Caligula |
Translator: Alexander Thomson
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Sic imperium adeptus , populum Romanum , uel dicam hominum genus , uoti compotem fecit , exoptatissimus princeps maximae parti prouincialium ac militum , quod infantem plerique cognouerant , sed et uniuersae plebi urbanae ob memoriam Germanici patris miserationemque prope afflictae domus . itaque ut a Miseno mouit quamuis lugentis habitu et funus Tiberi prosequens , tamen inter altaria et uictimas ardentisque taedas densissimo et laetissimo obuiorum agmine incessit , super fausta nomina ' sidus ' et ' pullum ' et ' pupum ' et ' alumnum ' appellantium ;
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Having thus secured the imperial power, he fulfilled by his elevation the wish of the Roman people, I may venture to say, of all mankind; for he long been the object of expectation and desire to the greater part of the provincials and soldiers who had known him when a child; and to the whole people of Rome, from their affection for the memory of Germanicus, his father, and compassion for the family almost entirely destroyed. Upon his moving from Misenum, therefore, although he was in mourning, and following the corpse of Tiberius, he had to walk amidst altars, victims, and lighted torches, with prodigious crowds of people everywhere attending him, in transports of joy, and calling him, besides other auspicious names, by those of "their star," " their chick," "their pretty puppet," and "bantling." |
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ingressoque urbem , statim consensu senatus et irrumpentis in curiam turbae , inrita Tiberi uoluntate , qui testamento alterum nepotem suum praetextatum adhuc coheredem ei dederat , ius arbitriumque omnium rerum illi permissum est tanta publica laetitia , ut tribus proximis mensibus ac ne totis quidem supra centum sexaginta milia uictimarum caesa tradantur . Cum deinde paucos post dies in proximas Campaniae insulas traiecisset , uota pro reditu suscepta sunt , ne minimam quidem occasionem quoquam omittente in testificanda sollicitudine et cura de incolumitate eius . ut uero in aduersam ualitudinem incidit , pernoctantibus cunctis circa Palatium , non defuerunt qui depugnaturos se armis pro salute aegri quique capita sua titulo proposito uouerent . accessit ad immensum ciuium amorem notabilis etiam externorum fauor . namque Artabanus Parthorum rex , odium semper contemptumque Tiberi prae se ferens , amicitiam huius ultro petiit uenitque ad colloquium legati consularis et transgressus Euphraten aquilas et signa Romana Caesarumque imagines adorauit .
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Immediately pn his entering the city, by the joint acclamations of the senate, and people, who broke into the senate-house, Tiberius's will was set aside, it having left his other grandson, then a minor, co-heir with him, the whole government and administration of affairs was placed in his hands; so much to the joy and satisfaction of the public, that, in less than three months after, above a hundred and sixty thousand victims are said to have been offered in sacrifice. Upon his going, a few days afterwards, to the nearest islands on the coast of Campania, vows were made for his safe return; every person emulously testifying their care and concern for his safety. And when he fell ill, the people hung about the Palatium all night long; some vowed, in public handbills, to risk their lives in the combats of the amphitheatre, and others to lay them down, for his recovery. To this extraordinary love entertained for him by his countrymen, was added an uncommon regard by foreign nations. Even Artabanus, king of the Parthians, who had always manifested hatred and contempt for Tiberius, solicited his friendship; came to hold a conference with his consular lieutenant, and passing the Euphrates, paid the highest honours to the eagles, the Roman standards, and the images of the Caesars. |
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Incendebat et ipse studia hominum omni genere popularitatis . Tiberio cum plurimis lacrimis pro contione laudato funeratoque amplissime , confestim Pandateriam et Pontias ad transferendos matris fratrisque cineres festinauit , tempestate turbida , quo magis pietas emineret , adiitque uenerabundus ac per semet in urnas condidit ; nec minore scaena Ostiam praefixo in biremis puppe uexillo et inde Romam Tiberi subuectos per splendidissimum quemque equestris ordinis medio ac frequenti die duobus ferculis Mausoleo intulit , inferiasque is annua religione publice instituit , et eo amplius matri circenses carpentumque quo in pompa traduceretur . at in memoriam patris Septembrem mensem Germanicum appellauit . post haec Antoniae auiae , quidquid umquam Liuia Augusta honorum cepisset , uno senatus consulto congessit ; patruum Claudium , equitem R . ad id tempus , collegam sibi in consulatu assumpsit ; fratrem Tiberium die uirilis togae adoptauit appellauitque principem iuuentutis . de sororibus auctor fuit , ut omnibus sacramentis adicerentur : ' neque me liberosque meos cariores habebo quam Gaium habeo et sorores eius ' ; item relationibus consulum : ' quod bonum felixque sit C . Caesari sororibusque eius . ' Pari popularitate damnatos relegatosque restituit ; criminum , si quae residua ex priore tempore manebant , omnium gratiam fecit ; commentarios ad matris fratrumque suorum causas pertinentis , ne cui postmodum delatori aut testi maneret ullus metus , conuectos in forum , et ante clare obtestatus deos neque legisse neque attigisse quicquam , concremauit ; libellum de salute sua oblatum non recepit , contendens nihil sibi admissum cur cuiquam inuisus esset , negauitque se delatoribus aures habere .
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Caligula himself inflamed this devotion, by practising all the arts of popularity. After he had delivered, with floods of tears, a speech in praise of Tiberius, and buried him with the utmost pomp, he immediately hastened over to Pandataria and the Pontian islands, to bring thence the ashes of his mother and brother; and, to testify the great regard he had for their memory, he performed the voyage in a very tempestuous season. He approached their remains with profound veneration, and deposited them in the urns with his own hands. Having brought them in grand solemnity to Ostia, with an ensign flying in the stern of the galley, and thence up the Tiber to Rome, they were borne by persons of the first distinction in the equestrian order, on two biers, into the mausoleum, at noon-day. He appointed yearly offerings to be solemnly and publicly celebrated to their memory, besides Circensian games to that of his mother, and a chariot with her image to be included in the procession. The month of September he called Germanicus, in honour of his father. By a single decree of the senate,-he heaped upon his grandmother, Antonia, all the honours which had been ever conferred on the empress.- Livia. His uncle, Claudius, who till then continued in the equestrian order, he took for his colleague in the consulship. He adopted his brother, Tiberius, on the day he took upon him the manly habit, and conferred upon him the title of "Prince of the Youths." As for his sisters, he ordered these words to be added to the oaths of allegiance to himself: "Nor will I hold myself or my own children more dear than I do Caius and his sisters:" and commanded.all resolutions proposed by the consuls in the senate to be prefaced thus: " May what we are going to do, prove fortunate and happy to Caius Caesar and his sisters." With the like popularity he restored all those who had been condemned and banished and granted an act of indemnity against all impeachments and past offenses. To relieve the informers and witnesses against his mother and brothers from all apprehension, he brought the records of their trials into the forum, and there burnt them, calling loudly on the gods to witness that he had not read or handled them. A memorial which was offered him relative to his own security, he would not receive, declaring, "that he had done nothing to make any one his enemy:" and said, at the same time, "he had no ears for informers." |
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spintrias monstrosarum libidinum aegre ne profundo mergeret exoratus , urbe submouit . Titi Labieni , Cordi Cremuti , Cassi Seueri scripta senatus consultis abolita requiri et esse in manibus lectitarique permisit , quando maxime sua interesset ut facta quaeque posteris tradantur . rationes imperii ab Augusto proponi solitas sed a Tiberio intermissas publicauit magistratibus liberam iuris dictionem et sine sui appellatione concessit . equites R . seuere curioseque nec sine moderatione recognouit , palam adempto equo quibus aut probri aliquid aut ignominiae inesset , eorum qui minore culpa tenerentur nominibus modo in recitatione praeteritis ut leuior labor iudicantibus foret , ad quattuor prioris quintam decuriam addidit . temptauit et comitiorum more reuocato suffragia populo reddere . legata ex testamento Tiberi quamquam abolito , sed et Iuliae Augustae , quod Tiberius suppresserat , cum fide ac sine calumnia repraesentata persoluit . ducentesimam auctionum Italiae remisit ; multis incendiorum damna suppleuit ; ac si quibus regna restituit , adiecit et fructum omnem uectigaliorum et reditum medii temporis , ut Antiocho Commageno sestertium milies confiscatum . quoque magis nullius non boni exempli fautor uideretur , mulieri libertinae octingenta donauit , quod excruciata grauissimis tormentis de scelere patroni reticuisset . quas ob res inter reliquos honores decretus est ei clipeus aureus , quem quotannis certo die collegia sacerdotum in Capitolium ferrent , senatu prosequente nobilibusque pueris ac puellis carmine modulato laudes uirtutum eius canentibus . decretum autem ut dies , quo cepisset imperium , Parilia uocaretur , uelut argumentum rursus conditae urbis .
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The Spintriae he banished from the city, being prevailed upon not to throw them into the sea, as he had intended. The writings of Titus Lubienus, Cordus Cremutius, and Cassius Severus, which had been suppressed by an act of the senate, he permitted to be drawn from obscurity, and universally read; observing, "that it would be for his own advantage to have the transactions of former times delivered to posterity." He published accounts of the proceedings of the government-a practice which had been introduced by Augustus, but discontinued by Tiberius. He granted the magistrates a full and free jurisdiction, without any appeal to himself. He made a very strict and exact review of the Roman knights, but conducted it with moderation; publicly depriving of his horse every knight who lay under the stigma of any thing base and dishonourable; but passing over the names of those knights who were only guilty of venial faults, in calling over the list of the order. To lighten the labours of the judges, he added a fifth class to the former four. He attempted likewise to restore to the people their ancient right of voting in the choice of magistrates. He paid very honourably, and without any dispute, the legacies left by Tiberius in his will, though it had been set aside; as likewise those left by the will of Livia Augusta, which Tiberius had annulled. He remitted the hundredth penny, due to the government in all auctions throughout Italy. He made up to many their losses sustained by fire; and. when he restored their kingdoms. to any princes, he likewise allowed them all the arrears of the taxes.-and revenues which had accrued in the interval; as in the case of Antiochus of Comagene, where the confiscation would have amounted to a hundred millions of sesterces. T6, prove to the world that he was ready to encourage good examples of every kind, he gave to a freed-woman eighty thousand sesterces, for not discovering a crime committed by her patron, though she had been put to exquisite torture for that purpose. For all these acts of beneficence, amongst other honours, a golden shield was decreed to him, which the colleges of priests were to carry annually, upon a fixed day, into the Capitol, with the senate attending, and the youth of the nobility, of both sexes, celebrating the praise of his virtues in songs. It was likewise ordained, that the day on which he succeeded to the empire should be called Palilia, in token of the city's being at that time, as it were, new founded. |
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Consulatus quattuor gessit , primum ex Kal . Iul . per duos menses , secundum ex Kal . Ian . per XXX dies , tertium usque in Idus Ian ., quartum usque septimum Idus easdem . ex omnibus duos nouissimos coniunxit . tertium autem Luguduni iniit solus , non ut quidam opinantur superbia neglegentiaue , sed quod defunctum sub Kalendarum diem collegam rescisse absens non potuerat . congiarium populo bis dedit trecenos sestertios , totiens abundantissimum epulum senatui equestrique ordini , etiam coniugibus ac liberis utrorumque ; posteriore epulo forensia insuper uiris , feminis ac pueris fascias purpurae ac conchylii distribuit . et ut laetitiam publicam in perpetuum quoque augeret , adiecit diem Saturnalibus appellauitque Iuuenalem .
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He held the consulship four times: the first, from the calends [the first] of July for two months; the second, from the calends of January for thirty days; the third, until the ides [the 13th] of January; and the fourth, until the seventh of the same ides [7th January]. Of these, the two last he held successively. The third he assumed by his sole authority at Lyons; not, as some are of opinion, from arrogance or neglect of rules; but because, at that distance, it was impossible for him to know that his colleague had died a little before the beginning of the new year. He twice distributed to the people a bounty of three hundred sesterces a man, and as often gave a splendid feast to the senate and the equestrian order, with their wives and children. In the latter, he presented to the men forensic garments, and to the women and children purple scarfs. To make a perpetual addition to the public joy for ever, he added to the Saturnalia one day, which he called juvenalis [the juvenile feast]. |
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Munera gladiatoria partim in amphitheatro Tauri partim in Saeptis aliquot edidit , quibus inseruit cateruas Afrorum Campanorumque pugilum ex utraque regione electissimorum . neque spectaculis semper ipse praesedit , sed interdum aut magistratibus aut amicis praesidendi munus iniunxit . scaenicos ludos et assidue et uarii generis ac multifariam fecit , quondam et nocturnos accensis tota urbe luminibus . sparsit et missilia uariarum rerum et panaria cum obsonio uiritim diuisit ; qua epulatione equiti R . contra se hilarius auidiusque uescenti partes suas misit , sed et senatori ob eandem causam codicillos , quibus praetorem eum extra ordinem designabat . edidit et circenses plurimos a mane ad uesperam interiecta modo Africanarum uenatione modo Troiae decursione , et quosdam praecipuos , minio et chrysocolla constrato circo nec ullis nisi ex senatorio ordine aurigantibus . commisit et subitos , cum e Gelotiana apparatum circi prospicientem pauci ex proximis Maenianis postulassent .
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He exhibited some combats of gladiators, either in the amphitheatre of Taurus, or in the Septa, with which he intermingled troops of the best pugilists from Campania and Africa. He did not always preside in person on those occasions, but sometimes gave a commission to magistrates or friends to supply his place. He frequently entertained the people with stage-plays of various kinds, and in several parts of the city, and sometimes by night, when he caused the whole city to be lighted. He likewise gave various things to be scrambled for among the people, and distributed to every man a basket of bread with other victuals. Upon this occasion, he sent his own share to a Roman knight, who was seated opposite to him, and was enjoying himself by eating heartily. To a senator, who was doing the same, he sent an appointment of praetor-extraordinary. He likewise exhibited a great number of Circensian games from morning until night; intermixed with the hunting of wild beasts from Africa, or the Trojan exhibition. Some of these games were celebrated with peculiar circumstances; the Circus being overspread with vermilion and chrysolite; and none drove in the chariot races who were not of the senatorian order. For some of these he suddenly gave the signal, when, upon his viewing from the Gelotiana the preparations in the Circus, he was asked to do so by a few persons in the neighbouring galleries. |
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Nouum praeterea atque inauditum genus spectaculi excogitauit . nam Baiarum medium interuallum †Puteolanas moles , trium milium et sescentorum fere passuum spatium , ponte coniunxit contractis undique onerariis nauibus et ordine duplici ad ancoras conlocatis superiectoque terreno ac derecto in Appiae uiae formam . per hunc pontem ultro citro commeauit biduo continenti , primo die phalerato equo insignisque quercea corona et caetra et gladio aureaque chlamyde , postridie quadrigario habitu curriculoque biiugi famosorum equorum , prae se ferens Dareum puerum ex Parthorum obsidibus , comitante praetorianorum agmine et in essedis cohorte amicorum . scio plerosque existimasse talem a Gaio pontem excogitatum aemulatione Xerxis , qui non sine admiratione aliquanto angustiorem Hellespontum contabulauerit ; alios , ut Germaniam et Britanniam , quibus imminebat , alicuius inmensi operis fama territaret . sed auum meum narrantem puer audiebam , causam operis ab interioribus aulicis proditam , quod Thrasyllus mathematicus anxio de successore Tiberio et in uerum nepotem proniori affirmasset non magis Gaium imperaturum quam per Baianum sinum equis discursurum .
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He invented besides a new kind of spectacle, such as had never been heard of before. For he made a bridge, of about three miles and a half in length, from Baiae to the mole of Puteoli, collecting trading vessels from all quarters, mooring them in two rows by their anchors, and spreading earth upon them to form a viaduct, after the fashion of the Appian way. This bridge he crossed and recrossed for two days together; the first day mounted on a horse richly caparisoned, wearing on his head a crown of oak leaves, armed with a battle-axe, a Spanish buckler and a sword, and in a cloak made of cloth of gold; the, day following, in the habit of a charioteer, standing in a chariot, drawn by two high-bred horses, having with him a young boy, Darius by name, one of the Parthian hostages, with a cohort of the pretorian guards attending him, and- a party of his friends in ,cars of Gaulish make. Most people, I know, are of opinion, that this bridge was designed by Caius, in imitation of Xerxes, who, to the astonishment of the world, laid a bridge over the Hellespont, which is somewhat narrower than the distance betwixt Baiae and Puteoli. Others, however, thought that he did it to strike terror in Germany and Britain, which he was upon the point of invading, by the fame of some prodigious work. But for myself, when I was a boy, I heard my grandfather say, that the reason assigned by some courtiers who were in habits of the greatest intimacy with him, was this; when Tiberius was in some anxiety about the nomination of a successor, and rather inclined to pitch upon his grandson, Thrasyllus the astrologer had assured him, "That Caius would no more be emperor, than he would ride on horseback across the gulf of Baiae." |
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Edidit et peregre spectacula , in Sicilia Syracusis asticos ludos et in Gallia Luguduni miscellos ; sed hic certamen quoque Graecae Latinaeque facundiae , quo certamine ferunt uictoribus praemia uictos contulisse , eorundem et laudes componere coactos ; eos autem , qui maxime displicuissent , scripta sua spongia linguaue delere iussos , nisi ferulis obiurgari aut flumine proximo mergi maluissent .
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He likewise exhibited public diversions in Sicily, Grecian games at Syracuse, and Attic plays at Lyons in Gaul: besides a contest for pre-eminence in the Grecian and Roman eloquence; in which we are told that such as were baffled bestowed rewards upon the best performers, and were obliged to compose speeches in their praise: but that those who performed the worst were forced to blot out what they had written with a sponge or their tongue, unless they preferred to be beaten with a rod, or plunged over head and ears into the nearest river. |
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Opera sub Tiberio semiperfecta , templum Augusti theatrumque Pompei , absoluit . incohauit autem aquae ductum regione Tiburti et amphitheatrum iuxta Saepta , quorum operum a successore eius Claudio alterum peractum , omissum alterum est . Syracusis conlapsa uetustate moenia deorumque aedes refectae . destinauerat et Sami Polycratis regiam restituere , Mileti Didymeum peragere , in iugo Alpium urbem condere , sed ante omnia Isthmum in Achaia perfodere , miseratque iam ad dimetiendum opus primipilarem .
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He completed the works which were left unfinished by Tiberius, namely, the temple of Augustus, and the theatre of Pompey. He began, likewise, the aqueduct from the neighbourhood of Tibur, and an amphitheatre near the Septa; of which works, one was completed by his successor Claudius, and the other remained as he left it. The walls of Syracuse, which had fallen to decay by length of time, he repaired, as he likewise did the temples of the gods. He formed plans for rebuilding the palace of Polycrates at Samos, finishing the temple of the Didymaean Apollo at Miletus, and building a town on a ridge of the Alps; but, above all, for cutting through the isthmus in Achaia and even sent a centurion of the first rank to measure out the work. |
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Hactenus quasi de principe , reliqua ut de monstro narranda sunt . Compluribus cognominibus adsumptis —nam et ' pius ' et ' castrorum filius ' et ' pater exercituum ' et ' optimus maximus Caesar ' uocabatur —cum audiret forte reges , qui officii causa in urbem aduenerant , concertantis apud se super cenam de nobilitate generis , exclamauit : εἷσ κοίρανοσ ἔστω , εἷσ βασιλεύς . nec multum afuit quin statim diadema sumeret speciemque principatus in regni formam conuerteret . uerum admonitus et principum et regum se excessisse fastigium , diuinam ex eo maiestatem asserere sibi coepit ; datoque negotio , ut simulacra numinum religione et arte praeclara , inter quae Olympii Iouis , apportarentur e Graecia , quibus capite dempto suum imponeret , partem Palatii ad forum usque promouit , atque aede Castoris et Pollucis in uestibulum transfigurata , consistens saepe inter fratres deos , medium adorandum se adeuntibus exhibebat ; et quidam eum Latiarem Iouem consalutarunt . templum etiam numini suo proprium et sacerdotes et excogitatissimas hostias instituit . in templo simulacrum stabat aureum iconicum amiciebaturque cotidie ueste , quali ipse uteretur . magisteria sacerdotii ditissimus quisque et ambitione et licitatione maxima uicibus comparabant . hostiae erant phoenicopteri , pauones , tetraones , numidicae , meleagrides , phasianae , quae generatim per singulos dies immolarentur . et noctibus quidem plenam fulgentemque lunam inuitabat assidue in amplexus atque concubitum , interdiu uero cum Capitolino Ioue secreto fabulabatur , modo insusurrans ac praebens in uicem aurem , modo clarius nec sine iurgiis . nam uox comminantis audita est : ἤ μ ' ἀνάειρ ' ἢ ἐγὼ σέ , donec exoratus , ut referebat , et in contubernium ultro inuitatus super templum Diui Augusti ponte transmisso Palatium Capitoliumque coniunxit . mox , quo propior esset , in area Capitolina nouae domus fundamenta iecit .
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Thus far we have spoken of him as a prince. What remains to be said of him, bespeaks him rather a monster than a man. He assumed a variety of titles, such as "Dutiful," "The Pious," "Child of the Camp, the Father of the Armies," and "The Greatest and Best Caesar." Upon hearing some kings, who came to the city to pay him court, conversing together at supper, about their illustrious descent, he exclaimed, "εἶσ κοίρανοσ ἔτω, εἶς" Let there be but one prince, one king. He was strongly inclined to assume the diadem, and change the form of government, from imperial to regal; but being told that he far exceeded the grandeur of kings and princes, he began to arrogate to himself a divine majesty. He ordered all the images of the gods, which were famous either for their beauty, or the veneration paid them, among which was that of Jupiter Olympius, to be brought from Greece, that he might take the heads off, and put on his own. Having continued part of the Palatium as far as the Forum, and the temple of Castor and Pollux being converted into a kind of vestibule to his house, he often stationed himself between the twin brothers, and so presented himself to be worshipped by all votaries; some of whom saluted him by the name of yupiter Latialis. He also instituted a temple and priests, with choicest victims, in honour of his own divinity. In his temple stood a statue of gold, the exact image of himself, which was daily dressed in garments corresponding with those he wore himself. The most opulent persons in the city offered themselves as candidates for the honour of being his priests, and purchased it successively at an immense price. The victims were flamingos, peacocks, bustards, guinea-fowls, turkey and pheasant hens, each sacrificed on their respective days. On nights when the moon was full, he was in the constant habit of inviting her to his embraces and his bed. In the day-time he talked in private to Jupiter Capitolinus; one while whispering to him, and another turning his ear to him; sometimes he spoke aloud, and in railing language. For he was overheard to threaten the god thus: "ἤ ἐμ' ἀναίερ'," Raise thou me up, or I'll- until being at last prevailed upon by the entreaties of the god, as he said, to take up his abode with him, he built a bridge over the temple of the Deified Augustus, by which he joined the Palatium to the Capitol. Afterwards, that he might be still nearer, he laid the foundations of a new palace in the very court of the Capitol. |
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Agrippae se nepotem neque credi neque dici ob ignobilitatem eius uolebat suscensebatque , si qui uel oratione uel carmine imaginibus eum Caesarum insererent . praedicabat autem matrem suam ex incesto , quod Augustus cum Iulia filia admisisset , procreatam ; ac non contentus hac Augusti insectatione Actiacas Siculasque uictorias , ut funestas p . R . et calamitosas , uetuit sollemnibus feriis celebrari . Liuiam Augustam proauiam ' Vlixem stolatum ' identidem appellans , etiam ignobilitatis quadam ad senatum epistula arguere ausus est quasi materno auo decurione Fundano ortam , cum publicis monumentis certum sit , Aufidium Lurconem Romae honoribus functum . auiae Antoniae secretum petenti denegauit , nisi ut interueniret Macro praefectus , ac per istius modi indignitates et taedia causa extitit mortis , dato tamen , ut quidam putant , et ueneno ; nec defunctae ullum honorem habuit prospexitque e triclinio ardentem rogum . fratrem Tiberium inopinantem repente immisso tribuno militum interemit Silanum item socerum ad necem secandasque nouacula fauces compulit , causatus in utroque , quod hic ingressum se turbatius mare non esset secutus ac spe occupandi urbem , si quid sibi per tempestates accideret , remansisset , ille antidotum oboluisset , quasi ad praecauenda uenena sua sumptum , cum et Silanus inpatientiam nauseae uitasset et molestiam nauigandi , et Tiberius propter assiduam et ingrauescentem tussim medicamento usus esset . nam Claudium patruum non nisi in ludibrium reseruauit .
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He was unwilling to be thought or called the grandson of Agrippa, because of the obscurity of his birth; and he was offended if any one, either in prose or verse, ranked him amongst the Caesars. He said that his mother was the fruit of an incestuous commerce, maintained by Augustus with his daughter Julia. And not content with this vile reflection upon the memory of Augustus, he forbad his victories at Actium, and on the coast of Sicily, to be celebrated, as usual; affirming that they had been most pernicious and fatal to the Roman people. He called his grandmother Livia Augusta " Ulysses in a woman's dress," and had the indecency to reflect upon her in a letter to the senate, as of mean birth, and descended, by the mother's side, from a grandfather who was only one of the municipal magistrates of Fondi; whereas it is certain, from the public records, that Aufidius Lurco held high offices at Rome. His grandmother Antonia desiring a private conference with him, he refused to grant it, unless Macro, the prefect of the pretorian guards, were present. Indignities of this kind, and ill usage, were the cause of her death; but some think he also gave her poison. - Nor did he pay the smallest respect to hier memory after her death, but witnessed the burning from his private apartment. His brother Tiberius, who had'no expectation of any violence, was suddenly dispatched by a military tribune sent by his order for that purpose. He forced Silanus, his father-in-law, to kill himself, by cutting his throat with a razor. The pretext he alleged for these murders was, that the latter had not followed him upon his putting to sea in stormy weather, but stayed behind with the view of seizing the city, if he should perish. The other, he said, smelt of an antidote, which he had taken to prevent his being poisoned by him; whereas Silanus was only afraid of being seasick, and the disagreeableness of the voyage; and Tibenius had merely taken a medicine for an habitual cough, which was continually growing worse. As for his successor Claudius, he only saved him as a laughing-stock. |
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Cum omnibus sororibus suis consuetudinem stupri fecit plenoque conuiuio singulas infra se uicissim conlocabat uxore supra cubante . ex iis Drusillam uitiasse uirginem praetextatus adhuc creditur atque etiam in concubitu eius quondam deprehensus ab Antonia auia , apud quam simul educabantur ; mox Lucio Cassio Longino consulari conlocatam abduxit et in modum iustae uxoris propalam habuit ; heredem quoque bonorum atque imperii aeger instituit . eadem defuncta iustitium indixit , in quo risisse lauisse cenasse cum parentibus aut coniuge liberisue capital fuit . ac maeroris impatiens , cum repente noctu profugisset ab urbe transcucurrissetque Campaniam , Syracusas petit , rursusque inde propere rediit barba capilloque promisso ; nec umquam postea quantiscumque de rebus , ne pro contione quidem populi aut apud milites , nisi per numen Drusillae deierauit . reliquas sorores nec cupiditate tanta nec dignatione dilexit , ut quas saepe exoletis suis prostrauerit ; quo facilius eas in causa Aemili Lepidi condemnauit quasi adulteras et insidiarum aduersus se conscias ei nec solum chirographa omnium requisita fraude ac stupro diuulgauit , sed et tres gladios in necem suam praeparatos Marti Vltori addito elogio consecrauit .
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He lived in the habit of incest with all his sisters; and at table, when much company was present, he placed each of them in turns below him, whilst his wife reclined above him. It is believed, that he deflowered one of them, Drusilla, before he had assumed the robe of manhood; and was even caught in her embraces by his grandmother Antonia, with whom they were educated together. When she was afterwards married to Cassius Longinus, a man of consular rank, he took her from him, and kept her constantly as if she were his lawful wife. In a fit of sickness, he by his will appointed her heiress both of his estate and the empire. After her death, he ordered a public mourning for her; during which it was capital for any person to laugh, use the bath, or sup with his parents, wife, or children. Being inconsolable under his affliction, he went hastily, and in the night-time, from the City; going through Campania to Syracuse, and then suddenly returned without shaving his beard, or trimming his hair. Nor did he ever afterwards, in matters of the greatest importance, not even in the assemblies of the people or before the soldiers, swear any otherwise, than "By the divinity ofDrusilla." The rest of his sisters hedid not treat with so much fondness or regard; but frequently prostituted them to his catamites. He therefore the more readily condemned them in the case of AEmilius Lepidus, as guilty of adultery, and privy to that conspiracy against him. Nor did he only divulge their own handwriting relative to the affair, which he procured by base and lewd means, but likewise consecrated to Mars the Avenger three swords which had been prepared to stab him, with an inscription, setting forth the occasion of their consecration. |