Complete Works of Tacitus (Delphi Classics) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 24)

by Publius Cornelius Tacitus

  I cannot omit the prophecy of Tiberius with regard to Servius Galba, then consul. He sent for him, sounded him in conversations on a variety of subjects, and finally addressed him in a Greek sentence, the purport of which was, “Thou, too, Galba, shalt one day have thy taste of empire”: a hint of belated and short-lived power, based on knowledge of the Chaldean art, the acquirement of which he owed to the leisure of Rhodes and the instructions of Thrasyllus. His tutor’s capacity he had tested as follows.

  21 1 For all consultations on such business he used the highest part of his villa and the confidential services of one freedman. Along the pathless and broken heights (for the house overlooks a cliff) this illiterate and robust guide led the way in front of the astrologer whose art Tiberius had resolved to investigate, and on his return, had any suspicion arisen of incompetence or of fraud, hurled him into the sea below, lest he should turn betrayer of the secret. Thrasyllus, then, introduced by the same rocky path, after he had impressed his questioner by adroit revelations of his empire to be and of the course of the future, was asked if he had ascertained his own horoscope — what was the character of that year — what the complexion of that day. A diagram which he drew up of the positions and distances of the stars at first gave him pause; then he showed signs of fear: the more careful his scrutiny, the greater his trepidation between surprise and alarm; and at last he exclaimed that a doubtful, almost a final, crisis was hard upon him. He was promptly embraced by Tiberius, who, congratulating him on the fact that he had divined, and was about to escape, his perils, accepted as oracular truth, the predictions he had made, and retained him among his closest friends.

  22 1 For myself, when I listen to this and similar narratives, my judgement wavers. Is the revolution of human things governed by fate and changeless necessity, or by accident? You will find the wisest of the ancients, and the disciplines attached to their tenets, at complete variance; in many of them a fixed belief that Heaven concerns itself neither with our origins, nor with our ending, nor, in fine, with mankind, and that so adversity continually assails the good, while prosperity dwells among the evil. Others hold, on the contrary, that, though there is certainly a fate in harmony with events, it does not emanate from wandering stars, but must be sought in the principles and processes of natural causation. Still, they leave us free to choose our life: that choice made, however, the order of the future is certain. Nor, they maintain, are evil and good what the crowd imagines: many who appear to be the sport of adverse circumstances are happy; numbers are wholly wretched though in the midst of great possessions — provided only that the former endure the strokes of fortuneº with firmness, while the latter employ her favours with unwisdom. With most men, however, the faith is ineradicable that the future of an individual is ordained at the moment of his entry into life; but at times a prophecy is falsified by the event, through the dishonesty of the prophet who speaks he knows not what; and thus is debased the credit of an art, of which the most striking evidences have been furnished both in the ancient world and in our own. For the forecast of Nero’s reign, made by the son of this very Thrasyllus, shall be related at its fitting place: at present I do not care to stray too far from my theme.

  23 1 Under the same consulate, the death of Asinius Gallus became common knowledge. That he died from starvation was not in doubt; but whether of free will or by compulsion was held uncertain. The Caesar, when asked if he allowed him burial, did not blush to accord permission and to go out of his way to deplore the accidents which had carried off the accused before he could be convicted in his own presence. In a three years’ interval, that is to say, time had been lacking for this aged consular, father of so many consular sons, to be brought to judgement! Next, Drusus passed away, after sustaining life through eight full days by the pitiable resource of chewing the stuffing of his mattress. The statement has been made that Macro’s orders were, if Sejanus appealed to arms, to withdraw the youth from custody (he was confined in the Palace) and to place him at the head of the people. Then, as a rumour gained ground that the Caesar was about to be reconciled with his daughter-in-law and grandson, he preferred cruelty to repentance.

  24 1 More than this, he inveighed against the dead, reproaching him with unnatural vice and with sentiments pernicious to his family and dangerous to the state; and ordered the reading of the daily register of his doings and sayings. This was regarded as the crowning atrocity. That for so many years the watchers should have been at his side, to catch his looks, his sighs, even his half-articulated murmurs, and that his grandfather should have endured to hear all, read all, and divulge it to the public, might have passed belief but for the fact that the reports of the centurion Attius and the freedman Didymus paraded the names of this or the other slave who had struck or terrorized the prince whenever he attempted to leave his room. The centurion had even added his own brutal remarks, as a point to his credit; along with the dying words of his prisoner, who had begun by cursing Tiberius in apparent delirium, and then, when all hope of life was gone, had denounced him with a meditated and formal imprecation: that as he had done to death his daughter-in-law, his brother’s son, his grandchildren, and had filled his whole house with blood, so he might pay the penalty due to the name and line of his ancestors, and to his posterity. The Fathers interrupted, indeed, with a pretence of horror: in reality, they were penetrated with terror and astonishment that, once so astute, so impenetrable in the concealment of his crimes, he had attained such a pitch of confidence that he could, as it were, raze his palace-walls and exhibit his grandson under the scourge of a centurion, among the blows of slaves, imploring in vain the humblest necessaries of life.

  25 1 This tragedy had not yet faded from memory, when news came of Agrippina; who, after the death of Sejanus, had continued, I take it, to live, because sustained by hope, and then, as there was no abatement of cruelty, had perished by her own will; unless food was withheld, so that her death should present features which might be taken for those of suicide. The point certain is that Tiberius broke out in abominable calumnies, accusing her of unchastity and adultery with Asinius Gallus, by whose death she had been driven to tire of life. Yet Agrippina, impatient of equality and athirst for power, had sunk female frailty in masculine ambition. She had died, the Caesar pursued, on the very day on which, two years earlier, Sejanus had expiated his crimes, a fact which ought to be transmitted to memory; and he mentioned with pride that she had not been strangled or thrown on to the Gemonian Stairs. Thanks were returned for the mercy, and it was decreed that on the eighteenth of October, the day of both the killings, an offering should be consecrated to Jupiter for all years to come.

  26 1 A little later, Cocceius Nerva, the inseparable friend of the emperor, versed in all law divine or secular, his position intact, his health unimpaired, adopted the resolution of dying. Tiberius, on discovering the fact, sat down by his side, inquired his reasons, proceeded to entreaties, and in the last resort confessed that it would be a serious matter for his conscience and a serious matter for his reputation, if the nearest of his friends were to flee from life with no motive for dying. Declining all conversation, Nerva continued his abstention from food till the end. It was stated by those acquainted with his thoughts that, moved by his closer view of the calamities of his country, he had, in indignation and fear, whilst yet unscathed, yet unassailed, decided for an honourable end.

  To proceed, the destruction of Agrippina, scarcely credible though it seems, brought down Plancina. Once wedded to Gnaeus Piso and openly exulting in the death of Germanicus, upon her husband’s fall she had been saved by the intercessions of Augusta, and, not less so, by the enmity of Agrippina. When both hatred and favour ceased, justice prevailed: she was arraigned on charges notorious to the world, and paid by her own hand a penalty more overdue than undeserved.

  27 1 Among all the griefs of a melancholy realm, it was a contributory regret that Julia, daughter of Drusus and formerly wife of Nero, now married into the family of Rubellius Blandus, whose grandfathe
r was remembered by many as a Roman knight from Tibur.

  At the very close of the year, the death of Aelius Lamia, whose belated release from his phantom administration of Syria had been followed by the Urban Prefectship, was celebrated by a censorian funeral. His birth was noble, his age vigorous, and he had derived from the withholding of his province an added dignity. Then, on the decease of Pomponius Flaccus, propraetor of Syria, a letter was read from the emperor; who complained that every outstanding man, capable of commanding armies, refused that duty; and such was his need that he was reduced to entreaties, in the hope that here and there a former consul might be driven to undertake a governorship; while he failed to recollect that for the tenth successive year Arruntius was being kept at home for fear that he should start for Spain. Still in the same year died Manius Lepidus, to whose moderation and wisdom I have given space enough in the previous books. Nor does his nobility call for long demonstration: the Aemilian race has been prolific of patriots, and those of the family who have borne degenerate characters have yet played their part with the brilliance of their high fortunes.

  28 1 In the consulate of Paulus Fabius and Lucius Vitellius, after a long period of ages, the bird known as the phoenix visited Egypt, and supplied the learned of that country and of Greece with the material for long disquisitions on the miracle. I propose to state the points on which they coincide, together with the larger number that are dubious, yet not too absurd for notice. That the creature is sacred to the sun and distinguished from other birds by its head and the variegation of its plumage, is agreed by those who have depicted its form: as to its term of years, the tradition varies. The generally received number is five hundred; but there are some who assert that its visits fall at intervals of 1461 years, and that it was in the reigns, first of Sesosis, then of Amasis, and finally of Ptolemy (third of the Macedonian dynasty), that the three earlier phoenixes flew to the city called Heliopolis with a great escort of common birds amazed at the novelty of their appearance. But while antiquity is obscure, between Ptolemy and Tiberius there were less than two hundred and fifty years: whence the belief has been held that this was a spurious phoenix, not originating on the soil of Arabia, and following none of the practices affirmed by ancient tradition. For — so the tale is told — when its sum of years is complete and death is drawing on, it builds a nest in its own country and sheds on it a procreative influence, from which springs a young one, whose first care on reaching maturity is to bury his sire. Nor is that task performed at random, but, after raising a weight of myrrh and proving it by a far flight, so soon as he is a match for his burden and the course before him, he lifts up his father’s corpse, conveys him to the Altar of the Sun, and consigns him to the flames. — The details are uncertain and heightened by fable; but that the bird occasionally appears in Egypt is unquestioned.

  29 1 But at Rome the carnage proceeded without a break; and Pomponius Labeo, whose governorship of Moesia I mentioned earlier, opened his veins and bled to death, his example being emulated by his wife Paxaea. For these modes of dying were rendered popular by fear of the executioner and by the fact that a man legally condemned forfeited his estate and was debarred from burial; while he who passed sentence upon himself had his celerity so far rewarded that his body was interred and his will respected. The Caesar, however, in a letter addressed to the senate, explained that “it had been the custom of our ancestors, as often as they broke off a friendship, to interdict their house to the offender and to make this the close of amicable relations. To that method he had himself reverted in the case of Labeo: but Labeo, arraigned for maladministration of his province, as well as on other counts, had veiled his guilt by casting a slur upon his sovereign, while inspiring a baseless terror in his wife, who, though guilty had still stood in no danger.” Then came the second impeachment of Mamercus Scaurus, distinguished by birth and by his talent as an advocate, but in life a reprobate. His fall was brought about, not by the friendship of Sejanus but by something equally potent for destruction, the hatred of Macro; who practised the same arts with superior secrecy, and had laid an information turning on the plot of a tragedy written by Scaurus; from which he appended a number of verses capable of being referred to Tiberius. The charges, however, brought by the actual accusers, Servilius and Cornelius, were adultery with Livia and addiction to magic rites. Scaurus, adopting the course worthy of the old Aemilii, forestalled his condemnation, encouraged by his wife Sextia, who was the abettor and sharer of his death.

  30 1 And yet his accusers, if opportunity arose, experienced the pains of the law. Thus Servilius and Cornelius, notorious for the ruin of Scaurus, were banned from fire and water and sequestrated in the islands for accepting the money of Varius Ligus as the price of dropping a delation. So, too, Abudius Ruso, a former aedile, while threatening a prosecution of Lentulus Gaetulicus, under whom he had commanded a legion, on the ground that he had destined his daughter’s hand for a son of Sejanus, was actually condemned himself and expelled from Rome. Gaetulicus at the time was in charge of the legions of Upper Germany, and had gained an extraordinary hold on their affections as an officer of large clemency, chary of severity, and, thanks to his father-in-law Lucius Apronius, not unacceptable even to the next army. Hence the steady tradition that he ventured to send a letter to the Caesar, pointing out that “his connection with Sejanus was begun not by his own will but upon the advice of Tiberius. It had been as easy for himself to be deceived as for Tiberius; and the same error should not be treated as harmless in one case and fatal in others. His loyalty was inviolate, and, if he was not treacherously attacked, would so remain: a successor he would not take otherwise than as indicative of his doom. Best would be to ratify a kind of treaty, by which the emperor would be supreme elsewhere, while he himself kept his province.” The tale, though remarkable, drew credibility from the fact that, alone of all the family connections of Sejanus, Gaetulicus remained unscathed and high in favour; Tiberius reflecting that he was the object of public hatred, that his days were numbered, and that his fortunes stood more by prestige than by real strength.

  31 1 In the consulate of Gaius Cestius and Marcus Servilius, a number of Parthian nobles made their way to the capital without the knowledge of King Artabanus. That prince, loyal to Rome and temperate towards his subjects while he had Germanicus to fear, soon adopted an attitude of arrogance to ourselves and of cruelty to his countrymen. For he was emboldened by the campaigns he had successfully prosecuted against the surrounding nations; he disdained the old age of Tiberius as no longer fit for arms; and he coveted Armenia, on the throne of which (after the death of Artaxias) he installed his eldest son Arsaces, adding insult to injury by sending envoys to reclaim the treasure left by Vonones in Syria and Cilicia. At the same time, he referred in boastful and menacing terms to the old boundaries of the Persian and Macedonian empires, and to his intention of seizing the territories held first by Cyrus and afterwards by Alexander. The most influential advocate, however, for the despatch of the secret legation by the Parthians was Sinnaces, a man of noted family and corresponding wealth; and, next to him, the eunuch Abdus: for among barbarians that condition brings with it not contempt but actual power. Other magnates also were admitted into their counsels; then, as they were unable to bestow the crown on a scion of the Arsacidae, many of whom had been killed by Artabanus while others were under age, they demanded from Rome Phraates, the son of King Phraates:—”Only a name and a warrant were necessary — only that, with the Caesar’s permission, a descendant of Arsaces should be seen upon the bank of Euphrates!”

  32 1 This was what Tiberius had desired; and, faithful to his rule of manipulating foreign affairs by policy and craft without a resort to arms, he gave Phraates the means and equipment for mounting his father’s throne. Meanwhile, the conspiracy had come to the knowledge of Artabanus, who was alternately checked by his fears and inflamed by the lust of revenge. To barbarians hesitancy is the vice of a slave, immediate action the quality of a king: yet expediency so far prevailed
that Abdus, under the cloak of friendship, was invited to a banquet and incapacitated by a slow poison, while Sinnaces was delayed by pretexts, by presents, and at the same time by continuous employment. In Syria, too, Phraates, who had discarded the Roman style of life, to which he had been habituated for years, in order to conform to Parthian usage, proved unequal to the customs of his fatherland, and was taken off by disease. Still, Tiberius declined to renounce his plans. In Tiridates (a member of the same family) he found a competitor for Artabanus; as the recoverer of Armenia he selected the Iberian Mithridates, and reconciled him to his brother Pharasmanes, who held the crown of their native country; and as director of the whole of his eastern projects he appointed Lucius Vitellius. The man, I am aware, bore a sinister reputation at Rome, and is the subject of many a disgraceful tale; yet, as a governor of provinces, he acted with a primitive integrity. Then came his return; and through dread of Caligula and intimacy with Claudius he declined into repulsive servility, and is regarded to-day as a type of obsequious ignominy: his beginnings have been forgotten in his end, the virtues of his youth have been obliterated by the scandals of his age.

  33 1 Of the chieftains, Mithridates was the first to induce Pharasmanes to support his attempts by fraud and by force; and bribery agents were discovered, who at a heavy price in gold tempted the attendants of Arsaces to murder. Simultaneously the Iberians in great strength broke into Armenia and gained possession of the town of Artaxata. As soon as the news reached Artabanus, he prepared his son Orodes for the part of avenger, gave him the Parthian forces, and sent men to hire auxiliary troops. Pharasmanes replied by forming a league with the Albanians and calling up the Sarmatians, whose “wand-bearers,” true to the national custom, accepted the gifts of both parties and enlisted in opposite camps. The Iberians, however, who controlled the important positions, hastily poured their own Sarmatians into Armenia by the Caspian Way: those advancing to the support of the Parthians were held back without difficulty; for other passes had been closed by the enemy, and the one remaining, between the sea and the extremity of the Albanian mountains, was impracticable in summer, as the shallows are flooded by the Etesian gales. In winter the waves are rolled back by southerly winds, and the recoil of the water inward leaves the beach uncovered.