Chapter VIII: Part 8

... his will Drusus took from the virgin priestesses of Vesta, with
whom it had been deposited, and carried it into the senate. Those who
had sealed it viewed the impressions, and then it was read in hearing
of the senate.

... one Polybius of Cæsar's household read his will, as it was not proper for a senator to read anything of the sort. It showed that two-thirds of the inheritance had been left to Tiberius and the rest to Livia,--at least this is one report. In order that she, too, might have the benefit of his property he had asked permission of the senate to leave her so much, since it was contrary to law. These two were mentioned as inheritors. He ordered many objects and sums of money to be given to many different persons, both relatives of his and those joined by no ties of kindred, not only to senators and knights but also to kings; for the people there were a thousand myriads and for the soldiers two hundred and fifty denarii apiece to the Pretorians, half that amount to the city force, and to the remainder of the native soldiery seventy-five each. Moreover, in the case of children, of whose fathers he had been the heir while they were still small, he enjoined that everything, together with income, should be given back to them when they became men: this was, indeed his custom while in life. Whenever he inherited the estate of any one who had offspring, he never neglected to give it all to the man's children, immediately if they were already adults, and later if it were otherwise. Though he took such an attitude toward other people's children he did not restore his daughter from exile, though he deemed her worthy of gifts; and he forbade her being buried in his own tomb.--So much was learned from the will.

[-33-] Four books were then brought in and Drusus read them. In the first were written details pertaining to his funeral; in the second all the works which he had done, which he commanded to be inscribed aloft upon bronze columns to be set around his heroum; the third contained an account of military matters, of the revenues and of the public expenditures, the amount of money in the treasuries, and everything else of the sort having a bearing upon the administration; and the fourth had injunctions and orders for Tiberius and for the public. Among these last was a command that they should not liberate many slaves and should thus avoid filing the city with a variegated rabble. He also exhorted them not to enroll large numbers as citizens, in order that there might be a distinct difference between themselves and subject nations; to deliver the control of public business to all who had ability both to understand and to act, and never to let it depend on any one person; in this way no one would set his mind on a tyranny nor would the State go to pieces if one fell. He advised them to be satisfied with present possessions and under no conditions to wish to increase the empire to any greater dimensions. It would be hard to guard, he said, and this would lead to danger of their losing what was already theirs. This principle he had himself really always followed not only in speech but also in action. For, whereas he might have made great acquisitions of barbarian territory, he had not wished to do so.--These were his injunctions.

[-34-] Then came his funeral. There was a couch made of ivory and gold and adorned with robes of purple mixed with gold. In it his body was hidden, in a kind of box down below: a wax image of him in triumphal garb was displayed. This one was borne from the Palatium by the officials for the following year, and another of gold from the senate-house, and still another upon a triumphal chariot. Behind these came the images of his ancestors and of his deceased relatives (except of Cæsar, because he had been enrolled among the heroes), and those of other Romans who had been prominent in any way, beginning with Romulus himself. An image of Pompey the Great was also seen, and all the nations he had acquired, each represented by a likeness which bore some local characteristic, were carried in procession. After these followed all the remaining objects mentioned above. When the couch had been placed in view upon the orators' platform, Drusus read something from that place: and from the other, the rostra of the Julian shrine, Tiberius delivered the following public oration over the deceased, according to a decree:--

[-35-] "What needed to be said privately by relatives over the divine Augustus Drusus has spoken. But since the senate has wisely deemed him worthy of some kind of public utterance, I know that the speech was fittingly entrusted to me. To whom more justly than to me, his child and successor, could be the task of praising him be confided? It is not my privilege, however, to be gladdened by the thought that my ability must prove no whit inferior to your desires in the matter and to his worth. Indeed, if I were to speak among strangers, I should be greatly alarmed lest in following my speech they should believe his deeds to be no better than I describe them. As it is, I am encouraged by the thought that my words will be directed to you who know all of them thoroughly, have experienced them all, and for that reason have deemed him worthy of these very praises. You will judge of his excellence not from what I may say but from what you yourselves know, and you will assist my discourse, making good what is deficient by your memory of events. So that in this way his eulogy will become a public one, given by all, as I, like the head of some chorus, indicate the chief points and you come in with the remainder of the refrain. I am certainly not afraid that you will hold me guilty of weakness because I am unable to meet your desires nor that you will be jealous to see his excellence going beyond your reach. Who does not understand the fact that not all mankind assembled in one place could worthily sound his praises? And you all voluntarily make way for him to triumph, not envious to think that not one of you could equal him, but rejoicing in his surpassing greatness. The greater he looms up before you, the more greatly will you feel yourselves benefited, so that envy will not be bred in you by your inferiority to him but awe from the advantages you have received at his hands.

[-36-] "I shall begin at the point where he also began to enter politics, that is, from his earliest manhood. This, indeed, is one of the greatest achievements of Augustus,--that when he had just emerged from boyhood and was entering upon the state of youth, he paid attention to education so long as public affairs were well managed by the famous Cæsar, the demi-god: when after the conspiracy against the latter the whole commonwealth was thrown into confusion, he at the same time amply avenged his father and rendered a much needed aid to you, not fearing the multitude of his enemies nor dreading the greatness of the business nor hesitating through his own immaturity. Yet what deed like this can be cited of Alexander of Macedon or our Romulus, who have the reputation of having done something brilliant when very young? But these I shall pass over, lest from merely comparing them with him and bringing them up,--and that among you who are acquainted with him no less than I,--I may be thought to be diminishing the greatness of Augustus. If I am to do this sort of thing, I should be justified only if I looked at his deeds beside those of Hercules: yet even then I should fail of my effect, inasmuch as the latter killed only serpents when he was a child, a stag and a boar when he was a man,--oh, yes, and by Jupiter a lion also, though reluctantly and in obedience to a command; whereas our hero voluntarily made wars and enacted laws not among beasts but among men, carefully preserved the commonwealth, and himself gained brilliance. It was for this that you chose him prætor and appointed him consul at that age when some are unwilling even to serve in the army.

[-37-] "This was the beginning of political life for Augustus, and it is the beginning of my speech about him. Soon after, seeing that the largest and best portion both of the people and of the senate was in accord with him, but that Lepidus and Antony, Sextus, Brutus, and Cassius were employing rebels, he feared that the city might become involved in many wars,--civil wars,--at once, and be so torn asunder and exhausted as not to be able to revive in any fashion; and so he manipulated them very cleverly and to the greatest public good. He attached himself to the strong ones, who were menacing the very city, and with them fought the others till he made an end of them: when these were out of the way he in turn freed us from the former. He chose against his will to surrender a few to their wrath so that he might save the majority, and he chose to assume a friendly attitude toward them individually so as not to have to fight with them all at once. From this he derived no individual gain but aided us all most evidently. Why should one speak at length to enumerate his deeds in the wars both at home and abroad? Consider especially that the former ought never to have occurred at all and that the latter by the conquests gained show their advantages better than any words, moreover that they largely depended upon chance, that the successes were obtained with the aid of many citizens and many allies so that these deserve the credit equally with him, and finally that the achievements might possibly be compared with those of some others. These, accordingly, I shall put aside. You can behold and read them inscribed in letters and characters in many places. I shall speak only of the works which belong to Augustus himself, which have never been performed by any other man, and have not only caused our city to survive from many dangers of a sorts but have rendered it more prosperous and powerful. The mention of them will confer upon him a unique glory and will afford the elder among you an innocent pleasure while giving the younger men an exact instruction in the character and constitution of the government.

[-38-] "This Augustus, then, whom you deemed worthy of this title for the very reasons just cited, as soon as he had freed himself from the civil wars after acting and enduring (not in a way that pleased himself) as Heaven approved, first of all preserved the lives of most of his opponents, who were survivors of the army, and thus he in no way imitated Sulla, called the Fortunate. Not to give you a list of all of them, who does not know about Sosius, about Scaurus the brother of Sextus, and particularly about Lepidus, who lived so long a time after his defeat and continued to be high priest his whole life through? Next he honored his companions in conflict with many great gifts, but did not allow them to act in any arrogant way or to be wanton. You know thoroughly among others in this category both Mæcenas and Agrippa, so that there is no need of my enumerating the names. Augustus had two qualities, too, which were never united in any one else. Some conquerors, I know, have spared their enemies and others have refused to allow their companions to give way to license. But both sorts of behavior at once, continually without any exception, were never found in the same man. Here is evidence. Sulla and Marius treated as enemies even the children of those who fought against them. Why need I cite the other less important men? Pompey and Cæsar were in general guiltless of this conduct, but permitted their friends to do not a few things that were contrary to their own principles. But this man had each of the two virtues so fused and intermingled that to his adversaries he made defeat look like victory and to his comrades he showed a happiness in excellence.

[-39-] "After doing this and quieting by kindness all that remained of factional disputes and imposing temperance by his benefits upon the victorious military, he might as a result of this and the weapons and the money at his command have been indisputably the sole lord of everything, as, indeed, he had been made by the very course of events. Yet he refused, and like a good physician, who takes in hand a disease-ridden body and heals it, he restored everything to you after making it well. And to what this action amounted you can best realize from the fact that our fathers spoke in praise of Pompey and Metellus, who was formerly prominent, because they voluntarily disbanded the forces with which they had been engaged in war. Now if they, who had but a small force and a merely temporary one and besides saw opponents who would not allow them to do otherwise,--if they received praise for doing this,--how could one speak fittingly of the magnanimity of Augustus? He held all your forces, however great, he was master of all your funds, vast in amount, had no one to fear or suspect: but whereas he might have ruled alone with the approval of all, he would not accept such a course, but laid the arms, the provinces, the money at your feet. Wherefore you with wise insistence and proper prudence would not have it nor allow him to retire to private life; you knew well that democracy would never accommodate itself to such tremendous interests, but that the superintendence of a single person would most surely preserve them, and so refused what was nominally independence but really factional discord. And making choice of him, whom you had proved worthy by his very deeds, you compelled him to stand at your head for a time at least. When you had in this way tested him even more than before, you finally forced him a second, a third, a fourth, and a fifth time to remain as manager of public affairs. [-40-] It was only natural. Who would not choose to be safe without trouble, to be prosperous without danger, to enjoy unsparingly the blessings of government and not to be disturbed by cares for its maintenance? Who was there that could rule even his private possessions better than Augustus, to say nothing of the goods of so many human beings? He accepted the trying and hostile provinces for his own portion to guard and preserve, but restored to you all such others as were peaceful and free from danger. Though he supported such a large standing army to fight in your behalf, he let the soldiers be troublesome to none of his own countrymen but rendered them to outsiders most terrifying guardians, to the people at home unarmed and unwarlike. The senators in places of authority were not deprived of appeal to the lot, but prizes for excellence were furnished them in addition. He did not destroy the power of the ballot in their decisions and he guaranteed safety in free speech as well. Cases difficult to decide he transferred from the people to the searching justice of the courts, but preserved to the popular body the dignity of the elections and trained citizens in these to seek a means of honor, not of strife. He even cut away the ambitious greed of office seekers and put a regard for reputation in its place. His own money, which he increased by legitimate methods, he spent for public needs: for the public funds he cared as if they were his own, while he refrained from touching them, as belonging to others. He saw that all public works that were falling to decay were repaired, and deprived no one connected with their renovation of the glory attaching: many structures he built anew (some in his own name, some in that of another), or else gave others charge of erecting them. Consequently, his gaze was directed toward public utility and privately he grudged no one the fame to be derived from public service. Wantonness among his own kin he recompensed relentlessly, but the offences of others he treated with humaneness. Those who had traits of excellence he allowed to come as near as they could to his own standard, and with the conduct of such as lived otherwise he did not concern himself minutely. Among those who conspired against him he invoked justice upon only those whose lives were of no profit even to themselves. The rest he placed in such a position that for a great while they could obtain no excuse either true or false for attacking him. It is nothing surprising that he was occasionally the object of conspiracies, for even the gods do not please all alike. The excellence of good rulers is discernible not in the villainies of others but in their own good behavior.

[-41-] "I have spoken, Quirites, of his greatest and most striking characteristics in a rather summary way. For if one should desire to enumerate all of his great points individually, it would need many days. Furthermore, I know that though you will have heard so few facts from me, they will lead you to remember for yourselves everything else, and it will seem almost as if I had spoken that too. In the rest that I have said about him I have not been speaking in a spirit of vainglory [7], nor has that been your state of mind in listening; but I intended that his many noble achievements might obtain an ever memorable glory in your souls. Who would not feel inclined to make mention of his senators?--how without giving offence he removed the scum that had come to the surface from the factions, how by this very act he exalted the remainder, magnified it by increasing the property requirement, and enriched it by grants of money; how he voted on an equality with the senators and had their help in making changes; how he communicated to them all the greatest and most important matters either in the meeting-place or else at his house, whither he called different members at different times because of his age and bodily infirmity. Who would not like to cite the condition of the rest of the Romans, before whom he set public works, money, games, festivals, amnesty, an abundance of food, safety not only from the enemy and evildoers but even from the acts of Heaven, nor such alone as befall by day, but by night as well? Or, again, the allies?--how he made their freedom free from danger and their alliance to involve no loss. Or the subject nations?--how no one of them was treated with insolence or abuse. How can one forget a man who was in private life poor, in public life rich, saving in his own case but liberal of expenditures for others?--one who even endured all toil and danger for you but would not submit to your escorting him when he went forth on any expedition or to your meeting him when he returned: one who on festivals admitted even the populace to his home, but on other days greeted even the senate only in its chambers? How could one forget the number and precision as well of his laws, which contained for the wronged an all-sufficient consolation and for the wrongdoers a not inhuman punishment? Or his rewards offered to those who married and had children? Or the prizes given to the soldiers without disadvantage to any other person? Then there is the fact of his being satisfied with our possessions once for all acquired by the will of Destiny, and his refusal to subjugate additional territory. For while imagining that we bore a wider sway we might meantime lose all we had. You recall how he always shared the joys and sorrows, the jests and earnestness of his intimate friends, and allowed absolutely all who could make any useful suggestion to feel free to speak; how he praised those who spoke the truth and hated flatterers; how he bestowed upon many large sums from his own means, and how when aught was bequeathed to him by men with children he restored it all to those children. What oblivion is dark enough to bury all this? It was for this, therefore, I say, that you naturally made him your head and a father of the people, that you decked him with many marks of esteem and numerous consulships and finally declared him a hero and published him as immortal. Hence we ought not either to mourn for him, but to give his body back now in due time to Nature, and to glorify his spirit, as that of a god, forever."

[-42-] This was what Tiberius read. Directly after, the same men as before took up the couch and carried it through the triumphal gateway, according to the senate's decree. There were present and took part in carrying him out the senate and the equestrian class, the women of his family, and the pretorian guard; and nearly everybody else in the city was in attendance. When the body had been placed on the pyre in the Campus Martius, all the priests marched about it first; and then the knights, all the magistrates and others, and the heavy-armed force for garrison duty ran around it; and they cast upon it all the triumphal decorations which any of them had ever received from him for any deed of valor. Next the centurions took torches, conformably to a decree of the senate, and kindled the fire from beneath. So it was consumed, and an eagle released from it flew aloft appearing to bear his spirit into heaven. When this had been accomplished most of those present departed; but Livia remained on the spot for five days in company with the most prominent knights, and gathered his bones, which she placed in the monument.

The show of grief required by law was prolonged [-43-] only for a few days by the men, but by the women, according to a decree, for a whole year. Real grief not in the hearts of many at the time, but later felt by all the citizens. Augustus had been accessible to all and was accustomed to aid many persons in the matter of money. He used to bestow honors scrupulously upon his friends and delighted exceedingly to have them speak frankly. One instance, in addition to what has been told, occurred in the case of Athenodorus. The latter was once brought into his room in a covered litter, as if it were some woman, and leaping from it sword in hand asked: "Aren't you afraid that some one may come in this way and kill you?" Instead of being angry Augustus thanked him for his suggestion.

The people consequently were wont to recall these traits of his, and how he did not get blindly enraged at those who injured him as well as how he kept faith with even such as were unworthy of it. There was a robber named Corocotta, who flourished in Spain, and the emperor was in the first place so angry at him that he offered twenty-five myriads to the man that captured him alive. Later the robber came to him of his own accord, and he not only did him no harm but made him richer by the amount of money mentioned. Hence the Romans missed him mightily for these reasons as well as because by mingling monarchy with democracy he preserved their freedom for them and secured orderliness and security, so that their lives, free from the audacities of democracy, free from the wantonness of tyrannies, were cast in a liberty of moderation and under a monarchy without terrors; they were subjects of royalty, yet not slaves, and democratic citizens without discord. [-44-] If any of them remembered his former deeds in the course of the civil wars, they laid them to the pressure of circumstances, and they thought it fair to look for his real disposition, which had given him undisputed authority. This offered, in truth, a mighty contrast. Any one who goes carefully into each of his separate actions will find this true. In regard to the mass of them I must record curtly that he stopped all factional disputes, transformed the government in a way to give it power, and strengthened it greatly. Therefore if any deed of violence is encountered,--as is often bound to happen when the face of a situation shifts unexpectedly,--one might more justly blame the circumstances themselves than him.

Not the smallest factor in his glory was the length of his reign. The majority of those that had lived under a democracy and the more powerful had time to die. Those who were left, knowing nothing of that form of government and having been reared entirely or mostly under existing conditions, were not only not displeased with them,--they had become so familiar,--but took delight in them, for they saw that these were better and more free from terror than others of which they heard.

[-45-] Though the people knew this during his life they nevertheless realized it more fully after his decease. Human nature is so constituted that in good fortune it does not perceive its prosperity so fully as it misses it when evil days arrive. This was the case then in regard to Augustus. When they found his successor Tiberius not the same sort of man they longed for the previous emperor. Persons with their wits about them had some immediate evidence of the change in the constitution. The consul Pompeius, who went out to meet the men bearing the body of Augustus, received a blow in the leg and had to be carried back with the body. An owl sat over the senate-house again at the very first sitting of the senate after his death and uttered many ill-omened cries. The two men differed so from each other that some suspected that Augustus with full knowledge of Tiberius's character had purposely appointed him for successor to the end that he himself might have greater glory. This began to be rumored at a later date.

[-46-] At this time they declared Augustus immortal and assigned to him attendants and sacred rites, making Livia (who was already called Julia and Augusta) his priestess. Permission was granted Livia to employ a lictor during the services. And she bestowed upon a certain Numerius Atticus, a senatorial exprætor, twenty-five myriads because he swore that he had seen Augustus ascending into heaven after the manner described in the cases of Proclus and of Romulus. A heroüm voted by the senate and built by Livia and Tiberius was erected to the dead emperor in Rome, and others at many different points, sometimes with the consent of the nations concerned and sometimes without their consent. Also the house at Nola, where he passed away, was dedicated to him as a precinct. While the heroüm was being built in Rome, they placed a golden image of him upon a couch in the temple of Mars, and to this they paid all the honors that they were afterward to give to his statue. Other votes in regard to him were that his image should not be borne in procession at any one's funeral and the consuls should celebrate his birthday with games no less than that of Mars[8] the tribunes, as being sacrosanct, were to manage the Augustalia. These officials conducted everything as had been the custom, wearing the triumphal costume at the horse-race; they did not, however, ascend the chariot. Besides this Livia held a private festival in his honor for three days in the Palatium, and this is continued to the present day by whoever is emperor.

[-47-] This was the extent of the decrees passed in memory of Augustus nominally by the senate but really by Tiberius and Livia. Various men made various motions and they decided that Tiberius should receive written proposals from them and pick out whatever he chose. I have added the name of Livia because she took a share in the proceedings, as though she had full power.

Meantime the populace was plunged in tumult because at the Augustalia one of the dancers would not enter the theatre for the stipulated pay. They did not cease their disturbances until the tribunes convened the senate without delay and begged that body to allow them to spend something more than the legal amount.--Here ends my account of Augustus.

[Footnote 1: Undoubtedly _C. Vibius_ POSTUMUS is the person meant.]

[Footnote 2: Reading [Greek: paremenoi] (Boissevain, following the MS.).]

[Footnote 3: A leaf is here missing in the codex Marcianus. Of the portion lost Zonaras supplies about one quarter.]

[Footnote 4: Another leaf of the codex Marcianus is here lacking, leaving a gap of which Zonaras and an Excerpt of de Valois supply a sixth or more.]

[Footnote 5: A conjecture of Boissevain's. The MS. has "Sardinia." (See Mnemosyne, N.S. XIII, p. 329.)]

[Footnote 6: Dio here appears to confuse the festival of Augustus's Birthday (September 23d) with that of the Augustalia proper, which was celebrated October third to twelfth. The opening of chapter 34, Book Fifty-four, might lead one to think, however, that he had accustomed himself to use the phrase "which are still celebrated" to listing the latter from the former.]

[Footnote 7: This sentence in the MS. is faulty. Oddey and Bekker supplied words for the necessary sense.]

[Footnote 8: Compare Roscher, II, column 2399.];

DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY

57

The following is contained in the Fifty-seventh of Dio's Rome:

About Tiberius (chapter I ff.). How Cappadocia began to be governed by Romans (chapter 17). How Germanicus Cæsar died (chapter 18). How Drusus Cæsar died (chapter 22).

Duration of time, 11 years, in which there were the following magistrates here enumerated:

Drusus Cæsar Tiberi F., C. Norbanus C. F. Flaccus (A.D. 15 = a. u. 768 = Second of Tiberius, from Aug. 19th.)

T. Statilius T. F. Sisenna Taurus, L. Scribonius L. F. Libo. (A.D. 16 = a. u. 769 = Third of Tiberius.)

C. Cæcilius C. F. Nepos [or] Rufus, L. Pomponius L. F. Flaccus. (A.D. 17 = a. u. 770 = Fourth of Tiberius.)

Tib. Cæsar Augusti F. (III), Germanicus Cæsar Tib. F. (II). (A.D. 18 = a. u. 771 = Fifth of Tiberius.)

M. Iunius M. F. Silanus, C. Norbanus C. F. Flaccus or Balbus. (A.D. 19 = a. u. 772 = Sixth of Tiberius.)

M. Valerius M. F. Messala, M. Aurelius M. F. Cotta. (A.D. 20 = a. u. 773 = Seventh of Tiberius.)

Tib. Cæsar Augusti F. (IV), Drusus Iulius Tib. F. (II). (A.D. 21 = a. u. 774 = Eighth of Tiberius.)

Decimus Haterius C. F. Agrippa, C. Sulpicius Serg. F. Galba. (A.D. 22 = a. u. 775 = Ninth of Tiberius.)

C. Asinius C. F. Pollio, C. Antistius C. F. Vetus. (A.D. 23 = a. u. 776 = Tenth of Tiberius.)

Sergius Cornelius Sergi F. Cethego, L. Visellius L. F. Varro. (A.D. 24 = a. u. 777 = Eleventh of Tiberius.)

M. [or C.] Asinius [M. or] C. F. Agrippa, Cossus Cornelius Cossi F. Lentulus. (A.D. 25 = a. u. 778 = Twelfth of Tiberius.)

_(BOOK 57 BOISSEVAIN)_

[A.D. 14 (_a. u._ 767)]

[-1-] Tiberius was a patrician of good education, but he had a most peculiar nature. He never let what he desired appear in his talk, and about what he said he wished he usually cared nothing at all. Thus his words indicated just the opposite of his real purpose: be denied any interest in what he longed for and urged the claims of what he hated. He would exhibit anger over matters that were very far from arousing his rage and made a show of affability where he was most vexed. He would pity those whom he severely punished and retain a grudge against those whom he pardoned. Sometimes he would regard his dearest foe as his nearest friend and again he would act toward his most intimate companion as if the latter were thoroughly hostile. In general, he thought it bad policy for the independent sovereign to reveal his state of mind; this was the source, he said, of great failures, but by the opposite course even more successes, and greater, were attained. If he had merely followed this method without complications, he would have had no protection against such as had come to know him; they would have taken everything by contraries and would have deemed his saying that he did not wish something to be equivalent to his ardently desiring it, and that he was eager for something equivalent to his not being concerned about it. It happened, however, that he became angry if any one gave evidence of understanding him. Many were those he put to death for no other offence than having comprehended him. It was a dangerous matter, then, to fail to understand him--for many were ruined by approving what he said instead of what he wished,--but still more dangerous to understand him. Such persons were suspected of discovering his practice and being consequently displeased with it. Practically the only sort of man that could maintain himself,--and such a person is rarely found,--was one who did not misunderstand his nature yet did not subject it to uncomfortable exposure. Under these conditions men would not be deceived by believing him nor be hated for revealing their comprehension of his policy. For he gave plenty of trouble both to any one who opposed what he said and to any one who favored it. As he was really anxious for one thing to be done but wanted to appear to desire something different, he invariably regarded those who took either side as his opponents and therefore was hostile to the one class because of his real feelings, and to the other for the sake of appearances.

[-2-] It was due to this characteristic that, as emperor, he sent a dispatch straight from Nola to the legions and provinces declaring that he was emperor. This name, which was voted him along with the rest, he would not accept, and though taking the portion of Augustus he would not adopt this title of his. At a time when he was already surrounded by the body-guards he asked the senate to help him escape suffering any violence at the burial of the emperor's body. He was afraid some men might snatch it up and burn it in the Forum, as they had that of Cæsar. When somebody thereupon as a compliment voted that he be given a guard, as if he had none, he saw through the man's flattery and answered: "The soldiers are not mine but the public's." Besides doing this he administered in fact all the business of the empire, meanwhile declaring that he wanted none of it. At first he said he should give it all up on account of his age,--fifty-six,--and his near-sightedness (although he saw extremely well in the dark, his eyes in the daylight were very weak). Later he asked for some associates and colleagues, though not to take charge of the whole domain at once, as in an oligarchy, but he divided it into three parts, one of which he should retain himself and yield the remaining two to others. One of these portions consisted of Rome and the rest of Italy, the second of the legions, the third of the subject peoples outside. Though he became very urgent, most of the senators still opposed him and begged him to govern the entire realm. But Asinius Gallus, who employed the frank speech of old days more than was good for him, replied: "Choose whichever part you wish." Tiberius rejoined: "How is it feasible for the same man both to make the division and to choose?" Gallus, perceiving into what a plight he had fallen, framed his words to flatter him, interrupting to the effect that: "I not setting before you the idea of your having a third but the impossibility of the empire's being divided." In fact, however, he did not mollify Tiberius, but after first undergoing many dire sufferings was subsequently murdered. For Gallus had married the former wife of the new ruler and claimed Drusus as his son, and consequently there had been hatred between them before this.

[-3-] Tiberius acted in this way at that time chiefly because it was his nature and he had determined upon that policy, but partly also because he was suspicious of the Pannonian and Germanic legions and feared Germanicus, the ruler of the Germany of that day and a favorite of theirs. He had previously made sure of the soldiers in Italy by means of the oaths established by Augustus; but as he was suspicious of the others he waited for either possible outcome, intending to save himself by retiring to private life in case the legions should revolt and prevail. For this reason he often feigned sickness and remained at home, so as not to be compelled to say or do anything definite. I have even heard that when it began to be said that Livia against the will of Augustus had kept the empire for him, he took such action[1] that he might appear to have received it not from her (with whom he was on very bad terms), but under compulsion from the senators through surpassing them in excellence. Again I have heard that when he saw that people were cool toward him he waited and delayed in order that they in the hope of his voluntarily resigning the empire might no adopt rebellious measures until he had secured an unshakable control of the government. Still, I do not record these stories as the true causes of his delay, but rather his usual disposition and the disturbance among the soldiers. He sent some one from Nola and had Agrippa killed at once. Yet he declared this had not been done by his orders and he threatened the perpetrator of the deed. Instead of punishing him, however, he allowed men to invent versions of the affair some to the effect that Augustus had put him out of the way just before his death, others that the centurion who was guarding him slew him on his own responsibility for some revolutionary dealings, others that Livia and not Tiberius had ordered his death.

[-4-] This rival, then, he had removed from the scene immediately, but there remained Germanicus, whom he feared mightily. The soldiers in Pannonia had risen as soon as they learned of the demise of Augustus. They gathered in one fort and having strengthened it they took many steps toward rebellion. Among other things they attempted to kill their leader, Junius Blæsus, and arrested and tortured his slaves. In general, what they wanted was to have the period of service extend over not more than sixteen years, and they demanded that they should receive a denarius per day and be given at once his prizes that were in the camp. In case they did not obtain their demands they threatened to make the province revolt and to march upon Rome. Indeed, they were at this time with difficulty won over by the persuasions of Blæsus to send envoys to Tiberius at Rome in regard to these matters. For they hoped during this change in the government to accomplish the utmost of their desires either by frightening the emperor into it or by giving the power to some one else. Subsequently, when Drusus came upon them with the Pretorians, they were thrown into tumult once more because no definite answer was returned them. Some of his followers they wounded and they put a guard around him in the night to prevent his escape. Noticing, however, an eclipse of the moon occurring they felt their boldness begin to waver so that they did no further harm to this detachment and despatched envoys again to Tiberius. Meantime a great storm came up, and when on this account every one had retired to his own quarters, the most audacious soldiers were destroyed, some in one manner, some in another, by Drusus and his associates in his own tent, whither he had summoned them on some unsignifying pretext. The rest were restored to good standing on condition of surrendering for punishment those responsible for the uprising. In this way this division became quiet.

[-5-] The warriors in Germany, however, where many had been assembled on account of the war, would not hear of moderation, since they saw that Germanicus was both a Cæsar and far superior to Tiberius, but proclaiming publicly the above facts they heaped abuse upon Tiberius and saluted Germanicus as emperor. When after much pleading he found himself unable to reduce them to order, finally he drew his sword as if to despatch himself. They cried out upon him in horror, and one of them proffering his own sword said: "Take this; this is sharper." Germanicus, seeing to what lengths the matter had gone, did not venture to kill himself, particularly as he had reason to believe that they would persist in their uprising none the less. Therefore he composed a letter purporting to have been sent from Tiberius, gave them twice the gift bequeathed them by Augustus,--pretending it was the emperor who did this,--and released those who were beyond the age of service. Most of them belonged to the city troops which Augustus had gathered as an extra force after the disaster to Varus. As a result, they ceased for the time being their seditious behavior. Later on came senators as envoys from Tiberius, to whom the latter had secretly communicated only so much as he wished Germanicus to know. He felt quite sure that they would tell him the emperor's plans in their entirety, and accordingly did not care that either they or Germanicus should trouble themselves about anything further; the instructions delivered were supposed to comprise everything. Now when these men had arrived and the soldiers learned about the trick Germanicus had played, a suspicion sprang up that the presence of the senators meant the overthrow of their leader's measures, and this led to new turmoil. The men-at-arms almost killed some of the envoys and to the point of seizing Germanicus's wife Agrippina (daughter of Agrippa and Julia, the daughter of Augustus) and his son, both of whom had been sent by him to some place for refuge. The boy was called Gaius Caligula because, being brought up for the most part in the camp he wore the military shoes instead of those usual at the capital. At the request of Germanicus they released to him Agrippina, who was pregnant but they retained possession of Gaius. Yet on this occasion too, as they accomplished nothing, they after a time grew quiet. In fact, they experienced such a revulsion of sentiment that of their own accord they arrested the boldest of their number: and some they killed privately, the rest they brought before a gathering; and then, according to the wish of the majority, [-6-] they executed some and released others. Germanicus being still afraid that they would make another uprising invaded the enemy's country and there spent some time, giving them plenty of work and abundant food,--the fruit of others' labor.

Thus, though he might have obtained the imperial power,--for he found favor in the sight of absolutely all the Romans as well as their subjects,--he declined the honor. For this Tiberius praised him and sent many pleasing messages both to him and to Agrippina: he was not, however, pleased with his rival's progress but feared him all the more because he had won the attachment of the legions. Tiberius assumed that he did not feel as he appeared to do, from his own consciousness of saying one thing and doing another. Hence he was suspicious of Germanicus and further suspicious of his wife, who was possessed of an ambition appropriate to her lofty lineage. Yet he displayed no sign of irritation toward them, but delivered many eulogies of Germanicus in the senate and proposed sacrifices to be offered in honor of his achievements as he did in the case of Drusus. Also he bestowed upon the soldiers in Pannonia the same privileges as Germanicus had given. For the future, however, he refused to release members of the service outside of Italy until they had served the twenty years.

[-7-] Now when no further news of a revolutionary nature came, but all parts of the Roman world began to yield a steady acquiescence to his leadership, he no longer practiced dissimulation regarding the acceptance of sovereign power, and managed the empire, so long as Germanicus lived, in the way I am about to describe. He did little or nothing, that is, on his own responsibility, but brought even the smallest matters before the senate and communicated them to that body. In the Forum a platform had been erected on which he sat in public to transact business, and he always gathered about him advisers, after the manner of Augustus. Moreover, he did not take any step of consequence without making it known to the rest. He stated his own opinion openly and not only granted every one the right to oppose it freely in speech, but sometimes even endured to have some vote directly against it. Often he would cast a vote himself. Drusus did this, like the rest, now voting first and again after some others. The emperor would sometimes remain silent and sometimes give his opinion first, or after a few others, or even last; in some cases he would speak out directly, but generally (to avoid appearing to have cut short their freedom of speech), he would say: "If I were to give my views I should propose this or that." This had equal influence with the other method, only those who came after were not prevented by him from stating what appeared good to them. But frequently he would outline one plan and those who came after him would prefer something different; occasionally they even prevailed. Yet for all that he harbored anger against no one. He held court himself, as I have stated, but he also attended the magistrates' courts, both when summoned by them and without an invitation. These officials he allowed to sit in their own places: he himself took his seat on the bench located opposite them and as presiding officer made any remarks that seemed to him pertinent.

[-8-] In all other matters, too, he behaved in this same way. He would not allow himself to be called "master" by the freedmen, nor "imperator" except by the soldiers; the title of _Pater Patriæ_ he put away from him entirely: that of _Augustus_ he did not assume (for he never permitted the question to be put to vote), but endured to hear it spoken and to read it when written. Moreover, when he sent messages to any kings he would regularly include this title in his letter. In general he spoke of himself as Cæsar, sometimes as Germanicus (from the exploits of Germanicus), and _Princeps Senatus_, according to ancient usage. Often he used to say: "My position is that of master of the slaves, imperator of the soldiers, and first citizen among the rest." He would pray, whenever it happened that he was so engaged, that he might live and rule so long a time as should be to the advantage of the public. And he was so democratic in all circumstances alike that on his birthday he did not permit any unusual demonstrations, and he did not give people the right to swear by his Fortune nor did he prosecute any one who after swearing by it incurred the charge of perjury. In short, he would not (at first, at least) sanction in his own case the carrying out of the custom which has obtained as a matter of course on the first day of the year, down to the present, in honor of Augustus, of all rulers that came after him of whom we make any account, and of such as nowadays succeed to imperial privileges,--namely, the ratification under oath of what they have done and of what they shall do by citizens alive during the particular year in question. Yet in the case of the measures of Augustus he both administered the oath to others and took it himself. In order to render his attitude more striking, he would let the first day of the month go by, not entering the senate nor showing himself at all in the City on that day, but spending the time in some suburb; then later he would come in and take pledges separately. This was part of the reason that he remained somewhere outside on the first days of the month, but he was also anxious to avoid disturbing any of the inhabitants, who were concerned with the new offices and the festival, and to avoid taking money from them. He did not even commend Augustus for his behavior in this respect because it brought about great dissatisfaction and a great expenditure in order to return favors. [-9-] Not only in this way were his actions democratic, but no precinct was set apart for him either by his own choice or in any other way,--that is to say at this time. Nor was any one allowed to set up an image of him. Without delay he expressly forbade any city or individual to do this. To this refusal he attached the phrase "unless I grant permission "; but he added: "I will not grant it." Least of all did he assume to have been insulted or to have been impiously treated by any one. (Men were already calling such a procedure impiety, and were bringing many suits based on that ground.) He would not hear of any such indictment being brought for his own benefit, though he paid tribute to the majesty of Augustus in this matter also. At first he would not punish even such as had incurred charges for their actions in regard to his predecessor, and some against whom complaint was made of their having perjured themselves by the Fortune of Augustus he released. As time went on, however, he put a very great number to death.

[-10-] Not only did he magnify Augustus as above stated, but in giving the finishing touches to the buildings of which Augustus had laid the foundations (though not bringing them to completion) he inscribed the first emperor's name; the latter's statues and heroä, likewise, whether those that the provinces or those that individuals were erecting he partly consecrated himself and partly assigned to some member of the pontifices. This plan of inscribing the builder's name he carried out not only in the case of the actual monuments of Augustus himself, but equally in the case of all such as needed any repair. He put in good condition all buildings that had fallen to decay (not constructing anything new at all himself, except the temple of Augustus), and appropriated none of them, but restored to all of them the same names, names of the original builders. While expending extremely little for himself he laid out very great sums for the common good, either building over or adorning practically all the public works. He assisted many cities and individuals and enriched numerous senators who were poor and on that account were no longer willing to be members of the senate. However, he did not do this promiscuously and even expunged the names of some for licentiousness and of others for poverty when they could give no adequate reason for it. Every gift that was bestowed upon any persons was counted out directly in his presence. For since in the days of Augustus the officials who made the presentation were wont to deduct large sums for their own use, he took the greatest care that this should not happen during his reign. All the expenditures, moreover, he made from the regular sources of income. He killed no one for his money, did not confiscate (at this time) any one's property, nor collect any funds by abuses. Indeed, when Aemilius Rectus once sent him from Egypt, of which he was governor, more money than was required, he sent him a message, saying: "To shear my sheep and not to shave them to the skin is what I desire."