Tiberius |
Translator: Alexander Thomson
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| 71 |
sermone Graeco quamquam alioqui promptus et facilis , non tamen usque quaque usus est abstinuitque maxime in senatu ; adeo quidem , ut monopolium nominaturus ueniam prius postularet , quod sibi uerbo peregrino utendum esset . atque etiam cum in quodam decreto patrum ἔμβλημα recitaretur , commutandam censuit uocem et pro peregrina nostratem requirendam aut , si non reperiretur , uel pluribus et per ambitum uerborum rem enuntiandam . militem quoque Graece testimonium interrogatum nisi Latine respondere uetuit .
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Though he was ready and conversant with the Greek tongue, yet he did not use it everywhere; but chiefly he avoided it in the senate-house, insomuch that having occasion to employ the word monopolium (monopoly), he first begged pardon for being obliged to adopt a foreign word. And when, in a decree of the senate, the word ἔμβλημα (emblem) was read, he proposed to have it changed, and that a Latin word should be substituted in its room; or, if no proper one could be found, to express the thing by circumlocution. A soldier who was examined as a witness upon a trial, in Greek, he would not allow to reply, except in Latin. |
| 72 |
Bis omnino toto secessus tempore Romam redire conatus , semel triremi usque ad proximos naumachiae hortos subuectus est disposita statione per ripas Tiberis , quae obuiam prodeuntis submoueret , iterum Appia usque ad septimum lapidem ; sed prospectis modo nec aditis urbis moenibus rediit , primo incertum qua de causa , postea ostento territus . erat ei in oblectamentis serpens draco , quem ex consuetudine manu sua cibaturus cum consumptum a formicis inuenisset , monitus est ut uim multitudinis caueret . rediens ergo propere Campaniam Asturae in languorem incidit , quo paulum leuatus Cerceios pertendit . ac ne quam suspicionem infirmitatis daret , castrensibus ludis non tantum interfuit , sed etiam missum in harenam aprum iaculis desuper petit ; statimque latere conuulso et , ut exaestuarat , afflatus aura in grauiorem recidit morbum . sustentauit tamen aliquamdiu , quamuis Misenum usque deuectus nihil ex ordine cotidiano praetermitteret , ne conuiuia quidem aut ceteras uoluptates partim intemperantia partim dissimulatione . nam Chariclen medicum , quod commeatu afuturus e conuiuio egrediens manum sibi osculandi causa apprehendisset , existimans temptatas ab eo uenas , remanere ac recumbere hortatus est cenamque protraxit . nec abstinuit consuetudine quin tunc quoque instans in medio triclinio astante lictore singulos ualere dicentis appellaret .
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During the whole time of his seclusion at Capri, twice only he made an effort to visit Rome. Once he came in a galley as far as the gardens near the Naumachia, but placed guards along the banks of the Tiber, to keep off all who should offer to come to meet him. The second time he travelled on the Appian way, as far as the seventh mile-stone from the city, but he immediately returned, without entering it, having only taken a view of the walls at a distance. For what reason he did not disembark in his first excursion, is uncertain; but in the last, he was deterred from entering the city by a prodigy. He was in the habit of diverting himself with a snake, and upon going to feed it with his own hand, according to custom, he found it devoured by ants: from which he was advised to beware of the fury of the mob. On this account, returning in all haste to Campania, he fell ill at Astura ; but recovering a little, went on to Circeii. And to obviate any suspicion of his being in a bad state of health, he was not only present at the sports in the camp, but encountered, with javelins, a wild boar, which was let loose in the arena. Being immediately seized with a pain in the side, and catching cold upon his overheating himself in the exercise, he relapsed into a worse condition than he was before. He held out, however, for some time; and sailing as far as Misenum, omitted no thing in his usual mode of life, not even in his entertainments, and other gratifications, partly from an ungovernable appetite, and partly to conceal his condition. For Charicles, a physician, having obtained leave of absence, on his rising from table, took his hand to kiss it; upon which Tiberius, supposing he did it to feel his pulse, desired him to stay and resume his place, and continued the entertainment longer than usual. Nor did he omit his usual custom of taking his station in the centre of the apartment, a lictor standing by him, while he took leave of each of the party by name. |
| 73 |
interim cum in actis senatus legisset dimissos ac ne auditos quidem quosdam reos , de quibus strictim et nihil aliud quam nominatos ab indice scripserat , pro contempto se habitum fremens repetere Capreas quoquo modo destinauit , non temere quicquam nisi ex tuto ausurus . sed tempestatibus et ingrauescente ui morbi retentus paulo post obiit in uilla Lucullana octauo et septuagesimo aetatis anno , tertio et uicesimo imperii , XVII . Kal . Ap . Cn . Acerronio Proculo C . Pontio Nigrino conss . Sunt qui putent uenenum ei a Gaio datum lentum atque tabificum ; alii , in remissione fortuitae febris cibum desideranti negatum ; nonnulli , puluinum iniectum , cum extractum sibi deficienti anulum mox resipiscens requisisset . Seneca eum scribit intellecta defectione exemptum anulum quasi alicui traditurum parumper tenuisse , dein rursus aptasse digito et compressa sinistra manu iacuisse diu immobilem ; subito uocatis ministris ac nemine respondente consurrexisse nec procul a lectulo deficientibus uiribus concidisse .
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Meanwhile, finding, upon looking over the acts of the senate, "that some person under prosecution had been discharged, without being brought to a hearing," for he had only written cursorily that they had been denounced by an informer; he complained in a great rage that he was treated with contempt, and resolved at all hazards to return to Capri; not daring to attempt any thing until he found himself in a place of security. But being detained by storms, and the increasing violence of his disorder, he died shortly afterwards, at a villa formerly belonging to Lucullus, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, and the twenty-third of his reign, upon the seventeenth of the calends of April [i6th March], in the consulship of Cneius Acerronius Proculus and Caius Pontius Niger. Some think that a slow-consuming poison was given him by Caius. Others say that during the interval of the intermittent fever with which he happened to be seized, upon asking for food, it was denied him. Others report, that he was stifled by a pillow thrown upon him, when, on his recovering from a swoon, he called for his ring, which had been taken from him in the fit. Seneca writes, "That finding himself dying, he took his signet ring off his finger, and held it a while, as if he would deliver it to somebody; but put it again upon his finger, and lay for some time, with his left hand clenched, and without stirring; when suddenly summoning his attendants, and no one answering the call, he rose; but his strength failing him, he fell down at a short distance from his bed." |
| 74 |
Supremo natali suo Apollinem Temenitem et amplitudinis et artis eximiae , aduectum Syracusis ut in bibliotheca templi noui poneretur , uiderat per quietem affirmantem sibi non posse se ab ipso dedicari . et ante paucos quam obiret dies , turris Phari terrae motu Capreis concidit . ac Miseni cinis e fauilla et carbonibus ad calficiendum triclinium inlatis , extinctus iam et diu frigidus , exarsit repente prima uespera atque in multam noctem pertinaciter luxit .
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Upon his last birth-day, he had brought a full-sized statue of the Timenian Apollo from Syracuse, a work of exquisite art, intending to place it in the library of the new temple; but he dreamt that the god appeared to him in the night, and assured him "that his statue could not be erected by him." A few days before he died, the Pharos at Capri was thrown down by an earthquake. And at Misenum, some embers and live coals, which were brought in to warm his apartment, went out, and after being quite cold, burst out into a flame again towards evening, and continued burning very brightly for several hours. |
| 75 |
Morte eius ita laetatus est populus , ut ad primum nuntium discurrentes pars : 'Tiberium in Tiberim !' clamitarent , pars Terram matrem deosque Manes orarent , ne mortuo sedem ullam nisi inter impios darent , alii uncum et Gemonias cadaueri minarentur , exacerbati super memoriam pristinae crudelitatis etiam recenti atrocitate . nam cum senatus consulto cautum esset , ut poena damnatorum in decimum semper diem differretur , forte accidit ut quorundam supplicii dies is esset , quo nuntiatum de Tiberio erat . hos implorantis hominum fidem , quia absente adhuc Gaio nemo extabat qui adiri interpellarique posset , custodes , ne quid aduersus constitutum facerent , strangulauerunt abieceruntque in Gemonias . creuit igitur inuidia , quasi etiam post mortem tyranni saeuitia permanente . corpus ut moueri a Miseno coepit , conclamantibus plerisque Atellam potius deferendum et in amphitheatro semiustilandum , Romam per milites deportatum est crematumque publico funere .
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The people were so much elated at his death, that when they first heard the news, they ran up and down the city, some, crying out "Away with Tiberius to the Tiber;" others exclaiming, "May the earth, the common mother of mankind, and the infernal gods, allow him no abode in death, but amongst the wicked." Others threatened his body with the hook and the Gemonian stairs, their indignation at his former cruelty being increased by a recent atrocity. It had been provided by an act of the senate, that the execution of condemned criminals should always be deferred until the tenth day after the sentence. Now this fell on the very day when the news of Tiberius's death arrived, and in consequence of which the unhappy men implored a reprieve, for mercy's sake; but. as Caius had not yet arrived, and there was no one else to whom application could be made on their behalf, their guards, apprehensive of violating the law, strangled them, and threw them down the Gemonian stairs. This roused the people to a still greater abhorrence of the tyrant's memory, since his cruelty continued in use even after he was dead. As soon as his corpse was begun to be moved from Misenum, many cried out for its being carried to Atella, and being half burnt there in the amphitheatre. It was, however, brought to Rome, and burnt with the usual ceremony. |
| 76 |
Testamentum duplex ante biennium fecerat , alterum sua , alterum liberti manu , sed eodem exemplo , obsignaueratque etiam humillimorum signis . eo testamento heredes aequis partibus reliquit Gaium ex Germanico et Tiberium ex Druso nepotes substituitque in uicem ; dedit et legata plerisque , inter quos uirginibus Vestalibus , sed et militibus uniuersis plebeique Romanae uiritim atque etiam separatim uicorum magistris .
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He had made, about two years before, duplicates of his will, one written by his own hand, and the other by that of one of his freedmen; and both were witnessed by some persons of very mean rank. He appointed his two grandsons, Caius by Germanicus, and Tiberius by Drusus, joint heirs to his estate; and upon the death of one of them, the other was to inherit the whole. He gave likewise many legacies; amongst which were bequests to the Vestal Virgins, to all the soldiers, and each one of the people of Rome, and to the magistrates of the several quarters of the city. |