V.7 He now spent part of the day in detaining or dismissing his visitors, as each was inclined to take his leave or to speak with him; and while the gathering was still thronged, while all eyes were fixed on his intrepid countenance, and the belief prevailed that some time remained before the last act, he fell on a sword which he had concealed in the fold of his dress. No accusation or calumny from the Caesar, who had laid many revolting charges against Blaesus, followed him to the grave.
[5.8] Relatum inde de P. Vitellio et Pomponio Secundo. illum indices arguebant claustra aerarii, cui praefectus erat, et militarem pecuniam rebus novis obtulisse; huic a Considio praetura functo obiectabatur Aelii Galli amicitia, qui punito Seiano in hortos Pomponii quasi fidissimum ad sub sidium perfugisset. neque aliud periclitantibus auxilii quam in fratrum constantia fuit qui vades extitere. mox crebris prolationibus spem ac metum iuxta gravatus Vitellius petito per speciem studiorum scalpro levem ictum venis intulit vitamque aegritudine animi finivit. at Pomponius multa morum elegantia et ingenio inlustri, dum adversam fortunam aequus tolerat, Tiberio superstes fuit.
V.8 Next, Publius Vitellius and Pomponius Secundus came under discussion. The first-named was accused by the informers of offering the keys of the treasury, of which he was prefect, together with the army fund, to the cause of revolution: against the latter the offence alleged by the ex-praetor Considius was his friendship with Aelius Gallus, who after the execution of Sejanus had taken shelter in Pomponius’ garden as his surest resource. Their only help in the hour of danger was the firmness of their brothers, who came forward as securities. Later, as adjournment followed adjournment, Vitellius, anxious to be rid alike of hope and fear, asked for a pen-knife on the ground that he wished to write, slightly incised an artery, and in the sickness of his heart made an end of life. On the other hand, Pomponius, a man of great refinement of character and shining talents, bore the reverses of fortune with equanimity and outlived Tiberius.
[5.9] Placitum posthac ut in reliquos Seiani liberos adverteretur, vanescente quamquam plebis ira ac plerisque per priora supplicia lenitis. igitur portantur in carcerem, filius imminentium intellegens, puella adeo nescia ut crebro interrogaret quod ob delictum et quo traheretur; neque facturam ultra et posse se puerili verbere moneri. tradunt temporis eius auctores, quia triumvirali supplicio adfici virginem inauditum habebatur, a carnifice laqueum iuxta compressam; exim oblisis faucibus id aetatis corpora in Gemonias abiecta.
V.9 It was then determined that the surviving children of Sejanus should pay the penalty, though the anger of the populace was nearly spent and the majority of men had been placated by their earlier executions. They were therefore carried to the dungeon, the boy conscious of the fate in store for him, the girl so completely ignorant that she asked repeatedly what her offence had been and to what place they were dragging her: she would do wrong no more, and she could be cautioned with the usual childish beating. It is recorded by authors of the period that, as it was considered an unheard-of thing for capital punishment to be inflicted on a virgin, she was violated by the executioner with the halter beside her: they were then strangled, and their young bodies thrown on to the Gemonian Stairs.
[5.10] Per idem tempus Asia atque Achaia exterritae sunt acri magis quam diuturno rumore, Drusum Germanici filium apud Cycladas insulas mox in continenti visum. et erat iuvenis haud dispari aetate, quibusdam Caesaris libertis velut adgnitus; per dolumque comitantibus adliciebantur ignari fama nominis et promptis Graecorum animis ad nova et mira: quippe elapsum custodiae pergere ad paternos exercitus, Aegyptum aut Syriam invasurum, fingebant simul credebantque. iam iuventutis concursu, iam publicis studiis frequentabatur, laetus praesentibus et inanium spe, cum auditum id Poppaeo Sabino: is Macedoniae tum intentus Achaiam quoque curabat. igitur quo vera seu falsa antiret Toronaeum Thermaeumque sinum praefestinans, mox Euboeam Aegaei maris insulam et Piraeum Atticae orae, dein Corinthiense litus angustiasque Isthmi evadit; marique alio Nicopolim Romanam coloniam ingressus, ibi demum cognoscit sollertius interrogatum quisnam foret dixisse M. Silano genitum et multis sectatorum dilapsis ascendisse navem tamquam Italiam peteret. scripsitque haec Tiberio neque nos originem finemve eius rei ultra comperimus.
V.10 Towards the same time, Asia and Achaia were thrown into panic by a rumour, more vigorous than durable, that Drusus, the son of Germanicus, had been seen in the Cyclades and, not long afterwards, on the continent. There was, in fact, a youth of not dissimilar age, whom a few of the emperor’s freedmen had pretended to recognize. In pursuance of the plot, they acted as his escort, and ignorant recruits began to be drawn in, allured by the prestige of his name, aided by Greek avidity for the new and strange; for the tale they no sooner coined than credited was that he had escaped from watch and ward and was making for his father’s armies with the intention of invading Egypt or Syria. Already a rallying-point for youthful volunteers and popular enthusiasm, he was flushed with actual success and groundless hope, when the affair came to the ear of Poppaeus Sabinus. He was now occupied in Macedonia, but responsible also for Achaia. Determined, therefore, to take the story — true or false — in time, he hastened past the bays of Torone and Thermae, left behind him the Aegean island of Euboea, Piraeus on the Attic sea-board, then the Corinthian coast and the narrow neck of the Isthmus, and made his way by the Ionian Sea into the Roman colony of Nicopolis. There at last he discovered that the adventurer, when questioned more skilfully as to his identity, had declared himself the son of Marcus Silanus; and that, as many of his adherents had slipped away, he had boarded a ship, bound ostensibly for Italy. Sabinus sent a written report to Tiberius, nor have I further information as to the origin or end of the incident.
[5.11] Exitu anni diu aucta discordia consulum erupit. nam Trio, facilis capessendis inimicitiis et foro exercitus, ut segnem Regulum ad opprimendos Seiani ministros oblique perstrinxerat: ille nisi lacesseretur modestiae retinens non modo rettudit collegam sed ut noxium coniurationis ad disquisitionem trahebat. multisque patrum orantibus ponerent odia in perniciem itura, mansere infensi ac minitantes donec magistratu abirent.
V.11 At the close of the year, the chronic disagreement between the consuls came to a head. For Trio, always ready to enter upon a quarrel, and versed in the methods of the courts, had indirectly censured Regulus for slowness in crushing the creatures of Sejanus: Regulus, tenacious of his self-control except under deliberate provocation, not merely parried his colleague’s attack but proposed to call him to account for criminal complicity in the plot; and, in spite of entreaties from many members of the senate that they would lay aside an enmity bound to have a fatal issue, they maintained their hostile and threatening attitude till they went out of office.
[6.1] Cn. Domitius et Camillus Scribonianus consulatum inierant, cum Caesar tramisso quod Capreas et Surrentum interluit freto Campaniam praelegebat, ambiguus an urbem intraret, seu, quia contra destinaverat, speciem venturi simulans. et saepe in propinqua degressus, aditis iuxta Tiberim hortis, saxa rursum et solitudinem maris repetiit pudore scelerum et libidinum quibus adeo indomitis exarserat ut more regio pubem ingenuam stupris pollueret. nec formam tantum et decora corpora set in his modestam pueritiam, in aliis imagines maiorum incitamen tum cupidinis habebat. tuncque primum ignota antea vocabula reperta sunt sellariorum et spintriarum ex foeditate loci ac multiplici patientia; praepositique servi qui conquirerent pertraherent, dona in promptos, minas adversum abnuentis, et si retinerent propinquus aut parens, vim raptus suaque ipsi libita velut in captos exercebant.
VI.1 Gnaeus Domitius and Camillus Scribonianus had entered on their consulate, when the Caesar crossed the channel that flows between Capreae and Surrentum, and skirted the shores of Campania, in doubt whether to enter the capital or not, — or, possibly, affecting the intention of arrival because he had decided not to arrive. After landing frequently at neighbouring points and visiting the Gardens by the Tiber, he resorted once more to the rocks and the solitude of the sea, in shame at the sins and lusts whose uncontrollable fires had so inflamed him that, in the kingly s
tyle, he polluted with his lecheries the children of free-born parents. Nor were beauty and physical charm his only incitements to lasciviousness, but sometimes a boyish modesty and sometimes a noble lineage. And now were coined the names, hitherto unknown, of sellarii and spintriae, one drawn from the obscenity of a place, one from the versatility of the pathic; while slaves, commissioned to seek and fetch, plied the willing with gratuities, the reluctant with threats, and, if a kinsman or parent refused compliance, resorted to force, abduction, and the slaking of their own desires as if in a captured city.
[6.2] At Romae principio anni, quasi recens cognitis Liviae flagitiis ac non pridem etiam punitis, atroces sententiae dicebantur in effigies quoque ac memoriam eius et bona Seiani ablata aerario ut in fiscum cogerentur, tamquam referret. Scipiones haec et Silani et Cassii isdem ferme aut paulum immutatis verbis adseveratione multa censebant, cum repente Togonius Gallus, dum ignobilitatem suam magnis nominibus inserit, per deridiculum auditur. nam principem orabat deligere senatores ex quis viginti sorte ducti et ferro accincti, quoties curiam inisset, salutem eius defenderent. crediderat nimirum epistulae subsidio sibi alterum ex consulibus poscentis ut tutus a Capreis urbem peteret. Tiberius tamen, ludibria seriis permiscere solitus, egit grates benevolentiae patrum: sed quos omitti posse, quos deligi? semperne eosdem an subinde alios? et honori bus perfunctos an iuvenes, privatos an e magistratibus? quam deinde speciem fore sumentium in limine curiae gladios? neque sibi vitam tanti si armis tegenda foret. haec adversus Togonium verbis moderans neque ultra abolitionem sententiae suaderet.
2 But in Rome, at the opening of the year, as though the offences of Livia were crimes but recently detected, not crimes actually punished long before, stern measures were advocated even against her statues and her memory; while the estate of Sejanus was to be withdrawn from the treasury and confiscated to the imperial exchequer, as though a difference existed. The proposals were being supported with great earnestness, in identical or slightly varied terms, by men of the rank of Scipio, Cassius, and Silanus, when suddenly Togonius Gallus thrust his insignificance into the series of great names and was heard with derision. For he begged the emperor to choose a number of senators, twenty of whom, drawn by lot and carrying weapons, were to protect his safety whenever he had entered the curia. He had believed, forsooth, the Caesar’s letter, when he demanded the support of one of the consuls, in order that he might make the journey from Capreae to Rome in safety. None the less, Tiberius, with his habit of blending jest and earnest, expressed his thanks for the good-will of the Fathers:—”But who could be passed over — who chosen? Were the chosen to be always the same, or with now and then a change? Men with their career behind them, or youths? Private individuals or officials? Finally, what sort of figure would his protectors make when assuming their swords on the threshold of the curia? Nor, indeed, did he hold his life to be worth the price, if it had to be shielded by arms.” — This answer was studiously moderate in its references to Togonius, and avoided any suggestion beyond the deletion of the proposal.
[6.3] At Iunium Gallionem qui censuerat ut praetoriani actis stipendiis ius apiscerentur in quattuordecim ordinibus sedendi violenter increpuit, velut coram rogitans quid illi cum militibus quos neque dicta imperatoris neque praemia nisi ab imperatore accipere par esset. repperisse prorsus quod divus Augustus non providerit: an potius discordiam et seditionem a satellite quaesitam, qua rudis animos nomine honoris ad corrumpendum militiae morem propelleret? hoc pretium Gallio meditatae adulationis tulit, statim curia, deinde Italia exactus; et quia incusabatur facile tole raturus exilium delecta Lesbo, insula nobili et amoena, retrahitur in urbem custoditurque domibus magistratuum. isdem litteris Caesar Sextium Paconianum praetorium perculit magno patrum gaudio, audacem maleficum, omnium secreta rimantem delectumque ab Seiano cuius ope dolus G. Caesari pararetur. quod postquam patefactum prorupere concepta pridem odia et summum supplicium decernebatur ni professus indicium foret.
3 On the other hand, Junius Gallio, who had moved that the Praetorians, on finishing their service, should acquire the right to a seat in the Fourteen Rows, drew down a fierce rebuke:—”What,” demanded Tiberius, as if addressing him to his face, “had he to do with the soldiers, who had no right to take any but their master’s orders or any but their master’s rewards? He had certainly hit upon something not taken into consideration by the deified Augustus! Or was it a minion of Sejanus, fostering disaffection and sedition, in order by a nominal compliment to drive simple souls into a breach of discipline?” Such was the reward of Gallio’s studied adulation: he was ejected at once from the senate; later from Italy; and, as the charge was made that he would carry his exile lightly, since he had chosen the famous and pleasant island of Lesbos, he was dragged back to the capital and detained under the roof of various magistrates. In the same letter, the Caesar, to the intense pleasure of the senate, struck at the former praetor Sextius Paconianus — fearless, mischievous, a searcher into all men’s secrets, and the chosen helper of Sejanus in the laying of his plot against Gaius Caesar. On the announcement followed an explosion of long-cherished hatreds, and the last penalty was all but decreed, when he offered to turn informer.
[6.4] Ut vero Latinium Latiarem ingressus est, accusator ac reus iuxta invisi gratissimum spectaculum praebebantur. Latiaris, ut rettuli, praecipuus olim circumveniendi Titii Sabini et tunc luendae poenae primus fuit. inter quae Haterius Agrippa consules anni prioris invasit, cur mutua accusatione intenta nunc silerent: metum prorsus et noxae conscientiam pro foedere haberi; at non patribus reticenda quae audivissent. Regulus manere tempus ultionis seque coram principe executurum; Trio aemulationem inter collegas et si qua discordes iecissent melius oblitterari respon dit. Vrgente Agrippa Sanquinius Maximus e consularibus oravit senatum ne curas imperatoris conquisitis insuper acerbitatibus augerent: sufficere ipsum statuendis remediis. sic Regulo salus et Trioni dilatio exitii quaesita. Haterius invisior fuit quia somno aut libidinosis vigiliis marcidus et ob segnitiam quamvis crudelem principem non metuens inlustribus viris perniciem inter ganeam ac stupra meditabatur.
4 However, when he began upon Latinius Latiaris, accuser and accused — impartially detested as they were — furnished the most grateful of spectacles. — Latiaris, as I have recorded, had formerly been the chief agent in entrapping Titius Sabinus; and he was now the first to make atonement. In the midst of all this, Haterius Agrippa attacked the consuls of the year before:—”Why,” he demanded, “after preferring their charges and counter-charges, were they silent now? The truth was that they were treating their fears and their consciousness of guilt as a bond of alliance; but the senate could not keep silence upon the statements to which it had listened.” Regulus answered that he was awaiting the proper time for his vengeance, and would pursue his case in the presence of the emperor; Trio, that this rivalry between colleagues, together with any words they might have let fall during the feud, would be better blotted from memory. As Agrippa urged the point, the consular Sanquinius Maximus begged the members not to augment the cares of the emperor by raking up fresh vexations: he was competent to prescribe a remedy by himself. To Regulus this brought salvation; to Trio, a respite from doom: Haterius was detested all the more, because, enervated by sleep or wakeful hours of lust, and so lethargic as to have no fear of the emperor however great his cruelty, he yet amid his gluttony and lecheries could plot the ruin of the famous.
[6.5] Exim Cotta Messalinus, saevissimae cuiusque sen tentiae auctor eoque inveterata invidia, ubi primum facultas data arguitur pleraque C. Caesarem quasi incestae virilitatis, et cum die natali Augustae inter sacerdotes epularetur, novendialem eam cenam dixisse; querensque de potentia M’. Lepidi ac L. Arruntii, cum quibus ob rem pecuniariam disceptabat, addidisse: ‘illos quidem senatus, me autem tuebitur Tiberiolus meus.’ quae cuncta a primoribus civitatis revincebatur iisque instantibus ad imperatorem provocavit. nec multo post litterae adferuntur quibus in modum defensionis, repetito inter se atque Cottam amicitiae principio crebrisque eius officiis commemoratis, ne verba prave det
orta neu convivalium fabularum simplicitas in crimen duceretur postulavit.
5 Next Cotta Messalinus, father of every barbarous proposal and therefore the object of inveterate dislike, found himself, on the first available occasion, indicted for hinting repeatedly that the sex of Gaius Caesar was an open question; for dining with the priests on Augusta’s birthday and describing the function as a wake; for adding, when he was complaining of the influence of Manius Lepidus and Lucius Arruntius, his opponents in a money dispute:—”The senate will side with them, but my pretty little Tiberius with me.” The whole of the charges were proved against him by men of the highest position; and, as they pressed their case, he appealed to the emperor. Before long came a letter; in which Tiberius, by way of defence, harked back to the origin of the friendship between himself and Cotta, commemorated his many services, and desired that mischievously perverted phrases and the frankness of table-talk should not be turned into evidence of guilt.
[6.6] Insigne visum est earum Caesaris litterarum initium; nam his verbis exorsus est: ‘quid scribam vobis, patres conscripti, aut quo modo scribam aut quid omnino non scribam hoc tempore, di me deaeque peius perdant quam perire me cotidie sentio, si scio.’ adeo facinora atque flagitia sua ipsi quoque in supplicium verterant. neque frustra praestantissimus sapientiae firmare solitus est, si recludantur tyrannorum mentes, posse aspici laniatus et ictus, quando ut corpora verberibus, ita saevitia, libidine, malis consultis animus dilaceretur. quippe Tiberium non fortuna, non solitudines protegebant quin tormenta pectoris suasque ipse poenas fateretur.
6 The beginning of this letter from the Caesar was considered notable; for he opened with the following words: — If I know what to write to you, Conscript Fathers, or how to write it, or what not to write at all at this time, may gods and goddesses destroy me more wretchedly than I feel myself to be perishing every day! So surely had his crimes and his infamies turned to the torment even of himself; nor was it in vain that the first of sages was accustomed to affirm that, could the souls of tyrants be laid open, lacerations and wounds would meet the view; since, as the body is torn by the lash, so is the spirit of man by cruelty and lust and evil purposes. For not his station nor his solitudes could save Tiberius from himself confessing the rack within his breast and his own punishments.
Complete Works of Tacitus (Delphi Classics) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 24) Page 262