26 About the same time, the senate discussed the iniquities of freedmen, and a demand was pressed that, in dealing with an undeserving case, the former owner should be allowed the right of annulling the emancipation. The proposal did not lack supporters; but the consuls were not bold enough to put the motion without the cognizance of the emperor, though they advised him in writing of the feeling of the senate. Nero was doubtful whether to assume responsibility for the measure, as his advisers were few and their opinions conflicting. Some were indignant that “insolence, grown harder with liberty, had reached a point where freedmen were no longer content to be equal before the law with their patrons, but mocked their tameness and actually raised their hands to strike, without punishment — or with a punishment suggested by themselves! For what redress was allowed to an injured patron, except to relegate his freedman beyond the hundredth milestone to the beaches of Campania? For anything else, the law-courts were open to both on equal terms; and some weapon which it would be impossible to despise ought to be put into the hands of the freeborn. It would be no great burden to a manumitted slave to keep his freedom by the same obedience which had earned it: on the other hand, notorious offenders deserved to be brought back to their bondage, so that fear might coerce those whom kindness had not reformed.”
[27] Disserebatur contra: paucorum culpam ipsis exitiosam esse debere, nihil universorum iuri derogandum; quippe late fusum id corpus. hinc plerumque tribus decurias, ministeria magistratibus et sacerdotibus, cohortes etiam in urbe conscriptas; et plurimis equitum, plerisque senatoribus non aliunde originem trahi: si separarentur libertini, manifestam fore penuriam ingenuorum. non frustra maiores, cum dignitatem ordinum dividerent, libertatem in communi posuisse. quin et manu mittendi duas species institutas, ut relinqueretur paenitentiae aut novo beneficio locus. quos vindicta patronus non liberaverit, velut vinclo servitutis attineri. dispiceret quisque merita tardeque concederet, quod datum non adimeretur. haec sententia valuit, scripsitque Caesar senatui, privatim expenderent causam libertorum, quotiens a patronis arguerentur; in commune nihil derog[ar]ent. nec multo post ereptus amitae libertus Paris quasi iure civili, non sine infamia principis, cuius iussu perpetratum ingenuitatis iudicium erat.
27 It was urged on the other side that “the guilt of a few persons ought to be fatal only to themselves: the rights of the class at large ought to suffer no detriment. For the body in question was widely extended. From it the tribes, the decuries, the assistants of the magistrates and priests were very largely recruited; so also the cohorts enrolled in the capital; while the origin of most knights and of many senators was drawn from no other source. If the freed were set apart, the paucity of the free would be apparent! It was not without reason that our ancestors, when distinguishing the position of the orders, made freedom the common property of all. Again, two forms of manumission had been instituted, so as to leave room for a change of mind or a fresh favour. All, whose patron had not liberated them by the wand, were still, it might be said, held by the bond of servitude. The owner must look carefully into the merits of each case, and be slow in granting what, once given, could not be taken away.” This view prevailed, and the Caesar wrote to the senate that they must consider individually all cases of freedmen accused by their patrons: no general rights were to be abrogated. — Nor was it long before his aunt was robbed of her freedman Paris, outwardly by process of civil law, and not without discredit to the sovereign, by whose order a verdict of ingenuous birth had been procured.
[28] Manebat nihilo minus quaedam imago rei publicae. nam inter Vibullium praetorem et plebei tribunum Antistium ortum certamen, quod immodestos fautores histrionum et a praetore in vincla ductos tribunus omitti iussisset. comprobavere patres, incusata Antistii licentia. simul prohibiti tribuni ius praetorum et consulum praeripere aut vocare ex Italia, cum quibus lege agi posset. addidit L. Piso designatus consul, ne quid intra domum pro potestate adverterent, neve multum ab iis dictam quaestores aerarii in publicas tabulas ante quattuor mense referrent; medio temporis contra dicere liceret, deque eo consules statuerent. cohibita artius et aedilium potestas statutumque, quantum curules, quantum plebei pignoris caperent vel poenae inrogarent. et Helvidius Priscus tr[ibunus] pl[ebis] adversus Obultronium Sabinum aerarii quaestorem contentiones proprias exercuit, tamquam ius hastae adversus inopes inclementer ageret. dein princeps curam tabularum publicarum a quaestoribus ad praefectos transtulit.
28 There remained none the less some shadow of the republic. For a dispute arose between the praetor Vibullius and the plebeian tribune Antistius, because the tribune had ordered the release of some disorderly claqueurs thrown into prison by the praetor. The Fathers approved the arrest, and censured the liberty taken by Antistius. At the same time, the tribunes were forbidden to encroach on praetorian and consular jurisdiction or to summon litigants from Italian districts, should a civil action be possible there. Lucius Piso, the consul designate, added a proposal that their official powers of punishment should not be exercised under their own roofs: fines inflicted by them were not to be entered in the public accounts by the treasury-quaestors until four months had elapsed; in the interval, protests were to be allowable, the decision lying with the consuls. The powers of the aedileship were also narrowed, and statutory limits were fixed, up to which the curule or plebeian aediles, as the case might be, could distrain or fine. The tribune Helvidius Priscus prosecuted a private quarrel with the treasury-quaestor, Obultronius Sabinus, by alleging that he was carrying his right of sale to merciless lengths against the poor. The emperor then transferred the charge of the public accounts from the quaestors to prefects.
[29] Varie habita ac saepe mutata eius rei forma. nam Augustus senatui permisit deligere praefectos; deinde ambitu suffragiorum suspecto, sorte ducebantur ex numero praetorum qui praeessent. neque id diu mansit, quia sors deerrabat ad parum idoneos. tum Claudius quaestores rursum imposuit, iisque, ne metu offensionum segnius consulerent, extra ordinem honores promisit: sed deerat robur aetatis eum primum magistratum capessentibus. igitur Nero praetura perfunctos et experientia probatos delegit.
29 The organization of this department had been variable and often modified. Augustus left the choice of prefects to the senate; then, as illicit canvassing was apprehended, the men to occupy the post were drawn by lot from the whole body of praetors. This also was a short-lived expedient, as the lot tended to stray to the unfit. Next, Claudius reinstated the quaestors, and — lest their zeal should be blunted by the fear of making enemies — guaranteed them promotion outside the usual order. But, as this was their first magistracy, they wanted the stability of mature years: Nero, therefore, filled the office with ex-praetors who had stood the test of experience.
[30] Damnatus isdem consulibus Vipsanius Laenas ob Sardiniam provinciam avare habitam; absolutus Cestius Proculus repetundarum Cretensibus accusantibus. Clodius Quirinalis, quod praefectus remigum, qui Ravennae haberentur, velut infimam nationum Italiam luxuria saevitiaque adflictavisset, veneno damnationem anteiit. Caninius Rebi[l]us, ex primoribus peritia legum et pecuniae magnitudine, cruciatus aegrae senectae misso per venas sanguine effugit, haud creditus sufficere ad constantiam sumendae mortis, ob libidines muliebriter infamis. at L. Volusius egregia fama concessit, cui tres et nonaginta anni spatium vivendi praecipuaeque opes bonis artibus, inoffensa tot imperatorum [a]micitia fuit.
30 In the same consulate, Vipsanius Laenas was found guilty of malversation in his province of Sardinia; Cestius Proculus was acquitted on a charge of extortion brought by the Cretans. Clodius Quirinalis, who, as commandant of the crews stationed at Ravenna, had by his debauchery and ferocity tormented Italy, as though Italy were the most abject of the nations, forestalled his sentence by poison. Caninius Rebilus, who in juristic knowledge and extent of fortune ranked with the greatest, escaped the tortures of age and sickness by letting the blood from his arteries; though, from the unmasculine vices for which he was infamous, he had been thought incapable of the firmness of committing suicide. In contrast, Lucius Volusius departed in the
fullness of honour, after enjoying a term of ninety-three years of life, a noble fortune virtuously gained, and the unbroken friendship of a succession of emperors.
[31] Nerone iterum L. Pisone consulibus pauca memoria digna evenere, nisi cui libeat laudandis fundamentis et trabibus, quis molem amphitheatri apud campum Martis Caesar exstruxerat, volumina implere, cum ex dignitate populi Romani repertum sit res inlustres annalibus, talia diurnis urbis actis mandare. ceterum coloniae Capua atque Nuceria additis veteranis firmatae sunt, plebeique congiarium quadrigeni nummi viritim dati, et sestertium quadringenties aerario inlatum est ad retinendam populi fidem. vectigal quoque quintae et vicesimae venalium mancipiorum remissum, specie magis quam vi, quia, cum venditor pendere iuberetur, in partem pretii emptoribus adcrescebat. et [e]dixit Caesar, ne quis magistratus aut procurator in provincia, [quam] obtineret, spectaculum gladiatorum aut ferarum aut quod aliud ludicrum ederet. nam ante non minus tali largitione quam corripiendis pecuniis subiectos adfligebant, dum, quae libidine deliquerant, ambitu propugnant.
31 In the consulate of Nero, for the second time, and of Lucius Piso, little occurred that deserves remembrance, unless the chronicler is pleased to fill his rolls with panegyrics of the foundations and the beams on which the Caesar reared his vast amphitheatre in the Campus Martius; although, in accordance with the dignity of the Roman people, it has been held fitting to consign great events to the page of history and details such as these to the urban gazette. Still, the colonies of Capua and Nuceria were reinforced by a draft of veterans; the populace was given a gratuity of four hundred sesterces a head; and forty millions were paid into the treasury to keep the public credit stable. Also, the tax of four per cent on the purchase of slaves was remitted more in appearance than in effect: for, as payment was now required from the vendor, the buyers found the amount added as part of the price. The Caesar, too, issued an edict that no magistrate or procurator should, in the province for which he was responsible, exhibit a gladiatorial spectacle, a display of wild beasts, or any other entertainment. Previously, a subject community suffered as much from the spurious liberality as from the rapacity of its governors, screening as they did by corruption the offences they had committed in wantonness.
[32] Factum et senatus consultum ultioni iuxta et securitati, ut si quis a suis servis interfectus esset, ii quoque, qui testamento manu missi sub eodem tecto mansissent, inter servos supplicia penderent. redditur ordini Lurius Varus consularis, avaritiae criminibus olim perculsus. et Pomponia Graecina insignis femina, [A.] Plautio, quem ovasse de Britannis rettuli, nupta ac superstitionis externae rea, mariti iudicio permissa. isque prisco instituto propinquis coram de capite famaque coniugis cognovit et insontem nuntiavit. longa huic Pomponiae aetas et continua tristitia fuit. nam post Iuliam Drusi filiam dolo Messalinae interfectam per quadraginta annos non cultu nisi lugubri, non animo nisi maesto egit; idque illi imperitante Claudio impune, mox ad gloriam vertit.
32 There was passed, also, a senatorial decree, punitive at once and precautionary, that, if a master had been assassinated by his own slaves, even those manumitted under his will, but remaining under the same roof, should suffer the penalty among the rest. The consular Lucius Varus, sentenced long before under charges of extortion, was restored to his rank. Pomponia Graecina, a woman of high family, married to Aulus Plautius — whose ovation after the British campaign I recorded earlier — and now arraigned for alien superstition, was left to the jurisdiction of her husband. Following the ancient custom, he held the inquiry, which was to determine the fate and fame of his wife, before a family council, and announced her innocent. Pomponia was a woman destined to long life and to continuous grief: for after Julia, the daughter of Drusus, had been done to death by the treachery of Messalina, she survived for forty years, dressed in perpetual mourning and lost in perpetual sorrow; and a constancy unpunished under the empire of Claudius became later a title to glory.
[33] Idem annus plures reos habuit. quorum P. Celerem accusante Asia, quia absolvere nequibat Caesar, traxit, senecta donec mortem obiret; nam Celer interfecto, ut memoravi, Silano pro consule magnitudine sceleris cetera flagitia obtegebat. Cossutianum Capitonem Cilices detulerant, maculosum foedumque et idem ius audaciae in provincia ratum, quod in urbe exercuerat; sed pervicaci accusatione conflictatus postremo defensionem omisit ac lege repetundarum damnatus est. pro Eprio Marcello, a quo Lyci[i] res repetebant, eo usque ambitus praevaluit, ut quidam accusatorum eius exilio multarentur, tamquam insonti periculum fecissent.
33 The same year saw many on their trial. Publius Celer, one of the number, indicted by the province of Asia, the Caesar could not absolve: he therefore held the case in abeyance until the defendant died of old age; for in his murder (already recorded) of the proconsul Silanus, Celer had to his credit a crime of sufficient magnitude to cover the rest of his delinquencies. A charge had been laid by the Cilicians against Cossutianus Capito, a questionable and repulsive character, who had assumed that the same chartered insolence which he had exhibited in the capital would be permitted in a province. Beaten, however, by the tenacity of the prosecution, he finally threw up his defence, and was sentenced under the law of extortion. On behalf of Eprius Marcellus, from whom the Lycians were claiming reparation, intrigue was so effective that a number of his accusers were penalized by exile, on the ground that they had endangered an innocent man.
[34] Nerone tertium consule simul ini[i]t consulatum Valerius Messala, cuius proavum, oratorem Corvinum, divo Augusto, abavo Neronis, collegam in eo[dem] magistratu fuisse pauci iam senum meminerant. sed nobili familiae honor auctus est oblatis in singulos annos quingenis sestertiis, quibus Messala paupertatem innoxiam sustentaret. Aurelio quoque Cottae et Haterio Antonino annuam pecuniam statuit princeps, quamvis per luxum avitas opes dissipassent. Eius anni principio mollibus adhuc initiis prolatatum inter Parthos Romanosque de obtinenda Armenia bellum acriter sumitur, quia nec Vologaeses sinebat fratrem Tiridaten dati a se regni expertem esse aut alienae id potentiae donum habere, et Corbulo dignum magnitudine populi Romani rebatur parta olim a Lucullo Pompeioque recipere. ad hoc Armenii ambigua fide utraque arma invitabant, situ terrarum, similitudine morum Parthis propiores conubiisque permixti ac libertate ignota illuc magis [ad servitium] inclinantes.
34 With Nero a third time consul, Valerius Messala entered upon office as his colleague, his great-grandfather, the orator Corvinus, being remembered now by only a few of old men as associated in the same magistracy with the deified Augustus, grandfather of Nero in the third degree. The honour, however, of a noble family received some increment in a yearly subsidy of five hundred thousand sesterces, on which Messala might support an honest poverty. An annual stipend was also assigned by the emperor to Aurelius Cotta and Haterius Antoninus, though they had dissipated their family estates in profligacy. In the beginning of the year, the war between Parthia and Rome for the possession of Armenia, feebly begun, and till now carried on in dilatory fashion, was taken up with energy. For, on the one hand, Vologeses declined to allow his brother Tiridates to be debarred from the kingdom, which he had himself presented to him, or to hold it as the gift of an alien power; and, on the other, Corbulo considered it due to the majesty of the Roman nation to recover the old conquests of Lucullus and Pompey. In addition, the Armenians — whose allegiance was a matter of doubt — were invoking the arms of both powers; though by geographical position and affinity of manners they stood closer to the Parthians, were connected with them by inter-marriage, and, in their ignorance of liberty, were more inclined to accept servitude in that quarter.
[35] Sed Corbuloni plus molis adversus ignaviam militum quam contra perfidiam hostium erat: quippe Syria transmotae legiones, pace longa segnes, munia castrorum aegerrime tolerabant. satis constitit fuisse in eo exercitu veteranos, qui non stationem, non vigilias inissent, vallum fossamque quasi nova et mira viserent, sine galeis, sine loricis, nitidi et quaestuosi, militia per oppida expleta. igitur dimissis, quibus senectus aut valitudo adversa erat, supplementum petivit. et habiti per Galatiam Cappadoci
amque dilectus, adiectaque ex Germania legio cum equitibus alariis et peditatu cohortium. retentusque omnis exercitus sub pellibus, quamvis hieme saeva adeo, ut obducta glacie nisi effossa humus tentoriis locum non praeberet. ambusti multorum artus vi frigoris, et quidam inter excubias exanimati sunt. adnotatusque miles, qui fascem lignorum gestabat, ita praeriguisse manus, ut oneri adhaerentes truncis brachiis deciderent. ipse cultu [l]evi, capite intecto, in agmine, in laboribus frequens adesse, laudem strenuis, solacium invalidis, exemplum omnibus ostendere. dehinc, quia duritia caeli militiaeque multi abnuebant deserebantque, remedium severitate quaesitum est. nec enim, ut in aliis exercitibus, primum alterumque delictum venia prosequebatur, se qui signa reliquerat, statim capite poenas luebat. idque usu salubre et misericordia melius apparuit: quippe pauciores illa castra deseruere quam ea, in quibus ignoscebatur.
35 Still, Corbulo’s main difficulty was rather to counteract the lethargy of his troops than to thwart the perfidy of his enemies. For the legions transferred from Syria showed, after the enervation of a long peace, pronounced reluctance to undergo the duties of a Roman camp. It was a well-known fact that his army included veterans who had never served on a picket or a watch, who viewed the rampart and fosse as novel and curious objects, and who owned neither helmets nor breastplates — polished and prosperous warriors, who had served their time in the towns. Accordingly, after discharging those incapacitated by age or ill-health, he applied for reinforcements. Levies were held in Galatia and Cappadocia, and a legion from Germany was added with its complement of auxiliary horse and foot. The entire army was kept under canvas, notwithstanding a winter of such severity that the ice-covered ground had to be dug up before it would receive tents. As a result of the bitter cold, many of the men had frost-bitten limbs, and a few died on sentinel-duty. The case was observed of a soldier, carrying a bundle of firewood, whose hands had frozen till they adhered to his load and dropped off from the stumps. Corbulo himself, lightly dressed and bare-headed, was continually among his troops, on the march or at their toils, offering his praise to the stalwart, his comfort his weak, his example to all. Then, owing to the rigours of the climate and the service, recalcitrancy and desertion grew common, and the cure was sought in severity. For, contrary to the rule in other armies, mercy did not attend first and second offences, but the man who had left the standards made immediate atonement with his life. That the treatment was salutary and an improvement on pity was proved by experience, the camp showing fewer cases of desertion than those in which pardons were the rule.
Complete Works of Tacitus (Delphi Classics) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 24) Page 283