[43] Tanto cum adsensu senatus auditus est Montanus ut spem caperet Helvidius posse etiam Marcellum prosterni. igitur a laude Cluvii Rufi orsus, qui perinde dives et eloquentia clarus nulli umquam sub Nerone periculum facessisset, crimine simul exemploque Eprium urgebat, ardentibus patrum animis. quod ubi sensit Marcellus, velut excedens curia ‘imus’ inquit, ‘Prisce, et relinquimus tibi senatum tuum: regna praesente Caesare.’ sequebatur Vibius Crispus, ambo infensi, vultu diverso, Marcellus minacibus oculis, Crispus renidens, donec adcursu amicorum retraherentur. cum glisceret certamen, hinc multi bonique, inde pauci et validi pertinacibus odiis tenderent, consumptus per discordiam dies.
43 The senate listened to Montanus with such approval that Helvidius began to hope that even Marcellus could be overthrown. So beginning with a panegyric of Cluvius Rufus, who, though equally wealthy and eminent for eloquence, had put no man in danger under Nero, by thus combining his own charge with that great example, he overwhelmed Marcellus and fired the enthusiasm of the senators. When Marcellus perceived this, he said as he apparently started to leave the senate house, “I go, Priscus, and leave you your senate: play the king in the presence of Caesar.” Vibius Crispus started to follow him; they both were angry but did not have the same looks, for Marcellus’s eyes were flashing threateningly, while Crispus affected to smile; but finally they were drawn back by their friends who ran up to them. As the quarrel grew, the larger number and the more honourable senators ranged themselves on one side, while on the other were a few strong men, all contending with obstinate hate; so the day was spent in discord.
[44] Proximo senatu, inchoante Caesare de abolendo dolore iraque et priorum temporum necessitatibus, censuit Mucianus prolixe pro accusatoribus; simul eos qui coeptam, deinde omissam actionem repeterent, monuit sermone molli et tamquam rogaret. patres coeptatam libertatem, postquam obviam itum, omisere. Mucianus, ne sperni senatus iudicium et cunctis sub Nerone admissis data impunitas videretur, Octavium Sagittam et Antistium Sosianum senatorii ordinis egressos exilium in easdem insulas redegit. Octavius Pontiam Postuminam, stupro cognitam et nuptias suas abnuentem, impotens amoris interfecerat, Sosianus pravitate morum multis exitiosus. ambo gravi senatus consulto damnati pulsique, quamvis concesso aliis reditu, in eadem poena retenti sunt. nec ideo lenita erga Mucianum invidia: quippe Sosianus ac Sagitta viles, etiam si reverterentur: accusatorum ingenia et opes et exercita malis artibus potentia timebantur.
44 At the next meeting of the senate, Caesar took the lead in recommending that the wrongs, the resentments, and the unavoidable necessities of the past be forgotten; Mucianus then spoke at great length in behalf of the informers; yet at the same time, addressing those who were now reviving indictments which they once brought and then dropped, he admonished them in mild terms and almost in a tone of appeal. The senators now that they were opposed gave up the liberty that they had begun to enjoy. Mucianus, to avoid seeming to treat lightly the senate’s judgment or to grant impunity to all the misdeeds committed under Nero, sent back to their islands Octavius Sagitta and Antistius Sosianus, two men of the senatorial class, who had broken their exile. Octavius had debauched Pontia Postumina, and when she refused to marry him, in a frenzy of jealousy he had killed her; Sosianus had ruined many by his depravity. Both had been condemned and driven into exile by a severe vote of the senate; while others were allowed to return, they were kept under the same punishment. Yet the unpopularity of Mucianus was not diminished by this action: for Sosianus and Sagitta were insignificant, even if they did return; the informers’ abilities, wrath, and power, which they used to evil ends, were what men feared.
[45] Reconciliavit paulisper studia patrum habita in senatu cognitio secundum veterem morem. Manlius Patruitus senator pulsatum se in colonia Seniensi coetu multitudinis et iussu magistratuum querebatur; nec finem iniuriae hic stetisse: planctum et lamenta et supremorum imaginem praesenti sibi circumdata cum contumeliis ac probris, quae in senatum universum iacerentur. vocati qui arguebantur, et cognita causa in convictos vindicatum, additumque senatus consultum quo Seniensium plebes modestiae admoneretur. isdem diebus Antonius Flamma
45 The senators’ discordant sentiments were reconciled for a time by an investigation which was held according to ancient custom. A senator, Manlius Patruitus, complained that he had been beaten by a mob in the colony of Sena, and that too by the orders of the local magistrates; moreover, he said that the injury had not stopped there: the mob had surrounded him and before his face had wailed, lamented, and conducted a mock funeral, accompanying it with insults and outrageous expressions directed against the whole senate. The accused were summoned, and after the case had been heard, those convicted were punished, and the senate also passed a vote warning the populace of Sena to be more orderly. At the same time Antonius Flamma was condemned under the law against extortion on charges brought by the people of Cyrene, and was exiled for his cruelty.
[46] Inter quae militaris seditio prope exarsit. praetorianam militiam repetebant a Vitellio dimissi, pro Vespasiano congregati; et lectus in eandem spem e legionibus miles promissa stipendia flagitabat. ne Vitelliani quidem sine multa caede pelli poterant: sed immensa pecunia tanta vis hominum retinenda erat. ingressus castra Mucianus, quo rectius stipendia singulorum spectaret, suis cum insignibus armisque victores constituit, modicis inter se spatiis discretos. tum Vitelliani, quos apud Bovillas in deditionem acceptos memoravimus, ceterique per urbem et urbi vicina conquisiti producuntur prope intecto corpore. eos Mucianus diduci et Germanicum Britannicumque militem, ac si qui aliorum exercituum, separatim adsistere iubet. illos primus statim aspectus obstupefecerat, cum ex diverso velut aciem telis et armis trucem, semet clausos nudosque et inluvie deformis aspicerent: ut vero huc illuc distrahi coepere, metus per omnis et praecipua Germanici militis formido, tamquam ea separatione ad caedem destinaretur. prensare commanipularium pectora, cervicibus innecti, suprema oscula petere, ne desererentur soli neu pari causa disparem fortunam paterentur; modo Mucianum, modo absentem principem, postremum caelum ac deos obtestari, donec Mucianus cunctos eiusdem sacramenti, eiusdem imperatoris milites appellans, falso timori obviam iret; namque et victor exercitus clamore lacrimas eorum iuvabat. isque finis illa die. paucis post diebus adloquentem Domitianum firmati iam excepere: spernunt oblatos agros, militiam et stipendia orant. preces erant, sed quibus contra dici non posset; igitur in praetorium accepti. dein quibus aetas et iusta stipendia, dimissi cum honore, alii ob culpam, sed carptim ac singuli, quo tutissimo remedio consensus multitudinis extenuatur.
46 Meanwhile a mutiny almost broke out among the troops. Those who had been dismissed by Vitellius and had then banded together to support Vespasian now asked to be restored to service in the praetorian cohorts; and the legionaries selected with the same prospect demanded the pay promised them. Even the Vitellians could not be removed without much bloodshed; but it would cost an enormous sum to keep such a great force of men under arms. Mucianus entered the camp to examine more closely the length of each man’s service; he drew up the victors with their proper insignia and arms, leaving a moderate space between the companies. Then the Vitellians who had surrendered at Bovillae, as we have said above, and all the other soldiers attached to the same cause who had been hunted out in the city and suburbs, were brought out almost without clothes or arms. Mucianus ordered them to march to one side, and directed that the soldiers from Germany and Britain and all the troops there were among them from other armies should take positions by themselves. They were paralyzed by the first sight of their situation, when they beheld opposite them what seemed to them like an enemy’s line, threatening them with weapons and defensive arms, while they were themselves hemmed in, unprotected, squalid and filthy; then, when they began to be divided and marched in different directions, all were smitten with horror; the soldiers from Germany were the most terrified, for they thought that by this division they were being marked for slaughter. They began to throw themselves on the breasts of their fellow-s
oldiers, to hang on their necks, to beg for a farewell kiss, praying them not to desert them more allow them to suffer a different fate when their cause had been the same; they kept appealing now to Mucianus, now to the absent emperor, finally to heaven and the gods, until Mucianus stopped their needless panic by calling them all “soldiers bound by the same oath” and “soldiers of the same emperor.” He was the readier to do this as the victorious troops by their cheers seconded the tears of the others. Thus this day ended. But a few days later, when Domitian addressed them, they received him with recovered confidence: they treated with scorn the offers of lands but asked for service in the army and pay. They resorted to appeals, it is true, but to appeals that admitted no denial; accordingly they were received into the praetorian camp. Then those whose age and length of service warranted it were honourably discharged; others were dismissed for some fault or other, but gradually and one at a time — the safe remedy for breaking up a united mob.
[47] Ceterum verane pauperie an uti videretur, actum in senatu ut sescentiens sestertium a privatis mutuum acciperetur, praepositusque ei curae Pompeius Silvanus. nec multo post necessitas abiit sive omissa simulatio. abrogati inde legem ferente Domitiano consulatus quos Vitellius dederat, funusque censorium Flavio Sabino ductum, magna documenta instabilis fortunae summaque et ima miscentis.
47 However, whether the treasury was really poor or the senate wished it to appear so, the senators voted to accept a loan of sixty million sesterces from private individuals and put Pompeius Silvanus in charge of the matter. Not long after, either the necessity passed or the pretence of such necessary was dropped. Then on the motion of Domitian the consulships which Vitellius had conferred were cancelled; and the honours of a censor’s funeral were given Flavius Sabinus — signal proof of the fickleness of fortune, ever confounding honours with humiliations.
[48] Sub idem tempus L. Piso pro consule interficitur. ea de caede quam verissime expediam, si pauca supra repetiero ab initio causisque talium facinorum non absurda. legio in Africa auxiliaque tutandis imperii finibus sub divo Augusto Tiberioque principibus proconsuli parebant. mox G. Caesar, turbidus animi ac Marcum Silanum obtinentem Africam metuens, ablatam proconsuli legionem misso in eam rem legato tradidit. aequatus inter duos beneficiorum numerus, et mixtis utriusque mandatis discordia quaesita auctaque pravo certamine. legatorum ius adolevit diuturnitate officii, vel quia minoribus maior aemulandi cura, proconsulum splendidissimus quisque securitati magis quam potentiae consulebant.
48 At about the same time the proconsul Lucius Piso was put to death. I shall give the most faithful account I can of his murder, after having reviewed a few earlier matters which are not unrelated to the source and causes of such crimes. The legion and the auxiliary troops employed in Africa to protect the borders of the empire were commanded by a proconsul during the reigns of the deified Augustus and of Tiberius. Afterwards Gaius Caesar, who was confused in mind and afraid of Marcus Silanus, then governor of Africa, took the legion away from the proconsul and gave it to a legate sent out for that purpose. Patronage was now equally divided between the two officials; and a source of discord was sought in the conflict of authority between the two, while this discord was increased by their unseemly strife. The power of the legates increased, owing to their long terms of office or else because in lesser posts men are more eager to play the rival, while the most distinguished of the proconsuls cared more for security than power.
[49] Sed tum legionem in Africa regebat Valerius Festus, sumptuosae adulescentiae neque modica cupiens et adfinitate Vitellii anxius. is crebris sermonibus temptaveritne Pisonem ad res novas an temptanti restiterit, incertum, quoniam secreto eorum nemo adfuit, et occiso Pisone plerique ad gratiam interfectoris inclinavere. nec ambigitur provinciam et militem alienato erga Vespasianum animo fuisse; et quidam e Vitellianis urbe profugi ostentabant Pisoni nutantis Gallias, paratam Germaniam, pericula ipsius et in pace suspecto tutius bellum. inter quae Claudius Sagitta, praefectus alae Petrianae, prospera navigatione praevenit Papirium centurionem a Muciano missum, adseveravitque mandata interficiendi Pisonis centurioni data: cecidisse Galerianum consobrinum eius generumque; unam in audacia spem salutis, sed duo itinera audendi, seu mallet statim arma, seu petita navibus Gallia ducem se Vitellianis exercitibus ostenderet. nihil ad ea moto Pisone, centurio a Muciano missus, ut portum Carthaginis attigit, magna voce laeta Pisoni omnia tamquam principi continuare, obvios et subitae rei miraculo attonitos ut eadem adstreperent hortari. vulgus credulum ruere in forum, praesentiam Pisonis exposcere; gaudio clamoribusque cuncta miscebant, indiligentia veri et adulandi libidine. Piso indicio Sagittae vel insita modestia non in publicum egressus est neque se studiis vulgi permisit: centurionemque percontatus, postquam quaesitum sibi crimen caedemque comperit, animadverti in eum iussit, haud perinde spe vitae quam ira in percussorem, quod idem ex interfectoribus Clodii Macri cruentas legati sanguine manus ad caedem proconsulis rettulisset. anxio deinde edicto Carthaginiensibus increpitis, ne solita quidem munia usurpabat, clausus intra domum, ne qua motus novi causa vel forte oreretur.
49 At that time the legion in Africa was commanded by Valerius Festus, a young man of extravagant habits, whose ambitions were by no means moderate, and who was made uneasy by his relationship to Vitellius. Whether he, in their many interviews, tempted Piso to revolt or whether he resisted Piso’s proposals, we do not know, for no one was present at their private conversations, and after Piso’s assassination the majority tried to win favour with the murderer. There is no question that the province and the troops were unfavourably disposed toward Vespasian; moreover, some of the Vitellians who fled from Rome pointed out to Piso that the Gallic provinces were hesitating and that Germany was ready to revolt, that he was himself in danger, and that war is the safer course for a man who is suspected in time of peace. Meantime Claudius Sagitta, prefect of Petra’s horse, by a fortunate voyage, arrived before the centurion Papirius who had been dispatched by Mucianus; Sagitta declared that the centurion had been ordered to kill Piso, and that Galerianus, his cousin and son-in-law, had been put to death. He urged that the only hope of safety was in some bold step, but that there were two ways open for such action: Piso might prefer war at once or he might sail to Gaul and offer himself as a leader to the Vitellian troops. Although Piso was not at all inclined to such courses, the moment that the centurion whom Mucianus sent arrived in the harbour of Carthage, he raised his voice and kept repeating prayers and vows for Piso as if he were emperor, and he urged those who met him and were amazed at this strange proceeding to utter the same acclamations. The credulous crowd, rushing into the forum, demanded Piso’s presence, and raised an uproar with their joyful shouts, caring nothing for the truth and only eager to flatter. Piso, moved by Sagitta’s information or prompted by his native modesty, did not appear in public or trust himself to the enthusiastic mob: and when, on questioning the centurion, he learned that this officer had sought an opportunity to bring a charge against him and to kill him, he ordered him to be put to death, moved not so much by hope of saving his own life as by anger against the assassin, for this centurion had been one of the murderers of Clodius Macer and then had come with his hands dripping with the blood of the legate to kill a proconsul. Next he reproved the Carthaginians in a proclamation that betrayed his anxiety, and abandoned even his usual duties, remaining shut up in his residence that no excuse for a new outbreak might arise even by chance.
[50] Sed ubi Festo consternatio vulgi, centurionis supplicium veraque et falsa more famae in maius innotuere, equites in necem Pisonis mittit. illi raptim vecti obscuro adhuc coeptae lucis domum proconsulis inrumpunt destrictis gladiis, et magna pars Pisonis ignari, quod Poenos auxiliaris Maurosque in eam caedem delegerat. haud procul cubiculo obvium forte servum quisnam et ubi esset Piso interrogavere. servus egregio mendacio se Pisonem esse respondit ac statim obtruncatur. nec multo post Piso interficitur; namque aderat qui nosceret, Baebius Massa e procuratoribus Africae, iam tunc optimo cuique exitiosus et inter causas malorum quae mox tulimus saepius re
diturus. Festus Adrumeto, ubi speculabundus substiterat, ad legionem contendit praefectumque castrorum Caetronium Pisanum vinciri iussit proprias ob simultates, sed Pisonis satellitem vocabat militesque et centuriones quosdam puniit, alios praemiis adfecit, neutrum ex merito, sed ut oppressisse bellum crederetur. mox Oeensium Lepcitanorumque discordias componit, quae raptu frugum et pecorum inter agrestis modicis principiis, iam per arma atque acies exercebantur; nam populus Oeensis multitudine inferior Garamantas exciverat, gentem indomitam et inter accolas latrociniis fecundam. unde artae Lepcitanis res, lateque vastatis agris intra moenia trepidabant, donec interventu cohortium alarumque fusi Garamantes et recepta omnis praeda, nisi quam vagi per inaccessa mapalium ulterioribus vendiderant.
50 When report of the popular excitement reached Festus, as well as the news of the centurion’s execution and of other matters, both true and false, with the usual exaggerations, he sent horsemen to kill Piso. They rode so rapidly that they broke into the proconsul’s residence in the half-light of the early dawn with drawn swords. The majority of them were unacquainted with Piso, for Festus had selected Carthaginian auxiliaries and Moors to accomplish the murder. Not far from Piso’s bedroom a slave happened to meet them. The soldiers asked him who and where Piso was. The slave answered with an heroic falsehood that he was Piso, and was at once cut down. Yet soon after Piso was murdered; for there was present a man who recognized him, Baebius Massa, one of the imperial agents in Africa — a man, even at that time, ruinous to the best citizens, and his name will reappear only too often among the causes of the evils that we later endured. From Adrumetum, where he had waited to watch the course of events, Festus hurried to the legion and ordered the arrest of the prefect of the camp, Caetronius Pisanus, to satisfy personal hatred, but he called him Piso’s tool; and he also punished some soldiers and centurions, others he rewarded; neither course of action was prompted by merit but by his desire to appear to have crushed a war. Later he settled the differences between the people of Oea and Leptis, which, though small at first, beginning among these peasants with the stealing of crops and cattle, had now increased to the point of armed contests and regular battles; for the people of Oea, being fewer than their opponents, had called in the Garamantes, an ungovernable tribe and one always engaged in practising brigandage on their neighbours. This had reduced the fortunes of the Leptitani to a low ebb; their lands had been ravaged far and wide and they lay in terror within their walls, until, by the arrival of the auxiliary foot and horse, the Garamantes were routed and the entire booty was recovered except that which the robbers as they wandered through inaccessible native villages had sold to remote tribes.
Complete Works of Tacitus (Delphi Classics) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 24) Page 215