Complete Works of Tacitus (Delphi Classics) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 24)

by Publius Cornelius Tacitus

  [6.7] Tum facta patribus potestate statuendi de Caeciliano senatore qui plurima adversum Cottam prompserat, placitum eandem poenam inrogari quam in Aruseium et Sanquinium, accusatores L. Arruntii: quo non aliud honorificentius Cottae evenit, qui nobilis quidem set egens ob luxum, per flagitia infamis, sanctissimis Arruntii artibus dignitate ultionis aequabatur. Q. Servaeus posthac et Minucius Thermus inducti, Servaeus praetura functus et quondam Germanici comes, Minucius equestri loco, modeste habita Seiani amicitia; unde illis maior miseratio. contra Tiberius praecipuos ad scelera increpans admonuit C. Cestium patrem dicere senatui quae sibi scripisset, suscepitque Cestius accusationem. quod maxime exitiabile tulere illa tempora, cum primores senatus infimas etiam delationes exercerent, alii propalam, multi per occultum; neque discerneres alienos a coniunctis, amicos ab ignotis, quid repens aut vetustate obscurum: perinde in foro, in convivio, quaqua de re locuti incusabantur, ut quis praevenire et reum destinare properat, pars ad subsidium sui, plures infecti quasi valetudine et contactu. sed Minu cius et Servaeus damnati indicibus accessere. tractique sunt in casum eundem Iulius Africanus e Santonis Gallica civitate, Seius Quadratus: originem non repperi. neque sum ignarus a plerisque scriptoribus omissa multorum pericula et poenas, dum copia fatiscunt aut quae ipsis nimia et maesta fuerant ne pari taedio lecturos adficerent verentur: nobis pleraque digna cognitu obvenere, quamquam ab aliis incelebrata.

  7 The Fathers were then empowered to decide upon the case of Gaius Caecilianus, a senator who had produced most of the evidence against Cotta; and it was agreed that the same penalty should be inflicted as on Aruseius and Sanquinius, the accusers of Lucius Arruntius. It was the most signal compliment that ever fell to the share of Cotta; who, noble undoubtedly, but beggared by his prodigality and degraded by his vices, was now honoured with a vengeance that placed him on a level with the spotless character of Arruntius. Next, Quintus Servaeus and Minucius Thermus were brought to judgement — Servaeus, an ex-praetor formerly included in Germanicus’ suite; Minucius, of equestrian rank. Each had refrained from abusing his friendship with Sejanus; a fact which gained them peculiar sympathy. Tiberius, on the other hand, denouncing them as ringleaders in crime, instructed the elder Gaius Cestius to repeat to the senate what he had written to himself; and Cestius duly undertook the prosecution. It was, indeed, the most deadly blight of the age that prominent senators practised even the basest forms of delation, some with perfect openness, and many in private. Nor could any distinction be traced between alien and relative, between friend and stranger, between the events of to-day and those of the dim past. Alike in the Forum or at a dinner-party, to speak of any subject was to be accused: for every man was hastening to be first in the field and to mark down his victim, occasionally in self-defence, generally through infection with what seemed a contagious disease. However, Minucius and Servaeus, on being found guilty, joined the informers; and the same ruin involved Julius Africanus, from the Gallic community of the Santones, and Seius Quadratus, whose antecedents I have not discovered. — Nor am I unaware that the perils and penalties of many are passed over by a number of historians; who either lose heart from the abundance of their materials or apprehend that a list which they themselves found long and depressing may produce equal disgust in their readers. For my own part, much has come my way that deserves a record, even though unchronicled by others.

  [6.8] Nam ea tempestate qua Seiani amicitiam ceteri falso exuerant ausus est eques Romanus M. Terentius, ob id reus, amplecti, ad hunc modum apud senatum ordiendo: ‘fortunae quidem meae fortasse minus expediat adgnoscere crimen quam abnuere: sed utcumque casura res est, fatebor et fuisse me Seiano amicum et ut essem expetisse et postquam adeptus eram laetatum. videram collegam patris regendis praetoriis cohortibus, mox urbis et militiae munis simul obeuntem. illius propinqui et adfines honoribus augebantur; ut quisque Seiano intimus ita ad Caesaris amicitiam validus: contra quibus infensus esset, metu ac sordibus conflictabantur. nec quemquam exemplo adsumo: cunctos qui novissimi consilii expertes fuimus meo unius discrimine defendam. non enim Seianum Vulsiniensem set Claudiae et Iuliae domus partem, quas adfinitate occu paverat, tuum, Caesar, generum, tui consulatus socium, tua officia in re publica capessentem colebamus. non est nostrum aestimare quem supra ceteros et quibus de causis extollas: tibi summum rerum iudicium di dedere, nobis obsequii gloria relicta est. spectamus porro quae coram habentur, cui ex te opes honores, quis plurima iuvandi nocendive potentia, quae Seiano fuisse nemo negaverit. abditos principis sensus et si quid occultius parat exquirere inlicitum, anceps: nec ideo adsequare. ne, patres conscripti, ultimum Seiani diem sed sedecim annos cogi taveritis. etiam Satrium atque Pomponium venerabamur; libertis quoque ac ianitoribus eius notescere pro magnifico accipiebatur. quid ergo? indistincta haec defensio et promisca dabitur? immo iustis terminis dividatur. insidiae in rem publicam, consilia caedis adversum imperatorem puniantur: de amicitia et officiis idem finis et te, Caesar, et nos absolverit.’

  8 For instance, at the very period when all others had falsely disclaimed the friendship of Sejanus, the Roman knight Marcus Terentius, accused on that score, dared to embrace the accusation:—”In my plight,” so ran his exordium in the senate, “it may perhaps be less profitable to avow than to deny the charge; but, however the event is to fall, I shall confess that not only was I the friend of Sejanus, but that I strove for his friendship, and that, when I attained it, I rejoiced. I had seen him the colleague of his father in command of the praetorian cohorts; and, later, discharging civil duties as well as military. His relatives by blood and marriage were honoured with offices; the closer a man’s intimacy with Sejanus, the stronger his claim to the emperor’s friendship; while, in contrast, danger and the garb of supplication were the troubled lot of his enemies. I take no man for my text: all who, like myself, were without part in his ultimate design, I shall defend at my own risk only. For we courted, not Sejanus of Vulsinii, but the member of those Claudian and Julian houses into which his alliances had won him entry; your son-in-law, Caesar; the partner of your consulate; the agent who discharged your functions in the state. It is not ours to ask whom you exalt above his fellow, or why: you the gods have made the sovereign arbiter of things; to us has been left the glory of obedience. Moreover, we see only what is laid before our eyes, — the person who holds wealth and dignities from you, — those who have the greatest power to help or to injure, — and that Sejanus had all, no man will deny! To search out the hidden thoughts of the emperor and the designs he may shape in secret, is unlawful and is dangerous: nor would the searcher necessarily find. Conscript Fathers, think not of the last day of Sejanus, but of the sixteen years of Sejanus! We venerated even Satrius and Pomponius; it was accounted nobly done, if we grew known to his very freedmen and his janitors! What then? Is this defence to be allowed without discrimination to all and sundry? Not so: let the dividing line be drawn true; let treason against the realm, projected assassination of the sovereign, meet their punishment; but, when friendship and its duties are in question, if we terminate them at the same moment as you, we are vindicated, Caesar, along with yourself!”

  [6.9] Constantia orationis et quia repertus erat qui efferret quae omnes animo agitabant eo usque potuere ut accusatores eius, additis quae ante deliquerant, exilio aut morte multarentur. Secutae dehinc Tiberii litterae in Sex. Vistilium praetorium, quem Druso fratri percarum in cohortem suam transtulerat. causa offensionis Vistilio fuit, seu composuerat quaedam in Gaium Caesarem ut impudicum, sive ficto habita fides. atque ob id convictu principis prohibitus cum senili manu ferrum temptavisset, obligat venas; precatus que per codicillos, immiti rescripto venas resolvit. acervatim ex eo Annius Pollio, Appius Silanus Scauro Mamerco simul ac Sabino Calvisio maiestatis postulantur, et Vinicianus Pollioni patri adiciebatur, clari genus et quidam summis honoribus. contremuerantque patres (nam quotus quisque adfinitatis aut amicitiae tot inlustrium virorum expers erat?), ni Celsus urbanae cohortis tribunus, tum inter indices, Appium et Calvisium discrimini exemisset. Caesar Pollionis ac Viniciani Scaurique causam ut ipse
cum senatu nosceret distulit, datis quibusdam in Scaurum tristibus notis.

  9 The firmness of this speech, and the fact that a man had been discovered to utter what the world was thinking, made so powerful an impression that his accusers, whose former delinquencies were added to the reckoning, were penalized by banishment or death. Now followed a letter from Tiberius directed against the former praetor Sextus Vistilius, whom, as the close friend of his brother Drusus, he had transferred to his own retinue. The ground of displeasure against Vistilius was either his authorship of certain attacks on the morals of Gaius Caesar or a false statement credited by the emperor. Excluded on this score from the emperor’s society, after first making trial of the dagger with a senile hand, he bound up his veins, then sent a written plea for pardon, and, on receiving a pitiless reply, opened them again. Next, in one group, Annius Pollio and Appius Silanus were indicted for treason side by side with Mamercus Scaurus and Calvisius Sabinus, while Vinicianus was coupled with his father Pollio. All were of distinguished family, some of the highest official standing; and the Fathers had begun to tremble — for how few were clear of a connection by marriage or by friendship with so many famous men! — when Celsus, tribune of an urban cohort, and now among the prosecutors, freed Appius and Calvisius from danger. The cases of Pollio, Vinicianus, and Scaurus were adjourned by the emperor for his personal decision in company with the senate, though there were certain ominous indications attached to his mention of Scaurus.

  [6.10] Ne feminae quidem exsortes periculi. quia occu pandae rei publicae argui non poterant, ob lacrimas incusabantur; necataque est anus Vitia, Fufii Gemini mater, quod filii necem flevisset. haec apud senatum: nec secus apud principem Vescularius Flaccus ac Iulius Marinus ad mortem aguntur, e vetustissimis familiarium, Rhodum secuti et apud Capreas individui, Vescularius insidiarum in Libonem internuntius; Marino participe Seianus Curtium Atticum oppresserat. quo laetius acceptum sua exempla in consultores recidisse. Per idem tempus L. Piso pontifex, rarum in tanta claritudine, fato obiit, nullius servilis sententiae sponte auctor et quoties necessitas ingrueret sapienter moderans. patrem ei censorium fuisse memoravi; aetas ad octogesimum annum processit; decus triumphale in Thraecia meruerat. sed praecipua ex eo gloria quod praefectus urbi recens continuam potestatem et insolentia parendi graviorem mire temperavit.

  10 Even women were not exempt from peril. As they could not be accused of grasping at sovereignty, they were indicted for their tears; and the aged Vitia, mother of Fufius Geminus, was put to death because she had wept at the killing of her son. This in the senate: similarly, at the emperor’s tribunal, Vescularius Flaccus and Julius Marinus were hurried to their death — two of his ancient friends, who had followed him to Rhodes and at Capreae, were not divided from him: Vescularius, his intermediary in the plot against Libo; Marinus, the partner of Sejanus in the destruction of Curtius Atticus; whence the greater joy, when it was learned that the precedents had recoiled upon their contrivers. About the same time, the pontiff Lucius Piso — rare accident in one of his great fame — died in the course of nature. Never the willing author of any slavish proposal, if ever necessity pressed too hard, he was still a discreet and restraining influence. His father, as I have mentioned, had held the censorship; his life was prolonged to the eightieth year; and he had earned in Thrace the honour of a triumph. But his main distinction was the remarkable judgement with which, as Urban Prefect, he exercised an authority, only of late continuous, and disliked the more because the habit of obedience was lacking.

  [6.11] Namque antea profectis domo regibus ac mox magistratibus, ne urbs sine imperio foret in tempus deligebatur qui ius redderet ac subitis mederetur; feruntque ab Romulo Dentrem Romulium, post ab Tullo Hostilio Numam Marcium et ab Tarquinio Superbo Spurium Lucretium impositos. dein consules mandabant; duratque simulacrum quoties ob ferias Latinas praeficitur qui consulare munus usurpet. ceterum Augustus bellis civilibus Cilnium Maecenatem equestris ordinis cunctis apud Romam atque Italiam praeposuit: mox rerum potitus ob magnitudinem populi ac tarda legum auxilia sumpsit e consularibus qui coerceret servitia et quod civium audacia turbidum, nisi vim metuat. primusque Messala Corvinus eam potestatem et paucos intra dies finem accepit quasi nescius exercendi; tum Taurus Statilius, quamquam provecta aetate, egregie toleravit; dein Piso viginti per annos pariter probatus publico funere ex decreto senatus celebratus est.

  11 For previously, to avoid leaving the capital without a compete authority, when the kings — or, later, the magistrates — had to absent themselves from home, it was usual to choose a temporary official to preside in the courts and deal with emergencies; and the tradition runs that Denter Romulius was appointed by Romulus, and, subsequently, Numa Marcius by Tullus Hostilius, and Spurius Lucretius by Tarquinius Superbus. Then the right of delegation passed to the consuls; and a shade of the old order lingers whenever, on account of the Latin Festival, a Prefect is commissioned to discharge the consular functions. Again, in the civil wars, Augustus placed Cilnius Maecenas of the equestrian order at the head of all affairs in Rome and Italy. Then, upon his advent to power, as the population was large and legal remedies dilatory, he took from the body of ex-consuls an official to coerce the slaves as well as that class of the free-born community whose boldness renders it turbulent, unless it is overawed by force. Messala Corvinus was the first to receive those powers, only to forfeit them within a few days on the ground of his incapacity to exercise them. Next, Statilius Taurus upheld the position admirably in spite of his advanced age; and finally Piso, after acquitting himself with equal credit for twenty years, was honoured by decree of the senate with a public funeral.

  [6.12] Relatum inde ad patres a Quintiliano tribuno plebei de libro Sibullae, quem Caninius Gallus quindecimvirum recipi inter ceteros eiusdem vatis et ea de re senatus consultum postulaverat. quo per discessionem facto misit litteras Caesar, modice tribunum increpans ignarum antiqui moris ob iuventam. Gallo exprobrabat quod scientiae caerimoniarumque vetus incerto auctore ante sententiam collegii, non, ut adsolet, lecto per magistros aestimatoque carmine, apud infrequentem senatum egisset. simul commonefecit, quia multa vana sub nomine celebri vulgabantur. sanxisse Augustum quem intra diem ad praetorem urbanum deferrentur neque habere privatim liceret. quod a maioribus quoque decretum erat post exustum sociali bello Capitolium, quaesitis Samo, Ilio, Erythris, per Africam etiam ac Siciliam et Italicas colonias carminibus Sibullae, una seu plures fuer datoque sacerdotibus negotio quantum humana ope potuissent vera discernere. igitur tunc quoque notioni quindecimvirum is liber subicitur.

  12 A proposal was now put to the Fathers by the plebeian tribune Quintilianus with regard to a Sibylline book; Caninius Gallus, of the Fifteen, demanding its admission among the other verses of the same prophetess, and a senatorial decree on the point. This had been accorded without discussion, when the emperor forwarded a letter, in which he passed a lenient criticism on the tribune “whose youth accounted for his ignorance of old custom”: to Gallus he expressed his displeasure that he, “long familiar with religious theory and ritual, had on dubious authority forestalled the decision of his College, and, before the poem had, as usual, been read and considered by the Masters, had brought up the question in a thinly attended senate.” He reminded him at the same time that, because of the many apocryphal works circulated under the famous name, Augustus had fixed a day within which they were to be delivered to the Urban Praetor, private ownership becoming illegal. — A similar decision had been taken even at an earlier period, after the burning of the Capitol during the Social War; when the verses of the Sibyl, or Sibyls, as the case may be, were collected from Samos, Ilium, and Erythrae, and even in Africa, Sicily, and the Graeco-Italian colonies; the priests being entrusted with the task of sifting out the genuine specimens, so far as should have been possible by human means. Hence, in this case also, the book in question was submitted to the examination of the Quindecimvirate.

  [6.13] Isdem consulibus gravitate annonae iuxta seditionem ventum multaque et pluris per dies in theatro licentius efflagitata
quam solitum adversum imperatorem. quis commotus incusavit magistratus patresque quod non publica auctoritate populum coercuissent addiditque quibus ex provinciis et quanto maiorem quam Augustus rei frumentariae copiam advectaret. ita castigandae plebi compositum senatus consultum prisca severitate neque segnius consules edixere. silentium ipsius non civile, ut crediderat, sed in superbiam accipiebatur.

  13 Under the same consuls, the excessive price of cornº all but ended in rioting; and large demands were for several days made in the theatre with a freedom not usually employed towards the sovereign. Aroused by this, he upbraided the magistrates and the senate for having failed to restrain the populace by the authority of the state; and, in addition, pointed to the provinces from which he imported the corn-supply, and to the fact that he did so on a far greater scale than Augustus. In the hope, then, of reducing the commons to order, the senate framed a resolution of old-fashioned severity; while an edict not less drastic was issued by the consuls. The silence of Tiberius himself was not, as he had thought, taken for democratic forbearance but for pride.

  [6.14] Fine anni Geminius, Celsus, Pompeius, equites Romani, cecidere coniurationis crimine; ex quis Geminius prodigentia opum ac mollitia vitae amicus Seiano, nihil ad serium. et Iulius Celsus tribunus in vinclis laxatam catenam et circumdatam in diversum tendens suam ipse cervicem perfregit. at Rubrio Fabato, tamquam desperatis rebus Romanis Parthorum ad misericordiam fugeret, custodes additi. sane is repertus apud fretum Siciliae retractusque per centurionem nullas probabilis causas longinquae peregrinationis adferebat: mansit tamen incolumis oblivione magis quam clementia.