[50] Nam Vologeses casum invadendae Armeniae obvenisse ratus, quam a maioribus suis possessam externus rex flagitio obtineret, contrahit copias fratremque Tiridaten deducere in regnum parat, ne qua pars domus sine imperio ageret. incessu Parthorum sine acie pulsi Hiberi, urbesque Armeniorum Artaxata et Tigranocerta iugum accepere. deinde atrox hiems et parum provisi commeatus et orta ex utroque tabes perpellunt Vologesen omittere praesentia. vacuamque rursus Armeniam Radamistus invasit, truculentior quam antea, tamquam adversus defectores et in tempore rebellaturos. atque illi quamvis servitio sueti patientiam abrumpunt armisque regiam circumveniunt.
50 For Vologaeses, convinced that the chance was come for an attack on Armenia, once the property of his ancestors, now usurped by a foreign monarch in virtue of a crime, collected a force, and prepared to settle his brother Tiridates on the throne; so that no branch of his family should lack its kingdom. The Parthian invasion forced back the Iberians without a formal battle, and the Armenian towns of Artaxata and Tigranocerta accepted the yoke. Then a severe winter, the inadequate provision of supplies, and an epidemic due to both of these causes, forced Vologaeses to abandon the scene of action; and Armenia, masterless once again, was occupied by Radamistus, more truculent than ever towards a nation of traitors whom he regarded as certain to rebel when opportunity offered. They were a people inured to bondage; but patience broke, and they surrounded the palace in arms.
[51] Nec aliud Radamisto subsidium fuit quam pernicitas equorum, quis seque et coniugem abstulit. sed coniunx gravida primam utcumque fugam ob metum hostilem et mariti caritatem toleravit; post festinatione continua, ubi quati uterus et viscera vibrantur, orare ut morte honesta contumeliis captivitatis eximeretur. ille primo amplecti adlevare adhortari, modo virtutem admirans, modo timore aeger ne quis relicta poteretur. postremo violentia amoris et facinorum non rudis destringit acinacen vulneratamque ripam ad Araxis trahit, flumini tradit ut corpus etiam auferretur: ipse praeceps Hiberos ad patrium regnum pervadit. interim Zenobiam (id mulieri nomen) placida in eluvie spirantem ac vitae manifestam advertere pastores, et dignitate formae haud degenerem reputantes obligant vulnus, agrestia medicamina adhibent cognitoque nomine et casu in urbem Artaxata ferunt; unde publica cura deducta ad Tiridaten comiterque excepta cultu regio habita est.
51 The one salvation for Radamistus lay in the speed of the horses which swept himself and his wife away. His wife, however, was pregnant; and though fear of the enemy and love of her husband sustained her more or less in the first stages of the flight, yet before long, with the continuous gallop jarring her womb and vibrating through her system, she began to beg for an honourable death to save her from the degradations of captivity. At first, he embraced her, supported her, animated her, one moment wondering at her courage, the next sick with fear at the thought of abandoning her to the possession of another. At last, overmastered by his love, and no stranger to deeds of violence, he drew his sabre, dragged her bleeding to the bank of the Araxes, and, bent on removing even her corpse, consigned her to the current: he himself rode headlong through to his native kingdom of Iberia. Meanwhile, Zenobia (to give his wife her name) was noticed by a few shepherds in a quiet backwater, still breathing and showing signs of life. Arguing her high birth from the distinction of her appearance, they bound up her wound, applied their country remedies, and, on discovering her name and misfortune, carried her to the town of Artaxata; from which, by the good offices of the community, she was escorted to Tiridates, and, after a kind reception, was treated with royal honours.
[52] Fausto Sulla Salvio Othone consulibus Furius Scribonianus in exilium agitur, quasi finem principis per Chaldaeos scrutaretur. adnectebatur crimini Vibia mater eius, ut casus prioris (nam relegata erat) impatiens. pater Scriboniani Camillus arma per Dalmatiam moverat; idque ad clementiam trahebat Caesar, quod stirpem hostilem iterum conservaret. neque tamen exuli longa posthac vita fuit: morte fortuita an per venenum extinctus esset, ut quisque credidit, vulgavere. de mathematicis Italia pellendis factum senatus consultum atrox et inritum. laudati dehinc oratione principis qui ob angustias familiaris ordine senatorio sponte cederent, motique qui remanendo impudentiam paupertati adicerent.
52 In the consulate of Faustus Sulla and Salvius Otho, Furius Scribonianus was driven into exile, on a charge of inquiring into the end of the sovereign by the agency of astrologers: his mother Vibidia was included in the arraignment, on the ground that she had not acquiesced in her former misadventure — she had been sentenced to relegation. Camillus, the father of Scribonianus, had taken arms in Dalmatia: a point placed by the emperor to the credit of his clemency, since he was sparing this hostile stock for a second time. The exile, however, did not long survive: the question whether he died by a natural death or from poison was answered by the gossips according to their various beliefs. The expulsion of the astrologers from Italy was ordered by a drastic and impotent decree of the senate. Then followed a speech by the emperor, commending all who voluntarily renounced senatorial rank owing to straitened circumstances: those who, by remaining, added impudence to poverty were removed.
[53] Inter quae refert ad patres de poena feminarum quae servis coniungerentur; statuiturque ut ignaro domino ad id prolapsae in servitute, sin consensisset, pro libertis haberentur. Pallanti, quem repertorem eius relationis ediderat Caesar, praetoria insignia et centies quinquagies sestertium censuit consul designatus Barea Soranus. additum a Scipione Cornelio grates publice agendas, quod regibus Arcadiae ortus veterrimam nobilitatem usui publico postponeret seque inter ministros principis haberi sineret. adseveravit Claudius contentum honore Pallantem intra priorem paupertatem subsistere. et fixum est [aere] publico senatus consultum quo libertinus sestertii ter milies possessor antiquae parsimoniae laudibus cumulabatur.
53 At the same time, he submitted a motion to the Fathers, penalizing women who married slaves; and it was resolved that anyone falling so far without the knowledge of the slave’s owner should rank as in a state of servitude; while, if he had given sanction, she was to be classed as a freedwoman. That Pallas, whom the Caesar had specified as the inventor of his proposal, should receive the praetorian insignia and fifteen million sesterces, was the motion of the consul designate, Barea Soranus. It was added by Cornelius Scipio that he should be accorded the national thanks, because, descendant though he was of the kings of Arcadia, he postponed his old nobility to the public good, and permitted himself to be regarded as one of the servants of the emperor. Claudius passed his word that Pallas, contented with the honour, declined to outstep his former honest poverty. And there was engraved on official brass a senatorial decree lavishing the praises of old-world frugality upon a freedman, the proprietor of three hundred million sesterces.
[54] At non frater eius, cognomento Felix, pari moderatione agebat, iam pridem Iudaeae impositus et cuncta malefacta sibi impune ratus tanta potentia subnixo. sane praebuerant Iudaei speciem motus orta seditione, postquam * * * congnita caede eius haud obtemperatum esset, manebat metus ne quis principum eadem imperitaret. atque interim Felix intempestivis remediis delicta accendebat, aemulo ad deterrima Ventidio [Cumano>, cui pars provinciae habebatur, ita divisis ut huic Galilaeorum natio, Felici Samaritae parerent, discordes olim et tum contemptu regentium minus coercitis odiis. igitur raptare inter se, immittere latronum globos, componere insidias et aliquando proeliis congredi, spoliaque et praedas ad procuratores referre. hique primo laetari, mox gliscente pernicie cum arma militum interiecissent, caesi milites; arsissetque bello provincia, ni Quadratus Syriae rector subvenisset. nec diu adversus Iudaeos, qui in necem militum proruperant, dubitatum quin capite poenas luerent: Cumanus et Felix cunctationem adferebant, quia Claudius causis rebellionis auditis ius statuendi etiam de procuratoribus dederat. sed Quadratus Felicem inter iudices ostentavit, receptum in tribunal, quo studia accusantium deterrerentur; damnatusque flagitiorum quae duo deliquerant Cumanus, et quies provinciae reddita.
54 The like moderation, however, was not shewn by his brother, surnamed Felix; who for a while past had held the governorshi
p of Judaea, and considered that with such influences behind him all malefactions would be venial. The Jews, it is true, had given signs of disaffection in the rioting prompted
[55] Nec multo post agrestium Cilicum nationes, quibus Clitarum cognomentum, saepe et alias commotae, tunc Troxobore duce montis asperos castris cepere atque inde decursu in litora aut urbes vim cultoribus et oppidanis ac plerumque in mercatores et navicularios audebant. obsessaque civitas Anemuriensis, et missi e Syria in subsidium equites cum praefecto Curtio Severo turbantur, quod duri circum loci peditibusque ad pugnam idonei equestre proelium haud patiebantur. dein rex eius orae Antiochus blandimentis adversum plebem, fraude in ducem cum barbarorum copias dissociasset, Troxobore paucisque primoribus interfectis ceteros clementia composuit.
55 Shortly afterwards, the tribes of wild Cilicians, known under the name of Cietae, who had already broken the peace on many occasions, now formed a camp, under the leadership of Troxobor, on their precipitous hills; and, descending to the coast or the cities, ventured to attack the peasants and townspeople, and, very frequently, the merchants and shipmasters. The city of Anemurium was invested; and a troop of horse sent to its relief from Syria under the prefect Curtius Severus was put to flight, as the rough ground in the vicinity, though suited to an infantry engagement, did not admit of cavalry fighting. Eventually, Antiochus — in whose kingdom that part of the coast was included — by cajolery dissolved the union of the barbarian forces, and, after executing Troxobor and a few chiefs, quieted the remainder by clemency.
[56] Sub idem tempus inter lacum Fucinum amnemque Lirim perrupto monte, quo magnificentia operis a pluribus viseretur, lacu in ipso navale proelium adornatur, ut quondam Augustus structo trans Tiberim stagno, sed levibus navigiis et minore copia ediderat. Claudius triremis quadriremisque et undeviginti hominum milia armavit, cincto ratibus ambitu, ne vaga effugia forent, ac tamen spatium amplexus ad vim remigii, gubernantium artes, impetus navium et proelio solita. in ratibus praetoriarum cohortium manipuli turmaeque adstiterant, antepositis propugnaculis ex quis catapultae ballistaeque tenderentur. reliqua lacus classiarii tectis navibus obtinebant. ripas et collis montiumque edita in modum theatri multitudo innumera complevit, proximis e municipiis et alii urbe ex ipsa, visendi cupidine aut officio in principem. ipse insigni paludamento neque procul Agrippina chlamyde aurata praesedere. pugnatum quamquam inter sontis fortium virorum animo, ac post multum vulnerum occidioni exempti sunt.
56 Nearly at this date, the tunnelling of the mountain between Lake Fucinus and the river Liris had been achieved; and, in order that the impressive character of the work might be viewed by a larger number of visitants, a naval battle was arranged upon the lake itself, on the model of an earlier spectacle given by Augustus — though with light vessels and a smaller force — in his artificial lagoon adjoining the Tiber. Claudius equipped triremes, quadriremes, and nineteen thousand combatants: the lists he surrounded with rafts, so as to leave no unauthorized points of escape, but reserved space enough in the centre to display the vigour of the rowing, the arts of the helmsmen, the impetus of the galleys, and the usual incidents of an engagement. On the rafts were stationed companies and squadrons of the praetorian cohorts, covered by a breastwork from which to operate their catapults and ballistae: the rest of the lake was occupied by marines with decked vessels. The shores, the hills, the mountain-crests, formed a kind of theatre, soon filled by an untold multitude, attracted from the neighbouring towns, and in part from the capital itself, by curiosity or by respect for the sovereign. He and Agrippina presided, the one in a gorgeous military cloak, the other — not far distant — in a Greek mantle of cloth of gold. The battle, though one of criminals, was contested with the spirit and courage of freemen; and, after much blood had flowed, the combatants were exempted from destruction.
[57] Sed perfecto spectaculo apertum aquarum iter. incuria operis manifesta fuit, haud satis depressi ad lacus ima vel media. eoque tempore interiecto altius effossi specus, et contrahendae rursum multitudini gladiatorum spectaculum editur, inditis pontibus pedestrem ad pugnam. quin et convivium effluvio lacus adpositum magna formidine cunctos adfecit, quia vis aquarum prorumpens proxima trahebat, convulsis ulterioribus aut fragore et sonitu exterritis. simul Agrippina trepidatione principis usa ministrum operis Narcissum incusat cupidinis ac praedarum. nec ille reticet, impotentiam muliebrem nimiasque spes eius arguens.
57 On the conclusion of the spectacle, however, the passage was opened for the waters. Carelessness was at once evident in the construction of the tunnel, which had not been sunk to the maximum or even the mean depth of the lake. An interval of time was therefore allowed for the channel to be cleared to a lower level; and, with a view to collecting a second multitude, a gladiatorial exhibition was given on pontoons laid for an infantry battle. A banquet, even, had been served near the efflux of the lake; only to result, however, in a general panic, as the outrushing volume of water carried away the adjoining portions of the work, while those at a greater distance experienced either the actual shock or the terror produced by the crash and reverberation. At the same moment, Agrippina profited by the emperor’s agitation to charge Narcissus, as director of the scheme, with cupidity and embezzlement. He was not to be silenced, and retorted with an attack on her feminine imperiousness and the extravagance of her ambitions.
[58] D. Iunio Q. Haterio consulibus sedecim annos natus Nero Octaviam Caesaris filiam in matrimonium accepit. utque studiis honestis [et] eloquentiae gloria enitesceret, causa Iliensium suscepta Romanum Troia demissum et Iuliae stirpis auctorem Aeneam aliaque haud procul fabulis vetera facunde executus perpetrat, ut Ilienses omni publico munere solverentur. eodem oratore Bononiensi coloniae igni haustae subventum centies sestertii largitione. reddita Rhodiis libertas, adempta saepe aut firmata, prout bellis externis meruerant aut domi seditione deliquerant; tributumque Apamensibus terrae motu convulsis in quinquennium remissum.
58 In the consulate of Decimus Junius and Quintus Haterius, Nero, at the age of sixteen, received in marriage the emperor’s daughter Octavia. Desirous to shine by his liberal accomplishments and by a character for eloquence, he took up the cause of Ilium, enlarged with grace on the Trojan descent of the Roman nation; on Aeneas, the progenitor of the Julian line; on other traditions not too far removed from fable; and secured the release of the community from all public obligations. By his advocacy, again, the colony of Bononia, which had been destroyed by fire, was assisted with a grant of ten million sesterces; the Rhodians recovered their liberties, so often forfeited or confirmed as the balance varied between their military services abro
ad or their seditious offences at home; and Apamea, which had suffered from an earthquake shock, was relieved from its tribute for the next five years.
[59] At Claudius saevissima quaeque promere adigebatur eiusdem Agrippinae artibus, quae Statilium Taurum opibus inlustrem hortis eius inhians pervertit accusante Tarquitio Prisco. legatus is Tauri Africam imperio proconsulari regentis, postquam revenerant, pauca repetundarum crimina, ceterum magicas superstitiones obiectabat. nec ille diutius falsum accusatorem, indignas sordis perpessus vim vitae suae attulit ante sententiam senatus. Tarquitius tamen curia exactus est; quod patres odio delatoris contra ambitum Agrippinae pervicere.
59 Claudius, in contrast, was being forced to a display of sheer cruelty, still by the machinations of Agrippina. Statilius Taurus, whose wealth was famous, and whose gardens aroused her cupidity, she ruined with an accusation brought by Tarquitius Priscus. He had been the legate of Taurus when he was governing Africaº with proconsular powers, and now on their return charged him with a few acts of malversation, but more seriously with addiction to magical superstitions. Without tolerating longer a lying accuser and an unworthy humiliation, Taurus took his own life before the verdict of the senate. Tarquitius, none the less, was expelled from the curia — a point which the Fathers, in their detestation of the informer, carried in the teeth of Agrippina’s intrigues.
Complete Works of Tacitus (Delphi Classics) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 24) Page 278