the  historian's  consistency,  and  to  rob 
Livia' s  one  virtue  of  its  merit.    There  is 
no    other   evidence  that  she   made   a 
parade  of  her  misericordia  erga  afflictos. 
The  facts  might  perhaps  as  truthfully 
be    put    thus :     '  She  was  accused  of 
scheming    for  the  ruin  of   her    step- 


A.D.  28.] 


BOOK   IV.   CHAPS.   71-72- 


333 


1  In  the  same  year  the  Frisii,1  a  people  beyond  the  Revolt  of 
Rhine,  took  up  arms ;   more  in  consequence  of  the 
rapacity  of  our  magistrates  than  from  impatience  of 

2  our  rule.    Having  regard  to  their  poverty,  Drusus  had 
imposed  on  them  a  moderate  tribute,  requiring  only  a 
supply  of  ox-hides 2  for  the  use  of  the  army.     No  rule, 
however,  had  been  laid  down  as  to  the  size  or  quality 
of  these  hides  until  the  governorship3  of  Olennius,  a 
centurion4  of  the  first  rank;  he  prescribed  buffalo-hides5 
as  the  standard  according  to  which  the  tribute  was  to  be 

3  delivered.6  Such  a  demand  would  have  been  hard  on  any 
people,  but  was  particularly  hard  upon  the  Germans  ; 


children  during  the  days  of  their  pros- 
perity ;  but  none  told  of  her  kindly 
compassion  to  them  after  their  fall.' 

1  This  people  occupied  the  low  flat 
lands  between  the  mouth  of  the  Rhine 
and  the  Ems,  surrounding  the  great 
Zuyder  Zee ;  corresponding  more  or  less 
to  the  modern  Netherlands  (Tac.  Germ. 
34).  Though  the  frontier  of  the  empire 
in  this  quarter  was  now  being  with- 
drawn gradually  to  its  permanent  limit 
— the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine— with 
nothing  but  a  few  military  outposts  on 
the  right  bank,  the  Frisii  still  remained 
subject  to  Rome.  Their  descendants 
took  part  in  the  great  invasion  of 
England  by  the  Saxons  and  the  Angles 
in  the  5th  century. 

*  Such  imposts  in  kind  were  at  this 
time  only  levied  in  outlying  districts. 
Thus  Gyrene  paid  a  contribution  in 
silphium,  the  Sanni  of  Pontus  in  wax. 

8  The  Frisii  would  appear  to  have 
been  in  a  semi-independent  position 
since  the  time  of  Drusus,  B.C.  12  (Dio, 
liv.  32,  2) ;  the  only  signs  of  subjection 
being  that  they  had  to  submit  to  the 
military  government  of  a  praefectus 
under  the  governor  of  the  adjoining 
province,  and  had  to  furnish  the  tribute 
of  hides.  Their  territory  was  beyond 
the  proper  Roman  frontier ;  and  after 
their  successful  revolt  in  this  year  they 
remained  independent  until  reduced  by 
Corbulo  in  A.D.  47  (xi.  19,  2).  Only 
one  Roman  inscription  has  been  dis- 
covered in  this  part  of  Holland  :  see 
Rushforth,  p.  109. 

4  It  thus  appears  that  the  governor- 
ship of  a  subordinate  province  was  one 


of  the  appointments  to  which  a  cenhirio 
primi  pili  might  aspire  :  see  Furn. , 
Intr.  pp.  105  and  108.  To  such  a 
governor  the  epigram  of  Tacitus,  i.  20, 
2  would  apply :  eo  iminitior  quia 
ioleraverat. 

5  Probably  the  aurochs,  the  wild  ox 
of  Germany,  now  extinct.  Caesar 
speaks  of  this  animal  as  being  almost 
of  the  size  of  an  elephant,  and  untame- 
able.  He  says  it  afforded  to  the 
Germans  of  the  Hercynian  forest  their 
principal  means  of  displaying  prowess 
in  hunting  (B.G.  vi.  98^.  Some  have 
identified  it  with  the  bison,  and  some 
with  the  buffalo.  See  Virg.  Geo.  ii. 
374;  iii.  532. 

8  Improved  as  was  the  government 
of  the  provinces  under  the  uniform 
system  of  administration  introduced  by 
Augustus,  and  especially  in  the  pro- 
vinces directly  governed  by  the  emperor, 
this  chapter  shows  to  what  cruel  exac- 
tions the  inhabitants  might  still  be 
subject  at  the  hands  of  governors, 
and  still  more  of  subordinate  officers, 
when  playing  into  the  hands  of  the 
negotiators  and  publicani.  Compare 
the  account  of  the  rising  in  Gaul  under 
Florus  and  Sacrovir,  iii.  40-47.  Still 
more  analogous  to  the  present  case  is 
the  rising  in  Britain  in  A.D.  79.  Tacitus 
tells  how  Jhe  natives  were  there  ordered 
to  carry  the  corn  which  they  had  to 
provide  for  the  support  of  the  legions 
to  distant  and  inaccessible  places,  so  as 
to  raise  artificially  its  price,  or  the 
sums  to  be  paid  in  lieu  of  it,  while  all 
the  time  full  granaries  on  the  spot 
were  closed  to  them  (Agr.  19,  4  and  5). 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  28. 

for  though  their  forests  produce  wild  animals   of  a 
great  size,  their  domestic  cattle  are  small.     So  they  4 
had  first   to    give  up    their  oxen,  next    their    lands, 
and  lastly,  the  persons  of   their  wives    and  children 
to  be  sold  as  slaves.1     Indignation  and  remonstrance  5 
followed ;   and  when  these  proved  of  no  avail,  they 
sought  relief  in  arms.     They  seized  and  gibbeted  the 
soldiers  engaged  in  collecting  the  tribute ;    Olennius  6 
himself  only  escaped  their  fury  by  taking  refuge  in  a 
fort  called  Flevum,2  in  which  was  stationed  a  consider- 
able force  of  legionaries  and  allies,  for  the  protection 
of  the  northern  sea-board. 

Disaster  to  When  this  news  reached  Lucius  Apronius,3  the  73- 
arms.0"  1  Pro-praetor  of  Lower  Germany,  he  called  up  the 
veteran  detachments  from  the  Upper  Province,  with  a 
picked  body  of  auxiliary  horse  and  foot,  and,  conveying 
both  forces  down  the  Rhine,  threw  them  upon  the 
Frisii.  By  this  time  the  siege  of  Fort  Flevum  had 
been  raised,  and  the  rebels  had  retired  to  defend  their 
own  homes.  Apronius  accordingly  laid  down  cause-  2 
ways  and  bridges  across  the  neighbouring  estuaries, 
strong  enough  for  the  passage  of  a  regular  army. 
Meantime,  having  found  a  ford,  he  ordered  the  cavalry 
of  the  Canninefates,4  with  all  the  German  foot  serving 

1  Thus  cruelly  and  disastrously  did  establishing  this  principle  of  law  (Vol. 

Rome  still  preserve  in  the  provinces  the  v.  p.  401),  but  does  not  give  his  authority, 

old  principle  of  law  which  first  raised  See  n.  on  vi.  16. 

the  plebeians  against  the  patricians —  2  The  name   also    of   a    lake,   now 

that  a  debtor  borrowed  ultimately  on  forming  part  of  the  Zuyder  Zee,  and  of 

the  security  of   his  person.     Cp.    St.  an  island  at  the  mouth  of  the  lake  (Mela, 

Matt,  xviii.  25  :  '  But  forasmuch  as  he  iii.  2,  8).     The  name  is  still  preserved 

had  not  to  pay,  his  lord  commanded  in  the  modern  Vlieland  and  Vliestrom. 

him    to    be    sold,   and    his    wife    and  3  We  have  already  heard  of  Apronius 

children,  and  all  that  he  had,  and  pay-  as  legatus  of  Germanicus  (i.  56,  i),  and 

ment  to  be  made.'     This  harsh  law  as  proconsul  in  Africa  in  A. D.  20,  where 

was  abolished  in  Rome,  according  to  he  succeeded  Camillus  (iii.  21,  i).     In 

Livy  (viii.  28),  by  the  Lex  Poetelia,  in  i.  31,  2  we  find  A.  Caecina  Severus  as 

B.C.   326:    ut  pecuniae  creditae   bona  legatus  of  Lower  Germany,   A.D.   14; 

creditoris,  non  corpus  obnoxium  esset.  in  A.D.  21,  Caecina  had  been  succeeded 

Ita  nexi  soluti,  cautumque  in  posterum  by  C.  Visellius  Varro  (iii.  41,  i) ;  and 

ne  necterentur.     Mommsen  would  fain  Apronius  probably  succeeded  Caecina. 

attribute  to  Caesar  the  credit  of  finally  4  This  people  inhabited  the  '  insula ' 


A.I).  28.]  BOOK    IV.    CHAPS.   72-74.  335 

in  our  ranks,  to  go  round  and  take  the  enemy  in  the 
rear.  By  the  time  these  arrived,  the  enemy,  in  regular 
formation,  were  driving  back  the  allied  horse,  together 
with  the  legionary  cavalry  which  had  been  sent  up  in 

3  support.     First  three  light  cohorts  of  infantry,  then 
two  more,  and  after  an  interval,  the   allied   cavalry, 
were  advanced  to  the  attack  :  a  sufficient  force  if  it  had 
come   on   all   at  once.     But  advancing,  as   it   did,   in 
detachments,    it   failed    to   rally   the  men   who   were 
giving  way,  and  was  itself  borne  back  by  the  panic  of 

4  the  flying  troops.     Apronius  now  entrusted  the  rest 
of  the  auxiliaries  to  Cethegus  Labeo,  Legate l  of  the  5th 
legion  ;  but  he  too  found  himself  in  difficulties.     His 
men  wavered ;  and  he  had  to  send  back   a  message 
asking  for  the  whole  strength   of  the  legions.     The 

5  men  of  the  5th  sprang  forward  before  the  rest ;  after  a 
stout  fight  they  drove  back  the  enemy,  and  rescued 
our  cavalry  and  cohorts,  both  having  suffered  heavily. 

6  The  Roman  General  made  no  attempt  to  avenge  his 
losses ;  he  did  not  even  bury  his  dead,  though  there 
were  many  Tribunes,  Prefects,  and  centurions  of  high 

7  standing  among  the  slain.     Soon  afterwards,  deserters 
brought  word  that  a  body  of  nine  hundred  Romans, 
after  keeping  up  the  fight  till  next  day,  had  been  cut 
to   pieces   in   a  wood   called   Baduhenna;2  and  that 
another  body  of  four  hundred,  who  had  occupied  the 
house  of  a  man  called  Cruptorix.  formerly  a  soldier  in 
our  pay,   fearing  treachery,   had    perished   by   each 
others'  hands. 

i        This  campaign  gave  the  Frisii  a  great  name  among 
the   Germans.8    Tiberius   made   no    mention   of   the  indifference 

of  the 

formed    between  two  mouths    of   the  the    commander    of   a    legion,   see  i.    v 

Rhine.     We  hear  of  their  leader  Gan-  44,  3. 

nascus  serving  in  the  auxiliary  forces  *  Apparently  the  name  of  a  goddess. 

(xi.  18,  i).  *  The  defeat  of  Apronius  is  said  by 

1  On  legatus  legionis  as  the  title  of  Tacitus  to  have  remained  unrepaired 


336  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  28. 

disaster;   not  wishing  to   entrust   any  one  with   the 
prosecution   of  the   war.     As   for  the   Senate,   they  2 
cared  nothing  for  loss  of  honour  upon  distant  frontiers. 
Their  thoughts  were  taken  up  by  the  reign  of  terror 
at  home ;  and  from  that  they  sought  relief  in  syco- 
phancy.    Thus,  when  assembled    to   consider    some  3 
business   of  a   different   kind,   they  voted   altars    to 
Friendship  and  to  Clemency,  with  statues  to  Tiberius 
and  Sejanus  on  either  side ;  entreating  earnestly  that 
they  would  deign  to  allow  themselves  to  be  waited  on. 
Abasement         Yet  neither  of  them  came   to  Rome,  or  near  it ;  4 
ofeveryans   they  thought  it  enough  to  leave  the  island,  and   to 
before5        show  themselves  on  the  adjacent  coast  of  Campania. 
Sejanus.      Thither  flocked  Senators,  knights,  and  crowds  of  the  5 
commoner  sort,  all  looking  anxiously  to  Sejanus,  who 
was   difficult   of  access,  and   could   only  be  reached 
by  means  of  intrigue,  or  by  taking  part  in  his  designs. 
His  arrogance  increased  openly  at  the  sight  of  this  6 
shameful  and  undisguised  servility.     In  Rome,  hurry-  7 
ing  crowds  are  a  common  spectacle  ;  no  one  knows,  in 
so  vast  a  city,  on  what  errand  each  man  is  bent.     But 
here,  men  of  all  ranks,  without  distinction,  were  to  be 
seen  day  and  night,  lying  out  in  the  fields,  or  along 
the  shore  ;  courting  the  favour,  or  having  to  submit  to 
the  insolence,  of  door-keepers.     At  last,  even  that  was 
denied  them ;  and  those  to  whom  he  had  not  deigned 
to  throw  a  word  or  a  glance,  went   back  to  Rome 
in    terror  :    others    returned    triumphant.      Ill-fated 
triumph !     How  tragic  was  to   be  the   issue  of  that 
unhallowed  friendship  I'1 7 

until   Corbulo   brought    the    Frisii  to  Maiores  and  Minores  of  Tacitus  (Germ, 

terms   in  A.D.  47  (xi.   19,  2).      Yet   in  34,  i). 

A.D.    58   they  again    appear  as    inde-  1  This  passage  has  a  truly  tragic  ring 

pendent  (xiii.   54,  2).     Mommsen   sug-  about  it,  and  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the 

gests   that    there    may    have    been    a  pictorial  power  of  Tacitus.     Nowhere 

distinction    between    the   Eastern  and  does  he  arrange  more    strikingly  his 

Western  Frisii,    corresponding  to  the  lights  and  shades,   nowhere  does    he 


A.D.  28.] 


BOOK    IV.   CHAPS.  74-75- 


337 


Domilius- 


1  Tiberius  had  betrothed  his  grand-daughter  Agrip-  Marriage 
pina,1    the    daughter     of    Germanicus,     to     Cnaeus 
Domitius;2  and  he  now  ordered  the  marriage  to  be 

2  celebrated  in   Rome.     He  had  chosen  Domitius  not 
only  for  the  antiquity  of  his  family,  but  also  because 
of  his   relationship  to  the  Caesars  ;    for   as   Octavia 
was  his  grandmother,  he  could  claim  Augustus  as  his 
great-uncle.3 


vbring  out  so  forcibly  his  favourite 
/doctrine  of  the  irony  of  Fate.  The 
Nchapter  forms  the  climax  of  what  may 
(be  called  the  Epic  of  Sejanus  :  the  story 
of  the  rise  and  crimes  of  the  hated 
favourite,  which  are  the  main  theme 
of  Book  IV.  We  here  see  the  insolent 
upstart  at  the  zenith  of  his  power.  The 
altar  voted  by  the  senate  is  to  have  the 
statues  of  Tiberius  and  Sejanus  on 
either  side ;  the  plurals  facerent  and 
digressi  sunt  couple  the  emperor  and 
his  minister  as  partners  in  imperial 
authority,  as  conjoint  dispensers  of 
imperial  favour.  The  self-abasement  of 
Romans  of  every  rank  before  the  all- 
powerful  Sejanus  marks  the  apex  of  his 
fortunes  ;  as  the  despairing  or  trium- 
phant courtiers  troop  back  to  Rome, 
we  see  the  grim  spectre  of  Nemesis 
behind,  and  are  prepared  for  the  tragic 
catastrophe  which  was  to  be  the 
crowning  topic  of  Book  V. 

1  Agrippina  was  the  youngest  but  two 
of  the  children  of  Germanicus.  She 
was  barely  thirteen  years  of  age  at  this 
time,  having  been  born  when  her  father 
was  in  his  German  command,  on  the 
i6th  Nov.,  A.D.  15  (see  Mommsen, 
Hermes  XITT.  ,pp.  245-265)^11  Oppidum 
Ubiorum.  That  town  was  called  Colonia 
Agrippinensis  in  her  honour  ;  whence 
comes  the  modern  name  Cologne. 

*  Cn.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus,  who 
became  by  this  marriage  the  father  of 
the  emperor  Nero,  born  at  Antium  in 


A.D.  39,  was  the  son  of  the  Lucius 
Domitius  whose  death  is  mentioned  in 
chap.  44,  i,  and  Antonia  minor,  the 
daughter  of  Antony  and  Octavia.  For 
the  career  of  the  father  and  grandfather, 
see  n.  on  44,  i.  Suetonius  describes 
Gnaeus  himself  as  omni  parte  vitac 
detestabilis ;  and  ascribes  to  him  in- 
famous acts  of  cruelty,  fraud,  and  de- 
bauchery (Nero  5).  He  was  cos.  A.D. 
32  (vi.  i,  i),  and  died  during  Nero's 
infancy. 

8  Note  the  rhetorical  skill  with  which 
Tacitus  brings  the  book  to  a  close. 
Just  as  Horace,  when  he  works  up  to  an 
unusually  high  pitch  of  feeling,  loves  to 
end  an  Ode  in  a  lower  and  gentler  key 
(Od.  i.  2,  51-2;  ii.  i,  37-40;  and  iii. 
3,  69-72),  so  Tacitus  closes  Book  IV., 
after  the  passion  of  chap.  74,  with  the 
record  "of  a  quiet  and  happy  domestic 
event — though  one  pregnant  with  future 
results.  Sometimes  he  finishes  with  an 
epigram  ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  six 
books,  which  we  may  call  his  Epic  on 
Tiberius,  he  pours  the  whole  vials  of 
his  wrath  into  the  concluding  words. 
See  the  closing  sentences  of  Books  I., 
II.,  III.  The  rhetorical  and  epigram- 
matic phrases  with  which  Tacitus  so 
frequently  closes  a  chapter  or  a  topic 
are  doubtless  due  to  the  practice  of 
recitation.  We  cannot  doubt  that  it 
was  in  the  form  of  recitation  to  sym- 
pathetic audiences  that  the  works  of 
Tacitus  were  first  given  to  the  world. 


BOOK  V.  A  FRAGMENT. 


Death  of 

Livia 

Augusta. 

Her  career 

and 

character. 


A.D.   29.    CONSULS   C.   FUFIUS   GEMINUS  AND 
L,  RUBELLIUS   GEMINUS. 

IN   this  year,  the  Consuls  of  which  were  both  sur-   I 
named  Geminus,  Julia  Augusta  died,  in  extreme  old 
age.1  A  member  of  the  Claudian  house  by  birth,  of  the 
Livian  and  the  Julian  by  adoption,  she  was  in  the  first 
rank  of  the  nobility.2    Her  first  husband,  the  father  2 
of  her  children,  was  Tiberius  Nero.8     Having  fled  the 
country  at  the  time  of  the  Perusian  War,  he  returned  to 
Rome  when  peace  was  concluded  between   Sextus 
Pompeius  and  the  Triumvirs.     Enamoured  of  Livia's  3 
beauty,  Caesar  Augustus  forced  her  husband  to  give 
her  up  to  him,  with  or  without  her  consent ;  and  that 
in  such  haste,  that  though  she  was  with  child  at  the 

1  Dio  gives  her  age    as    dgjhty^ix 
(Iviii.  2,  i);  and,  as  Tiberius  was  oorn 
in  B.C.  42,  she  cannot  have  been  less. 
The  true  reading  in  Plin.  H.N.  (xiv.  6, 
8,  60)  is  no  doubt  Ixxxvi.,  not  Ixxxii.,  as 
in  the  MSS. 

2  By  birth,  Livia  Brasilia  belonged 
to  the  noble  plebeian  gens  of  the  Livii. 
Her  father,  Livius  Drusus  Claudianus, 
was  by  birth,  as  his  name  implies,  a 
member  of  the  patrician  gens  Claudia, 
and    was    adopted    into    the    Livian 
house,  probably  by  the  famous  aristo- 
cratic democrat  M.  Livius  Drusus  (nee 
minor  largitor  nomine  senatus  Drusus, 
iii.  27,  3),  who  was  murdered  by  the 
senatorial  party  during  his  tribunate, 
B.C.  91.     Claudianus  had  espoused  the 
cause  of  Brutus  and  Cassius  ;  and  being 
proscribed  by  the  triumvirs,  committed 
suicide  after    the    battle    of   Philippi. 
Bearing  thus  in   her  own    right    the 


nobility  both  of  the  Livii  and  of  the 
Claudii,  Livia  was  adopted  by  the  will 
of  Augustus  into  the  family  of  the  Julii, 
and  into  the  name  Augusta  (i.  8,  2)  ;  she 
appears  in  inscriptions  as  lulia  Augusta 
Divi  Aug.  f. 

3  Tiberius  Claudius  Nero,  the  first 
husband  of  Livia  and  father  of  the 
emperor,  served  as  quaestor  to  Caesar 
in  the  Alexandrine  war  ;  was  praetor  in 
B.C.  40  or  41  ;  joined  in  the  futile  out- 
break of  L.  Antony  known  as  the 
Perusian  War ;  escaped  to  Sextus 
Pompey  in  Sicily,  and  finally  went  over 
to  Antony  in  Achaia.  No  sooner  had 
he  returned  to  Rome  in  B.C.  42,  than 
he  was  forced  by  Augustus  to  divorce 
his  wife,  as  here  recorded.  She  had 
already  borne  him  Tiberius,  and  soon 
afterwards  gave  birth  to  Drusus  (Suet. 
Tib.  4). 


A.D.  29.] 


BOOK    V.   CHAP. 


339 


time,  he  took  her  into  his  house  without  even  waiting 

4  for  her  to  be  brought  to  bed.     She  bore  no  children 
afterwards ;    but    the   marriage   of  Germanicus  with 
Agrippina  connected  her  with  the  family  of  Augustus, 

5  so  that  his  great-grandchildren  were  hers  also.    Strict 
in  her  private  life  after  the  fashion  of  former  days,1 
though   more   gracious   in   her   manners   than  would 
have  been  approved  by  ladies  of  the  old  school,  an 
imperious  mother,2  and  a  complaisant  wife,  she  was  a 
match  for  her  husband  in  finesse;3  for  her  son  in  dis- 
simulation'.4 

6  Her  funeral  was  simple;  her  will  remained  long  Her 

funeral. 


1  The  correctness  of  her  own  life,  and 
her  facilitas  towards  the  irregularities 
of  her  husband,  are  confirmed  by  the 
accounts  of  Dio  (Iviii.  2,  5)  and  Suet. 
(Aug.  71). 

2  For    the    phrase    mater    impotent 
applied  to  Livia,  cp.  accedere  matron 
muliebri  impotentia  (i.  4,  5) ;  traditur 
etiam  .  .  .   matris  impotentia  cxtrusum 
(iv.  57,  4) ;  matrem  Liviam  gravatus, 
auasi  partes   sibi   aequas    vindicantcm 
(Suet.  Tib.  50). 

3,  Whether  due  to  nature  or  to  train- 
ing, Livia's 'talents  as  a  diplomatist 
eminently  fitted  her  to  be  the  partner 
of  Augustus,  and  the  confidante  of  his 
policy.  No  woman  ever  steered  through 
so  many  shoals  so  craftily.  Though 
the  trusted  wife  of  Augustus,  she  had 
a  Court  around  her  honeycombed  with 
jealousies  through  her  whole  life,  and 
her  feelings  as  a  mother  must  have 
been  sorely  tried.  First  she  sees  her 
two  sons,  of  ripe  age  and  tried  capacity, 
brought  forward  as  props  of  the  new 
sovereignty  (i.  3,  i),  yet  exposed  to  the 
formidable  rivalry  of  Marcellus  and 
Agrippa.  As  the  young  Caesars  grow 
to  manhood,  the  claims  and  services 
of  her  surviving  son  Tiberius  are  for- 
gotten or  set  aside ;  she  has  to  see  him 
flouted,  and  practically  exiled  in  Rhodes. 
The  road  once  more  made  clear  by  the 
death  of  the  young  princes,  she  has  to 
smooth  down  the  antipathy  of  Augustus, 
soften  the  resentment  of  her  high- 
spirited  son  at  the  injurious  treatment 
he  has  received,  and  lead  him,  sorely 
against  the  grain,  to  practise  the  arts 
of  a  courtier.  Her  triumph  in  securing 


the  succession  to  her  son  brought  her 
face  to  face  with  new  difficulties  ;  and 
if  foiled  in  her  main  ambition,  that  of 
becoming  the  actual  ruler  of  the  empire, 
by  his  firmness  or  intractable  temper, 
her  mixed  tenacity  and  pliancy  succeeded 
at  least  in  maintaining  for  her  a  place 
as  the  most  powerful  personage  next  to 
him.  For  a  woman  to  play  such  a  role 
as  this  was  a  new  thing  in  Rome.  The 
words  comis  ultra  quam  antiquis  fcmi- 
nis  probatum  would  seem  to  imply  that 
she  kept  a  kind  of  political  salon  in 
Rome,  like  that  of  Madame  de  Stael 
at  Paris  ;  and  one  not  to  be  put  down 
so  peremptorily  as  hers  was  by  Na- 
poleon. The  reserve  which  her  position 
imposed  on  her  laid  her  open,  like 
Tiberius  himself,  to  every  suspicion ; 
her  grandson  Caligula,  to  whom  she 
had  shown  especial  kindness,  called  her 
'a  Ulysses  in  petticoats' — Ulixes  sto- 
latus  (Suet.  Cal.  23). 

4  It  is  characteristic  of  Tacitus  that 
though  he  has  not  hesitated  to  record 
the  rumours  which  attributed  to  Livia 
the  deaths  of  Gaius  and  Lucius  Caesar 
('•  3>  3)>  tne  banishment  of  Agrippa 
Postumus  (i.  3,  4),  even  the  death  of 
Augustus  himself  (i.  5,  i),  and  the  in- 
trigues of  Piso  and  Plancina  against 
Germanicus  (ii.  43,  5),  yet  when  he  has 
to  pourtray  her  character  on  his  own 
authority,  he  can  find  nothing  worse  to 
say  of  her  than  that  she  was  a  marvel 
of  finesse  and  masterfulness.  And  truth 
compels  him  to  admit  that  her  death 
deprived  the  family  of  Germanicus  of 
their  last  surviving  protector  (chap. 
3.  I)- 


340 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  29. 


Tiberius 
limits  the 
honours  to 
be  paid 
to  her 
memory. 


Fresh  out- 
burst of 
tyranny. 


unexecuted.1  Her  funeral  oration  was  pronounced 
from  the  Rostra  by  her  great-grandson  Gaius  Caesar,2 
the  future  Emperor. 

Having  failed  to  pay  the  last  tribute  to  his  mother,  2. 
and  interrupting  none  of  his  pleasures  on  her  account,3 
Tiberius  wrote  a  letter  of  excuse,  pleading  important 
public  affairs ;  and,  as  if  out  of  modesty,  he  cut  down 
the  long  list  of  distinctions  which  the  Senate  had  voted 
to  her  memory,4  accepting  only  a  few  of  them,  and 
prohibiting  any  attribution  of  divine  honours:5  in 
accordance— so  he  asserted — with  her  own  express 
desire.  In  one  passage  of  this  letter  he  denounced  2 
friendships  with  women  ;6  rebuking  thereby  indirectly 
the  consul  Fufius,  who  had  owed  his  advancement  to 
Augusta's  patronage.  For  Fufius 7  had  all  the  qualities  3 
which  attract  women ;  he  had  a  sharp  tongue  too,  and 
would  deliver  himself  of  stinging  railleries  against 
Tiberius,  such  as  live  long  in  the  memory  of  the 
all-powerful. 

And  now  set  in  a  period  of  sheer  and  unrelenting  3. 
tyranny.     For  so   long  as  Augusta  was   alive,  there 
was  still  a  refuge  open ;  Tiberius  had  an  ingrained 
feeling  of  deference   for  his   mother,   nor   did    even 
Sejanus  venture  to  come  in  the  way  of  her  authority. 
But   now  the   two  dashed   headlong  on,  like   horses  2 
freed  from  the  rein.    A  letter  was  produced  attacking 


1  Caligula  repaired  this  wrong.     Le- 
gato, ex  testamento  luliae  Augustae,  quod 

Tiberius  suppresserat,  cum  fide  et  sine 
calumnia  repraesentata  persolvit  (Suet. 
Cal.  16). 

2  Gaius  was  aged  sixteen  at  this  time. 

3  Suetonius  states  that  Tiberius  had 
only  once  visited   his  mother   during 
her  last  three  years  ;  and  that  after  her 
death  the  funeral  was  unduly  deferred 
in  waiting  for  him. 

4  Similarly  after  the  death  of  Augustus 
he  would  allow  no  honours  to  be  paid 
to  her,  moderandos  feminarum  honores 
dictitans  (i.  14,  3). 


5  She  was  ultimately  deified  by  Clau- 
dius (Dio,  Ix.  5,  2),  who  set  up  her  image 
in  the  temple  of  Augustus  on  the  Pala- 
tine.    Yet  such  titles  as  Livia  August  i 
dea,  mater  patriae,  genetrix  orbis,  were 
given  her  on  provincial  coins  or  inscrip- 
tions during  her  lifetime. 

6  Tiberius  hated  female  influence,  and 
smarted  under  it.   Suetonius  adds  omnes 
amicitias  (sc.  Liviae)  et  familiaritates 
.  .  .  intra  breve  tempus  afflixit  (Tib.  51). 

7  The  death  of  this  Fufius  seems  to 
be  referred  to  in  vi.  10,  i  and  Dio,  Iviii. 
4,  5 ;   his  wife  npt'o-Ka  is  perhaps  the 
Mutilia  Prisca  of  iv.  12,  6. 


A.D.  29.]  BOOK    V.   CHAPS.    1-4.  341 

Agrippina  and  Nero  in  language  of  studied  harshness;  Tiberius 
and  as  it  was  read  shortly  after  the  death  of  Augusta,  Aegnr°pp£a 
it  was    popularly  supposed    to   have    come   to   hand  And^ero: 
previously,   and    to    have    been    kept    back    by   her. 

3  Tiberius  did  not  upbraid  his  grandson  for  meditating 
an  armed  revolt,  or  seeking  to  upset  the  govern- 
ment, but  for  unnatural  and  indecent  practices. 

•t  Against  Agrippina,  he  did  not  venture  so  far  ;  he 
complained  only  of  her  insolent  language  and  her 
refractory  temper.  The  Senate  listened  in  terror  and 
in  silence;  till  at  last  a  few  who  had  nothing  to  hope 
for  through  honourable  means  —  and  there  are  always 
some  who  turn  public  calamities  into  an  occasion  for 
winning  favour  for  themselves  —  demanded  that  the 
question  should  be  put.  Cotta  Messalinus  was  at  hesitation 

5  once   ready   with   a    motion    for   condemnation,1   but  senate. 
other  leading  senators,  and  especially  the  magistrates, 
hesitated  ;   for  notwithstanding  the   bitterness  of  his 
attack,  Tiberius  had  left  his  ultimate  purpose  in  doubt. 

1  Now  there  was  in  the  Senate  a  man  of  the  name  Presump- 
of  Junius  Rusticus,  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  junius' 
Emperor  to  keep  the  record2  of  its  proceedings,  and  Rusticus- 
was   therefore   supposed   to   be   acquainted  with  his 

2  inmost  sentiments.3     Moved  either  by  some  fate-sent 
impulse*  —  for  the  man  had  never  given  any  sign  of 

1  Similarly  vi.  5,  i  :  Cotta  Messalinus  other  hand,  he  is  ignorant  of  (i.  8r,  i), 

saevissimae  cuiusque  sententiae  auctor  or  quotes  other  authorities  for(ii.  88,  i), 

eoque  inveteratae  invidiae.  See  also  iv.  certain  facts  which  must  have  been  in- 

20,  6.  eluded  in  such  records.  Suetonius  tells 

*  We  thus  learn  that  in  the  time  of  us  that  Julius  Caesar  primus  omnium. 

Tiberius  there  was  a  regular  record  kept  instituit  ut  tarn  senatus  quam  populi 

of  senate  proceedings,  here  called  qcta^  diurna  acta  confierent  et  publicarentur 
j  elsewhere  acta  or  commentam 


(Jul.  20)  ;  but  that  Augustus  auctor  fuit 

senatus,  by  an  officer  specially  appointed  ne  acta  senatus  publicarentur  (Oct.  36). 

by  the  emperor.    How  far  these  records  »  It  thus  appears  that  the  office  was 

were  open  to  senators  or  to  the  public  a  confidential  one.    The  records  were 

is  not  known.      Tacitus  quotes  them  sent   to   the  emperor  for  his  perusal 

as  an  authority  in  xv.  74,  3  ;  and  the  (Suet.  Tib.  73). 

minuteness  of  his  accounts  of  doings  *  When  in  doubt  for  a  cause,  Tacitus 

in  the  senate   suggests  that    he    had  recurs  to  the  agency  of  Fate  :  fato  po- 

official  records  before  him.     On    the  tentiae  raro  scmpitemae  (iii.    30,   7)  ; 


342  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  29. 

independence  before — or  by  a  misguided  cunning, 
which  in  vague  alarm  for  the  future  overlooked  the 
peril  of  the  moment,  this  person  thrust  himself  in 
among  those  who  were  hesitating,  and  advised  the 
Consuls  not  to  take  up  the  question.  The  most  im- 
portant issues,  he  urged,  turned  on  trifling  causes;  the 
day  might  yet  come  when  the  aged  Emperor  would  repent 
the  destruction  of  the  offspring  of  Germanicus. 

Meanwhile  the  populace  surrounded  the  Senate-  3 
house,  parading  effigies *  of  Agrippina  and  Nero ;  and 
amid  expressions  of  loyalty  towards  Tiberius,  cried 
that  the  letter  must  be  a  forgery:  the  Emperor  could 
never  have  consented  to  the  annihilation  of  his  own 
family.  Accordingly  no  harsh  action  was  taken  on 
that  day.  Copies  also  of  pretended  resolutions,  pur-  4 
porting  to  have  been  proposed  by  Consulars  against 
Sejanus,  were  handed  about;  the  writers  exercising 
their  imagination  all  the  more  freely  that  they  wrote 
anonymously.  This  inflamed  the  wrath  of  Sejanus,  5 
and  gave  him  material  for  accusations  : — The  Senate, 
he  said,  had  treated  the  complaints  of  the  Princeps  with 
contempt;  the  people  were  in  revolt,  reading  and  listening 
to  seditious  speeches,  and  fictitious  decrees  of  Senate :  what 
remained  for  them  but  to  draw  the  sword,  and  choose  for 
their  leaders  and  Imperators  those  whose  images  they  had 
followed  as  their  standards  ? 

And  so  Tiberius  repeated  his  denunciations  of  his 
grandson  and  his  daughter-in-law,  rebuked  the  people 
in  an  edict,  and  having  complained  to  the  Senate  that 
a  manoeuvre  of  one  of  their  number  should  have 

nisi  forte  rebus  cunctis  inest  quidam  1  So  when   Octavia  was  in  danger, 

•velut  orbis  (iii.  55,   6) ;    Varus  fato  et  the   people  Octaviae  imagines  gestant 

mArminii  cecidit  (i.  55,  4)  :  the  favour  umeris  (xiv.  61,  i).     The  supporters  of 

of  princes  may  perhaps,  he  thinks,  afford  Agrippina  and  her  family  showed,  as 

some  exception  to  the  general  rule  which  usual,  but  little  tact  in  their  mode  of 

arranges  all  things  fato  et  sorte  nascendi  befriending  her  cause, 
(iv.  20,  5). 


A  i. .'_>!>.]  BOOK    V.    CHAPS.   4-5.  343 

exposed  the  Majesty  of  the  Princeps  to  a  public  rebuff, 
demanded  that  the  whole  case  should  be  left  in  his 
hands.  The  Senate  hesitated  no  longer.  They  did 
not  indeed  vote  a  death  sentence ;  that  was  not  per- 
mitted to  them  :  but  they  signified  their  acquiescence 
in  extreme  measures,  and  protested  that  nothing  but 
the  Emperor's  express  command  was  holding  them 
back.1 


1  The  MS.  breaks  oft' abruptly  in  the  grievous   in  all  Latin   literature.     We 

middle  of  chap.  5,  the  rest  of  Book  V.  can    imagine  no  subject    more  abso- 

being  unfortunately  lost.     The  chapter  lutely  fitted  to  call  put  all  the  powers, 

which  follows  belongs  to  Book  VI. ,  the  and  all  the  antipathies,  of  the  historian, 

first   few   chapters   of  which  are   also  Although    the   chapters   which   follow, 

missing.     The  loss  of  this  portion  of  numbered  6  to  n,  recording  events  in 

the  Annals,  from  A.n.  2910  31,  contain-  A.D.  31,  no  doubt  belonged  to  Book  VI., 

ing  the  history  of  the  final  conspiracy  the  usual  numbering  is  retained  in  this 

and  fall  of  Sejanus,  is  one  of  the  most  edition  in  order  to  facilitate  reference. 


344 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  29. 


Book  V.  a 
fragment. 


The  lost 
portion 
may  be 
supplied 
from  Dio. 


Position  of 
affairs  in 
A.D.  29. 


Reassured 

by 

Tiberius, 


Narrative  of  Events  A.D.  29-31. 

[The  loss  of  the  principal  portion  of  Book  V., 
embracing  the  period  from  the  middle  of  the  year 
A.D.  29  to  near  the  close  of  the  year  A.D.  31,  has 
deprived  us  of  a  description  by  the  master  hand  of 
Tacitus  of  one  of  the  most  dramatic  scenes  and 
thrilling  situations  in  the  history  of  the  Empire ;  but 
the  incidents  of  the  sudden  fall  of  the  hated  favourite, 
at  the  supreme  moment  of  his  fortunes,  had  so  burnt 
themselves  into  the  memories  of  the  Roman  people, 
that  we  may  accept  with  more  than  usual  confidence 
the  traditional  account  of  the  mode  in  which  that  fall 
was  brought  about. 

The  narrative  of  Dio,  in  all  its  main  features,  tallies 
with  the  various  references  to  the  event  that  are  to  be 
found  in  Roman  literature;  and  though  prejudice  and 
suspicion  did  their  worst,  as  in  the  pages  of  Tacitus 
himself,  to  blacken  the  character  and  exaggerate  the 
crimes  of  Sejanus,  we  cannot  doubt  that  the  story  as 
told  by  Dio  is  substantially  true.  And  if  that  story 
bears  hardly  on  Sejanus,  it  carries  with  it  an  indict- 
ment infinitely  more  severe  against  the  populace  and 
the  nobility  of  Rome. 

The  5th  chapter  of  the  5th  Book  breaks  off  amid 
omens  of  impending  disaster  to  the  family  of  Ger- 
manicus.  Their  last  defence  against  the  machinations 
of  Sejanus  has  been  removed  by  the  death  of  Livia. 
Sejanus  is  at  the  height  of  his  power;  his  influence  in 
the  counsels  of  Tiberius  is  as  yet  unbroken.  He  has 
been  using  all  that  influence,  and  all  his  knowledge  of 
the  old  man's  character,  to  bring  about  the  ruin  of 
Agrippina  and  her  children.  Tiberius  is  in  his  secluded 
sea-girt  fastness;  accessible  to  none  save  through 
Sejanus.  From  that  solitary  rock  issue  the  mandates 
by  which  the  civilised  world  is  ruled ;  and  the  hand 
through  which  they  pass,  the  hand  which  carries  them 
into  effect,  is  the  hand  of  Sejanus. 

In  refusing  or  evading  the  petition  of  Sejanus  to 
be  united  with  Livia,  Tiberius  had  hinted  an  intention 
to  raise  him  to  some  new  pinnacle  of  greatness : 
"  there  was  no  position,"  he  had  assured  him,  "  which 


A.D.  29.]  SUPPLEMENT    TO    BOOK    V.  345 

was  too  high  for  his  merits,  or  for  his  devotion  to 
himself."1 

Comforted  by  such   assurances,  confident   in   the  Sejanus 
supreme  influence  which  he  still  exercised  over  the  <jimsattlui 

•     j      r  -r>'i        •          f    •  11  tin  destruction 

mind  of  I  iberius,  Sejanus  pushed  on  boldly  towards  ofAgrip- 
the  destruction  of  the  one  family  which  stood  between  [^"^"f, 
himself  and  his  highest  hopes.  Aided  by  the  petu- 
lance and  indiscretions  of  Agrippina,  by  the  reckless 
counsels  of  her  friends,  and  by  the  ungovernable 
temper  which  was  a  characteristic  of  every  member 
of  her  family,  he  had  succeeded  in  persuading  Tiberius 
that  the  pretensions  of  Agrippina  and  her  sons,  backed 
by  a  devoted  party  among  the  nobility,  and  strong  in 
the  consciousness  of  popular  favour,  were  a  source  of 
danger  to  himself  and  to  the  State.  He  had  sown  the 
seeds  of  dissension  within  the  family  itself,  trafficking 
with  the  younger  brother  against  the  elder,  and  with 
the  wives  of  both  against  their  husbands;2  ready  to 
drop  each  in  turn  so  soon  as  they  should  have  served 
his  purpose. 

The  death  of  Livia,  as  we  have  already  seen,  had  Tiberius 
given  the  opportunity  for  a  forward  move.  That  ?he™to°the 
event  was  immediately  succeeded  by  a  severe  despatch  senate. 
from  Tiberius  attacking  Agrippina  and  her  eldest  son 
Nero  by  name ;  it  was  believed  that  the  letter  had 
been  for  some  time  in  hand,  and  that  it  was  only 
Livia's  influence  that  had  kept  it  back.3  The  Senate 
was  staggered  for  the  time,  unable  to  bring  itself  to 
act ;  the  populace  outside  the  Senate-house  clamoured 
that  it  must  be  against  the  Emperor's  will  that  his 
house  was  being  threatened  with  destruction.4  But  the 
proceedings  of  Agrippina's  friends  added  fresh  fuel 
to  the  accusations  of  Sejanus ;  and  a  stern  rebuke 
from  the  Emperor  soon  followed,  repeating  the 
charges  against  his  daughter-in-law  and  grandson, 
and  clearly  shewing  that  extreme  measures  had  been 
resolved  upon  against  them. 

At  this  point  the  narrative  of  Tacitus  breaks  off. 

The  Senate  hesitated  no  longer.  Agrippina  and  Agrippina 
Nero  were  condemned ;  the  latter  was  declared  a  and  Nero 
public  enemy.5  Both  were  hurried  into  banishment ;  demned. 

1  Ann.  iv.  40,  12.         «  Ann.  iv.  60,  4,  and  Dio,  Iviii.  318.          J  Ann.  v.  3,  3. 
«  Ann.  v.  5,  3.  *  Suet.  Tib.  54. 


346 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  2'J. 


Drusus  is 
spared  for 
a  time. 


but  ulti- 
mately 
murdered. 


the  son  to  the  Island  of  Pontia,  the  mother  to  that  of 
Pandateria,  where  she  was  treated  with  the  utmost 
barbarity  by  her  gaolers.  Nero  was  put  to  death,  or 
suffered  to  die,  in  prison,  at  some  date  prior  to  the 
fall  of  Sejanus ;  how  miserably  Agrippina  came  to 
her  end,  how  cruelly  her  memory  was  insulted  by 
Tiberius,  will  be  recorded  in  Ann.  vi.  25. 

The  younger  brother  Drusus,  fed  by  Sejanus  with 
hopes  of  the  succession,  was  spared  for  the  present ;  but 
his  turn  was  soon  to  come.  Not  long  after  the  arrest 
of  his  mother  and  his  brother,  he  married  Aemilia 
Lepida,  a  woman  pronounced  'intestabilis'  by  Tacitus;1 
and  it  is  asserted  by  Dio  that  Sejanus  lost  no  time  in 
exercising  upon  her  also  his  unrivalled  powers  of  cor- 
ruption, estranging  her  from  her  husband,  and  dazzling 
her  with  the  same  ambitious  hopes  with  which  he 
had  lured  Livilla,  and  secured  her  co-operation  in 
his  designs.  Through  Lepida's  instrumentality,  he 
succeeded  once  more  in  poisoning  the  mind  of  Tiberius 
against  his  nearest  of  kin.  Drusus  was  dismissed 
from  Capri,  and  ordered  back  to  Rome.  An  accuser 
was  found  in  Cassius  Severus ;  Drusus  was  declared 
a  public  enemy,  and  thrust  into  a  dungeon  in  the 
Palatine,  there  to  linger  until  the  time  should  be  ripe 
for  his  removal.  And  though  there  was  one  moment, 
in  the  crisis  of  the  conspiracy  of  Sejanus,  when 
Tiberius  thought  of  bringing  Drusus  out  of  his 
dungeon  to  confront  the  upstart  with  a  scion  of  the 
imperial  house,  the  necessity  passed  away  with  that 
emergency.2  Tiberius  acted  on  the  principle  that  a 
man  who  has  been  outraged  beyond  a  certain  point 
cannot  with  safety  be  permitted  to  live;  so  he  left 
Drusus  to  his  fate,  and  suffered  him  to  perish,  three 
years  afterwards,  amid  circumstances  of  indescribable 
horror.3 


power. 


A.D.  30.    CONSULS  M.  VINICIUS  AND  L.  CASSIUS 
LONGINUS. 

Throughout  this  year  the  fortunes  of  Sejanus  were 
in  tne  ascendant,  and  at  its  close  he  seemed  to  be 
more  powerful  than  ever.     His  career,  thus  far,  had 

1  Ann.  vi.  40,  4.  2  Ann.  vi.  23,  5. 

3  Dio,  Iviii.  3,  7,  and  Ann.  vi.  24. 


A.D.  30.]  SUPPLEMENT    TO    BOOK    V.  347 

been  one  of  unbroken  success.  Just  as  the  chosen 
heirs  of  Angustus  had  been  cut  off,  one  after  the 
other,  leaving  the  way  open  for  Tiberius,  so  had 
Sejanus  seen,  one  by  one,  the  probable  successors  of 
Tiberius  disappear.  Germanicus,  Drusus,  Agrippina 
and  her  two  grown-up  sons,  had  no  longer  to  be 
reckoned  with.  There  remained  only  the  stripling 
Gaius,  who  was  scarcely  out  of  his  teens,  and  the 
child  Tiberius  Gemellus,  son  of  Drusus,  who  had 
scarcely  entered  them  :  their  natural  protectors  gone, 
it  would  seem  a  light  matter  for  the  minister  firmly 
entrenched  in  power,  with  the  troops  of  the  capital 
under  his  command,  to  sweep  them  also  out  of  his  path. 

But    there  were   two   elements   in    the   situation  BUI  two 
which  had  not  entered  into  the  calculations  of  Sejanus.   n°ints  had 
The  youthful  Gaius  was  kept  out  of  his  grasp  and  SSd  h 
influence;  and  the  withdrawal  of  Tiberius  from  the  li°ns: 
capital  to  his  island  home  had  a  very  different  effect 
upon  his  attitude  and  temper  from    that  which  had 
been  anticipated. 

The  young  Gaius  had  been  under  the  protection  (i)  The 
of  his  great-grandmother  Livia,  and  had  lived  in  her  r.oJ;noflhe 
house  until  she  died  ;  it  was  he  who  pronounced  her  oaiuf  into 
funeral  oration.  He  was  then  taken  into  the  house  !lanvjur; 
of  his  grandmother  Antonia,  the  wisest  and  most 
discreet  of  all  the  women  of  the  early  Empire. 
Thence  he  was  summoned  to  Capri,  where  he  as- 
sumed the  manly  gown  in  private,  without  any  of  the 
dangerous  honours  which  had  been  bestowed  upon 
his  brothers  on  a  similar  occasion.1  From  that  time 
onwards  he  lived  quietly  with  Tiberius ;  and  his 
character  seems  to  have  fitted  him  for  that  hazardous 
companionship.  Not  less  wild  and  reckless  by  nature 
than  the  other  members  of  his  family,  and  with  a 
tinge  of  madness  which  was  to  develop  so  dis- 
astrously afterwards  in  the  'furious  Caligula,'2  he 
exhibited,  under  his  present  circumstances,  a  faculty 
of  self-control,  a  power  of  adapting  himself  to  circum- 
stances, which  enabled  him  to  hold  his  ground.  He 
had  no  fiery  mother,  no  injudicious  advisers,  to  goad 
him  on  to  indiscretions;;  and  under  his  great-uncle's 
tutelage,  he  learnt  to  practise  the  arts  of  dissimu- 
lation? Tiberius  was  capable  of  strong  family 

1  Suet.  Cal.  10.  *  Gibbon,  chap.  3.  *  Ann.  vi.  45,  46. 


348  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  30. 

affection;  he  may  have  taken  kindly  to  the  young 
man  ;  and  Tacitus  tells  us  that  from  a  feeling  of 
ambitio  in  posteros  he  shrank  from  the  idea  of  seeking 
an  heir  outside  the  family  of  the  Caesars.  At  Capri 
the  youth  could  be  the  centre  of  no  political  plots  ; 
and  he  was  there  kept  safe,  as  his  brothers  had  not 
been,  from  the  allurements  and  designs  of  Sejanus. 
(2)  The  But  the  retirement  to  Capri  did  more  than  keep 

h^owrf011  Gams  out  °f  narm's  way  :  it  removed  Sejanus  from 
influence  of  constant  intercourse  with  the  Emperor.  The  duties 
^ejetreat  \a[d  upon  him  must  often  have  called  him  to  Rome  ;  he 
would  thus  lose  the  opportunity  of  working,  day  by 
day,  upon  the  suspicious  temperament  of  Tiberius, 
and  of  maintaining  his  personal  ascendency  over  him. 
For  in  addition  to  all  the  talents  which  made  Sejanus  so 
useful  a  coadjutor  to  Tiberius,  he  must  have  been  a 
man  of  extraordinary  personal  fascination,  and  capable 
of  inspiring  those  about  him  with  entire  confidence. 
His  success  in  corrupting,  one  after  the  other,  the 
women  who  could  help  him  in  his  designs,  is  evidence 
of  this  fact ;  he  could  worm  out,  through  their  wives, 
the  secrets  of  all  the  most  distinguished  men  in  Rome.1 
Tiberius  was  not  a  man  easily  imposed  upon  ;  and  no 
minister  was  ever  more  absolutely  trusted  than  was 
Sejanus  by  his  master. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  personal  element  in 
that  influence,  it  was  lost  when  the  minister  could  no 
longer  be  by  his  master's  side.  We  may  be  sure  that 
the  whisper  of  suspicion  and  calumny  was  not  silent 
among  the  chosen  few  who  still  had  access  to  the 
imperial  person ;  and  distance  would  exaggerate 
every  evil  rumour. 

Tiberius  Very  different  had  been  the  calculation  of  Sejanus. 

becomes      yhe   vojce   of  hjs   enemies,   he   had  thought,  would 

jealous        sound    more  faintly   at   Capri  than    at    Rome;    his 

than  ever;    crOwded  levees,  the  universal  court  that  was  paid  to 

him,  would  escape  observation ;  an  Emperor  devoted 

to  vicious   ease  would  let  the  reins  of  government 

fall  gradually  from  his   hands.2    But  all  turned  out 

otherwise.     It  was  not  Tiberius,   but  Sejanus,  who 

lost    his    hold   on   power  by   the   retreat   to   Capri. 

Tiberius  showed   no   tendency  to  relax  his  grip  of 

the  most  important  affairs  of  state ;  and  his  jealous 

1  Dio,  Iviii.  3,  8.  2  Ann.  iv.  41,  3. 


A.n.  30.]  SUPPLEMENT    TO    BOOK    V.  349 

temper  was  not  soothed,  but  irritated,  by  the  know- 
ledge that  he  had  to  hand  over  many  of  the  details  of 
government  to  another.  The  danger  to  himself  and 
to  the  State  of  allowing  a  substitute  to  wield  plenary 
authority  in  Rome  began  to  loom  large  before  him  ; 
and  the  suspicion  dawned  upon  him  that  he  had  been 
striking  down  Agrippina  and  her  family  only  to  make 
way  for  another  and  more  sinister  ambition. 

The  severity  of  Tiberius  did  not  abate  with  his  and  his 
seclusion.  He  decoyed  and  threw  into  prison,  under  ^Tnot 
every  circumstance  of  treachery,  the  hated  Asinius  diminish 
Gallus ;  of  whom  we  have  heard  so  much  in  the 
earlier  books  of  the  Annals  as  the  husband  of 
the  divorced  Vipsania,  as  the  officious  proposer  of 
motions  in  the  Senate,  as  a  possible  competitor  for 
empire— in  his  own  opinion  at  least,  if  not  in  that  of 
others.1  Gallus  presented  himself  at  Capri  as  an 
envoy,  to  announce  fresh  honours  voted  to  Sejanus 
by  the  Senate ;  and  at  the  very  moment  when  he  was 
being  entertained  as  a  guest  at  the  Emperor's  table, 
the  Senate,  instructed  by  a  secret  order,  voted  his 
condemnation.  A  praetor  was  despatched  to  effect 
his  arrest.  Tiberius  calmly  suffered  Gallus  to  depart, 
and  bid  him  be  of  good  cheer  ;  but  he  ordered  that  he 
should  be  kept  in  custody  in  Rome  till  he  should 
arrive  himself  to  try  the  case.  The  case  was  never 
tried  ;  and  after  languishing  for  three  years  in  hopeless 
confinement,  Gallus  was  allowed  to  die  miserably  of 
starvation.2 

At  what  precise  moment  the  confidence  of  Tiberius  He  gradu- 
in  his  favourite  passed  into  suspicion  and  alarm  does  confidence 
not  appear.  Possibly  some  rumour  reached  him  as  to 
how  Urusus  had  come  to  his  end.  He  was  naturally 
slow  in  forming  his  judgments ;  he  never  hurried  on 
a  move  until  he  believed  the  time  was  ripe  for  it ; 
though  when  once  the  resolve  was  formed,  he  could 
act  upon  it  with  terrific  suddenness.8  This  feature 
in  his  character,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  the  situation 
itself,  both  harmonise  excellently  with  the  details  of 
the  story  so  dramatically  told  by  Dio.4 

The  resolve  to  strike  Sejanus  wasprobably  formed  and 
some  time  during  the  year  A. a  30.     The  minister  had 

1  Ann.  i.  13,  a.  »  Ann.  vi.  33,  and  Dio,  Iviii.  3. 

1  See  Ann.  iv.  71,  5.        *  Dio,  Iviii.  4-13. 


350 


ANNALS    OF   TACITUS. 


[A.D.  30. 


He 

designates 
him  as 
Consul  for 

A.D.  31 

along  with 
himself. 


become  too  powerful  to  be  retained  longer  in  that 
position ;  and,  with  characteristic  cunning,  Tiberius 
conceived  that  the  best  mode  of  bringing  about  his  fall 
would  be  to  begin  by  raising  him  to  the  highest 
office  in  the  state.  He  would  thereby  lull  him  into 
security,  expose  him  to  greater  envy,  and  tempt  his 
more  ardent  supporters  to  declare  themselves.1  He 
accordingly  designated  him  to  the  Consulship  for  the 
year  following,  with  himself  as  colleague ;  thus  exalt- 
ing him  to  the  same  position  as  that  in  which  he  had 
placed  his  natural  heir  Germanicus  in  the  year  A.D.  18. 
The  duties  of  that  office  would  keep  Sejanus  at  a 
distance ;  and,  if  the  favourite  flattered  himself  that 
the  report  of  his  doings  in  Rome  would  only  reach 
Tiberius  through  his  own  creatures,  while  he  himself 
would  be  kept  informed  of  all  that  passed  at  Capri,2 
the  sequel  showed  how  egregiously  he  was  mistaken. 


A.D.  31.     CONSULS   TIBERIUS    CAESAR  AUGUSTUS   V. 
AND    L.  AELIUS   SEJANUS. 

universal  No  sooner  was  Sejanus  installed   in   office,   than 

of  se'anus  nonours  °f  every  kind  were  showered  upon  him.  His 
receptions  were  thronged  by  obsequious  crowds  ; 
statues  were  voted  to  him  and  to  the  Emperor  in 
conjunction  ;  gilded  chairs  were  set  up  for  both  in  the 
theatres  ;  men  spoke  of  Tiberius  as  the  ruler  of  an 
island,  of  Sejanus  as  master  of  the  Empire.  Tiberius 
himself  spoke  of  him  as  '  his  own  Sejanus  ;  '  his 
betrothal  to  Livilla,  it  would  appear,  was  now  at  last 
permitted  ;3  and  a  decree  was  passed  conferring  upon 
him  the  Consulship  along  with  Tiberius  for  the  next 
five  years, 

But  amid  this  torrent  of  honours  and  adulation, 
Sejanus  had  cause  to  feel  uneasy.  As  the  year  went 
on,  Tiberius  wrote  in  varying  strains  about  himself, 
both  to  Sejanus  and  to  the  Senate  ;  at  one  moment  he 
spoke  of  illness,  and  hinted  at  his  approaching  end  ; 
at  another,  he  declared  that  he  was  in  excellent  health, 
and  would  shortly  return  to  Rome.  Word  came  that 
Gaius  had  been  raised  to  the  Augurship  and  Priest- 


Ambiguous 


1  See  Ann.  i.  7,  n. 

-  Dio,  Iviii.  4,  2,  and  6,  2. 


3  Hence  he  is  spoken  of  as  '  the  son- 
in-law  of  Tiberius,'  Ann.  vi.  8,  6. 


A.D.31.]  SUPPLEMENT    TO    BOOK   V.  351 

hood,  and  indicated  as  heir.  Sejanus  himself  was 
sometimes  commended,  sometimes  censured,  in  the 
imperial  despatches.  It  was  noticed  that,  in  an- 
nouncing the  death  of  Drusus,  Tiberius  had  intro- 
duced the  name  of  Sejanus  without  any  of  his  usual 
titles ;  and  when  Sejanus  asked  for  a  personal  inter- 
view, the  Emperor  declined  to  receive  him,  on  the 
pretence  that  he  himself  was  about  to  come  to  Rome. 

Men  knew  not  what  to  think ;  Sejanus  began  to 
feel  that  the  ground  was  falling  away  beneath  him. 
If  he  ever  thought  of  entering  into  a  conspiracy 
against  the  Emperor's  life,  as  asserted  by  the  Roman 
historians,  and  assumed  by  Tiberius  afterwards,  this 
would  have  been  the  time  to  choose.  The  Senate 
were  still  at  his  feet ;  the  Praetorian  Guards  were 
devoted  to  their  commander ;  he  believed  the  populace 
to  be  favourable.  But  he  did  not  move.  Perhaps  he 
still  believed  in  the  Emperor's  favour;  perhaps  his 
nerve  failed  him  at  the  last.  Josephus  asserts  the 
conspiracy  as  a  fact  j1  it  was  discovered,  he  tells  us, 
by  the  faithful  Antonia,  who  at  'once  despatched  a 
trusty  messenger  to  Capri  with  the  news.  If  there 
was  a  plot,  it  was  not  ready ;  Sejanus  had  allowed  the 
favourable  moment  to  slip  by. 

Early  in  May,  Tiberius  vacated  the  Consulship ;  Consults 
Sejanus   had  to  do  the   same,  thus  finding    himself  ^Tn- 
stripped  of  office.     Two  consulcs  suffccti  were  installed  stalled. 
upon  the  8th,  one  of  whom  gave  way  on  the  ist  July 
to  L.  Fulcinius  Trio,  a  partisan  of  Sejanus — chosen 
doubtless  for  the  very  purpose  of  allaying  his  sus- 
picions— while  the  other  was  replaced  on  the  ist  of 
October  by  P.  Memmius  Regulus,  a  man  upon  whose 
nerve  and  devotion  Tiberius  could  rely.     At  last,  on 
the  1 8th  of  October,  there  arrived   from  Capri  the 
famous   despatch — the  verbosa   et  grandis  epistola* — 
which  was  a  death  signal  to  Sejanus,  and  to  all  who 
could   be    suspected   of  being  his  accomplices,  and 
which  inaugurated  a  reign  of  terror  which  lasted  more 
or  less  throughout  the  remaining  years  of  Tiberius. 

The  despatch  was  entrusted  to  Naevius  Sertorius  Arrival  of 
Macro,  who  carried  with  him  a  secret  commission,  ^rt°he 
appointing  him   to  the  command   of  the  Praetorian  Emperor's 
Guards.    Arriving  late  at  night  in  Rome,  he  announced  letler' 

1  Ant.  xviii.  6,  6.  *  Juv.  x.  71. 


352 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  31. 


The  read- 
ing of  the 
letter  in  the 
Senate. 


Exultation 
of  the 
Senate. 


his  mission  to  the  Consul  Memmius  Regulus,  and  to 
Graecinus  Laco,  the  commander  of  the  city  police. 
Regulus  summoned  the  Senate  to  meet  at  daybreak, 
in  the  Tej^Je_pXA£ollo  on  the  Palatine.  Sejanus 
hurried  to  obeythe  summons,  attended  by  his 
Praetorian  Guards ;  reassured  by  Macro,  who  in- 
formed him  that  the  tribunitian  power  was  to  be 
conferred  upon  him  that  day,  he  passed  into  the  place 
of  meeting.  Having  seen  Sejanus  safely  into  the 
building,  Macro  turned  back  to  address  the  rraetorians 
who  had  been  stationed  outside ;  exhibited  to  them 
his  commission  as  their  commander ;  and  promising 
them  a  largess  in  the  Emperor's  name,  induced  them 
to  return  to  their  camp.  In  the  mean  time,  Laco 
occupied  every  avenue  to  the  temple  with  his  police. 
This  done,  and  the  Senate  having  now  assembled, 
Macro  entered  the  chamber,  handed  the  Emperor's 
letter  to  the  presiding  Consul  Regulus,  and  hurried 
off  to  the  camp  to  check  any  possible  movement  on 
the  part  of  the  troops. 

Then  followed  the  reading  of  the  letter.  It  began 
with  indifferent  topics ;  passed  on  to  some  faint 
censure  of  Sejanus,  and  requested  that  one  of  the 
Consuls  should  come  to  Capri  to  escort  Tiberius  to 
Rome.  By  degrees,  the  tone  of  complaint  grew 
stronger ;  new  points  were  introduced  ;  two  senators, 
special  friends  of  Sejanus,  were  marked  out  for 
punishment :  and  at  the  very  end  of  all,  Sejanus  him- 
self was  denounced  by  name,  and  ordered  off  to  prison. 
As  the  reading  of  the  letter  went  on,  a  change 
came  over  the  face  of  the  assembly.  The  senators 
who  but  now  had  been  flocking  round  Sejanus  to 
congratulate  him  on  his  new  honours,  and  assure 
him  of  their  support,  edged  away  from  his  side ;  the 
magistrates  and  the  tribunes  quietly  closed  round 
him  to  prevent  him  from  making  a  rush  for  the  door, 
and  raising  a  tumult  outside.  When  the  last  fatal 
words  were  pronounced,  Sejanus  seemed  like  one 
dazed  ;  the  Consul  called  upon  him  three  times  before 
he  could  find  words  to  reply.  As  he  rose,  he  found 
Laco  by  his  side ;  in  a  moment,  the  long  pent-up 
hatred  against  the  favourite  broke  out  in  one  roar  of 
triumph  and  exultation  over  his  fall,  and  a  storm  of 
insults  and  reproaches,  from  foes  and  friends  alike, 


A.D.31.]  SUPPLEMENT    TO    BOOK    V.  355 

burst  upon  the  head  of  the  unhappy  man,  who,  bath 
yesterday,  had  been  reckoned  'second  in  the  whole 
world.' 1 

The  Consul,  after  calling  on  some  leading  senators  sejanu^"ly 
to  speak,  thought  it  best  not  to  put  the  question  to  f0rat^ed 
the  vote.     At  the  head   of  the  magistrates,  escorted  Tuiiianum, 
by  Laco  and  his  Guards,  he  hustled  Sejanus  across 
the  Forum  to  the  dungeon — the  famous  Tullic^um^- 
in  which  the  enemies  01  Rome  had  to  meet  their  end. 
The  news  of  the  favourite's  downfall  had  spread  like 
wild-fire  through   the  city ;  as  he  passed   along,  he 
could    see   his    statues    being    dragged    from    their 
pedestals  and  ground  to  powder,  with  every  mark  of 
vindictive  fury,  by  the  mob. 

Later  in  the  same  day,  as  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  and  put  to 
that  the  temper  of  the  populace  was  safe,  and  that  death- 
there  was  nothing  to  fear  from  the  Praetorians,  the 
Senate  was  again  summoned  to  the  Tem£le___of 
Concord,  in  the  immediate  proximity  of  the  prison. 
HereTKe  death  of  the  traitor  was  decreed  without  a 
moment's  delay.  He  was  strangled  in  that  same 
terrible  prison  in  which  Jugurtha  had  shuddered  at 
the  cold  bath  provided  for  him  by  the  Roman  people ; 
his  body  was  cast  out  upon  the  Gemonian  stairs  to 
be  insulted  and  trampled  upon ;  and  at  last  the 
mangled  remains,  like  those  of  an  ordinary  malefactor, 
were  tossed  into  the  Tiber. 

Meanwhile  Tiberius  was  awaiting  the  news  from  Anxiety  of 
Rome  in  a  state  of  the  utmost  anxiety.     He  took  his  Tiberius- 
station  on  the  head  of  a  cliff  to  get  the  first  sight  from 
afar  of  the  signals  which  he   had  arranged   for  the 
occasion ;  he  even  had  ships  ready,  in  case  things  at 
Rome  went  wrong,  to  carry  him  off  to  one  of  the 
provincial  armies.2 

The  fall  of  Sejanus  was  immediately  followed  by  Punish- 
the  prosecution  and  punishment  of  all  who  could  be  y1.6"1  °f »" 

»      _  i      r  i         •  i  j   i  •      j       •  mends  oi 

accused  or  suspected  of  having  shared  his  designs  or 
cultivated  his  friendship.  The  broken  narrative  of 
Tacitus  resumes  in  the  midst  of  an  account  of  a  meet- 
ing in  the  Senate,  at  which  an  accused  friend  of 
Sejanus  openly  acknowledges  the  friendship,  and 
justifies  himself  by  the  example  of  Tiberius.] 
***** 

'  Juv.  x.  63.  «  Suet.  Tib.  65. 

2  A 


352  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  31. 

his' 

r 

A.D.   31.     CONSULS   (SUFF.)   L.   FULCINIUS   TRIO 
AND   P.   MEMMIUS   REGULUS. 

Bold  .  .  .  Forty-four  speeches1  were  delivered  on  this  6 

byTfriend  occasion ;  some  of  them  inspired  by  terror,  the  majority 
of  sejanus.  fry  fae  mere  habit  of  adulation.  .  .  .  /  never  thought  to 
bring  shame  on  myself,  or  odium  upon  Sejanus.     But 
Fortune  has  now  turned.     He  who  assumed  Sejanus  as  2 
his  colleague  and  his  son-in-law*  finds  excuse  for  himself; 
the  others,  adding  crime  to  their  shame,  denounce  the 
man  upon  whom  they  fawned*     Whether  it  be  a  more  3 
unhappy  thing  to  be  the  accuser  lof  a  friend,  or  to  be 
accused  for  being  a  man's  friend,  I  care  not  to  determine.  4 
I  will  put  no  man's  cruelty,  no  man's  clemency,  to  the  test; 
but  while  still  free,  and  with  my  conscience  to  approve,  I 
will  anticipate  my  doom.      Of  you  I  beg  that  you  will  5 
think  of  me,  not  with  sorrow,  but  with  gladness,  and  enrol 

1  What  formed  the  subject  of  the  with  Tiberius  in  A.D.  31,  and  also  to 
forty-four  speeches  referred  to  in  this  such  share  in  the  work  of  administration 
fragment  of  fifteen  words  is  not  known.  as  led  Tiberius  to  speak  of  Sejanus  as 
It  was  evidently  connected  with  the  fall  socium  laborum  (iv.  2,  4),  and  Drusus 
of  Sejanus ;  and  the  number  of  orations  to   complain   incolumi  filio  adiutorem 
delivered,   with  the  assigned  motives,  imperii  alium  vocari  (iv.  7,  2).     Had 
ob  metum  and  adsuetudine,  suggest  a  Sejanus  been  made  a  sharer  of  the  pro- 
debate  on  some  motion  in  the  senate.  consular  or  any  other  formal  power,  as 
But  there  is  no  evidence  to  connect  the  Furn.  suggests  (Intr.  p.  83),  the  histo- 
debate  specially,   as  most  editors  do,  rians  could  scarcely  have  failed  to  notice 
with  the  punishment  of  Li  via  for  the  so  important  a  fact.   The  term  generum 
murder  of  Drusus.     The  rest  of  the  refers  to  the  alliance  with  Livia  which 
chapter  forms  a  second  fragment.    It  Sejanus  had  dared  to  hope  for.    To 
contains  an  address  by  an  avowed,  but  raise  so  hateful  a  proposal  from  the 
as  yet  unaccused,  friend  of  Sejanus ;  region  of  surmise  into  that  of  fact  is 
who,  like  the  eques  M.  Terentius  in  vi.  characteristic  of  Tacitus ;  it  is  no  less 
8,  6,  protests  his  innocence  of  all  guilty  appropriate  rhetorically  in  the  mouths 
projects,  and  justifies  his  friendship  for  of  men  who  are  defying  Tiberius  before 
Sejanus  by  the  example  of  the  emperor  they  die,  and  axe  per  invidiam  straining 
himself.  the  case  against  him  to  the  utmost. 

2  It  is  a  mistake  to  press  the  words  The  words  would  in  fact  mean,  'your 
collegam  et  generum  too  far,  so  as  to  would-be  son-in-law.'    Suetonius  more 
suppose  that  Sejanus  bad  been  made  correctly  describes  Sejanus  as  spe  adfini- 
in  some  special  sense  collega  imperii  tatis  ac  tribuniciae  potestatis  deceptum 
by    sharing  with    Tiberius    the    pro-  (Tib.  65). 

consular    power.    The  similar    words          3  i.e.  by  accusing  innocent  persons  in 

used  by  M.  Terentius  in  vi.  8,  6  (tuum,  order  to  save  themselves.     The  speaker 

Caesar,  generum,  tuiconsulatus  socium,  is  no  doubt  referring  to  the  informers 

tua  officia  in   re  publica  capessentem),  (indices)  mentioned  in  chap.  8,  i. 
refer  to  the  joint  consulship  of  Sejanus 


A.D.31.]  BOOK    V.   CHAPS.  6-8.  355 

me  in  that  company  who  have  found  in  honourable  death 
an  escape  from  the  evils  of  their  country. 

1  He  then  passed  part  of  the  day  with  his  friends,  He  openly 
bidding  them  farewell,  or  detaining  them,  according  suicide. 
as  each  desired  to  stay  and  converse  with  him  or  not ; 

and  the  house  was  still  thronged  with  guests,  all 
gazing  on  his  intrepid  face,  and  not  deeming  the  end 
so  nigh,  when  he  threw  himself  on  a  sword  which  he 

2  had  hidden  in  the  folds  of  his  dress.     Nor  did  the  Em- 
peror vent  on  him  when  dead  any  of  the  foul  charges 
which  he  had  not  spared  in  the  case  of  Blaesus.1 

!         Next    came    the   cases   of  Publius   Vitellius2  and  Cases  of 
Pomponius  Secundus.3    The   former  was  accused  of  and 
having  offered  to  open  the  Treasury,  of  which  he  was 
Prefect,  and  use  the  military  chest 4  to  aid  a  rising  ;  the 
latter  was  charged  by  Considius,  an  ex-Praetor,  with 
being  a  friend  of  Aelius  Callus  : 5  for  Callus  had  fled 
to  the  gardens    of  Pomponius  as  to  a   sure   refuge 

2  when  Sejanus  was  executed.  Nothing  would  have 
saved  these  two  men  but  the  staunchness  of  their 
brothers,6  who  came  forward  as  sureties  for  them. 

s  But  there  were  many  postponements;  and  Vitellius 

1  The  uncle  of  Sejanus  (ill.  35,  2),  the  public  aerarium  was  managed   by 

hailed  as   'Imperator'   by  his  troops  the  praetors  (1.  75,  4). 

for    his    African     successes    (iii.    74,  *  On  the  conjecture  that  Sejanus  was 

6).      He  was    apparently  among    the  adopted  by  Aelius  Gallus,  made  prefect 

first    victims.       His    two    sons    after-  of  Egypt  B.C.  24,  see  n.  on  iv.  i,  3.     It 

wards  put  an  end  to   themselves  (vi.  is  conjectured   that  the  Aelius  Gallus 

40,  3).  here  mentioned  was  the  eldest  son  of 

3  This  is  the  Vitellius  who  conducted  Sejanus,  bearing  the  same  name  as  his 
the  retreat  by  land  from  Germany  (i.  adoptive  grandfather.     It  seems,  how- 
70).     As  a  friend  of  Germanicus,  he  ever,  unlikely  that  Tacitus,  in  his  one 
was  an  accuser  of  Cn.  Piso  (ii.  74,  2;  mention    of    this    name,   should    have 
iii.  10,  a,  etc.).  omitted  to  add  the  cardinal  fact  that 

*  Pomponius   Secundus  was    subse-  he  was  the  son  of  Sejanus. 

quently  cos.  suf.  A.D.  44.  •  A  brother  of  Pomponius,  Quintus 

4  The  mention  of  militarem ptcuniam  by  name,  is  mentioned  in  vi.  18,  2,  as 
and  praefectus  shews  that  the  aerarium  accusing  a  sister  of  Considius.     One  of 
tnilitare  is  meant, instituted  by  Augustus  the  brothers  of  P.  Vitellius  was  Lucius, 
in  A.D.  6  for  the  payment  and  rewards  who  became  cos.   A.D.    34,  who  con- 
of  the  army  (i.  78,  2),  as  we  learn  from  ducted  the  Parthian  campaign  as  Gover- 
the  Mon.  Anc.  iii.  36-37.    The  military  nor  of  Syria  in  A.  D.  35,  and  of  whom 
treasury  was  managed  by  a  prefect  or  Tacitus  uses  the  fine  phrase  cfsserunt 
prefects    appointed    by   the    emperor ;  prima  postremis  (vi.  32,  7). 


356  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  31. 

was  unable  to  endure  the  alternations  of  hope  and 
fear.  Asking  for  a  penknife,  as  if  for  purposes  of 
study,  he  made  a  slight  incision  in  his  veins,  and  so 
died,1  of  sheer  despondency.  Pomponius,  however,  4 
survived  Tiberius;  he  was  a  man  of  fine  character, 
and  of  great  intellectual  parts,2  and  he  bore  with 
fortitude  his  change  of  fortune. 

Cruel  Although  the   popular  fury  was  now  subsiding,  9. 

ofthf0'  and  most  people  had  been  appeased  by  the  sentences 
children  of  already  inflicted,  it  was  resolved  to  punish  the  remain- 
sejanus.  jng  children 3  of  Sejanus,  and  they  were  carried  off  to  2 
prison.  The  boy  was  old  enough  to  understand  what 
was  before  him ;  but  the  girl  was  so  innocent  that 
she  kept  on  asking,  What  was  her  fault?  Whither 
were  they  taking  her  ?  She  would  not  do  it  again  :  could 
she  not  be  chastised  like  any  other  child?  Writers  of  3 
the  time  tell  us  that  as  there  was  no  precedent  for 
inflicting  capital  punishment  on  a  maiden,  she  was 
outraged  by  the  executioner  before  being  strangled. 
The  execution  over,  the  poor  young  bodies  were  cast 
down  the  Gemonian  stairs.4 

BOW  At  this  juncture,  an  alarming  though  short-lived   IO 

t^p™?1  rumour  ran  through  the  provinces  of  Asia  and  Achaia 
Drusus.  tnat  Drusus,5  the  son  of  Germanicus,  had  been  seen 
in  the  Cyclades,  and  again  upon  the  mainland.  The  2 
young  man  in  question  was  of  about  the  same  age 
as  Drusus,  and  some  of  that  prince's  freedmen  pro- 
fessed to  recognise  him,  and  attached  themselves  to 

1  The  story  of  Suetonius  is  that  he  had  three  children  by  Apicata.     The 
was  constrained  to  bind  up  his  wounds,  eldest,  whether  called  Aelius  Gallus  or 
and  died  afterwards  morbo  (Vit.  2).  not,  probably  perished  with  his  father. 

2  Pomponius  was  a  tragedian  of  high  See  n.  on  chap.  8,  i. 

repute ;  Quintilius  says  of  him  eorum          *  For  the  Gemonian  stairs,  see  n.  on 

quos  viderim  longe  princeps  Pomponius  iii.  14,  6. 

Secundus,  quern  senes  parum  tragicum          5  Drusus  was  at  this  time  a  prisoner 

putabant,  eruditione  et  nitore  praestare  in  the  Capitol ;   his  miserable  end  is 

confitebantur  (x.  i,  98).  described  below,  vi.  23,  4. 

3  From  iv.  3,  5  we  learn  that  Sejanus 


A.D.  31.]  BOOK    V.   CHAPS.  8-n.  357 

his  person  to  promote  the  fraud.  The  renown  of  his 
name,  and  the  love  of  the  Greek  mind  for  all  that  is 
strange  and  marvellous,1  soon  attracted  to  him  an 
ignorant  following.  A  story  was  concocted,  and 
straightway  believed,  that  Drusus  had  escaped  from 
custody,  and  was  on  his  way  to  his  father's  army2  to 

3  make  a  descent  upon  either  Syria  or  Egypt.  Attended 
by  crowds  of  young  men,  and  received  with  enthusiasm 
by  the  provincials,  the  youth  had  become  elated  by 
his  success  and  puffed  up  with  empty  hopes,  when  the 
thing  came  to  the  ears  of  Poppaeus  Sabinus,8  Governor 
of  Macedonia,  who  had  Achaia  also  under  his  charge. 

•i  To  be  beforehand  with  the  affair,  whether  there 
should  be  truth  in  it  or  not,  he  hurried  past  the  bays 
of  Torone  and  Thermae,4  skirted  the  island  of  Euboea 
in  the  Aegean,  touched  at  the  Piraeus  on  the  coast 
of  Attica,  and  then  landing  on  the  Corinthian  shore, 
crossed  the  Isthmus  of  that  name.  Taking  ship 
again  on  the  Ionian  Sea,  he  entered  the  Roman  colony 
of  Nicopolis,5  where  at  last  he  learnt  that  the  pretender, 
when  shrewdly  questioned  as  to  his  identity,  had 
declared  himself  son  of  Marcus  Silanus,8  and  being 
deserted  by  many  of  his  followers,  had  taken  ship 

5  as  if  for  Italy.  All  this  he  reported  to  Tiberius ;  but 
I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  anything  further  as 
to  the  origin  or  issue  of  the  affair. 

i        At  the  close  of  the  year,  a  quarrel  which  had  long  Quarrel 

between 

1  Cp.   Acts  xvii.   21 :    'For   all    the  founded  by  Augustus  on  the  N.   side    Jl?e      . 

Athenians    and    strangers    that    were  of   the    Ambracian    Gulf,   opposite   to    b;on- JIS 

there  spent  their  time  in  nothing  else,  Actium.     See  ii.  53,  i.  P°  ? 

but  either  to  tell,  or  to  hear  some  new  6  This  is  thought  to  be  the  same  M. 

thing.'  Silanus  whose  influence  obtained  from 

8  Called    paternos   as    having    been  Tiberius    a    pardon    for    his     brother 

commanded    by    Germanicus    in    the  Decimus  (iii.  24,    5),   whose  daughter 

East.  Claudia  was  married  to  Caligula  A.D. 

•  See  n.  on  iv.  46,  i.  33  (vi.  20,  i) ;  and  who  was  forced  by 
4  The  gulfs  of  Kassandra  and  Sa-  that  emperor  to  commit  suicide,  A.D. 

loniki,  on  the  E.  coast  of  Macedonia.  37  (Suet.  Cal.  23). 

*  Nicopolis    Actia    was   the   colony 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  31. 

been  brewing  between  the  Consuls  came  to  a  head. 
Trio,1  who  was  of  an  aggressive  temper,  and  versed  in 
the  ways  of  the  law-courts,  had  indirectly  rebuked 
Regulus  2  for  slackness  in  putting  down  the  followers 
of  Sejanus ;  while  Regulus,  who,  except  under  pro-  2 
vocation,  was  a  man  of  peace,  not  only  repudiated  the 
charge,  but  proposed  to  bring  his  colleague  to  trial 
for  having  himself  taken  part  in  the  conspiracy.  In  3 
vain  did  many  of  the  senators  implore  them  to  give 
up  a  quarrel  which  could  only  end  disastrously :  they 
persisted  in  their  animosity  and  their  threats  against 
each  other  until  they  vacated  office.3 

1  Fulcinius  Trio  is  known  to  us  as  A.D.  35;  he  died  A.D.  61,  auctoritate 
leading   the    accusation  against    Libo  constantia  fama    clarus   (xiv.    47,    i). 
(ii.   28,   4),   when  he  is  described    as  Dio  tells  us  that  when  Macro  entered 
avidus  famae    malae ;    and    also    as  Rome  by  night,  armed  with  his  secret 
accuser  of  Cn.  Piso  (iii.  10,  i).  Expect-  instructions  against    Sejanus,    he    en- 
ing  to  be  accused  himself,  he  committed  trusted  them  to   Regulus,  but  not  to 
suicide  A.D.  35  (vi.  38,  2),  after  deliver-  Trio,  as  the  latter  was  thought  to  be 
ing  himself  of  a  violent  attack  upon  too  friendly  to  Sejanus  (Iviii.  9,  3). 
Macro  and  Tiberius.    .  8  As  to  this  quarrel,  see  further,  vi. 

2  P.    Memmius   Regulus    succeeded  4,  2. 
Poppaeus    Sabinus  in  his  command, 


BOOK   VI. 

A.D.  32.   CONSULS  CN.  DOMITIUS  AHENOBARBUS1  AND 
M.   FURIUS   CAMILLUS2  ARRUNTIUS   SCRIBONIANUS. 

1  THE  new   Consuls   had   already  entered   upon   their  Tiberius 
office  when  Tiberius  crossed   the  strait  which  sepa- 
rates   Capreae   from   Surrentum,  and   coasted   along 
Campania,  either  uncertain  whether  to  go  to  Rome 

or  not,  or  else  professing  the  intention  for  the  very 

2  reason  that  he  had   resolved  otherwise.      He  came 
several   times  close  up  to  the  city ;    entered  some 
gardens3   beside    the  Tiber;    and    then   slunk    back 
once  more  to  his  cliffs  and  his  solitary  sea,  in  very 
shame  at  his  own  criminal  and  lustful  practices.     For 
his   passions  had  now  become  so  rampant  that  he 
would  debauch  free-born  children,  after  the   fashion 

3  of  an  oriental  despot ;  not  for  their  grace  or  beauty 
only,  but  because  the  innocent  youth  of  one,  or  the 
illustrious  ancestry  of  another,  added  a  fresh  stimulus 

4  to  his  desires.     It  was  now  that  were  first  invented 
the  terms  of  sellarii  and  spintriae,  to  correspond  to 

1  The  husband  of  Agrippina  and  by  Julius  Caesar  to  the  people,  on  the 

father  of  Nero  :  see  n.  on  iv.  75,  i.  right  bank  of  the  river.  Suetonius  says 

1  This  Camillas  had  for  his  natural  that  on  this  occasion  Tiberius  came  up 

and  adoptive  fathers  respectively  the  the  river  in  a  trireme  as  far  as  the 

M.  Furius  Camillas  of  ii.  52,  5,  and  the  gardens  proximos  naumachiae  (i.e.  the 

L.  Arruntius  of  i.  13,  i ;  but  which  was  naval  amphitheatre  built  by  Augustus), 

the  adoptive,  which  the  natural  father,  guards  being  posted  on  the  banks  to 

is  uncertain.  Why  he  was  called  Sen-  keep  off  the  crowd.  When  Horace 

bonianus  is  not  known  ;  that  name  was  attempts  to  shake  off  his  bore,  he 

not  assumed  until  a  later  period  (xii.  tells  him  he  has  to  visit  a  sick  friend : 

52,  i).  Trans  Tiberim  longe  cvbat  is,  prope 

9  These  were  the  gardens  bequeathed  Cat saris  hortos  (Sat.  i.  9,  18). 


•< 


360 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  32. 


filthy  forms  and  multiplicities  of  lust.  The  office  of  5 
hunting  up  and  dragging  in  victims  was  assigned  to 
slaves,  who  would  offer  bribes  for  compliance,  and 
meet  reluctance  with  menaces;  if  resistance  were 
offered  by  friends  or  parents,  they  would  use  open 
violence,  and  work  their  will  on  them  as  in  a  captured 
city.1 


1  As  this  chapter  presents  the  in- 
dictment against  the  private  life  of 
Tiberius  in  its  most  loathsome  as  well 
as  most  positive  form,  it  is  well  to  ask 
how  far  we  are  bound  to  accept  as  true 
the  facts  here  stated.  The  account 
given  by  Suetonius  in  the  corresponding 
passage  is  so  similar  in  its  details,  that 
we  cannot  doubt  that  both  writers 
drew  from  the  same  source ;  and  from 
the  nature  of  the  case  that  source  must 
have  been  mainly,  if  not  entirely,  the 
popular  rumours  prevalent  at  the  time. 
We  have  already  seen  how  frequently 
Tacitus  first  records  the  existence  of 
some  rumour  or  suspicion,  and  then 
afterwards,  having  thus  satisfied  his 
conscience  as  a  historian  by  indicating 
the  nature  of  his  evidence,  permits  the 
suspicion  to  harden  into  an  assertion, 
and  treats  the  matter  to  which  it  refers 
as  an  established  fact.  This  is  especi- 
ally true  of  the  private  life  of  Tiberius. 
The  mere  secrecy  of  that  life  in  its  later 
years  would  lead  naturally,  in  an  atmo- 
sphere like  that  of  Rome,  to  the  inven- 
tion and  propagation  of  every  evil 
rumour  in  regard  to  it.  Immorality  of 
the  grossest  kind  was  so  rife  in  Rome, 
that  to  attribute  it  to  an  opponent  had 
become  the  ordinary  stock-in-trade  of 
personal  abuse.  If  it  be  true,  as 
Tacitus  tells  us,  that  in  those  days  no 
accusation  against  any  one  was  con- 
sidered complete  unless  a  charge  of 
maiestas  was  added  to  it,  it  is  equally 
true  that  no  accuser,  whatever  the  other 
charges  on  which  he  relied  might  be, 
failed  to  superadd  to  them  a  vilification 
of  the  private  life  of  the  accused.  This 
fact  alone  should  make  us  chary  of 
accepting  as  true  all  the  foul  stories 
current  at  the  time  in  regard  to  per- 
sonages who  had  become  objects  of 
public  detestation.  Tacitus  himself 
lays  down  a  caution  which  may  well  be 
applied  to  the  case  which  we  are  now 
considering  :  '  The  truth  is  that  Sejanus 
was  thought  capable  of  devising  any 
villainy  ;  and  such  was  the  extravagant 
affection  of  Tiberius  for  him,  and  the 


hatred  of  every  one  towards  them  both, 
that  any  tale  against  them,  however 
fabulous  or  monstrous  it  might  be, 
found  ready  credence'  (iv.  n,  3). 

It  has  been  already  pointed  out  (see 
n.  on  i.  4,  4)  that  all  we  know,  on 
certain  evidence,  of  the  public  life  and 
character  of  Tiberius  during  his  earlier 
years,  is  inconsistent  with  a  life  of 
private  debauchery.  His  strenuous,  over- 
anxious attention  to  public  business ; 
his  indifference  to  ordinary  pleasures  ; 
his  interest  in  literature  and  Greek 
learning ;  his  impatience  of  scandalous 
conduct,  especially  in  members  of  the 
imperial  family,  which  he  punished 
with  a  severity  deemed  excessive  by 
Tacitus  himself;  his  loathing  towards 
his  own  profligate  wife  Julia — all  these 
things  lead  us  to  doubt  that  Tiberius, 
in  his  later  days,  could  have  given  him- 
self up  to  a  life  of  infamy.  We  hear 
no  whisper  of  the  kind  during  his 
earlier  years,  when  his  life  was  public, 
and  spent  in  Rome  :  it  is  only  when  his 
life  was  withdrawn  from  public  view, 
when  positive  evidence  was  no  longer 
forthcoming  as  to  how  his  time  was 
spent,  that  he  is  asserted  to  have 
changed  the  whole  current  of  his  life — 
and  that,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he 
lived  to  a  hale  old  age,  enjoying  good 
health  to  the  last. 

Some  of  the  details  given  in  this 
chapter  (ut  more  regio  pubem  ingenuam 
stupris  pollueret  .  .  .  in  his  modes  tarn 
pueritiam,  in  aliis  imagines  maiorum 
incitamentum  cupidinis  habebat)  are 
mere  rhetorical  exaggerations,  suggest- 
ing motives  incapable  of  proof,  and 
wholly  foreign  to  the  character  of 
Tiberius.  And  if  there  be  an  element  of 
truth  in  the  tales  of  kidnapping  and 
violence  given  in  the  closing  words  of 
the  chapter  (praepositique  servi . . .  exer- 
cebant),  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose 
that  these  things  were  done  by  the 
order,  or  with  the  knowledge,  of 
Tiberius.  We  know  from  Petronius 
how  wild  and  disordered  life  in  Italy 
was  at  that  time,  and  what  outrages 


A.D.  32.] 


BOOK    VI.  CHAPS.   1-2. 


36; 


Meanwhile  at  Rome,  as  though  the  scandalous 
doings  of  Livia  had  only  just  come  to  light,  and 
not  been  punished1  long  before,  cruel  decrees  were 
pronounced  against  her  at  the  new  year;  even 
against  her  statues a  and  her  memory.8  The  property 
of  Sejanus  was  taken  out  of  the  public  Treasury,  and 
transferred  to  the  Fiscus  ;  just  as  if  that  made  any 
difference.4  Such  proposals,  in  identical  or  slightly 
varied  terms,  were  strenuously  supported  by  men 
bearing  the  names  of  Scipio,  Silanus,  or  Cassius; 5  when 
suddenly  Togonius  Callus,0  thrusting  his  ignoble  self 


Fresh 
decrees 
against 
Livia  and 
Sejanus. 


could  be  committed  with  impunity.  We 
may  well  believe  that  outrages  like 
those  here  described  might  be  committed 
by  the  freedmen  and  other  members 
of  the  household  of  Tiberius.  Cut 
off  at  Capri  from  the  pleasures  and 
opportunities  of  the  city,  it  would  be 
easy  for  them  to  organize  raids  on  to 
the  main  land,  and  outrage  or  carry  off 
whom  they  would.  None  would  dare 
to  resist  a  party  coming  from  Capri ; 
all  would  be  done  and  excused  in  the 
emperor's  name ;  and  the  emperor 
himself  would  thus  gain  the  credit 
for  the  disorderly  conduct  of  his  own 
household.  After  the  death  of  the 
hated  tyrant,  all  such  stories,  to  use  the 
language  of  Tacitus,  were  '  raked  up 
and  made  the  most  of  (iv.  u,  4); 
and  in  view  of  such  a  possibility,  as  well 
as  of  the  other  doubts  which  surround 
the  case,  we  may  well  give  the  verdict 
of  '  not  proven  '  on  this  most  repulsive 
part  of  the  indictment  against  Tiberius 
as  set  forth  by  Tacitus  in  the  closing 
words  of  Book  VI. 

1  According  to  Dio  (Iviii.  u,  7), 
Tiberius  put  to  death  Livia  and  others 
on  receiving  a  written  account  of  the 
murder  of  Drusus,  drawn  up  by  Api- 
cata,  wife  of  Sejanus,  before  her  own 
suicide.  He  mentions  another  version 
according  to  which  Tiberius  would  have 
spared  Livia  for  the  sake  of  her  mother, 
Antonia  minor  ;  but  that  Antonia  her- 
self caused  her  to  be  starved  to  death. 
This  is  a  good  instance  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  court  gossip  followed  by 
Dio  and  Suetonius  could  always  add  a 
new  element  of  horror  to  every  story. 
Tacitus  makes  a  more  discriminating 
use  of  his  authorities. 


2  So  in  the  case  of  Messalina,  the 
senate  decreed  nomen  eius  et  effigies 
privatis  ac  publicis  locis  demovendas 
(xi.  38,  4) ;  so  it  was  decreed  that 
Libo's  image  was  not  to  appear  at 
the  funerals  of  his  descendants  (ii.  32, 
2)  ;  and  in  iii.  17,  8  the  consul  Cotta 
proposes  Pisonis  nomtn  eradendum 
fastis.  Paris  has  not  infrequently  in- 
flicted similar  forms  of  retribution  on 
her  fallen  heroes. 

8  The  cue  was  taken  up  all  over  the 
empire.  An  inscription  from  Interamna 
of  A.D.  32  is  dedicated  providentiae  Ti. 
Caesaris,  and  congratulates  him  sublato 
hoste  perniciosissimo :  no  doubt  Sejanus 
is  meant.  See  Rushforth,  p.  69. 

4  i.e.  the  emperor  was,  in  fact,  master 
of  all.     In  theory,  while  the/?j<r«J,  like 
the  administration  of  the  imperial  pro- 
vinces, was  under  the  direct  control  of 
the  princeps,  the  aerarium  could  only 
be  dealt  with  by  decree  of  the  senate. 
The  rule  for  confiscated  property  was 
that  it  should  be  paid  into  the  aerarium  ; 
but,  like  all  others,  that  rule  could  be 
overridden  by  the  emperor,   as  when 
he  appropriated  for  the  fiscus  the  pro- 
perty of  Sextus  Marius  (chap.  19,  i). 

5  The     plurals     Scipiones,     Silani, 
Cassii,   here    mark    the    bitterness    of 
Tacitus    in    recording    the    adulation 
displayed  by  members  of  the  great  old 
houses.     Only  individuals  are  meant  in 
each  case. 

•  This  person  is  unknown.  The 
absurdity  consisted  partly  in  taking  it 
for  granted  that  Tiberius  meant  what 
he  said  ;  partly  in  the  proposal  to  pro- 
tect the  emperor  from  his  enemies  in 
the  senate  by  a  bodyguard  chosen  by 
lot  from  that  body  (Dio,  Iviii.  17,  4). 


Officious- 
ness  of 
Togonius 
Gallus 


362 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  32. 


sarcasti- 
cally 

rebuked  by 
Tiberius. 


Stinging 
answer  to 
Junius 
Gallic. 


among  these  mighty  names,  made  himself  ridiculous 
by  imploring  the  Emperor  to  select  a  certain  number  3 
of  senators,  twenty  of  whom  should  be  chosen   by 
lot  to  act  as  an  armed  escort  and  protect  his  person 
whenever  he   should   enter  the   Senate-house.       He  4 
had  taken  in  good  faith,1  no  doubt,  a  passage  in  the 
Emperor's    letter2  asking   for    the    protection   of   a 
Consul  on  his  journey  from  Capreae  to  the  city.     But  5 
Tiberius  had  a  way  of  throwing  in  a  jest  in  the  midst 
of  serious  affairs ; 3  so  he  thanked  the  Fathers  for  their 
goodness,  and  inquired  : — Who  were  to  be  chosen,  who 
left  out?     Would  it  be  always  the  same  men,  or  would 
the  duty  be  taken  in  rotation  ?     Were  they  to  be  young 
men,4"  or  men  who  had  held  office  ?  Private  individuals,  or 
magistrates  ?    How  would  it  look  to  see  them  girding  on 
their  swords  at  the  door  of  the  Senate-house  ?    His  life 
would  not  be   worth  the  having  if  arms  were  needed 
for  his  protection.     Such  was  his  temperate  reply  to  6 
Togonius;  and  he  advised  nothing  further  than  the 
cancelling  of  the  resolution. 

On    the    other    hand,   he  administered  a  cutting  3. 
rebuke  to  Junius   Gallio,5  who    had    proposed    that 
members  of  the   Praetorian  Guard  should  have  the 


1  How  little  Tiberius  meant  what  he 
said    is  shown    by  the    fact  that  the 
consul  Regulus  actually  presented  him- 
self at  Capri  for  the  purpose,  and  was 
refused  admittance  (Dio,  Iviii.  13,  3). 

2  This    was    doubtless    the    famous 
letter     immortalised    by    Juv.   x.    71 : 
Nilhorum:  verbosa  et  grandis  epistola 
venit  =  A  Capreis. 

3  Suetonius  relates  some  instances  of 
the  grim  humour  of  Tiberius.    On  the 
arrival  of  a  tardy  embassy  from  Ilium 
to  present  condolences  on  the  death  of 
his  son,  he  replied  that  '  he  too  was 
grieved  for  them,  at  the  loss  of  their 
excellent  citizen  Hector '  (Tib.  52).  Some 
wag,  as  a  funeral  passed,  shouted  aloud 
to  the  corpse  to  tell  Augustus  that  '  his 
legacies  to  the  people  were  still  unpaid. ' 
Tiberius    caused    the    amount  of   the 


legacy  to  be  paid  to  the  man  at  once  ; 
then  ordered  him  off  to  execution,  bid- 
ding him  to  be  sure  and  inform  Augustus 
that  he  had  received  his  legacy  (Tib.  57). 

4  i.e.    either  those  who  had  not  yet 
risen  above  the  quaestorship  (tenable  at 
twenty-five  years  of  age),  or  such  as  had 
been  specially  adlecti  a  principe.     See 
Furn.  Intr.,  p.  80. 

5  This  Gallio  is  ranked  by  Seneca  as 
one  of  the  four  foremost  declaimers  of 


Annaeus  Novatus,  one  of  the  sons  of 
Seneca,  who,  taking  the  name  of  L. 
Annaeus  Junius  Gallio,  became  pro- 
consul of  Achaia  in  St.  Paul's  time,  and 
is  famous  as  the  Gallio  who  '  cared  for 
none  of  these  things  '  (Acts  xviii.  17). 


A.D.  32.]  BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.   2-3.  363 

right  of  sitting  in  the  Fourteen  Rows  after  they  had 
served  their  time.1  As  if  questioning  him  to  his  face, 
Tiberius  asked  : — What  had  he  to  do  ivith  the  soldiers  ? 
From  whom  but  from  the  Emperor*  should  soldiers  receive 

2  either  their  commands  or  their  rewards  ?   Had  Gallio  dis- 
covered a  new  principle  which  had  escaped  the  wisdom  of 
Augustus  ?    Or  had  he  been  seeking  to  stir  up  discord 
and  sedition  as  a  satellite  of  Scjanus  :  inciting  the  rude 
minds  of  the  soldiery  to  break  through  the  rules  of  the 
service,  under  pretence  of  conferring  on  them  a  distinction  ? 

3  Such  was  the  reward  that  Gallio  reaped  for  his  His  pun- 
carefully  studied  flattery.     He  was  expelled  from  the 
Senate   forthwith,   and   soon   afterwards    from    Italy. 

And  as  it  was  objected  that  he  would  find  life  too 
pleasant  in  the  famous  and  delightful  island  of  Lesbos, 
which  he  had  chosen  for  his  exile,  he  was  dragged 
back  to  Rome,  and  given  over  for  private  custody 
to  the  magistrates.8 

4  In  the  same  despatch,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  Sextius  Pa- 

10  T->  n>          •         n  •  conianus 

the  Senate,  the  Emperor  struck  at  Sextius  raconianus,  accused, 
an  ex-Praetor,  a  pestilent  person  of  great  effrontery, 
who  pried   into   everybody's   secrets,  and   had   been 
selected  by  Sejanus  to  help  in  laying  a  plot  for  Gaius 

5  Caesar.     No  sooner  was  this  known  than  the  hatred 
long  entertained   against  him  burst  out  openly,  and 
he  would  have  been  condemned  to  death  had  he  not 
offered  to  turn  informer.4 

1  i.e.    they  were    to    be    treated  as  the  magistrates  could  inflict  :  (i)  in  a 

equites,  and  to  receive  the  privileges  of  career  ;    (2)    militaris  custodia,   as   in 

primipilani.  iii.   22,   5,   and   xiv.  60,   5 :    cp.   Acts 

1  At  the  height  of  the  mutiny  in  Pan-  xxviii.  16,  '  But  Paul  was  suffered  to 
nonia,  Drusus, temporising,  had  referred  dwell  by  himself  with  a  soldier  that 
the  troops  to  the  arbitt turn  senates  et  kept  him  ; '  (3)  with  special  guardians 
patres;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  their  or  'vades,'  as  was  the  case  with  Pom- 
petition  was  never  laid  before  the  senate  ponius  (v.  8,  2);  or  lastly  (4)  in  their 
at  all.  The  retort  of  the  soldiers  to  own  houses,  as  in  the  passage  before  us. 
Drusus  shews  how  hollow  they  felt  his  See  Dig.  xlviii.  3,  i. 
pretence  to  be  (i.  26,  6).  *  Paconianus  was  strangled  in  prison, 

8  As   Furn.  points  out,  Roman  law  A.D.  36  (chap.  39,  i). 
recognised  four  kinds  of  custody  which 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  32. 


and 

denounces 
Latinius 
Latiaris. 


Haterius 
attacks 
last  year's 
Consuls. 


His  hateful 
character. 


Cotta 

Messalinus 

accused, 


And  when  Sextius  denounced  Latinius  Latiaris,  the  4. 
sight  of  these  two  men,  both  equally  detested,  in  the 
position  of  accuser  and  accused,  filled  every  one  with 
joy.    Latiaris,  as  I  have  related,1  had  taken  the  leading 
part  in  entrapping  Titius  Sabinus;  and  he  was  the 
first  to  pay  the  penalty.     While  the  affair  was  still  2 
pending,  Haterius  Agrippa2  attacked  the  Consuls  of 
the   preceding  year,  asking : — How  was  it  that,  after 
threatening  each  other  with  accusations?  they  were  silent 
now  ?    It  must  be  that  fear,  or  complicity  in  guilt,  was 
serving   as    a    bond    between    them :    the    Fathers,    at 
any  rate,  should  not  keep  silence  as  to  what  they  had 
heard.     To  this  Regulus  replied  that  he  would  bide  his  3 
time  for  revenge,  and  state  his  case  before  the  Emperor. 
Trio's  answer  was  that  their  rivalry  as  colleagues,  and 
their  angry  words  to  one  another,   had  better  be  for- 
gotten.      Agrippa  still  persisting,   Sanquinius   Maxi-  4 
mus,4  a  Consular,  implored  the  Senate  not  to  add  to 
the  Emperor's  troubles  by  hunting  up  further  subjects  of 
exasperation  :  he  could  himself  provide  a  remedy.    Thus 
was     Regulus    saved,    and    Trio's    fate    postponed. 
What  made  Haterius  so  hateful  was  that,   although  5 
enervated  by  somnolence  or  nights  of  debauch,  and 
protected   by   his   own  lethargy  from  the  Emperor's 
cruelty,  however  great  it  might  be,  he  never  ceased 
plotting  the  downfall  of  illustrious  men  in  the  midst 
of  his  lusts  and  gluttonies. 

On  the  first  opportunity  after  this,  Cotta  Messa-  5 
linus,5  a  man  long  and  deeply  hated  for  his  alacrity 


1  See  iv.  68,  2,  and  71,  i. 

2  Mentioned  as  a  relation  of  Ger- 
manicus,  and  gaining  the  praetorship 
by  his  influence  (ii.  51,  2) ;  as  propos- 
ing a    capital  sentence    on    Clutorius 
(Hi.  49,  4) ;  and  as  cos.   A.D.   22  (iii. 
52,  i).     He  had  made  a  show  of  inde- 
pendence as  trib.    pleb.   in    A.D.    15 
(i-  77,  3)- 


3  See  above,  v.  n,  i. 

4  A  man  of  some  distinction  :  twice 
cos.   suf.,   and    ultimately    legatus    of 
Lower  Germany,  where  he  died  A.D. 
47  (xi.  18,  i). 

5  A  special  object  of  Tacitus'  detes- 
tation.   See  v.    3,   4  ;  also  iv.    20,  6  ; 
ii.   32,   2,  and  vi.  7,  i.     His  full  name 
was  M.  Aurelius  Cotta  Maximus :  he 


A.D.  32.]  BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.   4-6.  365 

in  proposing  measures  of  severity,  was  accused  on 
various  counts :  that  he  had  spoken  of  Gaius  Caesar 
as  effeminate ;  that  i  he  had  described  a  priestly 
banquet  on  Augusta's  birthday,  at  which  he  was 
present,  as  a  funeral  feast y1  and  that,  when  complain- 
ing of  the  excessive  influence  of  Manius  Lepidus  and 
Lucius  Arruntius,2  with  whom  he  had  some  differ- 
ence on  money  matters,  he  had  added  : — The  Senate 
will  protect  them;  but  I  shall  have  my  dear  little  Tiberius 
to  protect  me.  All  this  was  proved  against  him  by 
men  of  high  standing;  but  when  the  case  was  pressed, 
Messalinus  appealed  to  the  Emperor.  And  before  but  pro- 
long a  letter  arrived,  in  which  Tiberius,  by  way  the 
of  defence,  recounted  the  origin  of  his  friendship  Eraper 
with  Cotta,  enumerated  his  many  services  towards 
himself,  and  begged  that  a  criminal  interpretation  might 
not  be  put  on  words  twisted  from  their  natural  meaning, 
or  uttered  in  all  frankness  at  the  dinner-tablet 

The     preamble     to     this     letter    attracted    much  Pathetic 

Ti  .,  letter  from 

attention.     It  ran  thus  : —  Tiberius. 

If  I  know,  Conscript  Fathers,  what  to  write  to  you  at 
this  time,  or  how  to  write,  or,  in  fine,  what  not  to  write, 
may  all  the  Gods  and  Goddesses  destroy  me  with  a 
destruction  worse  than  that  with  which  I  feel  myself  to  be 
perishing  day  by  day  /* 

was  a  son  of  the  famous  M.  Valerius  a  banquet  to  her  was  but  a  funeral 

Messalla  Corvinus,    the  orator,    poet,  feast. 

grammarian  and  historian,  the  friend  *  For  these  men,  see  i.  13,  z  and  iii. 

and    patron  of    Horace  and  Tibullus.  32,  2. 

His   brother    Messalla  "Valerius,  from  *  The  excellent  tenor  of  this  reply 

whom    he  is   said  to   have   taken  the  would  show  that  even  in  his  later  days 

name  of  Messalinus,  appears  also  as  a  Tiberius  had  flashes  of  good  sense  and 


servile  senator  in  i.  8,   5.     He  himself  even    kindliness,    such    as    were    not 

is  called  a  gourmand  by  Pliny  (N.  H.  unfrequent  in  his  earlier  years.   Tacitus 

x.  22,  27},  and  is  described  by  Persius  does  not  quote  them  as  expressing  a 

as  the  '  blear-eyed  offspring  of  the  great  sentiment  honourable  to  Tiberius  ;  he 

Messala'  (ii.  72).     Yet  Ovid  rates  him  quotes  them  only  to  exhibit  him  in  the 

highly.  odious    character    of    a    protector    of 

1  A  feast  to  the  dead  given  nine  days  informers. 

after  the  funeral.    The  point  of  the  jest  4  These  famous  and  pathetic  words 

was  that  as  Li  via  had  not  been  deified,  are  quoted  verbatim  by  Suet.  Tib.  67, 


. 


366 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  32. 


The  tyrant 
punished 
by  his  own 
wicked- 


Caecilia- 
nus  pun- 
ished for 
witnessing 
against 
Gotta. 


Prosecu- 
tion of 
Servaeus 
and 
Minucius. 


So  terribly  had  his  own  crimes  and  excesses  re-  2 
coiled   in  punishment  on   his   head!     How  true   the 
saying  of  the   great   ancient   sage,1  that  if  the  souls 
of  tyrants  could  be  laid  bare,  the  marks  of  blows  and- 
torture  might  there  be  seen ;   since  just  as  the  body 
is  scored   by  stripes,  so  is  the  mind   by  cruelty,  by 
lust  and  wicked  purposes.     For  neither  high  station  3 
nor   seclusion   could   save  Tiberius  from   confessing 
with  his  own  lips  the  torments  of  his  heart,  and  the 
penalties  which  he  was  undergoing. 

The  Senate  was  then  permitted  to  try  the  case  7 
of  the  senator  Gaius  Caecilianus  who  had  been  the 
principal  witness  against  Cotta.  It  was  resolved  that 
he  should  receive  the  same  punishment  as  Aruseius 
and  Sanquinius,2  the  accusers  of  Lucius  Arruntius. 
Never  did  Cotta  receive  an  honour  like  to  this.  He 
was  of  noble  birth,  no  doubt ;  but  he  had  been  re- 
duced to  beggary  by  extravagance,  and  his  life  was 
stained  with  infamies ;  and  yet  now,  in  receiving  so 
honourable  a  reparation,  he  was  put  on  a  level  with 
a  man  of  spotless  character  like  Arruntius. 

Next,  Quintus  Servaeus  3  and  Minucius  Thermus 4  2 
were   brought   into   Court.     Servaeus   had   held   the 
Praetorship,  and  had  been  on  the  staff  of  Germani- 
cus ;  Minucius  was  a  man  of  equestrian   rank,  who 


with  the  exception  that  for  quam  perire 
me  cotidie,  Suetonius  has  quam  cotidie 
perire,  leaving  out  the  me.  It  is  clear 
that  the  letter  must  have  been  officially 
preserved,  and  that  both  writers  had 
access  to  it.  Tacitus  interprets  the 
words  as  a  confession  of  the  pangs  of 
conscience;  Suetonius,  more  naturally, 
as  an  expression  of  despair  and  helpless- 
ness— adding  that  some  regarded  them 
as  a  presage  of  the  hatred  of  which  he 
was  to  be  the  object  after  death. 

1  i.e.  Socrates.  The  reference  is  to  the 
Gorgias,  524  E,  where  Rhadamanthus 
is  represented  as  finding  the  soul  of 
some  potentate  all  unsound,  marked  by 
the  scars  and  wounds  inflicted  on  it  by 


a  life  of  wickedness  and  debauch.     See 
also  Rep.  ix.  579,  D. 

2  Nothing  is  known  of  these  persons, 
or  of  their  accusation  and  punishment  : 
the    impeachment    of   Arruntius   must 
have  been  recorded  in  the  lost  book. 
His    subsequent    accusation,    and    his 
noble  speech  before  suicide,  are  related 
below,  chap.  47,  2  and  48,  2-5. 

3  Servaeus  is  mentioned  (ii.  56,  5)  as 
the  first  governor  of  Commagene,  and 
as  one    of   the   accusers  of  Piso  (iii. 


-  3)- 
4  P 


ossibly  father  of  the  ex-praetor 
Minucius  Thermus,  who  was  sacrificed 
to  please  Tigellinus  (xvi.  20,  2). 


A.D.32.]  BOOK    VI.  -CHAPS.  6-7.  367 

had    enjoyed,    but    not    abused,    the    friendship    of 
Sejanus.      Hence  much  sympathy  was  felt  for  both. 

3  Yet  Tiberius    denounced    them   as    criminal   in    the 
highest   degree,  and   Gaius  Cestius1  the   elder2  was 
instructed  to  tell  the  Senate  what  he  had  communi- 
cated to  the  Emperor  in  writing. 

4  Cestius  accordingly  undertook  the  prosecution  ;  for  Horrors  of 

r      ,1  •,     r  r     ,  •  the  system 

of  all  the  evil  features  of  that  time,  none  was  more  ofdeiation. 
calamitous  than  this,  that  the  first  men  in  the  Senate 
would  practise  the  vilest  delation  :  some  openly,  some 
in  secret ;  not  distinguishing  between  kinsfolk  and 
strangers,  between  friends  and  unknown  persons, 
between  things  of  yesterday  and  things  obscured  by 
time.  Words  uttered  in  the  street,  or  across  the 
dinner-table,  on  any  subject  whatever,  were  noted  for 
accusation,  every  man  hurrying  to  be  first  to  mark 
down  his  victim  :  some  few  acting  in  self-defence,  the 
greater  number  as  if  infected  by  some  contagious 
malady. 

5  Minucius    and    Servaeus    were    condemned,    but 
turned   informers;8    a   similar    fate  overtook  Julius 
Africanus,4  a  Gaul  of  the  Santonian  tribe,  and  Seius  informers: 
Quadratus,  a  man  whose  origin  I  have  not  been  able  s«utions! 

6  to  discover.     Many  similar  cases,  I  am  aware,  of  peril 
and  of  punishment  are  passed  over  by  the  historians, 
wearied  out,  perhaps,  by  their  abundance,  or  perhaps 
anxious  to  spare   their  readers  the  torture  inflicted 
on    themselves   by  such  a  catalogue   of  horrors.     I 
myself  have  come  across  many  incidents  worthy  of 
being  known,  though  left  unnoticed  by  other  writers.5 

1  Supposed  to  be  the  same  as  the  C.  turning  informer,  even  after  being  him- 

Cestius  who  showed  some  independence  self  condemned  ;  see  chap.  3,  5. 

of  character  (iii.  36,  a.)  *  Probably    father    of    the    famous 

*  As  the  son  of  Cestius  is  not  men-  orator  of   that  name  under  Claudius 
tioned,  probably  praetorem  should  be  and  Nero. 

read  instead  ofpatrem.  •  These  words    imply  that    Tacitus 

*  Thus  a  man  could  save  himself  by       had  authorities    of   his  own  to  draw 


368  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  32. 

Thus  at  a  time  when  others  had  been  falsely  dis-  8. 
claiming  all  friendship  with  Sejanus,  a  Roman  knight 
of  the   name   of  Marcus  Terentius,  accused  of  that 
offence,  dared  openly  to  avow  the  fact.     He  put  his 
case  before  the  Senate  in  this  way  * — 

Noble  atti-        //  may,  perhaps,  be  more  hurtful  to  my  interests  to  plead  2 
speech  of    guilty  to  this  charge,  than  to  deny  it;  but  whatever  the 
Terentius,    result,  I  will  confess,  not  only  that  Sejanus  was  my  friend, 
but  that  I  eagerly  sought  his  friendship,  and  rejoiced  to 
have  secured  it.     I  had  seen  him  sharing  with  his  father  3 
the  command  of  the  Praetorian  Guards,  and  discharging 
various  duties,  both  military  and  civil.1    His  relations,  his  1 
connections,  were  advanced  to  office ;  to  be  intimate  with 
Sejanus  was  to  enjoy  the  favour  of  the  Emperor;  to  be 
his  enemy,  was  to  live  in  terror,  to  be  humiliated  and 
struck  down.     I  will  adduce  no  example  save  my  own :  at  5 
my  own  sole  peril,  I  will  defend  all  who,  like  myself,  had 
no  share  in  his  latest  designs.     For  it  was  not  the  Sejanus  c 
of  Vulsinii  whom  we  courted;  it  was  the  member  of  the 
Julian  and  the  Claudian  families,   into  which  he  had 
entered   by  alliance;    it  was  your  own   son-in-law,   O 
Caesar,  your  own  colleague 2  in  the  Consulship,  one  who 
was  discharging  the  functions  of  your  high  station.     It  i 
is  not  for  us  to  appraise  those  whom  you  exalt  above  all 
others,  or  to  ask  why  you  have  exalted  them.     To  you  the 
Gods  have  given  the  supreme  direction  of  affairs ;  to  us 
has  been  left  the  glory  of  obedience.      We  can  but  see  g 

from,  not  accessible  to,  or  not  used  by,  2  The  elevation    of   Sejanus  to  the 

other  writers.     It  is  characteristic  that  consulship  along  with  Tiberius  himself 

he    should    apologise    for    giving    the  in  A.D.   31  might  well  suggest  to  the 

speech  of  a  mere  eques,  specially  ex-  Roman  world  that  he  was  destined  as 

plaining  that  it  was  dignum  cognitu.  successor  to  the  empire,  and  was  taking 

See  the  similar  remark  in  iv.  32,  4.  the  place  of  Germanicus  and  Drusus  ; 

1  These  words,  with  those  below  in  for  they  alone  had  had  the  honour  of 

section  6  of  this  chap.,  show  clearly  being  colleagues    of  Tiberius    in    the 

that  Sejanus  held  no  official  authority  consulship  since  he  became  emperor, 

of  his  own,  except  that  of  commander  The  names  of  Tiberius  and    Sejanus 

of  the  Praetorians,  and  that  he  acted  occur  together  on  coins  of  the  year, 

only  as    the    instrument  of  Tiberius.  See    Cohen,   i.    p.    198,    No.   97,   and 

See  above  on  v.  6,  2,  Rushforth,  p.  69. 


A.D.  32.]  BOOK    VI.    CHAPS.   8-9.  369 

what  passes  before  our  eyes :  on  whom  you  bestow  wealth 
and  office,  ivho  it  is  that  wields  the  greatest  power,  whether 
to  help  or  to  hurt.  That  Sejanus  had  all  this,  none  can 
9  deny.  To  pry  into  the  Prince's  inner  mind,  to  search  out 
his  secret  intentions,  is  to  tread  on  dangerous,  forbidden 
ground :  nor  though  you  search,  may  you  discover. 

10  Think   not,    Conscript  Fathers,   of  that  last  day  of 
Sejanus,  but  of  his  sixteen  years  of  power.     We  had  to 
show  respect  to  a  Satrius,1  to  a  Pomponius ;  to  be  known 
to  his  freedmen  and  doorkeepers  was  accounted  a  grand 

11  thing.     What  then  ?    Shall  this  plea  hold  good  for  all 
alike,    without   distinction  ?      Not   so :    but    let    a  just 
boundary-line  be  drawn.     Let  conspiracies  against  the 
State,  and  murderous  plots  against  the  Emperor,  meet 
with  punishment ;    but  in  what  concerns  friendship  and 
friendly  offices,  let  the  same  rule 2  that  has  justified  you, 

Caesar,  justify  us  also. 

1  The  boldness  of  this  speech,  coupled  with  the  fact  Good 
that  a  man  had  been  found  to  give  voice  to  what  was 

in  the  minds  of  all,  had  so  great  an  effect,  that  his 
accusers,  for  this  as  well  as  previous  delinquencies^ 
were  punished  with  death  or  exile. 

2  Then  came  a  letter  from  the  Emperor  attacking  Accusation 
Sextus  Vistilius,  an  ex-Praetor.     Vistilius 4  had   once  and  others5. 
been  a  favourite  of  the  Emperor's  brother  Drusus, 

and  Tiberius  had  transferred  him  to  his  own  staff. 

1  See  iv.  34,  2.     Who  Pomponius  was  refer  to  time  only ;  as  if  the  meaning 

is  unknown  ;  he  was  certainly  not  the  were,  '  our  attentions  must  be  excused, 

Pomponius  Secundus  of  v.  8,  i.  because  they  were  continued  as  long  as 

1  Finis    here    means    'the    dividing  he  was  your  friend,  and  no  longer.' 

line,"  or   'boundary,'  between  what  is  *  ThaL_Tiberius.  should    have   thus 

permissible  and  what   is  not :  and  so  recognised  the  straightforward   nmnli- 

'  the  principle  of  demarcation.'  Cp.  our  ness  of  this  speech,  and  yielded  to  its 


own  use  of  the  wood  '  partition  : '  '  And  logic,  is.  greatly  to  his  credit.     So  keen 

thin  partitions  do  their  bounds  divide '  a  home-thrust  would  have  doubled  the 

(Dryden,  '  Abs.  and  Achit.'  i.  1.   164)  ;  wrath   of  a  Caligula  or  a   Nero,  and 

'  What     thin     partitions     sense    from  met  with  no  mercy.   The  story  suggests 

thought  divide '  (Pope,  '  Essay  on  Man,'  that  the  clumsy  servility  of  the  Roman 

Ep.  i.  226).     Cp.  Hor.  Od.    i.   18,   10:  nobles  did  much  to  aggravate  the  cruelty 

exigvo  fine  libidinum.    Furn.  is  surely  of  Tiberius, 

wrong,    with    Nipp.,   in    making  finis  «  Nothing  is  known  of  Vistilius. 

2    B 


370  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  32. 

The  cause  of  offence  was  that  he  was  believed,  truly  s 
or    falsely,    to    have    written    something   in    which 
Gaius  Caesar  was  stigmatized  as  a  profligate.    For-  4 
bidden  l  the  Emperor's  table  for  that  reason,  he  first 
attempted,  with  his  aged  hand,  to  open  his  veins ; 
then  had  them  tied  up  again,  and  addressed  a  petition 
to  the  Emperor :  but  on  receiving  a  relentless  reply, 
he  opened  them   once  more.     Next  Annius   Pollio,  5 
Appius  Silanus,  with  Scaurus  Mamercus  and  Sabinus 
Calvisius,  were  all  accused  of  treason  in  one  batch ; 
Pollio's  son,  Vinicianus,2  was  included  in  the  list  also. 
All  these  were  men  of  distinction ;  some  had  held  the 
highest  offices.  The  consternation  of  the  senators — for  6 
which  of  them  could  not  count  one  or  other  of  these 
distinguished  men  as  his  friend  or  kinsman?  —  was 
relieved    when    Appius  and    Calvisius  were    saved 
by  the  testimony  of  Celsus,  an  officer  of  the  Urban 
Cohorts,  who  was  one  of  the  informers.      Tiberius  7 
postponed    the     cases    of    Pollio,    Vinicianus,    and 
Scaurus,  in  order  to  try  them  himself,  in  conjunction 
with  the  Senate ;   but  in  doing  so,  he  let  fall  some 
sinister  references  to  Scaurus. 
Even  Even  women  were  not  safe.    They  could  not  be   1C 

women  .        r         .  .  .  ...  . 

punished:  accused  of  taking  part  in  politics;  so  they  were 
arraigned  for  their  tears.  Thus  an  aged  lady  of  the 
name  of  Vitia,  mother  of  Fufius  Geminus,8  was  put 

1  Similarly  Germanicus  renounced  his       the  rebellion  of  Camillus  Scribonianus 
friendship  with  Piso  before  his  death,       against  Nero,  A.D.  52  (Dio  Ix.  15,   i, 
ii.  70,  3 :  Augustus  did  the  same  to  D.       and  Ann.  xii.  52,  2). 

Silanus,  iii.  24,  5.     See  also  iii.  12,  4.  8  C.  Fufius  Geminus  was  cos.  A.p. 

2  All  these  were  men  of  high  rank.  29   (v.    i,   i).    As  the  name    Vitia   is 
Annius   Pollio  was  cos.  suf.  A.D.  20.  elsewhere    unknown,    Nipp.    suggests 
Appius  Julius  Silanus  was  cos.  A.D.  28  Vibia,  quoting  an  inscription  in  which 
(iv.    68,    i).     Mamercus    Scaurus   was  the  same  mistake  is  made.     In  v.  2,  2 
probably  cos.  suf.  A.D.  21   (i.   13,  4):  Tacitus  tells  us  that  Tiberius,  in  a  letter 
his  fate,  due,  according  to  Tacitus,  to  to  the  senate,  rebuked  Fufius  for  his 
the  enmity  of  Macro,  is  recorded  below,  '  female  friendships  : '   increpuit  amici- 
chap.  29,  4  and  5.    C.  Calvisius  Sabinus  Has  muliebres,  Fufium  consulem  oblique 
was  cos.  A.D.  26  (iv.  46,  i) ;  L.  Annius  perstringens.        We     may    conjecture 
Vinicianus,  son  of  Annius  Pollio,  joined  that  the  mother    lived  in  a  circle  in 


A.D.  32.] 


BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.  9-10. 


371 


to  death  for  bewailing  the  death  of  her  son.  This 
2  case  was  tried  before  the  Senate  ;  but  the  Emperor 
himself  ^sentenced  to  death  two  of  his  oldest  friends, 
Vescuiarius  Flaccus  and  Julius  Marinus.  Both  had 
accompanied  him  to  Rhodes  ;  both  had  been  his 
inseparable  companions  in  Capreae.  Vescuiarius  had 
been  his  go-between  in  the  trap  set  for  Libo  ;  Marinus 
had  assisted  Sejanus  in  bringing  Curtius  Atticus2  to 
his  ruin.  Every  one  rejoiced  to  see  these  men's  devices 
recoil  upon  themselves. 

s  About  the  same  time  the  Pontiff3  Lucius  Piso  died 
a  natural  death—  a  rare  occurrence  in  a  position  so 
illustrious.  This  Piso  was  a  man  who  never,  of  his 
own  motion,4  made  any  servile  proposal  ;  and  if  the 
necessity  were  laid  on  him,  he  would  act  temperately, 


Mar 


which  the  doings  of  the  emperor  were 
too  freely  criticised,  and  where  Fufius 
exercised  his  wit  amid  a  company  of 
female  admirers  (aptus  alliciendis  femi- 
narum  animis,  dicax  idem  et  Tiberium 
acerbis  facetiis  irridere  solitus,  v.  2,  3). 
The  death  of  Fufius  himself  is  not 
recorded. 

1  We  have  seen  that  both  in  criminal 
and  civil  causes  the  emperor  claimed  a 
supreme  jurisdiction  of  his  own,  along- 
side of  the  constitutional  power  of  the 
consuls  and  the  senate  ;  which  again  he 
could  override  as  he  chose.  Sometimes 
he  would  himself  preside  in  the  senate 
when  sitting  as  a  court ;  as  in  chap.  9, 
7,  where  he  postpones  the  cases  of 
Pollio  and  others  ut  ipse  cum  senatu 
noscerct.  Augustus  constantly  admin- 
istered justice,  sometimes  in  the  regular 
courts,  but  sometimes  domi  cubans  (Suet. 
Oct.  33).  The  holding  of  courts  in  the 
Palatium  became  common  under  the 
later  emperors.  We  have  seen  that  the 
case  of  Piso  illustrates  these  different 
modes  of  procedure  (iii.  10,  6).  After 
the  conspiracy  of  Sejanus,  Suetonius 
represents  Tiberius  at  Capri  as  soli  huic 
cognitioni  per  totos  dies  deditus  et  in- 
tentus  (Tib.  62).  The  power  of  life  and 
death  was  held  to  be  derived  from  the 
proconsular  power,  exercised  within  the 
city. 

1  Mentioned  in  iv.  $8,  i  as  the  only 
equcs  splendidus,  besides  Sejanus,  in- 


cluded in  the  suite  of  Tiberius  when  he 
retired  to  Capri.  His  death  must  have 
been  recorded  in  the  lost  portions  of 
Books  V.  and  VI.  In  the  wildness  of 
his  panic,  Tiberius  lost  all  confidence 
even  in  his  nearest  and  oldest  friends. 

1  The  title  pontifex  (confirmed  by  an 
insc.  of  A.D.  14)  distinguishes  this  man 
from  three  other  Pisos  bearing  the  same 
praenomen  (ii.  34,  i  ;  iv.  45,  i,  and 
iv.  62,  i).  This  Lucius  Piso  was  consul 
B.C.  15,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been 
father  of  the  Pisones  of  the  Ars  Poetica 
(see  n.  on  iv.  45,  i). 

4  The  words  of  Tacitus  imply  that 
though  Piso  never  originated  cruel  pro- 
posals, he  occasionally  had  to  join  in 
them  under  compulsion  ;  but  that  when 
doing  so,  he  did  something  to  mitigate 
their  harshness.  This  makes  it  probable 
that  he  is  the  person  referred  to  in 
ii.  32,  4,  and  iii.  68,  2.  In  the  former 
passage  his  name  seems  to  occur,  after 
the  condemnation  of  Libo,  as  joint- 
proposer  of  a  harmless  mark  of  dis- 
grace :  that  the  day  of  Libo's  suicide 
should  be  kept  as  a  dies  festus.  In  the 
latter,  being  directly  called  upon  by 
Tiberius  to  propose  a  sentence  on 
Silanus,  he  makes  a  strong  appeal  to 
the  emperor's  clemency,  and  proposes, 
in  lieu  of  death,  a  sentence  of  relegatio. 
This  was  accepted,  with  a  slight  further 
mitigation,  by  Tiberius. 


Death  of 

L.  Piso, 

prefect  of 


372  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  32. 

and  with  discretion.    His  father,  as  I  have  mentioned,1  4 
was  of  censorian  rank  ;  he  himself  had  earned  trium- 
phal honours  in  Thrace.2    He  had  reached  his  eightieth 
year.     His  chief  title  to  fame,  however,  was  the  rare  5 
tact  with  which  he  had  filled  the  office  of  Prefect  of 
the  City.     That  office  had  but  recently  been  made 
permanent ;  and  men  chafed  against  its  authority  all 
the  more  that  they  were  unaccustomed  to  it.3 
History  of         For  in  former  times,  when  the  King,  or  afterwards   1 1 
lce*    the  magistrates,  left  the  city,  a  temporary  officer  was 
deputed  to   administer  justice  and  deal  with  emer- 
gencies, that  the  city  might  not  be  left  without  a  ruler ; 
and  tradition  tells  how  this  post  was  bestowed  by 
Romulus  upon  Denter  Romulius,4  by  Tullus  Hostilius 
on  Numa  Marcius,5  and  again  by  Tarquinius  Priscus 
upon  Spurius  Lucretius.6   After  that,  the  appointment  2 
lay  with  the  Consuls  j  a  shadow  of  which  custom  still 
survives  in  the  nomination  of  one  to  discharge  the 
office  of  Consul  during  the  Latin  festival.7   During  the  3 

1  The  reference  is  lost.    The  father  and  left  in  command  of  the  city  by 
of    this   Lucius   (L.    Calpurnius    Piso  Brutus  when  he  hurried  to  Ardea  to 
Caesoninus)  was  censor  in  B.C.  50,  and  raise  the  army  against  Tarquin  (Liv.  i. 
consul  B.C.  58,  when  he  was  Cicero's  59,  12). 

bitter  enemy  (see  Cic.  in  Pisonem).    His  7  Drusus    is    mentioned  as  holding 

sister  Calpurnia  was  married  to  Caesar,  this  ancient  form  of  the  office  in  A.  D. 

as  his  last  wife,  B.C.  59 ;  it  was  she  who  25  (iv.  36,  i).     The  development  of  the 

vainly  urged  him  to  stay  away  from  the  office  of  praefectus  urbi  well  illustrates 

senate  on  the  fatal  Ides  of  March.  the  manner  in  which  imperial  institutions 

2  This  was  in  B.  c.  n.    The  campaign  were  grafted  on  old  republican  forms, 
for  which    he    gained    the    triumphal  In  kingly  and  early  consular  times  the 
ornaments    had    lasted,   according    to  king  or  consul  appointed  a  praefectus 
Velleius,  for  three  years  (Veil.  ii.  98,  i).  urbi  as  a  substitute,  to  discharge  their 

3  Not  implying    that    he    failed    to  duties  within  the  city  during  any  tern- 
secure  obedience,  but  that  as  the  holder  porary  absence — especially  for  the  yearly 
of  a  new  office  with  large  powers  he  ceremony  of  the  Feriae  Latinae,  held  on 
shewed  tact  in  enforcing  them.  the  Alban  Mount.     With  the  institution 

4  This  person  is  unknown.  of  the  praetorship  in  B.C.  367,  the  office 
8  According  to  Livy,  i.  20,  5,  Numa       became  less  necessary ;   and  with  the 

Marcius  was  chosen  expatribus  by  King  exception  of  its  retention  for  the  Feriae 

Numa  as  first  pontifex,  and  entrusted  Latinae,  fell  into  abeyance.    Mommsen 

with  the  administration  of  the  whole  supposes  that  it  was  abolished  by  the 

religious  and  ceremonial  law.     Plutarch  Licinian  laws  in  that  year.     Caesar, 

(Numa   21)  makes  him  son-in-law  of  being  above  all  law,  nominated  several 

Numa,  and  so  father  of  Ancus  Marcius ;  prefects  to  discharge  such  of  his  duties 

which  is  consistent  with  Livy's  account  as  he  chose  to  commit  to  them.    During 

(i.  32,  i).  the  Actian  campaign,  and  at  other  times 

6  Appointed  by  Tarquinius  Superbus,  also,  Augustus  devolved  large  powers 


A.D.  32.] 


BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.   lo-n. 


373 


civil  war,  Augustus  put  all  Italy  and  Rome  under  the 

4  knight  Cilnius  Maecenas ;  and  when  he  had  risen  to 
power,  the  vastness  of  the  population,  and  the  tardy 
operation  of  the  law,  induced  him  to  select  a  man  of 
consular   rank   to   control  the  slaves   and   that    part 
of  the  population  which  nothing  but  the  fear  of  force 

5  can  keep  in  order.     The  first  holder  of  this  office  was 
Messalla  Corvinus  ;l  but  after  a  few  days  he  was  dis- 

6  missed  as  incompetent.     After  him  Statilius  Taurus,2 
though  well  up  in  years,  filled   the  post  with  great 

7  credit;  and  then  came  Piso,  who  earned  the  respect 
of  all  during  the  whole  of  his  twenty  years'8  service. 


on  Maecenas  as  his  vicegerent,  though 
with  no  special  title ;  Agrippa  exercised 
similar  powers  in  the  city  during  the 
absence  of  Augustus  in  B.C.  21  and 
years  following.  Acting  on  the  advice 
of  Maecenas  (Dio  Hi.  21),  Augustus 
established  the  office  as  here  described 
by  Tacitus  on  a  more  regular  footing 
(nova  qfficia  excogitavit . . .  praefecturam 
urbis,  Suet.  Oct.  37),  though  only  to  be 
exercised  in  his  absence,  and  with  the 
main  object  of  keeping  the  police  of  the 
city.  Under  Tiberius,  the  office  and 
title  became  permanent.  The  prefect 
had  under  his  command  the  three 
cohorts  of  Vigiles,  and  provided  for  the 
security  of  the  city  in  all  respects.  He 
assumed  a  jurisdiction,  at  first  confined 
to  matters  of  police,  but  gradually  ex- 
tending to  every  department  of  criminal, 
and  even  in  some  cases  to  civil,  juris- 
diction ;  and  thus  became  eventually 
one  of  the  principal  officers  of  state, 
responsible  to  the  emperor  alone. 

1  According  to  Suetonius,  as  repro- 
duced by  Jerome,  Messalla  seems  to 
have  received  the  appointment  in  B.C. 
25.  He  adds  that  he  abdicated  the 
office  on  the  sixth  day,  incivilem  pptts- 
tatem  esse  contestants.  It  was  incivilis 
inasmuch  as  it  put  Rome  into  the  posi- 
tion of  a  provincial  city. 

f  According  to  Dio  (liv.  19,  6]  Augus- 
tus left  Statilius  Taurus  in  charge  of 
the  city  and  Italy  on  his  departure  for 
Gaul  in  B.C.  16.  More  probably  Sta- 
tilius was  appointed  in  B.C.  25,  on  the 
resignation  of  Messalla,  and  the  words 
of  Dio  refer  to  some  extension  of  his 
powers  in  B.C.  16. 

*  This  would  make  Piso's  appoint- 
ment date  from  A.D.  12,  before  the 


death  of  Augustus.  Halm  and  Nipp. 
here  substitute  xv.  years  for  the  MS. 
xx.,  for  two  reasons  :  (i)  Piso  does  not 
appear  as  swearing  allegiance  to  Tiberius 
on  his  accession  (i.  7,  3),  along  with  the 
prefect  of  the  Praetorian  Guards  and 
the  praefectus  annonae :  hence  they 
argue  the  office  must  have  been  vacant 
at  the  time;  (2)  to  make  the  dates  of 
Tacitus  agree  with  a  story  told  by 
Suetonius,  Tib.  42,  illustrating  Tibe- 
rius's  nimiam  vini  aviditatem.  The 
story  is  that  on  one  occasion  Tiberius 
spent  two  whole  days,  and  the  interven- 
ing night,  in  a  drinking-bout,  along  with 
Pomponius  Flaccus  and  L.  Piso  ;  im- 
mediately after  which  he  rewarded  the 
former  with  the  province  of  Syria,  the 
latter  with  the  prefecture  of  the  city. 
Hut  as  Pomponius  could  not  have  been 
legatus  of  Syria  till  long  after  A.D.  12, 
and  as  Piso,  if  appointed  in  A.D.  12, 
must  have  been  appointed  by  Augustus, 
and  not  by  Tiberius,  Furn.  considers 
that  the  whole  story  must  be  false,  and 
that  Tacitus  omitted  to  mention  it 
because  of  its  absurdity.  But  though  the 
dates  are  wrong,  the  essence  of  the  story 
is  given  both  by  Seneca  (Epp.  Ixxxiii. 
12)  and  by  Pliny  (H.N.  xiv.  28  (22)), 
in  a  manner  which  proves  it  to  have 
been  generally  known  and  believed.  In 
any  case,  there  is  no  reason  for  changing 
the  text  from  xx.  to  xv.  In  A.D.  12, 
Tiberius  was  in  a  position  which  would 
have  enabled  him  to  procure  for  a  friend 
either  a  prefecture  or  a  province ;  and 
Pomponius  received  other  appointments 
— that  of  Moesia  in  A.D.  19 — as  well  as 
Syria.  The  evidence  as  a  whole  con- 
firms, rather  than  weakens,  the  authority 
of  Suetonius. 


374 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  32. 


Question 
of  a  new 
Sibylline 
volume : 


rebuke  ad- 
ministered 
by  Tibe- 
rius. 


The  Senate    accorded  him   the  honour  of  a  public 
funeral. 

A  question  was  then  raised  in  the  Senate  by  12, 
Quintilianus,  a  Tribune  of  the  plebs,  as  to  a  Sibylline 
volume  which  Caninius  Callus,  one  of  the  College  of 
Fifteen,  wished  to  include  among  the  writings  of  the 
Prophetess.  The  decree  which  he  proposed  for  that 
purpose  was  carried  without  discussion ;  whereupon 
Tiberius  wrote  a  letter  in  which  he  gently  censured 
the  Tribune,  whose  youth,  he  said,  accounted  for  his 
ignorance  of  ancient  custom ;  but  he  rebuked  Callus,  2 
familiar  as  he  was  with  sacred  law  and  practice,  for 
having  brought  up  such  a  matter l  on  no  certain 
authority,  and  in  a  thin  house,2  without  waiting  for 
the  opinion  of  the  College,  and  without  having  had 
the  poem  read  and  adjudicated  upon,  in  the  usual 
way,  by  the  Masters  of  the  College.3  He  reminded  3 
him  further  that  Augustus,/because  of  the  many  un- 
authorised verses  passing  current  under  the  famous 
name  of  the  Sibyl,  had  fixed  a  day  before  which  all 
such  poems  were  to  be  deposited  with  the  Praetor 
Urbanus,  after  which  day  none  might  be  kept  in 
private  hands.4  A  similar  decree  had  been  issued  in  4 


1  Tiberius   looked   jealously    on    all 
assertion    of   priestly   or    superstitious 
claims.    Thus  he  rebuked  Asinius  Gallus 
for  suggesting  that  the  Sibylline  books 
should  be   consulted  in  regard  to  the 
inundation  of  the  Tiber  (i.  76,  2) ;  he 
caused  the  senate  to  sift  carefully  the 
claims  made  by  Greek  cities  to  the  right 
of  asylum,  and  endeavoured  to  check 
its    abuse    (iii.    60-63)  ;    and    Drusus 
checked  a  similar  abuse  in  respect  of 
taking  hold  of  the  statue  of  the  princeps 
(iii.  36). 

2  Dio  tells  us  that  Augustus,  finding 
a  quorum  of  400  members  was  too  large, 
relaxed  the  rule  ;  but  apparently  with- 
out fixing  any  other  number  in  its  place. 

3  It  appears  from  inscriptions  that 
there  were  five  magistri  in  the  college 
ofQuindecimviri ;  Augustus  names  him- 


self as  a  magister  on  the  Mon.  Anc. 
iv.  36  (see  Mommsen).  The  term  must 
have  marked  a  grade  in  the  college, 
not  its  presidency. 

4  Suetonius  tells  how  Augustus,  on 
becoming  Pontifex  Maximus  in  B.C.  13, 
caused  a  search  to  be  made  for  Latin 
and  Greek  prophetic  books,  and  burnt 
such  of  them  as  were  of  doubtful 
authority — no  less  than  2000  in  all. 
He  retained  none  but  the  Sibylline 
books,  and  had  a  recension  made  of 
these  also,  placing  those  that  were 
retained  in  gilded  cases  in  the  temple 
of  the  Palatine  Apollo.'  Tiberius  him- 
self, annoyed  at  the  circulation  of  a 
foolish  Sibylline  prophecy  after  the 
death  of  Germanicus,  made  a  similar 
revision,  and  condemned  many  more 
(Dio  Ivii.  18,  5). 


A.D.  32.] 


BOOK    VI.    CHAPS.    11-13. 


375 


an  earlier  generation,  after  the  burning  of  the  Capitol 
during  the  Social  War,1  when  Samos,  Ilium,  Erythrae, 
Africa  also  and  Sicily,  and  the  Italian  colonies,2  were 
ransacked8  for  the  poems  of  the  Sibyl — whether  she 
were  one  or  many — and  when  the  priests  were  charged 
with  the  duty  of  discriminating  those  which  were 
5  genuine,  so  far  as  human  means  could  do  so.  In 
obedience  with  which  ruling  the  book  was  submitted 
to  the  Fifteen  for  examination. 

1  In  this  year  the  high  price  of  corn  nearly  provoked  Agitation 
a  riot.     For  several  days  the  theatre 4  was  filled  with 

a   mob  who  vented  their  discontent  with  a  freedom  c 

2  seldom  exhibited  towards  the  Emperor.     Tiberius,  in 
high  displeasure,  found  fault  with  the  magistrates  and 
Senate  for  not  putting  down  the  demonstration  with  a 
high  hand ;  mentioning  at  the  same  time  from  what 
provinces  he  was  importing  corn,5  and  in  how  much 


1  The  Capitol  was  burnt,  not  during 
the  social  war,  which  ended  in  B.C.  88, 
but  in  the  fight  between  Sulla  and  the 
Marians  in  the  year  B.C.  83.  Either, 
therefore,  Tacitus  makes  a  slip  (which  is 
improbable;  for  in  Hist.  iii.  72,  a  he 
expressly  mentions  that  the  temple  was 
burnt  civili  bello)  \  or  else  he  uses  a 
milder  term  to  keep  out  of  view  the 
ugly  fact  of  civil  war.  On  a  similar 
principle,  the  triumphs  of  Caesar  and 
Augustus  were  never  nominally  cele- 
brated as  over  Romans. 

9  i.e.  the  Greek  Colonies  in  the  South 
of  Italy,  collectively  known  as  Magna 
Graecia* 

*  Tacitus  overlooks  the  obvious  fact 
that  the  search  for  Sibylline  prophecies, 
after  the  burning  of  the  Capitol,  was 
made  for  the  very  different  purpose  of 
replenishing  the  collection,  not  of  weed- 
ing it  out.  Doubtless  much  spurious 
trash  found  its  way  in  on  that  occasion. 
Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus  confirms 
this  account  of  the  search  made  for  the 
books,  those  existing  in  his  time  being 

£K  iroXAwv  <run<t»>pr\rat  t&v  raw&v.    He  adds 

that  many  of  them  were  spurious,  as 
could  be  seen  from  their  acrostic  form 
(Ant.  iv.  62,  493).  The  antiquarian 
Varro  is  stated  by  Lactantius  to  have 


recognised  ten  genuine  Sibyls  ;  of  these 
the  Cumaean  was  the  most  celebrated. 

*  The  meetings  of  the  comitia  being 
now  purely  formal,  and  no  political 
condones  being  permitted,  the  theatre 
was  the  only  place  in  which  popular 
feeling  could  find  a  vent.  The  incident 
recalls  Juvenal's  famous  saying  that  the 
Roman  populace  had  now  but  two  ob- 
jects of  desire,  panemel  circenses  (x.  81). 

5  We  have  seen  above  (iii.  54,  6-8  ;  iv. 
6,  6)  how  great  were  the  pains  taken 
by  the  emperors  to  secure  a  supply  of 
corn  for  Rome.  In  A.D.  51  the  stock 
in  the  city  was  only  enough  for  15  days' 
consumption  :  Claudius  was  surrounded 
by  a  howling  hungry  mob,  and  driven 
across  the  forum  (xii.  43,  2).  Accord- 
ing to  Seneca  (Brev.  Vit.  xviii.  4),  there 
was  only  corn  enough  in  Rome  for 
seven  or  eight  days  when  Caligula  died. 
In  republican  times,  Sicily  was  the  main 
granary  of  Rome;  in  imperial  times 
Egypt,  and  the  north  coast  of  Africa. 
J™"*nhllg  quotes  a  statement  that,  in 
round  numbers,  Rome  was  supported 
by  Egypt  for  four  months  of  the  year, 
and  by  Africa  for  four  ( Bell.  lud.  ii.  16, 
4).  Cp.  xii.  43,  4  :  Sed  Africam  potius 
et  Aegyptum  exercemus,  navibusqnc  et 
casibusvita  populi  Romani  pcrmissa  cst. 


376 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  32. 


greater  quantities l  than  had  been  done  by  Augustus. 
So  the  Senate  reproved  the  populace  in  a  decree  of  3 
old-fashioned  severity,  and  an  edict  of  equal  stringency 
was  issued  by  the   Consuls.     Tiberius  himself  re-  4 
mained  silent ;  but  his  silence  was  attributed,  not  to 
forbearance,  as  he  had  hoped,  but  to  arrogance. 

At  the  close  of  the  year,  three  Roman  knights —  14. 
Geminius,  Celsus,  and  Pompeius2 — were  condemned 
on  a  charge  of  conspiracy.     Geminius  had  become  the 
friend  of  Sejanus,  from  having  habits  of  extravagance 
and  luxury  like  his  own,  not  as  sharing  in  any  of  his 
serious  designs ;  but  Julius  Celsus  was  a  Tribune  of  2 
the  plebs.     Loosening  the  chain  which  bound  him, 
Celsus  put  his  head  through  the  loop,  and  then  throw- 
ing his  whole  weight  against  it,  thus  broke  his  neck. 
Rubrius      Then   Rubrius   Fabatus  was  taken  into  custody  for  3 
not  Slowed  attempting  to  fly  from  the  city8  in  despair  at  the 
iee'        present  state   of  affairs,  and  throw  himself  on   the 
mercy  of  the  Parthians.     Caught  in  the  Straits  of  4 
Sicily,  and  dragged  back  to   Rome  by  a  centurion, 
he  could  give  no   plausible  reason   for  his  distant 
journey;  but  he  was  allowed  to  live  on,   forgotten 
rather  than  forgiven. 


1  Furn.  quotes  Aur.  Viet.  Epit.  i.  6, 
who  says  that  twenty  million  bushels 
of  wheat  were  said  to  have  been 

by  Augustus  from 

these  men  nothing  is  known. 
As  they  were  only  equites,  Tacitus  does 
not  think  it  worth  while  to  record  their 


praenomina.      So    with    the    equites 
named  i.  73,  I  ;  ii.  48,  i,  etc. 

3  Senators  were  not  permitted  to 
travel  beyond  the  limits  of  Italy  and 
Sicily  without  leave  from  the  emperor 
(Dio  lii.  42,  6).  Gallia  Narbonensis 
was  specially  thrown  open  to  them  in 
A.D.  49  (Ann.  xii.  23,  i). 


A.D.  33.]  BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.    13-15.  377 


A.D.   33-     CONSULS   SERVIUS   SULPICIUS    GALBA1  AND 
L.   CORNELIUS   SULLA  FELIX.2 

1  After  loner  considering;  on  whom  he  should  bestow  Marriages 

.  .  .    ,  .  .  r  of  Drusilla 

his  two  grand-daughters,   now  approaching  the  age  of  andjuiia. 
marriage, Tiberius  selected  Lucius  Cassius4  and  Marcus 

2  Vinicius.5    Vinicius  derived  his  origin  from  the  muni- 
cipal town  of  Gales ;  his  father  and  grandfather  had 
been  Consulars,  the  rest  of  the  family  were  of  eques- 
trian rank.     He  was  a  man  of  gentle  nature,  and  a 

:j  graceful  speaker.  Cassius  was  a  plebeian,  but  of  an 
old  and  respected  Roman  family  ;  and  though  he  had 
been  strictly  brought  up  by  his  father,  he  was  more 
remarkable  for  amiability  than  for  force  of  character. 

4  To  the  latter  Tiberius  gave  Drusilla,  to  the  former 
Julia,  both   of  them  daughters  of  Germanicus;    an- 
nouncing the  fact  to  the  Senate  in  terms  of  slight 

5  compliment  to  the  young  men.     Then  offering  some 
unsubstantial  excuses  for  his  absence,  he  passed  on 

to   graver    topics :    complaining  of  the   enmities   he  Letter 
encountered    in    doing    his    duty,    and   asking    that  Tiberius. 
whenever  he  entered  the  Senate-house,  he  might  be 
escorted  by  the  Prefect  Macro,6  with  a  few  Tribunes 

1  The  future  emperor  (June,  A.D.  68  birth  of  the  latter  at  Lesbos  is  recorded 

to  January,  A.D.  69).    The  praenomen  ii.  54,  i.     Their  elder  sister  Agrippina 

which  he  bore  at  this  time  was  Lucius,  was  already  married  to   Cn.  Domitius 

not  Servius  ;  for  on  being  adopted  by  (iv.  75,  i). 

his  stepmother,  Livia  Ocellina,  he  took  «  C  Cassius  Longinus  was  consul  in 

the  name  of  L.  Livius  Ocella  :  revert-  A.D.  30,  his  brother  Gaius  being  consul 

ing  to  his  original  name,  Ser.  Sulpicius  suf.    in   the  same  year.     Their  father 

Galba,  on  his  elevation  to  the  empire  had  been  consul  suf.  in  A.D.  n. 

(Suet.  Galba,  4).  *  M.  Vinicius  was  consul  in  A.D.  30, 

«  The  cognomen    Felix   which  this  along   with   L.   Cassius.      His   father 

consul  bears  in  the  Fasti  of  Nola  indi-  Publms  (mentioned  iii.  n,  2)  was  con- 

cates  that  he  was  a  descendant  of  the  sul  in  A.D.  2,  his  grandfather  Marcus 

Dictator  Sulla.     He  was  praetor  pere-  in  B.C.  19.     Velleius  dedicated  his  his- 

grinus  in  A.D.  29.     We  heard  of  a  L.  tory  to  this  Vinicius  when  consul  in 

Sulla  in  iii.  31,  4.  A.D.  30. 

»  i.e.  Drusilla  and  Julia  (or  Livilla),  8  Successor  to  Sejanus  in  the  com- 

aged  respectively  16  and  15,  the  two  rnand  of  the_  Praetorian  Guard.     His 

youngest  children  of  Germanicus.     The  full  name  was  Naevius  Sertorius'Macro. 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  33. 


and  centurions^  The  Senate  passed  a  decree  in  the  Q 
widest  terms,  without  any  limitation  as  to  the  number 
or  class  of  soldiers  to  be  employed.  But  for  all  that, 
Tiberius  never  again  set  foot  in  the  city,  much  less  in 
any  public  assembly,  though  he  would  often  steal 
round  his  capital  by  side-ways,  and  then  sheer  off 
from  it  again. 

Meanwhile  a  host  of  prosecutors  rose  up  against   16. 
persons  who  were  enriching  themselves  by  usury  in 
violation  of  the  law  passed  by  the  Dictator  Caesar.2 
That  law  had  laid  down  certain  limits  as  to  the  lending 
of  money  and  the  holding  of  landed  estate  inside 
Italy  ;  but  as  private  interest  always  gets  the  better 
of  the  public  good,  it  had  long  fallen  into  abeyance. 
The  lending  out  of  money  upon  usury  had  long  been  2 
a  trouble  in  the  city,  a  constant  cause  of  strife  and 
discord  ;3  and  attempts  had  been  made  to  check  it  even 


,  l  This  message  conveys  the  idea  that 
a  genuine  but  vague  and  wild  terror  had 
taken  possession  of  the  emperor's  mind, 
and  almost  upset  its  balance.  The 
open  acknowledgment  of  apprehension, 

;  and  the  piteous  request  that  the  senate 
would  grant  a  protection  to  the  im- 
perator — absolute  master  of  the  whole 

;  resources  of  the  state — indicate  a  sense 

•  of  weakness  and  a  craving  for  sympathy 
foreign  to  the  character  of  a  mere  tyrant, 
and  recall  the  tone  of  the  famous  letter 
addressed  to  the  senate  in  the  preceding 
year  (chap.  6,  i).  Suetonius  inserts 
similar  words  into  the  hypocritical  letter 
written  to  the  senate  just  before  Sejanus 
was  denounced  :  mitterent  alterum  e 
consulibus  qui  se  senem  et  solum  in 
conspectum  eorum  cum  aliquo  militari 
praesidio  perducerent  (Tib.  65). 

2  The  only  law  in  regard  to  debt 
known  definitely  to  have  been  enacted 
by  Caesar  was  the  temporary  measure 
depecuniis  mutuis,  passed  in  B.C.  49. 
Setting  his  face  against  the  desire  of  his 
extreme  supporters  for  tabulae  novae, 
i.e.  a  total  abolition  of  debts,  he  re- 
lieved debtors  (i)  by  striking  off  arrears 
of  interest  from  the  capital  sum  due  ; 
(2)  by  requiring  creditors  to  accept  in 
payment  the  property  of  their  debtors, 


valued  at  the  prices  current  before  the 
Civil  War  (Suet.  Jul.  42 ;  Dip  xli.  37-38  ; 
App.  ii.  48  ;  Caesar,  B.C.  iii.  12).  It  is 
to  be  noted  that  Caesar,  in  the  last- 
named  passage,  omits  all  reference  to 
the  first  of  the  above-named  provisions  : 
Mommsen  thinks  he  was  ashamed  of  it. 
A  further  law  of  a  permanent  character 
must  have  followed.  Tacitus  here  tells 
us  that  it  was  de  modo  credendi  possi- 
dendique  intra  Italiam ;  i.  e.  it  laid 
down  a  maximum  sum  which  any  capi- 
talist might  put  out  at  interest,  and 
that  maximum  was  to  bear  some  pro- 
portion to  the  amount  of  land  in  Italy 
possessed  by  the  lender.  The  object 
of  the  measure  was  to  force  capitalists 
to  invest  part  of  their  money  in  land, 
and  so  revivify  Italian  agriculture.  See 
Mommsen,  voL.v.  pp.  398-402  (English 
trans.). 

3  The  debt  troubles,  so  well  known 
to  the  readers  of  Livy,  lasted  over  the 
whole  period  from  B.C.  495  to  the  pass- 
ing of  the  Lex  Hortensia  B.C.  286. 
The  sufferings  caused  to  the  plebs  by 
the  Roman  law  of  debt  supplied,  in  fact, 
the  stimulus  which  goaded  them  on  to 
wrest  an  equality  of  political  privilege 
from  the  patricians. 


A.D.  33.] 


BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.    15-16. 


379 


in   ancient  times,  when  manners  were  less  corrupt 

3  than  they  are  now.    First,  the  Twelve  Tables l  limited 
the  rate  of  interest   which  might  be  charged   to  10 
per  cent. ; 2  for  up  to  that  time  wealthy  persons  had 
exacted  what  rate  they  chose.     Next,  a  tribunitian  law 
reduced  the  rate  to  5  per  cent.3    At  last,  the  lending 
out  of  money  on  interest  was  forbidden  altogether;4 

4  and  many  measures  were  passed  to  meet  the  fraudu- 
lent evasions 5  which,  continually  repressed,  were  being 
continually  devised,  with  an  ingenuity  truly  marvellous. 

5  On  the  present  occasion,  the  Praetor  Gracchus,  who 
was  president  of  the  court  in  which  such  cases  were 
tried,  embarrassed  by  the  number  of  persons  brought 


1  No  authority  but  Tacitus  attributes 
this  law  to  the  XII.  Tables  (B.C.  451). 
Livy  ascribes  it  to  the  tribunes  of  the 
plebs  in  B.C.  357  (vii.  16,  i). 

2  The  phrase    unciarinni  faenus  is 
now  universally  admitted  to  have  meant 
interest  at  the  rate  of  one-twelfth  of  the 
principal   (literally  one    ounce   in  the 
pound)   per  annum.      This  would  be 
equivalent  to  8$  per  cent.    Niebuhr  sup- 
poses that  this  rate  was  paid  monthly, 
and  first  came  into  use  when  the  Roman 
year  had  only  ten  months  ;  so  that  with 
the    year  of  twelve  months,   the  rate 
would  be  equal  to  10  per  cent.     But 
this  is  very  doubtful.     It  was  only  in 
later  times  that  interest  came  to  be  paid 
monthly  ;    it  was  originally  paid  only 
once  a  year. 

»  This  was  in  B.C.  347  (Livy  vii.  27, 
3).  In  Cicero's  time  the  rate  of  interest 
was  centfsitna,  i.e.  a  hundredth  part  of 
the  principal  paid  monthly  =  12  per 
cent. 

«  Furn.  and  Nipp.  take  this  to  mean 
that  interest  was  forbidden  altogether 
in  B.C.  342,  relying  on  Livy  (vii.  42,  i) 
supported  by  Appian  (B.C.  i.  54).  But 
Appian  probably  only  followed  Livy, 
and  Livy's  language  is  not  certain  : 
invenio  apud  quosdam  L.  Genuciutn  tri- 
bunum  plebis  tulisse  ad  plebem  nt 
faenerare  liceret.  Apart  from  the  in- 
herent improbability  of  such  a  law,  it  is 
inconsistent  with  Livy's  statement  that 
the  harsh  law  of  debt,  which  rendered 
the  debtor's  person  liable  for  his  debts, 
was  only  abolished  in  B.C.  326  (viii.  28, 


9).  Such  a  law  never  was,  and  never 
could  be,  acted  upon.  The  proper 
meaning  of  versura,  the  word  used  in 
the  present  passage  (vetita  versura), 
is  the  contracting  of  a  fresh  loan  to 


cover  both  principal  and  interest  due  ; 
forbidding  it 


and  a  law 


merely  meant 

that  the  capital  of  a  debt  should  not  l>e 
increased  by  arrears  of  interest.  In 
other  words,  it  made  compound  in- 
terest illegal.  It  was  this  addition  of 
compound  interest  which  made  the 
debtor's  position  so  hopeless  multiplici 
iam  sorte  exsoluta  mcrgentibus  semper 
sortem  usuris  t(L.\\y  vi.  14,  7);  and 
probably  the  object  of  the  law  of  B.C. 
342  (ambiguously  put  by  Livy  as  ne 
faenerare  liceret]  was  merely  to  make 
such  addition  illegal.  If  this  were  so, 
the  first  of  the  two  provisions  enacted 
by  Caesar  in  B.C.  49  (see  above  on 
section  i)  would  only  be  a  re-enact- 
ment of  the  old  law  of  B.C.  342. 

5  One  form  of  fraud  is  explained  by 
Livy,  xxxv.  7.  The  money-lenders,  find- 
ing themselves  hampered  by  the  usury 
laws  (cum  multis  faenebnbus  legibus 
constricta  avaritia  esset :  a  phrase  which 
of  itself  shews  that  usury  had  only 
been  restricted,  not  forbidden),  had  de- 
vised a  plan  of  evading  them  by  having 
loans  entered  in  the  names  of  socii,  i.e. 
non-citizens,  who  were  not  amenable  to 
these  laws.  To  correct  this,  a  plebi- 
scitum  was  passed  in  B.C.  193,  putting 
socii  of  nomen  Latin  um  on  the  same 
footing  as  Roman  citizens  in  regard  to 
the  law  of  debt 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  33. 


into  court,  referred  the  matter  to  the  Senate ;  and  the 
senators,  scarce  one  of  whom  was  free  from  blame  in 
the  matter,1  threw  themselves  on  the  mercy  of  the 
Emperor.  He  was  pleased  to  allow  a  period  of 
eighteen  months,  during  which  every  one  should  bring 
his  money  affairs  into  conformity  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  law. 

This  step  brought  about  a  scarcity  of  money;  not  17. 
only  because  all  lenders  were  calling  in  their  loans  at 
once,  but  also  because  the  coined  metal  which  had 
come  in  from  the  many  recent  condemnations  and 
confiscations  was  all  locked  up  in  the  Imperial 
Treasury,  or  in  the  Fiscus  of  the  Emperor.  To  meet  2 
this  scarcity,  the  Senate  had  ordained  that  lenders 
should  invest  two-thirds  of  their  capital  in  landed 
property  in  Italy.  The  creditors,  however,  asked  for 
payment  in  full ;  and  the  debtors,  when  called  upon, 
could  not  honourably  be  in  default.  So  at  first  they  all  B 
ran  to  the  money-lenders,  entreating  their  forbearance; 
next,  the  Praetor's  court  rang  with  notices  of  suits ; 
and  the  plan  devised  to  bring  relief,  the  buying  and 
selling  of  land,  turned  out  to  have  exactly  the  opposite 
effect,  since  the  capitalists  hoarded  up  their  money 
with  a  view  to  purchasing  landed  properties.  The  4 
quantity  of  land  for  sale  brought  about  a  fall  of  price  ; 
and  the  greater  a  man's  indebtedness,  the  greater  his 
difficulty  in  selling.  Thus  many  were  ruined,  the  loss 
of  property  carrying  with  it  loss  of  position  and  repu- 
tation also.2  At  last  Tiberius  came  to  the  rescue  by 


1  i.e.   violations  of  the  usury  laws, 
especially  that  of  Caesar  (see  above). 

2  The  crisis  described  in  this  chapter 
arose  in  this  way.     The  edict  of  the 
senate  gave  the  money-lenders  eighteen 
months  within  which  to   adjust  their 
loans    in    accordance    with    the    law. 
During  that  time,  they  were  to  call  in 
all  the  money  which  they  might  have 


lent  in  excess  of  the  proportion  allowed 
by  law.  The  senate  fixed  that  propor- 
tion at  one-third  only,  requiring  the 
capitalist  to  invest  the  remaining  two- 
thirds  in  land  in  Italy ;  while  the  debtor 
was  to  pay  up  at  once  two-thirds  of  his 
debt,  either  in  cash  or  by  surrendering 
land  of  equivalent  value.  The  creditors, 
however,  exercised  their  right  to  call  up 


A.D.  33.]  BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.    16-18.  381 

distributing  through  the  banks1  a  sum  of  one  hundred 
million  sesterces,  and  allowing  landowners  to  borrow 
for  three  years  without  interest,  provided  that  they 
could  offer  security  to  the  Treasury  for  double  the 
5  amount.  Thus  credit  was  restored,  and  by  degrees 
private  lenders  came  into  the  market.  The  purchase 
of  lands,  however,  was  not  carried  out  on  the  con- 
ditions laid  down  by  the  Senate.  These  were  enforced 
with  much  strictness  at  the  beginning,  as  is  usual  in 
such  cases,  but  with  very  little  in  the  end. 

1  The  reign  of  terror  was  then  revived.     A  charge  of  Reign  of 
high  treason  was  brought  against  Considius  Proculus,2  revved, 
who  was  celebrating  his  birthday,  misdoubting  nothing, 
when  he  was   hurried   off  to   the  Senate-house,  con- 

2  demned  at  once,  and  executed.     His  sister  Sancia  was 
accused  by  Quintus  Pomponius  and  interdicted  from 
fire   and  water.     This   Pomponius  was   a  person   of 

restless  character,  who  gave  it  as  an  excuse  for  these 

«,.vxw  ./  "•>..*':*•**  *<     0,   „  .,y.  ,<•«.;, .~.t.<  >;^vf/?''   s  f{o 

,  »«•*    /*  fV<AW  f  </.*/*;  -r/7»'"T     ' 

the  whole  ;  the  immediate  result  was  a  delayed  ;  those  who  had  security  to  offer 
scarcity  of  cash,  RIM)  a  depreciation  of  got  cash  for  their  present  necessities  ; 
all  landed  estate;  ruinous  to  its  posses-  private  lenders  came  into  the  market 
sors.  The  tightness  in  the  money-  again,  and  credit  was  gradually  re- 
market  was  thus  intensified  by  three  stored.  The  sympathies  of  Tacitus, 
causes  :  (i)  Tempted  by  the  fall  in  land-  as  usual,  are  in  favour  of  the  restrictive 
value,  creditors  called  in  the  whole  of  law  (see  16,  i),  the  re-enactment  of  which, 
their  loans,  with  a  view  to  re-investing  at  the  instance  of  the  delators,  had 
the  amount  in  land  ;  (2)  Speculating  on  caused  all  the  mischief.  The  law  itself, 
a  still  further  fall,  they  held  up  their  it  would  appear,  now  died  a  natural 
money,  instead  of  investing  it  at  once,  death. 

thus    'bearing'    the    market;     (3)   In  *  The  money  was  not   entrusted   to 

consequence  of  the  many  confiscations  ordinary  bankers  ;  special  Government 

which  had  taken  place  since  the  downfall  banks  were  opened  temporarily  for  the 

of  Sejanus,  large  sums  of  money  were  purpose,  under  the  superintendence  of 

locked  up  in  the  aerarium  and  the  fiscus,  a  senatorial  commission  (Dio  Iviii.  21, 

where    they  lay  idle,   unavailable    for  5).     Livy  tells  how  a  similar  financial 

circulation.     To  relieve  the  pressure  in  crisis  had  been  relieved  exactly  in  the 

the  money-market    brought    about  by  same  way  in   B.C.    353,  when  a  com- 

these  concurring  causes,  Tiberius  had  mission  of  five  was  appointed  to  lend 

recourse  to  a  measure  analogous  to  what  money  from  the  treasury  to  all  debtors 

we  should  call  a  suspension  of  the  Bank  who  could  offer  security  (vii.  21). 
Act.     He  eased  the  market  by  putting  *  Doubtless  the  same  Considius  who 

a  sum  of  a  hundred  million  sesterces  impeached  Pomponius  Secundus  (v.  8, 

at  the  disposal  of  the  banks  for  three  i).    The  fact  that  Q.  Pomponius,  the 

years,  to  be  lent  without  interest  to  all  brother,  took  part   in   the  accusation, 

persons  who  could  give  landed  security  shews    that    the    indictment    was,   in 

to    double    the    amount  of  the    loan.  part  at  least,  an  act  of  revenge  upon 

The  compulsory  sale  of  land  was  thus  Considius. 


382 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  33. 


and  such-like  services  that,  if  he  gained  the  Emperor's 
good-will,  he  might  save  his  brother  Pomponius 
Secundus. 

Even  Pompeia  Macrina  was  exiled,  a  lady  whose  3 
husband  Argolicus,  with  his  father  Laco— both  lead- 
ing men  in  Achaia — had  already  felt  the  displeasure 
of  Tiberius.     Her  father  also,  and  her  brother l— the  4 
former  an  illustrious  knight,  the  latter  a  man  of  prae- 
torian rank 2 — seeing  condemnation  before  them,  both 
put  an  end  to  themselves.     Their  offence  was  that  5 
their  grandfather  Theophanes  of  Mytilene  had  been 
one  of  the  intimate  friends  of  Pompeius  the  Great,  and 
that  Greek  flattery  had  awarded  him  divine  honours 
after  his  death.3 

After  them,  Sextus  Marius,  the  richest  man  in  1 9- 
Spain,  was  accused  of  dishonouring  his  own  daughter, 
and  was  hurled  from  the  Tarpeian  rock.  That  his 
wealth  was  the  cause  of  his  ruin  was  made  evident 
from  the  fact  that  although  his  gold  and  copper 4  mines 
were  confiscated  to  the  State,  they  were  appropriated 5 


1  This  cold-blooded  persecution  of  an 
honoured  provincial  family — husband, 
brother,  father,  father-in-law  and  Ma- 
crina herself — could  have  had  no  justi- 
fication like  those  directed  against  noble 
Roman  houses.    Its  object  certainly  was 
not  their  money,  as  Orelli  suggests.  The 
great-grandfather,  Theophanes  of  Myti- 
lene, had  given  material  help  to  Pompey 
during  the  Mithradatic  war  ;    he  also 
wrote  a  history  of  his  campaigns.     For 
this  he  was  presented  with  the  citizen- 
ship in  the  presence  of  the  Roman  army 
(Cic.    pro.    Arch.    10,   24),    taking   the 
name  of  Cn.    Pompeius  Theophanes. 
He  became  Pompey's  intimate  friend. 
Cicero  mentions  him  several  times  as  a 
person  from  whom  confidential  informa- 
tion could  be  obtained.      His  son  (or 
grandson)  Pompeius  Macer,   was   em- 
ployed   by    Augustus    to    arrange    his 
library  (Suet.  Jul.  56),  and  became  his 
procurator  in  Asia  (Strabo,  xiii.  2,  3). 

2  i.e.    Pompeius    Macer,   praetor  in 
A.D.  15  (i,  72,  4). 


3  Coins  record  this  deification,  granted 
no  doubt  in  gratitude  because  Theo- 
phanes had  obtained  for  Mytilene  the 
privileges  of  a  free  city.     Thus  in  the 
East,  at  any  rate,   the    deification  of 
the  emperors  was  but  the  continuance 
of  a  practice  already  in  vogue.     The 
offence  of  the  descendants  consisted  in 
their  having,  and  perhaps  boasting  of, 
a  deified    ancestor.     To  claim  divine 
honours,  or  divine  descent,  would  be 
to  put  themselves  on  a  level  with  the 
emperor,  and  so  render  them  open  to  a 
charge  of  maiestas. 

4  The  obvious  blank  in  the  MS.  before 
aurariasque  seems    best    supplied    by 
aerarias,  for  which  Nipp.  quotes  Pliny 
(H.N.  xxxiv.  i,  2,  4),  who  speaks  of  a 
famous  Spanish  copper  ore  called  Mari- 
anum    or    Cordubense.      Others    read 
argentarias,   for  which  also  S.   Spain 
was  famed. 

5  i.e.  had  the  amount  paid  into-  the 
fiscus  instead  of  into  the  aerarium. 


A.D.  33.]  BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.    18-20.  383 

2  by  Tiberius.      At   last,   excited    to   madness    by  all 
these  executions;1  Tiberius  ordered  that  every  one 
who   was   in    custody   on   the   charge   of  complicity 

3  with  Sejanus  should  be  put  to  death.     There  lay  the  Hideous 

spectacle. 

victims,  in  untold  number;  of  both  sexes,  of  every 
age,   high    and    low,    singly    or    huddled    together : 

4  no   relative   or  friend   might    stand    by,   or    shed    a 
tear  over  them,  or  even  cast  a  look  at  them  for  more 
than  a  moment.     Guards  were  set  round  to  watch  for 
every  sign  of  grief,  and  to  follow  the  rotting  bodies 
until  they  were  dragged  into  the  Tiber,  there  to  float 
down  the  stream,  or  ground  upon  the  banks :  none 

5  might  burn  them,  none  touch  them.     Terror  had  cut 
them   off  from   all   commerce   with    their  kind ;   and 
cruelty,  waxed  wanton,  closed   the  door  of  pity  on 
them.2 

1  About  this  time  Gaius  Caesar,  accompanying  his 
grandfather  back  to  Capreae,  took  to  wife  Claudia,8 
daughter  of  Marcus  Silanus.     Under  the  mask  of  an  His 
assumed   modesty,  this  youth  concealed   a  most  in-  character- 
human  temper.     On  the  condemnation  of  his  mother, 

at  the  death  of  his  brothers,  no  word  escaped  him  :  he 
would  reflect  every  mood  of  Tiberius,  take  pattern  by 

2  his  demeanour,  and  echo  his  very  words.     Hence  in 

1  As  Nipp.  remarks,  Tacitus  speaks  in  regard  to  the  disaster  at  Fidenae,  iv. 

of  Tiberius  as  of  a  wild  beast  excited  62,  63. 

by  the  taste  of  blood.     Similarly  Juvenal  •  Her  full  name  was  lunia  Claudilla 

compares    him   to  Ajax   in    his    fury  :  (Suet.  Cal.   12).    The  father,   Marcus, 

Quatn    timeo  victas  ne  poenas  exigat  is  mentioned  (iii.  24,  5)  as  interceding 

Aiax  (x.  84).  for  his  brother  Decimus,  exiled  for  an 

8  The  grandeur    of  this  description  intrigue    with    Julia,   and    restored    in 

almost  condones  its  exaggeration.     So  A.D.  20;  and  in  iii.  57,  2  as  proposing 

in  chap.  39,  2,  with  equal  extravagance,  an   adulatory  decree.     Caligula  forced 

Tacitus  speaks  of  undantem  per  domos  him  to  cut  his  throat  in  A.D.  37,  because 

sanguine m     aut     mantis     carnificum.  he  had  declined  to  accompany  him  on 

Suetonius  is  no  palliator  of  the  cruelty  board  ship  in    rough    weather,   being 

of   Tiberius ;    yet    in    describing    this  afraid  of  sea-sickness  (Suet.  Cal.   23). 

period  of  terror   he  gives  but  twenty  Dio  says  Caligula  killed  him  because  of 

persons,  including  boys  and  girls,  as  his  pluming  himself  on  his  virtue  and 

the  maximum  number  put  to  death  on  his  relationship  to  himself  ilix.  8,  4). 
one  day.     Cp.  the  similar  exaggeration 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  33. 


Prophecy 
of  Tiberius 
in  regard 
to  Galba. 


How 

Tiberius 

had  tested 

the 

astrologer 

Thrasyllus 

at  Rhodes. 


later  days  the  well-known  saying  of  the  orator  Pas- 
sienus,1  that  no  man  had  ever  been  a  better  slave,  or  a 
worse  master* 

I  must  not  omit  to  mention  a  prognostication  of  3 
Tiberius  in  regard  to  Servius  Galba,  who  was  Consul 
for  that  year.  After  sending  for  him,  and  sounding 
him  by  converse  on  various  topics,  Tiberius  made  this 
speech  to  him  in  Greek: — And  you  too,  Galba,  will  one 
day  have  a  taste  of  Empire : 3  thus  foreshadowing  for 
him  a  long-deferred  and  short-lived  lease  of  power. 
This  he  did  through  his  knowledge  of  astrology ;  for 
he  had  had  leisure  at  Rhodes  to  study  that  science 
under  Thrasyllus,4  a  teacher  whose  skill  he  had  proved 
in  the  following  manner. 

Whenever  he  sought  counsel  on  such  matters,  he  2 1 
would  go  to  the  top  of  his  house,  which  overhung  a 
precipice,  taking  with  him  as  his  sole  confidant  an 
illiterate  freedman  of  huge  physical  strength.     This  2 
man,  crossing  a  steep  place  where  there  was  no  path, 
would  lead  the  way  for  the  person  whose  skill  Tiberius 
desired  to  test.     On  the  way  down,  if  Tiberius  sus- 
pected the  astrologer  of  ignorance  or  imposture,  the 
freedman  would  hurl  him  into  the  sea  below,  that  no 


1  C.  Passienus  Crispus  (quo  ego  nil 
novi  subtilius  in  omnibus  rebus,  Sen. 
Nat.   Quaest.    IV.    Praef.   6)    was    an 
orator  of  distinction,  as  was  his  father 
before  him.     He  was  twice  consul,  the 
second  time  in  A.D.  44.    His  position  is 
shewn  by  his  marriages.     He  married 
first  Domitia  (sister  of  Agrippina's  first 
husband,    the    father    of   Nero),    and 
secondly  Agrippina  herself :  Agrippina 
is  said  to  have  poisoned  him.    Instances 
of  his  clever  sayings  are  given  by  Sen. 
Ben.  i.  15,  2,  and  Quint.  Inst.  vi.  i,  50. 

2  For  a  further  account  of  the  cha- 
racter of  Gaius,  commonly  called  Cali- 
gula, see  chaps.  45  and  46. 

3  This  story  is  given  by  various  writers 
in  different  forms.     Suetonius  tells  it  of 
Augustus:     Constat   Augustum   pitero 
adhuc  salutanti  se  inter  aequales  appre- 


hensa  bucula  dixisse,  «ai  <™  reKvov  rrjr 
upxn?  nn&v  Traparpwff/.  Sed  et  Tiberius, 
cum  comperisset  imperaturwn  eum, 
verum  in  senecta:  '  Vivat  sane,'  ait, 
'  quando  id  adnos  nihil pertinet'  (Suet. 
Galb.  4). 

4  Thrasyllus  had  returned  to  Rome 
with  Tiberius,  and  remained  his  con- 
stant companion.  Dio  says  Tiberius 
consulted  him  every  day,  though  treat- 
ing all  other  astrologers  and  magi  with 
the  greatest  severity.  He  had  been  with 
Augustus  in  his  last  moments  (Suet. 
Oct.  98).  He  died  one  year  before 
Tiberius  (Dio  Iviii.  27,  i),  having  saved 
many  lives  by  his  cleverness  in  assuring 
Tiberius  that  he  had  ten  more  years  to 
live  (id.  27,  3),  and  therefore  need  not 
hurry  over  his  executions. 


A.D.  33.]  BOOK    VI.    CHAPS.   20-22.  385 

3  one  might  live  to  tell  the  tale.     Thrasyllus  was  intro- 
duced by  this  passage ;  and  in  answer  to  the  queries 
of  Tiberius,  foretold  with  great  sagacity  his  future  rise 
to    power.     Tiberius,   greatly    agitated,   enquired    of 
Thrasyllus,  Had  he  cast  his  own  horoscope  ? l     What  of 
the  year,  of  the  day,  through  which  he  was  now  passing  ? 

4  Having  calculated  the  position  and  the  distances  of 
the  stars,  Thrasyllus  at  first  hesitated ;  then  trembled  ; 
the  closer  he  looked,  the  greater  his  amazement  and 
alarm :    till  at  last  he  exclaimed  that  some  unknown 
and    well  -  nigh   fatal   peril   was    hanging    over   him. 

5  Tiberius   embraced   him,   complimented    him   on    his 
prescience  of  danger,  and  assured  him  of  his  safety. 
From  that   day  forth  he  accepted  all  his  pronounce- 
ments  as   those  of  an  oracle,  admitting   him  among 
the  number  of  his  most  intimate  friends.2 

i        As  for  myself,  when  1  hear  tales  of  this  kind,  my  Such  tales 


raise 


mind  remains  in  doubt  whether  human  affairs  are  doubts  in 
ordered  by.  Fate  and  unchangeable  necessity,3  or  pro- 
2  ceed  by  chance.  For  you  will  find  the  wisest  of  ancient 
philosophers  and  their  followers  at  variance  on  this 
point.  Many  firmly  believe4  that  the  Gods  take  no 
care  for  our  beginning,  or  our  end,  or  for  man's 
life  at  all:5  so  continually  do  we  see  evil  befall  the 
good,  and  the  wicked  in  enjoyment  of  prosperity. 

1  i.e.   the  position  of  the  heavenly  brought  a  despatch  from  Augustus  re- 

bodies  at  the  moment  of  birth.  calling  Tiberius  to  Rome.     Thrasyllus 

f  This  story  is  told  in  the  same  way  was  thus  re-instated  in  the  good  opinion 

by  Dio  (lv.  n).     The  English   reader  of  Tiberius  (Tib.  14). 
scarce  needs  to  be  reminded  of  the  fine  •  The  words  fato  et  necessitate,   as 

use  of  it  made  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  in  Furn.  points  out,  make  up  one  idea  — 

Quentin   Durward,  chap,   xii.,    in   the  'a  predestined  necessity,'  correspond- 

famous  scene  between  Louis  XI.  and  ing  to  the  Greek  Molpa  and  uva'yun. 


Martius    Galeotti.     Suetonius    tells    a  4  i.e.  the  doctrine  of  the  Epicureans. 

different,    but    similar    story,    to    the  He  gives  first  the  view  which  he  himself 

effect  that  Tiberius  was  on   the  point  rejects,  that  all  things  go  by  chance. 

of  having  Thrasyllus  hurled  into  the  •  Cp.  the  passage  in  Horace  (Sat.  i. 

sea  at  Rhodes,  as  knowing  too  many  5,  101),  who  borrows  from  Lucr.  v.  83 

of  .his  secrets,  when  a  ship  hove  in  and  vi.  58  :  Namque  deos  didici  securutn 

sight.     Thrasyllus    foretold    that    the  agere  aevum,  —  Nee  si  quid  mirifaciat 

ship  was  the  bearer  of   good    news.  natvra,  deos  id  =  Tristes  ex  alto  caeli 

The  prophecy  came  true,  for  the  vessel  demittere  tecto. 

2   C 


386 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  33. 


is  man  s 
life  pre- 
ordained 
by  the 
stars,  or  by 
Necessity  ? 


Or  is  he 
free? 


Astrology 
a  true 
science, 
though 
abused. 


Others  again  hold1  that  there  is  a  correspondence  3 
between  Fate  and  the  course  of  events ;  only  that  this 
does  not  depend  upon  the  movements  of  the  stars,  but 
on  certain  elemental  principles,  and  on  the  sequence 
of  natural  causes.2  Yet  even  so,  they  would  leave  to 
us  our  choice  of  life ;  which  once  made,  what  comes 
after  is  fixed  immutably.3  Nor  are  things  good  or  4 
evil,  say  they,  which  the  multitude  so  deems :  for 
many  are  hap'py,  who  seem  to  be  struggling  with 
misfortune,  while  many  more,  in  the  midst  of  great 
wealth,4  are  most  miserable,  if  only  the  former  bear 
their  ills  with  fortitude,  and  the  latter  use  their  good 
things  unwisely.5  Nevertheless,  most  mortals  cannot  5 
rid  themselves  of  the  belief  that  every  man's  future 
is  pre-ordained  at  his  birth;  but  that,  through  the 
trickery  of  those  who  pronounce  upon  what  they 
do  not  know,  some  things  fall  out  otherwise  than  as 
foretold,  thus  destroying  the  credit  of  a  science  to 
which  both  our  own  and  former  ages  have  furnished 
notable  testimonies.6  For  not  to  wander  over-far  from  6 


1  i.e.    the    doctrine    of   the    Stoics. 
The  doctrine  offatum  in  this  passage 
is  thus  clearly  intended  to  contain  a 
religious    element ;     being    contrasted 
with  the  Epicurean  view  that  the  Gods 
pay  no  regard  to  human  affairs.    Seneca 
actually  identifies  Fate  with  the  Deity  : 
hunc  eundem  et  fatum  si  dixeris,  non 
mentieris  (de  Ben.  iv.  7,  2). 

2  Granting,   then,  the   Stoical    view 
that  Fate  is  an  established  and  neces- 
sary order  of  events,  divinely  appointed 
and  fore-ordained,  the  question  arises, 
is  there  a  correspondence  between  that 
order  and  the  motions  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  so  that  they  who  read  the  stars 
can  read  the  future  also?  or  does  the 
correspondence    follow    the    lines    of 
natural  causation  ? 

8  i.e.  whichever  way  the  above 
question  be  decided,  those  who  believe 
in  Fate  (whether  Stoics  or  others)  allow 
to  man  a  choice  of  life :  which  choice 
once  made,  the  necessary  consequences 
follow.  In  other  words,  the  necessity 
they  believe  in  does  not  exclude  a 


partial  free-will,  exercised  once  for  all 
at  the  beginning  of  life,  such  as  is 
figured  in  the  well-known  apologue  of 
the  Choice  of  Hercules. 

4  An  obvious  reminiscence  of  Hor. 
Od.    iii.    16,    28 :    Magnas  inter  opes 
inops. 

5  That  good  and  evil  are  not  what 
appear  to  be  so,  is  an  answer  to  the 
Epicurean   argument    for    chance,    as 
stated   above  in   §   2,  idea  creberrime 
tristia  in  bonos,  laeta  apud  deteriores 
esse. 

6  Tacitus  gives  his  own  view  as  that 
of  the  majority :  the  science  of  astrology 
is  a  true  science ;  it  is  only  discredited 
by  the  fraud  and  ignorance  of  many  of 
its  professors.     So  in  iv.  58,  2-4,  the 
prophecy  of  the  skilled  observers  was 
true  :  the  error  lay  in  the  interpretations 
of  the  vulgar.     Of  the  ordinary  mathe- 
matici  Tacitus  speaks  with  the  utmost 
contempt :  genus  hominum  potentibus 
infidum,   sperantibus  fallax,   quod  in 
civitate  nostra  et  vetabitur  semper  et 
retinebitur    (Hist.    i.    22,    i).     Furn. 


A.D.  33.] 


BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.  22-23. 


387 


my  subject  now,  I  shall  relate  in  due  time  how  the 
son  of  this  same  Thrasyllus  predicted  empire  for 
Nero.1 

1  During  this  year  the   death   of  Asinius    Callus2  Death  of 
became   known.     That   he   died   from    want   of   food  oKf 
was  beyond  question ;  but  whether  of  his  own  will, 

2  or  by  compulsion,  was  a  matter  of  doubt.8    On  being 
asked    if   he  would    permit   Asinius   to    be   buried, 
Tiberius  granted  the  request  without  a  blush;4   he 
even  complained  of  the  untoward  accident  which  had 
carried  off  the  accused  before  he  could   himself  try 

3  the   case;    as    if   the   three  years   which   had   inter- 
vened  had   been   all   too  short   a  time  for  the  aged 
Consular — the  father  of  so  many  Consulars  5 — to  be 
brought  to  trial ! 

4  Then  came  the  end  of  Drusus.6    For  nine  days  the  End  of 

Drusus. 


points  out  that  most  Stoics  admitted 
astrology  in  some  form,  either  as  a 
factor  in  causation,  or  as  affording 
indications  of  the  will  of  heaven.  It  is 
perhaps  not  generally  known  that  at 
the  present  day  in  India  natives  reli- 
giously preserve  their  horoscopes.  This 
practice,  in  fact,  affords  the  only  equi- 
valent in  that  country  to  our  system  of 
registering  births. 

1  Furn.  suggests  with  probability 
that  chaps.  21  and  22  have  been  inserted 
for  an  artistic  purpose,  to  give  some 
relief  from  the  catalogue  of  horrors 
recorded  in  this  book. 

•  Asinius  Callus  appears  frequently 
in  the  preceding  books  as  a  fussy,  self- 
important  senator,  always  anxious  to 
put  his  word  in,  and  endeavouring  to 
make  his  servility  more  acceptable  by 
a  show  of  independence.     Tacitus  takes 
pleasure  in  recording  how  his  want  of 
tact  led  him  to  tread  on  the  toes  of 
Tiberius  (see  i.  12,  2-6  :  76,  2  :  77,  3 ; 

"'•  35.  3 :  36-  * !  iv-  7i.  3).  and  now 
completely  he  merited  the  epigram 
(avidum  sed  minorem)  by  which  Augus- 
tus described  his  claims  to  empire  (i. 
13, 2).  The  special  reason  for  Tiberius' s 
dislike  to  him  was  that  he  had  married 
his  divorced  wife  Vipsania  (i.  13,  2). 

*  Asinius  Gallus  had  been  arrested 
under  circumstances  of  peculiar  trea- 


chery three  years  before.  On  the  very 
day  that  he  was  being  feasted  by  the 
emperor  at  Capri,  and  had  partaken 
with  him  of  the  loving  cup,  he  was 
secretly  denounced  in  the  senate.  A 
magistrate  was  at  once  despatched  to 
carry  him  off  to  Rome,  where  he  was 
kept  in  solitary  confinement  under  con- 
sular custody  for  three  years,  with  just 
food  enough  to  support  life,  and  no 
more.  Death  alone  was  thought  too 
good  for  him.  Dio  tells  us  how  in 
another  case  Tiberius  refused  to  put  an 
imprisoned  friend  to  death,  as  '  he  was 
not  yet  reconciled  to  him '  (Iviii.  3,  6). 

4  i.e.  had  the  face  to  grant  as  a 
favour  what  could  have  been  claimed 
as  a  right :  Asinius  having  died  un- 
heard and  uncondemned. 

4  Of  five  of  his  sons  known  to  us,  at 
least  three  were  consulars.  All  were 
children  of  Vipsania.  See  Nipp. 

•  The  exact  date  of  the  arrest  and 
death  of  Drusus  is  not  known.  Sejanus 
had  patronised  Drusus  with  a  view  to 
using  him  as  a  tool  against  his  brother, 
while  ready  to  drop  him  the  moment 
he  had  no  further  use  for  him  (iv.  60,  6). 
In  the  interval  he  had  been  married  to 
Aemilia  Lepida  (chap.  40,  4);  accord- 
ing to  Dio  (Iviii.  3,  8),  Sejanus  had 
trafficked  with  her  also  against  her 
husband. 


388 


ANNALS    O.F    TACITUS. 


[A.D.33. 


Tiberius 
denounces 
him  after 
his  death, 


and  caus  e  s 
a  diary  of 
his  doings 
in  prison 
to  be  read 
3  loud. 


young  man  had  supported  life  on  the  most  pitiable 
food,  having  to  gnaw  the  very  stuffing  of  his  bed.1 
Some  say  that  Macro  had  received  orders,  in  the  event  5 
of  an  armed  rising  by  Sejanus,  to  take  the  young  man 
out  of  his  prison  in  the  Palatine,  and  put  him  at  the 
head   of  the   people.     But  after  that,  a  rumour  got  6 
abroad  that  Tiberius  was   to   be   reconciled    to   his 
daughter-in-law   and    his    grandson;    whereupon   he 
preferred  severity  to  mercy. 

He  even  inveighed  against  the  young  man  after  his  24. 
death.  He  accused  him  of  personal  vices,  of  plotting 
the  death  of  his  own  relatives,  and  of  harbouring 
designs  against  his  country  :2  he  even  ordered  a  diary  3 
which  had  been  kept  of  everything  which  the  youth 
had  done  or  said,  to  be  read  aloud.  This  seemed  the  2 
cruellest  thing  of  all.  That  men  should  have  been 
posted,  through  all  those  years,  to  take  note  of  his 
every  look,  his  every  groan  and  secret  murmur,  and 
that  his  grandfather  could  have  brought  himself  to 
hear,  read  and  publish  all  these  things,  seemed  in- 
credible; and  yet  there  it  all  was,  in  the  letters  of 
Attius  a  centurion,  and  Didymus  a  freedman,  with 
the  names  of  the  slaves  appended  who  had  intimidated 
or  even  struck  Drusus  if  he  attempted  to  leave  his 
chamber.  The  centurion  even  reported  his  own  brutal  3 
language  to  the  deceased,  as  if  that  were  something  to 
be  proud  of,  as  well  as  the  lad's  dying  words.  For 
Drusus  at  first  feigned  madness,  and  cursed  Tiberius, 
as  if  he  were  beside  himself;  then  abandoning  all 
hope  of  life,  he  uttered  the  most  studied  and  elaborate 


1  Suetonius  confirms  this  account  of 
the  death  of  Drusus  in  imaparte  Palatii 
(Tib.   54),  as  well  as   that   of  the  in- 
structions said  to  have  been  given  to 
Macro  in  the  following  sentence  (ib.  65). 

2  Cp.     the    similar     charges    made 
against  Nero  (v.  3,  3),  Gaius  (chap.  9, 


3),  and  Sabinus  (iv.  70,  7).  As  Furn. 
points  out,  the  words  infensum  rei 
publicae  animum  are  equivalent  to  the 
old  phrase  hostis  publicus,  or  Suetonius' 
hastes  iudicavit  (Tib.  54,  Cal.  7). 
s  See  iv.  67,  6. 


A.D.  33.]  BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.   23-25.  389 

imprecations  upon  him,  praying  that  as  he  had  slain  his 
daughter-in-law,  his  brother's  son  and  his  own  grand- 
children, and  had  filled  his  whole  house  with  blood, 
so  might  he  himself  pay  the  penalty  to  his  name  and 
4  race,  to  his  ancestors  and  to  posterity.1  The  senators  Horror 

•  e    •  i        •  of  the 

interrupted  the  reading,  as  if  in  reprobation  ;  they  senators, 
were  filled  with  horror  and  amazement  that  one  who 
had  hitherto  been  so  artful  in  concealing  his  iniquities 
should  have  reached  such  a  pitch  of  assurance2  as  to 
throw  down,  as  it  were,  the  prison  walls,  and  display 
his  grandson  under  a  centurion's  lash,  receiving 
blows  from  slaves,  and  begging  in  vain  for  the  last 
necessaries  of  life. 

1  Scarcely  was   this   distressing  event   over,  when  Death  of 
news  came  of  the  death  of  Agrippina8    The  execution 

of  Sejanus,  I  doubt  not,  had  buoyed  her  up  with 
hope ;  but  when  she  found  herself  treated  as  cruelly 
as  before,  she  put  an  end  to  herself — unless  indeed 
food  was  denied  to  her  that  she  might  be  thought  to 

2  have  died  by  her  own  hand.4  And  now  Tiberius  broke  Tiberius 

•  •  •          i  inveighs 

out  with  the  foulest  charges  against  her,  accusing  her  against 
of  having  committed   adultery  with  Asinius  Gallus, 
and  asserting  that  it  was  chagrin  at  his  death  which 

3  had  made  her  despair  of  life.     But  in  truth  Agrippina, 

1  Drusus  at  first  feigned  madness,  to  revel   in  proclaiming  his  own  infamies 

excuse    his     uncontrollable    outbursts  and  the  degradations  of  his  family  (see 

against  Tiberius ;  then,  finding  that  to  be  chap.  25,  4). 

of  no  use,  deliberately  cursed  Tiberius.  •  Book   V.  chap.  5,  2  broke   off  at 

Wild  outbreaks  of  passion  (atrox  Drusi  the  point  at  which  Agrippina  and  Nero 

ingenium,  iv.  60,  5)  seem  to  have  been  had    been  denounced    by  Tiberius   to 

common  to  all  the  children  of  Germani-  the  senate,  and  the  senate  had  declared 

cus  and  Agrippina.  itself  ready  to   anticipate    his  wishes. 

8  The  extraordinary  mixture  of  an  Both   were  hurried   off,    chained,   into 

habitual  reserve  with  occasional  fits  of  banishment  ;     Nero    was    declared    a 

frankness,  sometimes,  as  here,  of  the  public    enemy,   and    sent    to    Pontia  ; 

most  brutal  kind,  is  one  of  the  mysteries  Agrippina  to  Pandateria,  a  little  island 

of  the  character  of  Tiberius.     It  gives  off  the  bay  of  Naples,  in  which   the 

the  idea  of   a  strong  and  passionate  elder   Julia  had  been    imprisoned   for 

nature,   kept    ordinarily    under    severe  five  years  (i.  53,  i). 

control,  but  subject  to  sudden  tempests  *  Suetonius  says  she  was  treated  with 

which  swept  away  all  bonds  of  prudence,  the    greatest    brutality  :    rursus    mori 

decency  and  self-respect.      Under  the  inedia  destinanti,  per  vim  ore  didtuto, 

influence  of  such  storms  he  seemed  to  infulciri  cibum  ittssit  (Tib.  53). 


390 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  33. 


Cocceius 
Nerva  de- 
liberately 
dies  of 
starvation. 


Tardy  re- 
tribution on 
Plancina. 


with  all  her  ambition,  her  intolerance  of  rivals,  and 
her  masculine  preoccupations,  had  none  of  a  woman's 
frailties.  Tiberius  mentioned  that  she  had  died  on  the  4 
same  day  on  which  Sejanus  had  paid  the  penalty  two 
years  before,  and  desired  that  circumstance  to  be 
noted ;  he  took  credit  also  to  himself  that  she  had  not 
been  strangled,  nor  her  body  flung  on  to  the  Gemonian 
stairs.  Thanks  were  voted  to  him  for  this,  and  a  5 
decree  was  passed  that  on  the  eighteenth  of  October 
in  every  year,  the  day  marked  by  the  double  death, 
an  offering  should  be  made  to  Jupiter. 

Soon  after  this  Cocceius  Nerva,1  one  of  the  26 
Emperor's  constant  companions,  a  man  learned  in  all 
law,  human  and  divine,2  unassailed  in  his  position, 
and  in  full  health  of  body,  made  up  his  mind  to  die. 
When  Tiberius  heard  of  it,  he  came  and  sat  beside  2 
him,  inquired  of  him  his  reasons,  and  implored  him 
not  to  carry  out  his  design ;  impressing  upon  him  at 
last  how  distressing  it  would  be  to  himself,  and  how 
damaging  to  his  reputation,  if  his  nearest  friend  were 
to  seek  escape  from  life  without  cause.8  Nerva  declined  3 
all  conversation,  and  persisted  in  his  abstinence  from 
food.  Those  who  knew  his  mind  best  reported  that 
his  inner  view  of  the  evils  of  the  times  had  filled  him 
with  terror  and  indignation,  and  that  he  had  made  up 
his  mind,  while  still  unscathed  and  unattacked,  to  die 
an  honourable  death. 

The  fate  of  Agrippina,  strange  to  say,  drew  along  4 
with  it  that  of  Plancina,4  the  widow  of  Gnaeus  Piso. 
Plancina  had  exulted  at  the  death  of  Germanicus ;  and 


1  The  single  senator  of  consular  rank 
who  had  accompanied  Tiberius  to  Capri 
(iv.  58,  i).     The  emperor  Nerva  was 
his  grandson.     His  son  (the  emperor's 
father)  was  a  jurist  also  (Pomp.  Dig.  i. 
2,  2,  48). 

2  The  usual  phrase  to  denote  a  jurist 


of  the  first  rank.     Capito  is  similarly 
described  (iii.  70,  4). 

3  This  is  almost   the  only  incident 
recorded    by    Tacitus    which     shews 
Tiberius  capable  of  a  personal  friend- 
ship. 

4  For  Plancina,  see  n.  on  ii.  43,  4. 


A.D.  33.]  BOOK   VI.   CHAPS.   25-27.  391 

when  Piso  fell,  she  owed  her  safety  as  much  to  the 
hostility  of  Agrippina  as  to  the  entreaties  of  Augusta. 
But  now  that  both  the  hatred  and  the  favour  had 
passed  away,  right  was  done  ;  the  well-known  charges 
were  brought  up  against  her,  and  she  inflicted  on  her- 
self, with  her  own  hand,  a  punishment  which  was 
tardy  rather  than  undeserved. 

Depressed   as   the   public  mind  was  by  all  these  Julia 
calamities,  it  came  as  a  fresh  grief1  that  Julia,  who  had 


been   the  wife  of  Nero,  married   into   the   family  of  l 
Rubellius    Blandus.      There  were    many  who   could 
remember  that   the  grandfather  of  Rubellius  was  a 
plain  Roman  knight,  belonging  to  Tivoli. 

2  At  the  close  of  the  year  Aelius  Lamia  2  died,  and  Death  of 
was  honoured  with  a  censorial  funeral.3     He  had  been  Lamia. 
relieved  at  last  of  his  mock  appointment4  as  Governor 

of  Syria,  and  made  Prefect  of  the  City.5  He  came 
of  a  good  family,  enjoyed  a  hale  old  age,  and  had 
gained  in  public  esteem  from  being  forbidden  to 

3  assume   his  governorship.     Soon  afterwards,  on  the 
death  of  Flaccus  Pomponius,6  Propraetor  of  Syria,  a 
letter  was  read  from  the  Emperor  complaining  that 
the  most  illustrious  citizens,  and  those  best  fitted  for 


1  A  striking  instance  of  the  aristo-  Horace  (Od.  1.26,8;  Epp.  i.  14,  6,  etc.), 

cratic  temper  of  Tacitus.   In  the  midst  of  to  whom  he  attributes  a  descent  from 

a  reign  of  terror,  when  judicial  murders  the  mythical  founder  of  Formiae  (iii.  17, 

were  taking  place  every  day,  he  here  re-  2-8). 

presents  the  general  gloom  as  darkened  *  A  public  funeral  of  the  handsomest 

by  Julia's  marriage  to  the  grandson  of  kind,  such  as  was  given  to  a  censor, 

a    municipal    Roman   knight.    Seneca  See  iv.  i£,  3 ;  xiii.  2,  6. 

mentions  the  grandfather  as  the  first  *  As   m  the   case    of   L.   Arruntius 

person  in  the  position  of  a  knight  taking  below,   §    3.      For    Tiberius'   habit  of 

to  the  teaching  of  rhetoric  ;  all  previous  appointing  governors  to  provinces  and 

teachers    having    been    only   libertini  then  not  allowing  them  to  leave  Rome, 

(Contr.  ii.  pr.  5).    One  of  the  two  sons  see  i.  80,   2  and  3.    No  name  of   a 

of  this  marriage,  Rubellius  Plautus,  was  governor  of  Syria  is  known  to  us  since 

father  of  the  Rubellius  Blandus  apostro-  the  temporary  appointment  of  Cn.  Sen- 

phised  by  Juvenal  as  a  type  of  the  pride  tius  to  hold  the  province  against  Piso, 

of  birth  :  tecum  est  mihi  sermo,  Rubelli  in  A.D.  19  (ii.  74,  i). 

=  Blandc,  tunics  alto  Drusorvm  san-  5  As  successor  to  L.  Piso,  chap.  10,  3. 

guine  (viii.  39).  •  For  Pomponius  see  ii.  32,  3  and 

*  Probably    the    Aelius    Lamia    of  66,  3,  and  n.  on  chap,  ii,  6. 


392 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  33. 


Death  of 

Manius 

Lepidus. 


the  command  of  armies,  declined  to  undertake  such 
duties : — He  had  been  driven,  he  said,  to  the  necessity 
of  entreating  men  of  Consular  rank  to  take  the  command 
of  Provinces — forgetting  that  Arruntius  had  been 
kept  at  home  for  ten  years  to  prevent  his  going  out 
to  Spain. 

Manius  Lepidus *  also  died  in  this  year.     On  this  •* 
man's  wisdom   and  moderation   I   have   dwelt   suffi- 
ciently in  the  earlier  books  of  this  history.     Of  his  5 
noble   birth   I   need   say  nothing;   for  the  Aemilian 
house  has  ever  been  fruitful  of  good  citizens,  and  even 
such  of  them   as  lived  evil    lives  were   persons   of 
distinction.2 


Appear- 
ance of  the 
phoenix  in 
Egypt. 


Description 
of  the  bird  ; 
his  period 
and  pro- 
ceedings. 


A.D.  34.    CONSULS   PAULLUS   FABIUS   PERSICUS  3  AND 
L.  VITELLIUS. 

In  this  year,4  after  a  long  cycle  of  ages,  the  phoenix  2o. 
made  its  appearance  in  Egypt,  and  the  marvel  afforded 
material  for  much  learned  discussion  both  to  Greeks 
and  to  the  inhabitants.     I  shall  mention  the  facts  on  2 
which  all  are  agreed,  with  several  points  not  free  from 
doubt,  yet  not  unworthy  of  being  recorded. 

The  bird  is  sacred  to  the  Sun.     In  its  beak,  and  in  3 
the  markings  of  its  plumage,  those  who  have  given 
representations  of  it  agree  that  it  differs  from  all  other 


1  For  this  Lepidus  see  nn.  on  iv.  20, 
4,  5  and  i.  13,  2. 

2  Thus  Tacitus  regards  high  birth  as 
to  some  extent  a  set-off  against  bad 
character. 

3  Apparently  son  of  the   P.    Fabius 
Maximus  mentioned  in  i.  5,  2  as  privy 
to  the  visit  of  Augustus   to  Agrippa 
Postumus  at  Planasia  ;  he  was  procos. 
of  Asia  under  Claudius.     L.  Vitellius, 
father  of  the  future  emperor,  was  ap- 
pointed to  a  general  command  over  the 
East  during  the  Parthian  troubles  about 
to  be  narrated  (chap.  32,  5).     For  his 


mixed  character  as  a  good  soldier  but 
servile  courtier,  see  chap.  32,  6  and  7. 

4  Dio(lviii.  27,  i)  and  Pliny  (H.N.  x. 
2,  5)  put  the  arrival  of  the  phoenix  two 
years  later.  The  tale  of  the  phoenix 
probably  had  its  origin  in  the  frequent 
representations  in  hieroglyphics  of  a 
bird  of  the  heron  tribe  which  makes  its 
appearance  with  the  rising  Nile,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Egyptian  year.  Its 
periodic  return  caused  it  to  become  the 
symbol  of  a  cycle  of  time,  variously 
computed. 


A.D.  34.] 


BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.   27-28. 


393 


birds.1     Of  its  length  of  life,  diverse  tales  are  told. 

4  The  commonly  accepted  view  is  that  it  lives  for  five 
hundred  years.2    Some  put  the  interval  between  two 
appearances  at  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty- 
one  years ;  holding  that,  of  the  three  last  seen,  the  first 
made  its  appearance  in  the  reign  of  Sesosis  ;8  the  next 
in  that  of  Amasis;4  the  third  in  that  of  Ptolemaeus,6 
third  of  the  Macedonian  line :  each  flying  to  the  city 
called  Heliopolis,  accompanied  by  a  vast  concourse  of 

5  other  birds  marvelling  at  its  strange  appearance.     The 
two  earlier  dates  are  lost  in  antiquity ;  but  between 
Ptolemaeus   and   Tiberius  there  were  less  than  two 

G  hundred  and  fifty  years.     Hence  some  are  of  opinion 


1  Herodotus  describes  the  bird  from 
representations  of  it  which  he  had  seen. 
In  size  and  shape,  he  says,  it  resembles 
the  eagle,  with  feathers  of  red  and  gold 
(ii.  73).  Pliny  gives  it  a  purple  body, 
a  golden  neck,  a  blue  and  red  tail,  with 
crest  and  plume  (H.N.  x.  2,  i).  Lac- 
tantius  has  a  special  poem  on  the 
phoenix,  describing  it  as  half  pheasant, 
half  peacock. 

3  Herodotus  gives  five  hundred  years 
on  the  authority  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Heliopolis.  The  longer  period  of  1461 
years  is  the  '  annus  magnus,'  or  '  Cani- 
cularis,'  at  the  end  of  which  the  civil 
year  of  365  days  used  by  the  Egyptians 
comes  again  into  agreement  with  the 
true  year  of  365$  days  (Censorinus,  de 
die  nat.  18).  Pliny,  who  quotes  Mani- 
lius,  author  of  the  Astronomica,  gives 
540  years— some  read  509 — as  the 
period.  Other  periods  are  given  by 
other  authorities.  It  is  possible  that 
the  number  500  may  have  been  taken 
roughly  as  one-third  of  1461. 

My  friend  Mr.  W.  Ewing  Crum.has 
kindly  furnished  me  with  the  following 
note  : — For  the  various  lengths  of  the 
phoenix-period  according  to  classical 
writers,  see  Wiedemann's  Herodot.  p. 
312.  There  seems  to  be  no  hieroglyphic 
or  astronomical  sense  in  the  500  years 
here  given.  But  the  period  of  1461  years 
is  known  also  as  the  '  Sothis  period,' 
i.e.  the  number  of  years  it  took  before 
the  rise  of  the  Dog  Star  (Sothis)  again 
coincided  with  the  New  Year's  Day  of 
the  official,  moveable  year.  A  great 


deal  has  been  written  about  this  and 
the  other  periods  ;  see  Krall  in  Wiener 
Sitzbr.  xcvii.  835,  and  in  Wiener  Stud, 
iv.  36  ;  F.  Petrie,  Hist.  i.  249  ;  Mahler 
in  Aegyptische  Zeitschr.  xxviii.  115 
(elaborate  astronomical  reckonings) ; 
and  Cecil  Torr,  Memphis  und  Mycenae, 
57.  The  legendary  bird  was  that  called 
in  hieroglyphics  BNW  (probably 
'  benne ')  sacred- to  the  Sun-god  at 
Heliopolis.  Recently  it  has  been  pro- 
posed to  explain  the  bird's  Greek 
name,  ^ol^f,  as  a  confusion  due  to 
similarity  between  the  Egyptian  words 
for  'date-palm'  (  =  <p,>int)  and  for  this 
particular  bird  ;  both  would  sound  like 
'  benne  '  (Spiegelberg,  in  Versamml. 
Deutsch.  Philol.,  1901). 

*  Sesodsis  is  the  name  given  by  Dio- 
dorus  (i.  55)  to  the  king  called  Sesostris 
by  Herodotus,  to  whom  he  attributes 
the  conquests  made  by  Rameses  II.,  of 
the   igth  dynasty.     Tacitus  (ii.  60,  4) 
agrees  with  the  monuments  in  assigning 
them  to  Rameses.     The  name  Sesosis 
may  be  meant  for  Sethos,  the  father  or 
brother  of  Rameses. 

4  The  date  of  Amasis  was  the  6th 
century  B.C. 

*  Evidently  Ptolemy  Euergetes,   the 
third  of  the  Ptolemies,  is  meant.     His 
father  Philadelphus  might  be  described 
as  ex  Macedonibus  tertius  if  we  reckon 
from  Alexander  as  the  first.     But  the 
date  of  Euergetes,  who  died  B.C.  222, 
suits  best  with  the  words  of  Tacitus 
below  in  §  5,  minus  ducenti  qninqua- 
ginta  anni. 


394 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  34. 


that  the  phoenix  then  seen  was  not  the  genuine 
bird;1  that  he  did  not  come  from  Arabia;  and  that 
he  performed  none  of  the  acts  which  ancient  tradition 
ascribes  to  him.  For  when  his  tale  of  years  has  7 
run,  and  his  death  draws  nigh,  he  builds  a  nest  in  his 
own  country ;  over  this  nest  he  sheds  a  genital  sub- 
stance, from  which  the  young  phoenix  arises,  whose 
first  care,  on  arriving  at  maturity,  is  to  bury  his  father. 
This  he  does  in  no  random  fashion.2  He  takes  up  a 
load  of  myrrh,  and  essays  long  journeys  with  it ;  when 
he  finds  himself  fit  for  the  weight,  and  for  the  journey, 
he  puts  his  father's  body  on  his  back,  carries  it  all  the 
way  to  the  altar  of  the  Sun,3  and  there  burns  it.  The  8 
details  are  uncertain,  and  have  been  embellished  by 
fable;  but  that  at  certain  times  the  bird  is  seen  in 
Egypt,  admits  of  no  question.4 

Deaths  of          At  Rome,  meanwhile,  blood  never  ceased  to  flow.  2 
Labe?°amis  Pomponius  Labeo,  whom  I  have  mentioned 5  as  having 
been  Governor  of  Moesia,  opened  his  veins  and  bled 


1  On  the  authority  of  Cornelius  Vale- 
rianus,  Pliny  gives  A.D.  36  as  the  year 
of  the  appearance  of  the  phoenix :  he 
denounces  as  a  manifest  imposture  the 
phoenix    which    appeared,    and    was 
brought  into  the  Roman  Forum,  in  A.D. 
47,  the  year  when  Claudius  was  censor, 
and  celebrated  the   Ludi    Saeculares. 
The    motive    for    that    imposture    is 
obvious. 

2  The  account  here  given  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  phoenix  agrees  generally 
with  those  of  Herodotus    and   Pliny. 
The  latter  says  the  remains  of  the  old 
bird  were  carried  in    its    nest.      The 
simplicity  of  the    account  of  Tacitus 
recalls  somewhat  the  manner  of  the 
Father  of  History. 

3  At  Heliopolis,  near  Cairo. 

4  The  attitude  of   Tacitus  towards 
the  phoenix  is  similar  to  his  judgment 
on  astrology.     He  believes  in  the  exist- 
ence of  the  bird,  but  rejects  the  miracu- 
lous tales  that  have  gathered  round  it. 

5  i.e.  in  iv.  47,  i.     There  is  a  diffi- 
culty about  the  Governorship  of  Moesia. 
Poppaeus  Sabinus  was  continued  in  the 


governorship  of  that  imperial  province, 
with  the  addition  of  Achaia  and  Mace- 
donia (i.  80,  i),  which  as  a  special 
favour  had  been  relieved  from  procon- 
sular rule,  and  handed  over  to  Caesar 
(i.  76,  4).  Dio  says  this  arrangement 
continued  as  long  as  Sabinus  lived  (he 
died  A.D.  35),  and  after  that  (Iviii.  25,  5) ; 
and  yet  in  ii.  66,  3  (A.D.  19)  we  find 
Latin ius  Pandusa  as  pro  praetore  Moe- 
siae,  and  Pomponius  Flaccus  appointed 
to  succeed  him.  Iniii.  39,  i  (A.D.  21), 
P.  Vellaeus  is  in  command  of  the  army 
1  nearest '  to  Thrace  and  Macedon ;  in 
iv.  47,  i  (A.D.  26),  and  in  the  present 
passage,  Pomponius  Labeo  is  Governor 
of  Moesia  ;  and  Dio  says  he  governed 
that  province  for  eight  years  after  his 
praetorship  (Iviii.  24,  3).  The  inference 
seems  to  be  that  the  governor  of  Moesia 
was  put  under  that  of  Achaia  and 
Macedonia,  and  received  orders  from 
him,  as  in  iv.  47,  i.  As  Furn.  points 
out,  Moesia  was  a  consular  province, 
while  both  Labeo  and  Pandusa  were 
only  of  praetorian  rank. 


A.D.  34.]  BOOK   VI.   CHAPS.   28-29.  395 

2  to  death ;  his  wife  Paxaea  followed  his  example.     For  why 
people  resorted  readily  to  deaths  of  this  kind  from  the  ^as'S 
fear  of  execution ;  and  also  because  a  man's  property  c 
was  confiscated,  and  burial  was  denied  to  him,  if  he 
was  sentenced  to  death ;  whereas,  if  he  took  his  fate 
into  his  own  hands,  his  body  was  buried,  and  his  will 
respected.1    So  great  were  the  benefits  of  despatch ! 

a  In  this  case  Tiberius  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Senate 
reminding  them  of  an  old  usage  of  our  ancestors, 
whereby,  when  they  wanted  to  break  with  a  friend, 
they  would  forbid  him  their  house,2  and  so  end  the 
intimacy.  To  that  practice,  he  explained,  he  had 
resorted  in  the  case  of  Labco ;  but  Labeo,  who  was 
accused  of  misgovcrnment  and  other  offences,  had  sought 
to  screen  his  crime  by  exposing  his  Prince  to  public  hatred. 
1 1  is  wife  had  been  alarmed  without  cause  ;  guilty  though 
she  zvas,  she  had  been  in  no  danger. 

4  Mamercus  Scaurus 8  was  now  put  on  his  trial  for  the  similar 
second  time ;  he  was  a  man  of  evil  life,  though  distin-  Mamercus 
guished  alike  by  birth  and  by  his  ability  as.an  advocate.4 

5  It  was  not  his  friendship  with  Sejanus  that  brought  v 
him  down,  but  an  influence  no  less  fatal — the  hatred  of 
Macro ;  who  was  now  practising,  in  a  more  stealthy 
way,   the   arts    of   Sejanus.     Macro    had    denounced  charges 
Scaurus  because  of  the  subject  which  he  had  chosen 

for  a  tragedy,  quoting  from  it  certain  verses  which 

1  Furn.  quotes  iv.  20,  2  and  30,  3  as  *  Scaurus  was  distinguished  both  as 

exceptions ;   but  there  was  no  confisca-  an  orator  and  as  a  writer  of  tragedies, 

tion  of  property  in  either  case.     In  the  The  story  of  Dio  is  that  Tiberius  took 

former  case,  that  of  Silius,  only  repay-  offence  at  a  line  of  his  tragedy  of  Atreus, 

ment  of  the  liberalitas  Augusti  was  imitated  from  Eur.  Phoen.  394,  to  the 

exacted.     Dio  says  there  were  very  few  effect  that  •  the  follies  of  rulers  must  be 

exceptions  to  the  rule  (Iviii.  15,  4).  endured.'     '  If  I  am  Atreus,'  said  Tibe- 

*  See  ii.  70,  3 ;  iii.  24,  5.  rius,  '  I'll  make  an  Ajax  of  him  :'  and 

'  Long  an  object  of  Tiberius'  dislike  straightway  ordered    him    to    commit 

(i.    13,    4).     On    the   occasion    of  his  suicide.     Seneca  ( Ben.  iv.  31)  shews  that 

accusing  Silanus,  Tacitus  describes  him  vita  probrosvs  refers  not  to  his  conduct 

as  a  'disgrace  to  his  ancestors, '  and  as  as  accuser,  but  to  the  infamies  of  his 

1  dishonouring   them   by  his  infamous  private  life ;  he  was  probably  cos.  suf. 

acts  of  subserviency '  (iii.  66,  3).  A.D.  21. 


396 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  34. 


might  be  applied  to  Tiberius ;  but  what  his  accusers  6 
Servilius  and  Cornelius  brought  against  him  was  that 
he  had  committed  adultery  with  Livia,  and  had  dabbled 
in  magical1  rites.     Scaurus  worthily  maintained  the  7 
dignity   of   the  Aemilian   name  by  anticipating    his 
sentence;2  his  wife  Sextia  had  incited  him  to  the  deed, 
and  shared  his  fate. 

And  yet  accusers  also  were  punished  if  occasion  30. 
offered.     Servilius  and  Cornelius,  who   had   the   ill 
fame  of  having  brought  Scaurus  to  ruin,  were  inter- 
dicted from  fire  and  water,  and  deported  to  islands, 
for    having   accepted   bribes   to   drop   an   accusation 
against   Varius   Ligur.3    Another  case  was    that    of  2 
Abudius   Ruso,4  who   had  held   the  Aedileship,  and 
served    as   commander  of  a  legion   under   Lentulus 
Gaetulicus.5   Having  threatened  to  prosecute  Lentulus 
for  betrothing  his  daughter  to  a  son  of  Sejanus,  he 
was  himself  convicted  and  expelled  the  city.     Gaetu-  3 
licus  was  at  this  time  in   command   of  the  army  of 
Upper    Germany;    he  was  greatly   beloved    by   his 
troops  for  his  kindness  of  heart  and  for  his  gentle 
discipline ;  he  stood  well  also  with  the  neighbouring 
army   through    his   father-in-law,    Lucius   Apronius.6 
Hence  it  was  commonly  reported  that  he  had  dared  4 
to  write  to  the  Emperor  that  it  was  not  of  his  own  will, 
but  by  the  advice  of  Tiberius,  that  he  had  entered  into  an 
alliance  with  Sejanus;   he  might  have  been  deceived  as 
well  as  Tiberius :  and  an  error  which  was  innocent  in  the 
Emperor  could  not  be  deemed  worthy  of  death  in  others. 
His  own  loyalty  was  unimpaired,  and  would  remain  so,  5 


1  The  Magi  were  properly  dealers  in 
philtres,  drugs  and  magic  spells  of  all 
sorts.    See  ii.  27,  2  :  28,  3  :  69,  5. 

2  It  gives  Tacitus  some  satisfaction 
that  the  death  at  least  of  Scaurus  was 
worthy  of  his  ancestors. 


3  Mentioned  iv.  42,  3. 

4  Unknown. 

5  Cos.  A.D.  26  (iv.  46,  i) ;  now  lega- 
tus  of  Upper  Germany. ' 

6  This  was  the   general  who  failed 
against  the  Frisii.     See  on  iv.  73,  i. 


A.D.  35.] 


BOOK   VI.   CHAPS.  29-31. 


397 


provided  that  no  plots  were  laid  against  him  ;  but  he  should 
regard  the  appointment  of  a  successor  as  a  death-signal. 

6  Let  them  make  a  kind  of  compact  together,  whereby  the 
Emperor  should  keep  all  else,  and  leave  to  him  the  pos- 
session of  his  Province. 

7  Strange  as  this  story  was,  it  derived  confirmation 
from  the  fact  that  Lentulus  was  the  only  person  con- 
nected with1  Sejanus  who  remained  unscathed,2  and  in 
high  favour  with  Tiberius— Tiberius  bethinking  him- 
self of  the  hatred  which  the  people  bore  him,  of  his 
own  great  age,  and  of  the  fact  that  his  power  rested 
not  so  much  on  force  as  on  prestige.3 


A.D.   35.     CONSULS    C.   CESTIUS    CALLUS4   AND    M. 
SERVILIUS   NONIANUS. 

1  In  this  year  a  deputation  of  Parthian  nobles  came  Deputation 

2  to  Rome,  unknown  to  King  Artabanus.5  That  monarch  t^?™  P 
had  been  true  to  us,  and  just  to  his  own  people,  so  iJSJdeof 
long  as  he  had  Germanicus  to  fear;  but  afterwards,  Arta 
puffed    up    by    his    victories   over  the   surrounding 
nations,  and  despising  Tiberius  as  old  and  disinclined 


1  Here  used  of  only  a  projected 
alliance,  just  as  Sejanus  is  called  the 
gener  of  Tiberius,  chap.  8,  6,  where 
seen. 

a  But  only  during  the  life  of  Tiberius  ; 
he  was  put  to  death  by  Caligula  on  a 
charge  of  conspiracy,  A.D.  39  (Suet. 
Claud.  9 ;  Dio,  lix.  22,  5). 

'  It  was  doubtless  a  sense  of  this  fact 
— that  their  power  rested  mainly  on 
prestige,  and  had  no  real  solid  founda- 
tion either  constitutionally  or  in  the 
spontaneous  loyalty  of  their  subjects — 
that  drove  Tiberius  and  other  emperors, 
especially  those  not  conscious  of  having 
worrtheir  claims  to  empire,  into  so  many 
acts  of  cruelty.  The  position  of  Lentu- 
lus at  the  head  of  the  great  German 
armies  was  very  formidable. 

4  Mentioned  iii.  36,  2  ;  vi.  7,  3.  M. 
Servilius  Nonianus  wrote  a  history  of 
Rome,  and  is  important  as  one  of  the 


probable  authorities  of  Tacitus  ;  Ser- 
vilivs  diu  foro,  max  tradendis  rebus 
Romanis  Celebris  et  elegantia  vitae  (xiv. 
19,  i).  Pliny  the  Younger  quotes  him 
to  show  how  much  more  ready  people 
in  the  generation  before  his  own  were  to 
attend  recitations.  Hearing  thunders 
of  applause  in  the  palace,  Claudius  asked 
what  it  was ;  on  being  told  that  Noni- 
anus was  reciting,  he  went  in  to  hear 
him  (Epp.  i.  13,  3).  Possibly  he  is  the 
vir  consulates  quoted  by  Suet.  Tib.  61. 
5  Artabanus,  an  Arsacid  on  his 
mother's  side,  had  been  on  the  throne 
ever  since  he  had  chased  away  the 
Roman  prote'ge"Vonones,  son  of  Phraates 
(ii.  3,  i) ;  and  when,  some  years  later, 
Vonones  had  occupied  the  throne  of 
Armenia,  Artabanus  induced  Creticus 
Silanus,  by  threat  of  war,  to  withdraw 
him  from  that  country  also  (ii.  4,  4). 


398  ANNALS    OF   TACITUS.  [A.D.  35. 

for  war,  he  became  insolent  to  us  and  tyrannical 
to  his  countrymen.  He  also  coveted  Armenia,  over 
which,  when  Artaxias l  died,  he  set  his  own  eldest  son 
Arsaces  as  king ;  and  sent  envoys  with  an  insulting 2 
message,  demanding  back  the  treasure  which  Vonones 3 
had  left  in  Syria  and  Cilicia.  Moreover,  he  used 
threatening  and  boastful  language  about  the  ancient 
boundaries  of  Persia  and  Macedon,  and  declared  that  he 
would  seize  all  the  dominions  of  Cyrus  and  Alexander.4 
The  main  promoter  of  the  secret  mission  from  the  3 
Parthians  was  a  man  of  high  family,  with  wealth  to 
match,  called  Sinnaces,  after  whom  came  Abdus,  a 
eunuch :  for  in  barbarous  countries  that  class  is  not 
despised,  but  exercises  great  influence  of  its  own. 
These  men  called  in  other  notables  to  their  councils ;  4 
and  as  there  was  no  member  of  the  Arsacid  family 
whom  they  could  set  on  the  -throne,  since  most  of 
them  had  been  killed  by  Artabanus,  or  were  not  yet 
grown  up,  they  begged  for  Phraates,5  son  of  the  king 
of  that  name,  from  Rome.  All  they  needed,  they  said, 
was  a  name  and  a  sanction ;  it  would  be  enough  if  one 
of  the  Arsacid  house  showed  himself,  by  the  Emperor's 
desire,  upon  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates. 
Tiberius  This  was  what  Tiberius  wanted.  Holding  fast  72, 

fits  OUt  .    .  - .  .,  .  ..  rr    •          i 

Phraates.     to   his   settled  policy  of  managing  foreign  affairs  by 

1  This  king,  originally  called  Zeno,  from  Rome  in  B.C.  40,  overrun  Cilicia, 
had  been  crowned  by  Germanicus  under  defeated  and  killed  Decidius  Saxa,  and 
the  name  of  Artaxias  III.,  A.D.  i8(ii.  56,  driven     Antony's      legate,     Munatius 
2  and  3).  Plancus,  out  of  Asia  Minor.     By  the 

2  According  to  Suetonius  (Tib.   66)  end  of  that  year  the  provinces  beyond 
Artabanus  taunted  Tiberius  with  being  the  Aegean  were  practically  in  the  hands 
a  murderer  and  parricide,  etc.,  and  urged  of  the   Parthians.     See  Dio,  xlviii.  24 
him  to  escape  by  suicide  from  the  just  and  39. 

hatred  of  his  fellow-citizens.  5  This  Phraates,  as  well  as  his  brother 

3  The  fate  of  Vonones  is  recorded  in  Vonones,    was    one    of   the    sons    of 
ii.  58  and  68.  Phraates   IV.,  who  reigned  from  B.C. 

4  The  boast  was  not  hollow.     It  must  37  to  B.C.   2.     It  was  the  latter  who 
be  remembered  that  while  Antony  was  committed  partem  prolis  to  Augustus, 
dallying   with  Cleopatra,  the  Parthian  as   a    mark    of   friendship    (ii.    i,    2). 
king  Orodes  and  his  fiery  son  Pacorus,  Strabo  says  that  four  of  his  sons  were 
under  the  skilful  leadership  of  Q.  Labi-  sent  on  that  occasion,  two  of  them  with 
enus,  had  wrested  Syria  and  Judaea  their  wives  (xvi.  i,  28). 


A.D.  35.]  BOOK   VI.   CHAPS.   31-32. 


399 


diplomacy  and  craft,1  without  having  recourse  to  arms, 
he  equipped2  Phraates  with  everything  required  to 

2  place  him  on  his  father's  throne.    Meantime  Artabanus, 
on  discovering  the  plot,  was  at  one  moment  paralysed 
with  fear,  at  another  fired  with  a  lust  for  revenge  ;  but 
although  barbaric  sentiment  brands  delay  as  slavish, 

3  and   expects   instant   action  from  a  king,  he  allowed 
prudential  considerations  to  prevail.     Under  show  of  Abdus 
friendship  for  Abdus,  he  invited  him  to  a  banquet,  and  ]™' 
administered   to   him   a  slow  poison ;   Sinnaces  was 

to  be  amused  with  presents  and  pretences,  and  kept 

4  occupied  with   public   affairs.      On    reaching    Syria,  Death  of 
Phraates  put  off  the  Roman  dress  to  which  he  had  l 
been  accustomed  for  so  many  years,  and  adopted  the 
customs  of  his  Parthian  ancestors;  but  they  proved 

too  much  for  him,  and  he  fell  ill  and  died. 

5  Still  Tiberius  would  not  abandon  his  project.     He  Tiberius 
set  up  Tiridates,8  a  member  of  the  same  family,  as  a  TiHdTtes 
rival  to  Artabanus ;  while  for  the  recovery  of  Armenia  " 

he  selected  Mithradates  of  Iberia,4  reconciling  him  to 
his  brother  Pharasmanes,  the  reigning  monarch  of 
that  country.  He  then  appointed  Lucius  Vitellius5  to  andap- 

c  take  a  general  charge  of  Eastern  affairs.    Vitellius,  I  vuenLf 
am  well  aware,  earned  a  bad  reputation  in  Rome,  and  £5. 
many  evil  things  are  told  of  him ;  but  in  the  govern- 
ment of  his  provinces  he  shewed  all  the  virtues  of 

7  ancient  times.  On  his  return  to  Rome,  what  with 
terror  of  Gaius  Caesar,  and  intimacy  with  Claudius, 
he  became  a  cringing  slave;  a  by-word  among 

1  An  excellent  summary  of  the  foreign  pointment  to  Syria  has  been  mentioned 

policy  of  Tiberius.  since  the  death  of  Flaccus  Pomponius, 

1  i.e.  auctum  pccunia,  additis  stipato-  A.D.  33  (chap.  27,  3).  Probably 

ribus,  xi.  16,  3.  Vitellius  had  been  appointed,  and  rc- 

'  Probably  one  of  the  four  grandsons  ceived  now  a  general  commission  over 

of  the  elder  Phraates  mentioned  by  the  East,  like  that  given  to  Germanicus. 

Strabo.  See  n.  on  ii.  i.  One  of  his  acts  was  to  recall  Pilate, 

4  See  n.  on  iv.  5,  4.  A.D.  37  (Jos.  Ant.  xviii.  4  and  5). 

5  See  n.   on  chap.    28,   i.     No  ap- 


400 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  35. 


Mithra- 
dates  (the 
Iberian) 
invades 
Armenia. 


Arsaces  is 
poisoned. 


Success  of 

Pharas- 

manes. 


posterity  for  all  that  is  base  in  sycophancy.  And  so 
his  later  fame  prevailed  over  his  earlier;  and  the 
virtues  of  his  youth  were  effaced  by  the  infamies  of 
his  old  age. 

Mithradates  was  the  first  of  the  princes  to  take  33- 
action,   compelling  Pharasmanes,  both  by  force  and 
treachery,  to  assist  him  in  his  enterprise.     They  pro- 
cured emissaries  who  by  offering  huge  bribes  to  the 
attendants  of  King  Arsaces   induced   them  to  make 
away  with  him  ;  while  the  Iberians,  with  a  large  army,  2 
burst  into  Armenia,  and  captured  the  city  of  Artaxata.1 
On  hearing  of  these  events,  Artabanus  despatched  a 
Parthian  force,  under  his  son  Orodes,  to  chastise  the 
invaders,   and   sent   out   envoys  to    hire   auxiliaries. 
On  the  other  side,  Pharasmanes   secured  the  Alba-  3 
nians,2  and  called  in  the  Sarmatians,3  whose  chiefs,  after 
the   manner  of  their  tribe,   took   bribes   from   both 
parties  at  once,  and  espoused  opposite  sides.     Now  4 
the  Iberians  had   command  of  the  passes;   so  they 
allowed  the  Sarmatians  who  were  friendly  to  them 
to   pour  into  Armenia  by  the  Caspian  route,4  while  5 
they  easily  barred  the  way  against  those  who  were 
coming    to   help  the   Parthians.      These  last    found 
every  access  closed  to  them  by  the  enemy,  with  the 
exception  of  that  between  the  sea  and  the  extremity 
of  the  Albanian  mountains.5   But  this  route  is  imprac- 
ticable in  summer,  when  the  Etesian  gales  cause  the 
low  ground  to  be  flooded;6  in  winter,  the  south  wind 


1  See  ii.  56,  3. 

2  See  ii.  68,  i. 

3  A  general  name  for  Scythian  and 
other  tribes  north  of  the  Caucasus. 

4  The  great  pass  over  the  centre  of 
the    Caucasus  chain,   called   Claustra 
Caspiarum    (Hist.     i.    6,    5),     Caspiae 
portae  (Suet.  Ner.  19),  and  now  called 
the  Pass  of  Dariel,  connects  the  modern 
Tiflis  with    the    upper  valley    of   the 
Terek. 


!*"  5  i.e.  the  coast  road  along  the  W. 
foot  of  the  Caucasus,  between  Derbend 
and  Bakon.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  the  Albanians  occupied  the  extreme 
eastern  end  of  the  Caucasus,  right  down 
to  the  Caspian. 

6  The  Greek  crna/cu,  from  eror,  'an 
annual  wind.'  According  to  Pliny, 
north  winds  begin  to  blow  on  the  nth 
July.  These  blow  gently  for  eight 
days,  when  they  are  called  prodromi,  or 


A.D.  35.] 


BOOK    VI.    CHAPS.   32-34. 


401 


drives  back  the  sea  upon  itself,  and  leaves  the  shallows 
near  the  shore  high  and  dry. 

1  Meanwhile  Orodes  was  left  without  an  ally;  and 
Pharasmanes,  strengthened  with  reinforcements,  called 
on    him    to    fight.      Orodes   declined    the   challenge, 
but  Pharasmanes  gave  him  no  peace;   he  rode  right 
up  to  his  camp,  cut  him  off  from  his  foraging  ground, 
and  even  hemmed  him  in  with  his  pickets  after  the 
manner  of  a  blockade,  till  at  last  the  Parthians,  unused 
to   such    insults,  crowded    round    their   prince    and 
demanded  battle. 

2  Now  the  whole  strength  of  the   Parthians  lay  in 
their     cavalry,     whereas     Pharasmanes    was    strong 
in   his   foot   also ;     for   the    Iberians   and   Albanians, 
inhabiting  a  hill  country,  are  more  used  to  hardship 

3  and    privation.     They    claim    a   Thessalian    descent, 
dating  from  the  time  when  Jason,1  having  carried  off 
Medea,  and  begotten  children  by  her,  returned  to  the 
empty2  palace  of  Aeetes  and  the  deserted  country  of 

4  Colchis.     Many  stories  are  told  about  Jason,  and  the 


Orodes,  the 
Parthian 
general, 
declines  the 
combat. 


Origin 
of  the 
Iberians 
and  Alba- 
nians. 


•precursors.1  In  July,  B.C.  53,  when 
Cicero  was  going  due  S.  from  Velia  to 
Vibo  down  the  W.  coast  of  Italy,  he 
had  to  use  oars  all  the  way,  giving  as 
the  reason,  prodromi  nitlli  (Att.  16, 
6).  The  same  north  wind,  increas- 
ing in  strength,  formed  the  '  Etesians,' 
which  began  on  July  2oth,  and  blew 
steadily  till  August  a6th  (Plin.  H.N.  ii. 
124-127  and  xviii.  74).  For  the  absurd 
exaggeration  that  these  constant  winds, 
which  are  gentle  in  character,  should 
render  the  coast  road  impassable  in 
summer,  cp.  i.  70,  where  Tacitus 
similarly  exaggerates  the  effect  of  the 
tides  on  the  north  coast  of  Germany. 
Curtius  repeats  the  same  exaggerations 
about  the  Caspian  shore :  A  semptem- 
trione  ingens  in  lit us  mare  incumbit, 
longeqve  agit  ftuctvs,  ft  magna  parte 
exaestuans  stagnat ;  when  the  wind 
changes  the  sea  retires  and  terram 
naturae  svae  reddit  (Hist.  vi.  4,  19). 

1  Jason,  the  leader  of  the  Argonauts, 
belonged  to  the  Thessalian  town  lolcus, 


of  which  his  father  Aeson  was  king. 
The  expedition  for  the  Golden  Fleece 
grew  out  of  the  usurpation  of  Aeson's 
throne  by  his  half-brother  Pelias,  whose 
death  Medea  compassed  on  her  return 
with  Jason  to  lolcus.  Expelled  for 
this  crime,  Jason  and  Medea  went  to 
Corinth,  where  Jason  deserted  her  for 
Creusa,  daughter  of  King  Creon.  The 
legend  in  its  usual  form  ends  with  an 
account  of  Medea's  cruel  vengeance  on 
Creusa  and  Creon,  and  the  murder  of 
her  own  children  ;  but  according  to  the 
Albanian  version  here  given  (and  so 
Justinus.  xlii.  2.  12).  Jason  became 
reconciled  to  Medea,  took  her  back  to 
Colchis,  reinstated  her  father  Aeetes 
(meantime  deposed)  in  his  kingdom, 
and  settled  his  followers  in  the  country. 
It  was  from  these  settlers  that  the 
Albanians  professed  to  be  descended. 

1  Thus,  according  to  the  legend  fol- 
lowed by  Tacitus,  Aeetes  was  dead,  and 
the  throne  vacant. 


2    D 


4O2 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  35. 


Speeches 
of  Orodes 
and  Pha- 
rasmanes. 


Varied 
battle  with 
various 
styles  of 
fighting. 


famous  oracle  of  Phrixus.1  No  ram  may  be  sacrificed  to 
Phrixus,  because  he  is  supposed  to  have  been  carried 
by  one  of  those  animals,  whether  it  really  was  a  ram, 
or  only  the  figurehead  of  a  ship. 

The  two  armies  being  now  drawn  up  for  battle,  5 
each  leader  addressed  his  men.  The  Parthian  dis- 
coursed upon  their  Eastern  empire  and  the  splen- 
dour of  the  Arsacidae;  they  had  against  them  a  low- 
born Iberian,  with  an  army  of  mercenaries.  Pharas- 
manes  told  his  followers  that  they  had  never  bowed 
to  the  Parthian  yoke ;  the  greater  the  prize  before  them, 
the  more  glorious  would  be  their  victory,  the  greater  the 
shame  and  peril  of  defeat ;  and  pointing  to  their  own  6 
unkempt  ranks,  and  to  the  gold-bespangled  columns 
of  the  Medes,2  he  told  them  that  all  the  manhood  ivas 
on  the  one  side,  all  the  booty  upon  the  other. 

The  Sarmatians  had  more  than  their  leader's  voice  3 
to  cheer  them  on.     Each  called  on  the  other  not  to  let 
it  be  an  archers'  battle?  but  to  rush  the  fighting.     Hence  2 
the   battlefield   wore   a  chequered   appearance.     The 
Parthians,  skilled  equally  in  pursuit  and  flight,  threw 
open  their  ranks  so  as  to  have  room  to  shoot ;  while 
the   Sarmatians,   throwing   aside   their  bows,   which 
have  no   length  of  range,  rushed   in  with   pike  and 
sword.     At   one   moment,   in   true  cavalry  style,  the 


1  Phrixus,  the  son  of  Athamas  and 
Nephete,   escaped  from  the  intrigues 
of  his  step-mother  Ino  by  riding  on  the 
ram  with  the  golden  fleece,  a  present 
from  Hermes.     Arrived  safe  in  Colchis, 
Phrixus   sacrificed    the    ram    to    Zeus 
Phystius    (or    Laphystius]  \    the   fleece 
was  hung  up  in  the  grove  of  Ares  by 
Aeetes.     The  name  and  legend  of  Jason 
•were  famous  in  that  part  of  the  East 
(Justin,  xlii.  3).     They  were  caught  up 
and  spread  by  the  Thessalians  included 
in     Alexander's    army.      See     Grote, 
chap.  13. 

2  The  terms  Medes,    Persians,  and 
Parthians,  are  used  indiscriminately  by 
Latin  writers.      Thus    in   Horace  we 


have  Persae,  Od.  i.  2,  22 ;  iv.  15,  23 ; 
Medi,  Od.  ii.  16,  6  ;  iii.  8,  19  ;  Parthi, 
Od.  ii.  13,  18 ;  Sat.  ii.  i,  15,  Virg.  Geo. 
iii.  31. 

3  The  Parthian  forces,  like  those  of 
the  Boers,  were  very  mobile,  consisting 
of  mounted  archers ;  they  rode  well 
and  they  shot  well.  Their  tactics  were 
to  shoot  and  retire,  avoiding  close 
quarters  till  their  enemy  was  demoral- 
ised :  their  long  deadly  shafts  '  nailed 
the  shield  to  the  arm  that  bore  it,  and 
the  helmet  to  the  head '  (Oman's 
'Seven  Roman  Statesmen,"  p.  198). 
The  Sarmatians,  like  the  British  in- 
fantry, preferred  to  charge  home. 


A.D.  35.]  BOOK   VI.  CHAPS.  34-36.  403 

lines  would  be  alternately  face  to  face,  or  back  to 
back;  at  another,  every  man  would  use  his  weight 
and  his  weapons  in  a  stand-up  fight,  pushing  and 

3  pushed  back  by  turns.     Then  the  Albanians  and  the 
Iberians  would  spring  in,  seize  the  riders,  and  pull  them 
from  their  horses;  thus  ;the  Parthians  were  pressed 
on  both  sides,  the   horsemen  striking  at   them   from 
above,  the  footmen,  at  closer  quarters,  from  below. 

4  Meanwhile,  conspicuous   above  the   rest,   Pharas-  Encounter 
manes  and  Orodes  were  cheering  on  the  forward,  or  manes  and 
encouraging  the  laggards:   each  recognized  the  other,  C 

and  with  a  shout  they  pushed  their  horses  to 
the  charge.  Pharasmanes  was  the  more  impetuous 
in  his  attack;  he  drove  his  spear  through  the  helmet 

5  of  his  foe,  but  being  borne  on   by  his   horse   could 
not    repeat    the    blow.      The    wounded    prince  was 
rescued  by  the  bravest  of  his  guards  ;  but  as  a  rumour 

of  his  death  grained  currency  and  credence,  the  Par-  The 

.         .    .  ,          .  Parthians 

thians  in  panic  yielded  up  the  victory.  retire. 

i        Artabanus  soon1  brought  out  the  whole  strength 
of  his  kingdom  to  repair  the  disaster.     The  Iberians, 
from  their  knowledge  of  the  country,  had  the  best  of 
the  fighting  ;  but  Artabanus  would  not  have  retired  viteiiius 
before  them  had  not  Viteiiius  created  an  alarm  of  a  shew  of 
with  Rome  by  gathering  his  legions  together,  and 


giving  out  that  he  was  about  to  invade  Mesopotamia. 

2  This  turned  the  tide  against  Artabanus.     He  gave 
up  his  designs  upon  Armenia,  while  Viteiiius  tempted 
his  subjects  to  abandon  a  king  who  had  played  the 
tyrant  in  time  of  peace,  and  brought  them  to  ruin  by 

3  his  defeats  in  battle.     Thus  appealed   to,  Sinnaces, 
whose  hostility  to  Artabanus   I   have  already  men- 
tioned,2 induced  his  father  to  revolt,  as  well  as  others 

1  Probably  in  the  year  following.  «  i.e.  in  chap.  31,  3. 


404 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  35. 


Artabanus 
retires  to 
Scythia. 


Vitellius 
crosses  the 
Euphrates. 


Sacrifice ; 
and  omen 
from  the 
river. 


in  his  private  confidence  who  were  the  readier  to 
desert  because  of  the  recent  succession  of  disasters. 
Others  who  had  submitted  from  fear  rather  than  good- 
will, and  who  plucked  up  courage  now  that  there  was 
some  one  to  shew  the  way,  flocked  in  by  degrees; 
till  at  last  Artabanus  had  none  but  his  foreign  body-  4 
guard  left,  men  exiled  from  their  own  country,  with 
no  sense  of  right  or  wrong,  mere  hired  instruments 
of  crime.  Taking  these  with  him,  he  fled  precipi-  5 
tately  to  the  distant  but  adjoining  country  of  Scythia, 
hoping  to  get  help  through  his  connection  with  the 
Hyrcanians l  and  the  Carmanians ; 2  he  thought  also 
that  the  Parthians,  as  loyal  to  their  kings  in  exile  as 
they  were  restless  under  their  rule,  might  in  the 
mean  time  repent  and  change  their  minds. 

Artabanus  having  thus  fled,  and  the  thoughts  of  37 
his  countrymen  being  turned   towards  a  new   king, 
Vitellius  urged  Tiridates  to  seize  his  chance,  and  at 
the    head   of  his  whole   forces,    Roman    and    allied, 
marched  to  the  Euphrates.     Here  they  offered  sacri-  2 
fice,  the  Roman  General,  according  to  custom,  offering 
a  boar,  a  sheep,  and  a  bull ; 8  while  Tiridates  propitiated 
the  river  with  a  handsomely  caparisoned  horse.4  While 
thus   engaged,   word  was   brought   to   them   by  the 
natives  that  the  Euphrates,  of  its  own  accord,  unfed  by 


- l  Hyrcania  was  situated  on  the  SE. 
corner  of  the  Caspian,  inhabited  by 
Scythian  tribes.  One  of  these  was  the 
Dahae,  among  whom  Artabanus  had 
been  brought  up  (ii.  3,  i),  and  from 
whom  the  province  takes  its  modern 
name  of  Daghestan.  Cp.  Virg.  Aen. 
viii.  728,  where  among  those  included 
in  Caesar's  triumph  are  Indomitique 
Dahae  et pontem  indignatus  Araxes. 

2  Carmania  was  a  vast    half-desert 
province  of  the  Persian  Empire,  to  the 
W.    of    Per  sis  proper   (now    Pars    or 
Farsistan],    and   extending    S.   to  the 
Persian  Gulf  and  Indian  Ocean. 

3  This  sacrifice  (called  suovetaurilia') 
was  originally  offered  as  an  agricultural 


lustration  to  Mars.  It  was  afterwards 
offered  at  other  ceremonies,  especially 
at  triumphs,  to  Jupiter,  instead  of  to 
Mars.  The  sacrifice  is  depicted  in  two 
of  the  most  famous  remains  of  Roman 
sculpture — the  bas-relief  in  the  Roman 
forum,  of  the  time  of  Vespasian,  and 
that  on  the  Arch  of  Constantine,  which 
represents  Trajan  in  the  act  of  sacri- 
ficing. 

4  Like  all  imaginative  people,  the 
Parthians  paid  homage  to  rivers ;  and 
the  horse,  as  their  most  valuable  animal, 
was  their  highest  sacrifice.  He  was 
usually  offered  to  the  sun  (Xen.  Anab. 
»v.  S.  35)- 


A.D.  35.]  BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.   36-37. 


405 


rains,  was  rising  to  a  great  height,  and  curling  the 
white  foam  into  circlets  like  diadems— sure  omen  of  a 

3  favourable  crossing.     Others,  with   more  shrewdness, 
interpreted  the  omen  to  signify  that  the  enterprise  would 
succeed  at  the  outset,  but  the  success  would  not  be  lasting ; 
seeing  that  portents  on  the  earth,  or  in  the  sky,  might  be 
trusted,  whereas  on  an  unstable  clement,  like  that  of  a 
river,  they  were  no  sooner  displayed  than  snatched  away. 

4  A  bridge  of  boats  having  been  made,  and  the  army  omo- 
conveyed  across  the  river,  the  first  to  join  the  camp  mher?and 
was  Ornospades,  who  came  in  with  a  force  of  several  comein: 
thousand  horse.      Formerly  an   exile,    this   man    had 
served  with  some  distinction  under  Tiberius  at  the 

close  of  the  Delmatian  war,1  and  had  been  rewarded 
with  the  Roman  franchise  ;  he  had  afterwards  again 
sought  the  King's  friendship,  had  been  held  by  him 
in  high  honour,  and  appointed  Governor  of  the  flat 
country  which,  being  surrounded  by  the  famous  rivers 
Tigris  and  Euphrates,  bears  the  name  of  Mesopotamia. 

5  Soon   after  this,  Sinnaces  arrived  with  reinforce- 
ments; while  Abdagaeses,  who  was  the  pillar  of  the 
cause,  brought  in   the  treasure  and   the  court  para- 

6  phernalia.     Vitellius  thought  it  enough  to  have  made  viteiiius 
a  demonstration  of  Roman  force ;  so  he  retired  with  r 

his  legions  into  Syria,  after  addressing  some  words 
of  advice  to  Tiridates  and  his  chief  men.2  The  former 

1  In  A.D.  6-9.  the  oriental  system  of  government— a 

2  The  policy  of  Tiberius  towards  the  system  of  despotism  tempered  by  as- 
Parthians  seems  inglorious  at  first  sight.  sassination.     He  was  willing  enough  to 
One  of  his  main  objects  was  to  play  off  make  a  display  of  Roman  force  upon 
Armenia  against  Parthia,  and  to  keep  the  frontier,  and  to  assume  the  airs  of 
the  two  countries  embroiled  with  each  an  armed  arbiter,  like  Napoleon  III.  in 
other.     He  was  willing  to  coquet  with  his  palmy  days ;  as  though  his  supreme 
any  new  claimant   to  power,   and  to  sanction   were    required    for  any  new 
foment   indirectly  any  intrigue    which  settlement  of  affairs  in  either  kingdom, 
promised  to  aggravate  the  dynastic  or  But  the  moment  he  was  called  upon  to 
party    discords    which    were     always  take  a  decisive  step,  and  engage  the 
smouldering  beneath  the  surface,  and  forces    of  the    empire    in  any  serious 
to  take  ad  vantage  of  the  sudden  changes  undertaking,  he  drew  off,  satisfied  with 
of  fortune  which  were  chronic  under  having  made  a  show  of  the  majesty  of 


406 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  35. 


he  exhorted  not  to  forget  his  grandfather  Phraates 
and  his  protector  Augustus;  and  all  the  noble  qualities 
of  both;  the  latter  he  admonished  to  be  dutiful  to 
their  King,  and  respectful  towards  Rome,  and  to  keep 
every  man  his  place  and  his  honour  inviolate.1 

I  have  related  the  events  of  two  summers  in  con-  38. 
junction   to   afford   the   reader's   mind    some   respite 
unreient-    from   the    unhappy   state   of   things    at    home.     For 

ing  cruelty       .  .        . 

ofTiberius.  though  three  years  had  passed  since  the  execution 
of  Sejanus,  none  of  the  influences  which  soften  other 
men — neither  time  nor  entreaty  nor  satiety — had  any 
effect  upon  Tiberius.  He  still  went  on  punishing 
old  or  dubious  offences  as  if  they  were  recent  and  of 
the  utmost  gravity.  Haunted  by  this  terror,  Fulcinius  2 

suicide  of  Trio 2  would  not  wait  to  be  prosecuted.  His  will 
contained  a  scathing  denunciation  of  Macro  and  the 
Emperor's  chief  freedmen ;  the  Emperor  himself  being 
stigmatised  as  a  dotard  who  had  been  so  long  absent 
from  the  city  that  he  had  become  almost  an  exile. 
These  remarks  his  heirs  would  have  suppressed,  but  3 


Rome,  and  leaving  the  contending 
factions  to  stew  in  their  own  juice.  It 
was  not  a  dignified  policy  ;  but  it  was 
enough  to  satisfy  public  opinion  in 
Rome,  where  any  appearance  of  bowing 
to  the  supremacy  of  the  empire  could 
be  construed  into  a  triumph  ;  and  it 
was,  in  reality,  a  policy  more  in  harmony 
with  Roman  interests  than  a  forward 
policy  would  have  been.  Parthia  con- 
tained none  of  the  materials  suitable  for 
incorporation  in  the  Roman  Empire. 
Western  methods  were  inapplicable  to 
her ;  further  expansion  to  the  east 
would  have  brought  to  Rome  nothing 
but  weakness  and  disaster,  and  would 
have  distracted  her  from  the  work  of 
assimilating  the  Western  and  Northern 
provinces,  which  were  to  be  her  main- 
stay in  the  centuries  which  followed. 
Rome  had  nothing  to  fear  from  Parthian 
aggression.  If  instead  of  casting 
covetous  eyes  upon  the  East,  she  had 
contented  herself  with  keeping  her 
eastern  frontier  secure,  and  put  her 
whole  strength  into  the  West  and 


North  ;  had  she  extended  her  frontier 
from  the  Lower  Danube  to  the  Elbe, 
and  set  herself  resolutely  to  subdue  and 
pacify  and  civilise  Germany,  as  she  had 
pacified  Gaul  and  Spain,  she  might 
have  added  untold  strength  to  her 
empire.  With  a  narrower  frontier  to 
defend,  and  the  splendid  strength  of  a 
loyal  and  Romanised  Germany  to  man 
the  bulwarks  of  her  power,  she  would 
have  been  in  a  very  different  position, 
when  the  day  of  trial  came,  to  face  the 
barbarians  from  the  North. 

1  Having  made  a  parade  of  the 
whole  strength  of  Rome,  having 
crossed  the  frontier,  offered  his  sacri- 
fices, and  received  the  homage  of  a 
few  notables,  Vitellius  deems  his  work 
done.  He  leaves  the  party  leaning  on 
him  to  face  their  difficulties  without  his 
help  as  best  they  may,  addresses  to 
them  a  few  lofty  words  of  advice  and 
patronage,  and  then  withdraws. 

2  For  Fulcinius  Trio  and  his  quarrel 
with  his  colleague  Regulus  in  A.D.  31, 
see  v.  ii,  i,  and  chap.  4,  3. 


A.D.  35.]  BOOK   VI.  CHAPS.  37-39. 

Tiberius  insisted  on  their  being  read  aloud;1  whether 
to  parade  his  tolerance  of  free  speech,  and  his  in- 
difference to  his  own  reputation,'2  or  because,  after 
being  so  long  ignorant  of  the  crimes  of  Sejanus,  he 
preferred  now  to  have  everything  that  might  be  said 
about  him  made  public,  and  thus,  even  at  the  cost 
of  insult,  learn  the  truth,  to  which  flattery  bars  the 
way. 
4  About  the  same  time  the  senator8  Granius  Marci-  other 

deaths  of 

anus,  being  accused  of  treason  by  Gaius  Gracchus,4  accused 
laid  violent  hands  on  himself;  and  Tatius  Gratianus, 
an   ex-Praetor,  was   condemned   to   death   under  the 
same  law. 

1  Not  unlike  to  these  were  the  deaths  of  Trebellenus 5 
Rufus  and  Sextius  Paconianus.6    The  former  perished 
by  his  own  hand ;  Paconianus  was  strangled  in  prison 
because  of  some  verses  which  he  had  there  composed 

2  against  the  Emperor.     And  Tiberius  heard  of  these 
things,  not  across  a  strait  of  the  sea,  as  formerly,  or 
by  the  hands  of  messengers  from  a  distance,  but  so 
close  to  the  city  that  he  could  answer  the  despatches 
from  the  Consuls  on  the  same  day,  or  with  only  a 
night  intervening,  and  almost  see  with  his  own  eyes 

1  Just  as  he  ordered  the  record  of  all  caused  these  things  to  be  published  in 

the  sayings  of  Drusus  for  years  back  to  self-justification. 

be  read  aloud  and  published,  though  »  When  used  thus  by  itself,  without 

full    of    insult    to    himself    (chap.    24,  qualification,    the   word  senator  seems 

2-4).  to  denote  a  senator  who  had  not  held 

*  This  grim  determination  to  get  at  high  office.     So  of  Firmius  Catus,  ii. 

the  facts  of  a  case,  and  drag  the  truth,  27,  2,  and  iv.  31,  7,  and  of  Pius  Aurelius, 

however  disagreeable,  to  light,  even  at  i.  75,  3,  etc. 

his  own  expense,  is  very  characteristic  *  Probably  the  person  mentioned  iv. 

of  Tiberius.  We  have  seen  how  Tacitus  13,  3,  and  chap.  16,  5. 

sneers  at  the  minuteness  of  his  judicial  •  Mentioned    in   ii.    67,    4,   and   iii. 

investigations  (i.  75,  2),  though  he  has  38,    4,    as     having     been     appointed 

to    acknowledge    that    they    furthered  guardian  of  the  infant  children  of  the 

justice.     In  this  passage,  he  feels  com-  Thracian    prince    Cotys.      The  name 

pelled    reluctantly  to    admit  that  the  should  be  written  as  here  TreMttnus: 

unflinching  determination,  in  spite  of  see  Furn.  on  ii.  67,  4. 

courtiers  and  even  perprobra,  to  get  at  •  Mentioned  above,   chap.   3,  4,  a: 

the   truth,   is  deserving  of  some  com-  audaccm    maleficum    omnium    stcreta 

mendation.    The  natural  interpretation  rimantem,  delcctumque  a  Seiano  cutus 

of  the  action   of  Tiberius  is  that  he  opt  dolus  Gaio  Cauari  pararttur. 


408 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  35. 


Death  of 
Poppaeus 
Sabinus. 


the  blood  streaming  through  men's  houses,  or  drip- 
ping down  the  hands  of  the  executioner.1 

At  the  end  of  the  year  Poppaeus  Sabinus  died.  3 
Of  respectable  origin,  imperial  favour  had  raised  him 
to  the  Consulship,  and  to  the  honours  of  a  Triumph. 
For  twenty-four  years  2  he  had  been  retained  in  com- 
mand of  important  Provinces ;  not  for  any  conspicuous 
ability  that  he  possessed,  but  because  he  was  com- 
petent, and  not  more  than  competent.3 


A.D.   36.     CONSULS   Q.   PLAUTIUS4  AND   SEXTUS 
PAPINIUS   ALLENIUS. 

The  public  had  become  so  used  to  horrors  that  the  4°- 
execution  of  Lucius  Aruseius  and  others  in  this  year 
attracted  no  attention ;  but  a  sensation  was  created 
by  the  death  of  Vibulenus  Agrippa,  a  Roman  knight. 
For  when  his  accusers  had  concluded  their  case 
against  him,  he  took  poison  out  of  his  dress  in  the 
Senate-house,  drank  it  off,  and  fell  dying  to  the 
ground.5  He  was  hurried  off  to  prison  by  the  lictors  ; 
and  though  he  was  already  dead,  his  neck  was  sub- 
jected to  the  halter.  Even  Tigranes,6  once  king  of  2 


1  As  grossly  exaggerated  as  the  lan- 
guage used  above  in  chap.  19,  3. 

2  For  the    tenure    of   his  office  by 
Poppaeus  Sabinus,  see  Furn.  oni.  80,  i. 
For  his  Thracian    campaign,   see    iv. 
46-51. 

3  A  fundamental  maxim  of  despotic 
governments,  when  the  despot  himself 
is  not  a  commanding  genius.     Caesar 
had  no  jealousy  of  his  subordinates  ;  he 
could  turn  to  account,  and  use  for  the 
public  service,  all  the  ability  he  could 
lay  his  hands  on.     Tiberius  had  none 
of  the  self-confidence  which  belongs  to 
greatness.     He  distrusted  himself  and 
his  own  capacity  to  control  his  officers. 
He  had  to  recoil  before  the  firm  and 
defiant  language  of  Gaetulicus  (vi.  30, 
3-7) ;  he  waited  to  crush  C.  Silius  till 
Silius  had  laid  down  his  provincial  com- 


mand (iv.  18).  His  safety — perhaps 
the  safety  of  the  state  also — lay  in  the 
law  by  which  the  mediocre  monarch 
must  make  use  of  mediocre  instruments. 

4  Perhaps  the  brother  of  the  praetor 
Plautius  Silvanus  who  threw  his  wife 
out  of  the  window  (iv.  22). 

5  Tacitus  speaks  of  this  as  a  single 
notorious  instance.    Suetonius,  with  his 
usual  exaggeration,  describes  it  as  done 
frequently :   partim    in    media    Curia 
venenum  hauserunt,  et  tamen  colligatis 
vulneribus  ac  semianimes  palpitantesque 
in  carcerem  rapti  (Tib.  61). 

6  Identified  by  Mommsen  with   Ti- 
granes IV.,  mentioned  by  Augustus  in 
the  Mon.  Anc.  as  placed  by  him  upon 
the  throne.     He  was  a    grandson    of 
Herod   the  Great.     Tacitus  makes  no 
mention  of  him  in  ii.  4. 


A.D.  36.]  BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.    39-41. 


409 


Armenia,  found  no  protection  in  his  royal  title;  he  Deaths  of 
was   accused  and   punished   like  any  private  citizen.  SS^e 

3  Gaius  Galba,1  a  Consular,  and  the  two  Blaesi,2  perished  ^2  Blaesi 
by  their  own   hands.    Galba  had   received   a    letter 

from  Tiberius  sternly  forbidding  him  to  cast  lots 
for  a  Province.8  The  Blaesi  had  been  destined  for 
priesthoods  during  the  prosperous  days  of  their 
house  ;  but  when  the  crash  came,  Tiberius  postponed 
the  appointments,  and  he  now  conferred  them,  as 
though  vacant,  upon  others.  The  Blaesi  took  this 

4  as  a  death-signal,  and  acted  accordingly.     Then  came 
the  case  of  Aemilia  Lepida.4    Wedded,  as  I  have  re- 
lated,5 to   the  young  Drusus,  she   had   pursued  her 
husband   with   continual   accusations ;   but   infamous 
as  she  was,  she  was  allowed   to  go   unpunished   so 
long  as  her  father  Lepidus  was  alive.     She  was  now 
brought  to  trial  for  committing  adultery  with  a  slave ; 
and  as  there  was  no  doubt  about  her  guilt,  she  aban- 
doned her  defence  and  put  an  end  to  herself. 

i         About   this    time    the   Clitae,6  a  tribe   subject   to  Revolt 
Archelaus  of  Cappadocia,  being  compelled  to  give  in  ciitae. 
returns   of   their    property   and   pay   tribute   on   the 
Roman  system,  retired  into   the  recesses  of  Mount 
Taurus ;  where  aided  by  the  character  of  the  country 
they  maintained  themselves  against  the  feeble  forces 
of  the  King.     At   last  Vitellius,  Governor  of  Syria, 

1  C.  Sulpicius  Galba,  elder  brother  of  *  Apparently  daughter  of  M.  Lepidus 

the  future  emperor,  cos.   A.D.  22  (iii.  of  iii.  32,  2,  where  see  n. 

52,  i).  »  i.e.  in  the  lost  books. 

3  Sons     of    Blaesus,    the     uncle    of  •  A  tribe  of  wild  hillsrnen,  agrtstium 

Sejanus,  who  was  appointed  proconsul  Cilicum  nationes  quibus  Clitarum  cog- 

of  Africa  A.  p.  21  (iii.  35,  3),  and  in  that  nomentum  (xii.  55,  i).  in  the  W.  part  of 

capacity  gained  the  '  triumphalia  '  (iii.  Cilicia,  called  Trachaea.   The  Archelaus 

72,   6),   and  was  saluted   '  imperator '  here  mentioned  was  son  of  the  Cappa- 

(iii.    74,   6)  for  his    successes    against  docian  king  Archelaus.  who  was  enticed 

Tacfarmas.     Both  seem  to  have  been  to   Rome  by  Tiberius  and  entrapped 

consulars  (Veil.  ii.  127,  3).  (ii.   42,   2-5).      Cappadocia  was  then 

'  So  Suetonius,  Galb.  3,  who  adds  made  a  province ;  but  the  Clitae  were 

that  he  was  in  exile :  attritisfacultalibus  left  to  the  young  Archelaus. 
urbe  cessit. 


4io 


AN.NALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  36. 


sent  against  them  his  Legate  Marcus  Trebellius  1  with 
four  thousand  legionaries  and  a  picked  body  of  allies. 
Throwing  up  earth-works  round  two  hills  occupied 
by  the  barbarians,  the  smaller  of  which  was  called 
Cadra,  the  larger  Davara,  Trebellius  put  to  the  sword 
those  who  ventured  to  break  out,  and  reduced  the 
rest  to  submission  by  want  of  water. 

Tiridfwa  Tiridates  in  the  mean  time,  with  the  consent  of  the  2 
in  Parthia.  Parthians,  had  taken  possession  of  Nicephorium  and 
Anthemusias  and  other  towns  with  Greek  names 
which  had  been  founded  by  the  Macedonians,  as  well 
as  the  Parthian  towns  of  Halus  and  Artemita.2  His 
successes  were  hailed  with  delight  by  the  party  who 
loathed  Artabanus  for  his  cruelty,  and  for  his  Scythian 
bringing-up,  and  who  hoped  to  find  in  Tiridates  the 
milder  traits  of  Roman  civilisation. 

The   people  of  Seleucia  surpassed  all  others  in  42 
their  flattery.     This  powerful  and  well-fortified  city 
still  bears  the  impress  of  its  founder  Seleucus,  and 
has  never  lapsed  into  barbarism.     It  has  a  Senate  of 
three  hundred  citizens,  selected  for  their  wisdom  or 
their  wealth;   and   the  people  have  powers  of  their 
own.     When  people  and  Senate  agree,  they  can  defy  2 
the  Parthians ;  but  when  the  two  fall  out,  each  seeks 


He  is  well 
received  in 
Seleucia, 


1  As  M.  Trebellius  was  thus  under 
the  orders  of  Vitellius,  it  would  appear 
that  Cilicia,  or  at  least  this  part  of  it 
(see  also  ii.  78,  3),  belonged   to   the 
province  of  Syria. 

2  Tacitus  names  these  cities  with  little 
sense  of  their  respective  positions.    The 
usual  road  from  Antioch  to  Mesopotamia 
lay  in  a  NE.  direction  to  Zeugma  on 
the  Euphrates,  opposite  to  Apamea  on 
the  left  bank,  and  thence  to  the  im- 
portant Macedonian  town  of  Edessa ; 
to  the  immediate  south  of  which  was 
the  district  or  city  of  Anthemusias,  also 
a  Macedonian  name,    on   the  stream 
Bilechas.      At    the   junction    of    that 
stream  with  the  Euphrates,  sixty  miles 
due  S.  of  Edessa,  lay  the  Greek  town 
of  Nicephorion  or  Callini,  founded  by 


Seleucus  I.  ;  close  to  which  was  the 
lowest  ford  on  the  Euphrates  at 
Thapsacus  (=  Thiphsach,  or  'the  Pas- 
sage '),  which  could  be  reached  by  a 
route  running  nearly  due  E.  from 
Antioch.  Tiridates  obviously  marched 
by  the  former  route,  passing  through 
Anthemusias  to  Nicephorion.  Of  the 
rest  of  the  march — some  600  to  800 
miles — Tacitus  says  nothing.  Halus  is 
not  known ;  but  it  was  probably  near 
Artemita,  a  Parthian  town  about  sixty 
miles  N.  of  Seleucia,  the  half-Greek 
city  founded  by  Seleucus  I.  on  the 
Tigris,  near  Baghdad.  Opposite  to 
Seleucia,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tigris, 
lay  Ctesiphon,  which  became  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Parthian  kings  after  the 
conquest  of  Babylon,  B.C.  130. 


A.D.  36.]  BOOK   VI.  CHAPS.  41-43.  41 1 

help  against  the  other,  and  the  ally  called  in  to  help 

3  the  one  ends  by  lording  it  over  both.     This  had  lately 
happened  in  the  reign  of  Artabanus,  who  with  a  view 
to  his  own  interests  had  put  the  commons  under  the 
heel  of  the  nobles;  for  whereas  popular  rule  is  closely 
allied  to  liberty,  domination  by  the  few  is  near  akin 
to  kingly  absolutism. 

4  It  came  about,  therefore,  that  the  people  welcomed  w"<*e  he 
Tiridates  when  he  entered  the  city,  and  received  him  popular 
with  all  the  honours  paid  to  their  ancient  monarchs,  p 
with  many  more  of  recent  devising ;  while  they  poured 
contempt  on  Artabanus  as  no  true  Arsacid,  connected 

as  he  was  with  that  family  only  on  his  mother's  side. 

5  Tiridates  accordingly  gave  all  power  to  the  people; 
and  was  considering  on  what  day  he  should  assume 
the   royal    insignia,   when   he   received    letters   from 
Phraates  and  Hiero,  governors  of  important  provinces, 

6  asking  for  a  short   delay.     Resolving  to   await   the 
arrival  of  those  influential  personages,  he  betook  him- 
self in  the  meantime  to  Ctesiphon  the  capital ;  but  as 
they  kept  procrastinating  from  day  to  day,  the  Surena,1  and  is 
at  last,  in  accordance  with  national  custom,  bound  the 
royal  diadem2  round  his   head   in  the  presence  of  a 
vast  approving  multitude. 

i        Now  if  Tiridates  had  at  once  made  for  the  interior, 
and   visited  the   other  nationalities,   he  would   have  dates. 

1  This  name  seems  to  have  been  a  such   was  offered   to,  and  refused  by, 

semi-official    title,   denoting    both   the  Caesar  in  B.C.  44.     It  was  bound  round 

family  and  the  office  of  the  commander-  the  conical  high  Persian  cap  called  tiara. 

in-chief   of    the   Parthian  armies,   the  Thus  Curtius,  iii.  3,  19,  Cidarim  Persae 

office  being  hereditary  in  that  family.  vocabant  regium  cafitis   insigne  ;  h& 

Nipp.  compares  it  to  the  name  Caesar  caeruleafasciaalbodistinciacircumibat. 

under  the  empire.  From  this  head-dress  the  mitre  of  the 

*  Cp.    ii.   56,    3,   where  Germanicus  bishop  and  the  triple  crown  of  the  Pope 

places  the  insigne  regium  on  the  head  are    descended  ;    just    as    the  modern 

of  Zeno  as  king  of  Armenia  in  Artaxata.  crown  is  the  descendant  of  the  simple 

In    the    case  of    Persian   or   Parthian  diadema— adopted  by  the  Greeks  for 

monarchs,  it  consisted  of  the  diadema,  their     divinities,    and     first     regularly 

a  white  band  or  fillet   encircling  the  assumed    as  the  mark  of   royalty  by 

head,  which  was  the  symbol  of  royalty  Constantine. 
in  the  East  (Cic.  Phil.  iii.  5,  12),  and  as 


412  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  36. 

crushed  the  doubts  of  waverers,  and  every  one  would 
have  come  over  to  him.  But  instead  of  this,  he  sat 
down  before  the  fort  into  which  Artabanus  had 
conveyed  his  treasure  and  his  concubines,  and  so 
gave  people  time  to  slip  out  of  their  engagements. 
various  Phraates  and  Hiero,  and  the  other  chiefs  who  had  2 

chiefs  de-        r  ..  .  ,  r 

serthim,  failed  to  attend  on  the  day  of  the  coronation,  went 
out  Arta-  over  to  Artabanus ;  some  from  fear,  others  in  disgust 
at  Abdagaeses,1  who  was  now  supreme  in  the  court 
and  had  possession  of  the  new  king's  person.  They  3 
found  Artabanus  in  the  Hyrcanian 2  country,  in  a  filthy 
condition,  supporting  himself  by  the  produce  of  his 
bow.  At  first  he  was  alarmed,  suspecting  treachery ; 
but  when  satisfied  that  they  had  come  to  restore  him 
to  power,  he  plucked  up  courage,  and  asked  what  was 
the  meaning  of  their  sudden  change.  In  reply,  Hiero  4 
spoke  contemptuously  of  Tiridates  as  a  mere  boy, 
enervated  by  foreign  luxury,  and  enjoying  nothing 
but  the  empty  name  of  king  : — All  real  power  was  in  the 
hands,  not  of  a  Prince  of  the  royal  house,  but  of  the  family 
of  A  bdagaeses. 

Artabanus         Well  versed  in  state-craft,  the  King  perceived  that,  4, 
promptly     however  false  their  love,  their  hatred  was  unfeigned, 
da.  e         With  no  more  delay  than  was  needed  to  summon  his 
Scythian  allies,  he  pushed  on  with  all  speed,  giving 
no  time  either  for  enemies  to  cabal,  or  for  friends  to 
change  their  minds ;  even  his  person  he  left  unkempt 
as  it  was,  to  attract  the  compassion  of  the  multitude. 
Nothing  that  trickery  or  entreaty  could  do  was  left  2 
untried  to  allure  waverers  or  confirm  supporters.    He  3 
was  soon  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Seleucia  at  the  head 
of  a  large  force,  where  the  news  of  his  approach,  and 
then  his  presence,  threw  Tiridates  into  consternation. 

1  See  chaps.  36,  3,  and  37,  5.        2  See  chap.  36,  5. 


A.D.  36.]  BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.  43-45.  4,3 

He  was  now  torn  between  two  opinions  :   should  vacillation 
he  go  out  to  meet  Artabanus,  or  drag  on  the  war?  dates? 

4  Those  who  were  for  fighting  and  bringing  all  to  an 
issue   at  once,  argued  that  the  enemy's  forces  were 
still  scattered,  and  worn  out   by  their  long   march  ; 
having  so  lately  betrayed  and  fought  against  the  man 
whose  cause   they  were   now  again  espousing,  they 
were   not  united   enough,  even  in  purpose,  to  yield 

5  obedience  to  any  one.     Abdagaeses,  on  the  other  hand, 
advised  a  retreat  into  Mesopotamia,  so  as  to  put  the 
river    in    their    front  ;    let    them    then    call    up    the 
Armenians,  the  Elymaeans,1  and  other  tribes  in  their 
rear,  and  not  try  the  fortune  of  war  until  reinforced 
by  their  allies,  and  such  forces  as  the  Roman  General 

6  might  send  to  help  them.     This  view  prevailed;  for 


the    influence  of  Abdagaeses  was   all-powerful,  and  take*  refuge 
7  Tiridates   himself  had   no  stomach  for  danger.     But 
the  retreat  wore  all  the  appearance  of  a  flight.     First 
the  Arabians,2  then  the  rest,  went  off  to  their  homes, 
or  to  the  camp  of  Artabanus  ;  until  at  last  Tiridates, 
making  his  way  back  to  Syria  with  a  few  followers, 
relieved  every  one  from  the  disgrace  of  betraying  him. 
i         During  this  year,  the  city  was  devastated  by  a  fire,  Disastrous 
which  burned  down  the  part  of  the  Circus  Maximus3  Ron'"-. 

1  The  Elymaei  lived  at  the  head  of  which  lies  between  the  Palatine  on  the 

the  Persian  Gulf,  near  the  mouth  of  the  N.  and  the  Aventine  on  the  S..  and  which 

Tigris.     The  meaning,  therefore,  must  was  originally  called  the  vallis  Murcia. 

be  that  Tiridates  was  to  retire  behind  In  imperial  times  it  was  700  yards  long 

the  Tigris,  fall  back  upon  Armenian  by  about  135  wide,  and  could  accom- 

and  Roman  reinforcements,  and  rouse  modate    150,000    spectators. 

the  Elymaei  from  the  S.  to  fall  upon  sisted  of  three  tiers  of  covered  porticoes. 

the  Parthian  rear.  running  round  three  of  the  sides,  the 

1  Not  inhabitants  of  Arabia  proper,  fourth  being  left  for  the  carceres.  or 

but     apparently    the     inhabitants     of  starting-places.    The  lowest  scats  were 

Osrhoene,  the  province  of  which  Edessa  of  stone,  the  two  upper  tiers  of  wood  ; 

(see  n.   on  chap.   41,  i)   was  capital.  outside  ran  a  row  of  workshops,  houses. 

This  appears  from   xii.    13,   3,  where  etc.     The  whole,  therefore  was  highly 

Acbarus,  the    prince  of   Osrhoene,    is  inflammable.    The  great  fire  o 

called  rex  Arabum.  began  in  ea  parte  ctrct  qttat  Falahno 

»  The    Circus    Maximus—  the    great  Caeliogve  montibus  conttgna   tst,   i£ 

race-course    of    Rome,   first    built    by  at  its  S.    extremity  (xv    38,   a). 

Tarquin—  filled  the  long  narrow  valley  the    present  occasion,  the  pan 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  36. 


of  Tiberius. 


Generosity   adjoining    the    Aventine,    and    the    Aventine    itself. 
Tiberius  turned  the  disaster  to  his  own  credit  by 
paying  the  value  of  the  houses  and  tenements l  which 
had  been  burnt — an  act  of  generosity  which  cost  him  2 
a  ^million  sesterces,  and  was  all  the  more  acceptable 
to  the  multitude  that  he  had  been  moderate  in  build- 
ing for  himself.2    Even   of  public  buildings  he  had  3 
erected  only  two— the  temple  to  Augustus3  and  the 
stage  of  the  Theatre  of  Pompeius — and  even  these  he 
did  not  dedicate  when  completed,  either  because  of 
his  age  or  because  he  despised  popular  favour.    Every  4 
individual  loss  was  estimated  by  a  commission  com- 
posed   of    four    of   his    step-grandchildren,   Gnaeus 
Domitius,4  Cassius   Longinus,  Marcus  Vinicius,   and 
Rubellius  Blandus ;  to  these  Publius  Petronius5  was 
added    on    the    nomination    of   the    Consuls.      The  5 
senators  devised  and  decreed  new  honours  for  the 


was  the  long  western,  or  more  accu- 
rately, the  south-western  extremity, 
along  the  base  of  the  Aventine. 

1  An  insula  was  a  large  self-contained 
block  of  houses,  which  might  consist 
of  a  large  mansion-house  inside  (with 
shops,  etc.,  round  the  outside  of  the 
ground  floor),  together  with  small  sets 
of  apartments,  tenanted  separately  from 
the  main  mansion ;  or  it  might  consist 
wholly  of  such  separate  apartments,  and 
so  correspond  to  the  '  lands '  in  a  Scotch 
town,  containing  several  '  flats,'  or  to  a 
French  '  hotel '  with  its  ttages.     These 
large  buildings  lent  themselves  disas- 
trously to  fires :  the  tenants  at  the  top 
had  little  hope  of  escaping  (Juv.   iii. 
198-202).    In  enumerating  the  losses  by 
Nero's  fire,  Tacitus  similarly  describes  the 
buildings  burnt  as  consisting  oidomuum 
et  insularum  et  templorum  (xv.  41,  i). 

2  In  regard  to  money  matters,  Dio 
pays    Tiberius    a    high    compliment : 

'EAdx'O'Ta  yap  er  avrbv  dairavwv  ir\elarra  3e  es 

TO  Komov  avf]\i<rKe  (Ivii.  10,  3).  He  adds 
that  Tiberius  restored  many  buildings, 
but  in  doing  so  replaced  upon  them  the 
names  of  their  original  founders.  This 
may  be  regarded  as  another  instance 
of  the  scrupulous  regard  for  'veritas' 
which  was  a  characteristic  of  Tiberius  : 
see  i.  75,  2  and  n. 


8  The  huge  brick  remains  of  the 
Templum  Divi  Augusti,  at  the  corner 
of  the  Palatine  nearest  to  the  Capitol, 
confront  the  visitor  as  he  enters  the 
Palatine  by  the  regular  entrance  at  the 
Villa  Nussiner.  The  temple  lay  backed 
against  the  slope  of  the  hill ;  owing  to 
the  shape  of  the  ground,  its  plan  differed 
from  the  ordinary  type  in  having  the 
front  on  the  long  side  of  this  temple, 
instead  of  on  the  short  side.  Livia 
shared  with  Tiberius  in  the  building  of 
it  (Dio,  Ivi.  46,  3).  As  the  theatre  of 
Pompey  was  only  restored,  this  temple 
was  in  fact  the  single  work  of  Tiberius. 
Both  were  completed  by  Caligula  (Suet. 
Cal.  21 ) ;  the  temple  was  dedicated  by 
him  in  A.D.  37  (Dio,  lix.  7,  i),  though  it 
was  far  enough  advanced  to  be  repre- 
sented on  a  coin  of  A.D.  34. 

4  Cn.  Domitius  was  the  husband  of 
the  younger  Agrippina  (iv.  75,  i) ;  L. 
Cassius  Longinus  and  M.  Vinicius  were 
the  husbands  of  her  sisters,  Drusilla  and 
Julia    (or    Livilla)   respectively    (chap. 
15,    i).     Rubellius    Blandus    was   the 
second  husband  of  Julia,  the  daughter 
of  Drusus  (chap.  27,  i). 

5  It   was  in  this  man's   house  that 
Clutorius   Priscus  read  aloud  his  un- 
fortunate poem  (iii.  49,  2). 


A.D.  37.]  BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.  45-46. 

Emperor,   each   according   to    his    bent ;    but  which 
of  them  he  accepted  and  which  he  declined  was  never 
6  known,  because  of  his   approaching  end.     For  soon  Last  con- 
after  this  the  last  Consuls  under  Tiberius,   Gnaeus 
Acerronius  and  Gaius  Pontius,  entered  upon  office. 


A.D.   37.     CONSULS    CN.  ACERRONIUS   PROCULUS   AND 
C.   PETRONIUS   PONTIUS   NIGRINUS. 

By  this  time  the  influence  of  Macro  had  become  influence 
supreme.  He  cultivated  the  good  graces  of  Gaius—  He  courts 
which  indeed  he  had  never  neglected  —  more  and 
more  every  day;  and  after  the  death  of  Claudia, 
whose  marriage  to  Gaius  I  have  mentioned,1  he  urged 
his  own  wife  Ennia  to  affect  a  passion  for  the 
young  man,  and  entice  him  into  making  a  compact 
of  marriage  with  her.2  Gaius  was  ready  to  agree  to 
anything  that  would  help  him  to  power;  for  though 
hot-tempered8  by  nature,  he  had  learnt  under  his 
grandfather's  tutelage  to  cultivate  the  arts  of 
dissimulation. 

All  this  was  known  to  the  Emperor ;  and  for  that  Hesitation 

of  Tiberius 

reason  he  long  hesitated  as  to  the  succession,    r  irst,  as  as  tojhe 
between  his  grandsons,  the  son  of  Drusus  was  closer 
to  him  in  blood  and  affection,  but  he  was  still  a  boy; 
whereas  the  son  of  Germanicus  was  in  the  full  strength 
of  early  manhood,4  and  was  adored   by  the  people 

1  i.e.  in  chap.  20,   i.     Claudia  died  followed  different  authorities.     Macro 

in  childbirth  (Suet.  Cal.  n).  and  Ennia  were  forced  by  Caligula  to 

9  This  story,   recorded   by   Tacitus,  commit  suicide  within  a  year  ( 

Suetonius,  and  Dio,  is  told  by  each  in  10,  6). 

a  different  way.     Tacitus  makes  Macro          »  The  same  word  commotus  is  use. 

the  prompter  of  his  wife's  dishonour.  of  Agrippina's  temper  (1.33,  6); 

Dio  says  Macro  enticed  Caligula  into  of  Drusus  (iv.  3,  2) ;  and  of  Messahna 

the  intrigue  (Iviii.  28,  4);  Suetonius  puts  (xi.  12,  i). 

it  down  to  Caligula  himself,  who  pro-          «  Caligula  was    in    his    twent; 

mised  Ennia  marriage  both  by  oath  and  year ;     Tiberius 

in   writing  should  he    succeed  to  the  Drusus,  only  in  his  eignu 
empire  (Cal.  12).     They  evidently  each 


n  DC       D 


416 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  37. 


In  the  end, 
he  lets  it 
goby 
chance. 


— and  for  that  very  reason  hated  by  his  grandfather. 
He  even  thought  of  Claudius,1  because  he  was  of  ripe  2 
age,  and  had  tastes  of  a  higher  kind ; 2  but  his  weak- 
ness of  intellect  stood  in  the  way.     If,  again,  he  were  3 
to  look  outside  the  family  for  a  successor,3  he  was 
afraid  that  the  memory  of  Augustus,  and  the  name  of 
the   Caesars,  might   become   a  laughing-stock  and   a 
reproach;  for  he  cared  less  for  present   popularity  4 
than  to  stand  well  with  posterity.4    At  last,  unable  to  5 
make  up  his  mind,5  and  failing  in  strength,  he  left  to 
fate6  the  decision  to  which  he  was  himself  unequal; 


1  An    invalid    all    his    early    days, 
Claudius  was  an  extraordinary  mixture 
of  clownishness  and  dulness,  both  of 
mind  and  body  (animo  simul  et  corpore 
hebetato,    Suet.    Claud.   2),   with  con- 
siderable literary    learning   and    even 
cleverness ;  but  it  was  of  a  dull  and 
pedantic    kind  that  brought  him    no 
kind  of  reputation.     His  mother  called 
him    a    monster    whom    '  Nature  had 
begun  and  not  finished  off.'    No  one 
dreamed  that  he  could  ever  succeed  to 
the  empire   (iii.    18,  7).      Cp.  hebetem 
Claudium  et  uxori  devinctum  (xi.  28, 
2) ;  he  had  a  mind  not  capable  either 
of  forming  an  opinion   or  of  hating, 
except  at  another's  bidding  (xii.  3,  3) : 
some  believed  that  even  his  body  was 
too  dull  and  heavy  to  be  susceptible  to 
poison. 

2  The  phrase  bonae  artes  is  difficxilt 
and  uncertain.      Sometimes  it  stands 
merely  for   'education,'    'literary  cul- 
ture,' or  'literary  pursuits,' as  in  i.  3, 
4  of  Agrippa  Postumus,    rudem  sane 
bonarum  artium  ;  and  so  in  Dial.  29,  3. 
Similarly  artes  honestae,    liberates,    or 
illustres,  refer    to    intellectual  accom- 
plishments, as  in  iii.  70,  4.     Elsewhere 
the  term  stands  for  'good  conduct," 
•good  character,'  or  even  'virtue'  in 
general :    Mucianus   is  mails  bonisque 
artibus  mixtus,  '  half  good,  half  bad  ' 
(Hist.  i.  10,  3) ;  all  citizens  might  stand 
for  public  office  si  bonis  artibus  fide- 
rent,  i.e.,  '  had  a  good  character,'  or  '  a 
good  record  '  (xi.  22,  4).    In  i.  9,  4  and 
Hist.  i.  17,  3  per  bonas  artes  is  simply 
'  by    praiseworthy  methods.'      In    the 
present  passage  the  sense  seems  to  be 
that    Claudius    was    'a    well-meaning 
man.' 

3  It    would    thus    appear   that    the 


cruelty  of  Tiberius  to  the  children  of 
Germanicus  cannot  be  entirely  put 
down  to  jealousy  on  behalf  of  his  own 
grandson. 

4  A  handsome  acknowledgment  on 
the  part  of  Tacitus,  which  should  be 
placed  to  his  credit  amid  all  the  cruel 
things  which  he  has  said  of  Tiberius. 
The  anxiety  which  Tiberius  felt  in  re- 
gard to  a  successor  was  of  the  same 
kind  as  that  which  distracted  him  in 
the  making  of  provincial  appointments 
(i.  80,  3).    That  his  ambitio  in  posteros 
was  stronger  than  his  desire  for  gratia 
praesentium,  suggests  that  even  in  his 
seventies  he  may  have  been  moved  by  a 
regard  for  the  stability  of  the  govern- 
ment,   as    much    as    by    feelings    of 
personal  vindictiveness,  or  by  a  regard 
for  his  own  safety.     The  sentiment  is 
in  entire  accord  with  that  of  the  famous 
speech   in  which    he    declined    divine 
honours  in  iv.  38,  1-3  ;  and  if  there 
be  an  inconsistency  between  the  two 
passages,   as  Furn.   suggests,   the  in- 
consistency    lies    not    so    much     in 
Tiberius  himself  as  in  the  carping  com- 
ments of  his  critics  (iv.  38,  4-6). 

5  The  uncertainty    as    to    the    suc- 
cession was  a  fatal,  perhaps  inevitable, 
flaw   in    the    constitution    devised    by 
Augustus.      It   was  the  one  point    in 
which  the  attempt  to  graft  a  monarchy 
on  to  the  forms  of  a  republic  broke 
down.     In  theory,  the  whole  imperial 
system  fell  to  the  ground  at  once  on  the 
death  of  each  emperor,  and  had  to  be 
re-created  by  special  votes  in  the  person 
of  his  successor.     The   question   who 
that  successor  was  to  be  was  left   to 
chance,   to  be  decided  by  the  circum- 
stances of  the  moment. 

6  Fatum  is  not  mere  chance,  it  is  the 


A.D.37.J  BOOK   VI.  CHAPS.  46-47.  4,7 

and  yet  he   let  fall   a  word  or  two,  which  shewed 

6  that  he   foresaw  what   was  to  come.     It  was  not  a 
riddle  hard  to  read  when  he  reproached   Macro  for 
deserting  the  setting,  and  looking  to  the  rising  sun;1 

7  or  when  he  prophesied  that  Gaius,  who  in  a  casual 
conversation  spoke  slightingly  of  Lucius  Sulla,  would 
have  all   Sulla's  vices,  without   any    of  his    virtues. 

8  And  again,  when  he  was  embracing,  with  floods  of 
tears,  the  younger  of  his  two  grand-children,  while 

9  Gaius  looked  sullenly  on:—  Yes,  he  said, you  will  kill 
this  boy  some  day,  and  some  one  else  will  kill  you?    But 
though  his  health  was  failing,  he  would  give  up  none 
of  his'  vicious  practices,  making  a  show  of  fortitude 
amid  his  sufferings.     For  he  had  always  derided  the 
medical   art,  and  would   laugh  at  people  who,  being 
over  thirty  years  of  age,  needed  any  adviser  to  tell 
them  what  was  good  or  bad  for  them.8 

i  At  Rome,  meanwhile,  the  seeds4  of  future  blood-  Various 
shed  were  being  sown.  Laelius  Balbus5  had  brought 
a  charge  of  treason  against  Acutia,  formerly  wife  of 
Publius  Vitellius;  but  when  she  was  convicted,  and 
it  was  proposed  to  vote  a  reward  to  the  accuser, 
Junius  Otho,  a  tribune  of  the  Plebs,  interposed  his 
veto:6  the  quarrel  thus  raised  between  the  two 

destined    course  of   events,   what    we  of  thirty,  a  fact  which  renders  the  tales 

might  call   '  Providence.'      See  above  about    his    debaucheries    improbable, 

on  chap.  22,  i.  We  find,  however,  a  doctor  Charicles 

1  The  same  saying  is  recorded  by  in  attendance  on  him  (cap.  y>,  3).  whom 

Dio  (Iviii.  28,  4).     Plutarch  attributes  Suetonius  represents  as  going  away  on 

the  proverb  to  Pompey,  as  his  retort  to  leave  of  absence  (Tib.  72). 

Sulla  who  opposed  his  triumph :  '  Re-  •  This  metaphor  is  a  favourite  one 

member  that  more  men  worship  the  with  Tacitus,  and  it  is  not  always  used 

rising  than  the  setting  sun' (Pomp.  14).  appropriately.       Cf.  ni   semina    belli 

*  The  prophecy  was  fulfilled  by  the  restinxisset  (Hist.  iv.  80,  i);    Corbulo 

murder  of  Gemellus  within  the  year  by  semina  rebellionis  fratbebat  (Ann.  xi. 

Caligula  (Suet.  Cal.  23),  and  bv  that  19,  5) ;  semina  futuri  exitii  mcditare- 

of  Caligula  himself  by  Cassius  Chaerea  tur  (iv.  60,  6),  etc. 

and  others  in  the  Crypto-porticus  of  the  •  An  orator  of  note  (Quint  x.  i,  24). 

Palatine  on  the  24th  January,  A.D.  41.  •  There  were  still  tribunes   of  the 

»  Suetonius  states  that  Tiberius  en-  plebs,  and  they  still  enjoyed  the  ancient 

joyed  almost  perfect    health,   without  privileges  of  their  office ;   but  as  their 

ever  consulting  a  doctor,  after  the  age  tribumtian  power  was  subordinate  to 

2   E 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  37. 


probably 
contrived 
by  Macro. 


Cn.  Domi- 
tius  and 
Vibius 
Marsus 
spared ; 


but  L. 
Arruntius 
declines  to 
temporise, 


resulting  in  Otho's  banishment.     Next,  Albucilla,  who  2 
was  notorious  for  her  amours,  and  had  been  the  wife 
of  Satrius  Secundus,1  one   of  the   informers   against 
Sejanus,  was  accused  of  impiety  towards  Tiberius: 
Gnaeus     Domitius,2    Vibius     Marsus,3    and     Lucius 
Arruntius4   being  named   as   her  lovers  and   accom- 
plices.    Of   the    noble    birth    of    Domitius,    I    have  3 
already  spoken ;  Marsus  also  belonged  to  an  ancient 
and  illustrious  family,  and  was  a  man  of  high  attain- 
ments.    It  appeared  from  the  papers  laid  before  the  * 
Senate  that  Macro  had  himself  presided  at  the  ex- 
amination  of  the  witnesses,  and   the  torture  of  the 
slaves;   but  as  Tiberius  wrote  no  letter  against  the 
accused    persons,5  the   suspicion   arose   that   Macro, 
taking  advantage   of   the   Emperor's   weakness,   and 
perhaps  even  without  his   knowledge,  had   trumped 
up  a  series  of  false  charges  to  gratify  his  well-known 
hatred  of  Arruntius. 

So  the  lives  of  Domitius  and   Marsus  were  pro-  zj 
longed;    the    former    set    about    preparing   for    his 
defence,  the  latter  made  as  though  he  had  resolved 
upon  starvation.     But  when  the  friends  of  Arruntius  2 
implored  him  to  delay  and  temporise,  he  replied  as 
follows : — 

The  rule  of  honour,  he  said,  was  not  the  same  for  all. 
He  had  had  enough  of  life;  the  one  thing  he  had  to  repent  3 


that  of  the  emperor,  we  may  be  sure 
they  never  exercised  their  veto  except 
to  anticipate  his  wishes.  See  the  case 
of  Haterius  Agrippa  (i.  77,  3),  and  the 
futility  of  the  attempt  made  by  Rusticus 
Arulenus  (xvi.  26,  6).  The  last  recorded 
instance  of  the  exercise  of  the  veto  was  in 
A.D.  69  (Mommsen  Staatsr.  ii.  p.  284  n.). 

1  One  of  the  accusers  of  Cremutius 
Cordus,  mentioned  as  an  intimate  of 
Sejanus  in  chap.  8,  10.     He  had  evi- 
dently been  one  of  the  principal  in- 
formers against  him. 

2  The    husband   of   Agrippina   the 
younger. 


3  C.  Vibius  Marsus  was  one  of  the 
legates  of  Germanicus  in  Syria,   and 
competed  with  Cn.  Sentius  to  be  his 
successor  (ii.   74,   i).     As  he  is  called 
below  illustris  studiis,  Furneaux  sug- 
gests that  he  may  have  been  one  of 
those  to  whom  we  owe  the  details  of 
the  death  of  Germanicus. 

4  See  i.  13,  i ;  vi.  7,  i ;  27,  3,  etc. 

5  The    record    of    the    proceedings 
having  been  sent  to   the  senate,   and 
transmitted  to  the  emperor,  the  senate 
would  await  his  pleasure  before  passing 
sentence. 


A.D.  37.]  BOOK   VI.   CHAPS.  47-48.  4,9 

of  was  that  he  had  endured  to  live  on  to  old  age  amid 
perils  and  mockeries,1  always  in  anxiety,  always  the 
object  of  some  great  man's  hatred.  It  had  been  Sejanus 
for  a  time,  it  was  noiv  Macro  ;  and  his  only  crime  was 

4  that  he  could  not  tolerate  iniquity.     He  might  doubtless 
live  through  the  few  remaining  days  of  Tiberius :  but 
hoiv  could  he  escape  from  the  stripling  who  was  to  come 
after  ?    If  the  possession  of  power  had  perforce  deranged 
and   transformed   Tiberius?  with   all   his   experience  of 
affairs,  was  it  likely  that  Gains  Caesar  would  do  better, 
with  Macro  to  point  the  ivay  ?     The  lad  was  scarce  out 
of  his  teens,  ignorant  of  everything,  or  instructed  only  in 
what  was  evil ;   and  Macro  had  been  chosen   to  crush 
Sejanus  as  the  greater  villain  of  the  tzvo,  having  com- 
mitted  crimes  more  numerous,  more   disastrous   to  the 

5  State  than  he.     He  could  foresee  days  of  still  grosser 
servitude ;  and  he  was  making  his  escape  from  future  as 
well  as  from  present  evils.3 

Uttering   these  words    after    the    manner    of  an  and  opens 
G  inspired  prophet,4  he  opened  his  veins.    What  follows  h 
will  show  how  well  Arruntius  did  to  die. 

Albucilla  was  ordered  off  to  prison  by  the  Senate,  sentences 
after  inflicting  a  futile  wound  on  herself.     One  of  her 
paramours,  Carsidius  Sacerdos,5  a  man  of  praetorian 
rank,  was   sentenced   to   be   deported   to  an  island  ; 
another,  Pontius  Fregellanus,  to  be  deprived  of  his 

1  i.e.  such  a  mockery  of  power  as  M.  Terentius  in  chap.  8.  To  use 
was  left  to  the  senate,  which  had  to  the  language  of  Tacitus  himself,  these 
register  the  decrees  of  the  emperor,  speeches  exhibit  the  happy  mean  bo- 
whatever  they  might  be,  or  as  he  him-  tween  the  abrupta  cotitumacia  too  often 
self  had  to  put  up  with  when  appointed  displayed  by  later  victims  of  imperial 
to  the  command  in  Spain  and  yet  not  tyranny  and  the  deforme  obstquium  of 
allowed  to  leave  Rome.  the  flatterers  (iv.  20,  5). 

*  As  \Furn.  suggests,   this  observa-  4  i.e.    as    oracular    alike    in     their 

tion  gives  the  true  key  to  the  govern-  weight    and    in    the    manner  of  their 

ment  and  character  of  Tiberius.     See  utterance, 

his  Introd.  •  Accused  of   supplying  Tacfannas 

8  The  dignified,  moderate,  and  self-  with    corn    (iv.    13,    3).     He  was  ap- 

restrained  tone  of  this  speech  recalls  parently  Prattor  Urban  us  in  A.  D.  27. 
that  of  the  speaker  in  v.  6,  or  that  of 


42O 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  37. 


Sextius 
Papinius 
throws 
himself 
out  of  a 
window : 


his  mother 
banished. 


Tiberius 
begins  to 


rank  as  senator.  The  same  punishment  was  inflicted 
on  Laelius  Balbus  :  l  a  sentence  which  the  Senate  de- 
creed with  the  utmost  satisfaction,  as  Balbus  was 
noted  for  a  truculent  eloquence  which  he  was  ever 
ready  to  exercise  against  the  innocent. 

About  the  same  time,  Sextus  Papinius,2  a  man  of  4< 
consular  family,  chose  a  sudden  and  hideous  form  of 
death  by  throwing  himself  out  of  the  window.     For  2 
this  act  his  mother  was  held  to  blame.     In  spite  of  all 
he  could  do,  her  amorous  advances  had  brought  him 
into  a  position  from  which  he  could  find  no  way  of 
escape  save  through  death.     Indicted  in  the  Senate,  3 
she  threw  herself  down  before  the  Fathers,  express- 
ing in  piteous  and  dolorous  terms  the  anguish  which 
any  one,   and    most    of  all    a    poor    weak    woman, 
would  feel  at  so  terrible  an  accident,  with  other  senti- 
ments of  a  similar  character.     She  was  nevertheless 
banished  from  the  city  for  ten  years,  till  her  younger 
son  should  have  passed  through  the  critical  period  of 
his  boyhood. 

And    now    Tiberius    was    failing  in   health    and  5< 
strength,   in    everything    but   dissimulation.      There 
remained  the  same  unbending  will,  the  same  intent- 
ness  of  look  and  speech ;  but  he  would  affect  some- 
times   an    air    of    gaiety    to    conceal    his    manifest 
decline.     After  changing  more  than  once  his  place  2 
of  abode,  he  settled  down  at  last  in  a  villa  which 
had  belonged  to  Lucius  Lucullus,  on  the  promontory 
of  Misenum.3    That  his  end  was  drawing  near  was  3 
discovered    in    the    following   manner.      There  was 


1  See  chap.  47,  i. 

2  Probably  son  of  the  consul  of  the 
same  name  (A.D.  36). 

3  The   vast  and    luxurious  villa  on 
the  western    extremity  of  the   Bay  of 
Naples,    which    had    been    added    to 


and  sumptuously  embellished  by  L. 
Lucullus  after  his  Eastern  campaign. 
It  had  belonged  to  Marius,  was  bought 
by  Cornelia,  and  by  her  sold  at  a 
fabulous  price  to  Lucullus  (Plut.  Mar. 
34). 


A.D.  37.]  BOOK    VI.   CHAPS.  48-50.  421 

an   eminent   physician   called    Charicles,1  who   used 
to  give  Tiberius  the  benefit  of  his  advice,  though  he 

4  was  not  his  regular  attendant.     On  taking  his  leave, 

as  if  for  business   of  his  own,   Charicles  took  the  chancies 

Emperor's  hand   by   way  of  respect :   in   doing  so,  h'ifa^™ 

5  he  touched  his   pulse.     The   action   did   not  escape  £n5aching 
Tiberius.     Offended,  perhaps,  and   therefore  all   the 

more  resolute  to  conceal  his  annoyance,  he  ordered 
fresh  viands  to  be  brought  in,  and  then  sat  at 
table  longer  than  was  his  wont,  as  though  out  of 
0  compliment  to  his  departing  friend.2  Charicles  assured 
Macro  that  life  was  ebbing  away,  and  that  Tiberius 
could  not  hold  out  for  more  than  two  days. 

Hurried  conferences  were  held  on  the  spot  ; 
despatches  were  sent  off  to  the  Legates,  and  mani- 
festoes  to  the  armies.  On  the  i6th  of  March  the 
breathing  failed  ;  and  it  was  thought  that  the  end  had 

7  come.     Gaius  Caesar  stepped   forth,   amid  congratu- 
lating   crowds,   to    assume    the    government :    when 
suddenly  word  was   brought  that  Tiberius  had   re-  Tiberius 
covered  speech  and  sight,  and  was  calling  for  food  to 

8  keep  up  his  strength.     A  general  panic  ensued.     The 
crowd  slunk  away  from  the  side  of  Gaius  and  dis-  ^ 
persed,    every    one    feigning    sorrow  or   ignorance; 
Gaius,  in  silent  stupor,  fallen  from   his  high   hopes, 

9  looked  for  the  worst.     But  Macro  was  equal  to  the 
occasion.     He  ordered  the  attendants  to  heap  clothes 
upon  the  old  man,  and  leave  the  room.8 

1  The  name  suggests  that  he  was  a  reached  Miscnum.     He  there  resumed 

Greek,  and  probably  a  freed-man.  his  ordinary    life,  pleasures   and    all. 

»  The  account  given  of  the  death  of  Charicles    took   the    emperor  s    hand. 

Tiberius  by  Suetonius  agrees  generally  merely  osc ulandi  gratia :  the  emperor, 

with  that  of  Tacitus,  but  he  adds  some  suspecting  his  mtenuon,  not  merely  sa 

particulars.       Tiberius    had    gone    to  longer  than    usual    at    table,    but 

Astura,  on  the  coast  of  Latium,  near  sisted  upon  standing,  according  to  hi 

Antium,    where    he    was     taken    ill.  custom,  to  receive    the  adieu*  of  his 

Thence  he  went  to  Circeii,  where  he  guests  (Tib.  72). 

took  part  in   some  camp  sports,  and  »  Dio  says  that  Caligula  kept  food 

got  worse;    but  he  held    on    till   he  from  the  dying  man,  and  that  it  was  he 


422  ANNALS    OF    TACITUS.  [A.D.  37. 

Death  of  Thus  ended  Tiberius,  in  his  seventy-eighth  year.1  5 

his  seventy-  He  was  the  son  of  Tiberius  Nero,  and  could  claim 
yelr!h  His  descent  from  the  Claudii  on  both  sides,  though 
his  mother  had  been  adopted  into  the  Livian,  and 
afterwards  into  the  Julian  family.2  He  had  been  ex-  2 
posed  to  various  chances  from  his  infancy.  He  had 
followed  his  father,  when  proscribed,  into  exile ;  and 
after  becoming  the  son-in-law  of  Augustus,  he  had 
many  rivals  to  contend  with,  when  the  fortunes  of 
Marcellus  and  Agrippa,  and  later  again  of  Gaius  and 
Lucius  Caesar,  were  in  the  ascendant.  His  own  brother  3 
Drusus  was  a  greater  favourite  with  the  people.  But 
the  greatest  trial  of  his  life  was  his  marriage  with 
Julia,  whose  irregularities  he  had  to  tolerate  or  elude. 
On  his  return  from  Rhodes  he  was  for  twelve 3  years  4 
undisputed  heir  in  the  Imperial  family ;  he  was  master 
of  the  Roman  world  for  three  and  twenty. 

His  His  character  passed  through  like  changes  to  his  5 

fortunes.  Admirable  in  conduct,  and  in  high  esteem, 
while  in  a  private  station,  or  filling  commands 
under  Augustus ;  dark,  and  artful  in  affecting  virtue, 
so  long  as  Germanicus  and  Drusus  lived,  he  pre-  6 
sented  the  same  mixture  of  good  and  evil4  until  his 
mother  died.  Then  came  a  period  of  fiendish  cruelty, 
but  masked  libertinism,  during  the  days  when  he 
loved  or  feared  Sejanus  :  until  at  last,  freed  from  all 

who  cast  blankets  on  him  (Iviii.  28,  3) ;  (Tib.  75,  76).    Caligula  pronounced  his 

Suetonius    mentions    both    things    as  funeral  oration  (Dio,  Iviii.  28,  5)  ;  but 

rumours  only  (Tib.  73),  adding  another  set  aside  the  heirship  of  young  Tiberius 

to    the    effect    that  Caligula  had  ad-  as  the  act  of  a  madman  (lix.  i,  2). 

ministered  a  slow  poison.  2  See  nn.  on  v.  i,  r.     Marcellus  died 

1  Suetonius  gives  November  17,  B.C.  in  B.C.  23  ;  Agrippa  in  B.C.  12 ;  Drusus 

42,  as  the  date  of  the  birth  of  Tiberius.  in   B.C.    9;  Gaius   Caesar  in   A.D.  2; 

He  informs  us  that,  in  spite  of  sinister  Lucius  Caesar  in  A.D.  4. 

cries  from  the  mob,  'To  the  Tiber  with  3  i.e.   from  his  return  from   Rhodes 

Tiberius!'   the  body  was  carried   by  in  A.D.  2  to  his  accession  in  A.D.  14. 

soldiers   to   Rome,   honoured    with    a  4  Cf.   Dio,  Iviii.  28,   5  :    nXe/o-rav  nlv 

public  funeral,  and  there  burnt ;  in  the  upercir  TrXe/o-Tar(  3e  <ca<   KaK/a?  t<oi>    Kai 

will    Caligula  and    Tiberius    Gemellus,          eKcn-ppcuy  avraiv  w?  xai  juoyai? 

son  of   Drusus  were  left  equal  heirs 


A.D.  37.] 


BOOK    VI.   CHAP.    51. 


423 


fears,  lost  to  all  shame,  he  broke  out  in  wickedness 
and  wantonness  alike,  and  showed  himself  in  no 
character  but  his  own.1 


1  It  would  be  hard  to  imagine  a  more 
cruel  epigram  than  that  with  which 
Tacitus  thus  closes  his  prose  epic  upon 
the  life  and  reign  of  Tiberius.  Truth 
compels  him  to  admit  that  Tiberius 
was  inter  bona  malaque  mixtus  ;  but, 
whereas  Dio,  as  quoted  in  the  preced- 
ing note,  is  content  to  place  the  two 
lives,  the  good  life  and  the  evil  life,  side 
by  side,  each  seeming,  if  regarded  by 
itself,  to  represent  the  whole  character 
of  the  man,  the  last  word  of  Tacitus  is 
that  everything  that  was  good  in  the 
life  of  Tiberius  was  assumed,  while 
everything  evil  was  his  own.  The 
very  different  estimate  of  Velleius 
I'aterculus  has  been  usually  put  aside 
as  that  of  a  sycophant  and  panegyrist ; 
but  if  his  view  of  Tiberius  is  extrava- 
gant on  the  one  side,  we  have  seen 
reason  to  believe  that  the  account 
of  Tacitus  is  highly  charged  upon  the 
other.  In  the  note  upon  vi.  i,  5, 
and  elsewhere,  reasons  have  been  ad- 
vanced for  doubting  the  grosser  charges 
brought  against  the  private  life  of 
Tiberius.  As  a  counterpoise  to  the 
many  instances  of  over-harsh  judgments 
on  his  conduct  which  are  to  be  found 
in  the  Annals,  it  is  but  fair  to  record 
what  was  said  of  him  by  a  devoted 
adherent.  Velleius  was  a  soldier,  and 
a  man  of  the  world  ;  he  had  served 
under  Tiberius,  and  wrote  only  of  what 
he  knew.  At  the  worst,  he  represents 
the  strong  party  view  of  the  Imperialists, 
and  his  language  doubtless  reflects  the 
opinions  professed  at  the  time  by  the 
servile  crew  of  flatterers,  as  Tacitus 
would  have  styled  them,  of  which  the 
Senate  was  composed.  Velleius  himself 
was  probably  one  of  the  victims  who  fell 
along  with  Sejanus.  He  did  not  live  to 
see  the  darker  days  of  Tiberian  rule  ;  he 
knew  only  its  earlier  and  better  period, 
described  in  such  fair  colours  by 
Tacitus  himself  in  Ann,  iv.  6.  Here 
is  how  Velleius  describes  that  period  : — 

Horum  xvi  annorum  ofera  guts  cutn 
ingerantur  oculis  aniimsque  omnium 
[in']  partibus  eloquaturf  Sacravit 
parentem  suum  Caesar  non  imperio,  scd 
religione,  non  appellavit  turn,  sed  fecit 
deum.  Rcvocata  in  forum  fides,  sum- 
inota  e  foro  seditio,  ambitio  camjk\ 
discordia  curia,  sepullaeque  ac  situ 
obsitae  iustitia,  aequitas,  industria 
civ if  a  ti  reddilae  ;  access  it  mi lit ib us 


auctoritas,  senatui  maiestas,  iudiciis 
gravitas ;  compressa  theatnilis  seditio, 
recte  faciendi  omnibus  aut  incussa  vo- 
luntas  aut  imposita  necessities  /  hono- 
ranttir  recta,  prava  puniuntur  ;  suspicil 
potentcm  humilis,  non  timet ;  antecedit, 
non  contemnit,  humiliorem  potens. 
Quando  annona  mode  rat  for,  yuando 
pax  laetior  f  dijfusa  in  orientis  occi- 
dentisquc  tractus  et  quidquid  meri- 
diano  ant  septentrione  Jinitur,  pax 
augitsta  [per]  omnis  terrarum  vrbn 
angulos  (i  latrociniorum  metu  stn'at 
inmunis.  Fortuita  non  cirium  tantttm- 
modo,  sed  urbium  damna  princifn 
muiiificentia  vindicat.  Kestitutae  «/•/•<> 
Asiae,  vindicatae  ab  iniuriis  magi- 
straluum  provincial;  honor  digni* 
paratissimtts,  poena  in  malos  sera,  sed 
aliqua ;  superatur  aequitatc  gratia, 
ambitio  virtntc  ;  nam  facere  rectc  ciris 
suos  prince p$  optimus  faciendo  docet, 
cumque  sit  imperio  maximus,  cxcmplo 
maior  est  (ii.  126). 

Side  by  side  with  this  picture  of  a 
perfect  administration  under  a  spotless 
ruler  may  be  placed  the  character  of 
Sejanus  as  drawn  by  the  same  pen. 
It  corresponds,  in  some  essential 
features,  with  the  description  of  Tacitus 
in  Ann.  iv.  i;  and  it  has  a  special 
interest  of  its  own.  Highly  coloured 
as  it  is,  one  may  be  sure  that  it  gives 
the  view  of  the  character  and  services  of 
Sejanus  which  was  believed  by  the 
Roman  society  of  the  time  to  be  held 
by  Tiberius  himself.  After  pointing  out 
how  the  Scipios  leaned  upon  Laelius, 
and  Augustus  upon  Agrippa  and 
Statilius  Taurus,  Velleius  proceeds  :  — 

Sub  his  exemplis  Ti.  Caesar  Seia~ 
num  Aelium,  principt  equestris  ordinif 
patre  natum,  tnaterno  vero  gtnere  da' 
rissimas  veteresque  etinsignis  honoribus 
complexum  familias,  habentem  consu- 
lans  fratres,  consobrinos,  avunculum, 
ipsum  rero  laboris  ac  fidei  capacissi- 
inum,  sufficient*  etiam  vigori  animi 
comtage  carports,  singularem  princi- 
paltum  onerum  adiutorem  in  omnia 
kabuit  atque  habtt,  vintm  stvfri/atis 
laetissimae,  hilaritatis  frt'xat,  <*** 
otiosis  simillimum,  niktl  ribi  vi*di- 
cantem  eoque  adsequenttm  omnia, 
semperque  infra  aliorum  aatimationts 
st  tnetiintem,  vultu  vitaque  tran- 
quillum,  animo  exsomnem, 

The     character     of     Tiberius    will 


424 


ANNALS    OF    TACITUS. 


[A.D.  37. 


probably  always  remain  a  subject  of 
controversy.  Mr.  Tarver  has  given  it  a 
new  interest  by  his  fresh  and  stimulating 
book  on  '  Tiberius  the  Tyrant ; '  in 
which,  following  Freytag  and  the  late 
Professor  Beesly,  he  does  all  that 
advocacy  can  do  to  rehabilitate  Tiberius 
and  depreciate  the  authority  of  Tacitus. 
But  as  M.  Suard  said  to  Napoleon, 
'  La  renomme'e  de  Tacite  est  trop  haute 
pour  que  L'on  puisse  jamais  penser  a 
la  rabaisser  ; '  and  we  do  not  need  to  go 
beyond  the  pages  of  Tacitus  himself  to 
satisfy  ourselves  that  he  has  dealt  a 
hard  measure  of  justice  to  Tiberius. 
But  if  he  hated  Tiberius  much,  he 
valued  truth  more  ;  and  his  supreme 
virtue  as  an  historian  is  that  whatever 
his  own  prejudices  may  be,  he  puts 
into  the  reader's  hands  the  materials 
for  forming  a  judgment  of  his  own. 
The  phrase  inter  mala  bonaque  mixtus 
is  eminently  true  of  the  character  of 
Tiberius  as  presented  in  the  Annals. 
We  have  the  dark  unrelenting  monster 
of  cruelty  described  to  us  in  the  last 
words  of  Book  VI.  ;  while  the  earlier 
books  of  the  Annals  present  to  us  the 
picture  of  a  man,  proud,  sensitive, 
ungenial ;  of  a  careful  governor,  a 
strict  judge,  a  hard-headed  unimagina- 
tive statesman,  sternly  just  and  over- 
logical,  but  capable  of  great  acts  of 
generosity.  The  one  character  belongs 
rather  to  the  earlier,  the  other  to  the 
later  years  of  his  reign ;  but  the  worse 


fame  has  overcome  the  better :  in  the 
words  used  of  Vitellius  in  vi.  32,  7, 
cesserunt  prima  postremis. 

For  the  declension  of  his  later  years, 
Tacitus  offers  us  two  explanations.  All 
was  changed,  he  tells  us,  by  the  death 
of  Drusus :  see  note  on  iv.  7,  i.  The 
other  cause  may  be  given  in  the  words 
of  L.  Arruntius,  vi.  48,  4 :  Tiberius  si 
.  .  .  vi  dominationis  convulsus  et  mu- 
tatus  sit.  He  was  broken  down  by  the 
weight  of  empire.  He  had  neither 
the  generous  nature  and  lofty  soul  of 
Caesar,  nor  the  infinite  patience  and 
diplomatic  finesse  of  Augustus ;  he 
brought  the  qualities  of  a  martinet  to 
the  government  of  an  empire.  Cruelly 
mortified  in  his  domestic  relations, 
betrayed  within  his  own  house,  his  one 
chosen  instrument  breaking  in  his 
hands,  he  lost  faith  in  every  one  and 
everything.  Yet  the  government  of 
Rome  went  on.  Even  in  his  worst 
days  the  tyranny  of  Tiberius  was  never 
incalculable  and  senseless  like  that  of 
Gaius,  Nero,  and  Domitian  ;  intellectu- 
ally and  morally  he  stood  head  and 
shoulders  above  the  evil  emperors  of 
the  first  century.  But  posterity  looked 
upon  him  as  the  man  who  deflected 
the  empire  from  the  more  generous 
lines  which  seemed  to  have  been  laid 
down  for  it  by  its  founder,  and  Tacitus 
visited  upon  him  the  sins  of  the  worst  of 
his  successors. 


INDEX. 


[The  numerals  refer  to  the  pages  of  the  text.     The  Utters  n.  or  nn.  after  a  numeral 
refer  to  a  note  or  notes  on  the  page  indicated.  ] 


Abdagaeses,  412,  413. 

Abdus,  398-9. 

Abudius  Ruso,  an  accuser,  punished, 

396- 

Achaia,  province  of,  92  and  n.,  98. 
Acilius  Aviola,  225. 
acta  diurna,  187  n. 
acta  patrum,  341  n. 
acta  senatus,  341  n. 
Actium,  battle  of.  8  and  n.,  153. 
actor publicus,  128  n. 
actors,  legislation  in  coercion  of,  95  and 

n.  ;    salaries  of,  95 ;    expelled  from 

Italy,  275. 
Acutia,  417. 
addicere  bona,  283  n. 
Adgandestrius,    offers    to    poison   Ar- 

minius,  182. 

Adrana,  the  river,  69  and  n. 
aediles,  their  functions,  180  n. 
Aedui,  revolt  of  the,  225-30. 
Aeetes,  401. 
Aegeae,  148. 

Aegium,  ruined  by  an  earthquake,  274. 
Aelius,  see  Gallus,  Lamia,  Sejanus. 
Aemilia,  see  Lepida. 
Aemilius,  a  centurion,  in,  112. 
Aemilius,  a  soldier,  302:  see  also  Le- 

pidus. 

Aequus,  see  Considius. 
aerarium,  52  n. ;  a.  militart,  355  n.  ; 

361  n. 

Aeserninus  Marcellus,  193. 
Afer,    Domitius,   312 ;    his    powers    of 

oratory,  313  and  n. 
Afranius,  294. 
Africa,    its   garrison,   264 ;    see   under 

Tacfarinas. 

Agrippa,  Asinius,  death  of,  322. 
Agrippa,  Fonteius,  128,  181. 
Agrippa,  Haterius,  94,  151,  232,  364. 
Agrippa,  Marcus  Vipsamus,  5  and  n. 


Agrippa,  Postumus,  7  ;  character  of,  9, 
12  n.,  murder  of.  12,  138. 

Agrippa.  Vibulenus,  sensational  death 
of,  408. 

Agrippina,  daughter  of  Germanicus, 
memoirs  of.  314  and  n.  ;  337 

Agrippina,  wife  of  Germanicus.  48 ; 
character  of,  49';  her  heroic  conduct. 
82  ;  her  fertility,  144  ;  gives  birth  to 
Julia,  153 ;  embarks  with  ashes  of 
Germanicus,  173 ;  lands  at  Brun- 
disium.  her  route  to  Rome  thronged. 
184-5  I  hailed  by  populace.  187  ; 
indiscretion  of  her  friends,  188  n.,  and 
of  A.  herself,  272-3  n.  ;  denounced 
by  Sejanus,  273  ;  reproaches  Tiberius, 

312  ;  implores  him  to  let  her  marry. 

313  ;    openly    shews    suspicion     of 
Tiberius,  314  ;    watched  by  Sejanus, 
328 ;   denounced  by  Tiberius  to  the 
Senate,   341-2 ;    A.   and   Nero  con- 
demned, 345;  ambitious,  intolerant, 
but  not  impure,  390  ;  her  death,  389. 

Ahenobarbus,  see  Domitius. 
Albani,  the.  168,  400.  401. 
Albania,  264  n.,  princes  of,  264. 
Albucilla,  accused  of  impiety,  418;  is 

condemned.  419. 
Alexander  the  Great,   compared  with 

Germanicus,  171-2. 
Aliso.  Fort,  63  n.,  108  n.,  109. 
Alliaria,  66. 
Amazons,  the,  244. 
Amenophis  III.,  161  n. 
Ampsivarii.  the,  109  and  n.,  120,  122. 
Amynclae,  320. 
Ancharius,  see  Priscus. 
Ancyranum,  Monumentum,  3  n.,  25  n. 
Andecavi,  revolt  of  the,  225. 
Angrevarii,  the,  109  n.,  118  and  n. 
Annia.  see  Rufilla. 
Annius,  see  Pollio. 
annona,  4  n. 
Anthemusias,  410. 

2   F 


426 


INDEX. 


Antigonus  Doson,  303. 

Antioch,  169,  172. 

Antiochus,  King  of  Commagene,  142. 

Antistius  Vetus,  a  Macedonian,  accused 

of  treason,  223. 
Antistius  Vetus,   C.,   Cos.   A.D.  23,— 

259 :  see  also  Labeo. 
Antius,  Gaius,  107. 
Antonia  maior,  187  n. 
Antonia  minor,  mother  of  Germanicus, 

186  and  n. 
Antonius,  Julius,  death  and  career  of, 

305- 

Antonius,  L.,  death  and  career  of,  305. 

Antonius,  M.,  i,  3  and  n. 

Aphrodisias,  244. 

Apicata,  wife  of  Sejanus,  262,  271. 

Apicius,  260. 

Apidius,  see  Merula. 

Apollonis,  148. 

Appius,  see  Silanus. 

Appuleia,  see  Varilla. 

Apronia,  283. 

Apronius,  Caesianus  (son  of  Lucius), 
205. 

Apronius,  Lucius,  69,  130,  204-5,  247> 
274,  283;  sustains  severe  defeat  at 
hands  of  the  Frisii,  334-5. 

aquae  et  ignis  interdictio,  201  n. 

Aquilia,  accused,  302. 

Aquitania,  224  n. 

Archelaus,  King  of  Cappadocia,  141. 

Ariobarzanes,  104  n. ,  106. 

Aristonicus,  315. 

Armenia,  a  Roman  protectorate,  105  n. 

Armenians,  the,  156  and  n. 

Arminius,  the  liberator  of  Germany,  68 
and  n. ,  70,  71 ;  speech  of,  72-3  ;  76, 
77.  79»  81,  110-12,  114,  116,  119, 
145 ;  aims  at  kingship,  182 ;  is  slain 
by  treachery,  182  ;  his  title  to  fame, 
182. 

Arnus,  the  river,  96. 

Arpus,  chief  of  the  Chatti,  108. 

Arruntius,  Lucius,  17,  27  and  n.,  28, 
92,  96,  193,  418  ;  his  last  speech  and 
suicide,  418-19. 

Arsaces,  first  king  of  Parthia,  ico  n., 
101  n. 

Arsaces,  son  of  Artabanus,  398,  400. 

Arsacidae,  the,  100-102  nn. 

Artabanus  III,  king  of  Parthia,  102  n., 
104,  106,  158,  397-406;  flies  to 
Scythia,  404;  recalled  and  restored, 
412-13. 

Artavasdes  I.,  II. ,  III.,  kings  of  Ar- 
menia, 102  n. ,  104  n. ,  105. 

Artaxata,  157,  400. 

Artaxias  I.,  156  n. 

Artaxias  II.,  105. 

Artaxias  III.,  157,  164  ;  his  death,  398. 

Artemita,  410. 

artes  bonae,  416  n. 

Aruseius,  366. 

Asian  cities,   twelve,  destroyed  by  an 


earthquake,  147  and  n. ;  relieved  by 
Tiberius,  148  ;  contend  for  honour  of 
building  temple  to  Tiberius,  315. 

Asinius,  see  Agrippa,  Gallus,  Pollio, 
Saloninus. 

Asprenas,  Lucius,  66,  202. 

astrology,  believed  in  by  Tacitus,  prog- 
nostications on  Tiberius  leaving  Rome, 
320 ;  is  it  a  true  science,  386  and  n. 

asylum,  right  of,  abuses  connected  with, 
221,  244  ;  see  sanctuary. 

Ateius,  Marcus,  148  ;  see  also  Capito. 

Atellanae,  Fabulae,  275  n. 

Athens,  153,  154,  155  n. 

Atidius,  see  Geminus. 

Atilius,  Aulus,  149. 

Atilius,  builder  of  an  amphitheatre  at 
Fidena,  323-4. 

Atticus,  Pomponius,  144. 

attributiot  228  n. 

Aufidienus,  see  Rufus. 

Augusta,  see  Livia. 

Augusta  Trevirorum,  the  modern 
Treves,  55  n. 

Augustan  Games,  31  and  n. ,  67. 

Augustodunum,  225  n.,  227,  229,  230. 

Augustus,  1-3  and  n. ;  his  career,  3-5, 
various  comments  on,  19-23  ;  illness 
and  death,  10-11 ;  will  of,  15,  16; 
funeral  of,  18 ;  comments  on  the 
character  of,  18-23  ;  title  of,  19  n.  ; 
his  adornment  of  the  Capitol,  20  and 
n. ;  worship  of  in  Rome  and  provinces, 
23  and  n.,  70  n.  ;  do.  in  Italy,  297  n. ; 
temples  to,  24  and  n.,  95,  297  and  n., 
318,  built  by  Tiberius,  414;  his  re- 
commendation not  to  extend  the 
Empire,  25  and  n. 

Aurelius,  see  Cotta. 

auspicia  repetere,  203  n. 

Auzea,  285. 


Bactria,  100  n.,  161. 

Baduhenna,  a  goddess,  335. 

Balbus,  L.  Cornelius,  254  and  n. 

Balbus,  Laelius,  417. 

Bastarnae,  the,  166. 

Batavian  Delta,  the,  108. 

Batavians,  the,  109,  in. 

Bathyllus,  67. 

Belgae,  the,  225. 

Belgica  (Gallia) ,  province  of,  224  n. 

Bibaculus,  294. 

Bithynia,  province  of,  88  and  n. 

Blaesus,  Junius,  32,  35,  36,  221,  241, 

254;   his  tactics  against  Tacfarinas, 

255-  6  ;  saluted  as  '  Imperator '  by  his 

troops,  257  ;  286,  355. 
Blaesi,  the  two  (sons  of  above),  commit 

suicide,  409. 
Blandus,  Rubellius,  207,  233  ;  his  son, 


INDEX. 


427 


Bovillae,  140. 

Britain,  the  princes  of,  122  and  n. 

Bructeri,  the,  64  and  n.,  73,  74. 

Brundisium,  treaty  of,  22  n. 

Bruttedius  Niger,  248. 

Brutus,  L.,  i. 

Brutus,  M.,  3  and  n.  ;  258,  293-4. 

Byzantium,  154. 


C. 


Cadra,  410. 

Caecilianus,  Gaius,  366. 

Caecilius,  see  Cornutus. 

Caecina,   Aulus  Severus,  46,   47 ;    his 

expedition    against    the  Chatti   and 

Marsi,  69 ;  73  ;  his  retreat  from  the 

Ems,   77-82 ;    dream    of,   78 ;    107 ; 

proposes  that  governors  of  provinces 

should    not    take    their    wives    with 

them,  218. 

Caeles  Vibenna,  325. 
Caelian  hill,  destroyed  by  fire,  324-5  ; 

origin  of  name,  325. 
Caelius,  see  Cursor. 
Caesar,  applied  as  sole  name  to  various 

members  of  the  Imperial  family,  3  n. 
Caesar,  C.  Julius,  i. 
Caesar,  see  Augustus,  Claudius,  Gaius, 

Lucius,  Nero,  Tiberius. 
Caesian  forest,  62  and  n. 
Caesianus,  see  Apronius. 
Caesius,  see  Cordus. 
Caetronius,  Gaius,  58. 
Caligula,  see  Gaius  Caesar. 
calles,  287  n. 
Calpurnius,  a  standard-bearer,  54 ;  see 

also  Piso,  Salvianus. 
Camillus,  152. 
Camillus,  Furius,  proconsul  of  Africa, 

15?' 

Camillus,  M.  Furius  Scribonianus, 
consul,  359. 

campaigns  in  Germany,  summary  and 
result  of,  123  n.,  124  n. 

candidati  Caesaris,  30  n. 

Caninius,  see  Callus. 

Canninefates,  the,  334. 

Canopus,  160. 

Cantabrians,  264  n. 

Capito,  Ateius,  92,  96;  his  show  of 
independence,  his  character,  252  ;  a 
distinguished  lawyer,  257. 

Capito,  Fonteius,  accused  and  ac- 
quitted, 296. 

Capito,  Lucilius,  accused  and  con- 
demned, 276. 

Capitol,  burning  of  the,  375. 

Cappadocia,  157. 

Capreae  (Capri),  description  of,  327; 
see  Tiberius, 

Carmania,  404  n. 

Carrhae.  battle  of,  101-2  n. 

Carsidius,  see  Sacerdos. 


Caspian  Gates,  the.  400  n. 

Cassius,  an  actor,  87. 

Cassius,  C.,  3  and  n.  ;  258.  293-4. 

Cassius  Longinus,  L.,  marries  Drusilla. 

377:  4i4- 
Cassius  Severus,  86  and  n.  ;  condemned, 

282. 

Cato,  M.  Porcius,  the  Censor,  317  and  n. 
Cato,  Porcius,  328. 
Catualda,   chief  of  the  Gotones,    163. 

164. 

Catullus.  294. 

Cat  us  Firmius.  126;  punished  for  bring- 
ing a  false  charge,  291. 
Celenderis,  176. 
,    Celer,    Domitius.   urges    Piso    to   hold 

Syria  by  force,  174. 
|    Celer,  Propertius,  91. 
Celsus,  condemned,  376. 
Cenchreus,  the.  243. 
census,  the,  46  and  n. 
centesima  rerum  venal inm,  96  and  n., 

142. 

centu  rio  prim  i  fili,  333  n. 
centurions.  33  n. 
Cercina,  an  island.  66.  274. 
Cestius  Gallus,    C. ,    222,   367 ;    consul 

AD.  35- -397- 
Cethegus.  see  I^abeo. 
Chaerea.  Cassius.  47. 
Charicles,  discerns  the  approaching  end 

of  Tiberius,  421 
Chariovalda.  in. 

Chatti,  the,  68  and  n.,  108,  122,  and  n. 
Chauci,  the,  52.  74. 
Cherusci,  the,  69  and  n.,  78,  no.  in, 

115,  116,  117,  i2i,  145. 
Cibyra,  ruined  by  an  earthquake,  274. 
Cicero's  Cato,  294. 
Cinithii,  the,  152. 
Cinna,  dominatio  of,  i. 
Circus  Maximus,  the.  burnt  in  A.D.  36. 

Cirta,  256. 

civilis,  meaning  of,  133  n. 

civitates,  228  n. 

Clanis,  96  and  n. 

Claudia  Pulchra,  prosecution  of,  312-13. 

Claudia  Quinta,  325. 

Claudii,  the.  pride  of,  9  and  n. 

Claudius,  son  of  Tiberius,  meets  the 
ashes  of  Germanicus  at  Terracina. 
186 ;  his  name  omitted,  202-3 '-  hclti 
in  general  contempt,  203 ;  his  son, 
214  ;  weak  in  intellect,  416  and  n. 

Clemens,  Julius,  38,  40,  42. 

Clemens,  the  slave,  daring  enterprise 
of,  138-40. 

cliteus,  179  n. 

Cluae.  the,  revolt  of,  409. 

Clutorius.  see  Priscus. 

Cocceius,  see  Nerva. 

Coelalctae.  the,  233. 

cohort,  meaning  of,  43  n. 

cohort,  33  n.  ;  see  urt 


428 


INDEX. 


Colchis,  264  n. 
Cologne,  70  n. 
coloniae,  185  n.  ;  c.  civium  Romanorum, 

c.  Latinae,  185  n. 
Colophon,  154. 

Cominius,  Gaius,  pardoned,  290. 
comitia,  under  the  empire,  31  n. 
Commagene,  142  n. 
commandant  of  the  camp,  office  of,  36 

and  n. 

commendatio,  30  n. 
commentarii  senatus,  341  n. 
commotus,  415  n. 
concessions    offered    to    the  mutinous 

soldiers,  51,  65,  76. 
conclamatio,  186  n. 
confarreatio,  ceremony  of,  276. 
confiscation,  avoided  by  suicide,  280. 
congiarium,  4  n. 

Considius  Aequus,  punished,  222. 
Considius  Proculus,  355,  381 
consular  elections  under  Tiberius,  98 

and  n. ,  99. 
Coos,  173. 
Corbulo,  defeated  the  Frisii,  A.D.  47, — 

333  n. 
Corbulo,  Domitius,  216 ;  takes  charge 

of  roads  in  Italy,  217. 
Cordus,   Caesius,    223 ;    charged  with 

extortion,  252. 
Cordus,   Cremutius,    impeached,   293 ; 

his  defence,  294-5  '<  starves  himself, 

295- 
Cornelius,  an  accuser,   punished,  396; 

see  also  Dolabella,  Lentulus,  Scipio. 
cornu,  the,  81  n.,  177  n. 
Cornutus,  Caecilius,  287-8,  289. 
corrector  morum,  4  n. 
corripere  reum,  127  n. 
Corvinus,  see  Messalla. 
Cosa,  138 
Cotta  Messalinus,   M.   Aurelius,    130, 

201,  281,  341,  364-5,  366. 
Cotys,    165,    166 ;     put    to    death  by 

Rhescuporis,  167 ;  223  ;  sons  of,  264. 
Crassus,  i,  101  n. 
Cremutius,  see  Cordus. 
Creticus,  see  Silanus. 
Crispus,  see  Sallustius. 
crupellarii,  227. 
Cruptorix,  335. 
Ctesiphon,  411. 
cuneus,  179  n. 
curator  viarum,  217. 
Cursor,  Caelius,  punished,  222. 
Curtisius,  Titus,  starts  a  servile  move- 
ment, 286. 

Curtius  Atticus,  320,  371. 
Cusus,  the,  164. 
Cutius    Lupus,   a  quaestor,   with    sea 

command,  287. 
cycles  in  human  affairs,  239. 
Cyme,  148. 
Cynthus,  251. 
Cyrenius,  129  n. 


Cyrrus,  158. 

Cyzicus,  people  of,  accused,  296. 


D. 


Dahae,  the,  104. 

Danube",  forces  on  the,  264. 

dare  actionem  et  indices,  dare  iudicest 
283  n. 

Davara,  410. 

decemviri,  211 ;  d.  stlitibus  iudicandis, 
214  n. 

Deciduis  Saxo,  101  n. 

decimation,  resorted  to  by  L.  Apronius, 
205. 

decretum  ultimum  or  supremum,  280  n. 

decumae,  266  n. ,  267  n. 

decuriae  of  equites,  215. 

Delmatia  or  Dalmatia,  265. 

Denter,  Romulius,  372. 

Denthalia,  territory  of,  303. 

deportatio  in  insulam,  201  n. 

Detrius,  204. 

Diana  Leucophryna,  244 ;  D.  of  the 
Marshes,  temple  of,  303. 

dicere  ius,  283  n. 

dictatorship,  the,  19  n. 

diffarreatio,  ceremony  of,  277  n. 

Dii,  the,  223. 

Dinis,  310. 

Dion  Cassius,  account  of  the  fall  of 
Sejanus,  344. 

divine  honours,  paid  to  the  emperors  in 
their  lifetime,  23,  87,  95,  297,  and  nn. 

documents,  left  by  Augustus,  25  and  n. 

Dolabella,  P.  Cornelius,  231 ;  syco- 
phancy of,  250 ;  is  victorious  over 
Tacfarinas,  284-6 ;  is  refused  a  tri- 
umph, 286  ;  accuses  Varus  Quintilius, 
326. 

Domitius,  see  Afer,  Corbulo,  Celer. 

Domitius  Ahenobarbus,  Cn.,  337,  359, 
414,  418  ;  see  304  n.  :  (son  of  Lucius, 
the  foil). 

Domitius  Ahenobarbus,  Lucius,  77  and 
n.  ;  death  of,  304  and  n.  ;  his  career, 

3°5- 

Drusus,  Nero  Claudius,  the  elder,  6 
and  n.  ;  his  death  in  Germany  and 
funeral  procession  to  Rome,i88;and  n. 

Drusus  junior,  son  of  Tiberius,  7  n. ; 
despatched  to  Pannonian  army,  39 ; 
39  n.  ;  addresses  the  legions,  43 ; 
punishes  the  ringleaders,  44 ;  returns 
to  Rome,  45  ;  character  of,  44  and  n. , 
93  and  n.  ;  his  delight  in  blood,  93 ; 
meets  the  ashes  of  Germanicus  at 
Terracina,  186 ;  his  reply  to  Piso, 
190;  postpones  an  ovation,  193; 
joint  consul  with  Tiberius,  216 ;  ova- 
tion of,  204;  opposes  motion  of 
Caecina,  220 ;  thanks  the  Senate  in 
a  letter,  242 ;  his  character,  261 ; 
kindly  to  his  nephews,  263  ;  his  death 


NDEX. 


429 


a  turning  point  in  the  government  of 
Tiberius,  267  n.  ;  murmurs  against 
Sejanus,  268  ;  poisoned  by  Sejanus, 
268  ;  honours  voted  to,  his  funeral, 
270 ;  story  that  he  was  poisoned  by 
Tiberius  incredible,  271. 

Drusus,  son  of  Germanicus,  assumes 
the  toga  virilis,  262  ;  played  upon  by 
Sejanus,  322 ;  marries  Aemilia  Lepida, 
346  ;  declared  a  public  enemy,  and 
imprisoned,  346 ;  personated  by  a 
slave,  356 ;  death  of,  388-9 ;  diary 
kept  of  his  doings  in  prison,  389-90. 

Duilius,  Gaius,  149. 


E. 


eclipse  of  the  moon,  Sept.  26,  A.D.  14, 

— 42  and  n. 
Egypt,    159-61  ;    put  in  a  position  by 

itself,  160  and  n. ;  held  by  two  legions, 

264. 
Egyptian  and  Jewish  rites  expelled,  181  ; 

E.  writing,  161. 
Elbe,  the,  73,  114,  117  ;  first  crossed  by 

L.  Domitius,  305. 
Elephantine,  162. 
Ems,  the,  73,  74,  76,  109,  120. 
Ennia,   wife   of  Macro,    entices    Gaius 

Caesar,  415. 
Ennius,  Lucius,  252. 
Ennius,  Manius,  52. 
Ephesus,  243,  316  n. 
equites,  the  equestrian  order,  see  knights. 
equites   illustres,    160 ;    and    see    Fur- 

neaux,  i.  87  and  ii.  35. 
Erato,  104  n.,  106. 
Esquiline  Gate,  131. 
Etesian  gales,  the,  cause  low  ground  to 

be  flooded,  400. 

Etruscans,  origin  of  the,  316  n. 
Euboea,  153. 
Eudemus,  262,  271. 
exactions  by  magistrates  and    negotia- 

tores,  in  provinces,  333  n. 
exsilium,  201  n. 


F. 


Fabius  Maximus,  n  and  n. 

Falanius,  a  Roman  knight,  87. 

familia,  used  tor  gens,  9  n. 

famosi  libtlli,  86  n. 

Fannius  Caepio,  22  n. 

Fate,  how  regarded  by  the  Stoics  and 

the  Epicureans  respectively,  385-6. 
•  Father  of  his  Country,'  title  of,  85 

and  n. 

Fetials,  the,  247. 

Fidena,  terrible  accident  at,  323-4. 
finis,  369  n. 
Firmius,  see  Catus. 


fiscus,  52  n.,  148  n.,  266  n.,  361  n. 

Flaccus,  Pomponius,  130,  167;  pro- 
praetor of  Syria,  his  death,  391. 

Flaccus  Vescularius,  126  and  n.  ;  put 
to  death,  371. 

Flamen  Dialis,  the,  241  ;  discussion  as 
to  appointment  of,  276-7  ;  new  regu- 
lation made.  277. 

Flaminian  Way,  191  an<l  n. 

Flavus,  brother  of  Arminius.  no,  111. 

fleets,  where  stationed,  263. 

Flevum,  a  fort,  334. 

Klorus,  Julius,  224  6. 

flotilla,  built  by  Germanicus.  107  ;  over- 
taken by  a  storm,  120,  121. 

Fonteius.  see  Agrippa,  Capito. 

Fors  fort una,  140. 

Fortuna  Equestris,  252. 
forum   Augustum,    20  n.  ;  /.    lulium, 
20  n. 

Forum  lulii,  a  colony,  164. 

fosse  of  Drusus,  the,  109. 

franchise,  the  Roman,  given  as  a  reward, 
71  and  n. 

freed  men,  largely  employed  by  the 
emperors.  267  n. 

Free  will  and  Necessity,  386. 

Fregellanus,  Pontius,  sentenced,  419. 

friendship,  renunciation  of,  194.  208. 

Frisii,  the,  74  ;  their  territory  and 
relation  to  Rome.  333  ;  their  revolt 
and  successes,  333-5  ;  defeat  Roman 
army,  335  ;  /•'.  Ma  lores  and  M  inert  s, 
336  n. 

frontiers  of  the  empire,  20  n. 

Fronto,  Vibius,  168. 
f rumen ta,  266  n. 
frumentationts,  4  n. 

Kufius,  C.  Gcminus,  340. 

Fulcinius.  see  Trio. 
funus  censorium,  188  n. 

Furius.  set  Camillus. 

Furnius.  312. 


G. 


Gabinius,  101  n. 

Gaetulicus,  see  Ixintulus. 

Gaius  Caesar,  called  •  Caligula.'  place 
of  birth  of,  55  n.  ;  82  ;  pronounces 
the  funeral  oration  on  Livia,  340; 
protected  by  Livia  and  Antonia,  347  ; 
gains  the  favour  of  Tiberius,  347  ; 
marries  Claudia.  383  ;  his  character. 
383;  courted  by  Macro,  his  popu- 
larity, 415 ;  421. 

Gaius  Caesar,  son  of  Agrippa,  6  and  n, 
105  n. 

Galba.  Gaius  Sulpicius,  234  n. ;  suicide 

Galba, Sorvius  Sulpicius,  377,  384. 
Gallia   Bclgica,    Lugduncnsis,   Narbo- 

nensis,  224  n. 
Gallic.  88  n. 


430 


INDEX. 


Gallic,  Junius,  punished  for  making  a 
presumptuous  motion,  362-3. 

Gallus,  Aelius,  355  and  n. 

Callus,  Asinius,  17,  26  and  n.,  27,  28, 
92,  94,  130,  131,  134,  193  ;  motion 
by,  281 ;  officious  motion  by,  331 ; 
thrown  into  prison,  349 ;  his  death, 

387- 

Gallus,  Caninius,  374. 
Gallus,  Togonius,  361. 
Gallus,  Vipsanius,  150. 
Garamantes,  the,  256,  284,  286. 
Gardens  of  Caesar,  the,  359. 
Gaul,  provinces  of,  224  n. 
Gellius     Publicola,    accuses     Silanus, 

249. 

Geminius,  condemned,  376. 
Geminus,  Atidius,  304. 
Gemonian  stairs,  the,  197  and  n. ,  353, 

356- 

Generalship  of  Germanicus,  unduly 
exalted  by  Tacitus,  123  n. 

Genius  of  Augustus,  87  n. 

geography  of  ancient  historians,  118  n. 

Germanicus  Caesar,  son  of  Drusus  Nero, 
15  ;  receives  proconsular  power,  30 ; 
title  of,  47  n.  ;  his  parentage  and 
character,  48  ;  his  loyalty  to  Tiberius 
during  the  mutiny,  49,  50 ;  speech  to 
mutineers,  49-50 ;  speeches  of,  to 
soldiers,  54,  56-8  ;  campaigns  against 
the  Germans,  62-4,  68-84,  107-123  ; 
granted  title  of  '  Imperator,'  72 ;  his 
night  rounds  in  the  camp,  112  ;  has 
a  happy  dream,  113  ;  addresses  the 
army,  113;  sets  up  a  trophy,  120; 
summary  of  his  campaigns  in  Ger- 
many, 123-4  nn-  ?  comparison  with 
Alexander  the  Great,  124  n.,  171, 
172  ;  his  triumph,  140  ;  appointed  to 
an  imperium  maius  in  the  East,  143  ; 
156-9 ;  visits  Egypt,  159-162 ;  ovation 
voted  to  G.,  164;  renounces  Piso's 
friendship,  169 ;  his  dying  speech, 
170 ;  death  and  character  of,  171-2  ; 
grief  in  Rome  at  his  death,  177-8 ; 
honours  voted  on  the  death  of,  178  ; 
funeral  procession  through  Italy,  185  ; 
his  funeral,  popular  grief  at,  187 ;  the 
public  complain  of  its  simplicity,  188  ; 
mystery  surrounding  the  death  of, 
203,  319. 

Germany,  Upper  and  Lower,  provinces 
of,  45  n. 

gladiators,  kept  by  governors,  37  and  n. 

Gotones,  the,  163. 

Gracchi,  legislation  of  the,  211. 

Gracchus,  Gaius  (son  of  Sempronius), 
acquitted,  274  ;  praetor,  379. 

Gracchus,  Sempronius,  put  to  death, 
66. 

Graecinus,  see  Laco. 

Granius  Marcianus,  407  ;  see  also  Mar- 
cellus. 

Gyarus,  250. 


H. 


Halicarnassus,  315. 

Halus,  410. 

Haterius,  see  Agrippa. 

Haterius,  Quintus,   28  and  n.,  29,  131 

and  n.,  241 ;  death  of,  character  of  his 

oratory,  322. 
Heniochi,  the,  168. 
Hercules,  160. 

Hercynian  Forest,  the,  64  n.,  146. 
Hermann,  modern   form  of  Arminius, 

68  n. 

Hermanns- Denkmal,  74  n. 
Hermunduri,  the,  164. 
Hierocaesarea,  148,  244. 
high  treason,  the  law  of,  85  and  n. 
Hirtius,  A. ,  20  and  n. ,  21  n. 
Hispo,  see  Romanus. 
Homonadenses,  the,  231. 
Hortalus,  Marcus,  135 ;  speech  of,  136. 
Hortensius,  Q.,  136. 
Hypaepa,  313. 
Hyrcania,  404  n. 


Iberia,  264  n. 

Iberians,  the,  401. 

Ilium,  154,  315. 

Illyricum,  144. 

imperator,  title  of,  used  in  two  senses, 
6  n.  ;  19  and  n.  ;  granted  to  Ger- 
manicus, 72,  to  Blaesus,  257 ;  117, 
125, 

Imperatorial  provinces,  92-3  n. 

imperium,  4  n.  ;  i.  maius,  7  n. ,  30  n.  ; 
i.  proconsular,  4  n. ,  7  n. ,  30  and  n. , 
voted  to  Germanicus,  30. 

Inguiomerus,  73,  81,  82,  117,  119,  145, 
146. 

insula,  414  n. 

Interamna,  97. 

interest,  rates  of,  fixed  by  law,  378-9. 

Isauricus,  245. 

ius  civile,  31  n. 


Jason,  401. 

Jewish  rites  expelled,  181. 

Julia,  wife  of  Augustus,  see  Livia. 

Julia,  daughter  of  Augustus,  death  of, 

65  ;  her  character  and  behaviour  to 

Tiberius,  65  and  n.,  422. 
Julia,  daughter  of  Drusus,  marriage  of, 

214;  391. 
Julia,  granddaughter  of  Augustus, death 

of,  332. 
Julia,  -youngest  child  of  Agrippina,  153 

and  n. ;  married  to  Nero,  377. 
Julius  Marinus,  put  to  death,  371. 
Julius  Postumus,  273. 


INDEX. 


431 


Junia,  wifeofCassius,  death  and  funeral 

of,  258. 
Junius,     see    Blaesus,     Gallic,    Otho, 

Rusticus. 


K. 


knights,  companies  of,  collect  the 
taxes,  become  a  kind  of  civil  service, 
266,  267  n.  ;  knights  of  the  highest 
class,  (illustres),  160. 


L. 


Labeo,     Antistius,     a     distinguished 

lawyer,  257. 
J^beo,  Cethegus,  335. 
Labeo,     Pomponius,    308 ;    death    of, 

395-6- 

Labeo,  Titidius,  180. 
Labienus,  Q.,  101  n. 
Lacedaemonians,  contest  with  Mes- 

senians,  303. 
Laco,  an  Achaean,  382. 
Laco,  Graecinus,  352,  3^3. 
Lamia,   Aelius,   274 ;  his    career    and 

death,  391. 
Langobardi,  the,  145. 
Laodicea,  175,  315. 
Latiaris,  Latinius,  328  ;  lays  a  trap  for 

TitiusSabinus,  329  ;  331  ;  denounced, 

364- 

Latona,  243. 

law,  origin  of,  in  Rome  and  elsewhere, 
210;  in  itself  an  evil,  210-11  and  n.  ; 
L.  of  Nature,  31  n. 

legatus,  33  n.  ;  /.  Aupusti  pro  praetort, 
I.  legionis,  33  n.  ;  /.  Augusti,  52  n. 

leges,  frumentariae,  4  n. 

legions,  the,  stationed  in  Pannonia, 
32  n.  ;  in  Germany,  45-6  nn.  ;  how 
constituted,  33  n.  ;  their  disposition 
throughout  the  empire,  263-5. 

legislation  at  Rome,  course  of,  211-13. 

Lentulus,  Cn.  Cornelius,  an  Augur, 
242  and  n. 

Lentulus,  Cn.  Cornelius  Gaetulicus. 
cos.  A.D.  26, — 307  and  n.  ;  command- 
ing in  Germany,  396 ;  his  bold  atti- 
tude towards  Tiberius,  396  -7. 

Lentulus,  Gnaeus,  41  and  n..  130,  250. 
288;  death  of,  304;  character  of, 

Lepida,  Aemilia,  prosecuted,  205-6 ; 
raises  a  tumult  in  the  theatre,  207 ; 
is  condemned,  207. 

Lepida,  Aemilia,  wife  of  Drusus,  son  of 
Germanicus,  346  ;  suicide  of,  409. 

Lepidus,  M.  Aemilius,  the  triumvir,  i, 
3  n.,  19  and  n. 

Lepidus,  Marcus,  cos.  B.C.  187,— 168 

Lepidus,  M.  Aemilius,  270.,  148;  de- 
nounced in  the  senate  by  Sextus 


Pompeius,  is  appointed  to  Asia,  217  ; 
repairs  the  Basilica  Pauli,  253. 
Lepidus,  Manius,  27  and  n.,  193  and  n., 
206,   221  ;    speech  of,  232  ;   courage 
and   discretion    of,    281  ;    318,   365 ; 
death  of,  392. 
Leptis,  256. 

lex  df  imfxrio,  28  n. 

lex  lulia  (sumptuary  law),  234  n. 

lex  lulia  de  adulteriis  el  stufris,  150 
and  n.,  180  n. 

lex  lulia  de  imiritandis  ordinibus,  209  n. 

lex  Oppia,  219  n.,  220. 

lex  Papia-Poppata,  209,  213. 

libel,  Roman  law  of,  86  n. 

libelli,  127  n. 

Libo  Drusus.  M..  accusation  of.  125 
and  n.,  126-130;  commits  suicide. 
129. 

license,  of  Roman  oratory,  86  n.  ;  of 
Roman  soldiers  at  Triumph.  86  n.  ; 
of  slaves  at  the  Saturnalia,  86  n. 

Licinius  Crassus  Krugi,  M.,  cos.  A.D. 
23.— 323  n. 

'  Little  Boots.'  '  Little  Caesar  in 
Boots/  56.  82. 

Lippe,  the.  74. 

Livia,  wife  of  Augustus.  '  Julia  Au- 
gusta,' 6;  character  of,  10  and  n.  ; 
ii  ;  granted  title  of  Augusta,  15  and 
n.  ;  22  ;  '  Drusilla,'  22  n.  ;  honours 
voted  to.  29  and  n.  ;  her  hatred  of 
Agrippina,  48,  144.  273  ;  186,  221  ; 
illness  of,  246;  252,  319;  her  gene- 
rosity to  her  step-grandchildren  in 
adversity,  332 ;  her  death  and  cha- 
racter. 338-9,  340. 

Livia,  or  Livilla.  wife  of  Drusus.  sister 
of  Germanicus.  144  ;  has  twins,  180 ; 
is  seduced  by  Scjanus,  and  with  him 
plots  the  murder  of  her  huslxind.  262  ; 
betrays  her  daughter's  confidences  to 
Sejanus.  322  ;  her  death,  decrees 
passed  against  her  memory,  361 
and  n. 

Livineius,  see  Regulus. 

Livius  Drusus  Claudianus.  father  of 
Livia,  338  n. 

Livius,  Titus,  the  historian,  praised  for 
his  eloquence  and  candour.  204. 

Lollius.  M.,  22  and  n.,  231. 

Long  Bridges,  the,  77. 

Longus,  Lucilius,  death  of.  275. 

lucar,  95  n. 

Lucilius,  the  centurion.  38. 

Lucilius,  see  Capito,  Longus. 

Lucius  Caesar,  son  of  Aprippa.  6  and  n. 
See  Apronius.  Arruntius,  Piso. 

Lucullus.  101  n. 

ludi  August  ales.  31  and  n. 

ludibrium,  203  n. 

Lugdunum,  altar  to  Augustus  at  70  n. 

luxury,  discussion  on.  234. 

Lydus.  son  of  Atys,  316. 

Lffdos,  271 


432 


INDEX. 


M. 

Macaulay,   on  popular  rumour  as  to 

deaths  of  princes,  272  n. 
Macedonia,  98. 

Macedonia,  province  of,  92  and  n. 
Macrina,  Pompeia,  exiled,  382. 
Macro,  Naevius  Sertorius,  351-2,  377, 

388,  395,   406 ;   gains  influence  with 

Tiberius,    415 ;    courts   Gaius,   415 ; 

417,  418 ;  stifles  Tiberius  at  the  last, 

421. 

Maecenas,  215. 
magi,  the,  126  n. 
magistrates,    how    elected    under    the 

empire,  30  n. 

magistri  larum,  or  Augustales,  87  n. 
Magnesia,  244  and  n.  ;  315. 
Magnesians,  the,  of  Sipylus,  148. 
mates  tas,   the  law  of,  85  and  n. ,  86 ; 

gradual  development  of  the  law  of, 

87  and  n. ;   cases  of,  89,   248,  252, 

280,  282,  etc. 
Mallovendus,  122. 
Maluginensis,  Servius,  Flatnen  Dialis, 

asks  for  a  province,  241 ;    Tiberius 

decides  against  him,  253  ;  276. 
Mamercus,  see  Scaurus. 
manceps,  266  n. 
maniple,  33  n. 

Manius,  see  Ennius,  Lepidus. 
Manlius,  150. 
Marcellus,  Granius,  88. 
Marcellus,  M.  Claudius,  5  and  n. ,  141  ; 

theatre  of,  246. 

Marcius,    Publius,   an    astrologer,    ex- 
ecuted, 131. 

Marcomanni,  the,  147,  163. 
Marcus,  see  Opsius,  Piso. 
Marius,  Sextus,  296 ;  condemned,  382. 
Maroboduus,     145,    146,     163 ;      sent 

to  Ravenna,  164. 

Mars  Ultor,  temple  of,  165  and  n. 
Marsi,  the,  63  and  n. ,  70,  122  and  n. 
Marsus,  Vibius,  172,  318,  418. 
Martina,  the  poisoner,  173,  190  and  n. 
Marus,  the,  164. 
Massilians,  petition  of  the,  304. 
mathematici,  126  n. 
Mattium,  69. 
Mauretania,  264. 
Mausoleum  of  Augustus,  17  n. 
Mazippa,  151. 
Medea,  401. 
Medes,  the,  402. 
Media  Atropatene,  102  n. 
Megalesian  games,  190  n. 
Memmius,  see  Regulus. 
Memnon,  161  and  n. 
Menelaus,  160. 
Merula,  Apidius,  expelled  the  senate, 

302. 
Messalla,  Corvinus,    M.  Valerius,  219 

and  n.,  294,  373. 
Messalla,  or  Messalinus,  Valerius,  son 


of  above,  17,  202  and  n.  ;  speaks 
against  Caecina's  motion  as  to  wives, 
219. 

Messalla,  Volesus,  250  ;  see  also  Cotta. 

Messenians,  the,  contest  with  the  Lace- 
daemonians about  temple,  303. 

Miletus,  246  n. ,  316  n. 

military  and  naval  forces  of  Rome, 
their  total  amount,  265  and  n. 

Minucius  Thermus,  366,  367. 

Misenum,  treaty  of,  21  n. 

Mithradates,  king  of  Pontus,  101  n. ; 
massacre  of  Roman  citizens  ordered 

Mithradates  I.,  II.,  III.,  kings  of  Par- 
thia,  101-2  n.  ;  M.  II.,  155,  244, 

Mithradates  of  Iberia,  399,  400. 
mixed  constitutions,  not  possible,  292. 
Moesia,   the  province  of,  98  and  n., 
264  ;  difficulty  as  to  the  governors  of, 

394- 

monetary  crisis,  378-381. 
Mons  Aurasius,  152  n. 
Monumentum  Ancyranum,  3  n.,  25  n. 
Moors,  the,  151. 
Mosa,  the,  108. 
Mostenians.or  Hyrcanian  Macedonians, 

148. 

Mummius,  L. ,  303. 
Munatius,  see  Plancus. 
municipia,  185  n. 
Murena,  L.  Licinius  (Terentius  Varro), 

22  and  n. 
Musa,  103  n. 

Musulamii,  the,  151  and  n. 
Mutilia  Prisca,  273. 
Mutina,  battles  of,  21  n. 
mutiny,  of  Pannonian  army,  32-45  ;  in 

the  German  army,  45-62. 
Myrina,  148. 


N. 


Nabataei,  the,  158. 

Naevius,  the  poet,  86  n. 

Nar,  the,  97. 

Nauportus,  36. 

Necessity  and  Free  Will,  386. 

negotiatorest'fiiQ\r  exactions  in  provinces, 

333  n« 

Nero,  son  of  Germanicus,  213 ;  mar- 
riage of,  214  ;  269 ;  heard  with  favour 
in  the  senate,  276 ;  278  ;  imprudence 
of,  321  ;  subjected  to  humiliations, 
321 ;  watched  by  Sejanus,  328 ;  341 ; 
N.  and  Agrippina  condemned,  345  ; 
put  to  death,  346. 

Nerva,  Cocceius,  319  ;  deliberately  dies 
of  starvation,  390. 

Nicephorium,  410. 

Nicopolis,  153,  357. 

Nile,  the,  160. 

Nola,  n. 


INDEX. 


433 


nominatio,  30  n. 

Noricum,  163  and  n. 

Numa,  Marcius,  372. 

Numantina,  283. 

numbers,  exaggeration  of,  324  n. 


O. 

oath,  an,  added  to  make  an  assertion 
weighty,  89  and  n.  ;  o.  of  allegiance, 
13  and  n. ,  17 ;  o.  of  obedience,  to 
the  acts  of  the  emperor,  85  and  n. 

Occia,  chosen,  181. 

Octavius  Pronto,  131. 

Odrusae,  the,  223. 

Olennius,  prefect  of  the  Frisii,  333,  334. 

Opsius,  Marcus,  328,  331. 

Ornospades,  405. 

Orodes  I.,  101  n.,  102  n.  ;  O.  II., 
102  n. 

Orodes,  son  of  Artabanus,  400,  401  ; 
O.  and  Pharasmon,  encounter  of, 
403- 

Oscan  drama,  the,  275. 

Otho,  Junius,  248,  417. 

ovation,  decreed  to  Germanicus  and 
Drusus,  164  ;  193,  204. 


I'. 


Paconianus,  Sextius,  363  ;  death  of,  407. 

Paconius,  Marcus,  accuses  Silanus,  249. 

Pacorus,  101  n. 

Pacuvius,  a  legate,  175. 

Pagyda,  204. 

Palatium,  the,  139  n. 

Pandateria,  65,  346. 

Pannonia,  province  of,  32  n. ,  264. 

Pansa,  Vibius,  20  and  n. ,  21  n. 

Papia-Poppaea,  see  Ux. 

Papinius,  Sextus,  throws  himself  out  of 

the  window,  420. 
Papius  Mutilus,  130. 
parricide,  the  death  of  a,  288  and  n. 
Parthians,  origin  and  history  of,  100- 

102  and  nn.  ;  battle  with  the  Sarma- 

tians,  402. 

Passienus,  the  orator,  384. 
pater  patriot,  19  n. 
patria  potestas,  277  and  n. 
Patuleius,  148. 
Paxaea,  395- 
pay  of  soldiers,  34  n. 
Peace    with    Empire,    established    by 

Augustus,  213. 
pecuniac  vectigales,  266  n. 
pedarii  senatores,  247. 
Pedo,  73. 
Percennius,    ferments    the    mutiny    in 

Pannonia,  32  ;  speech  of,  33  ;  44. 
Pergamum,  245  and  n.,  316. 
Perinthus,  154. 


period  of   service  for  legionaries   and 

praetorians,  33  n. 
Perpenna,  245. 
Perseus.  315. 
Persian  Gulf,  the,  162. 
personification  of  rivers,  97  n. 
Petitius  Rufus.  328. 
Petronius,  Publius,  232,  414. 
Pharasmenes    of    Iberia.    399.    400  3 ; 

encounter  with  Orodes.  403. 
Philadelphia,  148. 
Philippopolis,  224. 
Philippus,  L.  Marcius.  254. 
Philopater.  king  of  Cilicia,  142. 
phoenix,  the,  its  appearance  in  A.n.  33. 

—392-4  and  n. 
Phraataces.  102,  103  nn. 
Phraates  III.  and  IV..  101-2  n. 
Phraates,  son  of  Phraates  IV.,  399. 
!    Phrixus,  402. 
I    Pinarius     Natta,     accuses    Cremutiui 

Cordus,  293. 

Piso,  Gnaeus  Calpurnius,  28  and  n.  ; 
boldly  interrogates  Tiberius.  89.  90 ; 
134  ;  is  appointed  to  the  command  ol 
Syria,  143  and  n. ;  his  contumacious 
attitude  towards  Germanicus,  154-8. 
168,  170;  quarrels  with  Germanicus. 
168-70  ;  his  insolent  behaviour  during 
illness  of  Germanicus,  169  ;  his  exulta- 
tion at  death  of  Germanicus.  173  ;  his 
letter  to  Tiberius,  passes  Agrippina 
at  sea,  174 ;  forced  to  surrender, 
177;  visits  Drusus  in  Illyricum.  190; 
his  journey  from  Illyricum  to  Rome. 
191;  his  trial,  192-196;  the  charge 
of  poisoning  breaks  down.  196  ; 
commits  suicide,  198 ;  his  memo- 
randum read  after  his  death,  199. 
Piso,  Lucius,  son  of  above.  130.  132 
and  n.,  193  and  n.,  250  ;  accused  and 
dies,  282. 
Piso,  Lucius,  a  praetor,  murdered  in 

Spain,  306. 
Piso,  Lucius,  prefect  of  the  city,  death 

of,  371-3  ;  see  also  306  n. 
Piso,    L.   Calpurnius,   cos.  A.D.   27.— 

323  and  n.  ;  see  306  n. 
Piso,  Marcus,  son  of  Gnaeus,  advises 
his  father  to  go  to  Rome,   173 ;  his 
energy,     175  ;     is    interrogated     by 
Tiberius,  199  ;  his  punishment.  201-2. 
Pituanius,    Lucius,  an  astrologer,  exe- 
cuted, 131. 
Pius  Aurehus,  91. 
Planasia,  7,  138. 

Plancina,  wife  of  Cn.  Piso.  143  and  n.. 
156,  197 ;  protected  by  Augusta.  198  ; 
and  by  Tiberius.  200 ;  pardoned.  202  ; 
her  execution,  390-1. 
Plancus,  Munatius.  53  and  n.,  54. 
Plautius  Silvanus,  91  n.,  283. 
Plinius,  Gaius.  historian  of  the  German 

wars,  82. 
Pollio.  Annius,  370. 


434 


INDEX. 


Pollio,  C.  Asinius,  father  of  Callus,  27  ; 

cos.  A.D.  23,—  259. 
Pollio,  Vedius,  22  and  n. 
Pompeiopolis,  159. 
Pompeius,  a  Roman  knight,  condemned, 


Pompeius,  Cn.,  i  ;  treats  with  Phraates 
III.,  101  n.  ;  his  third  consulship, 
212  ;  a  law-breaker  as  well  as  a  law- 
maker, 212  ;  294  ;  theatre  of,  254,  414. 

Pompeius  Macer,  the  praetor,  86. 

Pompeius,  Sextus,  cos.  A.D.  14,  —  13  ; 
193,  217. 

Pompeius,  Sextus,  son  of  Cn.  Pompeius, 
3  and  n.,  21  n.,  338. 

Pomponius,  see  Atticus,  Flaccus,  Labeo. 

Pomponius,  Quintus,  381. 

Pomponius  Secundus,  355. 

Pontia,  346. 

Pontius  Pilate,  157  n. 

Poppaeus,  see  Sabinus. 

Porcius,  see  Cato. 

Porta  Decumana,  80  and  n. 

Porta  Praetoria,  80  n. 

Porta  Principalis  Dextra,  80  n. 

Porta  Principalis  Sinistra,  80  n. 

portoria,  266  n. 

praecinction.es,  179  n. 

praefectus  fabrum,  318  n. 

praefectus  praetorii  or  praetorio,  14  and 
n. 

praenomen  imperatoris,  6  n. 

praetor  peregrinus,  31  n. 

praetorians,  pay  of,  34  and  n.  ;  p. 
cohorts,  two,  with  Germanicus,  115 
and  n.,  119  ;  p.  guards,  brought  into 
a  fixed  camp,  260  and  n.  ;  where 
recruited,  their  number,  265. 

praetorium,  53  n. 

prefect  of  the  city,  history  of  the  office 
of,  372-3- 

princeps,  i  ;  meaning  of  the  term,  2  n,  ; 
p.  senatus,  2  n.  ;  commands  the  senate 
and  the  comitia,  4  and  n.  ;  vague  use 
of  the  term,  6  n.  ;  19  and  n. 

principate,  the,  as  established  by 
Augustus  in  B.C.  27  and  B.C.  23,  — 
3  n.  ;  ultimate  effects  of,  5  n.  ;  divine 
honours  paid  to,  23,  87,  95,  297 
and  nn. 

principes  iuventutis,  2  n.,  6. 

principia,  53  n. 

Priscus,  Ancharius,  223,  252. 

Priscus,  Clutorius,  accused  and  con- 
demned, 232. 

proconsular  imperiunt,  see  imperium. 

Proculiani,  257  n. 

procurator,  148  n.  ;  p.  Caesaris,  157  n.  ; 
p.fisci,  266  n. 

Propertius,  see  Celer. 

prosecutors,  their  rewards,  289. 

provinces,  the,  contentment  of  the,  5  ; 
kindly  treated  under  the  empire,  93 
and  n.  ;  enumeration  of  senatorial 
and  imperatorial,  92-3,  n. 


provincials,  effect  of  their  influx  into 
Rome,  238  and  n.  ;  gratitude  of,  276. 

Ptolemaeus,  son  of  Juba,  284  ;  compli- 
ments bestowed  on  him,  286. 

Pyramus,  the,  168. 


Q. 


Quadi,  the,  164. 

quatuoruiri  viis  purgandis,  214  n. 

Querquetulanus,  old  name  of  Caelian 

hill,  325. 

quindecinwiri  sacris  faciundis,  246. 
Quintilianus,  374. 
Quintilius,  see  Varus. 
Quirinus,  P.  Sulpicius,  129  and  n.,  206, 

231. 
Quirites,  56  and  n. 


R. 


Raetia,  58  and  n. 

Rameses,  conquests  of,  161. 

Reate,  97  and  n. 

regimen  legum  et  morum,  4  n. 

Regulus,  Livineius,  193  and  n. 

Regulus,  P.  Memmius,  351-3,  354,  358, 


relation 


lationem  facere,  192  n. ;  r.  remittere, 

192  n. 

relegatio,  201  n. 
Remmius,  slays  Vonones,  168. 
res  prolatae,  134  n. 
rewards  of  prosecutors,  289. 
Rhegium,  65. 
Rhescuporis,   king   of  Thrace,  165-6 ; 

entraps  Cotys  and  puts  him  to  death, 

is  brought  to  Rome,  167  ;  killed,  168  ; 

223. 

Rhine,  armies  on  the,  264. 
Rhodes,   retirement  of  Tiberius  at,   9 

and  n.,  10  n.  ;  65,  141,  319. 
Rhoemetalces,  king  of  Thrace,  165. 
Rhoemetalces,  son  of  Rhescuporis,  167, 

223,  264,  308. 
rivers,    representations    of,    borne    in 

triumphs,  140  and  n. 
Romanus  Hispo,  the  informer,  88,  89. 
Rome,  now  a  pure  monarchy,  292. 
Rubellius,  see  Blandus. 
Rubrius,  a  Roman  knight,  87. 
Rubrius  Fabatus,  not  allowed  to  escape, 

376. 

Rufilla,  Annia,  222. 
Rufus,  Aufidienus,  36. 
Rufus  Helvius,  wins  a  Civic  Crown,  205. 
Rusticus,  Junius,  recorder  of  the  acta 

patrum,  his  presumptuous    interfer- 
ence, 341-2. 
Rutilius,  Publius,  248,  304. 


INDEX. 


435 


Sabiniani,  25711. 

Sabinus  Calvisius,  370. 

Sabinus,    Poppaeus,    97  and    n.  ;    his 

successes  in  Thrace,  307-312,  307  n. ; 

357 ;  death  and  character  of,  408. 
Sabinus,    Titius,    279 ;    entrapped   and 

accused,   328-30  ;  dirty  trick   played 

on  him, 330 ;  condemned  and  executed, 

33°- 

Sacerdos,  Carsidius,  acquitted,  274 ; 
sentenced,  419. 

Sacrovir,  Julius,  heads  a  rising  in  Gaul, 
225-28  ;  his  defeat  and  death,  279. 

Salian  hymn,  179,  and  n. 

Sallustius  Crispus,  13  and  n.,  139,  214  ; 
his  great  influence,  215. 

Sallustius,  the  historian,  215. 

Saloninus,  Asinius,  257. 

saltus,  64  n. ,  76  n. 

Salvianus,  Calpurnius,  accuses  Marius, 
296. 

Samothrace,  154. 

Sancia,  accused,  381. 

Sanctuary,  right  of,  abused,  242  ;  in- 
vestigation of  various  claims,  243-6  ; 
claimed  by  Cos  and  Samos,  274  ;  see 
also  asylum. 

Sanquinius,  an  accuser,  366. 

Sanquinius  Maximus,  364. 

Sardis,  147,  246  n.,  316. 

Sarmatae,  the,  400 ;  their  mode  of 
fighting,  402. 

Satrius  Secundus,  accuses  Cremutius 
Cordus,  293,  369  ;  418. 

Saturninus,  211. 

scalat,  179  n. 

Scaurus,  Mamercus,  28  and  n.,  216, 
248,  370 ;  accusation  and  death  of, 
395-6  and  n. 

Scaurus,  Marcus,  248. 

Scipio,  Caecilius,  294. 

Scipio,  Cornelius,  legate  of  ninth  legion, 
256. 

Scipio,  Publius  (Africanus),  159  ;  times 
of,  132. 

Scribonia,  126. 

Scythia,  161. 

Scythians,  the,  166. 

Segestes,  68,  70 ;  speech  of,  71 ;  72. 

Segimerus,  84. 

Segimundus,  70  and  n. 

Sems,  see  Strabo,  Tubero. 

Sejanus,  Aelius,  39  and  n.  ;  inflames 
the  suspicions  of  Tiberius  against 
Germanicus,  83  ;  214  ;  honours  paid 
to,  254;  becomes  all-powerful  with 
Tiberius,  259  and  n. ;  character  of, 
260  ;  resolves  to  remove  Drusus,  261 ; 
corrupts  Livilla,  262 ;  murders  Drusus 
by  a  slow  poison,  268 ;  insinuates 
charges  against  Agrippina,  273,  278  ; 
petitions  to  be  allowed  to  marry 
Livia,  298-9;  alarmed  by  the 


emperor's  answer,  advises  Tiberius 
to  live  away  from  Rome,  301 ;  warns 
Agrippina  to  beware  of  poisoning, 
314;  saves  Tiberius  in  an  accident, 

?2i  ;  intrigues  with  Drusus,  son  of 
iermanicus,  322  ;  openly  hostile  to 
Agrippina  and  Nero,  328  ;  statue 
voted  to,  336 ;  base  court  paid  to  him 
in  Campania,  336  ;  loses  his  influence 
with  Tiberius,  348-9 ;  his  power  of 
fascination,  348  ;  raised  to  the  consul- 
ship, 350 ;  consul,  and  at  the  height 
of  his  power,  350 ;  forms  a  conspiracy, 
351  ;  his  fall  and  death,  352-3  ;  con- 
demned to  be  strangled,  his  statues 
dragged  down,  353;  his  children 
executed.  356;  361.  363,  368.  383. 
388,  390  :  character  of,  as  described 
by  Velleius  Patcrculus,  423  n. 

Seleucia,  near  Antioch,  169. 

Seleucia,  on  the  Tigris,  its  wealth  and 
constitution,  410,  412. 

Senmones,  the,  145. 

Sempronius,  see  Gracchus. 

senate,  the,  4  and  n. ;  High  Court  for 
trying  foreign  princes,  142  n.  ; 
criminal  jurisdiction  of.  150  n. ;  de- 
cides on  religious  claims,  181  n.  ; 
mode  of  procedure  in,  201  n. 

senatorial  provinces.  92-3  n. 

senators,  named  without  praenomen, 
91  n.  ;  once  called  upon,  could  speak 
on  any  subject,  131  n. ;  xe  ffJarii. 

Sentius.  Gnaeus,  assumes  command  of 
Syria,  172;  resists  Piso,  175,  and 
compels  him  to  surrender,  176,  177  ; 
190. 

Septemviri  Efulones,  246. 

Septimius.  a  centurion,  47. 

Sequani,  the,  229. 

Serenus,  Vibius,  128.  274  ;  accused  by 
his  son,  287  ;  charged  w  ith  other 
offences  by  Tiberius,  289. 

Serenus,  Vibius,  son  of  above,  287-8, 
296. 

Sertorius,  Q.,  255. 

Servaeus.  Q..  196,  203.  366.  367. 

Servilius,  an  accuser,  punished.  396. 

Servilius,  Marcus,  148,  206. 

Servilius  Nonianus,  M.,  cos.  A.D.  35— 

Servius,  Quintus,  157. 

Servius,  fee  Maluginensis. 

Severus,  see  Cassius,  Caecina. 

Sextus.      see      Marius,       PaconUnus, 

Pompeius. 

sexviri,  or  seviri,  67  n. 
ships,  ancient,  how  steered,  107  n. 
Sibylline  Books,  the,  92 ;  discussion  as 

signa,  of  the  cohorts,  116  and  n. 
Snanus,  Appius  Junius,  cos,  A.D.  a8,— 

328  n.,  370. 
Silanus,   Creticus,   governor  of  Syria. 

106,  143- 


INDEX. 


Silanus,  Decimus,  returns  from  exile, 
his  offence,  208. 

Silanus,  Gaius,  is  accused,  248 ;  brow- 
beaten by  Tiberius,  249 ;  writes  him 
a  letter  of  remonstrance,  250  ;  267. 

Silanus,  Marcus,  208,  357,  383. 

Silius,  Gaius,  46,  108,  122,  226,  227, 
228,  229 ;  impeached,  279 ;  con- 
demned and  commits  suicide,  280. 

Sinnaces,  398-9,  403. 

Sipylus,  see  Magnesia. 

Sirpicus,  38. 

slavery  for  debt  in  the  provinces,  334. 

slaves,  torturing  of,  to  give  evidence 
against  their  masters,  forbidden, 
128  n. 

Smyrna,  316,  317  n. 

societates  vectigalium,  267  n. 

Sodales  Augustales,  67  n.,  247. 

Sosia  Galla,  279,  280. 

Spartacus,  255. 

Spain,  provinces  of,  264. 

Spelunca,  accident  to  Tiberius  at  Villa 
of,  320. 

Spurius  Lucretius,  372. 

Staius,  287. 

standards  of  the  legions,  and  of  the 
cohorts,  35  n.  ;  restoration  of,  to 
Augustus,  by  Phraates  IV.,  103  n. 

Statilius,  see  Taurus. 

statue  of  the  emperor,  used  as  an 
asylum,  221  and  222  n. 

Stertinius,  74,  84,  in,  112,  115  n.,  116, 
120. 

Strabo,  Seius,  father  of  Sejanus,  13,  39, 
259. 

Stratomceia,  244. 

subscribers,  88  n. 

subscriptores,  88  n. 

Suetonius,  records  every  sinister  ru- 
mour, 178  n. 

Sueyi,  59  and  n.,  124,  145,  164. 

suicide,  why  so  often  resorted  to,  395. 

Suillius,  Publius,  convicted  of  bribery 
and  deported,  290. 

Sulla,  L.  Cornelius,  dominatio  of,  i ; 
101  n.,  155,  212,  317,  417. 

Sulla,  Lucius,  a  young  noble,  216. 

Sulpicius,  see  Galba,  Quirinius. 

suovetaurilia,  404. 

Surena,  the,  crowns  Tiridates,  411. 

Syene,  162. 


T. 


Tacfarinas,  151 ;  renews  war  in  Africa, 
204 ;  defeats  a  cohort,  204 ;  com- 
mences a  guerilla  warfare,  205  ;  217, 
255 ;  end  of  war  with,  283-6  ;  finally 
defeated  and  killed,  286. 

Tacitus,  his  impartiality,  2  n. ;  his 
finely  balanced  periods,  3  n. ;  his 
powers  of  condensation,  18  n.  ;  ten- 
dency to  mention  evil  rumours,  n  n., 


12  and  n.,  15  n.,  21  n.,  23  nn.,  24  n., 
66  and  n.,  93  and  n.,  199  n.,  318,  319 
and  n.  ;  asserts  as  fact  what  has  been 
previously  mentioned  as  rumour, 
171  n.,  327  n.,  360  n. ;  thinks  it  neces- 
sary to  record  all  rumours,  199  n.  ; 
warns  his  readers  against  sensational 
rumours,  272 ;  states  fairly  views 
opposed  to  his  own,  61  n.,  90  n.  ; 
suggests  foul  play,  6  and  n. ,  10  and  n. , 
ii  and  n.,  21  n.  ;  pays  handsome 
tribute  to  Tiberius,  416  n.  ;  is  hard 
on  women,  82  n.  ;  makes  cruel  com- 
ments, 151  n.  ;  fails  to  appreciate 
political  problems  in  Germany,  123  n. ; 
undue  partiality  towards  Germanicus, 
128  n.,  and  172  n. ;  denunciation  of  de- 
latores  and  the  law  of  maiestas,  125 
and  n.  ;  his  admiration  for  noble 
birth,  208  n.,  391  n.  ;  and  for  legal 
attainments,  252  n.  ;  perverted  view 
of  Roman  legislation,  212  n. ;  his 
idea  of  the  function  of  history, 
247  n. ;  takes  sometimes  a  popular 
view  of  history,  291  n.  ;  but  regards 
truth  as  the  supreme  object  of  the 
historian,  272  n.  ;  depreciates  his 
own  subject,  291-3  and  nn.  ;  can- 
not be  regarded  as  a  political  philo- 
sopher, 292  n. ;  dislikes  strict  ad- 
ministration, 289  n.  ;  a  keen  critic 
of  human  nature,  293  n.  ;  names  his 
sources  of  information,  314  n.  ;  not 
fair  to  Livia,  332  n.  ;  but  more  fair 
to  her  on  her  death,  339  n. ;  his 
belief  in  Fate,  337  n.,  341-2  n.,  385, 
416  n.  ;  his  belief  in  astrology,  320, 
385-6  and  nn.;  believes  in  the  Phoenix, 
394  and  n. ;  rhetorical  endings  of  his 
books,  337  n. 

Tamfana,  the  goddess,  63. 

Tarentum,  treaty  of,  22  n. 

Tarpeian  Rock,  the,  288. 

Tarraco,  permitted  to  set  up  a  temple 
to  Augustus,  95  and  n. 

Tarsa,  a  Thracian  leader,  310. 

Tarver,  Mr. ,  his  book  on  '  Tiberius  the 
Tyrant,'  93  n.,  292 n.,  and  424  n. 

Tatius  Gratianus,  407. 

Tatius,  Titus,  67. 

Taunus,  Mount,  69  and  n. 

Taurus  Statilius,  254  ;  prefect  of  the 
city,  373- 

taxes,  farmed  by  societates  equitum, 
267  n.  ;  t.  in  kind,  333  and  n. 

Tedius,  Q.,  22. 

Temnos,  148. 

temple  of  Mars  Ultor,  165  and  n. 

temple  of  Saturn,  140. 

temple  of  Venus,  see  Venus. 

temple  to  Tiberius,  proposed  by  Spain, 
296. 

temples  to  Augustus,  see  Augustus. 

temphtm,  63  n. 

Tender  i,  the,  64  n. 


INDEX. 


437 


Tenians,  the,  245. 

Terentius,    Marcus,   his    bold  speech, 
368,  369- 

Termestim,  the,  306. 

terror  in  Rome,  330-31. 

Teutoburgian  forest,  64  n.,  74  and  n. 

Thala,  205. 

theatrical  riots,  94  and  n. 

Theophanes,  155. 

Thevesta,  152  n. 

Thothmosis  III.,  161  n. 

Thracian  fort,  besieged  and  captured, 
309-12. 

Thracian  tribes  subdued,  307-12. 

Thrasyllus,  384  ;  how  he  established  his 
credit  with  Tiberius,  385. 

Thubuscum,  284. 

Tiber,  floods  of  the,  92  and  n. ,  96,  97  ; 
causes  of,  96  n. 

Tiberius  Claudius  Nero,  father  of  the 
emperor,  338. 

Tiberius  Claudius  Nero,  otherwise  Ti- 
berius Caesar,  adopted  by  Augus- 
tus, 7  and  n.  ;  his  character  can- 
vassed, 9;  succeeds  Augustus,  n, 
23  ;  his  hesitation  as  to  accepting  the  , 
government,  1$ ;  he  gives  way,  29;  I 
studied  ambiguity  of  his  language,  24,  I 
25  n.  ;  jealous  of  Livia,  29  ;  prohibits  ' 
excessive  honours  to  her,  29,  30  ;  his  I 
early  campaigns,  40  n.  ;  letter  of  T. 
read  to  the  legions,  40 ;  censured  for 
not  going  in  person  to  quell  the 
mutiny,  60  ;  his  reasons  for  not  going, 
60 ;  yet  professes  an  intention  to  go, 
61 ;  displeased  with  Germanicus,  65, 
81,  159;  his  moroseness,  67  n.,  93; 
exasperated  by  anonymous  verses, 
87 ;  89  ;  attends  in  the  senate  as  an 
ordinary  senator,  90  n.  ;  takes  his 
place  on  the  judicial  bench,  90  and  n. ; 
has  a  passion  for  detail,  91  n.  ;  in- 
stances of  his  generosity,  91-2,  148,  i 
181,  325,  414  ;  sets  his  face  against 
superstitious  observances,  92  and  n.  ;  I 
respects  every  utterance  of  Augustus,  I 
94  ;  95  ;  keeps  governors  long  in  the 
same  command,  97,  98  and  n.  ;  hailed 
as  '  Imperator,'  117  and  n.  ;  recalls 
Germanicus  from  Germany,  124  ;  132, 
J33.  J35  I  crushing  reply  to  Hortalus, 
J37  !  prefers  diplomacy  to  force,  165 
and  n.  ;  dislikes  settlements  once 
made  to  be  disturbed,  166 ;  his  joy  at 
birth  of  twins  to  Drusus,  180 ;  fixes  a 
price  for  corn,  181  ;  proud  reply  to 
Adgandestrius,  182  ;  declines  title  of 
Pater  Patriae,  etc.,  182  and  n.  ;  his 
pleasure  at  death  of  Germanicus,  186  ; 
issues  a  consoling  edict  after  his 
funeral,  189 ;  remits  Piso  to  the  senate 
for  trial,  192 ;  speech  at  the  trial, 
194-5  ;  mitigates  punishment  of  Piso 
and  family,  202 ;  refuses  to  accept 
golden  statue,  202 ;  appoints  a  com- 


mission to  inquire  into  the  Papia-Pop- 
paean  law,  213,  another  to  regulate 
the  money-market.  213  ;  joint  consul 
with  Drusus,  216;  unconcerned  by 
news  of  Gallic  revolt.  228  ;  his  statue, 
222  ;  professes  an  intention  to  visit 
Gaul,  230 ;  letter  to  senate  on  luxury 
of  times,  235-7  ;  recommends  Dnisus 
to  the  senate,  240  ;  243  ;  his  govern- 
ment deteriorates,  258 ;  professes 
intention  to  visit  provinces,  263 ; 
general  character  of  his  administra- 
tion, 265-7;  his  fortitude  on  the 
death  of  Drusus.  268-9  ;  commits  his 
grandsons  to  the  senate.  269 ;  talks 
of  restoring  the  Republic,  270 ;  en- 
grossed in  public  affairs.  273 ;  ex- 
empts Asian  towns  from  tribute,  274  ; 
incensed  by  honour  paid  to  Nero  and 
Drusus,  278  ;  his  use  of  ancient  for- 
mulae, 280  ;  his  anxiety  to  get  at  the 
truth,  283  n.  ;  abets  informers,  289  ; 
declines  divine  honours,  297-8 ; 
evades  petition  of  Sejanus  to  be 
allowed  to  marry  Livia,  299  ;  sensi- 
tive to  personal  attacks,  302 ;  sus- 
pected by  Agrippina,  314 ;  retires 
into  Campania,  his  motives.  318 ; 
his  personal  appearance,  his  re- 
tinue, 319;  accident  at  Spelunca, 
320 ;  hates  games  of  all  kinds.  323 ; 
settles  at  Capri,  326-7  ;  shrinks  from 
public  view,  his  vicious  life,  327 ;  his 
apprehension  of  plots,  331 ;  prizes  his 
own  dissimulation,  332  ;  makes  no 
mention  of  Frisian  disaster,  335-6 ; 
statues  voted  to.  336  ;  his  deference  to 
his  mother.  340 ;  limits  honours  paid 
to  his  mother  after  her  death,  340; 
attacks  Agrippina  and  Nero,  341-2  ; 
denounces  grandson  and  daughter-in- 
law,  342  ;  summons  Gaius  to  Capri. 
347 ;  begins  to  distrust  Sejanus  and 
resolves  on  his  ruin,  349;  denounces 
Sejanus  in  a  secret  despatch  to  the 
senate.  351 ;  accounts  of  debauched 
life  at  Capri  to  be  doubted,  360  n. ; 
his  grim  humour,  362  and  n.  ;  his 
pathetic  letter  to  the  senate,  365  ; 
asks  for  an  escort  to  Rome,  377 ; 
orders  a  general  massacre  of  friends 
of  Sejanus,  383 ;  consults  an  astro- 
loger, 384  and  n. ;  denounces  Drusus 
after  his  death,  388 ;  his  occasional 
brutal  frankness,  389  and  n. ;  tries  to 
dissuade  Cocceius  Nerva  from  suicide, 
390  ;  his  policy  towards  Parthia,  398, 
405  n. ;  his  cruelty,  406  ;  his  tolerance 
of  free  speech.  407 ;  his  want  of  self- 
confidence,  24  n.,  240  n.,  408  n. ; 
builds  temple  to  Augustus,  restores 
theatre  of  Pompey,  414 ;  hesitates  as 
to  succession,  415;  regards  opinion 
of  posterity,  416 ;  reproaches  Macro, 
his  prophecy  to  Gaius,  417 ;  his 


438 


INDEX. 


health  fails,  420;  his  death,  career, 
and  character,  422-424  and  nn.  ; 
character  of,  as  described  by  Velleius 
Paterculus,  423  n. ;  Tiberius  as  a 
constitutionalist,  251  n.  ;  his  occa- 
sional leniency,  251  n. ;  his  kind 
treatment  of  the  provinces,  93  n. ;  his 
balance  of  mind  upset  at  last,  378  n.; 
reasons  for  his  cruelty,  397  n.  ;  his 
love  of  veritas,  even  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, 407  n.  ;  his  life  embittered  by 
divorce  of  Vipsania,  27  n. 

Tigranes,  king  of  Armenia,  101  n.  ; 
Tigranes  I.,  II.,  III.,  and  IV.,  104 
n.,  105  and  n. ;  T.  IV.,  accused  and 
punished,  408. 

Tiridates   102  n. 

Tiridates,  grandson  of  Phraates  IV., 
set  up  as  king  of  Parthia  by  Tiberius, 
399,  404;  occupies  Greek  towns,  is 
welcomed  at  Seleucia,  410 ;  favours 
the  popular  party,  411 ;  crowned  by 
the  Surena,  411 ;  his  supineness,  412 ; 
retires  into  Syria,  413 

Titius,  see  Sabinus. 

Tmolus,  148 

Togonius,  see  Callus. 

tolerance  of  Rome  towards  foreign  cults, 
88  n. 

Torquata,  252. 

trabea,  186  n. 

Tralles,  315. 

Trebellenus,  Rufus,  167,  223 ;  death  of, 
407. 

Trebellius,  Marcus,  reduces  the  Clitae, 
410. 

tresvin  capttales,  214  n. 

tresviri  monetales,  214  n. 

Treveri,  or  Treviri,  the,  55  n. ;  revolt  of, 
225-6. 

trials  for  treason,  different  forms  of,  192, 


see  maiestas. 
tribunitian  power  (tribunicia  fotestas), 


193  n- ! 
tribuni  tn 


t  militum,  33' n. 


3  n.,  4  and  n. ;  conferred  on 
Tiberius,  7  and  n.,  23  and  n.  ;  90  n., 
94  n.  ;  title  devised  by  Augustus,  its 
meaning,  conferred  on  M.  Agrippa, 
Tiberius,  and  Drusus,  239-40 ;  239  n. 

tributum,  266  n. ;  /.  capitis,  t.  soli, 
267  n. 

Trimerum,  island  of,  332. 

Trio,  Fulcinius,  127  and  n. ;  denounces 
Piso,  192 ;  accuses  Piso,  195 ;  re- 
warded, 203  ;  351,  354,  358,  364  ;  his 
suicide,  406. 

Triumphal  Gate,  17. 

triumphal  ornaments,  85  and  n.,  152. 

triumvirate,  the  first  and  second,  i ;  3 
and  n. ;  the  second,  21  n. ;  confisca- 
tions by,  21  n. 

tuba,  the,  81  n.,  177  n. 

tubantes,  the,  64  and  n. 

Tubero,  Seius,  118  and  n.,  259  n.,  288. 

Tullianum,  the,  288,  353. 


Turesis,  a  Thracian  leader,  310. 
Turoni,  the,  revolt  of,  225. 
Turranius,  Gaius,  13. 
Twelve  Tables,  the,  211,  379. 
Tyrrhenus,  son  of  Atys,  316. 


U. 


Ubii,  the,  46  and  n.,  51,  52,  84;  altar 

of  the,  53,  70  and  n. 
urban  cohorts,  265. 
Urgulania,  133,  282,  283. 
Usipetes,  the,  64  and  n. 
usury,  laws  about,  378-9. 
ut,  remarkable  use  of,  132  n.,  134  n. 
•utensilia,  234  n. 


V. 


Vahala,  108. 

Valerius,  see  Messalla. 

Valerius  Naso,  318. 

Vandotena,  65  n. 

Vannius,  164. 

Varilla  Appuleia,  149. 

Varro   Visellius,    226,    227 ;     see   also 

Murena. 
Varus,  Quintilius,  defeat  of,  8  and  n.  ; 

disaster  of,  22  and  n.  ;  68,  71 ;  scene 

of  the  disaster  to,  74  n.,  75 ;  84. 
Varus,    Quintilius    (probably    son    of 

above),  accused  by  Domitius  Afer, 

326. 

•vectigalia,  267  n. 
Vedius,  see  Pollio. 
Vegetable  Market,  149. 
Veline  lake,  the,  07. 
Vellaeus,  Publius,  puts  down  the  Thra- 

cians,  224. 
Velleius    Paterculus,   on    character   of 

Tiberius  and  Sejanus,  423  n. 
Ventidius,  P.,  101  n. 
Venus,  Stratonicis,  245  ;  Paphian,  245  ; 

temple  of,  on  Mt.  Eryx,  304. 
Veranius,  Quintus,  legate    of    Cappa- 

docia,  157 ;  172,  192,  196,  203. 
Vescularius,  see  Flaccus. 
Vespasian,  238. 
Vestal  Cornelia,  the,  sum  granted  to, 

277. 

vestibulum,  129  n. 
Vestilia,  180. 
Vetera,  59  and  n. 
Vexilliarii,  33  n.,  53  n. 
Vexillum,  33  n.,  53  n.,  49  n.,  116. 
Via  Flaminia,  191  n. 
Via  Quintana,  53  n. 
viae,  of  a  Roman  camp,  53  n. 
Vibenna,  see  Caeles. 
Vibilius,  164. 

Vibius,  see  Fronto,  Marsus,  Serenus. 
Vibulenus,  his  harangue,  37,  38  ;  44  ; 

see  also  Agrippa. 


INDEX. 


439 


incus,  87  n. 

Vicus  Tuscus,  326. 

vigintiviratus ,  213  n. 

vine-rod,  instrument  of  military  punish- 
ment, 38  and  n. 

Vinicianus,  son  of  Pollio,  370. 

Vinicius,  Marcus,  marries  Julia, 
daughter  of  Germanicus,  377  ;  414. 

Vinicius,  Publius,  193. 

Vipsania,  first  married  to  Tiberius  and 
then  divorced,  27  and  n.  ;  afterwards 
married  to  Asinius  Gallus,  27  and  n.  ; 
death  of,  204. 

Vipsanius,  see  Agrippa,  Gallus. 

Visellius,  see  Varro. 

Vistilius,  Sextus,  accused,  369. 

Vitellia,  232. 

Vitellius,  Lucius,  appointed  to  com- 
mand in  the  East,  his  character,  399. 
400 ;  crosses  the  Euphrates  and 
retires,  403-6  ;  409. 

Vitellius,  Publius,  his  retreat  by  land, 
83  ;  84,  107,  172,  192,  196,  203,  355  ; 
wife  of,  417. 


Vitellius,  Quintus,  149. 

Vitia,  170. 

Vocal  Memnon,  161  n. 

Volesus,  see  Messalla. 

Volusius,  Lucius,  214. 

Vonones,  king  of  Parthia.  102,  103  and 

nn.,  104,  106,  157,  159,  168. 
Votienus  Montanus,  accused  of  vilifying 

the  emperor,  and  punished,  302. 
Vulcatius  Moschus,  304. 


W. 
Weser,  the,  112,  115,  117. 


Zeno,  son  of  Polemo,  king  of  Pontus, 
157- 


THE   END. 


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