LIVIA having married Augustus when she was pregnant was, within three months afterwards, delivered. of Drusus, the father of Claudius Caesar, who had at first the praenomen of Decimus, but afterwards that of Nero; and it was suspected that he was begotten in adultery by his father-in-law. The following verse, however, was immediately in every one's mouth:
Patrem Claudi Caesaris Drusum, olim Decimum mox Neronem praenomine, Liuia, cum Augusto grauida nupsisset, intra mensem tertium peperit, fuitque suspicio ex uitrico per adulterii consuetudinem procreatum. statim certe uulgatus est uersus:
τοῖσ εὐτυχοῦσι καὶ τρὶμηνα παιδία.
τοῖσ εὐτυχοῦσι καὶ τρίμηνα παιδία.
Nine months for common births the fates decree;But, for the great, reduce the term to three.This Drusus, during the time of his being quaestor and praetor, commanded in the Rhaetian and German wars, and was the first of all the Roman generals who navigated the Northern Ocean. He made likewise some prodigious trenches beyond the Rhine, which to this day are called by his name. He overthrew the enemy in several battles and drove them far back into the depths of the desert. Nor did he desist from pursuing them, until an apparition, in the form of a barbarian woman, of more than human size, appeared to him, and, in the Latin tongue, forbad him to proceed any further.
is Drusus in quaesturae praeturaeque honore dux Raetici, deinde Germanici belli Oceanum septemtrionalem primus Romanorum ducum nauigauit transque Rhenum fossas naui et immensi operis effecit, quae nunc adhuc Drusinae uocantur. hostem etiam frequenter caesum ac penitus in intimas solitudines actum non prius destitit insequi, quam species barbarae mulieris humana amplior uictorem tendere ultra sermone Latino prohibuisset.
For these achievements he had the honour of an ovation and the triumphal ornaments. After his praetorship, he immediately entered on the office of consul, and returning to Germany, died of disease, in the summer encampment, which thence obtained the name of "The Unlucky Camp." His corpse was carried to Rome by the principal persons of the several municipalities and colonies upon the road, being met and received by the recorders of each place, and buried in the Campus Martius. In honour of his memory, the army erected a monument, round which the soldiers used, annually, upon a certain day, to march in solemn procession, and persons deputed from the several cities of Gaul performed religious rites. The senate likewise, among various other honours, decreed for him a triumphal arch of marble, with trophies, in the Appian Way, and gave the cognomen of Germanicus to him and his posterity.
quas ob res ouandi ius et triumphalia ornamenta percepit; ac post praeturam confestim inito consulatu atque expeditione repetita supremum diem morbo obiit in aestiuis castris, quae ex eo Scelerata sunt appellata. corpus eius per municipiorum coloniarumque primores suscipientibus obuiis scribarum decuriis ad urbem deuectum sepultumque est in campo Martio. ceterum exercitus honorarium ei tumulum excitauit, circa quem deinceps stato die quotannis miles decurreret Galliarumque ciuitates publice supplicarent. praeterea senatus inter alia complura marmoreum arcum cum tropaeis uia Appia decreuit et Germanici cognomen ipsi posterisque eius.
In him the civil and military virtues were equally displayed; for, besides his victories, he gained from the enemy the Spolia Opima, and frequently marked out the German chiefs in the midst of their army, and encountered them in single combat at the utmost hazard of his life. He likewise often declared that he would, some time or other, if possible, restore the ancient government, On this account, I suppose, some have ventured to affirm that Augustus was jealous of him and recalled him; and because he made no haste to com ply with the order, took him off by poison.
fuisse autem creditur non minus gloriosi quam ciuilis animi; nam ex hoste super uictorias opima quoque spolia captasse summoque saepius discrimine duces Germanorum tota acie insectatus; nec dissimulasse umquam pristinum se rei p. statum, quandoque posset, restituturum. unde existimo nonnullos tradere ausos, suspectum eum Augusto reuocatumque ex prouincia et quia cunctaretur, interceptum ueneno.
This I mention, that I may not be guilty of any omission, more than because I think it either true or probable, since Augustus loved him so much when living that he always, in his wills made him joint-heir with his sons, as he once declared in the senate; and upon his decease extolled him in a speech to the people, to that degree, that he prayed the gods "to make his Caesars like him, and to grant himself as honourable an exit out of this world as they had given him." And not satisfied with inscribing upon his tomb an epitaph in verse composed by himself, he wrote likewise the history of his life in prose. He had by the younger Antonia several children, but left behind him only three, namely, Germanicus, Livilla and Claudius.
quod equidem magis ne praetermitterem rettuli, quam quia uerum aut ueri simile putem, cum Augustus tanto opere et uiuum dilexerit, ut coheredem semper filiis instituerit, sicut quondam in senatu professus est, et defunctum ita pro contione laudauerit, ut deos precatus sit, similes ei Caesares suos facerent sibique tam honestum quandoque exitum darent quam illi dedissent. nec contentus elogium tumulo eius uersibus a se compositis insculpsisse, etiam uitae memoriam prosa oratione composuit.
Claudius was born at Lyons, in the consulship of Julius Antonius and Fabius Africanus, upon the first of August, the very day upon which an altar was first dedicated there to Augustus.
Ex Antonia minore complures quidem liberos tulit, uerum tres omnino reliquit: Germanicum, Liuillam, Claudium.
He was named Tiberius Claudius Drusus, but soon afterwards, upon the adoption of his elder brother into the Julian family, he assumed the cognomen of Germanicus. He was left an infant by his father, and during almost the whole of his minority, and for some time after he attained the age of manhood, was afflicted with a variety of obstinate disorders, insomuch that his mind and body being greatly impaired, he was, even after his arrival at years of maturity, never thought sufficiently qualified for any public or private employment. He was, therefore, during a long time, and even after the expiration of his minority, under the direction of a pedagogue, who, he complains in a certain memoir, "was a barbarous wretch, and formerly superintendent of the mule-drivers, who was selected for his governor on purpose to correct him severely on every trifling occasion."
Claudius natus est Iullo Antonio Fabio Africano conss. Kal. Aug. Luguduni eo ipso die quo primum ara ibi Augusto dedicata est, appellatusque Tiberius Claudius Drusus. mox fratre maiore in Iuliam familiam adoptato Germanici cognomen assumpsit. infans autem relictus a patre ac per omne fere pueritiae atque adulescentiae tempus uariis et tenacibus morbis conflictatus est, adeo ut animo simul et corpore hebetato ne progressa quidem aetate ulli publico priuatoque muneri habilis existimaretur.
On account of this crazy constitution of body and mind, at the spectacle of gladiators, which he gave the people, jointly with his brother, in honour of his father's memory, he presided, muffled up in a pallium-a new fashion. When he assumed the manly habit, he was carried in a litter, at midnight, to the Capitol, without the usual ceremony. He applied himself, however, from an early age, with great assiduity to the study of the liberal sciences, and frequently published specimens of his skill in each of them.
diu atque etiam post tutelam receptam alieni arbitrii et sub paedagogo fuit; quem barbarum et olim superiumentarium ex industria sibi appositum, ut se quibuscumque de causis quam saeuissime coerceret, ipse quodam libello conqueritur. ob hanc eandem ualitudinem et gladiatorio munere, quod simul cum fratre memoriae patris edebat, palliolatus nouo more praesedit; et togae uirilis die circa mediam noctem sine sollemni officio lectica in Capitolium latus est.
But never, with all his endeavours, could he attain to any public post in the government, or afford any hope of arriving at distinction thereafter. His mother, Antonia, frequently called him "an abortion of a man, that had been only begun, but never finished, by nature." And when she would upbraid any one with dulness, she said, "He was a greater fool than her son, Claudius."
disciplinis tamen liberalibus ab aetate prima non mediocrem operam dedit ac saepe experimenta cuiusque etiam publicauit. uerum ne sic quidem quicquam dignitatis assequi aut spem de se commodiorem in posterum facere potuit.
His grandmother, Augusta, always treated him with the utmost contempt, very rarely spoke to him, and when she did admonish him upon any occasion, it was in writing, very briefly and severely, or by messengers. His sister, Livilla, upon hearing that he was about to be created emperor, openly and loudly expressed her indignation that the Roman people should experience a fate so severe and so much below their grandeur. To exhibit the opinion, both favourable and otherwise, entertained concerning him by Augustus, his great-uncle, I have here subjoined some extracts from the letters of that emperor. "I have had some conversation with Tiberius, according to your desire, my dear Livia, as to what must be done with your grandson, Tiberius, at the games of Mars.
Mater Antonia portentum eum hominis dictitabat, nec absolutum a natura, sed tantum incohatum; ac si quem socordiae argueret, stultiorem aiebat filio suo Claudio. auia Augusta pro despectissimo semper habuit, non affari nisi rarissime, non monere nisi acerbo et breui scripto aut per internuntios solita. soror Liuilla cum audisset quandoque imperaturum, tam iniquam et tam indignam sortem p. R. palam et clare detestata est. nam auunculus maior Augustus quid de eo in utramque partem opinatus sit, quo certius cognoscatur, capita ex ipsius epistulis posui.
We are both agreed in this, that, once for all, we ought to determine what course to take with him. For if he be really sound and, so to speak, quite right in his intellects, why should we hesitate to promote him by the same steps and degrees we did his brother? But if we find him below par, and deficient both in body and mind, we must beware of giving occasion for him and ourselves to be laughed at by the world, which is ready enough to make such things the subject of mirth and derision.
'Collocutus sum cum Tiberio, ut mandasti mea Liuia, quid nepoti tuo Tiberio faciendum esset ludis Martialibus. consentit autem uterque nostrum, semel nobis esse statuendum, quod consilium in illo sequamur. nam si est artius, ut ita dicam, holocleros, quid est quod dubitemus, quin per eosdem articulos et gradus producendus sit, per quos frater eius productus sit?
For we shall be never easy, if we are always to be debating upon every occasion of this kind, without settling, in the first instance, whether he be really capable of public offices or not. With regard to what you consult me about at the present moment, I am not against his superintending the feast of the priests, in the games of Mars, if he will suffer himself to be governed by his kinsman, Silanus's son, that he may do nothing to make the people stare and laugh at him. But I do not approve of his witnessing the Circensian games from the Pulvinar. He will be there exposed to view in the very front of the theatre.
sin autem ἠλαττῶσθαι sentimus eum et βεβλάφθαι καὶ εἰς τὴν τοῦ σώματοσ καὶ εἰσ τὴν τῆσ ψυχῆσ ἀρτιότητα, praebenda materia deridendi et illum et nos non est hominibus τὰ τοιαῦτα σκώπτειν καὶ μυκτηρίζειν εἰωθόσιν. nam semper aestuabimus, si de singulis articulis temporum deliberabimus, μὴ προϋποκειμένου ἡμῖν posse arbitremur eum gerere honores necne.
Nor do I like that he should go to the Alban Mount, or be at Rome during the Latin festival. For if he be capable of attending his brother to the mount, why is he not made prefect of the city? Thus, my dear Livia, you have my thoughts upon the matter. In my opinion, we ought to settle this affair once for all, that we may not be always in suspense between hope and fear. You may, if you think proper, give your kinsman Antonia this part of my letter to read." In another letter, he writes as follows: "I shall invite the youth, Tiberius, every day during your absence, to supper, that he may not sup alone with his friends Sulpicius and Athenodorus.
in praesentia tamen quibus de rebus consulis, curare eum ludis Martialibus triclinium sacerdotum non displicet nobis, si est passurus se ab Siluani filio homine sibi affini admoneri, ne quid faciat quod conspici et derideri possit. spectare eum circenses ex puluinari non placet nobis; expositus enim in fronte prima spectaculorum conspicietur. in Albanum montem ire eum non placet nobis aut esse Romae Latinarum diebus. cur enim non praeficitur urbi, si potest sequi fratrem suum in montem?
I wish the poor creature was more cautious and attentive in the choice of some one, whose manners, air, and gait might be proper for his imitation:ἀτυχεῖ πάνυ ἐν τοῖσ σπουδαίοιςIn things of consequence he sadly fails.Where his mind does not run astray, he discovers a noble disposition." In a third letter, he says, "Let me die, my dear Livia, if I am not astonished, that the declamation of your grandson, Tiberius, should please me;
habes nostras, mea Liuia, sententias, quibus placet semel de tota re aliquid constitui, ne semper inter spem et metum fluctuemur. licebit autem, si uoles, Antoniae quoque nostrae des hanc partem epistulae huius legendam.' rursus alteris litteris:
for how he who talks so ill, should be able to declaim so clearly and properly, I cannot imagine." There is no doubt but Augustus, after this, came to a resolution upon the subject, and, accordingly, left him invested with no other honour than that of the Augural priesthood; naming him amongst the heirs of the third degree, who were but distantly allied to his family, for a sixth part of his estate only, with a legacy of no more than eight hundred thousand sesterces.
'Tiberium adulescentem ego uero, dum tu aberis, cotidie inuitabo ad cenam, ne solus cenet cum suo Sulpicio et Athenodoro. qui uellem diligentius et minus μετεώρωσ deligeret sibi aliquem, cuius motum et habitum et incessum imitaretur. misellus ἀτυχεῖ: nam ἐν τοῖσ σπουδαίοισ, ubi non aberrauit eius animus, satis apparet ἡ τῆσ ψυχῆσ αὐτοῦ εὐγένεια.' item tertiis litteris:
Upon his requesting some office in the state, Tiberius granted him the honorary appendages of the consulship, and when he pressed for a legitimate appointment, the emperor wrote word back, that "he sent him forty gold pieces for his expenses, during the festivals of the Saturnalia and Sigillaria." Upon this, laying aside all hope of advancement, he resigned himself entirely to an indolent life;
'Tiberium nepotem tuum placere mihi declamantem potuisse, peream nisi, mea Liuia, admiror. nam qui tam ἀσαφῶσ loquatur, qui possit cum declamat σαφῶσ dicere quae dicenda sunt, non uideo.'
living in great privacy, one while in his gardens, or a villa which he had near the city; another while in Campania, where he passed his time in the lowest society; by which means, besides his former character of a dull, heavy fellow, he acquired that of a drunkard and gamester. Notwithstanding this sort of life, much respect was shown him both in public and private.
Nec dubium est, quid post haec Augustus constituerit et reliquerit eum nullo praeter auguralis sacerdotii honore impertitum ac ne heredem quidem nisi inter tertios ac paene extraneos [n]e parte sexta nuncuparet, legatoque non amplius quam octingentorum sestertiorum prosecutus.
The equestrian order twice made choice of him to intercede on their behalf; once to obtain from the consuls the favour of bearing on their shoulders the corpse of Augustus to Rome, and a second time to congratulate him upon the death of Sejanus. When he entered the theatre, they used to rise, and put Off their cloaks. The senate likewise decreed, that he should be added to the number of the Augustal college of priests, who were chosen by lot; and soon afterwards, when his house was burnt down, that it should be rebuilt at the public charge; and that he should have the privilege of giving his vote amongst the men of consular rank. This decree was, however, repealed; Tiberius insisting to have him excused on account of his imbecility, and promising to make good his loss at his own expense.
Tiberius patruus petenti honores consularia ornamenta detulit; sed instantius legitimos flagitanti id solum codicillis rescripsit, quadraginta aureos in Saturnalia et Sigillaria misisse ei. tunc demum abiecta spe dignitatis ad otium concessit, modo in hortis et suburbana domo, modo in Campaniae secessu delitescens, atque ex contubernio sordidissimorum hominum super ueterem segnitiae notam ebrietatis quoque et aleae infamiam subiit, cum interim, quanquam hoc modo agenti, numquam aut officium hominum aut reuerentia publice defuit.
But at his death, he named him in his will, amongst his third heirs, for a third part of his estate; leaving him besides a legacy of two millions of sesterces, and expressly recommending him to the armies, the senate and people of Rome, amongst his other relations. At last Caius, his brother's son, upon his advancement to the empire, endeavouring to gain the affections of the public by all the arts of popularity, Claudius also was admitted to public offices, and held the consulship jointly with his nephew for two months.
Equester ordo bis patronum eum perferendae pro se legationis elegit, semel cum deportandum Romam corpus Augusti [h]umeris suis ab consulibus exposcere[n]t, iterum cum oppressum Seianum apud eosdem gratularetur; quin et spectaculis aduenienti assurgere et lacernas deponere solebat.
As he was entering the Forum for the first time with the fasces, an eagle which was flying that way, alighted upon his right shoulder. A second consulship was also allotted him, to commence at the expiration of the fourth year. He sometimes presided at the public spectacles, as the representative of Caius; being always, on those occasions, complimented with the acclamations of the people, wishing him all happiness, sometimes under the title of the emperor's uncle, and sometimes under that of Germanicus's brother. Still he was subjected to many slights. If at any time he came in late to supper, he was obliged to walk round the room some time before he could get a place at table.
senatus quoque, ut ad numerum sodalium Augustalium sorte ductorum extra ordinem adiceretur, censuit et mox ut domus ei, quam incendio amiserat, publica impensa restitueretur, dicendaeque inter consulares sententiae ius esset. quod decretum abolitum est, excusante Tiberio imbecillitatem eius ac damnum liberalitate sua resarsurum pollicente. qui tamen moriens et in tertiis heredibus eum ex parte tertia nuncupatum, legato etiam circa sestertium uicies prosecutus commendauit insuper exercitibus ac senatui populoque R. inter ceteras necessitudines nominatim.
When he indulged himself with sleep after eating, which was a common practice with him, the company used to throw olive-stones and dates at him. And the buffoons who attended would wake him, as if it were only in jest, with a cane or a whip. Sometimes they would put slippers upon his hands, as he lay snoring, that he might, upon awaking, rub his face with them. He was not only exposed to contempt, but sometimes likewise to considerable danger: first, in his consulship; for, having been too remiss in providing and erecting the statues of Caius's brothers, Nero and Drusus, he was very near being deprived of his office; and afterwards he was continually harassed with informations against him by one or other, sometimes even by his own domestics.
Sub Gaio demum fratris filio secundam existimationem circa initia imperii omnibus lenociniis colligente honores auspicatus consulatum gessit una per duos menses, euenitque ut primitus ingredienti cum fascibus forum praeteruolans aquila dexteriore umero consideret. sortitus est et de altero consulatu in quartum annum; praeseditque nonnumquam spectaculis in Gai uicem, adclamante populo: 'feliciter' partim 'patruo imperatoris' partim 'Germanici fratri!'
When the conspiracy of Lepidus and Gaetulicus was discovered, being sent with some other deputies into Germany, to congratulate the emperor upon the occasion, he was in danger of his life; Caius being greatly enraged, and loudly complaining, that his uncle was sent to him, as if he was a boy who wanted a governor. Some even say, that he was thrown into a river, in his travelling dress. From this period, he voted in the senate always the last of the members of consular rank; being called upon after the rest, on purpose to disgrace him.
nec eo minus contumeliis obnoxius uixit. nam et si paulo serius ad praedictam cenae horam occurrisset, non nisi aegre et circuito demum triclinio recipiebatur, et quotiens post cibum addormisceret, quod ei fere accidebat, olearum aut palmularum ossibus incessebatur, interdum ferula flagroue uelut per ludum excitabatur a copreis. solebant et manibus stertentis socci induci, ut repente expergefactus faciem sibimet confricaret.
A charge for the forgery of a will was also allowed to be prosecuted, though he had only signed it as a witness. At last, being obliged to pay eight millions of sesterces on entering upon a new office of priesthood, he was reduced to such straits in his private affairs, that in order to discharge his bond to the treasury, he was under the necessity of exposing to sale his whole estate, by an order of the prefects. Having spent the greater part of his life under these and the like circumstances, he came at last to the empire in the fiftieth year of his age, by a very surprising turn of fortune. Being, as well as the rest, prevented from approaching Caius by the conspirators, who dispersed the crowd, under the pretext of his desiring to be private, he retired into an apartment called the Hermaeum; and soon afterwards, terrified by the report of Caius being slain, he crept into an adjoining balcony, where he hid himself behind the hangings of the door.
Sed ne discriminibus quidem caruit. primum in ipso consulatu, quod Neronis et Drusi fratrum Caesaris statuas segnius locandas ponendasque curasset, paene honore summotus est; deinde extraneo uel etiam domesticorum aliquo deferente assidue uarieque inquietatus. cum uero detecta esset Lepidi et Gaetulici coniuratio, missus in Germaniam inter legatos ad gratulandum etiam uitae periculum adiit, indignante ac fremente Gaio patruum potissimum ad se missum quasi ad puerum regendum, adeo ut non defuerint, qui traderent praecipitatum quoque in flumen, sic ut uestitus aduenerat.
A common soldier, who happened to pass that way, spying his feet, and desirous to discover who he was, pulled him out; when immediately recognizing him, he threw himself in a great fright at his feet, and saluted him by the title of emperor. He then conducted him to his fellow-soldiers, who were all in a great rage, and irresolute what they should do. They put him into a litter, and as the slaves of the palace had all fled, took their turns in carrying him on their shoulders, and brought him into the camp, sad and trembling;
atque ex eo numquam non in senatu nouissimus consularium sententiam dixit, ignominiae causa post omnis interrogatus. etiam cognitio falsi testamenti recepta est, in quo et ipse signauerat. postremo sestertium octogies pro introitu noui sacerdotii coactus impendere, ad eas rei familiaris angustias decidit, ut cum obligatam aerario fidem liberare non posset, in uacuum lege praediatoria uenalis pependerit sub edicto praefectorum.
the people who met him lamenting his situation, as if the poor innocent was being carried to execution. Being received within the ramparts, he continued all night with the sentries on guard, recovered somewhat from his fright, but in no great hopes of the succession. For the consuls, with the senate and civic troops, had possessed themselves of the Forum and Capitol, with the determination to assert the public liberty; and he being sent for likewise, by a tribune of the people, to the senate-house, to give his advice upon the present juncture of affairs, returned answer, "I am under constraint, and cannot possibly come."
Per haec ac talia maxima aetatis parte transacta quinquagesimo anno imperium cepit quantumuis mirabili casu. exclusus inter ceteros ab insidiatoribus Gai, cum quasi secretum eo desiderante turbam submouerent, in diaetam, cui nomen est Hermaeum, recesserat; neque multo post rumore caedis exterritus prorepsit ad solarium proximum interque praetenta foribus uela se abdidit.
The day afterwards, the senate being dilatory in their proceedings, and worn out by divisions amongst themselves, while the people who surrounded the senate-house shouted that they would have one master, naming Claudius, he suffered the soldiers assembled under arms to swear allegiance to him, promising them fifteen thousand sesterces a man; he being the first of the Caesars who purchased the submission of the soldiers with money. Having thus established himself in power, his first obect was to abolish all remembrance of the two preceding days, in which a revolution in the state had been canvassed.
latentem discurrens forte gregarius miles, animaduersis pedibus, [e] studio sciscitandi quisnam esset, ad[co]gnouit extractumque et prae metu ad genua sibi adcidentem imperatorem salutauit. hinc ad alios commilitones fluctuantis nec quicquam adhuc quam frementis perduxit. ab his lecticae impositus et, quia sui diffugerant uicissim succollantibus in castra delatus est tristis ac trepidus, miserante obuia turba quasi ad poenam raperetur insons.
Accordingly, he passed an act of perpetual oblivion and pardon for everything said or done during that time; and this he faithfully observed, with the exception only of putting to death a few tribunes and centurions concerned in the conspiracy against Caius, both as an example, and because he understood that they had also planned his own death. He now turned his own thoughts towards paying respect to the memory of his relations. His most solemn and unusual oath was "By Augustus."
receptus intra uallum inter excubias militum pernoctauit, aliquanto minore spe quam fiducia. nam consules cum senatu et cohortibus urbanis forum Capitoliumque occupauerant asserturi communem libertatem; accitusque et ipse per tr. pl. in curiam ad suadenda quae uiderentur, ui se et necessitate teneri respondit.
He prevailed upon the senate to decree divine honours to his grandmother Livia, with a chariot in the Circensian procession drawn by elephants, as had been appointed for Augustus, and public offerings to the shades of his parents. Besides which, he instituted Circensian games for his father, to be celebrated every year, upon his birthday, and, for his mother, a chariot to be drawn through the circus; with the title of Augusta, which had been refused by his grandmother.
uerum postero die et senatu segniore in exequendis conatibus per taedium ac dissensionem diuersa censentium et multitudine, quae circumstabat, unum rectorem iam et nominatim exposcente, armatos pro contione iurare in nomen suum passus est promisitque singulis quina dena sestertia, primus Caesarum fidem militis etiam praemio pigneratus.
To the memory of his brother, to which, upon all occasions, he showed a great regard, he gave a Greek comedy, to be exhibited in the public diversions at Naples, and awarded the crown for it, according to the sentence of the judges in that solemnity. Nor did he omit to make honourable and grateful mention of Mark Antony; declaring by a proclamation, "That he the more earnestly insisted upon the observation of his father Drusus's birth-day, because it was likewise that of his grandfather Antony."
Imperio stabilito nihil antiquius duxit quam id biduum, quo de mutando rei p. statu haesitatum erat, memoriae eximere. omnium itaque factorum dictorumque in eo ueniam et obliuionem in perpetuum sanxit ac praestitit, tribunis modo ac centurionibus paucis e coniuratorum in Gaium numero interemptis, exempli simul causa et quod suam quoque caedem depoposcisse cognouerat.
He completed the marble arch near Pompey's theatre, which had formerly been decreed by the senate in honour of Tiberius, but which had been neglected. And though he cancelled all the acts of Caius, yet he forbad the day of his assassination, notwithstanding it was that of his own accession to the empire, to be reckoned amongst the festivals. But with regard to his own aggrandisement, he was sparing and modest, declining the title of emperor, and refusing all excessive honours. He celebrated the marriage of his daughter and the birth-day of a grandson with great privacy, at home. He recalled none of those who had been banished, without a decree of the senate: and requested of them permission for the prefect of the military tribunes and pretorian guards to attend him in the senate-house;
conuersus hinc ad officia pietatis ius iurandum neque sanctius sibi neque crebrius instituit quam per Augustum. auiae Liuiae diuinos honores et circensi pompa currum elephantorum Augustino similem decernenda curauit; parentibus inferias publicas, et hoc amplius patri circenses annuos natali die, matri carpentum, quo per circum duceretur, et cognomen Augustae ab uiua recusatum. †a fratris memoria per omnem occasionem celebratam comoediam quoque Graecam Neapolitano certamine docuit ac de sententia iudicum coronauit.
and also that they would be pleased to bestow upon his procurators judicial authority in the provinces. He asked of the consuls likewise the privilege of holding fairs upon his private estate. He frequently assisted the magistrates in the trial of causes, as one of their assessors. And when they gave public spectacles, he would rise up with the rest of the spectators, and salute them both by words and gestures. When the tribunes of the people came to him while he was on the tribunal, he excused himself, because, on account of the crowd, he could not hear them unless they stood.
ne Marcum quidem Antonium inhonoratum ac sine grata mentione transmisit, testatus quondam per edictum, tanto impensius petere se ut natalem patris Drusi celebrarent, quod idem esset et aui sui Antoni[i]. Tiberio marmoreum arcum iuxta Pompei theatrum, decretum quidem olim a senatu uerum omissum, peregit. Gai quoque etsi acta omnia rescidit, diem tamen necis, quamuis exordium principatus sui, uetuit inter festos referri.
In a short time, by this conduct, he wrought himself so much into the favour and affection of the public, that when, upon his going to Ostia, a report was spread in the city that he had been waylaid and slain, the people never ceased cursing the soldiers for traitors, and the senate as parricides, until one or two persons, and presently after several others, were brought by the magistrates upon the rostra, who assured them that he was alive, and not far from the city, on his way home. Conspiracies, however, were formed against him, not only by individuals separately, but by a faction; and at last his government was disturbed with a civil war.
At in semet augendo parcus atque ciuilis praenomine Imperatoris abstinuit, nimios honores recusauit, sponsalia filiae natalemque geniti nepotis silentio ac tantum domestica religione transegit. neminem exulum nisi ex senatus auctoritate restituit. ut sibi in curiam praefectum praetori tribunosque militum secum inducere liceret utque rata essent quae procuratores sui in iudicando statuerent, precario exegit.
A low fellow was found with a poniard about him, near his chamber, at midnight. Two men of the equestrian order were discovered waiting for him in the streets, armed with a tuck and a huntsman's dagger; one of them intending to attack him as he came out of the theatre, and the other as he was sacrificing in the temple of Mars. Gallus Asinius and Statilius Corvinus, grandsons of the two orators, Pollio and Messala, formed a conspiracy against him, in which they engaged many of his freedmen and slaves.
ius nundinarum in priuata praedia a consulibus petit. cognitionibus magistratuum ut unus e consiliariis frequenter interfuit; eosdem spectacula edentis surgens et ipse cum cetera turba uoce ac manu ueneratus est. tr(ibunis) pl(ebis) adeuntibus se pro tribunali excusauit, quod propter angustias non posset audire eos nisi stantes.
Furius Camillus Scribonianus, his lieutenant in Dalmatia, broke into rebellion, but was reduced in the space of five days; the legions which he had seduced from their oath of fidelity relinquishing their purpose, upon an alarm occasioned by ill omens. For when orders were given them to march, to meet their new emperor, the eagles could not be decorated, nor the standards pulled out of the ground, whether it was by accident, or a divine interposition. Besides his former consulship, he held the office afterwards four times;
quare in breui spatio tantum amoris fauorisque collegit, ut cum profectum eum Ostiam perisse ex insidiis nuntiatum esset, magna consternatione populus et militem quasi proditorem et senatum quasi parricidam diris execrationibus incessere non ante destiterit, quam unus atque alter et mox plures a magistratibus in rostra producti saluum et appropinquare confirmarent.
the first two successively, but the following, after an interval of four years each; the last for six months, the others for two; and the third, upon his being chosen in the room of a consul who died; which had never been done by any of the emperors before him. Whether he was consul or out of office he constantly attended the courts for the administration of justice, even upon such days as were solemnly observed as days of rejoicing in his family, or by his friends; and sometimes upon the public festivals of ancient institution.
Nec tamen expers insidiarum usque quaque permansit, sed et a singulis et per factionem et denique ciuili bello infestatus est. e plebe homo nocte media iuxta cubiculum eius cum pugione deprehensus est; reperti et equestris ordinis duo in publico cum dolone ac uenatorio cultro praestolantes, alter ut egressum theatro, alter ut sacrificantem apud Martis aedem adoreretur.
Nor did he always adhere strictly to the letter of the laws, but overruled the rigour or lenity of many of their enactments, according to his sentiments of justice and equity. For where persons lost their suits by insisting upon more than appeared to be their due, before the judges of private causes, he granted them the indulgence of a second trial. And with regard to such as were convicted of any great delinquency, he even exceeded the punishment appointed by law, and condemned them to be exposed to wild beasts. But in hearing and determining causes, he exhibited a strange inconsistency of temper, being at one time circumspect and sagacious, at another inconsiderate and rash, and sometimes frivolous and like one out of his mind.
conspirauerunt autem ad res nouas Gallus Asinius et Statilius Coruinus, Pollionis ac Messalae oratorum nepotes, assumptis compluribus libertis ipsius atque seruis. bellum ciuile mouit Furius Camillus Scribonianus Delmatiae legatus; uerum intra quintum diem oppressus est legionibus, quae sacramentum mutauerant, in paenitentiam religione conuersis, postquam denuntiato ad nouum imperatorem itinere casu quodam ac diuinitus neque aquila ornari neque signa conuelli mouerique potuerunt.
In correcting the roll of judges, he struck off the name of one who, concealing the privilege his children gave him to be excused from serving, had answered to his name, as too eager for the office. Another who was summoned before him in a cause of his own, but alleged that the affair did not properly come under the emperor's cognizance, but that of the ordinary judges, he ordered to plead the cause himself immediately before him, and show in a case of his own, how equitable a judge he would prove in that of other persons. A woman refusing to acknowledge her own son, and there being no clear proof on either side, he obliged her to confess the truth, by ordering her to marry the young man. He was much inclined to determine causes in favour of the parties who appeared, against those who did not, without inquiring whether their absence was occasioned by their own fault, or by real necessity. On proclamation of a man's being convicted of forgery, and that he ought to have his hand cut off, he insisted that an executioner should be immediately sent for, with a Spanish sword and a block.
Consulatus super pristinum quattuor gessit; ex quibus duos primos iunctim, sequentis per interuallum quarto quemque anno, semenstrem nouissimum, bimenstris ceteros, tertium autem nouo circa principem exemplo in locum demortui suffectus. ius et consul et extra honorem laboriosissime dixit, etiam suis suorumque diebus sollemnibus, nonnumquam festis quoque antiquitus et religiosis. nec semper praescripta legum secutus duritiam lenitatemue multarum ex bono et aequo, perinde ut adficeretur, moderatus est; nam et iis, qui apud priuatos iudices plus petendo formula excidissent, restituit actiones et in maiore fraude conuictos legitimam poenam supergressus ad bestias condemnauit.
A person being prosecuted for falsely assuming the freedom of Rome, and a frivolous dispute arising between the advocates in the cause, whether he ought to make his appearance in the Roman or Grecian dress, to show his impartiality, he commanded him to change his clothes several times according to the character he assumed in the accusation or defence. An anecdote is related of him, and believed to be true, that, in a particular cause, he delivered his sentence in writing thus: "I am in favour of those who have spoken the truth." By this he so much forfeited the good opinion of the world, that he was everywhere and openly despised.
in cognoscendo autem ac decernendo mira uarietate animi fuit, modo circumspectus et sagax, interdum inconsultus ac praeceps, nonnumquam friuolus amentique similis. cum decurias rerum actu expungeret, eum, qui dissimulata uacatione quam beneficio liberorum habebat responderat, ut cupidum iudicandi dimisit; alium interpellatum ab aduersariis de propria lite negantemque cognitionis rem sed ordinari iuris esse, agere causam confestim apud se coegit, proprio negotio documentum daturum, quam aequus iudex in alieno negotio futurus esset.
A person making an excuse for the non-appearance of a witness whom he had sent for from the provinces, declared it was impossible for him to appear, concealing the reason for some time: at last, after several interrogatories were put to him on the subject, he answered, "The man is dead;" to which Claudius replied, "I think that is a sufficient excuse." Another thanking him for suffering a person who was prosecuted to make his defence by counsel, added, "And yet it is no more than what is usual." I have likewise heard some old men say, that the advocates used to abuse his patience so grossly, that they would not only call him back, as he was quitting the tribunal, but would seize him by the lap of his coat, and sometimes catch him by the heels, to make him stay. That such behaviour, however strange, is not incredible, will appear from this anecdote.
feminam non agnoscentem filium suum dubia utrimque argumentorum fide ad confessionem compulit indicto matrimonio iuuenis. absentibus secundum praesentes facillime dabat, nullo dilectu culpane quis an aliqua necessitate cessasset. proclamante quodam praecidendas falsario manus, carnificem statim acciri cum machaera mensaque lanionia flagitauit. peregrinitatis reum orta inter aduocatos leui contentione, togatumne an palliatum dicere causam oporteret, quasi aequitatem integram ostentans, mutare habitum saepius et prout accusaretur defendereturue, iussit.