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

by Publius Cornelius Tacitus

  21 Mithridates was handed over in due course and conveyed to Rome by Junius Cilo, the procurator of Pontus. The tale went that he spoke before the emperor’s tribunal with a spirit not warranted by his situation, and one sentence came to the knowledge of the public, the words being: “I have not been returned to you; I return. If you doubt, let me go, and fetch me!” His features did not even lose their intrepidity, when he was being displayed beside the Rostra, in the midst of his warders, to the gaze of the populace. — Consular decorations were voted to Cilo, praetorian to Aquila.

  [22] Isdem consulibus atrox odii Agrippina ac Lolliae infensa, quod secum de matrimonio principis certavisset, molitur crimina et accusatorem qui obiceret Chaldaeos, magos interrogatumque Apollinis Clarii simulacrum super nuptiis imperatoris. exim Claudius inaudita rea multa de claritudine eius apud senatum praefatus, sorore L. Volusii genitam, maiorem ei patruum Cottam Messalinum esse, Memmio quondam Regulo nuptam (nam de G. Caesaris nuptiis consulto reticebat), addidit perniciosa in rem publicam consilia et materiem sceleri detrahendam: proin publicatis bonis cederet Italia. ita quinquagies sestertium ex opibus immensis exuli relictum. et Calpurnia inlustris femina pervertitur, quia formam eius laudaverat princeps, nulla libidine, sed fortuito sermone, unde ira Agrippinae citra ultima stetit. in Lolliam mittitur tribunus, a quo ad mortem adigeretur. damnatus et lege repetundarum Cadius Rufus accusantibus Bithynis.

  22 In the same consulate, Agrippina, fierce in her hatreds, and infuriated against Lollia as her rival for the emperor’s hand, arranged for her prosecution and her prosecutor, the charges to be traffic with Chaldaeans and magicians, and application to the image of the Clarian Apollo for information as to the sovereign’s marriage. On this, Claudius — without hearing the defendant, — delivered a long exordium in the senate on the subject of her family distinctions, pointing out that her mother had been the sister of Lucius Volusius, her great-uncle Cotta Messalinus, herself the bride formerly of Memmius Regulus (her marriage with Caligula was deliberately suppressed); then added that her projects were pernicious to the state and she must be stripped of her resources for mischief: it would be best, therefore, to confiscate her property and expel her from Italy. Accordingly, out of her immense estate five million sesterces were spared to support her exile. Calpurnia also, a woman of high rank, came to ruin because Claudius had praised her appearance, not amorously, but in a casual conversation, so that Agrippina’s anger stopped short of the last consequences: in Lollia’s case, a tribune was despatched to enforce her suicide. Another condemnation was that of Cadius Rufus under the law of extortion, the indictment being brought by the Bithynians.

  [23] Galliae Narbonensi ob egregiam in patres reverentiam datum ut senatoribus eius provinciae non exquisita principis sententia, iure quo Sicilia haberetur, res suas invisere liceret. Ituraeique et Iudaei defunctis regibus Sohaemo atque Agrippa provinciae Syriae additi. Salutis augurium quinque et septuaginta annis omissum repeti ac deinde continuari placitum. et pomerium urbis auxit Caesar, more prisco, quo iis qui protulere imperium etiam terminos urbis propagare datur. nec tamen duces Romani, quamquam magnis nationibus subactis, usurpaverant nisi L. Sulla et divus Augustus.

  23 For its exemplary deference to the senate, Narbonese Gaul was so far privileged that members from the province were allowed the right, obtaining in the case of Sicily, of visiting their estates without first ascertaining the pleasure of the emperor. Ituraea and Judaea, on the death of their sovereigns, Sohaemus and Agrippa, were attached to the province of Syria. A decision was taken that the Augury of Safety, disused for the last seventy-five years, should be reintroduced and continued for the future. The Caesar also enlarged the pomerium, in consonance with the old custom, by which an expansion of the empire confers the right to extend similarly the boundaries of the city: a right, however, which, even after the conquest of powerful nations, had been exercised by no Roman commander except Lucius Sulla and the deified Augustus.

  [24] Regum in eo ambitio vel gloria varie vulgata: sed initium condendi, et quod pomerium Romulus posuerit, noscere haud absurdum reor. igitur a foro boario, ubi aereum tauri simulacrum aspicimus, quia id genus animalium aratro subditur, sulcus designandi oppidi coeptus ut magnam Herculis aram amplecteretur; inde certis spatiis interiecti lapides per ima montis Palatini ad aram Consi, mox curias veteres, tum ad sacellum Larum, inde forum Romanum; forumque et Capitolium non a Romulo, sed a Tito Tatio additum urbi credidere. mox pro fortuna pomerium auctum. et quos tum Claudius terminos posuerit, facile cognitu et publicis actis perscriptum.

  24 As to the vanity or glory of the various kings in that respect, differing accounts are given; but the original foundation, and the character of the pomerium as fixed by Romulus, seem to me a reasonable subject of investigation. From the Forum Boarium, then, where the brazen bull which meets the view is explained by the animal’s use in the plough, the furrow to mark out the town was cut so as to take in the great altar of Hercules. From that point, boundary-stones were interspersed at fixed intervals along the base of the Palatine Hill up to the altar of Consus, then to the old curiae, then again to the shrine of the Lares, and after that to the Forum Romanum. The Forum and the Capitol, it was believed, were added to the city, not by Romulus but by Titus Tatius. Later, the pomerium grew with the national fortunes: the limits as now determined by Claudius are both easily identified and recorded in public documents.

  [25] C. Antistio M. Suillio consulibus adoptio in Domitium auctoritate Pallantis festinatur, qui obstrictus Agrippinae ut conciliator nuptiarum et mox stupro eius inligatus, stimulabat Claudium consuleret rei publicae, Britannici pueritiam robore circumdaret: sic apud divum Augustum, quamquam nepotibus subnixum, viguisse privignos; a Tiberio super propriam stirpem Germanicum adsumptum: se quoque accingeret iuvene partem curarum capessituro. his evictus triennio maiorem natu Domitium filio anteponit, habita apud senatum oratione eundem in quem a liberto acceperat modum. adnotabant periti nullam antehac adoptionem inter patricios Claudios reperiri, eosque ab Atto Clauso continuos duravisse.

  25 In the consulate of Gaius Antistius and Marcus Suillius, the adoption of Domitius was hurried forward by the influence of Pallas, who, pledged to Agrippina as the agent in her marriage, then bound to her by lawless love, kept goading Claudius to consult the welfare of the country and to supply the boyish years of Britannicus with a stable protection:—”So, in the family of the divine Augustus, though he had grandsons to rely upon, yet his step-children rose to power; Tiberius had issue of his own, but he adopted Germanicus; let Claudius also gird to himself a young partner, who would undertake a share of his responsibilities!” The emperor yielded to the pressure, and gave Domitius, with his three years’ seniority, precedence over his son, reproducing in his speech to the senate the arguments furnished by his freedman. It was noted by the expert that, prior to this, there was no trace of an adoption in the patrician branch of the Claudian house, which had lasted without interruption from Attus Clausus downward.

  [26] Ceterum actae principi grates, quaesitiore in Domitium adulatione; rogataque lex qua in familiam Claudiam et nomen Neronis transiret. augetur et Agrippina cognomento Augustae. quibus patratis nemo adeo expers misericordiae fuit quem non Britannici fortuna maerore adficeret. desolatus paulatim etiam servilibus ministeriis perintem pestiva novercae officia in ludibrium vertebat, intellegens falsi. neque enim segnem ei fuisse indolem ferunt, sive verum, seu periculis commendatus retinuit famam sine experimento.

  26 Thanks, however, were returned to the sovereign; a more refined flattery was bestowed on Domitius; and the law was carried providing for his adoption into the Claudian family and the designation of Nero. Agrippina herself was dignified by the title of Augusta. When the transaction was over, no one was so devoid of pity as not to feel compunction for the lot of Britannicus. Stripped little by little of the services of the very slaves, the boy turned into derision the officious importunities of his stepmother, whose hypocrisy he understood. For report credits him with no lack of intelligence, possibly with truth, or pos
sibly through the sympathy inspired by his dangers he has retained a reputation which was never put to the proof.

  [27] Sed Agrippina quo vim suam sociis quoque nationibus ostentaret in oppidum Vbiorum, in quo genita erat, veteranos coloniamque deduci impetrat, cui nomen inditum e vocabulo ipsius. ac forte acciderat ut eam gentem Rhenum transgressam avus Agrippa in fidem acciperet. Isdem temporibus in superiore Germania trepidatum adventu Chattorum latrocinia agitantium. dein P. Pomponius legatus auxiliaris Vangionas ac Nemetas, addito equite alario, [immittit>, monitos ut anteirent populatores vel dilapsis improvisi circumfunderentur. et secuta consilium ducis industria militum, divisique in duo agmina, qui laevum iter petiverant recens reversos praedaque per luxum usos et somno gravis circumvenere. aucta laetitia quod quosdam e clade Variana quadragesimum post annum servitio exemerant.

  27 Agrippina, on the other hand, in order to advertise her strength to the provinces also, arranged for the plantation of a colony of veterans in the Ubian town where she was born. The settlement received its title from her name; and, as chance would have it, it had been her grandfather Agrippa who extended Roman protection to the tribe on its migration across the Rhine. At the same period, a panic was caused in Upper Germany by an incursion of Chattan marauders. Thereupon, the legate Publius Pomponius sent the auxiliary Vangiones and Nemetes, supported by allied cavalry, with instructions to head off the raiders, or, if they scattered, to envelop and surprise them. The general’s plan was seconded by the activity of the troops. They separated into two columns; one of which, marching to the left, entrapped a newly-returned detachment of pillagers, who, after employing their booty in a debauch, were sleeping off the effects. The exultation of the men was heightened by the fact that, after forty years, they had redeemed from slavery a few survivors of the Varian disaster.

  [28] At qui dextris et propioribus compendiis ierant, obvio hosti et aciem auso plus cladis faciunt, et praeda famaque onusti ad montem Taunum revertuntur, ubi Pomponius cum legionibus opperiebatur, si Chatti cupidine ulciscendi casum pugnae praeberent. illi metu ne hinc Romanus, inde Cherusci, cum quis aeternum discordant, circumgrederentur, legatos in urbem et obsides misere; decretusque Pomponio triumphalis honos, modica pars famae eius apud posteros in quis carminum gloria praecellit.

  28 Their companions, who had taken the shorter route by the right, inflicted graver loss on the enemy, who met them and risked a set engagement. Laden with their spoils and honours, they returned to the heights of Taunus, where Pomponius was waiting with the legions, in hopes that the Chatti, anxious for revenge, would afford him an opportunity for battle. They, however, afraid of being caught between the Romans on one side and their eternal adversaries, the Cherusci, on the other, sent a deputation to Rome with hostages, and triumphal honours were voted to Pomponius: a slender portion of his fame in the eyes of posterity, with whom the glory of his verse ranks higher.

  [29] Per idem tempus Vannius Suebis a Druso Caesare impositus pellitur regno, prima imperii aetate clarus acceptusque popularibus, mox diuturnitate in superbiam mutans et odio accolarum, simul domesticis discordiis circumventus. auctores fuere Vibilius Hermundurorum rex et Vangio ac Sido sorore Vannii geniti. nec Claudius, quamquam saepe oratus, arma certantibus barbaris interposuit, tutum Vannio perfugium promittens, si pelleretur; scripsitque Palpellio Histro, qui Pannoniam praesidebat, legionem ipsaque e provincia lecta auxilia pro ripa componere, subsidio victis et terrorem adversus victores, ne fortuna elati nostram quoque pacem turbarent. nam vis innumera, Lugii aliaeque gentes, adventabant, fama ditis regni, quod Vannius triginta per annos praedationibus et vectigalibus auxerat. ipsi manus propria pedites, eques a Sarmatis Iazugibus erat, impar multitudini hostium, eoque castellis sese defensare bellumque ducere statuerat.

  29 Much at the same time, Vannius, imposed on the Suebi by Drusus Caesar, was expelled from his kingdom. Esteemed and loved by his countrymen in the first years of his sovereignty, then, by continuous power, perverted to tyranny, he now succumbed to his neighbours’ hatred combined with domestic discords. The authors of his fall were Vibilius, king of the Hermunduri, and Vangio and Sido, the children of his own sister. Nor did Claudius, though often appealed to, interpose his arms between the warring barbarians, but promised a secure retreat to Vannius in the case of his expulsion, and wrote to the governor of Pannonia, Palpellius Hister, to station one legion, with a chosen body of auxiliaries from the province itself, upon the Danube bank there to act as a support to the conquered and a deterrent to the conquerors, lest in the elation of success they should disturb the Roman peace as well. For a countless horde was on the march — Lugians and other tribes, allured by the fame of that wealthy monarchy, which Vannius, for thirty years, had aggrandized by depredations and by exactions. The king’s own force of infantry and his cavalry, recruited from the Sarmatian Iazyges, were unequal to the numbers of the enemy; and he had consequently decided to hold out in his fortresses and to protract the campaign.

  [30] Sed Iazuges obsidionis impatientes et proximos per campos vagi necessitudinem pugnae attulere, quia Lugius Hermundurusque illic ingruerant. igitur degressus castellis Vannius funditur proelio, quamquam rebus adversis laudatus quod et pugnam manu capessiit et corpore adverso vulnera excepit. ceterum ad classem in Danuvio opperientem perfugit; secuti mox clientes et acceptis agris in Pannonia locati sunt. regnum Vangio ac Sido inter se partivere, egregia adversus nos fide, subiectis, suone an servitii ingenio, dum adipiscerentur dominationes, multa caritate, et maiore odio, postquam adepti sunt.

  30 The Iazyges, however, impatient of confinement, spread over the adjacent plains and made a battle imperative, as the Lugians and Hermunduri had there rushed to the attack. Vannius accordingly descended from his strongholds and was worsted in the engagement, earning, despite his ill-success, a meed of praise for fighting sword in hand and taking his wounds in front. Still, he sought refuge with the flotilla waiting in the Danube: his vassals, who quickly followed, received a grant of lands and were settled in Pannonia. Vangio and Sido partitioned the kingdom between them, and to ourselves showed admirable loyalty: by their subjects — whether the fault lay in their own nature or in that of despotism — they were well loved whilst winning their power, better hated when their power was won.

  [31] At in Britannia P. Ostorium pro praetore turbidae res excepere, effusis in agrum sociorum hostibus eo violentius quod novum ducem exercitu ignoto et coepta hieme iturum obviam non rebantur. ille gnarus primis eventibus metum aut fiduciam gigni, citas cohortis rapit et caesis qui restiterant, disiectos consectatus, ne rursus conglobarentur infensaque et infida pax non duci, non militi requiem permitteret, detrahere arma suspectis cunctaque castris Avonam [inter] et Sabrinam fluvios cohibere parat. quod primi Iceni abnuere, valida gens nec proeliis contusi, quia societatem nostram volentes accesserant. hisque auctoribus circumiectae nationes locum pugnae delegere saeptum agresti aggere et aditu angusto, ne pervius equiti foret. ea munimenta dux Romanus, quamquam sine robore legionum socialis copias ducebat, perrumpere adgreditur et distributis cohortibus turmas quoque peditum ad munia accingit. tunc dato signo perfringunt aggerem suisque claustris impeditos turbant. atque illi conscientia rebellionis et obsaeptis effugiis multa et clara facinora fecere: qua pugna filius legati M. Ostorius servati civis decus meruit.

  31 Meanwhile, in Britain the propraetor Publius Ostorius had a troubled reception, as the enemy had poured into the territory of our allies with a violence all the greater from their belief that a new commander would not take the field with an untried army and with winter begun. Ostorius, aware that the first results are those which engender fear or confidence, swept his cohorts forward at speed, cut down the resisters, chased the broken bands and — to obviate a second rally, to be followed by a sullen and disloyal peace which would allow no rest either to the general or his troops — prepared to disarm the suspect and to overawe the whole district on this side of the Trent and Severn. The first to become restive were the Iceni, a powerful community not yet broken in battle, as they had voluntarily acceded to our all
iance. At their suggestion, the surrounding tribes chose for their field of battle a position protected by a rustic embankment with a narrow approach, designed to be impervious to cavalry. This defence the Roman commander prepared to carry, though he was leading an auxiliary force without the strength of the legions, and distributing the cohorts in appropriate positions, turned even his mounted squadrons to infantry work. Then, on the signal, they broke through the embankment, and threw the enemy, hampered by his own barrier, into confusion. The Britons, with their rebellion on their conscience, and every egress closed, performed many remarkable feats; and during the engagement the legate’s son, Marcus Ostorius, earned the reward for saving a Roman life.

  [32] Ceterum clade Icenorum compositi qui bellum inter et pacem dubitabant, et ductus in Decangos exercitus. vastati agri, praedae passim actae, non ausis aciem hostibus, vel si ex occulto carpere agmen temptarent, punito dolo. iamque ventum haud procul mari, quod Hiberniam insulam aspectat, cum ortae apud Brigantas discordiae retraxere ducem, destinationis certum, ne nova moliretur nisi prioribus firmatis. et Brigantes quidem, paucis qui arma coeptabant interfectis, in reliquos data venia, resedere: Silurum gens non atrocitate, non clementia mutabatur, quin bellum exerceret castrisque legionum premenda foret. id quo promptius veniret, colonia Camulodunum valida veteranorum manu deducitur in agros captivos, subsidium adversus rebellis et imbuendis sociis ad officia legum.

  32 By the Icenian defeat all who were wavering between war and peace were reduced to quietude, and the army was led against the Ceangi. The country was devastated, booty collected everywhere, while the enemy declined to risk a battle, or, if he made a stealthy attempt to harass the marching columns, found his treachery punished. And now Ostorius was within measurable distance of the sea which looks towards Ireland, when an outbreak of sedition among the Brigantes recalled a leader who was firm in his resolution to attempt new conquests only when he had secured the old. The Brigantian rising, it is true, subsided on the execution of a handful of men, who were beginning hostilities, and the pardon of the rest; but neither severity nor clemency converted the Silurian tribe, which continued the struggle and had to be repressed by the establishment of a legionary camp. To facilitate that result, a colony was settled on conquered lands at Camulodunum by a strong detachment of veterans, who were to serve as a bulwark against revolt and to habituate the friendly natives to their legal obligations.