[42] Nondum tamen summa moliri Agrippina audebat, ni praetoriarum cohortium cura exolverentur Lusius Geta et Rufrius Crispinus, quos Messalinae memores et liberis eius devinctos credebat. igitur distrahi cohortis ambitu duorum et, si ab uno regerentur, intentiorem fore disciplinam adseverante uxore, transfertur regimen cohortium ad Burrum Afranium, egregiae militaris famae, gnarum tamen cuius sponte praeficeretur. suum quoque fastigium Agrippina extollere altius: carpento Capitolium ingredi, qui honos sacerdotibus et sacris antiquitus concessus veneratio nem augebat feminae, quam imperatore genitam, sororem eius qui rerum potitus sit et coniugem et matrem fuisse, unicum ad hunc diem exemplum est. inter quae praecipuus propugnator eius Vitellius, validissima gratia, aetate extrema (adeo incertae sunt potentium res) accusatione corripitur, deferente Iunio Lupo senatore. is crimina maiestatis et cupidinem imperii obiectabat; praebuissetque auris Caesar, nisi Agrippinae minis magis quam precibus mutatus esset, ut accusatori aqua atque igni interdiceret. hactenus Vitellius voluerat.
42 As yet, however, Agrippina lacked courage to make her supreme attempt, unless she could discharge from the command of the praetorian cohorts both Lusius Geta and Rufrius Crispinus, whom she believed faithful to the memory of Messalina and pledged to the cause of her children. Accordingly, through her assertions to her husband that the cohorts were being divided by the intriguing rivalry of the pair, and that discipline would be stricter if they were placed under a single head, the command was transferred to Afranius Burrus; who bore the highest character as a soldier but was well aware to whose pleasure he owed his appointment. The exaltation of her own dignity also occupied Agrippina: she began to enter the Capitol in a carriage; and that honour, reserved by antiquity for priests and holy objects, enhanced the veneration felt for a woman who to this day stands unparalleled as the daughter of an Imperator and the sister, the wife, and the mother of an emperor. Meanwhile, her principal champion, Vitellius, at the height of his influence and in the extremity of his age — so precarious are the fortunes of the mighty — was brought to trial upon an indictment laid by the senator Junius Lupus. The charges he preferred were treason and designs upon the empire and to these the Caesar would certainly have inclined his ear, had not the prayers, or rather the threats of Agrippina converted him to the course of formally outlawing the prosecutor: Vitellius had desired no more.
[43] Multa eo anno prodigia evenere. insessum diris avibus Capitolium, crebris terrae motibus prorutae domus, ac dum latius metuitur, trepidatione vulgi invalidus quisque obtriti; frugum quoque egestas et orta ex eo fames in prodigium accipiebatur. nec occulti tantum questus, sed iura reddentem Claudium circumvasere clamoribus turbidis, pulsumque in extremam fori partem vi urgebant, donec militum globo infensos perrupit. quindecim dierum alimenta urbi, non amplius superfuisse constitit, magnaque deum benignitate et modestia hiemis rebus extremis subventum. at hercule olim Italia legionibus longinquas in provincias commeatus portabat, nec nunc infecunditate laboratur, sed Africam potius et Aegyptum exercemus, navisbusque et casibus vita populi Romani permissa est.
43 Many prodigies occurred during the year. Ominous birds took their seat on the Capitol; houses were overturned by repeated shocks of earthquake, and, as the panic spread, the weak were trampled underfoot in the trepidation of the crowd. A shortage of corn,º again, and the famine which resulted, were construed as a supernatural warning. Nor were the complaints always whispered. Claudius, sitting in judgement, was surrounded by a wildly clamorous mob, and, driven into the farthest corner of the Forum, was there subjected to violent pressure, until, with the help of a body of troops, he forced a way through the hostile throng. It was established that the capital had provisions for fifteen days, no more; and the crisis was relieved only by the especial grace of the gods and the mildness of the winter. And yet, Heaven knows, in the past, Italy exported supplies for the legions into remote provinces; nor is sterility the trouble now, but we cultivate Africa and Egypt by preference, and the life of the Roman nation has been staked upon cargo-boats and accidents.
[44] Eodem anno bellum inter Armenios Hiberosque exortum Parthis quoque ac Romanis gravissimorum inter se motuum causa fuit. genti Parthorum Vologeses imperitabat, materna origine ex paelice Graeca, concessu fratrum regnum adeptus; Hiberos Pharasmanes vetusta possesione, Armenios frater eius Mithridates obtinebat opibus nostris. erat Pharasmanis filius nomine Radamistus, decora proceritate, vi corporis insignis et patrias artis edoctus, claraque inter accolas fama. is modicum Hiberiae regnum senecta patris detineri ferocius crebriusque iactabat quam ut cupidinem occultaret. igitur Pharasmanes iuvenem potentiae promptum et studio popularium accinctum, vergentibus iam annis suis metuens, aliam ad spem trahere et Armeniam ostentare, pulsis Parthis datam Mithridati a semet memorando: sed vim differendam et potiorem dolum quo incautum opprimerent. ita Radamistus simulata adversus patrem discordia tamquam novercae odiis impar pergit ad patruum, multaque ab eo comitate in speciem liberum cultus primores Armeniorum ad res novas inlicit, ignaro et ornante insuper Mithridate.
44 In the same year, an outbreak of war between the Armenians and Iberians gave rise as well to a very serious disturbance of the relations between Parthia and Rome. The Parthian nation was now subject to Vologaeses, who, on the mother’s side, was the offspring of a Greek concubine and had obtained the crown with the acquiescence of his brothers: Iberia was held by its old master Pharasmanes; Armenia — with our support — by his brother Mithridates. There was a son of Pharasmanes by the name of Radamistus, tall and handsome, remarkable for his bodily strength, versed in the national accomplishments, and in high repute with the neighbouring peoples. That the modest kingdom of Iberia was being kept from him by his father’s tenacity of life, was a statement which he threw out too boldly and too frequently for his desires to remain unguessed. Pharasmanes, therefore, who had his misgivings about a youth alert for power and armed with the sympathies of the country, while his own years were already on the wane, sought to attract him to other ambitions by pointing to Armenia; which, he observed, he had, by his expulsion of the Parthians, himself bestowed on Mithridates. Force, however, must wait: some ruse, by which they could take him off his guard, was preferable. Radamistus, then, after a feigned rupture with his father, gave out that he was unable to face the hatred of his stepmother, and made his way to his uncle; was treated by him with exceptional kindness as though he had been a child of his own; and proceeded to entice the Armenian nobles to revolution, undetected, and in fact honoured, by Mithridates.
[45] Reconciliationis specie adsumpta regressusque ad patrem, quae fraude confici potuerint, prompta nuntiat, cetera armis exequenda. interim Pharasmanes belli causas confingit: proelianti sibi adversus regem Albanorum et Romanos auxilio vocanti fratrem adversatum, eamque iniuriam excidio ipsius ultum iturum; simul magnas copias filio tradidit. ille inruptione subita territum exutumque campis Mithridaten compulit in castellum Gorneas, tutum loco ac praesidio militum, quis Caelius Pollio praefectus, centurio Casperius praeerat. nihil tam ignarum barbaris quam machinamenta et astus oppugnationum: at nobis ea pars militiae maxime gnara est. ita Radamistus frustra vel cum damno temptatis munitionibus obssidium incipit; et cum vis neglegeretur, avaritiam praefecti emercatur, obtestante Casperio, ne socius rex, ne Armenia donum populi Romani scelere et pecunia verterentur. postremo quia multitudinem hostium Pollio, iussa patris Radamistus obtendebant, pactus indutias abscedit, ut, nisi Pharasmanen bello absterruisset, Vmmidium Quadratum praesidem Syriae doceret quo in statu Armenia foret.
45 Assuming the character of a reconciled son, he returned to his father, and announced that all which it had been possible to effect by fraud was ready: what remained must be achieved by arms. Meanwhile, Pharasmanes fabricated pretexts for war:—”During his conflict with the king of Albania, his appeal for Roman help had been opposed by his brother, and he would now avenge that injury by his destruction.” At the same time, he entrusted a large force to his son; who, by a sudden incursion, unnerved Mithridates, beat him out of the plains, and forced him into Gorneae, a fort
protected by the nature of the ground and a garrison under the command of the prefect Caelius Pollio and the centurion Casperius. Nothing is so completely unknown to barbarians as the appliances and refinements of siege operations — a branch of warfare perfectly familiar to ourselves. Hence, after several attacks, fruitless or worse, upon the fortifications, Radamistus began a blockade: then, as force was ignored, he bribed the avarice of the prefect, though Casperius protested against the subversion, by guilt and gold, of an allied monarch and of Armenia, his gift from the Roman people. At last, as Pollio continued to plead the numbers of the enemy and Radamistus the orders of his father, he stipulated for a truce, and left with the intention of either deterring Pharasmanes from his campaign or acquainting the governor of Syria, Ummidius Quadratus, with the state of matters in Armenia.
[46] Digressu centurionis velut custode exolutus praefectus hortari Mithridaten ad sanciendum foedus, coniunctionem fratrum ac priorem aetate Pharasmanen et cetera necessitudinum nomina referens, quod filiam eius in matrimonio haberet, quod ipse Radamisto socer esset: non abnuere pacem Hiberos, quamquam in tempore validiores; et satis cognitam Armeniorum perfidiam, nec aliud subsidii quam castellum commeatu egenum: ne dubia tentare armis quam incruentas condiciones mallet. cunctante ad ea Mithridate et suspectis praefecti consiliis, quod paelicem regiam polluerat inque omnem libidinem venalis habebatur, Casperius interim ad Pharasmanen pervadit, utque Hiberi obsidio decedant expostulat. ille propalam incerta et saepius molliora respondens, secretis nuntiis monet Radamistum obpugnationem quoquo modo celerare. augetur flagitii merces, et Pollio occulta corruptione impellit milites ut pacem flagitarent seque praesidium omissuros minitarentur. qua necessitate Mithridates diem locumque foederi accepit castelloque egreditur.
46 With the centurion’s departure, the prefect found himself rid of his warder, and he now pressed Mithridates to conclude a treaty. He enlarged upon the link of brotherhood, upon Pharasmanes’ priority in age, upon the other titles of kinship, — the fact that he was married to his brother’s daughter and was himself the father-in-law of Radamistus. “The Iberians,” he said, “though for the time being the stronger party, were not disinclined to peace. He was familiar enough already with Armenian treachery, and his only defence was a badly provisioned fort. Let him not decide for the doubtful experiment of arms in preference to a bloodless compact!” While Mithridates hesitated in spite of these arguments — the prefect’s advice being suspect, as he had seduced one of the royal concubines and was considered capable of any villainy for a price — Casperius in the interval made his way to Pharasmanes and demanded that the Iberians should raise the siege. In public, the king’s replies were vague and usually bland; in private, he warned Radamistus by courier to hurry on the siege by any and all means. The wage of dishonour was accordingly increased; and by secret bribery Pollio induced the troops to demand a peace under threat of abandoning the post. Mithridates had now no option; he accepted the place and day suggested for the treaty, and left the fort.
[47] Ac primo Radamistus in amplexus eius effusus simulare obsequium, socerum ac parentem appellare; adicit ius iurandum, non ferro, non ferro, non veneno vim adlaturum; simul in lucum propinquum trahit, provisum illic sacrificii paratum dictitans, ut diis testibus pax firmaretur. mos est regibus, quoties in societatem coeant, implicare dextras pollicesque inter se vincire nodoque praestringere: mox ubi sanguis in artus [se] extremos suffuderit, levi ictu cruorem eliciunt atque invicem lambunt. id foedus arcanum habetur quasi mutuo cruore sacratum. sed tunc qui ea vincla admovebat, decidisse simulans genua Mithridatis invadit ipsumque prosternit; simulque concursu plurium iniciuntur catenae. ac compede, quod dedecorum barbaris, trahebatur; mox quia vulgus duro imperio habitum, probra ac verbera intentabat. et erant contra qui tantam fortunae commutationem miserarentur; secutaque cum parvis liberis coniunx cuncta lamentatione complebat. diversis et contectis vehiculis abduntur, dum Pharasmanis iussa exquirerentur. illi cupido regni fratre et filia potior animusque sceleribus paratus; visui tamen consuluit, ne coram interficeret. et Radamistus, quasi iuris iurandi memor, non ferrum, non venenum in sororem et patruum expromit, sed proiectos in humum et veste multa gravique opertos necat. filii quoque Mithridatis quod caedibus parentum inlacrimaverant trucidati sunt.
47 The first act of Radamistus was to throw himself into his arms with affected devotion and to address him as father-in-law and parent. He followed with an oath that neither by steel nor by poison would he practise against his life. At the same moment, he hurried him into a neighbouring grove, where, he informed him, the apparatus of sacrifice had been provided in order that their peace might be ratified before the attesting gods. The procedure in the case of two kings meeting to conclude an alliance is to unite their right hands, tie the thumbs together, and tighten the pressure by a knot: then, when the blood has run to the extremities, a slight incision gives it outlet, and each prince licks it in turn. A mystical character is attached to the agreement thus sealed and counter-sealed in blood. But, on this occasion, the person who was fastening the bonds feigned to slip, and, grasping Mithridates by the knees, threw him prostrate: at the same instant, a number of men rushed up and put him in irons. He was dragged off by his shackles, to barbarians a supreme indignity; and before long the populace, which had experienced the rigour of his sway, was levelling against him its insults and its blows. There were also, on the other hand, some found to pity so complete a reversal of fortune; and his wife, who followed with their infant children, filled the place with her laments. The prisoners were stowed out of sight in separate and covered vehicles, until the orders of Pharasmanes should be ascertained. To him the desire of a crown outweighed a brother and a daughter, and his temper was prompt to crime: still he shewed consideration for his eyes by not having them killed in his presence. Radamistus, too mindful apparently of his oath, produced neither steel nor poison for the destruction of his sister and uncle, but had them tossed on the ground and smothered under a heavy pile of clothes. Mithridates’ sons were also slaughtered, since they had shed tears at the murder of their parents.
[48] At Quadratus cognoscens proditum Mithridaten et regnum ab interfectoribus obtineri, vocat consilium, docet acta et an ulcisceretur consultat. paucis decus publicum curae, plures tuta disserunt: omne scelus externum cum laetitia habendum; semina etiam odiorum iacienda, ut saepe principes Romani eandem Armeniam specie largitionis turbandis barbarorum animis praebuerint: poteretur Radamistus male partis, dum invisus infamis, quando id magis ex usu quam si cum gloria adeptus foret. in hanc sententiam itum. ne tamen adnuisse facinori viderentur et diversa Caesar iuberet, missi ad Pharasmanen nuntii ut abscederet a finibus Armeniis filiumque abstraheret.
48 Quadratus, gathering that Mithridates was betrayed and his kingdom held by the murderers, convened his council, laid the incidents before it, and asked for an opinion whether he should take punitive measures. A few showed some concern for the national honour; the majority inculcated safety:—”Alien crime in general was to be hailed with pleasure; it was well, even, to sow the seeds of hatred, precisely as on many occasions a Roman emperor, ostensibly as an act of munificence, had given away this same Armenia, merely to unsettle the temper of the barbarians. Let Radamistus hold his ill-gotten gains, so long as he held them at the price of detestation and of infamy: it was better for us than if he had won them with glory!” This opinion was adopted. But, to avoid the appearance of having acquiesced in the crime, when the imperial orders might be to the contrary effect, messengers were sent to Pharasmanes, requesting him to evacuate Armenian territory and withdraw his son.
[49] Erat Cappadociae procurator Iulius Paelignus, ignavia animi et deridiculo corporis iuxta despiciendus, sed Claudio perquam familiaris, cum privatus olim conversatione scurrarum iners otium oblectaret. is Paelignus auxiliis provincialium contractis tamquam reciperaturus Armeniam, dum socios magis quam hostis praedatur, abscessu suorum et incursantibus barbaris praesidii egens ad Radamistum venit; donisque eius evictus ultro regium insigne sumere cohortatur sumentique ades
t auctor et satelles. quod ubi turpi fama divulgatum, ne ceteri quoque ex Paeligno coniectarentur, Helvidius Priscus legatus cum legione mittitur rebus turbidis pro tempore ut consuleret. igitur propere montem Taurum transgressus moderatione plura quam vi composuerat, cum rediret in Syriam iubetur ne initium belli adversus Parthos existeret.
49 The procurator of Cappadocia was Julius Paelignus, a person made doubly contemptible by hebetude of mind and grotesqueness of body, yet on terms of the greatest intimacy with Claudius during the years of retirement when he amused his sluggish leisure with the society of buffoons. The Paelignus had mustered the provincial militia, with the avowed intention of recovering Armenia; but, while he was plundering our subjects in preference to the enemy, the secession of his troops left him defenceless against the barbarian incursions, and he made his way to Radamistus, by whose liberality he was so overpowered that he voluntarily advised him to assume the kingly emblem, and assisted at its assumption in the quality of sponsor and satellite. Ugly reports of the incident spread; and, to make it clear that not all Romans were to be judged by the standard of Paelignus, the legate Helvidius Priscus was sent with a legion to deal with the disturbed situation as the circumstances might require. Accordingly, after crossing Mount Taurus in haste, he had settled more points by moderation than by force, when he was ordered back to Syria, lest he should give occasion for a Parthian war.
Complete Works of Tacitus (Delphi Classics) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 24) Page 277
