Another favourite was Harpocras, to whom he granted the privilege of being carried in a litter within the city, and of holding public spectacles for the entertainment of the people. In this class was likewise Polybius, who assisted him in his studies, and had often the honour of walking between the two consuls. But above all others, Narcissus, his secretary, and Pallas, the comptroller of his accounts, were in high favour with him. He not only allowed them to receive, by decree of the senate, immense presents, but also to be decorated with the questorian and praetorian ensigns of honour. So much did he indulge them in amassing wealth, and plundering the public, that, upon his complaining, once, of the lowness of his exchequer, some one said, with great reason, that "It would be full enough, if those two freedmen of his would but take him into partnership with them."
Antoniam Cn. Pompeio Magno, deinde Fausto Sullae, nobilissimis iuuenibus, Octauiam Neroni priuigno suo collocauit, Silano ante desponsam. Britannicum uicesimo imperii die inque secundo consulatu, natum sibi paruulum etiam tum, et militi pro contione manibus suis gestans et plebi per spectacula gremio aut ante se retinens assidue commendabat faustisque ominibus cum adclamantium turba prosequebatur. e generis Neronem adoptauit, Pompeium atque Silanum non recusauit modo, sed et interemit.
Being entirely governed by these freedmen, and, as I have already said, by his wives, he was a tool to others, rather than a prince. He distributed offices, or the command of armies, pardoned or punished, according as it suited their interests, their passions, or their caprice; and for the most part, without knowing, or being sensible of what he did. Not to enter into minute details relative to the revocation of grants, the reversal of judicial decisions, obtaining his signature to fictitious appointments, or the bare-faced alteration of them after signing; he put to death Appius Silanus, the father of his son-in-law, and the two Julias, the daughters of Drusus and Germanicus, without any positive proof of the crimes with which they were charged, or so much as permitting them to make any defence. He also cut of Cneius Pompey, the husband of his eldest daughter; and Lucius Silanus, who was betrothed to the younger Pompey, was stabbed in the act of unnatural lewdness with a favourite paramour.
Libertorum praecipue suspexit Posiden spadonem, quem etiam Britannico triumpho inter militares uiros hasta pura donauit; nec minus Felicem, quem cohortibus et alis prouinciaeque Iudaeae praeposuit, trium reginarum maritum; et Harpocran, cui lectica per urbem uehendi spectaculaque publice edendi ius tribuit; ac super hos Polybium ab studiis, qui saepe inter duos consules ambulabat; sed ante omnis Narcissum ab epistulis et Pallantem a rationibus, quos decreto quoque senatus non praemiis modo ingentibus, sed et quaestoriis praetoriisque ornamentis honorari libens passus est; tantum praeterea adquirere et rapere, ut querente eo quondam de fisci exiguitate non absurde dictum sit, abundaturum, si a duobus libertis in consortium reciperetur.
Silanus was obliged to quit the office of praetor upon the fourth of the calends of January [29th Dec.], and to kill himself on new year's day following, the very same on which Claudius and Agrippina were married. He condemned to death five and thirty senators, and above three hundred Roman knights, with so little attention to what he did, that when a centurion brought him word of the execution of a man of consular rank, who was one of the number, and told him that he had executed his order, he declared, "he had ordered no such thing, but that he approved of it;" because his freedmen, it seems, had said, that the soldiers did nothing more than their duty, in dispatching the emperor's enemies without waiting for a warrant. But it is beyond all belief, that he himself, at the marriage of Messalina with the adulterous Silius, should actually sign the writings relative to her dowry;
his, ut dixi, uxoribusque addictus, non principem [se], sed ministrum egit, compendio cuiusque horum uel etiam studio aut libidine honores exercitus impunitates supplicia largitus est, et quidem insciens plerumque et ignarus. ac ne singillatim minora quoque enumerem, reuocatas liberalitates eius, iudicia rescissa, suppositos aut etiam palam immutatos datorum officiorum codicillos: Appium Silanum consocerum suum Iuliasque, alteram Drusi, alteram Germanici filiam, crimine incerto nec defensione ulla data occidit, item Cn. Pompeium maioris filiae uirum et L. Silanum minoris sponsum.
induced, as it is pretended, by the design of diverting from himself and transferring upon another the danger which some omens seemed to threaten him. Either standing or sitting, but especially when he lay asleep, he had a majestic and graceful appearance; for he was tall, but not slender. His grey locks became him well, and he had a full neck. But his knees were feeble, and failed him in walking, so that his gait was ungainly, both when he assumed state, and when he was taking diversion. He was outrageous in his laughter, and still more so in his wrath, for then he foamed at the mouth, and discharged from his nostrils. He also stammered in his speech, and had a tremulous motion of the head at all times, but particularly when he was engaged in any business, however trifling.
ex quibus Pompeius in concubitu dilecti adulescentuli confossus est, Silanus abdicare se praetura ante IIII. Kal. Ian. morique initio anni coactus die ipso Claudi[i] et Agrippinae nuptiarum. in quinque et triginta senatores trecentosque amplius equites R. tanta facilitate animaduertit, ut, cum de nece consularis uiri renuntiante centurione factum esse quod imperasset, negaret quicquam se imperasse, nihilo minus rem comprobaret, affirmantibus libertis officio milites functos, quod ad ultionem imperatoris ultro procucurrissent.
Though his health was very infirm during the former part of his life, yet, after he became emperor, he enjoyed a good state of health, except only that he was subject to a pain of the stomach. In a fit of this complaint, he said he had thoughts of killing himself. He gave entertainments as frequent as they were splendid, and generally when there was such ample room, that very often six hundred guests sat down together.
nam illud omnem fidem excesserit quod nuptiis, quas Messalina cum adultero Silio fecerat, tabellas dotis et ipse consignauerit, inductus, quasi de industria simularentur ad auertendum transferendumque periculum, quod imminere ipsi per quaedam ostenta portenderetur.
At a feast he gave on the banks of the canal for draining the Fucine Lake, he narrowly escaped being drowned, the water at its discharge rushing out with such violence, that it overflowed the conduit. At supper he had always his own children, with those of several of the nobility, who, according to an ancient custom, sat at the feet of the couches. One of his guests having been suspected of purloining a golden cup, he invited him again the next day, but served him. with a porcelain jug. It is said, too, that he intended to publish an edict, "allowing to all people the liberty of giving vent at table to any distension occasioned by flatulence," upon hearing of a person whose modesty, when under restraint, had nearly cost him his life.
Auctoritas dignitasque formae non defuit †et ueterum stanti uel sedenti ac praecipue quiescenti, nam et prolixo nec exili corpore erat et specie canitieque pulchra, opimis ceruicibus; ceterum et ingredientem destituebant poplites minus firmi, et remisse quid uel serio agentem multa dehonestabant: risus indecens, ira turpior spumante rictu, umentibus naribus, praeterea linguae titubantia caputque cum semper tum in quantulocumque actu uel maxime tremulum.
He was always ready to eat and drink at any time or in any place.
ualitudine sicut olim graui, ita princeps prospera usus est excepto stomachi dolore, quo se correptum etiam de consciscenda morte cogitasse dixit.
One day, as he was hearing causes in the forum of Augustus, he smelt the dinner which was preparing for the Salii, in the temple of Mars adjoining, whereupon he quitted the tribunal, and went to partake of the feast with the priests. He scarcely ever left the table until he had thoroughly crammed himself and drank to intoxication; and then he would immediately fall asleep, lying upon his back with his'mouth open. While in this condition, a feather was put down his throat, to make him throw up the contents of his stomach. Upon composing himself to rest, his sleep was short, and he usually awoke before midnight; but he would sometimes sleep in the daytime, and that, even, when he was upon the tribunal; so that the advocates often found it difficult to wake him, though they raised their voices for that purpose. He set no bounds to his libidinous intercourse with women, but never betrayed any unnatural desires for the other sex. He was fond of gaming, and published a book upon the subject.
Conuiuia agitauit et ampla et assidua ac fere patentissimis locis, ut plerumque sesceni simul discumberent. conuiuatus est et super emissarium Fucini lacus ac paene summersus, cum emissa impetu aqua redundasset. adhibebat omni cenae et liberos suos cum pueris puellisque nobilibus, qui more ueteri ad fulcra lectorum sedentes uescerentur. conuiuae, qui pridie scyphum aureum subripuisse existimabatur, reuocato in diem posterum calicem fictilem apposuit. dicitur etiam meditatus edictum, quo ueniam daret flatum crepitumque uentris in conuiuio emittendi, cum periclitatum quendam prae pudore ex continentia repperisset.
He even used to play as he rode in his chariot, having the tables so fitted, that the game was not disturbed by the motion of the carriage. His cruel and sanguinary disposition was exhibited upon great as well as trifling occasions. When any person was to be put to the torture, or criminal punished for parricide, he was impatient for the execution, and would have it performed in his own presence. When he was at Tibur, being desirous of seeing an example of the old way of putting malefactors to death, some were immediately bound to a stake for the purpose;
Cibi uinique quocumque et tempore et loco appetentissimus, cognoscens quondam in Augusti foro ictusque nidore prandii, quod in proxima Martis aede Saliis apparabatur, deserto tribunali ascendit ad sacerdotes unaque decubuit. nec temere umquam triclinio abscessit nisi distentus ac madens, et ut statim supino ac per somnum hianti pinna in os inderetur ad exonerandum stomachum.
but there being no executioner to be had at the place, he sent for one from Rome, and waited for his coming until night. In any exhibition of gladiators, presented either by himself or others, if any of the combatants chanced to fall, he ordered them to be butchered, especially the Retiarii, that he might see their faces in the agonies of death. Two gladiators happening to kill each other, he immediately ordered some little knives to be made of their swords for his own use. He took great pleasure in seeing men engage with wild beasts, and the combatants who appeared on the stage at noon.
somni breuissimi erat. nam ante mediam noctem plerumque uigilabat, ut tamen interdiu nonnumquam in iure dicendo obdormisceret uixque ab aduocatis de industria uocem augentibus excitaretur. libidinis in feminas profusissimae, marum omnino expers. aleam studiosissime lusit, de cuius arte librum quoque emisit, solitus etiam in gestatione ludere, ita essedo alueoque adaptatis ne lusus confunderetur.
He would therefore come to the theatre by break of day, and at noon, dismissing the people to dinner, continued sitting himself; and besides those who were devoted to that sanguinary fate, he would match others with the beasts, upon slight or sudden occasions; as, for instance, the carpenters and their assistants, and people of that sort, if a machine, or any piece of work in which they had been employed about the theatre did not answer the purpose for which it had been intended. To this desperate kind of encounter he forced one of his nomenclators, even encumbered as he was by wearing the toga.
Saeuum et sanguinarium natura fuisse, magnis minimisque apparuit rebus. tormenta quaestionum poenasque parricidarum repraesentabat exigebatque coram. cum spectare antiqui moris supplicium Tiburi concupisset et deligatis ad palum noxiis carnifex deesset, accitum ab urbe uesperam usque opperiri perseuerauit. quocumque gladiatorio munere, uel suo uel alieno, etiam forte prolapsos iugulari iubebat, maxime retiarios, ut expirantium facies uideret.
But the characteristics most predominant in him were fear and distrust. In the beginning of his reign, though he much affected a modest and humble appearance, as has been already observed, yet he durst not venture himself at an entertainment without being attended by a guard of spearmen, and made soldiers wait upon him at table instead of servants. He never visited a sick person, until the chamber had been first searched, and the bed and bedding thoroughly examined. At other times, all persons who came to pay their court to him were strictly searched by officers appointed for that purpose; nor was it until after a long time, and with much difficulty, that he was prevailed upon to excuse women, boys, and girls from such rude handling, or suffer their attendants or writing-masters to retain their cases for pens and styles.
cum par quoddam mutuis ictibus concidisset, cultellos sibi paruulos ex utroque ferro in usum fieri sine mora iussit. bestiaris meridianisque adeo delectabatur, ut et prima luce ad spectaculum descenderet et meridie dimisso ad prandium populo persederet praeterque destinatos etiam leui subitaque de causa quosdam committeret, de fabrorum quoque ac ministrorum atque id genus numero, si automatum uel pegma uel quid tale aliud parum cessisset. induxit et unum ex nomenculatoribus suis, sic ut erat togatus.
When Camillus formed his plot against him, not doubting but his timidity might be worked upon without a war, he wrote to him a scurrilous, petulant, and threatening letter, desiring him to resign the government, and betake himself to a life of privacy. Upon receiving this requisition, he had some thoughts of complying with it, and summoned together the principal men of, the city, to consult with them on the subject. Having heard some loose reports of conspiracies formed against him, he was so much alarmed, that he thought of immediately abdicating the government.
Sed nihil aeque quam timidus ac diffidens fuit. primis imperii diebus quanquam, ut diximus, iactator ciuilitatis, neque conuiuia inire ausus est nisi ut speculatores cum lanceis circumstarent militesque uice ministrorum fungerentur, neque aegrum quemquam uisitauit nisi explorato prius cubiculo culcitisque et stragulis praetemptatis et excussis. reliquo autem tempore salutatoribus scrutatores semper apposuit, et quidem omnibus et acerbissimos.
And when, as I have before related, a man armed with a dagger was discovered near him while he was sacrificing, he instantly ordered the heralds to convoke the senate, and with tears and dismal exclamations, lamented that such was his condition, that he was safe no where; and for a long time afterwards he abstained from appearing in public. He smothered his ardent love for Messalina, not so much on account of her infamous conduct, as from apprehension of danger; believing that she aspired to share with Silius, her partner in adultery, the imperial dignity.
sero enim ac uix remisit, ne feminae praetextatique pueri et puellae contrectarentur et ne cuius comiti aut librario calamariae et graphiariae thecae adimerentur. motu ciuili cum eum Camillus, non dubitans etiam citra bellum posse terreri, contumeliosa et minaci et contumaci epistula cedere imperio iuberet uitamque otiosam in priuata re agere, dubitauit adhibitis principibus uiris an optemperaret.
Upon this occasion he ran in a great fright, and a very shameful manner, to the camp, asking all the way he went, "if the empire were indeed safely his." No suspicion was too trifling, no person on whom it rested too contemptible, to throw him into a panic, and induce him to take precautions for his safety, and meditate revenge. A man engaged in a litigation before his tribunal, having saluted him, drew him aside, and told him he had dreamt that he saw him murdered; and shortly afterwards, when his adversary came to deliver his plea to the emperor, the plaintiff, pretending to have discovered the murderer, pointed to him as the man he had seen in his dream; whereupon, as if he had been taken in the act, he was hurried away to execution. We are informed, that Appius Silanus was got rid of in the same manner, by a contrivance betwixt Messalina and Narcissus, in which they had their several parts assigned them.
quasdam insidias temere delatas adeo expauit, ut deponere imperium temptauerit. quodam, ut supra rettuli, cum ferro circa sacrificantem se deprehenso, senatum per praecones propere conuocauit lacrimisque et uociferatione miseratus est condicionem suam, cui nihil tuti usquam esset, ac diu publico abstinuit. Messalinae quoque amorem flagrantissimum non tam indignitate contumeliarum quam periculi metu abiecit, cum adultero Silio adquiri imperium credidisset; quo tempore foedum in modum trepidus ad castra confugit, nihil tota uia quam essetne sibi saluum imperium requirens.
Narcissus therefore burst into his lord's chamber before daylight, apparently in great fright, and told him that he had dreamt that Appius Silanus had murdered him. The empress, upon this, affecting great surprise, declared she had the like dream for several nights successively. Presently afterwards, word was brought, as it had been agreed on, that Appius was come, he having, indeed, received orders the preceding day to be there at that time; and, as if the truth of the dream was sufficiently confirmed by his appearance at that juncture, he was immediately ordered to be prosecuted and put to death.
nulla adeo suspicio, nullus auctor tam leuis extitit, a quo non mediocri scrupulo iniecto ad cauendum ulciscendumque compelleretur. unus ex litigatoribus seducto in salutatione affirmauit, uidisse se per quietem occidi eum a quodam; dein paulo post, quasi percussorem agnosceret, libellum tradentem aduersarium suum demonstrauit: confestimque is pro deprenso ad poenam raptus est.
The day following, Claudius related the whole affair to the senate, and acknowledged his great obligation to his freedmen for watching over him even in his sleep. Sensible of his being subject to passion and resentment, he excused himself in both instances by a proclamation, assuring the public that "the former should be short and harmless, and the latter never without good cause." After severely reprimanding the people of Ostia for not sending some boats to meet him upon his entering the mouth of the Tiber, in terms which might expose them to the public resentment, he wrote to Rome that he had been treated as a private person; yet immediately afterwards he pardoned them, and that in a way which had the appearance of making them satisfaction, or begging pardon for some injury he had done them. Some people who addressed him unseasonably in public, he pushed away with his own hand.
pari modo oppressum ferunt Appium Silanum: quem cum Messalina et Narcissus con spirassent perdere, diuisis partibus alter ante lucem similis attonito patroni cubiculum inrupit, affirmans somniasse se uim ei ab Appio inlatam; altera in admirationem formata sibi quoque eandem speciem aliquot iam noctibus obuersari rettulit; nec multo post ex composito inrumpere Appius nuntiatus, cui pridie ad id temporis ut adesset praeceptum erat, quasi plane repraesentaretur somnii fides, arcessi statim ac mori iussus est. nec dubitauit postero die Claudius ordinem rei gestae perferre ad senatum ac liberto gratias agere, quod pro salute sua etiam dormiens excubaret.
He likewise banished a person who had been secretary to a quaestor, and even a senator who had filled the office of praetor. without a hearing, and although they were innocent; the former only because he had treated him with rudeness while he was in a private station, and the other, because in his aedileship he had fined some tenants of his, for selling some cooked victuals contrary to law, and ordered his steward, who interfered, to be whipped. On this account, likewise, he took from the ediles the jurisdiction they had over cooks'-shops.
irae atque iracundiae conscius sibi, utramque excusauit edicto distinxitque, pollicitus alteram quidem breuem et innoxiam, alteram non iniustam fore. Ostiensibus, quia sibi subeunti Tiberim scaphas obuiam non miserint, grauiter correptis eaque cum inuidia, ut in ordinem se coactum conscriberet, repente tantum non satis facientis modo ueniam dedit.
He did not scruple to speak of his own absurdities, and declared in some short speeches which he published, that he had only feigned imbecility in the reign of Caius, because otherwise it would have been impossible for him to have escaped and arrived at the station he had then attained. He could not, however, gain credit for this assertion; for a short time afterwards, a book was published under the title of *mwrw=n a)nasta/sis, "The Resurrection of Fools," the design of which was to show "that nobody ever counterfeited folly." Amongst other things, people admired in him his indifference and unconcern;
quosdam in publico parum tempestiue adeuntis manu sua reppulit. item scribam quaestorium itemque praetura functum senatorem inauditos et innoxios relegauit, quod ille aduersus priuatum se intemperantius affuisset, hic in aedilitate inquilinos praediorum suorum contra uetitum cocta uendentes multasset uilicumque interuenientem flagellasset. qua de causa etiam coercitionem popinarum aedilibus ademit.
or, to express it in Greek, his μετεωξία and ἀβλεφία. Placing himself at table a little after Messalina's death, he enquired, "Why the empress did not come?" Many of those whom he had condemned to death, he ordered the day after to be invited to his table, and to game with him, and sent to reprimand them as sluggish fellows for not making greater haste. When he was meditating his incestuous marriage with Agrippina, he was perpetually calling her, "My daughter, my nursling, born and brought up upon my lap."
Ac ne stultitiam quidem suam reticuit simulatamque a se ex industria sub Gaio, quod aliter euasurus peruenturusque ad susceptam stationem non fuerit, quibusdam oratiunculis testatus est; nec tamen persuasit, cum intra breue tempus liber editus sit, cui index erat μωρῶν ἐπανάστασισ, argumentum autem stultitiam neminem fingere.
And when he was going to adopt Nero, as if there was little cause for censure in his adopting a son-in-law, when he had a son of his own arrived at years of maturity; he continually gave out in public, "that no one had ever been admitted by adoption into the Claudian family." He frequently appeared so careless in what he said, and so inattentive to circumstances, that it was believed he never reflected who he himself was, or amongst whom, or at what time or in what place, he spoke.
Inter cetera in eo mirati sunt homines et obliuionem et inconsiderantiam, uel ut Graece dicam, μετεωρίαν et ἀβλεψίαν. occisa Messalina, paulo post quam in triclinio decubuit, cur domina non ueniret requisiit. multos ex iis, quos capite damnauerat, postero statim die et in consilium et ad aleae lusum admoneri iussit et, quasi morarentur, ut somniculosos per nuntium increpuit.
In the debate in the senate relative to the butchers and vintners, he cried out, "I ask you, who can live without a bit of meat?" And mentioned the great plenty of old taverns, from which he himself used formerly to have his wine. Among other reasons for his supporting a certain person who was candidate for the quaestorship, he gave this: "His father," said he, "once gave me, very seasonably, a draught of cold water when I was sick."
ducturus contra fas Agrippinam uxorem, non cessauit omni oratione filiam et alumnam et in gremio suo natam atque educatam praedicare. adsciturus in nomen Neronem, quasi parum reprehenderetur, quod adulto iam filio priuignum adoptaret, identidem diuulgauit neminem umquam per adoptionem familiae Claudiae insertum.
Upon his bringing a woman as a witness in some cause before the senate, he said, "This woman was my mother's freedwoman and dresser, but she always considered me as her master; and this I say, because there are some still in my family that do not look upon me as such." The people of Ostia addressing him in open court with a petition, he flew into a rage at them, and said, "There is no reason why I should oblige you: if any one else is free to act as he pleases, surely I am." The following expressions he had in his mouth every day, and at all hours and seasons: "What!
Sermonis uero rerumque tantam saepe neglegentiam ostendit, ut nec quis nec inter quos, quoue tempore ac loco uerba faceret, scire aut cogitare existimaretur. cum de laniis ac uinariis ageretur, exclamauit in curia: 'rogo uos, quis potest sine offula uiuere?' descripsitque abundantiam ueterum tabernarum, unde solitus esset uinum olim et ipse petere.
do you take me for a Theogonius?" And in Greek λάλει καὶ, "Speak, but do not touch me;" besides many other familiar sentences, below the dignity of a private person, much more of an emperor, who was not deficient either in eloquence or learning, as having applied himself very closely to the liberal sciences. By the encouragement of Titus Livius, and with the assistance of Sulpicius Flavus, he attempted at an early age the completion of a history;
de quaesturae quodam candidato inter causas suffragationis suae posuit, quod pater eius frigidam aegro sibi tempestiue dedisset. inducta teste in senatu: 'haec,' inquit, 'matris meae liberta et ornatrix fuit, sed me patronum semper existimauit; hoc ideo dixi, quod quidam sunt adhuc in domo mea, qui me patronum non putant.'
and having called together a numerous auditory, to hear and give their judgment upon it, he read it over with much difficulty, and frequently interrupting himself. For after he had begun, a great laugh was raised amongst the company, by the breaking of several benches from the weight of a very fat man; and even when order was restored, he could not forbear bursting out into violent fits of laughter, at the remembrance of the accident. After he became emperor, likewise, he wrote several things which he was careful to have recited to his friends by a reader. He commenced his history from the death of the dictator Caesar; but afterwards he took a later period, and began at the conclusion of the civil wars;
sed et pro tribunali Ostiensibus quiddam publice orantibus cum excanduisset, nihil habere se uociferatus est, quare eos demereatur; si quem alium, et se liberum esse. nam illa eius cotidiana et plane omnium horarum et momentorum erant: 'quid, ego tibi Telegenius uideor?' et: λάλει καὶ μὴ θίγγανε, multaque talia etiam priuatis deformia, nedum principi, neque infacundo neque indocto, immo etiam pertinaciter liberalibus studiis dedito.
because he found he could not speak with freedom, and a due regard to truth, concerning the former period, having been often taken to task both by his mother and grandmother. Of the earlier history he left only two books, but of the latter, one and forty. He compiled likewise the "'History of his Own Life," in eight books, full of absurdities, but in no bad style; also, "A Defence of Cicero against the Books of Asinius Gallus," which exhibited a considerable degree of learning. He besides invented three new letters, and added them to the former alphabet, as highly necessary.
Historiam in adulescentia hortante T. Liuio, Sulpicio uero Flauo etiam adiuuante, scribere adgressus est. et cum primum frequenti auditorio commisisset, aegre perlegit refrigeratus saepe a semet ipso. nam cum initio recitationis defractis compluribus subsellis obesitate cuiusdam risus exortus esset, ne sedato quidem tumultu temperare potuit, quin ex interuallo subinde facti reminisceretur cachinnosque reuocaret.
He published a book to recommend them while he was yet only a private person; but on his elevation to imperial power he had little difficulty in introducing them into common use; and these letters are still extant in a variety of books, registers, and inscriptions upon buildings. He applied himself with no less attention to the study of Grecian literature, asserting upon all occasions his love of that language, and its surpassing excellency. A stranger once holding a discourse both in Greek and Latin, he addressed him thus: "Since you are skilled in both our tongues."
in principatu quoque et scripsit plurimum et assidue recitauit per lectorem. initium autem sumpsit historiae post caedem Caesaris dictatoris, sed et transiit ad inferiora tempora coepitque a pace ciuili, cum sentiret neque libere neque uere sibi de superioribus tradendi potestatem relictam, correptus saepe et a matre et ab auia. prioris materiae duo uolumina, posterioris unum et quadraginta reliquit.
And recommending Achaia to the favour of the senate, he said, "I have a particular attachment to that province, on account of our common studies." In the senate he often made long replies to ambassadors in that language. On the tribunal he frequently quoted the verses of Homer. When at any time he had taken vengeance on an enemy or a conspirator, he scarcely ever gave to the tribune on guard, who, according to custom, came for the word, any other than this:ἄνδρ' ἐπαμύνασθαι ὅτε τισ πρότερος'Tis time to strike when wrong demands the blow.To conclude, he wrote some histories likewise in Greek, namely, twenty books on Tuscan affairs, and eight on the Carthaginian;
composuit et 'de uita sua' octo uolumina, magis inepte quam ineleganter; item 'Ciceronis defensionem aduersus Asini Galli libros' satis eruditam. nouas etiam commentus est litteras tres ac numero ueterum quasi maxime necessarias addidit; de quarum ratione cum priuatus adhuc uolumen edidisset, mox princeps non difficulter optinuit ut in usu quoque promiscuo essent. extat talis scriptura in plerisque libris ac diurnis titulisque operum.
in consequence of which another museum was founded at Alexandria, in addition to the old one, and called after his name; and it was ordered, that, upon certain days in every year, his Tuscan history should be read over in one of these, and his Carthaginian in the other, as in a school; each history being read through by persons who took it in turn. Towards the close of his life, he gave some manifest indications that he repented of his marriage with Agrippina, and his adoption of Nero. For some of his freedmen noticing with approbation his having condemned, the day before, a woman accused of adultery, he remarked, "It has been my misfortune to have wives who have been unfaithful to my bed; but they did not escape punishment." Often, when he happened to meet Britannicus, he would embrace him tenderly, and express a desire "that he might grow apace, and receive from him an account of all his actions:" using the Greek phrase, “ὁ τρώσασ καὶ ἰάσεται”, "He who has wounded will also heal."
Nec minore cura Graeca studia secutus est, amorem praestantiamque linguae occasione omni professus. cuidam barbaro Graece ac Latine disserenti: 'cum utroque,' inquit, 'sermone nostro sis paratus'; et in commendanda patribus conscriptis Achaia, gratam sibi prouinciam ait communium studiorum commercio; ac saepe in senatu legatis perpetua oratione respondit. multum uero pro tribunali etiam Homericis locutus est uersibus. quotiens quidem hostem uel insidiatorem ultus esset, excubitori tribuno signum de more poscenti non temere aliud dedit quam: ἄνδρ' ἀπαμύνασθαι, ὅτε τισ πρότερος χαλεπήνῃ.Denique et Graecas scripsit historias, Tyrrhenicon uiginti, Carchedoniacon octo.
And intending to give him the manly habit, while he was under age and a tender youth, because his stature would allow of it, he added, "I do so, that the Roman people may at last have a real Caesar." Soon afterwards he made his will, and had it signed by all the magistrates as witnesses.
quarum causa ueteri Alexandriae Musio additum ex ipsius nomine ⟨nouum⟩; institutumque ut quotannis in altero Tyrrhenicon libri, in altero Carchedoniacon diebus statutis uelut in auditorio recitarentur toti a singulis per uices.
But he was prevented from proceeding further by Agrippina, accused by her own guilty conscience, as well as by informers, of a variety of crimes. It is agreed that he was taken off by poison; but where, and by whom administered, remains in uncertainty. Some authors say that it was given him as he was feasting with the priests in the Capitol, by the eunuch Halotus, his taster. Others say by Agrippina, at his own table, in mushrooms, a dish of which he was very fond. The accounts of what followed likewise differ. Some relate that he instantly became speechless, was racked with pain through the night, and died about daybreak; others, that at first he fell into a sound sleep, and afterwards his food rising, he threw up the whole; but had another dose given him; whether in water-gruel, under pretence of refreshment after his exhaustion, or in a clyster, as if designed to relieve his bowels, is likewise uncertain. His death was kept secret until everything was settled relative to his successor.
Sub exitu uitae signa quaedam nec obscura paenitentis de matrimonio Agrippinae deque Neronis adoptione dederat, siquidem commemorantibus libertis ac laudantibus cognitionem, qua pridie quandam adulterii ream condemnarat, sibi quoque in fatis esse iactauit omnia impudica, sed non impunita matrimonia; et subinde obuium sibi Britannicum artius complexus hortatus est, ut cresceret rationemque a se omnium factorum acciperet; Graeca insuper uoce prosecutus: ὁ τρώσασ ἰάσεται. cumque impubi teneroque adhuc, quando statura permitteret, togam dare destinasset, adiecit: 'ut tandem populus R. uerum Caesarem habeat.'
Accordingly, vows were made for his recovery, and comedians were called to amuse him, as it was pretended, by his own desire. He died upon the third of the ides of October [13th October], in the consulship of Asinius Marcellus and Acilius Aviola, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, and the fourteenth of his reign.
non multoque post testamentum etiam conscripsit ac signis omnium magistratuum obsignauit. prius igitur quam ultra progrederetur, praeuentus est ab Agrippina, quam praeter haec conscientia quoque nec minus delatores multorum criminum arguebant.
His funeral was celebrated with the customary imperial pomp, and he was ranked amongst the gods. This honour was taken from him by Nero, but restored by Vespasian. The chief presages of his death were, the appearance of a comet, his father Drusus's monument being struck by lightning, and the death of most of the magistrates of all ranks that year. It appears from several circumstances, that he was sensible of his approaching dissolution, and made no secret of it.
Et ueneno quidem occisum conuenit; ubi autem et per quem dato, discrepat. quidam tradunt epulanti in arce cum sacerdotibus per Halotum spadonem praegustatorem; alii domestico conuiuio per ipsam Agrippinam, quae boletum medicatum auidissimo ciborum talium optulerat. etiam de subsequentibus diuersa fama est.
For when he nominated the consuls, he appointed no one to fill the office beyond the month in which he died. At the last assembly of the senate in which he made his appearance, he earnestly exhorted his two sons to unity with each other, and with earnest entreaties commended to the fathers the care of their tender years. And in the last cause he heard from the tribunal, he repeatedly declared in open court, "That he was now arrived at the last stage of mortal existence;" whilst all who heard it shrunk at hearing these ominous words.
multi statim hausto ueneno obmutuisse aiunt excruciatumque doloribus nocte tota defecisse prope lucem. nonnulli inter initia consopitum, deinde cibo affluente euomuisse omnia, repetitumque toxico, incertum pultine addito, cum uelut exhaustum refici cibo oporteret, an immisso per clystera[m], ut quasi abundantia laboranti etiam hoc genere egestionis subueniretur.
It has been already observed, that Claudius was entirely governed by his freedmen; a class of retainers which enjoyed a great share of favour and confidence with their patrons in those times. They had before been the slaves of their masters, and had obtained their freedom as a reward for their faithful and attentive services. Of the esteem in which they were often held, we meet with an instance in Tiro, the freedman of Cicero, to whom that illustrious Roman addresses several epistles, written in the most familiar and affectionate strain of friendship.
mors eius celata est, donec circa successorem omnia ordinarentur. itaque et quasi pro aegro adhuc uota suscepta sunt et inducti per simulationem comoedi, qui uelut desiderantem oblectarent. excessit III. Id. Octob. Asinio Marcello Acilio Auiola coss. sexagesimo quarto aetatis, imperii quarto decimo anno, funeratusque est sollemni principum pompa et in numerum deorum relatus; quem honorem a Nerone destitutum abolitumque recepit mox per Vespasianum.
As it was common for them to be taught the more useful parts of education in the families of their masters, they were usually well qualified for the management of domestic concerns, and might even be competent to the superior departments of the state, especially in those times when negotiations and treaties with foreign princes seldom or never occurred; and in arbitrary governments, where public affairs were directed more by the will of the sovereign or his ministers, than by refined suggestions of policy. From the character generally given of Claudius before his elevation to the throne, we should not readily imagine that he was endowed with any taste for literary composition; yet he seems to have exclusively enjoyed this distinction during his own reign, in which learning was at a low ebb. Besides history, Suetonius informs us that he wrote a Defence of Cicero against the Charges of Asinius Gallus. This appears to be the only tribute of esteem or approbation paid to the character of Cicero, from the time of Livy the historian, to the extinction of the race of the Caesars.
praesagia mortis eius praecipua fuerunt: exortus crinitae stellae, quam cometen uocant, tactumque de caelo monumentum Drusi patris, et quod eodem anno ex omnium magistratuum genere plerique mortem obierant. sed nec ipse ignorasse aut dissimulasse ultima uitae suae tempora uidetur, aliquot quidem argumentis. nam et cum consules designaret, neminem ultra mensem quo obiit designauit, et in senatu, cui nouissime interfuit, multum ad concordiam liberos suos cohortatus, utriusque aetatem suppliciter patribus commendauit, et in ultima cognitione pro tribunali accessisse ad finem mortalitatis, quanquam abominantibus qui audiebant, semel atque iterum pronuntiauit.